Celebrate Cobb Island Day with food and fun

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Then the fun really starts with music, games (including a pie-eating contest and crab races), food, craft sales and other events scheduled through the end of the festival at 5 p.m. The festival is free.

For more details about the festival, go to http:⁄⁄home.comcast.net⁄~cica⁄ci-days.html.

Pave the wayfor Lions Camp Merrick

Lions Camp Merrick is creating a Patriots Circle around the flagpole at the Nanjemoy camp, which will provide a gathering space for campers during the morning and evening flag ceremonies.

The project calls for a 1,500-square-foot assembly area paved with bricks. This is where the public comes in. The surface will feature engraved pavers, otherwise known as name bricks.

A Patriots Circle and Garden campaign is under way to construct a durable surface for kids to meet, while recognizing loyal camp supporters and raising funds for camp projects and improvements.

‘‘We named this project the Patriots Circle campaign because we will surround our patriotic symbol with the names of Americans who have given so much to help deserving kids,” said Claude ‘‘Bud” Humbert, president of Lions Camp Merrick, in a press release. ‘‘We also believe this is a fitting way to recognize and offer a lasting tribute to loved ones, clubs and businesses.”

For a 4-by-8-inch brick, engraved with three lines, the price is $100. An 8-by-8-inch brick with eight lines of engraving is $250.

The bricks can be used to remember a loved one, show respect for someone special, acknowledge camp alumni and validate business or organization support.

In addition to offering deaf and diabetes camps, Lions Camp Merrick provides blind individuals with one-of-a-kind camping opportunities.

To request a brick order form or to find out more about the campaign, call 301-645-5616 or e-mail cmpmerrick@aol.com.

Heroes get a hand

Hire a Hero, a nonprofit program offering active and transitioning military personnel and their spouses networking opportunities into employment and training, is accepting scholarships applications.

The 122 awards are available to military personnel, veterans, National Guard members, reservists and their spouses.

One of Hire a Hero’s sponsors — Lincoln Educational Services Corp. — will provide training in an effort to give back to those who have served the country.

‘‘Young veterans are almost three times more unemployed than their civilian counterparts,” said Dan Caulfield, Hire a Hero executive director, in a press release. ‘‘That statistic is due to the fact that when these men and women are serving, they primarily network with each other and not with people who can help them in their civilian lives.

‘‘Although the military provides fabulous training and skills, some need additional certifications or desire a different career path,” Caulfield continued. ‘‘With these scholarships, Lincoln will provide our military community with more choices on how to transition smoothly back into their civilian lives.”

To find out more about the program or to submit an application, go to www.hireahero.com.

Talkin’ trash

The second annual Potomac Watershed Trash Summit is taking place Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Throughout the day, elected officials, environmental leaders and concerned citizens will meet to discuss the future of the Potomac River, which summit organizers want to be trash-free by 2013.

Among those attending the summit is world-renowned oceanographer and marine biologist Sylvia A. Earle, who will be the keynote speaker. Earle has been called a ‘‘living legend” by the Library of Congress and the first ‘‘Hero of the Planet” by Time magazine. On the summit’s agenda are discussions of energizing regional and national leadership panels, trash-reduction strategies and talk of educating the public. To find out all that went on during the meeting, go to www.trashfreepotomac.org. To find out what you can do to help make the Potomac River cleaner, go to the Web site or call 202-518-7415.

Parrotheads, rejoice

Break out the board shorts and straw fedoras, Friends of Hospice is holding its annual Caribbean concert benefit Saturday.

Gilligan’s Pier in Newburg will host Captain Quint playing all of Jimmy Buffet’s standards, rain or shine. Arrive at 6 p.m. and stay ’til closing. The band plays from 7 to 11 p.m.

The dress code is strict: tropical casual (flip-flops and Hawaiian prints). Admission is $25 per person, with a cash bar, and the restaurant will be open.

For tickets, call Rick Baldus at 301-753-1509. Make checks payable to Friends of Hospice Foundation Inc.

Gilligan’s Pier is at 11535 Pope’s Creek Road.

E-mail Sara K. Taylor at staylor@somdnews.com.