Amazing Grace

1. Celebrating King's legacy Diversity Celebration will be from 1 to 3 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21, at Hagerstown Community College's Kepler Theater, off Robinwood Drive, east of Hagerstown. The celebration will include a musical performance by the New Joy Fellowship Seventh-day Adventist Mass Choir and conclude with a dramatic rendition of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, performed by the Rev. Darin Mency. Free admission. Call 240-500-2265. 2. Rockin' out mid-week Stillglow, My Ransomed Soul, pictured; Steady Hands, Ghost Key, Comrades and Forger will perform at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Jan, 23, at Right Choice Ministries, 20204 Old Forge Road, Hagerstown.

katec@herald-mail.com Judy Collins will bring her blue eyes and clear voice to the Weinberg Center for the Arts in Frederick, Md., tonight. In honor of the St. Patrick's season, she will sing some Irish tunes, but a Judy Collins performance would not be complete without some of the songs that have garnered numerous top 10 hits, Grammy nominations and awards and gold and platinum status. Collins, whose career spans more than 40 years, performs 60 to 80 shows a year.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A West Virginia woman will represent Maryland next month in Hershey, Pa., as she tries to advance to the next stage of the True Value/Jimmy Dean's Country Music Showdown. Amy Ropp, 21, of Martinsburg, won the local competition on July 17 at Redman's Club in Williamsport. She competed against a dozen other contestants to win the first phase of the contest. She sang "Valentine" by Martina McBride and "Amazing Grace" in the contest, which was judged on talent, originality, stage presence, vocal or instrumental ability and marketability in country music.

About 200 people gathered Wednesday evening at Burke Street School to take part in a vigil for two Martinsburg North Middle School girls who were burned Friday in a house fire. Best friends, Isabella Neel, 12, and Kali Basler, 13, are in critical condition at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, according to family members. Neel's aunt, Karen Hess-Laisure, said her niece was undergoing surgery for burns to her face at the time of the vigil, which began about 6 p.m. in the school playground.

WAYNESBORO,Pa. - For Waynesboro football coach Darwin Seiler, the personal frustration of his team's latest loss - a 47-13 drubbing Friday night by the Steel-High Steamrollers - showed only briefly on his face as his Indians knelt tightly together in a circle surrounded by the marching band after the game. As the last chords of "Amazing Grace" fell away, Seiler began walking from player to player and coach to coach offering a few private words. Steel-High (5-1, 3-0) had just unleashed the passing of quarterback Jerel Lewis and the speed and athleticism of Sean Alexander and Austen Brown as the Rollers ran away from the Indians (1-5, 1-2)

marlob@herald-mail.com With a grandfather who fought in World War I and a father with service in World War II, it seemed appropriate that Donna Tourney spent part of Memorial Day at a ceremony at Rose Hill Cemetery honoring the nation's veterans. "I am usually here as a member of the Hagerstown AMVETS Post 10 color guard, but this year I'm taking pictures instead," the Greencastle, Pa., resident said. "I actually get to watch what is going on for once. " Tourney joined several dozen people Monday who turned out under overcast skies for the annual observance.

HAGERSTOWN -- Some children grinned in the presence of the Easter Bunny. Others shied away at first, but were coaxed to sit for a picture. The Salvation Army invited children, and adults who accompanied them, to lunch and an egg hunt in Hagerstown on Saturday. This is the third time The Salvation Army had an Easter weekend meal and the first time the Easter Bunny was there, Maj. Robert Lyle said. Organizers let the rainy weather roll off their backs; they moved the egg hunts inside.

Kathleen Rodgaard thought about her husband. Rick Conrad thought about his father. Jim Sprecher thought about the men he went with to war. cont. from front page All three know the importance of remembering the soldiers who fought to make the world better. All three remembered at Hagerstown Memorial Day services Monday. Rodgaard was one of 300 at Rest Haven Cemetery's service. She and her husband both fought in World War II. They met during the war when she was in Britain's Auxiliary Territorial Service.

WILLIAMSPORT - About 600 police officers from across Maryland, West Virginia and Pennsylvania attended the funeral Monday of Smithsburg Police Officer Christopher Shane Nicholson, who died Dec. 19 in the line of duty. Washington County Sheriff Douglas W. Mullendore said invitations were sent to police departments from as far away as the Midwest. "We don't know how many to expect, but it will draw officers from a wide area," Mullendore said Monday before the funeral. When an officer dies in the line of duty, broadcasts about the death are sent nationwide.

andrear@herald-mail.com Brian and Jackie Kenworthy brought their young children to the Memorial Day ceremony at Rose Hill Cemetery in Hagerstown on Monday to help them learn the meaning of the holiday. Five-year-old twins Cameron and Morgan Kenworthy aced the lesson. Morgan raised his hand when retired U.S. Marine Capt. Robert Glausier started his keynote speech with the rhetorical question, "What does Memorial Day mean?" "It's about the soldiers who fought in the world," Cameron said.