From the Mayor
THURMONT
Mayor John Kinnaird
Here we are in fall, with the beautiful foliage brightening our view. If you haven’t had a chance to get out and enjoy the colors, be sure to do so soon. Colorfest has come and gone, and we just had Halloween in the Park. Colorfest had a great crowd on Saturday, and Sunday worked out well despite having rain early in the morning. I think most of our local nonprofits did very well over the weekend. Halloween in the Park was a blast, with hundreds of little Ghouls and Goblins in Community Park. Our thanks to all the Trunk or Treat vendors for making the evening special for the kids! A big thank you to the ESP Dancers for organizing the evening and providing the wonderful dance demonstrations. The costume contest was a lot of fun, and selecting the winners must have been a tough decision. Thanks also to the Thurmont Lions Club for providing drinks and fresh popcorn for everyone. All the volunteers and the Thurmont Police Department made sure it was a fun and safe evening for all.
We are in the process of starting several road repair projects in town. The contractors will be notifying residents when work will be done in their neighborhoods. Please be careful while passing through the construction areas and be sure to follow the instructions from the paving crews. The town crew has been doing a bunch of gutter, curb, and sidewalk repairs in advance of the street work and has done a great job. Work continues on the Radio Lane Pump Station; this new facility will help ensure water service to the high-pressure system in case of a water line break. It will also allow the well at Apples Church to be taken offline for repair or maintenance.
Thanksgiving will be coming this month, as well as the Town Christmas Tree Lighting. We will be holding Christmas in Thurmont on the first Saturday in December. There will be games and prizes for kids of all ages, free pictures with Santa, and refreshments for everyone. Santa will be reading The Night Before Christmas for kids of all ages at the Thurmont Regional Library on Moser Road during Christmas in Thurmont. Be sure to watch for details for all these events on the town or Main Street Facebook pages.
One of our crossing guards for many years, Ed, has just retired. He was dedicated to his work, and over the years, he has escorted thousands of children across our streets on their way to and from school. We thank Ed for keeping our children safe.
This past week was the final week for our seasonal Park employee, David Willard. Dave works hard all summer cleaning the pavilions, emptying trash cans, watering flowers, picking up limbs and trash, and making sure our parks are clean and tidy. Hopefully, Dave will return next season to serve our community.
Karen and I hope everyone has a joyful Thanksgiving. Please drive carefully over the coming weeks and be watchful of kids crossing our streets, riding bikes, skating, or riding scooters. As always, I can be reached at 301-606-9458 or by email at jkinnaird@thurmont.com
Emmitsburg
Mayor Frank Davis
It’s hard to believe we are talking about the holiday season, but it seems like this year has flown by faster than ever. With the season approaching, we have lots of good things on the horizon.
For those who may need a little help navigating through the holiday season, there are programs out there to give you that little boost. Emmitsburg and our surrounding communities are blessed to have the Seton Center as part of our community support group. Please visit the Seton Center website as sign-up deadlines are fast approaching. They are here to help with many opportunities.
Our monthly Community Meal Program will continue in 2026. The outpouring of support from our nonprofit groups and our students from Mount Saint Mary’s University was second to none. We have served over 1,500 meals this year, and the 2026 schedule is in the final stages. Thanks to everyone who made this program a great success.
I know it’s only November, but I must mention the town’s Christmas tree lighting, in conjunction with the annual holiday activities at the Carriage House Restaurant. The event will be held at 6:00 p.m. on December 1 in front of the town hall and will then move to the Carriage House. More information will be provided on the town’s website.
Now, an update on a few town projects.
The DePaul Street waterline and sewer upgrade project is 99 percent complete. A ribbon cutting was held on October 11 with coffee and donuts. I want to thank the residents of the DePaul Street area again for their patience and understanding during the project.
The North Seton Avenue Waterline and Green Street Project has been awarded to one of the bidders and will be funded through various sources. This project will replace an aging water distribution system, as well as eliminate the flooding at the entrance to Northgate, using stormwater best management practices. The project will also include a traffic-calming environment to slow vehicle speeds in the area. More details and a timeline will be forthcoming.
At our October town meeting, it was an honor to recognize Robert (Bobby) Black and his family of Catoctin Mountain Orchards for their continued support to the Emmitsburg community. While located in Thurmont, they have made Emmitsburg their second home, and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
I would like to congratulate Commissioners Kevin Hagan and Rosario Benvengi on being elected to serve a three-year term on the Emmitsburg Town Council. They were sworn into office on October 6.
Finally, I want to thank Commissioner Amy Boehman-Pollitt for serving on the Board of Commissioners for the past three years. Her dedication and commitment were instrumental in many positive changes and completions of major projects that will serve the town for many years to come. As she takes a break from serving the town, I wish her well in her many endeavors with her career in educating our children. Thank you, Commissioner Boehman-Pollitt.
If things go as planned, I will have more exciting news to share next month. As always, please feel free to reach out with any questions and concerns.
Woodsboro
Burgess Heath Barnes
Happy upcoming Thanksgiving to you all. Seems like it was just yesterday that I was saying happy summer. The year is flying by, and we are now officially in the holiday season. Remember, not everyone has a family or a place for the holidays. If you can help someone out or do some volunteer work at a shelter or food bank, etc., during this time of the year or just be nice to someone, people will appreciate it.
Where do I even start? October was probably the busiest month that I have been a part of in the almost five years that I have been the burgess. Our first big day was October 9. The weather was amazing, and we cut the ribbon and officially opened the first town hall in the history of Woodsboro. Between elected officials or their representatives from fellow mayors, county level, state level, and even federal level elected officials in attendance, along with many local Woodsborians, there were about 200 people who came through the building during the open house. I cannot thank the town employees, Mary, Mike, and Kaeden, enough for helping make this happen in such a quick timeframe—from the building being completed to the time of moving into it. Thank you to everyone who made it happen. In my December article, I plan to list all of those who also helped.
Our 4th Annual Music and Vendor Festival was a huge success. This year, we added even more things. For the kids, we had pumpkin painting, face painting, yard games, and a petting zoo. For entertainment for everyone, we had two wonderful groups: Taylor Brown as Elvis and the Bootleg Band. We had such a variety of food trucks and vendors; and for the adults, we had a beer, wine, and moonshine garden. The weather was great, and there was lots of fun had by all. Mark your calendars for next year. It is always the third Saturday in October.
We did an update to our stage and added nice lights, which will help with events such as movies in the park and lighting the area up after events such as Woodsboro Days, etc. Another update that has been asked a lot about is the revitalization of the pond. Commissioner Rittelmeyer did a lot of work and found a very good company to do the work and follow up with three years of maintenance. I am happy to announce that the council voted to approve it, and I signed the contract on October 15, with work tentatively planned to begin on November 10. We were able to get the entire $68,000 project, except about $7,000 paid for with a grant, so that’s even better news.
For November, our town meeting has been moved to November 17 at 7:00 p.m., since November 11 is a holiday. In addition, we are working with IT, and the goal is to begin live streaming our meetings on the new town website, which is in the works to be rebuilt by early next year. So, exciting things are continuing to happen in Woodsboro. Santa will be making two stops that I know of so far in Woodsboro. The first one will be on November 22, from 10:00 a.m. to noon, at the Woodsboro Lutheran Church Holiday Bazaar. The second one will be at the church for the free community dinner between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. Santa will be coming to the new town hall sometime in December possibly, as well as he will be doing his Santa run with the two local fire departments. I have no idea who Santa could be.
As always, I encourage everyone to support Glade Valley Community Services (GVCS) if you have clothes or food donations, as they are always in need of items for members of the community. For more information, please contact GVCS by email at gvcs.inc@verizon.net or by calling 301-845-0213.
If you have any questions, concerns, complaints, or compliments, please feel free to reach out to me at hbarnes@woodsboro.org or by phone at 301-401-7164.
Woodsboro town meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. In addition, planning and zoning meetings are at 6:00 p.m. on the first Monday of the month, as needed. If you have an item for the agenda, it needs to be submitted 14 days before the P&Z meeting. The current location for meetings is the St. John’s United Church of Christ, located at 8 N. 2nd Street, Woodsboro, MD 21798. The public is always invited to attend.
