72 HOURS March 23, 2023

THE LIBERAL REDNECK PLANS A VISIT TO ‘FREDNECK’

This week, Trae Crowder, aka the Liberal Redneck, will bring his humor to the city many locals jokingly refer to as “Fredneck.” Ahead of his March 25 show at the Weinberg Center, he talked with 72 Hours about his upbringing in Tennessee, how he got into comedy, and why he thinks rural areas are so red. Read our interview with the social media star in this week’s edition.

ADULTS-ONLY BOOK FAIR

Curious Iguana is gearing up to host its second Romance Book Fair for Adults at Frederick Social. The first one attracted hundreds of people, and the indie bookstore staff is expecting this one to be just as big. So keep the kiddos at home, and stop by Frederick Social from 6 to 8 p.m. March 28 to peruse romance novels, journals, tote bags and other items while enjoying drinks on tap, and maybe you’ll meet some new friends who share your love of the genre.

HEAVY HITTERS AT THIS WEEK’S JAZZ INSIDE OUT

Drummer Jeff Cosgrove has been busy hosting two jazz concert series in recent months, one in Brunswick and another in Frederick. This week, his Jazz Inside Out concert will bring cellist Akua Dixon and trumpeter Dave Douglas to the Y Arts Stage. Both performers boast an impressive background. Dixon has toured the world with her Grammy Award-winning string quartet and has performed with the likes of Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye and James Brown. Douglas’ contributions to improvised music have garnered him a Guggenheim Fellowship and two Grammy Award nominations. Catch them March 25 in Frederick at this intimate venue.

DAVID SEDARIS IS COMING TO TOWN, AND TICKETS ARE GOING FAST

Who doesn’t need a little humor added to their life these days? David Sedaris has visited Frederick in years past, always to an excited crowd, and we expect this next visit will be no different. Frankly, the man does not disappoint. He’ll bring his wit and wisdom to the Weinberg stage on March 30, and tickets are going fast — so grab yours now if you want to catch him live while he’s in town.

FIRST SATURDAY FUNNIES

In this week’s theater column, writer Erik Anderson talks about the First Saturday Funnies that are hosted by the Endangered Species (theatre) Project each month at the FAC Art Center in Frederick. If you’ve not caught one, well, get yourself over there, because, as Erik himself points out, improv shows such as this one don’t translate well to the page. They’re meant to be experienced live … in a room … with a group of people — which is precisely what makes them one of the greatest art forms for forging bonds within the local creative community.

Meet Bob & Freddie. When it comes to local businesses, businesspeople and organizations in Frederick, they know best. Here is a personal interview with a 2022 Best of the Best winner or finalist about why they love what they do, helping those they serve and working in Frederick.

Deibler Home Team,

powered by Shore United Bank

2022 WINNER FOR BEST MORTGAGE LENDER (COMPANY)

5291 Corporate Drive, Suite 202

Frederick

240-651-6955 ShoreUnitedBank.com facebook.com/TheDeiblerHomeTeam

BOB HISTORY

2021-2022 – Winner, Mortgage Lender (Company)

WHAT SETS YOUR BUSINESS APART?

We are a local company that is invested in the community and cares. We are not just a lender that will push you into a mortgage, we are a local group of people who live in the community. We treat everyone the same and like family. Our goal is to be your lender for life and a friend that you can count on.

WHAT MAKES FREDERICK A GREAT PLACE TO DO BUSINESS?

Frederick County is large in land, but small in community. It’s got some city and country feel to it and we love that it’s full of farms and such a diverse community. This is a great place to raise a family.

WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE OTHERS GOING INTO BUSINESS?

Focus on people and doing the right thing. If you do that, money and customers will come. While we do understand the bottom line is important, how you treat people and what you do is more important and if you have the best interest of people at heart, you will be successful!

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS PROFESSION?

We get to help people every day. We help them purchase their first home and often their dream home. We also help people put together a financial strategy to improve their credit and reach their goals. Helping people is what we love most about our business!

Cushwa Brewing Co. in Williamsport

In this episode of the UnCapped podcast, host Chris Sands talks with Garrett Chambers, Marcus Thomas and Scott Coleman, the three founders of Cushwa Brewing Co., who gave details on the new taproom they’ll be opening in Columbia. They also discuss nonalcoholic beers and the ever-changing craft beer market. Here is an excerpt of their talk.

UnCapped: I’m in Williamsport today with the trio of gentlemen from Cushwa Brewing. This has become an annual check-in with you guys, every year around your anniversary ... and you guys have some exciting news.

Garrett Chambers: We are actually expanding. We’re gonna be opening Cushwa Rad Pies Taproom, in Columbia, hopefully sometime this summer.

UnCapped: Where at in Columbia?

Scott Coleman: Dobbin Road.

UnCapped: I don’t know where that is. If I didn’t have GPS, I couldn’t navigate Columbia. I think every time I’ve gone there, it’s from a different direction, so I have no concept of what exit takes you where and how to get to what. So, just put it into your GPS and find them whenever they open.

Chambers: I’ve driven there five times, and I’ve GPSed every single one. I couldn’t get there on my own right now if you paid me.

UnCapped: [Opening a location there] is, I would guess, strategically very wise. Columbia is almost another state, the way Maryland works.

Coleman: Well, that’s how people treat us here: We’re west of Frederick, so why would anybody go there?

UnCapped: You have to crest that slight mountain.

Chambers: Yeah, once you cross the mountain, all bets are off.

UnCapped: And I assume that was the motivation.

Chambers: Yeah, we wanted it to be far enough away that it doesn’t cannibalize business here but close enough that we could manage it ourselves and make sure things are

going the way we want them to. ... Logistically, it’s managing, delivering kegs, having employees go from here to there if we need to. From here to the spot in Columbia is just over an hour.

UnCapped: What’s funny is this is kind of one of the worst-kept secrets in the beer-nerd community. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this posted a few times.

Chambers: I’m glad people are

pumped. It’s super cool that people are excited about it. We have to publicly announce that we’re applying for a liquor license, and I think somebody found that on the door, and that’s how all the talk started.

UnCapped: You’ll be serving beer in your taproom, but will it be a fullfledged bar?

Coleman: Yeah. The focus is always gonna be on the beer, but we’ll have a pretty nice cocktail list as well.

UnCapped: And Cushwa wouldn’t be Cushwa without having Rad Pies, so you’ll also be replicating that?

Chambers: Yeah, the idea is to take what we have here, pick it up, and put the same concept down there — the difference being it won’t have exactly the same feel. Aesthetically, it will be

different.

UnCapped: No Goodloe murals?

Chambers: That’s not off the table. We definitely want some big art pieces. Maybe change up the colors. We’ve got some concepts now that we’re working through.

Coleman: A lot more comfortable than here. There are two rooms there that have different themes. We have a room for private events. Rad Pies will have a kitchen that’s twice the size that it is here, so they intend to do some different things — sandwiches and, I believe, some New York-style pizza.

UnCapped: So, Rad Pies is gonna be much larger there, and you won’t be brewing there, correct?

Chambers: Correct. We have a lot of existing capacity [for brewing in Williamsport], but we also have a lot of room to grow.

Coleman: We are gonna have more taps down there — 44, or something like that. We wanna have options and do some things that we aren’t doing yet, like nitro. We might bring some cask beer. A lot of cool things from back in the day.

UnCapped: I don’t understand the fascination with cask beer.

Coleman: I don’t know that there is a fascination with cask beer.

UnCapped: Well, people who like it really like it.

Chambers: That’s me. I love it.

UnCapped: You like warm beer?

Chambers: Sure.

This excerpt has been edited for space and clarity. Listen to the full podcast at fnppodcasts.com/ uncapped. Got UnCapped news? Email csands@newspost.com.

Chris Sands

From left, Garrett Chambers, Marcus Thomas and Scott Coleman.

Truth and Beauty Bar and Kitchen

What do the poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” from 19th-century English poet John Keats, and a stroll along Carroll Creek have in common? They both end with “truth and beauty.” The final lines of the poem include those words. Our local version involves stopping by Truth and Beauty Bar and Kitchen, which offers American fare with a creative twist. Truth and Beauty is chef Doug Vaira’s third restaurant. He opened two other casual American restaurants along West Virginia’s eastern panhandle. Living in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, Frederick was always his hangout place on days off. His appreciation for the community was a major factor in his decision to open Truth and Beauty when a space became available. “I like the vibe. I like the people,” Vaira said. “It’s a good, close-knit community, and the businesses all seem to support one another.” The name for the restaurant came from Keats’ masterpiece. The bar and kitchen offers a lunch menu with sandwiches and entrees like shrimp and grits and chicken pot pie, as well as a dinner menu with a blackened catfish, an Asian grilled hanger steak and pan-seared salmon. The menus are complemented with an assortment of beer, wine and other alcoholic drinks. “The world just needs a little bit of truth and beauty right now,” Vaira said.

— Jack Hogan

TRUTH AND BEAUTY BAR AND KITCHEN

Address: 50 Carroll Creek Way, Suite 110, Frederick 301-682-2480 info@truthandbeautymd. com

Hours: 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to midnight Friday, 11 a.m. to midnight Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, closed Monday.

Price: Sandwiches and entrees on the lunch menu range from $11 to $15. Entrees on the dinner menu range from $16 to $28. Facebook: facebook.com/ truthandbeautymd

Owner and chef Doug Vaira poses for a portrait at Truth and Beauty in downtown Frederick on March 9.

Staff photos by Katina Zentz

Owner and chef Doug Vaira recommends: Shrimp and grits, which comes with cheddar grits, tomato, red pepper, corn, andouille sausage, an over-easy egg and shrimp.

Trae Crowder at the Weinberg Center

BY SHUAN BUTCHER Special to The News-Post

Trae Crowder went viral in 2016 for his Southern-fried comedic videos on social media and has since written a book, toured the country, appeared on HBO, ABC and MTV and in the Veronica Mars reboot as Chattanooga Charlie. He also now co-hosts the “WellRED,” “Evening Skews” and “Puttin’ On Airs” podcasts. On March 25, Crowder will bring his “Liberal Redneck” humor to the Weinberg Center.

I know the small town rural feel. Tell me what it was like growing up in Celina, Tennessee.

It’s very rural. It’s, like, equal distance from Nashville, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and Lexington, Kentucky. It’s sort of dead in the middle of those four cities and about as close to the middle of nowhere as you can get in the state of Tennessee. I always tell people there’s no traffic lights, there’s no McDonald’s, there’s only one high school in the whole county and each graduating class is around 50 kids, give or take five or 10.

So, I mean, it’s very, very, very rural. My family was a bunch of small business owners. My grandpa owned a car lot and a garage. My dad owned the video store in town. I kind of grew up in that video store, and that’s sort of what got me into show business in the first place. My openly gay uncle and his partner owned a deli on the town square. In the mid-’90s — after the factory, which was the beating heart of the town’s economy, left and moved to Mexico — it just absolutely devastated us, and it’s remained devastated ever since. It’s never really recovered. I say the factory left forever and the pills showed up for good.

It sounds like your family owned half of town.

It sounds like that. We weren’t like landed gentry types at all. Well, it’s not like a “they owned this town” type of thing. We had a bunch of small businesses in my family, but we were still very blue collar. My grandpa did own the car lot. He was kind of a “pillar of the community” type of guy. He was real tight with the sheriff and all that, and he was highly respected. But, you know, we weren’t, like, boss hogging it or nothing like that.

When the shift happened, when the factory closed, everything started to take a turn for the worst. I sort of remember the good days of my early childhood, but it’s mostly darkness. My mom got hooked on pills and went to jail a couple times.

I’ve still got a lot of pride, but it’s not like a warm nostalgia associated

with it. Do you know what I mean?

You have mentioned that some of your liberal political views were attributed to that object poverty you experienced, and you talk about being a “liberal redneck.” How do you define liberal redneck?

First of all, it’s all a matter of perspective. In my hometown of Celina, I was the smart kid, and I got made fun of for talking like gentry. I got bullied for talking proper and for being pretentious and stuff, and I wasn’t. But in Burbank [California], where I live now, I’m the most redneck person most of these people will ever meet.

In terms of defining redneck, I always really like Jeff Foxworthy’s definition, which was the glorious absence of sophistication. At the end of the day, I’m not refined in my text or my opinions or attitudes or any of that. I’ve got a master’s degree and went to college, but I’m still kinda trashy, I guess, for lack of a better word.

Then the other part should be pretty self-explanatory. I’m not homophobic. I’m not racist. I don’t like corporations and billionaires, and they should be taxed, and poor people should be taken care of. There should be universal healthcare — and pretty much all the way down the list. Maybe a couple of things I’m a little more moderate on, but I’m just a lefty, as defined in this country.

TRAE CROWDER: JUST ME AND Y’ALL!

You mentioned college. What led you to getting a degree in psychology?

Well, my answer is gonna disappoint you. By the time I got to college, I already knew that I wanted to be not just in show business but specifically a comedian. From the time I was 12-ish on, it was comedy specifically. But I was in the middle of nowhere. No comedy clubs. No open mics or nothing. But I still knew I wanted to do it. So I decided I would get the degree that I thought was the most versatile and gave me the best shot at getting a good job while I moonlit as a comedian. I know that doesn’t sound like psychology, ’cause, as my favorite psychology professor said, “With a bachelor’s in psychology and $5, you can get a cup of coffee at Starbucks.”

So, it hasn’t come in handy as a comedian to be able to better understand human nature?

Not gonna toot my own horn about it, but I think that comedians have to be pretty observant. You have to have an interest in other people and try to dissect why people are the way they are and stuff like that.

After that, why did you go to work at the Department of Energy?

It’s in Oak Ridge, which is by Knoxville, and Knoxville was big enough for a comedy club. It was just a job that I was able to get, and so I took it. People that work there don’t leave it. It’s a pretty sweet gig. You know, it’s not overly laborious, you’re not working a lot of overtime or that type of thing. it’s not overly stressful, you don’t have to take your work home with you, you got good benefits.

I was always free on the weekend. Weekends are when you do a lot of standup, so it worked out pretty well.

When was that moment that you took the leap into comedy as a career?

There are probably three things that all happened around the same time. The phone call when I found out that I had sold the book was the specific moment. Then hearing from Warner Bros. of their interest in a television development deal. Then I went out on tour, which sold out.

And how did you get into podcasting?

Well, I’ve got too many podcasts. I’ve got three now. It seems like if you are a comedian, you have to have a podcast — just basically because that’s what you do.

The first one, “wellRED,” was started with Corey Ryan Forrester and Drew Morgan, good friends and comedians also from the South. We toured together and wrote a book together.

The genesis of second one, called “Weekly Skews,” is about politics specifically, and obviously politics is a lot of my draw on the internet. So, I thought I should probably do something that was explicitly political in nature.

Then the third one is with Corey again. It’s called “Puttin’ On Airs” and is a podcast where two good ol’ boys from the rural South analyze fancy people s—. We talk about the royals, Marie Antoinette, or crystal decanters or yachts or whatever.

Being from rural Tennessee, what was the move like to Los Angeles?

It wasn’t totally foreign or alien to us. The only things I don’t like about it are the same things everybody doesn’t like about it: the immense size, the traffic, and the cost of living is very hard to swallow. I mean, the sticker shock is unreal.

Being from the South, especially

Courtesy photo

Trae Crowder

MUSIC

Kenny Wayne Shepherd tours his 25th anniversary release of ‘Trouble Is …’

BY CRYSTAL SCHELLE Special to The News-Post

When most artists decide to release an anniversary album, it usually gets a new cover treatment before it’s shipped out and put on shelves.

But Kenny Wayne Shepherd is not like most artists.

The 45-year-old Louisiana native has played guitar professionally since he was 13. This week, he’ll perform at Hollywood Casino at Charles Town Races for a sold-out show.

When it came to celebrating the 25th anniversary release of his 1997 album “Trouble Is …” last year, Shepherd wanted to give his fans the gift of a totally new version of an old classic. The album was released in December 2022.

“My fans still buy albums, like physical copies, but for the most part, people consume music differently, so we wanted to do something different,” Shepherd said during a telephone call outside of Nashville, Tennessee. “We also wanted to really emphasize how special this record was for us and the genre.”

That meant a complete rerecording of the album, new packaging and a concert video, as well as a documentary film that tells the story of the making of the record, which is a pretty compelling story in itself, Shepherd said.

That’s because “Trouble Is …” is pretty special. It’s been the longestrunning album on the Billboard Blues charts, was the first to be released as Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band, and the first with Noah Hunt on vocals.

The album features the No.1 mainstream rock hit “Blue on Black,” which also reached No. 78 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also includes the three rock hits “Slow Ride,” “Somehow, Somewhere, Someway” and the Bob Dylan cover “Everything is Broken.” It was certified gold in 1998 by the Recording Industry Association of America, then certified platinum a year later.

With the re-release of “Trouble Is …,” Shepherd said it was a time of reflecting.

“At my core, my music still comes from the same place. I feel like I’ve just gotten a little more refined and skilled in my craft,” he said. “But the real realization is to look back on this and go, this is 25 years ago. I was 18 years old when I wrote this stuff. Just going, wow, this music still stands on its own today. It still holds up. To me, that’s mission accomplished, because I always — even at a young age — wanted to write timeless music.

I wanted to write songs that people would be listening to after I’m dead. And I think that this album just really represents that.”

“Trouble Is …” also marked the first time Shepherd and producer Jerry Harrison, who himself was a member of the Rock-N-Roll Hall of Fame band Talking Heads.

“We have a long-standing relationship, and we’re still working together in various capacities

today,” Shepherd said, noting they were in the studio recently working on the next record. “So it was the beginning of a very long and very fruitful collaboration between us. And I learned a lot. I mean, he’s such a gifted musician and producer, and I was still pretty young. I was just on my second album, so I was still absorbing so much, and he was just an incredible example for me.”

Those browsing kennywayneshepherd.net might notice that music isn’t Shepherd’s only passion. He has dedicated an entire page of his website to cars.

“My three passions in my life are my family and my cars and my guitars, as far back as when I was a little kid,” he said. “Even before I had guitars. I had little Hot Wheels cars in every pocket of my outfit.”

When people used to ask him what he’d do if a career in music didn’t pan out, he would always say he’s race cars. Because his music career worked out, it afforded him the opportunity to also pursue my passion with cars. He builds custom vehicles as a side hobby. Right now, for instance, a 1970 Barracuda convertible is in his garage.

His next project is the release of a Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band studio album. They recorded it right before the COVID shutdown, and it was shelved during the pandemic.

“It didn’t make sense to me to put out a studio record in the midst of all that,” he said.

The project is still untitled, and Shepherd said they expect to release it sometime later this year.

In the meantime, he’ll be on tour for the fans.

“We’re known for high-energy American music that’s heavily steeped in blues, but we like to rock ‘n’ roll too,” he said.

For the “Trouble Is …” anniversary tour, the band will perform the album in its entirely for the first time ever.

“Then … we play a whole second set of music, which is a collection of songs that we’ve put out over the 25 years since ‘Trouble Is …’ came out.”

Crystal Schelle is a journalist whose work has been published locally, regionally and nationally. She enjoys trivia, cats and streaming movies.

Mark Seliger

Kenny Wayne Shepherd

Jazz Inside Out will feature guest artists Akua Dixon and Dave Douglas

Drummer Jeff Cosgrove is rolling into the second concert of his limited jazz series called Jazz Inside Out on March 25 at the Y Arts Center in downtown Frederick.

The musicians for this concert will be Jeff Cosgrove on drums, Akua Dixon on cello and Dave Douglas on trumpet.

Cellist, composer, conductor and educator Akua Dixon has been at the forefront of improvising string players since 1973. She is the first cellist to win the Downbeat Critics Poll. She has toured the world performing with her Grammy Award-winning string quartet, Quartette Indigo. Dixon’s string arrangements can be heard on the fivetime Grammy Award-winning album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” and Aretha Franklin’s Grammy-nominated “A Rose is Still A Rose.” She has performed with Duke Ellington, Max Roach, Ray Charles, Lionel Hampton, Marvin Gaye and James Brown, to name a few.

Dave Douglas is a prolific trumpeter, composer and educator from New York City, known for the stylistic breadth of

CROWDER

(Continued from 6)

if you have the accent, people notice immediately. The two reactions that come to mind that I get fairly frequently are that people are often initially incredulous, which is funny to me. They’re like, “Is that’s your real accent?” Or they think it’s fake, initially, ’cause this is Hollywood and maybe I am an actor working on a role or something.

Summer Theatre Camp for kids at Way Off Broadway

Registration is open for Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre’s Summer Theatre Camp, which will begin on July 17.

For over 20 years, Frederick’s WOB has offered young actors the opportunity to hone their craft during the theater’s annual summer camp. These camps focus on all aspects of musical theater through vocal music, acting exercises and basic choreography, as students rehearse for a full musical production to be held at the end of camp.

This year’s camp runs July 17 to 27

his work, the lyricism and wide-ranging curiosity of his music, and for keeping a diverse set of ensembles and projects active simultaneously. His unique contributions to improvised music have garnered distinguished recognition, including a Doris Duke Artist Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Aaron Copland award and two Grammy Award nominations. Douglas’ career spans more than 60 unique original recordings as a leader and more than 500 published works.

The concert is from 7 to 9 p.m. March 25 and is open to all ages. The group will perform only one set, which will start around 7:30 p.m. Suggested donation is $10 for adults, with all proceeds going to the Y Arts Center. This series is funded through the Frederick Arts Council/ National Endowment for the Arts Create Activate Now grant. The remaining concert will all be at the Y Arts Center on May 20, featuring Todd Neufeld (guitar), John Hebert (bass) and Cosgrove (drums). The Y Arts Center is at 115 E. Church St., Frederick.

from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and is open to students ages 9 and older. Registration is $490 per student. Instructors are WOB executive producer Bill Kiska and WOB performer and music director Megan Elizabeth West. For its production this summer, the camp will present the new musical “Mean Girls JR.” Adapted from Tina Fey’s 2004 blockbuster film and the Broadway hit, “Mean Girls JR.” is a musical about chasing popularity and being true to yourself.

Registration is limited. To learn more or register, go to wayoffbroadway.com.

Go on a whimsical voyage with

James and his new friends roll their peach into the ocean and embark on a fantastic voyage that crosses paths with seagulls and sharks and lands them on top of the Empire State Building. Instead of chopping down the tree like his conniving aunties ask, James discovers a magic potion that makes an old peach grow to an enormous size. Climbing inside, James meets a group of outrageous oversized insects who’ve made the peach their home. James and his newfound friends decide it’s time to leave his aunties behind in search of an incredible journey and a new life.

In partnership with Rockville Musical Theatre, Gaithersburg Arts on the Green presents “James and

the Giant Peach,” a musical based on the book by Roald Dahl with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul and book by Timothy Allen McDonald.

The show runs March 10 to 26, with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. An additional matinee performance will be held on March 25 at 2 p.m.

The Arts Barn is located at 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg. Tickets are $24, $20 for students ages 15 to 21, and $15 for youth ages 14 and under. This show is recommended for ages 5 and older.

For more information, visit gaithersburgmd.gov.

Since you are known for your political humor, I have to at least a throw out one political question for you. Why do you think people in rural areas are so red?

Well, they look at liberals as being the elite and stuff. They’re looked down upon. They’re not entirely wrong about that, by the way. They feel like they’ve been left behind and discounted. They are not entirely wrong about any of that either. They’re

also very isolated, and typically there’s not a lot of diversity. They’re not exposed. So when fear mongers talk about other cultures, it’s easy for them to believe it, because they have no evidence to the contrary.

What can people expect for your upcoming show in Frederick?

I would like to think, and I’ve gotten a lot of feedback that I feel like supports this, if you like my internet videos you will also like my standup.

Liberal Redneck type of material goes in both directions. There’s a lot of stuff that does talk about politics and making fun of conservatives, but there’s a lot of stuff that talks about growing up where I did in the middle of nowhere, so I check a lot of the same boxes. I hope they’ll come check it out.

Shuan Butcher is a writer, nonprofit professional, event planner and avid traveler. He writes from Frederick.

Jeff Cosgrove

Jeff Cosgrove

Courtesy photo

‘James and the Giant Peach’

D.C.’s best museums for kids

BY ADELE CHAPIN

The Washington Post

Washington, D.C., is a wonderland of museums. To narrow the list, here are five of the best museums for kids.

1. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

10th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. naturalhistory.si.edu. Free (except the Butterfly Pavilion, which is $7-$8 on every day but Tuesday).

The National Museum of Natural History is home to a lot of bones, from the skeleton of a giant ground sloth in the “Deep Time” exhibit to the South American bullfrog in the Bone Hall. But there are also plenty of living creatures in this museum devoted to the natural world, whose collection includes an astonishing 147 million specimens and artifacts.

“Everything is at kids’ eye level,” says Donna Tuggle, the museum’s chief of visitor experience, school and youth programs, as she points out Madagascar hissing cockroaches in the habitats in the very popular Insect Zoo — right near a life-size reproduction of a termite mound that kids can crawl through. Things that kids can touch and explore are found throughout the exhibits, like a reproduction of a mine in the Geology, Gems and Minerals Hall that leads to glow-in-the-dark minerals. This museum will have kids wide-eyed as they check out ancient mummies, a giant squid and the Hope Diamond.

Don’t miss: Kids can walk into an otherworldly garden full of 300 colorful butterflies in flight and observe them up close (without touching them) in the Butterfly Pavilion, an experience that costs $8 for adults and $7 for kids and seniors. Budding paleontologists will make a beeline for the newish David H. Koch Hall of Fossils — Deep Time to see skeletons like a Tyrannosaurus rex,

plus dinosaur dioramas and scientists at work uncovering specimens in the FossiLab. Families can check for programming like “Play Date at NMNH” for kids up to age 3 or “The World & Me” for kids ages 3 to 9. These events are often held in the museum’s Q?rius learning space, which has its own collection of more than 6,000 objects — many of which kids can touch and explore.

2. NATIONAL CHILDREN’S MUSEUM

1300 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays. nationalchildrensmuseum.org. $15.95 for adults and children 1 and older.

There’s a popular route to get to the subterranean exhibits at the National Children’s Museum, and it’s a kid’s dream: a 30-foot slide, aptly called the Dream Machine. And, yes, grown-ups can try it, too. “One of the most asked questions we get is ‘can the adults go down

the slide,’ and they absolutely can,” says Crystal Bowyer, president of the National Children’s Museum. They can also attempt to get back up via the giant rope climber, if they’re feeling ambitious. “I will say it’s a little harder to climb when you’re not quite as light as an 8-year-old.” Don’t worry — no adults have gotten stuck inside yet, and kids younger than 5 can go for the toddler mini-Dream Machine slide that’s just their size.

The main floor is designed as a free exploration space, where kids from birth to age 12 can explore STEAM (that’s science, technology, engineering, arts and math) concepts through play. “I always say that we are the hands-on hub for interactive learning; we are the place that you go to do something instead of see something,” Bowyer says. That could be playing with virtual slime or encasing yourself in a giant bubble.

Don’t miss: Besides the Dream Machines, Data Science Alley is a popular spot (and the museum says

this is the first data science exhibit in a children’s museum in the country). See how data points stack up in experiments like a choose-your-ownadventure activity where you vote on questions with your feet or by placing pompoms in a maze of circulating air tubes. The Engineering Games and Play section includes a digital batting cage and a chance for kids to design and build their own racecars. Every week, the museum hosts Baby Jam music programs and STEAM story time for kids ages 1 to 4.

3. NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM IN D.C.

600 Independence Ave. SW. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. airandspace.si.edu. Free; reserve your timed-entry passes online.

It’s 11 a.m. on a Thursday, and a group of toddlers are huddled together just a few steps from the first airplane ever flown, the 1903 Wright Flyer, while the spacesuit that Neil Armstrong wore on the moon is on view upstairs. But these tiny museumgoers are focused on looking through paper telescopes as a book called “Pluto’s Secret” is read aloud. This weekly Flights of Fancy Story Time is one of the many ways the team at the National Air and Space Museum is trying to appeal to the youngest visitors, with new features at eight revamped galleries that debuted last fall as part of an ambitious multiyear renovation.

The exhibits “are much more interactive than before,” says Michael Hulslander, the museum’s manager of on-site learning. “Kids are sure to love all the new digital and mechanical interactives, as well as tactile experiences.” While the sight of massive aircraft like a Boeing 747 flight deck or the Apollo 11 Command Module Columbia is impressive enough, experiences like touching a replica space glove or

Photo for The Washington Post by Craig Hudson Harper Phillips, 5, plays in one of the gateways of the Data Science Alley section of the National Children’s Museum.

(See MUSEUMS 16)

Frederick County Public Schools

Youth Art Month Student Exhibition — through March 26. The annual exhibition features hundreds of 2D and 3D artworks in a variety of media created by students from each public school within Frederick County. Delaplaine Arts Center, 40 S. Carroll St., Frederick. 301698-0656, delaplaine.org.

Frederick County Public Schools

Faculty Exhibition — through March 26. A salute to those who make Youth Art Month possible, this exhibition showcases the creative talents of Frederick County Public Schools educators. Works in a variety of media. Delaplaine Arts Center, 40 S. Carroll St., Frederick. 301-698-0656, delaplaine. org.

“Home Away From Home” — through March 26, DISTRICT Arts, 15 N. Market St., Frederick. Laurenee Gauvin’s homage to her Haitian roots. This featured-artist exhibition introduces an emotional look into what home feels like in today’s climate and reflects the journey and the arrival of Gauvin as an exciting and thought-provoking presence on the contemporary art scene. Districtarts.com.

”Animal Kingdom” — through March 26, The Mansion House Art Center and Gallery, City Park, 480 Highland Ave., Hagerstown. Valley Art Association members exhibit. Hours 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. 301-797-2867 or valleyartassoc. org.

”Landscapes in Acrylic” — through March 26, Eastside Artists’ Gallery, 313 E. Patrick St., Frederick. Paintings by Mike Legenzov. Hours are 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. eastsideartistsgallery.com.

”Color Journeys” — through March 26, Gallery 322, 322 N. Market St., Frederick. Featuring works by Leo Ramos, Roberta Staat, Paul Wilson and Karen WinstonLevin. gallery322.com, gallery322@ gmail.com.

”UNSHUTTERED: Celebrating Photojournalism of The Frederick News-Post — through April 1 at the Frederick Book Arts Center, 217 W. Patrick St., Frederick. Curated by Nancy Luse, the show celebrates the News-Post photographers during the era of film. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday and Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday. 301-228-9816 or contact@ frederickbookarts.org.

Cumberland Valley Artists and Photographers Exhibitions — through April 23, Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 401 Museum

Washington County Museum of Fine Arts’ best-smelling fundraiser of the year, Art in Bloom, runs March 24 to 26. Hosted by Hagerstown Garden Club, 10 garden clubs and 16 individuals will participate in the spring-themed celebration. Art in Bloom pairs designers with artwork in the museum. Designers then must interpret the art by using fresh flowers and greenery. Art in Bloom kicks off with a preview party from 5 to 7 p.m. March 25, when the floral displays are at their freshest and guests have the opportunity to meet the designers. Tickets are $55, and advance registration is required by calling 301-739-5727 or going to wcmfa.org/art-in-bloom. There is no admission charge for Saturday and Sunday, but donations to support the museum are appreciated. Ashley Conlon, aka “The Fern Farmer,” will lead a free floral demonstration Saturday at 1 p.m. using sustainable materials. WCMFA is located in City Park in Hagerstown.

Drive, Hagerstown. This juried exhibition features 95 pieces of art and photography from artists who live in the Quad-State area. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. 301-739-5727 or wcmfa.org.

Bettie Awards Exhibition — through April 30. View artworks created by local youth selected as 2023 Bettie Award Winners. Visitors can vote for their favorite artwork throughout the duration of the exhibition. The artwork receiving the most votes will receive the People’s Choice Award. Delaplaine Arts Center, 40 S. Carroll St., Frederick. 301-698-0656, delaplaine.org.

”Angry Women Done Swallowing Our Words” — through April 30, Blanche Ames Gallery, 4880 Elmer Derr Road, Frederick. Featuring the work of Kristan Ryan. For gallery hours, call 301473-7689 or visit frederickuu.org.

”Strands of Time” — through April 30, Locals Farm Market’s Artist in the House Gallery, 19929 Fisher Ave., Poolesville. Works by Susan Due Pearcy. A selection of her work over 50 years of art making. Visit localsfarmmarket.com for hours. Cowork Frederick Artist of the Month: Julie Jenkins — throughout April. Frederick Artists Night with live

music will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. April 1 at Cowork Frederick, 122 E. Patrick St., Frederick. Julie Jenkins creates realistic paintings on wood, acrylic, metal and recycled slate. Her art focuses on landscapes, nature and everyday joys. 240-772-1295, coworkfrederickfoundation.org/juliejenkins-apr23.

”Structures 2023” — through May 5, Crestwood Center, 7211 Bank Court, Frederick. Original works of art, including oil, watercolors, mixed media, acrylic, photography, and wood carvings from some of Frederick’s talented artists. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. 240-215-1460 or frederickhealth.org.

“Comfort” — through July 1. An interactive multimedia show of art related to coffee and tea and an exploration of the rituals and personal connections surrounding those drinks.

FAC Art Center, 5 E. Second St., Frederick. frederickartscouncil.org.

“The Hot Button” — through August, Hot Button Gallery, 129 E. German St., Shepherdstown, W.Va. Carol Williams exhibits textiles and poster art that reflect her passion for social responsibility through

artistic communication. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays. The artist will be available for conversation at these times. anothercarolwilliams.com.

Links Bridge Featured Artist: Rosemary Gallick — March 25 to April 9. Meet the artist on March 25. Links Bridge will continue displaying the works of local artists in its Tasting Room, where wine lovers can enjoy art, and artists can enjoy wine. Rosemary Gallick is a professional artist living in Northern Virginia, and this exhibit will present iconic portraits rendered in a pop-art style. She is a professor of art and art history at Northern Virginia Community College, where she has taught since 1996. Links Bridge Vineyards, 8830 Old Links Bridge Road, Thurmont. linksbridgevineyards.com.

”Miniature Worlds” — April 17 through May 19, Rosemary and Thyme Gallery, Frederick 50+ Community Center, 1440 Taney Ave., Frederick. Featuring works by local artist Kunie Stabley. Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday. 301-600-3525, dmarkowitz@ frederickcountymd.gov or tinyurl. com/50-center.

Courtesy photo

Oaxaca is a culinary mecca

What comes to mind when you think of Mexico? The beaches of Cancun? The giants of Tulum? Street tacos? Maybe your mind drifts to the quintessential Corona lager, poolside, at your overpriced but comfortable hotel in Puerto Vallarta?

I’m here to tell you that although probably not on your radar, the state of Oaxaca should be at the top of your list of destinations.

Oaxaca de Juarez is highly regarded as the best city in Mexico for its culinary excellence. You want tacos? You’ll find them around every street corner. I recommend you don’t shy away from lengua (cow tongue), gusanos de maguey (caterpillars) and chapulines (grasshoppers) either. They are excellent.

But I also implore anyone visiting to try the tamales. Verdes, rajas and mole sauce are good to start. Opening a tamale gift-wrapped with a hot banana leaf to reveal its contents might just bring back memories of Christmas morning.

Along with a legendary mezcal, make sure to grab a couple tlayudas and memelitas for good measure. Yes, locals drink mezcal, and, if offered, you should, too.

The Netflix show “Watch Street Food” features Doña Vale, a small but busy food stand found at the famous Central de Abastos market in Oaxaca, Mexico. My new friend, Gerardo, led the way through this very marketplace. It’s enormous. The colors, people and scents stimulate the senses like a child’s first experience at a county fair. I’m now accustomed to these very common albeit spectacular mercados all over Latin America. My draw to the area wasn’t its appearance on Netflix (I had no clue until I was

informed as we arrived) but rather the explanation Gerardo gave me: “There are not many foreigners yet, and the prices are cheap. The popular tourist markets nearby purchase from Central and then raise prices to gringos.”

Somehow, it’s still relatively undiscovered, even with a Netflix special.

The maze of stalls displayed brightly colored produce, a variety of artisanal crafts and freshly butchered meats that eventually led me to a string of tiny stands run by abuelas serving food. This is what you want. It’s impossible to walk past a giant, smoked hunk of meat whose aroma has been seducing you from a distance like sirens luring Odysseus. You won’t find a menu at these delightful, little restaurants that comprise of only a single table with a few chairs.

We sat at an establishment with the most enthusiastic and insistent owner. Lamb enchiladas were served with an accompanying shot of mezcal. For breakfast? Gerardo explained that it was used as a digestive aid. I have learned from decades of travel to distant lands, when a local offers you something, always politely accept. It is sustenance, after all.

The city of Oaxaca is not as developed as Mexico City or many of the country’s larger cities, and there is not a tall building in sight. In an area where you will experience many small earthquakes well before a single drop of rain, infrastructure is constructed in accordance to this truth.

But it’s the culture. The community. The preservation of adobe buildings. The ancient ruins that hold so many secrets. The belief that corn tortillas should be handmade in the same

way they were over 10,000 years ago in this exact area. Similarly, the Maya and Aztecs drank pulque (fermented agave sap), a tradition that residents still partake in, with production maintaining a similar process. It’s the people and their customs that give Oaxaca its charm. Quality and tradition first.

Let’s not forget that the state of Oaxaca boasts over 300 miles of coast, where plenty of underrated beaches possess a romantic splendor, since they have yet to be overrun with tourists and remain a fraction of the cost compared to the most popular

beaches in Mexico. Sure, you can find expensive if you seek it out. But eating fresh seafood caught from the very ocean you are gazing upon at a small establishment surrounded by locals has its own appeal.

Oaxaca is a place where, with a little digging, you can have a truly genuine experience combined with a history lesson for a completely unique kind of travel.

Trevor Davis, former cidermaker and working musician from Frederick, is a writer, content creator and cultural traveler. Follow his adventures at roguevagabond.com.

Amber LaChelle

Handmade tortillas in Oaxaca, Mexico.

TREVOR DAVIS

BY CRYSTAL SCHELLE Special to The News-Post

here has always been something about Asian culture, especially the Japanese, that has spoken to Philip Melton.

And when it came to pursuing his dream of being a professional potter, the 20-year-old Frederick resident made a trip halfway around the world in the hopes of expanding his education.

The journey started about a year ago when he mentioned his interest of Japan to Bill van Gilder, his mentor and owner of van Gilder Pottery in Rohrersville.

“I said something about how I really liked Japan and I’d love to visit, if not live there someday,” Melton recalled. “He said pottery can be a one-way ticket. That was pretty early in my apprenticeship with him.”

When Melton began researching Japan, he realized he was attracted to the Japanese pottery styles. He planned a three-week trip that would begin on Jan. 1, although that trip was later extended to four weeks in Japan.

While overseas, Melton visited universities, where he hopes to one day further his studies after he graduates Frederick Community College this spring, and he also got the opportunity to interact with Japanese potters.

Melton’s love for pottery began as a student at Tuscarora High School, where he took a ceramics class and was introduced to the pottery wheel and began creating hand-thrown pots.

But then COVID hit, which made working on the wheel at school impossible. Eventually, classes resumed on a hybrid schedule that allowed him two days a week to work on the wheel again. His art teacher, Daniel Wagner, was encouraging of his work on the wheel.

“My mind runs around a lot, and I like stuff that’s meditative, so for me the wheel is meditative,” he said. “I love that there’s been a couple of times when I’m on the wheels at Bill’s and hours go by. When I stop throwing and I look at my watch, I’m just shocked at how many hours have gone by. It’s like my mind and body connect, and my hands keep on throwing and throwing.”

Melton prefers to create objects that have function over form. At home, he’s filled a lot of cabinets with his ceramics and replaced a lot of his parents’ dishes.

“It’s satisfying, being able to create a piece that I really like and then being able to put it to use,” he said.

By the time his senior year rolled

around, Melton had been up to van Gilder’s studio a couple of times, once with his dad, John Melton, and stepmom, Nicole Pecora, and later with a friend. It was on that second trip that Melton met van Gilder’s partner, Kris Hansen, who suggested he email van Gilder about any possible learning experiences or apprenticeships. He said his parents encouraged him to reach out to van Gilder.

“I didn’t know what I was getting into exactly. I knew I liked throwing on the wheel, but I had never considered it being more than just something I did in high school,” Melton admitted.

After that connection, van Gilder asked him to bring in some of his work. Melton showed up with a box of his work, and van Gilder said Melton told him, “As you can see I have a lot to learn.” But van Gilder was impressed.

Frederick Community College student Philip Melton is serious about pottery.

Pottery in Japan.

Asian art and culture inspires Frederick potter

some pottery at his studio. Melton did so and was able to raise about $1,000 for his trip.

The trip was better than he’d imagined, he said. “One of the highlights was that I was staying in a town near Mount Fuji. It was just beautiful, waking up every day and looking over my shoulder to see this massive volcano. It was incredible.”

He also loved interacting with people because everyone was so nice, and he felt like he instantly fit in.

He was able to meet some area potters in person and talk with them, sometimes with the help of a translator. He talked with Robert Yellin, of Robert Yellin Yakimono Gallery in Keyto, who doesn’t create pots but sells work from potters across the nation. Additionally, James Erasmus, a wood-fire potter who studied in the UK, showed him around studios, and he and his family put Melton up for the night.

“It’s my favorite memory because they were all so kind to me,” he said

He also toured the campus of Kyoto University.

“I’ve never been to a university just for art, but the facility they had was pretty amazing,” he said. “And seeing the number of kilns and the size of the kilns especially, it was pretty awesome. It’s nothing I’ve seen here.”

The large kilns he saw were roughly the size of a bedroom, he said.

He also visited what he calls “pottery towns.”

When he asked Melton at what temperature he fired them, Melton told him immediately. In that instance, van Gilder said he recognized in Melton another young potter: himself.

“I saw a little piece of me in Philip,” van Gilder said. “I know that maybe sounds egotistical, but I thought, well, I get it, and there’s no reason why he can’t do it.”

He said when he was 16 years old, he went to a potter’s studio with a box of his own pots and told the potter he wanted to be a potter. He worked with that potter for three years.

Melton started his apprenticeship with van Gilder in August 2021, the same month he started taking classes at Frederick Community College, where he was pursuing his ceramics career and studying under art professor Shane Sellers. Additionally, Melton balanced

his schoolwork and pottery with a parttime job.

Van Gilder said Melton has been a good fit for his studio.

“One of the things I value a lot in this young man is his work ethic,” he

said. “He’s not afraid to work — and it’s actually really cool to have a young, hip kid around the studio. Keeps me up-todate on what’s actually happening out there.”

Melton said he has learned a lot from van Gilder, who has shown him the technical side of building pots. He’ll often go to van Gilder’s studio a couple times a week, then come home and practice on his own. Melton said he’s noticed that his technical skills have shot up quite a lot in the past year, under van Gilder’s guidance.

But he’s also learned that pottery isn’t all about making pots. It’s also about creating a business, so being a potter can be a career path.

When Melton told him about wanting to go to Japan to explore pottery and tour some college campuses, van Gilder suggested he sell

“Each pottery town had a different style of pottery,” he said. “ And I think my favorite style of pottery was in the town of Bizen. I talked to a couple of potters there, and some potters showed me their workshops.”

He explained that Bizen pottery has a clay body and doesn’t use glazes but, rather, is glazed naturally from the kilns themselves and the ash.

“I love that, because it really produces a natural, earthy type of look,” he said.

The trip was more than a lesson on Japanese pottery, though, and he’s decided that he wants to permanently move to Japan sometime this year.

“As much as I like the pottery, the thing that spoke to me the most was just Japan in general, the culture,” he said. “Japan just felt like home.”

Crystal Schelle is a journalist whose work has been published locally, regionally and nationally. She enjoys trivia, cats and streaming movies.

Kilns in Japan.

Photos courtesy pf Philip Melton

Scenes from Melton’s trip to Japan.

ALWAYS ON CUE

I guess you had to be there

I didn’t want to write about the First Saturday Funnies, hosted by The Endangered Species Theatre Project each month at the FAC Art Center.

Don’t get me wrong.

As a self-respecting theater kid, I absolutely love that kind of short-form improv comedy — the kind that developed from the little games actors play to warm up their emotional reflexes before performances. The relentless pace of the famous “yes, and” logic that drives improv’s chain reactions sends me into fits of side-splitting laughter every time I’m lucky enough to catch those kinds of shows.

But whenever I’ve tried to write about improv, my words fall flat. The humor I feel never makes it into the heads — much less guts — of my readers.

In fact, the last time I wrote about an improv show, one of my old theater friends left a helpful comment on the Facebook post where I shared my article: “Click-bait title. Disappointing content.”

He was right.

For a long time, I thought this was my unique handicap in the theater review world, but my recent chats with Michael Harris and Anne Raugh, two of the First Saturday Funnies improv actors, helped me understand that the art form itself inherently resists explanation. Even with a combined 50 years of improv experience between them, these quick-witted professional communicators frequently find themselves at a loss for words when

asked to describe this mode of comedy.

Before tentatively narrating an example, they simply ask their interrogators if they’ve ever seen the TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” If not, they grope around for other frames of reference, trying really hard to land on something solidly experiential so they can avoid every comedian’s dreaded fear: having to explain the joke.

“The quickest way to kill a joke is to explain it,” Raugh told me after I coaxed her into talking through some improv scenarios. “It’s really hard to do that in a way that preserves the sensation of the prize of enjoyment that the live audience gets.”

Case in point: When she meticulously described an improv sketch from a recent First Saturday Funnies event, the most excited response I could muster was a bit of polite (read: fake) laughter.

But in the real-life theater, when the sentient tree starting begging for its life on the grounds of having saplings to support, the audience response was uproarious.

Because, you see, that’s the kind of thing you’d expect a human to say when begging for his life, but it wasn’t a human, it was a tree. So instead of saying “kids,” he said “saplings.” Get it? No? Yeah, I didn’t think you would.

Harris said that kind of humor doesn’t translate after the fact

Preview Party: March 24, 5-7pm, $55, RSVP Saturday, March 25, 9 am-4 pm, free Sunday, March 26, 12-5 pm, free Designers paired with museum artwork for three days of one-of-a-kind live floral designs

because it’s all based on either fulfilling or subverting expectations. The live audience receives hundreds of subtle (and not-so-subtle) context clues from the performers that set up the unconscious mind to form an expectation about what should happen next. Either those expectations are fulfilled by following a set of brutally consistent logical steps to their natural conclusion, or they are suddenly dashed to pieces.

“Either way, it works,” Harris said. “The nice thing about improv is you almost can’t fail as long as you keep going.”

But if you can’t see the look on the tree’s face, hear the flummoxed tone of his would-be chopper, or pick up on the nervous laughter of the people next to you, you don’t have any expectations, no matter how well the situation is described.

Raugh emphasized that the most important element to making improv comedy work is audience participation, but some people are put off from ever trying the experience because that expectation makes them nervous. She said when people hear “audience participation,” they often have the wrong idea. Yes, the audience is called on to provide key words and ideas to build skits on the fly, but even people who sit in the back of house and never speak are part of the action. Not because the actors pick on them but because they

contribute to the temperature of the room.

“If the audience doesn’t like something, we don’t do it again. If the audience responds to something, it becomes part of the context of the show,” she said. “If you’re not into raising your hand or coming up onstage, you don’t have to, but you still get to be part of molding the show just by the way you respond to things that happen in the room. And if you are inspired to contribute, all the better.”

The message that came up in our conversation over and over again was clear: If you want to get the joke, you have to be there.

The cast of four encourages everyone to the monthly event, but Raugh says the material is typically rated PG-13 — and she’s never offended if parents decide to make a quiet exit with their kids.

See live improv for yourself on the first Saturday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at the FAC Art Center at 5 E. Second St., Frederick. Occasionally, First Saturday Funnies are skipped, due to main stage productions. Admission is pay-what-you-can. Performances are about 90 minutes. For more information, visit esptheatre. org.

If you’d like to experience improv in a more structured way, Harris will offer classes running from March 30 to May 11 for ages 18 and up.

Erik Anderson’s MA in medieval literature only qualifies him to write about Chaucer, but he’s going to tell you about local theater anyway.

ERIK ANDERSON

WAREHOUSE CINEMAS NEWS AND EVENTS:

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS MOVIE PREMIERE EXPERIENCE

Thursday, March 30th 5:00 to 8:00pm

LIVE ACTION TAVERN EXPERIENCE

We are bringing an immersive experience to Frederick with Paramount Studios. Visit our Thieves Den Tavern, shop with Games & Stuff, immerse yourself with visuals by Historic Haven, munch on some Dragon’s Breath spicy popcorn, and wash it down with a cocktail potion made with local Dragon Distillery spirits. Be sure to enjoy the film premiere and dress up. This is a live experience with actors, amazing decorations, and musicians that you won’t want to miss.

BRUNCH CLUB PRESENTS: LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS

Sunday, March 26th 11:00am to 2:00pm

UPCOMING FILMS THIS WEEKEND:

“John Wick 4”

Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Belfast’ at the Carroll Arts Center

The Film Lovers in Carroll County (FLICC) have chosen poignant, semiautobiographical drama “Belfast” as their April film.

Screenings will be at 1 p.m. (captioned) and 7:30 p.m. March 24 at the Carroll Arts Center in downtown Westminster. The 7:30 p.m. showing will have captioning if requested in advance. Assistive Listening Devices

are always available.

Written and directed by Academy Award nominee Kenneth Branagh, this 2021 film is a poignant story of love, laughter, and loss in one boy’s childhood, amid the music and social tumult of late 1960s Belfast. Inspired by Branagh’s own childhood, the film features stunning performances from Caitríona Balfe, Judi Dench, Jamie

Dornan, Ciaran Hinds and Jude Hill. The film is rated PG-13 for some violence and strong language. Tickets are $7 for adults and $6 for ages 25 and under and ages 60 and up. Tickets are available at carrollcountyartscouncil.org and at the box office at 91 W. Main St., Westminster. For more information, call 410-848-7272.

Sign up for our On the Town/72 Hours or Eat & Drink newsletters and be automatically entered for a chance to win

TWO FREE MOVIE PASSES TO WAREHOUSE CINEMAS

Warehouse Cinemas is an independently owned cinema that offers a unique, premium movie going experience by providing first-run movies + retro films, leather recliner seating w/ seat warmers, high-quality picture and sound, including Dolby Atmos, a modern-industrial décor, and premium food and drink options, including movie themed cocktails, wine and a 28-tap self-serve beer wall. Visit us at warehouscinemas.com or scan the QR Code for this week’s feature films.

Courtesy photo

A scene from “Belfast.”

Improv Jazz with Joe Keyes

First &ThirdWednesdayof the month

Movie Knight: local fimmaker screening

Squares

Bijou: Film Screening

MUSEUMS

(Continued from 9)

using your whole body to pilot a trike in a glider flight simulation might be just as memorable for little ones.

like tooth concealments, a buttonhole camera, a transmitter hidden in fake tiger dung and a CIA rectal tool kit. What’s not to love?

SeeWhatSticks

@frederick ar tcouncil

@frederick ar tcouncil_official

Forfull calendar of events visit www.FrederickArtsCouncil.org

Don’t miss: Explore the 880-degree surface of Venus in the “Walking on Other Worlds” immersive experience, where gigantic curved screens surround you during a journey around the solar system. For an adventure firmly on this planet, the Speed Shop, stationed next to Mario Andretti’s Indy 500 car in the “Nation of Speed” exhibition, feels like a real mechanic’s garage with drawers kids can open and close and tactile tools. This is a hands-on programming space with a piston engine and tire changing stations — and it’s next to fun games like racecar simulators and an Evel Knievel pinball machine. And if you find yourself in the gift shop scooping up packages of Moon Cheese and freeze-dried astronaut ice cream, head to its lower level to see a lifesize astronaut made entirely of Legos. When you visit the restrooms, you’ll notice tidbits on the walls explaining bathroom breaks for astronauts in space.

4. INTERNATIONAL SPY MUSEUM

700 L’Enfant Plaza SW. Hours vary daily. spymuseum.org. Ticket prices vary, but children 6 and under are always free.

How many educational experiences allow you to clamber through air ducts, dangle from a simulated helicopter or playfully administer electroshocks to a sibling? The International Spy Museum, which landed in its sleek new building in L’Enfant Plaza in 2019, boasts 10,000 artifacts in its collection and unwinds a whole lot of intrigue over two sprawling floors. The first of the exhibit floors dives into the intelligence process, from secret stealing to covert action. The next floor unpacks serious ethical questions about civil liberties (which might go over the heads of little ones, but there’s plenty for kids to explore here, too).

A ticket to the museum means you’ll be offered a badge and a “cover” (our spy identity on a recent visit was “Nico from Athens,” with “cobalt” as the special code word), and digital stations throughout the museum will test visitors’ newfound spy skills in topics like code cracking and the art of disguise. The computerbased games are a hit with kids, of course. But a group of elementaryschoolers seemed just as jazzed about see-it-to-believe-it historical gadgets

Don’t miss: The “Covert Action” section of the museum has the most physical activities for kids, including a “hang time” challenge to see if they can hold on to an overhead bar for 60 seconds and a spying activity that gives kids the chance to scramble around in an air duct while parents or friends on the ground enter a secret code to try to see them. Youngsters might also enjoy covertly peering in on their parents via a camera in a potted plant in the “Berlin: City of Spies” exhibit, which includes a re-creation of an East Berlin hotel room outfitted with surreptitious surveillance devices. Kids might want to spend their souvenir allowance in the museum gift shop, stocked with oddities like disappearing ink, tiny walkie-talkies and rearview sunglasses.

5. NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY

1300 Constitution Ave. NW. 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. americanhistory.si.edu. Free.

In the portion of the National Museum of American History’s new “Entertainment Nation” exhibit devoted to children’s television, there’s one thing grown-ups might overlook. The “Sesame Street” characters — including every toddler’s favorite, Elmo — are posed so that their sight line is directed to look a child in the eye. That’s one small example of how the curators at this collection of beloved American objects make children feel like valued visitors.

That kid-centric focus is also the reason the museum houses an indoor play area, Wegmans Wonderplace, that is decorated with portraits of American children throughout the centuries. “Every person who made history started their life as a child. A lot of museums don’t do a great job of showing that kids are part of history, too,” says Carrie Heflin, early education specialist at the museum.

Many of the American History Museum’s exhibits include elements that will appeal to children, including an opportunity to climb up on a reproduction old-timey high wheel bike in the “Object Project” exhibit and a chance to follow the adventures of Bud the dog, an actual passenger in the first car driven across the United States, in the “America on the Move” transportation exhibit. Little ones will also love the big locomotives housed in that wing.

Local Mentions

BONANZA BINGO

Sat, April 22, 2023

New Midway Vol Fire Co

Doors Open: 4:30 p m Buffet: 5:30 p m

Bingo Starts: 7:00 p m

Admission: $50 00 in advance

$60 00 at the Door

Includes: $1,150 Jackpot $750 Jackpot

23 Regular Games Buffet Dinner

Alcohol Avail For Purchase

Extra Cards Available and ATM Available

For Info Call: 301-639-8963

Local Mentions

EASTER BAKE SALE

Sat April 8 • 9AM to 12PM

Two (2) - 2” Hot Chocolate Bombs: $6 00 3" Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs: $4 00 Preorder until 4/05 Carroll Manor Fire Co 2793 Adams St, Adamstown

Large Assort of Easter baked goodies

www carrollmanorfire org 301-874-5642

Local Mentions

Libertytown V F D Spring BIG $ Bingo & Dinner

Sat April 22, 2023

Opens 4PM; Dinner 4:30-5:30 Games 6:30

Total Payout $10,000+ 14 Games pay

Up to $700 & Special Games pay $600/$1100/$1275

Limited tickets @$60 person

Libertytown Vol Fire Dept Reserves the Right to Reduce Payouts if less than 150 players No Refunds CALL 301-829-2510

QUARTERMANIA

Sunday 4/16/2023

Jefferson Ruritan Club

EGG-stravaganza

Local Mentions

Craft, Yard Sale & Vendor Event

Sat March 25, 2023 & Sun. March 26, 2023

9 a m to 3 p m

Thurmont Event Complex 13716 Strafford Drive

Thurmont, Maryland

Food available for purchase

Vendor Information: Contact Jennifer at jensgems2018@yahoo com Or 301-800-3336

General Information: Contact Joyce at 301-748-4344

Proceeds benefit Thurmont Community Ambulance Company

THE FREDERICK CHORALE

will be performing at our historical St John’s Union Church building, on Sunday, March 26 at 4PM 8619 Blacks Mills Rd Creagerstown, MD

Join us for this exciting event Light refreshments following the service

BUY YOUR MEAT STRAIGHT OFF THE FARM

Corn Fed Beef, Locally grown, Locally processed Quality meat at Economical Prices

• Buy by the quarter, half, or whole

• Choose your own cuts of steaks, roasts, and ground meat

• Bologna, chip beef, snack sticks, jerky, stew meat, organs

• Comes in neat cuts, vacuum sealed, & frozen

• Ask about delivery

Price $2 99/lb

dress weight plus processing Kevin Martin - 240-469-9712

CARRY-OUT DINNERS

At New Midway Vol Fire Co Sat., March 25, 2023

Featuring:

Roast Turkey w/Dressing Or Fried Shrimp

With:

Mashed Potatoes/Gravy Green Beans Applesauce

Roll Serving Time: 2-6 p m

Cost: $12 00

FIRE PREVENTION

New Midway VFC Co #9

12019 Woodsboro Pike New Midway, MD

EASTER DRIVE THROUGH

March 26, 2023

12 p m to 1:30 p m

Golden Egg Surprises!

See the Easter Bunny, Fire/EMS & Police Friends and Jr Firefighters Bags Stuffed with Goodies Egg Hunt/Drive Through Style Easter Craft Bags and More!

*Where is your family’s save meeting spot?

JEFFERSON RURITAN CLUB BREAKFAST WITH EASTER BUNNY

SAT., APRIL 8, 2023

7-11:00am

Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage, Country Ham, Hominy, Sausage Gravy/ $11 per adult

Children 5-10 $6/Dine-In or Carry-out

Easter Bunny Present for Pictures, Prizes, and Candy

JEFFERSON RURITAN CLUB

FRIDAY FISH FRY

FRI , MARCH 31, 2023

2 Pieces Fish, Mac & Cheese, Cole Slaw Applesauce, Roll/ $15 per platter

Extra Fish $5

Dine in or Carry-out/5 to 7:00pm 4603 Lander RD, Jefferson MD

Doors Open Noon/ Bidding 1:00pm

Tickets $5 Advance/$8 at the Door

Extra Paddles $3/ Call 301-371-6404 90+ Great Prizes & Food 4603B Lander Rd Jefferson MD 21755

SPRING BAZAAR

Sat , March 25, 2023 8AM to 2PM at Libertytown Fire Hall 12027 South St Libertytown, MD 21762

Crafts, Homemade Goodies, Sandwiches, Soups, Bake Table, Raffles and much more

For more information & table rental, call Mary at 301-401-2824

Sponsored by Libertytown Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary

Spring EGG-stravaganza

Craft, Yard Sale & Vendor Event

Sat March 25, 2023 & Sun March 26, 2023

The Johnsville United Methodist Church will have their Spring Bazaar & Bake Shop

Sat April 1, 2023

9:00am - 2:00pm

Food will be available: breakfast sandwiches, soups, sandwiches and platters

Baked goodies, Easter treats for Easter baskets, mystery gifts, and crafts 11106 Green Valley RD (Route 75) Between Union Bridge & Libertytown

THE LITTLE RED WAGON

Now Open for 2023!

Seed potatoes, onion sets, veggie plants, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, apples Pansies, primroses, etc

CSA’s available now!

11434 Keymar Rd

Woodsboro, MD 21798

Live Info: 240-439-9401

More of what matters to you Your life. Your community. Your paper.

Local Mentions Local Mentions

TURKEY, FRIED OYSTER AND COUNTRY HAM DINNER

March 25 • 12 noon – 5 pm

Menu includes mashed potatoes & gravy, green beans, sauerkraut, cranberry sauce, dressing, cole slaw, rolls, butter, ice tea, hot tea, coffee

Adults $30 • Children 6-12 $8

Children under 6 - free Carry outs - $1 extra Bush Creek Church of the Brethren

4821A Green Valley Rd, Rt 75 South, Monrovia, Md 21770 301-865-3013

www bushcreekchurch org

TURKEY & HAM SLIPPERY POT PIE CARRYOUT

and pre-ordered country ham sandwiches; Sat, April 22, pickup from 11 am – 2 pm; Woodsboro Lutheran Church; 101 S Main Street; Quarts $8; sandwiches $5 Baked goods available; For orders, call 301-271-3309 (leave message) by Apr 19

USED BOOK SALE

Saturday, March 25 (9am-4pm)

Sunday, March 26 (9am-1:30pm)

$1 Paperbacks (or $3 for 5) $2 Hardbacks (or $6 for 5) (cash preferred)

Unitarian Universalist Congregation

4880 Elmer Derr Road, Frederick, MD

Proceeds support social justice projects frederickuu org/booksale

Pets & Supplies

USED BOOK SALE

Saturday, March 25 (9am-4pm)

Sunday, March 26 (9am-1:30pm)

$1 Paperbacks (or $3 for 5)

$2 Hardbacks (or $6 for 5) (cash preferred)

Unitarian Universalist Congregation

4880 Elmer Derr Road, Frederick, MD

Proceeds support social justice projects frederickuu org/booksale

Wolfsville Ruritan Club

12” COLD CUT SUBS

w/LTOM on the side - $7/each

Pick up April 12th

3 to 6 p m at Ruritan Park

Order by 4/2 at RuritanClubMD@aol com (preferred) or 301-293-2426 at Wolfsville Ruritan Park 12708 Brandenburg Hollow Rd, Myersville

Woodsboro VFC CHILDREN'S BINGO

Sun , March 26 at Woodsboro Fire Hall

2 South Third St

Doors Open: Noon

Games Begin: 1pm $5 00 per person

Must bring a child to play Food available for purchase Call JoAnn: 240-446-0451 for information

All proceeds benefit the WVFC

Yard Sales

INDOOR/OUTDOOR YARD SALE

Lewistown Fire Dept 11101 Hessong Bridge Road

Saturday April 1, 2023 8a.m - 1 p.m.

Miscellaneous

ST. JOHN’S CEMETERY PLOT FOR SALE

One of few left, $2500 301-694-5404 lv message

WANTED TO BUY

collectibles to include comic books, sports cards, Star Wars Transformers, G I Joe's, Barbies and more as well as old Americana

I buy whole collections and I pay cash

Located in Loudoun Call Tom 213 378 7666

WALKERSVILLE UMC OYSTER, TURKEY & HAM BUFFET

Walkersville Fire Hall

79 West Frederick St

Fri, March 24, 4-7 PM

Sat, March 25, 12-5 PM

Adults: $30 cash; $31 credit card

Children: 6-12: $15 00

5 and under are free

Carry-outs are $1 extra Avail Until 4:30 PM on Sat Bake Table

Info: wumcdinner@gmail.com

Text or voice message 240-608-2270

AKC REGISTERED

BLACK LAB PUPPIES

vaccinated, vet-checked, dewormed, familyraised, friendly $495, Available Now, No Sunday calls Call 301-791-3957

HAVANESE pups

toy-breed Vet cert /shots non-shed ALSO MINI AUSSIE DOODLE pups

Parents are house-pets non-shed Vet cert/shots

$1,200, 540-303-2591

SIBERIAN HUSKY PUPS FOR SALE

1 female, black and white Cute and fluffy Vet-checked Family raised Micro-chipped $300 OBO Cash Must see No pics Call 301-791-3806

Services

!!FATHER AND SONS!!!

HANDYMAN HANDYMAN INTER.

PAINTING

Home Repair & Improvements

301-694-9630

LIC #74117

Serving Frederick for 34 Years!

HENRY'S BLACKTOP PAVING, LLC

301-663-1888 • 301-416-7229

henrysblacktoppaving

@gmail.com

Call for FREE est MHIC 3608

LIGHT MOVING AND HAULING

Clean-outs, attics, basements, & garages Furniture delivery or removal Whole house clean-outs and storage units are our specialty Call 443-739-5914

POOL WATER

We fill any size pool Call Nolan Hubble 240-315-1762

Wellness Massage Spa Body Massage & Facial

$10 off Monday through Sunday 7 days 10 a m - 9 p m By appt please call 301-828-7846 3534 Worthington Blvd #201, Frederick, MD 21704

Thursday March 23

CLASSES

Cross-Cultural Entrepreneurship: Empower Your Voice Workshop — 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Frederick Innovative Technology Center, 4539 Metropolitan Court, Frederick. In the workshop, non-native English-speakers who want to improve their communication skills can learn tools and tips to help deliver clear, confident and credible messages. 301-606-1796. kzuccardi@tedco.md. fitci.org/events.html.

Virtual Genealogy Lecture Series: Free and Almost Free Genealogy Websites — 7 p.m. at The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints, 199 North Place, Frederick. Presenter is Lorraine Minor. All lectures on the fourth Thursday via Zoom.  240-818-1937. tinyurl.com/msfsajvy.

History Talk: Last Days of USS Monitor — 7:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Homewood Suites, 1650 Pullman Lane, Hagerstown. The Hagerstown Civil War Round Table will feature a talk by John Quarstein. USS Monitor was an ironclad warship built for the Union Navy during the American Civil War and completed in early 1862, the first such ship commissioned by the Navy. $5 for nonmembers, payable at the talk. 240-625-4216. hagerstowncwrt1956@gmail.com. sites. google.com/view/hagerstowncwrt/home.

ETCETERA

Frederick Restaurant Week — throughout Frederick County. 22 participating restaurants offering special menus and unique menu items. Reservations are recommended. Full list of participating restaurants at visitfrederick.org/restaurant-week/ restaurants. visitfrederick.org.

200 Monroe Restaurant — 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Monroe Center, 200 Monroe Ave., Frederick. Frederick Community College invites you to enjoy a gourmet dinner created by the talented students at 200 Monroe Restaurant! Reservations are required! For dine-in or carryout, visit opentable.com/200Monroe.  $40-$44. HCTI@frederick.edu. opentable.com/200-monroe.

Pour House Trivia — 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Champion Billiards Sports Bar, 5205 Buckeystown Pike, Frederick. Come on out with the team and play some Pour House Trivia. 7 p.m. start. Extended Happy Hour from 4 to 8 p.m.  301-846-0089. frederickchampions.com/weekly-specials.

FAMILY

“Crossroads” Companion Exhibits — 10

a.m. to 9 p.m. at The C. Burr Artz Public Library, 110 E. Patrick St., Frederick. Also exhibits at Thurmont and Brunswick libraries.

At C. Burr Artz, visit the front exhibit cases to explore the Maryland Room’s collection related to the “Crossroads” exhibit at Rose Hill Manor Park, Frederick. 301-600-1630. fcpl.org.

“Frederick County’s Enduring Crossroads” Exhibit — 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Heritage Frederick, 24 E. Church St., Frederick. Visit the second floor Crossroads Companion Exhibit to explore local main street artifacts and stories about industry throughout Frederick County. 301-663-1188. recreater.com.

“Crossroads — Change in Rural America” Exhibit — 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Rose Hill Manor Park, 1611 N. Market St., Frederick. The exhibit looks at how local communities have adapted and changed as a result of the literal crossroads of waterways, roads and railroads, and the figurative crossroads of local and national events. Stories from the inhabitants of Rose Hill, other Frederick County Parks, and Main Streets will highlight these themes throughout the exhibit while exhibits through the county will highlight additional county stories. $5 adults, $4 seniors and kids. 301600-1650. recreater.com.

THEATER

“Matilda: The Musical” — 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Century High School, 355 Ronsdale Road, Sykesville. Century Opening Knights will present Roald Dahl’s “Matilda,” a stage musical with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly, based on the 1988 novel. Check the website in the spring for ticket information. centurydramapublicity@gmail.com. tickets.centurydrama.com.

Trinity Irish Dance Company — 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Majestic Theater, 25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg, Pa. A fusion of Ireland’s vibrant and longstanding dance-form and elements of American innovation, Trinity Irish Dance Company dazzles audiences with its hard-driving percussive power, lightning-fast agility, and aerial grace.

$36 to $46. 717-337-8200. majestictheater@ gettysburg.edu.

Friday March 24

CLASSES

Watercolor Painting with Marti Easton — 10:30 a.m. to noon at Middletown Public Library, 101 Prospect St., Middletown. Learn how to paint flowers using watercolors in this class lead by local artist Marti Easton. All supplies are included and you will go

home with a beautiful greeting card to share. 21 and older. 301-600-7560. lgrackin@ frederickcountymd.gov.

ETCETERA

Murder Mystery Party — 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Dutch’s Daughter Restaurant, 581 Himes Ave., Frederick. An evening of murder, mystery and mayhem. Come dressed in your cocktail attire. This is a comedy mystery game set in the present day at a Hollywood Mansion. Watch out. You might die laughing. Admission includes threecourse dinner with entree options, taxes and gratuity. Cash bar. $85. 410-549-2722. murdermysterycompany@gmail.com. ddmysteries.eventbrite.com.

Bikes for the World Collection Event — 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Brook Hill United Methodist Church, 8946 Indian Springs Road, Fredrick. Bikes for the World “re-cycles” used bikes to transform lives. Volunteers, community groups and businesses collect, “prep” and donate bikes to nonprofit partners around the world. Drop off or call for local pick up. Bikes for the World also accepts sewing machines and hand tools for donations!  See what is accepted at www.bikesfortheworld. org. 301-662-1727. katlman@bhumc.org. bhumc.org.

“Art in Bloom” Preview Party — 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 401 Museum Drive, Hagerstown. Museum fundraiser. Delight in the innovation, wit and beauty of floral interpretations of works in the museum collection. Preview party attendees get to see the works at their freshest and mingle with the designers. Hosted by Hagerstown Garden Club. Advance registration is required by contacting Donna Rastelli at 301-739-5727 or drastelli@wcmfa.org. Or go to https:// wcmfa.org/art-in-bloom. $55. 301-739-5727. cschelle@wcmfa.org. wcmfa.org.

FAMILY

KofC Friday Fish Dinners — 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Sr. Margaret Bauer Evangelization Center, St. John the Evangelist Church, 114 E. Second St., Frederick. Fridays through March 31. Drive up and place your order, you don’t have to get out of your car. Fish is freshly breaded on-site. Suggested donation is $14, child’s plate $6. Stations of the Cross will follow in the church at 7 p.m. $14. 301-305-2127. satterf@comcast.net. kofc1622.org/fishfry.html.

“James and the Giant Peach” — 7:30 p.m. at The Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg. A musical based on the book by Roald Dahl. Performances through March 26; 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, and 2 p.m. March 25. Ages 5 and

older. Presented by Rockville Musical Theatre. $24,, $20 ages 15 to 21, $15 for ages 14 and younger. 301-258-6394. gaithersburgmd.gov.

FILM

Bethesda Film Festival — 7 p.m. at Imagination Stage, 4908 Auburn Ave., Bethesda. Seven short documentaries made by local filmmakers at two screenings March 24 and 25. All films are shown at both screenings and will include a discussion with the filmmakers after the screenings $15. equinn@bethesda.org. bethesda.org/bethesda/film-fest-tickets. Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” (2021, PG-13 for some violence and strong language) — 7:30 p.m. at Carroll Arts Center, 91 W. Main St., Westminster. 1 p.m. screening is captioned. A semi-autobiographical film chronicling the life of a working class family and their young son’s childhood during the tumult of late 1960s Belfast. $7. 410-8787272. carrollcountyartscouncil.org.

PERFORMER

MET Comedy Night: Yes And: Double Feature New Improv Teams — 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Maryland Ensemble Theatre, 31 W. Patrick St., Frederick. A new improv team double-feature. 18 and older. $15. 301-6944744. zcallis@marylandensemble.org.

THEATER

“Grease” — 6 p.m. at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theatre, 44 N. Potomac St., Hagerstown. Here is Rydell High’s senior class of 1959: duck-tailed, hot-rodding “Burger Palace Boys” and their gum-snapping, hip-shaking “Pink Ladies” in bobby sox and pedal pushers, evoking the look and sound of the 1950s in this rollicking musical. Dinner precedes show. Cash bar available. $63 adults, $57 active military and first responders, includes dinner and show. 301739-7469. washingtoncountyplayhouse.com.

“Matilda: The Musical” — 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Century High School, 355 Ronsdale Road, Sykesville. Century Opening Knights will present Roald Dahl’s “Matilda,” a stage musical with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly, based on the 1988 novel. Check the website in the spring for ticket information. centurydramapublicity@gmail.com. tickets.centurydrama.com.

FTP presents “Rent” — 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at The Performing Arts Factory, 244 S. Jefferson St., Frederick. Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway musical, presented by the Fredericktowne Players. The rock musical explores the value of love and life through

CALENDAR

the trials and tribulations of struggling young artists striving to survive in Lower Manhattan’s East Village at the height of the HIV/Aids epidemic. $20. 240-315-3855. hello@ ftptheater.com. ftptheater.com.

Saturday March 25

From Sap to Syrup! Free Maple & Walnut Sugaring Demo at Willow Oaks + Syrup Pre-order — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Willow Oaks Cidery, 6219 Harley Road, Middletown. Observe the process of making sap into syrup with orchardist Taylor Roman at Willow Oaks. Maple or walnut syrup ($12 per 5-ounce bottle) is available for pre-order with pick-ups taking place after March 25. 301-418-8248. alecks@foxhavenfarm.org. foxhavenfarm.org/events/from-sap-to-syrupmaple-walnut-sugaring-demo-at-willow-oaks.

CLASSES

AstroHerbalism: The Connection of Plants and Planets with Myra Chung — 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Fox Haven Farm & Retreat Center, 3630 Poffenberger Road, Jefferson. Explore the deeper connection between the planets above and the plants below. 4-part series (each class purchased separately). Observe the land as it changes through the seasons, explore how it mirrors the sky, and learn how the zodiac manifests through us. $52. 240-490-5484. alecks@foxhavenfarm.org. foxhavenfarm.org/events/astroherbalism-theconnection-of-plants-and-planets.

“Creating a Flower Cutting Garden & Arrangements” — 10 a.m. to noon at UME Extension Office, 330 Montevue Lane, Frederick. Presented by the UME Frederick County Master Gardeners. Learn how to design, plant and harvest flowers from your own cutting garden. Discover the best sun and shade annuals for cutting and how to maintain the garden for maximum production. Also will demonstrate techniques for creating arrangements. Register online: bit.ly/FCMG23CuttingGarden.

Freedom BANG class — 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Walkersville Public Library, 2 S. Glade Road, Walkersville. Freedom Bang is a pre-choreographed fusion of boxing, HIIT, hip hop, world dance, optional weighted gloves and just a touch of attitude. Offering a wide range of intensity options to help you customize your workout. Ages 18 and older. 301-600-8200. AWadding@ FrederickCountyMD.gov. fcpl.org.

Zumba Saturdays at the Library — 10:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Urbana Regional Library, 9020 Amelung St., Frederick. Ready to exercise! Ready to dance! Ready to shake off the pounds? Come on in for Zumba at the Library on Saturday mornings through May 27. Ages 18 and older. 301-600-7004. marchange-desir@frederickcountymd.gov. frederick.librarycalendar.com/event/ zumba-saturdays-library-8.

Seed Saving & Starting Seeds Indoors

— 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Middletown Public Library, 101 Prospect St., Middletown. We are starting a seed library. Megan Rice, a local Master Gardener, will share her

story of seed saving, seed swapping and sustainable gardening. Hands-on event. Seeds and supplies provided. This is the first event in a gardening series which will continue throughout the year. 301-600-7560. lgrackin@frederickcountymd.gov. fcpl.org/calendar.

Making Photographic Portraits in Natural Light — 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 401 Museum Drive, Hagerstown. Cumberland Valley Photographers exhibition first-place winner Jillian Abir MacMaster leads this class. Bring your camera or phone for a hands-on  workshop. Pre-register. $60; $50 members. 301-739-5727. drastelli@wcmfa.org. wcmfa.org/making-photographic-portraits-innatural-light.

Advanced Beekeeping Classes — 2:20 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Eversweet Apiaries, 85 Everhart Drive, Kearneysville, W.Va. Eversweet Apiaries will be instructing two classes on Advanced Beekeeping via Zoom and in-person. 6+ hours of advanced beekeeping education, Class instruction is provided by Eversweet owner and professional beekeeper Jennifer King. $40. 304-876-3832. info@eversweetapiaries.com. eversweetapiaries.com.

ETCETERA

Bikes for the World Collection Event — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Brook Hill United Methodist Church, 8946 Indian Springs Road, Fredrick. Bikes for the World “re-cycles” used bikes to transform lives. Volunteers, community groups and businesses collect, “prep” and donate bikes to nonprofit partners around the world. Drop off or call for local pick up. Bikes for the World also accepts sewing machines and hand tools for donations!  See what is accepted at www.bikesfortheworld. org. 301-662-1727. katlman@bhumc.org. bhumc.org.

Art in Bloom Floral Displays — 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, 401 Museum Drive, Hagerstown. Displays inspired by art at the museum are on display for two days. March 25, a free floral demonstration will be at 1 p.m. Free.  301-739-5727. cschelle@wcmfa.org. wcmfa.org/art-in-bloom.

Elementary and Secondary Science Fair and Elementary Social Studies Fair — 9:30 a.m. to noon. Elementary school students have the option to participate in both the Science and Social Studies Fairs. The secondary science fair judging takes place from 9 a.m. to noon. A STEM Showcase, with hands-on science, technology, engineering and math activities is also open to the public during the elementary science fair. The STEM Showcase is open to students of all grade levels. 301-644-5267. fcps.org.

New to You: A Library Cardholder Event — 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Urbana Regional Library, 9020 Amelung St., Frederick. An opportunity to chat with librarians from the Urbana Regional Library, learn about upcoming programs and see technology in action. 301600-7000. bbrannen@frederickcountymd. gov. frederick.librarycalendar.com/event.

Forest Bathing with Monica Wenzel — 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Fox Haven Farm & Retreat Center, 3630 Poffenberger Road, Jefferson. Association of Nature and Forest Therapy trained guide Monica Wenzel, will guide you through sensory invitations to help you slow down, awaken your senses, and reconnect with nature. Bring your own yoga mat or lawn chair to rest on during this experience $35. 240-490-5484. alecks@foxhavenfarm. org. foxhavenfarm.org/events/forest-bathingwith-monica-wenzel.

FAMILY

Easter Egg Hunts — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Green Meadows Petting Farm, 10102 Fingerboard Road, Ijamsville. Also March 26, April 1-2, and 6-9. Hunts will be all day between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Hunt areas will be sectioned off according to age. No sign up is necessary. Participating children will get a Hunt Ticket with the purchase of a farm admission. Bring your own basket or buy one from us. $16 (credit) for ages 2+. 301-865-9203. info@greenmeadowsevents. com. greenmeadowsevents.com.

“The Adventures of Harold and the Purple Crayon” — 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Majestic Theater, 25 Carlisle St., Gettysburg, Pa. “One evening, after thinking it over for some time, Harold decided to go for a walk in the moonlight.” So begins Enchantment Theatre Company’s new live theatrical production based on the seven delightful picture books by Crockett Johnson that follow the zany adventures of an inventive young boy. Recommended for ages Pre-K through Grade 5, and their friends of all ages. $25 to $35, $5 discount for children. 717337-8200. majestictheater@gettysburg.edu. gettysburgmajestic.org.

MUSIC

Dead For One Night returns to Gambrill Mtn. Food Co. — 7 p.m. at Gambrill Mt. Food Co., 503 N. East St., Frederick. Apparently one night was not enough for this Grateful Dead supergroup. They will return for more at Gambrill Mtn. Food Co. 301-651-8385. thedirtymiddle@gmail.com.

Maryland Symphony Orchestra: “Northern Lights” — 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at The Maryland Theatre, 21 S. Potomac St., Hagerstown. Carl Nielsen, Helios Overture, Karol Szymanowski, Violin Concerto No. 2; Jean Sibelius, Symphony No. 5. See website for ticket info. 301-797-4002. nathan@ marylandsymphony.org.

An Evening with Jason Adamo — 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at New Spire Arts, 15 W. Patrick St., Frederick. One of the nations most respected and honored singer/songwriters Jason is already the winner of Gold and Double Platinum songwriting awards. He is a brilliant soulful singer who can go from a raspy Joe Cocker in one song, to a romantic balladeer in the next. $25. 301-600-2868. bhiller@cityoffrederickmd.gov. weinbergcenter.org/shows/ an-evening-with-jason-adamo.

Winchester Chamber Choir Concert — 7:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church,

Shepherdstown, W.Va. “March Musical Madness — From Bach to Jazz” concert will feature both classical and contemporary works, including Johann Sebastian Bach’s motet “Komm, Jesu, komm”; British choral classics, and American songbook standards. It will also include the world premiere of a work called “Critters” by Georgiann Toole, of Shepherdstown, who is the former choir director of the Shepherdstown Presbyterian Church. $35. 304-876-5765. info@friendswv. org. friendswv.org.

PERFORMER

Liberal Redneck Trae Crowder’s “Just Me and Y’all” Tour — 7:30 p.m. at Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 W. Patrick St., Frederick. Crowder first gained international attention in 2016 for his hugely viral series of “Liberal Redneck” comedic “porch rant” videos. Since then, Trae has written a best-selling book, “The Liberal Redneck Manifesto: Draggin Dixie Outta The Dark,” toured the country playing sold out theater shows under the “WellRED Comedy Tour” banner. $29.50 and up. 301-600-2828. weinbergcenter.org.

RECREATION

Pickleball 101 for Beginners — 10 a.m. to noon at Walkersville Community Park, 22 Kenneth Drive, Walkersville. Bring equipment if you have it, otherwise some equipment available. BYO water, too!. 301-600-8200. fcpl.org.

THEATER

“Matilda: The Musical” — 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Century High School, 355 Ronsdale Road, Sykesville. Century Opening Knights will present Roald Dahl’s “Matilda,” a stage musical with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly, based on the 1988 novel. Check the website in the spring for ticket information. centurydramapublicity@gmail.com. tickets.centurydrama.com.

“Grease” — 6 p.m. at Washington County Playhouse Dinner Theatre, 44 N. Potomac St., Hagerstown. Here is Rydell High’s senior class of 1959: duck-tailed, hot-rodding “Burger Palace Boys” and their gum-snapping, hip-shaking “Pink Ladies” in bobby sox and pedal pushers, evoking the look and sound of the 1950s in this rollicking musical. Dinner precedes show. Cash bar available. $63 adults, $57 active military and first responders, includes dinner and show. 301739-7469. washingtoncountyplayhouse.com.

FTP presents “Rent” — 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at The Performing Arts Factory, 244 S. Jefferson St., Frederick. Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway musical, produced by the Fredericktowne Players. The rock musical explores the value of love and life through the trials and tribulations of struggling young artists striving to survive in Lower Manhattan’s East Village at the height of the HIV/Aids epidemic.

$20. 240-315-3855. hello@ftptheater.com. ftptheater.com.

Sunday March 26

From Sap to Syrup! Free Maple & Walnut Sugaring Demo at Willow Oaks + Syrup Pre-order — 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Willow Oaks Cidery, 6219 Harley Road, Middletown. Observe the process of making sap into syrup with orchardist Taylor Roman at Willow Oaks. Maple or walnut syrup ($12 per 5-ounce bottle) is available for pre-order with pick-ups taking place after March 25. 301-418-8248. alecks@foxhavenfarm.org. foxhavenfarm.org/events/from-sap-to-syrupmaple-walnut-sugaring-demo-at-willow-oaks.

CLASSES

Make a Welcome Sign — 1 p.m. at Milkhouse Brewery at Stillpoint Farm, 8253 Dollyhyde Road, Mount Airy. Create a fun welcome sign. All materials will be included for an additional $25 material fee. There will be multiple designs for you to choose from. Registration required. Class fee is non-refundable. $25. carolann@milkhousebrewery.com. milkhousebrewery.com/classes.

“Hamilton vs. Wall Street: The Core Principles of the American System of Economics” — 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Brunswick Library, 915 N. Maple Ave., Brunswick. Nancy Bradeen Spannaus will discuss the relevance of Alexander Hamilton’s ideas for today. His core ideas were presented in his masterwork, the Report on Manufactures. 540-822-9194. edspannaus@verizon.net. americansystemnow.com.

ETCETERA

Victorian Parlor Divination and Tea — 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Walkersville Public Library, 2 S. Glade Road, Walkersville. Join us for a mystical afternoon as we sample tea, and enjoy conversation and demonstrations by experts in their field. We will cover such topics as Tasseology, Divination, Crystals, Tarot cards and more. 18+. 301-600-8200. fcpl.org.

Christian Science Talk: Why Everyone Is

Needed — 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Evangelical Reformed United Church of Christ (ERUCC), 15 W. Church St. (lower level), Frederick. James Shepherd from Eugene, Oregon, will present a talk based on the understanding of God through Christian Science. 301-6622300. joeymomcs@gmail.com.

Labyrinth Vespers — 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Mount Moriah Lutheran Church, 15116 Foxville Church Road, Sabillasville. This is an opportunity to walk an indoor labyrinth on the mountain in a beautiful setting. 240-405-2173. prjulie@verizon.net.

FAMILY

5K Titans on the Run — 8 a.m. to noon at Tuscarora High School, 5312 Ballenger Creek Pike, Frederick. First in-person 5K fundraiser run. All monies raised get split between the school’s instrumental music and athletics groups. Non-runners are welcome to walk, jog or stroll. All ages. $25. thsimbinfo@gmail. com. runsignup.com/Race/MD/Frederick/ TitansontheRun.

CALENDAR

Easter Egg Hunts — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Green Meadows Petting Farm, 10102 Fingerboard Road, Ijamsville. Also March 26, April 1-2, and 6-9. Hunts will be all day between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Hunt areas will be sectioned off according to age. No sign up is necessary. Participating children will get a Hunt Ticket with the purchase of a farm admission. Bring your own basket or buy one from us. $16 (credit) for ages 2+. 301-865-9203. info@greenmeadowsevents. com. greenmeadowsevents.com.

Egg-stravaganza — 10 a.m. to noon at First Baptist Church of Thurmont, 7 Sunny Way, Thurmont. For ages Pre-K to fifth grade. Egg hunt, puppets, prizes, snacks, moon bounce, pony rides. Family-friendly. 301-471-9898. fbcthurmont.org.

MUSIC

F.A.M.E. “Formal” Song Circle — 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Common Market Coop, 5728 Buckeystown Pike , Frederick. Share some music with friends! Bring your instrument, your voice, or just your ears! Oh, and bring some print-outs of chords and lyrics to share (that’s what makes it “formal”). 301-471-0889. D.Koronet@att.net. frederickacoustic.org.

Maryland Symphony Orchestra: “Northern Lights” — 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at The Maryland Theatre, 21 S. Potomac St., Hagerstown. Carl Nielsen, Helios Overture, Karol Szymanowski, Violin Concerto No. 2; Jean Sibelius, Symphony No. 5. See website for ticket info. 301-797-4002. nathan@marylandsymphony. org.

Cathedral Classics Concert — 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Coffman Chapel at Hood College, 401 Rosemont Ave., Frederick. Bask in the sound of Baroque music featuring the combined choirs of CASF and Hood College along with a full orchestra in the newly renovated and acoustically pristine Coffman Chapel. This is choral music the way Handel intended. tickets@casof.org. casof.org.

One Blue Night — 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Cactus Flats, 10026 Hansonville Road, Frederick. Live country music.

Lute & Viola Da Gamba Concert — 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 1914 Ballenger Creek Pike, Point of Rocks. Masters of their instruments, Ronn McFarlane and Carolyn Surrick will perform Baroque classics as well as Scottish, Irish and contemporary pieces. Handicapped accessible. A free-will offering will benefit Doctors Without Borders. tsquaretaylor@aol.com.

Blue October: Spinning the Truth Around Tour — 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 W. Patrick St., Frederick. Formed in Houston in 1995 by brothers Justin and Jeremy Furstenfeld, Blue October is an alternative, post-grunge rock group best known for their hits “Hate Me” and “Into the Ocean.” $75. 301-600-2868. bhiller@ cityoffrederickmd.gov. weinbergcenter.org/shows/blue-october.

THEATER

FTP presents “Rent” — 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at

FIRE OF GEORGIA

Saturday, April 1, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

The company’s program features the variety of the world’s folklore and classical dance elements, acrobatics, stunts, and temperament of the male dancers, as well as the graceful, charming, and gorgeous steps of the female dancers.

Tickets are $25 Regular, $20 Seniors, and $5 Students w/ID (Student tickets must be purchased through the box office.)

April 13, 2023, 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $35 Regular, $30 Seniors, $5 Students w/ID (Student tickets must be purchased through the box office.)

Gela Potskhishvili and Maia Kiknadze, Artistic Directors

CALENDAR

The Performing Arts Factory, 244 S. Jefferson St., Frederick. Jonathan Larson’s Pulitzer Prize winning Broadway musical, produced by the Fredericktowne Players. The rock musical explores the value of love and life through the trials and tribulations of struggling young artists striving to survive in Lower Manhattan’s East Village at the height of the HIV/Aids epidemic. $20. 240-315-3855. hello@ ftptheater.com. ftptheater.com.

Monday March 27

CLASSES

Doing Science in the Early Modern Kitchen: Women, Recipes, and Knowledge Making — 7:30 p.m. at Coley Rice Lounge, McDaniel Hall at McDaniel College, 2 College Hill, Westminster. The annual Phi Beta Kappa lecture titled “Doing Science in the Early Modern Kitchen: Women, Recipes, and Knowledge Making” with Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Wendy Wall, the Avalon Professor of the Humanities, Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence, and professor of English at Northwestern University. mcdaniel.edu/about-us/ event-calendars.

FAC After Hours & Yogamour: Restorative Yoga with Soundbath — 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at FAC Art Center, 5 E. Second St., Frederick. Join a gentle flow yoga session on the main level while enjoying art work that adorn the walls of this historic space. All levels which includes beginners. Some yoga mats available. $15. 301-662-4190. wiegand@frederickartscouncil.org. yogamour.org/public-yoga-classes.

MUSIC

Jazz Ambassadors — 7 p.m. at Luhrs Prefomring Arts Center, 475 Lancaster Drive, Shippensburg, Pa. The official touring big band of the U.S. Army! This 19-member ensemble will take you through America’s greatest art form, jazz! Enjoy the music of this lively group which features big band swing, bebop, Latin, popular tunes, and more! 717-477-7469. info@luhrscenter.com. luhrscenter.com/event/jazz-ambassadors.

Tuesday March 28

ETCETERA

Dine Out Night Hosted by the Walkersville High School Leo Club — 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Madrones Restaurant, 7810 Wormans Mill Road, Frederick. Madrone’s will donate 10-20% of the total check for anyone who tells their waiter/waitress that they are there for the fundraiser. The Leo Club members will be at Madrone’s all evening — out front and inside — cleaning tables and decorating tables, manning an information table with a donation basket, etc. Proceeds benefit relief efforts for Ukraine. 301-788-0526.

Pride On The Patio — 5:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Showroom, 882 N. East St., Fredrick. Weekly LGBTQIA social mixer. Relaxed an casual. Happy hour pricing, full menu available; drink special Gender Fluid. 21+.

240-409-8858. prideonthepatio@gmail.com. facebook.com/PrideOnThePatio.

Acoustic Open Mic at Liquidity Aleworks

— 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Liquidity Aleworks, 8 N. Main St., Mount Airy. Come out and play! All talent levels welcome! Dave Koronet hosts. 301-471-0889. D.Koronet@att.net.

FILM

FAC After Hours: Art Center Bijou — 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at FAC Art Center, 5 E. Second St., Frederick. A weekly film screening curated in collaboration with documentary filmmaker Leah Michaels and FAC Associate SJ Wiegand. Each month presents films that fall under one general theme in order to cultivate discussion about film as a mode of artistic expression. 301-662-4190. wiegand@ frederickartscouncil.org. frederickartscouncil.org/ news-events/calendar-grid.

MUSIC

Acoustic Java Jam — 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Urbana Regional Library, 9020 Amelung St., Frederick. Join local musician Cristina Rivero and bring your acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle or violin. Sip some coffee or tea and jam with us. 301-600-7004. marchangedesir@frederickcountymd.gov. frederick.librarycalendar.com/ event/acoustic-java-jam-1.

Wednesday March 29

ETCETERA

Thacher & Rye Local Weds Dinner Series

— 7 p.m.. A culinary journey featuring Frederick’s local craft beverage businesses with a 3-course menu expertly crafted by Chef Bryan Voltaggio and team. Featuring Windridge. Reservations recommended, walk-ins welcome if space allows.  $75 person plus tax and gratuity, beverages included. 240-332-3186. info@thacherandrye.com. thacherandrye.com.

Thursday March 30

CLASSES

A Greater Purpose Workshop for Maryland Business Leaders — 8 a.m. to noon at C12 Maryland, 20 W. Second St., Frederick. Develop a Strategic Plan for Ministry in Your Business. The interactive format includes instruction, peer learning, video resources, assessments, and implementable tools. Participants will explore the biblical basis for work as worship with clear pathways to implement business as ministry principles. Registration required. $300. 301-471-0373. david.weigelt@c12forums.com.

How Can You Protect Hummingbirds and Dragonflies? — 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. online, hosted by Fox Haven Farm & Retreat Center, 3630 Poffenberger Road, Jefferson. Explore Patterns in Biodiversity focusing on hummingbirds and dragonflies to better understand how to protect these precious

species. Dennis Liu is an internationally recognized expert in science education. $15. 240-490-5484. alecks@foxhavenfarm. org. foxhavenfarm.org.

ETCETERA

200 Monroe Restaurant — 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Monroe Center, 200 Monroe Ave., Frederick. Frederick Community College invites you to enjoy a gourmet dinner created by the talented students at 200 Monroe Restaurant! Reservations are required! For dine-in or carryout, visit opentable.com/200Monroe. $40-$44. HCTI@frederick.edu. opentable.com/200-monroe.

Pour House Trivia — 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Champion Billiards Sports Bar, 5205 Buckeystown Pike, Frederick. Come on out with the team and play some Pour House Trivia. 7 p.m. start. Extended Happy Hour from 4 to 8 p.m.  301-846-0089. frederickchampions.com/weekly-specials.

MUSIC

Camerata RCO — 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Gettysburg Area Middle School, 37 Lefever St., Gettysburg, Pa. Camerata RCO from the Netherlands. Formed by members of Amsterdam’s famed Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (RCO), the musicians perform chamber music in multiple formations from duet to small chamber orchestra, with a special focus on the Classical and Romantic repertoire for winds and strings. $20 adult; children to age 18 and college students with college ID-free. 717-339-9610. pmagaldi17@gmail.com. gettysburgcca.org.

PERFORMER

An Evening with David Sedaris — 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at Weinberg Center for the Arts, 20 W. Patrick St., Frederick. With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, Sedaris has become one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers. The great skill with which he slices through cultural euphemisms and political correctness proves that Sedaris is a master of satire and one of the most observant writers addressing the human condition today. $50. 301-600-2868. bhiller@ cityoffrederickmd.gov. weinbergcenter.org/ shows/an-evening-with-david-sedaris.

Friday March 31

ETCETERA

PEEPshow — at TownMall of Westminster, 400 N. Center St., Westminster. Daily through April 10; 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. This sweet event features numerous marshmallow masterpieces, including sculptures, dioramas, mosaics and even videos, all crafted from or inspired by PEEP. 410-848-7272. carrollcountyartscouncil.org.

FAMILY

Mahjong — 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at C. Burr Artz

Public Library, 110 E. Patrick St., Frederick. Learn and play the game Mahjong with the Frederick County Public Libraries and Asian American Center of Frederick. 301-600-1630. mtong@frederickcountymd. gov.

KofC Friday Fish Dinners — 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Sr. Margaret Bauer Evangelization Center, St. John the Evangelist Church, 114 E. Second St., Frederick. Fridays through March 31. Drive up and place your order. Fried fish is freshly breaded on-site. Suggested donation is $14, child’s plate $6. Stations of the Cross will follow in the church at 7 p.m. $14. 301-305-2127. satterf@comcast.net. kofc1622.org/fishfry.html.

MUSIC

FAC After Hours: See What Sticks

Performance Art Workshop — 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at FAC Art Center, 5 E. Second St., Frederick. Performance artists, musicians, poets, actors — meet Frederick’s newest performance workshop and open stage. 301-662-4190. wiegand@ frederickartscouncil.org. frederickartscouncil.org/news-events/ calendar-grid.

THEATER

“Matilda: The Musical” — 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Century High School, 355 Ronsdale Road, Sykesville. Century Opening Knights will present Roald Dahl’s “Matilda,” a stage musical with music and lyrics by Tim Minchin and a book by Dennis Kelly, based on the 1988 novel. Check the website in the spring for ticket information. centurydramapublicity@gmail.com. tickets.centurydrama.com.

Saturday April 1

CLASSES

Freedom BANG class — 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Walkersville Public Library, 2 S. Glade Road, Walkersville. Freedom Bang is a pre-choreographed fusion of boxing, HIIT, hip hop, world dance, optional weighted gloves and just a touch of attitude. Offering a wide range of intensity options to help you customize your workout. Ages 18 and older. 301-600-8200. AWadding@ FrederickCountyMD.gov. fcpl.org.

Zumba Saturdays at the Library — 10:15 a.m. to 11 a.m. at Urbana Regional Library, 9020 Amelung St., Frederick. Ready to exercise! Ready to dance! Ready to shake off the pounds? Come on in for Zumba at the Library on Saturday mornings through May 27. Ages 18 and older. 301-600-7004. marchange-desir@ frederickcountymd.gov. frederick.librarycalendar.com/ event/zumba-saturdays-library-8.

Sierra Club Catoctin Group Meeting — 11 a.m. to noon at Common Market Community Room, 927 W. Seventh St., Frederick. Sierra Club Catoctin Group members, friends and the public are invited to attend upcoming monthly meetings.

301-318-7995. Pwsccg@yahoo.com. sierraclub.org/maryland/catoctin-group. Creating a Terrarium — 11 a.m. to noon at Walkersville Public Library, 2 S. Glade Road, Walkersville. Members of the Greenwalled Garden Club of Frederick will give a demonstration on how to make foliage and succulent terrariums. This will include types of containers, popular miniature plants, creating a theme, planting and maintenance. Ages 18 and older. 301-600-8200. fcpl.org.

The Art of Mindfulness — 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Middletown Public Library, 101 Prospect St., Middletown. Use art and meditation techniques to practice mindfulness that will enrich your daily life. Using paint, pen and collage, have fun being in the moment with a focus on mark-making, glazes, and more with less focus on the pressures of a finished product and more on the joy of creation. Cast your fears of creativity aside and be here now. All supplies provided. 18 and older.  301-600-7560. lgrackin@frederickcountymd. gov. fcpl.org/calendar.

ETCETERA

PEEPshow — at TownMall of Westminster, 400 N. Center St., Westminster. Daily through April 10; 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, noon to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. This sweet event features numerous marshmallow masterpieces, including

sculptures, dioramas, mosaics and even videos, all crafted from or inspired by PEEPS. 410-848-7272. carrollcountyartscouncil.org.

This Race is for the Birds! 5K/10K - InPerson (April 1) and Virtual (March 25 to April 1) — 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Broomgrass Farm Community, Broomgrass Way, Gerrardstown, W.Va. Sign up for the most fun run of the season! Join the Potomac Valley Audubon Society for the 23rd annual event. Run, walk, or jog a 5K or 10K in-person on the trails of the Broomgrass Farm Community in Berkeley County, W.Va.  For those who are not local or not available the day of the race, we welcome your participation through our virtual 5K/10K option. All proceeds support the PVAS programs and preserves.

$30-40. runsignup.com/Race/WV/ Gerrardstown/raceforthebirds.

Schifferstadt Architectural Museum — 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Boyce Rensberger, 12436 Legore Road, Keymar. Explore the home of Frederick’s pioneer family, the Brunners. Built in 1758, it is the oldest surviving building in the city and a National Historic Landmark. Inside is the only known example of a German heating system that provided safe, clean, energy-efficient radiant heat. Learn the story of the desperate German immigrants who fled dire conditions in Europe and came to prominence in Frederick County. Walk in for a guided tour.

$8 for adults, free for under age 12. 301-456-

An Evening with David Sedaris

THURSDAY, MARCH 30 | 7:30 PM

4912. boycerensberger@gmail.com. fredericklandmarks.org.

Award-Winning Storyteller Noa Baum — 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at The Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road, Gaithersburg. Performance of “Impossible to Translate But I’ll Try: True-Life Israeli Stories.” Growing up in Jerusalem is more than the Bible and War. Experience a completely different side of Israel with stories of her childhood adventures, outrageous matchmaking and all the love in between. Ages 12+. 1-258-6394. linda.bloom@ gaithersburgmd.gov.

Ghost Tours of Historic Frederick — 7:15 p.m. to 8:45 p.m. at Brewer’s Alley Restaurant and Brewery, 124 N. Market St., Frederick. Journey through Frederick’s gruesome and bloody past. Nearly 300 years of war, executions and revenge. True documented stories of the paranormal with Maryland’s oldest operating Ghost Tour. Uncover political savvy and defiant citizens, patriots from the Revolutionary War, beckoning soldiers from the Civil War. Reservations recommended. $15. info@marylandghosttours.com. marylandghosttours.com.

FAMILY

Easter Egg Hunts — 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Green Meadows Petting Farm, 10102 Fingerboard Road, Ijamsville. Also April 6-9.

Frederick Symphony Orchestra

SUNDAY, APRIL 30 | 3:00 PM

Hunts will be all day between 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Hunt areas will be sectioned off according to age. No sign up is necessary.  Participating children will get a Hunt Ticket with the purchase of a farm admission. Bring your own basket or buy one from us. $16 (credit) for ages 2 to 82. 3018659203. info@greenmeadowsevents.com. greenmeadowsevents.com.

Easter Festival — 10 a.m. to noon at Prospect United Methodist Church, 5923 Woodville Road, Mount Airy. Easter egg hunt at 10:10 a.m., children’s crafts and games, animal puppet show, decorate your own cookie, inside yard sale and bake table. BYO basket. Inside activities rain or shine. Children must be accompanied by an adult. 301-829-9244.

Spring Fling & Egg Roll — 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Rose Hill Manor Park, 1611 N. Market St., Frederick. Games, crafts, food. Fun for the whole family. Advance registration is required. $5. 301-600-2936. recreater.com.

Farmer ChuckBones Easter Events — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Farmer ChuckBone’s, 6269 Ed Crone Lane, Frederick. Meet the Easter Bunny. Purchase tickets for the Easter egg hunt along the nature trail, pictures with the Easter Bunny in the Giant Chair, hayrides and bunny petting area. Free admission for adults, $10 per child.  240-220-0675. farmerchuckbone.com.

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The Steel Wheels

SATURDAY, APRIL 1 | 8:00 PM

Neil Berg’s The 60’s: Peace, Love & Rock N’ Roll

FRIDAY, APRIL 21 | 8:00 PM

Afrique en Cirque by Cirque Kalabanté

SUNDAY, APRIL 23 | 6:30 PM

WONDER BOOK CLASSIC FILM SERIES

East of Eden (1955)

THURSDAY, APRIL 13 | 7:30 PM

Ngaiire

SPONSORED BY PLUS

First Nations Papua New Guinean singer/songwriter

THURSDAY, MAY 4 | 7:30 PM Afrique en Cirque The

Tom Jones (1963)

THURSDAY, APRIL 27 | 7:30 PM