Madison Avenue

THE WAVE of patriotism lifting the country to a height unseen since the 1940s has American consumers turning to the flag as brand - the chosen symbol and badge of honor. Americans have wrapped themselves in it, as if it were a red-white-and-blue blanket. Taken it out of the attic trunk where it was kept folded, suppressed deep down under their worn 1970s Earth shoes. There it rested, buried ever since Abbie Hoffman wore it as a sign of rebellion on his sleeve. Hidden, the flag lost its brand appeal.

Church and neighborhood leaders from across Baltimore negotiated agreements with commanders of three police districts yesterday to make officers more involved with the communities they protect.The effort by Baltimoreans United In Leadership Development (BUILD) is designed to fight crime while creating relationships between police and law-abiding residents of neighborhoods plagued by drugs and violence."By the nature of their work, the people the cops see are the people they arrest," said one BUILD leader at a crowded meeting yesterday.

A pair of tall granite minarets appeared on the northwest Baltimore skyline exactly 100 years ago. These towers are part of the monumental Berea Temple, a house of prayer built of granite from Port Deposit and Woodstock, Patapsco River clay and Ohio sandstone. It is filled with stained-glass windows in the shape of the Star of David, mosaic floors, carved oak pews and a white marble pulpit.Is it old Byzantium -- or Toledo, Spain -- at Madison Avenue and Robert Street? Whatever, after a century of hard service, the temple can easily use $2 million worth of restoration.

Wandering through Reservoir Hill on a fall afternoon offers casual observer a glimpse of residential housing as it appeared more than a century ago.The West Baltimore community -- a mixture of homeowners and renters -- is alive and struggling to combat blight as its residents prepare to celebrate the neighborhood Saturday with its fifth Annual Fall Festival.The festival, which runs from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is centered around the multipurpose center atReservoir Street and Park Avenue, features a flea market, food, education booths and family-oriented musical entertainment.

WE'LL ALWAYS remember you, Memorial Stadium!" the fans declare passionately. But once the structure's gone, once 1991's ticket-buyers breathe no more, will Baltimoreans really make XTC much of Memorial Stadium?Stadiums come, stadiums go -- in some quantity. When next spring's home opener gets under way beside Camden Warehouse, major league baseball will be occupying its 10th Baltimore site. The full list taxes the memory: Madison Avenue Grounds, Newington Park, Belair Lot, Oriole Park (I)

NEW YORK -- In the frosty, frantic rush-hour traffic at 42nd Street and Third Avenue, this guy's set up his permanent floating business operation, which is a card table full of jewelry and a sales pitch that pretends to glance over its shoulder."

NEW YORK -- When America tunes in to the Super Bowl on Sunday, advertising executives will be watching as well -- for the commercials rather than the grunt-a-minute game.The football fest is also Madison Avenue's championship, with one multimillion-dollar creation trying to outdo the next. An audience 100 million strong makes the Super Bowl television's premier advertising event, one that can bring fame to Spuds McKenzie as well as to Broadway Joe Namath.Not only are reputations on the line, but the ads also are studied as a measure of the health of the $130 billion industry, which has suffered during the nationwide economic slump.

A LADY NEVER discusses her age, but let me hint at mine by saying that, Katie Couric notwithstanding, I am not yet due for my first colonoscopy.But as I creep toward 50, there is another milestone waiting for me: a letter from the AARP inviting me to join. Apparently, this is not my father's AARP. It doesn't even call itself American Association of Retired Persons anymore, choosing instead to be known henceforth by its acronym only. (That is: A-A-R-P, not "arp," which sounds too much like a dog with a toy caught in its throat or your Uncle Norman after Thanksgiving dinner.

WASHINGTON -- Yes, yes, we have been told. Philosophers tell us that change is life's only constant. Poets tell us that the center cannot hold, and all that is beautiful drifts away like the waters. Scientists say even the continents are adrift.But Brooks Brothers, the clothier founded in Manhattan in 1818, was supposed to be the still point of the turning world. For generations it has defined conservatism in men's dress -- blue and gray natural shoulder suits, blue and white oxford cloth shirts with button-down collars, striped ties.

From the current IMG model's book: Ali, Annabel, Benji, Carmen, Carrie, Cha Cha, Chanin, Chrystelle, Crystal, Daisy, Debbie, Dina, Elza, Erickka, Gabrielle, Heather and Itatiaia. (These are for real.)Jodi, Josefina, Keeli, La Roe, Le Anne, Lora, Nadya, Nicole, Nicole (both of them), Paige, Rhona, Sherry B, Sherrye, Tanya, Tara, Tonya and Tonya. (Tonya, Tonya, bo-bonya, banana-fana fo-fonya, etc.)Whatever happened to names like Jean Shrimpton and Suzy Parker?. ROEHM RETURNING? Carolyne Roehm, flanked by dressmaker's dummies and two moving vans, was spotted outside her new studio on New York's East 65th Street last week.