Representing the 1200 households North of East-West Highway, South of JonesBridge Road, East of Wisconsin Avenue and West of Columbia Country Club.

Neighborhood News

MAY 2009MAY 2009MAY 2009MAY 2009 WWW.EBCA.ORG WWW.EBCA.ORG WWW.EBCA.ORG WWW.EBCA.ORG

President’s Notebook

By Ilaya Hopkins, President

My how time flies! I have been inthis position for two years andhave enjoyed getting to know moreresidents and keeping EastBethesda at the forefront of themany issues impacting ourneighborhood. We have seen greatsuccesses in these last two years,including a revamped website withmore interactive features and amonthly newsletter underwrittenin great part by our wonderfulsponsors. Our opinions are soughton development projects near ourboarders and we continue toprovide an on-the-groundperspective to decision makers onissues such as the BRAC expansionat the new Walter Reed inBethesda to the Purple Lineproposals. Our membershipcontinues to grow and participationat quarterly meetings has beenstrong. We continue to work tomake our neighborhood a strongcommunity by working with theMontgomery County Public Schoolsto clarify school assignments at theelementary school level and byworking together to clean up ourparks and public spaces so that wecan all enjoy them. At the May 20th generalmembership meeting, we will holdelections for the next set of officers.Current nominees are listed in thenewsletter. We will also takenominations from the floor. If youhave questions or want tonominate someone, please contactNominating Committee Chair Allen Rothenberg atallenwrothenberg@verizon.net or301-907-0232. In addition, we willhear a presentation on reducingthe mosquito problem in ourneighborhood and finish thediscussion on

The

Examiner

newspaper.It has been a tremendous honorto represent this community overthe last two years. I look forward tocontinuing to support EBCA andworking toward preserving thestrong sense of community and thewonderful quality of life we are solucky to have here. Thanks to youall.

As the weather warms, many of us look forward to spending timeoutdoors with our families.However, the early spring fantasyof grilling in the backyard, workingin the garden, or watching ourchildren run through the sprinkler,is marred by the reality of ourannual mosquito infestation.This year, I decided toinvestigate whether East Bethesdacould do something to control themosquitoes. I spoke to JanineDorothy, an entomologist at theMaryland Department of Agriculture. She explained that we,as a neighborhood, could requestthat the state spray for mosquitoes.She will speak more about thispossibility at the next generalmembership meeting.She also stated that, while wehave the usual home-grown varietyof the insect, our real problem isthe Asian Tiger Mosquito, which isprevalent in Montgomery County.The Asian Tiger is extremelyaggressive and, unlike its nativecousin, bites during the daytime. Itflies low to the ground and likeswater as well as sheltered places.Dorothy told me that the AsianTiger likes to nest in bamboo, and Iasked her whether the bamboothat grows along the Crescent Trailmight be the cause of our problem.She said, however, that the realproblem was standing water in ouryards.Dorothy pointed out that many of us don’t realize we have standing

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Mosquitoes! Mosquitoes! Mosquitoes! Mosquitoes!

By Ella Krainsky

General Membership Meeting

Wednesday, May 20th, 8 p.m.Lynnbrook Recreation Center

Agenda:8:00 p.m. Mosquito Presentation8:30 p.m. Examiner Delivery8:45 p.m. Elections9:00 p.m. Old Business9:15 p.m. New Business9:30 p.m. AdjournSlate of Officers:President: Greg Volz1

VP: Kevin Kraus2

VP: Rebecca FayedTreasurer: Jack HayesSecretary: AB Carneal Assistant Secretary: Open

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Neighborhood News

MAY 2009

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Neighborhood News

MAY 2009

Neighborhood Roundup

water. Mosquitoes only need abouthalf an inch to lay their eggs. So, inaddition to obvious sources of standing water, like children’spools and birdbaths, we need to bevigilant about hidden sources. Forexample, tire swings, saucersunder flower pots, and tarpscovering a background grill wherewater might pool are all breedinggrounds for mosquitoes. Dorothysaid in family-friendlyneighborhoods such as ours, thereis often a problem with plasticchildren’s toys left in the yard.Those flexible plastic drain pipesmany of us have are also greatplaces for mosquitoes.I inspected my own backyard anddiscovered an overturned paintbucket with a half-inch rim alongthe bottom sitting behind thegarage. In addition, my daughter’splastic slide has an indentationsuitable for mosquito-breeding. Iwant to encourage all of you totake a close look at your ownproperty. All of us can help controlthe mosquito population byemptying these sources of standingwater at least once a week andrinsing them.The good news is that AsianTigers only travel about onehundred feet. So, if we can bevigilant about our own property, aswell as encourage our neighbors tothe left and right of us, we shouldbe able to control this problem andhave a more pleasant summer.If you are interested in learningmore about solutions to themosquito problem, includingdiscussing whether theneighborhood would be interestedin having the state spray formosquitoes, Dorothy will speak atthe general membership meetingon May 20th at 8 p.m. at theLynnbrook Recreation Center.

“Mosquitoes” from page 1...

Summer Concerts

The Bethesda Summer ConcertSeries will be held Thursdayevenings at Veterans Park, at thecorner of Norfolk & Woodmont Avenues, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Allconcerts are free. More informationis available at

www.bethesda.org/specialevents/summerconcerts.htm.

Plant Sale

Gardeners and anyone who lovesplants won't want to miss theBethesda Community GardenClub's 66th annual plant sale onThursday, May 7th. The sale, atthe Bethesda Farm Women'sMarket, 7155 Wisconsin Avenue,Bethesda, will run from 7:00 a.m.until 1:00 p.m. rain or shine. Findwonderful buys on a large selectionof perennials grown in members'well-tended gardens, plus herbs,annuals, native plants and shrubs.Novices and experts alike can posetheir gardening questions toMontgomery County MasterGardeners on site throughout thesale. Proceeds benefit variouscommunity projects includinglandscaping at Bethesda and Davislibraries and a MontgomeryCollege scholarship in landscapetechnology. Plentiful meteredpublic parking is available in thelot behind the Market. For moreinformation call Simone at 301-571-9782.

Neighborhood Event Space

Need a place to host a party?Consider renting the LynnbrookRecreation Center. The cost is only$19 per hour weekdays and $38 perhour Friday evenings, Saturdays,Sundays, and holidays. The spaceis rented in 4 hour blocks of time.The description of the building andmore details about renting thespace can be found at www.mc-mncppc.org/permits/permits/find/activity.shtm.

Scholarships

Maryland Delegate Alfred Carr(D-18) has state scholarship moneyavailable for local students. Applicants must be enrolled in aMaryland college or university orattending an out-of-state school ina field of study not offered inMaryland. Interested studentsmust write an application, a letterdetailing their accomplishmentsand have a Free Application forFederal Student Aid (FAFSA) onfile. The application deadline isMay 30th. For more information,please contact Legislative AideKristin Fulkerson at 301-858-3638or alfred.carr@house.state.md.us.

Legislative Wrap-Up

The District 16 Town Hallmeeting is scheduled for May 11that the Davis Public Library.

Urban Trees

To learn more about trees in urban environments, visit these links:www.ufei.org/files/pubs/22BenefitsofUrbanStreetTrees.pdf www.tlcfortrees.info/tree_root_myths.htmwww.treesaregood.org/treecare/tree_planting.aspx