LAUREL WOODS Elementary School parents and children attended community dinners in the school cafeteria Monday and Tuesday night. Four hundred helpings of spaghetti with meatballs were prepared and served to the families by members of the Laurel Woods staff.

"The reason why we're here tonight is to celebrate you," Principal Rosanne Wilson said Monday night. "We have a wonderfully diverse population that we think reflects the world."

The gathering Monday included mothers Rana Abdulrahim from Syria, Mohga Osman from Egypt and MiKyung Han from Korea.

Almost a fifth of the 460 pupils who attend Laurel Woods come from countries other than the United States.

"The cultural richness here is amazing," said teacher Nancy Gifford, who is also a family services coordinator. "We have more and more countries represented here all the time."

Wilson started the community dinners three years ago in an effort to bring families into the school.

"We do it because, as a staff, we want the community to know how proud we are to serve them," Wilson said. "It's also important for the community to spend time together - and what better place to spend time than where their children go to school?"

The dinners were sponsored by LAMP, a federal grant program for schools in the North Laurel area. LAMP is an acronym for the Laurel Woods, Atholton High School and Murray Hill Middle School Project.

LAMP funds many academic and enrichment programs for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. It also provides adult courses in computer software, the English language and General Educational Development (GED) program.

Julie Peredo, a parent volunteer, and second-grader Ashley Rivera read essays at Monday night's dinner that they had written on the theme "What LAMP Means to Me."

"I remember when I was in kindergarten I used to come home and watch TV," said Ashley, who attends a LAMP-sponsored program at the YMCA. "I didn't know how to play sports. When it's time to come to the 'Y,' I feel happy and excited because it's time to do sports."

Peredo uses money from LAMP for a monthly support group called Muffins for Moms that is held at the school. The program promotes friendship and provides information on community resources, child-raising and women's health issues.

Peredo, a native of Mexico, said English is not the first language of most of the women who attend the monthly meetings.

"The language is a fact; it's a problem," she said. "When I was on the other side of the coin, I used to say, 'When I learn to speak English, I'm gonna help other people.'

"I'm hoping that I do make a difference. We're here by choice, and we're happy, but it's not that easy. It takes work."

Thanks to LAMP, Peredo said, "With Muffins for Moms, the sky's the limit."

Turkeys galore

Thanksgiving is less than a week away, and turkeys are available in our neighborhood - if you need one.

The Iager family, owners of Maple Lawn Farms in Fulton, has raised and sold turkeys directly to consumers for more than 60 years.

"ShoNuf" turkeys, the oven-ready birds sold by the Iagers, take their name from a slogan proposed by Charles Ellsworth Iager Sr., the father of Gene Iager, one of the current owners.

"My father kind of did that when he started the [turkey] business - it's a sure enough bird," Gene Iager said.

Five generations of Iagers have farmed Maple Lawn since 1839.

Maple Lawn's free-range turkeys are purchased in Canada, raised in large, climate-controlled barns and monitored by a nutritionist. They are not fed antibiotics or growth-promoting hormones, the family said.

"Food safety is a very big issue to the farmer and the consumer," said Ginger Myers of the Howard County Economic Development Authority. "At Iager's, those birds are extremely healthy, so the consumer can buy with confidence. [The Iagers] invested a lot of time, training and expertise to do this under very safe and clean conditions. This is a family who puts their names on their birds. And plus, the birds just taste good."

The Iagers sell about 15,000 turkeys ranging from 12 pounds to 50 pounds each Thanksgiving season.

"When you can buy food locally, you can then contribute to the local economy," Myers said. "It's good for the community because it stops the leakage of food-spending dollars away from our area."

Orders will be accepted through Sunday.

Information: 301-725-2074, or www.maplelawn.com.

A bright Christmas

Christmas will be a lot brighter for dozens of needy children thanks to North Laurel resident Viola Waldron.

Waldron buys and restores about 100 used dolls and doll clothing at garage sales throughout the year. The dolls are donated to an Ellicott City thrift store that distributes them free as Christmas gifts.

"I guess I just like the idea of dolls, and I thought about the poor kids who can't afford them," she said. "So I go around to rummage sales and buy the dolls and the clothes. I knit them hats and coats, and I take them up to the thrift shop just before Christmas."

Several of the dolls are on display at the Savage branch library through the end of the month.

"I've been doing it for several years now," Waldron said. "It keeps me young, I guess. It keeps me busy. I just turned 86; I have to do something."