Neighborhood News WWW.EBCA.ORG Representing the 1200 households North of East-West Highway, South of Jones Bridge Road, East of Wisconsin Avenue and West of Columbia Country Club February 2012

CALENDAR

Wed. Feb. 15, General Meeting

7pm, BCC High School, rm C102

7:00 President’s Welcome

7:05 Bruce Crispell, MCPS

School Boundary Change

8:15 Speed Bumps

8:30 Middle School

8:45 Committee Reports

8:50 New Business

9:00 Adjourn

Sun., April 22 Earth Day

May Community Yard Sale Continued on p2

Parking Restrictions

by Tori HallThe proximity of Metro, NIH,

and the Walter Reed Military

Medical Center (WRMMC)

makes street parking in East Bethesda

enticing to non-residents. The staff-to-

parking-space ratio at WRMMC is about

4 to1. While hospital staff are prohibited

from parking in our neighborhood,

enforcement is hard without park-

ing restrictions in place. Parking

by Monica Hays, Education Chair

Mr. Bruce Crispell, Director

Division of Long-range Plan-

ning for Montgomery County

Public Schools, will attend the

February 15, 2012 EBCA General Mem-

bership meeting to describe implementa-

tion of the new elementary school bound-

aries for East Bethesda and to answer

community questions. The meeting will

be held in the Bethesda-Chevy Chase High

School cafeteria at 7pm, room C102.

Elementary School ChangeThe Board of Education (BOE) unani-

mously voted on November 17, 2011

to reassign the East Bethesda commu-

nity from Rosemary Hills Elementary to

Bethesda Elementary for Grades K–2, with

continuance at BE school through Grade

5. Phase-in of reassignments from Rose-

mary Hills Elementary School to Bethesda

Elementary School begins in the 2013-

2014 school year with Grades K–1, and

completes in the 2014-2015 school year

with Grades K–2.

New Middle School at Lynnbrook?MCPS is selecting a site for a new middle

school in our cluster to open August 2017.

A site composed of Lynnbrook Park and

the former Lynnbrook Elementary School

is one of about 25 candidate sites. The new

middle school will address over-utilization

at Westland Middle School, and let Chevy

Chase and North Chevy Chase elementary

schools be reorganized from Grades 3-6

to Grades 3-5. At the Feb. 15 meeting, we

will vote on a position on whether Lynn-

brook is an appropriate new school site.

For more info, www.EBCA.org or contact

EBCA Education Committee Chair Monica

Hayes at education@ebca.org n

Car Illustration: Whim Wham Illustration Studio

School Official to Attend EBCA Meeting, Feb. 15

restrictions also discourage commercial

encroachment into our residential neigh-

borhood by discouraging street parking

by non-resident customers at home-based

businesses in East Bethesda.

East Bethesda is pre-approved for the

Residential Permit Parking program, but

not all blocks have it. Block residents must

petition the Montgomery County Depart-

ment of Transportation (MCDOT)

showing that two-thirds of the

Party on, Dudeby Nancy Nantais

The Harp & Fiddle was the

place to be on Jan. 26. The

Shed Band, featuring our

own Jon Pels and Dave Ries,

entertained patrons with some great sets.

Band member Jon Pels said he had fun

getting to know people from the ‘hood

whom he’s never met before, as well as

seeing some familiar faces in a setting

other than their front yards. Pels, Ries

Phot

o ill

ustra

tion.

P

hoto

s co

urte

sy T

he S

hed

Band

The Shed Band members Dave Ries, Jon Pels, and James Joyce on a recent winter night in the shed

Continued on back page

2

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MEMBERSHIP ONLINE

Top 10 reasons for EBCA membership:

10. Better parade than that one in NY. 9. You’ll be pleased when you friend us. 8. Absolutely scandal-free newsletter. 7. We go to BRAC meetings so you don’t have to. 6. Swap stuff you don’t want for stuff your neighbors don’t want at the Spring Yard Sale. 5. We’ll make the graffiti artists head out to Potomac. 4. www.EBCA.org – who knew? 3. Cheap booze, we mean dues. 2. Pay $15 and we won’t ask you to be president next year. 1. Madame ZaZa says you have a valuable membership in your future.

Unsure if you are up to date? Email your question to: membership@ebca.org.

Renew or become a member today. Fill out this coupon or go to www.ebca.org. Look for the Membership Dues link in the main navigation and click through to follow the easy instructions to pay your $15 per person membership dues.

EBCA - MembershipP.O. Box 41020Bethesda, MD 20824

Members _____________________________

_________________________________

Address _____________________________

_________________________________

Phone _______________________________

E-mail ______________________________

_________________________________

No. of Members ___ x $15 each = $_______

I’d like to volunteer, please contact me at:

_______________________________

l Parks l Facebook l Welcome Pkt

l Clerical l Education l Newsletter

l Social l Website l Membership l SSL hrs. l ____________________

EBCA won’t share your contact info outside of EBCA Feb. 2012

Building Permits

by Jill Chodorov

As residents of East Bethes-

da, we are being reminded

daily that progress can be

painful. Last week, I woke

to multiple dump trucks

barreling down Rosedale Avenue on their

way to remove the remains of a home

being bulldozed a block away. Yet, as a

local real estate agent, I understand the

value that change brings to our neighbor-

hood.

In 2011, I was appointed by the County

Executive to serve on the Montgomery

County Department of Permitting Ser-

vices Advisory Committee. It is my job to

represent the residents of East Bethesda

regarding any type of permitting neces-

sary for new construction, renovations,

and land development.

If you are a neighbor, developer, or

homeowner conducting a renovation/new

construction, please contact me with any

concerns or questions. I look forward to

being your voice to the County so that

you are heard. I can be reached at

jill.chodorov@longandfoster.com or at

202-390-9800. n

Parking cont. from p1

Earth Day, April 22

by Opher ShweikiEarth Day falls on Sunday,

April 22nd and that’s a perfect

day to join your neighbors,

family and friends to spruce

up your own part of the world – our great

Lynnbrook Park! So come on out have

some fun, get some exercise, meet some

new folks, and help us make the park per-

fect for all of us to enjoy. All ages are wel-

come, and there will be light refreshments

for the volunteers. Look forward to seeing

you there from 2:00pm – 4:00pm! n

block wants to participate. A block may re-

quest 24-hour restrictions, or a more mod-

est 9:00am to 5:00pm weekday restriction.

Parking restrictions mean that residents

must purchase parking passes. Residents

must also accept that parking restriction

signs will have to be erected in the right-of-

way, which may or may not be in front of a

resident’s own property.

To learn more about the Residential Permit

Parking program, visit the MCDOT Parking

Management website (www.montgomery-

countymd.gov), or call 311. To request a

petition for your block, call Joe Pospisil

at MCDOT at 240-777-2160. To obtain a

permit for your vehicle, visit the Bethesda

Parking Sales Store (within Parking Garage

#42) at 4720 Cheltenham Drive, across

from Midas and CVS. n

Join your neighbors on Earth Day, April 22.

3

GreenCornerSpeed Bumps

by Nancy JudaSome concerned East Bethes-

da residents have proposed

that EBCA request the

County add speed bumps to

slow the traffic adjacent to Lynnbrook

Park on Newdale Rd. and Kentbury Dr.

that continues onto Chestnut St. While

there are speed bumps on many of our

roads, there are none in this high-traffic

stretch that gets especially busy early in

the morning and late afternoon.

This item will be discussed at the next

EBCA general meeting on Feb. 15,

2012. Interested residents should plan

to attend as a vote will be conducted to

determine whether EBCA is in favor of

filing a petition with Montgomery Co. to

request speed bumps be installed in these

locations. As per the bylaws you must an

EBCA member to vote. n

BCC Total Body

Beauty Salon8001 Wisconsin Ave., Bethesda, MD 20814

(301) 986-9151 dinora@bccsalon.com

10% discount for EBCA residents

Children’s haircuts freeon Wednesdays

Organic

by Andrea CheploLocal Organic Crops

Delivered weekly to

East Bethesda!

CSAs: Community

Supported

Agriculture.

Produce: Organic

veggies, fruit and/

or other food items,

delivered direct

from PA farmers.

Pick up: My house

on Chestnut St.

More Info: contact

me at agmmdc@

yahoo.com n

Community Yard Sale

Coming this Mayon the Lynnbrook Center blacktop

info: www.ebca.org.

PO Box 41020Bethesda, MD 20824www.ebca.org

From the President

A Happy New Year to all.

Unfortunately, over the New

Years Day weekend, there

were several successful and at-

tempted break-ins in our neighborhood.

In the past, we have had neighborhood

watches, which were effective in reducing

crime. If you are interested in participating

in a neighborhood watch, please come to

this month’s general meeting on Febru-

ary 15. In the meantime, if you want to

keep abreast of these incidents, consider

looking at Bethesda.patch.com for regular

updates on all kinds of community news.

Thanks go to Greg Volz for organizing

the social event last month at the Harp &

Fiddle. What a great way to take the chill

out of mid-winter!

Welcome to our new members and thank

you to those renewing members. Your

dues provide essential funding for events

such as the Halloween Parade and the

Labor Day picnic, as well as keeping this

newsletter coming to your home. Dues are

only $15 per adult resident. The agenda

for the upcoming meeting concerns

anyone interested in our public schools.

Please consider

attending. n

Winter Tree Care

by Linda MillerMild winters like this one can

be tough on trees whose na-

ture is to be self-sustaining in

the cold. For information on

local tree and yard care, Casy Trees and

the Washington DC tree project have a

great website, www.caseytrees.org. Or go

to the National Arboretum website, www.

usna.usda.gov and search “tough urban

trees” in the research menu.

Another resource is the Oregon State

University site, www.entension.or-

egonstate.edu. A recent posting ad-

vises periodic watering of conifers when

temperatures are above normal and there

are ground thaws. Conifers retain their

needles and need ready access to water

during winter. n

EBGC

Paula Pels, Tony Kirchgessner (center), and Mike Fox enjoyed a brew and some music at the EBCA’s Harp & Fiddle fundraiser on January 26.

Greg

Vol

tz

Whim Wham Illustration Studio

East Bethesda Garden Club hosts neighborhood garden tours the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Guests welcome. Call Marny at 301.652.0492

and Harp & Fiddle part-owner Paddy Mc-

Donagh share many neighborhood connec-

tions, including the fact that they all have

children at Our Lady Of Lourdes (OLOL)

elementary school.

About 50 neighborhood residents dropped

in over the course of the evening. Ten per-

cent of that night’s sales to East Bethesda

patrons, benefitted EBCA. n

Party cont. from p1