The annual Bull and Oyster Roast is the premiere event sponsored by the Young Lawyers Committee. It is held every March and is open to all members of the Association, their families and guests. Every year, a charity is selected to receive a part of the proceeds of the bull roast. I know that this is not news to most of you. However, I bet that many of you, particularly the newer attorneys, do not know the origin of this event. Unfortunately, it was founded out of tragic circumstances. The Bull and Oyster Roast was originally established in 1982 as a memorial to Jeffrey Himmelstein, an Assistant State’s Attorney for Baltimore County who died the year before. Jeff was a member of the State’s Attorneys Office from 1976 until his untimely death from cancer in 1981. In his career, he served as Chief of the District Court Division and later headed the Circuit Court Division. He tried many complex, serious cases during his career. Jeff was survived by his wife, Iris, and a daughter, Heather.

Following Jeff’s death, a scholarship was established in his name at the University of Baltimore School of Law. Funding for the scholarship was to be realized from proceeds from the bull roast. The first seven bull roasts were held at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, due to the large turnout of members and families. Although I do not have records of the first few bull roasts, I recall that the inaugural one had an attendance of more than one thousand people. I was the Young Lawyers Committee Chairperson in 1985. My files reflect that the Fourth Annual Bull and Oyster Roast was attended by more than six hundred people. If my math is correct, the BCBA will be hosting the Nineteenth Annual Bull and Oyster Roast this March.

The Jeffrey Himmelstein Scholarship Fund was fully funded after the 1985 Bull Roast. A presentation was made to the University of Baltimore School of Law on August 28, 1985 by then-President of the BCBA, Dick Reid. In addition to President Reid and myself, as Young Lawyers Chair, other representatives of the BCBA in attendance included the late Earl Plumhoff, James Beach III, and Dana Mark Levitz, who was then in the State’s Attorneys Office. Judge Levitz was a very good friend of Jeff Himmelstein and was one of the main organizers of the bull roast. The Baltimore County Bar Quarterly, the publication of our Association at that time, noted in its Fall 1985 issue that, “under the conditions of the scholarship, special consideration is given to students with an interest in litigation who are residents of Baltimore County. The scholarship is based both on need as well as academic achievement.”

This year’s charitable beneficiary will be the Delrey Development Center, located in Catonsville. It has been the beneficiary of our bull roast several times during the past eighteen years. Delrey is a private school run by United Cerebral Palsy of Central Maryland. Its purpose is to provide preschool education and therapy to children between the ages of two and six years of age who have cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a condition as opposed to a disease; in other words, an individual with cerebral palsy will not become worse in time as someone with a progressive disease might. Training and therapy at an early age is an enormous benefit to children with cerebral palsy. It helps provide them with their best chance of learning to cope with their physical challenges. Most of the children at Delrey, upon their graduation, attend regular first grades. As the parent of a child with cerebral palsy, I cannot speak highly enough of the wonderful individuals at Delrey and what they did for my son to help put him on the right path to reach his true potential.

Over the years, contributions from the Baltimore County Bar Association to Delrey made possible the replacement of worn out therapeutic equipment. It also provided the funds for the purchase of electronic education equipment and computer software for the children who have special physical challenges in the use of such equipment. The administration and staff of Delrey have been enormously appreciative of the efforts and support of the Young Lawyers Committee and the Baltimore County Bar Association. Delrey has been a good “partner” with the BCBA. They have consistently sold a large number of bull roast tickets themselves.

This year’s contribution will be one of the main sources of support to Delrey from the private sector. Funds raised by United Cerebral Palsy are distributed throughout its organization and are not specifically earmarked for Delrey, unlike the proceeds of the bull roast which will go directly to the school. I thank everybody in advance who has supported the bull roast in the past. I urge everyone to attend this year’s Bull and Oyster Roast which will be held at the American Legion Hall on York Road in Towson on March 4 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. Mike Hamburg and his committee are working tirelessly to make the event a successful and enjoyable one.

Switching gears now, keep your eye on the BCBA website which has recently been brought in-house. Heather Martin and I have been working to update the content of our website which has been out of date for some time. Sometimes, I feel that we have bitten off more than we can chew in this project; unless you work with web page construction on a regular basis, it can be frustrating to make things work the way you want. It’s a “you can’t get there from here” kind of feeling. However, I am confident that we will be able to have it up and running, perhaps by the time you read this message. As I have stated in previous articles, our eventual goal is to completely revamp the website and provide it with a new look. If anybody has any ideas as to features that they would like to see in our site, please contact Heather or myself.