A serial fiction story for your enjoyment written by James Rada, Jr. 1: Returning Home As the sun began to set on Friday evening, cars started rolling into Thurmont, bringing with them alumni from all over who were returning for their anticipated Saturday reunion of the Catoctin High Class of 2016 at Thurmont Ambulance Company…

Stories of What It’s Like Returning Home After 25 Years by dave ammenheuser Sitting on top of Haleakala in Maui in late October, it was the perfect place to reflect on the craziness of the past year and what lies ahead in the future. As I’ve chronicled here throughout the past year, I quit my…

by dave ammenheuser On December 13, 1969, a couple and their young children (two pre-teens and an infant) moved into their newly constructed home along Creagerstown Road. Prior to moving into the home, that family—my parents and my brothers—had lived for a few years in an apartment building on the square in Creagerstown. On August…

by dave ammenheuser Returning home after 30 years to take care of my late parents’ estate has given me a lot of time to reminisce about Thurmont and Northern Frederick County. I’ve driven over the country roads and through the covered bridges; I’ve returned to Cunningham (to me, it will always be McAfee) Falls; and…

Stories of What It’s Like Returning Home After 25 Years by dave ammenheuser How do you honor the death of a loved one in the midst of a pandemic? It’s not easy. When my parents, John and Elizabeth Ammenheuser, died in the last few months of 2020, our family faced many difficult decisions. Among the…

by dave ammenheuser Stories of What It’s Like Returning Home After 25 Years Trains, planes, and automobiles. Pigs, angels, and Longaberger baskets. Civil War artifacts, presidential campaign buttons, and vintage radios. My parents, both of whom died in the last four months of 2020, were not hoarders. But they were certainly collectors. Clearing their 50-year…

by dave ammenheuser Stories of What It’s Like Returning Home After 25 Years “Welcome back, Dave, but you should know Thurmont’s not the same town you left behind many years ago.” I have heard that phrase numerous times since my parents died in the final half of 2020, initiating my return to my hometown to…

Stories of What It’s Like Returning Home After 25 Years by dave ammenheuser Norman Feldser, my former scoutmaster of Thurmont Troop 270, and I reconnected this winter when his wife, Gloria, called to ask if the antique furniture my late parents had in their living room was available. It was. One of the silver linings…

Stories of What It’s Like Returning Home After 25 Years by dave ammenheuser Muz, Everything has fallen apart around here without you! A little boy’s one-sentence note, preserved in an envelope, dated June 27, 1974, addressed to his mother at Frederick Memorial Hospital, where she had been admitted for emergency surgery.  Turn the clock ahead…