This year marks the 10th anniversary of Walk to School Day in Takoma Park and the 20th anniversary nationally. Safe Routes to School invites city students, their families and school staff to participate in Walk to School Day on Wednesday, Oct. 5. All SRTS schools in Takoma Park have made Walk to School Day a yearly event on the school calendar.

Over the years, our students have been featured on the front of the Washington Post Metro section, on NPR with Armando Trull and on First Lady Michelle Obama’s blog, Let’s Move. Many dignitaries have come to Takoma Park to walk with our students, including former U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Transportation John Porcari, and Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett, among others. Takoma Park Safe Routes to School has been a model in the county, the state and nationally.

While it is certainly nice to welcome the media attention and high level visitors, one trend stands out: More students are walking to school on a regular basis in Takoma Park this year than ten years ago. Once families choose to participate in Walk to School Day, the idea is that they will decide to make walking a more frequent part of their routine. The benefits of walking to school are obvious. Leaving the car at home reduces congestion and auto emissions, exercise promotes better physical and cognitive health, and it’s fun.

To celebrate Walk to School Day and help parents determine the best route to school, Safe Routes has created walking maps for each school. The maps indicate which roads have sidewalks, crosswalks, crossing guards and stoplights and more. Look for the map in your student’s backpack or on the school website.

Takoma Park Elementary School will meet in front of the Community Center on Maple Avenue at 8:45 a.m. and start walking at 8:50. They will walk up Philadelphia Avenue to Holly Avenue.

Takoma Park Middle School PTA will welcome walkers and bikers to school with refreshments and give-a-ways starting at 7:45 a.m.

Piney Branch Elementary School will meet at the 7600 Maple Avenue at 9 a.m. Walkers will walk on the sidewalk along Maple Avenue to Piney Branch ES.

Check with your school’s administration or PTA for specific details about your Walk to School Day event. Takoma Park Police will be onsite to enhance the safety of the walkers.

Safe Routes to School Online Parent Survey

Please follow the links below to complete the survey for your school.

• Piney Branch ES
• Takoma Park ES
• Takoma Park MS
• East Silver Spring ES
• Rolling Terrace ES

Safety tips

Here are some tips to stay safe while walking and biking to school:

•  Pay attention. Don’t be distracted by your cell phone or headphones.
• Walk on the sidewalk whenever possible. If there is no sidewalk, walk on the left side of the street as far from traffic as possible.
• Cross at the crosswalk whenever possible. Stop at the curb. Look left, right and left again before crossing the road.
• Make eye contact with the driver before crossing.
• Follow the instructions of the Crossing Guards and Safety Patrols.
• Always wear a helmet when riding a bike, scooter or skateboard.

This article appeared in the October 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

The Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library will hold their next gala used book sale on Saturday, Oct. 22 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The sale will be held on the Library lawn or in the Community Center Azalea Room in case of rain. The Friends’ book sales always include a huge variety of gently used books for adults and kids – all for sale at bargain prices.

Proceeds from the sales go to the library in the form of donations for programs and services. The Friends fund Spanish and French Circle Times, honorariums for guest speakers at the Big Book Club and for other speakers, refreshments for many programs, and lanyards for kids’ library cards. This fall the Library will begin offering two weekly sessions of Spanish Circle time with Geiza Keller-Souza – one at 10:15 to 10:45, and another at 11. We hope to add an additional monthly French Circle time with Madame Marie as well. The Friends also provide and support many of the Little Free Libraries around town. In short, they are an invaluable support group in fundraising and advocacy for the City Library.

The book sales also depend on volunteers to help out at the sale in two-hour shifts between 8 a.m. and 4 p. If you are interested in volunteering, contact Ellen Robbins at ellenr@takomaparkmd.gov and indicate when you would like to volunteer. The shift times are generally 8-10, 10-12, 12-2, and 2-4. Service learning hours are available for high school students. This is a great way to spend some time meeting your neighbors, finding some great books and helping the library.

The library will accept donations of books in very good condition during open hours until Oct. 17. Books should be boxed, and more than three boxes must be donated by appointment.

This article appeared in the October 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

Our popular Thursday morning Spanish Circle Time is expanding to two sessions. Beginning on Thursday, Oct. 6, Senora Geiza will offer the first Spanish Circle Time from 10:15-10:45 a.m. and then a second session from 11-11:30 a.m. Participants can choose to attend one session or the other as we try to accommodate demand for the program. Thanks to the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library for funding Spanish Circle Time and also allowing us to offer this expanded version.

Kids’ author and illustrator events

We’ve got a great line-up of kids’ authors and illustrators who will be visiting the Library in October, thanks to our partnership with Politics & Prose bookstore. No registration is required for these events, which offer kids and adults an exciting chance to meet top authors and illustrators.

First up is a special bilingual (English- Spanish) event on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7:30 p.m., featuring author/illustrator Juana Medina. She will talk about Juana Lucas, the first book in a new illustrated chapter book series. Then, on Monday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m., the always entertaining David Shannon (creator of No, David!) will present his newest picture book, Duck on a Tractor.

On Tuesday, Oct. 18, picture book creator Ryan Higgins returns to the Library to showcase his newest book featuring a grumpy bear named Bruce, Hotel Bruce. The following evening, Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m., older kids and adults are invited to meet artist Jeffery Weatherford, who will talk about his illustrations for the newly-published You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen.

We’ll close out the month with two more picture book events. First, on Tuesday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m., author Erica Perl and illustrator Henry Cole team up to spotlight their new book Ferocious Fluffity: A Mighty Bite-y Class Pet. Then, on Thursday, Oct. 27 at 7p.m. author Jacqueline Davies, known for her popular Lemonade Wars series of novels for kids, will talk about her new picture book Panda Pants.

Kids can get an early taste of Halloween spookiness when popular storyteller Candace Wolf returns to tell scary stories at the Library on Monday, Oct. 24. We’ll have two sessions: from 7-7:45 p.m., Wolf will tell stories appropriate for ages 5-7. Then, from 7:50-8:50, she’ll increase the scary quotient and tell tales suited to ages 8-13. Thanks to the Friends of the Takoma Park Maryland Library for sponsoring this event.

This article appeared in the October 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

By Nancy Abbott Young and Fran Pollner

The first official act of the new Mayor and Council in November 2015 was the unanimous passage of RES.2015-66, “Resolution Welcoming Syrian Refugees.” The action was in large part a principled local response to the stand taken by 30 governors, including Maryland’s Gov. Larry Hogan, against allowing refugees from the war in Syria to enter their states. Takoma Park was among the first of myriad local elected bodies across our state and the entire nation to declare its intention to welcome vetted Syrian refugees fleeing the war that continues to devastate their lives and country.

The resolution passed with considerable support from Takoma Park residents, who soon thereafter formed a Syrian refugee working group (now named the Takoma Park Welcoming Committee for Syrian Families) to determine how to bring the resolution to life by learning the process by which Syrian refugees are resettled in the United States and the requirements that must be met by communities eager to open their doors to them. Councilmembers Terry Seamens, Rizzy Qureshi, and Peter Kovar have been committed participants in our group meetings and are spearheading several initiatives to make the intentions of the resolution a reality. Meanwhile members of the committee have been hard at work examining how best to accommodate Syrian families who may come to Takoma Park.

As a first step, two of our group members met with the International Rescue Committee at its Silver Spring office. The IRC is one of nine agencies designated by the U.S. State Department to receive refugees and asylum seekers into the national resettlement program. We were apprised of the exhaustive 18-24-month vetting process for Syrian refugees seeking resettlement in this country. It is expected that the families will arrive quickly after the intensive vetting process is completed, and the IRC becomes engaged.

To join the Takoma Park Welcoming Committee for Syrian Families, please contact Fran Pollner (franpollner@yahoo.com) or Nancy Abbott Young (nancyabbottyoung@gmail.com). To find out more about housing needs and options, please contact Terry Seamens (terrys@takomaparkmd.gov) or Shruti Bhatnagar (shruti_bhatnagar@yahoo.com). Regarding employment opportunities, please contact Peter Kovar (peterk@takomaparkmd.gov).

The Takoma Park Welcoming Committee will work in partnership with the IRC and other organizations to provide critical support to new arrivals from Syria to be settled within the City’s borders. The goal is to secure safe housing, employment prospects and social supports and services that may be needed to help the new arrivals. The Welcoming Committee would like to prepare for at least three to six families. The committee envisions a three-part program:

Housing. The IRC will not place Syrian individuals and families in Takoma Park (or anywhere else) unless they have a home here — furnished and awaiting their arrival straight from the airport. We have found a scarcity of affordable housing in the area and long waiting lists at many of the multifamily apartment units in Takoma Park. There is also a dearth of licensed accessory apartments in private homes. The Welcoming Committee is now also exploring a “group house” option. In anticipation of the coming arrivals to our shores, the Welcoming Committee is concentrating on having housing at the ready — with an effort to alert Takoma Park home owners who may have space to accommodate individuals or families. Councilmember Seamens introduced the idea that there may be seniors or “empty nesters” in Takoma Park who might be especially interested in providing such housing for new Syrian arrivals accepted into the IRC program. More information will be forthcoming about this housing option and will be disseminated to the Takoma Park community.

Family mentoring. The committee will work with interested volunteers and local faith communities to establish a family mentoring program. Two volunteer family mentor coordinators are needed to link individual Syrian families with Takoma residents who are interested in helping them make the transition into our community by assisting them in navigating public transportation, enrolling in school, getting health care, accessing various types of training, making connections with similar families who have already made the transition, and so forth.

Job opportunities. The committee will explore employment possibilities with local businesses and seek to match the background skills of the new arrivals with the requirements of existing or anticipated job openings. In closing, the people of Takoma Park have developed a set of intentions and proposals to link the local to the global and provide sorely needed humanitarian relief that promises mutual dividends in the future.

This article appeared in the October 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

SafeTrack is underway, and Surge #10 will take place Oct. 29 – Nov. 22. This program will impact commuters in Takoma Park. In addition to the resources offered by WMATA, the City is encouraging commuters to:

• Consider teleworking. The Takoma Park Library and Community Center, as well as many local businesses, offer Wi-Fi and provide comfortable places from which to work.
• Try biking. Keep an eye out for additional signs directing riders to recommended routes into D.C., to alternative metro stations, or all the way downtown.
• Consider carpooling. During the SafeTrack surges, the parking rates and times at the centrally located City parking lot at Takoma Junction will not be enforced to enable its use as a carpool lot.
• The City’s webpage on SafeTrack is a good place to keep up to date on impacts and resources of the work in October: takomaparkmd.gov/safetrack.

This article appeared in the October 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

The Takoma Park Lions Club and the Takoma Park Police Department have joined forces in an effort to help provide some needed warmth to people who have little means of protecting themselves from the upcoming winter weather. All coats will be donated locally to the Shepherd’s Table’s clothing closet and Sligo Adventist Church, which provide clothing and other necessities for the homeless and needy individuals.

Beginning Oct. 1, two locations in the city will have drop-off boxes for donations of slightly-used winter coats, gloves, mittens and hats:

• City of Takoma Park Police Department (TPCC, 7500 Maple Ave., first floor lobby)
• Old Takoma Ace Hardware (7001 Carroll Ave)

Donations can be made Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Members of the Lions club and the police department will be collecting the coats and winter accessories through Nov. 30. For more information, please call Lion Mike Bigler at 202-438-1686 or Cathy Plevy, public information officer, City of Takoma Park Police Department, at 301- 891-7142.

This article appeared in the October 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

By Rick Henry

While a large part of the crowd at the Takoma Park Unity in the Community Event at Capital City Cheesecake on Sunday, Sept. 25 was made up of youth, it was especially hard to miss those clad in blue shirts. They were everywhere, serving food, handing out information and talking with police officers and citizens who showed up to show their support.

But unless one was paying close attention, the group’s core message might have been overlooked. The youth were representing a group called Teen NVasion, and their shirts were emblazoned with a message that was particularly relevant for both the event, and today’s times. On each one was the statement: “Teens taking control and re-establishing a positive presence within our communities.”

Teen NVasion, established in 2012, is a city-sponsored initiative of A.C.T.T. Now (Advancing Community through Teens Now), which is dedicated to providing teens with safe, supervised activities that promote positive self-image, health, wellness and a sense of community.

Trey Williams, 18, a Teen NVasion participant who was volunteering at the event, said that mission fit in perfectly with the Unity in Community Initiative. “We, (Teen NVasion) are about bringing more people together, and this event is about (not just) uniting the police with other people but uniting other people with other people,” he said. Saron Alemseged, 17, another member of the group, agreed. “This event is very important,” she said. “We all need to feel secure.”

While the members of Teen NVasion had a clear purpose for attending the event, other youth said they weren’t sure what to expect, but decided to participate anyway. Julia Meynard, 11, a student at Takoma Park Middle School, said she was persuaded to attend by her friend and classmate, Marin Barclay, also 11.

“She told me there was an event happening, so I said I would come,” Meynard said. “I wasn’t sure what it was exactly, but I wanted to see what it was all about,” Barclay said.

After spending some time at the event what had the girls concluded? “It’s about happiness,” Meynard said. “Yeah, happiness,” Barclay added. “And each person can make it happen.”

It’s a lesson that hopefully everyone who attended took away from this inaugural gathering.

This article appeared in the October 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

By Morgan Fecto

Sarah McQuaid likes evolving — her musical genre, her relationship with her fans, and the places she calls home. The folk singer-songwriter’s commitment to an atypical guitar tuning comes from this desire to shake things up, and paradoxically, is one thing she won’t change.

“You’ve got a lot of choice. You’re not just limited to the chords,” McQuaid said of DADGAD tuning, which differs from the standard EADGBE tuning. “As soon as I tuned my guitar to DADGAD it was a sort of eureka moment, and suddenly, I could make the sounds that I wanted to make. I was doing that tuning and a bunch of others for a while, and then I decided that everything I wanted to do I could do in DADGAD.”

The Cornwall, England by way of Chicago musician comes to Takoma Park for a DADGAD workshop at the House of Musical Traditions on Oct. 12 and for a concert with the Institute of Musical Traditions at Seekers Church on Oct. 13 at 5 p.m.

Although McQuaid has lived in Ireland, England, the Philadelphia suburbs, and Chicago, coming to Takoma Park will also be a homecoming for her. “I remember Takoma Park being a funky, very vibrant kind of place,” she said. “Funnily enough, I lived in Washington, D.C. when I was in high school. I went to National Cathedral School, so I had friends who lived in Takoma Park, and I went along to some of the concerts. If it wasn’t House of Musical Traditions, then I’m sure it was some predecessor.”

McQuaid’s music takes from a lot of sounds, such as the lo-fi tape hiss of indie rock and traditional, Celtic guitar. In her two-hour-long workshop, she’ll use familiar songs rather than her own music to illustrate DADGAD concepts. For McQuaid the result of DADGAD tuning is a more dynamic sound and a better show for her audience.

“As a solo performer I want to be doing something different with every song,” McQuaid said. “I’m on my own up there, so I can’t use different band members to introduce variety. I have to supply variety myself with the way I’m backing the songs.”

Teaching one day and then performing the next is an intimate and unfussy way to tour, and McQuaid wouldn’t have it any other way. “I’d love to make money at this. I’m still struggling financially like pretty much every musician I know is, but I’d hate to have to be hustled out of a back door into a limo to keep from being mobbed by fans. That would be even worse than being broke,” she said. “The best thing about working at the level that I’m working at is that I get to meet my audiences.”

To register for the DADGAD Song Accompaniment Guitar Workshop, go to hmtrad.com. For more info on McQuaid’s performance at Seekers Church, go to seekerschurch.org.

This article appeared in the October 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.

By Morgan Fecto

As Takoma Park students of all ages head back to class this month, they might draw inspiration from local authors who have dedicated much of their time and energy to creating books, from which many may have learned a lesson or two.

“Among the writers I know who live in Takoma Park, [they] chose to live here because it is a ‘real place’ first – meaning, there’s a center to the city, the library,” wrote Takoma Park Poet Laureate Merrill Leffler in an email.

Many authors in and around Takoma Park see the city as a literary hub. It’s a place for writers to work and share their work with a community that’s a captive audience. “[There’s a] diverse population of warm, friendly residents and friends who unknowingly support my non-traditional career choice by making me feel welcome over and over again,” said Lisa Ellis Williams, who wrote an advice book for newlyweds called Wife School.

Takoma Park author Chad Boggan, who recently self-published his second sci-fi novel The Seed, echoed Ellis’ feelings: “I would say it’s made-to-order for writers. I put a ‘Thank You’ to Takoma Park in my book. It’s the general creative and passionate spirit of the area, and the fact that people believe in their causes; that’s important to me.”

Hank Cox, Takoma Park local and author of For Love of a Dangerous Girl, said: “Takoma Park is generally supportive of writers in that residents tend to be scholarly and literary. They read and appreciate books.”

And this appreciation extends to literary efforts by local authors. According to Ellen Arnold-Robbins, the director of the Takoma Park Maryland Library, “because we are independent, we have the flexibility to acquire anything that reflects community interests or wishes, and do so quickly.”

Arnold-Robbins said that many local authors have held programs at the library, and that some come in to write. The list of books that she calls up when she searches “Takoma Park authors” in the library’s database is lengthy.

Included on this list is Megan Scribner’s poetry anthology Leading from Within. Scribner is a local writer, editor, and for seven years she and her neighbor Allison Kahn have organized the Takoma Park Book Fair. “In some circles, she is known as Saint Megan,” Cox said.

Scribner and Allison Kahn started organizing the annual Takoma Park Book Fair after they realized they’d both published books. “We wondered, ‘How many of our other neighbors have published books?’” Scribner said. “We found that there’s a community of authors, and the more we show up for each other the better that makes it.”

They held last December’s book fair at Trohv and accepted 30 writers, which was five more than in previous years. The fair recently allowed Silver Spring, D.C., Bethesda, and Kensington authors to apply too, and now Scribner’s mailing list includes 101 authors.

“When we started the fair, it was about getting the authors’ work out there, but it’s been very gratifying to give authors a way to display their work and talk to people and get feedback,” Scribner said. “We’ve had poetry and historical fiction, graphic novels and more political or environmental-cause oriented books.”

There are venues for authors to share their work with the City, but they still face the same obstacles that writers do in other parts of the state and country. Pleasing a publisher, not having a publisher, finding time to write between the demands of work and family, writing something both novel and relevant, and promoting a finished book are just a few of the challenges.

“Once I found out how much I was going to have to do to catch the interest of publishers, I thought I might as well do the work and reap the benefits. If I’m going to average 500 sales, then I could do that myself,” said Boggan, who is self-published. “I haven’t hit that mark yet. My wife and neighbors say I have to put more energy into promoting the book, but I lagged because I used all my energy writing.”

Just as the urge to create continues to inspire local writers in spite of setbacks, a love of books inspires the Takoma Park community. Visit the Takoma Park Book Fair Facebook page for more about the next fair, and look online for the latest from these Takoma Park authors.

This article appeared in the September 2016 edition of the Takoma Park Newsletter. The Takoma Park Newsletter is available for download here.