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Hello, Westminster!
Carroll County's election-night vote count is in, and the unofficial totals for the school board, county commissioners, sheriff and state legislative races are below. The results aren't final yet, because mail-in ballots can still arrive through Nov. 13.
Also below: Jake Fine of Fine Tuned Presents is the first guest on Wireside Chats, a new Westminster Wire conversation series on YouTube. Each episode is a roughly 20-minute sit-down with someone from around the community, taking a deeper dive into their work and what’s happening in Westminster.
Saturday starts with a Veterans Day Parade downtown and keeps going with Local Author's Day, a wine festival and the Carroll Hospital Auxiliary's Disco Ball, and the Harlem Wizards play at Westminster High on Sunday.
Next week brings the first holiday markets, including the Mistletoe Mart. It's all in the 👀 Around Town and 🔭 Looking Ahead sections below.
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Unofficial results: Carroll commissioner, school board, sheriff and legislative vote totals
Election-night totals posted by the Maryland State Board of Elections include all 49 of Carroll County's Election Day precincts, early voting and the mail-in ballots counted so far. In the Board of Education race, where voters could pick up to three candidates for three seats, Marsha B. Herbert, Shannon Hinkhaus and Julie V. Walsh hold the top three spots at the moment, with Sharon Wilhide fourth, 777 votes behind Walsh. The totals also cover the contested commissioner races in Districts 1, 3 and 5, the sheriff's race and the District 5 and District 42 legislative races. Provisional ballots haven't been reported, and mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day still count if they reach the local board of elections by 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 13.
Wireside Chats debuts on YouTube with Jake Fine of Fine Tuned Presents
Jake Fine of Fine Tuned Presents is the first guest on Wireside Chats, a new Westminster Wire series of conversations with people around town. Fine went from starting a live music club at McDaniel to booking original music all over Westminster, including a four-band punk show at Amy's Laundry that took off on social media. In the conversation, he digs into the town's music history, why he sees Westminster as a blank canvas, and what he’d tell anyone who wants to start something here.
👀 Around Town
📜 The Historical Society of Carroll County, 210 E. Main St., hosts two free events. Tonight, 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 tonight, the Carroll Arts Center, 91 W. Main St., hosts its free 1st Wednesday Jams from 7 to 9 p.m.
🏐 Two volleyball games in town tonight, Wednesday, Nov. 4. Westminster High School, 1225 Washington Road, hosts Linganore in the first round of the state playoffs at 6 p.m. (Owls volleyball on Instagram). And McDaniel College plays its final home match of the season against Dickinson at 7 p.m. in Gill Center, 2 College Hill (McDaniel volleyball on Instagram).
🏛️ 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. Gallery hours are noon to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday, noon to 4 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday. 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. Also Saturday, Karen Peck teaches Fall Landscape in Pastels from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Arts Center, 91 W. Main St. It’s $75, for ages 18 and up or 12 to 17 with a registered adult. Registration and details
🎖️ Saturday morning downtown starts with the Veterans Day Parade, hosted by the Carroll County Veterans Independence Project. It steps off at 10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 7, from Monroe Street and ends at Longwell Avenue by the skate park, and it's free to watch. Groups that want to march can register by emailing [email protected] (parade details). The Downtown Westminster Farmers Market is open 8 a.m. to noon in the Conaway parking lot across from 27 Railroad Ave. (market website)
📅 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).
🎃 Baugher’s Orchard & Farm, 1015 Baugher Road, holds a pumpkin smash this weekend, Saturday, Nov. 7, and Sunday, Nov. 8, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (event details). No bats or other weapons are allowed, and Baugher’s says the smash pumpkins are free to take home, along with sunflowers. Hayrides and Mrs. B’s Sweet Treats are open too, and the farm is taking orders for Thanksgiving pies and turkeys.
🏀 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 Westminster Common Council meets Monday, Nov. 9. Meeting details
📚 On Tuesday, Nov. 10, the Historical Society of Carroll County, 210 E. Main St., hosts Good Morning Gettysburg!, a free, humorous talk by Neil Beller about biking the battlefield, from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. No registration is needed (event details). Also that night, the Carroll County Farm Museum, 500 S. Center St., holds a Holiday Resin Class at 6 p.m. ($70 per project).
🎖️ Veterans Day is Wednesday, Nov. 11. McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, holds a free Veterans Day Ceremony from 10 a.m. to noon honoring veterans from the college and surrounding communities. Event details
🎄 The 52nd Annual Mistletoe Mart fills Church of the Ascension, 23 N. Court St., Thursday, Nov. 12, through Saturday, Nov. 14, with more than 40 juried artisans, a café, a country store and a handmade quilt raffle. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $7 for adults, good for all three days, and free for children under 12. Proceeds support local and global ministries. Event 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)
🍑 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
🛍️ Saturday, Nov. 14, brings two holiday markets. The Pleasant Valley Fire Co., 2030 Pleasant Valley Road, holds Christmas in the Valley from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., with a bazaar, crafts, food and an open train garden, and admission is free (event details). The Carroll County Farmers' Market and Craft Show hosts its Local Art Guild Show from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Ag Center, 706 Agriculture Drive, also free (event details). The Downtown Westminster Farmers Market is open 8 a.m. to noon.
🪗 Also Saturday, Nov. 14, at the Carroll Arts Center, 91 W. Main St.: The Livebox plays traditional Maryland and Chesapeake music, with Peter Brice on accordion and Tess Hartis on fiddle, at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20 to $28, and local beer and wine are for sale (tickets and details). Earlier that day, The Art of Zentangle runs 1 to 3:30 p.m. ($45, supplies included; ages 18 and up or 12 to 17 with an adult; registration).
🎶 On Sunday, Nov. 15, McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, presents McDaniel for the Holidays, a free seasonal concert by college music faculty and community members, from 7 to 9 p.m. Event details
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