Committee formed to celebrate Deep Creek Lake’s 100th anniversary
At a recent meeting of its Board of Directors, the Property Owners’ Association of Deep Creek Lake (POA) formed a committee to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the lake, which will occur in 2025.
The POA invited representatives from a variety of organizations to participate in this committee, and on Nov. 28, the first meeting of the Deep Creek Lake 100th Anniversary Committee was held. Along with the POA, representatives from the following organizations participated in the meeting: Brookfield Renewable, Deep Creek Watershed Foundation, Garrett County Board of Realtors, Garrett County Chamber of Commerce, Garrett County Government, Garrett County Historical Society, Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Deep Creek Lake Yacht Club and the Deep Creek Lake Sailing Association (aka the Turkey Neck Yacht Club).
“We had an extremely productive initial meeting with a lot of enthusiasm for this celebration,” said Committee Chair Chris Nichols, “Just getting this many people and organizations engaged really shows the level of interest in this initiative.”
After the initial introductions, the committee discussed a number of potential projects and events, according to Nichols. One of the first projects discussed was the development of informational kiosks at various places with maps, historical information and personal stories of lake memories.
Plans also included the creation of a commemorative coin, publishing a special commemorative book, commissioning a video and creating a dedicated website to store all of the photos, information and stories gathered for the project.
“One theme that committee members kept bringing up was the importance of engaging with county residents, second homeowners and visitors to help us tell the full story of Deep Creek Lake,” Nichols said. “We’ve already identified a number of other groups to reach out to in support of these projects, especially our local schools. One really great idea was to encourage a ‘Foxfire-style’ initiative where students engage with the family members to record stories of what the lake was like ‘back in the day.’”
Who I Am
My name is Jay Ferguson, and I am a lifelong resident of the Deep Creek Lake area. I am also co-owner of the real estate side of Taylor Made. I have been in the real estate business for 21+ years now and I LOVE what I do! I have to say, my career really took off when I co-founded the real estate side of Taylor Made in 2014. Its been an amazing experience, building a real estate company from the ground up and achieving so much so quickly! In August 2016, we purchased Long & Foster Real Estate Deep Creek, where I had started my career in 2000. In 2018, we on-boarded virtually every agent from Coldwell Banker Deep Creek Realty as they closed up shop and the real estate family grew even more! We now have over 40 sales agents and have expanded to West Virginia and Pennsylvania, as well. Taylor Made is the #1 vacation rental company at Deep Creek with over 475 vacation rental homes, and over one hundred thousand yearly visitors. Its amazing what we have accomplished using the principles of honesty, teamwork and customer service!
Personally, my wife Jessica and I enjoy traveling and especially spending time in the outdoors, hiking and exploring the many diverse areas that Garrett County is naturally blessed with. We have raised two wonderful children here, Kayleah (22) and Noah (13). In the summer, we love spending time on the water with friends & family and enjoying the lake life! We are both active in our church, our community & local school activities, and we fill our schedule with plenty of volunteer efforts. I currently serve on the board of directors for Habitat for Humanity. I am proud to say that I was named Deep Creek Time’s Favorite ‘Community Champion’ in 2019. I was also named Garrett County Realtor of the Year in 2018-19, as well.
I really enjoy promoting my hometown. I am very proud of the resort area that has developed over my lifetime and look forward to growing the area even more! Deep Creek Lake has been described as ‘The Lake Tahoe of the east', and I think that speaks volumes about the potential to own property here! Deep Creek Lake isn't really a town or city by itself; it's comprised of three towns: Oakland, Swanton & McHenry, Maryland. I am very passionate about my hometown and am impressed with how many people know about it as we travel around the country. Deep Creek Lake is an amazing place to visit and even better place to live! During the pandemic in 2020, our market exploded and more and more people left their primary residence in the city to live here permanently. With distance learning in schools and tele-commuting becoming the ‘norm’, many more people were drawn to the area to ‘live where they love to play’.
Why You Want Me Working for You: In addition to being an owner, I am consistently one of the top-producing agents in the entire area and the Associate Broker of record for Taylor-Made Deep Creek Vacations & Sales. I have 21+ years of experience and I am a problem solver. There aren’t many situations that I have not encountered and I have a strategy for almost every scenario that you may encounter. I
have extensively trained in all areas of real estate & emerging technologies, and also have trained as an appraiser, as well as served as a full-time Broker. I have a strong knowledge of the industry, as well as many trusted local contacts & affiliations that allow me to perform at a very high level and deliver results. I have a great deal of respect for my peers in this industry and have strong working relationships that I would love to put to work for you.
Call me to discuss your situation - I know I can be of great service to you & others you care about!
Honesty. Integrity. Results.
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