CAN THIS SAUCER BE SAVED? As the Hyattsville library turns 50, the vision for its next 50 years is up in the air. PAGE 8
New council members file to run for higher office by Rosanna Landis Weaver
Hyattsville City Councilmembers Patrick Paschall and Joseph Solomon, both elected for the first time in 2013, have filed to run for higher office in the June 24 Democratic primary. The implications for their future service to the city vary considerably. Paschall, who is running for an unpaid spot on the Democratic Central Committee, would not be required to leave the council; Solomon, who is running for the Maryland House of Delegates, would, because the state constitution says that “no person shall hold, at the same time, more than one office of profit.” If Solomon (Ward 5) is elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in November, he would need to resign his council role. And depending on the timing this could mean a special election to fill the remainder of his term. Under the city charter if a vacancy is created “by reason of death, refusal or inability to act, disqualification, resignation or removal beyond the corporate limits of the City,” then a special election must be held within 75 days. The city last held a special election
SATELLITE TO SCULPTURE
Local sculptor Alan Binstock will upcycle the broken satellite dish at the new Hyattsville CDC headquarters into a stellar piece of public art. PAGE 4
CREATIVE GRANTS AWARDED Joe’s Movement Emporium announces the winners of grants that will make the second season of Art Lives Here shine. PAGE 2
Hyattsville Life&Times
Vol. 11 No. 3
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
Moment of tragedy continues to reverberate for local family by Rosanna Landis Weaver
On the morning of January 13, Jose Martin Huaman headed to the bus stop shortly before 7 a.m. though the theater where he was employed didn’t open until 10 a.m. It was his habit to leave early, since the several buses he took to work made for a complicated commute to Arundel Mills. According to his family he often said, ‘I would rather get to work early and wait than be late for work.” But that morning he never made it to work.
Huaman, 24, was killed in a tragic accident, and his loss continues to torment his family. The accident occurred at around 7 a.m. in the 4800 block of Rhode Island Avenue, just a few blocks from the 42nd Place home he shared with his mother, stepfather and three sisters. An SUV heading north spun out of control, crossed the median, and hit Huaman before crashing into a nearby building. The driver, a 44-year-old woman who has not been charged or publicly identified, was treated for minor injuries at a local hospital and released.
At this time, the family says, the collision remains under investigation. It was a bitterly cold morning, cold enough to contribute to water main breaks and leaks that were originally considered to be a factor. But Prince George’s County Police Lt. Bill Alexander told the Washington Post late in January that the water main breaks were over 40 yards from the accident, and seemed unlikely to be the cause of the ice. TRAGEDY continued on page 13
Troop 224 leaders win district award by Susie Currie
NONPROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE PAID EASTON MD PERMIT NO. 43
ELECTIONS continued on page 10
Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781
March 2014
BILL THOMAS Boy Scouts of America Troop 224 welcomed a record number of Eagle Scouts to its ranks in 2013. From left: John LaChance, Kevin Dominey and Sheldon Brown at their Court of Honor, held in the St. Jerome Gold Room on January 26. (Not pictured is Timothy Cain, who also earned the rank last year.) The troop has been meeting in Hyattsville since 1948.
Regional leaders of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) have bestowed the district’s highest honor on a local couple for their work with Troop 224. “This is not the first time a married couple have received the award, but it is rare,” said Lenny Wertz, a vice chair of the Prince George’s County District Committee of the BSA’s National Capital Area Council. More often, he said, spouses are honored in different years. Troop 224 Scoutmaster Bill Thomas and his wife, Cathleen Hapeman, were among the five Award of Merit honorees at a February 8 dinner in Cheltenham, Md. The district serves more than 2,000 county youth in 103 scouting units. SCOUTING continued on page 12
Included: The March 12, 2014 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section
Page 2
Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
InMemoriam
A local life: Michele Luby by Paula Minaert
My friend Michele Luby, who lived in Hyattsville for three decades, left this world on Monday, March 3, at the age of 66. It was way too soon for all the people who loved her — and there are many of us who loved her. Not only her family and her friends, but her neighbors, her prayer community, the students she taught, parishioners at St. Jerome’s Church: All benefited from her presence. Michele once said that it was important to her to have the basic life skills. She started acquir-
A community newspaper chronicling the life and times of Hyattsville Mailing address: PO Box 132, Hyattsville, MD 20781 http://issuu.com/ hyattsvillelifeandtimes http://facebook.com/HyattsvilleLife http://twitter.com/HvilleTimes Hyattsville Life & Times is published monthly by Hyattsville Community Newspaper, Inc., a 501c(3) nonprofit corporation. Editors welcome reader input, tips, articles, letters, opinion pieces and photographs, which may be submitted using the mailing address above or the email addresses below. Executive Editor Susie Currie susie@hyattsvillelife.com 301.633.9209 Managing Editor Rosanna Landis Weaver rosanna@hyattsvillelife.com 301.277.5939 Production Ashley Perks Advertising advertising@hyattsvillelife.com 301.531.5234 Writers & Contributors Amanda Alley, Gray O’Dwyer, Molly Parrish, Valerie Russell, Scarlett Salem, Fred Seitz, Hugh Turley Board of Directors Joseph Gigliotti - President and General Counsel Chris Currie - Vice President Susie Currie - Secretary Peggy Dee, Karen J. Riley, Valerie Russell Gretchen Brodtman, Debra Franklin, T. Carter Ross Rosanna Landis Weaver - Ex Officio Circulation: Copies are distributed monthly by U.S. Mail to every address in Hyattsville. Additional copies are distributed to libraries, selected businesses, community centers and churches in the city. Total circulation is 9,300. HL&T is a member of the National Newspaper Association.
ing those skills as a child, when she helped run the household because her mother was sick. I was always impressed by all she could do. She cooked and sewed; she made quilts. She and her husband, Jim, grew a lot of their own food; she then canned and preserved it in the kitchen of the Madison Street home they bought in 1980. Many of us in Hyattsville received the fruits of her labors as gifts. Michele loved children and she was a born teacher. In 1981, she helped start Christian Family Montessori School, which operated out of St. James Catholic Church in Mount Rainier for 30 years before moving to Washington, D.C. She worked for many years in Prince George’s County schools, most recently at Port Towns Elementary. She would talk about her students; she worried because one didn’t get much attention at home and another was too shy to speak in class. She told me once that she believed all children are gifted. Her students were fortunate to have her. So were her friends. She once dropped everything to drive a friend to New Jersey whose
COURTESY OF THE LUBY FAMILY Jim and Michele Luby danced at the wedding of their daughter Kathleen last June. Shortly afterwards, Michele was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.
daughter had been hit by a car there. Michele didn’t tell me about this; the friend did. There are quite a few stories like that out there. Her husband said that at least a dozen people have told
him that she was their best friend. Here’s one example, among many, of how important she was to me: I don’t think I would have survived parenthood without her. I was unprepared, clueless and frightened
(like many new parents, I know, but I was more so than most). I leaned on her a lot as I learned how to be a mother. She reassured me that yes, it was not uncommon for a baby to wake up every hour and no, a six-year-old who couldn’t sit still wasn’t headed for reform school. She took genuine delight in my children. And, of course, in her own four children, whose moving tributes to their mother at the funeral made it plain that they knew it. It wasn’t just children, though; Michele saw the good in all people. She was always reaching out to anyone who crossed her path. I was riding with her one day on Queensbury Road when she stopped in front of a house and said, “I have to talk to the people standing there.” She did, and came back to the car wiping tears away. A week or so before, she explained, she had seen an older woman lying on the front steps of the house. She got out to see if she could help, and found the woman was dying. “That was her family there,” she said. “I wanted to tell them that their mother didn’t die alone and that I prayed with her.” And here we find the core of her life: her faith. That’s what guided her and animated everything she did. Her passing has left a big hole in the city. Paula Minaert is the former executive editor of the Hyattsville Life & Times.
Placemaking grants awarded by Jenna Hecker
Two Hyattsville artists were among the 2014 grant recipients announced by Art Lives Here at Urban Eats Cafe on February 27. The 19 projects that received grants were selected from nearly 50 proposals, each coming from individuals that live, work or are connected in some way to the Gateway Arts District of Prince George’s County, a state designation established in 1996, includes four municipalities — Brentwood, North Brentwood, Hyattsville and Mount Rainier. In its first phase, Art Lives Here began engaging citizens through performance and public art, by matching local businesses with artists, developing an official arts season for the Gateway Arts District, and creating an Innovation Fund to support the development of creative businesses. Over 2,000 people attended program events in 2013. In May 2013, Joe’s Movement Emporium received the America’s Creative Placemaking Grant of $240,000 from ArtPlace America to initiate the second phase of Art Lives Here, a collaboration of businesses and artists in the Gateway Arts District. “[Art Lives Here] is a good mix, it is a blend
of different organizations with different strengths,” said Justin Fair, economic development coordinator for the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation (CDC). “It encourages activity.” Fair works with the Hyattsville CDC in collecting local artists into a database on www.MyGatewayArts.com, making it easy for local businesses to connect and work with them. At the Urban Eats event, grant recipient Tamara Wellons performed a piece from her pop-up musical performance series, Beauty Built on Love, which combines music and the art of physical beauty. She will be performing the series at beauty salons throughout Hyattsville on May 3. “I strongly believe that beauty begins from within. This has always been the premise of my message as a singer, embracing love, celebrating each other, and being confident in who you are,” Wellons said about her upcoming performances. Wellons and her manager, Jayne Pryce, hope to encourage inner-beauty while promoting Hyattsville’s local beauty salons both financially and culturally. Daniel Burkholder, a Hyattsville improvisational artist, received a grant for Acts of Arriv-
ing, a series of interactive performances that will take place over eight hours moving between five locations. These performances are intended to examine community through individual effort and group collaboration, and will be performed this fall. “The work is exploring how we find and nurture our sense of community. I hope residents of the whole Arts Gateway District, including my fellow Hyattsville residents, take advantage of both the workshop and performance we’ll be presenting,” said Burkholder, “it will be a fun way to engage and think about what makes us a community.” On Saturdays this spring Leslie Holt, resident of Hyattsville and artist at Red Dirt Studios, will encourage Bunker Hill Laundromat visitors to turn their laundry lists into poems. "These activities are designed to demystify the art experience and make it fun and accessible to explore creativity during otherwise mundane chore time," said Holt. This fall, these poems transcribed on laundry bags will become permanent installments at the laundromat. More information about the organization and upcoming performances are available at www.artlivesheremd.wordpress.com.
Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
Page 3
OurTwoCents
A meaningful discussion about the tax rate by Patrick Paschall and Shani Warner
This year many Hyattsville homeowners are paying about $150 to 200 less in real property taxes to the City than they did the year before. This relatively modest tax savings came at the cost of a $1.1 million budget shortfall this year, and if the rate stays the same Hyattsville is poised to have an additional $500,000 shortfall next year. We think it is time for the Hyattsville City Council and residents to have a serious and substantive conversation about whether the current tax rate is financially sustainable for the City. Last May a newly elected City Council, more than half its members having been sworn in just minutes before, voted to keep the tax rate the same as previous years, despite the fact that lower county assessments decreased the City’s revenue. Council members received virtually no information, other than a two page budget overview placed on the dais that night, about the effect this decision would have on the City's finances. Electionseason shenanigans also played a role in shaping the tax rate conversation, or, more accurately, the lack of a discussion. By choosing not to raise the tax rate, the Council sent homeowners a smaller tax bill than in the previous year, resulting in substantially lower revenues for the City. We now know that the impact of this decision was significant. We need about $5 million in our account to pay the City's operating expenses during the first few months of the fiscal
year before revenue starts coming in. On top of that, we have an additional amount (we’ll call it the reserve fund) which we can dip into when necessary, such as when the City encounters unanticipated expenses or emergency situations. Previous Councils worked hard to create and maintain that financial cushion. Last year, we spent $1.1 million of what was then a $3.3 million reserve fund to give homeowners a modest tax break. That's right, we spent one-third of our reserve funds on a tax break most residents didn’t even notice, while we were forced to slash our budget, primarily at the expense of City staff. If the tax rate and city services remain constant, we’ll spend an additional $500,000 of reserve funds next year as well, cutting our reserves nearly in half over just two fiscal years. As elected officials, we have an obligation to the residents to implement prudent fiscal policy that allows Hyattsville to continue to thrive and grow into the future. It would be irresponsible of us to spend down the fiscal savings of our predecessors out of fear that we will be accused of raising taxes. We missed an opportunity last year to slightly adjust the tax rate while simultaneously lowering the tax burden on our residents. With the addition of revenue from new apartments and the end of a tax holiday for some businesses in Hyattsville, we now have the chance to expand (not just maintain) services while still ensuring that residents pay less in taxes than they did before the tax assessments of 2013. Raising the tax rate by just a few cents puts Hyattsville in the win-win-
win position of continuing to provide a tax break to residents, increasing city services, and ensuring our financial sustainability for the long-term. Choosing instead to spend down the reserve fund again this year simply puts off the hard decisions for another year and perhaps another Council. Hyattsville’s tax rate of 63 cents for every $100 of assessed property value has not increased since 2005. If not this year, in the very near future the City will be forced to either cut services or raise the tax rate because we will lack
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Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
Arts District architect will tackle new public art project
just to make sure you understood the science behind his glassworks. His passion for both aspects is clear as you move around his studio. “It’s a tremendous process. He does great things,” said Jesse Cohen, founder of the artdc gallery on Route 1. When Binstock moved to Prince George’s County in 1988, Route 1 was “nothing like it is now,” he recalled. But he soon noticed that in Mount Rainier, “there were plenty of artists that were right there to rent [homes].” So the West Bronx native was one of the first people to help create a niche area for artists in what would become the Gateway Arts District. He said that he worked with Marybeth Shea on a feasibility study in Mount Rainier for art space using a small grant from the Mount Rainier Business Association. Meanwhile, he worked out of his home as an architect while spending his evenings and weekends in the studio. A graduate of Hunter College and the University of Maryland, Binstock received degrees in fine arts and architecture, respectively. There are few sculptors that have a background in architecture, he said, giving him an edge. In addition, he draws heavily upon science as inspiration for his sculptures. Pointing to one, Binstock discusses his tendency to include a nucleus in many of his pieces. He wants the circular orbs to be “alive with light.” Another sculpture has DNAinspired clusters of glass. Science is part of his day job, too; when he isn’t sculpting, he works as a facilities architect for NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. But making the gray satellite dish glow may be an uphill battle. Binstock says he’s toying around with the idea of adding lights to it. “The challenge is to use materials to incorporate into outstanding mirrors to reflect light,” he said. And when he’s done, it will be another bright spot on the Hyattsville horizon.
by Amanda Eisenberg and Susie Currie
What do you do when the most prominent feature about your new property is a giant, nonfunctional satellite dish? If you’re part of the Hyattsville Community Development Corporation (CDC), and the property will be your new headquarters, you plan to turn it into public art. Though funds are still being raised for the project, CDC Executive Director Stuart Eisenberg has secured the services of local sculptor Alan Binstock to repurpose the hulking dish in front of 4314 Farragut Street. The two-story stone bungalow once housed the first cable television franchise in Prince George’s County, according to the CDC website. When renovations are complete, the nonprofit plans to share space with the Creative Edge Studio Collaborative and two artists-in-residence. Binstock and Eisenberg have a longstanding professional relationship; the two have partnered on such projects as the 17-foottall “Pilgrim’s Quandary.” That steel-and-glass sculpture was unveiled in 2009 in the pedestrian plaza of Post Park, at 3300 EastWest Highway. It’s one of many large-scale public artworks scattered throughout the city. Along with sev-
hyattsville cdc Local sculptor Alan Binstock plans to turn a leftover satellite dish into a piece of public art at the Hyattsville CDC’s new headquarters on Farragut Street.
eral bird statues from the 2002 county-sponsored installation “Birds-I-View,” there are mosaiccovered street benches and murals on commercial buildings. Last year, the CDC-sponsored Street Art Initiative, a collaboration between artists and businesses, transformed 19 exterior walls into large-scale murals along Route 1. A similar progam, the Biz-Art Match-Up, is currently underway to match 10 to 12 local businesses with artists who will use “unconventional, low-cost means” to promote the
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product online or in-house. Hyattsville is able to put up 20 public pieces at the same cost of one public artwork in Washington, D.C., said Eisenberg. “The arts district is known for its proliferation of public art along Route 1,” he added. At press time, Eisenberg had $800 set aside for the satellite dish project, and plans to fundraise throughout the year to increase that budget. “He’s showing us some love,” laughed Eisenberg, noting Binstock’s generosity towards the CDC. Binstock acknowledged that “the design scope of the work [is still] being sorted out,” but added that because it will be a public work of art, he would like to include residents in the process, perhaps by breaking glass together. Glass features prominently in
Life’s too
the sculptor’s work — and lawn decor. His Mount Rainier home stands out from the cookie-cutter homes that line 31st Street. Glass sculptures glisten on his front lawn, even on a snowy day in February. His spacious, 18-foot-tall studio smells of firewood. The heavy scent wafts around pictures of stars and da Vinci’s famous Vitruvian Man drawing. On the inside of the big metal farm doors, a large white board lists classic rock songs ranging from “Mustang Sally” to “Black Magic Woman”; he dabbles in the electric flute. A dirty iPod is plugged in and sits on one of the workstations, and the big speakers hung from the ceiling makes it appear that Binstock jams out as he works. Not unlike a teacher, Binstock asks questions minutes after explaining the process of his art,
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Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
Page 5
Here comes the
sun Residents coordinate bulk solar installations by Caroline Selle
There may soon be an influx of solar panels onto Hyattsville roofs. Nearly 40 people came to a February 6 workshop sponsored by the Hyattsville Preservation Association (HPA) to learn more about buying solar energy in bulk from the Maryland Solar United Neighborhoods (MD SUN). After a strong showing of interest, MD SUN is now coordinating a bulk purchase for the city. MD SUN is one of a group of affiliated mid-Atlantic nonprofits working to install solar in local neighborhoods. It’s a subset of the Community Power Network, a nonprofit begun by Mount Pleasant resident Anya Schoolman after her son and his friend watched the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth and wanted to take action against climate change by installing their own solar panels. Schoolman began to do the research and quickly realized the amount of work involved. “I said look, if we’re going to do this we might as well do it for the whole neighborhood. It’s too much work for just one family.” She founded the Mount Pleasant Solar Coop, DC SUN, and, eventually, the Community Power Network, the current parent group. A handout at the HPA meeting compared this buying strategy to shopping at Costco: “By going solar as a group, we can save on the total cost of installation.” Typically, participants save between 20 and 30 percent of the cost of installing a system on their own.
Residents also avoid the headache of vetting contractors and navigating the tangle of cost estimates, including factoring in solar renewable energy credits and the estimated energy savings for each year a system is involved. At the meeting, Schoolman went over the typical costs of a solar system, which can cost as little as $18,000 before tax credits and other discounts and only a few thousand dollars after. She also addressed community members’ questions, which ranged from the specifics of tax credits to the possibility of solar thermal systems, which MD SUN does not help install. Will Parkhurst, one of several Hyattsville residents at the workshop, already has solar panels on his home. He leases them from energy provider SolarCity. “I was just curious about what was going to be discussed, and I thought that I might talk to a couple people about my experience
with SolarCity,” Parkhurst said. Though supportive of the bulk purchase, he suggests that those without the upfront cash required for purchasing solar panels try a leasing system. “We’re saving money for improvements on the house itself,” he said, so owning the solar system wasn’t a priority. “Our main goal was to help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, and our secondary goal was to save a little money.” MD SUN has the purchasing process streamlined. “We wait for the community to invite us in,” said Schoolman, since the process works best when led by community members. Then, after an outreach event like the HPA meeting, interested parties sign up for more information. Next, the group conducts a preliminary screening of roofs through Google Earth. Factors like shade, slope and size deter-
file photo A local group is offering Hyattsville residents the chance to purchase solar energy in bulk.
mine how big the system would be. After 20 people are signed up and screened, MD SUN requests proposals from local solar installers. Installers provide a single price for the entire group, which residents then review through a self-created selection committee.
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The committee selects one installer to complete all of the group’s solar projects, and then the installer meets with each participant and begins to provide individualized proposals customized to each specific roof. No money is due until participants sign their individual contracts. The whole process, said Schoolman, can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Right now, the Hyattsville group is in the outreach and signup process. “We’ve had a lot of interest in the Hyattsville group” said Emily Stiever, program director for the Community Power Network. “I think if we have five more people sign up, we’ll have enough to go forward.” For more information, visit www.mdsun.org/solar-bulk-purchases or contact hyattsville@ mdsun.org. MD SUN is also coordinating a bulk purchase through the Sustainability Office of the University of Maryland.
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Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
MissFloribunda Dear Miss Floribunda,
Dear True Blue,
When I bought my house in Hyattsville two years ago, the deciding factor in my choice was that the backyard had not been landscaped. The former owners had children and dogs and had kept it a play area. Although a lot of work faced me, the idea of having carte blanche was irresistible. At first, I took “blanche” literally after seeing photographs of the white gardens created by such landscape geniuses as Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sackville-West. I tried out a very modest version with white annuals: petunias, geraniums, alyssum, cosmos and moonflowers. It looked cool in hot weather and was nice at night, but it soon became a little boring. Since then I’ve noticed plans and seed collections for other monochrome gardens. Blue is my favorite color, but I know that some of the recommended plants are actually purplish. In addition, some of the blue flowers I like and grew up with in the Pacific Northwest might not do well in the climate around here. So, can you recommend flowers that are really and truly blue and that will thrive in Hyattsville? Any special tips?
You have quite a challenge ahead of you. Aside from the difficulty of blending blues, you won’t find quite as many blue flowers that will thrive in our area as you will find flowers in other colors in the spectrum. The most beautiful blue flowers generally come from cool mountainous areas like the Alps, the Himalayas, the mountain ranges of South Africa, and your own Pacific Northwest. However, there are a few blueflowering plants that thrive here that are truly gorgeous. Not having created a blue garden myself, I telephoned someone who has: Celeste Azulejo, one of my oldest gardening friends. She was quick to point out that you face many pitfalls, especially when ordering plants you haven’t seen in the petal. As you suspect, you can’t trust the term “blue.” The “True Blue” petunia, for example, is quite purple. Celeste suggests when choosing any supposedly blue plant from a catalog or online to look at the Latin name and choose those that have such qualifiers as “azurea,” “cyanus” and “caerulea.” For example, the grape hyacinths to plant in fall for very blue
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FILE PHOTO In our area most hydrangeas are intensely blue. Hydrangeas are like litmus paper: When the soil is acid the flowers are blue, and when itʼs alkaline the flowers are pink.
spring bloom are Muscari azureum The other muscari are what she terms “violet,” which are blue enough for many people but probably not for your purposes. For spring she also recommends the very early blooming Iris reticulata “Harmony,” an almost royal blue; the sapphire-blue Scilla siberica, which look more like bluebells than most plants called by that name; and the sky-blue chionodoxa, or “Glory-of-theSnow.” All of these rapidly naturalize to stunning effect. Later in the spring, the exquisite Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) will also spread out in a shady and well-drained location. If you have a moist enough area, the easiest forget-me-not to grow is the Myosotis sylvatica, which blooms from April till June. This brings us into summer, where the so-called Chinese for-
get-me-not, Cynoglossum amabile, is easily grown and blooms in intense heat. “Heavenly Blue” morning glories provide heartstopping color as do the blue cornflowers, Centaurea cyanus. In our area most hydrangeas are intensely blue. Hydrangeas are like litmus paper: When the soil is acid the flowers are blue, and when it’s alkaline the flowers are pink. Notable exceptions are those bred to be white or ruby red. If you want to be sure, choose a classic like “Nikko Blue” or, if you prefer lacecaps to mopheads, “Blue Billow.” (If you are planting them around the foundation of your home be sure it isn’t limestone — I made that mistake and have pink hydrangeas.) For softer shades of powder blue, you could try plumbago and blue lace flowers (Trachymene coerulea). The humble
dayflower, (Commelina), viper’s bugloss, (Echium), and borage bloom in very rich hues of ultramarine and turquoise. Celeste cautions that the tidy Borago laxiflora is more manageable than the sprawling Borago officinalis. She recommends cobalt blue lobelia for shady areas and hanging planters. For a more formal effect Veronica and salvia are good, Salvia farinacea being a much truer blue than most other salvias. Veronicas come in different colors and heights, but there are some genuinely blue ones for many purposes — some to provide height at the back of the border and some creeping varieties that make a beautiful ground cover. In late summer Celeste likes the diaphanous azure Nigella damascena, or love-in-a-mist, and in autumn she favors plants with berries of blue and a number of asters. Her favorite is the “Astrid Thomas.” which grows to a manageable height of 12 inches, and whose color she describes as “twilight in fairy-land.” My one tip to you is to include silver-toned fillers like lamb’s ear, artemisia and dusty miller to draw the various tonalities together. You can nip in the bud the pink or yellow flowers of these plants on the rare occasions they want to bloom; the foliage is continuously beautiful. If you would like to consult with other color-loving gardeners, please come to the next meeting of the Hyattsville Horticultural Society at 10 a.m. on March 15 at the home of Heather Olsen, 4915 42nd Avenue.
Joe’s Annual Gala: The Art of Social Dance A benefit for Joe’s Movement Emporium
Saturday, March 15th, 7-10pm Lessons . Music & Dancing . Lite Fare .
Dance your heart out at our Annual Gala
Put on your dancin’ shoes and join us for an evening of partner dancing! The 15 piece orchestra, Big Band Tradition, will be playing swing and hand dance classics including selections from Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, Artie Shaw, Count Basie and more! Lessons and demonstration will be provided by theSmooth & EZ Hand Dance Institute! (Join them for beginner Hand Dance lessons every Monday and Wednesday night at 7 pm at Joe’s!) All proceeds will support Joe’s Theater Tech Program, a workforce development initiative for at-risk youth in Prince George’s County, MD.
For tickets, go to http://www.joesmovement.org/special_events
Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
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COMMUNITY CALENDAR March 15
All are welcome to join the discussion of Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the slave-turned-orator’s 1845 autobiography. Free. 3 p.m. Hyattsville Branch Library, 6530 Adelphi Road. 301.985.4690. Joe’s Movement Emporium’s annual gala, The Art of Social Dance, will make you feel like dancing. The evening of swing, tango and hand dance will benefit the Theater Tech Program, which helps at-risk youth by combining training in technical theatre and digital media with life skills and educational help. Tonight’s fundraiser aims to grow the program to 45 students. $100. 7 to 10 p.m. Joe’s Movement Emporium, 3309 Bunker Hill Road, Mount Rainier. 301.699.1819 or www.joesmovement.org.
bird walk, conducted by members of the Prince George’s Audubon Society and the Patuxent Bird Club. Free. The walk, along the Luther Goldman Birding Trail, starts at 3 p.m. from the parking lot at Berwyn Road and Ballew Avenue, Lake Artemesia, Berwyn Heights. 301.459.3375 or mozurk@bellatlantic.net.
series features Stories We Tell, Canadian director Sarah Polley’s documentary about uncovering the layers of a family secret. Afterwards, local filmmaker Mimi Machado-Jones will facilitate a brief discussion on the film. Free. 6:45 p.m. 6530 Adelphi Road. 301.985.4690.
March 22
In the 18th century, people couldn’t just stop by Staples if they wanted a pen. At this afternoon’s The Art of Quill Writing, visitors ages 6 and up can learn firsthand what it was like to write with goose quills and ink. Reservations required; space is limited. Free. 1 p.m. Battle of Bladensburg Visitors Center, 4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg. 301.927.8819.
March 26
ECO City Farms presents Let’s Talk Food, a community nutrition workshop aimed at decoding mystery ingredients on package labels, understanding portion sizes, and more. Free. 10:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Colmar Manor Community Center, 3701 Lawrence Street, Colmar Manor. 301.277.4920.
March 14 and 28
March 29
Hyattsville Urban Gardeners is hosting a seed exchange this morning for those who have or want surplus seeds or cuttings. Organizer Joe Ludes reminds people to bring envelopes or bags to take seeds home. Free. 10 to 11 a.m. Hyattsville Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street. Contact ludesbear@gmail.com.
The Knights of Columbus are hosting a Lenten Fish Fry every other Friday until Easter from 5 to 7 p.m. in the St. Jerome Academy dining hall, 5207 42nd Place. Free admission; dinners (both full and a la carte) are available to purchase, both eat-in and carry-out. Afterwards, all are invited to go across the street to the church sanctuary for Stations of the Cross, a traditional devotion during Lent. 301.927.6684.
March 20
March 24
This afternoon’s chamber music concert features the Riversdale Woodwind Trio playing selections by Ib-
March 16
See how many of the feathered residents of Lake Artemesia you can spot on a guided
Want to have a garden but don’t know where to start? Today’s Garden Workshop reviews the basics, from repotting a plant to planning a garden. Participants will receive a take-home plant, too. For ages 13 and up. $2. 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Mount Rainier Nature/Recreation Center, 4701 31st Place, Mount Rainier. 301.927.2163.
March 30
This month’s installment of the Hyattsville Branch Library’s independent film
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ert, Mozart, Joplin and more. Free. 2:30 p.m. Riversdale House Museum, 4811 Riverdale Road, Riverdale Park. 301.864.0420.
April 3 to 6
Magruder Park is the place to be this weekend for Hyattsville’s 128th Anniversary celebration. A four-day carnival begins Thursday afternoon, and on Friday, a teen dance party is scheduled for 8 to 10 p.m. On Saturday, the annual parade steps off from Hyattsville Middle School at 11 a.m. ending at the park, where fireworks are set for dusk. Carnival hours are Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m.; Friday, 5 to 10 p.m.; Saturday, noon to 10 p.m.; and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Admission is free; rides start at $2. For details, call 301.985.5021 or visit www.hyattsville.org.
April 5
If you find artistic inspiration in the garden, bring your canvas (or camera) to Riversdale in Bloom. The flowering grounds of the historic mansion will be open to budding artists ages 18 and up beginning at 10 a.m. The masterpieces can then be submitted for a juried art show opening on May 1. Free. Riversdale House Museum, 4811 Riverdale Road, Riverdale Park. 301.864.0420. calendar continued on page 8
Hyattsville Reporter Page HR1
Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
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No. 282 • March 12, 2014
www.hyattsville.org • 301-985-5000
Carnival schedule The Carnival returns to Magruder Park on Thursday, April 3 and runs for four days. The event schedule is as follows:
Thursday, April 3
Rides open 4 - 9 PM Special ride-all-night wristbands available for purchase at ticket booths!
Friday, April 4
Rides open 5 - 10 PM Friday Night Teen Dance, 8 to 10 PM Music & videos by Spin City Productions, plus fun photos by Annapolis Photo Booth Admission is free, but please bring a school ID
Saturday, April 5
Parade 11 AM The City’s 128th Anniversary Parade steps off from Hyattsville Middle School, 6001 42nd Avenue, at 11 AM. The parade follows 42nd Avenue to Jefferson Street, then turns on to Hamilton Street until it reaches the reviewing stage at Magruder Park.
Register now for May 2-4 yard sale weekend
Calling all bargain hunters! Our annual, City-wide Yard Sale is now an entire weekend. The 3-day event begins on Friday, May 2 and continuing on Saturday, May 3 and concluding on Sunday, May 4. Sellers can participate for as much time as they like - one day, two days, or all three! Operate your sale during any day-
light hours. Peak traffic is usually Saturday morning between 9 AM and noon. There is no charge to participate. Registration is voluntary. Residents who do register will have their addresses listed, which will be published to the City’s website and listed on craigslist under their Yard Sale section. Registration begins on Monday, March
FORWARD, MARCH! THE 128TH ANNIVERSARY PARADE STEPS OFF ON APRIL 5TH
The City’s 128th Anniversary Parade will step off from Hyattsville Middle School, 6001 42nd Avenue, on Saturday, April 5 at 11 AM, and follow 42nd Avenue, Jefferson Street, and Hamilton Street until it reaches the reviewing stage at Magruder Park. There is still time to register your group! We’re looking for groups of all ages and sizes to participate. We’d love to see your community groups, church groups, scouts, school and other youth groups, classic cars, marching bands, majorettes, step teams, fire & police units. So gather your friends and make banners, flags and t-shirts; decorate bikes, wagons and baby strollers; build a float that represents your group and join in the fun! To participate in the parade, please complete the online Parade Participant Form found at www.hyattsville.org/parade.
Free family games tent open from 1 to 4 PM The Fabulous Bel Airs, performing from 6 to 8 PM
Sunday, April 6
Rides open 12 Noon - 5 PM
Questions? Please contact Cheri Everhart by phone at 301-985-5021 or ceverhart@hyattsville.org. Interested in Volunteering? Contact Colleen Aistis at 301-985-5057 or email caistis@hyattsville.org for information on volunteering for the Anniversary Festival and other City activities.
HOP TO IT: THE GREAT MAGRUDER EGG HUNT IS APRIL 12
The Great Magruder Park Egg Hunt takes place at Magruder Park on Saturday, April 12. The morning offers three events in one: From 9 to 11 AM, join us for a pancake breakfast, including a visit by a V.I.B. – Very Important Bunny. Cost is $5 per diner. Kids 2 & under eat free! Work off your breakfast with a Special Musical Performance by Uncle Pete. 10:30 AM in the garden circle, free and open to all. Then join us for the Egg Hunt at 11:30 AM sharp! Three egg hunts will take place, divided by age group. Bring your own basket. Uncle Pete’s performance and the Egg Hunt are free and open to the public, but please RSVP so that we can tell the bunny how many eggs to hide. Call 301/985-5021 for reservations or sign up online at www.hyattsville.org/ egghunt.
CALENDAR March/April 2014 Wednesday, March 12
Public Hearing: Tax Rate for FY15 Budget, 7 PM - 8 PM Council Work Session, 8 - 10 PM Ageless Grace Exercise Class, 10 - 11 AM Magruder Park Recreation Center, 3911 Hamilton Street
Saturday, March 15
Volunteer Opportunity: Magruder Woods non-native invasive removal, 9 AM - 1 PM Magruder Park
Monday, March 17
City Council Meeting, 8 - 10 PM
10th at 9 AM and continues through Monday, April 28th at 5 PM. To register call 301/985-5000, or fill out the form online at www.hyattsville.org/yardsale. Our Fall 2014 Yard Sale weekend will take place October 3, 4, and 5, 2014. Registration will open on the Tuesday after Labor Day, September 2nd.
Tuesday, March 18
Planning Committee Meeting, 7:30 - 8:30 PM
Wednesday, March 19
Code Compliance Advisory Committee Meeting, 7 - 8 PM
Friday, March 21
Ageless Grace Exercise Class, 10 - 11 AM Magruder Park Recreation Center, 3911 Hamilton Street
Wednesday, March 26 CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY: APPLICATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED
Classes begin April 10th for a 9-week course designed to increase communication, understanding, respect and collaboration between residents and police. It is a great opportunity to experience Police Officer training first hand! Adult residents of the City are encouraged to apply for admission. You must be at least 18 years of age by the first day of classes. All applicants are subject to a background check. For an application or for more information please call Corporal James Denault at 240-286-6047 or email jdenault@hyattsville.org.
AGELESS GRACE CLASSES – NEW SEMESTER UNDERWAY
Ageless Grace is a low impact exercise program for mind and body and consists of 21 simple exercises designed to improve healthy longevity. The exercises are designed to be performed in a chair and almost anyone can benefit from them, regardless of most physical conditions. And did we mention? It’s also great fun! Classes meet on Fridays at the Magruder Park Recreation Center, 3911 Hamilton Street and cost just $2 per class. The new semester has just started! For more information or to register, please call 301/985-5058 or email Emily Stowers at estowers@hyattsville.org.
on Comcast (Channel 71) or Verizon (Channel 12), either live or on rebroadcast. The rebroadcast schedule is as follows: 7 AM, 1 PM, and 8 PM seven days a week, including weekends and holidays. We typically rebroadcast the most recent Council Meeting. Meetings can also be streamed live at www.hyattsville. org/meetings. Questions? Comments? Please talk to Jonathan Alexander, the City’s cable coordinator, at jalexander@hyattsville.org or 301/985-5028.
VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR MAGRUDER WOOD RESTORATION
Join us for non-native invasive removals in Magruder Woods on the third Saturday of every month, year-round, from 9 AM to 1 PM. Work is led by Dr. Marc Imlay, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning. Upcoming dates include Saturday, March 15 and April 19. Please dress for the elements – long-sleeves, long pants and sturdy boots or shoes. Questions? Contact Colleen Aistis, caistis@hyattsville.org or 301/985-5057. Participation helps to satisfy State of Maryland Student Service Learning requirements.
BUILDING BRIDGES BOOK CLUB
Fireworks at dusk Bring a blanket and all of your friends to Magruder Park and enjoy a spectacular fireworks show!
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Friday, March 14
IN OTHER NEWS...
Rides open 12 Noon - 10 PM
Special performances by Mandy the Clown
Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
The next meeting of the City’s Book Club will be on Thursday, March 13. We meet from 7:30 to 9 PM in the City Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street. The Book Club was founded to build community by exploring cultural differences through literature and open conversation. We also see the occasional film. This month, we will be discussing Part III of Andrea Stuart’s Sugar in the Blood: A Family’s Story of Slavery and Empire. While reading the book is not necessary, the discussion will be drawn from this section of Stuart’s work. All are welcome, regardless of literacy level, educational attainment, or any other characteristic. The event is free and open to the public. Questions? Please call Council Member Robert Croslin at 240/460-1827.
CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS – WAYS TO WATCH
The community is always welcome to attend City Council meetings in person, at 4310 Gallatin Street. City residents can also watch the meetings from home
Friday, March 28
Ageless Grace Exercise Class, 10 – 11 AM Magruder Park Recreation Center, 3911 Hamilton Street
April 3 – 6
128th Anniversary Carnival, see hours to the left Magruder Park, 3911 Hamilton Street
April 5
128th Anniversary Parade, 11 AM See route to the left, ends at Magruder Park Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at the City Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street. ate safety seat. But the seat alone is not enough - proper installation is the key to keeping our littlest passengers safe. Despite our best efforts, estimates suggest that as many as seven out of ten kids are not buckled in properly. The City of Hyattsville’s Police Department can help. To schedule a safety seat check, please contact Sergeant Christine Fekete at 301/985-5060 or via email to cfekete@hyattsville.org. She’ll be happy to help parents install a new seat or improve the fit of your current equipment. Car Seat Safety Checks aren’t just for new parents, either. Consider calling when your child transitions from an infant to a toddler seat, or when you buy a new vehicle and transfer your seats from your old car. Checks are free of charge for any City of Hyattsville resident.
NIXLE
FIND US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM
Are you on Facebook? You can now keep up with City events and happenings at www.facebook.com/cityofhyattsville. When you see Vainglorious, the silver metal bird sculpture at Centennial Park, you’ll know you’re in the right place. He is kind enough to serve as the City’s wall photo. The City is also on Instagram at instagram.com/cityofhyattsville and on Twitter as @4310Gallatin.
Council Work Session, 8 - 10 PM
UPDATES FROM WSSC – IS WORK PLANNED FOR YOUR STREET?
Looking for updates on WSSC projects in your neighborhood? Use their maps to see the status of current projects. Maps can be accessed on WSSC’s website: http://gisweb.wsscwater.com/InYourNeighborhood/
CAR SEAT SAFETY CHECKS
Got kids? Then you’ve got car seats! Maryland law requires all children under the age of eight to ride in an appropri-
The City is now using Nixle to send public safety alerts and information via both email and text message. This system replaces the SafeCity website previously in use. Many of our neighboring jurisdictions also use Nixle to send out information. Please note at Nixle won’t report on every incident – typically alerts are sent when the HCPD needs to alert the public to a potentially dangerous situation, or when we are asking for your help solving a crime. In other cases, Nixle messages relate to road closures, power outages, etc. If you have a nixle.com account, there is no need to create a new one. Simply log in and add the City of Hyattsville to your wire. New to Nixle? Register at www.nixle.com or enroll using the widget online at http://www.hyattsville.org/stayinformed.
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Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
CALENDAR
continued from page 7
Bricks&Mortar
April 9
The Auryn Quartet performs Schubert, Schubert and Beethoven, an evening of music sponsored by the Arts Connection and the Hyattsville CDC. $10. 8 p.m. First Baptist Church, 5701 42nd Avenue. For tickets, contact 301.699.5440 or schubertschubert. schubert@verizon.net.
Ongoing
On Fridays, seniors can participate in Ageless Grace, a fitness and wellness program designed to improve healthy longevity. Almost anyone can do these 21 simple exercises, which can be performed while sitting. $2 per session. 10 to 11 a.m. Magruder Park Recreation Building, 3911 Hamilton Street. 301.985.5058 or estowers@hyattsville.org. Community Calendar is a select listing of events happening in and around Hyattsville from the 15th of the issue month to the 15th of the following month. To submit an item for consideration, please e-mail susie@hyattsvillelife.com or mail to P.O. Box 132, Hyattsville, MD 20781. Deadline for April submissions is March 28.
Sending out an SOS at the Hyattsville library by Gray OʼDwyer
On Sunday, March 2, area residents gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hyattsville library, the oldest in the Prince George’s County Memorial Library System. The event attracted local families, library patrons, and those who support the Save Our Saucer campaign to stop the proposed demolition of the building — and the iconic flying saucer stationed outside the main entrance. Its future was thrown into doubt last August, when library officials held a public meeting to discuss plans to build a new library at 6530 Adelphi Road and were GRAY O’DWYER During the 50th-birthday bash for the Hyattsville library on March 2, visitors gathered in the ground-floor meeting room for a glimpse of the libraryʼs long and rich history.
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noncommittal about the saucer. Within days, the saucer had its own email address and a presence on Twitter and Facebook (which had more than 750 likes at press time). There are even coffee mugs, T-shirts, and a special brew from Franklins for sale in support of the movement. Group members created promotional materials for the golden anniversary, including posters about the library’s long and rich history. The youngest attendees were kept entertained by music, crafts, and games provided by local musicians and library volunteers. Of particular interest, the children of the original architect Dennis Madden were there to tell the story of their father and why his work with the library was so important. Ward 1 Councilmember Bart Lawrence, cofounder of the Save Our Saucer group, was also in attendance and spent much of the event reaching out to share his message. The event took place in the ground-floor meeting room, which represents a microcosm for all the issues surrounding the current controversy over demolishing the library for a new, modern structure. The ceilings are low, the tile is dingy, the doors are too narrow for ADA requirements. When it started to rain outside, leaking windows dripped water down the walls in streaks. A large mechani-
cal room and several awkward storage closets took away from the useable meeting space, and there were few electrical outlets to serve the band’s equipment. Party-goers generally were not in favor of demolishing the existing library for environmental or emotional reasons, but when asked directly many also believed that a new building would be more functional and better for the community. Some parents seemed to think the library is showing its age. “They need a better children’s section,” said one mother. “The one they have is terrible.” She couldn’t enunciate exactly why it is so terrible, but dim light, low ceilings and outdated finishes are likely culprits. This frustration with the current building is what the library system is counting on to drive interest in a new library. Bart Lawrence and others from the SOS group have protested what they see as precipitous action, soliciting only proposals for new structures rather than exploring renovation options to keep the library and its iconic saucer. Though Michael Gannon, Associate Director for Support Services and project manager, has stressed that no action regarding the library will happen without community involvement, preservation supporters are skeptical — with good reason. The library building has an im-
portant place in Hyattsville history: as a memorial to John F. Kennedy, as the work of a pro-civil rights architect, as the first branch in Prince George’s County. The saucer is a striking homage to the space age and broadening horizons through reading. There are a lot of important things about the building that will be lost if it is demolished. Normally, the Preservation Office of the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission is vocal in its support of saving local history, and recent events have shown that mid-century architecture is a priority. However, county officials have been oddly silent on the issue; Historic Preservation Supervisor Howard Berger declined to comment for this story. According to Gannon, the library system initially chose the firm of Grimm + Parker to design an entirely new structure, and their design was presented at the August community meeting. After protest from community members, county officials indicated that a new request for proposals would go out around March 15. Significantly, there was nothing to indicate the RFP would entertain proposals for renovation plans. Lawrence, the Save Our Saucer group, and those in the community who have architectural experience find this omission to be deliberate, fiscally irresponsible, and not in the best interests of the library. Based on the 2008 feasibility study published for the Laurel Branch, a renovation of the existing library would have cost over two million dollars less than the demolition option the county chose to implement. The most glaring problem with not considering alternative approaches is that a renovation could be so easy. Similar buildings, such as UVA’s mid-century School of Architecture, have been renovated to become light-filled, state of the art environments at a fraction of the monetary and environmental cost of demolition and reconstruction. Those low ceilings in the library conceal three feet of massive, outdated ducting equipment that could easily be removed. Doors can be widened, windows added and unnecessary walls taken down. All it takes is vision. But the library system seems to be insisting on the easy fix, no matter how much may be lost. Gray O’Dwyer is an architectural historian and recently moved from her home town of Richmond, Virginia, to join the Hyattsville neighborhood.
Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
Page 9
HYATTSVILLE VACUUM CLEANER SERVICE
NatureNearby
Time to hop into spring by Fred Seitz
Valentine’s Day has passed without the usual love songs from the swamp. Spring is a bit slow in coming this year and the chorus of spring peepers that normally sings in late January or early February has been silent, due to the frozen ground. Soon, however, we should hear the familiar chirping of the peepers in the evening in Magruder Swamp and in other nearby wetlands. The little tree frogs (about 1.5 inches long) that fill our nearby woods will typically sing for love from the end of January through the beginning of May. They are usually tan or slightly grey with a cross mark on their backs, but are much more often heard than seen. The lonely males can chirp up to 25 times per minute in their lustful quest to find Ms. Right. Fertile females can deposit from 200 to 1,200 eggs in local streams and ponds. Their tiny tadpoles will “hatch” in about two weeks and, if they survive the swampland predators like fish and dragonfly larvae who share the waters, will become frogs in two or three months, reaching maturity in about a year. If our swamp waters were a bit less polluted, the familiar peepers could be joined by another early singer, the wood frog. These slightly larger frogs also begin their love serenade in January, but will only sing through March. The male calls have been likened to a duck’s quack or a soft dog bark. Call frequency may be only
about five per minute. The frogs are pinkish or tan in color with a black face mask. I have not seen nor heard this frog in Magruder Park and wood frogs are an obligate species, meaning they only thrive in a narrowly defined habitat — in this case the cleaner and temporal waters of vernal pools. Coming shortly thereafter in the lonely hearts club of frog singers are the familiar southern leopard frog (whose call sounds a bit like maniacal laughter) and the pickerel frog (who has a snore-like call). These two are fairly common and are frequently seen during the day in the drainage ditches and stormwater pond in Magruder Park. Both start their songs around March and may continue singing into early summer. Both are substantially larger (2.5 to 3 inches) than the peepers and wood frogs. Their similar appearance makes them easy to mistake for one another. Pickerel frogs have roughly parallel rows of squarish/rectangular spots on their backs and a white belly. By contrast, the southern leopard frog has more roundish spots, but they are not in neat rows like the spots on the pickerel frog. Pickerel frog females may lay clusters of up to 3,000 eggs, while the leopard frog egg clusters may consist of around 1,000 eggs. Again, both hatch in about two weeks, but take up to three months to grow from tadpole to adult. Both eggs and tadpoles are also subject to extensive predation and pollution hazards. Around early March, the very melodious chorus of the Ameri-
can toads begins. This 2 to 3.5 inch wart-covered amphibian has one of the most enchanting night calls of the local frogs and toads. Indeed, we are fortunate to be able to hear them in our area, as the American toads are more frequent in Piedmont topography than in the Coastal Plain where we live. Their eggs hatch in about a week, but as with frogs, the tadpole stage may last up to two months. The young but immature toadlets may be visible (often crowding our yards) through summer. Like some other toads, their skins contain a toxin which helps deter consumption by some predators, but may also cause irritation to humans who handle them. Several other frogs and toads live in our nearby swamp and wetlands. A list of possible residents, their calls and other facts about them can be found on the Frogwatch website (www.aza. org/frogs-in-maryland/). This “citizen science” program encourages people to go out about 30 minutes after sundown a couple nights a week to listen, identify species by sound and report the species found in their area. This can be as close as the backyard. Why should we care? Frogs, toads and other amphibians are the canaries of our wetlands, giving us a sense of the health of our waters and the diversity of our critters. If this isn’t sufficient rationale, remember that frogs and toads (and other amphibians) will chomp down and pig out on mosquitoes (especially in their larval stage) and other less-thanlovable night visitors.
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Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
ELECTIONS
continued from page 1
in July 2011, which cost around $5,000. However, said City Clerk Laura Reams, “There are a variety of factors that can impact the cost of a special election, such as the adoption of any new policies including early voting or same day registration.” She adds that the 2011 special election took place shortly after a regular election, which limited the need for training costs. Therefore, she expects that if a special election was required in this case it could be somewhat more costly. But Solomon points out that since he was elected to finish the remaining two years of Nicole Hinds Mofor’s term, his term ends with the next city election in May 2015. Mofor officially resigned in February 2013, and a separate provision of the charter notes that a resignation within 150 days of a normally scheduled election meant the seat became part of the May 2013 election. Solomon believes that depending on timing his council seat
might fall under a similar exception. If elected as state delegate in November, Solomon would not take office until the following January, leaving a relatively short period of time prior to the regularly scheduled 2015 city election. Solomon has an uphill battle running against five other candidates in the newly created District 47A, including incumbent Michael Summers (who was elected as one of District 47’s three representatives before the 2012 redistricting that split it into 47A and 47B) and longtime Mount Rainier city councilman Jimmy Tarlau, who has the support of organized labor. For now Solomon is focused on the day to day matters of campaigning over a large district that includes only a small portion of West Hyattsville as well as Cheverly, Landover Hills, Bladensburg, Colmar Manor, Mount Rainier, Brentwood, Cottage City and other municipalities Most of Hyattsville is covered by District 22, and the city’s two incumbents, Del. Anne Healey and Del. Alonzo Washington, are run-
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“My obligations to the city of Hyattsville takes precedent over my obligation to the Democratic Committee, but I don’t think the two are in conflict with each other,” says Paschall. “I’m still going to attend all the council meetings. That is my priority.” He acknowledges that the time commitment was an issue to consider. “That was a conversation I had to have with my family, about whether or not I have the time available.” Paschall is one of two Hyattsville candidates who have filed to run for the Democratic committee position. Denise Riley has served on the committee for six years and has filed to run again. In addition to Paschall and Riley, Greenbelt mayor Emmet Jordan and Hosea Chew of Lanham are also running for the two open positions. Paschall and Jordan have the official support of the state delegation. The Hyattsville Life & Times will have additional coverage of the races, including candidate statements, in an upcoming issue.
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member Amber Waller. For his part, Haba notes that Solomon is “a colleague and a friend ... I know what he can do. I think he’s a good candidate.” Haba believes it would be in the interest of the city to have Solomon serve on the state delegation. “We might get some traction and some focus on the West Hyattsville development process,” he said. In a race that will have less of an impact on the city, Paschall filed his candidacy for Democratic Central Committee for Legislative District 22 for the June 24 primary election. The committee is the governing body of the county’s Democratic party, representing it on the Maryland State Democratic Committee. This year it is made up of one at-large position for District 22, for which Greenbelt’s Nicole Williams is running unopposed, and two other positions for which there are four candidates. Since it has no direct legislative role, the unpaid position does not require elected officials to leave their current roles.
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ning for re-election. Also in the race for the three District 22 seats are Del. Tawanna Gaines, also an incumbent, and Rushern L. Baker IV, son of the Prince George’s County Executive. Solomon said the decision to run was made with great deliberation shortly before the February 25 filing deadline. “You’re always thinking about how you can better serve your community,” he notes, “What I’m interested in here in Hyattsville and in Annapolis as a delegate is bringing development to the areas around the Metros.” Solomon informed the rest of the council of his plans in an email that week. At the February 26 meeting, councilmember Edouard Haba (Ward 4) announced that he would be campaign manager, and invited council members and city staff to attend the formal kickoff of the campaign on February 28 at Victory House of Palmer Park. The event included a speech on Solomon’s behalf by Bladensburg mayor Walter James, and elected officials in attendance included Board of Education
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Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
Page 11
ParentingPerspectives
Rhymes + story time = cure for the Monday blues by Amanda Alley
I’m a mom, not a mathematician, but I do know that the chances having a manic Monday are extraordinarily high every week. As a stay-at-home-mom of a toddler, I live for the weekends. My husband is around to help with diaper changes, fight the never-ending nap battles, tell our son for the millionth time that shoes are not for mouths. Then, in life’s cruel way, Monday morning jumps out of nowhere and knocks me right off of my feet, growling very much like my toddler does when I tell him he can’t lick the toilet bowl. Mondays make me want to curl up on the couch and hide, whine about absolutely everything and nothing at the same time, and wish we had maids to clean, cook and make fresh cappuccinos all day. Then, I discovered something amazing: add Busboys and Poets’ Rise + Rhyme music shows on Monday mornings and my weeks begin with fewer tears (from me) and more smiles (from both of us). Busboys has cleverly figured out a foolproof formula for the Monday blues: open space for kids to dance and bang on some drums, plus de-
FILE PHOTO Mondays bring Rise + Rhyme music shows at Busboys and Poets and story time at the Hyattsville library.
licious brunch (including gluten-free options!), multiplied by heavy pots of coffee and tea, equals lots of happy humans. Perhaps the best part of this event, which
runs from 9:30 to 11 a.m., is the artists themselves. They’re spunky, diverse, educational — and good. These are not colorful puppets squawking about the Hokey Pokey; they’re talented people with a genuine passion for creating a vibrant environment for children. There is Marsha Goodman, a cognitive neuroscientist, who will have you clapping your hands and tapping your feet to a tune about inertia, Jessica Smith with a fantastic performance celebrating AfricanAmerican culture, and the popular Liz the Singing Lizard who calls her music “electro-kindie” and makes the hipster in all of us dance. Artists vary by week, but you will always be pleased. Performances are free but donations are very welcome. If your little one is like mine and doesn’t let go of your neck when there are lots of other people around, then another good option is to head over to the Hyattsville library for a great story time. Probably one of the best things about story time is that there are different story times for all ages that vary by library branch. Hyattsville’s are Monday at 10:15am for 9-23 month-olds and 11:00 for 2-3 year olds. There’s also a Spanish-English story time Saturdays at
11am (you can find the schedule, as well as story times at other branches, on the Prince George’s County Library website, www.pgcmls.info). It’s another enjoyable way to socialize with other parents, learn about new books, and spend a few hours out of the house. There’s dancing, reading stories together, hand clapping and animal noises. And, the part I look forward to the most: the bubble machine at the end. The librarian walks around and shoots bubbles around the room and you can’t help but want to run around and pop all of them. Even my super shy boy will walk two feet away from me and chase some bubbles. It’s liberating in so many ways. So, next Monday when you wake up and feel that drop in your stomach when you realize there are five more days until the weekend, don’t fret. Between Rise + Rhyme and story time, you now have great antidotes for that case of the Mondays. Amanda Alley moved to the Hyattsville area from Boston with her husband and young son a year ago. She earned her MFA in Poetry in 2011 and enjoys reading good poetry. She loves coffee, “The Office” and children’s literature.
City of Hyattsville FY15 Budget Process The following is the schedule of City Council Meetings and Public Hearings for the development, discussion, and adoption of the FY15 budget. All meetings and work sessions begin at 8 PM unless otherwise noted, and will meet at 4310 Gallatin Street, Third Floor Council Chambers. MARCH Wednesday, March 12 Public Hearing on Tax Rate (7 PM) Council Work Session – Budget (8 PM) Wednesday, March 26 Council Work Session – Budget (Departmental Review/ Discussion) APRIL Wednesday, April 2 Council Work Session – Budget (Departmental Review/ Discussion) Wednesday, April 16 Public Hearing on the Proposed Budget/Council Work Session – Budget (Follow Up Items)
Wednesday, April 30 Special Council Meeting – Deadline for Council Budget Amendments MAY Wednesday, May 14 Special Council Meeting Budget Wednesday, May 28 Special Council Meeting – Budget Ordinance Adoption Date The City’s FY15 Budget will take effect on July 1, 2014. FY15 concludes on June 30, 2015. www.hyattsville.org/FY15
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Page 12
Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
scouting
continued from page 1
Both said they were surprised at the accolade. (Hapeman didn’t even know she was going to get an award until she heard her name.) “I was amazed,� said Thomas. “They say 90 percent of life is showing up — well, for the past 15 years, I've been showing up and having fun. I did not expect an award for doing that!� The troop was incorporated in Hyattsville in 1948, and it has been meeting at St. Jerome for most of that time. The late Joe Maratta was the first Scoutmaster, serving from 1948 to 1961. Then George “Doc� Dent, took the reins from 1961 to 1974; his uncle, Lew, and brother, Bill, had leadership roles as well, and the family was active in the troop for decades. Six more scoutmasters followed, serving terms of three to six years each. Thomas became the troop’s ninth scoutmaster in 2001. Since then, the number of Eagle Scouts from the troop has grown from 10 to 29. Thomas and Hapeman’s 17-yearold twins, Max and Cody, are on track to become numbers 30 and 31 this year. In 2013, four Scouts — a troop record — attained the rank: Greenbelt resident Sheldon Brown; Timothy Cain and Kevin Dominey, both from Hyattsville; and John LaChance, of Riverdale Park. One of the major Eagle requirements is to develop, plan and complete a service project before the Scout turns 18. Often the projects benefit Hyattsville or neighboring communities. Cain helped remove invasive plants at Magruder Park. Dominey created and marked several walking trails through the city. And LaChance, whose work was nominated for the district’s Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year, created a geocaching trail along the Northwest Branch with a Battle of Bladensburg theme. As the troop’s advancement chair since 2007, Hapeman helps chart the scouts’ paths through the six ranks of Scouting, from
Colleen Aistis Troop 224 Scoutmaster Bill Thomas and his wife, Cathleen Hapeman, were awarded the Prince George’s Scouting District Award of Merit on February 8.
Tenderfoot to Eagle. Among other duties for the troop, she plans advancement opportunities and merit badge classes around meetings, camping events and school breaks. For the week-long summer camp, held every July with other troops at Camp Bashore, she coordinates scout schedules so that boys can work on merit badges together. “This builds camaraderie and allows them to encourage each other, especially on some of the more difficult merit badges,� noted Hapeman. “I am always pleased to see a Scout make rank or earn a merit badge, especially if he worked really hard.� Many of the opportunities to advance come during the weekend camping trips, held each month throughout the year. (Thomas reluctantly canceled the February trip the morning of departure, when two feet of snow closed their destination campsite.) On the January trip, scouts Peter Currie and Joseph Riordon earned their Wilderness Survival Badge by building a shelter and sleeping under it on the snowcovered ground.
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Experiences like that, said Thomas, set the program apart: “Where else can a teenager learn how to prepare a menu, shop for
food, cook over an open campfire, competently use a compass and map, camp at both 0 degrees and 100 degrees, and start a fire with no matches in any conditions at all?� But it’s not all work and no play on those weekends. “Mr. Thomas is a great leader, and very fun to be around,� said Stephen Miller, 13, of Hyattsville. “On the January trip, we went hunting for Wild Ramen — they hid packs of it in the snow and we had to find it.� Miller’s father, Tim, is an assistant scoutmaster and Eagle Scout. One thing he appreciates about the troop is the way it builds leadership skills among the boys. Before 2001, said Miller, the troop “was mostly adult-led.� Now, he said, the scouts are the leaders, planning and organizing the camping trips and other projects. “[Thomas] has really developed the 16- and 17-year-olds to lead the 11- and 12-year-olds.� One way he did that was by instituting patrols, small groups of four to eight Scouts organized by age, rank or interests. Members rotate being patrol leader, with
the senior patrol leader presiding over the entire troop. Hyattsville resident Becky Williams said that her son, 16-yearold Emery Bacon, “has become more thoughtful and resourceful� during his years with Troop 224. “Now when he’s in the woods, he knows what to do. He can chop wood, build a fire. He knows first aid.� Longtime Hyattsville resident Colleen Aistis, the chair of the troop’s Adult Leadership Committee, is the mother of an Eagle Scout and wife of an assistant scoutmaster. “I think we can all agree that [Thomas and Hapeman] exemplify the very best in scouting and we are fortunate to have their leadership, dedication and guidance in Troop 224,� wrote Aistis to Scout families after the awards dinner. “Our troop is made that much stronger because of their commitment.� To learn more about Boy Scout Troop 224, contact scoutmaster@ bsatroop224.net. Cub Scout Pack 224, for ages 6 to 10, also meets at St. Jerome. Visit the pack’s Facebook page for more information.
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Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
tragedy
continued from page 1
Nearly two months later, Jose’s mother, Maria Pezo, breaks down in tears as she tries to convey the wonderful person her son was and the magnitude of her grief. Pezo, who came to Hyattsville from Peru in 1996, cannot always find the words she wants in English. Her sister Nancy Abarra, a Hyattsville resident for 30 years, helps tell the story of the fateful day. On the morning of the accident Pezo was at the Prince George’s Hospital Center, where she had spent the night with her daughter, Nancy. Nancy Huaman, named after her aunt, suffers from lupus and had been hospitalized with a related illness. Two days earlier, the self-employed Pezo had been working at a construction site in West Virginia, when she received the call that her daughter had been admitted to the hospital. Pezo rushed to the hospital, and spent the next two days there — without stopping at home — and grieves now that she did not see her son for the four days before his death. As the only son, Jose was especially close to his mother. He would call her frequently, to let her know he was leaving from work, for example, or to check whether she had eaten lunch. But she wasn't concerned that she hadn't heard from him that morning; other times when she’d spent the night at the hospital he would tell her, “I didn’t call because I
Page 13
didn’t want to disturb your rest.” So that day she assumed he was at his work at the Cinemark Theater in Arundel Mills, where he had worked — helping to support his family — since graduating from Arundel High School in 2009. At the hospital, Pezo and her daughter watched the television news of the accident near their home, with no thought that it might involve their family. Meanwhile, the police had been knocking on the doors at the family’s home, which adjoins the parking lot of the Hyattsville Seventh Day Adventist church. When there was no answer, an officer talked to someone on the church property, saying only that there had been an accident and the police were trying to reach the family. After a series of phone calls, Abarra reached her sister, and suggested that since she was at the hospital she should “go downstairs” to see what she could find out. The front desk referred Pezo to the emergency room waiting area. There, the doctors told the hysterical mother that they could not give her official news until another family member arrived to support her. Soon family arrived and the devastating news was delivered. The next days were overwhelming, and the family relied on church support. Lay pastor Joe Graves tried to help the family negotiate the difficult and expensive logistics of the funeral and burial in a time of grief, as well as
rosanna landis weaver Maria Pezo gestures to a favorite photo of her son. “He didn’t have any malice in him. He was very sweet,” says the victim’s aunt, Nancy Abarra.
plan a meaningful memorial. “The church was completely full that day” says Abarra of the January 20 memorial service. “In his short years he touched a lot of lives." Huaman’s bosses at the theater had asked to speak, and several Cinemark managers and employees offered a special tribute. He had recently been promoted to supervisor, a full-time position. He was working on getting his driver’s license and hoped to start college soon. He told his
aunt, “I’m going to learn to be the best manager.” Now his family must learn how to get along without him, as best they can, and every day brings new adjustments and realizations. Karen, the youngest
daughter in the family, is a senior at Northwestern High School and had been looking forward to having her brother at graduation. What she had anticipated as a celebration she now expects will be a sad day. “Everyone in the family is suffering in their own way,” says Abarra. “If we didn’t have our faith and didn’t have our church, I don’t know what we would do.” In addition to dealing with grief, the family is dealing with the financial ramifications of not just the loss of a steady income, but also the burden of the funeral expenses. Graves noted that he had reached out to a number of organizations for help, but the family did not qualify for aid offered by various social service agencies. Some offered benefits in such a situation when a spouse or child is left behind, but supporting his siblings did not meet those criteria, and others only offered benefits if the accident has been ruled a crime. A fund has been established at the church and donations can be sent to the Hyattsville Seventh Day Adventist Church, 4905 42nd Place, Hyattsville, MD 20781, care of Pastor Graves, with a designation on the check for Huaman family.
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Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014
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