Walk A Thon

To her grandparents, Michelle Matteson is a 5-year-old medical miracle worth a little self-promotion.Born with spina bifida, the kindergarten student at Joppatown's Riverside Elementary School had surgery moments after her birth to close the hole in her spine.Three weeks later, she had surgery to insert a plastic tube -- or shunt -- in her skull to prevent it from filling with fluids and killing her. At age 2, she had surgery to correct visions problems, and in the past year, she has had two procedures to repair the shunt.

Carroll government workers are organizing a walk-a-thon and starting a drive to collect school supplies, toys, sports equipment and animal feed to help Midwest flood victims.Employees have formed Carroll's Community Flood Relief Fund to collect money and supplies for Hancock County, Ill., at the confluence of the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers."We're doing this from the heart. We just want to help people," said Kay Church, a receptionist at the County Office Building.Mrs. Church, an avid walker, is organizing the 6.2-mile (10 kilometer)

Walk-a-thon planned for Mo. victimsOther fund-raisers include yard saleThe Mount Airy Flood Relief Committee, which has raised $6,388 for the residents of Alexandria, Mo., has planned a series of fund-raisers, including a walk-a-thon, yard sale and a dance.A walk-a-thon is scheduled for Sept. 19. The walk will begin at the train station off Main Street. A route has not been determined. A yard sale is scheduled for Oct. 17 along Main Street.The town also is looking for volunteers to take part in a builders convoy.

With a steady hand, Flemming Johnson pulled a little red wagon with his two sons through the uneven brick streets of Annapolis yesterday to raise money for the March of Dimes.Mr. Johnson and his wife, Lea, took their boys, 6-year-old Bradley and 3-year-old Wesley, for a sun-drenched tour of Maryland's capital, while thousands of other walkers headed through the streets and parks of Baltimore's suburbs. But for the first time in the event's 23-year history, no one strolled through the city itself.

Does Kurt really want to be remembered as the mayor who drove the Walk-A-Thon out of town?For its next number, Sears, Roebuck will eliminate 50 floors of the Sears Tower.Bill plans a modest stimulus to the economy, lest anyone get the idea it could recover without his help.

Baltimore's popular March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon is banished to the suburbs for 1993, but organizers said yesterday they would like to bring the event back to the city in 1994."

The March of Dimes walk-a-thon was a harbinger of the spring in Baltimore City for 22 years. By bringing as many as 30,000 walkers to the streets every April, it produced crowds and enthusiasm not often seen since the memorable Easter Parade promenade tradition ended in the 1950s.This wonderful event -- one of the most successful walk-a-thons in the nation -- has now fled the city. The local March of Dimes says it cannot afford to share the costs of policing and cleanup required under a new city policy.

Baltimore's March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon, once one of the biggest events of its kind in the nation, is moving to the suburbs.Organizers say new city fees would gobble up much of the fund-raiser's expected profit if it were to remain in the city.The decision by the March of Dimes to move the Walk-A-Thon to Baltimore County strips the city of an event that for the past 22 years brought together as many as 30,000 people and was hailed as one of the most successful Walk-A-Thons in the country."We wanted to continue to have the march in Baltimore," says Cassandra S. Blakeslee, director of communications for the March of Dimes.

Baltimore's March of Dimes Walk-A-Thon, once one of the biggest events of its kind in the nation, is moving to the suburbs because of new city fees that walk organizers say would gobble up much of the fund-raiser's expected profit.The decision by the March of Dimes to move the Walk-A-Thon out of Baltimore strips the city of an event that for the past 22 years brought together as many 30,000 people and was hailed as one of the most successful Walk-A-Thons in the country."We wanted to continue to have the march in Baltimore," said Cassandra S. Blakeslee, director of communications for the March of Dimes.