Rain delayed Emmitsburg’s fireworks on Saturday by about 30 minutes, but ‘‘they went off very well,” said Mayor James E. Hoover.
At the Emmitsburg Lions Club’s 26th annual Emmitsburg Community Day on Saturday, Hoover received one of only 200 bicentennial medals from Thomas H. Powell, president of Mount St. Mary’s University.
Powell was the grand marshal of the parade and the keynote speaker.
Powell’s speech ‘‘was a lot about the history of Emmitsburg in relationship with the Mount being founded. He was tying those two together,” Hoover said Tuesday.
The second-oldest Catholic university is celebrating its bicentennial this year. The Mount is 23 years younger than Emmitsburg, according to Hoover.
In addition to Hoover, three other elected officials are members of the Emmitsburg Lions Club. Commissioner Denise E. Etris was in charge of the fireworks, and she used a different, less costly ‘‘shooter” this year, Hoover said.
And although former Frederick County Commissioner Mike Cady couldn’t make it to drive Hoover, Powell and the Rev. Vincent O’Malley of St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church in his Buick convertible, Hoover said, Cady’s wife, Darlene, deputized as parade chauffeur.
If Hoover had not been scheduled to be honored by the Lions Club, he would have been on the town’s float, which he helped make, he said.
The day-long festival included children’s games, food and Americana music. It also included horseshoes.
After a two-hour test of his dexterity, patience and endurance in the sun and drizzle on Saturday, Gary Hoffmaster left Emmitsburg Community Park victorious, with a trophy for second place in the annual horseshoes contest.
I ‘‘pulled it off by having a really good partner,” Hoffmaster said. ‘‘I probably scored eight [points], something like that, and [my] partner did the rest.”
Hoffmaster’s partner in the horseshoes tournament was Joe Cool. Cool was one half of the first-place team in the same contest last year.
The horseshoes contest at the Emmitsburg Community Day placed 28 players into 14 randomly paired teams, much down from the 48 people who competed in a four-hour contest last year.
The Emmitsburg Lions Club moved the contest a few hundred yards this year to be closer to the picnic pavilion at the park. This year, Rob DeWeese and Rich Brown took first place, Hoffmaster and Cool took second and Jim Miller and Zach Topper took third, splitting up $140 in prize money.
Lions Club member Bob Gauss set up the administrator’s tent, kept watch over play with his tape measure at the ready and filled in the brackets as the contest progressed. At the end, he handed out the trophies and handfuls of cash.
Hoffmaster added the trophy to a sack containing a barbecue chicken dinner to-go. Two chipped iron horseshoes dangled in his other hand.
Hoffmaster, who lives between Thurmont and Frederick, has participated in the Emmitsburg Community Day horseshoes five times but has never placed.
A native of Ladiesburg, picked up horseshoes at family picnics ‘‘40 years ago,” and has ‘‘loved it ever since.” His trick? He stands well behind the box when he pitches, like a basketball player shooting three pointers from well behind the arc. ‘‘If I stand up close, I overthrow,” he said. ‘‘It just feels right.”
