Betsy Spiker Holcombbetsy@deepcreeksales.com301-616-5022
Menu

Ron Hawkes Named Wisp Resort’s New General Manager

Wisp Resort’s new General Manager was recently named. Ron Hawkes will replace longtime GM, Jerry Geisler. Geisler is retiring after forty-five years at Wisp. Hawkes has extensive knowledge of the Mid-Atlantic market making him an excellent choice.

About Wisp Resort’s New General Manager

Ron Hawkes is a ski industry veteran. He began his career as a ski instructor in the early 1990s. Holding the position of director of skiing and snowboarding, he worked at Hunter Mountain, NY for ten years. He most recently worked at Camelback Resort in Pennsylvania. Having both summer and winter activities, it is similar to Wisp Resort. For eleven years, he was president and general manager at Roundtop Mountain Resort in Pennsylvania. Hawkes brings wide-ranging experience to the job, having worked at ski resorts in Vermont, New York, Colorado and even Chile.

wisp resort's new general manager
Ron Hawkes new GM at Wisp Resort. Photo courtesy of the Cumberland Times-News.

Hawkes also has experience with conference hotels, large event venues and active summer operations. Additionally, he is familiar with golf operations as both as a recreational and tournament player and working at Jack Frost National Golf Club.

Continue reading Ron Hawkes Named Wisp Resort’s New General Manager

Garrett Regional Medical Center Receives Accolades

Garrett Regional Medical Center (GRMC) in Oakland, MD has been named one of the Top 100 Rural and Community hospitals in the United States.

“This designation truly demonstrates the work of our ongoing mission to treat each patient like family and the remarkable patient care provided by our entire team,” said GRMC CEO & President, Mark Boucot. “It is really gratifying to know that Garrett Regional Medical Center now serves as a benchmark for other rural facilities as they strive to achieve similar results. Through creating resourceful and innovative solutions, our hospital is being thought of as a blueprint for successfully navigating the uncertainty of the new healthcare environment.”

Continue reading Garrett Regional Medical Center Receives Accolades

Big Mac inventor passes away-Deep Creek Lake News

Big Mac inventor passes away-Deep Creek Lake News
Deep Creek Lakes Favorite Real Estate Agent

Big Mac inventor passes away-Deep Creek Lake News
Taylor-Made Real Estate Betsy Spiker Holcomb-301-616-5022

Big Mac inventor passes away-Deep Creek Lake News
Michael “Jim” Delligatti 8/2 1918-11/28/16

Most locals know the man and the story about this very successful businessman. Michael “Jim” Delligatti who established Uno’s, The Honi Honi Bar, Garrett 8 Cinemas, and Arrowhead Market was a well-known fixture here at Deep Creek Lake. His claim to fame, which has reached far around the world, is the invention of the Big Mac sandwich at McDonald’s. We have all enjoyed our share of this famously delicious burger that revolutionized the fast food world. Mr. Delligatti opened his first McDonald’s restaurant in 1957 and branched out 47 more franchise stores over the next two decades. Competing against the large sandwich offerings of Big Boys and Burger King, Mr. Delligatti proposed a new sandwich called simply the Big Mac! McDonalds executives didn’t receive the idea well at first but eventually got the green light to pilot the sandwich in the Uniontown market in 1967. The rest is history!

Big Mac inventor passes away-Deep Creek Lake News

The residents here at the lake have immense respect for the Delligatti family and were saddened by the news of his passing in late November. Remember the next time you dig into a Big Mac the interesting story of the man behind its creation.Big Mac inventor passes away-Deep Creek Lake News

October Deep Creek Real Estate Update

Deep Creek Real Estate Update

The Deep Creek real estate update for October shows that many properties have seen price reductions in the last 30 days: http://mrislistings.mris.com/DE.asp?k=4875395X5ZXZ&p=DE-349549660-429

Heading into winter, our minds tend to shift toward ski-oriented properties, but there is actually still a decent supply of homes in all parts of the lake – north, south & central as well as outer lying areas within just 15-20 minutes of the lake. 

Some homeowners would rather not carry their properties for another winter and are more apt to negotiate this time of year.  Because we have less vacation traffic in the shoulder season, it’s easier to get into Deep Creek real estate properties that may be on the vacation market as well as the sales market.  To view rental specials visit www.deepcreekvacations.com.    

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

Hurricane Sandy first caught my attention barreling up from Florida towards our second home in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The original plan was to travel the 7 ½ hours southeast and ride out the storm protecting our beloved beach home. It wasn’t long before predictions were hailing it as a super storm that could possibly devour the entire east coast with wind and storm surges and threaten the mountains of western Maryland with a heck of a lot of snow. As Garrett Countyis our primary residence we chose to stay here and weather the storm and take care of our dogs, family and friends. I prepared over the weekend as the storm was supposed to hit early in the week. Although we are on public water, I filled all the tubs with water in case something was to go awry and we called our gas supplier to make sure we had a full tank. We also bought 6- one gallon containers of water to put in our main freezer to help keep it cold when the power went out. There was no doubt in our minds that we would lose power for days, maybe even weeks as the forecast got bleaker with every new report on the news channels.

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

 

On Monday afternoon, the snow started light and beautiful in our peripheral vision as we kept up the pace in preparation for the worst storm of the century. The days seemed short as we ran around the county collecting supplies to make sure there was nothing we would leave out in our preparations. As night cooled down the air, we sat in front of the TV waiting for the inevitable. The trees already weighted heavy from the wet snow that seemed to continue to stretch the limbs toward the ground inch by inch as the sky dumped at a steady pace. Without notice, the lights pulsed off, then back on which dropped our spirits and picked them up in an instinct. It was only a few seconds later that the lights went off and the last light of the TV constricted smaller and smaller until it was gone like a candle being extinguished by a winter wind.

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

 

The candles and flashlights were already in place to be lit and the gas fireplace’s steady hiss took over the ambience of the room replacing the lively TV. Our two dogs walked around for the next few hours confused as to what was really going on and we unwillingly hunkered down for a long, cool night.

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

 

There is something always very magical about the first snow of the season and this one lived up to every first snow from the past with beauty extending across all of GarrettCounty. First thoughts are…can we drive up to the top of the driveway to get out and about? I worked my way digging about half way up the 100+ foot driveway when I realized that the main road had not been plowed yet, which made my attempts to dig us out useless. It was then when I noticed the very heavy, clingy snow pulling down some trees and limbs with a fair, variable gusty breeze swirling across the mountain. I started to focus in on the damage around us caused by the heavy snow that had still not let up, and that were continuing to weight heavier on the trees as time clicked forward.

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

 

Word was out through Facebook that power would not be restored for over a week or more. The photos started to surface of huge trees falling over by the thousands, draping over power lines all around the county. It became very apparent that this ordeal had not peaked and that we still had more destruction possible to come. There was still no official word as to how this was going to be handled and who was going to do the work. County officials and volunteers were manned with chainsaws trying to open basic roadways with hopes of professional tree workers and power workers to take over soon. Betsy’s brother came over on Tuesday afternoon with his tractor to open up our driveway and with perfect timing the county plow truck followed suit and opened up the main roads. Another cool night with steady snowfall took us into Wednesday morning where the snowfall total was getting close to 30”. I decided  I would venture out to see what was actually going on and started down the mountain on Shingle Camp Road. As I passed the Lodestone Golf Course I realized that I had probably made a mistake getting out and about so soon. The problem…I could not turn around and the road was only plowed as wide as my car. I had no choice but to continue down the road weaving through small openings that the plow was lucky enough to punch through, many times going under trees pulled over the road like mini caves. As I turned up Oakland Sang Run, I started to fear a bit for my personal safety as power lines were everywhere as the result of tree after tree falling.  I turned up Mayhew Inn Road hoping to get back to the main highway quickly and out of harm’s way. I caught a county front end loader immediately and spend a good 45minutes following it watching as the heavy trees were pushed out of the way. I felt like I was going through a war zone, an apocalypse at times, and the power lines/downed trees were littered everywhere.

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

 

Maryland’s Governor came on Thursday to assess the damage, and it seemed like a switch was turned on with relief efforts. The main highway, Route 219, coming into McHenry was filled with tractor trailers, National Guard vehicles, tree cutting specialists, and power workers. By around 4pm we had our power back up and running. We were the fortunate ones because 65% of the county was still without. The County had a lot of shining moments with the help of many people – strangers to the area, neighbors, family and friends. The crews spent the next 5 days busting their tails to helpGarrettCountyresidents re-gain power and some normalcy throughout this disaster.

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

 

As of today we still have a lot of people powerless, but we seem to be getting closer to getting all of this resolved. The strength of our community, volunteers, friends and neighbors have taken a tragic situation and injected it with good ‘ole American perseverance to bring us all together as one to tackle unfamiliar obstacles confidently and compassionately. God Bless America and Garrett County!

Hurricane Sandy-Frankenstorm-Garrett County

Steelers/Ravens Rivalry Deep Creek Lake

Betsy Spiker Holcomb Deep Creek Lakes Favorite Realtor
Betsy Spiker Holcomb Deep Creek Lakes Favorite Realtor

Steelers/Ravens Rivalry Deep Creek Lake
Steelers/Ravens Rivalry Deep Creek Lake

Steelers/Ravens Rivalry Deep Creek Lake
Steelers/Ravens Rivalry Deep Creek Lake

Steelers/Ravens Rivalry Deep Creek Lake

I moved to Deep Creek Lake 4+ years ago from the Outer Banks to supervise the construction of the new Lodestone Golf Club at Wisp Resort.  My football roots hailed from the great state of Texas, Dallas to be more specific.  I grew up a diehard Cowboy fan in Redskin country and never really felt moved by any other football rivalries.  Living here in Deep Creek Lake, Maryland has changed all that for me, as it is truly a unique football fan situation here at the lake. Okay, here is why…. Fans here live in the great state of Maryland…You would think this would be a shoe-in to be a Baltimore Raven fan, right??  Not so much.  Remember, we are 3 hours West of Baltimore but only 2 hours south of Pittsburgh. Our primary TV station here is Pittsburgh’s own WTAE-4 coming straight from downtown P-town.  Every morning and evening we hear about Pittsburgh’s weather, news and sports; this is where you hear about the black and gold year round.  Sure, you hear about the Penguins and occasionally the Pirates but make no mistake about it, Steeler Nation’s head quarters hails from this three river steel town.  But just as Steeler fans bleed black and gold, DCL is split in half by Raven fans that have purple blood running through their veins.  The Ravens fans here at the lake take as much love and pride into every game just as their rivals do.  I think to say that each team respects each other is just downright false!  These teams and their fans have no love for each other!!  As we step out of our beds and plant our feet on the floor of Super Bowl Sunday (which is playing in Dallas in the Cowboy stadium, Ouch!), there are still Ravens fans that feel like they didn’t get a fair shake on the last Ravens Steelers Brawl.  Just as some baseball fans feel that the Red Sox/Yankees playoff duels ARE the World Series, the same sentiment is felt here at Maryland’s favorite lake/ski town. Ravens fans/players feel like they were cheated out of a victory at this year’s Ravens/Steelers “Super Bowl” and they are angry and hungry for the re-match next year. Until then some friendships and business relationships may be strained until the tables are turned next football season.

Public Notice for Users of Deep Creek Lake

Betsy Spiker Holcomb Deep Creek Lakes Favorite Realtor
Betsy Spiker Holcomb Deep Creek Lakes Favorite Realtor

News Release…Record Snow Fall at Deep Creek Lake May Result in Unprecedented Spring Melt

Deep Creek Hydroelectric Station to Lower Lake Levels; Lake Users Encouraged to Take Extra Safety Precautions

March 3, 2010, Oakland, MD – Sooner or later the record snow fall at Deep Creek Lake must melt and that could cause a record spring runoff.  To a limited extent, Deep Creek Lake levels can be controlled by the Deep Creek Hydroelectric Station which operates under a Water Appropriation and Use permit from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE).  Under the permit conditions, the Station, which is owned by Brookfield Renewable Power, uses water to generate hydropower, but keeps Lake levels within a defined “rule band” with upper and lower limits.  This year’s unprecedented snow fall will likely result in an unprecedented snow melt, particularly if temperatures warm quickly.

To avoid serious and potentially damaging high water conditions at the dam and on the Lake, the Maryland Department of the Environment has approved Brookfield’s request to draw the Lake level down two feet below its permitted March lower limit.  The draw down, which began on March 1, will take place gradually, with a maximum of 0.5 feet reduction per day. David Barnhart, General Manager for Brookfield’s Mid-America Operations said, “Together with MDE, we are doing what we can to anticipate and mitigate the impacts of the spring thaw.  As this winter proves, you never know what Mother Nature will throw you and an early, sustained thaw may result in higher than usual water levels.”

The lowered water levels beneath the ice cover, combined with warming temperatures, pose unpredictable risks to recreational users of Deep Creek Lake.  Carolyn Mathews, Manager of the Deep Creek Lake Recreation Area advises, “People should remember that there are always hazards to recreating on naturally-formed ice.  Lowering the Lake to make additional storage space for the anticipated above normal spring runoff may destabilize the Lake’s ice and we urge everyone to take special care to stay safe.”

The MDE, Brookfield, and the Department of Natural Resources continue to monitor the Lake levels and weather conditions to determine whether additional actions for safety of recreational users may be required.  Lake levels can be found at www.deepcreekhydro.com.

(Source: Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Brookfield Renewable Power Inc., Maryland Department of the Environment)

Public Notice for Users of Deep Creek Lake
melting ice deep creek lake