Coming Up Next

General Membership Meeting

Wednesday, September 17thLynnbrook Recreation Center

8:00 Budget8:15 Purple Line9:00 Old Business9:15 New Business9:30 AdjournHalloween ParadeSunday, October 26thChase to Lynnbrook Parks

President’s NotebookPresident’s NotebookPresident’s NotebookPresident’s Notebook

By Ilaya Hopkins, President

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

SEPTEMBER 2008SEPTEMBER 2008SEPTEMBER 2008SEPTEMBER 2008 WWW.EBCA.ORG WWW.EBCA.ORG WWW.EBCA.ORG WWW.EBCA.ORG

For those of us with school-agedchildren, the beginning of theschool year is filled with mixedemotions. One definite plus is theopportunity to meet new people asthe bus stop ranks grow. I havebeen struck by the number of people who have told me in recentweeks how happy they are to be inEast Bethesda, many scouting outthe neighborhood and patientlywaiting for the right house to comealong so that they could move theirfamilies here.It is no wonder. East Bethesdacontinues to be a strong, wellconnected community. I know thatI have always felt that way butwas surprised to learn that thosevibes are felt outside our boardersas well. The strong sense of community comes in great partfrom each individual’s sense of community. Not only do we havean active citizens association thatcame out in full force at the annualEBCA Labor Day Picnic but alsothroughout the community in ourschools, places of worship and civiclife. EBCA boasts the PTA presidents from Chevy ChaseElementary and BethesdaElementary Schools and the PTSA president from Bethesda-ChevyChase High School. These are inaddition to the countless schoolvolunteers from pre-school to highschool, Sunday school teachers,Scout leaders, and volunteerorganization directors. No doubtthere are many more community-minded East Bethesda residentswho I don’t even know about. Senseof community doesn’t even have tobe that formal as you will see inthe article about what one group of mothers did to support another.This sense of community isparticularly important when wehave the opportunity to addressdivisive issues. With over 1,200homes in our community, there willalways be a wide range of viewsand opinions. The ability to holddiscussions, hear ideas andsometimes agree to disagree helpsbridge the gap of misinformation orlack of understanding. As we know,the Purple Line has both advocates

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EBCA would like to invite you allto a post-election Happy Hour onSaturday, November 8th from 5 to8 p.m. at Blackfinn. It will be greatreason to get out of the house andmingle with your fellow neighborsbe they Elephant, Donkey or other.We hope you can make it. Pleasecontact Sandy Spagnolo atsocial@ebca.org if you have anyquestions. We look forward toseeing you!Celebrating the end of summerhas never been so much fun.Families and neighbors came outon a beautiful late summerafternoon to share vacation storiesand enjoy the activities. Therewere crafts, a moonbounce and ourfaithful clown who made someamazing creations with hisballoons. The afternoon was cappedoff with the famous relay races – three-legged, sack, wheelbarrow,kids and parents. And the grandfinale was the boys vs. girls tug-o-

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SocialCalendar

By Sandy Spagnolo, Social Chair

Inside This Issue

Teal Toes.........................2Labor Day Pictures......4-5School Choices.................6Gardening Tips...............7

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Neighborhood News

SEPT 2008

It started with a group of mothers who gather mostafternoons during the school yearat the school bus stop in front of the Lynnbrook Center. The weekafter Labor Day 2007, one of themothers, Carey Fitzmaurice (anEBCA member) learned that herovarian cancer had recurred. Onthe same day that Carey deliveredthe devastating news to the busstop crowd, she was wearing teal-colored toenail polish. Whenanother mother commented on herbold color choice, Carey explainedthat teal is the color of ovariancancer awareness (just as pink isthe color of breast cancerawareness) and September isOvarian Cancer Awareness Month.That night, several bus stop momsbought teal polish and showed upat the Lynnbrook bus stop the nextday sporting new teal-coloredtoenails in a sign of solidarity withCarey. The act sparked an idea forCarey, who has launched agrassroots public service campaigncalled “Teal Toes” to raiseawareness about ovarian cancersymptoms. Her simple idea is that-- just as at the bus stop -- wearingteal-colored toenail polish oftensparks a conversation during yourday, which creates an opportunityto spread the word about ovariancancer symptoms.

Symptoms

According to the Ovarian CancerNational Alliance, ovarian cancerhas symptoms even in its earlystages. Research indicates that95% of women with ovarian cancerhad symptoms and 90% of womenexperienced symptoms with early-stage ovarian cancer. TheGynecologic Cancer Foundation,the Society of GynecologicOncologists and the AmericanCancer Society, have formed aconsensus on ovarian cancer.Historically, ovarian cancer wascalled the “silent killer” becausesymptoms were not thought todevelop until the chance of curewas poor. Recent studies, however,have shown this term is untrueand that the following symptomsare much more likely to occur inwomen with ovarian cancer thanwomen in the general population.The symptoms include bloating,pelvic or abdominal pain, difficultyeating or urinary symptoms.Women with ovarian cancerreport that symptoms arepersistent and represent a changefrom normal for their bodies. Thefrequency and/or number of suchsymptoms are key to diagnosis of ovarian cancer. Several studiesshow that even early-stage ovariancancer can produce symptoms.Women who have thesesymptoms almost daily for morethan a few weeks should see theirdoctor, preferably a gynecologist.Prompt medical evaluation maylead to detection at the earliestpossible stage of the disease. Earlystage diagnosis is associated withan improved prognosis.

Screening

Currently no routine screeningtest exists for ovarian cancer. If awoman is experiencing ovariancancer symptoms or has a strongfamily history or geneticpredisposition, such as a BRCA mutation, doctors may monitor herwith one or a combination of testsincluding a CA-125 blood test, atransvaginal ultrasound and apelvic exam.

Carey’s Grassroots CampaignGets Underway

Carey has created a website,www.tealtoes.org, to spread theword about ovarian cancersymptoms. The site links to severalcancer research and supportwebsites. Her campaign’s logo wasdeveloped thanks to pro bonodesign work by Lucy Pope (anothermother from Carey’s sons’ school)at 202design. A Teal Toes group onFacebook now has 253 members,with more added daily. Articlesabout the campaign have appearedin the Carolina Alumni Review(July/August 2008) and ThetaMagazine. A local salon, Acquanails in downtown Bethesda(7845 Old Georgetown Road) willbe hosting a Teal Toes party inearly September to kick off Ovarian Cancer Awareness Monthin our area."I'm just so pleased to have thesupport of my neighbors," saysFitzmaurice, "I like to call thecampaign style "Grrrillamarketing" because we've passedthe word from woman to woman.But I've had several male friendspaint their toenails teal too, whichalways gets a laugh -- and reallysparks conversations! I've beenamazed to hear how many of myfriends have had ovarian canceraffect their own relatives andfriends. I hope this campaignempowers people to face down thisdisease. Plus, teal looks great withan end-of-summer tan."

Lynnbrook Bus Stop Moms Use Toes toLynnbrook Bus Stop Moms Use Toes toLynnbrook Bus Stop Moms Use Toes toLynnbrook Bus Stop Moms Use Toes toTalk About Ovarian Cancer SymptomsTalk About Ovarian Cancer SymptomsTalk About Ovarian Cancer SymptomsTalk About Ovarian Cancer Symptoms

By Tori Hall, 2

Vice President

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Neighborhood News

SEPT 2008

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war which ended in a tie when the rope snapped. We’ll besure to get a stronger rope next year.We would like to thank all of the volunteers for theirhelp as we could not have done it without them: SocialChair Sandy Spagnolo, Robin Mansfield, Stacy and DaveSaltzman, Patty Steele, our new membership chairRebecca Fayed, The Rysak Family, Christy Concannon,Gregg Spagnolo, Lisa and Pat Nevans Locke, The ZehnerFamily, Kristen Mosbæk and our EBCA President IlayaHopkins. Also, we would like to thank our following localbusiness for donating to the day: World Market forproviding to soda and ice and Starbucks for the coffee. Wehope your last day of summer was a fun one. Thanks forbeing a part of the day.Save Sunday, October 26th for our annual HalloweenParade. We will meet at Chase Park and walk the paraderoute to Lynnbrook Park. Ben and Jerry’s will be therealong with our haunted house and other fun activities forthe children. Please come out to see all of the little ghostsand goblins and enjoy the afternoon.

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and detractors. EBCA is on record for close to adecade as supporting the Capital Crescent Trail.This fall, the Maryland Transit Authority willrelease the draft Environmental Impact Statementand this will be the opportunity for concernedcitizens to weigh in. At the September 17 EBCA General Membership Meeting, we will have someinformation about what will likely be in the EIS andways to send in your comments. The Septembermeeting is also important as we will approve the2008-2009 budget.Lastly, the August issue of the newslettercontained our annual membership dues reminder. Incase your newsletter went into the recycle bin beforegetting read, please clip the membership coupon onthe back of this issue and send in your dues today. As always, we welcome feedback and input so if you have information to add or things you would likeaddressed, please contact me at president@ebca.orgor Jay Briar at newsletter@ebca.org.

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EBCA Social Events

President’s Notebook