Sunday, September 16, 2012

Frostburg Turns 200, Celebrates Bicentennial

By: Sean Truly

Last Saturday, September 15th 2012, marked a landmark in the history of the small town in Western Maryland that all of Frostburg State University’s student population have come to view as a home away from their hometowns. Frostburg, known as Mount Pleasant in its earlier days up to 1820, was founded in 1812 as one of many small towns to dot the first national Highway-Route 40 by Meshach Frost. Little did Frost know, 200 years after the towns founding and after being renamed in his honor that the town would thrive and flourish for one beautiful Saturday afternoon on historic Main Street.

At 10:30 that morning, one of the longest and most remarkable parades the small town has seen in quite a while embarked at the top of the city, just off of Armstrong Avenue at the Western Side of Frostburg. Running down the span of Main Street, the Bicentennial Parade was a magnificent display of American pride and patriotism as a continuous line of Police Department vehicles, Fire Trucks, Ambulances and other local Heroes paraded down the central corridor of the city. Even out of county and out of state organizations took to the streets to help Frostburg celebrate this joyous time of remembrance and town pride. A total of 11 Divisions comprised the entire line, including schools, beauty pageant winners such as Miss Frostburg and other local companies and other VIPs and patrons who contribute greatly to the area’s well-being. As is tradition for many parades in towns like this, children clung on to bags and scooped with tiny hands the candy of dozens of floats that crawled down Main Street, running with glee and enjoying this historic event with a different perspective then the more grown-up and older citizens and spectators. People sat on the entire span of the street to join in for the momentous occasion, many walking from their side of the city to watch the parade as there was no parking spaces to speak of and no way to travel down there in any other respect. Off to the side, a small barbecue of Chili and Hotdogs among other things was made to accommodate the hundreds of spectators; no doubt making a hefty profit from it all.

Even after the main festivities ended, locals and non-locals alike joined together and explored a town filled with nostalgia, history, and antiques. One of many displays was the Lower Level of the Hotel Gunter (Also known as Fallanger’s and the Gladstone Restaurant nearby). Housed in a Historical building in its own right, the lower levels included many collections including a room that proudly displayed it’s former occupation as a depository area for Coal from the local mines that fueled the Electricity to the old building. Many of the oldest buildings in the city have long since faded into the annals of the town’s history book; including its former Opera House (now where Fat Boy’s Pizza is now located), the Palace Theatre (Now only partially open to private events and used mainly for local advertising purposes), Prichard’s General Store (now the Burnt shell of the establishment that  once held Gianni’s Pizzeria) and Gandalf’s (Now the University’s Creative Writing Center)-but the Hotel Gunter has remained open for business and so had the Princess Restaurant, a famous eatery where former president Harry Truman once had a meal at.

Another landmark, the old Frostburg Trolley, continued to service people even into the dusk hours of the day. Especially around the area of Frostburg State’s campus and other historic locations in the city of Frostburg, where it could be seen whirring around proudly as it once did so many decades ago in participation with a trivia/scavenger hunt that ran for the majority of the day. In the parade, it carried several important politicians and socialites in the town, including the former Mayor Cotton. As part of the Cultural Event series at FSU, though not directly involved with the bicentennial, Kathy Mattea performed in the Main Arena of the PE Center. Born and raised in West Virginia, she admired the celebration of local customs in the area in the beginning of her performance-and much of her music about Coal mining and West Virginian history can be applied here in Western Maryland as the tri-state area shares a similar history during this time period of Mining. Even though it was not a part of the main festivities, it should be mentioned as her music and genre echo a simpler time that harkens from the late 19th and early 20th century of the Mid-Atlantic area of the United States.

A spectacular display of Pyrotechnics and Fireworks was the cherry on the top of the Bicentennial, lasting well over 20 minutes and including many breathtaking effects. Without a doubt, the Parade and the Fireworks Show made a tremendous opening and closing ceremony of the Bicentennial-an once in a lifetime event that no one who came to witness it on that day will ever forget, and will live in History for another century when the 300th Birthday of the Town happens in 2112.

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