STORIES FROM ARABIA
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Silver Spring Stage presents atypical “Arabian Nights.”
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The Gazette GAITHERSBURG | MONTGOMERY VILLAGE
DAILY UPDATES ONLINE www.gazette.net
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
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Gaithersburg book festival draws more than 20,000 readers Annual event breaks last year’s attendance record
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BY
ALINE BARROS STAFF WRITER
If curling up with a book on a rainy day is your thing then going to a book festival on a warm sunny one is right up your alley. More than 20,000 people— an event record— got the chance to meet their favorite author, take part in a writing class or page through books for sale at the fifth annual Gaithersburg Book Festival held Saturday at the grounds of city hall. Warm temperatures and sunny skies helped break last year’s event draw of 18,000 visitors. “Today we got lucky on the weather and we are just fortunate in many other ways as well. Not just in the weather but we are fortunate to have an event like this and have so many people supporting it,” said Sidney Katz, mayor of the City of Gaithersburg. And the sunny day helped event goers dive into the world of vowels and consonants. Jennifer Orellana, 9, was sitting with her family at a picnic table. She had just gotten the latest book from the Rachel Renee Russell’s Dork Diaries series, and had began the reading journey right away. Jennifer has read five out of the six books from the series.
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Phyllis Zeno, 88, wrote and produced a musical that involved Asbury Methodist Village residents.
Asbury resident pens original musical
Musical involved 41 village residents — many in their 80s and 90s n
BY JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
Take one Gaithersburg retirement community, residents who have a desire to act and mix it with an 88-year-old professional song writer and you have the makings for a humorous original work. Asbury Methodist Village resident Phyllis W. Zeno wrote, composed and produced “Vil-
lage Life: The Musical,” sharing a humorous perspective of life in the Gaithersburg retirement community. Zeno, 88, moved to Asbury with her husband in the spring of 2013, and soon after she realized she had the material for a great performance. “At that point, after living here for a few months, I realized that there were a lot of funny things to write about,” she said. “Any kind of resident complaints, I took a positive view and turned them into songs. After I wrote several, I thought this was a perfect place to write a show about residential living
and retirement.” The musical, which was an hour and 15 minutes long with no intermission, included 15 scenes, 13 songs and two sketches, Zeno said. The material for one of the songs, “Food for Thought,” stemmed from a situation Zeno first encountered when she was moving in to the community. At the time, the kitchen in her building has been closed for renovations, upsetting some residents who worried that the food selections would diminish
Five hundred flags will be on display at Bohrer Park over the weekend
Body found floating on pond near mall Medical examiner is performing autopsy to determine cause of death BY KRISTA BRICK AND JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITERS
Police are investigating the case of a body found floating in a Gaithersburg pond Tuesday morning. The body is that of a man but additional details were not immediately available, according to Montgomery County Police Capt. Paul Starks. The pond, used to capture runoff from the adjacent parking lot, is at Russell and Montgomery Village avenues, a busy
intersection near the Lakeforest mall. Starks said the call came in around 9:50 a.m. Police — including homicide detectives and forensic investigators — and fire and rescue personnel were on the scene. “We will know more later after an autopsy [identification] is performed by the medical examiner’s office,” said Montgomery County Police Capt. Paul Starks. So far the cause of death is unclear. Police had no additional details as of Tuesday afternoon. kbrick@gazette.net jdavis@gazette.net
Gaithersburg officials discuss canceling future uncontested elections and setting term limits.
Three graduates from 2007 state title team sign deals with teams.
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Heroes of all kinds will be honored in Gaithersburg over Memorial Day weekend when the city and the Montgomery Village Rotary Club partner to host the first “Flags for Our Heroes” program. Five hundred full-sized American flags will be displayed Friday through Monday at Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm, 506 S. Frederick Ave., to pay tribute to past and present heroes, including members of the military, police force and fire service, as well as teachers, coaches, mentors and community leaders. “It’s an opportunity for the community to show these people that we support them,” said Stuart Rutchik, an active member and former president of the Montgomery Village Rotary Club.
DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
SPORTS
NOT SO UNCONTESTED
BY JENN DAVIS STAFF WRITER
Investigators use a firetruck tower to get a high-angle view of the scene where a body was found in the settling pond Tuesday near the corner of Montgomery Village Avenue and Russell Avenue in Gaithersburg.
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QO PUTS ITS STAMP ON THE NFL B-1
Gaithersburg man goes from illiterate to author BY
ALINE BARROS STAFF WRITER
Words can tell a person’s story and help people understand what is going on around them. But for Milton Whitley, letters didn’t make much sense until he learned how to read as an adult. In November 2011, he wrote his autobiography, “Learning to Read at Age 52.” Whitley, of Gaithersburg,
See FESTIVAL, Page A-14 “[Reading] is something you can do all the time. For example, if you play outside, alone, and there is no one there and you have noth-
See BOOKS, Page A-14
Heroes to be honored in Gaithersburg celebration
See MUSICAL, Page A-14
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FLAGS FOR OUR HEROES n When: Opening ceremony is at 11 a.m. Saturday; Flags will be displayed Friday through Monday n Where: Bohrer Park at Summit Hall Farm, 506 S. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg n Cost: Free n More information: Email info@ flagsfourourheroes.org
An opening ceremony will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday near the display area, featuring remarks from Mayor Sidney Katz, Montgomery Village Rotary Club President Dale Howard and others. Rutchik said the chapter’s goal is to have at least 100 people attend the ceremony, which is free and open to the public. “We’re optimistic that the program will be well attended,” he said.
See FLAGS, Page A-14
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