Spirit is now open in Gaithersburg (Rio) at the former Charming Charlies, located at 101 Boardwalk Place and in Rockville at the former Pier One, located at 12137 Rockville Pike (Pike Center). The location in Burtonsville at the Former Fashion Bug, located at 15791 Columbia Pike, is expected to open soon. During the Halloween season, Spirit operates over 1,400 store locations in North America. The Spirit Halloween website is open year-round, offering its in-store products online. The stores are usually open for 30 or 60 days prior to Halloween.
Joe Marver created the Spirit Halloween business model, a pop-up store catering to Halloween revelers. Starting with his first pop-up location in the Castro Valley Mall in 1984, he grew Spirit Halloween to 60 seasonal stores nationwide before it was acquired in 1999. His approach to short-term leases, locations, and the stocking of widely varied merchandise was novel in the Halloween retail sector.
Today, the Spirit Halloween network of pop-up stores is bigger than any other specialty retailer in the category, with new ownership expanding Marver’s original concept to more than 1,100 locations across North America. Spirit Halloween serves a Halloween consumer market estimated at $8.4 billion dollars yearly, according to the National Retail Federation. Despite online shopping creating challenges for brick and mortar stores, Spirit thrives with in person purchases-possibly due to its relatively lower overhead with seasonal rentals of the physical spaces
Centrado Cafe Shop is now open at 15530 Old Columbia Pike in Burtonsville (formerly Chapala), in the front portion of the building that also houses Luchador Bar & Eats, it’s sister restaurant. The coffee shop will focus on Central American coffee, pastries and food.
“Hello Burtonsville! We’re officially open! Thank you for your patience, now offering all our specialty coffee drinks, goods, bites, snacks, and local artisanal items!
Hours: Mon-Fri 7am-3pm Sat-Sun 8am-5pm”
Centrado is owned and operated by Centrado restaurant group, who also own Restaurant 198, in the former Siebel’s location in Burtonsville. Seibel’s, which had been serving the community for over 82 years, permanently closed on November 28th, 2021.
Restaurant 198 at 15540 Old Columbia Pike in Burtonsville, the former location of Seibel’s, will hold a breakfast soft opening on Sunday, March 27 from 8am-2pm. The restaurant held a friends and family event earlier today.
Restaurant 198 is the latest restaurant from the owners of Luchador Bar & Eats (formerly Chapala), also in Burtonsville, and the upcoming Centrado Cafe House.
The restaurant offers “Nuevo American” food and will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as cocktails. Some of the menu items include Texas French Toast, Beef Picadillo Breakfast Tacos, Oysters, and Honey Marinated Buttermilk Fried Chicken.
About:
“198 is the intersection of food & community. Our Nuevo American Menu is fun, relaxed and a fresh perspective on American-ish cuisine. We are not just a restaurant, 198 is a neighborhood connector and lively familiar spot served with a spoonful of nostalgia. Think: All-Day Nuevo-American flavors, unique cocktails, and Burtonsville energy.
198 is brought to you by Centrado Food Group as a family-owned company focused on providing quality customer service every day to become our customers favorite place to eat and drink. We will provide support for our team and encourage them to be self-starters. We will always work to source ingredients from local suppliers and work with vendors, musicians, and artists from our community.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CblOc9Cu64G/
Per MCPD:
For Immediate Release: Friday, March 25, 2022
Gaithersburg, MD – Detectives from the Montgomery County Department of Police – Special Victims Investigation Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing juvenile from Burtonsville.
Petra Nche, age 17, was last seen on Wednesday, March 23, 2022, at approximately 6 a.m., leaving her residence in the 3800 block of Swan House Court.
Nche is approximately 5-feet, 8-inches tall and weighs 130 pounds. She has black hair and brown eyes. It is unknown what she was last wearing.
Police and family are concerned for her welfare.
Anyone who has information regarding the whereabouts of Petra Nche is asked to call the Montgomery County Police SVID at (240) 773-5400 or the police non-emergency number at (301) 279-8000 (24hrs).
The Bat–Signal is a distress signal device used as a means to summon the superhero, Batman. Though our featured image is a poorly made photoshop, you may be seeing the real thing in Burtonsville soon.
Bill Gibson, the ‘Burtonsville Batman’, stripped down his 1978 Lincoln and was able to convert it into the Batmobile from the 60s Batman TV show entirely on his own.
Since Halloween of 2016, you may have seen Bill and his Batmobile driving around town, in the Burtonsville Day Parade, or visiting places like the Children’s Inn at NIH or the Carl Sandburg Learning Center to brighten the day of children from our area.
Last December, the ‘Burtonsville Batman’ added The Batcycle to his cave, and now there is officially a Bat-Signal.
One of Gibson’s friends gifted him with a Bacardi Rum advertising sign whose logo was a bat that got Gibson’s mind thinking. Then, the journey began.
His first test of a simple bat signal was made with a magnifying lens and a spot light. He was able to get it shining about 300 ft up.
The first version of the actual projected about 900ft. Once he built this one, he knew he could scale it up and reach the clouds.
So he kept working…
Finally, he was able to get it shining about 1,600 ft up.
So if you’re ever in Burtonsville and you see the Bat-Signal…don’t worry. The Burtonsville Batman will be there soon.
Luchador Bar & Eats is now open in the former bar space of Chapala Tex-Mex Grill at 15530 Old Columbia Pike in Burtonsville.
The lucha libre themed cantina, a new concept by the owners of Chapala, is now open for fast casual dine in and carryout, according to social media posts. Chapala permanently closed on February 15.
The owners will also be opening Centrado Cafe House in the front part of the same building in late April. The cafe will focus on Central American coffee, pastries and food, and will be open daily at 6am.
In December we reported that the owners of Chapala had also purchased the building that was formerly home to Seibel’s at 15540 Old Columbia Pike. We can now confirm that they will be opening Restaurant 198 in that location in late March. The restaurant will offer “Nuevo American” food and will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Seibel’s in Burtonsville, which had been serving the community for over 82 years, permanently closed on November 28th, 2021.
Chapala was voted the “Best Mexican/Tex-Mex in MoCo” by Taste MoCo followers in an Instagram tournament held in 2020.
Update: Charles Frank Golli has been located safe and unharmed.
Per MCPD:
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, January 25, 2022
Gaithersburg, MD – Detectives from the Montgomery County Police – Special Victims Investigations Division (SVID) are asking for the public’s assistance in locating a missing juvenile male from Burtonsville.
Charles Frank Golli, age 15, was last seen by his family, on January 24, 2022, at approximately 5:30 p.m., in the 4000 block of Sparrow House Lane.
Golli is approximately 5-feet, 7-inches tall and weighs 150 pounds. He has brown eyes, black hair. It is unknown what he was wearing when he left his residence.
Police and family are concerned for his welfare.
Anyone with information about the whereabouts of Charles Frank Golli is asked to call Montgomery County Police SVID at (240) 773-5400 or the police non-emergency number at 301-279-8000 (24-hour line). Callers may remain anonymous.
Chapala Tex-Mex in Burtonsville has announced it will be ceasing operations on February 16th.
Last month we spoke with John Angel, one of the owners of the restaurant, who told us that they purchased the neighboring building that was home to Seibel’s for 82 years at 15540 Old Columbia Pike (Seibel’s closed permanently on November 28th).
He told us that they would be keeping the Chapala building and that they would not be leaving Burtonsville. In the goodbye message, seen below, Chapala Tex-Mex makes mention that they will be bringing new concepts to the spaces they have in the area (the current Chapala building and the newly purchased Seibel’s space). What that will consist of will be made more clear in the coming weeks and months.
Full announcement from Chapala:
We have a bittersweet announcement. Chapala Tex-Mex will cease operations as it exists on Feb 16th, 2022. Although we are sad to end this part of the journey, we are excited for the transition to the new concepts for the space from the same management team that brought you Chapala Tex-Mex and La Casita Pupuseria.
***
We want to thank each one of you for reaching out to us over the last few months offering your messages of support, we have been operating within the Burtonsville community for over 25 years and as we transition into this new phase please stay tuned on our website and social media page for updates and come along for the ride with us 🙏🏽
After a nine-day trial and nine hours of deliberations, in the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, MD, before the Honorable Judge David Lease, a jury has found defendant Gregory Jones, 28, of Martinsburg, WV, guilty of first-degree murder for the deaths of Ashley Dickinson and Joshua Frazier in Burtonsville, MD. He faces two potential life sentences plus an additional 40 years. Sentencing is scheduled for March 25, 2022.
Assistant State’s Attorneys Marybeth Ayers and James Dietrich prosecuted this case.
The conviction came down late Friday afternoon in this execution-style double murder.
Breakdown of the guilty counts:
-1st degree murder of Frazier
-1st degree murder of Dickinson
-Conspiracy murder
-Firearm use in the commission of a felony on Frazier
-Firearm use in the commission of a felony on Dickinson
On February 15, 2018, the bodies of Joshua Frazier and Ashley Dickinson, both Virginia residents, were discovered in Ms. Dickinson’s running 2013 Audi SUV at a home on Aldora Circle in the Briggs Chaney
area of Burtonsville, Montgomery County, Maryland. Both had been shot once in the back of the head from the back seat of the vehicle. Police located two 9mm shell casings in the car, as well as a projectile on a sidewalk near the vehicle.
Witness interviews and phone records revealed that Mr. Frazier had arranged to meet Gregory Jones, the Defendant, in the area around the time the murders occurred. Specifically, a series of text messages, beginning at approximately 1:10 PM, between Mr. Frazier and the Defendant indicate that the Defendant owed money to Mr. Frazier and wanted to pay him back. Mr. Frazier indicates that he wanted to send someone to the Defendant to pick up the money but the Defendant insisted on delivering it himself several times throughout the text conversation. At 1:17 PM, the Defendant texts Mr. Frazier an address to meet on Robey Terrace in Burtonsville, approximately ½ mile from Aldora Circle where the Audi was found.
Phone records show Mr. Frazier’s phone connecting to cell phone towers in southern Virginia and moving north into Maryland. Phone records show the Defendant’s phone connecting to cell phone towers in Martinsburg,
WV, and moving toward Gaithersburg. Phone records also show Tyshon Jones’s phone connecting to towers in Charlestown, WV, and moving toward Gaithersburg, connecting to the same towers as the Defendant’s phone.
Tyshon Jones is Gregory Jones’s cousin.
At 4:25 PM on February 15, 2018, Officer Pagonis of the Montgomery County Police Department was clearing a call on Robey Terrace when he saw a white Audi driven by a white female with a black male passenger. The race, gender, location and description of the car matched that of Mr. Frazier and Ms. Dickinson as they were found in the Audi later. At 4:30 PM, a witness saw the Audi pull into Aldora Circle.
At 4:56 PM, the Defendant’s phone connected to a cell tower near Aldora Circle. At 5:02 PM, Tyshon Jones’s phone connected to that same tower. Those phones also connected to the same tower __at 5:12 PM__
and 5:15 PM, respectively.
Phone records show that calls to Mr. Frazier’s phone go unanswered beginning at 5:15 PM.
A search of Tyshon Jones’s phone, seized on February 17, 2018, revealed internet searches for “Burtonsville” the day after the murders.
On March 5, 2018, Montgomery County police executed a search warrant at an apartment on Streamside Dr., in Gaithersburg. The defendant was located inside the residence. Also located inside the residence was a phone that forensic analysis showed was in use on February 15, 2018, belonged to the Defendant and contained the text messages between the Defendant and Mr. Frazier referenced earlier.
A search of the Defendant’s phone also revealed searches for Briggs Chaney, Fox News and Fox News Silver Spring on the day after the murders. Later that day, the Defendant canceled the number associated with this phone. Also, all references to Mr. Frazier’s phone, to include text messages and contact information were found to be deleted in the Defendant’s phone.
On March 6, 2018, law enforcement officers conducted a search warrant at a residence on Sanford Drive in West Virginia, the residence of Tyshon Jones, his sisters and his mother. Police also found a piece of paper with Joshua Frazier’s name written on it. Investigators found in a bedroom the Defendant’s social security card, birth certificate and an unspent 9mm cartridge.
Investigators sent the spent 9mm shell casings found in the Audi and the unspent 9mm cartridge found at the Sanford Drive address to Alliance Forensics Laboratory in Fort Worth, Texas, for comparison. A forensic firearm and toolmark examiner conducted a comparison of marks on the unspent cartridge. He opined that the marks
on the unspent cartridge were left when it was moved to the chamber of a semi-automatic gun and then ejected from that chamber without being fired. He found that those same ejector marks were found on the shell casings, which were automatically ejected from the chamber after having been fired. In a comparison of those marks, Mr. Ernest found that they were left by the same gun as the markings left are unique to each gun.
“Our hearts go out to the families of Joshua Frazier and Ashley Dickinson. This should send a clear message that such senseless violence has no place in our community. I thank Assistant State’s Attorneys Marybeth Ayers and Jim Dietrich for their outstanding work in this matter. We look forward to sentencing as this defendant is facing two life sentences plus additional time. These families deserve justice, and we need to ensure the safety of the community,” said State’s Attorney John McCarthy.
Ashley Dickinson and Joshua Frazier pictured below:
Gregory Jones:
Bill Gibson stripped down his 1978 Lincoln and was able to convert it into the Batmobile from the 60s Batman TV show entirely on his own.
Since Halloween of 2016, you may have seen Bill and his Batmobile driving around town, in the Burtonsville Day Parade, or visiting places like the Children’s Inn at NIH or the Carl Sandburg Learning Center to brighten the day of children from our area.
The Burtonsville resident has now added a new toy to his bat cave, The Batcycle. With the help of Levi Nelson (paint) and Rodger Nelson (graphics), Bill has built a replica of the Batcycle– including a sidecar for Robin.
Back in 2019, Gibson’s Batmobile was rear-ended by a Toyota SUV that tried to drive off but was quickly caught up with by the Batmobile. “Can you imagine some trying to run from the Batmobile?” William told us.
The Batmobile has since been repaired and now has a new friend to hang out with in the Bat Cave.
Seibel’s closed permanently on November 28th after operating in Burtonsville for over 82 years.
We spoke with John Angel, an owner of neighboring restaurant Chapala, who told us that they have purchased the building that was home to Seibel’s (15540 Old Columbia Pike).
He told us that they will be keeping the Chapala building and that they will not be leaving Burtonsville. The bar will remain open at Chapala.
More updates will be available in early 2022 regarding the future of both the current Chapala location and the Seibel’s location.
Chapala was voted the “Best Mexican/Tex-Mex in MoCo” by Taste MoCo followers in an Instagram tournament held in 2020.
