Media Center

CALENDAR LISTING: Montgomery Parks Offers FREE Activities to Commemorate Maryland Emancipation Day, Nov. 6 & 7

OLNEY, MD—The Montgomery County Department of Parks will host a variety of FREE activities to honor Maryland Emancipation Day. Maryland Emancipation Day celebrates the historic November 1, 1864 Maryland constitution that freed enslaved persons living in the state. Commemorative activities will include guided hikes that allow visitors to experience the Underground Railroad; a special program at the historic Oakley Cabin; and tours of the Josiah Henson Historic Site (formerly known as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”).  The Sandy Spring Slave Museum and Odd Fellows Lodge will also host tours.

Friday, November 6, 2009

• Night Hike: “The Night Sky and the Underground Railroad,” 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm, Underground Railroad Experience Trail at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park, 16501 Norwood Road, Sandy Spring. Historian Anthony Cohen gets Maryland Emancipation Day started early with this guided night hike. Please be aware: Interpretative materials are appropriate for children ages 8 and up; no dogs (except for therapy animals) are allowed on the hike; dress for the weather; and bring a flashlight. Parking is available at Woodlawn Manor. Admission is $5 per person. Tickets must be purchased ahead of time at www.ParkPASS.org (Course No. 90300). 

Maryland Emancipation Day—Saturday, November 7, 2009

• FREE Guided Hikes, 9:00 am, 10:00 am, 11:00 am and 12:00 noon, Underground Railroad Experience Trail at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park, 16501 Norwood Road, Sandy Spring. Trained guides will lead interpretive hikes on this 2 mile natural surface trail from Woodlawn Manor to the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting House. Rain or shine.

• Open House at the Sandy Spring Slave Museum & African Art Gallery, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, 18524 Brooke Road, Sandy Spring. In honor of Maryland Emancipation Day, this private museum and art gallery will be open to visitors FREE of change on Saturday. Special museum activities will include a video performance starring actress Gwendolyn Briley-Strand as Harriet Tubman; live performance and narration by Gwendolyn Briley-Strand as Rosa Parks; and live performance by the All Natural African Dance Troupe. Lunch will be available for purchase by Ribs on the Run.

• Open House at Odd Fellows Lodge, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm, 1310 Olney-Sandy Spring Road, Sandy Spring. The historic Odd Fellows Lodge on Route 108 will be open to visitors FREE of charge courtesy of the Sandy Spring Slave Museum.

• Maryland Emancipation Day Celebration, 12:00 noon – 4:00 pm, Oakley Cabin, 3610 Brookeville Road, Olney. FREE Maryland Emancipation Day activities will include guided cabin tours; hands-on activities for children; traditional foodways demonstrations by culinary historian Michael Twitty; living history demonstrations; music; archaeology digs and more.  The special Emancipation Day program at Oakley Cabin will begin at 1:00 pm and feature a keynote address by Dr. Cheryl LaRoche, lecturer, Underground Railroad scholar, and professor of American Studies at the University of Maryland at College Park and Georgetown University. Parking is only available at Longwood Recreation Center, 19300 Georgia Avenue with shuttle service to Oakley Cabin. In the event of inclement weather, outdoor activities will be moved to the Logwood Community Center in Longwood Local Park.

• FREE Cabin Tours, 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Josiah Henson Historic Site (formerly known as “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”), 11420 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. Take a FREE guided tour of the Josiah Henson site for Maryland Emancipation Day. Parking is only available two blocks away at the Montgomery County Aquatic Center/Wall Local Park, 5900 Executive Boulevard, Bethesda.

On Saturday, November 7, shuttle buses will run between Woodlawn Manor and the Sandy Spring Friends Meeting House (the end of Underground Railroad Experience Trail hike) from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm and between Longwood Local Park and Oakley Cabin from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm.

Volunteers are also still needed to help with these activities. To volunteer, register online at www.ParkVolunteers.org by November 5.

For more information on the Maryland Emancipation Celebration in Montgomery Parks visit www.ParksCulturalResources.org or call 301-650-4373.    

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Contact:
Kelli Holsendolph
Media Relations Manager
Montgomery County Department of Parks
301-650-2866

MEDIA ADVISORY: Cabin John Dog Park Grand Opening Celebration “Howl-O-Ween” Saturday, October 31

BETHESDA, MD—This “Howl-O-Ween” Saturday,  October 31 dozens of area dogs and their owners will join the Montgomery County Department of Parks and special guests for the grand opening celebration of the new Cabin John Dog Park.

The celebration will include doggie giveaways, prizes, treats and information generously provided by Bethesda Pet, Companion Animal Rescue Alliance, Dog Centric, Dogtopia, Fetch! Pet Care, the Montgomery County Humane Society, The Posh Pooch, Pro Feed Rockville and Sniffers Doggie Depot.  The grand opening program will also include brief remarks and a ribbon cutting.

The Cabin John Dog Park opened for use at the end of September and has been met with rave reviews from dog owners (and their pets!). The Cabin John Dog Park is now the fourth official dog park in the county’s parks system and the first to include separate areas for large and small dogs.  The new dog park also offers rock climbing structures for dog exercise and play, trash containers, drinking fountains and benches in shaded areas for dogs and their owners.

WHO:    
Montgomery County Department of Parks
Montgomery County Council President Phil Andrews
Montgomery County Council Vice President Roger Berliner
Councilmember Nancy Floreen

WHAT: 
Cabin John Dog Park Grand Opening

WHEN: 
Saturday, October 31, 2009
9:00 am – 12:00 noon

WHERE:
Cabin John Dog Park
10900 Westlake Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20854

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Contact:   
Kelli Holsendolph
Media Relations Manager
Montgomery County Department of Parks
301-650-2866

“Green” Builders to Showcase Environmentally Friendly Design as Part of Montgomery County Planning Board Speaker Series

SILVER SPRING, MD – To learn more about how “green” development concepts play out in the marketplace, the Planning Board will welcome a team of developers specializing in eco-friendly building techniques to its 2009 Growing Smarter Speaker Series on Thursday, October 29.

Jonathan Gritz and Marnie Abramson of The Tower Companies will provide real-world examples of green growth as part of their presentation, “Sustainable Development: Costs, Incentives and the 'Greening' of Real Estate.” They will present an overview of the costs associated with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) developments in Montgomery County and provide their perspectives on green building market penetration and the market’s response.

Environmentally sensitive design has been envisioned in all recent Planning Board initiatives – from the 2009-2011 Growth Policy to community plans.

Gritz and Abramson are the latest of a series of monthly speakers to present before the Board this year. Continuing education credits have been approved for AICP members.

The Tower Companies develop what the company calls “eco-progessive” real estate featuring environmentally sensitive buildings and communities. The company has focused on indoor air quality, energy conservation, and innovative design in its offices, residential communities, retail, and mixed-use developments.

Among its work is the 2000 Tower Oaks Boulevard office building, which earned a LEED platinum level certification, and renovating the mixed-use Blair Apartments in Silver Spring, again under LEED’s green building rating system.

Gritz, a sustainable development analyst, develops recycling, energy efficiency, and sustainability programs for The Tower Companies. He’s now working to improve the energy efficiency and environmental performance of over 2 million square feet of office space and 1,400 multi-family apartment units. He helped in drafting Tower’s green lease and has assisted in numerous LEED projects, including Tower’s new LEED platinum corporate headquarters in Rockville and the first multi-tenant commercial office building in Washington D.C., certified under the LEED for Existing Buildings rating system.

Abramson, director of marketing and public relations, educates governments, brokers, tenants and other developers through public relations, advertising and public speaking. Abramson is a winner of the Washington Business Journal’s 2008 Women Who Mean Business award and was recently selected as one of Bisnow’s “35 under 35” for 2008, a list of up-and-coming business leaders.

Who:
Montgomery County Planning Board

What:
The Tower Companies presenting “Sustainable Development: Costs, Incentives and the 'Greening' of Real Estate”

When: 
7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 29

Where:
Park and Planning Headquarters auditorium
8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring

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State Transportation Officials Affirm Planners’ Recommendation for Corridor Cities Transitway Route

SILVER SPRING, MD – A key recommendation for the Gaithersburg West Master Plan that would re-route the proposed Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT) was strengthened Thursday when state transit officials endorsed the proposal. The plan is under consideration by the Montgomery County Council.

In an October 22 letter, Donald Halligan, director of the Maryland Transit Administration’s Office of Planning and Capital Programming, cited an up to 40 percent increase in ridership associated with the revised transit route in approving the realignment recommendation. That increase would make the CCT project more cost-effective, the agency letter said.

Halligan urged the County Council to speedily approve the draft Gaithersburg West plan proposed by the Planning Board so the transit agency could seek federal approval for the mass transit project.

The CCT, conceived in the 1970s as a 14-mile-long light rail or bus rapid transit route connecting the Shady Grove Metrorail Station to Clarksburg, has been the lynchpin for the Gaithersburg West Master Plan. The plan focuses on invigorating the county’s Life Sciences Center by creating a more desirable community where people can live, work and enjoy many services.

Planners envision that the CCT, which they recommend run as bus rapid transit, would help create a more walkable community in a Life Sciences Center now dominated by cars. The CCT would serve as a means to cluster houses, jobs, and retail to support activity centers and lessen reliance on automobiles.

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White Flint Plan, Zoning Discovery, Student Plan Win State Planning Awards

SILVER SPRING, MD – Two recent plans produced by the Montgomery County Planning Department – the White Flint Sector Plan and the Zoning Discovery – received top awards from the Maryland chapter of the American Planning Association (APA), planners learned today. Moreover, three planners who collaborated on a student award when they were college interns won for Outstanding Student Project or Paper.

The biennial awards, which recognize outstanding planning throughout the state, are judged by a jury of planning professionals.

The White Flint Sector Plan was named winner of the contest’s Outstanding Plan for communities greater than 100,000 residents. The Zoning Discovery won for Outstanding Project or Program.

The White Flint Sector Plan, which covers North Bethesda along both sides of Rockville Pike, recommends ways to urbanize one of the few remaining locations in the county where excellent public transportation options and redevelopment potential coincide. With the area dominated by surface parking lots, the plan recommends ways to add community facilities and improve environmental quality. Specifically, the plan envisions a diverse mixed-use center near the White Flint Metro station and transforming Rockville Pike into a landscaped boulevard accompanied by a grid of new streets. 

The White Flint Plan is under consideration by the County Council and will be the subject of a public hearing tonight. The Council reviews each community plan in worksessions before creating a final version that sets land use policy and the vision for an area.

The Zoning Discovery document analyzed the county Zoning Code as part of a three-year project to review, revise and simplify a code that many consider outdated and ineffective. The Zoning Discovery report analyzed the code to set the stage for the comprehensive revision. The report diagnosed problems and suggested solutions, such as better organization, evaluating current zones for relevance, using more tables and graphics to convey complex concepts, and matching land use to development patterns.

The student project, Connect Barracks Row: A Future Vision for a Washington, D.C., Community, was part of a semester-long project undertaken by graduate planning students in the Urban Studies and Planning Program at the University of Maryland at College Park. With support from the local community and the District of Columbia’s Department of Planning, the report makes recommendations as to how Lower Barracks Row can best respond to the changing neighborhood climate and evolve to help its current residents and surrounding communities.

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In a Time of Economic Recession, Montgomery Parks’ Not-So-Big Wedding Boutique to Showcase Affordable & Elegant Wedding Options for $15K or Less

POTOMAC, MD—The Montgomery County Department of Parks will showcase the results of a competition that gave teams of wedding vendors three weeks to plan a wedding with a budget of just $15,000. Ten teams of wedding vendors will reveal their elegant, yet economical, wedding packages to brides, grooms and their families and friends at the Not-So-Big Wedding Boutique on Sunday, November 8, 2009 at Rockwood Manor in Potomac. The event is FREE to the public.

Each package will include the cost of a ceremony and reception for 65 guests with catering, floral arrangements, music, photography and the rental of a Montgomery Parks event center: Brookside Gardens, Rockwood Manor, Seneca Lodge or Woodlawn Manor.

“The ‘not-so-big’ wedding is the new reality for many brides and grooms as the effects of the recession continue to play out,” said Laura Gosse, marketing specialist for the Montgomery County Department of Parks event centers. “But small doesn’t have to mean plain. The challenge teams’ wedding displays will show couples how they can have a wedding day to remember—without breaking the bank.”

The boutique will also feature a panel moderated by Ellen McCarthy of The Washington Post’s wedding section. Panelists will include brides and newlyweds who have successfully planned weddings under $15,000. In addition, Deb McCoy, wedding planner and author of “I Do...: How To Have the Elegant Wedding of Your Dreams for $15,000 or Less!” and Lynn Young, author of “Let’s Elope,” will take part in the “wedding-wisdom” talks.  

Also at the Not-So-Big Wedding Boutique, St. Anthony’s Bridal, a local non-profit whose mission is to help people have an affordable wedding, will be showing and selling new and once-worn designer wedding gowns for $150.

The Not-So-Big Wedding Boutique will be held from 12 noon to 5 pm at Rockwood Manor, 11001 MacArthur Boulevard, Potomac, MD 20854.

For more information, visit www.NotSoBigWedding.com. 

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Contact:
Kelli Holsendolph
Media Relations Manager
Montgomery County Department of Parks
301-650-2866

CALENDAR LISTING: Montgomery Parks’ Not-So-Big Wedding Boutique, November 8

POTOMAC, MD—The Montgomery County Department of Parks will showcase nearly a dozen professionally designed wedding packages for brides-to-be, their grooms and families—all for $15K or less. Each wedding package includes a ceremony and reception for 65 guests, with catering, floral arrangements, music, photography and the cost of an event center rental at one of Montgomery Parks’ four scenic park settings: Brookside Gardens, Rockwood Manor, Seneca Lodge or Woodlawn Manor. During the boutique, participants will also enjoy a panel of brides sharing their “Wedding Wisdom,” moderated by Ellen McCarthy and talks with authors Deborah McCoy and Lynn Young. St. Anthony's Bridal, a local non-profit whose mission is to help people have an affordable wedding, will also be onsite at the boutique selling designer wedding gowns for $150. This event is FREE to the public.

Sunday, November 8, 2009
12:00 noon to 5:00 pm
Rockwood Manor
11001 MacArthur Boulevard, Potomac, Maryland 20854

For more information, visit www.NotSoBigWedding.com.  

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Contact:   
Kelli Holsendolph
Media Relations Manager
Montgomery County Department of Parks
301-650-2866

Seasonal Park Closures: Department of Parks Conducts Annual Deer Management Operations, First of Season October 30

SILVER SPRING, MD—Today, the Montgomery County Department of Parks announces its fall 2009, winter 2010 deer management operations season, which will result in several intermittent park closures. The department’s seasonal deer management operations will begin Friday, October 30 at Hoyles Mill Conservation Park and will be completed on March 31, 2010.  Park users are encouraged to note park closures, affecting specific park locations during this period. “Park Closed” signs will be posted surrounding the affected parks.

“Our operations are conducted with the highest standard of safety,” said Department of Parks Wildlife Ecologist Bill Hamilton. “There is no reason for concern, where deer management efforts are conducted on parkland adjacent to communities.”  

On select dates from October 2009 through January 2010, ten county parks will be closed from Sunrise until Sunset for managed deer hunts.  A complete list of the scheduled park closures is included below.  From January 1 through March 31, 2010, additional county parks will be closed from 5:30 pm until Sunrise—at night when the parks are closed to public use—for Maryland-National Capital Park Police sharpshooting of deer. 

“We have successfully implemented this program over the last thirteen years, in a wide variety of communities without incident with a sincere safety-first approach,” added Hamilton.

The Department of Parks also reminds county residents that October through December is deer breeding season, with deer activity at its annual peak. During this period deer activity becomes more frequent and unpredictable. 

“This time of year, we all have to be more aware of deer on or near roadways and take precautions while driving to avoid a collision,” cautioned Hamilton.

Drivers should keep the following tips in mind:

• Deer are most active from dusk through dawn;
• Look for the eye-shine of deer along road edges;
• Deer may travel in groups, so if you see one deer expect there to be others;
• Pay attention to deer crossing signs—these signify areas where multiple accidents have occurred; and
• Most importantly, if you encounter a deer on the roadway maintain control and direction and brake cautiously—most accidents occur when the driver makes an erratic maneuver to avoid a deer and ends up striking another vehicle or object.

Hamilton also suggests that: “items on your property which may become a hazard to running deer, such as sport’s nets (volleyball, badminton or soccer), hammocks and swings be temporarily removed to help eliminate the possibility of an injury or entanglement.”

For more on the Department of Parks’ deer management program, including a copy of the county’s deer management plan, Montgomery County Deer Management Work Group annual reports and information on the department’s deer management operations, visit www.ParksDeerManagement.org.

MORE INFORMATION:

Montgomery Parks Fall and Winter 2009/2010 Deer Management Closures

Parks closed for managed deer hunts—closed sunrise through sunset on the dates indicated.

• Hoyles Mill Conservation Park and attached segments of Little Seneca Stream Valley Park, Boyds, Closed: Friday, October 30, Saturday, November 7; Friday November 13; Saturdays, November 21 and December 5; Friday, December 11; Saturday, December 19; Saturday, January 9; Friday, January 22; and Saturday, January 30
• Blockhouse Point Conservation Park, Darnestown, Closed: Tuesdays, November 3, 17 and December 22
• Great Seneca Stream Valley Park, Unit 2, Gaithersburg, Closed: Wednesdays, November 4 and 18; and December 23
• North Germantown Greenway Park, Gaithersburg, Closed: Wednesdays, November 4, 18 and December 23
• Dry Seneca Stream Valley Park, Units 1 & 2, Seneca, Closed: Fridays, November 6, 13; and 20
• Woodstock Special Park, Beallsville, Closed: Friday, November 6; Saturday, November 14; Friday, November 20; Friday,  December 4; Saturday, December 12; Friday, December 18; Friday, January 8; Saturday, January 23; and Friday, January 29
• Rachel Carson Conservation Park, Sunshine, Closed: Mondays, November 9, 23 and December 21
• Bucklodge Forest Conservation Park, Barnesville, Closed: Friday, December 4; Saturday- December 12; and Friday, January 8
• Little Seneca Stream Valley Park, Unit 1, Boyds, Closed: Saturday, December 5; Friday, December 11; and Saturday, January 9
• Little Bennett Regional Park, Clarksburg, Closed: Wednesday, December 9 through Friday, December 11; and Wednesday, December 16 through Friday, December 18

Parks closed for Park Police-based sharpshooting—closed 5:30 pm through Sunrise January 1 through March 31, 2010.

• Agricultural History Farm Park and attached segments of Rock Creek Stream Valley Park (Derwood)
• Black Hill Regional Park (Boyds)
• Layhill Local Park (Wheaton)
• North Branch Stream Valley Park, Units 2 & 3 (Norbeck)
• Northwest Branch Recreational Park (Aspen Hill)
• Northwest Branch Stream Valley Park, Unit 7 (Ashton)
• Rock Creek Regional Park (Rockville)
• Rock Creek Stream Valley Park, Unit 7 (Aspen Hill)
• Wheaton Regional Park (Wheaton)
• Woodlawn Special Park (Sandy Spring)

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Contact:
Kelli Holsendolph
Media Relations Manager
Montgomery County Department of Parks
301-650-2866

Montgomery County Planning Director Receives Regional Architectural Award

SILVER SPRING – Citing Planning Director Rollin Stanley’s leadership in sustainable community development and smart growth, the Potomac Valley chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) named him the fifth recipient of the Kea Medal. The award goes to professionals the regional group identifies as leaders in architectural advocacy.

First presented in 2002 to recognize Paul Kea, an architect and civic leader who died in 1968, the award is the group’s highest honor. Kea, who lived much of his life in Hyattsville, founded an architectural firm that built schools, banks, churches, and other commercial projects. Kea also funded the Distinguished Professorship at the University of Maryland, which is now fully endowed.

Stanley, the first non-architect to receive the award, was chosen because he furthers “good architecture, design and sustainable building practices that involve the entire building community,” said Susan Apollonio AIA-Potomac Valley chapter executive director.

The professional group accepts nominations for the award all year from chapter members, then selects a winner by committee.

Last summer, Stanley was invited to deliver the keynote address at DesignDC, a three-day conference sponsored by local AIA chapters that draws regional architects, planners and urban designers.

Stanley has been director of the county Planning Department, one of the largest planning agencies in the country, since February 2008. Stanley has steered staff and the Planning Board toward new ways of thinking about growth that focuses on sustainability, diversity, design and the environment. Since his arrival, planning staff have incorporated that vision in the proposed 2009-2011 Growth Policy and five new master plans – for Germantown, Gaithersburg West, White Flint, Takoma and Kensington – delivered within the past year.

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Environmental Design Expert to Present as Part of Montgomery County Planning Board Speaker Series

SILVER SPRING, MD – As interest mounts in cutting-edge techniques to build with minimal impact on the environment, the Montgomery County Planning Board has scheduled a local expert to join its 2009 Growing Smarter Speaker Series on Thursday, October 8.

Neil Weinstein, executive director of the Low Impact Development Center in Beltsville, Md., will highlight emerging technologies to plan and design environmentally sensitive infrastructure. The techniques, from slowing – or even eliminating – stormwater runoff to reducing building footprints in new development, are part of Low Impact Development, or LID.  Planners consider LID to be a valuable toolbox of strategies to lessen the impact of growth so it won’t adversely affect environmentally sensitive watersheds and other areas.

In keeping with the mission of his nonprofit Low Impact Development Center, Weinstein will describe the LID approach – a comprehensive series of engineering and design recommendations to maintain and enhance the hydrology of urban and developing watersheds.

Weinstein’s presentation, “21st Century Urban Green Infrastructure,” will focus on great design, green highways and streets, and how new or retrofitted development can fit into an overall plan for community and economic development. With case studies depicting how communities and designers developed business- and performance-based approaches to planning and designing environmentally sensitive infrastructure, Weinstein will highlight state-of-the-art approaches, lessons learned, and future directions for the use of innovative approaches for land use planning and site design.

Weinstein is the latest of a series of monthly speakers to present before the Board this year. Continuing education credits have been approved for AICP members.

Who:
Montgomery County Planning Board

What:
Neil Weinstein presenting “21st Century Urban Green Infrastructure”

When: 
7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 8

Where:
Park and Planning Headquarters auditorium
8787 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring

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