MoCo Pride

The City of Rockville’s Human Rights Commission will celebrate the sixth annual Rockville Pride with a virtual event on Sunday, June 5, from 2-3:30pm. According to the event’s website, the virtual event will be interactive and will include LGBTQ+ resources and breakout room discussions of LGBTQ+ topics. There will be two breakout room sessions, with four topics to choose from. During each breakout session, participants can choose between these four rooms to join. There will be a prompt for each room and HRC members will moderate these open discussions.

Rockville celebrates Pride Month in June. This year, the City of Rockville’s Human Rights Commission will celebrate the sixth annual Rockville Pride with a virtual event on Sunday June 5, 2022 and a celebration in Rockville Town Square Park from 2-4 p.m. Saturday, June 26, 2022. Interested in performing or becoming a sponsor? Contact Ali Hoy at 240-314-8304 or [email protected]. Find more information about Pride, as details become available, at www.rockvillemd.gov/pride.


Restaurants

Today, May 25th, all high school and college seniors can receive a free dozen doughnuts at Krispy Kreme locations nationwide, including the one at 14919 Shady Grove Rd. in Rockville. According to Krispy Kreme, any senior who wears Class of 2022 swag – from shirts and jackets to graduation cap and gown – can get a “Senior Day Dozen” FREE at participating shops while supplies last.

Krispy Kreme’s free Senior Day Dozen features eight Original Glazed® doughnuts and four custom 2022 doughnuts:


Beyond MoCo

The Oceans Calling Festival will be taking place on the Ocean City Boardwalk from September 30-October 2. The three day music and art festival is being put together in partnership with Rockville natives O.A.R, who will also be performing several sets at the event. The festival is headlined by Dave Matthew’s Band, Alanis Morissette, and The Lumineers. Rapper Logic, who is from Gaithersburg, is also scheduled to perform. Celebrity Chef’s Andrew Zimmern and Robert Irvine will also be appearing at the event. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, May 25 at 12pm and there is currently a sweepstakes to win platinum tickets to the festival and a chance to go on a Ferris Wheel ride with the members of O.A.R.

The members of O.A.R. met each other while attending Wootton High School in Rockville. They would play together at the Grand Marquis in Onley and pass out CDs to other students at school. After high school the band went to Ohio State, using Columbus’ nightlife to build the O.A.R.’s reputation. The band even came back to Wootton High School and played a concert on the football field, back in May of 2001. They achieved their biggest commercial success with the single “Shattered (Turn the Car Around) in 2008.


MoCo Police

On Tuesday, May 10, 2022, The V&I Unit were conducting surveillance at the Rockville Hotel, located at 3 Research Court, when detectives observed a black Chevrolet Tahoe that appeared to be an unmarked police vehicle. To ensure that they were not hindering another police investigation, detectives contacted the hotel to determine who the vehicle belonged to.

During their investigation, detectives determined that the vehicle was registered to Taber who identified himself as an “agent” when he checked into the hotel. He displayed what hotel staff believed to be law enforcement identification and stated that his “government issued vehicle” needed to be parked in front of the hotel. Through further investigation, it was determined that Taber was not an “agent” and falsely identified himself as such.


Restaurants

BoBaPop Tea Bar has opened up inside the Kyoto Matcha location at 33 Maryland Ave Unit A in Rockville Town Center.  According to a post on Kyoto’s Instagram page, “We’re so excited to announce that we have Bobapop-Teabar joining our Rockville location! Come and try our refreshing drinks and pair it with a delicious dessert from Kyo Matcha.” BoBaPoP opened its location at 312 Main Street in the Kentlands in 2018 and was the first of the Vietnamese based company’s stores to open in the United States. BoBaPop opened their second MoCo location at 19847 Century Blvd, Unit J in Germantown, the former site of August 32, back in November.  The company has over 150 stores worldwide.

Kyoto Matcha opened its Rockville location in 2019. Their menu features ice cream, cakes, soba, mochi, and more flavored with matcha, purple sweet potato (ube), rose, maple, and other Japanese delicacies.  According to their website, Kyoto Matcha, is an international chain of Matcha desserts that is “dedicated to creating top-quality raw materials. Due to the influence of the Japanese-style matcha culture, the Kyoto Matcha is based on the brand mission of “Let the Tea Return to the Forest”, rooted in the traditional Japanese tea culture and dedicated to the promotion of Matcha culture.”  Kyoto has an additional MoCo location at 967 Rose Ave in North Bethesda.


Rockville

Signage up at the upcoming Homesense at 12013 Rockville Pike in Rockville, the former site of A.C. Moore. Homesense is owned by the same company that owns HomeGoods, Marshalls, and TJ Maxx. Cosmopolitan magazine describes Homesense as “HomeGoods on steroids.” The chain sells furniture, rugs, lighting, kitchenware, home décor, and books.

According to it’s website, “We travel the world to bring savvy home curators an ever-changing selection and exceptional savings for every corner of their home,” and “explore a new home décor store with aisles of unexpected finds, and an ever-changing selection of famous brands and global discoveries—all with genuine value. Homesense is part of the HomeGoods family.” No opening date has been announced.


Bethesda

The upcoming HalfSmoke location in Montgomery Mall is scheduled to open in “about four weeks”, according to a representative from the restaurant. HalfSmoke will be located in a kiosk in the food terrace that was the former home of Coldstone Creamery and more recently Gelato Galaxy. This will be the first restaurant/bar in the food court to serve alcohol. The menu will consist of the best selling sausages and sides from their DC location, as well as boozy milkshakes and a funnel cake bar. HalfSmokes sister restaurant Butter Me Up opened its Montgomery Mall location last week. Butter Me Up is located in the old Aroma Espresso Bar location, which is downstairs near the Old Navy entrance and features “instagrammable” decor, will offer a menu that consists of a variety of breakfast sandwiches, toasts, sides, bowls, smoothies, and juices.

HalfSmoke was the first restaurant of its kind to serve gourmet sausages via an assembly line format. Its sausages and toppings can be fully customized to create over 50,000 variations. The HalfSmoke menu also features craft beer, mac and cheese balls, tater tots, milkshakes, funnel cakes, wine, cocktails, and more.  HalfSmoke is also planning to open a Rockville Town Square location sometime this year.


View More Stories