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Urbana Neighbors Give GenerouslyBy Kristy Crawford

A s many longtime residents know, Urbana is a close-knit community where friendly neigh-bors help each other during times of need. A

cup of sugar, pet sitting or help with the carpool are easily found. But it is during a serious crisis when Urbana residents often display the best definition of a good neighbor.

The Hageman family, who live in the Villag-es of Urbana, experienced this recently after Cliff Hageman was in a horrific motorcycle accident. On Jan. 9, Realtor and Urbana resident Lisa Giuliani held a large party and silent auction to benefit the Hagemans at the Urbana Volunteer Fire Depart-ment. With the help of many friends, neighbors and local businesses, Giuliani’s event was a big success and raised close to $14,000 for the family.

But the Hageman’s story started long before the New Year. Before leaving for work on Sept. 9, Hageman posted a Facebook page, “Prayers for the Hageman Family,” because he was worried about the lump his wife, Rebecca, had found under her arm. “Little did we all know that those prayers would be greatly needed even more just a few min-utes later!” she said.

Cliff let their daughter Cassidy, a senior at Urbana High School, take the car that morning to drive her brother, Elias, to Urbana Middle School. So, Cliff got on his motorcycle and made his way to work in Gaithersburg, where he and his brother own Exit Realty Plus. As he pulled out of a gas station, Cliff saw a car coming around the corner and into his

lane. The driver apparently didn’t see him.As much as he tried, Cliff couldn’t avoid the ap-

proaching vehicle and was struck hard on his left side and leg. The injury was so severe, Hageman was at risk of bleeding to death from the severed arteries. Luckily, bystanders recognized the danger and made tourniquets out of their own shirts, saving his life.

Cliff was transported to Suburban Hospital in Bethesda, and then later transferred to Johns Hop-

Urbana High Teen Working Hard to Represent Country in Two Sports

By Gina Gallucci-White

B eing able to represent your country in a worldwide sporting event is a feeling

many of us will never know. Urba-na High School sophomore Noah Grove may get the honor in two different sports.

The 15-year-old recently suited up as a member of the United States team at the Amputee Soccer World Cup and he’s currently work-ing hard as a member of the U.S. Sled Hockey national development team. The final team chosen will compete in the next Paralympics.

“Noah never ceases to amaze me,” said Rachael Grove, Noah’s mom. “Anything he does he tends to excel at.”

At 4.5 years old, Noah was di-agnosed with Osteosarcoma, bone cancer, in his left leg. At age 5, he

had to have his left leg removed to save his life. That procedure was followed by 10 months of chemo-therapy. Since then, he has worn a prosthetic to compete in sports including soccer and golf. “I have been playing soccer all my life, even before I lost my leg to cancer,” Noah said.

In the summer of 2013, Noah decided to go to a Wounded War-rior benefit soccer game in Ger-mantown. Instead of the players using their prosthetics, they used crutches for balance and kicking. “Someone said, ‘Hey. Do you want to play?’” Noah remembers. “I had never played on crutches before. I always just played on my prosthetic. I went out there and I tried it for the first time and I love it. It was a lot of fun. I was on the [same] play-

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Urbana’s Hometown Newspaper | Serving Urbana, Villages of Urbana, Urbana Highlands, Ijamsville and More

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Vol. 11, No. 2 February 201520 Pages

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722 Children’s Museum

Inspires CreativityBy Sally Alt

A t the Original Play-house Children’s Mu-seum in nearby New

Market, kids can learn about theater, nature, engineering, water, other cultures and art through creative play. Start-ed by Frederick resident El-len Przybocki, the children’s museum offers six rooms with different themes for children ages 2 to 9 to ex-plore.

“There’s a lot of oppor-tunity for learning to be done with a parent, through games or through pretend and imagination,” said Przy-bocki, a teacher for 17 years

Photo | Jo Ostby

Coffee Cans for the Local Communitythe manager of urbana’s new starbucks, rafael hernandez (pictured second from left with other starbucks staff), contacted the greater urbana food Bank after the company’s fourth annual Coffee, Cans and Community collection of non-perishable foods, from thanksgiving through Christmas. the theme is “together we can do some good.” starbucks locations in frederick, mt. airy, hood College, eldersburg and ellicott City also participated.

Photo | Rachael Grove

urbana high school sophomore noah grove plays soccer with crutches due to his emergency amputation when he was 5. he currently plays for the us national amputee soccer team and us national development sled hockey team.

n Children’s museum Continued on page 7

Photo | Submitted

the villages of urbana’s hageman family listens as Cliff hageman thanks the crowd of who attended a recent fundraiser for the family at the urbana volunteer fire department.

The Town Courier February 2015

February 2015 The Town Courier

By Kristy Crawford

Perfect Shots 4 You Studio OpensUrbana resident Lana Larina has completed work

on her home photography studio, Perfect Shots 4 You, and is now available for professional studio sessions. Larina’s specialty is portraits of children and fami-lies, but she will work with any subjects, including wedding parties, student school pictures and product shoots for marketing campaigns.

“Professional portraits are important to remember special times,” Larina said. “With digital and phone cameras, some people don’t see the need anymore, but a private professional session offers a higher quality choice to preserve precious memories.” Larina does not limit the time of her photo sessions, so her cus-tomers can change clothing, props and background as often as they like. Vintage costumes and props are available, and sessions can take place in her home stu-dio or at various outdoor settings.

Larina and her husband, Vadim, moved to the Unit-ed States from Moscow 10 years ago. “My husband works at NIH [the National Institutes of Health],” Larina said, “so we first looked for homes in Ger-mantown. After visiting a friend in Urbana, we fell in love. I called our Realtor the next day and told him to drop everything and look here.” Their son, Alex, is 7 years old and attends Carrol Creek Montessori Public Charter School (CCMPCS) in Frederick. A passion for photography and desire to spend time with her son in Urbana made the photography studio an easy choice for Larina. Photographs and information are available on the Perfect Shots 4 You Facebook page, or email [email protected].

Hair Cuttery Donates Hair CutsThe spirit of giving doesn’t stop with the holidays.

Hair Cuttery’s annual Share a Haircut program con-tinues this year in February. On Monday and Tues-day, Feb. 2 and 3, local Hair Cuttery salons, includ-ing the one in the Giant shopping center, will donate a free haircut to a homeless person for each haircut purchased. A certificate will be given to local shelters and community organizations to distribute to those in need.

With close to 900 salons, Hair Cuttery is the larg-est family-owned and operated chain of hair salons in the United States. The Share a Haircut program also helps veterans, victims of domestic abuse and children returning to school in the fall. “Last year’s expanded Share a Haircut program was an enormous success…reaching more than 1 million people,” said Dennis Ratner, Founder and CEO of Hair Cuttery. “This year we plan to continue that momentum, helping those less

UHS Graduate Grows a Career in Agricultural Science

By Sally Alt

UHS graduate Emily Snyder loves working out in the field. Snyder works as a nutrient management

advisor at the Frederick County Exten-sion Office for the University of Mary-land. She got the job just two months after earning her bachelor’s degree in agricultural science and technology at the university.

“It’s definitely been a good first job for me,” said Snyder. As part of her work, Snyder visits farms in Frederick County to gather information on farm-ers’ crops, animals, soils and fertilizers.

“I love the farm visits,” Snyder said, adding, “I just love being outside.”

Snyder said that in spring and fall months, she conducts soil nitrate tests to show how much nitrogen exists in the soil. She also collects samples of manure, which she sends to the lab to be analyzed for levels of nitrogen, phos-phorus and potash.

Later, back in her office, Snyder writes nutrient management plans to advise farmers which nutrients should be added to the soil. Snyder helps farm-ers apply the correct amount nutrients and save money, as well as prevent pol-lution of streams and the Chesapeake Bay due to excessive fertilizer use.

“Emily is a self-starter who has been able to hit the ground running with her job responsibilities,” said her supervi-sor, Stanley Fultz. “She is comfortable talking with farmers and understands the farming community’s needs." He added that “Emily’s eight years as a 4H member here in Frederick County pro-vided her with the opportunity to learn leadership and communication skills that she has been able to transfer to the workplace.”

Snyder enjoys learning about the many ways that farmers work. “I just love seeing everybody’s different ap-proach,” she said. She recently wrote her first nutrient management plan for an organic farm.

One of the challenges of working for the extension office is the num-ber of regulations with which farmers in Maryland must comply. “There’s a lot of regulation in this state, so some-times people aren’t too happy to have to comply with that,” said Snyder. “For the most part, they don’t take it out on me. They know I’m not the one who made the law and not the one enforcing it,” she said.

Snyder completed online training for her job, as well as hands-on training in the field. The rest of her training has been on the job, she said.

Snyder, who currently lives in Mid-dletown, was born in Ijamsville. She graduated from Urbana High School in 2010, where she learned about agricul-ture as a possible field to study. At the University of Maryland, she was ini-tially an animal science major. “I grew up doing 4H, having animals all my life,” said Snyder.

“I didn’t really know what I want-

Students address global issues at Hood College Model U.N.

By Carter Gipson

O n January 10, the conference rooms of Hood College were packed tight with eager young

students looking professional — yet slightly uncomfortable — in suit jack-ets and dress shoes. Armed with noth-ing more than a few pens and a quick intellect, students took on global is-sues such as pandemic preparedness and turmoil in the Middle East.

The Model United Nations con-ference at Hood College was the cul-mination of months of preparation by students from every school in Freder-ick County. Schools from Montgom-ery and Anne Arundel counties were also in attendance.

According to Michael Bunitsky, the social studies curriculum spe-cialist for Frederick County Public Schools, 215 students in total came to represent countries all over the world.

The all-day conference was kicked off with opening remarks from Guy Djoken, executive director of the UNESCO Center for Peace; Dr. Ed-gar Schick, interim provost at Hood College; Dr. Theresa Alban, superin-tendent of Frederick County Public Schools; Dr. Paige Eager, associate professor of Political Science at Hood College; Dr. Zakir Bengali, member of the Frederick County Board of Ed-

ucation; and Jan Gardner, a Frederick County executive.

Afterwards, the conference broke down into three separate committees: two General Assemblies discussing pandemic preparedness and one Se-curity Council negotiating peace be-tween Israel and Palestine. Each com-mittee was headed by a President or Presidency Council who maintained the flow of debate.

While in their separate commit-tees, delegates met to deliberate the merits of opposing arguments on each aspect of the issue at hand. Debate was moderated according to parlia-mentary procedure. Ultimately, the objective was to pass a resolution that would address the problem in a way that would benefit everyone.

Delegates spent hours researching

their country’s position on the issue beforehand in order to accurately represent their country in the con-ference. Based on their research, each delegate submitted a position paper that outlined their country’s views.

While in session, delegates worked collaboratively to offer resolutions, but in the end, only the Securi-ty Council and General Assembly 2 were able to pass a resolution. General Assembly 1 simply could not reach an agreement.

Rishub Nahar, a student at Urba-na High School, was a delegate in General Assembly 1. Though his two resolutions didn’t gain enough votes for a simple majority, he found other aspects of the conference much more

shoPTalk

n snyder Continued on page 7

n shop talk Continued on page 16

Photo | Sally Alt

urbana high school graduate emily snyder collects soil samples for her job as nutrient management advisor at the frederick County extension office for the university of maryland.

Photo | Michael Bunitsky

student delegates in general assembly 1 participate in a moderated caucus to discuss pandemic preparedness at the model united nations conference held at hood College on January 10.

n model un Continued on page 7

Photo | Kristy Crawford

haircuttery’s annual share a haircut benefit runs for two days, monday and tuesday, february 2 and 3. for each haircut purchased, another haircut will be donated to a person in need. from left, store manager, erin keely and stylist erin Wakefield.


The Roots of Courage Grow Deep

M y heart always catches in my throat as I round

the bend to the grave-yard. This past week was no exception, as I took advantage of the sunshine to take our 4-month-old son, Nate, to visit his brother, Myles. It takes courage to turn my car in that direction and it takes even more strength to carry my son the grassy steps toward his twin. But once we’re there, I’m somehow grateful. Nate started cry-ing simultaneously with me, a coincidence this time I am sure, but I sometimes think about the conversation we will have some day that will find Nate back here, grieving for the brother he kept alive but never got to grow up with. Yes, Nate’s vibrant little body passed amniotic fluid to his brother, serving in part to keep him alive for the months he lived in the womb.

While I don’t know, I have this hunch that Myles’ early passing might be the transformative event that makes a great man out of Nate. The painful truth that forces him to prematurely grapple with life’s biggest questions. Perhaps it will keep him from squandering away years he’d re-gret. I pray over Nate’s little sleeping face

every night that God would make him a great man. A man of courage.

And perhaps the ongoing and sometimes haunting ache of losing a son is what will provoke me to live purposefully myself and engage every day in a way I otherwise would neglect.

This month, I’ve booked a lot of space to highlight young people in Urbana who stand out in the community as individu-als of courage, kids of character. Many of whom got to where they are because they chose to be courageous in the face of hard-ship. Take Noah Grove, for example.

When Noah was almost 5, he was diag-nosed with cancer in his bones and accord-ing to his mom, Rachael Grove, they were left with no choice but to remove his leg. “One surgeon told us, ‘It’s his life or his leg.’ There is no choice here. That’s a lot a pressure to put on to parents, when their child is only 5.” Life or leg.

Noah is now 15. He’s positive, engag-ing and most amazingly, a great athlete. Two years ago he began playing soccer with crutches. Currently, he is part of the United States team at the Amputee Soccer World Cup and in addition, he’s a member of the U.S. Sled Hockey national develop-ment team.

Rachael has incredible respect for her determined son. “Noah never ceases to amaze me,” she said to one of our news writers, Gina Gallucci White. When I asked how she musters up courage, Ra-chael mentions her own difficult past that shaped her.

“I grew up in a foster home and I believe that I gained a lot of strength from that,” she said. “I have always been positive, so when we were hit with Noah’s diagno-sis, there was no other choice but to live and with that came the amputation and 10 months of chemo.”

To read more of Noah’s story, flip to the front page and follow the rest of the story on page 16.

Also on the front page, the Hageman family is mentioned. After Cliff lost his leg in a tragic accident, his children are adapt-ing to living with a new level of selfless

courage — the enduring kind.“Cass and Eli are incredible help,” said

Rebecca Hageman, Cliff 's wife; she adds that they help with his medications, his wheelchair — whatever their dad needs. “They have seen what perseverance is first hand.”

See page 3 for a profile on Emily Sny-der, an Urbana High School graduate who launched into the daunting world of first jobs, finding a good fit for her skills. She serves as a Nutrient Management Advisor at the Frederick County Extension Office for the University of Maryland. She looks at soil nutrient tests and advises local farm-ers. Snyder is an Ijamsville native.

Three Centerville Elementary School kids took the risk of entering their writing in the Young Author’s Contest — and they won. Flip to page 5 to read their poems and hear what motivated them to craft the poems in the first place.

Violinist Jackie Chen ventured to try out for the Maryland All-State Junior Orches-tra. Because she took this risk, Jackie, an eighth grader at Urbana Middle School, set a new record for the school’s music de-partment. No other student in the school’s history ever qualified to be a member of the Maryland All-State Junior Orchestra. For more on Jackie’s story, flip to page 11.

This month, love is also celebrated with Valentine's Day. Turn to page 13 to find a number of creative dates that support local businesses here in Urbana and in nearby downtown Frederick. Jo Ostby also talks about a historic, romantic place to eat Val-entine’s week. See page 15 for her thoughts on the Gettysburg spot, and a recipe from the chef.

If you have particularly creative Valen-tine’s date ideas, or notice anyone in our community who stands out for character or courage, please drop me a note. Con-tact me at [email protected] or 240.409.6734 with article ideas, photos or profile suggestions. Have a terrific month!

askThe ediTor

©2014 Courier CommunicationsThe Town Courier is an independent monthly newspaper providing news and information for the communities of Urbana, Urbana Highlands, Villages of Urbana, Ijamsville, Green Valley, Monrovia and Kemptown in Frederick County, Md. The paper is published by Courier Communications, which is responsible for the form, content and policies of the newspaper. The Town Courier does not espouse any political belief or endorse any product or service in its news coverage. Articles and letters submitted for publication must be signed and may be edited for length or content. The Town Courier is not responsible for any claims made by advertisers. Letters to the Editor and Commentary do not necessarily ref lect the views of the staff, management or advertisers of The Town Courier.

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Young Poets Honored in Annual Authors’ ContestBy Bethany E. Starin

E very winter, students from Centerville Elementary School (CES) submit short stories and poems as part of the State of

Maryland International Reading Association Young Author's Contest. Several weeks later, the writers wait with bated breath to hear the list of winners read over the loud speaker.

“I was shocked and couldn’t believe it. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe,” said Gabi Dwoskin, a third grader at CES who won for her poem, “Gumball.”

Nine-year-old Daniella Bowie had a simi-lar experience. “Oh my gosh! I ran up to my mom and hugged her. I was super excited,” she said. Daniella was noted for her winning poem titled “Heaven’s Masterpiece.”

Evan Foster, 10, said he had submitted a short story last year but didn’t win, which made this year even more of a thrill. “I felt extremely happy I had won,” he said.

Each student talked about their writing process. Foster wrote a draft for his winning poem, “Changing,” in 20 minutes. He said he spent time brainstorming by looking at his surroundings, formulated his thoughts, then took his work to his parents for critique. He was also inspired by his favorite author, Shel Silverstein.

“I wanted to take some of his thoughts and change them to make them my own,” said Foster, who is in fifth grade. “I wanted to start off with a warning and see what I could make from there… I try to end some of my things with a positive and happy ending.”

Daniella said she was inspired by a bright-ly colored sky. “We were just driving home from the store,” she said. “I was looking out-

side and I was wondering that must be God’s masterpiece and God’s paint brush painting the sky… It was blue, pink, yellow and or-ange.”

This was Daniella’s first time writing a poem. She said she was also inspired by her Grandpa, Jave Amir, who is the author of po-ems and academic writings. In addition, her own faith motivated her to write.

“I am Catholic and I love God and I just love going to church,” she said. “So I decided to write about Him in my poem, and all of the beauty that He made.”

Excellent writing comes from an avid ap-petite for reading, which is the case for Evan. He said Harry Potter and a series called Ta-ble Haven are among his favorite books. Ev-an’s goals include being a park ranger, but he hopes writing is also in his future.

This is Gabi’s second time to win in the Young Authors’ Contest. Last year, she won in the poetry category as well, so she planned on entering a short story instead. The piece started getting too long, so Gabi sat in her room, musing over a poem when her eye fell on her seventh birthday present — a minia-ture pink gumball machine.

“I like how you can write whatever is on your mind or your opinions and you can write whatever you want,” said 8-year-old Gabi, about writing poetry. “One of my strengths is that the words come easily to me.”

In the future, Gabi hopes to have a famous career on the stage — singing, acting, danc-ing — and off the stage, both cooking and writing.

Daniella also loves the stage and said she hopes to be Miss Maryland, following in her

mother’s footsteps, or perhaps Miss America.“I want to congratulate everybody who

entered in the poetry contest and I would like to say that they are all winners,” Daniella said.

This trio is just a sampling of the 55 CES students who entered this year. These three (along with five other CES students) go on to the state competition.

“We are so proud of our students for tak-ing risks and not letting an opportunity like this pass them by,” said Susan Verdi, literary specialist at CES, adding that the education at CES includes a rigorous writing program. "The teachers who judged the entries were amazed by the skills of these young poets!”

To read these student's award-winning poems, flip to page 10.

Photo | Tracey McCabe

young writers at Centerville elementary school celebrate their win in the young author’s Contest. Back row from left, evan foster (fifth grade), daniella Bowie (fourth grade), gemma gibney (second grade), madison mustafa (fifth grade), youssef salem (fourth grade); front row from left, gabi dwoskin (third grade), sara patamawenu (third grade), riya khirbat (second grade).


It’s Time for Girl Scout CookiesThe holiday treats may be gone, but

now it’s time for Girl Scout Cookies! Thin Mints, Do-Si-Dos, Tagalongs and Samoas, among others, will be available soon from several troops in the area, knocking at your door, or selling outside of local stores, in-cluding Giant, Dunkin Donuts, 7-11 and Mangia e Bevi.

This is Aine Taylor’s third year in Girl Scouts, and as a Brownie with Troop 81537, she has set an ambitious goal to sell 500 boxes. A portion of each cookie box sale goes to the troop. Aine’s mom, Ste-fanie Brady, is the troop’s leader and works with seven other Girl Scouts, ages 7 and 8, to raise money for service projects, includ-ing “adopting” needy children for Christ-mas and water conservation activities in the area. Aine’s sister, Saoirse Taylor, 5, is eager to be a Daisy next year.

Troop 81537 will be at Walmart on the afternoon of March 1 and at Giant on March 22. The cost for each box of cookies is $4, except for the gluten-free Toffee-tas-tic cookie, which sells for $5. In keeping up with the 21st century, Girl Scout cookies can be purchased online (www.gscnc.org): Enter your zip code for a list of sales in your

area. If you can, enter the troop number with your online order, like Troop 81537, so the girls will get proper sales credit. For more information on Aine’s troop, email [email protected].

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Local Organizations Support the Greater Urbana Food Bank

The Greater Urbana Food Bank has been the fortunate recipient of several recent do-nations from local communities:

St. Ignatius Catholic Church’s Ladies Auxiliary has provided Easter baskets for children from Food Bank families for more than 10 years. A few years ago, as the num-bers of children in need grew, Food Bank Director Jo Ostby reached out to North Star Community Church and more recent-ly to Mountain View Community Church. The churches solicit donations from mem-bers, then get together to assemble them. Each church created about 30 baskets. When there were more children in need, Ostby posted a request on the food bank’s Facebook page. “Thirty names were tak-en immediately,” Ostby said. “We didn’t even know some of the generous people. It makes the families so happy.”

In January, Shockley Honda held a Fill the Van Food Drive, where non-perish-able foods and toiletries were accepted

until a Honda van was filled and then the non-perishable food and toiletry items were donated to The Greater Urbana Food Bank.

The Urbana High School Future Farm-ers of America (FFA) Chapter received word this week that it has been awarded a $2,094 Food For All Grant from the Na-tional FFA. Urbana High School is using that grant money to grow hydroponic Bibb lettuce for the Food Bank families. “This is such a great thing for our families,” said Ostby. “To have fresh produce donated in the winter is a rarity.”

The students, under the direction of Tanjia Mayne, will plant raised beds out-side at UHS in the spring. They will also hold two workshops for up to 50 families on container gardening. Topics include containers, soil, seeds, fertilizer and pest management. They will also create hand-outs and a brochure with easy-to-make vegetable recipes to be given to the fami-lies. Participating families will utilize new skills at home growing vegetables with supplies given them by the FFA.

Photo | Submitted

eight-year-old aine taylor, a Brownie with urbana/Center-ville troop 81537, hopes to sell a lot of girl scout cookies this year to earn money for various service projects in the area.

Photo | Submitted

the urbana feeder schools Concert was held in early January at urbana high school. performers included students from Centerville, green valley, kemptown and urbana elementary schools, plus the urbana middle school Choir and the urbana Concert Choir and Chamber ensemble. pictured here, all students came together for a final song.

Photo | Submitted

the urbana high school future farmers of america (ffa) Chapter received grant funds they are using to grow food for the greater urbana area food Bank. from left, tanjia mayne, madison Burley, amber smith, kelley delacey, Jennifer delacey, allie kaloss and Cassidy hageman.

Photo | Submitted

the urbana high school marching band recently held a mattress fundraiser, where new, name-brand mattresses were set up in the school cafeteria and sold for up to 50 percent off retail prices. part of the proceeds benefitted the band for the many costs incurred each year, especially uniforms and instruments. “the fundraiser was very successful, especially for the band’s first attempt,” said parent karen duda, “this is going to be an annual January event for the band.”


ed to do with my animal science degree, so I switched over to this [agricultural science and technology]. It just seemed like a good fit.”

According to Snyder, it is easy to find a good job with a degree in agricultural sci-ence and technology. “You hear about all these people coming out of high school or college…and not being able to find a job,” she said. “That’s not the case with agricul-

ture.” There is always going to be a job for people with an agricultural science degree.

Snyder said that her mother is happy that she found a job that she enjoys, and her father, who grew up on a farm in Allegh-eny County, is also supportive of her new career. Her career goal is to work as a crop consultant and advise farmers about tillage, spraying, fertilizing, crop varieties and crop rotation.

Snyder said that one of the surprises about her job is how nice the farmers are to her. “I love my producers, the farmers,” she said, adding, “They are all great to work with.”

gratifying anyway. “The most rewarding as-pect is when I deliver a speech and other del-egates come up to me and say they’d like to work together,” said Nahar. “I just feel that means my speech made an actual difference.”

The conference has grown dramatical-ly from the time it began. Djoken said that it started with about 50 Frederick County Students. For 10 years, the conference has gradually grown to the size it is now – with students filling conference rooms in the Whittaker Center as well as Rosenstock Hall. Allison Fish, a veteran of the Hood College conference and founder of the Oakdale High School Model United Nations program, is equally impressed with the expansion of the conference. “It has been amazing to witness this growth and become a part of a commu-nity of students who value politics and inter-national relations,” she said.

For the short periods when delegates weren’t busy solving the world’s problems, students had the opportunity to meet new people from different schools who had sim-ilar interests. Caroline Kouneski, who was visiting from North County High School in

Anne Arundel County, said that it was an amazing experience to come to a conference so far from home and meet new people like me. “It’s also really fantastic because you never have to learn someone’s real name, just their country,” she said. “It saves a lot of time.”

The event concluded in Rosenstock Hall with an award ceremony followed by clos-ing remarks from Michael Bunitsky. Awards were given to the best delegates and the writers of the best position papers from each committee.

In his closing remarks, Bunitsky reflected on the many lessons that he hopes students would take away from this event. By learn-ing from mistakes, Bunitsky believes stu-dents are experiencing these lessons in a way that traditional classrooms can’t simulate. “We hope [these lessons] will affect our stu-dents’ world view for the rest of their lives.”

Editor's Note: Carter Gibson, 15, is a soph-omore at Oakdale High School. He's an active member of the Model United Nations club, the Mock Trial team, the Oakdale Ambassadors orga-nization and the Academic Team — and he plays both lacrosse and basketball for Oakdale.

in Frederick County. “There’s something for almost every child to engage in,” she said.

Przybocki said that she wanted to give children a chance to learn “in a playful way without the pressure of evaluation, but with positive feedback from their grownups, who are engaging with them.”

The local community has been very sup-portive of her work. “It’s so family-friendly here,” said Przybocki.

Urbana resident and mother Karen Cal-abrese has brought her 4-year-old daughter to the children’s museum several times. “I think it’s good entertainment – especial-ly in the winter months,” said Calabrese. Her daughter’s favorite room is the theater room. “She really likes to dress up.”

The children’s museum encourages cre-ativity and keeps kids’ interest because there are so many activities available, said Calabrese. “It’s never very crowded,” she said, so children don’t have to wait in line to play.

“It’s a good place to grow,” said New Market resident Maria Gonzales, who started taking her 4-year-old daughter, Genevieve, to the children’s museum. “She loves to play with the water,” Gon-zales said.

New Market resident Matthew Geleni-an described the children’s museum as “a nice, comfortable environment.” Geleni-an has been coming to the museum with his 4-year-old son, Razmig, for more than a year. Razmig especially enjoys the “Engineerium” room where he can build a bridge, a skyscraper, a roller coaster or just about anything. “To watch his mind at work is my favorite part,” said Gelenian.

Przybocki decided to open the New Market children’s museum in November 2013 after taking her daughter to visit a children’s museum in Gettysburg. She described her husband, Mark, as “a tre-mendous help” in bringing her dream into reality. Her husband helped in converting an old house into the children’s museum and also serves as a sounding board for her ideas.

The children’s museum is a technolo-gy-free zone. “I feel like there’s so much opportunity for screen time in other places [and] this is kind of a step away from that,” said Przybocki.

Przybocki enjoys being her own boss. “I just love letting my own ideas come to fru-ition,” she said. She has learned a lot about marketing, accounting and other aspects of running a business. “You have to be will-ing to work very hard,” she said.

Currently, Przybocki is working on cre-ating a space in the backyard for children

to play. She plans to offer what she calls “outdoor garden play.”

The most popular rooms at the children’s museum are the Wonders of Water room, where children can play in the water with toys and create bubbles, and also the Read-er’s Theater room, where kids can dress up and put on shows for their parents.

Another room in the children’s museum has the theme of a foreign country. Cur-rently, the room is decorated to look like China. “I love traveling, and I think it is an important part of anyone’s education in life,” she said.

Przybocki recently partnered with Vin-tage, a restaurant next door to the chil-dren’s museum, for a parents’ night out. Children can engage in free play as well as story time and a craft. Meanwhile, their

parents can dine next door at Vintage and receive a complimentary dessert. The cost is $20 per child and $15 per sibling from 5 to 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays once per month.

Przybocki also plans to begin a Top Scholars program for 4- to 5-year-olds to help children learn reading skills before starting kindergarten in the fall.

Devon Watkins, a Mt. Airy resident, regularly brings her two daughters to the children’s museum. She loves the fact that the museum provides all of the art supplies, and she doesn’t have to clean up after-wards. “It’s a great little gem in the mid-dle of New Market that not a lot of people know about.”

For more information about the children’s museum, please visit www.originalplayhouse.com.

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kins Shock Trauma. Another artery was severed and once again he almost bled to death. He endured several surgeries, life threatening complications and agonizing pain until Sept. 26, when Rebecca said they made the difficult decision to undergo an-other surgery to amputate his leg below the knee. “He has had several more surgeries since, for a grand total of 18!” said Rebecca.

In late October, Cliff started rehabilita-tion, and finally returned home on Nov. 10. “About 150 friends and neighbors were there to greet us,” Rebecca said. “They gathered in front of our home with signs and balloons and whistled and cheered! We were overwhelmed with love, as we still are.”

Neighbors created a meal train to orga-nize dinners for the family since the acci-dent. Rebecca’s fifth grade class at Cen-terville Elementary made a large blanket and collected a basketful of treats to take back and forth to the hospital. “The blan-ket is beautiful,” said Rebecca, “and huge. It’s large enough to keep the whole family warm!”

Rebecca still had to undergo surgery for the lump — with good results — and neighbors were there to help. “So many friends,” Hageman said. “Especially Kelly, Melanie and Terri and their husbands, have been there for us since day one.” They kept the Hagemans and their extended families company, made meals and raised money for the ever growing medical bills.

Friends made hundreds of wristbands in Cliff ’s favorite color, orange, engraved,

“Stand with Cliff,” and sold them for $3. Neighbor Eric Sheidhauer had a fundrais-er at his restaurant, The Lodge, on Buck-eystown Pike in Frederick, right before Christmas.

A few weeks ago, in early January, Lisa Giuliani hosted a successful fundraiser at the Urbana Volunteer Fire Department. The event also coincided with Cliff ’s birth-day, so he was surprised with a large cake and crowd rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

“The evening was fun, light hearted and a celebration of friends and neighbors coming together to support a beloved lo-cal family,” said Giuliani. “Approximately 300 people spent the evening mingling, en-joying gourmet desserts, sipping cocktails, dancing to the DJ and bidding on well over 100 auction items. Cliff seemed in great spirits. There is no question the Hageman’s could feel the love in the room.”

Rebecca Hageman heartily agreed. “Our family has been blown away by the love and support from our friends and neigh-bors,” she said. “The Urbana community has reached out and embraced us. It is such a blessing to live in Urbana!”

Unfortunately, Cliff has a long recovery ahead. On the day after Christmas, he was readmitted to shock trauma and required more surgeries because of an infection. He stayed in the hospital for more than a week and is now home on IV antibiotics, special wound treatment and nurse visits for at least six weeks. He won’t be able to get a cast or prosthetic for at least a few months.

After the ordeal, Rebecca says she learned that the police officer who was on the scene of Cliff ’s accident never followed up, and the woman who hit Cliff was never cited.

“I had to call the Montgomery County Po-lice Department a couple of times,” Rebec-ca said, “and two months later, she received two tickets.”

Rebecca said the family is now looking forward and focused on Cliff ’s recovery and is grateful for the kindness of friends and neighbors. “We really weren’t com-fortable asking anyone for financial help, but since Cliff is self-employed, this has been very difficult,” Rebecca said. “So our friends stepped in.” The local fundraising organization, The Patty Pollatos Fund, is also helping, as they have helped so many in the Frederick area over that last 20 years. (For more information on the fund, see www.ppfinc.org.)

This month, Manda Mackintosh of Ur-bana’s Art and Soul set up an event so Fri-day, Feb. 6, proceeds from Mackintosh’s annual “Art from the Heart” Valentine’s event will benefit the Hagemans. All ages are welcome to the studio at 2510 Urbana Pike, Suite 104, to create Valentine’s pins for $5 each, to keep, or to donate to sell and raise funds for the family. For more in-formation, visit the Urbana Art and Soul Facebook page, or call 301.418.5458.

Rebecca Hageman said the family has grown and learned much from the ordeal. “Cass and Eli are incredible help,” she said. “They help with his meds, wheelchair, whatever he needs. They have seen what perseverance is first hand.”

“The other day, two boys – a current and former student of mine – came and shov-eled our driveway for free. You never know the hand life will deal you, but having the love and support from the people in Urbana really helps us make it through.”

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“Heaven’s Masterpiece”By Daniella Bowie

Have you ever wondered why the sky is so pink, orange, red or blue?

It might just be God’s masterpiece call-ing out to you.

I take a peek out my window and I see the trees blowing in the breeze.

I see a bird, flying high all the way up in the light blue sky.

I hear the drops of rain hit my windowpane.

I feel God’s love through the rainbow above.

These small miracles like a pink sky, a bird in flight,

leaves turning colors, raindrops at night, makes me have faith that our world

is all right.A smile to a stranger, a kind word to

a friend,

helps me believe that the world can be a better place if we put God first in our lives

and not at the end.

“Gumball”By Gabi Dwoskin

Here I am,Lying in the clear ball.

I’m pink and I’m round,And I have loads and loads of colorful,

sphere friends.Wait! Who’s that?

Oh, a creature that’s large.Wait, who’s that silver disc?

Goodbye, one friend.Wait, why am I sliding?

On a twisty slide?Will this be a delightful ride?

Where did I just fall?Why am I sweaty and hot?

Is this delightful?

Probably n-n-nNOT!

“Changing”By Evan Foster

Listen child to the warnings.An angry stranger’s scowl or

A rattlesnake’s rattle, rattling in the wind orA wolf ’s howl on a cloudy night or

A shark’s fin gliding swiftly toward you orMaybe a lion’s roar.

Now listen to me child andTurn them to

A mother’s hug orA walk on a cool fall day or

A pup’s tail wagging around orA new pet fish swimming in acrobatic

circles orA cat’s content purr.

And now look upon what you can changeAnd the world will be changed.

Valentine’s Day, from Media Blitz to Meaningful

M y favorite holiday of the year comes in just a couple weeks — Valentine’s day, a day full of romance and bliss.

Perhaps it is my favorite because my dad pro-posed to my mom on Valentine's Day — but maybe it's because every year since I can re-member, my Dad buys my mom and I roses or a teddy bear with a personalized card. He never failed to remind us of how important

we are in his life. He made me feel loved and cherished. But where do the Valentine's ex-pectations come from anyway? Simple, they are warped and sensationalized by the media.

Classic romance movies like “The Note-book” or “Titanic” set the bar very high when it comes to love. For instance, writing a girl a letter today is unheard of, especial-ly 365 of them. Even a simple text everyday

seems a bit too much to ask for. Therefore, the notion of risking one’s life in freezing waters to save your one true love, is just completely out of the question. Thus, the bar has become distorted and unreachable. Not to mention, teddy bears, chocolates, flowers and everything pink begin to bombard you in the beginning of January, in a store near

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n haWk talk Continued on page 12

hawkTalk By Kate Formeller

Student Poems Continued from page 5


UMS Student is First in School Selected for State Orchestra

By Ridhi Chaudhary

J ackie Chen, an eighth grader at Urbana Middle School (UMS), set a new record for the school’s music department. No

other student in the school’s history has ever qualified to be a member of the Maryland All-State Junior Orchestra — until now.

“I was so shocked! It was an unbelievable feeling,” said Chen. “I wasn’t really expecting to get in. I just wanted to give it a try.” The All-State Junior Orchestra includes students in grades seven through nine, from all across Maryland. Chen is part of the first violin sec-tion which is comprised of 28 students. Most of the other students are from Howard and Montgomery counties. Chen was one out of two students selected from Frederick Coun-ty. The other student was Alex Chen, a 12 year old seventh grader at Monocacy Middle School.

“I am very proud of Jackie for this accom-plishment," said Tom Mitchell, Chen’s in-structor at UMS. “She has been a dedicated and hard-working student from the first day she came to the orchestra class in 6th grade.”

Jackie has been playing the violin and per-forming for four years. She started in the fourth grade and has also been taking private lessons outside of school. “My private teacher helps me a lot. He teaches me a lot of things and I’ve been improving based on him,” said Chen.

Chen is also proud of making All-County and the first violin chair for all three years of middle school. “Being a part of the school or-chestra helped me a lot, too, because they per-form in a lot of recitals as well,” said Chen. In addition, Chen is a part of the Frederick Re-gional Youth Orchestra (FRYO) and had the honor of being a concert master for the Sym-phonia Orchestra for one year in the FRYO. Chen performs five to six times a year with

the Frederick Regional Youth Orchestra.Chen said she typically practices four days

a week for three to four hours total. “Prac-tice — I mean practice make perfect!” Chen also offered some helpful advice to other bud-ding musicians who aspire to become a part of the All-State Orchestra, “If you practice and work really hard on your technique, then you could probably get in too. I mean anyone who practices seriously can get in.”

Jackie specifically wanted to thank her parents for getting her into violin, and her orchestra teachers for further enriching her playing abilities. “I would never have been able to make it without their support and en-couragement,” said Chen.

Although Chen does not want to become a musician when she grows up, she believes that music will stay with her throughout her life, whether or not she makes it a profession. “Playing an instrument is so great because of how nice the pieces sound, and how it always makes me feel so relaxed,” said Chen.

The All-State Junior Orchestra will per-form on March 13-15 at Towson University.

Editor’s Note: Ridhi Chaudhary is a freshman at Urbana High School.

Much Ado about ScienceBy Sirad Hassan

S tudents from Urbana High School (UHS) woke up bright and early on Jan. 17, a Saturday morning, to par-

ticipate in the Department of Energy’s 25th annual regional Science Bowl competition at Montgomery College. This competition, different from the academic tournament held in Frederick County, exclusively fea-tures science questions from chemistry and astronomy to physics and biology. Twenty different schools from Maryland sent a to-tal of 40 teams to participate in this year’s competition. UHS, however, was the only

representative from Frederick County.Dr. Suzanne Dashiell, an AP Biology

teacher at UHS, is the original and current coach of the UHS Science Academic team. The team has been in existence for nine years, starting with a single team of five play-ers and growing to a total of 15 players.

“We have an academic team at Urbana — so why not a science one?” said Dashiell. “Participating in the team can serve as a learning experience.”

Only one team regionally is eligible to move on to the national arena. This year, the Maryland trophy went to Montgomery

Photo | Sirad Hassan

urbana high school’s science academic team strikes a pose outside montgomery College’s rockville Campus after a morning of competition.

Photo | Submitted

Jackie Chen, 14 and an eighth grader from ums, was recently selected for the all-state Junior orchestra. she was one of only two students from frederick County to receive this honor. this month, the orchestra performs at towson university.

n aCademiC team Continued on page 12


Blair High School from Silver Spring. The National Science Bowl competition is held at Washington, D.C. in April. UHS was just shy of advancing to the playoff matches.

“I’m a competitor at heart and science is generally my favorite subject,” said Dinakar Chappa, a junior at UHS. “I’d definitely join the team again next year; it was fun preparing with a team of close friends for a competi-tion.” Chappa, 16, typically specializes in bi-ology, but is well-versed in chemistry as well.

After lunch, participants heard from guest speaker Ashley Llorens, an electrical engineer at Johns Hopkins University’s Applied Phys-ics Laboratory. Llorens’ speech wasn’t entire-ly about science, it was also about music. In addition to his work in the field of science, Llorens has a music career as a lyricist, pro-ducer and hip hop artist known as SoulStice. His song “That Thang” is featured in the movie “The Blind Side.”

“I used to think that music and science

were so different that it was comical,” said Llorens, “but it actually isn’t. If you truly love two subjects, there is always a way to inte-grate the two.”

After receiving a warm welcome, Llorens opened the floor up to questions and answers, and offered an album of his to anyone brave enough to ask a question.

“Meeting SoulStice was really inspiring as a high schooler,” said Sid Vanam, a junior at UHS. “Most high schoolers are faced with the discussion between passion and money as a career path. SoulStice gave hope to those confused high schoolers that you can make the best of two totally different worlds.”

Vanam is skilled in chemistry and strong-ly urges others to participate in science bowl next year.

Even with a loss this year, the camaraderie among team members is strong. Many still want to participate next year – they are close friends with a common passion for science.

Editor’s Note: Sirad Hassan is a junior at Ur-bana High School and member of the UHS Science Academic Team.

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you. The cherry on top is the relentless com-mercials for chocolate-covered strawberries or jewelry that is now on sale.

Americans spend more than $220 bil-lion on Valentine’s Day with an estimated 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate sold. Valentine’s Day has become a commer-cialized day full of expectations that may or may not be reached. So, for the sake of this column, let’s bring it back to its roots.

The first “valentine” was written in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans. He was writing to his wife while being held prisoner in the Tower of London during the Hundred Year’s War. He wrote her 60 letters while impris-oned, yearning for her love. This has certainly sparked interest throughout America, includ-ing in Urbana, with the popular tradition of handing out Valentine’s Day cards by all ages.

In elementary schools, Valentine’s Day is celebrated by passing out handmade or store-bought Valentines to your classmates. The children look forward to giving and receiving their cards along with the candy that is often attached. In middle school, Valentine’s Day is often celebrated by bringing edible treats to in-school festivities. When I attended Urbana High School (class of 2014), Valentine’s Day was celebrated and cherished. Candy grams

were sold at lunch – one could buy a bag of candy with a personalized note which would be delivered to a significant other or crush. This brought a celebratory, caring atmosphere to school. Many students also brought flowers to give to their significant other or friend be-fore school as a reminder of how they appre-ciate one another.

However, as you get older Valentine’s Day remains just as important and anticipated. I encourage you to put the customary commer-cialized, media-warped Valentine’s Day aside. Chocolate-covered strawberries and jewelry do not have the sentimental value as a simple but meaningful “I Love You.” When I was a sophomore at UHS, I made my boyfriend a giant Valentine out of poster board and spray painted it hot pink. It is important to let ev-eryone in your life know how much you care and appreciate them. It is not about just re-ceiving. Communicate the love and respect you have for your loved one whether it be through a letter, text, or word of mouth, or even a candy gram. Relish the moment, and the meaning of a Valentine’s Day: A day to celebrate your love, full of romance and bliss!

Editor's Note: Kate Formeller, 19, is a 2014 Urbana High School graduate and a freshman at James Madison University. She studies social work and hopes to become a cognitive behavioral psychologist.

from page 10

hawkTalk


Area Treats for a Special Valentine’s DayBy Sally Alt

V alentine’s Day is just a couple weeks away, so here’s a sampling of ideas for dates in Frederick County.

Aubrey Rogers, co-owner of City Mag-nolia Day Spa in Urbana, likes to celebrate Valentine’s Day by going to Mangia e Bevi on Fingerboard Road. “I just really enjoy a good dinner,” she said, adding that her go-to dish is chicken al limone.

Mangia e Bevi is owned by a husband and wife team and has a romantic Italian ambi-ance with candlelight dinners.

“Most of our pastas are made at the restaurant from scratch,” said co-owner Mary Cinquepalmi. All of the pizzas are also handmade. For reservations, call 301.874.0338, and visit www.mangiaebevi.us for more information.

For a Valentine's treat, Rogers recom-mends Zoe’s Chocolate Co. in downtown Frederick, which offers Mediterranean in-spired signature chocolates. Zoe's staff said they also have a variety of special chocolates for Valentine’s Day. More info on Zoe's can be found at www.zoeschocolate.com.

Also in downtown Frederick is Serenity Tearoom, which hosts three tea menus, including a traditional afternoon tea with scones, tea sandwiches, fruit tarts, cookies or pastries, chocolate covered strawberries, tea bread and an endless pot of tea. The tearoom provides what owner Blanch Henry calls “southern hospitality” in a cozy and romantic environment. Royal tea is served with soup and salad, a glass of sparkling fruit cider and

sorbet in addition to all of the afternoon tea offerings. For Valentine’s Day, guests can also take their teacups home for an extra charge. The first seating for tea is from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m., and the second seating is from 3 – 5 p.m. For reservations, call 301.695.8327 or visit www.serenitytearoom.com.

Urbana resident Steve Osbon said he enjoys taking his wife to quiet, romantic restaurants such as the Salamander Resort and Spa in Middleburg, Va. “We don’t mind traveling a little bit,” he said, describing the resort set on 340 acres in the Virginia countryside. In addition, Osbon has taken his wife, as well as his two daughters to Clyde’s Tower Oaks Lodge in Rockville, Md., for Valentine’s Day. “It’s become fun to include them,” he said. For information on the Salamander Resort and Spa visit www.salamanderresort.com; for information on Clyde’s go to www.clydes.com/tower.

Couples who need something relaxing could book a couple’s massage at Urbana's City Magnolia Day Spa or Massage Envy in Frederick. Both locations offer the popular Swedish massage with medium pressure for flexibility and relaxation and cranial sacral therapy, a combination of gliding and kneading movements with a focus on the head, neck and shoulders. For more information, call 240.397.2333 or visit www.massageenvy.com.

For coffee and dessert, couples can head to The Buzz, a café and bakery, in nearby Monrovia. On Valentine’s Day, the Buzz will offer a variety of treats such as chocolate dipped strawberries, red velvet cake, Valen-

tine’s cookies, brownies and cupcakes. The café, which serves Italian coffee, lattes and cappuccinos, also offers three meals a day, including a lobster lasagna entree for the holiday.

“Everything we do here is with love and passion,” said owner Minda Metz. For more information about The Buzz, visit www.thebuzzgreenvalley.com.

For a Valentine’s outing, couples can go bowling at Terrace Lanes in Frederick. The bowling alley offers 36 lanes, a snack bar and a full-service bar. On Valentine’s Day, Ter-race Lanes will be open from 9 a.m. – 2 a.m. The Rock and Bowl special, available from 10 p.m. until closing time, offers three hours of bowling and shoe rental for $15. For res-ervations, call 301.662.2777.

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Local EventsArt and Soul for the Hagemans

Manda Mackintosh of Urbana’s Art and Soul is directing all proceeds from her annual “Art from the Heart” Valentine’s event, this year on Friday, Feb. 6, to benefit the Hage-man family, as father Cliff Hageman recovers from a serious accident (see front page story). All ages will be welcome to the studio at 2510 Urbana Pike, Suite 104 to create Valentine’s pins for $5 each, to keep or to donate to sell and raise funds for the family. For more infor-mation, visit the Urbana Art and Soul Face-book page, or call 301.418.5458.

Hair Cuttery Donates Hair CutsOn Monday and Tuesday, Feb. 2 and 3,

Urbana’s Hair Cuttery salon in the Giant shopping center will donate a free haircut to a homeless person for each haircut purchased. This community service is part of the annual Share a Haircut program. For each haircut purchased, a certificate for a free cut will be given to local shelters and community organizations to distribute to those in need. For more information, contact the Urbana Hair Cuttery at 301.874.0630, or visit www.haircuttery.com.

Urbana regional Library Annual Book SaleThe Friends of the Urbana Regional Li-

brary (FURL), will hold its spring used book sale from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, and from 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday, March 8, in the community room on the lower level of the Urbana Regional Library. There will be hundreds of books organized by subject cat-

egory, as well as CDs, DVDs, books on tape and children’s books. Funds from this book sale go to support the many programs and ac-tivities of the Urbana Regional Library.

Pop-Up Lab at Urbana LibraryThis month the Urbana Regional Library

will host a new, hands-on science and tech-nology program. The Pop-Up Lab will be open on days when school is closed and al-low elementary-aged students explore science with hands-on experiments. On Feb. 13, the Lab will feature Vintage Technology in-cluding vinyl music albums and LPs, the first gameboy and more. On Feb. 16, students can become engineers with Cup Architecture. You’ll be amazed at what your student can create with just a stack of plastic cups. Events are held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. No registra-tion is required. For more information, call 301.600.7000.

Green Valley YMCA Parents night OutOn Feb. 14, the Green Valley YMCA will

host Parents Night Out childcare so that parents can enjoy a Valentine’s Day date. The event, from 6 to 10 p.m., is $15 per child and includes activities and snacks. For more information, call 301.607.6900 or email Jennifer Coppit at [email protected].

Free Family YogaOn Feb. 24, Family Yoga will be held at

6:30 p.m. at the Green Valley YMCA. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 301.607.6900 or email Jen-nifer Coppit at [email protected].

Free Zumba ClassA Zumba Master Class will be open to the

community, free of charge on Feb. 26, at the Green Valley YMCA from 6 to 7:30 p.m. To reserve your spot, or for more information, call 301.607.6900 or email Jennifer Coppit at [email protected].

red Cross CPr/AED ClassThe Green Valley YMCA will host a Red

Cross CPR/AED Class for adults and chil-dren on Feb. 21. Also on Feb. 21 and Feb. 24, a Red Cross First Aid certification will be held. Classes are $45 for YMCA members and $58 for community members, or take both classes for $72 (YMCA members) or $90 (for the public). For more information, con-tact Christine Rachel at 301.607.6900 or at [email protected].

Pancake Supper and Mardi Gras PartyOn Tuesday, Feb. 17, the Urbana Senior

Center will host a Pancake Supper and Mardis Gras Party. Held at 5:30 p.m., the event includes pancakes, ice cream, trivia and the history of Mardis Gras. For more information call 301.600.7020 or go to www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/aging.

Cabin Fever DayThe Urbana Senior Center will host a day

of fun to help local residents through the Maryland winter weather. The event includes fitness classes, art, new hobbies and more, and will be held Feb. 27, beginning at 10 a.m. For more information call 301.600.7020 or go to www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/aging.

Valentine’s Lunch with nurse SteveOn Thursday, Feb. 12, the Urbana Se-

nior Center will host a luncheon with Nurse Steve. The menu includes tossed salad, prime rib, green bean casserole, baked potato and cherry pie. Nurse Steve will discuss, “How do I exercise my brain to stay at the top of my game?” The event will be held at noon. For more information call 301.600.7020 or go to www.FrederickCountyMD.gov/aging.

FCPS Technology FairTo see all-wound-up cars, hovercraft, a

straw bridge engineering challenge and more, attend the Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) 22nd Countywide Technology Fair this month. Slated for Feb. 24 (snow date Feb. 26), this event will be held at the Francis Scott Key Mall from 6 to 8 p.m. and will showcase middle school students and their technology skills. Winners from all events will receive recognition during an awards ceremony be-ginning at 8 p.m. in the center court. For more information, contact Brenda Blume-nauer at 301.644.5188.

Theatre, Arts and MusicDowntown Cooking School

On Feb. 21 and 22, hands-on classes will be offered at restaurants in downtown Frederick. This includes a flatbreads and wine class, a pairing wine with food class, instructions on how to shuck oysters, mozzarella making and more. Ticket sales benefit Downtown Freder-ick Partnership. For more information and to register, go to www.downtownfrederick.org.

monThlyagenda Compiled by Bethany E. Starin


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Dobbins House Tavern Worth the TripT he Dobbins House Springhouse

Tavern, a Registered Historic Land-mark, is our favorite place to eat in

nearby Gettysburg, Pa., a 25-minute drive from Urbana. We have never been disap-pointed with our meals, the staff or the ambiance. Completely lit by real candle-light, the character and charm of the envi-ronment would make it a great place to go for a Valentine’s Day lunch or dinner.

Some would go there just for the King’s Baked French Onion Soup, which is my featured recipe this month. I encourage you to save room to experience the Warm Gingerbread with Lemon Sauce for dessert. Be sure to have the locally pressed spar-kling cider, which is the best I’ve had.

“It's cozy and quaint and takes you back to a different era; back in history,” said Linda Sheffield, assistant manager.

The restaurant is set in Gettysburg’s old-est, most historic home. It’s been authen-tically restored and is open to the public as a colonial restaurant and bed and break-fast. Dobbins House Tavern overlooks the spot where Lincoln gave his Gettysburg Address. Interestingly enough, Dobbins House Tavern also hosts a slaves’ hideaway for what is believed to be the first station of the Underground Railroad north of the Mason-Dixon Line. Free house tours on various weekends of the year feature the hideaway, three natural springs and two glowing fireplaces. In addition, the spot once housed a field hospital for both Union and Confederate casualties and later the Reverend Alexander Dobbins’ Classical School, the first of its kind in America west of the Susquehanna River.

All this said, we find the atmosphere ro-mantic and delightfully warm and charm-ing and can’t help stepping back in our minds to when taverns were not only an integral part of colonial life, but a necessi-ty. The modes of travel and transportation back in that day mandated the location of taverns every few miles on the main thor-oughfares. Taverns were the only public meeting places in early American towns

and countrysides. People from all walks of life met in taverns to transact business, dis-cuss politics, gamble and talk over hearty food, a bottle of wine, a bowl of punch or a tankard of ale. Taverns served as town halls, news centers, general stores and mili-tary stations. You can almost imagine all of this happening on a busy night at Dobbins House Springhouse Tavern.

Dobbins House Springhouse Tavern and the Abigail Adams Ballroom, large enough to accommodate up to 130 guests, are lo-cated at 89 Steinwehr Ave., Gettysburg, Pa. Call 717.253.9393 for reservations. The downstairs Tavern is open 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. There is a children’s menu and the restaurant is family friendly.

Editor’s Note: Jo Ostby is the founder and director of the Greater Urbana Area Food Bank. She writes this column from her home, just out-side Urbana. Visit her blog at www.Iloverestau-rantrecipes.wordpress.com or the Greater Urba-na Area Food Bank Facebook page to see what Ostby does in her spare time from her home just outside of Urbana.

Chef’sseCreTs By Jo Ostby

Dobbins House King’s Baked Onion Soup

6 cups beef stock2 T butter6 medium onions, diced1 cup stewing beef, cut into 1/2 inch cubes1 cup dry sherry6 slices good white bread12 slices Swiss cheese12 slices provolone cheese

Bring stock to a boil. In skillet, melt butter; saute onions and brown beef. Add to stock and pour in sher-ry. Simmer 30 minutes. When ready, fill six bowls. Place slice of bread, two slices Swiss and two slices provolone on top. Broil until cheese is browned. Serves six.


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ing ground as everyone else.”After the game, he was asked to come to

the national amputee soccer team’s training camp. He was offered a spot on the team at the camp’s conclusion. “I was extremely proud that he is 15 years old and made the national team,” Rachael said. Noah took on the challenge of adjusting to a new way of playing a game he already loved. He had to learn to balance on the crutches, kicking the ball with one leg and striking the ball prop-erly. It took him a year of playing every day to get a good feel for the new way he was playing soccer.

The team’s roster was filled by 14 players

from across the country who ranged in age from 53 to 15 — Noah's age, the youngest. “Noah brought a sense of determination [to the team],” said Eric Lamberg, head coach. “Noah was determined to play on the world stage and proved that he had the ability to do it. All the guys on the team took to Noah and joked around with him in a big brother/lit-tle brother way. ... Noah not only fit in with the team but earned everyone’s respect.” The team met for three training camps in Texas, South Carolina and Washington, D.C. before the World Cup began in early December.

The World Cup rules state players must be over the age of 16. In order for Noah to play, every country had to sign a waiver allowing him to play against them. The tournament, held in Mexico, was the first time Noah had

been to a foreign country.“Before each game, each country would

walk out and they would play the [country’s] national anthem and have the flag,” Rachael remembers. “It was very touching, watch-ing, knowing he was the youngest player out there.”

The U.S. played games against multiple opponents including Japan, Turkey and Po-land. Noah scored two goals against Germa-ny and one versus Argentina. “I was scream-ing,” Rachael said. “We had a videographer with us. So of course I’m screaming in the background when he scored.” The team earned a ranking of 12th out of 30 teams by the end of the competition.

“Playing for your country means a lot,” Noah said. “It’s definitely great.”

Noah is currently training hard in sled hockey. He first tried the sport when he was 13. “I just really liked it,” he said. “I’ve been playing ever since.” This month, he will head to North Carolina for a four-day training camp with the development team. He will also be competing in tournaments coming up in April and May. “His training for sled hockey is going to be very intense over the next couple months,” Rachael said.

Locally, Noah served this year as the team manager for Urbana High’s soccer team. He trained with them on his crutches and he played during the final game of the year. He is also a volunteer coach with FC Freder-ick’s Golden Mile program and plays on the Wounded Warriors soccer team.

n GrOVE from page 1

from page 3

shoPTalk

fortunate the best way we know how, with a haircut. Our stylists hope to help inspire confidence by giving back in this way.” For more information, contact the Urbana Hair Cuttery at 301.874.0630, or visit the company’s website at www.haircuttery.com.

Shop notes:There has been a lot of work along with

a lot of surprises in tearing down old ma-terials at the former Cracked Claw site to prepare for new businesses. “It has been quite an experience finding the multiple additions in multiple architectural styles

that were not in the plans,” said Andy Brown, of property developer Stanford Properties. “We found an underground vault, a large underground cistern for stor-ing 10,000 gallons of water, an exposed bathroom and several openings, none of which were on the plans we were given.”

The developers are trying to determine the best way to stabilize and strengthen the remaining structure and make sure it is watertight. Work is also underway to build a Dash-In store and Shell gas station, an Advanced Auto Parts store and on the 355 side of the site, near CVS, a Burger King. “We tried for months, repeatedly, to solicit other businesses, too,” Brown said. “We called places like Panera and Chipotle

over and over, but they all feel there are not enough residents yet to support their business.

Although the vendor has not been cho-sen, a grocery store is also planned on the land between Bank of America, near Buf-falo Wild Wings, and Urbana High School property. Preparations are also underway for Urban Green, on the south side of CVS, a mixture of apartment homes and commercial space.

Brown said Stanford Properties is al-ways open to serious leads on businesses on these business sites. Call Leasing Broker, Bob Shwenger, JBG Rosenfeld Retail at 301.657.7331.

Renovations of the Landon House are

progressing slowly, but according to archi-tect Alan Clapp of Urbana’s Architectural Concepts Group Inc., many of the difficult processes are complete. “The floors have been levelled, walls plumbed and the en-tire building has been stabilized,” Clapp said. “The cellar has been excavated and is ready for plumbing and a concrete slab. The design of the ballroom is complete and the restaurant and first and second floors are scheduled for a June completion.”

The Landon House and Silk Mill Restaurant is scheduling future events now. Look for new signs in the near future, complete with a rendering of the finished project. For more information, visit www.silkmillurbana.com.

Photo | Kristy Crawford

the landon house renovations are proceeding slowly but surely. the silk mill restaurant and the first and second floors of the house are scheduled to open in June.


Getting Involved: from Traffic to DogsL ate last year I had two

unusual experienc-es — at least unusual

for me — that I would like to share.

I try to be a cautious driver who avoids doing things that would earn a traffic citation. Any trip to Montgomery County or the District of Columbia, with their numerous traffic enforcement cameras, is very tension-pro-voking for me. Recently I was returning home from an event held in Montgomery County on a rainy Saturday evening. At a particularly complicated intersection I wanted to turn right and observed a “no

right turn on red” sign. I waited through a full light cycle without getting a green light. I waited through the better part of anoth-er cycle before concluding the signal light was malfunctioning and decided to proceed with the turn on red. However, after doing so, it struck me that I was in the “land of many traffic enforcement cameras.”

Being compulsive, and worried about the prospect of receiving a violation citation in the mail, upon returning home I checked the Montgomery County website that lists enforcement camera locations. The inter-section at which I had turned was listed as having one or more cameras, but the web-site wasn’t functioning fully and I couldn’t

Urbana High School Wrestling Team Wins Baurline Duels

T he Baurline wrestling duel tourna-ment pits a field of nine high school teams against each other, and over

the course of two days they clash through a round-robin format. Every team has the opportunity to wrestle one another. The team with the best record at the conclusion of the event takes home the team title.

This year’s Baurline Duels featured Sil-ver Oak Academy, Manchester Valley, Catoctin, Hereford, Glenelg, North Car-roll, James Bennet, F.S.K and Urbana high schools.

Urbana High School (UHS) entered the Dec. 12-13 event with some unknowns about individuals in their line-up.

The team features four battle-tested se-niors and the rest of its line-up is round-ed out with new freshmen, rising sopho-mores, and others who have been a part of the team for the past few years, but only recently earned the chance to represent the varsity squad.

The Baurline Duels is a grind, but we love it. Through the course of eight match-es in two days it exploits weaknesses in your team and clearly pronounces the strengths.

Head Coach Ben Arneson agrees with me. “At the end of this event, we as a coaching staff know what to address not only in our line-up, but in practice,” he told me. “Going forward the event teaches us what we need to do to prime each in-dividual athlete mentally and physically, so that they can compete at the highest level.”

However, UHS did not show much weakness as the team beat each of the eight other teams by a margin of 17 points or more. Its closest match came against coun-ty rival Catoctin High School, which would eventually take second at the event.

These teams are quite familiar with each other and over the course of the past few years have developed a special bond that is uncommon among most rivals. When these two teams wrestle, a healthy mix

of camaraderie and fierce competitiveness makes the intensity of the match palpable throughout the gym.

It has become a tradition that before this match, Catoctin’s head coach, Ryan Green, and Urbana’s Ben Arneson, meet to ensure that Catoctin’s best wrestlers are competing against Urbana’s best wrestlers. This forces the wrestlers to beat quality op-ponents in order to determine the outcome of the match, said Arneson, plus it makes for some great, fan-pleasing wrestling.

This year’s featured match-up was Ca-toctin’s two-time state champ Charlie Perrella versus Urbana’s two-time state fi-nalist Morgan Way. Perrella was victorious through a close 3-2 decision, but Urbana would win the overall match 41-24.

The Baurline title is a great start to the season and will serve as a great foundation to build from, but Urbana is not satisfied.

We learned this weekend that our guys know how to embrace a good fight and that toughness stems from the hard-nosed culture that has been created in the prac-tice room. We know that victories as well as defeats this early in the season need to be taken in stride so that athletes can peak at the end of the season. We will stay humble and continue to improve.

Congratulations to the Urbana wrestling team on a great performance. We know you will continue to make your commu-nity proud.

Editor’s Note: Justin Krop is entering his third season as the Assistant Wrestling Coach at Urbana High School. Krop graduated from Ur-bana in 2007 before going on to wrestle Division I at Liberty University for four years. After col-lege, Krop went on to receive his Master’s degree in education and now teaches special education at Einstein High School in Montgomery Coun-ty. Krop’s coaching philosophy is geared toward helping high school boys grow up to be men who do not make excuses or quit, but to be men who strive to be the best future husbands, fathers and employees.

n poliCe Blotter Continued on page 18

CoaCh’sCorner By Justin Krop

By Rich Terselic

loCalvoiCes

Photo | Submitted

urbana high school wrestling coach Justin krop coaches state finalist morgan Way at Cole field house in 2014.


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the inaugural Urbana Winter Clothing Drive.V.eye.P. eyecare will be accepting any winter clothing donations for the entire month of January at our Villages of Urbana location. Any unwanted coats, hats and gloves

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determine what functions were being mon-itored.

On Monday, I called the Montgomery County police and the traffic camera en-forcement office. Neither could tell me what the camera(s) at the particular intersection were monitoring. This surprised me, and left me wondering whether there was some kind of “Great Spirit” that mysteriously controls their camera system. Another call was to the town manager of the community in which the intersection is located. Relieving my concerns, he assured me that, “unless you had been stopped by a man in blue driving a car with flashing lights” I need not wor-ry about receiving a violation letter. Right turns at the intersection were not monitored by camera. He also suggested an alternative routing to avoid the turn in the future.

The second experience occurred in the Villages of Urbana. Hopefully my under-standing of the facts of the situation is ac-curate.

The Villages operates a message board permitting residents to post subjects or ques-tions of their choice. Early on a December weekend, a new post reported that a jogger had been bitten by a large dog on one of the community trails. The post, seeking help, was from the wife of the jogger.

The lady accompanying the dog did not have it leashed. While the jogger exchanged words with the lady about the unleashed dog after the incident, he did not raise the leg of his trousers to check if the bite had drawn blood. When he got home, he did check

and observed blood. Unfortunately, he hadn’t acquired the lady’s name. The jogger checked with a doctor and was advised that unless he could confirm that the dog had ra-bies shots he would have to start the painful anti- rabies injection series. This prospect was very troubling to me.

I contacted the Villages Community Manager and asked that she issue an email bulletin seeking information on the identity and ownership of the dog. It hadn’t dawned on me that the dog companion might not live in the Villages and would not see the bulletin.

The message board post as well the email bulletin prompted action by numerous peo-ple, and before the weekend ended, the identity of the biting dog and owner were discovered. The dog had the needed shots and the jogger was saved from starting the anti-rabies shots.

I did not know the jogger. My participation in the situation was my concern for him as well as other people (of varying ages) who use the community trails. The two experiences I’ve described were not of earth-shaking consequence. My compulsiveness prompted the first. My concern for a fellow human being prompted my involvement in the second — and, I believe, was well worth the effort invested.

I’ll end with a message for dog walkers. Please keep your animal companions under full control when out walking, and should an incident occur such as I described, pro-actively provide your contact information.

loCalvoiCes from page 17


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