Recreation

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.VA. -- Four people attended a public meeting this week to discuss the Berkeley Springs Bike and Skate Park (BS2) that is to be built at Harmison Field on Ewing Street. The meeting was sponsored by Morgan County Parks and Recreation. Liz Kerns, a Berkeley Springs High School senior and reporter for West Virginia Teen Zine, an online magazine, asked if local businesses would be able to advertise with signs on the fence around the park. Bruce Beadenkopf, acting director of Parks and Recreation, said the fence will be used for advertising for a yearly fee.  Kylea Hauser, a seventh-grader from Warm Springs Middle School, wanted to know if skateboarding equipment could be rented at the park and if a snack bar would be available.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Corky Wilt is in a wheelchair after having a stroke, but wouldn't let anyone help him Saturday during the sixth annual Road to Freedom 5k Walk, Run or Roll event. Instead, he used one arm to maneuver his wheelchair along the 5-kilometer (3.1-mile) course at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, taking a little more than an hour and five minutes to finish. The event drew 107 runners and another 40 or so people who walked or rolled on part or all of the course.

BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - Rankin Physical Therapy is growing into a new building and expanding to include a wellness and recreation center. Built on 2 1/2 acres on Southridge Drive behind the West Virginia State Police barrack in Berkeley Springs, the facility is expected to open in early January. Owner Kelly Rankin said he saw the need for a preventive-care and comprehensive wellness program in Berkeley Springs. The 17,890-square-foot building will include a gym, regulation-size basketball court for intramural sports, space for recreational dance classes and yoga and exercise classes, "and a lot more," Rankin said.

RANSON, W.Va. - Coming to a field near you: semipro football. Ranson City officials and owners of a three-year-old semipro football team that has been playing in Berryville, Va., worked on details Monday night to allow the team to begin playing at the Charles C. Marcus Field behind The Marketplace at Potomac Towne Center along the Charles Town Bypass in Ranson. The Valley Tigers have been playing their games at Clarke County High School in Berryville but were forced to look for a new field because increased use of the Berryville facility by other sports programs, said Anthony Burgess, owner and chief executive officer of the team.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - What began in the 1980s as an idea to create a larger park in Antrim Township has turned into a multiphase project on 136 acres. Land development and engineering for Phases 3, 4 and 5 of Antrim Township Community Park on Grant Shook Road are in the final stages, Antrim Township Manager Ben Thomas said. "Once the land development plan goes through, the goal would be to bid the project this fall," Thomas said. According to Thomas, the next round of work on the park will include the additions of baseball and softball fields, additional parking and increased green space for athletic and recreational activities.

SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. -- The strains of "Bye Bye Love" greeted patrons Saturday afternoon as they walked up from the jammed lower parking lot to the pavilion at Morgan's Grove Park for the Panhandle Earth Day Celebration. It wasn't Don and Phil belting out the Everly Brothers hit, just Greg and Sam, but their rendition sounded remarkably familiar. Greg Lloyd and Sam Felkner, well-known in local musical circles, were among seven groups, from duets to bands, who performed music for the afternoon-long event.

A Tomstown Road resident on Monday became the first person to receive permission to do metal detecting in Washington Township, Pa., parks since the township supervisors placed restrictions on the activity. Dave Shifflett told the Washington Township Supervisors he enjoys using his metal detector to search for coins he gives his grandson. Last week, the supervisors enacted a ban on metal detecting in municipal parks. That ban included a caveat that individuals wanting to do metal detecting could seek permission to do so for a year if they promise to follow certain guidelines.

JUNE 13, 1966-JUNE 30, 2010 BERKELEY SPRINGS, W.Va. - Donal Lee Sherrard Jr., 44, of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., died Wednesday, June 30, 2010, at Winchester (Va.) Medical Center. Born June 13, 1966, in Amherst, Ohio, he was the son of Kathryn Ann Kropf Sherrard of Hedgesville, W.Va., and the late Donal Lee Sherrard Sr. He was a Christian. He earned a bachelor of science degree in Parks and Recreation and had worked as a naturalist at Cacapon State Park. He retired, due to disability, from FedEx, where he had worked as a forklift operator.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Chambersburg CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Chambersburg youth can no longer say they have no place to go and nothing to do. The Wolf Den, a club for youth ages 15 to 21, opened its doors at 3 p.m. Monday on the corner of South Fourth Street and Stanley Avenue just in time to catch the after-school crowd. "I want this to be an exclusive under-21 club - a classy club - someplace where they (teens) can be proud to be," said Dan Fry, who operates the club with his wife, Donna.

Tri-State-area communities will be remembering those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom this weekend by hosting ceremonies, services, parades and speakers. Events in Franklin County and West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle include: Berkeley County, W.Va. In Martinsburg, W.Va., the traditional Memorial Day service at War Memorial Park along North Tennessee Avenue will begin at 10 a.m., according to Steve Catlett, executive director of the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks & Recreation Board.