SPORTS: Libertys girls win title, Carroll athletes bring home gold at state meet /B1, 8

/A3

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100TH ANNIVERSARY
1911-2011

www.carrollcountytimes.com

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Pools to reopen to the public

County has many places for warm-weather recreation
BY PETER PANEPINTO
TIMES STAFF WRITER

DAVE MUNCH/STAFF PHOTOS

Julianna Allender, left, Alessandra Stevens and Brooks Allender ride the Baja Buggy at the Gamber fire company carnival Saturday. Below, Matt Hanks serves Jackson Turrall at the True- Cut Pit Beef stand at the carnival Saturday.

Carnival season fires up

Gamber pit beef stand honors member
BY ALISHA GEORGE
TIMES STAFF WRITER

Gambers fire company kicked off the warm-weathered carnival season in Carroll County Saturday with food, raffles, games, rides and family entertainment. The Gamber carnival is also the only one in the county to start on a Saturday and be open for eight nights. If we do have bad weather, it gives us extra days to make up for it, Company Chief Charlie Green Jr. said. A big attraction at local carnivals is its signature food, especially pit beef. Annual Gamber carnival- goers may notice a brand-new pit beef stand where an older structure once stood, complete with a masonry barbeque pit and plaque with dedication to Matthew True, a Gamber fire company member who died from meningitis in March 2010 at 23 years old. Green said True loved the carnival and helped out at the event each year, so the fire company decided to name the stand True- Cut Please see Carnival, A7

Westminster resident Paula Cook has been taking her 13-year- old son to the Westminster Municipal Pool almost every summer since he was 2 years old. He learned how to the swim there, said Cook, 53. He loves that pool. With the weather forecasts predicting temperatures in the high 90s early next week, Cook and her son, Sky Teel, are planning to cool off at the pool Monday. Todays high temperature is forecast to reach 89 degrees, followed by a high of 96 Monday and 95 Tuesday, according to weather.com. Several Carroll County pools are scheduled to open, just in time. The Westminster Municipal Pool opens Monday, from noon to 7 p.m., and it will be the first chance for the public to enjoy the newly installed park equipment, said Ron Shroers, director of recreation and parks. Its going to be a beautiful day, Shroers said. Come one, come all. New additions to the park include a basketball court, two tetherball stations, a new fence and the playground with accompanying shade structures. The park also includes the NOES 360, an interactive electronic game that appeals to adults and children. The park and equipment was funded through a $140,000 grant a city received from the Community Parks and Playgrounds Program. Cooks other son, Blake Brown, said hes been swimming at the Westminster pool as long as he can remember. Brown, 28, said he loves attending the pool because it has a perfect spot to play Shark, a game of tag played in water. One person starts as the shark, Brown said. And each person thats tagged becomes a shark until there is one person left. Please see Pools, A4

INSIDE
I Full listing of county carnival dates; Nashville musician returns home for Memorial Day concert See page A7

TODAY IN THE TIMES

Fire companies rely heavily on fundraisers

BY CHRISTIAN ALEXANDERSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER

Bad weather, attendance can cost units thousands of dollars

ment has to be scheduled, and volunteers have to be contacted and show up. But no matter the amount of planning, volunteer fire companies must rely on two factors they have no control over community attendance and good weather. If the weather keeps people inside and away from the carnivals, the fire companies lose tens of thousands of dollars. Summer carnivals in Carroll serve as the largest fundraiser for the fire companies that produce them, regularly bringing in hundreds of thou-

The amount of preparation needed for a week- long summer carnival is massive. Food has to be bought and cooked, rides and games have to be set up, live entertain-

sands of dollars to the companies collectively. Mike Kreimer, treasurer for the Union Bridge fire company, said without its summer carnival, the volunteer department would not be able to afford its fire and rescue vehicles. A typical fire engine, Please see Companies, A7

Egypt reopens border

Hamas likely to benefit with lift of blockade of Gaza Strip. A5

Town still heartbeat of region

BY CAROLINE HAILEY
TIMES STAFF WRITER

Residents hold onto hope of rebuilding Joplin

with a tour of my dads former school, Joplin High School. The schools current principal led my dad, about 15 of his former classmates and I around the building, pausing to talk about the library upgrades, improvements to the cafeteria and the many other changes that had taken place since my dad had roamed the halls there as a student. The group spent most of the tour marveling at the new TV studio and fancy journalism computers that many of them didnt have when they worked on the schools newspaper and yearbook and trying to remember which classroom was the one where they had spent too many hours being intimidated by their dominating English teacher. After the tour, we went to a local pizzeria owned by

I last visited Joplin, Mo., this past July. My dad was going to his 40th high school reunion so I tagged along as a way to meet some of his old friends, while also getting to spend time with my grandparents, who have lived in Joplin all of their adult lives. Our Saturday morning that weekend started off

Joy Stout, another one of their high school classmates, for lunch. Less than a year after that weekend, its hard HAILEY to comprehend how different Joplin looks after PHOTO COURTESY OF JENNIFER WETZEL the Sunday tornado that Maragaret Bishops mothers house is shown in ripped through the southwestern Missouri city, Joplin, Mo., after a tornado ripped through the town

May 22. Bishop said she only found a pile of debris

Please see Joplin, A8 where her mothers bedroom used to be.

Weather 87/67
Chance of thunderstorms, cloudy /A2

Prep Sports Join the high school sports community at www.carroll varsity.com.

INSIDE

2011, Carroll County Times Classified D4- 8 Obituaries Life & Times C1- 8 Opinion Lottery A2 Puzzles Nation/World A5 Sports

A4 A6 D3, 8 B1- 8

Westminster, Maryland