January
All jazzed up: Baltimore County Schools All Honors Jazz Band and All Honors Vocal Jazz Ensemble – including students from Perry Hall High – will perform a free concert Saturday, January 19 at 7:30 p.m. at The Walters Art Museum Graham Auditorium, 600 N. Charles St. While the selection of the All Honor Jazz Band is an annual tradition for the school system, the All Honors Vocal Jazz Ensemble is new this year. The jazz ensemble features 16

by Jeffrey Smith

As a lifelong resident of Maryland, I have come to realize that one of the most important assets of our state is the wealth of parks and open spaces dotting the landscape.

In the immediate vicinity of my family’s Nottingham home, there are over a dozen parks, trails, community centers, or other recreation facilities available.

The development of parks and the preservation of open space are vital for everyone.

First and foremost, these

By Celeste Breitenbach
news@timesheraldnews.com

During the first week of 1940, a fire that started in the kitchen destroyed the house on Taylor Avenue just behind the southwest corner of Harford Road.

This house had been given to Sam Matthews by Simon J. Martenet, who gave Parkville its name.

Sam, born a slave on the Cole Estate (where Woodcroft now stands) served as a servant-caretaker on Martenet’s Parkville property after the Civil War.

His descendants continued to live

Is it just me or do your New Year’s resolutions from last year look alarmingly familiar?

I know, I know.

Lose 10 pounds or maybe 20, exercise for 45 minutes a day – every day. Give up all junk food and just eat healthy food. And no more stopping at McDonalds regardless of their transfatlessness. Unfortunately, those good intentions don’t seem to last very long and all too quickly you’re right back to your old ways

by Cheryl Keffer
news@timesheraldnews.com

Hospice isn’t a place. It’s more of a frame of mind.

And Hospice of Baltimore, a non-profit based at Greater Baltimore Medical Center, wants to spread its philosophy about how to take care of people at the end of their lives.

So the organization is sending its representatives out into the community, visiting Baltimore County’s senior centers for a year-long look at the aspects of hospice and end-of-life care.

“We focus on the patient and

by Michele Wojciechowski

Steve Markey’s new business venture began because of his son, Bradley. Markey says that Bradley plays baseball at a high level, and throughout his life, the 15-year-old has been on everything from travel teams to Baltimore metro teams. But the problem always came in the off-season.

As Markey recalls, it was often difficult for teams to find safe, appropriate places for the kids to practice. Over the years, they rented warehouse space, private gymnasiums,

Baltimore Ravens players Edgar Jones, David Pittman, and Ronnie Prude visited students of The Maryland School for the Blind for an interactive lesson in football, Tuesday. The players brought football equipment and paraphernalia for the students to touch and feel as part of the programs used to educate. Above, Prude gives Lily Tanenholz a chance to feel a Raven helmet. Photo by Thom Perry

Youth honored with football game
More than 100 youngsters

The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Baltimore County Board of Education will be held Tuesday, Nov. 20 at the ESS Building, Room 114, Greenwood Campus, 6901 Charles St. in Towson. The Building and Contracts Committee of the Board will meet at approximately 4:45 p.m. The full board will meet in open session at 5 p.m. to discuss upcoming school board association events, school system and community meetings, and items of interest to board members. The board will then move

Tree lighting and Santa sighting
The Perry Hall Improvement Association (PHIA) and the Perry Hall Elementary School (PHES) announce that the annual community Christmas Tree ceremony will be held on Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 6:30 pm. As in years past, residents of the community and children and families associated with the school are encouraged to visit PHES for this special evening event.

Highlights will include traditional wintertime songs performed by the PHES 2nd Grade Vocal Music Group, and

Hampton renovations complete after three years

by Celeste H. Breitenbach
news@timesheraldnews.com

Historic Hampton Mansion reopens the weekend of Nov. 30-Dec. 2 after being closed for three years of renovations. Following an 11 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony on Friday, special activities and tours will be held all weekend.

When completed in 1790, Hampton Mansion was renowned as the largest home in the U.S. It remains one of the finest and largest examples of late Georgian architecture although most of the once

Parkville library regular Ugonnaya Obineme, 14, was the Grand Prize winning participant in Baltimore County Public Library’s Teen Read Week (Oct. 14-20) drawing for ages 11-18. To be eligible, participants needed to give the name of their favorite book or CD. Ugonnaya’s favorite book was “The Book Thief.” Parkville librarian Shelley Gilchrist presented her the prize of a 4 GB iPod Nano.

The county library also recently awarded David Otto of Parkville and Jane Vanicky of Nottingham with its annual staff merit award, which recognizes employees’ outstanding contributions to the library and the community.

Overlea-Fullerton Senior Center
4314 Fullerton Ave.
Details: 410-887-5220

Blood pressure screening – With Karen Kanzler, RN from Good Samaritan, Nov. 20 from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Parkville Senior Center
8601 Harford Rd.
Details: 410-887-5227
(The fitness center is open Mon., Tues, Wed. & Fri. from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Applications are available in the staff office.)

Sign up for classes – It’s once again time to register for classes offered by the Community

Lutherville resident Jessica Shawn Kilmartin, 31, was arrested Nov. 6 after breaking into the basement of a house on Willow Avenue, soon after a fire destroyed an apartment building nearby.

According to county police, Kilmartin was in one of the apartments and under the influence of drugs when she started the fire at 16 E. Overlea Ave. Calls reporting the fire came in just before 9 p.m.

Everyone was evacuated safely, but Kilmartin was missing from the scene. She

by David Marks

Many people don’t give a second thought to the food they eat – and I’m not talking about calories and nutrition.

I’m referring to the complicated process by which food begins on farms and ends up on our kitchen tables. Sadly, the role of the American farmer is simply lost to many people today.

In 1870, half the country’s population was employed in agriculture. Today, that number has fallen to less than 1 percent.

Thanksgiving

by Jeffrey Smith

There’s something special about settling down for a good night’s sleep and hearing the sound of a train in the distance.

Wherever I’ve lived, I have always been lucky enough to experience this unique aspect of Americana. For over 150 years, there have been rail lines operating throughout eastern Baltimore County. To this day, residents of the area can still witness regular visits by trains of all

Country’s ‘most historic city’ only 118 miles away
by Celeste H. Breitenbach
news@timesheraldnews.com

Visiting Fredericksburg, Va, which describes itself as “Pleasantly situated on the Rappahannock,” it is almost impossible to believe that mean and bloody battles important to both sides were fought here.
Although I’d come to see Civil War sites, I learned after a stop at the Visitors Center (706 Caroline St.) that there’s so much more to this charming Southern city. When you visit,

THAT TIME ALREADY? – Santa sits patiently, waiting for the first wave of children hoping they’re on his “nice” list at last week’s White Marsh tree lighting – the official start of the holiday season for this area. Photo by Thom Perry

Holiday events
Festival of trees – Nov. 23 - 25. The 18th annual Kennedy Krieger Institute Festival of Trees will be held in the Cow Palace at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in

by Celeste H. Breitenbach
news@timesheraldnews.com

Thanks to local comic book store owner Michael Guthridge, some U.S. troops in Iraq will be receiving a gift of roughly 1,000 of the latest comic books and 100 pop culture magazines every month.

“I remember when I was over there, anything from home put a smile on my face – whether an old newspaper, magazine, comic books. It was just an escape. If you sat down and

by Cheryl Keffer
ckeffer@timesheraldnews.com

They were allowed some creative liberties and Emily Middleton chose to decorate her artwork with hearts.

That’s because the soldier whose portrait she created was awarded the Purple Heart, the Perry Hall Christian School sixth grader said last week.

Art students at Perry Hall Christian have worked since the start of school to create portraits of Maryland soldiers who have died in Iraq. (Art teacher Teddy Richardson gave some free

by Cheryl Keffer
ckeffer@timesheraldnews.com

The USS Bowfin sits in Pearl Harbor as a memorial to World War II, but for Perry Hall resident Earl Jackson, the submarine was his home for three patrols.

With permission from his parents (and at the suggestion of a high school guidance counselor), the 16-year-old Jackson signed up – the badly forged birth certificate was ignored, he said, since “they were so hard up for people” to join the