Jay Fergusonjay@deepcreekvacations.com301-501-0420
Menu

Commissioners recognize Swiftwater Rescue Team

From The Garrett County Republican

OAKLAND — The county commissioners recognized the recently formed Garrett County Swiftwater Rescue Team during their public meeting Tuesday afternoon at the courthouse in Oakland.

“I’m very pleased,” said Emergency Management Director John Frank about getting a team started. “It’s been a long time coming for Garrett County.”

He noted the team is organized under Garrett County Emergency Services, known as Company 8.

“Emergency Management just kind of helps facilitate, administer and approve deployments,” Frank said. “It’s our volunteers who have this kind of commitment.”

The Deep Creek Volunteer Fire Company serves as the team’s coordinator. Six other volunteer departments participate in the effort — Deer Park Community, Oakland, Kitzmiller, Eastern Garrett, Bloomington and Friendsville. Deep Creek Fire Chief Jason King is team leader.

To read the full article click here.

Habitat home inspires Deer Park woman to volunteer at home and beyond

From The Garrett County Republican

DEER PARK — Working through Garrett County Habitat for Humanity, Jessica Wilson was able to acquire her own home in Deer Park about 10 years ago.

But the story doesn’t stop there. Wilson said she had such an “amazing experience” through the process that she wanted to help others have homes of their own.

“I enjoy working with Habitat locally and internationally,” she said. “I volunteer when I’m able to. I help with the dinner auction fundraiser Habitat has each year, as well as spread the word of Habitat to anyone who will listen.”

Wilson’s experience began in 2009 when she found herself in a tough relationship that she decided she needed to leave for her health and safety.

“I was a young mother with a young child on my own and nowhere to go except back to my mother’s two-bedroom trailer that she and my younger brother lived in at the time,” she explained. “For a while, my son and I slept on a blow-up mattress in my mom’s living room, pulling our clothes out of Rubbermaid totes at the beginning of each day.”

To read the full article click here.

25th-annual Country Fest and Auction scheduled Aug. 24

From The Garrett County Republican

McHENRY — The 25th-annual Country Fest and Auction is set for Aug. 24 at the Garrett County Fairgrounds in McHenry from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission and parking are free.

Billed as “an event for the whole family,” the festival is traditionally held the fourth Saturday in August.

Planning, setting up, running and cleaning up takes a large team of volunteers.

“Each church member from the age of 10 and up is assigned something to do,” said Lucy Maust, festival secretary. “We all just pitch in and do it.”

The fundraiser is sponsored by the Bittinger and Pillar of Life Mennonite churches in the Bittinger/Accident area. Maust stressed that 90 percent of all proceeds go toward Christian education for the church members’ children. The remaining 10 percent is donated to Christian Aid Ministries — a nonprofit Mennonite group headquartered in Berlin, Ohio — to minister to the “physical and spiritual needs of the world.”

To read the full article click here.

Deep Creek Lake author publishes two more books

From The Garrett County Republican

DEEP CREEK LAKE — Local historian Ed King recently completed not one but two books: “Deep Creek Lake: The Founders (Book 1)” and “I Love Deep Creek Lake: Another in a Series of Vignettes.”

“It’s taken me about four years to write ‘The Founders,’” he said, noting there was much research to conduct and many people to interview for the publication.

King will sign copies of both books this Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon at the Garrett County Historical Society Museum in Oakland. Weather permitting, he will be set up in the gazebo.

To read the full article click here.

Federal grant received to improve Garrett County Airport

From The Garrett County Republican

McHENRY — A grant award from the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) will 100%-fund the construction of eight corporate hangars at the Garrett County Airport.

U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Ben Cardin, both D-Md., jointly announced the DOT grant award last month.

This renovation project has been a priority for the community airport and has been included in the strategic improvement plan since 2015. The addition of eight hangars and a ramp directly into to McHenry Industrial Park were identified to better serve customers.

To read the full article click here.