Pride

WAYNESBORO, Pa. -- Walking through the halls of Waynesboro Area Senior High School, it is nothing for junior Derek Null to get a few heckles. "Yo, Derek! You wearing a necklace?" one kid shouted. "What, you win the idiot of month award?" a teacher joked as he gathered up props for a photo shoot. Calmly, Derek takes it all in stride. As president of his class, founder of the Indians and Maidens Club, member of the boys varsity basketball team and human fountain of school pride, everyone at the Second Street building knows his name.

Ed Brown Jr. places mulch around the petunias in front of his Pennsylvania Avenue home in Hagerstown on Monday afternoon.

The new St. Agnes Catholic Church is expected to open next spring and officials said they will use the current church at Washington and Church streets for special celebrations.

Shawn Wiles leads several tractors away from Clear Spring High School at the end of Drive Your Tractor to School Day on Wednesday. The event is part of the National FFA Week Celebration. Wiles is driving a 1970 Ford 8000. The other drivers are, from left, Paul Forsythe, driving a 1974 Ford 7000; Derek Wiles driving a Ford 6600; and Matthew McCauley, right, driving a 1985 John Deere 4250.

Mother makes statement of pride The following is a statement by Kathy Brown, Patrick Roy's mother: "I am proud of Pat. He has always lived his life fully, having a clear idea of right and wrong and always standing firm for his beliefs. As much as he is a most gentle individual, he is also a fierce and loyal team player. "Pat loves the out of doors. One of his greatest loves has been sailing. He has participated in the Outward Bound Sailing School in Rockland, Maine, where he demonstrated his fine sailing skills as well as his intuitive and heartfelt leadership skills.

WILLIAMSPORT - It was only last February that Dave Walker visited Williamsport. By May, he was calling it home. He had spent most of his adult life working in Washington, D.C., and was growing weary of traffic congestion, noise and the high cost of living. As he approached retirement, he began looking for something he thought he would never find - a small town that hadn't been affected by sprawling urbanization. He found it in Williamsport. Within a few short months, Walker said he has been welcomed into the community and feels a sense of peace that he never felt in a metropolitan area.

Go ahead and call Mildred "Millie" Ebersole a West Ender. She takes pride in having been born and raised on that side of Hagerstown and doesn't understand why it gets a bad rap. "Everybody says the West End is bad. Well, if it's so bad, I don't know why it's not bad for me. Everybody talks to me, treats me good. I think it's their attitude, how you treat people," said Ebersole, 80. Ebersole focuses on simple ways to make her corner of the world a better place. Sweeping the sidewalk year-round, regardless of the weather, is just one way. "I'm not someone to sit around and lay around.

About 35 people helped plant flowers and clean up litter around the Martin Luther King Center on Saturday as part of the seventh annual Jonathan Street Cleanup. C-SAFE Program Coordinator Carolyn Brooks said Saturday morning that those who volunteered picked up litter in the community first and then planted some impatiens, marigolds and day lilies around the North Avenue building. A cookout was to be held at noon. She said the event usually draws between 70 and 80 participants.

GREENCASTLE, Pa. - As the 36th triennial Greencastle-Antrim Old Home Week draws near, residents and business owners look forward to catching up with old friends, getting together with family, showing pride for Greencastle and Antrim Township, and celebrating their history. "There's something in Greencastle - there's a pride in the community - I call it 'the Old Home Week spirit,'" said Bonnie Shockey, director of the Allison-Antrim Museum and a chairperson for the event's Reminiscing series.

WAYNESBORO, Pa. - The words "Indian pride" are painted in large block letters on the wall at the new Waynesboro High School gymnasium. But according to boys basketball coach Tom Hoffman, there was precious little of that on the hardwoods Monday night. "You can handle mistakes," said Hoffman after Waynesboro's 49-44 loss to Cumberland Valley, "but when there's a lack of pride and a lack of passion, there's not much to talk about. " Despite the lackluster effort, Waynesboro still had an opportunity to win the game.

Plans are progressing for the 20th annual Smithsburg Pride Days on May 17, 18 and 19.  Many activities will be held during the weekend to help celebrate the town's 200th birthday.  The opening ceremony and a karaoke contest will be Friday, May 17. Activities on Saturday, May 18, include a breakfast at the fire hall, parade through the town, vendors and music - including American Idol finalist Christian Lopez - at Veterans Park, trolley rides...

In the eyes of Mawdo Sallah, the finish of Monday's boys basketball game might have been a fitting conclusion, considering the way it started for the 6-foot-7 senior. Saddled with three personal fouls just minutes into the second period, Sallah came back to play a flawless second half and scored the winning bucket with 1 second remaining to give Broadfording Christian a 60-58 victory over Fort Hill. Down 37-26 at halftime and looking like a team from nowhere, the Lions (17-5) rallied with 10 minutes of solid basketball from a 49-31 deficit with two minutes left in the third period.

Moni Anderson deposited a career-high 32 points to lead Broadfording Christian Academy to a 91-57 victory over Heritage Christian to win the Lions Classic on Tuesday night at Broadfording. The junior had four 3-pointers and worked the floor end-to-end as part of a Broadfording attack that began from the beginning and never let up as the Lions won their fifth game without defeat in the early season. “(Moni's) a hard-working kid that loves the game,” Lions coach Burnie Clutz said.

Country music legend Charley Pride never intended on breaking color barriers when it came to country music. He wanted to a break a different kind of record. One of 11 children who was born to sharecroppers in Sledge, Miss., Pride had dreams of being a baseball player. He said he believed that one day his name would be mentioned alongside the names of Babe Ruth and Jackie Robinson. "I was going to go the Major League and break all the records, and make new ones by the time I was 35 or 36," Pride, 74,  said during a telephone interview from his Dallas home.

Even as a major league pitcher, the idea of family isn't wasted on Darren O'Day. He has learned that baseball teams are part of an extended family. And the family is the happiest when it is winning. There are a lot of smiles to go around in Baltimore these days, especially with the Orioles in the thick of a pennant race and seemingly headed for no worse than the franchise's best record and first playoff berth in 15 years. The Orioles' family is built on a common belief this year - that they can really be champions.

The Hagerstown-Washington County Industrial Foundation Inc. (CHIEF) has been mentioned in a number of news stories and letters to the editor during the past few months. As president of CHIEF, I saw this as an opportunity to provide some information to the community about our organization. CHIEF was incorporated in February 1960 by a group of business leaders in Washington County as a private, nonprofit organization. (CHIEF became our unofficial name, shorthand for County Hagerstown Industry Expansion Fund.)

Donald E. “Donnie” McCoy, 57, of 30 Lincoln Ave., Waynesboro, Pa., was welcomed home to the waiting arms of our Father Saturday, Sept. 1, 2012, following a brave battle with cancer. Born Nov. 23, 1954, in McConnellsburg, Pa., he was the son of the late William D. and Viola Mae (King) McCoy of Williamson, Pa. Donnie thoroughly enjoyed the “do-it-yourself” lifestyle in his own home, as well as helping his friends and family with their projects. He took pride in his work, and that pride was reflected in his smile.

The 32nd annual Maugansville Pride Day at Ruritan Park was a gift-buying opportunity for Debbie Tedrick. “I usually (come) to see the craft vendors,” Tedrick said as she and her husband munched on country ham sandwiches and french fries Saturday. And the carnival-like food, of course. By 2:30 p.m., about all 84 pounds of country ham that the Maugansville Ruritan Club had ordered for the celebration from Holsinger's Meat Market was sold, according to organizers. They also sold out of Gatorade.

Homemade soups and desserts will be available in the Ruritan building, as well as funnel cakes, ice cream, hot dogs, hamburgers, Italian sausage sandwiches, country ham sandwiches and french fries. There will be games and rides for children.  Fifty percent of all proceeds will go to the Branch family to assist with medical bills. For more information, call Bob at 301-739-6742. Senior Friendship Club plans to meet Sept. 9 The Maugansville Senior Friendship Club will meet at noon on Tuesday, Sept.

During the primary phase of the 2012 presidential election, there has been a noticeable acceleration in the use of the term “American exceptionalism” by candidates and political writers. The obvious purpose was to inflate the image of the candidate as a certified patriot and to cast doubt on the opponent. Their patriotic cant was self-serving. Should we not be cautious in accepting the claim of special patriotism on the part of a candidate who is now known to be a party to avoidance of income taxes by secret banking in the Cayman Islands?