By Apryl Motley

On May 20, Bike to Work Day, thousands of people will commute to work on their bicycles. For some this will be a special occasion, but for others, biking to— and for—work is part of their everyday routine. The Takoma Park area is home base for some of these avid cyclists, who have incorporated biking into their jobs.

At Play

“In my late high school and college years, I fully engaged in car ownership,” says SatJiwan Khalsa (Coach SJ), owner of Moving Forward Tennis. “It wasn’t all that bad, but little did I know of the significant negative impacts on the environment.”

Coach SJ, who serves on the City Council’s Committee on the Environment, has commuted by bike for the past 20 years. He can be seen riding around the City with his tennis gear in a bike trailer as travels to teach private tennis lessons or classes for the Takoma Park Recreation Department.

“First, I appreciate the positive environmental impact of biking,” he says. “Second, the ease and relative quickness of travel in a semi-urban area is a plus. And with the right equipment, you can carry things that wouldn’t fit easily into a car.”

And last, but certainly not least, Coach SJ values “the automatic health and exercise benefits” of commuting by bike. He has made “business and living choices that make it easy to walk or bike in [his] work and daily life.”

“It was natural to teach tennis or do green building consulting locally,” he says. “Fortunately, nice weather for outdoor tennis and nice weather for biking go hand in hand.”

On Patrol

For Takoma Park Police Sergeant Jerome Erwin, biking while patrolling goes hand in hand with building positive relationships in the community. “People like to see us mountain bike patrolling,” Erwin says. “The positive comments like, ‘Thank you, great to see you out here,’ motivate me to ride.”

“I was certified about 10 years ago by Retired Cpl. Fred Roush, who was the original coordinator of our police mountain bike program,” he continues.

Initially Erwin had no interest in participating in the mountain bike program.

However, his sister-in-law, who is also an officer in Takoma Park, was registered for the department’s bike training class and asked him to join it as well.

“I had a great time,” he recalls. “The positive comments from the citizens in combination with the surprised look on the faces of guys involved in criminal activity when we arrive on scene made me realize that the mountain bike is a great crime deterrent and enforcement tool.”

“It’s a great crime enforcement tool because suspects typically watch for the marked patrol vehicle,” he continues. “Plus, citizens feel more comfortable approaching a bike officer.”

We’ve come a long way with the bike lanes, bike traffic signs and the Capital Bikeshare program

“We’ve come a long way with the bike lanes, bike traffic signs and the Capital Bikeshare program,” says Erwin when asked if Takoma Park is bike friendly. “Washington, DC is probably leading the region with its bike lanes in and around the downtown areas.”

Near Nature

While he would welcome more designated bike lanes, Wayne Savage, owner of Mid-Atlantic Litter Cleanup Service, describes Takoma Park as “a good community for biking.” Savage has always biked for both recreation and transportation.

He still owns his first bike, a Raleigh racer with drop handle bars, purchased while he was a student at the University of Missouri, Columbia. “I actually grew up in rural area in Missouri without a lot of pavement, so I didn’t get my first bike until I was in college,” Savage recalls. “I still have it in my basement, and I rode it in my one and only triathlon.”

Since getting that first bike, he can’t imagine being “cocooned in a car.” Savage says of biking, “It’s great exercise and an exhilarating way to stay connected to your environment. I enjoy the sights and sounds you experience riding on a bike.”

And it makes his job easier, and his customers happy. “I can ride directly to sites of litter accumulation and get right to work,” Savage explains. “It makes it very convenient for me.”

“A large of part of it is also about keeping my business overhead low,” he continues. “With no overhead for a truck, my rates are very reasonable, and my clients appreciate that.”

In Gear

Customers at Takoma Bicycle have come to appreciate the shop’s newest mechanic, Corinne Ducey. She began working there part-time almost a year ago and lives nearby.

Ducey describes herself as a “beginner, who’s learning a lot and asking lots of questions.” What attracted her to the job? “I was drawn to it because there aren’t many women in the field,” Ducey says. “I like to be a role model for younger girls in places where there aren’t many women. And it’s important to know how to fix my own bike.”

While she was a student at Smith College, Ducey’s bike was her primary mode of transportation, and she had the unique opportunity to work at The Bike Kitchen, a repair shop in the basement of her dorm staffed by female mechanics. “I learned very basic stuff there,” she recalls.

Basic or not, Ducey added that experience to an already rich tradition of biking in her family, starting with learning to ride her first bike in her aunt’s driveway at six years old and continuing with her mother becoming a mountain bike racer ten years ago. Today Ducey rides an entry level hybrid bike, which serves as her secondary mode of transportation.

However, she has been known to bike 12 miles round trip to and from her full-time job in Washington, DC. “I love navigating on a bike,” she says, “and leaving my car at home so that I’m not using gas and saving money. I get happy when I get on my bike.”

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

By Apryl Motley

It’s time to celebrate. This year the Takoma Park Horticultural Club (THC) commemorates its 100th Anniversary and 10 decades of educating local gardeners while furthering its public gardening mission. Activities are planned throughout the year. The club hosted a hospitality suite at the Historic Takoma House and Garden Show. On May 18 at the City Council meeting, the City is presenting a proclamation to the club recognizing its centennial. In July look for club members marching in the City’s annual Fourth of July parade to represent 100 years of gardening. And during the club’s anniversary year, members are reflecting on their best experiences with the club and the reasons behind its longevity.

Diane Svenonius, current editor of the club’s monthly newsletter and a past president, first joined the club in 2010 after attending one of the public programs the club hosts throughout the year featuring notable speakers. “One of my favorites was Sam Droege, who is a vehement enthusiast of native bees and startled everyone by saying that Takoma Park should cut down some of its trees to make meadow habitats that these pollinators prefer,” Svenonius recalls.

She’s also a fan of the club’s open garden series held on Friday afternoons in June and enjoys the club’s annual plant exchanges. “I’m not a terrific gardener, and most of what’s in my garden comes from the plant exchanges,” Svenonius says.

The club’s annual plant exchanges are members-only events, but that shouldn’t deter anyone. Dues remain a very reasonable $12 per year. When the club was first started at the Takoma, DC branch of the District of Columbia Library in March 1916, dues were .10 per meeting. According to Svenonius, who serves on the THC history team, club members grew tired of making change, and dues became $1 per year with increases to $2 and eventually $8 at different points in the club’s history.

Perhaps, it’s this financial accessibility and openness to gardeners at all levels that has kept the club going. “There are so many people in different stages of gardening,” Svenonius says, “and we have a little of everything. We try for that variety.”

“People want to learn more about gardening,” she continues. “It’s that combination of learning more about plants and gardening in a social setting that draws people to the club.”

This was certainly the case for Nancy Newton, a 23-year resident of Takoma Park, when she joined THC 10 years ago. “Above all else, I really enjoy learning from other members,” Newton says. “I am an amateur, but we have members who are master gardeners or have certificates in landscaping. I have learned from everyone.”

Newton notes that the club’s listserv, which is open to both members and nonmembers, is a great learning tool. “People share photographs and ask questions about problem plants,” she explains. With the possibility of input from the 500+ people on the list, participants are likely to get a variety of answers to their queries.

Interestingly, according to Newton, who also serves on the THC history team, from the 1920s to the 1960s, the club had up to 500 members at a time, and some were couples. “The level of activity was much higher with seven garden shows a year in addition to monthly meetings and a massive cooperative buying effort for plants and seeds,” she notes. “It’s quite striking to see how big and active the club was at this time.”

Based on newsletters, reports, and other materials made available with the help of Diane Kohn and Historic Takoma Inc., the club’s first cooperative buying effort took place shortly after its founding when the Department of Agriculture refused a duplicate shipment of bulbs. A charter member of THC, who was also the Department of Agriculture official in charge of bulb growing, offered the club’s officers the opportunity to purchase the bulbs, which were then resold to members.

Thus the first bulb sale was born. According to Newton’s article in THC’s March newsletter, “Many of the narcissuses, jonquils, and other bulbs seen growing in the gardens of older (and sometimes newer) homes in Takoma, DC and Takoma Park today are likely to be the babies of bulbs from THC.” This year’s bulb sale will take place on Oct. 2 at the Takoma Street Festival.

“With our bulb sale, I see our bulbs everywhere,” says Kathy Jentz, chair of the 100th Anniversary Committee and a past vice president and president of the club, “particularly the ones we donated in parks.”

Jentz joined the club fifteen years ago as a “beginning to intermediate” gardener. “The first meeting I attended was a pruning workshop,” she recalls. “It was a demo and talk about different tools and techniques with which I was totally unfamiliar at the time.”

For her one of the joys of being a THC member is “feeling like you know everyone and that what you’re giving to it is worthwhile.” As such, Jentz was surprised to learn that the first members were all men, and until the 1970s, membership was invitation only; you had to be invited to attend a meeting by a member. Certainly, this has changed. In fact, Jentz attributes the club’s longevity to “the people and the small hometown feel.”

City Gardener Mike Welsh, a THC member since the 1980s, can attest to the contributions the club has made to its hometown. “THC has participated in plantings of City gardens and contributed funds towards plant purchases as well as THC members donating plants from their own gardens,” he says.

And the best is yet to come. Welsh is working with THC to create a new park on city property at the northwest corner of Piney Branch Road and Philadelphia Avenue to reflect the 100-year relationship of the club to the City of Takoma Park. It will be called Centennial Park and funded through donations from its members and grants from local organizations to procure plants.

Planting is expected to start in the fall.

A master gardener, Welsh describes the club as a “lifeline for beginning gardeners.” He says, “Many people come to Takoma Park as new homeowners with yards, and the club welcomes new gardeners.”

“Most people who start gardening turn initially to national books, which will only take you so far,” he continues. “The knowledge you get from a regional club is everything.”

Perhaps, the club’s tagline says it best, “a hardy perennial since 1916.” For more information about the club’s anniversary activities, membership, and making donations, visit www.takomahort.org.

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

As the weather starts to warm up and Takoma Park is setting its sights on the summer ahead, Dance Exchange is inviting youth from across the city to participate in its 2016 Teen Leadership Institute. Happening June 23-25, the Teen Leadership Institute brings together young people ages 13-19 to build their skills as artists and leaders in their community using dance, song, poetry and storytelling.

The Teen Leadership Institute is a summer tradition at Dance Exchange, an intergenerational dance company with a long history in Takoma Park. Teens will experience a range of art forms throughout the three-day Institute. Working alongside professional artists and community organizers in the DC area, participants will build their creative and leadership skills through dance, art and storytelling workshops, group conversations and public engagements.

Dance Exchange Resident Artist Matthew Cumbie explains that this opportunity “gives teens a chance to explore their capacity to transform ideas into action through artmaking. By the end of the Institute, teens really understand the role of art in building community and creating sustainable change.”

The 2016 Institute will focus on the experiences of LGBT youth, as well as youth who consider themselves friends and allies. “Everyone needs a safe space to tell their story,” notes Teen Leadership Institute Co-Facilitator Amanda Newman. “We’re excited that through dance, storytelling and more, this year’s Institute will create that safe space for LGBT youth and allies to share their experiences, challenges and hopes.”

Teens of all orientations and identities are welcome—with or without dance experience. Registration is now open, and a limited number of scholarships are available through an application process. To learn more or to register your teen, contact Matthew Cumbie at matthewc@danceexchange.org.

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

The Silver Spring-Takoma Thunderbolts play in the Cal Ripken Collegiate Baseball League, a wooden bat league composed of ten teams in Virginia, D.C. and Maryland. Top college players are recruited to play for the team. Weeklong: The team runs summer baseball camps in June and July for boys and girls 7 to 15. Instruction is from Doug Remer, the Thunderbolts head coach. He is assisted by T-Bolts coaches and players. This is a camp for baseball players; kids have fun, and they learn the game of baseball. The emphasis is on fundamentals, baseball values and discipline, conditioning and healthy lifestyle choices. Each camp session is limited to a total of 50 campers. After camp in the evenings, campers can attend T-Bolts games where they can cheer on their coaches. We provide bats, balls and equipment. Campers bring their own gloves and lunch. Each camper gets a Thunderbolts T-Shirt. The weeklong camps are June 20-24, June 27-July 1, July 5-8 (no camp July 4), July 11-15, and July 18-22 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day. The location is Blair High School, 51 E. University Blvd., Silver Spring, Maryland. The cost is $205 per week except for the week of July 4, which is $175.

Three-Day: We also offer three-day specialty camps for kids ages 11-16. These camps will provide intensive training from Thunderbolt coaches and players on batting (Day 1), pitching and catching (Day 2), and the camper’s choice of an expanded session on pitching or catching (Day 3). There will be a 3 to 1 camper to counselor ratio. The dates are June 20-22, June 27-29, and July 5-7. The hours are 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. each day, and the price is $250 for each three-day session. The location for these camps is also Blair High School, 51 E. University Blvd. in Silver Spring.

For early bird, sibling and multiyear discount information, refund policy, and application forms, go to www.tbolts.org. For questions, call 301-270-0794. The Thunderbolts are not associated with the Takoma Park Recreation Department.

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

You are going away for 10 days and there’s no one in your house. Is there anyone who can do regular checks on the property? You sleep in the back of the house and want to be sure no one takes your car—without your permission—between midnight and 5 a.m., and you don’t want to stay up all night. Is there a “car-sitting” service? Here are some free services the Takoma Park Police Department (takomaparkmd.gov/government/police) offers to help residents manage these and similar situations.

House checks: If you are away 4-30 days, the Takoma Park Police will walk through the perimeter of your house and make sure there are no tamper marks in critical areas, check for cut screens, etc. How can you activate this service? Contact the Takoma Park Police Department (301- 270-1100) in advance of your departure, and not the day before you leave, if at all possible. If you are away for a shorter period—especially if the area has had problems, contact the Takoma Park Police, who will advise you of the short-term process.

Home security surveys: An officer will do internal and external security assessments: internal checks look for vulnerabilities such as lock security and screens, items next to windows (laptops, TV) etc. External checks include looking at shrubbery near windows, equipment left outside (such as ladders, bolt cutters), whether exterior lights are working as intended, and more. To activate this service, call Takoma Park Police at 301- 270-1100.

Night-time auto security: Want to ensure that your car does not move from its space between midnight and 5 a.m.? You can register the car with the TP Police and get a car sticker.

Community Cam Program: If you wish to have a camera on your property also monitored by the TP Police, join the Community Cam program. For more information, visit takomaparkmd.gov/news/thecitys-community-cam-program.

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

By Morgan Fecto

Vicki Gau had a lot on her plate before Takoma Ensemble’s “Movable Home” concert on April 9. On the Thursday before the show, she went to Strathmore for meetings, back to Takoma Park to answer emails, then to Silver Spring to secure the April 9 venue, and home again to do some parenting and social media before heading back out. She squeezed in time before rehearsal to explain her robust relationship with music between bites of a sandwich at Kaldi’s Coffee.

“It’s just part of what makes life worth living,” she said of creating classical music. “I want to build Takoma Ensemble into an organization, and to do that requires people who are passionate. It also requires time, and I’ve got two jobs.”

Although Gau is an associate conductor at the National Philharmonic and artistic director of Capital City Symphony, being artistic director of Takoma Ensemble has been her passion project since she founded it with violinist Susanna Kemp in 2013. “With National Philharmonic, it’s, ‘Here’s a concert of Bach,’ which is lovely, but I wanted to be a part of the creative process and show that this music is exciting, not a museum piece,” Gau said. “Everything we do exists on a continuum from past to present.”

In her work with the Takoma Ensemble, Gau collaborates with her contemporaries and pays homage to the greats. In “Movable Home,” the ensemble paired pieces by Respighi with titular piece “Movable Home” by Joel Friedman, and “Constellations,” a piece written for the ensemble by up-and-coming composer Alistair Coleman.

“Classical music has gotten this really bad rap,” she said. “‘It’s not fun, it’s stuffy, it’s elitist.’ Those are the barriers we’re trying to get past.”

In the past, Gau and the ensemble have collaborated with kindermusik expert Becky Linafelt on “PB and Jam Sessions,” concerts that fuse kindermusik concepts and classical music vignettes. “We work really hard to present the ensemble as lighthearted and fun,” she said. “It’s how we’re facing the challenge of getting people to come to our door.”

Gau also wants to recruit more board members, explore alternative venues, and broaden the ensemble’s audience. “There are these big folk and jazz fan bases here, so we’re excited to learn where we fit in,” she said. “Our community is this great niche. From the start we loved the idea of being able to make music right at home.”

While Gau aims to convert more Takoma Park residents to classical music-lovers, she’s had the City’s faith from the get-go. Back in 2013 she and Kemp met with Sara Daines in the Housing and Community Development department to ask for suggestions for growing the new ensemble. They ended up booking concerts in the City’s then-fledgling We Are Takoma series.

“She calmly looked at the calendar and said, ‘I think that’s an idea we can get behind,’” Gau said of Daines. “I told Susanna, ‘We’ve got concerts, so I guess we better get started.’”

To learn more about the ensemble and get updates about upcoming concerts, visit takomaensemble.blogspot.com.

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

By Karen MacPherson

The Takoma Park Library has got a star-studded list of children’s authors and illustrators coming to visit in May, including 2016 Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall and best-selling author and humorist Dave Barry.

In fact, three wonderful author/illustrators will be helping us to celebrate Children’s Book Week (May 2-8) in a big way this year. Our Children’s Book Week celebration will begin with a program featuring picture book star author Mac Barnett on Tuesday, May 3 at 7 p.m. Barnett is the author of a number of hugely-popular books, including the Caldecott Honor book, Sam & Dave Dig a Hole, which was illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Jon Klassen. At our May 3 event, Barnett will talk about his new picture book, Rules of the House, illustrated by Matt Myers. In a last-minute addition, Myers also will be part of the program.

On Friday, May 6, at 7:30 p.m., humorist and kids’ author Dave Barry will read from his newest kid’s novel, The Worst Night Ever, a sequel to his popular book, The Worst Class Trip Ever. Barry gave a crowd-pleasing performance when he visited last year, and we expect this year’s program to be just as good. Note, please, that Barry’s event will take place in the Takoma Park Community Center auditorium.

We’ll wrap up Children’s Book Week on Saturday, May 7, at 3 p.m., when Caldecott Honor illustrator Molly Idle present the newest in her series of Flora picture books, Flora and the Peacocks. Idle also will do some drawing for the crowd.

Then, on May 19 at 7:30 p.m., we’re thrilled to welcome “reigning” Caldecott Medalist Sophie Blackall, along with author John Bemelmans Marciano, to talk about their new series, The Witches of Benevento. Our event offers a very special opportunity to meet a newly-minted Caldecott Medal winner; Blackall won the 2016 Caldecott Medal for her illustrations for Finding Winnie, which was written by Lindsay Mattick.

For the May 19th event, Blackall will be highlighting the illustrations she did for a new series of chapter books written by Marciano. Titled The Witches of Benevento, the series focuses on a five cousins and the way they outwit the many witches who live in their hometown of Benevento. School Library Journal noted of the first book, Mischief Season: “Magical spells and amusing characters with distinctive personalities, coupled with an engaging story with a twist, will captivate readers and leave them clamoring for future stories….”

Our final event of the month takes place on Friday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. when graphic novelist Maris Wicks talks about her newest non-fiction comic, in the Science Comics series, Coral Reefs, Cities of the Ocean. Wicks won acclaim from critics and young readers for her work on two previous nonfiction comics, Primates and Human Body Theater.

All of our May author/ illustrator events are cosponsored by Politics & Prose Bookstore, which will sell books at each program. But all of the events are free, and no purchase is required to attend. Please join us!

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

By Ellen Robbins

Join the Friends of the Library Bimonthly Reading club on Wednesday, May 25 for a discussion of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears by Dinaw Mengestu. The author immigrated to America in 1980, when he was 29, after his family fled genocide in Ethiopia.

The protagonist in this novel is Sepha Stephanos, who settles in the Adams Morgan area of D.C., where he runs a small neighborhood grocery store. He lives in near isolation; his only friends at first are two fellow Africans, whose longing and nostalgia are as great as his own. In time he is befriended by neighbors Judith and Naomi – a white woman and her biracial daughter. However, as racial tensions and violence erupt in his community, his challenges are only beginning.

The New York Times Book Review called this work “A great African novel, a great Washington novel, and a great American novel…In Mengestu’s work, there’s no such thing as the nondescript life. He notices and there are whole worlds in his noticing. He has written a novel for an age ravaged by the moral and military fallout of cross-cultural incuriosity… there’s something hugely hopeful about this young writer’s watchful honesty and egalitarian tenderness.”

The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears is a Los Angeles Times Book Prize winner and Mengestu’s first novel. All are welcome to join the Friends book discussion, which will be held in the Hydrangea Room at 7:30 p.m. Copies of the book are available at the Takoma Park Maryland Library.

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

The Celebrate Takoma festival will be back for a fourth year, but with a few changes. The festival is moving from its usual Sunday afternoon time to the early Saturday evening (4 – 7 p.m.) of May 14. It is also moving from the field behind Piney Branch Elementary to the block on Maple Avenue in front of the school with the aim of making the festival more of a street party. The festival will feature music, dance, ethnic food, games, children’s crafts (including chalk drawing on the pavement), booths from community groups, an expository display of town history and the annual presentation of the Azalea Awards.

For the first time, children and the young-at-heart will be treated to free ice cream.

After a prelude performance by the Takoma Park Community Band, the steel pan band Panquility will kick off the event with the shake-shake-shake percussion sounds familiar to fans who dance yearly to their music in the Independence Day parade. The Proverbs band will bring the event to a close with their rollicking blues-beats of reggae. In between will be performances by Ethiopian dancers, a flamenco dancer and an Indie blues singer.

The Azalea Awards will be presented to volunteers and activists who have been selected as the year’s best at improving life in the Greater Takoma community. Under the auspices of the Takoma Foundation, nominees are recommended and then voted on by the public at large.

In a town known for musical and cultural events, Celebrate Takoma was started in 2013 by the Recreation Department and the Recreation Committee with a vision that harks back to old-fashioned town celebrations. “The idea is to throw a party for everyone who lives here, the whole wonderful mix of people,” said Howard Kohn, a Recreation Committee member.

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