Village Green/Town²

Remember thi s? Schools used to be all about the bake sales. Now, not so much. But anyone who is a parent or who lives in a community with kids has probably had first-hand experience with fundraisers. In Howard County, school music programs raise money to support their missions through restaurant nights, working concessions at football games, selling citrus fruit, raffling gift baskets at Pops Concerts, and in many, many other ways. About twelve years ago, the Wilde Lake Band Boosters sold subs. They made them, they sold them. But parents (and founders of the WLHS Band Boosters organization) Dan McGrain and Jill Lapides wanted to change the fundraising approach. They made a decision to change from food to jazz. Why jazz? Well, Ms. Lapides had connections to the world of jazz through her son, Alex Brown . In fact Alex was already a professional jazz musician while a student at WLHS. So a jazz concert would allow the combination of a big name talent, with performances by students in the...

I'm sharing my remarks from Thursday's concert of Oakland Mills Middle Schools bands and strings today. Why? Well, because budget season is upon us in the Howard County Schools, and last year it resulted in a loss of 25 per cent of elementary art and music instructional time in selected elementary schools. Think it couldn't happen to yours? Last week the Superintendent announced an increase of World Language teachers and expansion of some elements of the Model Schools program. I strongly recommend that you pay attention to the budget process. ***** Good evening. I'm here tonight as the OMMS representative to Howard County Parents for School Music, which is the official advocacy group for music. education in Howard County. You can like us on Facebook , you can follow us on Twitter (HoCoMusParents; @hcpsm) and you can come to our next meeting, which is this Monday, January 13th at The East Columbia Branch library, at 7:00 pm. I want to invite you to attend if you want...

Coventry Elementary School, 1960's I present, for your Sunday contemplation, the following conversation from the Coventry Elementary School group on Facebook: Does anyone remember Leo the crossing guard at the Coventry Mayfield intersection during the early 60's ? I was a safety assigned to that intersection in late sixties with an extremely elderly crossing guard. Maybe the same man? In the late 50's, at the corner of Washington and Berkshire stood Stanley. He wouldn't let me around the corner when I was little. There were also adult crossing guards at Coventry and Euclid Hts. Remember doing "doubles?" And they always told us "doubles" were not allowed. Yes, we had to make sure that each crosser stopped in the middle for safety. That was him. He stood there forever. Thanks for remembering. He was so old and frail by the time I worked with him. I used to worry about him! I know and we all just loved him. And his memory is not forgotten. I had my p...

Once children worked. In factories. They worked long hours without enough rest or proper nutrition. They worked with enormous machines without any real safety precautions. Accidents were common. Children died, or were maimed. It was just the way things were. Can you think of other work place tragedies in our history? Black lung disease among miners, cases of "the bends" in workers building the Brooklyn Bridge, disease from asbestos, the Triangle Shirtwaist fire...We have laws in place now to protect workers, and we have OSHA . It's still not a perfect world. Black lung disease, once almost completely eradicated, is staging a comeback. But I think that most of us believe that the United States has a good grip on protecting workers from from workplace hazards. We have laws, don't we? We have a serious blind spot: football. Considered to be an all-American sport both to play and to watch, it nonetheless contributes injuries to players year in and year out, some of them p...

It's finally Friday and time to unveil the very first ever giveaway on Village Green/Town Squared. In order to celebrate surpassing the 100 "Like" mark on my blog's Facebook page, I will be giving away... Drumroll please... Wait, let's review the hints, shall we? Hint Number 4: truly American/authentic Latin influence. Hint Number 3: the years 1971 and 1996 are significant. Hint Number 2: this giveaway has a connection to a place that has recently been in the news. Hint Number 1: it's local, it's musical, and you don't want to miss it. Drumroll... The winner of this giveaway will receive two tickets to Wilde Lake High School's Jazz @ the Lake Concert! This year's concert features Latin jazz great Paquito D’Rivera. will perform on Saturday, January 24, 2015 (7:30 pm) at the Jim Rouse Theatre in Columbia, MD. The 12-time Grammy-winning saxophone and clarinet master will headline at the 11th annual Jazz @ The Lake Concert, accompani...

According to my weather app, it is nine degrees with windchill advisories. Our furnace is churning and has been for over an hour, which may mean it needs servicing or that we just need to change the filter. I am under two blankets and drinking a cup of hot coffee and it's cold. Exactly one year ago I wrote about how frightening it can be to be a young child out in the cold waiting too long for the bus. Today there is a two-hour delay, which I hope will allow for the temperature to go up a bit before kids have to go out. I hope the buses make sure they don't zip through the route too quickly, stranding kids as they did last year. I will drive my daughter to school. I have that luxury. Many do not. She has a new winter coat this year, warm clothing, a hat and gloves. Many do not. Unless our furnace is truly broken, she will come home to a warm house. She will eat a relatively well-balanced evening meal. And--you get the drill--many will not. In Oakland Mills our local school...

Just a friendly reminder: You can discuss ANYTHING related to Columbia, Maryland. Just no spamming for your business or corporations or dating sites, no political campaigning (this is a non-partisan group), etc. AND BE NICE AND CIVIL PLEASE! Welcome. Just to clarify this page's creation: It is not meant to replace the popular "You Know you Grew up in Columbia" FB page, but to instead provide a better forum for more in depth, civil discussions about the future of Columbia, with an eye on the past and inclusive of all views. The posts here will be monitored by admins only to keep the peace, with minimal intervention or attendee changes. Let's help impact Columbia's future! So begins one of my favorite Group Pages on Facebook: Celebrating Columbia , Maryland and its Future. If you love Columbia, are excited about our community, and love a good discussion, you might want to join. Right now there are several conversations unfolding: one about the possibility o...