At first blush, Marilyn Lawlor and Ariel Winter might not seem to have much in common. Winter is an Orthodox Jew and the father of two young kids, while Lawlor is not a member of the Jewish faith and has no children. Yet they share a common bond: a love for a community that they and roughly 10,000 other people from all religious and ethnic backgrounds call home.
Kemp Mill.
“It’s really a microcosm of the world,” said Winter, a Kemp Mill resident since 2000. “It’s a place for people of all different ages and backgrounds. There’s a strong sense of community here among so many people.”
The Orthodox Jewish committee is perhaps the area’s most visible group — especially on Saturdays. Orthodox Jews do not drive from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday, so during the first part of the weekend, neighborhood spots like the Kemp Mill Shopping Center and Kemp Mill Park are crowded with pedestrians.
The two are in the heart of the neighborhood. Anchored by a Magruder’s grocery store, the shopping center has the strip mall staples — drugstore, dry cleaners, liquor store — plus some unique offerings. There is Shaul’s, a kosher butcher shop, plus two kosher dining options: the Kosher Pastry Oven and Ben Yehuda, which serves up hot pizza and cold ice cream. Next to the shopping center is an office building, and just down the street sits Yeseheva of Greater Washington.
Kemp Mill, which some have said has the largest Orthodox Jewish population on the East Coast between Baltimore and Miami, also is home to the Young Israel Shomrai Emunah, Silver Spring Jewish Center, Kemp Mill Synagogue and Chabad of Silver Spring.
Nestled in the middle of all this retail and religious space is a tranquil pond and playground, which offer a relaxing respite from the Montgomery County traffic that runs along Arcola Avenue, Kemp Mill’s main thoroughfare. The park is just one of many that residents relish.
“The Northwest Branch has trails, and it feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere,” Winter said. “Wheaton Regional Park with fields and a lake is right here. Brookside Gardens is within one mile.”
Kemp Mill offers its residents myriad athletic and recreational options. The Kemp Mill Recreation Center has a baseball diamond, basketball and tennis courts, a meeting space, and a playground. The community also boasts two swimming pools, Parkland Pool and Kemp Mill Swim Club.
The neighborhood was built primarily in the 1960s, and most of its homes reflect the style of that time. The neighborhood, in Silver Spring and Wheaton, is roughly bordered by Northwood High School, Northwest Branch, Kemp Mill Road and Arcola Avenue. Kemp Mill Elementary and Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle are the public schools in the community, but there are a host of private ones as well.
Private or public, Jewish or not, Kemp Mill residents sing the same song about their community.
“People rely on each other here,” Winter said. “When our children were born, people from our synagogue brought us meals.”
Marilyn Lawlor and her husband, James, moved here in 1979.
“We bought our house, and the people right across the street really welcomed us,” she said.
“We have such good friends here. At one point, we felt like if we ever moved we would have to move four entire households. We’re not planning on leaving. If we do, they’ll have to drag us kicking and screaming.”
