Westminster, Maryland

One of the things I was looking forward to while on the East Coast are the Fall Festivals that happen at this time of year.  Today was another beautiful sunny, Fall day, and since there were no guests at our Zigler Hall, we went to a United Methodist Church in Westminister this morning, and to a Farm Museum Fall Festival afterwards.

Westminster is another old town, dating back to 1700s.  It's only 7 miles away, and it is where people from New Windsor go shopping, etc.  (New Windsor, where we are living, is very small.  It has a couple of churches, a 7/11 but no other market, a post office, a pizza place, a restaurant, an automotive place, a fire station, elementary and high school... and the New Brethren ministries, which is the biggest "industry" in town.  That's about it!)

The Farm Museum had lots of activities for children and adults, including a corn cannon, corn chucking and grinder, pumpkin activities, antique farm equipment and displays, cornhusk doll making, haywagon or buggy rides, a blacksmith demonstration, make your own life-size scarecrow -- looked funny seeing people carrying around a scarecrow as big as they were!  We also went through a home that used to be an "almshouse," a home where the poor could live and earn their keep by working on the farm.  It was decorated as though it was a traditional home of that time, though, with a chidrens' bedroom, dining room with fine china, etc.   Lots of interesting things at this place.  Nice day.

Amish County & New Jersey

We had a couple days off, so took advantage of the time to explore some of the Amish countryside near Lancaster, Pennsylvania one day, then on to Brick, New Jersey the next day.  The drives through the rolling hills and farmlands are so much fun, with Fall decorations and pumpkins everywhere.

We had just finished reading a novel by Jodi Picoult that involved an Amish family, so we were hoping we could get into Amish territory again.  We are both quite fascinated with their ability to live a simple, plain life.  We visited a re-created Amish farm (for tourists), and learned more about the Amish from the tour guide who was Amish until she was 25 years old, then left to become a conservative Mennonite.   Things are changing for the community, but not much since the 1800s when they settled in Pennsylvania.  Some of the businessmen now have access to telephones/computers, but mostly none of the families have that kind of connection with the outside world.  But it was interesting to learn that some school children now wear Nike shoes with the rest of their traditional dress, and there are other little changes creeping into their lives.  But none of the children seem to badger their parents for a car -- although a good horse might be on their wish list.

We had to eat a Pennsylvania Dutch meal while there.  The Good 'n Plenty restaurant more than filled the bill -- and our bulging waistlines!  We were seated at a table with other guests, and the food was brought out family style.  Several small dishes at first -- chow-chow (pickled vegetables), a chicken spread, coleslaw, bread with apple butter, and something else.  Then the main food -- and it kept coming:  fried chicken, sliced turkey, stuffing, homemade mashed potatoes, gravy, sauerkraut, corn, brown-butter noodles, peas.  Not full yet?  How about 5 desserts, including shoo-fly pie, berry pie, cheesecake, soda cracker pudding, homemade ice cream.

I think John was saying, "Enough already!" by the time the desserts came.  It was fun to talk with a couple from Indiana (about our age) and a young couple from South Carolina -- she was an MD intern in infectious diseases and has been to various places around the world, including Zambia.  We thought of Rachel Peletz.

That night at our hotel,... cheese, crackers and an apple was dinner!

The next day was a beautiful, sunny Fall day.  We drove to Brick, New Jersey to visit Nora Howes, a former Christ Church member.  She is 96 years old, and doesn't look or act like it!  She still drives her bright red car around town, she played golf regularly until just recently, her memory is sharp as a tack, she is active in a small United Methodist Church that she loves and reads biblical study books for their Bible study....  She's what I want to be if I live to be 96!  We had a terrific visit.  Her niece joined us for lunch (wonderful seafood restaurant right on the water) and drove us around the area to see the damage that the Hurricane Sandy caused, about a year ago.  There are so many beautiful homes that are either still being repaired, or have been torn down.  Brick is on the Atlantic Ocean, and is surrounded by rivers.  Beautiful area....until a storm like that hits.

We had a long drive to get back to New Windsor, Maryland, but the weather was beautiful, and a gorgeous sunset welcomed us back to our home-away-from-home.

United Methodism

We are living in the midst of Church of the Brethren ministries in New Windsor, Maryland.  But interestingly enough, this is also where the Methodist movement in America got it's start.  We went on a tour of the nearby Strawbridge Shrine -- viewing the house and worship building where Robert Strawbridge lived and preached, although he also traveled on horse to preach on a large circuit.  Because of his evangelism in the 1700's, at one point, 60% of Maryland were Methodists.  That could explain why we've seen so many Methodist churches in so many of the small rural communities we've driven through.    We're hoping to go to the Lovely Lane UMC in Baltimore where the 1784 Christmas Conference met and marked the official beginning of the Methodist denomination in America.

We attended the historic United Methodist Church which is only a block away from our retreat center.  It is really a beautiful church on the inside, and has been well maintained.

Exploring the area

We finally enjoyed several days off and have had a chance to start exploring the area.  We've been looking forward to getting crab while here, so one of our first meals out was to a restaurant that served blue crab.  We ordered half a dozen crab, thinking we would have some to take home.  Not.  We ate them all!   (They're smaller than Dungeness crab.)

The Fall colors haven't quite arrived.  It was in the upper 80's last week -- not what we were expecting.  But we did take in some of the sights and activities, despite the heat.

Went on a Civil War Walking Tour in Frederick.   There is so much Civil War history in this area.  We were surprised to learn how divided the towns like Frederick were -- split between support for the Confederate or for the Union.  Spies on both sides.  And battle after battle trying to gain the upper hand.

         Old courthouse in Frederick                                      Tapas at Isabella's 

 

I was looking for Fall Festivals, so we went to one at the Rosehill Manor in Frederick -- lots of fun activities for children, old buildings, displays of antique farm equipment, and a tractor pull.

                                                         Interesting architecture with many, many old buildings                                      

The weather finally started felling like Fall, so on another day we found a small waterfall on the Potomac River, and toured nearby Hagerstown and then Harper's Ferry.    Our drive was so different -- we were in three states that day:  Maryland, Virginia, Delaware.  (Another travel day we were in 4-5 states -- again, so different from California where you drive miles/hours before being in another state.)

Bavarian restaurantFirst mobile library

There was a newly opened library in Hagerstown that celebrated their history of being the first library to have a mobile book lending carriage that went into rural areas.  We tried to find the UMC that had been a part of the Underground Railroad, but couldn't find it.  Went to a very nice art museum in the city park instead.

We knew we wouldn't be able to see some of the national museums at Harper's Ferry (government shutdown), but we were able to walk around the town and read some of the historical plaques.  It is also where three rivers meet, and has a Catholic church on the hill that survived all the battles because they flew a British flag!

We have more days off coming up -- so to be continued.

Zigler Hospitality Center, Church of the Brethren, New Windsor

We have been at our new home in the Zigler Hospitality Center at the Church of the Brethren campus in New Windsor, Maryland since arriving a week ago.

It has been almost a non-stop work assignment since arriving!  Thursday was our first day off, and the first time our car had left it's parking place -- what a change from the long drives every day coming across the country.  It was also the first time we've even had a chance to go grocery shopping!  We eat in the dining hall if there are meals being served, but if there are no meals, we are able to go into the walk-in refrigerators and help ourselves to the leftovers on the "volunteer" shelf.   We do have a small kitchen in our one-bedroom apartment, but other than heating up leftovers, we've not cooked anything yet!  Not my style!  But we have helped with the set up, serving, clean up in the dining hall.

We have a furnished apartment, which is quite comfortable.  New Windsor is a very small town, but the siren for the volunteer firefighters does go off at times, about 3 times one of our first nights, and along with the trucks that somehow need to barrel through this rural community, we are awakened in the night some.  So far, not for emergencies we've had to be responsible for in our guest rooms, though!   We have had the air conditioner and fan on the last few days because it has been in the upper 80's during the day.

This is turning out to be a bigger job than we realized.   We're not just "hosts," checking in guests, making sure they have coffee/tea/snacks when requested for their meetings, but we're also housekeeping (cleaning the guest rooms on weekends if there are guests who arrive the same day other guests leave and we need to have the rooms clean, beds made, etc.) and laundry staff (using the commercial washers/dryers in another building to do all the sheets and towels from the guest rooms), kitchen and dining room help, driving the van to do mail deliveries to the various offices, and miscellaneous other tasks.

We're also responsible for locking/unlocking the main doors at 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.  The evening lock-up is the hardest -- we have been so tired by early evening we've had to set the alarm to make sure we don't sleep through the 10:00 duty!

The ministry that happens here, though, is very impressive.  This is the headquarters for a number of Church of the Brethren Ministries:   SERRV, Brethren Volunteer Service, On Earth Peace, Disaster Ministries, IMA among others.  Heifer Project International started here, interestingly, but no longer has offices on this campus.

Many of the guests who come for overnight stays at the Zigler Hospitality Center are here to volunteer for a day or two at SERRV or Disaster Ministries.  SERRV handles the sale and shipping of orders for their fair-trade handicrafts, coffee and chocolate from third-world countries.  Many local churches provide SERRV items for sale as fund raisers.   Their store here is quite impressive -- we've already started our Christmas shopping.  (You can order on-line, also.)

The Brethren Disaster Ministries distribution center receives relief packages (layette kits, flood relief kits, etc.) and prepares them for shipping to areas where they are needed.  Its a huge operation.  They send teams, like our Volunteers in Mission, to help after disasters, and have a team now in Colorado.  They also have a home rebuilding program.

On Earth Peace is the ministry that Barb Sayler, the choir director at Christ Church United Methodist in Santa Rosa, was co-director of here for a few years.  She and her husband Mark, a UMC minister who also has connections to IMA (an international medical ministry) are the reason we are here in the first place -- they suggested a couple years ago we might be interested in the volunteer host position, and here we are!

The Volunteer Brethren Service program has a 3-week training right now for 24 young people who will be going to various places around the world on one or two year assignments.  We were invited to have dinner with them one night last week -- a simple meal where they are learning to cook meals for their whole group on $1 a day meal allowance.  They were finding out this week where they were being sent, so as they introduced themselves, we were impressed to hear they were going to places like Belfast, Croatia, England, Guatemala, Haiti, Japan, as well as communities all around the United States.

The area around us is beautiful with rolling hills, farm houses, corn fields.  More pictures later as we do more exploring.