Fenton Street Market, the exciting new outdoor market that made its Silver Spring debut last fall with two highly successful test runs, kicks off its inaugural weekly season on Saturday, April 17th from 9 am to 3 pm. Created by resident Hannah McCann as a way to bring together and celebrate the eclectic and vibrant Silver Spring community, Fenton Street Market promises fun and excitement from week to week! There will be 60+ vendors selling antiques, imported goods, crafts, art, and food, including delicious hot donuts and crepes. The Market Stage will keep shoppers entertained with live music and a DJ spinning excellent oldies.
A new addition to Fenton Street Market this season will be the exciting Village Square. Sponsored by Downtown Silver Spring, the Village Square will feature fresh and inventive cultural programs that share one key idea: interaction. By showcasing the diverse and mulit-faceted talents, knowledge, and skills of area residents, businesses, and institutions, the Village Square will provide a space where the community can come together to learn and explore. The wonderful Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center will be there opening day from 11 am to 2 pm to demonstrate and instruct shoppers how to screen print and letterpress their own items! All shoppers are encouraged to bring their own blank printable items such as tee shirts and tote bags to print with a special image created for the occasion.
Fenton Street Market is held at the corner of Fenton Street and Silver Spring Avenue in Downtown Silver Spring. The Silver Spring Metro is a short walk away, and there is free parking in the public lots across Fenton Street. A number of wonderful independent stores and restaurants are in the immediate area for shoppers to visit and support while they're in the neighborhood, and Fresh Farm market runs a weekly Saturday farm market 4 blocks away.
What: Fenton Street Market
When: Saturday, April 17, 2010, 9 am to 3 pm
Where: The corner of Fenton Street and Silver Spring Avenue, Downtown Silver Spring, MD
Info: www.fentonstreetmarket.com
_______________________________________________________________________
For more information contact Debbie Lee at debbie@fentonstreetmarket.com
Hannah McCann
Market Advisor
Fenton Street Market
www.fentonstreetmarket.com
cell: 301-787-6749
Twitter: @FentonStMarket
Monday, April 12, 2010
Silver Spring Heritage Trail Signs Unveiling Ceremony - April 17, 2010 at 1 pm
The Silver Spring Heritage Trail is the first official Montgomery County Main Street Heritage Trail—A joint endeavor between the County Executive's Office, the County Council, the Silver Spring Regional Services Center, the Silver Spring Historical Society, and the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission Staff.
The Silver Spring Heritage Trail is the County's legal mitigation requirement from the 1998 loss through demolition of the historic 1927 Silver Spring National Guard Armory on Wayne Avenue for redevelopment of the core of Silver Spring's Central Business District.
Stroll One of Silver Spring's Original Main Streets, Georgia Avenue! Discover where Silver Spring's Central Business District was born! and Its First Newspaper, "The Maryland News"! Discover where Silver Spring's first Department Store was located! Discover where Silver Spring's first Bank was located! Discover where Silver Spring's first Bakery was located! These Pioneering Structures are Enlivened "now and then" by multi-cultural small independent businesses and a variety of institutions! Experience Adaptive Reuse at Its Best! Heritage Tourism is economic development, also known as "Sense of Place Economics!”
Participants: Montgomery County Executive Isiah (Ike) Leggett, Montgomery County Council Member Valerie Ervin, D-5th, Montgomery County Council Member Marc Elrich, D-At Large & Mara Parker, Elrich Staff Member, Montgomery County Council Member Duchy Trachtenberg, D-At Large, & Alan Bowser, Trachtenberg Chief of Staff, Former Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board Member, U.S. Congressman Chris Van Hollen Represented by Aide Julius West, Maryland State Representatives including State Senator Jamie Raskin, Delegates Sheila Hixson & Tom Hucker, D-20th , Silver Spring Historical Society Jerry A. McCoy, President & Founder, Marcie Stickle & George French, Marilyn Slatick, Board, Silver Spring Regional Services Center Representative Mel Tull, Historic Preservation Commission Staff Representative Scott Whipple, HPC Supervisor, & Tom Jester, Acting HPC Chair, Auras Design Inc. Representatives Rob Sugar & Sharri Wolfgang, Montgomery Preservation Inc. Representative Eileen McGuckian, Maryland Historical Trust Invited, National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Marcie Stickle, Silver Spring Historical Society, Advocacy Chair, 301-585-3817 (Voice Mail & Direct), MarciPro@aol.com
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Silver Spring's Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival - April 23-25
The first ever Amnesty International Human Rights Art Festival, a unique celebration promoting the arts and human rights, will be held throughout downtown Silver Spring, Maryland April 23-25. The festival will present over 400 artists and performers and more than 200 arts and advocacy events at 40 venues in downtown Silver Spring. The activities will begin at 4 pm on Friday, April 23 and run through late night on Sunday, April 25. All events will be free and open to the public.
The springtime festival will include art exhibits, film, theater, dance, music, poetry, photography, digital arts and a sculpture garden as well as dozens of workshops, book readings, performance art, a flash mob dance and activities for children. A dozen advocacy groups will also be running “Festivals within the Festival.”
“Since the founding of Amnesty International, art and artists have played a central role in Amnesty International’s fight for human rights,” said Larry Cox, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA. “We believe the arts are a powerful way to further our goals,” he said.
For more information about the event, go to www.humanrightsartfestival.com
Sunday, April 11, 2010
The "Nighthawks” to Headline 2010 Silver Spring Blues Festival
The Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. is very pleased to announce that the legendary blues group the "Nighthawks” will headline this year’s Silver Spring Blues Festival in Downtown Silver Spring.
The Silver Spring Blues Festival will be held on Saturday, May 22, 2010, on Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring, Maryland.
Over the last 30+ years, the Nighthawks have earned a reputation as one of the best and hardest working bands around.
They are among the top musical acts to come out of the Washington, D.C. area—and are still based here. They were a roots rock band before there was such a thing as “roots rock.”
They play a wide variety of music that has appeal to a diverse audience, mixing the blues, rock and soul—along with rockabilly and swing. They’ve played all over the U.S., with the East Coast and Midwest being particular strongholds. And they’ve toured around the world, establishing especially strong followings in Germany and Japan.
Three of the four band members have been playing together for 30 years, a stretch that few in rock or blues can match. They continue to bring great musical skills and energy to all that they do—it’s a remarkable road they’ve traveled and story they have to tell.
The Nighthawks were founded in 1972 by vocalist/harmonica player Mark Wenner and guitarist Jimmy Thackery, and joined early on by bass player Jan Zukowski and drummer Pete Ragusa. Based in Washington, D.C., they built on their Chicago blues roots to create a unique musical repertoire that features blues, roots rock, rockabilly and soul.
They’ve played as the opening act or backing band for such legendary blues artists as Muddy Waters, Otis Rush, Big Walter Horton and Elvin Bishop. They also played in the Rosebud Agency's blues all-star tours with Pinetop Perkins, John Hammond, Charlie Musselwhite and John Lee Hooker. Some of the guitarists who have played with the band over the years include Bob Margolin, Steuart Smith, Warren Haynes, Jim Solbery, Pete Kennedy, Phil Petroff and Ratso (Jim Silman).
Visit the Nighthawks at their website http://www.thenighthawks.com/
SAVE THE DATE: Silver Spring Blues Festival, May 22, 2010 in Downtown Silver Spring
The Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. is pleased to announce that the Second Silver Spring Blues Festival will take place on Saturday, May 22, 2010 in Downtown Silver Spring!
Watch this space for news about the Festival bands, schedule, and list of Festival events.
This year's Festival will be sponsored by the Silver Spring Town Center, Inc., the DC Blues Society, and Downtown Silver Spring.
For more information, check out our Blues Festival website at www.silverspringblues
Questions? Email silverspringtowncenter@gmail.com
It's gonna be a good, good time!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Harry Sanders dies; activist led Purple Line campaign - Washington Post
By Katherine Shaver, Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 12, 2010; B07
Harry Sanders, 63, a retired federal computer analyst and Montgomery County transit activist who led the campaign for an east-west rail link through the Maryland suburbs that eventually became the Purple Line project, died March 10 at Casey House hospice in Rockville of complications from kidney cancer.
Mr. Sanders, who lived in Silver Spring, co-founded the Action Committee for Transit in 1986 to rally public support for a trolley line between Bethesda and Silver Spring. The Maryland Transit Administration later expanded county plans for the four-mile trolley line into a 16-mile light rail Purple Line linking Maryland's spokes of the Metro system between Montgomery and Prince George's counties.
The state has begun to seek federal funding for the $1.68 billion project.
In 2002, Mr. Sanders co-founded the Coalition to Build the Inner Purple Line, and in 2007, he helped expand the group into Purple Line NOW, a coalition of business, environmental and civic groups. He was Purple Line NOW's president at the time of his death.
Although Mr. Sanders was a purple-shirted fixture at rallies, fellow advocates said the mild-mannered activist was most effective behind the scenes, quietly pressing government officials about the project's progress, particularly when the state's Purple Line plans stalled in the 1990s.
Henry Kay, the MTA's deputy administrator for planning and engineering, said Mr. Sanders encouraged planners under then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening (D) to "think big" about expanding an east-west rail line beyond Montgomery.
"I think he saw the potential to link together communities all across the inner Beltway corridor," Kay said. "He was always there to remind us of how important that was."
The Purple Line has been controversial because under the state's chosen route between Bethesda and Silver Spring, trains would run along a popular jogging and biking trail, which would require cutting hundreds of mature trees. Opponents say a transit line would destroy the trail's wooded, park-like feel to benefit developers planning to build around future Purple Line stations.
Mr. Sanders, an avid walker, said he believed building a transit line would help complete the Bethesda-to-Silver Spring gravel trail as an extension of the paved Capital Crescent trail, friends said. He said transit lines focus growth and offer alternatives to driving, particularly for lower-income people.
"He saw [transit] as the key to a different kind of community that was more livable," said Ben Ross, president of Action Committee for Transit. "That was a much less widespread view 25 years ago than it is now."
Webb Smedley, a board member for Purple Line NOW, said Mr. Sanders was also active in the revitalization of downtown Silver Spring and pushed in the late 1980s for sidewalks to be installed near the Silver Spring Metro station. He was also interested in affordable housing issues and helped the needy through St. Luke Lutheran Church in Silver Spring, family and friends said.
"The thread that tied them all together was a progressive 'help the little guy' outlook toward life," Smedley said. "I think transit just happened to be the issue that he thought he could make his mark on."
Harry Lee Sanders was a native of Springfield, Ill., and a 1968 graduate of the University of Illinois. He moved to the Washington area to work as a computer analyst for the National Security Agency from 1968 to 1976, said his wife, Barbara Marsh Sanders. He then worked as a computer analyst for the U.S. House of Representatives. He retired in 1997.
He also had served as his local Democratic precinct chairman since the early 1980s and as transportation committee chairman for the Montgomery chapter of the League of Women Voters, his wife said.
In addition to his wife, of Silver Spring, survivors include a son, Gregory S. Sanders of Ellicott City; and a sister.
Click here for Harry Sanders' obituary
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/11/AR2010031104513_pf.html
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
County Opens Final Segment Of Pedestrian Linkages Project In South Silver Spring
The South Silver Spring Pedestrian Linkages Project -- a key County project designed to enhance pedestrian safety, business development and overall livability in an emerging South Silver Spring community -- was completed today when officials opened Bottleworks Lane, a one-way street connecting East-West Highway and Kennett Street. The roadway runs beside Gramax Towers, the 15-story former office building that stood vacant for 15 years before being converted to 182 housing units.
Cutting a “ribbon” of plastic Canada Dry bottles, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett was joined by U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), 8th District Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), County Council President Nancy Floreen, Council Vice President Valerie Ervin (Dist. 5), the County’s Department of Housing and Community Development Director Richard Y. Nelson Jr., County Transportation Deputy Director Al Roshdieh and John Marcolin, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Community Planner for the area. Also participating were Reemberto Rodriguez, director of the Silver Spring Regional Services Center who emceed the event, and from the Community Planning and Development Division of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) were Senior CPD Representative Tasleem Albaari, Frances Bush and Lorraine Richardson.
Developed by the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) over a 10-year period, the project consists of eight segments of convenient, safe and attractive pedestrian walkways links through South Silver Spring. The objective of the project was to overcome the inconvenience and isolation created by the unusually large block pattern in the area.
“These pedestrian links are crucial to the character of South Silver Spring on many fronts,” Leggett said. “They improve connections between businesses, parking facilities, Montgomery College and recent commercial redevelopment and have already supported a significant increase in housing construction -- approximately 2,000 existing units nearby. And, there are more in the pipeline.”
“I am so pleased that Silver Spring has taken advantage of this opportunity for economic growth in an environmentally responsible manner. By making it easier and safer for people to get around South Silver Spring without their cars, the Pedestrian Linkages Project, including Bottleworks Lane, will help reduce carbon emissions, save people money and improve the public’s health and well being,” said Senator Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “This project is a positive example of how federal investments through Community Development Block Grants can best be put to use to revitalize an entire neighborhood.”
Montgomery County has been a leader in ensuring communities are safe and accessible, and this pedestrian linkages project is an integral piece of this effort,” said Congressman Van Hollen (D-MD). “I want to commend the efforts and vision of the state, the county, and the community, and I am pleased we were able to secure federal funding to help complete this award-winning venture.”
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission reviewed the recommendations and required subsequent private development to include the recommended pedestrian linkages in their development plan.
“With Bottleworks Lane, we’ve hit the trifecta,” said Floreen. “This project improves pedestrian safety, promotes business and helps to make Silver Spring a generally great place to live. That’s something to celebrate.”
The name Bottleworks Lane was selected for the final segment in recognition of the formal industrial history of the area and specifically, the Canada Dry Factory which was located near this link.
Bottleworks Lane includes pedestrian lighting, parking meters (administered by the Parking Authority) and a bifiltration structure that collects runoff before it enters the storm water management system.
“The construction of Bottleworks Lane is a symbol of the commitment that the County has made to ensure that our neighborhoods are accessible and walkable for all of our residents,” said Ervin, who serves as the Council’s representative on the County’s Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee and represents Silver Spring. “This connection will more easily enable residents in South Silver Spring to access downtown amenities and will help local small businesses in South Silver Spring attract new customers.
“The name Bottleworks Lane is extremely appropriate as we create this linkage near the Canada Dry Building, one of Silver Spring’s historic landmarks and an icon of the industrial building boom.”
Five of the segments were constructed through private redevelopment projects, and the remaining three were constructed by the public sector and funded by Community Development Black Grants. The project represents an investment of more than five million dollars from Federal Community Development Block Grant funds in South Silver Spring. The $1.5 million cost of the final segment included land acquisition, demolition and construction. The County’s Department of Transportation (MCDOT) built the roadway.
In 2006, Montgomery County received an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties for the Silver Spring Pedestrian Linkages Project.
More information about the project is available on the DHCA website at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/DHCA/index.asp, click on Community Programs.
Cutting a “ribbon” of plastic Canada Dry bottles, Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett was joined by U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD), 8th District Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), County Council President Nancy Floreen, Council Vice President Valerie Ervin (Dist. 5), the County’s Department of Housing and Community Development Director Richard Y. Nelson Jr., County Transportation Deputy Director Al Roshdieh and John Marcolin, Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Community Planner for the area. Also participating were Reemberto Rodriguez, director of the Silver Spring Regional Services Center who emceed the event, and from the Community Planning and Development Division of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) were Senior CPD Representative Tasleem Albaari, Frances Bush and Lorraine Richardson.
Developed by the Montgomery County Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA) over a 10-year period, the project consists of eight segments of convenient, safe and attractive pedestrian walkways links through South Silver Spring. The objective of the project was to overcome the inconvenience and isolation created by the unusually large block pattern in the area.
“These pedestrian links are crucial to the character of South Silver Spring on many fronts,” Leggett said. “They improve connections between businesses, parking facilities, Montgomery College and recent commercial redevelopment and have already supported a significant increase in housing construction -- approximately 2,000 existing units nearby. And, there are more in the pipeline.”
“I am so pleased that Silver Spring has taken advantage of this opportunity for economic growth in an environmentally responsible manner. By making it easier and safer for people to get around South Silver Spring without their cars, the Pedestrian Linkages Project, including Bottleworks Lane, will help reduce carbon emissions, save people money and improve the public’s health and well being,” said Senator Cardin (D-MD), a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “This project is a positive example of how federal investments through Community Development Block Grants can best be put to use to revitalize an entire neighborhood.”
Montgomery County has been a leader in ensuring communities are safe and accessible, and this pedestrian linkages project is an integral piece of this effort,” said Congressman Van Hollen (D-MD). “I want to commend the efforts and vision of the state, the county, and the community, and I am pleased we were able to secure federal funding to help complete this award-winning venture.”
The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission reviewed the recommendations and required subsequent private development to include the recommended pedestrian linkages in their development plan.
“With Bottleworks Lane, we’ve hit the trifecta,” said Floreen. “This project improves pedestrian safety, promotes business and helps to make Silver Spring a generally great place to live. That’s something to celebrate.”
The name Bottleworks Lane was selected for the final segment in recognition of the formal industrial history of the area and specifically, the Canada Dry Factory which was located near this link.
Bottleworks Lane includes pedestrian lighting, parking meters (administered by the Parking Authority) and a bifiltration structure that collects runoff before it enters the storm water management system.
“The construction of Bottleworks Lane is a symbol of the commitment that the County has made to ensure that our neighborhoods are accessible and walkable for all of our residents,” said Ervin, who serves as the Council’s representative on the County’s Pedestrian Safety Advisory Committee and represents Silver Spring. “This connection will more easily enable residents in South Silver Spring to access downtown amenities and will help local small businesses in South Silver Spring attract new customers.
“The name Bottleworks Lane is extremely appropriate as we create this linkage near the Canada Dry Building, one of Silver Spring’s historic landmarks and an icon of the industrial building boom.”
Five of the segments were constructed through private redevelopment projects, and the remaining three were constructed by the public sector and funded by Community Development Black Grants. The project represents an investment of more than five million dollars from Federal Community Development Block Grant funds in South Silver Spring. The $1.5 million cost of the final segment included land acquisition, demolition and construction. The County’s Department of Transportation (MCDOT) built the roadway.
In 2006, Montgomery County received an Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties for the Silver Spring Pedestrian Linkages Project.
More information about the project is available on the DHCA website at http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/apps/DHCA/index.asp, click on Community Programs.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
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