VO LUM E 2 , N O. 9 • w w w. wo o d sb o r o t i m e s . c om • se P t e m b e r 2 0 1 4 VO LUM E 3 , N O. 2 • W W W. WO O D SB O R O T I M E S . C OM • F E B RUA RY 2 0 1 5 New playground Contractor removed from coming Israel Creek Bridge project for slow progress Heather Keels, SHA’s community liaison. Bids were due to the state by A contractor hired by the Maryland State Highway Ad- January 16, with work expected ministration to construct a to resume by the end of January. The new bridge is now expectnew bridge over Israel Creek on Md. 550 in Woodsboro was ed to be completed this summer, let go due to concerns that the Keels said. News that a new contraccompany was taking too long tor will have to be brought on to complete the work. Building Systems Inc. was will likely not sit well with mohired by the state in 2012 to torists that have been frustrated ongoing construction of the replace the bridgeComputer at a conimage ofwith proposed playground struction price of $1.6 million. new bridge. The state had hoped “Due to concerns with the to have the project completed by progress and Greenfield schedule, SHA the end By Sherry Theof December. Town of Woodsboro “We has removed the previous conwas appreciate awarded the the communiMaryland patience,” Keels said. tractor he and Woodsboro is currentlyRegional ac- ty’sOpen Space Community Parks of the bridge is cepting Park bids will for soon a contractor have a new Replacement and Playgrounds Grant to use part of the state’s bridge preserto complete the project,” said playground, thanks to a state for the construction of a new, grant of $129,356. handicap accessible playground. Sherry Greenfield T The playground structure is for children ages 5 to 12. After soliciting design and pricing sevvation andproposals replacementfrom program. eral recreation design compaThe bridge was constructed in nies, and town commissioners vot1924 lengthened in 1978. ed unanimously at their Aug. “It is structurally safe but 12 meeting to hire playground showing signs of significant deteSpecialists Inc., of Thurmont. rioration and was due for replaceThe company will build the ment,” said Dave Coyne, SHA’s new playground on the south district engineer, in a press reside of the Woodsboro Regional lease. Park, east of Israel Creek. “The new bridge will be wider “The whole purpose of putto provide a safer traveling area, ting together this proposal is and it has been designed to help that we want to start encourminimize the frequent floodaging usage at this end of the ing in the by eliminating park,” said area Commissioner Bill the piers (central Rittelmeyer, whosupports) handled and the changing the alignment of the bidding process. bridge to The opening companywith has respect proposed the stream,” Coyne said. designing and building the new Preliminary for work$126,272.75. on the new playground bridge started in the of They are proposing summer to use the remaining $3,083.25 to install Office buildings proposed in 100-year floodplain off Biggs Ford Road Parking problems By Sherry Greenfield the street in front of their houses. Each household would receive Sherry Greenfield elief could soon be coming All twoadjoining permits. property owners persons betosent to the residents living along and interested “I think there doeswill need be a the notice about the hearing at The Maryland Department of Frederick Street in Walkersville degree of restricted parking down least two weeks before the hearing the that Environment is considering are upset with people parking there,” said Andy Dewese, the an application to fill in 39.2 acres date, Apperson said. in front of their houses. town’s code enforcement officer. The proposed office buildings of the 100-year floodplain of the The Walkersville Town Com- “They live down there, so they Monocacy River to allow for the will sit on farmland annexed by missioners, at five-story their Aug.of- 13 theshould be able to park there.” city, something that is a conconstruction of six meeting, on tentatively approved signs are currentto residents in Walkersville. fice buildings Biggs Ford Road a cern Parking plan issueofparking permits to The ly town postedlimits in front of the nursof Walkersville within thetoCity Frederick. those residents from endingathome restricting the the intersection of number FounCOPT Frederickliving LLCacross of CoandbeBiggs Ford lumbia applied the permit the has Glade Valleyfor Nursing and Re- tainof Rock hours Road a car can parked. But just a short distance in order to construct office build- Road, habilitation Center on Frederick the number of parked carsfrom from site. Walkersville High School ings Street. and a Issuing parkingpermits lot 0.3would miles al- thenearby The development washasbriefsoutheast from the intersection of low those residents to park on and the nursing home been Biggs Ford Road and U.S. 15, just ly discussed by the Walkersville outside the town limits of Walk- commissioners at a recent town meeting, but no action was taken. ersville. In 2009, the City of Frederick Since the project is located in a floodplain the developers must re- began annexing large amounts of ceive a permit from the Maryland farmland north along U.S. 15 to Department of the Environment the Biggs Ford intersection for new homes and businesses. A new (MDE). $60town million interchange is pro“The project is in the permit By Sherry Greenfield meeting, unanimously acto be built at Biggs application process with our Wet- posed cepted a bid of $56,750 Ford from lands and Waterways Program,” Road and U.S. 15 to accommoalking and jogging Frederick County Paving to said Jay Apperson, acting director date the proposed growth. But the around the Heritage build 3,950 feet of new paths. of MDE’s Office of Communica- state has not committed any fundParkissued in Walkersville tions.Farm “MDE public noticewill ing.Money for the project will come soon be easier since the town is “Frederick in part from Citytheis state’s a caseOpen in in December and several requests planning to expand the walking Space Program. The out will of for a public hearing were received point of a municipalitytown contribute $23,135 and willing to do toward anyas a paths. result of that notice. No date control bring with in more tax ofreveor location has been set for a hearThe Walkersville Town Com- thing the to project, much that for thecoming momentfrom and not plan ing missioners, which will likely be August held in 13 nuemoney at their a reserve late February or early March.” ahead for what happens down the R a frequent problem for residents. “There’s a lot of issues down road, what harm theysaid. inflict“It’s on thereornow,” Dewese their not aneighbors, huge issue,i.e. butWalkersville, I think they Woodsboro, commuters on 15, should be able to park there.” emergency vehicles, or whoever Commissioner Gary Baker said else gets in their way of so-called permitted parking should be for progress,” said Suzan Thompson, residents only. Restricted parking a life-long resident of Walkersville. should continue front ofhuge the “Frederick City in annexed businesses. tracts of agricultural land up to think willand be the “Ivery edgethe of residents Walkersville happy,” he to said. now wants grease the skids to let out-of-county venture to capitalThe council decided take ists and developers in.” a formal vote on move the permitted Thompson’s husband, former parking issue when CommissionFrederick County Commissioner Chad Weddle is in attendance. er John “Lennie” Thompson, is a lawyer representing Walkersville property owners impacted by the proposed development. “Why does Frederick City believe more office buildings are needed on the very periphery of this currently farmed land, when atfund leastforhalf of development. the office buildpark ings“This erectedproject along Carroll Creek is definitely do not appear to have been occuneeded,” Commissioner Debbie pied since built, in particular the Zimmerman said. “This will one closest to the Court House?” complete the paths.” Suzan Thompson asked. “FrederHeritage Park, located ick City needsFarm to learn a very valuon Devilbiss Bridge Road able lesson: you cannot buildacross your from Elementary School, way outGlade of debt.” Project has plans have golf yet course, to be already a 9-hole brought the City of Frederick’s baseballto fields, softball fields, new barbecue grills, volleyball courts, and benches at the park - items the town had not originally 2012,asked but for. power for the tem“I asked them not could to leave porary traffic signal not any money on the table,” Rit-so be put in place until 2013 telmeyer said. was held off until construction The company has constructed the following year. playgrounds throughout FredWith a temporary traferick County, including Woodfic signal and lane closure sboro, Liberty, North Frederick, in place, work began in July Middletown Lincoln, Wolfs2013. Crews completed part ville and Emmitsburg elemenof phase one during the sumtary schools. They have also mer of 2013, but the weathbuilt playgrounds for the towns er and restrictions imposed by of Thurmont and Emmitsburg, the U.S. Army Corps of EngiFort Detrick, the Brunswick neers caused delays. Crossing housing development, “Between March 1 and May and the Middletown Valley 31 of 2014, the Army Corps Apartments. ofRittelmeyer Engineers said restricted work the new in the creek as a protection playground at the Woodsboro for the fish spawning Regional Park will notseason,” have Coyne has said. restricadult swings or “This a merry-goround because of the wear and Walkersville considers they have a homeowner’s association,” he said. “If somebody has a complaint athletics building atabout a neighbor’s grass, go to the [homeowner’s asHeritage Farmsociation],” Parkhe said. “If they have [an association] that deals with it, Weddle, who lives on Frederick Street, was not at the meeting. On another note, Dewese said as the town’s code enforcement officer he has been busy this year investigating complaints from on issues rangSherryresidents Greenfield ing from tall grass to snow-covA sidewalks. new 36-by-90-foot buildered Dewese said so ing big enough to store athletfar this year, he has received 260 ic equipment, hold wrestling complaints from residents. That matches, and practice pitchnumber is significantly higher ing baseballs is proposed for the than the 120 complaints he reHeritage Farm Park in Walkersceived last year. ville. Dewese, who blamed winThe park’s historictheManor ter’s badis weather the rise House currentlyforbeing usedinby complaints, said the frustration Walkersville’s Glade Valley Athcomes when residentsbut failthe to noletic Association, Boy Scouts asked to associause the tify theirhave homeowner’s building, forcing GVAA find tion first, before coming to to him. a “They’re new facility to meet and store still coming in even if equipment. Town Manager Gloria Rollins told the Walkersville Town Commissioners at their January 14 meeting, that a new building for GVAA could cost around $167,000. But Rollins warned that costs could change. They could go higher waterpaand soccer fields, twowith covered sewer connections needed for vilions, playground areas, and bathrooms. Heritage park improvement W CONTINUED ON PAGE 2 tear on the rubber surface. A child swing suspended off the ground and pushed by an adult can be built. “Swings where kids drag their feet will only tear the surface up and create a maintenance problem,” he said. “A merrygo-round whereconstruction kids run in the tion caused to be same circle pushing it will put on hold until June 1.”wear and Work be a maintenance problem resumed on June 2. as well.” “This bridge replacement is Commissioner Kellar being completed Ken in two stages, said he was disappointed the with traffic using one half of the playground will only have todbridge at a time while the other dler swings. “My only regret half is rebuilt,” Keels said. “The is seeing those older swings go first phase of the new bridge is away,” he said. “To me it’s a complete and traffic was shifted loss of adult swings.” onto the newly completed secMeanwhile, Rittelmeyer said tion on November 12.” nothing will be built until the Keels said the second phase of town has the grant money in construction will order include the dehand. “They won’t a stick molishing and reconstructing of equipment until we have the of the other half of the bridge. The grant,” he said. bridge will with Trimmer remain praisedone lane, Rittela temporary traffic signal to altermeyer for his work on the bid nate traffic like directions, until work process.”I’d to commend is complete. Bill for doing this,” he said. “He did an excellent job.” Postal Customer Postal Customer and “Quite it doesn’t get done, take honestly, we I’ll don’t have a clue care of it.”how much it will cost,” she said.to cut grass is a $100 Failure Rollins theThe town fine from thesaid town. finewould is be applying for park’s posted on the homeowner’s money wafrom the state to cover some of ter bill. the costs. “We get our money,” Burgess After much discussion, comRalph Whitmore said. missioners approved a motion to Dewese said of the 260 comstart collecting proposals from plaints, all but two have been redifferent companies interested solved. The complaint process is in constructing the building. unanimous. Commissioner Don Schildt wasnotthegetting lone vote “I’m manyagainst dinnerthe motion saying he didn’t invitations,” he joked. “But realize it’s the building would be so large going good.” and cost nearly $170,000. Burgess Ralph Whitmore said it was too early in the project to start soliciting bids. Commissioner Debbie Zimmerman said if approved, the walking paths. building would bepaths constructed “I think extended will near the gravel parking lot to be a wonderful addition to the avoid cutting down any trees. park,” Commissioner Russell Winch said. PRE-SORTED STANDARD U.S. Postage PRE-SORTED PA ID STANDARD Westminster, MD U.S. Postage Permit No. 100 PA I D Westminster, MD Permit No. 100 2 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 NEWS From the editor Greetings to our new readers in Dearbought. I used to think the name “Dearbought” had something to do with the price of the houses located there. Did they pay dearly? It turns out that in 1755, John Derr established a 300-acre farm there that he called Dearbought. I suppose the name still may reflect the price that John Derr paid or the sacrifices he made. Anyway, the addition of the Dearbought neighborhood brings our distribution up to 5500 per month. We started at 3500 back in October of 2013. We thank all of our sponsors for making the paper possible, and we thank our new sponsors for helping us increase our distribution. Welcome new readers, we hope you enjoy the paper. pH error - We printed an error in the quarry article last month regarding the effect of lime on the pH of soil. Lime RAISES the pH of soil, I wrote the opposite (the quarry had told me correct- ly and informed me of my error). It raises pH mostly because there are two constituents of lime that add hydroxyl ions (OH-) and shift the equilibrium and reduce the number of hydronium ions (H+ or more accurately H3O+). One constituent is Ca(OH)2 which in the presence of water ionizes and frees the hydroxyls. Another is CaO. This reacts with water as follows: CaO + H2O -> Ca (OH)2. The definition of pH is the reciprocal logarithm of the hydrogen (or hydronium) ion concentration which is measured in moles per liter. In pure water the H+ and OH- concentrations are equal at 10e-7 which has a logarithm of -7 and the reciprocal is 7. So pure water has a pH of 7. Adding lime adds OH- which shifts the equilibrium and consumes some H+. As an example, if the H+ concentration in pure water was reduced by a factor of ten, its concentration would drop from 10e-7 to 10e-8. That equates to a pH of 8 and is called basic or alkaline. A pH of less than 7 is called acid or acidic. In summary, adding lime adds OH- which reduces H+ which raises the pH. Sorry for the error, and I hope my lengthy retraction helped undo any confusion for struggling students of chemistry. Government section – Every month, a half page of space (about 800 words) is made available to every elected official that represents this paper’s readers. That goes for the commissioners of Woodsboro and Walkersville all the way to the President of the United States. Some write, most don’t, and, no, I did not actually invite the President to write, but I’d print his article if he sent one. Many wrote during the campaign, now only a few are writing. The invitation remains. Please contact your elected representatives if you would like them to share their thoughts and plans with us. Woodsboro Walkersville Times P.O.Box 502 Woodsboro, Maryland 21798 Office Number 240-446-9797 E-mail: [email protected] Executive Editor: Ken Kellar English Editors: Barbara Forrester, Sharon Kellar, and Esther Kline Advisers: Michael Hillman, Marg Mills Advertising: Sharon Graham, Nathan Carmona Graphic Design and Layout: Joann Lee News: Sherry Greenfield Historian: Daniel Kellar News and interesting articles are welcome and may be submitted via regular mail to P.O.Box 502, Woodsboro, MD 21798 or by email to [email protected]. To arrange advertising contact the editor Woodsboro armed robbery The liquor store in Woodsboro was robbed by a white male carrying a pistol on the evening of Saturday, January 24. Shooting in Discovery Sherry Greenfield A 42-year-old security guard from Frederick was shot multiple times January 22, while he sat in his silver Hyundai behind the Goodwill store in Walkersville’s Discovery Crossing Shopping Center, according to the Maryland State Police. At the time of the shooting, Gerald Campbell was listed in critical condition and had been taken to R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. December 2014 Monthly Summary for Police Enforcement & Activities Motor Vehicle Collisions Traffic Enforcement Sherry Greenfield Alarm 1 Citation 20 Accident Report 2 Assault 1 Warning 61 Non-Reportable 1 Assist other Police 7 SERO 5 Total Collisions: 3 Burglary 1 DUI 0 CDS (narcotics) 1 Total Violations: 86 Disorderly Other Activities Community Policing 4 5 Foot/Bike Patrol 4 Domestic 0 Patrol Check 43 Juvenile Complaint 0 AIRS 61 MDOP (malicious destruction) 0 Miscellaneous 33 Missing Person 0 Theft / Fraud 2 Trespass 0 Warrant / Summons 0 Total Calls for Service: 58 was sitting and fired a handgun through the window, police said. Maryland State Police, Frederick County Sheriff ’s deputies, and the Walkersville Volunteer Fire and Rescue companies responded to the scene after a 9-1-1 call was received at around 9:30 p.m. The shopping center was locked down and Campbell was transferred out of the area by helicopter. Maryland State Police are asking anyone with information to call the Frederick Barrack at 301600-4151. Callers can remain anonymous. Frederick Republicans recommend Ciliberti for District 4 seat Walkersville Calls for Service Criminal & Miscellaneous Calls The suspect was identified by witnesses as a tall, thin, black man with facial hair, police said. He was reportedly wearing a mask at the time of the shooting. The shooter walked up to the silver Hyundai where Campbell The Frederick County Republican Central Committee has recommended Barrie Ciliberti to replace former delegate Kelly Schulz in District 4A. Schulz, a Republican, was named to Gov. Larry Hogan’s cabinet as Secretary of the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation (DLLR). She assumed her new role in January. Schulz had been a member of the House of Delegates since 2011. Ciliberti served in the Maryland House of Delegates representing Montgomery County in the 1990s. He beat out former delegate Paul Stull of Walkersville who represented District 4A from 1995 to 2011. The Republican Central Committee received 21 applications for the District 4A seat. Of these 21, one person withdrew, another did not live in the district, and the third was a Democrat. The committee narrowed the field of 18 down to three finalists, but one of the three, Christopher D. Glass Sr., did not show up for the final interview. This left just Ciliberti and Stull. The selection process did not come without controversy. The night of the closed-door selection process, some 20 protesters gathered in support of Wendi Peters, who finished fourth in the June primary election, gaining 601more votes than Ciliberti. Peters was not chosen as one of the three finalists. Ciliberti came in fifth of the five candidates that ran in the primary. Gov. Larry Hogan must approve Ciliberti’s nomination. Office buildings from page 1 planning department, city officials said. Gary Grossnickle, who farms over 300 acres in Walkersville, said taking land from a 100-year-old floodplain will have serious consequences. “My concern is that they’re taking 39 acres out of the 100-yearold floodplain,” he said. “The water has to go somewhere else. This is a big issue. It’s a water issue. I’m a farmer, and when you displace water it has to go somewhere else. I just want to get the word out. I want the public to know what is going on.” Thompson said it will have far reaching effects that will hurt any productive land, small streams, rivulets and creeks. “Where do you think this water will go when this large area is filled in, as well as all the additional water from the impervious surface replacing the wetlands?” she asked. For Walkersville residents looking to avoid the traffic on Md. 26 and Md. 194, taking Biggs Ford Road into town has been another option. Thompson said development at the Biggs Ford Road and U.S. 15 intersection, will create a dangerous situation for drivers. “Because of the traffic congestion on Rt. 26 due to all the commercial development allowed by Frederick, the alternative to access 15 to get to or from Frederick, for many of us, is Bigg’s Ford, an at grade intersection that is not optimally as safe as it should be at present,” she said. “Adding this much more traffic is insane.” FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 3 HISTORY One hundred years ago this month February 1, 1915 Walkersville – Mrs. J. Harry Kling of Walkersville entertained at “500” from 2 to 5 o’clock at her home, Friday evening. Delicious refreshments were served. Those present were: Mesdames Claude Hargett of Frederick, Maryland; Maynard Dudrear and Harry Dorcus of Woodsboro; Carroll Smith, Joseph Long, Thomas Saylor, Franklin Harshman, and Edgar Feaster all of Walkersville; Misses Emma Kling of Woodsboro; Catherine Burrier, Catherine Cramer, Nannie Smith, and Annie Hamsburg of Walkersville. Blockade - Once again British interest in the military activities on the continent has been overshadowed momentarily by the fact that Germany has brought the combat to Great Britain’s front door. What is regarded here as the new German policy of the submarine blockade of British ports. Two British merchantmen torpedo by the Germans near Belfast are the largest commercial vessels that have yet fallen victim to German submarines; the three ships sunk in the Irish Sea were all small coasters. February 2 Fierce fighting, Heavy losses Renewal of a fierce offensive by the Germans in the region near Warsaw has led to some of the heaviest fighting in the war in the East thus far. The Germans succeeded in capturing Russian trenches about 30 miles west of Warsaw, but with losses that are described as enormous. On a front less than a mile long, more than 6,000 Germans are said to have been killed in a week. February 4 Five Total Two Thousand Five Hundred and Ninety-three Pounds – Charles Strine is laying claims to being the champion hog raiser of Walkersville. Yesterday J. C. Nusbaum butchered five porkers for him. Their weight totaled 2.593 pounds, their respective weights being 63l, 540, 486, 468, and 468 pounds. They were of the Hampshire breed. 16 months old, and are claimed to be the largest butchered in Walkersville this winter. More than 50 friends and relatives attended the butchering and the dinner, which Mr. Strine gave, following the killing. February 5 Deaf Man Struck by Traction Car - Battered about the chest and back and with numerous bruises, small cuts and scratches over his body, Benjamin Green, of near Catoctin, and between Catoctin and Thurmont about 10:20 o’clock crawled from under the big Thurmont division car of the Hagerstown and Frederick Railway company, considerably more frightened than injured. Green had been run down by a train leaving Frederick shortly before 10 o’clock and in charge of Conductor Kefauver and Motorman Horine. Through the presence of mind of the motorman, Green made a marvelous escape from being ground beneath the wheels of the car. The trainmen assisted Green to the car, made him as comfortable as possible and continued the run of about a mile to Thurmont. Dr. M. A. Birely was summoned and met the train. He made a hurried examination of the injuries of the man and suggested that he be sent to the Frederick City Hospital. Last night it was reported that Green was doing nicely. Green owes his present condition to his deafness and to trespassing on the lines of the railway company. Passengers on the train declared last night the siren was sounded a dozen times. At one time, the man edged toward the side of the track, but just as the car came near walked directly to the center of the tracks. By this time, the motorman had become puzzled by the queer actions of the man. The thought that Green was deaf never once entered his mind. As a precautionary measure, the car was kept under the best of control, and when the man was struck, it was brought to a standstill within a distance of four feet. Green was partly under the car when the trainmen and the passengers had flocked from the car. He was suffering from intense fright. The realization of his narrow escape had just been forced home by his presence under the axles of the car. The trainmen took him in charge. Conversation between Green, the trainmen and the physician was conducted by sign language. Green insisted that he was badly hurt. The physician said last night that unless there are some internal injuries that did not show up in the first examination, Green’s recovery will be quick. February 6 Attack planned on British Transports – Neutral shipping today received a new warning from the German admiralty. Vessels approaching continental ports were advised to track north of Scotland into the North sea to avoid being sunk by mistake by German submarines, which are said to be operating off the western and northern coasts of France. According to this latest official statement, Great Britain is on the verge of sending numerous troops and large quantities of war material to France. Against these transports, Germany proposes to proceed with all of the means of warfare at the country’s disposal. The German public received this latest communication from the Admiralty with fresh evidences of approval. Berlin newspapers announced that it practically amounted to a blockade of the French coast, as last night’s decree warning neutral shippers away from British waters was heralded as virtually a blockade of England. Both measures, it was declared, were advanced steps in the carrying out of the new German submarine policy advocated by Admiral von Tirpitz. Forty Hood College Students to go to York and Hanover on Concert Tour – Forty Hood College students, members of the glee club, will leave Frederick on Monday afternoon for York and Hanover, Pa., on their mid-winter concert tour for the benefit of the building fund of the college. Miss Grace Burnap, is musical director, of the club. A concert will be given in York, Pa., on Monday evening and on Tuesday evening the second concert will be given in Hanover. Many students of the college come from that section of Pennsylvania. A tidy sum of money will likely be realized from this tour. This money is being applied to the building fund, in which the students of all the class take interest. This year the membership of the club has been almost doubled. Some fine concerts will be given. The best talent of the conservato- ry of music has been signed up in this club. February 8 All Three Judges Against Suffrage – The Jefferson Grange, at its regular meeting Saturday afternoon, diverged from agriculture discussion and took up the question of Woman Suffrage. There was a debate on the National Amendment, in which the negative side won, the judges voting unanimously in their favor. The negative team was composed of William B. Doty, of Jefferson, and Professor Sydney S. Stahler, of the Boys’ High School. The alternative team was composed of Professor William T. Mahoney of the Boys’ High School and Miss Edna Keller, of Hood College. Professor Mahoney, the first speaker for the affirmative, contended that woman is equal to man intellectually, and because of this fact and that she pays taxes on property should have a right to vote. Mr. Doty, the first speaker on the negative team maintained that it would be degrading to women to have suffrage and argued that their proper sphere is in the home. Professor Stahler, the second speaker for the negative, declared that there is no necessity for women’s suffrage as the women are well represented at the polls by their husbands, brothers, and sons, and that the leaders of the suffrage movement do not represent the best element of womanhood. “They are good homemakers,” he declared. He argued that the states of the South should not have suffrage forced upon them, when the women don’t want it. He told of a town in Missouri where the men voted in woman suffrage in order to obtain enough votes to incorporate the town and at the first election after this was done only one woman voted, a negress. He declared “that the leaders of the movement are northern and western women agitators who are trying to cram woman suffrage down the throats of the Southern women who do not want it.” Miss Edna Keller, of Hood College, was the last speaker for the affirmative side. She used most of her allotted time in refusing the statements of the negative. She argued that the “old maids and disappointed women—who the negative claimed make up the majority of the suffragists—could better their condition if they had a chance to cast a ballot, as they are the best ones to judge how to better their conditions.” February 9 The Administration’s view of the hoisting of the American flag on the British steamer Lusitania is that the use of other flags by ships of nations at war is such a customary practice that no formal protest could be made, but that it will send to Great Britain a note pointing out the dangers to neutral shipping which may follow if such a practice is continued. Regarding the establishment of a war zone by Germany around the British Isles. The president takes the view that the war zone proclamation by Germany does not constitute a blockade, but simply a warning. The president himself said the action by Congress could not control the use of the American flag by foreign ships and that the restrictions of such practices would have to come from international agreements. February 10 Woodsboro – The Missionary society of St. Johns Reformed Church, Woodsboro, the Rev. Ernest Weaver, pastor, met last evening and elected officers. Miss Nanie Shaw was chosen president; Mrs. J. P. Fetser, vice-president; Glenn Cramer, secretary; Miss Cora Hardy, assistant secretary; Mrs. D. A. Sharetts, treasurer. The annual missionary service will be held next Sunday evening, when the pastor will make an address and an interesting program will be rendered. CONTINUED ON PAGE 5 4 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 GOVERNMENT From the desk of County Executive Jan Gardner Making Charter Government Work As I write this column, we are six weeks into our new form of charter government. As Frederick County’s first county executive, I am charged with making sure the transition to charter government happens smoothly and that county government provides efficient and effective services to its citizens. I have appointed an 8 member transition team comprised of people with experience in government and in business. The transition team is charged with evaluating the organization and structure of county government as well as the county executive’s office. The transition team is meeting with county division directors and other staff members to gather information, understand agency functions, and review their effectiveness. The transition team has met with county executives from other counties including former Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, former Montgomery County Executive Doug Duncan, and current Cecil County Executive Tari Moore. The charter requires the county executive to present an organizational plan for county government and the report from the transition team will inform the organizational plan. County Administrator Doug Browning and I are also doing our own internal review. I have created Leadership Teams in four issue areas – education, jobs, human needs, and seniors – to identify goals, objectives, and desired outcomes in these issue ar- eas which will then form the foundation of a four year plan for my administration. These teams consist of 12 to 15 issue experts and stakeholders who are brainstorming ideas and objectives. The Leadership Teams will hold public meetings in the month of February to hear public input and gather additional ideas. The final report from the Leadership Teams will be publicly presented by the end of February. The members of the Leadership Teams are very jazzed about creating plans and priorities in education, job creation, aging, and human needs. I am grateful for their commitment to our community. To ensure good communication and a functional relationship with the County Council, I meet with Council President Bud Otis and Council Vice-President M.C. Keegan-Ayer on a weekly basis. This allows an opportunity to discuss issues and to make sure the council has the information it needs to make decisions. We are working hard to establish a new, positive tone in county government and to show our support and appreciation for county employees and the great work they do each and every day. Council President Otis and I are touring county agencies and departments to meet with employees and thank them for all they do to make sure you, the citizens of Frederick County, receive exceptional public services. We want a positive and productive workplace. My first legislative initiative is ethics reform. During the campaign, I heard a lot of concerns about county business being conducted outside the public view and outside the public interest. To restore trust in government, I am appointing an ethics taskforce to review our ethics ordinance, strengthen conflict of interest provisions, and make recommendations on the creation of an independent ethics commission. Elected officials must be held to the highest standard of behavior and there will be discussion about adding provisions for a professional code of conduct for elected officials. Ethics reform is a top priority. I have had the privilege of attending opening day of the legislative session in Annapolis and the inauguration of our new governor Larry Hogan. As Frederick County Executive, I was honored to attend a VIP reception, sit on the stage for the swearing in, and meet many well-known people including Archbishop Lori, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, and incoming cabinet Secretaries. Legislative initiatives in the state session will be focused on the budget. I am hopeful that Governor Hogan will live up to his campaign prom- ise to restore highway user revenue which is our local share of the gas tax. Our local share of the gas tax, almost $15 million, has been shifted to balance the state general fund budget. I also expect legislation on charter schools, expansion of casino night gambling for fraternal organizations, and changes to local liquor laws. Initial challenges also include balancing the county budget. Unfortunately, I have inherited a budget deficit as a result of irresponsible spending from the outgoing administration. Ongoing expenditures were approved from one-time sources of money including spending from reserve funds. I will address this structural deficit immediately and will focus spending on core services like education and public safety. I would make sure development pays its way and is no longer subsidized by the taxpayers. I will put our fiscal house back in order and will do so without raising taxes. I am grateful to the citizens of Frederick County for putting their trust in me and giving me the opportunity to serve our community as Frederick County’s first county executive. I pledge honest and open government, fiscal responsibility, and the delivery of efficient and effective services. Our best days are ahead. From the desk of Frederick County Council President Bud Otis Well things look like they are beginning to pickup for the Council. When the charter was approved, it did not have any rules to suggest to us how the Council was to run. After five drafts, we were able to approve a set of rules that are now in place. This is going to make it easier on all of us as we now know what is expected of us and how the council is to conduct its business. One of the items that was approved is that as the President of the Council, it is my responsibility to set the agendas for the Council meetings. When I was Chairman of the Ethics Commission for the County, I felt that some of the ethics rules needed to be changed. County Executive Jan Gardner and I are working on setting up a citizens commission to study how the ethic rules for the County can be improved to bring a clearer and better way of setting up the Ethics Commission in the future. If you would like to serve on the Citizens Commission, contact Joyce Grossnickle at the Frederick County office and she will add you to the list to be considered for this important Commission. The Council is beginning to fill out the staff that will be needed to assist in the work of the Council. With the County Budget coming in March, we are looking for a contract budget officer to advise the Council on the budget that we will be receiving from the County Executive. We will be going through the budget line by line as it is your money we are spending. We will be receiving less money from the State of Maryland according to the budget forecast provided by our new Governor Larry Hogan. We were already expecting a short fall of three million dollars and now with another short fall of an additional three million from the State of Maryland we are looking for ways of trimming the Frederick County government. This means that everyone is going to have to be ready to do the same with less. A tax increase is out of the question so we all have some hard work ahead of us. I am reaching out to the various departments of the County to let them know that I care about them and the work they do for you and me. This past week I visited the Parks and Recreation Department and the Election Board. They are in the same complex so I was able to visit both departments. Wow, do we ever have a great staff running these departments! I had no idea how many programs the Parks and Recreation Department put on and plan for us. Thousands of you avail yourself of our wonderful parks and recreational fields. We have some of the finest in the Country; I hope you get out this summer and see what you have right here in your backyard! I also visited the Department of Aging, and I was floored by how many meals on wheels we are providing to those in need in our County. I have asked for the figures on the service this department is providing. I am planning on an article just on the service that we are giving to those in need in our county. The staff was wonderful and caring, just like someone you would like visiting you in your home. I was really glad they gave me a tour; I will never forget them or the people they serve. As a county, we will be judged by how we care for those in need. I know you want us to pass this test, and I am committed to seeing that we do. FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 5 GOVERNMENT From the desk of Thurmont Town Commissioner Marty Burns Michael Hough’s continuing politics of deceit District 4 residents. Do you think your vote counts? Well of course you do, but the Frederick County Republican Central Committee (FCRCC) doesn’t. You see Governor Larry Hogan appointed Delegate Schulz to his cabinet as Secretary of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulations, which left her Delegate seat vacated. As the law would have it, the County Central Committee makes the nomination to fill her seat. Because she was a Republican it’s the County Republican Central Committee who appoints her replacement. Because the election ink isn’t dry yet the respectful/honorable thing should have been to appoint the next highest republican vote recipient. That is if you care about the voters. However the FCRCC doesn’t care about voters, which means they don’t care about you, they only care about what Senator Michael Hough wants. He’s bought them lock, stock, and barrel and be dammed what the voters want. Senator Hough’s wife is the chairman of the FCRCC, his children’s godparent is on the Carroll County Republican Central Committee (CCRCC). He doesn’t like Delegate Schulz, Senator Brinkley, or Wendi Peters and because they wouldn’t form an alliance with him and Delegate Kathy Afzali, they went on one of the most vicious, libelous political attacks I’ve ever seen against all three and put two other names on his “slate”. He crucified and vilified Schulz, Brinkley, and Peters and it worked for two of them. Only after Kelly Schulz won the primary did he put her name on his signs. Mr. Hough had a conversation with Wendi Peters where she told him he could unite the party, and more importantly honor the voters, but he guaranteed her she wouldn’t get the appointment. Although the Frederick County Farm Bureau supported Wendi Peters during the election, Senator Hough strong-armed them to choose someone else to support. When he heard the Governor was considering Senator Brinkley for a cabinet post, he lobbied hard against it. He was heard saying he doesn’t need to listen to anyone because he got 60% of the vote. His wife went to the CCRCC and told them that their vote didn’t count because they were so small and that they should just accept the decision of the FCRCC. They have blocked Republican voters from posting on their facebook page who oppose their view or are critical of their decisions, they have even blocked elected officials from posting on their page too. They are elected officials, yet they are preventing their constituents from expressing their views. If that doesn’t scare you, it should. Three candidates made it to the FCRCC short list. One can- didate that made the top three was so upset at the process that he withdrew from consideration. However, the FCRCC lied to everyone and said he simply failed to show up for the 2nd interview. That my friends was a lie. We don’t need this kind of politician nor his bought and paid for minions on the FCRCC representing us, they don’t care about district 4, They only care to retain the support of Mr. Hough’s “Political Machine” and use it and his money to help them in future elections in four years. They have literally prostituted themselves for his support and don’t dare go against that. Senator Hough is a Congressman Mooney’s “Minnie me” who took the Mooney playbook and played it to a “T” against Schulz, Brinkley and Peters. Unfortunately, most people bought it. Heck they’re even going after the most popular elected official in Frederick County, Sherriff Chuck Jenkins. Evidently there are some extremely interesting emails between Delegate Afzali and Sherriff Jenkins. Thankfully our dear Governor threw them an impressive curve ball by telling all of them that he wasn’t satisfied with their candidate selection process. It’s clear this Governor is a principled leader who has heard all of the garbage taking place and he has decided he’s not going to play by their dirty rules. He wants clean, open, and transparent processes with regard to issues like this and hopefully everything else he does. The interesting thing will be to see what the FCRCC does next. Honor the voters? Unite the party? Or tick off our new Governor? Whatever they decide, one thing is clear Michael Hough isn’t the leader of the Republican Party, Governor Larry Hogan is. From the desk of County Councilman Kirby Delauter So far on the new county council, we are just getting set up and organized for how this new form of government will work here in Frederick County. We’ve worked to appoint council members to boards and commissions. I have taken the roads board and the agriculture business committee among a few. One appointment by County Executive Gardner that caught my attention was the hiring of a new staff position for a so-called “liaison“ position to the board of education. This is a newly created position paying somewhere from $41,000 to $50,000 annually. My thought was, and still is, why hire someone for this position when during all previous administrations a member of the county commissioners has held that position? In our current situation with a new county council, we have two very intelligent and involved teachers on the council that could have easily taken that role at no added cost to the taxpayer. In my opinion, this is not a good start to showing fiscal responsibility of taxpayer dollars. On with the business of the council; recently we discussed an issue that was on the table from the last board of commissioners, of which I was a member. This item is known as TDR’s or “Transferrable Development Rights”. This is a mechanism where farmers can have another tool by which to keep the family farm intact without borrowing additional funds or selling off the majority of the farm in order to survive. Let me show you a real life example of the basic premise of a TDR agreement. We had this example given to us at a recent council meeting. Farm “A” is in the Thurmont area in a rural setting with no other R-1 (residential) zoning close by. We had a young farmer that wished to purchase this 220-acre farm in order to do just that, farm it. This farm had 18 development rights recorded which increased the value of this farm by several million dollars which placed the farm value far out of the reach of the young farmer. The owner of farm “A” has another farm (farm “B”) outside of Frederick that is adjacent to R-1 zoned land. He wants to “transfer the development rights from his farm “A” to his farm “B” where growth is more relevant. In doing this he will give up his right to develop farm “A” which will reduce the value of farm “A” by several million dollars and bring it into a range where the young farmer can afford the farm for farming purposes. The farm “B” then goes up in value and the swap of developable lots takes place, which is a straight “wash” even up trade. No more lots have been created; they have just been “transferred” to a more desirable location while allowing a young farmer to enter the industry for the sole purpose of the intended use, farming. We have in the past, during my tenure as a county commissioner, tried to give farmers more tools to make it viable to stay in farming and not have to sell the farm to survive. We lobbied the state for relaxed inheritance laws; we also made it easier for farms to sell their products on the farm such as marketing their eggs, milk, and even ice cream. We’ve made it easier to produce wineries and tasting rooms on the farm as well. All of this has been on the table from the farm/ag community; it just took some common sense approaches to get it to become a reality. TDR’s are no different, it’s just another tool for a young farmer to remain just that, a farmer, and it allows an opportunity for an older retiring farmer to move his assets and plan better for retirement without “ giving up the farm”. societies. The Italian Premier has held almost daily conferences with his Ministry of war, the results of which have been placing of the entire Italian army on a war footing. The Italian public is insisting that the country regained territory now held by Austria. The leader of the Boer rebellion in South Africa has been executed by the Germans for treachery. The Boers have been supported by the Germans in the German state of Southwest Africa since the outbreak of the war in Europe. Having suffered a series of defeats at the hands of British troops, the Boar leader sought to make peace with Britain. When the Germans heard of the peace overtures, the leader of the Boers was taken into custody and immediately executed. the settlers moved to Maryland and took up a grant of land in the vicinity of what is now Walkersville. “Yes, sir,” said Mr. Cramer. “I have been a Democrat all my life, and my ancestors have been Democrats since the Revolutionary War.” Mr. Cramer is widely known through the county and city. He has many relatives and friends. 100 years ago continued from page 3 Flag used to protect shipping -Another instance of the use of the American flag by a British steamer was reported today by passengers on the Orduna. The Orduna is said to have flown the American flag while crossing the Irish sea. The explanation which the passengers said they received was that a German submarine was in the vicinity and the American flag had been raised for the purpose of protecting the American citizens among the 240 passengers. The battle in the Carpathians, which is to decide whether the Russians will be able to force it’s way over the mountains and invade Hungary or driven back to the northward, apparently is as far from a decision as it any time since the Austrians, with their German reinforcements launch a counter attack. Each of the opposing armies has won its minor victories but neither has been able to gain sufficient headway to place the other definitely on the defensive. Meanwhile the Russian invasion on East Prussia has been checked. It is stated that the Germans are once again on the offensive and have defeated the invading Russian forces. Resolutions in favor of joining the allies in the European war have during the past two days been adopted by more than 2,000 Italian February 13 Democrat Enters Race for Position of Register of Wills – Ezra L. Cramer, Walkersville, a lifelong president of Frederick county, and a staunch Democrat, has formally announced his candidacy for Register of Wills of the county subject to the primary election. This is the first time that Mr. Cramer has aspired to public office. Mr. Cramer is a lineal descendant of a family that settled in America at about the beginning of the seventeenth century. A short time later one of February 18 Diamonds Out-roll Linganore – The Diamonds took two matches from the Linganore team on the Diamond alleys last night. This afternoon the Diamonds will roll the Adamstown team at Adamstown in CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 6 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 COMMENTARY Poverty, heroin, government Anthony Daniels, Writer and Doctor Reprinted by permission from Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College. I worked for 15 years as a doctor and psychiatrist in a general hospital in a poor area of a British city and in the prison next door, where I was on duty one night in three. The really dangerous people were in the hospital, perhaps because of the presence in the prison next door of very large uniformed men who exerted a strangely calming effect on the prisoners. In the hospital, I personally examined many thousands of patients who had attempted suicide or at least made a suicidal gesture (not quite the same thing of course). They were overwhelmingly from poor homes, and each patient told me of the lives of the three, four, or five people closest to them, and I spoke to many of those people as well. I could not, of course, have spoken to so many people, and heard about so many others, without some general im- pressions forming themselves in my mind. One abiding impression was of the violence of their lives, particularly that between the sexes—largely the consequence of the fluidity of relations between the sexes—and also of the devastating effect of prevalent criminality upon the quality of daily existence. Before I did this work, I had spent a number of years working as a doctor in Africa and in other places in the Third World. I also crossed Africa by public transport and consequently saw much of that continent from the bottom up. These experiences also helped me in my understanding of what I was later to see in England. All judgment is comparative; or as Kipling said, “What should they know of England who only England know?” Indeed, what should anyone know of anywhere, who only that place knows? On my return to England, I used to visit the homes of poor people as part of my medical duties. Bear in mind that I had returned from some of the poorest countries in the world, where—in one case— a single hen’s egg represented luxury and the people wore the castoff clothes of Europe that had been donated by charity. When I returned to England, I was naturally inclined to think of poverty in absolute rather than in relative terms—as people not having enough to eat, having to fetch water from three miles away, and so forth. But I soon ceased to think of it in that fashion. In the course of my duties, I would often go to patients’ homes. Everyone lived in households with a shifting cast of members, rather than in families. If there was an adult male resident, he was generally a bird of passage with a residence of his own somewhere else. He came and went as his fancy took him. To ask a child who +his father was had become an almost indelicate question. Sometimes the child would reply, “Do you mean my father at the moment?” Others would simply shake their heads, being unwilling to talk about the monster who had begot them and whom they wished at all costs to forget. By the time they are 15 or 16, twice as many children in Britain have a television as have a biological father living at home. Few homes were without televisions with screens as large as a cinema—sometimes more than one— and they were never turned off, so that I often felt I was examining someone in a cinema rather than in a house. But what was curious was that these homes often had no means of cooking a meal, or any evidence of a meal ever having been cooked beyond the use of a microwave, and no place at which a meal could have been eaten in a family fashion. The pattern of eating in such households was a kind of foraging in the refrigerator, as and when the mood took, with the food to be consumed sitting in front of one of the giant television screens. Not surprisingly, the members of such households were often enormously fat. Surveys have shown that a fifth of British children do not eat a meal more than once a week with another member of their household, and many homes do not have a dining table. This pattern is concentrated in the lower reaches of society where so elementary but fundamental a means of socialization is now unknown. Here I should mention in passing that in my hospital, the illegitimacy rate of the children born in it, except for those of Indian- subcontinen- tal descent, was approaching 100 percent. It was in the prison that I first realized I should listen carefully, not only to what people said, but to the way that they said it. I noticed, for example, that murderers who had stabbed someone always said of the fatal moment that “the knife went in.” This was an interesting locution, because it implied that it was the knife that guided the hand rather than the hand that guided the knife. It is clear that this locution serves to absolve the culprit, at least in his own mind, from his responsibility for his act. It also seeks to persuade the listener that the culprit is not really guilty, that something other than his decisions led to the death of the victim. This was so even if the victim was a man against whom the perpetrator was known to have a serious grudge, and whom he sought out at the other side of the city having carried a knife with him. The human mind is a subtle instrument, and something more than straightforward lying was going on here. The culprit both believed what he was saying and knew perfectly well at the same time that it was nonsense. No doubt this kind of bad faith is not unique to the type of people I encountered in the hospital and the prison. In Shakespeare’s King Lear, Edmund, the evil son of the Earl of Gloucester, says: “This is the excellent foppery of the world: that when we are sick in fortune—often the surfeit of our own behaviour—we make guilty of our disasters the sun, the moon, and the stars, as if we were villains by necessity; fools by heavenly compulsion; knaves, thieves, and treachers, by spherical predominance; drunkards, liars, and adulterers, by an enforced obedience of planetary influence; and all that we are evil in, by a divine thrusting on. An admirable evasion of whoremaster man, to lay his goatish disposition to the charge of a star!” In other words, it wasn’t me. This passage points, I think, to an eternal and universal temptation of mankind to blame those of CONTINUED ON PAGE 20 Offering a variety of Home Owner and Contractor services Custom moulding, doors, & windows Material takeoff and estimation Lumber and plywood cut to size Key cutting Rope & chain cut to length Rekeying locksets Saw and tool sharpening Glass and plexi-glass cut to size Paint and stain mixing House charge accounts Outside sales rep will come to you Delivery to your job site Blueprint takeoff Engineered wood and truss design welcomed Large variety of moulding and trim on hand Window and door specialists NZ Cramer & Son is a building material dealer who serves contractors, homeowners and commercial accounts. Our showroom provides the perfect environment for homeowners and professionals to plan their building or renovation projects. Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday 7:00AM - 5:00PM, Saturday 7:00AM - 12:00PM, Sunday closed 101 Creagerstown Road • Route 550 North • Woodsboro, Maryland 21798 Phone: (301) 898-9116, (301) 845-6371 • Fax: (301) 898-5854 FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 7 COMMENTARY Family room Love is … Chandra Bolton At a recent funeral for a friend of mine, her brother told us all how much he hated cauliflower until one year at Christmas, my friend made a cauliflower casserole. It was absolutely delicious. Her brother ended by saying that his sister helped everyone she met become something wonderful, just as she had changed yucky cauliflower into something delicious. She did it by reaching out in love to those around her. This got me to thinking about the nature of love. A teenage boy was recently overheard talking about setting objectives for dating his girlfriend. He felt that this would ensure that he got what he wanted out of the relationship. His appalled listener responded, “So you are using her as an object, a tool to give you what you want? But she’s a human being.” That conversation brought to mind the song from a ‘70’s rock opera. In the song I Don’t Know How to Love Him, a woman sings of the ways to try to control her relationship with a man. She has no experience with the type of love my friend’s brother spoke about. First she sings, “Should I bring him down?” hoping to use power, physical or emotional. Or perhaps she should “… scream and shout …” If I am angry, he will try to placate me by giving me what I ask. Next she thinks about using emotional blackmail: “Should I speak of love …” forcing him to respond in kind. There are so many ways to try to manipulate others, focusing on what we perceive our own needs to be and using other people to fill those needs. But is it love? Sounds more like the bargaining in a business transaction. Her last Chandra’s father loving and enjoying the simple love of his great-grandson (Photo Mischa Bolton) option was honesty “… let my feelings out.” Not trying to control his response, but allowing him the freedom to choose. Love that is not freely chosen isn’t really love. Modern Valentine’s Day traditions center on romance. The historical Saint Valentine was less about feelings and more about commitment. Living at a time when both Christianity and the marriage of young people were illegal, Valentine fulfilled his priestly vows by performing marriages secretly. Eventually caught, condemned and imprisoned, he continued to help those around him. The legend has it that he cured his jailor’s young daugh- ter of blindness. Before his execution, he wrote encouraging letters to her, signing them “from your Valentine.” Thus began the custom of sending cards to those we care about on his feast day. There is that hope and lovely feeling in the beginning of the relationship, but suffering will come. Valentine’s life illustrates this. Love is only love if it perseveres. Though not all of us will be beaten and beheaded, as Valentine was, for sticking to our vows, we each have some suffering to do. Even if it is only smiling as our spouse tells that story for the 87th time, biting our tongue when they eat the last cookie or forget a chore. When I burn dinner my husband assures me that he likes his food crispy. Forgiveness is a constant expression of love. When we allow others to choose, they will inevitably, on occasion, choose things that annoy and frustrate us, or at least hurt our feelings. Trying to accept that our pain was not the point, just an unanticipated side effect, requires maturity and a willingness to let go. Ultimately, doing what’s right is the first requirement of love. Whether that is giving up our own wants to provide for another’s needs, spending time to figure out what would be best for them, or occasionally saying ‘No’, loving other people isn’t for the faint of heart. Thinking all these deep thoughts, I decided it was time to make a cup of tea. Then my grandson got up from his nap. He toddled sleepily into the kitchen, and, seeing me, held up his arms in the universal pickme-up gesture. Snuggling his warm, pink cheeks up against my face, he sighed and smiled. It turns out that love is the smile and the sparkling eyes of a trusting grandchild happy just to be with you, content in your arms, needing only a hug (and the occasional graham cracker) to be perfectly at peace with the world. render. The Russians are still being pressed further eastward. It is believed that the re-occurrence of the general German offensive in the western theater depends largely upon the outcome of the present eastern situation. Opinion here is divided whether the Germans are planning a great invasion of Russia or whether their chief desire is simply to free Austrian territory of Russian forces and make secure their lines in central in northern Poland. about April 1. The purchasers of Mr. Stimmell’s business are Messrs. Troxell and Angell, of Philadelphia, Pa. Mr. Troxell is a son and Mr. Angell, a son-in-law, of near Loys, both having for some years been working in Philadelphia. sank in the shallow coastal waters. The second Zeppelin was on patrol duty over the North Sea when the weight of snow on the aircraft caused the airship to sink to the surface of the water. 100 years ago continued from page 5 the afternoon and from there will go to Brunswick, where they will roll a match against the Brunswick Y.M.C.A. team. February 17 War Zone Surrounds England -At the stroke of midnight the waters surrounding the United Kingdom will become a war zone, which all vessels, neutral or otherwise, will penetrate at their peril. Some of the services across the channel probably will be curtailed but a majority of neutral shipping lines will be at the risk they continue to sail it. The names and nationality of the vessels and the flags of nations will be painted on the sides in hopes that the German submarines was not sink them by mistake. England announcements details of her retaliatory policy of the German blockade by saying she plans too shut off all German food supply from the outside. It is obvious to all that the mutual blockades are becoming the most threatening situations of the war and have to potential of drawing in many currently neutral countries, like the United States, into what is currently a European war. Berlin is again celebrating the success of Field Marshal von Hindenburg, as further details of the East Prussian operations are received. 50,000 Russian prisoners have been taken when the Russian 10th army, consisting of 11 infantry and several cavalry divisions, was encircled and forced to sur- February 19 Will Move to Walkersville – Mr. John W. Stimmell, who for a number of years has been conducting business at Loys Station, has disposed of his warehouse and store and will move to Walkersville February 19 First blow struck - Germany has struck the first blow since hers war zone decree went into effect. A German submarine torpedoed without warning the French steamer Dinorah in the English Channel. The Dinorah did not sink but was safely towed into port. No mention is made of loss of any of her crew. A second German airship has been wrecked off the coast of Jutland. Zeppelin L3 exploded Wednesday and another zeppelin February 20 Town will have Electric Lights – Walkersville property owners are enthusiastic over the prospect of having electric lights in that town. From authoritative source, it was reported last night that the contract for the extension of the lines of the lighting department of the Hagerstown and Frederick Railway company into Walkersville may be signed at any time. It is likely that the lines of the railway company CONTINUED ON PAGE 15 8 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 COMMENTARY Midwinter magic Charissa Roberson I knelt on the carpet, my face pressed against the window and my breath forming misty clouds on the glass. White, fluffy snow was drifting down from the sky. The trees were already coated with the fine powder; their bare limbs were traced with silver. The sky, a soft gray, descended like a blanket over the earth. I leapt to my feet and ran down to the front door, throwing on my big winter coat and tugging on a pair of boots. The bells strung to the door handle jangled wildly as I flung the door open and bounced out onto the driveway. The air was icy, chilling my fingers and nose. Beneath my boots, the pavement was spread with several inches of pure, undisturbed snow. I tipped my head back, looking up towards the sky. The falling snow blurred and merged with the gray clouds, finally breaking free into visibility as it floated downwards. Timidly, I opened my mouth. A huge, cold snowflake landed inside and melted on my tongue. I held up my hands, letting the snow caress my fingers with its cold touch. Everything was quiet and still. I found myself moving and speaking softly, the snow like a cloak of silence muffling the air. Behind me, the door opened again. My parents and my sister stepped out onto the porch, bundled in coats and scarves. As they emerged into the crisp coldness, they gazed about them in awe at the delicate veil that had been drawn across our world. We couldn’t wait to explore it further. My mother tossed me a pair of mittens, and while I pulled them on over my chilled fingers, my father led the way down the snowy road. We walked unhurriedly, our heads turning this way and that to see the wonders displayed all around us: the silver trees, the white carpet of the hills, the mountains vague against the gray horizon. The soft snow still fell around us dusting our hair and coats with the lacy white particles. We turned onto the trail that led down to the lake, the snow crunching beneath our feet. High above us, squirrels skittered through the trees, leaping from limb to limb and sending puffs of snow showering down. We saw a few winter birds, their feathers fluffed up against the cold, hopping across the snowy ground. Their tiny clawed feet left thin little marks behind them. Already dozens of tracks crossed and crisscrossed over the snow: birds, squirrels, mice, bunnies, even deer. While we were still abed, the wild world had been up and busy. I gazed upwards, lost in thought, watching the snow-laden lattice of branches passing by overhead. Thump! I jumped as something cold and wet exploded on my shoulder. Whirling, I saw my big sister lower her arm, laughing. I grinned wickedly. The fight was on. I scooped up a handful of snow, realizing at once that it was the perfect snowball snow: just slightly damp and perfectly moldable. Hurling the projectile at my sister, I immediately ducked as she sent one flying back. I fled behind a tree, panting, and gathered more ammunition. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my sister sneaking up with an armful of snow. I turned before she could throw her load and tossed my own handful of snowflakes at her. She dropped the snow with a startled giggle and dashed at me. I shrieked, knowing that retribution was coming. My clunky boots shushed across the coldness as I fled to the end of the trail. But then we arrived, and our grievances were instantly forgotten. The frozen lake spread out before us, its sandy shores transformed into beds of white down. The solid water was like clouded glass, brushed with the newly fallen snow. My sister and I exchanged a glance. Laughing, we both ran down the hill towards the frozen lake. I dashed across the snowy sand, skidding to a stop at the place where the ice began. Carefully, I tested it with a booted toe, and then slowly eased my foot down on top of it. I couldn’t help smiling. The ice held my weight, silent and immovable. I began to inch along the shoreline, snow gathering around my boots as I moved over the ice. Experimentally, I spun a circle on one foot. The slick ice sped my revolutions until I spiraled to a stop, dizzy. My sister slipped over to me across the iced shallows, gliding like a skater. We joined hands and spun around and around, our linked fingers bracing us. Finally, laughing uncontrollably, we staggered apart and found a seat on the ice. Nearby, freezing fountains gurgled and gushed. The spray had thrown up walls of ice, smooth and sparkling. I knelt beside a perfectly round hump of ice, bigger around than I could reach. Tugging off my mitten, I rested one hand on the mound. The ice was slippery to my touch. I lowered my head and peered at the air bubbles encased inside the ice, tendrils and sprays of pearly mist. The ice was like quartz stone, or purest diamond. Where the water had cascaded, gleaming icicles now draped the rocks, their points fierce. I gently broke one off and held it up like a sword. My weapon melted where my fingers grasped it. Setting the icicle aside, I pulled on my mitten and ran down to where my father was skimming rocks across the lake. The stones bounced and whirred over the ice, sending back a musical hum. We found a puddle on the beach which had frozen over, and together we lifted the thin sheet of ice off the surface. We carried it to the lake and dropped it straight down onto the ice. With a crash, it smashed into dozens of tiny fragments, all spinning and glimmering in the pale light. I picked up a few. They really were like jewels. I walked back onto the beach scooping up a handful of fresh snow. Several more inches had now fallen. I touched my tongue to the frozen water. It tasted clear and cold, like mountain air and freezing streams. I let the snowflakes fall through my fingers. The openness around me stretched far and wide, the sky ever so much bigger above me as I stood there, out on the frozen beach. Time had slowed. The whole world was caught in this crystalline winter spell. incided, once upon a time, with a federal holiday. Flu and colds are currently rampant over a wide area, so here is a refresher on how to avoid spreading it around: don’t cover your mouth with your hand when you cough. Cough into the crook of your arm, with your arm snugly over your mouth and nose. That way, your hands are not contaminated when you use door handles, money, keys, etc. Every time you blow your nose, wash your hands. You are contagious when you are running a fever and for 24 hours afterward. It’s not noble to show up for work or social events when you are sick; it’s inconsiderate. It’s hazardous, potentially fatal. It can ruin weddings and travel plans and things beyond our knowing. So just stay home. The world can run without you for awhile. Consider buying tissues that are treated to kill viruses (we call them killer Kleenex). Wash your hands frequently and try not to touch your face or rub your eyes in order to stay well. In a pubic restroom, use the paper towel with which you dried your hands to open the door when you leave. Time for a hiatus on hugs, handshakes, and air kisses- any greetings involving personal contact whether at church, socially, or in business situations. The golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” speaks basically to being able to consider the perspective of the people around you. Contagion control involves being able to do this even when you are miserably sick. This ties in with Valentine’s Day and with “Love your neighbor as yourself”. I was surprised to discover that this phrase or variations of it appear in five different places of the bible. The “as yourself” part doesn’t get as much attention as its wisdom deserves: you can’t wholeheartedly offer to others what you don’t have to give. A person has to be in a position of stability, having enough resources emotionally and otherwise, to be able to offer anything to others. If you don’t feel as though you deserve much, you may not feel that others do either. “Put your own oxygen mask on first.” truly does make one better able to assist others. Valentine’s Day can remind us to love ourselves as well as one another. Give a little attention to what is lovable about you. Take a moment to make a call or send a cardand tell a few people what you love about them. I’ll close with a few quotes about love from Benjamin Franklin (birthday January 17, 1706). He authored an essay on the virtues of older women, which I like even better now than I did forty years ago. “If you would be loved, love and be loveable.” “If passion drives you, let reason hold the reins.” “Wine is constant proof that God loves us and loves to see us happy.” “There are no ugly loves nor handsome prisons.” “He who falls in love with himself will have no rivals.” This and that Mary Klotz February 22 is George Washington’s birthday. It used to be celebrated on that date, regardless of the day of the week. It has become Presidents’ Day, now combined with Lincoln’s birthday (February 12) as a federal holiday marked on the third Monday of February. This is a result of the Uniform Monday Holidays Act. (Is it curious that we haven’t heard a suggestion to reschedule religious holidays in order to make more convenient long weekends?) February 22 is also the birthday of Drew Barrymore, Edward Gorey, Ted Kennedy, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and countless others, obscure and famous, including two men who have lastingly touched my life and for whom I personally celebrate February 22. They both were skilled in and had careers involving interpersonal relationship dynamics. I have valued their perspective and advice for over forty years. One, a wonderful tenor, perceptive and sensitive, was a fellow member of a four person folk singing group in high school. He took me to his prom, he sang at my 40th birthday party. He consistently counseled me to accept that which confronted me: start with reality and move on from there. He died at age 61; I miss updates on his continual studying, his wise counsel, and his patience. The other gentleman whose February 22 birthday I celebrate is someone whose phrasing “How would it be if…” still resonates as an ingenious way to float an idea, so much better than “what you (we/he) should do is...” His skillful sorting out of group dynamics and advocacy for being responsible for one’s own choices were spectacularly nourishing at the cusp of my adulthood. “What are you going to do about that?” he’d ask, in lieu of offering advice. I still benefit from their examples and still fall short in my efforts to embody their wisdom. They were always impressed that I remembered their birthdays, but heck, they shared the same date and co- FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 9 ARTS Walkersville Theatre presents Shakespeare and more! Erik Secula The Walkersville High School (WHS) Theatre is pleased to announce a special winter production of William Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing. The show will be presented on the WHS stage Feb. 26-28, 2015 nightly at 7:00 PM. Concessions will be available before the shows and during intermission. Tickets are available on-line at www.whstheatre.seatyourself.biz. Much Ado About Nothing is one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies. The show features all of the poetic love and deceit you might expect from a Shakespearean play, but this production is set against a presentday backdrop. The play is directed by Diana Sung. After the WHS stage engagement, the cast will travel to the Folger Theatre in Washington D.C. for a special final performance. The WHS Theatre group is also excited to announce that they will be traveling to Orlando, Florida, in early February along with the WHS band for the department’s first ever trip to Walt Disney World. While there, they will experience the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to participate in two Disney theatre workshops. And, of course, they’ll make some time to conquer Space Mountain. Finally, coming this spring, WHS Theatre will perform the musical Hairspray! Hairspray will be performed Apr. 16-19, 2015. Stay tuned for additional details! The cast of Way Off Broadway’s And Then There Were None Advertise with us! For more information, contact [email protected] Becky Brown and Dakota Rosell at a Much Ado About Nothing rehearsal 10 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 LIBRARY A Page from Walkersville Library 57 West Frederick Street, Walkersville, MD (301) 845-8880 Teens in the library Linda Murray Frequent attendees of the Walkersville Public Library may have noticed that on most afternoons we have a large group of teens gathered in our building. While they can, on occasion, get a little loud (and unwittingly create an obstacle course of backpacks and coats for adult patrons to negotiate!), these young adults also contribute an incredible amount to their community and work very hard to make the library a welcoming space for everyone. Most of the teens that frequent the library are active members of Walkersville’s Teen Advisory Board (TAB) which meets once a month. The TAB has various working committees tasked with community outreach as well as improving conditions within the library. Case in point, the TAB is currently working with the Walkersville Historical Society on an oral history project where they are interviewing and videoing some of our town’s oldest living residents about their memories and experiences living here. When spring comes (and the weather is better), they will also be helping the Historical Society with a photo project documenting some of Walkersville’s most beautiful homes. Also, when you check out at the library, keep an eye out for the teens’ self-published magazine, Teen Zine. Edited by one of our fantastic teenagers, Dolan Polglaze, the Zine is a monthly collection of short stories, poems, articles, recipes and artwork, all contributed by local young adults. The issue is free for our patrons and printed and hand-bound right here in the library. Walkersville may be small, but this town really is blessed with an abundance of creative, intelligent, caring and generous teens that are a credit to the community of adults who surround them. So the next time you’re in the library, check out what the teens are working on – they’re excited to meet you! Special events at the library this February! Linda Murray There are lots of great programs at the Walkersville Library this February for patrons of all ages to enjoy. Elementary school children, working on practicing their reading, should check out WAGS FOR HOPE, on February 3 at 6.30pm, a fantastic project where kids get to read to dogs and build confidence and receive encouragement from their furry friends. And parents with little ones under school age are encouraged to make a special trip to our branch on Saturday, February 7, for the national event, TAKE YOUR CHILD TO THE LIBRARY DAY. A special story time will take place for attendees at 10:05am. Preschoolers can also show their love on February 10 at 11am, for PET VALENTINE, where they will be making homemade cards for the special animals in their lives. Finally, the ever popular elementary school program, SCIENCE AT SUNDOWN, continues on Tuesday nights on February 10, 17 and 24 at 6.30pm. All of this is in addition to our usual schedule of story times for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, and a new series of lunchtime story times every Thursday at 1pm, focusing on science and art called SIDE BY SIDE – STORIES & STE(a) M. A full schedule of activities is on the library’s web site at fcpl.org and a take home calendar is always available at the front desk of our branch if you need more details. We hope to see you soon! FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 11 SCHOOLS Student of the year campaign Elizabeth Knight This year is Maryland’s first year of having a Student of the Year Campaign for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). The mission of LLS is to “Cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.” (www.lls.org) The Student of the Year Campaign is a program where high school students formulate a team and then are put to the task of raising as much funds as they can during January 12- February 27. At the end of the campaign, there is a big gala where the winner is announced, awarding them with the title of Student of the Year and a $5,000 scholarship to the college of their choice. This campaign is contributing to finding new ways to battle and eventually eliminate blood cancers. One of Walkersville High School’s own is running for this campaign, Senior Emily Zimmerman. This campaign hits home for Zimmerman as when she was just 7 years old she was diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia called TCell A.L.L. LLS is very active in helping the Zimmerman family during this difficult time. Due to LLS, Zimmerman now lives cancer free and is doing her part to help give back and raise funds to find a cure for this disease. Zimmerman’s team name is called “10 years stronger” since 10 years ago this year she was diagnosed. Her team’s goal is to raise $20,000. Zimmerman’s team has two fundraisers coming up. One at Chipotle in Clemson Corner on Tuesday, January 27 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm where the team receives 50% of the proceeds. Another fundraiser is being held Wednesday, February 4 from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm at Buffalo Wild Wings in Market Square where the team receives 15% of the pro- Left to right: Emily Zimmerman, Hannah Youngblood, Holly Ferris, and Elizabeth Knight at the Student of the Year Campaign kick off party. ceeds. For these fundraisers, make sure to print out or show on your mobile device the flier on the facebook page! Donations are being accepted through February 27. If you are interested in donating you can do so online at: www.lls.org/pag- es/ms/soymaryland/ezimmerman or checks can be made out to: the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, with team “10 years stronger” written in the memo line. Checks can be mailed to: Emily Zimmerman, P.O. Box 214, Walkersville, MD 21793. You can also check out Zimmerman’s team pages at www.facebook.com/EZStudentOfTheYearCampaign and on twitter at EZ_LLS_SOTYC. For more information about the campaign check out: www.lls.org/ md/soymaryland. What can you order and how much are they? Quarts are $4.00 ½ Flat is $14.00 Flats are $25.00* (* Flats are a total of 8 quarts) Walkersville FFA must sell a total of 108 flats for them to be able to place an order so make sure you get your order in! If they do not reach a total of 108 flats, money will be refunded. If you have any questions or would like to order, you can call 240-236-7345. Orders will come in between March 16-19. Winter strawberries Elizabeth Knight There are many opportunities to help support your local FFA chapter from fundraisers to participating in various events held throughout the year. Spread the News! Extra copies of the Times are available at Trout’s Market in Woodsboro and T.R. Sayor Company in Walkersvile. Get there early each month. One of Walkersville FAA chapters most special events is their annual strawberry sale. The sale began January 16 and runs until February 27. The strawberries are purchased from the Florida Farm Bureau. Maple Run Golf Club Pro Shop 18 hole course Golf carts available Online tee time booking 13610 Moser Road, Thurmont, Maryland 21788 (301) 271-7870 | maplerungolf.com 12 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 COMMENTARY/COMMUNITY NOTES Just one thin dime Marg Mills What can you buy for a dime? For one thing, it will pay for one day if your library book is overdue. But, back in the day, that same dime would pay for five days. (Whoops, I just heard it went up to 20 cents a day. Guess I haven’t had a book overdue for a while.) Other than that, I can’t seem to think of much that 10 cents will buy. When I was a youngster, that would be 60 plus years ago, you could buy a lot for one thin dime. Here are a few of those things? Maybe you can remember even more. Ten pieces of penny candy or bubble gum, although a pack of baseball cards, five cards complete WBPA welcomes new member The January Walkersville Business & Professional Association (WBPA) meeting was hosted by Dr. Mimi McLaughlin, owner of McLaughlin Family Chiropractic, and was held at her place of business at 8701 Antietam Drive in Walkersville, across the street from the high school. The event was co-hosted by licensed massage therapist Lee Anne Little who leases the second floor. The building is a former private residence of some vintage with most of the beautiful original features of the home having been retained such as: wooden floors, fireplaces, old cast iron fixtures in the bath rooms, and decorative trim and moldings. The classic features are complimented by modern decorations that create a very relaxing atmosphere that is perfect for the complimentary businesses. The WBPA President, Bob Sussman, introduced a new member to the association, David Hoang, owner of David’s Salon, 126 Walkers Village Way, Walkersville, MD 21793; Davidsalon@ comcast.net; www.davidsalons. com; 301-845-4050. Dr. Mimi McLaughlin and Lee Anne Little hosted the January WBPA meeting. Glade Valley Food Bank receives grant to fight hunger Glade Valley Food Bank recently received a $1000 grant from Hunger Is which is a joint charitable program of The Safeway Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation. The grant money will be applied to children hunger programs. Food bank co-managers Brenda Haines and Donna Swanson stated, “ It’s a great honor to receive this Hunger Is grant and the recognition of the Walkersville Safeway managers for our work.” with bubble gum inside, was a nickel. And candy bars were also a nickel, so you could get two for a dime. You could get a small fountain coke at People’s Drug Store for a nickel and a large one for a dime. Add to that an English muffin for 15 cents, and you’d have a good after school snack at one of our favorite hangouts back then. Although a matinee on Saturday was a quarter, you could get a bag of popcorn for a dime. A cup of coffee or hot tea was a dime. Now that wasn’t flavored or any special blend, just plain Eighto-clock brand or Maxwell House. A comic book cost a dime. And you could go to one of several newsstands in town and pick up a copy of any one of your favorites. I particularly liked Little Lulu. During the summer, the popsicle man would come every day at about 4:00 p.m., ringing his bell to announce his arrival. Popsicles were a nickel, but if you were lucky enough to have a dime that day, you could buy an ice cream sandwich or an Eskimo pie. School lunches, from elementary school through high school, were a quarter. But most of the time you could buy milk for just three cents. Also at school, a Dixie cup, half chocolate and half vanilla ice cream, was only six cents, but if you had extra pennies that day, an ice cream sandwich was a dime. Many small toys could also be purchased for a dime. A deck of Old Maids, a paddle with a ball attached. Crayons, coloring books, and many of the school supplies purchased were just one thin dime each. I remember when the first block of North Market Street in downtown Frederick housed five stores, which were called “dime stores” or “five and ten cent stores.” Now that didn’t mean that everything they sold in these stores were a nickel or a dime. But there were plenty of nickel and dime items that you could buy. Nail polish, a dime; lipstick, a dime; a live guppy for your aquarium, a dime — just a lot of different items and each one costing only ten cents. But again, that was back in the day. So, what can you buy today that costs only one thin dime? I can’t think of too much and that includes your overdue library book. Have You Met… Leth “Mark” Oun Hometown: Battamband, Cambodia. Family Members: There are seven members in my family. Two sisters, the older sister is here in the United States, the younger sister is still in Cambodia. Two younger brothers are still in Cambodia. I was separated from my younger sister and my two brothers who are living in Cambodia in 1979. The first time I met my younger sister since then was in 2011 when President Obama went to Southeast Asia for the Asian Pacific Economic Conference ( APEC). After the 34 years of separation, that was the greatest moment of reunion in my lifetime. The tears of joy were coming down like a water fall! My wife is Sophy, and we have a son, Soksovannarath, “Timmy”, (28) and a daughter, Jennifer (22). Our names are shortened from the original because the Khmer Rouge thought long names were upper middle class or related to their enemies and were eliminated. Occupation: My current occupation is a Secret Service Officer technician, K9 trainer. Prior to that I was a K-9 handler for explosive detection. Prior to joining the Secret Service, I worked for the Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons in Philadelphia. I worked at the minimum to maximum security correction facilities. At the correction facilities, I was selected to be the self-defense instructor, PR24( prosecution 24 baton), a member of riot team around the country; officer in charge in the institution, in the control center, visiting center, transporting inmates to and from the hospital, transport all level of inmates through the country. Prior to the corrections work, I was a social worker for the city of Philadelphia, PA. I worked with the juvenile delinquents. I worked with most of the Asian juveniles, because of the unique Cambodian- Khmer language skill I have. All around Philadelphia, PA, I met many of the Cambodian families there. Prior to the social work, I was a probation officer for the city of Philadelphia for about one year. Before working for the Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons, I attended Widener University in Chester, PA, where I received a bachelor degree in art and science; sociology, criminal justice, pre-law. I graduated from community college, Montgomery College and community of Philadelphia, PA , where I received my associate degree in criminal justice and social science/social study. I attended Montgomery Blair High School after arrived in the United States of America. Before coming to America, I was a political refugee in Thailand camps; Khao-I-Dang, Sakeo, and Chunburi camps, Thailand. My family and I lived there from late 1979 to late 1982 where we transferred to refugee camp in Philippines, Marong, and Bataan, Philippines. Before coming to the refugee camp in Thailand, I was a political victim of the Khmer Rouge (communist of the Cambodian). I was taken hostage for 7 hours long. Before the communist regime, I was a student. In 1983 I was granted asylum and came to the USA. Favorite Food: Cambodia is a poor country, any food available, we eat it. Favorite Restaurant: Any restaurant. Favorite Movie: I love action and comedy movies. In My Spare Time: work out and read newspapers and books. I’ve started writing a book about my experiences from Cambodia to the Secret Service. Biggest Pet Peeve: People talking back to their elders. It is a sign of disrespect. Two people I would like to invite to dinner: I would love to take a homeless person and orphan with me to have them experience family. Three things I would take on a desert island: small knife, long sleeve shirt and big towel. Three unnecessary things I carry in my pocket: Nothing extra, I travel light. FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 13 HISTORY Maintaining infrastructure while preserving history Ken Kellar In early January, the county announced the temporary closing of the bridge on Hoovers Mill Rd. that spans Owens Creek. Google Maps showed an image of a spindly iron one-way bridge. Intrigued, I drove out to see the bridge. It’s a bit off the beaten path. Both roads leading to it, Hoovers Mill and Frushour, are narrow roads with a few farms along them. The bridge was blocked by concrete barriers placed across the road on both sides of the bridge. The bridge looked fine so I walked out on it. There I saw the damage. An intricate vertical truss looked as if a giant had swung a telephone pole like a baseball bat into it. The metal was bent and cracked with smaller braces ripped away from their rivets. Yes, rivets. That got me thinking, “How old is this bridge?” As I looked further, I realized the roadway was made of wood planking. Most of the metal work was connected by pins and rivets. Some of the damaged metal was cracked in addition to being bent. That made me wonder if the metal was wrought iron rather than modern steel. Wrought iron can be less ductile and crack rather than bend when overloaded. The construction reminded me of my brother’s old Erector Set with hundreds of little braces riveted together to make up the bridge. The metal of the bridge was covered with flaking paint which, up close, wasn’t very pretty. With the ancient riveted construction and the rough state of the paint, I began to worry about the future of the bridge so I contacted Frederick County’s Mike Ramsburg. He is the Maintenance Section Supervisor, Division of Public Works, Office of Highway Operations (and I thought the Federal government had long titles!). Mike and Jason Stitt, P.E., Division Chief, Office of Transportation Engineering, answered my questions and provided interesting additional information. First of all, the Hoovers Mill Bridge is one of five historic bridges crossing Owens Creek. All five are county-maintained. I counted a total of 14 bridges (or at least road crossings, including the five historic bridges) over Owens Creek as it falls from the Catoctins on its way to supply the Monocacy. Just think how many bridges there must be in Frederick County if just one creek has so many! The damaged Hoovers Mill Bridge was built in 1887. It is a single span pony Pratt truss bridge. The single lane bridge is set upon random stone abutments with a span length of 68 feet. The clear roadway width is 11’-0”. Joints of the bridge are secured with pinned connections. My perception of the bridge as “spindly” is a key trait of truss bridges. Truss bridges are usually what engineers call “statically determinate”. This means the stresses on the bridge can be accu- rately calculated allowing designers to use a minimum amount of metal. This makes truss bridges easier to design efficiently and economical to build. The Hoovers Mill Bridge is right in the middle of a 5.5 mile stretch (as the creek flows or 4 miles “as the crow flies”) of Owens Creek that features 5 historic, county-maintained bridges. The first crossing up stream has a similar truss bridge on Apples Church Road. It was built in 1917 and is a simple span steel pony truss bridge. The structure is 62’0” long measured between centerlines of pins and has an overall length of 65’-7” measured backto-back from the backwalls. The superstructure carries one lane of traffic with a clear roadway width of 16’. Further upstream is one of three wooden, covered bridges in Frederick County. It carries Roddy Road over the creek, just outside of Thurmont. This structure, originally built in 1892 and rehabilitated in 1995, is a simple span combination steel beam and timber deck covered bridge that is 39’ long. The superstructure carries one lane of traffic with a clear roadway width of 12.7’. It is befuddling that the short road that parallels Owens Creek as it travels from Route 15 to then pass under the Roddy Road is named Roddy Creek Road. A search for Roddy Creek was unsuccessful, but I’m sure it is nearby. Down stream of the Hoovers Mill Bridge, is the modern, SHAmaintained, Route 77 Bridge. Next is another covered bridge on Old Frederick Road. This bridge is a two span, single lane, timber covered bridge with timber deck planks supported by steel stringers originally erected at this site in 1889 and reconstructed in 1994 due to arson. The bridge was built as a single span king post truss acting as the principal support. Subsequently, a middle pier was constructed, and steel stringers were introduced as the deck support system. The abutments consist of concrete caps over stone masonry. The center pier is a solid concrete shaft. Wingwalls are made of stone masonry. The final historic bridge on Owens Creek is on Old Mill Road. It is a 68’-9” single span wrought iron through truss. The bridge was constructed by the Pittsburgh Bridge Company in 1882. The bridge was rehabilitated in 2008 and carries one lane of traffic with a clear roadway width of 12’-0”. Mike and Jason allayed my concerns for the bridge by describing their plan of action, “Many of the connections on the existing bridge were made using rivets, which is typical bridge construction for that era. The repair will be made utilizing bolts in place of rivets. The bridge is scheduled for rehabilitation in the current Capital Improvement Program (design in Fiscal Year 2018, construction in Fiscal Year The damaged Hoovers Mill Bridge The crushed truss that served for 137 years 2020). During the design of the rehabilitation, consideration will be given to restore the riveted connections. “We don’t anticipate any difficulties in executing the repairs. The materials for the repair have been ordered, and the repair will be executed as soon as the ma- terials arrive and weather permits.” I asked how much use the bridge gets, “This roadway has a very low traffic volume (less than100 vehicles per day). Notifications have been made to alert roadway users, including the Board of Education, of the closure so adjustments to regular routes can be made.” Many thanks to Messrs. Ramsburg and Stitt for taking the time to share a little of their bridge knowledge with us and for preserving the beautiful and historic bridges of Frederick County. 14 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 COMMUNITY Walkersville Volunteer Fire Company celebrates 75 years Brenda Staley The Walkersville Volunteer Fire Company celebrated the Company’s 75th Anniversary at its annual banquet held Saturday, January 17 at the fire company’s banquet hall. A buffet dinner was served by Leiter’s Catering. Chaplain Chad Weddle led a memorial service for deceased members; Lenwood Moss, Richard Toms, Margaret Dougherty, William Crum and Lois Schroyer. President John Zimmerman presented an award for the Member of the Year to Butch Leatherman for his dedication to all aspects of the fire company operations during 2014. Butch helps at fundraisers and is on the House and Grounds Committee. A Community Volunteer Award is given each year to a non-member who helps the company throughout the year. This year the Community Volunteer Award was presented to Harry and Liz Baker. The Bakers help with the carnival pizza stand each year by setting up and serving pizza each night. The President’s Award was presented to Bill Horine for his dedication to the company in 2014. Bill helps with all aspects of the fire company. He leads the catering committee and is a member of the House and Grounds Committee. Also recognized were: Horace Wright for 65 years of service; Dick Cramer for 60 years of service; and Ridge Cramer for 60 years of service. John gave special recognition to the more than 80 members who help throughout the year at weekly bingo. Thursday night bingo is the largest fundraiser for the fire company. Vice President Brian Hildebrand presented Susan Hoffman with an Honorary Life Membership. Susan was one of the first women to join the fire company in February 1985. She has coordinated LOSAP (Length of Service Award Program) for the company for several years and served as Training Officer. A Special Recognition plaque was awarded to Austin Schroyer for 40 years of service. Austin is a dedicated member and has served as President, Vice President, Director, apparatus driver, and firefighter over the 40 years. Chief Matt Staley noted on October 17, 2014, the company put into service a 2014 Pierce Velocity 100 ft aluminum aerial platform with 1500 gpm pump and 500 gallons of water. This piece meets all Quint standards. The Quint was purchased for $1.114 million and is being paid for through fundraisers with the hard work of the members. 2014 Firefighter of the Year award was presented to Joey Smith. Joey made 110 calls in 2014 and also helps with fundraisers and is continuing his training. The Most Valuable Responder Award was given to the Eric Davis. Eric responded to 246 calls in 2014 and is very dependable. He helps with apparatus checks and fundraisers as needed. Chief Staley noted the fire company responded to 685 calls in 2014. The top responders were: Bill Horine, Rodney Davis, Eric Davis, Matt Staley, Kristi Staley, David DeLair, Kenny Cregger, John Zimmerman, Mike Kreimer, Blaine Smith, Alan Staley, Chuck Engel, Zach Davis, Punky Easterday, Jo- ey Smith, Chad Barrick, Craig Moore, and Randy Williams. The event was well attended with notable guests and participants including: the Burgess and Commissioners of Walkersville; Sheriff Chuck Jenkins; Delegate Kelly Schulz; County Councilmen Bud Otis, Billy Shreve, Tony Chmelik, and Jennifer Fitzwater; Frederick County Fire Director/ Chief Denise Pouget; and Volunteer Director/Chief Chip Jewell. The 2015 Walkersville Volunteer Fire Company Officers Board of Directors: President - John Zimmerman Safety Officer Chief - Matt Staley Brian Hildebrand VP - Brian Hildebrand Training Officer - Kristi Staley Deputy Chief - Chad Barrick Board of Directors Treasurer - Jim Graham Ridge Cramer Asst Chief - Mike Kreimer Punky Easterday Asst. Treasurer - Chris Koch Linda Grossnickle Captain - Kenny Cregger Bill Horine Secretary - Brenda Staley Susan Hoffman Lieutenant - Alan Staley Larry Shepley Asst. Sec. - Dick Gilbert Blaine Smith Lieutenant - Craig Moore Alan Staley Chaplain - Chad Weddle Safety Officer - Bill Horine In memory of Marguerite Larue Baker Mrs. Marguerite Larue “Weetie” Baker passed away into the loving arms of God on Wednesday, January 7, 2015 after a brief stay at the Kline Hospice House, Mount Airy, Maryland. She had also resided at Homewood at Crumland Farms since 2009. She was 88. She was lovingly known by all who knew her as “Weetie” and was the wife of the late William G. (Bill) Baker whom she married in 1947. They lived most of their lives farming in Creagerstown, Maryland. Born June 1, 1926, in Woodsboro, Maryland, Weetie was the daughter of the late Marshall Warfield Stitely and Belva Llewellyn Fox Stitely of Woodsboro. She was predeceased by one brother, Edward (Buddy) Stitely and one sister, Dorothy Crawford, son-in-law, Lenny Cross and her daughter, Katrina Bradshaw. Mrs. Baker attended school at Woodsboro Elementary School and Frederick High School; she earned an Education Degree at the University of Maryland. She later pursued courses to earn a Library Science Degree and was a librarian at Thurmont Elementary School for 23 years. Mrs. Baker was a member of the Linganore United Methodist Church in Unionville, MD, and of the LUMC Women’s Group. She was also a member of the Frederick County Public School Retired Teachers Association, the Gamma Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma, a past member of the ARRC at Mt. St. Mary’s University, a past member of the Frederick County Public Library Board, and a past member of the Thurmont Public Library Board. As a youth, Weetie loved to ride horses, play the piano, and go dancing. As an adult, she loved to read, go swimming with the arthritis swim class at the ARRC, play bridge with friends, go to the beach, and use humor to co-emcee meetings for different organizations with her husband, Bill. She also wrote a chapter on storytelling in a book called Mixed-Up Magic. Mrs. Baker will be truly missed by her loving family: son, William E. Baker and wife, Denise; daughter, Rebecca E. Cross; son-in-law, Jerry Bradshaw; grandchildren, Erika Cross, William Cross and wife Caroline, and Nicholas Bradshaw; one sister, Janet Dudderar; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. She will also be missed by her special friends, the caregivers from “Right at Home”. The family received friends at Hartzler Funeral Home, 11802 Liberty Rd., Libertytown, on Sunday, January 11, 2015. A funeral service was held held on Monday, January 12 at 11:00 a.m. at the funeral home with Rev. Suzanne Morris, chaplain at Homewood, and Rev. David Coakley, her church pastor, officiating. Interment was at Linganore Cemetery, Unionville. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Friends of the Thurmont Regional Library, c/o Child Service, 76 E. Moser Rd., Thurmont, MD 21788. Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.hartzlerfuneralhome.com. FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 15 HISTORY Continued from page 7 will be extended to Jefferson and current sold to the residents and manufacturers of that town. The big electric plant at Security of the Hagerstown and Frederick Railway company is now furnishing current for Braddock Heights, Middletown, Frederick, Thurmont, Hagerstown, Emmitsburg, Smithsburg, Funkstown, and Williamsport. The indications are now that the electric department is preparing to conduct an aggressive campaign to extend the lighting system of the company to all of the towns and cities adjacent to the properties of the company. All of the passenger equipment of the railway company will be given an overhauling in the shops of the company this spring. They will be repaired, repainted, and put into first class condition. At a recent meeting of the railway company, it was decided to purchase three passenger cars. Two are of the new high speed interurban type, and the other is a pay-as-you-enter car for service in Hagerstown. The new high power cars ordered are of the type now in service on the Thurmont division. The officials of the railway company are now looking toward the coming season at Braddock Heights. Every effort will be made to make the season at the Heights one of the best in its history. The company now has the best of railroad facilities and is in a position to cater to the public and to move large crowds with the least possible loss of time. Sale – March 8, 1915, at 10 o’clock a.m., E. L. Stitley, auctioneer, and E. M. Shank and G. B. Smith, clerks, will sell for Norman L. Harbaugh, on the farm of D. A. Sharetts, on road from Woodsboro to LeGore’s bridge. Lots of valuable livestock and farming implements. See Bills. Sustains a Hard Fall – Mrs. Van Dean, living on Brunswick street in the West End, sustained a hard fall last evening, when a ladder she had mounted broke and she was precipitated to the floor of a porch. At the time of the accident, she was attempting to replace an electric light fuse that had blown out. Neutrality challenged - Germany and Austria complained to the State Department today that submarines were being built in the United States for Great Britain. The German Embassy said: “Plants of the Bethlehem and the Union Iron Works are sending the component parts of submarines, ordered by the British government, to Canada. Submarines are also being built in Boston and Seattle.” The attention of the United States Department has been drawn to these facts by the Germans and Austro-Hungarian as being a contradiction with the laws of neutrality. February 21 Sinking - Another victim of German submarines was reported last night. The small coastal freighter Downshire was sunk Saturday in the Irish Sea. The submarine ordered the Downshire to stop off the Isle of Man, but the little steamship tried to get away but stopped when three shots were fired at her. The crew of five men was taken aboard the submarine and detained for a while, but were released and landed in their small boat on the coast of Ireland. February 22 Russian Defeat - The Russian 10th Army has been destroyed as a result of the recent German victory in East Prussia. It is estimated that more than 100,000 Russians, including seven generals, were captured, and that the pursuit of the retreating forces has been brought to an end. February 23 Another sinking - Another vessel was sunk today in the naval war zone established by the German Admiralty. A Norwegian steamer was sent to the bottom of the English Channel by either a submarine or mine. The Regin is the second Norwegian steamer to encounter a submarine or mine in the English Channel since the German submarine blockade against British ports went into effect. The Russians are concentrating large forces at Odessa, in readiness to move them to Midia on the Black Sea, 60 miles northwest of Constantinople, to join the British and French attack on that city. With tensions between Turkey and Greece rising, Turkey has asked the Bulgarian government if it would permit Turkish troops to pass through Bulgarian territory for an attack upon Greece should war be declared. The Bulgarian government stated that neither country would be permitted to transport troops across its territory. February 24 American ship sunk - Word has been received that the American ship Carib has been sunk by a mine. The German Admiralty has pointed out that the destruction of the American steamer was due to them not following the course prescribed. The German government reiterated the safety of prescribed courses through German minefields and reissued the courses which vessels bound for German ports should pursue in order to be perfectly safe. February 25 More sinkings - The second week of Germany’s submarine campaign opened today with a loss of two more British ships. The steamers Western Coast and Dept- ford were sunk off the English coast. Previously 10 vessels, seven of them British, have been sent to the bottom. February 26 More shipping damage, battle lines stagnant - Two additions to the long list of disasters at sea during the war were made known today. The French destroyer Dague struck a mine in the Adriatic and went down. The Swedish merchant men Svarton was damaged badly by a mine or torpedo in the North Sea but was able to reach a Dutch port. There have been no important changes on the main battlefields of the west or east. In London the opinion is growing that the Germans are soon to make a great general attack in France, remaining on the defensive in Poland. Russia on the other hand fully expects another German drive towards Warsaw. 16 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 RELIGION A message from Pastor Sean In our Christian calendar, the Lenten season is quickly approaching. Some of you may not be familiar with Lent, after all, not all Christian denominations observe the season of Lent. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, which is February 18 this year, and lasts for the forty days leading up to Easter (Sundays are excluded from the forty days because every Sunday is treated like a “little Easter). Lent has traditionally been a time when we focus on fasting and repentance. We remember the sacrifices that Christ has made for us and in turn we make sacrifices to show our love and thanksgiving to God. For many people, Lent has become a time of giving up something. Chocolates, candy, coffee, cigarettes and alcohol immediately come to mind as popular items to abstain from. But the intention of Lent is not simply for us to refrain from eating our favorite treats, but rather it should be a time when we focus on and build upon our faith and spiritual lives. There are many ways that we can transform our lives and move toward a deeper relationship with God. Some people will choose to fast and spend the time in prayer that would have been used for the preparation and eating of a meal. Others will take a fast from their electronic devices like their smart phones, computers, or television and again use the time that would have been spent on these devices in prayer, the reading of scripture, or other spiritual studies. Lent is also the perfect time to get involved with a group bible study; many churches (including St. John’s UCC) offer Lenten Bible studies. I always encourage group studies as I find that it can greatly enhance and add to what a person can glean from just studying on one’s own. Other transforming practices during Lent include service to others. If you have ever thought about volunteering but have never have gotten around to it, start now. There are many volunteer opportunities available in our community that can fit virtually anyone’s schedule. You can volunteer at a food bank, read to children at their school or library, offer to assist a teacher with various class room tasks, run errands for a housebound neighbor, collect worn towels and bring them to the animal shelter. The list is virtually endless; there is always so much that one can do to ease another’s burden. A practice that I began many years ago when my children were young is during Lent we would invite a “guest” to dinner each evening. This “guest” was in the form of a box (or jar) that was set upon our table, and each evening we would place the amount of money into that box that we would have spent on having a guest dine with us. At the end of Lent we would then donate that money to our local food bank. This was a good way to get our children to think of others who are hungry and to realize that we have the ability to feed a hungry person each day. Even better would be to actually have a hungry person dine with us at our dinner table. I find that virtually no matter what practice or practices I choose to follow, I am transformed during those forty days and the transformation lingers far beyond. So I encourage you all to work towards a spiritual transformation, and I think that you will find that if we each work on our own transformations, it will then become one small step in transforming our world. Join us on Sunday mornings to hear more about God’s love and good news for us - worship is at 9:00 am at 8 North Second Street, Woodsboro. For information about our service or for other questions about what you read in this article or about St. John’s United Church of Christ call the church phone at 301-8457703 or email Pastor Sean at [email protected]. Visit us at Facebook to find out informa- tion about our community Ash Wednesday service – stjohnsuccwoodsboro – as always, we welcome you to share your thoughts. Who makes up the church? (Acts 2:41-42) For the past few months, we have been considering what a Bible-believing, God-pleasing church is. We discovered that Jesus Christ is the owner of His church since He bought it with His own blood (Acts 20:28). We also considered the fact that the church’s power comes from the Gospel message, while its purpose is to give out that message in Jesus’s name (Matthew 16:16-19). Please remember that the word church means assembly. There are many that think of a building when they hear this word, but they should be thinking about a group of people that have congregated for the sole purpose of learning about Jesus Christ and serving Him (Matthew 28:18-20). This being true, we must cease to limit God’s work to Sunday and incorporate it into our everyday living if we are God’s children. The church membership (Acts 2:41-42) First, it must be mentioned that the term church membership does not exist in Scripture. This is a term that has come about in fairly recent days for various reasons and means different things, depending on the church’s beliefs. The overall reason for the form of church membership we find in many churches today is due to laws that almost force each congregation to have it. If we were to look back at the first days of the local church, we would see a mindset of belief in Christ, profession of faith in baptism, and an attitude of continuing with the saints in the doctrine of Christ. Today’s weak Christianity knows little of this. We often see people profess belief in the Lord Jesus Christ and go no further with Him. Sometimes those believers will get baptized, but even some of them will go no further with Him. Even rarer are those that will believe in Jesus, get baptized, and continue with a Bible-believing church which is the biblical pattern. When the early church began, there was none of the church-hopping that we see today, because the people were much more serious about their belief in Jesus Christ. By making the decision to trust in Christ as their Savior, they were deciding to reject heathenism or Judaism, to accept Jesus alone. This decision was not popular with the Romans or Jews and caused much persecution (Acts 2-28). The believers of that day relied on each other and continued in the Word of God as they followed the Lord Jesus in a world that hated them! How weak and pathetic God must think we are today to so often reject such dedication for the sake of comfort and carnality! Second, we must acknowledge a difference between the socalled universal church and the local church. The universal church is given such a name, because it is simply an assembly of the saved through the ages. Revelation 7:910 presents a group that no man could number of all nations, races, and languages that stands before the throne of God. This group seems to be the saved of all the ages that stand before Jesus and worship Him at the end of days. Now, this group does not make decisions as a body, nor does it assemble anywhere but Heaven; but it must be acknowledged for what it is: the complete body of Christ (John 10:14-16; Romans 12:4-5; I Corinthians 12:12-14). The local church is similar, but different than the universal church. Whereas the body of Christ assembles nowhere but Heaven, the local church assembles locally and regularly on Earth. A local church is just that: it assembles in a specific location for the purpose of ministering to a specific area. Our church works hard to align with the biblical model for local churches. We believe that God put us in the Woodsboro area for a reason and so our ministry area is generally limited to Woodsboro and the surrounding towns (Thurmont, Frederick, Walkersville, Taneytown, etc.), unless special visitation requests are made. We also encourage those Bible-believers that live in these areas to attend our church, or other Bible-believing churches, so that they might effectively minister to the local area in which God placed them instead of driving a long distance away to other churches that will never minister to their neighbors, families, and friends. Last, we must understand that local church membership ought to be made up of a group of people that have performed two spe- cific acts: they have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation (Acts 16:31; John 3:16) and have been baptized to identify with Him (Romans 6:35; Acts 8:36-38). We see these things clearly throughout Scripture, and they cannot be ignored. So, what about you? Do you attend a local, Bible-believing church that ministers to the local community by showing the love of Christ and preaching the Gospel? Are you looking for one? I encourage you to give our church family a try. We meet several times during the week to encourage, enjoy fellowship, pray, and learn God’s Word together. Are you 100% certain that Heaven is your home should something happen to you? If you have doubts, please email, visit, or call us. We are here to help 24/7. James Bussard is the pastor of Heritage Park Baptist Church that meets at 8 N. 2nd St. in Woodsboro, MD @ 11:30am on Sundays and throughout the week. For questions or comments about this article, please call (301) 304-2127 or write him at [email protected]. For more service times and information about the church, please go to www.FrederickforChrist. com or call (301) 304-2127. FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 17 BOOK OF DAYS February 14 Born: Camille, Duke de Tallard, 1652, Dauphiné; Archdeacon Waterland, eminent theologian, 1683, Wasely. Died: Pope Innocent I, 417; Richard II, King of England, murdered, 1400; Lord Chancellor Talbot, 1737; Captain James Cook, killed at Owhyhee, 1779 Sir William Blackstone, author of the Commentaries on the Laws of England, 1780, Wallingford. Feast Day: St. Valentine, priest and martyr, circ. 270. St. Abraames, bishop of Carres, 422. St. Mare, abbot in Syria, 433. St. Auxentius, hermit, of Bithynia, circ. 470. St. Conran, bishop of Orkney, 7th century. CAPTAIN COOK The career of James Cook— son of a farm servant—originally a cabin-boy and common sailor, rising to command and to be the successful conductor of three great naval expeditions for discovery in seas heretofore untraversed, presents an example of conduct rarely matched and it is not wonderful that scarcely the name of any Englishman is held in greater respect. It was on a second visit to the Sandwich Islands in the Pacific Ocean, that Cook’s life was abruptly ended by an unfortunate collision with the natives, February 14, 1779, when he had just turned his fiftieth year. The squabble which led to this sad event arose from a miserable cause, the theft of a pair of tongs and a chisel by a native on board one of the ships. One now-a-days hears with surprise that the sailors, pursuing this man towards the shore, fired at him. All might have been ended amicably if an English officer had not attempted to seize the boat of another native, by way of guarantee that the thief would be given up. These highhanded proceedings naturally created a hostile feeling, and during the night an English boat was taken away. Cook went ashore at seven o’clock on a Sunday morning, to secure the person of the king, as a means of obtaining justice, and before eight he was a dead man on the beach, with the natives over his body cutting it to pieces. Cook’s widow, née Elizabeth Batts, who had been married to him in 1762, survived him fiftysix years, dying in 1835. ST. VALENTINE’S DAY Valentine’s Day is now almost everywhere a much degenerated festival, the only observance of any note consisting merely of the sending of jocular anonymous letters to parties whom one wishes to quiz, and this confined very much to the humbler classes. The approach of the day is now heralded by the appearance in the print-sellers’ shop windows of vast numbers of missives calculated for use on this occasion, each generally consisting of a single sheet of post paper, on the first page of which is seen some ridiculous coloured caricature of the male or female figure, with a few burlesque verses below. More rarely, the print is of a sentimental kind, such as a view of Hymen’s altar, with a pair undergoing initiation into wedded happiness before it, while Cupid flutters above, and hearts transfixed with his darts decorate the corners. Maid-servants and young fellows interchange such epistles with each other on the 14th of February, no doubt conceiving that the joke is amazingly good: and, generally, the newspapers do not fail to record that the London postmen delivered so many hundred thousand more letters on that day than they do in general. At no remote period it was very different. Misson, a learned traveller, of the early part of the last century, gives apparently a correct account of the principal ceremonial of the day. ‘On the eve of St. Valentine’s Day,’ he says, ‘the young folks in England and Scotland, by a very ancient custom, celebrate a little festival. An equal number of maids and bachelors get together: each writes their true or some feigned name upon separate billets, which they roll up, and draw by way of lots, the maids taking the men’s billets, and the men the maids’: so that each of the young men lights upon a girl that he calls his valentine, and each of the girls upon a young man whom she calls hers. By this means each has two valentines: but the man sticks faster to the valentine that has fallen to him than to the valentine to whom he is fallen. Fortune having thus divided the company into so many couples, the valentines give balls and treats to their mistresses, wear their billets several days upon their bosoms or sleeves, and this little sport often ends in love.’ A Forward Miss in the Connoisseur, a series of essays published in 1751-6, thus adverts to other notions with respect to the day: ‘Last Friday was Valentine’s Day, and the night before, I got five bay-leaves, and pinned four of them to the four corners of my pillow, and the fifth to the middle: and then, if I dreamt of my sweetheart, Betty said we should be married before the year was out. But to make it more sure, I boiled an egg hard, and took out the yolk, and filled it with salt: and when I went to bed, ate it, shell and all, without speaking or drinking after it. We also wrote our lovers’ names upon bits of paper, and rolled them up in clay, and put them into water; and the first that rose up was to be our valentine. Would you think it?—Mr. Blossom was my man. I lay a-bed and shut my eyes all the morning, till he came to our house: for I would not have seen another man before him for all the world.’ St. Valentine’s Day is alluded to by Shakespeare and by Chaucer, and also by the poet Lydgate (who died in 1440). One of the earliest known writers of valentines, or poetical amorous addresses for this day, was Charles Duke of Orleans, who was taken at the battle of Agincourt. The origin of these peculiar observances of St. Valentine’s Day is a subject of some obscurity. The saint himself, who was a priest of Rome martyred in the third century, seems to have had nothing to do with the matter, beyond the accident of his day being used for the purpose. Mr. Douce, in his Illustrations of Shakespeare, says: ‘It was the practice in ancient Rome, during a great part of the month of February, to celebrate the Lupercalia, which were feasts in honour of Pan and Juno, whence the latter deity was named Februata, Februalis, and Februlla. On this occasion, amidst a variety of ceremonies, the names of young women were put into a box, from which they were drawn by the men as chance directed. The pastors of the early Christian church, who, by every possible means, endeavoured to eradicate the vestiges of pagan superstitions, and chiefly by some commutations of their forms, substituted, in the present instance, the names of particular saints instead of those of the women: and as the festival of the Lupercalia had commenced about the middle of February, they appear to have chosen St. Valentine’s Day for celebrating the new feast because it occurred nearly at the same time. This is, in part, the opinion of a learned and rational compiler of the Lives of the Saints, the Rev. Alban Butler. It should seem, however, that it was utterly impossible to extirpate altogether any ceremony to which the common people had been much accustomed—a fact which it were easy to prove in tracing the origin of various other popular superstitions. And, accordingly, the outline of the ancient ceremonies was preserved, but modified by some adaptation to the Christian system. It is reasonable to suppose that the above practice of choosing mates would gradually become reciprocal in the sexes, and that all persons so chosen would be called Valentines, from the day on which the ceremony took place.’ 18 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 FOOD Soup, soup, and more soup Marg Mills Winter is winding down, at least I would like to think so. February and March will still be cold, so while the temperatures are low, it’s a great time to experiment with soup making. That’s what I’ve been doing lately, and I’ve come up with a few soup recipes that are easy to make and taste really good on a cold evening. They’re not bad warmed up the next day, either. One of my family’s favorite places to go for soup and sandwiches is Panera Bread. We often order the broccoli cheese soup. It’s thick and delicious and very filling. But on a trip recently, I changed it up a little and ordered french onion soup. I hadn’t ordered that for a long time and had forgotten just how good it can be. It turned out to be a great choice. It was rich with caramelized onions, croutons, and melted cheese. So here are the two recipes I came up with. My family seemed to enjoy both, and the broccoli soup warmed up well the next day. The french onion is made into individual servings. I’ve also included a recipe for rich, thick cheesy, potato soup. Again, it’s easy to make and hits the spot on a cold winter day. For all of these, you can just add a loaf of warm, crusty bread and a small salad. Broccoli Cheddar Soup 3 cups chicken broth 2 cups chopped broccoli, fresh or frozen 1 small onion, diced, about 1/2 cup 2 cups whole milk 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese Salt and pepper to taste Roux of flour and butter for thickening (optional) Put chicken broth, broccoli, and onion into a dutch oven. Heat over medium heat and bring only to a low boil. Boil at medium heat for about five minutes or until onions are tender, stirring constantly. Stir in milk until mixture begins to simmer, about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. If soup seems a bit thin, you can make a roux with 1 tablespoon butter and a tablespoon of flour in a small saucepan, cooking for about a minute until it becomes slightly golden. Add to soup and stir. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Serve immediately. Note: I used frozen broccoli, let it thaw a bit, and chopped it a bit smaller. I also added the roux to thicken just before the cheese was added. Broccoli cheddar cheese with hot, crusty olive oil bread. French Onion Soup (Makes 4 servings) 1/2 cup butter 2 tablespoons olive oil 4 cups thinly sliced onions 4 cans beef broth Salt and pepper to taste 4 slices french bread (toasted and cubed) 4 slices mozzarella cheese Turn on oven broiler. Ladle soup into four oven-safe bowls. Top each with cubes of toasted bread and top with a slice of mozzarella cheese. Place on baking sheet and place under broiler until cheese is browned slightly and bubbles. Serve immediately. Melt butter and oil in a large stock pot using medium heat. Add onions until tender and translucent, stirring constantly. Onions should become browned. Easy Cheesy Potato Soup 1 bag frozen hashbrown potatoes (diced) 4 cans chicken broth Bunch green onions 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese (set aside a bit for garnish) Salt and pepper to taste Add beef broth, season with salt and pepper, and simmer for 1/2 hour. Using a large stockpot, add sliced white parts of onions, (save green for garnish), broth, potatoes, and Photo by Lena Janes salt and pepper. Heat until mixture boils, and reduce to a low boil. Stir occasionally, continuing to boil for about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and use an immersion blender or small hand blender to puree some of the soup. You can also use a large fork to mash up some of the potatoes. Be very careful not to get your hands too close to the hot liquid. Return to heat and add cheese, stirring until melted. Serve hot, with a sprinkling of cheddar cheese and a few slices of the green part of the onions for garnish. FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 19 IN THE COUNTRY An apple a day… Katelyn Allen, Frederick County Dairy Princess It keeps the doctor away, right? This method might work for humans, but I can’t seem to get the cows to fall for it. In the meantime, dairy farmers have to use other means to keep their animals healthy and happy so that they can be productive. From the moment a calf is born, it is kept in a warm environment and taken care of so that it can get a strong start in the world. The cow will give birth in straw, which helps keep the calf warm, especially in frigid winter conditions. With some stimulation and encouragement from mom, the calf will try to stand up and be able to wobble along a few hours after birth. The farmer will dip the calf ’s navel in iodine so that no infection can occur. Young calves have a very basic immune system early in life so they are extremely susceptible to diseases and bacteria. To combat the calf ’s vulnerability, the mother’s first milk, called colostrum, contains an enormous amount of antibodies. The protection afforded by the colostrum jumpstarts the calf ’s immune system. After a few hours, the calf is put into an individual pen called a hutch so that the spread of disease between animals can be minimized. A clean bedding of straw helps inhibit bacteria growth so that the calf can stay healthy. During the winter months, our calf hutches are covered on the top and back to prevent drafts from getting calves sick. In the summer, the plastic is rolled back to let sunlight in. The calf will continue to grow fairly quickly over the first few months with a diet of warm milk, and later a grain starter rich in protein, twice every day. Once the calf is about 5 or 6 months old, she is weaned off the milk so that her main nutrition sources become the grain in addition to some hay. Water is also always available to keep the calves hydrated. At this age, the risk transferring disease is low enough that about 6 or 7 heifers can be grouped into one pen. Soon afterwards, the calves will be given a shot that vaccinates against a few cattle illnesses. While harmful diseases like brucellosis are rare in today’s herds, vaccinating provides an extra booster to ensure the heifers will remain healthy. With a comfortable start in the world, a heifer will keep growing as she gets older. For a normal growth pattern to occur though, a nutritious and balanced diet is vital, just like in people. Heifers continue to receive grain and hay in order to help them build up the body mass necessary to carry a calf. Only when the heifer reaches a certain target body weight, usually about 60% of her mature body weight, will she be bred so as to not put extra stress on her body. The heifer will start being fed a ration more designed to meet the needs of a milking cow as she approaches calving time. This way, her body will be more used to the nutritional requirements upon calving, and she will be less vulnerable to metabolic diseases. Also before calving, the heifer’s developing udder is treated to help prevent coming in contact with bacteria, and she is moved in with the other cows that are almost ready to calve. This group of cows is closely monitored in order to provide the best care for the new mothers and newborn calves. Upon showing signs of labor, a cow will be moved into a pen to give birth. Most of the time, the cow will be fine calving on her own but, if assistance is needed, the farmer or even a veterinarian can help. The cow will get the calf started, then she will be taken care of to help recover from calving. Once the cow is milking, it becomes even easier to give the cows individual attention because each one must get milked by the farmer twice every day. A ration is carefully formulated to contain all the nutrients, and the amount needed is fed to the entire milking herd. Many farmers may even have a special nutritionist to ensure that the cows are fed a diet that keeps them healthy as well as productive. If a cow does become ill, the farmer can often identify the symptoms on the farm and treat her with the appropriate medicine. This procedure is probably similar to how many parents help their children get over a cold. When a cow is treated, her milk is kept separate from that of the rest of the herd and discarded. By following the medicine label and performing an antibiotic test on the milk after treatment has stopped, the farmer knows when the milk is safe to be shipped again. The cow who was sick bounces back from her illness to be healthy and happy again. The measures used to keep a dairy herd healthy are not always easy, but dairy farmers put in the work to ensure that their animals are free of disease and pain at all ages. Taking care of healthy cows is the first step in producing quality milk and other dairy products for everyone to enjoy! 20 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 COMMENTARY Poverty continued from page 6 his misfortunes that are the natural and predictable consequence of his own choices on forces or circumstances that are external to him and outside his control. Is there any one of us who has never resorted to excuses about his circumstances when he has done wrong or made a bad decision? It is a universal human tendency. But in Britain, at any rate, an entire class of persons has been created that not only indulges in this tendency, but makes it their entire world outlook—and does so with official encouragement. Let me take as an example the case of heroin addicts. In the 1950s, heroin addiction in Britain was confined to a very small number of people, principally in bohemian circles. It has since become a mass phenomenon, the numbers of addicts having increased perhaps two thousandfold, to something like 250,000 to 300,000. And with the statistically insignificant exception of members of the popular culture elite, heroin addiction is heavily concentrated in areas of the country such as the one in which I worked. Heroin addiction has been presented by officialdom as a bona fide disease that strikes people like, shall we say, rheumatoid arthritis. In the United States, the National Institute on Drug Abuse defines addiction quite baldly as a chronic relapsing brain disease—and nothing else. I hesitate to say it, but this seems to me straightforwardly a lie, told to willing dupes in order to raise funds from the federal government. Be that as it may, the impression has been assiduously created and peddled among the addicts that they are the helpless victims of something that is beyond their own control, which means that they need the technical assistance of what amounts to a substantial bureaucratic apparatus in order to overcome it. When heroin addicts just sentenced to imprisonment arrived, they said to me, “I would give up, doctor, if only I had the help.” What they meant by this was that they would give up heroin if some cure existed that could be administered to them that would by itself, without any resolution on their part, change their behavior. In this desire they appeared sincere—but at the same time they knew that such a cure did not exist, nor would most of them have agreed to take it if it did exist. In fact, the whole basis of the supposed treatment for their supposed disease is rooted in lies and misconceptions. For example, research has shown that most addicts spend at least 18 months taking heroin intermittently before they become addicted. Nor are they ignorant while they take it intermittently of heroin’s addictive properties. In other words, they show considerable determination in becoming addicts: It is something, for whatever reason, that they want to become. It is something they do, rather than something that hap- pens to them. Research has shown also that heroin addicts lead very busy lives one way or another—so busy, in fact, that there is no reason why they could not make an honest living if they so wished. Indeed, this has been known for a long time, for in the 1920s and 30s in America, morphine addicts for the most part made an honest living. Withdrawal from opiates, the fearfulness of which, reiterated in film and book, is often given as one of the main reasons for not abandoning the habit, is in fact a pretty trivial condition, certainly by comparison with illnesses which most of us have experienced, or by comparison with withdrawal from other drugs. I have never heard an alcoholic say, for example, that he fears to give up alcohol because of delirium tremens—a genuinely dangerous medical condition, unlike withdrawal from heroin. Research has shown that medical treatment is not necessary for heroin addicts to abandon their habit and that many thousands do so without any medical intervention whatsoever. In Britain at least, heroin addicts do not become criminals because they are addicted (and can raise funds to buy their drugs only by crime); those who take heroin and indulge in criminal behavior have almost always indulged in extensive criminal behavior before they were ever addicted. Criminality is a better predictor of addiction than is addiction of criminality. In other words, all the bases upon which heroin addiction is treated as if it is something that happens to people rather than something that people do are false, and easily shown to be false. This is so whatever the latest neuro-scientific research may supposedly show. I have taken the example of heroin addiction as emblematic of what, with some trepidation, I may call the dialectical relationship between the worldview of those at the bottom of society and the complementary worldview of what one might call the salvationist bureaucracy of the government. In the old Soviet Union there was a joke in which the workers would say to the party bosses, “We pretend to work and you pretend to pay us.” In the case of the heroin addicts, they might say, “We pretend to be ill, and you pretend to cure us.” One of the possible dangers or consequences of such a charade is that it creates a state of dishonest dependency on the part of the addicts. They wait for salvation as Estragon and Vladimir wait for Godot in Samuel Beckett’s play; they wait for something that will never arrive, and that at least in some part of their mind they know will never arrive—but that officialdom persists in telling them will arrive someday. Dishonest passivity and dependence combined with harmful activity becomes a pattern of life, and not just among drug addicts. I remember going into a single mother’s house one day. The house was owned by the local council; her rent was paid, and vir- tually everything that she owned, or that she and her children consumed, was paid for from public funds. I noticed that her back garden, which could have been pretty had she cared for it, was like a noxious rubbish heap. Why, I asked her, do you not clear it up for your children to play in? “I’ve asked the council many times to do it,” she replied. The council owned the property; it was therefore its duty to clear up the rubbish that she had allowed to accumulate there— and this despite what she knew to be the case, that the council would never do so! Better the rubbish should remain there than that she do what she considered to be the council’s duty. This is surely a very curious but destructive state of mind, and one that some politicians have unfortunately made it their interest to promote by promising secular salvation from relative poverty by means of redistribution. Whether by design or not, the state in England has smashed up all forms of social solidarity that are independent of it. This is not an English problem alone: In France the word solidarité, solidarity, has come to mean high taxation for redistribution by state officials to other parts of the population, which of course are neither grateful for the subventions nor find them sufficient to meet their dreams. And not surprisingly, some of the money sticks to the hands of the redistributionist bureaucracy. By a mixture of ideology and fiscal and social policies, the family has been systematically fractured and destroyed in England, at least in the lowest part of the society that, unfortunately, needs family solidarity the most. There are even, according to some researchers, fiscal and welfare incentives for parents at the lower economic reaches of society not to stay together. Certainly the notions of dependence and independence have changed. I remember a population that was terrified of falling into dependence on the state, because such dependence, apart from being unpleasant in itself, signified personal failure and humiliation. But there has been an astonishing gestalt switch in my lifetime. Independence has now come to mean independence of the people to whom one is related and dependence on the state. Mothers would say to me that they were pleased to be independent, by which they meant independent of the fathers of their children—usually more than one—who in general were violent swine. Of course, the mothers knew them to be violent swine before they had children by them, but the question of whether a man would be a suitable father is no longer a question because there are no fathers: At best, though often also at worst, there are only stepfathers. The state would provide. In the new dispensation the state, as well as television, is father to the child. A small change in locution illustrates a change in the charac- ter and conceptions of a people. When I started out as a doctor in the mid-1970s, those who received state benefits would say, “I receive my check on Friday.” Now people who receive such benefits say, “I get paid on Friday.” This is an important change. To have said that they received their check on Friday was a neutral way of putting it; to say that they get paid on Friday is to imply that they are receiving money in return for something. But what can that something be since they do not appear to do anything of economic value to anyone else? It can only be existence itself: They are being paid to continue to exist, existence itself being their work. It has been said that the lamentable state of affairs I have described has been brought about by the decline, inevitable as we now see it, of the kind of industry that once employed millions of unskilled workers, whose wages, though low by today’s standards, were nevertheless sufficient to sustain a stable society. And I do not think that this view can be altogether dismissed. But it is far from the whole story. One of the curious features of England in the recent past is that it has consistently maintained very high levels of statesubsidized idleness while importing almost equivalent numbers of foreigners to do unskilled work. Let me here interject something about the intellectual and moral corruption wrought by the state in recent years— and I don’t know whether it applies to America. The governments of Britain, of both political parties, managed to lessen the official rate of unemployment by the simple expedient of shifting people from the ranks of the unemployed to the ranks of the sick. This happened on such a huge scale that, by 2006—a year of economic boom, remember—the British welfare state had achieved the remarkable feat of producing more invalids than the First World War. But it is known that the majority of those invalids had no real disease. This feat, then, could have been achieved only by the willing corruption of the unemployed themselves—relieved from the necessity to seek work—but also of the doctors who provided them with official certificates that they knew to be bogus. And the government was only too happy, for propaganda purposes, to connive at such large-scale fraud. One begins to see what Confucius meant when he said, 2,500 years ago, that the first thing to do to restore a state to health was to rectify the names—in other words, to call things by their right names rather than by euphemisms. There are three reasons that I can think of why we imported foreign labor to do unskilled work while maintaining large numbers of unemployed people. The first is that we had destroyed all economic incentive for the latter to work. The second is that the foreigners were better in any case, because their character had not been rotted; they were often better educated and had a much better work CONTINUED ON PAGE 21 FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 21 PETS Animals during winter Didi Culp, Frederick County Animal Control & Pet Adoption Center Humane Educator The cold weather is here. The State of Maryland requires animal owners to protect their pets and livestock from the elements. If you have animals with access to the out of doors, now is a great time to check your fence lines and shelters for sturdiness and hazards that build up over the year. Clear debris and manage mud for large animals and ensure that sources of drinking water are accessible at all times. Indoor pets can be at an advantage this time of year but remember: they can’t take off their coats when they come inside. Temperature gradients that naturally occur in homes are useful to cats and dogs that move about, but caged animals need extra supervision to be sure sunshine or drafts from windows and doors are managed. Change bedding often to keep pets clean and dry and verify that food is fresh and available. If you are buttoning up for winter, consider coming by the Frederick County Animal Control and Pet Adoption Center on Rosemont Avenue. While it may not be the ideal time of year to house-train a new puppy, small mammals and cats are just fine spending the winter snuggled up indoors. And if you enjoy the outdoors, a new dog could be the right choice to keep you company. We list our available pets on www.petango.com\fcac, and you can see our animals on our Facebook page as well. We still use Petfinder.com and feature some of our pets on this Sunday page. You can view our weekly TV show, Pet Pals, at 6am and 6pm on Cable 19. On Tuesdays, you can hear about one special pet on WFRE and WFMD during morning drive time. If you already have your own pets, consider signing up for a Volunteer Orientation to see how you could help the animals in the County still waiting for the perfect match. Feral cats in Frederick Ready for war against rodents Tasha Lessey Pit a feral cat against a rat and the result is a no brainer. For farms and businesses suffering from rodent infestation, cats offer a viable method to eradicate their problem, thanks to the Barn Cat Adoption Program offered by Tip Me Frederick. Rodents pose a serious problem to any community. In addition to contaminating food supplies, they can be responsible for the spread of many diseases such as hanta virus pulmonary syndrome, rat-bite fever, leptospirosis, and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. A home, farm, or business with rodents must make their control a top priority. For those that choose to go the ‘feral fighter’ route, there are many benefits. The Barn Cat Adoption Program is the most environmentally friendly way and leads to increased goodwill in the community. With low costs to adopt and care for the cats, extermination fees are eliminated. It is safer than using rodenticides which can be poisonous to other animals and people. The chance to save a cat’s life is another added benefit. A task force created by the Maryland General Assembly in 2011 found that half of the cats entering Maryland’s shelters each year are euthanized for reasons other than the owner’s request. Adoption programs where hard-to-place cats are matched with suitable homes can help reduce this problem. Feral cats can be adopted by rural farms, warehouses, junk yards, stables and many other organizations. Most are not suitable as indoor pets, however, due to their temperament and behavior. Tip Me Frederick neuters and vaccinates all the cats before they are available for adoption. They also offer guidance with every step of the process, showing new owners how to properly care for the cats. Support is offered for the life span of the cat with discounted vet rates, updated vaccines and re-trapping services. Most of the cats are tame and enjoy petting. Contact Tip Me Frederick at 301-845-1061 to adopt a barn cat. About Tip Me Frederick Tip Me Frederick is a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to the humane treatment of feral, stray and barn cats. It provides low to no cost spay/neuter services, vaccines, vet care, and utilizes the humane Trap-Neuter-Return-Manage (TNRM) method. Please visit www. tipmefrederick.org for more information. Poverty continued from page 20 ethic. And the third was the rigidity of the housing market that made it so difficult for people to move around once they had been granted the local privilege of subsidized housing. I will leave you with an anecdote. As Mao Tse-tung might have put it, one anecdote is worth a thousand abstractions. I had been asked by the courts to examine a young woman, aged 18, who was accused of having attacked and injured her 90-year-old great-grandmother, with whom she lived, while under the influ- ence of alcohol and cannabis. She had broken her great-grandmother’s femur, but fortunately it did not prove fatal. (Incidentally, the homicide rate, it is said, would be five times higher than it is if we used the same medical techniques as were used in 1960.) I asked the young woman in the course of my examination whether her mother had ever been in trouble with the police. “Yes,” she replied. “What for?” I asked. “Well, she was on the social,” she said—“on the social” in English argot means receiving welfare payments— “and she was working.” “What happened?” I asked. “She had to stop working.” She said this as if it was so obvious that my question must be that of a mental defective. Work is for pocket money, the public dole is the means by which one lives. That, ladies and gentlemen, is the view from the bottom, at least in Britain: but it is a view that has been inculcated and promoted from the top. ☞ Your ad here! ☞ 22 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 ASTRONOMY Love is in the air and in the sky Lisa Bruck, Co-Director ESSL Yes, it’s February, the time of year when we are bound by ritual to express our love and affections with flowers, candies and cards. The night sky has inspired countless sonnets and other affirmations of love. Let’s start with one of the biggest players, the Moon. You cannot deny the magical power of a full Moon. The Moon has been an integral part of many legends across cultures and throughout the centuries. In Roman mythology, the Moon is associated with the goddess Luna, who is paired with the god of the Sun. He (the Sun) travels throughout the day and she (Luna) takes over the journey at night, forever chasing each other until the end of time. Even the phases of the Moon are explained through a romantic story. In the Inuit culture of Alaska it was told that the Moon god was in love with the Sun goddess. The Moon god continually tried to chase her down to marry her. That’s why he follows her in the sky every day. The waxing and waning of the Moon is explained as the Moon god chasing her until he is starving and then he disappears for a bit to hunt for food after which he has the energy to come back to chase her again. So according to this legend, new Moon represents that time when the Moon god disappears to hunt for food. The full Moon in February is often called the Wolf Moon, the Snow Moon, or the Hunger Moon. This month the full Moon is on February 3 and with it, a special pairing, the planet Jupiter. Jupiter shines opposite the Sun this month, directly reflecting the light of the Sun back to Earth, therefore shining at its brightest for this year. The astronomical term for this is opposition. Because of opposition, Jupiter is out from nightfall until morning dawn. Look for Jupiter low in the east in the early evening, highest up around midnight, and low in the west at daybreak. Speaking of planets, February 2015 will be a grand month for watching planets in the evening sky. Venus, the sky’s brightest planet, and modestly-bright Mars appear rather close together in the western sky. When you are gazing for the planets, look for Venus and Mars first, because they will follow the Sun beneath the horizon by early evening. Venus will be definitely hard to miss, as it’s the third-brightest celestial object in the sky, after the Sun and the Moon. Although Mars is considerably fainter than Venus, it’s still bright enough to see with the naked eye. So the saying goes “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus?” In Roman mythology, Venus was the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. Venus was married to the red planet Mars, the god of war and agri- culture. With Mars, she gave birth to Phobos, meaning fear, his twin Deimos, meaning terror, Harmonia, the goddess of harmony and concord, and the Cupids, who were a collection of winged love deities who represented the different aspects of love. On the evening of February 21 you will have an opportunity to see these two “love birds” have what is known as a planetary conjunction along with the crescent Moon. A planetary conjunction occurs when objects appear from Earth to be next to each other. Wow! Talk about “Love is in the Air!” Venus and Mars will be within .5 degree from each other next to the waxing crescent Moon. You will not see this pairing again until October 2017. So when you are looking for a good love story, no need to turn on the television or go to the movies, just head outside and look up. If you are looking for a warmer place to observe the night sky, don’t forget about evening programing at the Earth Space Science Lab in Frederick. Programming guide as well as ticket purchasing can be done at our website, https://education.fcps.org/essl Farmers’ Almanac “If you have only one smile in you give it to the people you love”. Maya Angelou (1928-2014) MID-ATLANTIC WEATHER WATCH: Fair not s cold (1,2,3) with light snow mainly in the north (4,5). Windy; cold (6,7,8,9,10) with more snow in the north, rain in the south (11,12). Windy turning colder (13,14,15,16,17) with lake-effect snow (18,19); Fair and cold (20,21,22,23) with Nor’easter, heavy snow (24,25). Returning to fair weather but windy and very cold (26,27,28). FULL MOON: February’s FULL MOON will occur on Friday, February 3rd. It has widely been recognized as HUNGER MOON by many Native American tribes who lived in cold and temperate climates and faced harsh winters and a real scarcity of game during this month. Many tribes have also referred to as the SNOW MOON because snow was often at its deepest now in certain parts of North America. SPECIAL NOTES: “Punxsutawney Phil” makes his call on the coming of Spring on Monday, February 2nd. As legend has it, if the old boy is frightened by his own shadow, the little coward will return to his burrow for another 6 more weeks, signaling winter will continue! If he doesn’t, there will be an early spring and rejoicing throughout the land! HOLIDAYS: The Christian Festival of Lights, or Candelmas, is celebrated on Monday, February 2nd. The day is marked when many churches traditionally display many more candles than usual during their services. The added light made the day so special and it also was believed that the additional light helped to ward off illness and plague in the coming year. Valentine’s Day, February 14th, falls on Saturday in 2015. Plan a special ‘Saturday Night’ date with your special someone and let them know just how much you appreciate them in your life. The birthdays of Abraham Lincoln (Thursday, February 12th) and George Washington (Sunday, the 22nd) are collectively celebrated on President’s day which falls on Monday, February 16th to provide us with an extended holiday weekend. THE GARDEN: With some good news from our friend “Punxsutawney Phil”, we can start thinking about things to do in an early spring. Mid to late February is the perfect time to fertilize shrubs and evergreens. Use an acid type Rhododendron fertilizer to feed evergreens, conifers, broad leaf evergreens, Rhododendrons, Azaleas and Camellias. Trees that weren’t fed last Fall should be deep fed by punching a series of 1-2 inch holes two feet apart around the drip line and filled with an appropriate food. A mulch of well composted manure is also an excellent treat for your tree. Plants that may have been pushed out of the ground by frost heave should be pressed firmly back into place. Plant Daylilies, Bleeding Hearts, and Hostas this month. Deciduous vines such as Honeysuckle should be pruned for shape. Most perennials can be divided and moved up until the time they begin to show new growth. J. GRUBER’S THOUGHT FOR TODAY’S LIVING “You only reap what you sow, so be sure to spread more kindness and consideration for your fellow man than envy or ill will”. FEBUARY 2015 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | 23 STORY TIME Jaques’ Pitcher From a Nutting Party and Other Stories by Emma Brown, copyright 1880 O mama! won’t you please let us take that pretty Japanese pitcher of yours to-day. We won’t put any water into it, and we’ll be ever so careful not to break it.” “Come and hear our story, mamma, and then you will see that nothing else in the house would possibly do as a ‘lustration!’” pleaded Beth; and so mamma, who seldom refused her four little beggars,” as she playfully called them, any reasonable request, took down from the top shelf of the china closet the rare, old pitcher, and promised the children she would come and hear the story. “’Once upon a time,’ that was the very way Captain Crane began the story himself, there was a little boy named Jaques Hugo, whose mother died when he was a baby, and whose father was a sailor. All the home he ever knew was an old cellar down on the wharves, where Irish Meg, the woman who took care of him, sold snuff, and tobacco, and liquor. It was a dreadful place and poor little Jaques used to run away whenever he could. One day he wandered off quite a distance, and came to a large building where the door was open, and where he could hear singing. “Bring the chairs up together, Percy; and Madge, you Robin get the hymn-books, that we can play church, for it was the Sailor Bethel Jaques had wandered into, and it so happened that a great temperance lecturer was to speak on that particular morning. Jaques stood very quietly just at the entrance,--you must be Jaques, Percy, and stand there by the hall door—and as he listened, he grew more and more interested. After that he came quite often to the Bethel, but he said nothing about it at home. “One day, after sitting a long time in the brown study, he went to an old sea-chest of his father’s, and took out a pitcher something like his one of mamma’s. Then he followed the icecarts that came around through the streets, and picking up a few broken pieces of ice, he carefully washed them, and put them into his pitcher. It was a very hot day, and a great many sailors and workmen down on the wharves came as usual to get a drink at old Meg’s cellar. Jaques knew how it would be and standing just outside he offered every one that came a drink of ice-water from his pretty pitcher. Some of the men laughed, and some began to call him names, but Meg, when she poked out at the door, was so angry that she seized him by the shoulder and would have pushed him down the stone steps, had it not been for a gentleman who just then happened to be passing by. Catching Jaques with one hand and the pitcher with the other, he sent Meg into the house, and bade the boy follow him. “Jaques was only too glad to obey, and as they walked down the street together, the gentleman asked a great many questions, not only about Jaques himself, but also about the pitcher. “Jaques told him what he had heard at the temperance meeting, and how he thought that if the thirsty men who came to Meg’s cellar had plenty of good cold water to drink, perhaps they would not want anything stronger. “’And so I got this pitcher out of the father’s sea-chest, and’ ‘stood at your post like a brave little teetotaler!’ said the gentleman; then carefully examining the pitcher, he asked Jaques what he supposed it was worth. “’Not much, I reckon, for father’s had it ever since that long cruise of his in the China Sea.’ “But the gentleman knew well the value of old Satsuma ware, and going back to the cellar with Jaques he gave his father a large ☞ sum of money for his rare, old pitcher. He knew, too, the value of such a brave temperance boy and little Jaques, and taking him into his employ he proved a true friend to him all his life.” Your ad here! ☞ Salon Allure Services include: - Cuts and styling - Coloring - Formal styling - Nail treatments - Waxing Let us be part of your special day. Reserve your wedding consultation today! 31-D East Frederick Street, Walkersville, MD 21793 301- 845 - 2300 | facebook.com /mysalonallure | http://salonallurellc.net 24 | WOODSBORO WALKERSVILLE TIMES | FEBRUARY 2015 UPCOMING EVENTS Upcoming Events Upcoming Events February 2-15 Fundraiser - Please help the Wounded Soldiers by visiting Trout’s Towne Restaurant anytime from Feb. 2-15. Trout’s will donate $1 to the Wounded Soldiers for every omelet or dessert purchased during this time period. February 10 Govt. – Woodsboro Town Meeting at 7 pm February 10 & 24 School Tour - Mother Seton School Take-a-Tour Tuesday - February 10 & 24, 10:00 am-1:00 pm and 4:30 pm-6:30 pm. Applications for 2015-2016 now being accepted. Come see why children thrive academically and spiritually at Mother Seton School. With individualized attention, a strong moral foundation, and our S.T.E.M.-centric curriculum that encourages students to develop critical thinking skills, our students are prepared to take on the challenges of the 21st century. We offer community service opportunities, an award-winning music and arts program, and student clubs and activities. Financial aid is available, and we provide bus transportation from most areas. After Care is also available. No need to pre-register, just stop by during our Take-a-Tour Open House or contact Denice Vaught at 301447-3161 or [email protected] for more information or to set up a private tour. February 11 Govt. – Walkersville Town Meeting at 7:30 pm February 16- March 1 Fundraiser - Please help the Woodsboro and New Midway PTA by visiting Trout’s Restaurant anytime from Feb. 16 – Mar. 1. Trout’s will donate $1 to Woodsboro and New Midway PTA for every omelet or dessert purchased during this time period. February 17 Pancake Supper – 4-7pm, 7th annual Fat Tuesday all-you-caneat pancake supper at Trout’s Towne Restaurant, 200 North 2nd St. Woodsboro. All proceeds benefit the 1st Lt. Rob Seidel Wounded Soldiers Fund. Frederick County Agriculture Week site at mothersetonschool.org or call 301-447-3161. February 23 Govt. – Woodsboro Town Workshop at 7 pm February 25 Govt. – Walkersville Town Meeting at 7:30 pm March 14 Dinner - Mother Seton School St. Patrick’s Day Dinner and Auction. March 14, 6:00 pm-9:00 pm at the Carriage House Inn, 200 S. Seton Avenue, Emmitsburg, MD. $60/person. Tickets on sale February 1st and can be purchased by calling 301-447-3161. The Frederick County Agriculture Week will be held on February 16-21, 2015 at the Francis Scott Key Mall in Frederick, Maryland with the theme of “Farmers Supporting Families in Frederick County”. Many displays and events are being planned for this year and changes have been made to the schedule and times of events. If you have any questions concerning Frederick County Ag Week or your business or organization would like to place a display at the mall, please contact Ted Albaugh at 240-446-3054 or at dayslandacres1@ comcast.net or Ronald Murphy at 301-788-3847 or at rwm186@ hotmail.com Exhibits may be set up on Sunday, February 15, 2015 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Spring sports registrations are now open for youth baseball, soccer and softball! Online registration and/or registrations forms for each sport can be found on our website at www.wnmrc.org Baseball – Early Registration Deadline February 15 If you have any questions u Spring sportsor registrations are now open for Cherie Edwards • [email protected] • 301-788-4362 are able to volunteer and with softball! Soccer - Registration Deadline February 20 Ash Wednesday - Mother Se- youth baseball, soccer your time Tom Atelsek • [email protected] • 301-305-6220 ton School Ash Wednesday Mass coaching or helpfor with Online registration and/or registrations forms each sport can be found - February 18, 10:15 am. Join us on ourcoordinating Softball - Registration Deadline February 23 concessions, website at www.wnmrc.org in worship as we begin the HoKim Bowers • [email protected] please contact us ly season of LentIfwith an Ash you have any questions are able to volunteer your time with forormore information. Concessions Coordinator February 18 coaching or help with coordinating concessions, Wednesday Mass. For more inSherrie Medeiros • [email protected] please contact us for more information. formation, please visit our webBaseball – Early Registration Deadline February 15 Cherie Edwards [email protected] 301-788-4362 Soccer - Registration Deadline February 20 Tom Atelsek [email protected] 301-305-6220 Softball - Registration Deadline February 23 Kim Bowers [email protected] 240-674-2624 Concessions Coordinator, Sherrie Medeiros [email protected] David’s Salon 301-845- 4050 | 126 Walkers Village Way, Walkersville, MD 21793 David's full-service salon has something to meet all of your salon needs. You'll leave looking and feeling the best you've felt since your last visit. Welcome to men, women and children of all ages! Ha ir S February / Valentine’s Special: Show this ad when erv ices you purchase highlights or coloring along with •H air C a hair cut and receive a special treatment olor •Wa for free. xing Servi ces All services 20% off for new customers
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