Evergreen House

The sun has set, and an overhanging canopy of trees blots out the stars. The woods are full of ominous sounds. Dark figures emerge from the shadows. It's hard not to shiver; something wicked this way comes. Oh, if only that were the case. If You Go Macbeth runs through July 22 in the meadow outside Evergreen House, 4545 N. Charles St. $15-$25. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 5 p.m. Sundays. 410-366-8596 or go to baltimoreshakespeare.org.

When is a house not a house? When it becomes a museum. That's what happened this summer to two historic structures that the Johns Hopkins University owns and operates as public attractions in North Baltimore, the Homewood mansion at 3400 N. Charles St. and Evergreen House at 4545 N. Charles St. No longer are Homewood and Evergreen called the Historic Houses of Johns Hopkins; they're now part of a new campus organization called the Johns Hopkins University...

Jane E. Katz, the retired Evergreen House museum's assistant director, died Tuesday of cancer at Gilchrist Center for Hospice Care. She was four days short of her 69th birthday.For 30 years, she administered the museum's rare book and paintings collection, rooms of antiques, grounds and private theater of the John Hopkins University-owned 26-acre estate. The complex sits between Notre Dame and Loyola colleges in North Baltimore."Without question, she was the linchpin who brought it and held it together at Evergreen," said Dennis O'Shea, the Hopkins official who oversees the 48-room mansion listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Historic house tours for the holidaysTravel back into time Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and experience "Holiday Traditions in Old Baltimore," a tour of Baltimore's historic houses dressed up for the holidays. Continuous bus service, provided by Harbor City Tours, takes you to the Mount Clare Museum House, the Star-Spangled Banner Flag House, Homewood House Museum, Evergreen House and the Garrett-Jacobs Mansion, home of the Engineers Club. Each house offers a variety of refreshments, provided by area restaurants and caterers, live period music and entertainment, and holiday shopping.

Three generations of artistic vision in Baltimore's Seyffert family, represented by paterfamilias Leopold, his son, Richard, and grandson Robert Seyffert, are on display at historic Evergreen House.The show spans the period 1905 to 1999. Leopold Seyffert was a student of Ignacio Zuloaga, the Spanish painter with whom Alice Warder Garrett shared a 30-year friendship and from whom she commissioned or purchased many paintings that are in the Evergreen House Foundation collection today.Leopold's grandson, Robert, lives in New York City and paints cityscapes of New York and Baltimore and landscapes of Nova Scotia and Maryland's Eastern ShoreEvergreen House is at 4545 North Charles St. Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Alto saxophonist Paul Desmond was often described as having a sound as dry as a perfect martini. If Desmond had a vocal counterpart, it would be singer and pianist Bob Dorough. An Arkansas native whose tart tone and wry wit has been entertaining jazz aficionados for more than four decades now, Dorough has always managed to be utterly cool yet totally accessible. Sure, his C.V. includes stints with both Miles Davis (recording the ultimate post-bop carol, "Blue Xmas," in 1962) and Ornette Coleman, but he was also the songwriter responsible for many of the tunes on the TV series "Schoolhouse Rock."

Today, Evergreen House kicks off its first ``Collectors' Series,'' which will be an annual group of exhibitions and programs built around collections assembled by the Garrett family, one-time owners of Evergreen.This year's edition centers on prints, since the house's first Garrett owner, T. Harrison, amassed a collection of 20,000 prints, mostly by old masters, later donated to the Baltimore Museum of Art.From 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. today, an exhibit of contemporary prints titled ``Narratives in Print'' will open with a reception, followed at 7 p.m. by a lecture on ``The Culture of Collecting'' by Maryland State Arts Council folklorist Charles Camp.

How many times have you driven mindlessly past it, that sprawling mansion atop the knoll in front of Johns Hopkins' campus? And have you ever wondered what lies behind those intricate wrought-iron gates on North Charles Street, marked only by a simple sign: "Evergreen House"?Dr. Bodil Ottesen, associate educator of public programs at the Baltimore Museum of Art, devised a way for the public to become more involved with the idiosyncrasies that Baltimore has to offer: a lecture series offered earlier this fall on "Baltimore Mansions," through a collaboration with the BMA and Johns Hopkins University's non-credit Odyssey Program.

More than half a century has passed since the late John Work Garrett and his wife Alice Warder Garrett held magnificent parties at their beloved Evergreen House.But the tradition of hospitality lives on at the elegant pre-Civil War historic house and museum, where several thousand visitors are expected next weekend for the 41st Carriage House Collection at Evergreen.The occasion has become a tradition in Baltimore for the early holiday season, blending history and shopping with grace and style.

THIS YEAR'S CARRIAGE House Collection at Evergreen was a holiday extravaganza, where guests could sip champagne while buying distinctive gifts from more than 50 boutiques. The collection, an annual show and sale at the lovely Evergreen House, has been a project of the Women's Board of the Johns Hopkins Hospital for 41 years.Besides getting a chance to shop and bid on one-of-a-kind items, board members and their guests at this year's preview party were treated to elegant floral displays throughout Evergreen House created by prominent designers.

Navy introduces warship USS Freedom at Academy The U.S. Navy's newest warship, the USS Freedom, will visit the Naval Academy in Annapolis today through Monday during its maiden voyage from the Great Lakes to Norfolk. The ship will be open for public visitation from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Visitors may walk through Gate 1 (King George Street) and Gate 3 (Maryland Avenue) and should be prepared to show a government-issued photo identification. Handicapped individuals with proper decals may drive through Gate 1 after a vehicle inspection.

When is a house not a house? When it becomes a museum. That's what happened this summer to two historic structures that the Johns Hopkins University owns and operates as public attractions in North Baltimore, the Homewood mansion at 3400 N. Charles St. and Evergreen House at 4545 N. Charles St. No longer are Homewood and Evergreen called the Historic Houses of Johns Hopkins; they're now part of a new campus organization called the Johns Hopkins University...

The sun has set, and an overhanging canopy of trees blots out the stars. The woods are full of ominous sounds. Dark figures emerge from the shadows. It's hard not to shiver; something wicked this way comes. Oh, if only that were the case. If You Go Macbeth runs through July 22 in the meadow outside Evergreen House, 4545 N. Charles St. $15-$25. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays-Saturdays; 5 p.m. Sundays. 410-366-8596 or go to baltimoreshakespeare.org.

Helen L. Ohrenschall, a homemaker and former teacher, died of a stroke April 6 at Sinai Hospital. She was 81. Helen Louise Williams was born in Baltimore and raised in the city's Brooklyn neighborhood. She was a 1942 graduate of Southern High School and attended the University of Maryland, College Park. After earning a bachelor's degree in English from the Johns Hopkins University's McCoy College in 1946, she taught students with cerebral palsy for several years. She later returned to Hopkins, where she earned a master's degree in English and taught at the University of Baltimore during the 1966 academic year.

Baltimore-trained artist Nestor Topchy put a new spin on Easter eggs at a workshop yesterday that brought participants ranging from children to grandmothers to the Johns Hopkins University's Evergreen House. The eggs were not exclusively the province of Easter, however, but the Ukrainian decorated sort. Topchy had some wooden ones adorned with geometric patterns hanging from his Byzantine gold-leaf icon paintings on display there. Now a resident of Houston, Topchy was a child when he learned pysanky, the ancient egg-painting craft, from his mother -- and both of them shared their knowledge with about 30 people at Evergreen.

Hydroplanes The lowdown -- The 16th annual Thunder on the Narrows hydroplane races take place Saturday and Sunday at the Kent Island Yacht Club. Top speeds range from 85 mph to 150 mph. Part of the proceeds benefit the Hospice of Queen Anne's. If you go -- Gates open at 10 a.m. and racing starts at noon. Admission is $5. Kids younger than 12 get in free. Take exit 41 off Route 50 and park under the Kent Narrows Bridge. Shuttle service will be provided. Call 410-725-6222 or visit kentnarrowsracing.

Freda M. Grim, a homemaker and volunteer, died of cancer June 10 at her Ten Hills home. She was 82. Freda Speer Malpass was born in Baltimore and raised on Auchentoroly Terrace. She attended Western High School and was a telephone operator during World War II. While attending Babcock Memorial Church and singing in its choir, she met organist Charles Louis Grim. They married in 1947. He later played at St. Bartholomew's Episcopal Church, where Mrs. Grim also sang and was a member of the Ladies' Guild.

FROM A DISTANCE, THE SPOT looks like a small, green bus-stop shelter unaccountably sitting on the banks of a bubbling brook. The closer you get, the odder the scene becomes. Instead of benches inside the structure, a pair of old-fashioned porch swings face each other, as if the place were a setting for a proper Victorian courtship. SCULPTURE AT EVERGREEN / / Through Sept. 24 / / Evergreen House, 4545 N. Charles St. / / Free / / 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, noon-4 p.m. weekends / / 410-516-0341

"It's time to say thank you to people who have done so much for the community," says Maryland composer and concert producer Vivian Adelberg Rudow. She has organized a concert this weekend that will honor two guiding lights of the Peggy and Yale Gordon Trust - director Sidney Sherr and assistant director Loraine Bernstein. "Loraine asked me not to do it, but I told her it is not negotiable," Rudow says. "But I promised not to embarrass them. We'll keep it very simple and low-key." Musically, the concert, which will be held Sunday at the Har Sinai Congregation in Owings Mills, is far from simple.

The Today show announced yesterday to its national viewing audience which of four locales had been selected as the Hometown Wedding site for Southern Maryland sweethearts Sarah Raley and Mark Dale. The folks at the Chesapeake Bay Beach Club in Stevensville had been informed a day earlier - under a vow of secrecy - that theirs was the chosen site. "They told us it had to be an absolute surprise," said club owner John Wilson. "They were very firm." Today producers decided to break the news to the club Thursday evening while setting up for yesterday morning's live telecast.