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Don't do all your spring cleaning inside! Head outside and join Landscape and Nature Discoveries Inc. on weekend clean-ups of roads you drive, bike or jog down every day.

Last year, more than 50 volunteers removed 300 bags of litter from more than 11 miles of upcounty roads, according to Garth and Amy Seely, who run LAND. The group is dedicated to teaching young people about nature by taking a closer look at the landscape around them.

The 2008 effort was "just the beginning of our ‘litter awareness' campaign," the Seelys wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette. "We figured if we did 11 miles last year we will set a goal of 15 this year."

This year's clean-ups are rain or shine 1-3 p.m. Saturday and March 28. On Saturday, the group will tackle Route 109 from Poolesville to Beallsville to Barnesville. Meet at the Healthworks parking lot, 19942 Fisher Ave. On March 28, the group will meet at the Barnesville School, 21830 Peach Tree Road, and focus its efforts on Barnesville Road. LAND and volunteers worked along Route 107 in Poolesville on March 14.

Wear long pants and boots and dress according to the weather. To register, e-mail garth@landandnature.org or call 301-972-7266. Students can earn student service learning hours. 

A sk8ers thanks

A group of skateboarders from Poolesville presented Sen. Robert J. Garagiola (D-Dist. 15) of Germantown with a T-shirt earlier this month as a thank you for supporting a proposed skate park in town.

The youths gave the state senator a signed shirt that read "Help Us Help Our Kids, Support A SkatePark for Poolesville" in front of Selby's Market in Poolesville on March 7. Poolesville's commissioners voted to build a skate park in town, pending funding and approval of a design, three days later.  

"Sen. Garagiola was a strong supporter and helped secure a [state Program] Open Space grant for the land for the proposed skate park; the skaters really wanted to show Sen. Garagiola their appreciation," Poolesville Parks Board member Butch Zachrel, whose sons skateboard, wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette.

"For many of these kids this is their first time meeting and talking with their representative and they are looking forward to getting more involved with the process."

Help a family in need

John Poole Middle School is collecting donations for a Poolesville family displaced by a fire last month.

A fire broke out in the family's two-and-a-half story farmhouse in the 20900 block of Westerly Road around 7:15 a.m. on Feb. 24, according to Pete Piringer, a county Fire and Rescue Services spokesman. The fire is believed to have started between a wood-burning stove and a chimney, he said.

There were no injuries, but the blaze caused $205,000 in damages, Piringer said. The family of six — including two grown children, a child at Poolesville Elementary school and a child at Poolesville High School  — was displaced.

The family is in need of gift cards for when they begin replacing the items they lost, said Coree Ogden, a secretary at John Poole. The Poolesville school's PTA is also collecting clothes for the family, which can be dropped off at the school. Needed are girls' pants (sizes 8 and 22), shirts (medium and 2x), shoes (size 11), pajamas (size 8 or medium), socks and sports clothes like shorts and sweatpants; boys' shirts (large) and pants (40 with a 32-inch inseam); women's pants (size 18) and shirts (XL); and men's shirts (XXL) and pants (42 with a 30 inseam).

Drop items off during school hours at 17014 Tom Fox Ave.

Rock out 

High school bands will compete for prizes at the 20th annual Battle of the Bands 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. on Saturday in the cafeteria on the terrace level of the Executive Office Building, 101 Monroe St., Rockville. 

Bands scheduled to perform include: A Bun Dance, from Northwest High School (Ska); Aftermath, from Thomas Wootton High School (alternative rock); Frequontrol, from Quince Orchard and Thomas Wootton high schools (rap/metal); Metrophish, Walter Johnson High School (alternative rock); Optimum Trip, Gaithersburg, Watkins Mill and Clarksburg high schools (hip-hop/rock); and Stoney Bottom, from Seneca Valley and Northwest high schools (rock).

Admission is $10 and canned food donations will be accepted. Concertgoers must attend a county high school or middle school.  School identification is required.

The Battle of the Bands is presented by the Montgomery County Department of Recreation and the County Executive's Youth Advisory Committee. Other sponsors include Drawing the Line on Under 21 Alcohol Use, Sheffield Studios, Victor Litz Music Center and Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center.

Students requiring special assistance, should call 240-777-6985.

Kudos

Members of the Gaithersburg/

Germantown Junior Chamber were honored by the Maryland Jaycees last month.

Jason Silverberg of Gaithersburg was named as Chapter Management Vice President of the Month for October 2008; Katie Skinker of Germantown was named as 2009 New Jaycee of the Year; Sarah Knetzer of Rockville received the 2009 "Unsung Hero" award and Blair Learn of Germantown was named as 2009 Associate Member of the Year.

For more information about the group, visit www.ggjaycees.org or call 301-230-4930.

We salute

U.S. Navy Lt. Kori Levy-Minzie, son of Rudolph Minzie and Tangerine Levy of Germantown, was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal on Feb. 13. The award was given in recognition of his performance of his duties while serving as Training Officer and Executive Department Head aboard the USS Oak Hill from August 2007 to February 2009.

Levy-Minzie, a 2000 graduate of Northwest High School and the Naval ROTC program at Seneca Valley High School , returned from a seven -month tour of duty in the Persian Gulf in October, according to an e-mail from his mother. He is a 2004 graduate of Florida A & M University. 

The good ole days

The Gaithersburg-Germantown Chamber of Commerce is celebrating 60 years. As part of that celebration, the group is seeking past and present Germantown Chamber of Commerce board members to gather and reflect on accomplishments, growth and business. Visit the group's April Business Networking Before Nine at 7:30 a.m. April 2 at the BlackRock Center for the Arts, 12901 Town Commons Drive, Germantown. If you are a former Germantown Chamber of Commerce board member or know a former board member, call the chamber at 301-840-1400, ext. 14 or ext. 17.

Financial forum

Meet financial lenders at a free forum at the Germantown Innovation Center at Montgomery College on March 27. Learn how to improve your credit and how to create an effective business plan at the forum, 9:30 a.m. to noon at the center, 20271 Goldenrod Lane, 2nd floor, Germantown.

It is sponsored by the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development, the state Department of Business and Economic Development's office of Small Business and local lending institutions.

Register by Monday by e-mailing Jacqueline.arnold@montgomerycountymd.gov.

Teens featured in ballet

Montgomery County high school seniors Beth Griffin of Walt Whitman, Laura Huff of Northwest, Dana Lipowsky of Thomas S. Wootton, Esme Pierzchala of Richard Montgomery and Olivia Serrill of Seneca Valley high schools were featured in Metropolitan Ballet Theatre's 20th annual spring performance on March 14.

The studdents, along with a cast of 35 danced in "Sleeping Beauty: a fairy's tale," MBT's portrayal of the classic storybook ballet, as well as other new company works by local choreographers Suzanne Erlon, Derrick Spear and Kathy Harty Gray.

Share your good news! Send submissions to Melissa A. Chadwick via e-mail at mchadwick@gazette.net, fax at 301-670-7183 or mail to The Germantown-Boyds-Poolesville Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877. Photos will be considered.