Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Underwater Treasures

By Susan Lavin
Posted: September 17, 2008

Artist Mary Deacon Opasik stands with the artwork titled, “Underwater Treasures,” at at the Elkridge Branch Library. (Photo by Joanne Thomas).

I recently attended the dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony of the beautiful mosaic artwork, “Underwater Treasures,” at the Elkridge Branch Library.  It was a lovely, sunny afternoon with a large crowd of supportive community members, teachers, parents, elected officials, students, library staff, and representatives of the school board.

If you haven’t seen it yet, stop by the Elkridge Branch Library soon!  It’s even more amazing close up, where you can see the details.

County Executive Ken Ulman said, “the project represents the Route 1 revitalization, and cooperation between community and students”  He went on to say “The $4,000 was an incredibly well spent investment.”

The artist, Mary Deacon Opasik spoke during the ceremony and said, “This was a special year of my life!  I loved working with the great children at ELMS, they showed enthusiasm while working on this project.”

“It not only brightens up the Route 1 corridor but it will also remind the Elkridge community of the talents and dedication of one of the best art teachers in the HCPSS, Patti Battalia.” Carol Jones said.

Battalia, the art instructor at the school who was instrumental in getting this Underwater Treasure project off the ground stated, “I love driving down the Route 1 corridor now.”  She is extremely pleased with the completed masterpiece.

Comment on this entry • View 1 response

Change Matters Campaign Will Raise Funds for Shelter Playground

By Susan Lavin
Posted: September 17, 2008

The Change Matters Committee members include (top row, from left) Walker Smith, Andrew Rotolo, Che Brown, Dylan Singleton and (bottom row from left) Adejire Bademosi, Lunden Hawkins, Alison Spatz and Corinne Tomaszewski. (Photo by Joseph V. Murray Sr.)

The Elkridge Horizon Council and Howard High School are joining forces to raise funds for Grassroots, which provides Howard County’s only emergency shelter program and 24-hour crisis intervention services.

Plans are underway to begin a program that will raise funds to build a shelter playground. The Elkridge Horizon Council is an advisory group consisting of people who live and work in the Elkridge area. The group advises The Horizon Foundation about topics of concern and importance to the community and makes suggestions about ways to address those issues.

Howard High students Che Brown, Walker Smith and Alison Spatz are members of the Elkridge Horizon Council.  They are leading the program that will purchase playground equipment for homeless children who are sheltered at Grassroots. The two-week campaign, called Change Matters, will be launched Oct. 10.

The students involved with the Elkridge Horizon Council will be collecting coins from students and school staff at Howard High and elsewhere in the community.  Please be generous, as the Grassroots program is essential to our community!

“ Last year, Grassroots had 23,474 Hotline contacts and 468 personal contacts.The Mobile Crisis Team made 331 community responses, serving 856 people.  The shelter programs housed 389 people, 165 of which were children, from infants to high school students. Grassroots is housed in newly expanded and renovated quarters on Freetown Road in Columbia, where it has operated for 18 years,” the representatives explained.

In addition to Brown, Smith and Spatz, Change Matters committee members include former Deep Run Elementary School Principal Fran Donaldson, Marriotts Ridge High School junior Adejire Bademosi, Wilde Lake High School senior Dylan Singleton, Howard High School guidance counselor Sonya Sutter and seniors Lunden Hawkins and Amy Sichler and juniors Andrew Rotolo and Corinne Tomaszewski, and Grassroots board members Mimi O’Donnell and Steve Koren.  Donaldson and Sutter are members of the Elkridge Horizon Council.

Comment on this entry • No responses

Huge Yard Sale Sponsored by Elkridge Elementary PTA

By Susan Lavin
Posted: September 17, 2008

Come join the Elkridge Elementary School Community PTA Yard Sale as a customer or participant.  The event will be Saturday, Sept. 27 from 8 a.m. to noon in the upper parking lot of the school. They have scheduled a rain date for Sunday, Sept. 28.

Cost is $20 for 2 parking spaces. Sorry, no tables will be provided.  Donations of books are needed for the book sale and for those handy in the kitchen, baked goods as well. For additional information, e-mail or call Jeanne Nichols at 410-796-2201 or my2grlz@verizon.net

Comment on this entry • No responses

MOMS Club Meeting this Wednesday

By Susan Lavin
Posted: September 15, 2008

The Elkridge MOMS Club meets the third Wednesday of each month at 9:45 a.m. This month’s meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 17. E-mail membership@momsclubofelkridge.org for details and location of the meetings. The local membership area includes Elkridge and the Howard County portions of Hanover and Jessup.

The MOMS Club (Moms Offering Moms Support) is an international, nonprofit organization with over 1000 chapters and 50,000 members worldwide. The Elkridge chapter has more than 50 members and is expanding every year. In addition to the many outings and social opportunities the MOMS Club has to offer, it also offers members a support network, with child friendly meetings. During the meetings, they discuss the latest club news, upcoming events and how you can get involved. In most cases a children’s activity will be available, a guest speaker or a group discussion topic as well as a supervised nursery.

The general meetings are a great opportunity to socialize and get to know other members and their children. So come to the next MOMS Club meeting! Go to www.momsclubofelkridge.org/about.html for more information.

Comment on this entry • No responses

Emily Neubauer Contributes to Locks of Love

By Susan Lavin
Posted: September 12, 2008

Emily Neubauer, 7, shows off the hair she had cut off to donate to Locks of Love during her visit to Cartoon Cuts in the Columbia mall. (Photo by Marla Neubauer).

Emily Neubauer just celebrated her 7th birthday Sept. 2 and she sure seems wise beyond her years. She heard a few friends at school talking and found out how they helped sick children feel better through Locks of Love. Since she had very long hair, which she shared, “felt really heavy,” she made the decision to also help those children.

“We went to Cartoon Cuts in the Columbia mall. The haircut is free and they send the hair to Locks of Love for you,” said Marla Neubauer, Emily’s mother.

Emily told me that she thinks the sick children just feel better when they have new hair to wear and she wanted to make them happy by giving her long hair for a wig.

Cartoon Cuts also provided a certificate from Locks of Love so she could remember this special occasion. For additional information, call Cartoon Cuts at 410-740-6665.

Emily and her family are very proud to have the opportunity to assist Locks of Love. Happy belated birthday to Emily, and thanks so much for your generous contribution!

By the way, Emily, you look adorable with your new hairdo!

Comment on this entry • No responses