Village Shopping Center

Jack Nethen, a sign company executive who lighted the Edmondson Village Shopping Center for the holidays and kept the Gayety's neon dancers kicking, died of cancer Saturday at Howard County General Hospital. The Glen Burnie resident was 76. The secretary-treasurer of Claude Neon Signs in Cherry Hill, he was the second generation of his family to make and install well-known local theater marquees, shopping center pylons and lighted advertising devices passed by motorists daily. Born John A. Nethen, but known as Jack, the Baltimore native was raised in Pigtown.

Oakland Mills Village has announced that Oct. 22 will be the village's annual Community Clean-Up Day.The village office in the Other Barn will provide free plastic bags for cleanup collections of refuse. It is a good opportunity for Scout Troops, civic organizations, schools and church groups to provide community service.If you don't know where to begin, call 730-4610 and register for a specific area.*The Kings Contrivance Village Board is proud of the response it received from residents to fill a vacancy on the board caused by the resignation of Shayna Van Meter.

Networking group to meet for lunch at Fat Cat Cafe Business Networking Group will meet Wednesday at Fat Cat Cafe, East Main and Center streets, Westminster. Networking will be from 11:30 a.m. to noon, followed by lunch and a business meeting. Members are asked to bring canned food to donate. The group promotes personal and professional growth through networking and exposure to issues and concerns facing business professionals. Reservations: Debby Jackson, 410-848-5800. Carroll Lutheran officer earns national certification Roy Chiavacci, vice president of environmental and administrative services at Carroll Lutheran Village, was awarded the national Retirement Housing Professional designation at the annual meeting of American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging in San Diego.

Dorri Brain's musical talents were recognized this summer when her Annapolis teacher, Mary Tamplin, recommended her for, and she received, the prestigious Peabody Award for Piano.Her interest and skills with the instrument undoubtedly will continue after she graduates from Oakland Mills High School in 1995, as she pursues her career goal of teaching piano to middle school students. Congratulations, Dorri.The Brain family believes in long-term goals. David Brain, a student at Rice University, has been part of a team that's worked under the guidance of Dr. Conrad Danenberg for six years on a "GAS Can" (getaway canister)

Oakland Mills, one of Columbia's original villages, has suffered significant hits in recent years: a perception of high crime, gaping vacancies in its village shopping center and a grade-changing scandal in its namesake high school. The community has been attempting to reinvigorate its community and image, and the Enterprise Foundation - a national neighborhood revitalization group founded by James W. and Patty Rouse - is stepping in to help. At a community meeting tomorrow, the group will talk with residents about their concerns and attempt to find solutions.

High above the land of earth-toned homes and hidden retail, it looms - a five-story cube painted bright blue, gray and red, a new home for stuff that's outgrown thousands of closets, garages and attics. The EzStorage self-storage facility about to open on Snowden River Parkway in Columbia looks like everything the planned community was created to combat: big, bright, in-your-face commercial space on top of houses and a playground. "It's an eyesore," said Phil Rousseau, a retired butcher with a backyard view of the storage tower.

This Saturday is the Long Reach County Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Long Reach Village Shopping Center.There will be fun, food and games for every member of the family. Be sure to include a tour of the Columbia Art Center. Instructors will be on hand to discuss their classes and to demonstrate art techniques.There will be free refreshments in the center's Japanese garden, whose gate opens to the fair. Ask about the raffle, too -- interesting prizes!*Mark Sept. 24 on your calendar.That is the date of the annual Lake Elkhorn Festival, which begins with a parade at 10:30 a.m. at Dasher Green Elementary School and marches the length of Cradle Rock Way.Youngsters are invited to decorate their bikes and wagons; neighbors are urged to design a float.

Here's a puzzle that W. Edward Orser presents to students:Imagine an American community of 20,000 people. Then imagine the same community 10 years later. Its population remains 20,000, but almost none of the residents are the same ones who had lived there 10 years before. What happened?The students sift through environmental and economic catastrophes that could have caused such a dramatic population shift. Then they stumble on the obvious, American answer: Black people moved in, and white people moved out.Posing the question, Dr. Orser, 53, an American Studies professor at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, has a particular community in mind -- Edmondson Village.

Columbia residents will have a chance tomorrow to win $25 gift certificates to a village shopping center or a color television // through raffles, pocket $50 in cash by estimating jelly beans in a jar and hunt for bargains at a neighborhood flea market.No, it's not a carnival, and it's too early for the summer city fair. It's election day for Columbia village boards and the Columbia Council, which has prompted some villages to provide extra incentive to draw a traditionally complacent electorate out to vote.

No doubt you've heard about the three most important considerations when you're buying a house: location, location and location. They also serve quite handily as the three most important considerations in planning a wedding, too. Just about everything except your choice of spouse is determined by this most important detail -- the flowers, the colors, the style, the themes.So to assist in finding your quintessential, one-and-only, I-did-it-my-way sort of setting, we've compiled what you might think of as a real estate listing of area reception sites.