Howard County Executive Kenneth Ulman will be holding his second annual public forum June 26 at 7 p.m. at the Glenwood Community Center. This open forum provides an opportunity for residents to ask questions, provide comments and make suggestions on any topic. County department heads will also be in attendance.

Residents wishing to speak are asked to sign up before the event and limit their questions and comments to two minutes. Last year, at the first forum, in Columbia, more than 150 residents attended.

This is our opportunity, in western Howard County, to air our concerns and be heard. What worries you about how our neighborhood is developing? What needs to be done to improve our area for ourselves and our children? This is your opportunity to have a voice in the future of western Howard County.

Green seems to be the buzzword this year when it comes to the environment, whether it is for designing cars, building houses, raising farm animals or growing plants. There are more than 140 volunteers who have been trained by the University of Maryland, Howard County Extension.

If you have a problem with controlling insects or gardening, call the Masters Gardeners at 410-313-2707. I wish I had know about them a few years ago when I had some kind of caterpillars in my Red Bud trees. Not only did they damage the trees; but they feed on me when I cut the grass and actually burned my skin, leaving a big, red welt. I would really have loved to be able to take one of those little monsters to the Master Gardeners for identification and information on how to eliminate them. It's too late now; they left a year ago and haven't been back since.

I know that this time of year is busy with yard work. But if you're retired and would like to develop a social group of new friends, you might be interested in visiting the Glenwood Senior Center for their ongoing, drop-in programs.

Party Bridge is every Tuesday at 9:30 a.m., Bunco is every Monday at 10 a.m., Mah Jongg is every Tuesday at 1 p.m., Duplicate Bridge is every Wednesday at 1 p.m., and Pinochle is every Friday, 1-3 p.m. Billiards is available Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Finally, join the chess group the first and third Wednesday of the month at 12:30 p.m. For more information, call 410-313-5443.

Liberty Baptist Church will be sponsoring vacation Bible school June 23-27 from 9 a.m. to noon. This program is geared to children from 3 years old to those going into the sixth grade. For more information, call 410-489-4137.

I'd like to brag a little about my son-in-law, Christopher Thelen. Chris is my daughter, Karen's handsome, brilliant, successful, loving husband. I'd like to congratulate him on his recent graduation from Johns Hopkins University with a master's degree in electrical engineering. He's worked very hard to complete this degree program and deserves all the accolades I can give him. Congratulations Chris for a job well-done!

Did you know that St. Michael's Catholic Church rents their facilities for parties and receptions? You can either rent the old hall or the brand-new multi-purpose room.

You would be responsible for providing the catering, but your caterer will be allowed to use the new state-of-the art kitchen. The classrooms in the new addition are also available to rent for day-time activities such as craft or exercise classes.

For more information, call Connie Bly at 410-489-7667, Ext. 104.

Would you like to give the gift of life? If you're interested, St. Michael's Catholic Church is sponsoring a community blood drive Saturday, June 21 from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the gym. To schedule your life-saving donation, call Linda at 410-549-2355.

user comments (0)