LIFE ON THE AVENUE What’s new, what’s old and what’s coming on Route 1. PAGE 4
New principal joins Hyattsville Elementary by Susie Currie
Anyone heading down Jefferson Street towards Route 1 can see that big changes are in store for Hyattsville Elementary School. By the time school starts next month, a new retaining wall and fence should be in place, along with an upgraded entrance on 43rd Avenue. And inside, a new principal will greet students on the first day of school. Julia Burton, one of 35 new county principals named in June, started at Hyattsville Elementary on July 3 – shortly after her plane landed. “My supervisor picked me up at the airport and we came straight here,” said the Iowa native in an interview on her second day on the job. There is plenty of settling in to do – at press time, she was still house-hunting, with plans to move to the area with her two dogs later this month. Burton is starting her 30th year working in the education field. For the first half of her career, she taught Advanced Placement English to high-school juniors and seniors. Then she taught students in the Talented and Gifted Program, eventually moving into an administrative role as director of the TAG department for the Des Moines Public Schools. She
HANDMADE MEETS HIGH-TECH
No one wanted to believe it could happen here, either. But it did. PAGE 7
Hometown artists use website to enter global marketplace. PAGE 4
Hyattsville Life&Times
Vol. 9 No. 7
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
July 2012
BLOWN AWAY
CATIE CURRIE The surprise derecho that hit June 29 ripped off part of a roof at Top of the Park apartments and brought down a window-shattering tree on a car parked on Hamilton Street.
Surprise storms leave damage, power outages in their wake by Susie Currie
Until last month, many of us had never heard the words “microburst” or “derecho.” But that was before two storms a week apart felled
trees, ripped off roofs, rained hail and cut the power to millions of homes and businesses in nine states. On Friday, June 22, a microburst hit the area, bringing horizontal rain, debilitating
winds, and “hail the size of golf balls,” according to lifelong Hyattsville resident Richard Klank, who found some of the frozen spheres STORMS continued on page 13
End of an era: Professional Carry Out to close by Paula Minaert
Hyattsville Life & Times PO Box 132 Hyattsville, MD 20781
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PRINCIPAL continued on page 12
BEFORE SANDUSKY
PAULA MINAERT
There will be an empty spot in Hyattsville at the end of this month: The Professional Carry Out, long beloved by many residents, will close its doors July 31. The owners, Hyun Joong Shin and Song Hee Shin, have run the business for almost 20 years. They offer hearty breakfasts to early risers in the city, and lunches to many people who work up and down Route 1, where the restaurant is located. Blame the economy, if you will. The couple’s daughter, Sue
Chan, said that the rent is being raised significantly and her parents can’t afford to pay it. The restaurant has definitely earned a place in many people’s hearts. Former Ward 1 councilmember Doug Dudrow, for one, raves about it. “Got the best durn home fries in town,” he said. “I always see county police, court personnel and firefighters there. The owners know how to fill up hungry people.” Ron Rhine, owner of the Hyattsville Vacuum Cleaner store across the street, is one of them. “I eat there almost every day
and I eat good,” he said. “I may take an inch or two off my waistline [once it’s closed]. The owners are a wonderful couple, very hard-working people. I’ll miss them.” Tony Fotos said he and his wife enjoy going there because “It’s like home. We looked forward to seeing our friends there, and if we didn’t meet friends we made them there.” Chan said her parents had hoped to keep the business for a few more years. “We came over from South CLOSING continued on page 9
Included: The July 11, 2012 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section