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.
WINTER 2009

President’s Notebook Schools

By Greg Volz, President
It has been a while since our last neighbors around us. If you missed
Update
newsletter, and that is not by the pancake extravaganza on By Monica Hayes, Education Chair
accident! Your membership dues, Saturday, October 10, you missed a
with the help of our advertisers, terrific East Bethesda event. Mark Please join EBCA on Wednesday,
support this newsletter, and we it on your calendars for next year, December 16 at 8:00 p.m. at the
have seen a significant drop in Columbus Day weekend. Ten years Lynnbrook Community Center on
membership dues in the 2009-2010 ago, four guys got together and Newdale Drive to welcome our
membership year. We have, decided it would be fun to throw a special guest, Bruce Crispell, the
therefore, been forced to cut back party and it is still going strong. I Director of the Montgomery
on the number of newsletters we went with my family and we all County Public Schools (MCPS)
can mail out. I encourage you to enjoyed delicious pancakes and Division of Long Range Planning.
become a member of the East met new neighbors. It was my first He will describe the potential
Bethesda Citizens Association if time attending the event, and I can impacts MCPS capital planning
you have not done so already. The tell you it is on my calendar for actions might have on our
amount is $15 per voting member, next year. community, outline next steps for
and the money goes to support the If you noticed the yellow ribbons our community, and address
various events and this newsletter. tied around trees and poles in the questions concerning how East
The membership form can be found neighborhood recently, they were Bethesda elementary school
on the back page. Please take a placed there by family and friends transfers will be handled for the
minute to complete the form and of one of our brave military 2010-2011 year.
send in your dues. We will soon members and neighbors to show Student enrollment at
introduce PayPal on our website, support and to welcome him home. elementary schools in the
www.ebca.org, as a convenient way It was great to see the many yellow Bethesda-Chevy Chase Cluster has
to pay your dues online. If you are ribbons lining the streets, and we increased dramatically over the
not sure you signed up this year, are very fortunate to have these past two school years causing the
please send an e-mail to me at brave men and women defending cluster to be placed in a housing
[email protected] and I will our freedoms. Thank you. moratorium according to the
check our database to see if we The Halloween parade has county Growth Policy. To address
have checked you off as paid! become an annual tradition in East the overutilization, housing
One of the great aspects of this Bethesda. This year’s event was moratorium, and articulation
neighborhood is the support of our terrific. The weather cooperated, as patterns of the cluster, a series of
neighbors. We reach out and help actions are recommended as part of
one another and look out for those Continued on page 2... the FY 2011–2016 Capital
Improvements Program (CIP).
These include:
General Membership Meeting 1. A boundary study to evaluate
Wednesday, December 16th, 8:00 p.m. reassignment of the western
portion of the Bethesda
Lynnbrook Recreation Center, 8008 Newdale Elementary School service area
Please bring along nonperishable food. (that articulates to the Walt
Whitman cluster secondary
We will donate the food to Bethesda Help.
www.bethesdahelp.org Continued on page 2...
PAGE 2 Neighborhood News WINTER 2009

Notebook School Boundaries,

Continued from page 1...
usual, and the costumes were
Enrollments Examined
awesome. A big hand goes out to Continued from page 1... Chase, North Chevy Chase, and
the many B-CC High School schools). The boundary study will Rosemary Hills Elementary
students who took time out of their take place in winter 2009 for Board Schools. Information developed
busy schedules to put together the of Education consideration in from the capacity studies will be
haunted house. Their creativity March 2010. used to develop approaches to
was over the top as they did an 2. Capacity studies for Bethesda, address space shortages and school
amazing job of designing, setting- Chevy Chase, North Chevy Chase, articulation issues.
up, running and cleaning-up the and Rosemary Hills Elementary Planning input received from
whole event. I want to extend a 3. Schools will be completed by this process will be considered
special thank you to Sarah spring 2010 and will determine the when the superintendent makes
Mitchell for orchestrating the maximum number of classrooms recommendations in October 2010
students, Gwen McWhorter for that can be added to each school. as part of the Amendments to the
coordinating the parade, and to the 4. Following the completion of FY 2011–2016 CIP.
parents who jumped in to help pass the capacity studies, a roundtable You can review the MCPS CIP
out the refreshments. Please check discussion group will be conducted prior to the meeting by following
out our website for pictures. in spring 2010 to address concerns the link on our website,
These are the things that foster a regarding school overutilization www.ebca.org. If you have further
healthy neighborhood and why and the unique pairings and grade questions, please contact
East Bethesda is a great place to organization at Bethesda, Chevy [email protected].
live. Like all good things, we need
to protect our neighborhood by
looking out for one another, being
aware of what is going on around
us and reporting suspicious
activity to the police department. I
have two phone numbers saved in
my cell phone: the local police
station at the corner of Wisconsin
Avenue and Montgomery Avenue,
301-652-9200, and the Montgomery
County Police dispatch for the
entire county, 301-279-8000. The
Montgomery Police department is
more than happy to respond to
your calls. Also, make sure you are Greg Volz, President
signed up for e-mail alerts at our
Kevin Kraus, 1st Vice President
website, www.ebca.org. East Bethesda Citizens Rebecca Fayed, 2nd Vice President
Finally, I want to make sure you
plan to attend our general
Association, Inc. A.B. Carneal, Recording Secretary
membership meeting coming up on PO Box 41020 Jack Hayes, Treasurer
Wednesday, December 16th at 8 Bethesda, MD 20824 Ilaya Hopkins, Past President
p.m. In closing, I want to say thank www.ebca.org Andy O’Hare, Crescent Trail
you to our advertisers, Total Body Monica Hayes, Education
Salon, Hughes Landscaping and Eleanor Rice, NIH Liaison
New Generation Music Lessons. Neighborhood News Carmen Abrams, Website
They have been very patient Jay Briar, Editor Dorian Patchin, Website
waiting for this issue to come out.
[email protected] Leslie Weber, Welcome Packets
EBCA greatly appreciates their
Sponsorship, Vacant Membership, Vacant
support, and you can show your
support by giving them some [email protected] Parks & Playgrounds, Vacant
business! Social Events, Vacant
PAGE 3 Neighborhood News WINTER 2009

Christmas Trees: Go Real or Go Plastic?

By John Hughes
In an age of environmental Christmas tree harvested, three it puts dangerous toxic fumes into
awareness, experts say that seedlings are planted in its place. the air. A properly cared-for real
choosing a real Christmas tree over Real Christmas trees are an all- Christmas tree will not catch fire
an artificial tree is the American, recyclable resource. easily. If and when it does, its
environmentally sound choice. Artificial trees, most of which are fumes will certainly not be as toxic.
Christmas tree farms stabilize soil, manufactured outside the United 4. Fake trees cannot be recycled.
protect water supplies and provide States, consist of plastics and When they are disposed of in a
refuge for wildlife while creating metals that are not biodegradable. sanitary landfill, they will not
scenic green belts. Often, When disposed of, artificial trees disintegrate, but will remain there
Christmas trees are grown on soils will never deteriorate. Their effects forever, taking up increasingly
that could not support other crops. on our environment are evident scarce landfill space.
A benefit to the atmosphere, real and will remain for countless 5. Real trees are recycled in
Christmas trees absorb carbon generations. various helpful ways such as
dioxide and other gases, emitting 1. Fake trees and wreaths are ground-up mulch to replenish the
fresh oxygen. This helps prevent made from nonrenewable soil, fish habitat and other useful
the earth-warming "greenhouse petroleum. methods.
effect." One acre of Christmas trees 2. Real Christmas trees and Over the years, the Christmas
produces the daily oxygen wreaths do not harm our tree has come to symbolize the
requirement for 18 people. With environment and our resources. faith and hope of harmony among
approximately one million acres They are produced as an all mankind. Over 36 million
producing Christmas trees in the agricultural crop. Each year Americans will enjoy a real
United States, which translates Christmas tree growers replace cut Christmas tree this year, savoring
into oxygen for 18 million people trees with a new crop of seedlings. the color and aroma festive mood
every day. For every real 3. When a fake tree catches fire, only the real thing can evoke.
 It is a new year in EBCA! Time to
renew your membership for 2009-
Inside This Issue
2010. Get your voice is heard! Schools Update......................... 1
Please support our neighborhood activities, this
newsletter, and the community activism that
Have a “Green” Christmas....... 3
makes East Bethesda one of the most desirable
places in which to invest and raise a family. $15
per member, but additional contributions are It is time to renew your
always welcome. EBCA membership. Clip the
EBCA - Membership coupon and mail it today!
P.O. Box 41020
Bethesda, MD 20824
Next General Membership
Members _____________________________________
Address _____________________________________ Meeting: Wednesday,
Phone _____________________________________
E-mail _____________________________________
December 16th at 8 p.m.
Number of Members _____ x $15 each = $_____
Next Issue: A Tribute to
EBCA will not share your contact information with
anyone outside of the organization.
William Walter Dansie