RESTORING THE LOST ART OF ARCADE GAMES
OFFICER DOWN... IN THE DUNK TANK
IT WAS THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME
How did a code-compliance officer end up on a video-game trading card? PAGE 4
With city police officers in a dunk tank, National Night Out proves a hit in West Hyattsville. PAGE 3
Northwestern High School’s choir travels to South Africa. PAGE 12
Re-enactors prepare for epic battle by Megan J. Brockett
On August 24, Kathy Norvell will wake up and start getting ready to go back in time. Norvell, a veteran War of 1812 re-enactor, will be one of several people in costume for the 18th annual Battle of Bladensburg Encampment at the Riversdale House Museum. The event, free to the public, will run from noon until 4 p.m. and will include gunnery drills and cannon firings, a special program by the Fort McHenry head ranger and a skirmish between re-enactors dressed as American and British soldiers. The annual Riversdale encampment has grown in recent years as the region, rich in War of 1812 history, gears up for next summer’s big bicentennial celebration. (The war ended in 1815.) “[The encampment] is kind of important now because [2014] will be the 200th anniversary of the British invasion, the Battle of Bladensburg and the burning of Washington … and the whole episode at Fort McHenry with the creation of the Star Spangled Banner,” said Edward Day, director of the Riversdale House Museum. “It’s a way to get acquainted and familiarize yourself with that whole story.” And the story is an important
Hyattsville Life&Times
Vol. 10 No. 8
Hyattsville’s Community Newspaper
Safeway, Whole Foods race to the finish line Two grocery stores will be built 1.3 miles apart by Susie Currie
When Safeway left Hyattsville in February 2012, ending a presence it had had here since 1928, it seemed to be the end of an era.
But a new partnership has jumpstarted the long-dormant plan to build a new store at University Town Center (UTC) – just 1.3 miles from the proposed Whole Foods site in Riverdale Park.
Both chains hope to open here in early 2015, said sources familiar with each project. But Safeway may beat Whole Foods to the ribbon-cutting, in part because developers intend to
August 2013
amend the site plan rather than submit a new one. When that plan was first approved in 2006, UTC officials announced that a new 56,000-square-foot Safeway would open in 2008. But financial pressures, which have since led to foreclosures at the struggling shopping area, prevented the build. In the meantime, the existing store on Hamilton Street languished and eventually closed amid pleas from residents to renovate it. Now, the original architects of MARKETS continued on page 10
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BATTLE continued on page 9
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After years in the red, Prince George’s Pool now has more people on the waiting list than on the membership roster by Rosanna Landis Weaver
Mention the Prince George’s Pool (commonly known as the PG Pool) to some locals and the superlatives fly. Tamara Embrey says, “I couldn’t love it more than I do.” “It saved my marriage,” says Rozanne Wijesinghe. “We plan
our summer around it,” says Rebecca Gitter. The pool, located on Buchanan Street in Mount Rainier, counts 113 Hyattsville families among its members. But many more have been shut out since a membership cap was imposed during the summer of 2011. The next season, the few open slots sold out in six minutes.
As of August 1, there were 820 names on the waiting list for individual or family memberships. With a current turnover rate of 7 percent, it could take 15 years to move through the list. POOL continued on page 6
Included: The August 14, 2013 Issue of The Hyattsville Reporter — See Center Section