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Wingmen show their true colors
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AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION OF COMPRINT MILITARY PUBLICATIONS AT JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MD.
“Geri-Hatrics” play for love of sport and community
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Max Impact rocks Ft. Belvoir USO Center
FRIDAY, JUNE 14, 2013 | VOL. 2 NO. 22
SCHOOL ENDS ON A SOGGY NOTE
PHOTO/BOBBY JONES
A Geri-Hatrics player prepares to shoot the puck as goalie Uli Boegli prepares to defend during a scrimmage. BY BOBBY JONES
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The locker room rumbles with laughter and sometimes bawdy jokes as senior citizens get ready for hockey practice at The Gardens Ice House in Laurel, Md., taunting and poking fun at one another like childhood rivals. It’s all in the spirit of camaraderie, said Kevin McMahon, team facilitator for the Geri-Hatrics, a senior ice hockey team. “Primarily, we provide a hockey venue that fosters competition, camaraderie and fun for recreational hockey players over 50 years old. We also support several charities including the Washington Ice Dogs, a member of the American Special Hockey Association which provides programs for developmentally challenged children and adults, as well as Hockey 4 Hope, (a program for inner city children in D.C. at Fort DuPont),” said McMahon, an active team player since 2007. “The team name, created by Bill Wellington, team founder, is a play on words - “geriatric” and “hat trick” is when one player scores three goals in one game,” said McMahon. The team competed in the National Senior Winter Olympics held in 2000 at Lake Placid. The 70-year-old category reached its pinnacle of success when it won Olympic gold during the NSG Sept. 2008 in Providence, RI. The team motto, “You’re Never Too Old!” appears the moment the seasoned players hit the ice, with boisterous chatter and congratulatory pats on the back after completing an intricate, synchronized play. Even the
team’s jersey’s is light-hearted: the playful logo displays a set of dentures biting down on a hockey stick. Among the more than 100 veteran hockey team members, several played on college or club teams, organized leagues and semi-pro level teams. Many have more than 40 years of experience on the ice. One member stands out due to his speed and experienced play. Alan Hangleben, a former Washington Capitals defenseman now on the Geri-Hatricks 60s team roster, generously loans his pro skills to the highly seasoned team. “It’s great to play with these guys, because their attitudes are great and I enjoy the camaraderie,” said Hangleben. “I just assist the guys by getting them into position so they can score a goal, or give them a pass.” When asked if he was the team ‘ringer,’ Hangleben humbly noted, “I’m just trying to give back to a game that was so good to me. And some of these guys have only been skating for about four or five years. Some didn’t even start until they were 60,” said Hangleben, also a Los Angeles Kings and Hartford Whalers, National Hockey League veteran. Hangleben was reflective about the toll of injuries that have plagued his post-career health. “I’ve had four knee operations and can’t run anymore. It’s also hard to walk or even go up and down stairs,” said Hangleben. “However, skating has been a good workout for me. There’s no impact or pounding on my knees like with running,
PHOTO/BOBBY JONES
An Imagine Andrews Public Charter School student scurries happily through a downpour.
Suitland Bog a hideaway for rare, carnivorous plants BY CHRIS BASHAM STAFF WRITER
see HOCKEY, page 5
Dances with weeds BY MELINA MESHAKO
UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND EXTENSION MASTER GARDENER PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY
Just call me “Weed Dancer.” I have a lot of plants in my yard that others disparage as weeds. I enjoy the summer splash of flowering color with nectar that benefits the bees and the butterflies. This year, I’m more than dancing in my weeds. I’m attempting to identify them and learning a few facts and surprises about weeds.
Lesson one:
Calling a plant a weed is subjective. Your preferences
determine whether a plant is weed and then whether it’s good or bad. The National Park Service’s book, “Plant Invaders of Mid-Atlantic Natural Areas,” says that the term “weed” is a subjective word used to describe any plant growing wherever someone wishes it did not; can include native and non-native plants.” With that definition, my blue-eyed star grass is a welcomed yard guest; the Japanese maple seedling growing inches from the driveway is a weed. This was not what you expected, was it? I’ll make weeding simple
see WEEDS, page 7
PHOTO/CHRIS BASHAM
Senior Park Ranger and Suitland Bog Manager Chris Garrett checks for Common Pitcher Plant Mosquito larvae inside a pitcher plant. The larvae live inside the plant’s pitcher, nourished by the carcasses of insects which are, unlike this nonbiting mosquito, dissolved by enzymes secreted by the plant.
Turn onto Suitland Road just outside the base and it feels as if you’re going from bustling military installation straight to the heart of the city. If you don’t slow your roll, that’s exactly what will happen. Stop on the way, instead, at the Suitland Bog Natural Area for a quiet walk through an unusual habitat for more than 300 species of plants, some of which are on the Maryland Natural Heritage Program’s list of rare, threatened or endangered species. Classified as a Maryland Coastal Plain bog, the Suitland Bog is one of perhaps 30 northern hillside bogs in the area. Unlike a true bog, generally found in New England or northern Europe, northern hillside bogs are not kept wet only by the rain. Fed by underground aquifers that collect in pools, the bog remains moist and in some areas wet throughout the year. That makes it the perfect environment for plants not often seen in drier areas; carnivorous pitcher plants, tall Royal ferns, tiny rose pogonia orchids, native azaleas, sweet bay magnolias and twisted ground rushes thrive there. Bogs like the one at Suitland
see BOG, page 7