FREDERICK -- The line may not be as important as the one drawn in the sand, but it may be more difficult to pin down, and the debate over where it lies is sometimes controversial and often amusing.
The boundary in question is: Where does Western Maryland actually begin? The answer is not nearly as clear-cut as it is for the state's Eastern Shore, which geographically and psychologically is defined by the Chesapeake Bay. One man's Western Maryland is another man's Central Maryland, and those who consider themselves westerners feel strongly about where the west begins.
"They ought to make it a law making it illegal to refer to anything being in Western Maryland unless it is in Allegany or Garrett counties," said Sull McCartney of Potomac Engineering in Oakland and a Garrett County resident.
"People from Baltimore and Annapolis don't realize how far it is to Western Maryland," he said. "It gets very annoying when people have meetings there early in the morning and expect you to drive there and back the same day."
The primary question, it seems, is whether all or any part of Frederick County should be considered Western Maryland.
In determining unemployment statistics by region, the state Department of Economic and Employment Development names Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties as Western Maryland. And the state Department of Planning links those three counties together as Western Maryland for its administrative purposes.
But in recent meetings with community leaders about plans to promote the western part of the state this summer, state officials said Frederick County would be included as part of the promotion, despite the grousing of some farther west who don't see anything in common with Frederick.
Paul E. Schurick, Gov. William Donald Schaefer's press secretary, said state Cabinet members had a difficult time in a recent meeting trying to decide where Western Maryland starts. "We arrived at no consensus," he said. Mr. Schurick said Mr. Schaefer preferred to think of Western Maryland as a state of mind, rather than a place in the state.
"The governor does not recognize a single boundary to Western Maryland," he said. "Rather, he recognizes people's attitudes toward considering themselves Western Marylanders."
Frederick County Commissioner Ronald Sundergill used to think lived in Western Maryland, but with the growth of the area, that view is changing.
