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The North Market Street store has launched a one-month campaign to determine Frederick’s favorite games. While the store does not usually carry products available at mass-market chains, Dancing Bear will make an exception for one year to sell the city’s top five favorite games.

‘‘We have a lot of unique games in our store you can’t find in other places ... but we’ll put up a display with the top five games that people pick,” co-owner Tom England said. ‘‘We are naturally seeing more [board game] play. There is an incredible increase in the desire for parents and kids to play them together.”

So whether it is Trivial Pursuit or Scrabble, Chutes and Ladders or Boggle, ballots can be cast at Dancing Bear through April 7.

England said no board games with batteries or electronic computer components are eligible. He apologizes to the fans of the classic medical game Operation.

‘‘It’s a great game, but we have to stick to our guns,” he said. ‘‘Maybe it can get an honorable mention.”

England lists his own favorite game as Sorry — mainly the older versions with the ‘‘pop-o-matic” device in the middle — but hopes the voting sparks interest in more board game play.

‘‘Game play works on a pendulum, so while we went more towards electronic games, I think we are coming back [to board games] now,” he said. ‘‘I think kids today are finding it fun to have that interaction with their peers over a board.”

Ballots for the contest are available at Dancing Bear, located at 12 N. Market St., Frederick, as well as other venues including school game nights, civic organizations and local retirement communities.

Friends sponsorpresentation on peace

The Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) will sponsor a free presentation on how energy, the environment and peace intersect on Saturday.

The event is part of the second annual Frederick-area season for nonviolence and will take place from 1-4 p.m. at the Friends Meetinghouse at 723 N. Market St., Frederick.

The event will feature energy experts discussing global warming and peak oil, a ‘‘green table” of energy conscious products, live music by local artists and a hybrid and alternatively fueled vehicles show.

Jim Wagner, clerk of the Friends’ peace and social concerns committee, will also discuss the need for global cooperation and action for the peaceful prevention of deadly conflict.

‘‘We don’t see enough press on these issues and nothing is happening,” he said. ‘‘We want to try and stimulate interest and get people involved. Perhaps people can move their leaders to take action.”

For more information on the event, contact Wagner at 301-682-4836 or rengawpj@hotmail.com.

Local studentsnamed to deans’ lists

* Amelia Barnard, a 2003 graduate of Frederick High School, was awarded dean’s list honors for the fall semester at Washington College in Maryland.

Barnard, a senior majoring in human development with a minor in psychology, is the daughter of Karen and Winston Barnard of Frederick.

* The University of Notre Dame in Indiana has announced that Sarah Follmer, a 2006 graduate of Gov. Thomas Johnson High School, was named to its dean’s list for the fall semester. The honor represents the top 30 percent of students at the college.

Follmer, daughter of Lori and Jim Follmer of Frederick, is a freshman majoring in economics.

* Katherine Elizabeth Bell, a freshman at Keene State College in New Hampshire, was recently named to the dean’s list for the fall semester.

Students attain the honor through enrollment in a degree program, completion of a minimum of six credit hours and a 3.5 grade point average or higher.

C-SPAN foundercoming to Frederick

Brian Lamb, founder and CEO of C-SPAN, is the featured speaker in the Frederick County Historical Society’s inaugural ‘‘P. Newman Lecture” on Tuesday.

The program, free and open to the public, will begin at 7 p.m., at the Jack B. Kussmaul Theater at Frederick Community College.

Lamb founded the Cable Satellite Public Affairs Network, or C-SPAN, in 1979 and since its creation, has expanded to three, 24-hour cable television networks serving the Baltimore-Washington area.

His appearance will mark the first P. Newman Lecture, named in honor of the former president of the Historical Society, Parsons Newman, and begins the organization’s 2007 lecture series.

For more information on this and other Historical Society events, call 301-663-1188.

Do you have an item for City Beat? Contact reporter Keith L. Martin at 301-846-2134, e-mail kmartin@gazette.net or fax news to 301-846-2124.