Club President

THE UNITED States Naval Academy Brass Ensemble will appear at North County High School at 8 p.m. Saturday. Four conductors will take part: Lt. Cmdr Michael Alverson, the Naval Academy band commander, and Chiefs David Hanner, Steven Barzal and Ken Shrum.The event is one of a series sponsored by the Performing Arts Association of Linthicum, which sells season tickets for $23. Because of government requirements, the Naval Academy ensemble's appearance is free and open to the public.Three concerts remain in the series, all at North County High School: pianist Angelin Chang, at 3 p.m. Feb. 14; Chesapeake Music Hall Presents, at 8 p.m. March 20; and the Sound of New Orleans, at 3 p.m. May 2.Information and subscriptions: Jo Barker, 410-859-3308.

Not even the threat of freezing rain could keep more than 3,000 Maryland- ers from beginning the new year at the Baltimore Rotary Club's 79th annual oyster roast. That's how many showed up for the event in the Cow Palace at the Timonium State Fairgrounds.John Rausch, sales manager for Sonitrol, and Walter Riemann, catering director of the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, were co-chairs of this year's event. I was told that they had a great committee to work with: Rotary members Dick Holland, Dick Tillman, Jerry Wheeler, John Balfour, Jim Beese, Herb Grymes, Bryan Koerber, Harry Montague and Carl Silex.

For the second time in five years, the Frederick County Board of Zoning Appeals has turned down Taneytown Rod & Gun Club's request to build firing ranges on a 128-acre farm in the 1200 block of Shoemaker Road near Harney.Neighbors opposed to the ranges argued during a three-hour hearing Tuesday night that their quality of rural life would be harmed and that Shoemaker Road is not adequate to handle increased traffic.The board, after closely questioning club President Godfrey "Dick" Miller, concluded that the capacity of the existing clubhouse and the planned shooting ranges would exceed 100 people.

ONE OF THE LAST great bargains left in the neighborhood is a season ticket to the concerts sponsored by the Performing Arts Association of Linthicum.For only $23 per subscription, you can attend six concerts at North County High School. Performances are suitable for the whole family.PAAL concerts for the coming season are: Annapolis Opera, 3 p.m. Sept. 21; Tamburitzans, Slavic dancers from Duquesne University, 3 p.m. Oct. 26; Naval Academy Band, 8 p.m. Jan. 17; Washington Brass, 3 p.m. Feb. 8; Daniel Heifetz, a violinist with a six-piece ensemble, 3 p.m. March 22; and Annapolis Chorale, 8 p.m. May 2.At the last association board meeting, Jo Barker was elected president.

If you think abstract and realistic artists regard each other as brothers under the skin, just different folks with different brush strokes, think again. Better yet, visit the Charcoal Club's weekly life drawing sessions. For only $5 you can spend three hours drawing a live, nude model.But if you are inclined to draw the young woman in such a way that both eyes wind up on the same side of her head, or in a burst of creative expression supply her with toes that look like piano keys, you will put your fellow sketchers out of sorts.

The majority owner of the Baltimore Orioles, Peter Angelos, received well-deserved accolades at a recent luncheon where he was given the Pillar of Sports Award by the Advertising and Professional Club of Baltimore.Although Ad Club president Brent Gunts was elected last summer, this was the first luncheon meeting over which he has presided. He's excited about his term as president, a role his father, Edward Lyell Gunts, filled twice in the club's history. The younger Gunts' term had a rather trying beginning, however, when his first vice-president and friend, Bill Boucher, passed away, and the November luncheon to honor Angelos at the Omni Hotel was canceled because the hotel had labor problems and Angelos would not cross the labor dispute line.

With the conclusion of qualifying play today in the U.S. Mid-Amateur championship, the membership and staff of Woodholme Country Club will heave a collective sigh of relief. They will have showcased their golf course and club facilities to some of the best players in the world, and made it through with flying colors.Two years ago, when the USGA formulated plans for enlarging the championship field and initiated the two-course format for selecting the 64 men to continue at match play, it put a premium on second-course selection.

For 101 years, some of Baltimore's most powerful men have kept a lock on a private club where members take the stage once a year to sing, dance and dress up like women.This week, they decided to allow real women in the club.Historically white, male and socially well-connected, the Paint and Powder Club has allowed a move by its board of governors to stand, thus deleting the phrase "a member of the club shall be a male" from the group's bylaws."Some of the older members were against it; the younger members are generally for it," said Robert S. Maslin III, 50, the club president.

A three-alarm fire last night at the Hillendale Country Club left the 117-year-old clubhouse in ruin, caused damage in the millions of dollars and forced 100 people to evacuate the burning building, Baltimore County firefighters said.Despite the raging fire that crumpled the building and left only the brick exterior walls standing, there were no injuries, firefighters said. Flames at one point were shooting 75 feet into the air through the roof while dozens of club members watched from the lawn.

A dollar a year is not a bad price for good fellowship.That's the cost of dues for the Manchester Senior Citizens' Club, which has 100 active members who meet the second Tuesday each month in the Immanuel Lutheran Church to talk, eat and enjoy good company.They play bingo or cards. Occasionally they hold an auction. On Oct. 13, they plan to take a bus trip to Hershey Farms in Pennsylvania.Club president Eleanor Myers said the group has met for more than 25 years. Its themes, she said, are fellowship and food.

My witty neighbor Sebastian has a term for it: al desko. That gives it some much-needed panache, but in the end, it's still just you and your ham-and-swiss-on-rye, at your desk and on the job rather than out for a midday meal at a restaurant with friends or colleagues. Chalk it up as yet another sign of a dying civilization, but polls show that nearly 60 percent of workers lunch al desko these days. And that sad fact, I'm convinced, is why Baltimore's Ad Club is going to be celebrating its 100th anniversary next year as an exhibit at the Maryland Historical Society, rather than as a living, breathing and lunching group.

On the first of May, the Garden Club of Olde Annapolis Towne always springs into action. In a quaint rite that creates a colorful effect, the women's club holds a friendly competition among downtown dwellers and merchants, who display eye-catching flower baskets outside their front doors. At least 200 get into the spirit, many festooning their arrangements with bright ribbons that blow in the breeze. Yesterday was the 52nd annual day of judgment. "Just like life, everyone's a critic," said club member Saundra Irvine.

Good morning --Rick Adelman --Having your old roommate as club president couldn't save your job.

Many investors won't be boasting about their investment returns this year. Among the major stock market barometers, Standard & Poor's 500 index is up about 4 percent this year, while the Dow Jones industrial average is flat as a tabletop. Not everyone, though, has had such ho-hum returns. Some of the best investment clubs - groups of average investors who pool their money and know-how to buy stocks - regularly outperform the market. The principles that guide them aren't flashy or revolutionary, but basic strategies that have been around for decades because they tend to work.

The all-white country club where Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. held a recent fundraiser has been unsuccessfully seeking an African-American member for roughly a decade, according to a letter from the club president to members last week and the account of a prominent black educator who considered joining. "On numerous occasions, going back many years, application invitations have been extended to African-American families, including several invitations that are long-standing and that are currently under consideration by these families," wrote Jay M. Wilson, president of the Elkridge Club and a vice chairman of Mercantile Bankshares Corp.

Good luck catching up to Clement F. Kusiak. The retired Linthicum engineer, an energetic civic leader, has just become the first Marylander to head the world's largest service club, Lions Clubs International, with 1.4 million members and 46,000 chapters globally. He's on the road constantly, traversing airports and hotels nationwide to set direction for the group, which mixes civic service, charitable work and business networking. "I feel excited," Kusiak said. Kusiak will have little time to savor his election.

The televisions at the Potomac Curling Club at the National Capital Curling Center in Laurel were tuned to the Indianapolis-Kansas City NFL playoff game late Sunday afternoon. But with the Colts clinging to a seven-point lead in the final two minutes, the channels were suddenly changed to a curling competition from Canada. Curling fans take their sport very seriously, and they used an open house Saturday and Sunday to try and get others to start doing the same. "There's a lot of interest in curling," club president Derek Surka said.

Dorotha F. Knieriem, a former women's club president, died Wednesday of dementia at Fairhaven retirement community in Sykesville, where she moved 16 years ago. She was 88 and earlier had lived in Catonsville. Born Dorotha Ford in Baltimore and raised on Payson Street, she was a 1932 graduate of Western High School. She worked briefly for the former Union Trust Co., and had been a member of Catonsville Presbyterian Church. Friends said she enjoyed singing in the Baltimore Choral Arts Society's annual programs.

Anyone who thinks all teen-agers are lazy, uncommitted and self-absorbed should spend some time with members of the InterAct Club, a group of about 50 students at Hammond High School who keep busy helping others. Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Columbia-Patuxent, InterAct is a community service organization for young people between ages 14 and 18. Under the supervision of Hammond guidance counselor Samina Chaudhry, the club meets once a week to decide who needs its help. Sometimes the club is asked to assist an organization, but mostly the volunteers initiate, plan and execute community service projects on their own. Rotary sponsor Jerry Richman says he occasionally "throws out ideas, not in a pushy way, but to germinate a seed when suggesting activities.

MUCH CHANGE HAS come to the Odenton community of Four Seasons during the past 30 years. The once-rural area has exploded with growth - new housing developments, shopping centers and schools. But one thing has stayed the same: The Four Seasons Women's Club. It has been a constant source of support to the families of the area and to the community's needs. Mary Loosararian remembers moving to Four Seasons in 1977. One of her first visitors brought her the Women's Club Welcome Packet, full of handy information - local maps, phone numbers and helpful ideas.