Two Impressive Shows Open Locally

As long-time readers of Inverness Forest Today know, I occasionally discuss the productions of two local theater companies: The Potomac Theatre Company and The Victorian Lyric Opera Company.  Since I'm associated with both companies I get to see the rehearsals and watch the shows take shape.  In June each company will present their season's finale.  The Potomac Theatre Company will present the play, Don't Dress For Dinner while the Victorian Lyric Opera Company will present Gilbert and Sullivan's The Gondoliers.

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Picture from the Art and Seek Blog
Don't Dress for Dinner is a two-act play by French playwright Marc Camoletti.  The Answer Girl blog provides the following summary: "Don't Dress for Dinner is a farce about a naughty weekend that goes wrong in every possible way. Bernard and Josephine are at their country house for the weekend, but as the play begins, Josephine is on her way to visit her mother. Before she leaves, she discovers that their best man, Robert, is coming to share Bernard's bachelor weekend; what Bernard doesn't know is that Robert and Jacqueline are actually having an affair.  So Jacqueline cancels her plans to visit her mother, but what she doesn't know is that Bernard had invited his own mistress, Suzanne, to spend the weekend while Jacqueline was away. He's also hired a cook to prepare a special dinner for him, Robert and his girlfriend; the cook's name is Suzette. Suzette arrives as Robert is alone in the house, expecting to meet Suzanne, and wackiness ensues."

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The Gondoliers is equally zany.  (Picture and text from Wikipedia)

"The story of the opera concerns the young bride of the heir to the throne of Barataria who arrives in Venice to join her husband. It turns out, however, that he cannot be identified, since he was entrusted to the care of a drunken gondolier who mixed up the prince with his own son. To complicate matters, the King of Barataria has just been killed. The two young gondoliers must now jointly rule the kingdom until the nurse of the prince can be brought in to determine which of them is the rightful king. Moreover, when the young queen arrives to claim her husband, she finds that the two gondoliers have both recently gotten married. A last complicating factor is that she, herself, is in love with another man."

Show dates and ticket information can be found at:

Don't Dress For Dinner 

The Gondoliers 

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I've been attend rehearsals of both shows and taking pictures.  The links to those pictures are here:

Don't Dress For Dinner Rehearsal pictures

Gondoliers Rehearsal pictures

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Local Sierra Club Events in May

Sabine Dohrn has posted a message on the IFA website's message board titled "Interesting gardening workshops coming up"

Sabine's message describes Sierra Club events during the month of May that might be of interest to Inverness Forest Residents. Here is the link to Sabine's message:
Sierra Club Gardening Events


Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

New Street Lights for Inverness Forest

IFA vice-president, Sharlene Shugarman, is (in her other life) a well-known and respected commercial lighting consultant. She has provided a sample working street light (pictured on the left) for the community to see in operation. The light is on the island in front of 8183 Inverness Ridge Rd.

The board will be taking up issue of replacing the street lights with a more updated and energy-efficient design later this year or early next year. The sample light will give you an idea of how the community will look with the new lights.

Sharlene has provided the following details on the new street light design:

• This new street light fixture is more efficient, provides more light distribution while using 30% less energy
• Will reduce routine maintenance costs by having a 50% longer lamp (light bulb) life and better ballast
• Reduce uncomfortable glare to drivers
• Improve safety at night
  
• Improve our community appearance

If you'd like to comment, please post a comment to this article (so others may read it), or send email to me or to Sharlene at: sshugarman@verizon.net


Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Secure Trash So It Doesn't Blow Away

Two residents from different parts of Invenress, C Blanton and S Cooperstein, have spent a lot of time and effort picking up trash from the woods and common area that was not secured properly on trash collection day. They have sent me an email containing information on how to make sure your trash is properly secured so that it won't blow away.

Here is their email:

Please remind everyone that spring not only brings our beautiful woodlands and yards into bloom, it also brings winds that notoriously scatter trash and ruin what should be a gorgeous view. The biggest culprits, loose papers or styrofoam left unsecured in recycling bins, too often get blown into the woods or neighbors' yards, so *please* do your part to keep our neighborhood clean.

Montgomery County's waste reference site explains how to safely and effectively dispose of practically anything:
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/dep/solidwaste/collectionservices/index.asp
If you click on "paper" for example, it will tell you that all clean paper can be combined and placed in:
small paper bags
tied with strong twine in small bundles
placed in small containers and/or small boxes with lids
Wheeled carts for paper recycling
Also, make sure contractors properly dispose of all their trash too -- including treated shingles that cannot just be thrown into the woods to degrade, screws and nails that can puncture tires, food containers, etc. Let's all help to keep our grounds clean and tidy.

Thanks,
C Blanton and S Cooperstein

These two residents, and other residents who pick up trash from the common areas, deserve our thanks and appreciation. You can show your thanks by emulating them and picking up trash from the common areas wherever you see it.

Also, the link in the column to the right from Montgomery County contains useful information on trash and recycling.


Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

Warning on Itinerant Roof Repair Workers

I received an email from Inverness resident Beth Dromerick warning of the dangers of hiring a pair of itinerant workers who say they will repair minor damage to roofs inexpensively. Beth warns that this is a scam. Here is her email:

Thought you might want to alert IFA homeowners that there are a couple of older men who come around periodically to clean gutters. They drive a station wagon well stocked with spray paint. Upon "inspecting" the roof they usually recommend minor roof repairs. Homeowners should be forewarned that their "repair job" is generally an expensive spray painting job. They do not actually fix anything but only make things look "good" from the curbside. We had our roof replaced a few months after they spray painted pipes, caulked and nailed down loose shingles. The roofing company confirmed it was just topical treatment poorly done. The men also spray painted our neighbor's trim that was peeling and painted right over the peeling paint without ever scraping and preparing the area. In addition, walking on an old roof can cause more damage and nailing old shingles causes more splitting. I was sorry to see more homeowners being taken advantage of last month and wanted to alert the community.
Thought this may be of interest to the Inverness Forest Today blog.
Beth Dromerick

I have my own warning to residents about hiring itinerant workers to do repairs to their houses. Any repairman you hire should be bonded and have insurance against liability that might arise should the repairman be injured when working on your house. If one of the repairmen that Beth mentioned should fall off the roof, the homeowner might be sued for huge damages. It is very unlikely that the repairmen in this instance have liability insurance. Ask them to show you a certificate of liability insurance before you hire them. At least get a recommendation from other residents before engaging workmen who knock on your door.

The community's website has a message board that residents can use to communicate with the community. One topic on this message board is set up to let homeowners pass on their experience and recommendations about local repair companies. Take a look at this topic and perhaps you will find a recommendation for a service you plan to use. A link to the website can be found in the column on the right.



Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com

(See Comments below for residents responses)