Lunch

Grandparents Day was observed Sept. 29 at Winter Street Elementary School. More than 90 grandparents and great-grandparents visited the school. Kindergartner Hannah Rinehart introduced great-grandfather Ed Files and grandfather Ed Files Jr. Fourth-grade teacher Jeremy Golden received a surprise visit from his grandmother, Susan Higgins of Clear Spring. Martha Reeves drove from Burke, Va., to visit with fourth-grade grandson Kindred Christenson, and brought two boxes of cookies for the class.

Residents box lunch for homeless Photo: JOE CROCETTA / staff photographer Ninety-year-old Mary Harris says she stays young by helping others. "I like to do things for other people. I have no time to get in trouble," said Harris, a resident of Loyalton assisted living center near Robinwood. This week Harris and about nine other residents at Loyalton are volunteering their time packing lunches for the Cold Weather Shelter run by the Religious Effort to Assist and Care for the Homeless, or REACH.

Outback Steakhouse recently donated lunch for the employees of San Mar Children's Home near Boonsboro.

HAGERSTOWN -- Karen Goldstein wanted to do something different for the holidays. "I wanted to take the kids to do something we'd never done before," Goldstein said. So Saturday morning, Goldstein, of Keedysville, took Madeline, 8, and Nathaniel, 6, along with her parents, and met up with Santa Claus for a hayride around downtown Hagerstown. "We had fun waving at the people passing by," Karen Goldstein said. "And the snow made everything a little more 'holidayish'. " Following the ride, the group headed to the Gourmet Goat on North Potomac Street for Lunch with Santa.

Bester Elementary School in Hagerstown has a benefactor that helps pay for lunches for some of its students, Principal Drenna Reineck said. Since September 2002, a monthly financial gift of $100 from Trinity Bible Church in Hagerstown helps ensure that students get lunches at the school, she said. It is hard to think when your stomach is growling, Reineck said. The school has a high poverty rate, she said. The Rev. Betty Jones, the pastor of Trinity Bible Church, said the church wanted to do something to help local students.

When children take their lunch to school, make good nutrition a priority and involve them in planning the meal. Their choices will make it less likely foods will be traded, go in the garbage or come home uneaten. As a rule of thumb, make sure lunches include at least three of five food groups recognized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's MyPyramid program online at www.mypyramid.gov . If packing a lunch, also think about food safety and storage. Is there a refrigerator in which lunch can be stored, or will it be in a classroom or locker?

Want to save money? Pack your lunch You have heard this before, but it's still true: You can save money by bringing your lunch to work. A typical takeout or convenience meal can easily cost $4 to $6 a day. Packing your lunch can save $3 to $5 every day. Add up that money weekly, then monthly and suddenly you have some serious cash on hand. The time to think about lunches is not at 7:30 in the morning, as you are about to run out the door. Instead, think about the noontime meal when you do your weekly shopping.

Two speakers with backgrounds in philanthropy, education and health will be speaking on the challenges facing women and their families in Washington County on Wednesday, Sept. 19, at 11:45 a.m. at Fountain Head Country Club. Sponsored by the Women's Giving Circle, the luncheon event will feature Dale Bannon, director of system development for the Washington County Board of Education, and Earl Stoner, the new county health officer. Bannon is the former executive director of the United Way of Washington County.

karenh@herald-mail.com Bester Elementary School, which has the highest level of poverty in the Washington County Public school system, racked up the biggest lunch debt last year. A church helped pay off about half of the deficit, and the school paid the rest, according to an administrator. According to figures provided by Gary Dodds, food and nutrition services supervisor, lunches charged at the Bester Elementary School cafeteria made up $1,863.25 of the school system's total deficit of about $6,200, as of June.

Bentley's Bagels will be open in the afternoon and feature a full lunch menu from Monday until the end of December as owner Eric Muritz prepares to sell the business. The popular downtown coffee and sandwich shop at 15 W. Washington St. closed its doors at the start of this week while Muritz handled some of the planning, he said. The restaurant had a limited menu Friday, when it was open from 2 to 6 p.m., the same hours Muritz will keep through December, he said. Patrons will be able to buy perishable and dry goods from Bentley's at liquidation prices through the end of the month, Muritz said.