Beautiful People

Volunteers from Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore will be honored as the state's "Most Beautiful People" at 7 p.m. Oct. 28 in the Francis Scott Key Auditorium, at St. John's College in Annapolis.The Rev. Sharon Smith will be mistress of ceremonies at the annual event sponsored by the state's "Maryland, You Are Beautiful" program.Panels of local judges choose the volunteers.Information and free tickets: 410-767-6332.Pub Date: 10/15/98

For years, Florida was known as a pretty wholesome place. Between Disney World, Cape Canaveral, the Daytona Speedway and Miami Beach, it seemed a great place to bring the family, a state where things rarely got rowdier than Spring Break in Fort Lauderdale.These days, though, there are some pretty dark doings in the Sunshine State. Not only has Tampa become the death metal capital of the world, but the state has also unleashed the likes of Mike Diana, whose grisly 'zine Boiled Angel made him the only cartoonist ever to be convicted of obscenity, and the Genitorturers, a band whose show includes bondage, S&M and onstage body piercing.

She made the cover of Rolling Stone with her pals from television. People magazine chose her for the cover of its "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" issue. Her show -- on which no less an expert than "Cheers" maestro and quintessential sitcom director James Burrows said she acts as the hub -- is one of the biggest hits on television, ranking No. 1 for the first time the week of June 5.All this notoriety after virtually disappearing from the limelight more than five years earlier. What gives?

Although he is soon to leave the Westminster parish he has called home for five years, the Rev. David Pietropaoli is still working for the children he calls its future.Two weeks ago, the man whose many duties included the youth ministry at St. John Catholic Church led one last retreat for 32 teen-agers. During the three days of prayer, mixed with sports, at a camp in Pennsylvania, the children "really inspired me," he said."By the second day, they had decided it was OK to be Catholic," he said.

EVERY magazine is printing lists of the best things in the world. There are "Best Colleges," "Best Hospitals," "Best Doctors," "Best Towns," and even "Best State Troopers working for a Governor."People magazine has recently published their list of "The 50 Most Beautiful People in the World."I know that many of you were surprised that I didn't make the issue. It was one of those sad omissions caused by human error.It turned out that I had made the list, and the magazine sent out one of their photographers to take my picture.

Time was, if you weren't a blondee with more curves than Mario Andretti could handle, you walked a long, lonely runway in the beauty pageant of life. But graced with hair like the sun and a body like a goddess, you could count on this: In your presence, heads would turn, hearts flutter and imaginations soar. Think of Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Jean Harlow.Today, some of America's loveliest still play the role. (Think of Madonna, Claudia Schiffer, Sharon Stone.) But in the '90s, determining what's fetching is more like taking a multiple choice test.

County Executive Robert R. Neall is asking for nominations for the county's "Most Beautiful People" -- extraordinary people who volunteertheir time and talents for others.The contest is an opportunity to thank a special volunteer who goes beyond the call of duty, demonstrating unselfish dedication, compassion and virtues.Nominees should be unsung heroes whose acts of good will go unnoticed and who serve their communities as volunteers, not as part of their jobs.The program is sponsored in conjunction with Gov. William D. Schaefer's "Maryland You Are Beautiful" campaign.

WASHINGTON --- Soldiers have been making jokes about their enemies ever since war began. Making light of what could mean death in the morning helps keep spirits up; dehumanizing the people across no-man's-land makes it easier to kill them.Good home-front morale seems to demand such jokes, too. In the past, rough humor helped inspire citizens to turn out more tanks, and put up with rationing and other inconveniences such as bombs through the roof.For America, this war is different. There are no inconveniences on the home front.

It is time to submit nominations for Anne Arundel County's "Most Beautiful Person" to the "Maryland, You Are Beautiful Campaign."The deadline is Sept. 11.Help recognized some previously unsung hero in this county who tries to help others. Not just those who work for the betterment of theenvironment, or to help the handicapped, children, senior citizens, or even the homeless, but someone who tries to make Anne Arundel a better place.All nominees must live in the county. Nominators may only chose one person for the award.

Gov. William D. Schaefer is inviting state employees to participate in the fourth annual state employees photography competition, titled "Get Some Exposure."The contest is sponsored by the "Maryland Youare Beautiful" Program, the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Governor's Press Office and Ritz Camera Centers Inc.The competition, which is open to all current state employees, begins July 15, with a deadline for entries of Sept. 16, 1991.The entry categories are action/sports, animals, landscape/scenic/environment, Maryland tourism attractions, Maryland's people, Marylanders at work, urban architecture and vacation humor.

It was a classic Sister Katherine moment. She was standing on a forlorn stretch of West Pratt Street when three people shuffling past stopped to inquire about the nearly finished building behind her. Eagerly, almost thankfully, she engaged them. Soon, she said, it will be a place where drug addicts can talk about their demons or just duck out of the chaotic streets for a while. Soon it will be evident why the glass-fronted building is called an Island of Hope. "It'll be a beautiful spot for beautiful people," said Katherine Nueslein, a gray-haired veteran of the Sisters of Mercy religious order.

TNA doesn't seem to grasp the concept of less is more. The Beautiful People got so much time on Thursday night's show that by their final segment, I really didn't care to see them anymore. It didn't help that they weren't given the greatest material to work with or that The Prince Justice Brotherhood was in all of the segments. Sometimes attempts at silly, sophomoric humor can be funny, but the beauty pageant skits just didn't do it for me. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

Barbara Six loves to cook. But she doesn't just cook for her family, which includes four children and eight grandchildren. For 54 years, the Harney resident has been cooking for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Ladies Auxiliary Post 6918, the Harney Volunteer Fire Company auxiliary, the Harney Lions Club and St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Harney. "I do a lot of baking - pies are at the top of my list," she said. "Apple is my specialty, and egg custard, but any kind." When she's not cooking, she might be found visiting a sick church member or friend in a nursing home, or making sure there are altar flowers for the church every Sunday.

Empowering news for all you lonely hearts out there looking for love and coming up empty: You can tell your "take-responsibility" therapists they've been wrong all along. It's really not you; it's them. The pool of potential mates is full of homely folks, people. That's why you can't find anyone to date. It's true! At least it is, it seems, if you're in the Maryland area, where a "Beauty Index" compiled by an online dating site found that people in the Old Line state are just not cute.

The drama Beautiful People certainly delivers on its title. It presents marvelous moms, drop-dead daughters, stellar students and comely cads. Most of the beautiful people - or "BPs" - attend a prestigious New York high school. Gideon, an endearing geek, explains the importance of the "BP" title. "It's just much easier to loathe something when it has a name," he says. It would be easy to loathe Beautiful People, a family drama that debuts at 9 p.m. tomorrow on the ABC Family cable channel.

In the News Amber and Rob are registered for bridal gifts Not content with their $1 million-plus combined Survivor prize winnings and numerous trips won during The Amazing Race, reality lovebirds Amber Brkich and Rob Mariano have registered for various items essential to marital bliss at Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond. The registries indicate that well-wishers have already snapped up the cutlery, linens, soap dispensers, tortilla warmer, paper shredder and $550 Dyson vacuum cleaner. Rob, 29, and Amber, 26, actually married April 16, but as everyone knows, wedding gifts are still encouraged up to one year after the ceremony.

Donald Champ was in his RV yesterday, en route to a reunion in Missouri and apparently unaware that he had been chosen to represent Carroll County in the 2004 Maryland's Most Beautiful People awards. His pastor, who nominated him, said Champ might be on a pleasure trip but he will invariably find volunteer opportunities on the road. "We couldn't tell him that he had won, and he had made a commitment to the reunion," said the Rev. Richard McCullough, pastor of Wesley Freedom United Methodist Church in Eldersburg.

Carroll County saluted its "most beautiful" people yesterday, all volunteers who have given time and talent to their communities, churches, charities, recreation councils and organizations as varied as the 4-H and the American Cancer Society. Highest honors went to George Woodward, who had received 16 nominations from the staff and clients at Change Inc., an organization that provides support services to disabled adults. Woodward, 58, donated more than 1,500 hours to Change last year, helping severely disabled people with their most basic needs.

Who are you calling ugly? Clearly, you've never been in Cleveland's airport. OK, that was uncalled for - beautiful people do inhabit Ohio. It's just that Baltimore has taken another poll on the chin. Geez, if it's not the heroin, teen pregnancy or communicable-disease capital of the country, it's something else. This time, it's just plain ugliness. Comes news that an America Online/Travel + Leisure magazine poll asked 500,000 people to rank 25 popular travel destinations. Categories included Best Nightlife, Best in Spring, Most Romantic, Best Public Transportation and Best Cultural Attractions.

Young Frankie Wheeler is having the sort of summer endured by everyone on the cusp of adulthood, when new relationships are formed at the expense of old ones. It's a time when adolescents learn more than they ever wanted to about both dependence and independence - including the revelation that they're both seriously overrated. With Swimming, first-time writer-director Robert J. Siegel has crafted a loving, knowing look into the heart and soul of every young girl struggling to make it alone in a world where that's both a goal and an impossibility.