Latest Update on White’s Ferry

Back in February, Chuck and Stacy Kuhn finalized their deal to purchase Historic White’s Ferry.
According to the Washington Business Journal, negotiations between the Kuhns and Rockland Farm LLC over use the ferry’s Virginia docking site have come to a standstill.

White’s Ferry ceased operations back on December 28th over a legal dispute with Rockland Farms.

Rockland Farm released a statement this week in which they gave their side of the negotiations:

On February 12, 2021, Rockland’s owners learned that Chuck Kuhn had entered into a
contract to purchase the ferry operation and associated land. Rockland owners were
surprised to hear of this transaction because they were literally in the process of arranging
a date to meet with White’s Ferry and County officials to discuss and finalize the terms of
Rockland’s acquisition of the Maryland landing and ferry operation. When Mr. Kuhn
announced his intention to purchase the ferry at an undisclosed price, negotiations
between White’s Ferry and Rockland immediately ended.

Rockland was hopeful that it could come to an agreement on fair compensation for the use
of its landing with Mr. Kuhn to get the ferry up and running as quickly as possible and
immediately communicated its hope for a per vehicle transit fee as an easy way to come to
terms. Though Mr. Kuhn communicated with Rockland his intentions to raise the ferry’s
fees by at least $1.00, Mr. Kuhn refused to entertain any such offer of number of cents per
vehicle. Instead, he reiterated White’s Ferry’s offer to buy a permanent easement. Because
the landing is part of Rockland’s history and its owners want to preserve Rockland as a
working farm with ongoing streams of income from the use of its land, the owners were not
interested in a permanent sale or easement.

The WBJ reports that the Kuhns are now looking to the state of Virginia to acquire the docking site through eminent domain, which could delay the opening until 2022.

Below is the full statement from Rocklands Farm:
RE: UPDATE ON STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS BETWEEN WHITE’S FERRY & ROCKLAND
FARM: ROCKLAND ASKS FOR 50 CENTS PER CAR
Rockland is a historic farm that has been owned and managed as agricultural open space by
the Rust family and its descendants since 1817. Compensation for the use of its ferry
landing would help Rockland to preserve the farmland as well as its architectural and
environmental resources.

Rockland spent many years trying to resolve a dispute with White’s Ferry, Inc. for fair
compensation of Rockland’s landing on the Virginia bank of the Potomac River. From 1952
through 2004, Rockland was paid $5.00/year for the use of its landing per the terms of a
license agreement Rockland Farm owners’ grandparents had negotiated with the owners of
White’s Ferry. Those negotiations began in 1947. Back then the ferry carried only a few
travelers per day. Ridership grew substantially in the last half of the 20th century and
White’s Ferry increased the size of the ferry boat accordingly. Since 2004, when White’s
Ferry, Inc. breached the terms of the license agreement, White’s Ferry made several million
dollars in profits while Rockland received nothing.

In November 2020, the Loudoun County Circuit Court ruled that White’s Ferry had been
trespassing on Rockland’s property since breaching the license agreement and had no right
to operate the ferry business without Rockland’s permission. Since that decision, Rockland
has been trying to negotiate with the owners of White’s Ferry for reasonable compensation
for the use of its landing. Rockland came up with several options for how to structure such
a deal but favors one suggested by two Loudoun County Board Supervisors of a fee for each
vehicle that transits its landing. White’s Ferry rejected that idea and instead made the
same offer they made at trial (before the Court ruled in Rockland’s favor) of a permanent
easement or purchase of the Virginia landing. The offer for the landing was a small fraction
of the value to the ferry operation for such permanent rights. Financial information
obtained through the court case made White’s Ferry’s diminutive offer for the landing
obvious. In turn, Rockland offered to buy the whole ferry operation.

On February 12, 2021, Rockland’s owners learned that Chuck Kuhn had entered into a
contract to purchase the ferry operation and associated land. Rockland owners were
surprised to hear of this transaction because they were literally in the process of arranging
a date to meet with White’s Ferry and County officials to discuss and finalize the terms of
Rockland’s acquisition of the Maryland landing and ferry operation. When Mr. Kuhn
announced his intention to purchase the ferry at an undisclosed price, negotiations
between White’s Ferry and Rockland immediately ended.

Rockland was hopeful that it could come to an agreement on fair compensation for the use
of its landing with Mr. Kuhn to get the ferry up and running as quickly as possible and
immediately communicated its hope for a per vehicle transit fee as an easy way to come to
terms. Though Mr. Kuhn communicated with Rockland his intentions to raise the ferry’s
fees by at least $1.00, Mr. Kuhn refused to entertain any such offer of number of cents per
vehicle. Instead, he reiterated White’s Ferry’s offer to buy a permanent easement. Because
the landing is part of Rockland’s history and its owners want to preserve Rockland as a
working farm with ongoing streams of income from the use of its land, the owners were not
interested in a permanent sale or easement.|

On February 22, Rockland proposed to Mr. Kuhn a fee of $0.50 per vehicle that transits its
landing. The terms of the deal could be settled in several different ways: from a monthly or
annual transit fee per vehicle with a long-term lease; to having the vehicle count maintained by a neutral third party; to negotiating a transit fee independent of vehicle count. Rockland also offered to purchase the ferry at the price Mr. Kuhn paid for it. To assuage Mr. Kuhn’s concerns about monthly reconciliation of vehicle counts, Loudoun County offered to count the vehicles for White’s Ferry.

Instead, Mr. Kuhn continued to push for a permanent easement and threatened to convince County, State, and Maryland officials to pursue condemnation of the Virginia landing if Rockland did not agree to his offer for a permanent easement. Mr. Kuhn gave a deadline of 5:00 PM on Friday, March 26th for Rockland to agree to his terms.

Mr. Kuhn’s offer for a permanent sale or easement of Rockland’s landing remained a small fraction of the value of the ferry operation. Given that Court records and recent P & L statements show the ferry’s net income to be several hundreds of thousands of dollars per year (even during COVID-19), Rockland felt Mr. Kuhn’s offer was not enough to make it
worth giving up permanent rights to their land. Rockland continues to assert that $0.50 per
vehicle is reasonable fee for the use of its landing.
Rockland remains open to working with White’s Ferry, County and State officials to get the ferry operating again but insists on fair compensation for the ongoing use of its landing.

Consensus Reached to Include Words “North Bethesda” in Potential White Flint Metro Name Change

On Wednesday night, Amy Ginsburg of the Friends of White Flint hosted an online discussion with County Executive Marc Elrich, Councilmember Andrew Friedson, and The Greater Bethesda Chamber to discuss the re-naming of White Flint metro station.

Ginsburg told MCM, “the approximately 60 people in attendance went from expressing a fairly even split to reaching a consensus to change the station’s name to something that included the two words – North Bethesda”

The name of the metro station is most closely associated to the old White Flint mall and current residents don’t believe it reflects the area.

Lord & Taylor, the last remnant of the mall, closed in January of this year. The rest of the mall was demolished in 2015.

The two names we’re hearing suggested the most are “North Bethesda” and “Pike District”.

Our friend Dan Reed @justupthepike had a few good suggestions:

folks want to rename the White Flint Metro station, and I got your new name right herehttps://t.co/gQZ8D578zZ pic.twitter.com/xBhKO7NCbS

— dan reed 🦀 (@justupthepike) April 2, 2021

Gaithersburg Featured Briefly (sort of) in New Blockbuster Documentary

In the 2020 documentary The Last Blockbuster, now available on Netflix, you can briefly see a return envelope with a Gaithersburg address.

The envelope is from the last days of Blockbuster when they attempted to follow the Netflix model of mail order renting.

Photo Credit: @_mdansani_

Strangely, 20897 is actually the zip code for Aspen Hill, MD.

While we have plenty of fond memories of the local Blockbusters, here at The MoCoShow we were always particularly fond of Erol’s.

Erol Onaran, a Turkish immigrant, started a video rental and electronic sales and repair company in the DMV area in the early 80s. The company, which reached 250 stores on the east coast, was sold to Blockbuster Video for $40 million in the early 90s. Click here for more on the history of Erol’s.

Last year we asked, “aside from Blockbuster, where else did you rent movies from in Montgomery County?” on Facebook. Check out some of the responses below:

https://www.facebook.com/MoCoShow/posts/2917310541706219

Remembering Sir Walter Raleigh Inn

Sir Walter Raleigh Inn is fondly remembered for being a not-so-expensive steak house with a great salad bar that was included with your meal. Suitable for a homecoming dinner or birthday celebration, the Montgomery Village location (now the site of CVS), closed back in 2005.  What many people might not know, is that Sir Walter Raleigh had multiple locations throughout the DC Metro area.

In fact, the last surviving Sir Walter Raleigh was located near College Park and was open for business all the way up until last year! During the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, the company had additional locations in Baltimore, Bethesda, Wheaton, and Alexandria, VA.

Photo of the College Park/Greenbelt location courtesy of their Facebook page.

A copy of the menu, which included prime rib, French onion soup, and lobster tails, can be found here.

Of the décor at the Wheaton location, a 1983 Washington Post review said  “The decor at the inns was stamped out of the same colonial cookie cutter: the white frame “house” exterior with the electric candles in the imitation upstairs windows. The dark wood tables and the wainscotting. The pale stucco walls adorned with the collection of old farm implements, or pieces thereof. Stamped out or not, this is a comfortable place. The candlelight gives a soft glow and the carpeting yields relatively soft acoustics.”

A 1991 Baltimore Sun review said of the White Marsh location, “As enticing as the aroma was, the taste was even better. Seldom does beef served in Eastern restaurants reach this Midwestern level of tenderness and taste. “Mouth-watering” comes to mind. It was served with an equally good whipped horseradish sauce.”

While there are no more locations in the DMV, we were able to locate a Sir Walter Raleigh Inn at 22 High Street EX9 7ED East Budleigh in the United Kingdom! We spoke to someone from the UK Pub and he told us that they are a “small pub in the village where Sir Walter Raleigh was born and spent his childhood!”

Sir Walter Raleigh in England

What are some your memories of Sir Walter Raleigh Inn?

Glen Echo Carousel Celebrates 100 Years

The Dentzel Carousel is celebrating it’s 100th anniversary this year and Glen Echo Park is hosting a series of special events on their website starting February 18th.

One of the featured events will be with Ilana Trachman, who’s upcoming documentary “There Aint No Back to a Merry-Go-Round” tells the story of how the Glen Echo Amusement Park became integrated in 1961. You can register for the event here.

Additional details about the February 18th launch event:

LIVE Carousel 100th Anniversary Launch Event!  |  February 18 at 12:30pm (approximately 20 minutes)

Join us on February 18 at 12:30 pm for a LIVE launch event to kick off the Carousel 100th Anniversary Celebration!  We will be live here on our website, on YouTube and on Facebook to tell you about the exciting activities and events we’ve planned for the months-long Carousel 100th Anniversary celebration.

We’ll be live from the carousel building with Emcee Liz Dapo from the Puppet Co. and her sidekick (you’ll see when you tune in!), as well as Glen Echo Park Partnership Executive Director Katey Boerner and Partnership Board President Bonnie Casper. We will also have special messages from Senator Chris VanHollen, Congressman Jamie Raskin, Maryland Delegate Marc Korman, Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson, and other special guests!

You will hear about what we have planned from February through September to celebrate our beloved carousel’s 100th birthday! Including virtual lectures on the history and restoration of the carousel, summer family weekend activities, social media contests, carousel anniversary merchandise, a fundraising campaign, and the premieres of three short films that will feature personal stories reflecting the unique and enduring role the carousel has played in the community for a century.

RSVP HERE

Breaking: Historic White’s Ferry Sold

A deal was made official yesterday for the purchase of White’s Ferry, the adjacent store, and the portion of Maryland shoreline used for operations, to Chuck and Stacy Kuhn, owners of JK Moving Services.

The Kuhns are working with the owners of Rockland Farm to restore service to and from Virginia.  They hope to either buy the Virginia landing site or come to an agreement with Rockland Farm to ensure that future ferry service is not disrupted.

White’s Ferry had ceased operations back on December 28th over a legal dispute with Rockland Farms. 

Chuck Kuhn, owner JK Moving Services

In a statement released this evening, Chuck Kuhn said “The previous owners of White’s Ferry have done a remarkable job serving the community.”

“They have sold the ferry with the hopes that we would have a better chance of opening the ferry than he did. We look forward to bringing a fresh perspective to the ferry, enhancing the experience for riders and making a number of upgrades to the store.”

White’s Ferry Grill, the locally owned restaurant at White’s Ferry, will continue to operate.

Read the full press release below:

STERLING, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Chuck Kuhn, founder and CEO of JK Moving Services, and his wife Stacy Kuhn, have come to terms on a purchase of White’s Ferry in Leesburg, Virginia, helping protect an important Potomac River crossing with a long history. Established in 1786, the Ferry ceased operation in December 2020. Kuhn will be working with Peter Brown, the majority owner of Rockland Farm, in an effort to get the ferry reopened to the nearly 800 daily users.

“White’s Ferry represents a piece of our region’s past as an early commerce route that built and sustained local economies and remains so today. This fits with my family’s interest in conserving land and history as well as supporting business and the local communities. White’s Ferry has provided an important and scenic transportation alternative to the swelling demands on our local roads,” explained Kuhn. “We look forward to working with nearby landowners and local jurisdictions to make this viable for the region.”

Kuhn finalized the purchase terms on February 11, 2021, which includes the ferry, the store, and the Maryland shoreline that supports the ferry operation. Necessary repairs to the ferry and property are taking place immediately and replacement cables are on site to fix the ferry following December storm damage and are ready for install as soon as reasonable terms are negotiated with Peter Brown and Rockland Farm on the Virginia side. The goal is to purchase the Virginia land site or negotiate a permanent easement with Rockland Farm so that the ferry never ceases operating again. The ferry can be operational within seven days of being granted Virginia shore rights.

“The previous owners of White’s Ferry have done a remarkable job serving the community,” commented Kuhn. “They have sold the ferry with the hopes that we would have a better chance of opening the ferry than he did. We look forward to bringing a fresh perspective to the ferry, enhancing the experience for riders and making a number of upgrades to the store.”

The Kuhns will begin working with the Coast Guard, Loudoun County, Montgomery County and the owner Rockland Farm to open the ferry. The Kuhns plan to make a number of upgrades to the ferry over the next few years, bringing more operational and environmental efficiencies to improve services and preserve a piece of history.

Other ways that Kuhn, his family and his company have protected local landmarks and supported the community include:

• Purchasing Westpark with the intention of placing 135 of those acres into a conservation easement for a park and to protect the open space from future development.
• Partnering with Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy to buy and place into conservation easement an 87-acre parcel of land in northern Loudoun County called Stumptown Woods that has more native species of plants and wildlife indigenous to Loudoun and Virginia than is typical.
• Starting the JK Community Farm, a charitable effort designed to alleviate hunger by growing and harvesting crops and livestock and donating them to local foodbanks, on 150 acres of conserved land in Purcellville.
• Buying the historic Middleburg Training Center, which was placed into conservation easement and is now fully renovated.
• Purchasing and placing several thousand acres near Loudoun’s historic villages into easement, including Egypt Farm–which had been previously owned by developers, the historic Wolver Hill farm in Middleburg, and recently three farms outside the town of Waterford.

As the founder of JK Moving Services–the largest independently owned and operated moving company in North America, Kuhn employs nearly 1,100 people—a majority of which live in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. The company and Kuhn have won numerous awards, including being recognized by the Washington Business Journal as a Best Place to Work and Top Corporate Philanthropist, Loudoun Chamber as a Community Leader, and Old Dominion Land Conservancy for its conservation efforts.

Former Congresswoman Connie Morella Turns 90

Montgomery County’s Connie Morella turns 90 years old on February 12th.  Morella was well known for being a beloved Republican elected in a heavily Democratic district, often winning reelection with over 70% of the vote.

Morella represented Maryland’s 8th District in the House of Representatives from 1986 until 2003. In 2002 she lost an extremely close race to Chris Van Hollen, who now serves as the junior U.S. senator from Maryland.

Born in Massachusetts, Connie Morella moved to Bethesda after marrying her husband Anthony Morella. She taught for Montgomery County Public Schools from 1957 to 1961 and taught courses at Montgomery College in Rockville throughout the 1970’s and 80’s.

The Bethesda Library at 7400 Arlington Rd. was renamed Connie Morella Library in 2018.

Morella remains active and engaged in national and international issues to this day.

You can read a complete history of her political career at https://history.house.gov/People/Detail/18513?fbclid=IwAR3TfjOuewS5fdXHBp-mszq0OpCl0WGTSL3OcVOc2z14ppYgBGmjrWU-iVs

Victor Litz Celebrates 60 Years

This year, Victor Litz Music Center in Olde Town Gaithersburg is celebrating 60 years in business.

Founder Victor Litz, an accountant and musician in the Washington Metro area, opened Victor Litz Music in Olde Towne Gaithersburg in 1961.  He taught private lessons at the music store as well group lessons for the City of Gaithersburg.

In the late 1960s, the store moved to a new location at 305 N. Frederick Avenue.  This location was an old house that they worked out of for nearly 30 years. Eventually they out-grew the building and opened a showroom down the street at 506 N. Frederick Ave while the other location held the music lessons.

In 1999 they moved to their current location at 306 E Diamond Ave in Olde Town Gaithersburg, formerly a Ben Franklin craft store.