Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1949-03-17
Montgomery SideIights
By ELSIE WHITE HAINES

The March winds may blow and
we may have snow, but-Spring is
definitely here! We know it by the
frightening days-the warmth Of
the midday sun, by the singing of
the early spring birds, by the
daffodils which graced Jeff" Lad
sons buffet table Sunday night,
picked from her garden she said.
The cold mornings warn, however,
that winter has not entirely loos-
ened his grip.
AS these lines are being written
on Monday morning a robin sits on
the bird bath picking rather
mournfully at the ice in which he
is mirrored-it is plain to see that
he thinks he has been fooled. We
first saw this robin Friday MORN
ing in the midst of snow furry,
when a strange bird call attracted
our attention and a glance out the
window showed a congress of
blackbirds in the Fulks' field across
the road.
Going to an upstairs window for
closer view we found that among
those blackbirds were seemingly
hundreds of the red-winged vari-
ETY.. Some of the wings were spot
ted with plain red-some with red
and yellow while on a few the
spots seemed plain yellow or
orange. That's when we first saw
Robin Redbreast-he was sitting
On a locust branch just outside the
window with $50 I'm not the only
one to be fooled" air, as he looked
down through the snow on the
scarlet-winged blackbirds = long
known as the harbingers of Spring.
1t was in records of early Sandy
Spring that we first heard of the
red-winged blackbirds = "Spring
came early this year-and with it
the red-winged blackbirds which
make their home near the spring."
or at times-"Spring is late this
year = still no sign of the red
winged blackbirds." After reading
about them we often saw a pair
along the Olney-Laytonsville road,
usually in front of what is now the
Tydings estate-calmly. sitting on
a telephone wire. One has to look
carefully to see that they are not
plain blackbirds.
We once paid a visit to the
spring which gave the town Of
Sandy Spring it's name-and was
delighted to find that the birds
mentioned almost two hundred
years ago still nest around the
spot. Alas, the village has grown
away from the spring which is
now in the center of a field-fur
nishing water for cattle. To visit
it ones drives past the old Meeting
House and the Dean Acheson home
(Which long ago housed the Sandy
Spring post office) to the end of
the lane-probably an early thor
oughfare in the vicinity.
In the Sandy Spring Community
House adjoining the old ivy COW
cred Meeting House the Women's
Board of Montgomery County Cen
eral Hospital held its Spring Quar-
terly Meeting Monday afternoon.
The meeting was really reminis-
cent of summer for the ladies plar-
ned for the annual benefit to be
held in July.
The St. Patrick's colors, green
and white, formed the motif fer
table decorations and food at the
March meeting of presidents Of
the 20 Homemaker Clubs in TIE
County held in the Home Demon
stration headquarters in Rockville
Monday. Guests at the luncheon
were Acting County Manager Try
ing G. McNayr and his assistant,
Plummer Shearin and Mr.. AMI
Mrs. Washington |. Cleveland,
who is president Of the Montgom-
cry County Safety Board as wei
as president of thesD. c. Divisioi
Of the American Automobile Assc-
citation. Mr.. Cleveland, after lunch
con, talked on Safety - on the
highway, in schools and homes.
An entertaining talker, Nj.
Cleveland held his audience despite
the fact that almost every one had
eaten entirely too much. Of courie
his wife did doze little-but sic
had probably heard the story r.
teen times before-as Mr.. McNaT