Singer. Songwriter. Actress. Agency boss. Presenter. Executive theater manager. It’s that last title that matters most, especially to the Frederick arts community. Of all the jobs Stephanie Chaiken has had in her decades-long career in the arts, her latest task as the Weinberg Center for the Arts’ leader is perhaps the gig she was always meant to land.

Whether it’s being gob-smacked by the crashing force of Niagara Falls, sitting on a beach hypnotically gazing at ocean waves or paddling down a lazy river, people are drawn to water when planning their getaways. Raystown Lake, taking up 8,300 surface acres in southcentral Pennsylvania, is a water destination perfect for boating enthusiasts, anglers, campers and hikers, or those preferring to stretch out in a comfy chair and scan the skies for Bald Eagles.

If there is a common bond among the diverse group of people who make up this year’s “People to Watch,” it might be that they are all creators in some regard. Whether they are making imaginative quilts or building a business amid a pandemic or growing a voice of advocacy for the agricultural community, they are all creating something.

In 2022, Maggie Bienefeld was a recently divorced mother of five children, unable to provide a place to live for her family. Eventually she moved into a friend’s basement but knew that wasn’t a solution.

As spring emerges in Frederick County, we are all heading outside to enjoy the lovely weather, a nice hike and maybe even enjoy some of the renowned outdoor dining.

“The king of instruments” is how Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart described the pipe organ. Standing beneath the nearly complete organ at Calvary United Methodist Church, with many of its nearly 3,000 pipes climbing two stories above the pulpit, it is easy to see why the composer felt that way.

The music of KIX has been heard across the country and around the world. Even deep below. “When my husband was in the Navy and on a submarine, he had a Walkman and he took their cassettes with him,” says Chary Varkalis, a longtime fan. “So, KIX has been played at many leagues under the sea.”

Andy Bennett reaches into a pile of reed-thin plant stalks and fine fiber sitting on the floor in his barn. To the uninitiated, this could be straw or hay or many other plants grown on Frederick County farms. To the initiated, it is hemp.

The great designs of the world—from the sublime cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris to the bucolic Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece Fallingwater—are rarely based on cautious ideas. Architectural swagger still takes place today, perhaps in less-noticeable measures. 

As a youngster living in New Jersey, Eric Byrd recalls his father coming home from work, sitting with The Philadelphia Inquirer and listening to the records of Earl Gardner and other jazz greats.

My friend Becky has a special affection for Switzerland, starting with the Brown Swiss cows her family once raised, her selection as the 1982 National Swiss Miss and her wedding in the Alps. Years ago, she heard about Helvetia, this speck of a village in West Virginia settled by Swiss immigrants shortly after the Civil War.

There are fans of musical groups and then there are actual “friends of the band.” The latter would unquestionably be true of Frederick resident Patricia Simons, whose love for the American western music and the singing group Sons of the Pioneers reaches back to the 1950s, when at the age of 5 she saw her first rodeo…

In a city full of world-class museums and art galleries, the newly reopened National Museum of Women in the Arts is unique. It is the first museum in the world solely dedicated to championing women through the arts.

It arrived in pieces. In a heap, really. If it hadn’t been for the quick thinking of the Delphey Harley-Davidson dealership, it might never have survived at all. The staff there had the foresight to move the vintage 1929 bike to higher ground just before Hurricane Agnes hit in 1972. The shop on West Patrick Street along Carroll Creek was, like most of its neighbors at the time, inundated with water.

For Julie Gaver, the greenhouse at her Meadow Branch Farm in Myersville is a refuge during the bleak winter months.

Machelle Lee and her husband, Eric Lindland, moved to Brunswick in 2015. They had previously lived in numerous places in the United States and overseas and were living near Washington, D.C, when they found Brunswick.

Want to work out, even if you have physical limitations? Consider boxing. Repeated punches work up a great sweat and release dopamine in the brain. But do boxing and Parkinson’s disease go together? At Rock Steady Boxing, they sure do.

For the past seven years, Jessica Underwood has scratched an itch for people seeking a home that is not cookie-cutter, but instead causes them to stop in their tracks when they see a project with a JR Capital Build sign out front. Her most recent project is the Mews on Maxwell, five townhouses between East 4th and 5th streets with rooftop terraces paired with three floors of amenities below.

For many people, winter is truly the season of discontent. But instead of letting the cold, gray days get you down, ever think about taking your own detours around the malaise? How about learning a language or trying a new recipe? Or mastering a new skill or art? We’ve reached out to local experts and found some relatively easy ways to beat the winter blahs.

Throughout the 1990s, Hood College experienced growing debts that almost forced the institution to close. Ronald Volpe, who served as Hood’s president from 2001 to 2015, recounts this tumultuous chapter in the college’s history and the events that led to its remarkable turnaround.