Ebca Newsletter May 2009

Neighborhood News WWW.EBCA.ORG

MAY 2009

Representing the 1200 households North of East-West Highway, South of Jones Bridge Road, East of Wisconsin Avenue and West of Columbia Country Club.

President’s Notebook Mosquitoes! By Ilaya Hopkins, President My how time flies! I have been in this position for two years and have enjoyed getting to know more residents and keeping East Bethesda at the forefront of the many issues impacting our neighborhood. We have seen great successes in these last two years, including a revamped website with more interactive features and a monthly newsletter underwritten in great part by our wonderful sponsors. Our opinions are sought on development projects near our boarders and we continue to provide an on-the-ground perspective to decision makers on issues such as the BRAC expansion at the new Walter Reed in Bethesda to the Purple Line proposals. Our membership continues to grow and participation at quarterly meetings has been strong. We continue to work to make our neighborhood a strong community by working with the Montgomery County Public Schools to clarify school assignments at the elementary school level and by

working together to clean up our parks and public spaces so that we can all enjoy them. At the May 20th general membership meeting, we will hold elections for the next set of officers. Current nominees are listed in the newsletter. We will also take nominations from the floor. If you have questions or want to nominate someone, please contact Nominating Committee Chair Allen Rothenberg at [email protected] or 301-907-0232. In addition, we will hear a presentation on reducing the mosquito problem in our neighborhood and finish the discussion on The Examiner newspaper. It has been a tremendous honor to represent this community over the last two years. I look forward to continuing to support EBCA and working toward preserving the strong sense of community and the wonderful quality of life we are so lucky to have here. Thanks to you all.

General Membership Meeting Wednesday, May 20th, 8 p.m. Lynnbrook Recreation Center Agenda: 8:00 p.m. Mosquito Presentation 8:30 p.m. Examiner Delivery 8:45 p.m. Elections 9:00 p.m. Old Business 9:15 p.m. New Business 9:30 p.m. Adjourn

Slate of Officers: President: Greg Volz 1st VP: Kevin Kraus 2nd VP: Rebecca Fayed Treasurer: Jack Hayes Secretary: AB Carneal Assistant Secretary: Open

By Ella Krainsky As the weather warms, many of us look forward to spending time outdoors with our families. However, the early spring fantasy of grilling in the backyard, working in the garden, or watching our children run through the sprinkler, is marred by the reality of our annual mosquito infestation. This year, I decided to investigate whether East Bethesda could do something to control the mosquitoes. I spoke to Janine Dorothy, an entomologist at the Maryland Department of Agriculture. She explained that we, as a neighborhood, could request that the state spray for mosquitoes. She will speak more about this possibility at the next general membership meeting. She also stated that, while we have the usual home-grown variety of the insect, our real problem is the Asian Tiger Mosquito, which is prevalent in Montgomery County. The Asian Tiger is extremely aggressive and, unlike its native cousin, bites during the daytime. It flies low to the ground and likes water as well as sheltered places. Dorothy told me that the Asian Tiger likes to nest in bamboo, and I asked her whether the bamboo that grows along the Crescent Trail might be the cause of our problem. She said, however, that the real problem was standing water in our yards. Dorothy pointed out that many of us don’t realize we have standing Continued on page 3...

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Neighborhood News

MAY 2009

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Neighborhood News

MAY 2009

Neighborhood Roundup Summer Concerts

Neighborhood Event Space

The Bethesda Summer Concert Series will be held Thursday evenings at Veterans Park, at the corner of Norfolk & Woodmont Avenues, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. All concerts are free. More information is available at www.bethesda.org/ specialevents/summerconcerts.htm.

Need a place to host a party? Consider renting the Lynnbrook Recreation Center. The cost is only $19 per hour weekdays and $38 per hour Friday evenings, Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays. The space is rented in 4 hour blocks of time. The description of the building and more details about renting the space can be found at www.mcmncppc.org/permits/permits/find/ activity.shtm.

Plant Sale Gardeners and anyone who loves plants won't want to miss the Bethesda Community Garden Club's 66th annual plant sale on Thursday, May 7th. The sale, at the Bethesda Farm Women's Market, 7155 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, will run from 7:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. rain or shine. Find wonderful buys on a large selection of perennials grown in members' well-tended gardens, plus herbs, annuals, native plants and shrubs. Novices and experts alike can pose their gardening questions to Montgomery County Master Gardeners on site throughout the sale. Proceeds benefit various community projects including landscaping at Bethesda and Davis libraries and a Montgomery College scholarship in landscape technology. Plentiful metered public parking is available in the lot behind the Market. For more information call Simone at 301571-9782.

Scholarships Maryland Delegate Alfred Carr (D-18) has state scholarship money available for local students. Applicants must be enrolled in a Maryland college or university or attending an out-of-state school in a field of study not offered in Maryland. Interested students must write an application, a letter detailing their accomplishments and have a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on file. The application deadline is May 30th. For more information, please contact Legislative Aide Kristin Fulkerson at 301-858-3638 or [email protected]. Legislative Wrap-Up The District 16 Town Hall meeting is scheduled for May 11th at the Davis Public Library.

Urban Trees To learn more about trees in urban environments, visit these links: www.ufei.org/files/pubs/22BenefitsofUrbanStreetTrees.pdf www.tlcfortrees.info/tree_root_myths.htm www.treesaregood.org/treecare/tree_planting.aspx

Neighborhood News Online: www.EBCA.org

“Mosquitoes” from page 1... water. Mosquitoes only need about half an inch to lay their eggs. So, in addition to obvious sources of standing water, like children’s pools and birdbaths, we need to be vigilant about hidden sources. For example, tire swings, saucers under flower pots, and tarps covering a background grill where water might pool are all breeding grounds for mosquitoes. Dorothy said in family-friendly neighborhoods such as ours, there is often a problem with plastic children’s toys left in the yard. Those flexible plastic drain pipes many of us have are also great places for mosquitoes. I inspected my own backyard and discovered an overturned paint bucket with a half-inch rim along the bottom sitting behind the garage. In addition, my daughter’s plastic slide has an indentation suitable for mosquito-breeding. I want to encourage all of you to take a close look at your own property. All of us can help control the mosquito population by emptying these sources of standing water at least once a week and rinsing them. The good news is that Asian Tigers only travel about one hundred feet. So, if we can be vigilant about our own property, as well as encourage our neighbors to the left and right of us, we should be able to control this problem and have a more pleasant summer. If you are interested in learning more about solutions to the mosquito problem, including discussing whether the neighborhood would be interested in having the state spray for mosquitoes, Dorothy will speak at the general membership meeting on May 20th at 8 p.m. at the Lynnbrook Recreation Center.

It is not too late for 2008-2009! Become a member of EBCA today! Please support our neighborhood activities, this newsletter, and the community activism that makes East Bethesda one of the most desirable places in which to invest and raise a family. $15 per member, but additional contributions are always welcome. EBCA - Membership P.O. Box 41020 Bethesda, MD 20824 Members _____________________________________ Address _____________________________________ Phone _____________________________________ E-mail _____________________________________ Number of Members _____ x $15 each = $_____ EBCA will not share your contact information with anyone outside of the organization.

Inside This Issue Slate of Officers ........................ 1 Mosquitoes ................................ 1 Neighborhood Roundup............ 3

Coming Up Next General Membership Meeting Wednesday, May 20th Lynnbrook Recreation Center Parks Clean-Up Saturday, May 9th, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Group Photograph at 11 a.m.