THIS IS a time of change in seasons, sports and life, and thus, a chance to be a bit reflective, as well as forward-looking. A sample of each:
Looking back: We apply a liberal definition here to the word "play," understanding that some of you don't consider hiking a good fit with team and individual sports in which scores are kept. But walk eight to 15 miles, even on a surface as flat and trying on the feet as the otherwise lovely Chesapeake and Ohio Canal towpath, and you'll know that hiking rates as both a competitive and enjoyable experience.
We were reminded sadly of that last week with the passing of Ellicott City's Bob Hickerson, 64, because of a brain tumor diagnosed in May.
Hickerson's professional accomplishments, which were many, were documented in this newspaper last Monday. But we want to focus on his standing as one of many unsung volunteers of long standing in this county's recreational activities.
We're not alone in having often repeated mini-history lessons learned at Hickerson's heels during a series of C&O; Canal hikes conducted annually by the Howard County Department of Recreation and Parks.
"The canal hikes were Bob's idea," said Bill Eckert, the rec department's budget analyst these days, but in 1980 the outdoor-activities coordinator.
That was when Chuck Fouke, another department employee and avid outdoorsman, suggested that the department break the Appalachian Trail's 42 Maryland miles into a series of hikes that relatively fit folks could finish.
Hickerson became an early participant and in the late 1980s, Eckert said, suggested adding the C&O; Canal and then helped make that happen. The hikes are still happening.
Hickerson had prowled some of the canal while growing up, a son said, and hiked it often on his own and with Boy Scouts, long before the county series began. He knew intriguing stuff about its 184 miles - every turn, every long-abandoned bridge footing, all the floods, even violent clashes between immigrants who made the canal one of the 19th-century's engineering marvels.
Hikes we remember him leading include one overnighter on a crisp, gorgeous fall weekend that provided one of the more exotic outdoor experiences Maryland has to offer.
That would be trekking the canal towpath through the 3,118-foot-long Paw Paw Tunnel in Western Maryland, letting our fingers trail along what Hickerson told us were the original chestnut railings, and wondering if that pin-prick of light at the far end would ever, please, get larger.
The original hikes drew maybe eight or nine participants, Eckert recalled, but these days, the number is more like 40. Which means Hickerson shared his love of history and the outdoors with a lot of people.
A photo prominent during his memorial service Tuesday at St. Louis Catholic Church in Clarksville spoke volumes about that aspect of the man known professionally as an engineer for defense contractors who along the way had earned four master's degrees.
The picture was of Hickerson in a rec and parks volunteer's shirt and cap, with a favorite overlook from one of his Western Maryland hikes in the background.
Looking forward: The county's largest youth basketball program, run by the Howard County Youth Program, is about to get a new volunteer leader.
Ellicott City's Jeff Loveless, who has been basketball commissioner for three years, is moving on, said the organization's president, Howard Carolan. Loveless' experience and love for the sport - he still plays, along with coaching and administering - will be guiding HCYP's eight-team travel program this winter.
"You meet a lot of good people," said Loveless of his tenure as commissioner. But he won't miss the frustrations, either - of "sometimes having to tell friends no" and, especially, "the biggest problem, gym time."
"The county just doesn't give us usable time. ... There's definitely a better way because the system being used [by the school system, especially] is antiquated. ... But there's a reluctance to change the system."
Carolan said the broader, busier chores of commissioner will be assumed, subject to anticipated board approval, by Terry Teeters, another veteran coach and former official in the sport.
"I was a referee for several years out of college," said Teeters, 45, who lives in Ellicott City and is the father of four young athletes, the eldest a freshman lacrosse player at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa.
Teeters owns a business that serves car dealers. He has been in HCYP about 10 years.
"This is the hectic time," he said, "trying satisfy people and get teams and leagues settled. I guess I'm spending about 20 hours a week right now, mostly on the telephone. But once we get going, that'll ease up."
Call the writer at 410-332-6525 or send e-mail to lowell.sunderland@baltsun.com.