Union Mills Homestead

The fifth annual Mason-Dixon Willys Jeep Gathering will be held Sunday, Oct. 23 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Union Mills Homestead, 3311 Littlestown Pike, in Westminster. Residents are invited to attend the event and classic Jeeps, including models that served in World War II, as well as early civilian models that formed the foundation for today's sport utility vehicles. Admission is free, and food and tours of the Homestead will be available. Call 410-848-2288.

The fifth annual Mason-Dixon Willys Jeep Gathering will be held Sunday, Oct. 23 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Union Mills Homestead, 3311 Littlestown Pike, in Westminster. Residents are invited to attend the event and classic Jeeps, including models that served in World War II, as well as early civilian models that formed the foundation for today's sport utility vehicles. Admission is free, and food and tours of the Homestead will be available. Call 410-848-2288.

At Union Mills Homestead, progress means preserving, not improving."We don't change anything," said Esther Shriver, executive director of the Union Mills Homestead Foundation.The Union Mills Homestead has been in existence since 1797. The land originally belonged to the Shriver family, which kept it and the main house, grist mill, tannery and canning buildings for six generations."It was sort of the main center of the community and it gave the community jobs," said Mrs. Shriver, whose husband is a sixth-generation Shriver.

The website for the Maryland Microbrewery Festival is reporting on Friday, Sept. 23, that the festival — scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24, at Union Mills Homestead, Westminster — has been canceled. According to the site — the event was canceled due to the forecast for "severe weather conditions and possible flash flooding. " "We regret this decision and will refund through Paypal advanced ticket sales," according to the posting on the website — http://www.marylandmicrobreweryfestival.com.

Set amid the prosperous farms of the rolling hills in the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont region is the Union Mills Homestead complex.Listed inthe National Register of Historic Places, the Homestead is one of 21historic houses featured in the book "Great Houses of Maryland" by Susan Stiles Dowell.The main house was begun in 1797 by Andrew and David Shriver as asimple four-room, dog-trot log house and grew to be a 23-room structure.In 1797, they also built a large four-story brick grist mill,powered with water diverted from the Big Pipe Creek.

The county's fields are full of succulent corn ripe for the picking. Instead of steaming, Union Mills Homestead will be roasting those ears Saturday. To achieve that old-fashioned flavor, chefs will cook the corn, still in the husk, on iron stoves, until it's done to the peak of perfection. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., guests are invited to sample all they can eat of the roasted ears. Fried chicken and watermelon are also on the menu.The Homestead and Silver Run/Union Mills Lions Club are sponsoring the annual festival.

Back in the 1800s, at the end of the harvest season, manyfarmers celebrated the success of another year of crops and food in the larder for the winter.On the Shriver farm in Union Mills, they celebrated with a watermelon frolic and roasted corn."They used to dig a hole in the ground and cooked the corn in the husks," said Esther Shriver, executive director of the Union Mills Homestead, the 1797 farmhouse and estate of the Shriver family."We didn't want to dig a hole in the ground, so we had cast iron stoves made just for the corn roasts," she continued.

For those wondering what to get mom for Mother's Day, the Union Mills Homestead flower, plant and antiques show tomorrow and Sunday should provide some ideas for a gift.This year marks the 26th flower and plant show, which traditionally has opened the season at Union Mills Homestead.The antiques show will celebrate its fifth year at the event.Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. tomorrow and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. The homestead, which dates to 1797, is at 3311 Littlestown Pike, seven miles north of Westminster.

Esther L. Shriver, who loved home economics and history, died Thursday of heart failure at Carroll Hospital Center. The Union Mills resident was 77. She was born Esther Schracengost in Rural Valley, Pa. She received a bachelor's degree in home economics from Pennsylvania State University in 1950 and was a member of the Delta Zeta Sorority. While in college, she met her future husband, James M. Shriver Jr. They married March 2, 1951, at St. Mary's Chapel in Westminster. Mrs. Shriver first taught home economics to high school students in Pennsylvania, but she soon moved to Maryland and began teaching at Westminster High School, where she worked for about three years.

The whir of electric saws drowning the bird song around the Union Mills Homestead was one of the construction crew's few concessions to the 20th century.A group of Amish carpenters is completing the rebuilding of a nearly 200-year-old tannery in Carroll County that an arson fire took about 15 minutes to destroy last year.Brad Nace's Pennsylvania firm, Edward H. Nace Inc., specializes in restoration and new construction according to early American styles and techniques. "It's something that we're sort of familiar with," he said.

If only the duke and duchess of York, William and Kate Middleton, had known before their trip to California that Kate's distant cousin, Francis Scott Key, had been a guest at Union Mills Homestead. Had they known, perhaps the 23-room house, which dates back to 1797, would have then been included on their trip. If the newlyweds ever do come for a tour, there's a good chance "Pops" will be their guide. Jack "Pops" Norris, 75, specializes in tours for children. The animated guide goes to great lengths to make history come alive and interesting, and one of his many props is a picture of the royal couple.

James McSherry Shriver Jr., a member of an old Carroll County family and a former canning company executive who lectured widely on agricultural history, died Monday after being injured in an automobile accident. He was 82. Mr. Shriver was driving south on Greenspring Avenue near Lindemann Lane in a 2000 Oldsmobile Alero when he swerved, hitting a mailbox and then striking another vehicle. He was taken to Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The accident remains under investigation, a Baltimore County police spokeswoman said.

Esther L. Shriver, who loved home economics and history, died Thursday of heart failure at Carroll Hospital Center. The Union Mills resident was 77. She was born Esther Schracengost in Rural Valley, Pa. She received a bachelor's degree in home economics from Pennsylvania State University in 1950 and was a member of the Delta Zeta Sorority. While in college, she met her future husband, James M. Shriver Jr. They married March 2, 1951, at St. Mary's Chapel in Westminster. Mrs. Shriver first taught home economics to high school students in Pennsylvania, but she soon moved to Maryland and began teaching at Westminster High School, where she worked for about three years.

Flower and plant market at Union Mills Homestead The Union Mills Homestead will hold its 35th annual flower and plant market from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. May 1 on the grounds at 3311 Littlestown Pike. Hanging baskets, perennials potted or in market packs, annuals, vegetables, shrubs and bushes ready for spring planting will be featured. The farmhouse and grist mill will be open for tours from noon to 4 p.m. both days for a small fee. The blacksmith shop will be open with demonstrations.

From the Farm Museum to Union Mills Homestead, the Danele Shipley Arena to the Carroll Arts Center, the historic village of Uniontown to the Brethren Service Center in New Windsor, Carroll County teems with activities for all ages and interests. Barbara Beverungen, manager of the Carroll County Office of Tourism, is the person responsible for promoting the county's tourist sites and activities, which the office publishes in an annual Calendar of Events. Hundreds of thousands of people are drawn year-round to events such as the Farm Museum's Fall Harvest Days and Maryland Wine Festival; Union Mills' Old-Fashioned Corn Roast; concerts, art exhibits and the Christmas Wreath Festival at the Arts Center; Common Ground on the Hill's two-day music and arts festival; fire department summer carnivals; a dozen strawberry festivals; municipal spring and fall fairs; and parks and recreational activities.

APRIL April 24-30, Western Maryland Railway Museum: 41 N. Main St., Union Bridge. 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays and 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays. Railroad memorabilia, archives and pictures. Other days by appointment. Museum, 410-775-0150. April 24-30, Year-Round 10-kilometer Volksmarch: Westminster Inn, 5 S. Center St., Westminster. 7 a.m. to three hours before dusk. John Baumgardner, 410-833-8916. April 24-30, Year-Round 10-kilometer Volksmarch: The Inn at Norwood, 7514 Norwood Ave., Sykesville.

Union Mills Homestead is searching for a new director. For the first time in the property's 202 years, it looks as though no Shriver will be in charge.Esther L. Shriver, the museum's executive director for more than 20 years, has announced plans to retire as soon as a replacement is hired."I just decided it was time, but I will stay until they find somebody," said Shriver, who celebrated her 71st birthday yesterday.She could be director indefinitely. Candidates are not lining up for the job, which Shriver said is "time-consuming and not high-paying."

An 18th-century Carroll County landmark will be the main attraction when more than 200 preservationists and others fascinated with old mills gather in Westminster this year. When the Society for the Preservation of Old Mills holds its annual conference in Maryland for the first time this September, members from across the United States and Canada will focus upon one of Maryland's gems: the Union Mills Homestead. Half a dozen volunteers, who worked more than a year to bring the conference to Carroll County, are busy planning events at Union Mills and visits to other mills in the area -- part of a region once known as America's breadbasket.