Farm Museum

Visitors to the Carroll County Farm Museum can travel back in time this weekend at the annual Civil War encampment and tea party.The 19th Georgia Regiment will set up camp from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday on the Farm Museum grounds, 500 S. Center St., Westminster.Both armies camped around the Farm Museum site during the Civil War while en route to Gettysburg. Costumed soldiers from the North and South will set up camp and will perform company drills, skirmishes and medical demonstrations.

The Carroll County Farm Museum will hold its annual Old-Fashioned July 4 Celebration starting at noon Friday. Visitors can spend the day picnicking on the 140-acre grounds, listening to music, shopping for handmade crafts, learning about life in the 1800s and enjoying the food available for sale. The day will begin with the Explorers youth group raising the American flag on the pole by the stage. Ray Owens will perform from noon to 12:45 p.m., the Old Line Statesmen Barbershop Chorus at 1 p.m., the Back Pages Band from 2 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., the Carroll County Cloggers at 4 p.m. and the Stillwater Band from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. In keeping with the farm museum's 19th-century setting, old-fashioned games such as hoop rolling and jacks will be held for children from noon to 2 p.m., followed by competitive games such as sack races and a lemon relay race from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. For those who prefer more modern fun, a new Kids' Corner will be set up with bounce-and-play inflatables provided by Fun Events LLC of Taneytown.

The towns of Carroll County will be featured in this year's theme, "Heritage Holiday Happenings," at the Carroll County Farm Museum's annual holiday tour. Each room in the 1850s farmhouse and the large hall display case will be named after a town in the county. Rooms will be festively decorated for the season, and costumed tour guides will highlight holiday happenings and activities taking place in the towns during this holiday season. The large hall display case will contain artifacts from the Wheeler Museum.

The Carroll County Farm Museum filled a gap in its calendar by scheduling an event Saturday that seemed like a natural for an agricultural history exhibit -- a barn dance.The dance was the second in the Farm Museum's 29-year history. The first barn dance in 1991 was a success, but the museum's calendar was too full to fit in another until last week, explained Jane Dattilio, secretary of the museum's advisory board and chairwoman of its fund-raising committee.The first barn dance celebrated the museum's 25th anniversary.

The Mason-Dixon Historical Society will sponsor its 38th annual Steam and Gas Roundup Show from 7 a.m. to dusk Sept. 8 to 10 at the Carroll County Farm Museum on South Center Street, Westminster. Antique tractors, steam equipment, gas engines, farm machinery, and saw mill and horse equipment will be on display, many in working condition. John Deere tractors and equipment and Galloway engines and equipment will be featured. An antique car and truck show will be held Sept. 8 and 9, with a parade at 1 p.m. both days.

The Carroll County Farm Museum will celebrate the Fourth of July in its usual grand way, starting at noon and ending with a giant fireworks display at 9: 30 p.m.Families are invited to spend Saturday picnicking on the grounds of the 140-acre historic farm in Westminster, visiting the farm buildings and enjoying various entertainment.Radio station WTTR-AM (1470) will broadcast from the grounds throughout the day. The Westminster Jaycees will put on the fireworks display again this year.Participants can bring food or buy hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries, sodas, pizza and ice cream from the many vendors.

Homemade ice cream, pony rides and rows and rows of antiques and arts and crafts attracted more than 10,000 people to the 25th anniversary celebration yesterday of the Carroll County Farm Museum in Westminster.Country music blared and little children petted piglets, lambs and goats. Farm enthusiasts reveled in the antique farming equipment, and families rode wagons pulled by horses and mules.The event drew people from all over the state. Judson Thompson, 67, and his wife, Miriam, 65, traveled from Montgomery County to comb the antique tables for Royal Doulton porcelain statuettes, but failed to find any. They did not leave empty-handed, buying home-baked blueberry and French apple pies they bought from a local baker.

Ending months of debate on the future of the Maryland Wine Festival, a divided Board of County Commissioners decided yesterday to continue sponsoring the popular event at the farm museum -- unless a more suitable private site is found.The two-day festival, celebrated each fall for the past 16 years, generates about $100,000 in revenue for the county and draws nearly 25,000 visitors. But questions surrounding the use of county property and public sponsorship of an event centered on alcohol had made its future uncertain.

This weekend, Civil War buffs will have the opportunity to relive a part of that historic time when North clashed with South, as the 19th Georgia Infantry opens its Civil War Encampment on the grounds of the Carroll County Farm Museum.The encampment will begin Saturday and Sunday at 10 a.m. and feature activities and scenes for the public to enjoy until 9 p.m. Saturday and 5 p.m. Sunday.Dottie Freeman, administrative marketing specialist for the Farm Museum, said, "This will be the fourth year we have had the encampment on our calendar.

The Partnership for a Healthier Carroll County and its Alliance project will hold the Celebrate Youth Expo from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Carroll County Farm Museum. This youth-planned event gives Carroll County's young people a chance to show off their talents and interests in a healthy and safe environment. Featured activities will include dance and musical performances, a fashion show, art display, skateboard demonstrations, car show, food and games. Admission is free. The event will feature two stages for youth to showcase their talents in music, karate, dance and magic.