Sovereign Bank

HAGERSTOWN ? For city folks with no country cousins, a simple pleasure came to the Hagerstown Fairgrounds Saturday afternoon in the form of a hayride. It wasn't exactly as romantic as Nathan Michaels had hoped ? not with 20 kids crowded onto the straw-filled cart. But he and his date still gave it a thumbs up. "It was fun," Michaels said. "A little loud, but fun. " The hayride was just one of many activities offered during Harvest Hoedown, a fall festival sponsored by the City of Hagerstown, Antietam Cable Television/AMC-Monsterfest, the Maryland Apple Promotion Board and Sovereign Bank.

HAGERSTOWN ? For city folks with no country cousins, a simple pleasure came to the Hagerstown Fairgrounds Saturday afternoon in the form of a hayride. It wasn't exactly as romantic as Nathan Michaels had hoped ? not with 20 kids crowded onto the straw-filled cart. But he and his date still gave it a thumbs up. "It was fun," Michaels said. "A little loud, but fun. " The hayride was just one of many activities offered during Harvest Hoedown, a fall festival sponsored by the City of Hagerstown, Antietam Cable Television/AMC-Monsterfest, the Maryland Apple Promotion Board and Sovereign Bank.

TRI-STATE-- A federal grand jury in Baltimore has indicted three Hagerstown men and a Waynesboro, Pa., man on charges related to robberies at seven pharmacies, including five in Washington County, and on a variety of drug charges. The men are charged in the indictment with conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of Oxycontin and Percocet. The indictment charges two of the Hagerstown men with robbing a Sovereign Bank and one of those men with also robbing the Washington County Teachers Federal Credit Union and a Susquehanna Bank.

HAGERSTOWN -- Sovereign Bank filed a lawsuit Friday against local developer Michael Deming and others claiming the bank is owed a total of $2,740,869.60 related to two loans made to Deming and his father, Clyde F. Deming III, on Jan. 25, 2006. The loans were made to Baltimore Station LLC. Several other limited liability companies established by Michael Deming were listed as guarantors on the promissory notes. In addition to Michael Deming and Clyde F. Deming III, those companies are listed as defendants in the lawsuit.

CLEAR SPRING -- Two candidates are running for the Clear Spring Town Council seat that will be vacated in January by Councilman Stewart Brennan. Town Clerk Juanita Grimm said Pamela M. Sasser and Walter D. Irvin Jr. are seeking Brennan's seat. Vice Mayor Steven L. Blickenstaff is running uncontested, Grimm said. The election will be Nov. 3 from 2 to 7 p.m. at Town Hall. Sasser, a customer service manager at Sovereign Bank in downtown Hagerstown, said she wants to focus on keeping taxes in check because people are suffering in today's sluggish economy.

The Hagerstown-Washington County Chamber of Commerce has again teamed with the Community Foundation of Washington County to host the annual Focus on Philanthropy and the presentation of the Nonprofit Impact Award. Matt Beem, president of Hartsook Companies of Wichita, Kan., and a national leader among consultants to charitable organizations, will be the keynote speaker. The annual Nonprofit Impact Award includes $1,000, which will be presented at the conclusion of the March 20 breakfast meeting.

Three new agencies will be included in the 2006 campaign of the United Way of Washington County, but plans to kick off the campaign Friday night at a Hagerstown Suns game have been postponed. United Way officials said the campaign kickoff and a picnic for United Way donors and agency representatives will be rescheduled. REACH, Star Community Center and the Walnut Street Community Health Center bring the number of United Way agencies to 22, United Way Executive Director Dale Bannon said.

Chairman's Top Performance Award For companies achieving the highest contributions of employee pledges and corporate gifts in five categories: 2,000 or more employees: Citicorp Credit Services Inc., $382,455.89 500-1,999 employees: Volvo Powertrain, UAW Locals 171 and 1247, $142,767.70 100-499 employees: Susquehanna Bank, $56,378 50-99 employees: Ewing Oil, $10,850 1-49 employees: Ferris, Baker Watts, $18,187.60 Outstanding Achievement Award Recognizes businesses and organizations with campaigns that have increased by 20 percent or more: Associated Engineering Sciences Inc., Brook Lane Health Services, City of Hagerstown, Columbia Gas of Maryland Inc., DOT Foods Inc., Eaton Corporation/Aeroquip Group, Ellsworth Electric Co. Inc., First Data Merchant Services, Hagerstown Business College, Head Start of Washington County, Horizon Goodwill Industries, Hub Labels, Interstate Communication Services Inc., Keller-Stonebraker Insurance Inc., Lowe's of Hagerstown, M.S. Johnston Co. Inc., NetConn Solutions, NBC25, Sovereign Bank, United Parcel Services, Washington County Commission on Aging and WrightGardner Insurance Spirit Award Honors organizations that exemplified the spirit of caring in many ways: Citicorp Credit Services Inc., City of Hagerstown, Columbia Gas of Maryland Inc., DOT Foods Inc., First Data Merchant Services, Hagerstown Trust Co., Hub Labels, Lowe's of Hagerstown, Review & Herald Publishing...

HAGERSTOWN - Washington County Public Schools Superintendent Elizabeth Morgan recently was named one of Maryland's top 100 women by a Baltimore-based newspaper. It is the third time Morgan has received the distinction from The Daily Record, which covers business and legal news. She made the list in 2001 and 2005, and this year will be inducted into the Circle of Excellence for three-time honorees. "I think it's really a nice thing that The Daily Record does, and I'm flattered that I would have been chosen," Morgan said.

Children's Village of Washington County will host its 16th annual Kids Alive Fest on Saturday, May 19, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The event is a combination open house/community safety day at the Children's Village campus, 1546 Mount Aetna Road in Hagerstown. Admission is free at the event which is rain or shine. Two area children will be inducted into the Children's Village Life Safety Hall of Fame at a ceremony beginning at 11:45 a.m. The youngsters - one from Washington County and the other from Franklin County, Pa. - are being honored for implementing skills they learned and practiced as students at Children's Village to effectively handle two separate emergency situations that occurred at each of their homes.