Blacksmith Shop

A fire Friday night heavily damaged a blacksmith shop in the 300 block of South Princess Street, Shepherdstown Fire Chief Ross Morgan said. The fire was called in at about 6:30 p.m. and firefighters were on the scene until after 8 p.m., Morgan said. The cause of the fire was being investigated by the State Fire Marshal's Office and town police, he said. The fire was in a wooden two-story building that measured about 50 feet by 25 feet, Morgan said. It had been rented to a blacksmith, he said.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com FAYETTEVILLE, Pa. - Amid people basking in the sun around the swimming pool at Caledonia State Park and others seeking relief in the shade of the park's trails lies a testament to the area's rich history. The Thaddeus Stevens Blacksmith Shop is a single-room museum off U.S. 30 filled with equipment from the mid-19th century when Stevens opened Caledonia Iron Works. Stevens, a statesman who served in the U.S. House of Representatives and was a staunch abolitionist, purchased land and called it Caledonia, after his home county in Vermont, said Bruce McFate, park superintendent.

A video recounting the history of escaped slaves using the Underground Railroad in the South Mountain region was unveiled Friday to educators and other community members at a private showing at Caledonia State Park. The Franklin County Visitors Bureau and the South Mountain Partnership's 15-minute DVD, titled "Road to Freedom," was shown to school administrators, library directors and others at the ranger station in the park off Pa. 30 in Fayetteville, Pa. The video featured Thaddeus Stevens' blacksmith shop at Caledonia State Park, which has been designated as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

My first piece of big-boy art was a homespun print I put up in my room depicting a truly American scene: A massive chestnut tree spreading over the village blacksmith shop. The smithy is hammering away on his anvil as a team of horses stands to the side. A boy in a straw hat and his dog watch the pastoral scene with interest. It's rural American commerce at its best. I hadn't thought of this print in years, but it suddenly snapped into mind last week when I saw a front-page photo of an alleged Clear Spring meth lab. I normally don't give meth labs a whole lot of thought.

WELSH RUN, PA. -- There was a lot of hugging Tuesday at Conococheague Institute when the educational center's leaders learned they received a state grant. "It's just amazing," said Gay Buchanan, a member of the advisory board. "I'm going to cry," museum educator Cynthia Lawrence-Fink said. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell announced in a news release that projects at the center will be completed through the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps, an opportunity for hands-on training for young people.

tammyb@herald-mail.com Blacksmithing can be warm work, even if the temperature outside is hovering around 15. "We usually do this in July and August," said amateur blacksmith Andy Brooks, who was giving a demonstration Saturday afternoon at Catoctin Mountain Park. "I like this a lot better. In July and August, it's boiling in here. " Never mind that the only heat in the park's blacksmith shop on this January afternoon was from the coal fire he used to heat the steel he was about to pound into nails and door latches.

  The Maugansville Ruritan Club will hold an all-you-can-eat breakfast Saturday from 6:30 to 11 a.m. at its blue building on Maugans Avenue. Tickets cost $5.50 for adults, $3 for those ages 6 to 12, and are free for those younger than 6. The menu includes pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, sausage gravy, juice, coffee and tea. For more information, call 301-791-5432. Maugansville trick or treat night The Maugansville area will hold trick or treat night Friday, Oct. 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. Ruritan members will patrol the streets and hand out free glow-in-the-dark bracelets.

Send me a line I am grateful to all of those who have sent me news in the past and hope they will continue to send me news that our Maugansville friends and neighbors would like to know about. For those who haven't sent me news, please consider doing so. Just email me at catgrant@myactv.net or call me at 301-791-1890.   More about Maugansville In 1888, a carriage factory was operated in Maugansville by Benjamin F. Stouffer. Stouffer not only made carriages and buggies, but also repaired and repainted them.

CSX Corp.'s contractor applied for additional demolition permits Thursday after a plea by Maryland's U.S. senators didn't halt plans to demolish the Hagerstown roundhouse complex. "We're not closing the door, but absent any other new ideas, the demolition will continue," CSX spokesman Rob Gould said. CSX President John Snow responded to a plea by U.S. Sens. Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski in a Sept. 2 letter, in which he wrote there was "no realistic alternative (but) to proceed with demolition.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Rebuilding a historic spring house, putting new restrooms at Greencastle's Jerome R. King Playground and constructing the first building at Antrim Township's new park are on the agenda this spring thanks to money from a new state grant. Charles R. White, director of Tayamentasachta, Greencastle-Antrim School District's environmental center on Leitersburg Road, said a $26,000 grant will buy materials for the three projects, all of which will be built by crews of the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps.

Dan Tokar was poring through the charred ruins of what was once the forge room of Willow Forge, his blacksmith shop on South Princess Street, before it was destroyed in a fire Nov. 30. He picked up a pack of fire starters, the kind that come in handy lighting a wood stove or fireplace.   “Look,” he said, “They're not even burned.” He opened a wooden box that looked like a chunk of charcoal. The regulators inside, even their soft rubber hoses, were intact. “Odd things happen in fires,” said Tokar, momentarily focusing more on the offbeat effects of the fire that nearly destroyed his livelihood rather than the near destruction of his livelihood.

A fire Friday night heavily damaged a blacksmith shop in the 300 block of South Princess Street, Shepherdstown Fire Chief Ross Morgan said. The fire was called in at about 6:30 p.m. and firefighters were on the scene until after 8 p.m., Morgan said. The cause of the fire was being investigated by the State Fire Marshal's Office and town police, he said. The fire was in a wooden two-story building that measured about 50 feet by 25 feet, Morgan said. It had been rented to a blacksmith, he said.

Joe Scheerer of Keedysville has a hobby that fits best in another century. A graphic artist by day, Scheerer taught himself blacksmithing as a new interest in 2007. He will be demonstrating at Boonesborough Days Saturday, Sept. 8, and Sunday, Sept. 9. “It's important we not lose our manual skills,” Scheerer said. “I'm not ready to give up my iPod or anything. I'm not anti-technology. I think it's just important to remember how to do things.” The festival is the oldest continuously operating arts and crafts festival in Washington County, according to the Boonsboro Historical Society, which organizes the event.

Send me a line I am grateful to all of those who have sent me news in the past and hope they will continue to send me news that our Maugansville friends and neighbors would like to know about. For those who haven't sent me news, please consider doing so. Just email me at catgrant@myactv.net or call me at 301-791-1890.   More about Maugansville In 1888, a carriage factory was operated in Maugansville by Benjamin F. Stouffer. Stouffer not only made carriages and buggies, but also repaired and repainted them.

My first piece of big-boy art was a homespun print I put up in my room depicting a truly American scene: A massive chestnut tree spreading over the village blacksmith shop. The smithy is hammering away on his anvil as a team of horses stands to the side. A boy in a straw hat and his dog watch the pastoral scene with interest. It's rural American commerce at its best. I hadn't thought of this print in years, but it suddenly snapped into mind last week when I saw a front-page photo of an alleged Clear Spring meth lab. I normally don't give meth labs a whole lot of thought.

  The Maugansville Ruritan Club will hold an all-you-can-eat breakfast Saturday from 6:30 to 11 a.m. at its blue building on Maugans Avenue. Tickets cost $5.50 for adults, $3 for those ages 6 to 12, and are free for those younger than 6. The menu includes pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, sausage gravy, juice, coffee and tea. For more information, call 301-791-5432. Maugansville trick or treat night The Maugansville area will hold trick or treat night Friday, Oct. 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. Ruritan members will patrol the streets and hand out free glow-in-the-dark bracelets.

A video recounting the history of escaped slaves using the Underground Railroad in the South Mountain region was unveiled Friday to educators and other community members at a private showing at Caledonia State Park. The Franklin County Visitors Bureau and the South Mountain Partnership's 15-minute DVD, titled "Road to Freedom," was shown to school administrators, library directors and others at the ranger station in the park off Pa. 30 in Fayetteville, Pa. The video featured Thaddeus Stevens' blacksmith shop at Caledonia State Park, which has been designated as part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom.

WELSH RUN, PA. -- There was a lot of hugging Tuesday at Conococheague Institute when the educational center's leaders learned they received a state grant. "It's just amazing," said Gay Buchanan, a member of the advisory board. "I'm going to cry," museum educator Cynthia Lawrence-Fink said. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell announced in a news release that projects at the center will be completed through the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps, an opportunity for hands-on training for young people.

MARTINSBURG, W.VA. - High school sweethearts Gerald and Vicki Bailey celebrated 34 years of marriage Saturday at the Atlantic Zone Meet of the Studebaker Drivers Club. More than 500 miles from home, the Portland, Ind., couple would have it no other way. "For me, it's just life," Vicki Bailey said. As in a Studebaker-filled life. Vacations are summed up in one word - "VacationStudebaker," she said. Gerald Bailey had eight trucks manufactured by the now-defunct automaker until he sold one last year.

Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; Let fortune's bubbles rise and fall; Who sows a field, or trains a flower, Or plants a tree, is more than all. - John Greenleaf Whittier, A Song of Harvest HEDGESVILLE, W.VA. martinsburg@herald-mail.com There once was a time in this country - in this county - when farmland was taken for granted, not preserved using grant money. When people drove tractors, not sport utility vehicles. And when the daily grind consisted of turning grain into flour, not gulping coffee and staring at a computer screen.