James Rada, Jr.
Emmitsburg’s version of Cape Canaveral is Memorial Park. Once a month this summer, Frederick County deputies and youths will meet to build model rockets and send them soaring into the air over Emmitsburg.
“It’s a great project and a lot of fun,” said Deputy Travis Rohrer, one of Emmitsburg’s resident deputies.
The rocket club is called the Jim Moxley Memorial Rocket Club, and is named after a former Emmitsburg resident deputy who died last year. Moxley ran a model rocket club from 2003-2005. The club would meet an hour a week to work on their rockets and then they would be launched on Heritage Day.
“DFC Whitehouse and I decided to bring back the rocket club as a special project directed towards the kids in the community, and to honor Moxley’s service,” Rohrer said.
The new rocket club meets once a month on Sunday afternoon for three hours. During that time, youths, eight to twelve years old, build their rockets and launch them. The Emmitsburg deputies pay for all the materials to build the rockets.
The first meeting of the club was on May 22, 2016, from 2:00-5:00 p.m. Eight children attended. Older and younger participants are allowed, although parents need to stay for the meeting to help their younger children.
“It was a huge success despite the rainy weather,” Rohrer said. “I believe we shot off a total of ten rockets.”
Not only do the youths get to have fun, Rohrer said it was a good way for the children to interact with law enforcement in the right light. They come to see the deputies as friends they can trust, rather than someone to be seen as unapproachable or scary.
Information on future meetings can be found on the town’s website at www.emmitsburgmd.gov. Click on Government and then Community Deputies. Questions can be e-mailed to emmitsburgdeputies@emmitsburgmd.gov.
The Jim Moxley Memorial Rocket Club, named after a former Emmistburg resident deputy who passed away last year, is pictured with Dfc Whitehouse and Deputy Travis Rohrer
