November 8, 2013

Transcription

November 8, 2013

Gaithersburg’s Hometown Newspaper | Serving Kentlands, Lakelands, Quince Orchard Park and More
The
TOWN
Vol. 10, No. 21
Courier
With daily news updates on Facebook.
November 8, 2013
Northwest Stuns Streaking Quince Orchard
By Syl Sobel
T
he Northwest Jaguars won bragging
rights in the Battle of Great Seneca
last Friday, upsetting the then-undefeated Quince Orchard Cougars, 35-21, and
in the process raising their stature for the
forthcoming Maryland 4A playoffs while
casting concerns on QO’s.
The playoffs suddenly got a lot more
interesting.
A packed crowd for Senior Night at the
Cougar Dome watched as Northwest (7-2)
won on both sides of the ball while their
playmakers time and again produced big
plays and QO’s didn’t. Sophomore quarterback Mark Pierce shredded the Cougars
all night, going 19-29 for 331 yards and
tossing two touchdown passes apiece to
Joshua Gills and Matt Watson. His counterpart, QO’s Mike Murtaugh, battled
Jaguar blitzes to go 15-30 for 201 yards.
His two second half touchdown passes to
Elliott Davis were too little and too late to
top Northwest, which had opened a 21-7
first half lead.
“Our kids just played hard and made a
lot of plays that they needed to make,” said
Northwest head coach Mike Neubeiser,
a former QO assistant. “We were able to
stop them a few times when they were
driving. They’re an unbelievable football team so it’s a big win for our program.” Indeed, QO had entered the contest having won their last five games by a
combined score of 240-13.
Cougar head coach Dave Mencarini
joined in the mutual admiration. “They
played great,” he said of the Jaguars. “My
hat’s off to them. Their coaches, their play-
ers, they were unbelievable tonight and
they deserved to win.”
The game began as a backyard tussle between neighborhood rivals, as many of the
players have grown up playing with and
Photo | Phil Fabrizio
On Nov. 1, Northwest upset Quince Orchard, 35-21. In this defensive play of the game, NW’s Rodney Snider tips away a late 4th quarter third down pass to QO’s Malcolm Brown.
n
Road to Playoffs Continued on page 22
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GAITHERSBURG, MD
Permit #1722
After Delays, Gaithersburg
Library Staff Is in the Building
By Karen O’Keefe
T
In partnership with Montgomery Playhouse, the Arts Barn presents Neil Simon’s God’s Favorite.
(Left to right) Kim Busch, Joyce Wright, Ed Klein and Ted Culler are featured.
The Town Courier
309 Main Street
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
against each other in youth sports in the
Gaithersburg-Germantown area. “A natural rivalry” both coaches called it, which
in part accounted for the physicality and
numerous personal foul and unsportmanlike conduct calls on both teams throughout the night.
Northwest set the tone at the outset,
sacking Murtaugh on the game’s first snap
and opening the scoring in the second
quarter with a two-yard Pierce-to-Gills
touchdown toss. QO looked ready to respond when Malcolm Brown returned the
kickoff to the 42 and a quick run by Kyle
Green brought them into Northwest territory. But Murtaugh missed an open Shawn
Barlow near the goal line and the QO
drive stalled. That was a recurring theme
all game as Murtaugh either just missed receivers or they had chances to make tough
catches but could not.
Northwest took over and Pierce led
them on a well-conceived drive mixing
runs and short passes, capped by a one-yard
scoring plunge by Rasheed Gillis with 3:11
in the half. For the first time all year, a
team had scored two touchdowns on the
Black Paw Defense, and the Cougars and
their Red Army sensed they were in for a
tough night.
QO rebounded with a kick return to
midfield by Davis and a three-play, 53-second scoring drive ending with a 10-yard
Neil Simon’s God’s Favorite
Opens at the Art Barn
By Karen O’Keefe
God’s Favorite is Neil Simon’s
eleventh play – or his fourteenth
if you include the musicals. It was
written in 1974 and first opened
on Broadway in December of that
year. Now the comedy has come
to Gaithersburg, presented by the
city’s Arts Barn in partnership
with Montgomery Playhouse.
The production opens Nov. 8.
n
god’s favorite Continued on page 8
he library will not open
to the public until sometime in January 2014
– and that date is not yet finalized – but reconstruction of the
Gaithersburg Public Library is
substantially completed and the
library staff is at work shelving
materials. The library’s opening
is currently nine months behind
its original schedule. Delays are
attributed to a host of problems
unforeseen at the December
2011 groundbreaking, including
an overabundance of stormwater, unstable footings, difficulty
relocating site utilities and an
unusually wet spring in 2013.
The renovation nearly doubles the library’s physical size
from 33,700 to 63,600 square
feet. Also new is a second floor
(7,900 square feet) that contains meeting rooms, mechanical rooms, storage and a satellite office of the Montgomery
County Charles W. Gilchrist
Center for Cultural Diversity.
An elevator has also been
added.
The Gaithersburg Library’s
original structure was built in
1981. As one of eight regional
libraries in the county’s 22-library system, the Gaithersburg
Library houses a larger collection and has more staff and
more hours than branch libraries, including the Quince
n
library construction
Continued on page 8
Page 2
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013
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Fax: 301.355.4973 • [email protected]
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013 Page 3
thehot spot With Maureen Stiles & Phil Fabrizio
AROUND TOWN
The Hot Spot stopped by Giant Food in the Kentlands recently to ask shoppers about the proposed later start time of
8:15 a.m. for high school students. This change would affect middle school and elementary school schedules as well, necessitating a 10 minute earlier start time for middle school (7:45 a.m.) and a 30 minute longer school day for elementary
school (until 4 p.m). Here’s what people told writer Maureen Stiles and photographer Phil Fabrizio.
Compiled by Pam Schipper
“I think a later start time is a
good idea because teens need
their sleep. They certainly are up
late!”
Kristin Johnston and
daughter Jordan
Lakelands
“I am all for it. I have kids
in middle school and I see how
much homework they have in high
school. I prefer they sleep in and
get to school a little later. And it
keeps them off the streets!”
Eric Ellis
Darnestown
“I am really torn about the new
start times. I have grandchildren
in every grade. So the little ones
have to get up earlier and the older
ones later. And the teachers have
to work longer hours with no pay
raise I am sure.”
Maxine Stander
Lakelands
“I have a middle schooler, and I
definitely think a later start time is
a good thing.”
Karyn Simon
Rockville
“I am a teacher, and I think they
should have done this years ago.
If they had, it would have helped
my kids!”
Michelle Rambler
(no photo)
Lakelands
Editor’s note: In the Oct. 18 edition of The Hot Spot, the photos of Matt Malakoff and Charlie Holbrook were mistakenly switched.
Our apologies!
2014 Montgomery County Master
Gardener’s Training Program
Plan ahead and enroll now for the popular Master
Gardeners Training Program. The registration deadline for the Jan. 21, 2014 through March 7, 2014
class is Dec. 31. Faculty and staff of the University
of Maryland Extension, as well as other experts in
the green industry, will present horticulture lectures that cover ornamental plants, fruits, vegetables
and herbs; identify common pests and diseases; and
discuss proper fertilization and watering practices.
The course meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the University of Maryland
Extension, Montgomery County office, located at the
Agricultural History Farm Park, 18410 Muncaster
Road, Derwood. The training fee is $300. To be
placed on the application list, call 301.590.2836.
Run Under the Lights 2013
Register now for the Nov. 23 5K run/walk through
the winter wonderland that is Gaithersburg’s Winter
Lights Festival at Seneca Creek State Park. The Winter
Lights Festival features more than 380 illuminated vignettes and 65 animated displays. Theme areas include Winter Woods, Teddy Bear Land, Victorian
Village, North Pole, Toyland and Penguin Cove. The
5K Run Under the Lights will be chip timed for those
who wish to compete. The registration fee is $35, valid Nov. 8 through 21. To register, please visit www.
imathlete.com/events/RunUndertheLights.
Veterans Day at Kentlands Manor
Kentlands Manor resident veterans will be honored
with a flag raising ceremony on Monday, Nov. 11 at
11 a.m. Kentlands Manor is located at 217 Booth St.,
Gaithersburg.
Fleet Feet Sports and
Markoff’s Haunted Forest
teamed up this year to
create a really ghoulish
8th Annual Zombie Run
on Oct. 30. Also new, Yelp
officially sponsored the
2013 event.
Business Lunch
The Kentlands Downtown Partnership (KDP)
holds its next monthly luncheon at 12:30 p.m. on
Nov. 13 at Kentlands Lebanese Bistro, 317 Main St. All are welcome (not just KDP members), especially
those who work from home. Contact Will Corbin at
202.907.3400 or [email protected]
with any questions.
Clarksburg’s Ten-Mile Creek
yourviews
Common Sense Associated With Running More Miles
L
et me begin my letter by describing how my day began one
recent Tuesday. I had decided to
stop by Starbucks on my way to work
and left my house around 6 a.m. As
I came around the corner on Main
Street approaching Healthwalk Drive
— probably one of the most dangerous non-intersection stretches of road
in the Lakelands/Kentlands neighborhood as I’ve seen several near and two
actual head-on collisions — a group
of runners turned off of Lake Varuna
Drive onto Main Street right into my
path. Despite the early morning hour,
there was actually a car traveling in the
opposite direction of me at this exact
moment. I was forced to make a quick
decision and concluded that if I were
to hit anything, a collision with another vehicle was more survivable for
all parties as opposed to hitting one
of the runners. Fortunately, the other
driver was paying attention and also
swerved to avoid a collision. No harm,
no foul, right? Perhaps this time, but
I can only imagine that the outcome
would be less favorable if this same
scenario were to play out several more
times. One thing is for certain—it got
my heart pumping much harder than
my soon-to-be purchased cup of coffee ever could!
As though that wasn’t enough
excitement, after getting my coffee I drove through the roundabout
at Market Street and Kentlands
Boulevard and headed toward Great
Seneca Highway only to encounter
another runner figuratively rolling
the dice. He was running in the street
in the same direction as I was driving. Let me point out that there is no
bike lane here, but there is a sidewalk.
Despite it being completely dark, his
attire consisted of dark shorts and a
dark shirt—neither article of clothing
contained even the slightest of reflective qualities.
According to the U.S. Department
of Transportation, 4,280 pedestrians
were killed and more than 700,000
n
your views Continued on page 9
The Montgomery County Planning Board completed its third and final work session Oct. 24 on the
Clarksburg Limited Master Plan for the Ten Mile
Creek Watershed. The Planning Board voted to approve an option, which would allow Pulte to build up
to 656 housing units in the most fragile part of Ten
Mile Creek. The Planning Board’s recommendation
now heads to the Montgomery County Council. At
issue is the safety of the region’s emergency drinking
water supply.
Lakelands Turkey Bowl 2013
Thanksgiving is synonymous with football, right?
But that usually means watching football. Why not
start your Thanksgiving Day this year by playing football. Lakelands resident Ed Fowlkes and Direct Deals
MD are organizing the 3rd Annual Lakelands Turkey
Bowl for residents of the Lakelands, Kentlands, and
surrounding neighborhoods.
This year, they are raising funds for Manna Food
Center in Gaithersburg. Manna Food Center is the
main food bank in Montgomery County and feeds
more than 3,600 hungry families each month. Manna
n
around town Continued on page 9
Page 4
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013
policebeat
School Resource Officer Partners With Students, Faculty
By Jeff Kinney
W
e all know that some high school
students have a problem with authority. School Resource Officer
(SRO) Joseph Lowery wants to change that,
at least where he is concerned.
His job is to act as a liaison between
Quince Orchard and Poolesville high
schools and the Gaithersburg Police
Department, befriending students and providing school officials with the information they need to prepare for emergencies,
keep order and ensure safety.
“Instead of having a beat in the community, my beat is the schools,” he said.
“I work with the principal, assistance principal and school security team to help enhance safety and security. We want to make
sure everyone is on the same page regarding things going on in the community.”
Lowery’s responsibilities include things
like providing drug awareness training,
facilitating emergency preparedness drills
and promoting conflict resolution. For example, recently there was a confrontation
between two groups of students. After appropriate discipline was administered by
the school staff, he sat down with both
groups to see what had caused the problem
and try to prevent a recurrence.
In addition, he gives safety presentations
at parent-teacher association meetings and
other gatherings where parents are present,
so they can ask him questions directly.
Although there is some overlap, the
primary difference between him and the
school’s security staff is that, except for
making the occasional drug or weapon arrest, Lowery generally does not enforce
school rules.
“A lot of people think I’m here because
of all the craziness that’s happening in oth-
Local Student Arrested on Drugs
and Firearms Charges
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RE/MAX REALTY SERVICES
Diane Dorney
Publisher
301.330.0132
[email protected]
309 Main Street
For Advertising: 301.279.2304
Also on the Web at www.towncourier.com.
Matt Danielson
President
301.330.0132
[email protected]
Pam Schipper
Managing Editor
301.330.0132
[email protected]
Debi Rosen
Advertising Manager
301.279.2304
[email protected]
Sandra Christian
Advertising Sales
240.401.1020
[email protected]
er communities with
school shootings and
things like that, and
certainly I play a role
there,” he said. “But
mostly I’m here to act
as a resource to make
sure both sides understand crime trends and
other stuff that might
affect the students.”
Because he’s not rePhoto | Lucille Baur
sponsible for disci- (Left to right) Assistant Principal Carla McNeal, Security Team member Marquitta
pline, Lowery is freed Anderson, Security Team leader Michael Owens, School Resource Officer Joe Lowery,
up to perform a crucial Security Team member Corey Leach, Assistant Principal Ronnie Heller and Security
part of his job: form- Team member Brad Bernardo all work together on a regular basis to maintain a safe
ing good relationships learning environment at Quince Orchard High School.
with the students. His
dual goals are to improve their perception he speaks in the classroom when he can.
of authority figures—particularly the po- “Those are my favorite ways to meet kids
lice—and to develop reliable sources of in- because no one’s in trouble, and kids ask
formation that will help predict patterns of lots of good questions,” he said.
For example, foreign students somecrime, drug use, etc.
“The ultimate goal is to get to know the times mistakenly believe that local police
kids and the staff, because that’s really the are responsible for enforcing immigration laws, which can dissuade them from
most important piece,” he said.
To that end, he interacts with students
n school safety Continued on page 12
between classes and during lunch, and
than Gettier, 16, was arrested Oct.
11, after Montgomery County police entered his home on Triple
Crown Court, North Potomac, to execute a search warrant. Also arrested in
the home was Darel Gettier, 62, father of
Ethan Gettier.
Ethan Gettier is a student at Quince
Orchard High School.
He was charged as an adult with possession of a firearm by a minor, possession of marijuana, possession of drug
paraphernalia, possession with intent to
distribute CDS (controlled dangerous
substances) and possession of a firearm in
a drug trafficking crime.
n
Teen arrested Continued on page 12
Police Make Arrests in Five Guys Robbery
By Gina Gallucci-White
S
everal arrests have been made in the
Sept. 29 armed robbery of the Five
Guys in Kentlands, according to
Montgomery County Police. Two of the
suspects are former company employees.
Brenda Marisol Cortez, 19, of
Gaithersburg, had been employed as a
manager at the store, said Angela Cruz,
police spokeswoman. Alvin Compres, 18,
of Gaithersburg, is a former company employee. Cruz did not know which store
employed him.
Two others charged are Dennis Rivas
Staff Photographer
Phil Fabrizio
Staff Writers
Nora Caplan
Jenny Chen
Mike Cuthbert
Nora Fitzpatrick
Maureen Friedman
Gina Gallucci-White
Sean Gossard
Betty Hafner
Sheilah Kaufman
Jeff Kinney
Vanessa Mallory Kotz
Donna Marks
Karen O’Keefe
Matthew Ratz
Syl Sobel
Maureen Stiles
Student Writer
Christina Xu
Membreno, 24, of Germantown and Esau
Melara-Santos, 29, of Gaithersburg, police
said.
The group has also been charged with
the Oct. 14 armed robbery of the S.N.
Beer & Wine store on Wisteria Drive in
Germantown, police said. The four are not
suspected in any additional robberies.
“The suspects were developed through
a tip,” Cruz said, “and additional followup investigative techniques utilized by the
robbery investigators.”
About a half an hour after the 10 p.m.
closing on Sept. 29, two men came into the
n
robbery arrests Continued on page 12
©2013 Courier Communications
The Town Courier is an independent newspaper published twice a
month that provides news and information for the communities of
Kentlands, Lakelands and Quince Orchard Park in Gaithersburg, Md.
The paper is published by Courier Communications, which is responsible for the form, content and policies of the newspaper. The Town
Courier does not espouse any political belief or endorse any product
or service in its news coverage. Articles and letters submitted for publication must be signed and may be edited for length or content. The
Town Courier is not responsible for any claims made by advertisers
Letters to the Editor and Commentary do not necessarily reflect the
views of the staff, management or advertisers of The Town Courier.
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013 Touting His Unique
Independence, Phil Andrews
Campaigns for County Exec
By Karen O’Keefe
I
n a wide-ranging interview with the
Town Courier, the Montgomery County Council member who represents
District 3 (Gaithersburg and adjacent jurisdictions) talked about his 15 years on the
council, his current campaign to win the
county executive race, and his unique qualifications for the office. Chief among these
qualifications is his independence from special interests.
The council member spoke also to the
need for a strong county executive role in
dealing with the state legislature and the
Montgomery County delegation, and the
need to lower the costs of living and doing
business in the county so that the county maintains a competitive position in the
region.
Andrews attributes his independence
from special interests to his ban on campaign contributions from political action
committees (PACs), unions and real estate
developers. He acknowledges that this policy exacts a price, measured in campaign
contributions. Nonetheless, he says independence from special interests is indispensable for an effective county executive.
Thus, he has and will continue to have
Phil Andrews, County Council member and candidate
for county executive, attended Gaithersburg’s Annual
Octoberfest, Oct. 13 in Kentlands. Also pictured (right)
is Kentlands resident Joe Palka, chair, Friends of
Phil Andrews.
far fewer dollars in his campaign bank account than either of his two chief rivals
in the primary race, two-term incumbent
County Executive Isiah “Ike” Leggett and,
Leggett’s immediate predecessor, former
County Executive Doug Duncan.
Duncan is seeking to make a political
comeback, after serving three terms in the
n
CITYSCENE Eye-opening Internet Safety
Presentation Held
Online bullying, recruitment by terrorists and extremists, solicitation by pedophiles and exposure to every kind of scam
are but a few key strokes away. The wrong
Internet contacts – even brief ones – can
shatter lives and destroy families.
At an Oct. 29 meeting attended by area
residents at Watkins Mill High School, a
team of top crime-prevention leadership
from the Montgomery County Police, the
Department of Homeland Security and
the State’s Attorney’s Office cited numerous examples of Internet contacts-turneddisastrous and urged parents to monitor closely the online activities of their
children.
“The title of this Internet safety seminar
Andrews Continued on page 11
By Karen O’Keefe
is ‘Are Your Kids in Danger?”’said MCPD
Police Chief Tom Manger. “The answer is,
‘No,’ unless they have a phone, unless they
have access to the Internet.”
Over the next two hours, speakers, including Manger, described online dangers
capable of destroying lives and families.
Irfan Saeed from the Department of
Homeland Security described recruitment methods used by radical extremists, including white supremacists, terrorist
groups like Al Qaeda and gangs.
Saeed said follow-up is different from
group to group, but recruitment basics, via
the Internet, are the same. Recruiters reach
an individual through a “cognitive opening” (a term used by some radicals to describe the moment, often a personal crisis,
when individuals are vulnerable to convern
city scene Continued on page 9
MEETING CALENDAR
11/7
11/18
Mayor and City Council Special Meeting,
7:30 p.m., City Hall
Mayor and City Council Meeting,
11/13
11/20
Historic District Commission Meeting,
11/14
Multicultural Affairs Committee Meeting, 7
p.m., Activity Center at Bohrer Park
Board of Appeals Meeting,
Planning Commission Meeting,
For the latest information on city meetings, visit the city of Gaithersburg website at
www.gaithersburgmd.gov.
Page 5
Page 6
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013
DJ Flounder Spins Life After DC101 Into Events Mash-Up Business
By Pam Schipper
W
hen his 12 years with DC101
came to an end in 2011, Kentlands resident Bryan “Flounder”
Schlossberg was momentarily stunned. “You
lose your identity,” he said of his very public firing from the “Elliot in the Morning”
show. Personality differences had caused
a rift, exacerbated by DJ Flounder’s rising
popularity on air and position as creative
services director.
“I was the second most recognized name
at the station the entire time I was there,”
he said. “Eliot was number one.”
Flounder was the guy who raced Indy
driver Hélio Castroneves in 2006 and
NASCAR driver Kyle Busch in 2009 in
DC101’s “Smell My Face Beltway Race.”
Driving some 100 miles per hour on
the shoulder of I-495 during rush hour,
Flounder actually won both times and was
awarded trophies that are still on display at
the station.
“It was a fun experience,” he said. “I
would never do it again.”
He was tackled by the Secret Service in
front of the White House. A stunt crew
once set him on fire. And yes, he has been
arrested.
“I loved it, though,” Flounder said. “It
was one of a kind. There’s no other job like
it in the world. I don’t know if there ever
will be again. It was a crazy, one-of-a-kind
thing that I got to live.”
Broadcast for two hours on DC101 every
Saturday night for eight years, “Flounder’s
Photo | Jay Schlossberg
Entrepreneur and President Bryan “Flounder” Schlossberg runs FM Entertainment with Vice President Raquel Rexach.
Mashups” formed the soundtrack to a generation’s social life. He brought the mash
up genre to the D.C. area, and continues
today to artistically weave songs together
for his own company, FM Entertainment.
After leaving DC101, Flounder tried
working for others. He quickly discovered
that he didn’t have the stomach for what
the radio and DJ world had become—a bit
sleazy as the industry continued its revenue
stream decline.
“Radio is not what it used to be,”
Flounder said.
Ever since he was five years old, he had
dreamed of talking the talk and spinning
the tunes on air. Working at DC101, his
first job in the radio industry, was a dream
come true. “I was starstruck,” he said of his
years at the station when he met national
acts like Third Eye Blind, Kid Cudi and
Paramore. “It was a surreal time.”
And once he had walked the walk? “I
knew that I could do better,” he said.
He began reading positive thinking
books—Zig Ziglar and Napoleon Hill—
and looked for inspiration everywhere.
Then he turned the tables and went out on
his own.
In some ways, his new business had
grown organically. Flounder had always
been an entrepreneur, accepting his first
professional DJ gig at a community center in Quince Orchard when he was 13
and continuing as a disc jockey for events
throughout his school years and his fulltime radio career.
After leaving DC101, Flounder started
doing more gigs. He approached each job
like the artist that he is, spinning music to
create the desired event while also getting
in sync with the sentiments of the crowd.
Business took off and he brought other artists like Helen John Photography into the
mix to better orchestrate events that his
clients desired.
Six months ago, he launched FM
Entertainment, aided by Raquel Rexach,
•
•
•
•
•
•
vice president, and Matt Schuck, chief
marketing officer.
Rexach has worked with Flounder
for five years. She started as an intern at
DC101 and then continued to help produce
his “Founder’s Mashups” and to roadie for
weddings in his side DJ business. “I like to
say I’m the go-to roadie,” she smiled.
“She’s very creative and smart,” Flounder
said. “I like to surround myself with people
like that.”
Schuck was one of Flounder’s last interns at DC101. “He taught me the creative services side, which is how I was
able to get fulltime employment in radio,”
Schuck said. Flounder was also the DJ at
Schuck’s wedding in Charleston, South
Carolina. “He made sure that everything
ran smoothly,” Schuck said.
Today, FM Entertainment is a full-scale
event production company that offers everything from DJ services to photography,
event hosts, musicians, day-of coordinators and design elements like lighting, furniture, pipe and drape, and contemporary
décor. “We have a fresh outlook on it,”
Flounder observed, noting the many cookie-cutter DJ and events planning companies. “We come from a different world.”
Photographer Helen John echoed his
statement. He brings experience and skill
to this that other event planners don’t have,
she said. John, who specializes in portraits
and high-end weddings, manages the photography side of FM Entertainment and
works with a big network of local photographers. “He has fun ideas in the works,”
she said. John came to know Flounder
through working the same events, but then
discovered that they had both attended
Wootton High School.
So far, FM Entertainment has “done every kind of event that you can imagine,”
Flounder said, including weddings, bar and
bat mitzvahs, police balls, school functions
and even a funeral. Each event is unique,
and FM Entertainment offers “the best
possible to our clients,” said Flounder.
“We specialize in the funky bride,” added Rexach, and Flounder agreed that they
appeal to couples with a contemporary
outlook. But both emphasized that they
have created traditional weddings as well.
Their hope is that FM Entertainment
can take the stress out of events, usually
n
dj flounder Continued on page 13
Private and Group Music Lessons
Piano, Brass, Woodwinds, Strings, Guitar, Percussion and Voice
Chamber Ensembles
Early Childhood through Adult - All Levels
Instrument Sales and Rentals
Music Books, Accessories and Gifts
Your Kentlands Neighborhood Music Center!
325 Main Street Gaithersburg, MD 20878
www.PritchardMusic.com — [email protected]
301-355-8079
The Town Courier
shoptalk
TeaSpa Wellness Center Opens
Kentlands Location
Kentlands residents now have another
spa to choose from in the Kentlands area.
TeaSpa Wellness Center is a full service spa
with another location in Silver Spring. Jeff
Shao said that TeaSpa hits the perfect sweet
spot in terms of price range. Shao owns
the business with his wife Cathy. "We are
so excited to be moving to the Kentlands
area," Jeff Shao said. "There's a very special relationship between the customers
and businesses. We are hopeful we will
win [customers'] hearts." More information about the spa can be found at www.
teaspawellness.com.
—Jenny Chen
Photo | Pam Schipper
Daughter-in-law Emily Tipograph, a speech pathologist who
works fulltime for Montgomery County Public Schools, will
offer group seminars and individual sessions at Tipo’s Toy
Box for parents and children with special needs.
Tipo’s Opens With More Than
Toys in the Toy Box
As he cut the ribbon on the corner store
on Center Point Way, Mayor Sidney Katz
designated Oct. 19 as Tipo’s Toy Box day
in the city of Gaithersburg—or the day
when he hopes Gaithersburg residents will
remember to have a bit more fun.
Owners Lew and Sandi Tipograph stood
at his side for the grand opening, and
they were surrounded by family members
and excited patrons. This is the only independent toy store in the Gaithersburg-
Germantown area.
The Tipographs owned and operated Kid’s Closet, a block and a half south
of Dupont Circle, for 30 years. The store
offered clothing and toys to professional
parents who worked downtown. “I rarely saw the kids,” said Sandi who selected
toys for the Dupont Circle store, “only the
parents.”
In the Kentlands store that opened its
doors on Oct. 13, already she has been
delighting in seeing kids’ reactions to the
toys and getting some real user feedback.
In addition to attending numerous toy
shows, Sandi has studied with the Leeteck
Institute Denmark, which now offers
courses in Chicago. She knows that play is
actually serious business for children.
Her daughter-in-law, Emily Tipograph,
knows this, too. A speech pathologist who
works fulltime for Montgomery County
Public Schools, Emily provided input on
toy selection and will be offering group
seminars and individual sessions at the store
for parents and children with special needs.
Many of the toys in the store work for
typically developing and special needs children, Emily explained. The key is in how
that toy or “tool” is used. Emily hopes to
help parents learn how to play to most benefit their child’s development.
Another daughter-in-law is a dentist,
and she will offer fun programs on oral hygiene at the store.
—Pam Schipper
Famous Dave's Kentlands
Site Remains Empty
Recently, John Schlichting, Gaithersburg
director of planning, gave this information
to a Town Courier reporter who requested
an update. "City representatives have met
with several potential purchasers of the
corner site now occupied by the Famous
Dave’s building (and formerly occupied
by the Boston Market building as well).
However, nothing has been filed with the
city and I’m not aware that the property
has changed hands either."
— Karen O'Keefe
assignmenteducation
Photo | Montgomery County Public Schools
All stood for the presentation of the colors and singing of “The Star-Spangled Banner” at last year’s State of the
Schools event.
State of the Schools
Superintendent Joshua P. Starr delivers his second annual State of the Schools
address at the Music Center at Strathmore
on Monday, Nov. 11, at 8:30 a.m. Student
performances and artwork will be featured throughout the Music Center, be-
ginning at 7:30 a.m. Dana Tofig, director
of Public Information and Web Services
at Montgomery County Public Schools,
said, “Dr. Starr’s speech was very well-received last year, and we are looking forward to building on his message at the
State of the Schools on Nov. 11. Everyone
n
assignment education Continued on page 13
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Page 8
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013
■ library construction
Do you have
a room
in your house
that makes you
want to close
the door?
Call us today
to turn that space
into a happy place!
Amy Schwartz
Interior Decorator
(240) 505-4765
[email protected]
www.amyschwartzinteriors.com
from page 1
Orchard Library. In 2010, the Gaithersburg
Library was the busiest in the Montgomery
County system with a circulation of
640,000 items and foot traffic of 742,000.
From December 2010 until it closed on
Oct. 31, 2013, the system operated the
Gaithersburg Interim Library at Lakeforest
Mall. The temporary quarters were small,
with 3,000 square feet of space, 42,000 volumes, limited seating, computers used only
to access the library catalog and research
databases and no wireless connection.
According to a library website, after Oct.
31, staff and materials of the interim facility “will be redeployed as we prepare to
open the newly renovated Gaithersburg
Library.”
“A year ago, the Gaithersburg Library
was projected to finish in the summer of
2013. While work has progressed steadily, there have been some delays,” acknowledged Don Scheuerman, Jr., assistant chief, Division of Building Design and
Construction at the Montgomery County
Department of General Services. “Since
this was a reuse and addition project, it
is not unreasonable to have encountered
some challenges during construction. In
fact, this did occur when we uncovered the
need to provide additional underpinning
of the existing footings and walls that were
saved from the original library. This was
an unforeseen condition that added weeks
to the work.
“We lost a few weeks to bad weather
If you want to buy or sell
your home in 10-15 years,
call us…
The renovation of the Gaithersburg Public Library almost doubles the facility’s size to 63,600 square feet and adds a
second floor.
during the record wet spring we experienced this year,” he continued. “When this
occurs at critical phases of the work, the
resulting impact on the schedule is felt for
the duration of the project.
“In addition, relocating some of the site
utilities proved more challenging than
planned, but we worked closely with both
Pepco and Verizon to achieve the best possible outcomes. An example of the effort
was the effort to maintain the existing
trees during the Verizon tie-in (which was
successful).”
Scheuerman explained that further delays were engendered by the need to replace stormwater structures. Originally,
plans called for using existing structures.
“Unfortunately, during the work on the
parking lot, it became apparent from water
flows that a revision and replacement of the
existing system would be needed. (Our department) worked closely with the general
contractor (Henley Construction) and the
county Department of Permitting Services
to revise the system, and we have a good
system that meets requirements.”
Today, the bulk of all that work is
done. According to Gaithersburg Branch
Manager Kay Bowman, library staff expects to be in the building Nov. 4 to commence the arduous and complex process of
putting the innards of the library together, including shelving thousands of books.
New to the Gaithersburg Library but a library system veteran of more than 25 years,
Kay Bowman is the former manager of the
Bethesda Regional Library as well as the
Davis and Aspen Hill branches. She says
the process of preparing the library for
opening will take eight to 10 weeks from
Nov. 4.
Bowman is enthusiastic about the new
facility and anticipates that the library will
be a “very vibrant” asset to the community. The building will house some 70
computers, with 40 dedicated to public
Internet access and an additional dozen in
a computer lab. “The inside is pretty much
done,” said Bowman, “and some outside
work is continuing.”
■ god’s favorite
deadpanned irreverent, humorous dialogue with intermittent prompting from
Assistant Director Loretto McNally and
periodic coaching from Director Ed Starr.
“Simon’s characters are funny,” said
Starr during a quick break from rehearsal. “They have a skewed view of the world
and a skewed view of relationships, but
they have no idea how funny they are. I
encourage my actors to play it straight and
the comedy follows.”
When God’s Favorite opened on
Broadway, the New York Daily News
raved, “Awesomely funny. ... the work of
a man of vision. It’ll make you laugh out
loud.” All signs are that the Gaithersburg
presentation will do the same.
If you want to buy or sell now, call our Mom.
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from page 1
Under the direction of Chevy Chase resident Ed Starr, a talented veteran director
of local theater productions, the play will
delight, amuse and challenge the audience.
Very loosely based on the none-too-funny
Book of Job, the “Job” at the story’s center
is Joe Benjamin, a successful Long Island
businessman with a house full of ridiculously dysfunctional family members and
irreverent household employees.
Benjamin is afflicted by a surreal catalogue of freakish disasters and the reason
becomes apparent when Benjamin’s personal “messenger from God,” who is charged
with the mission of testing Benjamin’s faith
and reporting back, fills in the big picture
for Benjamin and the audience.
Apparently, God has a sense of humor
because his messenger is a bit of a tonguein-cheek loser who eventually finds himself leaving God’s work to apply for a job
delivering packages at UPS.
At an October rehearsal, cast members
The show runs Nov. 8 through 24 with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.
and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $16, $14
for city of Gaithersburg residents. The Arts
Barn, Gaithersburg’s premier cultural arts facility, is located at 311 Kent Square Road,
Gaithersburg. For more information and tickets,
call 301.258.6394 or visit online at www.gaithersburgmd.gov/theater.
The Town Courier
yourviews
from page 3
were injured in traffic accidents in 2010.
Were all of these deaths a result of runners
not following simple safety guidelines? Of
course not! It is nearly impossible to be on
the road and not see drivers who are distracted by texting (don’t get me started on
this!), cell phones, kids, etc. But this makes
it all the more important for runners to
mitigate the risk they’re taking when going out for a run.
For the record, I’m not anti-running.
Believe me, I put several miles on my running shoes each week, too. I understand
that sidewalks are not always the most ideal
place to run as they may be uneven, have
cracks and debris, or even low-hanging
branches overhead. But runners need be
aware of their surroundings and take every
practical step to reduce the possibility of a
terrible outcome while training. Here are
a few tips that every runner should heed:
• If you are running in the dark, wear
light-colored, reflective clothing.
Carrying a light source is even better. (I’m quite certain that the runners
running into my path on Tuesday saw
me and my car lights long before I saw
them.)
• If you must run in the street, you
should run against traffic, not with it
(Bicyclists should ride with the traffic.) This will allow you to see vehicles
coming toward you and at least give
you a chance to jump out of the way
if you see a vehicle coming into your
path.
• Avoid wearing headphones as they will
distract you from your surroundings.
• It’s also a good idea to run with a
partner or in a group. Not only will
it make you collectively more visible,
it will also deter anyone who might
want to harass you.
• When coming into an intersection,
make eye contact with the drivers of
the cars passing or turning into the intersection. Don’t assume that drivers
see you and will stop for you.
• Finally, carry identification. If you
were in an accident or had a medical
emergency, it would greatly expedite
the process of notifying your family of
your condition and whereabouts.
In closing, I’m all for people doing
healthy activities, such as running. In most
cases, these activities are associated with
improved health and greater longevity.
Being hit by vehicles, on the other hand,
tends to have the exact opposite effect. So
there you have it — using common sense
when running will not only reduce your
vulnerability as a runner but will contribute to a longer and healthier life … allowing you log more miles!
Andrew Hoburg
Lakelands
aroundtown
from page 3
also serves more than 2,100 elementary
school children by providing bags of food
each Friday for weekend meals during
the school year. A $10 cash donation to
Manna may be brought to the game but
is not required to participate. Donations
to Manna Food Center for the game may
also be made online here: http://bit.ly/
turkey2013
Men and women age 12 and up are
invited to the Lakelands Park field at 8:30
a.m. on Thanksgiving morning for an
incredibly fun, but competitive, game of
football. Please RSVP to Ed Fowlkes at
[email protected] so he has an idea
of how many people will be playing.
CITYscene
from page 5
sion). Recruiters then exploit the crisis,
perhaps seeming to relate to what the individual is experiencing, by asking questions like “Aren’t you mad?” Recruiters
then fill the need they helped create in the
target individual, eventually introducing
the individual to a “community of interest,” a group of like-minded people. From
there, the new recruit is enticed into violent activity.
Tim Smith, youth services director for
the city of Gaithersburg, addressed the
risks inherent in social media. “My staff
is seeing a disconnect between what parents think their kids are doing online – and
what kids are doing online.”
All of the speakers urged parents to take
an active, intrusive role in the online, digital lives of their children. Have kids use
computers where parents can see what they
are doing. Check online histories regularly. If a child refuses to allow a parent to examine their phone, take the phone.
Talk to kids about the dangers online.
Keep the communications going.
Gaithersburg’s Smith and Montgomery
County Assistant District Attorney Stephen
Chaiken recommended the NetSmartz
Workshop, an interactive educational program of the National Center for Missing &
Exploited Children that provides age-appropriate resources to help teach children
how to be safer on– and offline. The program is designed for children ages 5 to 17,
parents and guardians, educators and law
enforcement (www.netsmartz.org).
The Internet Safety Seminar held at
Watkins Mill High School was sponsored
by the city of Gaithersburg, MCPD, the
Office of the County Executive, Church
of Ascension, Faith Community Working
Group and the International Cultural
Center.
Gaithersburg City Council Examines
Outdoor Smoking Ban
At the Oct. 21 Gaithersburg Mayor and
Council meeting, Michele Potter, director
of the city’s Parks, Recreation and Culture
Department, updated participants on options available to further the city’s limits
on public smoking with a total or partial
ban on outdoor smoking in public areas.
Smoking is already banned in
Gaithersburg inside public buildings and in
bars and restaurants.
Potter said further limits would affect
two populations – city employees and the
public.
Council members expressed concerns
about whether any action needed to be taken at all, about the enforceability of outdoor smoking prohibitions and about the
rights of smokers. There was brief discussion about the extent of danger posed by
secondhand smoke outdoors.
At the suggestion of Mayor Sidney Katz,
council members agreed to hold a future
work session on the question of outdoor
smoking prohibitions in the city. Katz said
representatives of Montgomery County
and other jurisdictions with outdoor bans
would be invited to the session to share
their experiences. “We should ask as many
questions as we can, and get as many people involved as we can, to answer questions.” He also said the session would be
advertised to notify the public that the issue of outdoor smoking was being discussed and give citizens the opportunity to
speak at the session.
“I look at this as a matter of freedom and
n
city scene Continued on page 11
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Page 10
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013
November 8, 2013 ■ andrews
from page 5
job from 1994 to 2006. In 2006, Duncan
dropped out of the gubernatorial primary
campaign against Martin O’Malley, citing
clinical depression.
In his campaign for county executive,
Andrews has plunged into the county’s
democratic grassroots, campaigning door
to door nearly every day for the last 10
months to garner the support he needs to
win a race in which his opponents will far
outspend him. “I’ve covered 15,000 homes
now,” Andrews said.
He feels that his presence in the race
gives a clear choice: “I describe myself as
progressive on social issues and very concerned about fiscal responsibility and sustainability.” Regarding his economic view,
he said, “I don’t approach it ideologically, I
approach it as a matter of necessity.”
“Duncan and Leggett are much more
like each other than I am like them,” he
observed. “Negotiating with special interests is what a county executive does. If the
voters want a county executive who can
negotiate effectively with special interests
– including developers and unions – they
will achieve a better result with a county
executive who is not funded by them. That
is the huge difference between myself and
both Duncan and Leggett.”
Andrews cast the council’s sole “nay”
vote Oct. 22 on a 17.5 percent pay raise for
county council members (to be phased in
over four years). “I would have supported a
smaller increase,” he said.
“I made the point that we have to consider what the impact of such a substantial
increase will be on the county’s ability to
negotiate reasonable and sustainable labor
The Town Courier
contracts. It is not hard to imagine how
difficult it will be for the county council to
reject a large increase in salary for county
employees when it has given itself a similar increase.
“You have to be careful about how you
spend dollars so you have things you really
need and want — like library hours, road
repaving, preservation of open space and
basic infrastructure,” he cautioned. “These
are things that do not compete well with
excessive salaries and other things that eat
up large chunks of the budget.”
In the area of negotiations with county employee groups, Andrews cited several
examples of “bad ideas” that Ike Leggett
supported in recent years – and that
Andrews worked to defeat.
A case in point was a 2009 “labor provision” that would have made police officers
living out-of-county eligible for a “takehome” police car.
“I think if an officer lives in the county and has a take-home car, it benefits the
public,” he said. “It creates a larger (police
presence). You lose a lot of value if officers
living outside the county are eligible for
take-home vehicles. We defeated the proposal, but it was a terrible idea that would
have resulted in an exodus of police officers
from Montgomery County.”
With regard to residents exiting
Montgomery County, Andrews acknowledges that living in Montgomery County
is expensive, and said that the next county
executive must work to lower costs to residents and businesses.
He is critical of the county’s high energy tax, which he said negatively affects
the county’s competitive position in business and in the ability to keep residents
from moving away. “We have by far the
highest energy tax in the region, and it’s
CITYscene
from page 9
personal autonomy. … I want to see documentation to see that we really have an actual problem in the city of Gaithersburg,”
said Council Member Jud Ashman. As a
“fallback,” Ashman said he was interested
in looking at policy for outdoor city facilities “that works for parks and recreation,”
including outdoor concerts and other
activities.
“I’d like to know (from jurisdictions
with outdoor smoking bans) whether banning smoking in one area just pushes the
problem down the road to another area,”
said Council Member Cathy Dryzgula.
Council Member Ryan Spiegel wondered whether costs associated with employee smoking might go down if a ban
on outdoor smoking on city property is
enacted.
Council Member Henry Marraffa endorsed the idea of a partial ban, including
playgrounds and areas where children play
as “something that makes sense for the city,
that doesn’t tread on people’s personal freedoms and rights.”
At deadline, no date for the work session
had been set.
Lt. Col. Lee Miller to Deliver
Remarks at Gaithersburg Veterans
Day Observance
The entire community is invited to
join the city of Gaithersburg for its annual Veterans Day Observance on Monday,
Nov. 11 at 11 a.m. at the City Hall Concert
Pavilion, 31 South Summit Ave. in
Gaithersburg.
City officials and members of local veterans groups will be on hand to honor those
who have served in all branches of the military. A wreath-laying ceremony will be
followed by a reception in City Hall.
Lt. Col. Lee Miller will deliver Veterans
Day remarks. Lt. Col. Miller graduated from West Point in 1958 and served
in Artillery/Infantry command with two
tours in Vietnam and two in Germany.
The city of Gaithersburg is once again
supporting the efforts of the Veterans of
Foreign Wars (VFW), which adopts various units deployed overseas. Donated
items will be collected at the Veterans Day
observance.
The VFW also accepts monetary donations. Tax-deductible donations can
be dropped off between 4 and 9 p.m. at
the VFW John M. Carter Post #9862,
211K N. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg,
301.948.0781. Please make checks payable to VFW Post #9862 and mark in the
memo field “Adopt-a-Troop.”
For more information on Gaithersburg’s
Veterans Day Observance, please call
301.258.6350.
a tremendous disincentive for companies
to locate here, especially energy-intensive
companies like data storage firms,” he said.
“Ninety percent of the region’s data storage
is in Northern Virginia. It’s also a big bite
of people’s home energy bills. It’s higher
than the state and local income taxes combined, and yet the county proposed raising
– doubling – the energy tax in 2010.
“They acknowledged it would be a burden and said they would limit the increase
to two years.
“Despite the promise to limit the increase to two years, two years later Leggett
decided he wanted to keep the money as
opposed to eliminating it or repealing to
get it down 2010 levels,” he continued.
“I’ve led the effort (to fight that) in the
last two years. We have taken it down 20
percent,” he said. “It’s important for the
county to keep its word and for the government to keep its word. I’ve led the effort to do that.
“A big part of being competitive is keeping our costs reasonable so that people and
businesses can stay and locate here. As I go
about knocking on doors, I hear repeatedly from individuals that they are not sure
they are going to stay because of high costs.
While there are a fair number of people
who don’t think they can afford to remain,
there are also others who may be able to
afford to stay, but have trouble justifying
the cost.”
Andrews pointed to the benefits older
people bring to the county. “Retirees and
people close to that age contribute talent
and experience to the county. They are
a big boon to the county fiscally as well.
With the exception of health care, retir-
Page 11
ees do not put a lot of pressure on social
services.”
Turning to the relationship of the county executive and the state legislature,
Andrews said more must be done to further
the interests of Montgomery County. “We
need a more effective strategy in Annapolis
to protect Montgomery County from being used as an ATM by the rest of the state
– and we need to make our delegates to the
legislature embrace that strategy. We only
get $.20 back on our tax dollar from the
state. This pushes up our local taxes and
makes it hard to fund the services that people expect us to support.
“The state has also shifted costs that are
unreasonable to the counties – like teacher
pension costs. These will cost Montgomery
County taxpayers $60 million annually by
2017 – even though the county does not
set teacher salaries, does not (administer)
the pension fund and does not (set) pension benefits. Three-quarters of our state
delegation voted for that pension shift and
all but one of our delegation, State Senator
Brian Frosh, voted to tie the county’s hands
with an extreme school funding (measure)
called ‘maintenance-of-effort.’
“They did that because that’s what the
teacher’s union and the school system
wanted them to do.
“We have to change how our state delegates think about their responsibilities and
create countervailing pressures to those
they get from county unions and legislative
leadership,” he emphasized. “The county
executive needs to lead the effort to make
sure that the Montgomery County constituents of these legislators know it when they
vote in a way that hurts the county.”
Page 12
The Town Courier
■ school safety
Holiday pet boarding
from page 4
reporting crimes. “That kind of environment can give criminals free reign because
they know victims won’t call the police,”
Lowery said.
Another misconception relates to the
overall purpose of the SRO program.
“When the program started, I think
some parents thought we were going to be
targeting children,” he said. “But the last
tool in my belt is to arrest kids.”
Instead, he tries to understand them,
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Darel Gettier was charged with allowing
a minor access to a handgun, keeping a disorderly house and maintaining a common
nuisance to administer CDS.
According to Montgomery County
Police, when SWAT team officers entered
the Gettier residence Oct. 11, they found
Darel Gettier armed with two handguns.
Also found in the residence were 45 firearms, a large quantity of marijuana, and
seven individuals smoking marijuana.
Police said the arrests arose out of an investigation begun in July 2013 when detectives from the Montgomery County Police
received information regarding photos of
firearms and drugs posted on an individual’s social media pages.
Based on this information, detectives
and the Quince Orchard High School
Resource Officer (SRO) Joseph Lowery
launched an investigation into the individual and several other people.
In all, on Oct. 11, detectives from the
Montgomery County Police/Firearms
Investigations Unit (FIU) arrested six suspects from Gaithersburg and Germantown
■ robbery arrests
from page 4
store, displayed a handgun and demanded
money, police said. No one was injured
and no customers were present.
Compres was charged with the Five
Guys armed robbery on Oct. 17 and the
S.N. Beer robbery on Oct. 31, according
to Maryland Judiciary Case Search. As of
Nov. 3, he remained jailed on $150,000
bail and $40,000 bail respectively. A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 15.
On Oct. 25, Marisol Cortez was charged
with two counts each of armed robbery
November 8, 2013
which means thinking beyond their immediate actions. “Kids’ behavior may be just
a sign of trouble dealing with something at
home,” he said.
If Lowery could say one thing to both
parents and students, it would be this:
Vigilance on everyone’s part makes for
more livable neighborhoods.
“Everyone needs to understand what’s
going on in the community,” he said. “If
you see something, say something. Kids are
like citizens here at the school, and they
need to have an equal partnership with the
police department to make sure the school
stays safe.”
on firearms and drug-related charges. According to the MCPD, besides the
Gettiers, four adults involved in the same
investigation were arrested in an Oct. 11
traffic stop in the area of Darnestown Road
and Muddy Branch Road.
A second search warrant related to the
investigation was executed at a residence in
the 18400 block of Cottage Garden Drive
in Germantown. A large quantity of marijuana was also located in this residence.
Quince Orchard School Resource
Officer Lowery did not comment on the
investigation or arrests, and referred all
questions to the public information office
at MCPD.
Quince Orchard High School principal Carole Working said she had been informed about the case involving a student.
She said the case is a community matter.
At a hearing Oct. 25 in District Court
of Maryland for Montgomery County,
Associate Judge John C. Moffett ordered
a study/investigation by the Department
of Juvenile Services to determine whether
Ethan Gettier’s case should be transferred
to juvenile court division. Ethan Gettier
was represented by defense attorney Steven
D. Kupferberg.
and conspiracy to commit armed robbery,
according to case search. She was released
on $35,000 bail on Oct. 28 with a preliminary hearing set for Nov. 22.
Rivas Membreno faces two armed robbery charges dated to the Oct. 14 case, according to case search. Arrested on Oct.
19, he remained incarcerated as of Nov.
3 in lieu of $300,000 bail. A preliminary
hearing will be held Nov. 15.
Melara-Santos has an armed robbery
charge for each of the alleged crimes, according to case search. He was arrested Oct. 24 and remained detained on
$100,000 bail as of Nov. 3. A preliminary
hearing is set for Nov. 22.
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013 ■ dj flounder
from page 6
acutely felt during wedding planning. “It
shouldn’t be that way,” Flounder said. “It
should be a fun experience.” Clients bring
their dreams and FM Entertainment puts
it all together, eliminating clients’ stress of
juggling 20 different vendors to create that
perfect day.
“I didn’t want a job. I wanted a life,”
Flounder said of his decision to launch FM
Entertainment. “I always had this vision
for running this company.”
He is committed to paying employees
what they’re worth, pointing out that DJs
are musicians and should be paid accordingly. “DJs are artists and I believe they
should be paid for their talents,” Flounder
said. “If you’re looking to spend $200 on
a DJ, it’s not going to fly. People do it all
the time, though, and they regret it later.
It’s one of the major regrets people have
after an event.” FM Entertainment works
with eight DJs now and is looking to expand that number.
He also expects the best of employees,
asking them to sign a moral code of conduct for behavior on the job. “We’re here
building a strong foundation,” he emphasized. “We want to take care of our clients
in the best possible way. We want all the
employees, all of the workers, to be happy
and professional. We just want to deliver a
quality product every single time.
“We’re Apple or Google,” he continued.
“We want to offer the best.”
“He quotes Steve Jobs a lot,” Schuck
chimed in.
Asked about the future of his fledgling business, Flounder quipped, “Total
domination.”
FM Entertainment is on its way. The
company landed corporate client Jeep and
is currently on a 15-city national tour.
Page 13
Specializing
in
HardScapeS
assignmenteducation
from page 7
was also very impressed by the student
performances last year, including a stirring rendition of ‘America the Beautiful’
by the Quince Orchard Symphonic Band.
We have another great line-up of student performers this year and hope everyone who is able will attend and celebrate
with us.” The Gaithersburg High School
National JROTC presents the colors at
this year’s event, and groups performing include Seneca Valley High School
Chamber Choir and Watkins Mill High
School Latin Dance Team. The event is
free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/superintendent/
stateoftheschools.
Strathmore Student Concerts
Students from grade 5 at Rachel Carson
Elementary School (RCES) attended a National Philharmonic Concert at
the Music Center at Strathmore on Oct.
24. They were part of a group of more
than 11,500 fifth grade students from
Montgomery County Public Schools that
attended the four-day Strathmore Student
Concerts Series. Concerts by the National
Philharmonic were led by Music Director
and Conductor Piotr Gajewski and included music by composers Benjamin Britten
(Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra)
and Astor Piazzolla (Oblivion), as well as
Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.
The fifth-grader student concerts represent a $124,000 investment in the community. Strathmore also hosts a similar program for second grade students, bringing
the total investment by Strathmore Hall
Foundation, Inc. and its sponsors, GEICO,
Jordan Kitt’s Music and the Paul M. Angell
Family Foundation, to $248,000.
RCES grade 2 students will attend a
National Philharmonic Concert at the
Music Center at Strathmore on Nov. 21.
My Favorite Teacher Contest
In a Gazette contest that closes Nov. 8,
several area teachers were nominated for
their excellent skills and compassion. They
are Christine Marie Troilo, who has 34
$1.55 Billion Construction
Plan Recommended
Superintendent Joshua P. Starr
proposed a six-year plan to increase school capacity and serve
growing enrollment in Montgomery
County Public Schools (MCPS). The
estimated $1.55 billion Capital
Improvements Program (CIP) would
add hundreds of elementary school
classrooms and ease overcrowding caused by years of enrollment
growth. There are currently 335
relocatable classrooms in use at
MCPS elementary schools. The CIP
would also upgrade the school district’s aging infrastructure and keep
many previously approved construction projects, including the construction of five new schools, on
schedule.
Dr. Starr’s recommendations will
now be reviewed by the Montgomery
County Board of Education, which
will hold a CIP work session on Nov.
7 at 6 p.m. The Board will then hold
two public hearings on Nov. 11, and
Nov. 14. More information about
how to register to testify at those
hearings is available on the Board’s
public participation website, www.
montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/
community/participation.aspx
The Board is expected to approve
a CIP request on Nov. 18. That request will then be submitted to
the County Executive and County
Council for consideration.
years of classroom experience and teaches
fifth grade at Rachel Carson Elementary
School, Jim Reed, who has 10 years of
classroom experience and teaches eighth
grade U.S. History at Lakelands Park
Middle School, and Emily Asofsky, who
has 21 years of classroom experience and
teaches English and Advanced Research at
Northwest High School. For more information and to vote by Nov. 8, visit www.
gazette.net/section/teacherContest.
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Page 14
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013
The Town Courier
mikeat the movies
The Counselor (R) ****
When you see the cast
of this film and its credits, you know you’re in
for an interesting time:
Penelope Cruz, Cameron
Diaz, Michael Fassbender,
Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem,
Bruno Ganz and Rosie
Perez, just to mention
By Mike
a few, and not to menCuthbert
tion screenwriter Cormac
McCarthy and director
Ridley Scott.
McCarthy’s scripts are almost always a
mixture of philosophy and violence, and
“The Counselor” is no different, depicting some of the most brutal slayings in recent memory and delivering such lines as
“If your definition of a friend is someone
who would die for you, you don’t have
any friends,” or Bardem’s (Reiner’s) comment, “You can do anything to women but
bore them.” Of course, his main squeeze
is a very hard Cameron Diaz and she is far
from being tolerant of boredom.
As so often happens with films about
drug traffickers and gangs that market
them, who’s who gets tangled up. It is
clear, though, who the worst of the bad
guys are. Consider the comment: “You
may think that these people have things
they are not capable of doing. They don’t.”
This is made clear in a progression of violent deaths, including beheading of a motorcycle rider by a wire stretched across a
Photo | Submitted
Kevin Klein, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro and Michael Douglas star in “Last Vegas.”
road, numerous people on both good and
bad sides dispatched by gunfire and other
awful but creative deaths. In fact, one of
the features of this film is the theme that
everyone is capable of killing, so characters
and audience are constantly on guard.
Cruz is exquisite as usual, Fassbender
is an innocent hunk and Diaz is hardening nicely into middle age with Bardem
an interesting blend of naiveté and reluctant acceptance of his fate. You may not
figure out who belongs to what group, but
it’s fairly easy to differentiate between the
good, the bad and the ugly. Fortunately in
this kind of movie, that’s all you have to
do to enjoy it. “The Counselor” is not for
the squeamish or those who expect and demand happy endings.
“Last Vegas” (R) ****
You can see a lot of this movie coming a
long way away, but the professionalism of
the cast makes the shtick seem new. The
cast is top-notch: Michael Douglas, Robert
De Niro, Morgan Freeman and Kevin
Klein. Mary Steenburgen looks lovely but
the guys drive this elder reunion movie set
in—where else?—Las Vegas.
Billy (Douglas) is about to get married for the first time to a 32-year old Lisa
(Bre Blair) who looks like every other
30-something in the cast. That may have
been intentional as Billy lusts only after
younger women. He had his chance at a
woman named Sophie years ago, but gave
her up for Paddy (De Niro). Sam (Klein),
a third member of the quarter, has been
given a gift from his wife -- a note that
says, “Whatever happens in Vegas stays
in Vegas,” a single Viagra and a condom.
Morgan Freeman as Archie sneaks out of
the house to escape his son, who insists
on keeping him home to prevent another
stroke or an under-dose of his many meds.
As one of the many women they meet in
Vegas says, “This is the first party I’ve been
to covered by Medicare.” All three geezers
(take no offense—I’m older than all four
of them) fall for Diana (Steenburgen), the
lounge singer in the casino who has few
listeners. You must know that Paddy and
Billy both had a thing for Sophie before
Paddy won her, so it is to be expected that
the same would happen with Diana.
The word is that age is not good. When
he hears that Billy’s fiancée is 32, Archie
claims, “I have a hemorrhoid that’s older
than that!” One of the guys recognizes the
time as 3:45 in the afternoon, and says,
“It’s 3:45 and I’m about to have dinner.”
One of my favorite lines was Billy’s lament,
“My brain cannot conceive how old this
body is.”
The laughs come frequently, but the issues underneath the age are well drawn.
Language is occasionally rough and often
suggestive, but older teenagers may get a
hoot out of this one while grandpa and
grandma are laughing their heads off.
Enjoy more of Mike’s movie reviews at www.
towncourier.com
Page 16
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013
O’KEEFE’S JOURNAL
Doug Gansler’s Beach Week Lesson
W
ithout taking a
position on the
Maryland gubernatorial race or on the
merits of Doug Gansler
as a possible future governor of the state, I have
had some thoughts about
his presence at a party of
underage people during
By Karen
“Beach Week.”
O’Keefe
When first I saw photos and then footage
of Gansler at the party, I was outraged.
How could Maryland’s most powerful
law enforcement officer just casually stroll
through a giant massing of underage individuals, clearly behaving badly, and not bat
an official or parental eye?
The other shoe fell a little later when
I began to wonder, “What would I have
done?”
Hmm …
I realized that a key difference between
Doug Gansler and me is that I did not go
to any of the Beach Week festivities attended in 2002, 2004 or 2009 by my children.
Although I didn’t admit it to myself at the
time, I did not want to witness what went
on at Beach Week.
I realize that not all parents permit their
children to attend Beach Week. I admire
those parents.
I remember that I wanted to prohibit
my eldest child from going when she asked
“permission.”
As I see it now, I just wasn’t strong
enough to say, “No.” Once I let the oldest one attend, I let the others just roll over
me.
Of course, I always asked a lot of questions ahead of time about where they were
going and who would chaperone. I asked
about the rules.
I received blithe assurances.
They looked at me, assumed their most
sincere, attentive and respectful demeanors
and assured me that Beach Week was all
about kicking back for some hard-earned
R&R at the beach.
There would be curfews – of course.
Girls would hang with girls. Boys would
be with boys.
There would be No Drinking. So naturally, there would be no drinking and driving. Certainly, nothing would transpire
that would cause me concern.
It was all so much baloney. On some level, I knew that.
Looking back today, I know the only
times I wasn’t concerned about my teenagers was when they were at somebody else’s
house. And on those occasions I was just
a little less disturbed. Supposedly, someone
else, some other responsible adult, was at
the helm.
Our teenagers are growing up in a
disturbing world. Drugs are pervasive.
Alcohol is easily obtained. Violence in the
media and on the streets makes bad behavior seem just a little “abnormal.”
I am grateful that all three of my children made it through their teenage years
without some kind of catastrophe happening that would have ruined their lives.
They are wonderful people today.
I tell myself I wasn’t a “bad parent,”
whatever that is.
At least, I never stopped trying.
Nevertheless, I could have been better. I
could have done better.
If I could go back – do it over again
— I would have tried to ally myself with
other concerned and challenged parents.
Instead, I wondered how they were handling similar situations, and I felt isolated
and powerless.
There is strength in numbers.
I hope that I will get the chance to do
better — to be more “there” — with my
grandchildren.
I think my children might even appreciate it.
reader’schoice
“The Good House”
Written by Ann Leary
H
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ildy Good is someone you will want
to know. The outspoken narrator of Ann
Leary’s 2012 novel “The
Good House” takes you
into her confidence right
away, or so it seems. Leary’s
60-something character is
By Betty
a top-notch realtor in the
Hafner
fictitious coastal Massachusetts town of Wendover. She lives alone with her two dogs in the
house she once shared with her ex-husband
and girls. On page one she informs us she
can tell everything about a person from one
quick walk through their house.
“Alcoholics, hoarders, binge eaters, addicts, sexual deviants, philanderers, depressives—you name it,” she says. “I can
see it all in the worn edges of their nests.”
Spend a little time with Hildy, though, and
you’ll begin to see the frayed edges of her
own nest, especially after she has downed
several glasses of good California wine.
Hildy’s house hasn’t seen any visitors
for a couple of years except for her grown
daughters who drop by unannounced. The
two of them surprised her with an “intervention” two years before the story opens,
when the group of her loved ones “took
turns reading aloud the excruciatingly
elaborate details of [her] alleged sodden
crimes.” She had been furious they accused
her of “passing out” before Thanksgiving
dinner one year. She was only napping, she
insists.
Wendover has been Hildy’s home her
whole life, but a newcomer to town and a
former high school boyfriend set in motion
circumstances that dramatically change her
routine-filled life. She befriends Rebecca
McAllister, a wealthy but discontented
young wife and mother who bought the
grand old property that was Hildy’s listing; Frankie Getchell, a man Hildy knew
in high school as rugged and sexy is now
a hermit-like handyman who collects the
town’s garbage.
This book is alive with the electricity of
Hildy’s funny, frank voice, the surprising
information she delivers and the unexpected things she does. As things heat up, we
know Hildy is headed down a dangerous
path but to where, we do not know.
When Hildy talks about blackouts, it
rings of truth — “It’s like a suctioning of
the soul, being told the things your body
does when your mind is in that dead zone.”
Leary, a former screenwriter, writes from
experience and has been in the public eye
talking about her battle with alcoholism
and her seven years of sobriety. Like Hildy,
she knows that the sublime feelings one
can get from drinking come at a very high
price.
“The Good House” introduces us to a
unique and appealing character you may
not admire but you will not forget. I miss
Hildy’s company already.
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013 Arts&ENTERTAINMENT
31st Winterglow Art Show & Sale
Nov. 6−10
The Art League of Germantown hosts
more than 50 artists at the BlackRock
Center for the Arts, main gallery, for a
unique exhibit of paintings, drawings,
photography, ceramic arts, fiber arts and
jewelry. Judith HeartSong, professional
artist and executive director of the Capitol
Arts Network, presents a talk on “Finding
Your Place in the Arts” at the opening reception on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 5:30 to
7:30 p.m. Artists will be available to discuss their works on Sunday, Nov. 10, 1 to 3
p.m. at the artists’ reception. Exhibit hours
are 3 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday,
noon to 5 p.m. Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday, and 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday. www.
alog.org or www.blackrockcenter.org
District Comedy
Nov. 8, 8 p.m.
Urban edginess takes a field trip to the
‘burbs to perform at BlackRock Center
for the Arts. Doors open at 8 p.m., and
the show begins at 8:30 p.m. Beer, wine
and snacks are available during the show.
Tickets are $15. www.blackrockcenter.org
Neil Simon’s God’s Favorite
Nov. 8−24, Fridays at Saturdays at 8 p.m.,
Sundays at 2 p.m.
In partnership with Montgomery
Playhouse, the Arts Barn presents Neil
Simon’s God’s Favorite. Successful Long
Island businessman Joe Benjamin is a
modern-day “Job” with a demanding wife,
ungrateful children and wise-cracking
household employees. Just when it seems
things could not get any worse, he is
visited by a “messenger from God” whose
mission is to test Joe’s faith and report
back to “the Boss.” Admission is $16, $14
for city of Gaithersburg residents. www.
gaithersburgmd.gov/theater
“Mr. Cao Goes to Washington”
Nov. 15, 7:30 p.m.
What happens when the idealism of a
political rookie clashes with the realities
of political culture in the American South
and the partisan struggles in Washington,
D.C.? “Mr. Cao Goes to Washington,” part
of the BlackRock’s indie film series, follows
the unexpected journey of Representative
Joseph Cao, the first Vietnamese-American
elected to the U.S. Congress and the only
Republican to vote for President Obama’s
Health Care Reform Bill. Filmmaker S.
Leo Chiang speaks. Tickets are $8. www.
blackrockcenter.org
Catherine Russell
Nov. 16, 8 p.m.
Vocalist Catherine Russell, chart-topping singer extraordinaire and daughter of
musical royalty Luis Russell and Carline
Ray, brings her fresh interpretations of
swing, blues and jazz to BlackRock. Tickets
are $32. www.blackrockcenter.org
Unaccompanied: sfz salon series
Nov. 16, 8 p.m.
Julliard-trained American cellist Kristen
Wojcik performs works for solo cello at
the Kentlands Mansion. She is a member
of the Washington National Opera/
Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra.
Enjoy great music and lively discussion at
the second performance in this Europeanstyle salon series. Tickets for individual
performances are $25 for non-residents and
$23 for residents. www.gaithersburgmd.
gov
Photos | Submitted
The Nov. 21 Singer Songwriter Concert Series features
Stephen Fearing and Eli Staples.
Stephen Fearing with Eli Staples:
Singer Songwriter Concert Series
Nov. 21, 3 p.m. workshop at Kentlands Mansion, 7:30 p.m. concert at Arts Barn
Canadian musician Stephen Fearing is
known for his arresting voice, gritty lyrics
and accomplished acoustic picking. Also a
member of Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, he
appears solo with Northern Virginia-based
pianist and singer songwriter Eli Staples.
Staples, who performs around the world
with his bands The Source and Nation and
played one of the official 2013 Inaugural
Balls, performs original work that reflects
his passion for folk and R&B. “I’m into
James Taylor and Stevie Wonder,” he said,
adding that his own songs “communicate
in a pop sensibility.”
Staples said that he looks forward to performing at the Singer Songwriter Concert
Series. “It’s hard to find places where people want that stripped down, intimate side
of the music—where it’s just you and the
instrument on stage. … It’s great for both
musician and people who are there for that
purpose.”
Staples was recently invited by Kevin
Dudley, another Singer Songwriter Series
performer, to be the featured speaker
and performer at the SAW (Songwriter’s
Association of Washington) Songwriter’s
Toolbox monthly workshop for professional musicians. But he noted that
Gaithersburg’s open-to-all workshop and
concert pairing that focuses on the art and
craft of the singer songwriter is unique.
Tickets for workshop and concert are
$43 for residents of the city of Gaithersburg
and $45 for nonresidents. www.
gaithersburgmd.gov
The Sweater Set
Nov. 21, 7:30 p.m.
The Sweater Set—duo Maureen Andary
and Sara Curtin–make music using an impressive variety of instruments: from banjo
to accordion to flute to kazoo to glockenspiel to guitar, not to mention their lushly harmonizing voices. Don’t miss seeing
them at the BlackRock Center for the Arts.
Tickets are $22. www.blackrockcenter.org
Page 17
Page 18
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013
Inside Out
Vian Borchert’s Expressionist Art Reveals the World Within
By Pam Schipper
B
eyond the unique compositions, stirring colors, splashes of texture and
bursts of pattern, Vian Shamounki
Borchert’s 15 figurative paintings on display through Dec. 6 at Kentlands Mansion
are variations on a theme—that of breakthrough.
Consider Borchert’s “The Conversation.”
The figure stands defensively, gazing out
at you with arms crossed across her chest.
Bright yellow and turquoise give way to
darker hues around the painting’s edges. Lines are gestural and you can feel the
artist’s application of paint to the canvas.
The figure engages you in a conversation
that you can, perhaps, almost hear. What
she is talking about and feeling intrigues
and breaks through the two-dimensions of
canvas.
In fact, the model is someone Borchert
knows well, as she used to babysit for her
family. “She’s a beautiful young lady. She’s
six-feet tall and she’s from Germany,”
Borchert explained. “She has a vivacious
kind of personality, very positive, but
there’s also a sadness to her.” The model’s
father had died from cancer at a very young
age, and she was talking about him when
the portrait was done.
“I don’t like to tell people (about the origins of a painting),” Borchert said. “I like
the paintings themselves to have a dialog
with the people and to stand on their own
and be strong on their own. People come
and bring in their own interpretation or
feelings toward it.”
The conversation goes one step further.
Not only do the inner worlds of subject
and viewer interact, but the artist puts herself into the painting. “The way I work,
people ask me, “do I think about a painting beforehand?” Borchert said. “But no,
I kind of allow my subconscious to come
through the art, so I have no preconceived
idea of what I’m going to do ahead of time.
I surprise myself.”
Her paintings surprise, too. So much so
that at an Oct. 25 solo exhibition at The
Ritz-Carlton, Georgetown, a group lingered for an hour or so in front of Borchert’s
“One Eyed Man.” Borchert said she didn’t
want to go over and explain the painting
to them, but “when I went over there and
started talking to them, one person, I told
her she could have written a paper like a
Ph.D. on it. … I was very happy. My husband was there and he was very happy because people just went to the art and they
were talking.
“It was a wonderful moment where each
person had their own perspective on how
they felt about the piece, and I think that is
what I want,” she emphasized.
Borchert gets real joy out of sharing art
with others, not only in seeing viewers engage with her paintings but also as a teacher
passing along her love of art and her skill.
Borchert has been teaching for more than
Local artist and teacher Vian Borchert exhibits her work at
the Kentlands Mansion through Dec. 6.
seven years, offering classes in watercolor,
acrylic and drawing at the Arts Barn and
drawing and painting at the Yellow Barn
Studio & Gallery in Glen Echo.
“I’m an art teacher and also an artist. I’ve
been doing this all my life,” she explained.
“My mom’s an artist. I grew up in an art
household.”
Borchert was born in Beirut, but civil
war soon caused her family to move to the
more peaceful Amman, Jordan. There, she
attended a French Catholic School that was
very supportive of the arts and Borchert’s
talent. When she was 14, her family moved
again due to the Gulf War, arriving in this
area. She went to Quince Orchard High
n borchert Continued on page 20
Cellist Kristen Wojcik Performs
at the sfz salon series
By Pam Schipper
K
risten Wojcik has always wanted
to play the program she’ll present at the Nov. 16 sfz salon series.
Called “Unaccompanied” because she will
be offering solo works for the cello, the
program in a sense stars two: the Julliardtrained Wojcik who is a member of the
Washington National Opera/Kennedy
Center Opera House Orchestra and her
cello. “The cello is closest to the human
voice,” she said, “with its range of high and
low.”
Wojcik’s love of music began at a very
young age with the piano. When she was
6 or 7, her mother took her and her older
sister to an instrumental petting zoo in
Western Massachusetts, where she grew
up. Her sister chose the cello, but it was
not long before Wojcik decided the cello
was her instrument and her sister moved
on to the flute and bassoon.
Instrument choice is tied to personality, Wojcik observed. In general, “cellists
love accompanying and being part of
something larger,” she noted. “The cello is the foundation of a group.” Wojcik
enjoys performing solo as well, and the
Nov. 16 program will be her professional
debut.
The evening will present Preludes
from Bach’s Cello Suites, interspersed
with the more contemporary pieces selected by Wojcik: Serenade for solo cello (1949) by Hans Werner Henze, Seven
Tunes Heard in China (1995)
b y
Bright Sheng, and Omaramor (1991) by
Osvaldo Golijov. Series Curator Alex
Peh will introduce the audience to each
piece and discuss its significance before
the concert. He will also talk about the
cello as an instrument. Following the
performance, Wojcik will greet listeners
and engage in conversation.
Wojcik explained that the sfz salon series is the brainchild of Alex Peh, whom
she met when they were both fellows at
Tanglewood 2012. “It’s his creation,”
she said, noting that Peh’s intimate salon setting with wine, music and conversation at Kentlands Mansion is just
fun. Concerts take place in the Yellow
Room, which holds about 75 people.
Peh, who is a pianist and professor at
the State University of New York at New
Paltz and formerly part of the Levine
School of Music faculty, described
Wojcik as “very refined and elegant. She
has elegant phrasing with a wide range of
color,” that is perfect for contemporary
pieces where you need more color.
He added that Wojcik recently won
tenure in the Kennedy Center Orchestra
and is the “hot young cellist out there
today.” When Peh has played with her,
he found her “so sensitive to harmonic changes” important in piano accompaniment and emphasized her virtuoso
technique.
Peh, who worked with Suzanne
Takahashi of the Arts Barn to create
the sfz salon series, said that the Nov. 16
“Unaccompanied” program will showcase the purity and simplicity of the cello,
“the heroism of one string instrument.”
The Town Courier
Photographer Domenic Cicala Captures the Moments In-Between
By Pam Schipper
T
all, thin and charismatic, Domenic
Cicala is widely known as the owner
of O’Hair Salon on Kentlands Main
Street. But he is also an accomplished photographer whose images are on display now
through Dec. 1 at the Arts Barn.
Cicala said his creative pursuits “live in
the cracks” of his life. When you see his
photographs at the Arts Barn, tucked away
in a first floor hallway that suits their emotional intimacy, you can’t help but conclude that his creativity thrives there.
You’ll discover a couple walking at the
Alamo on a dark and rainy day. They were
about to turn the corner when Cicala captured the moment. Taken a moment before
or after, the image would not have conveyed such power. “It was luck,” he said. “I
always have a camera with me.”
But the beauty of light playing with the
wet, rendered with lucid clarity in black
and white, goes beyond luck to skill, talent
and intuition.
Some images have the surreal storybook quality of a Fellini film: the car
long abandoned along Route 66 that is
backed by road snaking to a nowhere of
sky; the lonely neon of Tucumcari’s Blue
Swallow, a motel that time forgot; the disorient of clowns, smiling in a diorama at
Tinkertown Museum and shot through the
glass with a portrait lens; or the quiet of a
Frederick churchyard almost seen through
a closed gate on a snowy winter’s day.
Photo | Submitted
Photographer Domenic Cicala’s landscapes tell an
evocative story.
Photographer Domenic Cicala looks for the emotional intimacy of the unguarded moment.
Others look right at you. “For me, the
best portraits happen in those unguarded moments,” Cicala said of his portraits
that invite you into a more intimate world.
Many models will naturally look down
or off to the side, he said, but he needs
straight-on, direct eye contact.
“That’s what draws you in. When somebody is looking at you, it draws you in in an
entirely different way. And it’s a little less
voyeuristic. When you look at somebody,
like these two shots,” he gestured to two
portraits in which the models not looking
at the viewer, “you feel like you’ve stepped
into something that you’re not a part of.”
That emotional connection between
photograph and viewer is what Cicala’s
art is all about. “I want the viewer to look
at that image and go ‘What’s going on
there?’ ‘I wish I was there.’ ‘What’s the
full story?’” he explained. “You want the
viewer to connect not just with the image
alone but with the emotion of the image,
with the story behind the image — that’s
a little harder. All art has that emotional
connection.”
Many of Cicala’s figures are in varied
states of dishabille, and their nudity provides a backdrop for the depth of feeling
in their eyes. “I’m looking for that moment in-between,” Cicala said, when you
let your guard down. He gestured to a por-
trait of a woman with white hair, her eyes
uncharacteristically downturned and looking inward, as if there were no one else in
the room.
That Cicala focuses on beautiful women is perhaps no surprise. He began taking photographs to promote his salon. But
what started as part of his salon business,
quickly became a passion. Cicala has taken many photography workshops over the
years, including local study at Glen Echo.
His week-long workshop with renowned
photographer Mona Kuhn in San Miguel
de Allende, Mexico, “has really influenced
a lot of my portrait work,” he said.
Cicala’s photographs are exhibited with paintings by Melissa Miller and JoEllen Murphy and
sculpture work by Richardene Forrest-Thweatt
through Dec. 1. For more information, visit
www.gaithersburgmd/artsbarn.
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Page 20
The Town Courier
■ borchert
from page 18
School, graduating in 1992, and attended
the Corcoran College of Art & Design on
scholarship, earning her Bachelors of Fine
Arts in 1996.
She credited the late Tom Green, longtime professor at the Corcoran and famous
abstract artist who was influenced by the
Washington Color School, with opening
the world of art to her. “He actually was
the one who reviewed my portfolio and
gave me the scholarship. … It’s funny how
sometimes you meet people who open up
doors, as they say, or open up chances, and
he was one of those people in my life. He
was quiet but with a very keen eye on art
and understanding of art. He was always
coming around my studio,” she recalled.
Borchert’s professional life has included many group and solo exhibitions, and
her work is in the permanent collections of
The National Gallery of Art in Amman,
Jordan, and The Jerusalem Fund Gallery
in Washington, D.C. She has also been
part of some fun art events like the June
2012 Art Metamorphosis at Georgetown’s
Washington Harbour. There, she painted
with 25 other artists for nine hours straight
and created two paintings, one of Andy
Warhol and John Lennon and the other of
David Bowie and John Lennon.
“I love art and I love people who love
art,” she said.
In the last year alone, Borchert created
about 100 paintings. “When you do that
much, eventually new styles start appearing and new things start to happen,” she
November 8, 2013
explained.
On the second floor of the mansion,
you’ll find five paintings of her daughter.
One, “Love,” is done in Borchert’s signature expressionist style. The other four
represent a breakthrough with more abstract elements and a use of paint and texture more illustrative of the process of
making art.
“I love paint, I love using the brushes
and I love using the color. I love the feel
of the paint, and I wanted to play with
paint while also making something meaningful,” Borchert explained. Her breakthrough pieces are entitled “Been Looking
So Long,” “Fun Again,” “Courage to Let
It All Out” and “Joy of Music.”
“Life can change how you look at
things,” Borchert said, mentioning artists
with long careers like Picasso and Braque.
“Art reflects what an artist goes through.
You develop, you grow.”
Creating, she believes, is important for
everyone, not just professional artists. “Art
is very important … for your mental being
and physical being, but it’s also good for
your soul and one should not ignore these
things. It’s not like we should just go to
work 9 to 5, make money, eat and sleep.
There’s more to us. We’re thinking, creative beings. My students who come in the
evenings, they come because it’s a creative
outlet and it actually changes lives.”
Vian Borchert’s work is at the Kentlands
Mansion through Dec. 6, part of a group
show with artists David Hawksford and Chris
Luckman. For more information, visit www.
gaithersburgmd.gov/kentlandsmansion.
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November 8, 2013 The Town Courier
Page 21
Sports
The Faces Behind Friday Nights: The Grilling Gourmets
By Syl Sobel
DISCLAIMER: This article will not even
attempt to be objective. I love the grilled food at
the Cougar Dome. I look forward to my Friday
night kielbasa loaded with peppers and onions.
My toughest choice of the week is whether to get
the chicken sandwich or the steak sandwich on
the nights they have it. And my wife enjoys it as
much as I do. I get her a hamburger on Friday
nights and she stays for the whole game. She’s a
cheap date. Why do you think I married her?
T
he legend may have started a couple
of years ago when a local sportscaster
happened to be at the Cougar Dome
on a night when the Grilling Gourmets were
offering their specialty steak sandwiches.
“Those guys at Quince Orchard have the
best food in the area,” he said in almost reverential tones. “They’ve got steak!”
The best food in the area. That’s what
the grillers like to hear.
“Absolutely!” said Pace Prentice, the
man the other grillers call “the top dog,” as
he pulled kielbasa from a simmering pot of
peppers and onions and placed them on the
grill. “They come from all over the county
to get ours.”
What Prentice and his team offer is not
only quality, but variety. You can get a
hamburger and a hot dog at most games
Grilling Gourmets Eric Minkoff and Pace Prentice spice things up at the Cougar Dome.
in the area on a Friday night. But QO’s
Grilling Gourmets go way beyond the basics. In addition to the kielbasa, they turn
out grilled marinated chicken breast sandwiches. And on some nights — some magical nights — they offer steak.
“You really got to come here for the
steak,” urged Prentice, a former chef “in
a younger life,” who says he loves to cook.
He’s had four kids go through QO and
his youngest graduated last year, “but I’m
still hanging out,” he said, as calls of “kielbasa loaded!” and “four cheeseburgers!”
swirled around him.
The grillers thrive on the organized chaos of the grilling hut and love the camaraderie. Eric Minkoff, in his fourth year as a
griller, said it’s all about “having fun and
getting to see all the people come up and
the visitors.” Peter Kantor, in his third year,
said he likes helping out the school: “That’s
what it’s all about.” Bill Hardy started as a
water boy, worked his way up to wrapper
and now is the hot dog guy. Hardy likes
raising money for the school.
From their perch near the north end
zone, the grillers get to see at least some
of the game action when they’re not busy
cooking. And the smoke and the appetizing aromas may do more than just contribute to the Friday Night Lights atmosphere of the Cougar Dome. “We’re the
reason the team keeps winning,” Minkoff
claimed, because after the game the extras
go to the team.
The grillers also get another reward.
Prentice prepared a special peach cobbler and ice cream around halftime for
the crew. “You know how Red Auerbach
used to bring out his victory cigar?” said
Marty Horan, whose two daughters have
both graduated from QO but still helps
out. “We’ve got Pace putting out his victory cobbler.”
So on a Friday night, come out to QO
for dinner. Try the chicken, the kielbasa,
the burger, the dog and, if you’re lucky,
the steak. Extend your compliments to the
chefs. And while you’re there, you may
even want to stay for the game.
Montgomery County Expands BMX Pump Track
By Sean Gossard
T
he Montgomery County Department
of Parks is nearing completion on an
addition to its off-road BMX Pump
Track at the South Germantown Recreational Park.
In 2011, after partnering with the
Mid-Atlantic
Off-Road
Enthusiasts
(MORE), Montgomery Parks created the
5,000-square-foot track, which features
rolling bumps and banked corners to provide riders with a course to improve their
off-road skills. Now there’s an additional
course for cyclists to improve their skills
and show off their talents.
“Montgomery County residents are fortunate to have an exceptional trail system
in their parks,” said Bob Turnbull, natural surface trail construction manager for
Montgomery Parks.
The first track, completed in May 2011,
was part of the Parks’ master plan and originally took three weeks and more than 115
volunteer hours to complete. With financial help from MORE, the county was able
to get the pump track designed by a leader
in course creation, Lee McCormack. “He
essentially wrote the book on pump track
design and created the design based on our
space requirements,” said Todd Bauer, the
Maryland advocacy director for MORE.
Given the success of the pump track,
Montgomery Parks decided to create an
additional track. Construction on this second track began in September. One of the
biggest differences is the focus on downhill riding, giving the cyclists the chance to
get more speed around the track. And this
time, the course was designed in-house.
“We designed the jumps ourselves,”
Bauer said of the new track. “The design
is inspired by the jumps at an Alexandria,
N.J., bike park. I took that basic design and
modified it to provide more progression of
skills for riders of all ages.”
Each track is capable of accommodating
two to three riders at a time, according to
Melissa Chotiner, Montgomery Parks media relations manager.
Having bike tracks made of dirt means
that Montgomery Parks will depend on
volunteers to help with the tracks’ upkeep.
“The M-NCPPC Montgomery Parks
Department utilizes volunteers for trail
inspections and maintenance projects on
a year-round basis,” Chotiner said. “We
also have volunteers under staff supervision help with trail construction projects,
which sometimes include the pump track
and BMX track.”
Volunteers aren’t the only ones who can
help make sure the tracks stay usable long
into the future. The dirt track and steep
banks mean rain is a huge factor for the
course. “Users are encouraged to stay off
the track when it is wet. This will greatly
help in the long term maintenance effort,”
Chotiner said. “The Montgomery Parks
Department has trained volunteers to do
routine maintenance on the track.”
Although Montgomery Parks and
MORE held a bike event at South
Germantown Recreational Park in late
October, the new track is set to officially
open in mid-November. The tracks are located next to the Hoyles Mill Trail and are
free to ride on, but officials warn that you
ride at your own risk and must always wear
the proper safety gear.
In addition to the two bike tracks,
Montgomery Parks offers miles and miles
of natural surface trails and paved connector tracks through its many parks. To volunteer to help with the upkeep of the track
or any of Montgomery County’s parks,
visit www.MontgomeryTrails.org.
Photo | Montgomery Parks
A second off-road track opens at South Germantown
Recreational Park in mid-November.
Page 22
The Town Courier
■ Road to Playoffs
from page 1
Kevin Joppy sweep. But just as quickly the
Jaguars drove back, and a 13-yard touchdown catch by Joshua Gills gave them a
21-7 halftime lead.
QO showed life early in the second half,
stopping Northwest on the opening possession, closing the gap to 21-13 on a 12-yard
pass to Davis, and getting a three and out
on the Jaguars’ next possession. But two
QO drives stalled, and despite good punting by Ben Brown that pinned Northwest
deep, they broke the Cougars’ back with an
86-yard bomb to Matt Watson to open a
35-13 lead with 8:13 left in the third.
Despite the loss, QO (8-1) remained in
first place in the 4A West region and still
has the home field advantage over 8-1
Gaithersburg (who they beat the previous
week) and Northwest. They can clinch the
top spot with a win in the regular season
final at Wootton on Friday at 6:30 p.m.
While Neubeiser said the win gave his
team confidence “going forward in the
playoffs,” the loss was a wake-up call for a
QO team aiming to play in the state final
for the third year in a row. Northwest drew
a roadmap for how to beat the Cougars,
exposing gaps in their secondary, stifling
their pass rush (which missed the injured
Lamonte Armstrong), kicking away from
their explosive returners, and launching
blitzes that seemed to confuse the QO
linemen.
Mencarini took responsibility for the loss,
saying “it’s my job to have these guys ready
to play every week and you know, we had a
big win last week against Gaithersburg and
tonight we came out flat.” After the game,
he told his disappointed players “keep your
heads up” and “we’ve got a lot of work to
do.”
That Gaithersburg performance was a
stunning contrast to Friday’s. QO dominated every phase of the game, topping the
Trojans, 41-6, in what the coach called “a
total team win.” The Cougars scored on
their first four possessions, racked up over
450 yards of total offense while holding
Gaithersburg to 149, and never punted in
what was billed as a showdown between
undefeated, locally-ranked cross-town rivals but was never really in doubt.
“We didn’t play a perfect game, but we
probably played a near-perfect game,” said
Davis, who scored on a 72-yard pass-andrun from Murtaugh near the end of the
first half and set up an earlier Joppy touchdown with a long completion to the one.
About the Cougars’ only mistake was a
botched handoff between Murtaugh and
third-string running back Green who had
just entered the game in the third quarter.
The ball ended up in the hands of a Trojan
who returned it for a touchdown. That
ended the shutout for the Cougars, but
was nevertheless the fourth game this year
that the Black Paw Defense did not allow a
score. Adam McClean, who’s spent the last
two weeks on the Washington Post’s AllMet Watch and most of that game in the
Gaithersburg backfield, harassed star quar-
terback Nick DeCarlo and got in on three
sacks.
Green gained 144 yards on 17 carries after that, including a 32-yard scoring burst.
It was the second consecutive big game for
Green, a junior, and fellow mighty-mite
Barlow (12 carries, 80 yards, one TD), a
sophomore, giving Mencarini even more
weapons to complement the versatile Joppy
(16 carries, 70 yards) and talented corps of
receivers. Murtaugh was an efficient 7-9
for 144 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions, a nice bounce back from his
uncharacteristic three interceptions the
previous week against Sherwood.
Against Sherwood, QO fell behind early, weathered their own first half mistakes,
then blew open the game in the second to
win, 42-7, at the Cougar Dome.
Sherwood scored first after a Murtaugh
pass bounced off the hands of sophomore
tight end Gregg Williams and into the
hands of Sherwood’s Elijah Spottswood,
who danced his way to the Cougar 21.
Two plays later Sherwood scored on a 17yard pass and QO was behind, 7-0, for
the first time since Week 2 at Damascus.
Murtaugh, who entered the game having
thrown only one interception all season,
threw two more in the first half, both killing drives in Sherwood territory.
Momentum shifted midway through
the second quarter when linebacker Clay
Shelton-Jones intercepted a Sherwood pass
in the flat and returned it to the 6. Barlow,
starting at tailback in place of Joppy who
was nursing an injured ankle, burst into the
November 8, 2013
end zone untouched behind a lead block
from McLean, tying the score at 7-7 with
7:35 in the half.
Two possessions later the Cougars got
great field position at the Sherwood 43 after a shanked punt with 47 seconds left in
the half. This time, Murtaugh’s aim was
true as he hit Joppy, who had lined up in
the slot, on a 24-yard post pattern to the
end zone, and the Cougars were up 14-7.
“We really weren’t going to play ( Joppy)
tonight,” Mencarini said, “but we got in a
situation where we had a hard time moving
the ball so we threw him in there.”
Malcolm Brown sparked QO early in the
second half when he returned a Sherwood
punt 70 yards all the way down the right
sideline and suddenly it was 20-7. That was
one of three long punt returns on the night
for the dynamic Brown. QO had a touchdown called back later in the third quarter
on yet another holding penalty, but broke
it open in the fourth quarter on two touchdown runs by Green, another by Barlow
and a McLean safety.
Barlow led the Cougars in rushing
with 100 yards on 18 carries, while Green
chipped in with 88 on 11 carries. Mencarini
was pleased with his two little scatbacks,
neither of whom weighs more than 150
lbs. “Kyle and Shawn really stepped up,” he
said. He also credited the offensive line for
“taking over in the second half,” and afterwards awarded offensive line coach Chuck
Oswald a game ball.
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November 8, 2013 The Town Courier
Page 23
Page 24
The Town Courier
November 8, 2013

November 8, 2013

Transcription

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