30 posts tagged “brunswick maryland”

• 6,000 lbs of free food
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• Need a job?  Talk with Workforce Services to learn about what jobs are out there and what free training you may qualify for
• WIC and Food Stamp Assistance
• Talk to Salvation Army
• Q&A about cancers and mental health referrals/issues
• Prescription discount cards

I was so excited to shop at Lowry's Farm Market recently, where I picked up some lush orange chrysanthemums (only $10 for four 8-inch pots, which really are taller and thicker than a mere 8 inches), vivid purple perennial asters (hurry up--they are almost gone), some gourds for 50 cents apiece, and some of autumn's last local peaches, nectarines, and pears. You can also pick up mini haybales and dried cornstalks for fall decorating, pumpkins in a variety of colors and sizes, and many other local autumn treats at low prices. Lowry's Farm Market is the one that is located on the main drag into the old historic downtown, on your left before you hit the auto repair shops and the traffic circle. Every autumn their  asters sell out quick, so if you want some of those, go there now before they sell out and you have to wait another year to get some.

Also, while you are there--and this is important--please donate your spare change into the collection jar for the two families who lost their homes and pets when their duplex on Virginia Avenue burned down about 2 weeks ago. Better yet, plan ahead and buy them some gift cards--even $5 gift cards help--to donate into the collection jar.

This information is current as of July 31, 2008.

A recent fire on 7th Street in Brunswick has left a large family with children (including one seriously ill child) homeless and in desperate need of our assistance.

Donations can be dropped off at Brunswick City Hall at the address shown below.

I recommend that you donate gift cards so the family can stock up on food, groceries and necessities.

Even $5 gift cards help out a lot. Please reach out and help if you can spare $5 or even just $1.

Some places where you can find gift cards in small increments include: Sheetz, Super Fresh, Target, Walmart, Safeway, Giant Food, and other gas stations and grocery stores. Thanks for your help!

Brunswick City Hall

1 West Potomac St.

Brunswick, Md. 21716

301-834-7500

(at the corner of

Potomac St. & S. Maple Ave.)

So today I found what has to be Brunswick's best dessert: the $5 chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream at Beans in the Belfry. Imagine a petite moist chocolate cupcake with gooey fuge sauce inside, heated up until the chocolate lava bursts forth to mingle with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream. Even on a hot day, this combination of warm and cool elements works. I have yet to find a better, fresher dessert in Brunswick. And as barista Amy pointed out, you can go to chain restaurants and pay more for the same dessert, or you can just walk down to Beans and shell out a mere $5.

I also finally had a chance to poke into Newberry's Antiques on Potomac Street, which is run by the kind folks who used to run Ekster Scandinavian antiques in Leesburg, VA. Their Newberry's space in Brunswick is much larger and filled with beautiful decor items both new and old. I especially love the large mercury glass sconces that can be placed on the floor or on large dining room tables. I didn't have enough money to buy much there today, but I recommend you take a peek inside if you live in Brunswick. I especially recommend all of the lavender products: candles, lotions, sachets, sprigs, lip balm, etc. And then, my favorite item at Newberry's: Lavender Moon bath tea sachets, which I blogged about earlier. Lavender Moon had to close its Leesburg retail location but it still exists online, and I recommend its affordable, clean rinsing bath teas in honeysuckle, ginger lime, and milk and honey. They make your bath smell fresh and yummy without turning it funky colors or leaving you with a sticky film on your skin like some bath salts do.

As noted in the blog post below, we also went to the Brunswick Farmer's Market, to be held every Sunday afternoon from 1 PM until 4 PM (so you can sleep in late and still come down to do your shopping). We walked to the market and bought local goods including honey and zucchini, and it felt nice to buy fresh produce without using a drop of gasoline in the process. Tomato season starts in about 2 weeks so get ready for the market to have tomatoes and more as June turns into July. The market location, however, is moving from the city hall parking lot to the train station parking lot, so check it out one of these upcoming Sundays.

Argh, it's the dreaded "kitten season" (cats that have not been spayed or neutered are breeding right now) and on top of that, Brunswick suddenly seems inundated with stray homeless cats. Everyone I know has taken in as many rescues as they can, myself included. I just don't know what to do about this. My neighbors and I speculate that perhaps there are more strays on the streets now because of the spate of home foreclosures and people having to move due to finances.

Anyway, the latest stray on Brunswick Street has been nicknamed "Smoky" by the neighbors. He is 100% gray and male, and by appearances it looks like he has NOT been neutered yet. Smoky is very loving and friendly so obviously he used to have a home. Are you missing a lovable gray male cat? If yes, send a message to annamatt at g mail dot com and I will try to locate Smoky for you--he is roaming outside near the post office. Smoky likes to lie in the middle of the road, and he is the same color as the road, so all of us are scared he might get hit by a car soon. We affixed a reflective collar onto him in the hopes it will save him. If you are Smoky's owner, please claim him quickly! There is another urgent matter: he has a golf-ball sized mass in his belly that might be a tumor, and it will need medical attention soon, no matter what it is. Smoky needs your help immediately.

If we can't find Smoky's owners soon, we're going to start looking for someone to adopt him.

This past weekend I blogged about the blinding light on top of the new Brunswick water tower...tonight as I was driving home late from my job #2, I noticed the blinking, blinding, painful strobe light had been replaced by a steady red light. Sweet relief for tired eyes!

Maybe the blinking, blinding strobe light was some kind of temporary emergency beacon signaling a problem at the tower? Hmm. Mysterious.

Brunswick has a new water tower, which is fantastic, because this is a growing town that needs more clean water to satisfy the needs of its expanding body of citizenry. No objection here.

The new water tower has a blinking light on top of it to alert low-flying helicopters and aircraft of its prescence, which is a safe and smart thing to do. No objection here either.

What I do object to is the fact that the light on top of the new water tower blinks at strobe light speed, and is very, very bright white like a strobe light, and, in fact, when driving late at night, is incredibly distracting and blinding, much like a strobe light. The first time I witnessed it, in fact, I thought it was the blink of an emergency vehicle, and I found that after looking at it for a second I could no longer see the road properly--all I could see was one of those blue sunspots that your eye generates as a warning as if to say "Hey! Stop looking at that bright thing! It's gonna hurt you!"

I also started to get the feeling that if I looked at the warning light on the water tower any longer, I'd go into a seizure.

Hmm, drivers going into seizures. Not good.

I suggest that Brunswick either make the light blink at a slower, less seizure-inducing pace, or else tone it down a few lumens, or both. I can imagine the residents of the new housing complex on the hill near the tower also want the throbbing disco light effect coming through their curtains at night to cease. Don't worry, guys, down at our end o' town you get to hear the blaring fire siren at 3 AM instead!*

* No, I am not the person who wrote to the firehall complaining about the siren and refusing to donate money to them until the siren stops. Check out my next post about charities and you will see that my family indeed gave the fire hall some money this year.

Brunswick High School  participated in  the Frederick County Public High School Wrestling Championships held at Tuscarora High School this weekend. According to the Frederick News Post, "Brunswick finished second in the team standings with 172.5 points. The Railroaders had more finalists than any other team with seven, but did not crown a champion."

Several promising wrestlers like Zach M. and T.J. look like they might make it to the State level, too, so things are getting pretty exciting as the wrestling season wraps up.

By the way, Tuscarora High School has to be the prettiest, most cheerful and light filled public school I have ever seen! If I had gone to a high school like Tuscarora instead of the pit of gloom and doom I went to back in the 1990s, I would be an entirely different person today, I am sure of it.

Brunswick's own CPL Youth Center is hosting its second annual observation of the Chinese Lunar New Year on Saturday, February 9, 2008, at Brunswick High School. Admission is $5.00 per person.

2008 is the Year of the Rat, or, if you prefer, the Year of the Mouse.

Watch cultural and martial arts performances (including some by the kids who use the youth center), browse the wares of local vendors and sponsors, and take a chance at the Instant Raffle at this popular fundraiser event. All proceeds benefit the youth center and its programs.

5 to 9 PM            $5 per person

Brunswick High School Auditorium

For more information, go to the CPL Youth Center website.

All of the following events are free for the public:

These workshops are held on the second Saturday of the month from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m.

The January through March sessions will be held at:

Fellowship Hall

Bethany Lutheran Church

109 First Avenue

Brunswick, MD 21716

The sessions in April and May sessions will be held at:

Grace Episcopal Church

114 East A Street

Brunswick, MD 21716