The Greater Elkridge Community Association representatives Dave Marc, Val McGuire, Stefan Israel, Jim Rogers, Chris Tait, Carol Bateman, Howard Johnson, Dave Grabowski and Sandy Baker Grabowski have been successful, with the cooperation of the Elkridge Heritage Society and other dedicated community members, in locating the vault of Lt. Col. Ephram Anderson.

They painstakingly cleared the land all around the historic Anderson Church, which allowed local archeologist Lee Preston and his team to locate the Shipley burial lot. Historian Joetta Cram was present to assist, as was Fred Dorsey and Bill and Betty Evans.

"Our efforts also allowed Mike Bennett, manager of the Meadowridge Funeral Home and Cemetery, and his team to prod for the tombstone (lying face down on the ground) of Ephram Anderson at the front of the church," the group said.

GECA wishes to thank the Ameriwaste Corp. for their unwavering support in approving a fully funded Ameriwaste Hope Grant to this venture. "Without organizations such as Ameriwaste and the Meadowridge Cemetery, the finding of Lt. Col. Ephram Anderson's vault would not have been achieved," the group explained.

However, there is still more to do. If you are available to haul away branch piles and other such work, call Val McGuire at 410-379-5329.

The Elkridge Elks, from Elkridge Elementary School, tied with Bushy Park Elementary School for first place in the large division for Super Squads Cheerleading, in Howard County.

Thanks to coaches Cierra Maszkiewics, Briana Jackson and Theresa Ogden for their guidance and support. These young cheerleaders ranged in age from 7-10, and should be very proud of their accomplishment.

Hooray to cheerleaders: Yanelle Boayue, Frankie Byers, Amber Dunnigan, Georgie Hardesty, Brianna Hall, Kennedy Hooper, Eileen Krest, Nedra Margerum, Brittani McCoy, Audrey McKay, Gracie Mumper, Kayla Sow, Dierra Stubbs, Katie Tulp and Julia Vonella.

Congratulations to Elkridge Middle School students who removed more than 3 1/2 tons of trash in Deep Run Stream. A group of about 200 students, teachers, and parent volunteers from the school participated in the stream cleanup along Deep Run as part of this year's student service learning project.

"Ben Ruble, an Elkridge Landing Middle School history teacher, contacted me last fall and said they were interested in doing a stream cleanup with their eight grade students as part of this year's student service learning project," said Betsy McMillion, Stream Watch director for the Friends of Patapsco Valley and Heritage Greenway. "After many months of planning and rescheduling due to heavy rain on our original cleanup date, we were able to remove 7,743 pounds of trash in just a few hours from the Deep Run watershed area."

Students were divided into several teams -- trash removal, first aid, the weigh team that weighed bags of trash and items and a delivery team where they brought bags of garbage.

Initially, some of the students were not excited about picking up trash, but then they began finding some unusual items and a competition between groups kicked in.

"Suddenly, you saw students racing to pick up as much trash as they could to the weigh station," McMillion added.

Terry Taggart, a reading specialist who assisted with the student service-learning project, supervised the first aid and delivery teams. Patapsco Heritage Greenway members were also an important part of this event.

McMillion supervised the overall cleanup process from start to finish; Cathy Hudson took charge of the weighing of the trash by students, using donated bathroom scales; and Jon Posner supervised the stream area to making sure young volunteers were safe when removing trash from the stream.

Congratulations to Team 3, who ended up being the winning team, removing an amazing 2,227 pounds. The winning team included: Jeanne Garland, a teacher at Elkridge Landing Middle School, and the following students: Tori Delaney, Mary Dolin, Alison Dorsey, Andrew Dougherty, Lydia Dubrosky, Christine Duncan, Melissa Dutt, Nicholas Eakin, Joshus Fergusson, Tiana Fields, Carlos Gantt, Marela Maria Giraldo, Nicole Grabowski, Rodney Grant, John Greynolds, Zachary Grissom, Christopher McElligott, Loryn McMillin, Delaney Miller, Justin Miller, Tanner Montgomery, Robert Ouelette and Sean Miller.

Some of the items found were the usual bottles, aluminum cans, and fast-food wrappers. However, they found other unusual objects including: a Washington Post newspaper stand, deck railing, a large metal wheel about 6 feet in diameter, a television, a microwave, a lawn mower, a baby stroller and metal drums.

A few students discovered a 5-foot long live snake, deer and raccoon skulls, frogs, a box turtle, and something that reminded them of coral.

This clean up was sponsored in part by grants by Baltimore County Department of the Environmental Protection and Resource Management, the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and the Chesapeake Bay Trust. Howard County Bureau of Highways helped remove the trash immediately after the cleanup.

Volunteers are part of the solution for pollution. Stream clean-ups are held on a regular basis. If you would like to help, you can volunteer as a group, a family, or individual. E-mail the Friends of the Patapsco Valley & Heritage Greenway at patapscofriend@gmail.com, call 410-480-0824 or go to www.patapscoheritagegreenway.org.

Happy June birthdays to Joan Steinrucken, Patty Bensinger, Jayla Wilkins, Patti Sapp, Joyce Shields and Josh Bahrijczuk!

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