All children love a party and love presents. That basic premise inspired Phil Bundy to found Children's Favorite Things three years ago. This year, there will be 12 Christmas parties held all over the state for about 2,000 children. Bundy, a young entrepreneur who plans international golf outings for corporations, gets his guest list from Maryland Family Support Systems.
But 2,000 children means 2,000 toys, so last weekend, more than 100 people arrived at his mother's Monkton farm for a crab feast to kick off the big fund-raiser, the Fred Funk Invitational Golf Tournament at Hunt Valley Golf Club on Nov. 11. Crab feast chair Kris Perkins, (husband Jay owns Jay Perkins Golf Shop) was really pleased and said, "Next year we'll have 200!" Channel 45's news anchor Lisa Willis was the celebrity chair and center of attention.
Others at the party, which was a family affair with lots of youngsters running around, were Xandy Hoff Waesche and her banker husband, Roger; Gordy Mitchell Jr., director of admissions for St. Paul's School; and Donna Rector, senior financial analyst for Marriott. Also among the guests were Mike Brennan, Sandy and Dana Williams, John and Cathy Cox, Jim Gentry and Dean Stockdale.
If you would like to play golf with Funk and friends, or get more information about Children's Favorite Things, call Bundy at (410) 771-8283.
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AROUND TOWN: Former tennis great Arthur Ashe was in town this week to talk about medically complex patients at a seminar sponsored by NeighborCare Pharmacies . . .
Home & Away, the official membership magazine of 1.8 million AAA-member households in the Midwest, has named the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Baseball Center as an "AAA Travel Treasure," something we in Baltimore have always known. A profile in the September/October issue says the "museum is sure to score a home run with baseball fans everywhere."
Members of the Baltimore Symphony Associates met the BSO's new assistant conductor David Lockington at its general lTC meeting last week. Lockington comes to us from the Colorado Symphony, so let's give him a warm welcome . . .
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There was a lot of excitement at Essex Community College this past week, because the Cockpit in Court cast was getting ready to leave for Japan, the third time they've represented the United States at the Kanagawa International Theatre Festival. This year's performance will be "The Fantasticks."
According to producer/actor W. P. Ellis, there's an old Japanese legend that says if visitors see the top of Mount Fuji, which is usually shrouded in mist, they will return to Japan. And the last two times they were there, a special dinner was held at a place near Mount Fuji, and each time the top of the mountain was crystal clear. Those making the trip this year are Ellis, director/actor F. Scott Black, J.R. Lyston, Jane E. Brown, Edward Peters, Liese Frutchey, Diane Trowbridge and Gerald Smith.
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Thanks to Bob Hieronimus for letting me know about 75-year-old Leon Day, a pitcher from the days of the Negro Baseball League and potential candidate for the Hall of Fame. Day was thrilled when he was invited to throw out the first pitch at the Orioles/Blue Jays game last week.
This has been quite a year for Day -- Mayor Kurt Schmoke declared Jan. 31 Leon Day Day in Baltimore; President Bush invited him to the White House for a Black History Month celebration in February; Gov. William Donald Schaefer declared "Leon Day Day in Maryland" in May; Sports Illustrated did a 13-page spread on him in July; Day was on the Larry King show in March; and Tuff Stuff, a national card-collecting publication, 00 did a four-page spread on him in its September issue. Sounds like all this attention is long overdue.
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LAST CALL: Please fax or mail to me information on any special fund-raisers or holiday parties you are planning for November and December, which are open to the public. I plan to run the list on Oct. 25. My fax number is (410) 783-2519, or mail to my !B attention, 501 N. Calvert St., Baltimore 21278.