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Family planning fun day to honor a solemn memory
Houtz fundraiser to go to Sept. 11 victim scholarship
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
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Take a full-scale children's carnival, pack it into numerous boxes and bags — don't forget the prizes — and that's the scene in the basement of Julie and Joe Shontere's La Plata home.
The couch is buried under stacks of stuffed animals. Boxes line the walls, filled to the brim with small toys. Supplies for the games which award those prizes are loaded to the breaking point in garbage bags.
And don't even ask about the garage and refrigerator bursting with food.
But the controlled chaos is a small price to pay for what the Shontere family is hoping to achieve: Supporting students in the name of their daughter, Angie M. Houtz.
Established in 2002, the Angie M. Houtz Memorial Scholarship Fund offers several scholarships each year to high school students who plan to attend a Maryland public college or students already enrolled in one.
"Two years ago we realized we had to do some fundraising," said Tina Wasielewski, one of Houtz's sisters. "As a board, we decided to have a Family Fun Day because it's so community- and family-oriented, and that's the way we wanted to celebrate Angie."
Born in La Plata and raised between there and White Plains, Houtz graduated from Maurice J. McDonough High School in 1992 and went on to graduate from the University of Maryland Baltimore County as an honors scholar in 1996. She interned with the Office of Naval Intelligence her senior year and after graduation accepted a job there. Houtz eventually moved to Rockville and became an active member of the Church of the Apostles in Fairfax County, Va.
"As an adult, Angie was very active in the community," Wasielewski said. "Any outreach that was there, she was willing to say ‘yes.'"
On Sept. 11, Houtz was serving as a senior intelligence officer for the Office of Naval Intelligence in the Pentagon. In the early morning of that fateful Tuesday, Houtz was hard at work in a conference room on the west side of the building, working on intelligence she had received concerning the attacks on the World Trade Center towers in New York City an hour earlier.
She had turned 27 only five days before her name would be included on the list of terrorism victims.
After the sudden death of a daughter and sister, Houtz's family turned its grief to a constructive cause by establishing the scholarship fund.
"That first year [2002] we agreed to award $1,000 to one applicant," Wasielewski said.
"Now we guarantee at least one $3,000 scholarship," said Jamie Jackson, Houtz's other sister. "We've awarded about $30,000 between 2002 and 2008."
Among the criteria for the scholarship applicants is a 3.0 grade point average on a 4.0 scale, and the completion of at least 200 community service hours.
"Even with the criteria, we can get 100 applications a year," Wasielewski said. "It's not just about the number of applications, but the number of worthy applications."
While the applications have not diminished, donated funds have not weathered the years as easily, which prompted the Shonteres to launch the first Angie M. Houtz Memorial Scholarship Fund spring fundraiser family fun day in 2007.
Since then, with the help of volunteers — rookies and returners — and donations, the Shonteres have put on two successful Fun Days.
"It's definitely a family and community effort; not something one or two people can graciously put together," Wasielewski said. "It becomes the event that it is because of the community support."
Last year about 1,000 adults and children attended the event.
This year the family fun day will be held May 16 at the Charles County Fairgrounds. Admission is $5, games are 50 cents and food will be available to purchase. There will be games, face painting, arts and crafts, a jumbo slide, moon bounce and hayride for youngsters.
The fun day runs rain or shine, and so far the event has had a perfect record for good weather, which leads Joe Shontere to smile and deny any coincidence.
"Angie takes care of that."
If you go
The Angie M. Houtz Memorial Scholarship Fund family fun day will be held noon-5 p.m. May 16 at the Charles County Fairgrounds, U.S. 301, south of La Plata. There will be a moon bounce, jumbo slide, hayride, fire trucks, arts and crafts, face painting, temporary tattoos and games. Admission is $5, 50 cents for games. Held rain or shine. Go to www.angiehoutzfund.com or e-mail angiefund@yahoo.com.
