Buck Reed, The Supermarket Gourmet I was thinking about this month’s article when my three-year-old niece mentioned that July was her birthday; she informed me that she would be four this year. I like Gabrielle. I guess at that age it’s hard not to: she plays a good game of Uno, laughs at my magic […]
Christine Schoenemann (Maccabee) Oh the place that I’m from is the place that I won, It’s the joy of my heart, it is my own. It took many a year but I’m finally here, With a hey and a hoe, to the field I go! —Song of the Homesteader German Homesteaders in the Catoctins Most […]
by James Rada, Jr. Thurmont Gets A New School It used to be that if students in Thurmont were going to be late to school, they simply didn’t go because they would have been sent home anyway. At the beginning of the 1877-1878 school year, Thurmont, which was still known as Mechanicstown at the time, […]
Deb Spalding The name, The Brotherhood of the Jungle Cock (BOJC), sounds naughty today, but when the idea of forming the organization was discussed in the 1930s by a few men, Joseph W. Brooks, Jr., J. Hammond Brown, and Frank L. Bentz, who gathered for a weekend of fishing at the Catoctin Recreation Area above […]
Total Kid Summer Camp at Well-Fit in Thurmont The Total Kid Summer Camp, presented by the Youth Wellness Organization, will be held at the Well-Fit Aerobics and Fitness Center in Thurmont. The camp is for children (ages 8-14) and features four sessions: June 22-July 3; July 6-17; July 20-31; August 3-14. Cost is $75.00 per […]
James Rada, Jr. When Amanda Portner was a young girl, she would pretend to be a teacher, writing on a chalkboard and assigning classwork. Of course, she may be the only teacher to have ever been given a time-out by her mother. “I kept trying to give my little sister detention, because she wouldn’t do […]
The Thurmont & Emmitsburg Community Show will be held at Catoctin High School on September 11-13, 2015. On Friday night, the 2015-2016 Catoctin FFA Chapter Ambassador will be announced. The baked goods auction will begin following the program, and the grand champion cake, pie, bread, gluten-free baked product, sugar-free baked product, and the Junior and […]
Deb Spalding Emmitsburg’s Vigilant Hose Company hosted their 7th annual Spring Fling in the parking lot of Mount St. Mary’s University’s Waldron Family Stadium on May 16, 2015. In past years, the event has been described as our community’s version of a party at the beach; this year’s location was described as a community tail-gate […]
James Rada, Jr. Hundreds of millions of years ago, dinosaurs walked the earth, and hundreds of millions of years before that, prehistoric clams filled a vast lake that covered all of Central Maryland and a mud flat that stretched from North Carolina to Connecticut. The lake, known as the Lockatong, sat in the middle of […]
Wine, Cupcakes, and Art in Thurmont James Rada, Jr. It was a nice night for a stroll on the evening of May 8, 2015, and residents took advantage of the pleasant weather to come to downtown Thurmont for the Art & Wine Walk. Ten downtown businesses shared their storefronts with local wineries, cupcake bakers, and […]
by James Rada, Jr. Emmitsburg May 2015 Emmitsburg 2016 Budget will be Mostly Unchanged The Emmitsburg town accountant Cole Tabler told the Emmitsburg mayor and commissioners that the fiscal year 2016 budget “is really only slightly different from this year.” The difference, he said, comes primarily from a reduction in some state funding. The general […]
Melissa Wetzel CPA Staff and Customers Donate for Emmitsburg Food Bank Customers and staff at Melissa Wetzel CPA in Emmitsburg have topped last year’s record for collecting food donations in comparison to the annual numbers for the project that started in 2009. “With 1,244 food items collected, it’s still catching on. Our goal is to […]
Deb Spalding Emmitsburg resident, Toni Marquette is a sarcoma cancer survivor. When in Baltimore going through radiation treatments and surgery at UMMC, she and her husband Gary stayed at the Hope Lodge located across the street from the Ronald McDonald House. Toni observed children leaving the Ronald McDonald House going for their radiation or chemotherapy […]
Deb Spalding Yes, the Kuhns and the Wolfes were out for the Foxville School Reunion on May 17, 2015, at the school house. So were the Brandenburgs, Buhrmans, Hurleys, Willards, Delauters, Klines, and Clines, in addition to members of other homestead mountain families as students of the former Foxville School reminisced while enjoying a lunch […]
Race for Education Ends with Limo Ride to Lunch for Top Sellers Deb Spalding Thurmont Elementary and Primary School students who turned in the most address labels to solicit sponsorship for Race Day, held on April 17, 2015, were rewarded with a limousine ride to lunch with their principals on Monday, May 18, 2015. Paige […]
V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N by Valerie Nusbaum It’s June, and with the onset of summer, most people are busy planning vacations. Randy and I prefer to travel in the late spring or early fall whenever we can—when the temperatures aren’t too hot and the kids are still in school. Traveling during off-peak times helps us to avoid some […]
Ruby-throated Hummingbirds, Our Wee Feathered Friends by Chris O’Connor Some weeks ago, I was lucky enough to witness a male ruby-throated hummingbird performing a “shuttle flight” right outside of my window, which is one courtship display. The male flies in a horizontal figure eight, like the symbol for infinity, to charm a breeding-age female […]
Sgt. 1st Class Bruce Wayne Rice U.S. Army Retired Born to Mary and Garnett Rice on April 26, 1951, at home in Mountaindale, Maryland, was a boy they named Bruce Wayne. Bruce was given the name of the super hero, Batman, and later in life, even though he wasn’t Batman, he was a super hero […]
Buck Reed, The Supermarket Gourmet Just like every other month, June is filled with national and international food recognitions. Some make sense and others were clearly conceived by some advertising agent hoping to make a fast buck. Here are a few. June is National Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Month. This makes sense because this is […]
The Praying Mantis: Friend or Foe? Christine Schoene Maccabee Have you ever seen a butterfly’s wings, mysteriously minus its body, on the ground beneath your favorite flowers? Did you ever wonder how and why they got there? The answer to this mystery is a very unexpected one—at least it was for me. It is more […]
A Hero Dies Saving His Parents by James Rada, Jr. The Stackhouses lived the simple life of a hard-working family. They didn’t have much, but their family was happy. Christmas 1937 had been one of those happy times, with the family getting together to share gifts and hearty meals. Early in the morning on December […]
James Rada, Jr. “Let’s play ball!” The cry rang out on baseball fields across northern Frederick County on Saturday, April 18, 2015, as the Thurmont and Emmitsburg areas celebrated opening day and held their first games of the season. Crowds flocked to the fields to cheer on the youngsters who were playing baseball for the […]
A Unique Life Experience Michele Cuseo Most people who live in Emmitsburg know or have heard of Mrs. Williams, as she has lived here for 101 years. I know her because I went to high school with her son, Richard, who is also a personal friend. Born in 1914, she is not just unique due […]
by James Rada, Jr. Emmitsburg April 2015 Town Employees Will Soon See Bigger Paychecks The Emmitsburg Board of Commissioners approved a fifteen percent salary adjustment to employee salaries during their March 16 meeting. The increase will come in stages, with the first increase being five percent. The town had contracted with a human resources consultant […]
Guardian Hose Company Yard Sale The Guardian Hose Company is sponsoring a yard sale on May 30, 2015, at the Thurmont carnival grounds on 123 East Main Street in Thurmont. Spaces are $5.00 each. Vigilant Hose Company’s Spring Fling The Vigilant Hose Company’s Annual Spring Fling will be held on Saturday, May 16, 2014, at […]