The Howard County Fair may now be just a memory for many, as we are now turning our thoughts towards back to school, but what a memory it will be. At this year's Howard County Fair 4-H bake auction, a 4-H member did something to give back to the community in a big way.

Each year, one of the opening day events is the bake auction, which features first-place and champion baked goods made by the 4-Hers. Proceeds from the bake auction are split, with half going to the 4-H'er and the other half benefiting Howard County 4-H programs.

This year, Bryan Bowman had the top selling baked good in the auction -- a prize winning peach pie. However, it is not the fact that Bryan had the top selling item that is noteworthy. Bryan's generosity is what needs to be recognized.

Bryan is a 12-year old member of the Howard County Beef Club. When he paraded his pie around the ring, auctioneer Chip Ridgely read a note from Bryan. He said that Bryan would be donating his share of the pie proceeds to a family friend who has recently been diagnosed with cancer.

His friend, Jacqueline Hobbs, a Mount Airy resident who Bryan attended preschool and elementary school with, is preparing to undergo a bone marrow transplant at Johns Hopkins. While undergoing this procedure, the family will need to stay nearby in Baltimore. Bryan thought this was a little something he could do to help offset some of the family's costs while they are in Baltimore and are traveling to and from the city as well.

The bidding started at $100, and quickly rose to $200, $300, $400 and kept on going until it hit a final price of $800. Bryan's mother, Heidi, had tears in her eyes, as did other onlookers, at the generosity of the bidders. A group of people went in together to help raise the funds for this cause -- a young child giving up his fair earnings to help out a friend.

Bryan's donation would not be possible without the help of the buyers of his pie -- Jeff and Rhonda Winkler, Johnson Crane Service, Charlie's Bobcat Service, the Moxley Family and Gary and Theresa Stonesifer.

To learn more about Jacqueline and her cancer, go to the Web site www.caringbridge.com/visit/jacquelinehobbs.

In other fair news, residents of our area put in quite a showing throughout the fair. Whether walking through the barns or the indoor exhibits, nestled among entries from around the county and state, I was able to find names of neighbors throughout the Glenwood/Glenelg area.

Last month I shared news of the Dearstine family sheep shearing day. Some of those fleeces were entered in the fair, where one of their white fleeces earned a champion, and a natural colored fleece took grand champion in the show.

The sheep faired similarly well, earning a few champions along the way, and the Dearstine's pygmy goats also earned a champion. In between getting animals ready for the fair, Molly Dearstine, along with her daughter Lindsay Chatkewitz, found some time to do a little baking. Molly earned a blue ribbon for her sour cream coffee cake. Quite a good week for the family!

Walking through the indoor exhibit buildings here is just a sampling of some of the items I found by local residents. 4-H'er Claudia Ennis earned a champion for a flower picture she drew. In the open class division, I saw plenty of familiar names, and some I did not recognize.

Dottie Titherington, Janet Howard and Judy Orwig all earned ribbons for baked goods entered at the fair. Evan Sumpter and Laura Reynolds each had pieces of art entered in the children's fine art, ages 8-10-year-old division. Young Iris Yourick entered some flowers, as did her mother, Debra Yourick. It seems the women of the Saltzman family are multi-talented. I found several entries by Naomi, including a Champion and Best in Show -- Teenager for her Sleeping Beauty cross stitched pillow.

Naomi also had entered some hand knit items, as well as beaded knitting markers. Her sister, Hannah, entered a knitted hat and mom Jann Saltzman had a beautiful knitted lace doll sweater.

In addition to her baking entry, Janet Howard also had a quilt entered. Karen Hawker showed off her photography skills with a rooster photo entry. Diane Friedel entered some of her cross stitch items.

The Munzer family continues to enjoy creating items with wood. I was sure to make my way to the woodworking area, where I found a Cherry Bowl and Rooster Intarsia piece, both crafted by Rick Munzer. Not to be outdone, Lisa Munzer had created a beautiful jewelry box.

Many in the area may remember reading about the passing of Doug Parker back in May of this year. He died from pancreatic cancer and was the father of students who attend Glenelg High, Glenwood Middle and Lisbon Elementary schools. He was also the founder of eSchool Newsletter. The Parker children, Stephen, Lauriann, Alyssa and Charlie, have started a fund in Doug's memory to be donated to the Ulman Cancer Fund in Columbia.

The first fundraiser is a "Back to School Haircut" event, where local salons will donate 20 percent of the cost of salon services frm Aug. 11-13, and the week of Aug. 17-24. The following salons in our area are participating in this fundraiser: Salon Tusey, Studio 10 Hair Salon, As You Like it Hair Salon, Great Clips, in Mount Airy, and Reflections Hair Design, in Mount Airy.

When you get your hair cut, be sure to tell them you are there to support the Big Doug Fund. More information about the fund is available at bigdougfund.angelfire.com or e-mail BigDougFund@yahoo.com.

user comments (0)