Can you believe how fast the summer has seemed to fly by? For the kids, it probably dragged but for me, it seems like only yesterday that summer started and here it is, just two weeks from the start of the 2008-2009 school year. Sheesh!

With the start of a new school year comes fundraisers. The first one for this year is a spaghetti dinner at Reservoir High School Friday, Aug. 15 from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the school atrium and sponsored by the RHS Marching Band.

Tickets are $8 each and can be bought at the door. After dinner, the marching band will give a performance. Last year, more than 300 people were served and more then $1,000 was raised for the band.

Come on out and support the band and treat your family to a good meal in the process. For more information, call Yvonne Shea at 301-704-6807 or by e-mail at yshea@nih.gov

Ah, the freedom of having a driver's license: there's nothing to compare! Being able to hop in the car and drive to wherever one wants is a pleasure that is indescribable.

However, unless you and your driving age child has attended one of the mandatory safe driving presentations, driving to high school is one destination that is off limits. You and your child have two more chances to attend a (did I mention that it's mandatory) presentation. The first is on Tuesday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m.; the next is Aug. 27 at 7 p.m., both in the Reservoir High School Auditorium.

If you miss either of these, you can also attend one of the presentations at a different county high school. For more information contact the school office at 410-888-8850.

When I first came to this area in August of 1976, I remember driving on Route 40, in Ellicott City, past the Enchanted Forest. It looked like a nice place to take a family. I never got around to taking my family there and now the place has been closed for many years.

However, many of the attractions live on at Clark's Elioak Farm, on Route 108, in Ellicott City. If you ever worked at the Enchanted Forest, you are invited to the inaugural Enchanted Forest Employee Reunion, which is going to be held at Clarks' Elioak Farm during the 53rd Birthday Party Celebration for the Enchanted Forest Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 16 and 17. The employee reunion will be Aug. 16 from 1 to 4 p.m. Bring your old photos. For more information, call Martha Clark at 410-730-4049 or e-mail at clarkselioakfarm@hotmail.com.

The farm's Web site is at www.clarklandfarm.com.

The other week I got a call from a woman named Leah Brown, of Dayton. Now, we weren't home when she called so she left a message on our answering machine and asked for a call back.

She was looking to have a question answered about the upcoming Highland Day which, by the way, takes place Oct. 4 this year (rain date: Oct. 5).

By the time I got around to phoning her back, she had already had her question answered so we just chatted.

"I really enjoy reading about Aunt Jennie," she said.

Brown is referring to Jennie Thompson, my wife's mother, and one of the subjects about which I've written in several Highland/Fulton columns.

"I cut them out and send them to a relative in Florida, Charlotte Easton Case."

Now, I was curious as to how Leah was related to Jennie.

"My father's brother married Uncle Paul's sister Therese," she said. Uncle Paul, who passed away in December of 1992, is the husband of Jennie.

"When we were young, we used to go down to Uncle Paul's farm to see Pop and play. When he married Jennie, she became Aunt Jennie."

Brown asked about how Jennie was doing after the cancer surgery (she is recovering fine). Leah went on to say that she had had the same surgery in October 1986, losing her right kidney to cancer. That was pretty encouraging for Jennie, I thought.

After I hung up from talking with Leah, I was reflecting on just how interconnected the old farming families of the area were. Spouses didn't come from "the big city" -- they came from surrounding farms, people that were part and parcel of the farming community. Then I thought it really is a small, small world.

Well, that's all for this week. Look after your neighbors. Remember our troops who are serving in harm's way. And their families. Commit a random act of kindness.

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