SS/kmawards.pr      97-293              Contact:  Sandra Kaiser, 301-217-2170

HONOREES NAMED IN 11TH ANNUAL
KEEP MONTGOMERY BEAUTIFUL AWARDS       For Immediate Release:  Sept. 24, 1997



     Forty landscaping and beautification projects across Montgomery County -- at facilities
ranging from neighborhood entrances to water towers, to gas stations and residential
complexes -- will be recognized for awards this week in the Keep Montgomery County
Beautiful committee's 11th annual community beautification awards.
     Participants in the beautification awards, along with the honorees of the Keep
Montgomery County Beautiful committee's annual photo contest, will be honored during a
special ceremony on Thursday, Sept. 25 at 6:30 p.m. in the Council Office Building cafeteria,
100 Maryland Avenue, Rockville.
     The beautification competition recognizes outstanding landscaping and beautification
efforts in six categories:  commercial retail, cityscape/municipal street planting, public
institutional, community projects designed and maintained by professional landscapers and/or
contractors, community projects designed and maintained by non-professionals, and
environmental/wildlife habitat.  Level one entries are for projects started this year; level two
entries are for maintenance or upgrades of projects from prior years.
     Top honors, or "Awards of Excellence," went to 15 entrants this year.  They include: 
the City of Gaithersburg, for its landscaping of the MD Route 355 median strip; the Betty
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English Garden, maintained by the Garden Club of Chevy Chase; the Mallard Cove
Apartments in Rockville; the Alexander House in Silver Spring; the Cascades at Leisure
World; the Gaithersburg Square shopping center and the Congressional Plaza shopping center
in Rockville; the Talbott Street Water Tower in Rockville; the North Chevy Chase
Elementary School, for its Muriel Skolnick Outdoor Classroom; the Christ Episcopal Church
Memorial Garden in Rockville; the City of Gaithersburg's Summit Hall Farm Park Miniature
Golf Course; the City of Gaithersburg's Kentlands Mansion; the City of Rockville's Municipal
Swimming Center; the Constitution Gardens in Gaithersburg; and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission in North Bethesda.
     Awards of Distinction were presented to 11 entrants.  They include:  the City of
Gaithersburg, for its landscaping of the Interstate 370 ramps; the Connecticut Avenue Estates
Homeowners Association, for its project along a Veirs Mill Road retaining wall; four multi-
family housing complexes, including Whitley Park in Bethesda, The Forum in Rockville, the
Promenade in Rockville and the Rollingwood Apartments in Silver Spring; the Woodmont
Shell Service Station in Rockville; the Quince Orchard Plaza in Gaithersburg; the Shops at
Potomac Valley in Potomac; the Wildwood Shopping Center in Bethesda; and the City of
Gaithersburg's Casey Community Center.
     Eight Awards of Merit and four Honorable Mentions were also recognized this year. 
Two special awards were named for "sustained maintenance" efforts, with the "Golden Trowel
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Award" going to the Wexford Drive Creek community and a similar recognition going to the
Rollins Park Shell Station in Rockville.
      Keep Montgomery County Beautiful Photo Contest Awardees Honored
     In the 1997 Keep Montgomery County Beautiful photography contest, first place
recognitions were awarded to Gaithersburg's Don C. Johnson, for his "Balloon Over Boyds"
entry; Ursula R. Pariser of Chevy Chase for "Morning Fog in November"; James Dadey of
Takoma Park  for "Winter, Sligo Creek Park"; and for an untitled entry by Michelle Larsen of
Bethesda, depicting a wooden pedestrian bridge as seen through the trees.  A total of 21
awards were presented in this year's photo contest.
     For more information about the beautification and photography contests or to become
involved in Keep Montgomery County Beautiful activities, call (301) 217-2638.

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