Holiday Party

Good evening, and welcome to "Someone's Gotta Do It," the show about the unsung heroes of the holiday season. The show that asks: Who changes the hay in the live-animal manger? Who sneaks Santa behind the mall for cigarettes? Who scales the skyscraper when the lights spell Happy olidays?Each week we give credit where credit is due as we bring you the story of a humble, behind-the-scenes holiday soldier. Tonight we're pleased to present the valiant tale of Barbara Bandel, a k a the Woman in Charge of Planning the Company Holiday Party that the Boss Started Talking About in August.

Jewish Food & Life ExpoExhibitors from around the world display Judaica, art, gifts, crafts, jewelry and services Sunday at the 8th annual Mid-Atlantic Jewish Food & Life Expo at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. Food, live music, entertainment, free samples and hands-on demonstrations are included. Other highlights include unlimited free rides for children, tasting booths offering new kosher products, free phone calls to anywhere in the world, free arts and crafts projects, a surf machine, shofar making, challah braiding and Judaic paper cutting.

When the big green dinosaur started shaking its tail on the dance floor, Will Meissinger just had to laugh.It was a welcome moment of holiday merriment for Will, a cancer patient who defied doctors' grim diagnosis by celebrating his 10th birthday last month. For his parents, it was a Christmas gift worth treasuring."Every smile, to me, means as much as a million bucks," his mother, Deidre Meissinger, said yesterday as the Grant-A-Wish Foundation's holiday party raged around her."Christmas means more to me this year than it ever has in the 32 years I've been alive," she added.

Lourdes Sullivan's neighborhood column is running a day early due to the Thanksgiving holiday. REGISTRATION FOR Holiday Fun for Children, the new holiday presentation at the Savage library, begins Monday.There will be two offerings, one at 10: 30 a.m. Dec. 18 for preschoolers, and one at 4 p.m. Dec. 12 for elementary school pupils.Both programs feature holiday crafts and stories.Call the library at 880-5978 for details and directions.Holiday craftsThere will be a holiday craft show from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 7 at the Carroll Baldwin Hall, at the intersection of Foundry and Baltimore streets, in Savage.

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.

Usually flowers or a bottle of wine is perfectly fine, but this time of year it's nice to take a little something more to a holiday party -- a personal gift that can be wrapped with bright paper and ribbon. You don't have to spend much. In fact, none of our suggestions costs more than $15; and several are quite a bit less.Here, then, are our ideas for gifts to make a host or hostess' spirits bright:Menage a Trois. Set of three hand-blown glass vases, 3 1/2 inches tall, in a pretty box. $15. The Store Ltd., Village of Cross Keys.

LIKE MANY PEOPLE, I love this time of year. Although it's bustling with lots of traditional family and community activities, it's the goodwill we show each other that makes this season special to me.The staff and residents at Sykesville Eldercare Center showed their giving spirit yesterday with a holiday party for area children.About 50 disadvantaged children were treated to a festive party in the center's social hall. The children, ages 3 to 12, enjoyed light refreshments, songs and games with the residents and staff.

Sitting in the kitchen, absent-mindedly decapitating gingerbread men, we tried to find sense in the madness that surrounded us."First it was multicolored chasing lights around the garage. Last year it was twinkling lights in clear plastic tubes shaped like Santa and his reindeer," she said softly. "This year? I'm not sure, but it appears to require several singing puppet-like creatures."I winced, anticipating my neighbor's yard occupied by harmonizing mannequins.Our spouses were getting out of hand.

There was little question what the star of the show was at the 12th annual holiday party hosted by AT&T's Candi Humphrey and her husband David, WLIF's news director. It was a 14-foot Christmas tree adorned with about 800 lights which absolutely dazzled guests.One of my favorite priests was at the party, Loyola High School's Father Joseph McNamara, who's best known in the sports world as the former Champlain of the Baltimore Colts.It was also good to see Bill and Mary Zorzi, he's a the AAA vice president; Ron Matz, WCAO news director, with Barbara Harman at his side; Bob Moke, WLIF's program director who is credited with the station's successful format change; Bob Caret, vice president and provost at Towson State University; Mac and Leigh Barrett, he's with McCormick; Peter Troup and his wife Lynne, he's a Noxell vice president; Steven Thomas, an attorney, and his wife Audrey, who owns Sassafras at Towsontowne Center; WLIF's Sloane Brown and her doctor husband Steve Sobelman; AT&T's Bill Dunbar and his wife Patty, along with AT&T's Barbara Fegley, who was with Winston Blenckstone -- he was telling me about his Toronto Blue Jay farm team which plays in Myrtle Beach.

Once a year, you and your adopted family go to a party the office holiday party.Getting dressed for the event isn't always as simple as the summer picnic, where shorts and T-shirts bring equality to all steps on the office ladder.Holiday office parties reflect the personality of your industry better than the annual report. Real people in real jobs wearing real-life clothing populate the party, whether it's a fancy black-tie affair at a local hotel or a simple potluck around the filing cabinet.

A parade of city employees, including Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon's current boyfriend, took the stand in Dixon's criminal theft trial Friday, testifying about holiday gift cards that appeared on their own desks and others that were doled out to needy families through a poorly managed city housing program. The flow of gift cards through City Hall has become a key point, both for prosecutors and defense attorneys. The Democratic mayor, who has pleaded not guilty to seven theft-related charges, is accused of buying items for herself and her aides with gift cards that prosecutors say were meant for charity.

Blue was everywhere but in the moods of the guests at "Rhapsody in Blue: A Salute to the Gershwin Era," the Concert Artists of Baltimore gala. You had huge blue back-lit cutouts of skyscrapers around the edges of the Belvedere ballroom. Tables were draped in blue. And so were some of the guests. "I bought my blue gown just for this," said Towson University student Andy Berman, in a gorgeous navy one-shoulder number. Event chair Barbara Cox - decked out in a black-and-blue brocade jacket - also pointed out the evening's gift bags were made of blue velvet.

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.

Amid uncertainty over the reeling economy, workers want answers - or at least some information - from higher-ups about how the financial turmoil could affect them. That kind of feedback goes a long way to help relieve anxiety and avoid the rumor mill, workplace experts say. "As a general rule, most managers will be well-served to share information," says Robert Trumble, professor of management at Virginia Commonwealth University's business school and director of the Virginia Labor Studies Center.

Surrounded by more than 50 dancers, Steven Beerman, 55, grooved with his sister, Lisa Singer, to Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" last night in a large ballroom in Martin's West. The song took on special meaning for the siblings this year because Beerman, who has a severe form of mental retardation, has missed the annual Chimes and Intervals holiday party the past two years because of an illness that has required him to use a feeding tube. This year, he was able to eat pureed roast beef, mashed potatoes and vegetables at the party, which organizers say is the state's biggest for people with disabilities.

Your holiday bash is days away, and you're checking off the to-do list. You hired the caterer. Ordered the wine. Picked the music. Decked the halls. But did you hide your jewelry? Or stash your bank statements? Nearly 1 out of 4 holiday hosts conceal jewelry and sensitive papers from friends and family, according to a survey of 1,122 people last year by Chubb Group of Insurance Cos. "They're not paranoid," says Chubb spokesman Mark Schussel. "It is smart." What's surprising is that more hosts don't take these precautions, he says.

They're graying. They're in charge. And this holiday, they're really, really cheap. Baby boomers, the generation that prides itself on idealism, are the bosses least likely to throw a holiday party, dole out bonuses or send so much as a fruit basket, according to a newly released survey commissioned by American Express. Chalk it up to another crack in the generational divide. Workplaces now have four generations showing up - or not showing up - at Christmas parties, "all with their different expectations and different attitudes and different ways they wish the party would happen," said Lynne Lancaster, co-founder of BridgeWorks, a consulting firm specializing in generational differences in the workplace.

This is one in a series of weekly articles highlighting people in the Baltimore area who exemplify the "Spirit of Sharing," The Sun's annual holiday campaign. If the adage "give until it hurts," were true, then Ed and Patricia Scheitlin would ache all over. The Linthicum couple were always finding some family to assist, some child's day to brighten, some charity to help. The thought of the favors being returned scarcely occurred to them. That is, until September, when Patricia was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

Council OKs 79 acres for land preservation Baltimore County will buy the development rights to 79 acres in the northern part of the county to ensure that the property will remain farmland, under an arrangement approved yesterday by the County Council. The county will pay the property owners, Clarence A. Lintz Sr. and Ann Marie Lintz, nearly $294,000 for the rights to two farms on Gore Mill Road in Freeland. The purchase will be made under the Threatened Farm Preservation Act, which uses state and county funds to restrict land to agriculture and open-space purposes.

Children laughing, music blaring, people dancing and a Santa Claus with children on his lap. A typical holiday party at its best, with one exception. The primary language was American Sign Language. The party, offering a more conducive environment for "KODAs" - kids of deaf adults - and raising awareness about their unique situation, was held Sunday at Ten Oaks Ballroom in Clarksville. It was organized by Maryland Metro KODA, which helps children of deaf parents feel comfortable in hearing and nonhearing worlds.