National Park Service Honors Vietnam War Casualties Buried in Gettysburg National Cemetery
One hundred years after the Civil War, servicemen killed in action in Vietnam were brought home to Gettysburg for their final rest. This Memorial Day weekend, explore some of the lesser-known stories of Gettysburg National Cemetery. Park rangers from Gettysburg National Military Park and Eisenhower National Historic Site will highlight the stories of servicemembers from…
Looking Back
The Year is…1953 by James Rada, Jr. Being a Good Neighbor on Catoctin Mountain It’s nice to have good neighbors. It’s even nicer when the neighbor is the President of the United States. Works Progress Administration laborers built the 22 camp buildings at Camp Greentop between 1934 and 1938. The log buildings were a mix…
About the Cover: Who is the Namesake of ‘Cunningham’ Falls?
The namesake of our local ‘Cunningham’ Falls has been a mystery for years. Before the reference to the falls as ‘Cunningham’ Falls, around the 1920s, the falls were known as McAfee Falls, Harman Falls, the Cascades, and Hunting Creek Falls. Recently, a potential answer to the ‘Cunningham’ mystery has been uncovered via the release of…
From a Shield to Scissors
James Rada, Jr. Morris Blake spent decades working in security with Maryland Department of Natural Resources, National Park Service, Francis Scott Key Mall, Frederick County, and Mount St. Mary’s; but, last year, he turned in his badge to become a hair stylist and has never been happier. Blake, who turns fifty-seven this year, has lived…
Catoctin Mountain Park Gets New Superintendent
James Rada, Jr. Rick Slade was born and raised in Kansas and was accustomed to seeing far and wide across the prairie. Nowadays, when he looks out his office window, he has to crane his neck to look up the steep hillside through a heavy forest of trees to see the sky. Slade became the…
100 Years of National Parks
James Rada, Jr. You don’t have to travel out west to visit a national park; you can find five National Park Service sites in Frederick County, Maryland (described below), plus the Gettysburg National Military Park located to our north just over the Pennsylvania state line. This year would be a great year to visit these…
Mel Poole, Catoctin Mountain Park Superintendent, Retires This Month
Deb Spalding Catoctin Mountain Park Superintendent, Mel Poole, will retire on August 25, 2015, having completed an adventurous thirty-seven year career with the National Park Service (NPS). When summarizing his contributions, Poole let out a chuckle. Correction, it was more of a flat-out laugh. I soon understood why as he reviewed the many roles he’s…
On The Wild Side
Christine Schoene Maccabee Nature’s Quietude I live in a valley cradled between the ancient rolling mountains, just north of Thurmont. This area is a perfect habitat for many species of frogs, toads, birds, and mammals, and I feel blessed to live here. Even though I am a musician, the best and most soothing music for…
