New Mayor News, Beale Street Blues and Local Foods

Rockville will get a new chief executive on Friday.

Isabella Varea, a fourth-grader at will be appointed “Mayor for a Day.” Her term will run for about five-and-a-half hours as she tours city facilities, participates in a police ride-along that includes a stop at St. Elizabeth’s (just to run the siren and make her classmates jealous we assume) and has a power lunch with Mayor Phyllis Marcuccio.

Varea is one of 11 regional winners of the “If I Were Mayor I Would …” essay contest sponsored by the Maryland Municipal League and the Maryland Mayors Association. This year’s contest’s theme was “Working Together Works.” Students were asked what they would do to make their city a better place to live and how they would encourage citizens to work together to make improvements.

Varea wrote about the importance of working together to keep the citizens in her community happy and healthy, according to a news release from the city.

"Once a week, my community would unite and work together to do various projects," Isabella wrote in her essay. "For instance they would build greenhouses and plant community gardens to grow organic food and keep the citizens healthy. I would do
my best to make my community one of the most popular places for families to live
in the United States.”

Here’s the “youngest mayor in America” edition of “The Rundown”:

• There’s a chance of showers, but the overall forecast is the most promising it has been in days for tomorrow’s . The city and county are supporting pedal pushers with two morning pit stops in Rockville: One will be at Rockville Town Center, along East Montgomery Avenue between Maryland Avenue and Monroe Street. The other will be at the Fallsgrove Transit Center, near the intersection of Fallsgrove Drive and Oak Knoll Terrace. Bike commuters can stop from 7 to 9 a.m. to meet other area cyclists for light snacks, coffee and prizes. Cyclists can reserve a free T-shirt by going to the Washington Area Bicyclist Association's Web site. Call 240-773-2989 for more information.
• Beale Street Grill . This Saturday it brings a little something extra with its Second Annual Blues Festival from 1-5 p.m. The festival includes a pig roast and live blues from  regular Jay Summerour on the harmonica with vocalist/guitarist James Mabry and Eric Selby on drums, the Mike Westcott Band and the Piedmont Blues stylings of guitarists/vocalists Rick Franklin and Eleanor Ellis. A portion of the proceeds from all food and beverage sales will be donated to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
• Summer is almost here. Registration began today for city recreation programs. Registration for county summer recreation programs opened on Monday.
  City recreation guides will not be mailed to homes this year but can be found here and are available in hard copies at city facilities. The guides include information about classes, trips, concerts and other events.
  Registration for indoor swim classes at county facilities is now open. Registration for outdoor swim classes begins on June 6. County recreation guides are available in hard copy through a $5 annual subscription, at all county recreation centers, parks, government buildings and libraries or online here. For more information on county programs call 240-777-6840.
• On Monday, we at the Rockville Swim and Fitness Center. But what about other outdoor pools? They'll open on Memorial Day weekend. Until then, the city’s Web site has details or call 240-314-8750.
• While you’re waiting for Rockville pools to — ahem — get into the swim of things, the city offers other outdoor fun. presents “History the Natural Way — Open Fire Cuisine” from 1-2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Peerless Rockville and culinary historian Michael Twitty demonstrate open-fire cookery and discuss historic Montgomery County foodways and food history.
  Attendees will be able to “prepare a baked treat from the 18th and 19th centuries,” according to the city’s Web site. (We assume that’s in the manner of 18th and 19th century cooks. Otherwise, your baked goods might be kind of stale.) Ages 16 and up. Cost is $12 for Rockville residents and $16 for non-residents. Registration is required at www.rockvillemd.gov/croydoncreek.
• Speaking of food, is teaming up with the state Department of Agriculture to offer customers a bag of produce from Maryland farmers each week through the Maryland’s Pick program. For $25 a week members get a variety of fruits and vegetables, recipes and cooking tips. Each bag will contain six to 10 varieties of freshly picked produce, such as sweet cherries, blueberries, asparagus, cabbage and more.
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