Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Road to a wet Damascus tempered by sober spirits Date: Mon, 2 Nov 92 15:45:13 EST Message-ID: \SE A;CAMPAIGN '92 \HD Road to a wet Damascus tempered by sober spirits \BY Darlene DePass \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES No liquor sold here. That's been the law in Damascus since after a notorious vote in 1884 when residents celebrating the town's first election were rewarded by a local distillery with a cup of spirits for voting. Those were the days before paper ballots, and a voter would step up before an election judge to declare his vote. But the more they drank, the more they voted. They ended up casting more votes than in all of the other communities in Montgomery County combined. County authorities quickly discovered the fraud, and later that year the town voted to ban the sale of alcoholic beverages, according to the Montgomery County Historical Society. Referendums in 1976 and 1981 failed to change the law. But Harry Burdette and other members of the Committee to Vote Yes for Question C hope tomorrow's election will have a different outcome when the issue of liquor sales is back on the ballot. Damascus is the last election district in Montgomery County that is dry. Residents like Mr. Burdette, 65, claim it's a stupid law. Restaurants won't move into the town because they can't get a liquor license, and even grocery stores lose customers who can't buy beer to drink at dinner, Mr. Burdette said. "Damascus has an Italian restaurant, and people have gone in, sat down and then walked out when they are told they can't have a drink," he said. The dry law's effects stretch beyond food places, he said. It is hurting the entire economy and indirectly hurting his laundry and car wash on Ridge Road. Mr. Burdette and his coalition of 12 persons have hung a sign in front of his building and passed out hundreds of brochures to voters telling them of "dry" economic woes. Residents drive where they can do "one-stop shopping," where they can buy beer and milk and drop off clothes at the cleaners all in the same block, said Dennis Theoharis, administrator for the county's Board of License Commissioners. "Business people feel they are losing business to Howard County, Frederick County and other communities that are wet," Mr. Theoharis said. Since Damascus is cradled by these other regions, liquor is nearby. The Damascus Chamber of Commerce announced it is in favor of repealing the dry law. But there are many folks who don't want liquor sold within the town's limits. And they don't like the Nov. 3 referendum questioning what they see as sound judgment. Methodist ministers and the Damascans Opposed to Alcohol have lobbied hard trying to persuade town residents to vote against Question C. Cattle farmer Maloy Moxley, 66, lives just within the town limits, near the Frederick County line. He is treasurer for an opposition group and said many Damascans want their town to keep its morals. "The more available you make alcohol, the more people will drink, and that's why liquor stores want to be licensed in Damascus," he said. But a bad example would be set for the children, and residents would have to put up with more drunken driving and disorderly behavior, he said. The Rev. Jim Archibald, senior pastor at Damascus United Church in the heart of town, agreed. He said it is not true that businesses are losing money because they can't sell liquor. "We have a little place here called Jimmie Cone," he said. "People are lined up and come from all around the county" for a lick of first-rate ice cream. And then there is Tom and Ray's Restaurant on Main Street. "Everybody goes there. . . . It's a little greasy spoon, but it's loaded on Friday nights," he said. As for selling liquor at Tom and Ray's, "they don't want it because then they can't hire kids and it would ruin the family values that they try to cater to," Mr. Archibald said. He wants to see the town stay dry, as do many of his 1,000 parishioners, he said. "The United Methodist Church has a concern about it. We support abstinence," Mr. Archibald said. Mr. Moxley thinks voters share his opinion. "I'm optimistic about it. I think we will win again," he said. "A lot of new families have moved here expressly for a quiet community, and we don't have a whole lot of crime," said Mr. Moxley. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM