Deb Abraham Spalding Willle Stover won first place at the Gettysburg Bike Show this year with his barn find 1948 WL Flathead 45 Harley Davidson he purchased from a Thurmont resident, Walter “Mack” Phebus, a former motorcycle mechanic at Delphey’s Sports and Hardware Store in Frederick. “It was meant to be for us to meet,”…

Mike Randall, CRC Vice President Like all youth sports organizations, Catoctin Rec Council (CRC) Softball had to navigate through the extremely murky waters of a pandemic. Balancing player safety with the desire to play is not an easy task for players and parents alike. But, the girls came out with renewed energy and vigor, beginning…

Deb Abraham Spalding Brandon Dyer of Emmitsburg graduated in June 2020 from Rock Creek School in Frederick. He is now working with the Developmental Disabilities Administration (DDA) of Maryland to transition into work and volunteer opportunities. It is the goal of the DDA that people with developmental disabilities lead full lives in the communities of…

James Rada, Jr. Although the Hagerstown and Frederick Trolley last ran more than 65 years ago, the former trolley route has become a popular walking trail through Thurmont, from East Main Street along the side of Memorial Park to Moser Road. The trail is less than three-quarters of a mile long, but plans have been…

Blair Garrett Catoctin Cougars roar past Frederick in the team’s home opener. The Cougars’ 45-15 tossing of Frederick was in part to an electric offense and a suffocating defense that held the Cadets in check for the majority of the game. It was all Catoctin early on, as the team opened the floodgates against the…

James Rada, Jr. There was a time in Frederick County when workers needed to follow the work. Every year, a couple thousand workers would journey up the East Coast to work on farms and in factories in the county. They lived in migrant camps in Thurmont, Frederick, and Araby. Galen Hahn was among them. He…

by Valerie Nusbaum Randy has a nemesis. It’s the mailman. Oh, I know the correct term is “letter carrier,” but my hubby refers to the person who delivers our mail as “the mailman” when he isn’t referring to him as “@#*$%.” I don’t know our current letter carrier, and I can’t say for sure if…

Blair Garrett Tucked away in the mountains of northern Maryland lies a hidden gem not visible to the naked eye. A combination of fine attention to detail and a deep appreciation of outer space has Yugen Tribe of Emmitsburg creating intricate keepsakes and jewelry for people around the world. While the company’s reach has expanded…

On Tuesday, April 23, 2018, the Cougars placed first in the Monocacy Division of the Ninth Annual Frederick County Unified Track and Field Championship. Athletes represented ten area high schools for the event. Catoctin was in the Monocacy division with Frederick, Governor Thomas Johnson, Oakdale, and a combined team of Brunswick and Linganore. CHS had…

James Rada, Jr. For years, Cindy Zeller traveled to Frederick and Columbia to help provide quality healthcare to people in those communities. That all changed this year, when she opened Brighter Futures Pediatric and Lactation Services in Woodsboro. “I wanted to provide pediatric care in the northern part of the county, because we don’t have…

Kiara George, daughter of Teddy George and Donna Walter of Fairfield, Pennsylvania, was named to the prestigious title of Miss Catoctin-Aires Queen for 2017. This title was bestowed upon George from an overwhelming number of votes from the marching corps’ membership. George received the crown and sash from the outgoing queen, her sister, Shyanne George,…

Utica Mills by “My Father’s Son” Between Thurmont and Frederick has long laid the humbly-pleasant settlement of Utica Mills, marked on the map today with solely the charming title of Utica. Where such an enchanting name derives (though mystery part of its appeal) led to investigation learning Utica to mean “old town” – appropriately so,…

by Valerie Nusbaum Whenever I get an email from Randy on Friday afternoon that reads, “Pizza?” I know the weekend is here.  Once or twice a month, Randy cooks dinner on Friday night, which almost always means he brings home a pizza from the grocery store. I’m fine with that. The pizza is good, and…

James Rada, Jr. While the design of the Thurmont Regional Library was inspired by the Catoctin Furnace, when you walk into the Thurmont Center for Agricultural History, you’ll see a different inspiration. Two windows from old Moravian Church that had been on Water Street in the late nineteenth Century, hang from one wall. On another…

“A Well Manored Family” by “My Father’s Son” Most are familiar with the historic site of Rose Hill Manor alongside Governor Thomas Johnson High School in Frederick. This classically southern home— built over eight years, beginning in 1790, for Thomas Johnson’s daughter, Ann, after she and her husband received the land as a gift from…

Buck Reed In this day and age of businesses with what can only be described as a lackluster workforce, it is refreshing to find an establishment like The Flying Barrel, where the customer is the focus. Think about the last time you walked into a service-focused industry and found an employee who wants $15.00 an…

James Rada, Jr. Jeremy Murphy (pictured right) was born and raised in Emmitsburg, graduating from Catoctin High in 1998. He visited both Catoctin Mountain Park and Gettysburg National Military Park on field trips and summer trips, never realizing that he would grow up to become the chief law enforcement officer for the Gettysburg National Military…

Several Thurmont-area teens will be featured in the musical Spring Awakening, which will be performed at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre in Frederick, Maryland, in August. The show is being produced by Catoctin Mountain Players, a community theater group founded by Leslie Kelly, a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of romance fiction. Kelly,…