Recreation Council

The Anne Arundel Youth Football Association didn't find much success at the Maryland Youth Football Championships earlier this month. None of the six county teams, each representing a different division, came home with a victory. Each lost in the first game they played. Association Vice President Brian Mackell, who watched the Pasadena Chargers suffer a tough one-point loss to the Howard County Bruins in the unlimited class, said the kids played very well. In the 6- to 8-year-olds' division, the Gambrills Odenton Recreation Council Wildcats got a first-round bye but fell in the second round.

After years of living in the shadow of the popular communities surrounding it, the community of Jarrettsville apparently is coming of age.Pleasantly situated in one of the more picturesque areas in Harford County, Jarrettsville spreads out for about a mile from the intersection of Route 23 and Route 165.With residential lots of an acre or more, coupled with proximity to Baltimore, Towson and Hunt Valley, the area has become an increasingly popular choice...

The county commissioners' recent decision to phase out capital funding for the Bureau of Recreation and Parks has some residents worried about the future of Carroll's sports fields and scenic vistas."

During a hearing last night on the proposed county budget for fiscal year 2000, the Deer Park recreation council pleaded with the Carroll County commissioners for $29,990 to pave the entrance to the popular Westminster sports complex."

The Greater Baltimore Chapter of U.S. Lacrosse will add nine members to its Hall of Fame tonight at Marriott's Hunt Valley Inn. The inductees, whose career highlights span from recreation to indoor lacrosse, are:John Cheek: Division III's Player of the Year in 1976, he remains the all-time leading scorer at Washington College. A two-time, first-team All-America attackman, Cheek played for the U.S. national team in 1978. He was a two-time high school All-American at Towson, the Baltimore County champion in 1972 and 1973.

Just retired, Sykesville resident Bob Pepperney was looking for something to do when a newspaper advertisement caught his attention. The ad was seeking someone to organize a senior citizens recreational group in Carroll County."

Tobias James Harring, a Hereford High School junior and a scholar-athlete, died Friday at Sinai Hospital of injuries suffered in an automobile accident. He was 17 and lived in Sparks.Baltimore County police said the Harring youth was driving alone Thursday night when his car skidded out of control on a wet road and struck a utility pole on Mount Carmel Road in northern Baltimore County.Known as Toby, he was a Hereford honors student who had finished his first season on the varsity football team.

IN SPITE OF RECENT blustery weather, some folks are thinking spring.At Elmer Wolfe Elementary School, plans for a butterfly garden are well under way, with fourth-grade parents Cinda Bertier and Lisa Spence heading a parent-teacher committee to design, plan and oversee the welcoming garden spot at the entrance to the school. Spence is also a horticulturist for the county.The garden will not only enhance the school grounds, but is designed to honor a longtime teacher at Elmer Wolfe, Joan Meyers, a New Windsor resident who has retired from teaching.

THE FIELD HOCKEY season of North Carroll Recreation Council is measured not by wins and losses, but by how much the girls enjoyed the game."We try to teach the rules, but we make sure they have fun," said Julie Gress, who was coaching the youngest players with Carla Cannon and Denise Trentzsch on Sunday at Manchester Elementary School.This is the second year the recreation council has offered field hockey. The fall field hockey and spring lacrosse programs were originated by Joe Bach, a coach who is known for advocating girls sports with an emphasis on teamwork and friendly competition.

The county commissioners' recent decision to phase out capital funding for the Bureau of Recreation and Parks has some residents worried about the future of Carroll's sports fields and scenic vistas."

The new Watersedge Community Center in eastern Baltimore County means the youngest soccer hopefuls in the neighborhood can play the game indoors year-round. The $2.4 million brick building, which the county's Department of Recreation and Parks officially opened April 17, puts a long anticipated basketball program on a court in a school-sized gymnasium, and it gives the Watersedge Dancers a studio to call their own. "Basically, we can bring the whole council under one roof and expand our programs," said Todd Smith, president of the Watersedge Recreation Council.

With its elderly population growing more quickly than any other segment, Harford County will build a sixth senior center to serve its fast-developing western area. And no official could be more thrilled than Veronica "Roni" Chenowith, Harford's senior county council member, who learned at the groundbreaking Thursday that the $6.8 million center will be named in her honor. Although battling illness, Chenowith refused to miss the official start to a 30,000-square-foot project, which the Department of Parks and Recreation is sharing with Community Services, Office on Aging.

Andrew Edward Neubauer, a Franklin High School honor student, died suddenly of unknown causes Wednesday at Northwest Hospital Center. The Reisterstown resident was 16. Andrew, born in Towson and raised in Reisterstown, attended Reisterstown Elementary School and Sudbrook Magnet Middle School before attending Franklin, where he would have been a junior this school year. A member of the gifted and talented education program at Franklin, Andrew excelled in math and science. He played trumpet in the school's symphonic band and dreamed of pursuing a career in computer science after college.

Historic Savage Mill is presenting Art Jam, a weekend festival, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, featuring shows by resident artists (1 p.m. to 6 p.m.); free appraisals of antiques and collectibles (1 p.m. to 4 p.m.); demonstrations of photo restoration (2 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.), 10-minute massages (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.); wine-tasting (2 p.m. to 6 p.m.); the art of grilling (2 p.m. to 4 p.m.); live music, snacks and a fashion show (3 p.m. to 4 p.m.); and clowns, face-painters and caricature artists.

Robert Dale Minick, a retired Social Security Administration worker and former longtime White Hall resident, died Saturday of cancer at St. Joseph Medical Center. He was 76. Mr. Minick was born and raised in Sioux Falls, S.D., and was a 1951 graduate of Sioux Falls Washington High School. In 1955, he earned a bachelor's degree in history from Augustana College in Sioux Falls. He played center on the basketball team and was inducted into the Augustana College Hall of Fame in 1985. During the 1950s, he served in the Air National Guard in Rapid City, S.D..

The Anne Arundel Youth Football Association didn't find much success at the Maryland Youth Football Championships earlier this month. None of the six county teams, each representing a different division, came home with a victory. Each lost in the first game they played. Association Vice President Brian Mackell, who watched the Pasadena Chargers suffer a tough one-point loss to the Howard County Bruins in the unlimited class, said the kids played very well. In the 6- to 8-year-olds' division, the Gambrills Odenton Recreation Council Wildcats got a first-round bye but fell in the second round.

Harford County received $660,000 from Program Open Space to aid in the purchase of a Forest Hill indoor recreation center. The county bought the rec center, located in Forest Hill airpark, in April for $1.7 million through Program Open Space. The facility is intended to serve the recreation needs for the Forest Hill Recreation Council and the Fountain Green Recreation Council. Program Open Space, run by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, provides funding for the creation of parks and recreation areas.

11 honored for work in youth sports Eleven Anne Arundel County volunteers will be honored tomorrow for their contributions to youth sports. County Executive John R. Leopold will present the 2007 Ron Blake Awards at noon as part of the Fall Harvest Festival at Kinder Farm Park. The award, presented annually since 1989, is named after coach and community leader Ron Blake, who served the residents of Anne Arundel County through participation on the county Recreation Advisory Board and the Gambrills-Odenton Recreation Council.

The Ravens didn't win the Super Bowl last season, but Matt Stover won big in his life as a recreational league basketball coach. It happened during the Lutherville-Timonium Recreation Council's winter league when Stover, coaching his son, Jacob, and other 10-year-olds, guided a team called the Celtics -- because of their green T-shirts -- to an undefeated season. And Stover, who won a Super Bowl with the Ravens after the 2000 season, found the experience nearly as gratifying as beating the New York Giants at Raymond James Stadium.

What's the best way to create the perfect skate park? Don't make it look like a skate park. Turns out that concrete skate bowls, pre-fabricated ramps and half-pipes are so yesterday. Many who've been weaned on ESPN's X-Games would rather ride and grind in a "skate plaza" with benches, stairs and rails as props for their acrobatics -- essentially the same type of public places from which skateboarders are often banished for upsetting pedestrians. "The city of Baltimore probably has a plaza that's really good to skateboard," said Gary Ream, president of USA Skateboard.