All Articles on The Appalachian Independent

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass To Be Portrayed Feb. 13 At ACM

jeffhenry76@yahoo.com (Courtesy, Gil Hazelwood, ACM PR Office) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:53:18 GMT

Abolitionist leader Frederick Douglass will be dramatically portrayed in a Monday, February 13, performance at Allegany College of Maryland that is open to the public and free of charge.

Actor and educator Fred Morsell will give his one-man original play, “Presenting Mr. Frederick Douglass on Race: A Soul’s Evolution,” twice that day, at 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., in the College Center Theatre.

Morsell’s portrayal of Douglass’ life and philosophy launches a series of activities in conjunction with ACM’s involvement in the Democracy Commitment, a national effort to promote active engagement in the democratic process by community college students.

This new initiative, intended as a platform for programs and projects that engage students in civic learning and democratic practice, includes a half-dozen spring-semester activities open to the larger community.

Actor and educator Morsell’s long-running portrayal of Douglass was inspired by the autobiography “Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave,” which became an influential work in the abolition movement.

Morsell’s reading of Douglass’ powerful words to inner city youth in 1984 was the catalyst for him to develop a two-act play about the runaway Maryland slave who became a forceful advocate for emancipation, voting rights for freed blacks and women and equality for all in 19^th century America.

In its journey through Douglass’ life, the inspirational play reveals the power that enabled Douglass to overcome obstacles and earn his place as a giant in American history.

Morsell’s portrayal concludes with a challenge to audience members to become all they are capable of becoming. Or, as Douglass himself put it: “What is possible for me is possible for you.”

His performances are presented by ACM and the Democracy Commitment in collaboration with the college’s Diversity Center, Student Government Association and Peace Studies and Human Service clubs.

More information about the program can be obtained by contacting ACM faculty members Cherie Snyder or Kurt Hoffman at 301-784-5556 or -5113, respectively.

Schools groups and others interested in attending should contact Lynn Grimm at 301-784-5168. Information is also available on the college Web site, www.allegany.edu

Brownsville Book Author To Give Friday Lectures at Frostburg Museum

jeffhenry76@yahoo.com (Courtesy, Gil Hazelwood, ACM PR Office) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:02:47 GMT

Lynn Bowman, author of “Being Black in Brownsville: Echoes of a `Forgotten’ Frostburg,” will discuss her research into local African-American history in a Friday evening lecture series that resumes Friday, February 10, at the Frostburg Museum.

These talks, presented in celebration of Black History Month and titled “The African-American Experience in Frostburg: Rediscovering Brownsville,” continue each Friday in February. They begin at 7:00 p.m. and are free and open to the public.

The subject of this Friday’s lecture is the development of Brownsville, a Frostburg neighborhood once home to a substantial African-American community.

Bowman’s February 17 talk will examine the community’s dislocation over several decades to make way for the expanding teacher-training school later to become Frostburg State University.

The lecture series’ final installment, February 24, discusses the town’s African-American community after Brownsville’s displacement.

With her 177-page, self-published book, Bowman has provided the first history of Brownsville and larger African-American experience in Frostburg, where she resides.

It is available at Main Street Books in Frostburg, the Book Center in downtown Cumberland and at the Campus Store of Allegany College of Maryland, where Bowman is an assistant professor of English and speech.

The Frostburg Museum is located at Hill and Oak streets. The phone number is 301-689-1195.

FSU Theatre Takes on Comedic Steve Martin Play

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 12:24:59 GMT

Frostburg State University Department of Theatre and Dance will present the witty, thrilling and controversial play “Picasso at the Lapin Agile” by comedian, actor, author, playwright, producer, musician and composer Steve Martin on March 2, 3, 8, 9 and 10 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee performance on March 3 at 2:00 p.m. All performances will take place in FSU Performing Arts Center’s F. Perry Smith Studio Theatre.

This witty romp of a play is set is Paris in 1904, where Pablo Picasso and Albert Einstein find themselves debating the art of physics and the physics of art on the eve of their great accomplishments – Picasso’s shift from his blue to cubist period and Einstein’s publishing of his theory of relativity.

Prior to each performance, FSU faculty members will present a series of mini-symposiums to playfully engage the audience on the art of physics and the physics of art. Lectures will begin at 7:15 p.m.

For reservations and information, contact the Theatre and Dance box office at 301-687-7462 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 to 4 p.m. Tickets are $6 for students and $12 for the general public. Season Subscriber reservations open Feb. 6, and individual ticket reservations open Feb. 13. To follow this seasons events, “like” Theatre and Dance at FSU on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pages/Theatre-and-Dance-at-FSU.

FSU is committed to making all of its programs, services and activities accessible to persons with disabilities. To request accommodations through the ADA Compliance Office, call 301-687-4102 or use a Voice Relay Operator at 1-800-735-2258.

Pictured are Nora Grider (Suzanne) and Derek Bollino (Picasso).

City of Frostburg launches new email newsletter

rkerns@appindie.org (Richard Kerns) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 20:31:41 GMT

FROSTBURG – The city of Frostburg has launched a new email newsletter to update residents on city happenings, meetings and other events.

The winter edition of the “Community E-Newsletter” arrived in email boxes in early February.
“This is the first edition of a Community E-Newsletter that the Mayor and City Council hope will change the way our community learns about the activities of the City government,” City Councilman Brian Alderton stated in the newsletter. “By reaching out to you through an email, we hope to provide you with important information about new projects and essential City services. We also hope this digital method of communication will encourage more citizens to become active in the decisions the City makes.”

News items in the inaugural edition included Frostburg's 2012 Bicentennial Celebration, the Comprehensive Plan Update, the upcoming June city election and the ongoing water system upgrade in town.

To receive the current and future E-Newsletters, contact City Administrator John Kirby at City Hall, 301-689-6000, or send him an email at jrkirby@allconet.org.

Further information about the city of Frostburg is available as well at the city's web site, www.frostburgcity.com.

Alderton files for re-election to Frostburg City Council

rkerns@appindie.org (Richard Kerns) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 17:37:52 GMT

FROSTBURG -- Frostburg Councilman Brian Alderton, the commissioner of Water, Parks and Recreation, has filed for re-election.

Alderton will be a candidate for commissioner of Water, Parks and Recreation in the city's June 5 municipal election. He and the other candidates for City Council and Mayor are running for two-year terms.

Alderton joins fellow incumbents Mayor Robert Flanigan and Walter Mackay, commissioner of Public Safety, who have also field for re-election.

No other candidates have yet filed.

May 8 is the deadline to file as a candidate for mayor or one of four Council seats.

FSU Professor to Present “Blinded in Batesburg: Learning of a Hometown Atrocity”

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 15:14:08 GMT

Andy Duncan, a faculty member in the Frostburg State University Department of English, will present “Blinded in Batesburg: Learning of a Hometown Atrocity” at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 13, in the Atkinson Room of the Lane University Center, as part of the campus Faculty Lecture Series. The event is free and open to the public.

On Feb. 13, 1946, an African-American World War II veteran named Isaac Woodard Jr. was pulled off a Greyhound bus in Batesburg, S.C., only hours after his honorable discharge, and was beaten by the local police chief, Lynwood Shull. As a result of his injuries, Woodard was blinded for life. The incident became a national scandal and a landmark federal civil rights case.

Duncan, a Batesburg native, was never told of this incident by his family, even though Shull was a family friend, as was the local doctor who first examined Woodard after the beating. It was not until Duncan was nearly 40 that he read about the incident in the Library of America Anthology Reporting Civil Rights. Duncan realized that his sleepy, obscure hometown had been, for a time, nationally infamous, denounced on the radio by Orson Welles, in songs by Woody Guthrie and in the Oval Office by Harry Truman. The incident so angered Truman that it influenced his eventual presidential decision to end racial segregation in the U.S. military.

In this lecture series, which will be held on the 66th anniversary of the beating as well as in honor of Black History Month, Duncan will discuss the facts of the Woodard case; its ramifications in politics, law and popular cultures; its effects on his family, his upbringing and his career; and how it continues to influence what he does in the classroom today. An audience discussion will follow.

Duncan, an assistant professor, teaches writing classes at FSU, including journalism, fiction and advanced composition. He has been a journalist for 30 years — since his freshman year of college — both writing and editing, in feature news, for newspapers and magazines, in print and online. He has been a published fiction writer for 15 years, earning two World Fantasy Awards and a Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award.

For more information, contact Andy Duncan at arduncan@frostburg.edu or 301-687-4241.

ACM Celebrates 50th Anniversary With Run From Carver Center

jeffhenry76@yahoo.com (Courtesy, Gil Hazelwood, ACM PR Office) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:40:58 GMT

Allegany College of Maryland continues the celebration of its 50^th anniversary on Saturday, March 10, when it stages a five-kilometer run that will allow participants to retrace the college’s history and support student scholarships as they do.

Named for ACM’s founding president, the Dr. Robert Zimmer Memorial Run starts at the Carver Community Center on Frederick Street, where the former Allegany Community College began, and ends on the present-day campus along Willowbrook Road.

To make the celebration more inclusive, this Queen City Striders-assisted event also features a one-mile outing for walkers. It takes place on the popular one-mile community track that circumnavigates ACM’s athletic fields.

Walkers on the gravel track will follow a course featuring signage that commemorates each of the college’s five decades of service to Allegany County, the tri-state area and surrounding region. Spectators are welcome at both of these benefit events, which start at 9:00 a.m.

The 5K race begins outside the former Carver School building at 340 Frederick St., where ACM started in 1961. The course leads for two miles from there through Decatur Street and Baltimore Avenue, along Willowbrook Road, where the college relocated in 1969, and into the campus. The final mile of the 5K event will be run on the community track.

Awards will be presented in the 5K run to male and female runners overall and in the master age range. Awards also will be presented to the top-three runners in the age groups of 14 and under through 60 and older and the five-year increments in between.

The cost to register as a runner or walker is discounted through Feb. 15 ($12), with the price increasing through March 9 ($15) and rising again on race-day ($20). Long-sleeved cotton shirts will be given to pre-registered participants and while supplies last for those who register from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. March 10.

Runners and walkers are encouraged to remain on campus after the race for refreshments, presentation of awards and random drawing of prizes. Special 5K tote bags bearing the race name and the college’s 50^th anniversary logo will be presented to each of the age-group finalists.

The College Center will be used for both pre- and post-race activities. As parking is limited at the Carver site, runners are urged to park on the Cumberland campus and to take college-operated shuttle transportation to Frederick Street.

To stage the race, the college is collaborating with the Cumberland Police Department, the Allegany County Sheriff’s Office, Maryland State Police and the Maryland State Highway Administration in addition to the Striders running group.

Proceeds from the run and walk benefit student scholarships administered by the ACM Foundation, the official sponsor of the Dr. Robert Zimmer Memorial Run. More information, including the registration form, is available on the college Web site, www.allegany.edu/anniversary.

Race registration forms are also available on the Cumberland campus, including the Information Center, Library and Campus Store, in ACM’s Culinaire Café on Baltimore Street in downtown Cumberland, and in many area fitness centers and gyms. They also will be placed at ACM’s Pennsylvania campuses in Everett and Somerset.

Additional information can be obtained by contacting Shauna McQuade, race director, at 301-784-5154, or David Jones, ACM Foundation executive director, at 301-784-5350.

Sweethearts Dance with Music by The Left Overs at The Embassy Theatre

jeffhenry76@yahoo.com (Tiffany Turbin Santos) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 18:30:54 GMT

Sidle up to your sweetheart at New Embassy Theatre's Sweethearts Dance with live music by The Left Overs. Doors will open at 7:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 11. Regular ticket price for adults is $8, $14 for couples.

Snacks and refreshments including non-alcoholic punch, cup cakes, and a cash bar are available from the lobby's Passport Cafe. The Embassy is located between Liberty and Mechanic Streets at 49 Baltimore Street in Cumberland Town Centre. Reservations and group discounts are available by calling 301-722-4692.

A portion of the proceeds of the dance will go to support the work of Allegany High School's Net Aid Club, a non-profit organization raising money for various relief efforts around the world. The theatre staff hope to have a large turn-out of all ages for the dance.

The Left Overs are a new rock quartet comprised of veterans of a number of popular Hampshire County, West Virginia, bands. Individually, they have played for years in clubs and festivals around the region. The band plays a variety of contemporary and classic rock tunes and features four-part vocal harmonies. Band members include Joe Kidwell, Mike McQuaid, Chuck Sherry, and Mike Hasty.

City of Frostburg February meetings

rkerns@appindie.org (Richard Kerns) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:51:35 GMT

Meetings

City Council Work Session, 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 7 at City Hall
Planning Commission, 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 8 at the Community Center
Historic District Commission, 4:15 p.m., Monday, Feb. 13 at the Library
City Council Monthly Meeting, 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16 at the Community Center
Board of Elections meeting, 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22 at City Hall

Holidays

Monday, Feb. 20, President's Day – City Hall closed

Frostburg Musician Raising Funds For Album

jeffhenry76@yahoo.com (Kayla Stein) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:14:44 GMT

Times of personal crisis lead to music, says Frostburg-based pop musician Jonathan Shadel. In the summer of 2010, Shadel fell into a period of depression and questioning which prompted his move to Limerick, Ireland to study Literature. In his travels across three continents, he found inspiration in different cultures that has led to the recording of his double-album Strange Currents. After depleting his recording budget, he is now reaching out to listeners through an innovative fundraising platform called Kickstarter.com.

While this is his first album released under the band name Brave the River, Shadel has been active in Western Maryland’s music scene for over five years. Pointing out influences ranging from the Beach Boys, Cat Stevens, and modern electronic music, he indicates that Strange Currents features his most melodic songwriting. “With this record, I really wanted to emphasize the power of a good pop melody. I think after spending a lot of time listening to the artists that have influenced me, I’ve found my own grounding as a songwriter,” he says.
Shadel took violin lessons for eleven years, and taught himself guitar, bass, mandolin, and synthesizer. As a multi-instrumentalist, he has performed and produced nearly all the instrumentation on the album’s 23-tracks. In describing the record’s sound, he says, “It is a deeply spiritual record about questioning God and those I love the most. I think the music matches that mood; the melodies and rhythms are pretty direct. The complexity is in how the songs work together. The result is both natural and electronic.”

While Shadel has funded the recording of the record so far, he is using a website called Kickstarter.com to raise funds to cover post-production costs. “It is such a simple platform,” he says. “It’s like a fun pre-order system. Someone can decide they want to pledge a few bucks, and in return they get some really fun rewards.” Some of the rewards he is offering range from a copy of the album or a custom written song. “I’m not trying to raise a lot of money, but the difficult thing is that I only have a few weeks to do it. So I really need people to be a part of the project.” More information can be found at his website,www.bravetheriver.com andhttp://www.kickstarter.com/projects/660223294/help-finish-my-double-album-and-ill-write-you-a-so