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A retreat for children whose parents have divorced will be held Saturday at St. Elizabeth School in Rockville.

Sponsored by the Archdiocese of Washington's Office of Family Life, the program will offer young people an arena for discussing their feelings and experiences and teach them coping skills, said retreat presenter Lynn Casella Kapusinski, author and founder of the Ellicott City-based nonprofit Faith Journeys Foundation.

It is open to children of all faiths.

Kapusinski will bring her own experience as a child of divorce to the retreat, she said. She was 11 years old when her parents separated. After going through her own period of denial, adjustment and renewed faith, she established Faith Journeys with the mission of helping children work through their feelings in a peer-support setting and bring God and forgiveness into their lives, she said.

"There was nothing around when I grew up," she said. It was her faith in God that helped her get through the experience of her parents' divorce, she said.

Kapusinski is also the author of "Now What Do I Do? A Guide to Help Teenagers with Their Parents' Separation or Divorce," "Making Your Way After Your Parents Divorce" and "When Parents Divorce ... How to Comfort Tees and Young Adults."

She hopes the retreat will become "a healing day" for the young people who attend.

To register, visit the archdiocese's "News and Events" page at www.adw.org/news. For more information, call the Office of Family Life at 301-853-5337 or Kapusinski at 410-744-0305.

St. Elizabeth School is located at 917 Montrose Road.

All aboard in Rockville

The Rockville Lions Club will hold its 19th Annual Model Train Show Saturday and Sunday at the Rockville Senior Center, 1150 Carnation Drive.

The Train Show is one of the club's primary fundraising events and provides a setting for members to talk with the public about the organization's programs in the community.

"While many organizations solicit donations for efforts far removed from the local community, the Rockville Lions have for more than 71 years supported programs close to home by providing eyeglasses for those that cannot afford them, conducting vision screening for preschool children and sponsoring youth baseball and Scouting programs," said Craig Cano, who oversees the Train Show. "We see ourselves as a partner with the community, relying on its generous support of this show and our December Citrus Fruit Sale to help make Rockville a little better for everyone."

The popular event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

The show features several rooms of large operating displays of model railroads: Z, N, HO and O scales; a garden railway in G-Scale; a Lionel modular setup; and a Lego layout provided by local model railroad associations.

The cost of the show is $5 for adults, $3 for children or $10 maximum for a family, with all net proceeds going to support the club's charitable efforts. For more information and directions to the show, visit the www.rockvillelions.org.

Book discussion to focus

on American president

Rockville Friends of the Library will feature author David Stewart discussing his newest book, "Impeached — The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy," at 7 p.m. Thursday.

The book begins in 1864 when Lincoln decided to replace Hannibal Hamlin, his vice president, with Johnson, a Tennessean, in an effort to promote national unity, the library reports. Johnson was a Democrat from a secessionist state, although he had stood loyally by the Union throughout the war.

Light refreshments will be served at the free event, which will be held in the first-floor meeting room of the Rockville Library, 21 Maryland Ave. in Town Square.

Boy Scouts asking for help feeding those in need

Boy Scouts in the Rockville will participate in Scouting for Food this month in the hopes of collecting food for residents in need.

Scouts will leave a grocery bag on area doorsteps on Saturday and return to pick up those bags, hopefully filled with groceries, at 9 a.m. Nov. 14.

The Scouts also are participating with the Rockville Lions Club to collect used eyeglasses that will be recycled and sent to other countries. Donations of eyeglasses also will be picked up on Nov. 14.

The type of good that works well include non-perishable items such as canned goods (tuna fish, soups and vegetables) and dry boxed goods (pasta, macaroni and cheese.).

For more information, call Cub Master Michael Magnum at 301-395-8326.

King of the Road

set for Nov. 15

More than 500 participants are expected on Nov. 15 for the fifth annual King of the Road 5K Run/1 Mile Walk /Kids' Fun Run benefiting TLC — The Treatment and Learning Centers, a Rockville-based non-profit organization offering educational, therapeutic and vocational services to children and adults with special needs.

Sponsored by King Automotive Group, the event is anticipated to raise more than $30,000 for 2,000 children and adults from the community that TLC serves each year.

The USATF-certified course will begin and end at TLC's Katherine Thomas School at 9975 Medical Center Drive, and wind through the Shady Grove Life Sciences Complex in Rockville.

Race-day registration will open at 7:30 a.m. The Kid's Fun Run will start at 8:30 a.m., followed by the 5K at 9 o'clock.

Packets can be picked up between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Nov. 14 at Fleet Feet Sports Gaithersburg in the Kentlands.

Participants can register online at http://www.ttlc.org/race.htm. For more information, contact Debbie Ezrin, director of development, via e-mail at dezrin@ttlc.org or by calling 301-424-5200, ext. 155.

Items appropriate for this column should be sent to Judith Hruz, Editor, The Rockville/Aspen Hill Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, Md. 20877; faxed to 301-670-7182 or 301-670-7183; or e-mailed to jhruz@gazette.net. Deadline is Thursday at 5 p.m. for consideration for the following week. Items are subject to editing and used on a space-available basis.