Veterans Day to feature parade, baseball legend, oysters, music

Friday, Nov. 9, 2007

Brooks Robinson, the Hall of Fame former third baseman of the Baltimore Orioles, is slated to take part in Sunday’s 10 a.m. parade on Washington Street to Courthouse Drive, followed by a ceremony on Town Square where Robinson is expected to be among the speakers.

Robinson is a co-owner of a minor league baseball team coming to Waldorf next spring, and his attendance at Sunday’s event was initiated by Bill Snitcher, the team’s director of corporate partnerships.

‘‘Bill actually called to ask if Brooks could come,” Julie Lemmon, Leonardtown’s events coordinator, said this week. ‘‘They’re trying to promote the Blue Crabs baseball team.”

Snitcher said this week that Robinson will have to rush right back to Baltimore after the parade. He’ll miss out on another part of the activities held on Nov. 11 in the Mother County — the 22nd Annual Veterans Day observance held next to Hill’s Country Store along Route 5 in Helen.

The 2 p.m. event has two key components — a respectful ceremony of speeches, patriotic music, flag raising and wreath laying, followed by piles of steaming scalded oysters on tables under a tent and country music old and new played outdoors or in the store’s cozy barroom.

Great Mills homecoming kicks off at 5 p.m. today

Great Mills High School will celebrate its annual homecoming festivities today, Friday, beginning at 5 p.m. with a parade starting at Lancaster Park and traveling down South Shangri-La Drive.

Parade participants will be distributing goodies to children, and at 7 p.m. the homecoming football game will pit the Great Mills Hornets against the Patuxent Panthers. The cost to attend the game is $4 at the gate.

Big band dinner danceslated for Saturday

A big band dinner dance with the Crabtowne 18-piece swing band will be held from 7 to 11 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, at Immaculate Conception Church Hall on Old Village Road in Mechanicsville.

The proceeds will benefit the 7:30 Club and the Gabriel Network.

The 7:30 Club is a nonprofit group dedicated to providing area teens and young adults a safe place to meet and fellowship with other youth of the same age, and to provide a wholesome and exciting evening alternative of listening to Christian rock music.

The Gabriel Network is a faith-based nonprofit support network that provides practical, emotional and spiritual assistance to women and families facing crisis pregnancies.

Church’s events to include yard sale, oyster scald

Our Lady’s Church at Medley’s Neck will hold a yard sale from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, at the St. Mary’s County fairgrounds, followed by an oyster scald from 11:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, also at the fairgrounds.

Oyster stew, hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, dessert, soft drinks and beer also will be sold at Sunday’s event. There also will be a white elephant sale, brown bag auction and silent auction.

For more information, call 301-475-8403.

Forum to focus on region’s character and economy

An open forum to begin at 9 a.m. tomorrow, Saturday, at the College of Southern Maryland campus in La Plata will give Southern Maryland residents an opportunity to discuss the future of the region’s rural character and economy.

The Southern Maryland Agricultural Development Commission will conduct the gathering to be held in the campus’ Center for Business and Industry.

For more information, call 301-274-1922 or send e-mail to info@somarylandsogood.com.

Animal shelter to hostSaturday open house

The Tri-County Animal Shelter will host an open house from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday, at the facility on Animal Shelter Road, off Route 231 east of Hughesville.

In addition to activities for children, raffles will be held on animal-care supplies and many pets will be available for adoption. For more information, call 301-932-1713 or 800-903-1992.

Bluegrass music returns Sunday to Hughesville

The Larry Stephenson Band from Nashville will perform at 2 p.m. this Sunday, Nov. 11, at American Legion Post 238 off Route 231 in Hughesville.

The bluegrass concert, presented by the Sons of the American Legion, will follow a spaghetti dinner served at noon. For more information, call 301-737-3004 or go online to www.geocities.com⁄americanlegionbluegrass.

Stuffed ham sandwichesto be sold at Ridge VFD

The Ridge Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary will sell stuffed ham sandwiches from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. next Wednesday, Nov. 14, at the Ridge firehouse. Advance orders may be placed before that day by calling 301-872-5047 or sending e-mail to auxiliary@ridgevfd.org, or on the day of the event by calling 301-872-5571.

Library trusteenominations due Nov. 16

St. Mary’s County commissioners are seeking volunteers to join the county’s Board of Library Trustees, to help maintain quality library services to citizens of the county and to act as advocates for library resources and issues.

The seven board members serve five-year terms, and may serve two consecutive terms. Applicants should have a flexible schedule to attend the Tuesday morning board meetings and other library activities.

Applications are available at each library branch and at the county’s public information office at the governmental center, or can be downloaded from the library’s Web site at www.stmalib.org or the county’s Web site at www.co.saint-marys.md.us⁄voluntr⁄VolForm.pdf Completed applications with a resume must be submitted by next Friday, Nov. 16, to the county public information office. Call 301-475-4200, ext. 1341.

St. Mary’s resident to be awarded at Nov. 17 event

Tau Lambda Lambda Chapter Of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Inc. will hold its third annual Achievement Week and Founder’s Day Banquet from 7 to 11 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 17, at Middleton Hall in Waldorf.

The event recognizes individuals at the local, state, and international levels who have made noteworthy contributions toward improving the quality of life for minorities.

This year’s honorees include St. Mary’s resident Benjamin Simmons, who with Spencer E. Sewell of Calvert and Francis Kelly Simmons of Charles will be recognized as citizens of the year for Southern Maryland. Proceeds will go toward a scholarship program. Tickets may be purchased by calling 301-481-1548. E-mail contact@southernmdques.org or see www.southernmdques.org.

Library gives awaycomputers, MP3 players

SMARTCO donated 20 refurbished computers and a laptop and Best Buy donated six MP3 players for a Sept. 23 downloading how-to program at the Lexington Park library, and the winners were drawn from the thousands of entries.

Sherida Maddox won the laptop, a release states, and the computer winners were Eunice Cole, Katie Phippen, Haley Pitcher, Monica Price, Sofie Rodriguez, Sophie Wathen, Michael Bonds, Alanna Daley, Marsha Gordon, Michael Post, Aparna Sajja, Gregory Sowa, Angelita Woodland, Sabrina Ferrall, Faith Gross, Matthew Hane, Zachary Reavis, Bernadette Stephenson, Moses Weaver and Debra Webster.

The winners of the six MP3 players were Marcus Pickeral, Michelle Briscoe, Stephanie Miller, Anne Saunders, Jemaine Cyrus and Won Cha.

E-mail items to jwharton@somdnews.com.