Woman starts Head Huggers group in St. Mary's

THIS ‘N' THAT

Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2009

The program analyst for Wyle Labs was surfing the Web recently and came across a site for a group called the Head Huggers, www.headhuggers.org, which creates caps for people undergoing cancer treatment who have lost their hair. Members of the group knit, crochet or sew these caps and then distribute them to local hospitals, oncology offices and hospices so they can be offered free to patients.

"There's a lady in Chester, Maryland, who started it in 2001," Llewellyn said Friday afternoon, referring to the group's founder, Sue Thompson.

"I started Head Huggers in November-December 2001 after meeting a friend who was going through chemotherapy for breast cancer," Thompson wrote in an e-mail to The Enterprise. "Her only side-effect was that her head was cold. I personally have made, collected and distributed over 50,000 chemo caps since December 2001. I started the satellite groups several years ago because I wanted to have help and getting others involved has helped. I refer new volunteers (hat-makers) to groups near where they live. I generally have about 75-100 satellite groups active at a time."

Thompson's idea appealed to Llewellyn, who likes to knit. "I knit, and I've always liked to give whatever I knit away rather than keep it myself," she said.

So, she decided to start a Head Huggers satellite group in St. Mary's. She hopes to recruit a workforce of craftspeople to create these caps – patterns are available at the Head Huggers Web site. "I'll be in charge of collecting and distributing," Llewellyn said. She plans to distribute the caps through Shah Associates' cancer treatment center and the Cancer Care and Infusion Services at St. Mary's Hospital. All the caps will be distributed locally and only adult-sized caps are needed. Patterns are available at the Head Huggers Web site and are easy enough for beginners, Llewellyn said.

Contact Llewellyn at 301-481-5410 or at aimee.llewellyn@verizon.net.

Two- and four-legged subjects sought

The St. Mary's County Division of Tourism is looking for a female and a male, both between the ages of 25 and 35, to appear in the 2010 St. Mary's County Destination Guide. The theme of the photos will be canoeing and kayaking. Individuals should have an athletic physique and some paddling experience.

Those interested in being considered are asked to mail a photo print or a CD with contact information to the St. Mary's County Division of Tourism, P.O. Box 653, Leonardtown, MD 20650. Photos must be received by Monday, Sept. 1, to be considered. Photos may also be dropped off at the tourism office in Leonardtown. No e-mails will be accepted.

Participants must be available for local shoot on Saturday morning, Sept. 12. Call Rebecca Deprey, tourism coordinator, at 301-475-4200, ext. 1404.

In addition, the tourism office is looking for a small, purebred toy breed dog, such as a Yorkie, Chihuahua, Papillon or toy poodle. The dog must be well-trained, able to sit on command and be comfortable in a canoe on the water. The owner will be expected to handle the dog during the shoot. Owners must demonstrate handling ability and dog obedience in person. To schedule a time to meet, call Rebecca Deprey at 301-475-4200, ext. 1404.

Beth Israel welcomes new rabbi

The Beth Israel Congregation of Lexington Park has announced that Rabbi Hannah Greenstein will be its rabbi for the coming year. 

Greenstein received ordination and a master's in education from the Jewish Theological Seminary in May 2009. Her professional passions are Jewish engagement and environmentalism. She has worked as the outreach coordinator for the reconstructionist movement of New York and New Jersey. Prior to rabbinical school, she worked at the Jewish Outreach Institute, an organization that advocates for accepting interfaith families in the Jewish community. She has a bachelor of arts degree in Jewish studies from the University of Pennsylvania.

Greenstein will be joining Beth Israel on Friday, Aug. 28, for services at 7:30 pm. Saturday services will be held Aug. 29, beginning at 9:30 a.m. An open house will be held after Saturday services beginning approximately at noon. The public is invited.

For more information contact Beth Israel Congregation at 301-862-2021 or bethisraelmd@yahoo.com or visit www.bethisraelmd.org.

Szewczyk wins book award

Jamie L. Szewczyk, daughter of Jay and Nancy Szewczyk of Great Mills, and a student at St. Mary's Ryken High School in Leonardtown, was named the 2009 recipient of the Saint Michael's College Scholarship and Service Book Award. The award recognizes students who demonstrate a commitment to volunteerism and leadership through community service. Saint Michael's, in Burlington, Vt., through the award seeks to honor those who demonstrate the true spirit of volunteerism.

Award recipients, named at schools throughout the country, are high school juniors who are inductees of the National Honor Society or an equivalent school-sponsored honors organization. They must demonstrate a commitment to service activities in high school or community organizations, taking leadership roles in these activities.

Szewczyk was presented the book, "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung, a 1993 Saint Michael's College graduate.

See photos in print

Area residents who want to share favorite photos from a recent sporting event or vacation photos or photos of their children or pets are invited to submit them online at spotted.somdnews.com, The Enterprise's Web site, for a chance to see the photos in print. Photos must be original work.

The most-viewed photo will appear in print editions of Southern Maryland Newspapers each Wednesday.

For more information e-mail jrabe@somdnews.com.

Obedience classes scheduled in town

St. Mary's County Department of Recreation and Parks is sponsoring puppy kindergarten, basic and advanced dog obedience classes, which will be starting Sept. 9 and 12. Classes are held at the fairgrounds in Leonardtown. Preregistration is required, and class size is limited. Call 301-475-4200, ext.1801.

Murder mystery dinner tickets on sale

Friends of the St. Clement's Island and Piney Point Museums announce that tickets are now on sale for the group's annual interactive murder mystery dinner, a fundraiser to benefit the St. Mary's County Museum Division. The event will take place at Olde Breton Inn in Leonardtown on Saturday, Sept. 12. Tickets are $60 per person for Friends members and $65 per person for the general public. Only 140 tickets will be sold.

This year's murder mystery is "Murder in Miami," and audience members are encouraged to attend in their favorite and flamboyant south Miami attire. Pink flamingos are welcome.

The event begins at 6 p.m. with a cash bar and social hour and includes a live auction at 7 p.m. conducted by auctioneer A.J. Bussler. Silent auction items will also be available for bidding throughout the evening. A buffet dinner will be served by Bailey's Catering from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., with the murder mystery performance to follow.

Parts will be offered to amenable dinner guests, who will then read from a provided script. All participants are encouraged to ham it up for a hilarious and unrehearsed "whodunit." The evening will conclude with coffee, dessert, crime solving and announcement of silent auction winners.

Tickets can be purchased by calling the St. Clement's Island Museum at 301-769-2222. Ticket reservations must be made in advance. No tickets will be sold at the door.

Sensitivity training available Sept. 23

The Tri-County Council for Southern Maryland's Regional Transportation Coordination Program in conjunction with the Governor's Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing will be hosting a deaf and hard of hearing sensitivity and awareness training on Wednesday, Sept. 23, beginning at 8:30 a.m. with a free continental breakfast, with the training starting at 9 a.m. and ending at noon. The training will take place at Middleton Hall in the Patuxent Room in Waldorf.

Lisa Kornberg, director of ODHH, will be the presenter, and will offer information and resources that are designed to assist participants in interactions with individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing and deaf blind.

The training will provide tips and techniques for hearing people on communicating with hard of hearing people.

To attend the training and a continental breakfast are free, but space is limited and participants must register. Contact Elaine J. Lancaster at elancaster@tccsmd.org or 301-274-1922, ext. 25.

CPR classes offered

The Charles County Volunteer Rescue Squad will hold a CPR class for those 16 and older at 8:30 a.m. on Sept. 19, Oct. 17, Nov. 21 and Dec. 19 at 2 Charles St. in La Plata. Cost is $5 for a card and $10 for a book. Donations accepted. Walk-ins welcome. To register, call Bobby Simpson at 301-934-4434, 301-934-6144 or 301-643-6945.

Chaney Foundation awards scholarships

The Chaney Foundation Board of Directors awarded scholarships to seven students from Southern Maryland for 2009.

First-year scholarships were awarded to Thomas Gelzer II of Bryans Road, Stacey Tilghman of California and Elizabeth Boggs of La Plata. Both Gelzer and Tilghman, graduates of North Point High School, will be seeking bachelor of engineering degrees at Virginia Tech this fall. Boggs, also a North Point High School graduate, will attend the College of Southern Maryland for an associate's degree in engineering, with a goal to transfer within the next two years.

Scholarship renewals were granted to four students. Latrina Alston of Waldorf, a senior majoring in architecture at Hampton University; Octavia Green of Waldorf, a sophomore majoring in business at Virginia Tech; Steven Smith of Chesapeake Beach, who is completing his associate's degree at the College of Southern Maryland and is seeking a bachelors degree in architectural engineering; and Devin Bohanan of California, who completed his freshman year at Virginia Tech, where he is earning a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.

Tyler Williams of Clements received the Leo Curtis Memorial Scholarship. Williams attends CSM and is seeking an associate's degree in information systems security. The Chaney Foundation established the Leo Curtis Memorial Scholarship to benefit children of Chaney Enterprises' employees, for the purpose of furthering that student in their educational goals. Ralph "Leo" Curtis was a concrete mixer driver for Chaney Enterprises for 12 years. Curtis was a model professional and the first volunteer for the company's Mentor Driver Program. He highly valued education and particularly enjoyed training children and youth on truck driving safety. Curtis was 51 years old when he died in November 1999.

For more information, call 301-932-5665 or visit www.chaneyenterprises.com.

scraton@somdnews.com