march 2014 hyattsville life & times

Included: The March 12, 2014 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section

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HyattsvilleMarch 2014Hyattsville’s Community NewspaperVol. 11 No. 3

Life&TimesNew councilmembers � leto run for higher o� ce

SCOUTING continued on page 12

ELECTIONS continued on page 10

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

SATELLITE TO SCULPTURELocal 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 AWARDEDJoe’s Movement Emporium announces the winners of grants that will make the second season of Art Lives Here shine. PAGE 2

by Rosanna Landis Weaver

Hya� sville City Councilmembers Patrick Paschall and Joseph Solo-mon, both elected for the � rst time in 2013, have � led to run for higher o� ce in the June 24 Democratic primary.

� e implications for their future service to the city vary consider-ably. Paschall, who is running for an unpaid spot on the Democratic Central Commi� ee, would not be required to leave the council; Solo-mon, who is running for the Mary-land House of Delegates, would, because the state constitution says that “no person shall hold, at the same time, more than one o� ce of pro� t.”

If Solomon (Ward 5) is elected to the Maryland House of Delegates in November, he would need to re-sign his council role. And depend-ing on the timing this could mean a special election to � ll the remainder of his term.

Under the city charter if a vacancy is created “by reason of death, refus-al or inability to act, disquali� cation, resignation or removal beyond the corporate limits of the City,” then a special election must be held within 75 days.

� e city last held a special election

by Rosanna Landis Weaver

On the morning of January 13, Jose Martin Huaman headed to the bus stop shortly be-fore 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 com-mute to Arundel Mills. According to his fam-ily he o� en 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.

� e 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. � e driver, a 44-year-old woman who has not been charged or publicly identi� ed, was treated for minor in-juries at a local hospital and released.

At this time, the family says, the collision remains under investigation. It was a bi� erly cold morning, cold enough to contribute to water main breaks and leaks that were origi-nally 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.

Moment of tragedy continues to reverberate for local family

by Susie Currie

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.

“� is is not the � rst time a mar-ried couple have received the award, but it is rare,” said Lenny Wertz, a vice chair of the Prince George’s County District Com-mi� ee of the BSA’s National Capital Area Council. More of-ten, he said, spouses are honored in di� erent years.

Troop 224 Scoutmaster Bill � omas and his wife, Cathleen Hapeman, were among the � ve Award of Merit honorees at a February 8 dinner in Chelten-ham, Md. � e district serves more than 2,000 county youth in 103 scouting units.

Troop 224 leaders win district award

BILL THOMASBoy 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.

TRAGEDY continued on page 13

Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014

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) nonpro� t cor-poration. 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

[email protected]

Managing EditorRosanna Landis Weaver

[email protected]

ProductionAshley PerksAdvertising

[email protected]

Writers & ContributorsAmanda 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 - SecretaryPeggy Dee, Karen J. Riley,

Valerie Russell Gretchen Brodtman, Debra Franklin, T. Carter Ross

Rosanna Landis Weaver - Ex O� cio

Circulation: Copies are distributed monthly by U.S. Mail to every address

in Hyattsville. Additional copies are dis-tributed 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.

InMemoriam

by Paula Minaert

My friend Michele Luby, who lived in Hya� sville for three de-cades, le� this world on Mon-day, 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 bene� ted from her presence.

Michele once said that it was important to her to have the ba-sic life skills. She started acquir-

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 Hya� sville received the fruits of her labors as gi� s.

Michele loved children and she was a born teacher. In 1981, she helped start Christian Family Montessori School, which op-erated out of St. James Catholic Church in Mount Rainier for 30 years before moving to Washing-ton, 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 wor-ried because one didn’t get much a� ention at home and another was too shy to speak in class. She told me once that she believed all children are gi� ed. Her students were fortunate to have her.

So were her friends. She once dropped everything to drive a friend to New Jersey whose

daughter had been hit by a car there. Michele didn’t tell me about this; the friend did. � ere 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 un-prepared, 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.

“� at 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 � nd the core of her life: her faith. � at’s what guided her and animated everything she did.

Her passing has le� a big hole in the city.

Paula Minaert is the former execu-tive editor of the Hya� sville Life & Times.

by Jenna Hecker

Two Hya� sville artists were among the 2014 grant recipients announced by Art Lives Here at Urban Eats Cafe on February 27.

� e 19 projects that received grants were selected from nearly 50 proposals, each com-ing 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, Hya� sville and Mount Rainier.

In its � rst phase, Art Lives Here began en-gaging citizens through performance and public art, by matching local businesses with artists, developing an o� cial arts season for the Gateway Arts District, and creating an In-novation Fund to support the development of creative businesses. Over 2,000 people at-tended 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 di� erent organizations with di� erent strengths,” said Justin Fair, economic develop-ment coordinator for the Hya� sville Commu-nity Development Corporation (CDC). “It encourages activity.” Fair works with the Hy-a� sville CDC in collecting local artists into a database on www.MyGatewayArts.com, mak-ing it easy for local businesses to connect and work with them.

At the Urban Eats event, grant recipient Ta-mara 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 Hya� s-ville 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 confi-dent in who you are,” Wellons said about her upcoming performances. Wellons and her manager, Jayne Pryce, hope to encour-age inner-beauty while promoting Hyatts-ville’s local beauty salons both financially and culturally.

Daniel Burkholder, a Hya� sville improvisa-tional artist, received a grant for Acts of Arriv-

ing, a series of interactive performances that will take place over eight hours moving between � ve locations. � ese performances are intended to examine community through individual e� ort and group collaboration, and will be performed this fall.

“� e work is exploring how we � nd and nur-ture our sense of community. I hope residents of the whole Arts Gateway District, including my fellow Hya� sville residents, take advan-tage 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, resi-dent of Hya� sville and artist at Red Dirt Stu-dios, will encourage Bunker Hill Laundromat visitors to turn their laundry lists into poems.

"� ese activities are designed to demystify the art experience and make it fun and acces-sible to explore creativity during otherwise mundane chore time," said Holt.

� is fall, these poems transcribed on laun-dry bags will become permanent install-ments at the laundromat.

More information about the organization and upcoming performances are available at www.artlivesheremd.wordpress.com.

Placemaking grants awarded

A local life: Michele Luby

COURTESY OF THE LUBY FAMILYJim and Michele Luby danced at the wedding of their daughter Kath-leen last June. Shortly afterwards, Michele was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.


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by Patrick Paschall and Shani Warner

� is year many Hya� sville homeowners are paying about $150 to 200 less in real property taxes to the City than they did the year before. � is relatively modest tax savings came at the cost of a $1.1 million budget shortfall this year, and if the rate stays the same Hya� sville is poised to have an additional $500,000 shortfall next year. We think it is time for the Hya� s-ville City Council and residents to have a serious and substan-tive conversation about whether the current tax rate is � nancially 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 assess-ments decreased the City’s revenue. Council members received virtually no informa-tion, 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. Election-season shenanigans also played a role in shaping the tax rate conversation, or, more accu-rately, the lack of a discussion. By choosing not to raise the tax rate, the Council sent home-owners 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 com-ing 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 encoun-ters unanticipated expenses or emergency situations. Previous Councils worked hard to cre-ate 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 bud-get, 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 o� cials, we have an obligation to the residents to implement prudent � scal policy that allows Hya� sville to con-tinue to thrive and grow into the future. It would be irresponsible of us to spend down the � scal 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 simul-taneously lowering the tax bur-den on our residents. With the addition of revenue from new apartments and the end of a tax holiday for some business-es in Hya� sville, 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 Hya� sville in the win-win-

OurTwoCentsA meaningful discussion about the tax rate

win position of continuing to provide a tax break to residents, increasing city services, and en-suring our � nancial sustainabil-ity 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 Coun-cil. Hyattsville’s tax rate of 63 cents for every $100 of as-sessed property value has not increased since 2005. If not this year, in the very near fu-ture the City will be forced to either cut services or raise the tax rate because we will lack

enough reserve funds to con-tinue this trend. We will also lose the flexibility our reserve gives us to deal with unexpect-ed expenses occurring between budget cycles, such as those caused by an unusually snowy winter. If we decide to keep the rate the same, this should be a conscious decision, made in-tentionally by the Council with the full knowledge of the bud-get impact it will have. It is im-portant that we all understand the real cost of that decision.

The budget is easily the most important thing City Council does each year. It’s complicat-

ed and it’s boring, but it’s the framework through which we ensure that Hyattsville contin-ues to be a good place to live. This decision should be made with significant input from the residents and we encourage you to make your voices heard. Now is the time for the residents and elected officials of Hyattsville to have a real discussion about the tax rate, instead of putting this off until our only remain-ing choices are bad ones.

Patrick Paschall (Ward 3) and Shani Warner (Ward 2) are mem-bers of the Hya� sville City Council.


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by Amanda Eisenberg and Susie Currie

What do you do when the most prominent feature about your new property is a giant, non-functional satellite dish? If you’re part of the Hyattsville Commu-nity 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 Execu-tive Director Stuart Eisenberg has secured the services of local sculp-tor Alan Binstock to repurpose the hulking dish in front of 4314 Far-ragut 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 rela-tionship; the two have partnered on such projects as the 17-foot-tall “Pilgrim’s Quandary.” That steel-and-glass sculpture was un-veiled in 2009 in the pedestrian plaza of Post Park, at 3300 East-West Highway.

It’s one of many large-scale pub-lic artworks scattered through-out the city. Along with sev-

eral bird statues from the 2002 county-sponsored installation “Birds-I-View,” there are mosaic-covered street benches and mu-rals on commercial buildings.

Last year, the CDC-sponsored Street Art Initiative, a collabora-tion between artists and busi-nesses, transformed 19 exte-rior walls into large-scale murals along Route 1. A similar progam, the Biz-Art Match-Up, is cur-rently underway to match 10 to 12 local businesses with artists who will use “unconventional, low-cost means” to promote the

just to make sure you understood the science behind his glass-works. His passion for both as-pects is clear as you move around his studio.

“It’s a tremendous process. He does great things,” said Jesse Co-hen, 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 re-called. But he soon noticed that in Mount Rainier, “there were plen-ty 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 Ma-rybeth Shea on a feasibility study in Mount Rainier for art space us-ing a small grant from the Mount Rainier Business Association.

Meanwhile, he worked out of his home as an architect while spend-ing his evenings and weekends in the studio. A graduate of Hunter College and the University of Maryland, Binstock received de-grees in fine arts and architecture, respectively. There are few sculptors that have a background in architec-ture, 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 circu-lar orbs to be “alive with light.” Another sculpture has DNA- inspired 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. Bin-stock 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 Hy-attsville horizon.

Arts District architect will tackle new public art project

product online or in-house. Hyattsville is able to put up 20

public pieces at the same cost of one public artwork in Washing-ton, 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 fund-raise throughout the year to in-crease that budget.

“He’s showing us some love,” laughed Eisenberg, noting Bin-stock’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 resi-dents in the process, perhaps by breaking glass together.

Glass features prominently in

the sculptor’s work — and lawn decor. His Mount Rainier home stands out from the cookie-cut-ter 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 Vitru-vian 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 Bin-stock jams out as he works.

Not unlike a teacher, Binstock asks questions minutes after ex-plaining the process of his art,

hyattsville cdcLocal 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.


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by Caroline Selle

There may soon be an influx of so-lar panels onto Hyattsville roofs. Nearly 40 people came to a Feb-ruary 6 workshop sponsored by the Hyattsville Preservation As-sociation (HPA) to learn more about buying solar energy in bulk from the Maryland Solar United Neighborhoods (MD SUN). Af-ter 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 School-man after her son and his friend watched the Al Gore documen-tary An Inconvenient Truth and wanted to take action against climate change by installing their own solar panels.

Schoolman began to do the re-search 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 So-lar Coop, DC SUN, and, eventu-ally, the Community Power Net-work, the current parent group.

A handout at the HPA meeting compared this buying strategy to shopping at Costco: “By going so-lar as a group, we can save on the total cost of installation.” Typi-cally, participants save between 20 and 30 percent of the cost of installing a system on their own.

Residents also avoid the head-ache of vetting contractors and navigating the tangle of cost esti-mates, 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 work-shop, 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 cou-ple people about my experience

with SolarCity,” Parkhurst said.Though supportive of the bulk

purchase, he suggests that those without the upfront cash re-quired for purchasing solar pan-els try a leasing system.

“We’re saving money for im-provements on the house itself,” he said, so owning the solar sys-tem wasn’t a priority. “Our main goal was to help reduce our de-pendence 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-

mine how big the system would be. After 20 people are signed up and screened, MD SUN requests proposals from local solar install-ers. Installers provide a single price for the entire group, which residents then review through a self-created selection committee.

The committee selects one installer to complete all of the group’s solar projects, and then the installer meets with each par-ticipant and begins to provide individualized proposals cus-tomized to each specific roof. No money is due until participants sign their individual contracts.

The whole process, said School-man, 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 Stiev-er, program director for the Com-munity 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-pur-chases or contact [email protected]. MD SUN is also coordinating a bulk purchase through the Sustainability Office of the University of Maryland.

Here comes thesunResidents coordinate bulk solar installations file photo

A local group is offering Hyatts-ville residents the chance to pur-chase solar energy in bulk.


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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.

Dance your heart out at our Annual

Gala

Joe’s Annual Gala: The Art of Social DanceA benefit for Joe’s Movement Emporium

Saturday, March 15th, 7-10pmLessons . Music & Dancing . Lite Fare .

For tickets, go to http://www.joesmovement.org/special_events

Dear Miss Floribunda,

When I bought my house in Hy-a� sville two years ago, the decid-ing factor in my choice was that the backyard had not been land-scaped. � e 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 � rst, I took “blanche” literally a� er seeing photographs of the white gardens created by such landscape geniuses as Gertrude Jekyll and Vita Sack-ville-West. I tried out a very modest version with white annuals: petu-nias, geraniums, alyssum, cosmos and moon� owers. It looked cool in hot weather and was nice at night, but it soon became a li� le boring.

Since then I’ve noticed plans and seed collections for other mono-chrome gardens. Blue is my favorite color, but I know that some of the recommended plants are actually purplish. In addition, some of the blue � owers I like and grew up with in the Paci� c Northwest might not do well in the climate around here. So, can you recommend � owers that are really and truly blue and that will thrive in Hya� sville? Any special tips?

True Blue on Buchanan Street

Dear True Blue,

You have quite a challenge ahead of you. Aside from the di� culty of blending blues, you won’t � nd quite as many blue � owers that will thrive in our area as you will � nd � owers in other colors in the spectrum. � e most beauti-ful blue � owers generally come from cool mountainous areas like the Alps, the Himalayas, the mountain ranges of South Africa, and your own Paci� c Northwest. However, there are a few blue-� owering 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.” � e “True Blue” petunia, for ex-ample, is quite purple. Celeste suggests when choosing any sup-posedly blue plant from a cata-log or online to look at the Latin name and choose those that have such quali� ers as “azurea,” “cya-nus” and “caerulea.”

For example, the grape hya-cinths to plant in fall for very blue

spring bloom are Muscari azur-eum � e 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 retic-ulata “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-the-Snow.” All of these rapidly natu-ralize to stunning e� ect. 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.

� is brings us into summer, where the so-called Chinese for-

get-me-not, Cynoglossum ama-bile, is easily grown and blooms in intense heat. “Heavenly Blue” morning glories provide heart-stopping color as do the blue corn� owers, Centaurea cyanus. In our area most hydrangeas are intensely blue. Hydrangeas are like litmus paper: When the soil is acid the � owers are blue, and when it’s alkaline the � owers 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 plant-ing them around the foundation of your home be sure it isn’t lime-stone — I made that mistake and have pink hydrangeas.)

For so� er shades of powder blue, you could try plumbago and blue lace � owers (Trachy-mene coerulea). � e humble

day� ower, (Commelina), viper’s bugloss, (Echium), and borage bloom in very rich hues of ultra-marine and turquoise.

Celeste cautions that the tidy Borago laxi� ora is more manage-able than the sprawling Borago o� cinalis. She recommends co-balt blue lobelia for shady areas and hanging planters. For a more formal e� ect Veronica and salvia are good, Salvia farinacea being a much truer blue than most other salvias. Veronicas come in di� er-ent 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 variet-ies that make a beautiful ground cover.

In late summer Celeste likes the diaphanous azure Nigella dama-scena, or love-in-a-mist, and in autumn she favors plants with berries of blue and a number of asters. Her favorite is the “As-trid � omas.” 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 � llers like lamb’s ear, artemisia and dusty miller to draw the various tonalities to-gether. You can nip in the bud the pink or yellow � owers of these plants on the rare occasions they want to bloom; the foliage is con-tinuously beautiful.

If you would like to consult with other color-loving gardeners, please come to the next meeting of the Hy-a� sville Horticultural Society at 10 a.m. on March 15 at the home of Heather Olsen, 4915 42nd Av-enue.

FILE PHOTOIn 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.


COMMUNITY CALENDAR

City of Hyattsville

128 th Anniversary

parade & carnival

carnivalMagruder Park

40 th Avenue and

Hamilton Thu, april 3 Thu, april 3

4 4 pm pm

- - 9 9 pmpm

5 5 pm pm

- - 10 10 pmpm

12 12 - - 10 10 pmpm

noonnoon

12 12 noon noon

- - 5 5 pmpm

fri, april 4 fri, april 4

sat, april 5 sat, april 5 sun, april 6 sun, april 6

Street

paradeSaturday

55april 2014

start

11 am

starting point

Hyattsville Middle School,

6001 42 nd Avenue

Special ride-all-day rate

on THURSDAY and SUNDAY

Regular rides start at $2

Live music & FREE Family Fun

ALL WEEKEND

www.hyattsville.org/parade

301/985-5021

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.

March 16 Hyattsville Urban Gardeners is host-ing 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. Hyatts-ville Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street. Contact [email protected].

March 20See how many of the feathered residents of Lake Artemesia you can spot on a guided

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 [email protected].

March 22ECO 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 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 devo-tion during Lent. 301.927.6684.

March 24This month’s installment of the Hyatts-ville Branch Library’s independent film

series features Stories We Tell, Cana-dian director Sarah Polley’s documentary about uncovering the layers of a family secret. Afterwards, local filmmaker Mimi Machado-Jones will facilitate a brief dis-cussion on the film. Free. 6:45 p.m. 6530 Adelphi Road. 301.985.4690.

March 26In 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. Reser-vations required; space is limited. Free. 1 p.m. Battle of Bladensburg Visitors Center, 4601 Annapolis Road, Blad-ensburg. 301.927.8819.

March 29Want to have a garden but don’t know where to start? Today’s Garden Work-shop 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 30This afternoon’s chamber music con-cert features the Riversdale Wood-wind Trio playing selections by Ib-

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 Anni-versary 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 fire-works 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 5If you find artistic inspiration in the gar-den, bring your canvas (or camera) to Riv-ersdale 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 Muse-um, 4811 Riverdale Road, Riverdale Park. 301.864.0420.

calendar continued on page 8

Hyattsville Reporterthe

No. 282 • March 12, 2014www.hyattsville.org • 301-985-5000

Page HR1 Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014 Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014 Page HR2

IN OTHER NEWS...

March/april 2014

CALENDAR

Wednesday, March 12Public Hearing: Tax Rate for FY15 Budget, 7 PM - 8 PM

Council Work Session, 8 - 10 PM

Friday, March 14Ageless Grace Exercise Class, 10 - 11 AMMagruder Park Recreation Center, 3911 Hamilton Street

Saturday, March 15Volunteer Opportunity: Magruder Woods non-native invasive re-moval, 9 AM - 1 PM Magruder Park

Monday, March 17City Council Meeting, 8 - 10 PM

Tuesday, March 18Planning Committee Meeting, 7:30 - 8:30 PM

Wednesday, March 19Code Compliance Advisory Committee Meeting, 7 - 8 PM

Friday, March 21Ageless Grace Exercise Class, 10 - 11 AMMagruder Park Recreation Center, 3911 Hamilton Street

Wednesday, March 26Council Work Session, 8 - 10 PM

Friday, March 28Ageless Grace Exercise Class, 10 – 11 AMMagruder Park Recreation Center, 3911 Hamilton Street

April 3 – 6128th Anniversary Carnival, see hours to the leftMagruder Park, 3911 Hamilton Street

April 5128th Anniversary Parade, 11 AMSee route to the left, ends at Magruder Park

Unless otherwise noted, all events take place at the City Municipal Building, 4310 Gallatin Street.

FORWARD, MARCH! THE 128TH ANNIVERSARY PARADE STEPS OFF ON APRIL 5THThe 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 Av-enue, 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 gath-er 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.

HOP TO IT: THE GREAT MAGRUDER EGG HUNT IS APRIL 12The 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.

CITIZENS POLICE ACADEMY: APPLICATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTEDClasses begin April 10th for a 9-week course designed to increase communica-tion, 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 [email protected].

AGELESS GRACE CLASSES – NEW SEMESTER UNDERWAYAgeless 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 [email protected].

BUILDING BRIDGES BOOK CLUBThe 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 differ-

ences 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 oth-

er characteristic. The event is free and open to the public.Questions? Please call Council Member Robert Croslin at 240/460-1827.

FIND US ON FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAMAre 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.

CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS – WAYS TO WATCHThe community is always welcome to attend City Council meetings in person, at 4310 Gallatin Street. City residents can also watch the meetings from home

on Comcast (Channel 71) or Verizon (Channel 12), either live or on rebroad-cast. 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 [email protected] or 301/985-5028.

VOLUNTEERS WANTED FOR MAGRUDER WOOD RESTORATIONJoin us for non-native invasive removals in Magruder Woods on the third Satur-day 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, [email protected] or 301/985-5057. Participation helps to satisfy State of Mary-land Student Service Learning requirements.

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 CHECKSGot kids? Then you’ve got car seats!Maryland law requires all children under the age of eight to ride in an appropri-

Carnival scheduleThe Carnival returns to Magruder Park on Thursday, April 3 and runs for four days. The event schedule is as follows:

Thursday, April 3Rides open 4 - 9 PMSpecial ride-all-night wristbands available for purchase at ticket booths!

Friday, April 4Rides open 5 - 10 PM

Friday Night Teen Dance, 8 to 10 PM Music & videos by Spin City Produc-tions, plus fun photos by Annapolis Photo BoothAdmission is free, but please bring a school ID

Saturday, April 5Parade 11 AMThe 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.

Rides open 12 Noon - 10 PM

Free family games tent open from 1 to 4 PM

The Fabulous Bel Airs, performing from 6 to 8 PM

Fireworks at duskBring a blanket and all of your friends to Magruder Park and enjoy a spectacular fireworks show!

Sunday, April 6Rides open 12 Noon - 5 PM

Special performances by Mandy the Clown

Questions? Please contact Cheri Ever-hart by phone at 301-985-5021 or [email protected].

Interested in Volunteering? Con-tact Colleen Aistis at 301-985-5057 or email [email protected] for information on volunteering for the Anniversary Festival and other City activities.

ate safety seat. But the seat alone is not enough - proper installation is the key to keeping our littlest passengers safe. Despite our best ef-forts, 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 sched-

ule a safety seat check, please contact Sergeant Christine Fekete at 301/985-5060 or via email to [email protected]. 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.

NIXLEThe City is now using Nixle to send public safety alerts and infor-mation via both email and text message. This system replaces the SafeCity website previously in use. Many of our neighboring juris-dictions 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 on-line at http://www.hyattsville.org/stayinformed.

Calling all bargain hunters! Our annual, City-wide Yard Sale is now an entire week-end. 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. Registra-

tion 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

10th at 9 AM and continues through Mon-day, 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. Registra-tion will open on the Tuesday after Labor Day, September 2nd.

Register now for May 2-4 yard sale weekend


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noncommi� al about the saucer. Within days, the saucer had its own email address and a pres-ence on Twi� er and Facebook (which had more than 750 likes at press time). � ere are even cof-fee mugs, T-shirts, and a special brew from Franklins for sale in support of the movement.

Group members created promo-tional materials for the golden an-niversary, including posters about the library’s long and rich history. � e youngest a� endees were kept entertained by music, cra� s, and games provided by local musi-cians and library volunteers. Of particular interest, the children of the original architect Dennis Mad-den 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 a� endance and spent much of the event reaching out to share his message.

� e event took place in the ground-� oor meeting room, which represents a microcosm for all the issues surrounding the cur-rent controversy over demolish-ing the library for a new, modern structure. � e ceilings are low, the tile is dingy, the doors are too nar-row 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 emo-tional reasons, but when asked directly many also believed that a new building would be more functional and be� er for the com-munity. Some parents seemed to think the library is showing its age.

“� ey need a be� er children’s sec-tion,” said one mother. “� e one they have is terrible.” She couldn’t enunciate exactly why it is so terri-ble, but dim light, low ceilings and outdated � nishes are likely culprits.

� is 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 precip-itous action, soliciting only pro-posals for new structures rather than exploring renovation options to keep the library and its iconic saucer. � ough Michael Gannon, Associate Director for Support Services and project manager, has stressed that no action regarding the library will happen without community involvement, preser-vation supporters are skeptical — with good reason.

� e library building has an im-

portant place in Hya� sville histo-ry: as a memorial to John F. Ken-nedy, as the work of a pro-civil rights architect, as the � rst branch in Prince George’s County. � e saucer is a striking homage to the space age and broadening hori-zons through reading. � ere are a lot of important things about the building that will be lost if it is demolished. Normally, the Preservation O� ce of the Mary-land-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 of-� cials have been oddly silent on the issue; Historic Preservation Supervisor Howard Berger de-clined to comment for this story.

According to Gannon, the library system initially chose the � rm of Grimm + Parker to design an en-tirely new structure, and their de-sign was presented at the August community meeting. A� er protest from community members, coun-ty o� cials indicated that a new re-quest for proposals would go out around March 15. Signi� cantly, there was nothing to indicate the RFP would entertain proposals for renovation plans.

Lawrence, the Save Our Saucer group, and those in the com-munity who have architectural experience � nd this omission to be deliberate, � scally irrespon-sible, 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.

� e most glaring problem with not considering alternative ap-proaches is that a renovation could be so easy. Similar build-ings, such as UVA’s mid-century School of Architecture, have been renovated to become light-� lled, state of the art environments at a fraction of the monetary and environmental cost of demoli-tion and reconstruction. � ose 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 li-brary system seems to be insist-ing on the easy � x, no ma� er how much may be lost.

Gray O’Dwyer is an architectural historian and recently moved � om her home town of Richmond, Vir-ginia, to join the Hya� sville neigh-borhood.

Sending out an SOS at the Hya� sville libraryby Gray OʼDwyer

On Sunday, March 2, area resi-dents gathered to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Hya� s-ville library, the oldest in the Prince George’s County Memo-rial Library System. � e event a� racted local families, library patrons, and those who support the Save Our Saucer campaign to stop the proposed demolition of the building — and the iconic � ying saucer stationed outside the main entrance.

Its future was thrown into doubt last August, when library o� cials held a public meeting to discuss plans to build a new library at 6530 Adelphi Road and were

Bricks&MortarApril 9 � e Auryn Quartet performs Schubert, Schubert and Beethoven, an evening of music sponsored by the Arts Connection and the Hya� sville CDC. $10. 8 p.m. First Baptist Church, 5701 42nd Avenue. For tickets, contact 301.699.5440 or [email protected].

OngoingOn Fridays, seniors can partici-pate in Ageless Grace, a � tness and wellness program designed to improve healthy longevity. Almost anyone can do these 21 simple exercises, which can be performed while si� ing. $2 per session. 10 to 11 a.m. Magruder Park Recreation Building, 3911 Hamilton Street. 301.985.5058 or estowers@hya� sville.org.

Community Calendar is a select list-ing of events happening in and around Hya� sville � om the 15th of the issue month to the 15th of the following month. To submit an item for consid-eration, please e-mail susie@hya� s-villelife.com or mail to P.O. Box 132, Hya� sville, MD 20781. Deadline for April submissions is March 28.

GRAY O’DWYERDuring 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.

CALENDAR continued from page 7

Hyattsville Life & Times | March 2014 Page 9

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Valentine’s Day has passed with-out 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, how-ever, we should hear the familiar chirping of the peepers in the evening in Magruder Swamp and in other nearby wetlands.

� e li� le tree frogs (about 1.5 inches long) that � ll our nearby woods will typically sing for love from the end of January through the beginning of May. � ey are usually tan or slightly grey with a cross mark on their backs, but are much more o� en heard than seen. � e lonely males can chirp up to 25 times per minute in their lust-ful quest to � nd Ms. Right. Fer-tile females can deposit from 200 to 1,200 eggs in local streams and ponds. � eir tiny tadpoles will “hatch” in about two weeks and, if they survive the swampland predators like � sh and dragon-� y 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 peep-ers could be joined by another early singer, the wood frog. � ese slightly larger frogs also begin their love serenade in January, but will only sing through March. � e male calls have been likened to a duck’s quack or a so� dog bark. Call frequency may be only

about � ve per minute. � e 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 obli-gate species, meaning they only thrive in a narrowly de� ned habi-tat — in this case the cleaner and temporal waters of vernal pools.

Coming shortly therea� er in the lonely hearts club of frog singers are the familiar southern leopard frog (whose call sounds a bit like maniacal laughter) and the picker-el frog (who has a snore-like call). � ese two are fairly common and are frequently seen during the day in the drainage ditches and storm-water pond in Magruder Park. Both start their songs around March and may continue singing into early summer. Both are sub-stantially larger (2.5 to 3 inches) than the peepers and wood frogs.

� eir similar appearance makes them easy to mistake for one an-other. Pickerel frogs have roughly parallel rows of squarish/rectangu-lar 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 clus-ters 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 preda-tion and pollution hazards.

Around early March, the very melodious chorus of the Ameri-

can toads begins. � is 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. � eir eggs hatch in about a week, but as with frogs, the tadpole stage may last up to two months. � e young but immature toad-lets may be visible (o� en crowd-ing 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 hu-mans who handle them.

Several other frogs and toads live in our nearby swamp and wetlands. A list of possible resi-dents, their calls and other facts about them can be found on the Frogwatch website (www.aza.org/frogs-in-maryland/). � is “citizen science” program encour-ages people to go out about 30 minutes a� er sundown a couple nights a week to listen, identify species by sound and report the species found in their area. � is can be as close as the backyard.

Why should we care? Frogs, toads and other amphibians are the canar-ies of our wetlands, giving us a sense of the health of our waters and the diversity of our cri� ers. If this isn’t su� cient rationale, remember that frogs and toads (and other amphib-ians) will chomp down and pig out on mosquitoes (especially in their larval stage) and other less-than-lovable night visitors.

Time to hop into spring

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in July 2011, which cost around $5,000. However, said City Clerk Laura Reams, “� ere are a variety of factors that can impact the cost of a special election, such as the adop-tion of any new policies including early voting or same day registra-tion.” She adds that the 2011 special election took place shortly a� er a regular election, which limited the need for training costs. � erefore, 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 � nish the remain-ing two years of Nicole Hinds Mo-for’s term, his term ends with the next city election in May 2015. Mofor o� cially resigned in Febru-ary 2013, and a separate provision of the charter notes that a resigna-tion within 150 days of a normally scheduled election meant the seat became part of the May 2013 elec-tion. Solomon believes that de-pending on timing his council seat

might fall under a similar exception.If elected as state delegate in No-

vember, Solomon would not take o� ce until the following January, leaving a relatively short period of time prior to the regularly sched-uled 2015 city election.

Solomon has an uphill ba� le run-ning against � ve other candidates in the newly created District 47A, including incumbent Michael Summers (who was elected as one of District 47’s three representa-tives before the 2012 redistricting that split it into 47A and 47B) and longtime Mount Rainier city coun-cilman Jimmy Tarlau, who has the support of organized labor.

For now Solomon is focused on the day to day ma� ers of campaign-ing over a large district that includes only a small portion of West Hya� s-ville as well as Cheverly, Landover Hills, Bladensburg, Colmar Manor, Mount Rainier, Brentwood, Cot-tage City and other municipalities

Most of Hya� sville is covered by District 22, and the city’s two in-cumbents, Del. Anne Healey and Del. Alonzo Washington, are run-

ning for re-election. Also in the race for the three District 22 seats are Del. Tawanna Gaines, also an in-cumbent, 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 � l-ing deadline. “You’re always think-ing about how you can be� er serve your community,” he notes, “What I’m interested in here in Hya� sville 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 sta� to a� end the formal kicko� of the campaign on February 28 at Victo-ry House of Palmer Park. � e event included a speech on Solomon’s be-half by Bladensburg mayor Walter James, and elected o� cials in a� en-dance included Board of Education

member Amber Waller. For his part, Haba notes that Solo-

mon 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 Hya� sville devel-opment process,” he said.

In a race that will have less of an impact on the city, Paschall � led his candidacy for Democratic Central Commi� ee for Legislative District 22 for the June 24 primary election.

� e commi� ee is the govern-ing body of the county’s Demo-cratic party, representing it on the Maryland State Democratic Commi� ee. � is year it is made up of one at-large position for District 22, for which Green-belt’s Nicole Williams is running unopposed, and two other posi-tions for which there are four candidates. Since it has no direct legislative role, the unpaid posi-tion does not require elected of-� cials to leave their current roles.

“My obligations to the city of Hy-a� sville takes precedent over my obligation to the Democratic Com-mi� ee, but I don’t think the two are in con� ict with each other,” says Paschall. “I’m still going to a� end all the council meetings. � at is my priority.”

He acknowledges that the time commitment was an issue to con-sider. “� at was a conversation I had to have with my family, about whether or not I have the time avail-able.”

Paschall is one of two Hya� sville candidates who have � led to run for the Democratic commi� ee posi-tion. Denise Riley has served on the commi� ee for six years and has � led to run again. In addition to Paschall and Riley, Greenbelt mayor Emmet Jordan and Hosea Chew of Lan-ham are also running for the two open positions. Paschall and Jordan have the o� cial support of the state delegation.

� e Hya� sville Life & Times will have additional coverage of the rac-es, including candidate statements, in an upcoming issue.

ELECTIONS continued from page 1

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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

City of Hyattsville FY15 Budget Process

The following is the schedule of City Council Meetings and Public Hearings for the development, discussion, and adop-tion of the FY15 budget.

All meetings and work sessions begin at 8 PM unless other-wise noted, and will meet at 4310 Gallatin Street, Third Floor Council Chambers.

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ParentingPerspectives

by Amanda Alley

I’m a mom, not a mathematician, but I do know that the chances having a manic Mon-day 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, � ght the never-ending nap ba� les, tell our son for the millionth time that shoes are not for mouths. � en, in life’s cruel way, Mon-day morning jumps out of nowhere and knocks me right o� 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. � en, I dis-covered something amazing: add Busboys and Poets’ Rise + Rhyme music shows on Monday mornings and my weeks be-gin with fewer tears (from me) and more smiles (from both of us). Busboys has cleverly � gured out a foolproof formula for the Monday blues: open space for kids to dance and bang on some drums, plus de-

licious brunch (including gluten-free op-tions!), multiplied by heavy pots of co� ee 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. � ey’re spunky, diverse, educa-tional — and good. � ese are not colorful puppets squawking about the Hokey Pok-ey; they’re talented people with a genuine passion for creating a vibrant environment for children. � ere 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 African-American culture, and the popular Liz the Singing Lizard who calls her music “elec-tro-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 li� le 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 Hya� sville li-brary for a great story time. Probably one of the best things about story time is that there are di� erent story times for all ages that vary by library branch. Hya� sville’s are Monday at 10:15am for 9-23 month-olds and 11:00 for 2-3 year olds. � ere’s also a Spanish-English story time Saturdays at

11am (you can � nd 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. � ere’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. � e 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 � ve 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 Hya� sville area � om 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 co� ee, “� e O� ce” and children’s literature.

Rhymes + story time = cure for the Monday blues

FILE PHOTOMondays bring Rise + Rhyme music shows at Busboys and Poets and story time at the Hyattsville library.


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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 Scoutmas-ter, 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 fol-lowed, serving terms of three to six years each. Thomas became the troop’s ninth scoutmaster in 2001. Since then, the num-ber of Eagle Scouts from the troop has grown from 10 to 29. Thomas and Hapeman’s 17-year-old 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 re-quirements is to develop, plan and complete a service project before the Scout turns 18.

Often the projects benefit Hy-attsville or neighboring com-munities. 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

Tenderfoot to Eagle. Among oth-er duties for the troop, she plans advancement opportunities and merit badge classes around meet-ings, camping events and school breaks. For the week-long sum-mer 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 week-end 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 Pe-ter Currie and Joseph Riordon earned their Wilderness Survival Badge by building a shelter and sleeping under it on the snow-covered ground.

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 camp-fire, competently use a compass and map, camp at both 0 degrees and 100 degrees, and start a fire with no matches in any condi-tions 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 Hyatts-ville. “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 as-sistant scoutmaster and Eagle Scout. One thing he appreci-ates 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 proj-ects. “[Thomas] has really devel-oped the 16- and 17-year-olds to lead the 11- and 12-year-olds.”

One way he did that was by in-stituting 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 Wil-liams said that her son, 16-year-old Emery Bacon, “has become more thoughtful and resource-ful” 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 Com-mittee, is the mother of an Eagle Scout and wife of an assistant scoutmaster.

“I think we can all agree that [Thomas and Hapeman] exem-plify the very best in scouting and we are fortunate to have their leadership, dedication and guid-ance 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 [email protected]. Cub Scout Pack 224, for ages 6 to 10, also meets at St. Jerome. Visit the pack’s Face-book page for more information.

Colleen AistisTroop 224 Scoutmaster Bill Thomas and his wife, Cathleen Hapeman, were awarded the Prince George’s Scouting District Award of Merit on February 8.

scouting continued from page 1


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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 daugh-ter, Nancy. Nancy Huaman, named after her aunt, suffers from lupus and had been hospi-talized with a related illness. Two days earlier, the self-employed Pezo had been working at a con-struction 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 stop-ping 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 es-pecially 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 morn-ing; other times when she’d spent the night at the hospital he would tell her, “I didn’t call because I

didn’t want to disturb your rest.” So that day she assumed he was

at his work at the Cinemark The-ater in Arundel Mills, where he had worked — helping to sup-port his family — since graduat-ing from Arundel High School in 2009. At the hospital, Pezo and her daughter watched the televi-sion 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 down-stairs” 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 ar-rived and the devastating news was delivered.

The next days were overwhelm-ing, and the family relied on church support. Lay pastor Joe Graves tried to help the family negotiate the difficult and expen-sive logistics of the funeral and burial in a time of grief, as well as

plan a meaningful memorial. “The church was completely full

that day” says Abarra of the Janu-ary 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 em-ployees offered a special tribute. He had recently been promoted to supervisor, a full-time posi-tion. 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 re-alizations. 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 suf-fering 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 finan-cial 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 of-fered benefits in such a situation when a spouse or child is left be-hind, 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.

rosanna landis weaverMaria 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.

tragedy continued from page 1


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