Atholton High School is Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence and Memories

I received an email from Bonnie (Sraver) Luepkes letting me know about Atholton High School's upcoming golden anniversary celebration on October 22, 2016. It's going to be a full day affair. Festivities begin at 8:30 a.m. with the Homecoming breakfast and continue the rest of the day, ending with the homecoming football game between the River Hill Hawks and the Raiders. A full schedule of events can be found here.

Bonnie gave me a history lesson about the school. It openedn in the fall of 1966. The student body was drawn from Hammond, Ellicott City, and Clarksville junior high schools and also from Glenelg and Howard High Schools. That year was also the start of the new middle school program in Howard County. Bonnie and her classmates were in Clarksville Junior High at the time and started in Atholton in 10th grade. Bonnie's older sister, Charlene (Sraver) Fitzpatrick was in the first graduating class of 1968.

Not only did Bonnie graduate from Atholton, she was a teacher tere from 1978 until 2007. 

\As far as I know this event on Homecoming day is the only one that is planned that will invite many alumni to attend.  I was the chairperson for the 40th anniversary, but not this one.  I taught at AHS from 1978 to 2007. 

Trump Sign Spray-painted: Free Speech, Vandalism or Hate Crime? - You Decide

I was driving home from work this past Friday (September 23, 2016), taking my usual route when I came upon this Trump sign that was located in a neighbor's front yard. Sometime during that Thursday evening, someone decided to make their feelings for Mr. Trump known on this campaign sign.

So, is the act of spray painting a swastika on the sign:

• Free speech
• Vandalism
• Hate crime

Emmanuel United Methodist Church presents Live In Concert -- STARY OLSA

I got a very short notice email from Brian Nelson, the Director of Communications at Emmanuel United Methodist Church n Laurel. Here's the information about the concert:

STARY OLSA - In Concert

on Tuesday, September 27 at 7 pm at Emmanuel United Methodist Church, 10755 Scaggsville Rd, Laurel, MD 20723

Free Admission

STARY OLSA, a medieval Belarusian music band is live and in concert at Emmanuel United Methodist Church. The name comes from a brook in the west part of Mahilioŭ Region (Belarus) and was founded in 1999 by its present leader Zmicier Sasnoŭski and now consists of six musicians.

The band's repertoire includes Belarusian folk balladry and martial songs, Belarusian national dances, works of Belarusian Renaissance composers, compositions from Belarusian aulic music collections (e.g. Polack Notebook, Vilnia Notebook), Belarusian canticles of the 16th - early 17th centuries, as well as European popular melodies of the Middle Ages and Renaissance.

The band's music makes it possible to restore sounds of many forgotten instruments. STARY OLSA uses for its performances maximal exact (in appearance, technology and materials) copies of old aged Belarusian instruments such as Belarusian bagpipe, lyre, gusli (Baltic psaltery), svirel (reed pipe), jaw-harp, ocarina, Belarusian trumpet, birch bark trumpet, hudok (Belarusian rebec), tromba marina and drums.

In addition, Stary Olsa performs modern rock and heavy metal favorites on these period instruments, creating a unique blend of old and modern that is a treat for the ear! They are currently touring in support of their upcoming 12th album "Medieval Classic Rock".

More information on the band's website: www.staryolsa.com

A love offering will be taken.

Join us and please bring friends and neighbors.

Please share to help get the word out.

For Directions go to: www.EUMCLaurel.org

Reservoir High School: In Search of Mentors.....

The Reservoir Gifted and Talented Intern/Mentor Program at Reservoir High School is searching for mentors to work with students who are interested in pursuing careers in a variety of fields. Areas that have the highest needs are:

•  Automotive Design/Engineering
• Computer Science
• Marketing
• Mechanical Engineering
• Medicine
• Veterinary Medicine         

If this interests you or, if you know of someone who may be interested, please contact:

Janine Kucik
Gifted and Talented Resource Teacher
Reservoir High School
phone:  410-888-8858
fax:  410-888-8859
email:  janine_kucik@hcpss.org

Mulch Sale Now Going On At St. Paul's Lutheran in Fulton

Randy Arndt, my go-to guy from St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fulton, sent an email to let me know about their annual mulch sale. Here is what he had to say:

The snow is gone, some warm days have arrived, daylight saving has begun and so has the St. Paul's Lutheran Church Mulch Sale in Fulton.  This year's annual mulch sale to support a college scholarship fund for church youth will begin on Saturday, March 19, and continue through the end of April.  Drive-in sales will be held from 9 a.m. to Noon each Saturday through April 30 in the parking lot of St. Paul's on Route 216 at the intersection of Lime Kiln Road.

Sponsored by the Men's Brotherhood at St. Paul's, the mulch sale will offer top quality shredded hardwood and pine bark mulch, decorative black and red mulch, and Leafgro soil conditioner. Prices are $5 for large 3 cu. ft. bags of wood mulch, $5 for 2 cu. ft. bags of colored mulch, and $6 for 1.5 cu. ft. bags of soil conditioner.  A charitable tax deduction of $1.25 can be taken for each bag purchased.

The mulch sale to support a scholarship fund for youth at St. Paul's began in 2012 and is believed to be the only church-sponsored scholarship program in the area.  Last year's sale provided scholarships of $1,000 each to John Moseman and Madeline Courtney, who graduated from local schools in 2015 and are now attending college.

The church parking lot is entered on Murphy Road, across from the cow pasture at Maple Lawn Farm.   Purchases will be loaded for customers, and large orders of up to 45 bags will be delivered locally for $20.  For additional information about the St. Paul's Mulch Sale or to inquire about delivery, contact Mike Heyser 301-370-6362.

 I included a link to the church in the 1st sentence.