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.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
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.
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.
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.
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.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Mass Media Friday
Friday: end of the week, and in this case, end of the month. Lots of media for you today.
Each week, on Friday afternoon, City staff prepare the "Status & Information Report". Check it out here.
Each month the City publishes The Newsletter, which is delivered via snail mail to every household in the City. Sometimes folks don't receive it, but if you let us know you didn't get it (wait about a week), then we can bug the post office. In the meantime, you can read the Newsletter online here.
The latest edition of City TV's monthly magazine show, Takoma Snapshots, is now released. You can watch it online here or you can watch in on City TV cable channel 13 on Comcast and RCN; channel 28 on Verizon. The schedule is here. Segments this month include: Going Green: The Greenroof Project; Takoma Park Remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; and Jazz Band Brawl 2010 Highlights.
While you're surfing City TV online, you might want to visit our City TV pages, which link you to the live stream of the same thing folks at home with cable tv receive, and give you some more information about the channel.
Lots of City media for you to consume this weekend! Enjoy!
Each week, on Friday afternoon, City staff prepare the "Status & Information Report". Check it out here.
Each month the City publishes The Newsletter, which is delivered via snail mail to every household in the City. Sometimes folks don't receive it, but if you let us know you didn't get it (wait about a week), then we can bug the post office. In the meantime, you can read the Newsletter online here.
The latest edition of City TV's monthly magazine show, Takoma Snapshots, is now released. You can watch it online here or you can watch in on City TV cable channel 13 on Comcast and RCN; channel 28 on Verizon. The schedule is here. Segments this month include: Going Green: The Greenroof Project; Takoma Park Remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr; and Jazz Band Brawl 2010 Highlights.
While you're surfing City TV online, you might want to visit our City TV pages, which link you to the live stream of the same thing folks at home with cable tv receive, and give you some more information about the channel.
Lots of City media for you to consume this weekend! Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday is Half Fun
The Recreation Department wanted me to remind you that this Friday, Feb. 26 is a half day of school, and so they are offering a half-day Fun Day from 1:30 - 5:30 p.m. Registration is STILL OPEN. Here's what they say about this half-fun day: Discover Planet Earth as Mad Science explains geodes, the chemistry of crystal formation and metamorphic geology. Explore the atmosphere's relationship with our planet and make your own ultraviolet detectors! For more information please call Carey Antoszewski 301-891-7233. Cost is $15 for Takoma Park City residents and $20 for non-residents. Note: you can only have Mad Science fun if you are ages 5 - 11.
For more information about the recreation department's activities, check out their web pages!
For more information about the recreation department's activities, check out their web pages!
March is for Artists
The Arts and Humanities Commission is at it again, facilitating Public Art in Takoma Park!
Their latest scheme involves a Call for Public Art with three different projects. The deadline for submitting an entry is Monday, March 1 at 4:30 p.m. The three projects are described in PDF files: LONG BRANCH GATEWAY SCULPTURE, SITE SPECIFIC PUBLIC ART, and GATEWAY ART PANELS.
If you aren't familiar with the Arts and Humanities Commission, you just haven't been paying attention! Who do you think organizes the Third Thursday Poetry Series? And how about the on-going series of art exhibits in the Community Center?
Their guiding document, Creative Vision: A Cultural Plan for the City of Takoma Park, is the best example of a plan that gathers no dust -- i.e., it didn't get written just to sit on a shelf somewhere, these folks are serious! For example, the soon-to-be renovated Auditorium, well, guess whose idea that was? The AHC came to a Council meeting in March of 2007 and requested that the Council conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the feasibility of renovating the auditorium for use as both a venue for the performing arts and a meeting space for official Council proceedings. And three years later, the Auditorium is almost done! (more on that project another day).
They've established a Takoma Park Poet Laureate, celebrated Arts & Humanities Day in the Community Center, established public art in various places, and launched more exhibits in the Community Center than I can count - wow, these people are productive! Most recently the AHC convened Art Swoop 2010, a "mixer and incubator" for creative professionals in the Takoma Park area.
To get email notices of upcoming Arts & Humanities events, send an email request to SaraD@takomagov.org Stay tuned for a new web-based calendar of events coming to a computer near you soon!
Their latest scheme involves a Call for Public Art with three different projects. The deadline for submitting an entry is Monday, March 1 at 4:30 p.m. The three projects are described in PDF files: LONG BRANCH GATEWAY SCULPTURE, SITE SPECIFIC PUBLIC ART, and GATEWAY ART PANELS.
If you aren't familiar with the Arts and Humanities Commission, you just haven't been paying attention! Who do you think organizes the Third Thursday Poetry Series? And how about the on-going series of art exhibits in the Community Center?
Their guiding document, Creative Vision: A Cultural Plan for the City of Takoma Park, is the best example of a plan that gathers no dust -- i.e., it didn't get written just to sit on a shelf somewhere, these folks are serious! For example, the soon-to-be renovated Auditorium, well, guess whose idea that was? The AHC came to a Council meeting in March of 2007 and requested that the Council conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the feasibility of renovating the auditorium for use as both a venue for the performing arts and a meeting space for official Council proceedings. And three years later, the Auditorium is almost done! (more on that project another day).
They've established a Takoma Park Poet Laureate, celebrated Arts & Humanities Day in the Community Center, established public art in various places, and launched more exhibits in the Community Center than I can count - wow, these people are productive! Most recently the AHC convened Art Swoop 2010, a "mixer and incubator" for creative professionals in the Takoma Park area.
To get email notices of upcoming Arts & Humanities events, send an email request to SaraD@takomagov.org Stay tuned for a new web-based calendar of events coming to a computer near you soon!
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Blood Pressure and Bingo
The City Recreation Department offers many activities for seniors in the Community Center. This Thursday, Feb. 25th, seniors can come and have their blood pressure checked, then play bingo, all in the Senior Room. Blood pressure screenings start at 11:30 a.m. and go until 12:30 p.m.; Bingo starts at noon and goes until 2 p.m. (This happens again on Thursday March 25th and Thursday April 22nd).
If you haven't been there, the Senior Room is one of the rooms in between the Library and the Community Center. Open to those 55 and older, it offers computers, comfy chairs, and tables for reading and game playing. There is also a Resource Center filled with info about all kinds of social and senior services. Many of the classes and activities are held in here too, but it is open for drop-in visits between noon and 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m Saturdays, and 2 - 6:00 p.m. on Sundays.
Senior programs are also held in the Dance Studio of the Community Center - Bone Builders Exercise, Line Dance Exercise, and coming in March, Gentle Yoga.
I've just touched on some of the programs available - there are also cool trips, computer training, arts & crafts classes, and birthday parties! One more plug - a call for Volunteers. Many programs are taught by volunteer instructors, and currently volunteers are needed to teach Spanish, ESOL, arts & crafts, health & fitness, tai chi, history, science and jewelery making.
Have I mentioned that most of the above programs are FREE? But participants are asked to call to register for all but the drop-in activities: 301-891-7280 is the hotline for senior programs!
If you haven't been there, the Senior Room is one of the rooms in between the Library and the Community Center. Open to those 55 and older, it offers computers, comfy chairs, and tables for reading and game playing. There is also a Resource Center filled with info about all kinds of social and senior services. Many of the classes and activities are held in here too, but it is open for drop-in visits between noon and 8:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, noon to 6 p.m Saturdays, and 2 - 6:00 p.m. on Sundays.
Senior programs are also held in the Dance Studio of the Community Center - Bone Builders Exercise, Line Dance Exercise, and coming in March, Gentle Yoga.
I've just touched on some of the programs available - there are also cool trips, computer training, arts & crafts classes, and birthday parties! One more plug - a call for Volunteers. Many programs are taught by volunteer instructors, and currently volunteers are needed to teach Spanish, ESOL, arts & crafts, health & fitness, tai chi, history, science and jewelery making.
Have I mentioned that most of the above programs are FREE? But participants are asked to call to register for all but the drop-in activities: 301-891-7280 is the hotline for senior programs!
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