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The pool at Piney Branch Elementary School re-opened Sunday for its fall session thanks to last year's eleventh-hour budget scrambling by pool sponsor Adventist Community Services to ensure funding for another school year.

The pool will be open to lap swimmers and guests from 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. before school and from 4 to 10 p.m. after school from Monday through Thursday, 6:30 to 8:30 a.m. Fridays and from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sundays, according to ACS officials. The pool will be closed on Saturdays.

Prices for the pool have increased slightly to cover the upkeep of the facility in the face of a decreased ACS budget, according to ACS pool spokeswoman Joyce Seamens. Montgomery County residents will be asked to pay $3 for children, $4 for adults and $3.50 for seniors, with a low-income discount option for those who qualify. Prices for out-of-county guests will be slightly higher, Seamens said, adding that 12-day passes and other discounts will also be available.

So far the pool has not scheduled any swim classes or other activities, but officials hope to release a more detailed schedule of classes by next month, Seamens said.

"I probably get about 10 e-mails and phone calls a day about, ‘Are you having swim lessons? Are you going to have aerobics? Are you having swim lessons for infants again?'" Seamens said with a laugh. "Everyone is very excited, [and] come September, our lessons will be scheduled, and we will be signing people up for those then … we're open for suggestions on what people would like to see there, [too]."

For more information about the pool, prices or the upcoming schedule, please visit the ACS pool Web site, www.acsgw.org/pool.htm, or contact Joyce Seamens by phone at 301-565-0190 or by e-mail at PoolProgram@acsgw.org.

Hospital to host

senior health screening

The Washington Adventist Hospital will hold its monthly blood-pressure screening for area seniors from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. tomorrow in the senior room of the Takoma Park Community Center, 7500 Maple Ave.

Washington Adventist is also hosting its monthly healthcare lecture for the Takoma Park Silver Foxes senior activities group from noon to 1 p.m. Sept. 1 in the senior room Community Center. This month's lecture will focus on healthy cholesterol education for seniors.

Both the blood screening and the lecture are free to all seniors, but those interested in attending the lecture Sept. 1 must register for the event by calling 301-891-7280.

Silver Spring residents appointed to nonprofit board

The Literacy Council of Montgomery County has appointed Silver Spring residents Ira Scot Holmes, Jean-Marie Smith and Michael Drayne to its executive board.

Holmes is managing director of Convexity Consulting Group LLC, teaches accounting and finance at the University of Maryland and serves as finance director on the board of the Menare Foundation.

Smith is employed by Deloitte and Touche LLP, received a master's degree in teaching English as a Second Language and has been a volunteer at the Academy of Hope in Washington, D.C.

Drayne is co-founder and managing director of American Home Bank Reserve. He is a volunteer tutor with the Literacy Council and is an officer of his neighborhood association.

The Literacy Council of Montgomery County, established in 1963, is a nonprofit, educational organization dedicated to helping adults learn to read, write or speak English.

Church to hold

three-day rummage sale

Looking for a special bargain? Toys, clothing, small appliances, books, luggage, dishes and more will be available this weekend at Good Shepherd Episcopal Church's annual rummage sale at 818 University Blvd. West in Silver Spring. The sale will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday. For more information, call 301-593-3282.

Silver Spring resident performed at international poetry slam

Silver Spring resident Samuel Olutobi Adeoye, a student at the University of Wisconsin-Madison's First Wave Hip Hop Theater Ensemble, performed at the 12th Annual Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Slam July 15 in Chicago.

This is the sixth consecutive year the UW-Madison's Office of Multicultural Initiatives youth teams are representing Wisconsin.

Administered by the Office of Multicultural Arts Initiatives, the First Wave Learning Community is the first university program in the country centered on spoken word and hip-hop culture. The majority of the 45 students now in First Wave has been recruited from the Brave New Voices network.

The six-day Brave New Voices 2009 event was held for the second year in Chicago from July 14 to 19. It featured more than 500 Teen Poetry Slam Champions from 45 parts of the country and five additional cities from across the globe, together representing more than 50,000 young poets in their local communities.

For more information on the Brave New Voices International Poetry Festival, visit www.youthspeaks.org/word/?p=17.

SHA to host forum on reversing environmental impacts of ICC

The State Highway Administration will host an open forum on the Intercounty Connector from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in the National Capital Trolley Museum, 1313 Bonifant Road in Silver Spring.

The topic of the forum will be on learning more about the ICC's Environmental Stewardship and Compensatory Mitigation program, which aims to alleviate negative environmental impacts resulting from the project, such as soil erosion and the relocation of native box turtle species. Members of the project team will be on hand to update attendees on the program's progress and answer general questions about the program.

For more information, please visit the SHA Web site, www.iccproject.com, or contact John Sales in the Office of the ICC at 866-462-0020 or e-mail at iccproject@sha.state.md.us.

Free High Holiday tickets

from local synagogue

Congregation Har Tzeon-Agudath Achim, a "traditional Conservative" synagogue in Silver Spring, will provide free High Holiday tickets to unaffiliated members of the Jewish community who would like to attend Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services.

HTAA is at 1840 University Blvd. West in Silver Spring.

Jewish military personnel, stationed away from their homes, will be invited for the High Holidays at no charge.

There is no obligation to join HTAA, but advance reservations for tickets are required. To order tickets, call 301-649-3970, or visit the Web site at www.htaa.org.

Send Silver Spring news to Staff Writer Jason Tomassini and Takoma Park news to Staff Writer Jeremy Arias at The Gazette, 13501 Virginia Manor Road, Laurel, MD 20707. The fax line is 240-473-7501. Tomassini can be reached at 240-473-7559 or jtomassini@gazette.net; Arias can be reached at 240-473-7564 or jarias@gazette.net.