100-year-old credits hard work

Friday, March 7, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by SARA K. TAYLOR Great-great-grandson M.J. Johnson, 3, and great-granddaughter Shadonna Lewis attend grandmother Hazel Gutrick’s 100th birthday celebration Tuesday at the Nanjemoy Community Center. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

The family, which includes eight children, 36 grandchildren, 63 great-grandchildren and 73 great-great-grandchildren held a family party on March 1 for Gutrick at the Nanjemoy Volunteer Fire Department.

‘‘All I could see was people,” she said.

Tuesday’s party was a bit smaller, but Charles County Commissioner Edith Patterson managed to sneak out of session to stop by and congratulate Gutrick on the milestone.

Growing up in Nanjemoy and spending her life there, Gutrick credits hard work for her long life. Her daughter, Shirley Lewis said her mother was a ‘‘good mom, but she was hard on us. She made us go to church.”

Lewis’ sister Betty Ross had a different take.

‘‘She wasn’t a hard mom,” Ross said. She should know. A self-described ‘‘mischievous” child, Ross said she was the one who was always in trouble. ‘‘She was good to us. She is a hard worker, a church woman.”

Spring ahead, check those smoke alarms

Get ready to spring ahead an hour on Sunday when daylight savings time takes effect. And while they’re changing clocks, the Maryland State Fire Marshal William E. Barnard is also urging residents to change the batteries in their smoke detectors while they’re at it.

‘‘This simple step can help us avoid tragedies in the place we feel most secure — our homes,” Barnard said in a press release.

Along with working smoke alarms, home escape plans are another way Marylanders can avoid injury from fire. Identify at least two different escape routes and practice as a family to get the plans down. I’m sure at least one man in the house will insist on being called Steve McQueen during this drill.

Having a plan in place will educate younger children to the dangers of fire and the importance of recognizing that the sound of a smoke alarm signals a home fire.

For more information on fire and life safety, go to www.firemarshal.state.md.us.

For whom the egg rolls

Friends of Hospice are hosting the eighth annual Easter Egg Roll at St. Ignatius Church in Port Tobacco on March 15.

The popular fundraising event has sold out in past years, so call Colleen Wilson at 301-934-1268 to make reservations. Wilson is available to take calls from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. You can also call 301-609-TREE or e-mail friends@hospiceofcharlescounty.org.

In addition to the Easter egg roll, the event — held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. — will feature a moon bounce, pony rides, face painting, photos with the Easter Bunny, games, a silent auction, a raffle and box lunches.

Tickets are $15 each for children and adults and proceeds benefit Friends of Hospice, a nonprofit organization which raises money for Hospice of Charles County.

Catch a free movie

Local libraries are offering free movie downloads for all library card-carrying residents in the Southern Maryland region.

In addition to a valid library card, a broadband Internet connection is required to download movies and videos 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

For the Charles County Public Library, go to www.ccplonline.org.

MyLibraryDV can also be accessed directly. Go to, http:⁄⁄cosmos.somd.lib.md.us.

staylor@somdnews.com