Featured Articles
Stars, Stripes & Celebration Youth Art Contest Winners Announced
By Alisha Yocum The Catoctin Banner was excited to partner with the Town of Thurmont and the Town of Emmitsburg for our first-ever youth art contest! As our nation prepares to commemorate its 250th anniversary, young artists were invited to showcase their creativity and patriotism through artwork celebrating the United States. The judges were impressed…
August 27, 1776
The Maryland 400 by Richard D. L Fulton “Here … two hundred and fifty out of four hundred brave Maryland soldiers … were killed in combat.” –1897 plaque placed near the Vechten Stone Farmhouse On August 27, 1776, a torrential thunderstorm and heavy rain, followed by cold from a nor’easter and a thick morning fog,…
Town Hall Report
by James Rada, Jr. Thurmont Changes to Municipal Parking Lot Plan Economic Development Manager Vickie Grinder provided updates on some issues that had arisen with the plan to make improvements to the municipal parking lot. The engineer working on the original plan left out stormwater management from the plan, which will add $75,000-$100,000 to the…
From the burgess
Woodsboro Burgess Heath Barnes Happy 250th birthday, America. I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July weekend celebrating 250 years of American independence, the land of the free, and the home of the brave. June’s two food truck events in the park were very successful, with a lot of the community out…
From the Mayor
ThurmontMayor John Kinnaird I just returned from the Maryland Municipal League (MML) Conference in Ocean City. The MML offers municipal leaders and staff members dozens of courses and seminars on topics of interest to our communities. I attended seminars on Policing-Immigration-Community Trust, De-Escalation of Confrontational Situations, Stretching Revenues, 2026 Legislative Recap, 2026 Federal Briefing, Maryland…
Maryland on Stamps & Covers
by Richard D. L. Fulton “Welcome to Maryland” The United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a sheet of 50 different 34-cent stamps on April 4, 2002, essentially commemorating the boom in state tourism, which traced its roots to the 1930s and 1940s, although early examples of tourism in Maryland date back to the 19th century.…
