Feast

Journeys' final spring service set Journeys Community, a nontraditional spiritual-seekers group, will hold its final spring service at 10 a.m. Sunday in the second-floor auditorium of Vantage House Life-Care Retirement Community, 5400 Vantage Point Road in Town Center, Columbia. This week's service will celebrate the nature and power of community. The kick-off for the group's summer program will be a community picnic, to be held at 5 p.m. July 1. Summer activities, many of them outdoors, are to be held through Labor Day; regular services will continue Sept.

Freedom Fund event to hear Ulman Howard County Executive Ken Ulman will deliver the keynote address at the 28th Annual Freedom Fund Banquet sponsored by the Howard County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The banquet is being held at 6:30 p.m. today at the BWI Airport Marriott, 1743 West Nursery Road. The theme is "Valuing Our Vote/Voting Our Values." The county executive will celebrate the accomplishments of the local branch and thank its members for the investment they are making in the future of the county.

Instead of scalpels, University of Maryland medical students picked up spatulas and ladles yesterday. They served hot turkey, mashed potatoes and vegetables to about 300 people at a Thanksgiving dinner at a West Baltimore middle school. The event, called Project Feast, is an 18-year holiday tradition for students. With the stress of schoolwork and exams, students said they sometimes forget about the surrounding community and poor people. "We're students stuck in the books," said Sarah Bui, a second-year medical student who co-coordinated this year's Project Feast.

SECTION E PG 5D

Conflict resolution center seeks auction donationsSilent and live auction items are sought for the Anne Arundel Conflict Resolution Center's second Fair Night at Manresa from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Oct. 1 at the Manresa on the Severn atria in Annapolis.Auction items may include tickets to cultural and sporting events, exotic weekends, interesting objets d'art, gift certificates, and close encounters with the rich and famous. Also, Italian wines and hors d'oeuvres may be sampled, and the Singers Madrigale, The Key School's Renaissance Consort and the Bogart-Barber Repertory Company will perform.

It is always a macabre and chilling sight -- hundreds of densely packed human bones, tumbling out of a shallow pit, unexpectedly exposed by a backhoe or erosion. But it's not some Balkan nightmare. Nearly three dozen of these bone pits, or ossuaries, have turned up in tidewater Maryland since the 1850s, one as recently as 1992. The largest held the remains of hundreds of men, women and children -- 15th- to 17th-century Native Americans who lived in an area that today stretches from Montgomery County to Maryland's Atlantic Coast.

Cherries are in, and pits are outFinally, sweet cherries are here. Their arrival heralds a too-short summer treat from now till mid-August. And while they're great for baking and eating as snacks, there is a problem -- those pesky pits. But we found a cherry pitter from Williams-Sonoma that makes quick work of them. And it's fun to use. Just line up the fruit with the gizmo's plunger and squeeze away. For $12.50, life can be a bowl of cherries.Soul food talkLearn about soul food's healthy roots this weekend.

If we are what we eat, then 180 food lovers were the epitome of elegance at a dreamy dinner honoring culinary superstar Julia Child. The fabulous four-course feast, prepared by Miami chef Allen Susser and 12 Baltimore-area chefs, was sponsored by the Baltimore/Maryland chapter of the American Institute of Wine & Food, an organization co-founded by Child and dedicated to promoting a better understanding of food and wine.The epicures certainly showed their knowledge as they dined at the Belvedere on Chesapeake Bay jumbo crab tian, herb-roasted rack of lamb, a sumptuous cheese trio, and double chocolate espresso timbale.

SOME PEOPLE seem to be celebrating all holidays during this last year of the century as if they were historic and monumental occasions. Last week at the grocery store, I ran into a neighbor, and the topic of July Fourth plans came up. Big mistake. I heard more than I needed to about the last Fourth of July barbecue of this century: front-door decorations, flags up the driveway, eclectic American melting pot menu with a Thai emphasis. This lady had definitely put way too much thought into this holiday.

What does it take to be a VIP? At the governor's inaugural ball, all you need is $30,000.Gov. Parris N. Glendening's inaugural celebration is becoming a fund-raising feast, drawing hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from an array of businesses with state interests -- and drawing criticism from political opponents and a government watchdog group.Four years ago, Glendening's inaugural committee asked for contributions of up to $15,000 to help pay for two parties, and he was criticized for asking special interests to pony up large sums just before the annual General Assembly session.

SUNDAY 1814 BATTLE OF NORTH POINT DEFENDERS' DAY: From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., enjoy battle re-enactments, living history and family-friendly activities at Fort Howard Park, 7400 North Point Road. Go to battlenorthpoint.org. PAJAMA BRUNCH: Mother's Federal Hill Grille, 1113 S. Charles St., provides sleepyheads with a dream brunch - one that you can just roll out of bed and go to. Put on your comfy PJs (not lingerie or sweats, mind you) and enjoy 50 percent off food and drinks from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Call 410-244-8686.

On July 11, 2009 James S. Makell. A memorial Buffet Feast will be held on Sunday, August 9th at Jade Garden Buffet, 1012 Taylor Avenue, Towson, MD 21286. You Must RSVP 410-435-1877 or email kiss-9905 msn

At the risk of being the killjoy at the next crab feast, let us suggest some restraint over the comeback of the blue crab is in order. While the winter dredge survey results released last week by Maryland and Virginia officials suggest the number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay has rebounded over the past year, it appears the number of young crabs has only held steady. The lesson here is that restrictions imposed last year on crabbing have made a difference, but the long-term impact isn't entirely clear.

Passing the torch of hosting the feast Rafael Alvarez touches on an often unacknowledged but deeply powerful rite of passage in "Keeping the feast" (Dec. 24). It is a moment so ignored that it does not even have a name. But it is moment that all of us know and most of us will experience: the passing of the holiday meal from one home to another. Some families rotate the honor, or burden, of hosting the clan's ceremonial meals, be they for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Passover. But more often that honor is bestowed on one select home, one matriarch or patriarch, and no one dare seek to wrest it away until its keepers are ready to lay the burden down.

Kwanzaa, which means first fruits of the harvest in Swahili, is a celebration of family, community, African heritage and great food. The weeklong holiday, which begins on Dec. 26 and ends on New Year's Day, is based on seven guiding principles, with each day's observance starting with the lighting of candles. The centerpiece of the Kwanzaa festivities is the feast of Karamu, which is observed on Dec. 31. It's modeled after traditional African harvest celebrations, at which villagers gave thanks for their bountiful harvest by sharing it at a huge communal feast.

On Nov. 19, 1884, a large crowd of Democrats gathered for the "Barbecue at Belair," celebrating the presidential election of Grover Cleveland. The barbecue was threatened by persistent rains, but 400 to 500 people came to the fairgrounds. Everyone was well fed, and "many of them after polishing the bones carried them home as souvenirs of the first democratic barbecue. ... After the feasting was over the crowd was called to order in the main exhibition hall and addressed by Misters Thomas C. Weeks, Herman Stump and J.T.C.

The celebration of America's traditional feast of plenty combined with the grim prospect of the nation's economic troubles gives editorial cartoonists plenty to chew on this Thanksgiving.

Irvine Center to hold plant seminar, sale Irvine Nature Center will hold a native plant seminar and sale Saturday at its new facility at 11201 Garrison Forest Road in Owings Mills. Seminar programs will be offered from 9:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. The cost is $60 for members and $70 for nonmembers. The plant sale will be from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Information: 410-484-2413, ext. 25. Cable TV Police show to focus on victims' rights Police Report, the Baltimore County Police Department's cable TV program, will focus on victims' rights and anti-terrorism activities in the segment being aired through Sept.

The Baltimore Farmers' Market, open under the Jones Falls Expressway on Sundays from May to December, offers deals on fruits, vegetables and other goods. This time of year, the springtime bounty brightens up the market, where guests can feast their eyes and other senses on the produce from area farmers.

Any day that starts off with a bowl of rhubarb is, in my opinion, one headed in the right direction. On a recent crystalline morning filled with promise and sunshine, I spooned up a rhubarb parfait. It was made with a touch of vanilla yogurt, a sprinkle of granola and a large serving of stewed rhubarb flavored with ginger. I also ate some rhubarb cake, which was delicious. But it looked more like coffeecake than the purplish "pie plant." Hard-core rhubarb lovers know that it is a vegetable and has a taste so tart that if served without the company of sugar, it can bring you to your knees.