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Area favorites Fink and Marxer throw a musical pajama party in Takoma Park. A-13
The Gazette DAMASCUS | CLARKSBURG
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Wednesday, December 4, 2013
25 cents
Clarksburg welcomes African grocer
Lights out
“This is the grand finale,” says Don Suhaka of Damascus, who is moving to Utah next year, of his Christmas lights display. About 70,000 lights and holiday decorations make up the display on Ridge Road.
Store also sells foods from Caribbean and Spanish-speaking countries n
BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
PHOTOS BY TOM FEDOR/ THE GAZETTE
Curtains close on annual Damascus Christmas display BY
VIRGINIA TERHUNE STAFF WRITER
“We’re taking the show on the road.” Don Suhaka
The impossible-to-miss Christmas lights display at Don Suhaka’s house on Ridge Road is the biggest he’s every created, and it’s also his last, at least in Damascus. “This is the grand finale,” said lights maestro Suhaka, who is moving with his wife to Utah next year to be closer to their children and grandchildren. “We’re taking the show on the road,” said Suhaka, who plans to continue the tradition at his new home. This year, he will officially turn on the lights Thursday and turn them off Jan. 1. For the first time this year he has used a computer program to synchronize different clusters of lights with a 12-minute music program. The display of 70,000 lights of all colors also stretches higher than it ever has, this year to the top of his 40-foot evergreen tree, creating a spectacular glow driving north
on Ridge Road into Damascus. “This is incredible,” said Stephen Karren, who stopped by with his wife Elizabeth and son Matthew, 5, during a demonstration for The Gazette on Monday. “We live just down the street,” said Elizabeth Karren. “We look forward to it every year.” The music programs will run every 15 minutes, leading off with “Thus Spake Zarathustra” — featured in the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” — and followed by Christmas songs, such as “Deck the Halls” and “Caroling of the Bells.” The lights will be on from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 6 to 11 p.m. Friday through Sunday. They will stay on all night on Christmas Eve and Christmas night, said Suhaka, who, as is tradition, will be on hand to answer questions and hand out candy canes. And also new this year will be visits from Santa from 7 to 10 p.m. on two Fri-
See DISPLAY, Page A-9
There’s a new grocer in Clarksburg but you won’t find your traditional canned corn and frozen burger patties here. On these shelves shoppers can pick up ndole leaves or cassava flour, goat meat or sorghum. Joseph Njiaju’s All African Caribbean Latin Food Store here gives his customers a taste of their homeland and introduces new palates to new flavors. Since Njiaju of Clarksburg officially opened his All African Caribbean Latin Food Store in late November, he’s heard from longtime customers from his previous store calling in their orders from as far away as Pittsburgh, Pa., and Richmond, Va. But he also wants people nearby to know that he’s now in
business in the Historic District selling fresh, frozen and dried foods from Africa, the Caribbean and Spanish-speaking countries. “For my neighbors, it’s like a surprise to them,” he said with a laugh. Some people, however, have already found their way to the store at 23341 Frederick Road at the north end of town. Sherry Thompson, who works in Clarksburg, stopped by on Monday to pick up some spices to cook a Caribbean-style turkey for Christmas. “I’ve never had it, and I’ve never cooked it … but since I’m hosting Christmas, I figured I’d go all out,” she said. A native of Nigeria, Njiaju emigrated to the United States in 1996 and moved with his family to Clarksburg in 2005. They were one of the first families to settle in the town center area north of the Historic District. He opened a store in Wash-
See GROCER, Page A-9
TOM FEDOR/THE GAZETTE
Joe Njiaju, owner of the All African Caribbean Latin Food Store, assists customer Sherry Thompson of Pikesville on Monday evening at his Clarksburg store.
Leggett to sign wage increase Bill would expand deer hunt Bill raises minimum to $11.50 an hour by 2017
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RYAN MARSHALL STAFF WRITER
Montgomery County Executive Isiah Leggett is scheduled to sign a bill Thursday that will raise the county’s minimum wage to $11.50 an hour by 2017. The County Council passed the increase 8-1 after a sometimes contentious discussion on Nov. 26. Councilman Philip M. Andrews (D-Dist. 3) of Gaith-
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ersburg, who expressed a desire to wait for a vote to see whether the General Assembly will take action on a statewide minimum wage increase from the current rate of $7.25 an hour, opposed the measure. The vote will gradually raise the county’s wage by October 1, 2017, a year later than in the original proposal sponsored by Councilman Marc Elrich (D-At Large) of Takoma Park. The first increase in the rate will be Oct. 1, 2014, when the minimum wage rises to $8.40 an hour. The bill doesn’t tie the wage to a con-
sumer price index that would allow it to keep pace with inflation, unless the state passes an increase that’s indexed. After the vote, Elrich said he still considered the vote a victory, despite the extra year to implement it. “It would have been a victory whatever we passed,” he said. The bill’s supporters said it was necessary to allow workers to survive Montgomery’s high standard of living, while its op-
See WAGE, Page A-9
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PREVIEW
At the annual snow show, SHA officials show off the latest snow-fighting equipment.
Region becoming a hotbed for schools that specialize in developing top college basketball players.
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Alcohol measures also on tap for upcoming General Assembly
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KATE S. ALEXANDER STAFF WRITER
A Montgomery County lawmaker will try again to give archery hunters more room to help cull the county’s growing deer population. Del. Eric Luedtke again has proposed a local bill to shrink the safety zone around Montgomery County buildings from 150 yards to 50 yards for bow hunters. Current state law prohibits shooting any firearm or deadly weapon, like a bow, within 150 yards of an occupied home, church or other building or camp. Around
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schools, the safety zone is 300 yards. Under Luedtke’s proposal, Montgomery County would be lumped with Carroll and Frederick counties, which have a 50-yard safety zone. With the exception of Harford County, which has a 100-yard buffer, the rest of the state must follow a 150-yard safety zone. Luedtke (D-Dist. 14) of Burtonsville proposed a similar bill in the 2013 legislative session that became a point of significant debate among the delegation and did not advance. Few solutions are effective for deer management in Montgomery, but about a dozen citizens who testified in favor of the bill at a delegation hearing Monday say giving archers more room
See DEER, Page A-9
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