Darlington

Darlington (S.C.) Raceway is known as the "Lady in Black." This weekend, those who love her may have reason to grieve. Today's Carolina Dodge Dealers 400 could be the last spring Winston Cup race for the grand old girl if NASCAR carries through on statements made by chairman Bill France Jr. before the season. France, speaking off the cuff during a preseason media gathering in Charlotte, N.C., said tracks in Darlington, Rockingham, N.C., and Atlanta were all in danger of losing one of their two races next season.

As of 9 a.m. Thursday, traffic was slow on the outer loop of I-695 near Harford Road, due to an accident. In the Darlington section of Harford County, near Conowingo Dam, U.S. 1 was closed between Castleton Road and Shuresville Road, due to a fatal single vehicle accident that was reported around 2:30 a.m. Thursday. An on-duty Harford County Sheriff's deputy was killed in the accident, which occurred in the 4700 block of Conowingo Road, also known as U.S. 1. The deputy's identity has not been released pending notification of his family, according to a spokesperson for the sheriff's office.

When Ann Paine was overseas with her military husband, she could never keep a garden. So when she returned to her childhood home at the end of an open field on Glen Cove Road in Darlington, she started digging. Now that she has time to indulge in her favorite pastime, Paine creates a fresh bouquet every week and gives it to the Darlington post office. Friends, neighbors and members of her church can expect to receive bouquets from her from time to time. "When people see my flowers ... they say my gardens must be beautiful," she said.

When Anna Marie Darlington-Gilmour took over as president of the Annapolis Opera Company in May 1998, she found that the organization had six subscribers. Today, there are about 150. In the meantime, the budget has grown to $250,000 from $75,000. Board member Felix Rosario ponders the source of Darlington-Gilmour's success. "Her enthusiasm and love of opera are so contagious and hard to resist," he said, "that corporations, businesses and private donors give generously to support the Annapolis Opera Company."

Usually, Jim Calcutt said, people can drive through the one-stop-sign town of Darlington in a minute and a half. All that changes on the first Saturday of October. That's when the Apple Festival comes to town. On that day, the town with a population of about 750 swells to the thousands. "It's mind-boggling on Main Street and Shuresville Road," festival organizer Calcutt said. "During the festival, you can't see the pavement. It's wall-to-wall people." Yesterday's overcast weather might have slightly affected attendance.

ALL OF US HAVE an old country. Even those whose families have been in this country since the 18th century. For me, the old country is called Darlington, a county seat in the South Carolina low country, the flat land that extends inland from the Atlantic coast. I grew up 300 miles away in Atlanta, where my parents moved after World War II. Darlington was the destination of countless family trips, daylong affairs with packed lunches over two-lane roads in pre-interstate and pre-McDonald's days.

ELMONT, N.Y. - When Funny Cide attempts Saturday to win the second leg of the Triple Crown at Pimlico Race Course, he will focus attention not only on New York, where he was born, but also on Maryland and one of its showplace farms, Bonita Farm in Darlington. Funny Cide's dam, Belle's Good Cide, lived there until her death in March. But two of the four babies she produced remain at Bonita, making the Harford County farm home to half of the offspring of the Kentucky Derby winner's dam. Since Funny Cide is a gelding and can't reproduce, the presence of the 2-year-old filly and weanling colt in Maryland is even more significant.

For 15 years, Anna Marie Darlington-Gilmour helped raise money, sell tickets and play hostess to visiting singers when they came to town to sing with the Philadelphia Opera or participate in the voice competition.Now she plans to use the skills she learned there to help the Annapolis Opera grow.Darlington-Gilmour, 53, the new president of the company, is talking about aggressive fund raising, programs aimed at high school students and fall-to-spring seasons of fully staged operas in their original languages playing to sold-out houses at Maryland Hall.

On September 14, 2007, DR. MALCOLM "Dudley" PHILLIPS of Fort Myers, FL, formerly of Darlington, MD. Beloved husband of Margaret "Peggy" Anderson Phillips. Devoted father of Diane Dudley Stevens, Neal W. Phillips, Cheryl Daughaday Ledford, Jay M. Phillips, Rachel Phillips Muenzer and the late Paul Marlin Phillips and Marcia Louise Phillips. Loving brother of Virginia Phillips Slechta. Also survived by ten grandchildren and one great-grandchild. Services will be held at the Evangelical Methodist Church, 1736 Whiteford Rd., Darlington, MD on Monday, September 17, 2007 at 1 p.m. Interment will be in Darlington Cemetery, Darlington, MD. Friends may call at the family owned McComas Funeral Home, P.A., Abingdon, MD, on Sunday, September 16, 2007, from 1 to 4 and 6 to 9 p.m. and at the church in Darlington on Monday from 12 to 1 p.m. prior to the service.

Maryland State Police and Sheriff's Office reports: Aberdeen Dwayne Webb, 44, of the 500 block of Pleasantwind Drive, was charged Sunday with second-degree assault. Shelby Barnes, 24, of the first block of Church Green, was charged Sunday with failing to display a registration card on demand, driving an uninsured vehicle, resisting arrest, failing to obey a reasonable police order and disorderly conduct. Aaron Lee, 31, of the 300 block of South Law Street, was charged Friday with possessing marijuana and drug paraphernalia.