Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Nick Anthony:  I opened Anthony Instrument Repair a little bit over two years ago.  We moved up from Pasadena where I was working out of my house for a little over a year before I found this place. Patch:  Why did you choose Catonsville? Anthony:  I love being in Catonsville.  While I was working for a decade at Appalachian Bluegrass and my wife was going to UMBC, we lived in an apartment over where the skate shop used to be.  That was the carriage house where the Catons lived while they were waiting for their mansion to …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Bob Morsberger: Our family’s first business was Duffy’s Restaurant in Irvington.  My great grandfather bought that back in the 1880s.  So, before it was Duffy’s, it was Morsberger’s. Eventually my grandfather sold that so he could buy the old Catonsville Railroad Hotel at the end of the short line.  Then he sold that property in 1922 to the Catonsville Fire Department, and he bought a two-story house here at 713 Frederick Road.  He tore that down to build the bar, and we rented out next door to Read’s Drug Store.  During …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Mary Branning:  I opened Lucy’s Paradise Café six years ago in May, but there has been a restaurant here since the '40s.  Before Lucy’s, it was Manelli’s. Patch:  Who’s Lucy? Branning:  When I worked for a contractor, I would make a lot of mistakes, and he would look at me and say, “Lucy, you’ve got a lot of ‘splainin’ to do!” and it just sort of stuck.  A lot of people call me Lucy. Patch:  What made you want to open a restaurant? Branning:  I worked for McCormick’s for years, so I was on the industrial side of the food …

Catonsville Patch:  How long has your family been in the funeral business? Craig Witzke:  My great grandfather owned a grocery business near Union Square.  The local funeral director would come and rent his parlor, and that’s what led him to think about going into the funeral business.  He opened his own funeral parlor on Ramsey Street in Baltimore.  I have these old photographs on the walls and bookshelves to honor that family legacy. Patch:  What is your own history with the business? Witzke:  In 1996 my family sold the funeral home on Edmondson to a corporation out of Texas.  I worked for …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Karen Rocha:  I started waitressing here when I was in high school and this was an International House of Pancakes.  After a few years, I became the general manager.  Then in 2005, I had to take off about six months to care for my mother while she had cancer.  When I came back after my Mom died, the owner, Thelma, decided to retire.  IHOP did not renew the lease, and Thelma convinced me to take over the business.  I was leery at the beginning, but finally I said yes.  Thelma showed me everything I needed to know and I’m so…

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Pam Nesbitt:  The Catonsville Cat Clinic has been here [behind the Double T Diner] since 1997, but I bought the practice last July, 2011.  Before that I worked in Essex/Middle River and in Towson. Patch:  Why did you choose Catonsville?  Nesbitt:  Cats have always been my first love.  So, when this practice became available, it was a wonderful opportunity, and I couldn’t NOT move forward with it. Patch:  What do you like about being in Catonsville? Nesbitt:  I’m originally from Tennessee, and the first time I drove down …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Charlie Strouse:  My partner, Craig Kahl, and I opened Adventure Web Productions in 1997.  We had two other employees in a 1,200 square-foot office at Rolling Crossroads.  We’ve been here, over the Sun Trust Bank, for about ten years, and now we’re outgrowing this space.  We have twenty, full-time employees and are looking to hire. Patch:  Why did you choose Catonsville?  Strouse:  Born and raised, both of us.  We both live five minutes from here. Patch:  What do you like about being in Catonsville? Strouse: There’s a ton …

Catonsville Patch:  Tell us about Nonni’s Pies. Rebecca Quinn:  I worked for 24 years as a manager for the Maryland State Teacher’s Association.  When I retired six years ago, I started baking.  Then in 2007, I saw the movie Waitress.  The main character bakes pies and she has a passion for it, and I started thinking and talking about my dream of baking pies for people.  People encouraged me; I took a course with the Health Department; I connected with Connie Neiman, who owns The Lunchbox Lady, and she agreed to let me use their commercial kitchen.  I have marketing students at CCBC …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Tasha McCabe:  Slow Burns opened for business in November 2011.  But I wasn’t able to ditch my DC gig and finally come on full-time here until three weeks ago.  (Be sure to say that I’m laughing here.)  I was at the Department of Justice for ten years, and I was supposed to end with them and start here in August, but they kept extending my contract. Patch:  How did you come to start a cigar business? McCabe:  I started smoking cigars with an old boyfriend when I was 22 years old.  I’ve always wanted to take cigar smoking …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Vicki Bannister:  We opened Rolling Brook Yoga almost a year ago, at the end of May. Patch:  Why did you choose Catonsville? Alecia Flynn:  We both live here, and we both started teaching yoga out of our homes.  So we were developing our local student base out of our home studios. Bannister:  I’ve been a resident of Catonsville for 26 years.  I raised my kids here and I was involved in the community through their activities.  After the kids were grown, I wanted to renew that sense of connection. Flynn: We took some time …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in this position? Mallory Leggere:  I was hired for this position last summer, 2011, but before that I was the Director of Marketing here at the Rolling Road Golf Club.   Patch:  What activities are you involved with in organizing the Taste of Catonsville? Leggere:  The Chamber of Commerce's Taste of Catonsville is one of our largest events with almost 20 vendors and 300 guests, but my job is basically the same as it is for every event:  make sure that everything runs smoothly from start to finish and that everyone has a good time!   Patch:  What …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Andy Bridges:  Cosmic Comix and Toys opened in 1991 in old Ellicott City.  We have been here in the Mellor Mews for eight years.  Rusty Simonetta is the store owner; I am the manager. Patch:  Why did you choose Catonsville?  Bridges:  We needed a bigger space, and this store is about three times as big as the one we had.  Here, we are five minutes from the Beltway with plenty of parking.  We have customers coming from all over the place; people who are into comics are willing to drive, but we wanted to be in a convenient …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Nini Sarmiento:  We opened Home Anthology in 2002 at an antiques coop in Cockeysville. Rob Degenhard:  We were there for a year and a half and then moved to the Oella Mill. Sarmiento:  And then we had to move from there after about another year and a half because they sold to a developer. Degenhard:  This space on Mellor works great for us.  Our website serves more as advertising; we sell mostly out of here and our clientele comes from Baltimore, Columbia, and D.C., so the location is perfect.  We also ship:  California, …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Valerie Stanovich:  So much has happened in just a little over one year.  In September, 2010, we got married and opened the shop in the same month. Micah Stanovich: Then, six months later, we expanded the shop.  We blew out a wall and added four stations. Valerie:  AND I found out I was pregnant!  And now little Sid is three months old... Micah:  and we have a total of nine employees. Patch:  Why did you choose Catonsville? Micah:  The Catonsville/Arbutus area is where we grew up so that had a lot to do with it.  Plus we …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Jolene Mosley:  The business started as The Weaver’s Place in Dickeyville in 1971.  At some point the business moved to Catonsville to this location.  It was the third owner who changed the name to Cloverhill Yarn.  I bought the business in April of 2008. Patch:  Why did you buy the business? Mosley:  I had three children (five, three and four months old) when I bought the shop.  It was a better balance for me between work life and home life, and I love the fiber arts.  I knit, I spin, I crochet. Patch:  Do you still do …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in WeightWatchers? Joanne McCorkle-Smith:  I lost 85 ¾ pounds in WeightWatchers in 1976.  I cannot wear a size 22 ½ any time again in my lifetime.  The clothes just ain’t that cute.  I’m impressed with my full figured girl-friends, but for me, I got to keep on with my program. Patch:  How has the WeightWatchers program changed over time? McCorkle-Smith:  The plan now is not the plan that I lost weight on.  Be very glad.  It was a diet then.  We had our liver meal once a week and we had to put mustard in our tuna fish!  I’ve seen maybe 14 evolutions …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Neil Leikach:  We have two stores: one in Catonsville and another in Finksburg.  We opened the Catonsville Pharmacy in February of 1999. Patch:  Why did you choose Catonsville?  Leikach:  I actually had started working in Catonsville when I was 16 years old as a delivery driver for the pharmacy that was in this location before.  My father is a pharmacist and so is my wife; we met in pharmacy school and she works in the Finksburg pharmacy.  So, I was eager to open my own pharmacy when the one that was here was going out of …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Josie Schroeter:  My parents, Frank and Tina Scittino bought the business in 1973.  Before that, it was Sorrento’s Grocery and Meats.  My father had his own butcher shop in Sicily before he emigrated.  It had always been his dream to own his own business again. Patch:  How did he happen to buy Sorrento’s? Schroeter:  We lived in Ten Hills, and Dad used to come down here and get Italian lunch meat every Sunday.  One day, the shop was closed and there was a sign in the window.  Dad came back home and got me because he couldn…

Catonsville Patch:  Do you prefer riding on the fire engine or on your sleigh? Santa Claus: It’s a grand tradition to come in to Catonsville riding on the fire engine and besides, it gives the reindeer a rest.  Patch:  Where are your reindeer? Santa:  Because the Santa House in Catonsville is right next to the firehouse, if the sirens go off, it scares the reindeer.  So I leave them down at Patapsco State Park where they get to visit their cousins, the deer. Patch:  How do you get into houses that don’t have chimneys? Santa:  Just like his friend the Easter Bunny, Santa has special keys that …

Catonsville Patch:  How long have you been in business in Catonsville? Gary Gebler:  I opened Trax on Wax in May 2009.  Before that I ran the East coast division of Sam Goody and I was vice president of Record and Tape Traders. Patch:  What drew you to want to start this business? Gebler:  I love music.  This is a niche market but it’s growing all the time.  Older people are getting back into vinyl.  They have an attic full of records and a turntable in the basement.  Like that couple who were just in here:  he said he just wants to get back and listen to his music again, so he was in here to…