Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1958-02-27
Letters
Seneca 'Scourqe'

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IN Plea Studied by Council
which appeared in your news
paper under date of Thursday,
ID February, 1858. 1 refer par
ticularly to the statement made
by Mr.. Herman Schmidt in the
closing paragraph of the article.
lie (Herman Schmidt), cited the
creekside community at Seneca
as "a scourge to an otherwise
scenic community" l re-read the
statement several times before /
would believe it.
On what does Mr.. Schmidt
base his remark? Has Mr..
Schmidt visited in the Seneca
area during the past year or two
or is his statement based on Sem
eca as it was ten to fifteen years
ago? Is Mr.. Schmidt aware of
the fact that here in Seneca we
are community of more than
30 permanent residents owning
our own property on which we
pay Montgomery County and the
State of Maryland considerable
in the way of taxes? And that
we do not appreciate having our
community referred to as "a
scourge to an otherwise scenic
community. Which ever is the
case, it is still hard to believe
that a person in Mr.. Schnidt's
position, would make such a re-
mark publicly about any COM
munity without first making
quite sure of the facts.
Mrs. Sample and are mem
bers of the West Montgomery
County Citizens Association, as
are several other husbands and
wives living in Seneca - the
Macones', the Hunters, and Hun
ter and Ann Davidson. was
invited to join the WMCA by
Mr.. Waverly Taylor, an active
and highly respected member of
the WMCA. Would Mr.. Taylor
invite any "slobs" from a
"scourge community to partici-
pate in an organization of which
he is member? 1 think not.
We were delighted to join the
WMCA inasmuch as we have no
representation in the Upper
Montgomery County, and have
thoroughly enjoyed the several
meetings we have attended.
However, If Mr.. H. Schmidt,
as chairman of the planning and
coming committee, is represen-
tative of the elected officers of
the WMCA and is in such bad
taste in his remarks, we GER
tainly are wasting our time and
efforts in this activity, / am re-
turning our membership cards
to Mr.. Wilbur Garrett, president
of the WMCA. 1t is my opin-
ion that my neighbors are of
the same mind.
But let me return to Seneca
and point out a few things am
quite sure Mr.. Schmidt is not
aware of. There are several
very nice homes on both sides
of Seneca Creek, all privately
owned, and whose owners are a
dentist, an attorney, an examin-
er, an accountant, an analyst,
an FBI representative, all with
the federal government. In addi-
ton a highly respected political
reporter for the Washington
Post-Times Herald, and two
Montgomery County police Off
GERS, to mention a few. / would
call these very fine people who,
with their means and income,
are not required to live in
"scourge" community. Just two
years ago very nice hotel and
restaurant was added to the
community catering to nice
people, some of which have
been an Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court, members of the
Congress (both House and SEN
ate), members of the press, rid
ing groups, embassy representa-
tives, and many others. Would
this type of individual visit and
revisit a "scourge" community?
The 303-acre West farm, located
adjacent to our homes, has just
recently been purchased by a
group of five very prominent
and successful bidders and de-
velopers, several of whom I
have come to know very well
and who surely would not have
invested to considerable ex-
tent in property in Seneca if it
was considered slum area.
Granted there are a few mod
est cottages located along Seneca
Creek, but they are all privately
owned, kept neat and clean, and
used mainly for weekends and
summer vacations. These are
part of any river community.
There are no rentable shacks in
Seneca.
The residents of Seneca take
a LOT of pride in our community,