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Brookeville resident Margeaux Tydings, a student at Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington, met with first lady Michelle Obama last week as part of a forum on health care reform.

Tydings, 17, was selected because of her Girl Scout Gold Award project, which she completed last May. She organized a "Fit for Life Fun Fair" for youth.

While volunteering at a Saturday School through the George B. Thomas Learning Academy, she noted that youths were coming to school without having eaten breakfast, were often overweight, and were bringing handheld video games.

"A lot of these kids have parents working two jobs or are single parents and don't have the time to feed their kids well or get them involved in activities," she said. "At the fair, we taught them how to make healthy snacks, activities and games to play outside, and gave them some information on safety in the community."

Tydings said she received a call from the Girl Scout headquarters on April 5, asking if she would be interested in participating in the forum on April 7. She was one of eight Girl Scouts selected to be part of a group of approximately 60 teens.

Tydings said group members discussed actions they can take in their communities, and asked the first lady what she and the government planned to do to promote health and fitness throughout the country.

The program was broadcast live by C-SPAN. Following the broadcast, the teens were able to meet and speak with Obama.

"I shook her hand and told her that it was a pleasure to meet her," Tydings said. "She thanked us for coming and taking the initiative to bring health awareness to our communities. It was just a really cool experience."

Tydings is a senior at Holy Cross. She began her Girl Scout career in kindergarten as a member of Girl Scout Troop 4058.

Historic landmark

opening planned

The Rachel Carson Council will open the national historic landmark home of the world-renowned environmentalist in Silver Spring to visitors on Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.

The house, where Rachel Carson wrote the book "Silent Spring" that launched the modern environmental movement, is located at 11701 Berwick Road in the Quaint Acres area of White Oak.

Activities will include talks by Dr. Mark Madison on "Rachel Carson, Nature's Bureaucrat: How to Change the World from within the Federal Government"; Rachel Bynum on "Picloram in Mulch Hay: A Cautionary Tale"; Dr. Richard Robbins on "Ticks"; and Dr. Michael Liddel on "Update on the Chesapeake Bay Oysters".

Musical selections will be performed by Bob Zentz, organic treats will be available, and video screenings and children's activities are planned.

For further information, visit www.RCCouncil.org or call the council office at 301-593-7507.

RMT to offer

rock and roll in the barn

The Rockville Musical Theatre will present "Forever Plaid," a musical fantasy by Stuart Ross, at the Gaithersburg Arts Barn, 311 Kent Square Road.

The show, centered on the early days of rock and roll, runs this weekend and next at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and at 2 p.m. Sundays.

Admission is $18 for nonresidents of Gaithersburg and $16 for residents. 

This show, geared for ages 16 and older, honors the close-harmony men's groups that reached the height of their popularity during the 1950s, Gaithersburg city spokeswoman Britta Monaco said in a statement.

Four high school chums — and their dreams of recording an album — died when their cherry-red 1954 Mercury collided with a bus filled with Catholic schoolgirls en route to see the Beatles' American debut on the Ed Sullivan Show.

"The play begins with the wondrous and wondering Plaids returning from the afterlife for one final chance at musical glory," Monaco said.

For information and tickets, call 301-258-6394 or visit www.gaithersburgmd.gov/artsbarn.

Science Center

plans Science Café

The Rockville Science Center will hold its next Science Café at 7 p.m. April 21 to discuss "What has 10,000 legs and lives in your backyard."

Dr. Gary Hevel of the Smithsonian Institute will be the guest speaker.

The event will be held at Branded 72 restaurant, 387 E. Gude Drive in Rockville.

The Rockville Science Center is a nonprofit organization intended to develop a facility that presents science to people of all ages.

Café will be held the third Wednesday of every month. Upcoming discussions are set for May 19, "Smoking, UV and Cancer"; and June 16, "Astronomy," with Stan Odenwall.

For more information, visit www.RockvilleScienceCenter.org or call Ruth Hanessian at 301-674-7884.

Tip a cop for Special Olympics

As part of a statewide Red Robin "Tip-A-Cop," officers from the Montgomery County, Gaithersburg, Maryland-National Capital Park and Rockville City police departments will volunteer as celebrity waiters at the Gaithersburg and Germantown Red Robin restaurants from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and again from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday, collecting tips in support of Special Olympics Maryland.

Special Olympians from the county will also be on hand displaying the medals they have earned.

The celebrity waiters will assist regular Red Robin service staff by serving beverages, cleaning off tables and filling water glasses. The volunteer officers will also take the opportunity to educate diners about the Tip-A-Cop event, leaving behind an envelope for any patrons who wish to leave an additional "tip" for their guest servers.

Special Olympics of Maryland is a year-round sports organization dedicated to providing quality sports training and competition opportunities to children and adults with intellectual disabilities or closely development disabilities.

The Red Robin Tip-A-Cop event is one of a number of events organized and conducted under the banner of the Maryland Law Enforcement Torch Run. The Torch Run is a grassroots movement by volunteer law enforcement and correctional officers to raise both funds and awareness for Special Olympics Maryland athletes statewide. In 2009, the Maryland Torch Run was honored as the Top Fundraising Program in the world during the annual Torch Run Conference.

Torch Run T-shirts and hats will be on sales for $10 each during the event.

For more information about Special Olympics of Maryland, visit www.somd.org or call 410-789-6677.

Game tournament to benefit Sister City Corporation

A Weiqi Tournament will be hed Saturday at the Rockville Library as a fundraiser for the Rockville Sister City Corporation.

Weiqi, also known as Go in the West, is a strategy board game played throughout Asia.

Open to all ages and skill levels, the event will feature three rounds beginning at 10 a.m. Registration will begin at 9 a.m. Donation is $15.

An Internet Weiqi/Go match will be played 9 a.m. to noon with residents of Jiaxing, China, Rockville's new sister city.

Rockville has had a sister-city relationship with Pinneberg, Germany, for more than 50 years.

A workshop for beginners of Weiqi will also be held throughout the day.

For program details, call John Goon at 301-613-8297 or send an e-mail to spineyone@yahoo.com.

Items appropriate for this column should be sent to Judith Hruz, The Rockville/Aspen Hill Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, Md. 20877; faxed to 301-670-7182 or 301-670-7183; or e-mailed to ncarrick@gazette.net. Deadline is Thursday at 5 p.m. for consideration for the following week. Items are subject to editing and used on a space-available basis.