MoCo

Unofficial MoCo Voter Day 7 Turnout (provided by the Montgomery County Board of Elections)

Today is the last day to vote early. As you can see, numbers have decreased, and wait times have been nearly non-existent in recent days. Head over to any of these locations today, the last day of early voting, to avoid Election Day crowds tomorrow (which should be much better than in the past).


Arts

“(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville,” R.E.M. Sang in 1984

R.E.M. will go down in rock and roll history for their legendary hit songs. A popular favorite is “It’s the End of the World As We Know It.” When it plays, everyone in the car shouts the chorus and mumbles the rest. But while I was scrolling through a list of R.E.M’s music, I was surprised to find a lesser-known song featuring Montgomery County’s Rockville.


MoCo

Rachel Carson, Author of “Silent Spring,” Lived in Montgomery County.

In 1956, ecologist and writer Rachel Carson moved into her new house in the White Oak area of Montgomery County at 11701 Berwick Road. She planted evergreen trees in her yard to create a natural wooded area.


Gaithersburg

Actress Kimberly J. Brown, best known to audiences for her portrayal of the teen witch Marnie Piper in the Halloweentown films, is from Gaithersburg. In a 2016 interview with a Maryland-based blog, she referenced growing up in Gaithersburg in the 80s and early 90s.

“There were certain areas near where I lived that were so serene. I love that whole country, green feel. Our family ritual was going to duck ponds in the area and playing with the baby chicks. I love being able to have a bat and  a ball, and not caring where the ball lands if that makes sense. In Los Angeles, you don’t have that luxury all the time.”


Arts

Although the novel “Bridge to Terabithia” by Katherine Paterson takes place in rural Virginia, the story has a surprising connection to Takoma Park and Sligo Creek. Katherine Paterson’s son David Paterson and his childhood friend Lisa Hill attended Takoma Park Elementary School together. The two main characters in “Bridge to Terabithia,” Jesse Aarons and Leslie Burke, are based on Katherine Paterson’s son and Hill.

David Paterson reminisced to the Washington Examiner how he and Hill spent their time outside of school. “We used to play together around Sligo Creek building forts and inventing games.” The idea of Leslie Burke’s tragic death in the book also originated from real life. 8 year-old Hill was struck and killed by lightning while visiting the beach with family.


Arts

A Tale of Three Cities: Rockville’s Sister Cities

Many of us have spent a warm summer evening sampling Rockville Town Square’s various eats or tossing a football at Woodley Gardens Park. Rockville is a uniquely American city, full of diverse cultural touches and flavors. At every different corner, you might find someone who speaks a different language, or perhaps a new local restaurant that has opened up to share another unique iteration of the countless cuisines that are already represented in the area.


Bethesda

Today we’re cracking open a copy of the 1988 Montgomery County Fair Cookbook.  The Montgomery County Fair’s roots date all the way back to 1945.  While we missed out on the pig racing and Tilt-a-Whirls this summer, let’s see if we can capture a little bit of that county fair nostalgia with these vintage recipes!

The book features classics such as Grandma Butler’s Apple Pie, as well as more dated recipes like Mayo Rolls & Tuna Toastees.  In this article we’ll be sharing two of the Moco recipes found inside.


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