How do you make a school's birthday bash memorable? You pitch a big tent on campus, and fill it with good food, good music and good company. Maybe you add some sparkle to the evening with an ice sculpture and table centerpieces of white tulips and roses.

That's the formula the St. Paul's School in Brooklandville used to celebrate its 150th birthday, as some 725 delighted guests can attest.

Among them: headmaster Bob Hallett; party chairs Dee Bendos, Dicky Darrell and Pat Garcia; board of trustees president Lynn Rauch; Andie and Jack Laporte, co-chairs of the sesquicentennial capital campaign; Stewart Shettle, First National Bank of Maryland VP; Sandy Glover, owner of Sandy Sites Glover Inc.; Curtis Rountree, investment accounting manager at St. Paul Insurance Co.; and Greg McCrickard, managing director of T. Rowe Price.

The evening's highlight was no mere set of birthday candles, but a dazzling display of fireworks, featuring the colors of the private boys' school, blue and gold.