Gaithersburg`s Hometown Newspaper

Gaithersburg’s Hometown Newspaper | Serving Kentlands, Lakelands, Quince Orchard Park and More
The
TOWN
Vol. 12, No. 3
Courier
www.towncourier.com
February 6, 2015
Paragon Takes Over Kentlands
Stadium 10 Theater
By Mike Cuthbert
T
here is a new face in an old
building in the Kentlands:
Paragon Kentlands 10. Under its new ownership by Paragon
Theaters, the Kentlands stadium
theater will soon appear with new
seats, theaters, features and even
a new concessions menu, all in a
matter of a couple of months.
The company, headquartered in
Deerfield Beach, Fla., specializes
in renovating and rejuvenating
“theaters in distress,” according
to Vice President of Marketing
Niki Wilson. Centered in Florida, the chain is growing and has
established theaters in Minnesota and Virginia as well. Paragon
Kentlands 10 is the company’s
first theater in Maryland. Paragon took over the theater around
noon on Jan. 13.
“One of our newest theaters
is in Naples, Fla.,” Wilson said,
“and you can expect the Paragon
Kentlands to contain most if not
all of the same features, including reclining leather seats, online
reserved seating, changes to the
concessions including small plates,
flatbreads and salads, and digital
projection in all 10 theaters.” In
addition, Paragon has a free Loyaln
THEATER PURCHASE Continued on page 8
Photo | Debbie Boderman
Members of the Kentlands Community Youth Chorus took the stage on Jan. 24, leading a full house in the Arts Barn’s first-ever Children’s
Movie Sing-Along. The sing-along was followed by a Royal Tea at the Kentlands Mansion.
Bicyclists See Need to Raise
Driver Awareness
By Karen O’Keefe
T
Photo | Pam Schipper
The Town Courier
309 Main Street
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
PRSRT-STD
U.S. POSTAGE PAID
GAITHERSBURG, MD
Permit #1722
The final marquee of Kentlands Stadium 10 featured the controversial “The Interview.”
he Maryland State Highway Administration
(SHA) will conduct a safety study of the section
of Md. Route 28 where bicyclist and Kentlands
resident Andrew Gerard Malizio was struck and killed
Nov. 24. They will present study findings on March
19 at a meeting of the Montgomery County Bicycle
Action Group (MCBAG), which is open to the public.
The fatal collision happened in front of the Shops
at Potomac Valley Shopping Center as Malizio was
cycling east in the far right lane of Route 28/Darnestown Road. A Washington Suburban Sanitary
Commission truck hit him as the truck driver turned
left into the shopping center. Both drivers had a green
light, but a sign at the intersection cautions those making left turns to yield to oncoming traffic.
Speaking on Jan. 15 at the monthly meeting of the
Montgomery County Bicycle Action Group (MCBAG), Assistant District Engineer for Traffic Anyesha
Mookherjee told the group that SHA would conduct
a safety study of the intersection to ascertain what can
be done to improve it. She also said that SHA would
analyze the crash history of the site and study its signal
operations.
At the time of the January meeting, Mookherjee
n
BIKE SAFETY Continued on page 5
The Gig’s Not Up! Reunion Jazz Ensemble Reunites
By Sharon Allen Gilder
J
im Savitz is happy to tell you the gig’s not
up for him or his musical groups. On Valentine’s Day, Saturday, Feb. 14 from 9 p.m. to
midnight, his group, Reunion Jazz Ensemble,
will transform the upper level of Largent’s in
Kentlands to sound like a 1940s jazz club. The
evening will be a banding together for the jazz
quintet after a long hiatus.
Injuries, surgeries and complications resulting
from being struck by a car in April 2013 as he
walked to join his family for dinner in Mt. Airy,
Md., have precluded him from band gigs and
forced his retirement in June 2014 from Village
Settlements, the real estate law firm he formed
in 1994. Savitz has been practicing law since
1975.
After several surgeries, his right shoulder
failed to heal properly. Following surgery on
New Year’s Eve 2013, he said pain and three
different opinions from three different doctors
prompted his wife, Kathleen, to suggest a consultation in January 2014 with “the big boys”
at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Savitz
shared, “The infectious diseases doctor there
Photo | Sharon Allen Gilder
The Reunion Jazz Ensemble, reunited for a special Valentine’s
Day performance at Largent’s, are Jim Savitz on keyboard,
vocalist Betsy Taylor, Dave Nuttycombe on drums, Steven
Kaufman on trumpet, and Bobby Walker on bass guitar.
said, ‘I’m glad you came, but you’ll be up here
for at least the next month or two.’ Kathleen had
clothes packed for two days. I was in a hospital
gown so I didn’t care. She had to do lots of online shopping! There was a time during that first
week when they thought I was a goner. I had six
operations at the Mayo Clinic and I just got off
of antibiotics in mid-January for the first time in
18 months. I was on the edge of survival really.”
Savitz said his clavicle had been “eaten up”
by a pervasive infection resulting from the car
accident injuries. He said the infection was leading toward multiple organ failure until doctors
determined the cause and were able to prescribe
medication to effectively stabilize him. His final surgery at the Mayo Clinic involved taking
a piece of his rib still attached to his peck muscle and moving it up 65 degrees. “Now I’ve got
a piece of rib up here where my clavicle was.
It was the kind of thing where it was literally
standing room only in the surgical gallery because it was a very unusual procedure and everyone wanted to see.”
Before his retirement, he was a managing
principal of the law firm Hirschel, Savitz, Parker, Hollman at Village Settlements. His current
title at the firm is Of Counsel. “That means I’m
insured with malpractice coverage. It’s good to
have coverage, but I have no use for it because
I’m not doing anything. I’m excited to be ambulatory, although I can’t work. I’m doing a
little teaching and for my retirement, Kathleen
bought me a digital Yamaha piano that came
with three lessons. I can’t read music and I’ve
n
JAZZ REUNION Continued on page 9
Page 2
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
Generation Wags Is a Happy Tale
By Sharon Allen Gilder
Kentlands 2015 Events Lineup Proposed
Kentlands’ Blittzed Marketing, Councilmember Neil
Harris and City of Gaithersburg staff met mid-January
regarding a proposed schedule of events in Kentlands for
2015. According to Michele Potter, director of Gaithersburg’s Parks, Recreation and Culture, concerts at the
former Star Diner are part of this proposed lineup.
Valentine’s Day Romance Blooms in Kentlands
Photo | Amanda Gargano/Paint The Stars Photography
Generation Wags founder Debby Hartten is pictured with her male Pomeranian, Ziggy (left), and her rescued
male mixed breed, Fozzie (right).
erty is a compatible “forever home” for
their pet. She said that in recent years,
there has been an escalating need to
find housing for people who are losing
their homes, which sometimes results
in the need to rent. “Clients appreciate
my sensitivity and compassion for their
pets. I work with clients to find a solution, particularly in a rental situation.”
A contributing factor to pet homelessness that needs to be licked is owner pet surrenders. Hartten said, “Some
people don’t consider pets lifelong
commitments or they choose inappropriate pets for their lifestyle.” She said
several other reasons for owner pet surn
GENERATION WAGS Continued on page 8
Keeping the Faith
By Pam Schipper
K
entlands resident Pamela Holberton is a soft-spoken woman
in her fifties, a poet and an artist
who works as a house assistant at the
Strathmore. She does not look like
someone who has waged a war.
But she did for more than 25 years.
It was a war within. In December 2014
she published a book about her long
struggle, “A Phoenix from the Abyss:
A Life Such as This.”
Holberton began battling manic depression in April 1978, and she was diagnosed with it in January 1979 when
she was a junior at Ithaca College.
What first presented itself as a pleasurable high, motivating Holberton to
leave college and work as an au pair in
Germany before embarking alone on a
1600-mile, 10-week and 10-country
bicycle journey across Europe, soon
worsened. Manic episodes became
more dangerous as she lost touch with
reality, and depressive periods made it
difficult for her to function.
“It’s life and death,” Holberton said
of manic depression, otherwise known
as bipolar disorder. “It’s that serious.
You have to keep the faith that you will
get well.”
In her quarter century of fighting
the disease, she knew many who were
not able to keep that faith. Suicides
and suicide attempts were common
among people she knew. Some studies
estimate the 25 to 50 percent of those
diagnosed with bipolar disorder will
attempt suicide.
shop Talk
By Pam Schipper
T
he story of Generation Wags began in 2011 when the organization’s founder, Debby Hartten,
adopted the mission to educate herself
about the factors that lead to homelessness for dogs and cats. Her love of animals, with a particular focus on rescues,
set her on a crusade to find solutions to
animal homelessness and ways to share
pet safety information with others.
Today, through her website and outreach events, the Gaithersburg resident
and Kentlands real estate agent hopes
to further “petUcate” the public to become advocates to prevent family pets
from becoming part of what she refers
to as the “rescued animal cycle.”
Hartten said the name for her organization evolved from the idea
that “wags” are happy. “My eye is on
changes for the future, and for the new
generation to improve the situation for
companion animals.” Though Hartten
said she does not deal directly with pets
through her organization, she has two
dogs of her own—Ziggy, a male Pomeranian, and Fozzie, a rescued male
mixed breed.
A native of Montgomery County,
Hartten has been a real estate agent for
seven years at the North Potomac Long
& Foster office in Kentlands where
finding housing for clients sometimes
segues into establishing that the prop-
Page 3
Watercolor | Pamela Holberton
Pamela Holberton has traveled widely since receiving
the proper medication for her bipolar disorder, and
she paints scenes from her journeys. This watercolor
of an ancient Greek door was captured while she
was on a trip to the Greek Islands in 2012.
Bipolar disorder is described as a severe mental illness, one for which there
is no cure, but Holberton is a success
story. When she was near death in the
hospital in June 2003, suffering from
bronchitis, pneumonia and kidney
failure from the wrong medications,
she was re-diagnosed with bipolar disorder and put on a new medication,
Abilify. Within weeks that summer,
she returned to the healthy self she had
known as a child and teen.
After seven years of adjusting to life
outside of a group home—years that
saw her finish her college education and
attain a degree from Earlham College,
learn how to drive and purchase a car,
buy a condo in Kentlands, volunteer
and then accept a salaried position with
Strathmore—Holberton decided to
share her story. Beyond the dark struggle that included three hospitalizations
at Taylor Manor (now Sheppard-Pratt)
and 14 years of outpatient therapy with
Montgomery General Hospital, Holberton said that she wrote the book to
share that “hope and faith and the resilience of the human spirit can help you
to overcome anything.”
Told through poetry and with Holberton’s own watercolor and pen-andink illustrations, the book takes you
from initial diagnosis and resistance to
it through numerous hospitalizations,
family issues and lack of emotional support. Remarkable is Holberton’s sustained fight to retain her sense of self.
She describes this as her “inner eye”
that somehow allowed her to hover
above her illness and keep some perspective on it.
In the end, Holberton credits faith
and science with her recovery. Abilify
today enables her to live a healthy life,
but it was her faith in life—that later became faith in God—that got her
through the dark days of her illness.
“There’s a book of real hope here,”
she said.
For more information on “A Phoenix
from the Abyss: A Life Such as This,”
visit http://www.amazon.com/Phoenix-Abyss-Life-Such-This-ebook/dp/
B00P9DW6I2.
From flowers to wine, chocolate, the best romantic
meals and even a fun run, Kentlands has it all for Valentine’s Day. Here are a few highlights from around town.
Wine and Dine: Brasserie Beck Kentlands has a
$50 prixe fixe all weekend long. Friday, Feb. 13 through
Sunday, Feb. 15, you’ll start with pan-seared Maine
scallop or duck confit and ricotta canollini, an arugula
and frisee salad, and then choose a main dish of butter-poached Maine lobster or roasted New York sirloin,
finishing with a flourless chocolate cake or passion fruit
parfait. www.brasseriebeck.com
Bubbles, Wine and Chocolates: At The Wine Harvest, 114 Market St., you’ll find bubbles by the glass all
day on Valentine’s Day, as well as a few special wines
available for a discounted rate. But don’t wait until Valentine’s Day to drop by. The Wine Harvest and SPAGnVOLA Chocolatier have teamed up to offer a special
Valentine’s Day gift of SPAGnVOLA’s Berry BonBons
and a bottle of wine (choose from three options). www.
thewineharvest.com
Wine and Roses, Chocolates and Song: Pinky &
Pepe’s Grape Escape, 223 Kentlands Blvd., offers two
Fridays of Valentine’s Day celebration. Start early on
Feb. 6 when Whole Foods Kentlands brings Valentine’s
treats and roses to pair with the wines poured by Nick
Materese of Siema Wines during a complimentary wine
tasting, 6 to 8 p.m. At 7 p.m. the Jeff Carmella Duo performs. Then on Friday, Feb. 13, chocolates will be paired
with wines during a special complimentary tasting, 6 to
8 p.m. Tim Smith of Republic National will pour a lineup of six wines, and Freddie Long performs at 7 p.m.
pinkyandpepes.com
Heart Healthy: Fleet Feet Sports Gaithersburg,
255 Kentlands Blvd., holds its Cupid Dash on Thursday,
Feb. 12, 6:30 p.m. Run or walk two to five miles and
then enjoy special treats courtesy of Brooks Running.
The dash is open to all and is free—no RSVP required.
www.fleetfeetgaithersburg.com
Another Sweet Deal at Paragon Kentlands 10
It’s thrifty Tuesday at the Kentlands movie theater, recently acquired by Paragon Theaters. See all movies all
day on Tuesday for just $6. www.paragontheaters.com/
showtime/paragon-kentlands-10
SPAGnVOLA Wins Hispanic Impact Award
SPAGnVOLA was honored as 2014 “Outstanding
Small Business of the Year” by the Maryland Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce (MDHCC) at its 2015 Annual
Business Awards Holiday Gala, Jan. 11. MDHCC represents and connects more than 40,000 Hispanic-owned
businesses in the region. spagnvola.com
Village Settlements Affiliate Welcomes
Jeremiah J. Eliason
The Law Offices of Parker, Hollman, Simon, Hahn &
DeLisi, LLC announced that Jeremiah J. Eliason, attorney
at law, has joined their firm and will lead its Probate and
Estate Planning practice. Licensed in both Maryland and
Florida, Eliason will be available to assist clients with all
forms of Estate Planning, including wills, trusts, powers of
attorney, and probate and asset protection.
The firm is affiliated with Village Settlements, Inc.,
the real estate settlement company ranked as one of the
top title companies in the Maryland/District of Columbia area. Village Settlements recognized the importance
n
shop talk Continued on page 9
Page 4
The Town Courier
cityscene
POLICEBeat
By Gina Gallucci-White
Opinions Sought in Budget Forum
Whether you agree with how public
funds are being spent or have ideas on
how they might be used better, the City
of Gaithersburg is ready to hear from
you.
The Mayor and City Council will
host the annual Gaithersburg Budget
Public Forum at City Hall at 7:30 p.m.
Feb. 9. Staff will present a report of
the financial state of the city and then
public input will be sought on funding
priorities for the upcoming fiscal year
beginning July 1.
Speakers will be given three minutes
to voice their opinions and do not need
to register in advance. For those who
prefer the written word, comments
may also be sent to cityhall@
gaithersburgmd.gov. A public hearing
for the budget will take place in April.
n
February 6, 2015
city scene Continued on page 10
By Gina Gallucci-White
Body Cameras to Be Purchased for Training
O
ver the coming weeks, the Maryland
General Assembly is expected to debate whether they will allow state
funding to equip police officers with body
cameras. Whatever the outcome, the Gaithersburg Police Department is in the process
of buying five body cameras to use during
training exercises.
The pilot program, lasting for one year,
will be used to film use-of-force exercises and firearms and Taser training. Police
Chief Mark P. Sroka told the Mayor and
City Council during a recent meeting that
the cameras will help instructors provide
constructive feedback to officers. “It’s one
thing to tell them what they did right and
where they may need improvement, but it’s
another thing to be able to go ahead and
show them in a video,” Sroka said. “I think
this is going to enhance our training curriculum pertaining to use of force and this will
serve us well for many years to come.”
The cameras and data management will
RENT
FOR
Single Family Home
in Lakelands
Beautiful home with full front
porch, wood floors, gourmet
kitchen, 4 bedrooms up,
laundry on bedroom level,
Finished basement perfect
for in-law/au pair, includes
kitchen, full bath and
bedroom, even its own laundry.
Call today.
$3800/mo
568 Orchard Ridge Rd.
Quince Orchard Park - $349,000
RENT
FOR
Quince Orchard Park Home
Brick Colonial with 1 car
garage, 4 bedrooms, family
room with fireplace open to
table space kitchen, separate
dining room, hardwood floors,
and finished basement. Deck.
Move in Today. Call for a
private showing.
$2800/mo
311 Winter Walk Drive
Quince Orchard Park - $479,000
cost the department just around $11,200.
Sroka anticipated they would start using the
cameras this month.
At the end of the program, Sroka and
his staff plan to evaluate the capability and
limitations of the cameras and consider buying more to outfit uniformed officers with
the ranks of sergeant and below and plain
clothes officers. “There is a good chance
that we are going to see legislation at some
point in Maryland” regarding police body
cameras, Sroka said. “This gives (the department) an opportunity to be proactive.”
The trial period will give “officers a chance
to warm up to (the cameras),” Sroka said.
“I have some officers that want this (and)
are ready to wear it tomorrow. I have others
who haven’t warmed up to it. ... But they, as
I do, realize that this is here to stay.”
Due to the deaths of two unarmed black
men caused by two white police officers
in Missouri and New York last year, the
use of police body cameras is being debated throughout the country. “I don’t think
this camera is a fix for police excessive
force throughout this country,” Sroka said.
“I think it’s a tool that can be used in furtherance to enhance police accountability
and oversight. I also think it can be used
to defend the lawful and proper conduct of
officers that have been falsely accused of excessive force, abuse of power or any other
misconduct.”
Councilmember Henry F. Marraffa Jr.
agreed the cameras can be used as a tool.
“(Cameras are) not going to solve our problems,” he said. “Good police work solves our
problems. This is actually a tool to protect
our police men (and women) who do a good
job.”
Sroka added that in the last two years the
department has not had one citizen compliant result in formal disciplinary action.
MEETING CALENDAR
2/9
2/12
Mayor and City Council Annual Budget Forum, City Hall Council Chambers, 7:30 p.m.
Educational Enrichment Committee Meeting, Wells/Robertson Conference Room,
7:30 a.m.
Olde Towne Advisory Subcommittee Meeting, City Hall Gallery, 7:30 p.m.
2/10
Transportation Committee Meeting, Public
Works Conference Room, 7 p.m.
Environmental Affairs Committee Meeting,
City Hall Gallery, 7 p.m.
RE/MAX REALTY GROUP OF CROWN
“(Cameras are) not a panacea for some of
the problems that are happening throughout
this country,” Sroka said. “This is just one
piece of determining what happened to get
to the truth at the end of the day.”
The department also has in-car cameras
for all patrol vehicles that show where the
officer is driving and when they stop for a
call. They also have rear passenger cameras
when they are transporting prisoners.
“The in-car cameras have proven to be,
in many cases, the officers’ best defense attorney,” Sroka said. In 2014, two complaints
of racial profiling were made to the agency. Sroka reviewed the tape and determined
both officers had probable cause to stop the
vehicles. “In both incidents, I invited the
complainant to come in,” Sroka said. “One
did come in and look at (the video) and left
pretty quickly once he saw the video ,and
the other one never came to my office to
review the video after I told him I had video
footage of it and what he alleged happened
didn’t, in fact, occur.”
Councilmember Michael A. Sesma said
he is glad the department is taking proactive steps regarding the cameras. “I am very
confident, given the professionalism of our
force and the leadership of the force, that it
will be implemented properly,” he said. “I
agree that it is not a panacea, but this a tool.”
If the department decides to equip patrol
officers with cameras, Sroka wants to have
a clear policy on what will be recorded and
when an officer may turn the camera off. He
believes it would not be prudent to record
victims of sexual assault or domestic violence. There are also privacy laws to consider when officers go inside a residence.
“I fully support (body cameras) as long
as there is sound policy governing its use,
management of the data and dissemination
of the data,” Sroka said.
2/17
Mayor and City Council Meeting, City Hall
Council Chambers, 7:30 p.m.
2/11
2/18
Multicultural Affairs Committee Meeting,
Activity Center at Bohrer Park – Large Conference Room, 7:30 p.m.
Planning Commission Meeting, City Hall
Council Chambers, 7:30 p.m.
Board of Appeals Meeting, City Hall Council
Chambers, 7:30 p.m.
Economic and Business Development Committee Meeting, City Hall Gallery, 7:30 a.m.
2/20
For the latest information on city meetings, visit the City of Gaithersburg website at www.gaithersburgmd.gov.
309 Main Street
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
For Advertising: 301.279.2304
Also on the Web at www.towncourier.com.
Diane Dorney
Publisher
[email protected]
Matt Danielson
President
[email protected]
Pam Schipper
Managing Editor
[email protected]
Debi Rosen
Advertising Manager
301.279.2304
[email protected]
Sandra Christian
Advertising Sales
240.401.1020
[email protected]
Staff Photographers
Debbie Boderman
Arthur Cadeaux
Yenrue Chen
Phil Fabrizio
Staff Writers
Sally Alt
Nora Caplan
Mike Cuthbert
Gina Gallucci-White
Sharon Allen Gilder
Betty Hafner
Sheilah Kaufman
Karen O’Keefe
Syl Sobel
Maureen Stiles
Ellyn Wexler
Student Writer
Ethan Cadeaux
©2015 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
February 6, 2015
aroundtown
Page 5
Compiled by Pam Schipper
Kingfish Assistant Head Coach Needed swimmers ages eight and under and new
Applications are being accepted
through Sunday, Feb. 8 for the position of
assistant head coach of the Kentlands Kingfish Swim Team for summer 2015. The assistant head coach (AHC) helps with the
overall management of the Kingfish Swim
Team, including the coordination of assistant coaches and coaches in training. The
AHC is expected to play a key role in overseeing the pre-team, mostly comprised of
■ bike safety
from page 1
said she had not been unable to obtain the
official police report on the Nov. 24 fatal
collision.
The Montgomery County Bicycle Action
Group (MCBAG) was created by MCDOT
in 1996 to gain input from citizens interested in recreational and on-road cycling issues.
MCBAG advises MCDOT on current issues,
programs and projects relating to cycling in
Montgomery County.
The January MCBAG discussion was attended by Mookherjee and Director of Bicycle and Pedestrian Access, Maryland DOT
Michael E. Jackson. Also in attendance were
several members of MCBAG, some interested citizens and the group’s facilitator, MCDOT’s Pat Shepherd, bikeways coordinator
for Montgomery County.
At the January MCBAG gathering, many
suggestions seemed to reflect a sense of urgency felt by bicyclists about the need to
make motor vehicle drivers more aware that
bicycles are sharing the roads.
By Maryland law, bicycles are vehicles
and authorized users of the roadway. But, as
it states in the Maryland Driver’s Manual,
“bicyclists are less visible, quieter, and don’t
have a protective barrier around them. Motorists must drive carefully near bicyclists:
Even a slight mistake can result in serious
injury or even death.”
Bicyclists in Maryland are found on all
types of roads (except interstate highways
and toll facilities), in all weather, at all times
of day and night. According to the manual, “in Maryland, a bicyclist may use the full
lane even while traveling substantially below
the speed of traffic if the lane is too narrow
for a car to safely pass the bicycle within the
lane.”
It is also the law in Maryland that cars
swimmers. Desired characteristics include
strong organizational and communication
skills, knowledge of swimming, experience working with youth and a spirited
individual with creativity for leadership
in team activities. Application forms are
at KentlandsKingfish.com. For more information please contact Tara Hofmann
at [email protected]. Applications
are also being accepted for assistant coaches
and coaches in training. passing bicycles must allow at least three feet
of clearance, whether the bicyclist is in a bike
lane, on the shoulder or in the same lane as
the car.
Olney resident Joe Fritsch, who attended
the January MCBAG meeting and has attended past meetings, is an avid cyclist “of
many types” who has ridden the roads—and
trails—of Montgomery County for the last
14 years.
After the meeting, Fritsch shared his
thoughts on Montgomery County roads and
how well they accommodate bicyclists. “For
the most part, … local roads are not designed
with bicycle flow in mind,” he stated. “With
that said, the county is just beginning to truly put forth the effort needed to make roads
more friendly.
“The real question is if drivers will start
to accept that cyclists have the right to be
present on the roads.”
Bicyclists at the MCBAG meeting described such dangers as “right hooks” —
where a motor vehicle driver takes a right
turn in front of a bicycle and the defensive
bicycling technique of watching the front
tires of cars in order to be prepared for an
unsignalled turn.
Frisch commented, “Right hooks, and
drivers treating stop signs and right-on-red
as ‘yields,’ are the most dangerous things I
find. I stop at stop lights and stop signs and
have (experienced) harassment from drivers
for that as well. While not the most dangerous, the most annoying thing I (encounter)
is drivers who yell at me to get off the road.”
MCBAG meets monthly and welcomes
the general public. For more information on
MCBAG, check the Montgomery County
DOT website’s “Bikeways” link. The next
MCBAG meeting is Thursday, Feb. 19, 7 –
9 p.m., 9th Floor Conference Room, 101
Monroe St. (MC Executive Office Building). Telephone remote access is available.
Check the website for more information.
301-657-3332
301-299-5222
Page 6
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
Vintage Bridal Gowns Grace Mansion at Wedding
Venue’s 20th Anniversary
By Pam Schipper
E
lizabeth Lay will spend hours steaming and draping five beautiful gowns,
dating from 1938 to 1968, on mannequins in the Helz Music Room at Kentlands Mansion. In addition to the three to
four hours that it can take to steam one
dress, the Montgomery County Historical
Society (MCHS) curator will carefully tape
stuffing to the mannequins, shaping them
to the unique contours of each dress. “All
of these ladies were not the same size,” Lay
explained.
Romance and serendipity brought her
back to the mansion to create the “Walk
Down the Aisle” exhibition, on display
Feb. 5 through 26. Twenty years ago, Lay
was executive director of the Gaithersburg
Council for the Arts, and she remembers
the work done to turn the mansion into the
wedding venue that it is today—renovations to the kitchen to accommodate event
caterers and a special room upstairs for the
brides. Preparations for that first wedding
were exciting. While Lay didn’t see the first
bride come down the stairs on her wedding
day, she recalls the details that then-director of the mansion Ann Choate attended
to, including the assembly of a “Wedding
Emergency Box” complete with anything a
bride might need.
Lay left her position with the Arts Council in 1997, and she has done many things
in the intervening years, including receiving her master’s in the history of decorative arts, textiles and costume from Smithsonian-George Mason University. When
Kristy King, current director at the mansion, contacted MCHS about developing
a vintage bridal gown exhibit, it was the
happiest of coincidences.
Lay’s knowledge of bridal fashion is
seamless. For this exhibition, she considered the more than 50 gowns stored in the
attic of MCHS’s Beall-Dawson House in
Rockville and selected five to reflect the
years when Otis Beall Kent inhabited the
mansion. “These ladies were very fashion forward,” Lay said of the brides whose
dresses will be showcased in the exhibition.
The exhibition’s 1938 dress, made of a
lightweight, marquisette fabric, is an excellent example of the more glamorous 1930s.
“Vionnet was a big designer in Paris,” Lay
explained. “They were cutting dresses on
the bias, and it was about being long and
lean.” At the end of the Depression, brides
tended to be older, she added, and they
sometimes dyed their dresses after the wedding to get more wear out of them.
By 1942, the year the next dress in the
exhibition was worn, World War II loomed
and bridal fashion saw the beginnings of
the ready-made dress. “Bridal shops within
a department store became common,” said
Lay, and weddings happened very fast be-
cause of the war. This 1942 wedding couple
were both 19 years old, and they worked for
the Department of Commerce in D.C.
In 1950, classic romance prevailed, Lay
explained, perhaps reflecting the ultra-feminine era when women didn’t work. The
exhibition’s 1950 dress is an hourglass with
a cinched waist and full fabric in a complete
circle. The neckline is Grace Kelly, and the
dress features narrow sleeves.
“Later in the 1950s, dresses had a more
triangular shape … straighter in front with
a pouf in back,” Lay said. The exhibition’s
1956 dress is made of ivory silk, which had
been hard to get during the war because
silk had been needed for parachutes. It features Balenciaga sleeves, Lay pointed out,
“that move naturally and hang beautifully.”
The 1960s saw DuPont encouraging
high fashion designers to use synthetic fabric, Lay said. The exhibition’s 1968 dress is
a sheath dress made of synthetic lace with a
train that comes from the shoulders.
Kristy King said that all five dresses will
be displayed against the rich, dark paneling
of the mansion’s music room. Set up around
the perimeter of the room with didactic
cards, they will showcase how bridal fashions changed with the times.
On display through Feb. 26, “Walk
Down the Aisle” can be viewed weekdays,
9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and weekends when the
mansion is open to the public for special
events. There is no admission fee.
Photo | Debbie Boderman
This bridal gown from the Montgomery County Historical
Society collection was worn by Jane Alice Chinn when she
married Lawrence Sween on Sept. 22, 1956.
arts& entertainment
Compiled by Pam Schipper
Winter Market
Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Main Street
Pavilion, 301 Main St.
Enjoy winter vegetables as well as produce
grown in local greenhouses. Other items
may include flavored crepes, empanadas,
coffees and hot chocolate. The market will
not open if weather is severe. www.gaithersburgmd.gov
Works of Cohen, Glander and Arts
Barn Faculty Members
Through March 8; Mon.- Fri., 10 a.m. to
5 p.m., and Saturday, 1:30 pm to 5:30 pm.,
Arts Barn
The City of Gaithersburg presents an exhibit featuring the paintings of Howard Cohen and the glasswork of Anthony Glander
at the Arts Barn Main Gallery. In the Invitational Gallery, other members of the Arts
Barn faculty will be presenting a selection of
their two-dimensional artwork in oil, acrylic, watercolor, photography and other mediums. Artists include Natalya Parris, Jaree
Donnelly of Arts Entwine, Vian Borchert,
Sue Kay, Carol Vogel, and Firouzeh Sadeghi. The public is invited to a free artists
reception on Tuesday, Feb. 10, 7 to 8:30
p.m. www.gaithersburgmd.gov
Vintage Bridal Gowns Exhibit
Feb. 5-26, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon. through Fri.,
but please call ahead, Kentlands Mansion
“Walk Down the Aisle” this February and
celebrate romance with an exhibition of vintage bridal gowns courtesy of the Montgomery County Historical Society. Free. www.
gaithersburgmd.gov. 301.258.6425
Art League of Germantown Exhibit
Feb. 6-March 27; viewing hours Mon.-Fri., 9
a.m.-4 p.m., but call ahead, Kentlands Mansion
Arts on the Green presents an exhibit of
works by members of the Art League of
Germantown. Members present a representational selection of works created in oils,
acrylic, watercolor, pastel, pencil/charcoal,
mixed media, and photography. The public
is invited to a free artists reception on Tuesday, Feb. 10 from 7 to 8:30 p.m. www.gaithersburgmd.gov. 301.258.6425
Pinky & Pepe’s Grape Escape
Feb. 6 & 7, 13 & 14, 7-10 p.m., 223
Kentlands Blvd.
Head to Pinky & Pepe’s for live music Friday and Saturday nights. You’ll find the Jeff
Carmella Duo (Feb. 6), Crumpled Hat (Feb.
7), Freddie Long (Feb. 13), and the Tom
Blood Duo (Feb. 14). pinkyandpepes.com
Creative Writing Club for Teens
Feb. 7, 3 - 4:30 p.m., Quince Orchard Library
Like writing prompts? Have something
you’ve written that you want critiqued?
Come to this monthly writing workshop run
by a member of the Maryland Writer’s Association. Free. www.montgomerycountymd.
gov/library/branches/quinceorchard.html
n
arts & entertainment Continued on page 14
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
Page 7
The Open Page
By Pam Schipper
S
ummer Hardinge loved every minute of her 21-year secondary school
teaching career, one that introduced
her to intrepid and creative souls first at
Seneca Valley and then, for most of those
years, at Quince Orchard High School.
“It was wonderful, really wonderful,”
she said of her writing and literature classes
at QO. Today, when she runs into former
students, “I love hearing what they’re doing with their lives.”
Hardinge was on staff when QO opened
its doors in 1988, and she started a magazine at the school with a colleague.
Her only frustration was that she found
it hard to write alongside her students,
something that she believes is important in
a creative writing class. There were simply
too many interruptions and organizational
n
WRITERS’ WORKSHOP Continued on page 11
Are you living
with foot pain?
Photo | Summer Hardinge
Summer Hardinge, who will be offering Amherst Writers &
Artists workshops starting Feb. 10, finds inspiration for
her writing in the expansive countryside and rich storytelling tradition of Southwest Virginia where she grew up.
Participation Proves RCES
Science Night a Winning Formula
By Pam Schipper
F
riends Ella Borkat and Olivia Maytin
had another project in mind for the Jan.
28 Rachel Carson Elementary School
Science and Invention Night. But they were
playing with Stanley, the gerbil, and some
magnetic tiles when they had a lightbulb
moment—what would motivate Stanley to
make his way through a magnetic tile maze
most quickly?
Unlike B.F. Skinner who discovered that
a rat’s behavior could be influenced by food
pellets, Borkat and Maytin learned that Stanley ran to the end of the maze when they
placed a bed there.
Maytin said that using food to influence
Photos | Pam Schipper
Ivie Tran proved that science is beautiful on Jan. 28 at Rachel Carson Elementary School with her “Ivie the Magician
and the Chameleon Flowers.”
Stanley’s behavior was a “failed experiment.”
Borkat suggested the bed worked because
Stanley is nocturnal and likes to sleep during
the day.
Judging by the number of students and
adults stopping by their display to see “Stanley on the Go,” Borkat and Maytin’s experiment was nothing short of a success.
“Stanley on the Go” was one of 116 displays at RCES that night. Event chair Meredith Fogle said that 184 kids participated, making this the largest turnout for the
PTA-sponsored night since its inception.
Excitement was high, and displays ran the
gamut from a three-dimensional model of
“The Solar System” by Katie Beth Ingrassia to Wesley Lee’s “How to Make Invisible
Ink,” Leo and Max Bell’s “How Does Bread
Puff Up: Bread Science” and Katie Bartell’s
“Will Salt and Sugar Slow the Evaporation
Process?”
Many displays were interactive, but one
was simply beautiful. Second grader Ivie
Tran answered the question, “How does water get from the vase to flowers?” with 10
white roses whose stems rested in water tinted with food coloring. As the evening progressed, her flowers changed color, giving
her display the name “Ivie the Magician and
the Chameleon Flowers.”
assignmenteducation
Compiled by Pam Schipper
MCPS Superintendent
Joshua P. Starr Resigns
The Montgomery County Board of Education and Superintendent of Schools Joshua P. Starr have reached a mutual agreement
that will end Dr. Starr’s tenure with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS).
The board voted unanimously on Feb. 3 to
approve a departure agreement that enables
the board to immediately begin a search for
a new superintendent and for Dr. Starr to
pursue new career opportunities. Dr. Starr
asked to be released from his current con-
tract and will resign effective Feb. 16, 2015.
“The board and I thank Dr. Starr for the
work he has done since 2011, and we wish
him much success in the future,” said Patricia B. O’Neill, president of the Board of
Education.
In recent weeks, the Board of Education
has been deliberating about Dr. Starr’s future with the district and whether to offer
him a new four-year contract. After much
discussion, the board and Dr. Starr agreed it
would be in the best interest of the district
to appoint a new leader to carry forward the
n
assignment education Continued on page 16
• CompleteFamilyFootand
AnkleCare
• PodiatricMedicineandSurgery
• Non-InvasiveShockwave
TherapyforHeelPain(ESWT)
• SportsMedicine
• DiabeticFootCare
• IngrownToenail,NailFungus
• InofficeDiagnosticUltrasound
forinjuriesetc.
NEW Laser Treatment
for Toenail Fungus
Jon M. SherMan, DPM, FaCFaS
Board Certified in Foot Surgery
Diplomate American College of
Podiatric Surgery
301-330-5666
60 Market Street, Suite 202
Gaithersburg, MD 20878
www.kentlandsfootdoctor.com
Page 8
■ GENERATION WAGS
from page 3
renders include moving or a change in housing with pet/breed restrictions; the cost of
veterinary care and other pet costs; change
in family dynamics such as a new baby, or
the owner’s death; and unwanted litters due
to lack of spay/neuter.
“Being in real estate, I wanted to find
some sort of a giveback, so I started a holiday
donation drive called, ‘Warm Hearts, Happy Paws,’” said Hartten. She placed donation
boxes in area dog daycare centers, at several
veterinarian’s offices, and retail stores. She
added, “When I started the donation boxes,
I met other groups and became more educated about the struggles related to rescue
animals.”
Hartten said a number of factors impact
rescue animals, including the stream of an-
The Town Courier
imals due to the lack of spaying and neutering, which increases the burden on shelters;
the high cost of care with minimal funds; the
cost of transporting the oversupply of pets
from one region to another where there is a
shortage; strays or lost pets; and the need for
more volunteers. She supports pet adoption
and wants more visibility on animal rescue
and safety that addresses the source of the issues and effectively diminishes them.
Love, Tag & Chip, one of her community outreach efforts, shares information about
the importance of visible tags and microchips. She encourages pet owners to ensure
that their contact information is not only
registered, but that it is up-to-date. “The
tags and chips back-up each other in different
ways. A chip may not be registered, or may
not be able to be read because it has migrated. Or people move and their current information is not registered … and of course, it
February 6, 2015
all starts with love,” added Hartten.
Last year, Generation Wags turned the
page on a new chapter when it became a
program under Re-Love Animals, a 501(c)
(3) non-profit, whose mantra is, “Prevention
through education and action.”
“I want to try to have synergy with my
signature focus of pet safety and finding
solutions. I want to marry events like ‘Grow
Your Walk’ and ‘Walk The Walk’ with parents of missing pets to reach out and gain
exposure for them,” said Hartten. The idea is
that parents of missing pets who form walking teams with community pet walks have
the opportunity for more visibility about
their missing pet.
She added, “All of this is directed at solutions. Currently, there are lots of buckets of
lost pets, but there’s no connection. We need
an integrated system to help reunite more
pets more quickly so that in the next Katrina, all pets don’t end up at your local shelter.” Hartten said there are so many different
companies and organizations that have their
own databases and their own products that
information about missing pets is not shared
in the most efficient manner.
As part of February’s “Love Your Pet
Weekend,” Hartten and a veterinarian from
the Kentlands Veterinary Hospital will be
at BARK! in Kentlands on Sunday, Feb.
15 from 2 to 4 p.m. with her Love, Tag &
Chip Challenge. Hartten will also distribute
proactive safety and nutritional information,
and a dog trainer will be on hand for “Ask
the Trainer” sessions. Enhancing bonds with
pets and protecting them in the future are
some of the connections Hartten hopes pet
owners will gain from the event. “There’s a
definite connection between your care and
where your animal may end up,” she said.
Donations are always welcome at Generation Wags. Monies help prevent tomorrow’s
rescues by providing funds for the group’s
campaigns and outreach events. “I want to
create some programs that are free and accessible for as many people as possible, and
to educate them with videos, public service
campaigns, and partner with existing programs to collaborate our efforts. We need to
tune in and refresh our perspective on our
pets. You can’t fix what you don’t know,”
said Hartten.
For more information, visit www.
generationwags.com.
■ theater purchase
branch out into the less-popular genres as
well,” Wilson said. Even though there will
be extensive renovation to the existing spaces, Wilson said that the intention is to leave
the admission prices exactly the same for the
foreseeable future.
For more details on Paragon Theaters in
general, and to get a preview of what you
might expect to see within two to three
months, go to www.paragontheaters.com.
from page 1
ty Program with all sorts of extra benefits—
from free tickets to breaks on concessions
and other attractions.
“We have our own booker and design
our bookings to fit our audience. First-runs
are a priority, of course, but depending on
the location and audience preferences, we
High Quality Care In a Compassionate Environment
Services:
House Calls
Rehabilitation
Chiropractic
Acupuncture
Ultrasound
Exotic Pet Care
Allergy Testing
Dental Cleanings
Underwater Treadmill
Laser Therapy
NEW
PATIE
WEL NTS
COM
E!
Your Local Neighborhood Full-Service Animal Hospital
$20.00 off 301.519.7944
Kentlands Veterinary Hospital
comprehensive exam
NOT VALID WITH ANY OTHER
OFFER. Expires April 30, 2015
One coupon per household.
kentlandsvet.com
117 Booth Street, Gaithersburg , MD
Hours: MTWF 8-7 p.m. • Thurs 8-8 p.m. • Sat 8-1 p.m.
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
■ jazz reunion
from page 1
always wanted to learn.”
He teaches once each week in Silver Spring
for The Professional Development Institute
that assists real estate agents with their licensing and educational needs. “It’s good because
it keeps me involved, but at the same time,
could I work an eight or 10 hour day? Not a
chance. I don’t know if or when I’ll ever get
off of disability. At least teaching keeps me
sharp and that’s important.”
Savitz said he’s done some writing and
compiled his lectures into a book format but
he feels he needs to separate his work into
more than one book and clarify if his target
audience is realtors, buyers, sellers or colleagues. “So, I’ve put something down, but
it’s going to take a long time because I don’t
have all day to sit around and write because
I’m taking my naps,” Savitz laughed and added, I have lunch, I take a nap. Now that I’m
retired, I need to fill my time with important
activities like playing music!”
The self-taught Savitz said he has been
playing piano since he was 12 years old.
“Since I’m not practicing law, I sit home and I
play the piano. When I took the piano lessons,
the music teacher quickly realized that over
the many years I’ve been playing, I’ve learned
a lot of music theory, so instead of teaching
me like a baby, she built off of the theory that
I know and it was just very, very helpful.”
Years ago, at a Maryland Bar Association
event called the Bar Revue, Savitz met and
became friends with Millard Bennett, a managing partner of the Stein Sperling law firm.
“Millard suggested we put a band together
for his wife’s first annual 39th birthday party,” laughed Savitz. “We played and one thing
led to another, and then we started doing the
charity things.”
Savitz and his band members remain no
strangers to donating their musical talents to
charitable causes. For years his group, The
Reunion Band, performed free of charge to
raise awareness and monies for The Children’s Inn at N.I.H. and The Wells/Robertson House in the City of Gaithersburg. The
Reunion Band will perform Friday, April 24,
2015 at the Denim & Diamonds Gala to be
held at the Gaithersburg Hilton. The event
supports the work of The Wells/Robertson
House that includes providing transitional
housing for homeless men and women who
have undergone alcohol/drug treatment or
received other professional counseling and
want to break the cycle of homelessness.
Their program helps residents learn how to
be self-sufficient, working and functioning
members of society.
Reunion Jazz Ensemble, an offspring of
The Reunion Band, is comprised of Savitz on
keyboard, Dave Nuttycombe on drums, Bobby Walker on bass guitar, Steven Kaufman
on trumpet and flugelhorn, and vocalist Betsy Taylor. “We evolved from the big group,”
said Savitz. “When we played rehearsals, we
started goofing around and doing the jazz and
said, wait a minute, we like this. We’ll start
to re-build the gigs. … I mean, it’s been literally a couple of months when I’ve been well
enough to sit there and play for a couple hours
so we’ll see how my health holds up for these
jobs. The music is really good for the soul, it
really is,” said Savitz. He laughed and added,
“As I’ve told people … for the Largent’s gig,
I’m 80 percent sure that I can stay up until
midnight.”
Reservations are required for Valentine’s
Day at Largent’s; call 301.527.4368. For tickets or more information about Denim & Diamonds, visit www.friendsofwells.org.
shoptalk
from page 3
The Dish on Crown
of expanding its affiliated law firm. “Many
of our settlement clients, after buying a new
home, asked about wills and trusts,” commented President David Parker. “Our clients
liked our attorneys, they liked our staff, they
loved our locations and yet we referred them
elsewhere for their wills and trusts. Now
they can walk right down the hall and get
their wills and trusts completed.”
Parker, Hollman, Simon, Hahn & DeLisi,
LLC has offices located in Gaithersburg, Frederick, Bethesda and Greenbelt. Mr. Eliason
will practice out of the Gaithersburg office at
177 Kentlands Blvd., but will also be able to
meet with clients in the other offices as well.
Ted’s Bulletin opens early February in
a replica train station building. Drop by the
depot in Downtown Crown for some great
old-fashioned cooking—meatloaf, macaroni
and cheese, egg salad and tuna sandwiches.
The restaurant started by brothers Mark and
Ty Neal on Capitol Hill and named for their
father, who always had a pot on the stove to
feed whoever knocked on his door, is famous
for its extensive breakfast menu.
Also opening soon, according to Tammy
Murphy, Maier & Warner PR spokesperson
for Downtown Crown, is &pizza. At this
popular local chain, your pizza is always personal with three kinds of dough, three kinds
of cheese, eight sauces and numerous topping choices.
Murphy said that the Chicago-based Old
Town Pour House is expected to open
at Crown in early March. The restaurant
is known for its more than 90 beers on tap
here, as well as its on-tap wines and specialty cocktails. Dishes consist of reinvented
American fare—Chicago Dogs, Filet Mignon Sliders, the Pour House Burger and
Maryland Crab Cakes.
Rounding out the 2015 new restaurant
openings for Crown is Ted’s Montana
Grill, a nationwide chain that features bison, that Big Sky Country game. Visit smarturbanliving.com/downtown.cfm for the
latest information on restaurant openings at
Downtown Crown.
Auxilium Technology Relocates to
Launch Workplaces
On Jan. 20, the Gaithersburg-Germantown
Chamber of Commerce (GGCC) held a
ribbon-cutting ceremony for Auxilium
Technology, marking the firm’s relocation
from Rockville to Launch Workplaces,
9841 Washingtonian Boulevard, Suite 200
at Gaithersburg’s Washingtonian Center.
Auxilium Technology provides clients
with solutions across software/hardware
engineering, product development, IT
technology consulting, IT support, cloud
hosting, cybersecurity, web design and
development, web maintenance, internet/
digital marketing and engineering training.
For more information, visit www.
auxiliumtechnology.com.
Page 9
Page 10
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
cityscene
from page 4
Record Number of Families Served
by Holiday Program
The 20th year for Gaithersburg’s Holiday Giving Program proved to be its biggest so far. Nearly 1,100 households and
more than 2,000 children received donated goods over the holiday season thanks to
local businesses, congregations and community members. Families in need are re-
ferred to the program through schools and
social service organizations.
More than 300 families received a
Thanksgiving feast thanks to several area churches in November. Another
400 received groceries bought through
the S.H.A.R.E. Food Network with an
additional 300 families receiving sponsorships for food. During a December
event, families were able to choose toys,
books and receive gift cards and gift bags.
The City of Gaithersburg honored the work
of the Holiday Giving Program’s 75 volunteers and 200 donors at the Feb. 2 Mayor
and City Council meeting.
Hanson Receives ‘Person of
Character’ Award
For her selfless work as executive director of the Gaithersburg HELP program,
Linda Hanson was recently presented with
the ‘Person of Character’ award by the
Mayor and City Council.
The award aims to honor a person or
business that consistently strives to exemplify the six pillars of character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Since the
award’s first year in 1997, 35 people have
been honored. Hanson was nominated by
her co-workers at the group that provides
short-term assistance to those in need.
Society of Fire Protection Engineers
to Relocate to Gaithersburg
Photo | Debbie Boderman
The senior class celebrates at the conclusion of Quince Orchard High School’s “Puttin’ on the Hits” variety show Jan. 29.
winter SavingS!
The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE) will be moving their global
headquarters from Bethesda to Gaithersburg in March. Slated to enter a new office
space in the 9000 block of Washingtonian
Boulevard, the society is a professional association representing 4,500 worldwide
members in the fire protection engineering field that puts together activities such
as educational seminars, short courses and
publications.
The society was able to relocate thanks
to a more than $8,500 City of Gaithersburg Economic Development Toolbox
grant, which helped with the build-out
costs for their new office space. Launched
in January 2010, the program offers an array of grants, incentives and credits to help
existing businesses realize their potential
and improve the long-term marketability
of commercial space in the city.
February 6, 2015
■ WRITERS’ WORKSHOP
from page 7
demands, and she needed more “space in
my head” to be able to write.
Since retiring in 2013, she has found that
space—and this winter, she’ll begin sharing it with others as facilitator of her own
Amherst Writers & Artists (AWA) workshop group, given at her home in Darnestown, just minutes from Kentlands.
“A friend had recommended AWA to
me,” Hardinge explained. “She had attended a training workshop in California
and knew of my belief in everyone’s voice
and craft.” When Hardinge looked into
the internationally popular writing program that had been founded by Pat Schneider in 1981, she was thrilled with how well
it reflected her own personal writing philosophy.
“It is so empowering and so different
from the traditional writing programs,”
Hardinge said. The workshop space is
non-threatening with all writing treated
as fiction and held strictly confidential.
Feedback is oriented toward empowering
the writer, not critiquing the manuscript.
Workshop questions might include “What
did you love (about the writing piece)?”
“What do you remember about the piece?”
and “What do you find vital about the
piece?”
“This establishes a way for people to
write freely and creatively,” Hardinge said.
Hardinge attended an AWA training retreat this past summer in the Hudson River
Valley of New York. After a week of in-
The Town Courier
tense training, sometimes from 8 a.m. to 9
p.m. a day, she came home a certified AWA
workshop facilitator.
She also became a workshop participant,
joining one of the few AWA workshops in
the D.C. metro area in Purcellville, Va. “It
is so exciting to be in the company of people willing to share,” she said of the group,
adding that after the workshop, new ideas
for her writing always keep her company
on the ride home.
Hardinge is looking forward to the
beginning of her own workshop series,
named Beyond Margins to foster the “expansion of the creative spirit” and moving
past established boundaries.
“I am very interested in starting a community of women writers,” she said of her
first workshop “Writing through Winter:
A Workshop for Women” that begins Feb.
10 and runs Monday mornings, 10 a.m. to
noon, through March 17. “I know that so
many women have writing in their heads,
if not on paper, and this will be a very joyful thing.”
Her second workshop, “Writing towards
Spring: A Workshop for Everyone” will
begin March 24 and run Tuesday evenings,
7:30 to 9:30 p.m., for men and women.
“Anyone is a writer,” Hardinge said.
“Everyone has a unique voice. … I believe
everyone has a story to tell.”
For more information on Hardinge’s
Beyond
Margins
workshops,
visit
beyondmargins.weebly.com.
A
full
description of the Amherst Writers &
Artists program can be found at www.
amherstwriters.com.
Page 11
at Potomac House
Full Service In-house Interior Design Services available
MICHAEL ARAM
JULISKA
ANALI
TEA FORTE’
THYMES CANDLES AND SCENTS
KAT BURKI CANDLES
STONEWALL KITCHEN
GOURMET GIFTS
SAXON CHOCOLATES
YOLKA CHOCOLATES
JT INTERIORS AT POTOMAC HOUSE
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10-6 PM, Sunday 11-5 PM
9906 River Road, Potomac, MD 20854
301.299.0487
Page 12
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
The ParkPages
News and Current Events for Quince Orchard Park
n
Meeting Calendar
2/10 — HOA Board Meeting, Clubhouse, 7 p.m.
2/23 — Condo Board I, Clubhouse, 7 p.m.
2/25 — Condo Board II, Clubhouse, 7 p.m.
E-mail your contributions to [email protected]
QOP News
Vistas Liaison
Hi, Vistas residents and, again, welcome to the neighborhood! The Quince Orchard Park Home Owners Association (HOA) is looking for a volunteer or volunteers
to liaise between our communities. As our communities
begin to again explore annexation opportunities, we want
to be sure we have a dialogue that identifies areas of common interest, including near- and long-term challenges.
The QOP HOA holds monthly meetings on the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. at our Community Center (500 Highland Ridge). We have included
on the standing agenda a “Vistas Forum,” and we would
welcome the participation of Vistas homeowners. Please
contact QOP HOA Board member Steve Scharf at [email protected] for more information on serving as
a liaison or if there are questions about the Vistas Forum,
which is open to any Vistas homeowner.
Safety Reminder
Quince Orchard Park is a community where residents
look out for each other. Let’s keep it up!
Recently, residents have reported that several parked
automobiles have been illegally entered by thieves looking for valuables. Please keep your vehicles locked at all
times and do not leave belongings in cars. Lock the doors
and windows of your home, including garages.
This locking up is of critical importance. Gaithersburg
police report that in 2014, of 13 reported residential burglaries in Kentlands/Lakelands, 11 involved open and/or
unlocked garages!
Be a good neighbor and contact QOP residents who
may be unaware of an open garage door or if packages are
left out on doorsteps.
Here are some additional common sense crime prevention tips shared by Gaithersburg police at a recent Quince
Orchard Park National Night Out Against Crime:
• Always pick up coupons, fliers and newspapers outside the home.
• Leave nothing in automobiles—especially do not
leave charging cords, GPS devices or other electronic
devices in the car.
• Do not leave cars running while returning to the
house for forgotten items.
• Keep garage doors closed.
• If you use a “Charley bar” or patio/window security
device to brace sliding doors, do not leave it dangling
when not in use.
• Lock all windows.
Quince Orchard Park Children’s Easter Egg Hunt
The next scheduled QOP social event is the Children’s
Easter Egg Hunt, tentatively scheduled for April 4. (Easter
is Sunday, April 5.) Please consider volunteering to help
with this fun event, which has become a popular annual
community gathering for children, parents, grandparents,
n
February 2015
MANAGEMENT MENTIONS
neighbors and the Easter Bunny.
Please note that community social events are contingent on volunteers organizing the event. If you are interested in chairing an event or joining the social committee, please contact Quinn Odorizzi, management agent,
The Management Group Associates, Inc., 301.948.6666,
[email protected].
The Easter Egg Hunt is also the next opportunity for
businesses or organizations to sponsor a Quince Orchard
Park event for $100 (sponsor’s company name and logo on
all materials advertising the event distributed via the website, newsletter or posted in the community); or $250 (all
the aforementioned publicity plus a business card-sized ad
to appear on The Park Page in The Town Courier newspaper).
A limited number of sponsorships are available. Please
arrange for sponsorship 45 days in advance (Feb. 19 for
the Easter Egg Hunt). More information is on the QOP
website or contact Quinn Odorizzi as detailed above.
RSV Pools Contract Approved
At the Jan. 13 monthly QOP HOA meeting, board
members approved a proposed three-year contract to continue with RSV Pools as community pool manager.
Trash and Recycling
Trash, which is collected on Tuesday and Friday, must
be placed in lidded trash cans. Trash should not be left
for collection in bags. These are ripped open by dogs,
birds and other pests, and trash is strewn throughout the
community. Continued use of bags may result in fines.
Consider painting your house number on your trash
cans and lids so they may be returned on windy days.
It is also helpful to label recycling bins with house
numbers, and to place bagged newspapers and magazines atop commingled materials in the bin.
Trash cans and recycle bins must be stored out of sight
on non-pickup days.
Recycling is picked up on Fridays. Containers, with
lids, are now available from the City of Gaithersburg.
Please contact the city at 301.258.6370 to have a lidded
bin delivered and the old one picked up. The new bins
will lessen the problem with trash in the neighborhood.
It is helpful to label recycling bins with house numbers.
Lids may be attached to bins by drilling small holes and
attaching with twine.
Bulk recycling pickups are the first Friday of each
month. Feb. 6 is the next bulk pickup day.
The City of Gaithersburg and Potomac Disposal
(301.294.9700) both offer collection services for bulk
items at no cost.
Dog Duty and Animal Services Information
Cleaning up after dogs is the legal responsibility of
every canine owner walking a dog in the community.
Dogs are not permitted off-leash on common property
in the City of Gaithersburg.
Photo | Karen O’Keefe
(Left to right) Quince Orchard Park Board members Andrea Phipps, Steve
Scharf ​and Lusha Liang discuss options for expanding the clubhouse workout
area at the January Board meeting.
QOP January HOA Meeting
The board discussed ideas for the layout and design of
the new fitness space, scheduled to be expanded in 2015.
They also discussed design suggestions for refurbishing
the meeting room in the community center. The board
will probably approve a general layout of the fitness room
(equipment) at the regularly scheduled monthly meeting,
Feb. 10. The goal is approval of the final drawing of the
expansion and layout of the new fitness area by May 2015
so that the project can be put out for bids. The board will
submit applications for building permits in June and hopes
to make a final selection of a construction contractor in
June or July 2015.
The board discussed fine-tuning several contracts, with
the goal of finding new cost-savings.
Congratulations to Janet Levent, whom the board approved unanimously as the newest member of the Architectural Control Committee.
Congratulations to the winners of the
QOP Holiday Decorating Competition!
1. 334 Winter Walk
2. 736 Summer Walk
3. 620 Highland Ridge
Honorable Mentions: 714 Highland Ridge, 215 Fountain Green and 146 Swanton Lane.
Contact Information for Gaithersburg Animal
Control
To report after hours/emergency animal service calls,
City of Gaithersburg residents must now contact the
Montgomery County Emergency Communication
Center (MCECC) at 301.279.8000. MCECC will
then notify and dispatch a Gaithersburg Animal Control Officer for response.
To report non-emergency animal service calls and for
information on related animal matters during regular
business hours, residents may contact the Gaithersburg
Animal Control Office directly at 301.258.6343. Regular hours of operation are Monday through Friday
from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more information, please visit www.
gaithersburgmd.gov/animal.
Website
Agendas for meetings, as well as many important
documents (minutes and meeting summaries) can be
found at the QOP website, www.quinceorchardpark.
com.
QOP Management Contact Information
Quince Orchard Park Community Managers,
Steve Leskowitz and Quinn Odorizzi
c/o The Management Group Associates, Inc.
20440 Century Boulevard, Suite 100
Germantown, MD 20874
Phone: 301.948.6666
Fax: 301.963.3856
Email: [email protected],
[email protected]
February 6, 2015
The Town Courier
Page 13
Page 14
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
arts& entertainment
from page 6
Discovery Day: Valentines
Feb. 7, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., Gaithersburg
Community Museum, 9 S. Summit Ave.
Make a valentine and learn about the
history of Valentine’s Day at this drop-in
program. Recommended for ages 3 and up.
Free, but donations are accepted. www.
gaithersburgmd.gov
‘Rebels With A Cause’
Chiropractic, Acupuncture and Massage
We participate with most insurance plans. See our website for details.
www.swistakchiro.com
Our treatments include gental manipulation, myofascial release, electrical stimulation,
cold laser, and exercise. All treatments are catered to each patient’s individual needs in
addition to their tolerance levels. If you are in pain and you are looking for a friendly
place to help you get better, give us a call.
Feb. 7, 8 p.m., BlackRock Center for the Arts
‘Rebels With A Cause’ explores how
a handful of politically savvy activists
fought to protect San Francisco’s Point
Reyes National Seashore and Golden Gate
National Recreation Area from the threat
of sprawl and over-development. Tickets are
$5. www.blackrockcenter.org
Black Violin
Feb. 8, 3 p.m., BlackRock Center for the Arts
Virtuoso violinists Kev Marcus and Will
B are Black Violin—a dynamic duo of
high-energy, classically trained musicians
renowned for their ability to meld highbrow
and pop culture into a single genre-busting
act. Tickets are $26. There is a Black Violin
– School Matinee on Monday, Feb. 9, 10:30
a.m. Tickets for this are $8. www.blackrockcenter.org
Teen Space
Feb. 9, 3:30-5 p.m., Quince Orchard Library
Want somewhere new to hang out after
school? Come play games, socialize, or get
some homework done! Free. www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library/branches/
quinceorchard.html
A cup of coffee and a second opinion
When the markets turn as volatile and confusing as they
have over the past few years, even the most educated
and patient investors may come to question the wisdom
of their financial plan and the investment strategy that
they've been following.
At Triton Wealth Management, we've seen a lot of
difficult markets come and go and we can certainly
empathize with those who find the current environment
troublesome and disturbing. We'd like to help, if we
can, and to that end, here's what we offer:
A cup of coffee and a second opinion
60 Market St. Suite 207 | Gaithersburg, MD 20878
301-330-7500 | [email protected]
Triton Wealth Management is an independent fee-only Registered
Investment Advisory firm.
Tuesday Topics –
Maryland’s Wild Acres
Feb. 10, 7-8:30 p.m., Gaithersburg Community
Museum
Kerry Wixted, Maryland Wildlife and
Heritage Service, Department of Natural
Resources, speaks about Maryland’s Wild
Acres program, which encourages Maryland
citizens to create backyard wildlife habitats.
Tickets are $5. www.gaithersburgmd.gov
Harp Happy! Plays Love Songs From
Around the World
Hit the floor in a 45-minute dance lesson
followed by a dance party. Tickets are $15.
www.blackrockcenter.org
Storyteller Diane Macklin
Feb. 14, 3-4 p.m., Quince Orchard Library
Diane Macklin presents tales in celebration
of Black History Month! No registration required. Program sponsored by the Friends of
the Library, Quince Orchard Chapter. Free.
www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library/
branches/quinceorchard.html
District Comedy
Feb. 14, 8:30 p.m., Blackrock Center for the
Arts
Back by popular demand, it’s Comedy
Night on Valentine’s Day! D.C.’s District
Comedy brings their urban edginess
to the ‘burbs. Tickets are $18. www.
blackrockcenter.org
Teen Poetry Club
Feb. 17, 4-5:30 p.m., Quince Orchard Library
Come listen to, share, and create
poetry and play word games! Free. www.
m o n t g o m e r yc o u n t y m d . g ov/ l i b r a r y/
branches/quinceorchard.html
‘Honest Abe: The Wit & Wisdom of
Abraham Lincoln’
Feb. 18, 1 p.m., Arts Barn
The Arts Barn offers a matinee performance of the one-act drama “Honest Abe:
The Wit and Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln.”
This one-man play about the 16th president
stars American Association of Community
Theatres’ award-winning actor Bill Spitz.
A question-and-answer session follows the
performance. Recommended for ages 10
and up. Presented by Sandy Spring Theatre
Group. Tickets are $20, or $12 for youth (14
and under). www.gaithersburgmd.gov
African American History
Month Celebration
Feb. 18, 6-7:30 p.m., Activity Center at
Bohrer Park
Winners of an essay contest will be
recognized during this special tribute, which
will also feature the artwork of Sandra Davis,
Elroy Williams and Cynthia Farrell Johnson
and a performance by Chauncey Exton, lead
singer for Gospel recording artists The Sons
of God. Free, but reservations are requested.
Email [email protected] by Feb. 16.
www.gaithersburgmd.gov
Feb. 11, 1-2 p.m., Quince Orchard Library
In celebration of Library Lovers’ month,
Harp Happy!, a quartet of Celtic harpers,
will play an array of love songs from around
the world. Program sponsored by the Quince
Orchard Library and Friends of the Library,
Quince Orchard Chapter. Free. www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library/branches/
quinceorchard.html
Singer/Songwriter Series:
Caitlin Canty
‘Boeing Boeing’
Feb. 19, 3 p.m. workshop, 7:30 p.m. concert,
Arts Barn
Feb. 13-March 1, 8 p.m. Fri. & Sat., 2 p.m.
Sun., Arts Barn
Set in the swinging ‘60s, this laugh-outloud farce follows the adventures of happygo-lucky bachelor Bernard, who is engaged
to three stewardesses. When the new, faster
Boeing jet debuts, his juggling act reaches
comic dimensions. $20 for tickets (recommended for ages 15 & up). www.gaithersburgmd.gov
Swing Dance Party
Feb. 13, 7:30 p.m., BlackRock Center for the Arts
Caitin Canty will perform many of the
songs from her just-released record “Reckless Skylines,” as well as some of her original
songs from previous records and a cover or
two. A 3 p.m. workshop will be geared to
the needs and interests of those attending.
Canty will be ready to cover songwriting,
performance, record production, and the
business of being a full-time touring musician. Tickets are $45 for the workshop and
concert, or $25 for the concert only. www.
gaithersburgmd.gov
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
Page 15
O’KEEFE’S JOURNAL
Blizzard HEROISM
M
y parents live between 480 and
520 miles away
from me, depending on
the route you take if you
drive there, as I often do.
They live in Massachusetts, in a magical place
called Cape Cod.
However, during the
By Karen
recent blizzard, aka WinO’Keefe
ter Storm Juno, Cape
Cod became the equivalent of a million miles away, as, one-byone on CNN, I watched the governors
and mayors of New Jersey, Connecticut,
New York and Massachusetts announce
they were closing the roads.
I watched the clock as the window of
driving opportunity to Cape Cod got
smaller and smaller until it was as small as a
tiny pointillist dot on an electronic screen
and then—poof—even the blip vanished as
if it was never there.
I conferred with my husband. I conferred with my three siblings in Florida,
Georgia and Colorado. It was too late to
go.
“Go and do what anyway?” I wondered.
My parents may be in their 80s but they
are capable of caring for themselves, I reasoned.
I told myself, they have a generator in
case they lose power (which everyone on
CNN has confidently predicted would
happen).
“Oh well,” I thought. “They’ll be OK.”
I knew that in addition to their landline
telephone, they had a prepaid cell phone—
but I was a bit concerned because talking
to them on it has always involved a lot of
yelling.
“Are you there?”
“Can you hear me now?”
That sort of thing.
But they would be OK.
Snow had begun falling heavily on Cape
Cod on Monday night when my brother,
Kevin, called to say he had not been able to
reach them by phone.
“The house phone goes directly to
voicemail, and it appears the cell phone is
not turned on.”
We decided to keep trying to reach
them. I visualized my stepdad and mom
in their family room easy chairs, watching
television oblivious to the fact that their
phone wasn’t working and seeing no reason to activate the cell phone, just in case.
I visualized my stepfather with his iPad.
I willed him to check his email and see the
three—yes, three—emails I had sent asking him to turn on his cell phone.
Then I visualized disaster.
Something wrong with the generator; a
wind-heightened flood at high tide … one
of my parents ill. In fact, my mother had
been hospitalized twice in the first 10 days
of January.
My mind moved as though in a snowy
tunnel behind tiny headlights—up 95
North, through Delaware, onto the New
Jersey Turnpike, into New York …
All I could visualize was screaming wind
and driving snow from behind shuddering
windshield wipers.
nora’scorner
The Great Man Still Abides
I
t may rank as only
seventh in the “List of
America’s Favorite Architecture,” but the Lincoln Memorial is the most
memorable to me. Seeing
its unearthly beauty, especially at night with its
image shimmering in the
By Nora
Reflecting Pool and LinCaplan
coln’s statue illuminated from within, I always
have to catch my breath. I am reminded of
so much about this man, this monument
that is the “better part of our natures” and
of our country’s hoped for values. Yet, creation of this symbol of the best that we as
Americans can be took years of political
debates and controversy over its proposed
locations. Even as it was being dedicated on
May 30, 1922, racism clouded the event.
African-Americans were divided from
the rest of the attendees by a rope across a
rough dirt track.
Each year I try to learn something new
about my favorite president. Recently, I
came across a slim, delicately illustrated
book entitled, “Lincoln Memorial: The
Story and Design of an American Monument” by Jay Sacher. I was able to gather a harvest of facts and stories that in-
trigued me. For instance, I hadn’t realized
how many different architects and artists
contributed to the memorial. It was the
friendship between Henry Bacon, architect, and Daniel Chester French, sculptor,
that became the ideal artistic partnership
to create this miracle on the banks of the
Potomac. Two different master carvers—
Ernest Bairstow and the Piccirilli family
who had emigrated from Italy to the Bronx
in 1888—carved exterior features on the
temple-like structure. Jules Guerin, one of
the Beaux Arts style of painters, created the
murals (which I had completely forgotten
were there).
During all the political wrangling and
delays before the ground for the monument
was broken, French constantly studied Lincoln’s images, Leonard Volk’s life mask of
the president, and made countless sketches. He was passionate about details, even
making molds of his own hands to use as
models to decide on the right placement of
Lincoln’s hands. Finally, he began making
clay models of the sculpture. After a series
of experiments with first one, then another enlarged photograph, Bacon and French
determined that the statue should be 19feet high and that it should be marble. The
n
nora’s corner Continued on page 17
I pictured their house on the water.
The neighbors to the right would not be
there—like nearly all the homeowners in
the neighborhood, they are summer people. The neighbors to the left are relative
newcomers, and although I had jotted
down their phone number when I met
them on the beach during the summer,
I could not find the number. I did not
know their names.
I imagined talking to the local police,
asking if someone could drive over and
check on my folks during a blizzard. I
looked at the police department website
and saw pictures of a tractor-trailer accident they were currently working.
There was one other idea. A quarter mile
away, on the same street, we had a couple
of friends—two brothers. My family had
owned a summer cottage next door to their
family home before my parents built their
year-round home.
We’d been next-door neighbors during
the summers of the late 1960s and the
1970s. I knew they were in the home improvement and roofing business today.
Several years earlier they had replaced my
parent’s roof.
The two brothers who still lived in the
house were always nice to me, but I didn’t
think I had spoken to them more than
twice in 30 years.
And when we were kids, they were
n
o’keefe’s journal Continued on page 17
FOR OVER 15 YEARS IN BUSINESS,
PET AND HOME CARE HAS SERVICED
OVER 2,000 HAPPY CLIENTS
Your dog, cat, bird, fish, ferret, reptile and other friendly pets, will get
the love and attention they deserve when you can’t be there.
• DOG WALKING
• PET SITTING
• DOGGY DAY CARE
• CAGE FREE BOARDING
855.CARE.NOW
[email protected] • petandhomecare.com
MENTION THIS AD FOR $10 OFF
YOUR FIRST SERVICE!
Page 16
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
MIKEAT THE MOVIES
Mortdecai (R) ***
You may or may not
like this film, depending on how you react to
British comedy done by
Americans, how much
you like silliness and how
By Mike
much tolerance you have
Cuthbert
for puns, sight gags, a plot
that only seems like a plot
and pronunciation so veddy, veddy British
that it is often unrecognizable as English
speech. That is the fault of Johnny Depp,
who seems to be trying to set a record for
eccentricity of action and speech.
Depp is Charlie Mortdecai, a part-time
art dealer, pseudo sleuth and accident waiting to happen. Gwyneth Paltrow is Mrs.
Mortdecai, the ultra-elegant Johanna, and
Paul Bettany as Jock has a delicious chance
to have fun as the libidinous associate of
Detective Mortdecai as the two romp their
way across Europe and the U.S. in search
of a missing Goya appropriated by the Germans that contains a clue to finding tons
of gold.
Mortdecai is both sleuth and art dealer,
depending on his need, but he is not very
astute in either role. Seeing a woman bent
over an art desk with a knife in her back,
he observes, “She’s in need of a chiropractor.” He also admits at a period of stress, “I
am not an alcoholic; I am a junkie.”
On the other hand, Johanna, bored
and listless, asks for advice, “I shall have
an affair. Do you think I could keep it a
secret?” When the reply is, no, she concludes, “Then what’s the point?”
After a series of wild stunts with a gold
Rolls Royce, Mortdecai and Jock run into
Georgina (Olivia Munn), the attractive
nymphomaniac daughter of Krampf ( Jeff
Goldblum). Krampf is another person who
pretends interest in the Goya as an art object. Did we forget to mention that Jock
is an advanced example of satyriasis—only
he and Munn don’t realize they are made
for each other until late in the game. The
story becomes more and more daffy, Mortdecai’s fascination with his moustache
becomes more and more serious and the
whole thing romps to a joyous conclusion.
Again, this film is not for all tastes, and
you really have to listen carefully to the dialogue for the puns and word games that
are buried in the Britishisms, but don’t be
embarrassed if you laugh out loud at odd
times. That’s the way it is with British
comedy. Forget the kids. They won’t understand the words anyway.
The Boy Next Door (R) Zero stars
See Jennifer Lopez. See Jennifer Lopez’s breasts. See Jennifer Lopez try to say,
“Act.” See Jennifer Lopez fail. See stupid
“tension” and ridiculous violence. See every cliché you can imagine from horror,
murder and sex films. See an ending that
is so lame, so bad and so unsatisfactory that
all you can say is, “Well, it fits the rest of
this waste of two hours.”
See a sign at your front door: “Do not go
to the movies to see ‘The Boy Next Door.’
You must have better things to do, like
cleaning the toilets or making a fruit cake
or sorting old shoes.”
Say, “Thanks, Mike at the Movies, for
warning me off this one.”
You’re welcome.
Enjoy more of Mike’s reviews at www.
towncourier.com
assignmenteducation
from page 7
board’s vision.
On Feb. 3, the board recommended Larry A. Bowers, currently the district’s chief
operating officer, to serve as interim superintendent of schools effective Feb. 16, 2015.
The appointment is subject to approval by
Maryland State Superintendent of Schools
Lillian M. Lowery. Dr. Starr said Feb. 3 that he was grateful for the opportunity to lead MCPS for
the past three-and-a-half years and thanked
the district’s employees for the exceptional
work they are doing.
Dr. Starr came to MCPS in 2011 after
serving as the superintendent of Stamford
(Conn.) Public Schools for six years. He
said he plans to continue working in the
field of public education.
Under the agreement approved Feb. 3,
Dr. Starr will receive the remainder of the
salary he is owed under his contract, payment for any unused sick and annual leave
in accordance with his contract, and health
insurance benefits through the end of 2015.
Mrs. O’Neill said an outside firm will
be hired to conduct a national search for a
new superintendent. The board expects to
appoint the firm this month and begin the
search as quickly as possible. She said the
board intends to have a new superintendent
in place on July 1.
Schaeffer’s Piano Co., Inc.
Fee-Only | Investments | Financial Planning | Integrity
•
•
•
Fee-Only Financial Planning
Investment Management
Income Tax Planning & Preparation
Please contact us for your no-cost consultation
Wayne B. Zussman, MBA, CFP®
301-330-7500 | [email protected]
60 Market St. Ste 207 | Gaithersburg,MD
www.TritonWM.com
Est 1901
NEW • USED
RENTALS TOO!
Tuning • Repair
Refinishing
We’ve Moved!
Visit us at our new location!
105 N Stone Street Ave.
Rockville, Md 20850
301.424.1144
www.schaefferspiano.com
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
Page 17
o’keefe’sjournal
from page 15
friends with my siblings more than with
me. Because they were all younger than
me, I hardly knew them.
I realized that during those Cape Cod
summers, as I grew up, we tended to hang
with other kids who were exactly the same
age and grade. The Martin boys—now
men in their 50s—were always nice to me,
but I wasn’t even sure which one was Paul
and which one was Bobby, and so on.
Nevertheless, earlier that day, when I
was wondering what I would do if something happened and I could not contact my
parents, I had located their business phone
number and tried it. I got a recording, announcing they were probably on a roof
somewhere but I could leave a message ….
I was pretty sure at the time, even though
the storm had not officially arrived, that
the Martins were not on anybody’s roof. I
had hung up.
Now, I looked at the clock. It had been
two hours since my brother called to say
our folks could not be contacted.
I called the business number again, hoping that even though it was 9 p.m., that the
Martin’s business phone might ring in their
house after hours.
It did. I had a nice conversation with
Paul Martin, who remembered me very
well. I asked him about the weather and he
told me the snow was falling, the wind was
blowing and the worst part of the storm
was still ahead. I told him I was a little concerned about my parents, but I did not ask
him to check on them.
I couldn’t. It was a blizzard. He encouraged me to call again if I needed anything.
I gave the Martin’s phone numbers (I
now had Paul’s cell number as well) to
Kevin. He wasted no time calling Paul
back and asking him to walk down the
street to my parents’ house.
“Pound on the door, and ask them to
turn on their cell phone.”
Paul did.
As you probably figured, my parents
were just fine watching television, blissfully unaware the telephone was out.
Nonetheless, it takes an awesome person
with an awesome heart to put on his boots,
hat, coat, scarf and gloves and stagger a
quarter-mile through a blizzard to pound
on the door of two people who are not expecting a knock on the door, because 500
miles away, 1800 miles away, 1250 miles
away and 1100 miles away four people you
knew when everyone was a kid are worried
about their parents.
Paul Martin. My hero.
Well, readers, thank you for reading. After
nearly 13 years, this is my last O’Keefe’s Journal.
I have decided to try my hand and brain at
writing a book. I will miss The Town Courier,
and I will miss all of you. Thanks especially to
everyone who has ever told me that one of these
columns touched them—or annoyed them—or
made them laugh or cry. You all have made it
so worthwhile.
See you around,
Karen
movements. The first occurred when the
Daughters of the American Revolution
banned Marian Anderson from giving a
concert in its hall and Eleanor Roosevelt
arranged for her to bless a landmark audience with her glorious voice on the steps
of the memorial. There were anti-Vietnam
War protests and the immortal “I have a
dream” speech by Martin Luther King that
didn’t repeat his printed notes, but welled
up from his passion of the moment. More
recently, the speech Barack Obama made
at the Lincoln Memorial, two days before
his first inauguration, drew an enthusiastic,
diverse audience of well-wishers.
Some curious legends about the memorial have grown up. A ridiculous one is that
among the curls on the back of Lincoln’s
sculpted head is the face of Confederate
General Robert E. Lee. Another is that his
hands are in such a position that they spell
out “AL” in sign language. A child’s eyes,
however, seldom see such tomfoolery. A
few days ago I was interested in what the
9-year old granddaughter of a friend had
noticed when her class visited the memorial. Sophie commented, “Whoever made
that statue of Abraham Lincoln made it
look so realistic. It’s cool.”
I was happy this year to discover the following poem by Langston Hughes:
nora’scorner
from page 15
Piccirillis were paid $46,000; their original
estimate had been $18,000 for a sculpture
10-feet high. With his concern for details
and to cut costs, French carved a full-scale
face so that the carvers wouldn’t have to
“scale it up” from a 10-foot model to the
final 19-foot marble sculpture.
It is inspiring to reflect upon how the
Lincoln Memorial has evolved as a sacred
place to hold rallies, make memorable
speeches, and host events that have become
milestones in the anti-war and Civil Rights
“Let’s go see old Abe
Sitting in the marble and the moonlight,
Sitting lonely in the marble and the moonlight
Quiet for ten thousand centuries, old Abe,
Quiet for a million, million years,
Quiet—
And yet a voice forever
Against the timeless walls
of time—
Old Abe.
[The End]
Page 18
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015
Sports
Young QO Hoop Squads Exceed Expectations
By Syl Sobel
B
asketball coaches are notoriously
tough to please. They usually focus
on the aspects of their teams that need
improvement, and rarely seem satisfied.
But two-thirds of the way into the season,
Quince Orchard coaches Paul Foringer and
Chris Campbell, the boys’ and girls’ coaches respectively, both seem pretty happy with
how their underclassmen-laden teams are
doing.
The Cougar boys are one of the top teams
in the county with a 13-3 record following
Monday night’s 67-42 trouncing of rival
Northwest in a neighborhood battle that had
so many bodies falling to the floor, it looked
at times like it should have been played outside at the Cougardome. QO took a 24-21
lead into halftime but broke the game open
in the third quarter by outscoring the Jags,
26-9.
Sophomore sharpshooter Matthew Kelly and senior center Sam Ling led QO with
14 points, including three 3-pointers apiece.
Kelly’s points all came in the second half. Senior Eli Maynard had 13, all in the first half.
And earlier in the evening, the Lady Cougars ran away from Northwest, 69-42, to
raise their record to 9-7, continuing one of
the best seasons by a QO girls team in re-
cent memory. QO’s Fabulous Freshmen
Jordan Odom (19) and Taylor Addison (11)
combined for 30 points, while long-range
shooting specialist Giulia Sanmartin, a sophomore, hit five 3-pointers for 15.
“I like this team because I didn’t expect
this team to have the record they have,” said
Foringer following QO’s 65-46 road win
over Wootton last Friday. “Coming into the
season I thought we’d be about a .500 team.
And they have surprised me.”
“I’m very pleased with the team effort tonight and very pleased with where the team
is right now,” said Campbell a few hours later after the Lady Cougars dropped a tough
59-55 contest to division-leading Wootton.
The Cougar boys scored early and often
against Wootton, opening a 31-15 halftime
lead and expanding it to 50-23 after three
quarters. Wootton closed the margin against
QO’s reserves in the fourth quarter. Sophomore Johnny Fierstein led QO with 18
points and junior Jack Ropelewski had 11.
“Tonight we played great defense,” Foringer said. “I’m proud of that. I’m glad that
they came out and played two halves of good
solid defense.”
That hasn’t always been the case, Foringer noted, especially against teams that have
physical inside players. “Our defense is not
good enough against the better, more ag-
gressive teams,” the coach said. “Our three
losses are against Clarksburg, Gaithersburg
and Magruder, and those are the three most
aggressive teams in the county.”
Earlier in the week QO lost in overtime,
62-61, to a physical Clarksburg squad. Indeed, Clarksburg’s aggression got them into
early foul trouble, and QO led for most of
the first half, going into halftime up 23-19.
But the young Cougars were unable to
score around the basket and relied on perimeter shots in the second half, keeping the
game nip and tuck. Clarksburg took a fourth
quarter lead, but missed several free throws
down the stretch to keep QO in the game.
With 10 seconds left, QO ran an inbounds
play to Ling, who drove the lane to score and
send the game into overtime.
Both sides played rough in overtime, but
that style favored the physically stronger
Clarksburg squad. Down one with seconds
to go, Fierstein drove to the hoop and got
knocked down, but the officials called traveling allowing Clarksburg to preserve the win.
“They were the aggressor the entire
game,” Foringer said of the Coyotes. “We’re
still taking baby steps, trying to find the
right guys that will go out and play aggressive defense.”
Kelly led QO scorers with 17 points, including two 3-pointers. Ling had 16, and junior point guard Damon Daniel had 13.
While the QO boys are young with two
sophomores and two juniors in their starting
lineup, the girls are even younger, starting
two freshmen, two sophomores, and one junior.
That youth showed against Wootton, as
the Cougars fell behind early against the
11-2 Lady Patriots thanks to some sloppy
ball-handling and poor shooting. But they
battled back late in the second quarter to go
down three at halftime and briefly took the
lead in the third.
Wootton, however, opened the fourth
quarter with an 8-0 run, turning up their
defensive pressure to force QO into several
turnovers and take a 54-44 lead. QO again
fought back and came within 58-55 in the
final minute when Addison scored on an inbounds play after a timeout. But a final QO
turnover following a Wootton free throw
ended the comeback bid.
“I’m very pleased with the effort,” firstyear coach Campbell said. “We got a little
sloppy. We made some mistakes. But we’re
trying to really get up and down and really
pressure after it, and kids are going to make
Photo | Arthur Cadeaux
Quince Orchard’s Sam Ling drives to the basket for two of
his 14 points in the Cougars’ victory over Northwest on
Monday night.
mistakes. I mean, this is a very good Wootton team … and just being able to show that
we can compete with them on their floor. …
You know this was a fun game to be a part
of, and credit to Wootton. They made some
big shots.”
Odom led QO with 22 points, with three
3-pointers. Sanmartin had four 3-pointers
for 12 points, and Addison added 11.
Like the boys, the girls also had a tough,
overtime encounter with Clarksburg earlier
in the week. But after battling the Lady Coyotes to a 40-40 tie in regulation and leading
throughout the first overtime period only to
see Clarksburg tie it with a 3-pointer at the
buzzer, they kept fighting for a 54-50 win in
double overtime. Clarksburg actually scored
the first basket of the second overtime, but
Odom answered by going the length of the
floor to tie the score, and QO led the rest of
the way.
“I was very proud of how the team
bounced back from the emotion of dealing
with that big three … and then giving up the
first basket of the second overtime,,” Campbell said. “It was a great win for our team
in terms of its development, and I was very,
very pleased with the team effort. Odom
again led the way with 22 points, Addison
had 10, and Sanmartin hit three treys for 9
points.
“We’ve got to clean up some things with
the way we played but in terms of the effort
… I thought the effort was really good,” said
Campbell.
QO and NW Impress in County
Championship Meet
By Ethan Cadeaux
A
t the Jan. 20 Montgomery County
Championships for Indoor Track
at the Prince George’s Sports and
Learning Center, both Quince Orchard
and Northwest were well represented.
On the boys’ side, Northwest and
Quince Orchard finished first and second
respectively, with the Jaguars setting a
county record for points with 116 points.
The Cougars placed with 85 points.
n
track Continued on page 19
February 6, 2015
■ track
from page 18
The Cougars were led by “county champions Dorian Jones (on the) Triple Jump
with 24 points and Noah Vernick (on the)
Shot Put with 10 points,” said Quince Orchard head coach Seann Pelkey via email.
Pelkey also credited “Seniors Justin Sorra with 20 points, Nick Ransing with 17
points, Bright Ofosu with 9 points, and junior Liam Walsh with 14 points.”
The Cougars were very reliant on Sorra and Vernick for most of the season, according to Pelkey. “They have been our
most consistent leaders all season,” he said.
“While certainly impressed by them, we
could not have done as well without the
performances of Nick Ransing and Dorian
Jones.”
Vernick won the Shot Put event, throwing the ball a remarkable 52 feet, three
inches. Jones, who was nursing a sore hip
flexor according to Pelkey, still managed to
win the triple jump with a distance of 4309.75 feet.
“In true champion form, ( Jones) stepped
up for his team and not only won the triple
jump,” said Pelkey, “but (he also) placed
second in the 55 (meter) hurdles and third
in the long jump with personal bests in the
latter two events.”
Even though the Cougar boys did not
win the County Championship, they still
have a lot to be proud of. Pelkey was very
complimentary of the Jaguars, the only
team that placed higher than them.
The Town Courier
“The Northwest boys’ team performance was one for the record books,” he
said. “We gave them all we could, and
hopefully made them sweat a bit, but they
competed well. Perhaps we helped raise
their bar, so to speak.”
The Jaguar boys were led by Virginia
Tech commit Diego Zarate, who both won
and placed county records in the 800-meter and 1600-meter run. In addition, Shyheim Wright won the 55-meter hurdles
and Aaron Beidleman won the high jump.
“Shyheim Wright is one of the best hurdlers in the state,” said Northwest coach
Robert Youngblood.
Northwest was also very successful on
the girls’ side, with Gaby Go winning the
1600-meter run and Leondra Correia winning the long jump.
Even with all the winning Northwest
has done on the track, Youngblood still
feels like the school should give them more
credit. “All we talk about around (Northwest) is football and sometimes the chess
team,” he said. “(Track) has already won
two state titles in the last two years. Kind
of funny, isn’t it?”
For the Cougars, the girls have room
to improve, but certainly gave it their
all. Pelkey just wants to see their hard
work pay off for the rest of the season.
“I want every meet to be as fun as Counties was,” said Pelkey. “This team, both the
boys and girls, have worked hard all season.
As long as they get a chance to see that hard
work pay off, then that’s the most important goal.”
Page 19
Page 20
The Town Courier
February 6, 2015