If you come to the Annual Conference, you'll also come to a great party

Baltimore is having a birthday bash - for a whole year! The Baltimore Bicentennial Celebration is a year-long, community-focused series of events designed to highlight the civic and historical achievements of this great city from its inception in 1797.

The cornerstone of the celebration will be the creation of a "Homecoming Center" to memorialize Baltimore as the second largest point of immigration in the United States and home of the largest Free Black population in the United States prior to the Civil War.

Throughout the year, and especially in the summer months, the city will be alive with a series of community birthday parties, concerts, 1897-era picnics, visiting Tall Ships from around the world and other special events.

Baltimore has also circulated a list of "200 Ongoing Reasons to Visit During the Bicentennial." Listed below is a sample of the special things to see and do when visiting the city:

• Visit the Babe Ruth Birthplace and Baseball Center to learn why baseball is such an important part of the city's history.
• Try to figure out exactly how Vollis Simpson, the North Carolina artist who created the Whirligig sculpture in front of the American Visionary Art Museum, managed to make it happen.
• Play an especially challenging round of miniature golf at Art Links, a range designed by local artists. Each hole portrays a different element of the Baltimore lifestyle.
• Take a peek at the inside of a "shark," the submarine Torsk at the Baltimore Maritime Museum.
• Stroll through the sculpture garden at the Baltimore Museum of Art.
• Visit the largest colony of African black-footed penguins in the United States at the Baltimore Zoo.
• Say "hi" to the huge statue of RCA's "Nipper" dog at the Baltimore City Life Museum's Blaustein Exhibition Center.
• Take a ride on an old streetcar at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum.
• Spend a day enjoying the great outdoors at Cylburn Arboretum, which features gardens, trails and a hands-on nature museum.
• Learn about one of Baltimore's most famous musicians and see some local art at the Eubie Blake National Museum and Cultural Center.
• Take in a Baltimore Orioles baseball game at the world-famous Oriole Park at Camden Yards.
• Get a glimpse of the amazing collection of Tiffany glass on display at the historic Evergreen House.
• Stroll the cobblestone streets of Fell's Point, an old maritime community, and Mt. Vernon, Baltimore's rich cultural district.
• Get a peek at George Washington's dentures at the National Museum of Dentistry.
• Eat the famous Chesapeake Bay steamed hardshell crabs at one of the many seafood restaurants.
• Learn all about Cab Calloway and other jazz performers at Coppin State College's jazz institute.
• Visit the Lacrosse Hall of Fame Museum at the world-famous Johns Hopkins University.
• Climb the 228 steps to the top of the country's first Washington Monument to get a bird's-eye view of the city.
• Ride the water taxi around the Inner Harbor or the trolley around downtown, getting off at every stop so you're sure you've seen the city inside and out.
• Grab a cold beer at one of the many local brew pubs.

There are more than 150 special things to do when visiting "Charm City" this bicentennial year - so many of them unique to this "Jewel of the Chesapeake!"