Memorial Day Parade

A second World War I veteran -- a 97-year-old Navy man -- will serve as an additional grand marshal of the Glen Burnie Memorial Day Parade.James Martin Rice, who enlisted in the Navy at age 21, will share the May 22 honor with Alfredo Angelo Appetito, 96, an Army veteran, parade chairman Joseph Corcoran said yesterday.Mr. Corcoran, who had been seeking an elderly veteran to lead the parade, already knew of Mr. Appetito, and named him grand marshal in March. Mr. Rice, who lives in Severna Park, was brought to his attention last month, he said.

'The Write Stuff'They've got "The Write Stuff" at the Walters Art Gallery. Families can participate in an ArtWard Bound activity that explores the evolution of reading and writing by examining clay tablets of ancient Assyria, Egyptian hieroglyphs, medieval manuscripts and Chinese calligraphic scrolls. Visitors can pick up "The Write Stuff" ArtPack, a booklet filled with pictures of works and a guide through the gallery's collection, then peruse selected works and sketch on paper pieces of interest.

Glen Burnie will have to wait at least until 1995 to get its Macy's-style Preakness parade.The Northern Anne Arundel County Chamber of Commerce is abandoning plans for a May 15 parade, saying it has no sponsor for the $250,000 event, could not organize it in time and had not worked out traffic matters.Because of the interest many businesses showed in the prospect of a parade in Glen Burnie, however, the group left open the prospect of trying again next spring.The decision to abandon plans for this year was announced late yesterday afternoon.

The 127th annual Memorial Day parade in Westminster will step out at 10 a.m. tomorrow. Marchers will parade from Maryland Avenue to Main Street, east to Center Street, left on Center to Willis Street, and then right to the courthouse annex.Formal exercises will follow at the Westminster Cemetery with state Sen. Charles H. Smelser, D-4th, as guest speaker. Mr. Smelser was a pilot with the 15th Air Force Group in Europe during World War II.The parade and service are being coordinated by Carroll American Legion Post 31. Ladies Auxiliary members will distribute small American flags to those along the parade route.

In 1947, Marie O'Dea wanted a way to keep Catonsville residents safe and at home for the Fourth of July."Always on the Fourth of July, Catonsville was drained because people took their kids to the mountains or to the seashore or anywhere there was action," said O'Dea. "The worst part was that every year, some didn't come back because they drowned or were killed in accidents."So O'Dea -- then editor of the Herald-Argus, a forerunner of the Catonsville Times -- organized the community's first Fourth of July Parade.

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- President Bush plans to extend specia trade preferences to China for another year, saying "it is wrong to isolate China if we hope to influence China."But at the same time, administration officials said Bush, who made the announcement yesterday, would curb high-technology exports to China in retaliation for Beijing's policy of providing long-range missiles to Pakistan. The move also appeared aimed at softening expected congressional opposition to Bush's trade decision.

Services for Atlee W. Wampler Jr., a retired Westminster businessman who was active in community affairs, will be held at 2 p.m. today at St. Paul's United Church of Christ in Westminster.Mr. Wampler, who was 76 and lived in Westminster, died Monday at the Duke University Hospital in Durham, N.C., after a blood vessel broke while he was on vacation.He retired in 1984 and closed Wampler's, a furniture store his father had opened on Main Street in Westminster in the 1930s. Mr. Wampler took over the business after a few years, and in 1960 he moved it to a building on the Westminster Bypass.

The Memorial Day weekend is more than the beginning of the swimming pool season: It kicks off a series of festivals which stretch long into the fall.Everyone has a favorite festival, be it a block party, the Howard County Fair (Aug. 10-17) or the Maryland State Fair (Aug. 24-Sept. 2). The Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster is always a fun place to go to, particularly during the June 9 Deep Creek Fiddlers Convention. Annapolis is another sure bet, rain or shine.The following are our picks for this weekend:Baltimore City: Leakin Park's herb festival, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, familiarizes you with wild culinary and medicinal herbs in an extraordinary city wilderness park.

Memorial Day parade, observance to begin at 10 a.m. tomorrow The 135th annual Memorial Day Parade and Observance will be held tomorrow in Westminster. Events will begin at 10 a.m. with the parade from Monroe Street, down Pennsylvania Avenue, east on Main Street to Church Street and the Westminster Cemetery. Harry E. Emigh Jr. will be parade marshal. Five marching bands will be among the four parade divisions. Memorial programs will begin at 11 a.m. at the cemetery. The keynote speaker will be Cmdr.

The following Memorial Day weekend events are planned in the Baltimore area:* Damascus American Legion Post No. 171 memorial service, 1:30 p.m. today, 10201 Lewis Drive.Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America Inc. and Ladies Auxiliary memorial service, 1 p.m. today at the Jewish Veterans Monument, the Jewish Community Center, 3506 Gwynnbrook Road, Owings Mills.Gen. Joseph Haller American Legion Post 95 memorial service, p.m. today at the post burial grounds at St. Stanislaus Catholic Cemetery, Dundalk Avenue and Boston Street.