CHICKEN OUT
SCOUTS' HONOR
TREASURE HUNTING
"my Two cents" offers a view opposing chickens in city back yards, spurred by last month's "spring chickens" story. PAGE 2
Local troop produces two eagle scouts, the highest achievement in Boy scouts. PAGE 4
one savvy shopper's look at april's community Yard sale day, and all the treasures it contained. PAGE 3
Top Episcopal bishop comes to St. Matthew’s by Julia Duin The Episcopal Church in America’s top offi cial came to a Hyattsville church last month to give her blessing to the growing Latino presence in her 2-millionmember denomination. Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori arrived at St. Matthew’s in glistening white robes for an evening service on April 24. Representatives from six other Spanish-speaking churches around the Episcopal Diocese of Washington joined the procession with banners, wind socks and paper doves. A bilingual choir sang English and Spanish hymns for the crowd of 350 people. Afterwards, over pupusas and tamales, guests listened to speeches and poetry at a fi esta in the parish hall. The bishop preached her sermon and celebrated Communion in both English and Spanish as congregants snapped photos and, during a portion of the service known as the “passing of the peace,” rushed up to shake her hand. She was there, she said, to pay tribute to the largest of the diocese’s seven Latino congregations: San Mateo, housed at the corner of 36th Avenue and Nicholson Street. The Spanish-language congregation, shepherded by the Rev. Vidal Rivas, took refuge at St. Matthew’s in September 2008
PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Permit # 43 Easton, MD 21601
BIsHOP continued on page 10
Hyattsville Life&Times
Vol. 7 No. 5
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
up, up, and away After more than 11 years of service, Hyattsville’s City Administrator Elaine Murphy recently announced her plans to retire. The city honored her valued contributions last month during its anniversary parade, where she served as Grand Marshal. As she rode through the city leading the parade, she was glad to see “many residents I have come to know over the past 11 years and improvements such as repaved streets, new sidewalks and better lights and signage.”
Murphy counts the 2006 annexation of the commercial entities along the East-West Highway corridor, including the Mall at Prince George’s, as a notable accomplishment during her tenure. “It was exciting, challenging, and hugely rewarding to fi nish something many didn’t think could be done,” she said of the project that brought “substantial” new annual revenues for the city and broadened its tax base. MUrPHY continued on page 11
May 2010
photo by valerie russell From left: Caelan Rice, Ivy Hayashi and Harmony Driskell ride the Ferris wheel during last month's city carnival at Magruder Park. MORE PHOTOS, PAGES 8 & 9
City Administrator Murphy retiring by Krista Atteberry
Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781
$5
Rental restrictions may tighten by Susie Currie
photo by valerie russell City Administrator Elaine Murphy was this year's Grand Marshal in the annual city parade, held April 24.
Landlords may face new space and parking requirements for their tenants if the City Council approves a proposal being considered by the Code Enforcement Advisory Committee. At a committee meeting on May 6, senior code inspector Chris Giunta circulated a preliminary draft of potential changes to Chapter 96 of the city code, which rentals continued on page 11
Included: The May 12, 2010 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section
Page 2
Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
FromTheEditor
A happy ending for dogs... by Paula Minaert I like dogs and I like happy endings. So when the two come together, it’s great. We got the news recently that Berdina, the dog who escaped last year from the Washington Animal Rescue League, has been found. HL&T readers may remember her from our February story about pet trackers, when we mentioned that some of the many volunteers looking for her had reported seeing her wandering around the West Hyattsville Metro station. She is now, we're glad to say, safe
a community newspaper chronicling the life and times of Hyattsville Mailing address: PO Box 132, Hyattsville, Md 20781 Hyattsville Life & Times is published monthly by Hyattsville Community Newspaper, Inc., a 501c(3) nonprofit corporation. Interested reporters should send their e-mail addresses to the editor to be reminded of deadlines and receive internal news. Articles and news submitted may be edited. The deadline is the last week of the month for the following month’s issue. Letters to the editor and opinions are encouraged. For all e-mail correspondence with HL&T: news, features, tips, advertising and business write to hyattsvillelifeandtimes@gmail.com. To submit articles, letters to the editor, etc., e-mail susie@hyattsvillelife.com. executive editor Paula Minaert paula@hyattsvillelife.com 301-335-2519 Managing editor Susie Currie susie@hyattsvillelife.com 301-633-9209 editorial Intern Hannah Bruchman Production Ashley Perks advertising director Felix Speight advertising@hyattsvillelife.com 202-341-5670 Writers & contributors Mylie Durham Victoria Hille Valerie Russell Kimberly Schmidt Hugh Turley Board of directors Julia Duin - President Chris Currie - Vice President Jamie Aycock - General Counsel Paula Minaert - Secretary Susie Currie - Ex Officio Circulation: Copies are distributed monthly by U.S. Mail to every address in Hyattsville. Additional copies are distributed to libraries, selected businesses, community centers and churches in the city. Total circulation is 7,500. Hl&t is a member of the national newspaper association.
and happy. So is a female Rottweiler puppy who was rescued from an abusive situation by the League. Now she’s been adopted by the Hyattsville Volunteer Fire Department. So I went over there to check things out. Capt. Mitchell Kannry was happy to talk about the puppy, whom they’ve named Hailey. “We usually have a dog here,” he told me. “Our last dog, Chili, was here about 8 years. He was great. Dogs provide a lot of emotional support for the crew. Most of them are young men in college. A dog helps them cope with college and brightens everyone’s day. And it’s a draw for membership.” He said that the fi rehouse has a live-in program, where students at the University of Maryland’s fi re-science program get room and board in exchange for being on call there. “And our live-in guys were really down after our other dog died.
photo by paula minaert Hailey with, from left to right, Hyattsville Volunteer Firefighters Nick Zupancic, Matthew Graves, Mitchell Kannry and Nick Bailey They didn’t go looking for another one for a while. But eventually they did, and they found Hailey. She’s very affectionate, and she likes to hang out with the guys.” I asked if someone is always at the fi rehouse, and Kannry said yes,
Hailey’s never alone. She doesn’t go with them on calls, but sometimes they take her out for a ride. He took me to meet Hailey, and had to wake her up from a nap in her crate. She came out bleary-eyed. Another member of the department
came in and saw us and commented, “Yeah, she loves her crate.” I talked to Hailey for a while, and she politely licked my hand. But her attention was focused on Kannry. I wanted to get a picture of her, and Kannry suggested next to a fi re truck. He called some other fi refi ghters to come down from the living quarters upstairs to be in the picture. Outside, the men moved some tools from the truck to make a place for Hailey to sit and one of them knelt down and carefully lifted her up. “Don’t look at me, Hailey, look ahead,” he said. The men crowded around her, holding her in place. I needed another shot, though − the sun was at the wrong angle and Hailey didn’t show up well because she’s very dark. “How about over here, against the white?” asked one man. They knelt down around her and that shot did indeed turn out better. As I left, Kannry pointed out the indoor doghouse one of the men made for her: red with white trim, with “Hailey” painted over the door. A happy ending, indeed.
MyTwoCents
... but what about chickens? by Jonathan Wemple
I
got a kick out of the article about chickens ["Spring Chickens," April 2010]. Imagine that − some people think having chickens is a neat idea! I hope they don't live near my house. As a child, I spent my summers in St. Michaels, Md. This might call to mind carefree strolls and lazing one's way through cute bookstores and bric-a-brac shops, but my St. Michaels was the one of the late '70s and early '80s, before Diana Mautz opened the Carpenter Street Tavern. Back then, St, Michaels was not a vacation spot; it was a rural Eastern Shore village with a defunct fi shing cannery bordered by farms. And it had plenty of chickens. A few of my childhood friends had farms that included livestock. One thing I can certainly say about lengthy exposure to real farms with real livestock is that it will quickly disabuse you of any fantasies you
may have about chickens. Chickens are not interested in reminding us of a better, vanished time when happy families were united beside the coop. They do not have any interest in greener living or in offering their antibiotic-and-steroid-free bodies for your dinner table. They are not excited about providing plentiful, free fertilizer for your fl owers. Chickens are a hassle, actually. Roosters, notorious early risers, are about the noisiest thing on a farm and can be heard over the din of a combine. Chickens are messy, too. They incessantly void themselves everywhere. Also, chickens require routine medical attention that I
seriously doubt they will ever get here. That $2 chick will cost you when all its feathers are mysteriously falling out. Granted, there is a voting constituency here that can argue for chickens. Those will be the same people who will struggle to fi nd a responsible way to get rid of their birds when reality sets in. Hopefully, any future permitting fees will be big enough to offset the tax revenues that are lost when our property values sink. Imagine a potential homebuyer pausing at an intersection as errant fowl wander vacantly across the street. And speaking of homes: Yes, I, too, read that the clandestine chickens in the article "roost in
a [custom-built] coop that looks more architecturally signifi cant than some houses in the city’s Historic District." But can we really expect all poultry to live in "Victorian splendor," as these lucky ducks − er, birds − apparently are? Can we trust that chicken coops will be well-built and maintained, or will we see some horrible, stool-covered bare patch of ground surrounding a pile of soggy plywood and duct tape? Here are some other questions one might want to answer before considering lifting the city's livestock ban. Do most people move to the city to raise livestock or do they desire an urban lifestyle? Do people who think chickens are cute pets really know what the heck they are doing, or are they operating under the infl uence of some romantic notion? Will the small-scale chicken facility have any real signifi cant fi nancial impact that outweighs lowering property values or the occasional visit to the ER for salmonella?
Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
Page 3
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So many yard sales, so little time by Amira Aycock My husband buckles the baby into his car seat and then hands me the colorful Google map of Hyattsville, with all the little numbered red bubbles marking the addresses, and we head out. “What will we find today, I wonder?” my husband asks, looking at me with a wink and a smile. I am grateful that I married someone who loves yard sales and thrift stores almost as much as I do. He has fun on Community Yard Sale Day, but I really have fun. Twice a year, Hyattsville officials waive the yard-sale permit requirement, and residents respond in droves. This year, more than 60 sellers registered with the city for the spring sale on April 10. Their addresses were turned into a list and map for bargain hunters, available on the city website and at the municipal building. And there was no need to stuff leftovers back into newly empty attics and crawlspaces − officials arranged for a citywide charity pickup at the end of the day. As we head down 42nd Avenue, map in hand, I recount the sad tale of the antique Singer sewing machine that got away (and it was complete with the original instruction booklet, too!) at the community yard sale two years ago, only to see it reappear at the Salvation Army several weeks later for four times the owners’ asking price. “Don’t worry, you’ll find another one someday,” my husband consoles me. I sigh. But as we pull up to the first little cluster of houses somewhere between Jefferson and Longfellow, I perk up. We find, for $3, a cute original oil painting of two boys putting a boat out to sea that
reminds me of my own shipbuilding brood. It’s no Picasso, but it’s nice, and I like art that someone actually put some time and soul into. Just as I suspected, it looks much better hanging in our living room than propped up against a car in someone’s driveway. There’s also an adorable antique child’s vanity table, complete with little-girl-sized stool, that I am ready to fork over $20 for, when my husband interrupts me with: “Uh, honey, we have four boys and two male dogs.” “I know,” I reply. “I’ll play with it.” He gives me that leery look he always gives me when I want to buy doll furniture or girl’s clothes. I relent − this time − and keep my $20. The next couple stops yield nothing worth mentioning (or buying), and I begin to feel depressed. “Cheer up,” my husband advises as we stop in front of a driveway full of people milling about several folding tables. Here, I discover my find of the day: boxes of brand new Mary Kay beauty products (lotions, face creams, masks, make-up) marked 2 for $5. What luck! I use Mary Kay, and regularly fork over $30 a pop for face creams. I buy 10 products for $25 dollars. Score. From this point on, I’m pretty happy. At our next stop, my husband and I banter with some folks on Jefferson over a squirrel trap that we don’t ultimately buy, much to my disappointment: The memories of all the juicy tomatoes the squirrels stole from our garden last year are still fresh. We learn from a knowledgeable source that squirrels actually cook up into a delicious stew. I begin to wonder if I should apprentice my boys to a taxidermist, but then
I worry about what the neighbors might think, seeing the boys out back skinning small animals. We pick up a few more odds and ends − costumes and like-new shoes for the kids for $1 per pair − and then head home. I spread out our loot on our dining-room table (bought at a consignment store) and sigh with satisfaction when I see my $300 worth of Mary Kay cosmetics. “Not bad, huh?” my husband says as he brings me some lemonade. “No, not bad,” I say, taking a gulp. “But I bet the Fall Community Yard Sale Day is even better.” Amira Aycock wrote a guide to thrift stores for the HL&T that can be seen at http://www.issuu.com/ hyattsvillelifeandtimes/docs/200910_final. The next Community Yard Sale is Oct. 9.
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Page 4
Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
Local troop produces two Eagle Scouts
MissFloribunda
by Hannah Bruchman Dear Miss Floribunda, From time to time, you’ve touted gardening with native plants, and I’ve enjoyed reading the lore given by your Aunt Sioux and Uncle Howabunda. I also attended an interesting presentation HHS and HPA sponsored a couple of winters ago about rain gardens and their benefits. I’ve decided to give this a try. However, I don’t find it easy to find native plants, except by mail order. I really prefer to buy locally. Can you provide any local resources? At a Loss on Oglethorpe Street Dear At a Loss, There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that you missed the big annual sale of native plants at the National Arboretum a month ago, but the good news is that a wonderful new sale is coming, and it’s in our very city! On May 21 and 22, the Hyattsville Elementary School PTA is going to have its fi rst annual native plant sale, and it has a spectacular variety of plants to offer. For a full listing, contact the treasurer of the PTA, Ken Williams, at kenwilliamspta@yahoo.com. He works with an environmental construction company with its own nursery and has organized the sale. It will take place at the school (5311 43rd Avenue) on May 21 from 5 to 7 p.m. and May 22 from 8:30 a.m. to noon. To give you just a tempting smattering of what’s offered, you can choose from such sun-loving herbaceous plants as the blackeyed Susan (our Maryland state fl ower), a variety of asters, blazing
The black-eyed Susan, our state flower, is one of many flowers you'll find at the Hyattsville Elementary School plant sale this month. star, blue vervain, purple conefl owers, and ox-eye daisies as well as shade-loving ferns, understory trees and shrubs like silky dogwood, sweet viburnum, red bud, spice bush, American holly and fragrant witch hazel. Not only will you fi nd native treasures that are easy to maintain and good for our environment and the ecology, but you will be helping the school. That’s an unbeatable combination. However, should you somehow miss this sale, Aunt Sioux recommends browsing the Riverdale Park Farmer’s Market on Thursday afternoons from 3 to 7 p.m. Also, you can contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for quite an informative booklet called “Native Plants for Wildlife Habitat and Conservation Landscaping.” Online, there are a variety of resources. Dr. Agronomosky recommends the Federal Wildlife Service Chesapeake Bay site, which lists by state those nurseries that sell native plants. Try this URL: www.fws.gov./chesapeakebay/ bayscapes/bs.nurseries.htm. Another handy website is the Chesa-
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peake Ecology Center’s (www. chesapeakeecologycenter.org), and the center also produces publications that can be mailed to you. Its director, Zora Lathan, was the speaker at the rain garden and native plant presentation you attended in February 2009. She can be reached at zoralathan@ earthlink.net. To discuss native plants and their care, please come to the next meeting of the Hyattsville Horticultural Society at 10 a.m. on June 19 at the home of Jeff Moulton, 6122 42nd Avenue. In May, members of the HPA will forgo their monthly business meeting to make flower arrangements to grace the homes on the Hyattsville House Tour on May 16. Please do not miss this opportunity to view the creative ways Hyattsville residents have embellished their historic homes and gardens.
Timmy Park and Brandon Hurst of Troop 224 are not your average Boy Scouts. Sure, they’ve completed the merit badges and gone on the camping trips in their decade or so in the troop. But what sets Park, 21, and Hurst, 18, apart is the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest achievement in Boy Scouts. Fewer than 5 percent of Boy Scouts attain this honor, according to Troop 224 scoutmaster Bill Thomas. Among the many requirements are: progressing through fi ve scout ranks, each with its own set of requisites; earning a total of 21 merit badges; serving six months in a troop leadership position; and planning, developing and leading a service project. Park’s Eagle project was improving Peace Garden Park, at the corner of 30th Street and Arundel Road in his hometown of Mount Rainier. He worked with his troop to install a new path, complete with mulch and woodchips, winding around the park. They planted pansies, day lilies, herbs and other plants donated by Denchfi eld Nursery along the path and around the new centerpiece of the park − a Peace Pole, one of more than 200,000 such monuments around the world. “It looks like a little Washington Monument, with the inscription ‘May Peace Prevail on Earth’ written in English, Spanish, Arabic, and Hebrew on the four sides,” explained Park’s father, Jerry, whose nonprofi t organization Little Friends for Peace started the
photos courtesy of ed tirador New Eagle Scouts Brandon Hurst, top, and Timmy Park garden “fi ve or six years ago.” For Hurst’s Eagle project, he worked with the city of Bladensburg to clean up Evergreen Cemetery, which he said had become old and dilapidated. Last year, he and his troop “mowed, trimmed, weeded, clipped, [and] raked” the cemetery, even uncovering some old graves. The best part? “It was fun because I was in charge of everyone,” Hurst said. “Even my parents.” Next year, Hurst will join Park at Anne Arundel Community College. Park is studying culinary arts, while Hurst plans to study to become a pastry chef. Both men agree that earning the rank of Eagle Scout gave them a sense of accomplishment. “I just wanted to achieve this award,” Park said. Hurst agrees. “I did this to feel accomplished − and I do.”
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Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
Page 5
Postcards from the Past
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Parachutes, penny candy and paint by Paula Minaert His name is James Davis, but everyone knows him as Jimmy. And a lot of people know him: Born in Hyattsville, he has lived most of his nearly 85 years here. His story intertwines with the city’s in many ways. His father, a handyman, moved here from Culpeper, Va. with his employer, Dr. Hillary Willis. Willis would go on to serve two terms as Hyattsville’s mayor, from 1927 to 1931 and 1933 to 1938. “He worked for Dr. Willis until he died,” recalls Jimmy during a recent visit in his Friendship Arms apartment. Willis appointed the elder Davis a special police officer for the city. He did code inspection work and helped out during World War II air raids, in addition to more unconventional duties:
“You know Church Place [a short street parallel to Route 1, between Hamilton and Farragut streets]? My father named that street.” The family lived near what is now Franklins, giving young Jimmy a window on early development in the city. “You know that bridge on Route 1?” he asks. “I saw them build [the original], back in 1932 or ’33. We lived right across the street from it, and I used to sit on the porch steps and watch them work on it. The address was 97 Maryland Avenue then. Once I saw a bad train wreck under the bridge. It was a passenger train and I know lots of people were hurt.” Following in his father’s footsteps, Jimmy started working part time for the city when he was about 12. He joined the Navy after high school and then worked as a
professional firefighter in Bethesda. He worked as a volunteer firefighter as well, in Bladensburg, Riverdale Heights, and Mount Rainier, before coming to work in his father’s painting business. “I’d say I painted 40 percent of the houses in the city, in the 65 years I worked here. I know Hyattsville inside and out. And my father and I, we painted all the street names, too, when the city renamed all the streets [in 1941]. They had the names painted on the curbs back then, not on poles.” He says he can remember, over the years, 27 mom-and-pop grocery stores in Hyattsville. There were also two bowling alleys, two movie theaters, two shoemakers, Hawkins Electric, a restaurant at Route 1 and Farragut, and much more. “Thompson’s Dairy was on Gallatin Street,” he adds. “They sold little bottles of milk for a penny and a half. And the elementary school used to be right across the
photo courtesy of jimmy davis Jimmy Davis stands in front of the original bridge to Alternate Route 1. street, where King Park is now, so we’d get our milk from the dairy. A place called the Country Kitchen was across the street, too. It was
actually a woman, Miss Brigham, running it out of her house. She sold sodas and candy. We’d go there before and after school and during recess. We loved it.” When the children weren’t in school or at the store, they might be watching a parachute jump at the airport at Queens Chapel and Ager Road, or at one of the city parks. “Everyone was out, either sitting on their porches or walking around, even in the evenings. You weren’t scared to. For the children, Magruder Park had egg hunts and fireworks and carnivals and sports leagues. “You know, they had blue laws here, no liquor sold. Just beer and wine. And you couldn’t make lots of noise on Sundays. Police used to fine you if they caught you. “We had a lot of fun in the city. It was the big town, bigger than Laurel or Bowie or Silver Spring. It was a good town.”
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Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
COMMUNITY CALENDAR May 13 to 16
May 21
Come see “the tale as old as time,” Beauty and the Beast, performed as part of American Family Theatre’s Broadway series. Recommended for grades K-5. $6; discount for groups of 15 and up. 10:15 a.m. and noon. Publick Playhouse, 5445 Landover Road, Cheverly. 301.277.1710.
A person’s a person no matter how small. Come see Seussical: The Musical performed by the Cheverly Young Actors Guild. The play winds its way through Dr. Seuss’s classic children stories. Call for admission prices. May 13 to 15 at 7:30 p.m.; May 16 at 6:30 p.m.; matinees May 15 and 16 at 2 p.m. Publick Playhouse, 5445 Landover Road, Cheverly. 301.277.1710.
May 21 and 22
May 15
Come watch the 2001 movie Spy Kids at the College Park Aviation Museum as part of its Hollywood Flyers film series. Lemonade and popcorn provided. Free with museum admission of $4 per adult, $3 per senior, and $2 for children ages 2 to 18. 1 p.m. 1985 Cpl. Frank Scott Drive, College Park. 301.864.6029.
May 16
The 31st Annual Historic Hyattsville House Tour, sponsored by the Hyattsville Preservation Association, features nine homes in a variety of architectural styles, from bungalows to Queen Annes. 1 to 5 p.m. $12; $10 in advance from Franklins General Store. Maps
photo by tony fernandez The 31st Annual Hyattsville Historic House Tour includes this 1901 Queen Anne Victorian, last seen on the tour in 1989. available the day of the tour at the Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street. 301.699.3849.
May 18
The Battle of Bladensburg played a pivotal role in the War of 1812. Learn more when author Donald Shomette lectures on New Perspectives on the Battle of Bladensburg. $5; students, $2.50. 7:30 p.m. Riversdale House Museum 4811 Riverdale Road, Riverdale Park. 301.864.0420.
You can shop and support the local PTA at the same time during Hyattsville Elementary’s First Annual Native Plant Sale, when dozens of plant varieties, from flowers to ferns, will be available for purchase. Free admission. May 21, 5 to 7 p.m; May 22, 8:30 a.m. to noon. While supplies last. Hyattsville Elementary School, 5311 43rd Avenue. Contact kenwilliamspta@ yahoo.com for more information.
May 22
Arts District Hyattsville lives up to its name today as 50 area artists join entertainers and chefs at the Third Annual
Downtown Hyattsville Arts Festival. Free. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. 4424 Longfellow Street (at intersection of Route 1). 301.209.0116. Ahoy Matey! Come swab the deck at Pirate Fest, featuring pirate re-enactors and activities. Kids, don’t forget your best pirate gear — there will a contest for the best costume. $5 per person for ages 4 and up. 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Darnall’s Chance House Museum, 14800 Gov. Oden Bowie Drive, Upper Marlboro. 301.952.8010. Mother Africa & Her Talents, a red-carpet event sponsored by Africa Culture, showcases a variety of talents, from traditional African dance to contemporary African clothing designers, musicians, and even a soccer star from Sierra Leone. $60; students, $30. 7 p.m. Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center, University of Maryland. 301.405.2787. calendar continued on page 7
Free electronics recycling Program
saturday, June 5, 2010, 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon city oF Hyattsville dPW yard, 4633 arundel Place, Hyattsville
tHe city oF Hyattsville Will Provide residents tHe oPPortunity to disPose oF tHe FolloWing unWanted or unusable equiPment: • Computer monitors • Central proCessing units • printers • Computer Keyboards, mouse & Wire
• VCrs • radios • Copiers • teleVisions • Cell phones
*a maximum oF 8 items Will be accePted Per HouseHold.*
tHis Program is oPen to city oF Hyattsville residents only. individuals ParticiPating in tHis Program Will be required to sHoW ProoF oF identiFication include a driver’s license, military identiFication, a tax, Water or cable bill.
Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR
calendar
tition in Kansas City. Live blues music will be played throughout the day, and the public will have a chance to vote for the People’s Choice BBQ Sauce Contest. Free. Noon to 5 p.m. Watkins Regional Park, 301 Watkins Park Drive, Upper Marlboro. 301.627.2828 or 301.888.1500.
continued from page 6
May 29
Bladensburg Waterfront Park hosts an Open House on the Water, where guests can learn basic fishing techniques and canoe paddling. All materials and refreshments provided. Open to all ages. Free. 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. 4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg. 301.779.0371.
During the countywide Rule the Pool Giveaway, Lane Manor Splash Park and the newly revamped Hamilton Splash Park offer a prize to the first 100 guests each day who can name two pool safety rules. While supplies last.
photo courtesy of the beltsville agricultural research center Tractors are one of the draws at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Field Day. Adult admission, $5; children and seniors, $4. Call for schedule information.Hamilton Splash Park: 3901 Hamilton Street. 301.779.8224. Lane Manor Splash Park: 7601 West Park Drive. 301.422.7284.
June 5
Beltsville Agricultural Research Center marks its centennial this year. Join the celebration at Field Day, featuring hay rides, animal
and farm machinery exhibits, hands-on demonstrations and more. Free. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. 10300 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville. For more information, see www.ars.usda.gov/ba/fieldday. Find out whose sauce is boss at the Beltway BBQ Showdown, when chefs from all along the Eastern Seaboard will compete for a spot in the national compe-
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Spring means it’s time again for the free Anacostia River Boat Tours, held six days a week. Join a park naturalist on a pontoon boat to search for birds and other wildlife. All ages welcome. Tuesday through Friday, noon to 12:45 p.m.; beginning May 22, Saturdays and Sundays, 5 to 5:45 p.m. Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg. 301.779.0371.
Community Calendar is compiled by Hannah Bruchman and Susie Currie. It’s a select listing of events happening in and around Hyattsville from the 15th of the issue month to the 15th of the following month. To submit an item for consideration, please email susie@hyattsvillelife.com or mail to P.O. Box 132, Hyattsville, MD 20781. Deadline for June submissions is May 23.
The Hyattsville library offers a
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The producers-only Riverdale Park Farmer’s Market is open for the season, with a variety of local vegetables and fruits, honey, baked goods, meat, jams, flowers and more. Free. Thursdays, 3 to 7 p.m. Riverdale Park, 301.332.6258.
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Veni, vidi, vici! Come watch ancient Roman battle re-enactments by Legion XX in Rome at Riversdale. All ages welcome. $5; students, $3. June 5, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; June 6, noon to 4 p.m. 4811 Riverdale Road, Riverdale Park. 301.864.0420.
Adelphi Rd.
May 29 and 30
June 5 and 6
America Blvd.
Park rangers will conduct a kayaking program for ages 6 and up, including information about the lake’s history as well as kayaking techniques and safety education. Children under 17 must be accompanied by an adult. $5; reservations required. 7 a.m. Lake Artemesia, 8200 55th Avenue, Berwyn Heights. 301.627.7755.
variety of storytimes. Space is limited; free tickets available at the Children’s Desk. Ages 9-23 months with caregiver: Mondays, 10:15 a.m. Ages 2-3: Mondays, 11 a.m. and Tuesdays, 10:15 a.m. Ages 3-5: Tuesdays, 11 a.m. Ages 3-6: Wednesdays, 7 p.m. English-Spanish Storytime for ages 3-6: Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. 6530 Adelphi Road. 301.985.4690.
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Entire Dinner Check (Min. $15)
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Page 8
Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
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Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
AROUND TOWN
Page 9
Hyattsville anniversary celebration a big hit with everyone
photos by valerie russell The city's annual anniversary parade, on April 24, featured several student groups from area schools. Afterwards, a carnival at Magruder Park offered rides, games, and more.
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Page 10
BISHOP
continued from page 1 after being asked to leave a previous congregation. It has fl ourished in Hyattsville to the point that its Sunday service, at noon, has 300 regulars. That’s about fi ve times as many as the one held in English two hours earlier. Rivas said that people come to his church because they like his sermons and the family-friendly potluck after the service. Also, the church is conveniently close to Latino neighborhoods and the Prince George’s Plaza metro stop, allowing access to immigrants without cars. Rivas left the Catholic priesthood in 2001, married in 2006 and became an Episcopal priest in 2008. He estimates that 95 percent of his San Mateo fl ock also used to be Catholic, and some vestiges of their former faith were apparent during the evening with their bishop. For example, Jefferts Schori was presented with a stole bearing the likeness of Our Lady of Guadalupe, an image that has resonated for centuries with Mexican Catholics. And during the service, people made frequent
Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010 signs of the cross, referred to the service as a “Mass” and prayed the Catholic version of the Lord’s Prayer (Protestants add a sentence at the end). Rev. Noreen Seiler Dubay, rector of St. Matthew’s, said that the service “is our way of symbolizing the growing unity that has been occurring between the Englishspeaking and Spanish-speaking congregations of St. Matthew’s.” That unity will culminate on May 16, when both congregations vote to formally join the two congregations on several levels, including common bylaws, budget, committees and a shared vestry (parish council). Less than a handful of Episcopal congregations nationwide have taken such a step. If current membership trends continue, though, the bishop may see more of these unions before the end of her nine-year term. In the Washington diocese, like others around the country, membership is on the rise only in immigrant congregations like San Mateo and the nearby St. Michael’s and All Angels in Adelphi, a growing congregation of 125 people that Rivas also pastors.
photo by julia duin The presiding bishop of the Episcopal Church, Katharine Jefferts Schori, came to St. Matthew's Church in Hyattsville to honor the region's largest Latino congregation.
COMMENTARY AND OPINION ON HISTORY & POLITICS
Hugh’sNews
A mother to many by Hugh Turley Around the time that Mother’s Day was on the road to becoming a national holiday, one of the most famous American “mothers” was headed to our area, where she would live out her remaining years. Mary Harris Jones − better known as Mother Jones − became such a prominent labor leader during the 19 th and 20th centuries that some called her “the most dangerous woman in America.” Having witnessed firsthand the dangers that come with abysmal working conditions, she dedicated herself to changing them. She was born on Aug. 1, 1837, in Cork, Ireland, the daughter of a tenant farmer. As a young teen, she immigrated to Canada with her family. She was raised a Roman Catholic and taught school in Michigan. In 1861 she married George Jones, a member of the Iron Workers Union, and moved to Tennessee. Six years later, her husband and four young children, all under age 5, died during an epidemic of yellow fever. Jones moved to Chicago and worked as a seamstress for wealthy families. Here, she began to become troubled by the disparity between the rich and the working poor. During the Great Chicago Fire, in 1871, misfortune struck again when she lost her home and dressmaking business.
The fire was a turning point in her transformation into Mother Jones, “grandmother of all agitators.” Unlike many women today, she cultivated an image of being older than she was − even claiming to be born seven years earlier (and on May 1, which happened to be the national labor holiday). She dressed in the clothing of an older woman and assumed a grandmotherly appearance. Jones was a charismatic speaker. She used props, wit, storytelling, and even profanity in her speeches. In 1894, she gave a speech to raise funds for Coxey’s Army, a march on Washington protesting unemployment. Led by Jacob Coxey, the marchers encamped in Hyattsville after federal authorities drove them from the grounds of the U.S. Capitol. These protesters inspired Frank Baum’s classic The Wizard of Oz, in which the farmer, industrial worker, and cowardly politician, William Jennings Bryan, were represented by the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Lion. Jones organized miners in Colorado, West Virginia, and Minnesota. She aided workers in mills, the garment industry and the railroads, and counted among her friends and supporters Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle, and Terrance Powderly, a fellow Irish Catholic who headed the Knights of Labor. One of her biggest accomplishments, though, was helping
to end child labor in America. Young children employed in dangerous mines and mills were often maimed or killed in accidents. Children and women joined Mother Jones in public protests, including the famous Children’s Crusade − a march from Philadelphia to the Oyster Bay, N.Y., home of President Theodore Roosevelt. Interestingly, Jones told the New York Times in 1913, “I am not a suffragist. In no sense of the word am I in sympathy with woman’s suffrage. In a long life of study of these questions I have learned that women are out of place in political work. There is already a great responsibility upon women’s shoulders – that of rearing rising generations.” To Jones, voting was only the appearance of power; she felt the importance of the ballot box was exaggerated. Real power, she believed, was in the hands of the wealthy and not the politicians. In her final years, Mother Jones retired to the farm of Walter and Lilly Mae Burgess in what is now called Adelphi, where she died on Nov. 30, 1930. Earlier that year, she had celebrated what she called her 100th birthday there. She is buried in Mount Olive, Ill., at the Union Miners Cemetery, alongside miners who died in the Virden riot of 1898. According to her wishes, she is buried with the men she called her boys.
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Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
Page 11
RENTALS
continued from page 1
Street parking may be easier to come by in some parts of the city if a proposal to change the city code moves forward.
MURPHY
continued from page 1 “Elaine’s leadership and dedication to the city have been critical to the city’s investment, service improvements, and new development during the past decade,” said Mayor William Gardiner. “We will miss her, but she leaves the city in a great position.” She looks back and notes diffi cult times: ward redistricting after the 2000 census, managing sensitive personnel issues, and frustrations regarding the vacant WSSC building. Overall, though, she remembers “how rewarding it was to be a part of a diverse community working together to solve problems.”
Murphy hasn’t announced a date for leaving, recognizing that the transition ahead for the city and city staff presents some challenges. “I want staff to recognize change is opportunity and the new city manager will need their help to learn about past practices and the history of city actions,” she said. “A new manager will provide new eyes and new ways to accomplish the daily operations of the city and together they can join forces to take the city to new places and directions.” Peggy Dee, a city resident for more than 40 years, remarked, “Whoever comes next as city administrator will have big shoes to fi ll. … In my deal-
• • •
deals with licensing of rental units. The changes were drafted by city attorney Richard Colaresi to address what some see as overcrowding of living quarters and street parking. The city has been following the Prince George’s County Housing Code, which stipulates, among other things, that rentals must have “a minimum gross fl oor area of 150 square feet for the fi rst occupant,” with a bedroom making up at least 70 square feet of that space. Each additional occupant requires an extra 100 square feet in living space; for shared bedrooms, the space requirement goes up 50 square feet per person.
ings with Ms. Murphy, anything you asked her to do, she would always work to fi nd the answer.” Murphy’s retirement plans include a move to the West Coast to be near family and grandchildren. The mayor and city council are in the process of selecting a search fi rm to identify qualifi ed candidates for a new city administrator. Then, the council is expected to discuss the next step, such as establishing a committee including residents to assist with the interview process and recommend candidates. Once a search fi rm is in place, it’s expected to take at least another 90 to 120 days before a fi nal candidate is voted on by the mayor and council.
The changes committee members began reviewing at the meeting would allot the space more specifically, as demonstrated in a chart that showed proposed square footage by room for a number of different scenarios. For example, one tenant would need 80 square feet for a bedroom and 50 for a kitchen, while a bedroom shared by four people would require at least 210 square feet — plus a 120-square-foot living room, a 100-square-foot dining room, and a 60-square-foot kitchen. Neither the county nor the city specifi es parking for renters versus owners. But in the several residential parking zones throughout the city, a permit is required to park for more than two hours during the posted times. Under current regulations, there is no limit to the number of vehicles registered to one address, and permit
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holders can obtain two guest passes at no additional charge. The proposed changes would limit the available street parking spaces for a rental property to three. For each renter over the age of 16, the landlord would have to provide off-street parking, which means, in most cases, on-site parking. Under current regulations, parking on unpaved or unprepared surfaces is not allowed, and permits from both the city and the county are required before installing or expanding a driveway. Impervious surfaces may not cover more than 25 percent of a front yard. Giunta stressed that the document was a work in progress, and the committee will continue to review it in future meetings before presenting recommendations to the council sometime after the summer recess.
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Hyattsville Life & Times | May 2010
real estate is
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CURRENTLY LISTED WITH LARRY: 9750 52nd Place 10400 46th Ave. 10301 45th Place 4423 39th St. 4002 31st St. SOLD 4004 30th St. 4305 29th St. 7214 16th Ave. 2208 Woodberry St. 3105 Webster St. 3450 Toledo Place 4513 Romlon St. 1109 Osage St. 3817 Newark Rd.
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