The new year doesn't start for some folks until they attend the Rotary Club of Baltimore's annual oyster roast. This year, about 1,800 people flooded the 5th Regiment Armory to eat, drink, play blackjack or one of the wheels, and catch up with old friends.

As soon as the doors opened, lines formed at 10 oyster-shucker stations. The scene was eye-opening for Damien Pastor, a Johns Hopkins University student and Rotary Ambassador Scholar from France.

"This is amazing. I've never seen anything like this in France," he said.

But the oysters were just part of the feast. A battalion of carvers stood at pit beef and pit turkey stations. There were also several buffets and a fajita stand.

"Step up, people, and get your bacon," barked Bill Early, whose day job as partner at Clifton Gunderson was taking a back seat to his role as the spinner of one of the roast's most popular wheels (winners walked away with a nine-pound box of bacon).

Mary Anne Rishebarger, Rotary Club president, made the rounds greeting many of the guests, while Howard Weisberg kept the party rolling. This was the fourth straight year he had chaired the event.

"I'm going for the record," Weisberg said with a wink.

"This is one of my favorite annual parties. I've been coming to this for 15 years," said Dave Stein, building operations director at DC USA.

Compared to Karl Vogt, a retired account executive for General Electric Lighting, Stein was still a newcomer.

"I've been coming [to the roast] since 1964," said Vogt. "It kicks off the year for me."

Sloane Brown can be contacted at sloane@sloanebrown.com.