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!
Garrett County Gets Some Love from Downstate
As the most distant county from Annapolis (geographically and often politically), Garrett County sometimes struggles to be recognized by the rest of the state. If you’ve ever told anyone you’re from Western Maryland, you’re familiar with people’s dwindling recognition of towns as they move further westward along I-70 (or I-68 if you’re talking to a real MD geography buff!). But in Governor Moore’s first few months in office, we have been getting quite a few official visits from him and his Cabinet. This might just be the “honeymoon” time of his administration, but hopefully all of the great stuff going on in the County will keep them coming back! Here’s a rundown of recent visits by the Governor and some of his Cabinet officials.
On August 7 Governor Moore visited Deep Creek State Park where. Maryland Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz, Park Service staff, and the Maryland Natural Resources Police welcomed the governor, lieutenant governor, and Garrett County elected officials for a tour of the park’s Discovery Center and waterfront dock.
The Deep Creek Watershed Foundation and the DCL Property Owners Association hosted a visit by the new Maryland Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources, Josh Kurtz, on July 26th. The goal of both organizations was to welcome Secretary Kurtz to Deep Creek Lake and to encourage DNR’s continued support of the State Lakes Protection and Restoration Fund, as well as to advocate for personnel increases for the NRP and Lake Manager’s Office. Representatives from the State and these organizations met for lunch to discuss further cooperation.
Also during the July 26th trip, Secretary of the Environment Serena McIlwain and other senior staff toured and met with Garrett County elected officials and businesses owners learning about their concerns and successes.
On July 28 the Garrett County Department of Business Development hosted Maryland Secretary of Commerce Kevin Anderson on his day trip to Garrett County. A roundtable breakfast was held at Ace’s Run Restaurant & Pub where local Commissioners, Mayors, Economic Development Staff and Business’ leaders got to talk with the Secretary about Economic Development in Garrett County.
Maryland Secretary of Agriculture, Kevin Atticks, visited Garrett County to show support for local farmers and to help showcase the crucial role of agriculture in the county and state economies.
During his March 5th visit to Garrett County Public Schools, State Superintendent Mohammed Choudhury read ‘I Wish That I Had Duck Feet’ to the Pre-K Class at Grantsville Elementary.
Join the Chamber!
Deekie’s lair doesn’t have windows to stick up his new Garrett County Chamber of Commerce window cling but he figured out a way to show off his membership. Along with being the largest business association in the County, the Chamber is also promotes the County to tourists and visitors. The Chamber’s website is a great place to start learning about what makes Garrett County a such a special place to visit, live at and work in! And, if you have a local business, being a member has lots of benefits!https://www.visitdeepcreek.com/about-us/
New video trail and special spot tours
I posted two new video trail tours from my Ultimate Garrett County Adventure Map, both at the Potomac-Garrett State Forest HQ.3D Archery Course (Trail #42 from my Ultimate Garrett Co Adventure Map)- not exactly a hiking trail, but a really cool course of 30 3D animal targets to practice your archery. It’s about 0.5 mile loop, so you can treat it like a game of golf! (not recommended for casual hiking though) https://youtu.be/QY1pjD_YS2s Eagle Scout Trail (#43) a pleasant, low intensity 0.3 mile loop. Great example of Scouting’s contribution to our community and a nice stroll through the woodshttps://youtu.be/pOGgz74ksDM
In my latest tour of the Special Points on my Ultimate Adventure Map, I visited the ghost coal-mining town of Kempton at the SW point of Garrett County, checked out the Fairfax Stone (check out the history presentation in the next section, too!) that sets the western border of the county and saw an active coal mining operation. Check out that video tour here: https://youtu.be/kZV4iTvVyooDuring the tour, we went to WV to see the Fairfax Stone. It was nice to visit, but Deekie is always happy to get home!
Greater Garrett County?
Did you know that Garrett County could have been about 3 times larger? If the boundaries orignally set forth for Maryland had been followed, the northern border would have been north of Philadelphia, the southern border about 50 miles further south and the western one almost 10 miles to the west!In this presentation, I take you through how Maryland’s borders were shrunk by a rainstorm and those scheming Penns.You can download the presentation with active links.Or watch a narrated version on Youtube.And remember….
Local events
Aug 18-20—Friendsville Days: Parade, Bands, Craft and Food Vendors, and more!
Aug 26 — Mountain MD Dragon Boat Festival@ Broadford Park: dragon boat races benefitting the Dove Center. Deekie and I will be there!
Sept 9 — Art and Wine Festival@ Fairgrounds: lots of wine and some art, benefits HART for Animals and GLAF
Real Estate Corner
Stat of the month – “Sales Price to List Price ratio”In the graph below, we’re looking at the monthly average of the ratio of sales to list price for the past 10 years for residential properties in Garrett County. This ratio tells you generally the amount that a property sold for compared to its listing price As you can see, for about the first 5 years of the graph, sales were in the low 90% of the listing price – still some room to negotiate for buyers. In the past years, the gap has been narrowing and there are some months where properties sold for more than the listing price on average! What this means for sellers: if you are looking to sell, a properly priced property will likely sell quickly and near the listing price.What this means for buyers: know what you’re looking for and be ready to buy it and don’t count on a lot of room to negotiate 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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