Vfw Post

Christmas has come and gone and all the partying is over for another 11 ½ months. We recover by returning to work and looking forward to the New Year's Eve celebrations this weekend. Christmas has come and gone and all the partying is over for another 11 ½ months. We recover by returning to work and looking forward to the New Year's Eve celebrations this weekend. The Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW Post 8185 enjoyed a covered dish dinner prior to their regular monthly meeting on Dec. 21 at the post home.

Today is the deadline for reservations to the West Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce workshop on West County development.The workshop will run from 7:45 a.m. to 10 a.m. Thursday at the Holiday Inn Express, 7481 New Ridge Road in Hanover.The topics will include the region's economic outlook, commercial and residential development, the status of road projects and the county's one- to five-year projections.The speakers will include Michael Lofton, head of the Anne Arundel Economic Development Corp.

Betty Anne Gardner, a tap dancer who performed on a Baltimore bar at the age of 3 and never lost her love for the spotlight, died of emphysema Friday at the home of her daughter in Baltimore. She was 75. "Her parents owned Leo's Cafe on Montford and Preston streets ... and we have pictures of her up on the bar when she was little," said her daughter, Susan Gardener. Mrs. Gardner studied both ballet and tap, but "mostly she was a tap dancer," her daughter said. In her youth, she studied in the Baltimore studios of Eloise and Joe Tinker, and became one of their best dancers.

The Ladies Auxiliary to the VFW Post 8185 entertained the Perry Point veterans on Sunday, April 14 at the post home at 520 Susquehanna River Road. Kathy Heaton and her crew provided a scrumptious meal followed by music provided by DJ Bob Cross. The ladies entertain the veterans on the second Sunday of every month from April through December. The new Bainbridge Museum at 6 S. Main Street (the Bank Building) will open for the season on Saturday, April 20, from 1 to 5 p.m. Fitness instructor Cindi Lamb Wiley, has two "Fun Buns" classes running, one in North East at Victoria Park senior apartments on Tuesday mornings at 11 a.m., and the other at the VFW Post 8185 in Port Deposit on Monday evenings at 6 p.m. The sessions in North East are free and the classes at Port's VFW encourage a $2 donation to the VFW each week.

Members of the VFW Department of Maryland gathered in Ocean City for their annual convention two weeks ago, a week before last week's Maryland State Firemen's Association Convention in Ocean City. As the VFW Post 8185 folks returned to Port, the Water Witch fire company firemen and their families left for their week at the beach. At the Firemen's Convention Memorial Service Sunday, June 17, Shirley Sentman's mom, the late Dot Brown, was remembered and honored for her service to the WWFC Ladies Auxiliary.

Volunteers are needed for the 27th annual Maryland Seafood Festival Sept. 10-12.Sponsored by the Greater Annapolis Chamber of Commerce, the festival raises more than $250,000 for programs that serve the disabled, disadvantaged and elderly.Festival volunteers get free admission and food coupons.This year, the festival features the second annual volleyball tournament on Sept. 11, a National Guard sky-diving exhibition Sept. 11 and 12, a sand sculpture contest Sept. 12.Entertainment includes the Coasters Sept.

Luau planned for wounded GIs The Yingling-Ridgely Veterans of Foreign Wars and its Ladies Auxiliary will sponsor a Hawaiian luau Saturday for wounded troops from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital. Hawaiian dancers and music, food, door prizes and games for children are planned. The event will be held from noon to 4 p.m. at the VFW post in Ellicott City. The luau is co-sponsored by Maryland for Our Military, whose members join members of the VFW's auxiliary and junior girls' unit in arranging weekly visits to Walter Reed and to the Molonge and Fisher houses, overflow housing on hospital campuses for troops and their families.

Memorial Day is a time when the community comes together to honor Americans who fought for freedom.At 1:45 p.m. tomorrow, Taneytown will have its annual Memorial Day parade. Members of American Legion Hesson-Snider Post 120 in Taneytown, will lay a wreath at the Soldiers Monument on East Baltimore Street at Trevanion Road honoring those who fought and died.The parade route will follow East Baltimore Street to Taneytown Memorial Park.The Westminster Municipal Band and Francis Scott Key High School Band will participate in the parade and a ceremony at the park.

The Association of Community Services will sponsor a talk by Ted Thompson of Network for Good on fundraising online by community organizations. He will discuss key questions to ask, strategies for success and tips for getting started raising money online from noon to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Meeting House, 5885 Robert Oliver Place, Columbia. Bring a lunch. Information: www.acshoco.org. Drug-prevention grants available The White House Office of National Drug Control and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration have announced the availability of Drug Free Communities Support Program funds totaling $19 million.