810-lancaatar Farming, Saturday, October 7, 1995
WESTMINSTER, Md. Ash
ley Marie has learned a lot about
balancing a career with education
... and all at the ripe old age of
twelve! Ashley left her middle
school in 1994 to be home
schooled, just so she could accept
singing engagements on school
nights.
“With my mom teaching me (on
home-school) I could accept sing
ing engagments during the week
because I didn’t have to get up so
early. Sometimes I wouldn’t get up
until noon the next day. But my
mom would make me do work
books and studying for hours the
next day to make up for it!”
Ashley Marie (her middle
name) decided when she was in
kindergarten that she wanted to be
on stage. “Back then I thought I
would be a comedian,” she says.
“But then, in second grade, when I
sang in my class talent show, I
knew I wanted to be a singer!”
Ashley’s mom, Lois Szymanski
says she held Ashley back (from
the stage) for awhile. “I wasn’t
sure I wanted her to do this so
young,” Mrs. Szymanski says.
“But after awhile I couldn’t stop
her. I think it is something she is
meant to do!”
Although she had sung for many
family gatherings and parties,
Ashley Marie’s first opportunity to
sing publicly came in the spring of
1994 when she joined the Carroll
County 4-H Performing Arts Club.
Leaders, Ron and Debbie Zepp
invited Ashley to do several shows
with the Performing Arts Club,
Ashley Marie sings for diners at Mt. Shadows Restaurant
ids *
Twelve-Year-Old Si
nurturing this young girl’s talent
with a lot of love and positive
encouragement.
But Ashley says her first real
break came when she sang at the
1994 Carroll County 4-H and FFA
Fair. After singing for the Farm
Queen Contest, and again that
night in the Talent Show, she was
interviewed by a writer from the
Carroll Sun who wrote a story on
her for the paper, and then she was
interviewed live on a local cable
television station.
Since that time Ashley’s career
has exploded. She has continued to
perform on a regular basis at
restaurants and Fall Festivals,
Lions Club and church events and
at Moose Lodges, she has made a
hit with many people in the area.
She has begun to take voice and
guitar lessons and has performed
with many local bands. “I love the
Dixie Highway Band,” says Ash
ley. “I take voice lessons with the
lead singer, Dusty Springer, and
guitar with her husband. Ron Car
ney. They have been so nice to
me,” Ashley says. “They even let
me perform with them at carnivals
all summer and other places, too!”
Support has come from all over.
Country Roads, a country and
western wear store in the Cranber
ry Mall in Westminster has agreed
to give her a 20 percent discount on
costumes in exchange for promo
tion. Harris Automotive of West
minster was so impressed with her
voice that they purchased and
donated to her a cordless micro
phone. Mrs. Szymanski sav
Ashley sings with the Dixie Highway Band at the Harney, Maryland carnival.
“They play tapes of her in their
shop and promote her to anyone
who will listen!” Marshall’s Melo
dies, a Westminster Kareoke Com
pany called a talent scout to hear
Ashley sing in January of 1995.
Since that time the (local) talent
agency has cut a three song video
to promote her and has a Christmas
album in the works.
“So many people have done so
much to help her!” says Mrs. Szy
manski. “Everyone seems to
believe she will make it...and it’s
all she wants to do!”
“Her voice is so much more
mature than you would expect,”
says Sharon Alfaro, a writer with
“Country Plus” magazine. She
came to see Ashley in a Show at
Mountain Shadow’s Restaurant in
Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvani
a, then wrote an article about Ash
ley for Country Plus. “She sounds
like a young Reba McEntire!” Ms.
Alfaro says.
Even though her career seems to
be in full swing, >oung Ashley has
decided that she wants to be a nor
mal kid, too, so after a year of
homeschool she is back in school
this year as an eighth grade student
at East Middle School in Westmin
ster. “I’m a people person, and I
missed my friends too much!” she
says.
This past year Ashley Marie had
a chance to meet with Country
Music legends Ronnie Dove and
Narvel Felts and to perform a song
for them in shows in Vienna, Vir
ginia and in Smithsburg, Mary
land. She performs once a month at
Mike Pryor’s Mountain Shadow’s
Restaurant in Blue Ridge Summit,
Pennsylvania where she has a reg
ular following of friends and fans.
“It might take me years,” Ashley
Marie says, “but someday I’ll
make it to Nashville!”
Folks can catch Ashley Marie at
any of these upcoming shows:
October 14 ■ Chapps Lounge - Cancer
Benefit - Woodsbridge, VA (Info. - Jay
Padgett <703-730-3581)
December 23 - (Christmas Show) All at
Mountain Shadows Restaurant, Blue Ridge
Summit, Pa. - Dinner and 1 hour Show
$6.00 (Info. - Mike Pryor - 717-794-2705)
ortie^jr
Country
Dreaming of Nashville, Ashley Marie performs locally to a
growing number of fans.
Don’t throw away your old
crayons. Instead make rainbow
crayons.
Take all the paper off the cray
ons and break into one-inch pieces.
Line the muffin cups with foil and
preheat oven to 300 degrees. Put
crayon pieces into each foil-lined
muffin cup and fill about one-half
Rainbow
W
Crayons
full.
Put the muffin tin into the oven
for about S minutes. Watch care
fully and remove before crayons
are completely melted. Cool com
pletely in the muffin tin for about
30 minutes. When cool, remove
from tin and peel off foil.