Havre De Grace

Editor: On behalf of the officers and members of the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, I would like to thank everyone who contributed to our fifth annual Toys for Tots campaign this season. Our goal this was to fill, from front to back, all three of our Medic Units with new, unwrapped toys. I am happy to say that we were able to fulfill that goal for the U.S. Marine Corps' Reserves Toys for Tots Foundation so that hundreds of boys and girls could wake up on Christmas morning and have a brand new toy under their Christmas tree.

On a near perfect New Year's Eve night, Havre de Grace welcomed 2013 with its 14th annual Duck Drop and fireworks. With temperatures in the low 30s and nary a breeze to disturb the stillness of the evening, hundreds descended on the area around the Havre de Grace Middle School and countless others watched from vantage points elsewhere in the city in anticipation of the Duck Drop. Sponsored by the Susquehanna Hose Co., whose members in recent years have added the city's holiday defining reverie to its boundless community service, the duck was hoisted atop one of the company's trucks with its apparatus fully extended high above the school grounds.

Among the select few physicians honored with the prestigious Patients' Choice Award this year is Dr. David Jaffe, of Havre de Grace. Of the nation's 870,000 active physicians and dentists, just five percent consistently received top scores from their patients on sites like Vitals (http://www.vitals.com), qualifying them for this honor in 2012. Millions of patients go online each year to rate their doctors on various components of care, including accuracy of their diagnosis, the amount of time they spent with the doctor, and the doctor's bedside manner and follow-up care.

About 50 Harford County fire fighters battled an early morning, two-alarm blaze Thursday in Havre de Grace, according to Harford County fire officials. At appproximately 4:37 a.m., fire crews were called to the 4000 block of U Way for a reported fire with rescue, fire officials said. The first arriving units encountered fire coming through the roof. A second alarm was requested and approximately 50 fire fighters from Level, Aberdeen Susquehanna Hose and Cecil County were called to put out the fire.

A person died in a house fire early Thursday morning in the Webster Village area of eastern Harford County near Havre de Grace, the spokesman for the State Fire Marshal's Office said. Investigators were still at the home in the 4000 block of U Way and the Office of the State Medical Examiner was en route to the scene, said Bruce Bouch, director of public education and media affairs for the Fire Marshal's Office. Bouch said the first call for the fire in the two-story, Cape Cod style dwelling was received at 4:37 a.m. and the fire went to two alarms for additional manpower.

Havre de Grace rang in the Christmas season Friday night during its First Fridays and annual Christmas parade and tree-lighting downtown. It kicked off a weekend of holiday activities in Havre de Grace. Santa arrived at the end of the parade and helped light the city's Christmas tree. Candlelight tour From 4 to 8 p.m. Sunday, the public can tour Havre de Grace homes, churches and businesses decorated for the holidays on the popular Candlelight Tour. The tour starts at the Susquehanna Museum at the Lock House at 817 Conesteo St. Tickets are $15 per person and before Sunday can be purchased at the Lock House Museum, from Lock House board members, the Havre de Grace Visitors Center, the Decoy Museum, Java by the Bay in Havre de Grace, the Leisure Travel Office at Aberdeen Proving Ground, the Johnson Family Pharmacy in Aberdeen and Preston's Stationery in Bel Air. And don't forget, on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 8 p.m. the Lock House Ladies will hold their annual Christmas Boutique at the museum.

Ron Browning enjoys showing off his historic Havre de Grace home to visitors, and when he has the room, they are invited to stay in his 1868 mansion-turned-bed-and-breakfast. Once the home of Harrison Hopkins of the Johns Hopkins family, Browning well remembers the day in June 1994 when it was sold at auction. "All of its contents [from the prior owner] were sitting on the front lawn," he recalls. "The house was in bad shape. The shutters were off the windows, the chimneys leaked, and wisteria, ivy and grapevines were twisted around them.

The Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps, Inc., along with the Marine Corps Reserve and the Toys for Tots Foundation, have designated the Havre de Grace Ambulance Corps station as a Toys for Tots drop-off location again this year. "We are looking for new, unwrapped toys or clothing items that will be distributed to needy children in our community during this holiday season," Ambulance Corps spokesman Mark Hemler said. Last year the Ambulance Corps was again, the 3rd largest Toys for Tots drop off site in the State.

The City of Havre de Grace has been announced as a 2012 Maryland Community Legacy Program grant recipient. Havre de Grace was awarded the full requested amount of Community Legacy grant funding for two programs benefiting its downtown revitalization effort, Meghan Simmons, Havre de Grace's economic development manager, said. The Façade Improvement Program will receive $25,000 and the Interior Fit-Out Program for Main Street building owners and tenants will receive $35,000, according to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers the program.

An accident between a passenger vehicle and a 26,000-pound truck shut down the northbound lanes of Interstate 95 in Havre de Grace for two hours on Friday, police said. The four-door sedan lost control and struck a truck shortly before 5:30 p.m. as both traveled north on the interstate, said Maryland State Police Sgt. Edward Loures. The accident caused the truck's fuel tanks to rupture. No injuries were reported. The interstate reopened at 7:30 p.m. Loures said the accident occurred near mile marker 90. Traffic was detoured to state Route 155 at Exit 89. ywenger@baltsun.com twitter.com/yvonnewenger