The fun, games, entertainment and more continue through midnight Saturday at the Howard County Fair.
The fairgrounds open at 8 a.m., and today you can see horse and pony contests; swine, dairy cattle and rabbit judging; and the annual Amateur Variety Show Contest, which begins at 8 p.m.
Tomorrow at 7 p.m. is the traditional Parade of Floats, and at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, parents will parade their infants and toddlers under-age 3 in decorated carriages, wagons and strollers in the popular Baby Contest and Miniature Parade. The horse pull, which always draws a big crowd, is at 11 a.m. Saturday, and while you're there, see the antique tractor pull, which also begins at 11 a.m.
The midway is open every day at 1 p.m., except Saturday when it opens at 11 a.m. Today rides are 50-cents each from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Pig races and the petting zoo, featuring animals from the Catoctin Mountain Zoo, are open today through Saturday.
Don't forget to stop at the renovated Glenwood Lions Club booth for sandwiches and drinks. Lions Club members raise the bulk of the club's money at the fair, and all the Lions Club funds go directly to support community service projects right here in western Howard County.
Visit the Glenelg High School Boosters Club booth, where volunteers will be making french fries made from fresh potatoes at their stand. The Glenelg High School Band Boosters offer fried dough near the midway.
For information about the 49th Annual Howard County Fair or directions to the fairground in West Friendship, phone 442-1022.
Congratulations to Howard County Fair Farm Queen Rebecca Reinhardt. The daughter of Harry and Christine Reinhardt of Mount Airy is a member of the West Friendship 4-H Club. A graduate of Glenelg High School, Rebecca has shown Suffolk sheep at the fair for the last five years. This fall she will attend Liberty University, where she will major in nursing.
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Getting to the Clarksville Fire Station may look a little different these days, with new traffic patterns around the intersection of routes 108 and 32, but folks will flock to the Banquet Hall on Aug. 28 for the Country Breakfast served by the Ladies Auxiliary.
From 8 a.m. to noon you'll enjoy pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, home fries, biscuits and gravy, beverages and a treat. Chefs from the Market Place Cafe will prepare Belgian waffles.
All this good food costs just $5 for adults and $2.50 for children.
Information: 531-3984.
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Doesn't it seem as if the kids just got out of school? Suddenly, it's time for new backpacks and notebooks, and school starts Aug. 29. Orientation for students in grades one through five who are new to Bushy Park Elementary School is at 10 a.m. Wednesday in the cafeteria.
Students and parents meet the principal Phil Arbaugh, assistant principal Harry Lerner, and tour the school with a student government representative. Orientation for parents of kindergarten students is 10 a.m. Aug. 26.
Bushy Park's administrative staff will post class lists at 1 p.m. Friday, and children and parents may visit teachers in their classrooms from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Phone 313-5500.
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At Mount View Middle School, new student orientation is from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Aug. 25. The school staff invites new parents to a reception while students attend the orientation. Phone 313-5545.
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There will be some new faces on the staff at Glenelg High School this fall, and Principal Jim McGregor says they are a group with wide ranging experiences. Linda Wise, a former English teacher, administrator, and guidance counselor, joins Addie Kaufman as an assistant principal. Mrs. Wise was a counselor at Howard High School for the past five years.
Phyllis Felderstein is returning to Glenelg's business department after a year of study in special education.
Dave Stevens returns to the science department after two years work on a program for outstanding science teachers at Goddard Space Flight Center. The foreign language department welcomes James Zedan, who will teach Spanish and served as a communications specialist for the Navy for 20 years.
Phil Singleton becomes a member of the school staff as a gifted and talented resource teacher. Born in England, he has traveled widely and taught in such distant places as the United Kingdom, Tanzania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the Bahamas, and the United Arab Emirates.
Trish Rayala joins the special education department as a teacher, bringing that department's staff to three teachers and three instructional assistants. John Howland will teach one art class at Glenelg High this year.
The faculty and students are looking forward to a new flexible schedule at Glenelg High. Jim McGregor said, "We are so enthusiastic about this alternate scheduling that we can't wait for school to start."
The student body of 1,100 will get all the benefits of a seven-period day without its high cost. Students can fit more electives such as foreign languages into their programs. Administrators hope to see improvements in the academic climate of the school, leading to increased student achievement.
This plan essentially gives students 90 minutes every other day in their academic classes, instead of 45-minutes daily. Each school day will consist of three 90-minute periods and one more traditional 55-minute period.
Students entering ninth grade and students in grades 10 through 12 who are new to Glenelg High School may attend orientation at the school from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Aug. 25. Mr. McGregor encourages parents to join their sons and daughters at the orientation. Phone Glenelg High's main office at 313-5528 or the Guidance Office at 313-5535 for more information.
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Nathan Niemi's resume is already first-class. Last May, he graduated from Cornell University's School of Arts and Sciences with a bachelors of arts in geological sciences and membership in both Phi Beta Kappa and Phi Kappa Phi.
Mr. Niemi served as captain of the university rifle team for the last two years of his four years on the team and was president of the Geology Club.
In September, after a summer of United States Geological Survey research in Utah and Idaho, he travels to the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena to begin a doctoral program in structural geology.
He is the recipient for three years of both a prestigious National Science Foundation Fellowship and Cal Tech's distinguished Paul Carrington Henshaw fellowship. Nathan is the son of Chuck and Ruthann Niemi of Glenwood.
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Tatiana's Seconds Sale is scheduled for Saturday. The doors open at 9 a.m., and many local residents will be there early to snap up the beautiful buys at this once a year sale. Tatiana will have other items marked at 20 percent off this weekend, too. Even if you don't want to buy Tatiana's unique pottery, stop by the gallery at the corner of Sharp and Triadelphia roads in Glenelg to see the summer gallery showing.
The current exhibit is entitled "Spirit of Native American Art: Paintings, Masks, and Photographs." Many pieces are by local artists, and you can enjoy interesting art in a lovely setting without cost just around the corner.
Phone 442-1144.