Reminders and memories: chat, take ten, hop & eat chocolate

Reminder that there is an informal chat opportunity tonight with the council to discuss alcohol beverage sales in the City - 7:30 - 9 at the Community Center.

Also, big reminder to fill out and mail in your Census form! Cool tool: If you are a data and map geek like your humble blogger, check out http://www.2010census.gov/ and click on the Participation Rate. If you enter the City zip code of 20912, you will see that participation in the City is so far pretty much under 30%, and is even under 20% in some areas. As our Deputy City Manager quipped, "We're not Lake Wobegon." But we'd like to be! (above average, that is). (The national average to date is 34%). So, if you are like me, with your census form clipped to your refrigerator, or like our newsletter editor, all ready to mail but it's at the bottom of her bag, Take Ten and finish it!

Speaking of taking ten, I doubt this event actually took that long. The Annual Recreation Department Egg Hunt was a chilly quick success last Saturday. To your left, Rec. staffer Leicia does a bunny hop.

This is a photo from 2007, but it is iconic to me of the joy and glee experienced by the little ones at this event. Thanks to Rec Department Director Debra Haiduven for the awesome capture; she calls this one "Charge!"

Let's talk about beer & wine

That got your attention, didn't it? ;-)

Please join your neighbors and members of the City Council for a Listening/Discussion Session next Monday, March 29th between 7:30 - 9:00 p.m to discuss alcoholic beverage laws in the City of Takoma Park. This is an informal gathering which you can drop in; with Roundtable Discussions between 8-8:30 p.m.

Within the City limits, no business may sell alcoholic beverages to take out (except one business which was grandfathered in). Restaurants may serve alcohol with an appropriate license from Montgomery County.

The community has expressed some interest in exploring this in Takoma Park, so the Council has scheduled this important conversation instead of the regular Monday night Council meeting, so please plan to drop by. Background materials are here, and additional information is available from the City Clerk, Jessie Carpenter, 301-891-7267. Light refreshments will be available (non-alcoholic!)

Art Hop, Bunny Hop and Trees

Three quick items before the weekend:
Main Street Takoma's Art Hop this weekend happening Saturday and Sunday from 10 -7 looks like a lot of fun.

Save the date for the Annual Egg Hunt NEXT weekend (Saturday March 27) for the Annual Egg Hunt at Ed Wilhelm Field. This event starts at 11 AM SHARP, and they are NOT kidding. It's all over at 11:02, with lots of happy egg hunters in the under 2 group.

Third: Best deal in town is once again available from the City's Arborist division. The City arranges to bulk buy native shade trees - which normally retail for about $350. This cooperative purchase means you can buy trees and have them installed on your property for $195! Here is a PDF file with all the info and an order form.

Spring is Breaking Out All Over

Just returned from outside where the temperature is hovering around 70... it seems that Spring has really arrived this year!

And while the outdoors beckons, like most of you, I have to work, so here I am at my computer.

With the onset of Spring is the annual Spring Break. For folks who are parents who actually have to go to work during Spring Break rather than go to exotic beach destinations, the City of Takoma Park's recreation department offers.... Spring Break Camp!

From March 29 through April 2nd, you can deposit your little charges with our Rec. staff and they can enjoy a camp themed "Best of Summer..."

Highlights of this year's camp include the return of Jali-D to share his musical talents, camp fires, obstacles courses, swimming, rock climbing, DDR, outdoor play and arts and crafts! Sounds like fun! Unfortunately for me, the age range for this particular camp is 5 to 11.

The camp runs from 9 - 4 each day, with before- and after-care available so you can extend the day from 7 AM until 6 PM. For more information, call the Recreation Department at 301-891-7290, or go to their online registration page.

Walk This Way

The Second Annual Takoma Park 5K Challenge has now opened registration for the May 2nd event.
Visit http://www.tkpk5k.com/ for all the updated information and links to registration materials. Watch a video from City TV's Takoma Snapshots about last year's race !


The race is part of the Safe Routes To Schools program, a Federal Highway Administration program funneled through each state.

Safe Routes to Schools in Takoma Park uses this grant money to create a number of activities with the local elementary schools. The main goal is to make it safer for students to walk and bike to school.

SRTS also sponsors a local International Walk to School Day with the PTAs from area elementary schools. Watch a video about the 2007 Walk To School Day.

Proceeds from the 5K race are used to help fund additional PTA programs on health and safety at East Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Rolling Terrace and Piney Branch Elementary Schools.

The National Center for Safe Routes to Schools makes the point that making it safer for kids to walk to school makes a community more livable for everyone. Kids who walk or bike to school get some exercise, traffic congestion is reduced, less pollution is created, in short, it's ALL GOOD!

So get off your computer (after you register online!) and start training to take the Takoma Park 5K Challenge to support Safe Routes!

Monday is Ward Two Night

The City Council is continuing its conversations with residents by ward. On Monday, March 15th, Ward Two folks are invited to join the councilmembers for snacks and chat at 7 PM in the Atrium lobby. At 7:30, the official Council meeting will convene in the Azalea Room, and the first item of business is open mic night for Ward 2 issues and concerns.

There is a link on the Council page to help you figure out which ward you live in, if you don't know.

Stand Up and Be Counted! Census 2010

By now you will have received your first mailing from the U.S. Census.

Next week you'll get the official mailing from the Census with your survey questionnaire. Please take the time to answer ten simple questions about your household members on April 1, and mail it back right away!

The Census is safe and easy. A complete count is *really* important so that the City of Takoma Park can get its fair share of representation in Congress and the Maryland General Assembly. It is also critical for the City getting its fair allocation of federal and state funding for all kinds of services. The count affects the distribution of billions of dollars to be allocated over the next 10 years!

This funding goes for schools, transportation, social services, you name it, so it is important to get a complete count. We've posted some info to the City website.

Montgomery County has posted a terrific amount of information about the Census here One of the most interesting things to me is the map of "under-counted" census tracts. The County has a PDF map of the hard to count areas here and a list of profiles of these under-reported tracts here. If you visit these pages, you'll see that Takoma Park has quite a few areas which are under-counted, in all areas of the City. This translates directly into fewer dollars for the City, so it is in everyone's best interest to help get a complete count!

The Census itself has a lot of information online as well.

Also -- please be aware that there are scammers out there misrepresenting themselves as Census officials. Please visit the Takoma Park Police Department's blog for more information!

Also, save the date! March 27th: Hop on the Montgomery Census Be Counted Express which will have a stop in the Takoma-Langley Crossroads. Here is a flyer in English and Spanish.

marching forth towards spring gardens

The forecast this weekend is most amazingly for temps to hit the mid-50s on Sunday and on Monday! Many of us will be doing final clean-up from the blizzard and starting to prepare our property for Spring Gardens! I'm thinking within 4 weeks or less we'll start seeing tulips and hyacinth, and then it'll be Azalea time in Takoma Park (make no mistake, your humble reporter is REALLY sick of winter!)

For those of you with some community minded gardening impulses, I want you to know about a grant program the City has for public space along New Hampshire Avenue. These gardening grants are part of a wider effort by the City to 're-brand' that dysfunctional space known as New Hampshire Avenue as somewhere people actually want to be.

I don't know if you've checked out the really stunning website: http://www.thenewave.com/is part of the City's efforts pump some economic blood into what is effectively the City's gateway corridor from DC. The gardening grants form part of the same New Ave campaign that has placed funky benches and chairs in brilliant colors along New Hampshire Ave.

The garden efforts supported by the grant have to be on or near (within a 1,000 feet of) New Hampshire Avenue. These can be vegetable gardens, decorative plots, or even a single tree.

One neighborhood (Hillwood Manor) has used the New Hampshire garden grant money to take an uber-boring stretch of grass and woods choked with weeds and diseased branches, and crafted it into a real park space where you can view the water and flowers from artsy benches. The program has also contributed to the community vegetable garden on Orchard Avenue.

According to Paul Grenier of the City's economic development/planning team: "The New Hampshire community gardening projects don't have to be big. Anything that adds color and life and beauty, and that plausibly can be called 'greening,' can potentially get a grant. If a group of scouts, or your bridge club, or a group of day laborers, or the Horticulture Club, wanted to grow cilantro in a container near New Hampshire Ave., we'll give it a serious look. (Sometimes, actually often, the best projects start out really small.) Getting people hanging out with one another, 'forming community,' as the phrase goes, is part of the idea behind the grants."

"These are not grants for growing stuff in your backyard. But that is about the only limitation. If you can get permission from the owner, the greening and gardening can take place on a church's front lawn, or on the asphalt parking lot of a business (containers can be funded too), or in the planting strip (the area between the sidewalk and the street) along the street, or on County or City land. The limiting factor is often access to water, so bear that in mind when coming up with your project. The other thing to bear in mind is that the funds for this grant WILL RUN OUT, definitely, this June."

So if you are even vaguely thinking of doing something garden related, call the City's garden grant coordinator ASAP. Contact info: Paul Grenier, 301-891-7220, pgrenier@takomagov.org

The grant info is available here.

Paul suggests the following inspiring resources: "To explore the idea, why not hold a viewing of the inspiring PBS documentary, “Philadelphia: The Holy Experiment,” which describes Philadelphia’s community garden experience? This beautiful film is now available at the Takoma Park library."

“How to Organize a Community Garden,” a talk by Judy Tiger (a leading expert in the field) is also available on request from Paul. City staff may even be able to link you up with interested gardeners in your area.