WHAT A WEEKEND AWAITS US! Silver Spring “To-Do’s”

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Wow! First weekend after Memorial Day; weather is hot; so much to do – so little time!

The diversity of activities that are available to us in the Silver Spring Regional Center area at any given time is truly amazing… This coming weekend, for example, there are events and activities for every taste.

Stay close to home. Soak in some of these activities. Bump into someone you know; and/or someone you don’t know… Share with them what makes our community great; invite them to that next exciting community meeting, gathering, or dialogue!... You never know when you might run across that next great civic leader, entrepreneur, or business innovator…

You can start on Thursday (June, the 2nd starting at 9 a.m.) at the Montgomery County Planning Board’s meeting for, among other things, an update on “Vision 2030 for Parks & Recreation.” See the results of countless input sessions. “The Planning Board presentation will include highlights of the final plan objectives and staff’s proposed strategies to implement them, as well as an explanation of the financial recommendations for aligning park and recreation services with a cost recovery philosophy.”

Later on that evening, stop by Veterans Plaza (June, the 2nd at 7 p.m.) to listen to the Greater U Street Jazz Collective. There are sure to be lots of community folks around making an evening of it!

Come back to Veterans Plaza on Friday afternoon to partake in the National Center for Children and Families NCCF “Inaugural Youth Art Fair” (Friday, June the 3rd 4-6:30 p.m.) “Come support the youth in our community as they confidently present and share their artistic gifts on the plaza. Free to the public, you can purchase from over 100 original works of art from the area’s most talented youth. This youth-led program also features various dance groups and musical talents.”

Later that evening, starting at 6:00 p.m., join Honorary Chair, Barbara Harrison of NBC4, and over 500 supporters of NCCF, philanthropists, and art enthusiasts, as they bid on fine art, unique items featured in “Gifts from the Soul” silent auction, live music, and a live auction of artwork by artists in NCCF’s Greentree Adolescent Program (GAP) and Greentree Shelter (GTS). (“Art & Soul Charity Auction” - Pre-purchased tickets required!)

For a different take, you can choose to go watch Lesbians and the Men Who Love Them: How Maria Came In at the Takoma Park Community Center (7:30 p.m.)

For another ‘different take’, at about the same time (8 p.m.) you can “pay what u can” at the Bobrauschenbergamerica Show by Forum Theatre, performed at the Roundhouse Black Box on Colesville Road (next to AFI.)

Oh, by the way, as long as you are by the AFI, why not check out the Caribbean Film Festival offerings? Or some of their other excellent films showing there? (You simply can’t go wrong!)

Go home and get some sleep, because Saturday you have to get out of bed bright and early to make it to the Fenton Street Market on Veterans Plaza and the adjoining FreshFarm Farmers Market on Ellwsorth Drive (Downtown Silver Spring.) {This Saturday at 11 a.m., Delegate Tom Hucker will be leading a conversation on Pepco and clean energy at the Community Roundtable a the Fenton Street Market.}

Want to venture out of downtown? How about going on a neighborhood walk of our Four Corners Community? Join the Silver Spring Citizens Advisory Board’s Neighborhoods Committee for this walking tour Saturday, June 4. We will meet at 10 a.m. at Silver Spring Stage (www.ssstage.org/) in the Woodmoor Shopping Center.{Please RSVP to Casey Anderson, Committee Chair, caseybanderson@aol.com, or Jim Zepp, jzepp@mindspring.com so we know how much space to reserve for lunch.}

Walk over to Pyramid Atlantic at 1 p.m. to catch the opening reception for an exhibit by Max-Karl Winklery at the Washington Printmakers Gallery… Then, go back to downtown to meet Patti Owens, the artists showing some of her work at the ArtSpring store (second floor, above PotBelly’s) at 2-5 p.m…

If you are really adventurous and want to listen to some experimental sounds (music, some might even call it!) go back to Pyramid Atlantic at 7:30 p.m. for “Off the Grid – Sonic Circuits”.

Or, you may want to head out to Blair High School and catch the opening game for the Takoma Park / Silver Spring Thunderbolts Baseball Team – the best up-and-coming team in the wooden bat Carl Ripken League at 7 p.m. (The teams are made up of college players from throughout the country.) If you miss them Saturday, they’ll play again on Sunday at 6 p.m.

Sunday is no “rest day” this weekend!

Takoma Park has its fantastic Jazz Festival over at Old Takoma Park (downtown TP) from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

But, if you go to the Festival, make sure you step out with all your electronic stuff that you want to recycle. Silver Spring Green and Montgomery County are doing an ‘e-recycling event’ from noon till 4 p.m. Bring your old t.v., computer - whatever - to the Blair High School parking lot where they will be collected and disposed of properly.

Or, you can go back to downtown for the amazaing "Taste of Africa" (on Ellsworth Dr.) through the afternoon and evening.

After this exhausting weekend, you can go back home and chill out to your favorite tunes, hang out with your cats and dogs (or family and friends) and share all the stories of the amazing weekend that proves – once again – that this is a wonderful community in which to live!

NOTE: IF YOU WANT MORE INFO IN ANY OF THE ABOVE, GOOGLE THE EVENT, ADD ‘SILVER SPRING’, AND IT SHOULD TAKE YOU TO THE EVENT'S WEB-SITE.

See you around!

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