Carnival

NO MATTER whether you're young or old, there is something magical about spending a warm summer evening at a carnival. Familiar sounds, sights and mouth-watering smells entice you to forget about your problems for a while and have some good, wholesome family fun.The fun starts next week in Pasadena at the annual Firemen's Carnival, sponsored by the Riviera Beach Volunteer Fire Company.The weeklong fund-raiser will be open from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday on the firehouse grounds, 8506 Fort Smallwood Road.

I'VE HAD a long and satisfying relationship with the Big Glen Burnie Carnival over the years, but like most associations, this one has seen some changes.As a child, my favorite ride was the electric swing. My mother insists the ride cost a small fortune one year, and I screamed like a banshee every time my parents tried to remove me from it. After shelling out the contents of my father's wallet on subsequent rides, the smooth motion of the swing finally lulled me to sleep.A year or two later, I was screaming again, but this time I wanted off a ride.

KINSLEY, Kan. -- For years, about the only thing that's ever stirred folks to pause here on a seemingly endless trip across the high plains is the big sign at the junction of U.S. 50, 56 and 183.One arrow points west, reading, "San Francisco, 1561 miles." Another points east, advising, "New York, 1561 miles." As the sign says, Kinsley is "Midway U.S.A," where travelers, relieved to be this far, pose for a snapshot before moving along.But within a couple of years, folks here predict, tour buses will be pulling into town with regularity and swarms will fill Main Street.

More than 1,000 people turned out for a carnival in Glyndon yesterday to raise money to offset medical expenses for Jake Rome, 6, who has a malignant brain tumor. Jake's father, Mark Rome, said organizers will not know how much was raised until later this week. The boy is undergoing chemotherapy.Pub Date: 3/29/99

GLEN BURNIE'S major social event of the season is gone. And, at least this year, all of the major prize winners were local: Margo Fish Earley, Volkswagen Beetle; Geraldine Page, hot tub; Linda Frank, Ravens tickets; Alberta Wiggington, riding mower.Just because the carnival is over doesn't mean there's not plenty to do in this town. Here are the top 10 ways to spend an August day in Glen Burnie.10. So you didn't win the bug. The carnival might be over, but the grounds could hold a few surprises.

50 years ago: Westminster Fire Co. was the winner of the first prize of $50 at the annual Union Bridge Fireman's carnival parade last Friday evening. This was one of the finest parades in the company's history. The carnival gross receipts were nearly $7,000. -- Democratic Advocate, June 10, 1949.100 years ago: Three men, whose names and residences are unknown, had a hearing before Justice J. Hoffman Fuss yesterday morning on a charge of using a device for gambling on the streets of this city on Thursday.

GRADUATION TIME IS fast approaching for many students throughout the county.Friday morning, pupils took their first walk across the graduation stage as Liberty High School held its 1999 Playschool Graduation.Sixteen preschoolers participated in the 1998-1999 play school program at the school and delighted family and friends as they received their laminated "diplomas." Liberty High students in the early childhood development courses conducted the graduation ceremony."The students planned the program for the graduation," said Karen Linthicum, early childhood development teacher.

Savory aromas wafted across the carnival grounds in Sykesville during the weekend as volunteers prepared foods for the annual event that opens today.The auxiliary -- not just ladies anymore -- of Sykesville-Freedom Volunteer Fire Company carved 300 pounds of roast beef, diced pungent onions, marinated the famous bean salad and brewed gallons of iced tea, preparing every do-ahead dish possible.That would save time today, when members turn their attention to about 250 pounds of crab meat, uncounted gallons of potato and macaroni salads, and the plethora of side dishes that would fill dinner platters.

Purim CarnivalCelebrate a fun-filled day of games, refreshments, crafts and entertainment at Howard County's sixth annual Community Purim Carnival. Highlights include the Parade of Costumes, the storytelling of Harriet Rosen and challah-making lessons. For older kids, this year's carnival offers double-shot basketball, speed-pitch baseball and the Moonbounce. Proceeds will benefit the Educational Grants Program of the Jewish Federation of Howard County.The Purim Carnival will take place on Sunday, March 8, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Long Reach High School, 6101 Old Dobbin Road, Columbia.

ISN'T IT a little late for spring cleaning?" my friend asked, as she tried to find elbow room on a counter top laden with an eclectic assortment of glassware.Ignoring her, I began to fill the dishwasher for the third time that morning."Let's see, there's a Class of '95 coffee mug from a nondescript school, three ashtrays for a family where no one smokes and," she paused as she counted, "six shot glasses. Looks like someone's been to the dime pitch at the carnival."Yes, in what eventually became a crusade, night after night my sons and their friends returned to the noise and the fun of the Big Glen Burnie Carnival to toss dimes in hopes some would land on"Six more water glasses emblazoned with the logo from the 1993 Florida Marlins' inaugural season to complete your set of eight," she suggested.

The Big Glen Burnie Carnival, an annual extravaganza of rides, games and fair food, has gone green. Organizers of the carnival teamed with the office of Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold and a local Home Depot to introduce recycling to the event for the first time in its 102-year history. Beth Behegan, a member of the executive committee of the Glen Burnie Improvement Association, which puts on the carnival as its chief fundraiser, said it decided this year to switch from fountain sodas to plastic bottles.

OK, cruise fans, it's a year-round showdown here in Baltimore: Carnival vs. Royal Caribbean. Last month, Royal Caribbean International announced it would offer cruises year-round from Baltimore beginning in June 2010. And to top that off, Royal Caribbean is replacing the Grandeur of the Seas ship, which has sailed from Baltimore since 2004, with the Enchantment of the Seas, a bigger ship that underwent an "extreme makeover" back in 2005, a process that added 73 feet to the ship's length.

If you're a traveler looking for a budget-friendly destination, Brazil should be on your 2009 list. According to CheapTickets.com, Brazil offers savings of 58 percent in April, a time when the southern hemisphere's summer crowds have moved on, yet the warm weather still lingers. Most people think of Rio de Janeiro when they think of Brazil, but thanks to the arrival of low-cost air carriers, getting around Brazil is easier and more affordable than ever. Here are five things to do in Brazil: 1 Check out Carnival : This lively spectacle takes place in cities throughout Brazil, beginning in late February.

Baltimore will become a year-round cruise port when behemoth Carnival Cruise Lines begins weekly sailings that it expects will handle 115,000 passengers annually, beginning in September 2009. Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise line, said yesterday that the 2,124-passenger Carnival Pride will offer a pair of seven-day itineraries to such destinations as the Turks and Caicos islands, the Bahamas and Florida, through August 2011. It will be the northernmost port where Carnival offers year-round cruises.

Wyclef Jean has never been an easy one to peg musically. But his restless spirit in the studio is better focused on his latest CD, Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant. Disparate styles -- metal rock, reggae, Southern rap, even Indian music -- are streamlined into a vibrant, unpredictable mix. His sixth solo album, Carnival pulses with glints of the different sounds he heard while circling the globe over the past few years. "It's like when the great jazz musicians traveled and brought different rhythms back to the States -- like Quincy Jones or Dizzy Gillespie did back in the day," Jean said last week from a tour stop in Las Vegas.

Charles Kreider began working at the Big Glen Burnie Carnival with his father when he was 3 years old, sitting on a bushel basket and picking up balls at their family's milk-bottle stand. From Kreider's grandfather, who went to the first Glen Burnie Carnival in 1908, to Kreider's 7-year-old grandson, five generations of the family have volunteered at the event. "Ever since the carnival was conceived, we've had a person as chairman of a stand," Kreider said. "It's just been a part of life.

FOR MEL BROOKS, IT WAS ANYTHING Goes. For director Robert Longbottom it was No, No Nanette. For songwriter Stephen Schwartz it was the short-lived Shinbone Alley. And for me, it was Carnival. For many children, musicals aren't merely entertainment, they're the embodiment of a yearning that can last -- and shape -- a lifetime. Even now, these theater artists get a wistful tone in their voices when they recall those early, eye-popping experiences. CARNIVAL / / Through March 11 / / Kennedy Center / / 800-444-1324 or kennedy-center.

A musical fable, Carnival! carries us along on the coming-of-age journey of an orphaned young woman who joins a traveling circus. At the now-shabby Grand Imperial Cirque De Paris, she undergoes experiences that change her forever -- just as she changes those around her. This evocative show began as a short story by Paul Gallico, was transformed into the 1953 movie Lili, and eight years later became a Broadway musical with a score by Bob Merrill and...

The Big Glen Burnie Carnival came to town Friday, offering rides, games and food. The car nival, which dates to 1908, will be downtown until Saturday. There is no admission fee, but ride tickets are $1 each or $14 for the entire night today and tomorrow. Proceeds benefit the Glen Burnie Improvement Association.

A gang-related melee erupted toward the end of a family-themed carnival in Havre de Grace on Sunday night, with at least six police agencies responding to break up fights between unruly teens. The violence came amid an increased police presence after an incident two nights earlier at the carnival, in which a 16-year-old was cut on the back with a box-cutter or razor. On Sunday, the final day of a weeklong carnival that featured a parade and fireworks, several scattered fights escalated and overwhelmed officers.