POTD: Icicle

>

And what a cool shot by Julia Defino Leiby!

Rockville Sister City Corporation's Annual Spring Wine Tasting Is March 5

>Rockville Central friend Brigitta Mullican sent us this note:

Rockville Sister City Corporation
19th Annual Spring Wine Tasting
Germany’s Wine Regions
Friday March 5, 2010, 7:30 P.M.
Glenview Mansion at the Civic Center

Please RSVP to 240-314-5004

Reservations accepted on a first come, first served basis. Space is limited. Tickets available at the door if space permits.

Exploration of Germany’s Wine Regions, this year featuring white wines of German producers in the Mosel-Saar-Ruwer, Baden, and Rheinhessen regions. A selection of Riesling, Gewürztraminer, and others will provide you the opportunity to sample new wines to add to your list of favorites.

Gottfried To Talk Tax On Sunday

Our good friend >Rich Gottfried — a CPA and a Master of Science in Taxation — is going to be sharing his tax expertise with the community this Sunday in an event helpfully sponsored by the Twinbrook Citizens Association. Here are the details:

Deduct This! Update on the 2009 Tax Law Changes

Learn about tax law changes for 2009 in the first time homebuyer credit, making work pay credit, expanded Earned Income Credits, expanded child tax credit, residential energy tax credit, IRA to Roth IRA conversions and others that might affect your return.

DATE: Sunday, February 28, 2010
TIME: 1:00 PM TO 3:30 PM
PLACE: Rockville Public Library * First Floor Meeting Room (21 Maryland Avenue, Rockville, MD 20850)
Telephone: 240-777-0002

Thank you to Rich for sharing his expertise so generously and for the Twinbrook Citizens Association for thoughtfully sponsoring this timely event.

POTD: Red, Very

>

Here’s an awesome one by Rockville Central friend Chas Hausheer.

Cardin To Join Marcuccio, Gajewski, Newton On Stimulus For Rockville

>This from the City:

U.S. Sen. Benjamin L. Cardin (D) will join Rockville Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio at the Rockville Water Treatment Plant to highlight energy efficient upgrades and rehabilitation at the facility.

Rockville received $1.7 million in federal money as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to improve energy conservation and rehabilitate aging components at the City’s water treatment plant. The plant was built in 1958.

“It’s wonderful to receive federal support for projects that will benefit so many of our residents and businesses,” said Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio. “We are thrilled to welcome Sen. Cardin and show him the work that is taking place thanks to his support.”

Cardin, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Water Subcommittee, will tour the treatment plant and meet with members of the media. Rockville Councilmembers Piotr Gajewski and Bridget Donnell Newton will also be in attendance.

The event will take place at 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26, at 10930 Sandy Landing Road, Potomac.

Rockville’s water treatment plant is one piece of a comprehensive water distribution system that provides clean and safe drinking water to approximately 46,000 residents and 700 businesses. The City is also contributing an additional $539,000 to pay for the work.

POTD: Red Sky

>

The sky was so very dramatic the other morning. Check out those birds, too! Yes, this is before the recent weather events.

Watch For A Possible Winter Storm This Thursday

>Alert Montomery is notifying residents about yet another possible snow accumulation this Thursday, March February 25, 2010:

Another significant Nor’easter expected on Thursday. 5+ inches of snowfall possible with this approaching system. High winds may lead to widespread power outages. Residents are encouraged to begin Winter Storm preparations now.

The National Weather Service has issued a WINTER STORM WATCH for Montgomery County until Thursday night. A strong low pressure system is expected to develop off the Carolina coast and move East of the region Thursday. Current indications suggest this will be an all snow event for the County. Residents should begin Winter Storm preparations which should consider the potential of significant (5+in) snow accumulations within the next 48 hours.

If you haven’t already, you should sign up for Montgomery County’s Roam Secure Alert Network. The service can let you know immediately about a major crisis, emergency, or severe weather event. The alerts are issued only for important situations such as water main breaks, tornado warnings, etc. You can get them by e-mail, cell phone, or pager.

Also, Rockville has its own service, Alert Rockville, which you should also sign up for to stay safe.

Let’s hope we don’t get too much snow this time around. I don’t think we can take much more. My ice dam finally fell off the roof today and we don’t need another!

POTD: Pow

>

Here’s one by Rockville Central friend Tom Moore. I am so glad Tom found this shot . . . I have a thing for this statue!

TCAT Meeting On Tuesday To Review District Courthouse Plans

>Rocio Estrada, Neighborhood Resource Coordinator, sent along a reminder about the Town Center Action Team (TCAT) meeting tomorrow night, Tuesday, February 23, 2010 at 7 PM. The meeting will be held in the Mayor and Council Chambers in City Hall.

A main topic of discussion will be the District Courthouse parking plans especially the signs to be placed around the area after the Courthouse building is completed in November.

Trapper Martin, the new president of TCAT, has added:

We will be covering a presentation by the City on how they plan to handle anticipated increased traffic from the new District Courthouse, review the plans for the annex for the courthouse by the County and discuss potential participation with Friends of Rockville Seniors.

Everyone is welcome.

Rockville REDI Business Plan Competition Now Accepting Applications!

>This from Rockville Redi:

Rockville Economic Development announces the commencement of the 7th Annual StartRight! Women’s Business Plan Competition ,which is open to Maryland, District of Columbia and Virginia businesses that are at least 51% women-owned and have been in operation for two years or less. The top prize for the 2010 winner will be the EagleBank First Prize of $10,000 cash along with in-kind prizes of a $10,000 Comcast Spotlight customized advertising package and a one year virtual membership in the Montgomery County Innovation Network from the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development. Other prizes include the Shulman, Rogers, Gandal, Pordy and Ecker Second Prize of $5,000 cash, the Foster, Soltoff and Love Third Prize of $2,500 cash, and the ActionCoach Judges’Choice prize of $2,500 cash.

In 2009, 40 women submitted business plans. Eight were selected to make an oral presentation to a panel of judges. Jodi A. Cook, PhD, the founder and CEO of Thesia Medical, LLC of Baltimore, Maryland took the EagleBank First Prize. “The StartRight! Women’s Business Plan Competition was extremely valuable,” says Dr. Cook. “The review process and honest feedback was nothing but helpful, and REDI and the sponsors networked me with potential investors and legal, business and finance experts. I’d encourage every entrepreneur out there to enter as many competitions as possible and especially this one because the prizes are significant and provide early stage companies with meaningful funds.”

In its first six years, the StartRight! Competition attracted more than 170 participants from across the region. Jessica Hsu, CEO, and Jennifer Hsu, President, of DC-based Clairvoyant Technologies, Inc., won the Shulman, Rogers Second prize in 2009 and moved to Montgomery County shortly after the competition. “Participating in the competition was the deciding factor for us to move to Montgomery County,” says Jessica Hsu. “The competition introduced us to REDI and other organizations in Montgomery County that ultimately made the connections for us to make the move. The competition prize gave us added credibility.” The company’s first product is Pi’s Kingdom, a digital game-based learning tool that is closely aligned with one of the nation’s most widely used mathematics curricula. The prize funds were used to help develop a second prototype product. “The business plan is the heart and vision of what you want to do and how you are going to do it,” continued Ms. Hsu. “The competition process forces you to sit down and explore the multiple facets of your business plan idea. It also provides valuable feedback from industry veterans that guides you to think of new angles and possibilities.”

Lisa Martin, owner of Howard County-based Wellness Evolution, LLC, a full service holistic health and fitness studio, took the 2009 Foster, Soltoff & Love Third Prize. The company, which incorporates fitness, nutrition, massage therapy, acupuncture and life coaching into its programs, , is located in Columbia, Maryland.

“The goal of this business plan writing competition is to encourage women entrepreneurs to create a roadmap to success,” said Sally Sternbach, Executive Director of REDI. “Statistics show that women entrepreneurs are a growing segment of the small business community, and this competition is designed to encourage them and provide them with precious resources to help them grow their business. It also dovetails with our monthly business plan writing seminars which provide men and woman entrepreneurs with the tools needed to write an effective business plan.”

Executive summaries for the competition are due by March 26, 2010 and full business plans are due by March 31, 2010. Complete rules are available at www.RockvilleREDI.org.

Each month, Rockville Economic Development, Inc. provides free programs and events. Upcoming seminars include a class for those considering entrepreneurship, “The ABC’s of Starting a Business”, on February 12, and “How to Write a Business Plan” on February 23rd. To learn more about these seminars, visit www.RockvilleREDI.org.

POTD: Fuzzy

>

Here’s one by Rockville Central friend Janet Piczak Brown. She took in the midst of Phase Two of Snowpocalypse. Of it she says: “Another nature picture. I was standing at my door looking at the “snow-end-in-sight” and didn’t even notice this squirrel at my feet. He didn’t budge, I was able to walk away, get the camera, come back and snap the picture. He wasn’t about to leave his little stash of bird seed. This was the first squirrel I’ve seen in days.”

POTD: Splash

>

This one is by Rockville Central editor Cindy Cotte Griffiths. Of it, she says: “The fountain in the courtyard of Congressional Village has been frozen and spurting for weeks. I always take a look at this evolving ice sculpture, surprised that it’s still turned on. Sometimes it’s all about the ice not the snow.”

I think this is a cool shot!

Tax Prep Workshop This Sat. Feb. 20

A most excellent >Rockville Central friend, Chas Hausheer, has passed along word of an upcoming workshop that many residents may find quite helpful. Rockville Housing Enterprises will be sponsoring a tax preparation workshop this Saturday. Here are the details from RHE:

We are having a Tax Preparation Workshop this Saturday February 20th, 2010. Please pass this along to anyone that might be interested in hearing information about preparing their taxes this year. For more information please contact Rockville Housing Enterprises.

Rockville Housing Enterprises
621-A Southlawn Lane
Rockville MD 20850

Phone: 301.424.6265 ext 311
Fax: 301.217.5857
Email: [email protected]

Manna Food Bank Preps For Big Need

Our good friends at the >Gazette have penned a helpful story that outlines the preparations one of the area’s flagship food pantries, Manna Food Center, is making as they anticipate a wave of need resulting from the blizzard.

In a normal week, Manna serves 800 Montgomery County families and 1,300 elementary school students. They pick up perishables and other food from 38 local grocery stores. The transportation standstill brought about a situation where, according to Manna’s Kim Damion:

“We’re anticipating demands to be extremely heavy. . . .There’s a good bet that the majority of them will need to come in which will double the number of families we serve this week. . . .Volunteers have stepped up and are helping us to answer the call.”

The school closure was especially hard on families that rely on schools for some of their childrens’ food — families had to do without during the week-long closure.

Because there may be shortages, if you can manage, we urge you to step up and answer the call too. Just visit the volunteer page at Manna to learn more, or call 301-424-113.

POTD: Drifting

>

This cool shot is by Rockville Central friend Eric Jensen.