Hello Neighbors,

 There are three events in the near future I want to bring to your attention.

 First,  our spring Civic Association meeting is next Wednesday, May 23^rd.  It will be held in the College Gardens Elementary School’s Media Center (library) from 7 to 9 PM. The general agenda for the meeting includes: election of officers, an update on the study of the pond, status check on the City’s stream restoration, radon testing in area homes, and National Night Out planning kick-off. I hope you can attend your Civic Association meeting.

 Second, Memorial Day is coming soon, and so too Hometown Holidays.  The attached postcard has details.  Opportunities exist to volunteer and get involved. The Rockville Recreation & Parks Foundation (www.rrpfi.org) is a non-profit Foundation and was established to raise funds to support City of Rockville recreation programs and facilities.  The money they raise enables children to attend camps and programs that they otherwise could not afford and provides supplies, equipment and training to enhance recreation activities in the City.  The Foundation is looking for volunteers to man the beverage sale booths at Hometown Holidays on Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend, May 26th and 27th.   The booths will be open from 1 PM to 10 PM on both days so there will be plenty of time for volunteers to both pitch in and enjoy Hometown Holidays.  If interested, contact Chip Boylan (Work:  (301) 692-3068; Home:   (301) 217-9572; Home e-mail: chipboylan@verizon.net; Work e-mail: vincent.boylan@willis.com).

 Third, Hard Times Café and Carmen’s Italian Ice are again hosting the free annual Street Party Concert featuring The Digits! on Saturday evening, June 2^nd.  This will be held at the Woodley Gardens Shopping Center.  It’s very neighborly and family friendly – part of the parking lot will be blocked off for your blankets, chairs, and little red wagons. .

The annual plant sale of our sister organization, the Garden Club of College Gardens, is now in progress. Their order deadline of Saturday April 14 is fast approaching!

If you would like to take part in this amazing event, and spruce up your yard in the process, you can download copies of the order form and all the plant descriptions from the Garden Club page

Please mail or deliver your completed form to Virginia Render at 1614 Auburn Ave by the 14th.

Pickup is Saturday, April 28 from 11am to 2pm at 6 Duke Court.

Proceeds from the sale go towards maintenance of the hill at College Parkway and Nelson Street.

We appreciate your participation. Thank you!

Hello College Gardens,

I hope this finds you enjoying the beautiful early spring weather. Below are a number of items I felt were worthy of passing along.

Watts Branch Stream Restoration: As you may recall from the recent emails I sent, a stream restoration project is underway to fix the erosion problem caused by the storm drain outfalls going into Upper watts Branch. In advance of the actual work that will be conducted in the future, a number of College Gardens residents are participating in a City-led task force to evaluate options and make recommendations. You can read up on the full scope of the project here.

One activity the task force was recently involve in, along with other residents, was a stream walk to survey the affected areas. This was captured on Rockville’s March 2012 newscast which can be viewed here on YouTube. Tip: Click and drag the video meter to the 8 minute mark to see the section on the stream walk.

Many thanks go to College Gardens residents are actively participating on the task force on our behalf: Jim Carlton, Paul O’brien, Ammie Roseman-Orr, and Lou Marinelli.

Mulch Sale: With spring upon us, many residents will be sprucing up their yards. Richard Montgomery High School is again conducting their annual mulch sale. Attached is the order form and please note that the order deadline is this Wednesday, March 21.

Note: Normally I refrain from using this email list to promote fund-raising activities but I decided to make an exception in this case because so many neighbors do order mulch annually through RM and so many neighbor-students attend RM and the feeder schools.

Garden Club Plant Sale: In keep with the spring theme, our own Garden Club is conducting their annual plant sale. Also attached is the order form and plant descriptions. Please note the order deadline is April 14 and pick up will be April 28.

School Board Forum: This is from the Rockville Community Coalition:

The Rockville Community Coalition would like to invite members of your neighborhood to a forum for the District 2 Montgomery County Board of Education candidates. The forum is being presented here in Rockville at 7:00 PM on Thursday, March 29 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Rockville, 100 Welsh Park Drive. The Coalition is co-sponsoring the forum together with The League of Women Voters of Montgomery County. This will be an opportunity for parents of MCPS students to interact with the candidates, with the chance to ask questions about the important issues that concern us all.

Thank you and have a great weekend!

Tom Miner
President, College Gardens Civic Association