The Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show will be held at Catoctin High School, 14745 Sabillasville Road in Thurmont, on September 6-8, 2019. Entry of exhibits will take place on Thursday evening, September 5, from 6:00-9:00 p.m., and on Friday, September 6, from 8:30-11:30 a.m., in the new gymnasium and in the agriculture department area. The […]
BY Dan Neuland The 79th Annual Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock (BOJC) Campfire Weekend was held at Camp Airy in Thurmont on May 17-19, 2019. The camp hosted a total of 365 attendees, which included 179 boys and their adult sponsors from 16 different states. A total of 44 boys were new to the program […]
Deb Abraham Spalding Elmer “Lee” Black was born January 31, 1923, to Willis G. and Maude Baker Black. Lee was only 14 when his father died unexpectedly. He and his siblings, older brother Harry and younger sister Betty, all learned to work hard to help their mother during the 1930s when times were tough. Many […]
The first annual Maryland Iron Festival was held the weekend of May 18 and 19, 2019 in historic Catoctin Furnace, in Thurmont, Maryland, to celebrate the state as a center for the craft of ironmaking. Activities were held within the historic village, as well as Catoctin Mountain Park, and Cunningham Falls State Park. The festival […]
The Catoctin Banner is distributed via direct mail to approximately 8,500 households in Emmitsburg, Thurmont, Sabillasville, Cascade, Lewistown, and Rocky Ridge, Maryland. It is placed for free pick-up in surrounding towns in high-traffic areas. Those towns include Woodsboro, Taneytown, Detour, and Smithsburg in Maryland and Blue Ridge Summit, Waynesboro, and Fairfield in Pennsylvania.
Deb Abraham Spalding Ticks Incidents of Lyme disease in people are on the rise in our area, while the incidents of Lyme disease in our dogs are on the decline. Our Blacklegged (Deer) Tick is the culprit. Other local tick species like the Brown Dog Tick and the American Dog Tick are not known to […]
You are invited to a free showing of Before The Flood, a special film documenting extreme weather changes and how they are affecting all of us, especially the poorest people and innocent creatures worldwide. From rising sea levels to destruction of rainforests, Leonardo DiCaprio, as the Messenger of Peace on behalf of the of the […]
The Emmitsburg Lions Club is once again sponsoring a Heritage Art Contest. The contest is open to school-aged children from the Emmitsburg School area in first through eighth grades. Homeschoolers are encouraged to participate as well. All artwork should reflect the theme: “What Does My Community Look Like to Me?” Prizes are awarded to winners […]
Last month, I wrote about how a local Emmitsburg collector owned two Armstrong rifles, which had been crafted in town. The same collector owns an Eyster clock, and the Maryland Room at the C. Burr Artz Library in Frederick owns a Hoover clock. John Hoover is believed to be Emmitsburg’s first clockmaker. He lived from […]
Deb Abraham Spalding Straffy Lawyer retired from his life-long career as a mechanic, having worked with his brother, Dave, and father, Strafford, since he was a youngster in the various service garages owned by the family. Straffy, and his wife, Patti, operated Lawyer’s Automotive on Jimtown Road in Thurmont since the 1980s. In 2016, ownership […]
Deb Abraham Spalding In 1980, Bruce Davies, Thurmont’s local jeweler at the time, approached John Brown and his wife, Betty, about buying Davies Jewelry Store. Since then, the couple’s business, Browns’ Jewelry Store & Gifts on Water Street in Thurmont, has been the go-to jewelry store for special occasion gems, holiday gifts, and trusted watch […]
The Thurmont Business Network held its monthly gathering on May 2, 2019, at the Thurmont Kountry Kitchen on Water Street. Each business representative in attendance was given two minutes to talk about their business. At each meetings, one business is randomly selected as the ‘feature’ business who is given more time to go more in […]
Mayor Don Briggs and members of the Emmitsburg Business and Professionals Association hosted the quarterly Emmitsburg Business Professionals Breakfast Meeting at the Carriage House Inn in Emmitsburg on May 23, 2019. County Executive Jan Gardner was the featured speaker. She spoke about the importance of small businesses and the Frederick County Office of Economic Development […]
James Rada, Jr. Brooks Behavioral Health has started taking appointments for individual, group, and family therapy sessions to address addiction problems. The office is located at 31B Water Street in Thurmont, and is one of two offices that Clinical Director David Brooks maintains in the county. Brooks has worked as a Criminal Justice Program Manager […]
Blair Garrett Art comes in many forms. For Shawn and Wendy Martyak (pictured left), their dry rub and buffalo sauce business has been crafted to perfection, offering locals a balanced blend of flavor and spice that can only be described as art. The Martyak’s start in the sauce industry with the Wait, What? Sauce Co. […]
Blair Garrett What got you guys initially started with getting into this business and what prompted the recent move? Bruce (owner of Kelco) has worked in the plumbing industry for the past 41 years. The company that he was working with for all those years was dissolved, so with honesty and integrity we decided to […]
Kristen Daly Local dance studio, Elower-Sicilia Productions (ESP) Dance and Music, LLC is celebrating 50 years of business this year. Owner Linda Elower Sicilia started the studio back in 1969 in the basement of her parents’ Thurmont home. Within a year, she was able to move the studio to the Thurmont Guardian Hose Company Meeting […]
by James Rada, Jr. May 2019 Meeting $1.9 Million Budget Approved The Emmitsburg Town Commissioners approved a $1,930,323 town budget for Fiscal Year 2020. This is a 5.4 percent increase over the current year’s budget. In addition, the current town property tax rate of 36 cents per $100 of assessed value will remain the same. […]
Emmitsburg has so much activity to distill. May was a very active month. Lots of congratulations to go around. I was a Hood “Green Team Festival” forum panelist with the mayor of Frederick, County Executive Jan Gardner, and the mayor of Myersville. It was a well-attended, solid program. May marks the 50th anniversary of the […]
by James Rada, Jr. May 2019 Meeting FY2020 Budget Introduced The Thurmont Mayor and Commissioners received the proposed budget for the town for fiscal year 2020 in May. It is proposed to adopt the property tax constant yield rate of 29.92 cents per $100 of assessed value. The constant yield rate is the rate the […]
Mayor John Kinnaird The Class of 2019 at Catoctin High School (CHS) just graduated, and I want to wish all of them the best of luck as they move on to the next phase of their lives. I feel that CHS, and all our feeder schools, provide a rich educational experience for our children. Our […]
On May 7, 2019, at the Vigilant Hose Company’s Fire Hall on West Main Street in Emmitsburg, a brand new fire engine, Engine 61, was dedicated to all past VHC chiefs and to the community they serve. The date was selected because it was May 7, 1989 (exactly 30 years before), that the unit this […]
The Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show committee met recently to begin planning the 63rd Annual Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show. The show will be held at Catoctin High School, located at 14745 Sabillasville Road in Thurmont, on September 6-8, 2019. Officers elected at the meeting were: President—Rodman Myers; Vice President—Robert Valentine; Secretary—Jennifer Martin. Other committee […]
Dianne Walbrecker Emmitsburg rolls out the red carpet for neighbors and visitors alike at its biggest event of the year: Community Heritage Day. This year, at our 38th annual festival, we roll out all the games you love, the BBQ chicken, car show, horseshoe contest, parade, and music, but all at a later time than […]