Library

Today, Nov. 17 and 24; Dec. 1 and 8: Scrabble Mania, Clear Spring Library, 1 p.m. Today, Nov. 12, 17, 19 and 24; Dec. 1, 3, 8 and 10: Clear Spring Food Bank and Second Time Around Clothing Shop, St. Peter's Lutheran Church on Martin Street, 1 to 2 p.m. Nov. 13 and 20; Dec. 4 and 11: Toddler time, Clear Spring Library, 11:30 a.m. Nov. 18 and 25; Dec. 2 and 9: Elementary library time, Clear Spring Library, 3:30 p.m. ...

BLUE RIDGE SUMMIT, Pa. - Children and adults strutted in a circle doing The Chicken Dance, danced around a Mexican sombrero and sang along to a new version of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and old favorites such as "Waltzing Matilda," all in the name of literacy Saturday morning. The dozen adults and children gathered in the Church of the Transfiguration Episcopal Church next to the library in Blue Ridge Summit for the kickoff of the library's summer reading program. Added to the year-round program will be a weekly story hour, craft and snack, according to children's librarian Deborah Heinecker.

Hagerstown Junior College officials are expected to award a $7.5 million bid today to build a new computer and library center that school officials say will become the centerpiece of the college. School officials planned to start construction of the Learning Resource Center late last year, but there have been delays in the project, said President Norman Shea. Part of the delay is being caused by a complicated approval process involving the state Department of General Services and the Maryland Higher Education Commission, Shea said.

HAGERSTOWN karenh@herald-mail.com Dog-eared copies of "Huckleberry Finn" and Teen People magazine are not the only resources available to holders of a high school library card anymore. At South Hagerstown High School, students have begun taking advantage of a pilot program that allows them to borrow laptop computers overnight. Several students have taken home computers through the program, which began a few days ago, library media specialist Dave Williams said Wednesday.

Bank donates money for library SMITHSBURG - Laura Lowry, community office manager of First United Bank & Trust in Smithsburg, presented the Smithsburg Town Council with a donation Tuesday for the future Smithsburg library. Lowry said the bank raised $302.50 for the library by selling water at Smithsburg Pride Days. The library is scheduled to open in May 2006. Mayor attends emergency training SMITHSBURG - Mayor Mildred "Mickey" Myers said at Tuesday's Town Council meeting that she attended a National Incident Management Systems meeting, and all elected officials will be required to attend training sessions soon.

Centenarian luncheon The Commission on Aging will host a Centenarian Luncheon in November. If you know someone who is or will be 100 years old this year, call Hannah Cramer, Commission on Aging deputy director, at 301-790-0275, ext. 209. Save the date North Hagerstown High School Band will sponsor its annual spaghetti dinner Saturday, Nov. 22, from 3 to 7 p.m. in the school cafeteria. The all-you-can-eat dinner will include salad, roll and a drink. Desserts will also be available.

andrear@herald-mail.com CLEAR SPRING - Thomas Grosh wants to make sure visitors to Clear Spring get a great first impression of his hometown. That's why the owner of Grosh's Lawn Service volunteers his time and equipment to maintain the Interstate-70 westbound interchange at Clear Spring, he said. "I believe in giving back to the community," said Grosh, 40. "One person can make a difference. If each person had that philosophy, Clear Spring would be a better place, Washington County would be better and our country would be better.

scottb@herald-mail.com Some local historians and genealogists have begun making preliminary plans for a project through which collections of historical and genealogical documents, including the Washington County Historical Society's library, would be stored and publicly available at a central site. "You have the makings of an attraction," Councilman N. Linn Hendershot told a group of project supporters at a meeting Thursday. "This is like Disneyland for seniors. " The group has no funding for the project but members plan to seek donations, grants and other funding sources, Melinda Marsden, executive director of the Washington County Historical Society, said Thursday.

Karen Thatcher knew when she saw it that a photograph of a tintype of a young Confederate soldier was of David Miller Thatcher, her husband Larry Thatcher's great-great uncle, who died in the Civil War in 1863. “It was the hands,” she said, looking at an array of 10 tintypes of Civil War soldiers that appeared in an ad for the Library of Congress in the March 4 edition of The Washington Post. Her discovery also solved a mystery for library officials who had received a private collection of more than 700 Civil War ambrotype and tintype photographs of soldiers, many of whom were unidentified.

SMITHSBURG - If it's summertime, Smithsburg Pride Days can't be far behind. This year's event will be July 21 and 22. According to co-chair Joann Celestial, the events get under way Saturday, July 21, at 8 a.m. with a 5K and fun run at the carnival grounds behind the Smithsburg Fire Hall. Registration begins at 7 a.m. An all-you-can-eat breakfast also will begin at 7 a.m. at the fire hall, and will continue until 10 a.m. Cal Ripken league baseball on the baseball fields will begin at 9 a.m. and continue all day. The grand feature parade will form at the tennis court on Bradbury Avenue at 9 a.m. The parade will begin at 11 a.m. and proceed from there to Fil Tec. Tennis tournaments will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For the children, a moon bounce will be at the town library from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Games are planned from noon to 4 p.m. at Smithsburg Veterans Park.