Fifth Graders Join Protest Over Max’s Best Ice Cream’s Lost Lease

It might not change a thing, but Glover Park residents are at least getting to vent
their emotions as they protest, in various ways, that the landlord for Max’s Best
Ice Cream did not renew the lease and instead gave it to Max’s next-door neighbor,
Rocklands Barbecue. The latest development comes at the hands of fifth graders, who
staged a peaceable protest outside Max’s on Thursday afternoon.

The group of 15, who marched to the store with posters, are students from Benjamin
Stoddert Elementary School. “Stoddert Peacebuilders is a group of students at the
school who care about making the world a better place by planting ‘seeds of peace’
whenever and wherever possible,” says Steve Dingledine of the Georgetown Patch.

Rocklands opened at 2418 Wisconsin Avenue 23 years ago. Max’s opened next door 20
years ago. They coexisted nicely and basically offered customers near one-stop shopping—the
main courses at Rocklands, dessert at Max’s.
John Snedden, owner of Rocklands, has been candid in saying that over the years he always let
the landlord—the
Bassin family of MacArthur Liquors—know that if 2416 became available he would be interested
in the lease. He says that when new lease negotiations with
Max Keshani of Max’s stalled, the Bassin family offered the lease to him. And he took it. He
plans to double the size of Rocklands, adding more seating, a bakery, and, he hopes,
fresh custard.

Keshani, on the other hand, says his life “has been destroyed.” He blames Snedden.
He did tell
The Washingtonian that another landlord had approached him about taking a space across the street,
“but I have no desire for another location.”

For now, there’s a protest hashtag, #SaveMaxs, and a Facebook page.

Snedden said he hopes to have the expansion work completed as soon as possible this
summer.*

*This post has been updated from a previous version.

Carol Ross Joynt