War

Three filmmakers from the Big Apple were in the Hub City on Friday to show their romantic comedy, “Twenty Million People,” at the Maryland International Film Festival-Hagerstown. New Yorkers Michael Ferrell, Devin Sanchez and Chris Prine said during a reception at the Academy Theatre off East Washington Street that they attend film festivals not only to get exposure for their pictures, but to trade techniques with other filmmakers. “You exchange war stories and tips, and we stay in touch with people when we go to other festivals,” Ferrell said.

A Sharpsburg man planting trees at his Powell Road home Thursday unearthed a live Civil War-era shell that authorities later disposed of by setting it off at a neighboring farm. “When I saw it I knew what it was,” J.D. Taylor Jr. said. “It was the second one I found here. “It was some kind of experience.” Taylor said he at first thought he hit a rock with his steel shovel while digging in his yard about a mile from Antietam National Battlefield sometime between 8:30 to 9 a.m. He pushed the shovel under the object, which was five or six inches deep, and knelt to pry it out. The Maryland State Fire Marshal's office said in a news release that the object was a 3-inch Federal Navy Schenkl that had not been fired and had an intact fusing mechanism.

M&S Harley-Davidson of Chambersburg has announced the winners of War of the Wings event, which was held on Saturday, April 6. Judges Choice winner and who earned a $100 prize was The Dawg House in Waynesboro, Pa. People's Choice first-place winner and who received a $75 prize was Park Tavern in Waynesboro. People's Choice second-place winner and who earned a $25 prize was Casey's Bar & Grill in Greencastle, Pa. Money was raised for the PAR Foundation, a nonprofit that is committed to helping children with visual impairment.

War! What is it good for? Well, urban renewal, perhaps. That was the unfortunate take of Hagerstown Mayor David Gysberts last week, when he quipped that if the city had been lucky enough to have been bombed back into the Stone Age, we could start over with better result. Look, this is the kind of thing you would expect out of Del. John Donoghue when fooling around with his Twitter account at midnight. But Gysberts? The heretofore relatively composed mayor presiding over an admittedly difficult downtown situation?

A local Korean War veterans association wants to remind aspiring college students about two scholarships that have been offered for the last several years. V. Joseph Startari, scholarship committee chairman of Antietam Chapter 312 of the Korean War Veterans Association, said the organization is having a hard time getting high school seniors to apply for the $500 scholarships. “People just don't seem interested,” he said. Startari said students used to have to be a descendant of a Korean War veteran to apply, but Chapter 312 recently dropped that requirement.

There was “Crazy Betsy,” a Richmond, Va., woman who pulled off her job as a successful Union spy by acting like an insane woman whom no one would ever get close to. Or the story about “Old Abe,” an Eagle that was a mascot for the 8th Wisconsin infantry in the Civil War. The bird was kept on perch by soldiers and it endured about a dozen battles. And the story of an 11-year-old girl from Upstate New York who wrote a letter to President Abraham Lincoln to tell him that he was a very ugly man. The girl told Lincoln in her letter that she believed Lincoln would be more appealing to voters in his 1860 presidential campaign if he grew a beard.

Name: Thomas G. Clemens Age: 62 City in which you reside: Keedysville Day job: retired professor emeritus, Hagerstown Community College; licensed Battlefield Guide at Antietam; president, Save Historic Antietam Inc., a battlefield preservation nonprofit corporation.  Book title: "The Maryland Campaign of September 1862, Vol. I & II," written by Ezra A. Carman, edited and annotated by me.  Genre: Civil War...

When the news came that Rachel Maddow had written a book based upon a long study of our wars and the consequences, there was little delay in the purchase and reading. Those who have watched her display of talents, energy, brilliance and grasp of world events will recognize her gifts as a writer in “Drift.” The subtitle, “The Unmooring of American Military Power,” suggests the tone of her well-documented story. What follows is a chronological unveiling of the expansion of our armed forces from a citizen army to a mammoth military complex with units and equipment scattered over the globe.

The Continuing Education and Community Services Division at Hagerstown Community College will offer a one-day Civil War seminar Saturday, March 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Kepler Theater. The seminar is offered as part of the 150th commemoration of the Civil War. Presenters include Dennis Frye, author and chief historian of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, who will discuss “The Trap Door Closed”; Joe Mieczkowski, licensed Gettysburg Battlefield guide and author, who will discuss “The Tycoon and the Snapping Turtle: Lincoln, Meade and the Gettysburg Campaign”; Steve Bockmiller, author and historian, who will discuss “Valor in the Streets: The Battle of Hagerstown”; and Eric Wittenberg, author and historian, who will discuss “One Continuous Flight: The Retreat from Gettysburg and the Pursuit of Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, July 4-14.”  The course fee is $56 for senior citizens and $75 for others, which includes materials, lunch and registration fee. To register or learn more, call HCC at 240-500-2236.

A reader who called Mail Call last week asked about the meeting dates of Antietam Chapter 312 of the Korean War Veterans Association. The reader wrote, “I would like to know if anybody knows ... where they meet, what day, what time ... and if there's a contact number for any of them.” Antietam Chapter 312 meets at 2 p.m. on the first Wednesday of each month at American Legion Dixon-Troxell Post 211 in Funkstown. The address is 12 N. Westside Ave. In addition, Antietam Chapter 312's board of directors meets at the American Legion in Funkstown on the third Wednesday of each month.