Love Songs

HAGERSTOWN - Denny Grove quietly tended to his counter Tuesday morning at the Lowe's Home Improvement store on Wesel Boulevard. The snowy weather reduced the number of customers at many retailers Tuesday, so Grove was a little startled when four guys in red sweaters appeared at his counter. "Are you Denny?" asked one. "Yes ," he answered. "Then this is for you," the man said, handing him a white plush teddy bear with a little red bow as they all burst into four-part harmony.

HAGERSTOWN - Denny Grove quietly tended to his counter Tuesday morning at the Lowe's Home Improvement store on Wesel Boulevard. The snowy weather reduced the number of customers at many retailers Tuesday, so Grove was a little startled when four guys in red sweaters appeared at his counter. "Are you Denny?" asked one. "Yes ," he answered. "Then this is for you," the man said, handing him a white plush teddy bear with a little red bow as they all burst into four-part harmony.

Harlem Globetrotters Where - HJC, Athletic, Recreation and Community Center When - Tonight at 8. Doors open at 7. Cost - $12 for adult general admission; $10 for general admission for children ages 12 and younger or senior citizens ages 60 and older Tickets were sold out, but an additional 700 tickets will be sold at the door tonight. Winter horse show Where - Deer Shadow Farm, 3022 Steeplechase Lane, Martinsburg, W.Va. When - Today at 9 a.m. Cost - Free to spectators.

Discovery Station Joe Gambino will present "Native Americans from the Ice Age and Stone Age to the Present. " Gambino will discuss and show artifacts from Native American civilizations. Local history will be included. Today, noon, 1 and 2 p.m. Discovery Station, 101 W. Washington St., Hagerstown. $7, adults; $6, ages 2 to 17; $5, ages 55 and older and military. Call 301-790-0076 or send a fax to 301-790-0045. The Trains of Christmas The visions, sounds and snows of Christmas past and presdent on an O-gauge railroad featuring the trains of Lionel, MTH, K-Line, Williams and Weaver.

MSO features cellist By KEVIN CLAPP / Staff Writer Maryland Symphony Orchestra Music Director Elizabeth Schulze warned those seated before her that the afternoon's second piece, Henri Dutilleux's "Tout un monde lointain," would be unfamiliar to them. "We're going to take you on quite a journey," she said. "A great sound adventure. " Featuring David Hardy, principal cellist for the National Symphony Orchestra, audience members agreed during intermission that it was unlike anything they had heard before.

Movies opening this week "Final Destination 3" (R) - Six years after the original "Final Destination," the latest installment in the series centers around a high school senior who has a premonition of a fatal roller coaster accident involving herself and all her friends. When the premonition proves true, survivors must deal with the repercussions of "cheating death. " Starring Ryan Merriman, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Texas Battle, Gina Holden and Dustin Milligan. "Firewall" (PG-13)

Six songs into Lonestar's first set Sunday at the Maryland Theater, several smiling faces fell onto the stage. cont. from front page Richie McDonald, the country band's lead singer, was unfazed. The yellow plastic balls were part of the act. He took one of them and sat down on a step, holding it between his knees. Its cheerful expression was visible to the audience as McDonald bowed his head to sing Lonestar's ballad, "Smile. " The lyrics made the song bittersweet with such lines as, "Even if it kills me, I'm gonna smile.

o Read more Paula Green Shupp columns at washingtoncountyliving.com Trip down memory lane It's the event the town has been waiting for. "American Bandstand" will be revisited Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m. at Springfield Farm Barn. Elvis (Rod Newlin) and Patti Robinson will serenade with many of Elvis' favorite love songs. R&H Entertainment will be spinning favorite dance music from the 1950s and '60s. Enjoy dancing, the Stroll, and Bandstand's Name that Song Contest.

Court Appointed Special Advocates of Washington County will hold online training this spring for persons interested in volunteering to serve as advocates for children under the court's jurisdiction due to child abuse or neglect in Washington County.  The program will begin in March.  The online training program will be conducted for 10 weeks, beginning March 21 and concluding May 23.  Persons enrolled in the online training program will...

HAGERSTOWN -- Howard Nicholas doesn't like silence. He's much happier when the radio is on - tuned to the sound of Big Bands or "golden oldies" - or he's making music himself. Nicholas, 81, grew up with the sounds of barbershop music. His older brother sang in a quartet, then Nicholas joined a barbershop quartet when he was 9. Two of Nicholas' four sisters married singers of the quartet he sang in as a young man. For 62 years, Nicholas has been a member of the Barbershop Harmony Society.