Ymca

Gone are the days when the family piled into the car and drove off willy-nilly, selecting roadside motels or cabins as they appeared. The tourist cabins on the blue highways are big resorts now, and in summer almost everything requires a reservation.There are still economical ways to find housing on the road, although these, too, require planning ahead: in college dormitories vacated by their school-year inhabitants; hostels, either linked to an association or free-standing; and Y's or other youth-oriented organizations with downtown buildings.

LITTLE VOICES AND little gifts were plentiful at the Westminster Nursing and Convalescent Center and the Deerfield Senior Day Center on Friday, thanks to preschoolers with the YMCA Chipmunks program.After months of rehearsals, the youngsters belted out some of the season's best songs. They gave plenty of hugs and "Merry Christmas" wishes, too.Then they distributed handmade gift bags filled with potpourri and toiletries to all the residents and enjoyed milk and cookies and warm conversations until it was time to go. This was the fourth year the preschool program has shared holiday cheer.

A new partnership between Carroll County General Hospital and local fitness facilities may have more seniors discovering that fitness can be fun.Beginning Aug. 30, seniors can take two exercise classes and enjoy pool time at the YMCA whether they are members or not.Many senior citizens and active older adults have already discovered that it's easier to get into shape while dancing to Lawrence Welk's "Bubbles in the Wine," or doing the cha-cha.Forget the "no pain, no gain" theory. With classes that cater to their individual goals and limitations, participants say they can focus on having fun.Some class members do the arm exercises while sitting in a chair.

Seeking to preserve "the ghost of the stadium," Baltimore architect Paul Marks has presented a city panel with a detailed concept design for a senior housing community and a YMCA on the Memorial Stadium site in North Baltimore.Standing empty, the storied stadium is due to be demolished next year. In May, the city selected a proposal for an affordable retirement community for about 500 people as the best use of the 29-acre parcel.Neighborhood leader Barbara Ruland this week praised the design, created by Marks for Govans Ecumenical Development Corp.

WORTON -- There's something about YMCA Camp Tockwogh. Kids have been bunking in rough cabins at the 303-acre preserve in northern Kent County for 60 years. Many of them never really leave.Year after year, sometimes generation after generation, they return as counselors or administrators to pass on the outdoors experience to 2,000 youngsters every sun-drenched summer.This week, 135 staff members have been sweeping out the cobwebs, sanding boats and completing last-minute training before 400 campers arrive Sunday for the first of the season's five sessions.

Mount Airy residents who want a community recreation program could bring in the Carroll County YMCA or start a town-sponsored program.Those options were scheduled for discussion last night at a meeting of Mount Airy Parks and Recreation Commission and officials from the Frederick and Carroll counties' YMCAs and Westminster's recreation program.A Mount Airy citizens committee hopes to have a recreation program started by September and would like to open a recreation center with a swimming pool.

"LIKE the gutter rat lurking in the rubble of a drug-filled life, I searched through the heap of human waste for someone to release me from the maze I was trapped in. Somehow I had gotten lost and I couldn't get out."From "The Spider, the Web, and Me" by Darcel Harris, 1992.When Harris stumbled into Westminster in 1990, she carried her beautiful 8-month-old daughter, Martha, and all the ugliness that came with her drug addiction and alcoholism.Poverty, loneliness, and fear haunted her. But as she traveled up Route 26 and into a Lutheran church, she was determined to crawl back to a life that offered more hope.

ROD HODGES, captain of the Gators swim team at the Howard County YMCA for the past two years, has been accepted by the Naval Academy for next year.Along the way, Hodges qualified for the South District Championship and the East Field Regional Championship in 1995, 1996 and 1997. He qualified for YMCA's Long Course Nationals in 1996 and 1997, and for the YMCA Short Course Nationals this year.He has been honored as the YMCA Youth Volunteer of the Year for 1996 and 1997. He was also a member of the National Honor Society in 1996 and 1997 at Howard High School.

Earth Day celebrants at Carroll Community College last weekend had to imagine a nature trail as they hiked through a field, woods and crossed a stream.But before Earth Day 1998, they'll be able to see the trail.A committee has been working since 1993 to build a hiking, jogging and nature appreciation trail that will run from the Carroll County YMCA south of Westminster north to Westminster High School. The committee includes representatives from the community college, Robert Moton Elementary School, the YMCA and county government.

The Carroll County Family YMCA kicked off a $50,000 fund-raising drive yesterday designed to provide services and facilities to children and families who can't afford to pay for them.About 50 of the more than 70 volunteers who will raise the money for the "Partner With Youth" campaign heard Executive Director David Stevenson outline an array of programs in child care, day camp, teen services, swimming lessons, health and fitness, and family enrichment that the money will support."Carroll County is blessed with many generous individuals and organizations who feel that the YMCA is providing wholesome, effective, well-run programs that meet the many different needs of youths and families," Stevenson said.

The teenage campers huddled together to boost one of their own over a wooden beam 8 feet above the ground. The goal: Get everyone over it without falling. Heaviest and tallest went first, so they could support the lighter ones on the other side. The strongest person, who could climb over by himself, went last. "We didn't have any rush-ins and failures," counselor Kyle Felix told the group, before congratulating them on a job well- done. The group of 14 teens are in the middle of a new two-week, leadership-in-training program at Camp Letts in Edgewater, run by the YMCA of Metropolitan Washington.

Man killed by train is identified Police have identified the man who was fatally struck by a freight train Wednesday night as Don Sherman, 40, of the 9600 block of Conmar Road in Middle River. Investigators were trying yesterday to determine why Sherman was on the CSX tracks at Middle River Road and Pulaski Highway, said Cpl. Michael Hill, a police spokesman. The accident occurred about 8:50 p.m. Wednesday, he said. Maryland Frederick Ex-YMCA worker charged in abuse Police in Frederick have charged a former YMCA child-care worker with second-degree child abuse and second-degree assault.

I "ran across" Lloyd Keaser on Sunday, but not, thank God, in the way Irv Johnson "ran across" Keaser 40 years ago. The school year 1967-1968 found me having some way bungled my way onto City College's wrestling team. I didn't make the team because of talent. I made it because, obviously, City head wrestling coach Clark Hudak lowered his standards considerably. I was 135 pounds of distinctly non-athletic skin and bones, which allowed me to compete in the 127- and 133-pound weight classes.

As the lyrics say: "It's fun to stay at the YMCA." No, really. Far from the urban recreation centers or all-male dormitories that many Americans think of, a handful of year-round historic YMCA resorts that once catered to summering families and religious retreats have become today's little-known outdoor gems. Though most of the 2,663 U.S. branches of the YMCA, or Young Men's Christian Association, are local community centers that focus on providing after-school activities and fitness facilities for members, several Y's are lodge-based camps in coveted vacation spots such as the Colorado Rockies and Keanae, along the winding coast road to Hana on the Hawaiian island of Maui.

For six years, Richard Hammond has worked out at the Howard County YMCA four to five times a week, putting up with older equipment and a crowded facility. "The air conditioning works off and on, and this place is getting more and more members. After January 1st, when everyone decides to get in shape for the year, this place gets packed," Hammond said. By spring, however, his patience will be rewarded. Targeting a March 2008 completion date, the YMCA is constructing a 36,000-square-foot facility that will more than double the size of the "Y."

A large playground built in 2005 by more than 2,000 volunteers at the site of the old Memorial Stadium on 33rd Street in Waverly has been closed since Sunday because of a rodent infestation, said a spokeswoman for the YMCA of Central Maryland. Sara I. Milstein, the local YMCA's chief marketing officer, said the playground next to the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg YMCA "will stay closed until we feel that it is treated and is safe. We're not going to expose children to an unsafe environment."

The days when the YMCA of Central Maryland was where people would go for an inexpensive place to stay or to work out in a "dingy" gym or pool are long gone, but that image still persists in many people's minds. The 154-year-old nonprofit wants to change that perception and today will unveil a $1 million marketing campaign it said will portray a more modern and realistic image of the YMCA. The organization is changing its name to Y of Central Maryland. It's also adopting a sleeker logo and a new motto - "If you think we're just a pool, look deeper."

Purple Heart Ride to aid wounded vets The Blue Knights Maryland Chapter IX Law Enforcement Motorcycle Club will hold its third Purple Heart Ride, to benefit the Armed Forces Foundation and wounded veterans at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda and at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington. The ride will be held, rain or shine, at 10 a.m. Sunday, starting at Freedom Park, off Raincliffe Road, in Sykesville. Registration is to begin at 7 a.m. Participants will proceed as a group to the naval hospital to greet troops.

Benefit basket bingo set at the YMCA The YMCA of Central Maryland, Ellicott City Center, will hold its Family Basket Bingo on Friday to benefit its annual giving campaign. Longaberger baskets will be featured. Doors open at 6 p.m.; games begin at 7 p.m. Tickets are available in advance. The YMCA will celebrate "Healthy Kid's Day," a festival focused on family health and fitness, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. Community organizations will provide information and activities that are to include a Moon Bounce, giant obstacle course, minigolf and carnival games.

THE PROBLEM -- The gate to the playground built by more than 2,000 volunteers at Stadium Place, next to the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg YMCA in Waverly, has been padlocked on occasion in the mornings, even though it is supposed to open daily at 8 a.m. THE BACKSTORY -- The 14,000-square-foot playground at the site of the old Memorial Stadium on East 33rd Street cost about $400,000. The money was donated by private businesses and corporations. The YMCA is responsible for maintaining the playground.