Dha Dental of Emmitsburg
Just last month, after twenty-two years in Eldersburg, Maryland, Dr. Michael Hargadon DDS, MS consolidated his thirty-three year dental practice to only Emmitsburg. Since closing the Eldersburg office, he’s retained about thirty percent of his clients from that location who are traveling from the Eldersburg/Westminster area to see him. That says a lot about a dentist.
Dr. Hargadon started his career in Microbiology, working at the Baltimore Cancer Research Center, where he also obtained his Masters of Science in Microbiology. He entered Dental School in 1979, and received his DDS in 1983 from the University of Maryland at Baltimore.
He opened his first office in West Baltimore on Frederick Avenue. Within six months, he purchased another office on Eastern Avenue in Baltimore from the estate of Dr. Miksinski. At one point, he employed two associates and a part-time orthodontist. To simplify the greeting of Dr. Hargadon and Associates, he registered the name “Dha Dental.”
After about eight years, he closed the Eastern Avenue Office and moved his interest to Eldersburg in Carroll County, while continuing his practice in West Baltimore.
In 2007, after almost a quarter century, he left Baltimore City and opened his Emmitsburg Office in the old Knights of Columbus Building at 7-9 East Main Street, while continuing his practice in Eldersburg. He and his wife, Jane, who also serves as his office manager, own the building, which interested them due to its rich history.
The building was once the meeting place for the Knights of Columbus for Emmitsburg. It was also the “guild” for Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s canonization. It was the place where many of the testimonies and documentation of records were kept while Elizabeth Ann Seton’s “cause” was being considered.
“The building itself is a relic,” said Dr. Hargadon.
He originally found interest in Emmitsburg after meeting with his Spiritual Director, Father Jack Lombardi, the former Chaplain at the Grotto. Father Jack introduced him to pilgrimage, and to date, Dr. Hargadon has been on pilgrimage to Calcutta, Peru, Tanzania, and Haiti. All of these trips involved a range of dental services, from extracting a tooth on a woman in Mother Theresa’s House of the Dying, to seventy-five dental exams on Peruvian children at 14,000 feet above sea level, to extracting some one hundred twenty teeth in a week in Haiti.
Reflecting on the mission work, Dr. Hargadon expressed, “It struck me that we could be doing this at home as well.” Therefore, in Frederick County, he continues his pilgrimage as he provides dental services for the Frederick Rescue Mission and the Seton Outreach Dental Program.
The Dha Dental office has a warm feel. As you walk into the building, head straight back to the hall and open the door, Jane will warmly welcome you from behind the counter. The office also has two rooms to see patients, a lab, and parking in the rear of the office, as well as a wheel chair lift that is required by building code.
Dr. Hargadon provides general dental services, such as fillings, cleanings, bridges, crowns, dentures, extractions, etc. He rarely utilizes hygienists, doing most of his patients’ cleanings himself.
Dha accepts most insurance policies, and encourages anyone who has a question to call or stop in to see what they cover. He said some people are concerned with the type of dental policy they have, and might possibly avoid the dentist altogether. This could easily cause more damage if there is an existing dental problem. Dr. Hargadon can take preventative measures for patients, or at least give a heads-up as to what their dental future holds.
He and Jane have been married for forty-one years. They have four children and nine grandchildren. He has dabbled in politics through the years, ranging from being a state officer in a Maryland third party, to challenging Congressman Cummings for the GOP in Congressional District 7, to running for Central Committee and Delegate to the Convention.
The Hargadons love living along the base of Mary’s Mountain, where he tends with chickens and goats, and enjoys gardening. Jane is always planning her next trip out to the Midwest to spend time with their grandchildren.
For more information about Dha Dental, please call the office at 301-447-3585.
Dr. Michael Hargadon and his wife, Jane, of Dha Dental in Emmitsburg.
Photo by Grace Eyler
Sabillasville Resident Provides Heartfelt Mortuary Services Out of Westminster
Nicholas DiGregory
Few topics are more shunned by today’s society than the concept of death. In a world where modern science and medicine have prolonged life to considerable lengths, the idea of death has become merely an afterthought, albeit one that inspires a rather vicious response or fear and loathing.
And yet, death is an inevitable part of life. And while it should not be feared, death can bring immense sadness and vulnerability when it strikes a loved one. When a family member or close friend passes away, it can be hard enough to move on; the last thing many people want to think about at such a tragic time is making funeral arrangements.
Few individuals understand this fact better than . The twenty-seven-year-old Sabillasville resident and licensed mortician knows how hard coping with death can be, and with that in mind, he started Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services.
Based out of Westminster in Maryland, Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services provides a uniquely personal and heartfelt approach to the funeral process. As the owner and supervising mortician, Black focuses on providing affordable and unobtrusive care to those grieving the loss of a loved one.
“A casket is a casket, and a funeral is a funeral,” said Black. “It shouldn’t matter who’s providing the service as long as you like what was done and it made you feel good. That’s what it’s about at the end of the day. It’s not about buying the most or least expensive; it’s about what you can afford to make you feel good. And that’s really my goal, to make people feel good because it’s what they deserve.”
While Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services is based out of a brick-and-mortar funeral home in Westminster, Black does not restrict himself or his company to any single location. Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services offers viewings and funerals at places of worship and community venues as well, allowing for funeral arrangements that are less expensive but more personalized.
“We’ve adopted a business model that’s unique to this area,” said Black. “Our business model works off of the principle that we work out of another funeral director’s funeral home, and that contributes to us being able to provide a lower-cost service, since we do not have to deal with the overhead of building a brand-new funeral home.”
Another unique quality Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services offer is in-home consultation. Black stressed that when a person is in mourning, there is no reason for them to have to travel from home to make funeral arrangements.
“We try to meet with people in the home,” said Black. “A lot of funeral directors make you travel all over God’s creation to come in to them, but we don’t think that’s appropriate when someone has lost a loved one. We bring the funeral home to you.”
In their special way, Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services provides all of the traditional funeral services, and then some. In addition to the typical funeral, cremation, and burial options, Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services also provides services for anatomical donation, mortuary shipping, cryonic suspension, and grave relocation. Most services are also available for cases of miscarriage or still birth, even as early as the first trimester.
Blacks Mortuary and Cremation Services is located at 254 East Main Street, Westminster, MD 21157. For immediate contact or to make funeral arrangements, call 443-292-5662 or 301-723-7180. General questions can also be addressed via email to blacksmortuary@gmail.com.