THE ANDOVER Apaches Youth Rugby Football Club is planning its inaugural season, which begins this summer.
Glynn Stoffel, president of the Apaches' board of directors, said youth rugby is a great link between spring lacrosse and fall football. And because "it is co-ed, it gives girls another sport besides lacrosse and cheerleading," she added.
The laws (rugby has "laws," not "rules") of the rough-and-tumble sport have been adjusted to make it less dangerous and allow for boys and girls to play together. For example, tackling has been replaced by the two-handed tag.
Patrick Walsh, who is chairman for USA Youth Rugby, will be commissioner for the Apaches, and the program will be among six youth clubs in the Potomac Rugby Union Youth League, which also includes the Greater Severna Park Athletic Association Green Hornets.
The teams will be divided into two age brackets, 7 to 10 and 11 to 14. The season opens in June and runs through mid-August.
The Apaches are planning clinics and demonstrations at libraries and elementary and middle schools.
For information, call the Andover Apaches at 410-859- 3211.
Garden club auction
The perfect panacea for January doldrums is an auction with a lot of surprises. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the Ferndale Garden Club will conduct a silent auction as part of its monthly meeting at the Ferndale-Linthicum Senior Center, 7205 Baltimore & Annapolis Blvd.
Each member will bring something in a brown paper bag with a hint as to its contents attached to the outside. Proceeds from the auction will help pay for the club's May banquet.
Members acting as hostesses for the meeting are: Ceil Dietz, Kathy Shatt, Annette Thomas, Elena Thomas, Sharon Totten and Gail Wojciechouski.
For information on the club, call Carolyn Seefeld at 410-987-1771.
Homeless shelter
Linthicum Heights United Methodist Church, 200 School Lane, is taking its turn with other churches in the area to provide shelter, food and fellowship to homeless men during the winter. Churches volunteer for one or two weeks each.
The rotating shelter moves into Linthicum Heights tomorrow.
John Wagner, the coordinator of the church committee in charge of the program, said they are expecting more than 20 men.
Wagner has enlisted six members to pick up the homeless men at the Salvation Army in Glen Burnie in the evening, take them to the church and back to the Salvation Army in the morning.
