Baldwin Hall

LAST SATURDAY at 7 p.m., the Savage Holiday Tree was dedicated in a brief ceremony, followed by a block party.Savage Community Association member Deb Schultz and other members of the group's Holiday Committee dispensed cocoa, coffee, cookies and good cheer behind Carroll Baldwin Hall, where folks gathered to admire the unlighted tree and greet each other.Elaine Johansen wandered through the crowd giving out raffle tickets for a green Beanie Baby. Santa enjoyed a brief respite from his last-minute chores and stopped by to hand out candy canes to children.

IT'S HALFWAY into September already - where has the year gone? The Bollman Truss Bridge is the last of its kind in the world. This red, iron railroad bridge was designed to be sturdy , easy to erect and easy to remove. Perhaps that's why ours is the last one. At 9 a.m. tomorrow, a brief ceremony will be held to unveil a plaque designating the bridge as a National Historic Landmark. The event is part of the county's sesquicentennial celebration. The bridge carries the distinction of being the first National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, an honor conferred by the American Society of Civil Engineers in 1966.

FOR THE second year in a row, Chuck Dick brought Charles Dickens' story "A Christmas Carol" to life in Savage this month. The fund-raiser for Carroll Baldwin Hall almost didn't happen this year. Dick, who was raised in Savage, conceived the idea of annual holiday performances. He remembers when Carroll Baldwin Hall was used more frequently as a community center and he liked the idea of combining a fund-raiser with a cultural experience for the community. For the past few years, the hall has been undergoing restoration to repair a slate roof and upgrade the interior.

THE SAVAGE Boys and Girls Club is trying to form a soccer team for girls up to age 11. If your daughter has Sundays free, call Mr. Ryan at (301) 776-0745 soon to enroll her in the Baltimore Beltway League.Cheerleading secretaryI have enormous respect for school secretaries: They are an island of calm in an ocean of swirling chaos.Until last week, I had the good fortune to deal with Gerry Gibeau at Hammond High School. She's unfailingly cheerful and has earrings I envy. But last week she was gone -- off to Florida for a week to cheer on her son. Michael Gibeau, Hammond High alumnus, was competing at Orlando in the Seniors National Swimming Championships.

CALENDARS ARE usually designed to let us look ahead to the coming weeks and months. But the Savage Historical Society has fashioned a calendar that does the opposite - it gives us a glimpse of the past through the old photographs featured on the pages for each month. Called A Long Time Ago ... , the black-and-white calendar for 2002 includes 15 photographs of Savage taken during the early 1900s. It is a project of the fledgling Savage Historical Society, a group that first met in April.

IF YOU'RE in the mood for a walk down Memory Lane, Charlie Chaplin's classic 1931 silent movie, City Lights, is showing at Carroll Baldwin Hall tomorrow night. Admission to the film, presented by the Savage Historical Society, is 5 cents. The evening will begin at 6 p.m. with a social hour. You can buy popcorn and baked goods while Columbia pianist Nancy Berla plays Scott Joplin rags. Wear period clothes if you like, take a camera and have your picture taken with a life-sized portrait of Chaplin, drawn by Jeannette Vollmerhausen of Savage.

On Thanksgiving Day in 1922, the Rev. Charles W. Baldwin dedicated the Carroll Baldwin Memorial Hall in Savage "for the welfare and happiness of the whole community."Through the years it's played host to the annual children's Halloween Party, the Boy's Club of Savage, Savage Community Association meetings, and many birthday and anniversary parties.The community has done its best to keep the hall in good !B condition through fund-raisers, donations and volunteer carpenters, but 70 years of constant use have taken a toll.

IT WASN'T just the summer-like weather that made Saturday's tree lighting in Savage seem a bit like a Fourth of July celebration. This year, the community decided to forgo the traditional red-and-green Yuletide color palette in favor of a more patriotic motif. "The red, white and blue theme is because of Sept. 11th," said Charla Long, one of the organizers of the tree lighting. The 12-foot blue spruce, planted about two years ago on the grounds beside historic Carroll Baldwin Hall, is usually bedecked in colored lights and red bows at Christmastime.

The Savage Community Association will meet at 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at Carroll Baldwin Hall.The association, which creates and supports community activities, will elect a board of directions.Information: (301) 725-1089.

Chorale concert -- The Chesapeake Harmony Chorus will hold an audition at 8 p.m. June 21 at Baldwin Hall, 1358 Millersville Road, Millersville, for their Diva Guest Night performance. Individuals with a nice voice and the desire to have fun are being asked to join. This is a four-part a cappella harmony style known as barbershop. No experience reading music is necessary; learning tapes are available. Refreshments will be served. 410-757-1596 or www.chesapeakeharmony.com.