West Friendship: Elementary students help needy with fall coat drive

The West Friendship Elementary students and staff are in on the collection drives for those less fortunate in the community, immersed in a coat collection through Oct. 28. If you would like to donate a new or gently used coat, jacket, hats, gloves, scarves or cold weather outerwear, bring your item to the school where a collection box will be in place near the school office.

Also on their radar these days is fitness. The children participated in a Walking Wednesday in mid-October and are ready and rearing to go for a Tiger Trot set for today, Oct. 20. The walk-a-thon is not only a fitness boost, but a fundraiser for the school as well.

With all this exercise, some students are rallying on with participation in the Marriott's Ridge High School Mustang 5K run Oct. 29. I must admit it is a pleasure to see all my fit West Friendship neighbors outrunning, jogging and power walking in the early morning hours. Haydee Morrison and Shyami Codipilly Murphy are shining examples to us all.

Mark your calendar for Oct. 29, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., when Bushy Park Elementary fourth-grader Ellie Feaga will host a bake sale extravaganza at 15211 Frederick Road with the aim of filling the coffers for The March of Dimes.

Ellie hosts a charity fundraiser of some kind each fall and this year it is The March of Dimes who will be on the receiving end of monies earned during her kitchen-turned-bakery in Woodbine. The youngster has solicited donations of goodies from friends and neighbors and has been baking up a storm herself.

If you would like to donate a baked goodie or just send in a donation, email Kim Feaga at ksfeaga@mris.com.

Word has it that Glenelg Country School Performing Arts teacher Carole Graham Lehan is wowing audiences at Toby's Dinner Theatre in Columbia with her performance of "Roxie" in the current production of "Chicago." The show runs at Toby's through Nov. 6. Lehan is a multi-talented artist who has directed magnificent examples of the Great American Musical at Glenelg Country School.

Don't forget the scary scenery in our own neck of the woods. Forests, fields, streams, scary costumed ghouls and goblins. Just a few of the thrills in store for those who join the spooky fun during the third annual Three Mile Haunted Hay Ride in West Friendship.

The Howard County Living Farm Heritage Museum presents the scary, spooky jaunt during a series of Three Mile Haunted Hay Rides. Proceeds from the hair tingling event will benefit the West Friendship museum.

"This is a perfect way to enjoy some good, clean, spooky fun while helping to preserve Howard County's farm heritage," Virginia Frank said.

The hay rides are set for Oct. 21, 22, 28 and 29, 7 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $15 per person. The Farm Museum is at 12985 Frederick Road (Route 144) in West Friendship.

Questions? Call 410-489-2345 or go to the club website at http://www.farmheritage.org.

Trick or treat, but mostly treats, are what's being collected by Suzy Hill and the members of Curves in Glenelg. Donations of canned goods and non perishable items are heartily accepted through Oct. 30 at the Ten Oaks Plaza location. There is not a fall that passes that does not find Suzy doing her best to gather up bushels of food for the area needy.

Speaking of food for those in need, the Glenelg United Methodist Church is now home to a food pantry in partnership with the Howard County Food Bank. The aim of this new location is to distribute free groceries to needy people in the often under-served western region of our county.

Glenelg United Methodist is at 13900 Burntwoods Road. The pantry will be open on the third Saturday of each month from 9 to 10 a.m. Anyone in need of grocery assistance is welcome.

If you would like more information on this new local service or if you wish to donate to the food pantry, contact the church secretary at 410-489-7260 or email a member of the pantry committee at glenelgumcpantry@gmail.com.

Put away the cookbook. The gang at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church wants to fix your supper. It's Italian feast night with all the trimmings Oct. 27, 6-8 p.m., when the feast donated by Smokin' Hot Catering of Glenwood will be held at 2892 Route 97, in Glenwood.

Dine in or carry out. Organizers will post balloons to guide the way to the church which is located between the Glenwood Post Office and Union Chapel Road. Cost is $9 per person or $30 per family. Proceeds from the October dinner will fund Worldwide Shelters.

Questions? Call Lynne Quinn at 410-292-8202 or e-mail her at lynnequinn@comcast.net.

In case you missed the early fall set up there is still time to catch a local Halloween train garden exhibit this weekend.

Brother Gerry Seipp, one of the Franciscan Friars at the Shrine of St. Anthony on Folly Quarter Road, loves trains. Seipp has been collecting trains, train accessories, train postcards, well anything that is connected to rails, since he was a youngster growing up in east Baltimore.

Now, Brother Gerry is sharing his passion for trains with the community. The friar has set up a fabulous fall theme train garden for the month of October. Come to the Manor House at the Shrine of St. Anthony to see Brother Gerry's Halloween Train Garden.

Families are invited to come out and enjoy this free of charge event Oct. 23 and 30 from 3 to 5 p.m. each day. The Shrine of St. Anthony is at 12290 Folly Quarter Road, inEllicott City.

Need a truck? A lawnmower? How about a golf cart or a trailer? Roy Gregory will hold the annual fall equipment auction Friday, Oct. 22 at 9 a.m. at the Howard County fairgrounds in West Friendship.

Cars, trucks, machinery, farm and landscape equipment and things that go. That's what is currently filling the fields and auction aisles at the fairgrounds.

Just a reminder from Nance Mullinix. The Mullinix Farm on Carrs Mill Road will be the site of the second annual Mullinix Corn Maze this fall.

Continuing this weekend, Nance and all the hard working crew at Mullinix' Farm are presenting their 10-acre farm to the community with twists, turns, angles and all the surprises associated with a maze. Nance is enthusiastic about this year's maze which is shaped like a Maryland Crab.

The activities will include the corn maze, pony rides, pumpkins, mums and apple cider galore, hay rides, a corn pit and all the fun of a fall outing to a local farm. The maze will be open every weekend through Oct. 30.

The farm welcomes folks Fridays from 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. "Bring flashlights for the Friday night maze," Mullinix said.

The family has thought of everything. If someone forgets a flashlight for the "dark and eerie" sessions, flashlights will be sold on the premises. A children's straw maze will be in place for the young set and a raffle for a toy pedal tractor will be an on going venture.

Admission is $9 for adults, $7 for kids ages 3-11 and the youngest tots are free. The Mullinix Farm is located a half-mile west of Route 97 on Carrs Mill Road in Glenwood, just across from the Western Regional Park.

Questions about the maze? Call 410-245-6146 or go to the website at http://www.mullinixcornmaze.webs.com.