About 100 Dundalk residents angry about the carving up of their community under Gov. Parris N. Glendening's legislative redistricting plan turned out for a spirited protest rally in the heart of the historic community yesterday, two days before a challenge to the plan is to be heard by the state's highest court.

The Heritage Park rally, organized by a coalition of community groups, drew a parade of local politicians - including two opposing candidates for the 2nd District congressional seat, Republican Helen Delich Bentley and Baltimore County Executive C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, a Democrat.

Approaching the cheering crowd yesterday with arms raised like Sylvester Stallone in Rocky, Bentley, a former congresswoman, said the governor's redistricting plan should be fought on two fronts: in public protests and in elections.

"It's almost too late because the state redistricting was made by a few in power out of the public eye," Bentley said to applause and whistles from the crowd. "But you can take buses to Annapolis and protest there. ... You can register to vote and vote your displeasure in the voting booth."

Ruppersberger received a less-than-enthusiastic greeting from the crowd, some of whom booed him as he appealed to them not to politicize the redistricting issue and to "keep Dundalk proud."

Before making his public remarks, Ruppersberger insisted that he had attempted unsuccessfully to change the governor's redistricting decisions on Dundalk.

Among those invited to the rally, organized under the auspices of the Greater Dundalk Alliance, were Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the expected Democratic nominee for governor, and her expected Republican challenger, Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. Neither attended.

Under Glendening's plan, Dundalk's portion of the former 7th District is divided among four districts, including two shared with Baltimore City and one with Anne Arundel County. Any perception of political power for the eastern Baltimore County community, which dates to the 19th century, will be shattered, critics say.

Challenges to the plan go before the Maryland Court of Appeals in Annapolis tomorrow. There, the seven-member panel will consider recommendations made over the last several months by an appointed master, retired Judge Robert L. Karwacki.

And as the court addresses the plan, hundreds from throughout the state, including some from Dundalk, plan to rally outside to protest Glendening's reshaping of Maryland's legislative districts.

At yesterday's rally - at which members of the crowd sported stickers saying "Divided We Stand" and "I Feel the Need to Secede" from Baltimore County - some of Glendening's fellow Democrats were less than gracious about the governor's redistricting plan.

Del. John S. Arnick, who represents Dundalk, said the governor's plan was "an abomination. There were a few select people who made the redistricting decisions without regard to Maryland. It was personal interest over the people."

One local opponent of the plan, Eugene Golden, a lifelong Dundalk resident and a plaintiff in the court action, said, "To us, the governor is dredging Dundalk and providing fill dirt for the city, because two of those districts will go into the city."

Dundalk, home to about 60,000 people, was not always a place fighting for its identity.

Until the 1970s, Dundalk flexed powerful muscle across Maryland and into Annapolis. Generations of families worked in Bethlehem Steel Corp.'s mills - once the busiest steel-maker in the world - and other blue-collar jobs at Western Electric and General Motors.

With tens of thousands of high-paying jobs came powerful unions that could turn out the vote in local and statewide elections.

"The blue-collar unions could produce campaign workers and the vote for their favorite candidates," said Bob Fogle, who retired after working in the steel mills for 40 years. "That whole chemistry kept Dundalk workers and their families in good salaries and health benefits. One hand washed the other."

But Dundalk's fortunes faded, mostly because of economic downturns in steel, shipbuilding and automobile manufacturing.

Many Dundalk residents view the redistricting plan as both a loss of political strength and an insult to the community's rich heritage.

"The governor's carving up of our community was a rude awakening, a slap in the face," said Golden. "Like our parents, we were trusting that our elected officials were taking care of us. We were mistaken."

Those sentiments are shared by Katharena DeHaas, an Odenton resident in Anne Arundel County and plaintiff in one of the suits against the state.

"None us knows why our communities were targeted," said DeHaas. "But we lose a delegate, get a Democratic state senator and go into Prince George's County under the governor's plan. ... It's like entire communities were just blown up."

Tom Toporovich, one of Dundalk's elder statesmen, said that he thinks the redistricting plan will stand, even if appealed to the Supreme Court. But the political consequences could prove heavy.

"People are watching the rape of Dundalk," said Toporovich, a former construction company official and secretary-administrator for the Baltimore County Council for 22 years. "Sadly, court challenges to redistricting nationwide rarely, if ever, succeed.

"But you can bet this will affect the gubernatorial election, because people are asking, not only in Dundalk, 'Where was the lieutenant governor when it counted?' Kathleen Kennedy Townsend remained Glendening's stooge on this issue, and people won't forget it.

"We still can swing back," said Toporovich.