Our Blog

“Connecting People to Nature”

The Howard County Conservancy is a local, non-profit environmental education center and land trust. The Conservancy was founded by a group of local citizens in 1990.  Our mission is to educate children and adults about the natural world, preserve the land and its legacy and model responsible stewardship of the environment.

HoCo Conservancy Mission:

• Educate children and adults about our natural world

• Preserve the land

• Model responsible stewardship of our environment

Woody Merkle is a lifelong resident of Woodstock in Howard County.

Retired as a senior personnel manager from the Maryland State Department of Budget and Management – Office of Personnel Services and Benefits.

Volunteer Naturalist and member of the Board for the Howard County Conservancy.

Also a volunteer with the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Howard County Bird Club and Howard County Watershed Stewards Academy.

Completed training with the University of Maryland Extension Service as a Master Naturalist and Master Watershed Steward.

Served as a member and Chair of the Howard County Personnel Board.

As the County’s human service agency, the Department of Citizen Services touches the lives of children and youth, their parents, people with a disability, consumers who have complaints about a business, individuals in crisis, and older adults – not to mention the child care and assisted living providers who receive training, the organizations seeking information to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and many others.  

Their mission is to ensure that Howard County residents have the resources they need to grow, thrive, and live with dignity.

The Department of Citizen Services is comprised of the Office of Children’s Services, Office of Consumer Affairs, and the Office on Aging. Other components of the Department include:  Disabilities Services, the Community Service Partnerships program (which provides County funding to non-profit human services agencies), and Homeless Services. 

Christine O’Connor is a certified teacher and has been a substitute in the Howard County Public School System for the past nine years.  She has served on the PTA Executive Board for Elkridge Elementary School, Elkridge Landing Middle School, and Howard High School.

Ms. O’Connor has volunteered in several capacities in the community. She has served as a basketball coach, commissioner, coordinator, and board member for the Elkridge Youth Organization since 2006. She is also a member of the Greater Elkridge Community Association (GECA), the League of Woman Voters, and the Howard County Citizens Association.

Ms. O’Connor received the “Good Sports” award from the Howard County Recreation and Parks on October 21, 2014.

Along with her husband and children, Ms. O’Connor has resided in Howard County for 18 years. She has two children currently in the Howard County Public Schools and a 2014 graduate from Howard High School.

Join us as state Senator Gail Bates visits and gives an insight on the upcoming legislative session.

Gail H. Bates is a Republican member of the Maryland State Senate, representing District 9. She was first elected to the chamber in 2014.

She is a lifelong Maryland resident, a small business owner, a daughter, wife, mother, and grandmother.

For the past 14 years she has served in the Maryland House of Delegates and most recently in the Maryland State Senate. During that time, she led on our state's most important issues with fiscal discipline, integrity, and bipartisanship.
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Bates served in the Maryland House of Delegates, representing District 9A from her appointment to the chamber on February 4, 2002, to January 14, 2015.

Bates's professional experience includes working as a Certified Public Accountant, and Chief of Staff for Delegate Donald E. Murphy - District 12A and Assistant to Howard County Executive.

At the beginning of the 2015 legislative session, Bates served on the following committees:

• Education, Health & Environmental Affairs
• Audit
• Children, Youth, and Families
• Protocol

In the 2011-2012 legislative session, Bates served on these committees:
• Appropriations
• Oversight Committee on Pensions
• Oversight Committee on Personnel and the Subcommittee on Public Safety and Administration

This week we are pleased to welcome Cindy Scruggs and Carol Grady and hear all about this great Howard County program.

Blessings in a Backpack (BIAB) provides food for students on the free and reduced lunch program who might not have enough to eat on weekends. There are currently five Howard County elementary schools which offer this program:  Cradlerock, Jeffers Hill, Running Brook, Swansfield, and Talbott Springs. Over one hundred students in Columbia, Maryland receive BIAB meals each week.

Blessings in a Backpack is a national organization that provides organizational support and guidelines for the participating schools. However, each program must raise its own funds, of which 100% goes to purchase food. In accordance with guidelines set by the national organization, $80-$100 per student per academic year is budgeted. Each year since it began in Howard County in 2012, the need for the program has continued to grow. They hope to sustain the program by garnering financial support that the group can count on from year-to-year.

Carol Grady has been a teacher at East Columbia Preschool for 15 years.  She also volunteers as a docent at the Baltimore Museum of Art.  She is a long-time school volunteer, chairing a variety of PTA committees and holding several offices, including PTA president.  Carol was awarded the Friend of Education Award by the Howard County Board of Education in 2001.

Cindy Scruggs works in the Teacher Education Department at Howard Community College as a mentor for early childhood development students.  She also chaired several PTA committees, served as PTA president, and was awarded the Friend of Education Award by the Howard County Board of Education in 2003.

Both Carol and Cindy became involved in the Blessings in a Backpack program in 2013.  They coordinate the program at Swansfield Elementary School in Columbia, MD.

Mechanic Apprenticeships is a program sponsored by the Washington Area Auto Dealers that assists High School seniors that are looking for a trade in mechanics and do no want to pursue degrees.

Young people without college degrees struggle to find jobs and many companies find it difficult to locate skilled workers. Matt's Rotary club supports a program that addresses both of these problems.

WANADA provides young people with education, training, and career positions as auto technicians. It is highly successful, placing over 300 young men in women as technicians in dealerships. The program receives funds from the Association, foundations, and 21 rotary clubs.

Matt Fink was employed by the mutual fund trade association, the Investment Company Institute, from 1971 to 2004 and served as the Institute’s President from 1991 to 2004. He is the author of a history of mutual funds, The Rise of Mutual Funds: An Insider’s View. Mr. Fink is an honors graduate of Brown University and Harvard Law School. He and his wife Ellanor live in Chevy Chase, Maryland.  They have three grown children and three grandchildren. His hobbies include tennis and sailing his day sailor on the Severn River. He is a new member of the Bethesda Chevy Chase Rotary Club.

Through Rotary, Interact is a club for young people ages 12-18 who want to join together to tackle the issues in their community that they care most about. Through Interact, you can:

• Carry out hands-on service projects
• Make international connections
• Develop leadership skills
• Have fun!

The Hammond HS Interact Club is all about meaningful community service projects that benefit their school and their community. They are involved directly to ensure a say in their future!

Their theme this year is PARTNERSHIP. Kevin Baker is the President and Emily Hwang is the Vice President.

They are currently partnering with two students in their Leadership U project for the LGBTQ community, the event is called SAFE SPACE, and will be held tomorrow evening. The students made art work and advertisements for the event and will be volunteering/attending the event.

They are also partnering with the National Art Honor Society for their Fall Blend, an evening of talent and art. They have made art work and advertisements and will attend the event to support the organizations.

Rich is the Founder / Executive Director of Generosity: Global (formerly A Friend To Homeless) – www.generosityglobal.org

Born and raised in Cameroon, West Africa, Rich was deeply impacted by the poverty that negatively impacted the lives of people (both adults and children) in his community, his country and throughout Africa. Because of this, he developed a profound desire to serve and make a positive difference in the lives of people who are less fortunate. His natural dislike of seeing people suffer was a strong driving force for the creation of an organization that will help bring awareness to the problems faced by the marginalized in society as well as galvanize a movement to change the lives of millions of people around the world.

Though his primary intent for starting Generosity: Global was to serve and provide resources to the homeless in Baltimore, MD, his vision for the organization has expanded into building a global organization that is impacting the lives of the homeless, orphans, and underserved persons around the world.

Summer Enrichment Program

Supporting Head start and Summer Enrichment Programs is Investing in Quality Early Childhood Education in Howard County. CAC’s Head Start programming is aligned with National Education Goal #1 which provides for Children Entering School Ready to Learn.

Their purpose is to ensure that all children will have an opportunity to enhance their skills, knowledge, and abilities by participating in classrooms and field trip activities  that are recognize individual differences, cultivates their strengths, and help them become problem solvers. Promoting school readiness in these critical years of life is essential for establishing a foundation for learning and school success for years to come. 

In Howard county we give our children that opportunity through the summer enrichment program. 152 HS students began a 7 week intensive program from May 26th to July 10th. Offered at two of the centers, Ellicott City and Dasher Green. Monday through Friday, 6 hours a day. 

The goal is to promote the school readiness of children by enhancing their cognitive and social emotional development and have them enter school ready to learn.

The program adds an additional element of enrichment to the Head Start program by offering a diverse array of cultural  and field trip activities, guest visitors and local artists throughout the 7 week period.

Students transitioning to kindergarten in the fall were administered a pretest at the beginning of the program based on a check list of topics from the Howard County Public Schools. At the end of the 7 week program, the students were given a post test to determine if students improved with their scores:

Pretest average 73%

Posttest average 85%

Overall improvement 12%

The assessment of young children is about promoting learning, not simply measuring it. Through Head Start and the Summer Enrichment program young children have the ability to work through activities, to solve problems, to work independently, and to reflect on their thinking. They are active, spontaneous, creative, curious, and capable of self-direction.

These are the qualities that make all of us good students and leaners and set the path for success for our children who are our future.

Howard County Fire and Rescue, Hands-Only CPR 

Brad Tanner visits to tell us all about this CPR program. This course is a one-hour, quick, upbeat, and informal class designed for community awareness of SCA, and will teach participants how to start CPR right away and continue doing chest compressions until help arrives. Participants will learn about cardiac arrest and how to recognize it’s happening, the three simple steps of Hands-only CPR for victims over 8 years old, and receive a basic overview of an automated external defibrillator (AED)*. Training in Hands-Only CPR gives members of our local community the ability to help save a life without using mouth-to-mouth ventilations or obtaining a certification card!

HCDFRS offers Hands-Only CPR to groups of 20 or more people including families, organizations, and community groups. Training is scheduled by appointment, and the instructors may be available to come to you. To inquire about a training class for your group, please contact our Hands-Only CPR team at handsonlycpr@hcdfrs.org with a proposed date, time, location, and number of participants for your training. You may also call (410) 313-2016 for more information.

Brad Tanner, Community Outreach Specialist has been with Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services 2011. A local product of the Howard County Public School System and a graduate from UMBC in Mass Media and Communications. In his current role, he has helped with the creation, implementation, and evaluation of the Department's community CPR program, smoke alarm education program, and formalizing a community risk reduction plan.

Ken Solow
DG 2015-2016, District 7620

Ken joined the Columbia-Patuxent Rotary Club in September of 1996.  He served as Club President in 2001-2002 and won the Donal Lee Chamberlin award for Best Club President.  Ken has served District 7620 as Chair or member of the Leadership Training team since 2003.  He has been a featured speaker at Chesapeake PETS and other District Conferences.  He is a Paul Harris Fellow, a Paul Harris Society Member, and a Major Donor to the Rotary Foundation.

Ken is a founding partner of Pinnacle Advisory Group, Inc., a private wealth management firm serving clients in the Baltimore-Washington area and around the world.  Ken currently serves as Chair of Pinnacle’s investment committee, which oversees the management of $1.5 billion of assets for more than 850 families.  He is the author of the book, Buy and Hold is Dead (Again), the Case for Active Management in Dangerous Markets.

Ken is married to Linda and resides in Ellicott City, Md.  They have a son and a daughter, Danny, who lives and works in Boston, Mass, and Carly, who just graduated from the University of Maryland.

A nonprofit organization, MakingChange has been helping people create their own financial success stories through educational programs that are user friendly and meaningful. They work with the best financial and educational institutions to assemble content around a wide array of money topics that touch the lives of people of all ages and income levels.

Founded by former Howard Community College President Dwight Burrill and his daughter, Michelle Glassburn, MakingChange began with credit counseling programs and services. In November of 2001, they changed their focus to developing and delivering financial wellness programs.

Today, MakingChange offers Group Seminars, Personal Financial Coaching, Online Courses, Free Tax Preparation, and financial skills programs for middle, high school and college students. Their clients are human service organizations, government agencies and area businesses that want to advance the financial skills of their clients and employees.

Mike Couch is the Executive Director of MakingChange, a nonprofit organization that empowers individuals and families to achieve financial stability. He joined MakingChange in 2012 after working with two local comprehensive wealth management firms as a Certified Financial Planner™.  His previous experience included corporate finance positions with General Electric and America Online.  Mike earned his undergraduate degree in Finance from the University of Massachusetts – Amherst and completed the MBA Fellows program at Loyola University Maryland in Baltimore. He is also a graduate of the Leadership Howard County Premier Class of 2014. He currently serves as the Chair of Howard County’s Board to Promote Self-Sufficiency and is a member of various local Boards including the Association of Community Services and the HCPSS Academy of Finance Advisory Board.

The mission of Voices for Children is to ensure that the best interest of abused and neglected children are represented in the Howard County Circuit Court. All children referred to Voices for Children will be matched with a volunteer whose efforts are directed at expediting the placement of children into safe and permanent homes. Voices for Children was started in 1990 by a local attorney, who read an article in a law journal describing a national movement started by a Seattle Juvenile Court Judge David Soukup. In order to get essential information so he could make better decisions on the lives of abused and neglected children, he asked for volunteers in the community to become Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA’s).

Every child referred to Voices for Children is matched with a CASA volunteer who reports findings and recommendations directly to the Juvenile Master in the form of a formal, written court report at least twice a year. This report outlines the advocate’s activities, the child’s background, present circumstances, psychological and physical needs and recommends permanent placement and appropriate services for the child.

The provision of court reports as well as providing active support for the child beyond the court proceedings ensures that the child receives the services and attention that were court-ordered and monitors changing needs. The CASA volunteer gives the child a welcomed sense of consistency, helping to restore the child’s self-esteem, damaged first by the abuse suffered and then by the frightening legal process.

The goal of the program is to provide trained CASA volunteers to all children referred to us by the Howard County Circuit Court. Recruitment of volunteers to be matched to 70 children this year is our primary objective.

Howard County Tourism & Promotion is a not-for-profit partnership based organization (501c6) dedicated to promoting all that is wonderful and unique about visiting, meeting, living and investing in Howard County, Maryland. Howard County Tourism & Promotion is recognized by Howard County Government and the Maryland Office of Tourism Development as the official Destination Marketing Organization for Howard County, Maryland. 


Founded in 1981, their mission is to increase, develop and promote tourism in Howard County by featuring the county's unique LOCATION, sites, services, products and people. 

Since 2003 they have quadrupled their total operating budget by lobbying for a legislated and dedicated hotel tax. Membership, who they refer to as “marketing partners”, have doubled in number and they enjoy a 92% renewal and retention rate. The newly renovated Welcome Center in historic Ellicott City visitation is up 76% since its ribbon-cutting. Year after-year the Tourism Team returns home from the Maryland Tourism & Travel Summit with multiple marketing awards including best website, best visitor guide and best digital campaign. With much PR savvy they have worked with National media including the New York Times, Southern Living and MONEY magazine.

Rachelina Bonacci is an innovative communications and marketing leader with 20+ years’ experience in travel / tourism management, media relations and sales for some of the industry's largest and most esteemed employers including Southwest Airlines Co. and Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.

Above all, she sincerely believes in the transformative power of travel and is a passionate advocate for the tourism industry and was honored to receive the Maryland Tourism Advocate of the Year Award in 2011.

Presently, in her 12th year as CEO of Howard County Tourism & Promotion, she is energized in thinking and operating entrepreneurially with great financial and public relations results, not only for her organization, but for Howard County as a destination and its many member businesses. The phenomenal growth of Howard County Tourism & Promotion under Bonacci's leadership, in midst of a recession, has been well chronicled in the media.

In 2015, Howard County Tourism & Promotion had another stunning year of successes that resulted in much recognition at the Maryland Tourism & Travel Summit coupled with honorary proclamations by local Government.

As the immediate past chair of the Maryland Destination Marketing Organization and recently having chaired one of the most financially successful Maryland Tourism & Travel Summits for the Maryland Tourism Coalition, she continues to be amongst the most respected and accomplished destination marketing leaders in the state.

Join us this Friday morning as Dr. Joel Goodman with the Howard Astronomical League (HAL) will tell us all about the new observatory at Alpha Ridge.

Howard Astronomical League is an amateur astronomy club located in Howard County, Maryland. They hold monthly meetings on the lower (mezzanine) level of the Robinson Nature Center in Columbia, MD, conduct public star parties at Alpha Ridge Park, and provide community outreach events at various locations – often in Howard Country Library parking lots. HAL invites everyone to be a part of astronomy in Central Maryland. Joel will discuss astronomy and space science resources in Howard County, JHU/APL New Horizons update and rocks from space and upcoming meteor showers.

The Howard Astronomical League will officially dedicate its new observatory this weekend in Marriottsville, and the public is invited to a ribbon-cutting and star-gazing party. The observatory—which the league is calling HALO (Howard Astronomical League Observatory)—houses two telescopes and a library under a 15-foot-diameter dome. A $10,000 state bond and private donations paid for construction of the observatory, which began in February, according to Howard County government.

Joel Goodman is a retired dentist. He is currently Celestial Searchers Director, Howard Astronomical League Observatory Director, STEMulatingMinds Logistics Chair and the NatureSphere/Planetarium Programmer at James and Anne Robinson Nature Center.

FIRN is a nonprofit organization in Howard County, Maryland that empowers immigrants, refugees, asylees and other foreign-born individuals by helping them to access community resources and opportunities. FIRN provides immigration counseling and citizenship classes, interpreting & translation services, English tutoring, information and referrals and a variety of workshops.
 
FIRN grew out of an informal support service for foreign-born students at Howard Community College (HCC) and an idea by Pat Hatch for a place where immigrants could ask questions “without feeling stupid”. Pat shared her idea with the Columbia Foundation and with HCC’s teachers of English as a Second Language, whose students were continually posing questions that had little to do with English, but much to do with survival in a new culture. 

Pat and HCC joined forces. With initial seed money from the Columbia Foundation, FIRN opened its doors in October 1981, staffed only by Pat. In its first year, the project served 90 persons from 10 countries. In 1984, FIRN was incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Slowly its services expanded to include immigration counseling, interpreting and other critical services. Today, FIRN serves immigrants from over 75 countries and is well known as the key resource in Central Maryland for the foreign born. It also provides valuable assistance and guidance to health and human service agencies that serve immigrant clients.

Chief Gary L. Gardner is a 30-year veteran of the Howard County Police Department. Prior to his appointment as Chief of Police, he held  the position of Deputy Chief for Operations, overseeing the patrol districts, the operational preparedness division and the youth services division. 

Throughout his career, Chief Gardner has served in nearly every component of the department, including as the Deputy Chief for Administration, Commander of the criminal investigations bureau, Chief of Staff, Commander in the patrol division and public information officer.   His contributions and accomplishments include the realignment of patrol beats for improved response services; implementation of a crime analysis-driven system for better allocating resources in patrol operations; development of the Alpha Ridge Training Center as the head of the police planning team; and creation of the department’s Police Memorial Courtyard and Garden at headquarters. 

Chief Gardner has a Master’s degree from Eastern Kentucky University and is a graduate of the F.B.I.’s National Academy. He is a member of the Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, the International Chiefs of Police Association and the F.B.I. National Academy Associates. He is also an active supporter of Maryland Special Olympics and other law enforcement-related charities. Chief Gardner is also a graduate of Leadership Howard County, class of 2006. 

Fidos for Freedom

Fidos for Freedom, Inc. was established in 1987 and was originally an obedience organization located on Main St in Laurel.  Everyone involved do so as volunteers at Fidos — except for the handyman, office manager and bookkeeper. They train four types of dogs at Fidos: hearing dogs for people who are deaf or hard of hearing, service dogs for mobility assistance, PTSD dogs for our military service people and our therapy dogs  who are our ambassadors of good will! Fidos service a 75 mile radius and their mission is "to improve the quality of life for people in the Baltimore/Washington and Annapolis area through the use of their specially trained dogs". Fidos is located at 1200 Sandy Spring Rd. in Laurel and their phone number is (301) 490-4005. Fidos is also proud to be certified with the ADI-Assistance Dogs International.

Debbie has been a volunteer with Fidos for Freedom for over 17 yrs and is now working with her 6th therapy dog. She is the event coordinator and co-therapy dog coordinator for the organization. Debbie started her therapy dog work working with hospice patients at GBMC-Greater Baltimore Medical Center. Her therapy dogs have participated in the reading program called DEAR (dogs educating and assisting readers), have worked with autistic children and adults, in oncology and pediatrics and general medicine as well as assisted living and rehab patients. Her last three therapy dogs have also acted as "demo" dogs demonstrating the skills that are required of assistance dogs.

Mission 14 is embarking on a new model of fundraising to enact social change and the many steps toward eradicating human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children.

Eric is a seasoned entrepreneur, outdoorsman and envisioner who has successfully launched businesses, government agencies and non-profits. It is not a surprise that he is the kind of person that would want to team up with Mission 14 on this ground breaking initiative to fight human trafficking. He brings a clear understanding that partnerships and engaging youth in this generational battle is essential to eradicating this global injustice.

"30+ million people are enslaved worldwide, more than at any time in history. It is a $100 billion criminal enterprise, second only to drugs. Most of us do not know that slavery is thriving because slaves aren’t sold publically anymore, but this heinous injustice of human trafficking persists. In the U.S., alone, there are some 100,000 to 300,000 of our children at risk of being trafficked for sex each year and we can all do, must do something to stop it.

Learn about what one man Nick Cienski is doing at Mission 14 with the 6 Summits Challenge, a world record attempt to climb 6 of the highest mountains in the world in 2015 to bring attention to human trafficking and provide each of us tools to fight this battle locally, nationally and internationally. Now that we know, we must complete the work of Wilberforce, Lincoln and King and others until this crime against humanity is finally eradicated. Yes, we need to BE BRAVE, Learn How and Act Now."

“This human travesty is on-going in every city and suburb in the United States and throughout the world, and yet we are either ignorant of its existence, or believe there is nothing one person can do, as I did for so many years. It is modern day slavery in another form, and once I learned about the magnitude of this injustice, I was compelled to act.”

Born in Munich, Germany to a U.S. foreign service family, Eric’s passion for building awareness of human trafficking has been fueled by his Christian faith, work in youth ministry and participation in a wide variety of charitable missions in the U.S. and overseas. Although not a mountain climber like Nick or an incredibly talented artist like his wife Sandi, Eric shares their commitment to be a difference maker and sense of adventure as an avid sailor, cyclist and kayaker.

Join us this week to hear from our County Executive, Allan Kittleman. 

Allan Kittleman was elected on November 4th, 2014 to serve as Howard County’s 9th County Executive. Executive Kittleman previously served in the Maryland General Assembly as the Senator representing District 9 from 2004 to 2014.  In 1998 and again in 2002, Kittleman was elected to serve on the Howard County Council to represent Council District 5. 

Kittleman was a partner with Herwig & Humphreys, LLP before serving as Of Counsel at Godwin, Erlandsson, Vernon & Daney where his practice concentrated on representing employers in worker’s compensation matters.  

Kittleman is a graduate of Atholton High School and the University of Maryland Baltimore County.  In 1988, Allan graduated from the University of Maryland Law School.   

During his tenure in the Maryland General Assembly, Kittleman was known as a bipartisan leader and tireless advocate for legislative causes designed to strengthen Maryland public schools, stimulate economic growth, and increase transparency in government, among others.  

As County Executive, Allan Kittleman will work with State and Local school administrators to ensure Howard County Public Schools provide a world class education in every part of the County.  Allan will cross party lines to work with members of the Howard County Council on ways to make local government more efficient and responsive to county residents.  

Allan lives with his wife Robin in West Friendship and has four children, Haley, Mary, Robby and James.