Traditional Ceremony to Honor Marylanders killed in Iraq and Afghanistan

Baltimore— Members of the military with substantial ties to Maryland, killed since May 2012 while serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, will be honored at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens’ annual Memorial Day Ceremony. The traditional ceremony, which salutes the men and women of the armed forces who have paid the highest price in defense of the United States of America, will take place Monday, May 27, 2013 at 10:00 a.m., in the Circle of the Immortals, Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. The observance is free and open to the public.

Honored at the 2013 ceremony will be:

• Marine Sgt. Julian C. Chase, Edgewater, Maryland, May 28, 2012
• Marine Lance Corporal Eugene C. Mills, III, Laurel, Maryland, June 22, 2012
• Army Staff Sgt. Daniel A. Rodriguez, Baltimore, Maryland, July 18, 2012
• Army Staff Sgt. Brandon R. Pepper, Baltimore, Maryland, July 21, 2012
• Navy Special Warfare Operator Petty Officer 1st Class Patrick D. Feeks, Edgewater, Maryland, August 16, 2012
• Army Sgt. David V. Williams, Frederick, Maryland, August 18, 2012
• Army Capt. Sara Knutson-Cullen, Eldersburg, Maryland, March 11, 2013

In addition to honoring those fighting the battles of today, the Memorial Day Ceremony will also pay tribute to those who gave their lives in Korea, Vietnam and World War II. The keynote speaker is William Pencek, Executive Director of the Star-Spangled 200, the state's celebration of the Bicentennial of the War of 1812.

 Colonel Linda L. Singh, Director of the Maryland National Guard Joint Staff, will give memorial addresses. The ceremony will also include the pageantry of the 229th Maryland Army National Guard Band, as well as color guard units from the Maryland National Guard, the Patriot Guard Riders, and the Elkridge Young Marines. Other participants include: Col. William Sean Lee, Command Chaplain, Maryland National Guard; American Flag Foundation, Inc.; and Maryland Sings, under the direction of Bill Myers.

Catch A Lift Fund, an organization founded in memory of Baltimore native Cpl. Chris Coffland, mortally wounded in Afghanistan in 2009, will also participate in the ceremony. The program provides gym memberships or home gym equipment to wounded vets so they may start and maintain their healing process.

The Memorial Day Ceremony is held in Dulaney Valley’s Circle of Immortals, an area dedicated in 1967 and reserved for Marylanders killed in action. Twenty-six men who died in Vietnam are buried within the Circle. The area is also home to the official Baltimore County World War II/Korean War Memorial, dedicated in 1998; and The Children of Liberty Memorial, which was added to the Circle in 1990 and is dedicated to Maryland servicemen and women who died at the hands of terrorists. It includes a plaque dedicated to the seven Maryland servicemen who lost their lives in the 1991 Liberation of Kuwait, the names of the three Maryland servicemen killed in 2000 aboard the USS Cole and the names of the servicemen killed in the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon.

The annual Memorial Day ceremony at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens is a legacy of the former owners, the Armiger Family, who felt the public was losing sight of the meaning of Memorial Day. Since purchasing the cemetery in 2007, John O. Mitchell III and John O. (Jack) Mitchell IV, owners of the Mitchell-Wiedefeld Funeral Home, Inc. in Towson, MD have been committed to continuing the tradition of honoring those who serve our country and they welcome the community to pay tribute to these dedicated men and women.

The Circle of Immortals is located within Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens, 200 East Padonia Road in Timonium. 

Marco Merrick said he knows too many young people who lack any emotional ties to the thousands of spirituals composed and sung by African American slaves centuries ago.

As the founding director of the Community Concert Choir of Baltimore, Merrick said that some, may not be aware that this year marks the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, an order issued by President Abraham Lincoln to free more than three million slaves.

Merrick and the choir are hoping to educate the public with music at a free concert on Sunday, May 26, 2013 at the Sharp Street Memorial United Methodist Church in Baltimore at 5:00 p.m. The concert will open with ceremonial African drumming, Merrick said.

“My personal criticism as a church musician is that over the last 20 years or so, the Negro spiritual has been lost and many churches have morphed into entertainment arenas,” Merrick said. “It makes me sad that the music is no longer commonplace in our churches,” he said.

The importance of commemorating the Emancipation Proclamation is simple, Merrick said. “They go hand in hand, the Negro spiritual and slavery,” he said.

The often, somber lyrics and simple tunes of the music are a reflection, if not a reminder, of the tragedy of slavery. The music and lyrics were often songs of woe and include titles such as,

“Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen,” “I Couldn’t Hear Nobody Pray” and “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.”

It wasn’t until the victories of Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement, songs such as, “Glory, Hallellujah,” could be appreciated, Merrick said. “You’re going to hear, ‘Glory Hallellujah,’ at the concert because, when you think of the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, it is difficult not to think about [that song]. 

Merrick, a Charm City native, has served in church music ministry for more than 35 years. His piano studies began when he was just eight years old at the Peabody Conservatory of Music and the studios of Anne Wagner, Pearline Evans, Charlotte Arbelotta and Audrey McCallum, and at Towson State University with Christina Luperini.

The upcoming concert will feature more than 100 singers in the choir performing classical anthems, Negro spirituals, traditional hymns and classic gospel songs.

“I’m deeply committed to helping preserve the rich music that distinguished the African American church tradition in this nation, which is celebrated around the world,” Merrick said. “It is difficult now to find this music in many churches, but there’s a hunger for it in the community,” he said.

The choir, which is composed of several denominations, will be backed by one of the most noted classically trained church organists, W. Patrick Alston, and accompanist Marcus Smith, a church music director and faculty member at the Nathan Carter School of Music in Baltimore.

A freewill offering will be collected during the concert and a reception is scheduled in the church’s fellowship hall at the end of the concert. 

“You can expect 120 folks singing during the concert,” Merrick said. “This choir is special, it is comprised of men and women who vigorously and enthusiastically perform and enjoy this marvelous tradition.”

BALTIMORE— Being the world’s greatest dad should come with a chance to win the world’s coolest Father’s Day gift. With that in mind, the Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT has launched a Facebook contest to let one lucky dad experience the thrill of IZOD IndyCar Series racing first-hand.

The contest winner will receive a ride through the Grand Prix of Baltimore’s downtown race course in a two-seat IndyCar* as well as a family four-pack of general admission tickets so dad can enjoy all three days of the Grand Prix with the entire family.

In order to enter the contest, fans simply visit the Grand Prix of Baltimore’s official Facebook fan page— www.facebook.com/BaltimoreGP— and complete the online registration. One entry per day will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, June 11, 2013. The winner will be randomly selected on Wednesday, June 12 and will be notified via email. Entrants can also use the following link to go directly to the contest registration page: http://on.fb.me/Z8mku4.

“As a dad who has been fortunate enough to take several of these rides, this prize is definitely the ultimate Father’s Day gift,” said Grand Prix of Baltimore General Manager Tim Mayer. “If you’re looking for a present that will blow away whatever your siblings come up with, this is it.”

The contest’s official rules are available at: http://www.grandprixofbaltimore.com/uploads/file/Fathers_Day_Contest_Rules.pdf

 *Due to constraints imposed by the size and style of the two-seat IndyCar, Race On, LLC reserves the right to substitute a ride in the two-seat IndyCar-style race car for a ride in an official pace car or another official vehicle associated with the Grand Prix of Baltimore.

The third annual Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT will feature the IZOD IndyCar Series and the American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patron. The Grand Prix’s races are held on a 12-turn, two-mile course through downtown Baltimore, adjacent to the famed Inner Harbor. The 2013 Grand Prix of Baltimore presented by SRT will take place Labor Day weekend, August 30 to Sept. 1, 2013. For more information, visit: www.grandprixofbaltimore.com.

It wasn’t so much that President Barack Obama planned to visit the Center for Urban Families, but for the center’s founder, Joseph Jones, it is all about the heavy lifting that will help provide services that strengthen the Baltimore community.

“We feel we’re obligated to provide this service,” Jones said. “We continue to grind.” Jones said that he was proud that Obama, the first African American president, visited on May 17, 2013 but even prouder that the country’s chief executive officer could relate to many who attend classes at the center.

“A large part of his visit took place outside of the view of the media. He really spent time with everyone and rolled up his sleeves and got down to business,” Jones said.

The president even told of how, like most at the center, he grew up without a father and that by taking, “this path, that’s going to make all the difference in the world.”

Obama praised the center for helping men and women find decent jobs that help strengthen families and rebuild communities.

Jones founded the center in 1999 in an effort to provide a set of integrated services that strengthen urban communities by helping fathers and families achieve stability and economic success. “Years ago, I worked helping pregnant women and I thought then that there should be something done to help the fathers, too,” Jones said.

The center, located in West Baltimore, has conducted 177 classes in a workforce development program over the past 14 years and has served more than 25,000 Baltimore residents. Jones said the center works with 1,500 people each year.  

Prior to founding the center, Jones developed and directed the Men’s Service program for the Baltimore Healthy Start initiative and replicated the Baltimore affiliate of the nationally recognized STRIVE employment services program.  

He has served on President Obama’s taskforce on “Fatherhood and Healthy Families” and on boards with the “Open Society Institute of Baltimore,” the “Baltimore Workforce Investment Board,” and the “National Fatherhood Leaders Group.”

Jones has been honored by the Greater Baltimore Committee as the recipient of the 2013 Walter Sondheim Public Service Award for working to connect low-income urban men and women to career paths and strong family models.

“He is a beacon of hope to young men and women in Baltimore,” said committee president Donald Fry. “He lifted himself up from a young life of family trauma, poverty, teen drug addiction and criminal arrest, and now dedicates his life to lifting others up.”

The Open Society Foundations’ Campaign for Black Male Achievement has recognized for years the important role that fathers play when it comes to family economic security, said Shawn Dove, head of the Open Society Foundation.

“We’ve supported the Center for Urban Families because of the exemplary work they do in Baltimore and nationally to help families achieve stability and economic success. It is important for the field of responsible fatherhood to see the center get this kind of much-deserved attention from President Obama,” Dove said.

Jones said the visit helps boosts visibility, but also allows participants to understand the importance of the program and that successfully completing it will leads to greater opportunities.

“The president’s message to our program participants and employer partners was one of investment. To our participants, he encouraged them to invest in themselves, prepare for the world of work, and transfer what they achieved to their children so our communities can be better,” Jones said. “To our employer partners, he praised them for investing in individuals who, in spite of challenging circumstances, have worked to get themselves on a path to a brighter future.”