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Literature lovers across Frederick County celebrated Edgar Allan Poe during the month of October, as part of events in the National Endowment for the Arts-sponsored "Big Read."
The initiative, launched nationally in 2007, aims to restore reading to the center of American culture by encouraging reading for pleasure and enlightenment. Frederick County Public Libraries received grant funding to host the Big Read events here, through a partnership with Maryland Public Television and the Weinberg Center for the Arts.
Poe was celebrated, in part, because this year is the 200th anniversary of his birth, in Boston. Poe died in October 1849 in Baltimore.
One of the final events for the Big Read occurred Saturday in Brunswick. Twenty-nine people gathered at Beans in the Belfry to hear readings of Poe's poems and short stories.
According to Hanna Politis, of Beans in the Belfry, attendees ranged in age from 7 to 65.
Caroline O'Connell, of the Brunswick branch of Frederick County Public Libraries opened the Saturday event with a reading of "The Raven," one of Poe's best-known narrative poems, first published in 1845.
She was followed by Karin Tome, a children's librarian at C. Burr Artz Public Library in Frederick and a Brunswick city councilwoman, who read several poems, among them "The Bells," with its haunting refrain.
Drenna Reibeck, principal at Brunswick Elementary School, clad in a spider web cape, read "The Cask of Amontillado," followed by father-daughter team Eric and Katie Karolac, who took turns reading "The Mask of the Red Death."
According to Politis, a highlight of the event was when Mayor Carroll Jones gave an introduction and reading of "The Tell-Tale Heart." Jones interpreted the historic setting in which Edgar Allan Poe lived and wrote his trend-setting literary works.
Edgar Allan Poe anthologies and bookmarks were given away to those who attended, compliments of Maryland Public Libraries and Maryland Public Television.
Middletown High student
earns honor
Lauren E. Lucernoni of Myersville was recently honored by a New York institute for her skills in math and science.
Lucernoni was one of several thousand students from across the country who earned the Rensselaer Medal from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. Recipients must be juniors, and be "the high school's single most promising science and mathematics student," according to a press release from the institute.
Medalists who are accepted and subsequently enroll in the institute receive scholarships of $60,000, payable in four annual awards of $15,000 each.
Walkersville to host second annual Veterans Day event
Walkersville will host its second annual Veterans Day celebration at 2 p.m. on Nov. 8 at Memorial Park.
The event will feature speeches by two former Walkersville residents and World War II veterans, Durward Kettells and Bernie Murphy, according to event organizer Donald Schildt, a town commissioner. Eddie Lopez, a local Navy veteran, will also speak at the celebration, he said.
Rhonda and Mike Ramsburg, Walkersville residents, will talk to attendees about the pride and worry that comes along with having a deployed family member. They are the parents of Christopher Ramsburg, who graduated in 2007 from Walkersville High School and is currently serving in Afghanistan, Rhonda Ramsburg said.
"I guess because I come from a non-military family it brought the realization of what these families go through everyday," she said of her son's deployment. "It totally puts a different turn on things when you have one of your own in the service. I've always appreciated the men and women who serve ... but now with having our own son over in Afghanistan it just brings home a personal feeling for me."
In addition to adult speakers, patriotic essay contest winners from Glade Elementary School will present their pieces at the event. Harshi Patel, first place fifth-grade winner; Sophia Lopez, second -place fifth-grade winner; Valerie Coleman, first place fourth-grade winner; and Rebecca Raub, second-place fourth-grade winner, were chosen from 140 submitted essays, Schildt said.
The Yellow Springs Concert Band will provide patriotic music for the event, he said.
November is a busy month for Thurmont Regional Library
Thurmont Regional Library will continue the tradition of hosting free events for the community this month, starting tonight at 6:30 p.m., with the premiere of its foreign film series. The first installment will be a 1987 Danish film called "Babette's Feast," directed by Gabriel Axel.
"We wanted to bring more events like that right here so that people can come home at night, have dinner, and then come over to the library and do something different," said branch manager Erin Dingle on her inspiration for the film series.
She said one of her goals for the library is to host more events like this, so residents won't have to travel far to have rich cultural experiences. She has asked library employees to choose a foreign film they've seen and enjoyed for the series. The next installments will be on Jan. 7, when a French film called "All The Mornings Of The World" will be shown and on Feb. 4 when Italian Academy Award winner "Life Is Beautiful" will be shown, Dingle said.
On Saturday at 2 p.m., the library will host a workshop called "Babies and Toddlers: The Owners Manual." The event will feature two speakers, Indra Martinez, a community health care advocate, and Adrienne King of the Maryland School For the Deaf. Martinez will make a presentation about what to do when an infant or toddler gets sick, while King will teach the basics of sign language for babies.
Kari Kelly, the event organizer and a member of the children's services staff at the library, said Martinez's presentation will be especially useful for first-time parents but everyone will probably learn something new from King.
"A child will understand a lot of what you say but won't be able to communicate back," Kelly said. King's presentation will, among other things, teach the American Sign Language for phrases such as "I'm hungry" or "my tummy hurts." Sign language is a communication technique research shows children can learn earlier than speech, she said. "It just gives children another avenue to try to communicate with parents," she added. Attendees of the workshops will be entered to win raffle prizes, which will be age-appropriate toys purchased from Dancing Bear Toys and Gifts in Frederick.
At 7 p.m., Tuesday, the library will welcome local children's author Edie Hemingway, who will present her new book "Road to Tater Hill." Hemingway will sign and sell copies of the book and a portion of the proceeds will go to the branch's Friends of the Library group.
Call the Thurmont Regional Library at 301-600-7200 for more information on the events.
Sewell's Farm to celebrate 25 years of Christmas spirit
While some people still haven't thrown out their jack-o-lanterns, Sewell's Christmas Tree Farm in Taneytown is beckoning the Christmas season. The farm will host its 25th Anniversary Festival from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Saturday.
The event will feature crafts, food, music, hayrides, a scavenger hunt and a blacksmithing demonstration, according to the farm's Web site. Admission is free. Call 410-756-4397 or e-mail info@sewellsfarm.com for more information.
Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Company to host gun raffle
The Woodsboro Volunteer Fire Company will host a gun raffle from 2-8 p.m., Sunday at the Woodsboro Activities Complex. The weapons to be raffled off are a Ruger Hawkeye 30-06, a Weatherby Vanguard 243, a Remington 7600 270, a Savage 111 7mm Mag, a Marlin 336C 30-30, a T/C Triumph 50 Caliber Bone Collector, a Remington 870 Express Super Mag, a Henry Golden Boy 22 Long Rifle, a Marlin 917V with scope, an Inferno Crossbow Package and a Knight 50 Caliber Muzzleloader, according to Michael Cornell, the company's rescue lieutenant.
Tickets for the event are $25. A buffet lunch will be served from 3 to 4 p.m., and the raffle begins at 5 p.m. Call 240-367-6504 or e-mail tickets@woodsborovfc.org for more information or to purchase tickets.