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Amanda Elizabeth Powers, a 17-year-old from Mount Airy, will compete for the title of Miss Maryland Teen USA 2010 this weekend in Bethesda. It's the first pageant for Powers, the daughter of Michael and Terri Powers of Mount Airy.

"She just thought that it would be a great experience," said Terri Powers. "She wanted to come serve as a role model."

Amanda is a senior at South Carroll High School and is a concurrent student at Carroll Community College. She is involved in cheerleading, swimming and works as a hostess at Laurienzo Brick Oven Café in Mount Airy.

Former Miss Maryland 2008, Casandra Tressler of Damascus, is her coach for the competition that includes interview, swimsuit and evening gown components.

Her sponsors for the pageant are A Do or Dye Salon, Laurienzo Brick Oven Café, Ben Gue‘s Gifts and Collectibles, Déjà Vu, Catonsville Homes, David M. Hasson, D.M.D., McKinney Drilling Company, Best Electric, DRD Pool Management, Browning Reagle Insurance and several friends and family.

The young woman chosen as Miss Maryland Teen USA 2010 will go on to represent the state in the national 2010 Miss Teen USA pageant and spend a year as a teen ambassador.

4-County Lions Club

supports local food banks

The 4-County Lions Club of Mount Airy recently donated $1,000 to four local food banks.  

Club President Ray Miller presented checks to representatives at a recent club meeting. Because of the economic situation, food banks are in need of continued supplies, according to a Lions Club press release.  In response to this need, members of the 4-County Lions have increased collection efforts in the community. 

Students on the lookout

for photos of veterans

In honor of Veterans Day, Mount Airy Elementary School would like to display photographs of students' family members who serve in the military. The photographs will be stapled to the lobby's bulletin board. The school asks that families send in photographs of any family member who has served or is currently serving in the military.

On the back of the photograph, include the student's name and teacher (to return the photograph), name of the veteran and relation to student, branch of service and duty station or conflict/war served.

The school requests that photographs are sent in as soon as possible to have the bulletin board up for viewing before Nov. 11.

Frederick DAR hosts

essay contest

The first transcontinental railroad was completed with a golden spike on May 10, 1869. Now, any student in grades five through eight can write an essay about the railroad for a chance to win a monetary prize from the Frederick Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

The essay should be written from the point of view of a settler who plans to use the train to get to his or her new home in the West, a Native American whose lifestyle was drastically changed because of the railroad or an Irish or Chinese immigrant worker who helped build the railroad. The pieces will be judged based on accuracy, relevance to topic, organization, interest, originality, spelling, grammar, punctuation and neatness. Entries are due by Dec. 4.

The chapter will also sponsor and judge the Christopher Columbus essay contest, which is open to students in grades nine through 12. It will be judged based on the same criteria and is also due on Dec. 4. The essay should "discuss and analyze the early influences and experiences of Christopher Columbus and how these contributed to successes and failures in his voyages of exploration."

Contact Mary Lee Schumeyer at 301-696-1191 or theschumeyers@comcast.net for more information on how to submit an essay or for more specific rules and regulations. The authors of the winning essays will receive a monetary prize and medal and will automatically move on to a regional essay competition, Schumeyer said.

Resident spends

semester in Greece

Living in a hotel-turned-dormitory within walking distance of olive groves and the Aegean Sea, Kristen Cogdell of Mount Airy is spending the fall semester traveling around the Mediterranean area from a "home base" in Athens, Greece.

Cogdell is a junior majoring in child and family sciences at Harding University in Arkansas. She is one of 24 students enrolled in the college's international program in Greece, residing for two of three months in the Artemis Hotel located within one of Athens's suburbs, Porto Rafti. Students spend the remainder of their visit touring areas including the major Greek islands, Northern Greece, Egypt, Israel and Turkey.

The tours take them to places of Western civilization history, such as the Agora, Acropolis, Parthenon and many other monumental structures of the ancient world.

Group accepts applications

for holiday help

Mount Airy Net is accepting applications for "Adoption For The Holidays" to anyone in the Mount Airy Zip Code 21771 who will need help at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Please request the application at the Net Office at 403 S. Main St., Mount Airy or call 301-829-0472.

Faith Striders' masquerade ball supports breast cancer cause

A Frederick County-based faith-based awareness group will hold a masquerade ball in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and invites the public to come out in costume Halloween night to "unveil their masks for a cure."

The Faith Striders, a group of women who have been working for three years on education and research for curing breast cancer and other forms of illness, will host its 3rd annual "A Toast for the Cure" event Saturday at the American Legion, 1450 Taney Ave., Frederick.

The theme for this year's toast and the group's task is "Unveil the Mask for the Cure." Tickets are $15 per person; food, drinks and door prizes will be available.

Proceeds from the event will go to the Faith Striders' participation in the Avon Walk for the Cure event in Washington, D.C. in May 2010.

This year's benefit is particularly important to the Faith Striders, which lost one of its members, Geri Ellis, earlier this year when her breast cancer spread to her brain.

"My team and I lost a dear team member; but her journey reemphasized the importance of community support, determination, having a will to live and making sure that everyone is educated and aware of programs that are available," said Angela Spencer, team captain of the Faith Striders. "No one has to walk this walk alone."

The group also has two new members who are breast cancer survivors, which also adds to the group's inspiration, she said.

"Just having survivors with us, it inspires us even more to do more for our community, more for your friends, more for our families," Spencer said.

For more information on the Faith Striders, go to, www.faithstriders.com.

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 301-829-9101.