ThayerAvenue.com

For those unfamiliar with the area, the great people of Montgomery County have provided some guidance:

For those participants who just want to participate in the walk and leave afterwards:

• About 150 surface lot spaces are available at Lot 3 which is located on Fenton Street in between Thayer Avenue and Silver Spring Avenue.
• About 900 parking garage spaces are available at parking garage 5 located at the intersection of Bonifant Street and Dixon Avenue.
• About 100 parking garage spaces are available at parking garage 4 located on Fenton Street in between Silver Spring Avenue and Sligo Avenue

For those participants who want to stay in the Downtown Area on Ellsworth Drive and remain to the later hours 10:30 – midnight

• Wayne Avenue Garage located between Fenton Street and Georgia Avenue
• Townsquare Garage located on Ellsworth Drive between Cedar Street and Fenton Street
• (Be mindful that these garages are the most commonly used and that the parking garages may experience temporary closures)

For those participants who are attending the AFI movie screenings and want to remain late and grab a bite to eat at Tastee Diner before going home:  11:30 p.m. and beyond

• About 1300 parking spaces are available at parking garage 7 located on Cameron Street located between Fenwick Lane and Camerons Street by the Courthouse
• About 1300 parking spaces are available at parking garage 2 located on Cameron Street located between Georgia Avenue and Spring Street

In the event that someone locks their keys in their car, needs a jump start because of a dead car battery, or wants a buddy escort back to their car they can call our Redshirt Hotline until midnight.  The number is (240) 876-2911.

A map of the area with parking garages and surface lots is available on the Downtown Silver Spring web site.

And not a moment too soon. 4 days and counting!

Two easy ways to get yours:

1. Hop on over to the Official Site and order with credit card or PayPal. You can also contact us directly for special shipping, direct (local) pickup, etc. All the info is on the order page.
2. Buy one the night of the walk at AFI. Warning – the lines stand to be long.

Also, we’ll be liquidating our t-shirt inventory from last year, so if you’re one of the first couple dozen or so to order, we’ll throw in a t-shirt. Sizes and quantity are limited. Visit the site for more info.

Get ready!

Some of you may have seen the commotion over the weekend, but last Thursday saw the locked doors and sign postings at Magical Oils on Bonifant. This was taken by alert reader Bonifant More Sinister Than Thayer Thursday evening.

Turns out there was a fire in the back of the building. And since there would have been plenty of oil for fuel, all they needed was a spark. This was the scene on Sunday afternoon as the owner/proprietor was forced to clear everything out.

I know there was always talk about this place being a front for a brothel or something, and I’m not a big believer in the power of magical oils, but it’s a shame it all had to end like that. No word yet on plans for reconstruction and/or reopening. For the time being, the place is unfit for occupancy.

I do enjoy living in Montgomery County. As much as I bitch and moan about particular policies and such, it’s still a great place to be. Then there’s people like Ginny Gong who did everything but actually kick the Fenton Street Market in the ass to get them off the plaza. As you’ll see in the latest post from Hannah McCann, the RFP to open up Veterans Plaza to other options on Saturdays did great things like:

• Increase fees for use to a $600 minimum. Roughly a 1200% increase from current costs paid by Fenton Street Market.
• No guarantee for Saturday use. Yup – you can get kicked out any time they want to kick you out.
• Prohibit food vendors. Goodbye crêpes.
• Heavy-handed county oversight. That means opening books at any time the county wants to see them, standardizing all promotion – way to suck the life out of something else, MoCo.

Of coruse, there are lots of other stipulations. And for jumping through all these hoops, you get access to ONE one-year contract. Beautiful. Way to screw up, Montgomery County. I can understand the issues behind some of the requirements, but this was a boneheaded way to eliminate something that really helped make Silver Spring a community. Are you pissed yet? Then go tell Montgomery County. And Ginny Gong. I can’t wait to see what ends up in her email box after this debacle.

And in other news…

Next Steps for the Purple Line

The federal government approved the detailed engineering for the purple line last week, paving the way for a two-year effort to get actual logistics and engineering down to brass tacks. I still think I have an easier way to handle this:

I proposed this simpler route about 4 years ago, as I only really plan on going to the west side of the county. This would cut costs immensely. Sadly, some people didn’t think it was funny. They even had a tent up at the Fresh Farm Market last weekend promoting it. Now if we could just get the naysayers to agree to the stop at Wayne and Dale, we’d be good.

If I’m lucky, my daughter will be able to use this in about 20 years.

Giving your 5¢

Beginning at the first of the year, the 5¢ bag tax will go into full effect in Montgomery County. Get ready for bitching and moaning. The only time I ask for a bag nowadays is whan I buy 40s of malt liquor. I think it’s worth the extra classiness. And if you think I’m kidding, you don’t know me.

Speed Cameras on Georgia Avenue

I wrote about the addition of speed cameras back in April when two tickets showed up in my mail at the same day. When I was driving home past night, it appears those two cameras are now gone. Not sure if the removal is temporary, but for the time being, please feel free to resume normal vehicular operation.

ADDENDUM:

Meant to include this with the other news, but just got a link sent to me by alert reader BMSTT:

Alleged Bus Masturbator Charge in Driver Stabbing (Silver Spring)

Discuss amongst yourselves.