Lawn

WASHINGTON COUNTY - In a neighborhood of manicured lawns and well-kept gardens, 521 Beaver Creek Road stood out. Grass and weeds on the property were waist-high. Trash bags, cardboard boxes and tattered furniture were piled on the back porch and in the yard. A soggy newspaper from October 2007 rested on the front stoop. The two-story house has been vacant since November, when its previous owner left and the lender foreclosed on the mortgage. Since then, the house has gone to the bank and the yard had gone untended, which irritates neighbors like Russell Keyes, who lives across the street.

Fulton County man found dead on lawn McCONNELLSBURG, Pa. - Results of an autopsy listing the cause of death of a 35-year-old Fulton County man whose body was found on his front lawn will be available today, a Pennsylvania State Police spokesman said Thursday. Loren Harry Reeder, of 20321 Great Cove Road in Ayr Township, south of McConnellsburg, was found dead early Thursday. The incident is being investigated by Fulton County coroner Darryl Heckman and state police as an unknown death, the spokesman said.

With gas prices remaining high, one way the family can enjoy the warm weather of summer is to stay at home - on the lawn. Summer is a prime time for traditional lawn games, including some with a new twist. Horseshoes, multiple game sets and a line of oversized lawn games have been hot items this year, said Devin Lindsay, a sales associate in the sporting goods department at Hagerstown's Wal-Mart Supercenter. The local Wal-Mart was almost sold out of Sportcraft's Monster Badminton, which cost $20. The price for that game at www.target.

National Guard cleans up old armory lawn For a third summer the unkempt and overgrown lawn at the old Hagerstown armory has prompted complaints from City Hall. But National Guard officials hope they've heard the last of those criticisms. After being contacted Monday by city Code Enforcement Officer Marc David, guard officials had the grass around the state-owned building mowed and raked Thursday. Also Thursday, a colonel was ordered "to put together a plan to keep the grounds maintained on a permanent basis," Maj. Drew Sullins said.

Commandments etched in stone on church's lawn By TARA REILLY / Staff Writer photo: KEVIN G. GILBERT / staff photographer They may be a block away from where they were proposed to be displayed, but the Ten Commandments spread the same message, say members of The Presbyterian Church of Hagerstown. continued Pastor John W. Ailstock on Sunday morning unveiled two granite tablets containing the Commandments, which are located on the front lawn of the church on the corner of West Washington and South Prospect streets.

If you own just one acre or up to 10 acres of land, an upcoming workshop to learn to create and enhance natural areas around your home may be for you. The class is being taught from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, April 19, at the Washington County Extension office at 7303 Sharpsburg Pike south of Hagerstown. Participants will use a new book called, The Woods in Your Backyard: Learning to Create and Enhance Natural Areas Around Your Home, the Extension office said in a press release.

After a mild October and several days of rain, many lawns in the region are looking greener than they have all summer. But they might not stay that way for long. With winter around the corner and the first frost possible any night now, local homeowners are looking for ways to prepare their lawns for the cold weather, said Jon Snavely, owner of Snavely's Garden Corner at 19719 Leitersburg Pike north of Hagerstown. With the right preparation, landscapers can ensure leaves and snow don't kill their grass, and, with the right fertilizer, they might even be able to keep the lawn looking green well into the winter season, Snavely said.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Sunday, May 24, 6:30 p.m. Nissan Pavilion at Stone Ridge 7800 Cellar Door Drive Bristow, Va. Tickets: $34.75 and $22.75 pavilion, $7 lawn; plus service charges For information: Call TicketMaster at 1-800-551-SEAT The Chieftains and Sinead O'Connor with special guest Great Big Sea Tuesday, June 16, 8 p.m. Wolf Trap's Filene Center 1624 Trap Road Vienna, Va. Tickets:...

Sarah Orendi, shown here on her trusty lawn tractor, has finished second in points with the Washington/Berkeley County Tractor Association for 2006. The daughter of Jason and Diane Orendi, Sarah lives in Martinsburg. She was sponsored by Auto Electric and MacAfee Paving.

A Hagerstown man who waited until his neighbor's dog died before breaking into her home last year was sentenced Tuesday in Washington County Circuit Court to seven years in state prison for that break-in and another burglary. Clyde Eugene Gatrell Jr., 39, of 1257 Magnolia Court, pleaded guilty to first-degree burglary and theft of $1,000 to $10,000. Circuit Judge Daniel P. Dwyer sentenced Gatrell to 20 years on each count, suspending all but seven years. After her house was broken into on Oct. 4, 2011, Robin Baker told Hagerstown police that she suspected a neighbor she knew only as “Clyde,” the application for statement of charges said.

The days are getting shorter and the temperatures will begin to slowly drop as summer gives way to autumn. Fall evokes the memories of the harvest. Fields yielding bushels of corn and soybeans with many a porch or lawn decorated with straw bales, corn shocks and bright orange pumpkins. But fall is also a time to sow, as well as reap. The cooler temperatures and the autumnal showers are the best time to establish the cool-season grasses that cover fields, lawns and fairways. While I won't deal with the latter two, grass is grass.

Aaron Crowl is a family man, but he likes to race, too. In his younger days, the Bel Air, Md., man spent a lot of time and money honing his skills as a dirt-track racer. About 17 years ago, he was getting ready to race his four-cylinder pick-up truck when a man who owned a nearby lawn-mower repair shop approached him and his buddies and asked them to try racing a lawn mower. Crowl gave it a try and he's been hooked ever since, he said during a telephone interview en route to the San Diego Zoo. He and his wife and two daughters were in California as part of the national touring series of the American Racing Mower Association.

1. Music for charity A benefit concert for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital will be from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, July 7, and Sunday, July 8, at 400 American Legion Drive, Williamsport. Music by Trailer Park Cowboys, Silvertung, A Sound of Thunder, pictured, and others. $12 per day for ages 10 and older; $6 for the second day if you have a wrist band from the first day. Free for ages 9 and younger. Ages 16 and younger must be with an adult. 2. History and herbs National Kitchen Garden Day will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, July 7, at Pry House Field Hospital, Antietam National Battlefield, 18906 Shepherdstown Pike, Sharpsburg.  Learn about the uses of herbs and vegetables by people in the 19th century for cooking and homeopathy.

A 60-year-old man was found trapped under a riding lawn mower off Kretsinger Road Sunday afternoon, authorities said. It appears the man might have been operating the tractor on an incline, said James Ulrich, acting chief of Smithsburg  Emergency Medical Services Inc. When rescue crews arrived, the man was trapped under the tractor in a driveway, Ulrich said. The man was unconscious and was not breathing, said Ulrich, who described the man's condition as critical. The man was transported to Meritus Medical center after the accident, which was reported at about 4:11 p.m., officials said.

Standing among flags that at one time covered the caskets of U.S. military veterans, two Hagerstown residents talked Sunday morning about the respect and appreciation for the military they learned from their fathers, both military members. “I've been truly blessed by my father's military service,” Kimberlee Smith said. “His military career gave me a solid foundation in life,” said Smith, who talked about her father, the late Air Force Master Sgt. Wilbur Mills, at Cedar Lawn Memorial Park's Memorial Day Service.

My last article dealt with soil testing and how it is a good idea for more than just farmers. I have received several calls and emails regarding soil testing and fertilization.  In order to help shed additional light on the subject, I will deal with fertilizing facts for the home lawn. Much of this information can be found in Home & Garden Memo No. HG 103, published by and available from University of Maryland Extension. A good lawn needs adequate nutrients for good growth. Lawns need regular fertilization to keep the grass growing and weeds out. The best way to determine a fertilization program for your lawn is to take a soil test.

Cub Scouts from Pack 58 assembled and distributed nearly 4,000 luminarias at Cedar Lawn Cemetery, during a two-weekend project, on Saturdays, Dec. 4  and Dec. 11.   For the past 15 years, the boys, parents and leaders of Pack 58 from Downsville have almost singlehandedly assembled, distributed and helped light the luminarias for Cedar Lawn Cemetery. The Antietam National Battlefield display of more than 23,000 luminaries is supported by many groups and hundreds of volunteers, but it’s the small Cub Pack from Downsville that has been lighting Cedar Lawn.

A Hagerstown Police officer thought the car was abandoned and adrift as it sat wildly in front of the old Stationery House building on Florida Avenue in the city's West End. Abandoned it was because the occupants jumped out to verify the critter that crossed in their path in the late night hours. First thinking it was a record-sized skunk, further inspection revealed a "slow" moving porcupine. Because the car's passengers were on their way to photograph some night shots of the new redesigned Jonathan Street, they had cameras on hand.

For most children, Easter egg hunts are a traditional event to look forward to on Easter weekend. For four girls at Girls Inc. of Washington County, however, this year they were able to spend Easter Monday hunting for eggs on the White House lawn. This was part of a field trip that took the girls to the White House Easter Egg Roll April 5. The girls enjoyed a beautiful day on the President's lawn, participating in many activities. They first wanted to hunt for eggs and then were able to dye their own eggs to take home.