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!
Youth sports in Garrett County
I don’t know if I am just noticing this, or it’s an actual trend, but there seems to be a growing group of youth sports teams in the county that aren’t affiliated with the public school system. It makes sense to me – shrinking school budgets that I’ve discussed in previous articles, more homeschooling, and general decline in youth population all contribute to smaller and fewer school-based teams. It seems like kids and parents are finding (and creating!) their own opportunities. There are a lot of great teams out there, and sometimes it’s a challenge to find the right one, so I figured it would be good to start a listing of these teams that I’ve come across.
Greater Garrett County Youth Lacrosse It looks like this team (the Bears) has just started in the last year or so, but they already held a big tournament in June that hosted over 30 teams using Southern and Northern High Schools’ fields. Here’s their website and Facebook.
Garrett County Manta Ray Swim Team I think the swim team has been around for awhile, and they have a great facility at the CARC for practice and competitions. Here is their Facebook page.
G-FORCE FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics There is another robotics team at this competition level (GaCO – Team 1629) that is sponsored by the public schools, and some may debate whether robotics competitions are sport. But, it’s my newsletter, and more robotics is fine and all naysayers about its “sportsness” are wrong. G-FORCE (Team 2818) is a great example of a local team formed to serve the homeschooled population. Check out their website and Facebook pages.
Garrett County Coyotes Mountain Biking TeamThey’ve been around a for a few years now and are really starting to get some good traction (haha). There are a lot of great people involved as coaches on this team, and I really like the theme of “everybody rides, nobody rides the bench”. And, it’s a great fit for our area. Here’s their Facebook page
Deep Creek Winter Sports Team If you’ve got a ski resort, you’ve got to have a ski team. The DCWST focuses on alpine ski racing and snowboarding. Check out their website and Facebook pages (and start praying for better winters!)
What did I miss? What should be next? Hockey would be great – would someone please build a rink! A disc golf team would be fun – I happen to know a great course….
Ultimate Adventure Maps
I’m pleased to announce the second edition of the Ultimate Garrett County Adventure Map! There are new trails, overlooks and other features in the this new edition (and a couple of typos fixed too!)Although there’s always room for improvement, the prime reason for the 2nd edition is that I have nearly sold through my initial order of 1,000 copies of the first edition! I’m pretty proud to know that almost that many copies of something I created are floating around out there and very thankful to all my customers who have purchased them. And, of course, I just recently released the Ultimate Deep Creek Lake Adventure Map, too! I have a special deal when you buy them together, or shop all my maps here.
I finally did the entire Meadow Mountain Trail. I’ve done pieces of it here and there but have never gotten around to doing it all at once since it’s over 10 miles and it’s out and back, not a loop. My wife Lisa and I took a morning and biked the length from Frank Brenneman Rd to the end (around Exit 22 of I68)
I brought Deekie for the bike ride and he got to check out the sweet view from the overlook. The whole trail is about 12 miles and is as close as you’ll get to a rail-trail in Garrett County. But don’t be fooled! There are some pretty steep uphills (and downhills) and although the trail is wide and has been surfaced with gravel, it can be kind of think and chunky in places. But if you’re looking for a wide, off-road (but two road crossings) 10+ mile bike trail with moderate climbs, this is it! Check out the video trail tour here: https://youtu.be/MMAf77oD2XY
History-themed dates in Garrett County
Nothing impresses your date more than some local history! No? Well you may be dating the wrong kind of person! I was asked by a local historical society to put together a talk on history-themed dates in Garrett County and it was surprisingly easy!My goal was to center on a town or area, find two or three historical things to check out there, and then find a place to have dinner, drinks or dessert nearby that operated in a historical building. Some of the dining options may not look historical, but at least they are in old buildings. I put together 10 “dates” like this, and threw in a couple of seasonal events, too. You can download the pdf version of the presentation (where all of the links will be active)I’ve created an interactive Google map of each of the history dinner dates.Watch the narrated version of the presentation.A couple of the slides from the presentation are below showing the Google map in the first slide and an example from the Grantsville date in the second.So, check it out and make your next date . . . HISTORIC!
Local events
Jul 18—Mary’s Glades Unveiling @McHenry Community Park, 1249 Bumble Bee Rd. unveiling of an amazing new piece of art and get engaged with filling in the gaps of local history!
Aug 12 —Big Funky Blues Fest @ Fairgrounds: Music festival benefitting Camp Caring, Inc., a local non-profit that runs a summer day camp for special needs children in Garrett County !
Aug 18-20—Friendsville Days: Parade, Bands, Craft and Food Vendors, and more!
Real Estate Corner
“How long will it take to sell my house?” Right now, properly-priced properties in Garrett County (and especially in the Deep Creek Lake area) are still selling very quickly. Often properties go under contract within days of being listed. The graph below shows how many days to sell residential properties in Garrett County for the last year, by the month. July is clocking in at 36 day to sell, which is nearing the limits of how quickly the paperwork can be processed for a property transaction. What this means for sellers: if you are looking to sell, it is still a great time to catch this tailwind.What this means for buyers: know what you’re looking for and be ready to buy it when it hits the market! Whatever side you’re on, let me help you to meet your real estate goals!
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
Explore and connect with where you live. Some mapping, history and community service organization stuff related to Garrett County, Deep Creek Lake and the surrounding area. I'm Chris - welcome to my online attic!
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