Parade

At Stevens Forest Elementary School, as at many other Howard County schools, yesterday offered a chance for children to parade in their Halloween finery. Pupils from kindergarten through fifth grade at the Columbia school participated in singing Halloween songs and parading in their costumes on the blacktop.

Officials announced Friday that the start of the Maryland Preakness Celebration Parade has been moved up 15 minutes, to 6:15 p.m. on Friday, May 15. A story in today's Sun Magazine lists the previous start time.The Sun regrets the error.ONE AND A HALF HOURS OF enchantment. That's the definition of Baltimore's annual Preakness parade.Giving us spectators those enchanting 90 minutes has been the work -- since early 1991 -- of numerous paid and volunteer workers."Our goal is not only to make [the Preakness parade]

PARADES can be fun-filled, feel-good, emotionally stirring nation-celebrating events. No doubt Saturday's parade in Washington had, and today's in New York City will have, a goodly portion of all these ingredients.Unfortunately for this lover of parades, the Desert Storm fetes have a disappointing side, too. As I listen to these particular parade drums, I hear the sound of heavy lifting, of labored enthusiasm, of confusion over the rationale for the Iraq war, of uneasiness over what exactly the victory consisted of.I do not hear the spontaneous joy and revelry of a great nation celebrating a grand success.

He's across the Atlantic from his native Ireland, but Ken Keady was wearing the green Sunday as he bobbed his 3-year-old daughter on his shoulders to see Baltimore's St. Patrick Parade. "It's a great occasion, a lot of color, a lot of flags and lot of music. I come every year," said Keady, now of Towson, with daughter Carolyn waving the Irish flag above his head. Keady pronounced Baltimore's parade as "one of the best I've ever seen" - and he's seen them in Dublin, he said. The Keady family was among thousands of people lining the route for the kilted bagpipe bands and eye-popping string bands, dance troupes, students, classic cars, floats and more.

Persistent brisk southwest winds and temperatures hovering in the low 40s failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the spirited crowd that gathered at noon Monday in downtown Baltimore to honor the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. 92Q DJ Konan and his sidekick, Erica Kane, shouted to the crowd from the official reviewing stand at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Franklin Street before the parade kicked off, "We're going to have a hot parade...

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said today that the fatal stabbing of a teenager after the downtown Ravens parade incident was a "grim reminder that there's a lot of work to do. " "It's a tragedy. Whether it happened during the parade, as a part of the parade, or it happened it another part of town, a young person has lost their life," she said. "I'm not satisfied with the rate of violence reduction in the city. We continue to strive to improve. I know a lot of work can be done by the police department, but I know none of it can be done alone.

Harford County will hold a special observance in Bel Air to honor of the service of veterans to our country for Veterans Day 2011 which this year falls on 11-11-11. A three-days of special events will run from Thursday through Saturday. There will be patriotic music, a parade, all kinds of exhibits geared to the young and old alike and many remembrances from and about Harford County men and women who have served our country. Celebrating Harford Veterans is being coordinated by the Historical Society of Harford County.

Do you like the Arbutus Fourth of July parade? Do you sit along East Drive and watch as the bands march by and your friends and family wave from community floats? This Arbutus tradition is a favorite for all residents, young and old. However, the celebration doesn't come without cost. It is estimated that this year's festivities will cost in excess of $35,000 with all but $3,000 already raised from generous donations. We invite you to partner in giving a gift to the community by sending a tax deductible donation, large or small, to the Arbutus Fourth of July Committee, Arbutus Recreation and Parks Council, P.O. Box 7437, Baltimore, MD 21227.

Here's something you won't have to worry about in Baltimore. New Orleans drivers sat in gridlock Friday morning because the city's Mardi Gras floats had to be towed back across the Mississippi River after a local parade on the west bank. The floats, which are shared with the local communities and used for a number of different events, are stored at a giant warehouse called Mardi Gras World, which is adjacent to the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center that houses the massive Super Bowl Media Center.

The patriotic souls of the Catonsville Celebrations Committee come up with a new reason every year to prevent a group of gay and lesbian veterans from marching in the local Fourth of July parade.With each passing year and each new reason, the committee serves painful reminders of how little it understands the concepts of equality and freedom that are honored on Independence Day.A county law passed before the 1992 celebration required permits for parades, thus granting control of the events to their organizers.