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Inaugural Barn Quilt Festival Set For Aug. 1

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Jul. 15, 2010

The Barn Quilt Association of Garrett County Inc. will host the first Barn Quilt Festival on Sunday, Aug. 1. The festival is to be a celebration of Garrett County’s Barn Quilt Trail, the first of its kind in the state of Maryland.
Barn quilts are painted quilting designs displayed on the sides of barns. The Barn Quilt Trail can be viewed in a self-guided driving tour across the area.

“The project focuses on the agriculture, heritage, and natural beauty of the area while giving folks an activity to enjoy with the entire family,” a spokesperson said.

This year, the Barn Quilt Festival will be held on the grounds of Cove Run Farms Corn Maze, located along Griffith Road, Accident. The event will take place from 12:30 to 4 p.m. and include the unveiling and dedication of a new barn quilt block which will become part of the tour. Admission to the festival is free.

Included in the day’s events will be arts and crafts vendors displaying and selling their wares, a brown bag auction, recognition of current barn quilt owners and sponsors, carriage rides, and live music. Children’s games and a coloring contest will also take place.

The tour of the corn maze will be available at a reduced cost on the day of the event. The local band Sugar Foot Stompers will provide the musical entertainment throughout the day. Food venders will be on the grounds.

A live auction will take place at approximately 2 p.m. Donors have provided a wide variety of items to be sold, with the proceeds ben-efitting the Barn Quilt Association. Persons will be able to bid on golf packages, overnight stays at local bed and breakfasts, a stained glass hanging, an Amish-made replica of an old barn, wood-burned barn quilt plaques, a watercolor painting of a local farm scene, restaurant gift certificates, and many other items.

Read the rest here.

If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350 Deep Creek Lake Info, Business Directories, Classified Ads, Events & more! Advertise on http://www.deepcreekalive.com/!

Maryland's Only Ski Resort Opens Canopy Tour

First Tracks – Online Ski Magazine

Deep Creek Lake, MD – Wisp Resort in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland’s only ski area, has expanded its summer activities with the opening of the new Flying Squirrel Canopy Tour, located above the Wisp Outdoors Adventure Park.

This new participatory guided tour is a combination of a challenge course and zip line. Phoenix Experiential Designs of Linville, N.C., was contracted to engineer and construct the guided canopy tour. Construction began on April 26, and after two months of construction, testing and training, the tour opened at the end of June.

Wisp Resort’s General Manager, Tim Prather, was among the first to try the newly constructed guided tour.

“I thought it was going to be fairly tame but, oh man, it is not! I felt like an eagle landing on a postage stamp,” said Prather.

The Flying Squirrel Canopy Tour begins with gear preparation at the Wisp Outdoors Adventure Building. Two Wisp Outdoors Adventure Guides outfit up to eight guests per tour each with a climbing harness, two safety tethers, a micro-trolley, safety helmet and gloves. The Adventure Guides then escort participants up the Bear Claw Conveyor Carpet to the practice area where guests learn how to brake, steer and zip along the cables.

The canopy tour starts with a scurry up the cargo net feature to the first platform. Once secured onto the 12 foot-high platform, a 160-foot zip transports guests to the next challenge – a Burma Bridge – where participants navigate the three-point rope bridge carefully to the next platform and prepare for the second zip over 150 feet of cable. A Plank Bridge, with a few strategically missing planks, must be crossed carefully to set up for the third zip of 180 feet to the “Eagle’s Nest” platform, at over 40 feet the highest point of the canopy tour with a view of McHenry Cove on Deep Creek Lake. Guests then face the tour’s longest zip of 400 feet across the Bear Claw Tubing Hill onto the seventh platform, known as “Mallard’s Landing,” before a final zip of 400 feet back across the tubing hill to the “Leap of Faith” platform where the only place to go is down from 30 feet back to the ground.

The new guided canopy tour costs $39 per person and reservations are recommended. The Flying Squirrel Canopy Tour is open daily during summer season from 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Read the article here.

New listing – 3/4BR log home Mountainside – $399,900

1800 Mountainview Ct

Incredible value on a custom log home in Mountainside. Nearly 3,000 sq ft, wired ‘smart house’ w/ thermostat controls, corian countertops, hickory kitchen cabinets, wired networking in all rooms, in-wall speakers (living room), wired for surround sound (basement), whirlpool tub in master bath, 8″ logs. Enjoys Mountainside community amenities of lake access, sports courts, community building.

Contact Jay Ferguson @ 301-501-0420 or DeepCreekLaker@Gmail.com for more information or to setup a private showing for this property.

Listing # GA7386737

$399,900

Subdivision: MOUNTAINSIDE
Bedroom(s): 4
Bathroom(s): 3 Full, 1 Half
Year Built: 2007
Levels: 3
Approx Finished Sq Ft: 2,880
Heating: Bottled Gas/Prop, 90% Forced Air
Cooling: Electric, Ceiling Fan(s)
Water: Well
Sewer: Sept<# of BR If you are thinking of buying or selling real estate in Garrett County or Deep Creek Lake, Maryland, call Jay Ferguson of Railey Realty for all of your real estate needs! 877-563-5350 Deep Creek Lake Info, Business Directories, Classified Ads, Events & more! Advertise on http://www.deepcreekalive.com/!

Spies on acid – Obscure CIA & Deep Creek Lake reference

Beginning after World War II and escalating through the early 1950s, the U.S. government launched a multimillion-dollar series of experiments in mind control and behavior modification.

It wasn’t until the mid-1970s that Americans learned of such programs, which went by the names of Bluebird, ARTICHOKE and, most notably, MK/ULTRA. That’s when a commission led by then Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and a subsequent Senate investigation revealed what our government had been up to…..

…”Almost everything that I wrote about,” he responds, but the words are specifically a quote from Olson. “He came home from the Deep Creek Lake meeting where he was dosed with LSD nine days before his murder, and his wife knew something was wrong, and the only thing he would say to her was that he had made a terrible mistake and he said he’d speak to her later about it… The event at Deep Creek Lake was really his interrogation using drugs and probably LSD to find out with why he was talking about Pont-St.-Esprit and other experiments. He had decided to leave the CIA and the Army and re-school himself as a dentist, but Olson was an arrogant, outspoken sort of guy, and the last two or three months before his departure he started talking about what he had done over the past three years under contract with the CIA, and that was just a no-no.”

Read the full article here.

Hiring freeze will affect Garrett Roads

Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News

Oakland — OAKLAND — Garrett County’s hiring freeze means the county roads department will be down 16 roads workers through at least spring 2011.

The department lost 16 employees through retirements, and those employees cannot be replaced because of the freeze. On top of that, two other employees will be absent because of military leave, bringing the total to 18.

“The optimum thing would be to hire employees, but understanding that we have the hiring freeze … we’re going to work something out here to do the best we can,” department Superintendent Jay Moyer told the county commission Tuesday.

Moyer outlined a plan to shuffle workers from the Oakland garage to the Grantsville garage to try to cover staffing gaps at Grantsville, which had the highest number of retirements with eight.

Two operators and one foreman will move from the Oakland garage to Grantsville. The Oakland garage will also take over road service for Pine Hill Road to the top of Spring Lick Road, an area normally serviced by the Grantsville garage.

Commissioner Fred Holliday, whose district is the Grantsville area, expressed concerns that fewer roads workers means roads will go unplowed for long periods during the winter.

“With losing a minimum of four drivers — four plows — that’s four routes that aren’t going to get done,” Holliday said.

But Moyer said that won’t be the case.

“You’re saying a route won’t get done. It will,” he said. “But this is going to take some public cooperation and understanding that it won’t be exactly like it was in the past in a major snow event.”

“The best we can do is hope for a mild winter this year,” Moyer added.

Moyer said summer maintenance work, such as mowing and cleaning ditches and shoulders, might actually be harder to accomplish with fewer employees.

“The public needs to understand that we will continue to operate as we have in the past, but with a shortage of manpower it may be difficult to do the same schedule that we did in the past,” he said. “But we will work at getting things done as quickly as we can.”

Lakefront Price Reduction – 914 Stockslager Rd

An incredibly well built home in a quiet setting near the Deep Creek Dam. The sellers have reduced the price to $1,149,000 (a $50k reduction) and are offering to pay buyers closing costs with a firm contract by 9-15-10. Take a look at the photo gallery here.

GA7294960 – 914 Stockslager Rd – $1,149,000 – 4BR, 3BA, built 1992, remodeled, 2,800+/- sq ft

Park Quest 24/7, the end – Outdoors Girl

She did it! Congrats Candy Thomson!

From her blog:

I started at sun up at water’s edge one week ago in Garrett County and ended minutes ago at the Atlantic Ocean.

In between, I visited some of Maryland’s prettiest public lands — 24 parks, all different, all worth seeing — in seven consecutive days.

During Park Quest 24/7, I met some tremendous public servants and volunteers.

Read the rest here.

Garrett could make sprinkler system decision later this month

Just two contractors working in county authorized to install
Megan Miller
Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — The Garrett County Commission could decide as early as July 27 whether new homes built in the county should be required to contain automatic sprinkler systems.

The sprinkler requirement is included in the 2009 International Residential Code, adopted by the state of Maryland, which applies to one- and two-family homes. Counties can choose to adhere to the code as-is or to adopt it with local amendments.

That means it’s up to the commission to decide whether to adopt or opt out of the sprinkler requirement, which would go into effect Jan. 1, 2011.

The commission heard public comment on the proposed change during its meeting Tuesday, but only a few individuals spoke on the issue, including contractor Roger Sines of Roger Sines Construction Inc.

“I think it’s going to hurt the construction industry,” Sines said. “People are going to say, ‘I’m not going to do that.’ ”

Sines and other opponents of the change have argued that the added cost of a sprinkler system will deter people from building new homes in the county.

But proponents of the measure say it will make homes safer for occupants and firefighters, and could lower the cost of homeowners’ fire insurance.

Dennis Mallery, president of the Allegany-Garrett Counties Volunteer Fire & Rescue Association, wrote to association members in June that the sprinkler issue comes down to a question of safety.

“There should be no debate over this issue,” Mallery said in his letter to firefighters. “The WMHBA (Western Maryland Home Builders Association) continues to voice their concern that it is not the right time economically to require residential sprinklers in new 1-2 family homes. When is there a ‘right’ time? After a family member or firefighter is injured or killed?”

The cost of such a system could add anywhere from $8,000 to $20,000 to the cost of a new home, Sines estimated.

Previous estimates have figured sprinklers at a cost of between $1.60 and $2 per square foot of space, meaning that a system for an average 2,000-square-foot home would cost between $3,200 and $4,000.

But many factors can drive up that cost. For example, homes relying on a private well could also be required to install a reservoir and fire pump to drive the sprinkler system. Even homes on public water could need a pump if the water pressure is not adequate to meet the required sprinkler output.

The revised code requires a minimum of two sprinkler heads to spray 26 to 30 gallons of water per minute for a 10-minute period, for a total of 260 to 300 gallons of water.

To complicate matters more, only contractors licensed by the State Fire Marshal’s Office can install the sprinkler systems — and only two such contractors have been operating in the county, according to Jim Torrington of the Garrett County Department of Planning and Land Development.

Torrington said his office had received only one written comment on the issue as of Tuesday, a letter from the Home Builders Association of Western Maryland requesting implementation of the sprinkler requirement be postponed to 2012. That would allow more time for homes now under construction to be completed as planned.

The commission will consider the sprinkler issue along with other building code changes adopted at the state level, including one that reduces the maximum steepness allowed for stairs in new homes.

The public comment period for the county ordinances will remain open until July 27. Comments can be submitted to the Department of Planning and Land Development.

Pump station malfunction blamed for sewage spill

From Staff Reports
Cumberland Times-News

OAKLAND — An electrical malfunction at a pump station caused 42,000 gallons of sewage to overflow near the shore of Deep Creek Lake early Sunday morning.

The incident occurred near the intersection of Garrett Highway (U.S. Route 219) and Lake Shore Drive at about 7 a.m. Sunday, according to Linda Lindsey, director of Garrett County’s Department of Public Utilities.

Lindsey said electricians are working to determine the cause of the malfunction, which is unclear. An electrical short apparently prevented a generator from supplying backup power to the pumps.

“This was very unusual,” she said. “This does not happen on a regular basis.”

Access to the spill area was restricted and the area was disinfected, Lindsey said. A public service announcement was broadcast on the radio to notify the public of the hazard.

The county also notified Maryland Department of Natural Resources officials of the spill.

The area remained restricted as of Tuesday afternoon. Lindsey said officials will conduct daily testing and water-quality monitoring there until e. coli counts fall to acceptable levels.

Those counts have already declined significantly, she said.

The county health department recommends that people avoid swimming in that area of the lake until it is cleared, Lindsey added.

Maryland wind farm draws protests

Environmental groups have threatened to sue Constellation Energy Group Inc. for risking protected bats at a planned Western Maryland wind farm, but the company says it will honor endangered species laws.

Save Western Maryland and the Maryland Conservation Council gave Constellation notice June 23 that they plan to attempt to block its Criterion wind project on Backbone Mountain in Garrett County. They argue the project puts at risk Indiana bats and Virginia big-eared bats, both federally protected as endangered species. Federal endangered species law requires 60 days’ notice before filing such a lawsuit.

But Constellation officials said they are in the process of applying for what is called an “incidental take permit,” which allows private entities to undertake projects that could harm or kill endangered species if they work with federal fish and wildlife officials on a conservation plan. Constellation is going through that process, spokesman Aaron Koos said.

The Criterion wind project is a major one for Constellation and Maryland. The company spent $140 million in April to buy it from Clipper Windpower Inc., including wind turbines and plans that had already been crafted. That came on top of $90 million Constellation committed to spending on solar projects in 2010. The Garrett County project will put 28 wind turbines on ridges around 3,360-foot-high Backbone, the state’s highest mountain.

Read the rest here.

Inaugural Barn Quilt Festival Set For Aug. 1

Maryland's Only Ski Resort Opens Canopy Tour

New listing – 3/4BR log home Mountainside – $399,900

Spies on acid – Obscure CIA & Deep Creek Lake reference

Hiring freeze will affect Garrett Roads

Lakefront Price Reduction – 914 Stockslager Rd

Park Quest 24/7, the end – Outdoors Girl

Garrett could make sprinkler system decision later this month

Pump station malfunction blamed for sewage spill

Maryland wind farm draws protests

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