Alesia

THE ALESIA BAND, 99 years old and still blowin' strong, will strike up a new season tomorrow night.Under the direction of Francis Staley, the instrumentalists will begin their weekly practice at 7: 30 p.m. in the band room at North Carroll Middle School."

Federal prosecutors upped their ante in the case against a former Western Maryland police officer yesterday, tacking on new civil rights charges that accuse Jeffrey S. Shifler of threatening schoolchildren and a city councilwoman because they are black. Shifler, the 41-year-old suspended officer from Maugansville, was arrested in February and charged with sending racist and homophobic letters to public officials and community leaders, and calling in an anthrax threat to City Hall in Hagerstown.

"ANYONE WHO PLAYS brass, reeds or percussion is invited to rehearse with us," said Francis Staley, director of the Alesia Band, which celebrates its centennial this year.The first rehearsal of the year takes place at 7: 30 p.m. tomorrow in the band room at North Carroll Middle School. Every year, the band welcomes new members into its ranks. The band has about 30 instrumentalists.Surviving for 100 years is apparently not uncommon among our local community bands. The Yellow Springs Band in Frederick County has been around 112 years; the Brodbecks, Pa., town band celebrated its 110th anniversary recently; and the Westminster Municipal Band has passed the 100-year mark, too.Like many in the United States, these bands began after the Civil War. Brass and reed instruments had been improved by that time by German instrument makers and could produce a full-bodied sound outdoors.

County announces road projects for week The Carroll County Department of Public Works announced road projects for this week. Guard rail installation and shoulder work: Alesia Road, Lees Mill Road. Shoulder work: Schalk Road No. 1, Alesia-Lineboro Road, Church Street, Old Westminster Pike. Excavation and curb work: Center Street/Gorsuch Road roundabout. Closed for bridge reconstruction: Murkle Road Bridge, Stoney Lane Bridge. Final shoulder work (subdivisions): Arched Bow Alley, Aspen Run, Cedarbrook, Sunset Way, Sylvan Park, Valley View Farms, Valley Vista, Valley Vista North, Village Green Estates, Virginia Dare, Wolf Hill.

THE ALESIA BAND plans to tune up Jan. 25 to start its 98th year of community music.The band will rehearse every Thursday at 7:30 p.m., weather permitting, until early May at North Carroll Middle School. Any musician is invited to join the band at any of its weekly rehearsals, and the public is welcome to listen.Every year since 1898, the band has carried the name of Alesia, a northeastern Carroll County hamlet, to church picnics, community festivals and parades. It plays the favorites, from marches to polkas, waltzes to show tunes.

PARTICIPATE IN A centennial musical event Sunday. All you'll need is a lawn chair or blanket.At 6 p.m. Sunday, the Alesia Band celebrates its 100th year as a community band with a free concert in the band shell at Manchester Carnival Grounds off York Street. If it rains, the band will play inside the adjacent activities building."We're giving this concert to the community," said Francis Staley, director for the past 21 years. The free concert is a scheduling squeeze for the band.With a reputation built over 100 years of community concerts and strawberry festivals, the band has every weekend penciled in.Strawberry festivals and the Alesia Band seem to go hand in hand.

FIRE* Manchester: Engines from Manchester, Lineboro and Hampstead were dispatched to investigate a report of smoke in a barn on a farm on Alesia Road at 7:44 a.m. yesterday. Units were out for an hour.

FIRE* Lineboro: Firefighters from the Lineboro station were dispatched to investigate a report of smoke in the area of Rupp and Alesia Lineboro roads at 8:48 p.m. Monday. They were out for 34 minutes.

On April 15, 2005, RAMONA SUSAN TOMASSETTI, devoted daughter of Clara and Fred Inman and loving sister of Alesia Tomassetti. Services and interment Saturday, 12 noon, Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. Arrangemsnts by CVACH/ROSEDALEFUNERAL HOME.

FIRE* Hampstead: Hampstead assisted Baltimore County for a house fire on Mount Carmel Road at 7:49 a.m. Friday.Hampstead responded for a van fire on Fairmount Road at 7:18 p.m. Sunday.* Alesia: Lineboro, Manchester and Hampstead were dispatched for a chimney fire in a house on Alesia Road at 11:11 p.m. Sunday. They were out for 56 minutes.

On April 15, 2005, RAMONA SUSAN TOMASSETTI, devoted daughter of Clara and Fred Inman and loving sister of Alesia Tomassetti. Services and interment Saturday, 12 noon, Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. Arrangemsnts by CVACH/ROSEDALEFUNERAL HOME.

The town of Manchester and Manchester Volunteer Fire Department will sponsor a monthly series of concerts in the park. Concerts will be held from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays at the firemen's carnival grounds band stand on York Street. Concertgoers should take a blanket or lawn chair. The schedule is: Sunday: Alesia Band. Aug. 17: Country Edition. Sept. 21: Free Wheeling. Information: 410-239-3200.

On Sunday, July 13, 2003, CHARMAINE WISSMAN (nee Disney), beloved wife of Kenneth Wissman, mother of Alesia, Christina, and Nicole, grandmother of Michaelina, Cody, and Dominique. A Memorial Service will be held on Wednesday, July 16, 2003, 11 A.M. at Brooklyn Church of God, 30800 9th St., Baltimore, MD. 21225.

Giving themselves a choice between two possible sites for a radio tower to alleviate problems with emergency communications in the northeast area of the county, the Carroll commissioners signed an option yesterday to buy a parcel on Alesia-Lineboro Road. The 6.874-acre wooded property, owned by Donald J. and Catherine L. Fasca Sr. at 4509 Alesia-Lineboro Road, would cost the county $100,000. The lot is larger than one on which the commissioners signed a purchase option in February, meaning that if the 330-foot tower fell it would not land on neighboring property, said Howard S. Redman, the county's public safety director.

FiresHampstead: Firefighters responded at 11: 21 p.m. Thursday to a transformer fire in the 4700 block of Maple Grove Road. Units were out one hour.Lineboro: Firefighters responded at 7: 38 p.m. Thursday to wires on fire in the 400 block of Alesia-Lineboro Road. Units were out two hours.Lineboro: Firefighters responded at 6: 25 p.m. Thursday to wires on fire in the 400 block of Alesia-Lineboro Road. Units were out 16 minutes.Pub Date: 7/05/99

PARTICIPATE IN A centennial musical event Sunday. All you'll need is a lawn chair or blanket.At 6 p.m. Sunday, the Alesia Band celebrates its 100th year as a community band with a free concert in the band shell at Manchester Carnival Grounds off York Street. If it rains, the band will play inside the adjacent activities building."We're giving this concert to the community," said Francis Staley, director for the past 21 years. The free concert is a scheduling squeeze for the band.With a reputation built over 100 years of community concerts and strawberry festivals, the band has every weekend penciled in.Strawberry festivals and the Alesia Band seem to go hand in hand.

FiresHampstead: Firefighters responded at 11: 21 p.m. Thursday to a transformer fire in the 4700 block of Maple Grove Road. Units were out one hour.Lineboro: Firefighters responded at 7: 38 p.m. Thursday to wires on fire in the 400 block of Alesia-Lineboro Road. Units were out two hours.Lineboro: Firefighters responded at 6: 25 p.m. Thursday to wires on fire in the 400 block of Alesia-Lineboro Road. Units were out 16 minutes.Pub Date: 7/05/99

FIRE* Alesia: Lineboro and Manchester investigated a fire alarm sounding in a building in the 4100 block of Graves Run Road at 7:43 a.m. Tuesday. Units were out 27 minutes.* Hampstead: Hampstead and Arcadia investigated a hazardous condition in the 4600 block of Upper Beckleysville Road at 6:06 a.m. Tuesday. Units were out 35 minutes.