by Carmen Hilton | Jun 22, 2021 | Main Street Blog
New Board Members Bring Fresh Talent to Brunswick Main Street
Please welcome:
Tyson Anderson
Tyson is new to Brunswick but embraced our downtown charm from the beginning, purchasing one of the most historic homes in town. His professional background gives him ample experience in research, analysis, and strategic planning in addition to small business ownership. All invaluable skills for tackling downtown revitalization. He is especially passionate about capitalizing on people’s appetite for community as we emerge from Covid restrictions and making sure downtown has the infrastructure to meet it.
Erin Caines
Erin is one half of the David T. Caines, CPA partnership that purchased the practice of Charles H. Thornton, CPA in 2019. Currently located in the former Citizens building, the Caines look forward to breaking ground on a new building at the corner of East Potomac and First Avenue as soon as permitting allows. As a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with over 10 years professional experience, Erin brings a strong financial and strategic planning background to Main Street to help us meet our goals. We also love her commitment to incorporating sustainability into her work for Brunswick.
Chris Lucas
Raised in the Brunswick area, Chris has decades of local experience under his belt. He relocated his business, Chris Lucas State Farm Insurance, from Frederick to East Potomac Street in 2020. We are thrilled to have Chris’ fresh insight into what businesses look for before opening a location and the experience of bringing a business to Brunswick. He is ready to throw himself into what he sees as downtown Brunswick’s biggest challenge: getting a stockpile of affordable, turn-key commercial space.
As a reminder, our Board meets monthly on the first Wednesdays at 6:30pm. Meetings are open to the public. If you are interested in attending to learn more about our organization or to update us on outside initiatives, please email brunswickms@gmail.com to arrange to be added to the agenda.
by Carmen Hilton | May 12, 2021 | Main Street Blog
“Buy Local, Buy Brunswick!” Gift Card Offer Sends Tens of Thousands of Dollars Downtown
On May 3, 2021, Brunswick Main Street launched its “Buy Local, Buy Brunswick!” gift card program with a fantastic offer: for a limited time, gift card purchases would be matched 100% up to $125. Matching funds were provided by a MD-SERI grant award, applied for and won by Main Street Board President Julie Martorana. $20,000 in matching funds were distributed in five days!
This is wonderful news for our downtown. That means that we’ve committed $40,000 in support to our beloved small businesses.
Gift cards continue to be available for sale and can be purchased online by going to https://app.yiftee.com/gift-card/brunswick. Gift cards are accepted at 14 different downtown locations: 3 Points Cycles, Antiques ‘n Ole Stuff, Beans in the Belfry, Boxcar Burgers, Brunswick Heritage Museum, Brunswick Sports & Apparel, Chrysalis Body & Massage, Corner Store, Five Dances Wellness, King’s Pizza, Potomac Street Grill, Public Spectacle, Roots & River Yoga, and Smoketown Brewing Station. They’re the perfect “one-size-fits-all” gift choice for birthdays, graduations, new home purchases, and all other occasions.
by Carmen Hilton | Nov 18, 2020 | Main Street Blog
November 13, 2020
Brunswick History Mural Restoration
In 1998 the Brunswick History Mural was painted on a brick building in downtown Brunswick. It was a project supported by city residents, the city government, and the Frederick Arts Council. Last month the mural artist, Philip Aldinger of Randallstown, Maryland, returned to renew the paint and brighten this landmark artwork.
The mural is a collage of images that symbolize Brunswick history, including trains and depots, the roundhouse, canal, hills, churches, schools and baseball. The 16 x 40 ft. mural faces Square Corner Park at the junction of Maple Avenue and Potomac Street in the heart of downtown Brunswick.
The mural repainting is a joint project of Brunswick Main Street and the City of Brunswick. The aim of the project is to improve the park experience for residents and visitors and to encourage people to explore Brunswick’s historic downtown.
by Carmen Hilton | Nov 14, 2020 | Main Street Blog
Carmen Hilton joins us with a background in Commercial Real Estate and non-profit management. She is enthusiastic and passionate and believes in building relationships in the community. She and her
family live in Mount Airy – Her husband is a property manager, her daughter just recently graduated from the University of Rhode Island with double degrees – Ocean Engineer and Spanish, and her son is in his first year at Salisbury University.
Carmen is looking forward to working with the Main Street Board to connect and support established businesses and residents downtown and encourage new businesses to make their home here in Brunswick!
If you see her downtown, be sure to show her a big Brunswick Welcome!
by Carmen Hilton | May 20, 2020 | Main Street Blog
As part of our ongoing series concerning how downtown businesses are dealing with COVID-19, see what is happening at Roots and River Yoga.
Roots & River Yoga was established on August 10, 2016, by owner Machelle Lee, and will be celebrating their 4th anniversary this summer. Their mission is to foster class experiences that are physically and psychologically accessible and meaningful to those that take them. They offer a variety of products and services that are geared towards this goal. These include a range of yoga styles, meditation modalities for health and well-being, and selling yoga mats, bolsters, blocks, yoga clothing, and locally handmade jewelry and goods.
Machelle fell in love with Brunswick as a whole. The historic location, the charming architecture, the beautiful Potomac River, and the people themselves, make being here worthwhile. She loves to see the kindness that the people here show to one another and the investment they put into the lives of their neighbors. Being here allows Machelle to see Brunswick unfold and begin to realize its new potential as a community and business center.
Regarding the changes they made to work with the COVID-19 crisis, Machelle said, “We continue to provide classes, but the studio has had to go completely online. Our weekly class offerings are smaller than our normal in-studio schedule, but we are hosting a broad scope of meaningful classes that can be taken LIVE or participants can receive a recording to practice at their own convenience. This is what makes our online studio different from most other studios is that we are providing both LIVE classes and recordings of those classes so people can practice once or several times with a class over the course of a week.”
Typically, they offer weekly classes 7 days a week. These include specialty workshops and professional teacher training on the weekends. They normally do not have specific hours of operation as their schedule depends on the daily schedule of classes and workshops offered that day. However, due to the COVID-19 shutdown they are now offering a range of online classes and they are selling yoga props for home use by appointment.
If you are looking for a way to support them go to their website, www.RootsAndRiverYoga.com and check out the classes they are currently offering or leave them a review on Yelp, Facebook, or Google. Roots & River Yoga can also be found on Instagram and Facebook. 
by Carmen Hilton | May 13, 2020 | Main Street Blog
Towpath Creamery was established 2 years ago to offer delicious, high-quality, all-natural, hand-dipped ice cream in downtown Brunswick. In addition to serving high-quality food, they also are dedicated to operating in an environmentally conscientious manner by using compostable to-go ware, hiring a local compost company, conserving water, and minimizing waste. They currently offer 2 different brands of all-natural ice cream – South Mountain Creamery (Frederick County, MD) and Cold Run Creamery (Berk’s County, PA) – as well as sorbet and frozen yogurt from Giffords (Skowhegan, Maine). Each brand includes wonderful flavors that are sure to make your taste buds happy!
Karin Tome, the owner of the creamery, had the desire to open her own small business for several reasons, one of which was understanding what small-business owners have to contend with in terms of government regulations, taxes, etc. She had also noticed that as hikers and cyclists came off the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park towpath, they were often looking for ice cream to enjoy. A final reason was that she had the experience of taking her kids to a local ice cream shop when they were younger (in the 1990’s, where the Hive Bakeshop is currently located); they loved this experience and the memories they created as a family. She wanted to offer this opportunity to folks in the Brunswick and Lovettsville area.
Although she has never experienced running her own business previously, she has enjoyed the adventure. She took the time to research thoroughly before jumping straight into it. This was important because she has always wanted to run a business that is environmentally friendly. They are licensed as a Benefit LLC and they commit to recycling and composting (giving back to the environment) where possible. Karin has also taken many courses to help her to learn more about running a business. These course were provided by the Women’s Business Council, the Maryland Small Business Development Center, and Frederick County.
Karin takes her business very seriously and loves the City of Brunswick. It has always held a special place in her heart. The sense of community that exists among the community inspires her and the volunteer services that people provide around town is heart-warming, to say the least. During the summer, Brunswick acts as a hub of life, bringing in folks from all over the world to hike and cycle on the towpath and visit an authentic railroad boomtown. Karin loves to meet all of those visiting and especially loves it when they can come in and enjoy some ice cream!
Towpath Creamery offers a wide variety of products for purchase. They sell hand-dipped ice cream, soft-serve ice cream (when the machine is up and running!), sundaes, cones, milkshakes, floats, local coffee and honey, as well as snacks and drinks. They are currently open Wednesday/Thursday from 5 pm – 8 pm and Friday – Sunday from 12 pm – 8 pm, but will extend their hours to 7 days when it gets warmer.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, their menu is currently limited. However, they are taking all precautions necessary to ensure the safety of their customers and staff. They have hired a couple of new staff members due to the pandemic, and they are working hard to provide quality service to all who visit. They are accepting online orders on their website at towpathcreamery.com and you can call to pick up at 301.969.6480.