Oyster Roast

T he new year doesn't start for some folks until they attend the Rotary Club of Baltimore's annual oyster roast. This year, about 1,800 people flooded the 5th Regiment Armory to eat, drink, play blackjack or one of the wheels, and catch up with old friends. As soon as the doors opened, lines formed at 10 oyster-shucker stations. The scene was eye-opening for Damien Pastor, a Johns Hopkins University student and Rotary Ambassador Scholar from France. "This is amazing.

Sunday, Jan. 20 Celebration The 28th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday Celebration will be held at Howard Community College's Horowitz Visual and Performing Arts Center, 10901 Little Patuxent Parkway in Columbia. The reception takes place at 2 p.m., and the program begins at 3 p.m. The celebration is free to the public, but attendees are asked to bring a canned food item to support the Howard County Food Bank. Attendees will have the opportunity to sign up for volunteer opportunities.

A half-hour before the 5th Regiment Armory doors opened, the vestibule was packed with folks, noses pressed against inner door windows. Inside the huge hall, rows of meat slicers and mountains of bread loaves stood at the ready. Getting a head start, a flank of oyster shuckers pried open the gnarled shells revealing a treasure trove of glistening gastronomic jewels ripe for plunder. At noon, the Rotary Club of Baltimore's annual oyster roast officially opened and the charge began. Some 2,750 folks poured into the armory -- arming themselves with shellfish, pit-beef sandwiches and buckets of beer.

The ARC Northern Chesapeake Region accepted a check for $8,000 from The Aberdeen Rotary Club, proceeds from the rotary's annual bull, shrimp and oyster roast.

The stella Maris Auxiliary will sponser a bull and oyster roast from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. April 5 at the Towson American Legion Hall.

If you're new to town and are curious about what Baltimoreans are really like, just attend a local oyster roast. Or, for that matter, most any event involving food and held in a religious or fraternal organization's basement, school or social hall.Winter is the high season for this town's big oyster feeds, when the fruits of the Chesapeake Bay woo the hungry to long tables and uncomfortable folding chairs. Patrons devour raw and fried oysters and oyster stew. Nonseafood dishes include roast beef, fresh (uncured)

THE GAMBRILLS Athletic Club's bull and oyster roast will be held from 7 p.m. to midnight Oct. 4 at the club hall, on McKnew Road. Jerry and the Heartaches will provide music from 8 p.m. to midnight, with food being served from 7 p.m. to 10: 30 p.m. Tickets are $20. Proceeds will help support the club's baseball teams. For more information call Jack Dennig at 410-695-0280.Parents meeting setArundel Middle School is sponsoring a parents meeting from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. tomorrow at the school's media center on "Adolescence -- What's Happening To My Child?"

IT'S A WIN-WIN situation. By enjoying a delicious meal at the North County Emergency Outreach Network's Bull and Oyster Roast, you can help others put a meal on their own table. The 11th annual roast will be from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 4 at the Columbian Center, Ritchie Highway in Severna Park. Tickets are $25, and proceeds support the group's mission of providing food and other emergency support to the needy. The menu includes pit beef and ham, oysters on the half shell, oyster stew, fried oysters, barbecue ribs, soft drinks and beer.

If you're curious about what Baltimoreans really look like, just attend a local oyster roast.Late winter is the high season for the local tradition, when school halls, banquet rooms and church basements overflow with tables hungry for the fruits of the Chesapeake. Patrons devour raw and fried oysters, oyster stew, roast beef, sauerkraut and hot dogs, cold cuts and baked beans. Pitchers of cold beer move faster than Rickey Henderson.And it's a sure sign that an oyster roast is a raging success when the salad goes uneaten.

Buy your tickets early so you won't miss out on a favorite community event -- the annual bull and oyster roast sponsored by the Anne Arundel Alarmers Association.The event will take place from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on April 10. This year the location has been changed to the Columbian Center on Ritchie Highway.The extensive menu will be prepared by Atlantic Caterers. Music will be provided by the Final Touch Band.Tickets are $20 if purchased on or before April 4, $22 afterward.The alarmers are a volunteer medical support unit that responds to fires with the county fire department.

On March 19, the Greater Baltimore Highlands Community Association met for its monthly meeting. State Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Republican who represents District 34 that includes Harford and Cecil counties, was the guest speaker. Jacobs, a West Virginia native who is the only woman running for the 2nd Congressional District seat now held by U.S. Rep.C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, answered questions about taxes, gas prices and the economy. She urged everyone to vote in the April 3 primary election.

Call for artists Artists of all ages who have disabilities and are county residents are invited to submit artwork to the 2012 Artists With Disabilities Art Exhibit. Showing will feature more than 20 works. An opening night reception will be held April 19 at the Arundel Center, 44 Calvert St. in Annapolis. Following the reception, selected artwork will be on display through June 15. Entry procedures and application forms are available Disability Commission's web site at aacounty.org/aging/disabledadults/commdis.cfm.

The new year doesn't start for some folks until they attend the Rotary Club of Baltimore's annual oyster roast. This year, about 1,800 people flooded the 5th Regiment Armory to eat, drink, play blackjack or one of the wheels, and catch up with old friends. As soon as the doors opened, lines formed at 10 oyster-shucker stations. The scene was eye-opening for Damien Pastor, a Johns Hopkins University student and Rotary Ambassador Scholar from France. "This is amazing. I've never seen anything like this in France," he said.

For editors, reporters and photographers, Sunday, January 29, 1956, was a daylong trifecta of major breaking news stories. First, they scrambled to cover the death of H.L. Mencken, the Sage of Baltimore, who had been discovered dead in bed in his Hollins Street home. His physician estimated that the elderly newspaperman and author had died sometime between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. That same morning, at 12:01 a.m., some 2,000 Baltimore Transit Co. motormen and bus drivers, were joined by maintenance workers, began returning their streetcars and buses to car barns and went on strike.

Sandra Gallion has had a view from an emergency vehicle since she was 16 years old. She rode fire engines with the Level Volunteer Fire Department, and saw firsthand what people in emergency situations go through. She saw people at their most vulnerable and didn't know where to start, but she wanted to do something to help. About 11 years ago, her nephew died of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) and Gallion's desire to do something intensified. "Because of my nephew, I felt something needed to be done," said Gallion, who works as an ambulance captain and EMT-IV tech.