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If your sweet tooth is starting to ache from too much Halloween candy, Bethesda-based community service group MoverMoms will take it off your hands. The group is wrapping up its annual Treats-4-Troops candy collection this weekend. The group is collecting donations of wrapped candy, which will be sent to U.S. troops of all faiths in Iraq and Afghanistan at Christmastime.

Drop off sites include:

-7101 Loch Lomond Drive in Bethesda through Saturday

-11110 Candlelight Lane in Potomac through Friday

-9504 Falls Bridge Lane in Potomac through Friday

-7202 45th St. in Chevy Chase through Friday

For more information, e-mail MoverMoms@aol.com or call 301-320-8836.

Learn more about

Chris Van Hollen

Sanford Gottlieb, author of "Red to Blue: Congressman Chris Van Hollen and Grassroots Politics" will give a talk at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, at the Kensington Row Bookshop, 3786 Howard Ave., Kensington.

The book follows the campaign of Van Hollen (D-Dist. 8) of Kensington, from the inside. Gottlieb worked in the peace movement from 1960 to 1993, and in 2002 served as a Kensington precinct coordinator in Van Hollen's campaign.

Bethesda student

hopes to travel to Japan

This summer, Walt Whitman junior Becca Andrasko, 16, spent 10 days at Princeton University as part of the High School Diplomats program, a cultural exchange program that brings together 40 American students and 40 students from Japan at the university campus to learn about each others' cultures.

Andrasko, who got involved in the program after visiting Japan on a family vacation, said the experience was one of the best times of her life. She shared a dorm room with a 16-year-old from Tokyo, learned some Japanese and got to experience a taste of Japanese culture.

"I have learned some Japanese, and my roommate is now one of my best friends, and we talk all the time," she wrote in an e-mail to The Gazette.

Now Andrasko is hoping to deepen her understanding of Japan and Japanese culture through a three-week extension program in Japan through High School Diplomats. The extension program involves living with a Japanese family, language classes, cultural lessons and tours of parts of the country.

Of the 40 American students who participated in the summer program, 18 will be chosen for the extension program in Japan. The program is funded by the AIU Insurance Company and full scholarships are awarded to all students accepted. For more information about the program visit www.highschooldiplomats.com.

Andrasko said she is hoping to learn much more about Japan if she is selected for the trip.

"Also, I really look forward to making other close connections with Japanese teenagers, because the friends that I made this summer are friends that I will keep in touch with forever," she wrote. "It was so interesting to get to know them well, as peers and as friends, rather just seeing the sights as an American tourist."

Bethesda tennis director honored with top award

Frank Hatten, tennis director at the Bethesda Country Club, recently received the 2009 Pam Shriver Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Game of Tennis in Maryland. The award is the highest service award given by the United States Tennis Association in Maryland.

Hatten received the award for his lifetime achievements to the game of tennis. He has served as president of the Mid-Atlantic Professional Tennis Association, the Mid Atlantic Tennis and Education Foundation, and is presently president of the Montgomery County Tennis Association and 2nd Vice-President of the USTA/Mid Atlantic Section. 

Hatten was instrumental in establishing summer tennis and education summer camp opportunities for at-risk youth in the Mid-Atlantic area, creating after school tennis and mentoring opportunities for at risk youth in the county, and the renaming of the Cabin John Tennis to the Pauline Betz Addie Tennis. 

Hatten has been Director of Tennis at Bethesda Country Club for 33 years, helping to bring Bethesda's tennis program from a small, seasonal facility to one of the premier tennis facilities in the metropolitan area.  

"There has been no one in the Mid Atlantic area who has progressed tennis more on  the local level  in Mid-Atlantic area than Frank," Rod Dulany, Executive Director of the USTA Mid Atlantic Section said in a written statement. "Mid-Atlantic is fortunate to have someone of Frank's commitment working on behalf of tennis." 

5K, half-mile runs to benefit Holy Redeemer School

The sixth Annual Cardinal 5k and half-mile fun run will be held Saturday, at the Holy Redeemer School, 9715 Summit Ave., Kensington. The 5k race begins at 8:30 a.m. and the fun run will start at 8:35 a.m. and will benefit the Holy Redeemer School, winding through scenic Rock Creek Park and the surrounding neighborhood. Cash awards of up to $100 will be presented to the top three male and female overall finishers and additional prizes will be given out to top finishers in different age groups. Everyone gets a T-shirt. Following the race is the popular party and carnival featuring great food and refreshments and a free moonbounce and obstacle course, caricatures and live music. Prior to Nov. 5, registration fees will be $25 for the 5K and $20 for the Fun Run. From Nov. 5 through race day, registration fees will be $30 for the 5k and still $20 for the Fun Run. To register, visit www.cardinal5k.com.

Potomac Speedskaters

earn medals

Three members of the Potomac Speedskating Club, an area team for both adult and youth skaters, recently earned gold medals at the American Cup B and Saratoga Mini-Meet races.

Jeong-Su Ha, a freshman at Georgetown Preparatory School in North Bethesda earned a gold medal in the American Cup Men's B event. Thomas J. Wootton High School junior Tiziano D'Affuso picked up fifth place.

In the Saratoga Mini-Meet, 13-year-old Potomac resident Shaner LeBauer, an eighth-grader at Sidwell Friends School, qualified to compete in the American Cup B division after winning his category and setting a personal best record at the 1,000-meter distance. His brother, Nathan LeBauer, an 11-year-old sixth-grader at Sidwell Friends, set several personal best times as he finished fifth overall in his category.

Bethesda resident Sophie Mittelstadt, an 11-year-old seventh-grader at Silver Spring International Middle School, won gold in her category and will qualify for American Cup B racing when she turns 14.

Skaters from the team will be competing in the American Cup II/Ohio Invitational in Cleveland Heights, Ohio this weekend. 

The Potomac Speedskating Club is coached by 1998 Olympic 1,000 meter short-track champion Dong-Sung Kim. Kim has been training skaters on the team to build it as a base for Olympic-level skaters in the next 10 to 12 years, said Alison Mittelstadt, vice president of the Potomac Speedskating Club board of directors. The team trains year-round at the Wheaton Ice Rink. For more information, visit

www.potomacspeedskating.org.

This column is for you. Share your good news! Feel free to send press releases and news tips. For Bethesda and Chevy Chase items, contact Stephanie Siegel via e-mail at ssiegel@gazette.net or phone at 301-280-3006. For Kensington and Garrett Park items, contact Jen Beasley via e-mail at jbeasley@gazette.net or phone at 301-280-3005. You can also send information by fax at 301-670-7183, or snail mail at 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg, MD 20877.