Encampment

The following is the schedule for Mountaintop Heritage Days, scheduled for July 1-3 in Cascade and Blue Ridge Summit, Pa. Saturday, July 1 · 9 a.m. - Parade beginning at Dutrow Avenue and proceeding to Monterey Lane and Wyndham Avenue. · 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. - Civil War encampment at Lions Club Park, motorcycle display at Blue Ridge Summit Volunteer Fire Department, food and crafts vendors. · 11 a.m. - Local historian John Miller to discuss troop movements and battles before and after Gettysburg at the Blue Ridge Summit Free Library.

The 23rd annual National Pike Festival and Wagon Train will be held next weekend. The event gets under way Friday with an encampment in Clear Spring at the Plumb Grove mansion. Visitors can watch the wagons roll in, and entertainment and food will be available from 5 to 8 p.m. The wagon train rolls out of Clear Spring Saturday at 9 a.m. and continues through Hagerstown to Funkstown. The wagon train will continue Sunday and finish in Boonsboro's Shafer Memorial Park. The wagon train can be seen at different stops along the route.

LEITERSBURG - Leitersburg Ruritan Club will sponsor its 24th annual Peach Festival, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 9, and Sunday, Aug. 10, on the grounds of the former Leitersburg School House, now Leitersburg Community Park. The festival offers foods from the area including homemade peach pies, peach ice cream, roast beef, country ham and other items. Ernie Bradley & Grassy Ridge will perform bluegrass and country music; Saxy will perform rock and roll music. There will be a homemade peach pie contest on Saturday; pies must be sumitted by 11 a.m. There are two categories of pies: open faced and closed.

WAYNESBORO, PA. - The worst of the fake fighting was over, of that much Confederate Commander Lt. Col. Curtis Utz was certain. As he leaned back in his chair to enjoy a cigar in the safety of the Rebel camp on Saturday afternoon, an edge still remained in his eye. Night was soon to fall and Utz knew his men would face empty fire from Union guns under the cover of darkness. After all, that was the way it usually happened at Renfrew and after 10 years re-enacting the battles of the Civil War on the meticulously groomed lawn of the historical museum and park, he did not expect less from the Yankees camped across the creek.

Frontier Craft Days features musical entertainment Jonathan Hager Frontier Craft Days will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 2, and Sunday, Aug. 3, at Jonathan Hager House in City Park, Hagers-town. Admission is free. In addition to old-fashioned crafts, and a living history encampment of French and Indian war re-enactors, the event will feature entertainment. Whippoorwill, a West Virginia-based duet, performs at noon and 2 p.m. Saturday. Wissywig, a northern-Virginia-based group, will perform at 1 and 3 p.m. Saturday.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - The play, "Christmas at Home" will be presented Friday, Dec. 6, Saturday, Dec. 7, and Sunday, Dec. 8, at 7 p.m. daily at Open Door Church, 500 Miller St. The story begins on Dec. 25, 1848, with the birth of Emmanuel Christmas McLaw. Music will be provided by the choir of Open Door Church. Re-enactors, including those pictured, above, from the 14th Tennessee Co. B, the 3rd Maryland Co. B and the 11th Pennsylvania Fife and Drum Corps., will take part in the production.

Foes make peace during holidays By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Chambersburg GREENCASTLE, Pa. - Union soldiers welcomed Confederate soldier Patrick Davis to their camp Sunday afternoon, where they shared a meal, sang songs around the fire and exchanged news as part of their Christmas Day celebration of 1863. It was the only time during the year that Davis could cross enemy lines in peace, all in the spirit of the holiday. There was little talk of the war, entering its third year, as the soldiers tried to make the best of the meager yet better-than-usual meal and stay warm in the biting cold.

A dogwood tree and plaque in memory of the victims and families of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks will be dedicated at the historic Jonathan Hager House and Museum May 12 at 4 p.m. The tree and plaque are believed to be the first permanent memorials in Hagerstown commemorating the attacks. The same ceremony will honor the late Robert W. Shumaker, past grand noble and chief patriarch of the International Order of Odd Fellows Potomac Lodge 31 and Grand Encampment 6 of Hagers-town.

Pack 14, of Smithsburg, visited the Civil War Living History Encampment at Renfrew Park in Waynesboro, Pa., on Aug. 11. Dr. Roger Hershey told the Cub Scouts and their leaders how the military police protected the citizens of an area during the Civil War. Brett Tower explained how a doctor cared for the wounded and injured during a battle. The Scouts visited the Union and Confederate camps and talked with the "soldiers" about the ways of preparing food, caring for weapons and packing for long hikes.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Gun powder dissipated in the air Sunday as Civil War re-enactors stripped off heavy pouches and sweat-drenched jackets following a "battle" witnessed by about 50 spectators. J. Walter Callis and Sharon Drost waited in the Confederate camp for their comrades to return. Their tents and belongings were set up on the lower lawn of Renfrew Park, which has hosted the weekend encampment for 29 years. "It's a beautiful place. All the people we've met are very nice," said Callis, who, like Drost, was visiting Renfrew for the first time.