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Red White and Brew, the downtown Independence Day event Brunswick hosted for the first time July 3, was the most successful new event Brunswick Main Street has hosted since Patrick Kay signed on as the city's new Main Street manager in March, he said.

"Everybody came up to me and said how much of a great time they had," he said. "I had overwhelming support from the community, telling me how great of an event it was and how great it was that Main Street put it on. It was like a whole city effort — the mayor and council and [Town Administrator] Dave Dunn and other people all helped out."

The event, which featured homemade barbecue, live music by Jumptown, a blues, funk, R&B and soul band hailing from Loudoun County, Va., and beer donated by Flying Dog Brewery, attracted about 175 people and brought in about $2,300 in profit for the city's Main Street program.

The organization donated $500 to the Brunswick Ambulance Company to thank the Ladies Auxiliary for their assistance with the event, leaving $1,800 for Main Street's coffers. The Brunswick Police Department provided extra officers that day and assisted with loading trucks, while the Department of Public Works provided fencing, tables, tents and chairs.

The event was so successful, in fact, that Kay says it will be an annual event for the foreseeable future, and that it will only grow in popularity.

"We have already set a date for next year: July 10, 2010," he said. "We'll definitely have that event again, and we're planning on having a lot more people. We're going to have a meeting in November to start advertising it in January of next year."

The festivities also included the first-annual Independence Day window display contest. Downtown businesses were invited to decorate their front windows, and the fruits of their labors were judged by a panel including Dunn and Councilwoman Karin Tome.

Brunswick Hardware came in first, winning $50; Pixie Dust won $30 for second; and Chesapeake and Hudson came in third, earning $20. Brunswick Hardware also gets to display the new window display trophy, an 18-inch-tall award which now bears the company's name as the first winner of the contest.

Local Lions president wins award

On the night John Hopson ended his tenure as president of the Middletown Lions Club, he received the Lions International's highest honor by being named a Melvin Jones Fellow. He was presented an inscribed plaque and a lapel pin during the ceremony earlier this month.

Created in 1973, the Melvin Jones Fellowship was created in 1973 and named to honor Lions Clubs International's founder, Melvin Jones. It was recognizes and acknowledges an individual's dedication to humanitarian service.

4-H dairy members compete in workshop

Two local 4-H members were selected by judges as champions in their respective classes of the 4-H dairy workshop and competition, "How to Show Like a Pro," held June 19-20 at The Great Frederick Fair grounds.

During the workshop, 23 4-H members from Frederick, Carroll and Montgomery counties learned how to safely tie, wash and clip, feed and lead their animals in the show ring. Members also practiced skills such as how to communicate with the public about the dairy industry and how to conduct media interviews at the fair.

Judges selected two winners from the junior, intermediate and senior age categories, who competed for the title of grand champion. Gabrielle Bowers of Jefferson was chosen as one of two junior champions; Brighid Heneghan of Jefferson was chosen as one of two senior champions.

FCC student wins award at Fort Detrick festival

Angela Korrell, a student who recently earned her associate's degree as one of the first six graduates of Frederick Community College's bioprocessing technology program, won an award for a poster presenting her research at the 13th annual NCI-Frederick and Fort Detrick Spring Research Festival.

Korrell presented research on proteins conducted with the Biopharmaceutical Development Program. She was one of eight students whose work was recognized with a certificate and a cash award at a recent reception.

Do you have an item for Valley Voice? Contact reporter Connor Adams Sheets at 301-846-2130 or e-mail csheets@gazette.net.