West Laurel
- Virginia May Geis
- 5 days ago
- 3 min read
Local news covering the West Laurel and Burtonsville areas
LHS Class of 1975 Reunion—50 Years Later!
If you remember the 1970s, there were many significant events to recall from 1975: President Richard Nixon resigned; Saturday Night Live debuted; the movie Jaws was released; and the last Americans were evacuated from Viet Nam as Saigon fell. However, even more memorable was the Laurel High School class of 1975! We are having our 50-year reunion this year. The time has flown by so quickly! Do you remember the prom theme? (“We shall never pass this way again.”) Dust off your Rambler and come out to learn what your classmates are doing now and to remember those no longer with us.
The reunion will take place on Friday, October 3, in the Banquet Hall of the Savage VFD. The weekend will have other activities planned, too, so make sure you don’t miss out! The e-mail address for the class is laurelhs.1975@gmail.com or check out the class Facebook group at Laurel High School (MD) Class of 75. You can also e-mail me at WestLaurelVoices@gmail.com and I will make sure you receive updates.
West Laurel Civic Association Blood Drives
Unfortunately, the WLCA was forced to cancel its May 13 Red Cross blood drive at the community building. However, according to the Red Cross, in the nine blood drives WLCA has held so far, a total of 282 units have been collected; our community has saved approximately 846 lives—since every unit donated has the potential to save three lives. For updates on rescheduling the blood drive, check the WLCA website (www.wlcaweb.org) or Facebook page (www.facebook.com/wlcaweb.org).
West Laurel Walkers
West Laurel resident Nancy Whipple organizes the West Laurel Walkers, a walking club that enjoys group walks down at the Riverfront Trail. Dogs on leashes are also welcome. For more information, contact Nancy at njwhip54@verizon.net.
Update on Burtonsville Crossing
Several businesses have opened at Burtonsville Crossing since last Fall, when I first wrote about the newly redeveloped shopping center. At press deadline, Domain Fitness was still listed as “coming soon,” with no estimated opening date, while Eggspectation was “eggspected” to open by June 17. The following have already opened:
ISAAC’S House of Poultry opened in February and has been touted as the “home of the best sandwich in Maryland.” According to its website, ISAAC’S mission is to provide the highest-quality, best-tasting food and deliver the best possible service. ISAAC’S chicken is all-natural, free of antibiotics and steroids, and is certified halal. Recipes are written to eliminate as many allergens as possible, and the menu is 95% gluten free. ISAAC’S is also mindful of its environmental footprint and has eliminated all single-use plastics from the restaurant.
MyEyeDr. offers eye exams, glasses and contact lenses. It is situated between Moby Dick’s and Allure Nails Bar.
Allure Nails Bar offers all nail services, as well as massage and skin therapy.
Playa Bowls reportedly will bring “never-ending summer with delicious smoothies, açaí bowls, cold brews, and juices.”
Phowheels Vietnamese Food touts its menu as offering “modernized Vietnamese Street Food,” turning what used to be a strictly food truck business into a storefront located at the end of the strip.
Chipotle has opened and is located away from the strip—it has a drive-thru.
Social Security Scam Alert!
Montgomery County’s Office of Consumer Protection is warning people about a social security scam currently circulating via emails. Per the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Office of the Inspector General, the email mimics an official SSA email; it includes a link, purportedly to download your Social Security statement. However, do NOT click on that link, because it is an attempt to lure individuals to fraudulent sites using a method of cybercrime called “phishing.”
While there are variations to this scam, they all require you to click on a link, or an image, which connects you to a file ending in .exe. This is an executable file that downloads malware and remotely connects criminals to your computer. Once connected, they can steal personal information, passwords, banking access, etc.
To learn more about this scam, visit the SSA’s “Beware of Scam Emails Asking to Download Statements” online notice (at https://www.ssa.gov/). To learn about scams in general, how to spot them, and 10 ways to avoid fraud, check out OCP’s “Scam Squad” website.
(Thanks to fellow columnist Angie Latham Kozlowski for contributing this item.)
Want to get in touch with me? Send me an e-mail at WestLaurelVoices@gmail.com, and please call me Ginny!
Virginia May Geis is a native of Laurel and a graduate of Laurel High School, class of 1975. After a few decades away, she has been a Laurel resident again, since 2018.