Entertainment

Gaithersburg Announces 2023 Storm Drain Art Contest Winners

By MCS Staff

The Gaithersburg Parks, Arts & Recreation Corporation (G-PARC) Arts & Culture Alliance, in conjunction with the City Stormwater Management and Cultural Events & Services Divisions, is pleased to announce the winners & honorable mentions of our Storm Drain Art Contest 2023. The judges selected their artwork out of a total of 46 entries for its great interpretation of the contest theme, which was to bring attention to the importance of protecting our Chesapeake Bay watershed.

Per G-PARC: The eleven winners’ artwork will be painted on the storm drain covers at two locations in two phases. Phase 1 will paint on Saturday, June 3 (rain date June 4) in Diamond Farm Park. The second phase will paint in Walder Park in the Fall. The winning designs & honorable mentions may also be used in banners, posters, coloring books, other educational materials, and on social media. Congratulations to our winners & honorable mentions:

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Rockville Little Theatre (RLT) Wins Big at ESTA

By MCS Staff

Rockville Little Theatre (RLT) has announced that their production of “Pride@Prejudice” by Daniel Elihu Kramer was selected Outstanding Production at ESTA (Eastern States Theatre Association) on Sat., April 15 at the Tatnall School in Wilmington, Delaware. Participating states included New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland). “Pride@Prejudice” received several other accolades as well:

– Outstanding Achievement in Ensemble Acting – Niranjali Amerasinghe, Lena Winter, Meghan Williams Elkins, Ian Swank and Joseph Coracle

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MoCo’s Young Mazino Stars in New Netflix Series ‘Beef’

By MCS Staff

Beef was last week’s #1 series on Netflix. The show is about a near-accident in a parking lot that turns two strangers into enemies. The argument, or “beef”, quickly develops to escalating acts of revenge as Amy (Ali Wong) and Danny (Steven Yeun) learn about each other’s identities and families and become more and more involved in each other’s lives. The role of Danny’s younger brother, Paul, is played by MoCo native Young Mazino.

Mazino is a Silver Spring native and graduated from Sherwood in 2009, where he excelled in track & field. He has previously been in shows like Prodigal Son, Blue Bloods and New Amsterdam, but Beef marks what’s likely Mazino’s most popular role to date. In an interview with PEOPLE magazine, Mazino mentioned growing up in Maryland  and developing an interest in music and acting at a very young age. “Growing up as a kid I played the violin and I was performing just seemingly endlessly in concerts and recitals,” he told PEOPLE. “Since elementary school, I was always participating in the school plays,” he said, recalling of his early experience acting, “that feeling was electric, just getting to be outside of myself.”

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Magruder Alumnus Gbenga Akinnagbe Now On Hit STARZ Series Power Book II: Ghost

By MCS Staff

Actor Gbenga Akinnagbe has starred in many high-profile roles, bursting onto the scene as Chris Partlow for 30 episodes in HBO’s The Wire (2002-2008). The MoCo native and Magruder High School alumnus recently made his debut on the STARZ hit show Power Book II: Ghost, playing the role of billionaire Ron Samuel Jenkins (RSJ).

Akinnagbe grew up in Montgomery County and has stated that he was in and out of the Mark Twain School in Rockville, an alternative school that operated under than name until 2009 for students with consistent behavioral or attendance issues. When he got to Magruder on a permanent basis, Akinnagbe joined the wrestling team. “Fast forward a couple of years to when I was in Magruder full-time, and I started wrestling then. I was fortunate. I was really good at it, and I was recruited Division I the next year, my senior year to Bucknell to wrestle.” he said in a Washington Post interview in 2008.

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MoCo Native and National Champion Jordan Hawkins Officially Declares for the NBA Draft

By MCS Staff

Jordan Hawkins, who is coming off of leading the UConn Huskies to a National Championship, has officially declared for the NBA Draft. Hawkins is a Montgomery County native who attended Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School in Germantown and Gaithersburg High School for his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to DeMatha. Below is his announcement:

“First and Foremost I would like to thank God for giving me this opportunity. I want to thank my family for their continued support and guidance throughout this entire process. To Coach Hurley and the entire UConn staff thank you for believing in my dream and pushing me at times I felt like giving up.

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MoCo Native Fredricka Whitfield Has Been With CNN For Over 20 Years

By MCS Staff

Montgomery County native Fredricka Whitfield anchors the weekend edition of CNN Newsroom from CNN’s world headquarters in Atlanta, and is also a fill-in/substitute anchor for CNN’s At This Hour With Kate Bolduan. She has been with CNN for over two decades, starting with the news agency in 2002.

Whitfield grew up in Burtonsville and attended/graduated from Paint Branch High School in 1983. She went on to Howard University in DC, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Howard’s School of Communications in 1987. While at Howard, she was a news anchor for campus radio station WHUR.  Whitfield worked for News Channel 8 after college, as well as television stations in Miami, Dallas, New Haven, and Charleston prior to serving as the Atlanta-based correspondents for NBC Nightly News from 1995-2001.

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MoCo Native’s LavaBox Impresses Judges on Shark Tank

By MCS Staff

Josh Thurmond, a 1994 graduate of Quince Orchard High School and Gaithersburg native, is the inventor of LavaBox Portable Campfire– a new style of portable fire pit that’s built in a military-style ammunition can and was “created to combat climate change and reduce wildfires.” LavaBox has made waves, or fires, since its inception in late 2020, and LavaBox joined fellow Montgomery County businesses that have made it into the tank in recent months (Collars & Co. was featured in November, OoogieBear was featured in September, and ShredSkinz was featured in December) when Thurmond brought LavaBox into the tank on Friday, March 31st at 8pm.

Thurmond was looking for $200,000 for 10% equity in his company. He shared that the Lavabox comes in three sizes, with the most popular being the smaller version which retails for $195 (and costs just over $25 per unit to produce).  The larger varieties cost more to produce, but also come with a higher price range. He expects to reach over $1 million in gross revenue sales by the end of this year- numbers that impressed all the sharks. Thurmond explained that most sales come directly from word of mouth, and that he wants tp get into big box stores. Mr. Wonderful Kevin O’Leary was impressed enough to offer the $200,000 for 10% equity that he was looking for. Daymond John made an offer, wanting 20% equity, but was more interested in licensing the LavaBox instead. Lori Greiner then jumped in with an offer of $200,000 for 12.5% equity, but also wants a royalty of .75 cents per unit sold until she gets $200,000 back. Her 12.5% equity would remain the entire time if the deal is accepted. considers his options and chooses to accept Lori’s offer. After considering all offers, Thurmond went with Lori Grenier’s offer.

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WWE, Founded by Former MoCo Resident Vince McMahon, Enters Agreement With Endeavor (Parent Company of UFC)

By MCS Staff

New, Publicly Listed Company to be 51% Owned by Endeavor and 49% by Existing WWE Shareholders. Endeavor to Contribute UFC into Company at Enterprise Value of $12.1 Billion

Former Montgomery County resident Vince McMahon, owner of  World Wrestling Entertainment, has entered an agreement with Endeavor, the parent company of UFC, “to form a new, publicly listed company consisting of two iconic, complementary, global sports and entertainment brands: UFC and WWE.” McMahon and his family lived on Stedwick Dr in Montgomery Village in the late 60’s/early 70’s. His son Shane McMahon, who returned to the company at Sunday night’s Wrestlemania and injured himself at the event, was born while the family lived in the area and considers himself a Gaithersburg native.

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Poster Contest Open to K–12 Students Sponsored By Asian Pacific American Student Achievement Action Group (APASAAG)

By MCS Staff

As part of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May, the Asian Pacific American Student Achievement Action Group (APASAAG) is sponsoring a poster contest for K–12 students. This is the fourth year for the contest.

The contest calls for students to submit original artwork reflecting significant moments or events in Asian American and Pacific Islander history and/or culture. Artwork must be drawings, paintings or digital art and submitted electronically. First, second and third place winners will receive cash awards for lower elementary, upper elementary, middle and high school levels. One entry per student is allowed. Submissions are due Friday, April 23.

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