View in browser Welcome to the current issue of the Garrett County Gazette. I’m Chris Nichols, your guide to helping you find out what’s going on, what’s coming up and interesting tidbits from the area. Let’s jump right in! Special Olympics of Maryland returns to Garrett County for Winter Games After nearly a decade, the Special Olympics Maryland Winter Games returned to Wisp Resort in late February. 143 Special Olympics Maryland athletes braved the slopes and courses at the 2023 Winter Games from Monday, February 27 – Tuesday, February 28th, 2023. The athletes from across the state showcased their skills and athletic ability in various alpine and snowshoeing events. Alpine events include Novice, Intermediate, and Advanced Slalom, Giant Slalom, Glide & Super G. Snowshoeing events include 25m, 50m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1600m races as well as 4x100m, 4x200m, and 4x400m relay races.  Also returning to the area was the Deep Creek Dunk, one of the biggest fundraisers for the Special Olympics Maryland. On Feb 25, 802 Dunkers dominated the 2023 Deep Creek Dunk and raised over $140,000 and counting for the athletes of Special Olympics Maryland Garrett County and athletes across the state. I haven’t seen a date set yet for the Dunk in 2024, but it’s usually at the end of February, so mark your calendars! Or, keep an eye on my Community Calendar for upcoming events! And be sure to visit the Special Olympics Maryland website to see how you can support this great organization.  Eric Crawford from Team Taylor-Made gets ready for the full Dunk experience! You can see us in action here Deekie and Dunkie! (I don’t know if that’s the bear’s name, but it makes it funnier)The ULTIMATE map of Deep Creek Lake is coming soon The next map in my line of local cartography will (hopefully) be available in the next few months. The ULTIMATE Deep Creek Lake map shows the lake like you’ve never seen it before – lake depth, points of interest, roads, trails, buoys, coves, communities and more! It will be available in two formatsWall map, 24×36 inches, printed on glossy poster paperFold-up map – same map as above, but printed on water-proof and tear-resistant paper and folds down to 4×9 inches  I’ll be running a pre-order campaign (through the crowdfunding platform, Kickstarter) to raise funds for the initial print run in late March 2023. The MSRP will be around $20 for the wall map version and $12 for the fold-up one, but if you pre-order through the campaign, you’ll be able to get them for up to 50% off the retail price (and help me to pay for a larger print run which will bring the overall costs down)You can check out the Kickstarter campaign preview and sign up to get notified when it launches. Can’t wait to get it printed and onto people’s boats and walls!Deekie’s Adventures Deekie swung by Little Meadows, one of General Braddock’s camps on his ill-fated march to Fort Duquesne. This site is along US Route 40 near Grantsville. Braddock’s March was one of the first engagements in the French & Indian War, culminating in the Battle of the Monongahela where Braddock was mortally wounded. Around 2/3 of Braddock’s force was killed or wounded in this battle, and the regiment retreated back along “Braddock’s Road” to Cumberland. Legend has it that during the retreat, Braddock’s paymaster buried the regiment’s strongbox , variously estimated to contain from $5,000 to $125,000 somewhere on the retreat to Fort Cumberland.I have a contest on my Facebook profile where you can win free maps if you can name one of the places where “Braddock’s Gold” may be buried.  Local events Easter Egg Hunt – Saturday, April 8th starting at noon @ Broadford Park.The event will take place on in the beach and playground areas at the park. The Oakland-Mountain Lake Park Lions Club will be hiding thousands of eggs filled with candy and prizes in four different areas for the kids to find. We will have four different age groups, with the first group beginning at 12:00 PM. All children ages 0 – 12 are invited to come out to the hunt.  1st Annual “Walk for Recovery” May 13 @ Deep Creek Lake State Park:Two mile walk to benefit Reflection House  More community events I’ve also started a curated list of community events for 2023 which you can check out on my website. The event listing is formatted in a handy postcard which I’ll be happy to send to you FOR FREE if you reply back to this email with your mailing address! Real estate corner The number of active residential real estate listings in Garrett County is still at a 10-year low! As the graph below shows, there is a seasonal cycle, but even the peak of summer 2022 was the lowest in the past decade. Is this level of inventory now the normal level for Garrett County? If it is, there are some important things to know. For sellers: it’s a great time to think about selling your property. Houses with strong rental potential are especially sought after right now. A properly priced home has high change of selling quickly. For buyers: it may seem doom and gloom, but almost HALF of the current active listings right now show a price decrease! Interest rates seem to have stabilized and there are more financing products introduced every day to help you afford one of these deals.  Check out my real estate website as well for more information on what’s out there, or call or email me anytime to chat about what’s going on in the market and how to build a strategy to meet your real estate goals! Mobile: 301 616-7881 Office: 301 387-4700 Email: chrisn@deepcreeksales.com  |
Garrett County Gazette, March 2023
