After 25 years in the fitness business, nothing—not even a major health scare—can slow Lynne Brick down.
On a warm day in early September, 50 Brick Bodies club staffers sit inside the dark conference room of the fitness club’s Reisterstown location. One by one, they present the company’s marketing strategies, corporate membership numbers, and retention statistics.
After an hour or so, there’s a short break, but sensing that the energy has been sucked out of an otherwise energetic group, Lynne Brick—...
For you neophytes, that would be mixed martial arts, a new sport for Maryland personified by the colorful John Rallo.
Most days, the lower-level foyer of the 1st Mariner Arena, with its concrete floor and white cinderblock walls, is nothing more than a passageway. But for one night this month, the minds behind a series branded as the Shogun Fights, Maryland’s biggest mixed martial arts event, will give it the red-carpet treatment—transforming the space with music, hype, and food.
“This place will be like a...
Baltimore’s new food czar eschews the fat.
Holly Freishtat is on a roll. For the past few minutes, she’s been politely answering biographical questions in a nondescript conference room on the eighth floor of a downtown government building, but now that the conversation has turned to food policy, she’s off and running.
From her mouth tumbles a dizzying array of plans, policies, and statistics related to the challenge she took on when she...
The affable morning jock on loving The Hoff, drinking cosmos with Bon Jovi, and cooking for Oprah.
Mix 106.5’s Reagan Warfield isn’t all about Lady Gaga and morning chitchat. He’s become the go-to emcee around town for foodie events (he recently hosted the big Anthony Bourdain/Eric Ripert show at the Hippodrome) and will take on all comers in his “Smarter than Reagan” pop culture trivia challenge. Here, he takes on The Baltimore Grill.
Where did you go to school?Loyola College. Oh, high...
A woman’s commitment to helping city students leads to a mentoring program that is a national model.
Heather Harvison’s home is a work in progress. She and her six-year-old son Ryan moved recently to a cozy Rodgers Forge home, but the mini-maelstrom caused by the national publicity she has received for her work as executive director of My Sister’s Circle—a mentoring program for Baltimore students from some of the city’s most blighted neighborhoods—has left her little time to get settled.
“I...
Even the finest of restaurants have been forced to embrace our dress-down culture.
The note taped to the host stand at The Prime Rib says it all.
“We fought the battle the longest, but we surrender!” it reads. “It’s now an utterly informal world, they wear whatever they wish. They want a warm, easy, friendly atmosphere, even in ‘fine dining.’ So we decided to go with the flow, to lighten up.”
Yes, after almost half a century, The Prime Rib has switched to business casual.
“I’d...
Daniel Broh-Kahn, 10-time Baltimore Running Festival marathoner.
“The truth is, I really don’t like running. I just like the way I feel when I’m done.
I am 48 years old. I have been running, basically, since I met my wife a little more than 25 years ago. She was a runner, and if I wanted to keep up with her, I had to run.
I’ve been doing the Baltimore Running Festival every year for the past 10 years—since it began. I was already running marathons, so I said...
The food pied piper on skipping college, Berger Cookies, and hating the word "foodie."
Through Charm City Food Tours, Celeste Corsaro gives out-of-towners (and locals) guided gustatory tours through Baltimore’s neighborhoods. Yes, there will be crab cakes. And no, you won’t overeat (she promises). We check in with Corsaro on the state of local cuisine.
Where did you go to school?I dabbled with college, but didn’t have much time for it. I don’t regret it, though. I’ve...
Court-appointed volunteers advocate for neglected children when no one else can.
Jerry Lawler met Ricky*, then 13, shortly after he’d been removed from his latest foster home and placed in another residential institution.
“His foster care mother basically said, ‘I can’t deal with him anymore,’” Lawler says.
A volunteer with the nonprofit CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates) of Baltimore, Lawler was assigned to Ricky by the Baltimore City Family and Juvenile Court. His job...
The Camden Yards maven on bad advice, pale imitations, and the egalitarian glory of baseball.
She helped create the best ballpark in baseball (if we do say so ourselves), and now architect Janet Marie Smith is back with the Orioles, renovating the club’s new Sarasota spring training facility and sprucing up her old baby Camden Yards (now one of the oldest parks in the bigs!). We catch up with the O’s VP of planning and development.
What is the best advice you ever got? The best...
