Villa Maria

Villa Maria, the defending men's Top Gun champion in Baltimore's Hoop-It-Up tournament, found itself in a miserable situation in the first round yesterday. Not only was Villa Maria facing two-time defending New York Hoop-It-Up champion Red Roses, but it also had only two players for the three-on-three game.Marty Johnson, Villa Maria's team captain, dropped off leading scorer Jeffrey Robinson before entering Lot B at Camden Yards to park. After finding that lot closed, Johnson had to circle the stadium to park in Lot D off Russell Street.

Last fall Food for the Poor Inc., an interdenominational charity serving the Caribbean poor, sent out a call for help. Resurrection Catholic Church's seventh-grade religious education classes, dTC headed by Chris and Kathie Duck, answered in a fun way.On March 7, they held a Middle School Dance Party at the church for public and parochial school students. The dance raised $755 for the charity. In addition, seventh-grade students gave money from their own pockets, bringing the total contribution to nearly $840.

Robert Oscar Eck, a retired autoworker who played Santa Claus at The Shops at Kenilworth in Towson, died Saturday at Stella Maris Hospice of complications from stomach cancer. He was 67.Mr. Eck worked at General Motors' plant at Broening Highway for 30 years before retiring in 1981.He had played Santa at the Towson shopping center for the last five years and enjoyed the role so much that he kept his hair and bushy beard dyed silver year-round.He could recite "A Visit from St. Nicholas" from memory and kept a collection of gifts and cards from children.

After two days of play in 56 divisions -- including Couch Potato, Wheelchair and All Over 40 -- the finals of Baltimore's Hoop It Up tournament were held yesterday in Parking Lot C of Oriole Park at Camden Yards between a giant sneaker and a parked trailer.With a large crowd cheering them on, Villa Maria and Footlocker Three won the men's and women's titles in the most competitive division -- Top Gun -- and earned trips to the 3-on-3 tournament's regional finals in Washington.Playground rules governed all the games.

Norman Hightower, 11, called it the best lunch he'd ever eaten -- gulf shrimp over pasta and marinara sauce, mozzarella sticks, fresh fruit and homemade brownies with vanilla fudge ice cream."

Joshua said it best."You must have great skills to make these. You've made my Christmas more Christmassy," said the 9-year-old student at Villa Maria, a private elementary school in Baltimore County for children with emotional problems.Joshua was expressing his gratitude to a small group of Towson High School teen-agers -- most of them special education students themselves -- who recently presented beautifully handcrafted toys they had made to the younger children.The students gave a total of 40 trucks, baby strollers and cradles -- all made by six students in Towson's wood-shop class.