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

Vol. 8, No. 6 With daily news updates at www.towncourier.com March 18, 2011

CourierTheToWN

Canine CostsSee page 12

Millions Sunk into Pool Site; City Now Plans to Rezone Land

By Krista Brick

T axpayers have sunk near-ly $4 million into design-ing what was to become the

new aquatic/recreation center off Route 28, but an update to the city’s master plan could take the facility off the table.

The Gaithersburg City Council is preparing to update the city’s Land Use Plan, an element used in the city’s master plan that con-trols zoning and uses. The update proposal has that 7.4-acre site re-zoned to allow a mixed use of zoning such as office, residential and commercial, paving the way for the city to put that land on the

Spring Home Sales UpswingBy Krista Brick

W hen temperatures slow-ly climb and flowers inch their way out of the

ground, so do the for sale signs outside of houses as the spring real estate market gets into full swing.

Local realtors are predicting strong sales this season, capital-izing on a greater consumer con-fidence and interest rates that are still fairly low.

While most homeowners be-lieve the spring market starts in April or May, some buyers start their house hunting just after the holiday season.

At press time there were 18 homes for sale in Kentlands in-cluding nine single-family homes, three townhomes and six condominiums. On the market in Lakelands are six single-fam-ily homes, two townhomes and

Locals Seek Relief From Escalating Fuel Costs By Brooke Thaler

G as prices are on the rise, and there seems to be no relief in sight. Prices re-

cently increased by 19 cents in one week, and they continue to climb.

“We try to keep the pric-es down as much as possible,” said Aldo Carbonaro, owner of Darnestown Liberty. “With the situation in the Middle East, I don’t know when they could come back down. There’s just not much we can do.”

Liberty’s prices are consis-tently among the lowest in the 20878 area, according to Marylandgasprices.com.

“I know that we check every day,” said Carbonaro.

So do local residents, who are aware that Liberty’s pric-es are often among the low-est around. Kentlands resident Ken Beecher said, “I've defi-nitely become more sensitive as a result of the spike, but at the same time, I've become more

Photo | City of Gaithersburg

City officials want to rezone a site of more than 7 acres along Edison Park Drive as mixed-use. Officials have scrapped an aquatic and recreation center planned for the site.

April 15? Not This Year — Tax Deadline Moves to April 18

By Brooke Thaler

T ax season is upon us, but this year there’s something different for last minute fil-

ers. Instead of the dreaded April 15 deadline, in 2011 it’s April 18. April 15 is Emancipation Day in Washington, D.C., so the IRS is closed. And because it’s a Friday, the deadline is extended until Monday, April 18 at midnight.

Jeff Hunt with Liberty Tax Service, which operates a busy lo-cation in Kentlands, says the store will be open until midnight on

Photo | Brooke Thaler

Douglas Jimerson of Liberty Tax Service in Kentlands helps a client file their 2010 taxes.

n TAX TIME Continued on page 15

n HOME SALES Continued on page 10

n FUEL COSTS Continued on page 16

n AQUATIC CENTER Continued on page 9

THOSE LUCKY IRISH ...

Photos | Phil Fabrizio

The sounds of bagpipes filled the air and a sea of green swept down the streets at the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade at the Washingtonian Center on March 12. Local Kentlands and Lakelands Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts marched in the parade, and Kentlands residents Tim and Michelle Clark drove author Alice McDermott, who served as one of the grand marshals of the parade. There were also Irish dancers, Irish wolfhounds, greyhounds and even some leprechauns spotted at the event.

Condo Address Change in the Works By Sonya Burke

It’s been 17 months since a Montgomery County fire captain notified the city of

Gaithersburg with safety con-cerns about the addressing of the Copperfield Crossing II condo-minium buildings at 220 and 226 Kentlands Boulevard.

According to fire officials, the buildings are numbered out of sequence, and they are located a distance away from similar num-

bered buildings along Kentlands Boulevard, making them difficult to locate during an emergency call.

“It is in the best interest of public safety that the city rec-tify the address problem at 220 and 226 Kentlands Boulevard,” wrote Montgomery County Fire Marshal David Steckel in a letter dated Jan. 7 of this year. “My of-fice is aware of at least one delayed response directly attributable to the building addresses being out

of logical order with the sur-rounding occupancies. Additional delayed responses are likely if the situation is not corrected.”

At press time, Gaithersburg City Manager Angel Jones was expect-ed to update the city’s elected of-ficials at a City Council meeting on March 21 about the need to formally change the addresses of the Copperfield Crossing II con-

n ADDRESS CHANGE Continued on page 14

The Town Courier March 18, 2011

March 18, 2011 The Town Courier

Compiled By Sonya Burke

Power Outage in QOP and the Colonnade

A Pepco power outage left about 1,300 Gaithersburg customers without electricity at 11:28 a.m. on Sunday, March 13.

Pepco PIO Clay Anderson said the “interrup-tion” was caused by a cable switch that failed at the intersection of Long Draft and Clopper roads.

According to Anderson, the switch had to be re-placed. He said partial power was restored by 12:41 p.m. and all customers were back up by 2:33 p.m.

Fire Tips Wanted

Montgomery County Fire and Explosive Investigators are looking for information from the community regarding the Feb. 19 brush fire that impacted the Darnestown and Germantown areas. Anyone with information to assist in the investi-gation is urged to call the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Tip Line at 240.777.2263. The Tip Line is a non-emergency number and callers can leave information anonymously or speak with an investigator.

RCES Population Grows

The student population at Rachel Carson Elementary School continues to grow.

Currently, the school has 880 students enrolled, and projections for next fall indicate the atten-dance will increase to 899 students for the 2011-2012 school year.

The largest class will be the fourth grade with an estimated enrollment of 157 students, according to Principal Larry Chep.

In 2010, RCES was considered the second larg-est elementary school in Montgomery County behind Spark Matsunaga Elementary School in Germantown.

Batik Hosts Next Community Table

The Kentlands Community Foundation’s (KCF) next Community Table dinner is set for Wednesday, April 6, at 6:30 p.m. at Batik Asian Cuisine and Dumpling Bar, 200 Main Street.

The dinner follows the launch of the Community Table program in February when 35 area resi-dents came together for dinner, conversation and connections at O›Donnell›s Seafood Restaurant. Participants pay their own way and order off the menu for the dinners.

To RSVP to the April 6 Community Table call

ArounDTown

Photo | Phil Fabrizio

Downtown DevelopmentsMembers of the Kentlands Downtown Partnership (KDP) met at the Kentlands Clubhouse March 9 to discuss a variety of topics includ-ing maximizing social media opportunities, pursuing an arts and entertainment district designation, and creating a map of the Kentlands downtown area.

Chyten Owner Aims for Achievement By Claire Fleischer

A nn Derryberry’s passion for ed-ucation is apparent, and it can help bring people in to check

out Chyten Educational Services in Kentlands Market Square. But what keeps clients coming back is what Derryberry describes as the “Chyten Difference.”

Chyten is the only national educa-tional services company that requires masters’ degrees or teaching experience of its instructors, she said. In addition, rather than following a systematic pro-gram in which every student basically follows the same path, Chyten works to find the best approach for each child individually.

“We are not a ‘learning center’ where every child does the same thing, mostly independently and without a lot of individualized attention,” said Derryberry.

She describes the techniques fol-lowed by some large education services companies as basically a “cookie cut-ter approach” that often involves large groups of students at one time.

“This works very well for some,” she said, “but lots of kids need a much more individualized program. Chyten works with them as individuals at their pace.”

Chyten has tutoring and test op-tions for those in kindergarten through graduate school, and Derryberry said she matches the program to the stu-

dent. Before beginning with any ser-vices, she usually speaks with both prospective clients and their parents to determine what their objectives are and what will best help them achieve their goals.

“No single child who walks in here does it the same,” she said.

Derryberry has 15 years of expe-rience in her field. She taught class-

es and worked on marketing for The Princeton Review while earning un-dergraduate degrees in literature and philosophy at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla., and worked as a tu-tor for Huntington Learning Center during graduate school at Catholic University.

QOP Residents’ Business Perfectly Suits Them By Brooke Thaler

Q uince Orchard Park resi-dent Rami Bakri grew up in Jerusalem, where his fami-

ly was in the dry cleaning business. In 1996, his future wife, Stacy, was working in the same city and was one of his customers.

Rami and Stacy ended up in the same social circles and, and in 2000, they married and moved to the United States. Rami worked in sales for sev-eral years and always wanted to get back into the dry cleaning business, but the couple agreed, “We wanted to find the right model for us.”

With Rami in sales and Stacy work-ing as a financial planner, and as the parents of two young children, they hated having to pick up the dry clean-ing. It became “that errand that you really don’t want to do, so we came up with the model where we could do that errand for the customer.”

That’s when they created their busi-ness, Perfectly Pressed, a free pick-up and delivery service for dry cleaning. Perfectly Press opened in March 2008 with two neighbors who lived across the street from the Bakris. Now, three years later, Perfectly Pressed has 300 – 400 customers from Bethesda to Germantown.

“We have great customers,” said Rami Bakri. “We’re growing every day. Our strength came from existing customers and referrals. People have

been really supportive.”In addition, Stacy added, “people

know Rami and that he works hard for them.”

Perfectly Pressed partnered with a local eco-friendly dry cleaner whom the Bakris carefully selected. “We mystery shopped cleaners to find the right one,” said Stacy.

“He is the best in the industry,” agreed Rami. However, they prefer not to reveal the name in an effort to “keep it separate.”

Rami and another driver handle all the pick-ups and deliveries. On Mondays and Thursdays, they run the Gaithersburg, North Potomac, Darnestown, Germantown route and, on Tuesdays and Fridays, the Rockville, Bethesda, Potomac route.

As far as how many delivers and pick-ups they make in one day, it can vary. Perfectly Pressed has two types of customers — a route customer who is serviced on standard days, and those who are on an on-call basis. There is no minimum order.

“So if a costumer only has one shirt, we’ll still pick it up for them,” said Rami.

There is also no membership, no monthly charge or contract. Perfectly

Photo | Claire Fleischer

Chyten Educational Services owner Ann Derryberry is prepared for a busy spring.


The Bakri family in front of their Perfectly Pressed van, which is often spotted in QOP, Kentlands and Lakelands making dry cleaning deliveries.

n CHYTEN Continued on page 18

n PERFECTLY PRESSED Continued on page 10n AROUND TOWN Continued on page 17


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inSiDe CiTY hALL By Sonya Burke

City Election Countdown BeginsBy Sonya Burke

There are less than eight months un-til Gaithersburg’s citywide elections, and three of the incumbents’ seats are up for grabs on Nov. 8.

The first-year Council terms of Jud Ashman, Cathy Drzyzgula and Ryan Spiegel are up for reelection this year, and all three incumbents said they are seeking elected office again.

“I am planning on running for reelection, but don’t expect any official announce-ment in the near future,” said Drzyzgula in a Feb. 7 e-mail. Council members Ashman and Spiegel also confirmed they are plan-ning to seek a second term.

Deer Park resident and city volunteer Tom Rowse, a regular presence at City Council meetings this year, told The Town Courier he is also running for a Council seat.

Rowse ran in the 2009 election and lost his bid for city office against City Council incumbents Henry Marraffa and Michael

Sesma. He received 1,400 votes, or over 22 percent. There were 3,631 ballots cast in the 2009 election.

As of Jan. 31, 2011, there were 30,378 registered voters in Gaithersburg. During the 2009 election, there were 28,098 reg-istered voters in the city. The deadline to register to vote in the November city elec-tion is October 24.

At press time, a work session was sched-uled for March 14 to discuss some of the up-coming deadlines for the Nov. 8 election.

Election 2011 CalendarJuly 11: Candidate Packages Available

Sept. 19: Filing Deadline for Candidates

Oct. 6: Absentee Ballots Available

Oct. 24: Last Day to Register to Vote

Nov. 8: Election Day

Nov. 14: Swearing-In of Candidates

THE KNAPP REPORT

By Sonya Burke

The city’s economic consultant, Mike Knapp, attended the March 4 Economic Development Committee (EDC) meet-ing to update the business leaders on his progress.

The meeting began with an introduction by Deputy City Manager Tony Tomasello, who noted the city’s consultant was halfway through his contract but also cautioned that it was too early “to get a report of findings.” Tomasello said Knapp had attended between 30 meetings or interviews that were eco-nomic development related.

As an icebreaker, Tomasello then asked the committee members to predict what Knapp may be discovering.

EDC member Tom Rowse suggested, “Everybody is holding cash” and “treading water.”

“People aren’t as pessimistic as you might think,” Knapp said. “People are actually positive, starting to see the sun come up.”

According to Knapp, the projects that are underway in local jurisdictions up and down the east coast are only happening where there is a partnership.

He said Gaithersburg was “uniquely situ-ated” to make the most out of the economic recovery and pointed to the city’s core resi-dential development, “great transportation network (access to three airports),” infra-structure that is in place, and segmented use and office parks.

Knapp said the city has “a lot of things other jurisdictions would love to have.” Still he raised some questions: “Is this that the highest/best use for those parcels?” “What does the future look like?” “How do we do Olde Towne?” “What needs to happen with Lake Forest?”

According to Knapp, there is no right an-swer to these questions.

Instead he said there are “competing good

options” and those are what he will present to the city’s elected leaders in his final re-port. He said the officials will then decide if they want to choose A or B to make as viable as possible. The theme, he said, is “how do you work in partnership with other places?”

Knapp noted the Great Seneca Science Corridor, The National Cancer Society, re-cently approved Shady Grove development and Crown Farm, etc.

“Success begets success,” Knapp said, noting that Gaithersburg has the potential to become the “gateway to Montgomery County.” At a time when not a lot is happen-ing in the region, Knapp said, Gaithersburg “is an exciting place.” He said he hoped to help some media outlets to note that stagna-tion is not everywhere by spotlighting the developments and partnerships underway in Gaithersburg.

For now, Knapp is wrapping up his re-search and writing his report, which will be delivered publicly on April 25. “The idea is do stuff, not just have a nice report,” Knapp said.

EDC member Robyn Renas, a Kentlands resident, said she plans to attend the work session with Knapp.

“I am optimistic that Mike can prepare a report that gives some recommendations to the Mayor and Council and outlines ways for a new economic development director to operate,” Renas said. “The end report will be a tangible product, but my frustrations from the consultant relationship with the city are the numerous intangible elements, duplicated effort with economic strategic planning previously performed and pre-pared by the city, and the six-month length of contractual relationship to come up with a single report.”

Renas said the lengthy contract and one report makes the final report too significant.

“A better approach would have been to break the six-month contract into two month goals and tackle them quickly,” she said. “This would have given the Mayor and Council time to get involved with the research and make the process more interactive.”


exp. 3/31/11

Gaithersburg Employees Enjoy Fitness PerksBy Krista Brick

G aithersburg employees can get free golf lessons, a gym membership and Zumba classes, but only a third of

them are taking advantage of this free job perk.

The benefit is part of the GFit Wellness program aimed at promoting a healthy lifestyle for employees who, in turn, will use up less sick days and cost the city less in health benefits. Out of the 255 full-time employees eligible for the program, though, an average of 60 employees are ac-tually using it.

Employees who join a gym, take fitness classes or even join a sports league can get $35 a month of that cost paid for by the city.

The program is funded for $18,952 worth of wellness reimbursements.

“It is not an extravagant expense. Even if GFit kept one person healthier for the year, we would have a return on our money,” said Margaret Daily, director of human re-sources for Gaithersburg.

This year’s budget for GFit is $10,000 less than the prior year, and Daily said she hopes it is not sliced even further in fiscal year 2012.

“Absolutely, without a doubt, it is money well spent even in these budgeting times,” she said.

Aside from salaries, health care is the largest expense in the city’s budget. City employer costs for health care were $1.8 million in the fiscal 2011 budget. Daily said she used the GFit program as a negotiating

tool with health insurance provider Cigna in reducing rates by about 1 percent.

Daily said tough economic times have caused her department to drop things like a wellness fair, flu shots and other wellness screenings.

“We have to do more with less. Things that don’t cost a lot are a win-win for em-ployees,” she said.

GFit began in July 2008 after the Gaithersburg City Police Department lost the gym in its building due to an increasing demand for office space. To make up for the loss, the city started the GFit program, extending it to all full-time employees.

“There are jobs that are physically de-manding — like the police and Public Works — that it is important to be in shape,” Daily said.

GFit reimburses employees for things like personal trainer fees, sports leagues, managed weight loss programs, golf les-sons and gym memberships. Gaithersburg employees already have free use of the fit-ness center at Bohrer Park Activity Center, a $170 per year value. However, Daily said few employees use that gym.

“I have heard of a lot of reasons like they don’t like to work out with coworkers,” she said. The gym is also not large enough for all employees to work out consistently.

Daily said other employees, like any cross section of the community, just don’t want to participate in fitness-related activities.

“Either people are going to exercise or they are not,” she said, adding that some specialty classes are offered at City Hall just for city employees at the end of the

workday. Even though Gaithersburg offers doz-

ens of fitness classes through its Parks, Recreation and Culture Department, the $35 per month reimbursement fee isn’t be-ing spent on them. In fact an average of 76 percent of the participants are using their $35 per month allotment on independent athletic facilities.

The city’s recreation department of-fers access to the lap pool at Gaithersburg Middle School for $4 per visit; yoga and Pilates classes for $8 per session; and medi-tation classes for about $12 per class.

“A lot of our employees don’t live in the area or don’t want to work out with peo-ple they know or they just want to do it on their own time,” Daily said of the de-cision not to participate in city recreation programs.

Rockville city employees have their own version of a wellness program. This program offers heath fairs, blood pressure screening and wellness lectures. Employees who attend earn “wellness” dollars that can be turned in for prizes such as lunch bags or other health-related items, according to Hillary Hurlbutt, health and wellness pro-gram manager for Rockville.

Rockville has 535 employees eligible for its employee health and wellness program with a budget of $16,000. The city offers its employees exercise classes at reduced rates held in city facilities after work hours or during lunchtime.

Daily said she is planning on initiating a walking challenge to city employees and other free fitness programs.


LoCALVoiCeS

Let’s Get Serious About Gaithersburg Business Development

To the Editor:I am extremely disappointed with our

Mayor, City Council and City Manager Jones for their stated push for economic de-velopment. What are they thinking?

The Knapp contract is at the top of my list of concerns — I have questioned this hire from the beginning for its lack of transpar-ency and the lunacy that a sitting County Councilman (Yes, he was still a County Councilman when this contract began.) had such unique skills to avoid a procurement process.

But, I guess after creating a slush fund of $2 million earmarked for business develop-ment for this fiscal year, M&CC had to hire someone for $90,000 to do nothing except “meet and greet.” Nothing, I repeat noth-ing, has been done by Mr. Knapp or Mr. Tomasello, our city’s business development gurus.

When Mr. Knapp finally accepted KDP’s invitation this past fall to meet some of our business owners and talk with us about his plans and our objectives, I was wholly dis-appointed with his knowledge of our com-mercial district. He came to the meet-ing having not read the Master Plan for Kentlands Downtown, and not even know-ing that a charrette had taken place. I pro-vided him my copy of the Master Plan and asked to talk again. He seemed to think he knew our business district well because he has shopped here often (perhaps I’m quali-fied to run Disney World after a shopping spree there this fall). Following up after-ward, I offered further assistance and asked him what his interim deliverables would be; and I have never heard back.

Mayor and City Council, what is the plan for economic development? Let’s go through your plan based on my observations:

• Create $2 million slush fund; don’t use it. Check.

• Hire economic development consultant with no experience; don’t hold him ac-countable to deliverables. Check.

• Denigrate the Kentlands Downtown businesses by telling them they are doing just fine. Check.

• Eliminate funding for special events de-signed to attract shoppers. Check.

• Use city events to hire out-of-towners to compete with local businesses. Check.

• Buy property in Olde Towne and sell for a huge loss. Check.

• Hire permanent economic development chief. Led six-month search, but nope.

• Attract new businesses to Gaithersburg. Nope.

• Improve highway signage for Gaithersburg business districts/use ICC as a way to attract new shoppers. Nope.

• Create economic development budget and gameplan. Nope.

I like Mr. Katz and the City Council per-sonally, but it is time for our leadership to

step up or step out. City Council elections take place this year and it is time to hold our elected officials accountable. While [the] City Council presented a bleak budget and raised property taxes this year, they now have an additional $1 million from speed cameras and $1.9 million left in this busi-ness development slush fund. I call on our leaders to present and enact a plan for busi-ness development this spring, or we all need to do our best for the benefit of our City to help find people who will.

Paula Ross

Paula Ross is a Lakelands resident, and current president of the Kentlands Downtown

Partnership.

Cartoon Concerns

To the Editor:I have enjoyed reading The Town Courier

regularly and respect its quality of cover-age of issues relevant to its readers in this area. Even your Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down have been fair, even though I might not agree with all of them.

Your Artley cartoon on page [4] of the March 4 edition was in dramatic contradic-tion of my prior observations. It was a direct and uncalled for attack on this nation’s dem-ocratic system of representative govern-ment. Whether or not you agree with Gov. Walker’s proposals, he was duly elected as governor of Wisconsin on a platform that a majority of voters endorsed. He governs with a majority in both houses of the leg-islature who were also elected with similar policies. Elections in this country do have consequences!

Gov. Walker is not more dictatorial in pressing what he considers his voter man-date than, for example, President Obama pressing his legislative agenda even though many do not agree with some of that agen-da. Since the president presses on with his policies, maybe the cartoonist should have substituted the president for the governor! (Or did the cartoonist have an agenda?)

Obviously, that would be wrong, too. The dictator of Libya is a dictator. The gov-ernor and the president are democratically elected leaders conducting representative governance. They have constitutional re-sponsibilities to advance policies for which they were chosen to pursue. To date, nei-ther the governor nor the president has re-sorted to “strong arm tactics” to advance their objectives. Objectors have been free to demonstrate their views in any peaceful way they chose. Both leaders could teach many Middle Eastern rulers how democratically elected leaders conduct representative gov-ernance — a far cry from teaching the car-toons “strong arm tactics.”

Allen E. PritchardKentlands

To the Editor:What exactly is the point of parking a

nationally themed political cartoon in the middle of a local neighborhood newspaper? Are you serious?

The Town Courier works every day to cover local news in your neighborhood. You can find the headlines and events of the day posted on our Facebook page and on our website at www.

towncourier.com. Here is a look at some of the feedback we have received to some of our coverage.

n Continued on page 7


301-252-3917www.divinelandscaping.com

Divine Landscaping will be participating in the Montgomery County Home Show in April.

Come Out and See Us!

Comparing a madman dictator brutally killing his own people to a Wisconsin gov-ernor trying to rein in giveaways to unions to save his state from bankruptcy isn't a joke. There is real blood flowing on the streets of Libya. Is that funny? Not to me. Union thugs are threatening to kill legislators try-ing to do their job instead of hiding out in another state. Is someone threatening to kill a politician funny? Not to me.

The joke is the person on the Courier staff who couldn't get past their own blatant liberal bias and see that. It's sad to see the Courier denigrate itself to be the MSNBC of neighborhood news. Come on, you can do better than that.

Demos ChrissosKentlands

City Considers Rezoning Aquatic Center Site (First reported at www.towncourier.com.)

C. H. on March 7:“I understand the economic issues facing

the city. And I believe that this is probably not the right time to enter into a longterm fiscal burden for the city. However, having lived here since 1993 with the promise of an indoor aquatic facility, I feel disappoint-ed and sad.”

City Economic Director

(From Facebook) The Town Courier has learned that when

the economic development director job is reposted in a few weeks it will have a higher salary range.

A. R. on March 1:"This is a joke. They had a ton of resumes

for this position also and raved about the quality of the candidates. Not sure what a bigger posted salary is going to do. Perhaps they should hire a headhunter rather than a former county councilman to lead their search."

Chocolate Factory Opens on Main Street

L. B. on March 3:“What an awesome article and we are so

proud of everyone who has worked so hard and for so long to make this dream come true. We are so looking forward to being at the grand opening and tasting each and ev-ery delicious treat. Congratulations to all."

Bike-to-Work Day

(From Facebook) Bike to Work Day is May 20 although

there are no pit stops in Gaithersburg again. Do you think the city should be taking part in this annual event?

Y. B. on March 3:"They should if they truly wish to be a

green city."

QOP Considers Bagging Dog Stations (First reported on The Town Courier’s Facebook page.)

J. H. on March 8:“They could take an old newpaper vend-

ing box and put the bags in there, available for 25 or 50 cents. Probably would only break even at best, but at least it shifts the tiny cost to the users, making it a targeted tax. They could also make it a bin where dog walkers deposit their plastic grocery bags, and then take bags as needed. One bin, then no more cost — it'll work as well as people occasionally bring bags.”

L. T. on March 8:

“Ok. But isnt it fertilizer for plants and bushes? They are animals. Squirrels and geese poop all over the place. I would rather control the geese poop or pigeon poop. It is all over the walkways.”

J. B. R. on March 9:“I walk the path about three times a week

and have never seen anyone use them. As a dog owner, I carry my own bags, so I've never used them either.”

Let us know what you think about our stories of the day. Write to us at [email protected] or comment online at www.towncourier.com or on Facebook The Town Courier.

LoCALVoiCeS Continued from page 6 309 Main Street

Gaithersburg, MD 20878For Advertising: 301.279.2304

Also on the Web at www.towncourier.com.

©2011 Courier CommunicationsThe Town Courier is an independent monthly newspa-per providing news and information for the commu-nities 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 ad-vertisers Letters to the Editor and Commentary do not necessarily ref lect the views of the staff, management or advertisers of The Town Courier.

Diane Dorney Publisher

301.330.0132 [email protected]

Matt Danielson President


Sonya Burke Managing News Editor news@towncourier.

com

Debi Rosen Advertising Director


Claire Fleischer Copy Editor

Staff Photographers Clark Day

Phil Fabrizio

Staff Writers Patsy Beckman

Krista Brick Nora Caplan

Mike Cuthbert Betty Hafner

Sheilah Kaufman, Karen O’Keefe Brooke Thaler


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Library Supporters AppealEd Hsu, chairman of the Quince Orchard Library Advisory Committee, recently delivered this stack of 1,000 library appeal cards to Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett’s office in Rockville. Quince Orchard Library volunteers have set up a display at the front entrance of the local library to educate visitors about how important it is to avoid any further county budget cuts to library funding. For more information about getting involved, contact the commit-tee at [email protected].

SCRABBLE Scramble Fundraiser to Benefit Adult Literacy

The Literacy Council of Montgomery County will host a SCRABBLE Scramble to raise money for the organization’s adult literacy programs. The event will take place on March 27 from 6 to 9 p.m. at Manor Country Club, 14901 Carrolton Road, Rockville, Md.

Four-player teams will compete to

achieve the highest total score. Players will be able to purchase extra letters, buy a peek at a dictionary, and play cooperatively with other team members. Prizes will be award-ed to the three top scoring teams.

Tickets are $200 for a table of four, and all proceeds go directly to the Literacy Council.

For more information, contact Martha E. Stephens at 301.610.0030 or [email protected].


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real estate market.The city bought the land that is flanked

on one side by Edison Park Road and on the other by homes along Still Creek Lane in Lakelands in 2001 from FinMarc de-velopers who also owned the warehouse property that housed Peapod grocers. The cost for the land totaled $3.2 million.

To pay for the land deal, the city used some of the money it got from the sale of the Lakelands Park Middle School site to Montgomery County, according to Planning and Code Director Greg Ossont.

In addition to the land costs, the city paid Sorg and Associates $676,000 in fiscal year 2007 for work to design the new green rec-reation center that was to include an in-door pool, locker rooms, a gymnasium, fit-ness center and multi-purpose rooms. That design is 75 percent complete, according to the city’s Capital Improvements Plan documents.

The city spent an additional $30,320 on Alpha Corporation and Hughes Architects for review of the plans and for staff visits to other similar aquatic projects. The city had also hired Bill Bullough as the aquatic director with a salary of $85,047 with the design of the new facility being one of his duties based on his expertise in design and construction, according to City Manager Angel Jones. The position has now been downgraded to aquatic manager with a similar decrease in salary.

While city leaders have not completely abandoned the idea of an aquatic center, it is looking more and more like any such project won’t be on this original site.

Another $650,000 banked for the project is being stripped out in fiscal year 2012 to pay to replace the pool liner and gutter sys-tem at the City Water Park at Bohrer Park.

In January 2008, the Mayor and City Council directed that the project should be delayed to make funding available for other more pressing capital improvements needs.

For the project, the city received $1 mil-lion from the county, $3.4 million from the state and $5 million from the develop-ers of Crown Farm as funding available for the project. The state funds were approved by the Board of Public Works, authoriz-ing Program Open Space funds to be used for the project. The money, if not used for this specific project, can be reallocated for any land acquisition or construction proj-ect pertaining to parks and recreation as stipulated by Program Open Space, which will require Board of Public Works ap-proval to make a reallocation. The Crown Farm funds were not tied specifically to this project and can be used for any city recreation use, according to Ossont.

The estimated cost of the aquatic/rec-reation center project on the current site is $20 to $25 million. Operating costs are in the hundred of thousands, far more than the city has to spend, according to City Council member Michael Sesma.

“What we are looking at is the operating costs in doing this. I still think a city like Gaithersburg would benefit and deserves

that kind of facility, but with the current budget it does not make sense,” Sesma said.

The project was to be a partnership with Montgomery County; however, that mu-tual aid deal stopped after it would have been built, leaving the city to foot the operating bill. In addition, Montgomery County leaders were requiring the city to allow county residents to use the facility for the same city-resident fee schedule.

“It’s just not the right time to do it,” Sesma said, adding that the county is look-ing to build more combined-use facilities that would require much more land than available at the Edison Park Drive site.

The draft land use document is avail-able for review on the city’s website at www.gaithersburgmd.gov/masterplan. A March 7 public hearing attracted a large crowd mostly regarding a city land annex-ation issue. No one spoke at the meeting about the aquatic center site.

The city is still accepting written com-ments about the master plan.

“It is the beginning of a long process,” said Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz.

n AQUATIC CENTER from page 1

3/21, 4/4

Mayor and Council, Gaithersburg City Hall, 7:30 p.m.

3/28, 4/11, 4/25

Mayor and Council Work Session, Gaithersburg City Hall, 7:30 p.m.

3/29

Art in Public Places Subcommittee, Gaithersburg Arts Barn, 4:30 p.m.

4/6, 4/20

Planning Commission, Gaithersburg City Hall, 7:30 p.m.

4/14

Board of Appeals, Gaithersburg City Hall, 7:30 p.m.

4/26

“State of the City” Address, Asbury Methodist Village Rosborough Center, 6:30 – 8:30 p.m.

MEETING CALENDAR“I still think a city like Gaithersburg would benefit and deserves that kind of facility, but with the current budget it does not make sense.”

Michael Sesma,Gaithersburg City Council Member


three condominiums, while in Quince Orchard Park, just one single-family, one townhome and three condominiums were up for sale.

The number of homes on the market here is expected to increase significantly, according to local realtor Meredith Fogle with Keller Williams Team Realty.

“We are seeing a shorter market time already, and I have had multiple offers on properties, which we haven’t seen for a long time,” Fogle said about the current home buying climate.

Over the last 12 months, home prices in Montgomery County have appreciated 3 percent, Fogle said.

“Sellers are seeing their home values coming back and buyers are feeling that real estate is a safe place to invest,” she said.

Larry Prigal of The Prigal Brothers Real Estate RE/MAX Realty Group said a comparison of his sales in January 2010 to January 2011 shows an 11 percent increase in number of units sold.

“Those are phenomenal numbers as op-posed to the last year or two,” he said.

Jenelle and James Stevenson took advan-tage of an early spring buying season when they put their townhouse on Leaning Oak Street on the market February 5. One day later they had an offer in hand. The town-house sold for $485,000.

“We had 25 groups go through our open house, which floored us because it was

Super Bowl Sunday,” she said. On the flip side, Stevenson said, they pur-

chased a single-family house in Brookeville that was on the market just two days.

“Sometimes in life things click into place,” she said, adding she found limited inventory of houses to choose from.

The Calbos family listed their single-family home on Still Creek Lane in late February. They had about 50 people stop by during their first open house. The home is listed for $929,900.

“The house shows really well. We chose this early spring time to list because it is nice for buyers to see things starting to bud, and they can get a sense of the view we have in the back of the house,” said homeowner Nancy NeJame.

Realtor Elaine Koch with Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc. said spring listings tend to net a higher percentage of list price because of the number of buyers interested in well-priced homes.

“I have a lot of homes coming up to be listed. Buyers will be happy because there is more inventory and rates are still low,” Koch said.

The threat of currently low rates creep-ing higher has some “fence sitter” jump-ing into the market, according to Mike Aubrey and Associates RE/MAX Realtor Mike Aubrey.

“A lot have been waiting for the bottom of the real estate market including mort-gage rates and property values. The ques-tion is still whether we have reached the bottom of the sales prices, but I believe we have reached the bottom when it comes to

[mortgage] rates,” Aubrey said.The spring sales season is helped by buy-

ers with families who look at it as an op-portunity to finish at the school year in one district before moving to a new school in the fall. The bump in sales may reflect that.

“The country overall is still not doing well. We are still going down, and sales of homes are still slipping. The good news is that we did not get hit as hard and our re-covery will be quicker than most areas of the country. We are in the right area not to be as tough as it could be,” Aubrey said.

Gaithersburg homes in the $900,000 range may be tougher to sell as properties in that price range are now coming avail-able closer to Washington, D.C., such as in Bethesda.

“People have greater choice to be closer to the city, and that makes the upper end a tougher sell,” Aubrey said.

Kentlands and Lakelands communities, however, remain destination neighbor-hoods with buyers looking specifically to live here, Fogle said.

n HOME SALES from page 1

Pressed does not accept gratuities, and customers pay by the piece, re-ceiving a bill once a month.

“Our prices are very competitive, sometimes even less than a regular store,” Rami said. “We deal with wholesale. Basically, because we’re bringing in so many customers so we get a discount.”

For the customers, it’s very sim-ple. Perfectly Pressed provides them with two eco-friendly hang-ing garment bags — one for pick-up, and one for delivery. The bags flip easily into a laundry bag, so customers can throw in their dry cleaning and hang it for pick-up. When it’s brought back a few days later, they find it hanging on their front door.

Customers are provided with the door hook, as well as cards for spe-cific instructions on their clothes, and stain stickers.

Perfectly Pressed also serves busi-nesses — mainly law firms, settle-ment offices and financial advisors — so employees can have their dry cleaning delivered straight to the office.

“People think they are jeopar-dizing quality for convenience, but they are not,” said Rami.

n PERFECTLY PRESSED from page 3

“The good news is that we did not get hit as hard and our recovery will be quicker than most areas of the country. We are in the right area not to be as tough as it could be.”

— Mike Aubrey,Aubrey and Associates RE/MAX Realtor


MANAGEMENT MENTIONS

Keep Your Homes Looking Good

Strong winds in February and March may be responsible for some exterior damage to the gutters, shut-ters and vinyl siding of a few QOP homes. Although home inspections don’t resume until the summertime, homeowners should be checking and preparing to address maintenance is-sues now. The management team re-ports that many QOP homeown-ers are going to need to repaint their homes this year.

Trash and Bulk Pickup

Trash is collected twice a week (Tuesdays and Fridays) in QOP. Residents should always store both their garbage and recycling bins out of sight except on pickup day. Gaithersburg also provides free, bulk pickup service on the first recycling day of every month. The next bulk pickup is scheduled for April 1 in QOP.

Welcome New Neighbors!

Michael and Melissa Townsend, 311 Winter Walk Drive, 2/4/11

Website

Be sure and check the communi-

ty's web site for upcoming announce-ments and events in the neighbor-hood: www.quinceorchardpark.com

QOP MANAGEMENT

QOP Management Contact Information:

Quince Orchard Park Community Managers Ruchita Patel/Dante Jofferionc/o The Management Group Associates, Inc.20440 Century Boulevard, Suite 100Germantown, MD 20874Phone: 301.948.6666Fax: 301.963.3856E-mail: [email protected], [email protected]

The ParkPagesNews and Current Events for Quince Orchard Park n E-mail your contributions to: [email protected] n MARCH 2011

Meeting and Event Calendar

4/12, Annual Meeting and Election, 7 p.m.

Annual Meeting Set for April 12

The QOP annual meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on April 12. The QOP board seats of Charles Crisostomo and Adi Englander are up for reeletion. Crisosotomo plans to run for another three-year term; Englander is not seeking reelection. Candidates can be nominat-ed from the floor on election night as well. Look for more information about the election and meeting in the mail. For more information, contact Community Manager Ruchita Patel at 301.948.6666.

Kennedy Testifies at City Meeting

QOP President Troy Kennedy testified on behalf of the community at the city’s land use public hearing on March 7. Kennedy said it was important to have a pedestrian bridge across Great Seneca Highway if the CCT is moved to the Kentlands side of the road in or-der to ensure connectivity. He also said it was impor-tant to preserve the park-like feel of the Meadows site and the bike and walking pathways in the area.

Vistas Progress

There are several new neighbors who have moved in on Orchard Ridge Drive and Winter Walk Drive in the adjacent Vistas community. QOP Community Manager Ruchita Patel reports there have been about a dozen settlements reported to her office. Gaithersburg’s Planning and Code Administration Director Greg Ossont said that construction of the amenities is tied to the permitting process. He said the developer should complete on-site community ameni-ties, including the basketball and volleyball courts pri-or to the occupancy of the 55th home, and he said the two interior courtyards should be completed concur-rently with the completion of adjacent dwelling units to each interior courtyard.

Rain Barrels

The Architectural Control Committee is studying rain barrels and what may look best aesthetically in the neighborhood. For more information about rain bar-rels and local rebate offers, www.gaithersburgmd.gov.

Community Yard Sale and Spring Event

Social Committee Chair Charles Crisostomo said the community is planning a community-wide yard sale and Easter egg hunt in April. Volunteers are need-ed. These will be the first social events of the year.

Social Scene

Volunteers are needed for organizing and hosting social events throughout the year. If you have an idea for an event in QOP and can volunteer or provide sponsorship, contact Community Manager Ruchita Patel.

Pool Passes

The Quince Orchard Park (QOP) pool opens for the swim season on May 28, so now is the time to ap-ply for your pool passes. Applications were mailed out with the notice of the Annual Meeting. There is no fee for pool passes. Passes from previous years will not be valid. Ten guest passes will be issued to each home-owner. To make sure you have your passes by opening day, send in your application by May 1.

Board Considers Bagging Pet StationsBy Sonya Burke

T he Quince Orchard Park (QOP) board of directors is trying to decide if the community should

remove or replace the six pet stations that are stocked with clean-up bags for neighborhood dog owners.

The green pet stations are located adjacent to the QOP tennis courts, along the walking paths and near the Clubhouse for the convenience of dog owners who are required to clean up after their pets while walking in the city limits of Gaithersburg.

Community Manager Ruchita Patel reported at the March 8 board meet-ing that the community spends about $1,500 a year on replacement bags for the current stations. In addition, she said the community spends another $750 every other year to repaint the wooden posts and boxes.

QOP Board member Ashok Rangnath said he does not think the community should be spending any money on the stations or the bags. He said pet owners should be responsible for providing their own bags and for cleaning up after their dogs, not the community.

QOP President Troy Kennedy noted the community would be saving mon-ey by replacing the current stations, and he said the community might be lit-tered with dog feces if the stations were

simply removed. Before that happens, he said it was important to communi-cate the issue to homeowners and ask for feedback.

At the March 8 board meeting, Patel presented some options for replacing the wooden posts with new stations made from aluminum or PVC post. She said the cost for replacing the six stations would hover around the $1,675 mark, and the bags for the new stations would cost much less, about $200 a year. She also presented an option for a station that includes a holder where the community’s social committee could post announcements.

QOP Board member Charles Crisostomo chairs the Social Committee and has been specifically looking to post announcements of up-coming events in a more uniform way throughout the community.

Winter Walk Drive resident Suzanne Scharf said she thinks the bags are a nice amenity that the community of-fers, but she does not want to see the stations used as signboards. Scharf said community announcements should be posted on the bulletin board at the Clubhouse, in The Park Pages, through the List Serve and on the website.

“As a property owner in QOP, they may as well not replace them because not many people pick up after their dogs,” said a resident in a posting on The Town Courier’s Facebook page. “It's a shame that others do not have respect for the property and other residents."

Another person wrote on the The Town Courier’s Facebook page that he thought there were cheaper options for providing bags, and although he doesn’t own a dog, he said he would think highly of a community that is “dog welcoming.”

Winter Walk Drive resident Carole Valis also does not own a dog, but she said she thought spending $1,500 a year on dog disposal bags is “ridiculous.” She said the issue deserves more aware-ness and alternative options.

Photo | Sonya Burke

The QOP board is considering whether to replace the six pet stations stocked with cleanup bags, which are currently located throughout the neighborhood.


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dominium buildings in Kentlands. “City staff believes the change is neces-

sary,” reads the background information on the March 21 cover sheet.

Included in the March 21 background in-formation are two draft letters that will be sent out to notify residents and other agen-cies of the pending change that is proposed to become effective on Dec. 1. According to the drafts, the condo addresses will be readdressed from 220 and 226 Kentlands Boulevard to 406 Kentlands Boulevard.

Kentlands condo resident Art Sturm said

he understands the Fire Department’s safe-ty concerns. Still, he hopes the city can help offset some of the costs that will be in-curred by residents, many of them seniors, if they have to change their addresses.

“The problem began with the city of Gaithersburg, which allowed new units to be built on the other end of Kentlands Boulevard with incorrect numbers, but we are the ones who have to do the changing,” Sturm said. “There are expenses that I will have to incur.”

The Gaithersburg City Council meeting begins at 7:30 p.m. at City Hall and is tele-vised live on the city’s cable channels and streamed on the city’s website (www.gaith-ersburgmd.gov).

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n ADDRESS CHANGE from page 1

Copperfield Crossing II Address Change Timeline

October 2009: City receives notification from County Fire Station 31 regarding safety concerns.

Fall-Winter 2010: Numerous meetings be-tween city and county fire station staff to discuss alternatives.

April 2010: City, county fire staff and resi-dents meet to discuss the issue.

June 2010: City, county fire staff and Copperfield Crossing II Board mem-bers and legal counsel meet to discuss options.

September 2010: Copperfield Crossing provides city staff with estimated costs

associated with address change.

November 2010: City Manager Angel Jones requests confirmation in writing that safety concern is significant enough to warrant address change.

January 2011: Fire Marshal David Steckle confirms importance of address change.

January 2011: Mayor Sidney Katz and Jones request a meeting with Fire Chief Richard Bowers to determine if there are other options.

February 2011: Mayor Katz, Jones and Planning and Code Administration Director Greg Ossont meet with Fire Marshal David Steckle and county fire staff to determine safety concerns are valid. Transition plan is then outlined.


April 18 and that people really do come in up until the deadline. “We have a car that delivers to the post office, which is still re-ceiving that late,” said Hunt.

Hunt says filers at Liberty tend to come in two peaks. The first peak is from the early filers who wanted to get a refund as fast as possible. They tend to be easier and less complicated returns. Because compa-nies are obligated to send out W-2’s by January 31, it was very busy in the first few days of February.

There’s a slower time from mid-Febru-ary through early March, and then it picks up again, with the second peak coming at the end of the season.

“There’s an ‘all hands on deck’ mentality during tax season,” said Hunt. “We work a tremendous amount of hours during the peaks. We have three preparers here; we’re extremely busy. We have all systems in place — it’s one right after the other, some-times people are waiting.”

Wayne Zussman of Triton Wealth Management in Kentlands said, “We are starting to get busy now. People waited longer — brokerage houses didn’t issue 1099s until later this year. We’re starting to get the rush now that we normally would have gotten two weeks ago.”

While most of Zussman’s clients are year-round financial planning clients, he has people who return each year just dur-ing tax season, as well as new tax clients.

“We get about 10 to 20 new clients each tax season. This year we seem to get get-ting more,” he said. To accommodate the rush, “we work longer hours, we work Saturdays, and have an additional two peo-ple who come in during tax season every year.”

When working with new clients, Zussman said, “We sit down for about a half hour and go through everything, un-derstand their circumstances. Then we take the materials and handle the return in about a week. Then we sit back down with them again and explain everything to them.”

Besides the deadline, any major changes that filers need to know about for this year? “Less change than people thought this year — mainly, there’s no first-time homebuyer credit,” said Hunt.

“Energy credits are a big thing this year. Some laws have been tweaked, but a lot did not change,” said Zussman.

However, he said that the IRS is less likely to let anything slide. “The IRS [is] cracking down on charitable contribu-tions. People need to have backup for any-thing they have on the return — that’s be-coming crucial these days. The IRS [is]

making sure they get it done right; there are no grey areas anymore. People need to be more accurate.”

As far as fees for filing tax returns, Zussman said his company charges on an hourly basis, so the fee depends on the complexity of the return. More compli-cated returns tend to be people with in-vestments, those who own homes, are di-vorced, have their own business, or control rental real estate.

Liberty has appreciation weeks coming up where first-time customers can receive free returns and returning clients can re-ceive a 20 percent discount. These pro-motions are offered during specific weeks to target groups including police and fire-fighters, hospital workers, military and veterans, and volunteers and nonprofits.

As for when tax season is over, “We’re here year-round,” said Hunt. “We offer year-round support for mistakes, on our returns or others. If it’s our mistake, we cover penalties and interest.”

Because most of Zussman’s clients are year-round, “We try to make tax season one component of the overall picture,” he said. As for getting their returns in, he added, “Clients should have them to us by April 1. We’ll try our best to get them done by the deadline. We know our clients, so we try to move them along.”

n TAX TIME from page 1


Spring Cleaning?Drop off shoes you no longer use to Fleet Feet where they are resurfaced and donated to underprivi-leged communities.

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educated. I'm no longer afraid to use inde-pendent gas stations like Liberty where gas is the exact same as the big companies but their prices are a lot lower.”

Other gas stations are taking notice as well. On most days, the Sunoco station across Darnestown Road has been keeping its prices comparable to, if not the same as, Liberty’s.

“I have noticed that the price at Sunoco across the street has become more competi-tive with Liberty,” said Gaithersburg resi-dent Heather Charkatz, who grew up in the area and always remembers Sunoco’s prices being higher before Liberty opened.

Lakelands resident Mike Rosen, who works in King Farm, is especially diligent about finding the lowest prices. “I am al-ways using the GasBuddy app on my phone to find and report on gas prices. I use it to decide whether to fill up near work or not. I have a Shell Mastercard and we get a 5 percent rebate if we fill up at Shell, so I try to always pick a Shell station both for that and the Giant Bonus points. Before the Liberty station opened up at Darnestown and Quince Orchard and drove pric-es down, I used to make [my wife] drive down Quince Orchard Road to the second Shell just before 270. That one was always the cheapest in Gaithersburg. I usually fill up at the Shell in King Farm because it’s consistently been cheaper. I fill up my tank each stop.”

Mike Locraft of West Riding has a 22-mile commute to his office in Georgetown, so the increase definitely affects him. “I normally don’t go too far out of my way looking for cheaper gas, but since prices are starting to get so high I’ve started being more selective. I also downloaded the Gas Buddy app for my iPhone.”

For some, the lowest prices are not even around here. Judy Barr, who lives in Lakelands and commutes to Baltimore three days a week for work, said, “I always try and buy gas when I am in Baltimore be-cause it is always cheaper than Montgomery County.”

While finding the lowest prices is help-ful, less expensive is still more expensive than usual, so some residents are look-ing for other ways to combat the issue. Gaithersburg Mayor Sidney Katz is mak-ing changes to his routine.

“Gas prices are certainly a concern for all of our budgets. I try to carpool when I can and have conference calls whenever possible,” he said.

Gaithersburg resident Yancy Bodenstein commutes to NIH every day and some-times rides his bike to work instead of driving his car. “I get sick thinking that it costs me $25 to fill up my Prius that gets over 50 mpg, and over $65 to fill up my Jeep Grand Cherokee that gets less than 15 mpg. Honestly, I would rather take the cash and support our local economy … and ride my bike everywhere. That way, I help our local economy, reduce the price of health care by getting exercise, all while helping reduce our dependence on foreign oil.”

While gas prices are hurting commut-ers’ wallets, they may be having a deep-er impact on some business owners. Josh Sheintal, Lakelands resident and owner of Independent Concrete, says his business is feeling the pinch. “The jobs we currently are doing are based on bids submitted and accepted before the gas hike — sometimes priced as long as a year ago. We can't adjust our pricing despite the higher overhead that has resulted from the steep increase in gas prices.”

n FUEL COSTS from page 1

Photo | Sonya Burke

The cost for a gallon of gas is now over $4 at some local service stations.

Little Quarry Road Burglary

Police officers responded to the report of a burglary shortly before 5 p.m. on Feb. 21 in the 300 block of Little Quarry Road in Kentlands. According to the city of Gaithersburg’s crime summary, sometime between Feb. 16 and Feb. 21 an unknown suspect(s) entered an un-locked garage and removed property.

Lakelands Burglary

The Gaithersburg Police Department’s online crime summary includes a report of a burglary on March 12 at 7:41 a.m. in the 700 block of Lake Varuna Drive. According to the report, sometime be-tween March 7 and March 12 an un-known suspect(s) entered the garage and removed property. If you have informa-tion about this incident, call police at 301.258.6400.

Black and White Cruisers

The Gaithersburg Police Department is considering changing the color scheme of all marked patrol cars from the current blue/silver scheme to black and white, according to Police Chief Mark Sroka.

The entire car would be painted black and the doors wrapped in a white vinyl material, he said in a note sent to the city’s elected leaders.

According to Sroka, the benefits in-clude: increased visibility, lower cost, higher resale value, quicker turnaround time in the purchasing and receiving of new cars.

POLICE BEAT


Batik at 301.869.8661. Be sure to tell Batik that you are attending the Community Table that evening.

Sign Blight

A city street sign at the intersection of Winter Walk Drive and Orchard Ridge Drive was found lying on the ground on March 7 adjacent to the new Vistas com-munity in Quince Orchard Park. Windy weather may have brought the sign down the night before.

Art at the Activity Center

The city of Gaithersburg, the Senior Artist Alliance and the Women’s Art Exchange present a multi-media exhibit at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park, 506 South Frederick Avenue. Exhibition dates are March 18 through May 15. Viewing hours are Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Senior Artists Alliance is a group of more than 100 artists over 60 years old. The group has been active for about 10 years and has been exhibiting in venues throughout the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Most members live and work locally, but a few re-side as far away as Texas and Florida. They include a variety of professional backgrounds.

An organization formed to encourage women to explore their artistic potential in

small groups, the Women’s Art Exchange serves women artists and women interest-ed in the visual arts. The idea was born in December of 1978, and the first meeting was held on January 13, 1979. In their 32 years, they have participated in many art exhib-its locally. Meetings are held monthly from September through May.

For more information, contact Com-munity Facility Director Andi Rosati at 301.258.6394.

Arab American Festival

“In Unity, We Build a Caring Community” is the theme for the 2011 Arab American Heritage Month Festival, hosted by the city of Gaithersburg’s Multicultural Affairs Committee along with Arab Americans of Montgomery County. The event will be held on April 17 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park, 506 South Frederick Avenue, next to Gaithersburg High School.

The free festival features poetry readings, arts and crafts, Dabkeh dance, live music, Middle-Eastern food, cultural exhibits, a fashion show, vendors, henna, calligraphy, and children’s activities. Donations of non-perishable, healthy food items are encour-aged. For more information, contact Samira Hussein at 301.412.7779 or Juliet Francisco at 301.330.2445 or e-mail [email protected].

On April 4, in a proclamation to be is-sued during the Mayor and City Council Meeting, April 2011 will be declared as Arab-American Heritage Month in the city of Gaithersburg. The proclamation will rec-ognize the Arab-American community and celebrate its achievements and contributions to the fabric of our society.

n AROUND TOWN from page 3

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After earning her master’s degree in phi-losophy, she became a full-time director for Huntington, where she was in charge of in-terfacing with parents and planning what they needed, as well as such administration tasks as interviewing and hiring.

Derryberry soon realized she had the skills to run a business on her own and, after her daughter, Eva, was born, she decided the time was right. She opened the doors to her Kentlands franchise in August 2007.

Based in Boston, Mass., Chyten began franchising its business in 2006. By get-ting in on the front end of the company, Derryberry said, she was able to give a lot of input, which was an invaluable opportu-nity. Chyten now has four corporate cen-ters and 31 franchise locations throughout the country.

Derryberry views her strong staff as key to her business’s success. She has eight tu-tors and one college counselor. Her tutors, some of whom have been with her since she opened, are all teachers or special educators with masters’ degrees, and all have class-room experience or a significant amount of tutoring or mentoring experience.

“To get a good, consistent service, you have to have good people,” she said. “They must be able to communicate well with a child. [My tutors] are here because they re-ally like to teach — those are the ones kids really respond to.”

Opening just before the economy started to decline, Derrybery said her business was hit hard from the end of 2008 through early

2010. “People were going with the cheapest [options for educational services] rather than quality,” she said.

She began to see gradual improvement throughout 2010, and in November and December had her best winter, with a 100 percent increase in business over the same months the previous year.

Derryberry expects March through June to be her busiest months as high school stu-dents come in to take sample SAT and ACT tests and she helps them compare results, decide which test works best for them, and create a plan for summer and fall. She finds summer is the time to focus on academic basics and shore up skills, while fall is busy with test preparation and fine tuning just before students take the actual tests.

Especially during the school year, she also works with parents to plan homework and subject support for students, as well as gen-eral study skills assistance.

Derryberry said her tutors do a lot of work with kids who have special needs and learning disabilities, and she often spends time one-on-one with parents to help them understand the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process so they can better advocate for their children.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Derryberry and her husband, Jeremy, met in college in Florida and moved back to the area in 2000 to be near her family.

“Life kind of points you in certain direc-tions,” she said of her career, which evolved from her work experience during her col-lege years. “I want to get up every day and do something I really like to do.”

n CHYTEN from page 3


Local Artist’s Work on Display Through April 2By Sonya Burke

Gaithersburg Arts Barn instructor and artist Vian Shamounki Borchert is one of the featured artists at the 20th annu-al Strathmore Artists Juried Exhibition at 10701 Rockville Pike in North Bethesda.

Her painting, “Light at the End of the Tunnel,” is on display with other paintings from now until April 2 at the Mansion at the Strathmore. An opening reception was held on March 17.

“I highly recommend viewing this beau-tiful art exhibition — it presents strong and very interesting juried works of art from local artists of our metropolitan area,” she said.

Although she currently resides in Germantown, Borchert grew up in the Gaithersburg and North Potomac area and attended Quince Orchard High School. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in fine arts from the Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, D.C.

“I am an expressionist artist with em-phasis on the figure,” she writes in her art-ist statement online. “I consider each of my paintings as a visual poem of love, a poem of hopelessness, a poem of melancholy — poems that depict and capture the expres-sion and the mood of the figure.”

When she is not painting, she teaches three art classes (drawing, watercolor and acrylic painting) at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn in Kentlands.

If you can’t make Strathmore this month, you can also admire even more of her work at the Kentlands Mansion, which is cur-rently displaying over a dozen of her paint-ings until March 27.

For more information, visit www.vian-borchert.com.

Photo | Vian Shamounki Borchert

Vian Shamounki Borchert’s “Light at the end of the Tun-nel” is on display at the Strathmore Mansion from now until April 2.


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Simon Shares Renovation Revelations at KCF House Tour KickoffBy Sonya Burke

W hen Author Rachel Simon be-gan renovating her row house in Wilmington, Del., she wasn’t

prepared for the emotion it would evoke.“It pulls your past into the present,”

Simon said during a March 9 discussion at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn of her memoir, “The House on Teacher’s Lane.”

The critically acclaimed book chron-icles Simon’s personal experiences from the daunting renovation project, which she tackled alongside her architect hus-band Hal. She describes their 1905 home before renovations as “the handyman spe-cial house” but glowingly describes the tight-knit community and the beautiful nearby park that kept her husband and her living there. She compared her neighbor-hood with its large London Plane trees to Kentlands, a community, she said, you also fall in love with by just walking down the street.

During her discussion, Simon showed “before” and “after” images of her reno-vated home, but more tellingly she shared family photos as a means of connecting her Kentlands audience to the people and plac-es that have played large roles in her per-sonal life story.

Her story is one of forgiveness and love. She was just 16 years old when her moth-er abandoned her. “I felt such hatred,” she recalled.

She talks of belonging to “The Secret

Club,” whose members consist of people who have a mother who is not ideal. It took six years before she reconnected with her mom, and she chose to forgive her realiz-ing that her mom needed mothering too.

Walls have to come down in relation-ships to forge renewal, she noted as she compared hammer and nails to hearts and minds. As it often does in life, things went

wrong during their renovation project, Simon said. “Stuff happens,” she said.

Some of the hallmarks she learned from the project’s partnership with her husband were the importance of compromise, re-spect and trust.

The result was compelling and intimate. Audience members walked out of the 90-minute chat feeling like a member of

Simon’s inner circle and wanting to know more.

Kentlands resident Eileen Schlichting lived across the hallway from Simon at Bryn Mawr College and invited her to Kentlands for the discussion, sponsored by the Kentlands Community Foundation. Schlichting, who has read all of Simon’s books, said she thought Simon’s renova-tion tale would be a great way to kickoff the Kentlands House and Garden Tour be-cause this year it showcases renovated liv-ing spaces.

Simon, who is well known for her mem-oir, “Riding the Bus with My Sister” — made into a 2005 movie starring Rosie O’Donnell and Andie MacDowell and watched by 15 million viewers during its first viewing — is about to release her next book, “The Story of Beautiful Girl,” a love story about a couple with disabilities and a lost child. She sold the book in just six days and has been on a pre-book publicity tour around the country.

The book will be released in May. Simon has been invited to attend the Gaithersburg Book Festival on May 21 but said she is in a quandary if she can make it because of the timing of her new book’s release. If she does attend, you won’t want to miss her. She’s someone who has something to say.

Editor's note: Tickets are now on sale for the May 14

Kentlands House Tour at www.kentlands.org.

Photos | Phil Fabrizio

Above, Author Rachel Simon and Kentlands resident Eileen Schlichting. Right, Author Simon’s newest book, “The Story of Beautiful Girl,” will be released on May 4.


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Questionable Call Ends Season for CougarsBy Mike Cuthbert

A 62-37 win by the Cougars over Seneca Valley and a 72-46 defeat of Frederick set up a III-A regional final

at South Hagerstown, with the winner go-ing to the state finals at College Park.

After a tense and even struggle, the game wound down to its last 1:02. The white-clad South Hagerstown Rebels closed in on the clincher. They led by a point, 49-48. The Rebels brought the ball into the fore-court, and without warning chaos erupted as the Rebel guard threw the ball into the bleachers.

His teammates, heads down for a mo-

ment, started to find their defensive assign-ments as QO prepared to inbound the ball. The Cougars had a chance to take the lead with plenty of time and 3-point threat Ben Kelly still on the floor. Kelly had four fouls, as did Andre Gaines.

A whistle sounded, there was a brief con-ference, and one of the refs claimed he had seen a QO player touch the ball before it went out of bounds. For just a moment, a split-second, there was silence as QO fans looked on in disbelief, joined by Rebel fans who erupted in surprised joy as the implica-tions of the missed call sank in.

With Gaines saddled with the four fouls, South Hagerstown took advantage of the

reversed call, went into the paint and Devon King went over a helpless Gaines to make it 51-48. By the time Gaines fouled out with :10 left, the game was out of reach at 53-48, and the resulting free throw made the final 54-48.

During the playoffs, Gaines had been ex-tremely efficient with several blocks and one foul in the previous two games total. His re-bounding was key to the Cougars’ success, and he had five in the first half of his last game as a Cougar. He had no rebounds the second half and only three points, finishing with six. His absence for long stretches of the second and third quarters was a key to

SPorTS


The Red Army packed the South Hagerstown gym for the Cougars regional final game.

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n BASKETBALL SEASON ENDS Continued on page 23


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“Se habla espanol”

Spring Sports Preview By Mike Cuthbert and Joey Fierstein

BASEBALL

Coming off a state semifinal appearance, Coach Jason Gasaway expects his team to go at least that far again this season. “We have a lot of talent, probably as much as we did last year, but we have better hitting this year,” said Gasaway.

With senior Peter Bowles, a Towson com-mit, the team has the star player it has lacked in the past. “We can rely on Pete. He knows how to get it done for us, and that helps out the younger kids,” said Gasaway.

Along with Bowles, seniors Andrew Rodgers, Greg Turlik and Patrick Cole look to help the team with their defense, some-thing that has hurt the team in the past. “We need to improve our defense. If we didn’t make errors last year, we would have been state champs,” Gasaway said.

With that thought in mind, the team is working hard to make sure that their fate is not sealed by defensive let downs. “We don’t want to have that feeling again,” said Bowles.

BOYS’ LACROSSE

Look out. Here come the Cougars, load-ed for bear. Coach Mike Kowalick is licking his chops, eager to feast on the league with the most talent-laden, experienced team any coach could want. Led by Division I-A re-cruit Eric Simon, seniors Eli Tolstoi and Sean Holliday, who were all-stars last year, and with depth at every position, Kowalick

waited all winter to loose these cats on the county and state opponents.

Simon, Tolstoi and Holliday are all at-tackers. On defense, Kowalick’s team is just as deep. Andrew Richardson, Frostburg-bound after being first team all-division last year, will team with one of the few return-ing juniors, Marty Heyn, who was first team all-county and is already being scouted by D-I teams, as well as seniors Sean Moore, Josh Hollander and junior Billy Fierstein.

At midfield the Cougars return first team all-county Spencer Nystrom along with starter Andrew Korol and experienced play-ers Carson Stewart, Corday Thomas, Chris McPherson, Heath Saffer and Joe Faucett. Ryan Reis and Jack Harris are also expected to contribute.

Returning for his senior season after a 70 percent save ratio last year is goalie Michael Chaing. Boys’ lacrosse should be almost un-stoppable this season, especially in Division III-A.

GIRLS’ LACROSSE

Coach Amanda Arnoult had to over-come a bit of shock when she saw the list of veterans who did not return to the team this spring. After losing only three seniors to graduation, it appeared that the lacrosse team was loaded with talent this year. But the list of no-shows included outstanding keeper Rachel Lipman; aggressive striker Alex Jamison; a driving force of the offense for the past couple of seasons, Kelly Baick; the athletic Sara Whiteis; and the anchor of the defense, Amel Mouloua.

The low graduation rate left Arnoult with several outstanding players, however: Allie

Kryjak, the wispy but always effective for-ward; sparkplug Leah Hunsinger; speedster Allie Solomon; key defenders and seniors Maddie King and Morgan Dorset; and se-nior Taylor Corydon. Filling the gap in goal will be Kelsey O’Connor.

The Korol sisters, Madeline and Katherine, bring experience to the team, and ju-niors Rachel Levenson, Abby Boynton and Allison Loftus are counted on to contribute along with varsity newcomer Alex Barretto. The only freshman to make the varsity so far is Rachel Hollander.

“My plans for the season have changed a lot,” said Arnoult, “but we have a very strong junior class, good spirit and a sense of teamwork with a good set of girls who work together.”

With a season that starts with Urbana and Damascus, that teamwork will face two strong tests.

BOYS’ VOLLEYBALL

New boys’ volleyball Coach Karen Jones inherits a team with a lot of experience, something it has not had in the past. “I think we have six returning players, so I’m expecting to have a good year just because we know how to play with each other,” said Jones.

One of those seniors, Jhamal Diggs, signed to play volleyball at Johnson and Wales University–Denver. “He’s a big part of what we do, he knows how to play, and we just need him to be a leader,” said Jones.

Along with Diggs, fellow seniors Scott Bramell, Lyndon Baltazar and Alex Parker present a formidable starting six that wants to improve on last year’s record.

“We have six games in the first two weeks, so after that we will know what type of team we have,” Jones said.

COED VOLLEYBALL

“It’s going to be a rebuilding year,” said Coach Stacy Bureau of her coed volleyball team. She has only one returning senior, Grace Kim, and three of the boys from last year.

Early in practice, however, she was high on the possibilities for freshman Colin Jones. “He can really crush the ball,” Bureau said, something she has not had for several seasons.

Coed volleyball frequently revolves around the male attack player, and Jones could be the guy. Other promising players so far are Morgan Savell and Justin Yuen, but most of the team is new and learning the sport.

SOFTBALL

A remarkable mix of veterans and new-comers greeted Coach Colleen Kelly for tryouts, and the team is shaping up as one with “good hitting, good defense and con-sistent, if not overwhelming pitching.”

Eight veterans return: seniors Kristen Coffey, Emily Wingate and Leah Dagen; juniors Ellen Goldstein, Grace Toohey, Maggie McCaughey and Juliana Segura; and sophomore Leanne Youstra. In addition, Kelly said freshman Megan Dougherty “is hitting the cover off the ball,” and positive vibes are coming from freshman, Natalya Sizdahkhani, juniors Allie Strickman and Irene Rodriguez, and sophomores Emily

n SPRING SPORTS Continued on page 23


QO’s Andrew Rodgers, Alex Lipman, Billy Plante, Pat Cole and Coach Jason Gasaway are ready to start swinging.


the Cougar loss.Another key was the loss of the 3-ball.

QO tried only three in the second half, only one of them open. Kelly, who led QO in scoring with 15, had one 3 for the game.

Foringer was disappointed but not dis-couraged by the result. “I wish we could have had that last opportunity [the one ne-gated by the turnover reversal], but they fought hard; we played great man-to-man defense down the stretch.”

He admitted that he did not foresee a re-gional final for this team when the season started. The 2010-’11 Cougar team was taller than usual, which eliminated much of the all-over zone press that Foringer prefers

as a defense.For IV-A West opponents next season, the

headaches are already beginning. “We’ve got a program,” said Foringer. “We’ll have less height, but the depth will be better, es-pecially at guard and we’ll be faster. It’s back to normal for us next year.”

Finishing at 18-7 with a regional title bid thwarted by a missed call and with only six seniors graduating (vs. the 9 last year), the Cougars will be tough again. They’ll just have to be tough the old-fashioned way.

GIRLS’ BASKETBALL

For a half, it looked like one of the great upsets in Cougar history. Facing a much taller team in their gym, QO trailed at the end of one quarter by only two points, at the half by only three. Then came the third quarter and the end of the Cougar season.

With only one FG and six FTs out of 10 at-tempts, the deficit grew to 15 and there was not enough time to catch up even though they outscored the Lancers in the last quar-ter. The final was 71-58.

The game was lost with turnovers — 26-19 — and free throws — 21-30. Samantha Buls, Linganore’s 6-foot-5 center (head-ed for Division I ball at Ohio University) had a few blocks but was outrebounded by four Cougars — Danielle Witherspoon, Morgan Turner, Babette Sanmartin and Jackie Jackson — as the Cougars scrapped for 38 boards while yielding only 30; but the boards could not make up for the ice cold shooting in the third period. Megan Martin, quick Lancer guard, bedeviled the Cougar defense with slashing drives and 5-of-6 free throw shooting to lead

Linganore in scoring with 18.QO’s Leah Dagen, playing in her final

Cougar game, led all scorers with 19.Final games provide a chance to look

ahead, and Coach Colleen Kelly is encour-aged by what she sees. “We had a huge im-provement by a lot of my young kids. They stepped up when they had to in a lot of dif-ferent circumstances and learned a lot from the seniors.”

Indeed, Sanmartin and Jackie Jackson showed amazing changes in their games as the season matured, and sparkplug Morgan Turner returns next season as well.

Size is still what the Cougars lack. They showed again their hearts are big. But big hearts don’t change frigid quarters, and the third one in this game ended a fine season at 11-11.

n BASKETBALL SEASON ENDS from page 21

Maxwell and Maddie Lawhorn.“The kids are upbeat, enthusiastic, and

they’ll do anything to help the team. This is going to be a fun season,” Kelly said.

Competition will come from the usu-al sources — Damascus, Sherwood, Clarksburg and Poolesville — but Kelly feels the Cougars will be more than competitive.

TRACK AND FIELD

“I’m excited about this year’s team,” said Coach Seann Pelkey. With the amount of talent he has, it’s hard not to be excited.

Senior Conor Spaulding is one of the most decorated runners in the history of QO, and he is coming off two state championships in the indoor season. “We’re lucky to have a kid like Conor because he’s a great kid and he pushes his teammates to get the most out of their potential,” said Pelkey.

Along with Spaulding, senior Drew Lehner, and juniors Evan Burnham and Evan Laratta, Pelkey has one of the most talented relay teams in the state; they took home the 4x800 relay state championship at the indoor track state meet.

Seniors Walter Gray, Elvis Bustos and Eric Bishop will be key to the field events.

Pelkey is just as optimistic about the girls’ team as he is about the boys’. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been this excited for both teams,” he said.

Senior Shannon Dwyer, a defending state champ, will be important for the team be-cause of her experience. Junior Julia Shapiro will be vital for the middle distance runs.

TENNIS

Coach Mikel Balsley enters his sec-ond year encouraged but wary. QO is in Division I, which includes tennis power-houses Wootton, Churchill and Whitman. Still, he has a good competition for the top singles and doubles spots, and that’s always good.

In the top four as the season starts are Alex Lee, Shyam Lakshmanan, Shota Ono and Amirali Agha-Khan. Lee is a freshman, and none are seniors. “They all beat each oth-er, so I don’t know who will open the sea-son at number one singles. But there’s good competition for doubles spots as well,” said Balsley.

Tony Losada, Alborz Fakhari, Michael Kong, Daniel Wolfgram and Perry Howell are strong contenders, as is Evan Klein, whom Balsley marked as especially im-proved over the summer.

n SPRING SPORTS from page 22

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