Hampstead Business

The Hampstead Business Association will meet at 7 p.m. today at Dean's Restaurant, 832 S. Main St.The association provides a voice for the merchants and professionals of the Hampstead area. New members are welcome. Members will be contacted soon to survey their needs and opinions on several issues.Agenda matters for the HBA include: increasing membership and active participation, sponsoring a community service program or event, assembling a Hampstead Bypass committee and increasing public awareness of the organization.

EVERY JOB application should read, `How do you volunteer in your community?' because everyone has something [he or she] can share," says Sharon Callahan. Since arriving in Hampstead three years ago, Callahan has generated volunteer spirit in her workplace and tapped into unique ideas to create positive change in Hampstead. She starts with something as small as a packet of seeds, a coupon and a funny wig. The tiny idea creates a ripple effect. This year marks the second - under the auspices of the Hampstead Business Association - that she has given seeds to residents and businesses along Main Street.

To encourage North Carroll residents to shop close to home, the Hampstead Business Association is sponsoring its 12th annual Business Expo.Nearly 65 businesses and nonprofit organizations will be touting their wares from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at North Carroll High School on Hampstead-Mexico Road. Admission is free."This is an opportunity for people to see what Hampstead has to offer the community," said Dot Warehime, who is organizing the business fair for the second consecutive year.

Hampstead will offer bulk trash pickup to town residents this month. The next pickup is scheduled for July 20. Residents are asked to place items for pickup curbside the evening before. Items that cannot be taken include tires, paint and hazardous materials. Information: 410-239-7408. `Live and In Person' on the agenda at library North Carroll branch library, 2255 Hanover Pike, Greenmount, will offer: "Live and In Person -- Spot" for all ages, for a half-hour at 10 a.m., 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. today.

DISCOVER THE BEST of Hampstead on Saturday, when businesses and community organizations exhibit their wares at the annual Hampstead Business Expo. The expo will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at North Carroll High School, 1400 Panther Drive, off Hampstead-Mexico Road. The expo is sponsored by Hampstead Business Association. All expo booths have been sold. One can take a minitour of Hampstead with a visit to 75 businesses and nonprofit groups within an hour or two. Families will find useful contacts at the booths of the Boy Scouts, Hampstead Ravens youth football club, and North Carroll Recreation Council, which sponsors sports, horsemanship, dance and theater groups.

Despite objections from local businesses and concerns about traffic congestion, a divided Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission approved yesterday construction plans for a Wal-Mart and expanded shopping plaza on Route 30 between Hampstead and Manchester.The Cordish Co. of Baltimore plans to build a 101,194-square-foot Wal-Mart and 3,100-square-foot Burger King at North Carroll Plaza, a 33-acre shopping center at Route 30 and Brodbeck Road.Grading work, which had already been approved, has begun at the site, and the store is expected to open by June 2000.

Hampstead Business Expo promoting small businesses and services available in the Hampstead area will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 28 at North Carroll High School.Hampstead Business Association, with about 220 members, sponsors the annual expo. New members are welcome. Reservations for exhibition space should be made before Saturday.Career opportunities will be presented by Carroll Community College, Western Maryland College, Maryland Army National Guard, Maryland Air National Guard, Hampstead, DARE and Carroll County Office of Tourism.

The Hampstead Business Association will meet at 7 p.m. tomorrow at Dean's Restaurant, 832 S. Main St.The association will present $700 to JoAnne Hunter, a representative of Christmas in April, and $50 to the computer laboratory at North Carroll High School.Both sums come from proceeds of the 13th Annual Hampstead Business Expo in February. The expo showcased 53 businesses and eight nonprofit groups.The association has increased its membership the past year by 62 percent, to 142 businesses.

Shiloh Middle School sixth-grader Shannon Watt was honored yesterday for her efforts to provide bulletproof vests for police dogs. Maryland State Police Field Operations Bureau Chief Lt. Col. William Arrington, interim school Superintendent Charles I. Ecker and other local officials honored Shannon for her dedication and service to the law enforcement community. Shannon spent 55 hours on the school's community service project to raise money for the vests. She raised enough money to buy four vests at $485 each.

The Hampstead Business Association plans to resurrect its tradition of holding an annual business exposition Feb. 26 at North Carroll High School.It will be the association's 11th expo. Until last year, the expo had been an annual event.The rebirth of the business expo also may signal a rebirth of the Hampstead Business Association, which claims "well over 100" members, according to Ed Cross, who is association president and president of C&D Garage Doors.The association's newest directory lists more than 270 Hampstead businesses.

TREASURE HUNTERS, take note of the annual Vintage and Collectors Sale next week at the new Community Clothing Store of North East Social Action Program Inc. in Hampstead. A love for lace or an affection for fedoras could be the draw to the vintage sale. Items date to the 1950s and earlier. Featured items are clothing and accessories. This year's sale offers collectible porcelain figurines, dolls and glassware. Books and other items will be included. The two-day sale runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 28 and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. March 1 at NESAP's new store at 1046 S. Carroll St. The store is accessible from Houcksville Road or Gill Avenue.

Shiloh Middle School sixth-grader Shannon Watt was honored yesterday for her efforts to provide bulletproof vests for police dogs. Maryland State Police Field Operations Bureau Chief Lt. Col. William Arrington, interim school Superintendent Charles I. Ecker and other local officials honored Shannon for her dedication and service to the law enforcement community. Shannon spent 55 hours on the school's community service project to raise money for the vests. She raised enough money to buy four vests at $485 each.

THE TWILIGHT ZONE enigmatically appeared on a grassy lot in Roberts Field just before the hour of trick-or-treat, thanks to 13 teen-agers who've turned their love of Halloween pranks into a five-room house of horror. Instead of admission, they sought donations to tour the house of freaky delight, collecting money for Hampstead Volunteer Fire Company. With an uncanny knack for turning discarded items into chilling special effects, the group had plotted since August about how to build a guillotine and set up creepy acts inside a tarp-covered tunnel of fog-filled rooms.

DISCOVER THE BEST of Hampstead on Saturday, when businesses and community organizations exhibit their wares at the annual Hampstead Business Expo. The expo will take place from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at North Carroll High School, 1400 Panther Drive, off Hampstead-Mexico Road. The expo is sponsored by Hampstead Business Association. All expo booths have been sold. One can take a minitour of Hampstead with a visit to 75 businesses and nonprofit groups within an hour or two. Families will find useful contacts at the booths of the Boy Scouts, Hampstead Ravens youth football club, and North Carroll Recreation Council, which sponsors sports, horsemanship, dance and theater groups.

EXPLORE WHAT Hampstead has to offer during the annual Hampstead Business Expo, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Feb. 26 at North Carroll High School, off Hampstead-Mexico Road. The expo is an annual showcase of businesses and services in the Hampstead area. Sponsored by the Hampstead Business Association, it showcases the small businesses integral to the community. This year, more than 80 Hampstead-area businesses will have exhibits at the expo. It's a chance for neighborly conversation with the people behind the storefronts of Main Street and beyond.

Despite objections from local businesses and concerns about traffic congestion, a divided Carroll County Planning and Zoning Commission approved yesterday construction plans for a Wal-Mart and expanded shopping plaza on Route 30 between Hampstead and Manchester.The Cordish Co. of Baltimore plans to build a 101,194-square-foot Wal-Mart and 3,100-square-foot Burger King at North Carroll Plaza, a 33-acre shopping center at Route 30 and Brodbeck Road.Grading work, which had already been approved, has begun at the site, and the store is expected to open by June 2000.

Hampstead's Town Council awarded a three-year trash contract to Hughes Trash Removal of Hampstead last night.Although Hughes was not the lowest bidder, council members agreed to award the local company the contract because, they said, they were familiar with the company and had been pleased with its service.For the past three years, Hampstead's trash has collected by Waste Management Inc. as part of a unified contract with half a dozen Carroll municipalities. Before that, Hughes collected the town's trash.

Prospects for appointing a new member to the Hampstead Town Council and hiring a new town manager by July 13 -- the date of the next council meeting -- "are possible but not likely," says Mayor Christopher M. Nevin.The council seat became vacant when Councilwoman Wendy Martin resigned last month and moved to Florida.The town manager's position became vacant in December, when Neil Ridgely resigned. Ridgely tried to rescind his resignation, but Nevin and the Town Council let it stand.Nevin said town officials have received more than 70 resumes for the town manager's job, which will have a starting salary of $40,000 to $45,000.

About 50 people, many of them small-business owners, packed a meeting room at the County Office Building yesterday to oppose construction of a Wal-Mart at a Route 30 shopping plaza between Hampstead and Manchester.The Arkansas retail giant unveiled its plans for a 101,194-square-foot store and attached 3,100-square-foot fast-food restaurant during a public meeting of the county's Subdivision Advisory Committee, ending months of speculation over the use of the property. The site was rezoned in November to make way for a "big box" retail development.