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Page 10, PHOENIX, May 2, 1974The Volleyball Connection:BadBY EILEEN BLAIRSunday was a real fine day. I had planted the flowerboxes with brave geraniums acquired at Saturday%u2019s Willowtown Street Fair; I had casually perused the Sunday Times and made a dent in the crossword puzzle; and 1 had downed three cups of coffee as a delay tactic-all before 11 a.m. fi was time to pull out the ol%u2019 Raleigh Three Speed (I%u2019ll tackle a Ten Speed in my next life.), dust it off and get on with Enjoying-This-BeautifulDay.The tires needed air after five months of dormancy so I headed to a gas station. The first one had No Air (whaddaya mean, buddy, odd or even), but 1 had more success at the next one on Columbia Street. Initially, I over-reacted and put in enough air for a Mack Truck, but ol%u2019 Nellie bucked and I deflated her a bit, thanked the attendant for his commiserative eyebrowknitting and, as they say, moved out.Some side street meandering brought me face to face with a stickball game. With clever maneuvering (is there any other kind) I managed to avoid second base, a spinning fast ball and a feverishly flung bat, only to catch a discarded soda bottle in my spoke network. These Raleighs really stop on a dime. I picked myself up off the charming, brownstone-lined street, felt nervously for my two front teeth (intact, whew!), and tried to muster up some cool, feeling like a fugitive from a pinball machine.Day for Uneasy RiderWhen the stickball game spectators finally finished guffawing, chivalry (or chauvinism, if you prefer) got the better of them and they ambled over to inquire after my health. %u201c Just fine.%u201d 1 gave them my ears-are-on-tootight grin and continued to puzzle over my rather pained looking front fender. With the help of my new-found friends, all was soon in order and I was off in death-defying second gear.The sun was shining benevolently as I headed over to Union Street in a direct flight pattern to Prospect Park. Tooling merrily (the only way to tool) over the Union Street Bridge, I made a mental note to review all those visionary articles I%u2019ve been reading about the Gowanus Canal. I figured I must have missed something. But I didn%u2019t have much time for reverie.I soon found myself plunk in the middle of a rather elabora te -lo o k in g e n to u r a g e trimmed in crepe paper and trumpeting madly with melbdic honking. A wedding party! Freshly divorced, I saw this situation had all the makings of a mini-trauma, so I quickly shifted into third and beat it across 4th Avenue. Spaasky and Fischer would have marvelled over that maneuver. 1 hit the Slope about the time my two-pack-a-day habit hit me. A pit stop before I take on the mountain.The final leg of my journey, Prospect Park. I was on my last legs too. A quick inventory of twitching musclessignalled Out-of-Shape. But I kept up a brave front, pedalling languidly through car-less Prospect Park. What did I care if all those vital 8-yearolds labeled me a tortoise. They don%u2019t know what trouble I seen. And besides, vitality isonly a phase-they%u2019ll outgrow it.When no one was looking, I dragged my Raleigh off the path and settled on a little knoll to take in some volleyball. Two games were in progress and 1 knew immediately there was a duality afoot (as well as several leashless dogs, a few small children, and a recorder player or two).To my left was A Meaningful Volleyball Game, with official rules and officious national-fraternity types in well-appointed funk, playing like it was a three-credit course. To my right was A Light and Frivolous Volleyball Game-the court looked like Times Square on New Year%u2019s Eve, and the ball seemed to be kept aloft by sheer laughter.The sun was beating down. My eyes dimmed. It seemed as if my life was passing in front of me allegorically. The %u201c private%u201d game, so deemed by one young man of serious, purposeful mien as he moved counterclockwise to serve, represented routine and conformity, the workaday world. The %u201c public%u201d game conjured up by ghosts of college days%u2019 unstructured fun and frolic. I heard voices. %u201c Life is a Volleyball Game, Type A or Type B. You must choose.%u201dSteadying my head against my ground-hugging bike, I found myself peering into the rheumy, questioning eyes of a large-ish Saint Bernard. I had been out in the sun too long. Too much of a good thing is counter-productive. Who needs reality-checks when you have Alistair Cooke and %u201c Upstairs, Downstairs%u2019\I reasoned profusely. As I remounted my bike and began pedaling homeward furiously, I determined to invest heavily in sharpened pencils, crossword puzzles, and a good chaise longue.JHS 142 StudentWins First PlaceAmong 2Some of the Items on sale at the St. Ann%u2019s Auction.St. Ann Schedules AuctionAn example of what makes it %u201c all worth while\15's Community School Board meeting last night, says Board President Philip Kaplan who introduced a charming ninth grader, Rose Bellido, as the winner of New York City%u2019s %u201c Future Teacher's%u201d Award at the Board%u2019s April 24 meeting.Miss Bellido, a student at Junior High School 142 on Henry Street, w'on $125. for placing first among 220,000 students from New York%u2019s 167 junior high schools. Junior High School 142 has had two first place winners in the past four years (and one second place winner).The teacher in charge of the Future Teacher%u2019s Club, Mr. Gerald Shmugar, %u201cbeamed with pride%u201d when Kaplan presented Miss Bellido with a certificate, says Kaplan. Scholarship ceremonies were held earlier that day with the Mayor at the Blue Room in City Hall.Kaplan, in acknowledging Rose Bellido%u2019s accomplishment, told her that when she graduated from college and was ready to take her place as a teacher, District 15 would have a job waiting for her. He introduced her to the district representative of the United Federation of Teachers, Mr. RonaldT%u2014 , - J U I I I Y%u201c Mr. and Mrs. Bellido, parents of Rose are to be commended fortheir involvement in the education of their daughter,%u201d Kaplan added. Her parents, the School Board, Principal and teachers in Junior High School 142-all of District 15- feel %u201c we arc doing something right!%u201d he said.PackerSummerProgramTwo teachers at Brooklyn Heights Packer Collegiate Institute, Philippe Maucotel and Michael O%u2019Leary, are organizing a student trip to France this summer from June 17 to July 25 and announce they are taking applications for the trip.Boys and girls from 14 to 18 years are eligible for the trip. Three weeks of residence with selected French tamtiies near Fans and two weeks of camping aqd bicycling through the Rhone Valley of Southern France are on the itinerary. This summer program is an expansion of the very successful abroad program Maucotel has been conducting the past four years for Packer%u2019s Winter Term in France.Per further information, brorhi:rc:; arc cvcllcblc bv wrb**1.0 Mr Maucotel at Packer, 170 Joralemon St. Brooklyn 11201.You can tell it%u2019s Springtime in Brooklyn Heights: the trees aregreen, the bikes are out, and St. Ann%u2019s Auction is on again! The date to remember is Saturday, May 4, when hundreds of different and delightful goods and services will go on the block.You%u2019ll be able to bid on a walk-on part in CBS-TV%u2019s %u201c Love of Life%u201d ... or a magnificent 18th-century French oak armoire...a Mar Ray lithograph...a basketball autographed by the Knirks a +<-;%u2022 - of %u201c Sesame Street%u201d for two lucky kids. Or maybe you%u2019d like to try forseveral weeks in a villa in Spain...a weekend for two in New York%u2019s posh Lombardy H otel...a 19thcentury sterling silver chalice...or a marveious puppei stage, curtained, decorated, and peopled with puppets.%u201c Whatever your taste, whatever the state of your checkbook, there%u2019s bound to be something for you at Bids, Bargains & Banquet,%u201d says a spokesman for the school%u2019s P.f.A.The gala evening begins at 6, when the bar opens and items may he previewed. Bidding begins promptly at 7 o%u2019clock. There wifi be a Banquet-in-a-Box break from 8 to9 (a movable feast complete with wine; by reservation only; call UL 2-2656), after which bidding will resume. Refreshments are availauic throughout ihe evening. Previews will be held also on Friday, May 3, from 2 to 6, and on the day of the auction, May 4, from10 to 1 o%u2019clock.Catalogs may be bought at the door. They are two dollars and are your ticket of admission. Ail profits from the evening go to the Scholarship Fund. St. Ann%u2019s School is at 129 Pierrepont Street corner of Clinton, in Brooklyn Heights; and the public is invited.