THE GAZETTE
Page A-8
SEWAGE
Continued from Page A-1 through huge “odor-scrubbing” filters and then shoot the treated air out of the top of the buildings, were it should no
PARK
Continued from Page A-1 theme this year is the 1930s. “Because in 1938, the federal government acquired the C&O Canal,” said Jenna Warrenfeltz, the trust’s director of communications. The local Cabin John Dixieland Band and by Chester River Runoff, a bluegrass band from the Eastern Shore, will provide music. A chili dinner with
CLOSURES
Continued from Page A-1 Karim, who is president of the Montgomery County Muslim Student Association. Karim and other speakers urged Montgomery County Public Schools to close when classes fall on Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr during a Monday press conference held by the Maryland chapter of the Council of American Islamic Relations and the Equality for Eid Coalition. Eid al-Adha celebrates sacrifice to God and falls on Oct. 15 this year. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan and was Aug. 8. The dates of the holidays change because of
OASIS
Continued from Page A-1 Utilities will cost about $4,500 and a line item called “SMB” will cost $42,000, according to the county’s
Wednesday, September 25, 2013 b
longer stink. “When I first moved to Cabin John,” said Mac Thornton, an avid jogger and kayaker, “along the canal, every quarter of a mile I’d be hit with this very noxious odor.” When he and others approached
WASA, they were told that was just what sewage smelled like, Thornton said. But Thornton and his allies did not back down. Instead, in the form of the Potomac Conservancy, the Canoe Cruisers Association and the American
Canoe Association, they brought a lawsuit against the water company in 1999. They lost in court, Thornton said, but they won the public relations campaign because WASA agreed to try and address the stinking problem. “It took an extraordinarily long
time; it should have taken half that or less,” Thornton said. “The system does make a tremendous difference. Is this the ultimate solution? It’s too early to say so.”
all the fixings will be served as will a special cocktail, the Mule’s Neck, a canal take off on the Horse’s Neck, a popular cocktail in the 1930s, Warrenfeltz said. As for Towpath Chic, the suggested dress for the evening, she said, they are not looking for heels and gowns. “Being an outdoor event ... most people showed up [last year] in jeans and boots,” she said. “Some [women] wore dresses but they usually had boots, too.” In keeping with the 1930s theme there will be a 1935 Packard at
the photo booth where guests can have their pictures taken. Park After Dark is the trust’s main fundraiser, Nardolilli said. The group also seeks donations from foundations, corporations and individuals. “The C&O Canal National Historical Park is 184.5 miles long, stretching from [Washington] D.C. to Hagerstown.” Nardolilli said. “It is 15,000 acres, 18 times the size of Central Park [in New York City]. It is the 11th most visited national park with projections for 5 mil-
lion visitors this year.” As such, keeping the park is shape for so many guests is challenging, he said. The group sponsors Canal Pride Days each spring, a time to bring out the volunteers to help freshen the park, Nardolilli said. Volunteers clean up litter, paint buildings, benches and picnic tables, plant trees and repair trails, according the trust’s website. The site reported that in 2013, Canal Days in April brought out 1,100 volunteers who con-
tributed 3,300 hours of work at sites along the canal. The trust also maintains and operates six restored lockhouses along the canal. “People can stay in the lockhouses and experience what it was like in the early days of the canal,” Nardolilli said. He also added that this anniversary is a good time to say thank you to the people who had the vision to preserve the [park] for our use.
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the Islam lunar calendar. The coalition, which is sponsored by the council, formed about a year ago to pursue a long-standing goal for the school closures. The speakers also called for school system students and staff to skip school on Oct. 15 and celebrate Eid al-Adha instead. Zainab Chaudry — vice president of the council’s Maryland chapter and a co-chair of the coalition — said the initiative is not asking for special rights. “We’re only asking for equal rights,” she said. Montgomery County Councilman George Leventhal (D-At large) of Takoma Park, another speaker at the press conference, said Muslim students and their
families focused on academic achievement face a conflict their Christian and Jewish counterparts do not when it comes to holiday observance. Leventhal said he would face the same conflict if county public schools did not close on some Jewish holidays. “If school was in session on Rosh Hashanah or Yom Kippur, it would be a conflict,” said Leventhal, who later added his son will stay home on Oct. 15 in support of the initiative. Samira Hussein, a co-chair of the coalition, said she wants to see the school system “respect the tradition and culture of every member of the community.” “We’re tired of watching our
kids forced to choose between their faith and education,” said Hussein, whose children went through the county school system and who has worked on the issue for decades. Montgomery County Board of Education member Philip Kauffman (At-large) of Olney said in a recent interview that the school system can only close schools when it has evidence of student or staff absences high enough to impact instruction. The school system will monitor absences this year, he said, though past studies in recent years have not indicated a “discernible trend.” Schools close on Christian holidays such as Christmas and Good Friday under state law.
Chief Operating Officer Larry Bowers said the school system added Jewish holidays such as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur based on low attendance from Jewish teachers and students on the holidays. Since then, Bowers said, case law has arisen that lets districts close schools only for secular purposes. The school system recognizes both Muslim holidays by declaring them nontesting days and giving Muslim students excused absences. Samantha Kamal — a sophomore at Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg and president of the school’s Muslim Student Association — said she stays home from school on
the Eids and that most of her friends who celebrate the holidays choose the same. Missing school results in “a ton of makeup work the next day,” said Kamal, who attended the conference with two friends. Najwa Kareem of Gaithersburg said that when she was a student in the county school system, her parents let her and her siblings decide whether to go to school on the holidays or not. Kareem said it was hard for her to miss class but that she felt guilty when she didn’t stay home with her family. “I felt this feeling of unrest because this is my holiday,” she said.
presentation at the meeting. SMB refers to the Southern Meadowbrook Region and covers the maintenance fees that would be associated with the upkeep of the park, said Melissa Chotiner, a spokeswoman for
the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission. In 2001, the county purchased the lot for $5 million. Chevy Chase Village contributed $1.25 million and the county paid the rest with funds from the
Legacy Open Space Program, a county effort to help preserve open space, watershed lands and historic properties by buying land or easements. Chevy Chase Village also contributed $39,000, or half, of the
cost of the demolition of a singlefamily house that stood on the lot. Western Grove Urban Park is the first of this kind of urban park in Montgomery County, Komes said. “Western Grove Park has been deliberately designed to retain the open green garden-like quality that exists today,” she said. Patricia Baptiste, chairwoman of the board at Chevy Chase Village, said the board
agreed to contribute about 25 percent of the construction costs. “We’re very anxious to see it move forward into construction,” Baptiste said. The park is unusual and embodies the best of urban design, said Mary Bradford, the county’s director of parks. “Manhattan’s going to have nothing on us,” Bradford said.
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