Fall Festival

All-Night Bingo games at the Hampstead Fire Department on Main Street are a perennial favorite."Sometimes it's too crowded," says firefighter Kenny Ruby, so they've limited Friday night's attendance to 250 people.With $4,000 to be won, everybody stays all night.That's 92 games of bingo and a home-cooked fried chicken dinner, for a night of fun until 3 a.m."Most games are worth $30" to the winner, he said."Specials are from $50 to $300."Mr. Ruby says he'll be there to "sell specials, work the floor, do whatever is needed."

THE NATURE CENTER at Piney Run Park is alive with the spirit of volunteerism.Many of its programs are dependent on volunteers, and two of the center's most active volunteers were recently recognized for their efforts.Norma and Jack Norman of Sykesville have been faithful volunteers the past four years. The retired couple can be found lending a hand at nearly every event at the Nature Center."Jack and Norma are such a terrific couple," said Elaine Sweitzer, a Piney Run naturalist. "They're always ready and willing to do anything that needs to be done.

The Fifth District Volunteer Fire Department will hold its first country breakfast of the season from 8 a.m. to noon today at Ten Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville. The menu includes pancakes, sausage, bacon, potatoes, scrapple, eggs and trimmings. Food will be available until noon. Adults pay $7; children ages 4 to 10 pay $4. Those ages 60 and older pay $6. Information: 410-313-7215. Horse rescue group plans fall festival Days End Farm Horse Rescue in Lisbon will hold its annual Fall Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept.

I'VE NEVER met parents who didn't think that their baby was the most adorable they had ever seen. Because parents tend to be just a little partial in this regard, the community will have a chance to decide which area baby is the most photogenic.Proud parents and grandparents are encouraged to start snapping photos of their special baby for the Mount Airy Area Jaycees Baby Photo Contest. The contest will be held during Mount Airy Fall Festival, Oct. 5 and 6.Most years, the baby photo display area at the fall festival is a hub of activity, surrounded by admiring parents and festival-goers with their selections as to which baby is their favorite for first place.

Craft show starts today, runs through Saturday Jennifer Crafts of Historic Savage Mill is holding a craft show today through Saturday at Carrolltown Center in Eldersburg. More than 25 local and regional craftspeople will offer handmade arts and crafts, photography, floral items, pillows, bears, dolls, gifts, wood and nautical theme items. Hours will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. tomorrow through Saturday. Admission is free. Information: 410-781-7070. Fall Festival set Friday at Carrolltown Center Carrolltown Center in Eldersburg will hold a Fall Festival from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday that will include mall-wide trick-or-treating.

Experimental music festivalExplore experimental music during the High Zero Festival of Experimental Improvised Music, tomorrow through Sunday at three Baltimore venues. A group of 28 local, national and international sound improvisers and experimenters play solo or in groups from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. tomorrow at the Lodge, 244 S. Highland Ave.; 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Charles Theatre, 1711 N. Charles St.; and 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at 14 Karat Cabaret, 218 W. Saratoga St. Admission is $8 for each concert; $25 for a four-show pass; and $50 for a premium pass, including a limited-edition CD. Call 410-889-5854, or visit the Web site at www.redroom.

IF, DURING the coming weeks, you find yourself thinking, "There's nothing to do this weekend," you'd better double-check that calendar. There's so much to do this fall; we offer a sampling for your consideration: Kinder Farm Park's third annual Fall Harvest Festival will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. Sponsored by the Friends of Kinder Farm Park, the family fun day will be packed with games and crafts for the kids, the highlight of which will be making a scarecrow to take home.

In Baltimore City Planning Commission OKs proposal to convert apartments The Planning Commission approved yesterday a proposed $17 million conversion of the Northway apartments at 3700 N. Charles St. into upscale housing for senior citizens despite protests from a half-dozen of the nearly 200 residents who would be displaced by the project. Morningside Developments Inc.'s proposal requires that all residents of the 85-unit building vacate their units. At the request of planning commissioners, Morningside representatives promised to give residents 90 days' notice.

With the weather leapfrogging fall's cheerful chill to winter's blustery bite, the warmest person at the Howard County Conservancy's fall festival Saturday was iron man Allen Dyer. The light from a brilliant fire illuminated the Ellicott City blacksmith, who pumped a huge bellows that fed the dancing flames. Then he spun a thin metal bar in his hands as he heated it until it glowed red. A rapt audience watched Dyer as he transformed the iron into a curved workshop tool, hammering, heating and hammering again until, satisfied, he dipped it into a bucket of water.

Without anyone to coordinate vendors, food booths and music groups, Sykesville's Fall Festival may be history.For 20 years, the festival has been drawing people -- 10,000 last autumn -- into the town's business district for a Saturday of food, crafts and amusements. But this year, the Sykesville Business Association, the festival's sponsor, can't find a volunteer to organize this annual Carroll County event.Volunteer labor is an integral part of small-town living. Organizations such as the fire companies, town government and civic groups depend heavily on donated time and energy.