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Malia Briggs may be graduating from Chambersburg Area Career Magnet School this month, but she leaves with much more than an impressive 4.0 grade-point average and an athletic scholarship to Tulane University in…
When Sarah Bowman found herself with free time after going through a divorce and having her daughter step back from her own intense sporting schedule, she thought she’d try pickleball one night a week for fun. She had seen an ad for…
Gayle Schreiber fought to the very end. “She didn’t want to leave us,” says her daughter Zoe Schreiber. “She didn’t want to leave her family.” Gayle, a Hagerstown resident who was once a potential Olympic swimmer, former Maryland State Police trooper and…
When it comes to the Washington County Ag Expo and Fair, it’s no secret that the event remains successful year after year thanks to community leaders and dedicated volunteers. It truly takes a village to pull off all the activities scheduled daily at the…
The Maryland Symphony Orchestra presented the first concert of the Maryland Symphony Youth Orchestra (MSYO) in February, marking a significant new chapter in the organization’s commitment to music education and…
Annette Gavin moved to the United States from the United Kingdom in 1994 to become an associate professor of equine studies at Wilson College in Philadelphia. During her tenure, she recognized a significant gap in equine care, and…
The second North American presentation examining how Nordic artists celebrated the concept of home, national identity, and personal expression is on view until May 17 at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts. The exhibition, first shown at…
The need for large animal experts for a variety of occupations is thriving in Washington County. Decades ago, entrepreneurs saw a need in Western Maryland and established businesses with hopes of success. Not only have these businesses found…
Sierra Rowe fell in love with horses when she was just seven years old. At that young age began riding English and competing in hunter/jumper shows, but when she discovered the speed and thrill of Western riding, she became enamored with the…
For more than 200 years and now through nine generations, the Schnebly family has worked the land, milked cows, and operated Crown Stone Farm. So, it’s no surprise the historic farm was honored as the…
The opening of Oklahoma on April 11 at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theater, marks a special milestone for owners Laura and Shawn Martin. The last time the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic graced the…
The Hagerstown Flying Boxcars soar into their third season with a new manager, a new schedule structure, and new hopes to shed the expansion team label and offer fans a competitive team in the Atlantic League. The Boxcars struggled on…
Trans Ova has been paving the way with dairy and beef cattle genetics for more than 40 years, with the original office opened in 1980 in Sioux Center, Iowa. It was not until 2012 that the livestock reproductive company also…
As a teenager, ambitious Herman Benjamin Mellott volunteered to serve in World War I. But the U.S. Army told the boy he was too young to fight and sent him home to Fulton County, Pennsylvania. Disheartened, the boy known locally simply as…
Pickleball remains the fastest-growing sport in America, and the opening of a new indoor, multi-court facility on Sweeney Drive will make access to the sport much easier here in Hagerstown. Dill Dinkers, a rapidly growing…
Maine has its lobster fests. In Wisconsin, the town of Ellsworth hosts the Cheese Curd Festival, and every September New Orleans celebrates Beignet Fest as visitors brush powdered sugar from their clothes and enjoy the…
It is a story as old as time itself—the spouse, the lover, a murder. And it is one James Rada, Jr., an Amazon.com bestselling author, tells in his most recent book Blood on the Badge. The book explores the…
The roots of the Valley Art Association date to 1938, and for the better part of a century the VAA has given local artists of all mediums a place to work, display, and sell their art. This year the VAA celebrates its 35th year in the…
From a rickety steam train, newly deployed Ron Twentey beheld the devastation of a war-ravaged Korea. Shellshocked survivors lived in shacks, shanties, and even cardboard boxes. Later in his deployment, the toll of the conflict would…
Culture and Cocktails isn’t just a lecture. It’s an immersive engagement as soon as you step through the front door of the Miller House, a pristinely restored and well-kept home dating back to the 1860s that has served as the…
Hagerstown resident Jim Garrett calls Arlington National Cemetery his family cemetery. And rightfully so. His own mother and father rest there as do both sets of his grandparents and their siblings. And when he adds in relatives through marriage the…
When local officials and dignitaries gather for the dedication of the renovated Springfield Manor this month, the quiet town of Williamsport, it will be more than just the opening of another renovated historic building. It will be a symbol of renewal for the…
For more than 50 years Fort Ritchie was closely guarded by mountains, stone-turreted gates, and secrecy. The 638-acre Army installation in Washington County, tucked just beneath the Pennsylvania border, served as the World War II training site for…
This summer’s opening of Hitachi Rail’s next-gen factory brings more jobs, an expanded tax base, and yet another shot in the arm to the resurging Hagerstown and Washington County economy. “The overall economy in…
The saying, “It takes a village,” often refers to people in a community helping children. The phrase also means the collective effort and community support of specific projects and that’s exactly the case for the…
Beyond local circles, the myth of the Snallygaster may be one of Maryland’s best-kept secrets. “I remember when I moved here and first heard about it, I was surprised,” says Ken Houldsworth, a resident of Middletown who hosts the…
In 2013 when Bill Gaertner was released from prison, he knew that he had more to give society. By 2014 he established Gatekeepers in Washington County with the goal of helping current and ex-offenders successfully transition back into…
Through the heart of Main Street in Boonsboro, Funkstown, Hagerstown, Clear Spring, and Hancock runs a road that carries the history of America in a way few of us recognize. It’s a road that goes by many names on its cross-country…
Our elder years shouldn’t be lonely, and retirement should be a time of life that is fun, exciting, and social. But after losing the schedule and friends that went along with a career, what initially feels like freedom can become bleak and…
The only thing constant, or so “they” say, is change. And like everything else, our annual readers’ poll has evolved. New categories, new winners—for a small city like Hagerstown and a rural county like Washington, the favorite things about our area is in a constant state of flux.
So, look on the following pages and see for yourself. What are your opinions about this year’s winners?