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Sandy Spring Volunteer Fire Department will escort Santa around town on fire company vehicles beginning Friday in what has become a yearly tradition.

The Santa visits will be held from 5:30 to 9 p.m. on the following schedule:

-Friday: Manor Oaks, Goldmine Crossing, Dellabrooke Forest, Town of Brookeville, Bordley Estates, Brinklow, Aston (North and West), Sandy Spring, Bancroft and Arden Woods.

-Saturday: Williamsburg Village, Cashell Manor, Barnsley Manor Estates, Norbeck Grove, Oatlands, Olney Oaks, Olney Acres and Briars Acres.

-Sunday: Olney Mill, Brookeville Knolls, Tanterra and Olney Village.

-Monday: Victoria Springs, Brooke Manor, The Preserve, Sycamore Acres, Norbeck Manor, Norbeck Meadows, Cherrywood and Cherry Valley.

-Tuesday: Ashton Meadow, Ashton Manor, Ednor Acres, Cliftonbrooke, Ashton Preserve, Hampshire Greens, Llewellyn Fields, Norwood Village and Ashley Manor.

-Dec. 23: James Creek, Brooke Grove, Environ, Hallowell, Lake Hallowell and Highlands of Olney.

Nomination time

is here for the Athena

Nominations are being accepted for the fifth anniversary Greater Olney-Sandy Spring Athena Award, designed to honor a local women for community service and professional and personal leadership.

Presented in memory of Brooke Grove Retirement Village founder and registered nurse Eleanor Howe, the program gives particular consideration to nominees who demonstrate a "dedication of self and a generosity of spirit" toward the greater Olney–Sandy Spring community.

Kulley Bancroft of Sandy Spring Bank and a longtime community volunteer won the award last year.

Other recipients of the Olney-Sandy spring Athena Award are Carolyn Snowden, a longtime civic activist in the Sandy Spring and Ashton communities; Lisa McKillop, retired director of Hospice Caring Inc. who was a longtime volunteer at Olney Theatre Center and the Olney Nonprofit Consortium, among other organizations; and Robyn Quinter, owner of Quinter Designs, who has donated countless services to the community.

Award criteria and nomination forms are available on the Olney Chamber of Commerce and the Brooke Grove Web sites, www.olneymd.org or www.bgf.org.

The deadline to submit a nomination is March 5. The recipient will be announced at an Award Tea at Brooke Grove Retirement Village on April 30. For more information, call the Olney Chamber of Commerce at 301-774-7117.

Get 'em while they last

The Sandy Spring Lions Club is selling Christmas trees and wreaths through Dec. 24 at the Montgomery General Hospital grounds off Olney-Sandy Spring Road.

Several sizes of fresh-cut Fraser fir trees are available and all proceeds will be used by the club to support community programs, eye examinations and glasses for the needy, and local student scholarships.

Holiday Giving Project accepting donations

Montgomery County is accepting donations of food, gift cards, gifts for children and cash as part of its Holiday Giving Project.

Interfaith Works, a nonsectarian, nonprofit organization with more than 140 member and affiliated congregations that works to meet the needs of the poor in the county, is spearheading the project for the second year. The Montgomery County Volunteer Center, which ran the project for many years, continues to work closely with Interfaith Works on the effort, the county reported.

The project, which has been aiding low-income families for 30 years, accepts referrals for holiday assistance. More than 9,000 families were served last year.

Service opportunities include organizing a food, gift card or toy collection drive; sponsoring a family or families in a specific neighborhood/ zip code; and volunteering at Holiday Giving Project distribution sites.

For more information on the Holiday Giving Project, go to www.

iworksmc.org/holidaygiving.html. To donate online, visit www.iworksmc.org/ s-donation.html, click on the Network for Good button and enter Holiday Giving Project in the Designation box.

To donate food, gifts or gift cards or to volunteer, contact Susan Klavon at Interfaith Works, 301-315-1094, or via e-mail at giving@iworksmc.org.

For more information about other ways to help during the holidays, call the Volunteer Center at 240-777-2600 or visit www.montgomerycountymd. gov/volunteer.

Authors to make stop in Olney

Congregation B'nai Shalom of Olney, located at 18401 Burtfield Drive, will feature two authors as part of a book tour 7-9 p.m. Thursday.

Beth Feldman, author of "See Mom Run," a book of essays from harried mothers, and Meredith Jacobs, author of "The Modern Jewish Mom's Guide to Shabbat."

Both authors will sign copies of their books, which will be available for sale.

For information, call Harriet Caplan at 301-570-1152.

Time to donate toys

The Kiwanis Club of Olney is taking part in the Toys for Tots collection for the 25th year.

"We always look forward to this program that has been going on for 25 years," organizer Mike Green said.

In addition to the annual donation to the U.S. Marine Corps, which nationally accepts toys for the program, toys are donated to local organizations Linkages to Learning, the NIH Cancer Center, Georgetown University's Pediatric Unit, RICA, the Avery Road Women's Shelter, Urban Housing of Montgomery County, the Montgomery County Recreation Department, the Toby Town Recreation Site and Health and Human Services of Germantown.

Numerous church organizations, including Oakdale Emory United Methodist Church, also receive donated toys to give to need children.

The Kiwanis Club is aided in its collection by the Sherwood Key Club, the Boy Scouts, local businesses and other community organizations.

Toys can be dropped off at any of the businesses assisting with donations, including all Sandy Spring Bank offices, the Toy Store in Olney, Fletcher's service center in Olney, Town and Country Vets, Olney Library and Sherwood High School. Some 80 to 100 collection boxes are located throughout the county.

For more information, call Green at 301-924-5374.

If you have an interesting note about the people and the events of our community, send it to Judith Hruz, Editor, The Olney Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877, or e-mail it to jhruz@gazette.net. Our fax numbers are 301-670-7182 or 301-670-7183. Deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday for consideration for the following week. All items are subject to space availability.