Politics sure to be on the menu at annual party picnics

August 14, 2006|by ANDREW SCHOTZ

Politics is guaranteed to come up at two meals this month, when Washington County's two major parties hold their annual picnics.

The Republicans will go first. Their picnic will be Wednesday, Aug. 23, at Smithsburg Community Park on Bikle Road. The gate will open at 5:30 p.m. and dinner will start at 6:30 p.m.

The special guest will be Kristen Cox, Maryland's secretary of disabilities, who is running for lieutenant governor with Gov. Robert Ehrlich.

Tickets cost $25 for adults, $15 for ages 7 to 16 and free for those younger than 7.

To make reservations, call Wanda McGurl, secretary of the Washington County Republican Club, at 301-790-1539 by Friday.

The Democrats will follow. Their picnic will be Thursday, Aug. 24, at Williamsport American Legion at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets cost $15 in advance and $18 at the door. Call Democratic headquarters at 301-797-4385.

Two nights of candidates forums

Candidate forums will be held Wednesday and Thursday at 7 p.m. in Hagerstown Community College's Kepler Theater.

On Wednesday, candidates for Washington County Commissioners will participate. Twenty-four candidates - 12 Republicans and 12 Democrats - are running for five seats on the commission.

On Thursday, candidates for Washington County Board of Education, sheriff, state's attorney and House of Delegates Subdistrict 2C will participate.

The forums are sponsored by The Herald-Mail, The League of Women Voters of Washington County, Hagerstown Community College and Antietam Cable.

They will be broadcast live on channel 99 on Antietam Cable, then rebroadcast as follows:

Wednesday's forum will air at 8 p.m. on Antietam Cable channel 19 on Thursday, Aug. 24; Tuesday, Aug. 29; and Tuesday, Sept. 5.

Thursday's forum will air at 8 p.m. on channel 19 on Friday, Aug. 25; Thursday, Aug. 31; and Thursday, Sept. 7.

The forums will air back to back on Monday, Sept. 11, at 7 p.m.

The wheel deal?

Congressional candidate Robert E. Kozak plans to use pedal power today to cross part of the 6th District.

Kozak, the Green Party candidate on the ballot for the Nov. 7 general election, plans to ride a bicycle about 60 miles on the C&O Canal towpath.

His schedule is to leave Cumberland, Md., at about 12:45 p.m. and get to Hancock at about 5:30 p.m. - "weather and flat tires permitting," he wrote in a news release.

Kozak is using the ride, called the "Tour de 6th District," to promote his views on biofuels as an energy source and better funding for the national park system.

Republican Roscoe Bartlett is trying for his eighth term in Congress representing the district, which includes Washington County. He has one opponent in the Sept. 12 primary.

Two Democrats are squaring off in the primary.

Sportsmen will make picks on Sept. 18

The Washington County Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs plans to meet Sept. 18 - six days after the primary election - to choose candidates to endorse in the Nov. 7 general election.

The federation held a "meet-the-candidates" night July 10 at the Potomac Fish & Game Club.

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