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The 17th annual Oktoberfest, an annual free event sponsored by the city of Gaithersburg and the Kentlands Citizens Assembly. This year's fun will be held from noon to 4 p.m. on Oct. 12 at the Kentlands Village Green, 320 Kent Square Road.

A free wheelchair accessible shuttle service will run regularly during festival hours from the Global Exchange Services building at the corner of Main Street and Route 28.

There will be horse-drawn hayrides, pumpkin painting, Bavarian food and beer, as well as performances by the Alte Kameraden German Band and Alt-Washingtonia Bavarian Dancers. Lederhosen and dirndls are optional, according to a city statement.

The festival will feature booths representing local merchants, organizations, artists and artisans. More than 100 artists will showcase their work at the City Art Shop in the Arts Barn next to the Village Green.

FLUMPA, Live! a children's entertainment program featuring a blue-eyed red-footed tree frog and his friends, will perform on the outdoor Family Stage, while dancers from Studio C perform on the Arts Ban Theater Stage. Also performing on both stages are The Kentlands Community Children's Chorus, the Damascus Theater Group, the Day Dream Dance Performance Company from Day Dream Studio in Gaithersburg and Upbeat Unlimited, a children's musical theater ensemble from Rockville.

The event includes kiddie fun such as pony rides, a moon bounce, face painting, recycling art projects and other activities. For more information, call 301-258-6350 or visit

www.gaithersburgmd.gov.

Collect Christmas ornaments?

The Montgomery Village Kiwanis Club is selling the "2008 White House Benjamin Harrison Ornament," which honor the twenty-third president of the United States and provide a glimpse of the first Christmas tree ever documented in the White House.

The cost of each ornament is $22. Profits will benefit First Book, a nonprofit that aims to eliminate illiteracy in Montgomery County. For more information, contact Liz Jackson at 301-840-0314.

Campus Congratulations

Sonya Brown of Gaithersburg graduated in May from Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Art exhibit

Jeanne Powell of Montgomery Village will present her landscape paintings of local areas in Maryland; Penobscot Bay, Maine; Elbow Cay, Bahamas; Connemara, Ireland; Florence, Italy; and Santorini, Greece Oct. 11-12 at the Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery.

The gallery is at Glen Echo Park, just off MacArthur Boulevard at Oxford Road, across from the Glen Echo Shopping Center near Bethesda.

The gallery, which is open from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, will host a reception in Powell's honor from 5 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 11..

Powell's "plein air" landscapes and cityscapes have been accepted in eight juried shows sponsored by the Yellow Barn and Gaithersburg Fine Arts Association and won first prize in the 2006 annual Montgomery Village Art Show, second prizes in 2008 and 2005 and honorable mentions in 2007 and 2005.

For more information, call the Yellow Barn Studio and Gallery at 301-371-5593 or the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture Inc. at 301-634-2222.

Senior pin busters

S-T-R-I-K-E! The city's parks department announces the Senior Pin Busters informal bowling program for those 50 and older.

The group will meet from 3 to 5 p.m. on Mondays at Bowl America, 1101 Clopper Road in Gaithersburg. All levels of bowlers are welcome. The $7.75 cost each week, includes three games, shoe rentals and coffee and tea.

Registration forms are available at the Activity Center and at the Upcounty Senior Center in Gaithersburg. For more information and a registration form, call Pam Truxal at 301-258-6350 or e-mail ptruxal@gaithersburgmd.gov.

Looking for literature lovers to help others

The Literacy Council of Montgomery County will hold an orientation session for volunteers interested in helping adults learn to read, write, or speak English at 10: 30 a.m. Thursday, at the Rockville Library, 21 Maryland Ave. Sessions are also scheduled at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, at the Gaithersburg Library, 18330 Montgomery Village Ave. in Gaithersburg and Oct. 29 at the Wheaton Library, 11701 Georgia Ave.

For more information, call the council at 301-610-0030, e-mail info@literacycouncilmc

md.org, or visit www.literacy

councilmcmd.org.

Submissions for People and Places must be received by 10 a.m. Thursday. Send submissions to Patricia M. Murret via e-mail at pmurret@gazette.net, fax at 301-670-7183 or mail to The Gaithersburg-Montgomery Village Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.