Savage Park

Crumbling stone slabs formed the broken walls of a ruined shelter in Savage Park, the floor was carpeted with dead leaves and twigs embedded in hardened mud. Three men clutched their GPS electronic navigation units as they strode into the wall-encircled clearing. Their searching gazes suggested they weren't far from their goal. Jason Ashmore's eyes scanned every crevice in the stone walls. He paused and suddenly bent down, reached into a hole under a stone slab and pulled out a white plastic container marked in bold black letters, "GEOCACHING.

My seed packets slump forlornly on the counter, the clay pots fill the rest of the kitchen. The peas and spinach so carefully planted a week before the snow are stillborn.Neither the dogwood nor the incredibly inedible plums are in blossom. And the pine tree fell. It fell in a rainstorm. The roots could not hold in the sodden ground.A shiver, a sigh, and a 30-foot pine leans against the shorter holly. The pine is too heavy to return upright. Down it comes, with the help of Dale Fixsen, who says he's planted more trees in his life than he's cut down.

An early-morning fire caused about $500,000 in damage Friday to three parked commercial buses in Savage. There were no injuries. State fire marshals hadn't determined the source of the fire, which started at about 2:50 a.m. in the parking lot belonging to Yellow Transportation Inc. Twenty firefighters were called to contain the blaze.

Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks' "Travelin' Bands" program will present Bad Apples - Matt Bogdan (vocals and guitar), Mike Happel (drums), and Steve LeBrun (bass and vocals) - at 7 p.m. Friday in Savage Park, 8400 Fair St., Savage. The band, which has shared a stage with Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Cinder Road and other acts, will perform in conjunction with Savagefest. Admission to the concert is free. Take a blanket or lawn chair. Picnics and nonalcoholic beverages are permitted.

POLICE LOG* Savage: 8400 block of Fair St.: A maintenance room door at Savage Park was pried open and chain saws were stolen Sunday or Monday.* North Laurel: 9000 block of Stebbing Way: A 1988 Honda CRX was left on blocks Friday night after the car's four tires and rims were stolen.

POLICE LOG* Scaggsville: 8400 block of Cherrystone Court: A burglar removed a screen from a home's front window and stole two credit cards while residents were asleep Monday morning, police said.* Savage: 8400 block of Fair St.: Someone pried open the door of the Savage Park maintenance shop Sunday or Monday and took a chain saw and grinder, police said.

The Savage U-9 travel baseball team will hold tryouts for the fall/spring team on Saturday, Aug. 6, Sunday, Aug. 7 and Sunday, Aug. 14. All tryouts begin at 4 p.m. and will be held at Savage Park field 3. For information, contact Larry Dawes at carriedawes@comcast.net .

POLICE LOGSavage:8600 block of Foundry Street: A man reported his gold 1992 high school ring stolen Aug. 22 after he left it, along with other property, in a shoe while at Savage Mill Park.

Collection of Christmas trees for mulching takes place through Jan. 22. Residents can recycle their trees curbside or at one of these locations: •Kendall Hardware. •River Hill Garden Center. •Cedar Lane Park. •Grandfather's Garden Center. •Rockburn Park. •Howard County Circuit Court's upper parking lot. •Schooley Mill Park. •Wood waste area at Alpha Ridge Landfill. •Savage Park. •Western Regional Park.