Hot Water

Former Berkeley County delegate and current Republican gubernatorial candidate Larry Faircloth said Thursday that a joke he told referring to President Obama as "Sambo" and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as a "bimbo" was simply an attempt to "bring a little humor" to the campaign. Faircloth said he apologizes for the joke if it offended anyone, which it has, including a West Virginia branch of the NAACP. He said the joke he told at a candidates forum on April 29 in Romney, W.Va., is representative of the humor in politics.

One of the best ways to save money on energy is to use less energy. Hot water is a significant cost in running your household. But there are ways to save thousands of gallons of water per year and save energy - too. The Consumer's Guide to Home Energy Savings provides some tips on conserving hot water. First, reduce the amount you use. If you have a shower head that has been in place for 14 years, it probably uses more than the 2.5 gallons per minute recommended today. Replace your shower head with a new one that uses less water.

HAGERSTOWN -- Seniors at Golden Living Center have been without hot water for bathing or washing dishes since the plumbing blew a gasket Saturday morning, the facility's director said Monday. Hot water should be fully restored Tuesday, executive director William Boyer said. The Dual Highway nursing home, formerly known as Beverly Healthcare, has been using wet wipes and no-rinse shampoos and body washes, Boyer said. "We always have precautions in place, and I think everybody's doing well," he said.

Resting on the table before me are six bottles of hydrogen peroxide solution in various shapes and sizes. Did the CVS truck wreck, you might ask? No, at least not that I have come upon. I have accumulated this collection by virtue of having a husband whose style of procurement differs greatly from mine. If he or one of our children has a scrape, for example, he tends to go to the store and buy a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Similarly, if he sees a new scent of dish detergent or shampoo, he buys it, regardless of the stash already on hand at home.

Energy conservation tips Columbia Gas advises customers to practice the following conservation tips for an energy-efficient home: - Have your furnace inspected and serviced every year by a qualified heating contractor. - Change your furnace filter every month. - Install a programmable thermostat, which can automatically reduce the temperature setting at night and when you are away from home. - Turn down the temperature of your natural gas water heater to the "warm" setting, about 120 degrees.

photo: JOE CROCETTA / staff photographer enlarge Reunion Recipes part 2 part 1 Convenience-store coleslaw just won't cut the mustard this year. We know it's hard to decide what food to prepare for a family reunion, so we asked readers to submit their favorite recipes. The responses were a nice mix of desserts, entrees and side dishes - tried-and-true recipes that keep folks coming back for more. On Wednesday, July 15, we featured dessert recipes . Here are some favorite entrees and side dishes.

Easter Sunday dinner was never without Sawdust Salad for dessert. When we had summer picnics or family get-togethers, our cousins from Pittsburgh always requested that my mom, Catherine Johnson, make Sawdust Salad. When we were young, my sister, Trina, and I got to help with stirring, mixing or spreading the different layers. We also enjoyed licking the beaters from the mixer and "cleaning up" leftovers in the bowls. The "sawdust" of the salad's name comes from the appearance of the coconut on top. But Mom never used it, because we did not like coconut.

Julia Brugh of Hagerstown has canned with her mother and sister for many years. "My sisters and I grew up watching our mother can from the huge gardens our dad planted every year in West Virginia and then in Maryland," Brugh said. "When I planted my first garden here in Hagerstown, I began canning the produce from my harvests. My mother and the ‘Ball Blue Book of Canning' taught me how. " In recent years, Brugh's sister, Roxanne, has visited from Georgia during the peach harvest in Washington County.

Resting on the table before me are six bottles of hydrogen peroxide solution in various shapes and sizes. Did the CVS truck wreck, you might ask? No, at least not that I have come upon. I have accumulated this collection by virtue of having a husband whose style of procurement differs greatly from mine. If he or one of our children has a scrape, for example, he tends to go to the store and buy a bottle of hydrogen peroxide. Similarly, if he sees a new scent of dish detergent or shampoo, he buys it, regardless of the stash already on hand at home.

“I was wondering if anybody knows who to contact if you do not have very hot water in your apartment, that you can't even take a shower, and that the kitchen sink's water, you just put your hand under it, it doesn't feel hot at all or anything. If anybody knows who to contact or how to go about it, please put it in Mail Call. It sure would feel good to get a good bath.” - Hagerstown “I like David Limbaugh. He only speaks the truth. For those who don't like him, don't read his column if you don't want to know the truth.

Julia Brugh of Hagerstown has can   ned with her mother and sister for many years. She said she and her sisters grew up watching their mother can produce from the gardens their dad planted at their homes in West Virginia and, later, in Maryland. Brugh's mother, Peggy Stinson, started canning in 1969 with the produce from her husband's first garden in Harpers Ferry, W.Va. Stinson continued to can annually, feeding a family of nine children. Brugh's sister, Roxanne Brewer, visits during the peach harvest in Washington County.

Julia Brugh of Hagers-town has canned with her mother and sister for many years. "I refer to our endeavors as the Wildcat Growers Cooperative, after a fictional island called Wildcat Island our father used to tell us stories about when he was alive," Brugh said. This is an old recipe the Wildcat Growers Cooperative used this year that my mother, Peggy Stinson, learned from her father. Her grandfather grew up in Harpers Ferry, W.Va., and lived there before it became a national historical park.

Julia Brugh of Hagerstown has canned with her mother and sister for many years. "My sisters and I grew up watching our mother can from the huge gardens our dad planted every year in West Virginia and then in Maryland," Brugh said. "When I planted my first garden here in Hagerstown, I began canning the produce from my harvests. My mother and the ‘Ball Blue Book of Canning' taught me how. " In recent years, Brugh's sister, Roxanne, has visited from Georgia during the peach harvest in Washington County.

Linda Reeder served as a judge of baked goods at the Washington County Ag Expo in 2012 and 2011. "Although cooking and baking isn't new to me, the judging was. I worked with an outstanding lady who has judged many, many years all over," she said. "It was a pleasure to sit next to her and learn more of the judging part. " Reeder is a paraprofessional at Boonsboro High School. She lives in the Smithsburg area with husband Greg. Her son, Jacob, is in basic training for the U.S. Navy in Illinois.

Agnes Eyler was manager of the cafeteria in the 1960s for North Frederick Elementary School in Frederick, Md. Eight to 10 ladies worked in the school's kitchen. Mrs. Eyler has since passed away. The cooks came to work at around 6 a.m. to cook for 150 to 200 students. Lunches cost 30 to 35 cents and a carton of milk was 2 cents. The ladies cooked everything from scratch - oven-fried chicken, sheet cakes and homemade soup. They cooked soup meat one day and picked the meat off the bones the next morning to make soup.

The following food service establishments were inspected by the Washington County Health Department in February and found to have critical violations that needed to be corrected immediately: Rick's China Garden , 17301 Valley Mall Road — fried rice hot-hold temperature was too low (corrected, rice discarded); must clean outside portion of sugar, rice and flour containers; need cover for a flour container; must seal bare wood on floor of walk-in freezer; must clean can opener and walls of walk-in cooler; open cans being used to restore food.

Today would have been Meggan Wolfensberger's 27th birthday, a birthday she shared with her only son and middle child, Ashton Stouffer, who is 4 today. Instead of celebrating with cake, candles and balloons, Debbie Wolfensberger sits in her Virginia Avenue home, wondering how it came to be that her home is filled with many of her daughter's belongings. Meggan died May 17, less than a year after being diagnosed with cervical cancer in August 2010. Her doctor had given her two years to live.