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Wednesday, June 11, 2014
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Churchill High may get turf field Some raise concerns over community use, rubber material n
BY
LINDSAY A. POWERS STAFF WRITER
Winston Churchill High School’s and other young county athletes are one step closer to playing on an artificial turf field at the Potomac school. The county school board voted June 3 to approve the project, although the field still needs the final nod from Montgomery County Ex-
ecutive Isiah Leggett and the County Council. Churchill’s booster club, along with the Bethesda Lacrosse organization and the Potomac Soccer Association, has committed to funding the field, estimated to cost about $1.3 million. The high school would join six others in the county with turf fields, including Richard Montgomery and Thomas S. Wootton in Rockville;
See TURF, Page A-12
Man’s memory had Sikhs honor Bethesda teacher a certain ring to it for message of tolerance DAN GROSS/THE GAZETTE
Christopher Murray helps his comparative religion students at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda embrace tolerance of all religions.
After a half-century, sentimental piece of jewelry reappears
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Potomac foundation recognizes world religion educator BY PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
When Christopher Murray wanted to teach religious tolerance to his social studies students at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, he turned to the Sikhs for help. This weekend, when the local Sikh community wanted to honor an educator for his commitment to such tolerance, it turned to Murray. On Sunday, Murray received the Teacher of the Year Award for Excellence in Diversity Education from the Kaur
Early voting starts this Thursday There will be nine early-voting sites in Montgomery County, open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily from Thursday through June 19. County, state and federal races will be on the ballot. A complete list of sites is at montgomerycountymd. gov/elections/index2.html. The Gazette’s online voters guide, with candidate profiles and more, is at gazette.net/section/vg2014. Early-voting sites in the Potomac area: • Activity Center at Bohrer Park, 506 S. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg • County Executive Office Building, 101 Monroe St., Rockville
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2014 Learn more about the candidates running in the June 24 primary. Check out our online voters guide at www. gazette.net/voters guide2014.
said. And especially since 9/11 it is important for students to have a solid knowledge of different religious beliefs, he said. “Most of our kids don’t remember 9/11,” said Murray, who is 31 and was in college at the time of the attacks in New York City and on the Pentagon. “Unfortunately, anti-Islamic sentiments still exist.” Those feelings spill over to other Eastern religions, said Mirin Phool, founder of the Kaur Foundation, which works to educate students about the Sikh religion and culture. That’s particularly true for Sikhs,
Foundation at the foundation’s annual fundraiser in Potomac. Murray teaches comparative religions, a subject that’s grown in importance since 9/11, he said. He started the elective class about six years ago and he fills two sections each semester. “We’re fortunate at Walter Johnson,” he said. “Our social studies department is strong and we offer a lot of electives.” Students are introduced to world religions in their core classes, Murray said, but his class gives them an opportunity to learn more. He thinks the class is a good complement to the material presented in general social studies courses. “It’s tough to distinguish religion from society and vice versa,” Murray
BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
Fred Glaser of Potomac was sure he would never see his college ring again. After all, he lost it in 1965, 49 years ago — before serving in Vietnam, before getting married, before raising two children, before becoming a grandfather. But in early May, he got a message from his alma mater, New York University, informing him that someone was trying to contact him about a lost class ring, one with his name inscribed inside. The story, Glaser said, started on a pleasant summer day when he and his girlfriend, Nomi, went for a drive along the Bronx River Parkway in New York. “We pulled off on a grassy knoll,” he said. “It was a nice day.” They were serious sweethearts: In the parlance of the 1960s, they were “going steady,” dating only each other. As a symbol of their commitment, Glaser gave her his school ring and she wore it on a chain around her
See TEACHER, Page A-13
Lucky dog
neck. Before they left, they noticed the ring was missing, Glaser said. They looked and looked in the grass where they had been, but could not find the ring. “I felt really bad about it,” he said. “But it was nowhere to be found.”
See RING, Page A-12
Gather ’round the old oak tree in Potomac n
Picnic, open mic highlights of Saturday event BY
PEGGY MCEWAN STAFF WRITER
Potomac-area residents are invited to tune their musical instruments, warm up their vocal cords and join Open Mic Night from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday under the Travilah Oak
RAPHAEL TALISMAN/FOR THE GAZETTE
Parker, a 3-year-old corgi mix, maneuvers an agility course with the help of owner Meghan Fournier of Bowie at a fundraiser for Lucky Dog Animal Rescue on Saturday afternoon in Potomac. About 80 dogs and 125 people attended.
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PEGGY MCEWAN/THE GAZETTE
Nomi and Fred Glaser of Potomac show off the college ring he gave Nomi a halfcentury ago — and which came back into their lives last month.
near the corner of Travilah and Glen roads in Potomac. The evening of music is sponsored by the Watts Branch, Seneca Creek and Muddy Branch Watershed alliances, along with Potomac Oak Shopping Center. Guests are invited to bring a picnic or enjoy food available for purchase at the concert. “We have wanted to do some
See MUSIC, Page A-12