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Our 100th Issue January/February 2021 | Volume 18 Issue 1

contents ON THE COVER BEST OF BETHESDA 53 editors' picks From new comfort foods and tasty carryout cocktails to a bike park for kids and a backyard movie business, here are some of our favorite things about Montgomery County.

98 readers' picks Nearly 10,000 people voted in our online readers’ poll. Check out their picks for dining, pets, health care and more.

COVER: Best of Bethesda illustration

“Chilled Cookies & Cream Milkshake” cookies at Crumbl in Rockville

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO COURTESY OF CRUMBL

by Carlos Zamora; photo illustration by Laura Goode

contents

P. 132

Mia, who’s almost 2, likes to play with the masks her mom sews for MoCo Mask Makers.

122 The Reckoning

132 Mask Makers

At Bethesda’s Walt Whitman High School, students, staff and parents are working together to address issues of racism

A local group of volunteers has donated nearly 37,000 face masks—and they’re still sewing

BY JULIE RASICOT

BY CARALEE ADAMS

150 Takeout Takeaways

161 Weddings of the Year

176 Bethesda Interview

Our restaurant critic looks into the challenges of carryout and shares his strategies for making the most of the to-go experience

A peek inside the celebrations of four couples who altered their plans and got married in the midst of the pandemic

Bestselling author Kate Andersen Brower talks about presidents and first ladies, juggling kids and interviews, and that time Joe Biden made sure all the reporters had their seat belts on

BY DAVID HAGEDORN

BY ROSE HOROWITCH

BY AMY HALPERN

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO BY LAURA CHASE DE FORMIGNY

FEATURES

contents

enter our

GIVEAWAYS

DEPARTMENTS 18 | TO OUR READERS

JAN. 1 207

20 | CONTRIBUTORS

health

208 | BE WELL With kids staring at computer monitors all day, a Chevy Chase ophthalmologist is hearing from plenty of anxious parents

good life 26 | BEST BETS

210 | FIGHTING BACK

Can’t-miss arts events

After Mark and Jenny Mosier lost their 6-year-old son, Michael, to a rare form of brain cancer, the Bethesda couple committed to doing whatever it takes to keep other families from suffering the way they have

banter

36 | BOOK REPORT New books by local authors, and more

40 | HOMETOWN Growing up, C. Marie Taylor kept being told “no.” Now the former CEO of Leadership Montgomery is helping companies recognize systemic racism—and confront their own biases. BY STEVE ROBERTS

189

223

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etc. STARTING

224 | TABLE TALK

FEB. 1

What’s happening on the local food scene

234 | FLASHBACK A Montgomery County park was once a government location for studying diseases in animals

home

190 | HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS

240 | OUTTAKES

It’s a new year, and time to recommit to getting organized

192 | A CHANGE IN PLANS

Enter for a chance to win a

P. 224

$250 gift card to Progressions salon spa store

Renovations during the pandemic have required adjustments—from setting up sanitizing stations to workers entering through a second-story window

The gift card is valid for all services and products at North Bethesda’s Progressions salon spa store, including spa and nail services, lash enhancements, body care, beauty products, and beautifying services such as hair coloring.

198 | HOME SALES BY THE NUMBERS

To enter, go to BethesdaMagazine.com/giveaways

AD SECTIONS PROFILES: FINANCIAL PROFESSIONALS 43

BEST OF THE BEST AD SECTION 112

PROFILES: LOOK GOOD, FEEL GOOD 216

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

SUMMER CAMPS AD SECTION 228

PRIVATE SCHOOLS AD SECTION 235

PHOTO BY LINDSEY MAX; GIVEAWAY PHOTOS COURTESY

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100 ISSUES

AT A PARTY CELEBRATING Bethesda Magazine’s 50th issue in 2012, someone asked me if I thought I would still be editor and publisher when we put out our 100th issue. Knowing how much work went into the first 50, I said something to the effect of, “It’s hard to imagine.” And yet here I am, eight years later, writing this column for our 100th issue. The work hasn’t gotten any easier; in fact, with the pandemic and economic downturn, it’s gotten harder. But it’s also more rewarding than ever. And that’s what matters most. Before my wife, Susan, and I started Bethesda Magazine, I spent 14 years as a senior executive with the company that is now Atlantic Media in Washington, D.C. I loved the work and the people, but as the years passed I realized there was a price to climbing the corporate ladder: The more successful you were, the farther away you got from interacting with customers and seeing the impact of your efforts on them. In my late 40s, I concluded that I was better suited to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond. Fortunately, when we launched the magazine, we picked a heck of a pond. The Bethesda area is ideal for a magazine like ours. The residents are highly educated and care about the community. And there are still many locally owned businesses that want a targeted way to advertise to potential customers. I was confident that we would be successful, but there were skeptics. Longtime community leader Bruce Adams was among them. “When I first heard about Bethesda Magazine, I thought, ‘This is great, but there’s no way it is going to last,’ ” Adams told me. “I just couldn’t imagine there would be enough advertising to support this. I’m so glad I was wrong.” We are, too. Our first issue was a slim 64 pages with 17 pages of advertising, but the number of advertisers—and the size of the magazines—grew quickly. Before the pandemic hit, we routinely published issues that were more than 300 pages— and once topped 400. I am grateful for our success, of course. But as I look back on the last 17 years and 100 issues, it’s the nonmonetary rewards I

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

cherish the most. As I had hoped, I have developed close relationships with many of our advertisers and readers. The vast majority of our advertisers are small and medium-size businesses. I’ve been fortunate to deal directly with dozens of business owners for whom advertising in Bethesda Magazine is a big financial commitment. Many have become friends. I’ve also had the pleasure of getting to know scores of our readers. I’ve been honored that many of them have allowed us to tell their stories—and by the feedback they provide. (Not all of our readers have been happy about our stories: When we published a story in 2005 called “The Secret Lives of Teens,” a 13-year-old girl emailed me that we had “ruined her life” because her parents were watching her every move after reading our story.) Susan and I had the idea for Bethesda Magazine—and we’ve worked hard to make our vision a reality—but it is our staff and contributors who deserve the credit. They are hardworking, dedicated and talented. I look forward every day to interacting with them. Two of our advertising account executives, Penny Skarupa and LuAnne Spurrell, have been with us since our second and third issues, respectively. We couldn’t have done this without them. Finally, this has been quite a journey for Susan and me as a couple. We work long hours (as I write this on a Saturday, Susan is working a few feet away in our home office), and we have faced many challenges (a recession and pandemic among them). But we built Bethesda Magazine and our company together. And that’s something we’ll share and cherish forever. I hope you enjoy this issue of Bethesda Magazine.

STEVE HULL Editor & Publisher

Another Successful Year of Representing Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and Kensington Real Estate

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LINDSEY MAX

LIVES IN: Potomac

LIVES IN: Dupont Circle

IN THIS ISSUE: Interviewed bestselling author Kate Andersen Brower, who lives in Bethesda and has written about the East Wing of the White House, where the first family lives. “The timing of the interview couldn’t be more appropriate, with the Bidens about to move in,” Halpern says.

IN THIS ISSUE: Photographed eateries for “Best of Bethesda” and “Table Talk.” “There are so many great places to eat in this area; it was a lot of fun being introduced to some new restaurants.”

WHAT SHE DOES: A freelance writer, she has also worked as a television, newspaper and magazine reporter. She was the associate producer of an Emmy award-winning documentary. FIRST JOB AFTER JOURNALISM SCHOOL: Morning news anchor and reporter for an ABC-affiliated TV station in West Virginia. “We had five reporters on staff but only two videographers. Most days after I signed off from doing the Good Morning America ‘cut-ins,’ I’d grab a tripod, a giant tape deck and camera, and head out to cover stories about coal mine strikes and flooded-out hollers. To shoot the part of the story where I am in front of the camera, I’d set the camera up on the tripod, press the record button and run in front of the camera really quick.” WHERE SHE’D BE RIGHT NOW IF NOT FOR THE PANDEMIC: In the Canadian Rockies on the Christmastime ski trip that she and her family take every year. “Sadly, we are breaking a long-standing tradition.”

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

WHAT SHE DOES: A freelance editorial photographer and photojournalist, she recently helped her brothers, Nate and Ben, found the online news organization Max News Today. She’s also an intern with the Smithsonian Center for Folklife & Cultural Heritage, where she writes for their online magazine. “Whether it’s through my photographs or my writing, I love sharing stories.” HOW SHE GOT HER START: She has not stopped taking pictures since getting her first camera—a yellow Crayola point-and-shoot—at the age of 8. “I would go out in the backyard or on walks down the C&O Canal and pretend I was on a National Geographic expedition photographing the wildlife.” FAVORITE HOLIDAY: She treats the months of September and October as Halloween season, and even went trick-or-treating as a sophomore in college. “It’s not a holiday; it’s a lifestyle. I will spend months preparing my costume.” Past costumes have been featured on Buzzfeed and won her tropical vacations.

COURTESY PHOTOS

readers’ pick

AMY HALPERN

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EDITORIAL EDITOR

TAX ALERT—THE SECURE RETIREMENT ACT

Steve Hull SENIOR EDITOR

Cindy Rich

Legislation signed by President Trump in 2019 (the SECURE ACT) substantially impacted most inherited qualified retirement accounts. IRA’s, 401(k)’s 403(b)’s and TSP’s have all been affected by these changes. While the age for required minimum distributions (RMD’s) has increased from 70½ to 72, the government has accelerated most distributions to non-spousal beneficiaries, requiring full distribution within a ten (10) year period, when those distributions occur in 2020 or later. Non-spousal beneficiaries are permitted to defer distributions until age 18.

ASSOCIATE EDITOR

This legislation was intended to raise revenues for the federal government—by forcing the early distribution from inherited retirement accounts, non-spousal beneficiaries have lost decades of deferral income and growth opportunities, and the IRS will now collect billions of dollars in additional taxes, at potentially higher rates than previously paid. The impact cannot be understated on estate plans—these forced and accelerated distributions of your retirement accounts may substantially increase the taxes paid on your estate and reduce the value of these assets to your beneficiaries.

Kari Mason

Estate Plans should be reconsidered to incorporate these changes—Retirement Plan Trusts now exist which may permit the extension of distributions for as many as fortyeight (48) years for non-spousal beneficiaries, depending upon their age at the time the trusts are funded. Some variants on these trusts also permit significant opportunities for gifting to charities. Unfortunately, planning which does not contemplate both the changes and the opportunities may thwart your well-intentioned plans.

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Kathleen Seiler Neary ART DIRECTOR

Jenny Fischer DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR

Laura F. Goode DESIGNER BETHESDA BEAT MANAGING EDITOR

Andrew Schotz BETHESDA BEAT REPORTERS

Briana Adhikusuma, Caitlynn Peetz, Dan Schere BETHESDA BEAT INTERN

Rose Horowitch WEB PRODUCER

Erin Roby RESTAURANT CRITIC

David Hagedorn CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Eugene L. Meyer, Louis Peck, Julie Rasicot, Carole Sugarman COPY EDITORS

Elisabeth Herschbach, Steve Wilder CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Caralee Adams, Jennifer Barger, Stephanie Siegel Burke, Amanda Cherrin, Dina ElBoghdady, Margaret Engel, Dana Gerber, Michael S. Gerber, Amy Halpern, Rachael Keeney, Christine Koubek, Amy Reinink, Steve Roberts, Mike Unger, Mark Walston, Carolyn Weber, Adrienne Wichard-Edds PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS

Edgar Artiga, Skip Brown, Goodloe Byron, Stacy Zarin Goldberg, Lisa Helfert, Alice Kresse, Deb Lindsey, Liz Lynch, Violetta Markelou, Lindsey Max, Mary Ann Smith, Louis Tinsley, Joseph Tran, Michael Ventura, Carlos Zamora

ESTATE PLANNING, ELDER LAW, TAX LAW, GENERAL LITIGATION & BUSINESS LAW

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Letters to the editor: Please send letters (with your name, the town you live in and your daytime phone number) to letters@bethesdamagazine.com. Story ideas: Please send ideas for stories to editorial@bethesdamagazine.com. Bethesda Magazine 7768 Woodmont Ave., #204, Bethesda, MD 20814 Phone: 301-718-7787/ Fax: 301-718-1875 BethesdaMagazine.com

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WHAT MAT TERS TO YOU MAT TERS TO US You can count on us every step of the way.

PUBLISHING PUBLISHER

Steve Hull VICE PRESIDENT OF PUBLISHING AND ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Susan E. Hull SALES AND MARKETING DIRECTOR

Jennifer Farkas ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES

Arlis Dellapa, Erika Litman, Penny Skarupa, LuAnne Spurrell AD PRODUCTION COORDINATOR

Meghan K. Murphy MARKETING AND EVENTS MANAGER

Amélie Ward DIGITAL MARKETING AND AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT MANAGER

Leigh McDonald CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER

Onecia Ribeiro

NFP | The Meltzer Group is a leading insurance broker and consultant with a team of devoted professionals who understand the insurance process can be complex and daunting. That’s why we take an extraordinary amount of time and care to ensure our clients receive the personalized services and products they deserve in today’s rapidly changing marketplace. We approach our work with a solemn sense of responsibility and a great deal of care, knowing that you’ve entrusted us to be there for you every step of your journey. PROPERTY & CASUALTY | CORPORATE BENEFITS | INDIVIDUAL SOLUTIONS

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John Ferris, Lisa Helfert, Darren S. Higgins, Tony J. Lewis, Hilary Schwab, Joseph Tran, Michael Ventura, Stephanie Williams Subscription price: $19.95 To subscribe: Go to BethesdaMagazine.com. For customer service: Call 301-718-7787, ext. 205, or send an email to customerservice@bethesdamagazine.com. For advertising information: Call 301-718-7787, ext. 220; send an email to advertising@bethesdamagazine.com; or go to BethesdaMagazine.com.

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For information on events and reprints: Call 301-718-7787, ext. 207; or send an email to marketing@bethesdamagazine.com.

Insurance services provided through The Meltzer Group, Inc. (TMG), a subsidiary of NFP Corp. (NFP). Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/ SIPC. Investment Advisory Services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. Kestra IS and Kestra AS are not affiliated with TMG or NFP.

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good life

BEST BETS

Our picks for things to see and do in January and February BY STEPHANIE SIEGEL BURKE

Jan. 25 through Feb. 28

HINDSIGHT IS 2020

LET IT SNOW Bethesda’s Imagination Stage presents its version of The Snow Queen, the famous Hans Christian Andersen winter fairy tale that was the inspiration for Disney’s Frozen. In this adaptation, which is best for kids ages 5 and older, the icy Snow Queen causes trouble for best friends Gerda and Kai. The online presentation includes a live pre-show prequel over Zoom—during which kids can meet and interact with the characters and get background knowledge about the story—and a private link and password to view the filmed professional performance of the show.

Feb. 14

Jan. 14

MUSIC OF THE HEART

If country music is your thing, check out An Evening with Trey Taylor. The 22-year-old Colorado native is playing a virtual concert to benefit the Montgomery County Humane Society. The performance will be streamed via Facebook Live from the Cambria hotel in Rockville. Taylor is a rising country music star who’s equally inspired by classic country artists such as Hank Williams and Dolly Parton, and soulful singer-songwriters such as James Taylor and Lionel Richie. Those influences come through in his music, which puts a unique spin on the current Nashville sound.

For a socially distanced Valentine’s Day date, tune in to the National Philharmonic’s Amore & Mozart concert. The program includes the orchestral premiere of composer Henry Dehlinger’s Amore e ‘l Cor Gentil Sonouna Cosa. Dehlinger wrote the piece for his friend’s wedding, where it was performed by husband and wife duo Kerry Wilkerson and Danielle Talamantes. The two will sing it again for this performance accompanied by musicians from the National Philharmonic. The orchestra will also perform Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Four Winds in E-flat Major. Led by conductor Piotr Gajewski, the musicians will take the stage at The Music Center at Strathmore and the concert will be streamed for free on the National Philharmonic’s website.

7:30 p.m., $20, virtual event, mchumane.org/events

2 p.m., free, virtual event, nationalphilharmonic.org n

$25-$29, virtual event, imaginationstage.org

COUNTRY FOR A CAUSE

$32.50, virtual event, roundhousetheatre.org

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

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Through Feb. 28

Lots of people wonder who could have predicted the global coronavirus pandemic and the economy-crushing fallout from fighting it. Well, virologist Nathan Wolfe could have. In 2018, Wolfe, who researched HIV and Ebola, launched the idea of pandemic insurance, which would have paid businesses or countries in a global pandemic. But no one bought it. Wolfe is the subject of the world premiere play The Catastrophist, which Bethesda’s Round House Theatre is presenting as an interactive online event. Written by Wolfe’s wife, playwright Lauren Gunderson, the play tells the story of his life and work, and how his predictions intersected with reality once COVID-19 hit. After you purchase a ticket, you can watch the production as often as you’d like during the show’s run. A box will be shipped to you that contains interactive items for use during the performance, so buy tickets early to ensure that the box arrives in time.

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ALMOST FAMOUS A Churchill senior has racked up 2.4 million followers on TikTok BY DANA GERBER

IT STARTED WITH A BET. Last February, a few weeks before schools closed, Winston Churchill High School student Andy Jiang was eating lunch near some lockers when a friend said he’d give him $20 if he could start a TikTok account and amass 1,000 followers in a week. “I was like, ‘OK, that sounds cool,’ ” Andy says. “Why not?”

Andy Jiang outside of his Potomac home

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

Almost a year and about 750 videos later, the 18-year-old from Potomac has surpassed 2.4 million followers and 90 million likes on the social media platform, which is best known for its viral dances. (Actress Reese Witherspoon, by comparison, has 3.8 million followers.) Andy started out making comedic clips about the woes of AP classes, unrequited crushes and quarantining. Stuck at home in the pandemic, he began noticing the fear pervading TikTok, so he decided to branch out. “I was thinking maybe it would be nice if there was a little bit of positivity in the news and on TikTok because everything was just so dark,” Andy says. Ever since elementary school, Andy has had a habit of scouring the web for extraordinary true stories. Last April, he posted a video about Greg Thomas, a Minnesota man who went into remission from Stage 4 cancer in 2012 after helping to restore a decaying church. The video, part of Andy’s “Medical Miracles” series, racked up 5 million views in a day, his first viral hit. After that, Andy leaned into the storytelling side of TikTok (he never dances), sharing fun facts, often part of his “Daily Dose of Good News” series. A video about Lyft partnering with Starbucks to drive employees to the polls garnered 20,000 likes. “I always manage to find something,” he says. Once Andy decides on a topic— he’s posted about everything from the world’s most expensive hotel room to the craziest prison escape—he compiles stock photos from Google that relate to the story to use as green screen backgrounds for the video. He then shoots the clip, sans script, sometimes returning to double-check the story’s facts. Each video, shot on his phone, takes 40 minutes to three hours to produce. “In the past…I would watch it three or four times, maybe even more, just to look and scrutinize everything,” he says. “As I posted more and more, I got used to it, and so that feeling has gone away a little bit, but it’s definitely scary putting yourself out there in the beginning.” 30

Other than the occasional ribbing for a mispronunciation (“Keanu Reeves” was a particularly embarrassing gaffe, he recalls), his followers return the positivity. “I started getting comments [from] people saying, ‘Thank you for this, this really made my day,’ or ‘This made my day a little bit brighter,’ and I really realized this is actually making an impact,” Andy says. Though he doesn’t have time to respond to all the comments, he still replies to every direct message. One fan sent him the story of his grandma, who’d survived a seemingly terminal cancer diagnosis, and Andy put it in a video. “It was just so amazing that I could share her story with the world,” Andy says. He’s used his platform to promote a fundraiser for face masks to support local hospitals, including Shady Grove Medical Center and Suburban Hospital. He’s also worked with a few companies, including The Coldest Water, on sponsorship deals. Andy’s dad, Chuanzhong, and mom, Qin, ordered takeout as a celebration when his account (@andyyjiang) hit 1 million followers last summer. His mom, one of Andy’s “number one fans,” he says, faithfully watches his videos and got worried when it seemed like TikTok might shut down in the U.S. He’s learned to be quiet if he’s making a video late at night, and his family has learned to be patient if they call him down to dinner when he’s busy with TikTok. “I’ll be like, ‘Give me a few minutes,’ but then that usually turns into like 15, 20 minutes, maybe half an hour,” he says. “I go down and everyone’s finished eating.” Though TikTok has taken a back seat to college applications and Zoom classes, making videos sometimes feels like “more of a priority than homework,” Andy says.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

His calculus teacher once made a wellmeaning crack about his fame, saying: “Oh look, it’s Mr. TikTok Star!” A shooting guard for the Churchill basketball team and a member of the mock trial club, Andy describes himself as a once-quiet teen who hated seeing photos and videos if he was in them. “I feel like my whole personality has kind of changed,” he says. “I’ve gotten more comfortable with myself, more confident in myself, and overall grown as a person.” He wrote about TikTok in a personal essay for his early decision application to the University of Pennsylvania, where he hopes to study sociology—and keep making videos. Even now, he finds it nostalgic to go through his old clips. “I can actually remember where I was and what I was feeling and what had happened that day when I made that TikTok,” he says. As for the friend who made him the bet, “he thinks I owe him money and food,” Andy says with a laugh. “If it wasn’t for him, this really wouldn’t have happened. So every time we hang out, I always try to buy him food.”

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‘FINDING THE WATER’ A Rockville mom’s new children’s book captures her mental health struggles BY DANA GERBER

SHORTLY AFTER GRADUATING FROM college in 1998, Angela Willingham was volunteering at a retirement home in New Jersey when she met a retired Catholic priest, the Rev. Clark Yates. “I was arrogant and thought I had all the answers,” Willingham, now 44, says during a Zoom interview from her Rockville home. “I can’t even remember what we were talking about, but he said something, and I said, ‘That’s what’s wrong with the world.’ And he went, ‘You’re like a fish looking for the water.’ And I said, ‘You mean a fish out of water?’ And he just said, ‘Nope. You’re in it. You just don’t see it.’ ” This October, more than 20 years later, Willingham’s children’s book, Little Fish, Big Question, was released by Balboa Press, the self-publishing division of Hay House Publishing. The book, inspired by that moment with

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Yates, follows Little Fish’s quest to “find the water.” The fish pushes past characters like the cynical octopus and the dismissive herring before discovering the answer for herself. During the time it took to make the book a reality, Willingham was seeking answers of her own. She’d been quietly drowning in clinical anxiety and depression since her high school days in Oklahoma. A cheerleader and captain of the soccer team, she was a self-described approval addict. “If I was with a group of friends who drank, I drank. If I was with a group of friends who were athletes, I was an athlete,” she says. “I was really robbing myself of living an authentic life.” Willingham’s father had schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and she recalls not wanting “to be a bother” while growing up. Her disorders went untreated until she was 26, when her doctor connected

PHOTO BY LIZ LYNCH

Angela Willingham (at home with her dog, Ranger) writes about mental health issues, based partly on her own experiences.

her with a therapist. Despite professional help and medication, Willingham’s symptoms worsened in her 30s. She had trouble sleeping and binged on sugar to manage her fatigue. At times, she struggled to go through the motions. “I would only get out of bed when I absolutely had to,” she says. What Willingham calls her “rock bottom” came in 2008 while living in Dallas and facing bankruptcy after her husband lost his finance job. She was in the passenger seat of the car her husband was driving, with three little kids at home. She asked for a sign from the universe on what to do with her life. At that moment, their car was rear-ended. Nobody was injured, and she decided that was enough. She closed her photography business and eventually earned a Master of Arts in strategic communication and leadership from Seton Hall University in 2013. She also started a wellness blog, NeedLess Journey, chronicling her mental health experiences. Willingham moved to Montgomery County from Dallas with her husband and children in 2012 to work at HoltonArms School in Bethesda as director of institutional advancement—her dream job. When a student approached staff in 2014 to see if anyone would speak at an assembly on mental health, Willingham stepped up and did it, recounting her lowest point in Dallas, her obsession with approval and the importance of reaching out for help despite the stigma. “I would tell the girls, ‘I’m being brave with my story so that you can be brave with yours,’ ” she says. Teachers told Willingham that her presentation resonated with students, especially those who struggled with perfectionism. Though Willingham left Holton-Arms in 2018—she says the high-intensity environment reignited her own perfectionist tendencies—she still returns to speak at the school’s mental health symposium. It was in 2016, while she was on a run in Potomac, that things changed for Willingham. A line in the Oprah podcast she was listening to caught her attention. “It was the line from the Bible, ‘Be still

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banter and know,’ ” she says. “I’m not super religious, but when they said that, I was like, that’s it—that’s how Little Fish finds it.” In the book, Little Fish only finds the water through mindfulness, inner peace and letting go of expectations. “She was looking for it outside of herself, and that’s what we’re all doing,” says Willingham, who now works as the associate vice president of development for the Greater Washington Community Foundation in D.C. “That was just something that was nagging on me for so many years. It’s like, ‘Why can’t I get this story right?’ And it’s because I hadn’t gotten my life right. And once I got my life right, Little Fish—the story—just opened right up for me.” After her podcast epiphany, Willingham wrote the book on her phone in the middle of the night over the course of a few months. She read the finished version to her children—now ages 13, 15 and 18—for the first time on Christmas Day in 2016. “My daughter said the other day, ‘I can’t believe this has been in your heart for 22 years,’ ” Willingham says. “I hope that I’m modeling for them that when you have something that’s really calling on you to do it, that, you know, you do it.” The lessons found in the book apply to both children and adults. “For the kids, the story is really about being curious and asking big questions and being brave to go look for the answers,” she says. “But what happens to us as adults is that we get that conditioned out of us.” Reclaiming these traits, she says, transformed her into “the hero of my own story.” Willingham’s mental health issues, though well managed, still come in waves, she says. But she’s found the water, which for her means “knowing that you’re worthy,” intrinsically and unconditionally. “I didn’t know that I had everything within me to live the life I needed to live,” she says. “Mindfulness is a way of life, and it’s just being present—being aware, in the present moment, nonjudgmentally. ...If we can teach our kids to do that? Oh my gosh, we’ll change the world.” ■

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BOOK REPORT

Bethesda’s Rita Colwell, a microbiologist and distinguished professor at the University of Maryland and at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, was the first woman to lead the National Science Foundation (she was the director from 1998 to 2004). In her book A Lab of One’s Own: One Woman’s Personal Journey Through Sexism in Science (Simon & Schuster, August 2020), written with Sharon Bertsch McGrayne of Seattle, Colwell chronicles the obstacles women have faced, how they’ve pushed back, and ways to reform the sector to be more inclusive. “I thought it was important for women interested in science, technology, engineering, math and medicine to understand they had a great future and not to be dissuaded,” Colwell says. 36

After writing A Hole in the Wind: A Climate Scientist’s Bicycle Journey Across the United States (2017), David Goodrich rode through Canada and North Dakota to give readers a glimpse of the oil and gas industry. A Voyage Across an Ancient Ocean: A Bicycle Journey Through the Northern Dominion of Oil (Pegasus, August 2020) shows the impact production is having on the environment, the reliance of communities on extraction to fuel their economies—and the resulting tension. “Almost everybody [there] has a climate story, even though they don’t call it that,” the Rockville author says. “They recognize things are changing—with animals, insects and plants—but because it’s so polarized, you mention the word climate and you get this pullback.”

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Paul Dickson always wanted to write a book about World War II. Born in 1939, he remembers toys being in short supply because FisherPrice was manufacturing ammunition boxes, and seeing wounded soldiers return to his neighborhood. The Garrett Park author spent nearly 15 years researching and writing The Rise of the G.I. Army 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor (Atlantic Monthly Press, July 2020). He explains how a peacetime draft and smart military leadership transformed the Army to be ready for combat. “The war was won by a citizen army. These were guys who were yanked out of barbershops and banks,” Dickson says. “It’s a great story about America in divided times.”

Carlos Lozada, who lives in Bethesda, read more than 150 books about Donald Trump and his policies before writing What Were We Thinking: A Brief Intellectual History of the Trump Era (Simon & Schuster, October 2020). As the nonfiction book critic for The Washington Post, Lozada decided in 2015 to read about Trump to learn more about the New York City businessman as he gained political traction. After Trump was elected, books about him, the white working class and the resistance to his presidency started flooding the market. Often “more knee-jerk than incisive,” many were missed opportunities for reflection and obsessed with putting Trump at center stage, Lozada writes in the book.

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READING LIST

DATA PROVIDED BY

The top-selling books in our area. Data is based on books sold at Politics and Prose’s Connecticut Avenue location in Upper Northwest D.C. and online from Oct. 28 to Nov. 11, 2020.

HARDCOVER FICTION 1. Hamnet, Maggie O’Farrell 2. Memorial, Bryan Washington 3. The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett 4. Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi 5. The Lying Life of Adults, Elena Ferrante 6. The Cold Millions, Jess Walter 7. Inside Story, Martin Amis 8. Leave the World Behind, Rumaan Alam

PAPERBACK 1. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration, Isabel Wilkerson 2. The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, Kamala Harris 3. The Topeka School, Ben Lerner 4. The Overstory, Richard Powers 5. My Own Words, Ruth Bader Ginsburg 6. Under Occupation, Alan Furst

9. Jack, Marilynne Robinson

7. What Unites Us: Reflections on Patriotism, Dan Rather, Elliott Kirschner

10. The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V. E. Schwab

8. Dune (Dune Series, No. 1), Frank Herbert 9. What Kind of Woman, Kate Baer

1. Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson 2. Modern Comfort Food, Ina Garten

10. Circe, Madeline Miller

CHILDREN & YOUNG ADULT

3. Joe Biden: The Life, the Run, and What Matters Now, Evan Osnos

1. The Talk: Conversations about Race, Love & Truth, Wade Hudson, Cheryl Willis Hudson

4. The Best of Me, David Sedaris

2. The Deep End (Diary of a Wimpy Kid Series, No. 15), Jeff Kinney

5. Greenlights, Matthew McConaughey 6. The Man Who Ran Washington: The Life and Times of James A. Baker III, Peter Baker, Susan Glasser 7. The Rise: Black Cooks and the Soul of American Food, Marcus Samuelsson 8. Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own, Eddie S. Glaude Jr. 9. Eleanor, David Michaelis 10. The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz, Erik Larson

3. Willa the Wisp (The Fabled Stables Series, No. 1), Jonathan Auxier 4. Cat Crusader (Max Meow Series, No. 1), John Gallagher 5. Kamala and Maya’s Big Idea, Meena Harris 6. Before the Ever After, Jacqueline Woodson 7. Spy School Revolution (Spy School Series, No. 8), Stuart Gibbs 8. Sofia Valdez and the Vanishing Vote (The Questioneers Series, No. 4), Andrea Beaty 9. Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story, Kevin Noble Maillard 10. Dog Man: Grime And Punishment (Dog Man Series, No. 9), Dav Pilkey

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BY STEVE ROBERTS

C. Marie Taylor, who runs Equity Through Action, at home in Silver Spring caption

Growing up, C. Marie Taylor kept being told “no.” Now the former CEO of Leadership Montgomery is helping companies recognize systemic racism—and confront their own biases.

IN 1981, WHEN C. Marie Taylor was 8 years old, financial problems forced her family to move from a large house in Washington, D.C., to a small apartment in the Virginia suburb of Annandale. “We were among the first Black people to move to this area,” she recalls, “and when I went to school, the first day I was there, there was a little girl who said, ‘Oh you can’t sit here—Black people can’t sit here.’ And I said, ‘What? What are you talking about?’ So, because I was 8, I made the incorrect choice and picked her up and threw her across the table

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

and said, ‘Well, you can’t sit here either.’ ” That day “was my first trauma, my first witness of racism,” Taylor says. It was far from her last, and today, at 47, she runs a consulting business called Equity Through Action that helps companies confront and correct racial bias. “What I’m hoping to do is change the culture within organizations, to help them learn to listen to Blacks and Latinos and Asian people of color,” Taylor explains. “I’m trying to get them to learn a new vocabulary that’s inclusive. I want them to re-evaluate the systems they are using

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

‘WHY CAN’T IT BE ME?’

I couldn’t understand why not. Dracula isn’t real, it’s a fictional character, so why can’t it be me?” Taylor describes the prejudice she encountered as a “constant stinging” sensation. “Visualize you’re walking through a field of gnats and they’re just always coming at you and you just can’t get past it,” she says. “That’s what it was like growing up there, a field of gnats just picking at you all the time.” So after graduation she headed for Howard University back in Washington: “I ran to the Blackest place I could find, I didn’t want to see another white person ever again.” But the suburbs had left a mark. She “enjoyed white music and dressed like a white kid from Annandale” in sneakers and a backpack. At Howard, the other students would jeer: “What is that music

you’re listening to? What is that fashion you have on? How are you carrying yourself? That is not how we roll here.” She juggled several jobs to pay the bills and wound up quitting school and finding work as a mental health counselor, even though she lacked a degree. “I’m a natural born hustler,” C. Marie says with a laugh. The nonprofit world opened her eyes: “I realized that all these decisions were being made for people of color and from marginalized groups, but there weren’t any of those people in the rooms making those decisions, and it pissed me off. I felt I needed to be in that room so I was like, I have to go back to school.” After earning an undergraduate degree and a master’s from Trinity Washington University in D.C., she felt she was ready to run a nonprofit, but when she

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

that perpetuate systemic racism, and to undo them and redo them. I want them to let go of some of their power and give it to somebody else.” She’s coached a corporate executive on hiring vendors that value diversity and establishing a mentoring program for Black employees. Those goals flow directly from her childhood in Annandale, where she says she “really struggled” in school and cried to her parents, “Why did you move us here? This is a terrible place. Why do they hate us?” Her teenage years were “lonely and hard,” but the high school drama club provided a refuge, and when they put on the play Dracula, she tried out for the lead role. “I remember the drama teacher saying to me, ‘Well, you actually did the best job, but we can’t have a Black girl as Dracula.’ And

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

banter | HOMETOWN

tested the job market she received no offers. She was still using her first name, Charnay, which her father had made up, and a friend told her: “It’s your name. I look at resumes all the time and when I hand them to folks, if someone has a Black sounding name, they usually skip over it. If you use your middle name, your resume will come to the top.” So in 2011 she became C. Marie Taylor and soon landed a job running Interfaith Works, a social service agency based in Rockville. But that required her to move to Montgomery County for the first time, and life in Germantown came as a shock. “I was single at the time, and I was like, I need a husband and a lawn mower,” she recalls. C. Marie identifies as bisexual and had a long relationship with a woman before marrying Shhonn

Taylor, a technology specialist for the federal government. They live in Silver Spring and he is building her a “she shed” to house her consulting business. Last summer, she was still serving as CEO of Leadership Montgomery, a nonprofit that provides training, education and other programming for political, economic and community leaders in the county. She had long dreamed of starting her own company, and thought that move was still years away, but many factors encouraged her to speed up her timetable: the spread of the coronavirus, the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the memory of her parents, who both died young. So in September she quit her job and hung out her shingle. “There was this burning sense in my stomach that in the time I had left on this earth, I have

to spend every working moment fighting so that there isn’t another Black woman whose life is lost, whose childhood is stolen,” she explains. “So I took this giant leap of faith and said, ‘I’m going to do it and I’m going to do it now.’ ” Taylor’s path and purpose actually started when she first encountered racism as a child. “What I really learned when I was in third grade at that table is how people don’t always see Black people in the full sense of our humanity,” she tells me. “So the work I do, the core of all of it, is trying to get white people to see the humanity in non-white people.” Steve Roberts teaches journalism and politics at George Washington University. Send ideas for future columns to sroberts@gwu.edu.

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Q: What makes your client

specialize in? A: We specialize in working with successful law firm partners and C-Level corporate executives in the Washington, DC metro area. Often our clients are family stewards who face the challenge of making all the financial choices for their family while working in a high-pressure job. They want to make sure they are making the best decisions, but often don’t know what questions to ask or what their next steps are. We guide them through the myriad decisions they need to make, always making sure we're sensitive to where they’re coming from and what’s important to them. In addition, we help them implement holistic financial solutions, as the best decisions are meaningless unless they have follow-through.

experience unique? A: We act as a personal Chief Financial Officer for successful families. In doing so, we use the best experts to provide elite wealth management solutions to help clients make smart decisions about their wealth, mitigate taxes, take care of heirs, protect assets, and magnify their charitable impact as desired. As Fee-Only financial advisors, our business model is based on fiduciary standards of loyalty, due care, full disclosure, and utmost good faith to clients. The experience all starts with a discovery meeting, where we look at where clients are, where they would like to be and identify any gaps to see how they may benefit from working with us.

LISA HELFERT

11 N. Washington St., Suite 250 Rockville, MD 20850 301-258-1300 info@ivyfa.com www.ivyfa.com

Q: What types of clients do you

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PROFILES

 

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Chevy Chase Trust FROM TOP LEFT: SUSAN FREED, CRAIG PERNICK, LARRY FISHER, BLAKE DOYLE 7501 Wisconsin Ave, 15th Floor Bethesda, MD 20814 240-497-5008 www.chevychasetrust.com

TONY J. LEWIS

All investing involves risk of loss, including principal. The investment strategies of Chevy Chase Trust Company ("CCTC") are not guaranteed or insured by CCTC and/or any governmental body. Please see CCTC's ADV Part 2 for more information.

Q: What separates Chevy Chase

Q: What is your investment

Trust from other firms in the industry?

approach? A: Chevy Chase Trust’s investment process is organized around global themes rather than standard industry classifications such as market capitalization, geography, style or specific benchmarks. To develop a theme, our research analysts begin by taking a broad view of the global economic landscape and identifying secular trends that are most likely to influence corporate performance across multiple industries. Themes can be driven by disruptive technologies, demographics, cultural shifts, changing consumer behaviors or new business models. Once an investment theme is established, we conduct in-depth research on companies positioned to benefit from the theme, and just as importantly, companies that will be negatively disrupted by the theme. We assess each company’s strategic direction, competitive position, valuation, financial condition and management. Every portfolio company is the product of fundamental analysis. Ultimately, a client portfolio is comprised of 40-50 individual stocks.

A: We are an independent and privately owned investment management firm with roots in the Washington, D.C. community that date back more than 100 years. We specialize in thematic investing—building long-term portfolios of companies positioned to exploit powerful, secular trends, disruptive ideas, innovation and economic forces. Our client portfolios are managed internally, using individual stocks and bonds. We avoid mutual funds, ETFs and outside managers, so there are no layers of additional fees. And clients understand what they own. Personalized financial planning is done in-house and informs each client’s investment strategy and asset allocation. All plans are updated regularly as client circumstances, market conditions and tax laws change. With more than 90 employees—with an average of 20 years’ experience—we are big enough to offer world-class expertise and service, but small enough to offer a personal approach to comprehensive wealth management. Client retention rate exceeds 98 percent.

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 45

PROFILES

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FROM LEFT: JOHN GREEN, LINDSEY RHEAUME, DOREEN HOMMET, JOHN RICHARDSON, SCOTT READING, BOB CRISMOND 7830 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, MD 20814 301-986-1800 ContactMe@EagleBankCorp.com www.EagleBankCorp.com

Q: What were the biggest challenges

for the bank this past year? A: Amid the convergence of the health and economic crises over the last year, EagleBank proactively and successfully recognized the emergent situation faced by so many clients. We pulled together as never before to provide the professional support and hands-on guidance for which we are known. We estimate that we were successful in processing over 1,330 PPP loan applications—equating to over $491 million—which saved around 41,000 jobs in the metro area. When the devastating pandemic dispersed our workforce, we seamlessly transitioned over 400+ employees to work remotely. Thankfully, we had established tools and necessary infrastructure to quickly and securely engage employees and clients. The EagleBank Foundation also took a leading role in supporting our community, including distributing $100,000 to 10 local area organizations fighting COVID 19—notably hospitals, food banks and

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

first responder aid philanthropies—to secure PPE, hospital in-room technology for healthcare staff and meals for families in the Washington area. In addition to the efforts from the EagleBank Foundation, the Bank allocated $50,000 in emergency aid to George Mason University students displaced by the COVID-19 crisis. Q: What piece of advice do you most

frequently get asked and what's your answer? A: In recent months, many commercial clients asked us how they’ll be able to move forward amid these unprecedented and challenging times. Our answer is simple—EagleBank remains dedicated to our distinct and long-standing customerfirst culture. Even a global pandemic does not change how we approach working with clients and supporting our local community. We're a true partner who provides flexible lending solutions and approaches all challenges with a “yes we can” attitude.

TONY J. LEWIS

EagleBank

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PROFILES SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Key Wealth Managers FROM LEFT: KEYAN ABRISHAMKAR, CEO & PRESIDENT; DENISA DEMPSTER, OPERATIONS SPECIALIST; DIANA LEON, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & SENIOR PARTNER; MATT KRIVONAK, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & SENIOR PARTNER; KAREM VERGARA, OPERATIONS SPECIALIST; JOSH MARCIANO, ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT

TONY J. LEWIS

"Seeing the results and impact we're making on their financial lives is something our team would not trade for anything." 9210 Corporate Blvd., Suite 210 Rockville, MD 20850 240-477-5226 office@keywealthmanagers.com www.keywealthmanagers.com

Q: What makes your client

Q: What do you find most satisfying

experience unique? A: We understand that financial advising is done with compassion, empathy, and a singular focus to help each client meet their own unique goals and objectives. What matters to you is what matters to us. There's a considerable gap in our industry when it comes to relationship management, listening, trust management and, in too many cases, financial advisor/firm arrogance. We know that we have to earn the privilege of maintaining each client relationship every day, and we never take that for granted. As an independent investment firm, we can truly act in the best interest of our clients—not in the best interest of a bank or broker-dealer.

about your job? A: What's most satisfying is the incredible relationships we build with each of our clients. Our clients are like family members and we treat them as such through respect, accountability and transparent communication. Every individual and family deserves to have trusted financial partners to help them navigate through the best times and the most difficult ones, too. Referrals from our clients confirm that they see us as their trusted financial partner, and they validate all the hard work we’ve put into our client relationships. We celebrate when our clients reach certain financial milestones and personal financial objectives. Seeing the results and impact we're making on their financial lives is something our team would not trade for anything.

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 47

PROFILES

  SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Mosaic Wealth Partners ERIC JAFFE, AIF®, RICP®, JD* 7529 Standish Place, Suite 345, Rockville, MD 20855 877-840-0770 | ejaffe@mosaicwp.com | www.mosaicwp.com Securities and advisory services offered through Commonwealth Financial Network, Member FINRA/SIPC, a Registered Investment Adviser. *Licensed, not practicing.

Q: What services does your firm provide? A: We work with clients to execute sustainable retirement strategies.

MICHAEL VENTURA

I began my career as an attorney in both the private and public sectors and have been applying the core skills from my legal background into my financial services practice for the last 20 years. Our firm develops long-term client relationships. As an Accredited Investment Fiduciary designee, I put my clients’ interests first. We strive to apply the highest level of personalized service. Many of our clients are pre-retirees and retirees and seek to maintain their standard of living throughout an extended retirement period. We use a planning-first approach, thoughtfully considering when clients can retire and what lifestyle they want to maintain through retirement. We employ customized investment strategies designed to minimize volatility and help our clients achieve their unique goals.

Brad Sherman PRESIDENT, SHERMAN WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC 9841 Washingtonian Blvd., Suite 200, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 240-428-1622 | bsherman@shermanwealth.com www.shermanwealth.com

Awards and Honors: Named "Top 100 Financial Advisors" by Investopedia; featured in CNBC, MarketWatch and The Wall Street Journal; co-host, “Launch Financial,” a weekly podcast. Q: What differentiates the Sherman Wealth Management

client experience?

so we always put you first, delivering cost and tax-efficient solutions. We do not take commissions from investment vehicles, mutual funds or any other financial product. That means we work just for you—our client. Second, we keep things uncomplicated by using state-of-the-art technology and easy-to-understand language. I founded this firm to make a difference for people who may be intimidated by the complexity and seeming exclusivity of personal finance and wealth management. Third, your portfolio and plan are custom-designed and simplified for your personal specific needs and risk tolerance levels. We take a holistic approach to our clients' financial future, incorporating both your shortand long-term goals. 48

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

HILARY SCHWAB

A: As a fee-only Registered Investment Advisory firm, we are fiduciaries,

 

PROFILES SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Seated (L-R): Hannah Schlabaugh, Relationship Strategist; Celandra Deane-Bess, CFP®, SVP, Capital Area Market Leader; KC Koch, Relationship Strategist. Standing (L-R): Ann Nickel, Senior Fiduciary Advisor; Brian Ellis, Senior Investment Advisor; Hamid Islam, Senior Banking Advisor; Elizabeth Kim-Wei, JD, Senior Wealth Strategist; Scott Schluederberg, Senior Investment Advisor

The PNC Wealth Management Team PNC offers credentialed practice group leaders with extensive experience in business succession planning, philanthropy, private banking, fiduciary services, corporate executive compensation, wealth preservation planning and risk management and insurance.

COURTESY PHOTO

4800 Montgomery Lane, Suite 350 Bethesda, MD 20814 301-347-3200 Hannah.Schlabaugh@pnc.com| www.PNC.com The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”) uses the marketing name PNC Wealth Management® to provide investment consulting and wealth management, fiduciary services, FDIC-insured banking products and services, and lending of funds to individual clients through PNC Bank, National Association (“PNC Bank”), which is a Member FDIC, and to provide specific fiduciary and agency services through PNC Delaware Trust Company or PNC Ohio Trust Company. PNC does not provide legal, tax, or accounting advice unless, with respect to tax advice, PNC Bank has entered into a written tax services agreement. PNC Bank is not registered as a municipal advisor under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. “PNC” and “PNC Wealth Management,” are registered marks of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. Investments: Not FDIC Insured. No Bank Guarantee. May Lose Value. © 2020 The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

Q: What type of client do you

specialize in? A: We work with business owners at all stages of their business lifecycle, including doctors, attorneys, corporate executives and more. Our services are best suited for high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals and multi-generational families looking for an industry leading personalized client experience. Whether buying a home or a business, saving for retirement, investing for the future or finding the right credit card, clients work with PNC Wealth Management® to effectively manage challenges and chart a path toward financial security for generations to come. Q: What makes your client

experience unique? A: Our integrated team approach. We act strategically and collaboratively as a cohesive, locally based professional advisory team, working with each client to provide a higher level of synergy and

active oversight of your cherished family wealth. Every professional is working for you and consistently looking out for your best interests—the fiduciary standard. Our local team is comprised of Certified Financial Planners, Chartered Financial Analysts® and over 100 years of combined professional experience. Our investment approach is completely dependent on your needs. We utilize a goals-based model, looking first at your personal and/or corporate goals and then building a customized portfolio with a wide range of non-proprietary funds and investment solutions to meet those goals. Furthermore, we strive for total integration across the entire bank, leveraging commercial and corporate banking services for business owners with private wealth management services to ensure both your business, your retirement and your family legacy plans are successful!

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 49

PROFILES

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Buckingham Mortgage LLC FROM LEFT: KAMRAN HANIF, YOUSUF HANIF Buckingham Mortgage LLC is a family-owned business that has been passed down from generation to generation. We were founded on the core principle of providing excellent service, while keeping the customer's benefit paramount. Our core values will always be rooted in Buckingham’s culture, even as we seek to command a national presence. 1593 Spring Hill Road, Suite 100 Vienna, VA 22182 301-793-1713 yousuf@bfgusa.com www.bfgusa.com

Q: What made you want to become

Q: What services do you provide

a professional advisor? A: This business has always been in the family and continuing that legacy is important to me. From a young age, I was always curious about the business my father created, and I learned the ins and outs as I got older. It was a natural progression. One of my natural strengths is connecting with people. So, getting to know clients and being able to help them achieve their home ownership goals is a very rewarding experience. Also, being able to build and grow my own company and seeing my vision come to fruition is something that drives me daily. As a leader, I seek to create a diverse culture that nurtures each employee so they become an integral part of our operations as a whole.

your clients? A: As a licensed mortgage lender, Buckingham Mortgage provides all mortgage products under one roof, namely Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loans, jumbo loans, stated income loans and bank statement loans. Additionally, we provide special reduced and no-income document loans for investment residential properties for self-employed investors. We specialize in working with all kinds of clients, including employed, selfemployed, foreign nationals, diplomats and visas with ITIN numbers. Our typical loan amounts range from $100,000 to $5 million. We strive to help make our clients’ dreams come true, whether helping renters become first-time homeowners or helping current homeowners reduce their mortgage payments by lowering their rates and seeking out zero closing-cost loans.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

JOSEPH TRAN

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

PROFILES

 

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

David B. Hurwitz CFP®, CRPC®, CRPS®, RICP®, APMA®, BFA™ PRIVATE WEALTH ADVISOR, AMERIPRISE FINANCIAL 6400 Goldsboro Road, Suite 501, Bethesda, MD 20817 301-263-8509 david.b.hurwitz@ampf.com | www.davidbhurwitz.com Q: Given everything that’s been going on with the

HILARY SCHWAB

pandemic and election, how should I be thinking about my finances differently? A: We can always be certain that the future is uncertain. Uncertainty is always present in our lives but feels especially prevalent now as we transition through a period of seismic change. What we can do is to prepare ourselves by reviewing our goals and finances and making a plan. Not only does this give a solid foundation to use as a home base to make tactical pivots from, but also helps to make us feel more confident as we enter unchartered waters. Focus your need to “do something” towards re-evaluating your game plan, not by making knee-jerk investment decisions. CA Insurance #OE47729 Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. (CFP Board) owns the CFP® certification mark, the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ certification mark, and the CFP® certification mark (with plaque design) logo in the United States, which it authorizes use of by individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements. Investment advisory services and products are made available through Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, a registered investment adviser. Ameriprise Financial Services, LLC, Member FINRA and SIPC. © 2020 Ameriprise Financial, Inc., All rights reserved. 3324271ACMR1120

Find the online version of

     at

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM/PROFILES BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 51

a new look for the old homestead

structure. home reinvented

StructureCustomHomes.com - custom built homes & renovations for a new generation -

ILLUSTRATION BY CARLOS ZAMORA

146

The following writers contributed to this section: Caralee Adams, Stephanie Siegel Burke, Margaret Engel, David Hagedorn, Cheryl Heimlich, Leigh McDonald, Kathleen Seiler Neary, Louis Peck, Amanda M. Socci, Carole Sugarman and Carolyn Weber.

GREAT PLACES TO GO, THINGS TO DO & MORE, AS CHOSEN BY OUR EDITORS AND READERS

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

EDITORS' PICKS

Cinnaholicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s rolls can be customized with a variety of toppings.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO BY DEB LINDSEY

FOOD & DRINK

BEST NEW COMFORT FOODS (WITH REALLY GOOD TIMING) We needed this. About three months into the pandemic, a Cinnaholic—where you can create your own cinnamon rolls—debuted in Downtown Crown, and the lines haven’t stopped since. The “Old Skool,” a plain cinnamon roll topped with vanilla frosting, is a hit, but the signature items, such as the “Caramel Apple Pie” roll (topped with caramel frosting, fresh apples, a caramel sauce drizzle, pecans and pie crumble) and the “Cookie Monster” roll (covered in flavored cream cheese frosting and homemade cookie dough, chocolate chips and chocolate sauce), are just a bit more exciting. For the little ones, try the mini buns, a tiny version of the plain cinnamon roll served with a side of vanilla frosting. The menu goes beyond cinnamon rolls: Cookie dough scoops include the “Mocha Madness” (a dollop of dough with coffee frosting, chocolate sauce and a sprinkling of coffee dust), or you can grab an 8-ounce tub of plain cookie dough—and good luck putting it down. Everything at Cinnaholic is vegan and dairy-free. Cinnaholic, 230 Crown Park Ave., Gaithersburg, 301-963-1200, cinnaholic.com Sometimes big—or huge—is the way to go when you’re craving something sweet, and the cookies at Crumbl in Rockville’s Federal Plaza deliver a mega dose of sugary goodness. The treats, roughly 4½ inches in diameter, are more dessert indulgence than snack, and come in a pretty pink box (great for a friend that needs a pick-me-up). The first Maryland outpost of the Utah-based chain opened in October and sells six flavors of cookies a day, each for $3.88. You can always get warm chocolate chip or chilled sugar cookies. Depending on the week, you might find a chocolate cookie with chocolate chips and chocolate frosting, a caramel orange roll cookie, or a s’mores brownie cookie with a toasted marshmallow on top. Small tubs of ice cream in flavors such as churro (vanilla ice cream with churro bits and cinnamon) and “Buckeye Brownie” (chocolate ice cream with brownie chunks and peanut butter) are also available, but it’s the cookies—displayed alongside single-serving containers of milk—that we can’t resist. Crumbl, 12266 Rockville Pike, Suite K, Rockville, 240-406-7655, crumblcookies.com

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

FOOD & DRINK

COOL COCKTAILS TO GO

The vodka-based “Cucumber Delight” at Founding Farmers is available to go.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Early on in the pandemic, when bars and restaurants were shut down except for pickup and delivery, the county’s Alcohol Beverage Services (ABS) department started allowing the sale of beer and wine to go. Which was good, but not good enough. Six days later, hard liquor was added to the list, which meant mixed drinks in sealed plastic containers were suddenly a thing. Lots of restaurants are still offering alcohol to go—everything from spiked seltzer to sangria. Here are three places at the top of our list. The 16-ounce pouches at CAVA Mezze in Rockville (which are big enough for about three drinks) can make Zoom happy hours or evenings by the firepit a lot more fun. And the cocktails—oldfashioneds, Moscow mules, mojitos and more—are just as tasty as the ones you’d get at the bar. Pouches range from $20 to $30; they’re two for $40 on Tuesdays. Founding Farmers in Park Potomac has always had a way with mixed drinks, and its “Booze to Go” list includes a creative mix of bottled cocktails, all $20 for 16 ounces. Among the bestsellers this past fall: the “Cucumber Delight,” made with Founding Spirits vodka (produced at Founding Farmers’ own D.C. distillery), domaine de canton, lemon, cucumber and cantaloupe; “The Constitution,” soda water and Founding Spirits dry gin with flavors of ginger, blueberry, lemon and chamomile; the “Farmer Jon,” a mix of bourbon, orange curacao and lemon. And we can’t forget the ever-popular frosé—dry rosé wine, vodka, strawberry puree and fresh lemon—which you can take home in 16-, 32- or 64-ounce jugs from Millie’s in D.C.’s Spring Valley. They won’t pour it till you get there, so it’ll probably still be frozen when you get home. Cheers.

PHOTO BY DEB LINDSEY

EDITORS' PICKS

Korean-style wings at MOMO Chicken & Grill in Bethesda

BEST JOB OF WINGING IT

PHOTO BY LINDSEY MAX

This year we don’t need the Super Bowl as a reason to gorge ourselves on chicken wings. Here are some of our favorites. The crunch of the crackly coating on the wings at MOMO Chicken & Grill in Bethesda is so distinct it’s audible. These are Korean-style wings, meaning they’re dipped in a starch-based batter before being deep-fried (sometimes twice) and sauced. MOMO’s wings are seasoned and marinated overnight, dipped in a flour-based batter, fried for 25 minutes and tossed in a soy, ginger and vinegar sauce or a spicy version of the sauce kicked up with cayenne pepper. We love that the wings’ protective coating seals in the juiciness and keeps them from becoming cold and soggy even after a 20-minute drive home—if you can keep from scarfing them down right when you get them.

Filipino restaurant Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly in Rockville offers two kinds of wings—both worthy of accolades. One is made with a dry rub, the other with a spicy adobo glaze. The wing joints for both are seasoned with garlic and paprika and refrigerated overnight. They are then braised in oil for 1½ hours and cooled. Later they are dredged in potato starch and wheat flour seasoned with chili powder and ground annatto (a seed that imparts a red hue) and deep-fried. Then the crisped wings are tossed in a rub that includes black pepper and tamarind powder (tamarind is a dried tree fruit known for its tangy quality) or in Filipino adobo sauce, made with soy sauce, garlic, sugar and cane vinegar.

At Lia’s in Chevy Chase, wing sections are seasoned well with salt and pepper, roasted in the oven and cooled. Just before serving, they’re deep-fried to crispiness and then tossed in one of two sauces: honey Sriracha (made with Korean red chili paste, Sriracha, orange marmalade, honey, orange juice and sesame oil) or a superlative version of Buffalo sauce (made with Frank’s RedHot original cayenne pepper sauce, Cholula hot sauce, melted butter and granulated onion and garlic). Honey Sriracha wings are garnished with sesame seeds and chopped cilantro; Buffalo wings go the traditional route, with celery sticks, crumbled blue cheese and a side of ranch dressing. Our preferred option? Six of each.

MOMO Chicken & Grill, 4862 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, 240-483-0801, usmomo.com

Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly, 5268-H Nicholson Lane, Rockville, 240-669-4383, kuyajas.com

Lia’s, 4435 Willard Ave., Chevy Chase, 240-223-5427, liasrestaurant.com

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

(TWICE!)

Hans Wydler 301.640.5701

Steve Wydler 703.348.7298

Dina Miller 301.580.5231

Theo Harding 202.437.3990

Nya Alemayhu 202.212.9304

Molly Mullally 301.399.1241

Agata Siegenthaler 202.817.4012

Ryan DeMagistris 703.216.1274

Renee Ro 703.731.6023

g D

Thank you. Best of Bethesda 2021 Readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Pick Winners Hans Wydler voted Best Real Estate Agent 2021 Wydler Brothers voted Best Real Estate Team 2021

Eliot Jeffers 872.230.6259

Eric Brooks 240.532.2001

Cathy Johnson 301.980.5242

Amy Peterson 301.717.3642

Petra Socolovsky 202.706.2453

Katie Sanson 301.908.0648

Nicole Andrews 301.928.4588

Lauren Haberman 240.888.8060

Michele Weisz 914.960.1521

Compass is a lilicensed real estate brokerage that abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Compass is licensed as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland. 1313 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 | 202.386.6330

EDITORS' PICKS

BEST PLACE FOR AN AFTERNOON DATE Opened in Darnestown in July 2019, family-owned Windridge Vineyards is quickly becoming a popular spot for romantic day trips. On nice days, choose from the many outdoor seating options on the 43-acre property, including generously spaced Adirondack chairs and picnic tables. All overlook the vineyards, a wildlife sanctuary next door and Sugarloaf Mountain in the distance. In the winter, the owners—brothers Jeremy, Robert, Theodore and Thompson Butz, and their aunt and uncle, Mary and Robert Truland—enclose two of their outdoor spaces to keep guests warm. Be sure to check out the tasting room, which opened this past fall and features pendant light fixtures and midcentury modern furniture. You can peer through the wall of windows behind the bar for a view of the underground facility where the wine is made. Windridge observes local guidelines

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

for indoor and outdoor service; at press time they were limiting parties to six or less. On Saturdays, Windridge hosts guided tours of the property that conclude with a socially distanced wine tasting. But if you can’t snag a reservation, you can still try several of the Montgomery County-made wines by ordering the red or white flight—each comes with three half-glasses for under $20. Don’t miss the Seneca—the fullbodied red is a wintertime favorite. Windridge allows patrons to bring their own food, but charcuterie, cheese and other snacks are available for purchase, and food trucks are frequently on-site. Another perk: Dogs are welcome, too. Windridge Vineyards, 15700 Darnestown Road, Darnestown, 301-750-9463, windridge.wine

PHOTO BY ISABELLE CARBONELL/COURTESY OF WINDRIDGE VINEYARDS; OPPOSITE PAGE PHOTOS BY LINDSEY MAX

FOOD & DRINK

BEST WAY TO KEEP ON TRUCKING

Schmaltz Brothers executive chef Colin Penn

Penn (left) and Schmaltz Brothers chef and co-owner Yehuda Malka

The food truck boom, which hit the D.C. area 10 years ago, had definitely plateaued before COVID-19 hit. Now, the trucks have seen a resurgence, especially among established food businesses seeking to expand revenue sources. Three superlative options have popped up recently. Jennifer Meltzer and chef Ed Reavis, the husband-and-wife owners of All Set Restaurant & Bar in Silver Spring, launched a barbecue concept in food truck form— Money Muscle BBQ (think smoked turkey legs, Texas-style brisket, Carolina pulled pork)—in September. Also in September, the Marmaras family, which owns The Big Greek Cafe’s four Montgomery County locations, rolled out The Big Greek Cafe food truck, bringing souvlaki and gyro pita sandwiches, spanakopita, falafel, Greek dips and more to wineries, breweries, special events, school parking lots and neighborhoods where organizers ask them to come. (To have the food truck come to your neighborhood, email info@biggreekcafe.com.) In April, Chappall Gage, who co-owns Susan Gage Caterers in Landover, started Schmaltz Brothers, a separate Potomacbased, kosher catering business and food truck. Schmaltz Brothers chef and co-owner Yehuda Malka uses the kitchen at Beth Sholom Congregation in Potomac as a commissary, and the food truck frequently sells from the lot there. (Gage plans to build a kosher kitchen facility in Montgomery County once the economy improves.) On the truck, you’ll find brisket or fried chicken sandwiches on challah buns, fried matzo ball bites (Jewish hush puppies), matzo ball soup and chocolate babka, but no dairy-based foods, in line with kosher guidelines of keeping meat and dairy separate. Gage explains why the food truck model works. “Everyone is so stressed out now. There is so much angst about what is safe and what isn’t. A truck pulling up is appealing. It’s inherently socially distant. We’ve done weddings like this. And it’s safer for the staff in terms of interaction with guests.” Another important plus: Adding the food truck is a way to keep more people employed. All three trucks plan to run through the winter. Checking their social media outlets, accessible through their websites, is the best way to find out where the trucks will be. moneymusclebbq.com; biggreekcafe.com; schmaltzbros.com

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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A streetery on Bethesda Row

The COVID-19 pandemic gave new meaning to the term “dining out.” With social distancing restrictions limiting the number of patrons that restaurants could serve indoors, diners took to the streets. Starting in June, roadways shut down and “streeteries” popped up in Bethesda, Silver Spring, Wheaton, Rockville and Takoma Park. The idea—closing certain roads to vehicles and letting restaurant customers dine at tables set up on streets and sidewalks—became a lifeline for local restaurants, allowing them to continue business even if their dining rooms were closed or limited in capacity. The streeteries, with tables spaced 6 feet apart and limited to six people at a table, per the state’s regulations, gave diners the communal experience of dining out socially after months of staying home. Some restaurants offered table service outdoors. At others, diners could order takeout and seat themselves. When temperatures began to fall, restaurants and organizations adapted. Some provided heaters or tents. Others encouraged customers to BYOB—bring your own blanket.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO BY SKIP BROWN

BEST WAY TO ‘DINE OUT’

SWEETEST TAKE ON CURRENT EVENTS A good piece of chocolate can brighten any day, and in early May, when we all needed a boost, Chouquette Chocolates rolled out three new collections. Owned by Silver Spring resident Sarah Dwyer, the company does custom orders and online sales, and distributes to local shops and close to 300 retailers nationwide. It’s known for its elegant chocolate-covered soft caramels with distinctive and timely decorations. In this case, the milk and dark chocolate shells, filled with vanilla sea salt caramel, feature imprinted messages about health care workers (such as Courage to Care, Hang in There and Heroes Wear Scrubs), optimism (Spread Hope, Share Love) and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Not surprisingly, the Fauci Fan Club chocolates, which include those with images of his face, were a big hit, particularly around Mother’s Day. “A lot of people bought them for their moms,” Dwyer says. “Because a lot of moms love Dr. Fauci.” Another popular purchase: caramels picturing Ruth Bader Ginsburg, which Chouquette started making in 2018. “She has been a bestseller from the very beginning, and still is,” Dwyer says. “We often get orders for both RBG and Dr. Fauci together.” 301-651-4442; chouquette.us

PHOTO COURTESY OF CITY BEE DESIGNS

BEST FARM-TO-FRIDGE DELIVERY During the stay-at-home order, when it was often hard to secure a time slot with the popular grocery delivery services, Central Farm Markets found a new niche. “For years, patrons have asked, ‘Why don’t you do home delivery?’ ” says Debbie Moser, co-founder of the markets, as well as a partner in MeatCrafters, a Landover sausage and charcuterie company. “I didn’t need a third business. And then COVID hit.” Moser and her staff teamed up with Geppetto Catering, which had trucks, drivers and back-end expertise, and in late March started delivering the wonderful fresh fish, meat, produce, dairy products, artisan baked goods and small batch items sold at the Bethesda Central Farm Market. In July, after Geppetto went out of business, the market partnered with ProFish, a seafood wholesaler—and one of the vendors at Central Farm Markets’ Pike Central location—to handle the deliveries. All the while, the three Central Farm Markets locations (Bethesda, Pike and NOVA) remained open throughout the pandemic, offering curbside pickup and preordering. As for the delivery service, which is slated to continue through the winter, “I can’t tell you the amount of calls we get thanking us for doing this,” Moser says. “It lifts our spirits all the time.” centralfarmmarkets.localfoodmarketplace.com

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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MOST DEPENDABLE WEBSITE FOR RECIPES

It was sad but inevitable that some restaurants would close during the pandemic. What’s surprising is the number of places that either opened or announced a future opening. In the last nine months, Bethesda Beat has reported on at least three dozen restaurants, ice cream parlors, markets, cafes, food trucks and bakeries that have set up shop or are in the planning phases. Some are regional chains moving into our market, others are locally founded chains sprouting additional units or new concepts, and there are independent operators trying out first and second locations. Last summer, Poyoteca, a Peruvian chicken restaurant, opened in Rockville, while Cinco de Mayo, a Mexican operation with four other locations in Maryland, moved into the Kentlands. In October, Francis Namin, owner of the local Fish Taco chain, expanded into Italian food with Piccoli Piatti, a Neapolitan pizza place in Wildwood Shopping Center. And while several dessert-based businesses closed, others took the plunge, such as Pitango, a gelato and coffee shop that opened in Bethesda in May, and Pâte à Cake, a French bakery in Gaithersburg that welcomed strawberry mousse lovers in August. Where did they all get the chutzpah? Most were already locked into leases before the pandemic hit, but openings were delayed. For the mother-daughter team of Sarah and Annie Park, who run Sarah’s Handmade Ice Cream & Treats on River Road in Bethesda and opened a second location in the Wildwood Shopping Center in October, online ordering, contactless delivery and pickup, along with overwhelming community enthusiasm for local businesses, allowed them to move forward. Plus, they quickly discovered that people cooped up at home were craving sweet comfort foods, such as the shops’ dueling top sellers, Oreo Lover and Coffee Oreo. Ice cream, says Annie Park, had become “very essential.”

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Jenn Segal’s family often has the same dinner four nights in a row. That’s because Segal, a L’Academie de Cuisinetrained chef, cookbook author and recipe developer, is a perfectionist about her Once Upon a Chef website. So the Potomac mom tweaks her recipes again and again until they’re just right—and her husband and two teenagers are her taste testers. The result? Her fabulous family-friendly creations, such as Moroccan Chicken Tagine or Old-Fashioned Ginger Spice Cookies, have gotten plenty of attention. Segal’s free weekly recipe newsletter, started in 2009, now has about 250,000 subscribers. Her success led to the 2018 cookbook Once Upon a Chef, the Cookbook: 100 Tested, Perfected, and Family-Approved Recipes, which sold close to 100,000 copies, and she has another cookbook coming out in October. In writing both books, Segal corralled a couple thousand loyal followers to try her recipes and tell her what they thought. The crowd-sourcing method has already produced plenty of rave reviews for her next book—including high praise for the Southwestern Corn Chowder, Sesame Ginger Meatballs and Popovers with Salted Maple Butter. In 2020, her website averaged between 8 million and 12 million page views a month, way up from the previous year—a result of the pandemic, which turned many regular restaurant-goers into home cooks. onceuponachef.com

PICCOLI COURTESY PHOTO; SEGAL PHOTO BY HELEN DON PHOTOGRAPHY

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FOOD & DRINK

In an area that has long suffered from a dearth of good bagels, a hot-pink and teal trolley has come to the rescue. Located in the parking lot of the old Bethesda Community Store at the corner of Old Georgetown and Greentree roads, Call Your Mother deli serves up wood-fired bagels you can really sink your teeth into. Generously coated with poppy or sesame seeds, everything seasoning or za’atar spice blend, these bagels can stand alone with just a schmear of cream cheese or whitefish salad, so we often buy a baker’s dozen and freeze them, defrosting a couple at a time to last all week long. For those who like to get more adventurous with their bagels, the menu features plenty of interesting sandwiches; one favorite is The Gleneagle, with candied salmon cream cheese, cucumbers, crispy shallots and seasonal greens inside a za’atar bagel. The trolley, which came to Bethesda in July, has worked particularly well during the pandemic, with online ordering, easy parking and pickup, and outdoor picnic tables. Owners Andrew Dana and Daniela Moreira have three brick-and-mortar locations in Washington, D.C., and have extended their lease at the Bethesda space for the foreseeable future. At press time, they were exploring the purchase of the community store and had plans to open a new location at Pike & Rose in the spring. Also not to be missed: the chocolate babka muffins, studded with chunks of rich Valrhona chocolate. Tell your mother. callyourmotherdeli.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO BY LINDSEY MAX

BEST NEW SPOT FOR BAGELS

Bella Bethesda Salon has been a staple in the community for over 13 years. Bella Bethesda is not just a hair salon but a place that inspires fabulous hair while allowing our guests to escape their busy lives. Our services go far beyond standard cut and color. We feature services for straightening & smoothing as well as special occasions such as weddings, bar/bat mitzvahs, etc. At Bella Bethesda Salon, we’re not just committed to delivering great-looking, sophisticated and manageable hair. We arm our guests with the knowledge to maintain their “just from the salon” look in between cuts and color. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT AND WE HOPE TO SEE YOU IN THE SALON SOON!

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FOOD & DRINK

Julie Verratti, co-owner of Denizens Brewing Co., has been delivering beer to customers’ homes during the pandemic.

BEST DOOR-TO-DOOR SERVICE FOR SIX-PACKS On March 15, the day before Maryland bars and restaurants shut down due to the pandemic, Denizens Brewing Co. launched its “beer mobile” home delivery service. “We saw the writing on the wall in February,” says Julie Verratti, co-owner of Denizens, which received permission for direct delivery as part of its original 2014 liquor license. At its peak—from March through May, before the brewery’s Silver Spring and Riverdale Park tap rooms reopened in early June—Denizens was doing up to 100 deliveries a day to customers in Montgomery County, Prince George’s County and Northwest D.C. And one of the drivers was none other than Verratti, who dropped off the craft brewery’s terrific beer and hard seltzer (as well as wine and cocktails) five days a week. “I’ve gone through a lot of books on Audible,” Verratti says of the hours spent in her car.

At the same time, patrons have gone through a lot of six-packs of Animal Hazy IPA and Blood Orange Hard Seltzer—two of the most popular orders—in addition to rotating styles of beer in growlers and pint bottles. Denizens offers gift deliveries with handwritten notes; sprinkles in extra treats for frequent customers; sends thank-you emails to newcomers; and added a collection of locally made foods, including chocolates, salad dressing and coffee, to its delivery menu. The dependable beer mobile—which guarantees same-day delivery by 7 p.m. for orders made by 11 a.m.—received a raft of kudos from customers, who get text messages when the driver is en route. With the cold weather upon us, Verratti predicts the beer mobile will be busy again—and she’ll be catching up on her books. denizensbrewingco.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

COVID-19 restrictions took a bite out of restaurants’ business and left patrons hungry to dine out. Picnic in the Park, an initiative by Visit Montgomery and Montgomery Parks, was a win-win solution. The program, which encourages people to order deliveries from local restaurants and eat in nine designated parks, started in August and will run at least through May. Though the idea of picnicking in a park is nothing new, the program helps make the experience seamless. Signs in the parks mark designated delivery areas for safe food dropoffs and contain a QR code, which leads to a website that lists participating eateries nearby when scanned by a cellphone. Some restaurants have staff deliver orders, while others use services such as Uber Eats or Grubhub. In September, the county made an exception to allow the consumption of alcohol in certain areas of the parks. Rather than encouraging diners to bring their own alcoholic beverages, the idea is to give restaurants a bigger boost with drink orders. The pilot program includes Jesup Blair Local Park and Acorn Urban Park in Silver Spring, Germantown Town Center Urban Park, Norwood Local Park in Chevy Chase, Olney Manor Recreational Park, Takoma Urban Park, Wall Local Park in North Bethesda, Wheaton Local Park and Wheaton Regional Park. Each park has space for physically distanced picnicking either at tables or in picnic circles marked on the grass. montgomeryparks.org/popup/picnic-in-the-parks

PHOTO BY LINDSEY MAX

BEST PICNIC INNOVATION

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BEST SHIFTS FROM STAGE TO SCREEN

It’s always been part of Round House Theatre’s mission to present plays that spark important community conversations. But when COVID-19 closed down the theater industry last year, Round House began using a new medium to express what everyone was going through. In July, the Bethesda theater debuted Homebound, a free 10-episode web series. Each 10-minute episode was written by a different local writer and featured actors from around the D.C. area who shot the installments at home. Themes addressed current events as they unfolded: quarantine and isolation, working from home and job loss, new technology issues (hello, Zoom!), and, as the summer went on, the country’s racial reckoning following George Floyd’s killing and the protests it inspired. Though Round House doesn’t have plans for another web series, the theater continued to adapt with innovative and interactive online presentations as the pandemic lasted into the fall and winter.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Similarly, Adventure Theatre MTC, the children’s theater in Glen Echo, kept to its mission of presenting diverse new voices and stories, but found new ways to do so. The theater held online readings of plays it had commissioned but never performed, and presented kid-friendly discussions on issues such as race and identity by actors and directors. The theater also took its closure as an opportunity to discover and develop new plays and playwrights, focusing on writers of color and LGBTQ artists. It also put out a call for writers to submit work for a series of Quarantine New Play Festival Readings, dubbed QFest. Over three iterations of QFest, shown in April, June and September, 93 playwrights created scripts that were read for online audiences, and Adventure Theatre commissioned at least six of those writers for future stage plays. roundhousetheatre.org; adventuretheatre-mtc.org

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROUND HOUSE THEATRE; OPPOSITE COURTESY PHOTO

Actor Craig Wallace performing in an episode of Homebound, a web series from Bethesda’s Round House Theatre

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROUND HOUSE THEATRE; OPPOSITE COURTESY PHOTO

BEST DRIVEWAY TURNED ART DISPLAY Bethesda artist Rob Henry, 65, had several shows lined up last spring to display his art. Then COVID-19 hit. Galleries closed and shows were canceled. Henry, who creates watercolor renditions of serene landscapes, flowers and animals, wanted to continue to share his work, so he found a solution close to homeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;in his driveway. Starting in May, Henry set up an easel with one of his paintings at his home in Bethesdaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wyngate neighborhood nearly every day (except when it rained). He planted bright flowers and pumpkins in his front yard and posted his painting of the day on social media along with a brief description of the creative process or what inspired the image. And people responded. Neighbors Henry had never met in his 14 years in Bethesda came by to see the art and introduced themselves. One woman who lives nearby started driving past the display with her father on the way home from his weekly physical therapy sessions. Henry even sold 11 of his works. At a time when cooped-up residents were only leaving their homes for a walk or jog around the neighborhood, the driveway gallery became a must-see spot along their routes. robhenrywatercolors.com

Thank you for voting us the Best Orthopedic Practice in 2020! We hope you stay safe and healthy. If you require a consultation, surgery, or physical therapy, please do not hesitate to call us at 301-530-1010 or easily schedule an appointment online at www.orthobethesda.com. We offer socially distanced in-person appointments as well as virtual appointments. BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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BEST CAR-FREE EXERCISE OUTING Last spring, the traffic changed on certain county parkways. Instead of cars and trucks, segments of these roads were traveled by runners, cyclists, kids on scooters and parents pushing jogging strollers. When gyms, playgrounds and basketball courts closed, many county residents turned to trails for fresh air and exercise. But that caused crowding. Paved paths, like the Capital Crescent Trail and Sligo Creek Trail, were clogged, making it tough for trail users to maintain social distancing. The solution: Shut down some roadways. In April, Montgomery Parks closed four sections of parkways to vehicles from Friday morning through Sunday evening, allowing people to use them for exercise and recreation, and giving them more space to spread out. The closuresâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;Beach Drive from Connecticut Avenue to Knowles Avenue in Kensington; Little Falls Parkway from Massachusetts Avenue to Arlington Road in Bethesda; Sligo Creek Parkway from Forest Glen Road to University Boulevard West in Silver Spring and Wheaton; and Sligo Creek Parkway from Old Carroll Avenue to Piney Branch Road in Takoma Parkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;were so popular the county extended most of them until further notice (at press time, Little Falls Parkway was no longer closed to traffic on weekends). montgomeryparks.org

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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SPORTS & FITNESS

From left: Bike Werks’ Yonatan Greenburg, head mechanic Marty Pell and owner Carl Armbruster

Cycling got a big boost when the pandemic closed gyms and people started looking for socially distanced activities and new ways to exercise. A shortage of new bikes meant that many people were fixing up the old ones that had been stuffed in their garages. A good alternative to hauling a bike (or several) to a shop for maintenance is Bike Werks, a mobile service that comes to you. Owner Carl Armbruster, who lives in Colesville and started the business in 2017, hired two additional mechanics to keep up with recent demand. “People are thrilled not to have to wait for their bikes or make multiple trips to a shop,” says Armbruster, who also finds that customers who aren’t getting out much these days are often eager to hang outside and chat during service calls. Bike Werks mechanics bring supplies to customers’ driveways or sidewalks to do on-the-spot tune-ups and repairs, such as brake or chain replacements, and also run a stand year-round on Sundays at the Olney Farmers and Artists Market. Bike Werks, 301-310-6765, bikewerksolney.com

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO BY SKIP BROWN

MOST CONVENIENT WAY TO GET YOUR BIKE FIXED

Ben Beach (right) completed his 53rd Boston Marathon in 2020 by running a timed route in the D.C. area. He’s pictured with, from left, sons Evan and Carter and friend Lee Cole-Chu.

PHOTO BY EMILY WILLIAMS

BEST STREAK THAT COULDN’T BE STOPPED As a kid, Ben Beach tried football, basketball and baseball. But he didn’t have the right build. “I failed at other sports. I have a runner’s body,” says Beach, who is 5 feet, 7 inches tall and 125 pounds. So at age 16, he started running—and he hasn’t stopped since. The 71-year-old from Bethesda holds the record for the most consecutive Boston Marathons, completing his 53rd this past year. When the 2020 event was canceled because of the pandemic, runners were given the option of doing a timed 26.2-mile route elsewhere. Beach finished his in September, his sons, Carter, 40, and Evan, 33, each running about a half marathon with him through parts of Montgomery County, Virginia and Washington, D.C. (His 5-year-old grandson, Brooks, rode his scooter alongside him at one point, too.) Over the years, Beach has pushed through injuries and a diagnosis of dystonia, a movement disorder that has affected his stride for nearly two decades. “I started cutting back my mileage because my gait is so awkward that I’m prone to injury,” says Beach, who now wears gloves to cushion any falls. “It’s amazing to me that I’m not totally sidelined. Somehow my body has adapted to my weird running style.”

Beach ran his first Boston Marathon in 1968 when he was a student at Harvard. There were three years when he ran it in just under 2½ hours. Although he’s slowing down (last year’s time was 5:24), Boston race coordinators waive the time qualification for him and others who have completed at least 25 in a row. Beach is also the only person to finish the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run in D.C. every year since it began in 1973. How does he do it? Beach cross-trains (swimming, biking, rowing, lifting weights) and credits his regular medical treatment at the National Institutes of Health, an understanding family—including his wife, Carol, a fellow runner he met at a race in 1977—and fate. “You can’t have a streak like this without being lucky,” Beach says. He hopes to continue competing this year.

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SHOPPING

When the killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd sparked national protests and reinvigorated conversations about systemic racism, local residents joined many other Americans in their search for anti-racist literature. Designed to highlight diverse voices, Silver Springâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Loyalty Bookstore was suited to fulfill that need. Queer and Black founder and owner Hannah Oliver Depp, 35, and her staff worked long days shipping and delivering an influx of orders in the months following the protests. Depp says online orders, the majority of which included at least one book on anti-racism or the history of racism, skyrocketed from 1,200 in April to 22,000 in September. The spike in orders was a lifeline for the bookstore, which opened in February 2020, a month before the pandemic began. Even while the Ellsworth Drive store (and its sister location in the Districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Petworth neighborhood) remained closed through the summer, Loyalty Bookstore curated a reading list of intersectional anti-racist works, from the contemporary and interactive Me and White Supremacy: Combat Racism, Change the World, and Become a Good Ancestor by Layla Saad, to canonical James Baldwin novels. The bookstore also produces virtual events, including an antiracist book club. In the fall, the Silver Spring location cautiously reopened for in-person shopping by appointment.

Loyalty Bookstore founder and owner Hannah Oliver Depp

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

823 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring, 301-448-1830, loyaltybookstores.com

PHOTO BY LIZ LYNCH

GREAT SOURCE FOR ANTI-RACISM EDUCATION

STORES WE’LL REALLY MISS Lord & Taylor arrived in Chevy Chase in D.C. more than 60 years ago, the first New York retailer to establish a presence in this area. The Rockville Pike store was the sole survivor of White Flint Mall, carrying on for five years after the wrecking ball took down all its neighbors. But in 2020 the iconic department store chain announced it would go out of business, meaning the end for the two local stores. Bankruptcy proceedings began in August, barely a year after new owners had taken the reins with ambitious plans to reinvigorate the brand. So what other beloved stores did we lose in 2020? Toy Castle, the Potomac shop where generations of busy parents popped in with a gift list and dashed out with an armful of expertly chosen, perfectly wrapped presents. Sylene, the Chevy Chase lingerie and swimwear boutique that had a 45year run serving the likes of Nancy Reagan, Aretha Franklin and Connie Chung. And the Montgomery County Thrift Shop, a Bethesda institution for more than 75 years with low-cost merchandise and generous donations to charities.

BEST WAYS LOCAL STORES BATTLED ONLINE SHOPPING When COVID-19 forced most retailers to close their doors last spring, it was time for local store owners to get creative. Staying in business meant figuring out ways to keep customers engaged—and to stop them from buying everything on Amazon. Stores such as Scout & Molly’s in North Bethesda and The Cottage Monet in Rockville began posting new merchandise on social media, sometimes even taking orders via Facebook and Instagram. Others, including Gym & Tonic in Potomac and OAK in Kensington, employed their cellphones for one-on-one FaceTime shopping appointments. Curbside pickup became de rigueur, and gift shops like The Blue House, Red Orchard and Occasions even sweetened the deal with free home delivery. Whatever it took to keep customers happy, local store owners found a way to do it. For a while, at least. After all, it’s tough to turn a profit driving 25 miles to deliver a $25 present. But curbside pickup, virtual sales and private shopping appointments? Many local shop owners are still offering them.

Thank you to the readers of Bethesda Magazine!

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BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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SCHOOLS & EDUCATION

Margaret Norris, a kindergarten teacher at Arcola Elementary School in Silver Spring, says many people don’t realize the extent of poverty in the county. As the need grew last year, her Title I school provided meals for students, but Norris also wanted to give families groceries so they could make dinners for themselves. She put the word out on social media, and neighbors, friends, family and fellow teachers responded. Every week since mid-March, she’s worked with other volunteers to fill more than 100 bags of donated food for struggling families—the work started at her Kensington home, then moved to a nearby community center. The bags contain about 10 pounds of food, including rice, beans, canned vegetables, pasta and a treat for the kids, along with fresh produce. Norris says one mom sends her a text every week with a picture of something she’s cooked. A recent message read: Thanks, I used everything. “She’s so unhappy about having to take this, but she’s so grateful for it,” Norris says. “She has three children to feed, and when you are a parent, you don’t have any choice.” This is a time for everyone to pitch in, adds Norris, who has three grown children: “Hopefully, one day I will have grandkids, and when they ask what I did during the pandemic, I honestly want to be able to say I did everything I can to help others.” continued on page 80

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

PHOTO BY LIZ LYNCH

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When Northwest High School art teacher Robert Youngblood was on a Zoom with his students and heard them talk about how “bummed” they were to be taking classes from home, he realized they needed something to shift their focus. “This is a new way of teaching, and it’s a new way of learning for these kids,” he says. In October, the popular track and chess team coach came up with an idea: He asked the 125 students in his five art classes to send a “letter from the heart” to someone they love, and to decorate the border. Most of his students had never written an actual letter, he says, and he wanted them to imagine how much their words could mean to the recipient. He arranged for students to pick up the art supplies and stamped envelopes outside at the Germantown school, where he’s taught for 20 years. Some kids wrote in Farsi to relatives overseas; others expressed gratitude to their parents at home. Several sent their letters to Youngblood himself. I've never told you this, one student wrote. You are like a father figure to me, I don't have a dad. I don't have a big brother. The letters included intricate borders sketched or painted with designs of flowers and sea creatures. Students were excited to share the responses—one teen showed his class a letter from his grandmother that he’d posted on his wall. “I knew they would buy into it,” Youngblood says. “It was a lesson about life and love.” Northwest High School student Amberlee Hsu’s letter

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TOP PHOTO BY HEARTLOVE PHOTOGRAPHY; BOTTOM COURTESY PHOTO

When Maura Moore isn’t teaching English to her students at Takoma Park Middle School, she’s often crocheting for them. The Crofton mother of three makes small crocheted balls with two shiny black eyes that fit in the palm of a hand, and gives them to students as a form of recognition. She’s handed out hundreds of the beloved “meeps”—one of her students named them—which are fun and comforting to hold. “Everyone has something worthy of being praised,” she says. “Some people don’t realize that about themselves, and I want them to have that moment where someone sees them.” Even with county school buildings closed, she’s continued naming a “Meep of the Week” in each of her six classes. “Right now it’s hard to feel connected to people because you can’t be with them,” she says. “You can send them this little thing that lets them know even though I can’t be with you, I care about you.” Moore mails the meeps to her students, along with a personal note complimenting them for anything from having a good attitude to using imagery in their writing. “It’s brought so much to my life, in school and out of school,” says Moore, who often sees students with their meeps nearby or flashing them on camera during class. “I will keep making them as long as people keep wanting them.”

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BEST IDEA FOR KEEPING REMOTE LEARNERS ORGANIZED Eight-year-old Douglas Angel-Vergara had problems paying attention during online classes in July, so his grandmother, Wilma, tried to help by placing a trifold board with numbers and sight words in front of him. The homemade solution worked: Douglas was happier, more focused, and had a private place to do schoolwork. About a month later, the boy’s mother, Cristine Vergara, looked at the board and decided on a whim to improve the design so her son would be ready for remote learning this fall. She went to Michaels crafts store and purchased school supplies and accessories, added a sturdy base, and built a draft of what she called a mini-classroom. Insecure about her creation, the Silver Spring mom of three posted a photo of it on Facebook and referred to her work as “arts and crafts.” Friends coaxed Vergara, 38, into

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

selling the mini-classroom on Facebook Marketplace and she quickly started receiving orders. Word spread and sales skyrocketed—it seemed everyone wanted a way to help their children stay organized while learning from home. When a customer dubbed Vergara’s creation a “schoobicle” because it resembled a cubicle for students, Vergara decided she liked the name and kept it. As her business grew, she reached out to a couple for whom she’d nannied and they became her mentors, helping with business basics and product development. “It’s like a fulltime job for me,” says the Philippine-born Vergara, who also works as an organizational consultant. Schoobicles, which are customized and sell for $75, have enough room to fit a laptop and create a private space that helps students feel separated from their surroundings. As of early December, Vergara had sold nearly 500 schoobicles, which come with a dry-erase board, builtin light, folders, calendar, schedule, custom poster, ruler and a cup for pens and pencils. She’ll deliver locally, and shipping is available throughout the U.S. Schoobicles, 240-704-5775, schoobiclesbyangel.com

PHOTO BY LIZ LYNCH

Cristine Vergara with some of the schoobicles she’s created for virtual learning

BEST LOCAL ROAD TRIP To say that families need a change of scenery is an understatement these days. Luckily, you don’t have to go far to see rolling hills and open spaces, or to spot the occasional deer or fox. The county’s Office of Agriculture has mapped out a scenic self-driving tour, called Revive the Sunday Drive, on rural upcounty roads that takes roughly two hours without stops. The relaxing drive starts in Germantown near the Maryland SoccerPlex, brings you through Homestead Farm in Poolesville, and includes three hiking spots along the C&O Canal before winding up at Sugarloaf Mountain. Some of the roads are unpaved, bumpy and feature one-lane bridges, so get in the leisurely drive mindset and resist the urge to pick up the pace. With kids, give yourself extra time or choose part of the loop and take a couple breaks to run around and experience nature up close. The best stops are the McKee-Beshers Wildlife Management Area off of River Road in Poolesville, where you can see fields of sunflowers in the summer, and White’s Ferry, with its large picnic area, eatery and easy access to the towpath.

ILLUSTRATION BY MARY ANN SMITH

Revive the Sunday Drive, montgomerycountymd.gov/ agservices/resources/files/ farm-tour/final_revive_sun day_drive.pdf

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

PHOTO BY EDGAR ARTIGA

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BEST BIKE ADVENTURE For a change of pace from cruising on pavement, the South Germantown Mountain Bike and BMX Pump Track offers the thrill of dirt hills— and bumpy mounds à la ski slope moguls—for those who like to push the limits of what they can do with their bikes. The 5,000-square-foot track is designed for mountain and BMX bikers of all ages. With its banked curves, bikers can coast up and down as they accelerate around the loop. Young kids can simply cruise the path, while older kids might venture into catching air and advanced tricks. On each lap, riders can work to improve their maneuvering skills or see if they can set a new personal record on their time. The Montgomery County Parks track is along the Hoyles Mill Trail; parking is available in the model boat area. If you arrive at a time when the track is too crowded for safe social distancing, you can spend some time on paths nearby until there are fewer people. South Germantown Mountain Bike and BMX Pump Track, South Germantown Recreational Park, Boyds, 301-650-4369, montgomeryparks.org/parks-andtrails/south-germantown-recreationalpark/south-germantown-recreationalpark-trails

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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For Chevy Chase sixth grader William Massey’s birthday, the On the Movies team set up their equipment for a screening of Airplane!

After he got a projector and a 100-inch screen for his 13th birthday in June, Gus Green started watching movies in his backyard with friends, the kind of thing kids could safely do in a pandemic. He and his neighbor, Leia Levine, heard about a New Jersey teenager who’d started an outdoor movie business and the two decided to see if the same idea would fly in Bethesda. And it did. The rising eighth graders at Westland Middle School were surprised by the response to their enterprise, “On the Movies.” Kids birthday parties kept them busy over the summer—Trolls World Tour was a hit—and they also set up private screenings of Hamilton and Knives Out for adults, leaving it to guests to safely space their blankets and chairs. By fall, they’d expanded the traveling backyard business to include livestream sports, like NBA games, and religious services. Gus bought a second screen and a customer donated a third so the teens could accommodate the demand. After Leia stepped away from the business, Gus recruited friends

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Clara Lieppe, Ethan Howe, Ryan Thorpe, Aron Mallon, Reed Holder, Christian Gaffney and Luke McDermott, all of Bethesda, to help juggle multiple weekend bookings. (This past fall they were booked every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night.) These days, they charge $150 per house to set up movies and $200 for livestream events; it’s $3 extra per person for a candy and glow stick package. They donate 5% of their profits to the Innocence Project, dedicated to exonerating wrongly convicted individuals with DNA testing. “I’m a very social person, and this has been an awesome experience to meet new people,” says Gus, who plans to continue operating year-round as homeowners turn to outdoor heaters and firepits. “It’s also great to have your own money.” Gus got a debit card and is mostly saving, he says, but he does have one purchase in mind: “I’m thinking of a cool present to buy my mom for being such a trooper with the driving.” On the Movies, 202-253-2071, onthemovies.squarespace.com

PHOTO BY MICHAEL VENTURA

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Fifth grader Cortlynn Graham was at her safety patrol post— the drop-off loop at Strawberry Knoll Elementary School in Gaithersburg—on Jan. 29, 2020, when she noticed a toddler dash ahead of her mother, who was exiting the building. Just as the little girl was about to run into the road, Cortlynn grabbed her under the arms and pulled her back from oncoming traffic. “I was shocked,” Cortlynn says. “And at the same time, everything slowed down around me because I thought, if this girl steps off the curb she might get hit by a car.” The whole thing happened so quickly that the mom and toddler were never identified. Janine Howard, a teacher on duty who witnessed the incident, recalls telling Cortlynn, then 11: “Wow—that was close.” Howard sent an email to the safety patrol leader at the school, who then nominated Cortlynn for recognition.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

To honor her heroic feat, Cortlynn was presented with the AAA School Safety Patrol Lifesaving Medal—one of just four students in the U.S. to receive the award last year. According to AAA, recipients are “select Patrollers who, while on duty, have saved the life of a person in imminent danger.” Now a sixth grader at Gaithersburg Middle School, Cortlynn accepted the award, along with a $100 Visa gift card, at a socially distanced ceremony at Strawberry Knoll this past fall that was attended by her parents, Royale Cole and Barry Graham, her former principal, Patrick Scott, and eight Montgomery County police officers. “Cortlynn didn’t think of it as a big deal, she thought it was just part of her job,” Scott says. “She’s one of those girls who is always a help, a peacemaker naturally, and calm in those situations.”

PHOTO BY LIZ LYNCH

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Internet sensation Sarah Cooper, raised in Rockville, now counts Jerry Seinfeld, Bette Midler, Halle Berry and Cher among her 2.4 million fans on Twitter and 646,000 followers on TikTok. Cooper’s hilarious lip syncs of Donald Trump’s unhinged discourses won her global fame this past year, leading to a Netflix special with Helen Mirren, Ben Stiller, Connie Chung and Jon Hamm, and a deal for a CBS comedy based on her 2018 book, How to Be Successful Without Hurting Men’s Feelings. She’s appeared on The Tonight Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and guest hosted for Jimmy Kimmel. For a comedian most people hadn’t heard of before last spring, fame has come fast. But former Magruder High School classmate Michaela Walker remembers Cooper’s more humble theatrical beginnings. Before taking the Magruder stage, the two once peeled endless pounds of apples to bake apple crisp for the school’s dinner theater production of The Merry Wives of Windsor. “She’s funny and brilliant and truly a good person,” Walker says of Cooper, who was a top student and a member of the pom squad in Magruder’s class of 1995. Their high school drama teacher, Mike D’Anna, still recalls Cooper’s speech as a finalist in the National Shakespeare Competition held at the Folger Library. “She was…a great, sensitive observer,” says D’Anna, who cast Cooper in several musicals and plays. “She can dance, sing and act, but I always thought she’d become a lawyer. She was very globally minded.” The youngest of four siblings, Cooper, 43, was born in Jamaica and her family moved to Rockville when she was 3. Her father, Lance, was an engineer at the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and her

mother, Jennifer, worked in human resources. Realizing the risks of show business, her parents encouraged a more stable career. Cooper graduated magna cum laude in economics from the University of Maryland in 1998 and then earned a master’s degree in digital design at Georgia Tech. While working as a designer at Google in New York City, she met her engineer husband, Jeff Palm. But the stage beckoned. After her blog post “10 Tricks to Appear Smart in Meetings” went viral, she left Google to write and perform comedy. She did stand-up in Atlanta and then Brooklyn, where the couple now lives with their dog, Stella. Last spring, after Cooper’s 11-year-old nephew introduced her to TikTok, she started

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

filming and posting videos dramatizing some of Trump’s sound bites. Many focus on life under quarantine. Her videos “How to Medical,” about his idea to inject disinfectant to tame COVID-19, and “How to Water,” covering his rant on low-flow toilets and showers, are among those viewed by millions. Her fame propelled her to the 2020 Democratic National Convention, where she encouraged mail-in voting. Now, flush with projects, Cooper is working with Audible on a comic take on Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People. Political satire brought Cooper renown, but D’Anna says she will continue to find humor once the pandemic and Trump fade. “She’s using her brainpower to produce laughs."

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GREAT PLACES TO FIND CALM Life can be stressful, especially these days. Sometimes you just need to find your zen. These places offer tranquil views, trails through nature and spots for quiet contemplation.

The Labyrinth at Brookside Gardens Many people go to Brookside Gardens to walk around and see its formal gardens, beautiful plantings and peaceful ponds and streams. But for a truly meditative experience, make your way to the Santa Rosa Labyrinth near the southern end of the park. Unlike a maze, the labyrinth has only one clear route from the edge to the center. The idea is to focus on a particular problem or intention, or just to clear your mind, as you travel the winding path and emerge with new insights. Brookside Gardens’ labyrinth is just one of the park’s scenic features, so follow your journey with a visit to the Japanese Tea House, Reflection Terrace or the Fragrance Garden and keep the calm going. Brookside Gardens, 1800 Glenallan Ave., Wheaton, montgomeryparks.org/parks-andtrails/brookside-gardens

The turtles, fish, birds and other wildlife that call Little Seneca Lake home find it a peaceful spot. So do the hikers, boaters and anglers who flock to the 505-acre lake, which is at the heart of Black Hill Regional Park. There are several ways to explore the water. Trails, such as the paved Black Hill Trail or the natural surface Ten Mile Creek Trail, offer spectacular views of the lake. There’s even a water trail that leads paddlers on a tour of the three creeks that flow together to form the lake. Pick up a map of the water trail at the Black Hill Boathouse or print one at home. The water trail is best accessed by kayak or canoe, which are available to rent at the boathouse from May through September, along with rowboats, stand-up paddleboards and pedal boats. Private boats are permitted from March 1 through Dec. 15. Fishing is allowed, but a license is required for persons 16 and older. Black Hill Regional Park, 20930 Lake Ridge Drive, Boyds, montgomeryparks.org/parksand-trails/black-hill-regional-park

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF MONTGOMERY PARKS

The Lake at Black Hill Regional Park

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ing center to keep their daughter motivated by “going to school” in a special space that she was allowed to decorate. The company offers three floor plans, all under 200 square feet, which simplifies the permitting process. Lerman and Rosenberg say they can complete construction in about three weeks and deliver a turnkey, move-inready space. Based on size, the standard

BEST NEW TAKE ON AN OLD STATE SONG

Steve Jones (left) and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin collaborated on a potential replacement for Maryland’s state song. Jones wrote the music to go with Raskin’s lyrics.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

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In early 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin got a call from Elise Bryant, executive director of the D.C. Labor Chorus. Past legislative efforts to do away with Maryland’s official state song, “Maryland, My Maryland”—written at the outset of the Civil War by a supporter of the Confederacy—had fallen short. Bryant wanted the Takoma Park Democrat to compose a potential replacement. “She said, ‘The political debate is just in a complete deadlock, and we can break it with a song.’ I thought it was a beautiful idea,” says Raskin, an avid blues and jazz pianist. “I said, ‘Of course, [but] I would need a real musician to work with.’” So, while many of his colleagues were on the campaign trail, Raskin spent “five weeks of intensive work” during last summer’s congressional recess collaborating with Steve Jones, who lives in Kensington and is the music director of the D.C. Labor Chorus. With Raskin focusing on the lyrics and Jones on the music, they created “Maryland, My Maryland (The Free State Song).” While the current state song derides Abraham Lincoln as a “tyrant,” Raskin’s replacement candidate pays tribute to Marylanders central to the struggle for equal rights: Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman and Thurgood Marshall. A reference to U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore, a revered figure who died in 2019, brought tears when Raskin debuted a recording of the song at a Maryland delegation virtual breakfast during the Democratic National Convention in August. “It lifted my spirits to get to work on it. …I know it’s given rise to other people writing songs, and that’s fantastic,” says Raskin, a former state senator who hopes 2021 will “finally be the year for the General Assembly to sing a new tune. I won’t be in Annapolis to vote on it, but this song is my vote.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF OUTER SPACE; PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMIE RASKIN

Imagine a peaceful backyard retreat just steps away from the noise and chaos of your house. That’s what friends Bruce Lerman and Jennie Rosenberg envisioned when they brainstormed about a new business venture while walking their dogs in their Kensington neighborhood last spring. By August, Lerman, a professional contractor, and Rosenberg, a public relations and marketing specialist, had started Outer Space, a company specializing in outbuildings for year-round use. “We were motivated by the pandemic and realized what everyone needed right now—a retreat from home, at home,” Rosenberg says. “All the moms were talking about ‘she sheds,’ but we decided it would be more than that.” The structures are a blank canvas that can be used for anything from a home office to a gym, art studio or game room. They’ve had four orders as of early November; one couple uses the structure as a virtual learn-

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for MoCo from the State Legislature

It was a case of political horse trading—and, in this instance, some equines were literally involved. Baltimore legislators wanted $375 million aimed in large part at rejuvenating Pimlico Race Course, home to the Preakness. Before agreeing to go along, the legislative delegation from Montgomery County wanted something in return— and got it in the form of relief from a $150 million county tax obligation arising from a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court case. In Comptroller of the Treasury of Maryland v. Wynne, the high court ruled that the state must provide full credit for income taxes paid by Maryland residents to other states. The state government reimbursed residents who were owed credits on the local portion of their income taxes, and then prepared to collect that money from Maryland counties, which succeeded in legislatively postponing the start of repayment of the obligation until fiscal year 2021. Montgomery County is responsible for $150 million of the $250 million currently owed by the counties: The County Tax Fairness Act, sponsored by Del. Marc Korman (D-Bethesda) and co-sponsored by all 23 of his colleagues in the Montgomery House delegation, allows repayment to the state to be spread over 80 quarters (20 years) rather than the 20 quarters (five years) originally envisioned. Enactment of the bill last March came as COVID-19 was taking hold, providing some breathing space from the financial fallout of the pandemic.

One legislator likened it to the old “Charlie Brown” comic strip, in which the title character is habitually poised to kick the football— only to have it pulled away at the last moment. After years of effort, members of Montgomery County’s Annapolis delegation thought they finally had the ball in place in 2020 for much needed school construction funding—in the form of a $2.2 billion bill, with $420 million allocated to Montgomery over five years. The largesse would have more than doubled annual construction aid—around $60 million in recent years—to Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) to deal with a student population that, at least until the COVID-19 pandemic, had been increasing by about 2,500 a year. The money would have helped to underwrite an approved MCPS capital improvement budget of nearly $1.73 billion over the next six years. But a provision of the legislature’s “Built to Learn Act” provided that it not take effect until another bill containing the recommendations of the so-called Kirwan Commission on education reform became law. The latter measure was vetoed in May by Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, citing the Kirwan legislation’s $4 billion annual cost at a time when state income was taking a severe hit from the pandemic. With state education funding heavily reliant on casino revenues, which have stabilized, leading Democrats may push for a veto override this year—and hope this political football finally clears the uprights.

‘Good Government Guy’ Resigns

So Much for Order Outside the Court

From the outset, County Executive Marc Elrich’s choice of Andrew Kleine as chief administrative officer—the county government’s top appointed official—was controversial. Unlike his predecessors, Kleine lacked experience working in Montgomery County government or managing a large bureaucracy. But Elrich insisted he needed the Silver Spring resident, a self-described “good government guy,” as he moved to restructure county government. Kleine’s management style soon took fire from county councilmembers and leaders of the county’s government employee unions. But it was an ethics investigation that ended his tenure after just 20 months. Some county employees told of feeling pressure to obtain City on the Line, Kleine’s book describing “outcome-based budgeting” techniques honed while he was Baltimore’s budget director. In July 2020, Kleine admitted to violating two provisions of county ethics law relating to the promotion of his book (the county purchased 89 copies) and participation in obtaining contracts for two outside business partners before he severed relations with those firms. He agreed to pay a $5,000 penalty, and Elrich called Kleine a “committed public servant” whose agreement with the county’s ethics commission “resolves the matter.” But the effort to put the episode in the rearview mirror was met with a hail of criticism at a county council hearing. In early August, Kleine resigned, acknowledging “careless errors in judgment”—and leaving Elrich with another bruise from a difficult first term.

Circuit court judgeship elections in Montgomery County historically have been genteel, often uncontested affairs. Then came 2020, when a race for four judicial seats turned into a bare-knuckle political brawl. Rockville attorney Marylin Pierre won a general election slot to take on four “sitting judges” initially placed on the bench by gubernatorial appointment after a lengthy “vetting” process. Pierre sought to put that process on trial, contending that the sitting judges “are an in-group. Most of them have worked at the same law firm, go to the same church, and are related by marriage.” The infuriated incumbents counterattacked, suggesting sour grapes on the part of Pierre—who had applied for 14 vacant judgeships over a five-year period and been passed over by the county’s Trial Courts Judicial Nominating Commission. But as the incumbents disputed Pierre’s claims of being the victim of a local insider empire, the county’s legal establishment struck back—as the incumbents' campaign committee, generously funded by leading law firms, took aim at Pierre’s experience and past statements. Before it was over, Pierre faced an investigation by the Attorney Grievance Commission of Maryland and was hit with a temporary restraining order after a member of her campaign inaccurately portrayed her as an incumbent at the polls during early voting. In the vote count, she finished far behind the incumbents—Bibi Berry, David Boynton, Christopher Fogleman and Michael McAuliffe. The episode seemed certain to intensify a perennial debate in the Maryland Legislature over the wisdom of allowing those charged with maintaining order in the courts to be drawn into election-year free-for-alls.

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Readersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Pick, A Top Vote Getter, Best Real Estate Team and Best Realtor

In our photo, not pictured: Judi Casey and Leslie Fitzpatrick Back Left to Right: Jared Maites, Amy Gordon, Lori Silverman, Ashley Townsend. Front: Elizabeth Meltzer, Margie Halem, Harrison Halem, Courtney Halem

T H A N K YO U ! 2020 has been a challenging year for everyone and we want you to know how grateful we are for your friendship, guidance and business during this difficult time. We have learned to be nimble in many different ways from virtual showings to online closings and Covid conscious appointments. We have all grown. We are more creative, technology savvy, smarter and overall better at life than we were in 2019.

The Margie Halem Group of Compass m. 301.775.4196 | o. 301.304.8444 7200 Wisconsin Ave Suite 100 Bethesda MD 20814 margie@compass.com

margiehalemgroup.com Compass is a licensed real estate brokerage that abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. Compass is licensed as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland. 7200 Wisconsin Ave Suite 100 Bethesda MD 20814 | 301.304.8444

BEST OF BETHESDA

READERS' PICKS

BEST RESTAURANT IN SILVER SPRING All Set Restaurant & Bar Mi Rancho El Sapo Cuban Social Club Urban Butcher (temporarily closed) Parkway Deli & Restaurant Pacci’s Trattoria & Pasticceria Cubano’s BEST RESTAURANT IN UPPER NW D.C. Millie’s Macon Bistro & Larder Maggiano’s Little Italy I’m Eddie Cano Buck’s Fishing & Camping

BEST SPECIAL OCCASION RESTAURANT La Ferme Ruth’s Chris Steak House The Capital Grille Old Angler’s Inn BEST BRUNCH MoCo’s Founding Farmers Silver Summer House Santa Monica MOST KID-FRIENDLY RESTAURANT Uncle Julio's Rio Grande Cafe Silver Diner Silver BEST HAPPY HOUR Gringos & Mariachis Caddies on Cordell Black’s Bar & Kitchen RESTAURANT WITH BEST BEER SELECTION World of Beer Owen’s Ordinary Mussel Bar & Grille Yard House Dog Haus Biergarten 100

Fresh Baguette: Best Place to Buy Bread

RESTAURANT WITH BEST WINE LIST Cooper’s Hawk Winery & Restaurant Mon Ami Gabi Black’s Bar & Kitchen BEST LATE-NIGHT EATS Silver Diner Tastee Diner Dog Haus Biergarten Caddies on Cordell Silver BEST ACAI BOWLS Playa Bowls Henry’s Sweet Retreat BEST CRABCAKE O’Donnell’s Market The Market at River Falls Clyde’s Pescadeli Bethesda Crab House

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

BEST DESSERTS Henry’s Sweet Retreat O’Donnell’s Market The Cheesecake Factory Georgetown Cupcake Tout de Sweet Pastry Shop Praline Bakery & Bistro BEST SALADS Sweetgreen Chopt CAVA Mezze BEST SMALL PLATES CAVA Mezze Botanero Guardado’s BEST GOURMET MARKET Balducci’s The Market at River Falls Dawson’s Market Whole Foods Market Potomac Grocer Grosvenor Market

BEST ORGANIC MARKET MOM’s Organic Market Whole Foods Market Dawson’s Market BEST PLACE TO BUY FISH O’Donnell’s Market The Market at River Falls Pescadeli BEST PLACE TO BUY BEER Rodman’s Downtown Crown Wine and Beer Dawson’s Market Gilly’s Craft Beer & Fine Wine BEST PLACE TO BUY BREAD Fresh Baguette Great Harvest Bread Co. Spring Mill Bread Co. Breads Unlimited

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BEST NEIGHBORHOOD RESTAURANT Wild Tomato O’Donnell’s Market Millie’s Sal’s Italian Kitchen Frankly…Pizza! Gregorio’s Trattoria

THANK YOU Readers’ Pick Best Take Out During The Stay-At-Home Order

Readers’ Pick Readers’ Pick Top Vote Getter Top Vote Getter Top Vote Getter Top Vote Getter Best Place To Best Crab Cakes Best Desserts Best Best Restaurant You Buy Fish Neighborhood Restaurant Missed Most Restaurant In Potomac During The Pandemic

Potomac Woods Plaza - 1073 Seven Locks Rd Potomac, MD 20854 - 301-251-6355 - odonnellsmarket.com

BEST OF BETHESDA

READERS' PICKS

FITNESS & BEAUTY BEST DAY SPA The Woodhouse Day Spa– North Bethesda Blu Water Day Spa & Salon The Woodhouse Day Spa– Gaithersburg Aveda Bethesda Salon and Spa Ninotch BEST HAIR SALON Bella Bethesda Salon Kindle & Boom Progressions salon spa store Salon Central Plane Jane Salon Aveda Bethesda Salon and Spa Salon Nader BEST PLACE FOR MEN’S HAIRCUTS Seven Locks Barber Floyd’s 99 Barbershop Roosters Men’s Grooming Center Hair Cuttery Bella Bethesda Salon Spiro’s Barber & Hairstyling Bradley Barber Shop

BEST VIRTUAL WORKOUTS DURING THE PANDEMIC Pulse Fitness Bethesda Fit Body Boot Camp Life Time Equinox Park Potomac Yoga Orangetheory Fitness

BEST COSMETIC SURGEON Jennifer Parker Porter, MD Joseph Michaels, MD A. Dean Jabs, MD Roger Friedman, MD Gregory O. Dick, MD Philip S. Schoenfeld, MD Bruno | Brown Plastic Surgery

BEST FITNESS STUDIO Pulse Fitness Bethesda Fit Body Boot Camp Equinox Life Time Orangetheory Fitness

BEST OB-GYN Capital Women’s Care Foxhall OB/GYN Associates Bloom OB/GYN Brendan F. Burke, MD Vivian M. Fraga, MD Simmonds, Martin & Helmbrecht Diane J. Snyder, MD

BEST YOGA/PILATES STUDIO extendYoga Pulse Fitness Bethesda Sweetbay Yoga Simon Says Yoga RTR Pilates (Potomac Pilates) CorePower Yoga Park Potomac Yoga PureFire Yoga

HEALTH BEST HOSPITAL FOR MATERNITY Sibley Memorial Hospital Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center Holy Cross Hospital

BEST HEART/STROKE CARE Suburban Hospital Heart Care Bethesda (Johns Hopkins Community Physicians) MedStar Washington Hospital Center BEST PEDIATRIC DENTIST Derek Blank, DDS Drs. Ensor, Johnson & Lewis Ricardo A. Perez, DDS Karen Benitez, DDS Roya Pilcher, DDS Charlie Coulter, DDS BEST GENERAL DENTIST Steven Janowitz, DDS Jason A. Cohen, DDS Taff & Levine Jay H. Samuels, DDS

Richard Hunsinger Jr., DDS Timothy J. Dunn, DDS David J. Schlactus, DMD BEST OPHTHALMOLOGIST Champlain Ophthalmology Harry H. Huang, MD Laurie J. Wenger, MD Charles F. Bahn, MD Michael Tigani, MD BEST PODIATRIST Paul Ross, DPM Franklin R. Polun, DPM Amir D. Assili, DPM Gene S. Mirkin, DPM Lee E. Firestone, DPM Michael Gittleson, DPM BEST URGENT CARE PRACTICE Righttime Medical Care PM Pediatrics Patient First–Rockville MedOne Urgent Care MedStar Health Urgent Care– Chevy Chase BEST MARRIAGE/FAMILY THERAPY PRACTICE The Counseling Center of Maryland Potomac Therapy Group Emily Cook Therapy BEST VEIN CARE PRACTICE Center for Vein Restoration Capitol Vein & Laser Centers Vein Clinics of America Horizon Vascular Specialists

BEST IN-HOME HEALTH CARE Lifematters Family & Nursing Care Advanced Nursing + Home Support Capital City Nurses Home Instead Sibley Memorial Hospital: Best Hospital for Maternity

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BEST SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY Maplewood Park Place Leisure World The Village at Rockville Asbury Methodist Village Five Star Premier Residences of Chevy Chase Erickson Living–Riderwood Ingleside at King Farm

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THANK YOU!

To the community and to our clients Readers’ Pick, Best Marriage & Family Therapy Practice, 2021

GROUPS COUPLES INDIVIDUALS FAMILIES

Readers’ Pick, Best Child Psychologist, 2020, 2018 2021

Winner

Readers’ Pick, Best Marriage & Family Therapy Practice, 2019

CBT, DBT, Gottman, EFT, parenting, relational issues, anxiety, depression, emotion regulation, life transitions and others. Specializing in Group Therapy for meaningful impact.

8030 Woodmont Ave. 3rd Floor Bethesda, MD 20814 info@ccmtherapy.com • 301-519-8010

CounselingCenterofMaryland.com

Worried About Mom and Dad? Now, more than ever, let us help you navigate their aging journey OUR PERSONALIZED SERVICES INCLUDE: • Caring Companionship

• Bathing/Grooming

• Transportation/Errands

• Safety Supervision

• Medication Reminders

• Memory Care

• Meals and Nutrition

• Hospice Support

• Light Housekeeping

READERS’ PICK Best In-Home Health Care

See what our clients have to say… bit.ly/homeinsteadreviews • bit.ly/homeinsteadmd

Each Home Instead office is independently owned and operated.

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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BEST OF BETHESDA

READERS' PICKS

Fine Earth Landscape: Best Landscaping Company

BEST ARCHITECT GTM Architects Carib Daniel Martin Architecture + Design Claude C. Lapp Architects Anthony Wilder Design/Build Anne Decker Architects Studio Z Design Concepts BEST BUILDER Sandy Spring Builders Castlewood Custom Builders Douglas Construction Group structure. Jendell Construction Smiley Renovations BOWA Anthony Wilder Design/Build Meridian Homes BEST LANDSCAPING COMPANY Fine Earth Landscape BrightView Backyard Bounty Pineapple Landscaping Shorb Landscaping American Plant

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BEST REAL ESTATE TEAM Wydler Brothers Heller Coley Reed The Jane Fairweather Team Carolyn Homes Dana Rice Group The Banner Team Margie Halem Group Maplewood Park Place Sales Team BEST REAL ESTATE AGENT Hans Wydler Jane Fairweather Carolyn Sappenfield Dana Rice Wendy Banner Lauren Davis Margie Halem BEST NURSERY/GARDEN CENTER American Plant Good Earth Garden Market Johnsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Florist & Garden Center Potomac Garden Center

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

BEST PLACE TO BUY HIGH-END APPLIANCES Bray & Scarff ABW Appliances ADU Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery BEST INTERIOR DESIGNER Danziger Design Natalie Nunes Interior Design BEST FURNITURE STORE Urban Country Arhaus Crate and Barrel BEST LUXURY APARTMENT BUILDING The Palisades of Bethesda Flats at Bethesda Avenue Flats 8300 The Perry Pallas at Pike & Rose BEST LUXURY CONDOS The Darcy Lionsgate The Lauren Quarry Springs Somerset House

Park Potomac Place Cheval Bethesda BEST LUXURY TOWNHOME COMMUNITY The Brownstones at Park Potomac Quarry Springs Grosvenor Heights Symphony Park at Strathmore The Brownstones at Chevy Chase Lake BEST PLUMBER Leahy Plumbing & Heating Acker & Sons Len the Plumber BEST MORTGAGE BROKER Craig Strent, Apex Home Loans Michelle M. Davis & Joseph M. Dawson, Prosperity Home Mortgage Jonathan D. Okun, Prosperity Home Mortgage Deb Levy, Chase Brendan McKay, McKay Mortgage Co. Marion Cantor, SunTrust Mortgage

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LOVE YOU R caribdanielmartin.com/love

Top Producing Real Estate Team

Visit: www.laurendavisteam.com

   @laurendavisteam

Bethesda Magazine Readers’ Pick A Top Vote Getter - Best Realtor

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BEST OF BETHESDA

READERS' PICKS

KIDS & SCHOOLS PRIVATE SCHOOL THAT DID THE BEST JOB WITH DISTANCE LEARNING Washington Episcopal School McLean School St. Jane de Chantal Catholic School Landon School Bullis School The Academy of the Holy Cross BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR NONTRADITIONAL LEARNERS McLean School The Katherine Thomas School The Siena School The Lab School of Washington The Diener School Ivymount School

Washington Episcopal School: Private School That Did the Best Job with Distance Learning

BEST CHILDREN'S THEATER Imagination Stage Adventure Theatre MTC

BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR MUSIC/ARTS McLean School Landon School Washington Episcopal School Bullis School Christ Episcopal School

BEST DRIVING SCHOOL I Drive Smart Greg’s Driving School

BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR BOYS SPORTS Landon School Georgetown Prep Bullis School BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR GIRLS SPORTS The Academy of the Holy Cross Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart Holton-Arms School 106

BEST DANCE STUDIO Bethesda Conservatory of Dance Dawn Crafton Dance Connection Joy of Motion Dance Center Bella Ballet

PETS BEST DOG PARK Cabin John Dog Park Rockville Dog Park at Mattie J.T. Stepanek Park Olney Manor Dog Park Ellsworth Urban Dog Park BEST DOG WALKING SERVICE A Walk in the Park DogOn Fitness

BEST SUMMER OVERNIGHT CAMP Camp Tall Timbers Calleva Capital Camps Camps Airy & Louise

BEST DOG DAY CARE DogiZone Blue Dog Boarding & Daycare Canine Clubhouse (Kenwood Animal Hospital) Olde Towne Pet Resort Bone Jour

BEST SUMMER DAY CAMP Calleva McLean School SummerEdge Valley Mill Camp Landon Summer Bar-T Henry’s Sweet Retreat

BEST PET BOARDING DogiZone Blue Dog Boarding & Daycare Olde Towne Pet Resort Pet Dominion Dr. Boyd’s Veterinary Resort Best Friends Pet Hotel

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

BEST PET BOUTIQUE Bone Jour Pet Parents Loyal Companion BEST EMERGENCY VETERINARIAN Friendship Hospital for Animals BluePearl Pet Hospital Metropolitan Animal Emergency and Specialty Center BEST VETERINARY PRACTICE Potomac Animal Hospital Alpine Veterinary Hospital Friendship Hospital for Animals Kenwood Animal Hospital Liberty Falls Veterinary Clinic

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BEST PRIVATE SCHOOL FOR ACADEMICS Landon School Washington Episcopal School Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart Holton-Arms School Bullis School McLean School St. Andrew’s Episcopal School

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We're We'remore morethan thanhome homecare care

Serving the care needs of DC, MD & VA for the past 16 years.

Readers’ Readers’Pick Pick Best In-Home Best In-Home Health HealthCare Care

Call us today for a free in-home assessment! MD License # R3022

Home Care | Care Management | Skilled Nursing | Friendly Visitors

lifemattersusa.com | 301-652-7212 2021 Readers’ Pick, Best Veterinary Practice

FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED FOR 48 YEARS.

The BEST pets. The BEST clients. The BEST of Bethesda. Veterinary Services Boarding Services Grooming Services • wellness pet care • dentistry • surgery • radiology • laboratory • geriatrics • boarding • grooming • special needs animal care

(301) 299-4142

10020 River Road, Potomac, MD | PotomacAnimalHospital.com BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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BEST OF BETHESDA

READERS' PICKS

BEST PLACE TO BUY GLASSES Voorthuis Opticians Wink Eyecare Boutique MyEyeDr. Colonial Opticians BEST TENNIS/GOLF STORE TennisTopia RnJ Sports DICK’S Sporting Goods

WEDDINGS & EVENTS BEST PLACE TO BUY AN ENGAGEMENT RING Boone & Sons Jewelers Tiffany & Co. Mervis Diamond Importers Pampillonia

SHOPPING BEST NEW STORE Serena & Lily SW7 Johnny Was BEST BOUTIQUE Belina Boutique South Moon Under The Blue House Wear It Well lou lou Sassanova BEST SHOPPING CENTER Westfield Montgomery mall Wildwood Shopping Center Bethesda Row Pike & Rose Congressional Plaza Cabin John Village

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BEST GIFT STORE The Blue House Occasions Artisans Gallery Red Orchard BEST BIKE STORE Griffin Cycle Big Wheel Bikes Trek Bicycle REI City Bikes Silver Cycles BEST RETAIL CURBSIDE PICKUP Nordstrom Target Best Buy The Blue House

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

BEST PLACE TO BUY A WEDDING DRESS BHLDN Love Couture Bridal David’s Bridal I Do I Do Wedding Gowns Carine’s Bridal Atelier BEST EVENT PLANNER Save The Date Tommy Gatz Entertainment SoCo Events Creative Parties BEST WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER Michael Bennett Kress Freed Photography Tommy Gatz Entertainment BEST CATERER Ridgewells Catering Occasions Caterers Provisions Catering Susan Gage Caterers Corcoran Caterers

BEST OF THE REST BEST WEALTH MANAGEMENT FIRM (LOCAL) Key Wealth Managers Chevy Chase Trust Burt Wealth Advisors BEST ACCOUNTING FIRM (LOCAL) Dembo Jones CohnReznick E. Cohen and Company Mendelson & Mendelson Snyder Cohn Sullivan & Co. BEST COMMUNITY BANK Sandy Spring Bank EagleBank United Bank Congressional Bank John Marshall Bank BEST AUTO DEALERSHIP Chevy Chase Cars Euro Motorcars Bethesda Fitzgerald Auto Mall Ourisman Honda BEST AUTO BODY SHOP Quattro Auto Body Chevy Chase Acura Autobody Dimensions Zamora’s Auto Body Hanagan’s Auto Body BEST LIMO SERVICE RMA BEST CO-WORKING SPACE MakeOffices Serendipity Labs Launch Workplaces Industrious

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The Blue House: Best Gift Store

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Discover the

Lab Difference See how Lab transforms

differences into advantages Learn more at

labschool.org/discover

Readers’ Pick, Runner Up,

Best Private School for Non-Traditional Learners

Providing area businesses and individuals with quality services for over 60 years.

DEMBO•JONES CPAs & ADVISORS

Re a d e r s ' P i c k Be s t Ac c o u n t i n g F i rm

Dembo Jones, P.C.

Certified Public Accounts and Advisors Audit and accounting • Income tax preparation • Management consulting Tax and estate planning • Personal financial planning Business i e valuation and forensic accounting • Outsourced accounting services M m e A Allinial Global & American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Member: 1 6 Execu xe utive Boulevard, Suite 500 6116 or Betthesda, Maryland 20852 North 1 7 5100 • Fax 301.770.5202 301.770.5

8850 Stanford Boulevard, Suite 2000 Columbia, Maryland 21045 410.290.0770 • Fax 410.290.0774

email: info@dembojones.com www.dembojones.com BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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Readers’ Pick A 6-time Top Vote Getter Best Private School for Non-Traditional Learners

60 YEARS

Leading the way in special educati on for six decades. Ivymount supports independence and achievement for students with autism and other dev elopmental disabilities. Thank you for your vote of confide nce!

Our School and Outreach Program experts specialize in: • Complex Learning Needs • Social Skills • Executive Function (EF) • Speech Therapy/OT/PT • Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) • Parent Training Visit www.ivymount.org

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11614 Seven Locks Road, Rockville, MD 20854 USA

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Enhance your natural beauty Rhinoplasty • Face Lift • Blepharoplasty AerolaseNeo® • Thermage® • Hair Transplant HydraFacialMD® • Morpheus8© • FaceTite© Fillers • PRP • Botox® / Dysport™ BBL® • MicroLaserPeel® • VI Peel

Jennifer Parker Porter, MD, FACS Board Certified, Facial Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery, Otolaryngology

Readers’ Pick, Best Cosmetic Surgeon

Jigar Sitapara, MD Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

7201 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 515 | Bethesda, MD 20814 | ChevyChaseFace.com | 301-652-8191

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Dana Rice Group of Compass 2021: A Top Vote Getter, Best Real Estate Team 2019: A Top Vote Getter, Best Real Estate Team 202-669-6908 | danaricegroup@compass.com Realtors® DC & MD

Dana Rice Group’s growth in the Washington, D.C. market has been swift and significant. In just five years, Dana and her group of top agents have sold more than $470M placing them in the top 1% of residential real estate agents globally. Dana’s team of four full-time agents, a marketing director, communications manager, operations director, licensed assistant, and a dedicated stager exclusive to Dana Rice Group, are highly regarded in the DC/ MD/VA real estate market.

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Fine Earth Landscape 2011–2021: Winner, Best Landscaping Company 2020: Winner, Best Contractor for Outdoor Spaces 301-983-0800 | fineearth.com

Fine Earth Landscape was founded in 1977 and is now the most respected and established design build landscape firm in the Bethesda area. Fine Earth has won over 150 regional and national awards and does projects ranging from small walkways and plantings to complex projects that involve swimming pools and extensive hardscaping. We thank our clients for selecting us as Best of Bethesda Landscaper every single year.

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Deb Levy Senior Home Lending Advisor Chase | NMLS ID: 481255 2012: Winner, Best Mortgage Broker 2013: Winner, Best Mortgage Broker 2015: Winner, Best Mortgage Broker 2017: A Top Vote Getter, Best Mortgage Broker 2021: A Top Vote Getter, Best Mortgage Broker 301-332-7758 | deb.levy@chase.com All home lending products are subject to credit and property approval. Rates, program terms and conditions are subject to change without notice. Not all products are available in all states or for all amounts. Other restrictions and limitations apply. Home lending products offered by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. ©2020 JPMorgan Chase & Co.

L-R: LISA BENNETT (HOME LENDING ASSISTANT) AND DEB LEVY

HOME

I began my career with the then Chase Bank of Maryland in 1985 while attending the University of Maryland at night. It’s exciting to see Chase expanding our banking services to the Washington, DC area. As a native Washingtonian, my family and I are personally invested in this community and see it as a wonderful place to live. If you’re looking for a mortgage or financing solutions, I’ll guide you every step of the way, from application through closing.

Sandy Spring Builders 2008–2021: Winner, Best Builder 2016–2020: Winner, Best Builder for Custom Homes 2012–2020: A Top Vote Getter, Best Remodeling Firm 2012: A Top Vote Getter, Best Green Builder 301-913-5995 | info@sandyspringbuilders.com sandyspringbuilders.com

We have been in business for over 40 years; and our experience in the industry is unparalleled. We are full-service—our team is talented, knowledgeable, and we care. Our portfolio of homes provides a great tool to help clients understand what they are getting, and we work toward their goals. We become part of the team from the beginning, which helps keep clients on course. Proud to be “Your Builder for Life!”

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Claude C. Lapp Architects 2013â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2021: A Top Vote Getter, Best Architect 2016â&#x20AC;&#x201C;2020: A Top Vote Getter, Best Architect for Custom Homes 2020: A Top Vote Getter, Best Architect for Home Remodeling 301-881-6856 | Info@cclarchitects.com www.CCLArchitects.com

Claude C. Lapp Architects, LLC is a distinguished and award-winning architectural firm specializing in custom residential design. For nearly 30 years we have helped clients in the D.C. area make their dreams a reality. Our mission is to provide our clients with the highest-quality design suited for their lifestyles, expectations and budget. Whether you are looking to design a custom home, renovation or addition, we would love to earn your business.

HEALTH

Advanced Nursing + Home Support 2021: A Top Vote Getter, Best In-Home Health Care 2020: A Top Vote Getter, Best In-Home Health Care 240-430-1500 | advancedhomesupport.com

Advanced Nursing + Home Support is proud to be A Top Vote Getter for the second year in a row! We have been serving Montgomery County for over 25 years, and are the only agency in the county to receive the Leader in Excellence Award for our dedication to customer satisfaction. We are committed to providing expert care, exceptional service and an extraordinary experience to every client.

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Andy Alderdice 2019: A Top Vote Getter, Best Real Estate Agent 2020: Winner, Best Brokerage for Luxury Homes (Long & Foster® Real Estate) Long & Foster Real Estate 301-466-5898 | Andy4homes.com

A testimonial from one of our many satisfied clients: “Andy Alderdice is the very best Realtor and has moved us into and out of three homes in the last ten years. She has impeccable taste and is creative and flexible. She knows the business and the area having grown up here, and helps with a great network of service providers after you’ve moved in. There’s no one else we’d ever consider. We are very satisfied, repeat customers!” L-R: Andy & Jessica Alderdice

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Palisades of Bethesda 2021: Winner, Best Luxury Apartments 2019: A Top Vote Getter, Best Luxury Apartments 2011–2017: Winner, Best Luxury Apartments 4835 Cordell Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814 301-725-4723 | southernmanagement.com/communities/ palisades-of-bethesda/

At The Palisades of Bethesda we offer indescribable luxury and charming sophistication. Boasting a premier location on the corner of Cordell and Woodmont avenues, this beautiful high-rise community promises to offer a living experience that far exceeds expectations. The Palisades of Bethesda provides the perfect blend of convenience, comfort and residential services that you’ve been looking for!

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The Banner Team The Banner Team 2021: A Top Vote Getter, Best Real Estate Team 2019: A Top Vote Getter, Best Real Estate Team Wendy Banner 2021: A Top Vote Getter, Best Real Estate Agent Long and Foster Real Estate Inc 301-365-9090 | www.Bannerteam.com

Front L-R: Brooke Bassin, Emily Moritt, Wendy Banner, Gail Gordon, Ilene Gordon, Julia Fortin, Sharyn Goldman Back L-R: Michelle Teichberg, Jody Aucamp, Pat Karta

BEAUTY & FITNESS

Even more than a love of real estate, Long & Foster’s top-producing Banner Team is driven by a love of community. The 14 member all-women team is passionate about their Pay it Forward Program, donating a portion of every commission to local charities and hosting community events. They are equally dedicated to their community of Realtors.® A frequent panelist at professional conferences, Wendy also leads a Master Class at her awardwinning office, where she shares the secrets to the team’s success.

The Woodhouse Day Spa - North Bethesda 2021: Winner, Best Day Spa 2019: Winner, Best Day Spa 2019: A Top Vote Getter, Best Nail Salon 2 Paseo Drive, North Bethesda MD 20852 240-317-3114 | NorthBethesda.WoodhouseSpas.com

The Woodhouse Day Spa of North Bethesda is the ultimate full-service luxury day spa. With over 6,000 square feet and 18 treatment stations including a soaking room and Vichy shower, this elegant spa offers over 70 stress-relieving services, including Sleep Treatments, Body Wraps, HydraFacial, Couples Massage and Spa Packages. The Woodhouse Day Spa is a popular place for a luxurious getaway delivering the restorative experience of a destination spa, but without the journey.

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HEALTH

Maplewood Park Place 2021: Winner, Best Senior Living Community 2020: Winner, Best Senior Living Community 2019: Winner, Best Senior Living Community 2018: Winner, Best Senior Living Community 2017: Winner, Best Senior Living Community 2010–2016: Winner, Best Senior Living Community Maplewood Park Place 9707 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-571-7444 | maplewoodparkplace.com

Simply the best. For the 12th consecutive year, Bethesda Magazine readers have picked Maplewood Park Place as the Best Senior Living Community in the Bethesda area. Pictured are Chip Smoley, a new resident with a passion for jazz piano, along with his wife, Grace. “The draw for us is the community here,” he says. “Interesting, talented residents, along with top-quality staff.” See firsthand why Maplewood is The People’s Choice.

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GTM Architects 2016–2021: Winner, Best Architect 2016–2020: Winner, Best Architect for Custom Homes 2020: A Top Vote Getter, Best Architect for Home Renovations 2008–2015: A Top Vote Getter, Best Architect 240-333-2000 | general-info@gtmarchitects.com gtmarchitects.com

Established in 1989, GTM Architects is a full service, award-winning design firm offering services in Residential and Commercial architecture, planning and interior design. We believe the most important quality of a well-designed home is its ability to perfect the homeowner’s vision. We pride ourselves on being responsive and talented professionals who bring vision, creativity and passion to our work, prioritizing the client’s needs above all else. Our strength at GTM is diversity, both in style and knowledge, which excites our clients and lets their vision shine. BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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Margie Halem Group 2021: A Top Vote Getter, Best Real Estate Team 2010–2021: A Top Vote Getter, Best Real Estate Agent (Margie Halem) Compass 301-775-4196 | margie@compass.com margiehalemgroup.com

A consistent top producer, Margie Halem and her team are extraordinary Realtors serving the Washington, DC metropolitan area. We have the real estate experience, marketing prowess, and in-depth local knowledge to help you buy or sell your dream home. Additionally, Margie is the DMV representative associated with the Compass Private Client Network, an exclusive network of luxury residential brokerage professionals. Discover what sets us apart — and why our clients return to us again and again! Front L-R: Elizabeth Meltzer, Margie Halem, Harrison Halem, Courtney Halem Back L-R: Jared Maites, Amy Gordon, Lori Silverman, Ashley Townsend. Not pictured: Judi Casey, Leslie Fitzpatrick

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The Lindley 2020: A Top Vote Getter, Best New Luxury Apartments 8405 Chevy Chase Lake Terrace, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 833-204-9993 | LindleyChevyChase.com

Thoughtful and stylish down to every detail, The Lindley offers curated apartment living with sophisticated luxury and resort style amenities that will make you feel right at home. Ideally situated between downtown Bethesda and Silver Spring’s arts, entertainment and shopping districts, these brand-new Chevy Chase residences provide an allseasons backdrop for each of your best moments. Enjoy a refreshed sense of space and wellbeing in our spacious studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom residences.

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St. Jane de Chantal School 2021: A Top Vote Getter, Private School that did the Best Job with Distance Learning 2020: Winner, Best Private School with Religious Affiliation 2020, 2019, 2016, 2014: A Top Vote Getter, Best Private School - Lower School 2018, 2014: A Top Vote Getter, Best Private School with Religious Affiliation 9525 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda, MD 20814 301-530-1221 | dechantal.org

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Whitman High School Principal Robby Dodd

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THE RECKONING At Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda, students, staff and parents are working together to address issues of racism BY JULIE RASICOT

PHOTO BY SKIP BROWN

KHANYA DALTON WAS A sophomore at Walt

Whitman High School the first time she was called the N-word. She was hanging out in downtown Bethesda with a group of friends from school when another Whitman student, a boy she didn’t know well, called her the racial slur three times. Though he said it jokingly, she says, the experience upset her, and a friend suggested they leave. Then, during her junior year, some boys were talking in school about having “N-word passes” that allowed them to use the slur. Khanya was on the school bus one day when someone sent her a photo of a “pass” over AirDrop. When she posted the picture on her private Instagram account to let her close friends know how upset she was, she says some thought the photo was “so funny” and “a cool joke.” A native of South Africa who’d been adopted by a white couple, Khanya says she was struck by the lack of students of color when she attended Thomas W. Pyle Middle School after moving to the U.S. at age 11. She couldn’t help but notice that white students were more accepting of her than they were of other minorities.

“I benefited a lot from colorism because I’m not as dark-skinned as a lot of my Black friends were, and also I’d been educated in a British-leaning school up until I moved to America,” says Khanya, who graduated from Whitman last June. “People considered that a lot more palatable, and they considered me someone who could, quote, get along with white people.” While the overt racism in high school devastated her, Khanya says she was equally pained by a classroom experience that she says demonstrated her fellow students’ ignorance about using the slur. She was listening to a presentation in English class during her junior year when a white classmate said the N-word while reading a quote from a novel that she’d written on an interactive whiteboard. “That is one of the things I’ll never forget, because at first there was silence, and then there was laughter, shocked laughter, but laughter nonetheless. The teacher didn’t say anything, and then I felt a lot of people look at me because I was the only Black student in my class,” says Khanya, who is now studying in London. The student used the slur while reading the quote BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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from A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines, according to Khanya’s teacher, who asked not to be identified. The novel, an exploration of racial issues published in 1993, was one of several that the students were reading as part of a unit on race, culture and identity. The teacher, who is white, says she was “surprised” when the student read the N-word out loud. “I can’t pretend to equate my own reaction in that moment to what Khanya must have been feeling,” she says. “But it was very uncomfortable in the classroom.” With the incident occurring near the end of the class, the teacher says she decided against reacting immediately. She wanted to think about how to respond to ensure that she handled it “the right way.” She says she always tells her students when a course begins that they need to respect each other so that everyone feels comfortable discussing issues. Because the slur was said in the context of literature and “it was a mistake the student made, it didn’t feel the same to me” as when others deliberately use the word as a slur, she says. “That’s why I addressed the class about it the next day, more of a teachable moment,” the teacher says. She says she told the class, “When we are reading literature and we see that word being used, we have to think about why it’s being used and notice that it is being used, but it is not appropriate in this classroom to actually utter the word.” Khanya says she spoke to the teacher after class ended 124

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the day of the presentation and was unhappy with the teacher’s explanation about why she hadn’t admonished the student right away. “I think it’s easier to say you don’t want to single out a student, but at the same time, I was inadvertently singled out because of my race and because of who I was by that student’s language,” she says. T h o s e “ r e a l l y p e rsonal, traumatic experiences” led Khanya to get involved in anti-racism efforts at Whitman during her junior year. She joined the school’s chapter of the Minority Scholars Program (MSP), a countywide student-led group dedicated to closing the achievement gap, and shared her experiences about being a minority at Whitman in a video the chapter produced and presented that year to teachers and several classes. “I realized that the people closest to me were really, really ignorant when it came to racism,” says Khanya, who was chapter co-president as a senior. “It’s easy to think that, oh, the people that I go to school with that I would never associate with are really racist and that’s disgusting, but it’s a lot harder to say that the people that I talk to every day, the people who I spend every weekend with, they’re racist, too, and they don’t even know it.”

FOR STUDENTS OF COLOR, Whitman has long

been a school where overt acts of racism and more subtle microaggressions—everyday instances of actions or words that intentionally or unintentionally are racist— are common, according to students, parents and educators. The Bethesda school gained local media attention in April 2019 when news broke that two students had posted a photo on social media of themselves in blackface along with the N-word, and again when racist graffiti was found on school property last March and June. According to Mike Williams, MSP co-founder and a social studies resource teacher at John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, the program’s student leaders say Whitman’s problems are part of a larger issue in county schools. “We’re seeing the stories that kids are speaking about. While they may manifest slightly dif-

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARGARET OLEYNIK

In June, racist graffiti was discovered on the grounds of Whitman for the second time in three months. The school newspaper ran this photo, blurring a racial slur.

COURTESY PHOTO

ferent in particular schools or it may be really exacerbated in some schools like Whitman, we’re seeing similar problems across the county. It’s something that’s a big issue in our county,” he says. MSP has chapters in 25 high schools and 22 middle schools. Of the roughly 2,000 students who attended Whitman during the 2019-2020 school year, 67% were white and less than 5% were Black, according to Montgomery County Public Schools data. About 14% were Asian and nearly 9% identified as Hispanic. These demographics offer a sharp contrast to MCPS as a whole, in which white students make up about 27% of an enrollment of just over 165,000. For decades, students and others outside of Whitman have derisively referred to the school as “Whiteman.” On June 14, 2020, the day after racist graffiti was discovered at the school, an alum created the Instagram account “Black at Whitman.” In the coming days, the page garnered nearly 3,600 followers and there were 150 anonymous posts from people who said they were current and former students. The posts recounted incidents of racism that occurred as far back as the 1990s. “The sheer amount of racism at Whitman never fails to shock me, even after four years. It’s not just the large heinous acts that make the news, it’s the slurs whispered in the hallway, the touching black women without permission, and a culture that emboldens racists and protects them,” says a post signed “Class of 2020” that received 381 likes. “Whitman has made me question and dislike my blackness, and I know I will be unpacking that internalized racism for years. It saddens me to know that if I could do it all over again, I would not choose to attend Whitman due to its racism.” “The entire time I was at Whitman I was subjected to microaggressions every single day about how I don’t look black, how I didn’t sound black, people thinking my black parent wasn’t actually my parent,” says a post signed “Class of 2016,” with 259 likes. “It was so exhausting in a way I

didn’t even process until later in life because I was just so used to playing that part.” The Instagram account, among others created about racial injustice by MCPS students, appeared as the nation was awakening to the pervasiveness of racial injustice following the May 2020 death of George Floyd and other acts of police violence. Whitman students and others from across the county protested in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, taking to the streets of their communities with signs and banners. On June 2, Whitman students helped organize a Black Lives Matter protest that drew hundreds to the parking lot of the Connie Morella Library in downtown Bethesda. The student protests came at the end of an academic year in which an MCPS study of school enrollment boundaries ignited a controversy tinged with racial overtones. For the Whitman community, “Black at Whitman” became a moment of public reckoning of the pain and humiliation that had simmered among students of color

The appearance of the Instagram account “Black at Whitman” served as a wake-up call for some Whitman staff.

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for decades at the high school more commonly recognized locally and nationally as an academic powerhouse. At Whitman, white staffers and students could no longer ignore that racism takes an emotional and physical toll on students of color, says Chevy Chase psychologist Linda McGhee, who has treated Black students who attend Whitman and other county schools. “Their pain, their horror, their trauma is out there for the world to see,” McGhee says. “I’ve had [Whitman] kids who’ve been called racial slurs out and out, not infrequently, where the perpetrator is unpunished, given a slap on the wrist, not suspended. They’ve been harassed, taunted, excluded, and all of those things have been exacerbated in the last year, and what you end up feeling in your body is a trauma because you are subject to that behavior, to that assault, and it sounds so bizarre to say that when we’re talking about a school like Whitman. But when you’re put down and you’re told that you’re not worthy on a day-to-day basis, either with words or actions or exclusion, the impact is cumulative on your body.” With the appearance of the Instagram account, some members of Whitman’s staff worried about whether their own words and actions had been harmful to students of color or if they had ignored racially biased behavior. They realized they could no longer claim “it’s not me, it’s not happening in my class,” says Anne Holmes Chiasson, a staff development teacher. She participated along with nearly 50 staff members in a YouTube video posted on June 19 and titled “Whitman Staff Pledge,” in which teachers and administrators pledged to build an anti-racist culture at Whitman, to “not tolerate racist jokes, prejudiced comments or ignorant behavior of any kind” and to “call each other out on our microaggressions and bias.” “ ‘Black at Whitman’ really brought it home for a lot of people [who were] saying, ‘Why didn’t we know about this?’ But we did, we did. We were just able to ignore it,” Holmes Chiasson says. Skylar Mitchell, a 2015 graduate, spoke publicly about being a minority at Whitman in an April 2017 New York Times essay on why she chose Spelman College, a historically Black women’s college in Atlanta. “As I got older, I felt less and less like I belonged. When I started taking AP courses and showing up to the same college info sessions as many of my classmates, they made jokes about quotas and affirmative action, as if they hadn’t seen me studying right alongside them for years,” she wrote. “One classmate even asked me to give up my spot on the morning announcements because ‘I didn’t need anything extra’ for my college applications anyway.” A year later, a Black freshman spoke during a school assembly about what it felt like to be called the N-word 126

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repeatedly by fellow students. He later transferred to another school.

THE INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT

and last year’s acts of vandalism strengthened the resolve of the Whitman administrators, staff and students who were working to raise awareness about race and racism. Spurred by the blackface incident, the school implemented the OneWhitman program in the fall of 2019, a weekly, mandatory 45-minute session discussing issues of race and racism led by teachers during homeroom. The program, cut short when schools closed last March because of the coronavirus pandemic, drew mixed reactions from both staff and students, some of whom found the sessions uncomfortable, and others who were skeptical or didn’t take them seriously. For this school year, administrators retooled the program, heeding the advice of students who said they wanted their peers, not teachers, to lead the discussions, according to Principal Robby Dodd and Holmes Chiasson, who helps organize the program. “We faced a ton of backlash with OneWhitman,” says Jordan Shaibani, a 2020 Black graduate who helped plan the program and co-led the MSP chapter with Khanya Dalton. “People were skipping it, and we had a teacher who said, ‘That’s just like the ultimate privilege to skip these seminars, to skip OneWhitman and go to Starbucks and be like, ‘I’m above it, I don’t need to be here.’ ” OneWhitman relaunched last fall as a voluntary 30-minute Zoom session led by student facilitators with the help of staff. The sessions, held every two weeks, begin with a specific lesson—such as explaining the practice of redlining, in which banks deny loans to people based on their race to prevent them from buying homes in certain neighborhoods—and then students meet in breakout rooms to discuss it. The revamped program has been better received; more than 1,000 students showed up for the first session, according to administrators. “We needed to start to train kind of an army of foot soldiers of students to lead this anti-racism work,” Dodd says. The school also created a new semester-long course—

PHOTO BY SKIP BROWN

Breanna McDonald, a 2019 Whitman graduate, spoke out about racism and revitalized the school’s chapter of the Minority Scholars Program.

the LENS (leadership, equity, inclusion and social justice) Seminar—that trains students to facilitate OneWhitman sessions. The fall class had 17 students, and administrators were considering whether to add more classes in the spring, says Assistant Principal Greg Miller, who coteaches the seminar. “I think there’s a large segment of the Whitman population that wants to have these conversations,” says Dodd, who took over in July 2018 after the school’s longtime principal, Alan Goodwin, retired. Dodd is widely credited as the driving force behind Whitman’s efforts to address racism. “There wasn’t much time spent by anyone in the community [saying] that this really can’t be Whitman or these are just isolated incidents. Everybody has moved beyond that to know that there are systemic issues at Whitman—as there are in the nation—that we have to address.” Yvonne VanLowe, a Black parent volunteer who chairs the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee of the Montgomery County Council of Parent-Teacher Associations, says the new leadership, combined with the

growing racial awareness in society, helped spur Whitman to examine its culture. “Good, bad or otherwise, that opened up space for a change or a revisiting of these issues,” she says. “These issues have happened all the time at the school but were handled, or you probably didn’t hear about them depending on what the issue was.” Senior Matt Mande, a white OneWhitman student facilitator who took the LENS course, says he didn’t truly understand the institutional and structural implications of racism until he witnessed the protests after Floyd’s death. “As our student body and our staff understanding of systemic racism increases, we’re starting to respond to these incidents [at Whitman] more thoroughly and more intentionally than we have in the past,” he says.

WHEN DODD TOOK OVER at Whitman, he became

just the fourth principal in the school’s 59-year history. A Silver Spring father of two who grew up in Burtonsville, Dodd says he recalls hearing about the “mystique” of Whitman from his dad, Alan Dodd, who oversaw the school as an MCPS associate superintendent. DurBETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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the reckoning ing a 31-year MCPS career, the elder Dodd was known as a progressive educational leader who championed social justice. During his own career, Robby Dodd has been guided by similar principles, focusing on achieving equity for all students during his years as principal of Strathmore Elementary School and Argyle Middle School, both Silver Spring schools with predominantly minority populations. Before coming to Whitman, he spent three years as an MCPS administrator charged with training other principals. In 2014, Dodd received The Washington Post’s Distinguished Educational Leadership Award for his work at Argyle. Having spent most of his career at schools in the eastern part of the county, Dodd says he was unaware of the racial issues at Whitman and never heard the school referred to as “Whiteman” until he became prin-

school for the residential community, says NCCF Executive Director Sheryl Brissett Chapman. She says the school isn’t always welcoming to the program’s Black students, who often are referred to as “the group home kids” by students and staff and have been repeatedly called the N-word during class without repercussions from teachers. In September 2019, a 19-yearold Black student from GAP was charged with assault after he allegedly struck another student with a frying pan during class, according to Montgomery County police. Chapman says the student suffers from mental health issues and had been racially harassed. He was later found not criminally responsible in a county court. Chapman, who is Black, believes the school’s predominantly white population, combined with a competitive culture that’s amplified by parents, leads some white students to target Black students so they can feel

With the appearance of the Instagram account, some members of Whitman’s staff worried about whether their own words and actions had been harmful to students of color or if they had ignored racially biased behavior. cipal. He says Goodwin told him that staff were receiving training about racism and bias—efforts promoted by the MCPS Equity Initiatives Unit, which helps staff and schools create environments that focus on achieving equity. Staff from the unit had organized study circles at the school during the summer of 2018. After becoming principal, Dodd emphasized in an introductory letter to the school community that he would focus on creating equity for all students. Once the school year began, he says he started hearing from parents of Black students and other minorities that they “didn’t always feel that the school was equitable or their kids were treated the way they should be.” The school’s minority population has long included teens from the Greentree Adolescent Program (GAP), a residential community in Bethesda run by The National Center for Children and Families (NCCF). The program serves males ages 12 to 20 who’ve experienced physical and emotional trauma or involvement in the juvenile justice system. Eight students from GAP, six of whom are Black, are enrolled at Whitman in the current school year. The teens attend Whitman because it is the home 128

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superior. “You’re not really white unless you have somebody Black around you,” she says. “For the Black kids… you really are grieving a loss of your private reality that you are just a kid, a person. When you go to Whitman, you’re Black.” After the blackface incident in the spring of 2019, Whitman’s student newspaper, The Black & White, took the school community to task for seeming to care more about how news of the incident might impact the school’s reputation “rather than the pervasive culture that has led to and will continue to lead to racist incidents at our school,” according to a newspaper staff editorial titled “Forget Whitman’s Reputation: Let’s Talk About Racism.” School administrators “just don’t handle things the way they should,” says Claude Noutak, a 2020 Black graduate who says jokes about students of color were common. “I just think if they don’t stop that cycle right now, it’s just going to be a never-ending cycle of ignorance.” “Being so predominantly white, we’ve been able to get away with not having the conversation’’ about other cultures, Holmes Chiasson says. “I think we realize that we were doing our students an injustice by not teaching them about that and really raising their awareness and

helping them see the world beyond Whitman.” Dodd says he is committed to changing “how we teach and how we lead” at Whitman through professional development and training provided by groups such as the Anti-Defamation League. He acknowledged the school hasn’t “moved the needle much” to diversify the teaching staff during his tenure, but says doing so is “the highest priority.” The professional staff is more than 85% white, with Black members numbering about 5%. He says that working to change the culture at Whitman has “stretched me as a school leader really beyond anything I’ve ever done.” After meeting with Dodd last summer, GAP leaders were expected to hold training sessions beginning in December to educate Whitman staff about the program and to help develop an anti-racist culture, according to NCCF senior staffer Krystal Holland. She says a large part of the Whitman staff doesn’t understand the backgrounds of kids in the GAP program, “and why they come to us, and what [the school’s] responsibility is to educate them.” With the changes to OneWhitman and other initiatives, Dodd says the school also is recognizing the

important role that students can play in educating their peers. Breanna McDonald, who graduated in 2019 and is a sophomore at Howard University, is credited with revitalizing the MSP chapter. McDonald, who took honors and AP classes, says she decided to start speaking out after an experience with a teacher during her junior year rocked her self-confidence. She says the teacher made assumptions about her abilities and “never seemed to have the time” when McDonald asked for help because she was struggling in class. The experience left McDonald wondering if “maybe I’m assuming the wrong thing about the teacher, just doubting myself, really, and doubting the experience I had because…I didn’t want to feel like I had to go into school worrying about how my teacher would perceive me as a Black female in her class.” Under McDonald’s leadership, the chapter produced the video in which Khanya Dalton and other minority students talk about their experiences at Whitman and worked with the Student Government Association to raise awareness. In the school year after McDonald graduated, the SGA wrote three letters to Whitman administrators, calling for more action to address racism. The

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the reckoning

third letter, written in late June, called for the expulsion of the students who were found to be involved in the graffiti incidents. Even with the school’s efforts, students of color say they know to tread carefully as they try to raise awareness. McDonald says she learned to “limit her emotions” when she was angry or upset and “to be very careful with my word choice” when speaking about the need for the MSP chapter at Whitman. “I never came off like radical or aggressive. I would come off calm, collected, making sure I had my words right, making sure every point I had was backed up with information and making sure, especially with the administration, that I explained it in a way that made it personal,” she says. “You can’t run away from a story that a person is giving you when it’s personal.”

ON JUNE 13, THE Whitman community was rocked

by a display of racist graffiti discovered on campus that included the N-word, a drawing of a noose and the word “lynch” spray-painted in bright yellow on a black utility shed. Days later, recent graduate Jake Foster Hoffman, 18, of Bethesda, and a 17-year-old were charged with conspiracy to commit destruction of property. Both turned themselves in and said they regretted their actions, according to county police. The investigation turned up a second 17-year-old who admitted his involvement in the June incident and said, according to police, that he also was responsible for racist graffiti discovered in March at the school. He was charged with two counts of destruction of property. The two 17-year-olds are Whitman students, according to the student newspaper. “I feel both outrage and deep grief that acts of racism and hate continue to occur at Walt Whitman,” Dodd wrote in an email to the school community. On the Saturday morning that the graffiti was found, students and teachers gathered at Whitman. “Students immediately started making posters condemning racism, and we posted all over Whittier Boulevard,” SGA President Kushan Weerakoon says. “A lot of teachers immediately showed up and were standing on Whittier Boulevard. Everyone I knew came out and condemned it.” For some students, the appearance of more graffiti was like a body blow. “For it to be a repeat, it was just really sad that there seemed to be no learning by some students,” says Grace McGuire, a white senior and SGA co-vice president. Still, Weerakoon saw something positive in the school community’s universal condemnation of the vandalism. The incident doesn’t reflect “the value system the school is trying to give, it’s not the value system the teachers are 130

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trying to give, and it’s not the value system that a majority of students are trying to have,” he says. Although the acts of vandalism have put Whitman in the spotlight, other county high schools have logged racial incidents; Winston Churchill High School in Potomac made headlines in February 2019 when staff caught students trading “N-word passes.” According to MCPS data, reports of hate incidents have increased dramatically in recent years. MCPS defines a hate crime as harassing a person or damaging the property of a person because of their actual or perceived personal characteristics. During the 2013-2014 school year, two hate incidents were reported in county schools. Five years later, during the 2018-2019 school year, that number increased to 27, including two at Whitman, with 14 involving the police. Director Troy Boddy says the MCPS Equity Initiatives Unit is conducting an anti-racism audit to determine how to make the school system more inclusive of minority students. Dodd says he contacted Boddy during his first year as principal for help in addressing the long-standing issues at Whitman. OneWhitman is also focusing on reaching parents during sessions, now held over Zoom at night, that are increasingly attracting more participants, say organizers Sally McCarthy, a white parent, and Yeages Cowan, a Black parent. Cowan says parents representing the school’s international community also have reached out for guidance because they come from countries with just one race and aren’t knowledgeable about racial issues in the U.S. “We’ve tried to create spaces where people feel safe to enter this discussion wherever they might be because we all know that we all enter discussions about race and racism in different spots,” Dodd says. Assistant Principal Greg Miller, a Black educator who joined the staff last July, says the OneWhitman program is what drew him to the school, where he spent time years ago while working at GAP and monitoring students of his who were enrolled at Whitman. “I saw something that I could blossom and that was an authentic way to reach kids and build relationships with students,” he says. “When you think of Whitman, you think of high achieving, you think of rigor, you think of AP courses, but they were also like…let’s really talk about race, equity, bias, mental health.” Miller is one of two Black administrators to join the Whitman staff last summer; Joseph Msefya, a former staff development teacher at Newport Mill Middle School, also became an assistant principal in July. “Two men of color on an admin team, that’s definitely different if you look at the historical context at Whit-

man,” says Miller, who credits Dodd with diversifying the administrative staff and promoting staff training. “We all have bias,” Miller says. “It’s not a terrible thing, it’s acknowledging your bias and continuing to grow. What do those conversations look like, and are we up for feedback and conversation? Because we all can do better. We’re all gonna make mistakes.” Math teacher Meg Thatcher, who’s been at Whitman for 15 years, says the training has helped her realize her own implicit bias. “The biggest one for me is the idea of timing and being late and how different cultures have a different understanding and flexibility with timing,” she says. “That’s a little thing, but that’s one area I noticed that might be more cultural than students disrespecting the fact that class has started.” Thatcher says she and her colleagues have been discussing how to be more mindful of their actions, such as calling on students in class. “We ask questions for our own reasons, but that can absolutely get misconstrued on the other side. They can perceive it in a completely different way, like oh, she’s picking on me,” Thatcher says. “Sometimes it’s just literally random. You look out into the class-

room and you pick a person. You never think a thing of it.”

ON A THURSDAY AFTERNOON in October, Dodd

joins teachers and student facilitators on Zoom as they kick off a session of OneWhitman. About 700 people are participating, and the day’s topic is the four levels of racism: individual, organizational, institutional and systemic. After a short lesson, staff and students will move to breakout rooms. Administrators and teachers say they are impressed by the passion of students involved in OneWhitman, though some students remain cautious about speaking and may keep their cameras off during the Zoom. Before beginning the lesson, Dodd reminds everyone that OneWhitman is a “safe” place for these conversations. “Respect others’ opinions, and remember in the course of difficult conversations, people can unintentionally make mistakes,” he says. “Expect discomfort, for whenever we have courageous conversations about race, racism or bias, there is bound to be discomfort.” Contributing editor Julie Rasicot lives in Silver Spring.

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Yong Lee (left) and her 17-year-old daughter, Neena Rim

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A local group of volunteers has donated nearly 37,000 face masks—and they’re still sewing BY CARALEE ADAMS | PHOTOS BY LAURA CHASE DE FORMIGNY

YONG LEE COULDN’T FIND masks at the store last spring, so she went online to learn about making some herself. In her research, she ran across a video of MoCo Mask Makers—a local group that was connecting people who could sew with those who needed masks. “I said, ‘Why not?’ It was a great way to be productive during quarantine,” says Lee, who recruited her two teenage daughters and taught them to sew. By November, the Darnestown family had donated more than 2,000 masks—about half to MoCo Mask Makers and the rest to individuals, such as teachers and police officers, in other states. “I never thought we would make that many,” says Lee’s 17-year-old daughter, Neena Rim. “[Sewing] was a little challenging at first, but once I got the hang of it, it was really fun. I would spend hours on the sewing machine without realizing it.” When face masks were in short supply at the beginning of the pandemic, Christina Davis, a freelance writer and editor who lives in Rockville, wanted to do what she could to provide them for health care workers and first responders. The 41-year-old mother of two launched MoCo Mask

Makers, partnering with friends and recruiting a network of volunteers on Nextdoor and Facebook. In 2020, the group provided nearly 37,000 masks to local health care facilities, nonprofit organizations, schools, businesses and individuals—all for free. About 500 people have volunteered for the group in some capacity. “I was astounded by the response in Montgomery County,” says Davis, who handed over leadership of the group last summer. “Many people—the sewists, the administrators, the donators—everyone wanted to do something.” When JSSA in Rockville desperately needed masks, MoCo Mask Makers provided some for the nonprofit’s hospice staff, says Connie Echeverria, supervisor of volunteer services at JSSA. “Some prints have flowers, and others have cartoons that make patients giggle. They have become icebreakers,” Echeverria says of the more than 1,300 masks JSSA received over several months last year. “To think that hundreds of people were moved to sew masks for complete strangers—to take their time and to donate—that is so meaningful. The masks have been such a blessing.”

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IN HER OFFICE-TURNED-workroom, Yong Lee and her daughter Neena Rim (right), a senior at Northwest High School in Germantown, have been cutting, ironing and sewing masks since last April. The family was getting a little “stir crazy” a few weeks into the pandemic, says Lee, a 56-year-old retired certified public accountant. In the past, she had tried—unsuccessfully—to interest her daughters in sewing. They were open to it when Neena’s competitive cheer practices and other activities came to a halt and Hana, 19, was home from Indiana University. “It was definitely a bonding activity,” Neena says. “Because we had to spend so much time together locked in the house, it was a good way for us to

talk and have something to talk about when nothing was going on.” The sisters decided to raise money for materials and sold about 100 masks—making a website and promoting on social media that one mask would be donated for every mask sold. The support from friends and thank you notes they received were encouraging, Neena says. “I feel it was a great way to bring the community together at a time when we were all separated.” As the months went on, Lee says she noticed a change in her daughters’ attitudes. “They took pride when they saw packages of 100 or 200 masks going out in bulk,” Lee says. “It made us feel good. It was not just making a donation. We got so much out of it.”

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IN THE EARLY DAYS of the pandemic, Sara Watson spent every available minute cranking out masks in her Silver Spring home, recycling cotton tablecloths and sheets. “I’m a little less frantic now, but there is still clearly a demand,” says Watson, 59, who sews on weekends or at night after putting in a full day of work as an independent policy consultant. “I really believe in science… it infuriates me when people don’t wear masks.” Watson is partial to fun prints, including those with Pokémon or Lion King characters that appeal to kids. Her husband,

Jim Gifford, sacrificed one of his Hawaiian shirts to be transformed into bright orange masks. She experimented with various shapes and styles before settling on the rectangular pleated patterns that she says are easiest to mass produce. “I have a little factory in my living room, with fabric spread out, an ironing board set up, and a sewing machine behind the couch,” says Watson, who has made about 400 masks, each taking about 30 minutes. “While I binge-watch TV, it’s a very relaxing thing to do. It’s satisfying to see the pile of masks grow.”

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FROM HER HOME IN Gaithersburg, Sol Carvajal, 42, has sewn and donated more than 700 masks to MoCo Mask Makers. She is teaching her 11-year-old son, Matias (above), to sew. Her daughter, Mia, 22 months, likes to play with the masks that aren’t donated. (She also has a 6-yearold son, Thomas.) Carvajal was motivated to contribute, in part, after her grandmother, who raised her in Chile and taught her to sew, died in late March at the age of 92 from heart problems. Carvajal fires up her machine most nights

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after her kids have gone to bed around 9 p.m., sometimes sewing until 3 a.m. She watches TV while working in Mia’s room, which she converted into a sewing space. (The toddler’s crib is now in Carvajal’s bedroom.) She has sold another 600 masks on her own in the hopes of earning enough money to buy a new sewing machine. “I’m super happy that I can use this skill my grandma taught me and at the same time help people who cannot afford [masks],” says Carvajal, who works part time as a housekeeper.

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mask makers

ISABEL HERNANDEZ-CATA can’t sew. But she says she knows how to hustle— to get donations, recruit volunteers and coordinate the delivery of masks to those who need them. Pictured on her Kensington porch with reams of donated fabric, Hernandez-Cata got involved with MoCo Mask Makers last spring and became a co-leader of the organization when the original founders were looking to pass the baton in the summer. “For me, it felt like something I could do in a time when I was feeling helpless,” says the 46-yearold jazz vocalist and music teacher at Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring. “I had some survivor’s guilt for being a married woman with a great house and a job that I could do online when so many people were suffering. This was perfectly at the intersection of local, somewhere I could actually help, and a great group of interesting people. I’m inspired by the creativity of it.” The summer phase of the organization was rebranded The Makana Project (“makana” means gift, reward or donation in Hawaiian)—a name influenced in part by Nikki-Ann Yee, a volunteer from Gaithersburg who is from Hawaii and helped coordinate the project for a few months. The summer co-leaders enlisted teenage volunteers who ramped up social media messaging and advocacy about mask wearing. By the fall, the organization returned to its original name: MoCo Mask Makers. Hernandez-Cata is now the director.

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mask makers GREG BERTENSHAW gave his 9-year-old son a 3D printer for his birthday last April, and the two quickly put it to use to help those making and wearing masks. They made hundreds of plastic pleating fixtures (bottom right) for the people sewing, and also ear savers (bottom left), which are designed to reduce soreness by connecting mask loops in the back of the head instead of wearing them around the ears. “For nurses and doctors who wear masks all day, the straps can dig into their skin. The ear savers can help with the indentations that the masks can cause,” says Bertenshaw, who lives in Gaithersburg and got help from another MoCo Mask Makers volunteer in downloading the programs to produce the items. “I thought if we can make a small contribution, let’s do it, and it’s easy to do,” says Bertenshaw, 46, an executive at a biotech company in Rockville. He hopes his son sees that helping is about giving time as well as donating money. Bertenshaw says he makes the process fun: “I typically print a batch of ear savers and then a Yoda or Star Wars destroyer [toy]. We mix and match what we do. …We are both learning.”

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AFTER LEARNING ABOUT MoCo Mask Makers through a posting on the Nextdoor app, Rockville resident Wahab Syed started delivering masks for the group. Sometimes he drops them off at a home, and other times it’s at a senior living center, such as Leisure World in Silver Spring, where the 28-year-old made frequent deliveries early in the pandemic. “You could see in people’s eyes they were scared,” says Syed, courier coordinator for MoCo Mask Makers. “Delivering there was a feel-good moment because you were helping someone who might be super scared to walk out their door. We got

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requests from adult kids whose parents lived there, but they were not able to visit.” Syed, who’s married and has a 3-year-old daughter, has been working his information technology auditing job from home since last March. He volunteered up to 20 hours a week in the first phase of the project, often making runs late at night or on weekends. “I’ve met so many new people,” says Syed, who moved from Pakistan to Rockville in 2008. “The biggest thing I learned is that although we live in an individualistic society, people come together in the hour of need. ...This was all from the heart.”

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Lamb chops and crabcakes are among the to-go items offered at Real Nutritious Food in Chevy Chase, D.C.

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

Nourishing Bethesda, Since August 14, every Friday, they have conducted a two hour drive-through family food distribution at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Rescue Squad parking lot

Takeout Takeaways Our restaurant critic looks into the challenges of carryout and shares his strategies for making the most of the to-go experience BY DAVID HAGEDORN | PHOTOS BY DEB LINDSEY

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THE LAST MEAL I ate inside a

Bethesda restaurant was in early March 2020 at Cubano’s, which I wrote about in my most recent review as Bethesda Magazine’s restaurant critic. As COVID-19 and a stay-at-home order descended on us, I was fine, even happy, with cooking at home. I’m a former chef, and cooking for myself is something I rarely had the opportunity to do. Through March, I was hesitant to order takeout because I wasn’t sure it was safe for my husband and me—we’re both in a high-risk category—or for the staff at the restaurant, but I wanted to help local businesses. When more information about the virus came to light and businesses put safety protocols in place (the CDC considers the risk of getting COVID-19 from eating or handling food and its packaging very low), I started ordering from sit-down restaurants at least once a week as a way to support them. There are, of course, inherent problems with takeout from sitdown restaurants. The product is not meant to be shoved into boxes and eaten a half-hour later at home, and no matter how well the food is handled, it will always lack vital ingredients: the buzz of a crowded room, the repartee with servers, the people-watching, the eavesdropping. In short, the experience of being there— and not home. “We just send food out into a void now,” says Jennifer Meltzer, who, with her husband, chef Ed Reavis, owns All Set Restaurant & Bar, a seafood spot in Silver Spring. “I’m a micromanager. I want to control the guest experience, but with takeout it’s out of my hands once it’s out the door. We don’t see the reaction on people’s faces when they eat.” 152

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Left: The kinamot feast at Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly in Rockville Above: Real Nutritious Food chef Andre Williams preparing a takeout order

I asked restaurateurs in the Bethesda area about the takeout challenges they face and ordered dinner from four places—Kuya Ja’s Lechon Belly in Rockville; Muchas Gracias, which opened in March in Upper Northwest D.C.; Real Nutritious Food (RNF), which opened in Chevy Chase, D.C., in August; and Money Muscle BBQ, a concept that Reavis and Meltzer debuted in September as an adjunct to All Set.

UNTIL THE BEGINNING OF Febru-

ary 2020, Kuya Ja’s chef and owner, Javier Fernandez, held monthly kinamot dinners. He’d push together the tables of his small, fast-casual Filipino restaurant in two rows of 12 seats each, cover them with banana leaves, heap steaming mounds of rice down the center, and top them with portions of 15 dishes, everything meant to be eaten with your hands. (Kinamot means “with your hands” in Cebuano, the language of the chef ’s native Filipino island.) The dinners would sell out quickly, and guests sitting shoulder to shoulder, many of them strangers, would introduce themselves and shake hands before digging in. It wasn’t meant to be a takeout experience. That was then; this is now. I arrive at White Flint Plaza on a Fri-

day evening and park right in front of Kuya Ja’s. With my phone, I place and pay for my order—a $79.99 takeout kinamot that feeds two to four—using the giant QR code posted in the restaurant’s window. I call the restaurant and ask them to text me when the food is ready so I can come in to retrieve it. Instead, 15 minutes later, a masked employee brings the aluminum foil roasting pan containing my dinner and places it in my open trunk. (Fernandez offers the kinamot on Thursday through Sunday once a month.) I regret that I didn’t attend one of Fernandez’s kinamot dinners when I had the chance, and it occurs to me as I make the 40-minute drive to my home in Washington that he surely wishes he could still host the communal dinners in person. He knows the clock ticks on the quality and integrity of his product once the food leaves the restaurant. When the food will be eaten and how it will be reheated and served are beyond Fernandez’s control—anathema to chefs—so he does what he can to ensure that the takeout version is the best it can be. Due to Kuya Ja’s small size, 60% of its sales pre-pandemic were takeout, so the staff is familiar with packaging food and getting it to people’s homes in good condition. “We place our lumpia and empa-

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takeout takeaways nadas in domed compostable clamshells [containers that hinge on one side and snap together on the other] because they have more air circulation,” Fernandez explains. “If you put fried foods in the black plastic [polypropylene] containers we use for our combos, rice and noodles, they condensate and drip onto the fried food and make it soggy. The clamshell, made from sugarcane, absorbs the condensation.” When customers pick up a kinamot, the staff tells them the tray is covered for sanitary purposes but suggests they open the lid as soon as they’re in the car, letting air in so the crispy items don’t steam. (I bent back a corner of my kinamot’s lid.) At home, I put my chef skills to use. (And wash my hands a lot.) Removing the kinamot’s lid, I marvel at the splendid array spread out on banana leaves: lumpia (long, thin egg rolls) with chicken and pork filling; Fernandez’s signature lechon (roasted pork belly and crackling skin); a rotisserie chicken leg; barbecued rib-eye skewers; homemade sweet pork longanisa (sausage); seared bok choy; mango jicama salad; green papaya salad; steamed rice; garlic fried rice; shrimp chips; fresh lime wedges and various sauces. (The sauces and salads are in sealed plastic containers.) In the center, standing majestically upright, is a whole fried red snapper. Fernandez slices the fish in a way that four boneless fillets curl away from the spine when it’s fried, a flourish of technique as practical as it is dramatic because I can easily remove the fillets from the fish’s frame to reheat them. To prepare the food, I first separate out the cold items and sauces. It would be easy to pop the pan into a conventional oven for the remaining items to reheat, but the rice would dry out and the foods meant to be crisp wouldn’t be. Instead, I reheat the lumpia, fish fillets, meats and soggy shrimp chips in a 375-degree toaster oven for about six minutes. A toaster oven works better than a conventional oven for crisping up foods because the heating elements are closer 154

Carryout containers at Medium Rare in Bethesda

to the items in a more confined space. It performs its job as I expected, restoring crunch to the fried items and the skin on the chicken and lechon belly. I reheat the rices and the bok choy in the microwave in small covered bowls. To serve, I place the hot and cold dishes and sauces attractively on a large platter. I always set the dining room table properly, sometimes even using the good china. We never eat with disposable utensils (I tell restaurants not to include them to save them the cost) and never (well, rarely) eat out of takeout containers. I often go out of my way to plate the

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meal in a professional way, as I would have when I worked in a restaurant. Our kinamot meal is excellent, partially because I gave it the chance to be by devoting thought to its reheating. Would I have preferred freshly made food at Kuya Ja’s and laughing it up with newly made friends? Of course. But I have learned in the pandemic to alter and manage my expectations. Takeout is now my way to keep up with the restaurant scene. It is also not lost on me that restaurants may not be there in the future if I don’t support them now. (Sadly, they may not be anyway.)

takeout takeaways OTHER RESTAURANT OPERATORS

have had to play catch-up on the takeout front during the pandemic. Mark Bucher, the co-owner of Medium Rare in Bethesda, saw takeout sales for his steak-and-french fries restaurant go from 10% pre-pandemic to more than 75% this past November. “Chinese restaurants and pizza guys have perfected takeout. Domino’s will get a hot pizza to your door or it’s free; no one is saying it’s good, but it’s there and it’s hot. Even McDonald’s designed recipes to travel and be in a bag. Sit-down restaurants never had to deal with that,” Bucher says. French fries are a major component of Bucher’s concept. To stave off sogginess he uses a container that has a hole in the lid (it actually makes a big difference), but he advises customers to eat the fries on the way home if they want them crisp, or to reheat them in a toaster oven.

(I usually avoid ordering fried food, but if I do, I always open the container it’s in, or poke holes in it, for the ride home. I’m also a fan of the “eat the fries in the car” strategy.) The four restaurants I order from mostly serve their food in a combination of microwavable containers, some plastic (polypropylene, which is recyclable), some compostable and some paper. “We have to use what works,” says All Set’s Meltzer. “Before the pandemic, we were exploring alternative straws, even cornstarch straws. Now, no one cares about straws.” My personal decision: I care about the environment and sustainability, but I’m letting restaurants off the hook about plastics until the pandemic is over. I allow towers of containers to rise in my basement and spare myself a guilt trip for occasionally throwing some out. By

the way, the cost of packaging has skyrocketed, according to Scott Attman, vice president of Maryland-based Acme Paper & Supply Co., which sells to many midAtlantic restaurants, including Muchas Gracias and Money Muscle BBQ. He indicates the cost of plastic containers has increased 18% since last spring, and paper bags are up 16%. At Medium Rare, Bucher says, packaging for a dinner for four is $8 to $10, but he hasn’t raised his prices. (Not to mention the cost of personal protective equipment and hand sanitizer. Reavis and Fernandez both note that the price of food service gloves has risen 400% since the pandemic began.) Restaurants have added menu items that travel well and adjusted others to make them appropriate for takeout. That’s what chef Robert Wiedmaier and his corporate chef and business partner Brian McBride did at their 42-seat (pre-

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COVID-19) Bethesda restaurant Wildwood Kitchen. “The average age of our guests is 50 to 75. They’re not sitting in a small restaurant in COVID,” Wiedmaier says. “In October, we turned the place into Wildwood Market. Now we do only takeout, selling dips, salads, soups, pasta sauces and other things that travel well and reheat without being soggy, like braised lamb shank, boeuf bourguignon and chicken pot pie.” It’s a good idea to follow these chefs’ leads and order foods that hold up well to reheating, which is what I do one afternoon at Money Muscle BBQ . Reavis and Meltzer’s COVID-19 plan was to make the All Set menu more takeout-friendly and to incorporate Money Muscle BBQ into the All Set location because barbecue and its sides travel and reheat well. They couldn’t come to terms with the landlord on the renovation, so they

turned Money Muscle BBQ into a food truck and added barbecue to the All Set menu. (“Money muscle” is a barbecue term that refers to the most flavorful and succulent muscle in a pork butt.) Money Muscle’s menu offers Texasstyle brisket, pulled pork (the kind Reavis grew up eating in his Virginia hometown near the North Carolina border), baby back pork ribs, beef short ribs, and brined, then smoked turkey legs, half chickens and chicken wings. I order an assortment of the meats one Sunday, plus sides of coleslaw, baked beans, collard greens, macaroni and cheese and skillet cornbread. Reavis is constantly making efforts to improve packaging. “I use some plastic containers because I’m not comfortable putting collard greens and mashed potatoes in paper boxes. I learned to put the sauces in a separate bag so they don’t

spill over or explode. We were stapling bags at first, but now we use our own branded stickers as tamper seals and also on folded paper boxes to keep them from opening. I also started wrapping barbecue in butcher wrap instead of putting it in plastic containers. It keeps it moister and has a more rustic look,” he says. All of the dishes I order are easy to reheat at home. I put the meats on a sheet pan with a little water, cover the pan with foil and put it in a 350-degree oven for 10 minutes to warm it through. (The water keeps it from drying out.) Macaroni and cheese and cornbread go into the toaster oven. Collards and baked beans get microwaved. And lots of paper towels go on the table. Part of my takeout strategy is to wait until I get to the restaurant to place my order, as I do at Real Nutritious Food. That way, I know the food

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takeout takeaways is at its peak. The restaurant’s chef and owner is 31-year-old Washington, D.C., native Andre Williams, whose experience in D.C. kitchens includes stints at Bluejacket, The Salt Line and Founding Farmers. The food—rare soy and garlic-marinated lamb chops with crab fried rice and charred broccoli; a broiled 9-ounce jumbo lump crabcake with corn and cherry tomato succotash and potato wedges; and hot mumbo sauce chicken wings—is still warm after a 15-minute drive home, but I prefer it hotter. The crabcake and potato wedges go into a 375-degree toaster oven for 10 minutes. The broccoli, fried rice and succotash go into serving bowls and the microwave for a minute or two. (Williams’ crabcake ranks among the best I’ve had in the D.C. area.) I always order meat and fish to a doneness that’s less than I prefer so the reheating doesn’t ruin them. My rare chops get a 30-second microwaving that brings them to medium, perfect for me. The wings are fine without reheating, even if the sauce wasn’t on the side as requested. What do I do about the mistake? Nothing. My advice about complaining in a pandemic? Unless it’s something egregious, let it slide.

NOT FAR FROM RNF is Muchas

Gracias, which was supposed to be Buckeroos. Chef Christian Irabién, 40, had been tapped to create and run Buckeroos, meant to be, in his words, “a refined, boutique-y, Tex-Mex restaurant.” The Mexican-born, El Paso, Texas-raised chef hired and trained the staff and was ready to open last March when COVID-19 disrupted his plans. He shut down Buckeroos, let everyone go and started making hot meals for Spanish-speaking immigrants who had lost kitchen jobs. That grew into selling meals to go and grocery items to people wary of supermarkets in the pandemic’s early days. Demand exploded, and so did the community’s desire for restaurant food. Irabién hired back two employees, then eight more. 158

“We went from opening a concept I was working on for years to opening an entirely new concept, Muchas Gracias, in 72 hours,” Irabién says. “For Muchas Gracias, we’re not trying to do culinary acrobatics. I didn’t hire trained chefs. I hired people who were out of work and needed a job. This is hug-driven Mexican food, not chef-driven.” Takeout, he says, accounts for 75% to 85% of Muchas Gracias’s sales. If you’re getting food for yourself, why not help out restaurants and pick up some for others while you’re at it? A week before I order from Muchas Gracias, I email a group of seven neighbors to ask if they want in. Five do. On the prescribed day, I pick up the food, pay for each order separately, deliver to my neighbors and email them their receipts so they can reimburse me via Venmo. (They all rave the next day and thank me for organizing, which I do at least once a month.) The first thing I notice about my order is the clever branding. Food labels that resemble name tag stickers say “HELLO, MY NAME IS” on the top and “!Muchas Gracias Mercadito!” on the bottom, both on red backgrounds. (Mercadito means little market.) In the white center is the name of the item inside, say “Tortilla” or “Guacamole,” printed by machine. It’s smart to invest in clever packaging; these days, that’s one of the first impressions a diner gets of a restaurant experience. Irabién made packaging choices through trial and error. “Premade tacos don’t travel well, so our tacos are more like stews with tortillas on the side. Our first containers didn’t hold the stews’ moisture well, and there was seepage in the bag, so we changed to ones that snapped shut and were more durable,” he says. “We use wax-coated paper bags for our tortillas, because they hold heat and moisture well. We make the tortillas in-house from corn we grind and make into masa every day.” My order includes chips, guacamole and two salsas; elote (corn on the cob) with herb mayo, butter, chili spice mix and queso fresco; kale Caesar salad; and

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

two taco platters, one with strips of beautifully grilled, medium-rare hanger steak, the other with carnitas, pork slowly braised in garlic broth. The platters come with black beans and garlic rice. I remove the cold sauces and garnishes from the platters and elote, and microwave the hot items separately for about a minute in their black plastic containers. It takes only 10 seconds in the microwave to warm each bag of four tortillas beautifully. On this occasion, it’s easier to serve from the plastic containers so I don’t bother with serving bowls. I always order extra takeout food so there are leftovers to repurpose as another meal, but also because it helps the restaurant’s bottom line. The day after our Kuya Ja’s kinamot meal, I wokfry the leftover bok choy, meats and rices, adding other vegetables from the fridge and eggs that I scramble in the bottom of the wok during cooking. Leftover beans, rice, meats and kale from Muchas Gracias become the base for a rib-sticking stew I prepare, topping it with the remaining guacamole and tortillas that I cut into thin strips and deepfry until crunchy. Next-day tidbits from Money Muscle BBQ get a similar onepot treatment to become three quarts of soup that go into the freezer for future enjoyment. I believe in good takeout etiquette. Having come from a 25-year career in the restaurant business, I always advocate for treating its workers with kindness, patience and generosity, but in these times, I up my game—and tip closer to 30%. I avoid using third-party apps that charge restaurants onerous fees. When you pick up your food, mask up, maintain social distancing, bring your own hand sanitizer and pen, and be just as concerned with “What am I doing to make them safe?” as you are with “What are they doing to make me safe?” Then go home and fire up the toaster oven. David Hagedorn is the restaurant critic for Bethesda Magazine.

Bethesda Urban Partnership and Bethesda Magazine will honor writers at the Local Writer's Showcase in April 2021.

ESSAY AND SHORT STORY CONTEST DEADLINE: JANUARY 18, 2021 For eligibility and rules, please visit www.bethesda.org or www.bethesdamagazine.com.

AWARDS

First place: $500 and published in Bethesda Magazine Second place: $250 / Third place: $150 / Honorable Mention: $75

All winners will be published on the Bethesda Magazine and Bethesda Urban Partnership websites and will be honored at a special virtual event during the Local Writer's Showcase. High School winners receive: $250, first place; $100, second place; $50, third place. Bethesda Magazine will print the first place Essay & Short Story.

For more information, please call 301-215-6660, ext. 117 or 301-718-7787.

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{ PHOTO BY ANNA MEYER

Weddings of the year

A peek inside the celebrations of four couples who altered their plans and got married in the midst of the pandemic BY ROSE HOROWITCH

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WEDDINGS of the year

Home Again A couple that met on a dating app exchanged vows in the bride’s parents’ backyard in Potomac

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL BENNETT KRESS

The couple’s niece Micaela, left, and cousin Dylan

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THE COUPLE: Carly Caceres (maiden name Reiner), 32, grew up in Potomac and graduated from Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School in Rockville. She works in human resources strategy at the consulting firm Accenture. Kevin Caceres, 32, is from Sacramento. He is a manager with the risk advisory practice at KPMG, an accounting organization. They recently moved to Bethesda. HOW THEY MET: Kevin and Carly were living in San Francisco when they met on the dating app Bumble in 2019. “I swiped on him because he had a puppy in his profile picture and a really nice smile,” Carly says. The puppy was Kevin’s then 3-month-old labradoodle, Lewis. As Carly and Kevin started dating, she took her pit bull rescue, Max, to meet up with Kevin and Lewis for long walks each morning before work. THE FIRST DATE: The two met at a bar called the Hi-Lo Club, and say they teased each other throughout the evening. Kevin laughed at how Carly’s outfit happened to match the bar’s decor—her sweater was the same dark green hue as the walls, and her gold jewelry matched the bar’s light fixtures. “Everything was immediately easy,” Kevin says. “We were always very open with each other.” Their next date was “one for the books,” Carly says. They met at a bar in her neighborhood, but Carly had scarcely finished her drink when Kevin rushed them to the next spot. He brought her to a palm reader, who said Carly’s heart chakras were closed and she was having a hard time trusting in relationships. As they left, Kevin asked if she’d like to get dinner. “No, I need a real drink after hearing about my love life in shambles,” Carly replied. BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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THE PROPOSAL: In early 2020, a year after the couple started dating, Carly’s parents gave Kevin her great-grandmother’s ring. Carly knew Kevin was concerned about how to propose, so she told him the story of her parents’ engagement to try to put him at ease. Carly’s dad had invited her mother on a horse and carriage ride through New York City. He pretended to need ChapStick— asking her if she had any before searching his own pockets. Instead, he pulled out a ring. Last Valentine’s Day, Carly and Kevin (and their dogs) went on a morning hike to the top of a hill overlooking the San Francisco Bay. Kevin turned to ask if she had any ChapStick. She thought he was mocking her dad—until he pulled out her great-grandmother’s ring. When 164

she saw the ring and realized he was serious, she “couldn’t have been more excited,” she says.

THE WEDDING: The couple wed on Aug. 8, 2020, in Carly’s parents’ backyard in Potomac. Kevin and Carly began wedding planning before the pandemic. They hoped to invite 250 to 300 guests to stay at the Salamander Resort & Spa in Middleburg, Virginia, for a weekend. But as the public health situation worsened, they held off on finalizing anything. In May, Carly’s company encouraged staff to take time off, so she and Kevin drove across the country to spend a month in Maryland. While here, they decided they wanted to get married and move to Maryland, so they extended their stay.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

THE CEREMONY: Carly is Jewish, and Kevin is not religious. For the ceremony, “we wanted to keep some of the traditions but make sure they were explained and felt meaningful to us,” Carly says. Her rabbi officiated the wedding, and the couple wrote their own vows. The two wed beneath a chuppah, a canopy used in Jewish weddings. The chuppah was wooden and covered in string lights, leaves and white and purple flowers. The cloth for the chuppah was Carly’s grandfather’s tallit (Jewish prayer shawl). In Jewish weddings, it is traditional for a rabbi to say a blessing before the bride and groom drink wine from a Kiddush cup. Their parents each poured wine into a Kiddush cup that Carly and Kevin drank from—“to show the extensions of traditions and family,” Carly says.

Carly’s mother wanted the guests to dance the hora—a traditional Jewish celebratory dance. To allow for social distancing, she cut 6-foot-long strips of ribbon so guests could hold the ends and “stay connected without touching,” Carly says. Guests ate a catered meal of crabcakes and beef tenderloin for dinner. In addition to a vanilla and lemon cake, there were mini ice cream sundaes—Kevin’s main request for the wedding.

OUT WITH A SPLASH: At the end of the night, the two were a little overheated from the August weather. Carly spontaneously jumped into the pool in her wedding dress, and Kevin followed in his suit. In hindsight, Carly says she “definitely does not recommend” swimming in a full-length gown.

THE HONEYMOON: The

THE RECEPTION: Carly

couple spent time with their families at Deep Creek Lake in Maryland and Bethany Beach in Delaware before rushing back to Bethesda to settle on the house they had bought.

asked the wedding band to learn a Grateful Dead song because she wanted to make sure her dad, a Deadhead who does not like to dance, would feel comfortable during the father-daughter dance. For the mother-son dance, Kevin’s brother-in-law, a classically trained opera singer, sang “What a Wonderful World.”

VENDORS: Catering and linens, Provisions Catering; flowers, Palace Florists; gown, Alexandra Grecco; hair, John Kuri; makeup, Haley Reiner; music, Onyx/Washington Talent; photography, Michael Bennett Kress; tent, Sugarplum; videography, Jack Hartzman/ Washington Talent.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL BENNETT KRESS

Kevin’s family rented an RV to come from California for the wedding, which included 26 guests.

WEDDINGS of the year

High School Reunion

PHOTOS BY ANNA MEYER

Churchill graduates had a waterside wedding that featured a wall of white peonies and a cake topper of the two wearing face masks

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THE COUPLE: Eunice (maiden name Kim) and Andy Woo, both 23, grew up in Potomac, graduated from Winston Churchill High School, went to college in Maryland and now live in New York. Eunice teaches kindergarten virtually for Anne Arundel County, and Andy is an Army signal officer stationed at Fort Drum in northern New York, about 30 miles from the Canadian border.

HOW THEY MET: Eunice and Andy met in 2008 as seventh graders at Herbert Hoover Middle School in Potomac. They traded barbs on the school bus. Eunice thought he was a bit annoying. They were “frenemies but still friends,” she says. As they grew up, they became friends and stayed close throughout high school. THE FIRST DATE: They each needed a date for senior prom. One day at school, their mutual friends told Eunice to go outside to eat lunch. She saw Andy holding posters for a “promposal.” The two had been friends for so long that prom felt natural, Andy says, and it marked a shift in their relationship.

THE PROPOSAL: On one of their first dates in 2014, Andy and Eunice went to dinner at seafood restaurant McCormick & Schmick’s at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland. After dinner, they went on a Ferris wheel ride, and Andy asked Eunice to be his girlfriend. In November 2019, they returned to National Harbor and ate dinner at the same restaurant. Andy suggested they ride the Ferris wheel. After some convincing, Eunice agreed. While they rode, Andy dropped to one knee and proposed. “I was very surprised and didn’t 166

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PHOTOS BY ANNA MEYER

actually process that he was serious until he pulled out the ring,” Eunice says.

the Christian hymns “He Will Hold Me Fast” and “Amazing Grace.”

THE CEREMONY: Andy and Eunice were married on Aug. 1, 2020, at Celebrations at the Bay in Pasadena, Maryland. Before the pandemic, the couple planned to wed surrounded by 180 guests. To follow social distancing guidelines, they had to invite fewer guests. Deciding on the final guest list of 50 friends and family members was stressful, Eunice says, but the wedding turned out to be intimate and relaxed. They wed on a clear evening overlooking the water. “Since it was outside, the view itself was already really beautiful,” she says. They got married under an arch of intricate white wire adorned with light pink and white peonies. The couple had a traditional Baptist ceremony officiated by Andy’s longtime pastor. A DJ played music as Eunice and the bridal party— mostly friends from Churchill— walked down the aisle. Afterward, the maid of honor sang

THE RECEPTION: In a tent filled with lights hanging from the ceiling, the reception included dancing to music from a DJ, and guests took photographs in front of a flower wall made entirely of white peonies. Table assignments were written in cursive and put on white flags stuck in small green succulents. Crabcakes and steak were served for dinner.

THE CAKE: The couple’s package with the wedding venue included a chocolate mousse cake, but Andy wanted carrot cake, so they went with alternating tiers of chocolate and carrot cake. The cake had a whimsical cake topper— caricatures of the two kissing while wearing face masks. THE SEND-OFF: At the end of the night, Andy and Eunice changed into traditional Korean attire. Eunice wore a vibrantly colored hanbok as the couple

passed under an archway of white balloons. “[Our wedding] was a really unique experience,” Eunice says. “We would have never imagined being married in the midst of this pandemic, but I think it worked out perfectly even through all of the drama and stress that came with it. … It’s kind of like it was meant to be this way.”

THE HONEYMOON: The newlyweds went to the Four Seasons hotel in Baltimore for two nights. They swam in the rooftop pool and indulged in fancy dinners. Despite the

unusual circumstances, “it felt like we were on a real honeymoon,” Eunice says.

VENDORS: Bridesmaid dresses, Azazie; cake topper, World Cake Topper on Etsy; DJ, Mike Lujan; gown, Stella York from Bridal Boutique of Columbia; florist, Junnie Kim; hair, VyVy with Tress Hairstyling Company; makeup, Brittany Cretella with Izzy B Makeup; officiant, James Choi, Pastor at New Covenant Baptist Church; photographer, Anna Meyer Photo; videographer, Paul Kwak Films.

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WEDDINGS of the year

Breaking News Coworkers at FOX 5 D.C. got married with only their parents and two close friends looking on

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THE COUPLE: Michelle Vojtko (maiden name Rotella), 33, grew up in Gaithersburg and graduated from Walkersville High School in Frederick County. Michael Vojtko, 31, is from Pennsylvania. He’s a news producer for FOX 5 D.C., and Michelle works as a freelance meteorologist for the TV station. They live in Germantown. HOW THEY MET: The two met in 2011 while working together at WNEP, the ABC affiliate in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He was her news producer, and she did weekend weather. “Journalism—we tend to all stick together,” Michael says. Though they started off as coworkers, they soon became friends.

PHOTOS BY PAIGE VICTORIA PHOTOGRAPHY

THE FIRST DATE: They were friends for more than a year before they realized how much they enjoyed each other’s company and decided to go on a date. Michelle wanted a “proper date” for their first meal together in the fall of 2012. Michael picked her up at her house and took her to Brutico’s, an Italian restaurant in Old Forge, Pennsylvania. “Being friends for a while and working in the same field, we had plenty to chat about,” Michelle says. “So it felt very natural.” Over the next five years, they dated on and off, staying in touch as Michelle moved first to Florida and then to North Carolina for work. In the fall of 2017, she moved to Baltimore to be near Michael. He says he knew she was the one because she was willing to move to where he was living to pursue a serious relationship with him. “That really meant a lot to me,” he says. BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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ary of 2019, they went on a cruise to the Bahamas. One day’s excursion was to the Blue Lagoon Island in Nassau, where they swam with sea lions. Michael had planned to propose there but decided against bringing the ring on the day trip because he was afraid of losing it in the water. That night, he called her to the balcony of their room on the ship. He gave her a homemade book documenting their seven years of knowing each other—the “unofficial history of their relationship.” The book included photos of the couple with family and friends, and on travels abroad. The final page had a picture of an engagement ring. When Michelle reached the book’s end and looked up, Michael was on one knee with the sunset and Atlantis hotel behind him.

THE WEDDING: The two were married on May 30, 2020, at The Manor at Silo Falls in Brookeville. They had planned to get married at the Chesapeake Inn Restaurant & Marina in Chesapeake City, Maryland, but when it became clear that they couldn’t because of the pandemic, they decided to elope, keeping the date of the planned wedding. Due to social distancing requirements, only their parents and two close friends could attend. THE CEREMONY: Michelle and Michael got married on a sun-filled day on the venue’s patio. Michelle’s pastor, whom she’s known since she was 8, officiated. The couple altered the traditional wedding vows— instead of the pastor asking, “Will you take…,” they said, “I choose you.” THE FLOWERS: Michael’s mom, who used to own a craft shop, made boutonnieres for the men and a cascading bouquet of red roses and white baby’s breath for Michelle. The 170

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bride tied a necklace from her great-grandmother into the blooms.

THE DRESS: Michelle plans to wear the wedding dress she picked out in May of 2019 at a larger wedding celebration the couple is planning at the Chesapeake Inn in July. “I just really want to have that moment,” she says. For their wedding at Silo Falls, she got a second white dress with a Vneck bodice and lace panels in the skirt. She wore a bejeweled hair-clip instead of a veil.

MINI RECEPTION: The venue set out cupcakes and champagne after the ceremony, and the guests made a champagne toast out of flutes with “Mr. and Mrs.” painted on them in script. “Everyone said a nice blurb while standing around cautiously in a circle,” Michelle says with a laugh. The ceremony and speeches lasted for about 15 minutes, she says.

CELEBRATING AT HOME: The couple’s parents did what they could to make the day special for them, Michael says. That evening, they bought the two takeout, including champagne, from Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse. Michelle’s brother sent them flowers, and Michael’s parents brought over a twotiered vanilla wedding cake with white roses. “The doorbell kept ringing,” Michelle says.

THE HONEYMOON: The couple had planned to tour Italy’s Amalfi Coast and Sicily, but when the pandemic forced them to cancel the trip, they went to an Airbnb rental near Ocean City, Maryland, for two nights, “just to kind of get away from everything,” Michael says. “I wouldn’t call it a honeymoon,” Michelle says. “It was more a minimoon.” VENDORS: Dress, Lulus; photography, Paige Victoria.

PHOTOS BY PAIGE VICTORIA PHOTOGRAPHY

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WEDDINGS of the year

On the Beach A Potomac couple wed by the ocean in Dewey with a small group of family members, including their dog

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THE COUPLE: Matt Chandler, 33, grew up in Potomac, graduated from Winston Churchill High School and is the chief financial officer for the D.C.based commercial real estate firm MGA. Sarah Chandler (maiden name Costa), 32, is from Boston. She works for Proud Moments in Montgomery County as a home instructor for children with autism. The early days of their relationship included dates at Cabin John shopping center in Potomac, and the two just bought a townhouse behind the shopping area, now called Cabin John Village. HOW THEY MET: Sarah and Matt met at a Fourth of July party six years ago. “So fireworks happened right out of the gate,” Matt says. During the party, Sarah ate only purple Skittles from the candy bowl. Matt noticed, picked out three handfuls of purple Skittles and brought them over to her. “He was really into candy and that’s just his family’s and his way of showing affection,” Sarah says. Once the two started talking, they continued for the rest of the night, and he drove her home.

PHOTOS BY LAURA FRIEDEL BELL

THE FIRST DATE: A few days later, Sarah and Matt met at Jackie’s, a restaurant in Silver Spring (now closed). It was Sarah’s labradoodle’s birthday, and Matt brought a toy for Cassie. “How people treat my family and my dog are a big part of how people become closer to me,” Sarah says. Aside from the gift, the couple says the first date and subsequent ones blended together. They have a running joke that 20 different dates are their second. “From when we met until six years later, I don’t think we spent BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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THE PROPOSAL: Matt decided to propose four years after they met, on a trip to Riviera Maya in Mexico. The morning they arrived, Matt brought Sarah to the beach. He scouted the coast for a spot to propose, eventually taking her to the end of the beach to escape the crowds. He asked a stranger to take a photo of them, and when Sarah, who loves all things British, realized the man was British, she chatted with him, asking whether he was from London and whether he liked sticky toffee pudding. It took Matt getting down on one knee to get her attention. After the proposal, the other beachgoers clapped, and resort employees brought the couple champagne.

THE WEDDING: Before the pandemic, Matt and Sarah were set to wed at Great Oak Manor, a bed and breakfast in Chestertown, Maryland, on Aug. 15, 2020. They planned all of the details during their 174

two-year engagement but had to scrap everything because of the pandemic. They wanted to keep their original date and decided to marry in a small evening ceremony at Dewey Beach in Delaware.

THE CEREMONY: At their wedding on the beach, Sarah’s older brother, Allen, officiated, reading from a script the couple wrote to incorporate their different faiths. Sarah is Christian, and Matt is Jewish. Eight members of their immediate families attended, and the couple hopes to celebrate with friends in April in a larger reception at the original venue. THE TRADITIONS: Sarah and Matt got married under a chuppah, a canopy used in Jewish weddings. Sarah’s father assembled the structure from bamboo cut from her parents’ yard and draped it with tallits (Jewish prayer shawls) that Matt’s grandfathers were given at their bar mitzvahs 80 years earlier. Sarah, who has family from Portugal and Kentucky, says that having

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

her father build the chuppah fulfilled a Portuguese tradition of parents making things for their children’s weddings. Keeping with a Jewish tradition, Matt stepped on a glass at the ceremony’s close. After the wedding, the two had the shards shaped into a heart and hung in a picture frame on their wall. The pair also incorporated a southern tradition called “burying the bourbon.” A month before the wedding, they traveled to the ceremony site and buried an upside-down bottle of bourbon in the sand. Tradition holds that feeding Mother Nature bourbon helps ward off rain on the wedding day. Though the forecast included rain, they got married during the few hours of the weekend when the sky was clear. After the ceremony, they dug up and drank the bourbon to celebrate.

THE FLOWERS: Sarah chose a bouquet of tropical flowers, with white orchids, palm leaves and orange birds of paradise. The orange hue has a double meaning—Matt is a

die-hard Baltimore Orioles fan, and Sarah went to Clemson University.

THE RECEPTION: After the wedding, guests gathered in a room at the Hyatt Place Dewey Beach for a meal that included Maryland classics—crabcakes and crab soup. For drinks, the couple chose to serve homemade orange crushes, made of orange juice, orange vodka, triple sec and lemon-lime soda. Matt had introduced Sarah to the regional drink while they were dating.

THE HONEYMOON: The couple had initially planned a three-week honeymoon to Italy and Greece, but when the pandemic hit, “that was one of the first things to go,” Sarah says. Instead, they spent five days in the Hamptons in New York.

VENDORS: Bridal gown, Adrianna Papell; groom’s blazer, Donovan England; flowers, Bayberry Flowers; food, Woody’s; photography, Laura Friedel Bell of Laura’s Focus Photography; rings, Blue Nile.

PHOTOS BY LAURA FRIEDEL BELL

more than one or two days apart,” Matt says.

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A CONVERSATION WITH

KATE ANDERSEN BROWER The bestselling author talks about presidents and first ladies, juggling kids and interviews, and that time Joe Biden made sure all the reporters had their seat belts on BY AMY HALPERN | PHOTO BY JOSEPH TRAN

Kate Andersen Brower at home with her kids (from left), Charlotte, Teddy and Graham

ON A CLOUDY AFTERNOON in October, bestselling author Kate Andersen Brower was sitting on the floor of a small walk-in closet in her Bethesda home. She needed a quiet spot for a live phone interview with NPR. Brower’s toddler son, Teddy, was in his room with the nanny; 8-year-old Graham and 7-year-old Charlotte were busy with Zoom school. Brower’s husband, Brooke Brower, was downstairs working, and the family’s wheaten terrier, Chance, was out of barking range. Halfway through the interview, Charlotte rushed in to ask her mom a spelling question. “I was gesticulating wildly, trying to get her to close the door,” Brower says. “It was a real pandemic moment.” For Brower, 40, who has published five books over the past five years, this was a typical COVID-era workday. In 2015, her first book, The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House, soared to No. 1 on The New York Times bestseller list and she became a regular guest on the news circuit about all things “East Wing.” (Her NPR interview in October was about President Donald Trump’s release from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center after treatment for the coronavirus.) Brower’s second book, First Women: The Grace and Power of America’s Modern First Ladies, another New York Times bestseller, was published in 2017, followed by First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power, in 2018. Brower’s latest books, Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump, and Exploring the White House: Inside America’s Most Famous Home, were both released in 2020. These days, Brower is working on two more books

and just finished consulting for CNN on First Ladies, a six-part documentary series. Brower grew up in Waterford, Connecticut, the daughter of author Christopher Andersen, whose nearly 40 books include The Day Diana Died and The Day John Died (about John F. Kennedy Jr.), both No. 1 New York Times bestsellers. Despite her father’s professional success, Brower says her fondest memories involve him being home when she got off the bus after school. “Sometimes he’d go into New York for the day to do the Today show or something, but he was mostly at home, and I loved watching him work,” she says. A stringer for her local newspaper in high school, Brower graduated from Manhattan’s Barnard College in 2002. She spent her junior year at Oxford and returned there after graduation to get her master’s degree in modern history. “It was like Disney World for history junkies,” she says of her time in England. When she went back to New York, she took a job at CBS News, but moved to Washington less than two years later for a position at Fox’s D.C. news bureau. “I filled in an application online,” she says. “Fox called me back and hired me, so I packed my stuff and moved to D.C.” In 2006, she left Fox for Bloomberg and worked her way up to White House correspondent. Her son was born in late 2012, and shortly afterward she left Bloomberg, moved from D.C. to Bethesda, and began writing books. Bethesda Magazine spoke to Brower over Zoom as she sat in the bedroom/office of her Wood Acres home just before the November general election, and followed up with her days afterward.

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interview You’ve been promoting your two latest books in the middle of a pandemic. How is that going? We have a little home studio we did when Team of Five came out. The first TV interview I had was on Morning Joe on MSNBC. My husband had jury-rigged bedsheets over windows and put two floor lamps with exposed bulbs next to me and had spent maybe an hour setting up that shot. After the interview, he was so excited. He came in and said, ‘You got a nine out of 10 on Room Rater on Twitter.’

Is it more under control now, all these months later? [Laughter] I was just on a call with a British documentary filmmaker about being interviewed for an episode they’re doing on Jackie Kennedy. Charlotte burst in asking for water. I muted the phone and went down to the kitchen to get it for her, and two minutes later she burst in again, crying, because she spilled it and the water was getting perilously close to the school-issued laptop she uses for Zoom school.

For Team of Five, what led you to write a book on the lives of the U.S. presidents after they leave office? Actually, my daughter came up with the idea for Team of Five. I had signed a two-book deal with HarperCollins, and I had just finished my vice president book, First in Line. My daughter said, ‘Why don’t you do a book about Barack Obama and George Bush?’ That’s how it came about.

Exploring the White House is your first children’s book, written for 8-to12-year-olds. Did your kids come up with the idea, or were they simply your inspiration? It was having kids and seeing that there wasn’t a book quite like that. My kids had read the book Grace for President, but there wasn’t anything on the mostly African American butlers and housekeepers who serve the first family. I wanted to make American history accessible to kids, and not always about the main actors. My son’s favorite chapter is on the White House ghosts.

How do book signings work these days? I did a virtual book signing at Politics and Prose in D.C., but it’s very different. I have no idea who was watching. Unless readers reach out on Twitter or email, you never hear from them. It’s a negative for writers because you don’t get to talk with your readers. You are involved in so many projects and you have three young children. How do you juggle it all? We have a great full-time nanny. She’s much more patient than I am. She helps them with Zoom school while I work. I don’t know how parents do it who can’t afford help. But still, I remember back in March or April when the kids were first home and doing homework from the dining room table because I hadn’t even ordered desks yet. I was trying to help my daughter with math, and The Times of London wanted to talk about Melania Trump. I was trying to do it all, but I wasn’t doing any of it very well. 178

Your sister is 10 years younger than you, went to art school and lives in Manhattan. Your father is an acclaimed writer. What about your mom? My mom was a commercial banker in New York—now she’s very active in their community [in Connecticut]. She is also an editor—always our first reader, my dad’s and mine. She has a great sense of pacing in books. She can also be brutally honest. She always uses a red pen, and she can be liberal with it. She writes comments in the margins with lots of question marks and exclamation points and ‘WHAT?’ in all caps. Any advice from your parents that has stuck with you? My dad taught me not to leave voice messages when trying to get an interview with someone. He said it’s always

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

better to call back and get them on the phone. Messages are too easily ignored. Or deleted. Your first real job in journalism was at CBS in New York City. What was that like? I was a broadcast associate. It was from midnight to 10 in the morning. I was basically stuffing producers’ mailboxes at 3 a.m. and the place was deserted. When I got hired, I asked the woman who hired me if I should come in at 8 a.m. or 9, and she said, ‘Midnight is fine.’ She also told me, ‘Don’t worry about what you are wearing.’ I had bought all these new clothes. Andy Cohen—the Bravo host— was a producer there at the time, and I would put mail in his mail slot. Now I’ve been lucky enough to do his radio show and meet him. What epiphany did you have that made you leave New York for Washington? It was 2004. I was working for CBS’s Early Show, but I volunteered to go to Madison Square Garden to help [CBS This Morning] set up for the Republican National Convention. I’ve always loved politics, but I just fell in love with the theater of it—the proximity to people who make really important decisions, the sense that they were there for a purpose other than money. I think New York is so much about money, and I felt that D.C. was more about power and smarts. You came to D.C. to work at Fox News. Your husband, Brooke, is managing editor of CNN Politics, but you met him in 2005 when he was working for MSNBC, right? We worked in the same building on North Capitol Street. I was booking people for Fox, and he was working at Hardball [with Chris Matthews] at MSNBC a few floors up. A lot of people would do an interview with Fox and then get on an elevator and do Hardball. It was fun that we were in the same world covering the same stories. It would be a better story if I was a real

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interview dyed-in-the-wool conservative and we were at odds, but it wasn’t like that. How did you go from producer at Bloomberg TV to print reporter covering the White House? I started volunteering on the weekends to cover the arrivals of Marine One taking off and going to Camp David. I remember the first time, they said, ‘Be there at 7 a.m. Saturday morning for the Camp David departure.’ I was so naive—I thought I was getting to go to Camp David. I’d packed a bag. But it was literally standing on the South Lawn watching the [helicopter] take off and then calling my editor and saying, ‘It went fine.’ Is there a lesson in that story for young people who want a career like yours? I taught as an adjunct at American University in 2018, and I told the kids that’s what you need to do—volunteer to do those kinds of shifts, the kinds no one wants. Sit in the press pool van while the president goes golfing. I did that many times with Obama [when I first started as a White House correspondent] because no one wanted to do it. There wasn’t a lot of news, but it was a chance to see how it all worked. But news broke on some of your trips… The ‘underwear bomber’ story broke while I was in Hawaii with Obama. And the prostitute story was interesting: We went to Cartagena, Colombia, with Obama in 2012 for an international summit. But it was completely overshadowed by this glossy story about the prostitutes and the Secret Service. President Obama came to the back of the plane and talked with us about that off the record. Obama didn’t come to the back of the plane much, so it was exciting. I hear that Trump comes to the back of the plane much more often. Was covering Joe Biden different from covering Obama? Biden would come to the back of the 180

plane and talk to us incessantly. He’s a talker. On a trip to California with Biden, he came and said to us—the reporters— to make sure we put our seat belts on. Then he sat down next to me. I said to him, ‘Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?’ Since it was for Bloomberg, they were questions about the economy and trade with China. He answered my questions and went back to his seat, but later in the flight his press secretary came back and reamed me out for it. The press secretary said, ‘You can’t just take advantage of him like that.’ I don’t think Biden knew about that. On the return flight, the press secretary came back and apologized to me for getting so upset. You spent a lot of time with Biden on his trip to China, Japan and Mongolia in 2011. You were one of only three reporters traveling with him. What did you learn about him on that trip? I was thinking of that Mongolia trip, and I remember that as we watched this incredible celebration, which included traditional Mongol-style wrestling and the presentation of a Mongolian horse, [Biden] came over to where we reporters were sitting and started taking photos of us. Our heads were buried in our BlackBerrys. He was gently chiding us about not stopping to soak it all in. Here he had been all over the world, but even to him that visit was remarkable. I always remember that moment when I’m staring at my phone for too long. It’s important to look up now and then. The Washington Post called your first book, The Residence, “absolutely delicious.” What inspired you to write about the staff who serve the president and first family? The idea came to me in 2013 because Michelle Obama had this lunch for the female reporters who covered her—the East Wing reporters. There were about a dozen of us, and this butler came in and he was serving us this really elegant meal. Michelle Obama was on a firstname basis with him, and they had this

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

rapport like he was almost part of their family. It was very interesting to me that there were all these people who work at the White House and are completely devoted to the first lady and the president. Is the staff really devoted equally to every first family, or do they have favorites? In 2016, when the florists and housekeepers and chefs would tell me they didn’t care whether it would be Clinton or Trump who won, I kind of didn’t believe them. But it’s true. They are just as devoted to Trump as they were to Obama. Even though many of them are African Americans and many of them are immigrants, too. They are devoted to the White House and they see it as a great honor to serve the first family. During the Reagan years, there was a doorman who needed bypass surgery, but he said he needed to wait for the president to go on a trip because the president needed him. He died of a heart attack on his way to work. What are you hearing from the residence staff about the impending arrival of the Bidens? I think the residence staff is looking forward to a sense of normalcy. I’m hearing that some staffers who retired under Trump may look to come back when Biden takes over. You’ve interviewed hundreds of people over the years. Any favorites? I’d have to say James Ramsey. He was head butler at the White House for decades. He was in his 60s when I interviewed him. He was a wonderful African American man who was very close with the Bushes—George W. and his wife. He was so close to the Bushes that Laura Bush and Jenna flew from Texas to go to his funeral, and Laura Bush spoke at his funeral. He had a small apartment, but the walls of his living room had all these photos of him with Bill Clinton, the pope, Nelson Mandela, Bush. There

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Of all your interviews, who’s been your toughest? The politicians are the hardest. Al Gore was a really tough interview to get. It was in 2017, and it was on the phone, unfortunately, so I couldn’t see his face. I asked about Hillary Clinton—what it was like to be vice president having such a powerful first lady, a first lady with a West Wing office and competing interests. He said, ‘I think our conversation is almost over.’ And that was toward the beginning of the interview.

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he was with his arms around some of the most famous world leaders. He was proud but also very humble. He said he would joke with the Bush daughters because he was a bachelor and they would give him dating advice and he’d give them dating advice.

Who have you thought would be your toughest interview, but turned out not to be? I interviewed Dick Cheney at his house in McLean. His neighbor was doing construction, and Cheney was jokingly complaining about the noise. I’d been worried he’d be difficult to interview and give one-word answers, but he was kind and engaged and a real student of history. We talked in his library for about two hours. He told me the most difficult day of his political career was the day Gerald Ford had to concede and [Cheney] had to place the call to Jimmy Carter because Ford had lost his voice. [Cheney was President Ford’s chief of staff.] Who would you most like to interview, but haven’t been able to get? Hillary Clinton. And Michelle Obama— I’ve interviewed her in a group setting, but not for a book. First ladies are tough to get. For instance, I’ve interviewed Trump, but I’ve never interviewed Melania. I think they feel that because they weren’t elected, they shouldn’t have to put themselves in that uncomfortable position. And each new first lady is picked apart in a way they never were before. But the first lady’s role is even more fascinating

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because it’s undefined—there’s nothing about it in the Constitution. How do you see Jill Biden putting her spin on the role of first lady? She’ll be the first first lady to continue a full-time career that’s separate from her husband’s. [Jill Biden is a professor in the English department at Northern Virginia Community College.] No one expected Bill Clinton to be obsessing over state dinner seating charts if Hillary had won—so I hope that people will not be too terribly surprised to see a first lady continue her career. It’s important that we have a first lady who represents the balancing act so many women face every day—either by choice or because they have to work to support their families. Things have become more polarized in the five years since The Residence was published. Has that impacted the projects you choose these days? It feels completely different today. Everybody now wants you to have an opinion. I always feel like, why does my opinion even matter? That’s where the journalism background comes in—you just want to tell interesting stories from different perspectives. That’s why my next book is not going to be about politics. It’s a biography about a woman who is not political. I think that’s healthier right now. You are also working on your first novel… I’m working on a novel because I’ve always wanted to do one. It’s about a fictional first lady, but it’s a bit dark. It’s so much fun to write fiction. But it’s also scary in a different way from writing nonfiction because you are making up these characters. The first time my book agent said the names of my characters it felt so strange. Before that, I’d only said them in my head. You moved to D.C. in 2005 and Bethesda in 2013. What are your favorite hangouts—pre-pandemic and now? I love how they’ve blocked Little Falls [Parkway] during the weekends. We

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MICAH A. BONAVIRI

Principal

Estates & Trusts Attorney

PROTECTING YOUR CHILD’S INHERITANCE

The COVID-19 pandemic not only underscores how uncertain life can be but drives home the importance of having proper estate planning documents in place. As you review your current estate planning documents, or consider establishing a plan in the near future, a commonly asked question is: How can we preserve our family assets passing on to our children in the event of a child’s divorce, yet ensure that our child has reasonable access to the assets during his or her lifetime? The solution may be what is often referred to as a “Parental Prenup.” In particular, rather than leaving your assets to a child outright, or even in trust with rights of withdrawal at staggered ages (such as 25, 30, and 35), you may want to consider establishing a Lifetime Trust or Generation-Skipping Transfer (GST) Trust for your children in your own Will or Revocable Trust. For decades the use of a Lifetime Trust was often associated with very wealthy families, however Lifetime Trusts have grown in popularity over the past several years for most families addressing asset protection and tax related concerns, notwithstanding the level of wealth. To address fears that a child may not end up with Mr. (or Ms.) Right – hence the reference to a “Parental Prenup” - the primary goal of a Lifetime or GST Trust is to provide certain benefits for the child for his or her lifetime (for example, health, education and overall support needs) but also ensure that on that child’s death the remaining assets in the Trust pass on to future generations and not under the control of his or her spouse (both on a child’s death and in the event of divorce). Importantly, your child can even take control over of his or her Lifetime Trust at a certain age (such as 35) and still protect the inherited assets. It is important to note that a Lifetime Trust may also be structured to avoid certain transfer taxes on the child’s subsequent death and to provide protection from other potential creditors during the child’s lifetime. To learn more about whether a “Parental Prenup” may fit your estate planning needs, or for any other information regarding your estate planning questions and concerns, contact a member of our estate planning department.

301-340-2020 • www.steinsperling.com Micah A. Bonaviri is an attorneys with Stein Sperling. As members of the Firm’s estates and trusts department, Micah guides individuals and families as they consider wealth preservation, succession planning and charitable gift planning techniques. 184

interview

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taught our daughter how to ride a bike without training wheels in the spring there. It was something we had never gotten around to doing, and quarantine forced us to think of ways to fill the weekends at home. We used to go to Millie’s and Compass Coffee in Spring Valley, where I’d bring my laptop to work. I think I wrote the entire children’s book there. For date nights, my husband and I used to go to Woodmont Grill and eat at the bar. We still get takeout from [Kim’s] Yirasai every weekend it seems. Our kids love sushi. I’m addicted to their Inari and their soybean roll. With your hectic schedule, do you ever get a chance to read? I’ve been taking walks with a lot of moms in my neighborhood once or twice a week—the moms of other first and second graders. On my way to meet them, I listen to books on Audible. I just read The Vanishing Half [by Brit Bennett] and The Guest List, by Lucy Foley, that I liked. I also just reread My Turn by Nancy Reagan. It’s my favorite first lady memoir because Nancy Reagan takes everyone to task. It’s my favorite next to Michelle Obama’s Becoming. When the pandemic is over and you can travel again, where is the first place you want to go? I would go to Paris with my kids. I keep talking with my daughter about how we’ll go to the Louvre and see the Mona Lisa and then we’ll go for baguettes. I’ve been showing her pictures of the glass pyramid—the I.M. Pei pyramid outside the Louvre—and she’s excited about that. I have a very romantic idea of taking a 7-year-old and an 8-year-old and a 2-year-old to Paris. Amy Halpern is a journalist who has worked in print and television news, and as the associate producer of an Emmy award-winning documentary. She lives in Potomac.

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” Readers’ Pick: Best Brokerage for Luxury Homes, Long & Foster® Real Estate

A full-service Realtor® in Maryland, D.C. and Virginia — nothing is too small or too big. Teresa attributes her success not only to her passion for homes, but also to her intuition regarding the psychology of buying and selling. Her business has grown successfully and consistently thanks to the repeat business of happy clients and their introductions to friends, family and neighbors. This track record is only possible because Teresa delivers both results and an enjoyable experience. For listing information and/or to sell/buy your home, call 240.286.7493 or visit www.longandfoster.com/teresaburton.

Teresa Burton Helping Clients Find and Sell Homes for Over 20 Years 240.286.7493 teresa.burton@lnf.com • A Top Producer 2019 & 2020 • Licensed in Maryland, DC and Virginia • Relocation Specialist Top Agent Network Park Potomac Office 301.469.4700

9:23 AM

23003 Jan-Feb21 Bethesda CONTENT all.indd 3

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BANNER TEAM 301.365.9090 Info@BannerTeam.com • BannerTeam.com AWARDS AND HONORS

Front L to R: Brooke Bassin, Emily Moritt, Wendy Banner, Gail Gordon, Ilene West Gordon, Julia Fortin, Sharyn Goldman Back L to R: Michelle Teichberg, Jody Aucamp, Pat Karta

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$425,000

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3 BR | 4 FBA | 2 Garage Spaces Contact Wendy Banner 301.365.9090

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23003 Jan-Feb21 Bethesda CONTENT all.indd 4

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interior design. architecture. home sales.

PHOTO BY STACY ZARIN GOLDBERG

home

The pandemic created challenges for home renovation projects, including this Gaithersburg kitchen remodel that started in early 2020. For more, turn to page 192.

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189

home | HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS

A PLACE FOR EVERYTHING It’s a new year, and time to recommit to getting organized BY CAROLYN WEBER

1. NEAT AND TIDY

2. CONCEAL IT

3. WORK WONDERS

Channel your inner Marie Kondo with a super orderly laundry room. The Trenton Laundry Organization System features rustic yet modern wood and metal components for every function. There are wall shelves and flip-down items—a drying rack, folding table and laundry bag holder (the table and bag holder are not pictured). The pieces range from $29 to $299 at Pottery Barn in Bethesda (potterybarn.com, 301-654-1598).

Although it’s intended as a foyer piece for dropping keys and storing mail, this compact and versatile chest can go anyplace in the house. It comes in 12 colors, including a gray finish with a white interior behind two glass doors. The Stretto entryway cabinet is 39 inches high, 36 inches wide and 11 inches deep, and sells for $699 at Crate and Barrel in Upper Northwest D.C.’s Spring Valley neighborhood (crateandbarrel.com, 202-364-6100).

Refresh your home office with a new desk organizer from Rifle Paper Co. The box, with a cheery floral pattern, comes with coordinating desk essentials—a pad of paper, three magnets, two enamel paper clips, one eraser, three binder clips, two pencils and 20 gold pushpins. Find the Garden Party office kit for $34.95 at Paper Source in Bethesda (papersource.com, 301-215-9141).

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COURTESY PHOTOS

5 4. GOING UP

5. THAT’S A WRAP

6. TOY STORY

Add some stylish vertical storage in the kitchen or bathroom with a wall-mounted caddy for fruits and vegetables or makeup and hand towels. It’s crafted from recycled iron, has removable baskets, and comes in bronze or dark gray. The three-tier basket wall storage is 39 inches high, 13 inches wide, and is priced at $228 at Anthropologie in Bethesda (anthropologie.com, 240-345-9413).

Casters make it easy to wheel this handy unit from room to room, wherever you’re wrapping gifts. It’s equipped with a ribbon dispenser and a paper roll holder on the sides. Wire mesh drawers keep supplies organized, and the melamine top provides a smooth work surface. The Elfa white mesh gift-wrap cart is $229.99 at The Container Store in Rockville (containerstore.com, 301770-4800).

Big bins make stowing toys, books or laundry quick and simple, and kids can do it themselves. These heavy cotton canvas containers from 3 Sprouts have brightly colored animal motifs that add to a room’s decor. They measure 17½ inches high and 17 inches in diameter and retail for $24.99 each at Anglo Dutch Pools & Toys in Bethesda (anglodutch poolsandtoys.com, 301-951-0636).

Carolyn Weber lives in Silver Spring and frequently writes about architecture and home design. BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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home

A renovation of the writer’s 60-year-old split-level ranch house in Silver Spring’s Woodside Park neighborhood was underway when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. To eliminate foot traffic through the living spaces and keep the construction crew and family separated, the project manager built an exterior staircase for the workers.

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A Change in Plans Renovations during the pandemic have required adjustments—from setting up sanitizing stations to workers entering through a second-story window

PHOTO BY CAROLYN WEBER

BY CAROLYN WEBER

IT’S 8 O’CLOCK on a March morning in 2020 and I’m bracing for the day ahead. The painters and plumber are parked in front of my house, and I just finished a phone call with the project manager to discuss the daily schedule. He is in his truck in the driveway. My husband has been working in the den-turned-home office for two hours already, taking advantage of the early morning quiet. The kids chatter over breakfast before logging in to virtual first grade. I rest my coffee cup on the foyer table, don a face mask, unlock the front door to let the workers in, and make a mad dash behind a plastic curtain so our paths do not cross. We are all becoming aware of the risks of a new invisible enemy. This is remodeling in the time of COVID-19. When we bought our 1960 ranch-style house in Silver Spring 14 years ago, my husband and I knew that the unfinished attic had potential. We were newlyweds and didn’t need the extra living space, so we used the attic to stash hand-me-down furniture, holiday decorations and boxes of nostalgia. After more than a decade in the house, and with twin boys who were outgrowing the small room they’d shared for seven years, we made a plan to expand. Architect Shawn Staples of MGD Design/Build in Kensington created a second-floor layout with three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a laundry area, and took advantage of eave space for closets and storage. We’d been planning for almost a year when the building permit was approved the day after Christmas in 2019. A giant dumpster arrived on New Year’s Eve, and work started a few days later. 2020 was off to a promising start. The process went smoothly—at first. My husband was at the office all day, the children were in school, and I was working at home, trying to stay out of the way. The

project manager ushered a steady parade of subcontractors through the front door, down the hall and up to the attic. In the first few months they framed the rooms, rerouted plumbing and ductwork, opened up the roof in three places to build large dormers, and installed windows, insulation, drywall and a new staircase. By mid-March, COVID was spreading down the East Coast, and the whole family had made the move to working and schooling at home. The construction continued, with workers wearing face masks. A floor-to-ceiling plastic tarp protected the office and dining room-turnedclassroom, where we were confined most of the day. It wasn’t easy to concentrate on corporate conference calls or first grade math while a crew installed hardwood floors over our heads, but we managed. On March 30, Gov. Larry Hogan issued a stay-at-home order for the state of Maryland. However, contractors were deemed essential employees, so we kept the project rolling. The news grew worse every day as infection rates rose and information about the virus and how it spread evolved. The outside world was becoming so scary and uncertain; we wanted our home to be a safe haven. But with strangers coming in and out, and my urge to wipe down every doorknob and light switch constantly, we needed a break. On Wednesday, April 1, we called Shawn and told him that we would like to shut down temporarily, regroup, and talk through our options. By Monday, he and his team had devised a clever solution that would keep us all separated and the project progressing. They built a sturdy exterior staircase to the second floor and removed the window sash every day to access the work area. The stairs, attached to the front of

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home

You Can Go Home Again (Eventually) Nora Gardner and Matt Kirtland were in the homestretch of an extensive overhaul of their 1907 farmhouse in Chevy Chase’s Drummond neighborhood when the pandemic prevented them from getting across the finish line on time. In June 2019, the couple and their two daughters moved to a two-bedroom rental condo in Friendship Heights. They planned to stay there until the targeted completion date of early spring 2020. The project, which included reworking the floor plan of the first level and doubling the size of the second floor with a new master suite, had already experienced some delays. When the COVID shutdown arrived, construction stopped. Once the new jobsite safety 194

GTM Architects Senior Associate Tamara Gorodetzky and Bethesda-based interior designer Celia Welch worked to meld this Chevy Chase home’s original architectural character with modern conveniences. The updated and expanded kitchen features classic elements, including lattice windows, arched doorways and crown molding.

protocols were instituted, crews trickled back in, working in shifts. There were delays in the delivery of materials, and the regular in-person meetings with Bethesda-based GTM Architects and builder McFarland Woods of Glen Echo were relegated to conference calls. Before the pandemic, the family was enjoying their temporary digs. “We liked the urban living experience—walking to the shops and restaurants, and the kids liked riding the elevator,” Gardner says of her daughters, 10-year-old Caroline and 7-year-old Evelyn. But the March stay-at-home order closed everything. “It became a lot less fun,” she says. With all four of them either working or doing virtual learning in three rooms—without outdoor space—it was tight. “We put a desk in our bedroom and took turns using it,” Gardner says. “It was crazy.” After a month in the close quarters, Kirtland decided to rent a room at a nearby Courtyard Marriott and set up a virtual office where he could work from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. That created space for the nanny to come to the rental condo during the day and help with the children while Gardner worked. The arrangement lasted four more weeks, at which point they decamped to their house in

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Maine for the summer. “We figured we could get away, and also take the pressure off the renovation,” Kirtland says. With padding already added to the construction schedule, the couple took the opportunity to expand the scope of the project. The only caveat was that they needed to move back by the time school started in late August. They had always considered finishing the lower level beneath the original part of the house, and because it would be a loud and dusty job, the builder recommended that they do it while the house was empty. Digging out the basement floor and lowering it increased the ceiling height from 6½ feet to 8 feet. The addition of HVAC and new lighting created a usable recreation room. “Having the extra time turned out to be a silver lining because we were able to get these cool extra things done,” Kirtland says. Another late-in-the-game bonus space was a roof deck above the master suite, accessed by a narrow staircase and hatch door. “I was inspired by the admiral in Mary Poppins,” Kirtland jokes. They can see for miles in every direction from the new outdoor perch, and they are looking forward to taking in Fourth of July fireworks.

PHOTOS BY MICHAEL VENTURA

the house, were awkward looking and became a conversation piece for passersby who were no doubt speculating that they might be a permanent fixture. As businesses were closing temporarily, we were lucky to get all of the necessary materials. The contractor happened to stop by the tile store to pick up the shower flooring just as they were shutting their doors indefinitely. We’d intended to go on a field trip to a marble warehouse to choose the material for the master bathroom countertop, but the virus eliminated those plans. Instead, I relied on virtual warehouse tours and dimly lit photos of stone slabs to make the important, and expensive, decision. MGD was used to keeping projects on schedule by having lots of people working at the same time. With tradespeople on staggered schedules, the project took about two months longer than expected. But under the circumstances, we didn’t care. Everyone was relieved that it was finished and we were all healthy. We aren’t the only ones who found ourselves trying to complete renovations during the pandemic. Here are three families that found ways to get their projects done despite the challenges.

Matt Kirtland, Nora Gardner and daughters Evelyn (left) and Caroline hang out at their newly remodeled home in Chevy Chaseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Drummond neighborhood. COVID-19 threw a wrench into the schedule last year, causing delays, but ultimately enabled them to broaden the scope of the project.

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Tom Gilday of Gilday Renovations in Silver Spring had his crew poised to start on the basement renovation of a 9-year-old duplex in Friendship Heights on Monday, March 16, 2020. But with coronavirus fears growing, he knew that his clients, Jim and Kate Garland, would have concerns about how the job would be handled. So, over the weekend, he and his project manager wrote up new operating procedures and bought supplies to make hand-washing stations. By the time he spoke with the Garlands on Sunday evening, he was able to reassure them, and work started the next morning as planned. “We almost canceled,” says Kate, who was nervous about having a lot of people in her house. “For our health and safety, and theirs.” There is no exterior access to the lower level, so the project manager removed a basement window and replaced it with a temporary door. 196

That enabled the workers to avoid going through the house and risk coming in contact with the family. The crew also secured the interior staircase with heavy plastic to limit airflow between the levels. Once they were set up, workers started converting the children’s playroom into a recreation space for the entire family. The Garlands wanted to upgrade the room and make it a place where their children—ages 10, 12 and 14—would want to hang out and entertain friends for years to come. Northwest D.C.-based interior designer Annie Elliott’s plan divided the room into zones—a media area with a sectional sofa and a large television, a built-in desk for school projects, a space for game tables, and a wet bar. “It’s a multipurpose room that appeals to all ages,” Elliott says. Converting a basement closet into wine storage for 1,000 bottles was always part of the plan, and it turned out to be handy as the pandemic dragged on.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Inset: A temporary door replaced a window to allow workers to access the basement while limiting contact with the homeowners. Top: The sleek modern design in the rec room works for kids and adults. A thin wood wall covering in a herringbone pattern prevents the television from dominating the room visually. Wall-to-wall carpeting with a pixel-like pattern stands up to wear and tear.

“Who knew that the importance of wine would reach such a high level?” Jim says with a laugh. Since the project’s completion last May, the family has been using the recreation room all the time. They hang out, have movie nights and challenge each other to pingpong and air hockey matches. “It’s a fun place to escape within the house,” Jim says.

TOP PHOTO BY STACY ZARIN GOLDBERG; INSET PHOTO COURTESY

Rec Room Redo

TOP PHOTO BY STACY ZARIN GOLDBERG; INSET PHOTO COURTESY

A Kitchen Tale Justin and Breeana Shields loved everything about the spacious brick colonial in Gaithersburg’s Lakelands community that they purchased in the summer of 2019, except the kitchen—the layout was awkward, the cabinets and counters weren’t their style, and the island had sharp corners and an odd arrowlike shape. The pair wasted no time researching remodelers and selected Case Architects & Remodelers in Bethesda. By early 2020, they were ready to begin. “I remember that we measured in February, but by the time they signed the contract we had to do it remotely,” says Christine King, an interior designer at Case. The pandemic had started, and Case was taking steps to keep its employees and clients safe by checking the temperatures of workers in the field, using air purifiers, installing sanitizing stations and making masks mandatory.

“We had already chosen the materials when they gave us the option to postpone,” Breeana says. “With the protocols they put in place, we felt comfortable starting.” The crew used the attached garage adjacent to the kitchen as a staging area, and isolated the kitchen from the rest of the home with heavy plastic. Two of the Shields’ children had already transitioned to middle school and high school online when their older son was sent home from college. “I work from home, so I knew that the renovation would be somewhat disruptive for me, but I wasn’t anticipating that the kids would be there, too,” Breeana says. For the most part, the kids studied in their rooms, and the family made meals in the basement kitchenette. “We also got a lot of takeout,” she says. The stairway to the basement is in the kitchen, and the workers started early, so getting to the kitchenette for breakfast meant going out the front door and around to the basement entrance at the

Inset: Plastic sheeting limited the airflow between the kitchen work zone and the rest of the house. Top: Interior designer Christine King and project designer Samantha Klickna of Case Architects & Remodelers helped Breeana Shields realize the timeless look she envisioned, with classic white cabinets and quartz countertops.

back of the house. Breeana and the kids tried to time their lunch breaks for when the workers were out, so they could dash into the garage and grab things from the fridge, which the workers had relocated temporarily. With the family still spending lots of time at home, they are glad they went forward with the renovation. “As the pandemic stretched on, it was nice to have something to look forward to,” Breeana says.

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home | BY THE NUMBERS

Data provided by

OCTOBER’S MOST EXPENSIVE at A peek rea’s f the a some o pensive x most e sold n rece tly s house

HOME SALES

SALE PRICE:

$4.3 million SALE PRICE:

$11.3 million LIST PRICE: $13 MILLION

Address: 5517 Pembroke Road, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 147 Listing Agency: Compass Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 8/5

LIST PRICE: $5 MILLION

Address: 9111 Harrington Drive, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 172 Listing Agency: Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 8/2

SALE PRICE:

$4.1 million LIST PRICE: $4.2 MILLION

Address: 7423 Hampden Lane, Bethesda 20814 Days on Market: 167 Listing Agency: Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/2

SALE PRICE:

$5.5 million LIST PRICE: $5.8 MILLION

Address: 5214 Parkway Drive, Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 1 Listing Agency: Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 8 Full/Half Baths: 6/2

SALE PRICE:

$3.4 million LIST PRICE: $3.6 MILLION

Address: 4212 Stanford St., Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 1 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 5/2

SALE PRICE:

$3.2 million LIST PRICE: $3.4 MILLION

SALE PRICE:

$4.5 million

Address: 12025 Evening Ride Drive, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 17 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 8 Full/Half Baths: 8/2

LIST PRICE: $4.5 MILLION

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SALE PRICE:

$3.2 million LIST PRICE: $3.4 MILLION

Address: 8001 Overhill Road, Bethesda 20814 Days on Market: 196 Listing Agency: Compass Bedrooms: 4 Full/Half Baths: 4/2

COURTESY PHOTOS

Address: 8921 Burdette Road, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 63 Listing Agency: TTR Sotheby’s International Realty Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 7/1

SALE PRICE:

$2.7 million LIST PRICE: $2.7 MILLION

Address: 7006 Exeter Road, Bethesda 20814 Days on Market: 6 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

SALE PRICE:

$2.7 million LIST PRICE: $2.5 MILLION

Address: 5705 Oldchester Road, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 1 Listing Agency: RE/MAX Realty Services Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 5/2

SALE PRICE:

$2.6 million LIST PRICE: $2.8 MILLION

COURTESY PHOTOS

Address: 8401 Rapley Ridge Lane,

Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 28 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 4/3

SALE PRICE:

$2.5 million LIST PRICE: $2.5 MILLION

Address: 3713 Livingston St. NW, Washington, D.C. 20015 Days on Market: 126 Listing Agency: Compass Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 6/0

SALE PRICE:

$2.5 million LIST PRICE: $2.5 MILLION

Address: 7311 Brookville Road, Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 310 Listing Agency: Gerlach Real Estate Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

7735 old georgetown road, suite 700 bethesda, md 20814 240.333.2000

GTMARCHITECTS.COM

SALE PRICE:

$2.4 million LIST PRICE: $2.5 MILLION

Address: 8021 Park Lane, Bethesda 20814 Days on Market: 13 Listing Agency: Compass Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

SALE PRICE:

$2.4 million LIST PRICE: $2.4 MILLION

Address: 11816 Centurion Way, Potomac 20854 Days on Market: 12 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 7 Full/Half Baths: 7/1

SALE PRICE:

$2.3 million LIST PRICE: $2.5 MILLION

Address: 3725 Harrison St. NW,

Readers’ Pick, Winner Best Architect 2017–2021 Best Architect for Custom Home 2016–2020

Readers’ Pick, A Top Vote Getter Best Architect for Home Renovations 2020 Best Architect 2008–2015

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home | BY THE NUMBERS Washington, D.C. 20015 Days on Market: 28 Listing Agency: Washington Fine Properties Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

SALE PRICE:

$2.3 million LIST PRICE: $2.4 MILLION

Address: 7117 Exfair Road, Bethesda 20814 Days on Market: 104 Listing Agency: Compass Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

SALE PRICE:

$2.2 million LIST PRICE: $2.4 MILLION

Address: 7203 Nevis Road, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 28 Listing Agency: Compass Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 6/2

Days on Market: 33 Listing Agency: TTR Sothebyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s International Realty Bedrooms: 7 Full/Half Baths: 4/1

SALE PRICE:

$2.2 million LIST PRICE: $2.3 MILLION

Address: 9120 Kittery Lane, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 10 Listing Agency: Compass Bedrooms: 5 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

SALE PRICE:

$2 million LIST PRICE: $2.1 MILLION

Address: 6716 Brigadoon Dr., Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 88 Listing Agency: Long & Foster Real Estate Bedrooms: 7 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

SALE PRICE:

$2.1 million LIST PRICE: $2.1 MILLION

Address: 7110 Georgia St., Chevy Chase 20815 Days on Market: 109 Listing Agency: Weichert Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

SALE PRICE:

$2 million LIST PRICE: $2 MILLION

Address: 6820 Hillmead Road, Bethesda 20817 Days on Market: 3 Listing Agency: RE/MAX Realty Services Bedrooms: 6 Full/Half Baths: 5/1

SALE PRICE:

$2.1 million LIST PRICE: $2.2 MILLION

Address: 5903 Connecticut Ave., Chevy Chase 20815

Note: Some sale and list prices have been rounded.

GILDAY RENOVATIONS architecture

interior design

construction

gilday.com 301-565-4600 200

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

REAL ESTATE TRENDS BY ZIP CODE

OCTOBER 2019

OCTOBER 2020

20015 (Upper NW D.C.) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

le du e h Sc

21 $1.4 Mil. 17 15 4 18

Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

15 $1.1 Mil. 29 3 10 3

21 $1.6 Mil. 44 7 12 15

29 $1.7 Mil. 37 15 14 29

g! in w o Sh vy he C

se ha C

Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

OCTOBER 2020

ew N

Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

15 $1.1 Mil. 17 7 7 9

20 $1.2 Mil. 12 12 7 17

39 $1.4 Mil. 54 7 25 23

50 $1.6 Mil. 37 23 22 35

20817 (Bethesda)

21 $1.4 Mil. 49 5 11 11

! ht ig el D

4706 LANGDRUM LN CHEVY CHASE $1,895,000

OCTOBER 2019

20816 (Bethesda)

20815 (Chevy Chase)

20 $1.6 Mil. 34 7 10 18

8504 PIERCE POINT CT POTOMAC $1,749,000

OCTOBER 2020

20814 (Bethesda)

13 $1.1 Mil. 18 6 4 9

20016 (Upper NW D.C.) Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

OCTOBER 2019

21 $1.7 Mil. 36 10 8 16

Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

n! io ct u r st on C

al W

6124 SWANSEA ST BETHESDA $1,795,000

4915 HAMPDEN LN #101 BETHESDA $799,000

Moving, Refinancing or Investing, we’re just a phone call away! Our business is conducted with your safety in mind. We adhere to all CDC Guidelines.

CAROLYN SAPPENFIELD l 240.353.7601 Visit CarolynHomes.com for Reviews and Recent Sales

RE/MAX REAlty SERvicES • BEthESdA Row • 301.652.0400 4825 Bethesda Avenue #200 • Bethesda, MD 20814

Ranked Top 1%

BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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OCTOBER 2019

OCTOBER 2020

OCTOBER 2019

OCTOBER 2020

OCTOBER 2019

OCTOBER 2020

20832 (Olney)

20855 (Rockville)

20895 (Kensington)

Number of Homes Sold 11 19 Average Sold Price $687,477 $653,584 Average Days on Market 38 12 Above Asking Price 4 11 Below Asking Price 7 6 Sold Over $1 Million 1 1

Number of Homes Sold 8 20 Average Sold Price $562,500 $683,930 Average Days on Market 59 18 Above Asking Price 1 12 Below Asking Price 6 6 Sold Over $1 Million 0 2

Number of Homes Sold 16 22 Average Sold Price $749,931 $657,909 Average Days on Market 26 47 Above Asking Price 5 11 Below Asking Price 8 7 Sold Over $1 Million 3 2

20850 (Rockville)

20877 (Gaithersburg)

20901 (Silver Spring)

Number of Homes Sold 18 18 Average Sold Price $691,500 $654,600 Average Days on Market 48 22 Above Asking Price 2 12 Below Asking Price 13 5 Sold Over $1 Million 2 1

Number of Homes Sold 10 7 Average Sold Price $455,236 $458,928 Average Days on Market 32 6 Above Asking Price 3 7 Below Asking Price 5 0 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 23 24 Average Sold Price $485,119 $563,562 Average Days on Market 27 10 Above Asking Price 11 19 Below Asking Price 6 3 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20851 (Rockville)

20878 (Gaithersburg/North Potomac) 20902 (Silver Spring)

Number of Homes Sold 15 15 Average Sold Price $407,113 $429,946 Average Days on Market 16 19 Above Asking Price 7 8 Below Asking Price 4 6 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 30 35 Average Sold Price $711,430 $771,758 Average Days on Market 38 33 Above Asking Price 6 19 Below Asking Price 22 12 Sold Over $1 Million 3 4

Number of Homes Sold 26 30 Average Sold Price $464,049 $521,051 Average Days on Market 31 10 Above Asking Price 7 23 Below Asking Price 16 4 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20852 (North Bethesda/Rockville)

20879 (Gaithersburg)

20903 (Silver Spring)

Number of Homes Sold 14 13 Average Sold Price $703,376 $900,977 Average Days on Market 21 11 Above Asking Price 3 7 Below Asking Price 9 3 Sold Over $1 Million 3 5

Number of Homes Sold 15 16 Average Sold Price $497,126 $463,515 Average Days on Market 45 10 Above Asking Price 3 10 Below Asking Price 9 3 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 5 6 Average Sold Price $494,600 $511,166 Average Days on Market 15 8 Above Asking Price 3 4 Below Asking Price 1 1 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

20853 (Rockville)

20882 (Gaithersburg)

20910 (Silver Spring)

Number of Homes Sold 26 32 Average Sold Price $484,301 $613,762 Average Days on Market 28 13 Above Asking Price 8 22 Below Asking Price 11 9 Sold Over $1 Million 0 1

Number of Homes Sold 11 16 Average Sold Price $625,654 $675,518 Average Days on Market 60 13 Above Asking Price 2 9 Below Asking Price 5 4 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 20 25 Average Sold Price $640,108 $701,311 Average Days on Market 37 18 Above Asking Price 4 19 Below Asking Price 15 4 Sold Over $1 Million 0 1

20854 (Potomac)

20886 (Gaithersburg)

20912 (Silver Spring/Takoma Park)

Number of Homes Sold 7 15 Average Sold Price $441,928 $527,633 Average Days on Market 17 12 Above Asking Price 3 9 Below Asking Price 3 4 Sold Over $1 Million 0 0

Number of Homes Sold 16 16 Average Sold Price $715,765 $722,212 Average Days on Market 22 10 Above Asking Price 4 11 Below Asking Price 7 3 Sold Over $1 Million 0 2

Number of Homes Sold Average Sold Price Average Days on Market Above Asking Price Below Asking Price Sold Over $1 Million

40 $1.2 Mil. 62 2 32 23

48 $1.4 Mil. 42 22 25 39

Information courtesy of Bright MLS, as of Nov. 13, 2020. The Bright MLS real estate service area spans 40,000 square miles throughout the mid-Atlantic region, including Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., and parts of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. As a leading Multiple Listing Service (MLS), Bright serves approximately 85,000 real estate professionals who in turn serve more than 20 million consumers. For more information, visit brightmls.com. Note: This information includes single-family homes sold from Oct. 1, 2020, to Oct. 31, 2020, as of Nov. 13, 2020, excluding sales where sellers have withheld permission to advertise or promote. Information should be independently verified. Reports reference data provided by ShowingTime, a showing management and market stats technology provider to the residential real estate industry. Some sale and list prices have been rounded.

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Just Sold in 2 Days! 3519 BRADLEY LANE, CHEVY CHASE, MD Located on Bradley Lane in the Martins Addition neighborhood of Chevy Chase, Maryland, this 1916 historic home blends character and charm with the contemporary living spaces. The modern addition, previously a photographer’s art studio space with 18 foot ceilings, was reimagined by local architect Mark McInturff. This successful blend of warm, comfortable living spaces and contemporary function won multiple national AIA design awards. “Catherine made great detailed recommendations for prepping the house and early marketing, and we were surprised and thrilled it sold so fast!” SELLERS

Catherine Triantis m +1 301 873 5214 o +1 301 516 1212 ctriantis@ttrsir.com ttrsir.com Bethesda Brokerage 4809 Bethesda Ave Bethesda, MD 20814

©2021 Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. All Rights Reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a licensed trademark to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. SIR1

For those ready for what’s next A lifelong Washingtonian and with career sales in the billions of dollars, the leader of the esteemed Daly Mancuso Group — Peg Mancuso — brings a wealth of experience and a distinguished record of success to TTR Sotheby’s International Realty’s Bethesda, Maryland brokerage. With over 35 years of real estate experience and as the top real estate agent in Potomac, Maryland for the last 21 years, Mancuso is now a Senior Vice President at TTR Sotheby’s International Realty. Peg Mancuso has dedicated her time outside of real estate towards several charitable and philanthropic endeavors, including community leadership roles with the Madison House Autism Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Peg Mancuso m +1 301 996 5953, pmancuso@ttrsir.com, Licensed in MD, DC and VA Bethesda Brokerage, 4809 Bethesda Avenue, o +1 301 516 1212

Home. Let’s get there together. MAKING YOUR HOME THE BEST OF BETHESDA Nearly three decades of selling real estate have taught me a lot of things - like what a home means to you. Whether you’re looking for your first or selling a family home of more than half a century, I’m here to help. You bring your dreams, I’ve got the resources, skills, and experience to get us there. Together. Barbara Nalls m +1 240 602 9035, bnalls@ttrsir.com Bethesda Brokerage, 4809 Bethesda Avenue, o +1 301 516 1212 BarbaraNalls.com

CHEVY CHASE SOLD $10,000,000 The Corby Mansion | 9 Chevy Chase Circle Daniel Heider +1 202 938 3685

WASHINGTON, DC $13,750,000 Palazzo Della Felicita | 3301 Fessenden Street NW Will Thomas +1 202 607 0364 Mark C. Lowham +1 703 966 6949

BETHESDA SOLD-Represented Buyer $15,000,000 6699 Macarthur Boulevard Daniel Heider +1 202 938 3685

WARRENTON $10,500,000 Elway Hall | 8394 Elway Lane Will Thomas +1 202 607 0364

BETHESDA SOLD $6,900,000 8880 Bradley Boulevard Daniel Heider +1 202 938 3685

McLEAN $7,950,000 1004 Dogue Hill Lane Mark C. Lowham +1 703 966 6949 Cynthia Steele Vance +1 703 408 1810

BETHESDA $2,795,000 9112 Charred Oak Drive Daniel Heider +1 202 938 3685

WASHINGTON, DC $5,550,000 2446 Kalorama Road NW Michael Rankin +1 202 271 3344

CHEVY CHASE $3,750,000 5205 Lawn Way Barbara Malachowski +1 240 899 2918

WASHINGTON, DC $1,999,900 1528 29th Street NW Michael Rankin +1 202 271 3344

BETHESDA $999,900 9006 Kirkdale Road Lee Goldstein +1 202 744 8060

WASHINGTON, DC $1,745,000 1406 29th Street NW Jonathan Taylor +1 202 276 3344

CHEVY CHASE Price Upon Request 4306 Curtis Road Kirsten Williams +1 202 657 2022 Frank Snodgrass +1 202 257 0978

BETHESDA $775,000 The Darcy | 7171 Woodmont Avenue #704 Lauren Davis +1 202 549 8784

CHEVY CHASE $929,000 6724 Kenwood Forest Lane #63 Lauren Davis +1 202 549 8784

T T RS I R .C O M | B RO K E RAG ES : B E T H ES DA R OW — 4 8 0 9 B E T H ES DA AV E N U E , B E T H ES DA , M D — + 1 3 0 1 5 16 1 2 1 2 C H E V Y C H AS E , D C • A N N A P O L I S, M D • E ASTO N , M D • G EO RG E TOW N , D C • D OW N TOW N , D C • M c L E A N , VA • A L E X A N D R I A , VA • A R L I N GTO N , VA • T H E P L A I N S, VA ©2021 TTR Sotheby’s International Realty, licensed real estate broker. Sotheby’s International Realty and the Sotheby’s International Realty logo are registered service marks used with permission. Each Office Is Independently Owned And Operated. Equal housing opportunity. All information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Price and availability subject to change.

fitness. wellness. medicine.

PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

health

Bethesdaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Jenny Mosier lost her son, Michael, to pediatric brain cancer when he was 6. She quit her job as an attorney to start a foundation focused on finding a cure and supporting families with children who have the same cancer. For more, turn to page 210.

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health | BE WELL

THE EYE GUY With kids staring at computer monitors all day, a Chevy Chase ophthalmologist is hearing from plenty of anxious parents BY CARALEE ADAMS | PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

AS A PEDIATRIC ophthalmologist for 17 years, Dr. G. Vike Vicente has dealt with his share of worried moms and dads. But since the pandemic started, their stress has reached a new level. “More than actual complaints from kids, it’s anxiety from parents,” Vicente, 49, says about the tenfold increase in inquiries related to the potential harm of screen time on vision. “All of us around the world— kids and grown-ups—are spending more time in front of monitors than ever before because of COVID. That has raised concerns.” Vicente does his best to be reassuring. Do long periods in front of the computer make your eyesight worse? No. Are headaches caused by eye problems? Only 1% of the time. What about blue-light glasses? “They’re a scam,” he says of the heavily marketed eyewear—blue light from digital devices does not lead to eye disease or cause eyestrain. Vicente tells his patients not to waste money on the trendy glasses, which he says are not backed by medical evidence. At Eye Doctors of Washington in Chevy Chase, Vicente mostly sees children (but also some adults) with problems such as eye misalignment or a droopy eyelid. Compared with a year ago, about twice as many kids are complaining that their eyes feel achy and tired. Vicente starts with an exam to rule out any vision problems. If the eyes are dry, he may suggest soothing drops or a humidifier. When staring 208

at a screen, driving, or engrossed in a book, people blink just three times a minute—compared with 12 to 15 times a minute when they’re talking—which can exacerbate dry eyes, he says. In the absence of a medical issue, Vicente encourages good habits. Minimize glare by tilting screens or moving lamps from behind the monitor to behind the person. Take a break every 20 minutes to look away from the phone or computer. It’s best to turn off screens an hour before bed, says Vicente, who lives in Bethesda and has two teenagers. “We have the same conversations that I have with my patients: Put the phone down. Take a break. But it’s hard. Their social life is now online,” he says. “My street cred at home is limited, but I try.” Born in Argentina, Vicente came to the U.S. at the age of 2, moved around a lot, and spent his high school years in Waynesboro, Virginia. After graduating from William & Mary in Williamsburg, he completed his pediatric ophthalmology fellowship at Harvard/Boston Children’s Hospital in 2003. Fluent in Spanish, he’s taken several medical mission trips to Central America, where he performs simple yet life-changing eye surgeries. The week is exhausting, he says, but the results are rewarding. He sometimes operates on babies who are cross-eyed, and he loves seeing their parents’ reactions. Moms will tell him, “My baby is looking at me now!” Vicente says. “I’m like, ‘Yeah, it’s kinda cool, right?’ ”

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

IN HIS OWN WORDS... EARLY CALLING “When I was in second grade, I dissected my goldfish after he died of natural causes. I had an early interest in surgery and small things. My parents realized, ‘Hey, a doctor. Great. Let’s help him get there.’ I was never wigged-out by the eye— some of my [medical school] colleagues were. I see mostly pediatric patients. Kids are fun. They might cry, but they never complain, really. They are very resilient.”

DEBUNKING THE MYTHS “There are a lot of things that are bad for eyes: sticks, arrows, scissors. When your mom says, ‘Don’t run with scissors,’ listen. When she says, ‘Don’t stand so close to the TV,’ there is no merit in that. The content of what your child is watching is more important than how close they are sitting. Reading in dim light—that’s another one. It’s not bad for you. Kids have better night vision than grown-ups.”

CHANGE OF SCENERY “Nearsightedness has to do with the shape of the eye. For kids who need glasses, it’s usually genetic. Spending time outdoors helps a little bit, but not much. It’s not that the computers are bad for eyes, it’s that kids are inside and that will make nearsightedness worse. Spending time indoors will affect if a child needs glasses, not the computer itself. In between classes, go outside. Pretend you have recess, dribble the ball, walk the dog.”

JUST FOR FUN “We probably see two kids a week who are lying because they want glasses. The most common is a 7-year-old female. They all do the same thing— exaggerate. I ask, ‘What do you think would help?’ They smile and say: ‘Glasses?’ And get so excited. We send them to a store to buy some fashion glasses. Invariably, they are happy. I tell the parent not to get mad. They don’t have to go to a psychologist. It’s very age-appropriate.”

20/20 “People often ask: ‘When should my child go to the eye doctor?’ The answer is never, unless there is any worry—if the pediatrician, teacher or mom sees something wrong. Or, if there is a family history, we need to see those kids. But if a healthy kiddo can pass the eye test at the pediatrician, then we don’t need to see them.”

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health

FIGHTING BACK BY MIKE UNGER

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PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

When Mark and Jenny Mosier lost their 6-year-old son, Michael, to a rare form of brain cancer, the Bethesda couple committed to doing whatever it takes to keep other families from suffering the way they have

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THE PARTY WAS, by all accounts, a

IT’S LATE SEPTEMBER 2020, and Jenny and Mark are recounting one of the darkest days of their lives while sitting at a conference table in a Potomac 212

Michael, pictured at age 5, enjoyed reading, baseball and art.

office suite, headquarters of the Michael Mosier Defeat DIPG Foundation. The couple started the nonprofit after their firstborn child died—less than nine months after that birthday party at Sky Zone Trampoline Park in Columbia— from a pediatric cancer so insidious that doctors and researchers describe it as “infiltrating” the brain. The walls of the office are painted yellow, Michael’s favorite color. His photo adorns flyers and handouts that are piled everywhere. On one postcard, there’s a picture of Michael before he got sick, grinning and flashing two thumbs up to the camera, and one of him after his diagnosis, his face so swollen from steroids that he’s almost unrecognizable. From Michael’s plight, the Bethesda couple has managed to find meaning. The foundation they started in 2015 to honor him has raised awareness about DIPG—

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

and $7.8 million as of this past October. From 2017 to 2019, Jenny says, the nonprofit and its partner organization provided about a quarter of all funds in the U.S. that went toward studying the disease. The government, private industry and charities spend more than $10 billion a year on cancer research in the U.S., but only $3 million to $5 million of that—most of which comes from charitable foundations—goes toward DIPG, according to the Mosier foundation. “I’m constantly struck by how families take what is a very difficult situation and find a way to spread knowledge and love,” says Dr. Lindsay Kilburn, a neuro-oncologist with the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Children’s National. She was one of Michael’s doctors. “The Mosiers are a tremendous example of that. The amount of money they have raised to fund cutting-edge research is

PHOTO BY FREED PHOTOGRAPHY

blast. Kids plunged into foam pits. Moms jumped on trampolines. Dads played dodgeball. Pizza was the main course; for dessert, almost everyone devoured a slice of the baseball-themed cake. The birthday boy, Michael Mosier, preferred his Grandma Nancy’s chocolate chip cookies, but he’d insisted that his parents also get a cake for his friends. It was Aug. 24, 2014, three days before his sixth birthday, and despite a little redness in his right eye that a few people noticed but didn’t fret over, he was the epitome of a healthy young boy having the time of his life. Ten days later, on Sept. 3, Michael’s parents, Jenny and Mark, found themselves at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., waiting for the results of their only son’s brain scan. “I remember them saying the MRI was going to take 45 minutes, and he had been in the MRI for three or four hours,” Mark, 46, says. “At that point I thought they have to be seeing something.” The radiologist was the first to meet with them. “He took us into this little room and he said there’s a mass on the brain,” says Jenny, 41. “It was an outof-body experience. I still say that day is even worse than the days that would come, because it changes everything. I was terrified because I thought he was going to have brain surgery. That’s so scary. How horrible. So I said, when will he be getting surgery? At that point they kind of look at you, and it’s like, well, you need to talk to the other doctors. It became clear very quickly that there is no surgical option.” Jenny and Mark had never heard of diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, a tumor in the brain stem, a portion of which controls essential functions like breathing, swallowing, eye movements and balance. DIPG. Four seemingly innocuous letters that spell almost certain death for a child. In this case, their son, Michael.

Top: The Mosiers at Kidville to celebrate Lila’s second birthday in March 2014 Above: Kids line up for a 1K fun run at the 3rd Annual Defeat DIPG Superhero Sprint & 6K on May 27, 2018.

COURTESY PHOTOS

Left: Michael with his sister, Lila, on a family trip to Disney World three months after his diagnosis

tremendous. They very quickly became a leader in making a true impact on a national and international level.” Jenny, who is the full-time executive director of the foundation, and Mark, the chair of its board of directors, have become staples in the DIPG community. When Michael was diagnosed, Jenny didn’t know any other DIPG families. Now, she says, it feels as if she speaks every week with a parent whose child is suffer-

ing from the disease. “You meet a family and you get to know them and a child early in their diagnosis, and then you walk with them through the tragedy that will unfold with their child deteriorating before your eyes until they pass away,” she says. “It does to some extent force you to relive certain aspects of what we went through with Michael. That takes a toll, and definitely weighs heavily on us emotionally. [But] I’m able

to focus my emotional energy on the positive of knowing that what we are doing is truly changing the landscape and the options and the hope for [these] families.” When Melissa Overton’s son, Jack, was diagnosed in 2018, Jenny reached out. “Because of her foundation, we have hope, which is something that I cannot fathom another family in our shoes not having,” says Overton, who lives in Howard County. “Not knowing that there’s an organization that’s working to find a cure, it would be such a hopeless situation.” DIPG kills 200 to 400 children in the U.S. each year, which makes it the leading cause of death from pediatric brain cancer, the deadliest cancer among children. Those who are diagnosed with DIPG are usually between the ages of 4 and 11. Ninety percent of kids die within two years, and the five-year survival rate is less than 1%. Unlike with most pediatric cancers, a child who is diagnosed with DIPG today faces the same prognosis as a child diagnosed 40 years ago, according to the foundation. “One of the most moving and heartening things is that some of our very biggest supporters did not know Michael, did not know us,” Jenny says. “You find that people get invested and feel passionately. People remember that we, too, did not have a child with cancer on Sept. 3, [2014]. I guess we did, but we didn’t know.”

MICHAEL WAS AN INQUISITIVE

little boy who could read and write by the time he was in kindergarten. Some of his favorite books involved the human body, and The Magic School Bus, an animated children’s science show, was mustsee TV for him. So when he underwent a biopsy and then radiation following his diagnosis, his parents explained his condition to him using language they thought he could understand. “We said, this machine is going to be shooting lasers because there are extra cells in your brain,” Jenny recalls. “The extra cells are pushing against your nerves. He knew what nerves were. Michael was so smart and so perceptive. He was quiet for a little bit, and then

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At age 6, Michael underwent 30 radiation treatments over the span of about seven weeks, but the tumor in his brain didn’t shrink. The family celebrated his last day of radiation in November 2014.

Mouse Trap together. “He was [the] nicest kid I knew,” says Rhian, 12. “He was always up to play games, and he always included his sister and me in everything. I think about him almost every day because he was such a huge part of my life.” Jenny is Jewish and Mark is Christian; the Mosiers celebrate multiple religious holidays. When they were looking for a synagogue to join, Jenny took Michael to a tot Shabbat service. “It wasn’t a huge crowd, maybe 30 or 40 people, and the rabbi says to the group, ‘We have an important holiday coming up.’ It was in August, I think. ‘Can anyone tell me: What is the most important holiday?’ Michael, as always, shoots up his hand and says, ‘Christmas!’ ” An athletic child who loved baseball, Michael also was into art. Several of his projects still hang throughout the Mosiers’ home. “Michael made this tree with branches with all of our names on a leaf, and then he put them on all the branches,” says Lila, now 8. “He made me and Mom’s names on leaves pointing down, and he and Dad’s names go on top and point up.” “He said boys were the best,” Mark says, smiling. “It was kind of rude,” Jenny says with a laugh. The family led a charmed life until August 2014, when they noticed the redness in the corner of Michael’s right eye. They had just returned from the beach, so his parents thought his eye might be irritated from the sand or salt. But one day while he was playing soccer with his mom in their basement, a few days after his birthday party, Michael complained of double vision. “I scored a goal on him, and I was cheering because he usually did better than I did,” Jenny says. “He said, Mommy, you wouldn’t have scored except that I went after the wrong ball.”

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

When they went to the doctor, one side of Michael’s face was drooping. Visibly concerned, his pediatrician sent them to a pediatric ophthalmologist. After examining Michael, the eye doctor told them to go directly to the emergency room at Children’s National. Jenny didn’t even stop at home.

SCIENTISTS KNOW THERE IS a par-

ticular mutation that occurs in the cells that cause DIPG, but they don’t know when, where or why these tumors form at a specific point in a child’s development, says Dr. Michelle Monje, associate professor of neurology at Stanford University and a member of the Michael Mosier Defeat DIPG Foundation’s scientific advisory council. “This cancer, unlike many other kinds of cancer, can’t be surgically [treated] because it intertwines intimately with the brain,” she says. “Not only is this tumor infiltrating the normal brain stem, it’s forming connections with the normal neurons. So it’s actually integrated. It’s this really intrinsic cancer that you can’t cut out. Our traditional ways of fighting cancer with chemotherapies and radiation just don’t effectively target this cancer’s vulnerabilities.” Radiation is the standard treatment path, but it usually only mitigates a child’s symptoms for a few months before the tumor grows back. Michael underwent 30 radiation treatments, which caused side effects like vomiting, but his tumor didn’t shrink. The Mosiers understood the reality of

COURTESY PHOTO

he said to us, well, what about the other cells? Is it going to get those, too? We explained that they’re trying to hit only the bad cells and not the good cells.” The Mosiers tried to avoid uttering words like “sick” or “cancer” around Michael. They used “brain tumor,” but never discussed his prognosis around him. Still, Michael began making a to-do list every morning during his treatment. This wasn’t a bucket list, his parents say; it was more a list of activities that he wanted to accomplish each day. He’d rattle them off after he woke up and have his mom or dad write them down in a small notepad. When he completed each item, one of his parents would check the box next to it. “I would try to put on something like ‘read a book,’ and if [I let him], he would add ‘play a video game’ or ‘drink a milkshake,’ ” Mark says. He always let him. Even at such a young age, the son of two accomplished attorneys knew how to stand his ground. “If there was something we needed to do, we needed to get it on the list,” says Jenny, who grew up in Howard County. “If it was take a shower, you better get it on the list, or he might not do it that day because it wasn’t on the list.” Mark and Jenny met in law school at the University of Chicago in 2001. Jenny started in private practice before becoming deputy chief of staff and counselor to Attorney General Eric Holder during the Obama administration. Mark, who’s from Kansas and played minor league baseball in the San Francisco Giants organization, is a former law clerk to Supreme Court Chief Justices William Rehnquist and John Roberts. He’s now a partner at the D.C. firm Covington & Burling. Michael was born on Aug. 27, 2008, the couple’s second wedding anniversary. Their daughter, Lila, arrived more than three years later. “From the moment Michael was born, it was clear that he had a really strong will and personality. In a good way,” Jenny says. “He was with kids from a really early age because he went to day care when he was about 6 months old. He made friends really easily.” Rhian O’Connor was one of his closest pals. The two played Monopoly and

COURTESY PHOTO

their son’s prognosis, so they focused on making every day as fun as possible for him. Michael loved Disney, so the family took two vacations to Disney World, one of which was sponsored by the MakeA-Wish Foundation. They went out for toasted marshmallow milkshakes. Mark became a bit of a gamer. “I got good at Minecraft,” he says. “It got to the point where I was playing Minecraft and he was sitting next to me telling me what to do. After a couple of weeks, I started getting addicted. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Michael laugh harder than when he made each of the grandparents race each other on Mario Kart. He laughed so hard at Grandma Lynn going the wrong way on the track.” Within six weeks of being diagnosed, Michael lost his ability to walk. The side effects of the steroids caused his personality to become volatile and his appetite voracious. His weight went from 44 pounds to 75 pounds before he lost the ability to see clearly, speak or eat. At the end, all he could do was blink. His parents brought in hospice care. Michael died at home on May 17, 2015. A month later, Mark returned to work and the couple filed the paperwork to start the foundation. “There was such a feeling that we wanted to fight back,” Jenny says. “It’s the most horrible feeling to not be able to identify anything you can do to help your own child. Over the course of his illness, as my frustration and despair grew over the fact that there wasn’t anything we were going to be able to do, channeling that energy into something that could have a tangible effect grew and grew over time. I loved my career, but ultimately I made the decision that if we wanted to pursue this, I wanted to be able to put my all into it and do it full time.” About a year after Michael’s sixth birthday party, Jenny resigned from the Justice Department.

WHEN THE MICHAEL MOSIER

Defeat DIPG Foundation held its first Superhero Sprint & 6K at Westfield Montgomery mall in 2016, Jenny wasn’t sure anyone would show up. To her delight,

750 people did, and the foundation raised more than $127,000. Last year’s fifth annual event, held virtually in May due to the pandemic, attracted over 2,500 participants and raised roughly $200,000. The foundation has a network of five chapters throughout the U.S. Through one of them, it received an anonymous gift of $1 million. In 2017, the organization began partnering with the ChadTough Foundation, a Michigan-based nonprofit that honors Chad Carr, who died of DIPG in November 2015 at the age of 5. Between 2017 and 2019, the two foundations jointly granted $6.1 million to 23 research projects at 15 institutions, including the DanaFarber Cancer Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital and the University of Newcastle in Australia. The Mosiers’ foundation is continuing to explore ways to work with ChadTough to best achieve their shared mission of funding research for a cure. “Our goal ultimately is about changing the future for other kids,” says Tammi Carr, Chad’s mother. “We believe we’re honoring our kids with these two foundations. We want to change the future so that down the road people have a different experience than we did.” The Mosiers are such firm believers in research breakthroughs that they donated Michael’s brain to a DIPG-specific lab at Children’s National. “My first clinical trial was in this disease,” says Kilburn, who treated Michael. “I have since been involved in many studies that have unfortunately not been able to cure this disease, but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t learned a tremendous amount. We’ve learned about the biology of this tumor, but we still have a lot to do to translate all that knowledge into a cure.” Ensuring that researchers have the money to continue pressing forward is now Jenny’s life’s work. Almost everyone she meets asks her how she can devote so much of her heart and mind to the disease that took her son. “It’s hard, because to do the job and push the foundation’s mission the way that we want to there is a certain amount of ongoing engagement with families who are in the fight now,” she says. “Living and breathing this really

devastating disease all day long, that’s required. There are definitely times when it is so emotionally taxing that it’s important to regroup and try to have a little bit of balance for us and for our family.” Each year, the Mosiers typically go to the mountains of Colorado with Mark’s family and to Rehoboth Beach with Jenny’s. Lila plays lacrosse and soccer, and does gymnastics. Jenny has fallen in love with her Peloton, which she calls a great stress reliever. But most of her time is spent on DIPG, with the goal of making people care about the disease and getting them to donate. The foundation’s efforts were essential in making May 17—the day Michael died—DIPG Awareness Day in Maryland. She’s working to have it become recognized nationally. “Part of our grand strategy is incentivizing both new researchers and experienced researchers who maybe have been studying different types of cancers to start studying DIPG,” Jenny says. “It may be that someone who’s an expert in immunotherapy but had never studied childhood brain cancer could apply that expertise to this disease and come up with new strategies.” But that won’t bring her son back. “In some ways, the work of the foundation is the way that I get to continue to be a mom to Michael,” she says. “The time I spend doing this work honors him and is a way to channel some of the time and energy and love that I wish I was giving directly to him.” Jenny likens learning to live with her grief over the past five years to a permanent physical injury. “Like something on your elbow,” she says. “At first, it’s the only thing that you can think about because it’s so painful, but over time you become accustomed to having that pain. The pain is something you get used to carrying around, like a backpack of bricks. Maybe one day I will be fortunate enough to be an old grandma sitting around, but I’m still going to have pictures of my 6-year-old, and I’m still going to sleep with Michael’s stuffed Yoda.” Mike Unger is a writer and editor who lives in Baltimore.

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 ,   PROFILES

Maragh Dermatology, Surgery & Vein Institute SHERRY L. H. MARAGH, MD, FAAD, FACS, FACMS Awards & Honors: Best of Suburbia, Best Dermatologist, Posh Seven Magazine, 2019; Best of Suburbia (for Botox, fillers and injectables), Posh Seven Magazine, 2018; Top Doctor, Washingtonian, 2014 14995 Shady Grove Road, Suite 150 Rockville, MD 20850 301-358-5919 www.maraghdermatology.com Q: What is most satisfying about the practice of

dermatology today? A: One particularly satisfying evolution in dermatology is that patients can avoid major procedures because we can offer so many non-invasive options. Two of the most effective are SculpSure and Ultherapy. SculpSure, light-based body contouring, eliminates stubborn areas of fat. Ultherapy is the only FDA-approved non-invasive procedure for lifting skin on the neck, jowls and brow area. At Maragh Dermatology we specialize in the most advanced techniques of medical, cosmetic, laser and surgical dermatology. For skin cancer, we have expertise in Mohs Micrographic surgery with cosmetic facial reconstruction. There are continual new developments in minimally invasive face and body rejuvenation such as liposuction. We use lasers to repair scars and stretch marks, tighten facial skin, remove unwanted hair, and for body contouring and leg vein issues. Other conditions such as acne, rosacea and unwanted pigmentation caused by the sun can also be treated with lasers. With expertise in both cosmetic and medical dermatology, it is fulfilling to care for patients with a variety of needs. All procedures are done under the direction of board-certified physicians who offer compassionate care with attention to detail. skin health? A: Our skin is the largest organ of our bodies and it has “memory,” so sun damage is cumulative. Annual screenings are key to catching and resolving problems early. We recommend wearing a daily SPF of at least 30, avoiding tanning beds, keeping hydrated and maintaining a healthy body, which ultimately keeps your skin healthy. 216

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Q: What advice do you give patients for overall

PROFILES

 ,  

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Cosmetic Surgery Associates FRANKLIN D. RICHARDS, M.D., FACS A. DEAN JABS, MD, PH.D., FACS KESHAV MAGGE, M.D., FACS 6430 Rockledge Drive, Suite 100 Bethesda, MD 20817 301-493-4334 www.cosmeticplastics.com

Q: Why have my procedure at

Cosmetic Surgery Associates? A: Elective cosmetic surgery is all we do. Each of our surgeons is well trained and has extensive experience in plastic surgery with thousands of happy patients. We cater to our patients to provide the results they desire in a safe, discrete, caring environment. We have our own certified operating rooms staffed with the best nurses and technicians in the area. We use only Board Certified anesthesiologists. Your safety is our primary concern.

STEPHANIE WILLIAMS

Q: What are your qualifications? A: We are all Board Certified plastic surgeons and Fellows of the American College of Surgeons. In addition, we are members of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery and the American Society of Plastic Surgery. We have served as president of the National Capital Society of Plastic Surgeons as well as chairman of the department of plastic surgery at Suburban Hospital.

We have decades of experience and have performed thousands of successful procedures in our fully accredited surgery suite. Q: How would your patients

describe you? A: We’re known for our warm personalities and our commitment to excellence. We put our patients at ease and take time to listen to their goals. Our entire team treats each patient like family. We are at the forefront of the latest aesthetic surgery techniques and perform many of our procedures under twilight anesthesia, obviating the need for general anesthesia. Our patients know they can count on us to provide safe, effective procedures with outstanding results.

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 ,   SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

JAMES SCRIBNER, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CO-FOUNDER JUDY SERFATY, LCPC, LPC, NCC CLINICAL DIRECTOR A premier drug and alcohol addiction treatment center, The Freedom Center treats individuals with various addiction types—and underlying trauma and mental health issues—by offering a flexible, affordable solution while minimizing disruption to work, school and family life. Clients can live in sober living environments or at home. 202 Perry Parkway, Suite 5 Gaithersburg, MD 20877 888-550-7493 www.thefreedomcenter.com

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Q: What motivated you to found an addiction treatment center? A: James Scribner, Executive Director My background is in accounting, where I learned the value of building meaningful relationships with clients and having a strong ethical framework. My passion, however, is helping people struggling with addiction. My own recovery journey started in 2010. Throughout that process, I was able to help others and make a difference in their lives. Since my recovery started, I became an advocate for people in recovery or seeking recovery from substance use disorders. I’ve continued to use my story and my understanding of what it takes to get and stay sober, and completed formal training to be a certified recovery coach. In 2017, with my partner Samuel Kesaris, I combined my business experience and passion for recovery to start The Freedom Center, where we provide individualized therapy and client care.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Q: What led you to the position of clinical director of The Freedom Center? A: Judy Serfaty, Clinical Director After a career in the public school system, I earned an additional degree in clinical counseling, expecting that I’d continue to work with children. However, when I took the opportunity for an internship in the addiction field, I realized that was the right specialization for me. It hit close to home due to family members who have struggled with addiction. This field gives me great hope knowing recovery can be obtained and maintained. The Freedom Center is a perfect fit for me with its great culture of dedicated staff and a family feeling that flows over to client care.

MICHAEL VENTURA

The Freedom Center

PROFILES

 ,  

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Neural Movement REZA MOFARRAHI, CO-FOUNDER 850 E. Gude Drive Rockville, MD 20850 240-899-6999 Instagram: @NeuralMovement www.Neural-Movement.com Q: How is Neural Movement’s training

different from other fitness strategies? A: Our fitness company, Neural Movement, focuses on improving performance, health and mental wellbeing by training attributes of the nervous system in conjunction with movement. We use a combination of unique equipment and methods to assess the client’s reaction time and provide a roadmap to improving that reaction time while engaging in fitness activities. Our unique methods are data driven and have been implemented with celebrities such as Javon Walton and Leah McSweeney, professional athletes such as Trevor Williams and Admiral Schofield, children, adults and special population groups. Our mission is to help our clients reach their true potential, by utilizing a unique training method that is customized specifically towards the client. Training sessions can be performed either at the client’s preferred location or at our facility. Q: Why is neural movement training

COURTESY PHOTO

important? A: Neural movement methods focus on improving physical fitness as well as cognitive well-being, resulting in many different benefits. These methods strengthen and build the brain's connections resulting in faster response time and quicker decision making. Research has shown that this type of training can boost levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a substance essential for the growth of brain cells; improve mental health (depression, anxiety, ADHD, etc.); stimulate neurogenesis—the birth of new neurons; mobilize the expression of genes that are believed to enhance brain plasticity, i.e., the ability of the brain to change its neural pathway; improve self-esteem and self-confidence; weight loss; and overall physical fitness.

Trevor Williams - Philadelphia Eagles (NFL)

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PROFILES

 ,   SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

ICON Dermatology & Aesthetics BRENDA PELLICANE, MD, FAAD REBECCA KAZIN, MD, FAAD 11300 Rockville Pike, Suite 911, North Bethesda, MD 20852 301-810-3600 | www.icondermatology.com Q: What advanced qualifications do you have? A: Together, our board-certified dermatologists have over 20 years of experience. We deliver the latest technologic advances and lead the industry with our expertise and innovative treatment protocols. We enjoy training the next generation of dermatologists and plastic surgeons on laser treatments, microneedling and injectables. We have performed thousands of successful procedures, written scientific papers, presented at national conferences and served as an expert source for media outlets. A: We start with a global assessment of patients’ cosmetic needs and then develop a customized treatment plan. The plan often includes a combination of advanced techniques and treatments. The use of multiple noninvasive treatments allows for natural but visible results with minimal healing time.

HILARY SCHWAB

Q: What are you doing for facial rejuvenation?

Bethesda NEWtrition & Wellness Solutions LIVLEEN GILL, RDN, LDN 10215 Fernwood Road, Suite 630, Bethesda, MD-20817 240-449-3094 | www.bnws.co

diabetes and Covid-19? A: Whether you are pre-diabetic, diabetic or overweight, studies show that a healthy weight helps prevent disease. The obesity epidemic has left us vulnerable to weight related chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke. These and other conditions increase our risk for diseases like COVID-19. Determination and daily decisions are necessary to prioritize a healthy lifestyle, but a proliferation of misinformation and diet-of-the-moment obsession leaves us ill-informed. At Bethesda Newtrition & Wellness Solutions, we don’t aim for a number on the scale, nor label foods good or bad. Cravings are human nature. Reasonable amounts can be factored into your day. Everybody in our office knows if they want chocolate, it’s in my desk drawer. We know that manageable, personalized goals build confidence and lead to lasting change. 220

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DEB LINDSEY

Q: What is the relationship between weight loss,

PROFILES

 ,  

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

RENU by Dr. Schoenfeld PHILIP S. SCHOENFELD MD, FACS, MEDICAL DIRECTOR Dr. Schoenfeld has been named a top doctor in Washingtonian magazine, Castle Connolly and Bethesda Magazine. An examiner for the Board of Facial Plastic Surgery, he has extensive experience in surgical and non-surgical rejuvenation procedures such as Botox, Dysport, dermal fillers and laser treatments for the skin and for fat reduction. 5454 Wisconsin Ave., Suite 1625 Chevy Chase, MD 20815 301-652-7368 www.renudc.com Q: What is your philosophy regarding your

approach to rhinoplasty? A: Because I am double board certified in otolaryngology and facial plastic surgery I spend a great deal of my practice on primary and revision rhinoplasty surgery. I do not create the same nose for everyone; there’s no such thing as a Dr. Schoenfeld nose. Noses tend to be noticed when they have been surgically overdone. I tell my patients that although a nose can be attractive, it should blend in and be a silent facial feature, letting your eyes, mouth, chin and cheeks be the defining characteristics. With every patient, I use computer imaging to create realistic images and discuss the changes that the patient would like to see. I listen carefully to patients with strong preferences about the outcome they’d like, but I render my opinion so that the nose the patient receives is one that functions and will look good for years to come. Q: Is your face lift procedure different from

JOHN FERRIS

most others? A: I tend to favor the deep plane face lift procedure. It requires thorough knowledge of facial anatomy, but the results are more natural and long lasting. The term "mini" or "short incision" face lift does not have anything to do with the deep plane I operate in. Those are simply terms to describe the length of the incision that the surgeon chooses. The deep plane procedure can be performed under IV sedation or general anesthesia. Recovery is achieved in under two weeks and the results last about 10 years.

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PROFILES

 ,   SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

KIAN KASSRAEI DIRECTOR OF CLIENT RELATIONS TOM EDWARDS CLINIC DIRECTOR Revive DMV is part of a nationwide brand that is leading the way in regenerative medicine, a multidisciplinary approach that has at its core bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. 26 Grand Corner Ave. Gaithersburg, MD 20878 240-454-3003 info@revivedmv.com revivedmv.com

Q: What is hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and how is it beneficial? A: Hormone replacement therapy is the use of synthetic or natural hormones to make up for the decline or lack of natural hormones produced in the body due to the adverse effects of age and stress. Such hormones might be testosterone, estrogen, progesterone and human growth hormone. Most of our HRT patients experience increased stamina and performance. They report improvements in sleep, mood, peri and post-menopausal symptoms, sex drive and concentration. Many notice increased muscle mass and decreased body fat. Q: What are some other services at Revive DMV? A: Revive DMV has a multidisciplinary approach. We have our own brand of vitamins that we formulate for clients based upon their clinical presentation, especially blood work. Blood tests are

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performed every 3 to 6 months to refine and confirm the therapies. The program is further individualized through diet. We also offer vitamin infusion therapy for those who need C, B or nutritional components that have anti-inflammatory effects. With our ozone therapy, your blood is oxygenated through a machine, and returned. Oxygenation improves the function of the immune system while helping the body detoxify its blood and liver. To medically enhance the body’s ability to fight pain, we use cryotherapy, which involves the use of a tank that encases the body for a prescribed time in cold temperatures. Stem cell injections are now being used for healing instead of invasive therapy such as knee or shoulder surgery. Several studies using stem cell as treatment have shown lasting results from six months to several years. COURTESY PHOTO

Revive DMV

dine. history. pets. travel.

PHOTO BY LINDSEY MAX

etc.

The menus of local food trucks Pop-Up Patisserie and Pop-Up Poutine include sweet and savory items. For more, turn the page.

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etc. DINE

Poutine—a dish popular in Quebec made with french fries topped with cheese curds and a gravy-like sauce—is sold at the Pop-Up Poutine food truck and a Rockville storefront.

TABLE TALK BY DAVID HAGEDORN PHOTOS BY LINDSEY MAX

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Popping Up TWO FOOD TRUCKS, Pop-Up Poutine and Pop-Up Patisserie, are wheeling around Montgomery County thanks to husband and wife entrepreneurs Greta Ober and Stephan Beauchesne. The Canadians, who live in Germantown, met at Montreal’s McGill University in 1988 and married in 1989. (Beauchesne, who was born and raised in Montreal, is quick to clarify he’s French-Canadian; Ober’s from the province of Saskatchewan.) He has an MBA in finance and economics; she has a master’s degree in library and information science. They moved to the D.C. area in 1989, and Beauchesne worked for NASDAQ, eventually starting his own IT consulting business. Ober worked in libraries, among them the one at the International Monetary Fund. They raised

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

two children, now grown, and then turned to the food business. “Stephan’s dream since he was a little boy was to bake, like in the old Montreal boulangeries and patisseries he loves. In 2002, he took pastry classes at L’Academie de Cuisine to learn the basics,” Ober says. Cream puffs would not have paid the bills, though, so they stayed in their jobs. But there finally came a time to take the leap, says Ober, so they retired and created an LLC in December 2018. Beauchesne started selling buttercream-filled cream puffs and eclairs at the Kensington farmers market in April 2019 and that summer took an advanced pastry course in France. The pink Pop-Up Patisserie truck the couple ordered from China arrived in the fall of 2019. The truck wasn’t large enough to accommodate an expanded menu that included more savory items, such as

Stephan Beauchesne and Greta Ober started selling their baked goods at a farmers market before launching a pair of food trucks.

Pop-Up Patisserie sells macarons and other sweets.

poutine—a dish popular in Quebec made with french fries topped with cheese curds and brown, gravy-like sauce—so they added a second, larger truck that they purchased locally in 2020. It’s called Pop-Up Poutine. The Pop-Up Patisserie truck features baked goods, such as macarons, eclairs, cream puffs, gougeres (savory cheese pastries), truffles, sausage rolls, croissants and shortbread cookies. Not to be missed

are the Montreal-style bagels, which are less puffy than their U.S. counterparts. “They’re very different from New Yorkstyle,” Beauchesne says. “Ours are all hand-rolled, like a pretzel, boiled in maple water, dumped in vats of various toppings to coat them top and bottom, then baked on a pizza stone for a short time at a hot temperature so they are crusty outside and chewy inside.”

The Pop-Up Poutine truck sells sweet items along with savory ones, including sausage rolls, tourtieres (French-Canadian meat pies) and house-made rye rolls filled with Montreal smoked meat, which Beauchesne describes as a hybrid of corned beef and pastrami. (He acquired the exclusive rights from Montreal manufacturer Mello Foods to sell their smoked meat wholesale in the D.C. area.) Beauchesne is particularly proud of his poutine, which he deems authentic. “We fry hand-cut fries in vegetable oil, make our own cheese curds daily and use a vegetarian brown sauce we import from Montreal,” he says. Because the sauce isn’t beef stock–based, the poutine is vegetarian, he notes. (But not vegan.) You can also get it topped with chicken, bacon or smoked meat. Check the websites for the trucks’ schedules. Frequent Montgomery County locations include the Kensington farmers market, Windridge Vineyards in Darnestown and two Rockville breweries, 7 Locks Brewing and Saints Row Brewing. In October, Ober and Beauchesne opened a storefront commissary kitchen and takeout facility in Rockville near the Twinbrook Metro. It’s also close to government office buildings that they expect will reopen eventually. Many neighborhood workers and residents already pick up food from them, says Beauchesne, including breakfast, which they started offering in November. I picked up lunch there and devoured a delicious smoked meat sandwich and eclair at a picnic table out front. Pop-Up Poutine and Pop-Up Patisserie, 12712 Rock Creek Mill Road 16 A, Rockville, 240-762-9961, popuppou tine.com, popuppatisserie.com

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etc. Instant Success “PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME I am good under pressure,” starts Chevy Chase resident Paula Shoyer’s fifth cookbook, The Instant Pot Kosher Cookbook: 100 Recipes to Nourish Body and Soul (Sterling Publishing, February 2021). It’s the first cookbook devoted to kosher cooking with an Instant Pot, a multi-cooker that has several functions, such as pressure cooking, steaming, slow cooking, yogurt making and rice cooking. Shoyer’s publisher paid for the right to license the brand name on the book. The book’s first line isn’t surprising given Shoyer’s resume. In 1995, she

stopped practicing law to devote herself to a cooking career. She trained as a pastry chef at the Ecole Ritz Escoffier in Paris. Once back home, she branded herself as The Kosher Baker, teaching baking and cooking classes, freelance writing for various newspapers and magazines, authoring cookbooks and making frequent television and speaking appearances. She also has a blog, The Kosher Baker, and runs a Kosher Baker Facebook group. Among her other cookbooks are The New Passover Menu (Sterling Publishing, 2015) and The Holiday Kosher Baker (Sterling Publishing, 2013). Shoyer, who’s 55, started writing her latest book in December 2018 because For her latest cookbook, Paula Shoyer, aka The Kosher Baker, came up with 100 recipes that can be made in an Instant Pot.

so many people were asking her for kosher Instant Pot recipes, which are especially handy for observant Jews who need to prepare food before sundown on Friday, when Shabbat begins, and keep it warm until mealtime. “I was a latecomer to the Instant Pot, but once I got into it, I couldn’t get over how flavorful the food was,” Shoyer says. “As I delved deeper, I realized it was a perfect device for Jewish kosher cooks because we love soups and stews and there’s only one pot to clean. Then I learned there was a really active kosher Instant Pot community group on Facebook. It has almost 14,000 members now. That’s when I realized I needed to write a cookbook.” Dishes in The Instant Pot Kosher Cookbook, many of which are vegetarian, run the gamut from breakfast items to appetizers, soups, side dishes, main courses and desserts. Among Shoyer’s recipes are orange shakshuka (poached eggs over a butternut squash and sweet potato puree), everything bagel barbecue chicken wings, Turkish eggplant salad, mushroom barley soup, veal osso buco, spinach pesto brisket, poached salmon with mustard dill sauce, wild mushroom risotto, kasha varnishkes (a dish with buckwheat groats and bowtie pasta), mocha lava cakes and her grandmother’s rice pudding. The book’s release, originally slated for September 2020, was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I wasn’t planning on it coming out in a pandemic, but here we are,” Shoyer says. “We’re all extremely stressed out now. Even if you can’t have people over, you can cook for other people, and here is a device that largely creates comfort food.” thekosherbaker.com

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PHOTO BY BILL MILNE PHOTOGRAPHY

DINE

COMINGS GOINGS Chiko, a D.C.-based fast-casual Chinese-Korean chainlet, will open in Bethesda Row this winter. The restaurant will replace Prima, a fast-casual Italian eatery that closed in April, soon after COVID-19 restrictions started, and never reopened. Chef José Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup announced that this spring, its Bethesda Row location of Jaleo will become Spanish Diner, a comfort food–based concept that debuted in New York City’s Hudson Yards development in May 2019. D.C.-based chain &pizza plans to open its fifth Montgomery County location, this one in Silver Spring, in the first quarter of 2021.

Call Your Mother, which sells bagels in D.C. and from a trolley car on Old Georgetown Road in Bethesda, will open a shop at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda this spring. D.C.-based gelato chain Dolcezza announced it would close its Bethesda Row shop after the holiday season. In October, Poke Papa closed in Westfield Montgomery mall. PassionFish Bethesda shuttered in November after a five-year run. Also in November, La Madeleine French Bakery & Café and Lotus Grill & Bar closed in Bethesda.

H E RE FO R O U R ST U DE NT S E VE RY DA Y , E VE RY W A Y .

PHỞLUSCIOUS CATERS

Please call us to cater your special events! 10048 Darnestown Road, Rockville

301-762-2226

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Summer Camps CAMP

TYPE

Barrie Camp

Day Day &

Calleva

Overnight

GENDER

AGES

LOCATION

WEBSITE

PHONE

Coed

4 - 14

Silver Spring

www.barrie.org/camp

301-576-2818

Coed

5 - 17

DC Metro area

www.calleva.org

301-216-1248

Camp JCC

Day

Coed

4 - 21

Rockville

www.benderjccgw.org/camp

301-348-3883

Camp Olympia

Day

Coed

3.5 - 15

Rockville

www.camp-olympia.com

301-926-9281

Creative Summer at Holton-Arms

Day/Virtual

Coed

6 - 13

Bethesda

www.holtoncreativesummer.org

301-365-6003

Green Acres School Summer Camp

Day

Coed

3 - 12

N. Bethesda

www.greenacres.org

301-468-8110

Headfirst Summer Camps

Day

Coed

3 - 13

www.headfirstcamps.com

202-625-1921

Montgomery County Recreation

Day

Coed

3 - 16

www.mocorec.com/guide

240-777-6840

Oneness-Family School Summer Programs

Day

Coed

3.5 - 11

Chevy Chase

www.onenessfamilyschool.org

301-652-7751

Summer at Sandy Spring

Day

Coed

3 - 16

Sandy Spring

www.summeratsandyspring.org

301-774-7455

Summer at WES

Day

Coed

3.5 - 14

Bethesda

www.w-e-s.org/summer-at-wes/

301-652-7878

SummerEdge at McLean School

Day

Coed

4 - 18

Potomac

www.summeredge.org

240-395-0676

4 - 14

Darnestown

www.valleymill.com

301-948-0220

5 - 18

Rockville

www.visartscenter.org

301-315-8200

Valley Mill Camp

Day

VisArts Summer Camp

Day

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"Boys camp Girls camp" Coed

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Bethesda, Washington, DC multiple MoCo locations

HORSES

FIELD TRIPS

WATER SPORTS

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Essential information on

summer camps

SPECIALTIES On-site swimming, canoeing, sports, archery, arts, nature, outdoor living skills, STEM, karate, science, video production, culinary arts, theatrics, music and leadership training. Calleva focuses on empowering kids through exciting outdoor adventure experiences, with Maryland & Virginia locations & transportation pickup points throughout the DMV. Some programs include overnight. Camp JCC is the place to be this summer. Explore everything we have to offer from arts, sports, theater, STEM, swimming and so much more. Horseback riding, swimming, soccer, tennis, gymnastics, basketball, track and fieldand more. Extended care available! Create your own summer: We offer classes in the arts, cooking, crafts, dance, music, outdoor exploration, sports, swimming, tennis, theater, academics, and more. Swimming instruction at our on-campus pool; Create your own path in science & Technology, Sports, Music and Art. Our camps provide an environment of growth through exploration and play. We offer programming in creative arts, sports, leadership and day camps. Specialties include art, adventure, business, cheer, cooking, dance, gaming, leadership, music, sports, STEM, performing arts and much more. Daily nature exploration (1st-5th grade), pool trips & water-play, yoga, thrilling creative arts & sciences, low camper to counselor ratio and extended care! Campers can choose from a wide variety of workshops and specialty camps that include sports, adventure, arts, technology, academics, music, robotics and much more! Nine sessions that include archery, robotics, cooking, sculpture, animation and video game development, basketball, hiking, entrepreneurship, dance and more! SummerEdge at McLean School offers fun and learning for everyone in a setting that fosters self-discovery, creativity, connection, and confidence. One summer, a lifetime of memories! Kayaking, canoeing, swimming, horseback riding, rock climbing, archery, air rifle, gymnastics and more. Adventure program for children 10 -14. Transportation provided. Classes include painting and drawing, ceramics, digital art, mosaics, fused glass, movement and more.

er t et b s i e Lif

s r o o d out N

2 ce 199 n i s p o on-st

Explorers – Ages 5-8 Adventure Sampler – Ages 8-14 Adventure Specialties – Ages 9-15 High Adventure Trips – Ages 13+ Leaders In Training – Ages 13+

AWARD WINNING ADVENTURE CAMPS

REGISTRATION STARTS JANUARY

www.calleva.org BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021

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summer camps

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SUMMER OF CHAMPIONS SUMMER OF

CHAMPIONS

www.greenacres.org

Age 3 to Gra 301-468 de 8 -8110 camp@ greenacr es.org

• Camp Dates are June 21 to August 6 • Lots of session options • Virtual Summer in the Snow is February 13 @ 1:00

Ages 4-14

Valley Mill Day Camp www.valleymill.com

Spring & Summer Transportation Provided

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SAFETY:

summer camps

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

summer camp for boys and girls Pre-K-Grade 8

June 21-July 30 Limited Spots Available!

Awesome adventures await your child— including art, sports, technology, cooking, and more!

REGISTRATION BEGINS FEBRUARY 1 AT

www.w-e-s.org/summer WASHINGTON EPISCOPAL SCHOOL 5600 Little Falls Parkway, Bethesda, MD 20816 www.w-e-s.org I 301-652-7878

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summer CAMP

2021

Full- and Half-Day Camps June Through August, 2021

Let your child’s creativity soar at our award-winning summer camps! Follow along with our experienced instructors via Zoom, or limited on-site enrollment. Classes include painting and drawing, ceramics, digital art, mosaics, fused glass, movement and more for students ages 6-18! DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE!

155 Gibbs Street, Rockville, MD 20850 | 301-315-8200

summer camps

SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

SUMMER PROGRAMS CAMP 2021 DATES: JUNE 21-JULY 30

LEARN MORE & REGISTER! www.OnenessFamily.org

REGISTRATION

DAY-CAMPS

Begins February 8 Early-Bird Ends ar 8

e 3½-6½ year • Unique weekly themes with related arts, play and projects • Water-play and trips • Fun-fitness games, creative movement and yoga • In-house entertainment and off-campus field trips 1st5th ra er • a y u r e ur er e area a • Interactive exhibits at nature centers and museums • Exploring with fossils, animal tracks, fishing nets and bird-calls • Swimming a climbing time

Pool & Water Play

Moon Bo Field Trips Yo g a unce A r t works Mindfulness Environmental Education

Hikes

Chesapeake Bay

Gallop to the beat of Summer fun!

Camp Olympia

Co-Ed Instructional Sports Program Camp: June 21 - September 3

Spring Break Camp: March 29 - April 2 and April 5

Open House Dates: January 30, February 6 and 20, March 13

week minimum Ages 3-1/2 - 15yrs

Activities Include:

• Horseback Riding • Football • Basketball • Gymnastics • Swimming • Soccer

• Tennis • Mountain Biking • Games and more!

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etc. FLASHBACK

BY MARK WALSTON

ANIMAL FARM AT THE END OF Norwood Drive in Chevy Chase, in the middle of a modern recreation area, stands a curious relic of the community’s past. The hulking, early 20th century brick building, looming over playgrounds and tennis courts, is a reminder of when the federal government first came to town—and the consternation the move later caused. That first federal agency to come to Bethesda (Norwood Drive was part of Bethesda back then) was the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The facility? The Animal Disease Research Station. Bethesda of the 1890s enticed D.C.’s urban dwellers with the promise of fresh air, clean water and still undeveloped green hills, a welcome contrast to the cloying stench of the city. Bethesda’s setting, close to multiple departmental headquarters in D.C. and a straight shot by trolley up Wisconsin Avenue, made it an ideal spot for relocating federal facilities from the city to the suburbs. Since the 1880s, the USDA had conducted tests on animals at the department’s research station in Northeast Washington. The facility soon proved too small to manage the dozens of ongoing studies of infectious diseases in farm animals. In 1897, the station moved to an undeveloped 18-acre tract 234

west of Wisconsin Avenue and south of Bradley Boulevard in Bethesda. Buildings went up in a flurry, with laboratories, breeding houses, dozens of barns and stables both large and small, isolation pens and corrals spreading out across the acreage. The operation grew quickly; in 1906, a substantial and fireproof brick building replaced the old wooden laboratory. Dozens of other buildings followed, including a large guinea pig house for hundreds of test animals that were fed oats and corn harvested from surrounding farms. Experiments at the station covered a swath of animal diseases, beginning with a study on the contagiousness of pleuropneumonia in cattle. Soon the work expanded to include dozens of trials seeking cures for anthrax, swine plague, hog cholera, hoof-and-mouth disease, tuberculosis and more. Infected animals were housed all around the facility. Other USDA programs found a home in Bethesda, including studies in animal husbandry and selective breeding. One of the more notable experiments began when King Menelik of Abyssinia presented President Theodore Roosevelt with the unusual gift of a male zebra. Roosevelt had the zebra transported to the Bethesda facility, where the president encouraged the scientists to

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2021 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

institute a project aimed at crossbreeding the zebra with a horse to create a new and improved farm animal. A mare from a local farm was selected to mate. The result born at the Bethesda facility was named a “zebhorse”—alternatively known as a zebroid or a zorse. After five years, the project was scrapped. As the USDA programs in Bethesda expanded, so did the surrounding suburbs. New developments appeared in rapid succession in the 1920s and 1930s, eventually hemming in the old research station. Residents began complaining about the smells, flies and rats emanating from the facility. Civic groups banded together to demand that the government shut down the operations—and that the land be turned over to the county for use as a park. The government acquiesced and moved to a 475-acre farm in Beltsville, where the USDA is still ensconced (it’s now on 6,600 acres). By 1936, most of the supplies and animals had been moved out of Bethesda. However, the large and elaborate brick laboratory, with its rounded corner turret, dentilated cornice and ornamental arches, remains in the middle of Norwood Park. The building is now a rental property for parties and private events—and a reminder of the community’s agrarian past.

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY ALICE KRESSE

A Montgomery County park was once a government location for studying diseases in animals

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During the photo shoot for Be Well (“The Eye Guy,” page 208), Dr. G. Vike Vicente and his sons—Mark, 16, left, and Peter, 14— joked around so much that photographer Lisa Helfert was just hoping she’d end up with a few serious shots. “They thought of new ideas for staging the shoot every few minutes,” Helfert says. “I shot the new poses and tried not to laugh.” Vicente, a pediatric ophthalmologist who lives in Bethesda, says he and his teens have some of the same conversations about staring at screens that he has with his patients.

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PHOTO BY LISA HELFERT

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