Indoors

The Boonsboro girls stunned everyone, including themselves, last winter by placing second in the Class 1A team standings at the Maryland state indoor track and field meet. After all, this was the same team that had just finished third in the West region after placing fourth at the Washington County championships and sixth at the MVAL Antietam meet. A second-place finish at states this winter, however, might be disappointing for the Boonsboro girls, who won't surprise anyone this season if they're successful.

SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. -- Parents, friends, faculty, staff and fellow graduates. They never thought this day would come. But as they sat stacked floor to ceiling sitting on hard bleachers and folding chairs to watch their loved ones step across the threshold of tomorrow, the feeling was mutual. "We love you honey! You did it! Whooo!" Heiges Field House echoed Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with screams, calls and tears of family and friends for the 2008 spring graduates of Shippensburg University.

Q: We are redoing my mother's house at the beach and plan to use ceramic tile all through the first floor, including the porch, living room and dining/kitchen area. Can we use the same tile outside as we do inside? Should it all match, or would it be too "busy" to mix-up colors since the three areas flow into each other? A: There usually is a difference between indoor ceramic tiles and those that can take the outdoors, where the freeze-thaw cycle can cause grout cracking and crumbling.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com ZULLINGER, Pa. - The building housing the former Doris I. Billow Ice Arena will get new life Dec. 1 when it reopens as an indoor tennis court. William H. Wissinger of Chambersburg, Pa., has leased the 38,000-square-foot building at 4880 Buchanan Trail East, Pa. 16, from two area businessmen, Joseph Tice, a certified public accountant, and Chris Lombardozzi, owner of a stair-making and millworking shop, who bought it at a July public auction for $400,000.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Play miniature golf at Waynesboro Family Billiards & Arcade and your ball, a waterfall and a volcano that it rolls past, even your pen and scorecard, glow in the dark. The course is illuminated with lasers, a new technology for the Tri-State area, said Shawn Robinson, owner of the billiard parlor/arcade at 118 Walnut St. in space once occupied by a former outlet barn. Robinson moved his business there in September from 406 E. Main St. when that building was sold.

Indoor Track Notebook - Frey goes out a winner Boonsboro senior Jenn Frey had high hopes coming into this year, and why not? She was coming off state championships in the girls high jump both indoors and outdoors during her junior year. Unfortunately, Frey's season - and with it, her high school career - has come to an end. Frey will have surgery to repair a torn ligament in her right ankle on Feb. 9, effectively putting her on the shelf for the rest of the year.

CALEDONIA STATE PARK, Pa. - For a certified nature nut and a card-carrying member of every tree-hugger society this side of the Sierra Nevadas, I have an atypically uneasy relationship with camping. I like the idea of camping - woods, streams, mountains, Bigfoot. But there are certain elements and logistics and traditions of camping that I consider to be hideous abominations that no man should have to bear. For instance, a campfire is a wondrous and magnificent thing. Why anyone would want to sully it up with singing and that atrocity the marshmallow is beyond my understanding.

If you're like me, you get a little blue in the winter. Gardeners cry out for color, craving things that are green and alive. Coaxing flowering branches to bloom early in your home is a wonderful antidote to the winter doldrums. You can have armfuls of sunny forsythia, snow white spirea and pink cherry blossoms in just a few weeks. Best of all, the process of "forcing" branches is easy, requires no fancy tools and is perfect for beginners. The secret to forcing branches to flower lies in tricking plants into thinking it's spring.

PREP INDOOR TRACK Clear Spring Invitational at HAGERSTOWN COMM. COLLEGE Girls Teams: 1. Fallston 74.5; 2. Urbana 73.5; 3. Thomas Johnson 61.5; 4t. Boonsboro 44.5; 4t. Middletown 44.5; 6. Walkersville 41.5; 7. Williamsport 34.33; 8. South Carroll 27; 9. Tuscarora 25; 10. Clear Spring 17; 11. Brunswick 14; 12. Century 12.33; 13t. North Hagerstown 10; 13t. Linganore 10; 15. South Hagerstown 8; 16. Smithsburg 5; 17. St....

Northern Middle School Indoor Guard, in conjunction with Roy Rogers, will host a "Family Night" at the 1719 Massey Blvd. Roy Rogers Restaurant in Hagerstown, Wednesday, Dec. 17, from 5 to 8 p.m. The purpose of the fundraiser is to raise money for equipment and competition costs for the Northern Middle School Indoor Guard. Roy Rogers will donate 25 percent of the proceeds generated to the school. The donation is based on the number of guests that come into the restaurant to support the school the night of the fundraiser.