Zelda Brown, a resident of Arden Courts Kensington Assisted Living, a dementia-care facility, got to relive some good memories last week when she met with Miss District of Columbia, Jen Corey, at the Institute for World Politics.

The meeting took place at the send-off party for Corey, who will be traveling to compete in the Miss America pageant Jan. 30.

Brown was a top 10 finalist in the Miss District of Columbia contest in 1938 at age 19. She still regales Arden Courts staff with tales of her pageant days and laments not winning the crown.

"They hold on to stuff, you know?" said Linda Ryan, the marketing director at Arden Courts. "They just hold on to stuff, and this she has held on to for dear life."

Brown's meeting was arranged by the facility as part of the company's Heart's Desire program, which is designed to fulfill the wishes of residents in dementia care at Arden Courts.

Ohashi wins

Sweden Venture Cup

Kevin Ohashi, son of Nancy J. Cooke of Bethesda and Ken Ohashi of Darnestown, recently won the Southern Sweden Venture Cup for the best business idea, which connected job searchers with job providers through the use of the social networking site Twitter.

Ohashi, 24, is a graduate student in International Marketing and Brand Management at Lund University in Sweden. He holds a master's degree from Lund University in entrepreneurship and a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Vermont. Ohashi attended Georgetown Day School and graduated from The Lincoln (American) School in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Venture Cup, a Scandinavian business plan competition started by McKinsey and Company, is Sweden's largest such competition. The juried competition is designed to promote entrepreneurship within Scandinavia as well as to generate high-growth start-up companies.

Writer's Center celebrates

33 years with a reading

The Writer's Center in Bethesda will celebrate its 33rd birthday Jan. 30 with a special celebration and reading featuring Writer's Center aluma Pagan Kennedy and internationally acclaimed poet and translator Carolyn Forche.

The event, which is $20, begins at 7:30 p.m. at 4508 Walsh Street in Bethesda. For tickets or information, call 301-654-8664 or visit www.writer.org.

Family kicks butt

in Taekwondo

Congratulations to Chuck, Tyler and Cheyenne Thornton of Bethesda, who were honored as the 2009 Family of the Year by USA Taekwondo.

The sport is a family affair for the Thorntons, who are each members of the Remarck Sport Taekwondo competition team in Alexandria, Va. Tyler and Cheyenne's father, Chuck holds a master rank in the sport and helps to coach his children's team. In addition to volunteering his services at USA Taekwondo regional and national events, Chuck was a member of the technical staff at the 2009 World Taekwondo Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is also on the Board of Governors of the Maryland State Taekwondo Association and was recently recognized by the World Taekwondo Federation for his contributions to the sport.

Tyler, a sixth grader at Thomas Pyle Middle School, is an accomplished competitor, having medaled in the black belt divisions at the last two Junior Olympic national championships. He helps lead classes and provides instruction. Cheyenne, fourth grader at Wood Acres Elementary, is following in her brother's competition footsteps and is a three-time national champion.

Chuck is a national security analyst and doctoral candidate at the University of Maryland.

Light the lights! County residents earn Monty Awards

Several county residents earned recognition from Access Montgomery for their volunteer work with the public access television station.

The 24th annual event, known as the Monty Awards, was held Dec. 5 to put the spotlight on the volunteers who produce diverse local programs for Rockville-based Access Montgomery, channels 19 and 21.

The evening's top award, The Bill Randolph Award, was presented to Dick Terrill of Wheaton, who has won the honor the past four years. Terrill has been an active volunteer at Access Montgomery since 1998 and his "wide-ranging expertise and unfailing dedication as a production technician is legendary at AMTV," the station reported.

The Bill Randolph Award, named for one of Access Montgomery's most respected volunteers, recognizes a level of unparalleled volunteer accomplishment during the preceding 12 months. Terrell worked 448 hours between July 1, 2008, and June 30, 2009.

Other winners include:

-Best Host: Martine Liade Ikossie of Germantown, "Ivoire Vision."

-Arts and Humanities: Eugene Saunders of North Potomac, Marian Merewitz of Brookeville and Francine Wyron of Silver Spring, producers, "A Little New Music."

-Community and Ethnic: Frank Nelson of Silver Spring, producer, "Fresh TV."

-Educational: Gregory V. Hamilton of Gaithersburg, producer, "American Indian Past and Present."

-Growth: Lance Smith of Silver Spring, producer, "The Claysmile Show." He also won in the Inspirational category.

-Health and Science: Steve Friedman of North Potomac, producer, "TravelTelevision.org."

-Public Affairs: Marian Merewitz of Brookeville, producer, "Connecting Our Community."

TLC adds new director

of outpatient services

Janet Graves-Wright is the new director of outpatient services at the Treatment and Learning Centers in Rockville, a nonprofit organization that provides educational, therapeutic and vocational services to children and adults with disabilities.

Graves-Wright, who recently located to Maryland from New York, said she is "thrilled to be here at TLC."

"I have experienced all angles of this field with my own experience coping with a reading disability and as the parent of a child with learning disabilities, and also as a therapist, an educator, a researcher and as an administrator," she said in a statement.

She earned a Master of Science in Education in speech-language pathology from Nazareth College of Rochester and a Master of Music in vocal performance and literature from the University of Rochester. She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from California State University, Chico, and has completed doctoral coursework in speech and hearing science at City University of New York.

She holds certification from the American Speech-Hearing-Language Association in Rockville and is licensed as a speech-language pathologist in Maryland and New York.

"Janet brings a wealth of experience to our organization," Patricia Ritter, executive director of TLC, said in a prepared statement. "We are excited about her joining our team and know she will serve the community through her work at TLC."

Film Festival to continue Saturday at Tikvat Israel

The second weekend of the annual Israeli Film Festival, titled "Before Beauford: The Early Films of Joseph Cedar," will be held Saturday at Tikvat Israel Synagogue in Rockville.

"Campfire" will be shown at 7:45 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. The event will feature a dessert reception and moderated discussion after the film led by Eric Zakim, coordinator of the Program in Modern Hebrew Language and Literature at the University of Maryland.

Cost is $10 for Tikvat Israel members, $12 for the general public.

To RSVP, send an e-mail to

adulated@tikvatisrael.org.

The synagogue is located at 2200 Baltimore Road.

Student trades foundation accepting vehicle donations

The Montgomery County Students Automotive Trades Foundation is accepting donations of vehicles of all makes and models to be used in the automotive technology classes of high school students within Montgomery County Public Schools.

For more information, visit www.

autocareers.org or call 301-929-2190.

Preschool songs and stories

The City of Gaithersburg offers preschool songs and stories from 11 to 11:45 a.m. Tuesdays, except holidays, at the Arts Barns, 311 Kent Square Road. The morning fun offers creative music and stories for children ages 3 to 5 with guardian.

For more information, call the Arts Barns at 301-258-6394 or visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/artsbarn.

This column is for you! Share your good news! Contact Jen Beasley at jbeasley@gazette.net or 301-280-3005, or Erin Donaghue at edonaghue@ gazette.net or 301-280-3007. Send information by fax at 301-670-7183, or snail mail at 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.