Entry Fee

Mike Fiorita, a 17-year-old from Falling Waters, W. Va., set a Maryland record for brook trout with a 6-pound, 1.75-ounce catch on the North Branch of the Potomac River last month.The previous state mark of 4 pounds, 12 ounces was set by Rick Joyce at Western Run on May 30, 1985.Fiorita's fish, taken from the put-and-take area at Barnum on April 10, was 22.5 inches long and 15 inches in circumference.Fisheries service biologists believe the monster brook trout moved downstream to the Barnum area after beefing up outside the trout rearing pens below Jennings Randolph Dam."

Gov. Parris N. Glendening has appointed E. Joseph Lamp, a professor at Anne Arundel Community College, and Robert Gregory Jr., a Baltimore businessman, to the Wildlife Advisory Commission.The nine-person commission advises the Department of Natural Resources on wildlife management issues.Lamp is a former hunter and vice president of the Anne Arundel County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.Gregory is an avid outdoorsman and hunter and is the only African- American on the commission.

No one knows who will win Sunday's eighth Danskin Triathlon, which begins and ends on the picturesque shores of the Gunpowder River, but Sally Edwards knows who will be the last one to cross the finish line.She will.In an act that personifies the uplifting spirit of the event, Edwards, the designated "sweep athlete," will bring up the rear so that "no one feels like they are the last to finish the race.""It's a women's only race, which gives women more confidence to participate," said Edwards, a 13-time Ironman triathlon finisher, who lost her mother to breast cancer.

A Baltimore County man who operated a sports information service has been sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison after being convicted of wire fraud and money laundering in defrauding his clients.U.S. District Judge Andre M. Davis also ordered Marc Neal Robert Berman, 36, of the 8500 block of Arborwood Road in Stevenson to pay $100,000 in restitution and forfeit property in Randallstown and $189,000 at Friday's sentencing hearing.Berman pleaded guilty in November to using interstate wire transfers to commit a scheme to defraud, and laundering the proceeds, the U.S. attorney's office said.

OktoberfestIf it's a braunschweiger and a cold malty lager you've got a taste for, the Oktoberfest in Annapolis is the place to be on Sunday. It's a celebration of all things German at the West Annapolis Business Association's sixth annual Oktoberfest celebration and street festival.Indulge in some authentic German food, enjoy the sounds of a German band, watch German dancing and, of course, for the beer lover, authentic lagers. Annapolis Street will be closed to traffic as 50 vendors and artists line the street to sell jewelry, furniture, baskets, watercolors, photography and more.

On Sept. 11, the Havre de Grace Decoy Museum is sponsoring the Susquehanna Flats Classic duck and goose calling championship. The event takes place at the Decoy Museum Grounds and begins with a free calling seminar that takes off at 9 a.m.Contestants can begin signing up at 9 a.m., and the first competition will be the Junior Contest, beginning at 9:45 a.m. There's no entry fee for the junior division (youngsters age 15 or under) and each caller will be given 30 seconds to demonstrate his technique.

Everyone's invited to munch on sweet ruby-red strawberries tomorrow at the Jenkins Memorial Church strawberry festival and flea market.The flea market will open from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. for your shopping pleasure. Rental spaces are available for $7.From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., dig into fresh berries, served with or without ice cream and cake. Barbecue, hot dogs and beverages also will be for sale. Activities include raffles and grab bags.Proceeds will benefit the Sunday school program.The church is at 133 Riviera Drive.

John Vananzo started bowling with his mother, Margaret, when he was a teen-ager in an youth/adult league at Fair Lanes Edgewood. They're both still bowling.Margaret Vananzo carries a 163 average and John averages a bit more. Last season he was listed seventh in the Cecil-Harford Counties Bowling Association's Yearbook with 221.John Vananzo bowls in five leagues -- Saturday it's Fair Lanes Edgewood's new league, Fair Lanes on the Fairway; Monday it's the Classic at Country Club Lanes, Wednesday and Friday, Country Club again then on Thursday it's back to Edgewood.

Q: I would like to visit Cabo San Lucas, in Baja California, Mexico, and wondered if there are any golf or fishing tournaments there this year.A: Cabo San Lucas is host to a number of marlin fishing tournaments in the late summer and fall, but no major golf tournaments.Most of the fishing tournaments are aimed at the serious sea angler: entry fees generally run into hundreds of dollars, and participants must provide their own equipment and boats, which can be rented in the town.All the tournaments have a daily weigh-in, when marlin caught during the day (some weighing up to 600 pounds each)

The NFL is committed to setting a "realistic" franchise fee that will accurately reflect expected revenues but not unduly burden the expansion teams it expects to name this fall, a league official said.Team owners on committees devoted to expansion and finance met jointly for four hours yesterday in New York to discuss the entry fee that will be charged the new team owners. No fee was set, but estimates have ranged from $125 million to $200 million."We're trying to put two successful franchises in place," Roger Goodell, vice president of operations for the NFL, said after the meeting.

AACS golf benefit The Annapolis Area Christian School will sponsor the sixth annual golf classic tournament Monday at Queenstown Harbor Golf Club, 310 Links Lane, to benefit the school's tuition assistance and faculty development programs. Sign-in will start at 9 a.m. and game play at 11 a.m. An awards dinner will be held at 4:30 p.m. Entry fee is $150 per player or $600 for a foursome, and includes greens fee, driving range, cart, shirt, golf items, lunch and dinner. Information: 410-266-8251, ext. 116. Help for minorities Parents are invited to attend forums sponsored by the Office of Equity Assurance and Human Relations, Anne Arundel County Schools, to discuss achievements by African-American students.

Rehoboth Beach Chocolate Festival Where:: Rehoboth Beach Convention Center, 229 Rehoboth Ave., Rehoboth Beach, Del. When:: 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday What:: The 19th annual festival is all about chocolate, with tastings, gourmet samples, raffles and children's games. The heart of the festival is the Chocolate Baking Contest, open to kids and amateurs, as well as restaurants and professionals chefs. Categories include cookies, brownies, pies, cheesecake, candy and "most unusual."

Sometimes a pillar is just a pillar. And sometimes it's the death knell for a municipal slogan. On the corner of Lombard and Central, at one end of Baltimore's Corned Beef Row, Martin O'Malley's black-and-white BELIEVE motto has gone out in a blaze of beige. There are two big pillars at that intersection, put up years ago to create a gateway to a district then teeming with Jewish delis, butchers and bakeries. One, standing on the Lenny's Deli parking lot, says - surprise, surprise - "Lenny's Deli."

Let me begin by saying how lucky we are to live in an area where you can visit a replica of an 11th-century castle and feast on hunks of roasted chicken while knights on horseback joust and sword fight and a comely wench keeps coming up to your table and saying: "More to drink, sire?" Until the other night, however, I had not availed myself of this particular pleasure, owing to one major factor: Tickets are $50.95 each for adults. And I'm too cheap to fork over that kind of iron for anything less than Springsteen singing while I eat. Then Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament, the company that puts on these feasting-and-fighting extravaganzas in nine cities around the country, held a "Media Night" at its sprawling Arundel Mills site to preview its new show, billed as a "spell-binding evening of royal entertainment!"

When you're Tyler Bradford Stevens, life is full of fruit-juice wishes and Goldfish-cracker dreams. Yes, young Tyler has been living it up since winning the title of "Tiny King" in the state finals of the Sunburst Beauty Pageant and Baby Contest last weekend. Truth be told, Tyler has been doing pretty much the same things - many involving toy trucks and plastic drums - that he would be doing had he not won first place in his age group. The 16-month-old from Abingdon has no clue that his state-level victory means he will travel to Atlanta in August to walk the stage at the annual national competition put on by Sunburst Beauty Pageants Inc. Tyler is more in tune with the fact that his beloved juice and cheddar-flavored crackers, combined with macaroni and cheese, make up his favorite meal.

WHILE THEIR kids are savoring the last hours of summer vacation, parent volunteers from Bodkin Elementary PTA are making final preparations for a race and fun run fund-raiser scheduled for Oct. 12. The one-mile walk or fun run, geared to attract Bodkin pupils, will begin race-day activities at 8 a.m. The five-kilometer race will start at 8:30 a.m. Now in its sixth year, the 5K run and one-mile fun run have become popular events, drawing supporters and...

Carroll County Sports Complex has announced programs for the spring and summer. Instructional summer camps will be offered for youth baseball, soccer and lacrosse. Camp dates and hours, eligibility, format and costs vary for each camp. Information: 410-857-4832. Team entries for the 2002 women's softball league are being accepted. Games will be played Friday nights from April 3 to August. Entry fee is $360 a team, due by April 12. An umpire's fee of $12.50 must be paid before each game.

Basketball league accepting entries for 2002 season The Carroll County Men's Basketball League is accepting team entries for the 2002 season. Games are played at East Middle School gym in Westminster from January to March. Divisions of play are: Monday and Tuesday nights, unlimited; Wednesday nights, over 30 (B level); and Thursday nights, over 30 (A level). Team entry fee is $525 before Dec. 14; after that date, the cost is $575. To register, submit entry fee, with check payable to CCMBL, to Wilson's Sports in Westminster, or mail to Brad Gist, P.O. Box 24, Union Bridge 21791.

The Knight family has scheduled a bull roast fund-raiser from 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Oct. 7 at Kurtz Beach in Pasadena to benefit Heath Knight, who was diagnosed with a blood disease that is a precursor to leukemia. Proceeds will go toward medical costs for Knight's chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant. The fund-raiser will feature a disc jockey, raffles, a silent auction and a money wheel. The menu will include pit beef and ham, marinated chicken, Italian sausage, beer, soda and coffee.

Cover Crop Program registration period extended to Friday The Western Maryland Cover Crop Program signup period for cooperators has been extended to Friday. Farm producers should submit all applications to the Maryland Department of Agriculture Office of Resource Conservation by Sept. 7 for the Maryland Agriculture Cost-Share Program. The program is available on a first-come, first-served basis, and all eligible acreage will be accepted. Information: 410-841-5864. YMCA schedules Fun Fest this week The Carroll County Family YMCA will hold an end-of-summer Family Fun Fest Wednesday through Sept.