Encampment

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.

CLEAR SPRING - After driving her own team of horses in 2005 and helping to drive a team last year that pulled her family in a covered wagon, this year 10-year-old Jo Baker will ride solo - on horseback - during National Pike Festival's 32-mile wagon train this weekend. The Big Pool girl is handing the reins to the team of Percherons to her younger sister, Adriana, 8, says their father, Jamie Baker. The Baker family has been involved with wagon train events for seven years.

BIG POOL - Much like sutlers did in the 18th century, Neal Redmond sells handcrafted wares for a living. In his case, the wares are wearable. Redmond and his wife, Margie, make 18th-century-style military and civilian clothing, such as waistcoats, knee britches, long pants, shirts, sleep waistcoats, coats, hats and ladies clothing. They will be among more than 130 artisans, craftspeople and vendors at Fort Frederick's 12th annual 18th Century Market Fair today through Sunday.

CLEAR SPRING - The National Pike Festival wagon train will have an extra travel companion this year to record stories about the event and local history, coordinator Laura Bowman said. Liz Hand, a writer and substitute history teacher from Pennsylvania, will ride along, interviewing participants about the wagon train and their own history farming with mules and draft horses, Bowman said. The wagon train is expected to leave Clear Spring by 9 a.m. Saturday and arrive in Boonsboro around 2 p.m. Sunday.

For the past 23 years, a horse-drawn wagon train about a quarter-mile long has snaked its way down Old National Pike from Clear Spring and into downtown Hagerstown on its way to Boonsboro. It's surely a sight to see, according to Peggy Mason of Martinsburg, W.Va., “because it's something many have never seen before.” Peggy Mason will ride with her husband, Norman, as the 24th annual National Pike Festival kicks off this morning with its wagon train ride that travels along the historic path.

Members of the Martinsburg Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol recently recognized the superb support and assistance of one of the members of the 167th Airlift Wing of the West Virginia Air National Guard. Tech. Sgt. Robert E. Hall, one of the Air National Guard recruiters from Martinsburg, W.Va. was presented a CAP Appreciation Plaque denoting his outstanding support of the Civil Air Patrol cadet program. Hall has been very supportive of the CAP cadet program and has spoken often to the squadron cadets, encouraging them to advance leadership skills and expanding their knowledge of aerospace education.

The National Pike Festival begins today and continues through Sunday. Following is a schedule of events: TODAY 5 to 7 p.m. - Wagon train encampment. Plumb Grove, 12654 Broadfording Road, Clear Spring. Take Two Variety Band to perform. Free, open to the public. 5 to 8 p.m. - Plumb Grove, Clear Spring Historical Society will have food available for purchase. SATURDAY 6 to 9 a.m. - Breakfast at Plumb Grove. 9 a.m. - Wagon train departs. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. - Activities at Clear Spring High School, 12630 Broadfording Road, including crafts, classic car show, antique tractor show, demonstrations and free children's activities.

Hello, summer. It has officially arrived. I am excited to share with you the upcoming summer re-enactment in July for the annual Battle of Funkstown. The dates this year are Friday, July 15 to Sunday, July 17. Last year, more than 4,000 people came out to experience living history and catch the battles raging in the streets and park. Re-enactors will be moving into their camps to set up beginning at 1 p.m. on July 15. Action starts early on July 16 with street foraging at 9 a.m. Just as they did 150 years ago, troops from the North and South go around town to obtain supplies.

The Maryland Park Service and the Friends of Fort Frederick State Park will host the annual 18th Century Market Fair at Fort Frederick State Park April 24 to 27. Visitors will meet more than 150 artisans, craftspeople and vendors who sell reproductions of 18th-century items, including furniture, clothing, guns, powder horns and hunting bags. Most of the goods for sale are handmade by the vendors themselves, and many of these individuals, known as sutlers, will demonstrate their crafts.

CLEAR SPRING -- Michael J. Varhola was in town Sunday, offering up some creepy tales fitting for the Halloween season. Varhola studies ghosts and has released a book about the paranormal in the Old Line State. In "Ghosthunting Maryland," Varhola divides the state into six regions and profiles the best destinations in each, according to Amazon.com. Varhola came to the Washington County Free Library's Leonard P. Snyder Memorial Branch in Clear Spring Sunday afternoon to relate to about a dozen people some tales of the spooky, including a trip he made to Monocacy National Battlefield near Frederick, Md., in May. The Battle of Monocacy was fought July 9, 1864, and pitted about 5,800 Union soldiers against 15,000 Confederates advancing on Washington, D.C., through Frederick County, Md. Varhola, a freelance writer who obtained a journalism degree from University of Maryland, College Park, in 1993, said he went to the battlefield with members of the Maryland TriState Paranormal group.