Greenbelt Voices

June 24

Greenbelt Voices is Greenbelt-based Transitions Theater’s first production. It comprises of more than 20 dramatic monologues telling the stories of Greenbelt residents. The show debuted at the Greenbelt Arts Center in July 2010, and this year, to celebrate Greenbelt’s 75th anniversary, the director of the show Misha R’kingsley selected nine monologues and they were performed at the New Deal Café on Sunday June 24.

Director Misha R’kingsley introduces Greenbelt Voices. She says that the show premiered in July 2010 and before that she spent a year interviewing people and collecting stories. She says that she moved to Greenbelt in 2002 and wanted to know “what made this town tick.” “I wanted to hear everything, the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful, and everything in between.” She interviewed more than 20 people and some also sent her stories by email. The monologues are performed by a group of actors including a few original storytellers.

Tribute Service to Dan Hamlin

June 24

Pastor Dan Hamlin has led the Greenbelt Community Church for 28 years. He is retiring this year. On Sunday June 17, he gave his last sermon at the Community Church, and a week later, on June 24, the church held a special tribute service in honor of him.

Shortly after new residents moved into Greenbelt in 1937, interdenominational Protestant services were held in the Center School. This Greenbelt Community Church building at Hillside and Crescent Roads was dedicated in 1951, and the church is affiliated with the United Church of Christ.

A GHI Block Party

June 24

The 1,600 townhouses in GHI are arranged in several superblocks connected with inner pathways. Within each superblock are many courts which are several rows of homes facing each other and sharing a common area. Courts are the social units in GHI as these are the neighbors who watch each other come and go and know each other best. There are also occasional social events such as court yard sales and court cookouts. The photos below are from a GHI block party involving two courts on Ridge Road.

The invitation says: “Come and meet our new neighbors! Come and greet your old friends. Please bring a potluck dish to share, and maybe something to drink. An outdoor grill will be available…”

Greenbelt Elementary Sixth Grade Promotion

June 8

On June 8, Greenbelt Elementary School celebrated the achievements of its sixth graders. Many of them will go on to the newly constructed Greenbelt Middle School which will open in August for the new school year. This is also the last sixth grade class that will graduate from GES, as starting from this August, sixth graders will attend Greenbelt Middle School as part of a countywide realignment. Many awards were given out at the promotion ceremony.

The promotion ceremony starts with the Pledge of Allegiance and America the Beautiful.

Eleanor Roosevelt High School Baccalaureate Celebration

May 24

Each year before graduation, an interfaith baccalaureate celebration is held at Eleanor Roosevelt High School’s auditorium to honor the graduating class. This service is sponsored by the Greenbelt Interfaith Leadership Associations (GILA) and is attended by leaders of many faith traditions.

Established in 1978, the Eleanor Roosevelt High School is located in Greenbelt East and is generally considered the best public high school in Prince George’s County. With about 3,000 students, the school is known for its science and technology program.

Greenbelt Yard Sales

June 16, 17

It is a generally known fact that Greenbelters, especially those living in Old Greenbelt, love yard sales. Every weekend when the weather is nice, there will be several roadside sales. On Saturday morning, motorists entering Old Greenbelt on Southway are often greeted with several tables at the intersection of Ridge Road and Southway. This past weekend I visited four roadside yard sales, three along Ridge Road and one on Northway, and they were all different.

This weekend, St. Hugh Catholic Church is holding its annual Rummage Sale, and enterprising Greenbelters know that there will be many cars going to the sale on Ridge Road. Here Donell (left) and Angela set up their table on the south side of the road not far from the church.

June Artful Afternoon

June 3

The Artful Afternoon program during Greenbelt Day Weekend included several activities. There were two hands-on craft activities, Alight Dance Theater performed “Hometown Heroes” at Greenbelt Museum, and the Greenbelt Concert Band played in the Community Center gym. I have written about the dance performance and the concert; so this post will be about the craft activities and Alight’s reception.

The white board in the Community Center hallway is filled with Greenbelt Day Weekend activities.

Greenbelt Cooperative Alliance at Farmers Market

June 10

Cooperatives play a large role in the lives of many Greenbelt residents. They can live in a housing cooperative (Greenbelt Homes, Inc.), buy groceries in a cooperative supermarket (Greenbelt Consumer Cooperative), bank in a cooperative bank (Greenbelt Federal Credit Union), read a cooperative newspaper (Greenbelt News Review), send their children to a cooperative nursery school (Greenbelt Nursery School), eat and be entertained in a cooperative café (New Deal Café), and vacation at a cooperative camp (Rapidan Camps). These seven cooperatives form the Greenbelt Cooperative Alliance, and each year during October, the Co-op Month, a number of events are held. 2012 is the International Year of Cooperatives, and many other activities have been planned. On Sunday, June 10, representatives of the co-ops set up a tent at the Farmers Market with information and activities for kids.

Jaky Lilly (right) is a parent representing the Greenbelt Nursery School, and she is offering Jackson seeds to plant. The choices include cascade giant pole beans and royal burgundy bush beans. Looking from behind the table is Sylvia Lewis, the coordinator of today’s event for the Greenbelt Cooperative Alliance.

John Henry Jones’s Garden Plot

June 3

On June 3, during Greenbelt Day Weekend, two Japanese visitors came to Greenbelt. They were from Senri in Osaka Prefecture, a Japanese New Town which is turning 50 this year. The visitors wanted to learn from Greenbelt’s 75th anniversary celebration, and they were interested in seeing Greenbelt’s community gardens as the concept is becoming popular in Japan. John Henry Jones, long-time president of the Greenbelt Garden Club, gave them a tour of his community garden plot, and I tagged along and took these photos.

The community gardens have three sections. This one is directly opposite Greenbelt Homes, Inc.’s administrative building. Here John Henry Jones (right) points out the garden plots to Mr. Suzuki, an associate professor in the Department of Architectural Engineering at Osaka University.

Greenbelt Concert Band Concert

June 3

The predecessor of the Greenbelt Concert Band was the Greenbelt Community Band which was founded in 1940, three years after new residents moved into the city. The Concert Band now plays about twenty concerts in the Greater Washington Area including several annual traditions in Greenbelt: the Greenbelt Day concert, the Fourth of July concert at Greenbelt Lake before the fireworks show, and the Holiday Lights concert in December. Since 1994, the band has been led by conductor Thomas Cherrix.

Before the Greenbelt Concert Band plays its annual Greenbelt Day concert, Mayor Judith Davis gives the 75th anniversary address. It was 75 years ago this June that Maryland Legislature passed Greenbelt’s city charter, creating the first council/manager government in the state.