ThayerAvenue.com

The lights are on and people are home. I went by last night and spoke to the new manager. His family owns a few stations in the area, and he’s hoping to start garnering neighborhood business again. Not sure what happened to the old owners, but this is a vast improvement. The gas prices are competitive, the garage is waiting on some equipment and certification, and the store is CLEAN. I don’t know if you ever went by and had to walk up to the window to get something, but the only reason I went before was proximity (and a pay-at-the-pump feature that the Bonifant station severely lacks).

Go. Buy some gas. Walk inside and grab a soda or something. I’d like these guys to stay around for a while.

I hope you’ve all finally recovered from a flippin’ sweet event. There are plenty of roundups out there, so without duplicating things, I’ll list a bunch of links here. They’ll also be available on www.silverspringzombiewalk.com. And feel free to send me anything else that pops up – photos, stories, videos, or otherwise.

• YouTube Playlist (including Pippermill, GranTheftPanda, eamono, and penguinstate)
• Silver Spring, Singular
• The Gazette (10/28/2009)
• Silver Spring Penguin
• Flickr Photo Pool (2009)
• Chip Py, Photographer
• Pay What You Can Photo Gallery
• MetroMix DC
• Brightest Young Things
• RussellHeimlich.com

This one, for obvious reasons, is my favorite (thanks, Chip):

Many thanks to all who participated, and especially to the Montgomery County Police Department for helping keep everyone safe and alive undead.

The excitement is almost palpable, don’t you think? I’m just waiting for one more package to arrive, and the costume will be complete. The response so far seems to be tremendous. The Facebook event page alone has at least 183 confirmed attendees and 214 “maybe” responses. And the slew of recent press mentions is impressive. Here is just a sampling…

• Washingtonian
• DCist
• Gazette
• Boston Globe
• NBC Washington

How we got on the Boston Globe site, I have no idea. I’ve also posted the official press release. Add the various local blogs, the Twitter account, and Zombie Walk site, and the word is definitely out. Because of the sheer number of people, be ready to split up before the event between the Quarry House, Olazzo, Piratz Tavern, and various other locales. Or just show up for the start of the walk about 9:30 or so. More on that soon, I hope.

And because of the turnout, don’t forget to get your Shaun of the Dead tickets ahead of time. And make sure you check out the Flickr pool for ideas and what to expect after last year’s shin dig.

And in ESSCA News…
The monthly meeting was last night, and I can no longer say ESSCA never gave me anything.

Real, actual ESSCA swag! And lucky for me, someone brought up the PREZCO issue while I was in the room. Nothing glamorous, really. Just the fact that they don’t necessarily represent all the various groups properly, which comes as no surprise to most of the civic groups in the area. And, of course, I actually got called out in the conversation. Score one for the hack neighborhood blogger!