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Community groups, churches and businesses will join together July 10-11 for the annual festival known as Celebrate Damascus.

The event will begin 7 p.m. July 10 with a parade from Damascus High School north to the Damascus Volunteer Fire Department Activity Center on Lewis Drive. It will be followed by fireworks at the Activity Center.

Events the next day will be held at the Activity Center and American Legion Post 171 next door, the library and the Park-and-Ride lot on the corner of Woodfield Road and Main Street.

Free trolley will take visitors to the various locations.

Friday night's fireworks and the trolley are sponsored by Gary Richard in memory of his parents, Sis and Tucker Richard, and in honor of the 50th anniversary of Tucker's Gas and Go.

Throughout the day the Damascus Library will hand out literature about its programs on the corner of Main Street and Woodfield Road. While bands are switching places at the library stage, a storyteller will be reading to children under the tree near the stage.

The Damascus Heritage Society plans to open the museum behind the library for games, snow cones and chess games.

The Damascus Volunteer Fire Department is sponsoring a coloring contest. (Look for the coloring page on page 17.) Entries must be received by Monday. Winners will be announced during an open house at the fire station on July 11.

Green fields, green game

The fields won't be the only thing green at the Capitol Polo Club grounds this month.

The third annual Green Cup of Polo, the first event in the Washington area to be certified carbon-neutral by the nonprofit Leonardo Academy, is set for July 18 at the Poolesville polo grounds, 14660 Hughes Road.

Gates open at noon, the event starts at 1 p.m. Attractions will include two polo games, equestrian demonstrations, live music and an opening speech by Philippe Cousteau Jr., president and CEO of nonprofit EarthEcho International and grandson of Jacques-Yves Cousteau.

Environmentally friendly features include sustainable food and beverages, carbon credits to offset the event's carbon footprint, composting and recycling, and supplies such as T-shirts, cups, plates and utensils made from biodegradable or organic materials. Between 1,200 and 1,500 people are expected to attend.

Ticket prices begin at $35 and will benefit the American Council on Renewable Energy, Equestrian Partners in Conservation and EarthEcho International.

For more information, visit www.greencuppolo.com.

MCPS students named

Robert C. Byrd Scholars

Eighteen Montgomery County public school students, including one from Clarksburg High School, are among 143 Maryland students named Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholars for 2009 by the Maryland State Department of Education.

Each honoree receives a four-year scholarship worth up to $1,500 per year to be used for undergraduate study at any institution of higher education based on cost of attendance. The scholars were chosen from more than 600 nominees from across the state.

The Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship Program, named for the U.S. senator from West Virginia and administered by the U.S. Department of Education, is designed to promote student excellence and achievement and recognizes exceptionally able students who show promise of continued excellence as they pursue higher education.

Principals at public and private schools were invited to nominate students from the top 1 percent of their graduating classes for this prestigious award.

County winners and their schools are: Sahar Shahamatdar, Montgomery Blair; Matthew Stevens, James Hubert Blake; Eric Moy, Winston Churchill; Stephanie Huang, Clarksburg; Kathleen Hallock and Vivek Patel, Gaithersburg; Jared Griffin, John F. Kennedy; Jeremy Blair and Kara Karpman, Richard Montgomery; Karen Qi, Northwest; Alexa Greenberg, Poolesville; Victoria Ward, Seneca Valley; Richard Steinwand, Springbrook; David Peter, Walter Johnson; Gretta Digbeu and David Gaynor, Watkins Mill; Anna Domini Roma, Wheaton; and Jacob Levitt, Walt Whitman.

On campus

-Anna L. Stern received a Bachelor of Arts degree cum laude from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, on May 16. She majored in neuroscience and received a distinction on her neuroscience senior exam. Stern, the daughter of Joanne Schreiner and Paul Stern of Damascus, is a 2005 graduate of Sandy Spring Friends School. She will be a research fellow at the National Institutes of Health.

Volunteers needed

at Hospice Caring

Hospice Caring needs administrative volunteers to help support operations at The Cottage in Gaithersburg, a meeting place for Hospice Caring bereavement and book discussion groups, retreats, monthly caregiver teas, and staff and board meetings in the city's Bohrer Park, 506 S. Frederick Ave.

Volunteer support includes mailings, research and analysis, answering telephones, marketing and public relations, distributing fliers and errands. The office is open 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

For more information, contact volunteer coordinator Madeleine Carmichael at 301-869-4673 or madeleinec@hospicecaring.org.

Teens sought to serve

on advisory committee

Teenagers who would like to help make a difference in the lives of youth throughout the county are invited to apply to serve on the County Executive's Youth Advisory Committee.

Middle and high school students who reside or attend school in Montgomery County are eligible and members earn Student Service Learning credits. The deadline for applications is July 15.

The Youth Advisory Committee plans countywide alcohol-, drug- and violence-free middle and high school events such as the Battle of the Bands and works to strengthen students' voices in the schools. The committee's mission also includes promoting youth service through events such as the Global Youth Service Day.

The committee is sponsored by the Montgomery County departments of Recreation and Health and Human Services and the Collaboration Council for Children, Youth and Families.

For more information or to receive an application, call 240-777-6985 or visit www.montgomerycountymd.gov/rec.

News for People and Places must be received by 5 p.m. Thursday for consideration for the following week. They can be mailed to The Damascus-Clarksburg Gazette, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877; sent by fax to 301-670-7183; or e-mailed to ssingerbart@gazette.net.

-Federal, state and county offices are closed Friday, July 3, for Independence Day.

-Banks, libraries and courts are closed July 3 and July 4.

-MCPS administrative offices are closed.

-Recycling and trash pickup - regular collection. County's waste transfer station open July 3, closed July 4.

-Ride On and Metrobus will operate on Saturday schedule.

-Metrorail will operate on Saturday schedule July 3, supplemental service July 4.

-MARC trains will not run.

-County liquor stores are open July 3. July 4, all stores open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

-Parking is free at county lots, meters and garages.