Francis Scott Key

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.

As a high school head wrestling coach for 34 years and a high school and college wrestler before that, it isn't hard to pin down Bill Hyson when it comes to talking about the sport. "Wrestling is an unique ...sport," said Hyson, a coach and teacher at Francis Scott Key High School. "In wrestling, you're putting it all out there on the mat. " The sport that places strict demands on an athlete on and off the mat, especially in terms of diet and conditioning, has been part of Hyson's life since he arrived at the school in Union Bridge in the early 1970s.

Members of the Francis Scott Key High School field hockey team embraced the mission of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and hosted events and fundraisers to increase awareness and raise money for cancer research. According to field hockey coach Danielle Unflat, the team collected donations at school-related sporting events - both home and away - collected change during lunches and accepted other donations online and in-person. Part of the month included a "challenge" from the school's girls soccer team - which was also raising money through a special "Kick Cancer" event.

Jimmy Carter was the newly-inaugurated President and Reggie Jackson had yet to take a swing with the New York Yankees when the Francis Scott Key boys' basketball team last made an appearance in the state semifinals. The Eagles have seen plenty of lean years since 1977. The program's last winning season came in 2000-01, when the Eagles finished at 15-10. Francis Scott Key will break that 12-year drought this year, but the goals reach much further. After opening with losses to Oakdale and Westminster, Coach Ryan Kimble's club defeated traditional county powers Winters Mill South Carroll, and Century in a six-day span to start the New Year.

As a high school head wrestling coach for 34 years and a high school and college wrestler before that, it isn't hard to pin down Bill Hyson when it comes to talking about the sport. "Wrestling is an unique ...sport," said Hyson, a coach and teacher at Francis Scott Key High School. "In wrestling, you're putting it all out there on the mat. " The sport that places strict demands on an athlete on and off the mat, especially in terms of diet and conditioning, has been part of Hyson's life since he arrived at the school in Union Bridge in the early 1970s.

Jimmy Carter was the newly-inaugurated President and Reggie Jackson had yet to take a swing with the New York Yankees when the Francis Scott Key boys' basketball team last made an appearance in the state semifinals. The Eagles have seen plenty of lean years since 1977. The program's last winning season came in 2000-01, when the Eagles finished at 15-10. Francis Scott Key will break that 12-year drought this year, but the goals reach much further. After opening with losses to Oakdale and Westminster, Coach Ryan Kimble's club defeated traditional county powers Winters Mill South Carroll, and Century in a six-day span to start the New Year.

For Katelyn Goodhart and Winters Mill, Thursday was a banner night. Literally. "We were practicing in [our] gym, and we looked at the banners," Goodhart said. "We noticed that none of them said anything about volleyball. " Later this year, there will be one that does. The No. 6 Falcons (10-0) used some timely serving and a bend-but-not-break defense to defeat host and 10th-ranked Francis Scott Key (11-1), 25-22, 25-16, 25-22. The win gives Winters Mill its first ever Carroll County volleyball title, putting the team on a banner in the school's gym. "Katelyn really gave us a lift with her serving.

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)

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.

Members of the Francis Scott Key High School field hockey team embraced the mission of October as Breast Cancer Awareness Month and hosted events and fundraisers to increase awareness and raise money for cancer research. According to field hockey coach Danielle Unflat, the team collected donations at school-related sporting events - both home and away - collected change during lunches and accepted other donations online and in-person. Part of the month included a "challenge" from the school's girls soccer team - which was also raising money through a special "Kick Cancer" event.

A pair of Francis Scott Key High School students - Cara Hunter and Jillian Luetje - participated last month in the annual Dance Gala at the Maryland Association of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance convention in Hunt Valley The event draws together students, teachers and administrators from Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll and Howard counties to celebrate the dance art form. On Oct. 19 at the convention, Hunter and Luetje performed a modern contemporary piece that they had choreographed.

For Katelyn Goodhart and Winters Mill, Thursday was a banner night. Literally. "We were practicing in [our] gym, and we looked at the banners," Goodhart said. "We noticed that none of them said anything about volleyball. " Later this year, there will be one that does. The No. 6 Falcons (10-0) used some timely serving and a bend-but-not-break defense to defeat host and 10th-ranked Francis Scott Key (11-1), 25-22, 25-16, 25-22. The win gives Winters Mill its first ever Carroll County volleyball title, putting the team on a banner in the school's gym. "Katelyn really gave us a lift with her serving.

Dave Smith, head coach of the Francis Scott Key High School varsity football team, was named this week as the Baltimore Ravens High School Coach of the Week. The Ravens noted that with a 33-21 win over North Carroll last Friday, Oct. 12, Francis Scott Key ended a 23-game losing streak that began in 2010. The eagles had a strong rushing attack of Clayton Vleck, Matt Clingan and Rye Thomas, posting 359 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the win. Clingan's 13-yard touchdown run on Francis Scott Key's opening possession of the game gave the Eagles their first lead of the season en route to their victory.

Home Turf: 3825 Bark Hill Road, Uniontown Head Coach: David Smith (first season) 2011 Record: 0-10 overall; 0-7 county The road back to respectability continues for Francis Scott Key. Following consecutive playoff appearances from 2004-06 and a near-miss in 2007, the Eagle program has fallen to the bottom of the county. In the past four years, Key has posted a 2-38 record, including a pair of winless seasons in 2009 and 2011. Last year's team was shut out five times, and scored just 53 points in 10 games.

UNION BRIDGE - O'Reilly Miani, a member of the Class of 2013 at Francis Scott Key High School, will become the new student representative on the Carroll County Board of Education this week. She will be installed as the student representative on June 13. "I ran for student representative on the board because I saw it as the most effective way to help my classmates and gain valuable life experiences," she said in a school system release. She has been involved in student government at FSK, and has served as the historian for the Student Government Association, treasurer of the Leo Club, and SGA representative to the National Honor Society.

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.

Francis Scott Key High School conducted its 2012 commencement ceremony on Friday, June 8, at McDaniel College in Westminster. The following are members of the Class of 2012: Brody Steven Aberts Alyssa Marie Albright Christopher Nicholas Alder Tyler Jacob Andersen Samantha Christine Anthony Kayla Lynn Arnold Sarah Elizabeth Atkinson Adam Clem Badiang Carli Ann Bafford Joshua Edward Ballard ...

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.