It's the season of generosity and gift giving, a time set aside to share talents and remember others.
The giving seems to know no bounds among the neighbors in this part of the county as people share the gifts of creativity, friendship and faith.
Some people are born with talent, and others are born with a propensity to work hard. Mary Ellen Bay of Uniontown was born with both.
From restoring a house to raising two sons, to developing a business or putting her one-of-a-kind decorating touches on a historic village for Christmas, Mrs. Bay touches most everyone she meets with her hard work and creative energy.
Recently, she was honored and thanked by Uniontown residents for devoting the past 25 Christmas seasons to organizing the village's Christmas caroling and town party. The party, usually held the Saturday before Christmas, brings residents together for music-making, food, and good cheer. This year, Mrs. Bay got a blue grass band to play Christmas music and other lively tunes in the old academy on Uniontown Road.
Mary Ellen's decorating talents and devotion to detail are legendary. This year, for the Uniontown Candlelight Tour, she put in nearly 200 volunteer hours to help decorate the houses that were on the tour.
Ordering and picking up greens and flowers, cutting boxwood, planning a unique Christmas setting for each home and organizing her fellow members of the Carroll Garden Club to help decorate the houses was an extraordinary labor of love -- and one she has done for each house tour since 1982.
She credits her talent to her mother.
"She was an extremely creative woman who had a fantastic understanding of children," says Mary Ellen. "Nothing we ever did was too messy or too absurd."
She raised her own children in the same spirit and has imbued the quest for creativity in youth, from 4-H programs to junior gardening clubs. One year she and her young gardening friends planted 4,000 daffodil bulbs at the entrances to Uniontown.
Why does she do it?
"Creativity adds the soul to our world," she says.
"Anything that's attractive does have a profound influence on people -- even though they don't know why."
Mary Ellen adds beauty to the world in her gardening, in her design business, in her dedication to historic preservation and in her own beautifully restored home on Uniontown Road that seems to mark the entrance to the historic village -- a welcoming beacon after a hard day at work or the long commute from Baltimore.
In this season of giving, Mary Ellen shares her philosophy, an inspiration from Eric Sloane: as a young man, you work to amuse yourself; in middle age, you work to earn a living; and, toward the end of your life, you work for the good of others.
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If you haven't driven down Trevanion Road lately to look at the displays of light, make sure you pack the kids in the car and take a drive soon. Christmas Eve would be the perfect time to drive by the decorated lawn at 999 Trevanion Road, near Baust Church Road.
Home owner Bill Classing has designed, created, painted and illuminated the nearly 30 holiday images that adorn his yard, spent an entire Saturday setting them up and on from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Christmas Eve, he and wife Lois will be Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus. They will welcome passers-by and give out candy canes to visiting children.
Bill works on the display all summer, making three new characters and sprucing up the ones that have been around since 1982. He began making the images out of plywood then, and the project kept on growing.
He has even taken requests -- one year a small child brought him a picture of a teddy bear and asked Bill to make one for the lawn display. You'll see the customized bear this year, with the little boy's name, Jason, painted on it.
If you go, park on the side of the road and walk carefully through the display to avoid the extension cords that Bill needs to electrify hundreds of lights.
What motivates Bill to devote himself to this project each year?
"My heart," he says. "I enjoy little children and love watching their expressions as they come by."
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St. Paul's United Methodist Church of New Windsor rededicated its cornerstone Sunday in a ceremony that culminated the activities of the church's year-long 150th anniversary celebration.
The Masonic Lodges of Union Bridge and Westminster participated, just as they did 150 years ago when the church was first dedicated. In a 20-minute ceremony that repeated the rituals of checking the stone for its solidness and levelness, the cornerstone was put back in place.
This time it held not only the six coins from 1897 that church members discovered from the opening of the cornerstone last year, but 600 brand new pennies, photographs and announcements from the many church anniversary activities of the past year, and a roster of church members.
"We're hoping that what we put in will be of interest to people in 2043, when the cornerstone is re-opened for the church's 200th anniversary," said the Rev. Charles Acker, pastor of the church.