NO PLASTIC FOAM? County Council eyes ban on food containers. A-4
A&E: “Colossal,” a play about life after a serious football injury, opens in Olney. B-5
The Gazette BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON
SPORTS: Landon School hopes to peak at right time in quest for IAC title. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2014
Neighbors wary of Bethesda firehouse plans
On the right track
First public meeting at station is Thursday
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BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
GREG DOHLER/THE GAZETTE
Lori Solovey of Chevy Chase holds up her sons Adam (left), 4, and Noah, 2, to watch model trains going by during the annual display put on Saturday by the National Capital Trackers at the Kensington Armory/Town Hall. Admission to the weekend show raised money for the Kensington Historical Society and the Noyes Children’s Library Foundation.
Annual Harvest Festival canceled “We didn’t want to cancel, we wanted to have it on a different day, but because of scheduling conflicts for all the vendors and volunteers it just was not possible.” Melissa Chotiner, Montgomery County Parks Department spokeswoman
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Conflicted with Yom Kippur; parks department unable to reschedule BY
KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County Parks Department’s annual Harvest Festival has been canceled after officials noticed about a month ago that it was scheduled on Yom Kippur. The holiest day of the year for members of the Jewish faith, Yom Kippur is an approximately 25-hour-long period that includes five prayer services and during
which Jews abstain from food and drink, do not wash or anoint their bodies, do not wear leather footwear and abstain from marital relations, according to information from www.chabad.org. Also called the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur falls on Oct. 3 and 4 this year. Montgomery County’s Harvest Festival was scheduled for Oct. 4 at the Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood. Parks spokeswoman Melissa Chotiner said the decision to cancel the Harvest Festival was extremely difficult, made with great consideration and out of respect for the local Jewish community. Montgomery County is home to an
See FESTIVAL, Page A-10
Even before the Bethesda Fire Department holds public meetings on a redevelopment plan for its downtown station, some neighborhood groups are already thinking ahead about what they do not want to see in any redevelopment on the site. The department is considering redeveloping its Station 6 at the corner of Wisconsin Avenue and Bradley Boulevard. Proposals could include a public-private partnership to build a new station and apartments, according to the department, but plans are still in the early stages, according to the department. The department, a private nonprofit separate from the public Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service, is considering redeveloping the firehouse
to raise money for renovating or replacing the station, which is almost 50 years old. Department officials say the station hasn’t kept up with population growth in the area it serves. Naomi Spinrad, zoning coordinator for the Chevy Chase West Neighborhood Association, wrote a letter to the county fire chief expressing concern over the plans. One concern, she said, is that the driveway for the station could be moved away from the major intersection of Wisconsin and Bradley. Putting the driveway at a less convenient location could add to the time it takes to get a fire truck out of the station and heading down the right road, she said. “[That] would require, it appears, a cut in the median and perhaps an additional signal ... which puts a few extra steps in getting them out,” Spinrad said. If apartments are added to
See FIREHOUSE, Page A-10
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Renovations at the Shoppes of Bethesda, here on the Hampden Lane side, are expected to continue into October.
Shoppes of Bethesda Potomac group is brainchild of theater veteran going for ‘wow’ factor Plan is to present dramas and n
comedies about ‘universal issues’ BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
Two women will take to the stage at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac on Thursday night for the inaugural performance of the Peace Mountain Players, a new theater group comprising local actors. The group, founded this year by Laurie Freed of Darnestown, will present “Collected Stories” by Donald Margulies on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. “‘Collected Stories’ is so layered,” Freed said. “It’s about ethics in relationships. It’s timeless: Who owns the story of your life?”
The story, Freed said, is about two women: an English professor and a student who works for her, who develop a close mother-daughter type of relationship. The younger woman writes a book about the older one, sharing stories and secrets gathered over the years of their friendship. This weekend’s shows are the culmination of a year’s work for Freed, who began Peace Mountain Players with an idea in summer 2013. Freed said she has been involved in drama groups, acting, singing and directing for more than 40 years. She has a master’s in theater from California State University, Fullerton and a master’s in drama therapy from the Los Angeles Family Institute, she
See THEATER, Page A-10
BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Natalie McManus of Potomac rehearses for the Peace Mountain Players’ production of “Collected Stories” this weeked at Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac.
A 20-year-old downtown Bethesda shopping center is getting a major face-lift and some new stores. The Shoppes of Bethesda, on Elm Street and Hampden Lane between Woodmont Avenue and Arlington Road, is getting a facade renovation and
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INDEX Automotive Calendar Classified Entertainment Obituaries Opinion Sports
Downtown retail complex, built two decades ago, faces competition n
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new landscaping. Work started about a month ago. David Draiman, owner of Draiman Properties of Bethesda, said it was time for an update. Draiman Properties owns the shopping center, which was built in the early 1990s. When the renovation is finished, he said it will look totally different and will have features that give it a “wow factor.” “We’re doing really a facelift to both sides of the shopping center, on Elm Street and Hampden Lane,” he said.
See SHOPPES, Page A-10