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Olney resident Cathy Colleli, a breast cancer survivor, served as the Washington Nationals honorary bat girl on May 15.

Each Major League Baseball team saluted breast cancer awareness with honorary bat girls on Mother's Day or on May 15, depending on their schedule.

Colleli's essay and application was selected from more than 1,500 entries.

In the essay, she spoke of caring for her sister Sheri Colleli Hogan, who died of breast cancer in 2004. During Hogan's last few months, Colleli said they spent a lot of time watching Nationals games.

Because of her family history, Colleli has been actively involved in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, the Avon Breast Cancer Walk and the Brem Foundation, and also serves on the Olney Relay for Life committee.

Five years after her sister's death, Colleli was diagnosed with breast cancer. Although she is dealing with the effects of chemotherapy, she said she is feeling well overall.

In an interview with MASN, Colleli stressed the importance of advocating for your own health care. She had a routine mammogram, but because of her family history, she lobbied for an MRI to use as a baseline.

Having just had the negative mammogram, she was shocked when she received the call that the MRI detected a small lump deep inside her breast, which turned out to be cancerous.

As a bat girl, Colleli was recognized during an infield ceremony and was given a certificate, a jersey and a pink bat engraved with her name.

"It was really well done and great for Major League Baseball to bring attention and awareness to breast cancer," she said. "It was really an honor."

Montgomery General earns second consecutive award

For the second year in a row, Montgomery General Hospital received an award for performance improvement.

The 2011 Delmarva Foundation Excellence Award for Quality Improvement recognizes hospital improvement in four national inpatient clinical areas: acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, surgical care and pneumonia.

"Delmarva Foundation is honored to award Montgomery General for their commitment to quality and their ability to achieve and sustain excellent service for their patients," said Dr. Kulleni Gebreyes, Delmarva medical director.

To receive the award, hospitals must improve the individual performance rate to 90 percent or above on 17 required measures for at least three consecutive quarters.

"Receiving this award two years in a row validates Montgomery General Hospital's strong commitment to the community in which we serve," said Peter Monge, president of Montgomery General. "This accomplishment is due to the loyalty and dedication of our physicians, nurses and associates who work at Montgomery General."

Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care Inc. is the quality improvement organization for Maryland.

Leaders set example of service

Two Girl Scout leaders from Olney and Brookeville were recognized for their service to their troops.

Girl Scouts Association 31 of the Council of the Nation's Capital honored them at its annual spring meeting at Brighton Woods Girl Scout camp on May 1.

Julie Mulkey, Tammy Paidas, Carole Roberts and Jennie Schmidt received the Outstanding Leader pins, recognizing excellent service for two or more years.

Paula Thewes received the Outstanding Volunteer pin for serving as the service unit cookie manager for three years.

The Jan Verhage Spirit of Leadership award was presented to Cathy Bertin and Carole Levy. The award recognizes service to Girl Scouting of five or more years beyond troop leadership and for providing opportunities for girls, service to the community and helping fulfill recruitment and membership goals of the Girl Scout Council.

The President's Volunteer Service Award recognizes hours of service annually from individuals.

The pins were presented to Elizabeth Lakey, Lifetime Achievement of more than 4,000 hours to date, and a Gold Award for more than 500 hours this year; Levy, Gold award; Roberts and Vicky Aceto, Silver Award for more than 250 hours; and Monica Kenney-Jacobs, Bronze award for more than 100 hours.

Russian visitors stop in Olney

A group of seven Russian business leaders visited the Olney Chamber of Commerce May 25 as part of a study tour organized by Center for International Private Enterprise.

The tour is designed to provide a ground-level view of how U.S. business associations work with government to create jobs, develop communities and spur investment.

All seven men and women are from the North Caucasus region, an area with social and economic challenges.

Chamber Executive Director Virginia Mauk said they discussed how the chamber and its members work with the government and deal with red tape, and also how the chamber attracts members, collects dues and functions within the community.

"We learned that we all deal with very similar issues," Mauk said. "It was really nice."

Elder care discuss to be

held at Ross Boddy June 9

Deborah Adler, vice president of adult and senior services of Easter Seals of Greater Washington-Baltimore Regions, will speak at 10:30 a.m. June 9 at Ross Boddy Center, offering "An Overview of Community Based Options for Elders and Those Who Care For Them."

The program will focus on options for caring for elders in the community, examining adult day services, intergenerational programs and senior plus offerings, as well as other services available to enable elders to age in the community.

All are welcome to attend. Ross Boddy is located at 18529 Brooke Road in Sandy Spring. For more information, call Judith Porzel at 301-570-1215.

Dine out for a cause

The Tavern, at 18200 Georgia Ave. in Olney, will hold a fundraiser to benefit the Women's Board of Montgomery General Hospital on June 3.

Ten percent of the day's sales will support programs funded by the Women's Board, including the scholarship program for students pursuing careers in health care fields and the most recent pledge of $1.75 million for a da Vinci Surgical Robot.

Hands-on history

camp coming in July

The Sandy Spring Museum is offering a summer camp, combining history with hands-on activities and traditional crafts such as churning butter, baking bread in a brick oven, making toys, making ice cream and more.

The camps will allow children to learn, explore and play during each of the four-day sessions.

A camp for children entering grades one-two will be offered July 11-14 and for children entering grades three-five on July 18-21.

The cost is $189 for museum members and $210 for non-members. Enrollment is limited to 10 campers per session; registration deadline is June 6.

For more information, call 301-774-0022. Online registration is available at www.sandyspringmuseum.org.

If you have an interesting note about the people and the events of our community, send it to Terri Hogan, staff writer, The Olney Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, Md. 20877, or email it to thogan@gazette.net. Our fax number is 301-670-7183. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday for consideration for the following week. All items are subject to space availability.