Senior Olympics

It's a sports smorgasbord kind of day, and the Spindler's Roll-off 55-and-over men's softball team leads off.Player-coach George Kelch and his Spindler's team is headed for the Senior Olympics 55-and-over Tournament in Baton Rouge, La., this weekend. The team starts play tomorrow, putting its 24-6 record on the line against 34 other teams from around the country.Spindler's will represent Maryland in the tournament. The team consists of Kelch, Ed Calendra, Bill Lynch, Gene Chalk, Ted Lawson, Jimmy Atkinson, Jerry Kosar, Dick King, Bill Trunkl, Ray Jacobs, Greg Tessier, Al Neft, Bill Sparrow, Dick Aggona and Bill Polland.

Danny Sider, the 69-year-old owner of a Fort Smallwood Road tavern, knows the secret of youth: softball."It keeps you young," said Mr. Sider, a catcher with the state's champion 55-year-old-and-over men's softball team, and its coach and sponsor. "You wanna see guys running and playing ball at that age -- you wouldn't believe it."Part of the Anne Arundel County Senior Softball Association, which fields eight 55-and-over teams, Mr. Sider's team, Danny's, was recognized last week by Gov. William Donald Schaefer for winning two straight championships at the Maryland Senior Olympics.

It's been about 30 years since Dorothy and Clark Brill were fixtures at local athletic events, cheering the accomplishments of their eight offspring.These days the Brills have a cheering section of their own: their eight children and now eight grandchildren who root for them as the Brills run and swim their way to victories.The encouragement of a 6-year-old granddaughter shouting "Go Nana Dottie" once helped Dot Brill come in first across the victory line.Between them the Brills (she runs, he swims)

Victoria Waidner remembers when her grandfather, an athlete in the first modern Olympiad in 1896 in Athens, would take her into his backyard and show her how to throw the odd-shaped orb called a discus.Little did Mrs. Waidner realize that she had begun training for an Olympics that would take place almost 100 years after the games in which her grandfather competed.Last month, the 55-year-old Mayo Elementary School principal qualified for the national Senior Olympics in Baton Rouge, La., by winning three medals in Maryland's Senior Olympics.

More than 1,650 Marylanders, including 65 Howard County residents, participated in the 13th annual Senior Olympics this year, sponsored by the state Department of Aging, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland and the Maryland Senior Olympics Commission.The Olympics took place Oct. 8 to 10 at Towson State University.Here is a list of the track and field medal winners from the county. A list of other winners in the aquatics, tennis and other events will be published soon.* Standing Long Jump -- Frederick Everhart, silver medal in the 65-69 male category.

Yvonne Aasen of Severna Park says she and her dog, Cooper start each morning with a two-mile jog. On training days, however, she leaves the dog at home."

The 13th annual Maryland Senior Olympics, open to residents age 55 and older, takes place tomorrow through Saturday on the campus of Towson State University and other selected sites.Sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maryland, in cooperation with the Maryland Office on Aging, the Senior Olympics is the single largest senior athletic event in the state.In addition to more than 50 individual events, three team events are scheduled, including three-on-three basketball, softball and volleyball.

Library seeks volunteers for grandparent programThe Howard County Library is looking for older adults interested in sharing their time and experiences with some of the library's youngest patrons.The Library Grandparent Program will bring the young and the old together in several ways.Volunteer grandparents will be involved in reading to 2- and 3-year-olds on a one-to-one basis for an hour or two a week.In addition, they will relate their childhood experiences to the children into fall programs called "Attic Treasures" and "School Days: Then and Now."

The leaves slowly are turning into their rich fall colors, football season is in full swing, and the Orioles are in the middle of the pennant chase.So naturally, the local young men of summer, those hearty, athletic souls of the county's Senior Softball League, are about to hang up their gloves and wait out the fall season to get ready for the winter basketball season. Right?Not quite. The Orioles might want to take notes on conditioning for a stretch run from these guys.After competing in two or three games a week since May, two Pasadena-based squads -- Betty and Jake's and Wooden Nickel -- are prepping for the 50-and-over Senior World Series championships in Wayne County, Mich.

So you think amateurs like Greg Louganis, Carl Lewis or Mary Lou Retton put in a lot of hours of practice before capturing their Olympic gold medals?Think again.Such youngsters pale in comparison to an Olympian of Robert Walker's stature. The retired patent examiner from Silver Spring put in no fewer than 70 years of practice, off and on, before winning a gold medal yesterday."I started right after World War I," said Mr. Walker, 82, who defeated two fellow octogenarians to capture first place in the horseshoe toss.