Published on: Thursday, November 01, 2012

By Peggy Dee

Election Day is almost here

I hope that everyone received their sample ballots in the mail. It is written in both English and Spanish. As we have several key issues to vote on this election, it is very important that everyone reads and understands the ballot. More importantly, everyone should get out to vote. Election Day is Tuesday.

Local retailer donates shoes

Congratulations to the staff of the J.C. Penney at the Mall at Prince Georges for collecting more than 1,200 pairs of shoes for the needy during September. The shoes went to Soles 4 Souls, a nonprofit that dis- tributes new and gently-used shoes around the world.

Cleaning up Hyattsville

We salute those who participated in the annual Mary Prangley Clean Up Day on Saturday, Oct. 20. Several teams worked together to clean our parks, streets and private homes. The city provided a special trash pickup for the day. I have al- ways been a resident of Ward 3, and the late Mary Prangeley, our council representative, started this annu- al clean up day. It is now held twice a year, once in the spring and again in the fall. This was a project in which the Girl and Boy Scouts used to participate.

Fall foliage

During these lovely falls days, I am enjoying walking in Magruder Park. The leaves are at their peak color, and the scenery is breathtaking. Joining me at the park are other walkers, runners, dog walkers and cyclists. The city put in a lovely asphalt walk several years ago. Hope to see you there!

Get your Hyattsville news online

If you enjoy the computer, our city’s new budget, which began on July 1, can be viewed at www.hyattsville.org/budget. You can also keep abreast of our city’s happenings on Facebook at www.facebook.com/cityofhyattsville.

McDonald’s memories

Thank you for the several calls that I received concerning the first McDonald’s restaurant to open in this area. It was located on University Boulevard, one block up from the old Ledo’s. It opened in 1960 or 1961, and the callers remember going there. There is a McDonald’s on that same spot today.

Hyattsville history: 1962

Local sports history was recorded early in the year when 12,600 fans filled Cole Field House at the University of Maryland to watch DeMatha defeat Eastern High School for the city title. This was the largest crowd ever to watch a high school game in the area. The Stags went on to defeat Mackin 46- 44 in an exciting come-from-behind victory in the Knights of Columbus tournament at the DeMatha gymnasium.