Kiwanis

Susan Liu won the door prize last week in a program called "Timeless Beauty" at the Kiwanis-Wallas Recreation Center. She received a makeover. The makeup artist was Baltimore resident Karim Orange, who likes to call herself a celebrity "makeup activist." "It was nice," said Liu, a resident of east Columbia. "I really don't know what to tell you because I was the one who got the makeup. I didn't see anything. It was on my face." Liu, who is retired, takes ballroom dancing classes. She doesn't often go to the Kiwanis-Wallas center in Ellicott City.

IF YOU thought October was a busy month, look out for November. Events are piling up on the calendar faster than leaves on the lawn. The Severna Park High School Stage Company presents Into the Woods, a musical retelling of fairy tales by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. Performances are at 7 p.m. Nov. 14, 15 and 16, with a 1 p.m. matinee Saturday. All shows are in the school auditorium. Student directors are seniors Kristen Kushner and Eileen Keck and junior Jamie Boyle. Spanish instructor Barb Markey and choral director Kathy Gabrielle direct the music, while French instructor Angela Germanos directs the play.

THE SEVERNA Park Kiwanis Club's annual Apple and Cider Sale will be held from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow, Saturday and Oct. 25 and 26 at three locations: the Community Center at Woods, and the Safeway parking lots on Benfield Road in Severna Park and on Ritchie Highway in Arnold. The sale features just-picked red delicious, gala, empire and Stayman apples; apple butter; and apple cider pressed less than 24 hours before the sale. Apples are $19 a bushel, $10 a half-bushel, $6 a peck and $4 a quarter-peck.

AN 11-YEAR-OLD girl's perspective of her post-Sept. 11 world captured the grand prize in the annual John Wilson Senior Memorial Essay Contest, sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Mountain Road. The contest was open to fifth-graders at Bodkin, Fort Smallwood, High Point, Jacobsville, Freetown, Lake Shore, Riviera Beach, St. Jane Frances, Solley and Sunset Beach elementary schools. The entries - more than 500 - on the topic "How 9-11 affected me" were submitted to a committee of Kiwanians that selected eight finalists.

Susan Marney has become well-acquainted with Kiwanis-Wallas Park on the western edge of Ellicott City. She should be. Marney - along with many mothers and fathers and grandparents and brothers and sisters - spends a considerable amount of time gallivanting through it to glimpse boys and girls playing Howard County Youth Program baseball. On Tuesday, Marney was trying to keep track of her two sons playing on separate teams. She watched the older one, Patrick, 14, bat for the Pony League Cardinals on Field No. 6. Then she headed downhill, past the concession stand and over to Field No. 3 to see Collin, 10, take the field for the Minor League Cardinals.

SANTA'S LOAD just got a little lighter thanks to a group of energetic teens at Chesapeake High School who collected hundreds of toys. The Interact Club, a community service organization sponsored by the Lake Shore Rotary Club, helped the Toys for Tots program sponsored by the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve. Interact Club began its drive, which ends today, on Dec. 3 with great expectations. With only 15 school days to collect donations for needy children, the more than 50 club members were determined to get their message to the school's students, faculty and staff members.

Kiwanis Club of Mount Airy will hold a pancake breakfast from 6 a.m. to noon tomorrow in the fellowship hall of Calvary United Methodist Church. The menu includes pancakes, eggs cooked to order, sausage and beverages. The cost is $4, $2 for children ages 6 to 12. Proceeds will benefit the Vauk/Ruth scholarship fund. The church is at 403 S. Main St., Mount Airy. Information: 301-831-5919. Lasagna dinner today at St. Paul's Church St. Paul's Episcopal Church will hold its annual lasagna dinner from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. today in the church hall.

WEDNESDAY WAS the perfect night for trick-or-treating. The moon was full and bright. The sky was clear, dark and scattered with stars. The air was warm enough for little princesses and pirates to shuffle through the leaves in their costumes, unencumbered by heavy winter jackets. But most of my Halloween candy still sits in a bowl by the front door. Usually, we welcome 60 or 70 trick-or-treaters. This year, we saw fewer than 30. Standing on the sidewalk with some neighbors that evening, I thought the silence was almost eerie.

SINCE IT WAS organized less than three months ago, the Key Club at Severna Park High School has attracted nearly 60 members - teen-agers who have more on their minds than the funky fashions, R-rated videos and pierced body parts that youths are given credit for these days. The club, whose first organizational meeting took place in mid-February, is sponsored by the Severna Park Kiwanis Club. The high school club was chartered with 32 members, says Jonnie Mann, Kiwanis adviser for the students.

WHEN CROFTON was established more than 35 years ago, its residents worked together to achieve Hamilton Crawford's dream of true community. The Crofton Civic Association was established, and Croftonians joined to bring to their new home such benefits as a new school and recreation programs. As the town grew, several citizens felt an increasing need for another organization to help focus community involvement. David Espie remembers discussing with friends the value of affiliating with a national service organization as part of their work to improve the community and surrounding area.