Activities

Heritage Parade - Time: Begins at 10:00 AM – Location: Main Street
The Middletown Heritage Festival Parade kicks off the Festival with the Frederick County Honor Guard leading the parade down Main Street to Elm Street. With its dance groups, floats, marching bands and a variety of community organizations, the parade is always a highlight of the day.

The Grand Marshal for our 27th annual parade is the Honorable Roscoe Bartlett. Dr. Bartlett has represented Maryland’s Sixth District since 1992. A 50-year resident of Frederick County, he has been a scientist, inventor, teacher, farmer and small business owner. In the U.S House of Representatives, he considers himself a “citizen-legislator”, not a politician. He and his wife Ellen have been married for 50 years. They have ten children, 17 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Pie Eating Contest – 2:15pm, Pre-register by emailing name, phone number and age to middletownpie@gmail.com by Sept 21st. Sponsored By Bobbi Prescott - Remax Results.

17th & 18th Century Encampments - Location: Main Street at the Christ Reformed Church Green Space. The South Mountain Sutlers will demonstrate soap making, butter churning, wool spinning, writing with quill pens, cooking over a fire and have 18th century objects for everyday life on display.

Heritage Children's Crafts - Time: Begins at Noon, Location: State Farm Parking Lot behind 17 W. Main Street. FREE! Our children's crafts are free of charge and a great way for children to connect with their heritage! Sit and relax and let your child create their own artistic masterpieces. This year’s crafts include making a “Middletown Tree”, decorating a tri-corner hat, making yourself on a stick, framing and decorating a picture of Middletown and creating a 3D animal.

Middletown Heritage Hunt - "Symbols of Freedom" Time: Entries must be returned to the Main Street Middletown Booth by 4:00pm. Find the Symbols of Freedom pictured in our “Heritage Hunt”, and you could win a prize!

Pick up an entry form at the Main Street Middletown Booth located in front of Town Hall. As you travel through the festival area, look for our pictured symbols, identify where they are and return the completed form. All complete and correct entries will be entered into a drawing for prizes. Entries must be returned to the Main Street Middletown Booth by 4:00 p.m. to be eligible for prizes.

1st Prize: $75 ;

2nd Prize: $50;

3rd Prize: $25

Signal Corps - Time: 1:00 and 3:00, Location: Christ Reformed Green Space and Zion Lutheran Church
During the Civil War, Middletown became a strategic location for some of the first organized military signaling in history. In the days before and after the Battle of South Mountain, Major Albert J. Myers, later known as the father of modern military communications, had his headquarters in Middletown where he coordinated the signaling and communications during the battle of Antietam using the Church Steeples of Middletown. Members from U.S. Dept. of WVA Signal Corps will be recreating these communications and demonstrating signaling techniques throughout the day. Participate by having your message sent or join in and learn to use the flags to send your own message.

Civil War Encampment Location: Christ Reformed Church Green Space
Visit a Civil War soldier's camp with re-enactors portraying Union soldiers from the 1st Maryland Infantry, Potomac Home Brigade. This unit was organized at Frederick, Maryland August 15, 1861 and fought in the battles of Gettysburg, New Market, and Monocacy. Everyday activities of the common soldier's life will be on display including soldier's rations, personal items, uniforms, weapons, and gear. Manual of arms drills and musket firing demonstrations will take place at 12:30, 2:00 & 3:30.

Historial Society House Tour-Visit the Middletown Historical Society and tour their 18th century home and garden. Hearth cooking demonstration by local period cooking expert, Sally Waltz in the old summer kitchen. 10 am - 3 pm. Museum house open
for tours throughout the day. All-natural crafts and historical items for sale. Visit the Historical Society’s booth in the Festival area.

Main Street Memories
Do you ever wonder what these buildings, that are our homes, shops, and favorite places to grab a bite, used to look like? Today, as you walk through the town, you will notice pictures of the old homes, churches, and buildings as they once were, before they were taken by time and changed a bit. You will get a peek into the past, and see them as they were. When they still smelled of fresh paint, and the trees were still saplings.

Some of them have changed quite a lot. Doors have been removed. Windows have been added, and stately porches have been built on,
But what still remains, is the spirit of these grand old building, and homes. The same spirit that remains still in Middletown, a sense of pride and community…our heritage.

Civil War Medical Hospital
Founded by German immigrants, the Middletown Zion Lutheran Church is rich in history dating back to it's founding in 1740. The current structure dedicated in 1860 was designated as a general hospital by the U.S. Army in the aftermath of the battles of South Mountain and Antietam. In the church sanctuary visit a civil war hospital and learn about some of the medical practices and challenges during this time period. A demonstration of a Civil War field hospital presented by Zion Lutheran Church and the Civil War Medicine Museum.

Lamar Center Tours The Lamar Center at 200 West Main Street in Middletown was the surgical center and sanitarium of Dr.Austin Lamar in the early 1900’s. This property was acquired by CMHL in 1998.In addition to acquiring the building, CMHL also acquired all of Dr. Lamar’s medical records and surgical equipment. CMHLrestored the building, the surgical suite and recovery room, and has the center open for tours throughout the day.

Also at the Lamar Center the Central Maryland Heritage League will be presenting their campaign to save the stained glass windows at the Dahlgren Chapel on South Mountain. Learn about the process of creating stained glass from renowned artist Sharon Rowland and join in the campaign to save the windows of the chapel!

Heritage Festival Booth - Main Street in Front of Town Hall
Be sure to check out the Middletown Heritage Festival booth. We have loads of merchandise for sale to remember your day at the festival! Mugs, t-shirts and other great keepsakes await you at the Heritage Booth.

Christmas in the Valley Ornament - Town of Middletown Booth
The 2011 ornament depicts “Ye Olde Middletown Bandwagon” parked in front of the Zion Lutheran Church with band members performing a music concert as they did on Saturday evenings in the early 1900’s. You can still see this historic late 1800’s bandwagon in the annual Heritage Day parade carrying the Burgess & Commissioners of Middletown. This is the 5th in a series of ornaments. Previous years ornaments will also be available. Proceeds fund Christmas in the Valley.

Main Street Middletown Plaque Program - Main Street Booth in Front of Town Hall
Proudly display the heritage of your Middletown home with a quality, bronze finished plaque. The Main Street Middletown program, in conjunction with Erie Landmark, offers assistance in researching, writing and producing the finished plaque detailing the history of your home.

Visit the Middletown Fire Department Auxiliary Breakfast on Heritage Morning for their Annual All You Can Eat Breakfast. From 7 am to 11 am.

Middletown Library Book Sale - Located in the old Memorial Hall Building on East Main Street which was built in dedication to Middletown's veterans from World War I. The sale begins at 7:00am for all those early birds and ends at 6:00pm. The library will also be selling books on Sunday from 12:00 Noon to 3:00 pm.

Christ Reformed Church Quilt Raffle and Booth - Located in the Christ Reformed Front Lawn. See the handmade quilt on display and purchase your raffle ticket for a chance to win this beautiful heirloom keepsake. They will also have a Basket and Craft sale and a Moon Bounce.

READ MORE about the history of Middletown.

Entertainment

Exhibitors and Artists

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