QO Marching Band Wins Marine Corps Invitational

By Jennifer Beekman

W hen the fall sports season began in mid-August, it was not just the Quince Orchard High School student-athletes

whose days became consumed with hours of rig-orous training. The marching band kick-started

its own competitive season with an approximate-ly 10-day camp that consisted of eight- to 12-hour work days—now that school has begun, the marching band practices three days a week after school.

Photo | Pam Schipper

An Oktoberfest tradition, this year’s horse-drawn hay rides were popular with the young and young at heart on a picture-perfect Sunday in Kentlands. An estimated 35,000 people came out on Oct. 11, some 5,000 more than attended Oktoberfest in the previous two years.

QO Cluster Capacity Forum Clarifies Decision-Making Timetable

By Pam Schipper

W hile the forum Wednes-day night concerned en-rollment and facilities in

the entire Quince Orchard clus-ter, the driving force was over-crowding at Rachel Carson. Cur-rently enrolling 1,044 students, Rachel Carson is 377 students over capacity. The school has been operating above its 667-stu-dent capacity since before 2007. Brown Station, Fields Road, Jones Lane and Thurgood Mar-shall are all also over-utilized, each with four to six portables to Rachel Carson’s 11.

All QO cluster principals were in attendance: Carole Working (Quince Orchard), Deborah Hig-don (Lakelands Park), Lawrence Chep (Rachel Carson), Monifa McKnight (Ridgeview), Daniel

Walder (Diamond), Erica Wil-liams (Fields Road), Mary Jo Powell (Brown Station), Carol Sample ( Jones Lane) and Pame-la Nazzaro (Thurgood Mar-shall). Gaithersburg Mayor Jud Ashman, Montgomery County Councilman Craig Rice (District 2; County Council Educational Committee chair), Gaithersburg City Councilmember Neil Har-ris, Gaithersburg Education En-richment Committee member Maureen Herndon, Gaithersburg Education Enrichment Com-mittee member and Gaithers-burg City Councilmember can-didate Laurie Anne-Sayles, and Gaithersburg City Councilmem-ber candidate and Brown Station PTA member Robert Wu were also in attendance.

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Gaithersburg’s Hometown Newspaper | Serving Kentlands, Lakelands, Quince Orchard Park and More

Vol. 13, No. 18

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n qO fOrum Continued on page 9

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Bill 52-14’s Passage: A Verdant Victory or Turf Tiff?

By Sharon Allen Gilder

T he Montgomery County Council’s passage on Oct. 6 of Bill 52-14, known as the

Healthy Lawns Bill, is a victory for proponents of organic turf management procedures and makes Montgomery County the first county and largest jurisdic-tion in the U.S. to prohibit the use of certain pesticides on coun-ty-owned property, parks, private lawns and playgrounds. Only two towns—Takoma Park, Maryland, and Ogunquit, Maine—have similar laws. Some states, such as Connecticut and New York, have banned the use of all EPA-reg-istered pesticides at daycare fa-cilities, playgrounds and school property, including playing fields, which goes further than

the Montgomery County law, according to a statement from Councilmember George Leven-thal’s office.

In a 6 to 3 vote, the bill passed with “yeas” from Council presi-dent and bill sponsor George Lev-enthal and fellow councilmem-bers Marc Elrich, Nancy Floreen, Tom Hucker, Nancy Navarro and Hans Riemer. Councilmembers Roger Berliner, Sidney Katz and Craig Rice voted against the bill. In an email statement Oct. 8, Leventhal said, “Residents will still be free to hire any lawn care professional to treat their lawn or to manage their own lawn care. The only thing that will change is that certain chemicals and prod-ucts that are associated with a

n BIll pASSAGe Continued on page 8

Vote on Nov. 3City Election Day is Nov. 3. Check out our election guide fea-

turing the candidates for City Council and mayor on page 13. You can vote early at City Hall on Oct. 25, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Oct. 27, 3 to 8 p.m., and Oct. 31, 12 to 5 p.m. Election Day hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Polls are open at various locations.

Photo | Cara O’Connor

The marching Cougars are ecstatic after winning first place at The uS Bands Gold Showcase in purcellville, Virginia, on Sept. 20. They went on to win The uS Bands marine Corps Invitation on Sept. 28 at the u.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis.

Page 2 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 3

Compiled by Pam Schipper

KCA Prepares to Welcome Colonnade, Beacon Place Residents

At its Oct. 28 Board meeting, the Kentlands Citizens Assembly (KCA) will hear comments and take a vote on Resolution No. 22 concerning the use of the associ-ation’s community property by Colonnade and Beacon Place residents. This administrative resolution would grant Colonnade and Beacon Place residents access to many association programs and events. Exceptions are the annual holiday party and Easter Bunny event, which are fully attended year after year, and events that use the Kentlands pool including basic use of the pool and par-ticipation on the swim team.

Chris Campbell, KCA chair, said that this is a way for Colonnade and Beacon Place residents to feel more a part of the larger community. Kentlands benefits, too. The resolution allows formal committees and condo associ-ations of the Colonnade and Beacon Place to use KCA meeting space at no cost (similar to the other condomin-iums in the Kentlands), and official KCA organizations will be able to request use of space at the Colonnade. “Each organization has priority over its own space, but the great part is we can share space,” Campbell said.

In addition, hard copies of the Town Crier will be dropped at the Colonnade and Beacon Place, and resi-dents will be listed in the KCA directory.

Kentlands Boulevard Bus Stops to Become ADA Accessible

Work began the week of Oct. 5 on a Montgomery County Department of Transportation Transit Services Project to make the bus shelters along Kentlands Boule-vard in Gaithersburg ADA accessible. This is part of a multiyear $11 million project to ensure that all 5,400 stops in Montgomery County have safe locations for rid-ers to wait for buses, and to provide safe, ADA-accessible pathways for passengers to get to and from the bus stops.

As part of this project, the four shelters on Kentlands Boulevard between the Market Street and Main Street roundabouts will be consolidated into two bus stops, one in each direction, midway between the existing bus stops at the all-way stop entrance into Whole Foods.

KDP Plans 3rd Annual Main Street Trick or TreatLast year, an estimated 300 children and parents

came out to do some trick or treating on Main Street during the Kentlands Downtown Partnership (KDP) event. The KDP hopes even more families will turn out for this year’s Main Street Trick or Treat on Sat-urday, Oct. 24, noon to 3 p.m. Businesses will give out candy, many owners and staff appear in costume, and decorations run the gamut from ghoulish to fall festive. Participating businesses are identified by a pumpkin window decal; maps will also be provided.

Spooktacular Halloween Parade and PartyThe Lakelands Community Association and the

Kentlands Citizens Assembly will host a spooktacular Halloween parade and party on the Lakelands Lawn Oct. 25, 1 to 3 p.m. Come early in costume at 12:45 p.m. to take part in the parade. You’ll also enjoy music, face painting, pumpkin decorating, games, cotton candy, scarecrow making and a magic show with Pete Wood.

Fleet Feet Prepares to Scare Your Socks OffThe Kentlands Horror Story continues this year

with “Freakshow on the Lake,” brought to you by Fleet Feet Gaithersburg and sponsored by Mark-off ’s Haunted Forest. The free run/walk event on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6:30 p.m. is sure to scare your socks off! If you would rather be the spook, contact-marketing@fleetfeetgaithersburg.com and join the Scare Crew. Ghouls need to report early at 5:30 p.m. www.f leetfeetgaithersburg.com/news/kentlands-horror-story-freakshow-on-the-lake

Kentlands Business Owners Discuss Downtown Revitalization

By Ellyn Wexler

A bout 20 Kentlands business owners and five candidates for the City of Gaithersburg May-

or and City Council convened for the monthly Kentlands Business Owners Networking Lunch on Oct. 1 at Po-tomac Pizza, courtesy of owner Adam Greenberg.

Mayoral candidates Jud Ashman, Darline D.H. Bell-Zuccarelli, and Henry F. Marraffa Jr. as well as City Council candidates Neil H. Harris, Laurie-Anne Sayles, and Robert T. Wu introduced themselves and took part in the dialogue.

In addition to filling 30 welcome baskets, which were then delivered by Rami Bakri of Perfectly Pressed, dis-cussion focused on incentives to en-courage people to shop local and the revitalization of the Kentlands Down-town. The latter subject was made particularly relevant by the announce-ment that Beatty Management would

be offering its portfolio, including Kentlands Market Square, for sale.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard,” Marraffa said. “Beatty has been a problem from the start.”

“It’s a huge opportunity for a de-veloper with really deep pockets,”

Greenberg observed.The excitement was tempered by

Harris, who pointed out, “These transactions don’t happen fast.”

The prevailing sentiment was that until Beatty sells, the empty store-fronts are likely to remain so.

ArouNDToWN

Photo | Mac Kennedy

The Oct. 1 Kentlands Business Owners Networking lunch at potomac pizza drew local business owners, elected officials and candidates for office.

Run for Your Life: Training for the Army Ten-Miler

By Ellyn Wexler

W hen Thai Lam could not keep pace with a child in a 5K race, he knew something

was seriously wrong.The then 39-year-old Silver Spring

native had accepted a co-worker’s in-vitation to join her and her daughters in the May 2013 “super-fun” Color Run in Baltimore. “Since I was not active in any way, she figured I could keep an eye on the 10-year-old,” Lam explained.

Not surprisingly, Lam did no train-ing, and thus, race day was humili-ating for him. “The first block, not even 100 meters, I started walking and had to tell the little girl to head up

to her mother and sister,” he recalled. “An excruciatingly long time later, I crossed the finish line, and I think I might have run a total of maybe three minutes. I don’t know my time, but I’m sure it was longer than an hour and a half.”

Lam had not seen a doctor in two decades. “I knew I was overweight and thought that as long as I didn’t hear any official diagnosis on any-thing, then ignorance was bliss. At my heaviest, I was 270 pounds—for a 5-foot-7-inch tall guy, that’s not so swell,” he said.

On the positive side, Lam decided he “needed to finish a 5K for real.” As such, he went for a physical at which the doctor confirmed he was “quite

unhealthy … a razor’s edge away from her diagnosing me with type 2 diabe-tes and hypertension that would re-quire medication to control. She told me it was reversible, but I needed to change my eating habits and start ex-ercising.”

That week, Lam initiated an activity that would change his life. He signed up for Fleet Feet Gaithersburg’s No Boundaries (NoBo), a 10-week 5K training program for beginning run-ners. And more than two years later, on Oct. 11, he ran the annual Army Ten-Miler—for the second time.

“For that NoBo summer session (2013), I was always the slowest and

n TeN-mIler Continued on page 19

Photo | Stephanie Green

fleet feeters Thai lam, Heather Creasy, larry Halvorson, michele Jones, matthew Charny, Corynne levy, Julie Ditommaso, Arya parsee, Karin Clark, Jamie lewis, maria Badoy, and Bridgette Schiefer ran in the Army Ten-miler on Oct. 11.

Page 4 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

RCES PTA Meeting to Discuss Superintendent’s Recommendation

The Rachel Carson PTA is hosting a meeting on the CIP addendum or Super-intendent’s Recommendation on Rachel Carson Elementary School Relief, which will be released on Oct. 15 and posted on the Division of Long-Range Planning’s website (www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/depar tments/planning/cipmaster.aspx). The meeting at the school is sched-uled for Tuesday, Oct. 20, 7 p.m. Current RCES parents and the larger community are invited.

“The CIP addendum will contain the superintendent’s recommendation for ad-dressing overcrowding at our school. That solution could be to move students to new additions as they are constructed at oth-er schools nearby, or to construct a new school somewhere in the cluster,” said Pau-la Ross, RCES PTA president.

For more information, please contact Ross (paulamaeross@gmail.com) or RCES Cluster Representative Joe Allen ( josephmarkallen@gmail.com).

MOMS Builds Membership in KentlandsBy Pam Schipper

T he North Potomac-Muddy Branch Chapter of MOMS (Moms Offering Moms Support) has grown recently

with new members from the Kentlands area. “We serve a large area,” said Deborah Ruddy, vice president of administration for the chap-ter. “We focus (our activities) on Kentlands because it’s a middle area.”

Despite this focus, the chapter did not have a lot of moms from Rachel Carson pri-or to this fall. “We noticed there were tons of mothers and little kids here, but we didn’t have them as members,” Ruddy said. So the chapter decided to bring a flyer around town to every business in Kentlands, and they

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assignmenTeduCaTion Compiled by Pam Schipper

309 Main StreetGaithersburg, MD 20878

For Advertising: 301.279.2304Also on the Web at www.towncourier.com.

©2015 Courier CommunicationsThe Town Courier is an independent newspa-

per 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 Communica-tions, 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 re-flect the views of the staff, management or advertisers of The Town Courier.

Pam Schipper Managing Editor

pam@towncourier.com

Debi Rosen Advertising Manager

301.279.2304 ads@towncourier.com

Leslie KennedyAdvertising Sales 301-330-0132

leslie@towncourier.com

Staff Photographers Arthur CadeauxChristine Darton-

Henrichsen

Staff WritersJennifer Beekman

Nora Caplan Mike Cuthbert

Gina Gallucci-WhiteSharon Allen Gilder

Betty Hafner Sheilah Kaufman

Donna MarksSyl Sobel

Maureen StilesEllyn Wexler

Social Media Consultant

Mac Kennedy

Diane Dorney Publisher

news@towncourier.com

Matt Danielson President

matt@eink.net

Photo | Submitted

This Back-to-School picnic is one of many activities held each week by mOmS North potomac-muddy Branch Chapter.

Photo | Mac Kennedy

After a wet and rainy football game Oct. 2, the quince Orchard High School 25th reunion committee and alumni from the classes of ‘90, ‘91 and ‘92 gathered at quincy’s Bar and Grille on quince Orchard road.

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 5

Art Inspires Stories Through Book Festival Contest

Photographs taken by three young art-ists will serve as the inspiration for the Gaithersburg Book Festival’s annual High School Short Story Contest.

More than 100 entries including pho-tographs, drawings and paintings were received through the 2015 Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Cam-

pus art show. The three winners are Aza-lea Coste from Montgomery Blair High, Cameron Garland of Northwest High and Lindsey Levy from Winston Churchill High.

The contest is open to students currently enrolled in grades 9-12 in public, private or homeschools in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. Stories are due by Feb. 19, need to be under 1,000 words and inspired by one of the three photo-graphs.

To see photographs and further requirements for the short story contest, go to gaithersburgbookfestival.org/gbf-programs/short-story-contest.

Write-ins Allowed on City BallotFor the first time, the City of Gaithers-

burg will allow write-in candidates for the Nov. 3 election. Three City Council seats along with the Office of the Mayor are up for election.

Before you go adding Donald Duck or George Clooney in, you should know that each write-in candidate must file a certifi-cate with the Board of Supervisors of Elec-tions by Oct. 28 or within three days of the candidate collecting or expending $250 in campaign materials. Once the certificate is approved, the write-in votes will be tal-lied.

Petition Asks City to Lift Rooster BanAaron Rosenzweig is asking for residents

to give roosters a chance and sign his pe-tition requesting a city ban on the birds to be lifted.

“I’m not advocating noise pollution,” he writes. “I’m not asking you to like chick-ens. I’m asking you to just say no to need-less laws.”

Rosenzweig has come before the Mayor and City Council many times to plead his case. He also entered chickens in the city’s annual Pet of the Year contest.

To look at the petition, go to www.change.org and search Aaron Rosenzweig.

Judges Needed for ElectionWant to earn $175 for a full day of work?

Apply to become an election judge! Peo-ple are needed at six polling places located throughout the city for the Nov. 3 election and at three early voting sessions to be held at City Hall.

To be considered, a person must be reg-istered to vote in Montgomery County and be able to attend a mandatory training session. You do not need to be a City of Gaithersburg resident in order to partici-pate.

Judges may work a full day from  6:15 a.m. until the polls close or a half day from either 6:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. or 1 p.m. until polls close. Those interested, should con-tact the Elections Clerk in the Office of the City Manager.

PoLiCeBeaT By Gina Gallucci-White

CiTysCene By Gina Gallucci-White10/16Economic and Business Development Com-mittee meeting, City Hall Gallery, 7:30 a.m.

10/19Mayor and City Council Meeting, City Hall Council Chambers, 7:30 p.m.

10/20Olde Towne Park Plaza Design Ad Hoc Com-mittee Meeting, City Hall Council Gallery, 8 a.m.Historic District Commission Meeting, City Hall Council Chambers, 7:30 p.m.

10/21Board of Supervisors of Elections Meeting, City Hall Gallery, 6:30-8:30 p.m.Planning Commission Meeting, City Hall Council Chambers, 7:30 p.m.

10/22Gaithersburg Arts & Monuments Funding Corporation Meeting, Activity Center at Bohrer Park, 7:30 p.m.

10/28Board of Supervisors of Elections Meeting, City Hall Gallery, 6:30-8:30 p.m.Cultural Arts Advisory Committee Meeting, Activity Center at Bohrer Park, 7:30 p.m.

11/2Senior Advisory Committee Meeting, Benja-min Gaither Center, 10:30 a.m.Mayor and City Council Meeting, City Hall Council Chambers, 7:30 p.m.

11/4Board of Supervisors of Elections Meeting, City Hall Gallery, 6:30-8:30 p.m.Planning Commission Meeting, City Hall Council Chambers, 7:30 p.m.Multicultural Affairs Committee Meeting, Activity Center at Bohrer Park – Large Confer-ence Room, 7:30 p.m.For the latest information on city meetings, visit the City of Gaithersburg website at www.gaithersburgmd.gov.

MEETING CALENDAR

Department to Take Part in Youth Summit

I n an effort to open the lines of commu-nication between police and teenagers, the Gaithersburg Police Department (GPF)

will be participating in a Youth and Law En-forcement Summit on Oct. 16 at Gaithersburg High School.

An estimated 80 area students, ranging from ninth through twelfth graders, along with several law enforcement officials will be participating in discussion circles in the morn-ing and engage in field games during the af-ternoon session.

“The kids that we are talking to (at the event) are most likely the kids that we don’t really get in touch with,” said Officer Dan Lane, department spokesman. “They are the ones, normally, when they see us we are coming in to break up the party or coming to the school and talking to somebody about a school-related incident or obviously some-one called the police about something they are doing outside that they shouldn’t be doing so their interaction with us again are, most of the time, on the negative side. This (event) hope-fully opens up the door to positiveness for them to go ‘Oh. OK. There is a different side of law enforcement.’”

Moorosi Mokuena of Epworth United Methodist came up with the idea for the sum-mit, and the first was held in the spring. Due to the first event’s success, organizers decid-ed to host another one in the fall. This time, students helped with the planning and asked GPD Chief Mark P. Sroka and his command

staff to attend and be a part of discussion cir-cles.

The discussion circles include a mediator who asks a questions that may be answered by both students and law enforcement. While the questions had not been finalized as of early October, Lane said one of the questions dur-ing the first session was ‘What about what I wear makes you discriminate against me?’ “It went across both sides and everybody an-swered that question and opened the door a little bit,” he said.

Other potential questions include ‘What is-sues did you have with authority growing up?’ and ‘What is it that we can do to better open the communication between both sides?’

While some teens during the first session had concerns with police, they left with a more positive interaction due to their time with the officers, Lane said.

The afternoon session will feature a picnic and field day activities at Bohrer Park. Some of the events are designed to be team build-ing exercises like tug of war, horseshoes and cornhole.

Lane heard from one student who partici-pated in the first event. The officer who met him at the inaugural summit saw him out playing basketball one day, stopped and took time to see how he was doing. The student was pleasantly surprised the officer remem-bered him. “To build that connection ... sends (us) more of a reason why we should be doing this,” he said.

Photo | Cameron Garland

Northwest student Cameron Garland’s doggone good, award-winning photograph serves as inspiration for the Gaithersburg Book festival’s annual High School Short Story Contest.

Page 6 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

Ted’s Montana Grill Brings Bison and More to Downtown Crown

By Ellyn Wexler

T here’s a new Ted on Downtown Crown’s Ellington Boulevard. Not to be confused with Ted’s Bulle-

tin down the block, Ted’s Montana Grill opened Oct. 5. Both owners—media entrepreneur-bison rancher-chairman Ted Turner, and concept creator-res-taurateur-CEO George McKerrow Jr.—came from their Atlanta home-base to the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the chain’s 46th restaurant. It’s their third in the Washington metropolitan area and their first in Maryland.

“I am thrilled to see how Ted’s has grown over the past 13 years since we opened our first restaurant in 2002. Ted’s was founded with the mission of reintroducing bison to America’s table, and it’s exciting to see how far that’s come,” Turner said, “since Ted’s serves

more bison than any restaurant in the world.”

“Our goal was to share authen-tic American dining with our guests through our Big Sky Spirit hospitality, and we’re excited to be bringing that spirit to Gaithersburg,” the restaurant’s 76-year-old namesake added.

When they initiated the business with a restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, the founders had four objectives, said McKerrow: to save the bison from ex-tinction (they have doubled the popula-tion); to help bison farmers and ranchers who previously failed to get consumers to buy bison (now it is available in most supermarkets); to function as an outlet for Turner’s bison ranches; and to build a self-sustaining, successful restaurant company.

Crush Cancer for Cohen Is Huge Success

Nearly 400 people signed up and donated to Crush Cancer for Cohen, and the pub run and walk organized by Fleet Feet Sports Gaithersburg raised $8,000 to benefit Aus-tin Cohen in his fight against bone cancer. The evening of Oct. 1 was we and rainy, but 250 people ran or walks a two- to four-mile loop. Sponsors Pinky and Pepe’s Grape Es-cape, Coal Fire, Wine Harvest, Noodles & Company & Quincy’s who donated beer or food, Brooks Running who donated glass-es, and Yelp promoted the run.

Rides Celebrate Zengo Cycle’s Fourth Birthday

Zengo Cycle, which opened its first stu-

dio in Bethesda four years ago, is mark-ing its fourth birthday with a celebration across all of its four studios on Saturday, Oct. 17. The Kentlands studio, 215 Kent-lands Boulevard, will be open 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day with special rides, free Ze-ngo swag for everyone, and raffles for class credits and more. The Kane Show’s Dan-ni Starr, who can be heard locally on Hot 99.5, will be hosting a very special birthday ride on Oct. 17, complete with live music spun by DJ Bigg Slim.

FitZone Holds Grand Re-Opening Oct. 29

Jo Soler is celebrating FitZone’s grand re-opening on Thursday, Oct. 29,

n SHOp TAlK Continued on page 19

Photo | Mac Kennedy

Coach Bobby Bishop and members of the quince Orchard JV football team supported team member Austin Cohen by participating in Crush Cancer for Cohen.

Photo | Mac Kennedy

Scott and Austin Cohen said a few words before the start of the Oct. 1 Crush Cancer for Cohen pub run & Walk.

Raising the Bar for Cancer ResearchBy Pam Schipper

T his month, Jenn Menconi and Jen-nifer Gawronski, owners of The Bar Method North Potomac at 189 Kent-

lands Boulevard, and their clients, who are predominantly women, are raising the bar for cancer research. “Because breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among wom-en, this seemed the best place to reach out and try to make a difference,” Gawronski said. “We wanted to make it (fundraising) engaging, positive and empowering.”

The studio is offering a special “Tuck for Cancer” charity class on Oct. 25, 9:30 a.m. The entire $40 class participant fee will be donated to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. First-time participants are welcome; instructors modify the workout to skill level. A light brunch of fruit, mini quiches and coffee will be served after the class. Pink grippy socks—hot pink “be positive” and light pink “be brave”—are also for sale, $15 per pair, at the studio, and proceeds will be donated.

“We have a fundraising goal of $2500,” Gawronski said, noting that the studio will add a second “Tuck for Cancer” chari-ty class if response is great. “We hope to annualize the event and grow it. Early re-sponse has been great!”

The studio has been featuring a member each month on its Facebook page—#IAM-BARMETHOD—and October featured Shari Segal, a breast cancer survivor. “Shari is someone we would have chosen without her battle with breast cancer,” Gawronski said. “She is a physical therapist who has been with us since the beginning, for six months before we opened our permanent studio, and we were so interested in her thoughts on the workout. … Later when she was diagnosed, she called Bar Method her happy place.”

After surgery, “I couldn’t work at my job because of my restrictions,” Segal said, ex-plaining that her job as a physical therapist involves a lot of lifting, “so for the entire

Photo | Submitted

Shari Segal credits the community and workout at The Bar method North potomac for helping her to recover from breast cancer.

n CANCer fuNDrAISer Continued on page 19

n NeW reSTAurANT Continued on page 19

shoPTaLk Compiled by Pam Schipper

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 7

Main Street Farmers MarketOct. 24 & 31, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Main Street Pavilion

Products available for purchase include a vast assortment of fruits and vegetables, jams and jellies, various herbs, cut flowers, and potted plants, baked goods, dog treats, meat, eggs, and honey. Seasonal arts and crafts vendors sell jewelry, photographs, health and beauty products, knitted items, quilts, purses, woodworking items, cloth-ing, children’s accessories, yard art and more! www.gaithersburgmd.gov

Washington Metropolitan Artists’ Society ExhibitThrough Oct. 30, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mon.-Fri. (please call to confirm hours), Kentlands Mansion

The WMAS is a self-renewing group of part-time artists who work together to improve their artistic skills and enrich the visual arts in the D.C. area. Primarily wa-tercolorists, members have been studying, creating and exhibiting their artwork since the organization’s founding in 1995. Free. www.wmartists.com.

‘Shades of Geometry’Through Nov. 15, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri.,

1:30-5:30 p.m. Sat., Arts Barn

This group exhibit presents the work of Shelley Sims, Lauren Kingsland and Fran Abrams, along with that of the artists of Ver-tical Glass—Steve Mockrin, Jane Charters, Karen Henderson, Hilde Leone and Tony Glander. Free. www.gaithersburgmd.gov

‘Disney’s Aladdin Jr.’Oct. 16-25, 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 11 a.m. & 2 p.m. Saturdays & Sundays, Arts Barn

In partnership with Kensington Arts Theatre-2nd Stage, Arts on the Green pre-sents “Disney’s Aladdin Jr.” A resourceful young hero and a wise-cracking genie come to life in this special one-hour adap-tation of one of the most popular animated movies of all time. Recommended for ages 7 & up. Tickets are $15 for adults, and $12 for children 14 and under. www.gaithers-burgmd.gov

‘How to Brew Beer at Home’Oct. 17, 2-4 p.m., Quince Orchard Library, 15831 Quince Orchard Road

This program will show you what equipment and ingredients are needed and

review the process for brewing your own delicious beer at home.  Please register on-line at  www.montgomerycountymd.gov/library. Call 240.777.0200 for more infor-mation. This free program is sponsored by Friends of the Library, Quince Orchard Chapter.

‘Small Small Thing: The Olivia Zinnah Story’ Oct. 17, 4 p.m. BlackRock Center for the Arts

Originally from deep in the Liberian jungle, Olivia and her mother are shunned from their tribe for seeking outside help. They are left stranded in Monrovia at the mercy of President Sirleaf ’s govern-ment, facing the most difficult decision of all. What price are they willing to pay for justice? $5 for general admission. www.blackrockcenter.org

Indian Ink’s ‘The Elephant Wrestler’Oct. 18, 4 p.m., BlackRock Center for the Arts

The contradictions of modern India with its iPhones and ancient gods come alive in this outrageously funny and heartbreak-ingly beautiful romantic thriller created and performed by New Zealand-based theatre company Indian Ink. Tickets are $22-$36. www.blackrockcenter.org

‘Finding the Light’Oct. 22, 1 p.m., Arts Barn

“Finding the Light” is another entry in Arts on the Green’s popular Daytime Performance Series. Written by and star-

ring Lisa Hayes, the show is a one-hour solo performance that follows Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Marissa Roth’s personal and professional journey with the story of women and war. Inspired by photographs from Roth’s exhibit “One Person Crying: Women and War,” Hayes portrays Roth, sharing the stories behind the photos of women from Cambodia, Vietnam, Bosnia, Albania, Germany, Afghanistan, and the United States. Tickets are $20. www.gaithesburgmd.gov

An Evening with Vertigo Dance CompanyOct. 22, 7 p.m., BlackRock Center for the Arts

A contemporary dance company based in a village outside of Jerusalem, Vertigo Dance Company was founded in 1992 by choreogra-phers Noa Wertheim and Adi Sha’al. A mes-senger of Israeli Art at its best – both at home and abroad – Vertigo’s work brings people closer together. Tickets are $26-$28. www.blackrockcenter.org

Pete Muldoon SextetOct. 24, 8 p.m., Arts Barn

The Pete Muldoon Sextet represents the unique and soulful sound that is the D.C. jazz tradition. Tickets are $25 for adults, and $12 for youth (18 and under). www.gaithersburgmd.gov

SolasOct. 25, 3 p.m. & 5 p.m., BlackRock Center for

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at Potomac HouseThe Intriguing Frederick ForsythBy Sharon Allen Gilder

E nglish author Frederick Forsyth, the bestselling and award-winning mas-ter of thrilling suspense novels, spoke

on Oct. 7 at the Gaithersburg Library and regaled attendees with stories from his re-markable life that has spawned 15 novels, two short story collections, and now a memoir. His hot-off-the press tome, “The Outsider: My Life in Intrigue,” chronicles his adventures and personal experiences that read like the intriguing themes from the pages of his novels, many of which have been made into blockbuster movies, in-cluding “The Day of the Jackal” and “The Odessa File.”

Bestselling thriller author D.L. Wilson, was the interviewer for the evening. Wil-son said, “I’ve read all of Forsyth’s works. He’s a great wordsmith, and he’s able to bring to the pages of his books real actions, technology, and historical factors because he was a journalist and an MI6 spy.” The Gaithersburg Book Festival (GBF) com-mittee in partnership with Politics & Prose Bookstore arranged for Forsyth’s speaking engagement.

Forsyth’s work spans the decades and is rich with clever and chilling plot twists and turns based on thorough research and years

of frontline experiences with international governments and political regimes. At 19 he was a jet fighter pilot with the Royal Air Force, then worked as a journalist and foreign correspondent with Reuters and as a print and television reporter with the BBC, delving into the perilous zones of civil wars, conspiracies, assassinations, Na-zis, and spies.

He wrote his first novel, “The Day of the Jackal,” in 35 days in 1970 at age 31. In a telephone interview, Forsyth said the idea had been with him since his days with Reuters in Paris, France, covering Charles de Gaulle at the time when the OAS was trying to kill him. There were six failed attempts on de Gaulle’s life. “There was always a big press corps around him, 40 or 50 of us … and we weren’t waiting for what he was going to do or say. He knew what we were there for and we knew …we were there for when there was a sharp crack and a bullet hole would appear in his forehead, which never came.” Initially, the manuscript was rejected, he said, “for very good reasons … because de Gaulle was still alive.”

Forsyth said as a spy with MI6 there were two things he borrowed from his career

Photo | Sharon Allen Gilder

D.l. Wilson, known for his bestselling thrillers, interviewed British author and bestselling suspense novelist freder-ick forsyth on Oct. 7 as part of the Gaithersburg Book festival’s Author Series.

n fOrSyTH Continued on page 22

Page 8 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

It Takes a Village: Aging in Place in the KentlandsBy Ellyn Wexler

F ran Randolph has become the Village voice. Her eureka moment came when she read a newspaper article about the

concept. At the time, she was dealing with two related issues: the living situation of an elderly parent and contemplating her own retirement from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Mental Health Services.

A Village, as Randolph learned, is in-tended to meet the needs of older people so they may remain in their communities and age in place. The model, initiated in Bos-ton’s Beacon Hill neighborhood in 2001, has become popular in Maryland, Virginia and the District. Currently, 145 villages ex-ist nationwide, including 14 in Montgom-ery County. Two more will become active very soon, and 10 communities are work-ing on development, said Pazit Aviv, who has been employed as Village coordinator for the county’s Health and Human Ser-vices’ Aging and Disability Services since January 2014. The process, she said, can take two to three years.

According to Aviv, “The main thrust of this movement is the fact that people who love their homes and community general-ly wish to remain there as long as possible. (The goal is) to enable people to come to-gether on a grassroots level to form an orga-nization that offers opportunity to socialize and access to volunteer support. Villages take the shape of the community that de-velops them, and no village is like another.

Aviv’s role is “to support emerging and

active villages in the county in any way I can: outreach and presentations to new communities interested in the concept, de-velopment of online resources for local vil-lages, facilities partnerships and collabora-tions, basically to offer technical assistance to all these incredible new nonprofits that are making our county such a great place to live.”

Randolph was certain that the Kentlands, where she has lived since 2001, would be an ideal place for a Village. “Our community is aging,” she observed. “We have looked at the census data.” Under the KCA/KCF (Kentlands Citizens Assembly/Kentlands Community Foundation) auspices, Ran-dolph and a small committee of handpicked residents have been meeting since Septem-ber 2014 to develop a strategic plan.

“I have a dynamic and committed team who are planning the infrastructure, set-ting policies and procedures, making this happen,” said Randolph, who also started her second career life-coaching business in 2013. What has been established in com-munities across the country is accessible online (vtvnetwork.org) and via Aviv, so “we are not inventing the wheel, we are customizing it.” In addition, Randolph noted, “We are trying to take advantage of all of the great expertise that exists in this community.” Among these are resi-dents with relevant education, work and life experience—in medical, philanthropy and marketing fields, as well as community members who represent the elderly and dis-abilities populations.

The Kentlands committee’s stated pur-pose “is to build a stronger community by creating opportunities for neighbors to help neighbors by providing transpor-tation, information and support to help residents enjoy healthier, safer and happier lives.” The approach will be phased, with the initial effort targeted at two groups of residents, Randolph said: ages 55 and over, and anyone, regardless of age, who has spe-cial health or physical needs. “The idea is to start small and do it well, then add com-plexity over time,” she said.

“We have identified the principal service needs,” Randolph said. “Number one is transportation, number two is social visits to the detached and disenfranchised, and number three is referral.” Responses are now coming in to the survey the commit-

tee recently sent out, both electronically and on paper, to Kentlands residents.

After a virtually dead summer, due to va-cations, “we’re moving again,” Randolph said. By mid-October, analysis of the sur-vey responses will begin, and by the end of the month, she expects progress to be much quicker.

“The planning group in Kentlands is dy-namic, professional and motivated,” Aviv said. “Fran was able to bring the right peo-ple to the table who, in a very short period of time, were able to get a lot done. I think that residents of Kentlands can be proud that they live in such a connected commu-nity.”

For information, contact Fran Randolph at 301.330.7776 or franlrandolph@gmail.com.

wide range of adverse health effects will no longer be permitted for use on lawns. The law does not limit the ability of residents to use any product for purposes such as controlling noxious weeds like poison ivy and stinging and biting insects, but these products will not be permitted for use on grassy areas. In ad-dition, areas frequented by children such as daycare facilities and playgrounds, both pub-lic and private, will be prohibited from using these same pesticides because children have a unique vulnerability to the chemicals in con-sumer pesticides.”

The terms of this landmark legislation will be introduced in stages. Effective July 1, 2016, pesticide use will cease on coun-ty-owned property with restrictions on private property going into effect on Jan. 1, 2018. “Effective immediately, the Parks Department has agreed to go pesticide-free on all its playgrounds. … The prohibition on private property will begin on Jan. 1, 2018, which will give lawn care professionals and homeowners the necessary time to educate themselves and transition to alternative lawn care methods and products. To assist with the transition, the county will conduct a public outreach and education campaign to inform applicators and residents of the law, natural methods of lawn care, and how to identify products that are permitted for cosmetic use,” said Leventhal.

Kentlands resident and Gaithersburg City Councilmember Neil Harris, who was active in the organic turf management project in his community that was a phased-in, multi-year experiment, has heard from residents. “They want to live in a community where the grass is green and relatively weed-free. Some peo-ple feel very strongly that the federal govern-ment has already declared these chemicals to be safe,” he said. “I think the Council, the majority, ended up going forward with a po-sition that may be the right outcome in the long run, but I think my personal preference is to make sure that you have widespread buy-in before you take an extreme measure like this.” He added, “The County Council was proud of the fact that 300 people came to the meeting to testify, but there’s more than one million people living in this county and I’m not sure how many of them were even aware that this was coming down the road. … I’d be much more comfortable if they

were really focused on how to communicate rather than simply passing a ban. … We need to make sure that we understand what’s going on and why.”

Leventhal stated, “As with any coun-ty ordinance, enforcement will be com-plaint-driven. Professional applicators are already required under state law to maintain records on the chemicals that they use, so en-forcement will be straightforward.”

Harris said, “An interesting piece of data is that the county received a letter from the deputy or assistant attorney general saying that basically, the state law superseded the county’s regulations, so there’s an interest-ing question of whether the county even has jurisdiction over this sort of matter. That opinion now, whether that would hold up in court or not, is an interesting question … or a question of whether it will even get that far. There’ll be some pushback, so we’ll see how it all progresses.”

Safe Grow Montgomery, a local grassroots group, has diligently advocated “for legisla-tion to protect against exposure to lawn and yard pesticides where we live, work, and play,” and attended numerous hearings, ral-lied support, and gathered many non-profit and business partners in its efforts toward a safer environment. After the adoption of Bill 52-14, large letters on their website read, “WE WON!”

Alex Stavitsky-Zeineddin, a Kentlands res-ident and one of the core volunteers of Safe Grow Montgomery, said, “The passage of this law proves the power of volunteer activism and citizen-led advocacy and makes Mont-gomery County a true leader in protecting human and environmental health.” She is concerned that the enacted bill does not pro-tect residents of the City of Gaithersburg and urges them to encourage their councilmem-bers to “opt in and vote to have the same law applied in the City of Gaithersburg.”

Harris said, “It’s not going to be the last we’ve heard of this particular matter. I don’t want to rain on the parade. … I think that it’s likely this is the right decision in the long run, but I think process and openness really matter, and especially when it affects people’s private property.”

For more information, visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/COUNCIL/Resources/Files/bill/2014/20151006_52-14.pdf or www.safegrowmontgomery.org/what-does-bill-52-14-do.

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October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 9

Community Gives Feedback on QO Cluster Capacity ForumThe forum generated conversation within

the community following the meeting. PTA President Paula Ross said that she fielded a lot of parent inquiries after the meeting. “People are not upset about having to move our kids to another school,” she said. “That was not the issue. The issue was that folks felt the format did not allow for follow-up and open dialogue. … Also, they felt there was no new information presented.”

Ross said that parents did appreciate the decision-making timetable distributed by Crispell, but the rest of the feedback was pretty negative. Several themes ran through-out, she said. Parents asked, “No solution will take place for several years. What hap-pens between now and then as the school grows and more strain is placed on core facil-ities?” And in the case of an additions-only solution, “What happens between now and then as development takes place? … Will our kids be moved from portables in one school to portables in another school?”

“Bruce has been open and honest with us throughout this process,” Ross said, empha-sizing Crispell’s forthright and clear com-munication on the issue. Still, she said, “as a parent body, we want to ensure that our kids won’t move from portable to portable. We want to make sure we’re not kicking the problem down the road.”

Personally, Ross said that she believes a new school is the only viable solution. “The Quince Orchard cluster is 550 over capacity, more than 300 from Rachel Carson, and the Gaithersburg cluster is about the same num-ber over capacity—that’s over 1,000 kids,” she said. “We need a new school somewhere in Gaithersburg.”

Ross urged parents to call or email her with thoughts, especially after the super-intendent’s recommendation is released on Oct. 15. All are invited to a PTA meeting at Rachel Carson on Tuesday, Oct. 20 at 7 p.m. to discuss the recommendation.

RCES parent Joe Allen, who is also the elected cluster representative for Rachel Car-son, said that while none of the information was really new to him, he was heartened to hear that Rachel Carson is a priority. “This is the first time that I heard Rachel Carson is a priority in the CIP plan,” he said. “Bruce

(Crispell) definitely said it’s a high priority.”Overall, Allen felt that Crispell communi-

cated the complexity of long-range planning for school enrollment, and the considera-tions that must be made when creating a new school or redrawing boundaries to utilize an addition: diversity, walkability and transpor-tation, and stability of enrollment.

“It was mostly a summary last night (of work done to date),” he said. “We need the recommendation on Oct. 15 and then fur-ther discussion. … People should look for the recommendation and then talk to the PTA. Real discussion needs to take place.”

RCES parent Andrew Ross, who manag-es the RCES Capacity Discussion Facebook page with Joe Allen, hopes that MCPS can propose a real solution to cluster overcrowd-ing. “Everyone knows … that there will be a lot more development in our cluster in the next five years, but they are choosing not to think about that because they want to justify doing additions instead of a new building.  However, putting additions in ar-eas where there is declining population (like DuFief ) makes zero sense—it’s more cost-ef-fective to build a whole new building than an addition because we (RCES) would fill more than half of the new school and our population is increasing,” he said. “Most-ly though, we don’t want to have our kids go from an overcrowded RCES to an over-crowded DuFief to eventually a real option.”

City Councilmember candidate and Brown Station PTA member Robert Wu said that he had been hoping for more at the forum. “I thought Bruce Crispell handled himself well as he always does,” he said, “but the information presented was nothing new, and the format was somewhat limiting to the flow of ideas.

“I am looking forward to reviewing the upcoming report, which I think (hope) will generate a lot of interest in the communi-ty,” he added. “I was heartened by Bruce’s emphasis on the importance of community input in the process, and now it is up to us to share our thoughts and ideas to help MCPS reach the right decision.”

City Council candidate and Education-al Enrichment Committee member Lau-rie-Anne Sayles said that she appreciated the

work of the Montgomery County Council Parent-Teacher Associations to present the forum, as well as Bruce Crispell’s knowl-edge and patience in answering questions. She added, “I am eager to find a convenient opportunity to better engage the local PTA presidents representing the discussed schools to meet with CIP and Planning leaders to better communicate their growing concerns and priorities of how the impending changes will affect their children’s schools.”

Sayles hopes that the forum is just a be-ginning to conversation about schools in the QO cluster and beyond. “We need a more holistic and unbiased approach to addressing future growth and development and how best to balance the competing needs of our overcrowded schools,” she said.

Kentlands residents and City Council-member Neil Harris found the timing of the forum just weeks before the release of the Capital Improvement Plan odd. Harris said that Bruce Crispell could not give new infor-mation, but Crispell did indicate that MCPS would address Rachel Carson overcrowding. “So, the good news is that it is very likely that MCPS will do something,” Harris said. “My hope is that they will agree that the Quince Orchard cluster needs a new school,” he added. “One possible site would be in Lakelands on Main Street, on the coun-ty-owned parcel behind the Public Safe-

ty (former National Geographic) building. There is a site where there are old basketball courts, it’s about 4.5 acres, and it could share the city-owned park adjacent to that parcel, the way Lakelands Park Middle School shares the other side of the city park. 4.5 acres is a bit on the small side, but MCPS is in the pro-cess of developing site designs to fit schools into tighter spaces, since land is scarce in the growing parts of the county.

“From what people tell me, everyone is worried that they will opt for a cheaper approach, building an addition onto anoth-er school that is barely big enough for the over-capacity population from RCES, and then the population will grow more and we will be back to portables again. I think MCPS is smarter than that, but of course they have very severe budget constraints that could tip this in the wrong direction. We’ll know more in a few weeks, and there will be opportunities to express our opinions to the School Board if we’re not getting what we need.”

Visit the MCPS Division of Long-Range Plan-ning’s website on Oct. 15 for the Superintendent’s Recommendation on Rachel Carson Elementary School Relief: www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/cipmaster.aspx. The full 2017-2022 Capital Improvement Program recom-mendation will be released on Oct. 28.

n qo cluSter from page 1

Principal Working opened the forum by praising the educators and students who make the QO cluster such a success. “How-ever, sometimes we’re a victim of our own success,” she said, “and sometimes because we’re the ‘can-do’ cluster, people rely on us to make things work because we do and our kids do because they’re such good kids. So these opportunities where we come to-gether as a community and work together as a community to solve our problems and to do what we can do to provide the best opportunities to our students are critically important.”

Bruce Crispell, director of Long-Range Planning for Montgomery County Public Schools, walked those assembled through the problem of increased enrollment in MCPS schools, funding limitations, and possible solutions. A schedule for the su-perintendent’s recommendation on Rachel

Carson Elementary School relief and the Board of Education action on the 2017-2022 Capital Improvements Program was described in detail.

Crispell began his brief presentation by citing “the tremendous amount of growth” across the school system, as well as in the Quince Orchard cluster. “The most pro-nounced increase since 2007 has been at the elementary school level,” he said, “but even the secondary schools have been growing.”

MCPS models predict that new commu-nities will likely see a surge in elementary school enrollment as young families move into new neighborhoods; this peak will trend down as the children grow. Rachel Carson, Crispell said, has defied this pro-jection model. “For many years we have seen Carson exceed capacity—we have had a number of relocatables there for years—and the expectation was as the communi-ty aged some of that enrollment peaking would come down and we may be able to hold fast to the current school … but that

has not come to be true. … Last year the superintendent and the Board decided we really need to do something about Carson. There’s no sign that it’s going to come with-in its capacity in the foreseeable future.”

Despite this acknowledgement, Crispell said that he is “hopeful we have seen the peak.” His projections going forward in-clude slight decreases in RCES enrollment.

Crispell outlined three options for solv-ing Rachel Carson overcrowding: additions at Fields Road and Jones Lane elementary schools (each to add some 300 seats), and a revitalization/expansion project at Du-fief Elementary School (to add another 300 seats; the school is currently 113 students below capacity). Also under consideration is a new school within the QO cluster, and this, Crispell said, would involve a site se-lection process. The Dufief revitalization/expansion is scheduled for August 2021. Additions to Jones Lane and Fields Road might occur in 2019 or 2020, he said.

Crispell urged those assembled to look for

the Superintendent’s Recommendation on Rachel Carson Elementary School Relief, which will be released on Oct. 15 and posted on the Division of Long-Range Planning’s website (www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/planning/cipmaster.aspx). The full 2017-2022 Capital Improvement Program recommendation will be released on Oct. 28. Between Oct. 15 and Nov. 5, Crispell said members of the QO cluster can lobby Board of Education members if they don’t like recommendations, or express their support for the superintendent’s plan. Opportunities to testify before the Board are offered on Nov. 9 and 12 during public hearings.

Following the presentation, audience members were invited to submit ques-tions and comments on index cards, which Crispell answered. Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations of-ficer Paul Geller moderated. There was no opportunity given for follow-up questions or dialogue.

Page 10 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

“Marching band is not an activity for the weak of heart,” second-year Band Director Patrick Fay said. “Kids have to work harder than they think and by the end of the sea-son, they realize how hard they have had to work. Students walk away with a sense of pride that they truly earn.”

The Cougar band, which is led by drum majors Alissa Satterfield and Noah Jenkins, reaped the benefits of its hard work over the summer with a win in its first compe-tition of the season, The US Bands Marine Corps Invitational, held Sept. 28 at the Na-val Academy. Quince Orchard edged Wil-liamsport High School, 80.525-80.250, in Group IIIA. The field of 16 schools was divided into four size-based classifications.

The invitational was open to all mem-ber bands of US Bands, Quince Orchard’s competitive circuit, Fay said, and provided an excellent opportunity for the Cougar band to perform at the Naval Academy, where the state championship will be con-tested on Nov. 1. Fay added that Quince Orchard regularly attends the Marine Corps Invitational; the competition annu-ally draws bands from as far as New Eng-land that his students would not normally get to compete against.

The Cougar band is scheduled to com-pete twice more before states, on Oct. 10 at Reservoir High and on Oct. 24 at Paint

Branch. Fay said attending the lat-ter would be a nice way to support the marching band activity in Montgom-ery County. More information about the competition can be found at http://tr igonroad.com/yea/embedSchedule.cfm?currentWeek=10/19/2015&even-tID=1158&currentYear=2015.

Unlike some programs, Fay said, Quince Orchard sticks to one halftime show per season, which gives it the proper time to hone in on more advanced skills and create a more polished product. This year’s show, titled “Mood Swings,” takes the audience through a myriad of emo-tions, Fay said: joy, shame, naivety, insan-ity and rage.

The winning performance on Sept. 26

was the first time the show truly “locked in” for the group, Fay said. In order to achieve that level of production, students have to execute every piece of their per-formances perfectly, over and over again, the band’s director added. Each member has memorized 70-plus pages of drill, 8 minutes and 30 seconds of music, dance, marching technique and playing tech-nique.

“If there are students missing, or that make a mistake, it could cause a major musical meltdown, or even cause a serious injury,” Fay said. “These kids are serious athletes that have to physically train, push themselves mentally and work incredibly hard.”

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gained new members.“We’ve had a lot more pickup,” Ruddy

said, “but we don’t know that it’s the flyer … a lot is word of mouth.”

Ruddy is focusing on Kentlands business-es this fall, scheduling tours and activities around town for members. Outings include a weekday tour of SPAGnVOLA Chocolat-ier, a reading at Tipo’s Toy Box, and craft activities at Michaels in Kentlands. A tour of Whole Foods fell through recently when the Whole Foods coordinator was laid off, part of a 1,500-person reduction in workforce across all Whole Foods stores.

A September Not Your Average Joe’s fund-raiser for Montgomery County Partners for Animal Well-Being (MCPaw) raised money that the chapter will deliver in person during a tour of the Montgomery County Animal Services and Adoption Center on Muncas-ter Mill Road. Last year, the chapter raised $300 through this Not Your Average Cause program; every Tuesday through September, the restaurant donated 15 percent of the bill when patrons mentioned MOMS North Po-tomac-Muddy Branch Chapter.

Other community programs include visits to Ingleside at King Farm retirement commu-nity. This month, MOMS’ kids will trick or treat there, and periodically the group sings with dementia and Alzheimer patients at In-gleside’s nursing home. “The patients often remember the nursery rhyme songs,” Ruddy said. MOMS’ kids also will be making trick-or-treat bags and cards for patients at Chil-dren’s Inn NIH this month.

Ruddy emphasized that the chapter has activities for all age groups and families. Age-specific playgroups encourage little ones and mothers to socialize and mothers can compare notes. These meet typically once a week at someone’s home, the library or a playground. “It’s a way to make the big group (of 39 members) smaller,” Ruddy said.

The chapter offers activities just for moth-ers, too, like “Moms Night Out.” Once a month, mothers get together for a little R&R. A recent “Moms Night Out” featured a wine and painting class at VisArts in Rockville. This month, Moms Night Out will be held Thursday, Oct. 22, 7 to 10 p.m. at The Wine Harvest on Market Street.

Support for mothers and families is also offered by the chapter’s “Helping Hands” group. Members come together and drop off meals, help with transportation and more af-ter a member has a baby or a family is dealing with a child in the hospital, Ruddy explained.

Monthly membership meetings are held at the national headquarters of the Izaak Wal-ton League, 707 Conservation Lane, and these are open to the general public. Meet-

ings sometimes feature speakers, and it was at a recent talk by a Kentlands psychologist that Ruddy said she was struck anew by the group’s importance in her life. “My husband has recently started traveling more for his job, and I learned that three other members have husbands who are traveling … so this is a neat way to connect and reconnect with other moms.”

Chapter President Margaret Weiner be-came involved with MOMS North Po-tomac-Muddy Branch when her son, Josh, was 10 months old. She had just moved and was looking to connect with other mothers and find activities for her son, who was just becoming more active. “At that point, I didn’t know what to do with a 10-month-old,” she said. She liked the monthly calendar of ac-tivities, and remembers immediately joining a playgroup. Josh is now three-and-a-half and in preschool, but she is still friends with the mothers in that playgroup. Weiner also has an almost-two-year-old now, and she said of her continued involvement, “every month I meet new people. It’s fun to help new moms, too.”

The group, Weiner said, has many new and first-time mothers right now. “We have a lot of people with kids under one year,” she said.

One of those first-time mothers is Ka-tie Nannes. “I can’t say enough good things (about MOMS),” she said. “It’s totally made a difference in my life.”

Nannes joined the North Potomac-Muddy Branch Chapter this year when her son was about two months old. She and her husband had been living in the area since winter 2013, but both were working fulltime in D.C. and socializing with friends there. When her son was born and Nannes decided to stay home, she discovered that she really didn’t have any local friends. “It made such a difference to meet moms who live close by,” she said. “I got advice, learned about things to do here. … Everyone is so supportive. … The women are just wonderful. They have made this place feel like home.”

Nannes is in a playgroup that has grown from four to nine babies and mothers. She’s also a member of the chapter’s book club, as well as the morning walking group that meets once a week at Kentlands Starbucks—“so we can fuel up with caffeine,” Nannes said—be-fore walking through the neighborhood and by the lake.

Many MOMS activities are public, mean-ing that you don’t have to be a member to attend, but membership is only $25 per year. One big, public event is coming up: The Great Pumpkin Party/Fall Open House on Friday, Oct. 30, 4 to 6 p.m. at Darnestown Local Park, 14211 Darnestown Road. The event will feature a costume parade, snacks, games and crafts. The event will be cancelled in the case of inclement weather. For more information, visit www.bigtent.com/groups/npmbmoms.

n MoMS Group from page 4

n qo banD from page 1

LPMS Shelters in PlaceOn Thursday, Oct. 8, Lakelands Park

Middle School (LPMS) went into a shel-ter-in-place for approximately 30 minutes. According to Principal Deborah Higdon, while outdoors seventh grade students and staff heard a person in distress at approxi-mately 1:15 p.m. Staff called 911, and the school went into a shelter-in-place as a

precaution. Montgomery County police arrived quickly and secured the area.

Support Local Businesses, Shop RCES PTA Holiday Boutique

The Nov. 3, 7 p.m. PTA meeting at RCES will be a lot of fun, PTA Presi-dent Paula Ross said. That’s because par-ent-owned businesses have been invited to participate in a holiday boutique that night.

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 11

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Ellie Hitt • 240-888-8448

JUST SOLD! I

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High Gables • $334,900Lakelands Ridge • 2BR 2BABob Graves • 301-538-9337

18 Cross Ridge Ct. • $194,900Germantown • 2-BR/1.5 Bath

Bob Graves • 301-538-9337

10 Ramsdell Terr. • $324,9003-BR,3.5 Baths, all Brick

Bob Graves • 301-538-9337

12236 Wonder View Way • $475,000Col. 4-BR, 3.5 Baths, QOHS area

Bob Graves • 301-538-9337

ALL OF YOUR REAL ESTATE NEEDS UNDER 1 ROOF

1 Carver Rd. • $915,000Stunning Renovation 4BR 3.5BA

Kody Yazdanipour • 301-758-6765

23232 Observation Dr. $289,900 • 3BR 2.5BA w/Garage

Mike Milo • 240-780-1824

Courtney Gri� ths

INTERESTED IN A CAREER IN REAL ESTATE? CALL TODAY TO JUMPSTART YOUR CAREER!

301-975-9500 (offi ce) WWW.KENTLANDSLANDF.COM North Potomac/Kentlands

189 Kentlands Blvd.Gaithersburg MD 20878

Jacob DarwishSales Manager/Sr. Mortgage ConsultantNMLSR ID 216751301-548-4379 - Offi ce Direct301-708-8192 - CellJacob.Darwish@phmloans.com

Joseph HansenManaging Attorneylicense # 100045112Offi ce Phone 301-670-2812joe@sagetitlegroup.com

Helen A. Dankos, Esq.RGS Title Rockville Offi ce ManagerOffi ce: 301-230-0070Direct: 240-283-0260HADankos@rgstitle.com

Susan J. Evans CIC CPIWSenior Insurance ManagerMd. Property Casualty lic#6139301-304-3066 Offi ce703-653-8602 DirectS.Evans@lnf.com

Kentlands Long & Foster

@KentlandsLnF

4801 Fairmont Ave #402$312,500 • 1BR 1BA

Jane Macedonia • 301-404-9754

16605 Roundabout Dr.$439,900 • 3BR 2.5BA

Fatma Halici • 301-642-5273

PRICE

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4016 Evangeline Ter • $610,0004BR 3.5BA

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4 Letterman Ct. • $629,700Gaithersburg • 5BR 3.5BA

Ellie Hitt • 240-888-8448

JUST SOLD!NEW

LISTING!

NEW LISTING!

Oct 17th & 18th is LONG & FOSTER’S

FALL OPEN HOUSE EVENT!For a list of our participating homes for

sale please visit us at:

www.KentlandsLandF.com

Kentland’s L&F Cordially invites you to our annual Open “Spooky” House on Thursday

Oct. 29th from 2-5pm.

Join us for Trick or Treating and Fun Halloween Games. All ages and costumes welcome!

Present a Fantastic Off er to Save our Buyers $.Call us today and learn how you can earn $100 toward the

purchase of your next home!

Page 12 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

Open House: Oct. 18, 1:00 pm

301.299.8500 Potomac, MD

Grades 2–12

What else does Petr like about Bullis?

www.bullis.org/Petr

Experiential Education is a great way to get to know everyone in your grade!~PETR, 10TH GRADE

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 13

Mayoral Candidates Share Their Priorities for the CityBy Pam Schipper

J ust weeks before the election, Gaithers-burg’s three mayoral candidates—Jud Ashman, Darline D.H. Bell-Zuccarel-

li, and Henry F. Marraffa, Jr.—shared their thoughts on managing growth within the city to enhance Gaithersburg’s already high quality of life.

How would you balance competing demands for revitalization of aging neighborhoods and attracting new

development, housing and jobs to the city with maintaining Gaithersburg’s quality of life and core facilities?

Jud Ashman: There is definitely a natu-ral tension between allowing New Growth and maintaining Quality of Life.

My years of experience in office have taught me that “renewal” and “reinvention” should be a major factor in the strategic plan-ning for our city. Obviously, areas such as Olde Towne and Lakeforest Mall are our best

opportunities for redevelopment. But there’s always room to facilitate improvements and reinvention in newer neighborhoods as well, such as the Kentlands Downtown Master Plan. Gaithersburg is a dynamic city and its leadership needs to be committed to change and revitalization to keep up with the times and remain a healthy place for residents to live and businesses to thrive.

I remain committed to enhancing our road network and transit options, which I believe are vital to our city’s future. The Council

and I worked for years to get the funding for the new I-270 Watkins Mill Interchange, which should be built in the near future. We’ve worked with the county and the state to advance the Corridor Cities Transitway and the county Bus Rapid Transit projects.

At the same time, I have a proud record of being sensitive and responsive to the con-cerns of residents when it comes to excessive traffic on our streets and the overcrowding of

Jud Ashman be-came mayor of Gaith-ersburg in November 2014 when Sidney Katz left the position upon his election to the Montgomery Coun-ty Council. Prior to this, Ashman served on the City Council

for seven years. He is also the founder and chair of the Gaithersburg Book Festival, and a member of the Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce and the Maryland Municipal League.

Henry F. Marraffa, Jr. has served on the City Council since 1995, and he was City Council vice president in 1998, 2005 and 2013. He is a member of the Mary-land Municipal League and the National League of Cities (NLC). For the NLC, his service includes the Community Economic Devel-opment Policy Committee, Com-

munity Economic Development Steering Committee, Board of Directors, and Task Force on Immigration. Marraffa has also served as the director, Jr. Olympics Program - Mid-At-lantic States Track and Field, and he was appointed by the governor to the Maryland Physical Fitness Commission for two six-year terms.

A resident of Gaithersburg since 1978, Darline D.H. Bell-Zucca-relli has a long his-tory of community ac-tivism. “I am working to move families out of poverty.” she said. “I’m trying to do that

through affordable housing and education.”Bell-Zuccarelli is president and co-founder

of Women on the Way Up, a nonprofit that helps women get their high school diplomas, develop marketable skills, and obtain employ-ment. In addition to her non-profit, Bell-Zuc-

carelli coached boxing classes for Gaithersburg High School teens who were at risk of dropping out. In order to take her class, students had to remain in school and get their diplomas.

To tackle the affordable housing prob-lem, Bell-Zuccarelli designed and built a 192-square-foot micro-house for a family of four on her own property. She suggested that Montgomery County consider tiny houses as part of the solution to chronic homelessness.

“The ultimate thing is to get people out of poverty,” Bell-Zuccarelli said, noting that there are 15 million people across the nation living in poverty or homelessness. “We have to think outside of the box. … We have to move people back to work.”

Photo | City of Gaithersburg Photo | City of GaithersburgPhoto | City of Gaithersburg

2015 eLeCTion guide

n mAyOrAl CANDIDATeS Continued on page 14

Meet the Mayoral Candidates

Page 14 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

2015 election guide

SAYLESLaurie-Anne

Gaithersburg City Council

Laurie-Anne Sayles has a vision for Gaithersburg – one where the city government is transparent, responsive and working

hard to give each resident the opportunity to succeed.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2015

“Gaithersburg has a bright future. As a member of the City Council, I’ll work to ensure that every

resident does too.”— Laurie-Anne Sayles

LAURIE-ANNE IS FOCUSED ON:• Ensuring access to a quality education for our children• Promoting a responsive and inclusive government• Creating economic development in a sustainable way

BY AUTHORITY: FRIENDS OF LAURIE-ANNE SAYLES, STEPHEN SCHIAVONE, TREASURER

LaurieAnneSayles.org

our schools. Those issues should always fac-tor into our decisions, and I remain commit-ted to finding solutions with our state and county partners.

Darline D.H. Bell-Zuccarelli: The re-vitalization of Olde Towne is on the top of my list. I will look into bringing more retail to Olde Towne, including the street level of Gaithersburg Station Apartments. I will also meet with the Olde Towne Gaithersburg: Park Plaza and Streetscape Design ad hoc committee and push the Park Plaza project forward. Once we get some movement on the revitalizing of Olde Towne, I will turn my attention to the other communities, pri-oritizing based on need.

As far as development, housing and jobs, again, we need to take stock of where we are, where we’re trying to go, and what we need to get there. There is a great deal of develop-ment going on all around Gaithersburg but to what end? If we build homes that no one can afford, then what purpose did the devel-opment serve? I think we need to figure out what type of city we want to be and let that decision guide the development and not the other way around.

Henry F. Marraffa, Jr.: Cities must con-tinue to grow or they become unresponsive to the needs of their citizens. Older neigh-borhoods need to be revitalized to new stan-dards and the demographics kept stable or grow to attract new business opportunities. The mayor of Gaithersburg does not have

a vote; therefore he/she can communicate with developers/businesses to attract them to build in the city. Gaithersburg has a program to help its citizens who will be displaced to stay in the new project or move to a new lo-cation. We try to balance residential, retail, recreation and school capacities to keep the quality of life or improve it. We have a $2 million economic development fund to be used to attract new businesses and help exist-ing businesses to grow. I was elected to office and worked through the largest growth in the city (Kentlands, Lakelands, Washingto-nian RIO, Crown Farm and Olde Towne) using these tools to make Gaithersburg the 17th best place to live and raise children.

Across the Gaithersburg and Quince Orchard clusters, schools are over capacity by more than 1,000 students. What is your plan for supporting MCPS in its resolution of this issue within the city?

Jud Ashman: As a former community activist, PTA president, and cluster coor-dinator, overcrowded schools are what in-spired me into local politics in the first place. Now, as mayor, I’m in the position to listen to today’s parent and PTA activists and be a strong advocate to act on their behalf. Over the past year I have testified at every coun-ty and Board of Education hearing on the capital budget—as I’ve done many times in previous years. I spoke before our county’s entire Annapolis delegation on the impor-tance of funding for school construction and I’ve gone to bat on this issue one on one with numerous elected officials at all levels. I will continue to be a champion for our schools.

It’s in my DNA!While we as a municipality don’t have

control over school construction and opera-tions, what we can do is make school capac-ity a factor in our decisions on development proposals, and we can continue to fund pro-grams that relieve some of the pressure on overcrowded schools. For example, we have parent outreach grants, we fund ESOL pro-grams, and we have a number of enriching afterschool programs for students, some of which we run at the schools, and others at our youth centers. I support continuing these valuable programs.

Darline D.H. Bell-Zuccarelli: First we should agree that the numbers do not support a new school in any of the school clusters that impact the residents of Gaithersburg. It is my understanding that MCPS will not consider building a school if the cluster is not over 140 percent. If that’s the case, then none of the clusters are over the 140 percent and will not be over the 140 percent in 2019-2020 school year. If we know now that MCPS will not build a new school, then the only option is to change boundaries. As mayor I will ad-vocate for what is best for the education of the children.

Henry F. Marraffa, Jr.: Gaithersburg does not have a direct responsibility in the building or improvement of schools so we must continue to do what we did successfully during the great growth period. We worked closely with MCPS, outlining our plans and schedules, staging them in some cases to meet the needs of the MCPS and in the future we will be collecting fees from development in

overcrowded areas to help offset the costs of new or improved schools. We will continue to get land from the developers at no cost to MCPS to build schools. The tax dollars from new development goes directly to the county to be shared with MCPS. One unex-pected benefit is that studies have shown re-vitalization does not increase capacity and in many cases actually lowers school capacity.

If you can, please choose and share one thing that—for you personally as a resident—makes living in Gaithersburg great.

Jud Ashman: There are many things, but if I have to choose one, it’s the quality of the people of Gaithersburg. I’ve never met more genuine, caring, and enjoyable people than I have here in our community. They inspire my service as mayor every single day.

Darline D.H. Bell-Zuccarelli: The one thing I love about Gaithersburg is that it is a safe and beautiful place to live. I love knowing that I can walk anywhere in Gaith-ersburg day or night and not feel afraid. I’ve been to places where I have been very afraid and I can’t image why anyone would live in a place where at any moment a stray bullet could come through your window.

Henry F. Marraffa, Jr.: Gaithersburg has some of the best residential communities in the state; we have world class commercial/retail areas, the very best recreational depart-ment for kids and the best school system in the country. This is why we were voted the

n Mayoral canDiDateS from page 13

n mAyOrAl CANDIDATeS Continued on page 21

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 15

City Council Candidates Voice Their VisionsBy Sharon Allen Gilder

T he City Election Day of Nov. 3 is fast ap-proaching. Here, the four City Council candidates—Neil Harris, Laurie-Anne

Sayles, Ryan Spiegel and Robert Wu who are running for three open seats—voice their vi-sions for the city on key issues. If elected, the candidates will serve the community at-large for a four-year term.

Each candidate was asked the same ques-tions. Harris, Sayles, and Wu responded in telephone interviews. Spiegel, an attorney, was conducting a jury trial and responded by email.

What is your position on the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO)?

Editor’s note: In 2007, the city adopted an Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance (APFO) that set a moratorium on building when schools reached 110 percent capacity. In addition to school capacity, the ordinance required the review of three other key public services: traffic capacity, water and sewer ca-pacity, and fire and emergency response. At a Sept. 21 Mayor and City Council meeting, the APFO was amended; a building moratorium now kicks in when schools reach 150 percent capacity, and de-velopers must pay a fee to go directly to the school affected by new housing.

Neil Harris: I felt that the APFO was well-intentioned and seemed, I’m sure eight years ago when it was put into effect, like the best move at the time, but I don’t think it was effective at achieving its goal, which is to keep our schools at a reasonable level of capacity. What was driving the growth in school pop-ulation throughout the entire county is more turnover in the housing stock than the devel-

opment of new properties. When you build really attractive schools in really attractive neighborhoods, then naturally more people with young children want to move into those neighborhoods and that seems an obvious fac-tor that was not accounted for in the school board’s projections. The disconnect was that MCPS was not building more school capac-ity because they didn’t think the population of school-age children in those communities would go up. That was really the cause of crowding. … We changed the APFO to pro-vide a funding mechanism as well as … some better guidance to MCPS.

Laurie-Anne Sayles: My position was that it wasn’t working and it definitely needed to be changed, so I agreed with the Council to change it. Now we’ll just have to wait and see how that will impact future development and capacity issues. And, with lifting the capacity cap to 150 percent, I was definitely concerned about that. I thought we would either wait until the plan was released by the county, or match the county’s capacity level of 120 (per-cent). … I definitely think it’s (150 percent) a risk … and, I mean, with anything in life you have to take risks, so I’m hoping that this pans out and becomes just what Gaithersburg needed to do to revitalize development efforts in the city.

Ryan Spiegel: Our existing APFO just wasn’t working. It was not preventing over-crowding in schools, which was happening regardless of the limits on redevelopment, and it was starting to get to the point where important future redevelopment of places like Lakeforest Mall was being threatened. It was a very well-intentioned law, but the realities

on the ground have changed. Data shows that severe overcrowding is being caused by turn-over in existing housing, not construction of new housing. As a result, we are trying a new experiment. While it does raise our APFO moratorium threshold, it keeps the school-based test (as opposed to the county’s clus-ter-based test which just takes an average of all the schools in a cluster) and, critically, it imposes a new fee on developers. The money collected from that fee could grow into the millions of dollars, and the amendment re-quires us to use it as leverage to persuade the county to build more school capacity here in Gaithersburg. The two pieces of the amend-

ment work together: Without raising the moratorium cap, we cannot generate the fee. It’s a bit of an experiment, and it remains to be seen how effective it will be, but even though I am hesitant to raise the moratorium thresh-old, I thought it was time to try something new, because the old way was not effective.

Robert Wu: The 2007 amendment, which set the APFO at 110 percent, was well-inten-tioned, but ultimately it had adverse feedback because the driver really in the city is to have bigger schools and that’s not within control

Meet the City Council CandidatesAll four candidates have a strong history of community service.

2015 election guide

n COuNCIl CANDIDATeS Continued on page 16

Kentlands resident and appointed City Council-member Neil Harris has served since November 2014 on the Council. Prior to this, Harris spent many years as Kentlands Cit-izens Assembly (HOA) president and, later, chair-man. He is also a mem-

ber of the Economic Development Committee and represents the city on the Regional Transportation Planning Board.

Parklands resident Robert Wu is a U.S. Army veteran who saw active duty 2003 to 2009, and has since served in the U.S. Army Reserves, U.S. Army Civilian and GAO. He is on the Watkins Mill Town Center HOA

Board of Directors, and has served on the city’s Transportation Committee and Brown Station Elementary School PTA.

Washingtonian Woods resident and sitting City Council Vice President Ryan Spiegel has been a City Councilmem-ber since 2007. He has served on numerous com-mittees working in the ar-eas of transportation, in-frastructure, environment,

education, and economic and business develop-ment. Leadership roles have included the Mar-yland Municipal League: Montgomery County Chapter president; Montgomery County Chap-ter vice president and Executive Board; National Capital Region Transportation Planning Board alternate; and Victim Services Advisory Board of Montgomery County chairman and vice chair.

Windbrook resident Laurie-Anne Sayles serves on the Education Enrichment Committee and Community Action Board. She has also vol-unteered for the Gilchrist Center for Cultural Di-versity, and is a member of the NAACP, PTA and

Montgomery Women, and has served on the board of Nonprofit Village.

Photo | City of Gaithersburg

Photo | City of Gaithersburg Photo | City of Gaithersburg

Photo | City of Gaithersburg

Page 16 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

fall SavingS! of the city. … When it (the APFO amend-ment) came up before the City Council re-cently, I was pleased that they were actually bringing this forward. … I’m not sure that the 150 percent is the correct number, but some-thing needed to be done. At a January 2015 meeting, which I attended, Bruce Crispell, the future capacity planner for MCPS, was talking about how the city drew its projection … and particularly talked about the Kent-lands. There was a graph that showed that the projections are off. Basically, every year they projected that the Kentlands and Lakelands would flatline over time but in fact in the past decade it’s only increased … and so that really created a problem.

What ideas do you have about economic development and the growth of the city?

Neil Harris: The first thing I support is putting together a consortium of all the in-terest groups in the city—all the stakeholders, not just government people, but businesses, community groups, homeowner associations, non-profits, everyone that’s affected by the future of the city to determine what we want the long-term direction to be. I think the city needs a better-defined long-term strategy. The city needs a strategic plan every year. …

We have a very strong base of companies and government organizations like NIST, like MedImmune, and some of the other bi-otechs. We would like to have more of them, we would like to see businesses and enter-

prises spinning out of NIST, which NIST is interested in doing, and MedImmune would like to see more bio-techs, so they’re looking to spin some organizations out of their com-pany as well.

We also have a number of areas in this same part of the city that are in dire need of re-development. We have the 355 corridor that needs to be updated, we have Lakeforest Mall, we have a number of office buildings and of-fice parks along the northern part of 355 and along Quince Orchard that were designed the way people liked to work back in the ‘70s and ‘80s where they were stand-alone buildings. … I think what we want to do is build eco-nomic incentives with the city, the state, the county to encourage the kinds of businesses that we want to see in this area and the kind of redevelopment of the real estate that really makes things look better.

The several transit projects like the Corri-dor Cities Transitway (CCT), the proposed 355 BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) will be helpful for those kind of projects, and the last piece is this: I think a lot of people fear growth because it leads to congestion in roads and schools and everything. I think the core prob-lem is not growth, the core problem is not keeping up with the infrastructure, which is more of a county and state issue, but the city needs to be a strong advocate for saying that we need more infrastructure investment in the entire region. If we have sufficient roads, if we have sufficient transit, if we have suffi-cient school capacity, then economic growth

n COuNCIl CANDIDATeS Continued on page 20

2015 election guiden council canDiDateS from page 15

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 17

Page 18 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

Rescue Me: Peke Finds a Home in QOP

M ary Etzweiler is convinced that love can work miracles. And the Pekingese puppy she and her

husband Lyle rescued in late April is a case in point.

Maggie, now 9 months old, has “a rare birth defect known as Bilater-al Congenital Elbow Luxation, which meant she had to army crawl with her front legs,” and was unable to stand or walk. Sadly, the puppy’s previous own-ers “had broken her back leg and did not want her because of her inability to walk.”

A friend found Maggie through a res-cue in Richmond, Virginia. The puppy had already undergone surgery to insert a plate that would fix her broken leg. Within two days of rescuing the Peke, Etzweiler consulted Dr. Christopher Leasure at VOSM (Veterinary Orthope-dic Sports Medicine Group) in Annapo-lis Junction, who recommended surgery as soon as possible. Maggie had her first of three additional procedures two days later, the second a week later, and the third, four weeks after that. Throughout this time, they made weekly visits to the vet to change bandages.

Meanwhile, purchasing a puppy stroller enabled Maggie “to get out and about. …She loves people and seeing everything that is going on.” Etzweiler took the pup to work with her daily at the Greenbelt architectural firm WM-CRP where she is an accountant. “The owners here just love Maggie and look forward to seeing her as does everyone I work with,” Etzweiler said. “It is fun to see a bunch of architects get down on the floor and play ball with her.”

Finally, at the end of June, Mag-gie’s cast was removed, but her front legs were severely atrophied. Etzwei-ler thought of ways to rebuild her leg muscles, among them, encouraging the puppy to dig for her toys in play sand, creating a string with toys she could bat at with both front legs and a half-hour swim in the bathtub every evening. At work, Maggie’s favorite strengthening

activity was chasing empty water bottles down a long hallway.

Progress was gradual. “At first, she could only hop and be up on (her legs) for a very short time,” said Etzwei-ler, who has lived in Quince Orchard Park since February 2003. “Finally, in August, she started walking indoors!  Maggie still enjoys her stroller walks through QOP.”

The Etzweilers are dog lovers; un-fortunately, their 14-year-old dog has cancer, and their daughter’s Shih Tzu, Cusey, who lived with them, died sud-denly in March. “Someone at the vet’s office told me that Cusey died to make room for me to help Maggie,” Etzweiler

said. “I know it sounds crazy, but there are a bunch of similarities between Cusey and Maggie,” including that they are both Chinese breeds.

“It has been said that dogs find you, and Maggie did just that,” Etzwei-ler added. “I feel I am the lucky one. Maggie has such a sweet and loving personality, even though in her first six months, she had four surgeries.”

Etzweiler is delighted that “against all odds,” Maggie can walk. “Everyone is amazed at her recovery ... and they know how much work it is. They ask me how I was sure she would walk, to which I reply that love can work miracles.”

The ParkPagesNews and Current Events for Quince Orchard Park n E-mail your contributions to ellyn@towncourier.com n OCtObEr 2015

Meeting calendarOct. 26 — Condo Board I, Clubhouse, 7 p.m.Oct. 28 — Condo Board II, Clubhouse, 7 p.m.Nov. 4 — Vistas HOA Board Meeting, 6:30 p.m.Nov. 10 — HOA Board Meeting, Clubhouse, 7 p.m.

ManaGeMent MentionS

Trash and RecyclingTrash, which is collected on Tuesday and Friday,

must be placed in lidded trash cans. Trash should not be left for collection in bags; these may be 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 mag-azines 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. Con-tainers, 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 diminish problems with trash in the neighborhood. It is help-ful 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. Nov. 6 is the next bulk pickup day.

The City of Gaithersburg and Potomac Dispos-al (301.294.9700) both offer collection services for bulk items at no cost.

Dog Duty and Animal Services InformationCleaning up after dogs is the legal responsibility

of every canine owner walking a dog in the com-munity. Dogs are not permitted off-leash on com-mon property in the City of Gaithersburg.

Contact Information for Gaithersburg Animal Control

To report after hours/emergency animal service calls, City of Gaithersburg residents must now con-tact the Montgomery County Emergency Com-munication Center (MCECC) at 301.279.8000. MCECC will then notify and dispatch a Gaithers-burg Animal Control Officer for response.

To report non-emergency animal service calls and for information on related animal matters dur-ing 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/services/animal-control.

WebsiteAgendas 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 InformationQuince Orchard Park Community Manager

Ruchita PatelQOP Assistant Community Manager Alex Deering

c/o The Management Group Associates, Inc.20440 Century Boulevard, Suite 100

Germantown, MD 20874Phone: 301.948.6666

ManaGeMent noteSThe Management Group Associates (TMGA) says res-

idents must stop putting out their trash in bags or open cans—rather than the mandated rigid, tightly closed, ro-dent-proof trash cans. This is creating a litter problem and a potential rodent issue. Enforcement of this policy will be stepped up, including the imposition of fines on violators.

TMGA reminds residents NOT to throw away their pool passes, as these will be reused next summer. If a barcode has worn off or the pass is damaged, it can be exchanged for free by returning it to TMGA with a note requesting replace-ment.  Lost passes will be replaced next year for a $10 fee.

Volunteers are needed to coordinate a Halloween event. They can contact Ruchita Patel or Alex Deering to volunteer or for further details.

The annual home inspection is underway. Any resident

who gets a letter should not ignore it as this may lead to en-forcement action for uncorrected violations. Questions on anything cited may be referred to Alex Deering or Marylou Bono.

Feedback to the recently mailed 2016 draft budget should be submitted, in writing, by Oct. 31.

Hoa newSQuince Orchard Park is among 19 neighborhood and

homeowner associations awarded a total of $60,000 in matching grant funds from the City of Gaithersburg Fred-erick J. Felton Neighborhood Matching Grant Program for Fiscal Year 2016. The program provides an incentive for neighborhood organizations to improve their communi-ties by awarding matching grants of up to $5,000. During a Sept. 8 meeting, the Mayor and City Council approved a $2,045 grant for landscaping to the QOP HOA.

Photo | Submitted

mary and lyle etzweiler’s granddaughter Stella, 2, holds maggie for the first time.

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 19

McKerrow’s concept, set out in a white paper he presented to Turner in 2001, specified classic American fare—gourmet hamburgers made of bison, a healthy al-ternative to beef. Bison, he pointed out, is higher in iron and protein than any other meat, leaner than beef, pork, chicken and even salmon, and rich in flavor, “slightly sweeter” than beef; in addition, bison is natural, never receiving hormones or ster-oids.

Ted’s offers, said McKerrow, “a step back into a simpler time” for everyone

“from highchair to wheelchair.” He said he keeps up with culinary trends, noting the kale salad on the menu, but the restau-rant does not aspire to be cutting edge in its cuisine.

Ted’s serves both bison and beef in the form of burgers and steaks, short ribs, chi-li, meatloaf, as well as chicken and fish, and children’s and gluten-free menus are available. Crispy deli pickles precede the meal, instead of bread that might spoil the appetite, but meals (and sliders) are ac-companied by Sister Schubert’s yeast rolls. Everything is “fresh and from scratch,” including potato chips and cookies; meat is ground twice a day; and no microwaves

or boil-in bags are used. The freezer is used exclusively for ice cream. “We cook all day, on demand,” McKerrow said. “It’s as farm to table as you can get.” The company’s commitment to sustainability also shows in using local growers, paper straws, and eco-friendly Boraxo soap in the restrooms.

The restaurant’s 5,032-square-foot in-terior looks like a 19th  century saloon. Its décor includes wood-paneled walls, open-air doors, tin-pressed ceilings and mosaic-tiled floors. The dining room has 136 seats, and an outdoor patio, including a lounge and fireside area, seats 62.

“We love the central location in Mont-

gomery County and the concept of a retail neighborhood that will be a hub of social life in a much broader community,” said McKerrow, 65, a self-dubbed “serial en-trepreneur” (his resume includes Victo-ria’s Station and LongHorn Steakhouse) who has been in the restaurant business since age 15. He started as a busboy for 50 cents an hour. “This is a densely populat-ed, dynamic area, a wonderful new part of the Mid-Atlantic for us.”

“We are really optimistic; we do very well in our three restaurants in Virginia,” he said, noting that the next Ted’s may be in North Bethesda’s White Flint area.

last person. It was rough,” Lam said. “My shins started to hurt a lot as the run intervals increased in duration. I iced every evening, and ran with kinesiology tape as well as compression sleeves. My knees also started to hurt, and I had to start wearing a patella tendonitis knee support brace.” Despite the pain and time-consuming preparations, he kept running, crediting the mentors who “provided me with amazing moral support as they ran with me. That was one of the biggest reasons I kept coming back. I didn’t want to disappoint them.”

Lam finished the Kentlands 5K “for real,” in 55 minutes, but just about “passed out while crossing the finish line.” So, that fall, he repeated the NoBo1 program, and “slowly went from the very back to not too far from the back” of the runners. He finished the Fleet Feet Fall Fashion Show Run, essentially the same course as the Kentlands 5K, in 45 minutes. Still, he maintains, “Running wasn’t fun yet. It wasn’t a habit, and it wasn’t a passion.”

That winter, Lam progressed to the NoBo2, hoping to achieve greater speed and comfort. “To start giving back to our community,” he also began serving as a NoBo1 mentor. Now that he was keeping pace with the other runners, he began to interact with them and form friendships. “It was this set of runners in NoBo2 that I ran with as we moved up to 10K training, then the Army Ten-Miler last year, then the winter half-marathon program this past winter, and now again for the Army Ten-Miler,” he said. During the 10K train-ing, he said, running became a habit.

Mary Willett, who resolved to become a runner in 2011, has run the Army Ten-Mil-er twice. The NoBo program alumna was a mentor in Lam’s first 5K program in 2013, and has witnessed changes in him. “He’s a different person. Besides being a lot small-er, he has become a pivotal part of our run-ning community, and he currently coaches others,” Willet says. “He used to be shy, but no longer.”

Michele Jones, who coaches the Army 10-Miler group in which Lam participat-

ed, said that Lam “has a great attitude, is easy to get along with and is a hard worker. He is a great inspiration and very support-ive of Fleet Feet, the running participants and the programs.”

Jones has run the Army Ten-Miler five times, including this year. “It is my favor-ite race,” she said, pointing out that it is well-organized, there is excellent crowd participation, she loves the course, it’s not too crowded, and it makes her feel patriot-ic. “What makes it unique is that you start and finish at the Pentagon,” she said.

The 10-Miler group got together  on Wednesdays for a hill workout during the first half of the program; hills transition to track workouts during the second half, she said. Prior to the runs, Jones discussed a relevant topic, from hydration, nutrition, reflective gear and running fear to race day strategy and logistics. On Saturdays, the group met at a local running trail for a long, slow, distance (LSD) run.

“There was also guidance regarding the number of days per week to run versus en-gaging in cross-training activities,” Jones

said. “We recommend that participants follow the program to ensure that they’re prepared for the race and also to reduce the likelihood of injury.”

In addition to mentoring for NoBo 2 on Monday evenings and pacing for the 10K group on Tuesday evenings, Lam trained with Mike Krupka of CrossFit Koncepts, who has the reputation of being a stickler for form.

Running among the veterans—some with crutches, others with prosthetics—inspired Lam. “I have no excuses,” he said. This year, he said, an injury reduced his training time so he chose to not push him-self and ran the Ten-Miler with a friend who is new to the race. Next year, he promises to train appropriately.

With a new job in Tysons Corner, and a weekly schedule that included two coach-ing evenings and two training sessions, the Poolesville resident was always on the run. And he plans to continue to operate that way, especially with the arrival of cool-er temperatures. “Winter running is the best,” he enthused.

summer I worked as a receptionist at the studio, part-time.”

After a six-month treatment and recov-ery period, Segal has been back at her full-time job for almost a year now.” She credits the supportive community at Bar Method with helping her to heal. “These are the most heartfelt, loving women,” she said.

“They’re special.”The no-impact workout that could be

tailored to her recovery through modifica-tions helped Segal to recover physically. “I felt stronger and stronger each time,” she said. For many months, she took class three times a week. Now she works out at the studio four times a week.

“I absolutely adore and love going to class,” she said. “As a physical therapist I truly believe in what they’re teaching. … There’s no impact but it’s so effective.”

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shoPTaLk

6:30 p.m. The studio, located at 305 Main St., is now under her sole ownership. The evening will feature the seminar “Why Most People Fail at Fat Loss/Fat Loss Se-crets Revealed!”

“I will be sharing  all my fat loss se-crets with you, what works and what does not work regarding fitness training and fat loss nutrition,” Soler said, “ plus there will be giveaways, raffles, a celebrity guest (name will be revealed soon)!”

For more information, go to  www.Fitzone360.net  or email Jo Soler at  jo.Fitzone360@gmail.com

Halloween Fun Comes to Tipo’sStart one of the most important days

of the year off right with a fun and free performance from the Great Zucchini at Tipo’s Toy Box, 724 Center Point Way, on Saturday, Oct. 31, 10:30 a.m. This per-former has been hailed as Washington, D.C.’s #1 Entertainer for young children.

Nalley Fresh Coming Soon to Kentlands Square

Perhaps you have seen the bright new sign and promising indications of buildout within at 261 Kentlands Boulevard. It’s true. The Balti-more-based fresh food chain Nalley Fresh is coming soon. Stephanie Ty-son, assistant vice president for con-struction and development at Saul Centers, said that there is no defi-nite opening date yet, but it should be sometime between Nov. 27 and Dec. 11.

Photo | Pam Schipper

Nalley fresh should open after Thanksgiving at 261 Kentlands Boulevard.

Page 20 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

is not seen as a negative, it’s seen as a posi-tive because it helps everybody. It helps us have more shopping, it helps us have more places to work where we don’t have to drive long distances, it’s really a boon to the local environment. But if growth just means everything just gets more jammed up, then it’s uncomfortable for everyone.

Laurie-Anne Sayles: I definitely sup-port community-centered growth. We had an event with some of the Kentlands business owners. … I think we need to have more community forums around the different parts of the city … let residents know what developments are in the plan-ning phases, what’s in the pipeline, and get feedback on what the city residents actual-ly want in their communities. … We have committees for the environment, Educa-tion Enrichment Committee, which I sit on, and we have an Economic Develop-ment Committee, but they don’t address small business issues specifically, and there are so many small businesses that are in our city that I think need that support and that platform to communicate their unique needs to the city.

Ryan Spiegel: I have been an early and consistent supporter of the city’s economic development programs over the last eight years. We’ve created and expanded a ded-icated office within City Hall to work on this. We’ve established key programs and

incentives, including our “toolbox” and our “opportunity” funds, which have helped to create or retain thousands of good quali-ty jobs in the city. We need to continue attracting employers because what we are doing is working, and it is distinguishing us from other jurisdictions. We also need to continue our reputation as a government that is easy for businesses to work with in terms of permits and licensing. I am the City Council’s official liaison to our Eco-nomic and Business Development Advi-sory Committee, where many great ideas are born. I want to continue to focus on high-quality, mixed-use development, but we need to balance growth with the need to protect the quality of life in existing neighborhoods.

Robert Wu: The city has amended the APFO. I think it’s a solution, but my con-cern now is that the city really needs to think hard about what projects it’s going to put on the books because if it doesn’t work hand in hand with the county in or-der to address capacity issues, if it’s putting projects on the books, you’re just going to exacerbate the problem and that’s really the issue with not having control in Gaithers-burg of an essential element that’s under the APFO. So I advocate smart growth, which is you don’t put projects up there without really studying the impacts on the community, transportation issues, capacity issues, quality of life issues. … You don’t just develop for the sake of development.

I had a great conversation with Tom Lon-ergan, director for the city’s Office of Eco-

nomic Development. … I did express my concern to him about … what happens if you build too much retail without looking at the capacity? You could end up with a lot of retail that isn’t supported by the pop-ulation … you kind of see that happening now if you go down to the Kentlands Mar-ket Square and see office spaces or retail spaces and restaurants closing up and some of that is being attributed to poor manage-ment by the company in there, Beatty, but some of it has to be what’s called canni-balization, which means when the Crown community opened the first new restau-rant, the people moved their dollars from the Kentlands to Crown. … If you build out Lakeforest Mall, their dollars might go from Crown to Lakeforest Mall, so the city needs to really be thinking about what it’s putting in and whether it’s the right thing for the population.

What are your top priorities for the city?

Neil Harris: Economic development is obviously one. I’m a businessperson by background and I’ve served on the city’s Economic Development Committee for the last several years, long before I was in-volved as an elected official.

Transportation is another one. I sit on the Regional Transportation Planning Board as the city’s representative. The planning board is the organization responsible for al-locating all transportation funds—federal, state and local—for the entire D.C. metro region. … We need to find a way to get people moving, to get people to work, get people to shopping, get packages delivered, and we need to find better answers. … The status quo is obviously not working, so we need to do something different here. …We need to wake up the entire region.

The environment is really important to me. … In the Kentlands, when I was pres-ident of the HOA, we worked on several environmental projects … the geo-ther-mal system for the clubhouse was a really interesting project. We were able to get a state grant to off-set the additional cost of going to a thermal instead of a traditional electrical system. … And also the organic turf management project that went into ef-fect while I was chairman, where we really brought the community together to study the advantages and costs of going organ-ic. … At the city level, we’re required by the Environmental Protection Agency to implement a storm water cleanup plan. … We’re required to clean up about 20 per-cent of the run-off before it gets into the Chesapeake Bay. That’s about a 30-mil-lion-dollar project. … I played my part as someone with a strong finance and business background … really crunching through the numbers with the city staff and fig-uring out a way to cover the cost of this in a way that really minimizes the impact on individuals, and reduces the impact on businesses and other entities that have large plots of land.

Throughout the Gaithersburg and Quince Orchard clusters, we have schools that are grossly overcrowded and we really, really need to get MCPS on top of it. It’s a tough one because MCPS is not under city control, it’s not even really under county control. The county’s required to provide them with the funding, but it’s an inde-pendently run organization.

Laurie-Anne Sayles: Strengthening our voice in Annapolis and at the Board of Education. I think Gaithersburg is a great city and you know, I can only hope to make it better, to make it greater. We don’t have the money we need to reconstruct our schools, and we have one elementary school that is the second most overcrowd-ed school in the county. I don’t think that speaks well to our priorities for education and our students, so I definitely think that being a parent, the only parent to an MCPS student, I hope to better communi-cate a realistic picture of what’s happening in our schools since I work so closely with the schools and I’m in the schools, a part of the PTA … it’s strengthening the alliances with our city’s schools to communicate an authentic picture of what the needs are.

Ryan Spiegel: My top priorities will continue to be constituent services, eco-nomic development, fiscal responsibility, high-quality amenities, and programs for seniors, youth, and families, environmen-talism, and safety net services for those in need.

Robert Wu: One is fiscal discipline, making sure that going forward we main-tain zero debt pay-as-you-go policies, which are going to become more difficult as development slows. … If you look at the budget, a portion of the budget comes from development.

Two, is bringing a responsive govern-ment, making sure the city is communicat-ing with folks, listening to folks, outreach-ing to folks, and I’ve kind of noted that around town talking to people that seems to be a frequent complaint, that the city’s not reaching out, it’s not listening to them, or they weren’t in the loop on the process … whether that’s a perception or whether it’s a reality, the onus is on the city to do something. I believe that community in-put is essential to all city decisions. … The city needs to do a better job of reaching out and engaging the population. There’s a reason why, with the number of voters in Gaithersburg, that only 3,000 or less vote in the election. There’s a reason why only 13 percent of the people in the city who responded to a city survey said they ever met a city councilmember. … There’s not enough civic engagement in the city. …

And my other priorities are smart growth, particularly development that is appropriate to the city and making sure the community is involved in the process of the decisions in respect to their community … and then the transportation committee … one of the things we’re pushing is bikea-bility, walkability, and alternate modes of transportation.

What is your vision for the city in the next four years under your representation?

Neil Harris: You know, it’s such a nar-row timeframe that really in four years you get things moving, especially when they involve development and long-range plan-ning. In the next four years, hopefully we have school construction started so that we can see the end of this crowding situation in sight. Hopefully by then, we have a clear plan for what we’re going to do to improve transit in the area, the CCT … we should

n COuNCIl CANDIDATeS Continued on page 21

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know if it’s going to be a “go” or “no go” and if plans are getting modified to reduce travel times, to reduce the inconvenience to some of our neighboring communities like Washingtonian Woods. We hopeful-ly will have a concrete plan for Lakeforest Mall and Olde Towne Gaithersburg and a new owner for the Kentlands Market Square shopping center … and, we have them actually investing in sprucing up the shopping center. Hopefully, we also have both Saul and whomever the new owner is of Market Square moving forward with the redevelopment plan for our retail spac-es that were contemplated in the Kentlands Boulevard master plan. Those are all things that will be started and not finished in the next four years, but getting them going leads you to the place that you want to be. We want to have better shopping, we want to have less crowded schools and roads, we want to have more jobs that you don’t have to drive long distances to. … I think those are all important goals that we can make significant progress on moving forward with in the next four years.

Laurie-Anne Sayles: I’d like to see our city more connected. I know that there is talk about a perceived divide between the east and west of 270 and we really need to diminish that divide and communicate that no matter where we live, no mat-ter who we are, what we look like, what our socio-economic status is, we all want the same things. … We all want the best schools, the best education, the best jobs, the best companies, safe communities, healthy environment, adequate drink-ing water, we all want those things and, no matter what zip code you’re in, what school you go to, all of the residents want the same things, so we need to … think more holistically so that all of our neigh-borhoods, all of our communities can suc-

ceed and move forward together. Our city needs to unite as one, communicate as one, and move forward as one.

One idea that I’ve been thinking about that I think really would help the city get more connected is to be virtually connect-ed. People are talking about the shortage of communication with the loss of The Gazette and, working at the N.I.H. cam-pus, as soon as I get on campus I can log onto the Internet and I come directly to the N.I.H. homepage. It would be nice for people to enter our city and … know what’s going on, you know what’s available and everyone has access to the Internet.

I would love to have a summer jobs pro-gram for our youth and maybe even an advisory board for our youth, our small business owners, and we need a women’s advisory board. I definitely think we need to call on the community more to get in-volved in the city and ask them, not just at Council meetings, but do a better job of advertising the vacancies on committees and maybe even have a committee day.

Ryan Spiegel: We need to build upon what we have accomplished in the last several years, by continuing to maintain and improve the high quality of our core services, our recreational and cultural of-ferings, and our deliberative planning and land use efforts. We need to address trans-portation and school challenges, and we need to explore ways to attract economic redevelopment, especially to places like Kentlands Main Street and Olde Towne, without flooding our communities with so much density that it becomes unmanage-able. I would also like to shepherd some major new capital projects to completion, including a new police station, and a new 10-acre park at the former CPSC site along Darnestown Road.

Robert Wu: I want to see the city go-ing forward and to see the city make a zero debt policy so not taking on any loans or

bigger projects, we need to stay within our means. I would like in the short term to start immediately considering alternate transportation, bike trails, walkability is-sues so that pedestrians can walk around. … Now that the APFO has been amended there’s most likely going to be development projects proposed so I would like to be in-volved in the process of reviewing those proposals to make sure that they are appro-priate for the city and getting community involvement in reviewing and being a part of what’s going on in their community and

then in the next four years I think we really can start to address the school capacity is-sue. … Over the four years, it would be my priority to make sure that our city schools are getting due consideration by the coun-ty, making sure that they are well aware of our issues and advocating on behalf of our communities to make sure that we are getting our fair share of the CIP dollars.

For more information, candidate statements and biographies, visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/government/elections.

17th best places to live and raise kids. That is why we live here and raised our kids and now our grandkids.

Once elected, what would your priorities be as mayor of Gaithersburg in the coming years?

Jud Ashman: First and foremost, we, as a governing body, need to continue de-livering outstanding core services—safe streets, safe neighborhoods, good environ-mental stewardship, and being responsible with your tax dollars.

I think our greatest challenge as a city is fostering redevelopment of places such as Lakeforest Mall, Olde Towne, and Route

355/North Frederick Avenue. So, that’s at the top of my list.

Transit projects are high on the list too. I will continue to advocate for the optimal alignment and planning of both the Cor-ridor Cities Transitway and the Bus Rapid Transit plan along route 355.

I will to continue to build on our eco-nomic development efforts, which have brought numerous businesses and thou-sands of jobs to the city—and grown our local economy.

Finally, I intend to continue building our Cultural Arts scene, which has come a long way in recent years with the fabulous growth of our signature programs such as the Gaithersburg Book Festival.

Darline D.H. Bell-Zuccarelli: My

first day in office would start with the Olde Towne Advisory Committee. I would want them to bring me up to speed on where we are with the revitalization of Olde Towne.

Next would be the development of the School Capacity Taskforce and the respon-sibility of the task force would be to get clear communication from MCPS as to what they intend to do about school over-crowding in Gaithersburg. Once we know what they will or will not do, then we can begin the work of making a recommenda-tion that would benefit all of the children in Gaithersburg.

Next would be the development of the Business Retention Taskforce. The mis-sion of the task force would be to figure out what is happening with the businesses

in all of Gaithersburg. It appears that every time a new community comes online, the business shifts from one community to the next. We have got to figure out how to ad-dress this constant shifting of business from community to community.

Henry F. Marraffa, Jr.: My main pri-orities as mayor will be to address the east side of the city, Lake Forest Mall, Summit Hall Road and Olde Towne to continue to improve the demographics and quality of life by revitalizing the area, attracting new development, new businesses, new restau-rants to bring them up to par with the rest of the city. Continue the work to revital-ize Frederick Avenue and the fairgrounds areas and to work with MCPS to keep our schools in line with our improvements.

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in journalism: knowing how to research and where to go for it; and developing contacts. “If you’re halfway good as a journalist, you end up with contacts ... some in the legal world and some not.”

Wilson asked, “So you don’t research on the Internet?”

Forsyth responded, “No, it’s so inaccurate.” He added, “I could write about the unsavories of the world and I was able to describe them because I’d met a lot of the bastards and sur-vived.”

He shed light upon the risky world he in-habited 45 years ago as a tenacious journalist when communism ruled Russia and the Sta-si, or secret police, existed in East Germany. “Basically, no, I wasn’t a spy. A spy, techni-cally speaking, is the guy inside the secret in-frastructure of your enemy who steals the se-cret information. He needs a guy to come in through the border, pick it up and bring it back over, and that’s what I used to do. I was a glo-rified errand boy.” He was arrested and inter-rogated by the Stasi, then released. He added, “I’ve had a lot of luck in life. I got into some

weird adventures and back out again somehow. I should have been face down in the dirt by sundown, but I managed to get away.” He said, “Nothing is dangerous until you’re found out.”

Risk-taking comes front and center in For-syth’s characters and his own life. He said that being a risk-taker was not deliberate. “Since I was a kid, I had this rather large, probably too large, bump of curiosity. So, if I see a lid, I have to lift it and see what’s under it. If I see a closed box, I want to open it and find what’s inside. So this desire to find what’s going on, and what is happening there, and then wanting to go in and have a look at it, led me to a few sort of scrapes.”

Forsyth shared that writing, in a sense, was forced upon him. He explained that his pref-erence for solitude began as an only child. In 1940 at age two, he explained, “Adolf Hitler was just across the channel” and most of the children in Ashford where he grew up “were evacuated to foster homes.” He added, “It sounds bleak, but it didn’t seem bleak at the time. You create your own games, play them your way with exactly the right outcome … you always win, and there’s no one to break your favorite toys. You’re keeping your own counsel and that happens to be a suitable atti-

tude for a writer because they’re all lonely an-yway.” Now, 77 years of age, he continues to use a typewriter for his manuscripts. “I prefer to see black words on white paper rolling up rather than slithering on a screen.” Procras-tination has sometimes had its way with him until, he acknowledged: “Eventually I say, do you want to write this thing or not?”

He was paid $150,000 for the movie option for his novel, “The Kill List.” When the op-tion expired, it was renewed and Forsyth was paid another $150,000. He said, “That’s a hell of, for them, an expensive thing for chang-ing their mind. So, it may not go forward, but Hollywood is a weird place, so you never know, it could turn around.” He noted that the document called ‘The Kill List’ is not fiction. “It’s in The White House with the ones you intend to, what is the word, whack, I believe.”

He clarified the difference between a mem-oir and an autobiography. “An autobiography has to be pin accurate. A memoir, as the word implies, is what you remember so, from the French, a memoir, it’s a memory. So basically, I stopped to think, what in the hell happened in my life? Where did I go, what did I do, who did I meet?”

Forsyth announced that his memoir is his

final book. “I’m retired. I’ve got other things I want to do in life. There are compulsives out there … Lee Child, for example, of the Jack Reacher books, he will write the first page of his next book before he rises from the table af-ter finishing a previous book. … I was never a compulsive. I only ever did it to make a living really.” He said others tell him he should be “inspired by the muse” to which he laughed and said, “I don’t have a muse, but I do have a bank account.”

Forsyth was asked, “What is the worst ad-vice you’ve ever been given?” He hesitated and said, “I don’t know. … I wouldn’t have taken it anyway.”

Jud Ashman, Gaithersburg mayor and founder of the book festival, introduced Wil-son, thanked the Montgomery County Pub-lic Libraries for providing the event space and said, “The city has dedicated a big chunk of its cultural resources to stellar programs like this. Frederick Forsyth is a big author and it’s a big deal for us to have the opportunity to have him come and speak with us.”

For more information about GBF, visit www.gaithersburgbookfestival.org.

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the Arts

Fifteen years ago, Solas burst onto the Irish music scene and instantly became a bea-con—an incandescent ensemble that found contemporary relevance in timeless traditions without ever stooping to clichés. Tickets are $32-40. www.blackrockcenter.org

Fall Bridal ShowcaseOct. 25, 4 p.m., Kentlands Mansion

Experience the elegance and charm of his-toric Kentlands Mansion while meeting one-on-one with a variety of wedding vendors, including caterers, photographers, event plan-

ners, musicians, and more. Couples can spend the day sampling delicious cuisine from the area’s finest caterers and discovering the lat-est bridal fashions and wedding trends.  Door prizes will be given away throughout the day. Admission is $5 per person at the door.  www.gaithersburgmd.gov

Geocache Flash MobOct. 25, 4-6 p.m., Observatory Park, 100 DeSellum Ave.

Geocache while providing food for the hungry. Bring non-perishable food items to donate and find the newest geocache in Gaithersburg. www.gaithersburgmd.gov

Michael O’Connor & Jeff Plankenhorn DuoOct. 26, doors open at 6 p.m.

Part of the O’HAIR In-House Concert Series, this duo brings beautiful, rootsy har-monies, amazing energy and brilliant song-writing. Call 301.977.0800 or email info@ohairsalon.com to be put on the guest list.

Kentlands Acoustic JamOct. 27, 8 p.m., Kentlands Carriage House; Oct. 28, 5 p.m., Kentlands Whole Foods Market

Bring your acoustic instrument and voice to join in the jam session, or just listen. Free. www.reverbnation.com/kentlandsacousticjam

Murder at the Mansion Dessert TheaterOct. 30 & 31, 8 p.m., Kentlands Mansion

Here’s a new and delicious twist on theater and on Halloween that also takes full advan-tage of its grand setting. The evening is called “Polter-Heist” (pun intended!) and it’s an event where everyone is trying to heist some-thing—including stealing a ghost. The ticket includes a choice of dessert and non-alcoholic beverage. A candy bar and cash bar will also be available. The evening is appropriate for ages 14 and up. Seating is limited! For ticket reservation, please call 301.258.6425. Tick-ets are $35 per person or $60 for two. www.gaithersburgmd.gov

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arTs& enTerTainmenT

professional Service Directory

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 23

The Martian (PG-13)*****This may already be the

front-runner for the Best Film of the Year. If not, it should be. From start to fin-ish, this film unwinds with a maximum of technical bra-vado, restraint, discipline, unbelievable effects and, most surprising, moments of rollicking humor. The situation is far from funny: An astronaut is left behind because everything tells the crew chief, Jessica Chastain, that Mark Watney (Matt Damon) has perished in an accident as their spacecraft launches off Mars after completing most of their mission. Not even home yet, they are eventually told of Watney’s situation, much to the annoyance of the head of NASA ( Jeff Daniels as Teddy Sanders). He doesn’t want to imperil the rest of the crew, and we sympathize because the crew is so appealing. He knows the crew will want to rescue Watney, if possible.

Headed by chief Melissa Lewis (Chastain), the crew of Michael Pena, Sean Bean, and Kate Mara gets along great, experiences no

sexual tensions (thankfully) and is totally de-voted to the concept of saving their colleague, even at peril to their own lives. One of the problems of the idea of the film is that it takes place over months since space travel is not in-stantaneous. The film keeps us up to date on where we are (days are counted in “sols”) and how long various parts of the rescue project will take.

The tension builds when NASA has its usu-al and predictable disasters and when Watney suffers setbacks on Mars at “The Hab”—short for Habitat where the astronauts had their base before leaving. It helps that Watney is a botanist—“I am the best botanist on this planet” brings the biggest laugh of the movie, much of it to relieve tension.

The sense of utter isolation of Watney on the red planet is established subtly for most of the film. Watney near the end says, “I’m the first person to close a planet.” One scene, in which he is sitting isolated on a small rock overlooking the vastness of Mars, is particu-larly affecting.

Throughout, the ingenuity of Watney and the folks at NASA, particularly a strange young man, a math genius named Rich Pur-nell (Donald Glover), as well as an assist from

the Communist Chinese, dominates the film. A lot of what they come up with is undoubt-edly impossible scientifically, but so authentic does it sound that you cannot still your ad-miration. Watney’s attempts to create a gar-den are especially admirable. He combines Martian dirt and human waste to create an enriched soil in one building and plants pota-toes. He survives on them for many months.

The final scenes of his attempted rescue are mind-bendingly agonizing as well as spectacular in the extreme. The amount of restraint, taste and humor is the film’s great accomplishment. Every cast member, even a secondary one like the winsome engineer Mackenzie Davis as Mindy Park, creates his or her own link with the desperate action of the over two-hour film. The kids will thrill to the action, the adults will relate to the hu-man isolation and strength it shows, and you will have something to talk about over the family dinner table for months to come. A su-perb experience both in film and as an affir-mation of the best in human beings.

The Walk (PG-13) ****There once was a young man, crazy, they

said, “ fou!” and he loved walking on a tight wire. After conquering a swamp and tall trees, he moved to the Notre Dame Cathe-dral in Paris, crossing between two towers there. Then, sitting in a dentist’s office, he noticed an ad for the Twin Towers in New York. Thus was born the idea of walking a wire strung between two of the towers: one cable, one balancing bar and one fou French-man named Phillippe Petit.

He soon recruited others and a madcap and

highly unlikely adventure began to perform a coup, which is what Petit called his escapades. This one had so many details to take care of, under conditions so desperate and illegal that it is truly a miracle that he ever stepped off the towers at all. I say “towers” because, in the middle of crossing from one tower to another, Petit was confronted by police eager to stop him, and he turned around, making several trips across the void.

Petit, meantime had to struggle with logis-tics, weather, an approaching storm and an injury to his right foot that made it bleed throughout the walk. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Petit with the breathtaking Charlotte Le Bon as Annie, his great love, who disap-peared from public attention after the coup. His other friends are notable for their loyalty and one, Jean-Francois ( Jeff ) played by Cesar Domboy, had to overcome a fear of heights to rise to a level of hero in the story. I have a slight fear of heights after falling off a ladder years ago, but this film is apt to trigger at least some vertigo in sensitive audience members.

The heights (sorry) to which director Rob-ert Zemeckis went to capture realistic scenes of the Twin Towers and the monumental size of the challenge facing Petit and his crew are absolutely astounding, as are the effects of those scenes. When Petit lies down in the wire and almost falls asleep, I had reached my limit. See what yours is in this fantastic ren-dering of a true story so bizarre that it’s hard to believe it happened at all, let alone way back in 1974.

Enjoy more of Mike’s reviews at www.towncourier.com

Mom MaNAGer

A n article about mothers nagging their children was all

over social media recently. This piece caught my eye because well, I mean, I’m an expert over here.

And guess what I found out? There is no research on the effect of mothers nagging boys, only girls. Apparently, girls who are harassed by their mothers turn into rock stars. Teen pregnancies go down and college graduation rates go up.

Boys?Nada.Go ahead, Google boys + nagging + moms

and see what comes up.I’ll wait.See, there’s nothing. Well unless you count

the bizarre tale of the son who beheaded his mother because she nagged him.

I miss flipping through the Encyclopedia Britannica for information like we used to when I was a kid. No freaky tales from subur-bia in there anywhere.

Anyhoo, this leaves boy moms floundering.And how exactly do you research nagging?

There are so many ways to nag without saying a word. There’s the look. You know the raised eye brow, head tilt combo that is threatening enough to put you on the ‘no fly list.’ Or the sigh. The deep, long exhale that signals the end of the parenting rope and utter disap-pointment in a child. The warning bell that we are nearing DEFCON 1. And I have all but perfected the rear view stare of death. The glare that says you are saving all your words until the car is empty and then, duck for cover.

Hmm …This lack of statistics leads me to believe

that society regards boys as self-motivated. If someone really wants to expose the underbel-

ly of this issue, a few researchers better stop by my house and conduct a study in the kids’ bathroom.

They should bring along some chemists while they’re at it.

What they would find is a definite lack of motivation and a few rockin’ science experi-ments to boot. Tween and teen boys are about as motivated as a big, old slug. Unless it has to do with their phone, in which case they are over-achievers.

So, knowing my audience, I have resort-ed to nagging via text. But when you have three kids that each have phones, most text exchanges go something like this.

Me: Clean ur room. It looks like a bob went offMe: ugh bomb not bobSon: What? My room’s cleanMe: Sorry that was for ur brut herMe: ugh brother damn auto correct!Son: u need 2 read ur texts b4 u sendMe: Shut up

So, yeah, we’re not getting much done here on the Ponderosa. Which is a problem for my soon-to-be-out-in-the-world men.

If I don’t persist and push and prod, there is no hope for them. Instinctively I know this, even without a fancy study.

But what’s up with society creating the per-ception that boys can go it alone? Do they have some inner reserve that girls don’t have?

Um, no.Boys and girls may be motivated by differ-

ent things, but suggesting that only teenage girls benefit from involved parents is ludi-crous. The study did not state this specifical-ly, but without including males in research, it smells of gender bias.

This boy mom is going to keep conducting her own research with my completely unco-operative subjects. Boy moms of the world unite! In the name of science. In the name of sanity. In the name of survival … nag on.

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Page 24 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

QO ‘Working Hard, Just Trying to Get Better’By Syl Sobel

F or a team that had just won its fifth straight game and has scored almost 50 points per game in those wins, the

Quince Orchard football team seemed re-markably serious last Friday night after their 49-13 victory over Churchill.

That’s because this Friday is the game they’ve been waiting for all year: It’s North-west week.

“Big game here for us,” said QO head coach John Kelley. “We’re looking forward to a good challenge. They’re a very, very good football team.”

Northwest has knocked QO out of the playoffs the past two seasons en route to the Jaguars’ consecutive state championships. In 2014 and 2013 they beat QO at the Cougar-dome in the regional final. They also won at QO during the 2013 regular season, thus beating them three times in a row in their house.

“Our guys are well aware of the history be-tween the two of us,” Kelley said. “We just got to come out and have a great week of practice and be disciplined on Friday night, and the goal is to be 1-0 after next Friday night.”

QO has prepped for the Northwest game by outscoring their opponents 248-50 in the

past five weeks, with most of the opponents’ points coming late against QO reserves. The Cougars have been true to character, doing most of their offensive damage on the ground behind running backs Marvin Beander, Shawn Barlow and Eisley Kim. But week-by-week Kelley has let sophomore quarterback Doc Bonner throw the ball a little more, and Bonner has responded with seven TD passes in the past five games, including two against Churchill.

“I’m feeling more comfortable in the sys-tem,” said Bonner, who has also carried the ball on some designed running plays. “I’m

getting my reads, getting everything down. It feels great.”

QO’s 42-12 victory over Gaithersburg and last Friday’s win over Churchill had two things in common: Rain and they were de-cided early.

The Gaithersburg game was original-ly scheduled as a Friday night QO home game, but because of heavy rains from the Nor’easter, county school officials moved all football games to artificial turf fields and juggled the times. So QO was actu-ally the “home” team at the game played at Gaithersburg’s stadium before a sparse

crowd in driving rain in the midafternoon.QO scored three touchdowns in the first

quarter on a 64-yard Bonner to Nick Moon pass and two runs by Barlow, and the game was out of reach. Barlow would go on to score four TDs that day in the downpour.

“We practiced in this (rain) all week,” said a dripping wet Barlow afterward. “We had opportunities to practice in the gym; we’d rather practice outside. So when the game came, this was nothing new to us.”

At Churchill, after an almost 90-minute delay for rain and lightning, QO jumped out even faster, opening a 35-0 lead two plays into the second quarter and 42-0 at halftime. Beander scored on runs of 2 and 44 yards, while Barlow scored three times on a 32-yard pass from Bonner and runs of 13 and 55 yards, the latter of which he broke several tackles in the backfield, bounced off several more past the line, then cut back to outrun the Church-ill defense. A 16-yard Bonner pass to tight end Shayne Carver accounted for the other first half touchdown, and a 12-yard run by Ti-tus Johnson in the fourth quarter completed QO’s scoring.

Kelley has been pleased with his team’s ef-fort since their season-opening loss to Damas-cus. He said they overcame adversity against

Northwest Looks to Embrace the Role of Underdog Against Quince OrchardBy Jennifer Beekman

T he prospect of playing the spoiler is much more enjoyable than carrying the weight of expectations. Unlike the

past two seasons, the Northwest High School football team will be the underdog in Friday’s crosstown rivalry game at Quince Orchard. And Jaguars coach Mike Neubeiser said he is just fine with that status if it means less pres-sure will be placed on his young squad.

The two-time defending Class 4A state champion Northwest (4-2) has won three of the teams’ last four meetings; the Jaguars’ only loss was a 52-28 defeat during the 2014 regular season when heavily favored to win.

“When they destroyed us last year, it was a culmination of things, but one of them was that (the pressure) got to us,” Neubeis-er said. “We started to read our own press a little too much, believing what people were saying about us. It’s definitely easier going in when you’re the underdog because you have nothing to lose when everyone expects you to lose. I find our teams play better as underdogs. When you’re on top, it gets tense. It’s nice to say there is no pressure at all. If we win, we catch people off guard.”

Junior Khalil Owens (602 yards, three touchdowns) and shifty sophomore Juwon

Farri (529 yards, four touchdowns) have sur-faced as a productive backfield tandem, and establishing its run game will be important for Northwest Friday. But it won’t be easy against arguably the most physical team the Jaguars will face all season.

“If we have to sit back and pass 50 times, we’re going to be in trouble,” Neubeiser said. “Our run game has gotten a lot better. It makes it easier with options; teams can’t key in on one guy. With both of them lining up, we can go either way. And they’re both getting better as (receiving) threats. Khalil is very good at receiving; sometimes we’ll put him in slot and have him run a route.”

Imposing itself on the ground would in turn open up opportunities for Northwest’s third-year starting quarterback Mark Pierce to showcase the passing game that’s been so integral to the Jaguars’ success the past two years. Through six games he’s completed 84 of 144 attempts for 1,098 yards and 11 touch-downs; a good portion of the incompletions were dropped and not off target.

The Jaguars have three receivers—Alphon-so Foray (285, four), Reggie Anderson (248, two) and JJ Funez (235, three)—with more than 200 yards. Farri and Owens each have more than 100 yards receiving as well.

Northwest’s defense, which has been led

by Caleb Gills, Martin Foray, Ty Richardson and Davino Frazier, is in for quite the task Friday, against an offense that Neubeiser said is the biggest offensive line he’s seen at the high school level. Quince Orchard (5-1) has been cruising since its season-opening loss to Damascus. The Cougars thrive off pounding the ball down opponents’ throats, which feeds their play-action passing. But in last week’s win over previously undefeated Richard Montgomery, Northwest did get a look at

some similar style plays as Rockets coach Josh Klotz was a former coach at the Gaithersburg school.

While Northwest is still behind where it was at this point a year ago—to be expected after losing the caliber of skill position play-ers it did—the Jaguars have proven they have the talent to compete with the best teams in Montgomery County. Their two losses—to

n NW fOOTBAll Continued on page 26

n qO fOOTBAll Continued on page 26

SporTS

Photo | Mac Kennedy

Senior captain eisley Kim follows his powerful offensive line for a big gain in the red zone during the Oct. 2 game against Gaithersburg.

Photo | Arthur Cadeaux

Jaguars defense tackles rockets runner in last week’s win over previously undefeated richard montgomery.

Before the Big game

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 25

Area High School Programs Starting to Feel Impact of Montgomery TennisPlex

By Jennifer Beekman

T ennis, with all of its intricacies, is not the type of sport that can be picked up in a day, month or even a year.

The skills needed to be a competitive play-er, especially in tennis-rich Montgomery County, take years to develop, second-year Quince Orchard High School girls’ tennis coach Chris Barber said.

“You can’t hide in tennis,” Barber said. “It’s a challenging sport. I can’t take a raw beginner and make her competitive at the high school level, at least quickly. We had only four girls cut this year; they had never played tennis before. That’s kind of the lay of the land so to speak.”

The Cougars (2-7), who are currently in the county’s second division, and cross-town rival Northwest (6-3), which has dropped down to Division III, have both spent time in the county’s top division but neither has experienced much success there or at the state level. Quince Orchard has won a total of two state titles since the tournament’s 1975 inception—out of 200 possible championships—but none since Derek Nguyen’s 1996 boys singles win; Northwest is searching for its first.

But it appears the construction four years ago of the Montgomery TennisPlex at the Maryland SportsPlex in Boyds is starting to take effect at the high school level, North-west coach Marie Franklin said.

“I think the TennisPlex has been a real positive edition to the tennis community,” Franklin said. “They run many youth pro-grams; those feeder programs have been very helpful. I play there myself a lot and I see kids there regularly, I see them come in for their lessons.”

Franklin and Barber both spoke of a young and promising presence on each of their respective squads. While Quince Orchard is led by senior captain Caroline O’Keefe at No. 1 singles, six total fresh-men, including No. 2 singles player Ser-ena Tong, make up nearly 50 percent of the Cougars’ roster. Four-year starter Joyce Zhou sits atop Northwest’s lineup and classmate Jahnavi Murali rounds out the singles at No. 4. But it is sophomore Sela Furutan and freshman Cynthia Eapen who play Nos. 2 and 3 singles. Freshman Tracey Tran is also an important part of the line-up as part of the No. 1 doubles pairing but has filled in at singles and will likely add depth to the singles lineup next fall, Frank-lin said.

“I had two nice (freshman) surprises this year and they’ve just been a breath of fresh air,” Franklin said. “They know how to play, they’ve had formal training. They’re sort of the future of our team. We’re losing six seniors and they’ve been stalwarts of the team. But it’s nice to know I have some tennis players who already have the skill, it’s refreshing.”

Recipient of the U.S. Tennis Associa-tion’s 2014 Outstanding Facility Award, the Montgomery TennisPlex, built on nine acres of land, consists of two air-con-

ditioned, four-court indoor tennis bubbles and an additional four outdoor courts with lights. Aside from pure aesthetics, the facil-ity is attached to one of the most renowned coaches in the Washington, D.C., area and the nation: 2000 USTA Mid-Atlantic Hall of Fame inductee and TennisPlex Chief Executive Officer Jack Schore.

In 1986 Schore helped fund the con-struction of the tennis bubble at the Bullis School, and he coached the Bulldog boys to nine Interstate Athletic Conference ti-tles in his 27-year tenure.

He has also coached five top-50 ranked professional tennis players, including for-mer World No. 1 doubles player Richey Reneberg and Wimbledon quarterfinalist Dan Goldie.

Proximity to a facility that offers ex-tensive programs for all ages (beginning at 4-under) and levels is extremely im-portant, Franklin said. That’s been part of what’s separated areas that are traditionally strong in tennis, like Potomac, Rockville and Bethesda, from the rest of the county. The Montgomery TennisPlex is a USTA Designated Early Development Center and Certified Competitive Training Center.

But another attractive quality is that un-like many tennis clubs in the surrounding area, there are no membership or admis-sion fees and court time and instruction is extremely affordable. Franklin also add-ed that General Manager Kevin Dowdell seemed flexible on prices according to what families are able to afford; he is more interested in attracting youth in the com-munity to tennis.

“Playing tennis in high school, (kids) see how important it is to continue in the sport,” Franklin said. “To get better, you have to keep feeding it. In talking to Kevin Dowdell, they’re very interested in pulling youth in; they’re very flexible with differ-ent programs and different prices. That is attractive to many players coming in. I’ve heard even more talk about (the Tennis-Plex) this year than I did last year. My only thought is that it’s having a positive impact on the tennis community, the youth in our community and because it’s in our cluster, it makes it attractive and available.”

Photo | Mac Kennedy

Northwest’s Jahnavi murali plays in an Oct. 8 match against quince Orchard.

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Page 26 The Town Courier October 16, 2015

Seneca Valley and Sherwood—were the re-sult of costly rookie mistakes and penalties as well as inability to capitalize on prime scoring chances.

But the errors that have cost Northwest are fixable, and Neubeiser said he and the coach-ing staff have taken additional steps during practice to ensure these mistakes do not hap-pen again. Aside from using game film to show his players what they’re doing wrong during competition, Neubeiser said all of the coaches are acting as officials during practic-es to make sure every little mistake is caught and corrected. Training sessions are also be-ing videotaped.

“I think some of (the penalties) is the nerv-ousness and seeing the crowd,” Neubeiser said. “There are a few thousand people, their

friends are watching, their family is watching. It’s a distracting factor that people don’t talk about a lot but can throw people off. That’s part of the pressure but also, it’s the added speed. The guy across from you (on game night) is a really good football player, could be All-County. And all week you’ve been going against a kid who doesn’t even start for us.”

Friday’s game is an important one for Northwest, not just for the playoff hunt but for neighborhood pride. Many of these play-ers grew up together, some went to middle school together and have been playing sports on the same youth teams for years—Neubei-ser added that social media has added a whole new dynamic.

“I think because they all know each oth-er, that really adds to (the magnitude of the game),” Neubeiser said. “It’s a neighborhood rivalry. But also just the success of the pro-grams the last few years, that adds to it as well.”

Gaithersburg in dealing with the time and venue changes and the weather conditions. And against Churchill he said they worked on several areas that needed improvement.

“If our goal is to play football in late No-vember then we got to get better each and every single week,” said Kelley. “We’re just trying to get better.”

His players have bought into that philos-ophy.

“We’re still working,” said Barlow. “We can’t be complacent. Every time we’re in practice we got to keep working hard.”

And the 12th ranked Cougars (in the Wash-ington Post poll) are focusing their work this week on the Northwest Jaguars, their nearby rivals and the team that’s broken their hearts the past two season.

“Our goal again like any other week is to be 1-0,” said Kelley, repeating this team’s oft-said mantra. “It’s going to be a tough chal-lenge but we’ll have a good week of practice and come out and give it our best shot on Fri-day night.”

“It’s a chance to … show that this team’s grown a lot in the last year,” said Barlow.

Kick-off for the annual Battle of Great Seneca is 6:30 p.m. at the Cougardome. Get there early—it will be a big crowd.

n qo football from page 24

n nw football from page 24

October 16, 2015 The Town Courier Page 27

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