Mercersburg Academy

MERCERSBURG, PA. ? More than 80 students from Mercersburg Academy helped make the holidays cheerier for children in the Tuscarora Area School District who might otherwise receive very little this Christmas. The students wrapped more than 1,000 presents for the project "Santa's Toy Box," an effort taken on by the Mercersburg Rotary Club six years ago. The project provides needy children, ages 12 and younger, with Christmas presents each year. "We have 141 children that we have bought toys/clothes for," said Liza Main, president of the Mercersburg Rotary Club.

Scientist, conservationist and author Tim Flannery will speak at 7 p.m. Monday, March 31, at the Burgin Center for the Arts' Simon Theatre at Mercersburg Academy. The lecture is part of the school's 2007-2008 Monday Evening Lecture Series. The lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Flannery believes that human activity is drastically altering the earth's climate.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. -- Since 1900, more than 40 Mercersburg Academy students have gone on to compete in the Olympics -- athletes who have collected 12 gold, five silver and three bronze medals in track and field and, more recently, swimming events. "Everyone on the list is a Summer Olympian," academy Publications Director Lee Owen said. "We're really proud of having such an outstanding athletic history. " Basil Kaaki almost made the list for the 2008 Summer Olympics set to begin Friday in Beijing.

waynesboro@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, PA. - Boone Hall, which for the last half century served as the auditorium at Mercersburg Academy, soon will see the wrecking ball. The demolition will make room for a modern performing arts center, a facility that will be grand enough to host an ensemble as large as the Pittsburgh Symphony, said Douglas Hale, head of school in Mercersburg since 1997. Construction of the new center will begin in a few weeks with the razing of Boone Hall.

MERCERSBURG, PA. -- MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews might have missed Mercersburg Academy's graduation Saturday to cover Hillary Clinton's announcement that she was suspending her presidential campaign, but jokes of his absence made multiple appearances at the academy's 115th commencement. "I don't know what Chris Matthews was going to speak about, but odds are that right now, he is drinking beer in an airport bar with a nagging feeling that he forgot to do something important," said Tom Thorne, second-string commencement speaker and instructor of Latin at the academy.

koelble@herald-mail.com MERCERSBURG, Pa. - They are one of a kind in the Tri-State area. Thirty boys and girls rigorously and genuinely go about their business at Mercersburg Academy playing squash, a long-time sport offered at the school. Eight courts, each approximately 21-by-32 feet in size, are nestled within the confines of the Nolde Gymnasium complex. Squash is not your everyday, well-known sport, but those wearing the blue and white at Mercersburg have taken the game seriously as an alternative vehicle during winter months.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. - Jim Smith drove almost 100 miles through a winter storm on Christmas Eve two years ago. The emergency? He had to play the carillon at Mercersburg Academy. It's that devotion that earned Smith emeritus status at Mercersburg, and the school honored the 68-year-old carilloneur by engraving his name in the 50th and final bell that was raised at Bryan Barker Tower on Friday morning. "It's by far one of the most well-deserved honors," said Sarah Smith, 30, Jim's youngest daughter, who drove from Deerfield Beach, Fla., to attend the bell-raising.

MERCERSBURG, Pa. -- Mercersburg physician Liz George would like nothing more than to be put out of business and she has enlisted national best-selling author and Mercersburg Academy alumni, Rip Esselstyn, to help the community possibly do just that. At George's invitation, Esselstyn visited the community last week to kick off a communitywide healthy eating challenge based on the weight-loss, cholesterol-lowering plan he created for his fellow Engine 2 firefighters in Austin, Texas.

Boys Basketball Mercersburg Academy 69, St. Maria Goretti 55 Southern Fulton 55, Clear Spring 48 Girls Basketball Mercersburg Academy 49, St. James 32 Wrestling North Hagerstown 64, Catoctin 12 Middletown 48, Smithsburg 30 Mercersburg Academy 68, Martinsburg 18 Mercersburg Academy 58, Jefferson 24 Progressive Christian 45, Mercersburg 30 See Thursday's Preps Extra for details

MERCERSBURG, Pa. ? Mercersburg Academy won both ends of its own swim invitational on Dec. 3. Boys Results: 1. Mercersburg Academy 225, Chambersburg 178, James Buchanan 91, Martinsburg 46, Hedgesville 42, St. Maria Goretti 18. Girls Results: 1. Mercersburg Academy 231, Hargrave Military 177, Chambersburg 95, James Buchanan 51, Hedgesville 30, Martinsburg 24.