Community Articles
Hagerstown resident, Michael Keifer was just curious one day. “I was sitting at the computer and wondered if there were any other towns named Hagerstown,” he says. There was. One. “I saw only two, one in Maryland and one in…
Four States Livestock Sales, a local livestock auction business, is celebrating its 40th Anniversary for owners, James and Barb Starliper. Four States was originally established in 1935 by founders E.B. Clark and William Garrott making the…
Competition, tradition, great food, and fun are just a few of the things that come to mind when you think of the county fair. July marks the annual Washington County Ag Expo & Fair when thousands of people flock to the…
One of my favorite 4-H projects is the Cavy project. Cavies, more commonly known as guinea pigs, are in the rodent family. There are 13 different breeds of cavies, and they tend to live five to seven years. Once cavies are fully grown, they…
Three sisters are creating lots of buzz, so to speak, as the trio’s beekeeping business, Little Bear Apiary, continues to make great strides in the industry by offering a variety of quality products. Little Bear Apiary was established in the spring of…
Time Traveler Mike Marotte III takes us back in history with the Hagerstown Western Enterprise Fire Company No. 4. As the city was growing during the mid-1860s, a definite need developed for an…
Future Farmers of America (FFA) is an active and engaging community in Washington County that is focused on more than just its agricultural roots. Although primarily known for fostering the love and education of county students interested in agriculture, FFA is…
Nestled in the rolling hills of Washington County, Runaway Bull Farm, operated by first-time farmers Chris and Jaime Teague, have been successful with regenerative agriculture. The Teagues purchased their 100-acre farm in 2020 to have more room for…
If you were walking the lane past a tall wooden fence covered in vigorously growing dense ivy and Virginia creeper vines, you probably would not know that on the other side is a beautiful garden, an enchanting space, designed and…
When some of Maryland’s most successful rock ‘n roll musicians gathered for a benefit concert in Hagerstown earlier this year, it wasn’t to celebrate their own sobriety but to help others with theirs. Guitarists Brian Forsythe (KIX, Rhino Bucket), and…
As our city continues its progress toward the future with a reinvigorated downtown area, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back to the city’s previous heyday. Some of us still remember places like Everly’s Department Store and some of the West Washington Street shops that were the…
Farming is probably the most challenging occupation due to increased input costs like fuel, feed, labor, and market fluctuation, not to mention being at the mercy of the weather. Many young people today who dream of farming or continuing a…
Quality products, customer service, and hard work all describe the owners of the 2024-2025 Washington County Farm of the Year. The Forsythe family works tirelessly on their…
Trinity Luttrell was crowned Miss Washington county teen volunteer 2026, giving her the opportunity to compete for the title of Miss Maryland Volunteer. Miss Maryland Teen Volunteer is a…
It is fitting that a woman purchased the land at 31 South Potomac Street back in 1837. Susan Hughes paid $288 for the land on the hill overlooking the streets below and built the majestic house a year later. In 1931, the Women’s Club purchased…
Paramedical tattoos also known as paramedical pigmentation or micropigmentation is a specialized field of tattooing that helps restore a person’s natural appearance after a medical condition, procedure, or even an accident. The tattoo artist needs not just a full knowledge of tattooing but also a…
If Hagerstown has a rags-to-riches story it would be that of Adna “Ad” Fulton. Born in 1937, his father died when he was 2, leaving his mother to raise him by raising chickens and truck farming to try to piece together a living. From that beginning, Fulton, now 88, grew into one of Hagerstown’s most…
The Hagerstown Community College Alumni Association will hold its 29th Annual Flower and Garden Show on March 15 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and March 16, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the ARCC. More than 125 exhibitors and vendors will…
The Hagerstown Flying Boxcars will open their season at home on April 25 against the Staten Island FerryHawks, and it will be the first time that Meritus Park will host the Atlantic League’s Opening Day celebrations. After the three-game opening series, the Boxcars hit the road for three straight series, before returning to Meritus Park on...
Time Traveler Mike Marotte III takes us back to the heyday of the Pen Mar Park where the horse-drawn trolley car that the Buena Vista Spring Hotel used to transport guests. This luxurious hotel was built in 1890 and could accommodate up to 500 guests. A special service offered by the...
For 31 years, Hagerstown Choral Arts has been delighting Tri-State audiences with harmonious vocal musical performances. But when its founder and artistic director Gregory P. Shook resigned in February, it left a vacancy in...
Years ago, farmers looked to the moon before they did anything else. They believed that in the dark of the moon (i.e. waning), they could cut rail fences so they would stay straighter, set fence posts to resist rot, and castrate and dehorn animals for less bleeding. On the flip side, when the moon was...
After Gwenn Leatherman and her daughter ran in the Frederick Half Marathon a couple of years ago, she wondered if a similar event could be held in Hagerstown. Not long after the Frederick race, she attended the closing retreat for Leadership Washington County, a program that...
I’m not very zen. I’m more an emotional flood than a steady current. And I’m not Buddist. To prove this point I’m going to tell you that one of the statements I live by is Teddy Rosevelt’s “speak softly and carry a big stick.” But the other, the one that...
Becky Jefferies started out right here in Washington County, growing up on the southeast side of Hagerstown and attending Boonsboro High School. “I loved my humble upbringings, but desperately wanted to get out and experience new things and learn about the world,” Jefferies says. Now, Jefferies has...
When Eloisa Banes was in seventh grade and living in Chewsville, her physical education teacher asked her to represent the school in a county track meet. It would be her first official race. “I guess she saw that I was pretty good,” says Banes. She was...
During the early 1990s 2-year-old Katie Delaportas was at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore for a 12-week hospital stay. “I had taken my son to see Santa Bud,” says says Katie’s mom, Kathy Delaportas, who was living in...
I am homeless. I am not houseless, but I am homeless. There’s a difference. A couple of months ago I accidentally sold my home; just sort of stumbled into a deal. I had finally come to the realization that it was time to downsize, 12 years after…
Growing up, my insular family, just my parents and I, didn’t have any standing traditions. We didn’t serve a special breakfast. We didn’t always hang lights. Some years we didn’t have a tree. What I most remember happening every Christmas is my dad having to pause the...
I stumbled across a beach bar in Croatia last summer, and I’ll never forget it. Not because it was a great bar; it wasn’t. It was a concrete slab cut into the side of a cliff 40 feet or so above the Adriatic Sea just outside the...