Snack leads to lottery cash

Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Submitted photo Thomas Simpson, left, joined his mother, Donna, and father, William, when they went to Maryland Lottery headquarters to pick up their winnings. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

After debating about buying a couple of scratch-off lottery tickets along with her impromptu dinner, Simpson went ahead and bought them.

‘‘I almost left without them,” she said in a press release. ‘‘But I just had a gut feeling you know, so I went back in and got two 4 Way Bingo tickets.”

The lesson? Listen to your gut, kids.

Simpson not only won $3 on her first scratch-off, the second was worth $30,000.

‘‘I looked at the ticket in shock and then I just cried, I was so tired and now I was so happy,” she said. ‘‘The win re-energized me, I wasn’t so tired then.”

When she determined that her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her, she called her son, Thomas, who was at the tractor pull with William.

‘‘I told him, ‘Tell Daddy I won $30,000’” Simpson recalled. ‘‘He said, ‘Nuh-uh,’ than I said, ‘Uh-huh,’ he said, ‘Nuh-uh,” I said, ‘Uh-huh.’”

Later when Thomas, one of Simpson’s four children, came home he had to check the ticket for himself.

The lesson? Momma doesn’t lie.

Simpson, 52, who is a bus attendant for area schools, will put some of her winnings in savings and pay a few bills. But first things first, William needs new tires and Simpson promised she’d shell out for them.

‘‘I just love money,” William laughed. ‘‘It makes life easier.”

Band on the water

Band members from Maurice J. McDonough High School recently boarded the USS Sterett DDG 104 as it traveled from Norfolk, Va., to Baltimore, preparing for its commissioning.

Under the direction of Susan Eckerle, the students will also perform at the ship’s commissioning ceremony Saturday in Baltimore.

Eckerle’s husband, Brian, is the ship’s commanding officer. Susan Eckerle said the band students were honored and privileged to be a part of the ship’s journey up the Chesapeake Bay.

See you at the expo

The latest hunting equipment and other exhibits will be at the second annual Maryland Hunting and Outdoor Expo Aug. 16 and 17 at the Charles County fairgrounds.

The biggest event of its kind in the state, the expo will feature waterfowl secrets from duck commander Phil Robertson, a three-dimensional archery tournament known as the ‘‘Bow Hunter’s Challenge,” and the sharpshooting skills of Tim Bradley of Team Benelli.

Test drive an ATV from Trumbull Motorsports, see Bill Crutchfield’s Maryland-record 28-point whitetail buck or have your own trophy scored for the Maryland Department of National Resources trophy deer contest.

There will be plenty of activities for kids as well, including an archery clinic, a live raptor show featuring a bald eagle, a gem mining station, rock-climbing wall, a petting zoo, chainsaw carving and the 56-foot Kongo Crazy inflatable slide.

Door prizes, raffles and other giveaways will also be part of the weekend.

The first 6,000 visitors to the expo will receive a free copy of the debut issue of Buckwild Outdoors magazine, a new glossy, full-color publication dedicated to everything that keeps the Maryland sportsman in the field or on the water.

For more information on the exhibits or schedules, go to www.somdexpo.com.

Don’t be crabby,get to stadium

August is getting even hotter at Regency Furniture Stadium with a promotion-packed schedule this month.

In addition to 13 home games and three weekend home stands this month — including four firework nights — the stadium will host its first concert Aug. 11 when REO Speedwagon comes to town.

The Aug. 8 game (isn’t something else sports-related starting on 8⁄8⁄08?) is Crazy 8 night when the team will wear special No. 8 jerseys, which will then be auctioned off via an in-game silent auction to benefit the Southern Maryland Food Bank. The auction will also include autographed memorabilia from the area’s most famous No. 8’s – Cal Ripken Jr. and Alex Ovechkin. Fireworks will follow the Aug. 8 and 9 games.

The Blue Crabs will also pay tribute to the upcoming Olympic games (THAT’s what is starting on 8⁄8⁄08) during the Aug. 9 game.

On Aug. 10 the first 1,500 fans will receive a ‘‘Pinch” T-shirt and the morning of Aug. 9, the stadium will host the inaugural 5k and kids’ fun runs to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Fund. Each participant in the event will get a Blue Crabs T-shirt and a picnic pavilion ticket for that evening’s game. Check-in time for the 8 a.m. race is 7 a.m. To register for the race, go to www.SOMDbluecrabs.com or call 301-638-9788.

In addition to the REO Speedwagon show on Aug. 11, the stadium will stage the Southern Maryland Country Music Festival on Sept. 20.

During August, the team will play 10 home games in 14 days and special events are scheduled at the ball field, including post-game fireworks on Aug. 23 and 30 and a series of three commemorative poster giveaways for the first 1,500 fans on Aug. 22, Aug. 24 and Aug. 30.

A celebration of the county’s 350th anniversary will be held Aug. 22 which is also Charles County tech night. A special COSMIC Symphony performance during the fireworks is on Aug. 30 and the second baseball card team set giveaway to the first 1,000 fans will be held Aug. 31.

Living dead rise again

All those lonely nights doing the Thriller dance are about to pay off. What? Like I’m the only one.

Hard Bargain Players is auditioning for its October production of ‘‘Night of the Living Dead.” And while it’s not a musical, Michael Jackson’s Halloween staple song can get you in the right frame of mind for tryouts at 7 p.m. Aug. 7 and at noon Aug. 9.

Auditions consist of cold readings from the script which revolves around the story of the fallout after a satellite probe shot to Venus returns to Earth carrying a mysterious radiation that transforms the unburied dead into flesh-eating zombies (Ah, reminds me of the bedtime stories of my youth). Anyway, seven people trapped in an isolated farmhouse begin to turn on each other while their ghoulish enemies approach.

The terror-filled, dark humor-laced play brings all the frights of the cult classic.

Actors should bring along a headshot and resume if they have them to the audition.

Auditions will be held at the theater at 2001 Bryan Point Road in Accokeek. For more information, or to sign up to audition, call 301-392-9901 or e-mail dromio94@yahoo.com.