Home Care In Rockville, IN

Raising a family in College Gardens meant Jennifer Weiland could let her children run wild in a quiet, beloved patch of woods where — just five minutes from downtown Rockville — kids fish in a babbling stream, string hammocks among mature trees and build forts from fallen branches.

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The Upper Watts Branch Forest Preserve is “the gem of our area,” said Weiland, president of the College Gardens Civic Association. The green space forms the western border of the neighborhood of about 330 single-family houses situated between Interstate 270 and MD-355.

“It’s just such a blessing for us to have this wild area in the middle of the suburbs,” Weiland said.

Over the years, the community has fought efforts to make even modest changes to the preserve, including several attempts to build paved bike trails. Residents prefer the rugged natural paths marked by signposts and blazes courtesy of the local Scout troop, Weiland said.

The undisturbed quality of what locals refer to as “the woods” speaks to the character of College Gardens as a whole, Weiland said. Despite its proximity to highways and to Rockville’s urban center, the neighborhood has retained its leafy, secluded charm for about half a century.

College Gardens was constructed in the late 1960s and early 1970s on what had been a large swath of farmland. Plenty of the original homeowners remain in the neighborhood, said Tom Miner, a retired real estate agent who has lived in College Gardens since 1995.

As some of those original buyers downsized and left the community, young families have been attracted to the neighborhood’s quiet streets, its lack of a homeowners association and its school district, he said.

College Gardens Elementary School is walking distance for all of the neighborhood’s residents.

“In the morning, you see streams of kids and families and dogs walking to school,” Miner said.

And even outside of school hours, the area is a haven for walkers. Before Weiland moved to the neighborhood, she regularly left the immature trees of her nearby community for strolls through College Gardens’ woods and shady streets.

Now Weiland — who moved to College Gardens in 2012 — is used to seeing residents of surrounding neighborhoods drive in, park across the street from her home and unload their children or dogs for walks in the forest preserve.

Nathan Rutledge, who moved to College Gardens with his wife and toddler earlier this year, said the low speed limits and pedestrian-friendly streets were part of what drew him to the community.

Rutledge and his wife had been renting in Bethesda, but were looking for somewhere with less traffic and larger lots. For a while, College Gardens didn’t occur to him.

“I’ve lived in Montgomery County my whole life, and this area wasn’t one that I really had on my radar before,” Rutledge said.

Once he looked into it, though, Rutledge said he quickly felt the neighborhood’s inviting atmosphere.

“It’s an easy place to feel at home,” said longtime resident Diane Fuchs.

Weiland has fond memories of her children and her neighbors’ children building snow forts on days when schools were closed and of watermelon seed-spitting contests at Labor Day picnics. She became so close with one of her neighbors that her children grew up calling the woman “Nana.”

The six-acre College Gardens Park has a playground, a pond, picnic tables and sports fields. In nearby Woodley Gardens — on the other side of the forest preserve — there’s a pool where College Gardens children compete on the swim team each summer.

The neighborhood garden club is popular among adults.

Fuchs, whose College Gardens home served as the family hub as her grandchildren grew up, is part of a team working to help older residents remain in their houses as they age.

She is helping launch a chapter of The Village Movement, a group of independent nonprofits across the country that create networks of community support.

Once the College Gardens Village is off the ground, Fuchs said, residents will be able to sign up through a centralized system for tasks such as driving older neighbors to doctor’s appointments or shoveling driveways.

“You know the phrase it takes a village to raise a family?” Fuchs said. “Well, it also takes a village to keep people stable and healthy and in their own homes.”

Living there: As of Nov. 20, 10 houses had sold in College Gardens in 2023, with an average price of about $807,000, said Long and Foster real estate agent Audrey Romano. The least expensive was a four-bedroom, 2½ bathroom house that went for $725,000. The most expensive was a five-bedroom, 3½ bathroom house that sold for $950,000.

The housing inventory in the neighborhood is “extremely low,” Romano said. There were no houses on the market as of Nov. 20.

Schools: College Gardens Elementary School, Julius West Middle School and Richard Montgomery High School.

Transit: The Rockville Metro Station is about two miles away. Montgomery County’s Ride-On bus route No. 45, which can transport residents to the Rockville and Twinbrook stations, has stops in and around the neighborhood. Bikers and walkers can take advantage of the Carl Henn Millennium Trail, an 11-mile multiuse path that borders College Gardens in its loop around Rockville.

Santa Claus will be back in the Rockville area this holiday season, letting good girls and boys share their wish lists and take photos.

Michael O'Connell, Patch Staff

ROCKVILLE, MD — Visits and pictures with Santa are treasured traditions for many Rockville families. For them, there’s nothing quite like seeing jolly old St. Nick live and in person.

In the Rockville area, kids have several chances:

Breakfast with Santa: Sunday, Dec. 10, at 9 a.m., at Dave and Buster's - Silver Spring at 8661 Colesville Road. Questions? Contact Santa’s helper Sara Davis. [email protected] at 214-904-2597

Photos with Santa: Nov. 20-Dec. 24, at Ellsworth Place, 8661 Colesville Road in Silver Spring.

Santa Paws- Pet Pics with Santa! Dec. 9, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., at Long & Foster, 4701 Sangamore Road, lower level, in Bethesda Get your dog's favorite ugly sweater ready, or just go all out in jingle bells and antlers – the choice is yours!

Find out what's happening in Rockvillewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Where Is Santa?: Meet Santa through Dec. 24 at Westfield Wheaton Plaza, 11160 Veirs Mill Road in Wheaton. Reservations recommended.

Photos with Santa: Meet Santa through Dec. 24 at Westfield Montgomery at 7101 Democracy Blvd. in Bethesda. Reservations recommended.

Santa arrived Nov. 5 at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Santa’s Wonderland and will hold court through Christmas Eve. Reservations are encouraged.

Santa is coming to Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack stores on Black Friday, which is Nov. 24 this year. In Maryland stores, kids can begin writing letters to Santa starting on Nov. 24 through Dec. 20 or attend a holiday breakfast on select dates.

GRANBY — After waiting through a weather delay that held up the start of its season-opening game by close to two hours Friday, the Rockville and Granby/Canton football teams managed to get 9:39 of action in.

Then the skies took over. With lightning all around the field at Granby, play was halted and eventually the Pequot Uncas was suspended. They'll pick up things Saturday at 10 a.m. with 2:21 left in the first quarter and Rockville with the ball at its own 47-yard-line.

"I'm frustrated," Rockville coach Erick Knickerbocker said. "I know that everyone wants to get the game in. You just try to get ready for every situation as a football coach. Some things are just out of your control. We're frustrated as a team. We waited it out, it didn't work out, but we'll come back ready to play."

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But in that short time of play, the Rams suffered a tough loss when junior linebacker/running back Nate Palmer suffered an apparent right knee injury while covering the opening kickoff. He was helped off the field by a pair of teammates and in obvious pain.

Knickerbocker did not speculate about the extent of what the injury could be.

"I feel for Nate and the team," Knickerbocker said. "Yes, it's frustrating. I'm just worried about Nate right now."

Both teams had touchdowns negated by holding penalties. On the Bears' second play from scrimmage, Granby/Canton quarterback Vincent Forte had an 86-yard dash called back. On Rockville's ensuing possession, Carson Morgan made a circus catch of a Brady Ramsdell pass for a 24-yard gain and a first down at Granby's 37-yard-line. On the next play, Amir Knighton — who missed last season due to an ACL injury — raced to the end zone on his first carry only to see it called back.

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Knighton later added a 26-yard run two plays before the game was suspended.

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Sep 8, 2023

Garrett Paul is living a dream.

That the Rockville football team's senior defensive back/wide receiver will play for a state championship Saturday at 1:45 p.m. when the second-seeded Rams take on No. 1 Daniel Hand in the CIAC Class M final at Arute Field on the campus of Central Connecticut State is only a part. That he's able to do it in America after spending his early years in worn-torn Myanmar is why his dreams can come true.

"I was 9 when I moved to America," Paul said. "I moved here looking for a dream. I would watch TV and see things like New York City and what went on in America and dreamt about coming here. America is the dream and football became a part of it. Football is what made me what I am today.

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"To play for a state championship means a lot. I moved to the United States from a third-world country and started playing football. This is what I've been waiting for my whole life. Rockville and Rockville football mean so much to me. They took me in like I was one of their own. This is where I want to be and I'm what I want to be right now."

Paul was born in Myanmar (formerly known as Burma). His father was in the United States military and his mother from Myanmar. According to Wikipedia, the country is located in Southeast Asia and is bordered on the north and northeast by China, on the east and southeast by Laos and Thailand, on the south by the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal and on the west by Bangladesh and India.

Eight years ago, he moved with his father to North Carolina and then settled in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He came to Vernon in 2022 and lives with his Aunt Philesha Johnson.

"I'm a military brat," Paul said. "Life in Myanmar ... There was civil war and mass genocide, just anything bad you could think of. So my dad came to pick me up. My mother and the rest of my family are still in Myanmar going through all that.

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"We moved to North Carolina and to South Carolina and I was living with my dad in South Carolina and there were just family issues. My aunt is just a wonderful person and she brought me in when I needed someone and has treated me like one of her own.

"I felt like Rockville was a good place for me. I visited three years ago and met a couple of players -- Lexington Hunter and Demeir Thomas -- and I never expected that I would ever be playing football with them."

But once he arrived in Vernon, it was something he wanted. Paul, who started playing pee-wee football while in North Carolina, made his way to a Rockville High practice.

He's been a part of the Rams since. He's been joined this season by his cousin, Phillip Odom.

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"Garrett literally showed up on the sideline last year," Rockville coach Erick Knickerbocker said. "It was like the third week of training camp and he's got his South Carolina accent and I asked who he was and he told me and said he wanted to play football. There are always kids that come out like that and a lot of them never materialize.

"Once he got acclimated, and that came quickly, he lined himself up against Joey Christian. Joey was one of our best receivers and every day in practice Garrett challenged him. Joey got the best of him early in the season. Garrett had played a little bit but because he had moved around a lot didn't have a lot of structure playing organized football. Once he made himself competitive, he made every drill fun."

Paul, whose idol is former New York Jets defensive back and 2023 NFL Hall of Fame inductee Darrelle Revis, earned his spot at Rockville and helped the Rams go 9-3 and advance to the Class M semifinals a year ago.

Sports helped him assimilate to his new school.

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"Football helped me with so many things," Paul said. "It's helped me stay focused, stay on task, emerge into the community because that's how I've met all of my friends. It came naturally."

Last winter he joined Rockville's wrestling team and finished second to Suffield/Windsor Locks' Naser Saleh in the 145-pound division of the NCCC championships. In the spring he joined the track team and earned all-conference honors and finished fifth in the 110-meter hurdles in the Class MM state meet.

By the time football came around again he was ready to take his game to a higher level.

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"That jump started in the spring when he joined the track team," Knickerbocker said. "He got into hurdling. He started getting more confidence and he was training with Amir Knighton, training with Lexington Hunter, training with Cam Washington, our top athletes in track. That was huge thing for him.

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"Over the summer he went to the 7x7 camps with us and became a leader. We went to a UConn camp and went up against some of the best players in the state and got destroyed, but Garrett competed and he was the only one who could cover them. And he let them know all about it. He gained so much confidence."

He took that confidence into the season and was named to the Pequot Uncas all-conference team. In the first quarter of a win over the CREC co-op he caught a touchdown pass and soon followed with a pick-six. He blocked a punt in a win over Cromwell/Portland, Rockville's best of the regular season.

But his best and most significant play of the year came in the Class M quarterfinals against Berlin on Nov. 28. The Redcoats came from 14 points down to pull within one with 2:40 left with only an extra point left to tie it. But Paul, Hunter, and Knighton broke through to get a piece of the kick and Rockville ran out the clock for a 14-13 win.

He's also persevered as his Aunt Philesha's aunt, Carol, passed away on Nov. 6. In what Paul calls a meaningful moment to him, he was honored by the Pequot Conference with the Ted Netcoh Award, named after the late Windsor Locks High assistant football coach.

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"Garrett's seen a lot for a 17-year-old and has experienced a lot in life," Knickerbocker said. "These last two years have been some of the most stable times for him. Football has been a part of it and his aunt has been a rock for him. It's a cool story about how he's been able to make an impact on our team but also an impact on our school's culture as well.

"Football has given him a family that, at times in his life, he hasn't had. He's made a lot of friends. He knows he has people here that are there for him but he also knows he has to do right things for his family here. That gives him that structure he hasn't had all the time."

Paul, who earned a spot on Rockville's first-quarter honor roll to start the 2023-24 school year, hopes to college next year and would like to play football and run track. After Saturday's game, he plans to try out for the Rams' basketball team.

But first he and Rockville (11-1) will face a difficult challenge against 13-time state champion Daniel Hand (11-1). But Paul has never been one to back down from a challenge.

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"It's going to be very special playing, the biggest moment of my career," Paul said. "This is a chance to show how good we are and what Pequot football about. It's an opportunity you dream about."

And Paul is living the dream.

Dec 8, 2023

Carl Adamec joined the Hearst Connecticut Media Group in June 2023 when the company purchased the Journal Inquirer. A graduate of Putnam High in Connecticut and St. John's University in New York, he's been honored by the Connecticut Girls Soccer Coaches Association and Connecticut American Legion baseball program in his time at the JI and was inducted into the United States Basketball Writers Association Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2023.

[Vitals]

[They're Here]

[Reason to Cheer]

In this space last year we wrote: Sophomore Knighton is big, bad and has potential to become a household name. Just swap 'sophomore' with 'junior.'

[Reason to Fear]

Malachi Mapp. the best player and heart of last year's team, is now playing at Central Connecticut State University.

[The Bottom Line]

Amir Knighton was coming off an impressive freshman season that saw him become a major factor in the Rams run to the Class M championship. Knighton ran for 365 yards and six scores, while making 64 tackles and a team-leading 13 1/2 sacks as a linebacker. He was poised for a breakout sophomore season, but a preseason injury cost him the entire year.

Still, the Rams went 8-2 in the regular season and won their Class M quarterfinal game before losing to Berlin in the semifinals. Seven starters return from that squad and so, too, does a healthy Knighton as Rockville looks to make another state playoff run.

Quarterback Brady Ramsdell, who returned from an injury himself, threw for 1,635 yards and 18 touchdowns as a sophomore. Rockville coach Erick Knickerbocker said he is excited to see Ramsdell’s growth on the field and as a leader.

The junior will get to throw to Carson Morgan, who was Rockville's third-leading receiver a year ago, and track stars Lexington Hunter and Garrett Paul as Rockville attempts to replace the graduated Hason Green and Joey Christian, who combined for nearly three quarters of the team's receiving output last year.

Knighton will be tasked with replacing Malachi Mapp, who ran for 934 yards and 15 scores. The offensive line is being revamped, somewhat, but returns 6-foot-3, 235-pound junior Jonathan Kasamba and three-year starter Jayden Spaulding.

Middle linebacker Nate Palmer had a great sophomore season, leading the Rams with 117 tackles and finishing second on the team with eight sacks. He is one of four starters returning on a defense that is actually more experienced than expected. Kasamba and Spaulding will bookend the defensive line and Knighton's return to the defense, at safety, figures to give the Rams a massive boost.

Rockville will face some early challenges as it vies for a fifth-consecutive state playoff berth. The Rams play three 2022 playoff teams in their first five games, including a big season-opener at Granby/Canton.

[2023 Schedule]

** Division game * Conference game