FriendsNewsletter

Takoma Park Arbor Day

Saturday, April 11.

The City of Takoma Park is holding its traditional Arbor Day celebration on the library grounds from 10-2. Highlights include free baby native trees, plus lots of information available at tables maintained by local governments and other organizations, including Friends of Sligo.

Help Needed! Macroinvertebrate Monitoring
Thursday, April 16.
Curious about what's living in the stream? We need volunteers on April 16 at 1 pm to help with a macroinvertebrate survey near New Hampshire Avenue. Monitoring the stream's macroinvertebrates (crustaceans, insects, and other small creatures) helps us find out if the stream environment is healthy. We will meet at Drexel Street where it hits the park. Please wear water-proof boots and clothes that can get dirty. You don't need any training - we just need more hands. If it rains we will postpone until April 25 at 2:30 pm. For more information, please email Alessandra Sagasti (alessandra.sagasti@montgomerycollege.edu).

Sweep the Creek Clean Up Event
Saturday April 18, and Sunday April 19.
Saturday April 18 is the Annual clean-up along the Creek from Wheaton to Takoma Park. Some sections (currently, sections 4 and 9 - Wayne to Piney Branch, and Kemp Mill) will work on Sunday,

Bring family, friends, and neighbors to help clean up Sligo Creek on Earth Day! Line up that scout troop, church group, or office group! We supply bags, gloves, and drinking water and expect to have some freebie from National Public Lands Day sponsor.

Dress to work in brush and water. Wear long-sleeved shirt, pants, and waterproof boots if possible for best protection. We'd love to see more volunteers in waders. Students can receive service credit. We supply and sign the form.

Individuals and families, please just pick a section and show up (see Map of Meeting Places) . Groups, please e-mail the Sweep Coordinator to determine which section to go to.

Garlic Mustard Removal Event
The Fifth Annual Sligo Garlic Mustard Pull, April 25-26 Rewards and Prizes!

April 25-26
Each major section above New Hampshire will hold a Garlic Mustard Pull on the weekend after Earth Day, April 25, or in one case, April 26. All participants will receive a "Come Play in the Parks!" card, good for free or discounted Montgomery Parks activities. For added interest, a contest is being held by the Department of Parks in all participating County Parks. We will weigh each bag of garlic mustard and send our figures in. We may even reward the person or child in your group who weighs in with the most mustard. To learn of the event closest to you, see www.fosc.org/RIPEventSched.htm

Pulling garlic mustard offers considerable satisfaction when you consider how serious the plant damage is. Root chemicals stop or slow the growth of many plants, including some common trees. We need more residents than ever to help Sligo keep future generations of trees.

A word to occasional strollers who pull, then simply toss stems on the ground: Seeds from probably most strewn plants really do sprout the next year. This is no "don't take chances" myth," it's a fact! You could even encourage a student in your family to test it - leave a mustard stem on a white piece of paper on a shelf in the house and see how long it takes for dark seeds to show. In the Park, please use a plastic bag or carry them carefully to a trash barrel.

We hope many members of Friends will join the pull with their families. We'll have cotton gloves and plastic bags. Questions? RIP@fosc.org

Earn Money for Friends of Sligo by Birdathoning.
April 25 through May 25.
A Birdathon is a chance to make a list of the species of birds seen in a 24-hour period by a group of people driven by the desire to count such things. Just as a walkathon is a walk to raise money for a certain cause, a Birdathon is 24-hours of birding to raise money for conservation and have fun while doing it. Sponsors offer a donation for each bird species seen - the more bird species, the more money raised!

Supporters can pledge any amount per species, i.e. 5 cents, 50 cents, even a dollar or more per species. In the past, we've seen as many as 55 to 65 species in a single day of birding in Sligo Creek and surrounding parts of Takoma Park. Your Sligo Creek Birdathon may be held on any day between April 25 through May 25. Teams - especially kids - are very welcome to participate. Sponsors are crucial so say "YES" when someone asks for your support.

For more information, a Sligo Park bird list, and a tally form, see our website.

Friends of Sligo Creek does an astonishing amount of really important work-- and every bit of it is done by volunteers motivated by their love of Sligo Creek and their desire to make a real contribution to our world. Check out the report on our website describing our 2008 Accomplishments .

Friends of Sligo Creek Urgently Seeks New Treasurer

Our grassroots all-volunteer group doesn't deal with gobs of money and tricky financial situations, however, to keep the events coming and functioning, we do have to bring in and manage funds. Our current treasurer is getting busier and busier with the tax work that pays her bills, and after some six or so years of honorable labor on behalf of the Friends of Sligo needs to turn the reins over to another volunteer. If you are that person (or think you know someone who might be) please contact president@fosc.org for more details.

We Also Need Someone to Run a Photo Contest

If you'd like to set-up and run a photo contest for Friends of Sligo please contact president@fosc.org .

Proposed New Membership Policy

Background:

When Friends was first organized, we were a small group with simple needs. We developed our "pay once, pay for life" policy because we didn't have much need for money and didn't have an easy way to keep track of who paid and when they paid. Now we have grown; we have become well known by everyone from watershed residents to County and State officials and other environmental groups. We are doing a great deal and are counted on by all these people and groups. Some of our work has been funded by grants and we expect this to continue. But we also need to have money that is not "restricted" to a particular project. Many standard expenses cannot be funded by grants.

Friends needs a reliable funding stream to help us support our many activities. Over the years our members and several large donors have been quite generous and a membership drive has not been needed. However 2008 was our biggest and busiest year to date and Friends spent much more on programming than we received in donations.

Yearly dues and a dues increase

The proposed new yearly dues policy will ensure that Friends retains its ability to act for the betterment of Sligo Creek well into the future. As of 2009, everyone who wants to be a member would pay $20 for an individual or $30 for a family. Whatever month you paid in 2009, on your anniversary date in 2010 we would remind you to pay your yearly dues.

If you do not wish to be an official member, you will remain on the database as a contact until you ask to be removed. And, we will continue to offer the work credit membership.

How to pay

We prefer you pay on the web or at least update your membership there. See http://www.fosc.org/WaysToHelp.htm . We find very useful all the following information: full address, telephone numbers, email address, interests. It helps when we get a bounced email if we can contact you another way. You can pay on the web using Network for Good which is on the home page. If you do not want to pay on the web, you can send a check to our treasurer, whose address is on the web along with other membership information.

March 16 Program Meeting with Valerie Ervin

Valerie Ervin, Montgomery County Council member for the Sligo Creek watershed since late 2007, and Ben Stultz of her staff, met with Friends of Sligo to get acquainted and discuss environmental concerns. It was a friendly and useful meeting all around. Some items discussed:

Thanks to Valerie's support, two community gardens in the Takoma Park area are in the planning phase. 400 sq. ft. plots will be available to individuals or groups for $45/yr. One will be at Chicago & Boston, with 30 plots. The other, with 18 plots, will be at Orchard Ave. & Sligo Mill Rd. The Parks department will work with Friends of Sligo Creek to ensure that the sites are designed to contain stormwater. Check with david.vismara@montgomeryparks.org for more information.
Taking green approaches to the new Silver Spring library and the Wheaton Central Business District.
Promoting green street techniques for Sligo Creek Parkway and other County Parkways.

Increasing the County's Water Quality Protection Charge (WQPC) to fund the implementation of the new County Stormwater Permit. Also, to consider including WQPC's from commercial properties.

Grant For Rain Gardens

The Friends Stormwater Committee recently received a Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT) Stewardship grant to conduct outreach activities in the Sligo Watershed and the nearby Woodmoor community in the Northwest Branch watershed. The intent of the grant is to expand the use of rain gardens and other stormwater reduction practices by disseminating printed information, providing educational programs and helping to facilitate rain garden digs and plantings. The grant is in cooperation with CASA de Maryland and the Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection.

On March 21, the first rain garden under the CBT grant was installed in the Woodmoor community. On March 19 the Friends Stormwater Committee, in conjunction with the Takoma Park Committee on the Environment and CASA de Maryland, sponsored a well attended meeting at the Takoma Park Sammy Abbot Community Center to discuss ways to improve your lawn and garden, for a healthier Sligo Creek.

Hillwood Manor Neighborhood Collecting Money for Park Beautification

The Hillwood Manor Neighborhood Association is working with the City of Takoma Park and the Maryland National Parks & Planning Commission to build a community garden in an area bounded by New Hampshire Avenue and Sligo Creek. The multi-year plan includes establishing:

A gateway garden at the corner of Erskine and New Hampshire Avenue.
A butterfly and hummingbird garden in the grassy area near the bridge over Sligo Creek that leads to the park in our neighborhood.
Small beds and other amenities around two bus stops located in these areas.
Public art as part of the garden experience.

The project has multiple objectives: to beautify the area, provide an educational/demonstration project to showcase various sustainable landscaping practices and environmental/biological principles, improve safety, and enhance habitat for wildlife. "Greening" elements include, among others:

Preventing soil erosion and improving water retention & water quality.
Employing organic gardening methods.
Emphasizing native, non-invasive, wildlife-friendly plant material.

This project was launched last spring. The Association has received a small initial start-up grant from the City for plant material, and have begun to clean and prepare the sites. They planted their first tree in December and the City installed a Sligo Creek sign with bike trail info. But donations are needed to see this plan through.

If you would like to contribute to this project, you may send a check to Friends of Sligo Creek, Treasurer, 9618 Brunett Ct. Silver Spring, MD 20901. Please clearly indicate on the check that the money is donated for the Hillwood Beautification Effort so it will go to that project.

For more information, contact Pamela Sparr pamelasparr@verizon.net.

Battered Brashears Bears the Brunt Again
Brashears Run tributary in Takoma Park was again the conduit for pollution to Sligo. After being alerted to the tributary's discoloration by section Steward Marty Ittner, Montgomery County inspector John Kershner traced the source to Park Ritchie Apartments on Maple Ave. The building's management was sawing concrete on its deck as well as draining their pool for the spring season. Both pool water and the concrete shavings are believed to be draining directly into the storm water system that feeds Brashears. Kershner told Southern Management's Ryan Ridge to stop. Ittner also informed Daryl Braithwaite in Takoma Park's Public Works department of the problem. Ms. Braithwaite promised to follow up with the City's code inspector.

Although happy with the quick outcome, Marty expressed her desire for more education for pool owners and apartment management companies. "We'd like to take a preemptive approach rather than a reactive one. The best outcome is keeping our creek clean from the outset."