What do Martin Luther King, Abraham Lincoln, Mahatmat Ghandi, Tiger Woods, Bill Gates, Neil Armstrong and Albert Einstein have in common? They are leaders in their respective fields admired for their ability to accomplish great feats. Leaders posses certain indelible qualities -- focus, determination, knowledge and communication skills -- that enable them to achieve goals that many others have tried, but failed.

The Hugh O'Brian Youth Leadership organization knows the importance of leadership. For almost five decades, they have provided leadership development training to high school students around the world. HOBY's goal is to inspire and develop our global community of youth to a life dedicated to leadership, service and innovation.

The HOBY organization works with school advisers and teachers to identify high school sophomores who have demonstrated leadership qualities. One student is then selected from each high school to attend their state's HOBY seminar. The programs are offered at no cost for more than 9,000 students nationwide each year.

This year, our very own Centennial High School sophomore Justin Cosentino was selected to represent his school at the HOBY Maryland Leadership seminar held at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg.

The three-day seminar brought together a select group of students, called HOBY Ambassadors, for discussion and learning opportunities with distinguished leaders in business, government and education. Topics for discussion included entrepreneurship, world hunger, volunteerism, goal-setting and motivation.

"At HOBY, I learned that even the smallest action makes a difference in the community. The hunger dinner, where I ate beans and rice while other groups ate well, opened my eyes to the needs of the rest of the world. The speakers were amazing and offered helpful leadership advice. The seminar made an impact on the way I act and think and I would recommend it to future sophomores," Cosentino said about his HOBY experience.

Cosentino's mom, Sandra Cosentino, agreed it was a great experience for Justin.

"My husband and I attended the closing ceremonies. It was wonderful to see so many positive, energetic teenagers," she said.

Founded in 1958 by veteran actor Hugh O'Brian, HOBY will soon celebrate 50 years as the country's top youth leadership development organization. Now in his 80s, O'Brian's goal to help young people make a difference and become positive catalysts for change is a reality.

Still active in HOBY, O'Brian made a surprise visit to HOBY's Maryland Leadership seminar. According to Cosentino, he spoke to the ambassadors and seminar leaders about his vision and what HOBY means to him.

You can learn more about HOBY by going to its national and Maryland Web sites at www.hoby.org and www.hobymd.org.

Wanted: Old ties! Ugly ties! If you got them in your closet (and you know who you are) head down to Great Harvest Bread Company on Centre Park Drive in Columbia. In celebration of Father's Day the store will accept your old, ugly ties and exchange them for a free loaf of bread -- your choice of mouth-watering honey whole wheat or good old-fashioned white.

Why? Great Harvest will donate the ties to the Christian Women's Thrift Shop in Ellicott City. Remember beauty is in the eye of the beholder!

Jane Hipsley, who co-owns Great Harvest with her husband, Pat, and sister, Christine Bory, said this is the fourth year the store has held it's Father's Day tie exchange.

"We usually receive between 50 and 100 ties. It's great fun for everyone when we hang all the ties around the store. It makes for great conversation and the ties go to a local charity which makes us all feel like we are giving back to our community," she said.

Before the ties are donated to the thrift shop, the employees take a vote to award one tie the honor of "ugliest tie." The owner of the tie wins a free lunch at Great Harvest.

What a wonderful idea! Hooray for Great Harvest!

Congratulations to the newly elected officers of the Patapsco Middle School PTA for 2009-2010: President, Linda Dombrowski; First Vice President, Monica Machovec; Second Vice President, Vicki Imre; Treasurer, Kathy Nordhausen; and PTA Council Delegates, Amy and Tom Cargiulo.

I often hear people say that good customer service is hard to find. That's not the case at Carrabba's Italian Grill, in Long Gate shopping center.

Last week, my family ate dinner at the Italian restaurant. After we were seated at the special counter that over looks the kitchen -- my kids love to watch the chef cook -- I noticed that my favorite dish, eggplant parmesan, was no longer listed on the menu.

I decided to ask the nice man working next to us whether they still serve the tasty dish -- who just happened to be owner Jerry Delahanty.

"While we don't have eggplant parmesan on the regular menu anymore, I'd be happy to make it for you. Next time you come in for dinner, call us forty five minutes ahead of your dinner plans and we'll make it from scratch," he said.

With that said, he handed me his card and told me to call him personally.

Customer service doesn't get better than that!

I'm told Delahanty and his staff treat all their customers with warm hospitality. It's a telling sign that in an industry with high worker turnover that Delahanty's staff has been with him for years. That's evidence that Delahanty treats his staff like he treats his customers -- like family. This is befitting of the Italian family atmosphere that Carrabba's is known for.

Before we finished dinner the owner told me about the restaurant's Amici Club (means "friend" in Italian). Membership is free and entitles folks to receive special offers, recipes and invitations to private events such as wine tastings and cooking classes. I'm now a member.

For more information on the Amici Club go the restaurant Web site at www.carrabbas.com

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