The Gazette
C COMMUNITY OMMUNITY NE N NEWS EWS www.gazette.net
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Thursday, August 15, 2013
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Page A-4
Cheverly holsters gun laws due to conflict with state Change initiated after gun-rights group pointed out clashing legislation n
BY
ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER
BILL RYAN/THE GAZETTE
(From left) Faye Johnson of Odenton, Ronald Wright of Clinton and Roxanna Bullock of New Carrollton dance Aug. 4 at the line dance social in the Glenarden/Theresa Banks Complex.
Seniors line up for Glenarden dance class n
Group activity proves popular, moves to a larger space BY
ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER
For Katie Pannell of Landover Hills, line dancing is more than just a workout with strangers. “We just call each other family,” Pannell said. Pannell, 66, said she did not go out much after retiring from her customer representative job at the Maryland Motor Vehicle Administration in December. However, when she discovered classes for senior line dancing — a group dance with a repeated sequence of steps — at the Glenarden/Theresa Banks Complex on McLain Avenue, she started showing up each morning at 8 a.m. Pannell isn’t alone. According to center officials, the daily line dancing class started for seniors in late June has exploded in popularity, spurring plans to move the class into a larger part of the center.
Randy Windsor, 61, of Upper Marlboro, who teaches the program along with Denise Bryant of Bowie, said seven people participated in the first session, but attendance has grown to more than 20 people per class. “I had no idea it was going to blow up like this,” said Windsor, who started line dancing about five years ago. Damita Goldsmith, a center employee, said the class will be moved to the center’s gym due to its growing attendance. Seniors pay a weekly $10 fee to participate in the class and other programs at the center. She said scheduling the class in the morning has helped attract senior citizens who want to avoid night driving and the afternoon heat. Goldsmith, 62, who participates in the program, said the class has become “a network of friends.” “It gives somebody like me something to do. [It] provides me with an activity that I don’t have to bring a man, a date or a friend,” she said. Class participants touted the social and health benefits of the classes. Carolyn Smallwood, 64, a Glenarden
councilwoman who attends the classes, said the class has helped improve her cardiovascular health. “This is all new to me, and I’m catching on,” Smallwood said. The class participates in a line dance social the first Sunday of each month, which is attended by more than 100 people of all ages and has been running since May, Goldsmith said. On July 31, Windsor was helping the class prepare for the Aug. 4 social, working on the moves for singer Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” a popular song ranked atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart. “If you can count to eight and you know what a quarter [turn], a half, a three-quarter and a whole is, he can teach you to dance,” Goldsmith said of Windsor’s classes. Pannell, who described herself as shy, said she felt confident heading into Sunday’s social, her first. “It’s a lot of dances and a lot of steps, but once you see someone doing it, you just go with it,” Pannell said. egoldwein@gazette.net
‘She was the matriarch of our school’ Deerfield Run educator remembered for her quiet voice, high expectations n
BY JAMIE ANFENSON-COMEAU STAFF WRITER
A longtime teacher at Deerfield Run Elementary School in Laurel who died Aug. 9 from cancer is being remembered by friends and coworkers as an icon of the school community Hortense Adams, 67, of Mitchellville had been a sixthgrade teacher at Deerfield Run for more than 30 years. “She was the matriarch of our school,” said Lydia Sugihara, a vocal music teacher at the school who worked with Adams. “I never once heard her raise her voice. She was able to get students to do what she wanted them to do just by softly speaking. ... She was just such a beautiful lady.” Adams went on medical leave shortly after her diagnosis in 2009, and officially retired in June as her health declined, according to Emily Freeman, special education department chairwoman at Deerfield Run. Adams was the recipient of the 2005 Washington Post’s Agnes Meyer Outstanding Teacher
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Award and the 2007 Christa “She had very high expectaMcAuliffe Outstanding Teacher tions of everyone, teachers and Award, given by Prince George’s children. She expected everyCounty Public Schools. one to perform to the best of “She deserved every award their abilities,” said Lisa Jones, she ever received, and she never Adams’ friend and former cowent after them, they came worker, who now teaches at to her,” said Tom Laurel Woods ElTucker, who served ementary in Howard as Deerfield Run’s County. principal from 1992 Tobi Haufe was to 2010. a student in Adams’ Tucker said Adclass in the fifth and ams was the best sixth grades at Deerteacher with whom field Run, and came he ever worked. back in 2003 to teach “She had this gift at the school alongAdams of reaching into a side Adams. child’s heart and soul, Haufe said Adand getting them to achieve ams’ encouragement is part more than they ever expected,” of what led her to become a Tucker said. teacher. After teaching at Kenbridge “She was the type of teacher Elementary in Virginia for six who had great expectations for years, Adams began teaching in their students. ... The way she Prince George’s County Public spoke to you, you wanted to Schools at Samuel Morse El- please her. You always wanted ementary in Laurel in 1974 and to do your best,” Haufe said. transferred to Deerfield Run ElAdams also helped found ementary in 1980. the school’s annual Science Fair Faith Amaral met Adams in 1995 and was coordinator of when she began teaching at the program for 14 years. Morse in 1978, and both women Adams is survived by her transferred to Deerfield Run in husband, Maurice Adams, two the same year. children and three grandchil“I have one word to describe dren. Funeral arrangements her and that is ‘passion,’” Ama- were not available at press time. ral said. “She had a tremendous janfenson-comeau@ amount of passion for teaching, and everyone looked up to her.” gazette.net
A warning from a gun-rights organization led Cheverly to drop legislation that made carrying firearms in the town illegal. Council members agreed Section 20-4 of the Town Code was not in conformance with Maryland law and voted unanimously Aug. 8, though reluctantly, to eliminate the legislation. “This isn’t an action that I think anybody on the council wanted to take,” said Mayor Michael Callahan. In April, the Second Amendment Foundation, a nonprofit based in Washington state, sent notices to Prince George’s municipalities, demanding that they change their laws to align with state law. Callahan said Cheverly’s Section 20-4, written in 1977, violated the state code since it prohibited unauthorized persons from wearing or carrying “dangerous or deadly” weapons on their person. Under Maryland Law, municipalities are allowed to apply stronger gun restrictions to town property, but not to the town in general. The updated legislation permits licensed gun owners to carry dangerous weapons through Cheverly, but the town maintained codes prohibiting the carrying of dangerous weapons in town parks. Officials said they are considering extending gun restrictions to town buildings and other public gatherings in the fall. New legislation, which has not been drafted, will contain elements of Section 20-4, said David Warrington, Cheverly’s
town administrator. Officials said they needed additional time to evaluate the new law before it is implemented. “I’m very much looking forward to the next ordinance that’s going to help us articulate what our values are,” Councilman Roswell Eldridge (Ward 3). Cheverly Police Chief Buddy Robshaw said Cheverly did not enforce its own legislation and instead followed state guidelines. Robshaw said Cheverly has not charged anyone with violating the town’s gun codes in his 12 years with the department. “It doesn’t change anything in how the police respond or how we do our job. It was just to bring it in line with current Maryland law,” he said. Dave Workman, Second Amendment Rights communications director, said the organization sent letters to an estimated 25 municipalities and the majority have cooperated. “Our intent from the get-go was to merely advise the municipalities,” he said. Workman said most municipalities, like Cheverly, were unaware their laws were outdated. The foundation has sent letters to municipalities in Maryland, Virginia and Washington state, Workman said. “It was really frustrating to see an outside group that has no connection to our town advocate to make those change and ultimately be successful,” said Jennifer Stapleton of Cheverly. Stapleton, concerned about the safety of her two young children, said she wanted Cheverly to maintain its gun legislation, even if it meant risking a lawsuit from Second Amendment Foundation. “I think that’s a fight worth having,” Stapleton said. egoldwein@gazette.net
Long-vacant Cheverly council post filled by apartment tenant n
Officials say Ward 5 seat suffered because many constituents are short-term residents BY
ERIC GOLDWEIN STAFF WRITER
Fed up with management at her apartment building on Landover Road, tenant Sandra Rodgers said she wanted to take matters into her own hands — so she joined the Cheverly Town Council. Rodgers, 47, is filling a three-year council vacancy representing Ward 5, a district in the northeast portion of Cheverly whose constituents are all residents of Cheverly Station Apartments. The complex has about 1,200 residents, with 1,000 in Ward 5 and the rest in Ward 6. “I think we needed a change, and the change has come,” said Rodgers, who was sworn in Aug. 8. The Ward 5 seat was last occupied by Vernell Johnson, who served from 2008 to 2010 before moving out of Cheverly. The seat was vacant for one year prior to Johnson’s arrival. Councilwoman Mary Jane Coolen (Ward 2) said the town has struggled to find a replacement, as Ward 5 constituents tend to be shortterm residents. ”It’s been, historically, a difficult seat to fill,” Coolen said. Cheverly Station Apartments is owned by Rockville-based Foulger-Pratt, which purchased the complex in May 2011 and since has reno-
vated 65 percent of its units, said Dick Knapp, a senior vice president of the company. Cheverly Police Chief Buddy Robshaw said crime has declined in Cheverly Station Apartments and its surrounding areas since FoulgerPratt purchased the complex. “It’s been night and day since when we’ve taken over,” Knapp said. Tenants at the complex said they live with various problems, including rodent infestation and flooding, which they said are ignored by apartment management. “In any property and any location, there’s going to be ongoing issues. ... We feel we work very hard to do the best job possible,” Knapp said. Cheverly Station Apartments tenant Takiyya Green, 30, said she hopes management is more responsive now that Ward 5 is represented on the council. “I hope it will help. I hope she can provide assistance for families like mine,” Green said. Mattie Moore, 65, who has lived in the complex since 2009, said she expects Rodgers to improve communication between tenants and management. “I think it will change, because she’s a fighter,” Moore said. Rodgers, a computer support analyst at the National Institutes of Health, said she intends to meet with management to discuss tenants’ concerns. Her appointment was approved after a unanimous council vote in July. The seat will be up for re-election in 2015. egoldwein@gazette.net