Trees

A helicopter was called but later canceled for a man who fell 15 to 20 feet out of a tree in Williamsport on Friday afternoon, a Washington County Emergency Services supervisor said. The call for a fall patient in the 400 block of South Artizan Street went out about 2:56 p.m., the supervisor said. Upon arrival, emergency responders deemed the man's injuries to be non-lifethreatening, the supervisor said at about 3:15 p.m. “It sounds like he's just banged up with some cuts and bruises,” the supervisor said.

Editor's note: Lisa Prejean is on vacation. This column originally was published in 2008. The weekend after Thanksgiving I take my artificial Christmas tree out of the basement and cart it to school. There's a certain sentimental quality that this tree possesses. It has moved with me from classroom to classroom over the years. Not that the tree is anything spectacular. Far from it. The branches are bent, the stem stands a little crooked and it's about half the size of a normal Christmas tree.

One Mountain Foundation will hold its annual Mountaintop Community tree lighting Saturday, Dec. 1, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Fort Ritchie Community Center and parade field on the Fort Ritchie property in Cascade.  The event is free and open to the public. A large evergreen on the east end of the parade field will be decorated with hundreds of lights.  The program includes various children's games and activities for multiple age groups with prizes awarded to game winners. There will be musical selections performed and led by students from Cascade Elementary School, and the lighting of the tree.

The City of Hagerstown will host its annual tree-lighting ceremony in Public Square at 5 p.m. Monday, followed by the 23rd annual Hollyfest at The Maryland Theatre at 7 p.m. Coordinated by the city's Community Affairs Office, both events are free to the public. “We encourage everyone to come out,” Community Affairs Manager Karen Giffin said. “... And it is a great way to start the holiday season in City Center.” This year's tree is a 39-foot blue spruce donated by the city's Public Works Department.

On Oct. 25, the middle school students at Antietam Academy went on a field trip to Antietam National Battlefield in Sharpsburg.  In addition to learning about the battlefield, and in conjunction with their social studies and language arts classes, the students fulfilled student service-learning requirement hours for middle school.  In the morning, the students participated in three activities with Ranger Christie Stanczak. The activities were “Civil War Soldier,” “Angels of the Battlefield” and “Flags that Talk.” In the afternoon, the students worked with Rangers Andrew Landsman and Chris Tawney and planted a variety of seedlings.

Waynesboro's tree-lighting ceremony will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16, in Center Square. Hosted by Mainstreet Waynesboro Inc., the event is family oriented with musical entertainment and other activities scheduled. This year, the tree will be illuminated early in the evening, so guests can see the lights and ornaments during the remaining activities. DJ Tiny Michaels from 104.7FM will be on hand, as will OC Shift praise band, Waynesboro Area Senior High School jazz band and the Wayneaires.

Most of Franklin County managed to escape the horrible wrath of Superstorm Sandy, but St. Thomas and parts of Mercersburg (Pa.) felt her destructive force and spent Tuesday cleaning up. The eye went over north of Chambersburg and concentrated in St. Thomas, according to Franklin County Department of Emergency Services. St. Thomas Fire Chief Tom Bigler was still running calls at noon on Tuesday after starting at 3 p.m. on Monday. “We've been out all morning cutting trees and trying to clear roads because our main objective is to have at least one lane of traffic open,” Bigler said.

Antietam Watershed Association will be planting 250 trees and shrubs at the Mont Alto Waste Treatment Plant along Pa. 997 just south of Mont Alto, Pa., from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Oct. 27. For more information, call 717-762-9417 or go to www.antietamws.org .

Volunteers are needed to help plant more than 120 trees along Opequon Creek on Thursday morning, the Berkeley County Solid Waste Authority announced this week. The planting location is near the Solid Waste Authority's Grapevine Road Recycling Center at 111 Landfill Drive, Martinsburg. Interested participants who are available from 9 a.m. to noon for the planting event should call the Solid Waste Authority at 304-267-9370 or send an email to the Solid Waste Authority at berkeleycountyswa@msn.com.

A man was flown to the R Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore after he fell 20 to 30 feet from a tree stand off Townsend Road south of Boonsboro Wednesday afternoon, rescue officials said. Rescue crews were discussing using an all-terrain vehicle to reach the man but they did not know if they could use the vehicle due to rough terrain, according to a Washington County 911 supervisor. Rescue crews had to end up carrying the man out of the wooded area, the supervisor said.