Montgomery Magazine // June/July 2018 1 INSIDE MONTGOMERY AUGUST / SEPTEMBER 2018 ISSUE NO. 104 M A G A Z I N E 62 30 44 04 Welcome A letter from the publisher 06 County Lines People, places and interesting things in Montgomery County 28 Suburbatory Suburban life with the suburban dog 30 Q&A: Eric Friedman Looking out for the consumer 34 Happenings & Events Montgomery Magazine’s indispensable guide to what’s going on 38 Farm Fresh What you’re eating at local farm-to-table restaurants might not be so local 44 The Voice of Washington Sports At 80, Johnny Holliday is still the most recognizable voice in D.C. sports 48 The Best of Montgomery County Montgomery Magazine readers identify 165 of the best of everything 62 The Potomac River Gorge A photo essay of the most dramatic landscape in Montgomery County 70 Dining Out New England seafood at Nantucket’s Reef in Rockville 74 Got Towed? In a huge class-action lawsuit, county residents get their money back 78 Financial Goals Investment strategies for Middle-Class Millionaires 80 Where Are You? From an obscure place in Montgomery County On the Cover: Cake courtesy of Classic Bakery in Gaithersburg 2 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 THE BEST OF 2018 ho’s the best? Thankfully, those decisions weren’t left up to me. Welcome to what I have to say is our most popular – and agonizing – issue of the year. In our annual Best of Montgomery County contest, we ask our readers to vote their preferences on a variety of businesses, from ethnic restaurants to auto repair to real estate agents. It’s our most popular issue of the year because residents like to read about the best restaurants, florists and veterinarians, but also to see where the county's collective choices stack up to their personal choices. It’s also agonizing because in any kind of poll that only lists three winners per category, well deserving businesses get left out which is not to say they don’t belong. We also highlighted some of the winners who have interesting and colorful stories to try to put a face with some of the thousands of businesses around Montgomery County. So the votes have been cast and tabulated and starting on page 48, we present our 2018 Best of Montgomery County winners. Congratulations to all of them for their hard work and long hours. Next year we will make some changes in our categories, so if you have an opinion on what you’d like included next year, please let us know. I do want to thank one winner personally – Classic Bakery in Gaithersburg which prepared the cake for our cover. Classic Bakery has been family-owned for three generations and I can testify that the cakes, cookies and pastries are excellent. (I have ordered many a cake there for special occasions throughout the years and our staff sampled some treats after the photo shoot there.) Son Areen Movsessian and his father Rubic have built a wonderful business and we thank them for their help. Even if you have already taken your summer vacation outside the county, there is still so much to do around here for a staycation or two. You can always catch an outdoor movie and or an outdoor concert at a variety of places throughout the county, from Bethesda to Germantown and a lot in between. There is always a festival going on or an antique car show or art show. Of course, there is always the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair in mid-August and it presents its annual spread of family-friendly entertainment – from food, music, farm animals, tons of exhibits and much too much to list. If you haven’t been for some time, make this your year to head to the fairgrounds in Gaithersburg. There’s no excuse for having the summer blues around here before the kids head back to school. Until then, enjoy your family and friends and make a date to visit one of our Best of Montgomery County winners. MONTGOMERY M A G A Z I N E PUBLISHER Soly Romero soly@montgomerymag.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Doug McDaniel doug@montgomerymag.com MANAGING EDITOR Jeff Thoreson jeff@montgomerymag.com PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Shannon E. Sykes graphics@montgomerymag.com MARKETING MANAGERS Ellen Bell Jim Bindeman sales@montgomerymag.com CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Bill Kamenjar CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Joshua Cogan, Michael Kirchner, Sarah L. Rogers, Sherry W. Schweitzer CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Jim Bindeman, Haley Cohen, David Elfin, Sharon Allen Gilder, Molly Golubcow, Charles Jeffries, Sheilah Kaufman, Rachel Nichols, Sarah L. Rogers, Sherry W. Schweitzer, Rosanne Skirble, Clark Kendall OFFICE MANAGER Mary Beth Ganz ADVERTISING For information, email sales@montgomerymag.com. SUBSCRIPTIONS Go to montgomerymag.com to subscribe for free or to view a digital edition. Back issues are available for $7 each. Editorial reprints are also available. Contact: info@montgomerymag.com MONTGOMERY MAGAZINE 10524 Detrick Avenue, 2nd Floor Kensington, MD 20895 info@montgomerymag.com Phone: 301.933.6500 Fax: 301.933.8890 www.montgomerymag.com Montgomery Magazine is published six times a year by Montgomery County Media Group. All rights reserved. 4 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 5 county lines THIS IS MONTGOMERY COUNTY Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me Long summer days are the opportunity for us to do the things we love – not only on weekends but in the evening as well. Here the sun sets over Poolesville Golf Course, one of the nine courses operated by the Montgomery County Revenue Authority. The others are Falls Road Golf Course in Potomac, Hampshire Greens Golf Course in Silver Spring, Laytonsville Golf Course in Laytonsville, Northwest Park Golf Course in Silver Spring, Needwood Golf Course in Rockville, Sligo Creek Golf Course in Silver Spring, Rattlewood Golf Course in Mount Airy, and Little Bennett Golf Course in Clarksburg. Photograph by Bill Kamenjar 6 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Montgomery Montgomery Magazine Magazine // // October/November August/September 2014 2018 7 county lines LIVING HERE 3 About Montgomery County Things You Don’t Know Congressional Country Club on River Road in Bethesda is about as serene of a place as there is in the county. But it has a little known military history of wartime espionage and secret agent training and is often thought of as the birthplace of American secret services. Congressional was just five years old at the start of the Great Depression and its future remained uncertain until World War II when the federal government was looking for training facilities and the club’s open acreage was a perfect fit. The government was willing to pay $4,000 a month to lease the property (and pay reparations) and the Office of Strategic Services, which became the CIA, used the land to train agents to infiltrate Nazi-occupied France. Congressional became a mock war zone with explosive testing in bunkers and a machine gun nest near the 15th tee was used for live-fire exercises. A fuselage of a C-47 sat near the clubhouse for parachute training. When the war ended, the government made good on its promise and spent almost $200,000 to repair craters that had been blown into fairways and greens and restore the clubhouse to its pre-war condition. If you were to trace the roots of Kensington back more than 300 years to its beginning, you probably wouldn’t find it. Kensington originated with a 4,200-acre land grant to William Joseph in 1689. At the time, the area was part of Charles County, and like most settlements of the time it was named after its owner. So Joseph’s Park began appearing on maps in 1705, although the area was now part of Prince George’s County. Joseph’s son farmed the land until 1736 when he sold it to Daniel Carroll, one of only five men to sign both the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. Carroll, in perhaps the first subdivision of the area, sold off parcels to various farmers. It wasn’t until the late 19th century that Kensington as we know it today began to take shape. When the Metropolitan Branch of the train line from Washington, D.C., to Point of Rocks bisected the property then owned by George Knowles, a stop called Knowles Station was built in 1891 to do business with the local farmers. With the railroad stop came wealthy city businessmen building summer homes in the area. The town was incorporated in 1894 as Kensington Park and today many of the Victorian-era homes still stand. But, as you well know, Kensington is no longer a sleepy little railroad village. 8 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 The Wheaton redevelopment project continues to be on track for an April 2020 completion. When finished, the project will include a 308,100 square- foot office building owned by the Maryland National Capital Park and Planning Commission (which will occupy about 132,000 square-feet). There will be a 400-space underground public parking garage, nearly 12,000 square-feet of street level retail space and the building will be the centerpiece of a town square setting. The total project cost is estimated to be $179.33 million. county lines MONTGOMERY BUSINESS GLASSBLOWER TODD HANSEN OF ART OF FIRE STUDIOS IN LAYTONSVILLE. A TOUCH OF GLASS Vases, decanters, ornaments – delicate objects made of glass in a myriad of shapes, colors and designs. Before these objects became objects d’art, they began as shards of glass heated to 2,400 degrees Fahrenheit and then literally blown by mouth (via a tube) into a desired shape – a “glass menagerie” of art pieces. From the ancient Romans to contemporary artists like Dale Chihuly, blowing glass continues to fascinate people, although it also continues to be a dying art form. Foster Holcombe and Theda Hansen, founders of the Art of Fire Glass Studio, have been creating and teaching their craft locally since 1984. After outgrowing their small Savage Mill shop, the artists re-purposed a dairy barn in Laytonsville to include an extensive gallery and hot shop. The pastoral setting adds to the ambiance for artists as they create their glass pieces surrounded by natural light, fresh air and a very “un-mall like” experience. Todd Hansen, studio manager and glassblower at Art of Fire, exemplifies how the apple does not fall far from the tree. Having grown up in a glass blowing family, he understands the rewards of working with the hot, fluid material. “The slightest break in concentration can have negative results of varying consequence, usually losing your hard-earned work to 10 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 the intense heat or dropping it on the studio floor. But the reward of completing a beautiful piece of glass that began as an idea or a thought is quite satisfying.” Regardless of artistic abilities, Art of Fire offers glass blowing classes for all levels of talent or interest. From introductory to advanced classes, students learn from highly experienced and talented instructors trained in studios around the country, including the Corning Museum of Glass. In addition, “Create Your Own” workshops let you design and blow your own bowl or ornament with instructor guidance. “We make ourselves available to students, renters, gallery shoppers, and anyone who has a question, a burning desire, or a passing interest in the glass blowing process,” Hansen says. “We are passionate about what we make and how we make it, and that influences our interactions with everyone who enters our shop.” In addition to classes and the chance to observe and feel the heat of glass blowing, literally and figuratively, the Art of Fire gallery offers a variety of hand-made items for sale. From hanging jelly fish ornaments to one-of-a-kind wine glasses, Art of Fire has a glass object for you – decorative, useful and always unique. – Molly Golubcow county lines MONTGOMERY PEOPLE MASTER OPTICIAN PETE LOONEY PERFORMS AT LAKEWOOD COUNTRY CLUB IN ROCKVILLE. Silver Spring resident Pete Looney fine-tunes music and optics LOONEY’S TUNES By Sharon Allen Gilder Photography by Bill Kamenjar 12 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 For Pete Looney, detail and precision are key components of his job as a master optician, where his work has nothing to do with the creation of eyeglass lenses. In fact, you could say his work is astronomical. Since 1985 he’s worked at J.R. Cumberland, Inc., a manufacturer of precision optics for telescopes, microscopes and surveillance instruments. Evenings find him tuned into the local music scene as a musician and singer- songwriter. “I love both of my jobs,” says Looney. “They require a very different skill set, but in the end both are very satisfying.” He says working with optical glass, which is often very pricey, is challenging by nature because it breaks, cracks and scratches. “I tell people it's like working with poisonous snakes. You need to be really careful, pay attention and don't make any sudden moves,” he quips. “It’s pretty cool to know that something you made went up on the Space Shuttle or is an integral part of a scientific breakthrough.” When Looney isn’t hands-on producing optical components for telescopes, guidance systems and meteorology, he turns his attention to music with gigs at venues such as Agrodolce, Old Angler’s Inn, Lakewood Country Club’s Restaurant 59, Downtown Crown Wine & Beer, and Beers & Cheers Too. His tunes run the gamut from country to pop and classic rock to blues, with some original songs in the mix. “I play a wide variety of stuff. I try to read the audience,” he says. Looney has lived in Silver Spring since 1963. He graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in 1978 and attended the California Institute of the Arts. He left after the first year “mainly because this new guitar I had with me was hogging all my attention.” “I was practicing more and more and drawing less and less,” he says. So he returned home, got a job as an apprentice machinist and was hired by Roland Cumberland, the company’s owner and founder, who, along with several colleagues, mentored Looney through the stages of producing lenses, mirrors and prisms for high-resolution telescopes. The company “had its hand in the first set of corrective optics to fix the Hubble Space Telescope, and we made the optics currently in use in the tracking telescopes at Cape Canaveral,” notes Looney. “Our stuff has been on shuttle missions and is in satellites that are looking down on us right now. I’ve been here for 33 years so I’ve personally worked on all of it.” When Looney was 17, he bought his first guitar, a 1967 Harmony, for $15 from a friend whose father bought it at a yard sale. “My friend never played it, and when I was at his house I would pick it up and noodle around on it. I loved being able to sound out notes from songs.” Self-taught, he still owns and plays that Harmony guitar among his collection of 14 others. He’s been a bass player and lead vocalist in several bands until switching to a solo acoustic career about a decade ago. He typically brings three guitars to a gig, two in different tunings, or different types, such as steel or nylon string. “One is a backup in case I break a string,” he says. The one time he didn’t bring a backup, the G- string on his guitar snapped. Enjoying the play on words, he quips, “So I had to stop and change it in front of everybody. Very embarrassing.” “Playing guitar truly brings me inner peace,” he says. “I can be in the worst mood, then pick up my guitar, and in five minutes I’m in a better mood. What I like most about performing is seeing other people enjoying and getting energized by the music.” Looney says songwriting comes to him in starts and stops. He typically starts with the music to find a certain riff or combination of chords he likes, then focuses considerable attention on the lyrics, which often begin with a “hook line that comes to mind and I build the song around it. All it takes is a little inspiration – a love, a loss, a passion, a groove,” he says. For the last seven years, he has hosted a weekly acoustic open mic night on Wednesdays at Agrodolce in Germantown. “What I enjoy the most is when someone comes in with little to no experience, nervous, afraid of the mic, looking at the ground, and then over time their confidence builds and they turn into a seasoned performer. It’s a wonderful thing to witness and be part of, says Looney. “Performing is unlike working with a physical object where you can put it down at any time to rethink something about it,” Looney says. “When you start singing a song in a performance, there’s no turning back. You just have to go for it. The good thing is that when you mess up, the audience is very forgiving, if they even notice it at all. By contrast, when you mess up something like a telescope mirror, there’s no hiding it. Just ask NASA.” Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 13 county lines MONTGOMERY PEOPLE SAUL SINGER, COLLECTOR OF RARE JUDAICA DOCUMENTS. SAUL SINGER’S COLLECTION Rockville resident has an impressive collection of Judaica documents By Sheilah Kaufman Photo by Hilary Schwab 14 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 At one time or another, most of us have collected something, whether it be bottle caps as a kid or something considerably more valuable as an adult – like Saul J. Singer. Singer, who lives in Silver Spring, is a nationally recognized legal ethicist who serves as senior legal ethics counsel with the District of Columbia Bar Association. He is also a nationally recognized columnist for the Jewish Press on the subject of his passion: extraordinary original Judaica documents and letters. Singer has a collection of between 15,000 to 20,000 documents on the subjects of Jews, Judaism and Israel. Among his prized possessions is perhaps the only letter in existence signed by Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat in Budapest who is credited with saving tens of thousands of Jews in Nazi- occupied Hungary by issuing protective passports and sheltering Jews in buildings designated as Swedish territory. Singer also has documents from Mark Twain, Charles Darwin, Thomas Jefferson, Harry Truman, Ulysses S. Grant, Woodie Guthrie, Eli Wiesel, Oscar Schindler, Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Josie Earp (Wyatt’s wife). His passion for collecting began in 1993 while wandering around a stamp show with a friend. He came upon a man with a bin of collector documents. As he looked through the materials, he found one signed by the famous 19th MA G A ZI NE 20 1 8 WIN N E R R EAD ER S’ CH OICE BETTER SWIMMERS START IN THE LAB • Warm water Endless Pools • Instant feedback using underwater cameras & mirrors • Excellent instructors • Groups, private and semi- private lessons available CALL NOW TO REGISTER FOR FALL LESSONS! Free registration when you mention this ad! SwimLabs Montgomery County – Now Enrolling! 353 Muddy Branch Rd., Gaithersburg, MD 20878 240-449-4900 | swimlabs.com Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 15 century Jew Moses Montefiore. “This marked the first time I experienced the palpable sense of living, breathing history in my hands,” says Singer. Like most collectors, Singer says the question he is most often asked is, “What is it worth?” “Of course, the law of supply and demand reigns here as it does with any commodity,” he says. “For example, there is abundant Abraham Lincoln material available for sale, but demand is so great that a mere Lincoln signature alone sells for about $4,000.” However, unlike collectibles such as stamps and coins where condition determines value, autographed documents are valued based principally upon content. In this regard, knowledge and historical research become very important. “At an autograph show years ago, I picked up one of the greatest treasures in my collection – a typed letter in rather poor condition signed by Harry Truman,” Singer says. “Struggling mightily to keep my eyes from bulging out of their sockets, I expressed casual interest in the item, which the seller ultimately sold to me for essentially ‘signature value,’ as if Truman had simply signed his name to a blank piece of paper.” The letter was dated May 14, 1968, a date that rings a bell for Jews. It home for the Jewish people.’ ” “The seller, who may have based his asking price on the poor condition of the document, clearly did not appreciate the monumental significance of this letter,” Singer says. Singer particularly enjoys the challenging search for documents written by non-Jewish personalities on matters of Jewish interest. Such items in his collection include: • A signed synagogue program for an address by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. • A letter by Enrico Fermi explaining that he departed Italy for the United States to save his Jewish wife and children from the Holocaust. • An incredibly ironic letter from Nazi Kurt Waldheim to Simon Wiesenthal lauding the famous Nazi-hunter. • A signed program by the African American contralto Marian Anderson, a dedicated Zionist who performed Brahms’s “Alto Rhapsody” with the Israeli Philharmonic and sang the entire oratorio in perfect Hebrew. • A signed copy of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s “The Jewish Cemetery at Newport,” expressing his certainty that the centuries-long survival of the Jewish people had ended. was the 20th anniversary of the proclamation of Israel’s independence. Truman wrote: “One of the proudest moments of my life occurred at 6:12 p.m. on Friday, May 14, 1948, when I was able to announce recognition of the new State of Israel by the government of the United States. I remain particularly gratified by the role I was fortunate to play in the birth of Israel as, in the immortal words of the Balfour Declaration, ‘a national • An original poem by Woody Guthrie, who wrote songs about Jewish history and the Holocaust, married a Jew and raised his children as Jews, and arranged for his son, Arlo, to receive bar mitzvah lessons from a young rabbi named Meir Kahane. Singer likes to keep his collection private, but you can read many of his columns on his collection of Jewish history and see some of his documents and autographs online at www.jewishpress.com. 16 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 17 county lines MONTGOMERY CELEBRATES MONTGOMERY COUNTY RESIDENTS GET UP CLOSE WITH THE STANLEY CUP BEFORE JOHN CARLSON HOISTS IT. LORD STANLEY’S CUP VISITS MOCO In an event die-hard Capitals fans were starting to think would never come, Chevy Chase’s John Carlson helped win the Stanley Cup and then brought it to Bethesda. By David Elfin Photography by Bill Kamenjar 18 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Each player, coach and key staffer of the championship winning team gets a private day with the Cup. Instead of restricting his day with hockey’s ultimate prize to the company of family and close friends, Carlson chose to show off the Cup for the benefit of the Michael Mosier Defeat DIPG Foundation, parade with it in his neighborhood, and bring it to Children’s National Medical Center in the District so that the young patients could see the trophy. Bethesda’s Michael Mosier had been one of those patients before losing his battle with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) at age 6 in 2015. Michael’s mother Ginny is friends with the Carlsons, who had worked with the foundation and offered to bring the Cup to Bethesda to raise money. “It’s close to our hearts,” Carlson says. “When you see what those kids go through … I’m just a hockey player.” John Carlson was born in Massachusetts and raised in New Jersey, A player the Caps just retained with an eight-year, $64 million but the Washington Capitals star defenseman quickly decided that he contract extension that makes him Washington’s highest-paid player was going to spend his day with the hard-won Stanley Cup next to perennial goal scoring leader Alex Ovechkin. Only captain somewhere else. Ovechkin and superb center Nicklas Backstrom have been Caps Carlson and his wife Gina have two young sons and have lived in longer than Carlson, who debuted in November 2009 and who set Chevy Chase for three years. So it was natural for him to celebrate the career highs with 15 goals and 53 assists this past season while first championship of the Caps’ 43 seasons nearby. leading defensemen with 20 playoff points. “This is home,” the 28-year-old Carlson said after raising the Cup The event in Bethesda, which sold out quickly and helped raise to the exultant whoops of a red-clad throng which gathered on July 4 $100,000 for research to find a cure for DIPG, drew such long-time for a charity fundraiser on Bethesda Lane in downtown Bethesda. “I Caps fans as Bethesda’s Bob Lipman, a season ticket-holder since love this place, great fans, a great city. The more we can share with 1981 who came out to salute a championship that “I wasn’t expecting fans, people that supported us, that’s what we wanted to do.” after so many years of being disappointed.” Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 19 county lines MONTGOMERY HEROES LEFT TO RIGHT: ALBERT H. AND TINA SMALL WITH BENJAMIN OURISMAN'S GRANDCHILDREN BETH GLASSMAN AND JOHN OURISMAN. By Freed Photography ABOVE AND BEYOND IN CIVIC DUTY Benjamin Ourisman came to America in his youth as an devoted to community service as to anything else,” says John immigrant and developed a fascination for cars. He became a Ourisman, the grandson of Benjamin Ourisman. “He mechanic, and by 1921 had opened one of the first Chevrolet understood that at the time, the JCC was the only gathering dealerships in Washington, D.C. place for the Jewish community in Washington. It was the He became a prominent member of the Washington-area opportunity to celebrate my friends Sonny and Tina for that engagement and improving the lives of others in their same commitment to our community.” community – became the catalyst for the coveted awards for civic achievement that bear his name. This year’s winners of the 60th Benjamin Ourisman Sonny Small is the founder and president of Renaissance Centro as well as the former Renaissance Housing Corp., one of the area’s most respected developers and home builders. Memorial Award for Civic Achievement are Tina and Albert H. Tina Small is active in the community and serves on the “Sonny” Small Jr. The couple was recently honored by the executive committee of the National Symphony Orchestra Bender Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington at board of directors. She has had leadership roles in several its annual event in Rockville supporting scholarships for a other area foundations and schools. variety of JCC programs. “It’s amazing that in the middle of the worst depression our 20 cultural center of the community. I’m so glad to have the community while his qualities – generosity of time, civic The Smalls are also members of the Society of Fellows of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan forum for values-based country has ever known, my grandfather raised his children as a leadership and exchange of ideas that is headquartered in single parent while building a successful business and was as Washington, D.C. MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 county lines MONTGOMERY ADVENTURES THRILL SEEKERS MIGHT FIND IFLY IN GAITHERSBURG A CHALLENGING WAY TO SPEND AN AFTERNOON. TAKING FLIGHT – INDOORS “Just a dream and the wind to carry me, and soon I will be free … And if the wind is right you can find the joy of innocence again.” – Christopher Cross, “Sailing,” 1979 I attend several ribbon cuttings and grand openings every year around the county, but the one I was present for recently in Gaithersburg gave me the ride of a lifetime. The new iFLY Indoor Skydiving offered me and 60 other fellow thrill-seeking members of the Gaithersburg- Germantown Chamber of Commerce the opportunity to experience this new adventure for ourselves. The first question you might have is how do you skydive indoors? iFLY is a vertical wind tunnel that creates a cushion of air allowing you to experience the feel of freefall skydiving in a 50-foot area without having to leap from an airplane. Very simply, a wind tunnel is a machine that moves a lot of air while a vertical wind tunnel moves air in a vertical column at speeds high enough to keep a person 22 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 safely floating. You can enjoy the thrill of flying in a fully safe environment while a certified flight instructor personally assists you in this adrenaline pumping adventure. The beat of spirited, pop music in the adjoined viewing room inspires your anticipation for the adventure to come. If you like the sheer thrill of an adrenaline-inducing roller coaster ride or enjoy jet skiing or water skiing, iFLY is for you. Personally, I’ve tried a few thrill experiences in my 20’s – safe hang gliding lessons on the soft sand dunes of Kitty Hawk, N.C., and flying on a motorized ultralight and parasailing. When I turned 60, I tried a flying lesson with a hydraulic jet pack that took me 22 feet in the air over a water cove in the Caribbean. So when I heard about iFLY opening its first location in Montgomery County, I was eager to try this newest adventure. Thankfully, I don’t have neck, Wow. Then the trainer gently brings me back back or heart problems and since my down and I exit the flight chamber as my I catch a quick glimpse of chromosomes are X and Y, I’m not pregnant thrilling and totally captivating experience so I was a prime candidate to indoor comes to an end. the wind velocity I’m skydive. Additional lessons from iFLY’s flight school Once you’ve been issued your flight suit can help you learn that a slight adjustment of (typically worn over your clothes), along your shoulder or hip allows sideways and experiencing. It’s a mere with your safety helmet, goggles, and noise upwards body movement in the wind tunnel. reducing ear plugs, you learn the basic Flight school is offered for kids ages 4 to 16, 114 mph or Category 3 techniques, safety procedures and hand and various adult league nights and coaching signals in a flight training class with a programs are offered as well. Additional hurricane speeds … The professional instructor. Then, you wait with training can prepare students for group flying your fellow trainees for your time to fly. and advanced aerial maneuvers. excitement and adrenaline When it’s your turn to fly, you lift your iFLY can be great for team building, camp or hands above your head, lean in to the flight club outings, or any celebration or party for chamber, and just like your favorite kids, adults, families or corporate events. Plus, boost keep me superhero, you’re flying on a comfortable you can purchase a digital video and photos of cushion of air, with very capable assistance your keepsake personalized flight, sent directly laser focused. from your flight instructor. You keep your to your email. head up, your legs bent and you suddenly From beginner to expert, first time flyer or realize that you’re actually flying. serious practitioner, this is a wonderful new I catch a quick glimpse of the wind velocity I’m experiencing – it’s a business addition to Montgomery County and it’s sure to be a healthy mere 114 mph or Category 3 hurricane speeds – but the wind and inspiring recreational opportunity for all ages. temperature is completely comfortable. The excitement and – Jim Bindeman adrenaline boost keep me laser focused, and I’ve got an ear-to-ear grin, completely in the moment. After the trainer centers my balance, iFLY Montgomery, 9400 Gaither Road, Gaithersburg, MD 20877 before I know it, I’m linked in a tandem flight about 15 feet in the air. 202.883.4359 or www.iflyworld.com Learn about senior living at Riderwood. Request your FREE brochure from the premier retirement community in Silver Spring. Get the facts about our vibrant lifestyle, stylish apartment homes, expert health care, and so much more! There’s no risk in learning more! Call 1-844-309-2787 or visit 12854504 RiderwoodCommunity.com . MAGAZINE 2018 WINNER R E AD E R S’ CHO ICE Silver Spring Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 23 county lines MONTGOMERY HERITAGE A Working Wonder A look inside Montgomery County’s Agricultural Reserve Story and photography by Sarah Rogers 24 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 W ithin a few minutes drive from anywhere in the county you can be in Montgomery County’s 93,000-acre Agricultural Reserve. Created in 1980 to preserve historic farmlands, culture and natural areas, the reserve is an award- winning national preservation model. Special zoning and policies are in place to conserve this pastoral, working landscape that incorporates nearly 800 farms, some of which date to the early 1700s. Today, farms vary from small organic parcels to those specializing in heirloom crops to large corn and soybean operations. The area’s rolling, lush landscape has changed little over the centuries. Originally host to American Indian settlements cultivating corn, beans and squash, it later changed to the crops of European settlers. The latter divided up large land grants into smaller, affordable farms allowing small crossroads communities to spring up. Many of these early small towns are still in existence including Poolesville, Hyattstown and Beallsville, to name a few. In the 1800s, the C&O Canal and B&O Railroad provided transportation for farm goods to market, encouraging farmers to diversify their products. Many turned to dairy farming and there were approximately 400 dairies in the county in the early 1900s. Today, the C&O Canal National Historical Park is the ninth most visited park in the national park system. In addition to hiking, biking and kayaking, you can see the engineering marvels of the locks and aqueducts or you can watch the mule team pull a barge or you can stay overnight in a restored lockhouse. The reserve is home to a number of historic African American communities and most are open for tours and special events like gospel and jazz concerts. The early Quaker communities of Sandy Spring and Brookeville offer walking tours, museums and events. The stories of the Underground Railroad can be found at Button Farm and Woodlawn, while the Agricultural History Farm Park interprets the history of county farming. Currently, a number of organizations work to preserve and promote the reserve. The Montgomery Countryside Alliance works to conserve the natural environment, open spaces and rural lands while the Rustic Roads and Scenic Byways Program is the steward of miles of winding roads through the pastoral landscape dotted with farms, vineyards and forests. Heritage Montgomery promotes and protects the reserve’s historic, natural and cultural resources. Countryside Artisans sponsors studio tours where visitors can tour galleries showing everything from oil paintings to freshly spun yarn. Farmers markets offer fresh produce with pick-your-own options. Vineyards, breweries and restaurants are great spots to take a break and sample local products. The Agricultural Reserve is perfect for a day or weekend getaway offering something for all ages. To find out more visit HeritageMontgomery.org or contact Caroline Taylor caroline@mocoalliance.org. THE 93,000-ACRE MONTGOMERY COUNTY AGRICULTURAL RESERVE IS FILLED WITH OLD BARNS AND FARMERS WHO STILL WORK THE LAND TO GROW CROPS LIKE CORN AND SOY BEANS. Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 25 county lines MONTGOMERY PAST Now & Then 26 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 MODERN MEDICINE: When Holy Cross Hospital opened in 1963, it was a small hospital serving the needs of the Silver Spring community. Now 55 years later, its single building has grown into a medical campus that rivals almost any in the United States. Founded in 1963 by the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Cross, today Holy Cross Hospital is a 455-bed, not- for-profit teaching hospital caring for more than 31,000 inpatients each year. The hospital’s south building, which opened in 2015, is a seven-story, 232,000 square-foot facility and the largest expansion project at Holy Cross since it opened. It added 232,000 square-feet, enabling the hospital to add even more services and become one of the largest hospitals in Maryland. More than 8,600 babies are born there each year and its neuroscience and cancer care programs are nationally recognized. Opposite page photo by Bill Kamenjar Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 27 SUBURBATORY by Jeff Thoreson I A Suburban Dog’s Life t’s a rather uncomfortable feeling for guests in my house who sit on the far right side of the couch in my TV room. My dog Jack takes offense to your situated spot and will stare you into an unbearable level discomfort. He doesn’t growl – I raised him better than that – and there’s no need to be afraid, even though he stands militantly and unblinkingly staring at you. Over the years, he’s gotten the better of more than one guest, who finally feels so intruding that they get up and move to a seat with a lesser view of the television. And as soon as they do, Jack assumes the territorial spot he staked his claim to the first night I brought him home. It’s not that there aren’t other seats in the room Jack is allowed on, and occasionally when it’s just me and him, he’ll jump up on the old wing-back chair, paw the pillow into a comfortable position, and lay there – always in such a way that he can keep an eye on his spot. And as comfortable as he might be, if someone sits in his spot on the couch, he jumps down and assumes the position of staring. The problem is Jack’s seat has the second-best view of the 60-inch, ultra-high definition TV. This, of course, matters not at all to Jack, but you know what? I kinda get where he’s coming from. Not to go all Sheldon Cooper on you, but there is something to be said for a comfortable spot. The left side of my sofa views the TV straight-on. During most of the spring, summer and fall, the sliding glass door to the right of the TV stays open to provide a gentle breeze – enough to be pleasantly refreshing but not enough to ruffle your hair or send you for a sweater. The adjustable recessed lighting is set in such a way as to not cause shadows in 28 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 that spot, and only that spot, in case I just want to sit there and read – with Jack curled up opposite me. I rescued Jack, a blue-eyed mix of a collie and an Australian shepherd, several years ago, and I believe he’s about seven years old, although he still has the energy of a puppy. On nice summer evenings we’ll sit on the back deck. I savor a glass of wine and he sleeps – or peers over the edge of the deck and I wonder what he’s looking at. I figure he’s plotting how he’s finally going to catch that squirrel he’s had a roadrunner-coyote thing going with all summer. Jack just can’t seem to understand that squirrels are upwardly mobile after they duck behind a tree. It doesn’t help that I believe he’s the doggie equivalent of ADHD. He exudes the patience of the 3-year-old child. He can chase down a tennis ball like a Major League Baseball shortstop but will never get it all the way back to me, mindlessly leaving it behind when something more interesting grabs his attention. That’s why I let him chase the squirrel. I know he’ll never catch it because he can’t sit and wait for the right time. If he had to live on his own hunting ability, he wouldn’t be five pounds overweight like he is. It always gives you a good feeling to do something special for others, even if they are of the canine variety. There are plenty of dogs out there that need good homes like mine. On busy, hectic deadline weeks like this one, I envy the life of the suburban dog. I suppose there will be a time when I’m no longer able to have an energetic sidekick, but right now I can’t imagine the suburban existence without a dog – and I’m not yet ready to find out. Thanks to Jack – and those before him. MM Exp re ience O ur N e w Menu! 1 05 Ellington B oule v ar d Gaither sbur g, MD 2 08 7 8 TED SMONT A NA GRILL. C OM Thank Y ou o for o V oting o f or o U s!s ©2 018 TED ’ S MONT ANA GRILL INC NC . Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 29 Questions & Answers with consumer advocate Eric Friedman The story later in this issue about a consumer class action lawsuit against a towing company that used questionable tactics got us thinking about the growing number of ways consumers are vulnerable to scams and predators. In the digital 21st century, there are myriad ways you can be the prey of a consumer scam. So contributor Charles Jeffries sat down with the director of the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection and asked him to answer some questions that can help you avoid becoming a victim. Here’s what he had to say: It seems there are more scams every year, which I suppose makes sense as the population continues to grow. Are people less willing to put their talents to use in a real job these days and just prey on the vulnerable in our population? Scammers and con artists can be extremely clever and talented. Victimized consumers frequently report to our office that the person who perpetrated the deceptive or fraudulent scheme sounded so honest and trustworthy. Convincing consumers to bite on the deceptive bait is a critically necessary element to make most financial crimes succeed. The crook must elicit the victim’s trust just long enough for the victim to make a split-second decision to participate in the transaction. There are an unlimited number of scams today and they reach us via our front doors, computers and telephones: unlicensed contractors knocking on doors, email messages “phishing” for personal information or robo-callers telling us that we won a free vacation. Consumers frequently receive calls from phony police and fire charities or organizations soliciting donations in response to a natural disaster. Even the caller ID on our landlines can easily be “spoofed” to falsely indicate that we are receiving a local call. Scammers might be able to devote their efforts to real jobs that benefit society. However, these unscrupulous individuals typically are seeking instant riches at 30 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 ERIC FRIEDMAN, DIRECTOR OF THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY OFFICE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION. By Bill Kamenjar Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 31 the expense of others and without remorse. Unfortunately, there is no shortage of financial scams facing consumers today. Old scams never die, they are reincarnated and may revisit consumers in a “high-tech” format. Our office endeavors to educate consumers to avoid these scams in the first place. How does the economy impact scams? Are there more during a recession like the one we just went through? Our office was established in Montgomery County almost 50 years ago. The press release announcing the creation of our office in 1971 stated that the enactment of consumer protection legislation to eliminate consumer fraud and deceptive and unfair trade practices, to educate consumers, and to provide enforcement procedures was high on the county council’s list of goals and priorities. That mission is just as true today. While the number of complaints and calls we receive may fluctuate slightly each year, we have not identified an increase in scams during periods of economic recession. While scamming techniques may change from year to year, unfortunately, the deviant human quality that motivates some individuals to target and deceive vulnerable consumers appears to be a constant force in our marketplace. It is important to trust our instincts. When someone notifies us that we have won a million dollar lottery, and we need only pay a few hundred dollars for the processing fee, we really have won the opportunity not 32 to be scammed, if we are just savvy enough not to respond. How has the internet made it easier for these scam artists? Snake oil salesmen, Ponzi schemes and pyramid scams have been around for many decades. Even the Bible contains stories of deception and efforts to take advantage of others. However, the internet and electronic commerce have created extraordinary opportunities for scammers to exploit new technology and payment methods in pursuit of economic crimes. Today, we are all conscious about locking our front door, but one wrong click on our computers and cell phones can result in a myriad of financial trouble. The internet gives the pickpockets of yesterday the ability to reach millions of people all over the world, from anywhere in the world. It allows scammers to cast a wide net with minimal effort and maximum anonymity. There is an increased need for our office to educate all consumers about potential scams that are associated with each new technology. Generally, we think of the older population being the target of these scams, but we all get those calls and emails. So who are these scam artists targeting? The only good thing to say about scammers is that they typically operate as an equal opportunity enterprise. They don’t discriminate and are willing to victimize anyone and everyone. The fake IRS phone scam calls target everyone who pays taxes, regardless of race, age or MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 income. The phony email messages regarding our bank accounts, incoming packages or credit card alerts attempt to target anyone who uses the internet to pay bills or purchase merchandise. Even the familiar grandparent scam phone calls target any consumers who have used the internet for social media. There is a flip-side to every technological innovation. As long as we operate in a digital marketplace, we are subject to high-tech scams. Whether or not we will be the victim of identity theft is no longer the question. Today, unfortunately, the only question is when we will be the victim of identity theft. While scammers may prefer to take advantage of the elderly, all consumers are at risk of being the target of a financial scam. According to the latest report from the Federal Trade Commission, millennials fall for online scams more than any other age group. The need for all of us to limit and protect against our exposure to scams is essential. Is it possible to offer three tips about what everyone should be on the lookout for to avoid becoming the victim of a scam? Scams come in many different formats: a knock on your door from an unlicensed home improvement contactor, a phone call offering a free vacation, or a text or email message requiring that you “click” or respond immediately. We need to be vigilant at all times. First, verify and research before responding. Does that contractor knocking on the door have a license or a criminal history? Who is really on the other end of that phone call or email message? Second, avoid dealing with anonymous merchants. Where is the merchant located? Third, be sure to contact our office and other consumer regulatory agencies and nonprofit organizations to gather information and report problems. In today’s digital marketplace, many consumers like to keep the advice simple. First, never share personal or financial information over the telephone unless you placed the call and really know to whom you are speaking. Second, never “click” in response to an unsolicited email message or pop- up advertisement. Third, never access financial information using public Wi-Fi in stores, hotels or office waiting areas. Briefly tell us what other things the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection can help residents with. Montgomery County’s Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) investigates and endeavors to resolve disputes regarding most consumer transactions, including home improvement, car sales and service, retail sales, and advertising. We license new home builders, auto repair and towing companies, appliance repair firms, and secondhand personal property dealers. We offer expert mediation services to businesses, post video alerts on our YouTube Channel (“ConsumerWise”) and provide a wealth of information on our website (www.montgomerycountymd.gov/con- sumer). We may be the only local consumer protection office in the country to have a certified master automotive technician on staff to investigate technically challenging auto repair disputes. Most importantly, we have a dedicated staff of experts and volunteers who are here to help. Our tagline, “Ensuring Integrity in the Marketplace,” reflects the essence of our mission. Ultimately, creating a fair and level playing field in our marketplace promotes and attracts businesses and consumers to Montgomery County. MM Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 33 Datebook MONTGOMERY MAGAZINE’S GUIDE TO LOCAL HAPPENINGS September 29 Music I Bethesda On the Waterfront with the National Philharmonic. Conductor Piotr Gajewski presents a thrilling new rendition of the iconic winner of eight Academy Awards. The National Philharmonic plays Leonard Bernstein’s score live with the re-mastered film featuring Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb and Eva Marie Saint. Shown in high-definition with original dialogue intact. www.nationalphilharmonic.org 34 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 MAESTRO PIOTR GAJEWSKI CONDUCTS NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC AT STRATHMORE BY JOSHUA COGAN Through August 17 Theater I Olney The Pirates of Penzance They’re back! Chicago’s most innovative theatre company, The Hypocrites, returns with an encore engagement of their critically-acclaimed, immersive and family-friendly version of Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance.” To complete the repertory, they will also be introducing Olney Theatre audiences to their zany take on the H.M.S. Pinafore. Enjoy either show from the promenade, where you sit onstage and move around the set as the action dictates. And don’t forget to bring the kids. They can hang out in the ball pit and experience these Gilbert and Sullivan classics in a way they’re sure to love and never forget. www.olneytheatre.org August 1-22 Family I Rockville Movies in the Park Get outside this summer and get into Rockville’s free outdoor movies in the parks on the big screen each Wednesday. Bring chairs, blankets, food and beverages, and enjoy four different movies at four different neighborhood parks throughout the city. This year’s lineup includes “Toy Story,” “Coco,” “Little Giants,” and “Moana.” Last year, more than 300 guests attended each week. www.rockvillemd.gov August 3 Family I Gaithersburg Family Game Night Grab your games or use some on hand for a fun Friday night of outdoor play. Bring a blanket or lawn chair and enjoy family time on the grounds of Kentlands Mansion. Carolina-style hickory smoked barbeque by Bangin BBQ will be available for purchase. Cost is $5 per person at the door. www.gaithersburgmd.gov August 5 Music I Rockville Chambers and Consoles: Video Game Music in Concert The Washington Metropolitan Gamer Symphony Orchestra presents “Chambers & Consoles,” an annual summer tribute to video game music at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre. The WMGSO’s in-house arrangers draw from the soundtracks of video games of all eras to put a 21st-century twist on orchestral and choral performances. This unique repertoire is something that an ever-growing audience of gamers and non-gamers alike enjoy. www.rockvillemd.org August 7 Rally I Montgomery County National Night Out Several Montgomery County neighborhoods will participate in 35th Annual National Night Out Against Crime. More than 16,000 communities across the country participate. These neighborhoods will hold events to increase drug prevention awareness, generate support for anti-crime programs and encourage residents to be involved in their communities. www.natw.org August 11 Art I Derwood Artist Fair and Beer The creative combination is courtesy of the True Respite Brewing Company which is hosting a free artist fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the brewery. Artists with a wide range of talents will be setting up to sell their handcrafted products. The day of art, beer, food, and fun supports local Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 35 artisans and some proceeds will be donated to Generosity: global. Crossroads BBQ & Grill and Mayorga Organics will offer great food and drink. www.truerespite.com August 12-18 Shopping I Statewide Shop Maryland Tax-Free Week This Maryland sales tax holiday gives shoppers a 6 percent savings on clothing and footwear priced at $100 or less. Qualifying apparel includes belts, coats, jackets, pants, shoes, socks, and sweaters. The sales tax exemption applies to each eligible item, regardless of how many items you purchase at the same time. www.comptroller.marylandtaxes.gov t August 11-12 Theater I Rockville The Melting Pot The premiere production of the new Jewish Community Theater of Montgomery County will be presented at Temple Beth Ami in Rockville. This is the play that popularized the phrase “melting pot” as a nickname for America. Written in 1908 by Israel Zangwill, it takes a hard look at anti-Semitism and anti-immigrant hatred, while still finding room for humor, romance and hope. www.facebook.com/JCTMCtheater August 23-26 Family I Bethesda Comcast Outdoor Movie Festival Be part of a 22-year tradition of outdoor movies. The series returns to Strathmore this summer for four nights of free family favorite flicks benefiting the NIH Children's Charities. The lineup includes “Coco” on August 23, “Black Panther” on August 24, “The Lion King” on August 25 and “Wonder Woman” on August 26. www.filmfestnih.org September 1-3 Art I Glen Echo Labor Day Art Show The 48th Annual Labor Day Art Show at Glen Echo Park will be held in the historic Spanish Ballroom. The exhibition features the work of more than 200 artists from the Middle Atlantic region. The show includes works in a wide range of artistic media, including sculpture, painting and drawing, ceramics, glass, jewelry, fiber arts, photography, and furniture. www.glenechopark.org September 15 Fundraiser I Potomac Park After Dark is the C&O Canal Trust’s annual gala fundraiser, held under the stars at historic Great Falls Tavern. Each year, t August 14 Activism I Silver Spring Global Climate Action Summit One Montgomery Green, Integrative Strategies Forum, Poolesville Green, and councilmember Tom Hucker will incorporate the input of county leaders and organizations addressing climate change at a “mini-summit” of climate change experts. They will address current goals, benchmarks, programs, and opportunities to reduce the local impact of climate change. The event will be held at the Silver Spring Civic Building from 8:30 a.m. to noon. www.onemontgomerygreen.org 36 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 300 guests enjoy great food, libations, a campfire, unique auction items, music, and dancing. The 19th Street Band will be the featured music. It’s all to benefit the C&O Canal National Historical Park. www.canaltrust.org September 14-23 Theater I Rockville The Last Five Years Produced by the Montgomery Playhouse and Theatre@CBT, this emotionally powerful and intimate musical by Jason Robert Brown follows an interfaith couple through their five-year relationship, as we witness them falling both in and out of love. Jamie Wellerstein, a rising novelist with strong Jewish roots, works to balance his suddenly successful career while embarking on a relationship with Cathy Hiatt, a struggling non-Jewish actress, who is left to deal with her stalled career while watching her husband from the sidelines. www.facebook.com/TheatreatCBT t September 15-23 Theater I Gaithersburg Kindertransport Produced by Sandy Spring Theatre Group and presented at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn, “Kindertransport” is based on the experiences of children who were allowed to leave Nazi Germany for England in 1938-39 and who were separated from their families, many of whom perished during the Holocaust. Through flashbacks, the play presents the hardships faced by Eva at three different stages of her life. www.sandyspringtheatregroup.weebly.com August 11 Medicine I Silver Spring Anatomy of Sports Bones and muscles need to work together for optimal performance. Athletes of all ages should know how their bodies work in order to compete and stay healthy. During Anatomy of Sports athletes will demonstrate their sports while medical illustrators and physical therapists reveal how muscles and bones work together. The event is great for families with children playing sports, the recreational athlete or the practiced sports enthusiast. www.medicalmuseum.mil September 17 Gardening I Gaithersburg Garden Thyme Learn about upcycled gardening and plant a mini herb garden to take home. There will also be garden trivia and a garden scavenger hunt for a chance to win a gardening kit. Scouts welcome. Cost is $12 per person. Register online at www.gaithersburgmd.gov/RecXpress. September 23 Fundraiser I Rockville 9th Annual Montgomery County VisionWalk Join the fight against blindness at the Foundation Fight Blindness’ VisionWalk, which includes a 5k walk around Rockville Town Square. There is no entry fee. www.fightblindness.org September 29 Health I Rockville Out of the Darkness Community Walk When t September 28 Comedy I Bethesda Bill Murray Iconic actor Bill Murray presents his New Worlds concert at Strathmore. Murray will perform the works of great American and European creatives with New Worlds co-creator and cellist Jan Vogler, as well as violinist Mira Wang and pianist Vanessa Perez. The idea for New Worlds originated from Murray and Vogler’s mutual love of music and literature. The program showcases American values in both art forms and how American writers, actors, and musicians have built bridges between America and Europe. www.strathmore.org September 16 Festival I Poolesville Poolesville Historic Poolesville will host its 26th Annual Poolesville Day festival in Whalen Commons. The event features activities for all ages, including a morning parade, antique and electric car show, amusement rides and games, award-winning food, and vendor booths. There will be live bands and entertainment performed throughout the day. The 1980s cover band “The Reagan Years” will perform on the main stage. www.poolesvilleday.com you walk in the Out of the Darkness Walks, you join the effort with hundreds of thousands of people to raise awareness and funds that allow the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention to invest in new research, create educational programs, advocate for public policy, and support survivors of suicide loss. These community walks create a movement. They give people the courage to open up about their own struggle or loss, and the platform to change our culture’s approach to mental health. www.afsp.donordrive.com Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 37 FARM TABLE FROM TO 38 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 What you’re eating at your favorite farm-to-table restaurants in Montgomery County is certainly fresh and tasty, but it may not be as local as you’re led to believe. Story and photography by Sherry W. Schweitzer Bombarded by the media with terms like farm-to-table, eat local and sustainable, Montgomery County residents would be surprised to learn that many of their favorite local restaurants don’t serve food grown on the nearby farms. It’s not that your local farmer doesn’t want to provide the freshest possible fare or that your neighborhood bistro isn’t telling the truth about serving sustainable, organic food – it’s that they cannot solely rely on local sources and remain profitable. Buying and serving mostly local food demands a strong commitment from chefs, buyers and farmers, but in most instances such commitments cannot be sustained. Like any business, farmers and restaurants look at their bottom line when making decisions about buying and selling. According to Jeremy Criss, director of the Montgomery County’s Office of Agricultural Services, “It all comes down to the balance sheet. It’s a function of the profitability.” Criss maintains that there are a few county farmers that for one reason or another are EMMA MORRIS, AN INTERN FROM THE MONTGOMERY COLLEGE LANDSCAPE PROGRAM, HARVESTS CARROTS FROM A GREENHOUSE AT THE FARM AT OUR HOUSE IN BROOKEVILLE. Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 39 It’s not that your local farmer doesn’t want to provide the freshest possible fare, it’s that he cannot solely rely on local sources and remain profitable. LEAH MITCHELL OF POTOMAC VALLEY ORGANICS able to arrange for their wholesale products to be in our neighborhood haunts. “But for the most part, the retail price rules,” he says. “So farmers want to sell directly to the customer.” So where do local farmers sell their food? There are three primary outlets for county farmers. The best is their own on-farm market, which gives consumers access to healthy, local farm products. Tables of plump red strawberries, glossy green cucumbers, orange and purple carrots, and red and gold apples are snapped up by consumers who have the time and money to buy locally-grown produce. At on-farm markets, prices are higher than wholesale but competitive with grocery stores. “The margins are much better,” says Heather Bruskin of the Montgomery County Food Council. “There’s no distribution costs, the revenue that’s generated from sales is much higher than if you were selling wholesale. The price the farmer gets is higher and that’s why they take that approach.” The next best option for farmers is Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). This is a good way for consumers to provide financial support to farmers. Families buy “shares” of a local farm’s products in advance. These shareholders agree to pay an amount at the 40 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 start of the growing season, either in one lump sum or in installments. This is an up- front investment that helps the farmers cover the expenses of what’s needed for the season and provides an income while crops are planted and grown. CSA members receive a variety of fresh produce when products are in season. CSA members receive their share of the farmer’s yield by way of home delivery or a pick up point. However, farmers and CSA members also share the risks and unforeseeable uncertainties of the business – droughts, freezes, rainfall, pests, or poor yields. Farmers markets make up the third revenue source for most small, local farmers. Customers get access to fresh, local products while farmers grow good will and good reputations, avoid waste by bringing only what they can sell for the day, and their investment is minimal. Eating locally-grown food seems like a good idea, but it isn’t as easy as it seems. “In the restaurant setting, it’s very difficult to know and assess how ‘farm-to-table’ your farm-to-table restaurant is,” says Bruskin. Some places are very transparent and tell customers where the greens are grown and how and where the meat is raised, but she says anything grown on a farm can qualify because the U.S. Department of Agriculture definition of “local” is up to 400 miles from its origin. (Some states make their own rules although Maryland does not.) “Restaurants can say they source locally, but that could be just for one dish,” she says. “And that can be hard for restaurants that really do buy local to stand out.” Furthermore, it’s a lot easier in the summer when more produce is available. The Food Council encourages businesses and residents to eat and drink locally, which is central to its mission of creating a more robust and sustainable food system in the county. They share resources, foster cooperation and look at food policy issues to empower different sectors of the food system. In short, they connect the dots. Farmers and farm advocate professionals – chefs, food entrepreneurs and representatives of local governments, nonprofits and business – are optimistic about Montgomery County’s local producers. Aside from fruits and vegetables, drinking locally has become very trendy. Local restaurants are carrying local taps. There are now eight beer breweries in Montgomery County, and an expansion of local distilleries and the wine industry is underway, too. But even though there are over 200 food producing farms in the county, most people think that the future of our county farms is that they will be a place where the community can learn about agriculture, gather and enjoy beautiful agrarian landscapes, and buy products grown and made there, whether produce, meat or beverages. “It’s the farm experience that’s bringing more people to farms,” says Paula Linthicum, a member of the Montgomery County Farm Bureau, and who with her husband Tom are owners of Seneca Ayr Farm in Laytonsville. For the sixth year, the bureau has sponsored the Farm to Table Dinner Experience. “We try to hold the events at various kinds of farms. The first one was on Montgomery County Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood. It was followed by one on our grain farm where people learned about corn, wheat and soy beans,” says Linthicum. “We’ve also held events on an equine farm and goat farm, and last year we went to a turf farm.” This year’s event on September 15 is at Waredaca Farm and Brewing Company in Laytonsville, formerly a riding camp farm that now grows hops and brews beer. Doug Kellner, executive chef at GrillMarX Steakhouse & Raw Bar in Olney, will be using meats and produce from county farmers to create the meal. In spite of the challenges, Montgomery County is making progress. The new “MoCo Made” brand created by the Food Council in partnership with the Montgomery County Economic Development Corporation, helps consumers find the MoCo Made brand by looking for the stickers that identify locally made products. The council has recently released its second edition of the “Food and Beverage Guide,” which highlights MoCo Made and the diverse range of food and beverages produced in farms and kitchens located in the county or made by businesses headquartered here. The constraints of working with demanding restaurant clients that want a steady supply of produce and products year-round means that most farmers find other ways to move the supply of fresh food to consumers. To find more local food in our neighborhood restaurants, it will take a shift in the way business is done. And to increase our local farm-to-table menus, consumers, chefs and farmers will have to work together to cultivate new kinds of relationships and make a commitment to growing and eating locally grown food. A Few Farms That Sell to Local Restaurants Chocolates and Tomatoes Farm Mark Mills is known throughout the county as someone who works with local restaurants to source the produce he grows at two county locations. With the advantage of having worked in the restaurant business for 25 years, he knows what local chefs are looking for and he does the legwork it takes to connect with them to sell the sustainable organic food he produces. “Chefs have to buy into it,” he says. “Consumers have to want to support it, too, since they pay more. It’s a full circle approach. Even if the chef loves your product, there are challenges. Can we produce enough and provide what he wants when he wants it?” Last year in addition to many varieties of peppers, root vegetables, greens, and brassica, Mills produced more than 6,000 pounds of a dozen varieties of tomatoes – on only a few acres of land. He also went to pastry school where he developed his passion for creating unique hand-crafted chocolates – hence the name Chocolates and Tomatoes. Some of the restaurants that carry Mills’ produce include Ricciutis in Olney, Il Pizzico in Rockville, Watershed Café in Poolesville, and Vasili’s Kitchen and Sin & Grin, both in Gaithersburg. You can find his produce and chocolates at the Olney Farmers and Artists Market on Sundays. Potomac Valley Organics The farm in Damascus is operated by Leah and Will Mitchell (with help from Will’s mother) in Damascus. The couple had no experience with Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 41 closer to restaurants and to chefs. “Furthermore, if you’re a chef relying on a piece of produce that’s not there one week due to something happening on the farm, the restaurant would have to be flexible to change their menu, but not everyone can or wants to do that,” she says. MARK MILLS OF CHOCOLATES AND TOMATOES farming, but with a desire to leave their 9-to-5 jobs eight years ago, they made the leap into farming where they specialize in locally- grown, organic salad greens. They are exclusively a wholesale operation, partnering with local retail markets and restaurants to provide organic greens like spinach, kale, arugula, spring mix, chard, Asian greens, and lettuces. Mom’s Organic Market is one of their biggest customers, but you can also find their greens at Inferno Pizzeria Napolitano in Darnestown, where you might find greens harvested that same day. Almost everything is grown outdoors, but last year they started growing in caterpillar tunnels – inexpensive structures that have allowed them to extend their season into late fall, winter and early spring. “We don’t have ambitions to be a huge farm,” Leah Mitchell says. “We’re committed to growing fresh, local organic greens for this community. We provide an option for customers other than California lettuce. You can taste the difference immediately because ours is delivered within 48 hours of harvest, instead of one to two weeks.” Mitchell says they might do more restaurant business, but their location is too far away from most of them. She would like to see more restaurants carry local food, but it can be difficult because restaurant accounts tend to be very small, so it’s easier for urban farmers who are 42 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 The Farm at Our House A social studies teacher at Montgomery Blair High School, Marc Grossman and wife lease certified organic farmland from Our House, a non- profit, juvenile justice rehabilitation center. “We have a mutually beneficial relationship – we lease the land and give the young men there the opportunity to work at the farm, if they are interested,” says Grossman. They get a lot of help managing and operating the more than six acres in Brookeville (the farm is managed by Anh Doan, a farmer originally from Vietnam) and for Grossman it’s personal. “A lot of people want to talk about how to improve the environment, but doing it is a lot of hard work. I want to lead by example because I love growing plants, and want to help others who want to do that.” Working with restaurants is tough, Grossman says, but he likes working with them and appreciates that the chefs he works with are very creative and even tell him what to grow. “They have high standards, they are easy to disappoint, and they don’t give us a contract – so it’s always week-to-week,” he says. “The level of inconsistency likely scares away a lot of people from working with them. But I like working with them, more than going to farmers markets. Last year it represented 20 percent of our income.” Their produce can be found at Black Restaurant Group’s restaurants, which include Addie's in Park Potomac, Black’s Bar and Kitchen in Bethesda, Black Market Bistro in Garrett Park, as well as some others including Il Pizzico and Ricciuti’s. MM COLOUR EXTENSIONS BALAYAGE HAIR PAINTING KERATIN SMOOTHING BRIDAL AND SPECIAL EVENT STYLING VOTED “BEST SALON” BY WASHINGTONIAN AND BETHESDA MAGAZINES Contact our Salon concierge for booking 12121 Rockville Pike ° i̅iÃ`>]UÎ䣰nn£°Óx{ä David’s is a Platinum Elite Wella Salon THE SPORTING LIFE of JOHNNY HOLLIDAY From a radio jock to a sports jock, the Kensington resident has been on the beat of Washington, D.C., sports for almost 40 years J By David Elfin Photo by Bill Kamenjar ohnny Holliday turned 80 last October, but the Kensington resident hasn’t considered slowing down from a hectic pace that has him announcing University of Maryland football and men’s basketball games on the radio while also hosting shows before and after Washington Nationals games on television. The energetic Holliday, who also does voiceovers for commercials and emcees charity events including his own celebrity golf tournament, did reluctantly give up his long-established musical theater career when he began his baseball broadcasting gigs in 2007 because the schedules just wouldn’t mesh. “Eighty is a number,” Holliday says. “It doesn’t mean anything. Am I supposed to feel any different or do anything different? People find it very hard to believe, but I enjoy my work more than I probably ever have. The older you get, the easier everything comes. It used to be if I was doing television or theater, I would get butterflies in my stomach. I don’t have 44 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 45 If you say Johnny around the university (of Maryland), you don’t have to use a last name. For Maryland to have probably as recognizable a voice as there is in college sports, that’s a big plus. Johnny has been so good for so long. He’s such a part of Maryland.” those anymore. It’s just a confidence thing, I guess because I’ve done it for 62 years.” That’s correct, 62 years. Holliday’s voice first came over the airwaves when he was 18 and just out of high school in Miami. A buddy had entered him in a disc jockey contest as a joke. Holliday didn’t win, but he did enjoy his tryout enough that when soon thereafter he was stocking shelves in his grandfather’s pharmacy in Perry, Georgia, he jumped at the chance to broadcast on the town’s lone radio station. “It was a mom-and-pop operation, a daytime station,” Holliday recalled. “I did everything for $32 a week. I signed the station on. I signed it off. I did the morning show. I played an hour of rock music, then an hour of beautiful music, and then 30 minutes of Lawrence Welk. We had a noontime 30-minute show called the “Stumpus Family” presented by the Perry Feed and Grain Supply Company. I was Johnny Stumpus. The owner of the station was Mr. Stumpus. His wife was Mrs. Stumpus. The engineer was another member of the family. There was no script.” From that backwoods start – which 46 – Former University of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams included his initiative to announce the basketball games of Perry High School and its star, future U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, on delayed tape – Holliday quickly rocketed to an R&B station back home. Then he moved to Rochester, Cleveland, New York, San Francisco, and in 1969, Washington as a disc jockey at WWDC-AM. Sportscasting was a sideline then, just like musical theater and commercials. But over the last nearly 50 years, Holliday has called the games of baseball’s Senators, the Bullets (now the Wizards), the Washington Nationals, the Naval Academy, and George Washington University. He also did some public address announcing at games and was the host of a Redskins pregame show. However, it was his move to WMAL in 1979 as the voice of the Terps that eventually made Holliday a campus and area legend. “If you say Johnny around the university, you don’t have to use a last name,” says Maryland Hall of Fame basketball coach Gary Williams, who worked with Holliday for 22 seasons. “For Maryland to have probably as recognizable a voice as there is in college sports, that’s a big plus. Johnny has been so good for so long. He’s such MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 a part of Maryland. And he has done so much behind the scenes. If anybody has a charity event and they need somebody to emcee it, they call Johnny. He doesn’t turn many things down.” Williams’ successor Mark Turgeon, often tells Holliday “that he’s the best- looking 80-year-old guy I’ve ever seen. His energy level is great. I’m not sure what his secret is.” Heading into his 40th year with the Terps, Holliday is approaching nearly 2,000 Maryland games behind the mike including 15 bowls, 10 Sweet 16 contests, and two Final Fours, the latter capped by the national title game victory in 2002 that remains his highlight. “The national championship was the best,” Holliday says. “How many guys get to do a national championship game? I didn’t prepare for what I was going to say if we won. It was pretty emotional. You can hear my voice cracking a little bit when I say, ‘The kids have done it.’ And then I stopped and let the crowd dictate the rest of it so I didn’t spoil the moment and let everybody feel what I was feeling.” Holliday has grown especially close to Turgeon in part because he’s the godfather to the coach’s former college teammate, Scooter Barry, and in part because they live near each other and attend the same church. Turgeon truly admires Holliday’s boundless work ethic and love of the university. “Johnny’s always organized,” Turgeon says. “He does his own homework. He comes to practice so he has a good feel for the players. (And) Johnny knowing the history of Maryland sports… has really helped me bridge the gap with former players and former coaches.” Maryland third-year football coach D.J. Durkin was just one-year-old when Holliday began his Terps tenure. “Johnny’s very professional,” Durkin says. “He does a great job of researching and understanding what’s going on. He has one of those yellow legal pads and there’ll be an entire page filled with notes in this handwriting that you can’t read a word of and every last centimeter is covered at all different angles. And somehow he looks at that and he can start reciting stats and names. It’s truly remarkable.” That’s a perfect word to describe Holliday’s career. A member of the Radio Television Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the D.C. Sports Hall of Fame, Holliday has also been honored by his high school, by Maryland and by the College Football Hall of Fame. The versatile performer was nominated for a Helen Hayes (local acting) Award, used to be friendly with all of rock’s big names including Grace Slick and Sly Stone, and knows seemingly everyone in basketball, baseball and football. That certainly appears to be the case at the D.C. Sports Hall of Fame induction each year when Holliday kibitzes with virtually everyone whose names are about to join his on the celebratory banner at Nationals Park. “Johnny’s a long-lost friend the minute you meet him,” Durkin says. “Guys like Johnny don’t exist much anymore,” says Chris Knoche, Holliday’s basketball color man the past 18 years. “There’s nothing about him that’s larger than life other than his resume. He’s been everywhere. He knows everyone. He’s done so much. But it’s a source of bemusement for him.” Indeed, Holliday began this interview by mocking himself as “the man, the myth, the legend,” before going on to credit his partners, statisticians and engineers for making him look and sound so good. To Holliday, he’s just a lucky man with a very tolerant wife, three grown daughters and 11 grandchildren. “I never considered myself as having a great broadcasting voice, one of those deep, bass voices,” Holliday says with typical modesty. “It has been a pretty incredible career, but you’re only as good as the people that listen to you or watch you. If they don’t like you, you’re not going to be around. “The longevity of a disc jockey is maybe four or five years in a city and I’ve been here almost 50. Mary Clare and I have been in the same house in Kensington since 1970. It’s convenient to everything. We see everybody at Safeway, the post office, and on Howard Avenue.” One major change that Holliday has had to get used to was Maryland’s surprising move from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), of which it was a charter member in 1953, to the Big Ten in 2014. “I miss my friends in the ACC where everything was familiar, but it’s getting better each year,” Holliday says of a travel schedule that has replaced such warm winter weather spots as Miami and Tallahassee with trips to oft-frozen Minneapolis and Madison, Wisconsin. “We’re (still) the new guys in town. You’ve got to cultivate new friends, but I have no complaints.” Which is the nature of the man. Holliday’s reaction to the ruptured spleen, broken nose, and liver and pancreas damage he suffered in the 1971 crash of a small plane after a charity mission to impoverished and rural West Virginia with his 11-year- old daughter, Tracie, who was thankfully unhurt: “I became more patient and nicer. You want to do more for others because you’re thankful that you’re here and especially because your daughter’s here. And I haven’t been on a small plane since.” Through the reigns of four men’s basketball coaches and eight, count ‘em, football coaches in College Park, Holliday is still the voice of the Terps. “He’s so vibrant and he loves it, (so) I can’t imagine Johnny not doing Maryland basketball,” Turgeon says. “You can tell he truly loves his job,” Durkin says. “You can tell he has no plan of stopping any time soon. If we could all be so lucky to find a job that we love that much, that’s really what it’s all about. That’s what he was put on Earth to do.” MM David Elfin, a Bethesda resident since 1993, is an award-winning journalist who has written seven books, including the Maryland basketball history, “Cole Classics.” This is the first article in Montgomery Magazine for the former president of the Pro Football Writers of America. Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 47 48 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 49 Best 2018 The Winners! of MoCo From sweet cupcakes to an elegant fine dining experience. From a food truck to a French bistro. From auto repair to auto sales. From children’s theater to children’s attrac- tions. Suffice it to say we’ve got a list of 165 things in Montgomery County that our reader’s poll has determined to be the best. If you can’t find some ideas for everything from dog parks to adventure parks on this list, you’re just not looking closely enough. (Winners are listed alphabetically.) The Best of Dining BAKERY CHINESE FINE DINING Classic Bakery, Gaithersburg Bob’s Shanghai 66 Comus Inn (The), Dickerson www.classicbakery.com Rockville www.thecomusinn.com www.bobsshanghai66.com JennyCakes, Kensington Morton’s The Steakhouse www.jennycakesbakery.net Full Key, Silver Spring Bethesda 301.933.8388 or Facebook www.mortons.com/bethesda Shanghai Taste, Rockville Old Angler’s Inn, Potomac 301.279.0806 or Facebook www.oldanglersinn.com Stella’s Bakery, Rockville www.stellasbakeryonline.com BARBEQUE Crossroads BBQ and Grill DELI FOOD TRUCK Rockville Attman’s Deli, Potomac Cabana Grill, Rockville www.crossroadsbbqandgrill.com www.attmansdeli.com www.cabana-grill-rockville.com Mission BBQ, Rockville Gemelli’s Italian Market Corned Beef King, Olney Gaithersburg www.cornedbeefking.com www.mission-bbq.com www.gemellisitalianmarket.com Urban Bar-B-Que Company Elvira’s Kitchen, Silver Spring Rockville, Sandy Spring Parkway Deli www.iloveubq.com Silver Spring www.theparkwaydeli.com BURGERS Facebook FRENCH Bistro Provence Bold Bite, Bethesda FAMILY RESTAURANT Bethesda www.boldbite.net Café Deluxe, Bethesda www.bistroprovence.org www.cafedeluxe.com Sunshine General Store, Brookeville La Ferme, Chevy Chase 301.774.7428 or Facebook Matchbox, Rockville www.lafermerestaurant.com www.matchboxrestaurants.com Le Vieux Logis Ted’s Montana Grill 50 Gaithersburg Nantucket’s Reef, Rockville Bethesda www.tedsmontanagrill.com www.nantucketsreef.com www.levieuxlogisrestaurant.com MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Best 2018 The Winners! of MoCo OWNER STEPHEN NUGENT AND BARTENDER NICOLE HADDOW By Bill Kamenjar The True Irish Experience Stephen Nugent has spent his life surrounded by live music. Growing up in Ireland, he formed a punk rock band called the Parasites. When he moved to the United States in the 1990s, he took a job at Flanagan’s Harp & Fiddle in Bethesda. It was at Flanagan’s that Stephen met his wife Jennifer. In 2002, the Nugents became owners of the Cordell Avenue pub. Flanagan’s has been a Bethesda go-to for live Irish music since 1986, making it the city’s oldest, still- running bar. While Stephen’s Irish roots were what originally drew him to the pub, upon taking over he decided to include various types of artists. Today, bands ranging from blues to country to rock can be found on the Flanagan’s stage. “We get them when they’re starting out and watch them get better and better at their craft,” Stephen Nugent says of the artists he selects to play. Jennifer Nugent adds that some of the most memorable musicians to use the venue include The 19th Street Band and Mary Anne Redmond. To keep 52 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 tradition, an Irish band plays every other Sunday. The Nugents pride themselves on the bar’s food just as much as they do the music, a mix of traditional Irish dishes and American fare. “Better than typical bar food,” says Jennifer. She particularly recommends the steak and Guinness pie or the chicken and avocado dish. Their hope is that customers will come to Flanagan’s for dinner and stay for the music – and it seems to be working. “We have a big group of regulars. We get everyone from 21-year-olds to NIH employees,” she says. She says that the venue has a great sound system, which draws musicians to return time and time again. Jennifer added that while Flanagan’s may have steered away from strictly playing Irish music, it will never lose the Irish pub feel. “It really has that nice old-school pub feel, the kind of place where you get to know everyone’s name. It’s the kind of place where everyone is welcome.” – Haley Cohen M AG AZ IN E MA G A ZI NE 2 0 1 7 WINNER 20 1 8 WI N N ER READERS’ C HOI C E READ ERS’ C H O IC E MEDITERRANEAN ITALIAN PIZZA Cava Mezze, Olney, Rockville Il Pizzico, Rockville CSNY Pizza, Rockville www.cavamezze.com www.ilpizzico.com www.csnypizza.com Kapnos Kouzina, Bethesda Il Porto, Gaithersburg Frankly…Pizza! www.kapnoskouzina.com www.ilportorestaurant.com Kensington Vasili’s Kitchen Sergio Ristorante Gaithersburg Silver Spring Pizza CS, Rockville www.vasiliskitchen.com 301.585.1040 or Facebook www.pizzacs.com www.franklypizza.com INDIAN MEXICAN SEAFOOD Jewel of India Gringos & Mariachis Black’s Bar & Kitchen Silver Spring Bethesda Bethesda www.jewelofindiamd.com www.gringosandmariachis.com www.blacksbarandkitchen.com Kadhai, Bethesda Ixtapalapa Taqueria Coastal Flats www.kadhai.com Gaithersburg Gaithersburg www.ixtataqueria.com/menu www.greatamericanrestaurants.com Bethesda, Gaithersburg Senor Tequila’s, Germantown Republic, Takoma Park www.tandoorinightsmd.com www.senortequilas.com www.republictakoma.com Tandoori Nights Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 53 Best 2018 The Winners! of MoCo Real Imagination Janet Stanford has worked as the founding artistic director of Imagination Stage for over two decades, yet she is continuously finding ways to keep the Bethesda- based theater up to date with current events. The most recent project that Stanford took on is raising funds to put on a play about refugee children adjusting to life in Montgomery County. The play is tied to a program called Oyeme, Spanish for “hear me,” which she founded in 2014 when an immigrant surge was beginning in the county. “We are concerned with the policies that are happening now and want to bring the play back out by spring,” Stanford says. She added that when the show ran in previous years, it became clear that some children had no knowledge that there was a refugee crisis going on. “Some kids had never even heard a word of Spanish. They had no idea what kind of situations the kids around them were forced to flee. This show really inspires empathy,” she says. Imagination Stage was founded in 1979 and offers classes for children aged 1 to 18. Types of classes range 54 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 from creative drama to specific acting techniques. When Stanford came to the company 25 years ago, she had years of experience working as an actor. For her, a draw to the job was being able to combine social justice work with her love of the stage. “We put on the typical classics such as ‘Beauty and the Beast’ and ‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown,’” she says. “But we also make sure to include new shows that will address key issues happening in society or feature minority demographics, such as a Bollywood play we recently did.” Stanford added that theater has the ability to address serious issues that could be occurring in children’s lives such as bullying or what it feels like to have a blended family. Stanford sounds confident that the work she does is making an impact. But she repeatedly expressed appreciation for being recognized. “We are very proud to receive a Montgomery Magazine award. It’s a nice support for the choices and kind of work that we offer,” she says. – Haley Cohen STEAKS THAI WEEKEND BRUNCH Capital Grille (The), Chevy Chase Bangkok Garden, Bethesda Clyde’s Tower Oaks Lodge www.thecapitalgrille.com www.bkgmd.com Rockville, www.clydes.com George’s Chophouse, Bethesda Kao Thai, Silver Spring MoCo’s Founding Farmers www.georgesbethesda.com www.kaothairestaurant.com Potomac www.wearefoundingfarmers.com Ruth’s Chris Steak House Sabai Sabai Simply Thai Bethesda, Gaithersburg Germantown Mrs. K’s Toll House, Silver Spring www.ruthschris.com www.sabaisimplythai.com www.mrsks.com SUSHI VIETNAMESE WINGS Raku, Bethesda Mi Lay Cay, Silver Spring Hard Times Café, Rockville www.rakuasiandining.com 301.929.2822 or Facebook www.hardtimes.com Sushi House, Rockville Pho Nom Nom, Rockville MOMO, Bethesda www.sushihouse1331.com www.phonomnom.net www.momofc.com Yoyogi Sushi, Gaithersburg Pho Viet Saigon, Gaithersburg Outta the Way Café, Derwood www.yoyogisushi.wixsite.com/yoyogisushi 301.208.2088 or Facebook www.outta.com Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 55 BAR WITH LIVE MUSIC IRISH PUB Studio of Ballet Arts Flanagan’s Harp & Fiddle Finnegan’s Wake, Rockville Sandy Spring Bethesda www.finneganswakerockville.com www.studioofballetarts.com Irish Inn (The), Glen Echo BOOKSHOP www.irishinnglenecho.com Kensington Row Bookshop www.flanagansharpandfiddle.com Quincy’s Bar & Grille, Gaithersburg www.quincysgroup.com Kensington Limerick Pub (The), Wheaton Union Jack’s, Gaithersburg www.kensingtonrowbookshop.com www.thelimerickpub.net www.unionjacksrio.com Novel Books, Clarksburg SPORTS BAR www.anovelbookshop.com COFFEE CAFÉ Caddies Bar and Grill, Bethesda Black Lion Café, Rockville www.caddiesoncordell.com Second Story Books Old Town Pour House www.secondstorybooks.com www.blacklioncafe.com Rockville Coffee Republic, Rockville Gaithersburg www.coffeerepub.com www.oldtownpourhouse.com BOWLING ALLEY Bowl America, Gaithersburg Kefa Café, Silver Spring Quincy’s South Bar & Grille www.kefacafe.com North Bethesda www.quincysgroup.com CRAFT BREWERY www.bowl-america.com Lucky Strike, Bethesda www.bowlluckystrike.com Brookeville Beer Farm (The) WINE BAR Brookeville FineWine.com, Gaithersburg Pinstripes, North Bethesda www.brookevillebeerfarm.com www.finewine.com www.pinstripes.com Denizens Brewing Co Pinky & Pepe’s Grape Escape CHILDREN’S THEATER Silver Spring Gaithersburg Adventure Theatre MTC, Glen Echo www.denizensbrewingco.com www.pinkyandpepe.com www.adventuretheatre-mtc.org Waredaca Brewing Company Urban Winery (The) Imagination Stage, Bethesda Laytonsville Silver Spring www.imaginationstage.org www.waredacabrewing.com www.theurbanwinery.com Puppet Company (The), Glen Echo www.ccgrill.com The Best Best of The Recreation of Recreation Full On Craft Eats & Drinks BALLET/DANCE STUDIO HAPPY HOUR Copper Canyon Grill Gaithersburg, Silver Spring www.thepuppetco.org COMMUNITY THEATER F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre, Rockville www.rockvillemd.gov/theatre Rockville CoMMotion, Germantown Montgomery Playhouse (The) www.fulloncraft.com www.commotion.me Gaithersburg Paladar Latin Kitchen & Rum Bar Dawn Crafton Dance Connection Gaithersburg Rockville Theater at the Arts Barn, Gaithersburg www.paladarlatinkitchen.com www.dcdcdance.com www.gaithersburgmd.gov www.montgomeryplayhouse.org 56 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 ANGELO XENAKIS, GENERAL MANAGER AT THE GREEK INSPIRED VASILI’S KITCHEN IN GAITHERSBURG • By Bill Kamenjar Inspired by Heritage Inspired by their Greek heritage, John Mazarakis and his uncle Bill Hristopoulos co-own Vasili’s Kitchen. The restaurant, which opened in January 2017, is located in the Kentlands but gives customers the feel that they are in the Mediterranean throughout their dining experience. Dinner options range from fried calamari to marinated olives. The dessert menu includes baklava and namelaka. “We keep it authentic by focusing on original recipes from Greece,” Mazarakis says. One of Greece’s most famous chefs, Yiannis Lucacos, is responsible for keeping the recipes authentic. When not cooking up creative ideas at Vasili’s, Lucacos runs an interactive cooking school in Athens and was selected to serve as one of three judges in Master Chef, Greece. Mazarakis co-owns 30 restaurants all across the East Coast, but he insists that Vasili’s is special because of its location. “Montgomery County residents are very sophisticated,” he says. “We love being here and we are very excited to be a part of the community. We are always looking for ways to give back.” Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 57 Best 2018 The Winners! SON AREEN MOVSESSIAN (LEFT) AND FATHER RUBIC MOVSESSIAN OWN AND OPERATE CLASSIC BAKERY IN GAITHERSBURG • By Bill Kamenjar of MoCo Classic Bakers Family-owned for three generations, Classic Bakery has been a Gaithersburg go-to for almost 75 years. When Areen Movsessian’s grandfather, an avid baker originally from Armenia, immigrated from Iran to the United States, he opened the shop. His son had an engineering background, yet also found his calling in the bakery. The original 1,500 square-foot location has now expanded to a 10,000 square-foot production facility, and as of 2016, 58 Classic Bakery opened a second location in Tysons Corner. “Baking and pastry arts have become such a big staple in American culture. We are lucky to be a part of it and continue growing,” says Areen Movsessian, who now runs the family business. Movsessian added that Classic Bakery is unique for reasons beyond being multi-generational family owned and operated. “Everything we make is from scratch. We take this seriously because it's our MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 heritage,” he says, adding that the bakery sees a large demographic and works with events related to various cultures. “We owe our success to the diversity of Montgomery County,” he says. “I think that's a key reason that we exploded. People of diverse backgrounds are reluctant to buy grocery store products and they take their baking seriously.” Movsessian told Montgomery Magazine that a Classic Bakery rule has always been “if it’s not something we would personally serve on our own table, we won’t sell it.” While Movsessian works hard to satisfy his customers, whether in the kitchen or on the business side, he's not afraid to disagree with them occasionally. “Our fruit cake is the most popular, but I definitely think that our most delicious product is the chocolate truffle cake,” he says. MA GA Z I N E 2 0 18 W IN N E R RE ADER S’ CHOI CE DOG PARK FITNESS CLUB MOVIE THEATER Cabin John Dog Park, Bethesda Foundry Fitness, Gaithersburg AMC Loews Rio, Gaithersburg www.montgomeryparks.org www.foundryfitnessmd.com www.amctheatres.com Ellsworth Urban Dog Park Orangetheory Fitness ArcLight Bethesda Silver Spring Multiple locations Bethesda www.montgomeryparks.org www.orangetheoryfitness.com www.arclightcinemas.com King Farm Dog Park, Rockville Zengo Cycle iPic Theater, North Bethesda www.rockvillemd.gov Bethesda, Gaithersburg www.ipictheaters.com www.zengocycle.com FAIR/FESTIVAL PERFORMING ARTS CENTER Field and Fiddle, Dickerson KIDS ATTRACTION BlackRock Center for the Arts www.mocoalliance.org Monkey Joe’s, Germantown Germantown www.monkeyjoes.com www.blackrockcenter.org Gaithersburg Rockin’ Jump, Gaithersburg Round House Theatre www.mcagfair.com www.gaithersburg.rockinjump.com Bethesda Montgomery County Ag Fair www.roundhousetheatre.org Taste of Bethesda Sandy Spring Adventure Park Bethesda Sandy Spring Strathmore, North Bethesda www.bethesda.org www.sandyspringadventurepark.org www.strathmore.org Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 59 The Best of Professional Services and Retail AUTO DEALER DAY SPA NURSERY DARCARS Automotive Group Blu Water Day Spa, Kensington American Plant Food, Bethesda Rockville, Silver Spring www.bluwaterdayspa.com www.americanplant.net www.darcars.com Oxygen Salon & Day Spa Good Earth Garden Market Fitzgerald Auto Mall, Gaithersburg Rockville Potomac, Sandy Spring www.fitzmall.com www.oxygensalonanddayspa.com www.gegardenmarket.com Jim Coleman Cadillac, Bethesda Red Door (The) Potomac Garden Center, N Potomac www.jimcolemancadillac.com Gaithersburg, North Bethesda www.potomacgardencenter.com www.thereddoor.com AUTO REPAIR PET STORE Carlos Auto Repair FLORIST Bark!, Multiple locations Kensington America’s Beautiful Florist www.barknatural.com Rockville www.mycarlosautoservice.com www.americasbeautifulflorist.com Hillmuth Auto Repair Pet Valu, Multiple locations www.petvalu.com Gaithersburg Bell Flowers, Silver Spring www.hillmuth.com www.bellflowers.com Superior Auto Service, Rockville Lulu Florist, Bethesda www.superiorautoservice.com www.luluflorist.com BANK HAIR SALON EagleBank Bella Bethesda Salon, Bethesda Coldwell Banker Multiple locations www.bellabethesda.com www.janefairweather.com Whole Pet Central, Rockville www.wholepetcentral.com REAL ESTATE AGENT (DOWN COUNTY) Jane Fairweather www.eaglebankcorp.com Old Line Bank Kindle & Boom, Rockville Cathy Hunter www.kindleandboom.com Coldwell Banker Multiple locations www.oldlinebank.com www.coldwellbankerhomes.com Progressions Salon Spa, Rockville www.progressions.com Joseph Olatunde Seriki Multiple locations HOME IMPROVEMENT www.josephseriki.ttrsir.com www.sandyspringbank.com Chevy Chase Builders Sandy Spring Bank Sotheby’s International CATERER Bethesda REAL ESTATE AGENT www.chevychasebuilders.com (UP COUNTY) Corcoran Caterers, Silver Spring Bette Buffington, REMAX www.corcorancaterers.com Glickman Design Build Ridgewells Catering, Bethesda www.glickmandesignbuild.com www.realty-md.com Rockville www.ridgewells.com Elaine Koch, Long & Foster www.elainekoch.com Meridian Homes 60 Savory Gourmet Catering Bethesda Creig Northrop, Long & Foster Gaithersburg, www.savorygrmt.com www.meridianhomesinc.com www.northroprealty.com MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 RETIREMENT COMMUNITY VETERINARIAN Fox Hill, Bethesda Holistic Veterinary Healing www.foxhillresidences.com Germantown www.holisticveterinaryhealing.com Bethesda Kenwood Animal Hospital www.sunriseseniorliving.com Bethesda, www.kenwoodvet.com Rockville Store Only FREE APPRAISAL DAY Riderwood Nebel Street Animal Hospital August 25 & September 29 10:00 am - 1:00 pm Silver Spring Rockville www.ericksonliving.com www.nebelstreetanimalhospital.com Maplewood Park Place TUTORING SERVICE WEDDING/PARTY VENUES Huntington Learning Center Kentlands Mansion Bethesda, Gaithersburg, Silver Spring Gaithersburg www.huntingtonhelps.com www.gaithersburgmd.gov Kumon, Multiple locations Mansion at Strathmore www.kumon.com North Bethesda Books, Autographs & Manuscripts (Limit 5 items per person) By Allan Stypeck, Senior Member, American Society of Appraisers secondstorybooks.com Red Line’s Twinbrook Station MAGAZINE 2018 WINNER READERS’ CHOICE FREE TOTE BAG www.strathmore.org WITH Marks Education Bethesda Woodend Sanctuary, Chevy Chase www.markseducation.com www.woodendsanctuary.org THIS A D* 2000 P St. NW, Washington, DC On Dupont Circle (202) 659-8884 Daily 10-10 12160 Parklawn Dr. Rockville, MD Near White Flint (301) 770-0477 Sun-Wed 10-8 Thurs-Sat 10-9 *one tote per customer Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 61 62 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 THE POTOMAC RIVER GORGE Photo essay by Michael Kircher The Potomac River Gorge is known mainly for Great Falls, where the river cascades 76 feet down between jagged rock outcroppings that create rapids whitewater kayakers love. But there is also a gentle side to the gorge. There are 134 rare species and natural communities that have also been identified in the gorge. It contains rare groundwater invertebrates found almost nowhere else on Earth. I have explored and photographed the various aspects of this lesser known gem of the National Park Service since 2006 – from Great Falls to Little Falls, through every season, wildlife, scenics, action, and adventure. Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 63 64 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Great Blue Herons line the shores of the Potomac River, staking out prime fishing areas. Occasionally, a tussle occurs when one bird feels its territory is being infringed upon. I captured one such scuffle on the rocks below the observation deck of Olmsted Island. Vultures can often be found early in the morning drying their wings in preparation for a long day of catching thermals, warm air currents that take them far above the river as they soar in search of carrion. The Juvenile American Toad makes a home in the gorge. I found this little creature along the C&O Canal towpath near the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center. A gangly fawn forages in the underbrush. Patience is a must when photographing shy, skittish wildlife. Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 65 Ancient history can be found in the gorge along with all the wildlife. This stone carving is believed to be about 1,300 years old. It is hypothesized that the people of the region made the etching to identify a productive fishing spot. Kayakers come from all over to take on the Potomac River. The temperate Middle Atlantic climate makes it possible to paddle year round, and with whitewater classifications from I to V+, the Potomac will challenge people of all skill levels. 66 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 The Potomac River pulses like a capillary. It rises and falls almost daily. On a low day near Rocky Island this stone formation was revealed. I found that it fit like a puzzle piece into the reflection of the island’s rocky cliffs. Anglers today find that same area the people of the petroglyph fished many centuries ago to be a good spot to wet a line. Even if they aren’t as successful, being engulfed by the peaceful serenity of the spot can be rejuvenating. Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 67 Great Falls of the Potomac River is a 76-foot descent in elevation in less than a mile of river that makes for heart-stopping action for kayakers and breathtaking views for hikers. There is nothing like the sound of the falls as you approach an overlook. When the river is running at its natural level, you can almost feel its power – even from 30 feet up. 68 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 69 A Touch of New England In Rockville The easy, affordable seafood of Nantucket’s Reef By Rachel Nichols Photography by Bill Kamenjar 70 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 t came as no surprise that when Steve Deffinbaugh decided to open a restaurant he got it right the first time. At Nantucket’s Reef in Rockville, his simple mantra is “give diners a quality product at an affordable price” and that is exactly what happens at this neighborhood seafood restaurant. Seafood is delivered daily, everything is freshly prepared and the meal won’t cost an arm and a claw. Deffinbaugh started in the restaurant business at the tender age of 13, working as a busboy and dishwasher at his aunt and uncle’s popular Fred & Harry’s restaurant in Four Corners. He started in the kitchen peeling shrimp and picking crabmeat, and was mentored in his culinary journey by his cousin, Danny Deffinbaugh, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America. His skills were honed at a number of local restaurants, and it was at the famous Cracked Claw in Urbana that he had his first exposure to steaming crabs. Knowing that cooking was his passion, Deffinbaugh received his bachelor’s degree in Food Service Management at the Johnson and Wales University College of Culinary Arts in Rhode Island. This prepared him to be an “opener” for the national chain Cheesecake Factory and he opened restaurants for them in five cities. Eventually, he knew he wanted to return to Maryland to “do his own thing” and opened Nantucket’s Reef in September of 2013. Even within a challenging economy, the restaurant thrived because, Deffinbaugh says, “I know good food.” The menu is based on some of his original recipes and other tried and true recipes, such as the one for clam chowder from Fred & Harry’s. The menu is not expansive, which allows the dishes that are served to be reliably well prepared each and every time. Don’t worry, there’s plenty of choice for everyone, from Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 71 Since Nantucket is, after all, in New England, the restaurant offers lobster rolls in both Maine and Connecticut style, fueling the debate as to which is better. salads to “hand-helds” to inventive entrees like coconut and pecan tilapia with habanero-mango sauce. In fact, plenty is a key word at Nantucket’s Reef. Think “shareable” when ordering appetizers. Hush puppies the size of golf balls, eight to an order, are crunchy on the outside and melt-in- your-mouth tender on the inside, and served with honey butter. Another favorite appetizer is the wicked mussels, which arrives at your table steaming in a hot cast iron pan brimming with a pound of gleaming Prince Edward Island mussels. The mussel broth has been made wicked good with the addition of slightly spicy chorizo sausage and tomatoes, and the whole thing is topped with a couple of slices of toasty garlic bread. This rich and buttery goodness put me in mind of a great comfort food on a cold, winter day, but it wasn’t too shabby on a mid-summer day, either. Since Nantucket is, after all, in New England, the restaurant offers lobster rolls in both Maine and Connecticut style, fueling the debate as to which is better. Maine lobster rolls are cold lobster filling with a bit of mayo, and Connecticut style features warm lobster sautéed in butter served with a little extra for drizzling on each bite. Then there’s a third style – an off-menu item called the Angry 72 Lobster Roll that brings some Cajun seasoning to the debate stage. Any seafood restaurant worth its salt, especially in Maryland, better feature crab cakes, and Nantucket Reef’s version shows you how being lumpy can be a good thing. This cake is all jumbo lump crabmeat with only enough sauce to hold its shape. Each bite is perfect. Partly because all of the seafood brought to the restaurant is dry packed, meaning it does not come swimming in a sodium tripolyphosphate water solution. The dry packing allows the seafood to maintain its sweet and natural flavor. This is yet another way Deffinbaugh shows his respect for ingredients. The crab cakes are accompanied by fresh cut French fries and a cole slaw that is kicked WHERE TO FIND IT: 9755 Traville Gateway Drive, Rockville. CUISINE: New England seafood. HOURS: Monday to Thursday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Brunch Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. PRICE: Appetizers from $5.95; salads from $6.50; entrees from $16.95. CONTACT: 301.279.REEF (7333) or www.nantucketsreef.com MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 up a notch with a pinch of cinnamon. To dine at Nantucket’s Reef and not leave room for dessert is criminal, because those, too, are made in-house. The chef’s specialty is a unique tres leches (three milks) bread pudding topped with dried cranberries and vanilla ice cream. It is also served in a piping hot cast iron skillet, and it’s an ooey, gooey rich treat. A special brunch menu that features Nantucket-themed omelets and benedicts and can be upgraded to include unlimited Bloody Marys or mimosas is served Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The décor at Nantucket’s Reef is light and airy with high ceilings graced by sailcloth flags. Sky blue walls are met by white wainscoting. Little details, like the shiplap banquette backs, carry the nautical flavor throughout. Take a moment to appreciate the huge replica of the Columbia American racing yacht that won back-to-back America’s Cup titles in 1899 and 1901. Nantucket’s Reef staff is warm and welcoming and the vibe is comfortable. This is a place you can bring the whole family again and again. A sister restaurant, Ragin’ Reef, opened in Frederick in 2017. Located next door to a southern distillery, the cuisine is seafood with a southern accent. MM ren Child der d un 1 1 an E FRE day every $10 ts Ticke nly e O Onl * i N n o F ees * h T e o mery County n o t g l a F r a u i t r l M u r g ic August 10-18 A Family Deals at mcagfair.com com . r i a f c m ag FREE FOR 2018 9 Be s t Days o f Summ er Admis sion $ 12 at the g ate • Barn Yard Review • Grand Illusions by the Blooms • Chesapeake Dock Dogs • Truck Drag Racing • ATV Drag Racing • Pepco Stage Entertainment • Pig, Duck, & Goat Races • Farm Animals • RoboCars • Raptors Birds of Prey Family Days Mon., Aug. 13 & Wed., Aug. 15 Purchase a one-day ride Megapass wristband for $15 from noon until 5pm, ride until midnight. Purchase onsite at Guest Service ticket stations in the carnival area. Each person must be present to obtain this price. XFINITY GRANDSTAND EVENTS MAGAZINE 2018 WINNER READERS’ CHOICE Monster Truck & Demolition Derby: Adults $15 and Children 11 and under $10 online, Adults $17, Children $12 at the gate. **Does not include Fair admission** Monster Truck Madness Wed, Aug 15 • 7:30pm Thurs, Aug 16 • 7:30pm Demolition Derby Night of Destruction Fri, Aug 17 • 7:30pm Sat, Aug 18 • 7:30pm FAIR OPENS Friday, Aug. 10, 3pm to midnight • Saturday, Aug. 11 – Saturday, Aug. 18, 10am to midnight General Admission: $12 at the gate Children 11 & Under: FREE EVERY DAY Animal Exhibits open: Sunday, Aug. 12 at noon CHALK ONE UP FOR THE CONSUMER In a huge class action lawsuit in Montgomery County, the consumer got the win over a predatory towing company. And it resulted in money in the pockets of more than 16,000 county residents. By Rosanne Skirble 74 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 T hree years ago Quan-En Yang’s car was towed for his buying cookies. The Frederick area research scientist on his way to Rockville to see his son had parked at a Walgreens to get a snack. But first he went into the Chinese grocery next door to use the restroom. Then after getting cookies at Walgreens his car was gone. A warning sign that was posted outside by G&G Towing supplied him the address of the impoundment three miles away. With little cash in his pocket and his coat in the car, Yang set out on foot to get his car back, fuming all the way in the cold December evening. Dr. Yang had been a victim of “predatory towing” (referred to as trespass towing in court documents), according to Yang’s attorney Richard Gordon of Gordon, Wolf & Carney in Towson, Maryland. “G&G Towing had a tow truck parked beside Walgreens. Spotters were watching, waiting for him to walk off the lot.” Clearly, Gordon says, Yang had only gone a few steps, but that was enough to put the tow truck in gear. By the time Yang left Walgreens, the tow truck was off and away, even though, Gordon says, Yang, receipt in hand, was a “bona fide customer.” Yang’s case began with a party of one and soon, Gordon, whose firm focuses on class action cases, discovered that Yang was not the only Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 75 victim. According to court documents, between April 2012 and June 2017 G&G Towing had towed approximately 28,000 vehicles, deploying tactics that Gordon would go on to prove were illegal under both Maryland state towing law and the Montgomery County towing ordinance. Class heads to court Yang filed suit in April 2015. About a year later two more lead plaintiffs were added to the on-going litigation: Darcy Pelz-Butler, then 21 and employed part- time as a lifeguard at the Silver Spring YMCA, and her mother, Mary Pelz, who had loaned her daughter the car on a March night to visit a friend in an apartment complex behind Highland View Elementary School in Silver Spring. That’s where her car was towed, leaving Darcy stranded at midnight in a dark lot. She agreed to be a named party in the lawsuit. “I knew nothing about the law or about my rights,” Pelz-Butler says. “But you have to step out and do things,” says Mary Pelz, who is the director of the Long Branch Senior Center. “I think the scales are being tipped in favor of people who have tons of money, and it’s up to the rest of us to speak up.” The class numbers began to swell as records of G&G vehicle identification numbers were matched with owners. This was the perfect class action suit, which Gordon hoped would remedy, what he calls, 30 years of illegal towing practices in Montgomery County. He says the case addresses consumer justice. “It affects poor people, the underserved. It affects individuals that don’t have a voice of their own,” Gordon says. “It is also a case in which the amount of money for each 76 Know the law, read the sign The Maryland State law and the Montgomery County towing ordinance are closely aligned and have been updated several times over the years, most recently by the County in 2015 and by the state in 2013. Eric Friedman, director of the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection, advises consumers to know the law, read the signs and not assume that you can park anywhere, for example, in a bank lot after hours. In general, the Montgomery County towing ordinance: • Prohibits the use of “spotters” to identify vehicles for towing • Requires property owners to authorize each tow in writing, except between 2 a.m and 9 a.m. • Requires photographic evidence of violations or events precipitating the tow • Requires towing firms to notify the police before leaving the parking lot • Requires towing companies to accept credit cards as well as cash when retrieving a vehicle • Requires towing companies to have personnel available 24-hours-a-day at brightly lit impound lots so vehicle owners can safely retrieve cars at any time • Authorizes the county executive to set flat rates • Limits the amount a towing firm can charge for an incomplete tow • Property owners are required to post signs that are legible, unobstructed and follow the rules individual case may mean a lot to the individual who is paying it, but they are not going to take any legal action to address it themselves.” Overly aggressive towing using hidden spotters (behind trees or in the bushes) to identify a “walk-off” goes against the intent of both the Maryland Towing Law and the 1988 Montgomery County Towing Ordinance, says Eric Friedman, director of the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection. “Nonconsensual towing has been among our top complaints.” Between 2013-2017, roughly coinciding with dates in the lawsuit, about 700 people wrote to complain about the practice. “The law was never designed to create a financial incentive to turn our parking lots into lucrative fishing holes, never intended to create a bounty system, and never intended to allow a towing company to act as judge, jury and jailer,” Friedman says. MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 Consumer relief, victory for the plaintiffs In May 2016, Maryland Circuit Court Judge Ronald Rubin issued a judgment siding with the plaintiffs. The court said G&G had violated the law by deploying tow spotters. It failed to get the authorization of parking lot owners for the tow, giving the tow company carte blanche to tow using its own discretion. It required payment for the tow as a condition for recovery of a vehicle, essentially, Gordon says, “holding the cars for ransom until the owner paid the fees.” The company also charged an illegal surcharge for credit card payments. And, it failed to alert consumers to their rights to challenge the tow policies through the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection, according to court documents. G&G Towing paid $350,000 in partial satisfaction against the $22 million judgment and promptly went out of business. G&G Towing, owned by Glen W. Cade Jr., could not be reached for comment. Around the same time an amended complaint was filed in the case, which put the over 500 property owners with G&G contracts in a new defendant class that according to the law made them jointly liable based on the towing history for the rest of the cash. In January 2018 lot owners were given the option to either pay up or opt out and face new court battles, which could add up to even more. Property owners in class by themselves James P. Ulwick with Kramon & Graham, P.A., and lead counsel for the property owner defendant class, wrote in an email, “Since this litigation is on- going, I cannot comment.” Bethesda attorney Ruth Katz is general counsel for about 25 condos, homeowner and community associations caught up in the G&G lawsuit. While she is not representing any of them in this case, she says that cars (were) towed to ensure residents’ parking privileges and to keep fire lanes and Dumpsters clear. “There is no allegation in this lawsuit that they did anything wrong, and it harms my communities that they are trying to do right by their residents,” she says. Carol Brook, property manager representing Westlake Park Condominium B, with only one G&G tow on the books, says it was guilt by association. “Westlake views this simple premise as illogical and unfair – that G&G Towing broke the law at other times and at other properties and thus because Westlake had a contract with them, we too broke the law,” she wrote in a letter to the court late last year. Westlake settled. So did 425 of the property owners that participated in the settlement. Lot owners that signed contracts with G&G Towing got services for free, which Friedman says, at its inception, “should have put property owners on notice that something is going on.” He’s met with lot managers who are furious and want the law changed. “I tell them that this has been on the books for 30 years, the liability for violations hasn’t changed.” Towing is legal, he asserts, however, “You want a law that begins by saying: ‘Let’s be reasonable’ and then write the details. We want to maintain civility and without laws there would be chaos.” Payback plus The lead plaintiffs have received payments. “I feel fantastic,” says Mary Pelz, who got $5,000. “It is nice that when something happens to get a result like this. And now for the next time a thing like this happens, they can question it and do something about it.” Her advice to unwitting consumers: “If something seems unfair to you, don’t just stop and accept it, investigate, find out. If it’s happening to you, it is probably happening to someone else.” Darcy Pelz-Butler says she never expected to have “anything to do involving a lawyer, especially to be on the winning side. I’m just happy to get the news out there about the law. I feel like I helped a lot of people.” In early April checks for $214.17 (that’s more than the average $168-178 towing fee) were mailed out to 16,500 people identified in the class with a note, “As you were previously notified, you have been identified as a member of the Plaintiff Settlement Class in Yang v. G&G Gulf Inc., d/b/a/ G&G Towing.” The check surprised a lot of people who failed to see the first notice, but definitely had their cars towed by G&G. MORE THAN 16,000 COUNTY RESIDENTS GOT CHECKS LIKE THIS ONE AS THE RESULT OF A CONSUMER CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST PREDATORY TOWING. “I think that one of the great things about this litigation is that not only did it put money back into pockets of tens of thousands of people, it also made Montgomery County a safer place for commerce, ” Gordon says. Friedman agrees. “If you have stores losing business because their customers cannot find a parking spot, this law is for them. It’s not designed to be a moneymaker for someone who leases a tow truck.” Gordon says as property owners pay up, a second check may be in the mail for the plaintiffs. For now he wants everyone who received a check to cash it. MM Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 77 Financial Goals by Clark Kendall M How Shifting Workforce Demographics Have Threatened Montgomery County’s Economic Health ontgomery County is one of the most affluent and educated communities in the country. Our county boasts abundant human capital, high-quality public education and a vibrant quality of life that are the envy of communities throughout the nation. Lurking beneath the surface, though, are a variety of economic and demographic factors threatening our long- term fiscal health. Especially concerning are changes in our workforce demographics and population. Troubling Trends In April, the Sage Policy Group prepared a report for Empower Montgomery that examined some of the fiscal challenges facing our community. Let’s start by looking at population and demographic trends in Montgomery County. In 2006, the county’s population was about 932,000. A decade later, the population had increased to just over one million people for a net increase of 126,689 individuals. Of course, a growing population is good for our community. The problem lies in the fact that fewer Montgomery County residents are working. In 2006, 55% of the county’s residents were working, but this had fallen to just 44% by 2016. In fact, while there were nearly 127,000 more people living in the county in 2016 compared to a decade earlier, the total number of employed actually fell by 900 people during this time. Here are a few other demographic statistics that could be problematic: • Those moving into the county have an average adjusted gross income (AGI) of $69,868 while those moving out of the county have an average AGI of $79,434. In other words, new Montgomery County residents earn nearly $10,000 less annually than those leaving the county. • The number of county residents age 65 or over increased from 98,200 in 2001 to 140,700 in 2016. Meanwhile, the percentage of county residents between the ages of 35 and 54 decreased from 53% in 2001 to 44% in 2016. • 31% of the county’s residents are 25 years old or younger and 14% are 65 or over. Potential Problems There are a few takeaways from these statistics that illustrate why these trends could pose problems for Montgomery County if they continue. The first is that our county’s tax base is expanding too slowly to meet our future needs. In aggregate, more than $1.8 billion in AGI moved out of the county in 2015 while just $1.4 billion in AGI moved into the county. That’s a net loss of more than $400 billion in AGI in one year. The second is the fact that citizens under age 25 and Clark Kendall, founder of Kendall Capital Management in Rockville, Maryland, has over 30 years of experience in investment management and wealth management. He provides independent financial direction to Middle Class Millionaires in greater Washington, D.C. www.kendallcapital.com 78 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 over age 65 are statistically more expensive to the county, putting more pressure on county finances. For example, a considerable amount of money is spent on our public school system and on community colleges. Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing but it’s also costly. In fact, public school enrollment in Montgomery County is projected to increase by more than 9,000 students between now and 2023. There’s also significant costs to the county in terms of social programs, healthcare and emergency responders for residents who are over age 65. The Sage Policy Group’s report sums up Montgomery County’s current fiscal situation bluntly: “While the county is still affluent and remains a desirable place in which to raise a family, economic dynamism has become duller over time.” The report is especially pessimistic about new business formation in the county, which it calls “virtually nonexistent” recently. Between 2011 and 2016, just six net new businesses were started in the county. Compare this to the nearly 6,300 net new businesses that were started in Maryland during this time and the more than 1,800 net new businesses that were started in Montgomery County between 2001 and 2004. With new business formation flat, it’s not surprising that employment growth in the county has also been lackluster. According to the Sage Policy Group report, employment growth in Montgomery County was 6% between 2001 and 2017. However, it was more than double this (12.2%) in Maryland during this time. So despite representing about one-sixth of the state’s population and 25% of its household income, Montgomery County created fewer than one in 10 net new jobs in the state during this time. Acknowledge and Then Solve Problems My goal in pointing out these trends and statistics isn’t to cast a shadow on all the great things that are happening in Montgomery County. Rather, I want to point out some of the demographic and fiscal challenges we’re facing now and the problems these might lead to in the years to come. Before we can solve problems, we first have to know that they exist. I’m hopeful that our community leaders will be proactive in taking steps to deal with the challenges we face so Montgomery County remains one of the best places in the country to live, work and play. MM Montgomery Magazine // August/September 2018 79 Where are You? PHOTO CONTEST Where Are You? You’re not at the end of the line, but this old caboose from the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad has made a home in Montgomery County. Although, in truth, it has been sold and might not be here much longer. Photograph by Bill Kamenjar Enter the contest at montgomerymag.com and win a framed print of this picture. One winner will be randomly selected from all correct answers received by September 10. See www.montgomerymag.com for rules. June Winner Framing by Donna Carbo of Boyds The Framer’s Choice Gallery recognized the 402 Main Street, Gaithersburg, MD 20878 301.987.8711 • www.theframerschoicegallery.com marks the entrance to interesting rock that the Black Hill Regional The Framer’s Choice Gallery has more than 18 years Park in Boyds near experience in art framing, restoration and the main gate. She consultation and can turn your special artwork into wins the framed print. the focal point of any room or office. 80 MontgomeryMag.com // August/September 2018 MONTGOMERY M A G A Z I N E Visit us online at montgomerymag.com 301.933.6500 PRSRT STD AUTO U.S. POSTAGE PAID STRASBURG, VA PERMIT NO. 287