Mission of Mercy raises awareness of health needs

Mission of Mercy raises awareness of health needs

Published in http://explorecarroll.com/news/2461/news-briefs/ on 03/04/2009

Mission of Mercy, a nonprofit that provides free health care to Carroll County residents who could not otherwise afford it, is holding a series of open houses to give the public an inside look at its operations and — hopefully in the minds of administrators — inspire more individuals to donate or volunteer.

The free, one-hour tours, dubbed Coffee with MOM, include a continental breakfast. They will be held at the Barrell House, 10 Distillery Drive, Westminster, where Mission of Mercy's mobile clinic treats medical and dental patients on its periodic stops in Westminster.

The dates are March 4 and 18, April 15 and 29 and May 6 and 27.

Mission of Mercy's client load has spiked as the economy has worsened.

The organization needs doctors and dentists who can volunteer a day or two a month, and also nurses to staff clinics. The operation also needs monetary donations.

MOM officials said clients include not just the unemployed, but also those who are employed but are still either uninsured or under-insured, insofar as they cannot afford their co-payments or need treatment not covered by insurance.

Those interested in attending a Coffee with MOM open house should call 410-857-4811.

Information is also available at www.aMissionofMercy.org.
— Bob Allen

20090304 Mission of Mercy raises awareness of health needs
SDOSM 20090309
Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
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Annual Random House Carroll Community College Book Fair article by Bob Allen

New chapter for books, community college By Bob Allen

Random House Book Fair also includes movies

Posted on http://explorecarroll.com on 3/04/09

Steven Wantz, executive director of the Carroll Community College Foundation, describes the Random House Book Fair, held on the Westminster college campus for the past 11 years, as both a fund-raising and a friend-raising event.

"Over the past 12 years, it has raised over $200,000," Wantz said of the fair, which takes place Friday, March 6 and Saturday, March 7.

Proceeds from the two-day fair provide scholarships and financial aid to the college's students. In recent years, the fair has drawn about 3,500 people to the campus.

"It's an opportunity for people who have never been on our campus -- or who don't get here very often — to come out and get a peek at an institution that our county commissioners have described as 'the gem of Carroll County,' " Wantz said.

"People can come out and see what's changed and what's new here," he added. "Elements of the book fair (see related article "Books are back in town" for full schedule) are spread throughout the campus, so they get to see what's going on around the college."

Wantz said that in the past five or six years, he and his colleagues at the foundation have gone to great lengths to make the fair a family-oriented event. The Saturday schedule, for example, features a children's activities area ($2), and free events including story times, science presentations and even free children's books, while supplies last.

The emphasis, he said, is "creating a passion for reading in young people."

"There are so many activities this year for young families that you'll need at least a couple of hours to experience the whole thing," he added.

"We're hoping that at this point of the winter, people are fed up with being stuck at home and will come spend the day with us," Wantz said.

In recent years, one of the fair's most successful draws is the Friday night movie at the college's Scott Theater. This year, the Walt Disney movie "Bolt," will be featured — twice.

"We actually sold out and had to turn people away from the movie for the past two years," Wantz recalled. "So this year, we're having two showings, one at 4 p.m. and another at 7 p.m.

"Also, 'Bolt' isn't out yet on DVD, so you can come out to the college and still see it on the big screen," he added.

Wantz said it's yet another barometer of the book fair's appeal that many authors and vendors return year after year.

One of these is John Hoffert, a Hanover, Pa., resident who has written several thrillers, including "The Zero Factor," "Aphrodite's Redemption" and "The Time of Reckoning" — part of what he calls "The Lion" Series.

Hoffert has rented a table and been selling and signing copies of his books at the fair every year for the past five, and he'll be back again this year.

"It's a really good venue, and ... they don't charge vendors an exorbitant up-front fee," said Hoffert, who hopes to finish the latest novel in the Lion Series, "Pyrrhic Victory: The Lion's Wrath," later this year. (For an excerpt, visit www.JohnHoffert.com.)

"As book fairs go, it's just the right size," he added. "I was at a really big book fair in Philadelphia not too long ago, and there were hoards of people, but most of them had come to see the big-name writers. Independents like me really did get lost in the shuffle.

"It's definitely much friendlier — and much more manageable," he said.

20090304 Random House Book Fair article by Bob Allen
Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
Kevin Dayhoff Art http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/

Journey of history, discovery - 'Legacy' is lesson in heritage for filmmaker

Thursday, January 8, 2009 Journey of history, discovery - 'Legacy' is lesson in heritage for filmmaker

Journey of history, discovery - 'Legacy' is lesson in heritage for filmmaker

Journey of history, discovery - 'Legacy' is lesson in heritage for filmmaker

By Bob Allen ballen@patuxent.com

Posted on http://www.explorecarroll.com/ 1/07/09

As it is with nearly every Maryland county, Carroll has its own list of historical "firsts."

In Carroll County, for instance, the first rural free delivery postal route in the nation was established (in 1899).

The very first reaping machine was invented and patented here (1839). And in 1764, the first Methodist congregation in North America met near present-day New Windsor.

Yet unlike Maryland counties such as Anne Arundel or Washington counties, Carroll did not host key events in the founding of the nation or endure the trauma of a major Civil War battle.

That's why veteran filmmaker and Westminster resident Marilyn Maguire assumed a more grassroots perspective in 2007 when she began mapping out "Carroll County's Legacy," her recently completed 58-minute-long video history of her adopted home county.

"Joe Getty (one of numerous local historians interviewed in 'Carroll County's Legacy') has the perfect line that you hear very early in the film," Maguire explains.

Getty, in recounting the various waves of English, Irish and Pennsylvania-Germans who comprised the county's earliest white inhabitants, notes:

"The history of Carroll County is the history of everyday life, of ordinary people doing ordinary things, and so when you talk about our history you're talking about the thread of everyday living in the patchwork of Carroll County's history."

[…]

Living 'Legacy'

The Carroll County Community Media Center will hold the premiere of the television documentary "Carroll County's Legacy" on Wednesday, Jan. 7, at 6 p.m., at the Community Media Center, 1301 Washington Road in Westminster. The screening will be followed by a question and answer period with the producer, Marilyn Maguire of Maryland Public Television. The premiere is free and open to the public, although reservations are requested. To RSVP, call 410-386-4415.

In addition, excerpts from "Carroll County's Legacy" can be viewed on the Carroll County History Project's Web site, http://www.carrollhistory.org/.

DVD copies of "Carroll County's Legacy" can be purchased for $30 by calling the Community Media Center, at 410-386-4415.

Read the entire article here: Journey of history, discovery - 'Legacy' is lesson in heritage for filmmaker

20090107 Journey of history discovery by Bob Allen

http://explorecarroll.com/community/1993/journey-history-discovery/

Kevin Dayhoff E-mail him at: kdayhoff AT carr DOT org His columns appear in The Tentacle, www.thetentacle.com; The Westminster Eagle /Eldersburg Eagle The Sunday Carroll Eagle - Opinion: http://explorecarroll.com/opinion-talk/ www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/ www.westminstermarylandonline.net http://kbetrue.livejournal.com/

Kevin Dayhoff: www.westgov.net Westminster Maryland Online www.westminstermarylandonline.net http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/

Posted by Kevin Dayhoff at Thursday, January 08, 2009 0 comments Links to this post

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