Council of Churches Helps Kids Get Ready for Coming School Year

The Emmitsburg Council of Churches partnered with the Catoctin CASS program this summer to help local families with school age children get ready for school. For many families it is difficult to provide all of the needed materials to be prepared for the school year. Many donations of school supplies were made through church congregations and were delivered to CASS for families in need. CASS would like to extend sincere appreciation to all the church communities who gave so generously. If you are in need of assistance with school supplies or other support services, please call CASS at 240-236-1770 or stop in at the office located at the Emmitsburg Community Center, 300 South Seton Ave., Emmitsburg.

Pastor Wade Martin of Trinity United Methodist Church and Debbie Wivell, CASS Coordinator stand before the many donations that were collected by the local churches.

First David C. Ford Scholarship Awarded

Seth Dorcus, Matthew Santos and Gregory Fiumara are recipients of the first scholarships awarded from The David C. Ford Memorial Fund, one of over 550 funds held by The Community Foundation of Frederick County. The fund remembers David C. Ford, son of Terri Lancaster of Gaithersburg and David R. Ford of Walkersville, who was a junior at Walkersville High School when a car accident claimed his life five days shy of his seventeenth birthday in 2005.

In keeping with the fund’s charitable purpose for honoring David C. Ford’s memory, Mr. Dorcus of Thurmont is a graduate of Catoctin High School passionate about art. He has been accepted at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore. Mr. Santos of Thurmont also graduated from Catoctin High School and plans to study at Frederick Community College. He is a drummer in a metal band and studies music theory with hopes of becoming a recording/sound engineer to produce the music of his band and those of others. Mr. Fiumara of Walkersville is a graduate of Walkersville High School with plans of attending University of Maryland, Baltimore County to study computer programming, pursing his interest in web design, software programs and computers.

First George E. Randall Scholarship Awarded

To honor the memory of her husband George E. Randall, Elizabeth W.C. Randall of Rocky Ridge turned to The Community Foundation of Frederick County to establish a fund that awards scholarships in his name. Chelsea Minnick of Thurmont is the recipient of the first scholarship awarded from The George E. Randall Memorial Scholarship Fund.

The fund remembering George E. Randall provides scholarships to Frederick County residents studying at the post-secondary level. Preference is given, but not limited, to those interested in journalism and/or photography or those who have graduated from Catoctin High School and wish to attend Frederick Community College.

Chelsea Minnick is a 2006 graduate of Catoctin High School planning to attend Frederick Community College in the fall to study nursing. She wishes to pursue a career as a pre- or post-op nurse. She has served as a geriatric nursing assistant at St. Vincent Care Center in Emmitsburg and is involved in the Thurmont community, donating her time to help with fundraisers at the local all-volunteer fire company, town anniversary celebrations, and the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.

Friends of the Library Present Award to New Members

The Friends of the Thurmont Regional Library (FotTRL) President Ann Miller awards a ‘Relax & Read’ goodie bag to new members Raymond and Rosie Bentz. The Bentz’s were the randomly chosen winners from all the new memberships of FotTRL.

The next project of the Friends will be the Annual Book Sale to be held during Community Show weekend, September 8-10.

If you would like to help with the sale and become a Friend of the new Thurmont Regional Library, stop by the branch at 11 Water Street to pick up your membership form or call the library at 301-271-7721 for more information. Groundbreaking for the Regional should be this fall.

Eyler’s Valley Chapel to Celebrate 150th Anniversary

Historic Eyler’s Valley Chapel near Thurmont is preparing to celebrate its 150th anniversary in 2007. The anniversary celebration will include such events as a community recipe book, a collectible wood reproduction of the chapel, prints of the Harry Richardson painting of the chapel with the 150th anniversary logo, and a homecoming day for all those who have had some type of association with the church.

Recipes Wanted for Anniversary Cookbook

Currently, the recipe book is in preparation. Local residents and anyone who has any ties to the chapel are welcome to submit recipes. "Everyone is invited to send us recipes. Maybe you were married at the chapel or have come for the annual Christmas services," said Fred Wood. If you’re interested in sending a recipe to be printed in the Eyler’s Valley Chapel 150th Anniversary Recipe Book, write to Eyler’s Valley Chapel, c/o Fred Wood, 6629 Eyler’s Valley Flint Road, Sabillasville, MD 21780. Please send your recipes by September 1, 2006.

Local Rec Centers Offering New Programs This Fall

The Frederick County Department of Parks and Recreation will offer a wide variety of programs this fall right in your own neighborhood. The Catoctin Rec Center at Thurmont Middle School and the Emmitsburg Rec Center at the Emmitsburg Community Center will both offer drop-in gym leagues as well as programs for youth and adults this fall.

Take a look through the Fall Program Guide (available online at www.recreater.com) to see what’s waiting for you this fall. Here’s a sampling of programs:

The Catoctin Rec Center will host clinics for all ages from 5 to 15 in basketball, ages 5 to 12 in flag football, and ages 7-15 in roller hockey. The center will also offer an Aerobics class for ages 12 and up.

Emmitsburg Community Center will offer an Art Club Series for ages 8 to 12 in a variety of different art techniques. Or if games are more your style, play multiple sports in a six week Sports Express program for ages 7-14 years at the Emmitsburg Community Center. The Emmitsburg Community Center will also host a six game Frederick County Fall Soccer League for boys and girls ages 4 to 6.

In addition, both Centers offer a wide variety of preschool programs for children.

For more information on these and other programs call 301-696-2936 or visit www.recreater.com for complete listings and registration information.

CHS Class of 2001 Reunion

Catoctin High School Class of 2001’s five year reunion will be held on August 26th at the Thurmont American Legion from 6:00 p.m. to 12 midnight.  Social hour will be at 6:00 p.m. with dinner at 7:00 p.m. and dancing and entertainment for the rest of the evening.  Pre-registration necessary, call Penny. 301-447-6864. 

St. Joseph’s Class of ‘81 Reunion

St. Joseph’s High School class of 1981 will host a Reunion Dance on Saturday, September 30th at 8:00 p.m. in the auditorium of Mother Seton School.  Please visit http://www.voxcomsolutions.com/sjhs/ for details.  Contact Mike Forrence at 301-447-6758 with questions.

Riding Volunteers Needed

If you’re looking for a great opportunity to work with horses or perform community service, the Frederick County 4H Therapeutic Riding Program’s needs you! A new volunteer training will be held Saturday, September 9, 2006, 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Silverado Stables, 11515 Angleberger Rd., Thurmont. Volunteers assist students during class as horse leaders and sidewalkers. Barn volunteers are also needed to groom and tack horses. No previous horse experience is required, however, barn volunteers must be at least age 12 and ring volunteers must be at least age 14.  Therapeutic riding classes begin Tuesday, September 12 and Thursday, September 14 from 5 pm to 7 pm and Saturday, September 16 from 9 am to 3 pm. The fall session runs for seven weeks ending with a horse show for students on Saturday, November 4. For further information please contact volunteer coordinator, Rhonda Dunmire at 301-698-4896, email fc4htrp@yahoo.com or website www.fc4htrp.org.

New Forest Society to Host Fundraiser Yard Sale

On Saturday and Sunday, September 30 and October 1, 2006, the New Forest Society will be host a yard sale and raffle at Lost Hen Farm nursery, in Rocky Ridge. Proceeds will benefit the New Forest Society Environmental Scholarship fund.

The New Forest Society will have one very large table filled with contributions for the sale and 100% of the earnings from that table will benefit the scholarship fund. Other vendors may setup at the sale with the agreement to donate 10% of their earnings to the fund.

In addition, a raffle drawing of $1 per ticket will be held for red maple tree (5-7 feet) from Lost Hen Farm.

The Envrionmental Scholarship fund is administered by the Community Foundation of Frederick County.

The New Forest Society has purchased and distributed 7,000 trees to CREP participants and citizens who have needed stream protection in the northern Frederick County area. Each spring, the kindergarten students of Emmitsburg participate in tree planting projects asissted by New Forest Society members. The New Forest Society offers educational opportunities on watershed protection and restoration.

Lost Hen Farm is located on Hoovers Mill Road at the corner of Mud College Rd, Rocky Ridge. The nursery offers trees, shrubs, ornamental grasses and perennials.

Lions Club Health Fair

The seventh annual Thurmont Lions Club and Gettysburg Hospital Health Fair will be held Saturday, September 23, 2006 at Thurmont Middle School, 408 E. Main Street, Thurmont.

The Lions Club will offer free pre-school vision screening from 6:30 – 8:45 a.m. for ages 6 months to 5 years of age.

A multiphasic blood screening will be offered through Gettysburg Hospital from 6:30 -10:00 a.m. The screening includes over 40 tests such as a chemistry profile including glucose, cholesterol (HDL and LDL), triglyceride, complete blood test count and many more. A 10-12 hour fast is required and the fee is $30. An optional prostate-specific antigen (PAS) blood test is available for men ages 50 and over of $15. Other options include a thyroid screening (TSH) for $10, optional Vitamin B12 deficiency test for $20 and an optional glycohemoglobin (HbA1c) test for diabetics at a fee of $15. Registration is required for all blood testing. To schedule, please call the WellSpam HealthSource Seminar Registration line at 1-800-840-5905, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:30 pm.