Float

Flashbacks 75 years ago: Sept. 12 has been designated by the president of the United States and the governor of Maryland as National "Defense Day." Committees have been named in each county of Maryland and other states to arrange for a demonstration and proper observation of the day. The military and civilian committees named for Carroll County held a meeting and decided upon the following program to be held in Westminster on Sept. 12: Parade of Company H, First Infantry, Maryland National Guard, Red Cross nurses, fire companies, fraternal organizations, bands of music and school children.

Some parents were offended by a float in the Westminster Halloween Parade on Tuesday night because of a graphic depiction of the crucifixion of Christ with live actors.Their complaints might lead parade sponsors to set guidelines for the first time, but the church group that sponsored the float says it meant to convey a positive message of Jesus' unselfish love.Hands of Mercy, an evangelical outreach of First Assembly of God church on Cranberry Road in Westminster, sponsored the float. On a flatbed truck, a moaning actor covered with fake blood and wounds portrayed Jesus on the cross, while another man portrayed a Roman soldier pounding nails into his hands and feet.

As the little red wagons lined up for the baby contest at the Howard County Fair yesterday, parents looked on to see if their bundle of joy would go down as blue-ribbon or also-ran.Four of the sweatiest palms, the hardest-bitten lips, belonged to Brice and Amber Dawson, who have no children.The newlyweds made up two-thirds of the panel that selected the most creatively costumed infant and toddler yesterday on the final day of the 54th Howard County Fair."I don't want to try to say which baby is cutest," Amber Dawson said.

The 1854 warship Constellation is set to go back in the water today, with food and festivities marking the end of 19 months in dry dock at Fort McHenry Shipyard.Sporting a tight new hull and a dapper new black, white and green paint job, the Civil War relic is expected to float off its blocks at 9: 15 a.m., three hours after pumps start moving Patapsco River water into the graving dock.It will float nearby while reconstruction is completed and will return to the Inner Harbor next summer."She is structurally sound.

AS A NATURE-LOVER, I enjoy seeing animals in their native wilderness habitat, provided that it is within 20 yards of plumbing and fast food. So recently I journeyed into Miami (motto: "No Top Elected Officials Indicted So Far This Week") to see the wild manatees.Manatees are large, benign, vegetarian creatures that spend their lives in the water, although they are mammals, just like whales, or dolphins, or human beings who have not graduated from law school. A full-grown manatee, which can weigh more than a thousand pounds, looks like the result of a genetic experiment involving a walrus and the Goodyear Blimp.

There are few Baltimore traditions still going on today that began in 1936. The Thanksgiving Parade is one of them.Still, there have been some changes, and not just when it comes to the floats or participants.From 1936 to 1967, Baltimore's Thanksgiving Day Parade was actually held on Thanksgiving Day on Howard Street. But the parade was discontinued in 1967 because city officials believed people were more interested in watching live, televised extravaganzas on Thanksgiving Day rather than Baltimore's parade.

A roundup of new products and servicesBlanket ProtectionRemember last summer when your beach blanket blew away while you were frolicking in the surf? Or worse, that time when you returned from a splash and found that the keys and wallet you'd laid on your blanket were missing? Say hello to the multifunctional Rolle Blanket (named after its inventor, Reno Rolle). The patented blanket features weighted corners to keep it on the sand or over a lounge chair -- no matter how breezy the day is -- and a hidden pocket for storing valuables such as wallets and keys.

A high school band billing itself as The Pride of Fort LeBoeuf came all the way from Waterford, Pa., for yesterday's Preakness Parade, but, heck, Vollis Simpson sent his latest whirligig-and-corncob conception up here to ride on a float, and he lives way down in Lucama, N.C.A lot of people say Simpson, a 77-year-old mule farmer, is the most famous visionary artist ever to come out of Lucama or thereabouts, so it was a coup of some artistic dimension that...

Q: I collect canes. Is there an organization or newsletter for collectors?A: Write the Cane Collector's Chronicle, c/o Linda Beeman, 2515 Fourth Ave., No. 405, Seattle, Wash. 98121, enclosing a self-addressed stamped envelope for subscription information; or phone Ms. Beeman at (206) 441-4459.A major collection of 400 antique and American folk-art canes, staffs, and swagger sticks will be sold at noon Aug. 26, by Richard Opfer at his auction gallery at 1919 Greenspring Drive, Timonium.For information, phone (410)

Postcard from the edge, penned by a friend on summer leave: "So I'm floating down the Shenandoah River Saturday with about 35 people, most of them educators in Maryland public schools. We're all in inner tubes. We get caught in the middle of a thunderstorm with lightning bolts, tree limbs falling down, and we engaged in a ludicrously long intellectual discourse about where we might be safer. We decided to get out of the water, climb a muddy bank, under a barbed-wire fence and stand in the middle of a cow pasture.

When a viral Internet prank becomes a float in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, it must mean it's time to come up with a new one. During the parade Thursday in Manhattan, somewhere between the giant Kermit balloon and Santa Claus' arrival, a float appeared that resembled a big cartoon house with puppet characters from a kids' show called Fosters' Home for Imaginary Friends. All of a sudden, British pop singer Rick Astley emerged lip-syncing his 1980s hit, "Never Gonna Give You Up." America had just been "rickrolled."

An expansive parade, an outdoor ecumenical prayer service and a performance by a Grammy-winning gospel singer will highlight the July Fourth weekend in Edgewood and Joppatowne. "This weekend will definitely be one people will remember," said Paul Diggs, an Abingdon business owner, who has done much of the organizing. The all-volunteer "Forerunners of Change," motivated by a desire to change the image of a southern Harford County beset by gangs, violence and crime to one of families playing, praying and working together for the betterment of neighborhoods, have organized events to highlight community pride during the three-day holiday celebration.

Largely by word of mouth, Flogging Molly has established a strong reputation as an explosive touring act. The 10-year-old independent Los Angeles septet - which is led by vocalist-songwriter Dave King and also features guitarist Dennis Casey, pianist and accordionist Matthew Hensley, bassist Nathan Maxwell, violinist Bridget Regan, mandolinist Robert Schmidt and drummer George Schwindt - uniquely fuses traditional Celtic instrumentation with thrashing punk...

As November enters the clubhouse stretch, it's shaping up as one of the wettest on record at (inhale) Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The automated instruments at BWI have recorded 6.25 inches of rain this month. That's 3.57 inches above the 30-year norm. If it stays dry through Thursday, this will rank as the fifth-wettest November since BWI became Baltimore's station of record in 1950. But eight-tenths of an inch would float it to second place, behind the 7.68 inches that fell in 1952.

Donald Castronova's long journey got off to a rocky start. The first year, his ship snagged on a traffic light. "I had to send a kid up to cut off the main mast," he said. Five years later, the ship caught on a pedestrian bridge and his crew had to tear down the rigging a second time. The same day, a rainstorm left him drenched. "The boat was all torn apart, the sails were down and I was soaked" he said. "All I could do was wave to people." Despite the adversity, Castronova has persevered for 37 years in his role as Christopher Columbus in Baltimore's annual Columbus Day parade.

The vehicles rolling down Pratt Street yesterday were much tinier than usual. For about four hours yesterday, the Inner Harbor was transformed by a colorful parade of all things great and small about the Shriners, from the Mason group's trademark miniature cars and motorcycles to a larger-than-life walking, waving velvet fez that hugged children in the crowd of about 25,000 lining the street. "Everybody loves a parade," said Raoul L. Frevel Sr., Imperial Potentate (head of all heads) of the Shriners.

Attics and cellars are full of bicentennial garb, but who remembers the Fourth of July the year before 1976? And did Prince ever party like it was 1998? Events that precede big anniversaries can have a tough time of it. So the organizers of the city's 49th St. Patrick's Day Parade, which will be held Sunday, face a particular challenge. They must make this one memorable while still anticipating the coming quinquagenary event. "We're looking ahead, definitely," said Darby Simmons, the parade's organizer.

PRINCESS ANNE - Radio, Elvis, Shorty, Dracula and their cohorts in the art shop wouldn't trade jobs with anyone - at least not with any of the other 3,500 inmates here at the Eastern Correctional Institution - especially during the holidays, when some of their best work will be on display in small-town Christmas parades all over the Lower Eastern Shore. They won't be marching alongside the elaborate float they've painstakingly put together during the past month. No, these guys aren't going anywhere - some of them not for a long time.

A relaxing and peaceful afternoon at the pool is fine for some. But for many of us, pool time is playtime. We want to get wet. To splash. To dunk. To jump. To dive. To swim. And most of all, we want to play. Lucky for us, there's a sea of new, wacky and fun pool toys on the market, from water wheels and aqua golf to water seesaws and aqua discs. Pool toys for all ages and tastes can be found at area toy stores, specialty shops and Internet stores. Here's just a sampling: 1. Discovery Battle Blaster Sting Ray Float While not venomous, this stingray, the Discovery Battle Blaster Sting Ray Float from the Discovery Channel Store, will still shock and awe your enemy -- with blasts of water.

DUARTE, Calif. - It's dawn on a fall Saturday, and Tim Estes, tired and grumpy, has been at work for two hours. One of America's longest and least-known winning streaks is at risk. On this Saturday, the Rain Bird Corp. float - Estes' best hope for extending his victory run - is about to travel down a quiet street in Duarte, its critical final inspection before it glides down Pasadena's Colorado Boulevard in the Rose Parade on New Year's Day. Estes snaps at two neighborhood children who have climbed onto the float ("Don't you know you're not insured?"