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Wednesday, December 3, 2014
DA I LY U P DAT E S AT G A Z E T T E . N E T
Bethesda shoppers go small for a day
A day to care
Deadline for Purple Line plans is delayed
Local merchants try to compete with chains, online retailers n
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ELIZABETH WAIBEL
Agency: Hogan needs more time
STAFF WRITER
After Black Friday fever died down last week, some local businesses started their quest for a slice of the holiday retail pie with Small Business Saturday. Small Business Saturday is a promotion started by American Express to encourage shopping at local businesses the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Small businesses can participate in the promotion in varying degrees. Bob McKim, owner of Bethesda Pet Shoppe on Elm Street, said he put up a Small Business Saturday sign, but didn’t do anything special other than that. Anglo Dutch Pools and
See SMALL, Page A-11
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STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
Saki Maeda and Kristiana Ware fold fleece blankets that were made in their seventh-grade science class as part of the Day of Caring on Nov. 26 at Tilden Middle School in North Bethesda. The blankets will go to foster homes and animal shelters.
Projects at Tilden Middle School include helping the homeless BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Kate and Danny Fleishman of Bethesda shop Saturday with their cockapoo-Maltese mix Finn at Bethesda Pet Shoppe.
Students at Tilden Middle School in North Bethesda learned a lesson in community last week when they took part in the school’s second annual Day of Caring. They made breakfasts for the Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless men’s shelter: 220 hand-decorated bags, each containing a bagel, cream cheese, fresh fruit, juice and a granola bar. They wrote letters and created cards for service members, cut and tied fleece blankets, made origami and rainbow bracelets, and participated in a basketball foul shot contest. Those were some of more than a dozen activities planned for Nov. 26 by Tilden’s staff and Parent-Teacher-Student Association. “I think this is really cool, that we are actually helping,” sixth-grader
Kelsey Chaikin said. “We made blankets for people in foster homes and we also made them for dogs in shelters, rainbow bracelets for kids in hospitals and now we’re making [breakfasts] for men in shelters.” Tilden had its first Day of Caring last year after math teacher Jane Stasko came up with the idea. “I thought Thanksgiving is a good time to give back,” Stasko said. “Let’s get our school involved.” The day takes a tremendous amount of organization and planning, Principal Irina LaGrange said, but it is well worth it because the children can see that one person can make a difference. “It’s a day when [the school] is bursting with positive energy,” LaGrange said. Yvonne Levine, parent of two Tilden students, was PTSA coordinator, reaching out to other parents and friends to get ideas for charities the
students could help. She also organized collections of supplies: food for the breakfast bags; coats, hats and gloves to donate to Linkages for Learning Centers in the county; toiletries for Mid-County United Ministries and 2,000 pounds of nonperishable food for the ministries and Manna Food Center. “All the donations are from our families,” Levine said. The school also received a donation of $1,000 from Lake Liberty auto maintenance company in Chevy Chase. “We used that for the foul shot contest,” Levine said. “Every time a student makes a foul shot, they earn a dollar for the Children’s Inn at NIH.” Alec Amsellem, an eighth-grader, helped make cards and notes for the Olney charity For 3 Sisters during
See CARE, Page A-11
Children’s dance school eyeing Bethesda park n
County wants to lease underused buildings BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
A children’s dance studio could have a home in a Bethesda park. Rock Creek Dance Academy, which currently offers classes at
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three Bethesda schools, has asked to lease the activity building at Maplewood-Alta Vista Park. The building is one of seven the county’s parks department said this summer it was trying to lease. The department plans to hold a public meeting to discuss the proposed lease Wednesday evening. The activity building has been closed to save money since 2011 be-
cause it was under used, according to a department news release. Since then, it has been looking for a tenant. Rock Creek Dance Academy offers dance classes for children 3 through 18. The school holds classes six evenings a week. Students might meet at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, North Bethesda Middle School or Pyle Middle School in Bethesda, depending on which eve-
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STUDENTS GOTTA DANCE
Latin styles take center stage at 15th annual contest at Strathmore.
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ning their class is scheduled. Wednesday’ public meeting is expected to include a presentation on how the dance academy wants to use the Maplewood-Alta Vista park building. The meeting is scheduled for 7 to 8 p.m. at the Maplewood-Alta Vista Park Activity Building, 5209 Alta Vista Road, Bethesda. ewaibel@gazette.net
NEWS
INDEX
ELIZABETH WAIBEL
Volume 3, No. 43, Two sections, 32 Pages Copyright © 2014 The Gazette Please
RECYCLE
Eager prospective riders of the Purple Line may have to wait at least a bit longer to hop on the light rail to Silver Spring and points east in Prince George’s County. The deadline for proposals to build the 16mile, $2.45 billion project has been pushed back two months to March to give the incoming governor more time to get up to speed on it. Four teams have been working since July on proposals to build and operate the planned light-rail line linking Bethesda and New Carrollton. The deadline for the Maryland Transit Administration to receive their proposals was set for Jan. 9, but Paul Shepard, deputy director of media relations for the agency, said Monday that the deadline has been pushed back to March 12. Shepard said the delay should not change the overall construction schedule for the Purple Line, but his agency wanted to give incoming Gov. Larry Hogan (R) time to be fully knowledgeable about the project. “It made sense ... just to slow the process down and allow the incoming governor to look at the project in a full scope,” he said. The Daily Record reported in November that the deadline for proposals was delayed at least 30 days due to Hogan’s election. Some Purple Line supporters are concerned that Hogan might scrap the project, The Gazette previously reported, though he has not issued a definitive opinion one way or the other. Hogan is scheduled to take office Jan. 21. ewaibel@gazette.net
Walking in a Winter Wonderland n
Annual festival celebrates the season in Bethesda BY
ELIZABETH WAIBEL STAFF WRITER
Walk through downtown Bethesda this Saturday and you may find yourself walking in a Winter Wonderland. Visitors to the Bethesda’s Winter Wonderland festival in Veterans Park can see ice sculptures take shape, hear festive music and get their orders in with Santa. The free annual event is hosted by the Bethesda Urban Partnership. One of the highlights of the afternoon will
See WONDERLAND, Page A-11