Local Christmas Services

2013 Christmas Services at Local Places of Worship

I got to thinking about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day services and thought that it would be nice to have a "one-stop" place to find the times for the local church services in the Highland/Fulton area. (each heading is a link to the church)

St. Francis of Assisi Roman Catholic Church, Fulton MD

There are 4 Christmas Eve Masses: 4 p.m., 6 p.m., 8 p.m. and Midnight (which actually starts at 11:30 p.m.). There is also a 4 p.m. Mass at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fulton. There is a single Christmas Day Mass- It's at 10 a.m. Fr. Dennis Diehl recommends that you come to Mass at least a half hour early for any of the services.

St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Fulton MD

There are 2 Christmas Eve services, one at 6:30 p.m. and the other at 11 p.m. The Christmas Day service is at 10:30 a.m.

Mt. Zion United Methodist Church, Highland, MD

There are 4 Christmas Eve services: the 4 p.m. Family/Children's service, the 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. candlelight service, and the 11 p.m. candlelight and communion service. There is no Christmas Day service.

St. Mark's Episcopal Church, Highland, MD

There are three Christmas Eve services. The 4 p.m. service features a Christmas pageant and the Eucharist. The 7:30 p.m. serice is the "Festal Eucharist" with the 11 p.m. service is the choral Eucharist with a prelude of Christmas music beginning at 10:30 p.m. There is no Christmas Day service.

There are a few other churches for which I couldn't find any references to their services.

Maple Lawn Street Festival to finish with a BANG!

The Street Festival at Maple Lawn Farms in Fulton takes place in the commercial district on Saturday, July 13 from 5 to 9 p.m. with the evening ending with a fireworks display starting around 9:15 p.m. Live entertainment is planned along with a children's area, food vendors, a sidewalk sale, along with local vendors and exhibitors. For more information, you can visit their web-site or give them a ring at 301-604-1011.

North Laurel 4-H has a Fundraiser at Chick-Fil-A on Johns Hopkins Road.

Everybody's got to eat, right? And, going out to eat is great because: 1 - someone else does the cooking; and, 2 - someone else does the cleaning up (well, except for maybe taking your tray and dumping the trash into the trash receptacle). Roanne Smallwood, a leader in the North Laurel Leaders 4-H Club was kind enough to pass on an invite to the greater Highland-Fulton community to a fundraiser that the North Laurel Leaders 4-H is having on May 21 at the Chick-Fil-A restaurant on Johns Hopkins Road. It runs from 5 to 8 p.m. Some of the proceeds of this fundraiser will go towards the club's community service project, Hero Dogs. This organization trains dogs for use by disabled veterans. Roanne really hopes that the community comes out in support for this fundraiser. You can eat-in or order through the drive-thru-- just be sure to mention 4-H! Roanne wrote that club members have been very busy learning all about good baking techniques, making decoupage items, and learning about scrapbooking, while the younger Clover members, ages 5-7, have been busy learning about appliqué, healthy food choices, and making sock puppets. 4-H is open to all children ages 5-18. For more information on 4-H please call Roanne Smallwood at 301-725-3905. The 4-H calendar for Howard County can be found here. A link to the latest (April) edition of the Clover newsletter can be found here.

Nurturing Gardens and Graduates at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, Fulton MD

Randy Arndt, a parishioner at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fulton, MD, was kind enough to send me an e-mail describing the mulch sale that the Men's Brotherhood at the church is once again sponsoring this year.
Here's Randy's e-mail:

The ground hog said spring is on its way, and St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fulton is getting ready to help our community nurture their gardens ... and also nurture the aspirations of college-bound students. The Men's Brotherhood at St. Paul's will once again conduct a spring mulch sale on weekends beginning February 23, with proceeds going to a college scholarship fund for youth in the congregation.

The mulch sales will run from 9 am to noon each Saturday from February 23 until the end of March, or while supplies last. Large 3-cubic-foot bags of premium hardwood and shredded hardwood mulch will be sold for $5 per bag and loaded for purchasers. Local delivery of large orders, up to 45 bags, will also be available for a flat rate of $20. Soil conditioners and some decorative mulch, such as red mulch, will also be available.

The St. Paul's mulch sale will be conducted in the church parking lot, which is entered from Murphy Road, which intersects Route 216 across from the cow pasture at Maple Lawn Farm.

The Men's Brotherhood at St. Paul's initiated its scholarship program in 2012 and awarded its first scholarship grant of $1,000.00 to Kathleen Hupfeld, an Atholton High School graduate who is now attending Elon University in North Carolina.

For additional information about the St. Paul's Mulch Sale or to inquire about delivery, contact Mike Heyser 301-370-6362.

Thanks, Randy.

Reservoir High School Boys and Girls Track Team News

The Reservoir High School Indoor Track Teams are on fire! At the 3A East Indoor Track and Field Regional Championships on Feb. 7, the Boys Team emerged victorious, taking 1st place with the Girls Team finishing taking 5th.  Congratulations to all of the student-athletes and also to the outstanding coaching staff ... Mr. Lincoln, Mr. Brown, Mr. Hickson, and Mr. Rogers!

Athletes who Qualified to the 3A State Championships
Name	Event	Regional Place	Time/Mark
Karli Smiraglia Emily Miller Amy Oliver Katie Wilson	Girls 4 x 800m Relay	2nd	10:26.60
Mike Peprah Teddy LaFemina Tristan King Timmy Usher	Boys 4 x 800m Relay	2nd	8:51.50
Cindy Alms	Girls 1600m Run	1st	5:28.56
Adam Gartrell	Boys 1600m Run	4th	4:44.95
Bryan Sosoo	Boys 55m Dash	5th	6.87
Gibrill Sherriff	Boys 55m Dash	6th	6.90
Timmy Usher	Boys 500m Dash	1st	1:10.10
Cindy Alms	Girls 3200m Run	3rd	12:01.72
Katie Wilson	Girls 3200m Run	5th	12:23.94
Adam Gartrell	Boys 3200m Run	7th	10:21.75
Timmy Usher	Boys 800m Run	2nd	2:05.46
Olumide Akinbinu	Boys High Jump	2nd	5' 9"
Eric Higgins	Boys Pole Vault	1st	11' 6"
Evan Rector	Boys Pole Vault	2nd	10'4"
Kyle Kroll	Boys Pole Vault	4th	9'6"
Folarin Onifade	Boys Shot Put	4th	42'5.5"

Thanks to RHS Principal Pat Saunderson and Ms. Barb Mueller for this information.