At Dedication, Singing Praises of Huntingtown High

Calvert County officials formally dedicated Huntingtown High School during a ceremony Saturday, seven months after the school opened its doors for the first time last fall.

"In the nearly eight months since the doors opened here at Huntingtown to a student body of over 1,400, we have already seen great successes and we have seen a marvelous blending of the old and the new of Calvert County," Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said in the dedicatory address. "Huntingtown High School is the best of the old and the best of the new in Calvert County, holding onto the richness of the county's heritage, yet open to the opportunities of the future."

Other speakers included Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Calvert), county Commissioners President David F. Hale (R-Owings) and Robert F. Dredger, principal of the new school.

State Del. Sue Kullen (D-Calvert) presented the school with a flag that had flown over the Statehouse in Annapolis, and Hoyer gave one from the U.S. Capitol.

The program opened with a performance of a scene from "Footloose," the spring musical at the school. The school's chamber choir performed the "Star Spangled Banner."

During the dedication, a ceremonial key to the building was passed from a representative of general contractor Scheibel Construction to Hale, Board of Education President William J. Phelan, Superintendent J. Kenneth Horsmon, Dredger, Parent Teacher Student Association president Jim Vehrs and Student Government Association president Jennifer Griffin.

To mark the occasion, the post office in Huntingtown has issued a special postmark honoring the school; it will be used through May 23.