Maryland Community Newspapers Online
The 22nd annual Train Day will roll into the Damascus Library from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.
Train Day is organized by librarian Anita Fry, whose husband and son are train enthusiasts.
"It's his favorite day of the year," she said of her husband. "The look on the kids' faces just makes his day."
Come see more than 10 model train displays, ranging from Lego sets to N-gauge trains.
The First Fruits Band will play train music in the lobby all day. Preschoolers can hear a train story at 10:30 a.m. The movie "The Little Engine that Could" will be shown during storytime.
Train T-shirts and engineer hats will be on sale for $8 each.
The Damascus Senior Center will offer a hobo lunch featuring hot dogs and chips from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Senior Center holiday gift shop will also be open.
For more information, call the library at 240-773-9444. The library is located at 9701 Main St.
Remembering those who serve
Everyone is invited to join Damascus American Legion Post 171 in observing Veteran's Day at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 11 at the post home, 10207 Lewis Drive.
The Damascus High School choirs will sing a medley of patriotic songs, followed at 11 a.m. by a service of remembrance. The keynote speaker will be state Sen. Rona E. Kramer (D-Dist. 14) of Olney. Lunch will be served after the program.
DTC holding auditions
The Damascus Theatre Company will hold auditions for its winter musical, "I Love You, You're Perfect Now Change," Monday and Tuesday at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road.
Callbacks if needed will be on Nov. 11.
"I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" is a musical comedy about relationships — the journey from dating, love and marriage to the agonies and triumphs of in-laws and newborns, family trips and the pickup techniques of the geriatric set.
Two to three men and two to three women will be cast.
The show will be directed by Celia Blitzer, produced by Elli Swink, and choreographed by Stephanie Miller.
Performances will be held Feb. 5-21 at the Arts Barn.
To schedule an appointment for an audition, call 301-253-6210.
For more information visit www.damascustheatre.org.
Dinner and Christmas Bazaar set for Saturday
Damascus United Methodist Church will hold its annual turkey and oyster dinner and Christmas Bazaar Saturday at the church, 9700 New Church St.
The bazaar will feature arts and crafts, a bake sale, a country store, Christmas items, a Kids' Korner, dried flowers, a silent auction and nuts. It will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Dinner will be served from noon until they run out of oysters. The cost is $14 for adults, $6 for children and $15 for carryout.
Damascus soccer girls
give back
A Damascus Soccer Club girls team took time away from the field last month to help those in need in the community.
The Sparks, a sixth- through eighth-grade recreational soccer team, packed 192 boxes of food at the Manna Food Center in Gaithersburg on Oct. 25.
"These girls work hard on the soccer field, so I'm very proud to see them working just as hard here at Manna," said Kerry Uyak, coach of the Sparks and a vice president of the Damascus Soccer Club. "With the holidays coming, it's an especially important time to help families in our community."
On campus
-Abiye Lawrence Ibiebele was recently named an Ervin Scholar at Washington University in St. Louis. The scholarship is awarded to freshman who demonstrate exceptional intellectual and leadership achievements and who have shown a commitment to community service and can demonstrate a commitment to bringing diverse people together. Ibiebele, a 2009 graduate of Clarksburg High School, is the son of Christiana and Nemi Ibiebele of Boyds.
Sponsors needed
for Holiday Giving
Each year communities reach out during the Thanksgiving and December holidays to provide meals and gifts to families in need.
Faith Connections and Damascus Help work together to coordinate the Holiday Giving Program for the Damascus-Clarksburg area. The organizations recruit sponsors to provide food and gifts and then match them with a family in need.
With so many people facing financial hardships, organizers are expecting more than 300 families to register for holiday assistance this year, so more sponsors are needed. In the past, sponsors have been local churches, businesses, civic organizations and individual families.
To learn more about the program, call Faith Connections at 301-483-0522 or e-mail Jill@Faith-Connections.org
Monetary donations and gift card donations may be sent to Faith Connections, P.O. Box 28, Damascus, MD 20872.
‘Scouting for Food' collections begin next week
This November Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts will participate in their yearly "Scouting for Food" project. Scouts will be making the rounds, knocking on doors and asking residents for donations of nonperishable food to benefit the county's needy.
Beginning Saturday, scouts will deliver "Scouting for Food" bags throughout their neighborhoods. On Nov. 14, the scouts will return to collect the bags that residents can fill with food donations. Much of the food collected will be delivered to the Manna Food Center in Rockville, a nonprofit group that fights hunger in the community. Nearly 40 percent of those who will benefit from the donations are children.
Scouts have taken on similar endeavors in past years and have collected thousands of pounds of food. Others scouting districts in the National Capital Area are also taking on the project.
Food donations can also dropped off from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Germantown Safeway at Route 118 and Middlebrook Road. Contact Jim Hardter at jhardter@msn.com.
Volunteer to ring a bell
The Salvation Army National Capital Area Command is seeking volunteer bell ringers to help in the upcoming Red Kettle campaign.
Volunteers are needed on Saturdays, Nov. 14 through Dec. 19.
Visit www.SalArmyDC.org or call Lamont Thompson at 202-756-2644.
Reading volunteers needed
Help second-graders at Cedar Grove, Germantown, Dr. Sally K. Ride, Stedwick, Summit Hall and Watkins Mill elementary schools improve their reading.
Three Montgomery County nonprofits, the George B. Thomas Learning Academy, Interages, and Passion for Learning, are seeking volunteer tutors for the "Ruth Rales-Comcast Kids Reading Network Program."
The weekly tutoring session may take place before, during or after school. Training and support, and tutoring materials and books will be provided. For details, call 301-279-3890 or www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/
readingnetwork.
Items appropriate for People and Places must be received by 5 p.m. Thursday for consideration for the following week. They can be mailed to The Damascus-Clarksburg Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; sent by fax to 301-670-7183; or e-mailed to ssingerbart@gazette.net.