The death of two people who didn't know each other is bringing together neighborhoods through a music project.

On Sunday, an instrument drive will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. at Viola's Recreation Room, 2648 Stanton Ave. in Walnut Hills. Viola's is a center for Walnut Hills kids that has a computer room, game and reading rooms, a kitchen and an art room. It is sponsored by Morning Star Baptist Church.

Viola's Rec Room project director Patricia Brown (left) and Mark Bany of the Michael W. Bany Scholarship Fund talk with kids in Walnut Hills. Bany and his group are holding a drive to get instruments for a pilot music program called "Cincinnati Song." The Cincinnati Enquirer/ERNEST COLEMAN

The instruments are needed for a pilot music program called "Cincinnati Song," which is designed to reach at-risk children throughout Greater Cincinnati, said Mark Bany, coordinator.

"Music has proven to be something that brings people together," Bany said.

The program is sponsored by the Michael Bany Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Michael Bany, a musician and the brother of Mark, was shot dead in 1995 in Over-the-Rhine. Viola Williams, a 13-year-old African-American girl, was shot dead that same year in Walnut Hills.

The Recreation Room was started to symbolize the need for such programs in that area, said Patricia Brown, project leader.

Hamner to be honored

Earl Hamner, a University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music alumnus and creator of the television shows The Waltons and Falcon Crest, will receive the Frederic W. Ziv Award at the 17th annual awards banquet at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center on May 12.

The award is given for outstanding achievement in telecommunication by the electronic media division of CCM.

Hamner's career in writing started at age 6 when his poem was published on the children's page of the Richmond (Va.) Times-Dispatch.

A native of Schuyler, Va., he was among the first students to graduate from the school's broadcast department in 1948 and became a writer for WLW-AM in Cincinnati.

Hamner has written six novels, including Fifty Roads to Town, You Can't Get There From Here and the best-seller Spencer's Mountain, which was made into a Warner Bros. film starring Henry Fonda and Maureen O'Hara.

CCM electronic media majors who also will receive awards at the banquet include: Alison Gottlieb, Oak Hills High School; Steve Trepkowski, Brunswick; David Chrisante, Steubenville; Mike Sauer, Anderson; Lindsay Burton, School for Creative and Performing Arts; Eric Hintz, Lakota West; Jennifer Guertin, Princeton;Luke Cellar, Ashland; Kurt Barron, St. Xavier; Gary Morgan, Walnut Hills, Emilee Jacobs, Valley View; and Chad Bedell, Jamestown.

$250K grant to Eldermount

A $250,000 grant from the Otto Armleder Memorial Trust will be used to build a 6,000-square-foot space for Eldermount Adult Day Program at the Bayley Place Community Wellness Center in Delhi Township.

The Eldermount Adult Day Program combines holistic health and wellness with three levels of programs designed to meet the individual interests and abilities of each member.

The trust fund is administered by Provident Bank.

Headed for England

Sophomore biology major Diamond Nicole Harris was named to the fall semester dean's list at the University of Toledo and has been accepted into the UT-Salford Exchange program. She will study at the University of Salford in Manchester, England, next year.

The Walnut Hills High School graduate is the daughter of Linda and Edward Joiner of Evanston.

Dean's list again

Michael Schilling, a sophomore majoring in Chinese and international relations, was named to his third consecutive dean's list this fall semester at Tufts University, Boston. He spent a year in Taiwan as a Rotary International Exchange student following graduation from The Schilling School for Gifted Children in Forest Park.

He is the son of Sandra and Ronald Schilling of Evendale.

Honors scholarship

Matthew Boutin participated in the Academic Honors Scholarship Day and was awarded a renewable Honors Scholarship from the College of Engineering of Ohio Northern University, Ada.

A senior at Clermont Northeastern High School, Matthew is a member of the National Society of High School Scholars and is an Ohio Post Secondary Student attending Chatfield College. He is the son of Margaret and William Boutin of Marathon.

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