MEET YOUR NEIGHBORS
Sherry Zuckerman
Interviewed in September 2024
My husband Bob and I moved here in 1988, 36 years ago, along with our children Meredith and Eric. We bought a fixer upper - which I’ve been updating ever since. Meredith and Eric attended local schools.
I am on the CVPCA Board for the third time, and now I’m in my second year as president.
What do you like most about Capitol View Park?
I enjoy living in a natural setting. In fact my house is next to a county urban park. As a county weed warrior, I’m authorized to maintain the park and remove invasive weeds. I also appreciate the variety of housing styles, the parks and accessibility to other areas . A bonus is the many neighbors who are my good friends.
What are some of your favorite memories from living here?
Our community events are the best!
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How has CVP changed through the years?
The community has grown by over 70 houses since we moved here. In fact my house was a new addition too. Despite this growth we were able to maintain the essential feel of our historic community, thanks in no small part to our Local Advisory Panel, who advise the Montgomery County Planning Commission. But mostly it’s about the friendly people in our community.
How would you describe our neighborhood to someone who is unfamiliar with it? Maybe someone who is new here?
The historic designation sets us apart from the neighborhoods nearby and I think it’s to our benefit. But those in the historic area are also responsible for following rules for any exterior improvements. The board members of the CVPCA are alway happy to answer any of your questions. For information about the community click here.
Julie Corliss
Interviewed in November 2024
How long have you lived in Capitol View Park?
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I’ve lived in CVP since 2012, when my husband Steve and daughter Michaela and I moved into our house on Leafy Ave. I work as a freelance medical writer, focusing mainly on heart disease, nutrition, and mental health. My hobbies are predictable cliches: yoga, cooking, and gardening. I’m also trying to learn how to play the guitar and to speak Spanish.
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What is your favorite thing about Capitol View Park?
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My twice-daily dog walks have been such a nice way to get to know so many of my neighbors, which include a mix of interesting, friendly, creative, and smart people (and many cute dogs and cats). I love having a network of people nearby who are happy to share pet sitting duties, plants from their gardens, and missing recipe ingredients.​
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Tell us one thing about yourself.
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My favorite memories of living here include the many smaller, informal happy hour gatherings with neighbors on Menlo Ave and nearby streets, as well as the big events like the Turkey Trot and the Progressive Dinner. I also remember being part of an impromptu snow-shoveling brigade that one year we got so much snow.
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​In addition to the wonderful folks in CVP, the location is great. For me, the best part is being able to get a nice dose of nature walking on the wooded trails behind nearby Flora Singer Elementary school. Plus, there are playgrounds and tennis courts within a 10-minute walk of my house. It’s easy to pop down to Kensington to the Saturday Farmer’s Market, BabyCat Brewery, or Frankly Pizza, and it’s also just a short drive to Target and Costco in Wheaton.
PAT KENNY
Interviewed in October 2023
Pat Kenny lives with her partner Doug and cat Max in the heart of Capitol View Park. She is a certified master gardener, renowned herb publicist, and an in-demand speaker, county-wide, on topics including food as medicine and growing and using herbs of the world. A retired medical illustrator for NIH, Pat is often outside tending to her garden, propagating plants to share, harvesting herbs to make kitchen mixes, and learning how her plants like to grow so that she can illustrate some of them. She has lived in CVP since 1981.
What do you like most about Capitol View Park?
The greenness. First, we like being in this fine understory of trees. Second, there is a cooperative environmental awareness not experienced in any neighborhood where I’ve lived. The friendly people that surround us are walkers for both their increased health and that of their pets.
What are some of your favorite memories from living here?
I have many wonderful memories involving the Irelands, Carol and Terry, who live across the street. They moved here a long time before we did. They inspire generosity and intellectual curiosity for all of us.
Speaking of neighbors, can you tell us about “The Gathering?”
Absolutely. During Covid, our younger Menlo Avenue residents began gathering for a weekly “happy hour” in the fresh air of the street. As the months went by, my better-half, Doug [Douglas Reingold] weeded a circle around our corner red maple tree, spread sawdust from the local furniture-maker, and put out chairs we inherited from a neighbor who moved away. So the happy hour, which I call The Gathering, has migrated off the street and onto the sawdust circle.
Every Sunday, whoever would like to come to relax and share, or not, what's happened during their week comes by. Everyone is welcome.
We meet between 5 and 6 p.m. at the corner of Menlo and Barker. During the winter, it’s 4 to 5 pm. It’s a casual get-together, BYOB. Or some might say it’s BYOD because several people bring their dogs.
How has CVP changed through the years?
I don't know whether Capitol View Park has changed or whether it is we who have made the most change. Since we retired and are able to become more involved, we do see that younger people with children are generating the renewable energy we adore. Personally, I love the way this neighborhood welcomes all kinds and ages of people. Aging in place is a goal, and we feel a huge necessity to downsize within it.
How would you describe our neighborhood to someone who is unfamiliar with it? Maybe someone who is new here?
The answer is within my prior answers. I wish I could also say "very diverse," yet I know it has become less affordable. We bought our first home for five figures, rented our second home next door to families until we retired, and then renovated and sold the first to live in the second on the corner wherein we presently and futurely intend to dwell.
Bruce Cohen
Interviewed in October 2016
How long have you lived in Capitol View Park?
I have lived in CVP since 1949. I was married in the field behind my house, and my two sons were born in the house and raised here. As president of the CVPCA, I lead the successful effort (with the indomitable force of Diane Smith, now in MA) to prevent 37 townhouses from being built on Brunswick Avenue and Mount Pleasant Road.
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What is your favorite thing about Capitol View Park?
Some of my fondest memories include the stream clean-up a couple of years ago on New Year's Day, the times folks come out in heavy snows to push cars up CVA, and the willingness of neighbors to help one another.
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Tell us one thing about yourself.
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I left CVP for Kenya in 1987 and returned in 2005 to renovate the house and host house concerts, music recitals, workshops, and fundraisers for a variety of non-profit organizations.
