Jimmy Obomsawin's blog

Thanks to generous sponsorship by Jackie of Jackie’s Restaurant and the Quarry House Tavern, meeting attendees enjoyed some delicious appetizers.

Fetch Pet Care

Jaime Deason of Fetch Pet Care gave a presentation on pet waste, specifically how to encourage your neighbors to clean up after their dogs. Options included: pointing out that it is against Montgomery County law and there is a $100 fine; discussing the negative environmental impact; offering baggies in case they don’t have any. Jaime developed a power point that can be shared with building listservs – please see the attached file.

Elections

All current board members were reelected.

• President: Evan Glass
• Vice President: David Fogel
• Treasurer: John Murphy
• Secretary: Nellie Dickens

Community Activities

The board considering implementing some community initiatives/activities. If you are interested in any of the following or any other projects, please contact John Murphy at sssnatreasurer@gmail.com:

• community exercise program/fun run
• chili cook off
• ping pong tournament
• "Pay it around" giving back program

Action Committee for Transit

Hans Reimer of the ACT spoke about the current WMATA crisis, specifically the financial problems and safety issues they have been dealing with. If you would like to get involved, please visit www.actfortransit.org; another good resource is www.greatergreaterwashington.com

If you've been following Google's latest projects, you likely know that they have announce plans to bring gigabit internet speeds to consumers in select markets. Montgomery County is preparing their application to be included in the trial phase. Google will be offering speeds of about 1,000 megabits while most ISPs in our area are offering speeds of 3 to 6 megabits, or 12 megabits for a premium price. Google's intent is to see what becomes possible when users and developers have access to what may feel like unlimited speeds.

Google's pricing has yet to be announced and if it is offered in Montgomery county we don't know what parts of the county will be offered the service.

This is a welcome announcement considering internet options in downtown Silver Spring are slow, expensive, and unreliable compared to what I have seen elsewhere. It could be a feature that attracts more businesses and residents to the county.

The county is encouraging residents to nominate us for inclusion in the trial by March 26.

A neighbor in the Silverton made a great time lapse video of last weekend's storm.

Hat tip to Just Up The Pike

South Silver Spring's Mayorga closes today at 3, to reopen at 314 Carroll St NW, near Takoma Park Metro Station.

South Silver Springers won't need to forgo their caffeine fix, however. You can still visit Tiramisu Bakery Cafe, and Susan Soorenko let us know that Moorenko's will soon be serving Mayorga coffee with new hours. We are also a short walk to many other nearby independent coffee places.

Happy Holidays, Everyone!

I know you haven't heard my voice in a while!  I've had my head down, plowing through the transition of moving my factory to Silver Spring.  After closing Moorenko's Ice Cream Cafe in McLean in February, it has been quite an adjustment to manage an 8,000 square foot factory.  During the economic upheaval, we've been focusing on building the wholesale/market side of our business, which is a bit less influenced by weather and economic issues.  I certainly can't say I've got things under control, but at least I can find my way around!

As the saying goes, nothing is as constant as change, and we're about to face another change in our South Silver Spring neighborhood.  Mayorga Coffee Factory is going to be leaving at the end of December, a loss I know many will mourn.  Up until now, Moorenko's has not served coffee drinks as a condition of our lease (just as Mayorga hasn't served ice cream), however, now that they are leaving, we are free to add espresso, coffee and other hot drinks, as well as pastries, to our menu.

As of the first week of January will we be opening early (7:00AM) and continuing to serve the community its daily caffeine.  We will even be brewing Mayorga coffee.  We hope you'll come join us in the morning for a gentle start to your day, and we hope you'll be patient while we get a sense for what you like.

Everyone at Moorenko's Ice Cream wishes you the happiest, healthiest, and most prosperous of new years.  And remember, now that the factory is in Silver Spring, not only can you use the Cafe's back room for meetings and parties, you can also plan parties and tours at the factory!

Best wishes,

Susan

Going Out Gurus reports that Jackie's is currently between chefs. From the article:

Sam Adkins joined the staff of Jackie's over five years ago -- well before the Silver Spring hot spot even opened. But the chef won't be there to toast its anniversary this month. Monday was his last day in the kitchen.

Details on exactly what happened are sketchy, though it appears to be a tender subject.

Read the entire article here.

If you see your name below, please contact Evan Glass.

• Giant Foods ($50) : Ed R. 
• Gallery Restaurant ($25) : Kay Weston & K. Smith
• Fuddruckers ($10) : Mark Albrecht 
• Chik-fil-A (3 sandwiches) : Jessie H, Joe D & Jillian C
• Veridian Market (2 suit cleanings) : Joe D, S. Archie, Talia M., Terry, Gail M.
• Lotus Café ($25) : Jamie R. 
• AFI shirt and bag : Michael W
• Big Greek Café ($20) : Jimmy Obomsawin
• Little Rascals Day Care ($65) : Carrie Feldman, Joel I. & Stephan S. 
• Whole Foods ($50) : Elisa K. 
• Jackie’s Restaurant ($50) : Brian S. 
• Safeway ($50) : Ken Roseman
• Mi Rancho ($25) : Stephan S
• Adega Wine (2006 Siema Vineyards Chardonnay) : Jill Curtis 
• Taste of Jerusalem ($25) : Natasha H. 
• Downtown Silver Spring ($50) : Perry G. & Eric Robbins
• Mamma Lucia ($50) : Joel I. 
• Olazzo ($30) : Herb S. 
• Regal Cinema (pair of movie tix) : Jason Gedeik, Lisa Pilnik, Ed B., Ron Coleman & T. Jennings
• Cubano’s ($25) : Angelene 
• Pomegranate Café ($25) : Jeff F., M. Kies, M. Kelly, Ed Choy, Laurie M. & Terry 
• AFI Membership ($50) : Jeff F. 
• Maryland Youth Ballet ($160 voucher & shirt) : Earles P.
• ArtSpring (art) : Elaine B. & Perry G.
• Living Ruff ($50) : Brianna Keilar
• Joyful Bath (basket) : Edgar Diaz
• Veridian Market (small & large gift baskets) : Jennifer L. & John King

As noted earlier, Nicaro has been closed for renovation before new management moves in. Today, Going Out Gurus reports that Nicaro is once again open with Luis E Martinez as the new executive chef.

As reported by Tom Sietsema, Washington Post Food Critic, 8047 (8407 Ramsey Ave) will be opened in October by Pedro Matamoros, who was the previous chef and owner of Nicaro.

Just a quick announcement: Hook & Ladder via Twitter:

Great News! Today we broke ground and started construction on our Silver Spring Hook and Ladder brewpub.

Image courtesy of silverspringdailyphoto.com

ThayerAvenue.com is reporting that last night was Nicaro's last day in operation. The restaurant was sold and two weeks from now a new restaurant with the current staff will be opening in the same location. It also appears that chef Pedro Matamoros has left the establishment and later this year will be opening a new restaurant in the defunct tiki bar on Ramsey, between the new Metro center and the parking garage.

Dan Reed over at Just Up The Pike just published part 3 of his series on things he loves about eastern Montgomery County. His third installment lists several things located in South Silver Spring. He speaks kindly of the Silverton Condos, Mayorga, and Plaza Art. In his previous posts, Dan mentions the Blair Giant supermarket and Quarry House Tavern (which may or may not be part of South Silver Spring, depending on how far we consider SSS to reach).

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3