Chris Patterson
(6/5) It was the Spring Gallery Stroll
in Thurmont Friday, May 23, and area residents
crowded Mechanicstown Square Park to tap toes
and sing along to the Glade Valley Travelers.
Folks strolling through town, young and
old, could not help but stop for a while to
enjoy the quintet’s renditions of old
classics. A mom bounced a little girl with
blonde curls on her hip while a grandmother
sang along to the quintet.
Up the road at the Historical Society,
Carol Stevens poured lemonade and offered
chocolate chip cookies to visitors touring the
Creeger House.
Stevens said the Gallery Stroll was drawing
many people into the building where people use
the second floor library to study their
family’s genealogy.
“I think it’s wonderful,” she said of the
event. “It lets the community know what’s out
there. It lets people who have moved into the
town know that we are here and….that they
don’t have to be a member to do research
here.”
Thurmont residents Rodman Myers said he and
his wife Jean were enjoying the stroll for the
first time, happily munching on snacks served
by local businesses. The family would have
been bailing hay but the heavy rains meant the
hay was still too wet to bail so they were
able to come, they said.
Rebecca Pearl’s Gallery was jammed, as it
usually is for these events, with art
connoisseurs enjoying her newest work and
those of other artists she features.
Janice Hushfarver of New Windsor was among
the gallery’s guests enjoying the wine and
appetizers. Hushfarver met Pearl at another
Gallery Stroll and became one of her art
students. “It’s been a real blessing since I
met her,” Hushfarver said, adding that she has
been able to sell several of her own pieces.
A couple of doors down, Pamela Hamrick,
owner of the interior design shop, Heart and
Hands, and her very friendly dog Rachel Joy
happily greeted visitors to the shop. Hamrick
said being in Thurmont has been a blessing and
she really enjoyed the Gallery Stroll.
“I think it’s awesome. I think it’s really
neat,” she said of the stroll. “I was thinking
I would be so tired at the end of the day, but
I’ve had a great time talking with everyone in
town today.”
Artist Rebecca Harrick, located at a table
outside of Hobbs Hardware, had similar
sentiments. It was her first time showing her
work at a Gallery Stroll and she was very
happy with the interest visitors had in her
work.
Thurmont’s Main Street Manager Vickie
Grinder said she considered the turnout for
the event to be excellent. “We had people
coming at 6 p.m. and it didn’t start until
6:30 p.m., and the weather cooperated,” she
said.
Grinder said there are a couple of benefits
for the town from the Gallery Stroll, such as
showcasing the town’s Main Street businesses
and bringing everyone down to support them.
“We are in a tough economy right now,” she
said of the toll it is taking on small
businesses. “…And I can tell you that everyone
in the hospitality business is barely holding
their own right now.”
