Cover is $5, Come out and sip wine under a beautiful sunset and listen to Mr. Collins will be talking about the history of the area.
About Joseph Collins
Joseph Collins has a B.A. in Social Studies from Juniata College (1960), earned his Provisional Teacher Certificate from California (PA) State University in 1963 and an MBA from Hood College in 2010. He retired from Allfirst Bank (now M&T Bank) as a Vice President in the Commercial Real Estate Finance Division in 2000. A native of western Pennsylvania he has lived in Maryland since 1984 having moved from the Annapolis area to Frederick in 2004. A widower (wife Nancy passed from cancer in 2000) Joe has three children and seven grandchildren. He has been a volunteer at Frederick Health Hospital since 2005 and is currently First Vice President of the Frederick Health Auxiliary and is the Immediate Auxiliary Past President and a former member of the hospital Board of Directors. He is a member of the hospital’s Development Council Special Gifts Committee, a member of the Advisory Board of RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) and is Co- Vice President of the Maryland Association of Hospital Auxiliaries (MAHA). He is a master docent and a walking tour guide for Heritage Frederick and a board member of the Frederick County Civil War Roundtable. Joe was the winner of the 2018 Unsung Hero Frederick DoGooder Award. He is also the Executive Director of the Nancy Collins Memorial Cancer Foundation, a non-profit charity that holds an annual charity golf outing (2020 will be the 19th annual event) with proceeds benefiting various areas of the Frederick Health Hospital.
With his interest in history Joe has written three books centering on events in the American Civil War. His first book Farmers That Helped Shape America follows the Van Sickle branch of his family, who were early settlers in Garrett County, Maryland and their service during the Civil War as members of Maryland’s Third Potomac Home Brigade.
His second book The Battle of West Frederick, July 7, 1864 brings to light the over looked fierce fighting that took place in the farm fields west of Frederick City two days before the historic Battle of Monocacy. The book details the many events leading up to this engagement, its many participants and the vital role that the Van Sickle family members and the men of the Third Potomac Home Brigade played in the fighting and the impact the battle had on Frederick and the Battle of Monocacy on July 9, 1864. As a result of the book and with the help of the Frederick County Civil War Roundtable an historical marker was erected at the site of fighting on U.S. Route 40 in front of the Comfort Inn.
His third book The Battle for Jug Bridge details the heroics of the Ohio National Guard units and their valiant defense of the Jug Bridge where the National Road crossed the Monocacy River. This vital bridge not only protected the right flank of the Union defenders fighting to the south at the B&O Railroad bridge and Georgetown Turnpike bridge that crossed the Monocacy River but also covered the eventual Union escape route.
Joe has started work on his fourth book titled Maryland’s Forgotten Civil War Soldiers that will tell the story of the Maryland citizens who fought as members of the Potomac Home Brigades specifically the history of the Third Potomac Home Brigade.