Holiday items, jewelry, stuffed animals and decorations go on sale Saturday at the Damascus Senior Center.

The annual holiday sale, supported by the Damascus Senior Center Sponsors, helps support activities at the center.

Opening-day hours are 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The sale will be open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Dec. 23.

The gift shop is in the Senior Center, 9701 Main St., in the same building as the Damascus Library. For information, call 240-777-6995.

Old Country Store exhibit opening at the museum

From the 1800s through the mid-1900s, the country store was an important part of the social and economic lives of its customers.

It was the hub of the community, serving as a marketplace, bank and recreation center. People used the country store as a source of credit and a public forum.

The Damascus Heritage Society has uncovered artifacts from 12 local stores for its exhibit, Old Country Store.

Come see the exhibit, which opens today, and reminisce about days gone by, President Linda Olsen said in an email.

“We are fortunate in the Damascus area to have had numerous country stores … and even more fortunate to have three of those stores not only still standing, but still operating and doing a brisk business,” she said.

Olsen and her husband, Ray, drove to Pennsylvania to pick up items from Steve Hawkins. Two branches of the Hawkins family owned and operated Etchison Store and Woodfield Store for more than 70 years. Both are still in business today, although no longer in the Hawkins family.

Country stores sold everything from swaddling clothes to coffins, from plow shares to Christmas candy, from patent medicines to corsets. The storekeeper was all things to his community.

You will find a pot-bellied stove from Clarksburg, a Sunshine Biscuit stand from Etchison, and many cans from local canneries that would have been stocked on store shelves.

The museum is open from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays and by appointment. It is located in a portable trailer in the Damascus Senior Center parking lot at 9701 Main St.

The exhibit will run through March. Call 301-253-1811.

Three companies present ‘Love Letters’ at Arts Barn

The Arts Barn Theatre in Gaithersburg, in partnership with Damascus Theatre Company, Montgomery Playhouse and Kensington Arts Theatre, will present nine performances of “Love Letters” by A.R. Gurney.

Over three November weekends, each company will provide its own creativity and interpretation of the production.

The Damascus Theatre Company will perform the show Friday through Sunday, starring Marni Ratner Whelan and David Fialkoff on Friday, M.L. George and Hugh Gordon on Saturday, and Lavin Kelly and Chris Penick on Sunday.

Performances are 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.

Montgomery Playhouse will present its version Nov. 11-13. Kensington Arts Theatre will wrap up the run Nov.18-20.

Admission is $15 for the general public, $13 for Gaithersburg city residents. The show is suitable for ages 12 and older. Parental guidance is suggested.

The Arts Barn is located at 311 Kent Square Road in Gaithersburg. For more information and tickets, call 301-258-6394 or visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/artsbarn.

Damascus Theatre Company’s ‘Oliver’ to take to the stage Nov. 11

The Damascus Theatre Company will take the historic stage at the Olney Theatre next weekend with the musical “Oliver.”

A cast of 40, including 17 children, will perform in the musical that features the classic songs "Food, Glorious Food," "I'd Do Anything," "Where is Love?" and "As Long as He Needs Me.”

This will be the first time the company is on the historic stage, said co-producer Peggy May. The Damascus company has performed in Olney’s black box theater but needed a bigger stage for the large cast of this production, she said.

“It’s going to be kind of fun to be on the historic stage in the real theater center,” she said. “It will be a really great experience for the children, too.”

Katherine Judge of Rockville stars as the orphan boy who escapes from the orphanage only to end up in the company of pickpockets. This is the 9-year-old’s first show.

“She’s a talented little girl,” May said.

Other newcomers include Ron Schwartz of Gaithersburg and his sons, Eli, 11, and Johan, 9. Eli appeared in the DTC Kids spring show, “Aladdin.”

A few of those involved in the production appeared in the show when the company last performed “Oliver” in 1999.

Assistant director and choreographer Megan May of Damascus was one of Fagin’s gang the last time around. Mickey Goldstein of Silver Spring played Mr. Bumble before and this time is Fagin. Frieda Enoch of Gaithersburg will reprise her role as the Widow Corney. Mary McConnell of Gaithersburg was on stage last time as Mrs. Sowerberry. This time she is the musical director.

“It’s coming together really well,” May said. “It’s going to be great. It’s fun. It’s ‘Oliver.’”

Director Keith Tittermary of Rockville is mounting a production that is inspired more by the Charles Dickens’ novel “Oliver Twist” than the original stage and movie versions.

“I always felt that original stage musical and movie was too “musical theater” for a dark story like this,” he wrote in the director’s note.

The Olney Theatre Center is located at 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road. Performances are 8 p.m. Nov. 11, 12, 17, 18 and 19 and 2 p.m. Nov. 12, 13 and 20.

The audience is asked to bring canned, nonperishable food to the Nov. 12 and 13 matinees for the Damascus Help food pantry.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $18 for seniors and students through grade 12. To purchase tickets in advance, go to mycommunityevents.com. Tickets also are available at the door.

For information, call 301-253-6210 or visit damascustheatre.org.

Hospice Caring director honored

Jeannette Mendonca of Damascus, executive director of Hospice Caring Inc.of Gaithersburg, was honored for her distinguished performance.

Former State Sen. Rona Kramer presented Mendonca with the Marie Ferington Social Action Award on Oct. 21 at the District 14 Democratic Club Annual Black Tie Awards Dinner, which was held at The Inn at Brookeville Farms.

The award recognizes Mendonca’s extraordinary and distinguished performance and included a citation from the Maryland General Assembly, a certificate of recognition and appreciation from County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) and a special commemorative poem by former Hospice Caring executive director Lisa McKillop.