Volunteers Needed

Historic Savage Mill, Maryland Public Television and MIX 107.3 FM will hold a "GreenLife Festival" May 2 and 3 to celebrate and instruct participants on going "green" and to raise money for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Events will feature a visit from a MIX 107.3 FM personality, live music, beer tasting by Rams Head Tavern, speakers and exhibitors, "green" offers by merchants at the mill, zip-line rides offered by Terrapin Adventures and a "GreeenScape" art exhibit and auction. An auction and reception are planned May 3 at the Savage Mill Cotton Shed Gallery.

The central library, 10375 Little Patuxent Parkway, will offer "All Together Now," a series of programs of songs, stories and activities for children and adults. All ages are welcome to participate in the 30-minute programs, which begin this week and are offered at 11 a.m. Fridays through March 30; 11 a.m. Saturdays through May 26; and 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Wednesday through May 16. Registration is not required. "Play Partners," a series of programs for infants and toddlers to 23 months with an adult, will be offered at 6:30 p.m. Mondays, March 5 through April 30; and at 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 6 through May 15. The 20- to 30-minute program includes stories, baby games and musical activities, followed by a short play time.

The Yoga Center of Columbia will continue to offer classes at Slayton House on Wilde Lake Village Green. "Baby and Me" is offered at 6:15 p.m. and "Adult Yoga" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesdays. A six-week session is to begin Feb. 20. The cost is $90; $18 to drop in. "Senior Yoga" will be offered from noon to 1:30 p.m. Thursdays, Feb. 22 through March 27. The classes are slower paced and emphasize yogic breathing and stress reduction. The cost is $78 for six weeks or $15 to drop in. Columbia lien payers can request a 10 percent discount.

Slayton House Theatre in Wilde Lake Village Center will show the sixth of nine films in its Marvelous Movies and More film series, the 1955 classic, Rebel Without a Cause, at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Film critic Mike Giuliano will lead a short discussion after the film. Dessert and coffee are provided. The cost is $7; $6 for senior citizens and students. Raffle prizes will be offered, and those who attend are encouraged to bring old tapes, digital video discs, compact discs and books to trade, sell or exchange.

Area schools and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills and to assist in related projects.Among them is:Community College of Baltimore County Continuing Education Office, run through the community college system, which needs volunteers to work with adults in reading, math, General Education Development studies and the English for Speakers of Other Languages program. Tutors receive training in two three-hour classes. They will help others during day or evening hours at locations across the county.

Area schools and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills and to assist in related projects.Among them are:Park Heights Family Support Center, 4236 Pimlico Road, Baltimore, for tutoring of adults in reading and math between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Contact: Perketer Tucker, 410-578-0244.Hampden Family Center, 1104 W. 36th St., for tutoring students of all ages in reading and other subjects, and an after-school enrichment program for ages 7 to 12. Hours are 3 p.m. to 5: 30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.

Area schools and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills and to assist in related projects. Among them is:Lafayette Square Community Center, 1510 W. Lafayette Ave., Baltimore, for an after-school program for elementary- and middle-school pupils. Beginning this month, volunteers will be needed from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays for homework assistance, computer lab and tutoring in areas including language arts, reading comprehension and vocabulary. Contact: Rosalind Griffin, 410-669-6646.

Area schools and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills and to assist in related projects.Among them is:Partnership for Learning, an agency of the Baltimore state's attorney's office, which needs volunteers to work two hours a week with first-time juvenile offenders who have reading difficulties and learning disabilities. A nine-month commitment is necessary. The partnership will train prospective tutors in the multisensory, phonics-based Wilson Learning System of reading instruction, with the next scheduled session from 9 a.m to 3 p.m. Sept.

Schools, libraries and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills and assist in related projects.Among them are:Belmont Elementary School, 1406 N. Ellamont St., to serve as tutors for children in grades one to three weekdays between 8: 15 a.m. and 1 p.m. Contact: Principal Sheila Kolman, 410-396-0579.South Baltimore Learning Center, 28 E. Ostend St., which offers one-on-one tutoring to adults. Volunteers age 18 or older, with a high school diploma or General Educational Development diploma and able to commit at least a year to the program, are sought to tutor students in basic reading, spelling and math.

Area schools and literacy programs seek volunteers to help children and adults improve reading skills and to assist in related projects.Among them are:New Horizons Academy Camp, operated at Baltimore's Montebello Elementary School, 2040 E. 32nd St., by a collaboration of city public schools and Office of Homeless Services, the Center for Poverty Solutions and the YMCA. Volunteers -- including celebrities -- are needed to read to children in the program from 9: 30 a.m. to 10 a.m. Wednesdays, from June 30 to Aug. 18. Contact: Dawn Shirey or Jiovianni Felton, 410-396-6506 or 410-396-6127.

A "Picture Book Parade!" for ages 2-5 with an adult, is offered at 10 a.m. on Tuesday. "Pajama Time" for all ages is at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Pajamas, teddy bears, and blankets welcome. The branch is at 9525 Durness Lane in Laurel. Around town Volunteers needed : The Volunteer Center Serving Howard County, in cooperation with the Community Emergency Response Network, is recruiting community members to assist nonprofit agencies in need of volunteers. 410-715-3179. Figure skating coaches : Special Olympics Howard County is seeking figure skating coaches.

Teachers' workshop : The environmental education office of the Patuxent Research Refuge will offer an orientation to the National Wildlife Visitor Center for teachers Saturday. The cost is $15. The National Wildlife Visitor Center is at 10901 Scarlet Tanager Loop, off Powder Mill Road, between the Baltimore-Washington Parkway and Route 197, south of Laurel. Information or registration: 301-497-5898 or 301-497-5763. Volunteers needed : The Volunteer Center Serving Howard County, in cooperation with the Community Emergency Response Network, is recruiting community members to assist nonprofit agencies in need of volunteers.

Historic Savage Mill, Maryland Public Television and MIX 107.3 FM will hold a "GreenLife Festival" May 2 and 3 to celebrate and instruct participants on going "green" and to raise money for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Events will feature a visit from a MIX 107.3 FM personality, live music, beer tasting by Rams Head Tavern, speakers and exhibitors, "green" offers by merchants at the mill, zip-line rides offered by Terrapin Adventures and a "GreeenScape" art exhibit and auction. An auction and reception are planned May 3 at the Savage Mill Cotton Shed Gallery.

The fifth annual Howard County Student film festival will be held 7:30 p.m. March 27 at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab's Kossiakoff Center in North Laurel. Original family-friendly films made by students around the county will be screened. Door prizes will be awarded to selected members of the audience, and an ice cream social is planned after the screenings. Information: Mary Jane Sasser, River Hill High School, 410-531-4878. Or go to hocofilmfestival.com. Art exhibit The Patuxent Research Refuge is showing work by students from Eleanor Roosevelt High School in Greenbelt at the National Wildlife Visitor Center's Hollingsworth Art Gallery through March 21. The show's theme is wildlife and their natural habitats.

Staff from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, in partnership with the National Park Service and AmeriCorps, will conduct a series of controlled burns on Patuxent Research Refuge lands Saturday through April 15. Burns will be started on the North Tract portion of the refuge, off Route 198 and the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, east of Laurel. Expert fire teams will burn a large field to reduce hazardous fuels, research controlling non-native plants and restore wildlife habitat. A forested unit will be burned to restore a savanna/sandy barrens habitat to benefit rare insects and plants.

The county public school system held the fourth annual Black Saga countywide competition Feb. 7 at Patapsco Middle School. Sixty children representing 15 schools competed and were tested on their knowledge of facts from American history and geography. At the elementary level, Hammond took first place in the competition, followed by Talbott Springs and Ilchester. The members of the Hammond team were Irene Lu, Xiaolu Guo, Mathias Richardson and Pavan Vemulakonda, all fifth-graders. Their advisers were Alicia Marner and Nicola Walker.

Special Olympics Howard County is seeking figure skating coaches. Practices are held from 10 a.m. to 10:50 a.m. Saturdays at The Gardens Ice House, 13800 Old Gunpowder Road, Laurel. Volunteers are also coaches for all-day competitions to be held Feb. 15 and May 17. An orientation session is required. Information: Beth Greenberg, 410-740-0500 or e-mail, bjb410@comcast.net. around town Volunteers needed : The Volunteer Center Serving Howard County, in cooperation with the Community Emergency Response Network, is recruiting members of the community to local nonprofit agencies in need of volunteers.

The Savage branch library, 9525 Durness Lane, will offer free, walk-in blood-pressure screening and monitoring by members of Howard County General Hospital's staff from noon to 3 p.m. Feb. 9. A program on perennial gardening, led by master gardener Drenda Collins, includes discussion of site analysis, plant selection and maintenance, and will be offered at 7 p.m. Feb. 25. Registration begins Feb. 11. Mystery Book Club meets at 7 p.m. the second Wednesday...

Brad Knudsen, manager of the Patuxent Research Refuge, has announced that the National Wildlife Visitor Center will open to the public Jan. 21 after being renovated. Its new heating and ventilation systems are designed to be more energy-efficient and cost-effective. The annual National Wildlife Refuge System birthday celebration will be held March 14 at the visitor center, and the Friends of Patuxent Wildlife Art Show and Sale will be held at the newly renovated facility March 28 and 29. The visitor center will be open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily, except federal holidays.

Volunteers needed : The Volunteer Center Serving Howard County, in cooperation with the Community Emergency Response Network, is recruiting members of the community to local nonprofit agencies in need of volunteers. 410-715-3179. Teen center : Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks has opened Freestyle, a teen drop-in center at Ridgely's Run Community Center, 8400 Mission Road, Jessup. The center, designed by teens for teens, will offer a choice of hanging out with friends, playing basketball and video games, listening to music and other activities.