The groups joined at the MariElders Center for an ice cream party last week.

        “We had a great time,” said Barbara Anderson, director of the MariElders Senior Center. “We had a lot of ice cream with gooey toppings and lots of games. We made the name tags in different colors to correspond with tables. To get them to mingle, they had to sit at the table with the same color of their name tags.”

        MariElders represents about 700 seniors from Fairfax, Mariemont, Terrace Park, Columbia Township and Madison Place.

        Mrs. Anderson said she organized the meeting as a follow-up to the Neighbor to Neighbor meetings.

        “I think the Neighbor to Neighbor meetings were good, but it was a lot of talk. I am a doer, not a talker. We have also planned a trip together to the Argosy Riverboat,” she said.

        The Cincinnati Recreation Commission is opening a community center in Madisonville at the end of this month.

        “I have volunteered to serve food for them during their grand opening,” Mrs. Anderson said.

        Marcella Kershaw, of the Madisonville Seniors Club, said the ice cream gathering was a great idea to get the two groups together.

        “Everybody had a good time,” Mrs. Kershaw said. “We are looking forward to doing more things together. I think we can find a lot of mutual interesting things to do.”

        Several of the seniors from the MariElders Center and Madisonville also went to the Billy Graham Mission on Sunday night.

        The Cincinnati Park Board is inviting urban children to participate in the Nature Next Door program.

        The program is designed to help urban children learn about and appreciate the wonders of nature that exist in their nearby neighborhood parks, said Stephen Imwalle, a naturalist for the Cincinnati Park Board.

        The Cincinnati Health Department is collaborating with the Park Board to provide nutrition, safety and healthful living information.

        Neighborhood kids are invited to drop by Inwood Park on Vine Street, just south of McMillan in Mount Auburn, from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., on Mondays July 8-29. There will be canoeing in the park's reflection pool Monday.

        The program will be at the Bond Hill Park on Yarmouth Street from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesdays, today through July 31, and at Martin Luther King Park, Reading Road in Avondale, from 10 to 11 a.m. Thursdays, July 11 through Aug. 1.

        “We usually draw about a 100 kids a day,” Mr. Imwalle said. “We invite more kids to come on out and learn more about nature in the parks.”

        Allen Howard's “Some Good News” column runs daily except Saturday. If you have suggestions about outstanding achievements, or people who are uplifting to the Tristate, let him know at 768-8362, e-mail ahoward@enquirer.com or by fax at 768-8340.
       

Children's joins anti-terror fight
Gun robberies soar in Cincinnati
Lazy? Crazy? It's just hot
Singers seek gay support
Collector fired up about cannon
July Fourth events
New dialysis procedure promising
New rules aid organ donations
Obituary: Donn Hershberger, mentor to many
Tristate A.M. Report
Tristate native helps balloonist's Internet site fly
BRONSON: Fireworks
HOWARD: Some Good News
KORTE: City Hall
SAMPLES: Bee facts
SMITH AMOS: Drive-by heartbreak
Don't let commuter train bypass us, Hamilton says
Hot rod racer in drug trouble
Jury returns today in sex-with-teen case
Liberty Twp. seeks money for firehouse
Pizza maker accused of illegal 'toppings'
Union Centre gets new project
Warren GOP fretting about state races
Ohio Lottery sales up $68M for year
Schlichter's brother running for state House
Tobacco on county flag draws flak
Auto buyers owed
New lease on life for Dry Ridge outlet center
Town fired up over July 4