Hammond Harwood House

Winifred M. C. Gordon, a prominent Baltimore artist and sculptor, died Saturday of a stroke at Union Memorial Hospital. She was 88 and lived at Roland Park Place.Mrs. Gordon was known for her pastel and oil portraits, watercolors and sculptures.She was a 1928 graduate of the Maryland Institute's Rinehart School and stayed active in the school's affairs, taking courses there until the late 1950s and traveling abroad with its students."What a spirit," said Douglas Frost, vice president of development at the Maryland Institute and a longtime friend.

There are surely hundreds, even thousands, of people who live in Annapolis, yet seldom have occasion to drive downtown.For those who may want to park and do some errands on their semiannual cruise through town, a warning: Last Thursday, parking meters went from $1 for two hours to $1 for one hour. The meters take only quarters, and the fine for an expired meter rose from $10 to $20.Should your visit include plans for dinner, note that the meters must now be fed from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. (instead of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

Have you ever wondered how Maryland women prepared food for their families when they had to cook over an open fire?It was not only possible for them to produce a complete meal, but the food they presented was delicious.You are invited to see how this was done Saturday at the Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis.Watch Ferndale resident Sue Latini, an expert on hearth-side cooking, prepare tasty recipes in the historic Colonial kitchen. The free cooking demonstration and tasting is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. as part of the "Annapolis 300 -- A Capital Celebration," marking the city's 300 years as the state capital.

Hot wassail simmers in a pot and a fire crackles in the hearth. Together, they sweetly spice the air in the colonial kitchen.Upstairs, in the drawing room, hear the music of a pianoforte or a viola da gamba. See the wreaths on the doors and an elaborate yuletide setting on the Maryland federal banquet table in the dining room.These are the images of an 18th-century Annapolis Christmas, as re-created each year in the historic Hammond-Harwood House. Well, a "fair amount" of license is taken, admits Barbara Allston Brand, of the Hammond-Harwood House Association.