Attendance

Hall of Fame president Dale Petrovsky opened yesterday's ceremony by relaying the news that an all-time record high of 717,000 fans attended major league games Saturday. That dovetailed nicely with the fact that the Hall of Fame also set a single-day attendance record with 14,000 visitors Saturday and set an attendance record at the induction ceremony with an estimated crowd of 75,000.

As it wrapped up its 20th season Saturday, the Columbia Festival of the Arts reached a record for attendance at its ticketed events. From June 6 through June 23, the festival filled just over 80 percent of the roughly 8,000 seats available at the 12 ticketed events, according to the festival's executive director, Nichole Hickey. "We've never gotten there [before]," Hickey said, estimating attendance to be about 15 percent higher than in previous years. Thousands more people attended free and paid art exhibits, lectures, master classes and readings as well as the free, three-day LakeFest event.

BaltimoreFeb. 14-17 Biophysical Society national convention, Convention Center. Contact: Nancy Nootenboom, 301-530-7010. Expected attendance: 3,000Feb. 18-21 Maryland Music Educators Association conference, Omni Hotel, Fayette and Hanover streets. Contact: Dick Disharoon, 410-887-1217. Expected attendance: 3,000Feb. 22-28 American Craft Enterprises ACC crafts fair, Convention Center. Contact: Christine Crawfis, 914-883-6200. Expected attendance: 7,000InformationFor Washington-area convention information, call the Washington, D.C. Convention and Visitors Association at (202)

The inevitability didn't subtract from its significance. As the Orioles went about winning their sixth consecutive game with a 4-1 decision over the Seattle Mariners at Camden Yards, paid attendance for one of the most disappointing seasons in team history eclipsed 3 million.And for once, the Orioles could brag they tied the Yankees.The defending world champs joined the fourth-place team as the first franchises to pass the milepost this season. An announced Camden Yards crowd of 44,891 pushed the Orioles to 3,032,891 with club officials projecting a season-ending figure of approximately 3.5 million.

BaltimoreSept. 15-19 National League of Cities, children and families conference, Holiday Inn, Lombard and Howard streets. Contact: John Kyle, 202-626-3030. Estimated attendance: 600Sept. 16-18 Malibu Pilots Association, Renaissance Harborplace, 200 E. Pratt. Contact: Bill Albert, 843-785-9349. Estimated attendance: 350Sept. 17-19 Maryland RV Show Part II, Maryland State Fairgrounds, York and Timonium roads. Contact: Jon Tancredi, 215-592-8601. Estimated attendance: 8,000Sept. 21-23 Supply Chain Expo, Convention Center.

BaltimoreJune 17-18 KMI Corp. fiber-optic submarine systems symposium, Hyatt Regency, 300 Light St. Contact: Kristin Engdahl, 401-849-6771. Expected attendance: 120June 18-20 Landstar Inway division meeting, Omni Hotel, 100 W. Fayette St. Contact: Jackie Supplee, 609-467-9500. Expected attendance: 200June 23-26 American Communications Network, Omni Hotel, 100 W. Fayette St. Contact: Cathy Barbre, 734-677-0900. Expected attendance: 3,000June 23-27 Aim International annual meeting, Renaissance Harborplace, 200 E. Pratt St. Contact: Russ Kembel, 206-285-7515.

BaltimoreMarch 24 Mid-Atlantic Treasury Management Association Interchange 1999, Convention Center. Contact: Debbie Isabella, 410- 747-4085. Expected attendance: 150April 9 Chesapeake Human Resources Association conference, Martin's West, Woodlawn. Contact: Mark Ostrowski, 410-821- 9100. Expected attendance: 200April 11-14 American Nephrology Nurses Association conference and symposium, Convention Center. Contact: Kristine Jannetti, 970-728-9074. Expected attendance: 2,500InformationFor Washington-area convention information, call the Washington, D.C. Convention and Visitors Association at (202)

BaltimoreJune 1-2 Greater Greenville [S.C.] Chamber of Commerce, community visiting conference, Hyatt Regency. Contact: Denise Smith, 864-239-3756. Expected attendance: 100June 3 Baltimore Maritime Exchange annual meeting and election, Association of Maryland Pilots Building, 3720 Dillon St. Contact: David Stambaugh, 410-342-6610. Expected attendance: 75June 6-8 North Atlantic State Transportation Officials convention, Sheraton Inner Harbor. Contact: Karen Cecil, 410-865-1228. Expected attendance: 1,000June 7-13 Society for Epidemiologic Research,, annual conference, Omni Hotel, 101 W. Fayette St. Contact: Jim Taliakl, 216-425-8333.

BaltimoreDec. 22-26 International Association of Orthodox Jewish Mental Health Professionals, annual meeting. Hunt Valley Inn. Contact: Mordechai Glick, 514-481-1918. Estimated attendance: 400Jan. 3-6 Northeastern Weed Science Society, annual meeting. Hyatt Regency, 300 Light St. Contact: A. Richard Bonanno, 987-682-9563. Estimated attendance: 300Jan. 4-5 Maryland Turf Grass Council, conference and trade show. Timonium State Fairgrounds. Contact: John Krouse, 301-345-4199. Estimated attendance: 900Jan.

BaltimoreFeb. 14-17 Biophysical Society national convention, Convention Center. Contact: Nancy Nootenboom, 301-530-7010. Expected attendance: 3,000Feb. 18-21 Maryland Music Educators Association conference, Omni Hotel, Fayette and Hanover streets. Contact: Dick Disharoon, 410-887-1217. Expected attendance: 3,000Feb. 22-28 American Craft Enterprises ACC crafts fair, Convention Center. Contact: Christine Crawfis, 914-883-6200. Expected attendance: 7,000Information For Washington-area convention information, call the Washington D.C. Convention and Vistors Associaton at (202)

When Cesar Izturis heard "La Vida Es Un Carnaval," by Celia Cruz after the sixth inning Sunday afternoon, the Orioles shortstop acknowledged sheepishly that his eyes began to water. And that started a chain reaction: When his friend and teammate, third baseman Melvin Mora, saw Izturis get teary, he started to choke up. Then there was the female fan near the Orioles' dugout who was bawling as Mora stepped onto the field after the sixth, waved to the crowd and touched his heart as Cruz's salsa tune - the one that is played before Mora's at-bats at Camden Yards - blared.

Despite hot weather early in the week, the annual eight-day-long Howard County Fair saw slightly higher attendance this year, cheering organizers. "We went into the fair very apprehensive about the economy," said H. Mitchell "Mickey" Day, fair association president and chief of the nearby West Friendship Volunteer Fire Department. Despite that, Day said attendance was between 84,000 and 85,000 people, a 2 percent increase over last year, which was "a banner year," he said. The slightly higher gate receipts will enable the nonprofit fair association to do some needed paving at the fairgrounds, and also consider an upgrade to the 4-H building.

As Baltimore's unemployment rate rose, many people headed to the library. Since the onset of the recession, attendance at the Enoch Pratt Free Library's career center classes has jumped 92 percent. For free, the Central Library on Cathedral Street in downtown Baltimore offers a range of classes that teach how to build a resume, network strategically, search and apply for jobs online, make job seekers' employment "recession-proof," get a federal job in 10 steps and develop basic interviewing skills.

Major League Baseball teams are finding the recession is a tough out. Seven weeks into the season, more than half of baseball's 30 teams, including the Orioles and particularly the Washington Nationals, are seeing smaller crowds than a year ago. The dips come at a time of year when attendance is relatively low anyway because kids are in school and the weather is iffy. Through 22 home games this season, the O's have drawn an average of 21,833 fans, a decline of 2,579 compared with their first 22 contests of 2008.

People in the sailing world know a Tartan 4300 is a pretty fancy boat. And at the recent U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis, when a salesman sold a pair of the half-million dollar yachts, heads turned. And that sales guy was grinning. The salesman "came over to my booth and said he had sold a Tartan," said Susan Zellers, executive director of the state Marine Traders Association. "I said, 'Congratulations. Those are half-million dollar boats.' He said, 'I know. This is my second one.' " We all know times are tough.

State and city officials are scheduled today to announce an interagency partnership aimed at combating truancy among juvenile offenders in Baltimore schools. The city school system and the Department of Juvenile Services will share student attendance data, enabling DJS case managers to monitor daily whether youth on probation are in school. DJS plans to expand from six to 16 the number of city schools where it places case managers who monitor and respond to attendance and behavior problems and other issues involving students under DJS supervision.

There was a staggering economy, and there were surging gas prices. There was a new baseball stadium that opened about 45 minutes south and a schedule that included just three total weekend series with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox. There was also an Orioles team that suffered through an 11th straight losing season and finished in last place for the first time in 20 years. The Orioles say all those factors, plus losing three home dates to a cancellation and two traditional doubleheaders, contributed to what will be the lowest attendance in the 17-year history of Camden Yards.

After years of financial woes, the Maryland Zoo reported finishing with "some money in the bank" this fiscal year, which ended June 30. Zoo officials say they finished with a $200,000 surplus by cutting costs, eliminating several jobs and revising contracts. The zoo also received help from the Abell Foundation, which provided a $1.2 million bank credit in April, allowing the zoo to get through May and June without the significant layoffs some had feared. It was the first time the zoo did not run a deficit since 2004, when officials reduced the animal inventory and work force by about 10 percent.

A record crowd Saturday accounted for three-fourths of the attendance at the annual Wine in the Woods festival last weekend, according to Gary J. Arthur, director of Howard County's Department of Recreation and Parks. "We think we had 15,000 people on Saturday. That is a record," Arthur said, noting that it was also the first time parking near Merriweather Post Pavilion was exhausted for the wine event held in Symphony Woods around the pavilion. Arthur said 5,000 people bought tickets for $20 each before the event, and the rest paid $25 each to enter.

Baltimore students who were murdered or shot had poor school attendance before they fell victim to the violence, according to new data released yesterday by the school system and health department. Between 2003 and 2007, 115 youths in Baltimore were killed, and 405 were victims of non-fatal shootings, Health Department figures show. The school system was able to retrieve attendance data going back to 1999 for 391 of the 520 total victims. The Health Department pooled the data from the two agencies.