Feature Frederick

A Frozen Treat in Summer Heat

2012-06-06T17:11:00.002-04:00

I’m sure that for most Fredericktonians, the Frederick Fudge and Ice Cream Co. at Everedy Square on the corner of Church and East Streets in no big secret, but I’ve been enjoying it for too many years now to have put off a shout-out for one of my Frederick faves. To those unfortunates for whom the dulcet sound of “Frederick Fudge and Ice Cream Co.” rings unfamiliar, the simplest way to describe it is the best place on the east side of town to satisfy summer sweet tooths and neutralize heat exhaustion.

Let’s face it, Frederick gets HOT in the summer, but there are so many fun things to do downtown over those vacation months that we just can’t stay at home all day! So when I’m hoofing it through my favorite town and my shoes start to melt on the sidewalks, I know I can rely on the Fudge and Ice Cream Co. for a quick blast of air-conditioning and a delicious frozen treat!

In addition to their 20+ flavors of homemade fudge (which I prefer in the Fall) they have more than 30 flavors of ice cream that they serve in just about any way you can imagine. Just the other day when I was wandering downtown on First Saturday and admiring a display of vintage British sports cars that lined the sidewalks of Everedy Square, I dropped in to get a scoop of their dark chocolate ice cream in a chocolate-dipped waffle cone, but at the last second I gave into temptation and went for a banana split with all the works! As it turns out, chocolate, vanilla and strawberry ice cream drenched in hot fudge, whipped cream, caramel and strawberry syrup, all ontop of bananas, is totally worth every guilt-ridden calorie gained from it.

They boast every ice cream topping you have ever heard of and lean toward the quirky side of creative. Want to show pride in your school or favorite team? They’ll gladly douse your ice cream in M&Ms to match the colors of your champion of choice.

In addition to ice cream and fudge, they have an assortment of candies and novelty items that place instant smiles on faces to beguile the delay between placing your order and receiving your treat.

When I finally get my cold ice cream into my hot hands, I like to go to their little outdoor seating area and leisurely enjoy my choice in the shade as I watch neighborhood birds and squirrels dash around the trees. When I’m finished, I can get immediately back into the downtown vibe and proceed to my next adventure!

Frederick Fudge and Ice Cream Co.
253 E. Church St.
Frederick, MD 21701
(301) 631-5333

Cacique

2011-06-29T20:17:00.000-04:00

     I promised my friend, Sasha, that as soon as I got a bit of extra cash I would take her out to a nice dinner to celebrate her choosing the best college major ever (a.k.a. English) and I wanted to take her to a really nice place that neither of us have previously experienced. I must have walked by Cacique on Market St. a thousand times and thought, "I should try that some day," so I used our special occasion as a great excuse to give it a go.
   This little adventure actually turned out to be full of fun firsts. For one, I had never been to a restaurant that you might call "fancy" that primarily serves Mexican and Spanish food. We felt a little guilty dripping their delicious and bountiful salsa on their nice white tablecloths, but assumed they must have had at least some expectation of this possibility so we carried on. We really enjoyed this part of the meal because not only were the salsa and chips good, it gave us a chance to chat and soak in the well-decorated atmosphere.
     The menu was particularly interesting not only because it was full of super-spiced up renditions of traditional Spanish and Mexican cuisine, but because it also took many items that you might think of as "American" food and added a foreign flare to them. For instance, I ordered a rack of pork ribs that they called "Yucatan Ribs," that came bathed not only in delicious BBQ sauce, but also several spices that I couldn't identify that added a unique twist that I've never encountered at another restaurant.
   The presentation was spectacular. I could literally hear my food coming out of the kitchen as it was still sizzling in a cast-iron plate that I had to let cool for a moment before I could begin eating. When I did, the first thing I noticed was that the meat was so tender that it was falling off the bone at the slightest touch. All items on this portion of the menu come with a little platter for making your own soft tacos on the side. Ever have spicy BBQ ribs at the same time as a soft taco filled with fresh salsa and sour cream? I highly recommend it. If that is how they do ribs, I cannot wait to come back and try the steak.
   But as with any truly great restaurant, Cacique is certainly good at introducing us to dishes that we may not normally even think about. Sasha ordered the roast duck. She didn't give me too many details other than to say it was cooked just right, which I'm told is hard to do with duck because it can become kind of chewy if you don't know what you are doing.
   I normally try to avoid talking too much about price when I do restaurant reviews (Sasha says it's tacky) but I think it worthy to note that this is the place to go if you want a "classy" dining experience without breaking the bank. In addition to the nice table cloths, the waiting staff is well-dressed, there is an extensive wine list, and pleasant music playing quietly in the background. I've had special dinners in very similar settings for about three times what this delightful evening cost. In fact, it might be my new go-to restaurant for such occasions when I'm the one footing the bill. Only next time I will try the lovely outdoor seating on the bustling sidewalk of Market Street!

Cacique Restaurant
26 N. Market Street
Frederick, MD 21701
301.695.2756
www.caciquefrederick.com
eat@caciquefrederick.com

Sweet Memories of Candy by the Pound

2011-06-18T01:17:00.000-04:00

     When I was a kid and traveled with my family out West for my dad's business trips, one of the things I couldn't help noticing were old-fashioned candy stores and general stores that sold candy by the pound out of old wooden barrels. I was always a little sad when we got back home because those types of stores are less prevalent on the East Coast. So I was super excited when I discovered Sweet Memories candy store on E. Patrick St. in downtown Frederick!
     I think what caught my attention were the gigantic rainbow lollypops sitting in the storefront window. You know, the kind that they have at circuses and carnivals that are bigger than a child's face! The kind that made me sticky from head to toe as a five-year-old, but tasted so good that I just didn't care. Yeah, those!
   Obviously I had to go in, and what I found inside was even more amazing: rows and rows of huge barrels filled with candy! In addition to the usual suspects that you might find at the grocery store, I saw tons of classics that are harder come-by. Many flavors of salt-water taffy, gold butterscotches, hard licorice, lemonheads, spicy jelly beans, coconut Neapolitans, peppermint balls, Root-beer barrels... and, so, so much more... adorn every inch of store space. They have about 65 barrel-candies sold by the pound, and 200 altogether counting the individually packaged candies, such as the giant suckers. They have barrel candy from every decade going back to 1846. Little tags stick up from the barrels with a little bit about the history of each one.

And just to add that little extra interest to their theme, the walls are covered in vintage posters, like the promotional poster from "I Love Lucy" and an old "Betty Boop" poster.
According to Christina Chase, who owns the store with her family, it has already begun to create strong attachments to the community despite having only been open little more then a year.

“We get people of all ages. With the little kids, they walk in and it’s like ‘O my gosh, I’m in Heaven,’” she said. “With the older generation it brings up all their memories, so when they have the time they say, ‘I remember this’ and they tell us a story. That’s what we like about our store, is people let us into their lives."

It's no wonder that people have developed a relationship with this store when I think of the experience here compared to buying bags of candy at the grocery store. As I was walking around the store taking pictures, I overheard Christina and her daughter, Jamie, interacting with the customers. They had lots of fun discussions trying to match up the customers to candies that were right for them, and what went well with what, and so forth. It is this level of customer service and personal investment on the part of the storekeepers that will always give them an advantage over the big stores in the suburbs.

Oh, and check this out. Have you ever heard of a candy store that caters weddings with candy buffets? Well, you have now! Not only that, but they do deliveries off their web site. They have such a uniquely vast selection that they have customers as far away as New England.

So who has a Sweet tooth!?

43 East Patrick Street
Frederick, MD 21701
Store Phone: 301-620-4202
www.sweetmemoriescandystore.com

Brunswick Music Fest

2011-06-10T16:35:00.000-04:00

     On Saturday, June 18, head over to Railroad Square in Brunswick at 11am for the Brunswick Music Fest, a celebration of music that grew up at a crossroads of the railroad and Appalachian Mountains. The concert will feature two Bluegrass bands, two Blues bands and an "old time" or Appalachian folk music band.
     Unfortunately I won't be able to attend because of a previous engagement, but Hanna Politis, a committee chair for Brunswick Main Street, who hosts the event, was kind enough to tell me what it's all about. She said that calling it a "festival" might be a slight misnomer because the primary focus of the event will be the music of the five bands, but they will also have food and drink vendors.
   “The music was created by the railroad because Brunswick is a railroad town," she said. "That kind of music is the Blues and the Bluegrass and the old time music that came to existence when they built the railroad into the Appalachian mountains because there were a lot of Irish, Scottish and African American elements. They were singing about the hardships of life or the heartbreaks at that time”
   She said that one of the goals of the concert will be to reconnect Maryland with cultural elements that it shares with Virginia and West Virginia, but doesn't often express. One of the groups preforming at the concert, the Woodshedders, are from West Virginia and very popular there, but less well-known in Frederick County even though they play here on a fairly regular basis.
"It seems like the Potomac is like a border," she said. "That music and that culture stays there and we want to bring it into Maryland because we are part of that culture, really."
   Hanna also said that the concert is part of a larger project by Brunswick Main Street to revitalize the downtown area. I have always thought it was a cute little town with a lot of great potential because of its history and location along the C&O Canal, but many of its storefronts have become empty and it doesn't draw a lot of attention from visitors.

"People don’t go downtown anymore because there are shopping centers all around and people live in the suburbs," she said. “We want to revitalize downtown and we also want to give Brunswick a good name for a quality event that will be visited regionally.”

Hanna hopes that while people are in town for this great concert, they will take the time to visit other aspects of the town that they may not have known were there, such as the charming boutiques, cafes and restaurants. She also believes that people would enjoy exploring the portion of the C&O Canal that runs just on the other side of the railroad tracks. I enjoy walking through that area because it's a nice long, clear path for exercise and it's nice to be so close to the river.

"It's incredible how close it is. You just walk across the tracks and there it is," she said.

If you are interested in attending this awesome day of concerts, Hanna says that it's better to buy your tickets in advance from their web site or registered sellers at downtown stores because they are cheaper than purchasing them at the gate.

WHAT:

Brunswick Music Fest

WHEN:

Saturday, June 18, 2011, Gates Open at 11am

WHERE:

Railroad Square at South Maple Avenue, downtown Brunswick, Maryland 21716

COST:

Tickets are $15 for adults in advance, $20 for adults at the gate, $10 for students and seniors and FREE for children ages 5 and under.

Advance tickets may be purchased by calling 240-347-8760, via the website www.BrunswickMusicFest.com, or in participating downtown stores.

MORE INFORMATION:

info@brunswickmusicfest

tel: 240-347-8760

website: www.BrunswickMusicFest.com

ARTIST INFO:

The Woodshedders: www.thewoodshedders.com

The Kelly Bell band: www.phatblues.com

Donna Ulisse and the Poor Mountain Boys: www.donnaulisse.com

Beaucoup Blue: www.beaucoupblue.com

The Fitzmaurice Band: www.fitzmauriceband.com

Pedicab Through Frederick

2011-06-03T03:07:00.000-04:00

     One of the remarkable things that I observed during my time in Dublin for the 2009 - 2010 academic year was a preponderance of little rickshaws pulled around on bikes called pedicabs or eco-cabs. I thought it was really neat because the regular cabs there cost somewhere between an arm and your first born child while these friendly bicycle chaps were more than happy to take me anywhere in the city for just a small tip. It was one of the many charms of Europe that I wanted to bring back with me, so I was happily surprised to find an enterprising company in our own downtown Frederick took up the suggestion the summer after my return before I even said anything!
   You may have seen the pedicabs of MacFawn's Green Rides roaming the city in search of fares, but if you haven't yet taken advantage of their amazing service, I figured that there might be a few things about them that you don't know, so when I happened to cross right in front of pedicab driver Brandon Novotny, I stopped him for a quick interview.
He said that they will take you anywhere in the downtown area for a flat rate of of just $2! You might feel like they are a little hard to come by because there are usually only two of them biking around the city, but if you don't happen to see one around, just text your location to (301) 246-2221 and the nearest cab will come your way for a quick pick up.
   Brandon said that what customers really seem to like about the pedicabs is that they can go places that cars can't. Imagine that you park your car on E. 2nd St. so that you can pick up a gift for a friend's birthday at a shop in Shab Row or Everedy Square and then want to go to his party at one of the restaurants along Carroll Creek Linear Park. Rather than trying to re-park your car down on Patrick St. and then walk to the creek area, you can text a pedicab which can drive on the creek walk and drop you right in front of your destination. No regular cab can do that!
   The drawback of pedicabs for me was that I felt a little bad about making some poor guy drag my heavy weight around, but Brandon said that he is really glad to have the exercise, can take 3 or 4 people, and makes sure not to work for longer than he can handle.
"A lot of people think it's real hard and just a strenuous job but I actually have a blast doing it," he said. "Meeting new people and staying in shape at the same time; you can't beat that."

Lots of L.O.V.E. in downtown Frederick

2011-05-29T03:14:00.001-04:00

I have reviewed a lot of really interesting and unique shops both on this blog and in newspapers and magazines, but never in my ten years of journalism had I come across an entire type of of shop that I never even knew existed. That is, never until I discovered Lebherz Oil & Vinegar Emporium (aka L.O.V.E.). Olive oil and vinegar are great flavor-boosters for things like salad and hummus, but never did I imagine an entire store dedicated to bringing us 48 different varieties on tap!
According to owner Maggie Lebherz, she also didn't know about such places before her study abroad program in Spain a few years ago.

“I really got into the cuisine and had fresh olive oil which I had never had before and so when I got back here I looked everywhere and couldn’t find anything like what I had so I did lots of research, found what I had in Spain and went from there," she said.

I felt really ignorant at this point because I didn't know that freshness made such a difference when it came to olive oil. I assumed that anything in a non-refrigerated sealed bottle was good for decades, but apparently age has a major negative impact on both the flavor and health benefits of olive oil.

"“You want to get this fresh olive oil that’s high in polyphenols because that’s where the anti-oxidants are. You’re going to get health benefits from actually using it," she said. "If you get any olive oil that’s been sitting in heat and sunlight for a year, the free fatty acids are high, so much higher sometimes that it’s not much better than using butter.”

She keeps her oil and vinegar in these large steel vats with spigots on the end until the customer decides to buy a bottle. Keeping it in larger quantities in non-glass containers preserves its' freshness for longer. Her store is extremely unique in the US doing this with oil imported from Europe - so unique in fact that a restaurant in D.C. buys their oil and vinegar directly from her rather than a provided closer to them.

What surprised me even more were the flavor fusions and infusions into the oil and vinegar. I am familiar with how different flavorings are added to honey, tea and wine, but I had no idea that similar things were done to oil and vinegar. What I find particularly amazing is that the oils are infused with flavors that you would never normally think of adding to just about anything else.

My attention was first turned to L.O.V.E. a few days before I went there when friends of mine introduced me to an oil that was fused with mushrooms at the moment the olives were pressed. It was smooth, rich, flavorful and made an excellent dip for whole wheat bread. This is certainly not a flavor I could get or would want in honey, tea or wine!

But what I found even more interesting and enlightening were Maggie's balsamic vinegars. She said that technically speaking, most of the brands that are marketed as balsamic in grocery stores are just imitation because in order to be true, they must be from Modena, Italy and be aged for at least 12 years, whereas the imitations are usually aged about four years.

When it comes to vinegar, she says that proper aging can totally change our usual perception of its character and use. Would you ever pour vinegar on ice cream or cheese cake? That sounds totally gross, right? But as vinegar ages for over a decade, the sugars become more dense and the body becomes much more like a sweet syrup. I was highly skeptical myself, but I bought a bottle of her strawberry balsamic vinegar and smothered chocolate ice cream in it. I got the same great flavorful sweetness as I would have from strawberry syrup, but also this really interesting tangy kick that opened up more of the chocolate flavor.

But if that still sounds really weird, the truly amazing thing about L.O.V.E. is that you can sample all of the oil and vinegar from the same vats from which the bottles are filled. And because L.O.V.E. loves their customers, they encourage you to come in and try a small sample of all of their products. Seriously, just let a tiny dab of the vinegars touch your tongue and you won't wonder why I put it on ice cream.

I was also thrilled by how well Maggie knows her products. Each one of them has intricate aspects, but she can describe them perfectly and provide a seemingly endless supply of serving suggestions.

Even the store space is really well-done and has a comfortable feel. I thought it was interesting that the color scheme and architecture of the building are highly suggestive of the Mediterranean world from which her products come, while at the same time proclaiming itself a proudly local business by displaying beautiful glass-etchings of Frederick scenes donated by local artist, Yemi. Add that to the rows of gleaming steel vats full of rich but affordable goodness, and this is most definitely a store that I recommend to my readers.

Lebherz Oil & Vinegar Emporium

214 N. Market Street

Frederick, MD 21701

301-228-3996

www.loveoliveoilvinegar.com

The Frederick Coffee Co.

2011-05-23T03:05:00.000-04:00

     Perhaps the phrase "home away from home" is used too often to describe very relaxing restaurants and cafes, but I'm going to go ahead and contribute to the problem here because I can think of no better way of describing The Frederick Coffee Company & Cafe in downtown Frederick. Not only do they have a good menu replete with comforts such as hot/cold drinks and sandwiches, they provide an overall pleasant and welcoming atmosphere. In fact, sometimes it can honestly be more comfortable than home.
     The first thing you will probably notice upon entering the downtown cafe is a wall covered in an ever-changing visual art display. Sometimes I will see a photography exhibition from Latin America or crafted art such a modern paintings and sculpture. I like that there is usually some mix of local and international art. The pieces are usually for sale for reasonable prices, but certainly free to gaze upon as you sip your coffee and eat a bagel.
     The space has plenty of regular table seating, but also some comfy arm chairs next to little end tables if you want a nice place to sit and read a book or use your laptop for a while. They have free wireless internet so I've found it's a really nice place to get some work done. I've never been one for sitting in a library at a desk under buzzing fluorescent lights for hours as I type away. Last summer I think I must have written at least half of my M.A. thesis in the comfort of the Frederick Coffee Co., all the while alternating between hot chai and Italian soda and enjoying pleasant background music.
     If you come in with friends, you might want to take advantage of the board games. Sometimes when I give out-of-town friends a walking tour of downtown Frederick, I'll take them in there for breaks. We'll refuel on food and drinks while enjoying a round or two of Scrabble and then hop back to our feet to check out more of my favorite places. It's especially nice when I happen to be on the east side of town for shopping or parking anyway because the next closest cafes are a few blocks away.
   The Coffee Co. also has a vibrant night life. They have live music four nights a week, including an open-mic night every Tuesday to give new artists a shot at working the crowds. I've seen some really talented groups come through there and I think I'm going to stop by sometime soon to look for a band to Feature on the blog.
     If you are ever trying to find me, the Coffee Co. is a great place to start looking. I have been a loyal fan of the Coffee Co. for nearly twenty years now and I see no reason not to add a few more scores to that number.

100 N. East St.
Frederick, MD 21701
(301) 698-0039
http://www.fredcoffeeco.com/

Mediterranean Grill

2011-05-20T01:01:00.001-04:00

     A few days ago some friends suggested that I would really love the Mediterranean Grill in the Westview Shopping Center because it has so many of my favorite foods. In the past few years I've become a big fan of more exotic foods (exotic for my house, anyway) like hummus, tabouleh and bruschetta and I'm always looking to try new samples, so I stopped by to check it out. I had it in mind that I would try a little bit of all of my new favorites just to see how they would do it differently, but when I got their interesting menu in my hands, I realized that I had barely scratched the surface of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean cuisine.
     On their appetizer menu, I discovered for the first time that hummus is actually part of a larger family of food called mezze dips which are made from all manner of mashed up vegetables, cheese, spices, juices, and oil to create flavorful sauces for dipping bread. I found myself in a bit of a conundrum because I came to the restaurant to see how the items on their menu with which I am familiar from other sources measure up to what I know, but at the same time I wanted to explore things I had never even heard of. Because my sister, Meg, was with me, I figured that I could get away with ordering two appetizers and sharing them, so I decided to order one familiar to me for the sake of comparison, and one totally new to me for the sake for adventure.
   For the familiar dish, I ordered the bruschetta, which consists of tomatoes, onions, olive oil, garlic, fresh herbs, oregano, crumbled feta cheese, and capers spread over pieces of garlic bread. One of the things that I have noticed about this dish is that it varies widely from one restaurant to another, but the Mediterranean Grill competes for the best I've ever had. The tomatoes here are large, fresh slices as opposed to the diced, salsa-like ones that I'm used to. And feta, which I think is one of the most interesting cheeses I've ever had, is not a standard ingredient at other places. I liked how the tomato-mix and toasted garlic bread slices came separately so that my sister and I could cover them as much as we wanted and in different proportions from each other.
   The new mezze that I ordered, called tirosqlata, consisted of roasted red pepper, pepperoncini, red chili peppers, crumbled feta cheese, lemon juice, and oregano served with an enormous piece of pita bread for dipping. A big fan of each of those ingredients individually, save for pepperoncini which I had never heard of, I had to give it a try. It was presented on a large flat dish in something of a swirled pattern, with a big green olive placed in a tiny pool of olive oil in the middle. I have never been good at describing the intricacies of flavor, but it was delicious to say the least. It's a little spicy, but just enough to make it interesting.
   I was really tempted to try one of the entrees that I hadn't encountered at other restaurants, such as the Istanbul pizza covered in creamy feta or the shawarma, which is chicken, lamb, or beef marinated in red-wine vinegar and slowly roasted. But it had been so long since I had had a good gyro that I decided to stick to the classic. I'm really glad that I did because it's definitely the best one that I can even remember having. Rather than the thin shavings of lamb meat that I'm used to, this had thick savory chunks smothers in feta and all manner of delicious seasoning.
     Meg and I didn't have room for dessert, which is an enormous shame because I'd love to try their tiramisu or baklava with one of their custom made espressos. Speaking of which, not only are they a great place for lunch and dinner, they have a full menu of Italian-style specialty coffees. In fact, they offer a lot of special items and I have barely began to scratch the surface.
     In addition to great ethnic food, they provide a charming atmosphere. They have a copper-color theme, with copper-covered table tops and strange-looking copper fountains attached to the wall. Meg and I were a big fan of their outdoor seating area that sits at a particularly busy pedestrian area right near the movie theatre. Add all of that to their extremely attentive and friendly waiting staff, and I have no choice but to give Mediterranean Grill an A+ for interest and excellence.

Mediterranean Grill
Westview Promenade
5221A Buckeystown Pike
Frederick, MD 21704
Phone (301) 620-1666
www.medgrillusa.com

Zoe's Chocolate: Sweet Treats in Frederick

2011-05-16T00:58:00.000-04:00

     Ever since my return from Europe nearly a year ago I've had trouble adjusting back to a certain popular corporate American chocolate, the name of which I won't mention but assume you know. By European standards, this famous chocolate feels and tastes rather like wax in my mouth. So when I recently discovered Zoe's Chocolate Co. on Market St., I had to check it out in hopes of escaping the more standard options.
   I knew I was in the right place as soon as I walked into the bright pink store front. They have rows and rows of different types of chocolate bars on all sides and a glass counter full of little chocolates for gift boxes. I was hit with a wave of chocolate flavor on the very air. I bought a bar of their hazelnut dark chocolate and could tell that it was good just by looking. It was divided into eight thick, dark squares and it smelled amazing as soon as I removed the wrapper. At first taste I immediately knew there was a quality here that couldn't be matched by you-know-who's chocolate. It was rich, strong and smooth. I could tell that it was made with much more actual cocoa and few unnatural preservatives than that which shall not be named. I no longer feel the need to get on an airplane to enjoy delicious chocolate.
     Zoe Tsoukatos, who has run the shop with her family since 2007, said their chocolate is so good because they are third-generation Greek chocolatiers. Their family started the business in Baltimore in 1902 and has carefully passed down the family secrets ever since.
     But according to Zoe, the goal of this new shop is to marry tradition to modernity.
     "We took a lot of the old-world recipes and we tweaked it to today's pallets," she said. "'Time honored tradition meets modern sophistication' is like our slogan."

   Their flavors include unique things like a Mediterranean line that mixes chocolate with things like baklava, tahini, pistachip, citrus, and orange blossom. She said that the caramel chocolates with sea salt are among her hottest selling items.
"We try to step outside the box, play with the consistencies, so it's a little bit different than what everybody else does, but yet we still play to the classic American pallet where you have like apple pie, pear and peanut-butter and jelly," she said. "We try to mix both worlds from our heritage and the American culture as well."
   I also like the freshness of their chocolate. It's actually brought into the store on a daily basis from Waynesboro, PA on the same day it's made. Zoe said they strive to use local flavoring ingredients whenever possible. But even when they don't, the ingredients that they do use are really cool, like genuine Italian butter.
   I'm sold. I'm definitely coming back to Zoe next Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, birthdays, Christmas, and whenever I just need to remember what real chocolate tastes like.

Zoe's Chocolate Co.
121 North Market Street
Frederick, MD 21701-5421
(301) 694-5882
http://www.zoeschocolate.com/

Welcome Back Freez King

2011-05-13T17:30:00.000-04:00

Maybe this will seriously harm my credentials as a true Fredericktonian, but I here confess to my readers that I have only ever been to the Freez King on East St. once before it closed in 2009 because I didn’t even know it was there. Yes, I know how much everyone loved it and I really liked it the one time I was there. It was great because of its simplicity. Three flavours of soft-serve ice cream (one of which is a combo of the other two) and quick hamburgers and hotdogs right at the edge of a nice little residential neighbourhood and across the street from a lovely park was a great business model. The problem? The building didn’t exactly scream “I’m here!” but their new digs certainly do.

As I headed north on East St. to visit the newly opened reincarnation of a Frederick staple, I couldn’t but notice the giant “Freez King” sign sitting on top a big red arrow pointed at the building. The structure itself is a much more imposing figure, with a large, almost towering, grey front with huge open doors. What I noticed right away was that the outside was swarmed by happy people, mostly families, chatting and laughing as they walked away with the reinvented menu items or chilled on the patio furniture.

The line was long, but totally worth it. I noticed that they added a LOT to their simple menu, but I was in the mood for a classic. I got a large cup full of their soft-serve chocolate ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. The weather was perfect for a walk in through the park, so I strolled slowly down the stream as I dug into my frozen treat and watched several species of birds flying everywhere. I had forgotten that the park there has so much in the way of basketball and tennis courts, and I thought it would be great to maybe spend some time this summer running around there with friends and then taking a break at the King for lunch.

As I was walking back to my car I thought about stopping some of the people hanging around outside with their ice cream and sandwiches to ask for interviews so I could post sound clips about how much they love the new feel of the place ... but then I realized they were so happy with their friends and families that I didn’t want to take the time to interrupt them with questions from a stranger. Normally what I love about food options is how dynamic or “interesting” they are, but seeing how happy everyone was today reminded me of the pure joy to be found in simplicity.

Welcome back, Freez King. Frederick missed you.

1303 North East Street, Frederick, MD 21701 (301) 624-2994 ‎

Two Paws Up!

2011-05-09T23:29:00.000-04:00

    I apologize in advance for the brevity and lateness of this post today, but that is actually related to why Two Paws Up in downtown Frederick is my new regular pet store. Normally I like to take my time with things, but today I was in a huge hurry and wanted to just run into a store quickly to pick up a new cat toy and food dish for a new kitten that we will be getting soon. My family has always had an unfortunate tendency to gravitate toward those big corporate pet stores or the grocery store for supplies, but the first thing I noticed about Two Paws Up is how much more convenient it is than any of those bigger stores.

     As soon as you walk through their brightly-colored door, you notice there are employees standing right there ready to help you at the counter. I can't tell you how many times I've just needed to run into a big pet store to grab a quick bag of food and had to first wander around looking for someone to help me find it. Those big stores have isles and isles of things that would never interest me and just cause me headaches as I get lost in them. I was worried that the small size of the nineteenth-century building that houses the store would translate into a drastically smaller selection, and while it does stick to the basics, I found that they have Everything that I will ever need for my pets -- Plenty of cat and dog toys, bowls, beds, collars, leashes, food, treats, and all reasonably priced and conveniently located. I just pulled right up in front of the store, asked for what I needed, bought a small yarn ball and silver dish, and was on my way to deal with the rest of my busy life.
     I could tell by just glancing around that there is a lot more to say about this funky little pet store than its convenience and great service. I would like to go back one day and talk with the owner about the specifics of their most popular products and the guiding philosophy of the business.

Two Paws Up
15 South Carroll St.
Frederick, MD 21701
301-668-7704
http://www.twopawsup.biz/

Frederick's Children Sing

2011-05-06T03:56:00.002-04:00

Photos provided courtesy of The Frederick Children's Chorus

The Frederick Childrens’ Chorus will present their Spring concert, “A World of Song” May 7, 2:30pm at Oakdale High School in Ijamsville. Director Judy DuBose said that the concert, preformed by children ages 5 to 18, will feature a wide range traditional choral music from all over the world

“The pieces that we have selected are pieces that are representative of the primary art forms of the various centuries throughout the world,” Mrs. DuBose said. “Every piece that we’re doing has in some way fed into the art form that we consider music here in the United States, but it’s from all over the world.

Some of the music will include the Korean folk song “Arirang,” the Italian “Gia Sole Dal Gange,” a Jazz piece called “Mary Had a Little Blues,” several American folks songs and much more.

The Benefits of Chorus

Participating in music is great for people of all ages, but Mrs. DuBose believes it can play an especially positive developmental role in children.

“We haven’t really done the research on it, but we believe that it builds confidence and a sense of understanding teamwork as well as sense of responsibility to another group of people. It’s not egocentric, it’s very much more a part of being a community,” she said.

She also said that she believes it improves cognitive and mathematical abilities, as well as providing cultural education.

“We’re fairly certain that the various cultures and languages that we learn assist children throughout their scholastic development,” she said. “They can apply it to every facet of their education—everything from literature to world cultures and social studies and sciences and so forth.”

I was in the Children’s Chorus from ages 12 to 13, and even though I didn’t have a gift for music and didn’t continue my musical education, I took away certain influences from it that have stayed with me until this day. I still know musical terminology competently enough that I can discuss it when it comes up in conversation, and I can still read music well enough for following a church hymnal. I also really appreciate some of the solid cultural background that I took from learning foreign-language songs. I still remember the words to songs Mrs. DuBose taught me in Spanish, Latin, Hebrew, Portuguese, Greek, and Zulu. I’m convinced that learning music like “Arroz con leche” and “Jubilate Deo” helped me later in my education with both Spanish and Latin class because I was already familiar with the Latin vowel pronunciation scheme. That is a good thing because the Ph.D. programs to which I am applying require proficiency in Latin.

Mrs. DuBose said that the alumni of her chorus have gone on to do great things, such as one student who is now a professor of neuroscience at Yale University.

Tradition vs. Modernity

In my experience, many choral directors and music teachers think the only way to interest modern students in music is by teaching them how to perform their favorite Pop songs. The theory is that it’s impossible to get children, especially teenagers, to choose Franz Schubert over Britney Spears. Mrs. DuBose has not found that to be the case.

I asked her how she keeps children interested in traditional music and she said, “You have to keep it alive. You have to let them be part of what’s alive about it. So understanding what they’re singing about is a huge part of it. I think also knowing how to relate to the children and connect it to them, but more than that, just appreciating the art form and recognizing how it fits into the whole world of music and the many periods of music that we’ve lived through.”

In my opinion, Pop music has its place, but it is not as complex and challenging to developing minds as the pieces they learn in Chorus. It also doesn’t have the rich history nor contribute as strongly to educating children in cultural diversity as traditional music. And considering that kids are pretty much bombarded by popular music anyway, the chorus would lose some of its value if it merely taught them what they already hear.

“The children love the music. When we give them the music and their rehearsal recordings, they come back ready to sing,” Mrs. DuBose said. “They love the challenge of singing it. There are other elements that are much harder about running this organization than exciting the children about the music.”

Student Challenges

In addition to the raw difficulties of leaning music itself, Mrs. DuBose feels that the biggest challenge to the children is simply making the time commitment. The chorus only meets once a week for rehearsal, but as the students progress from the training chorus into the intermediate and concert choruses, the rehearsal time grows longer and they are expected to do more study and practice in their own time. Mrs. DeBose says that it can be difficult for many students to make the time for musical study while trying to balance school and other extracurricular activities.

“I think that’s very hard these days when kids have so many options and so many activities they want to be involved in,” she said.

Operational Challenges

Mrs. DuBose said that one of her greatest challenges is simply spreading the word about her organization.

“I’m not sure very many people in the community know we’re even here. It’s a very hard organization to publicize,” she said. “The community has gotten larger and larger and as the media for how people receive information has changed, we’ve had to upgrade and change the method of distributing that information.”

The number of children involved doesn’t have an absolute cap and has generally stayed large, but it ebbs and flows from year to year, making it difficult to make staffing decisions.

“Last year we had a very low enrollment in training chorus and we had to really scramble to make sure we could not release any of our staff but give them valuable things to do and keep them involved,” she said. “We have a very wonderful young staff. They’re very invigorating, very enthusiastic with lots of wonderful skills. When we have more children than we anticipate, we find another staff member to help us fulfill that commitment.”

She said that her biggest headache is the budget. She said that they are very fortunate in that the Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ has let them use their space for rehearsal for 26 years without ever asking for money. When the Chorus has a surplus year, they make a donation, when not they just send a thank-you note and the church has always received it with gratitude.

To cover their other expenses, they have creative fundraisers. They sell flowers and Chorus merchandise, receive sponsorship for ads in their programs, and have many private donors.

But despite all of that stress, for Mrs. DuBose the rewards are priceless.

“I come here after a day of teaching elementary school. I should be exhausted, but as soon as the kids start to sing, I completely shed all of that fatigue,” she said. “They invigorate me. It’s the best part of it, is seeing how excited they are and just helping them to become more and more musical.”

The Frederick Children’s Chorus
10716 Etzler Mill Road
Woodsboro, MD 21798
Phone/Fax: 301-845-2451
Email: officemanager@fredcc.org

http://www.fredcc.org/index.htm

Pet Adoption in Frederick

2011-05-04T05:45:00.002-04:00

Because animals need a home, too

     On a cold stormy night last November my family suffered the loss of our cat, Skittles, well before his time. He made a dash for the open door, and while he had spent previous nights outside and always came back the next morning, this time days turned into weeks and months and we haven't seen a sign of our pretty orange and white kitty despite our best efforts looking for him. He was only 12.
     Because life is difficult without something soft and furry purring in your lap and keeping mice out of the kitchen, we eventually accepted the loss and began to look for a new kitten to fill the terrible void. My family was fortunate enough to discover that our friend's perfect cat just gave birth to four beautiful kittens, from which we will take a grey female named Gwynne when she is old enough to leave her mother in a few weeks.
     The sight of those cuddly creatures got me to thinking about families who might be looking for a new cat without the advantage of knowing a pregnant one. So I took a trip to Frederick County Animal Control to speak with director Harold Domer about the ins and outs of pet adoption from the county.

"What is extremely important to understand is our shelter here is the only shelter in Frederick County," he said. "There are a number of animal welfare organizations. There is a Humane Society. There are a number of specific breed rescue organizations, but with reference to adoptions of animals within a shelter environment, we are it for Frederick County."
I have to admit that I've felt a little put off from adopting a shelter animal in the past (Although my family has done it twice) with the thought of so many animals, about 6,000 per annum, being processed through that one tiny building. I've worried that there is increased risk of disease and cabin fever for cooped up pets. But what I didn't realize is how keenly aware the shelter is of all of these issues and how hard they work to alleviate them.

Mr. Domer said that when animals are brought to the shelter, they are evaluated by a technician who determines their adoptability. That means they are screened for diseases, injuries and personality defects, such as aggression, before going to the adoption area. Once there, they are continually monitored by both staff and volunteers to ensure no problems arise before they are adopted. To prevent them from going stir-crazy by confinement, volunteers regularly hold the cats and kittens, and walk the dogs and puppies in a large yard behind the shelter. He said the shelter houses anywhere from 100 to 180 animals at a time, with usually more cats and kittens than dogs and puppies, especially in the Spring. He said nearly 100% of adoptable animals find homes, but over 2,800 animals were deemed un-adoptable last year and sadly euthanized.
The process of adoption begins when a person (whether they live in Frederick County or not) visits the shelter and finds a pet right for them. To use Mr. Domer's words, "We want to make sure that it is a good mix for the family and the dog, cat, puppy or kitten," so they require that every member of the adopting household meet with the animal to determine compatibility. The family is then asked to fill out an application that asks many questions about their living situation and previous pet history. Mr. Domer prefers to see animals go to homeowners and if the adopting family lives in an apartment or other rented space, he wants to see permission from the landlord to adopt the pet. The shelter staff will also call the family veterinarian to ask about the adopting family's previous history of pet ownership to determine if they are responsible with keeping their shots updated and so forth. Mr. Domer suggested that first-time pet owners contact a veterinarian in advance of applying to adopt an animal to seek information about pet care. This will demonstrate a propensity toward responsible pet ownership.

One cats wears another like a cloak

Applicants are then interviewed by a staff-member or a trained volunteer at the shelter where they discuss matching up the pet's needs with the unique characteristics of the family. This is far from a straightforward process because a person who may be suitable to own a cat may be less suitable to own a dog, or even a person who is right for a Beagle may not be right for a German Shepherd. For example, a person with a small apartment who works most of the day might provide a fine home to cats because they tend to be more independent and less energetic. The shelter would be cautious, however, in letting that same person raise a Saint Bernard because of their companionship and exercise needs. However, Mr. Domer said that these guidelines are very flexible and they are good at listening to the case of each individual.
"Somebody that might want to adopt a Saint-Bernard who lives in an apartment building, that would initially throw up a yellow flag, not necessarily a red flag," he said. "If that person is willing to show interest by assuring that dog's going to get exercise by walking it every day, we'll be understanding, but every once in a while somebody gets denied."

     A maximum of two applications are taken at a time for an adult animal and the first person to apply who qualifies takes the animal. Four applications are taken for baby animals and they are carefully vetted to find the absolute best home-option available, not simply the first qualified one.
      When a family is finally approved to adopt, the animal is scheduled for surgical sterilization at the shelter, but they do not fulfill the new pet-owner's legal obligation to vaccinate the animal against rabbis.
      "The reason we don't rabbis vaccinate is we want the new adopter to continue to establish rapport with their new veterinarian so within three days of the adoption they try to schedule an appointment so the dog adopted from us gets to their vet, gets a general health exam and gets rabbis vaccinated," he said. "Once that rabbis vaccination occurs, the adoption process and the adoption fees cover all those costs," which vary depending on the species and age of the animal.
     If in the rare instances that a family adopts a pet and discovers that the relationship isn't a good fit, Animal Control obligates the owner to return it to the shelter rather than give it away to a third party so that the shelter can have assurance of the pet being transfers to a good home.
     I know all of that seems like a lot to take in at first, especially since that process used to be easier as recently as 1999 when we adopted Skittles. My mom jokes that it's become like adopting a child, but take it from me when I say that it's worth it.

After Mr. Domer graciously gave his time to talk to me, I had a chance to walk into the adoption floor to see the pets-to-be up close. I've played with pet-store animals in the past so I immediately recognized that these animals actually had a friendlier temperament than what I'm used to with designer breeds that cost a fortune. One of the volunteers let me play with a Beagle puppy, and he had just about the most responsive personality I've ever seen in a dog. He could sense the change from a playful, feisty mood, to a calm and affectionate one just based on my motions. If we were looking for a new puppy, I would much rather pay the $150 in fees and go through a lengthy screening process for this gentle creature than pay over $1,000 at a pet store for a hyperactive hound.
They don't expect a new batch of kittens for a few days, but the young cats I saw were also amazingly friendly for creatures stereotyped as standoffish. Skittles captured our hearts because when we walked by his cage, he rolled over on his back and reached a paw out through the bars. I saw more than one cat doing that as I walked through there today. If that means the are anything like the cat we lost, then I know they will be perfect family companions for years to come, even to the family dog.

If you are not in a position to adopt a new pet but would like to be around them and make their lives better, the shelter is always accepting volunteers for most positions, from floor-sweeper, to part-time puppy playmate. They are also always short on funding to care for sick and injured animals, so they accept monetary donations as well. Unlike many government agencies, they have a donation account that always rolls over into the next fiscal year. If you would rather provide something more tangible, they also accept things like blankets, pillows and toys to make the animal cages more like little homes.

Frederick County Animal Control

1832 Rosemont Ave.

Frederick, MD 21702

Ph: (301) 600-1546

Fax: (301) 600-1547

www.frederickcountymd.gov/index.aspx?NID=15

www.petfinder.com
www.pettango.com

South Mountain Creamery: All Your Food from Frederick

2011-04-30T05:01:00.000-04:00

Imagine if the majority of the food you eat at home grew up out of the ground of your very county! Well, this weekend, the Spring Festival at South Mountain Creamery in Middletown, MD is the perfect chance to explore that possibility. Today and tomorrow from 10am-5pm they are open for fun!

I have heard for a couple of years about the delicious milk produced at this local dairy farm, but could never seem to find the time to drive over there and check it out for myself. So when I heard that they were gearing up for a major festival, I took a trip over there a few days in advance to get a preview of what to expect this weekend. I knew that they produced fresh, great tasting milk, but on this visit I found that they do so much more.

If you haven’t heard of the creamery, the first thing you should know is that their milk is totally different from what you would normally get in grocery stores. According to general manager of the farm, J.R. Byrd, who left a career with a big dairy producer because he didn’t like their practices, most store-bought milk is “ultra-pasteurized” and contains additives to extend the shelf-life of the products. He said that because SMC can do home-deliveries of their milk to the customer within 24 to 48 hours of bottling, their milk can get away with a 15-day expiration code, while grocery stores need about 30 days. This enables SMC to use only the most mild pasteurization technique so as not to damage the milk.

“With ultra-pasteurizing, basically you’re killing the same bacteria that we kill at just high-temperature pasteurizing,” he said. “The problem with that is they’re actually bringing the milk to where you’re losing a lot of the good enzymes and things in the milk that you want to have in your body. We don’t add anything to the milk except what the state mandated with vitamins. So it’s as all natural and as straight from the cow as it basically possibly can be without being raw milk.”

J.R. is also proud that all of the cows are only fed by what they grow on their own 1,400 acres of farmland.

But health isn’t the only difference. I can vouch for the taste myself. It is so much hardier, smoother and creamier than anything I’ve tasted in the grocery store. I also like that all of their milk comes in glass bottles. In the past I’ve noticed an almost stale taste that comes along with milk from a plastic or paper carton, whereas the only thing I taste with a glass bottle is the milk itself. And because SMC recollects the glass bottles for recycling, I can feel good about not adding to a landfill.

The really cool thing, though, is that milk is far from the only product they offer. They also use their own milk to make several different types of butter, heavy whipping cream, cheese, and ice cream. J.R. said that recently they are trying to branch into more traditional ice-cream parlor offerings, like banana splits and ice-cream sundaes. I had the honor of trying the first banana split that one of their employees ever made at their onsite store. Like the milk itself, the ice-cream is an altogether different creature from its grocery counterparts. Ambrosia is really the only word that comes to mind with any sense of justice.

But they offer even more than dairy. In fact, according to J.R., you could theoretically replace most of the food that you would buy at the grocery store with their home-deliveries. In addition to dairy, they offer all of their own beef, pork and poultry products, and they team up with other local producers and like-minded farmers to provide everything from jam to coffee. Imagine waking up every morning to a fresh delivery of milk, bread, meat, eggs, cheese, jam, coffee, juice and even hummus right on your doorstep! All of that and more is available from their easy-to-use web site within 48 hours of placing the order.

As for the Spring Fest, J.R. said it will be a two full days of food and fun. He wants everyone to see the inner workings of their production process to show that they have nothing to hide. The products won’t be running through the lines that day, but guests can see all of the equipment turned on and working so as to get an up-close view of where their food comes from. Throughout the day there will be special events, like a massive pork and beef BBQ, and a chance for guests to feed the calves.

But the great thing about SMC is that they encourage guests to come any day of the week to look around and learn about how they operate. I was worried that I was going to get in the way of the farmhands as they went about their work, but they were all extremely friendly to me and let me walk through the calf-barn and get up-close pictures of some of the bigger cows. I was also excited to see a huge collection of antique tractors sitting out in the open right in front of their store.

Even if you think you already know SMC, it’s important to always check out for new products and interesting innovations. J.R. said that within the next 5 years, they aim to an entirely self-sustained operation, drawing no electricity from the grid through a combination of wind turbines, solar panels and a methane-digester.

“Even though it’s a lot of money coming out, what you’re getting in return and what you’re doing to help the earth is a huge bonus,” he said of adding the upgrades.

That is actually a good philosophy to remember when considering making SMC a regular part of your weekly groceries. Yes, their products run a little more expensive than the big corporate stores, but it’s affordable and you definitely get back that little bit of extra expense in the pure quality of the products. Not to mention that you are keeping your money in Frederick County, which contributes to the overall economic health of our community.

So go check out South Mountain Creamery and become a believer in local farming!

South Mountain Creamery
8305 Bolivar Road
Middletown, MD 21769
1(301)371-8565
1(877)COW-2-YOU (269-2968)
www.southmountaincreamery.com

A Taste of Broadway in Frederick

2011-04-27T18:15:00.001-04:00

Photos provided by Hood College Student Musical Theatre.

The Hood College Student Musical Theatre group will present Broadway 101, a spring cabaret featuring student performances, tomorrow at 8pm and on Friday, 7 and 10pm in Hodson Auditorium in Rosenstock Hall. The show will include some of the most popular acts from the most popular Broadway musical productions to ever hit that that famous NYC street. Because this show brings together three of my favorite things (musicals, student productions, and local theatre) I recently sat down with three of the production staff members to get the scoop on what it's all about.

Co-director Ashley Birdsell said that the show will include singing and dancing from Chicago, Rent, Les Miserables, The Producers, Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q and more.

“The reason we pick the songs is because we really want to appeal to the audience and what they want to see, and provide them with a basic understanding of Broadway and provide them with the best of each (musical),” she said.

Assistant director Zachery Roberson told me that this particular theatre group is an entirely student-run organization and decided to put on productions as a response to a lack of a formal musical theatre program at the college, but that they do have the full support of both the theatre and music departments, as well as the student life office.

"We’re hoping that by the start of this we can show interest in the program and in the future it will lead to bigger productions or larger involvement,” he said.

Ashley said that their first performance as a group last semester sold out their small 70-seat venue, and that she is really excited to have an auditorium with 400-plus seats this time.

Billy Lewis, co-director, said “The exact words that I want out of every audience member are ‘Wow, that show is amazing, I want to go see a full-scale musical by these same people.’”

Ashley said she believes that musical theatre is an important form of artistic expression because it represents the culture in which it was created and every element is chosen for a precise reason.

“I think it’s a cultural phenomenon that says a lot about a culture itself and musical theatre has really evolved over the eras and really shown the progress of politics and worldviews and really everything else that’s going on in the world,” she said. “Obviously it’s a form of entertainment, but it’s a form of commentary and it’s even an educational tool.”

Zach says that the really important reason for doing these shows is the way in which they can bring people together.

“If you take the musical theatre factor out of our group, we are really quite an eclectic group of people, ranging in different things that we’re involved in, and so musical theatre definitely is important because it’s one way to bring people together and find that commonality element and really use it to our advantage,” he said.

Billy said, “It’s the expressing yourself that I personally love about musical theatre. I love the way they express themselves through song.”

Zach said that he hopes to dispel certain popular myths about male involvement in musical theatre. “You do have a fun time up there and you aren’t performing these flamboyant dance numbers that you might see from the 1930s and the 1940s, but we’re doing more modern things as well as acknowledging the oldies as well. We have a wide array,” he said.

When I asked Ashley how she hopes the audience will respond to her show, she said, “I hope first and foremost they’re going to appreciate live theatre and everything that goes into it, and you know the mishaps that happen on stage and all the magical moments that happen on stage. I really hope they take away a good, solid down and dirty run-through of musical theatre and all the different varieties and things it has to offer and realize it isn’t all sparkly dances. It’s humour and it’s sadness and it’s really deep things and it’s really moving things. I just hope they have a good time. I hope they are really entertained.”
These students really interest me because they remind me of my days doing youth Shakespeare. I see that same spark in their eyes for wanting to test the limits of their abilities as young adults with minimal resources while trying to leave a lasting impression on their world. I didn't have a chance to watch their rehearsal, but if their talent is anything like their passion, I can't imagine that a professional Broadway troupe could put on a better show than what will take place in our own community in the next two nights.

For more information about the group or the show, visit the group's web site at http://www.hood.edu/Campus-Life/Hood-College-Theatre/Student-Musical-Theatre.html

Edgeworks: The Frederick Knife Store

2011-04-25T01:05:00.001-04:00

Everyone remembers when they earned their first real money and what they did with it. I don't mean those little parental incentives to scrub the toilets or clean out the attic, but that first time you were paid in real money by a non-family member for hard work. Mine was dearly earned in the hot sun, but gratefully spent at Edgeworks Knife & Supply Co. in downtown Frederick.

When I was 14, a local diner owner paid my younger brother and me to pass out his coupons at the Frederick Festival of the Arts. We spent several days before the festival cutting out thousands of "Diner Dollars" and stuffing them into little menus that we also had to cut out and fold. By the time we actually got to the festival we were already sleep deprived and then spent hours walking around in the hot sun yelling out cliché slogans at the top of our lungs, occasionally taking breaks for all the free soda we could drink.

Sunburned and badly dehydrated, we spent the next few days with fevers and belly aches. But it was all worth it when I got all $40 (I know, right?) of that money in my hands and set my eyes straight at Edgeworks. I had grown up in community theatre where it seemed that everyone carried handy little multi-tools about their person so they could instantly tighten a screw, cut a tie line, or open packaging at a moment's notice, and I was tired of being left out. I looked all about the store for something with lots of tools on it, but that I could afford, and finally honed in on a basic Victorinox Swiss Army knife. It had two blades, two bottle openers, a can opener, scissors, screwdrivers, quirk screw, magnifying glass, tweezers and a toothpick. It took every penny that I had, plus a little from mom and dad to cover the tax, but it was all mine.

Sean Norris, the owner of Edgeworks for the past three years, said that out of the dozens and dozens of manufacturers that he carries, the Victorinox knives are his hottest selling items.

“Everybody pretty much knows them,” he said. “Nobody’s ever threatened by them so everybody feels comfortable carrying one and they have a lot of great multiple uses to them and they’re not that expensive, but they are very well-made.”

In addition to pocketknives, the store also carries several lines of kitchen cutlery, hunting knives, fishing knives, and several other small practical blades that fit on a keychain or in a wallet. Most of these brands can be bought online, but the real advantage of going to Edgeworks is that they are all in one place and you can put your hands on them for side-by-side comparisons.

(Click to view slide show of store)

I’m impressed by the level of personal service provided by the knowledgeable staff. Sean knows every detail of every piece in the store, from how it’s made, to what it’s best used for, to how to use it and keep it in good shape. And he’s not just trying to push his merchandise. He won’t steer you toward a more expensive knife than you need. And before selling a knife to a customer, he takes it out of its packaging to make sure it’s in perfect condition.

So what does the man who knows everything about his products choose as his favorite? He is a big fan of the William Henry collection of display knives because of their artistic craftsmanship and rare materials.

“They’re all very limited and they use very exotic materials like fossilized brain coral, dinosaur bone, mammoth teeth, and some of the best construction in the world,” he said.

I like them because I appreciate any type of art that requires both naturally skilled hands and a very patient, well-disciplined mind that can put painstaking time into intricate details. I can think of no other way finely forged steel could be bonded so seamlessly to natural treasures such as mammoth teeth and dinosaur bone.

From the William Henry Collection

The shop also carries a wide variety of decorative swords. As a medievalist, I was drawn to the big broadswords that looked like they were pulled right off the pages of The Beowulf. Some of them are fantasy creations, but some of them are historically accurate reproductions. They also have collections from all over the world. It’s one of the few places I’ve ever seen a full set of Japanese Samurai swords.

But knives and swords aren’t all that Sean carries. He also has some general sporting goods equipment, throwing darts, and a very vast array of puzzles for children and adults. When I asked Sean what makes his store unique in the local area, he said that he is one of the few dedicated knife stores left in Maryland and “from knives to puzzles, we’ve got something for everybody, so everybody can find something.”

I asked him what he would like everyone to know about his business that he doesn’t think they do, and he said, “Just that we’re here. I constantly get people that say ‘Oh, I’ve lived in Frederick for twenty-some years. I had no idea you guys were down here. I guess I need to come downtown more.’”

Well Sean, I know you're here, and I will always have my trusty red pocketknife to remind me.

Edgeworks Knife and Supply Co.

200 N. Market St.

Frederick, MD 21703

(301) 620-0477

1-800-520-0321

www.edgeworksonline.com

Frederick's Little Pottery Shop

2011-04-25T01:00:00.001-04:00

Too often we draw a separation between what is practical and what is artistic or aesthetically pleasing when it comes to how we spend our money and furnish our homes, largely because we are afraid of damaging really nice things. My mother would kill me if we ever used her fine Dresden Rose china outside of special occasions because it's so fragile that it can't be put in the dishwasher after use. For about 363 days of the year, its sole job is to look expensive and pretty in the china closet.

So when I stumbled into The Little Pottery Shop in downtown Frederick about two years ago, I was really excited to see many fantastic pieces of art, both fine and quirky, that can be used as much as they are admired. Although not true of every piece in the shop, very many of them, such as the stoneware collection, are extremely sturdy and glazed such that they can survive the dishwasher and microwave alike. I actually bought one of their mugs when I first entered the shop and it’s sitting on my desk right now. I love it because it has something of an unrefined, medieval or organic look about it that fits well with my aesthetic interest in by-gone literary eras. But the cool thing about the shop is that it surely has something for you, no matter where your tastes lie.

"I think (pottery is) one of the more creative mediums where you can make a lot of different things. Clay is a very versatile and really interesting material to work with," said Tameria Martinez, the shop's experienced owner.

Just glancing around I could tell what she means. I saw everything from pots and mugs with little faces carved into them, to plates and pitchers with South Western deserts glazed onto them. I was drawn to a set of vases that Tammy said were made from a porous clay called raccoo, which are capable of capturing images of the flames from the kiln as they are fired. You can actually see the shape of the flames and the different colors they left on the vase at different temperatures.

(Click to see a picture slide show of the shop)

Tammy boasts that her shop not only has a strong collection from local potters, but from all over the United States, and one from Canada, totaling 120 artists in all. She listed many of the different clay types, building and glazing decorating techniques that her shop carries, concluding with "just about everything in a pottery shop you can imagine.”

Recently the shop has expanded its studio space, allowing room for teaching pottery classes, and a new round of them are about to begin this May. They offer both hand-building and wheel classes to children aged 9-13 and another set of classes from 14 to adult.

(Click to hear Tammy explain the difference between hand-built and wheel-thrown pottery)

Tammy says she hopes to teach people what really goes into making fine pottery.

“I think a lot of people don’t realize what it’s like to throw pottery on the wheel. And once they get into it, they understand what kind of techniques and what kind of skill it takes to actually throw pots on the potter’s wheel," she said. "Also, I think a lot of people are not aware of the length of the process from the time that you begin a piece on the wheel until you actually finish it and get it out of the last firing."

But at the same time, she wants people to know that it is a fun process and she provides a relaxing atmosphere for learning.

“We try to have a very relaxed atmosphere here. We try to make (the classes) really fun and enjoyable, not a lot of pressure," she said. "The pressure that happens is mostly students putting pressure on themselves, especially throwing, that’s a little bit of a challenging exercise for most people. But we have some really great students, very fun, some great beginners who are quickly moving on to intermediate classes."

Pottery class studio

I really like the idea of these classes because I think it would be neat to regularly use something made by my own hands. As a writer, the products of my labor are intellectual, not tangible, and sometimes I wish I had more solid reminders of my mind’s output. I once tried a pottery class at my college, but as I was working on my thesis I missed several of the classes and only ended up with a few glazed pinch pots. Although they didn’t amount to much compared to the work on display in Tammy’s shop, I’ll always be proud of them because they came from my own efforts.

The Little Pottery Shop
Shab Row
117 North East St.
Frederick, MD 21701
(301) 620-7501
www.tmpottery.net

Nido's: Downtown Italian Dining in Frederick

2011-04-25T00:58:00.001-04:00

Like most Americans, I have been to very many Italian restaurants over the course of my life. Sadly, none of them have actually been in Italy, but I'm familiar enough with the genre to know what I like and what to expect from the ones that really have their act together. Nido's Little Italy Ristorante on Patrick St. definitely hits the mark. In fact, it wouldn't be a stretch to call it my favorite.
When searching for ethnic food options, I am particularly drawn to those establishments that have taken thematic ownership of the entire space, inside and out, which isn't always an easy thing to do in an historic district. This is far from a bad thing, but most of the buildings on East Patrick St. are of the uniform nineteenth-century red-brick townhouse style that defines downtown Frederick so well, but Nido's, which I'm sure used to look the same as the rest, immediately stands out to the casual passerby. With sheer white brick, red and green trim, an enormous picture window and awnings that jet out over the sidewalk, one might wonder if the fabric of time and space are not quite in working order, as there seems to be a window to Italy sitting right in the middle of Frederick.

   The inside is no less impressive. Maybe this is strange, but I think the first thing I noticed was the rough brick floor. It reminded me of the old streets of Annapolis that have been trodden down by bustling activity for centuries. It were as if they hadn't just laid a brick floor, but rather built the restaurant around an old city street. It makes me feel like I'm literally setting foot into another world.
   Whatever the interior structure of this building used to be, it's now impossible to tell, as Roman arch-ways are punched into the walls. Some of them form little windows, like one with a miniature Venus de Milo sitting in it. A network of trellises covered in hanging grape-vines adorn the ceilings while black and white photos and drawings of Rome dot the walls. If you are really lucky, you will be seated in the room with the large pictures window so you can gaze out at the city buzz. Throw in the Italian music always playing in the background, and I am fully into this dining experience way before the food even arrives.
     Absolutely everything on the menu looks good, and if it weren't for my friend Sasha highly recommending the spaghetti in marinara sauce, I would have been forever in placing my order. Fortunately, the waiting staff there is so gracious and friendly that I'm sure I could have taken as long as I wanted.
     The meal, of course, was amazing. The marinara sauce is so much more tangy and savory than ordinary tomato sauce to the point that I prefer it even to spaghetti with meatballs. I was eating it so quickly that I managed to accidentally flick some sauce onto my shirt. It left me so good and full after my weekend of hard labor that I only had room for a cup of tea for dessert. There is always room for tea.
   I can't wait until the period of my vegan diet ends so I can return and try a lot more of the menu, especially the lasagna and the cannoli. I have never actually tried a cannoli before, but everything about Nido's is so well put together that I trust them to make the best example of this treat to be found anywhere.
   So now I suppose the conclusion is obvious and hardly need be said, but if you are in the area and crave a perfect dining experience, by all means please stop in Nido's. You can't miss it!

111 East Patrick Street
Frederick, MD 21701-5677
(301) 624-1052
http://nidosrestaurant.com

Thai Food Fun in Frederick

2011-04-25T00:53:00.001-04:00

    When I heard that a new Thai food place was coming to Frederick, I knew that I would just have to try it because I'm a huge fan of Asian food generally and I never turn down an opportunity to make a fool of myself trying to use chop sticks. But at the same time, I kept putting off the visit because for me to really enjoy this particular restaurant, I knew that it would have to overcome a totally unfair prejudice on my part. Namely, Sumittra Thai Cuisine now occupies the space of the former Proof Café, which I still mourn every time I walk past their Patrick St. building. I knew that this restaurant would have to really knock it out of the park to distract me from visions of sipping hot cocoa in that same space not so long ago, and I am happy to report that Sumittra more than lived up to my unreasonable and ridiculous expectations.
     The first thing I noticed was that they really made the space their own, which actually lessened my mind's desire to wander back to memories of the former occupant. A graphic paint scheme of strong yellow, sheer white and pitch black blended really well with the unchanged ancient brick and wood of this former 18th-century hardware store. Having removed the old Proof counter, there was much more space in there than I had realized - enough that they were able to add an architecturally interesting dividing wall to the middle of the room while still providing ample table space.
     Just looking at the menu was actually an enormous treat for me. I've been on a self-imposed vegan kick for about a month now, and restaurant dinning almost always means resorting to pasta or salad with explicit instructions to the waiter to refrain from adding any dairy products. I was so happy (you have no idea...) to find an entire two pages of almost entirely vegan options that I just kind of sat and stared longingly at them for a while. With the exception of an occasional egg thrown into the mix, all of the spicy sauces that really define Thai dinning are plant-based. Normally the sauce is mixed in with veggies and poured over rice and a meat option, but Sumittra offers tofu as a substitute to any of the meats, meaning that I had access to nearly their entire regular menu!
   I started off with an appetizer of crispy tofu, which is a plate of really big squares of fried tofu that are almost like little biscuits or cakes served with an interesting nut-flavored dipping sauce. I really liked the squares because not only were they delicious, their size was conducive toward easy chop-stick manipulation, and I can always use as much practice as possible before getting to the rice.
   For my entrée, I ordered the tofu ka-prow, which primarily consists of tofu and rice covered in a sauce made from basil and chili powder. I was impressed by how they were able to use tofu in such diverse ways that I couldn't even recognize it from one dish to the next. When my ka-prow was brought to me, the tofu looked so much like chicken that I was worried they had mixed up my order with another customer's. The tofu absorbed the surrounding flavors so well that I might even occasionally order this dish after the period of my vegan diet ends. I should probably warn you, though, that I have been told my tolerance of spicy foods exceeds that of normal people, and this item was listed in the hottest category on the menu. I also really appreciated that the meal was served in a long rectangular dish because it allowed me to get a little strafing run when I went to scoop up the rice with my chop sticks, like a pelican diving for a fish.
     My friend, Sasha, ordered chicken cashew nut, which she says is a really good neutral dish for a standard American pallet: absent the spice, but full of flavor diversity.
     I was really full from the richness of the meal, so I skipped dessert, but Sasha ordered a tall cup of raspberry ice cream and ate it right in front of me. Based on her facial expressions as she taunted me, I surmised that she found the dish more than acceptable.
     I will always miss Proof, but if something else had to occupy that space, I'm really glad that it's Sumittra. Frederick was in need of another Thai restaurant to fill the void left when the amazing Captain Kyoto's was replaced by the equally amazing Quynn's Attic a few years ago. It should be noted that Quynn's Attic occupies the top floors of the building that Sumittra is now in, so it seems fitting that a wonderful Thai restaurant should replace a wonderful American café in that particular location.

Sasha's Corner
Hear my friend Sasha give her take on the Thai experience.

Sumittra Thai Cuisine
12 East Patrick St.
Frederick, MD 21701
(301) 668-2303

Voila! The Power of Tea

2011-04-25T00:30:00.001-04:00

A Tea Fanatic Finds True Love

Biased as this sounds, I consider myself a very trustworthy person. You can trust me with your house key, your wallet, your birth certificate and even your kids. . . . but not tea. You could hand me your entire life savings in cash and fully expect to have every penny returned to you upon demand, but leave a full teapot anywhere near my grasp and I will very likely consume far more than my fair share and make liberal use of your milk, honey and sugar. On the exceedingly rare occasion that I do turn down tea, my friends have immediate concerns for my health. So when I was wandering around Frederick a few days ago scouting out places to review and just happened to stumble upon the new Voila tea shop, it was love at first sight.

The scent of hundreds of dried tea-leaf varieties and steeping samples immediately captured my olfactory sense upon opening the door. I was torn between turning left or right because both walls were covered in tin cans full of loose tea leaves. I felt overwhelmed as I realized that I could not possibly take a sniff of all of them in a reasonable amount of time even if I hurried with each one. At the same time, taking in all of the nice furniture and tea accessories was going to take more than a quick visit, so I decided to come back another day to talk with the genius behind this little piece of Heaven in Frederick.

As crazy as it sounds, the shop owner, Mary Jean Clark, is a bigger tea enthusiast than even I could dream of being. She stocks 230 different types of loose-leaf tea, and that was after she spent months sampling from about 1,700 different types from suppliers all over the world to find just the perfect blends. She actually wanted to stock over 300 teas, but found that her store just wouldn't make the room for it.

So how does someone become crazier about tea than I am? Well, it all started in France. Mary was unhappy with her job, and while on a trip to Paris she discovered many cafes and tea shops that inspired her. She felt that Frederick was able to sustain a shop that has tea as a main focus, and she specifically modeled her store on a French shop called "La Route au Thé" or "The Route to Tea."

When I asked Mary what makes her tea different from grocery store tea, she said the best way of explaining it was to see for myself. She took a plain teabag out of a store-bought box labeled "Super Fruit," which is a blend of green tea, red goji and raspberry. She cut the bag open and poured it onto a dish where it looked like green powder or dust. Then she showed me the tea from her store that she calls super fruit and it looked like a pile of discernible dried herbs and fruit. She could point to the different constituent parts by name and distinguish them from the full green tea leaves.

As she described her tea, she also read my mind. I was worried that her kind of tea would have to just be for special occasions, for surely it would come with a higher price tag. But before I even asked she said that 2 ounces of her tea only costs $8. I looked around a bit online and found that the grocery store brand can cost more than $10.

She had a lot of trouble saying what her favorite teas are. However, she eventually came up with a few frontrunners that are anything but typical grocery-store flavors, but why don't I let her tell you about it herself?

As with most of the stores in downtown Frederick, another big difference between Voila and the grocery store is the level of service. In fact, Mary refused to talk with me during regular business hours for fear that her attention might be taken away from her customers. She works really hard to discover exactly which tea is best for which customer by starting with broad categories like black or green and slowly narrowing down the list. She can describe subtle influences on the flavor that I would have never considered, such as the mode of transportation used to bring it out of the fields. She reminds me more of a maker of fine wines than a tea seller.

Mary said that in choosing the tea accessories for the store she was less interested in presentation than practicality because there are already many antique stores in Frederick that provide elegant tea sets and she didn't want to compete with them. She also wanted to make her teas as easily accessible to the average person as possible. Every tea has an ideal water temperature and steeping time, so she has several pots, infusers and other vessels that allow you to carefully and conveniently monitor these particulars. She showed me a heavy-duty portable tea thermos with a built-in infuser that can be removed from the tea at the right moment without having to open the lid. I was super excited about this because I had always thought the only option for drinking tea on the go was a tea bag, but now I have choices!

For those who like to doctor up their tea with sweeteners, Mary can't even seem to do that in the typical way. Her honey comes from a local producer who also imports several special flavors that I have never before now seen outside of the Maryland Renaissance Festival, including one that tastes vaguely like marshmallow. But all of the bottles that she sells have no added flavor, meaning that the flavor comes entirely from whatever pollen the bees used to make it.

Even her sugar has a unique flare. Imported from France and sold in individual burlap sacks sealed with wax, the sugar granules are left in their raw form and infused with various flavors such as citrus, cocoa, and ginger.

Although Mary is very good at explaining the particulars of how to make each cup of tea perfectly, if you still aren't up to trying it on your own, you can actually order hot and iced tea by the cup and she will brew it for you right in the store. She was gracious enough to make me a nice tall cup of a black tea she called "Anti-Oxidant Yum" on ice. Definitely a strong black tea, the pomegranate, blue berry and cranberry blended into the mix made it much more interesting than my typical afternoon teas.

The store is on the small side, but Mary has still made room for some really nice chairs for taking a rest while you shop. She said that she figured most people coming into her store would be with other people who may or may not share an enthusiasm for tea (Gasp!) and that they might "need a place to park." She figured that since she would be taking up the space with seating, she might as well go ahead and provide a nice line of furniture for sale, so she found a provider based in North Carolina called Old Hickory Tannery. Made of sturdy wood and covered with many different leather options, Mary says that she is able to offer this furniture at a great discount compared to most of its other locations.

I said my regretful goodbyes to Voila in the only way that was really appropriate. I bought two types of tea that I have always had a very difficult time finding. Normally I have to drive all the way to Shepherdstown for one of them, which although a fun trip, is not always a possible one for someone who lives near Frederick on a low gasoline budget. But now that I've found this place, you and I will never have to worry about running out of our favorite teas again.

Voila
10 N. Market St.
Frederick, MD 21701
(301) 663-0704
www.voila-in-frederick.com (coming soon)
voila@voila-in-frederick.com

Beans in the Belfry

2011-04-25T00:27:00.001-04:00

All independent cafés have a style all their own and I am a great fan and frequenter of many in the area, but Beans in the Belfry in downtown Brunswick, MD is altogether a unique creature upon the earth, not to mention Brunswick. Set in a former church, the interior of the café is defined by a large open area filled with eclectic vintage furniture. Instead of regular tables and chairs right up front, there are these three little areas set up like a living room or parlor, with couches and arm chairs centered around little coffee tables. None of the couches and chairs match at all, but they all carry an older aesthetic value and just feel like they go well with each other. Think of an elegant Victorian sitting room thrown in with rustic chic decor.

Behind the little parlor areas are what pass for "regular" tables and chairs in this place, but even they are persistent misfits. One of the tables is painted with a chess board on top, another table with fading green paint looks to have been pulled out of a nineteenth-century farmhouse kitchen, while another looks like it might have been a formal dining-room table. Two old wooden pews from when this place was a working church serve as benches for two of the longer tables.

The walls are dominated by pretty stained-glass windows that change color as the sun moves from one side of the building to the other throughout the day. Between the windows are prints and other photos that are as eclectic as the furniture, and just as appropriate and interesting. I see images of old-time Europe and Brunswick alike.

   I like coming in here for my lunch break on the days when I substitute teach at the local middle school and high school because if I've forgotten to bring a book, I can borrow one off the shelf here. And if I've forgotten to bring a lunch, it's the best place in town to grab a hot delicious sandwich.
   The drinks, of course, are amazing, Unfortunately for my poor readers, I have never gotten into coffee, so you'll have to stop by and figure that one out for yourselves, but if it's anything like their chai or hot cocoa, you won't be disappointed. I love that they serve the chai in these enormous mugs and steam the milk to a point where it is all frothy on top. Whenever I order chai from other places I specify that I want a touch of vanilla added, but here it comes as part of their normal mix.
   The shop is also heavy on the arts and several groups meet there to practice and perform. As I'm writing this article this very moment, I'm also listening to an Appalachian folk music band that just started playing live over in the children's play area. While we were sitting here, we were visited by my friend, Ty Unglebower, who told us about a time he and some friends preformed a reading of a play back in the same area where the bands play.
   The Belfry (as I like to affectionately call it) is amazing enough all by itself to serve as an excuse for driving to Brunswick, but if you find yourself there on a nice day, you might also want to take a relaxing walk along the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park, which runs almost right behind the coffee shop. Personally, I think it's especially scenic in the Spring and Fall. If you'd like to pick up a little about the history, stop in the Brunswick Railroad Museum/C&O Visitor Center just down the street from the Belfry.

122 W Potomac st
Brunswick, MD 21716-1113
(301) 834-7178
www.beansinthebelfry.com

Earthly Elements: Your One Stop Rock Shop

2011-04-22T18:16:00.001-04:00

Shop and Owner

Fredericktonians are fortunate to live within easy driving distance of Baltimore and Washington, D.C. because of the great shopping and cultural opportunities that big cities provide, but what if I were to tell you that I discovered a local hot spot that gives residents of those big metro regions a reason to visit Frederick? With much ado and verbal grandioseness (Hey, Shakespeare made up words, too) I give you Earthly Elements, the only dedicated rock shop in the state of Maryland!

I got really excited the moment I first laid eyes on it a few years ago because of my childhood fascination with polished rocks. I used to go with my dad on his business trips out west to places like Arizona and Colorado where gift shops centered around pretty rocks, especially the stores in the Rocky Mountains. I remember filling little bags with the shiny rocks and pretending they were pirate treasure, especially the pyrite or "fool's gold." Sadly there were so few places to learn about rocks and geology in the Frederick area that I eventually lost interest. But when I walked into Earthly Elements at the age of 23 and saw a giant treasure chest full of polished rocks, I was suddenly a little boy again and my interests returned.
Richard Bailey, the shop's owner, also first developed an interest in rocks as a child. But unlike me, he turned his childhood hobby into a passion and career. Not only does he run the only rock and mineral store in Maryland, he is also one of the few people in the whole country to do so with a degree in geology, so he is an expert at obtaining the best specimens from all over the world.

(Hear Richard tell about his childhood interest in rocks)

Merchandise

Besides the chest full of an assortment of polished rocks, many items immediately caught my eye as I strolled through the store. He has a collection of flat, smooth message stone that carry words of encouragement and feel soothing to the touch. I was also fond of the many little stones that have been carved into interesting shapes, such as animals and Easter eggs. I think the eggs are especially cool because unlike real decorated eggs, they don't rot.

I ended up buying about a pound worth of "Healy Feelies," a trademarked brand of really, really tiny worry stones unique to Earthly Elements. Just place these smooth little pebbles in a little bowl, let them run through your fingers like sand, and feel your stress melt away.

(Hear Richard talk about Healy Feelies)

But the shop carries much more than small rocks and trinkets. He has some major pieces that would be the envy of university geology departments and museums.

(Hear Richard talk about his favorite pieces)

Customers

Since opening in 2007, his business has been on a steady upward climb, which he attributes to the uniqueness of his trade and a natural human desire for the exotic.

"I've been growing since I opened the doors even though the economy's been tanking," he said.

Although Richard hopes his store appeals a little bit to everyone, he says that it is especially ideal for four types of customers.

The shop is a great place for kids not only because of their natural curiosity and gravitation toward shiny objects, but because of the presentation. For instance, they can pick out handfuls of their favorite rocks and then put them in colorful wooden boxes of interesting shapes hand-crafted in Poland. Several are shaped like little pirate chests complete with a Jolly Roger and a working lock. Others are painted with unicorns, Celtic knot patterns, dolphins, pigs, fish, and much more. Some of them are little puzzle boxes with secret openings.

The rules of the house are also really relaxed for a retail store that carries such expensive merchandise. The kids are allowed to touch pretty much everything and Richard's only rule about taking pictures is that "you show them to everyone you know and tell them what a great rock shop it is."

Parents love to bring their kids to the store because of the educational value. As a professional geologist who has a seven year-old son of his own, Richard has become really good at explaining geological processes to children. He has even given special talks to home school groups, Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.

     Decorators make up the next group. Considering their many sizes, shapes and colors, rocks often make good accents for rooms. Richard will sometimes have decorators come in to tell him that they need a blue rock for a blue room and so forth.
   Being the only major provider of non-native rocks and minerals, he often sells to dedicated hobbyists such as himself. His store is something of an oasis to what he calls the "true mineral collectors."
   "I have people who come from St. Mary's County to get here," he said. "People will drive across a whole state to get to a rock shop if they're into it."
      The fourth category of customers are those who practice what he terms "new age healing" who believe in the spiritual power of natural rock and mineral crystals. But you don't have to believe in non-conventional medicine to appreciate an other-worldly subtext to Earthly Elements. Most of the big rocks in the store are millions, if not hundreds of millions, years old. Whether you believe that crystals enhance your cosmic energies, or if you feel a special connection to God by holding some of his oldest creations on earth, or if your mind is blown thinking about the massive geological forces that forged the merchandise, it isn't difficult to get goose bumps while wandering around there.
     What I am talking about is hard to describe, but it reminds me of what the tour guide at the Washington National Cathedral said about stones in the church. He said that saints relics run contrary to the Episcopal faith, so instead they had special rocks that "give pause for thought," such as a moon rock in a stained-glass window, a mason stone touched by a bishop, and an altar made from stone quarried in the Holy Land. Whatever your belief system, it's hard not to feel a sense of awe in Earthly Elements.

Earthly Elements
33 North Market St.
Frederick, MD 21701
(301) 631-5511
Hours: Tuesday - Thursday 12-6, Friday-Saturday 12-9, Sunday 12-5
http://www.earthlyrocks.com

Contra Dancing in Shepherdstown

2011-04-22T17:44:00.001-04:00

Have you ever seen those period Jane Austen movies that make a quaint little spectacle of the English gentry dancing in long proper lines to rhythmic but discrete music? Now imagine those same long lines, only set to a pumped up version of the same type of music while receiving instructions from a caller after square-dance fashion. Add in fiddles, guitar, banjos, pianos, hammered dulcimers, various woodwinds and a room full of happy people of all ages. Now shake well (don't stir) and you have a general picture of contra dancing!

(Called by Beverly Smith to the music of Rhythm Method)

     Every first Saturday of the month I venture with friends and family to the little village of Shepherdstown, WV to engage in this bizarre social ritual, but last night I seized the opportunity to talk with two prominent members of the board of Shepherdstown Music and Dance which is responsible for running the dances each month.
"I start out by telling people that it's social dancing, sort of like square dancing, but in two long lines," said Becky Lidgerding, a long-time board member.
   And what of the weird name? Almost sounds like "anti-dancing," right?
   According to board member Joanie Blanton, "Contra is a long-ways set dance where you dance 'contrary' or 'opposite' your partner. It comes from 'contredanse' which came from France. The long-ways set dances known as 'contra dances' became very popular in early America where both the English and the French traditions merged."
     Originally a synthesis of several traditional European folk styles that came together in the little villages of New England, it really spread around the rest of the country during a youth revival of folk music several decades ago.
     "It's what the young, free-spirited people were doing in the seventies," Becky told me with a laugh.
     I can tell you from my own experience that the dance has certainly maintained its "free-spirited" nature as Becky calls it. I remember being quite a stick-in-the-mud before my concerned friends forcefully dragged my seventeen year-old self to the Frederick dance. Before then, I never attended popular social dances because of the typical woes of an awkward teenage male. Namely, I didn't know how to dance, I didn't have a date and I didn't like strangers. But contra, as it would turn out, is a totally different scene. Each dance begins with a workshop for newbies that teaches you step-by-step break downs of common move sets. In addition, before the start of each dance of the evening, the specifics of that particular dance get a detailed walk-through. No need to worry about bringing a date because everyone freely asks everyone else to dance. Because of the way it's structured, you have to do some level of dancing with everyone in the room whether you ask them to be your specific partner or not. It's a little awkward at first, but I immediately noticed that the experienced dancers were naturally jovial, non-judgmental, and eager to help me learn. During the break the other dancers made an active effort to know me.
     As Joanie said, "Once you learn the dance you can relax and listen to the music and interact with every person you meet in a different way and it's really fun."

(This video taken by the talented hand of Sasha)

I still remember that on the night of my first Shepherdstown dance (11/30/2002) a large group of the teenagers took to the streets singing Christmas carols throughout the town. With people like this, it's impossible for even the most reluctant of souls to avoid becoming one of them!

Interview with Sasha Crum about why she loves to contra dance

What: Contra Dancing
When: First Saturday evening of every month. Beginners workshop starts at 7:30, dance at 8:00
Where: Shepherdstown Men's Club
             War Memorial Building
             102 E. German St.
   Shepherdstown, WV 25443
For more info about contra and the many other SMAD events, visit them online at http://www.smad.us

We're working on it!

2011-04-21T14:46:00.001-04:00

You have mistakenly wandered onto this blog before it is ready! Eventually it will be full of great feature articles about Frederick County, Maryland, but we're still working on a good design template and trying to solve some technical difficulties. In the mean time, please visit the predecessor to this blog, The Frederick Files, for fresh local content updated about every three days.