Fort Ritchie

Whack. A toddler struck a Christmas tree with a bat. A crowd cheered him on as it spun in circles. The tree was stuffed with candy, a piñata to amuse the 50 or so children who celebrated the Christmas season Saturday at Fort Ritchie Community Center's Tree Lighting and Fun with Santa. At the opposite end of the gymnasium were older children with slightly more refined motor skills hammering away at a snowman piñata. A young girl executed the final blow as an excited throng made a mad dash for its contents.

Fort Ritchie Community Center's holiday craft bazaar will be Saturday, Dec. 8, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The center is at 14421 Lake Royer Drive. There will be more than 70 vendors. Admission is free. The bazaar will include local crafters, homemade country primitive items, jewelry and local representatives, such as Tastefully Simple, Creative Memories, Longaberger, Scentsy,  Mary Kay, Pampered Chef and Thirty-One. There will be a free drawing for a one-year Fort Ritchie Community Center membership.

Fort Ritchie Community Center will host its second annual Polar Plunge Party at Lake Royer on the Fort Ritchie campus in Cascade on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. The event will feature a campfire on the beach, s'mores, hot chocolate and music on the deck beginning at noon, with the plunge occurring at 1 p.m. Fort Ritchie's Lakeside Hall will be open with a cash bar and hot soups. Last year's party saw more than 100 plungers between the ages of 6 and 80, with an additional 150 spectators.

One Mountain Foundation will hold its annual Mountaintop Community tree lighting Saturday, Dec. 1, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Fort Ritchie Community Center and parade field on the Fort Ritchie property in Cascade.  The event is free and open to the public. A large evergreen on the east end of the parade field will be decorated with hundreds of lights.  The program includes various children's games and activities for multiple age groups with prizes awarded to game winners. There will be musical selections performed and led by students from Cascade Elementary School, and the lighting of the tree.

A free conference on marriage will be held Friday and Saturday at the Fort Ritchie Community Center.  The title of the conference is “Love that Lasts: Strengthening Your Marriage God's Way.”  Friday's session will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. with refreshments provided.  On Saturday, the session will be from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and lunch will be provided. Whether you are struggling in your relationship or you want to make a great marriage even better, this conference is for you. The conference is also appropriate for engaged couples or those wishing to learn more about Biblical marriage.  The event is sponsored by Good News Baptist Church of Cascade.

Mrs. Eva Maria (Ludwig) Chase, 81, of Cascade, Md., died Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2012, in the Waynesboro Hospital after a three-year battle with cancer. Born April 24, 1931, in Breslau, Germany, she was the daughter of the late Ernst and Marta (Hauke) Ludwig. She spent her early life in Germany. She was the wife of 60 years to her husband, William L. Chase. They were married at the Lakenheath Chapel on the Air Force base in England in 1952. She was a member of St. Rita's Catholic Church, Blue Ridge Summit, since 1988.

The Fort Ritchie Community Center and Smithsburg Emergency Medical Services Inc. have entered into a partnership that will allow emergency medical personnel to have access to the community center's fitness area. Since the Fort Ritchie Community Center opened in 2008, Smithsburg Emergency Medical Services has placed medical personnel on standby at the center's events, according to a news release from the organizations. The Fort Ritchie Community Center returned the favor by allowing Smithsburg medical personnel to have free access to the community center's fitness area, the release said.

The new owners of the former Fort Ritchie U.S. Army base squashed a few rumors Tuesday and fielded questions from some of the 200 people who rent duplexes and town houses on the base. More than 60 people, most of them base residents, packed the community center on the base to listen as Doris J. Nipps, PenMar Devlopment Corp.'s executive director, assured them that there is no danger of being evicted. Several attendees said rumors in the community were rampant, with the biggest being that PenMar is closing housing on the base.

An environmental attorney for the U.S. Army said Friday the Army will not conduct an environmental survey of the former Fort Ritchie Army base at Cascade because the property has been transferred back to PenMar Development Corp. Such studies can be expensive and the Army didn't start the study because Army officials knew PenMar and the property's former owner, Corporate Office Properties Trust, were in negotiations, said David Howlett, an environmental lawyer for the U.S. Army Legal Services Agency's environmental law division at Fort Belvoir, Va. While Army officials didn't know the details of the negotiations, officials with Corporate Office Properties Trust (COPT)

The redevelopment of Fort Ritchie appears to be back to square one with the transfer of the former military base from Corporate Office Properties Trust back to PenMar Development Corp. “I would describe it as a new start,” said Dan Pheil, the chairman of the Hagerstown-Washington County Economic Development Commission. As the commission develops a comprehensive economic development plan for the county “the Fort Ritchie property will certainly be listed as an asset,” he said.