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Clongen Labs Opens in GaithersburgBy Karen O’Keefe

O n Nov. 7, county and Gaithersburg officials joined lobbyists, scientists, businesspeople and others to celebrate the opening in Gaithers-

burg of the new home of Clongen Laboratories.The lab’s relocation to Gaithersburg is significant

because Clongen is a business that has opted to stay in Montgomery County at a time when other busi-nesses are opting to move elsewhere due to the rela-tively high cost of doing business – and paying tax-es — in the county. The presence of Clongen in Gaithersburg is also significant because the labora-tory is a nationally known center for infectious dis-ease testing, noted especially for Lyme disease and other tick-borne illnesses.

Founded nine years ago and located until last month in Germantown, the Gaithersburg location of Clongen labs more than doubles the lab’s size. The new facility located on Perry Parkway is 6,000 square feet.

Initially begun in California in 1999 as a bio-technology consulting firm, Clongen moved to Germantown as Clongen Laboratories in 2004.

Ahmed Kilani is Clongen’s president and labo-ratory director, as well as a Quince Orchard Park resident. He is a board-certified clinical pathologist who holds a master’s degree in Clinical Science and a Ph.D. in Infectious Diseases and Immunity.

His lab has a national reputation for infectious disease testing and offers more than 250 DNA and RNA detection-based tests for infectious diseases. The lab specializes in testing ticks, blood and hu-man tissues for Lyme disease (LD) and other tick-borne illnesses (TBI). It also provides lot release testing services and custom assays for research.

On Nov. 7, most of the people on hand to cel-

ebrate with Kilani and Clongen employees were talking about ticks.

“Last year, the Centers for Disease Control found 300,000 cases of Lyme disease across the United States,” said Monte Skall, founder of the National Capital Lyme Disease Association (NatCapLyme) and a Lyme disease sufferer who spoke at Clongen’s grand opening. “This information has particular significance for Maryland, which is one of the states with the highest reported incidences of LD in the nation.”

“In less than a decade, Clongen Labs has become a national expert in the field of clinical diagnos-tics of infectious diseases and especially Lyme and tick-borne diseases,” she added. “Kilani’s laborato-ry team has worked on methods to recognize more than 20 of the most relevant tick-borne illnesses. No longer do people have to send a tick to a lab in New York or Massachusetts and wait two weeks to get the result.”

Skall emphasized Kilani’s commitment to pa-tient well-being. “It is also hugely reassuring that Dr. Kilani takes the time to talk to people who call and explain what a test means and what a test result means to that patient.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), last year 95 percent of the nation’s Lyme disease cases were reported in 13 states, all located in the Northeast and the upper Midwest. One of the 13 is Maryland. In 2012, Maryland was number six in confirmed cases.

Lyme disease is the most commonly reported vec-tor-borne illness in the United States. In 2012, it was the seventh most common “nationally notifi-able” disease. A notifiable disease is required by law

Carol Sher Lives Life With a Bit of a GiggleBy Pam Schipper

M eet Lulu and Mew, the incorrigibly fun girlfriend and her faithful sidekick cat. Lulu is your sister, daughter, mother,

aunt, cousin or friend—or the BFF you wish you had.

“I started drawing Lulu when I was about 10 years old,” said Carol Sher, a Montgomery Village artist who will be exhibiting at the Sugarloaf Crafts Festival in Gaithersburg Nov. 22-24. “You know when you’re a kid and you want to be older and you want to wear all these cool clothes and dress up? That’s real-ly what it was about — all that fun. As Cyndi Lauper says, ‘Girls just want to have fun.’”

And Mew? She was the cat Sher wished she had. Her parents, raising a family in Detroit, Michigan, deftly dodged the pet issue. Today, Sher has five-year-old Max, a rescue, and 20-year-old Jinxie.

In the world of Lulu and Mew — known as “Life with a Bit of a Giggle” — dresses, shoes, jewelry and handbags abound, be-glit-tered and bejeweled in a colorful and happily

patterned array. Each pen, ink and watercolor drawing pulls you in with its detail and win-some expression before delighting you with a funny saying.

“I get my ideas from myself, my girlfriends, my customers and sister. I use only original thoughts and sayings, and they’re never sarcas-tic or hurtful,” Sher said. “I just want women to smile.”

Lulu and Mew have tag-teamed it onto greeting cards, compacts, clocks, purs-es, aprons—even checks and a Crazy 8-ball. They have their own calendar and, of course, prints. A book of 90 drawings that Sher creat-ed over the past 15 years is in the works.

Lulu and Mew’s porcelain tiles are stunning.This may be because Sher tucked the two

away for years while she pursued a multi-facet-ed career as a porcelain artist, who was known also for her gold work and jewelry. To look at the breadth and quality of her work—exqui-site miniature porcelain dolls, shoes and hats, tiny tooth fairy boxes, tea sets and charm box-es—you might think she was educated as an

By Pam Schipper

W hen Marty Kobrin signed his lease with Be-atty Management Com-

pany in 2000, the economy was booming and the 3,795-square-foot space, built in 1999, was al-most brand new. His rent was set appropriately.

When the economy slowed in 2009, Kobrin found it increas-ingly difficult to pay those year 2000 lease rates.

You’ve heard of upside-down mortgages? Kobrin, for all in-

tents and purposes, had an up-side-down lease. “Spaces are be-ing leased for much less today,” he said.

According to CoStar, the av-erage triple-net retail rate per square foot for a comparable freestanding building in the Gaithersburg 2-4 star market is $21.73. Five years ago in 2008, the comparable commercial rent was just over $28 per square foot.

Kobrin’s lease agreement was structured with four five-year

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

Vol. 10, No. 22

CourierTheToWN

November 22, 2013www.towncourier.com

n clongen labs opening Continued on page 6

n star diner Continued on page 6

n sher Continued on page 8

Star Diner Stays in Business With Chapter 11

Photo | Phil Fabrizio

creator of the diva-and-feline duo lulu and Mew, artist carol sher cuddles real-life cat Max.


(left to right) star diner owners Marty and sharon Kobrin with their baby charley enjoy satur-day morning at the restaurant with longtime employees Fernando argaez and carmen Fleites.

The Town Courier November 22, 2013

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SOLD!

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James BeattyBranch Manager

301-728-3286 [email protected]

November 22, 2013 The Town Courier

Compiled by Pam Schipper

Veterans Day at Kentlands ManorOn a picture-perfect Veterans Day, 18 men and one

woman who had served in World War II through the Vietnam War were honored by Kentlands Manor staff and their fellow residents. Michael Baniak, Quince Orchard High School sophomore and Pritchard Music Academy student, began the ceremony with a beauti-ful rendition of “Taps.” Boy Scout Troop 291 North Potomac helped with the flag-raising ceremony, and World War II veteran Betty Davis carried the flag. Vivian Stevens, Kentlands Manor assistant property manager, thanked all veterans for their “willingness to die defending this country,” and introduced each resident veteran by name and type of service. They are Guy Berado (Navy), Eugene Blacher (Army), Bob Blazo (Army), Orrin Butts (Army Air Force), Betty Davis (Army Medical Corp), Gordon Golder (Marines), Alex Grabowski (Navy), Walter Jimenez (Army Ranger), Joe Katzel (Army Medical Corp), Ronald Lee (Army), Mel Longhi (Army), Eugene Lunghofer (Air Force), Ronald Mahan (Navy), James Martin (Army Air Corp), Maurice Martin (Army), Ronald McCleary (Air Force), Dan Miller (Army), Robert Placious (Army Air Force), and Allen Pritchard (Army Air Force). Each veteran was pre-sented with a certificate of appreciation and a pin. Rockville Fire Station 31 stood in attendance

Deck the Halls in Red, White and Blue“How nice would it be if people put red, white

and blue bunting, ribbons or an American flag up when they decorate for the holidays?” said Terri Downs, owner of JT Interiors in North Potomac and Kentlands resident. Downs’ father, father-in-law and uncle all served in World War II, and the idea came to her this Veterans Day—why not start an initia-tive to make this holiday season a patriotic one in the Kentlands community. “We have a lot of retired and working military here,” she said, “and it would be nice to honor the people coming home.”

Downs urges Kentlands businesses and residents to include American flags and other patriotic decorations with the usual garland and lights.

Lakelands Turkey Bowl 2013Lakelands resident Ed Fowlkes and Direct Deals MD

are organizing the 3rd Annual Lakelands Turkey Bowl at Lakelands Park field, 8:30 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning for residents of the Lakelands, Kentlands and surrounding neighborhoods. This year, the Lakelands Turkey Bowl raises funds for Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg. A $10 cash donation to Manna may be brought to the game but is not required to participate. Donations to Manna Food Center for the game may also be made online here: http://bit.ly/turkey2013.

ArouND ToWN

n around town Continued on page 14

thehot spot With Maureen Stiles & Phil Fabrizio

This issue’s Hot Spot topic is the rare convergence of Thanksgiving and the first day of Hanukkah on Nov. 28. According to a calculation by Jonathan Mizrahi, this won’t happen again for more than 77,798 years.

Most people told us that what has been termed Thanksgivukkah was “great” or “good.” Two community members went a bit further. Here’s what they had to say.

“This is not going to happen again for an-other 70,000 years or so. My family is never all together for Hanukkah, so having it begin on Thanksgiving means that we can cele-brate together, which is great and would not normally happen.”

Rachel MarynGaithersburg

“I think Jews in our community are excited about the confluence of these two holidays. Hannukah itself is a home-based holiday, with the central observance being the lighting of candles in the windows of our homes. And of course Thanksgiving is also an important time for extended families to come together — so I hope it will be a double celebration for many of our families.

“In addition, many scholars believe that Hannukah itself was celebrated as a delayed version of the fall harvest holiday of Sukkot. Since the Temple had been defiled by a foreign ruler, the holiday could not be celebrated in its normal time in October. But when the Maccabees wrested control and sanctified the Temple once again, they celebrated that eight-day harvest holiday of Thanksgiving a few weeks late, creating what we now call Hannukah. This shares the same spirit as the first Thanksgiving.”

Rabbi Jacob BlumenthalShaare Torah Congregation

A Sweet SuccessBy Maureen Stiles

L ike typical parents of a teen would, the Eyrichs and Lisles re-garded their daughters’ plan for

charity fundraising as half-baked at best. And as any typical teen would, the two girls used that lackluster reaction as part of their motivation to make that plan a reality.

“No one took us seriously,” said Brooke Eyrich as partner Meghan Lisle nodded her head in agreement. “So we used that doubt to drive us and prove them wrong.” Thus, M&B Cookie Jar was born.

The final concept was a long time coming as the girls pondered and dis-carded many options before settling on baking and selling cookies.

“We knew we wanted to do some-thing for charity,” said Lisle. “So we thought about cooking meals and some other ideas, but cookies seemed like the easiest thing to do.” And as Eyrich added, “Everyone loves cookies.”

The duo, both seniors at Quince Orchard High School, chose St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital as their charity. This was due in large part because Lisle has a cousin living in Tennessee who suffers from child-hood Leukemia.

“Once we got the ball rolling, we sat down and made a brochure and logo and gave it to our family first,” Lisle explained. The families jump-started the fledgling operation with $100 in seed money. Then things really took off.

“We wanted to put the cookies in mason jars with ribbon,” said Eyrich,

“so we went to Kmart and found them for $.75 apiece, and we filled our first order on Aug. 4.”

An order consists of a dozen cookies packed in a labeled jar and tied with a ribbon for $7, or a half-dozen cookies in a bag with a ribbon for slightly less. Current flavors include M&M cookies, choco-late chip, sugar, oat-meal and more.

“We just expand-ed to offer shipping out of county or state for an extra fee,” said Eyrich, “and we hope that helps with the hol-idays coming up.”

Looking for a way to reach a broad-er audience, the pair decided to set up a booth at Oktoberfest in the Kentlands last month.

“We had to get permits from the city for the booth,” said Lisle. “It was so complicated.”

Eyrich’s mother, Kylah, concurred, adding, “The city of Gaithersburg was so wonderful to work with. They were great and really walked us through the entire process so we could get the girls set up with a booth.”

Committing to Oktoberfest meant a lot of baking—3,600 cookies to be exact—and you can’t accomplish that without help.

“We babysit a lot,” said Eyrich, “and the kids we sit for helped bake and take around brochures. Our fam-ilies helped, too.”

M&B’s Cookie Jar was a success

at Oktoberfest, selling all but a box or two of jarred cookies. “We made $1200 at Oktoberfest,” said Lisle. “So that gives us about $1500 total since August. We never thought it would take off this fast.”

That $1500 is currently in an on-line account linked to a St. Jude’s Walkathon the girls are doing in Tennessee on Nov. 23.

“We are really excited about going to Tennessee,” said Eyrich. “One of the reasons that we picked a big char-ity like St. Jude’s is because we knew they could help us with marketing and a web page. Being linked with their page is so much easier. If we ever host a bigger event, we know they will send us things to hand out, too.”

Baking doesn’t seem time-consum-ing unless you consider that both girls are trying to complete college ap-plications and finish out their senior years.

“I don’t know how we find the


Meghan lisle and brooke eyrich have cooked up $1,500 for st. Jude’s children’s research hospital by selling homemade cookies through their charity business, M&b’s cookie Jar.

n sweet success Continued on page 6

Photo | Pam Schipper

Joseph Katzel, who served with the u.s. army Medical corp., and ronald lee, who completed two tours in Vietnam, were recognized at the third annual Kentlands Manor Veterans day Flag-raising ceremony.


Frederick Corridor Study Opens a Dearth of Options

On Oct. 14, Sage Policy Group, Inc., Dewberry, and The Traffic Group pre-sented findings from the Frederick Avenue Corridor Development Capacity Study to the city of Gaithersburg. The study indi-cated that the Frederick Avenue corridor was seeing a decline in economic growth in surrounding areas, and its major recom-mendations included boosting aesthetic ap-peal and attracting more businesses to the area.

The presentation was met with a lot of discussion from Mayor Sidney Katz and the City Council. Some of the recommenda-tions by the City Council included amend-ments to the zoning districts to under-ground utilities, thereby reducing the risk of outages and improving the aesthetics of the neighborhood. On Nov. 7, the city re-ceived a $50,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development (DBED), covering nearly

half of the cost of the Frederick Avenue Corridor Development Capacity Study. At the moment, the city staff is work-ing on a strategy to prioritize and imple-ment recommendations, said Gaithersburg Economic Development Director Tom Lonergan.

Gaithersburg Awarded Medal for Let’s Move! Initiatives

Four medals were awarded to Gaithersburg for actions taken to improve access to healthy, affordable food and in-crease opportunities for physical activ-ity. Gaithersburg received Gold, Silver and Bronze medals for helping residents make healthier choices with their food. Information is prominently displayed at all city venues where food is available. The city also received a Bronze medal for pro-moting nutrition and physical activity in early care and education settings. Among the city initiatives that meet this goal are its Start Smart© sports programs for 4- and 5-year-olds and their parents, support of supplemental meal programs for ele-mentary school students, and educational programs coordinated through the city’s grants to nonprofit organizations for food assistance.

The awards were given by the National League of Cities (NLC) in conjunc-tion with Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! campaign.

Aquatic Center Renovations on Track

The city of Gaithersburg and Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) have completed structural repairs to the Gaithersburg Aquatic Center, located at 2 Teachers Way. The facility, which was built in 1975 and is co-owned by MCPS and operated by the city of Gaithersburg, has been closed since January 2012 when cracks that compromised the building’s structural integrity were discovered in ex-terior support columns.

The city of Gaithersburg and Montgomery County Government are now working together to complete interior improvements to the swimming pool com-plex. Facility enhancements include a new white coat for the main pool, a new filtra-tion system and installation of an ultravio-let disinfection system. It is anticipated that the Gaithersburg Aquatic Center will re-open in spring 2014.

City Identifies Most Vulnerable and Chronically Homeless

As part of the nationwide 100,000 Homes Campaign, an effort to identify the most vulnerable and chronically home-less, the Gaithersburg Team did a survey of homeless people in the city from Nov. 4-6.

The city found eight homeless people in three designated areas: 355 Corridor, Olde Towne area and Quince Orchard shop-ping center. Those who could be surveyed were surveyed to determine their needs. “This is the first time we have participat-ed in the 100,000 Homes Campaign,” said Gaithersburg Acting Director of Homeless Services Jimmy Frazier-Bey. “[The vul-nerable and chronically homeless] are the most likely to die if they don’t get housing.”

Gaithersburg Adds New Speed Camera on South Frederick Avenue

A new location was approved for en-forcement efforts under the city of Gaithersburg’s Safe Speed Program on the southbound side of South Frederick Avenue at Education Boulevard. The post-ed speed limit in the 500 block of South Frederick Avenue is 35 miles per hour. The camera became operational on Oct. 28.

Local Charities Benefitted by Annual Winter Lights Festival

The 18th City of Gaithersburg Winter Lights Festival, Nov. 29-Dec. 31 at Seneca Creek State Park, will benefit the following six local charities. Andy’s Safe Haven res-cues dogs that are scheduled for euthanasia in high-kill shelters. The Asbury Methodist Village in Support of Gaithersburg Beloved Community Initiative supports intergen-erational relationships and initiatives be-tween Asbury Methodist Village residents and youth and families in the surround-ing neighborhoods. Baby’s Bounty MC, Inc. provides essential clothing and gear to babies born into disadvantaged fami-lies. Friends of Wells/Robertson House, Inc. supports a continuum of prevention and intervention programs and services to reduce chronic addiction and homeless-ness in the community. The Gaithersburg Community Soup Kitchen provides hot, nutritious meals and other essential ser-vices to homeless and needy persons in the Gaithersburg area. The Pain Connection - Chronic Pain Outreach Center, Inc. pro-vides information, psychosocial support, coping skills, and training to individuals with chronic pain, as well as their families and healthcare providers. For more infor-mation, visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/winterlights.

Advisory Committee Members Sought for Bus System

The MTA is currently building a rapid bus transit system throughout Montgomery County from Clarksburg to Shady Grove Metro Station in Gaithersburg. Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) Area Advisory Committees have been created to aid in the creation of this system. Committee

cityscene Compiled by Jenny Chen

n city scene Continued on page 5

11/25

Mayor and City Council Work

Session, 7:30 p.m., City Hall

12/2

Mayor and City Council Meeting,

7:30 p.m., City Hall

12/4

Mayor and City Council Meeting,

7:30 p.m., City Hall

12/5

Historic District Commission

Meeting, 7:30 p.m., City Hall

For the latest information on city meetings, visit the city of Gaithersburg website at www.gaithersburgmd.gov.

MEETING CALENDAR

309 Main StreetGaithersburg, MD 20878

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

©2013 Courier CommunicationsThe Town Courier is an independent monthly newspaper providing news and information for the communities of Kentlands, Lakelands and Quince Orchard Park in Gaithersburg, Md. The paper is published by Courier Communications, which is responsible for the form, content and policies of the newspaper. The Town Courier does not espouse any political belief or endorse any product or service in its news coverage. Articles and letters submitted for publication must be signed and may be edited for length or content. The Town Courier is not responsible for any claims made by advertisers Letters to the Editor and Commentary do not necessarily ref lect the views of the staff, management or advertisers of The Town Courier.

Pam Schipper Managing Editor301.330.0132

[email protected]

Debi Rosen Advertising Manager

301.279.2304 [email protected]

Sandra ChristianAdvertising Sales240.401.1020

[email protected]

Staff Photographer Phil Fabrizio

Staff Writers Nora CaplanJenny Chen

Mike Cuthbert Nora Fitzpatrick

Maureen FriedmanSean GossardBetty Hafner

Sheilah KaufmanJeff Kinney

Karen O’Keefe

Vanessa Mallory KotzDonna Marks

Syl Sobel Maureen Stiles

Student WriterChristina Xu

Diane Dorney Publisher


Matt Danielson President



Police Say Cameras Are Saving LivesBy Jeff Kinney

S peed cameras might be annoying, but they have curtailed speeding and saved lives, according to Sgt. Scott

Scarff of the Gaithersburg Police Depart-ment’s traffic unit.

Scarf recounted the origins and accom-plishments of the Safe Speed Program on Nov. 6, a few days after the city’s latest speed camera location was approved on the southbound side of South Frederick Avenue at Education Boulevard.

Gaithersburg’s part of the program (which is run concurrently by Montgomery County outside of city limits) started in 2007 when the county and the state legis-lature first started investigating the use of speed cameras. Scarff noted that cameras had been used extensively in Europe, and eventually various U.S. jurisdictions im-ported the idea.

“We moved in conjunction with Montgomery County and Rockville,” Scarff said. “The idea began with red light cameras, and throughout the country there was an effort to see if cameras could be used for photo speed enforcement.”

After considerable research, the state green-lighted a pilot program in Montgomery County. When the pi-lot proved to be successful, the city of Gaithersburg presented the idea to the mayor and City Council, and they gave their blessing for speed cameras to be in-stalled within city limits.

Currently the city manages two cam-eras mounted on mobile van units, two fixed cameras on South Frederick Ave., and five portable cameras. These serve 11 approved locations: South Frederick Avenue, Diamond Drive, Marquis Drive, North Summit Avenue, Quince Orchard Boulevard, Quince Orchard Road, Watkins Mill Road, West Deer Park Road, Christopher Avenue, Clopper Road and Girard Street. The up-front cost to the city is zero. The vendor, Xerox ACS, provides and maintains the units free of charge in exchange for a percentage of citation reve-nue, or $16.25 of every $40 fine.

Although both the city and Montgomery County manage speed cameras, the only overlap is on Quince Orchard Road, a busy street that can use stepped-up en-forcement. Even there, the city and county cameras are located within the appropriate jurisdictions.

Placing speed cameras requires a lengthy

investigation process. First, the city looks at factors such as community complaints about speed, the impact of traditional en-forcement, and whether speed bumps or some other approach would be more appropriate.

Studies are then conducted to determine the 85th percentile speed at the proposed location. In order for speed cameras to be effective, the majority of vehicles in the area need to be traveling at least 12 mph above the posted speed limit.

Finally, the city looks at criteria such as the number, type and severity of collisions; surrounding uses like churches, schools and pedestrian walkways; and traffic volume.

If a camera is still deemed to be appropri-ate, all of these data are presented to an ad-visory committee composed of people rep-resentative of the community, who provide their opinion in the form of a non-binding vote. Finally, the city manager, mayor, and City Council have to sign off.

Although Scarff said the program has been instrumental in lowering speeds and reducing collisions, he understands that not everyone is enthusiastic about the cam-eras. Some people think they are mostly designed to generate revenue, and others consider them a violation of civil liberties.

“The revenue generation argument has been around throughout the history of law enforcement,” he said. “The police depart-ment has never looked at these cameras from a financial standpoint. The program from its beginning has always been about safety. Plus, money isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

He said revenue from tickets is used to pay for the program, and any profits are funneled to public safety projects like side-walk improvements.

As for civil liberties, Scarff sees little dif-ference between a police officer standing on the side of the road with a radar gun and a standalone unit with a similar device. “It’s kind of an emotional issue for a lot of people,” he said. “I guess you feel bet-ter when you have a person you can argue with.”

He also noted that cameras, unlike po-lice officers, are always on duty and can ticket every speeder. An individual officer can cite only about one in every 30.

“I like to believe the silent majority are in favor of the cameras,” he said. “Certainly most people in the neighborhoods that have them generally believe they’re a good thing.”

Compiled by Jeff Kinney

Residential BurglaryOn Nov. 7 at 8:02 p.m., a residen-

tial burglary was reported in the unit block of Pontiac Way. An unknown suspect(s) entered the residence through a window and removed property.

On Nov. 11 at 5:24 p.m., a residen-tial burglary was reported in the 200 block of Shadow Glen Court. An un-known suspect(s) forced entry into the residence but did not remove property.

Source: Gaithersburg and Montgomery County Police Reports

poLiceBLotteRpoLiceBeat By Jeff Kinney

from page 4

cityscene

members will partner with the MTA and representatives from Montgomery County, the city of Gaithersburg, and the city of Rockville to plan the proposed station ar-eas along the CCT corridor. They will be advising in a variety of subjects, including station design and amenities, safety and se-curity, and traffic management.

Residents, community organization

members, area employees and business owners are encouraged to complete the self-nomination form to be on the com-mittees, which can be found at www.mta.maryland.gov/cct. Completed forms are due to the MTA by Dec. 3.

Questions can be directed to Tracee Strum-Gilliam, the project’s community outreach coordinator, at 410.454.9761 or [email protected].


a traffic camera at education boulevard enforces safe speed near gaithersburg high school.


to be reported to government authorities.“Vector-borne disease” is the term com-

monly used to describe an illness caused by an infectious microbe that is transmitted to people by blood-sucking arthropods like mosquitoes and blood-sucking arachnids like ticks. The term “vector” refers to any arthropod or arachnid that transmits dis-ease through feeding activity.

The diagnosis and treatment of Lyme disease patients in the United States is con-troversial within the medical community. Greg Skall, a business attorney who is also counsel to NatCapLyme, speaking at the Clongen celebration summarized recent research findings that indicate “39 percent of patients later determined to have LD do not meet CDC surveillance criteria for LD serology.

“The research concluded that the two-ti-er (diagnostic approach) currently being used in medicine is ineffective. Patients do not develop antibodies early enough and diagnosis of tick-borne disease remains problematic as a result. The Lyme disease test, designed for surveillance, not for di-agnosis, has sensitivity set very, very low. Therefore, by definition, it generates sub-stantial false negatives — and obviously is very problematic.

“Lyme patients need a high quality, highly principled laboratory with a strong commitment to improving tick-borne ill-ness diagnostics. We are blessed to have Clongen and Dr. Ahmed Kilani. His suc-

cess will mean better and more meaningful ser-vices for sufferers of LD and TBI,” he emphasized.

“Our commit-ment from day one has been to im-prove health,” said Kilani in his con-cluding remarks. “In addition to the cell technology and other molecular di-agnostics we do, I am committed to Lyme patients, tick-borne illness-es and improving diagnostics. This is my mission.”

He quoted Dr. Bill Foege, a public health doctor who spent his life fighting smallpox in Africa and is credited with devising the glob-al strategy that led to the eradication of smallpox in the late 1970s: “‘The philos-ophy behind science is to discover truth. The philosophy behind medicine is to use that truth for the benefit of patients. The philosophy behind public health is social justice.’”

Kilani observed, “We do not yet have social justice. In an area plagued with tick-borne illness, we heard too many cries from women with little children suffering from a problem no one could diagnose. We saw a need for someone to step up and put all their resources and knowledge into (the ef-fort) to tackle tick-borne illness – and that’s what we have been doing.”

“This day shows that Montgomery County, the state of Maryland and the

city of Gaithersburg can all work togeth-er to make certain that good business-es remain in the state of Maryland and in Montgomery County. For that, we are very pleased,” said Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz.

Also on hand to congratulate Kilani was Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett. “This is reflective of Montgomery County where so many businesses start at the local level with an idea and with great people. Our county is home to over 300 biotech firms, the FDA, NIH, universities and institutions.”

Leggett presented Kilani with a certif-icate from the county “in recognition of your nine-year anniversary and the open-ing of the new facility.”

Katz presented Kilani with a proclama-tion that Nov. 7 “is Clongen Laboratories Day in the city of Gaithersburg.”

time … we just do,” said Lisle. “It is im-portant to us to do something for others. We already have our service hours com-pleted, so this is not about adding some-thing to the college application. We just do it to give back.”

And the process has given them plenty as well. “It has definitely made me more money-conscious,” said Eyrich. “We clipped coupons to save money so more could go back to St. Jude’s.”

The girls put every penny possible back

into the business and take no profit for themselves. “It just feels really good to do this. We are proud of it,” said Lisle.

And that pride extends to the parents. “We were skeptical initially, but now we are so proud of the girls and all that they have done to benefit St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital,” said Kylah Eyrich, speaking for herself and Nancy Lisle.

Both girls are adamant that they “could not have done any of this without our par-ents. They have been so supportive and wonderful.”

If you would like to support M&B’s Cookie Jar, you can find them on Facebook or visit www.mbcookiejar.com.

By Jenny Chen

W hether your extended fam-ily is coming to town for Thanksgiving or you’re stay-

ing home with your family, Kentlands has plenty to offer. We compiled a list of special things that area restaurants and shops have to offer for the holiday.

The Bar Method Matches Food Donations

The week of Thanksgiving, bring in a bag of nonperishable food for donation to Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg and The Bar Method will match your donation with anoth-er bag of food.

n shop talK Continued on page 13

n Sweet SucceSS from page 3

shoptaLk

Photo | Library of Congress

the holidays are officially ho ho humming along, thanksgiving and chanukah quickly leading into christmas. this “throwback thanksgiving” image was created in 1909 by schrader & dennis, three oaks, Mich.

options and a standard 3 percent annual in-crease. He currently pays $39.53 per square foot, or $12,500 per month in rent, Kobrin said. With a year-and-a-half left on the most recent lease option, he began talking to landlord Beatty this summer. He hoped for a bit of a break on rent to bring his rate more in keeping with current market value for commercial space in the area.

Beatty was reluctant initially to negoti-ate and asked for payment of the $180,360

owed, Kobrin said. He had no recourse but to file for Chapter 11 reorganization on Nov. 5.

“I did this to stay in business,” he em-phasized, adding that debt owed is mainly to Beatty Management Company.

Negotiations with Beatty resume this week, and Kobrin is hopeful. He looks for-ward to providing great meals and camara-derie year round, as well as beautiful music on warm evenings in Market Square for a 13th year.

“It’s business as usual inside the diner with the same food and service,” Kobrin said.

n Star Diner from page 1

n clonGen labS openinG from page 1

Photo | Karen O’Keefe

dr. ahmed Kilani, founder and president of clongen laboratories and Quince orchard park resident, celebrates the grand opening of the lab’s new facility on nov. 7 with Montgomery county executive isiah leggett, gaithersburg Mayor sidney Katz and many others.


QOHS Directors Discuss The MousetrapBy Christina Xu

Q uince Orchard High School’s pro-duction of Agatha

Christie’s murder mystery The Mousetrap came to a close on Saturday, Nov. 16. The play was the culmi-nation of eight intensive weeks of rehearsal and set construction, led by QOHS Drama Director Scott Tarzwell and student directors Nicole Beltran (senior), Miranda Levin (junior) and Lara Dunkelberg (sophomore).

The Mousetrap, set in London in the year 1950, follows the suspenseful activities of Monkswell Manor, a manor house new-ly opened as a modest retreat. On open-ing weekend, a call comes from the police warning that a suspected murderer may be headed toward the manor. A blizzard traps the detective sent to investigate with guests at the manor. Chaos ensues.

According to Tarzwell, the play opened in 1953 in London’s West End, is still per-formed today, and is the longest continual-ly running play in modern times. After 60 years, the play remains fresh, and “does not deviate from the original story by Agatha Christie,” Tarzwell said.

At Quince Orchard, The Mousetrap was performed in four shows: one matinee and one evening performance on Saturday, Nov. 9, and again on Saturday, Nov. 16. The performances were played by two sep-

arate casts—a completely different one for each weekend. There were 22 performers total, including off-stage radio announcers and singers.

Rehearsals for The Mousetrap began with a read-through on Sept. 16. The cast and crew had a total of eight weeks to prepare, which is standard for high school play pro-ductions. Musicals, on the other hand, are generally given 10 to 12 weeks.

Tarzwell explained that the final week before opening is known as “Hell Week,” where the cast and crew “bring all aspects of the play (costumes, makeup, hair, block-ing, lights and sound) together and work out the kinks before the opening of the show.” This week “can lead to some late nights and some raw nerves,” he observed. Typical rehearsals ran from around 2:45 p.m. to 5 p.m.; Hell Week rehearsals ran from around 2:45 p.m. to 7 or 8 p.m.

The Mousetrap was under the leadership of seasoned veterans. 2013 marks Tarzwell’s

third year as QOHS di-rector, and The Mousetrap marks his sixth show. Student director Miranda Levin is a third-year vet-eran of QOHS Drama and has played leads as Lucy in Charlie Brown and as Belle in Beauty and the Beast. She has played a support-ing role in Legally Blonde and was an understudy in Noises Off. Student direc-tor Nicole Beltran is also a

third-year veteran and has played a lead as a poet in An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe and as Belinda Blair in Noises Off. She has di-rected Legally Blonde and has been on run-ning crew for Charlie Brown and Beauty and the Beast.

The job of the student directors is to block the play, make major production de-cisions and guide the actors toward the di-rector’s vision. “The director ... will give them the blocking of the scene. And then we’ll run it with them and be on their butts for lines,” explained Levin.

Tarzwell’s introduction of a double cast is a major change from previous QOHS productions. “This being the smallest cast of a fall play in a very long time, it made sense,” he said. “Rehearsals have actually become better. Since each character has a partner watching, I have more eyes, and therefore, more effective notes are being taken.”


County Leaders Ask for More School Construction Funds

At an Oct. 31 event at Julius West Middle School, Montgomery County School Board President Christopher Barclay and Superintendent Joshua Starr joined a group of state and county leaders in asking the state of Maryland to increase funds for classroom and school infrastruc-ture improvements. County Executive Isiah Leggett cited enrollment growth be-tween 2000 and 2012 of 15,000 students, with 25,000 additional students predicted to enroll in the next 12 years. The school system is asking the state for $20 million and the county will invest $40 million to fund $750 million in construction bonds.

Hope and InnovationMore than 750 people attended the 2nd

annual State of the Schools at the Music Center at Strathmore on Nov. 11. In his address, Superintendent of Schools Joshua P. Starr recognized Blessed Sheriff, a junior at Richard Montgomery High School, and praised her poem on what hope means to her. “I loved how Blessed compared hope to a fire that burns in us,” he said. “Hope is what gets us up in the morning and keeps us going all day. Hope motivates us to keep trying. Hope is the engine of innovation. And innovation is what I really want to talk to you about today.” He continued to explain how MCPS has “not run from change. We have welcomed it and lever-

aged our current structures to provide our students with the education, support, and services they need.” Goals for the future include eliminating the achievement gap. While MCPS serves many students very well, “despite our best efforts we have not been able to reach some children, and many of them are students of color, students with special needs, students who are learning English, or students who are poor.”

Understanding the Common CoreTune in to MPT Thursday, Nov. 21, 7

p.m. for a Maryland Public Television pro-gram on Common Core State Standards and how Maryland students are prepar-ing for college and career. This “Today’s Student, Tomorrow’s Workforce” edi-tion of the Town Hall television program is aired in partnership with the Maryland State Department of Education. For more information, visit www.mpt.org/education/studentworkforce.

2014 African American History Month Essay Contest

The city of Gaithersburg’s Multicultural Affairs Committee is holding an essay con-test for 3rd, 4th and 5th grade students based on the question, “In your opinion, which African American has made the greatest contribution to our society and why?” Submissions are due Dec. 6. The top three winners will read their essays at the African American History Month Celebration on Feb. 18, 5:45-7:15 p.m. at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park.

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the cast of the nov. 16 Qohs production of agatha christie’s The Mousetrap includes scotty Fletcher, Jo-anna wolfgram, wyatt Muma, sanjana taskar, lawrence simon, sarah Macphee, slava yun and simon brake.


artist. Her work has been sold by Lennox, Winterthur and Disney. At one point, she was in more than 200 stores.

In fact, while Sher spent her childhood constantly thinking of ways to make or decorate things, she never took many art classes. “I couldn’t leave anything alone,” she said. “I felt like I was a mad scientist sometimes … sew it, glue it, paint it, jew-el it.”

Her parents discouraged her from pursu-ing art professionally. “They said, ‘No way. You’ll starve,’” she recalled.

Sher also liked science, “so I became a histologist and I worked in Detroit hospi-tals, but I took an adult education class in china painting and it was like, ‘This is so fun.’”

She started painting every night, and people started asking if they could buy her work. “I was just so excited that somebody wanted what I did,” she said.

She liked her lab work—she did diag-nostic work for surgery and autopsies—but her art provided a necessary release. Then she was offered a job in research, accepted it and ended up with a month off between positions.

“Somebody said, ‘Just try this (art) show. Just try it,’” she said. “So I tried it. Even with a blizzard, I made more than I made in a month (at her fulltime job). So I never looked back. It took me on quite an adventure.”

She hooked up with Harper Galleries out of Chicago, bought a camper and toured with them. The camper gave way after a while to a Dodge ’58 Bluebird school bus that was completely revamped with all

of the amenities of home—kitchen, full bathroom, bedroom and living room. She loved touring. “I went into labor with my son at a fair,” Sher said, smiling.

“The most wonderful thing about this is that you meet so many incredible people,” she emphasized, “the customers and the other artists. Being part of this art commu-nity, what a gift.”

After her son was born, she settled in Florida for a couple of years and eventually made her way to Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Her porcelain work and jewelry supported them well and put her son through college.

She sold through venues as diverse as Bellagio in Las Vegas and the Japanese home shopping network. “I was having the time of my life,” she said.

When her son finished college, she felt that it was time for a change. That’s when Lulu and Mew came back. “I drew for like three weeks straight. I was obsessed,” Sher said of the return of her beloved childhood characters.

Then “I incorporated the porcelain into the drawings,” she explained. Today, Lulu and Mew shine happily on iridescent por-celain tiles.

She decided to go back on the art festival circuit and give Lulu and Mew new life. Eric Winter, fellow artist and significant other, works with her, championing booth design and setup—“He’s a genius,” Sher said—as well as graphics for “Life with a Bit of a Giggle.”

Their booth comes complete with pink chandeliers that light Lulu and Mew’s glit-tering life. One of Sher’s drawings says, “Everyone needs a little sparkle in their life. I just need a little more.”

Through her art, Sher shares that sparkle with everyone she meets.

n Sher from page 1


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The ParkPagesNews and Current Events for Quince Orchard Park n E-mail your contributions to [email protected] n NOvEmbEr 2013

Meeting calendarJan. 14 — HOA Board Meeting, 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 col-lection in bags. These bags are ripped open by dogs, birds and other pests, and trash is strewn throughout the com-munity. Continued use of bags may result in fines.

Consider painting your house number on your trash cans and lids so they may be returned on windy days. It is also helpful to label recycling bins with house numbers – and to place bagged newspapers and magazines atop commingled materials in the bin. Trash cans and recycle bins must be stored out of sight on non-pickup days.

Recycling is picked up on Fridays. Containers, with lids, are now available from the city of Gaithersburg. Please contact the city at 301.258.6370 to have a lidded bin deliv-ered and the old one picked up. The new bins will lessen the problem with trash in the neighborhood. It is helpful to label recycling bins with house numbers. Lids may be attached to bins by drilling small holes and attaching with twine.

Bulk recycling pickups are the first Friday of each month. Dec. 6 is the next bulk recycling pickup in Quince Orchard Park.

The city of Gaithersburg and Potomac Disposal (301.294.9700) both offer collection services for bulk items at no cost. Under no circumstances should items be dumped in the woodlines or natural areas, including yard waste.

Dog Duty and Animal MattersCleaning up after dogs is the legal responsibility of every

canine owner walking a dog in the community. Dogs are not permitted off-leash on common property in the city of Gaithersburg.

Contact Information for Gaithersburg Animal Control

To report after-hours/emergency animal service calls, city of Gaithersburg residents must now contact the Montgomery County Emergency Communication Center (MCECC) at 301.279.8000. MCECC will then notify and dispatch a Gaithersburg Animal Control Officer for response.

To report non-emergency animal service calls and for information on related animal matters during regular busi-ness hours, residents may contact the Gaithersburg Animal Control Office directly at 301.258.6343. Regular hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information, please visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/animal.

WebsiteAgendas for meetings and many other important doc-

uments (including minutes and meeting summaries) can be found at the QOP website at www.quinceorchardpark.com.

Crime WatchNew to the neighborhood? Join the Quince Orchard Park

Neighborhood Crime Watch Program. E-mail Ruchita Patel at [email protected] or Quinn Chase at [email protected] to join the program or for more information.

Qop Management contact informationQuince Orchard Park Community Managers, Ruchita

Patel and Quinn ChaseC/o The Management Group Associates, Inc.

20440 Century Boulevard, Suite 100Germantown, MD 20874Phone: 301.948.6666Fax: 301.963.3856E-mail: [email protected] [email protected]

Qop newS

QOP Cub Scout Food Drive A Success

Generous Quince Orchard Park residents who participated in the an-nual “Scouting for Food” drive by Cub Scout Pack 1316 donated an estimated 450 pounds of nonperish-able food that was collected Saturday morning, Nov. 9.

Seven Cub Scouts distributed food bags on Saturday, Nov. 2, and re-turned the following weekend to collect the donations. Donated food filled 70 bags.

“We had great weather for both Saturdays,” said Cub Scout leader Daniela Stake. “The boys were in great spirits and worked really hard. We were very proud of them. We want to thank all the people that do-nated food.”

The Capital Area Food Bank dis-tributes food collected by the met-ropolitan area Scouting for Food Drive.

Sign Up to Receive E-mails from Quince Orchard Park and the City of Gaithersburg

The Quince Orchard Park website sends e-mail with accurate, timely information regarding communi-ty-sponsored and community-sanc-tioned activities, issues affecting safety, health and physical welfare of QOP residents, announcements from the HOA Board of Directors including calls for volunteers, and

announcements from the city of Gaithersburg and the law enforce-ment community.

To sign up to receive e-mail bul-letins via the Quince Orchard Park website, go to the website at www.quinceorchardpark.com.

• Login to the private side of the site. (Note: If you do not have login information, please submit a login request via the website.)

• Click on “My Profile” in the top menu tab to go to your website profile.

• Verify that the e-mail address shown in your profile is the one where you would like the bulle-tins to be sent.

• Click on “Subscriptions.”• Scroll down to the end of the

page and click on e-mail bulle-tin subjects for which you would like to receive notifications.

• Be sure to save all changes by clicking the box at the bottom of the page.

(Please note that this is an opt-in list-serv available to homeowners and not tenants. If you do not opt-in to receive certain types of announcements, they will not be sent to the e-mail address listed.)

MyGaithersburg

“MyGaithersburg” is an e-mail-based news service, designed to help anyone find out about city govern-ment news and events, em-ployment opportunities and more. It is a "custom" ser-vice that lets you select ar-

eas of interest to you. Every notice about a news or website update item included in MyGaithersburg con-tains a link to its location on the city of Gaithersburg website.

• To sign up for “MyGaithersburg,” go to www.gaithersburgmd.gov.

• Click on “MyGaithersburg” on the right menu bar. Follow the prompts.

Alert Gaithersburg

This alert system is administered by the city of Gaithersburg to con-tact subscribers during a major crisis or emergency. Alert Gaithersburg will deliver important alerts, no-tifications and updates to you on all your devices at once (including e-mail account, cell phone, text pager and other devices). Updates and instructions include informa-tion on where to go, what to do or what not to do, and whom to contact.

Emergency messages from Montgomery County's Homeland Security Department are also sent via the Alert Gaithersburg system.

Holiday Home Decorating ContestThis year’s deadline for decorating the out-

side of your home is Dec. 21. The Quince Orchard Park Board awards first, second and third places. Prizes are Lowe’s gift certifi-cates ($100, $75 and $50).

Photos | Phil Fabrizio

(top) halloween pizza party spon-sors said this year's crowd was the biggest yet. they are (left to right) nicole savarick, amy schwartz and liz pilloff.

(left) among the guests at Qop halloween 2013 were superpowers Jordan and Madison bookhart.


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Sugarloaf Crafts FestivalNov. 22-24, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday & Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday, Montgomery County Fairgrounds, Gaithersburg

More than 400 top artisans sell unique creations—jewelry, clothing, ceramics, fine art and more. Admission is $10 for adults, and children 12 and under are ad-mitted free. www.sugarloafcrafts.com

Neil Simon’s God’s FavoriteNov. 22-24, 8 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, The Arts Barn

Don’t miss the final weekend! Montgomery Playhouse and the Arts Barn present the story of Joe Benjamin, who is a modern-day “Job” with a demanding wife, ungrateful children and wise-crack-ing household employees. Admission is $16, $14 for city of Gaithersburg residents. www.gaithersburgmd.gov/theater

PHILADANCONov. 23 at 8 pm.; Nov. 24 at 3 p.m., BlackRock Center for the Arts

For more than 40 years, PHILADANCO has been known for its innovation, creativity and preservation of predominantly African-American traditions in dance. A post-performance Q&A session with the dancers follows both performances. There is a pre-curtain talk on Sunday, Nov. 24 at 2:15 p.m. Tickets are $32. www.blackrockcenter.org

Kentlands Acoustic Jam SessionNov. 26, 6-9 p.m., Kentlands Carriage House

Drop by to make or listen to beau-tiful music! You’re invited to bring a pre-Thanksgiving dish, dessert or drink to share. All are welcome, especially out of town guests. For more information, e-mail [email protected].

Winter Lights FestivalNov. 29-Dec. 31, 6-9 p.m. Sundays-Thursdays, 6-10 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays

Closed to cars Dec. 2 & 9; closed to all on Dec. 25, Seneca Creek State Park

Drive 3.5 miles through a winter won-derland of 365 illuminated vignettes and

65 animated displays. The festival bene-fits six local charities: Andy’s Safe Haven, Asbury Methodist Village in Support of Gaithersburg Beloved Community Initiative, Baby’s Bounty MC, Inc., Friends of Wells/Robertson House, Inc., Gaithersburg Community Soup Kitchen and Pain Connection - Chronic Pain Outreach Center, Inc. Admission rates per car are $12 Monday through Thursday and $15 Friday through Sunday. www.gaithersburgmd.gov/winterlights

The Magic & Comedy SocietyNov. 29, 8 p.m., The Arts Barn

Magician Mark Phillips hosts and per-forms with special guest Mutts Gone Nuts, Scott Houghton’s hilarious trained dog act. Tickets are $15 for nonresidents and $12 for city of Gaithersburg residents. Visit comedymagicsociety.com or muttsgone-nuts.com for more information.

Angelina Ballerina, the Very Merry Holiday MusicalNov. 30, 1 and 3 p.m., BlackRock Center for the Arts

Angelina and her friends plan an abso-lutely, positively spectacular holiday dance pageant! Tickets are $14. www.blackrock-center.org

Metropolitan KlezmerDec. 1, 5 p.m., BlackRock Center for the Arts

Metropolitan Klezmer brings eclec-tic exuberance to Yiddish music genres from all over the map. Tickets are $25. www.blackrockcenter.org

A Charlie Brown Christmas with The Eric Byrd TrioDec. 1, 5 p.m., BlackRock Center for the Arts

The winsome and winning combina-tion of the classic animated film and the Eric Byrd Trio have made this a highly an-ticipated BlackRock December tradition. Tickets are $14. www.blackrockcenter.org

Kentlands Acoustic Jam SessionDec. 3, 6-9 p.m., Kentlands Clubhouse

Come ready to play! This group meets twice a month, usually on the first and

aRts& enteRtainment

n arts & entertainMent Continued on page 14

Buca di BeppoRelatives coming to town? Need to feed

10-plus mouths? Buca di Beppo is offer-ing Thanksgiving meals for dine in and carry-out to help you out! The dinner in-cludes turkey, two side dishes and dessert (including pumpkin cheesecake and can-noli). Hours will be limited due to the hol-iday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Grape EscapeThe Grape Escape will be open on

Thanksgiving from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for all those who are looking for alcoholic treats to complement their feast. At 5 p.m., The Grape Escape will host their annual dinner for family, close friends and clients who ei-

ther don’t have family or who can’t travel home for the holiday.

Lebanese CafeLebanese Cafe hosts its grand opening

on Nov. 23. True to Lebanese Cafe style, there will be food samples, arts and music. On Thanksgiving Day, the restaurant will be open regular hours, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Wine HarvestThe Wine Harvest at 114 Market St.

will not be open for Thanksgiving, but they will have a selection of their popular Thanksgiving wines available for purchase. Wines include pinot noir and German Riesling. Stop by and ask about perfect pairings for the Thanksgiving meal you are planning!

from page 6

shoptaLk


Men and women ages 12 and up are in-vited for an incredibly fun but competi-tive game of football. Please RSVP to Ed Fowlkes at [email protected].

MVP at Kentlands ManorWalter Jimenez, maintenance supervi-

sor, is a Property Management Association (PMA) Maintenance Professional Award Winner, designated “2013-Most Valuable Player.” Kentlands Manor staff surprised him by attending the awards ceremo-ny on Oct. 23 at Martin’s Crosswinds in Greenbelt. Kentlands Manor residents hon-ored him with a reception and cake on Oct. 29, and Joe Pritchard of Pritchard Music Academy gave a moving speech. Jimenez has worked for Kentlands Manor for ap-proximately five years, and he was chosen for the award from a pool of 180 properties in the Maryland, Virginia and D.C. area, according to Vivian Stevens, Kentlands Manor assistant property manager.

Dine With SantaSanta returns to Kentlands Mansion

Dec. 7 and 8 for a 9 a.m. buffet breakfast replete with holiday music by the Pritchard Music Academy. Families can enjoy pan-cakes, scrambled eggs, hash browns, sau-sage, breakfast pastries and fruit and take lots of photos with Santa. Afterwards, head over to the Arts Barn to make some fun holiday ornaments. Reservations are re-quired. The cost is $20 for adults and $15 for children ages 12 and younger. For more information, visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/kentlandsmansion.

5th Annual Kentlands Tree LightingRing in the holiday season with the

Kentlands Downtown Partnership Annual Tree Lighting event. Gather on Market Square behind Star Diner on Sunday, Dec. 8 at 4 p.m. for music, activities, refreshments, the tree lighting and Santa! Live entertainment includes Impact Performing Arts, Kentlands Community Chorus, Pritchard Music Ensemble,

Rachel Carson Elementary School Holiday Music Group and Throwing Wrenches. Gaithersburg Mayor Sydney Katz and members of the City Council will be on hand as the crowd joins in the countdown to lighting the tree. For more information, visit www.kentlandsdowntown.com.

fourth Tuesdays. For more information, e-mail [email protected].

Scrooge!Dec. 6-22, 8 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, The Arts Barn

In 1970, renowned writer-compos-er-lyricist Leslie Bricusse adapted the clas-sic Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol into the hit screen musical Scrooge! Now adapt-ed as a charming stage musical, Scrooge! en-joyed a hugely successful tour of England starring the late Anthony Newly. In this production directed by Ken Kemp, the Sandy Spring Theatre Group includes six new songs. Tickets are $18 for nonresi-dents, $16 for city of Gaithersburg res-

idents and $9 for children through grade 12. www.sandyspringtheatregroup.org

Gaithersburg Chorus Celebrates Benjamin Britten With Winter ConcertsDec. 7 and 8, 7:30 p.m., St. John Neumann Catholic Church

Dec. 10, 7 p.m., Rosborough, Cultural Arts Center Theater

In celebration of the 100th anniversa-ry of the birth of Benjamin Britten, the chorus will perform Britten’s beloved “Ceremony of Carols” (1942) with harp-ist Monika Vasey and the jubilant festi-val cantata “Rejoice in the Lamb” (1943). These free concerts are directed by Hugh Harvey, III with organ and piano ac-companiment by MaryLu Hartsell. St.

John Neumann Catholic Church is locat-ed at 9000 Warfield Road, Gaithersburg. Rosborough Cultural Arts Center Theater is located at Asbury Methodist Village, 409 Russell Ave., Gaithersburg. For more in-formation, contact Suzanne Takahashi at 301. 258.6394 or [email protected].

A Civil War Christmas at HomeDec. 10, 7-8:30 p.m., Kentlands Mansion

Living history presenter Mary Lou Luff portrays the mother of a Civil War-era doctor. She’ll highlight food and holi-day customs of the day as practiced in the Gaithersburg/Rockville areas. Examples of period gifts will be on display. Tickets are $5. www.gaithersburgmd.gov/museum

Singer Songwriter Concert Series: Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny IrionDec. 11, 3 p.m. workshop and 7:30 p.m. con-cert, Kentlands Mansion and the Arts Barn

Woody’s granddaughter Sarah Lee and husband Johnny are a folk-rock duo with remarkable melodic strengths. Don’t miss the 3 p.m. singer songwriter workshop with this husband-and-wife team or their 7:30 p.m. concert with Billy Coulter. Tickets for workshop and concert are $50 for non-residents and $48 for city of Gaithersburg residents. Tickets for concert alone are $30 for nonresidents and $28 for city of Gaithersburg residents. Call 301.258.6394 for tickets and information.

“We weren’t planning on it,” Levin add-ed, “but there was just so much talent that we couldn’t decide.”

Beltran originally met the decision to implement a double cast with skepticism. She was “really afraid that because of dou-ble-casting—two people playing the same role—people would get competitive.” However, she noted that “it’s been surpris-ingly helpful. … [Each double’s] partner has been so helpful. … They feed off of each other’s power and positivity.”

Indeed, the whole experience of being in The Mousetrap was empowering and pos-itive. “My favorite part of the show is … I get to hang around all these drama kids, and I consider them my family,” Beltran said. “They’re so fun to be around. And when you see your family achieve their goals in a show, it’s fulfilling.”

Levin echoed her sentiments. “I just like seeing the actors grow. I like seeing them achieve their goals. It’s really cool.”

The Mousetrap cast featured many “new-

bies” and freshmen. Going into rehearsal, Levin and Beltran were concerned about their level of experience. “I didn’t know if they knew how to present themselves on stage correctly, or if they would be able to act this out well,” Beltran said.

After what Levin described as a “bumpy” start, the cast worked out initial kinks to produce a “fantastic” opening night. Turnout was high with the audience ac-tively engaged.

“A crowd’s imagination is just really ac-tive, and they had so many wide-eyed the-ories,” Beltran said. “And it was great to see how interactive they were with this play.”

Levin and Beltran both praised the actors for their ability to improvise. “Sometimes they forget their lines, but the audience doesn’t even know because our actors are fantastic and they are on top of what their characters’ influences are,” Beltran explained.

Beltran found staging The Mousetrap “an adventure.”

Levin concurred, adding “We all sup-port each other, and we’re all really pas-sionate about what we do.”

n the mousetrap from page 7

from page 13

aRts&enteRtainment

from page 3

aRoundtown

Photo | Courtesy of the city of Gaithersburg

stephanie scangas and daughter talia visit with santa at the annual Kentlands Mansion dine with santa event.

Phil Fabrizio Wins Monty AwardOn Nov. 17, Montgomery Community

Media (MCM) contributors attended the 28th Annual Monty Awards at the BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown. Thirty-three volunteer contributors to MCM were recognized. Among them was Phil Fabrizio, freelance photographer and Town Courier staff member, who won a Monty in the new category “Most Popular Blog.” His winning blog post is the Dec. 3, 2012, “Building a Lasting Legacy” on last year’s 4A State Championship game between the Quince Orchard Cougars and the Dr. Henry A. Wise Jr. Pumas.

“It is a great evening out, and it’s just nice to watch it and learn what people really do and how they utilize MCM to take advantage of their skills and really highlight what their love is,” Fabrizio said at the event.

Photo | Montgomery Community Media

at Montgomery community Media’s 28th annual Monty awards, phil Fabrizio was awarded a Mon-ty for his blog “building a lasting legacy.”

Kentlands Acoustic Jam at Lakeforest MallDec. 7, 12:45-1:45 p.m.

Session regulars from Kentlands Acoustic Jam perform holiday songs in a free program at Lakeforest Mall. Check out their music at www.reverbnation.com/kentlandsacousticjam.


Celebrating Chanukah and Thanksgiving Together

T his year, for the first and probably the last time I will

celebrate them on the same day, Chanukah be-gins on Thanksgiving. I usually make some Cha-nukah recipes with oil, or fried, as is traditional, but I also like to include a cheese recipe. Most peo-ple celebrate with potato pancakes, but if you think about it, potatoes came from the New World and probably did not get to the Middle East until the 1800s; so originally, a cheese pancake was most likely used.

I like to include cheese in remembrance of the beautiful widow, Judith. She learned that the Assyrian General Holofernes and his army were coming to annihilate the Jews of her community. She invited him

to dinner, plied him with salty cheese and lots of wine (to combat the salt), and he fell into a drunken stupor. While he was asleep, she took his sword and cut off his head. She carried his head out of the tent and when the general’s army saw it, his men fled. Judith saved the Jews from de-struction, and cheese dishes remind us of her courage and triumph.

Here are some delights that can be used for your Chanukah, Thanksgiving or both.

Falafel CigarsThe new cookbook Starters & Sides Made

Easy by Leah Schapira and Victoria Dwek (Artscroll/Shaar Press, 2013) has arrived just in time for the holidays. Yields 20 cigars.

2 tablespoons olive oil1 large onion, finely diced1/2 lb ground meat2 tablespoons falafel mix1 teaspoon salt

5 (10-inch) whole wheat wraps6 tablespoons hummus or tahini2 cups prepared coleslaw1 large egg, beatenOil, for browning

Heat oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add meat and brown, press-ing with a fork to break up the clumps. Stir in falafel mix and salt.

Cut wraps into four segments, like pizza wedges. Place the rounded edge of a wedge facing you, with the pointy tip facing away. Spread a layer of hummus along the bot-tom-center, about 1-inch from the bottom and sides. Top with layer of meat. Top meat with coleslaw. Keep the filling in a long, thin strip for nicely shaped cigars. Fold in the two sides over the filling. Fold the bot-tom up over the filling, and holding the filling in place with your fingers, roll up tightly, jelly roll-style. Brush tip of wrap with beaten egg to seal. Heat a thin layer of oil in a sauté pan over medium heat. When oil is hot, add cigars, seam side down, and cook until golden brown, turning once, about 1 minute per side.

Apple LatkesI usually serve a big breakfast on

Thanksgiving, and then we just snack un-til early dinner. This recipe is ideal for a special breakfast or a nice side dish. From a Polish Country House Kitchen: 90 Recipes

for the Ultimate Comfort Food by Anne Applebaum and Danielle Crittenden (Chronicle Books) presents 90 recipes for simplified Polish classics. Serves 4 to 6.

2 apples, peeled and coarsely grated1 cup flour1/2 cup plain low-fat yogurt2 large eggs, lightly beaten1/2 cup waterpinch of salt1 to 2 tablespoons grape seed or veg-etable oil, plus more if neededConfectioners’ sugar for sprinkling

Place the apples, flour and yogurt in a bowl and mix with a wooden spoon. Add eggs and stir, then water and salt and mix again. Heat a large skillet over medium heat, and spread just enough of the oil on the bottom to cover it thinly (too much and pancakes become greasy). Drop a heaping 1 tablespoon of batter onto the pan for each pancake; do not let them touch one an-other. They should be thick and chunky. Cook on one side until the bottom is gold-en (3 to 5 minutes depending on how hot your pan is), then flip.

As they cook, place them on a plate cov-ered with paper towel, and if layers are needed, place the paper towel in between the layers. Before serving, sprinkle with sugar.

Editor’s Note: For more recipes, go to www.cookingwithsheilah.com.

Decorum

I grew up in a house that any builder would be proud to present as a

model home. Not because of its size, but because it was meticulously decorat-ed and looked like no one lived there. That is, until you got to my room.

Much to my mother’s dismay, the model home gene skipped right over me and was replaced with the “if I can still see the bed, then my room is clean” gene.

As with many things mom related, I now understand how frustrating that must have been for her. The sheer restraint she showed by walking past my room count-less times a day and never giving in to the temptation to enter it with a trashcan, shredder or blowtorch to just end the pain is commendable.

My house is a step up from my childhood room in that I have gotten better at hiding my disorganization and dislike for hangers. I married someone more akin to my mom in matters of the home, and I think this saved me from myself.

One aspect of my orderly childhood home did stay with me, though—how to decorate the home for the holidays. A tal-ented artist, my mother transformed our home each Christmas in creative, beautiful ways. One year, she created a door cover-ing depicting the blessed family in vibrant pastels. Every decoration had its place on our imitation Christmas tree, replete with paint-tipped branches to guide assembly.

For years when the kids were little, I too transformed our home with crafty, sweet decorations. For Halloween, I picked up jaunty pumpkin swags for the fence, matching wreaths for all eight windows and fencing for Christmas that I spruced up with ribbons and ornaments. The effect was understated, elegant and just what my mom would expect.

And then the kids were old enough to “help.”

Did you pass my house this past Halloween? If you did, you will remember it as the one that looked like Linda Blair spewed venom all over anything that didn’t move, spun her head around 360 degrees, declared it beautiful and left.

Leaving me here alone with nary a jaun-ty pumpkin face in sight, to live with the aftereffects every day. Green and white webbing was stretched everywhere ex-cept in places where the rain took its toll. There, it was reduced to an unmanageable clump of goo strewn with leaves.

I am not sure what that webbing is made of but I think the astronauts could tether themselves to the space capsule with this stuff and never end up free-falling like Sandra Bullock in “Gravity.” Decorating with this webbing is a forever commit-ment, and I pick it out of my bushes all year long.

Halloween signs, skeletons, spiders and skulls were hung on the fence, thrown on top of bushes, and clung to railings with no consideration for symmetry or style. A Frankenstein cutout with moveable arms and legs hung from the front door. The boys seized upon the monster’s mobility and consistently placed his hands over his privates and crossed his legs like he need-ed to find a restroom quickly, which made him look more needy than scary.

It was hopeless. I had no choice but to release. No one—hopefully—would think that an adult had created this milieu. And the kids were thrilled, although they want-ed it to be scarier. I wanted to shout that our house was scary alright, our house was Martha Stewart’s nightmare come to life.

But it was my life and I had no choice but to embrace it. So I sat on the steps Halloween night, amid the decorating hor-ror, picked webbing off my shoes, hand-ed out candy and gave my mother a silent shout-out in solidarity for the restraint she showed throughout my childhood.

By Sheilah Kaufman

kauFman’skitchen

FiRstpeRson

By Maureen Stiles


Riding the Rails Home for the Holidays

I ’m sorry to say that my experience on Amtrak just isn’t the same as

the B&O and the Frisco trains were when I used to take them in the late l940s and early ‘50s. Part of my pleasure of being reunited with my family used to be that “sentimental journey” from Washington, D.C., to St. Louis, and then on to Springfield, Mo. The first time I took Am-trak to Raleigh, N.C., a few years ago, I had looked forward to dinner in the dining car, where I had anticipated a leisurely, enjoyable meal on a white linen tablecloth, centered with a fragrant red rose in a silver vase. I had hoped to watch the passing landscape as I was served by a waiter in a starched white jacket. Instead, I found plastic-covered tables in a club car, not a dining car. The menu included such choices as chicken nuggets, and there were no formally attired waiters in sight. Self-service was the order of the day.

I used to save ticket money for weeks in advance before I went home to Missouri, not that the ticket cost so much. It was that I was earning so relatively little in those days. Still, my jobs with the Veterans Administration and then the Library of Congress were more enjoyable than my one and only year of teaching English in a rural high school in southwestern Missouri.

As Thanksgiving and Christmas ap-proached, I could hardly wait to arrive at

Union Station and then some years later at the B&O station in Silver Spring. I wore travel clothes – sometimes a suit, hat and gloves – even though I usually rode coach. I wanted to look like a sophisticated city girl when my family first saw me step off the train. (During the ‘40s, jeans were just beginning to be popular with teens and young adults.)

St. Louis was an overnight trip on ei-ther the B&O or the Pennsylvania RR. Each line took different routes west. The B&O traveled up to Harpers Ferry, crossed the bridge over the confluence of the Potomac and the Shenandoah rivers, and chugged through the Appalachians in West Virginia. The Pennsylvania RR went north and during the night rounded the historic “Horseshoe Curve” five miles west of Altoona, Penn. If I stayed up late, I could look back and see the very last car of the train. But I usually was asleep by then.

We pulled into the huge Union Station in St. Louis the next morning. I had about a half-day layover before I could board the Frisco train that left for Springfield, Mo., late in the afternoon. After lunch I headed for the bookstore within walking distance that I had discovered the first time I had taken the train home for the holidays. I still have the small phonetic New Testament I bought there once. Browsing was a plea-sure that could last me almost until my departure time. The city streets and de-partment stores were decked out in holi-day finery, and I began to get excited about

coming home again.As the Frisco (St.

Louis – San Francisco Railroad) slowly left Union Station and picked up speed south-ward, I began to rec-ognize familiar place names as we passed them: Bois d’Arc (pronounced “bow-dark” in our vernac-ular); Rolla, where my cousin had been graduated from the University of Missouri’s School of Mines; Lebanon; and finally Springfield. It was to-tally dark by now. Lights twinkled along the approach to our red-tiled roof, white stucco Santa Fe-styled station. And there all of them were – my dear family, waiting for me – Mother, opening her purse to get out a handkerchief to dry her eyes; Brother, smoking a Camel cigarette; Sister, taking my mother’s arm to steady her; my two nieces, who were only a few years young-er than I, waving to me. We fell into each other’s arms and began to babble, “How was the trip? How long can you stay? I’m starved. Let’s go home and eat. …”

When my visits home had ended and I had to return to the East, the train to St. Louis left Springfield about midnight, as I recall. If I managed to awake early enough the next morning before we had pulled into the maze of tracks leading to St. Louis, I made my way to the dining car. A uni-

formed waiter first served me a demitasse of coffee in a blue and white cup on a sau-cer that read, “Good morning from the Frisco Railroad.”

Sometimes my Washington-bound trips on the B&O were adventurous. Once I met a handsome midshipman returning to Annapolis from his home in Missouri. This resulted in an invitation to a “hop” one weekend at the Academy and sailing on the Severn River. Another time I sat beside an older man who turned out to be an FBI agent, on what kind of mission I have no idea.

I never ceased to be uplifted when we pulled into Union Station in Washington, D.C., and I saw the Capitol straight ahead as I exited. Somehow when I used to take the train, I felt as if I had really traveled hundreds of miles when I arrived at my destination. Nowadays when I fly home, even though air travel is less tiring for me, I’m not really sure I’ve actually left Maryland and arrived in Missouri.

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a group boards the Frisco train in 1957 to go home for the holidays.


Welcome to The Lodge, a restaurant fi lled with rustic charm that evokes im-ages of the Pacifi c Northwest’s open ranges and untouched natural beauty. The great outdoors is not just seen in our interior craftsmanship, but inspires our entire menu. Our food is all natural and all American, and the menu offers a plentiful harvest of fresh meats, produce, and grains directly from your lo-cal farms. Experience a better organic burger, bison, venison, wagyu, elk, wild boar, duck, kangaroo, and lamb—the way nature intended it: fresh and free of hormones and steroids. It’s all reminiscent of a time when you got your food from your own farm or your neighbor’s the day you ate it—“from farm to fork” as we like to say. You can feel good at The Lodge because it’s delicious and it’s good for you. So gather your family and friends, cozy to the fi replace, and eat well—because we brought the great outdoors indoors just for you!

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Monday-Thursday 7am-11pm • Friday-Saturday 7am-12 pm • Sunday 7am-10pm.

The Discreet Charms of Baltimore

H enri Matisse, Léon Bakst, passionate collectors, unique homes, upscale din-ing and growing sophistication make

Baltimore an ideal getaway for a weekend, or even a long Saturday or Sunday jaunt.

If your idea of Baltimore is based on John Waters’ idiosyncratic movies (think Divine in “Pink Flamingos” and not “Hairspray”) or the neighborhood buddies strug-gling with adulthood in Barry Levinson’s “Diner,” it’s time for a new look. The neighborhoods and joints of Baltimore re-main, but they’ve been graced by upscale restaurants and hotels that provide a great base for enjoying Baltimore’s rich cultural offerings.

Friendship remains a central theme in this city. It’s the linchpin of the story of the two Cone sisters who brought modern art to Baltimore. Heiresses to the Cone Mills denim manufacturer fortune, Claribel and Etta Cone visited Gertrude and Leo Stein, also Baltimore natives, in Paris and thus began a lifelong love affair with modern art. The Steins introduced the Cones to Pablo Picasso, then only 24 years old, and Henri Matisse on that first trip.

For the next 50 years, the Cones made many journeys to Europe and purchased paintings, drawings and collectibles. They filled the rooms of their two apartments in the long-gone Marlborough Building on Eutaw Street with an array of great art and tchotchkes. After Claribel’s death in 1929, Etta continued to collect art for another 20 years until she passed away in 1949. The sisters had agreed to bequeath their per-sonal collection to the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) if “the spirit of apprecia-tion for modern art in Baltimore became improved.”

Baltimore must have stepped up, as the Cone collection became the core of the BMA’s Modern European Art galler-ies. It is considered the finest collection of Matisse’s art in the world.

At the BMA, you can confront paint-ings like Matisse’s 1935 “Reclining Nude” in large, well-lit spaces. You can step into a living room full of furniture and ob-jects from the Cone sisters’ apartments on Eutaw Street, and you can see what it was like to live with great art on an everyday basis. A fascinating computer simulation shows you where the modern paintings hanging in the BMA were once placed in the Cone sisters’ apartments.

Family fortune, a love of Paris and a pas-sion for art are also on display at Evergreen, a unique house museum and library man-aged by Johns Hopkins University. This time, the fortune was made along the tracks of the B&O Railroad, under the ownership of the Garrett family. Three generations of Garretts lived at Evergreen, a Greek Revival mansion that was succes-sively renovated to showcase their growing library, coin and art collections.

Show up for one of the hourly tours at Evergreen, and a docent will escort you into a pre-WWII salon for art and cul-ture. The last Garretts to live at Evergreen were John Work Garrett, a diplomat, and Alice Warder, who loved the European salons where painters, dancers, musicians

and writers mingled. During their mar-riage, the family’s amazing library and world-class collections were enlivened by then-contemporary art from masters such as Picasso, Dufy and Modigliani. Alice is often the subject of these paintings, and it’s fun to trace the artistic trends of the day through her portraits.

Evergreen, however, was not meant to showcase a collection. Instead, it was in-tended to be a place where art happened on a daily basis. A weekend guest might have found Cole Porter at the piano in the 1930s, following a dance recital given in the home theater designed by Léon Bakst who was best known for his costumes in the Ballets Russes. The theater Bakst de-signed at Evergreen is considered a mod-ernist gem. Alice was often one of the dancers, and you’ll see her costumes on display. Book lovers will appreciate the fact that Evergreen is dominated by its multi-story library, home to such treasures as the double elephant folio Audubon’s Birds of America.

Woodberry Kitchen in Baltimore’s Clipper Hill area is the perfect spot for din-ner after a day filled with art. Now cel-ebrating its fifth year, Chef Spike Gjerde has received national renown for his dish-es built on superb local ingredients and thoughtful flavor combinations. Virtually every ingredient is made in-house, so the charcuterie is home-cured, and pickles, peaches and relishes were hand-canned when summer produce was at its peak. The menu changes often as it’s based on what is fresh. Don’t miss the charcuterie plate, pickles, any vegetable dish or the delicious ice creams and sorbets.

If you would also like to sleep near modern art, your best bet is the new Four Seasons located between Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and Fell’s Point. This stylish ho-tel added a welcome shine and splash to Baltimore when it opened two years ago as the city’s only five-star hotel. The bar scene is lively, especially when happy hour specials are offered. During the summer months, the fourth floor splash pool and grill are popular with both locals and out-of-towners. An up-to-date spa makes the hotel ideal for girlfriend getaways or a ro-mantic weekend date. The best rooms have harbor views. Hotel restaurants include LaMill, with cutting-edge coffee prepara-tions, Wit & Wisdom Café, an American bistro, and Pabu, an upscale Japanese Izakaya pub that has been praised by Tom Sietsema of The Washington Post. Within easy walking distance are a number of Baltimore’s hottest restaurants.

Eileen O’Donnell Schlichting, a Kentlands resident, is a certified travel advisor and presi-dent of Transatlantic Travel.

onthe go By Eileen Schlichting

Photo | John Schlichting

night falls over baltimore’s inner harbor.


Cougars Top Clarksburg to Advance to Regional Final Rematch vs. NorthwestBy Syl Sobel

K evin Joppy has been called “Twos” since childhood, based on sharing the same name with his father. But this

week people may start calling him “Fives” after the Quince Orchard running back who wears no. 5 scored five touchdowns to lead the Cougars to a 42-21 playoff win over Clarksburg last Friday at the Cougar Dome.

QO’s victory combined with Northwest’s 36-7 thrashing of Gaithersburg sets up a 4A West regional final match-up Friday night at the Dome between the Cougars and the neighboring Jaguars (9-2), who beat QO three weeks ago for the only blemish on their 10-1 record.

“I’m just happy we’re still playing” said Quince Orchard head coach Dave Mencarini after the hard-fought, physical game against Clarksburg.

The Cougars’ theme this season is “all-in” as they try to return to the state final for a third consecutive season and win the championship that’s eluded them. Friday they played their best hand in the elusive Joppy, who picked and powered his way through the Coyotes defense for 231 yards on 35 carries. He scored on runs of one, three, three, 48, and three yards, and added a two-point conversion.

“In the playoffs you want to put the ball in your best players’ hands,” said Mencarini, explaining why the multi-fac-eted Cougar offense relied so heavily on Joppy’s running. The soft-spoken Joppy

deflected credit for his big night, saying “the O-line was opening huge holes.”

The Cougars also featured wideout Malcolm Brown in the wildcat formation, taking direct snaps and gaining 28 yards on 5 carries. More “getting the ball to your playmakers,” Mencarini said.

The game began ominously for QO as Clarksburg took the opening kickoff and marched 66 yards downfield on nine straight running plays, taking a 7-0 lead at 7:45 of the first quarter. The Red Army crowd stirred nervously, but the Cougars countered quickly with their own ground-based attack, tying the game on Joppy’s one-yard run.

“We had to make some adjustments,” Mencarini said of Clarksburg’s early suc-cess. And sure enough the Black Paw Defense stiffened and held the Coyotes to less than 60 yards rushing the rest of the night.

Meanwhile, QO scored on two of its next three possessions on short runs by Joppy and took a 20-7 lead into the locker room at halftime. The Cougars stayed on the ground and passed the ball only when necessary to keep drives alive. Quarterback Mike Murtaugh had an efficient 9-15 per-formance for 102 yards, including a 16-yard touchdown pass to Preston Bampoe-Addo on the opening drive of the second half, which essentially put the game out of reach at 28-7 with Joppy’s two-point conversion.

Clarksburg did not go down without a fight, however. A 10-yard scoring pass

from Joe Nacci to Terrell Drakeford in the opening minute of the fourth quarter halved the score to 28-14. Joppy responded with a 48-yard scor-ing burst up the mid-dle, but with 6:29 left Coyote running back Tavis Holland took a pitch and tossed a perfect pass to Bruno Anyangwe in the back of the end zone for a 21-yard score to again trim QO’s lead to two touchdowns.

Kyle Gregory recovered the ensuing squib kickoff, and QO marched method-ically downfield behind key third down completions to receiver Elliott Davis and tight end Greg Williams. Joppy’s fifth touchdown accounted for the final margin.

Despite the win, Mencarini acknowl-edged that his team had work to do to pre-pare for Northwest. Clarksburg’s two sec-ond-half passing touchdowns exposed the same kind of vulnerabilities that Northwest exploited in their win. And, as Mencarini said bluntly of the Jaguars, “they beat the tar out of us last time.”

Northwest head coach Mike Neubeiser, a former QO assistant, also paid respect to his opponent. “Quince Orchard is one of the best programs in the state of Maryland

… so we have our work cut out for us. They have a very explosive offense and stingy, well-disciplined defense. … They are a very talented team.”

This week, all the story lines converge. It’s the Battle of Great Seneca II, a neigh-borhood tussle between friends and ri-vals who got a little chippy last time they met. It’s the Rematch for the Regionals, a chance for QO to avenge their defeat three weeks earlier, end Northwest’s season, and advance to the state semis. It’s The Next to Last Hand in this all-in season as the Cougars bid to play at M&T Bank for the big stakes that have eluded them the past two years.

It’s Friday Night Lights at the Cougar Dome Nov. 22. Kickoff: 7 p.m.

SPorTSCougars Whomp Wootton, 40-0

By Mike Cuthbert

“W e just had to get our swag-ger back, to get ready for the new season. It’s 0-0

now,” said Mike Murtaugh, a clean and fresh-looking senior quarterback. Murtaugh had just finished leading his Cougars to a 40-0 whomping of the Wootton Patriots on Nov. 8.

Murtaugh was 7 for 11 for the night, scored from 3 yards out, kept a couple of other drives alive and played a thoroughly relaxed game. He summed the evening up, “I just throw the ball up, and they catch the ball. That’s it.”

Coach Mencarini, on the other hand, was still angry over the previous week’s poor game against Northwest. He com-mented, “I don’t like losing.”

Was he still angry after a 40-0 blowout win?

“I feel better,” he admitted. “It was how we needed to respond. We came out angry, and we thank Northwest for waking us up.” The alarm clock went off early as QO scored on its second play with Murtaugh hitting Kyle Green for 34 yards.

Once woken up, the Cougars nev-er stopped. Wootton, a team that set state records for passing offense just last week, never threatened them.

Wootton Patriot sophomore quarter-back Sam Ellis was harassed, chased, flat-tened and crushed to the point of altering his throwing motion and throwing a hand-ful of interceptions while gaining very few yards.

QO’s Brad Walker started the giveaway parade with a recovered fumble that led to a Cougar TD, and he followed it a bit later with a grab that stopped a 16-play Patriot drive at the QO 3. Walker grabbed one and on third and twenty and ran it back to the Wootton 3, leading to Murtaugh’s TD that made it 34-0 deep in the first half.

John Ten Eyck surrounded yet another Ellis toss that was cashed in on one play later with a pass to Malcolm Brown from 18 yards out. At 2:24 left in the half, the Mercy Clock started and the scoring for the night ended at 40-0.

Notable for an away game was the fact that the Red Army, calling a “white out,” drowned out the home crowd the entire game.


no. 21 nils ebeka helps his team reach new heights as the cougars win against wootton, 40-0, on nov. 8.


Qo cornerback/wide receiver Malcolm brown (no. 7) plays in Qo’s hard-fought victory over clarksburg in the nov. 15 4a west regional playoff game.


Northwest Tops Gaithersburg, Heads to Region Finals

By Sean Gossard

W ith Northwest High School firing on both sides of the ball in the fi-nal weeks of the season, it was only

a matter of time for them to reach the re-gional semifinals. The Jaguars proved on Fri-day, Nov. 15, that their three-game winning streak, including six of the past seven games, was no fluke heading into the region finals against Quince Orchard on Friday, Nov. 22.

First Northwest had to overcome a tough division foe in Gaithersburg, which the team did with a resounding 36-7 win in the 4A West region semifinals. Helping carry the team to victory was Northwest’s senior wide receiver Matt Watson, who caught for 197 yards and two long touch-downs from sophomore quarterback Mark Pierce.

Pierce played well in the outing with 311 yards in the air, four touchdowns and 10 or 15 passes completed.

After scoring on a six-yard pass in the first quarter, Gaithersburg tied the game in the second with a touchdown run from quarterback Nick DeCarlo.

Northwest seemingly put the game out of reach in the second quarter when Pierce threw to Watson for 58- and 85-yard touchdowns.

On the other side of the ball, the Jaguars came up huge with several key turnovers. The biggest of these came in the third quarter when Gaithersburg was pushing a steady drive deep into Northwest territory. Senior Rodney Snider was able to recover a fumble and return it more than 70 yards for a touchdown, putting the score out of reach at 28-7.

Quince Orchard, ranked No. 1 in the 4A West division, topped Clarksburg 42-21 to set up the championship match against Northwest. In their last matchup on Nov. 1, the Jaguars topped Quince Orchard 35-21.

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7 Booth Street #105THE COLONNADE • $241,000

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140 Chevy Chase Street #204KENTLANDS • $410,000

604 B Main StreetLAKELANDS • $392,500

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Sold

31 B Golden Ash WayLAKELANDS • $414,900

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706 A Main Street LAKELANDS • $375,000

Sold

342 Hart RoadKENTLANDS • $789,900

605 Gatestone MewsLAKELANDS • $519,000

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Sold

QO Park • $420,000 QO Park • $359,900 QO Park • $345,000QO Park • $469,900 QO Park • $420,000 QO Park • $615,000

Elaine Koch #2 Remax Agent

16 Granite Place #183THE COLONNADE • $275,000

Sold

[email protected]

KENTLANDS OFFICE345 Main Street

North Potomac, MD 20878301-947-6500

7 Booth Street #308THE COLONNADE • $249,900

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Gaithersburg’s Hometown Newspaper | Serving …towncourier.com/2013/G3/pdf/TCGThree1113Web.pdfThe...

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Transcript of Gaithersburg’s Hometown Newspaper | Serving …towncourier.com/2013/G3/pdf/TCGThree1113Web.pdfThe...