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Two-hundred years ago, Elizabeth Ann Seton welcomed the first three students into St. Joseph Free School and Academy. That school evolved into Mother Seton School in Emmitsburg.

The special anniversary will be celebrated in the form of a Mass on Monday.

The Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski will officiate at the ceremony, which will be held at 10 a.m. in the Basilica of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg.

"This is really important to us because it is the kick-off of our bicentennial," said Angie Hamlin, the school's director of development. She said the staff also has other events planned for this year in celebration of the 200 years of success in Catholic education, including a homecoming social in April for past students and members of the school community.

"We've been preparing for this, oh, a good two years," Hamlin said.

Sister JoAnne Goecke, the school's principal, said a Mass is appropriate to celebrate the anniversary of the opening of the school since the Catholic ceremony is what drew Mother Seton to the religion in the first place.

"What attracted her was the belief that Christ becomes very present to us in a very personal way as we ... gather to celebrate the Mass," Goecke said.

The Mass will celebrate the fact that the members of the school community still "live out [Seton's] vision, here and now, in the very place she began it." She said Seton's ambition was to provide a quality Catholic education for every child who wanted it, including children from families who could not afford to pay, and young women instead of just boys.

"This small seed sown by the charity of Elizabeth Seton and her Sisters has grown into a large tree: the Seton Legacy of Catholic education stretching across Frederick County, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and indeed the United States," the program for the service states.

BookFest slated for Saturday

Thurmont Regional Library will host BookFest beginning at 10 a.m., Saturday. The celebration, being held at several Frederick County public libraries, will have a superhero theme and will feature several comic book and superhero related activities. A presentation by a professional archivist and preservation expert on how to keep comic books in mint condition will begin at 10 a.m., followed by a showing of "The Incredibles" on the projection screen. At 11 a.m., a caricature artist will offer free sketches. The superhero costume parade will march through the library at 1:45 p.m., and "Spider-Man" will be shown at 2 p.m.

For those who don't have a superhero costume to wear, the library will provide materials for a mask making craft. Call 301-600-7212 for more information.

Two now belong to

American Angus Association

Two Thurmont residents are new members of the American Angus Association.

Bridget Bittner and Dakota Bittner, both of Thurmont, have been named junior members of the association, according to a press release.

"Junior members of the Association are eligible to register cattle in the American Angus Association, participate in programs conducted by the National Junior Angus Association and take part in Association-sponsored shows and other national and regional events," the release said.

Emmitsburg native earns

place on dean's list

Laurie Lesage of Emmitsburg, a sophomore animal sciences major in the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences at The University of Vermont, was named to the college's dean's list for the fall 2009 semester.

To be named to the dean's list, students must have a grade-point average of 3.0 or better and rank in the Top 20 percent of their class in their respective college or school, according to a press release.

‘Hearts for Haiti'

raises hundreds

Residents braved the cold and snow on Valentine's Day for O'Hair Salon and Spa's "Hearts for Haiti" fundraiser.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Sunday, the downtown Frederick salon performed more than 20 services and raised about $1,400 for American Red Cross disaster relief efforts in Haiti, according to the salon's director, Roxanne Pugh. Haiti was devastated by an earthquake on Jan. 12.

The salon donated all proceeds from services they performed, including haircuts, shampoo/blow-dry, makeup application, quick-fix treatments and seated massages. The salon also held silent auctions on products, raffles and a donation drive.

"When the whole event happened in Haiti, everyone said, ‘What can we do?'" Pugh said. "[We said] ‘this is something we do for a living, let's give it away for a day.'"

Pugh said that poor weather conditions and difficult parking due to ice and snow caused the salon to fall short of its goal, but the staff was grateful to clients who braved the conditions to come out and give.

"We wanted to keep it on Valentine's Day, because we felt like people would be in a very loving, caring mood and we figured we'd spread that to the Red Cross," she said.

Marriage Savers' essay contest extended

Middle and high school students can still enter an essay contest explaining whose marriage they admire to the Marriage Savers of Frederick County.

The deadline for the essay contest has been extended to Feb. 26, the organization announced. Marriage Savers seeks to raise awareness about the importance of marriage through faith-based and community initiatives.

Any Frederick County middle and high school student is eligible to participate in the contest. Participants should write a 200- to 300-word essay that answers the question, "Whose marriage do you most admire and why?" The essay must focus on a Frederick marriage.

The winner of the contest will receive two tickets to Adventure Park USA. The couple whose marriage the writer admires will receive a free meal from the Red Horse Inn, and pair of 14-carat diamond earrings from Wholesale Diamond Consultants.

Those interested in entering should go to the Marriage Savers of Frederick County Web site at www.marriagesaversfrederick.org. On the site, go to "Contact Us" and enter your name, e-mail address and essay in the body of an e-mail.

For more information, contact Marriage Savers executive director Robert J. Donk at 301-898-8917 or 301-524-8800 or e-mail him at Bob@MarriageSaversFrederick.org.

Frederick man completes

basic training

Air Force Airman Ryan Good of Frederick recently graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.

Good is the son of Jaye Donlan-Good and Harold Good of Frederick, and a 2009 graduate of Tuscarora High School.

Send items for North County notes to reporter Courtney Pomeroy at cpomeroy@gazette.net. Call 301-846-2127 for more information.