Gaithersburg’s Hometown Newspaper | Serving...

QO Poms Win First County Championship Since 2004

By Jennifer Beekman

T he Quince Orchard pom pons’ win in the Division II category at the Blake In-

vitational on Jan. 28 was a mile-stone for the program, marking the first victory for everyone on

the squad. But when the Cougars returned to the gym the following Monday for practice, “we almost had the mindset that we didn’t get first,” senior co-captain Kasonde Chisaka said.

Quince Orchard had its sights on something bigger. And on

Feb. 4 the Cougars were crowned Montgomery County Division II winners for their first county championship since 2004. Quince Orchard is poised to return to the county’s top division for the first time in at least four years.

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

Vol. 15, No. 4

COURIERTHETOWN

www.towncourier.com February 17, 2017

n QO POMS TITLE Continued on page 11

Kentlands Psychotherapy Celebrates a Decade

By Ellyn Wexler

D r. Elizabeth Carr is stay-ing put. “I will never move again,” declared the founder

of Kentlands Psychotherapy, which has inhabited four different spac-es in the 10 years since Carr first put up her shingle on Kentlands’ Main Street. The practice’s cur-rent offices—on the second floor of the building Carr bought in 2012—provide an airy, light-filled and cozy work-home for Carr and her staff of four therapists, an ad-ministrator, a couple of high school interns and perhaps most impor-tantly, Riley, a delightful therapy dog-in-training.

Carr, her husband Russ Carr M.D., a senior psychiatrist at Wal-ter Reed National Military Med-ical Center, and their 12-year-old

n ANNIVERSARY Continued on page 8

Community Loses Its Toy BoxBy Ellyn Wexler

T he Tipographs have decided to call it quits. Tipo’s Toy Box, the wonderful little

store Sandi and Lew have “poured our hearts into” for the past three years, is closing its doors.

“We came to this business with a lot of knowledge,” said Sandi, alluding to her tenure as a teach-er as well as the couple’s 30-plus years of retail experience prior to opening Tipo’s in October 2013. Kid’s Closet, their previous store in D.C., sold mostly clothing, which persuaded them to switch to toys that do not involve sizes or seasons. After an extensive search, the cou-ple thought Kentlands, a walkable community with a high percentage of families with children, was the ideal location.

“We had an OK year in 2016, with a modest increase in sales over the year before” said Lew. “But the day after the election, sales fell flat.”

Sandi concurred, noting that the election “kicked off” a general moroseness, followed by a horrific holiday season during which peo-ple apparently bought their gifts online. Sandi said that her husband acknowledged “the writing on the wall” before she did.

“After the second year showed no improvement over the first, de-spite making cuts in our expenses, I had been thinking about giving it one more year” Lew agreed.

“It’s a generational thing, I

n TIPO’S CLOSING Continued on page 9

Photo | Mac Kennedy

Sandi and Lew Tipograph will close their store in Kentlands Market Square by the end of the month.

Community, City and Developer Discuss Kentlands Apartments Plan

By Pam Schipper

D ocumentation of the pro-posed Kentlands Apartments at the corner of Quince

Orchard Road and Great Seneca Highway is now more than 700 pages long, Neil Harris, city coun-cilmember, remarked at the Feb. 6 joint public hearing involving the mayor, city councilmembers and planning commissioners.

This hearing was postponed twice. Colonnade residents and management had requested more

time to study the proposal, and property developers had agreed. Between June 23, 2016 and Feb. 2, 2017, property owner Preet Takhar and his development team met with the Colonnade community five times.

At the Monday night marathon meeting, the Kentlands Apart-ments development team demon-strated their desire to work with the community, and developer representative Jody Kline of Mill-

n KENTLANDS APARTMENTS Continued on page 9

Photo | Pam Schipper

The proposed Kentlands Apartments would create 295 residences.

Photo | Jeff Odom

The Quince Orchard poms are Montgomery County Division II winners.

THE TOWN COURIER February 17, 2017

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February 17, 2017 THE TOWN COURIER

Austin Cohen Night Raises Funds to Fight Osteosarcoma

By Mac Kennedy

B y now, most people in the Quince Orchard community have heard of Austin Cohen and

his inspirational battle against osteosar-coma. On Feb. 3, The Town Courier hosted an “Austin Cohen Night” at the Quince Orchard boys’ and girls’ bas-ketball games to raise both money and awareness for the 16-year-old fighter.

Donations from local businesses cre-ated quite a buzz around the event. Tommy Joe’s, Coalfire, Vasili’s Kitch-en, Quincy’s, C2 Education, and Noth-ing Bundt Cakes all donated gifts and gift cards that were raffled off before the QO boy’s basketball game. Oth-er businesses and community members like Elaine Koch from Re/Max sent in sizeable donations as well. Special Tees provided event T-shirts that sold for $10. The QO boys team offered these during lunch at the school, selling a to-tal of 250 in three days.

The WUSA9 broadcast title about the event, “Two Rival Basketball Teams Come Together for Teen with Cancer,” perfectly described the night’s atmosphere. There was an extremely powerful response from the QO com-munity as expected, but what shocked a lot of people was the support that came

from Poolesville High School. Not only did the Poolesville boys team col-lect over $200 in donations by them-selves, but the community brought large numbers with them to celebrate the cause.

At halftime Scott Cohen, Austin’s fa-ther, addressed the crowd alongside his wife, Miriam, and daughter, Court-ney. In addition to a heartfelt thank you to all who came out in support of his son, Cohen emphasized that time is precious. “All the money in the world would be awesome,” he said, “but the

most valuable thing is time. The goal in life must be to have fun, be smart and enjoy the time you have, because at some point in your lives, you will wish you had more time.”

Austin Cohen Night raised close to $6,000 dollars. This money will be donated to research in the fight for a cure for osteosarcoma. At the end of February, doctors from all over the country will be meeting in Tampa, Florida, for a conference known as the F.A.C.T.O.R Conference to find an-swers to this disease.

Dala Coming to Singer Songwriter Series

By Collin Lieberg

T heir influences range from the Beatles to Joni Mitchell, from Neil Young to Bob Dylan. NPR

said they have “an ear for pop hooks” and found their songs “warm and com-fortable.” Dala, the Juno Award nomi-nees and winners of the 2010 Canadian Folk Music Award for Vocal Group of the Year, bring their talents to the Arts Barn on March 4. This folk duo from Scarborough, Ontario, Canada—Sheila Carabine and Amanda Walther—makes a first appearance in the Singer Song-writer Series.

Dominic Cicala, whose company O’HAIR Salon+Spa is the presenting sponsor of the series, said he “met them a few years back and was so impressed” that he knew he had to book them. The group has been on his list for the series

for more than four years, almost since the series’ inception, but only now have they all “finally made it work.”

Dala has played all across North America, including the New Orleans Jazz Fest, the Strawberry Music Fest, the Edmonton Folk Festival, and the 50th Anniversary of the Newport Folk Fes-tival in 2009 where they were the only Canadian act invited to play. They have opened for such artists as Richie Ha-vens, Stuart McLean of the CBC’s Vinyl Cafe, and Arlo Guthrie.

Dala’s fifth and latest album, 2012’s “Best Day,” resonates with a “life is short” message. The album is bracketed by “Life on Earth” and “Still Life,” two songs that encourage listeners to view their lives as masterpieces in the mak-ing, regardless of the materials they’re given to work with. Lyrically, the album

and much of their other music treads a fine line between hope and doubt, often asking questions that can never be fully answered. “They’re the things we’re al-ways grappling with, regardless of life’s highs and lows,” Carabine said, “but that’s the thread that ties all our music together. … We really feel this album represents all of the aspects of our per-sonalities, individually and together.”

The duo’s musical contrasts make them compelling. Walther’s ethereal soprano voice blends seamlessly with Carabine’s velvety alto, creating the lush harmonies that have become their trademark. The two best friends, who met in their high school music class in 2002, “write and sing in harmony best described as angelic,” according to their official bio.

The two are equally entertaining be-tween songs, telling funny and down-to-earth stories that make every show unique. “We go to some emotional plac-es in our music,” Walther said. “Humor serves as a relief from that, and a way to give the audience permission to laugh.”

The more spontaneous the dialogue between songs, Carabine added, the “better the performance and the more memorable the evening.”

To learn more about Dala’s songs, mu-sic writing process and to get to know them, attend the songwriting workshop at 3 p.m. on March 4. The concert be-gins at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/leisure/arts/concerts/singer-songwriter-con-cert-series.

Compiled by Pam Schipper

History of Retail Subject of Next Lecture

Mike Watkins, one of the original town architects, will speak at the Feb. 21 Kentlands Lecture Series at the Arts Barn. His presentation, “The History of Retail in Kentlands & Lakelands,” is open to all and admission is free. There is a wine reception at 7 p.m., followed by the lecture at 7:30 p.m.

KCA Board Hosts Kentlands Square Discussion

Saul Centers, owners of Kentlands Square, will speak at the Feb. 22 Kentlands Citizens Assembly (KCA) Board meeting, held at the Kentlands Club-house, about plans to redevelop part of Kentlands Square. Saul Centers has requested approval of Sketch Plan Application SK-7503-2017, and the city will consider this at a joint public hearing of the mayor, City Council and Planning Commission on April 3.

Saul Centers has proposed transforming the existing Kmart and parking lots adjacent to Great Seneca Highway into a mixed-use community as envisioned by the city’s “Kentlands Boulevard Commercial District Special Study Area” (the 2008 Master Plan). Proposed are 1450 dwelling units (rental or condo) and more than one million square feet of commercial space. Building heights range from one to 12 stories. For more information on the sketch plan, visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/government/city-projects/kentlands-square.

KidServe to Make Baby BlanketsPart of the Kentlands Community Foundation,

KidServe will be making baby blankets for the Shady Grove Pregnancy Center on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2 to 3:30 p.m. at the Kentlands Clubhouse. KidServe partners kids, aged 5 through 13, with parents, grandparents, babysitters or other grown-ups in their lives to serve the local community. Anyone is welcome to attend. For more information, visit www.kidservemd.org.

Kimco Plans Community Meeting About Kentlands Market Square

A Feb. 27, 7 to 9 p.m. informational community meeting at Paragon Kentlands Stadium 10 is planned. At the meeting, Kimco representatives will describe the company’s vision for Kentlands Market Square and ask for community feedback.

Young Artist Award Winners AnnouncedThe winners of the 14th Annual Young Artist

Award will be presented in concert at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn on Friday, March 31 at 7:30 p.m. Sponsored by the City of Gaithersburg and the Kentlands Com-munity Foundation, the Young Artist Award Compe-tition is a juried event that provides talented musicians ages 12 to 18 with an enriching artistic experience.

Winners of this prestigious competition were an-nounced Feb. 10. Across five categories—piano, vo-cal, string, other strings, wind and brass—26 mu-sicians were awarded first, second and third place distinctions, as well as honorable mention.

Tickets are $12 and may be purchased at www.ticketfly.com or at the box office, or by calling 301.258.6394 starting Feb. 15. For more information, visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/leisure/arts/young-artist-award. Early reservation is recommended as this event typically sells out.

AROUND TOWN

Photo | Olivia Brown

Sheila Carabine and Amanda Walther, the Canadian acoustic folk duo, perform at the Arts Barn March 4 in the Singer Songwriter Concert Series.

Photo | Mac Kennedy

The community came out in force to support Quince Orchard student Austin Cohen who is battling osteosar-coma and to raise funds for research into the disease.


Watkins Mill Interchange Caught in Political Headwinds

By Scott Harris

F eb. 22 is shaping up as a big day for the future of the Watkins Mill Road Inter-change.

For much of the recent past, officials from the Maryland Department of Transportation State Highway Administration (SHA) and the office of Governor Larry Hogan have been cagey about whether they will release state funds for the project. Although the project was approved and funds designated in 2014, Hogan has repeatedly proven reluctant to make the funds available.

But on Feb. 22, SHA has pledged to re-lease a request for construction proposals for the project. If that happens, officials said, it is a good sign that the $129.6 million in state dollars approved for the project are not far behind.

If it doesn’t, the uncertainty continues.In the meantime, one project supporter,

state Del. Kirill Reznik, recently introduced emergency legislation to fund the project. Reznik acknowledged there is virtually no chance the governor would actually sign such legislation were it to pass the legislature, but said he will push the legislation forward as far as he can as a symbolic gesture.

“We have literally heard every excuse un-der the sun,” Reznik said. “We’ve now been assured that the project will go forward as soon as the bids are in. But we’re all at our wit’s end. … I’m going to push this legisla-

tion through until I see dirt turning at the Watkins Mill Interchange.”

This is not the first time Reznik, a Ger-mantown resident, and the Hogan admin-istration have clashed over transportation policy. Last year Reznik introduced the Maryland Open Transportation Investment Decision Act of 2016, which requires state officials to prioritize transportation projects based on 31 different factors. The law passed the legislature, Hogan vetoed it, and the leg-islature overrode him. Nevertheless, Hogan has said that a push to repeal the law, which he calls the “road-kill bill,” will be a top pri-ority for his administration this year. He feels that the law unfairly constrains how and why transportation projects are funded and would “kill” various projects including the Watkins Mill Interchange if the law remains intact.

Eric Henson, director of public affairs for the Maryland Department of Transporta-tion, echoed the governor’s belief that the Maryland Open Transportation Investment Decision Act of 2016 would negatively im-pact the Watkins Mill Interchange. “SHA is scheduled to advertise a full interchange for I-270 at Watkins Mill Road on Febru-ary 21 with construction expected to be-gin this summer,” Henson explained in an email. “Because this project was not adver-tised for construction before July 1, 2016, it is still subject to the Road Kill legislation. Unfortunately, if the law is not repealed, this project will be in extreme jeopardy.”

Reznik disagreed. He said that because the interchange was previously approved, it is not subject to scoring under the legislation.

“Under the law, Section 2-103.1(c)(6)(i), the law explicitly states Department shall evaluate REQUESTS for major capi-

tal projects,” he emphasized in a follow-up email. “Also, under Section 2-103.7(B)(4), it states that scoring system is to be applied for all major transportation projects FOR INCLUSION into the Consolidated Trans-portation Plan. In the case of the Watkins Mill Interchange, the project was approved, obligated, and funded 3 years before this law ever passed and therefore is neither a request nor is it being evaluated for inclusion. The Watkins Mill Interchange has long been a part of the CTP and not subject to scoring. The bill makes no accommodation for ret-roactivity for evaluating already approved projects.”

Gaithersburg City Councilmember Rob-ert Wu suggested the project has become a political football between the governor, a Republican, and Democratic lawmakers like Reznik. Ultimately, Wu said he and the rest of the city’s leadership simply want to see the project completed.

“Regardless of the positions of the admin-istration, this is a top priority for the county and for the city,” Wu said. “We’re going to continue to work with our delegation and reach out to the administration and other parties. … At the end of the day, anything that gets the Watkins Mill Interchange done is A-OK in my book.”

According to officials, the interchange is badly needed to ease traffic congestion along I-270, Route 355 and Montgomery Village Avenue, and to serve major developments that include more than 360,000 square feet of office space, 14,400 square feet of mixed-use space, 80,600 square feet of retail and restaurant space, and a 184-room hotel.

The interchange was originally scheduled for completion in 2020.

309 Main StreetGaithersburg, MD 20878

For Advertising: 301.455.5721Also on the Web at www.towncourier.com.

©2017 Courier CommunicationsThe Town Courier is an independent newspaper

published twice a month that provides news and in-formation for the communities of Kentlands, Lake-lands 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 Ed-itor and Commentary do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff, management or advertisers of The Town Courier.

Pam Schipper Managing Editor

[email protected]

Debi Rosen Advertising Manager

301.455.5721 [email protected]

Leslie KennedyAdvertising Sales 301-330-0132

[email protected]

Staff Photographers Arthur Cadeaux

Phil Fabrizio

Staff Writers

Jennifer BeekmanNora CaplanMolly Cohen Mike Cuthbert

Gina Gallucci-WhiteSharon Allen Gilder

Betty HafnerScott Harris

Sheilah KaufmanCollin Lieberg

Syl SobelBethany StarinMaureen StilesEllyn Wexler

Social Media Consultant

Mac Kennedy

Diane Dorney Publisher

[email protected]

Matt Danielson President

[email protected]

POLICEBEAT By Scott Harris

Beef Up Your Cybersecurity

T he Montgomery County Police De-partment (MCPD) is reaching out to local citizens to encourage them to

be more vigilant when it comes to their online information.

According to data released in 2015 by the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics, about 17.6 million Americans, or about 7 percent of residents age 16 or older, were victims of at least one incident of identity theft in 2014.

Of that number 8.6 million residents fell victim to fraudulent credit card use, 8.1 million experienced unauthorized or attempted use of bank accounts, and 1.5 million experienced other types of account theft, often involving telephone, insur-ance, or some other type of online account.

What can be done to prevent such crimes? A good first step is finding out more about your personal online footprint. A good second step is taking steps to shrink this footprint as it makes sense to do so, and in the process make yourself as invisible to potential predators as possible.

The best place to begin this process,

MCPD experts say, is on websites like www.familytreenow.com, which is a free and searchable database that allows users to look up anyone by name. MCPD recom-mends opting out or unsubscribing from services like these, as they freely provide personal and family information to the general public.

According to information from USA.gov, there are plenty of measures anyone can take to instantly become more cyber-secure.

• Don’t carry your Social Security card in your wallet.

• Don’t respond to unsolicited requests for personal information.

• Collect mail promptly.• Pay attention to billing statements

and look for irregularities.• Store personal data in a safe place

both at home and at work.• Order your credit report once a year

to be sure it does not include unau-thorized accounts.

• Create complex passwords that are not easy to guess.


Enter the Junior Mayor ContestFourth graders in the City of Gaithers-

burg are encouraged to share what they would do if they were mayor in a state-wide essay contest sponsored by the Mary-land Municipal League in partnership with the Maryland Mayors’ Association and the Chesapeake Employers Insurance Compa-ny.

The theme for this year’s contest, to be explored in 275 words or less, is “inclu-sion.” Students are asked to explore the creation of a new community center for Gaithersburg and write about the people it will serve, the activities that will take place there, and what groups should be included in the decision-making process.

The City of Gaithersburg takes this pro-gram one step further by selecting a winner specifically from its own community. For submission instructions and informa-tion, visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov or call 301.258.6395 x3. The deadline for en-tries is March 1.

Yvette Monroe Sworn Into OfficeYvette Monroe is the newest city coun-

cilmember, sworn into office on Feb. 8. A reception at City Hall followed.

Monroe fills the seat left vacant by the passing of Henry Marraffa, Jr. In her ap-

plication for candidacy, Monroe listed her top priorities for the city as continuing to support Gaithersburg becoming a cut-ting-edge community of innovative busi-nesses; making Gaithersburg the premier area in which to live, work and raise a fam-ily in a safe environment; encouraging af-fordable housing for all current and future residents; and working collaboratively with educators, businesses and community lead-ers towards an education for young people that incorporates the Six Pillars of CHAR-ACTER COUNTS!

Monroe, who lives in Olde Towne, is a longtime community volunteer.

Submit Your Nominations for the City’s Environmental Awards

The city’s annual Environmental Awards recognize individuals and groups for their commitment to the environment. The deadline for submission is 5 p.m. on Fri-day, March 3, and early submission is en-couraged.

City residents, businesses, neighborhood associations, and organizations based with-in Gaithersburg’s City limits are eligible to apply. Schools and entities whose student body or membership is comprised of at least 10 percent city residents are also eligi-ble. Award winners will have demonstrat-

ed outstanding efforts to improve Gaith-ersburg’s environment—either for a single project in 2016 or over a period of time.

CHARACTER COUNTS! Scholarship Now Open

High school seniors who are residents of the City of Gaithersburg are encouraged to apply for a W. Edward Bohrer, Jr. Me-morial CHARACTER COUNTS! Schol-arship. Since the program’s inception in 1998, 85 high school seniors have received more than $150,000 to help with their continuing education costs.

Scholarships are awarded at the discretion of the City of Gaithersburg’s Education-al Enrichment Committee, and are based on the embodiment of the Six Pillars of

Character, personal merit, financial need, and the student’s commitment to further education. Applications are now available and should be completed online. Visit the CHARACTER COUNTS! page under Services – Community Services at www.gaithersburgmd.gov. The deadline to apply is 4 p.m., April 21.

Register Now for Spring Youth & Teen Sports Programs

Registration is now open for Spring Youth and Teen Sports programs. Offer-ings include t-baseball, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, and track and field. The registration deadline is March 1. For more information, visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/leisure/sports or call 301.258.6350.

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Compiled by Pam Schipper

Mulch Madness BeginsSpring is just around the corner. Order

your mulch from the Quince Orchard High School (QOHS) Booster Club and support the Cougar community. Purchase brown or black shredded mulch before March 15, and then pick it up March 18 at QOHS. There is free delivery on orders of 10 or more bags (within 20 minutes’ drive of the school). A mulch spreading service is also available on April 1 for orders of 10 or more bags at an additional fee. For more information, visit qohsboosters.com/prod-uct/mulch.

QO Cheerleading Clinic PlannedThe popular QO Cheerleading Clinic

is planned for March 20 through 24, 5 to

7 p.m. at Quince Orchard High School. Preschool through grade 8 students are welcome. The $65 fee covers a t-shirt, mock tryout, panel showcase and pizza party on Friday, March 24. For more in-formation, contact Coach Laura Nichol at [email protected].

RCES Staff Enjoys 2nd Annual Chili Cook-Off

The Rachel Carson Elementary School PTA Staff Appreciation Committee hosted the 2nd Annual Chili Cook-Off Feb. 1. Sixteen different varieties of chili were served. RCES parent volunteers also provided cornbread, rolls, chili toppings and sides. Corey Estoll won the cook-off with a Spicy White Chicken Chili recipe. This year’s prize is a $50 Amazon gift card.

ASSIGNMENTEDUCATION


‘I Love You Because’Presented by Damascus Theatre CompanyThrough Feb. 26, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, Arts Barn

In a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice,” a young, uptight greeting card writer’s life is changed when he meets a flighty photographer. Along with their eccentric friends and siblings, they learn to love each other not in spite of their faults, but because of them. Tickets are $22. www.gaithersburgmd.gov

‘Winter White’Through Feb. 27, Arts Barn

This juried multimedia exhibit presents two- and three-dimensional pieces that are at least 95 percent white or clear. Free. www.gaithersburgmd.gov

Art League of Germantown (ALOG) Mixed-Media ExhibitThrough April 14; 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Monday-

Friday; please call 301.258.6425 to confirm gallery availability, Kentlands Mansion

This juried mixed-media exhibit features artwork by ALOG members. www.gaithersburgmd.gov

Main Street Farmers MarketFeb. 18 & 25, 9 a.m.-2 p.m., Main Street Pavilion

Products for sale include a variety of fruits and vegetables, herbs, jams and jel-lies, baked goods, crab cakes, meat, eggs, honey, cut flowers, potted plants and dog treats. www.facebook.com/Gaithersburg-Markets

Louisa May Alcott in GaithersburgPresented by the Gaithersburg Branch of the American Association of University Women, Feb. 18, 10 a.m., Rosborough Center of Asbury Methodist Village, building 409

Louisa May Alcott was a rebel who took nature walks with Thoreau, chatted with Emerson, and wrote “Little Wom-

en.” Hear Katharine Rogers, professor emerita at City University of New York, introduce her over brunch. Free; pre-reg-istration not required. For more informa-tion, call 301.840.5443.

‘The History of Retail in Kentlands & Lakelands’Feb. 21, 7:30 p.m. (wine reception at 7 p.m.), Arts Barn

Mike Watkins, one of Kentlands’ origi-nal town architects, speaks about the histo-ry of neighborhood retail. Free.

Museum After Hours: Railway Mail ServiceFeb. 26, 3 p.m., Gaithersburg Community Museum

Railway Mail Service started at the dawn of the railroad and lasted until 1977. For much of its existence the service carried the bulk of America’s letters and packages

ARTS& ENTERTAINMENT Compiled by Pam Schipper

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n ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT Continued on page 8

Stories of Dr. SeussFeb. 20, 11 a.m., Arts Barn

Dr. Seuss stories, “The Cat in the Hat,” “Green Eggs and Ham “and “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish,” come to life through dance! Meet the dancers and celebrate Dr. Seuss’s up-coming birthday after the show. Per-formed by Metropolitan Ballet Ensem-ble. Recommended for ages 4+. Tickets are $12. www.gaithersburgmd.gov

Fleet Feet Thanks the Community for Paying It Forward

By Pam Schipper

T he GoFundMe scholarship page for Good Samaritan Katelyn Losquadro who saved Matt Gault’s life early Sun-

day morning, Jan. 15 has almost reached its target fundraising goal of $10,000. Matt Gault’s parents, Robyn and Chris Gault, the owners of Fleet Feet Gaithersburg, want to thank the community for their overwhelming support.

Shortly af-ter midnight, Matt Gault crashed into a guardrail while exiting from I-495 to I-270. Losquadro ar-rived a minute or two after the accident, she said, and acted quickly. She counseled others to not remove Gault from the car and kept him calm and in the same position to prevent paralysis. She also controlled his blood loss, raising his leg above his heart. When someone was giving the dispatcher an inexact address, Losquadro got on the phone, gave them the correct location, and told them to look for her bright orange Volkswagen Beetle.

Due to HIPAA, Losquadro said that EMTs on the scene were not able to give her Matt Gault’s contact information. She said that “not knowing how he was doing, that was the worst.” Thanks to a FOX5 news segment that reported the Gaults were trying to locate the Good Samaritan who helped their son and a resourceful police officer, Losquadro Mon-day learned that Matt Gault had survived and was trying to locate her. Matt Gault lost part of one leg in the accident.

Chris Gault said that their son is doing well, and has starting working out with a personal trainer who suffered a similar injury in a motorcycle accident seven years ago. The Gaults consider Losquadro their son’s angel, according to the GoFundMe page.

Chris Gault said that Losquadro is working fulltime as an assistant nurse for patients with Alzheimer’s and dementia while enrolled in the Montgomery College nursing program. The $10,000 GoFundMe goal would pay

for two semesters of school.

“I feel so bless-ed,” Losquadro said. As an orphan who nursed her parents through their ill-nesses and numer-ous hospitalizations, Losquadro juggles work and school to get by. She is cur-rently a sophomore at Montgomery College and thank-ful for the Gaults’ support. She said

she is amazed that they are such “wonderful people.”

While she likes her current job, Losquadro said that she is studying to become a trauma nurse. “I want to be in the heart of saving lives,” she said, “making people better and seeing them go home.”

Thanks to the GoFundMe page, Losquadro was invited to interview for an emergency tech position at Shady Grove Adventist Hos-pital. At press time, she learned that she had gotten the job. “I wish my mom were alive …,” she shared. “She was a nurse and a great one at that.”

If you are interested in contributing to Losquadro’s GoFundMe scholarship page, please visit www.gofundme. com/schol a r sh ip - for -kate lyn- lo squad ro?s -sid=882997824&pos=2.

Photo | Submitted

With the help of a Fox5 news segment, Matt Gault was reunited with Katelyn Losquadro, the Good Samaritan who saved his life. When he was taken to the hospital from the accident scene, neither knew the other’s identity.


Courtney Gri� ths

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son, Nate, live in the Kentlands as well. After adopting 10-month-old Riley as their fam-ily pet, they found that the pup had severe separation anxiety. So Carr, with permission from her patients, began bringing Riley to work, and “the vast majority” of them, espe-cially children and teens, have welcomed his attention and affection, she said.

Reston, Virginia, where Carr grew up in the 1970s, she said, “was kind of a hippie town, very community oriented, where all the kids played outside together” amid the cluster of townhouses where they lived. This community aspect was what attracted her to Kentlands for both her business and personal lives.

Intent on spending her college years “where people were into school and learning rather than sports and drinking,” Carr chose The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. “It was the perfect place for me,” she said. While working on a bachelor of arts degree in liberal arts, she also served as a peer counselor, giving her a first taste of what would become her profession. “I loved it, but I knew I was too young for it then,” she recalled.

Post-graduation, Carr returned to live with her parents, first doing data collection for a twin study at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Human Genetics Department, then going off to teach English in Tokyo for a year—which, she said, constituted an “adventure” prior to resuming her studies. She proceeded to earn a master of science in counseling psychology at Avila University in Kansas City, Missouri, and a doctorate in clinical psychology, with a minor in health psychology, at the Illinois School of Profes-sional Psychology at Argosy University in Chicago.

Carr’s next career decision was a result of comparing her unpaid diagnostic externship at Great Lakes Naval Hospital (“home of the U.S. Navy’s only boot camp,” she noted) to her low-paying job doing psychological eval-uations at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. She was convinced that a career with the Navy was “more appealing than spending time on the phone arguing with patients’ in-surance companies.”

Thus, Carr proceeded to apply for a “very competitive internship as an officer,” she said, noting that “the physical requirements for qualifying as an officer are the same as any other officer in the Navy.” She was cho-sen, but given her third-choice assignment at the Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Norfolk, Virginia. There, as a clinical

psychology intern, she opted for what she said is the hardest year-long rotation first: the locked-in inpatient psychiatric ward—where she met her future husband. “It totally worked out for us,” Carr said, despite hur-dles like dating long-distance when he was assigned to ship out of New Jersey and she to Jacksonville, Florida, and initially being separated geographically after they married.

Subsequently, both applied to be stationed in Italy, where they spent three years work-ing (she as a department head at the U.S. Na-val Hospital in Naples), traveling extensively and starting their family. Back in the U.S., Carr “reluctantly resigned my commission (in 2006), knowing I would have been sent to Iraq on an aircraft carrier” instead of liv-ing with her one-year-old and her husband. Shortly thereafter, she started her private practice, which centers on “seeing individual adults and couples … providing psychother-apy, couples counseling and bariatric surgery suitability screenings.”

For now, Dr. Carr is content with her place on Inspiration Lane. “It’s big enough but cozy; it has a private side door, and it fits nicely into the community,” she said, noting that 70 percent of the practice’s patients live in the immediate vicinity. The location is convenient for neighborhood teens who can walk over, for couples who follow their ap-pointment with a meal together and for par-ents who go off to do their grocery shopping during a child’s session.

And she is pleased to do her job, which she defines as providing “a supportive ear, com-passionate feedback and (asking) questions that bring you to ideas for action.”

WINTER SAVINGS!

n ANNIVERSARY from page 1

Photo | Mac Kennedy

Dr. Elizabeth Carr, founder of Kentlands Psychotherapy, relaxes with an unofficial member of her team, Riley.

across the country. Dr. Frank Scheer, cura-tor of the Railway Mail Service Library in Boyce, Virginia, will discuss this import-ant aspect of railroading history. Tickets are $5. Call 301.258.6160 or visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov.

Kentlands Acoustic JamFeb. 28, 6 p.m., Kentlands Carriage House

Bring your voice and instrument and join in, or just come to listen. Free. kentlandsacousticjam.reverbnation.com

Singer Songwriter Concert Series: DalaPresented by O’Hair Salon + Spa

March 4, 3 p.m. workshop & 7:30 p.m. con-cert, Arts Barn

The female singer-songwriter duo Dala brings their fresh brand of acoustic pop. Drawing on influences like The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, Dala writes songs that are both catchy and insightful. Tickets are $50 for work-shop and concert and $30 for concert only. www.gaithersburgmd.gov

from page 6

ARTS&ENTERTAINMENT


er, Miller & Canby said their discussions with the Colonnade will be ongoing. Col-onnade concerns about the close proximity of the Kentlands Apartment building on Granite Place II resulted in the developer “pulling back” the Kentlands Apartment building and including extra footage on the sidewalk. Similarly, concerns that the six-story Kentlands Apartments building would overshadow the four-story Colon-nade were addressed by reducing the pro-posed building’s eave line.

At six stories, Kentlands Apartments will feature 295 residences—59 studios, 132 one-bedrooms, 95 two-bedrooms, and nine three-bedrooms. A six story above-grade and one story below-grade parking garage facing the Kentlands Square Shop-ping Center will offer 423 parking spac-es, eight motorcycle spaces and 17 bicycle spaces. Amenities include fitness, party and game rooms, as well as a pool. Accord-ing to the developer and based on MCPS student generation numbers, Kentlands Apartments is expected to bring 20.9 el-ementary students, 8.6 middle schoolers, and 11.2 high school students. The Mary-land Transit Administration (MTA) Cor-ridor Cities Transitway (CCT), now in its 30 percent design phase, will be elevated approximately 20 feet as it goes past the property on Great Seneca Highway.

Infrastructure concerns—especially traffic and schools—were extensively ex-plored at the meeting. To remedy traffic congestion on the Colonnade’s narrow streets, traffic engineer Glenn Cook and his Traffic Group team worked with Ollie Mumpower, the city’s engineering services division chief, the State Highway Admin-istration and MTA to create a right-in, right-out point of access on Great Seneca Highway. Developers proposed continuing the Great Seneca deceleration lane leading

into Main Street and the Kentlands Square Shopping Center, thus creating a contin-uous third lane from the Quince Orchard Road/Great Seneca Highway intersection down to Main Street. All parties approved the right-in, right out. “We think this will improve traffic on this corner,” Cook said. “This will help the Colonnade, too.”

With the projected increase in student numbers from Kentlands Apartments and taking into account MCPS projections that the student population at Rachel Carson Elementary School (RCES) will decrease slightly in five years, the RCES school population will still be beneath 150 per-cent capacity. According to the City of Gaithersburg’s Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance, residential development can proceed unless schools will be at more than 150 percent capacity.

Mayor, councilmembers and planning commissioners asked a variety of ques-tions. Areas of concern were traffic, espe-cially the right-in, right-out access from Great Seneca, school overcrowding, the Kentlands Apartment building height, pre-serving greenspace, and pedestrian walk-ways. There was a consensus that this is a high-density project.

Councilmember Robert Wu asked for a construction timeline. The estimate is for a spring 2018 start and 12-plus month con-struction period. Wu noted that the Kent-lands Apartment building will open before the planned addition to Dufief Elementary and RCES student reassignment to that school. RCES, built for 667 students, this year serves 1,046 students according to MCPS.

Harris noted that there is a strong mar-ket for apartments now. He asked if Takhar and his partner planned to manage and own the property going forward.

Takhar said that there are no plans to sell the building once complete. He not-ed that he has been in the hospitality busi-ness for many years, and he plans to hire a professional management company for the

apartments. “We would like to make it a good community for the neighbors and the apartments,” he emphasized.

Community members who spoke, many Colonnade residents, objected to the den-sity and mass of the project, its proximi-ty to Colonnade buildings and its higher elevation, the loss of green space and its impact on pedestrians and pets, increased traffic and school crowding.

Colonnade resident Susanna Reid said that in five years, RCES will be at 149.6 percent capacity; an additional two stu-dents would bring the school up to 150 per-cent and trigger a residential development moratorium. “This should be the number one reason why the development should not be built,” she said. Reid also said she is concerned about the impact on Colonnade property values and believes that the traffic

impact has been underestimated.Henry Musikar, at-large board member

of the Colonnade Condo Association, said, “There is not enough on paper to go for-ward.” He asked for a plan to cover impact on traffic and schools should this be greater than anticipated.

All agreed that more time was needed to explore concerns raised. John Schlichting, director of planning and code administra-tion, included the right-in, right-out Great Seneca access and the CCT as it passes in front of the building as two important ar-eas for further study. Kline asked for an additional two weeks to work with the Colonnade.

The public record will remain open in-definitely. A joint work session of the May-or and City Council and Planning Com-mission is planned for March 13.

n KENTLANDS APARTMENTS from page 1

a ballet in two acts

www.mbtdance.org or 301-762-1757Tickets start at $19. Group discounts available.

Metropolitan Ballet Theatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts education organization.

Robert E. Parilla Performing Arts CenterMontgomery College, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville

*Special post-performance “cast chat” for children of all ages after performances

on 3/18 12pm and 3/19 5pm

Sat. March 18 - 12pm & 4pmSun. March 19 - 1pm & 5pm

guess,” Sandi said, observing that many of Tipo’s customers were grandparents who appreciated the guidance the Tipographs offered as well as the ability to see and touch the high-quality toys—and then emerge from the store with ready-to-present wrapped gifts. The younger people appar-ently value the ease of clicking on an item and having it delivered to their doorstep, she said. Still, Sandi noted, some of those same parents felt justified in using the store’s displays—including a train station and a dollhouse—as an unsupervised indoor play-ground for their children in the morning without purchasing a thing.

Nonetheless, many area parents, grand-parents and children join the Tipographs in their sadness at the store’s closing, and feel the loss far more than the addition of still another empty Kentlands storefront.

On a Sunday in early February, for ex-ample, as parents combed the aisles for 30 percent off bargains, a 9-year-old girl ap-proached Lew with a sincere inquiry, “What could we do to change this situation?”

Comments on Tipo’s Facebook page re-flected the community’s sentiments. Jones

Lane Elementary School teacher Melis-sa Pritchard called Tipo’s “a really special store, (with) kind and helpful owners and employees. So sad it didn’t work out. My kids and I will miss coming into your store. No other toy store around like yours.” From Meredith Salita, who lives in neigh-boring Quince Orchard Manor: “Very sad. I love this store. I made a point of buying every birthday party present there to sup-port having such a great toy store. Loved your inventory!” Tonya Meyer, who lives in Kentlands, wrote, “It was AWESOME hav-ing such a great toy store within walking distance from home. They provided great value in the variety of offerings and their enthusiasm in helping you find the best gifts for your needs.” Lakelands resident Sara Krieg, too, said the news was “very sad to hear. I loved coming in there and getting suggestions on gifts, the unique toys and the friendly faces. I used to walk in and tell them what age and gender I was looking for … and they would give me a handful of unique suggestions.”

What’s next for the Tipographs is a va-cation, Sandi said. “We haven’t taken one in 33 years.” And after that, they will look for jobs. “We are not ready to retire, but we definitely will not be starting another busi-ness,” she added.

n TIPO’S CLOSING from page 1


The ParkPagesMANAGEMENT MENTIONS

Trash and RecyclingTrash is collected on Tuesday and

Friday and must be placed in lidded trash cans. If left for collection in bags only, trash is ripped open by animals and strewn throughout the community. Continued use of bags may result in fines.

Recycling is picked up on Fri-days. Containers with lids are now available from the City of Gaith-ersburg. Please contact the city at 301.258.6370 to have a lidded bin delivered and the old one picked up. Bulk pickup is usually the first Friday of the month. The next re-cycling pickup is Friday, March 3.

Please remember that trash cans and recycle bins must be stored out of sight on non-pickup days.

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

Dog DutyCleaning up after dogs is the legal

responsibility of every canine own-er walking a dog in the communi-ty. Dogs are not permitted off-leash on common property in the City of Gaithersburg.

Let’s ConnectIf you are not a member of the

Quince Orchard Park public group Facebook page, you might consider joining. This is a great place for res-idents to connect. Board members try to respond to posts that pertain to community management and of-ficial activities, but as this is not an official Quince Orchard Park HOA page, some posts go unnoticed. If you have a suggestion or concern about the community or want to reach the management company or Board, please call The Management Group Associates at 301.948.6666.

QOP Management Contact InformationQuince Orchard Park Community

Manager Ruchita PatelQOP Co-Manager Alex Deering

c/o The Management Group Associ-ates, Inc.

20440 Century Boulevard, Suite 100Germantown, MD 20874

Phone: 301.948.6666

MEETING CALENDAR

March 14 — Board of Directors Meeting, Quince Orchard Park Clubhouse, 7 p.m.

News and Current Events for Quince Orchard Park n E-mail your contributions to [email protected]

QOP NEWS

FEBRUARY 2017

Save the DateMark your calendars to attend the 2017

Annual Meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, April 11, 7 p.m. in the newly renovated clubhouse. Your attendance is needed—a quorum of 51 households is required to hold this important annual meeting. Please come, learn about what is going on in the neighborhood, and consider getting more involved.

Home Inspections Begin Next MonthPlease take an objective look at your

home now to see if any maintenance is needed. Annual home inspections will be-gin next month, and taking care of issues now will help you to avoid receiving corre-spondence from the management company. If you do receive a letter about violations, please respond to this as quickly as possi-ble. Prompt action to resolve the issue or a request for more time will prevent further correspondence and possible fines.

Not Too Early to Dive inNo, we’re not announcing a QOP ver-

sion of the Polar Bear Plunge. The pool re-

mains closed, but it is time to start thinking about applying for a pool pass.

New homeowners, tenants, and any-one who was not previously given a pool pass needs to submit an application. You can apply online now and avoid the rush. Just go to www.quinceorchardpark.com, download an application and mail it to The Management Group Associates, Inc., 20440 Century Boulevard, Suite 100, German-town, MD 20874.

You also can request that a paper ap-plication be mailed to you by calling 301.948.6666, ext. 137 or emailing [email protected]. Then just fill it out and return it to The Management Group Associates at the above address.

You will receive confirmation that your membership has been processed. Notice will be sent if there is a problem with your account, such as a past due assessment bal-ance, or if important information regarding your pool pass account is missing.

Detailed information on pool hours, pool pass renewal as well as how to obtain new or replacement pool passes, guest informa-tion, and pool rules are posted at www.quinceorchardpark.com.

Sponsor an EventDo you enjoy Quince Orchard Park

events? Are you a Quince Orchard Park res-ident or local business owner? If so, please consider sponsoring a community event.

Popular year after year are the Spring Clean-Up Day, Spring Community Yard Sale, Easter Egg Hunt, Independence Day Parade and Picnic, National Night Out, Doggy Swim, and Halloween Party. New and exciting are Pool Happy Hour, two Pool Movie Nights, and Vegas Night at the Pool.

The Board will match a sponsor’s funds up to amounts designated for each specif-ic event. Promotional materials prepared by the sponsor and approved by the Board will be broadcast to the community via the QOP website and these Park Pages.

Sponsorship guidelines and specific com-munity event information are available on the QOP website. Sponsorship application can be made six months prior to the event but must be received within two weeks of the event date.

Photo |Mac Kennedy

The new QOP Clubhouse fitness room is much bigger! You can check it out mid-March when it opens.

Get Pumped! Fitness Room to Reopen Mid-MarchOn a cold day in mid-February, the Quince Orchard Park Clubhouse renovation was nearing completion. Talk centered around

hardware for the new exterior doors, where to mount the exterior key fob access for the fitness room, and repairing the brickwork at the clubhouse entrance. Flooring to match the fitness room color scheme, which was changed from a green to a blue, is on order and will be installed as soon as it arrives—sometime in March.

Jonathan Barber, project manager with Ultra Company, the general contractor on the project, said that he can’t believe how much bigger the new fitness room is. The room is full of light with 10 windows on three sides and a new exterior, glass-paned double door.

The QOP Clubhouse will reopen Feb. 28, as scheduled. Fitness room access will not be possible until the new flooring arrives and is installed. Barber believes this will happen no later than mid-March. Look for new equipment—rowing machines and weight equipment—chosen based on last year’s fitness room user survey.


‘Commonwealth’Written by Ann Patchett

“C o m m o n -w e a l t h ” (2016) is Ann

Patchett’s seventh novel, but she facetiously calls it her “autobiographi-cal first novel,” allud-ing to the debut novel a 20-something might write where it’s unabash-edly stolen from her own life. If you’ve read other books by Patchett, you know the action can take place any-where—in a jungle along the Amazon or at a nunnery in Kentucky. My favorite, “Bel Canto,” takes place in the home of a South American diplomat where several gueril-la fighters hold his party-goers hostage for weeks. But since Patchett has fictionalized her own family life, it takes place in subur-ban homes in California and Virginia with two splintered families.

Patchett leads us into the action at a christening party one weekend afternoon in Southern California at the house of Fix Keating, a cop. Bert Cousins, an attorney

known at the precinct, stops by brandish-ing a bottle of gin, looking for an excuse to get out of his house bustling with three toddlers and a pregnant wife. Bert takes one look at Fix’s wife, Beverly, and realiz-es, “This (is) the start of his life,” and that chemistry leads to the end of the two mar-riages. Fix stays in California, raising the baby Franny and toddler Caroline, while Bert and Beverly move to Virginia. Bert’s wife, Teresa, is left in California as the sin-gle mother of their four young ones—two boys and two girls.

Patchett made a daring choice, though, to tell the story of these two families in a non-chronological way. Readers may be jolted when the second chapter takes place several decades later when Franny, the beautiful baby her father, Fix, had car-ried around on that fateful day, is again with him as he undergoes chemotherapy. Each following chapter covers an episode in the lives of one of the 10 members of the families, but the scenes that sing with

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READER’SCHOICE

By Betty Hafner

n READER’S CHOICE Continued on page 12

“We were really aware of (Quince Or-chard’s) previous success,” Chisaka said. “In the gym, we saw our banner and the latest it said was 2004. We would always look at that and say that we wanted 2017 on that banner. We wanted to be the team that got that next county title.”

This year has been a sort of renaissance for both Quince Orchard poms and cheer-leading. The Cougars cheerleading squad won its first Montgomery County Division I title since 2007 last fall. And while the poms were winning the Blake Invitation-al, the cheerleaders, led by senior captains Carly Porter and Erin Roche, claimed vic-tory at DC Cheerstarz hosted by Ballou.

As the performing captain at counties, Chisaka earned second place, which sec-ond-year poms coach Kim Martin said is a testament to her ability to put on a per-formance.

“I had people come up to me and tell me, ‘I need 20 Kasondes on my team,’” said Martin, a 2007 graduate of Quince Orchard. “Their eyes were just drawn to her. I think her leadership and ability to perform is what made her such a successful captain and leader and role model.”

Overall leadership, which included senior captains Kelly Brott and Alyssa Alalouf, was vital in this year’s success, Martin added. Their strengths comple-mented each other and helped them guide and bring out the best in their teammates.

“I embraced the role of being a teach-er to a lot of the new girls who never did poms,” Chisaka said. “They were all great dancers, but you need to be able to teach them what’s expected to be a great pom.”

Dancing ability is a great foundation but

being a pom requires much more than that, Martin said. There are strict techniques, jumps and turns and arm placements, and they all have to be clean. With general dance, “you’re able to add your own style,” Chisaka said, but with poms, it’s vital that everyone hit the same motion in such a way that while it looks like 20 people, it also looks like one because it’s so in unison. And that is only achieved through repeti-tion.

The county championship was a culmi-nation of a six-month season that began with fall sports in mid-August. It was then that Martin decided this year’s program would be fast-paced and energetic.

“I think that’s what set us apart from other teams,” Martin said. “The fact that they had extreme energy but never lost their performance base or never lost energy or got tired.”

For Martin’s plan to work, for the Cou-gars to perform a high-energy routine for six consecutive minutes, the Cougars needed endurance. So during preseason and through the entire football season, Quince Orchard would run a mile every practice. Once training was honed in on the specific routine, the Cougars stayed fit by running through it three or four times in a row.

“It was painful, I’m not going to lie,” Chisaka said. “But we had to make sure we could do that dance without being tired. … As a team, we got very close and I feel like (the underclassmen) were able to see the way we talked to them and I feel like they’re definitely going to be able to keep up this standard and teach the new girls. Now that they know what it’s like to get first, I feel like they’re going to be ready (to keep going). The whole effect of winning makes you want to win more.”

n QO POMS TITLE from page 1


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MIKEAT THE MOVIES

By Mike Cuthbert

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life involve the six kids spending summer vacations together in Virginia. “They did things, real things, and they never got caught.”

Looking back over it, I think of scenes that hadn’t moved the story along and were dropped as soon as they happened. A child dies from a bee sting because the kids had used the antidote he carried to quiet the hy-peractive youngest sibling. The kids break into a car and steal a gun but do nothing

with it. As an adult Franny has a relationship with a writer she had idolized, and he writes a novel based on her story. But it’s under-standable. Life happens. And what you get with “Commonwealth” is a writer letting us in on all the highs and lows, tragedies and wonderful surprises of family life as she works at making sense of the life she’s lived and shares it with us.

Another beautifully written novel by Patchett that takes readers into perhaps more familiar territory.

from page 11

READER’SCHOICE

The Comedian (R) ****Your preference or dis-

taste for this film may depend mostly on your predilection for rough in-sult humor. Jackie Burke (Robert De Niro) is an old sitcom star now playing clubs and comedy venues and not a few assorted other places such as retire-ment homes. No matter the venue, however, Jackie cannot avoid using his insult-laden blue humor. Much of it is ad-libbed. What’s funny in this film is not only Jackie but the fact that various audiences of various ages love his material.

One guy who doesn’t is a professional heckler with his own cable show. Jackie catches him taping his act for use on his show (without compensation, of course), and Jackie ends up breaking the guy’s nose and allegedly damaging his neck. Jackie not only refuses to apologize properly, he also takes after the judge with his own ma-terial and ends up with a six-month stretch

in the pen.When Jackie gets out, he meets Harmo-

ny Schiltz (Leslie Mann) at a soup kitchen (community service, you know) where he charms the clientele with his best materi-al. Her father, Mac (Harvey Keitel), is a disgusting minor mobster with a nose for De Niro’s real purpose in befriending Har-mon, an ex-felon herself.

The middle of the picture presents a se-ries of actual stand-ups doing one or two jokes from their routines and trading shots with Jackie, who bests them all. His career starts to resurrect itself but a very funny ap-pearance at a roast for a veteran comic ends the comeback as the roastee ends up face down in the mashed potatoes with a fatal heart attack. (“Jackie, you really killed!”)

Jackie and Harmony are by now an item. He does his schtick at a lesbian wedding followed by an obscene mash-up of the old standard “Makin’ Whoopee” after a strange departure by Harmony for Florida. Jackie has more hits, some of them now on the Internet where he goes viral a number of times and his career is on the uptick.

There are several questions the film

raises: Is Jackie talented enough to make it with straight material? Is Harmony’s fa-ther keeping them together by being such a jerk? What’s wrong with Jackie’s agent, Miller (Edie Falco)? Why does it take so long for Jackie to break through since he is successful with all ages? And the final ques-tion: Why are all these comics so mean to each other? I happen to like this kind of humor, and Leslie Mann always makes me laugh. She is outstanding in this role, for more than humorous reasons. You might find the ending unsatisfactory but that largely depends on how you feel about Jackie by the end of the film. I loved him all the way.

The LEGO Batman Movie (PG) ***This is a really tough movie to tell you

about since it looks like a kids’ movie but it is far more accessible to adults! From the opening satirical take on the usual opening credits to the late verdict on Batman (“You are not the traditional Bad Guy, but you aren’t much of a Good Guy either”), this movie is a run of adult-era jokes, many of them hearkening back to the early comic book days. Superman is a villain, Batman’s

password for the Wayne Mansion and the Bat Cave is “Iron Man Sucks,” and Batman enjoys Lifetime and drinks wine.

To further cloud Batman’s image, The Joker (Zach Galifianakis) finds a collection of “relationship movies” in the Batcave. Batman (Will Arnett) has family issues; in fact, he can’t even say the word, which messes up his relationship with Robin (Michael Cera), the orphan he adopts, and Barbara (Babs) Gordon (Rosario Dawson) who becomes part of the gang along with Alfred Pennyworth (Ralph Fiennes), Bat-man’s butler.

Much of the film is a colorful, almost psychedelic light show as the quartet bat-tles all the villains of Gotham and try to build a feeling of family. As Babs reminds Batman, “It takes a village, not a Batman.” As for the Caped Crusader: “If you want to be like Batman, take care of your abs!”

With all the older jokes going to the par-ents, I’m not sure how kids will react to this movie. They might just enjoy the light show and that may be enough, given the competition.

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


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Lady Cougars on Winning StreakBy Mac Kennedy

I t is every team’s goal to finish the regular season on a hot streak. It’s been proven time and time again that entering the

playoffs with momentum, confidence, and a winning attitude can lead to a deep run into the postseason. The Lady Cougars of Quince Orchard have done just that, putting together a little streak of their own with only one game left in the regular season.

The QO girls’ basketball team has won their last four games, two by a margin of 26 points. The winning streak started against rival Northwest with a 65-39 victory. Junior Maggie Regan led the team with 15 points

including five three-point field goals. Senior Giulia Sanmartin and Junior Yekta Kama-li added 11 each, followed by Senior Alexa Sanmartin and Junior Danielle Lehner each with 9. The Cougars held their opponents to 39 points, which was a huge improve-ment over the last time these two met when Northwest scored 54 points.

Head coach Chris Campbell has been put-ting an extra emphasis on his team defense the second half of the season, and he is so far pleased with the outcome. He described the change as the “evolution” of their defense.

The defense of the Cougars showed up

NW Wrestling Finds Identity

By Jennifer Beekman

E very wrestler who steps onto the mat for a match intends to win. But there is a drastic difference

between wrestling to win and wres-tling not to lose. The former, requires athletes to take risks and stay on the of-fensive, while the latter typically results in more passivity.

Northwest High School seniors Khalil Owens and Yonas Harris, whose leadership and success played a pivot-al role in the Jaguars’ run to this year’s Class 4A/3A West Region dual meet competition, have thrived on a more aggressive mindset this winter. And their teammates have followed suit.

“You definitely have to be willing to take risks, you can’t get complacent with the take down, you’ve got to want to put the guy on his back and not be scared of a reversal,” said Owens, a Seton Hill University football recruit. “When you wrestle in that aggressive mindset, you don’t worry about things, which causes you to wrestle better. I’ve been more confident in my wrestling this year”

Added Harris: “I think I made a big transition from last year and put in the work during the offseason. I like to push the pace and I like to score by

Quince Orchard Wrestling’s Comeback KidsBy Jennifer Beekman

T hree years ago, during his freshman football season at Thomas S. Wootton High School, current Quince Orchard

senior Alec Falconer suffered a season-end-ing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear in his knee that also forced him to sit out the entire winter wrestling season. He recovered in time for the following fall but another rup-tured ACL meant he was sidelined once again and out for another wrestling season.

A weaker man might have given up, but strong-willed Falconer said he was deter-mined not to let the setbacks deter him from achieving his goals. Now he’s poised for a breakout championship season, which kicks off with this weekend’s Montgomery County meet.

After transferring to Quince Orchard last year, he finished 21-13 and was a region qual-ifier in 2015-16. Though admittedly rusty during the respectable campaign, Falconer, who will compete at 140 pounds this post-season, picked up valuable experience over the summer by competing for the Maryland National Team at Junior/Cadet Nationals in Fargo, Minnesota.

Falconer opted out of football this year to avoid risking injury and get himself in the best possible shape for his final wrestling sea-son. But in this year’s opening match, “some-how the plastic on his opponent’s headgear sliced him and he got nine stitches above his eyebrow,” Cougars coach Rob Wolf said.

Though only a minor injury, Falconer missed the opportunity to compete in nine matches.

Wrestlers earn points for each regular sea-son victory—results from the previous year’s region and state meets also carry over. The top eight wrestlers in each weight class based on points receive automatic bids to the Class 3A/4A West Region meet scheduled for Feb. 24-25. But the top six finishers at the county meet will also advance to regionals. There, the top four qualify for the season-ending state meet, set for March 3-4 at Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro.

Damascus, which won its fifth consecutive state dual meet title Saturday, is the over-whelming favorite to win the county team championship. But this stretch of the season is more about individual performances, Wolf said—he’ll likely only fill nine of 14 spots at counties. And Quince Orchard has a solid core of wrestlers in legitimate contention to qualify for and place at states, including Fal-coner, sophomore Jose Echeona, who leads the team with 31 match wins, junior Alejan-dro Lopez (29) and seniors Brett Williams (8-2) and Jarret Kowalski (22).

“For me (this portion of the season) is the true moment to show how much work I’ve put in to the wrestling room,” Falconer said. “I know we’ve got five guys that have a really good shot at making it to states and they’re around my weight class so we’ve worked together and we’ve really helped push each other.”

Falconer is not the only Quince Orchard

wrestler who’s come back from injury. Lo-pez was on pace to compete for a state title last winter before missing the 2016 postsea-son to undergo shoulder surgery. He was started this winter at full strength but a virus sapped him of his energy for several weeks midway through the season. Despite compet-ing in arguably the toughest weight class, a re-energized Lopez (132 pounds) is capable of making a run to the state final, Wolf said, where anything can happen. The third-year varsity starter is quick, agile and cerebral on the mats, he added.

“He’s very intelligent,” Wolf said of Lopez. “He’s very athletic and he’s worked really hard on reacting to things, so he’s very rarely out of position.”

Williams underwent shoulder surgery in the fall and didn’t start wrestling until after Jan. 1. Though he only has 10 matches under his belt, he notched a monumental win over Damascus Feb. 4, which could help propel him into the county meet.

Echeona (106 pounds) has blossomed in his second varsity season, Wolf said. “Jose worked really hard in the offseason and did everything he could possibly do. For him the biggest difference is the mental side. Because he worked so hard, he has more confidence.”

Photo | Mac Kennedy

Junior Maggie Regan (no. 11) and senior Alexa Sanmartin (no. 13) helped the Lady Cougars win over the Poolesville Falcons on Feb. 3, 33-25.

n QO GIRLS’ BASKETBALL Continued on page 14

n NW WRESTLING Continued on page 14


staying offensive and wrestling to win.”Northwest is no stranger to the upper

echelon of Montgomery County wrestling but with a rather young starting lineup this winter, coach Joe Vukovich admitted he was uncertain where the Jaguars would fall in the county’s hierarchy.

A 12-2 regular season landed them in regional duals—only the top four teams qualify. Though Northwest ultimately fell to Winston Churchill in the semifinals, Vukovich said he was proud of the team for achieving its goal of qualifying. Doing so, he continued, exceeded the team’s expec-tations and should serve as a boost moving forward into the next stretch of champi-onship season: next weekend’s Montgom-ery County Championship, Class 4A/3A West Region meet (Feb. 24-25) and states (March 3-4).

“It’s always an honor to be in that group of four (that qualify for regional duals),” Vukovich said. “That’s certainly a good measuring stick to know how good of a season you’ve had. … What our guys have done this year is created an identity for themselves. And that identity is that they’ve very competitive.”

Different teams have different personal-ities, Vukovich continued. Some have su-perior skills and others rely on grit. This year’s squad has a knack for rising to the occasion. The seniors have served as a cat-alyst, and the underclassmen “rose to the occasion,” Vukovich said. Through their will to compete, the Jaguars were able to take hold of the controllable factors during matches, such as momentum shifts. A stan-dard win is three points, but there are three opportunities for teams to pick up bonus points: pins, technical falls and major de-cisions. Northwest did a good job of cap-italizing on its opportunity to gain extra points while minimizing its opponents’ by avoiding getting pinned.

Based on this dynamic, Northwest is likely a stronger dual-meet team this win-ter. While Owens (170) and Harris (106 pounds) should be in contention to place at states, the Jaguars don’t have a slew of su-perstars. Wins have been full team efforts. But, Vukovich said, Northwest has been battle tested this winter and the Jaguars have proven how hard they’re willing to fight. And this next portion of the season is more individual-centric—the perfect op-portunity for Northwest’s top athletes to shine.

once again as the very talented Poolesville Falcons paid a visit. The first time these two met, Poolesville beat QO by 35, holding the Cougars to just 14 points. The second time around, it was QO who made it difficult for the Falcons to find the basket. The scoring for QO was very balanced across the board, as Regan led the team with 8. QO came out on top, 33-25.

The match-up against Clarksburg once again came down to the final seconds. QO finishing the game with three double-digit scorers helped them cap off a 56-52 victory. Lehner led with 13, Alexa Sanmartin had 11, and right behind her was sophomore Destini Kelley with 10.

QO had no trouble with Kennedy High School, dishing out a 51-15 victory. Alexa and Giulia Sanmartin had six combined threes anchoring the offense.

Coach Campbell’s new defensive mindset has brought the Cougars a long way, but he still has some improvements in mind. “We are still looking to grow as a team in prepara-tion for the playoffs. We need to do a better job in the first quarter of games to jump out on teams from the start.”

He also praised his post players for their late success. Lehner is back from injury and becoming a force inside. Campbell hopes the higher production from the forwards will free up the guards for open threes and driv-ing lanes. The last game is against Tuscaro-ra High School, and then the Cougars will enter the playoffs with what should be a top three seed.

n NW WRESTLING from page 13

n QO GIRLS’ BASKETBALL from page 13

QO Seniors Finish With a Flourish By Syl Sobel

T he tightly-knit, senior-laden Quince Orchard boys’ basketball team cele-brated senior night at QO last Friday

with a 67-55 victory over a talented Ken-nedy squad, raising their record to 20-1 and establishing themselves as the team to beat in the Maryland 4A West regional playoffs.

The victory was the Cougars’ seventh straight following their sole loss to Seneca Valley in January, and now leaves them only a nonleague game at Tuscarora this week be-fore the playoffs begin at the end of Febru-ary. QO will receive a bye in the opening round and enjoy home-court advantage in the playoffs.

The Cougars played perhaps their most complete game of the season against the athletic Cavaliers (17-3), showing patience, good ball movement and tenacious defense in controlling the tempo for most of the game, wearing their opponents down, and—except for a flurry in the second quarter—defusing Kennedy’s explosive offense.

QO followed Coach Paul Foringer’s game plan against Kennedy’s aggressive 1-3-1 zone defense, finding gaps in the zone, driving to draw defenders their way, then dishing to teammates who stationed themselves in open passing lanes.

QO jumped to an early 8-2 lead and main-tained a 23-17 margin after the first quar-ter. Senior sharpshooter Matthew Kelly hit two three-pointers and junior center Daniel Dorsey scored eight points off the bench, ad-hering to Foringer’s plan.

But Kelly injured his ankle near the end

of the first quarter, and his teammates start-ed getting sloppy with the ball, triggering a 12-2 Kennedy run that put them ahead 29-25.

“I was worried when they took the lead,” Foringer said, as QO had trouble stopping Kennedy’s quick guards from dribble pene-trating on defense and couldn’t find openings on offense. But halfway through the quarter “we started doing it the right way and things started to click.”

The Cougars clamped down on defense forcing turnovers, Kelly returned to sta-bilize the offense, and senior Johnny Fier-stein, QO’s all-time leading scorer, slashed through the paint for layups and short jump-ers. His three-pointer at the buzzer gave the Cougars a 37-33 halftime lead and gave him 14 points for the half.

“We knew we had to be very deliberate with our dribbling and our passes and if we found the open man we could cut through their defense with passes and get easy buck-ets,” said Kelly.

“We knew we had to be aggressive,” add-ed Fierstein, citing extra motivation. “To-night was senior night,” the last regular sea-son home game for Fierstein and eight other teammates. “We really wanted to come out and leave a lasting mark on the season.”

The Cougars continued attacking after the break. Three-pointers by senior Colin Crews and junior Jack Faroane and a layup by senior Jake Feidelman off a sweet touch pass from Fierstein opened a 46-34 lead. From there, the Cougars spread their offense and slowed it down, moving the ball to force Kennedy to chase them and either drawing fouls or getting open shots. Kennedy never got closer than seven points. Fierstein finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds to lead QO, Dorsey had 17, and Kelly contributed 13.

“I think they lost a little energy as the game went on,” Foringer said of Kennedy, noting that by the second half Kennedy was playing at the same speed as QO. “We can handle that. We can defend that. We couldn’t defend them in the beginning.”

But Foringer also knows that with the playoffs looming, this isn’t the last time the Cougars are likely to see Kennedy. “We got to play them again … and we got to beat them again … or it’s over. So it’s an interest-ing dynamic. Hopefully, we can get over the hump this year.”

“We know we’re going to have a lot of tests come playoff time, a lot of good teams we’re going to have to play,” Fierstein said. “But if we play smart and we play hard, I like our chances.

Photo | Mac Kennedy

Johnny Fierstein, QO boys’ basketball’s all-time leading scorer, became the first player in QO history to score over 1,000 points for his career, reaching that milestone in a victory over Northwest on Jan. 31.


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