Many Taylor Swift fans were left disappointed when the singer announced her upcoming “The Eras Tour” and didn’t include a stop in DC, coming as close as Philadelphia, PA for three shows in May. One fan, Bethesda’s Jose Andres who is considered one of the best chefs in the world, has made Swift a tempting offer to add a DC show to the tour:
.@taylorswift13 Taylor? And @washingtondc please? I’ll cook for you?🙏🥹👨🍳😇 https://t.co/XifaZvYtTs
World-class mixologists are showcasing their dazzling cocktail-crafting skills as they compete for a $100K prize — and the title of Ultimate Drink Master. in the new Netflix competition show that’s quickly gaining popularity. In Drink Masters, the cocktails are the main course as a dozen mixologists from all across North America compete to earn the title of Ultimate Drink Master. Local mixologist, Lauren “LP” Paylor O’Brien, participates and wins the top prize in the show’s inaugural season!
LP, 29, grew up in New York, where she perfected her cocktail skills so she could show her parents that this is a viable career. She has recently worked as a research and development chef for a bar in DC. Currently, she’s focusing on her business LP Drinks, where she offers personal virtual and in-person sessions, as well as private events, trainings, beverage program consulting, and more. “I tried my best to approach creating cocktails for the judges and on television the same exact way that I would take care of a guest at my bar. This, honestly, allowed me to focus on what was in my glass and the experience I ultimately provided the judges when they tried my beverages.” she said in an interview with NBC 4. Earlier this year, LP teamed up with beverage designer Charles Joly to curate a cocktail list for the 74th Emmy Award Show.
Lisa Ann Walter is an actress, comedian and television producer, perhaps best known for her roles as Chessy in the romantic comedy film The Parent Trap and her current role as Melissa Schemmenti on the ABC mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary. She’s also a native of Montgomery County.
Walter was born in Silver Spring on August 3, 1963. She grew up in the area and was a 1979 graduate of Blair High School. She later graduated with a theater degree from Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, in 1983. Below you’ll see yearbook photos of Walter, sent in by her former teacher, Carole Chansky Goodman (who is also Blake High School’s first ever principal).
Sharon Faber, theater and ESOL teacher at Watkins Mill High School, has won a $4,900 grant from the Wolf Trap Foundation. Faber’s project, called Theater to Heal, is focused on Emergent Multilingual Learner (EML) students. Theater to Heal will nurture a sense of community and connectedness, make students feel more anchored in the present, and let their stories and voices be heard in a culminating presentation or reflection piece.
Students will take part in a drama residency or master classes that speak to their cultural perspectives and personal beliefs, such as Signature Theater’s program in Contemporary Immigration Issues. They will also attend a live professional show at a local theater, where they will see the many aspects that go into a full-fledged production and explore how to incorporate their own voices and aesthetic sense into a performance.
Longtime NBC4 newscaster Doreen Gentzler announced that she will be retiring at the end of November during Friday evening’s newscast. Gentzler, who joined NBC4 in 1989, following the departure of Dave Marash, has been with the station for 33 years.
She co-anchors the weekday 6pm and 11pm editions of News4 on WRC-TV (NBC4) and is also the station’s health reporter. Her reports have taken her around the world, including the Persian Gulf, Bosnia and Ecuador. Her health reports can usually be seen on News4 at 5pm, and other station newscasts. She is the on-air spokesperson for the station’s successful NBC4 Health and Fitness Expo, held each January at the Washington Convention Center. She has also made appearances as herself on NBC shows The Event and The Blacklist. Gentzler anchored WRC’s 6pm news alongside veteran anchor Jim Vance for 28 years – a partnership that lasted until Vance’s death in July 2017.
Award-winning producer and Silver Spring native Ben Feigin, who served as an executive producer on Schitt’s Creek, died at his home in Los Angeles on October 24 following a battle with pancreatic cancer, according to E! News. He was 47 years old.
Per IMDB, Ben Feigin was the Executive Producer behind the Critically Acclaimed Series, Schitt’s Creek, which made history at the 2020 Emmys with its clean sweep, garnering Ben an Emmy Award for “Outstanding Comedy Series.” Ben was nominated in 2019 as well. In 2021 Feigin Won the prestigious Producers Guild Award for “Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy,” and was nominated in 2020 as well for the Golden Globe Winner. Prior, Ben worked in representation for over two decades.
The Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County (AHCMC) is presenting the social justice projection art initiative raising awareness of three African American men who fell victim to racial terror lynchings in Montgomery County in the 1880s. Those victims were John Diggs-Dorsey, George Peck and Sidney Randolph. The Silver Spring Civic Building is located at 1 Veterans Plaza in Downtown Silver Spring.
An opening reception for the Certain Party or Parties Unknown gallery exhibition will be held from 6-8 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 2. Visitors will experience the new indoor exhibition and an original outdoor installation projected onto the face of the Silver Spring Civic Building throughout the evening by award-winning editor, video journalist and multimedia artist Robin Bell. Tickets can be reserved at https://cppugalleryexhibition.eventbrite.com.
For the first time since 2019, James Hubert Blake High School hosted the MCPS Marching Band Showcase. During the Oct. 22 event, nine high school and 10 middle school bands performed everything from disco and Latin music to Billy Joel music and ‘80s hits. Performing high schools were: Clarksburg, Seneca Valley, Watkins Mill, Paint Branch, Col. Zadok Magruder, Damascus, Albert Einstein, Montgomery Blair and Blake (video below).
All the middle school bands performed together, playing the national anthem to kick off the event. Students from Parkland, Silver Spring International, Francis Scott Key, Takoma Park, Robert Frost, Thomas W. Pyle, William H. Farquhar, White Oak, Sligo and John Poole middle schools participated. The grand finale included all bands performing Thriller by Michael Jackson.
With Halloween almost here, it’s the perfect time to watch some scary movies. Did you know that the first installment of the Blair Witch franchise, The Blair Witch Project (1999) was primarily filmed right here in Montgomery County?
In the indie supernatural horror, three film students camp in the fictional Black Hills Forest of Burkittsville, Maryland in October of 1994 to film a documentary on the local legend of the Blair Witch. Mysteriously, the trio vanishes, leaving behind hours of footage to be discovered a year later by University of Maryland anthropology students. What the viewer witnesses is this purportedly real home video style footage.
This Saturday, October 29, the Kensington Volunteer Fire Department and the Town of Kensington are once again hosting their annual Halloween Movie Night. “Hotel Transylvania” will be shown at dusk in St. Paul Park on the big screen. Costumes are encouraged for all attendees.
The Kensington Volunteer Fire Department and the Town of Kensington will have refreshments available for purchase in the Park, including pizza, popcorn, and candy.
From the Montgomery County Sentinel in 1876: “As the story goes, during the Civil War a soldier was decapitated by a saber in a skirmish around what is now Game Preserve Road. After the fight, his fellow soldiers hastily buried him in an unmarked grave, even though they couldn’t find his head to bury with his body.”
The story has been passed down for many generations and many have told tales about the supposed unmarked grave of the headless man. Some have recalled strange noises and apparitions with glowing eyes. Others have seen the figure of a headless soldier (sometimes on a horse and sometimes without it), while many have driven down the Gaithersburg road several times and have stated they’ve never noticed anything out of the ordinary. Below you’ll see a few responses to this story in years past: