National Contest

Poised in the corner of the studio, Meredith Reffner finishes lacingup her toe shoes and silently waits for her cue to fly.She breathes so shallowly that her costume barely moves. Bent scissor style over her long legs, she plays a sleeping fairy slowly awakened by the theme song to "The Boy Who Could Fly."The music crescendos and suddenly she's off, swooping across the floor with fluid ease. "Ah, breathtaking," a hushed voice exclaims inthe background.She rises in an arabesque, smiling at her reflection in the mirror.

Only people who know where to look would be able to pay respects to Norman Chaney, who is buried in an unmarked grave in Baltimore. But if fans of the chubby "Our Gang" star have their way, he'll soon have the headstone he's done so long without. Chaney, the son of a Baltimore electrical worker, won a national contest in 1929 to become "Chubby," the new "fat kid" in the popular film series, replacing the original Chubby, who had grown out of the role. But with his impossibly round face and impish charm, Chaney eclipsed his predecessor - becoming the fat kid people remembered.

If you find yourself craving mangoes this year, or if Asian flavors start informing your every move in the kitchen, don't be surprised. Those are just two of the trends spotted at the 45th National Chicken Cooking Contest held recently in Baltimore. If the contest recipes are any indicator of what America will be cooking at home, you'll also be using more convenience foods to whip up easy dishes for family dinners and, of course, devouring tons of chicken. It's not just the contest that places chicken at the center of the plate.

ABOUT 8 o'clock Sunday evening at a Washington hotel, the Veterans of Foreign Wars will announce the winner of the $20,000 T. C. Selman Memorial Scholarship, given each year to the winner of a national "audio essay" contest for teen-agers. The topic this year: "Democracy -- Above and Beyond."Sound sappy? Perhaps, but the topic, chosen by the VFW national commander, didn't discourage 116,000 teens in the 50 states, the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories from engaging in the VFW's 50th annual contest of patriotic declamation.

The Atholton High School Pom Pon Squad leaves Friday to compete in the National Dance Team Championships in Orlando, Fla.The team qualifies to compete in two categories: Jazz Dance and Pom Pon.After winning and placing high in several regional competitions in 1992 and 1993, the squad qualified for the National Championship at a dance camp held in June by the Universal Dance Association at University of Maryland Baltimore County.The squad also performed on Jan. 5 at half-time of the Washington Bullets/Indiana Pacers basketball game at the USAir Arena.

A play written by four Northeast High School juniors took first-place honors this month in a national competition sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.As part of the prize, the play, "Fingerprints," will be staged at five locations in April and May.Written by Jennifer Barrett, Erin Harry, Brad Shellhammer and Jennifer Ward, the play is a one-act courtroom drama that shows how science can affect everyday life and includes the science components on DNA and the Huntington's disease gene.

AT RECENT gatherings, members of the Woman's Club of Linthicum Heights got to see the media book that won first place in a national contest sponsored by the public relations department of the General Federation of Women's Clubs. The book, compiled by publicity chairwoman Anne Skillman, includes newspaper clippings, church bulletins, community newsletters, programs, and other published information about the club. The award was presented to representatives of the Linthicum club Sept. 17 at a conference in Frederick.

Depicting three self-portraits on a 7-inch-by-5-inch drawing, Westminster High School sophomore Matt Miller assigned each a color with a symbolic connection: blue for depression, red for frustration and yellow for sickness. Three months after finishing the illustration, he is seeing green. In early December, Miller was selected as the winner of a nationwide contest sponsored by Tap Pharmaceuticals, the makers of the antacid Prevacid. His illustration - of how acid reflux made him feel when he suffered from the condition - earned him a $10,000 college scholarship.

Second-graders at Glen Burnie Park Elementary School captured a child's view of the world when they participated in the "It's A Snap" photography contest.Photos by John Kelley and Mandi Parsons were selected Thursday to represent the school in a national competition next month. For their efforts, both students will receive Kodak camera kits from Kmart and Kodak.The contest was sponsored jointly by Kodak and Kmart. Second-graders were given recyclable cameras and asked to photograph scenes in two categories: "needs improving" and "beauty in the world."

A team from Ring Factory Elementary School placed third in the worldwide competition at the annual Destination ImagiNation tournament held last week at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. Destination Imagination is a nonprofit educational organization that works with schools to stimulate creativity, problem-solving and teamwork. Students participating in the program range from kindergartner to university level. As part of their competition, the seven members of Ring Factory Elementary School Once Improv A Time team were required to write a story with a lesson to be learned, make their own props and costumes using only newspaper and tape, and act out the play.