Society

The Keedysville Historical Society will host local writer, guide and preservationist Dennis E. Frye for a lecture Monday, Feb. 18, at 7 p.m. at St. Peter's Lutheran Church, N. Main St. in Keedysville. Frye is the chief historian at Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and a prominent Civil War historian.  In his recent book, “September Suspense:  Lincoln's Union in Peril,” Frye draws from period newspapers to demonstrate how fragile the national bond had become by the fall of 1862.

The Potomac Valley Audubon Society's February program at the National Conservation Training Center, off Shepherd Grade Road, Shepherdstown, will feature a presentation about wild bird conservation and research in West Virginia.  The program will be held at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 13, in Room 151 of the Instructional West Building. Admission is free. The speaker will be Richard Bailey, state ornithologist with the West Virginia Department of Natural Resources. He will review his agency's efforts to work with other agencies, universities, nonprofit organizations and volunteers to conserve and protect birds and their habitats.

The new executive director of the Humane Society of Washington County said Tuesday that he wants to draw on his experience to find homes for unwanted animals. Michael Lausen, who has served as operations manager at the Humane Society of El Paso in Texas, said he intends to draft volunteers to foster stray cats and dogs until they can find a permanent place to live. “I'm a big proponent of foster families,” he said. “We have limited bed space, and that's where foster families come in.” The 43-year-old Lausen replaces Paul Miller, who left the job on Nov. 13, 2012.

Does government consider how slashing affects society? To the editor: It seems to me that we already have a model for what needs to be done - not Simpson-Bowles, but the auto industry bailout. When the government supplied capital to rebuild the auto industry, it required that the industry reorganize itself by shedding legacy costs (pension and health care for retirees, etc.) and eliminating marginal or unprofitable units, reducing the number of dealers supported by the industry, etc. The controlled bankruptcies spread the cost of the industry's mismanagement on to the businesses that profited from the industry in the first place.

St. Maria Goretti High School held a ceremony in December to induct 22 new members into its National Honor Society. The new members include the following juniors: M. Sadiq Asad, Casey Bartholomew, Brendan Bush, Matthew Casto, Isabel Divinagracia, Stacey Dougher, Ian Fairley, Sarah Gross, Demitré Gweh, Taylor James, Patrick Jones, Morgan Kenworthy, Robert Lison, Matthew McDermott, Keeley Scott, Gabriella Sottile, Anne Marie Sullivan, Iqra Waseem,...

The 2013 Polar Bear Plunge generated more than $11,000 for the Humane Society of Washington County, officials announced Tuesday. The event, which is held in cooperation with the Town of Williamsport, attracted 369 people who took a quick dip in the Potomac River on New Year's Day at the town's River Bottom Park. “It seemed compassion was the operative word for the first day of the New Year with so many dedicated polar bears, spectators and supporters raising over $11,000 for the shelter,” Humane Society president Shannon Cianelli said in a news release.

About 400 people rushed into the Potomac River for the Polar Bear Plunge in Williamsport on Tuesday and then rushed back out, shrieking and shivering. Though dripping wet in a white polar bear costume, Dusty Hancock of Hagerstown, was still smiling. “Actually, I'm feeling better now - I'm numb,” Hancock said. The river water temperature  at snow-covered River Bottom Park was about 33 degrees. The air temperature was a little warmer. Hancock said he and his wife, Torri, who dressed as an Eskimo for the annual New Year's Day rite, wanted to do something for the New Year, so they decided to join in the revelry at the boat ramp.

Four students were inducted into Heritage Academy's National Junior Honor Society on Dec. 13. Freshman David Fisler, seventh-grade students Maelynne Patey and Faith Horst, and eighth-grader Evan Reese were recognized for their scholarship, character, leadership and community service.

The Bell Pottery Collection was given to the Washington County Historical Society by Frank W. and Roy V. Mish in honor of Mary Vernon Mish. The first telephone service at the Miller House cost $4.80 a month, and installation cost $6. In August 1968, the Washington County Historical Society received a memorial fund in honor of Victor D. Miller III, for various projects. As the year moved along, the society received important additions to the collections of local furniture and other materials.