Currently viewing the category: "Columns"

Zucchini Scampi

Active Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes
Servings: 4
Egg-Free     Sesame-Free     Vegetarian     Nut-Free     Gluten-Free

Ingredients

2 zucchini (10 oz. each), trimmed and halved lengthwise

2 small summer squash (5 oz. each), trimmed and halved lengthwise

1/8 teaspoon salt, plus ¼ teaspoon, divided

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided

1 lemon, halved

½ cup dry white wine

3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper, plus more for garnish

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed


1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions

Line a large rimmed baking sheet with paper towels. Cut 2 halved zucchini and 2 halved small summer squash into 2-inch pieces; place flesh-side up on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle with ⅛ teaspoon salt; let stand until water leaches out, 8 to 10 minutes. Pat dry with paper towels..

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add 2 lemon halves, flesh-side down; cook, undisturbed, until charred, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the pan.

Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in the skillet over medium heat. Add the zucchini and squash, flesh-side down; cook, undisturbed, until browned, 3 to 4 minutes. Flip and cook until fork-tender, about 2 more minutes. Sprinkle with ⅛ teaspoon salt; transfer to a serving platter.

Add ½ cup wine, 3 sliced garlic cloves, ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper and the remaining ⅛ teaspoon salt to the skillet; cook over medium heat, scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, until reduced by half, about 2 minutes. Add 5 tablespoons cubed butter; cook, stirring constantly, until well incorporated, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Spoon the sauce over the squash. Squeeze the charred lemons over the top; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon parsley. Garnish with crushed red pepper, if desired.

by Buck Reed
The Snackle Box (Patent Pending!)

Is your lunch bag getting a bit boring? Or is lunch in a sit-down restaurant getting too expensive? Let’s face it, even fast food is putting a dent in our wallets! So, why not give a Snackle Box (Patent Pending) a chance? Put a little variety and zip into your noon break.

All you need is one of those boxes found in the sporting goods department that holds fishing lures. Yes, buy a brand new one, as you don’t want a used one that might have actually been on a fishing trip! Then, you figure out what to place in the various compartments. Snap it shut and you have an inexpensive lunch for your break in the day that is far from boring. Here are a few of my favorites:

Sliced Deli Meats. I like mortadella, salami, ham, and capicola, but you are only limited by your deli’s selections. I also like roasted and chilled sliced sausages with some mustard.

Sliced Cheeses. Again, you are only limited by what the deli person has to offer. Don’t be afraid to look for weekly bargains.

Specialty Cheeses. I like Babybel, string cheese, goat cheese, Brie, Camembert, and, if you are so inclined, a nice slice of blue cheese. Pairing them up can be quite a culinarian delight if you use combinations like canned pears for blue cheese or fig or mustard for most everything else. I also like a variety of nuts to go with these. Mixing garlic, spices, and herbs into cream cheese to make my own specialty cheese balls at a fraction of the cost of store-prepared ones.

Salads. Pasta salad might work well here, but macaroni, potato, or Coleslaw would be nice as well. Chicken, tuna, and shrimp are also good choices. Egg salad or even deviled eggs would be a nice addition as well.

Prepared Vegetables. Olives are an easy choice here, and adding some feta cheese can brighten up your midday meal. Roasted peppers, sweet or hot cherry peppers, pepperoncini, and banana peppers can add some heat to your palate and pair well with your deli meats. Some capers, pickled onions, or even whole scallions can also be a big addition to your box. I also like cherry or grape tomatoes, celery, or carrot sticks as well.

Seafood. Sardines or anchovies might not be everyone’s first choice—or a choice at all—but you can always find something to pair them with. I sometimes find shrimp on sale and will put a few boiled and chilled ones in my compartment with a sauce. Sweet Baby Rays dipping sauce is good on just about everything and works well with shrimp or other seafood. (Sweet Baby Rays does not pay me to say that, but if they are reading this, I am open to negotiations!).

Sauces & Spreads. Hummus is a good choice, and even the off-brand ones are pretty good. Also, tapenade, pesto, baba ghanoush, and a good vinaigrette will brighten your Snackle Box.

Crackers. With very little effort you can always find a cracker that is on sale that will work well with your lunch. I also like the Naan bread from our friends from the subcontinent of India. Pair that up with some chutney and you’ve got something going.

Fruit. Add some sliced fresh or canned fruit to your box, and you have a nice dessert, or better, something to pair with your other items. Sliced cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes, or watermelon chunks are a good addition.

Dessert. Adding a slice of cake, a couple of cookies, or a brownie is always a welcome treat. Even if you don’t have it with your lunch, it could be a nice pick-me-up for an afternoon snack. Or perhaps a couple of those so called fun-size candy bars might be a good choice. You can get a few of those from your kids’ trick-or-treat bags next month!

 These boxes are only about $5.00 and will probably last your whole career. Working with different flavors does not have to be expensive. Plus, doing this two or three times a week will not only save you a few dollars in the long run, but it will also put some pizzazz into your lunch break.

Did you like this article? Or, do you have an idea for another article? Contact me at Rguyinthekitchen@aol.com with any comments or if you have an idea you’d like to see featured in this column.

Top Left Compartment: Mortadella / Provolone

Second Compartment: Blue Cheese / Pears

Third Compartment: Hummus / Roasted Red Peppers

Fourth Compartment: Black Olives / Strawberries

Big Compartment: Crackers / Oatmeal Cookies / Chocolate Bars.

by Richard D. L. Fulton

Erik W. Hayes

KIA in Iraq
Erik W. Hayes was born on November 14, 1980, at the Gettysburg Hospital, to parents Douglas and Deborah Hayes (subsequently known as Deborah Reckley). Hayes had a younger brother, Bradley, who was born in 1984.

Hayes grew up in Harney and graduated from the Living Word Academy in Blue Ridge Summit in 1998. He was the only student to graduate from that educational institution that year, according to a story published by The Baltimore Sun on December 3, 2004.

The Baltimore Sun had reported that the Living Word Academy is a private school with an annual enrollment of some 30 students, ranging from elementary through high school grade levels.

Following graduation, he was hired at various places of employment, including working on a dairy farm and working for an electrical contractor.

Hayes enlisted in the Army on September 4, just one week before the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of some 2,977 victims, and left thousands of individuals injured and suffering from the various effects associated with the attacks.

Prior to his enlistment, Hayes had resided with his grandmother, Margaret M. Hayes, and his father in Harney.

He had told family members that he wanted to join the Army, with the intent to use his military veteran’s benefits to help pay for college. He apparently had intended to pursue an education that would enable him to establish a career as an emergency medical technician, according to an email sent to a family friend, The Baltimore Sun had reported.

After his discharge from the Army, Hayes had also planned to continue to help take care of his paraplegic younger brother, Bradley, who had sustained severe head injuries in a “fiery vehicle crash,” according to Legacy.com. The automobile crash had left his brother unable to communicate and confined to a Hagerstown nursing home, where he remained on a “feeder tube,” the (Easton) Star-Democrat had reported.

Upon entering the Army, Hayes was assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, and then to Vilseck, Germany, as an Army specialist, where he was attached to the 2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.

From Germany, he was deployed to Bosnia and then to Kosovo.

He was subsequently deployed to Iraq in 2004.On November 29, Hayes was driving an Army vehicle in Al Miqdadlyah, a town located about 50 miles northeast of Baghdad.  According to an article published in The Baltimore Sun on December 3, 2006, Hayes was on duty driving an officer’s vehicle as an officer’s escort.

As Hayes transported the officer through the town, an IED (improvised explosive device) detonated near the vehicle. As a result, Hayes was killed in the explosion, which was only two weeks after his 24th birthday.

The Gettysburg Times had reported that Hayes’ body was returned to the United States via the Dover Air Force Base on December 2.

According to thefallen.militarytimes.com, “More than 200 people jammed the Evangelical Bible Church near Thurmont for a nearly two-hour, open-casket service.” The website also reported, “Everyone stood as a choir sang “Proud to Be an American.” Some people waved small U.S. flags, while others held their hands up to heaven.”

Hayes was interred in the Mountain View Cemetery in Harney.

On  April 15, 2017, more than one hundred people were on hand at the State Highway Administration building, where Maryland 140 crosses the Monocacy River, to take part in the dedication of a bridge to memorialize Hayes’ sacrifice and service to his country.

The Baltimore Sun reported that Hayes was the sixth Marylander to die in Iraq in less than 30 days, and the twentieth Marylander to die in the last 20 months.

Army Specialist Erik W. Hayes

American Legion Post 168, Thurmont

The Membership Picnic will be held on Sunday, September 8, starting at 1:00 p.m. Doors open at noon. Tickets are $25.00 each and are available at the bar. To purchase a ticket and attend the picnic, your 2024 dues need to be paid and you must be 21 years old. The deadline to purchase your ticket is Sunday, September 1. You MUST show your 2024 membership card at the gate entrance to attend.  We are looking forward to a good time and want to thank all the volunteers in advance for all they do for the picnic. This is also a good time to pay your 2025 dues.

Platoon 22 was presented with a check for $7,000 from the 3rd Annual Golf Tournament (shown above). Pictured from left are Allen Middendorff; Alex Uphold, State Farm Thurmont Office; Niki Falzone, Executive Director of Platoon22; Rick Hall; Debra Middendorff; and Carie Stafford.

Octoberfest is quickly approaching, and volunteers are always needed. Please check in with your Officers to see where you can be useful. The Auxiliary is always looking for baked goods. Cookies are a hit, so if you can bake a few dozen, that would be great.

Remember to follow us on Facebook (The American Legion Post 168)for weekly and upcoming events like Pop-up Shops, Veterans Luncheon, and Breakfast with Santa.

“The Patriot’s Pen” Essay Contest

Each year, the VFW Post 6658 Auxiliary in Emmitsburg sponsors a contest, titled “The Patriot’s Pen,” which is open to students in grades 6 through 8.

Students are required to do a typed essay of 300-400 words based on the theme: “My Voice in America’s Democracy.” Monetary prizes are given to the winners on local, state, and national levels. Judging is based on knowledge of theme, theme development, and clarity of ideas.

If interested, please contact Annette Wivell at 240-675-0356 for an entry form. Entry deadline to VFW Post 6658, Emmitsburg, is October 31, 2024.

“Voice of Democracy” Contest

Each year, the VFW Post 6658 in Emmitsburg sponsors a contest, titled “Voice of Democracy,” which is open to students in grades 9 through 12. Students are required to record a 3-5 minute audio essay based on the theme: “Is America Today Our Forefathers’ Vision?” 

Monetary prizes are given to the winners on local, state, and national levels. Judging is based on originality, content, and delivery.

If interested, please contact Eric Wivell at 240-675-0346 for an entry form. Entry deadline to VFW Post 6658, Emmitsburg, is October 31, 2024.

The Benefits of Chromium

by Dr. Thomas K. Lo, Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center

Chromium, a type of chemical element that is actually a hard and brittle metal, is a trace mineral needed by the body in small amounts for healthy functioning.
   Chromium is well-researched for blood sugar and diabetes control, heart health, weight management, and brain health. It plays a role in the insulin-signaling pathways that allow our bodies to control the amount of sugar we take in, helping balance blood glucose levels and giving us stable energy.
   In addition, chromium is associated with longevity and improved cardiovascular health due to its role in metabolizing fats, in addition to proteins, carbs, and other nutrients.
   Chromium is naturally present in many whole foods, including brewer’s yeast, certain kinds of meats, vegetables, potatoes, and whole grains. It enters the body mostly through diet since it’s stored in soil and rocks that penetrate the crops we wind up eating, plus in smaller amounts in the water that we drink.  

   
Deficiency Symptoms
   According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, chromium deficiency isn’t very common in the U.S. and other developed nations since most people consume enough daily on average to meet or exceed the “adequate intake” amount. 
   On the other hand, some medical researchers believe chromium deficiency is much more prevalent, especially in people who don’t properly respond to insulin—which is a good deal of the population that’s overweight and eats a poor diet.
   People with diabetes and the elderly are more likely to have a chromium deficiency than otherwise healthy adults or children.
   When a chromium-based deficiency does occur, common symptoms include:

Poor blood glucose control;

Worsened levels of weak bones and bone loss;

Low energy, fatigue;

Poor skin health;

Higher risk for high cholesterol and heart complications;

Low concentration and poor memory;

Worsened eye health;

Mood changes;

Changes in appetite;

Changes in weight;

Stunted growth and development; and

Delayed time in healing wounds or recovering from surgery.


   The established dietary reference intakes of chromium were developed by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1989 and are based on the amount needed by otherwise healthy people, so your exact needs may differ a bit depending on your current health, weight, and level of activity.
  
Health Benefits
   Chromium can help enhance the role of insulin, the critical hormone that controls blood sugar and helps bring glucose into cells where it’s used for bodily energy. It also supports a healthy metabolism and storage of nutrients throughout the body since it can help you better absorb and distribute nutrients from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins found in the foods you eat.

Brewer’s yeast (also called nutritional yeast), for example, is a high source of chromium and has been found to help support the metabolism of sugar (in the form of glucose) within the blood, which is beneficial for preventing glucose intolerance, insulin resistance, and diabetes formation.
   One study conducted by the Human Nutrition Research Center U.S. Department of Agriculture found that when individuals being treated for type 2 diabetes were either given a placebo or chromium supplements over a four-month period each day, while continuing to take normal medications and not changing eating habits, insulin values and cholesterol levels decreased significantly in the group given supplemental chromium compared to the placebo group.
   Chromium helps reduce high cholesterol. It is needed for the normal metabolism of fats, including cholesterol. Research shows a link between higher chromium intake and healthier arteries and levels of blood cholesterol. Some studies even show that people who die from heart disease tend to have lower levels of chromium in the blood at the time of death.
   When researchers at the Department of Medical Education of Mercy Hospital and Medical Center tested the effects of chromium supplementation in adults over a 42-day period, the participants experienced lowered levels of total cholesterol and lower levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) “bad” cholesterol when taking chromium compared to the placebo group.
   Chromium may help prevent weight gain and overeating in the form of chromium picolinate. It has been associated with a reduction in the risk for obesity, less weight gain, and may positively affect food intake. At this time, the exact mechanism by which it affects hunger and weight is still unknown, but some studies find that higher chromium intake is associated with a reduction in adipose tissue (fat accumulation in the body) and better-controlled eating.
   One study done by the Biomedical Research Center at the Louisiana State University found that chromium supplements effectively helped modulate food intake in healthy, overweight adult women who

comparing the effects of chromium versus placebo in 42 overweight women over an eight-week period, the group taking chromium daily experienced reduced food intake, reduced hunger levels, fewer fat cravings, and a slight decrease in body weight.
   Recent studies highlight the role of healthy insulin response in maintaining brain health and cognitive function into old age. Because chromium can improve glucose levels and insulin response, it may act as a beneficial modulator of brain function and is associated with a reduction of age-related alterations of the brain.
Specifically, it is linked to healthier hypothalamic functions. The hypothalamus is a central part of the autonomic nervous system that helps control body temperature, thirst, hunger, sleep, and emotional activity.
   Research suggests that chromium can help keep the hypothalamus in a more youthful state, better regulate appetite in elderly adults, and prevent negative effects on brain neurons caused by aging.
   Chromium, because of its beneficial role in controlling blood glucose, may help protect you from age-related eye disorders like glaucoma.

Glaucoma is related to diabetes and is caused by a buildup of fluid in the eye, adding harmful pressure to the eye’s delicate optic nerve, retina, and lens, which can eventually lead to blindness.
   Chromium may help protect bones from fractures and osteoporosis by slowing the loss of calcium, so it might be beneficial for preventing bone loss and bone-related disorders that are especially common in older women.

Best Food Sources

According to the USDA, broccoli, grapes, potatoes, garlic, basil, grass-fed beef, turkey, green beans, apples, and bananas, are the best food sources for obtaining more chromium naturally through your diet.
   Most nutrition experts agree that food sources are a much healthier way to obtain the right amount of chromium.
   As with all nutrients, it is best to obtain enough from natural whole-food sources. This way, you know you’re acquiring the right mix of vitamins and minerals that nature intended.


   If you are struggling with health issues, call the Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center at 240-651-1650 for a free consultation. Dr. Lo uses Nutritional Response Testing® to analyze the body to determine the underlying causes of ill or non-optimum health.

The office is located at 7310 Grove Road #107, Frederick, MD. Check out the website at www.doctorlo.com.

by Kristen Bodmer

For those going back to school, we have some advice from the Thurmont Senior Center:

To ALL students returning to school, if you see any of the following: a student struggling to make friends; a student being picked on; a student who is new, shy, or not with the “in crowd”; or a student eating lunch alone…BE A LEADER, BE A WARRIOR, say “Hello.” Smile at them. Ask if you can sit with them, include them. You never know what that person is facing—inside or outside of school. Have a great 2024-2025 school year.

Summer is coming to an end, and we are ready to welcome fall at the Thurmont Senior Center, with all of the beautiful leaves changing colors and crisp breezes blowing. We will be spending time together laughing and playing games and would love for you to come join us.

September is full of activities. Take the opportunity to look at the calendar of events we have scheduled in the Community Calendar in this issue. You can also find our calendar on the website at thurmontseniorcenter.org, on Facebook, or come into the center and ask for one. Don’t forget we serve lunch every day at noon. If you are not able to stay, you can just pick up your lunch. We have quite a few people who pick up lunch from the center now. Just remember to call the day before or by 9:15 a.m. on the morning of the lunch. 

August was a fun-filled month. We had two exciting Bingos. We had our Potluck and General Meeting, and we had Forever Young come and entertain us. We stretched and exercised, we played Farkle, Hand and Foot, Pinochle, and Poker. We laughed and laughed. We also had coffee, tea, and goodies galore! You just never know how much fun you can have. We would love for you to join us for some fun and fellowship. We have a free balance and strength exercise session daily on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. We love playing games at the Thurmont Senior Center, including Pinochle on Tuesdays, Bunko on the second Thursday of the month, Farkle on the fourth Thursday of the month, and Dominoes on Thursdays. We also play Bingo every first and third Wednesday of the month; if we have a fifth Wednesday, we have a Special Bingo. It is always a fun time, full of laughter and special homemade treats for halftime. I can’t forget to mention coffee since we are told it is the best, so come in and have a cup with us. Just to let you know, we have a whole corner dedicated to exercise. We have two treadmills, a stair climber, and a recumbent bicycle for use during our hours, from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. There is no charge to use this equipment.

Some activities may have a minimal cost, but joining the center is absolutely free.

We really love having the community use the center. There are so many different possibilities for renting our space, and the price is very affordable. Call the Thurmont Senior Center to rent for a baby shower, a birthday party, a bridal shower, and much more.

If you are looking for a volunteer opportunity, I would love to talk with you. We are in need of volunteers to pick seniors up and take them to different places in Thurmont, like the grocery store, bank, pharmacy, or the local doctor’s office. This is an opportunity to be on a call list to help out, not necessarily daily, but perhaps once a week. 

Just a reminder that Colorfest is coming up, and we will be having our yard sale. If you have items that you would like to donate to the yard sale, we welcome donations.

As always, if you have questions, please don’t hesitate to call us at 301-271-7911.

Hand and Foot being played: Carol Parent, Joan Schaper, Verna Radcliffe, Gale DiSalvo, Blanca Kinek, Joan Follin, and Denise Mayne.

Nancy Popejoy enjoys a nice ripe tomato, donated by Sunny Hill Growers.

A fun game of Pinochle: Nancy Glass, Moe Snyder, Rich Jensen, Dick Glass, Jeannie Schifflet, Angie Hamlin, and Ella McDowell.

BY Caitlyn Kirby

We are heading into September, and it’s a great time to remember how to have some late-summer fun. Come engage, enhance, and enrich yourself with the many activities at the Emmitsburg 50+ Center, including a variety of exercises, crafts, games, and trips. As schedules and lives change during this time of year, it’s a great time for fun and expanding social circles. Hope to see you!

The Emmitsburg 50+ Center offers different options for exercise. There are times for moderate- and low-intensity video exercises with an instructor that occur daily. There is also an “unrulies” pickleball group that meets weekly. If structured exercise is not for you, the center also offers an open gym period that allows guests to utilize the gym for creative exercise or sport. If not any of these options, then maybe come join the walking group for a good morning constitutional.

If exercise is not your thing, we also have game and craft times. For game time, come in and join an ongoing group or game, or bring in your own game. The crafts activities for September include the “Fall Door Decor” on Thursday, September 12, and the Macrame “Make and Take” on Thursday, September 19. Additionally, the acrylics on canvas paint-by-numbers will be returning on Tuesdays; however, days may be negotiable. Also, the stained-glass lab will be returning every Monday. Come and let your creativity move you!

Please keep in mind that through September 30, we are offering Lunch Bunch meals for free for all eligible participants. This is an exciting opportunity to visit the center and bring a friend or to meet new people! We have Lunch Bunch every Monday at noon. All you need to do is call ahead at least three business days in advance to reserve your meal.

Please call the center at 301-600-6350 or email emmitsburgseniorcenter@frederickcountymd.gov if you have any questions.

Lion Ruth Heaney

In days long ago, mom and dad were taken care of by their family and might remain in the house where they were reared as they aged. Today, that is not the case. A bit of context may help.

A chart from the U.S. Census Bureau is enlightening: In 1800, 6 percent of the U.S. population was urban and 94 percent was rural. Families on the farms and homesteads were contained units with everything that was needed, including children to help run the farm and take care of family members of different ages, as necessary. Transportation was slow and the doctor traveled to the patient.

Urban population compared to rural population in the same U.S. Census Bureau creeps slowly along, but there are significant shifts.

One consequential change appeared in 1900, when data showed that 40 percent was urban and 60 percent was rural. In 1950, the numbers were reversed: 60 percent was urban and 40 percent was rural. By 1990, 75 percent was urban and 25 percent was rural.

Facts from the website https://www. seniorliving.org/history/1800-1990- changes-urbanrural-us-population/ paint this picture: “The life expectancy of a man ranged from 33 years to 47 in 1900, and very few people made it to old age. Only four percent of people born in 1900 made it to age 85 and 10 to 12 percent to age 65. Old age and senior care were rare.”

In 2022, according to blogs.cdc. gov/NCHS, “The life expectancy at birth for the U.S. population in 2022 was 77.5 years. In the same year, the life expectancy at birth for men is 75 and the life expectancy at birth for females is 81.”

In 1965, Medicare and Medicaid came to be, and medicine felt a seismic shift. The idea of a nursing home began in 1970, and hospice care began in 1974. Today, there are a myriad of possibilities, but assisted senior living is a popular choice.

According to the National Survey of Residential Care Facilities, there are now 31,000 assisted-living facilities nationwide, housing almost 1 million seniors.

Reviewing the senior living options now available to senior citizens can make them and their caregivers throw up their hands in despair. How do they navigate the possibilities open to seniors as they are living longer and in better health thanks to modern medicine?

Fortunately, there are professionals who know the ins and outs of senior living options. Ms. Kristie Kidd is one of those professionals. She has received a hospice tenure and has become an assisted living community executive director. On a personal level, she was the principal caregiver for her grandmother who had Alzheimer’s for eight years, as well as for her grandfather for eleven years when he could no longer live by himself. These experiences led Ms. Kidd to establish the Oasis Senior Living Advisors in 2018. Jason Vaughn, her husband, joined the group in 2023.

Ms. Kidd and Mr. Vaughn, along with their qualified Oasis Senior Advisors, serve areas in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, to “…make senior living simple. Oasis Senior Advisors is here to help. No matter where you go, Oasis makes getting there easy.”

Please join the Lions Club on Wednesday, August 14, at 6:30 p.m., at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Thurmont, when Ms. Kidd will be our speaker. There is no charge, and the meeting is open to the public. There will be a wealth of information to benefit everyone.


by Mitchell Tester, College Student

““FAT OLD SUN””

The sun is a means for all living beings to exist, sitting at the center of our own solar system, 93 million miles from us here on Earth. Taking a trip around the Sun would take you 2.7 million miles, or 1,889 days, at a steady 60 miles per hour. On the contrary, a trip around Earth would take you only 17 days.

Although the Sun trumps the Earth in terms of size, the Sun is surprisingly quite small when compared to some stars of neighboring solar systems and galaxies. In fact, the biggest star in the known universe, UY Scuti, has a radius 1,700 times larger than the Sun. Therefore, the circumference of UY Scuti sits at a staggering 4,619,398,440 billion miles. A nice leisurely journey around UY Scuti would take 3 million days, or nearly 9,000 years, at 60 miles per hour.

Since driving on a star is impossible for many reasons, let’s instead say that you wanted to fly around UY Scuti in a spacecraft with speeds similar to the Apollo 11 mission, fitted with protection against the radiation and immense heat and with a breakneck speed of 24,790 miles per hour. Despite our more than impressive imaginary craft, it would still take us 21 years to fly around the star at a steady pace. This means, this big star is large enough to fit 6 quadrillion Earths inside of it, unlike the meager 1.3 million Earths that can fit inside our own star, the Sun.

The Sun started its life at the center of a solar nebula, basically an interstellar dust cloud, some 4 billion years ago. Interestingly enough, scientists have strongly theorized that our own planets and everything else in our solar system were formed in this same cloud. Disturbances by way of neighboring clouds, exploding stars, and other celestial occurrences are ways for the dust in these clouds to clump together, in addition to the force of their own gravity, growing larger and larger, until after millions of years, a protostar is formed from the core of that solar nebula. And for another 100,000 to 10 million years, it continues to collect mass until it finally stops collapsing in on itself. The time frame of a star’s life and its stages are heavily dependent on the mass of the star, so stay tuned for next month when I talk about the birth and death of stars in part two of “Fat Old Sun.”

For our protostar, eventually the immense pressure, extremely high temperatures, and accretion of material causes hydrogen to fuse into helium by way of nuclear fusion. When the atomic nuclei, hydrogen, starts to bond into a single heavier one, helium, the star is then born. At 25 million degrees Fahrenheit, it burns 600 million tons of hydrogen into helium every second, the equivalent of 10 billion hydrogen bombs.

The pressure that the star gives outward through its nuclear fusion is great enough that it is equal to the pressure inward, inward pressure being the collapsing of material because of gravity. This balancing act is something called hydrostatic equilibrium. One force holds the Sun together, making it spherical, while the other keeps it from collapsing in on itself. Like most things in life, balance is vital.

The nuclear fusion that is occurring in our Sun is occurring in the core, where the pressure and the temperature are so high that the nuclei can be fused together rather than be repelled from one another (which they naturally do).

The energy that is created by the heart of the Sun is called photons, packets of energy that move in waves. The packets of energy, photons, are created by the excitement of an electron and its journey back to a stable state (they like to be stable), that energy needs to go somewhere, so it goes outward. So, the photons’ journey then begins, saying goodbye to their atomic friend, they then move toward the radiative layer of the Sun, to be absorbed and emitted many times throughout their journey.

Inside the radiative layer, the energy created in the core is carried by photons outward, through thermal radiation, which occurs from the high temperatures that cause kinetic energy (energy that is created by movement) of random movements of atoms and molecules in the matter of the Sun. This is at the (literal) core of what heats us here on Earth.

As energy is carried through the radiative layer, it then moves to the convection layer of the Sun, still being absorbed and emitted over and over. Heat rises, which means the Sun, in a figurative sense, lives by the same rules as heating your house does. Due to heat rising, it means the coolness sinks to make way for the heat. This rotation in temperature causes convection—heated gas rises and the denser cooler gas sinks.

The photons continue their journey outward through the hot gas, making their way into the photosphere, which is the visible surface of the Sun. This photosphere is the coolest layer, although still reaching temps of 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. If you look at an image of the Sun, you will notice a granulation texture seen on the surface. That texture is the before-mentioned clumps of hot gas rising, and the darker (in comparison observed as black) clumps of cool gas sinking inward. When I say gas, I am specifically talking about a superheated gas called plasma, often referred to as the fourth state of matter. Plasma is what happens when extreme conditions are met, superheated matter (in this case, gas) is stripped of its electron(s), electrically charging it (referred to as becoming ionized) and turning it into plasma.

The photons move onward, continuing their journey towards Earth, then reaching the Sun’s atmosphere’s first layer, the inner layer, the chromosphere, a thin layer of red-colored plasma (chromo meaning color). The chromosphere is usually hidden from our view, although it can be seen by special satellite telescopes and even during a solar eclipse. While the photons continue to rise or move outward, they reach the corona, the outermost layer of the Sun. The corona is the least dense layer of the Sun, in addition to carrying the least amount of energy. Despite this, it is extremely hot, upwards of 2 million degrees Fahrenheit, even hotter than the chromosphere. There are many theories as to why the outer layer is hotter, although there is no definitive answer yet.

Photons, moving outward in all directions, passing through the outer reaches of the Sun’s corona, having been emitted and absorbed countless times throughout the Sun’s layers, are now in space, traveling away from the Sun. Interestingly enough, the distance that photons can reach is not finite, continuing on forever as long as there is no interruption, which can occur by way of a planet, black hole, or anything else that absorbs light. This is how we see the light of stars that are trillions and trillions of miles away. Our photons, after completing their journey through the Sun, are then carried through the vacuum of space, by electromagnetic radiation at the speed of light, to our home, the Earth. It actually takes light, or photons, roughly 8 minutes to travel the 93,000,000 miles to Earth. While from the core to the corona, the journey can take upward of around 10,000 to 170,000 years.

The photons, nearing at the end of their journey, are now coming close to contact with Earth’s atmosphere. Before telling you what happens to our photon friends when contact is made with our Earth’s atmosphere, I must explain one thing: Photons are made up of everything in the electromagnetic spectrum, which includes all the colors of visible light. As you may know, all those colors together make white light. Think of Isaac Newton and his experiment of letting light travel through a prism—white light in, all the colors of the rainbow out.

Have you ever found yourself looking up and wondering why the sky is blue? Photons do indeed play a role in that, although photons alone are not the reason our sky is blue. Our sky is blue due to nitrogen and oxygen making up 99 percent of our atmosphere, therefore, effectively scattering the blue and violet light from the photons, while the other colors of the white light spectra make their way down to Earth, mostly unphased. This is also why the Sun appears a yellowish orange to us here on Earth; while, if you were in space, the Sun would be white because it is white light. Although here on Earth, due to nitrogen and oxygen effectively scattering blue light, the lack of blue light (because it is being scattered in the atmosphere) leaves the Sun looking a yellowish orange. If you are wondering why the Sun appears red when it is close to the horizon, that is due to the light going through more of the atmosphere, in return scattering more blue light than normal, leaving the Sun reddish orange rather than yellow.

So, now you know, as you walk outside in the morning to see that (technically white) fat old sun rising, feeling the warmth on your face, the particles that gave way to this feeling took 10,000 to 170,000 years (and 8 minutes) to reach you.

by Tricia Bush, CPA, CFP®, Partner, Bestgate Advisors

Pay O f f  Yo u r  M o r t g a g e  E a r ly o r  I n v e s t ?

Maybe you’ve overheard co-workers debating or you were at the local diner or chatting with neighbors—about whether it’s smarter to pay off your mortgage quicker or invest your spare cash for better returns. It’s a question that can leave you scratching your head, wondering what’s best for your hard-earned dollars. Should you prioritize paying off your mortgage early or invest extra funds to earn higher potential returns? This decision isn’t just about numbers; it’s deeply personal and can vary significantly based on individual circumstances and financial philosophies.

The Case for Paying Off Your Mortgage Early

For some homeowners, the satisfaction of owning their home outright is powerful. Imagine the peace of mind that comes with knowing you no longer owe a monthly payment to the bank. This approach can be particularly appealing if you are conservative or nearing retirement.

Personal Finance Philosophy: Dave Ramsey, a well-known financial expert, advocates aggressively paying down debt, including mortgages, as a key step toward financial freedom. His philosophy emphasizes the psychological and financial benefits of being debt-free, which can provide stability and reduce financial stress.

Consider Maria and John, a couple in their early 50s, who have been diligently paying down their mortgage over the past two decades. With retirement on the horizon, they prioritize eliminating their housing costs to free up more of their retirement income for travel and hobbies. For them, the emotional satisfaction of owning their home outright outweighs the potential returns from investing.

Argument for Investing in a Higher Interest Rate Market

On the flip side, investing extra funds in the stock market or other higher-yield investments can potentially generate greater returns than the interest saved by paying off a low-interest mortgage early. This strategy appeals to those who have a higher risk tolerance and believe in the power of compound interest over time.

Investment Perspective: Financial advisors like Suze Orman often advocate for investing extra funds rather than paying off low-interest debt quickly. They argue that, historically, the stock market has provided average returns that outpace mortgage interest rates over the long term. This approach assumes disciplined investing and a diversified portfolio to reduce risk.

Take Tom and Sarah, a young couple in their 30s with a growing family. They recently refinanced their mortgage at a competitive rate and are considering their options with extra income. Tom, an avid investor, calculates that over the next 20 years, historical stock market returns could significantly outpace their mortgage interest. They plan to invest the difference while maintaining a comfortable emergency fund and saving for their children’s education.

Personalities and Financial Behavior

The decision between paying off a mortgage early and investing often hinges on personal financial behaviors and goals. It’s essential to honestly assess whether you are likely to invest the difference, or if there’s a risk of spending it on discretionary expenses.

Behavioral Finance Insight: Research shows that individuals who are disciplined savers and investors may benefit more from investing extra funds. Conversely, if you tend to spend windfalls or struggle with saving, paying off your mortgage early might provide more tangible benefits.

Consider Jack, who inherited a sum of money and initially planned to invest it but found himself splurging on a luxury vacation and home upgrades. Reflecting on his spending habits, he realizes that for him, the psychological benefit of being debt-free would have provided greater long-term security and peace of mind.

Conclusion: What’s Right for You?

Ultimately, the decision to pay off your mortgage early or invest extra funds depends on your unique financial situation, goals, and behavioral tendencies. There is no one-size-fits-all answer.

Here are some key considerations to guide your decision-making process:

  1. Interest Rates: Compare your mortgage interest rate with expected investment returns.
  • Risk Tolerance: Assess your comfort level with investment risk and market volatility.
  • Financial Goals: Consider your short-term and long-term financial objectives, such as retirement savings or funding education.
  • Behavioral Factors: Reflect on your spending habits and financial discipline.

Before making a decision, consult with a trusted financial advisor who can provide personalized guidance based on your circumstances. Whether you prioritize the emotional satisfaction of owning your home outright or aim to maximize long-term investment returns, understanding your motivations and financial behaviors is crucial.

In the end, achieving financial security and peace of mind is about aligning your financial decisions with your values and goals. Whether you follow Dave Ramsey’s debt-free philosophy or opt for strategic investing, make sure your choice reflects what’s truly important to you and your family’s future.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial planning advice. Please consult with a certified financial advisor to discuss your specific situation and plan.

Jeff Yocum

Prologue

Observations from the Woodpile” is a collection of essays bundled together and given as a birthday present for my wife, Nancy, in 1997. Twenty-seven years have passed since the collection was given. The two main subjects of the essays, my sons Justus and Jacob, have grown into men with families of their own.

Next Winter’s Wood

We moved into our house the day after Thanksgiving in 1991. The house did not have a heating system except for four fireplaces and one wood stove. There was not a stick of firewood on the property . Fortunately, some friends gave us a half cord of firewood as a housewarming gift. The first construction project we did was to install electric heaters throughout the house. As I recall, I spent many nights buried under a pile of blankets doubting the wisdom of our home investment.

We bumped along that winter scavenging wood wherever we could wi thout having to break up the furniture. The following fall we had enough wood for the upcoming winter. By spring, the woodshed was nearly empty. The wood was adequate although it hissed a lot as it burned, and it took con siderable effort to get a cold stove started. The wood had not seasoned properly.

By the next fall, the woodshed was full, and I ordered another truckload. One of the boys, I can’t remember which one, noticed we had a full woodshed, and we were getting ready to cut another load as well. He didn’t quite understand why we needed all that wood for the winter.

Looking a year or two into the future is a long way for a little kid. I explained to him the wood we were about to cut was for the following winter. We would burn it more than a year from then. In the spring, we would put it in the woodshed and the hot summer air would dry it. By next winter it would be the best quality firewood.

Since that time, we’ve installed a second woodstove in the family room. We use more wood, but the power bill is less than half. We’ve also gotten even more ahead of our wood consumption. By the time winter starts now , we have about one and a half winter’s worth of wood.

There’s a certain satisfaction in knowing you’re ahead. Having a little reserve instills confidence. I’ve tried to teach the kids to always have a little reserve in everything they do. A little extra money, some extra food in the house, a little extra love and grace in a relationship. You never know when you’ll have to draw on it. Maybe never, but it’s good to know it’s there.

Speeding Up Snail Mail

by James Rada, Jr.

Rural Free Delivery came to Frederick County in 1901, a decade after it was first introduced in Westminster in 1891. In that time, it had become popular among those who had it. The Catoctin Clarion noted in 1900, “The rural free delivery grows more unpopular every day, with our citizens. There are constantly being new disadvantages and inconveniences discovered which will never he made satisfactory under our present system.”

Rural Free Delivery was similar to the mail service we experience today, where the mail is delivered to most homes, regardless of where they are located.

The problem—then and now—is ensuring the mail is delivered in a timely manner to remote locations. One way that mail efficiency for Thurmont was increased was by using the Thurmont Trolley to transport any mail from Frederick to Thurmont.

The Thurmont Trolley was part of the Hagerstown and Frederick Railway. Construction on the rail system, which eventually ran from Shady Grove, Pennsylvania, to Thurmont in a huge “U” that passed through Frederick and Hagerstown, began in 1896.

The railway was electrified in 1909, and it became the first electric railroad in the United States to handle freight cars with electric locomotives, but it also handled passenger travel between Frederick and Thurmont.

It was a popular system that everyone seemed pleased with, except for politicians in Washington who didn’t feel the mail should be carried on a trolley. So, in 1911, regulations prohibiting it were passed.

The Thurmont mail from Frederick then had to travel to Baltimore before being loaded onto a Western Maryland Railroad train and sent to Thurmont. This changed a trip of one hour to one that was more than 24 hours.

The Frederick Board of Trade lobbied for a reinstatement of the trolley use, which happened in 1913. However, the change came with a hitch. It didn’t improve the delivery time of the letters because the mail was sent from Frederick too late.

It arrived in Thurmont at 7:15 a.m., which was 15 minutes after the three postal carriers—William H. Damuth, Frank Albaugh, and J. H. Freeze—had left Thurmont to start their routes.

So, although the trolley was once again being used to deliver mail, the mail was still arriving at the same time. For instance, it was leaving Frederick one morning and arriving in Thurmont the next morning in time to go out. Switching back to the later trolley meant that it left Frederick one morning and arrived in Thurmont in time for the mail to go out that same morning, it arrived later and could not be delivered until the next morning.

“To serve the greatest number of people, Frederick mail should arrive at Thurmont on the 6 o’clock car,” The Catoctin Clarion urged. “It can then be delivered at the post office and by the carriers in a few hours.”

Changes were eventually made to improve the speed of mail delivery, but as the age of railroads faded, the trolley soon became a slower delivery method than trucks.

The last trip of the Thurmont Trolley was on February 20, 1954. By that time, the trolley, which had carried 3.8 million passengers around the county in 1920, had carried only 500,000 passengers the previous year.

“Gradually the bus and the passenger car snipped away at trolley patronage, gradually lines were discontinued, until the 17-mile stretch from Frederick to Thurmont was the only link in the state between two such urban points,” Betty Sullivan wrote in the Frederick Post. “Despite competition this trolley kept its faithful friends and some 60 commuters will use it until the final day.”

However, the U.S. mail was not on board the train and hadn’t been for many years.

Richard D. L. Fulton

Earthquakes are not common in Maryland, but they are also not rare, most being so insignificant that they are not even detectable by any of the state’s residents whenever they do occur.

But why does the state even have earthquakes, and why are they not like the West Coast versions? The answer lies in the geological history of the state, a history which it shares with the other Mid-Atlantic States.

The more constant and dramatic earthquakes that occur on the west coast are the result of the ongoing collision of the western edge of the North American continental plate colliding with the edge of the Pacific continental plate. Like an irresistible force colliding with an immovable object, the result of the two plates grinding against one another has produced, not only innumerable earthquakes, but volcanism as well, in the form of active volcanoes.

The earthquakes in Maryland are the product of a similar force, but one that occurred more than 200 million years ago when a supercontinent, called Pangea, began to break up. In this case, the African continental plate, which had adhered itself to the eastern edge of the North American plate, began to break-off and drift away from North America.

The environment at the time was very much like that which is occurring along the west coast of the United States today, only possibly even more violent. As the African continent ripped itself apart from North America, the cataclysmic earthquakes that resulted created deep fractures beneath the surface, which are now called faults (successive series of connected faults are called fault lines, some of which span multiple states.)

Faults, basically being cracks, generally consist of two parts (sides), one side (called a hanging wall), which “hangs” over the opposing side (called a foot wall). Over the course of tens of millions of years, these structures have become weakened from the forces exerted by overlying layers of rock, and the effects of groundwater attacking the structural integrity of the rocks.

Eventually, these opposing fault walls will slip or collapse with such force that they would then generate shock waves which would quickly work their way to the surface, resulting in earthquakes.

To demonstrate the difference between the earthquakes produced by the collision of the Western and Pacific plates, California experiences, on average, 35 measurable earthquakes a day. As a result of the process that produces earthquakes in Maryland, Maryland has experienced only 70 earthquakes since 1758.

As of the date of the writing of this article, the following Maryland communities experienced earthquakes: Spencerville two weeks ago (1.8 magnitude); Rockville six months ago (1.8 magnitude); Sykesville one year ago (1.8 magnitude); Woodlawn two years ago (1.8 magnitude); Highland two years ago 2.1 magnitude). Woodlawn three years ago (one 1.6 magnitude and one 2.6); and Sykesville six years ago (1.5 magnitude). These are low-level magnitude earthquakes with little if any resulting damage.

The first earthquake recorded to have occurred in Maryland took place on April 25, 1758, south of Annapolis. There existed no means whatsoever of measuring the magnitude at that time, so the power of the earthquake remained unknown. According to WTOP News, in Maryland’s extensive earthquake history, the quake had reportedly lasted 30 seconds, and had emitted what was described as “weird noises.”

While Maryland was subjected by earthquakes generated within the state, some of the larger earthquakes which have impacted Maryland were triggered outside of the state.

One of the largest earthquakes to hit Maryland in recent times actually originated in Mineral, Virginia, on August 23, 2011. The quake was rated as having attained a 5.8 magnitude.

The United States Geological Survey summed up the impact as follows: “Moderately heavy damage occurred in a rural region of Louisa County, southwest of Mineral. Widespread light to moderate damage occurred from central Virginia to southern Maryland, including the District of Columbia area. Minor damage (was) reported in parts of Delaware, southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey. Very strongly felt at Boston, Bumpass, Kents Store, Louisa, Mineral, Rhoadesville and Sumerduck. Felt strongly in much of central Virginia and southern Maryland. Felt throughout the eastern US from central Georgia to central Maine and west to Detroit, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois. Felt in many parts of southeastern Canada from Montreal to Windsor.”

Mainly a nuisance quake, which left pictures hung on walls askew and rattling some dishes, one of the quake’s greatest impacts was inflicted in the cellphone network, mainly the result of so many people simultaneously trying to make phone calls, in order to figure out what was going on.

“Significant network volume caused some customers to lose service for about 20 minutes.” Melanie Ortel, a Verizon spokeswoman, told the Easton, Maryland, Record Observer,” adding, “Everything returned to normal, once the tremors ended.”

Typical of what Marylanders experienced in the 2011 earthquake was reflected in the account given to The Baltimore Sun, by Loch Raven Village resident Renate Shelley and her husband, and published in the newspaper’s August 24, 2011, edition, in which the couple stated that they were sitting in their SUV watching their dog play while at Gunpowder State Park when the earthquake struck, and their car, in which they were parked at that time, began moving.

“We felt the car go left, and then right, and then back and forth, but we weren’t driving,” Renate Shelley told the newspaper, adding that her husband, who had been “snoozing,” asked, “What the Hell was that?”

On the lighter side, The Baltimore Sun reported on August 31, 2011, “Less than an hour after the final rumbles… a T-shirt emblazoned with “I Survived the Virginia Earthquake’ was selling for $16.00 on eBay.”

The seller was identified as 29-year-old Catonsville resident Tony Uzupus, who had designed the shirt “within five hours of the quake,” and then posted the shirts on the auction site, reportedly telling The Sun, “I figured I would strike while the iron was hot.”

By August 29, the newspaper reported, Uzupus had sold several dozen shirts.

The most recent earthquake experienced in Maryland did not originate in Maryland, as per the 2011 Virginia quake, and occurred on April 5, 2024.

The 2024 quake—actually two back-to-back quakes—originated in New Jersey. The first quake was a 4.8 magnitude quake and was triggered around 10:23 a.m. in Lebanon, New Jersey, while the second quake was a 4.0 magnitude quake and was triggered around 6:11 a.m. in Gladstone, New Jersey,

The dual earthquakes, felt from New York to Maryland, were more of nuisance quakes than damaging-inflicting ones, although a few quake-related injuries and some structural damages had been reported.

Projecting or predicting when a Maryland earthquake is about to occur is nearly impossible, since, unlike the West Coast earthquakes, there is little-tono advance warning, mainly due to the difference between Maryland geology, and that of the West Coast.

Other than employing earthquake resilient construction in erecting new buildings, the only real defense a resident may have is to simply keep a battery-operated radio on hand and several flashlights, as one would do in order to deal with any power -grid threatening emergency, and to stay off the phones. Individuals placing calls in mass during the 2011 quake caused the communications grid to crash.

James Rada, Jr.

Note: Newspaper excerpts are as they appeared in their respective issues.

August 1924, 100 Years Ago

Union Mfg. Co. Picnic Planned

Former employees as well as those now on the payroll are invited to participate in the second annual picnic of the Union Manufacturing Company, this city, which will be held in Willow Grove Park, near Hagerstown, on Saturday. …

Special arrangements have been made with the Potomac Edison Company wherebytrolleys will carry the employes from the factories located in Thurmont and in this city to thepicnic grounds and return. …

For the enjoyment of the picnickers there will be free amusements, consisting ofdancing, roller coaster, sliding boards, and the merry-go-round.

Frederick News, August 5, 1924

Locked In Stable While Thieves Go Through His Store

Held up at the points of three automatics and locked in an old stable under guard with the knowledge that his general store, near Catoctin Furnace, was being robbed was the experience of Frank W. Fraley, of Catoctin Furnace, shortly after midnight.

Mr. Fraley was returning to his home at Catoctin Furnace from a visit to Thurmont about 12:15 this morning. On the way home he decided to stop in his store to procure some cigarettes and, stopping his machine, he started towards the door of his establishment. Stepping on the porch in front of the store, which is located along the main road, Mr. Fraley heard someone walking around inside, but before he could make an investigation, one of the bandits had crept up behind him and sticking a gun in his ribs, ordered him to throw up his hands.

Two other bandits immediately came out of the store and covering Mr. Fraley with two automatics, they forced him into an old stable and locked the door. One of the bandits was left on guard. Mr. Fraley was kept in the stable for about an hour and a half. During that time, he said, a number of shots were fired, but he was unable to tell who did it.

Frederick News,August 30, 1924

August 1949, 75 Years Ago

King Cobra Snake Arrives at Thurmont

The lone survivor of three king cobras, shipped last month from India, will soon be at home at Gordon Gaver’s Snake farm near Thurmont, it was learned Monday.

One of the three “most deadly reptiles” died en route to New York. Another escaped aboard ship, slipping into the sea and apparently perished. The one consigned to the snake haven near Thurmont was the lone survivor.

It was great disappointment to Mr. Gaver and members and guests of the Maryland Circus Fans Association that the king cobra did not arrive in time to attend their second annual state convention at Thurmont Sunday.

Emmitsburg Chronicle, August 12, 1949

Reservoir Work Nearing Completion

The. Emmitsburg Water Co., through its president, Samuel C. Hays, announced that work on the improvement of the local reservoir was progressing at an accelerated pace.

The aim of the water utility is to increase the capacity of the watershed from its present capacity of three million gallons to 20 million gallons. For some months now, the president stated, work has been going on at a rapid pace and on the construction of the double-barreled concrete spillway, more than 275 tons of cement and gravel have been consumed. Completion of the spillway is expected within the next week or 10 days. When this has been accomplished, it is believed that the project will be about half completed as much other construction to the reservoir is under way.

Emmitsburg Chronicle,August 26, 1949

August 1974, 50 Years Ago

Scout Festival Rated Successful

Boy Scout Troop 284 of Emmitsburg wishes to thank the community for its support through their efforts to raise money for the scouts’ trip to Philmont, New Mexico, next summer. The success of the festival held July 27 was considered overwhelming.

Emmitsburg Chronicle, August 8, 1974

Gettysburg Tower To Be Dedicated

The Dedication and Grand Opening of the National Gettysburg Battlefield Tower will be

held on Saturday, August 17, 1974.

At the brief dedication ceremonies officially opening the facility, guests will hear from Thomas R. Ottenstein, creator and developer of the Tower; Harry Biesecker, President commissioner of Adams County, and the Honorable Robert E. Woodside, former judge and

Attorney General of Pennsylvania and presently Adjunct Professor of Law at the Dickinson School of Law. Robert M. Johnson, creator of the sound and visual program of. The Tower will be master of ceremonies.

The National Tower will provide the several million visitors to the battle site with an unprecedented 3600 view of the historic terrain. Historians have acclaimed the Tower as the ideal way to understand more clearly the strategies of the largest battle ever fought on their own soil and the most important of the Civil War.

Professional groups have praised the aesthetics and creativity of the structure’s unique patented design.

Emmitsburg Chronicle, August 15, 1974

August 1999, 25 Years Ago

Residents Protest Termination of Deputy

The July 12th town meeting was dominated by an outpouring of citizen comments regarding the recent and sudden reassignment of the town’s deputy, John Chance. Approximately 40 people, many wearing stickers or carrying signs that read “Give DeputyJohn a Chance,” were there to show their support for the deputy.

Deputy Chance’s superior was informed by letter, June 25th, that town officials were not satisfied with his enforcement efforts.

Scott McClendon, a resident of Silo Hill, and spokesman for the citizen group, presented the commissioners with a petition signed by approximately 750 people which called for the reinstatement of Deputy Chance. The petition included the signatures of Emmitsburg residents as well as of people living outside the corporate area.

TheEmmitsburg Regional Dispatch, August 1999

Helen Reaver Retires

The infectious laughter and the constant smile that were Helen Reaver’s trademark are

gone from the Town Office. Helen, along with her laughter and smile, has retired from her

job as receptionist, secretary, and assistant to everybody here. She will be sorely missed by everyone for a lot of reasons that will keep popping up for a long time.

Since 1986, a span of 13 years, Helen Reaver was the first person you saw when you entered the Town office. Helen facilitated the payments of tax and utility bills, directed people to meetings with the Town Clerk, zoning administrator, town manager and the Mayor: Angry and disgruntled citizens vented their wrath on this receptionist, who handled each one a bit differently, in a manner that often ended with satisfactory resolution to the grievance and her smile. Older citizens quite often had Helen write their checks; young kids usually left with a lollipop and laughing parents.

TheEmmitsburg Regional, Dispatch, August 1999

Union Mfg. Co. Picnic Planned

Former employes as well as those now on the payroll are invited to participate in the second annual picnic of the Union Manufacturing Company, this city, which will be held in Willow Grove Park, near Hagerstown, on Saturday. …

Special arrangements have been made with the Potomac Edison Company whereby trolleys will carry the employes from the factories located in Thurmont and in this city to the picnic grounds and return. …

For the enjoyment of the picnickers there will be free amusements, consisting of dancing, roller coaster, sliding boards, and the merry-go-round.

Frederick News, August 5, 1924

Locked In Stable While Thieves Go Through His Store

Held up at the points of three automatics and locked in an old stable under guard with the knowledge that his general store, near Catoctin Furnace, was being robbed was the experience of Frank W. Fraley, of Catoctin Furnace, shortly after midnight.

Mr. Fraley was returning to his home at Catoctin Furnace from a visit to Thurmont about 12:15 this morning. On the way home he decided to stop in his store to procure some cigarettes and, stopping his machine, he started towards the door of his establishment. Stepping on the porch in front of the store, which is located along the main road, Mr. Fraley heard someone walking around inside, but before he could make an investigation, one of the bandits had crept up behind him and sticking a gun in his ribs, ordered him to throw up his hands.

Two other bandits immediately came out of the store and covering Mr. Fraley with two automatics, they forced him into an old stable and locked the door. One of the bandits was left on guard. Mr. Fraley was kept in the stable for about an hour and a half. During that time, he said, a number of shots were fired, but he was unable t o tell who did it.

Frederick News, August 30, 1924

Maxine Troxell

Summer is the ideal time to fire up the grill and enjoy your meal outdoors. Whether it’s hot dogs, hamburgers, chicken, or ribs, everything tastes better on the grill. I was looking for some old recipes, and I found this recipe for Texas Honey Sweet & Sour Ribs in my Aunt Erma’s Run of the Mill cookbook. I Hope you enjoy this recipe.

Texas Honey Sweet & Sour Ribs

Ingredients

6 lbs. pork ribs

½ cup honey

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 tsp. seasoned salt

¼ tsp. seasoned pepper

½ cup vinegar

1 cup catsup

½ cup water

½ cup soy sauce

Directions

  1. Cut ribs into serving size pieces. Place in Dutch oven
  2. Add vinegar and enough water to cover rib. Cover and simmer for 1 hour
  3. Drain ribs and place on large baking dish.
  4. Combine remaining ingredients in saucepan and simmer for 45 minutes
  5. Pour sauce over ribs (save small amount for glazing). Let stand for 30 minutes
  6. Place ribs on grill, bone-side down over low coals. Grill 10-15 minutes
  7. Turn meaty side down and cook for 15 more minutes.
  8. Remove from grill and brush with remaining sauce.

by Buck Reed

Mead Maker

.“When Odin drank of the song-mead he composed poems which for sweetness and grandeur have never been surpassed. He was the first poet and knew well the magic of the mead. For the source of it was secret, and was discovered only by Ivalde, the watchman of the primeval fount from which life first came and by which life is ever sustained. Then was it carried to the beauteous car of the moon, and from thence to the regions of fire. There it was won by love mixed with wrong, and when the high god who descended to the deeps drank of it, he soared as an eagle to heaven, which he filled with song. From heaven has song descended upon earth, and in song are all the sufferings which were begotten over the mead.”

~Teutonic Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie

Yes, I am a Mead Maker. I have actually been making it for 30 years and have been teaching sporadically over that time. I have also been making beer and wine and teaching those skills on a more consistent basis. We actually ran a class regularly for almost 20 years, teaching students the fundamentals of beer making. Although I know way more about making beer, I still call myself a Mead Maker.

So, what is mead? The simple answer is: It is an alcoholic beverage made by fermenting honey. I consider it the stuff that civilizations were built on and legends were made. If you looked in the glasses of Odin, Dionysus, and Maeve, you would certainly find mead. Weather you called it Paradise, Valhalla or Heaven, you will find a river of mead flowing through it for all good people to share and revel in.

Love and war were both influenced by this drink throughout history. The Vikings and Picts went into battle with mead as their secret weapon. Before a raid, Vikings laced their mead with wormwood, a very strong hallucinogen, that put them into a frenzy. When a couple got married, the tribal mead maker provided them enough mead for 30 days. This gave us the term “Honeymoon,” which noted the time and the honey the drink provided. Nine months later, if a male child was produced, the Mead Maker was regarded as a skill ed craftsman. Many Mead Makers boasted that they had up to a 50 percent success rate of male babies over female.

Traditional mead making was, and still is, a time-consuming project. It can take up to a year to get it in the bottle, and if aged properly , can take months and sometimes years to get it right. Because honey doesn’t go bad, it can age for much longer periods than beer or wine. And because it is magic, the aging process will only make it taste better.

In our class that we will offer in the fall at the Flying Barrel , we will shorten the time we will need to get it in the bottle, but not necessarily the aging time. We will be offering our students all the knowledge and techniques needed to produce quality mead in their home, and they will have two case s of mead to take home to start their journey.

Mead to me is part science, part art, and as our ancestors believed, a whole lot of magic. I can feel it as we make it and drink it. And maybe we can make a connection to the people who believed that if all things are no t considered sacred, than nothing is sacred. We could all use a little of that in these times.

Did you like this article? Or do you have an idea for another article? Contact me at Rguyinthekitchen@aol.com with any comments or if you are interested in participating in our class.

Spinach, Feta & Artichoke Tater Tot Casserole

High-Protein Sesame-Free Vegetarian Nut-Free Gluten-Free

Ingredients

12 large eggs

2/3 cup half-and-half

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried dill

¼ teaspoon ground pepper

2 cups frozen quartered artichoke hearts, thawed and squeezed dry

1½ cups frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry

½ cup frozen diced onions

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

13 ounces frozen potato tots (about 3 cups), thawed

¼ teaspoon salt

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat a 7-by-11-inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Whisk eggs, half-and-half, garlic powder, oregano, dill and pepper together in the prepared dish until thoroughly combined. Scatter artichoke hearts, spinach and onions over the egg mixture; sprinkle evenly with feta. Arrange potato tots over the feta in a single layer, leaving about ¼ inch between each tot.Combine oil, lemon juice, chives, honey, mustard, and salt in a small bowl or in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Whisk or shake well.
  2. Cover with foil and bake until the middle is just set and the edges are slightly golden brown, 50 to 55 minutes. Sprinkle with salt before serving.

by Richard D. L. Fulton

Captain John Ryan Dennison

Army Captain (John) Ryan Dennison exemplified the West Point motto of Duty, Honor, and Country throughout his life.

~ John Ryan Dennison Scholarship Fund (The Community Foundation of Fred erick County)

Captain Lieutenant John Dennison was born on February 22, 1982, at the Landstuhl Army Medical Center in Landstuhl, Landkreis Kaiserslautern, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, to parents Shannon and Jack Dennison, of Ijamsville. He had one sister, Colleen M. Dennison, and one brother, Christopher R. Dennison.

Dennison graduated in June 2000 from Urbana High School, where he played football and engaged in wrestling, according to legacy.com; additionally, he was a member of the National Honor Society, a Boys State participant, and a Big Brother volunteer.

The Baltimore Sun reported on February 17, 2006, that Dennison had played offensive guard on the Frederick County High School’s varsity football team “when the school won back-to-back state championships in 1998 and 1999.”

Dennison received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he subsequently graduated in May 2004, with a Bachelor of Science degree in international relations.

While at West Point, he was commissioned as a second lieutenant, was a member of the Black Knights skydiving team, and was the team president in his in senior year, according to legacy.com.

Dennison met his wife, Haley Ann Edwards, while both were enrolled as cadets at West Point. The couple was subsequently married after graduation. The Baltimore Sun had reported on November 17, 2006, that Dennison and Edwards had initially met in a philosophy course at West Point.

The Sun further reported that the newlyweds’ honeymoon had consisted of a cruise around the Mediterranean. The couple was separated for a few months for Dennison to partake in officer-training classes but was reunited in spring 2005, whereupon they bought their first (and only) home.

Dennison had completed the Infantry Officer Basic Course and Ranger training before becoming a member of the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in April 2005. According to his obituary published on legacy. com, Dennison had been qualified for airborne, ranger, sapper, and jump-master duties.

In September 2005, he deployed with his unit to New Orleans to provide aid in Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts, according to findagrave.com.

In August 2006, he was deployed to Kuwait with the Fifth Squadron, 73rd Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

In early September 2006, his unit was deployed into Iraq, east of Baghdad (as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom), according to findagrave. com. Before his deployment to Iraq, his wife, now a first lieutenant, had been deployed to Afghanistan.

Dennison was fatally wounded when he was struck by two gunshots while serving as a platoon leader and a member of Task Force Lightning in fighting, which was occurring east of Baghdad (The Baltimore Sun had reported on November 29, 2006, that Dennison had been killed in Balad, where a U.S. air base was then located. The base was located near Balad in the Sunni Triangle, 40 miles north of Baghdad.

Dennison’s father, Jack Dennison, told The Baltimore Sun that his son’s wife, Haley, was “devastated” after learning of her husband’s death while she was deployed in Afghanistan.

“They were very much in love. I think they were an ideal couple. Her mother said to me today that they were so perfect that no one thought anything like this would happen,” his father had told The Sun, as per that newspaper’s February 17, 2006, edition.

Dennison was promoted posthumously from first lieutenant to captain, effective November 15, 2006. His awards included the Bronze Star medal, Purple Heart medal, Army Commendation medal, National Defense Service medal, and the Combat and Expert Infantryman’s badges.

His funeral was held on November 29, 2006, at the Evangelist Roman Catholic Church in Frederick, followed by his interment at the Arlington National Cemetery.

American Legion Post 168, Thurmont

In a few short weeks, these students and many others will be starting the school year. Congratulations to the Thurmont Legion Scholarship winners. Best of luck to everyone, and we wish you a successful school year.

The 3rd Annual Golf Tournament was another huge success for Platoon22. Thanks to all the sponsors, supporters, volunteers, and golfers that participated, we were able to donate $7,000 to Platoon22.

The Auxiliary will be having its members picnic/meeting on Monday, August 19, at 6:00 p.m. Any Auxiliary member planning on attending is to bring a side dish or a dessert. We would love to see you there.

July started a new year with new or returning officers taking their positions in the Legion.

Legionnaires Officers: Commander — Debra Middendorff; 1st Vice Commander — Chris Ingicco; 2nd Vice Commander — Connie Trica; Adjutant — Nick Middendorf; Finance — Carie Stafford; Chaplin — Alvin Hatcher; Judge Advocate — James Mackley; Sergeant at Arms — Allen Middendorff; Post Resource Officer — Chastity Brown.

Sons of the American Legion: Robby Maze — Squadron Commander; Larry Anderson — 1st Vice; Donnie Eztler — 2nd Vice; Ed Culb — 3rd Vice; George Albright — Adjutant; Brian Glass — Finance Officer; Tony Cornejo — Chaplin; Danny Hurt — Sergeant at Arms.

Auxiliary Officers: President — Alesha Subasic; 1st Vice — Melissa Kinna; 2nd Vice — Denice Dujardin; Secretary — Lisa (Eyler) Reed; Correspondence — Palma Willard; Historian — Alice Eyler; Chaplain — Alice Eyler; Treasurer — Joyce Glass; Sergeant at Arms — Amanda Barth.

The new membership year is in full swing. The membership dues for 2024- 2025 are: Legion — $45.00; SAL 21 and up — $25.00; SAL under 21 — $15.00; Auxiliary — $35.00; Jr. Auxiliary — $12.00.

The Membership Picnic will be held on Sunday, September 8. Tickets will go on sale August 15. You must be a member to attend. You will need to show your 2024 Membership Card and you must be 21 years of age.

Remember to check us out on Facebook: The American Legion Post 168 for kitchen specials and other events and happenings at the American Legion. Check the Community Calendar in this issue for August event dates and times.

Tracey Burdette award scholarships to Emma Magers, Zoey Whitmore, and Garrett Worth.

The Bene f i t s of Vi t amin K2

by Dr. Thomas K. Lo, Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center

The Benefits of Vitamin K2

Full-fat cheeses, eggs, and beef liver might not be the foods that come to mind when you think about eating a heart-healthy diet. Yet in recent years, one of the most researched nutrients in the field of cardiovascular health has been vitamin K2, found in these very foods.

While vitamin K1 has the important role of preventing blood clots and bleeding disorders, K2 works differently. According to a 2019 study published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, K2 benefits include helping with nutrient assimilation, growth in infants and children, fertility, brain function, and bone and dental health. Unfortunately, many people don’t get enough K2 from their diets.

Unlike vitamin K1, mostly found in plant foods like leafy greens, you get K2 from animal-derived foods, like grass-fed meats, raw/fermented cheeses, and eggs. It’s also produced by the beneficial bacteria in your gut microbiome.

What Is Vitamin K2?

Vitamin K2 has many functions in the body, but the most important is helping the body to use calcium and preventing calcification of the arteries, which can lead to heart disease. Emerging studies show a lack of this vitamin is also associated with certain diseases, including osteoporosis.

K2 helps to prevent calcium from building up in the wrong locations, specifically in soft tissues. Low intake of this vitamin can contribute to plaque building in the arteries, tartar forming on the teeth, and hardening of tissues that causes arthritis symptoms, bursitis, reduced flexibility, stiffness, and pain.

Vitamin K2 vs. Vitamin K1

There’s some evidence that people tend to get about 10 times more vitamin K1 (or phylloquinone) from their diets than vitamin K2 (menaquinone). Vitamin K1 deficiency is very rare, while K2 deficiency is much more common.

A growing body of research now demonstrates that vitamins K1 and K2 are not only different forms of the same vitamin, but basically operate like different vitamins altogether.

Vitamin K1 is more abundant in foods but less bioactive than vitamin K2.

Vitamin K1 is very important for supporting blood clotting, but not as good at protecting the bones and teeth as K2.

Benefits & Uses Associated with K2

1. It helps regulate the use of calcium. K2 helps regulate the use of calcium and where calcium accumulates in the body. It benefits the skeleton, heart, teeth, and nervous system by helping regulate use of calcium, especially in the bones, arteries, and teeth.

The vitamin D and calcium relationship is important, as vitamin D helps transport calcium from the intestines as it digests into the bloodstream. Vitamin D’s job is done at that point. Next, vitamin K2 must activate one of its dependent proteins, osteocalcin. Research shows it then takes calcium out of the bloodstream and deposits it into bones and teeth.

Vitamin K2 is essential for the function of several proteins, in addition to osteocalcin, which is why it helps with growth and development. For example, it’s involved in the maintenance of structures of the arterial walls, osteoarticular system, teeth, and the regulation of cell growth.

2. It protects the cardiovascular system. K2 protects the cardiovascular system because it offers protection against heart-related problems, including atherosclerosis (stiffening of the arteries), which are the leading causes of death in many developed countries. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year, more than half of deaths due to heart disease are in men.

An adequate intake of vitamin K2 has been shown to lower the risk of vascular damage because it activates matrix GLA protein (MGP), which inhibits the deposits of calcium on the walls.

The Rotterdam Study followed more than 4,800 adult men and found that the highest intake of vitamin K2 was associated with the lowest chances of suffering from aortic calcification. Men who consumed the most K2 were found to have a 52 percent lower risk of severe aortic calcification and a 41 percent lower risk of coronary heart disease.

The men in the study with the highest K2 intake also benefited from a 51 percent lower risk of dying from heart disease and a 26 percent lower risk of dying from any cause (total mortality).

A 2017 study found that K2 was associated with a 12 percent increase in maximal cardiac output and that supplementation seemed to improve cardiovascular function in diseased patients. It seems to do this by restoring mitochondrial function and playing a “key role in production of mitochondrial adenosine triphosphate” (ATP).

3. It supports bone and dental health. K2 supports bone and dental health. According to a 2017 article published in the Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism, “K2 may be a useful adjunct for the treatment of osteoporosis, along with vitamin D and calcium.”

Another 2015 meta-analysis supports the hypothesis that “vitamin K2 plays a kind of a role in the maintenance and improvement of vertebral bone mineral density and the prevention of fractures in postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.”

K2 benefits the skeletal system by taking calcium and helping usher it into bones and teeth to make them solid and strong.

Certain clinical studies have found that K2 slows the rate of bone loss in adults and even helps increase bone mass; plus, it may reduce risk of hip fractures and vertebral fractures in older women.

K2 can enhance osteocalcin accumulation in the extracellular matrix of osteoblasts inside bones, meaning it promotes bone mineralization.

Additionally, it helps maintain the structure of the teeth and jaws. Many traditional cultures included K2 foods in their diets because they believed it could help prevent cavities, tooth decay, and plaque formation. This impact was observed in the 1930s by dentist Weston A. Price, who found that the primitive cultures with K2-rich diets had strong, healthy teeth, although they’d never been exposed to western dental hygiene.

It turns out that getting plenty of K2 during pregnancy is also important for fetal growth and bone health.

  • It can slow down bone mineral density loss in patients with RA. In patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), supplementing with vitamin K2 has been shown to result in a slowdown of bone mineral density loss and to decrease the amount of RANKL, an inflammatory compound, in the blood of subjects.

5. It can be used to produce osteocalcin hormone. K2 can be used to produce osteocalcin hormone, which has positive metabolic and hormonal effects.

Fat-soluble vitamins are important to produce reproductive/sex hormones, including estrogen and testosterone. Because of its hormonal-balancing effects, women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) and postmenopausal women can benefit from getting more K2 in their diets, according to recent studies.

K2 also helps promote blood sugar balance and insulin sensitivity, which can reduce the risk for metabolic problems like diabetes and obesity. Some research suggests that K2 helps regulate glucose metabolism by modulating osteocalcin and/or proinflammatory pathways.

6. It may benefit the kidneys. K2 may benefit the kidneys by helping prevent the formation of calcium accumulation in the wrong places, the underlying cause of kidney stones. It may also do the same for other organs, too, including the gallbladder.

In addition, a lack of K2 and vitamin D has been associated in studies with a higher occurrence of kidney disease.

  • What Foods are High in Vitamin K2?

K2 is found in mostly animal products or fermented foods. K2 is a fat-soluble vitamin, so it’s present in animal foods that also contain fat, specifically saturated fat, and cholesterol.

The best sources of K2 are: Natto, beef liver, chicken (especially dark meat), goose liver pate, hard cheeses (i.e. Jarlsberg), soft cheeses (i.e. blue cheese), ground beef, goose meat, egg yolk, beef kidneys/organ meat, duck breast, chicken liver, whole milk, Canadian bacon/cured ham, Grass-fed butter, sour cream, and cream cheese.

For those following a vegan diet, K2 can be hard to come by. Natto, a fermented soy food is an acquired taste and is also the only vegan source of K2.

8. Deficiency Symptoms

The following are symptoms of vitamin K2 deficiency:

Blood vessel and heart-related problems, like arterial calcification and high blood pressure.

Poor bone metabolism and possibly higher risk for bone loss and hip fractures.

Kidney and gallstones.

Cavities and other dental issues tied to tooth decay.

Symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease, like bloody stool, indigestion, and diarrhea.

Poor blood sugar balance and higher risk for blood sugar issues and diabetes.

Metabolic problems.

Higher chance of having morning sickness in pregnant women.

Spider veins/varicose veins.

Among adults living in industrialized nations, deficiency in this vitamin is rare. However, newborn babies and infants are much more susceptible to deficiency due to how their digestive systems lack the ability to produce K2.

If you are struggling with health issues, call the Advanced Chiropractic & Nutritional Healing Center at 240-651-1650 for a free consultation.

Dr. Lo uses Nutritional Response Testing® to analyze the body to determine the underlying causes of ill or non-optimum health.

The office is located at 7310 Grove Road #107, Frederick, MD. Check out the website at www. doctorlo.com.

by Kristen Bodmer

Summer has definitely arrived, so come into the Thurmont Senior Center and beat the scorching heat. We have lots of fun activities happening here, with something for everyone.

August is full of activities. Take the opportunity to take a look at the calendar of events we have scheduled. You can find our calendar on the website at thurmontseniorcenter.org, on Facebook, or come into the center and ask for one. Don’t forget we serve lunch every day at noon. If you are not able to stay to eat, you can just pick up your lunch. We have quite a few people who pick up their lunches from the center now. Just remember to call the day before or by 9:15 a.m. the morning of the lunch day.

July was a fun-filled month. We held three exciting bingos. We would love for you to join us for some fun and fellowship. We have a free balance and strength exercise session on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday, beginning at 11:00 a.m. We play pinochle on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. We play Bunko on the second Thursday of the month and Farkle on the fourth Thursday. Every Thursday, come in to play Dominoes. Bingo is the first and third Wednesday of the month. If there is a fifth Wednesday in the month, we hold a Special Bingo. It is always a great time, full of laughter and special homemade treats for halftime. I can’t forget to mention our coffee since we are told it is the best!

So, come in and have a cup of coffee with us. Zumba is on Fridays. We also offer Poker and 500. Come in and check out our whole corner dedicated to exercise. We have two treadmills, a stair climber, and a recumbent bicycle for use during our hours, 9:00 a.m.- 3:00 p.m. There is no charge to use this equipment.

We had a wonderful visit from a United Methodist Church youth group from Pennsylvania. They came to do service work at the center for the day. They washed tables and chairs, played games with the seniors, and even participated in the balance and strength class. They ate lunch with us and also provided an ice cream social for us. It was a lot of fun, and these middle-school kids were a joy to work with. We hope to see you all again, and you are all welcome to come back and volunteer anytime.

We really love having the community use the Thurmont Senior Center. There are so many different events for which you can rent the center, and the price is very affordable. Contact the Thurmont Senior Center to rent for different activities such as a baby shower, a birthday party, or a bridal shower.

As always, if you have any questions or need information, don’t hesitate to call us at 301-271-7911.

Just a reminder that some activities may have a minimal cost, but to join the center is absolutely free.

BY Caitlyn Kirby

Saying goodbye to July and welcoming August! As we progress through summer, come beat the heat and venture into Emmitsburg 50 + Center to explore many of the wonderful crafts, games, exercises, and trips. For those interested in fitness, we have the walking group on Tuesday mornings, as well as video exercise with professionals available to guide us into good health. Video exercise is moderate and low intensity selections and are available Monday through Thursday. As always, we will have drop-in “unrulies” pickleball available for open play on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Try out chair yoga class on Mondays at 1:00 p.m. If structured exercise in not your style, we also offer an open gym for a person’s open desires in exercise or activities.

If exercise is not of interest, come connect, network, and soci alize during open game time or craft activities. As always, Glass Lab will be available on Mondays. However, we will be including the addition of a beginner’s class, creating “Plant Buddies.” This course is equally available for new as well as returning guests. On on Thursday, August 9, come enjoy the faux stained-glass craft. The “Make and Take” craft for August is an open design, using fabric markers to design apparel of choice. As always, there will be paint-by-number on Tuesdays.

Beginning August 1 through September 30, we are offering Lunch Bunch meals for free for all eligible participants. This is an exciting opportunity to visit the center and bring a friend or to meet new people! We have Lunch Bunch every Monday at noon. All you need to do is call ahead at least three business days in advance to reserve your meal.

Please call the center at 301-600-6350 or email emmitsburgseniorcenter@ frederickcountymd.gov if you have any questions.

The Rocky Ridge Youth Club members participated in a service project for the month of May.

One of their members underwent a surgical procedure earlier this year and, on the day of surgery, was gifted a blanket provided by Project Linus. This blanket provided warmth and comfort when needed the most. Following this, the members of the Rocky Ridge Club wanted to come together to help other children in our community. Together, they made 36 blankets to donate to Project Linus. Blanket materials were donated by Thrivent Financial.

The Linus Project mission: (1) To provide love, a sense of security, warmth, and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need, through the gifts of new homemade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer “blanketeers”; (2) Provide a rewarding and fun service opportunity for interested individuals and groups in local communities, for the benefit of children.

Members of the Rocky Ridge Youth Club pose with a couple of the blankets they made for the service project.

Amber Seiss and her son create a blanket to donate.

by Mitchell Tester, College Student

moon in space

“The Dark Side of the Moon”

I must admit I struggled to conjure up an idea of what to write about for this first month—space is just so vast.

The Sun, rising above our heads every morning we wake up, is 93 million miles away. For the sake of trying to understand such a large measurement, let’s say the state of Maryland decided that space travel was what the budget was to be spent on. And how they would spend it is by extending highway 15 into space, 93 million miles to the Sun (this would be impossible due to various factors, but stay with me). If you were going a steady 55 mph, 24 hours a day, for the whole 93 million miles, it would take you roughly 193 years to complete the drive. The Sun is the closest star to us, with our solar system’s closest neighboring star, Proxima Centauri, being around 4.25 light years away.

A light year is what distance light—the fastest known thing in the universe—travels in a year. So, if we were traveling at light speed, or 186,000 miles per second, it would take us 24 trillion miles or four years to get to Proxima Centauri. There is a reason why people use the word “astronomical” when referring to large amounts or objects. Outer space, similar to the deep ocean, is vastly unknown, and the unknown is scary to us, understandably of course.

As many of you may know, we see the same side of the Moon every night. In fact, every human from the beginning of mankind has only seen the same side of the Moon from our vantage point on Earth. Many people refer to this other side of the Moon as the dark side of the Moon, just as Pink Floyd did when they released their cult classic in 1973, the Dark Side of The Moon, one of my favorite albums. The album, considered by many, is about the beginning to the end of one’s life. The dark side of the Moon meaning, figuratively, the next chapter in one’s life after they pass, an afterlife, whatever that may look like. Many of us have our own ideas of what it could be. The dark side of the Moon encompasses that mystery, the mystery of what is waiting for us next.

Months ago, I lost someone very dear to me, my grandfather, or as all of his grandkids called him, Papa. He was a great man and someone I looked up to very much throughout my life. He was a very giving person, as any grandparent ought to be. A little bit before he passed, while cleaning out his house, he stumbled upon his old iPod. Due to myself not being there at the time, the iPod was given to my parents, which he told them was to be given to me. Papa, a man who came from nothing, grew up to own his own business (selling electronics). He was always fond of the fact that I loved technology. It was an interest he and I both shared.

After receiving the iPod, I put it on my desk, not to be touched for a couple of days. One night, I decided to turn it on and see just what kind of music was on it. My Papa and I never spoke much about music, a missed opportunity I now realize. While looking through the iPod, I saw many artists and bands I did not recognize, being way before my time. Although, while scrolling through, I saw a familiar band name, that band being Pink Floyd. He had the Dark Side of The Moon album on his iPod, in its entirety. I ran upstairs and got my headphones, and I listened to the album while sitting outside, with the Moon above me in the night sky. I spend a lot of my nights doing this, sitting outside with my dog and looking up at the night sky, listening to music. After discovering his love for one of my favorite bands and albums, I knew I just had to talk about it with him the next time I saw him. I wanted to see what his favorite songs by them are; if the Dark Side of the Moon is his favorite album by them or if he’s more of a The Wall kind of guy. I meant to call him that next day, but as it usually does, life gets in the way and I managed to forget.

Weeks later, my grandfather suffered a heart attack and passed away. I never got to talk with him about his love for music, let alone thank him for trusting me with his old cherished iPod, full of hundreds of his favorite songs.

The phrase “the dark side of the Moon” is supposed to mean the unknown. You and I have always looked up in the night sky and have always seen that same side of the Moon, for years not knowing what was on the other side. It was not until the spacecraft Luna 3 captured the dark side of the Moon.

The reason we see the same side of the Moon is due to billions of years of Earth’s gravitational effect on the Moon; the time the Moon takes to complete an orbit around the Earth is the same time it takes for it to rotate once on its axis. This is referred to as being tidally locked. The same side is always facing us. This fact is one of my favorite space facts to tell people. It’s fascinating the reasoning behind why the universe behaves in certain ways, and the Moon is something that can be observed by many almost every night with no need for any equipment.

When I was thinking about what to write for this month, I thought about the Moon, the closest celestial object to us, 238 thousand miles away. This then led me to think about my favorite fact about the Moon: why we see the same side. In return, this led me to think about the Dark Side of The Moon, then the iPod, then my grandfather who I loved dearly, Papa.

I hope you have learned something by reading this. Make sure to tune in next month as I talk about our own neighborhood star, the Sun.

As for my Papa: Once my time has come such as yours did, I hope to see you on the dark side of the Moon.

Question: “How should we plan for our retirement spending if we planned on social security income and we may not get it?”

This is a common concern among many of our clients, especially given the frequent alarming headlines suggesting that Social Security may run out of money. These headlines grab attention and boost ratings, but they don’t always tell the full story. Here’s a more balanced view and some practical advice on planning your retirement spending with less reliance on Social Security.

Understanding the Reality of Social Security

It’s important to understand the current state and future projections of Social Security.

Current Status: Yes, if no changes are made, the Social Security Trust Fund is projected to be depleted by 2035. However, this doesn’t mean Social Security will disappear; it would mean that benefits might be reduced to about 83 percent of promised benefits.

Likelihood of Changes: The probability of no adjustments being made to the system is very slim. Historically, policymakers have made changes to ensure the continuity of benefits. As noted recently in a newsletter from Bestgate Advisors, Congress is unlikely to make changes that would severely impact those close to or in retirement, due to the political implications and the desire of elected officials to be re-elected.

Uncertainty: While we can’t predict exactly what Social Security will look like in 20-30 years, it’s safe to assume it will still exist in some form.  It is most likely that any changes to benefits will impact younger individuals, who have more time to incorporate changes into their plans.

Role of Government and Policy Insights

Potential Reforms: Various reform proposals aim to ensure the long-term viability of Social Security.

Raising the Retirement Age: One proposal suggests raising the full retirement age from 67 to 68 immediately, then gradually increasing it by two months each year. This would address 44 percent of the funding gap.

Adjusting Payroll Taxes: Another proposal suggests raising the cap on FICA payroll taxes. Or, alternatively, subjecting all earnings to Social Security taxes to fill the gap.

Benefit Adjustments: Modifying the formula used to calculate benefits to slow the growth rate of future benefits.

Given these uncertainties, it’s wise to plan for Social Security as a supplementary income source rather than your primary retirement fund.

Planning for Retirement with Minimal Dependence on Social Security

To plan for a secure retirement, consider these steps:

1. Assess Your Retirement Goals and Expenses

Start by estimating your retirement expenses. Consider the following categories:

Housing: Mortgage, rent, maintenance, property taxes, and utilities.

Healthcare: Insurance premiums, out-of-pocket costs, and long-term care.

Living Expenses: Food, clothing, transportation, and entertainment.

Debt Repayment: Any outstanding debts that will continue into retirement.

Inflation: Account for the rising cost of living over time.

Bucket List Items: Don’t forget the fun stuff! You want to make sure you build room into your retirement budget for those wish-list items you’ve been waiting for. 

Having a clear understanding of your projected expenses will help you determine how much you need to save.

2. Maximize Retirement Savings

With uncertainty surrounding Social Security, it’s crucial to maximize your contributions to retirement savings accounts such as:

401(k) Plans: Take full advantage of employer-matching contributions.

Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Both traditional and Roth IRAs offer tax advantages.

Health Savings Accounts (HSAs): For those eligible, HSAs provide tax-free savings for medical expenses, which can be significant in retirement.

3. Consider Alternative Income Sources

Explore other potential sources of retirement income such as part-time work. And don’t forget to factor in potential passive income such as investment and rental income. See if there is a way you can start getting your money working for you now without taking on a second full-time job.

4. Plan for Healthcare Costs

Healthcare is one of the most significant expenses in retirement. Consider Medicare, supplemental insurance, and long-term care, to name a few. 

5. Create a Contingency Plan

Having a contingency plan can provide peace of mind. This might include:

•   Emergency Fund: Maintain a fund with 6-12 months of living expenses.

•   Insurance: Adequate health, life, and possibly long-term care insurance.

•   Estate Planning: Ensure wills, trusts, and powers of attorney are up to date.

Tools and Resources

Financial Calculators: Online tools and calculators can help you estimate your retirement needs and evaluate different scenarios. Websites like AARP and financial institutions offer valuable resources.

Books and Articles: Further reading on retirement planning and personal finance can provide deeper insights and strategies. Consider books by respected financial experts and articles from reputable sources.

Financial Advisors: DIY financial planning isn’t for everyone. If you’re ready to start building your financial plan with the guidance of a professional, look for an advisor who’s right for where you are on the journey. Remember, if you’re ready to retire, look for an advisor who specializes in retirees!

Conclusion

While the potential loss of Social Security benefits is concerning, proactive planning can help ensure financial stability in retirement. By maximizing savings, diversifying investments, exploring alternative income sources, and planning for healthcare costs, you can build a robust retirement strategy that doesn’t rely solely on Social Security. Additionally, staying informed about potential policy changes and continually adjusting your plan will help you navigate the uncertainties of retirement planning.

Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial planning advice. Please consult with a certified financial advisor to discuss your specific situation and plan.