A few years ago, when the Elkridge Youth Organization took a brief hiatus from sponsoring a travel softball team, a determined group of young ladies decided to stick together in a sport they love and joined the neighboring Catonsville Chaos softball organization. Under the coaching team of Elkridge resident Bob Bahrijczuk and Catonsville resident Chris Rubeling, this team is making history!
Six of the team members are from Elkridge and all started playing together in the EYO. They are: Jamie Bahrijczuk, Isa Carunungan, Jordan Ciraolo, Rachel Oliver, Katelyn Penix and Stephanie Yarrish. They teamed up with five girls rom Baltimore County to create a force to be reckoned with! They are: Taylor Dauer, Hannah Parker, Alleshia Pullen, Abbey Rubeling and Emily Wilkens.
In the past few weeks, the Chaos played in the USSSA-12 and Under-C Level Tournaments. On the weekend of April 30 and May 1, the Chaos participated in the "May Day Melee" and took first plwace out of 13 teams from Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, and Virginia at Fairland Park, in Laurel.
The "May Super 'C'eries" was held in Columbia at Cedar Lane Park, and the Chaos, once again, showed their stuff and placed first out of nine teams from Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania. With this fantastic showing in their sport class, the Catonsville Chaos is ranked first in the state and thrd in the country under the USSSA rankings! Pretty impressive teamwork, ladies! Keep up the good work.
Elkridge Elementary School has a few boasting rights on two very talented people, one a teacher, the other a student. Steven Wampler, the school's band director, and has been composing music for elementary and middle school bands and orchestra for six years. On Tuesday, June 7, the Glenwood Middle School music department will be premièring Wampler's Minikin Symphony under the direction of Patricia De Orio and David Apple. The theme of the second movement, "The Lost Nightingale," was written last year by Kayli Schaible, a fourth-grader at Elkridge Elementary School. The concert begins at 7 p.m. at Glenelg High School and will feature the Glenwood Middle School string orchestra, full orchestra, concert band, and wind ensemble. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend. Wampler and the young and talented Kaylie will both be present for the performance.
Once again, I'd like to recognize the Elkridge Landing Middle School Students of the Month. The month of April focused on the attribute of tolerance, and the following students were selected by their teachers for consistently demonstrating a respect for the individual differences, views and beliefs of other people. The sixth-grade Students of the Month for April are: Tyler Case, Sachin Raina, Natalie Acker, Marcus Valiente and Beth Kimball. Seventh-graders Zach Robinson, Venu Peddibhotia, Shreya Parmar, Yanelle Boayue, and Tyler Denicola join the eighth-grade honorees Nicole Yarbrough, Kristin Charity, Emily Cooley, Katherine Bradshaw and Kenneth Lorena. Congratulations. Tolerance is a highly admirable character trait, especially so in today's diverse and challenging world.
The Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department's Junior Firefighters will sponsor an "End of School" youth dance for ages 9-15 Saturday, June 4 from 7 to 10 p.m. at the fire hall, 6275 Old Washington Road. Tickets are available at the door for $10 per person with a maximum of 200 tickets sold. Food and beverages, which include pizza, hot dogs, pretzels, nachos, candy, water and sodas, will also be for sale at the dance. The department does have a "no exceptions" policy on appropriate behavior and dress code for its youth dances, and also enforces a strict adult sign-in/sign-out procedure for attendance. For more information on the dance, call 410-761-6633 (and select option 5), or go to http://www.ElkridgeVFD.org.
On May 24, Norbel School in Elkridge celebrated its 30-year anniversary. To commemorate this milestone, the school hosted a "campus greening event" with the entire school community pitched in to spruce up the school's 8-acre campus by clearing gardens, cleaning up the playground, and planting flowers. To specifically commemorate the anniversary celebration, a tree and a new park bench have been added to the grounds.
Like all activities at Norbel, this event exuded the school's philosophy of teaching students the importance of citizenship, teamwork, responsibility and community service. Explains Head of School Sharon DellaRose, "We want to instill a sense of school spirit, responsibility and community service in our children. Since Norbel is so rich in history, the students experience, firsthand, the value of tradition and what it means to a part of an organization in which we feel such great pride. We are putting our philosophy into action."
Norbel School educates bright students with learning differences such as ADHD, communication disorders, dyslexia, and higher functioning autism, specifically Asperger's syndrome. The school, originally located in northwest Baltimore, was founded by child psychologist's Drs. Robert Campbell and Norma Hauserman-Campbell in the early 1980s and taught students in pre-K through eighth grade. In 1999, Norbel moved to its current location in Elkridge and expanded to include the high school. For more information on Norbel School, call Krys Renzi at 410-796-6700 or krenzi@norbelschool.org.
The St. Augustine School Class of 2011 will celebrate its commencement Thursday, June 2 at 7 p.m. The graduation will be celebrated by a baccalaureate Mass concelebrated by Father John Williamson and Father Gerard Bowen. Following the Mass, the graduates will be honored at a special reception in the school hall.
Congratulations to the following students that are the St. Augustine School Class of 2011: Laura Arvin, Andrew Ashley, Noelle Bailey, Julie Beach, Michael Berhane, Justin Brandt, Rachel Broccolino, Mary Bunting, Samantha Clarke, Christina Clarkson, Stephanie Colon, Garrett Corn, Jamie Dunphy, Haylee Ender, Jeremy Evans, Rachel Feliu, Heaven Ferguson, Keara Fox, Nicole Freeman, Caitlin Garvey, Laura Gretz, Kendra Hendrickson, Nicole Kyle, Emma Madera, Kelsey McCardle, Sean McDonnell, Joseph Mercurio, Lauren Munter, Rachel Murray, Kristen Patek, Keon Paye, Siddarth Rajan, Corey Reckord, Brooke Ripley, Fauston Rollins, Gabriella Schoenbeck, Olivia Seastrom, Brandon Shaffer, Jonathan Shelly, Olivia Stanitski, Taylor Swenski, Rachel Wheeler, Andrew Wink, Margaret Yuan and Devon Zollinhofer.
This past Monday, in honor of Memorial Day and to commemorate those who gave so much of themselves to secure the freedom of our great nation, Cub Scout Troop 432 paid tribute to all veterans laid to rest at Grace Episcopal Church Cemetery by adorning each gravesite with a United States flag. The parish is truly grateful for their solemn acknowledgement to our Armed Forces. Also, Grace Church cordially invites you to their 11:15 a.m. Sunday service any given week to experience the beauty and grace of this 100-year-old Elkridge church. This historic place of worship is located at Main Street and Brumbaugh Avenue off Old Washington Road in Elkridge.
EYO Tennis is proud to offer their third summer of excitement and fun! Starting July 5 and running through Aug. 20, boys and girls ages 7-14 can enjoy this sport for a lifetime. The program focuses on introducing tennis to kids and helping beginners move to the next level. Don't miss out on some good exercise, learn to play or improve your game, or just have fun and make new friends this summer. All activities are at Rockburn Park tennis courts. Go to http://www.eyotennis to learn more and register today.
Congratulations and best wishes to Jane and Jerome Bujanowski who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary May 24th! The Bujanowski's are long time parishioners of St. Augustine Church in Elkridge. May God continue to bless them with many more years of health and togetherness.
Well, it's that time of the year for commencement exercises and celebrations at every level of education, and in following the example of the Elkridge Landing students mentioned here this week, please consider the words of Helen Keller, "The highest result of education is tolerance."
Well, that's all for this week. Keep in touch and let me know what's going on in YOUR local business, the neighborhood, or just in your own backyard. I can be reached at lisamadera@verizon.net. Thanks and have a stellar week!