Middletown Daily Photo: Heritage Festival

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Heritage Festival

Sorry for the late post. The Middletown Heritage Festival was held today and I wanted to post a picture from the event. I heard that the rain started during the parade this morning. When I arrived around 11:30, the rain had stopped and the sun was out off and on for the next three hours.

Here is Main Street, filled with people instead of cars.

History reinactors Tiffany and Andrew are regular visitors to this blog. It was nice to meet them in person.

A cannon firing demonstration. Yes, I know there is motion blur. I jumped a little as the cannon fired.

More pictures tomorrow.

1 comment:

Andrew said...: Bernie, Great photos of Heritage Weekend. It was a great pleasure to meet you in person and Tiffany and I appreciate the photos of the Signal Corps that you posted. We look forward to many more posts from you.; September 29, 2008 at 9:19 AM

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About Middletown

Middletown, Maryland was founded in 1767 and is said to be named either for its position midway between South Mountain and the Catoctin Mountains or its central location between the larger Maryland cities of Frederick and Hagerstown. A few years earlier, a visiting surveyor and future “Father of our Country” George Washington referred to Middletown Valley as one of the most beautiful places he had ever seen.

The town was incorporated in 1833. After the Civil War battles of South Mountain and Antietam, Middletown churches served as hospitals for both Union and Confederate soldiers.

Today Middletown boasts a delicate balance of old and new. Instead of a Mayor, the town leader is a Burgess. Some of the buildings were built in the 1700s and 1800s. There are large Victorian homes as well as the typical cookie-cutter subdivisions that dot the edge of the Washington DC commuter exurbs.

The only franchise restaurant in town is a Subway; the only Starbucks is inside the Safeway.

If you really want to understand what small-town America feels like, visit Middletown during the Independence Day festivities and fireworks at Middletown Park, the Volunteer Fire Department’s annual mid-July Carnival or the Middletown Heritage Festival held in the fall.