Preserving Our Agricultural Heritage
For Jeremiah Weddle, farming is in his blood. Relatives going back at least to his great grandparents have been farming in Washington County. His parents started Creek Bound Farm in 1980 doing most of the labor by hand. They grew the farm into the 4,500 acres that the family manages today.
For the Love of the Theater
Many moons ago, a young Barry Harbaugh took a class trip with the other seventh graders at Boonsboro Middle School to see a performance of Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass” at the newly opened Kennedy Center. Sitting in the audience, he just knew he wanted to be a part of live theater for the rest of his life.
An Unlikely Candidate
In 2004, Tekesha Martinez left Hagerstown and swore she would never come back. Growing up as a foster child, being bounced from place to place, she found herself alone as a teenaged mom and angry at the community that had raised her. She returned in 2010, now a mother of five, and had every intention of leaving again. But fate had other plans.
Flying into the Season
Check in on the Flying Boxcars website and it will give you the exact time down to the second before professional baseball makes its return to Hagerstown. Check in on the Visit Hagerstown website for a live feed of the progress on construction of the new downtown ballpark, officially the Hagerstown Multi-Use Sports and Event Center. As the time ticks away and construction continues…
Historic Smithsburg
By 1923 much of the town of Smithsburg had been built, and now, a century later, not much has changed. Pleasantly, Smithsburg retains its 19th-century charm and the town center is largely unencumbered by modern development. The town boundaries have been pushed out to accommodate some housing developments over the years and that has brought the population to…
Treasure Hunt
It’s the thrill of the hunt. Whether stalking game for supper or the day’s best bargain, finding what you seek is always satisfying. While some folks insist only new things will do, others turn a savvy eye to second-hand shops for “new-to-me” treasures.
We’ve Had Our KIX
KIX guitarist Brian Forsythe was sitting in a jail cell thinking about how it could all go so wrong. “I had visions of being on an arena stage, and here I was,” says Forsythe, who had been arrested on drug charges. “I couldn’t believe that my life had changed so much.”
HotList 2024
Whether you’re in the market for fine antiques, a cozy stay at a bed and breakfast, an accountant to do your taxes, or just a good beer, we’ve got it in our annual reader’s poll list of the best of Hagerstown and Washington County. Here are the restaurants, businesses, professionals, and entertainment venues that our readers picked as the best.
The New Team in Downtown
The new look of professional baseball in Hagerstown extends beyond a new name, new uniforms, and a new stadium. The league the Flying Boxcars will play in when they take the field in the spring of 2024 is different from the Minor League Baseball system that the Hagerstown Suns played in from 1981 to 2020.
A New Beginning
“Life in the Ukraine was very disturbing—sirens sound every day and this means that missiles and suicide bombers are flying somewhere over the city,” says 76-year-old Svitlana Rochniak. “You don’t know where they will fly. Rockets flew into our city, suicide bombers came into the park next to our house. The facility in the factory where my brother works was bombed, and the research institute where my mom worked was bombed.”
Unusual Nights Out
Winter offers us a chance to spend evenings by a cozy fire or curled up on the couch watching a good Netflix series. Of course, when the days get longer and the nights colder, cabin fever can sometimes set in and those quiet evenings at home become mundane.
Play Ball! Again!
Hagerstown’s love affair with baseball spans nearly the entire history of the sport, although like most relationships, it has been a somewhat up-and-down affair. The Western Maryland Historical Library tells us the Hagerstown Base Ball Club was…
A City on the Move
As a native of Hagerstown, Mayor Tekesha Martinez has seen the ebbs and flows of the economic development of Hub City.
“I grew up going downtown with grandfather,” remembers the 45-year-old.“ Downtown was where you’d go to get pizza. I would go to McCroy’s to get my school supplies…
Unique, Unusual, and Downright Strange Places in Washington County
Josh Goldman has stuff. Lots of stuff. Lots and lots of old stuff. He loves stuff. He keeps it all in his 20,000-square-foot…
Home Grown Entrepreneurship
Every year in the US, there are tens of thousands of new business start-ups, only a fraction of which will become successful companies. Business incubators- special programs combining office and work space, specialized training and mentorship - can guide these entrepreneurs as they turn their dreams into reality.
Going From Book Buyer to Book Writer
There’s a saying when it comes to writing: Write what you know.
For author Roberta L. Greenwald of Williamsport, that’s setting novels in Washington County and also Ocean City, Maryland, places familiar to her.
The Market Hub
Understanding community and the importance of sustaining it is what makes a community thrive. In North Hagerstown there sits a 3-story refurbished bank barn that is doing just this—helping sustain a thriving and diverse community. The Market Hub, conceived by owner Jill Hudson, is home to 103 local vendors…
Mr. Hagerstown
Lou Scally is described by listeners and viewers as Mr. Hagerstown and the man you can trust. And the radio morning show host and former television weatherman is much loved by his community.
12th Home and Garden Tour
No matter what people say, most are a little bit nosey, or at the very least curious. Especially when they drive by a beautiful home and want to be able to see if the inside is as impeccably dressed as it is from the curbside.