Toys

MARINA DEL REY, Calif. -- Bo likes to cook cabbage and prizes his recipes for cornbread, biscuits and catfish. He plays a mean game of hide-and-seek, hates to give autographs when he is with his family, and loves toy stores."

The Etch-a-Sketch gaffe by Mitt Romney's aide -- that played out here in Maryland during the candidate's visit Wednesday -- has added some fun and sparkle to a race that needed a good prop. Newt Gingrich waved around one of the classic kids toys during a campaign stop in Louisiana. Time magazine called it "Mitt Romney's Etch-a-Disaster. The oops happened on CNN. Romney aide Eric Fehrnstrom said, asked if his candidates positions in the primary might be too far to the right to win in November, replied: “Well, I think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign.

On behalf of the officers and members of the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our fourth annual Toys for Tots campaign this year. Editor: On behalf of the officers and members of the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our fourth annual Toys for Tots campaign this year. Our goal this year was to fill, from front to back, both of our Medic Units with new, unwrapped toys. We were able to fulfill this goal for the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots Foundation so that hundreds of boys and girls could wake up on Christmas morning and have a brand new toy under their Christmas tree. We received everything from video games and super hero figures to bicycles and baseballs. We could not have done this if it weren't for the generosity and kindness of our great community.  Thank you so much for buying that extra toy while out Christmas shopping and dropping it off at our station. Some of you even brought bags and car trunks full of toys.  We live in a very special community of caring people.  We would also like to thank the media, especially The Record and The Aegis newspapers and the Havre de Grace "Patch" for advertising our toy drive this year. As you start shopping for Christmas 2012 please remember to pick up an extra toy for Toys for Tots.  We will be back next year and our goal will again be to fill our Medic Units with new toys.

Lotte Plaza, an Asian market, will open a store this summer in the One Mile West Shopping Center in Catonsville in a former Toys "R" Us space, the shopping center owner said Tuesday. The market signed a lease for 46,000 square feet, which will undergo a multimillion-dollar remodeling paid for by the retailer and the landlord, said Robert G. Pollokoff, president of The Fedder Co., which owns the Baltimore National Pike center. Other retailers include Panera Bread and Pier 1 Imports.

General Growth Properties is giving consumers more time to shop for the holidays this week by extending hours at four of its malls - Towson Town Center, White Marsh Mall, Owings Mills Mall and The Mall in Columbia. The malls will be open 9 a.m. to midnight today and 8 a.m. to midnight Wednesday. The mall owner is extending hours to make up for lost shopping time during Saturday's snowstorm when the malls closed early. Toys 'R' Us will be open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. today and Wednesday. It will be open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Christmas Eve. - Andrea K. Walker

Although they lament the state of modern toy manufacturing, Dr. Athelstan Spilhaus and his wife, Kathleen, keep a closet full of safe plastic Fisher-Price toys for when their 17 grandchildren visit."

Q. Everyone keeps telling me to dump all my retailing stocks. However, I'm particularly fond of Toys "R" Us and don't want to sell. Do you agree?A. This is still a stock worth toying with.Hold your shares of Toys "R" Us (around $22 a share, New York Stock Exchange), operator of toy supermarts and department stores, because its international stores are handily outperforming the lackluster results of its U.S. stores, said Barry Bryant, analyst with Prudential-Bache Securities.The company owns 98 overseas stores, with strong growth in Asia and Europe.

A new Web site can help holiday shoppers avoid potentially dangerous toys this year as well as report the availability of harmful products. The U.S. Public Interest Research Group has launched http://toysafety.mobi, which can be accessed via computers or Web-enabled cell phones. The site includes tips for avoiding toys that might present choking hazards for children under 3 years old or products that are dangerous because they are too loud or are made with toxic chemicals such as lead.

There was a time, though it may seem long ago, that we who are now adults did not spend our time shopping for toys every December. That was the job of Santa Claus and we were free to savor the magic of the holiday season as we waited in breathless anticipation for his arrival.Sometimes our parents would take us downtown on a streetcar or bus to Baltimore's then-bustling Howard Street shopping district. We'd wish our way through the toy department, sit on Santa's lap and have lunch at our favorite department store restaurant.

Auctioneer Tim Gordon held a sale at the Frederic Fairgrounds April 27 of toys, banks, stand-up advertising items and Christmas items. The following are black memorablilia from the sale with the hammer price before sales tax. There was no buyer's premium.None of the windup dancing toys was sold in its original box. If any had been, its price might have been 30 to 50 percent higher.Each item is graded on a 1 to 10 scale (with 10 as perfect condition) by Harry Hill, who runs an antique toy shop, Former Times, in Keedysville.

On behalf of the officers and members of the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our fourth annual Toys for Tots campaign this year. Editor: On behalf of the officers and members of the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our fourth annual Toys for Tots campaign this year. Our goal this year was to fill, from front to back, both of our Medic Units with new, unwrapped toys. We were able to fulfill this goal for the U.S. Marine Corps' Toys for Tots Foundation so that hundreds of boys and girls could wake up on Christmas morning and have a brand new toy under their Christmas tree. We received everything from video games and super hero figures to bicycles and baseballs. We could not have done this if it weren't for the generosity and kindness of our great community.  Thank you so much for buying that extra toy while out Christmas shopping and dropping it off at our station. Some of you even brought bags and car trunks full of toys.  We live in a very special community of caring people.  We would also like to thank the media, especially The Record and The Aegis newspapers and the Havre de Grace "Patch" for advertising our toy drive this year. As you start shopping for Christmas 2012 please remember to pick up an extra toy for Toys for Tots.  We will be back next year and our goal will again be to fill our Medic Units with new toys.

It's this time of year, when it gets dark so early, that those of us with dogs start thinking about blinky lights for their collars. But the world of light-up dog products has gotten a lot more sophisticated than that. These days, in addition to the collar lights, there are collars themselves that light, leashes, and even toys. Among the best, Unleashed has decided, are those made by Nite Ize . Karin and her ever-playful Border Collie Dean tried out one of the brand's collars, as well as their glowing ball and flying disc.

The assault rifle looked real to the woman who it was pointed at. She quickly called police and they arrested a 23-year-old man and a teenager near Westminster High School in Carroll County, and charged them with assault and reckless endangerment. Maryland State Police said the "assault rifle" was actually an Airsoft gun "that closely resembled an assault rifle. " Toy guns are supposed to have orange tips so that police and other know they're not real, but police said this one had its tip painted black, "apparently to make it look more like a real firearm.

Maryland State Police arrested a Sykesville man and a juvenile for pointing what they described as "a very realistic, but toy gun" at a motorist while driving on Route 97 in Westminster on Wednesday, Jan. 11. Shortly after 2 p.m., a driver contacted state police at the Westminster Barrack to report that she was behind an older model blue Buick on Route 97 near Westminster High School when a passenger in the vehicle rolled the window down, leaned...

Someone here is a cuddly plush toy here. But who? At the zoo in Duisburg, Germany, a koala bear named Alinga clutches a stuffed bear while getting weighed. Hard to judge which bear is cuddlier.

The Aegis Empty Stocking Fund continues to raise money and receive donations of new, unwrapped toys, as the Harford County-based charity works to help more than 350 Harford County families and senior citizens in need have a happier holiday season. The Jewelry Extravaganza and Holiday Show committee wishes to thank all who came out and supported the event Saturday and also help the Empty Stocking Fund. Thanks also to all the children who stopped by to see Santa and left a toy during the annual toy drive Saturday at the Bel Air Reckord Armory.

A lot of folks got a chuckle over the spectacle of a pro-gun control President Clinton hunting duck in camo cap and hip boots on Maryland's Eastern Shore. But a couple of stories from Washington and New York illustrate the more serious side of the gun control debate. In New York the week before Christmas, a carpet store owner bought $5,000 worth of $100 gifts certificates from Toys 'R' Us and offered the certificates to anyone who turned in a firearm -- no questions asked.If you are wondering who would trade in such weapons for $100 worth of Barbie dolls and video games, you may be beginning to get the picture of why firearms are a leading cause of death among young people in New York and other cities.

My grandmother had a kaleidoscope. Someone gave it to her during her long last illness and I used to sit in her room and hold it up to the light, tilting it and watching the colors, the pieces, the patterns fall into place.Did she play with it when she was alone? I like to think so. I like to think, in part, it helped her maintain her unfailing good cheer that gave something back to everyone who visited her.But that was a long time ago, before my children, who now have children of their own, were even born, and since then I had largely forgotten about kaleidoscopes until last year when I saw one in a craft store.

About 900 Carroll County families are waiting for donations of toys, clothing and maybe a holiday dinner, but the county's social services will be able to fulfill the wishes of less than half of them. The deadline for donors to sign up came and went Thursday, leaving the county well short of its goal for seasonal giving. The Marine Corps' annual Toys for Tots drive is also lagging — it has collected about 16,000 items, but has more than 67,000 requests from individuals and organizations throughout the Baltimore area.

The Aegis Empty Stocking Fund is moving closer to its 2011 fund-raising goal of $80,000, but the fund is still more than $34,000 short as the annual drive to help less fortune Harford County families and senior citizens have a happier holiday season moves into December. As of Wednesday, $45,340 had been received. Special thanks for recent donations goes to Gerry and Susan Manuel, $100; Ron and Lynda Kerdasha, $200; Stephen and Laureen Egan, $750; Jennie Fleckenstein, $100; Frances Burkheimer, $300; Robert and Rose Coomes, $150; Rainbow Rebekah Lodge 95, $150; Margaret Arnold, $150; Elizabeth Smith and the late Coach Jim Smith, $200; and Bunny Worthington, $200.