Ice Skating

THE COLUMBIA Figure Skating Club will celebrate spring with a performance 10 days into the season. On March 31 and April 1, the club will present "The Wizard of Oz on Ice." The skating extravaganza features the tale of Dorothy and the wizard, as well as excerpts from other productions - "My Fair Lady," "Aladdin," "The Wiz" and "Annie." The Pearl Ensemble of the Chesapeake Skating School will perform the songs of Ricky Martin. It's an eclectic show with something for nearly everyone to enjoy.

The first opposition to Baltimore County's plans for turning the old Grumman aircraft plant into an indoor recreation facility and repair shops surfaced yesterday as council members arrived to tour the Glenarm complex.About a dozen protesters, standing in the rain with signs and umbrellas, said they represent three community associations that want the 45-acre site with two huge manufacturing buildings rezoned as farmland.A smaller group of counter-protesters also turned out to support the Ruppersberger administration's plan to buy the former aircraft-parts manufacturing facility for about $5 million.

Former hockey player, 61, is still on the iceBeginners.He sees them all the time. After all, ice skating looks fairly easy: Put on skates. Get on ice. Fall. Get up. Fall. Get off the ice."Most people try to skate forward. You must push your feet side to side. Skate at angles. Knees bent. Stretch out arms for balance," says Inner Harbor Ice Rink manager Gilles Boisvert -- and don't ask us to pronounce his name.In this free introductory lesson, Mr. Boisvert implores first-time skaters to first pick a skate that's a half-size smaller than your shoe size.

WHAT TO DO Five things to do in Ocean City 1. COUNT DOLPHINS / / Volunteer to help staff from the National Aquarium in Baltimore conduct Maryland's annual dolphin count Thursday. The count, which helps assess the health of the bottlenose dolphin population, is part of the aquarium's Beyond the Boardwalk summer program, which includes a fundraiser at Seacrets on Friday and Family Fun Day from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday at Sunset Park. Call 410-371-9802 for locations and details. 2. TAKE A LEAP / / Go skydiving high above the shore at Ocean City Skydiving Center.

This is ice skating's magic moment. Without warning or advance reservations, people are swarming into rinks everywhere with new skates and fantasies of jumping gracefully into the spotlight. The pros haven't seen anything like it - for four years. That's the power of the Olympics. "The whole thing sells," said Pat Muth, who has taught at Columbia Ice Rink since 1971 and has seen the quadrennial trend again and again. "The clothing sells, the lessons sell - [our] phones are ringing off the hook because they've been watching the television."

There's something surreal about attending a winter celebration for which snow-makers were called upon to create six inches of snow just days after the Baltimore region emerged from a blizzard.Still, thousands of people dropped by "Baltimore on Ice" at the Inner Harbor yesterday, defying subfreezing weather to be enchanted by creations of the cold: ice sculptures, ice skating, snow skiing and a day of winter activities held outdoors.Several people said they were delighted to have an outing after days of snowstorms and school closings.

Westminster officials are considering helping a resident build Carroll County's first indoor skating rink by issuing a bond for the project. Robert D. Miller, a special projects representative for Nielsen Media Research, wants to build a 78,000- square-foot ice skating emporium with two National Hockey League-size rinks, eight locker rooms and three party rooms on a 13.5-acre parcel near the county airport off Route 97. Miller is lining up investors for...

BEIJING - Michael Phelps has backed away from a previous comment he made about purchasing a pool in Baltimore, saying at a news conference yesterday that he's not sure of his plans. Phelps, still in China after winning eight gold medals at the Olympics, said, "We're definitely going to start training back in Baltimore. "But I'm not really sure exactly. I never know what I'm really talking about, I just say things." A day earlier, Phelps told NBC's Nightly News that he and his coach, Bob Bowman, had bought a pool in Baltimore and were looking to change the sport of swimming.

Ocean City -- It's easier than ice skating, faster than roller skating and more fun than aerobics with Cher.It's in-line skating -- the coolest thing on wheels this summer on Ocean City's streets, sidewalks and bicycle lanes."

The Columbia Figure Skating Club has scheduled its 19th Annual Ice Show for Saturday and Sunday at the Columbia Ice Rink in Oakland Mills.This year's "Castle on a Cloud" features amateur and professional skaters in vignettes and solo performances from popular Broadway and movie productions, including "Les Miserables," "Guys and Dolls," "The Wizard of Oz," "Aladdin" and "The Addams Family."Skaters from East Columbia include: Leslie Burkhard, Lauren Clark, Sarah Dreifuss, Julie Glisan, Valerie Kuehne, Kasenia Lantsky, Tiffany Mead, April Morrison, Ryann Pfefferstein, Britanny Sobwick, Pat Stephens and Amanda, Amy, Alicia and Charles Buckler.