WITH THE crack of baseball bats just a few months away, some local organizations have combined efforts to create a new baseball club for kids in Pasadena.

The Pasadena Baseball Club is the cooperative effort of four local groups: Havenwood Little League; Pasadena Clinic League; Riviera Clinic League; and Riviera Little League.

Tom Caines, the group's spokesman, said the new club was formed in response to changing demographics and boundaries in the Pasadena area.

"All of the clubs have experienced a problem with offering young players a comprehensive program," Caines said. "We found a lot of duplication in a number of areas, including competing for players, problems with getting fields, and volunteers."

The plans for consolidating the four groups began more than 18 months ago.

"It just seemed to be an idea whose time had come," said Fred Engel, the president of Pasadena Baseball Club. The club hopes to serve 600 to 800 area children.

Caines explained that the new baseball club will offer more teams for all ages and competition levels, from tee ball through select and travel teams. The only drawback for some players could be the loss of Little League teams in the area, he said. "There is a sense of loss leaving Little League, but we will still offer players competitive baseball teams under Chesapeake Baseball Association rules," he said.

With baseball signup dates scheduled for Jan. 18, 25 and Feb. 1 at Sunset Elementary School, the new club is busy filing positions on its board of directors and making plans for Opening Day.

"We're really excited about the new club and the chance to build a better baseball program," Caines said.

Information: 410-255-7229.

Preschool enrollment

Community Christian preschool and kindergarten will begin open enrollment for the 2002-2003 school year from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 27. Enrollment will continue until all classes are filled.

The school is accredited by the state Department of Education.

Tuition ranges from $90 to $175 per month.

A nonrefundable registration fee of $40 is required.

Information: 410-255-9250.

Giving thanks

With this, my last regular column, I must take a little space to give thanks for 12 great years.

To Candy, Jill, Joel, David, Jay, Mark, Norm and a host of copy editors uptown, thanks for making my copy read much better than I wrote.

To my regular contributors, who faithfully shared Pasadena-area news with me by telephone, mail or e-mail, thanks for giving me the opportunity to pass along your news to the community.

To my family, thanks for serving as my unpaid staff for so many years.

And finally, to readers of this column, thanks for taking time to read what I have written.

I might be back as a freelance contributor, who knows? But until then, that's all, folks!