Monday, December 31, 2012
If you're out celebrating on New Year's and don't have a designated driver, here are some choices for getting home.
The highest number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities in the last decade occurred on New Year's Day, according to Michael Green, AAA spokesman. But once you start your 2013 pre-celebration, you may not be thinking about statistics. So right now while you're thinking clearly, consider your options. Getting a designated driver or hailing a cab are some of your choices. But if you find yourself with empty pockets and no driver, you have options. Sober Ride Call Sober Ride 1-800-200-TAXI (1-880-200-8294) for a free ride home (up to a $30 fare) from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., according to the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP). It says rides started Dec. 14 and are available every night until Jan. 1, 2013. People using the service must be 21…
Monday, December 24, 2012
The North American Aerospace Defense Command has a website that now offers a Santa tracker mobile app to follow the jolly man's magical flight.
They sent him their wish lists, sat on his lap, and left cookies and milk for his arrival. Now the only thing left for children to do is track Santa's progress as he delivers gifts around the world on Christmas Eve. Thanks to the folks behind the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) website, families worldwide can now follow Santa's Christmas journey in real time. Santa's journey is set to begin Dec. 24. The tradition started in 1955 after an advertisement for Sears Roebuck & Co. misprinted a telephone number for a special "Santa hotline." Instead of reaching Kris Kringle, the number put kids through to the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) Commander-in-Chief’s operations, according to a description on the NORAD Tracks …
Friday, December 14, 2012
While the two holidays fall in close proximity to each other and are celebrated in popular culture together, Hanukkah does not hold the religious significance for Jews that Christmas holds for Christians.
Each year, Hanukkah falls in close proximity or during Christmas according to the Hebrew calendar. Because of that, the two are celebrated side by side under the “Happy Holidays” moniker. But in terms of religious significance, Hanukkah doesn’t rank as high for Jews as Christmas ranks for Christians. “It’s hard to not make a big deal of out Hanukkah living in America, and I’m not sure it’s a bad thing,” said Rabbi Rhoda Silverman of Temple Emanuel in Reisterstown. “That’s not a problem for me as long as we don’t forget about everything else that makes us Jewish.” Jonathan Schwartz, senior aide to Baltimore County Council Chairwoman Vicki Almond and a member of Temple Emanuel, sees Hanukkah as having two roles in the lives of American Jews…
Did you decorate your house for the holidays this year? Enter our "Deck the House" contest and you could win $100,000 for your local school district and $500 to pay your electric bills!
Thursday, December 13, 2012
The yearly feast for the needy is a Bethesda community tradition.
County officials and community leaders gathered Tuesday at the Bethesda- Chevy Chase Rescue Squad to serve up the 24th annual Goodwill dinner to those in need. More than 400 guests, many of them homeless or low-income seniors and families, enjoyed a holiday feast, pictures with Santa and gifts courtesy of local businesses. The community tradition was launched by the Bethesda Hyatt after a homeless person was found frozen to death one winter in the stairway of the hotel. For nearly a quarter century, the tradition has carried on. The event was organized by the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce, Hyatt Regency Bethesda, Bethesda Urban Partnership, the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, Five Star Premier Residences Chevy …
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Here's a traditional recipe to make during Hanukkah this year.
If you love latkes but not the oil permeating your entire house, and you don’t feel like frying latkes in your garage or outside, try these oven-baked latkes. Serve them with this homemade applesauce from your slow cooker. Applesauce I swear it’s faster to throw this in the slow cooker than to drive to the store to buy a jar of applesauce. Because you can taste as it cooks, you have the opportunity to spice and sweeten it to your own taste. This cooks down to about 4 cups of sauce. 4 – 5 lbs. crisp apples, 6 – 10 apples, approx. 12 cups 2 - 4 Tbsp. light brown sugar ½ tsp. cinnamon ¼ tsp. nutmeg, allspice AND cardamom ¾ cup apple cider ½ cup washed fresh cranberries (optional but awesome) I used a combination of Cameo, Rome, and Golden …
Friday, November 30, 2012
About 40 percent of Christmas tree fires involved some type of electrical failure or malfunction between 2000 – 2004, according to the National Christmas Tree Association.
With Thanksgiving a few days behind us, many families are turning their attention toward buying a Christmas tree. The National Christmas Tree Association wants customers to keep a few safety tips in mind when they purchase their tree. Consumers also need to know how to care for it once it's in their home.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Comptroller kicked off 'Shop Maryland for the Holidays' campaign by patronizing downtown Bethesda businesses Wednesday.
Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot kicked off his “Shop Maryland for the Holidays” tour in Bethesda Wednesday, encouraging Marylanders to get off the Internet and shop local for the holidays. “There is something to be said for the personal interactions with other shoppers and store employees at the holidays. It’s warm and inviting, unlike a cold, unfeeling computer,” Franchot said in a statement. “Plus when you shop in state and support your community businesses, you are bound to find great deals and help the more than 500,000 Marylanders employed in our state’s retail sector. And really, isn’t the spirit of the holidays all about helping others and kindness?” Franchot spoke in Veteran’s Park with Bethesda-Chevy Chase Chamber of Commerce…
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
From singing dogs to a philandering Santa Claus, these recordings came in last place in a recent survey.
Odds are there's at least one Christmas recording filling the airwaves each December which you absolutely, positively cannot stand. Maybe it's something about the vocalist. Maybe the song brings up less than cheerful memories. Maybe the carol itself is just plain awful. Whatever the reason, you're not alone. Edison Research, a company specializing in marketing and polling, has published a list of least liked holiday songs for 2012. To compile its rankings, the company polled a group of 200 women ages 30-49 "who said they liked or loved hearing Christmas music on the radio." (The sample may be somewhat unrepresentative of the broader population, but we're willing to bet a few of these recordings would show up on a great many "least …
Monday, November 26, 2012
Did you decorate your house for the holidays this year? Enter our "Deck the House" contest and you could win $100,000 for your local school district and $500 to pay your electric bills!
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Monday, November 26, 2012
We’re launching our annual Deck the House Contest to find the most over-the-top holiday decorations in America—the best “decked” house in the country—the one home so spectacularly decorated that everyone in town jokes your holiday decorations could rival Rockefeller Center’s. If this sounds like your house, upload a photo or video of your home to our contest page from Nov. 26 to Dec. 16 to http://deckthehouse.patch.com/contest/potomac. Only residents of Patch towns are eligible to enter. We’ll select 24 regional finalists, and from them, pick one grand prize winner. Patch will pay up to $500 of the utility bill for each finalist, while our national winner will have $100,000 donated to his or her local school district. So, what are you …
Gregg Roberts
4:11 am on Sunday, December 16, 2012
It drives me crazy when people keep repeating the line ''Hanukkah is a minor holiday.'' In Israel children have off all week for Hanukkah. Orthodox Jewish schools in Baltimore have a 4 day weekend. Hanukkah is other then Purim the only holiday that traditionally doesn't have restrictions on music, travel etc. and is the last holiday historically and the only one to have happened in Israel. No … more ›