Happy Halloween, Westminster!
Three Carroll County Career and Technology Center students are among the first six in Maryland picked for a new state program that pays high school tech students to intern with the agency that builds and maintains state buildings. That story is below, along with Freedom Unified Soccer's first-season championship day and more.
Halloween itself is packed, from trick-or-treating at the farmers market this morning to TownMall this afternoon and the Ag Center's corn maze tonight. Remember to turn your clocks back an hour before bed. The general election is Tuesday, and next weekend brings Local Author's Day, a wine festival, the Carroll Hospital Auxiliary's Disco Ball and the Harlem Wizards at Westminster High. It's all in 👀 Around Town below.
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Let's get into it.
Paid political advertisement: sponsored by Together For Education Excellence
Lisa Maisano and Julie Walsh are two Carroll County moms running together for the Board of Education -- but they are not typical candidates for office. Neither come from the political establishment; both are unhappy with the status quo. They have come together from different sides of the political aisle because they feel like our community and our politics needs a change.
Last year they hit the ground running to defend Carroll County Public Schools against a State law that almost cost a hundred teachers their jobs. They are running to continue that work – to stick up for Carroll’s children, educators, and families – here and in Annapolis.
Westminster Wire accepts political advertising on equal terms; ads do not reflect Westminster Wire coverage and are not endorsements.
Freedom Unified Soccer wraps first season with championship day, eyes statewide youth league
Freedom Optimist Soccer's Unified Soccer teams, which put athletes with intellectual disabilities on the same team as teammates without them, finished their first season Sunday, Oct. 25, with a championship afternoon at Glenelg Country School. Parents told Westminster Wire the program built their kids' confidence and friendships along with their soccer skills, and organizers now want to launch a statewide youth Unified Soccer league next fall, with home games at Freedom Park in Eldersburg.
Tech Center students picked for new state trades internship pilot
Three students from the Carroll County Career and Technology Center, which serves students from all eight Carroll County public high schools, will be among the first six in Maryland to take part in a new paid internship program with the Maryland Department of General Services, the state agency that builds and maintains state buildings. Gov. Wes Moore's office announced the pilot Thursday. The other three students are from Carver Vocational-Technical High School in Baltimore City. Interns will work daily with a mentor at sites in Carroll County and the Baltimore region, getting hands-on experience in areas such as project management, design and HVAC maintenance, and the state plans to expand the program over the next few years.
Winters Mill edges Westminster in football, 7-3
In the Battle of the Birds, the Winters Mill Falcons beat the Westminster Owls 7-3 in a low-scoring showdown Friday night at Winters Mill High School. The win improves Winters Mill to 6-3 and snaps Westminster's six-game winning streak.
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👀 Around Town
🎃 Happy Halloween! The Downtown Westminster Farmers Market holds its trick-or-treat edition today, Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8 a.m. to noon in the Conaway parking lot across from 27 Railroad Ave. (market website). The Ag Center's Indoor Flea Market runs 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Shipley Arena, 706 Agriculture Drive, with breakfast and lunch from the Roaring Run Lions Club; no dogs allowed (flea market details). TownMall of Westminster holds mall-wide trick-or-treating starting at 1 p.m. at Center Court, 400 N. Center St., until the candy runs out (event details). The Carroll County Coin Club’s annual coin show is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Best Western Conference Center, Route 140 at WMC Drive (coin show on Facebook). And the Ag Center Corn Maze is open 2 to 10 p.m. tonight, with a Halloween night maze from 6 to 10 p.m., then wraps its season Sunday, Nov. 1, from noon to 6 p.m. Admission is $10 for ages 16 and up, $5 for ages 5 to 15 and free for kids 4 and under, cash only. Corn maze details
⚽ Winters Mill High School, 560 Gorsuch Road, hosts two soccer playoff games today, Saturday, Oct. 31, and you can watch both live via CMSportsNet if you can’t make the games in person. The Winters Mill boys host Manchester Valley at 2 p.m., and the Winters Mill girls host Lansdowne after that. Watch on the Community Media Center’s YouTube channel or at cmsportsnet.com.
🌽 It's the final weekend of fall fun at Local Homestead Products, 2425 Marston Road in New Windsor. Pick-your-own pumpkins wrap up today, Saturday, Oct. 31, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Any pumpkin in the patch is $10, and the price includes a wagon ride. The farm's Halloween Walking Trail is open noon to 8 p.m. today ($12 per person), and its 5-acre corn maze is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday ($8 per person). The season ends with a pumpkin smash Sunday, Nov. 1, at 2 p.m., when the wagon heads to the field for 20 minutes of smashing ($20 per person; no bats or weapons). Farm website
🕑 Don't forget to set your clocks back an hour before bed tonight. Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1.
🗳️ The general election is Tuesday, Nov. 3, and polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Carroll County's ballot includes the Board of County Commissioners, Board of Education, sheriff, state's attorney, circuit court clerk, register of wills and Orphans' Court judges. You can register and vote at your polling place on Election Day. Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 3 or dropped in an official drop box or at the Carroll County Board of Elections, 300 S. Center St., by 8 p.m. Find your polling place and state election details
📜 The Historical Society of Carroll County, 210 E. Main St., hosts two free events midweek. On Wednesday, Nov. 4, at 6:30 p.m., author and former Baltimore litigator Stan Haynes discusses Robert E. Lee's 1862 invasion of Maryland and the Battle of Antietam (event details). On Thursday, Nov. 5, at 6 p.m., An Evening of Business Memories in Carroll County invites people to share stories of local businesses and Main Street shops after a talk by Sarah Coster, guest curator of the Main Street at Work exhibit. Snacks and drinks are free (event details). Also Wednesday, the Carroll Arts Center, 91 W. Main St., hosts its free 1st Wednesday Jams from 7 to 9 p.m.
🏛️ On Thursday, Nov. 5, the Carroll County Commissioners hold a public hearing on extending the county's deferral on data processing centers by one year, to Feb. 19, 2028. It begins no earlier than 9 a.m. in Room 311 of the County Office Building, 225 N. Center St. To learn how to comment, call the Department of Planning and Land Management at 410-386-2949 before the hearing. County notice
🎨 Last call at the Carroll Arts Center: the free 24th Annual Members Show closes Saturday, Nov. 7, and is open noon to 4 p.m. on gallery days. Nov. 7 is also the deadline to enter the Arts Council's Festival of Wreaths. Entry is free and open to individuals, families, clubs and businesses, and the wreaths and art are auctioned Nov. 27 through Dec. 6 to benefit the arts in Carroll County.
📅 Saturday, Nov. 7, is packed. The Carroll County Farmers' Market and Craft Show's Local Author's Day runs 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ag Center, 706 Agriculture Drive, marking the market's 55th year and the start of its Christmas Market. More than 25 local authors will sell and sign books, and admission and parking are free (details). The Secret Garden Music, Arts and Wine Festival is 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Farm Museum, 500 S. Center St., with no pets or outside alcohol (details). At TownMall, 400 N. Center St., a Sports Card & Pokémon Show runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the TCC Event Center, and a Tyler Huntley autograph signing is at 12:30 p.m. ($45 per autograph, $20 per inscription, tickets through Lupton's Sports). That night at 7:30 p.m., A Tribute to Jimmy Buffett in Stories and Song is at the Arts Center, 91 W. Main St. ($30; tickets and details). Also that night, the Carroll Hospital Auxiliary holds its annual ball, The Disco Ball, in the Shipley Arena at the Ag Center, 706 Agriculture Drive, with cocktails at 6:30 p.m. Proceeds support the auxiliary's pledge toward renovating and redesigning Carroll Hospital's Emergency Department (tickets and sponsorships). And all weekend, Nov. 6 to 8, Everybody's Quilt Guild shows more than 100 quilts at its Fall Festival of Quilts at Pleasant Valley Fire Co., 2030 Pleasant Valley Road, with vendors, a silent auction and demonstrations (free to $10; quilt show details).
🏀 The Harlem Wizards come to Westminster High School, 1225 Washington Road, on Sunday, Nov. 8, at 2 p.m. (doors open at 1 p.m.) to take on the Westminster Shooting Stars, a team of Carroll County teachers, principals, coaches and community leaders. The game raises money for the WHS Class of 2027, which will sell food, drinks and Wizards souvenirs (cash or card). The game includes a free autograph session. It isn’t a drop-off event, and students in kindergarten through sixth grade must be with an adult. Tickets (select the Westminster game)
🎻 Also on Sunday, Nov. 8, McDaniel College's Chamber Music on the Hill series presents Gerdan in "Kaleidoscope of World Music," a program of Eastern European folk music and original arrangements of classical works, from 3 to 5 p.m. in McDaniel Lounge, 2 College Hill. Tickets are $20, $15 for seniors, active military and veterans, and free for children and college students with ID. Concert details
🍑 Looking ahead: The Carroll County Farm Museum, 500 S. Center St., holds a Holiday Resin Class on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 6 p.m. ($70 per project). And Small Town Stars Theatre Company stages James and the Giant Peach Nov. 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. at Synergy Space, 519 Old Westminster Pike. Tickets are $22.50 for adults, $20.42 for students and seniors and $12.10 for children 10 and under, including fees. Tickets and details
🐷 Carroll Community College’s theater program stages Animal Farm, Nelson Bond’s adaptation of the George Orwell story, Thursday, Nov. 12, through Saturday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 15, at 2 p.m. in the Kelly W. Hill Theater at the Scott Center, 1601 Washington Road. It’s rated PG-13, and tickets are $15 (Animal Farm details). The college also has two free concerts coming up at the Scott Center: student recitals on Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 1 p.m., and the folk and Renaissance group Ayreheart on Friday, Nov. 20, at 7 p.m. (music event details)
Did you catch Bryson Jackson’s tribute to Michael Jackson Friday night at Locust Lane? Check out pictures on the Westminster Wire Facebook page, Instagram and TikTok.
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— Westminster Wire