Christmas at Family Values Dental

Christmas is always a special time of year for us in Allegany County.  We have the wonderful Western Maryland Scenic Railroad's Santa Express and North Pole Express for the kids to enjoy a real Christmas train ride.  The downtown lights of Baltimore Street are fantastic with the lighting of the Cumberland Christmas tree and the festive holiday storefront decorations.  Visiting Santa at the Country Club Mall is a special treat.  There's lots to see at the Cumberland Theatre, Tree House Toy Shop, New Embassy Theatre, & Mr. Toad's Pottery.  The Gordon-Roberts House presents crafts, tours, refreshments, and a story by the fire during "The Night Before Christmas" event for kids.  Cumberland's Midnight Madness offers downtown shopping until midnight with free trolley and carriage rides, visits from Santa and Rudolph, & holiday music.

We are blessed to have the Pleasant Valley Tree Farm in nearby Stringtown, PA where we can go back in time for a Christmas tree choosing and cutting adventure.  Frostburg Storybook Holiday in early December is a day-long event spreading across the city with the Elf Olympics, storybook readings, horse drawn carriage rides, a Storybook Holiday Parade, festival of trees, and much more.  Of course, the mountains topped with a light skiff of snow are especially beautiful this time of year.  Celebrating the birth of Jesus creates a spirit of thankfulness, giving, new birth, and peace which only he can provide.

We especially love Christmas time at our dental office.  We enjoy decorating in general, but this time of year presents an opportunity to really make our office feel like home.  The whole atmosphere brightens up with joyous Christmas music, a fresh pine scent, a warm fire in the fireplace, and friendly faces around each corner.  If you've never been to Family Values Dental Care, stop by to take a look and check us out.  We hope you and your loved ones have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year.

Lobby at Family Values Dental

Ceiling Decor

Holiday Children's Books

Bookshelf  Nativity

Festive Entryway

Singing Snowmen Couple

History of Family Values Dental in Cumberland MD Part 2

Did you know Family Values Dental used to be a library and before that a police barracks?  Well, our building has quite a local history.

In 1924, the Maryland State Police set up their police barracks in LaVale MD right here at our very location.  The foundation and much of the internal structure of the building is the same now as it was back then.  The basement has a concrete-walled room which sort of reminds us of a jail cell.  I'm not sure if it was ever used as a jail, but it certainly make you wonder.  There may have been some interesting characters pass through these walls decades ago.  We think the building in the back of the property was a horse stable for the police officers.  Horseshoes were found 6 feet beneath the present macadam parking area while excavating for underground utilities in 1979.  The inside of the back building has the feel of a stable with low ceilings and wood-beamed supporting structures.

In 1956, the LaVale Public Library (Allegany County Library branch) was located here.  Currently the library is located directly across the street...which is very convenient for families visiting out practice.  But back then, LaVale's library was right inside this building.  You can see the original library ceiling tiles with 1950's style stainless steel light fixtures beneath the current ceilings tiles.  If you turn off all our dental equipment and music, you can imagine that this place would have made a great library...it's quite peaceful.  We've tried to maintain that peaceful library-like atmosphere by having lots of interesting coffee-table type books to leaf through in our lobby.  Some people have even commented that our lobby is so relaxing and quiet it feels like they are still in the library.

History of Family Values Dental in Cumberland MD

Welcome to the Family Values Dental blog.  We've had our website up since opening the practice and it's about time for a real blog.  To start off, I'll just tell you a little bit about the history of our dental practice here in the Cumberland MD area.

Dr. John Dowell was the former owner of the practice.  He was a caring, gentle, skilled dentist whose #1 priority was always serving his patients well and treating them as friends or even family.  He was never pushy about "selling" unnecessary, expensive dental treatments yet at the same time, took excellent care of his patients with thorough diagnosis and quality care. 

When I was looking for a dental practice to step into and take over, that's exactly the type of place I felt at home in.  Some dental practices can seem to be more about running a highly successful business than placing patient care first.  We have adopted the same philosophy of conservative, quality dental care and hope to continue it for a long, long time.

If you'd like more information or to schedule an appointment, visit our website Family Values Dental.

Welcome to the Family Values Dental Care Blog.

Check out this site periodically for information about our Cumberland MD dentist office.