Fall Festival

The Days End Farm Horse Rescue will have its third annual fall festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday.Pony rides, a petting zoo, riding demonstrations, a costume contest, horses in costume, pumpkin decorating, games and food will be featured. Admission is $2 for adults, $1 for children under 12 or $5 for a family.Days End, a nonprofit organization, rescues abused and neglected horses and restores them to health before adopting them out to caring families.The farm is at 15856 Frederick Road, Lisbon.

Laurel Park opens its arms to families tomorrow as clowns, firefighters and petting animals join the usual array of thundering thoroughbreds at the racetrack at U.S. Route 1 and Maryland Route 198 in Laurel.The second annual Family Fall Festival begins at 10 a.m. in the parking lot off Route 198 with contests for firefighters. Track officials invited every volunteer fire company in the state to compete for cash and trophies.Lois Ryan, director of public relations for the Maryland Jockey Club, said yesterday that 14 fire companies had signed up so far, including a makeshift one from the track featuring officials Karen and Joe De Francis.

SOME THINGS in Western Howard County are just too good to miss.To wit, the Jennings Chapel United Methodist Church Fall Festival is a holiday by itself.Visit the festival to purchase homemade cakes, pies, breads, sticky buns, candies, jams, cookies and apple dumplings. Browse through crafts, stitchery, candles, books, jewelry, dried flower arrangements, and plants. Take an old fashioned buggy ride and dine on crab cakes, ham and the Jennings Chapel famous chicken corn soup.From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, church members will welcome you.The church, founded in 1854, is at 2601 Jennings Chapel Road in Woodbine, a scenic eight-minute ride west of Route 97.Call 489-7121.

THE OUTDOOR FALL bazaar/fair/festival season is in full swing in Pasadena.Visit one, or make the rounds. The choice is up to you.The parish of St. Jane Frances de Chantal is sponsoring its annual three-day fall festival starting this evening on the church grounds, 8499 Virginia Ave. in Riviera Beach.Festival hours are 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. today, noon to 11 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.Carnival rides and games will be set up outside. More games, bingo and a used book sale will be held inside the school hall.

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.

THE FALL festival season is in full swing in the Pasadena area, giving to a great opportunity to postpone those pesky fall cleanup chores (at least for a few hours).*The parish of St. Jane Frances in Riviera Beach opens its fall festival at 5 p.m. today, closing for the night at 11 p.m. The festival hours for the rest of the weekend are noon to 11 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday.Attractions include midway rides, games of chance and skill for all ages, bingo with a 50/50 pot and a silent auction of vacations, dinners and homemade crafts.

UH, OH," said my friend, pausing as she entered the room. "Crutches in the corner, a 'Get Well Soon' balloon limping around the air conditioning duct, Q-tips stuck in your hair. Who's on the disabled list?"Before I could respond, a feeble cry from the living room interrupted. "Bon," called my husband. "I can't find the television remote. And I could use some orange juice, if you don't mind. I hate to bother you again.""What happened?" she asked, deftly removing the carton of Tropicana from my hand as I took careful aim in the general direction of the sofa.

The 22nd annual Sykesville Fall Festival will open Saturday with folk music, arts and crafts and touches of town history.Organizers have decided not to bring back last year's celebrity impersonators or carnival acts.Loriann Pfefferkorn, a Main Street business owner and festival promoter this year, is avoiding the "too tacky" and opting for a simplified and decidedly Sykesville flavor."It is a festival to promote us, to give us exposure," Ms. Pfefferkorn said.Ms. Pfefferkorn said she remembers her embarrassment when last year's festival opened at 9 a.m. with an Elvis impersonator singing "My Sweet Little Suzy Love Machine" and continued on shrill notes for nine hours.

WHEN THE NOTION of a greenway along the Gwynns Falls stream valley was first proposed, many dismissed it as a nice ideas that would never materialize. Ye of little faith! With $2.3 million of the 14-mile trail's estimated $7.4 million cost secured, construction of the first phase is scheduled to begin next year.That first five-mile section will stretch from Franklintown, in Leakin Park, to the edges of Edmondson Village thanks to funding sources such as the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund and a federal transportation program.

Mount Airy's Fall Festival will bring thousands of visitors to the town's Main Street next weekend.And the owners of the soon-to-be completed Mount Airy Brewing Co. and Firehouse Grill are working around the clock to open in time for the festivities."