Johns Hopkins Seminar: Caring for the Young Athlete on April 8th

On Wednesday, April 8th from 6 PM - 8:30 PM, Johns Hopkins Medicine will be sponsoring a free 5-session seminar at Howard County General Hospital on "Caring for the Young Athlete."

Scheduled presentations are:

• Advances in the Treatment of Knee Injuries
• Concussions in Children
• Heat Illness
• Contemporary Management of Hernias in the Teenage Athlete
• Preventing Overuse Injuries in Young Athletes

Emerson Egg Hunt Saturday on April 4th

Emerson's Annual Egg Hunt will be on Saturday, April 4th in Sterling Park.

Bring your baskets and cameras and join the Easter Bunny!

Date: Saturday, April 4, 2015
Time: 12 PM - 1 PM
Location: Sterling Park

Emerson Clean Up Day on April 11

Emerson's next Clean Up Day will be on Saturday, April 11th from 9 AM to Noon. This will be the 6th Annual litter pick-up day in our community.

This event is organized by a volunteer Emerson resident, one of our neighbors next door in Skylark Ridge, and counts upon your participation for its success!

• Litter pick-up tools, gloves and trash bags will be available.
• Refreshments will be provided for volunteers.

Date: Sat. April 11, 2015
Time: 9 AM to 12 PM
Location: Meet at the Clubhouse

Cherry Blossoms in HoCo and DC

Washington, DC is famous for the cherry trees around the Tidal Basin, given to the city as a gift of friendship from the Japanese government over 100 years ago, and the 2015 National Cherry Blossom Festival will run from March 20 to April 12.

But Howard County has started its own cherry tree tradition via its Blossoms of Hope program, combining charitable giving with beautification of the County's parks and roads.

Howard County's cherry trees typically bloom a couple of weeks after the ones in Washington, ideally through the month of April.


Washington's Cherry Trees

BWI Observation Park

On the south side of BWI Airport about 25 minutes from us is a quirky little pocket park on the BWI Trail that sits practically underneath the approach path for the southeast runway of the airport.

As incoming planes descend to cross MD-176 (Dorsey Road) they pass within about 100 feet of the Thomas A. Dixon Observation area, a small parking lot with some benches under a wooden trellis as well as a playground.

The other function of the location is parking for the trail, though the main attraction is plane-spotting.

Many people simply park their cars facing east toward the flight path and watch the planes coming in from their vehicles.

The facility is only open from sunrise to sunset, but the area is too dark and isolated at night to remain in any event.

The BWI and B&A Trails

Howard County Schools Last Day June 19th

Here's a quick summary of the schedule for Howard County Public Schools for the rest of the 2014-2015 school year, now that decisions have been made for how to handle the snow-related closings and delays:

• HCPSS has announced that the last day of school will likely be Friday, June 19, 2015.
• The last day of classes was originally scheduled to be June 10th.
• June 17 will be a full day, and June 18 & 19 will be half days.
• A waiver is still needed from the State of Maryland for the following Monday (June 22). 
• Maryland requires students to attend school for 180 days each year with 1,170 hours of instruction.
• In addition to the snow days, HCPSS is also 4 hours short at this point.
• The schedule had 5 possible inclement weather make-up days at the end of the year. 
• With 8 snow days this year, HCPSS needed to either make up an additional three days or get a waiver from the state. 
• Last year HCPSS requested a waiver for 4 days and got approval for 2.
• The last day of school for seniors is still TBD.

Georgetown Cupcake

It's not often that we highlight a business 30 minutes away (in DC Beltway-years) -- but then not every cupcake shop has its own national cable TV show (DC Cupcakes on TLC).

Georgetown Cupcake was started in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. by two sisters who decided at the beginning of the gourmet cupcake trend to create cupcakes with a fanatical devotion to finding the finest ingredients.

A second store was opened in Bethesda, MD (not coincidentally, near Discovery Channel headquarters, the parent of TLC).

The stores have now gone national as well, selectively expanding to open single locations in New York City (Soho, with a small auxiliary outpost in Times Square), Boston, L.A., and soon, Atlanta. They also ship nationally.

There's only one more thing we can do over the Internet, and that's show you some pictures and assure you that: Yes...yes, they ARE that good.

The Bethesda shop is 30 minutes away via the DC Beltway. ;)

Spring Forward This Weekend!

Don't forget to Spring Forward this weekend!

Daylight Savings Time takes effect on Sunday, March 8th at 2 AM. Set your clocks ahead by one hour the night before so you won't be late.

And for those who can't wait...the first day of Spring 2015 is on Friday, March 20th!

Dutch Country Farmer's Market (Laurel, MD)

Laurel, MD may be about 100 miles away from Amish Country, but it has one of the best Amish markets in this region -- the Dutch Country Farmer's Market on MD-198. And yes, the staff is mostly Amish.

With the motto "Fresh from PA Dutch Country," the market serves up fresh produce, baked goods, dairy products, organic meats, and candies.