1621 PERGIN FARM RD
OAKLAND, MD 21550
Vintage cottage on prime lakefront lot at Pergin Farm. Expansive views all the way to Yacht Club. Detached 2 car garage with bonus room above. Deep water Type-A Dock. Private setting in quiet community with no vacation rentals permitted.
73 UPPER PENN POINT RD
OAKLAND, MD 21550
Lake access lots (3 lots, 73, 74, 87 Bullard Tract) with Type A dock permit. Property may not be large enough for a septic system & a well to both be placed- may need public sewer in order to build.
Cool picture from the Republican:
Readers of this online edition of The Republican newspaper would be confused by the caption originally written for this photo, as it was all about simply imagining the lovely colors. That is because a major equipment malfunction this morning at the newspaper office has caused the staff to print today’s hard copy newspaper in black and white only. Online viewers can see it in all its glory, however, so technology has not completely failed us. Happy August, everyone. Photo by Lisa Broadwater.
Author and historian Joe Manning, Florence, Mass., recently completed an online article that centered on the Blizzard family and the Garrett County mining town of Kempton, pictured below. George Blizzard was among the many employees of the Davis Coal and Coke Company, which began operations in 1914. The company built the mine and houses on a hillside above the Potomac, where most of the residents lived in single-family houses, with four to six rooms, an outdoor toilet, and a small lot, enough for a lawn in front and a small garden in back. Next to the company store was an arcade called the Opera House, with a lunchroom, bowling alleys, pool tables, dance floor, and auditorium. The streets were unpaved. By 1918, Kempton had 106 houses and a population of 850, which grew to around 2,000 by the time the mine suddenly closed in April 1950, causing the Garrett County commissioners to have the county declared a federal disaster area as some 250 miners were suddenly unemployed. Within a decade or so, the town all but disappeared. Pictured above are George and Lillie Blizzard, with children (from left) Mildred, Carl, Dorothy (front), and Nellie. Dorothy Blizzard Slaubaugh is still living today in Virginia, and an interview with her done by Manning in February is included in his feature. Many descendants of the Blizzards reside in Garrett County today. For the past seven years, Manning has been conducting a personal project to track down and interview descendants of some of the families photographed by the Farm Security Administration in the late 1930s and early 1940s. “In my career as a social worker, I became interested in child labor photos, and wanted to find out what ultimately happened to these children,” Manning said. “I began scanning the many photos available through the FSA and had a desire to turn these children and their families into more than just a photo; to find out about them and what became of them.” He has completed nearly 50 such articles over the past several years. Manning grew up in southern Maryland, but spent a lot of time in Garrett County. His father Joseph was a deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources under Governor Marvin Mandel and had a second home in Garrett County. Manning’s online article about Kempton and the Blizzard family can be found at http://www.eightsteeples.com/blizzard1.html.
In an effort to conserve Maryland’s declining wild ginseng populations, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources will be banning the collection of wild ginseng from public lands beginning with the 2013 season. Harvest from private lands will not be affected by the state land moratorium.
Wild ginseng (Panax quinquefolius), a long-lived plant with a limited capacity to reproduce, is on the brink of becoming a threatened species in Maryland, according to the DNR. Commercial harvest has become the primary reason for its decline in western Maryland, where harvest permits are issued. Habitat loss and competition from invasive species have also played a role in waning ginseng populations, according to a DNR spokesperson.
Known for its energy-enhancing and healing properties, ginseng has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. However, with its popularity growing to include markets such as energy drinks, coffee, cosmetics, and hair products – and its value soaring – ginseng is being harvested and stripped at an alarming rate, the spokesperson said.
“Biologists have documented a steep decline of the species in Maryland, as evidenced by both the disappearance of known populations and decreasing patch sizes,” he said. “Without action, ginseng could become extinct in Maryland.”
American ginseng can be found in 34 states, 21 of which list it as a conservation concern. Currently, 15 states prohibit the harvest and sale of wild ginseng, while the remaining 19 still allow its harvest and export. Pennsylvania and West Virginia both allow commercial harvest of ginseng from private lands, but prohibit harvest from state lands.
Maryland’s move to this more conservative strategy will help maintain wild ginseng as an important component of the state’s natural areas, and preserve its place among the wild flora it supports, the spokesperson concluded.
Great news for the Wisp?? “Much above average snowfall”:
Winter 2012-2013 left a lot to be desired, with the exception of some late winter snowstorms that effected the mid-west and Northeast and the cold spells that lasted late into the month of may, with even snow falling in the mountainous areas of the northeast Mid-May of 2013. Now was this just winters last gasp? Or was it a sign of things to come. Well we will look into different facets of that as we go through this outlook. Now first as always lets look at the factors that will go into this forecast outlook. Please not that since this outlook is preliminary, not all factors are taken into equation, this is because those other factors have a high probability of changing between now and by time winter comes. Factors for preliminary Winter 2013-2014 Outlooks: State Of the ENSO- Currently classified as Neutral, but latest surface temperatures show la-nina developing despite models projecting it to go another way. My prediction, Weak La Nina. –
See more at: http://weatheradvance.com/preliminary-winter-2013-2014-winter-outlook/#sthash.7lRTPZ9L.dpuf
Garrett County officials, through the county website, said Sunday that water quality samples taken earlier in the day led them to continue the restrictions on swimming and fishing, and promised more information would be released Monday. On Friday, 36,000 gallons of sanitary sewage overflowed from the McHenry Sewage Holding Tank into the northwestern end of Marsh Run Cove, in a stream that feeds into the state-owned lake.
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources placed warning buoys in the affected area, Garrett County officials said.
Cabins at New Germany State Park are scheduled to undergo extensive renovations, beginning Aug. 12. The renovations are to be completed in phases to allow some cabins to remain open while the work is under way.
Effective immediately, cabins 1, 2, and 3 are now open for reservations through Oct. 14. Cabin 11 is also open, as this cabin will not be renovated at the present time, a spokesperson noted. Additional cabins are expected to reopen as renovations are completed.
The work will include full kitchen and bathroom renovations, new floors and ceilings, new windows and doors, new light fixtures, new subfloor insulation, and other energy-saving upgrades.
“These much-needed renovations will help preserve the beauty and integrity of these historic cabins, while also making them more energy-efficient and comfortable for visitors to enjoy,” a park spokesperson said.
Those interested in reserving a cabin during the renovation period are encouraged to check with the reservation service frequently (reservations.dnr.state.md.us), as availability could change without notice.
For more information, persons may call the park office at 301-895-5453.
MCHENRY, MD. –
The grand finale of our weekly summer series ‘Wild and Wonderful Wednesday’ brought us to the ASCI Whitewater Course in McHenry, Maryland. The USA Kayak and Canoe team held its time trials on the exact same course back in May.
“Welcome to the ASCI Whitewater course here in McHenry, Maryland,” Michael Logsdon, ASCI Executive Director said. “What you’re about to experience today is some class three or four Whitewater. We have about a one-third of a mile Whitewater course that drops about 24 vertical feet. So that puts it pretty high on the challenge level in terms of meeting the rapids.”
First it was the water shoes, and then the life jackets.
When you are doing anything like this, safety is always first. The helmets are extremely important prior to going out on the water. But ASCI goes one step beyond a simple helmet. They offer a helmet with a Go Pro camera on top. The Go Pro is a revolutionary camera that serves as a ‘head cam’ of sorts, while you navigate your way through the rapids. At the end of the course, ASCI puts a video together for you and your family to have, serving as a memory for years to come. Helmets with the Go Pro camera are offered at $25.
Michael A. SawyersCumberland Times-News
CUMBERLAND — Maryland Forest Service officials decided three weeks ago to close the popular, 17-mile Big Savage Hiking Trail after six lost hikers had to be rescued.
The culprit, according to Steven W. Koehn, director, was tropical storm Sandy that struck Garrett County in October and toppled uncountable trees.
“(This year) some folks from Outward Bound reported that there were obstructions, lots of trees, down across the trail, so much so that they were unable to finish their hike,” Koehn said in an email to the Times-News on Monday.
“Later, a group from the Mountain Club of Maryland tried to hike the trail and they reported the same thing. They were unable to follow the blazes because some of the trees with the blazes on them were down as well.”
Then, last month, six hikers became lost and had to be found and rescued by Maryland Natural Resources Police.
“That was enough for me and, after talking with local staff and folks in the attorney general’s office, we decided to close the trail until we are able to cut through and re-blaze the trees,” Koehn said.
“It will likely be three weeks before we will be able to begin work clearing and re-blazing. There has been interest from volunteers to do the work. However, because of the remoteness and amount of work involved, including chainsaw work, this help has not materialized.”
NRP Sgt. Dave Marple said Monday that the lost hikers called 911 for help after dark.
“A GPS coordinate was obtained from their cell phone signal. Officers Brian Friend and Glenn Broadwater plugged that into their hand-held GPSs,” Marple said.
“They told the hikers to sit tight and it took the officers a couple hours to walk to them. They got there about midnight and everybody walked out about 2 a.m.”
There were no elderly or children in the group and no injuries, according to Marple.
Friend credited the lost group for following directions to stay put so that they could be found. “It’s good that people carry their cell phones and call 911 because we can get a GPS coordinate,” he told the Times-News during a phone interview Monday.
The wet and tired group of hikers was found between a half-mile and a mile off the trail in an area of very thick growth due to recent gypsy moth damage that cleared out the forest canopy and fallen trees from October’s storm, Friend said.
The officers hiked the trail starting at the southwestern terminus just downstream from Savage River Dam. Friend said the going was rough due to the steep terrain and several switchbacks where the trail zigzags back and forth. “It’s easy to get turned around in there,” Friend said.
The lost hikers had started from the opposite direction earlier in the day. They were found using glow sticks and their cell phones as light sources and had wandered down the mountain toward the Allegany/Garrett County line.
Friend provided spare flashlights that he carries in his search and rescue pack to help the hikers negotiate their way out of the woods.
“That was a tough trail to hike even before the storm,” Marple said. “It’s not like walking the (C&O Canal) towpath. We went in a year ago to rescue three guys in their 20s.”
The trail is laid out northeasterly along the Savage Mountain ridgeline and ends near St. John’s Rock not far from Interstate 68.
Agency literature describes the trail as difficult with few reliable drinking water sources.
Contact Michael A. Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.
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