Oktoberfest

When the Maryland Oktoberfest celebrates its 30th anniversary this weekend at the 5th Regiment Armory, Barbara McCrea will be swirling on the dance floor just like she did that first year back in 1969.McCrea was 16 then. She and her friends would dance the polka and waltz taught to them as children by their German parents and grandparents.This weekend, though, she and her husband, Joel, will be performing as part of Immergruen (evergreen), a German folk dancing troupe. And when the deep hem of her dirndl swings with the oompah music, few will realize the time it took to dress in the traditional peasant garb.

A FUNNY THING happened during the tasting of this year's Oktoberfest beers. Some of last year's beers sneaked into the competition and won it. When expiration dates of the winning beers were checked, it turned out that this year's victors, Oktoberfest offerings from Paulaner and Hacker-Pschorr, were actually leftovers from 1997. The old beers had, according to the code on their labels, officially expired a month before last week's sipping session.I saw many morals in this outcome. One was that the old-and-out-of-it sometimes have more to offer than the young and the fresh.

At the first of five Oktoberfest fund-raisers last night, Republican gubernatorial hopeful Ellen R. Sauerbrey continued her long march to the election of 1998.Last night, at least, a little dancing was thrown in.While supporters did the polka and an oompah band called Heidi and Hans played, Sauerbrey renewed her promise to give Marylanders more control over their money and their lives.The candidate referred to the event in Parkville as a "friend-raiser" -- not likely to raise a significant sum of money.

THIS IS A terrific time of year. The sun is gentle, the air is crisp and the beer is malty.It is Oktoberfest season, when brewers traditionally issue a lager that marks the 1810 wedding of Crown Prince Ludwig I to Princess Therese. Back in Ludwig's day, the fest beer was made in March, stored in caves and rolled out for a big celebration in September. Now, instead of being sold only during Oktoberfest -- September to October -- some of the "seasonal" beers are available all year long. Even though the tradition is somewhat twisted nowadays, Oktoberfest still means good beer.

OktoberfestIf it's a braunschweiger and a cold malty lager you've got a taste for, the Oktoberfest in Annapolis is the place to be on Sunday. It's a celebration of all things German at the West Annapolis Business Association's sixth annual Oktoberfest celebration and street festival.Indulge in some authentic German food, enjoy the sounds of a German band, watch German dancing and, of course, for the beer lover, authentic lagers. Annapolis Street will be closed to traffic as 50 vendors and artists line the street to sell jewelry, furniture, baskets, watercolors, photography and more.

BERLIN -- When the gregariously noisy Volk of Bavaria gather to shout and sing at this time of year, it usually has something to do with one of their two great passions: the foaming beer of Oktoberfest or the Bayern Muenchen soccer team.This fall the fiercest roars have been saved for the sake of religion, with Bavarians vowing loudly and angrily to keep the cross in the classroom.The shouting started last month when Germany's highest court, citing the constitutional separation of church and state, overturned a Bavarian state law requiring that a crucifix be displayed in every school classroom.

Roll out the barrel, it is time for Oktoberfest, the traditional German festival that gives everybody an excuse to eat sausage and drink beer.Historically what we are celebrating is the marriage of the Crown Prince of Bavaria and we're doing it by rolling barrels of March beer out of their summer storage caves. The prince got hitched around 1810, and the party whooping up his wedding has been an annual fall event ever since. Brewing practices have changed since the days when caves were the method of refrigeration.

Windows, Stouffer Harborplace Hotel, 202 E. Pratt St., (410) 547-1200. Open Mondays to Fridays for breakfast, lunch and dinner; Saturdays and Sundays for breakfast, brunch and dinner. Major credit cards. No-smoking area: yes. Appetizers, $3.75- $6.95; entrees, $$8.95-$21. **I was, I have to admit, a little worried. I called Windows to make reservations, and I was put on hold. After 10 minutes I got tired of listening to the semiclassical music and hung up. No one sounded any happier to hear from me when I called back, but at least someone took my reservation for five people in no-smoking.

Oktoberfest, traditionally one of our underutilized German holidays, seems to be making a big splash this year in Baltimore.This year more beers brewed for this autumn celebration have made their way to our town. The other day I tasted seven Oktoberfest bottled beers, and one plain old heavier, autumn beer, that can be found in Baltimore area liquor stores.I confess I have never been entirely sure what Oktoberfest celebrates. I grew up in a half-German, half-Irish household. The Irish side did most of the celebrating, often well into the night.

Of all the movies in the world, "101 Dalmatians" is 3-year-old Brett Bachman's favorite.And for Halloween, his mother spent a day-and-a-half sewing a Dalmatian costume for him -- floppy ears, spots, tail and all.Yesterday at the Columbia Association's fifth annual Oktoberfest, Brett won a blue ribbon and a dinosaur game for best costume among children ages 1 to 4.He sported brown-and-black circled eyes, a black nose and whiskers -- even matching Dalmatian booties."I'm...