On the Origins of Friends of Sligo Creek
to Mark our 10-Year Anniversary
August 2011
Reconstructing "beginnings" is sometimes tricky, particularly in the case of a grassroots community effort when the "beginning" may have included several fits and starts before getting its feet solidly on the ground. But beginnings are important to mark and celebrate, in acknowledgement of the work, collaboration, and luck that conspired to pull off the launch, and to generate the next wave of energy for taking the effort to new heights.
That is what is doing this month: Marking its beginnings by celebrating is 10-year Anniversary as a community organization dedicated to restoring to health the water quality, natural habitat, and ecological well-being of the Sligo Creek Watershed.
Memory has it that there were two separate but aligned efforts that eventually joined to support the birth of Friends of Sligo Creek. John Galli of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments had engineered the three holding ponds on Dennis Avenue by1994 and directed restoration of the banks of the Wheaton Branch, which runs from the ponds to Sligo Creek. In the midst of this work, John led two efforts at forming a "friends" group, neither of which endured. When he tried again at forming a group in 2000, he fortunately invited Sally Gagné.
When Sally attended John's meeting in 2000, she had already begun her own efforts to support Sligo Creek. She had sent a letter to several Civic Associations bordering Sligo Creek and Wheaton Regional Parks to convey her concerns about invasives growing in the Sligo Creek Watershed and determine if others' held the same concerns. She had also requested a review of invasives in the park from Carole Bergmann of M-NCPPC, a Forest Ecologist who was then starting the Weed Warrior program.
At long last the time was right! Following the 2000 meeting, Sally committed to trying to form a friends group, and the Friends of Sligo Creek that has survived to this day is an outgrowth of her efforts. Friends held its first official meeting on January 18, 2001 at Long Branch Community Center. The group formed an Interim Steering Committee and by year's end, Friends had attracted 100 or so members and had held eight indoor and four outdoor events and programs. By 2002, Friends had a fully functioning Board, became registered as a non-profit organization, and held its first annual Sweep the Creek – which has been one of our hallmark events ever since.
Since getting itself firmly established ten years ago, Friends of Sligo Creek has continued to develop as an organization by putting in place the pieces necessary to create a thriving organization for the long term: website, member database, monthly newsletter, strategic plan and related active advocacy efforts, and six very active working committees – all of which you routinely read about in our newsletters and on the website. In the course of this growth, Friends received at least one award from the City of Takoma Park and now has about 600 members.
With this retrospective look at our beginnings from the vantage point of being an active and thriving organization today, it is easy to see the common thread weaving through our start and all the years of growth: the dedication and collaboration of people who care about Sligo Creek. This includes our founding mothers and fathers; our current Board, Committee Leaders, and Stewards; as well as every member who has found and/or continues to find their own way to contribute. It is in your honor that we stop to celebrate the successful completion of our first ten years, and in the spirit of renewing our commitment to the next ten-plus years in service of the Sligo Creek that we all hold dear.