Francis Scott Key

After nearly 200 years, Francis Scott Key has come back to Fort McHenry. A life-sized bronze statue of the Maryland lawyer who wrote "The Star Spangled Banner" stands in the $15 million Visitor and Education Center that opens Thursday. Other elements include a film told from Key's perspective and touch-screen panels providing details about his life and views. It's a fitting tribute to man whose words help draw about 650,000 visitors a year to the site of the 1814 Battle of Baltimore at the tip of Locust Point, said Vincent Vaise, chief of interpretation for Fort McHenry.

As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, traffic was slow on the inner loop of I-695 at the Francis Scott Key Bridge, due to an accident involving two vehicles. An accident was slowing traffic on Frankfurst Avenue near Childs Street in Baltimore City. There were no major delays reported on Baltimore area transit systems.

An article in The Baltimore Sun  by Chris Kaltenbach recounts how documents from 1917 on the musical arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" came to be donated to Fort McHenry.   The tune to which Francis Scott Key's poem (originally titled "Defence of Fort McHenry") is that of "To Anacreon in Heaven. " Anacreon, the Greek lyric poet, was the patron of The Anacreontic Club of eighteenth-century London, which celebrated food and drink. The melody is attributed to the British musicologist and composer John Stafford Smith.  But it is probably not the text of   "To Anacreon in Heaven"*  that buzzed in Key's head as he wrote his verses, but a different set of words, "Adams and Liberty,"  a patriotic text by Robert Treat Paine also set to Smith's tune:  YE sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought,          For those rights, which unstained from your Sires had descended,      May you long taste the blessings your valour has brought,          And your sons reap the soil which their fathers defended.                          'Mid the reign of mild Peace,                          May your nation increase,      With the glory of Rome, and the wisdom of Greece;          And ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves,          While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves.

An article in The Baltimore Sun  by Chris Kaltenbach recounts how documents from 1917 on the musical arrangement of "The Star-Spangled Banner" came to be donated to Fort McHenry.   The tune to which Francis Scott Key's poem (originally titled "Defence of Fort McHenry") is that of "To Anacreon in Heaven. " Anacreon, the Greek lyric poet, was the patron of The Anacreontic Club of eighteenth-century London, which celebrated food and drink. The melody is attributed to the British musicologist and composer John Stafford Smith.  But it is probably not the text of   "To Anacreon in Heaven"*  that buzzed in Key's head as he wrote his verses, but a different set of words, "Adams and Liberty,"  a patriotic text by Robert Treat Paine also set to Smith's tune:  YE sons of Columbia, who bravely have fought,          For those rights, which unstained from your Sires had descended,      May you long taste the blessings your valour has brought,          And your sons reap the soil which their fathers defended.                          'Mid the reign of mild Peace,                          May your nation increase,      With the glory of Rome, and the wisdom of Greece;          And ne'er shall the sons of Columbia be slaves,          While the earth bears a plant, or the sea rolls its waves.

Their starting center was out with the flu, a number of others were not feeling well and one of their starting forwards played with a possible broken thumb.2 Seven different players scored for the Rebels.

Three students from Francis Scott Key High School have been named Commended Students in the 1997 National Merit Scholarship Program.Sarah Amass, Lauren Rupp, and Joy Thomas are among the 35,000 students throughout the nation being honored for their exceptional academic promise. Commended Students placed among the top 5 percent of students entering the Merit Program.These seniors also will be commended by their school.FireNew Windsor: Firefighters responded at 7: 16 p.m. Saturday to an auto fire on High Street.

The holidays have brought few on-court gifts for Francis Scott Key's girls varsity basketball team. Because of Monday's bad weather, the struggling Eagles have practiced just once in the last week, and in yesterday's first-round game of the second annual Central Maryland Basketball Tournament at Atholton, coach Brian Hollingsworth's 1-4 team faced defending champion Damascus of Montgomery County.Unfortunately for Hollingsworth and his Eagles, there was no exchange counter to switch tournament pairings.

Francis Scott Key track and field coach Tom Hill took a businesslike view of the first day of the Class 1A state track and field championships."We have done what's required of us. We've done our job," Hill said. "Now, we have to do it [today]."The Eagles' boys and girls teams won two events and placed in several others, as they got off to good starts in the opening day of competition at Western Maryland College.The Francis Scott Key boys stand second with 30 points, two behind Boonsboro.The girls are third with 19. Smithsburg is first (34)

With only a Jan. 30 meeting against unheralded Middletown remaining, Francis Scott Key all but clinched the Monocacy Valley League crown with Saturday's 48-18 rout of Smithsburg.The Eagles, ranked No. 2 in the area and No. 5 by the Maryland State Wrestling Association, improved to 10-0 overall and 7-0 in the league.The Bill Hyson-coached Eagles are 2-0 in the Carroll County League, with their toughest matches remaining tomorrow against South Carroll, ranked No. 9 in the area, and North Carroll (Feb.

HIGH SCHOOL plays are a lot of fun, and "Appointment With Death," an Agatha Christie production on tap this weekend at Francis Scott Key High School in Uniontown, is no exception.In the play, Sara Sykes plays the physically frail but controlling Mrs. Boynton, a stepmother of two grown sons and a daughter. She gets on her children's nerves, governing their every thought. The pressure of her presence makes them consider the unthinkable: murder.They fantasize that once she is dead, they will be free to pursue their goals and dreams.

Two years ago, the Student Government Association at Francis Scott Key High School came up with a fundraising idea that has bumped and spiked its way into an annual tradition. The third annual charity volleyball tournament, "Spike Out Sarcoma" will be held on Saturday, Feb. 18, at the school. The tournament features two divisions, A and B, to allow players with all different skill levels - from beginner to pro - to participate and take on the challenge of raising awareness of sarcoma.

Tech Center student places third in national welding competition Collins Lethbridge, a student at Francis Scott Key High School who is also a welding technologies student at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center, recently competed in the national Arc Welding Awards. He earned the Regional Bronze Award for the High School Division Region 1, which includes 17 states and the District of Columbia. Lethbridge chose a fence and gate project which required him to plan, design, and fabricate three major parts of the project - a blueprint to show the project to include dimensions and welding symbols, pictures of the finished project, and a report that outlined the steps and machinery used to build the project.

Doug Groft admitted as he walked down the halls of Scott Key High School that he probably couldn't find his way around now, with all of the additions over the years. He could, however, remember clearly the four years he served in the U.S. Navy during Vietnam, and it was those memories he shared with a science class on Wednesday, Nov. 9. While he didn't travel to Vietnam - by "luck of the draw," he said - he did travel to the Arctic Ocean, the Mediterranean and the Middle East on an aircraft carrier.

Graduation 2011: List of graduates for the Francis Scott Key High School Class of 2011. The graduation ceremony for Francis Scott Key High School was held June 2 at McDaniel College. The following are members of the school's Class of 2011: The graduation ceremony for Francis Scott Key High School was held June 2 at McDaniel College. The following are members of the school's Class of 2011: Zachary Tyler Abiba Michael Scott Adams Jr. Anna May Albaugh Cristin Lenore Anthony Michael Dylan Arbaugh Melissa Lynn Armiger Justin Ryan Austin Adonis Clem Badiang Brittany Ann Bagwell Emmett Knox Baker Jonathan Michael Baldwin Amanda Kathleen Barton Jeremiah Patrick Daniel Basler Carissa Yvonne Baugher Helen Ruth Bauman Michael Lee Beacham III Travis Steven Beary Kristen Danielle Beckhardt Elisabeth Marie Becraft Gregory Patrick Blaney Alyssa Catherine Blevins Zachary Ethan Boone Anthony Michael Bosley Daniel Aaron Bowen Amy Jo Bowers Sean Michael Bowers Joshua Cody Bridges Edward Arthur Burdick III Kenneth Lawrence Burriss Benjamin Randolph Callier Kevin Christopher Carr Cody Edward Cashman Heather Nicole Cheeks Victor Nicholas Clark Rebecca Diane Claycomb Zachery Wagner Condon Matthew Albert Cool Katie Lynn Cooney Holley Nicole Cox Dylan Keith Craig Spencer Whittaker...

After all the publicity surrounding Sarah Palin's unique version of Paul Revere's midnight ride, plenty of people in Baltimore are probably wondering about Ms. Palin's take on the War of 1812, given her recent visit to Fort McHenry. In light of her stirring version of those historic events in New England, I was confident that Ms. Palin must have taken the opportunity to weigh in on the events surrounding the Battle of Baltimore — and indeed, I understand that she afforded her eager listeners a dissertation very much like this: "Well ya know, the British were tryin' to get the colonies back 'cause they wanted to start taxin' 'em again.

Soon-to-be princess Kate Middleton has a few prominent Marylanders — and American celebrities — in her family tree. Middleton, a commoner who marries Prince William on Friday, is a distant cousin of "The Star-Spangled Banner" author Francis Scott Key, talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres and Colonial Maryland governor Sir Thomas Bladen, the namesake of Bladensburg, according to "The Ancestry of Catherine Middleton. " Released this month by the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the book traces Middleton's roots back hundreds of years, and ties the 29-year-old to a host of historical figures, from George Washington to World War II Gen. George S. Patton.

BEFORE THEY RUN off for the summer and begin their lives beyond high school, the following graduating seniors from Francis Scott Key High School deserve a standing ovation for a job well done.At recent senior awards and graduation ceremonies, these students received recognition for outstanding work from the community, area businesses and Key's academic departments. The students and their awards were:Jill Baker, U.S. Marine Corps Semper Fi; Jason Barbour, Farmer's & Mechanics Bank Business Career Award; Eric Billings, Grove Worldwide Corp.

WESTMINSTER -- It was to no one's surprise that Westminster swept the boys and girls titles in the Carroll County Track and Field Championships Monday afternoon at Western Maryland College.The boys won their 11th straight county title, outdistancing second-place Francis Scott Key, 165 1/2 -79, while the Stephanie Morningstar-led girls took their third straight title, 157-68, over runner-up Key.There were some definite surprises, however, starting with Francis Scott Key's strong showing in both girls and boys competition.

After nearly 200 years, Francis Scott Key has come back to Fort McHenry. A life-sized bronze statue of the Maryland lawyer who wrote "The Star Spangled Banner" stands in the $15 million Visitor and Education Center that opens Thursday. Other elements include a film told from Key's perspective and touch-screen panels providing details about his life and views. It's a fitting tribute to man whose words help draw about 650,000 visitors a year to the site of the 1814 Battle of Baltimore at the tip of Locust Point, said Vincent Vaise, chief of interpretation for Fort McHenry.

I read with great interest the article "Rare copy of the 'Star Spangled Banner' goes on the auction block" (Nov. 30), but I feel that the publisher of the item to be auctioned, Thomas Carr, continues to not get the recognition he deserves. Carr not only ran a music store but was also the organist at Old St. Paul's Episcopal Church. While Chris Coover, a senior book and manuscript specialist at Christie's auction house says that "[Carr] may not have known that Francis Scott Key was the author," Key most certainly did know him since Key was a strong Episcopalian and a good friend of the Old St. Paul's rector at that time, Bishop Kemp.