As the sun hovered low on the horizon Saturday, the quiet streets of Chevy Chase began to twinkle. Lawns lit up with lighted candy canes, glittering reindeer and inflatable snowmen, and thousands of holiday lights as the Westbrook and Brookdale neighborhoods celebrated Christmas in June for a girl with cancer who might not see another December.
Neighbors in elf ears, Christmas pajamas and Santa hats lined the sidewalks to watch 9-year-old Kasey Zachmann, who is battling brain cancer, and her family drive past more than 270 homes in Westbrook, Brookdale and nine other neighborhoods glowing with decorations set up just for her.
Saturday’s festivities started with a June 22 email from Kasey’s mother, Alyssa Zachmann, asking neighbors to put Christmas lights up so her daughter could experience her favorite holiday one last time.
“I know this week will be incredibly hot and not the best climate for putting up lights,” Zachmann wrote to her neighbors, acknowledging the extreme heat warnings in the region. “But we aren’t sure how much time we have, so we don’t want to wait for cooler temperatures.”…