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In honor of the Volunteer Appreciation Month in April, Carroll Hospital Center recognized its more than 350 volunteers for dedicated service to the hospital during an annual volunteer recognition luncheon held on April 27.

Hospital president and CEO John Sernulka, Hospital Board Chairman Charles O. Fisher Jr., and members of the hospital's executive management team were among the guests who expressed their appreciation for the time and effort volunteers give to the hospital every year.

Miss Maryland 2009 served as special guest during the afternoon which included speeches, lunch and a service pin award presentation.

The following is a list of volunteers who received service pins based on their cumulative hours of volunteer service at Carroll Hospital Center: 40,000 hours: Irene Danner; 8,000 hours: Lois Warden; 7,000 hours: Beverly Rose; 6,000 hours: Gladys Stahley and Peggy Wade; 5,000 hours: Marie Blank and Jean Brocato; 4,000 hours: Bill Lansinger and Millie Mann; 3,000 hours: C. Daniel Achziger, Albert Bozzell, Linda Frazee, Barbara Groff, Betty Long, Priscilla Teeter and George W. Warden; 2,000 hours: Barbara Donahue, Judith Greenwood, Jerry Rose, William Sears, Helen Shepard, Clara Silva D'Herbil and Richard Sweeney; 1,000 hours: Shirley F. Cox, John Davis, Don Feemster, Thea Fisher, Jerri Lawrence, Gene Lichtman, Fran Miller, Ann Schultz, Ruth Trimmer, Lois Weaver, Rachel Wentz and Brenda Wimperis; 500 hours: Mona Babik, Lorna Beuchert, Doris Euler, Leroy Fisher, Thea Fisher, Anne Forman, Nancy Gabriel, Sheila George, Darlene Larimer, Nancy L. Moreau, Joan Myers, John Ober, Sheila Pyatt, Ellen Riggie, Norman Schaffer, Christine Selby, Nancy Smedley, Richard Stem, Rosemary Stem and Mary Lou Winter; 150 hours: Dixie Backhaus, Betty Cohee, Sandra Dells, Melinda Fisher, Bob George, Barbara Gunther, Gary Horst, Margaret McPherson, Almeda Nangel, Rebecca Roush, Antionette Salam, Doris Sauble, Dolores Sisco, Karla Townsley and Joyce Wilder.

Mount Airy Middle School students achieve honors

Mount Airy Middle School seventh-graders Christian Centi and Austin Shields participated in the Johns Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth SAT testing. Christian earned scores of distinction in math, and Austin earned scores of distinction in reading and high honors in math.

The Mount Airy Middle Science Olympiad team placed second at a regional tournament in Frederick and third at the Maryland state tournament at Johns Hopkins University. They competed against 21 teams at the state level and placed first in Bio Process Lab and Dynamic Planet, second in Battery Buggy, Fossils, Road Scholar and Wright Stuff, and third in Disease Detectives, Meteorology and Trajectory.

Participants included William Babin, Jimmy Becker, Austin Campbell, Leah Corio, Laura Dytrt, Chad Lee, Lauren Mannix, John McAninley, Michael Mullen, Kendall Noel, Amanda Patterson, Becca Picanso, Brandon Quinn, Joshua Shimomura, LeeAnn Summerlin and Chrystal Yee.

The Maryland Science Olympiad is a hands-on science program that includes rigorous academic interscholastic tournaments. The mission of Maryland Science Olympiad is dedicated to teamwork provided by fun science and technology competitions that build skills and highlight the value that diversity brings to a team.

Legion announces

essay winners

The American Legion Gold Star Post 191 Auxiliary in Mount Airy sponsored an Americanism Essay Contest with the topic "What is my patriotic role as a U.S. citizen?" Kyle McGrath won first place, Angela Himmelburg was second and Matthew Baldwin was third.

Team wins first in National LifeSmarts competition

On April 27, a team of teenagers from Maryland was named National Champion for the 2010 LifeSmarts Competition. The seven-member team included Maura Taylor and Shayla Keating, both of Mount Airy.

LifeSmarts, a program sponsored by the National Consumers League, is a nationwide competition which occurs annually. Teams of high school students from all 50 states, as well as Washington, D.C., and U.S. territories, are invited to test their knowledge of consumer topics in five areas: technology, personal finance, health and safety, environment and consumer rights.

Teams compete at the state level for the right to represent their state at the national competition. The 2010 competition drew teams from 32 different areas.

At the national competition, students compete in teams of four to five members. Students participate in four game-show-style buzzer rounds, a written test taken as a team, an individual test on one of the four areas of LifeSmarts and an additional team activity about a particular subject of importance to consumers. Points from these competitions are tallied and the top eight teams are then seeded for the quarter-final match. The quarter, semi and final matches are done as buzzer rounds with single elimination.

The team from Maryland was comprised of a group of homeschoolers from Frederick, Carroll and Washington counties. The team consisted of captain Cobey England, Robert Dickens, Julia Roberson, Nicholas Martin and Maura Taylor. Coach was Judy England and assistant coach was Shayla Keating.

On April 23, the Maryland team flew to Miami for the 2010 National LifeSmarts Competition. The Maryland team advanced to the finals, facing a North Dakota team.

Each member of the Maryland team earned a $1,000 savings bond, a $1,000 scholarship and other prizes from the competition's sponsors.

For more information about LifeSmarts, go to www.lifesmarts.org.

Maryland School for the Deaf wins national tournament

For the second time in school history, the Maryland School for the Deaf in Frederick, won first place at Gallaudet University's National Academic Bowl championship tournament.

The competition was held April 25-26 at the university's Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center in Washington, D.C. The Frederick team, including Andrew Biskupiak, Todd Bonheyo, Christy Hediger, Asher Kirschbaum and Ethan Sonnenstrahl, defeated the Metro Deaf School/Minnesota Star Academy team to win the tournament. Sixteen teams competed.

Gallaudet University established the Academic Bowl for Deaf and Hard of Hearing High School Students in 1997, with the goal of promoting academic competition among school teams. At each regional Academic Bowl, teams compete against each other in answering questions in the following categories: history and government, language and literature, science and technology, geography, mathematics, the arts, deaf studies, current events and popular culture, leisure and sports.

Maryland School for the Deaf has competed in the national championship eight times. The win followed three months of regional competitions involving 76 teams of deaf and hard of hearing students from all-deaf and mainstream high schools from across the country. The three highest-ranking teams (plus one at-large team) from those matches challenged each other in the national contest at Gallaudet.

For more information about the tournament, go to ab.gallaudet.edu.

Jones' artwork featured

at Country Meadows

Country Meadows Retirement Community of Frederick featured resident Ilajean Jones as its artist of the month for April.

An exhibit of Jones' work consisted of nature-inspired wood carvings and wall art crafted from wood burning and needlework.

According to her son-in-law, Milt Higgins, director of the Alan P. Linton Jr. Emergency Shelter in Frederick, Jones, 86, began woodcarving about eight years ago after attending a show in Florida, where she and her husband spent their winters for about a decade.

Jones now lives with her husband, Marti, at Country Meadows. Married for 63 years, they were former residents of Gaithersburg. Their daughter, Jacquelyn Higgins, lives in Jefferson and teaches special education at New Market Elementary School; their son, Larry, lives in the Whittier community in Frederick; and son Richard lives in Gaithersburg.

Odd Fellows send care packages to troops

Members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, King David No. 50 in Frederick recently sent care packages to Marines serving in Afghanistan to "applaud their role in keeping our country safe."

Contributing members included Rosy Swain, noble grand and president of the lodge; Donald Rogers, secretary; Sharon Botkin, chaplain; Carroll Sayler, treasurer; Terry Clark, financial secretary; Marshall Botkin, vice grand; Charles Clark, member at large.

Do you have an item for Mount Airy Moments? Contact reporter Angie Cochrun at 301-846-2117, e-mail acochrun@gazette.net or fax news to 301-846-2124.