Recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff

Recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff

December 14, 2008 – posted (finally) on December 18, 2008

This time of year, we can't get enough Christmas music, or eggnog
Published December 14, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE The Christmas season means different things to different folks. I have many great childhood Christmas memories of growing up in Westminster. I'm biased of...


Shop Carroll for that hippopotamus this Christmas
Published December 10, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Westminster certainly loves to pull out all the stops for the holiday season. This year is certainly no exception. The weekend after Thanksgiving featured the...


Everyone's a winner at the Westminster Holiday Parade
Published December 10, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
... but here are entries the judges liked best Westminster's annual Holiday Parade was a great time for all. Judges said determining particular "winners" in...


Everyone's a winner at the Westminster Holiday Parade ...
Published December 5, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Westminster’s annual Holiday Parade was a great time for all. Judges said determining particular “winners” in various parade categories was difficult because everyone — the...


In the end, Rutherford Hayes had the croquet balls to be president
Published December 4, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle, Westminster Eagle
For this Sunday's column, let's keep it light. May we discuss croquet? At my age, croquet is about as close to a contact sport as...


Luebberman marks 20 years with Westminster Fire Dept.
Published December 3, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Kevin Dayhoff kdayhoff@carr.org Cake and stories were served Nov. 22 as about 30 members of the Westminster Volunteer Fire Department gathered at the John Street firehouse...


Letters
Published December 3, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Dayhoff right to lament loss of Pour House on Main St. I just wanted to say "BRAVO" to Kevin Dayhoff regarding his recent column in...


One turkey leg, early Thanksgivings and a pair of President Harrisons
Published November 30, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
We certainly hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are now enthroned upon the couch, watching football and relaxing with a pair of birds: a...


Waist is a terrible thing to mind
Published November 24, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to it because it will be the first holiday in which my extended family gets...


Turkey, stuffing, illegal radios and rowdy college kids
Published November 23, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and we at The Eagle hope you have a great turkey-day with lots of food, friends and family. Perhaps because of our...

http://explorecarroll.com/search/more.php?f=news&p=1&s=Dayhoff

20081214 Recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff

Recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff

Recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff

December 14, 2008 – posted (finally) on December 18, 2008

This time of year, we can't get enough Christmas music, or eggnog
Published December 14, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE The Christmas season means different things to different folks. I have many great childhood Christmas memories of growing up in Westminster. I'm biased of...


Shop Carroll for that hippopotamus this Christmas
Published December 10, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Westminster certainly loves to pull out all the stops for the holiday season. This year is certainly no exception. The weekend after Thanksgiving featured the...


Everyone's a winner at the Westminster Holiday Parade
Published December 10, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
... but here are entries the judges liked best Westminster's annual Holiday Parade was a great time for all. Judges said determining particular "winners" in...


Everyone's a winner at the Westminster Holiday Parade ...
Published December 5, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Westminster’s annual Holiday Parade was a great time for all. Judges said determining particular “winners” in various parade categories was difficult because everyone — the...


In the end, Rutherford Hayes had the croquet balls to be president
Published December 4, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle, Westminster Eagle
For this Sunday's column, let's keep it light. May we discuss croquet? At my age, croquet is about as close to a contact sport as...


Luebberman marks 20 years with Westminster Fire Dept.
Published December 3, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Kevin Dayhoff kdayhoff@carr.org Cake and stories were served Nov. 22 as about 30 members of the Westminster Volunteer Fire Department gathered at the John Street firehouse...


Letters
Published December 3, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Dayhoff right to lament loss of Pour House on Main St. I just wanted to say "BRAVO" to Kevin Dayhoff regarding his recent column in...


One turkey leg, early Thanksgivings and a pair of President Harrisons
Published November 30, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
We certainly hope you had a great Thanksgiving and are now enthroned upon the couch, watching football and relaxing with a pair of birds: a...


Waist is a terrible thing to mind
Published November 24, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
I hope you have a great Thanksgiving. I'm looking forward to it because it will be the first holiday in which my extended family gets...


Turkey, stuffing, illegal radios and rowdy college kids
Published November 23, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and we at The Eagle hope you have a great turkey-day with lots of food, friends and family. Perhaps because of our...

http://explorecarroll.com/search/more.php?f=news&p=1&s=Dayhoff

20081214 Recent Explore Carroll columns by Kevin Dayhoff

Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Company by Kevin Dayhoff

Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Company by Kevin Dayhoff

Posted on http://www.explorecarroll.com/ 11/19/08

Click here for more columns by Kevin Dayhoff on http://www.explorecarroll.com/

Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Company by Kevin Dayhoff

I was sad to see last week that the Pour House Café on East Main Street in Westminster was closing.

The unreal irony of the untimely demise of a popular local gathering place came with another piece of news from last week: According to ABC News: "Even as the company was pleading the federal government for another $40 billion dollars in loans, AIG sent top executives to a secret gathering at a luxury resort in Phoenix last week."

"Reporters caught the AIG executives on hidden cameras poolside and leaving the spa." I'm not making this up.

It was reported that AIG spent an estimated $343,000 on the junket.

I'll venture a guess that just the interest on that $343,000 alone could have kept the local Main Street shop in business.

No word as to whether owners of the Pour House considered lobbying the U.S. Treasury Department for a piece of the $700 billion bailout plan passed by Congress in the waning weeks of the 2008 presidential campaign.

But hey, why not? Everyone else is. According to an article in the International Herald Tribune, the "Treasury Department is under siege by an army of hired guns for banks, savings and loan associations and insurers -- as well as for improbable candidates like a Hispanic business group representing plumbing and home-heating specialists."

We all heard the rhetoric during the election campaign about how everyone is so concerned about "Main Street."

I kinda expected Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Senate Banking Committee chairman Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), and Speaker of the House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), to show up on Main Street in Westminster, order a vente double-shot mocha latte with lowfat soy and hand the Pour House a check.

Nah. That could never happen. These folks don't really know where "Main Street" is.

The other avenue of approach for the coffee house would have been to convert itself into a bank. I read the same day that the credit card company, American Express, was converted into a bank like Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs -- so that it was eligible for a handout from the government.

As soon as the "Coffee Shop Bank and Trust" opens, it could take $343,000 junkets and be eligible for great seven-figure bonuses.

Hey, bean counting is bean counting.

Right after the news was revealed about the $343,000 AIG junket, the Federal Reserve System announced it was going to increase the company's bailout by $27 billion to a total of $150 billion.

Those folks who run AIG are no fools. That's a great return on misappropriating $343,000 of taxpayer dollars.

Along the same lines, I felt really bad to read a Reuters article that reported that "Wall Street bonuses could tumble 41.3 percent." Tumble?

Well, I tumbled out of my chair to read that economists "say each securities industry job on average paid $379,000 last year."

Now, according to Reuters, "Wall Street' high flyers are likely to see their bonuses take a brutal hit this year -- bonuses could be cut in half to $16 billion." Now that's brutal.

All this for an industry which Jay Leno described best: "The United States," he said, "has developed a new weapon that destroys people but it leaves buildings standing.

"It's called the stock market."

Is this a great country or what?

####

http://explorecarroll.com/opinion/1621/welcome-coffee-shop-bank-trust-company/

20081119 WE Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Co weked

Click here for more columns by Kevin Dayhoff on http://www.explorecarroll.com/

Turkey, stuffing, illegal radios and rowdy college kids
Published November 23, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and we at The Eagle hope you have a great turkey-day with lots of food, friends and family. Perhaps because of our...

Welcome to the Coffee Shop Bank and Trust Company
Published November 19, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
I was sad to see last week that the Pour House Café on East Main Street in Westminster was closing. The unreal irony of the...

At Westminster polls in 1920, the 'Women Disappointed Them'
Published November 16, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE The fact that women gained the right to vote was a milestone that got mixed reviews in Carroll County after the 19th Amendment...

Life work of Sargent Shriver began in Westminster
Published November 12, 2008 by Westminster Eagle
Twenty years ago this week the community was abuzz in anticipation of one of Carroll County's most celebrated native sons, Robert Sargent Shriver Jr. returning...

Patriotic, misty-eyed and corny about our Election Day
Published November 9, 2008 by Sunday Carroll Eagle
EAGLE ARCHIVE Last Tuesday, after two years, 45 debates and $2.4 billion spent, American voters finally had their day. Is it just me, or does...

20070630 Daily Photoblog - Jim Pullen in the spotlight

Daily Photoblog - - Jim Pullen in the spotlight

June 30, 2007 – posted July 4^th, 2007

Last Saturday, Grammy, Mrs. Owl, and I had dinner at “Legends Café” off Rte 140 in Westminster. We had a great dinner.

On our way out, we noticed that Westminster Police Officer Jim Pullen - who is well known for his “Thurmont Maryland accent,” and which is often mistaken for a special English accent, was on the bulletin board for an eating accomplishment…

Police officer Pullen (he has received a promotion or two since I worked with him in an official capacity… so I am no longer aware of his rank… Professor R1 will need to tell me…) is one of my many favorite officers in the Westminster Police Department – in a department full of common-sense and community oriented police officers that are just wonderful folks with which to work.

_____

Legends Café is owned by Jim and Amy Fields and is located at 532 Baltimore Blvd., Westminster Maryland, 21157. Their phone number is (410) 871-9599.

Why not give them a try sometime soon. It is not a chain and it is locally owned…

We really enjoyed our meal, the atmosphere and decorations. Our server was attentive and very pleasant.

####

20070602 Saturday morning roof fire at Classico Pizzeria

Saturday morning roof fire at Classico Pizzeria College Square Shopping Center

Classico Pizzeria, (410) 751-7600 College Square Shopping Center, 444 W.M.C. Drive, Unit 102, Westminster, MD 21158

June 2^nd, 2007 by Kevin Dayhoff

Westminster, MD – 4:00 AM - - Shortly after a thunder and lightning storm rolled through Westminster late Friday evening, Mike Bareford, the manager of the College Square Liquor Store smelled smoke just as he was leaving his store.

As he walked out of his store to continue to investigate the source, he discovered smoke rising from the roof over Classico Pizzeria, a popular Italian restaurant at Suite 102, College Square Shopping Center, 444 WMC Drive, at the intersection of WMC Drive and Route 140 in Westminster.

He called the Carroll County Emergency Operations Center at 00:55 (12:55 AM.) Fortunately Mr. Bareford was working late and thanks to his quick thinking and a sprinkler system; a fire in the restaurant next door to his store was quickly extinguished.

Approximately 25 Carroll County firefighters from Westminster, New Windsor, Pleasant Valley, Reese, and Union Bridge responded. Westminster City Police also responded.

Westminster Fire Department Chief Jeff Alexander arrived on the scene first at 12:57 AM and assumed command. The first units arrived on the scene at 1:01 AM.

The owner of the restaurant, Giuseppe Como was at home at the time of the fire. He had left the restaurant at approximately 11 PM. Mr. Como and his brother, Nunzio Como, also arrived quickly as did at least one employee of the restaurant.

Smoke was found coming from the air handler unit on the roof and that the sprinkler system had discharged below the air handler in the restaurant.

Chief Alexander reported that the sprinkler system put the bulk of the fire out and shortly after firefighters gained access to the restaurant, they quickly established a 1-3/4-inch water line and extinguished what remained of the fire.

The fire was placed under control at 1:16 AM.

Units remained on the scene for clean up until 2:05 when Chief Alexander terminated command but remained on the scene until 3:05 awaiting the arrival of BGE to check the electrical system, and further consultations with the owners of the restaurant and a representative of the shopping center.

It was preliminarily determined that the fire was accidental (- a possible lightning strike.) No damage estimates were immediately available.

Nuzio Como said that he was impressed at how careful the firefighters were to make sure that the damage to the restaurant was as minimal as possible. The firefighters had carefully covered up much of the kitchen area with large tarps.

Giuseppe Como did not have an estimate as to how long it will take for the restaurant to re-open except he hoped that it would not be long.

The Como brothers are well known as to how fastidious they are about keeping the restaurant spotless and as the firefighters were leaving the restaurant, he and his brother and an employee were already hard at work mopping-up the floor and cleaning up what little mess that resulted from the fire.

####

Classico Pizzeria, (410) 751-7600

Classico Pizzeria, College Square Shopping Center, 444 W.M.C. Drive, Unit 102, Westminster, MD 21158

http://tinyurl.com/cpv9hj
Kevin Dayhoff Art: www.kevindayhoff.com (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/)

Classico Pizzeria

Classico Pizzeria

March 4, 2007

Classico Pizzeria, (410 751-7600 College Square Shopping Center, 444 W.M.C. Drive, Unit 102, Westminster, MD 21158

20070304 SDOSM Classico Pizzeria

Dayhoff Daily Photo

Kevin Dayhoff www.kevindayhoff.net http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/

Kevin Dayhoff Art: www.kevindayhoff.com (http://kevindayhoffart.blogspot.com/)

20070228 Best Shoes of the Day

Best Shoes of the Day – The Daily Shoe Watch

February 28^th, 2007

I found this wonderful pair of shoes at a local frame shop in Westminster – Gizmos Art, Lyndi McNulty's. Aren’t they just divine?

If you ever been in Gizmos during the day the place is regular bee hive of activity and here at “Soundtrack” we were really appreciative that this nice young lady stopped for two seconds to let us capture an image of her shoes for everyone to admire.

For more on Shoes – go here.

For more on Gizmos Art, Lyndi McNulty's – go here.

####

20070224 Saturday Dinner this evening at Salsarita’s in Westminster

The address in Westminster, MD is:

Dinner this evening was at Salsarita’s in Westminster, MD
Saturday, February 24th, 2007
http://www.salsaritas.com/

####

20060716 KDDC Budweiser Clydesdales in will be in Westminster Monday

The Budweiser Clydesdales in will be in Westminster Monday, July 17

July 16, 2006 by Kevin Dayhoff

_________________

If you have ever had the interest in seeing the gentle giants of the horse family, the Budweiser Clydesdales, Westminster is the place to be on Monday July 17^th, 2006 during the lunch hour.

The Clydesdales visit to Westminster is sponsored by Wantz Distributors, Inc. of Hagerstown, Maryland, the local Budweiser distributor.

According to Westminster’s administrator of economic development Stan Ruchlewicz, the Clydesdales will be visiting Westminster on their way from Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game in Pittsburgh to the NASCAR race festivities in Long Pond, PA.

Mr. Ruchlewicz advises that: “Beginning about 12:30 p.m., the magnificent Clydesdales will travel down Longwell Avenue from the Westminster Skate Park to Willis Street where they will travel Willis Street to Court Street. After making a left onto Court Street, they will make a right onto Greenwood Ave. following it to Manchester Road.

“They will make a right onto Manchester Road crossing Main Street onto Washington Road. At Green Street, they will make a right and stop at Maggie’s for a photograph. They will continue down Green Street to Center Street where they will make a right and stop for a photograph at Maria’s and the Westminster Inn. They will then make a left on Main Street.

“They will then travel down Main Street to John Street also stopping at Johansson’s Dining House and Rafael’s for photographs before heading to City Hall for pictures and then returning to the Skate Park.”

For a cute video (Budweiser commercial) featuring a baby Clydesdale, click here.

There are six “hitches” - eight-horse teams of Clydesdales - which pull a red, white and gold 1903 Studebaker-built beer wagon. Five of the hitches are traveling hitches. The hitch that will be visiting Westminster is the St. Louis team. The other hitches are based in Menifee, California; San Diego, California; Merrimack, New Hampshire and San Antonio, Texas

The tradition of the Clydesdales began as a celebration of the repeal of Prohibition on April 7, 1933, when August A. Busch Jr. had the team of horses ceremonially deliver the first case of post-Prohibition beer from the St. Louis brewery to his father.

Published reports reflect: “Realizing the advertising and promotional potential of a horse-drawn beer wagon, Mr. Busch had the team sent by rail to New York City, where it picked up two cases of Budweiser beer at New Jersey's Newark Airport. The beer was later presented to Al Smith, former governor of New York and an instrumental force in the repeal of Prohibition.

From there, the Clydesdales continued on a tour of New England and the Middle Atlantic States. The hitch even delivered a case of beer to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the White House.”

Over 70 years later, the tradition continues as the “Clydesdale hitches travel some 100,000 miles a year…”

The especially large breed of horses traces its beginnings in the early 1800s in Lanarkshire, Scotland, along the River Clyde.

Today, Clydesdales have evolved to a horse that is six foot tall (18 hands) at the shoulder and weigh approximately one ton each – between 1,800 and 2,300 pounds.

To qualify to be a Budweiser Clydesdale, they must be “geldings, bay in color, have four white stockings and a blaze of white on the face, as well as a black mane and tail. A gentle temperament also is important, as hitch horses meet millions of people each year,” according to promotional accounts.

And oh, a Clydesdale’s horseshoe measures more than 20 inches from end to end and weighs about five pounds.

They eat two meals a day, which includes 20 to 25 quarts of feed, 50 to 60 pounds of hay and up to 30 gallons of water.

When they arrive in Westminster Monday morning, they will arrive in “three 50-foot tractor trailers, custom-built for the horses with rubber flooring, air suspension and vent fans…”

The Clydesdales will probably be accompanied by one or more Dalmatians, which have traveled with the horses since the 1950s.

In the early days, the Dalmatians “were bred and trained to protect the horses and guard the wagon when the driver went inside to make deliveries. The black-and-white spotted dogs were swift enough to keep up with the wagons, and their light-colored bodies and markings made them easier to see during the twilight hours.”

I’ll see ya in Westminster Monday during the lunch hour. Should be plenty of good pictures available.

_________________

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.

E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org

####

Westminster businesses

20060614 KDDC Dinner at Harry's

Dinner at Harry’s
© Kevin Dayhoff
July 18th, 2006

Caroline and I enjoyed dinner out Tuesday evening at Harry’s Main Street in Westminster.

While we ate, we enjoyed the mellow sounds of “Blue suede shoes - blue note Harry.” The food was delicious, the service attentive, the company and conversation grand and a great time was had by all.

Doesn’t that look just like Harry? Whadda ya think?

For past posts about Harry’s Main Street, please see: “20060614 KDDC Dinner at Harry's” and “200600603 KDDC Can you guess who this community leader is?” After the page comes up, scroll down a bit to view the post…

Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA.
E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org
####

Kevin Dayhoff: www.westgov.net Westminster Maryland Online www.westminstermarylandonline.net http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/