Spooky Safari Adventure Week

October 20 - November 2, daily from 9:00 AM - 6:00 PM. This year we will have a trail take-over by all kinds of animal characters! Join us for this new two-week event. Bring the family, pack a picnic, and walk one of our hidden gems of Mount Airy, Rails to Trails. Parking available Downtown and in Watkins Park. While Downtown, stop by and enjoy one of our charming restaurants or retail businesses. Make memories on Main! For extra excitement bring a flashlight and walk the trail at dusk to see if our animals come to life! Please don't feed or touch our featured guests along the trail for this event. If you are walking the trail and capture a good photo on your Spooky Safari Adventure, share it with us for a chance to win a Mount Airy swag bag. To share your photos, feel free to post to our event wall or email us at [email protected].

**Please remember while enjoying our parks to keep in mind social distancing & wear a mask when appropriate.**

Halloween Trick-or-Treating Guidelines

The Town of Mount Airy is suggesting that the Mount Airy community forego any traditional trick-or-treating nights and instead opt for a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Lower-Risk suggested activities including:

Carving or decorating pumpkins with members of your household and displaying them
Carving or decorating pumpkins outside, at a safe distance, with neighbors or friends
Decorating your house, apartment, or living space
Doing a Halloween scavenger hunt where children are given lists of Halloween-themed things to look for while they walk outdoors from house to house admiring Halloween decorations at a distance
Having a virtual Halloween costume contest
Having a Halloween movie night with people you live with
Having a scavenger hunt-style trick-or-treat search with your household members in or around your home rather than going house to house

Click here to read the CDC’s Holiday Celebration Guidelines page.

MAMSA HalloWeekend

October 30 - November 1st: MAMSA is not letting COVID stomp out all the Halloween events! Join them for a fun-filled and safety-conscience weekend starting Friday night with an "The Park After Dark" event featuring Fireside Spooky Story Time at the Simpson-Baker-Bowlus Popup Park, followed by MAMSA's Main Street Candy Crawl on Saturday and Pets on Parade on Main on Sunday! For more information and tickets, go to MountAiryMainStreet.org/upcoming-events.

Congratulations #DinetoWin Winner!

Congratulations to Susan Tudor who is the grand prize winner of the Mount Airy Restaurant Week #DinetoWin contest and will be receiving a $500 check on behalf of the Town of Mount Airy, the Mount Airy Main Street Association (MAMSA) and the Greater Mount Airy Chamber of Commerce (GMACC)! Susan submitted her receipt from The Grille at Challedon where her boys participate in the Challedon Junior Golf League. Thank you Susan and all who supported our local restaurants by participating in the #DinetoWin Contest.

New American Sign Language Workshop

Thursdays Starting Oct 8 from 5:30-6:30 PM. Have you always wanted to learn American Sign Language (ASL) but didn't know where to start? Join us at the new Simpson-Baker-Bowlus Pop Up Park to get your start on communicating non-verbally using ASL. This workshop is designed for everyone, whether you have some knowledge of ASL, or just know how to sign "I Love You". Let's help spread the word!

Making Strides Drive-thru

Sunday, October 18, 10:00 AM - The American Cancer Society’s Making Strides Against Breast Cancer celebrates survivorship, honors the memory of those who’ve passed from breast cancer, and fights to save more lives. For the safety of Making Strides supporters during the present health crisis, the Making Strides of Central Maryland has created a drive-thru celebration October 18 at 10am and a virtual 5K weekend October 17&18 for the 10^th anniversary of the event in Mt. Airy. For more information or to donate go to www.makingstrideswalk.org/centralmd or contact [email protected].

New Train Station Roof and Gutters for Historical Society Museum and Pharmacy

Thanks to the Maryland Heritage Area Authority Grant program, Mount Airy has received $17,980.00 in grant money to refurbish the exterior of the train station! This highly competitive and extensive application process is a big win for the Town and our thanks goes out to the Town's Community Development team for their hard work! They have created a new webpage dedicated to the project so you can stay up-to-date on the progress. MHAA Train Station Rehab Project.

National Anthem performed by Karleigh Hubble

** New Starting October 2! ** The Town will broadcast the National Anthem as performed by Mount Airy's own Ms. Karleigh Hubble! Ms. Hubble has been a Mount Airy resident all her life. She's a South Carroll High School Class of 2015 alumni and was heavily involved in Stagelighters. After graduating from SCHS, she attended Rowan University in Southern New Jersey where she received B.A.'s in both Musical Theatre and Dance in 2019. She plans on pursuing a career in performance & theatre either in New York City or Los Angeles.
She’s proud to present the Star Spangled Banner to her hometown, after being chosen to sing it with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra accompanying her at the BSO at Oregon Ridge July 4th Spectacular in 2015. She thanks you all for your love & support.

Fishbowl Article

Did you know Baltimore Fishbowl authors Karen and David Nitkin recently visited our sweet town and wrote a glowing article on it! They encouraged Baltimore area visitors to spend a day in Mount Airy enjoying our historic, active and scenic small town. They highlighted some of our many small town businesses and attractions including Superfoods Café and Market, Historical Society of Mount Airy, Cryin’ Johnnies, CarterQue Barbeque and Grilling Co, Laurienzo Brick Oven Café, MISCellaneous Distillery, Black Ankle Vineyard and of course, Mount Airy's Rails to Trails and its beautiful scenery! Click to read the original article which can also be found on our website.

#MtAiryEats Contest Winners

Thank you to all those who submitted a picture to the #MtAiryEats Contest through our online form on our website or our social media channels using the hashtag #MtAiryEats. Looks like a lot of people had some delicious meals from our AMAZING Mount Airy Restaurants. Winners from this contest will be announced on Facebook Live Friday, October 2nd after the National Anthem.

Mask Up Mount Airy Window Clings

The Mount Airy Main Street Association (MAMSA) is not resting on its laurels just because we are in the midst of a pandemic! MAMSA is creating an 8" x 8" window cling for Main Street businesses to display on their front doors/windows to promote the state requirements of requiring face coverings before entering. The window clings are free for Main Street businesses and are available for purchase for anyone else. Main Street business owners can pick up their window cling at Mount Airy Commons (118 S. Main Street) during their business hours of Tuesday-Friday, 2-6:00 PM and Saturday-Sunday, 11 AM-3:00 PM. Others may order online at www.MountAiryMainStreet.org.

Historic District Micro-Grant Program

The Town of Mount Airy micro-grant program was created to assist small businesses within Historic Downtown Mount Airy that have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and affiliated State Executive Orders.

Program Overview:

$25,000 in Town funds and $25,000 in State funds for a program total of $50,000.
One-time grant with no repayment due.
Award amount will be determined by the number of eligible applicants.
Award amount will be evenly split among the eligible applicants, up to 25 businesses.
Limited to one award per business entity.
Eligible grant uses only which are restricted to business operating expenses or COVID related business adjustments (i.e. payroll, inventory, rent, utilities, mortgage, patio heaters, tents for outdoor seating, technology upgrades)

Find Out More

Surah Japanese Steakhouse Grand Opening

We are so excited to have a new restaurant in Mount Airy, Surah Japanese Steakhouse (or Japnese as the signs states which is a common spelling in Japan). The owner, Tom Lee (or JJ) has been a hibachi chef and general manager for 20 years. He named the restaurant "Surah" because it means "everything goes well" and all of us in Mount Airy are hoping that everything goes well for this new addition to our community!

i Heart Mount Airy

Did you miss yesterday's i Heart Mount Airy Show? No worries! You can go to the Town's You Tube Channel and subscribe to see all the latest Mount Airy videos! I Heart Mount Airy is broadcast live on the Town's Facebook Page the last Wednesday of every month at noon. I Heart Mount Airy highlights local stores, services, crafts, news, restaurants, and everything that relates to our charming community. Hot topics for this episode include interviews with Baltimore Sun reporters Karen and David Nitkin, MAMSA representatives and more! Find out more at www.mountairymd.gov/iheartmountairy