Tour

A new tour for Seniors in good standing with the Middle Atlantic PGA, although independent of the organization, opened last week.Bob Schuh, head professional at Pleasant Valley Golf Club in Stewartstown, Pa., came up with the idea of a Seniors Association, sent out fliers, and within a short time had 57 dues-paying members.There were 27 on hand for the first of 17 tournaments to be held at courses in an area that stretches from Baltimore to Northern Virginia. The tournaments will be played about every 10-12 days (Tuesdays or Thursdays)

This week many of Maryland's homes and gardens are being meticulously groomed before they open to the public. The Maryland House and Garden Pilgrimage begins its 57th year Saturday with a tour in Anne Arundel County. It continues for three weekends through May 15 with tours in five counties and Baltimore City.The tour visits houses in and around Annapolis on opening day, stopping at some of the town's 18th-century residences and urban gardens. Sunday's pilgrims will travel to St. Mary's County, site of the state's original colony.

Starting in September, the National Endowment for the Arts will be spreading Shakespeare around the United States in Falstaffian doses. The Shakespeare in American Communities project, to be officially unveiled tomorrow (the 439th anniversary of Shakespeare's presumed birthday) will bring professional-quality performances of some of his fundamental works, accompanied by educational programs, to some 100 small and mid-size American cities in all 50 states. "Not only is this the largest tour of Shakespeare in American history," Dana Gioia, the chairman of the endowment, said in an interview yesterday, "but it is certainly the most complex program the NEA has ever executed."

His mother told him: "For Heaven's sake, take the tour. Find a wife."Marriage may not be in the offing, but David Pfarr was laughing yesterday and sharing two bottles of champagne with two friends he made on the 350-mile Cycle Across Maryland, which ended at Towson State University after six trying but exhilarating days."

Monumental Motor Tours Inc., which has been running buses for the past 67 years, has suspended service because of declining ridership and mounting operating expenses."

You say you've had it with lousy sightlines, tin-can sound, brutish bouncers and seats so high you've thought about slapping on an oxygen mask? Well, so have some of your favorite concert performers.While it may be premature to announce the outright death of stadium and arena rock, the days of herding music fans into cavernous sports complexes are dwindling.For big stars who have clout with promoters, and tour at least semi-regularly, "booking down" is this year's buzz phrase.* Prince's first U.S. tour in nearly five years will visit theaters and small auditoriums.

A county steeped in Civil War history should be the logical place for a driving tour that organizers hope will draw new visitors.The Carroll County Office of Tourism has organized the "Roads to Gettysburg," complete with maps and a brief history of 25 stops along the way to one of the bloodiest, pivotal battles of the Civil War.In 1863, nearly all roads north to Gettysburg traversed Carroll County."

Bike enthusiasts from all over Maryland converged on Leonardtown Sunday for the start of this year's Cycle Across Maryland tour.The tour, nicknamed Shore to Shore '94, covers 330 miles and visits seven towns. Riders will stream through Leonardtown, Largo, Millersville, Centreville, Salisbury, Crisfield and Berlin.Included in this sea of wheels and legs is Eldersburg resident Larry Martin. This is Mr. Martin's second year participating in a tour; he biked from Cambridge to Towson last summer.

The anti-Bush messages were more explicit out on the street, right before the Vote for Change concert kicked off last night at Washington's MCI Arena. One man hawked T-shirts that said, "Don't Get Bush-Whacked Again." Another held a sign that simply read, "Bush Must Go!" Inside, however, the 13 acts on stage mostly stuck to the greatest hits and never got too explicit about the political intentions behind the show. Vote for Change wrapped up its 11-state, 33-city tour last night. It was sponsored by MoveOn PAC, the election-oriented sister organization of the anti-Bush MoveOn.

Old Baltimore grudgingly reveals some of its best secrets, and I recommend spending a few hours snooping around the Old Goucher neighborhood tomorrow, when this part of North Baltimore opens its doors for an annual historic house tour. I am hardly an impartial judge of all this. For one thing, I never made it out of these parts and have friends who reside here. That disclosure made, let me air my enthusiasms. Even though I daily pass by many of the houses and buildings on the tour list, that doesn't mean I get through their doors.