Ushers

Long lines and Opening Day glitches prompted the Orioles to give up on their new, $500,000 ticket-reading system a half-hour before game time and revert to the low-tech but time-honored method of ushers tearing tickets.The system, designed to speed fans through gates and cut down on the use of counterfeit tickets, never crashed. But the delays at the gates prompted grumbles from fans and ushers and promises by the team to make improvements.Among other things, more powerful equipment may be needed to rapidly read the bar codes on each ticket.

WASHINGTON -- The congressman is late. He should have been here a half-hour ago. Where is he?His day started with an 8 a.m. fund-raising breakfast at One Penn Center in Philadelphia. Then there was an 8:30 a.m. leadership breakfast. After that, a quick stroll to 30th Street Station to catch a train back to D.C., stopping along the way to talk to a white, middle-aged newspaper vendor who had called out to him: "I remember everything you've done over the years. I just want to shake your hand."

Call it Judgment Day. Accountants from a Chattanooga, Tenn., firm are expected in Maryland in two weeks to audit the books of an Odenton church where a deacon is accused of stealing 77 donation envelopes.Church officials resisted the evidence of sin under their noses -- until they caught a man red-handed in the collection basket after services April 6. Even now, with police and investigators involved, they won't talk about it with reporters or most other outsiders.Ronald Lock, 40, of the 2700 block of Helmsley Road in Baltimore, has been charged with theft over $300 and has an Aug. 8 court date.

Orioles ushers steaming about their sauna-like uniforms received good news last night: Cooler clothes are coming back.In response to complaints from ushers -- 16 of whom needed medical attention during a game last week -- and from fans concerned for their discomfort, the club has relaxed the dress code for its warmest employees.Beginning today, long-sleeved shirts are out and short sleeves are in for all ushers, guards and ticket-takers who work in non-air-conditioned areas of the ballpark.

THE ATHOLTON HIGH School marching band tied for best overall performance in a Tournament of Bands competition Saturday at Queen Anne's County High School.Sharing first place was Mount Vernon High School in Virginia.The Atholton band, which includes about 80 students, received trophies for best percussion, best music, best drum majors and best color guard.The color guard award was a first for Atholton.The previous weekend, Atholton's band competed in a tournament in Walkersville. The band took first place over seven other bands in its group and earned the highest grades among all participants that night.

They probably were the worst-looking "tramps" that ever trod a wintry street in Baltimore. The fat snowflakes that made such beautiful bouquets and necklaces for the park shrubs and trees only melted soppily on their unpleasant rags.A big brass safety pin tried pitifully hard to hide a great rent in one's coat pocket; it only gave the rag a fantastic loop. Their overlarge trousers draped them in sodden folds and were patched. Their shoes were too big or ripped at the toes; one wore tennis shoes of canvas and rubber.

Sayonara, 1996."Sabrina the Teenage Witch" (8 p.m.-8: 30 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- "Roseanne" and "Life's Work" get the night off, as ABC wonders how a more youthful lineup (repeats, of course: who shows first-run fare on New Year's Eve?) might perform on Tuesday nights. First up: Sabrina turns a cranky toddler into a cranky adult, then panics when she can't figure out how to reverse the spell ABC."Clueless" (8: 30 p.m.-9 p.m., WMAR, Channel 2) -- then Cher gets a tragic haircut from guest star Bronson Pinchot.

When he paid a scalper $120 before Wednesday's Orioles game, Kevin Litz knew he had one of the hottest tickets in town. But he didn't know how hot until he got to the seat.That's when the usher in the upper deck handed the ticket back to Litz, explaining that he was about the 10th person that night to present a ticket for seat A-6 in Section 372. The real owner was sitting in A-6, enjoying the game.Litz had been had by a counterfeiter."He evidently was making a fortune," he said of the mysterious seller he encountered a few blocks from the ballpark.

As usual, I'm not ready for Thanksgiving.It's not that cooking a turkey dinner is so hard, it's what Thanksgiving ushers in. Cooking a turkey these days involves minor math and an oven. Nobody has to truss and pluck a bird. Some of my Sunday dinners are more complex.No, the problem with Thanksgiving is that it ushers in the holiday season for a family with diverse tastes. Now Diversity is a good thing, ordinarily; so is Tradition. But when these two good concepts met, they gave birth to the twins Chaos and Exhaustion.

If the air around Camden Yards seems a little fresher next season, the reason may be a set of sweeping, new smoking restrictions the Orioles announced yesterday.Ending several days of speculation, the team said that smoking no longer will be permitted in the ballpark's 48,041 seats.The new rules fall short of an outright ban. They permit fans to light up in a number of areas inside the ballpark, but away from seating sections, including upper and lower concourses, the left-field picnic area and Eutaw Street.

This summer we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. Wood - sturdy and beautiful. Natural. We gave each other lovely jewelry boxes crafted by an artisan whose work we had long admired. A meaningful but private celebration - just like our wedding had to be. You see, we were married in Canada. Not because we were rebellious young people who eloped because our parents disapproved (though they did). But because our own country would not legally recognize our relationship, which had by then already lasted 25 years.

A Howard Transit bus driver yesterday stopped her vehicle and ushered the passengers to safety just before the vehicle caught fire outside Howard Community College in Columbia. Sharon Smith, deputy administrator for Corridor Transportation Corp., which manages the 26-vehicle fixed route system, said the incident occurred about 9 a.m. The driver, who did not want her name released, smelled gasoline and got her three passengers out of the 2000 Ford bus, which then caught fire. The bus had traveled 459,781 miles, well over the normal 300,000 replacement standard, according to Smith.

Top 10 reasons fans can disregard O's As the sun slowly sets on another dismal, but not unexpected, season for the Orioles, here are the top 10 reasons for ignoring this pathetic team: 1. The fight for last place in the AL East has really heated up; it's pretty rotten when this represents the only true excitement left for the season. 2. The annual Mike DeJean Award for incompetence is now a toss-up between stellar performers Russ Ortiz and Luis Terrero. 3. The tension is mounting as we await the glowing promises for next year from Peter Angelos and Mike Flanagan.

Orioles' ushers toe harsh company line At the Orioles' July 14 game against the Texas Rangers, the announced attendance was 28,201 in a ballpark that seats 48,290. As five friends and I attempted to sit together in seats that were not ours, we were told by 11 separate ushers that club policy strictly forbids individuals from sitting in seats that do not match purchased tickets. Having lived in Pittsburgh and Chicago, I understand the pain and frustration of supporting terrible baseball teams.

While going 0-5 on the road trip, the Orioles batted .200 with 12 walks - eight of them coming in Sunday's loss - a .261 on-base percentage and a .312 slugging percentage. Their starting pitchers posted a 10.17 ERA. I don't recommend it. The Orioles have lost nine of 10 away from Camden Yards. Seriously, this place is dead. There were more people in the waiting room at my dentist's office. I didn't know the Orioles were holding a come-as-your-favorite-empty-chair promotion. The "charge" call has been replaced with the sound of crickets chirping.

Matthew J. "Doc" Celozzi, a retired hospital pharmacist and a former city pharmacy owner, died Wednesday at Northwest Hospital Center of complications from repeated bouts of pneumonia after a stroke three years ago. He was one day shy of his 86th birthday and, until his illness, had spent most of his life in East Baltimore. He most recently lived at Augsburg Lutheran Home. Born in Baltimore, Mr. Celozzi was a 1936 graduate of City College and a 1940 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Pharmacy.

I would tell you that decorum at the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra's presentation of Giuseppe Verdi's dramatic choral Requiem Saturday night at Maryland Hall reminded me of the atmosphere at a hockey game, but that would be an insult - to hockey fans. As conductor Leslie B. Dunner began the intensely prayerful introduction to Verdi's opening "Kyrie" (aptly titled "Lord Have Mercy" in English), late-comers were still being seated, with a pair of Maryland Hall ushers at the rear of the auditorium engaged in a vigorous, fully audible discussion of where they should be placed.

The faint strains of "Twilight Time" echo through the PA system and radios tuned to FM 106.9. It's nearly dusk, the sky is clearing and a cool breeze is kicking in. Hundreds of vehicles are lining up into neat rows - trucks, SUVs and minivans toward the back, sedans up front. Dan and Gabrielle Michaud take up their usual spot, about two to three rows down from the concession stand and to the right of the East Coast's biggest screen (52 feet high and 120 feet wide). It's Friday night at the Bengies Drive-In Theatre, where reel after reel of movie magic has been unspooled since 1956.

Gordon Huggins first ushered in the upper deck at Memorial Stadium as a 20-year old college student. In the 39 years since, he's seen every good Orioles team and most of the bad ones. He has seen the all-time highlights - like Tippy Martinez picking off three consecutive Toronto Blue Jays in a 1983 game. He's had some unpleasant moments - like the time he saw a scorching foul ball bloody a woman's face. He has endured as countless fans, despite peering at his striped shirt, Orioles cap and orange bow tie, have asked, "Do you work here?"

Long lines and Opening Day glitches prompted the Orioles to give up on their new, $500,000 ticket-reading system a half-hour before game time and revert to the low-tech but time-honored method of ushers tearing tickets.The system, designed to speed fans through gates and cut down on the use of counterfeit tickets, never crashed. But the delays at the gates prompted grumbles from fans and ushers and promises by the team to make improvements.Among other things, more powerful equipment may be needed to rapidly read the bar codes on each ticket.