To T h e E d i t o r

Re: Howard County Heart Ball

Thanks to the citizens of Howard County, this year's Howard County Heart Ball was a great success. More than 350 participants in Howard County dined and danced in support of raising money to fight heart disease and stroke. Over $85,000 was raised by the Howard County Heart Ball to support lifesaving research, professional education and community programs by the American Heart Association.

Heart disease and stroke affect everyone, and whether you participated in memory of a friend or loved one or whether you are a heart disease survivor, your support made a difference. Special thanks go to the many corporate sponsors including Kaiser Permanente, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Howard County General Hospital, Ryan Homes, Meridian, Buescher Family, Comcast and HPV Heart, P.A. for their ongoing support. On behalf of the organizing committee and the American Heart Association, thank you for your participation and donations. A strong sense of community and compassion can be felt from the citizens of Howard County.

Dr. Amy Compton-Phillips

Kaiser Permanente

Chair, Howard County American Heart Ball



Town Meeting

Vision Howard County sponsored a town meeting on the topic, "Challenges Facing Howard County's Future," with Andy Barth, reporter with WMAR-TV (and Columbia resident), as moderator. Vision Howard County serves as a convener and facilitator of community building initiatives. Its committees monitor and track issues of importance to residents, as well as partner with other organizations to address these issues. They produce the "Quality of Life Indicator's Report," which provides information on the status of the progress toward their desired quality of life.

Panelists at the town meeting included Maggie Brown, president of the Columbia Association; Shirley Collier, president and CEO of Paragon Computer Services and chair of the Howard County EDA board; Richard M. Krieg, president and CEO of The Horizon Foundation; Barbara Lawson, president of The Columbia Foundation; John O'Rourke, superintendent of schools; and James N. Robey, Howard County Executive (seen in the background).