SAT SCORES UP IN COUNTY Montgomery’s minority students show gains. A-4
A&E: Annual spooky movie festival arrives with new film by Eduardo Sanchez. B-6
The Gazette BETHESDA | CHEVY CHASE | KENSINGTON
SPORTS: Seniors helping change the mindset for Stone Ridge field hockey team. B-1
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Purple Line groups focus on its impact
Now a little behind the ears, please
Residents, businesses invited to share ideas, worries at meetings
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BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Gromit, a Labrador retriever owned by John Welch of Chevy Chase (right), receives some attention from Silver Spring’s Merry Polocki and her husband, Peter, during the blessing of the animals Sunday at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Norwood Parish in Chevy Chase.
From vaccines to Vivaldi n
NIH Philharmonia provides musical outlet for scientists, community BY KATELYN NEWMAN SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
NIH PHILHARMONIA
“We play just about everything,” says Nancia D’Alimonte, who will lead the NIH Philharmonia when it performs Saturday at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Rockville.
Their life’s work involves beakers and test tubes, but once a week they leave those behind and pick up their bassoons and trumpets. On Tuesday evenings at the National Institutes of Health’s main campus in Bethesda, about 70 scientists, federal workers and community members come together, instruments in hand, to play orchestral music.
Celebrating its 10th season, the NIH Philharmonia will host its season premiere Saturday at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Rockville. The concert, “As Fate Would Have It,” includes Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino,” Debussy’s “Petite Suite” and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 4. “We were looking to create an orchestra for experienced musicians who worked at NIH and who wanted to play challenging orchestra music outside of work, and that’s what we created,” said manager Ginger McLaughlin of Bethesda, who helped found the orchestra in 2005 and plays viola in the group.
N. Bethesda school wins Silver Diner grant for healthful activities BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
Students at Luxmanor Elementary School in North Bethesda will be walking across the country this year and learning about healthful eating as they go. That’s not a virtual walk, but it’s not exactly real either. It’s a way to track the students’ mileage as part of the school’s recess walking club, said parent
$10,000 top award to build on the programs already started and expand to new ideas. Delasos and Levine Scherr wrote both grants. Last year, with some of the grant money, the school was able to provide small tokens for kids in the walking club as they reached milestones of 5, 10, even 20 miles. Students can count their walking on the playground at recess and also at home and on weekends, Delasos said. That helps them realize that fitness is an everyday thing. This year, they’re tracking their walking progress alongside the trek taken by Lewis and
Clark two centuries ago. “We have a monthly awards ceremony at lunch,” Delasos said. “The kids are so proud of [their walking], they can choose to do it and they can choose their own level of success.” Forkert explained a number of things the school did last year and shared his excitement about a bigger program this year, plus the idea of sharing what Luxmanor is doing with other schools. The school had a “Treat your Body Right” assembly featuring YoJo, a fuzzy blue char-
See GRANT, Page A-14
BETHESDA URBAN PARTNERSHIP
Employees of the Mussel Bar & Grille prepare food at last year’s Taste of Bethesda.
Burgers to baguettes, Bethesda will have it all n
25th annual food fest features music, kids activities
BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
With 190 restaurants in downtown Bethesda how do you choose one? A good start would be to try dozens in one day. The annual Taste of
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organizer Nancy Delasos. Delasos, parent Lori Levine Scherr, Principal Ryan Forkert, the school’s PTA and other parent volunteers are working with the students to make health a part of the children’s lifestyle. Because of their efforts, the school last week was awarded a $10,000 Eat Well, Do Well grant from Silver Diner. “The grant is for nutrition and fitness education,” said Joe Howard of Silver Diner. “We give three each year: two $5,000 and one $10,000.” Luxmanor received a $5,000 grant through Silver Diner last year and this year earned the
B-15 A-2 B-11 B-6 A-12 A-16 B-1
SHINING A LIGHT ON ALCOHOL
Documentarian from Chevy Chase explores women and addiction.
Volume 3, No. 34, Two sections, 36 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
RECYCLE
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See PURPLE, Page A-14
See PHILHARMONIA, Page A-14
Luxmanor takes the money and walks with it n
A new group wants to give residents and businesses along the Purple Line route a forum for their concerns and ideas about the 16-mile, $2.45 billion light rail project from Bethesda to New Carrollton that’s slated to start running in 2020. The Fair Development Coalition, created by Casa de Maryland, an advocacy group for low-income immigrants, plans its first community meeting Thursday in Silver Spring. “It’s extremely critical that we make sure community voices are heard,” said Zorayda Moreira-Smith, Casa’s senior manager of community development. Maryland transit officials hope construction starts next year. The line will provide direct connections to Metrorail’s Red, Orange and Green lines, as well as MARC trains. Thursday’s meeting will run
from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at St. Camillus Church, 1600 St. Camillus Drive, Silver Spring. Organizers are asking participants to RSVP at casademaryland.org. “We’re expecting 300 to 500 people ... and we’re bringing in four buses from Prince George’s County,” Moreira-Smith said. Residents of Langley Park, Riverdale and nearby communities also are affected by the planned route, she said. Moreira-Smith said residents who can’t make the meeting can email their ideas and comments to her at zmoreira@ casamd.org. Representatives of groups also have been invited to two public workshops this month and in November. The workshops are planned by the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland. The workshops will build on the findings from the “Beyond the Tracks” workshop in March. The first session is scheduled from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Silver Spring Civic Building, 1 Veterans Plaza. The second is set for 4 to 6
Bethesda has more than 50 restaurants on the menu for this year’s festival, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Woodmont Triangle. “Its an event for everyone in the community,” said Stephanie Coppula, director of marketing for Bethesda Urban Partnership, which organizes the Taste. This year marks the 25th annual Taste of Bethesda, which,
See BETHESDA, Page A-14