Parents Without Partners

If you've ever wondered what it takes to be one of the Beautiful People, consider how Patricia Grimes became one:For more than five years she has talked to dozens of newly divorced, separated and widowed Carroll Countians, encouraging them into the fold of the local chapter of Parents Without Partners.Every month during those years she has organized and moderated a three-session series of orientation talks for new members.And there was the time last Thanksgiving when she hobbled around on crutches to supervise dinner for 120 despite a badly sprained knee.

For a while, it seemed as if absolutely everyone were getting a divorce. Nowadays it seems as if absolutely no one can understand why anyone else would do such a thing.The same neighbor or co-worker who just a few years ago would have shaken her head in sympathy is more likely to shake her finger today, and say something like: "Why would anyone get a divorce with an AIDS epidemic and a recession going on? Why can't these people just, you know, get along?"A young divorced mother named Diane wrote from Seattle this week because she's experiencing first-hand the kind of loneliness that this attitude exacerbates.

Last week something odd occurred within our community that I'd like to share with my readers. Apparently someone removed -- without permission -- the portable restroom facility from the field house of my sons' youth sports association. Yes, someone stole the spot-a-pot.Go ahead and giggle, but once the laughter has subsided, take a momentto question the motivation for swiping the portable john.The obvious answer is that a group of teen-agers with the keys toDad's pick-up truck thought kidnapping the "necessary" would be a challenge.

IT IS Sunday night at the Hamilton American Legion Hall, and another Parents Without Partners dance party is underway.The sounds of top 40, past and present, blast through the large speakers and into the crepuscular room.The disc jockey plays the records non-stop, shutting off his turntable only to announce coming events or to draw numbers for the door prizes: bottles of Lambrusco, packs of wine cooler. Some take to the dance floor, others mingle along the walls and at the surrounding tables; still others sit by themselves, sipping their drinks, staring blankly at the couples on the floor, alone with their thoughts.

Festivals and feasts abound this weekend for the whole family, so toss that apron aside, grab your pocketbook and go.Start at the Union Mills Homestead's annual Old Fashioned Corn Roast Festival, featuring a chicken dinner and all the roasted corn you can eat, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday.Watch as the corn is roasted on iron stoves in the husks like they used to do in the good ol' days. Tours also are available for the home and grist mill and homemade breads, stoneground cornmeal, buckwheat and wholewheat from the mill are available for purchase.

Parents without partners. Partners who aren't parents. Individuals who don't wish to commit to anyone else right now but still want to enjoy a good time. What are you all doing New Year's Eve?The Glen Burnie chapter of Parents Without Partners is sponsoring a New Year's Eve party from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. at the Orchard Beach Fire Hall.Dine on roast beef, dance to the music of the Music Man, Larry Waldron, and bring in 1991 with a champagne toast while wearing a funny hat. A continental breakfast is included in the cost of the ticket.