Holiday Events

HOLIDAY EVENTS NOVEMBER NOV. 19 - 21 FIRST ANNUAL WreathFEST Neighborhood: Brooklyn Park Area When: Nov. 19: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Nov. 20: 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Nov. 21: noon- 5 p.m. (winners announced at 1 p.m.) Venue: Chesapeake Arts Center 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, MD 21225-3649 Phone: 410-636-6597 Description: WreathFEST offers a unique holiday event featuring one-of-a-kind wreaths decorated by community organizations and businesses.Wreaths are available for purchase, so come out and celebrate community spirit and giving.

Christmas is a sacred day to many, a time to celebrate with friends and family. You'd think comedians would make fun of it at their own peril. But no less an authority than John Waters, an unabashed Christmas fan who will be bringing his "A John Waters Christmas" to the Lyric on Dec. 21 , says that's simply not true. Audiences — at least his audiences — love it when he takes on Christmas, Waters promises. The only stipulation, he says, is that he had better be funny. "If you're coming to see 'A John Waters Christmas,' you pretty much know what to expect," says Waters, who's been touring the world with his yuletide celebration the past few weeks.

The holiday season is rife with tradition. Not all of them are worth the effort, though. Eschew the annual regifting of rum cake and cheese baskets for more pleasant reminders of the season with these holiday events. Bazaart: The free, annual holiday shopping bazaar at the American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Highway, offers such a wide range of eclectic arts and crafts that shoppers are torn between purchasing gifts for loved ones and purchasing gifts for themselves. Tour ongoing exhibits at the Jim Rouse Visionary Center while browsing merchandise during the Nov. 28 sale, which lasts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 410-244-1900 or go to avam.

Submit notices via email: messenger@patuxent.com ; fax: 410-332-6336; or mail: Baltimore Messenger, 501 N. Calvert St., Third Floor, Baltimore, MD 21278. Include sponsor or host, date, time, address of event, contact name and phone number. Deadline is noon the Thursday before publication. Arts and Museums The Walters Art Museum - 600 N. Charles St. 410-547-9000, http://www.thewalters.org. • Drop-in Art Activities: Text Messages, every Saturday and Sunday in November, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. Free.

THE HOUSE IS filling with the smell of turkey. The parade is over. Football is on the TV. I don't want to rush anyone, but it's time to think about the holiday events that are starting to fill the squares on the calendar.Downs Park programsDowns Park is offering a program for youngsters and one for adults next month.On Dec. 12, Ranger Sharon DeVault will lead preschoolers through a nature program, teaching children ages 3 to 5 and parents how to make treats for the birds that hang around the back yard.

The Howard County Office on Aging will sponsor two holiday events at the East Columbia 50+ Center, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia. A holiday cookie contest will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Participants should take a batch of homemade cookies and a copy of the recipe. Cookies will be sampled by a panel of judges. There will be prizes for best-decorated, best-tasting and healthiest. The Howard County Center of African-American Culture will offer a countywide celebration of Kwanzaa from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 26. The public is invited.

AS CHRISTMAS rapidly approaches, local holiday events to expand your waistline and empty your pocketbook fill the calendar.Sundaes with SantaLake Shore Elementary School, 4531 Mountain Road, invites families to its annual Sundaes with Santa from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. today.Make-your-own sundaes will be available for $1.25.Children can visit with Santa Claus, make a button or purchase a gift from Santa's Workshop. Free gift wrapping is included. Photos taken with Santa are $2.50.A silent auction and bake table also will be featured.

This week would be a good time to catch up on some of the many holiday events that were missed in the mad rush to Christmas.One feast for the eyes is the holiday display at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa., on view though Jan. 3. It's a wonderland of brilliantly colored poinsettias, sparkling Christmas trees and glittering lights. This year's exhibit celebrates "Nature's Christmas," with the conservatories transformed into a woodland setting filled with rabbits, beavers, deer and other forest creatures made of grapevines, dried flowers and other natural materials.

Trying to figure out how to celebrate the Fourth of July this year? Here are some Independence Day options: The Dundalk Heritage Fair runs through today at Heritage Park on Playfield Road between Dundalk Elementary and the old Dundalk Shopping Center, noon-9:30 p.m. The fair has three stages of music, arts and crafts, kids activities and a beer garden. Today's music headliner is the Lettermen at 8 p.m. Admission is $4 for adults, children 12 and younger are free. On Tuesday, the Independence Day parade starts at 8:15 a.m. at the Logan Village Shopping Center on Dundalk Avenue.

I will be visiting Asheville, N.C., the first week of December. Besides the Christmas goings-on at Biltmore, are there any other worthwhile holiday festivities in the area?Many travelers familiar with Biltmore Estate's extravagant Christmas decorations and candlelight tours are unaware that there are myriad holiday events in Asheville and the surrounding area.A calendar distributed by the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, (704) 258-6101 or (800) 257-1300, lists some 30 events, including parades, Christmas markets, plays, dances, readings, a Kwanzaa celebration and holiday-themed tours of historic houses.

The holiday season is upon us. Why stay in this Christmas when there's so much to do? Quit roasting chestnuts and get old Jack Frost off your nose. Bundle up, pack your overnight bag and take a quick trip. We've found some of the best places in and around Maryland to tour, learn, shop, eat, play and more. Maryland Winterfest of Lights, through Jan.1, Ocean City . Board the Winterfest Express train and join in song with Christmas carols, while passing by spectacular lighted displays.

Holiday events Anne Arundel Community College is offering holiday events. Register at http://www.aacc.edu/noncredit or 410-777-2325 with the course number. •"Chocolate and Confections": Learn to make fudge, candied nuts, caramels, chocolate bark and marshmallows as edible gifts. 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 5, Humanities Building Room 218, AACC Arnold campus, 101 College Parkway. Cost is $69 and includes $25 fee. Course number: CUI 390. •"Chocolate Truffles": Learn to prepare milk, dark- and white-chocolate truffles in assorted flavors and finishes.

During his five-day Thanksgiving holiday return to Severna Park, David Grindrod might actually have had two homecomings. The performer, 20, was on break from his role as Mark in the national "A Chorus Line" tour when he returned to his Talent Machine roots to rehearse the young cast of dancers for the troupe's holiday show. Interviewed during a brief rehearsal break the day before he returned to Richmond, Va., for a performance, Grindrod — the youngest Mark ever cast by this tour of "A Chorus Line" — said, "I have to do this because this is how I got there.

HOLIDAY EVENTS NOVEMBER NOV. 19 - 21 FIRST ANNUAL WreathFEST Neighborhood: Brooklyn Park Area When: Nov. 19: 5 p.m.-8 p.m. Nov. 20: 10 a.m.-11 p.m. Nov. 21: noon- 5 p.m. (winners announced at 1 p.m.) Venue: Chesapeake Arts Center 194 Hammonds Lane, Brooklyn Park, MD 21225-3649 Phone: 410-636-6597 Description: WreathFEST offers a unique holiday event featuring one-of-a-kind wreaths decorated by community organizations and businesses.Wreaths are available for purchase, so come out and celebrate community spirit and giving.

So the mayor who swiped gift cards from the poor gets to stay in office (at least for now) while the poor, thanks to cancellation of the tainted Holly Trolley gift card program, get poorer. If that doesn't warm your heart this Christmas, maybe this will: On Saturday, a bunch of photographers will, for free, take solo and family portraits for anyone who walks in the door at a West Baltimore church. Hairstylists and makeup artists will be on hand, also for free. The portraits will arrive in the mail by Christmas.

The holiday season is rife with tradition. Not all of them are worth the effort, though. Eschew the annual regifting of rum cake and cheese baskets for more pleasant reminders of the season with these holiday events. Bazaart: The free, annual holiday shopping bazaar at the American Visionary Art Museum, 800 Key Highway, offers such a wide range of eclectic arts and crafts that shoppers are torn between purchasing gifts for loved ones and purchasing gifts for themselves. Tour ongoing exhibits at the Jim Rouse Visionary Center while browsing merchandise during the Nov. 28 sale, which lasts from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Call 410-244-1900 or go to avam.

The county Office of Tourism has printed 75,000 copies of its annual "Calendar of Events." The 1997 edition lists exhibits, farmers' markets, church suppers, holiday events, theatrical productions, tournaments and annual traditions.The front of the booklet features a picture of Union Mills Homestead, which is celebrating its bicentennial next year with a series of events.Demand for the publication has increased so much that the office printed 25,000 more copies this year and began the listings with a Jan. 1 sculpture exhibit by Bart Walter, a local artist.

Westminster mall to hold blood drive, holiday events TownMall of Westminster has announced its December holiday events: Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.: American Red Cross blood drive next to Gordon's Jewelers. Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.: Kids Club with Candy and Cupcake. Thursday to Dec. 31: The Baltimore Area N-Track Club will display its 4,000-square-foot train layout next to Belk. Visitors can enter a drawing to win a train set. Saturday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.: Angelica of the children's cartoon show Rugrats will greet shoppers and their children in Steve & Barry's Court.

The Howard County Office on Aging will sponsor two holiday events at the East Columbia 50+ Center, 6600 Cradlerock Way, Columbia. A holiday cookie contest will be held from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. Participants should take a batch of homemade cookies and a copy of the recipe. Cookies will be sampled by a panel of judges. There will be prizes for best-decorated, best-tasting and healthiest. The Howard County Center of African-American Culture will offer a countywide celebration of Kwanzaa from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 26. The public is invited.

Shopping centers in Anne Arundel County have been festooned with holiday decorations and sale signs for weeks, but for Annapolitans, the holiday season doesn't officially begin until tonight's Grand Illumination. The traditional lighting of the holiday tree, sponsored by the Annapolis Jaycees and Homestead Gardens, begins at 6 p.m. with live music, followed by the lighting at 7 p.m. Several local groups will perform, including the Talent Machine, St. Mary's Noel choir and the Sweet Adelines.