There's been a hush over the county on these frosty mornings. The house tours are over, the crafts people have ended their shows so they can tend to their own family holiday celebrations; houses are decorated for the season, and car after car has driven by our house with a Christmas tree on its roof.
As of yesterday morning, at Myers' Jubilee Foods in Union Bridge, there were only five Christmas trees remaining on the lot. People are ready for Christmas.
Maybe it's because we live in this quiet end of the county, with no malls or major shopping centers, that we can feel the quiet readiness of the countryside in these days before the coming of the new year.
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Last Friday night I got a call from Darlene Rhoads in Baltimore. She was calling to tout the hard work of her father, James Nash of Taneytown, and his friends and co-members of the Taneytown American Legion Post 120.
Members of Legion posts around the state have been working five-hour shifts selling Christmas trees at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. In the coldest, nastiest, rainiest weather, these men, veterans of American military actions from from World War II through Desert Storm, drive to Baltimore to sell and bag the trees.
Most of the men Darlene saw when she visited her dad at Memorial Stadium were older veterans, in their 60s and 70s. More than 6,500 trees are shipped to the stadium to be sold -- and that's a lot of bagging and standing out in the cold.
But it's not a chore for Mr. Nash, a Korean War veteran and a retiree from Kaiser Aluminum. "I love it. It's sort of a fun day for me; you meet so many nice people."
Others who worked with Mr. Nash at the tree sale were Fred Hawk, Ralph Green, Dick Miller, and post commander Jim McKinney.
Proceeds from the sale benefit the Maryland Eye Bank.
Working on behalf of the Maryland Eye Bank is only a fraction of the community services that these men (and women in the post's auxiliary) provide for the area.
One of Mr. Nash's favorite projects is Camp West Mar, a camp for disadvantaged boys in the Western Maryland region. Area schools and other youth-oriented agencies recommend kids to the Thurmont camp owned by the Legion.
The post also sponsors a Christmas party and an Easter egg hunt for area children, plus other activities that will certainly be mentioned in this column.
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Live nativity scenes are becoming a tradition in Carroll and its surrounding rural counties. Where else can you find sheep and donkeys to borrow on a moment's notice?
Last weekend, the Frizzellburg Bible Church presented its annual "Christmas in the Park. And during Christmas week, St. Luke's Lutheran Church will enact its fourth annual live nativity.
You may drive by the church on Christmas Eve from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m., and again on Dec. 26 and 27 from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. The church is located on Route 75 between New Windsor and Union Bridge.
This event is a "real team effort" according to Kitty Marble, who has helped organize the event this year. She follows in the footsteps of Janet Long, whose hard work made things happen in years past.
Many of the church's members participate in the event in one way or another -- from making the manger to sewing the costumes to cooking soup and other hot foods to warm and nourish the nativity scene participants, who stand in the cold for hours at a time.
Ms. Marble's son, Tom, age 12, will be a shepherd this year. He has been participating in the event for three years.
Church members started the project to spread the Christmas spirit and many area families have made viewing the nativity part of their Christmas tradition. Information: 635-6177.
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Tonight, Mandy Plazio's Girl Scout Troop 2657 will be singing carols and taking home-baked cookies to kids hospitalized at Carroll County General Hospital.
Her troop, led by Laura Lunz, is also collecting warm socks for the area's needy.
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Wanda Clark, who is co-pastor with her husband, Terry, at Pipe Creek Church of the Brethren, reports that the children in her congregation have been getting ready for Christmas each Sunday in Advent.
Kids as young as 3 have been making banners and reading and reciting Advent stories. The littlest ones carried the banner into the church, where it is hung to decorate the sanctuary.
This Sunday, the youth group will present a play, "Waiting for the Christmas Guest," at the 10:30 a.m. service.
The Pipe Creek church, one of the oldest Brethren congregations in the Mid-Atlantic region, was founded in 1758. The building was completed in the early 1800s is "beautiful in its simplicity," says Ms. Clark. Flowers, candles, and the banners made by the children decorate the church for the holidays.
Pipe Creek church members will sing carols to shut-ins this Sunday and anyone is welcome to join them.
The church's candlelight service is Dec. 22 at 7:30 p.m,, with music provided by Audrey and Dennis Bowman of Union Bridge.
Information: 775-2933 or 775- 7343.