Betsy Spiker Holcomb Deep Creek Lakes Favorite Realtor
Betsy Spiker Holcomb supports Dancing Classrooms of the Alleghenies. The Spiker Team of Long and Foster Real Estate, Inc. recently presented a $2,500 donation to Jennifer Christophel, executive director of Dancing Classrooms of the Alleghenies. Dancing Classrooms is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) arts in education program for fifith and eighth grade children that utilizes the art of ballroom dancing to achieve positive effects in the lives of children and those in support of them. The 10-week, 20-session development program applies a curriculum-based teaching approach of the vocabulary of various contemporary social dances in a classroom setting in school to help students achieve social awareness, teamwork, active arts making, self-awareness, confidence, creativity, cooperation, and increased self-esteem. Left to right are Kathy Eiswert, DCA board president; Spiker Team members Kathy Johnson, Karen Myers, and Betsy Spiker Holcomb; Christophel; and team member Bob Holcomb.
Lake Point Inn-Valentines Day-Deep Creek Lake. Lake Pointe Inn, bed & breakfast mountain retreat in McHenry, Md., on the shore of Deep Creek Lake. Originally an 1880s farmhouse, the place has been modernized and renovated to include 10 guest rooms.
There’s plenty of pampering, with a massage room (hot stone and Swedish massage and reflexology), steam shower and sauna. Complimentary breakfast will fill you for the rest of the day.
The inn offers some romantic touches:
– Champagne package with champagne, Godiva chocolates and two Lake Pointe Inn champagne glasses ($65).
– Champagne with two Lake Pointe Inn champagne glasses ($55).
– Wine package with bottle of red or white wine served with wine crackers, paired with two Lake Pointe Inn wine goblets ($60).
– Red silk rose petal sprinkling in the room ($20).
The inn is at 174 Lake Pointe Drive, McHenry, Md. 21541.
With a successful Martin Luther King weekend at Wisp Resort behind us, we look ahead this week to temperatures in the lower teens to single digits. This upcoming weekend looks very prosperous for an abundance of fresh snow and manageable temperatures ranging in the mid to upper 20’s. The snow canons are wide open as we speak so take some time to organize a trip here to enjoy you favorite winter sport activity and give us a call with any questions you may have regarding real estate or local activities. Call Betsy Holcomb at 301-616-5022.
Wisp Resort is fighting the good fight, bobbing and weaving around the weather in hopes of punching out enough snow to get the resort open. They have been making snow for the last few days, shutting down snow making efforts today around 11am when the temperatures and humidity got too high. The plan was to be open by Friday, but with a warm up in the forecast next week that could all change. The cold temperatures are a necessity for making light champagne powder, but humidity also plays a valuable role in the process. If there is too much humidity, it makes a very heavy/wet/dense snow that is not great for skiing and also clogs the snowmaking machines.
If you’re looking to visit the area and rent one of our many fabulous vacation pads, visit the Facebook site below for a belated Cyber Monday booking special. Since we are just now notifying you of the special, our rental manager Shelia McCracken has agreed to honor the $100 discount if you book a home by the end of business on Thursday, November 29th with code “belated”. Or, rather than the code, you can tell them that the Spiker Team notified you of the special. https://www.facebook.com/DeepCreekResort
Now is the time to get your tickets to Dutch’s New Year’s Eve Celebration. A portion of the proceeds will benefit HART for Animals Adoption Center Fund. Last year this was a sold out event. Bobby Nicholas provides excellent entertainment and the food is always exquisite.
Real estate sales in the Deep Creek Lake area are still faring well this time of year. Below is a link to some of the recent properties to go under contract in the last 30 days. If you’d like for us to perform a new search for listings that meet your criteria just give us a ring. Or, if you’d like to be setup on our auto email service which sends you new listings from the MLS that meet your parameters just as soon as they come on the market we would also be happy to do that, so long as we know your list of wants. http://mrislistings.mris.com/DE.asp?ID=49750835480
The Spiker Team’s featured listing of the week is a 117’ waterfront home site in the private community of North Shore West at Thousand Acres. Gradually sloping topography makes it ideal for a walk-out lower level and the Type A dock permit allows you to have 2 power boats and 1 non-power boat at your very own private dock. Price recently reduced as an end-of-year incentive. http://mrislistings.mris.com/DE.asp?ID=49750682190
Betsy Spiker Holcomb Nominated for Realtor of the Year!
This year has been fantastic for many, many reasons. My wife Betsy and I are expecting a little boy, due on New Years Eve of 2012. It’s hard to top that with anything else, but I can tell you that I am very proud of my wonderful wife,Betsy SpikerHolcomb, for being nominated for the State of Maryland’s Realtor of the Year award.
Betsy has learned a lot growing up with a Mom that has had her hands deeply submerged in the real estate business for over 35 years. That being said, Betsy has developed her own vast understanding of every specific part of this complex business, like a horologist who masterfully puts together thousands on tiny pieces to make something that runs with surgical precision. I can tell you, having been in this business less than five years, that it will take me many more years to become as knowledgeable about the intricate details that need to be understood to make clients feel secure spending large amounts of money on an investment here at Deep Creek Lake.
Betsy has served the Garrett County Board of REALTORS® (GCBR) in various capacities over the years, including secretary and director of their Board. “Her dedication and commitment in serving on the committee of Public Relations, Task Force, and Builder Liaisons have been instrumental in others becoming involved,” said a spokesperson of GCBR. Holcomb just finished a second term as the chair of the Realtors Action Committee and as a 3-year Director.
Real Estate is only a piece to a puzzle that led her to be dearly respected by her peers. She leads the county in her volunteer work and continually works selflessly as a leader in fund raising to acquire more modern equipment with the Garrett County Memorial Hospital Foundation board. She is also dedicated to the Hospital’s Board of Governors, the GCMH Life Savers Club, as a volunteer for Partners of Animal Welfare and Safety, and as a Garrett Lakes Arts Festival & Dancing Classrooms sponsor.
She is an 11th generation resident ofGarrettCounty, which is something you do not hear as much in the country anymore. She has “deep roots” here in the county and community and is respected by friends, family, colleagues, peers, and mostly by her husband. I am a bit partial to this wonderful woman, who’s a fantastic wife and soon to be the mother of our first child, but she posses a quality of well rounded perfection that makes this entire community proud of her nomination for Realtor of the Year!
Deep Creek Lake Paddleboarding/Photography in the Fall. I know I have been preaching the gospel of SUP-IN or paddleboarding over the summer. That passion has steamrolled into fall and has opened up limitless opportunities and experiences for me as of late. I pride myself as a passionate, amateur photographer who enjoys capturing moments that are special to me in my daily life. My camera is never more than an arm’s length from me at all times so I don’t miss any special moments. I have been itching to take my camera with me on my SUP trips but had this nightmare image of it falling in slow motion, splashing into the water forever to be lost in the depths ofDeepCreekLake. But…the problem was solved when I was cleaning out my closet and found my old go-to camera that at one time was close to state-of-the-art. This camera has now become my SUP camera. I enclosed it in a zip lock freezer bag and off I go to try and capture these wonderful experiences on the water. What I realized after a few shoots is that paddleboarding is an amazing and unique way to photograph this wonderful lake. I always go very early before work or very late after work and I can tell you that during this time of the year I almost always have the lake to myself.
As the leaves start to ripen up I have found some superb angles and vantage points around the lake to witness the fall foliage spectacle. This morning I woke up and noticed the glassy lake immediately and rushed down to launch before my shift started at Long and Foster. I had a good hour and a half pulling slowly through the calm lake literally in awe of the colors around me reflecting off this wonderful lake. I think it’s safe to safe to say that today, October 5th, 2012, is THE PEAK of the fall foliage spectacle. I missed the opportunity to go out this morning but have many amazing memories and photographs taken from my SUP to keep me buzzing on the fall season. I wonder when the first snow fall will be and how I can utilize my wetsuit, camera and paddleboard before the lake freezes!
526 HOYES RD-5 Acres-Pond-Stream-Close to Wisp. Supreme Garrett County Living! Have it all…5+ acres with your own pond and creek, a 2-story barn and outbuilding, two finished levels of living area and an ideal location 5 minutes to Deep Creek Lake and Wisp Resort. Two large stone fireplaces (one gas, one wood) make for cozy, winter nights and an efficient secondary heating system. Country living in Maryland’s most popular resort town!
If you have any questions please call Betsy Holcomb at 301-616-5022
Deep Creek Lake-Water Level-Rule Band. You may notice that lake elevations fluctuate throughout the year and I have a lot of potential buyer’s as well as clients who are now second home owners who need clarity on how this level is controlled. The Maryland Department of Environment oversees the “Rule Band” which determines each month the high and low level of the reservoir. For example: for the month of September the “Upper Band” level is 2459’ and the “Lower Band” level is at 2458’. The current level of the lake is 2457.5 which is just a hair under the lower band level. You can always find real time Lake levels by visiting Deep Creek Hydro to help you understand the changing lake level as well as how the Dam operates on a weekly basis.
SavageMan Swim-Deep Creek Lake, Maryland I took out the paddleboard this weekend to the DeepCreekLakeState Park trying to get a different perspective on the SavageMan race. My focus was on the opening event both days, which was swimming. Saturday the swim was .9 miles and Sunday was 1.2 miles. Let me tell you that this is an amazing feat to accomplish before you go on and bike and run the afternoon away! The thing that I found most treacherous besides the obvious distance of the swim was the conditions that you have to swim under. Unlike the control you have in the direction you choose during the biking and running section, swimming is organized chaos. Most take a wiggly, zig zaggy line back and forth often kicking or stroking into, over, and under the other competitors. It seems very tight throughout the race as packs of swimmers “school together” at different levels and speeds, often colliding and finding newer, safer paths to follow. My hats off to all the contestants who challenged their mind, body, and souls to finish this demanding start to this mythical race. Much respect of congratulations to all that participated!!!
