Warped Tour leaves its mark on Thurmont

Danielle Ryan

(7/22) On July 12, Thurmont welcomed the Vans Warped Tour crew to Frederick County to assist with some community improvement projects in the Town, including re-painting the wall in Community Park. What the Town didn’t know, however, is that the Warped Tour crew would leave more than just a painted wall behind.

Warped Tour is a group of traveling punk rock musicians who travel across the country performing, but also volunteering their time by participating in community improvement projects. Two years ago, the group came to Gettysburg after hearing about a tree-planting project from an organization called Journey Through Hallowed Ground. The experience was incredibly positive for the Warped Tour crew that they decided to see if they could come back again.

So, this year, the Warped Tour crew contacted Shuan Butcher, the Director of Communications for the Journey Through Hallowed Ground organization, and asked if there were any projects in the area that could use the crew’s assistance. Butcher pointed the crew toward northern Frederick County.

The morning of July 12 arrived and the Warped Tour Crew rolled into Thurmont’s Community Park, 250 strong, at 6:30 in the morning. 40 volunteers stayed at the home base in Community Park, and the remaining volunteers dispersed to other locations in Frederick County, including Cunningham Falls State Park, the Emmitsburg Watershed, and the Catoctin Furnace.

Volunteers painted sidewalks, and bridges, but the biggest project was the wall in Community Park, which was in need of some attention and a new splash of color. The original plan and idea was to paint the wall in bold colors, blue to represent the sky, green to represent the grass and a stripe of yellow through the middle as a pop of color. However, there were three graffiti artists in one of the volunteer groups who decided that they wanted to give the wall a little more than just a basic paint job. So the concept of the mural depicting the Town’s name and logo was created.

Town staff and community members were thrilled with all the work the volunteers were able to accomplish in one day, and the mural in Community Park will be a lasting artistic mark for the Town to remember all the amazing people that were able to come out and help.

Check the mural out for yourself, and stop by Thurmont’s Community Park.