Cockeysville is bidding a fond farewell to the Rev. Charles Casey and his wife, Jeannette Casey.

After 30 years in this community, the Caseys are moving to Florida to be with family.

Casey has been ministering to the Baptist community in the Baltimore/Washington area for nearly 50 years.

He started the North Glen Baptist Church in Glen Burnie. After 6 1/2 years, he left to start Calverton Baptist Church in Montgomery County, where he stayed for 12 years.

He then served the Valley Baptist Church in Timonium for 12 years and retired from the Temple Baptist Temple (near Social Security Boulevard) after eight years of service.

Jeannette Casey began the preschool program at Valley Baptist, where it grew from five children and one classroom in 1981 to 217 children and a staff of 25 at the time she left in 1991.

Most notably, Jeannette helped Baltimore County write ordinances for crib nurseries, as Valley Baptist was the first church with a licensed crib nursery.

Charles and Jeannette Casey each served as president of the governing boards for their churches. Jeannette was also elected to two full terms as the president of the State Mission Board of the Baptist Convention of Maryland and Delaware -- the only woman who has served in the role of president.

Casey served two terms as president of the whole convention.

We wish the Caseys all the best.

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Wendell "DJ" Foster, 15, a sophomore at Dulaney High School, was recognized by the Cockeysville precinct of Baltimore County Police Sept. 23 for an act of heroism that occurred last school year when he disarmed a knife-wielding student who was attempting to inflict harm on another on the school bus.

DJ is a varsity football player and is enrolled in honors level courses. He also plans to play baseball and basketball for Dulaney this school year.

He has volunteered with the county's Department of Social Services, and also, on occasion, with U.S. Marine Corps recruiters in Columbia and Villa Maria.

His parents are Winston and Chandra Smith, and Maj. Wendell "Dell" Foster. He is the grandson of the Rev. Vernard Caples, a minister at Douglas Memorial Community Church in Baltimore, and Dr. Maggie Caples, an administrator with Baltimore County Public Schools.

His mother Chandra, a Dulaney class of 1986 graduate, is the spiritual development coordinator at Villa Maria and his stepfather is a printer for Solo Cup Co. and an independent lead paint inspector. His father is a major in the Marine Corps.

DJ wants to be an engineer and a professional athlete when he gets out of school. Congratulations on this special honor, DJ.

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The Maryland Department of Education invited the Cockeysville Middle School sixth-grade ensemble to perform Oct. 7 at the gathering of Service Learning Leaders. The ensemble is the only group providing music during the opening program. Alyson Shirk, music teacher and ensemble director, said this is the second year in a row Cockeysville has been invited to perform at the meeting. Kudos!

Congratulations to Luke Sturiale of Springdale, a student at Warren Elementary, who was the guest meteorologist on Fox 45 Morning Weather on Sept. 23. Luke wants to be a weatherman when he grows up and he looks like he is well on his way!

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St. Joseph Parish is beginning its annual Life After Sunday program, which offers presentations on topics that help us live our faith beyond Sunday Mass. On Oct. 18, Joseph Pearce, assistant professor of literature at Ave Maria University, will open the series with a talk on Shakespeare's Catholicism. The program is offered at 9 a.m. and repeated at 10:30 a.m. in the Parish Center, 101 Church Lane.

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