August 9, 2026Mark your calendars! The 56th Annual Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast is set for Saturday, September 19 from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. It is our largest community event of the year. Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC) will once again transform into a pop-up restaurant and serve some 500 families, friends, and neighbors. Come out to enjoy great food, lively music, and the community spirit that makes Cabin John such a special place to live.
You can expect our classic, crowd-pleasing menu that includes freshly steamed crabs, grilled chicken with our signature rub, and a spread of fresh vegetable sides—ranging from local corn, collard greens, and coleslaw (including vegetarian options) to the ever-popular lemonade and homemade baked goods. Soda, beer, and wine will also be available. Buy your tickets in advance to save money and help us prepare the right amount of food.
Purchase tickets today!
Meal OptionAdvanceAt the DoorVeggies– 5 sides$19$22Chicken & 3 sides$21$253 Crabs & 3 sides$22$266 Crabs – 1 side$30$35
Enjoy live music from the Starlight Orchestra and activities for children run by the staff of Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center. It’s an afternoon designed for residents of all ages to gather, mingle, eat outdoors, and celebrate. It’s a great place to meet your neighbors and make new friends.
This event began in 1970 and remains a vital fundraiser for Cabin John, with proceeds supporting this newsletter and the community events held throughout the year.
Sign up to volunteer today. The event is staffed entirely by dedicated neighbors, and it takes more than 100 residents stepping forward to keep this all-volunteer tradition alive. We need your help with everything from kitchen prep on Friday to cooking, grilling, staffing the ticket table, and cleanup on Saturday. SSL hours are available for student volunteers. Also, if you love to cook and enjoy cooking with others, let us know. We could use a few extra skilled hands to help prepare our scrumptious vegetable sides.
Whether you’re a long-time resident or new to the area, we invite you to join in. Questions about the event? Email us directly at CJCrabfeast@gmail.com.
Come by. Say hello. Eat. Bring the family. You’ll be glad you did. See you there!
By Pete Cousté
Contributing Writer [...]
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August 9, 2026CJ History of the Past and Present
This Fourth of July marked our country’s 250th birthday. Cabin John’s celebration was a fine tribute and fun for all. But that was just the beginning of our efforts to mark the semiquincentennial – which means we are halfway to our 500th anniversary.
Unless you are one of CJ’s “longtimers,” you might not know how grandly the town celebrated the USA’s bicentennial with firsthand accounts of life in Cabin John through 1976. Now, the Cabin John History Committee plans to pick up where that left off. And they need your help.
In 1976, CJ hosted “Chautauqua ’76: The Bicentennial in Cabin John.” As background, the Chautauqua movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries provided popular education combined with entertainment in the form of lectures, concerts, and plays. The CJ Chautauqua consisted of many such events on June 5, 1976.
Another aspect of the bicentennial celebration was Elizabeth Kytle’s work conducting oral histories from 17 longtime neighbors, published in the booklet “Time Was.” Now, our history committee is launching the sequel: “Time Was–Again.” It will continue that tradition and conduct oral histories of Cabin John residents of 50 years or more, as well as gather recollections from residents who grew up here in the 1970s and 1980s.
The result of the project will cover history where author Judy Welles’s book Cabin John Legends and Life of an Uncommon Place leaves off. The overarching aim is to publish some of these stories here in The Village News and potentially generate other publications.
Here is where you come in. Longtimer or not, if you would like to be involved in this project, please get in touch at 301-908-8906 or marcyharrison@earthlink.net. If you have more general interest in getting involved with CJ history, please see Judy Welles’ article below!
By Marcy Harrison
Conttributing Writer
Calling All History Buffs
Cabin John has always had a neighbor who liked to write about the history of this exceptional place. Since 2017, Rachel Donnan has written history articles for The Village News, which can be found on the history tab at cabinjohn.org. She has continued a long tradition of investigating and documenting the intriguing history of our area. After all, who doesn’t love a good tale? Rachel stepped up to the task when I stepped back. And now both of us are looking for residents who want to explore Cabin John’s past.
Today, Cabin John history is documented primarily through articles in The Village News which began publication in 1967. Twenty years before, in 1947, Edith Armstrong, whose husband helped form the Cabin John Citizens Association, wrote a “Brief History of Cabin John Park” on a mimeographed sheet. She also wrote the book Days in Cabin John about life in Cabin John in 1920 when she and her husband lived here.
Years later, in 1974, former resident and journalist Morris Fradin, wrote a book Hey-Ey-Ey, Lock! Adventure on The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, and, in 1976, he and resident Janet Dence wrote about Cabin John history in a booklet “Chautauqua ’76 The Bicentennial in Cabin John.” For that occasion, former resident Elizabeth Kytle conducted oral histories of longtime Cabin John neighbors and chronicled the memories of 17 “oldtimers” in the booklet “Time Was.” One of them even remembered, as a child, the Cabin John Hotel. Kytle later wrote the classic Home on the Canal with the oral histories of several lock tenders and boatmen.
In 1996, Andy Rice, former editor of The Village News, began writing a monthly “Looking Back in Cabin John” column to explore Cabin John history. In 2006, Andy wrote that if anyone wanted to organize columns he had written over 10 years and look at the writings of others, such as Armstrong, that could be “a solid basis for a comprehensive history.” He wrote “any volunteers would be welcomed.”
I volunteered in response to Andy’s column and, as they say, the rest is history. I wrote the book Cabin John Legends and Life of an Uncommon Place based on his materials, other sources, and oral histories. Now, twenty years later, we are welcoming volunteers to look at existing and new sources.
Interested? Please contact judywelles@verizon.net and we’ll arrange a convenient time to see Cabin John’s history resources, including our digitized vintage photographs, and talk about exploring more tales of Cabin John.
By Judy Welles, Author
Past CJ Historian [...]
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August 9, 2026The Potomac River was cleared for recreational use on July 31. The Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services issued a statement lifting the public health advisory on shoreline areas affected by the Potomac Interceptor collapse and sewage leak from January. This includes the area in Cabin John between Lock 11 and the downstream shoreline surrounding Minnie’s Island.
“Minnie’s Island is reopened to public access,” announced Joe Saliunas, President of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy Joe Saliunas. He said that after six months of closure, the conservancy is looking forward to sharing the island with the community again. In light of the county decision, Saliunas encourages people to check their website for information on how to visit the island: www.minniesisland.org.
DC Water plans in August to stop daily water quality monitoring in favor of weekly testing. DC Water is the authority responsible for sewage containment, interceptor pipe repairs, environmental testing, and environmental remediation for the Potomac Interceptor sewage spill and overflow that contaminated the river.
Katie Blackman of the Potomac Conservancy said she is encouraged by the improved water quality test results for harmful bacteria. She helps coordinate the Coalition for Long-term Environmental Accountability & Restoration of the Potomac, known as CLEAR Potomac. This alliance of 10-plus environmental, public health, and recreation organizations advocates for transparency and stronger cleanup plans. Blackman said, “We trust the guidance of public health officials, but we are still seeing spikes outside of historic baselines. Because of this and to be responsible to the scores of people that use the river, CLEAR Potomac has a pending request that regular monitoring continue through at least the end of the recreation season.” The alliance submitted a letter in July to DC Water asking for daily testing to continue through September 30.
CLEAR Potomac is also pushing for an updated environmental restoration plan that DC Water and Maryland Department of Environment (MDE) expected to publish in mid-July but which has yet to be released. The alliance submitted feedback on an earlier plan published in April and is eager to see the forthcoming revised version to “ensure a robust ecological recovery.”
The emergency repair work on the ruptured pipe along the C&O Canal has triggered work on other vulnerable spots in the aging Potomac Interceptor. DC Water has identified four additional emergency repair locations for the 54-mile sewage pipe: Dulles Airport (completed), Broad Run in Loudoun County (preparation work started), Pennyfield Lock in Potomac (underway), and the Clara Barton Parkway at the MD-DC line ( temporary bypass pumping system under construction).
Hugh Hilliard, President of the Canoe Cruisers Association, called the health department decision “welcome news for folks who paddle canoes, kayaks and other watercraft.” He noted that the Lock 10 area is a popular spot to take boats out of the river after paddling down from Mather Gorge or Old Angler’s Inn.
Longer term work at the Cabin John site is expected to continue through February 2027. Crews are building a temporary bypass pumping system to move wastewater safely around the repair area. In the Fall, they will begin installing new pipe inside the old line, called slip lining, to create a stronger pipe that resists corrosion. Once the repairs are finished, DC Water must follow National Park Service standards to restore the C&O canal’s clay lining and lock structures; replant native plants, shrubs, and trees; and restore the natural hydrology of impacted wetlands.
Meanwhile, the construction zone will continue to affect inbound traffic on Clara Barton Parkway prior to the I-495 ramp and up to Lock 10 of the C&O Canal with one lane closure and reduced speeds of 30 mph.
For more about the Potomac Interceptor, go to the websites for DC Water at https://www.dcwater.com/potomacinterceptor and the Potomac Conservancy at www.potomac.org.
By Carrie Stokes
Contributing Writer [...]
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August 9, 2026Our area was under a drought watch for most of the spring, and one impact of this on Minnie’s Island was the delay of the typical spring growth spurt for herbaceous plants, such as goldenrods and sunflowers, until after Memorial Day. This has resulted in a banner year for grasses, which are more drought tolerant, which benefited from the extra sunlight for most of the spring. In this article, we’ll take a look at the most common grasses found at Minnie’s Island and along the river. All of these native grasses can be used in our home gardens and can be found at local nurseries.
Northern sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) is known for its attractive oat-shaped seed heads. It is a cool season grass that grows through the winter and spring, turns brown during the summer, and provides visual interest with the seeds remaining through the winter. I have a stand of this forming a low screen around our patio. It also looks great as a dried arrangement. It can be aggressive in home gardens, however.
It is easy to identify bottlebrush grass (Elymus hystrix) when it is in bloom, as the bristly seed heads resemble a bottle brush. It is another cool season grass that starts growing in late winter, blooms in June, and then retains brown leaves and seeds through early winter. I have a small stand of this attractive grass in the front yard.
Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi) is the iconic species of midwestern tall grass prairies. In the Potomac Gorge, including Minnie’s Island, it is found on rock outcrops along the river. It is a warm season grass that doesn’t start actively growing until late spring. The seed heads of this grass are stunning while in bloom, with bright purples and yellows. Many cultivars of this grass are available at local nurseries. I have several of these growing in large containers.
Deertongue grass (Dichanthelium clandestinum) is a warm season grass named for its broad, deer tongue-shaped leaves. It is common on Minnie’s Island, forming large clumps that can get up to four feet tall. Of the grasses listed, it is probably the least commonly used in home gardens, although it is hardy and attractive.
Broomsedge bluestem (Andropogon virginicus) is a warm season grass (not a sedge) that is spreading in the portion of Minnie’s Island that we manage as a meadow. It retains a golden-orange color through the winter, and is a common landscaping plant. The name comes from its use in the construction of simple brooms in the past.
Other grasses found on Minnie’s include switchgrass (Panicum viratum), purpletop tridens (Tridens flavus), Virginia wildrye (Elymus virginicus), plus several others that I have not been able to identify. There are also many attractive sedges on the island, but those are also difficult to identify.
At the time of writing, Minnie’s Island is still closed to the public due to contaminated sediment from DC Water’s sewage spill in January. We hope to re-open after sediment testing results return to baseline and Montgomery County Department of Health lifts their advisory to avoid the sediment and Community shoreline from Lock 11 down to Minnie’s Island.
By Joe Saliunas, Maryland Master Naturalist, Board Chair of Minnie’s Island Community ConservancyContributing Writer [...]
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June 13, 2026CJCA News
By Scott Lewis
Congratulations to the new CJCA Officers – Pete Cousté–President; Marcy Harrison–Vice President; Carrie Stokes–Vice President; Leslie Myers–Secretary; Gil Schwartz–Treasurer. Thank you to everyone and best of luck for the upcoming term. Heidi and I are grateful to have served our community as co-presidents over the last 4 years.
Thank you to everyone in the community who has paid their annual CJCA dues and other optional donations. If you haven’t paid your dues, and would like to support the many community endeavors the CJCA supports, please do so by May 31. Simply scan the QR code below or goto https://cjca-2026-dues.cheddarup.com.
Seeking New Flag Hangers!
For the last 11 years Annie and John Allen of 81st Street have stored, maintained, and hung the American flags that you see along MacArthur Boulevard for the summer holidays. After this long stint, they are ready to pass the responsibility to new flag keepers. Are you able to help decorate Cabin John?
This task is supported and funded by the CJCA, which has purchased new flags and other materials as needed. John is happy to remain as a back-up for the next keepers in case of travel.
Interested CJers can contact John for further information and, ideally, learn the ropes this July 4th. Please email john@allenbuiltinc.com.
Co-op Closes After 43 Years Serving CJ
By Susan Shipp
The Bethesda Co-op, an independent organic grocer since 1975, sold the last of its goods on May 31, closing after 43 years in Cabin John. Changing business dynamics, high rent and a lack of capital investment forced the closure.
The co-op came to Cabin John in 1983 after eight years in Bethesda. It was first located next to the Cabin John Post Office, which also moved into its space from the Clara Barton School that same November. In the spring of 1992, the co-op moved to the newly constructed second building at MacArthur Plaza, where it served the community for the next 34 years.
On May 17, the co-op fittingly threw itself a potluck farewell party, bringing together its founders, former and current employees, board members, local politicians and the community, to express their appreciation for the decades of service to our town. [...]
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June 13, 2026The Old Anglers Inn has been a part of C&O Canal history since 1860. What many don’t know is its connection to Cabin John through several prominent local families. Originally a private clubhouse called the “Order of the Golden Hook,” it stood on the canal side of Conduit Road (now MacArthur Boulevard). The club was rumored to have had U.S. presidents among its members. It burned down in 1896 and was rebuilt several years later on the opposite side of the street. Joseph and Ida Bodine operated the building as a general store, boarding house and post office until Ida’s death in 1944. Shortly after, the Reges family opened the Old Angler’s Inn restaurant; the family continues to run the restaurant today. Though several miles from Cabin John, Old Angler’s Inn is a nearby piece of canal history and a community institution that many Cabin John residents are familiar with, whether by celebration dinners there or nearby hikes on the Billy Goat Trail.
Richard Bodine, a member of the Classic Potomac Facebook group, shared several black and white photos of Old Angler’s from 1937, when it was the Cropley General Store, on the group’s page (thanks to Judy Welles for bringing this post to my attention). Richard’s great uncle, Joseph H. Bodine, was the proprietor of the general store and inn.
I recently spoke with Richard about his family, the general store and his interest in Cabin John history. Joseph Bodine’s general store and boarding house catered to many of the local mine workers who were employed at the nearby Maryland Mining Company, which sought gold there from 1867 to 1939. Though it wasn’t a highly profitable mine, it was a busy area. Conduit Road was also a popular scenic route during the first half of the 20th century. The old photos of the store are from an album that had been given to Walter Goetz (Richard’s brother’s father in law), who wrote several books on Maryland mines, by a miner. The photo album eventually ended up in Richard’s hands, and to his surprise, held photos of his family.
Richard grew up in the Cropley neighborhood of Potomac. His family has a long history there, and his grandparents’ house still stands along MacArthur Boulevard. He even worked at Old Angler’s Inn, though he never mentioned his family’s historical ties to the building.
The story of Richard’s small collection of Cabin John Bridge Hotel china and silver, including three plates, a vegetable dish, a silver butter bowl and silver sugar dish is one straight out of Cabin John lore. His father was born in 1913, and as a young 17-year old during the Depression, he worked along the Potomac as a fur trapper. One day while out working, he noticed something along the embankment of the river, a shiny white object peeking out from the mud that caught his eye. It turned out to be a burlap sack filled with Cabin John Bridge Hotel dishes! He thinks his father held on to the pieces out of a sense of history, as the storied hotel had recently burned down. Additions to Richard’s collection include a plate found in a Florida antique shop, and a soup tureen and platter bought on eBay some twenty years ago. Enthused by his finds, Richard had several reproductions made to complement his collection.
Piecing together his family history from our conversation, his photos from a Redden family bible, and research into census records over 40 years, shows his family also has a connection to Cabin John and its early days: Percy Redden. Richard’s grandfather, Charles, who was Joseph Bodine’s brother, married Sarah Redden. (His other great uncle, Thomas, married Mary Redden, Sarah’s sister, on the same day). Richard’s grandmother, Sarah, was one of nine children of William and Isabel Redden. One of her younger brothers, Percy Redden, built three houses here and was the resident who brought electricity to Cabin John. Watch this space for more about Percy in future issues.
By Rachel Donnan, CJ Historian, Contributing Writer [...]
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June 13, 2026Hopefully by the time you are reading this, Minnie’s Island will be re-opened to the public, given the high water we are experiencing over the Memorial Day weekend, but as of now, it is still closed, due to concerns over the sediment along the shorelines and at the canoe landings.
About a month after the start of DC Water’s sewage spill, Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy (MICC), along with the Sycamore Island Club and Canoe Cruisers Association, asked DC Water to test the sediment in areas that are frequently used for recreation. DC Water never responded to our requests. Even after water quality testing for E. coli had returned to normal levels, we knew something was off with the canoe landings used to access Minnie’s Island. The landing on the island is essentially an upstream-facing cove that has standing water during low river flows, such as we had back in January. Through early April, we could still smell sewage at the landings, and the quantities of muck/mud at the landings were greater than any of us could remember. Since our requests for sediment testing were ignored by DC Water, we shifted our focus to working with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), and in early April, MDE collected sediment at Minnie’s Island canoe landings for testing.
We’ve learned a lot about sediment testing since then. The Environmental Protection Agency has clear standards for testing of E. coli in water along with thresholds for safe recreational use (410 MPN/100ml). However, there are no established standards for collection, testing, or assessing safe levels for E. coli in sediment. MDE took their first sediment samples at Minnie’s in mid-April, but results using their initial testing methodology were inconclusive. MDE then worked with a different laboratory using a more sensitive testing approach, and results were finally available in mid-May. MDE and their testing partner at the University of Maryland emphasized that they were pushing the bounds of science with this work.
Testing results are shown in the accompanying figure. The two high bars are the results from E. coli testing at Minnie’s from April 14. What stands out here is the results for the two Minnie’s Island sites were significantly (maybe 100 times?) higher than the results for other sites on April 14. Again, there are no health-impact standards for E. coli in sediment; however, the results were sufficient for Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Kisha Davis to amend the health advisory for shore line areas affected by the spill. This latest advisory, dated May 18, urges the public to avoid contact with the shoreline and river sediment between Lock 11 and the shoreline surrounding Minnie’s Island. The advisory notes that it is important to keep children and pets away from these specific areas.
Based on this information, the MICC Board is keeping the island closed to visitors. What is it going to take for us to open? Likely two events–the first being Montgomery County lifting the advisory, and the second being at least one high water event (hopefully rainy Memorial Day weather) that can dilute and flush much of the remaining sediment from the nooks and crannies around the island.
In the meantime, nature continues at the island, unconcerned with EPA standards. All of the fifteen oak trees we planted last year are doing very well, and the forty trees and shrubs we planted earlier this year are hanging in there, despite the drought. We’re pleased that black vultures appear to be nesting again on the rock outcrops, and I observed a mink for the first time on the shoreline. Board members do occasionally go to the island to water our new plantings and perform maintenance on the cabin and the land at least seems back to normal. We’re looking forward to when we can invite everyone back out!
By Joe Saliunas, certified Maryland Master Naturalist and Board Chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy
Contributing Writer [...]
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May 8, 2026The monthly Cabin John Citizens Association Meeting was held on Wednesday, April 29 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC). Topics included approval of the March meeting minutes, a review of upcoming CJCA community events, and several other important community items:
Update on Annual Dues
Thank you to all in the Community who have paid their annual CJCA dues and other optional donations. Here is we we stand as of April 29:
CJCA in dues $4,680 collected from 229 of 800 households
CJCA Additional Contributions $2,593 collected from 94 contributions
MacArthur Blvd Beautification $1,470 collected from 54 contributions
Total CJCA collections $8,743
Donations to our local non-profits – that’s Friends of Cabin John Creek, Friends of Clara Barton Community Center, Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy and Friends of Moses Hall, Inc was $5,080
If you haven’t paid your dues, and would like to support the many community endeavors the CJCA supports, please do so by May 31. Simply scan the QR code below or goto https://cjca-2026-dues.cheddarup.com.
Upcoming Candidate Forums
The Cabin John Community has invited all the MoCo County Executive Candidates to hear concerns from the Cabin John Community.
Will Jawando – Sunday, May 3rd @ 5:30 at Glen Echo Town Hall
Esther Wells – Monday, May 4th @ 7:30 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center
Mithun Banerjee – Tuesday, May 12 @ 7:30 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center
Evan Glass – Thursday, May 14 @ 7:00 pm at the Glen Echo Town Hall
Andrew Friedson – Monday, June 8th @ 7:30 pm at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center
We have also invited Peter James(D) and Shelly Skolnick(R).
There have been many moving pieces to this, with candidates changing times and venues. Jeff Shipp patiently managed this effort – thank you Jeff!
Co-op Space Update
Garrett and Smith (G&S) are currently reviewing about 10 offers with more expected, and have indicated that six months is the latest they’ll likely take to make a decision. Three of the proposals come from grocers, though G&S remain skeptical that a grocery store would be viable, believing residents would prefer to drive to larger stores or shop online. CJCA pushed back by sharing survey data, both verbally and forthcoming in writing, demonstrating strong demand from busy CJ families and nearby townspeople for a local grocer. Citizens are encouraged to continue advocating directly to G&S and leasing agent Brad Klinedinst to make the case for a grocery option.
Cabin John Citizens Association Annual Election
The CJCA annual election will be held at the Wednesday, May 20 CJCA meeting. Interested candidates are welcome to contact any current CJCA officer to learn about serving the community and express interest in standing for the election.
Announced candidates currently include:
Pete Cousté–President; Marcy Harrison–Vice President; Carrie Stokes–Vice President; Leslie Myers–Secretary; Gil Schwartz–Treasurer.
Presentation by Clive Harris: The Birds that visit us in Summer
Clive Harris moved to Cabin John 25 years ago with his wife Helen and three children. He brought with him a love for birds which started as a young boy where he would go on walks with his father when the family lived in Hong Kong in the 1970s. Clive’s excellent presentation started with a discussion of migratory birds. Migratory birds travel long distances between breeding and wintering grounds, guided by a combination of inherited instincts and learned navigation. Birds rely on multiple orientation systems—including the sun, stars, polarized light, and Earth’s magnetic field—along with internal biological clocks to determine direction and timing. As they mature, birds refine these abilities into detailed mental maps that allow them to return to specific locations year after year, often following natural features like rivers and mountain ranges. Clive discussed and presented 19 migratory birds we see in Cabin John in the Spring, where they migrate from, where they nest and how to look for them here in our community. Thanks Clive!
Presentation by Greg Gurley: Cabin John Creek
Former resident and long-time Friends of Cabin John Creek Advocate Greg Gurley provided an update on the Creek monitoring and its health. The presentation included monitoring results for 2024–March 2026 covering this 25-square-mile, predominantly urban (90%) watershed in Montgomery County, MD, where stormwater runoff is the top concern. Volunteers monitor six sites (down from seven after Booze Creek was discontinued in 2025) for macroinvertebrates, chemicals, and E. coli bacteria. County stream conditions remain rated Fair to Poor, with macroinvertebrate diversity dominated by hardy, pollution-tolerant species. Chloride from road salt is the watershed’s #1 chemical issue, consistently testing Fair to Poor and spiking to Toxic levels after snow and ice events — a problem that has worsened with the heavy ice of 2025–2026, since salt accumulates in soils and groundwater rather than fully flushing out. Other chemical readings (phosphate, nitrate, pH, temperature) have generally been normal. Bacteria results showed several failures in 2024–2025, including an off-the-charts July 2025 reading tied to a WSSC sewer leak, with most other exceedances tied to rain events and sources including pet waste (over 20% of creek bacteria traces to dogs).
Here’s our call to action: shovel-scatter-sweep best practices for salt use, free SaltWatch.org test kits for citizen monitoring, picking up pet waste, reducing pesticides/fertilizers, and recruiting volunteers (especially a macroinvertebrate team lead) at monitoring@cabinjohncreek.org. Thanks Greg!
May CJCA Meeting
The May CJCA Meeting will be on Wednesday, May 20 at 7:30 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center . The CJCA will provide a summary of the results from the Cabin John survey sent out earlier this year and hold annual elections.
We understand there has been much frustration with the sound for those joining remote. The CJCA has purchased and will test-run a conference room speak that – in early testing – has dramatically improved those on Zoom and those in the CBNRC.
Here is the Zoom information – Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85971853067?pwd=bToyFGjgUQyoh8Gup4val0adTmqLMi.1
Meeting ID: 859 7185 3067
Passcode: 819174
Upcoming CJCA and Community Events
May
Saturday, May 16, 9am-Noon: FCBCC-sponsored Grateful Shred, CBNRC side parking lot
Sunday, May 17, 4pm-close: Bethesda Co-op Final Farewell Open House
Saturday, May 23, 10am: FOCJC Cabin John Creek Challenge Hike, start at Goya Drive trailhead
Wednesday, May 20, 7:30pm: CJCA Meeting & Elections, CBNRC
Sunday, May 31, 10am-3pm: Blood Drive, CBNRC
July
Saturday, July 4, 9:30am: Annual Fourth of July Parade, start at 79th & MacArthur (9:30am bike decorating, 10am start of parade), ends behind CBNRC [...]
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May 8, 2026Friends of Clara Barton Community Center (FoCBCC) is holding the GRATEFUL SHRED, Saturday, May 16, 2026, 9am – 12pm, in the side parking lot of the center. Bring documents for shredding. Student helpers will assist with moving boxes and parcels to the shredder truck. Suggested donation $5.00 a box. Net proceeds support the rec center.
BETHESDA CO-OP is hosting a FAREWELL OPEN HOUSE AND POTLUCK on Sunday, May 17, 2026, from 4pm – 8pm. The Co-op invitation states “All are Welcome. All are encouraged to bring their favorite nostalgic dish from any of the past decades the Bethesda Co-op’s been around. That’s fifty years of choices. Bring a dish to share your favorite Co-op memories. We’ll set up tables to fill with your dishes, so don’t be shy. And for all musicians, bring your instruments for a possible Final Farewell Jam!”
Friends of Cabin John Creek (FoCJC) is sponsoring the CABIN JOHN CREEK CHALLENGE HIKE, Saturday, May 23, 2026, starting at 10am. The hike begins at the northern entrance of the creek trail at the Goya Drive trailhead and continues for around 10 miles to where the creek enters the Potomac River just below Cabin John.
HELP WANTED AT THE VILLAGE NEWSDo you want to contribute to the community? Get to know your neighbors? Volunteer with an awesome group of people? The Village News is seeking a new layout designer. We are seeking an amateur or professional to help lay out content and advertising for our monthly issues. The commitment is approximately five to eight hours per month and we can provide some training. Contact vneditorial@gmail.com for further details.
ADVERTISING SPACE AVAILABLE IN THE VILLAGE NEWS
If you have a service or business that you would like to market, please consider advertising in the Cabin John Village News. The Village News is mailed to all 750+ addresses in Cabin John every month, except for July and December. We have very reasonable advertising rates and currently have space available in the newsletter for eighth-page, quarter-page or half-page display advertisements. Classified advertisements are always welcome, too! Please send inquiries to VNBusinessManager@gmail.com.
Is your family CELEBRATING A GRADUATING SENIOR Let us know!
Each June The Village News recognizes Cabin John students who are graduating from high school or college. Please send a photo and a few sentences with the student’s name, street, school name, and field of study if graduating college to VNEditorial.com by May 25. Feel free to include any other noteworthy aspects of their academic careers or future plans. A roundup of local grads will appear in our next issue. [...]
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May 8, 2026Most of we Cabin Johners still find it unfathomable that a major sewer pipe burst and spilled millions of raw sewage into our community and the Potomac River. Further, the best solution – for the immediate several weeks afterwards – was to allow the canal to be a temporary bypass for this sewage while repairs were underway. And of course the community appreciates the many workers and organizations which become involved to make all this better.
There are many sources of information on what happened and what is next; we would encourage all to go to DC Water’s website as a starting point. Here is a summary of the complete remediation plan as of early May. Information sourced from DC Water, Potomac Conservancy, and DC Department of Engineering and Environment.
Bypass and pipe repair (complete): DC Water built an emergency bypass within five days (operational Jan 24, 2026) using pumps and the C&O Canal to reroute wastewater around the collapsed section. The permanent emergency repair on the ruptured Potomac Interceptor was completed March 14, 2026.
C&O Canal cleanup (in progress): Crews — including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — are removing sludge and debris between Locks 13 and 14, using fine six-inch rakes to avoid damaging the historic canal. Water is being used to flush the canal as cleanup continues.
Soil remediation: Contaminated soil is being excavated down to the clay layer in the four areas targeted for remediation (three of four nearly complete as of mid-April 2026). DC Water expects the canal odor to persist until contaminated soils are fully removed, targeted by the end of May 2026.
EPA soil sampling: The EPA is conducting soil sampling around the overflow site to determine whether further work is needed before final environmental stabilization.
Downstream impact assessment: DC Water is developing a downstream impact analysis and assessment plan to be submitted to the Maryland Department of the Environment, which will guide broader environmental remediation beyond the immediate spill site.
Long-term pipeline rehabilitation: DC Water has previously committed roughly $625 million to update the aging collapsed sewer line; immediate disaster-response and cleanup costs are estimated at about $20 million.
Oversight and phasing: Remediation is being conducted in phases over several months, coordinated with EPA, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Maryland Department of the Environment, and DC’s Department of Energy and Environment (DOEE). Environmental advocates (Potomac Conservancy, Potomac Riverkeeper Network) are pushing for the cleanup scope to be expanded further downstream.
by Scott Lewis [...]
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April 9, 2026After 51 years in operation, 43 of those in Cabin John, the beloved Bethesda Co-op will close at the end of May 2026. To show appreciation to the co-op for its many years of service to the Cabin John community please shop generously over the next two months. This will help it to meet its obligations to staff and suppliers, and bring operations to an orderly close.
Supporters can also show appreciation by posting messages of thanks on the co-op’s social feeds: https://www.facebook.com/bethesdacoop and https://www.instagram.com/bethesda_coop/. Longtime Manager Helen Atkocius shared with the VN that the co-op is planning a community celebration for mid-May.
Help Needed to Shape What Comes Next
There is a great deal of community concern about what business will occupy the space being vacated by the co-op. In the recent Cabin John community survey, respondents overwhelmingly named the co-op as the #1-visited shop in MacArthur Plaza.
Our local retailers bring our community together, make Cabin John a more walkable neighborhood and provide vital accessible services for the many Cabin Johners that are aging in place or looking to save time by shopping locally.
At the March 25 Cabin John Citizens Association (CJCA) meeting, the main concern of attendees was the need to bring another full-service grocery store to Cabin John. CJers in commercial real estate stated at the meeting that Garrett & Smith, the owner of MacArthur Plaza, is asking for a high rent, significantly more than grocery stores can typically pay. Grocery stores have low margins but high throughput as many people shop for groceries a few times a week. Landlords typically give grocery stores a lower rent because they draw customer traffic that helps other tenants.
MacArthur Plaza leasing agent Brad Klinedinst of Klinedinst Management informed CJCA officers that he has received several proposals for the space from different types of businesses, including three grocers.
One of the businesses that submitted a proposal is local grocery chain Rodman’s. CEO Nolan Rodman, who grew up in Cabin John and has family living here, attended the March CJCA meeting to share his vision for a store in CJ and his passion for serving the neighborhood that shaped him. With three locations in the DC region (the flagship store on Wisconsin Avenue as well as stores in Rockville and Wheaton) Rodman assured the group that he is in a strong position to be responsive to the grocery needs of Cabin Johners and nearby neighbors.
CJCA asked Klinedinst to invite other grocers who have submitted proposals to contact CJCA to possibly secure our support. At the time the VN went to print, none had.
At the conclusion of the March CJCA meeting, attendees voted to mobilize CJCA and our neighboring communities to advocate for a grocer and pursue any and all methods to persuade the owners/landlords of the long-term benefit to their bottom line of meeting the community’s demand for a grocer.
CJCA is encouraging everyone to write to the property owners and their leasing agent to let them know how supportive we are of the businesses in MacArthur Plaza and how critical we believe it is to have a grocery anchor in this space.Please share information of this letter writing campaign with your friends in nearby neighborhoods. (For a personal reflection on one CJ resident”s history with Mike Garrett and the co-op, please see Lynn Hopkin’s letter on page XX).
Please email/send your letters BY APRIL 25th to:
Mike Garrett, Owner, Garrett & Smith Companies, mike@garrett-smith.com
Bob Smith, Owner, Garrett & Smith Companies, bob@garrett-smith.com
Brad Klinedinst, Vice President, Klinedinst Management Inc., (301) 656-7252, Brad@KlinedinstMGT.com
Should you want to include in your messages Cabin John’s county council and state representatives to help them understand how valued neighborhood retail is, here are their addresses:
MoCo Councilmember Andrew Friedson councilmember.friedson@montgomerycountymd.gov
MD Delegate Marc Korman marc.korman@house.maryland.gov
MD Delegate Sarah Wolek sarah.wolek@house.maryland.gov
MD Senator Sara Love sara.love@senate.maryland.gov
Questions, comments, concerns, or interest in supporting other potential next steps can be directed to Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net or 202-297-8718 or Wendy Putnam at jtputnam10@msn.com or 301-922-9289, neighbors who are coordinating the letter writing and community advocacy efforts to bring a grocer to Cabin John.
By Susan Shipp and Heidi Lewis [...]
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April 9, 2026CABIN JOHN CITIZENS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL OFFICERS ELECTION
The CJCA annual election will be held at the Wednesday, May 20 CJCA meeting. Officers are elected each year for 1-year terms running June – May. Interested candidates are welcome to contact any current CJCA officer to learn about serving the community and express interest in standing for the election. Email cjcapresidents@gmail.com
Announced candidates currently include:
President – Pete Cousté (currently serving 1st term as VP)
Vice President: Marcy Harrison (running for 8th term) and Carrie Stokes
Treasurer – Gil Schwartz (running for 2nd term)
Secretary – Leslie Myers
In addition to the newly elected officers, the immediate pas president also serves as an officer to advise the president and provide institutional continuity. Heidi and Scott Lewis will transition to the immediate past president position post-election.
While officers fulfill key responsibilities, the real vitality of CJCA is the many volunteers who help run events and provide energy and manpower for the advocacy and outreach efforts. It’s fun, it’s a great way to meet new people, and it helps make Cabin John the truly unique and wonderful place that it is (as shown in responses to the CJ survey). If you have never volunteered — the Crab and Chicken Feast in September is always in need of new volunteers — make this the year that you give it a try!
By Scott and Heidi Lewis
CJCA NEWS
The March CJCA meeting was held on Wednesday, March 25 at CBNRC. The primary topic was the closing of the Bethesda Co-op. The balance of the meeting included approval of the February meeting notes and a reminder that it is CJCA dues season. Residents are invited to pay their dues via the return envelope enclosed in the recent CJCA letter or to use the QR code for Cheddar-up. Lastly, CJCA announced it is joining CLEAR Potomac (Coalition for Long-term Environmental Accountability and Restoration). CLEAR Potomac was established as a multisectoral coalition to unify and strengthen the response of public health, outdoor recreation, community, and environmental organizations, to the Potomac Interceptor sewage spill in January 2026. This coalition exists because a crisis of this scale demands a coordinated, science-driven response. By aligning our short- and long-term goals, we can be more effective in ensuring a full recovery for the river and the communities that rely on it.
The April CJCA Meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 29 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center at 7:30 pm. Two interesting topics will be featured:
Clive Harris, Cabin John resident, longtime birder, past president of the Montgomery Bird Club, and a member of the Maryland-DC Bird Records Committee, will give a talk on spring birds. Each spring, our resident bird population is augmented by migrant birds who arrive in April and May and spend the summer here to raise their young before returning south in late summer and early fall, to Mexico, the Caribbean and Central or South America. You may not have seen these birds, but on a walk along the C&O Canal or Cabin John Creek in spring and summer you can hear them and, with a bit of effort, spot them as well. Clive will tell us about these migrants–how they get here, what they look and sound like, where you can find them and where they spend their winters–with a talk featuring his photos.
Greg Gurley of Friends of Cabin John Creek will give a community update on the health of Cabin John Creek. Clean water matters—to our families, our wildlife, and the Chesapeake Bay. Friends of Cabin John Creek will discuss how volunteers monitor macro-invertebrates, chemicals, and bacteria in Cabin John Creek and its tributaries. They will share what this data tells us about the creek’s health, highlight some interesting monitoring results, and explain why stormwater runoff from our neighborhoods is the biggest threat to our local creeks.
If you would like to attend virtually, please join the Zoom link at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86260012468?pwd=iibbu0IDvCNazDDjLdZa2YDPbmuQXm.1 Meeting ID: 862 6001 2468 Passcode: 671191
By Scott Lewis
MONTGOMERY COUNTY EXECUTIVE CANDIDATE FORUMS
CJCA is contacting candidates for Montgomery County Executive encouraging them to come to Cabin John to discuss their platforms, answer questions, and hear community concerns. Two candidates so far have taken the initiative to schedule forums:
Evan Glass (D) —April 27, 7:30 pm at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center.
Andrew Friedson (D) —June 8, 7:30 pm at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center
Will Jawando (D), Peter James (D), Mithun Banerjee (D), Shelly Skolnick R) and Esther Wells R) have been contacted but have not yet scheduled forums as of the time the April VN went to print.
By Jeff Shipp and Scott Lewis [...]
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April 9, 2026It’s been hard the last couple of months writing a “timely piece” about what’s going on along the river. My January article focused on spring wildflowers, and was published several days after the start of the spill. My February article talked about “sewage still flowing in the canal” and was published several days after the sewage was redirected back into the Potomac Interceptor. I’m taking a safer approach this month. I’ll share the roadmap we followed to manage the invasive plants and re-establish expected native plant communities on the island. This roadmap has applicability to restoration of any piece of land in our area–including your yard. While the steps below imply sequencing, many of these steps can be carried out concurrently.
Do No Harm – As an all-volunteer organization, we frequently had inexperienced weed warriors working on the island. We needed to carefully balance allowing the volunteers to work while providing enough oversight to avoid unintentional killing of desirable native plants.
Save the Trees – In 2021, every tree on the island was being strangled by oriental bittersweet vines, sometimes up to six inches in diameter. These vines can weigh down the trees and block light to their leaves. Our first priority was killing the largest vines by cutting them at the base and applying herbicide to kill the roots. Porcelain berry and English ivy were also addressed.
Stop Fruiting Invasives – The next priority was stopping the spread of invasive plant seeds by killing the larger fruit producers, such as bush honeysuckle, wineberry, and bittersweet and porcelain berry vines that were not yet climbing trees. Their seeds can persist in the ground for years, so the sooner you stop fruit drop, the better.
Know Your Natives – Once the larger invasives were under control, we could start to see the rich blanket of native plants covering the island. The island has a rich seed bank due to frequent flooding, and the native plants quickly developed when freed from the shade and competition of larger invasives.
Establish Safe Access – Once we became familiar with the island’s vistas and desirable plant communities, we expanded the network of trails on the island to access high-quality areas. We also removed known hazards, such as the many standing dead ash trees killed by the emerald ash borer.
Fill Gaps in Expected Natives – Re-establishing the tree canopy remains a priority, as is repopulating gaps in shrubs and herbaceous plants. In 2023, we planted a large number of tree saplings obtained from the Maryland Tree Nursery. In 2025, we added a number of larger oak trees funded by a grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust. We are adding more trees and shrubs this year, also funded by the trust. Before adding any plant, we check with definitive sources, such as iNaturalist and the Maryland Biodiversity Project to ensure the plant is specifically native to the Potomac Gorge. The sandy soil of the island dries out quickly, so frequent watering of newly-planted trees is often required.
Protect From Animals – On Minnie’s Island, we need to worry about deer browse, buck rubs, and beaver cutting. We install wire cages around all the trees we plant, often upsizing the cages as the plant grows. At some point, the leaves will be above the browse line, and the tree diameter will be too large for buck rubs. At that point, we only need to protect the bottom of the tree from beavers.
Address lower-priority invasives – Our ultimate goal is to free Minnie’s Island from all invasives. This year, a special focus is on control of stilt grass and vinca/periwinkle. While these plants are not the biggest threats, control will be challenging.
Educate and Appreciate – Once the trail network was established, one of the first actions was adding a small, metal name plate to some of the best specimens of each species of tree on the island. We also maintain pictures of common plants, birds, and animals found on the island on our website. We encourage visitors to use readily available apps such as Merlin and Seek to identify birds, plants, and insects, and we maintain island records in eBird and iNaturalist.
Follow-up – The island is always evolving, with changes to the tree canopy, new ground cleared by invasives removal, weather variations, flooding, and human use patterns. We will likely have to continue invasive plant control, at some level, forever, as bird droppings will always bring in new seeds.
We are still on our restoration journey, and I expect we’ll have additional steps and lessons learned to share in the coming years. For now, we are keeping the island closed until results from sediment testing show it is safe.
By Joe Saliunas, certified Maryland Master Naturalist and Board Chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy, Contributing Writer [...]
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March 19, 2026CJCA News
The February CJCA Monthly Meeting was held at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC) on Wednesday, February 25. After approving the January minutes, CJCA presented a list of upcoming events, provided an update on the candidate forums (see article in this issue), discussed the DC Water meeting held at Walt Whitman High School (for details see Joe Saliunas’ article in this issue) on February 26 and provided an update on land development in Cabin John.
The next CJCA meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 26 at CBNRC. The presentation by Clive Harris is being postponed so that the meeting can be used for community discussion around the closure of the Bethesda Co-op.
Note: The Bike Clinic scheduled to take place on March 21st has been canceled. Unfortunately, the bike shop we selected to hold our spring bike clinic has canceled. The CJCA will be collecting bikes and usable bicycle spare parts and components on Saturday, March 21 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Bikes for the World will pick up the donated bikes at 1 p.m.
Candidate Forums – by Jeff Shipp and Scott Lewis
This is an election year – the Maryland primary is on June 23 and the general election is on November 3. Cabin John has invited ALL county executive candidates to join interested Cabinet John residents for a discussion about issues of significance in the county executive race. At the time of print, we have secured commitments from Council Members Evan Glass and Andrew Friedson – both are running for County Executive – and they will join the community at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center. Evan Glass will join at 7:30 pm on Monday, April 27th and Andrew Friedson will join at 7:30 pm on Monday, June 8th. All other candidates have been invited. While not an official CJCA event, we will use the Village News and the Listserv to keep the community up-to-date as these Forums are scheduled and occur. All are encouraged to attend.
Bethesda Co-op Closing Permanently at the end of May
Bethesda Co-op announced this month that it is permanently closing at the end of May. Helen Atkocius, general manager of the Co-op for many years, shared this letter with the VN to share with the community:
For over fifty years, Bethesda Coop, also known as the Bethesda Community Food Store, has held space for all interested in an alternative way of purchasing and consuming food and sundry goods. It has had many iterations, from its beginnings as a buying club to a storefront on Bethesda Avenue. Through it all the Coop has maintained an inclusive and welcoming environment for all in our community. Sadly, those days are coming to an end. At the end of May, Bethesda Co-op will be closing its doors.
For all of you who have joined us on this decades-long journey, whether staff, customer, neighbor, family or friend, thank you for your support. In this wildly changing world, we are sorry to see our iconic store and the dream of grassroots sustainability and independence put to rest.
We invite you to take the opportunity to visit us with gusto, using your choice and purchasing power to bring this valiant ship to shore gracefully and with full support.
So many of you have meant so much to us. We thank you sincerely. – Helen Atkocius
CJCA is exploring options for how to bring another grocery vendor into the neighborhood. While not everyone shopped at the Co-op frequently, all CJers value having convenient shops and services in our town. If you have ideas, contacts, or just want to help in this effort, contact Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net, and come to the CJCA meeting on March 25th where we will discuss the status and next steps for CJCA to take in this matter.
Montgomery Parks Recognizes FoCJC; Creek Cleanup on April 12 – By Burr Gray
Montgomery Parks recently awarded Friends of Cabin John Creek (FoCJC) with a “Most Remarkable Growth” citation for its efforts in 2025. Due in large part to the efforts of Walt Whitman High School student and scout Sophia Hollister and other volunteers, FoCJC removed 2,318 pounds of trash with 311 hours of service from 143 volunteers. This was 1,593 more pounds of trash than in 2024, representing a 219% increase in impact. The citation from Montgomery Parks, which also includes a description of efforts by other watershed groups, can be viewed on the FoCJC website and Facebook page.
Help keep our lovely creek clean. The annual CJ Spring Creek Cleanup is set for Sunday, April 12, 2-4pm at Cabin John Local Park, 7401 MacArthur Boulevard. Entrance to the park is immediately on the west side of the one-lane bridge. If more parking is needed, there are lots of spaces at the adjacent Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (7425 MacArthur Blvd) and a short walk to the park.
Weed Warrior Workday on Earth Day, Saturday, April 18
Help Remove Invasive Plants
Help protect our neighborhood park and one of Montgomery County’s gems–Cabin John Local Park. We will be working to remove invasive garlic mustard plants that are outcompeting natives and causing problems for native wildlife. Meet at the Cabin John Creek trailhead near the playground. You’ll learn about the local ecology and help native plants and animals that make this park their home. If you want to help on other days in April too, please let Mark Frey know (runcator@gmail.com).
When: Saturday, April 18, 10am-12pm
Where: Cabin John Local Park, 7401 MacArthur Blvd., Cabin John, MD. Meet at the trailhead near the playground.
What to Bring:
Clothes that can get dirty, rain gear as necessary
Sturdy closed-toe shoes (required)
Water to drink
Bug spray (optional)
A pair of work gloves
A few sturdy trash bags
Who: Everyone! Volunteers 16 and under must be accompanied by a responsible adult.
Weather: This program is rain or shine but will be cancelled in case of high winds or lightning.
Community Service / SSL Hours: This program fulfills community service requirements. We will have SSL forms available.
Contact Information: Mark Frey, runcator@gmail.com [...]
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March 18, 2026OPaL Design + Build of Cabin John is moving forward with its plans to develop five homes on the corner of 77th Street and MacArthur Boulevard, submitting their preliminary application to the county on February 10. Montgomery Planning has tentatively scheduled a hearing on June 18 to receive public comments.
The submitted plan details one residential home and four “live/work” units on the 0.6-acre property that used to be the home of Level Fitness. The earlier plan, first shared with the community in 2025, detailed five attached townhomes and would have required special zoning to move forward.
“It’s the same plan, but with detached homes. This way the plan is within the by-right ,” said Sean Ruppert, founder of OPaL Design. He believes this approach is “better for the community, the street and our buyers.” The pricing expectation is also the same, roughly $2.5 million per house.
Each home would be a distinct property with an average lot size of roughly 4,000 square feet. The houses themselves would average 4,100 square feet, including the basement and loft areas. In addition, each unit would have a screened porch. As in the earlier plan, the height of the homes would be 32 feet. The submitted plan has wider driveways to ensure space for two cars along with a carport and a one-car garage.
The plan is to have a home owners’ association that will maintain the landscaping and green roofs, according to Ruppert. The green roofs are part of the site’s storm water management plan. Water from the green roofs, now on the back of the house, and the downspouts will feed into cement “storm trunks” that are four feet wide and six feet deep, running roughly 40 feet along the side of four of the five homes. They will feed into a drain pipe that runs along the back of the property, emptying into the existing gully and culvert along MacArthur Boulevard.
The trunks will look like raised beds and be filled with sediment that should slow down the flow of water to the drainage pipe, said Ruppert, adding that Montgomery Parks and Planning will recommend the best plants for this type of system.
It is unclear if the county has any special requirements for “live/work” homes, which are allowed for properties zoned commercial/residential (CR), which all of Cabin John’s commercial properties were changed to in 2014. Live/work units in CR zones are allowed a higher density than residential homes.
“We will sell them like regular houses and the floor plan will stay the same with a foyer, kitchen and dining room on the ground floor,” said Ruppert, noting that the live/work units could appeal to a buyer, such as a therapist, lawyer or accountant, who might want to work out of their home.
The OPaL team is expected to meet with folks from the Department of Transportation, WSSC, Parks and Planning and others on March 10 for feedback on their plans. The builder will then have 45 days to make any needed adjustments.
By Susan Shipp, Contributing Writer [...]
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March 18, 2026As I write this piece, it’s been six weeks since the start of the Potomac Interceptor spill on January 19. Raw sewage is still flowing through the C&O Canal immediately opposite 83rd Place, the repair completion date is unknown, and the river is still closed per an advisory from the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services. In this article, I’d like to take you behind the scenes and explain how Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy (MICC) was engaged during this time. Minnie’s Island is located about one half-mile directly downstream of the point where the spill entered the Potomac and was directly in the path of the plume.
On January 25 (six days after the start of the spill), MICC sent a letter to DC Water asking the following questions. As of the date of this article, MICC has not received a response from DC Water, although we know the answers to most of the questions.
What testing is being done to assess the environmental damage relative to baseline conditions?
Who is performing that monitoring and when did it start?
What monitoring will be done to assess the medium and long-term impact of the spill?
How will the public be informed of ongoing testing, monitoring and remediation efforts and results?
What total volume of wastewater has been discharged into the Potomac?
Will clean up and habitat restoration be conducted? If so, by whom?
What actions are planned to prevent future sewage spills?
How long before safe access to Minnie’s Island is restored?
Over time, we became concerned that impacts to Minnie’s and neighboring areas were not being assessed by DC Water, as their testing was limited to the site of the spill at Lock 10 and Fletcher’s Cove, located about seven miles downstream. On February 7, we sent a second request to DC Water, this time in collaboration with Sycamore Island. We requested that DC Water add additional testing locations:
The Minnie’s Island canoe landing beside the C&O Canal and the well on the island.
Sycamore Island, at the ferry dock, at the swim dock, and the shallow well water.
The feeder canal near Lock 6 that is configured as a whitewater kayak slalom course.
Directly above or below Little Falls.
It took DC Water until February 18 to begin daily testing in the vicinity of Minnie’s Island. On February 24, we collaborated with Canoe Cruisers Association again to reiterate our request for testing at the sites noted above, plus regular testing for staph and MRSA, including sediment testing.
The good news is that test results at Minnie’s Island show E. coli levels below the EPA standard starting on February 22. Questions remain however. What about the MRSA and staph bacteria reported by the University of Maryland? What about the safety of the sediment? Will there be impacts this summer in the more flat water locations (like around Sycamore Island) where sediment likely settled out? We hope public health officials can answer these questions for all of us.
Moving forward, MICC is advocating for a data-driven, science-based decision to either open the river to recreational use or to keep it closed. In the meantime, MICC will not host public events or volunteer workdays on the island, and we discourage public access until Montgomery County issues an advisory that says the river is safe. I know we are all looking forward to a warm day this spring when we can safely walk along the river (or on an island) and wonder at our wonderful bluebells.
By Joe Saliunas, certified Maryland Master Naturalist, Board Chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy
Contributing Writer [...]
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February 12, 2026The emails, texts, and phone calls started just after 5:00 pm on Monday, January 19, 2026. Woodrow Place residents Bob Ward and Dana Sands had been taking an early evening walk along the towpath when they saw “what looked like at least 100 cubic feet per second of raw sewage flowing along the Clara Barton Parkway, then under the canal between locks 11 and 12, then into the Potomac. It was like a big sluice. Water was flowing fast. We could hear it, and smell it, from the towpath.” They saw a police car and utility truck nearby, just observing. Bob and Dana alerted Mac Thornton of Wishbone Terrace, a founder of the Potomac Conservancy, who also served for 18 years on the Board of Potomac Riverkeeper Network. Mac alerted his contacts there, as well as other neighbors, including CJCA co-presidents Scott and Heidi Lewis, and chair of Friends of Cabin John Creek Burr Gray. That same day DC Water posted a notice on their website stating they were “investigating a Sanitary Sewer Overflow from the Potomac Interceptor sewer line” and noted that “overflow is expected to reach the Potomac River.”
By 11:00 am on January 20, Mac was on camera with an NBC4 reporter on the scene describing the flow and making clear that a cause had to be established to help prevent future catastrophic overflows: https://tinyurl.com/art7w6wn. Burr got out to the spill site that morning as well to get pictures of the situation, images that were then used by Dean Naujoks of Potomac Riverkeepers to get the attention of a WUSA9 reporter, who toured the spill area with Burr midday and posted a video story showing the full extent of the torrential flow of untreated waste water: https://tinyurl.com/37av52pw.
Over the next few days a phalanx of CJ-based and/or CJ-related people and organizations connected to the river, the canal, the people who live nearby, and the natural and historical resources therein, pitched in to document, report, and urge action from those responsible for repairing the sewer and mitigating the impact. Citizens checked the site frequently to verify or dispute DC Water statements regarding the progress of efforts to redirect and limit the flow of sewage. Groups including Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy, the Sycamore Island Club, Cabin John Citizens Association, and Friends of Cabin John Creek, joined with the Potomac Conservancy and Potomac Riverkeepers Network to keep pressure on DC Water to stop the sewage overflow, request testing of the river and canal downstream of the spill, and monitor ongoing mitigation efforts. Those efforts will continue into the future as the full effects of the release of hundreds of millions of gallons of sewage into the river and canal will not be fully understood for many months.
What Actually Happened?
On January 19, 2026, a section of the Potomac Interceptor (PI), a 72-inch sewer pipe owned and managed by DC Water, collapsed sending untreated wastewater above ground near the American Legion Bridge. The effluent created a new “stream” just uphill from the C&O Canal, where it ultimately flowed into the canal and the Potomac River. Between January 19 and January 29, an estimated 300 million gallons of raw sewage spewed forth into our waterways at a rate of about 40-50 million gallons per day. It is now one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history.
The Potomac Interceptor was built in the 1960s and carries 60 million gallons of wastewater per day from Loudoun and Fairfax counties in Virginia, and Montgomery County, Maryland, to the Blue Plains treatment plant in Washington, D.C. The pipe has been under rehabilitation work since September 2025.
DC Water crews immediately mobilized after the collapse to set up a temporary bypass system, using industrial pumps to divert flow into the C&O Canal and back into the sewer system downstream of the break. On January 23 DC Water began installing multiple high-powered industrial pumps, each capable of pumping seven million gallons a day, to divert the sewage into a section of the C&O Canal and then direct it back into the sewer line further downstream. Six of the pumps were turned on January 24, with additional pumps added on January 26. By January 29 DC Water reported “no sewer overflows” from the broken pipe for the first time since the incident, although residual wastewater still needs to drain and repairs continue.
TIMELINE DC WATER EFFORTS DURING WEEK 1 POTOMAC INTERCEPTOR SEWER COLLAPSE
Monday, January 19: Sewer overflow reported, Potomac Interceptor, Clara Barton Pkwy/I-495, Montgomery County
Tuesday, January 20: Investigation, assessment, bypass plan developed
Wednesday, January 21: Bypass piping install, canal debris/vegetation cleared
Thursday, January 22: Upper lock gates removed from Locks 11, 12 and 13, pump installation begins
Friday, January 23: Pump installation completed, downstream pipe reinforcement underway
Saturday, January 24: Downstream reinforcement completed, bypass activated, most overflow contained
Sunday, January 25: Bypass monitored, flow in downstream portions of the interceptor increases–40 million gallons a day, some overflow remains
Monday, January 26: Additional pumps arrive, installation underway, some overflow continues
Repairs are expected to be complex and time-intensive, and so far there’s no firm timeline for full restoration. Researchers from the University of Maryland’s School of Public Health performed testing that revealed alarming contamination levels. Fecal indicator bacteria, E. coli and enterococci, were 10,000 times over the recreational water quality limit according to Rachel Goldstein who leads the UMD team. Some fish kills have been observed downstream, and the Maryland Department of the Environment has already issued an emergency closure for shellfish harvesting 60-70 miles downstream as a precaution.
DC Water officials have consistently emphasized that drinking water supplies are not affected by the spill, but warn that contact with the river water, shoreline, or canal could pose health risks to people and pets. Naturally, there are concerns about long-term ecological effects on fish, wildlife, shellfish harvesting zones, and water quality, though research is ongoing.
Cabin Johners are reminded that Montgomery County health and environmental authorities have warned all should avoid touching the water or shorelines in impacted areas.
Resources to stay informed:
DC Water website: https://www.dcwater.com/
Potomac Conservancy website: https://potomac.org/blog/2026/1/30/potomac-interceptor-sewage-spill-updates
By Scott Lewis, Burr Gray, Joe Saliunas, Heidi Lewis [...]
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February 12, 2026If you are walking along the canal or river in late February, you will likely see some of our first spring ephemeral wildflowers in bloom. The word “ephemeral” means “short lived.” Applied to wildflowers, the term means plants that emerge prior to the leaf-out of trees and shrubs that complete their lifecycle (emerging, flowering, seed production, and drying out) once they become shaded out. While it looks like they disappear, their bulbs and roots remain alive, but out of sight and dormant underground.
Some of the first ephemerals to bloom in our area are spring beauty, cutleaf toothwort, Dutchman’s breeches, squirrel corn, and trout lily. These are in peak bloom in March and early April. Later ephemerals include Virginia bluebells, wild blue phlox, and star chickweed, which peak in late April and May. These are incomplete lists–there are many more less common ephemerals. There are also other wildflowers that bloom in spring, such as golden ragwort, bloodroot, and wild ginger, but these are not considered ephemerals since they can remain evergreen through the summer and even sometimes through the year.
Spring ephemerals have an important role in our ecosystem, with their large, showy blooms providing some of the first food (nectar/pollen) to many pollinators. Many bumblebees, miner bees, and various flies, ants, beetles, and butterflies rely on ephemerals as their food source. Many plants have a special relationship with a particular species of insect for pollination, such as the spring beauty miner bee and the trout lily miner bee. Bloodroot plants also have a close relationship with ants, which carry the seed to an underground nest, eat the seed enclosure, and leave viable seeds already planted underground.
The best viewing locations for spring ephemerals are typically rich woodlands and flood plains. Some of my favorite spots include the social trail system on Cabin John Island (park at Lock 7), the lower and upper segments of Billy Goat Trail B, and the floodplain around Lockhouse 8. The highlight for me of these areas are the stands of Virginia bluebells that create an extensive blue carpet. I recommend taking a walk in early May along the river from below the lower end of Minnie’s Island to the mouth of Cabin John Creek. On this walk, you can see not only the typical blue/pink flowers of the Virginia bluebell but also the rarer white form, which can be found in the beach area closer to Cabin John Creek.
Intermixed with our local spring ephemerals, you often see a sea of glossy, yellow flowers with 8 to 12 petals. These are the flowers of lesser celandine, and while it can be photogenic, it is an extremely invasive non-native plant that has little ecological value and displaces our native wildflowers. Their abundance can diminish the enjoyment of a wildflower walk, but the native wildflowers more than make up for it. Spring is coming – I hope you can get out to enjoy it!
By Joe Saliunas, certified Maryland Master Naturalist/Board Chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy
Contributing Writer [...]
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February 12, 2026The community of Cabin John has evolved since its earliest days in 1913, when J.S. Tomlinson’s American Land Company began offering lots to intrepid folks searching for a bucolic place outside of the city to call home. He advertised his new development in the “splendid location” of Cabin John Park, with its “refreshing breezes, running streams, fertile land and abundant shade trees.” Yet while many houses have changed in the growing neighborhood, together with the addition of MacArthur Plaza, that pastoral vision has remained.
In the September 2024 Village News, I wrote about the 1971 Cabin John Community Plan, born out of the potential loss of the neighborhood’s semi-rural character as developers seized on its location and unused tracts of land. One developer, the Bogley & Co. real estate brokerage, proposed a large scale project in 1959, which was ultimately stopped due to community pushback. I recently came across several more newspaper articles in the Montgomery County Sentinel in 1959-60 that detailed just how enormous a project this was—it would have ultimately obliterated Cabin John as we know it.
Bogley & Co., headed by the “soft spoken young man” Robert W. Lebling, proposed a nearly $100 million plan that covered some 420 acres and included “luxury apartments with a river view….a 50 or 60 acre shopping area on the order of Prince George’s Plaza, an office and research park for ‘clean’ industry on about 100 acres, a motel and supper club on about 40 acres and a 20 acre site hopefully set aside for a federal agency of some sort.” It was rumored that Lebling had made a direct offer to purchase Cabin John Gardens, which had only just been turned into a cooperative several years earlier.
In attempts to woo residents to sell, Lebling sent out a letter and his own “confidential” petition to property owners about his plan to rezone the Cabin John Triangle, so called because of the anticipated completion of the beltway and GW Parkway. The citizens association, which had initially “offered to cooperate in an open and unbiased polling of community opinion after due consideration” of Lebling’s proposal, was not pleased, and its president, John Jessup, urged residents not to participate in Lebling’s survey.
One resident noted that Lebling’s petition was “so worded that an indication favoring a restudy of the Cabin John Watershed Master Plan would also constitute a recommendation that Lebling’s plan be adopted in its stead.” Morris Fradin, who had been a resident of Cabin John since the early 1940s, called the “‘cloud No. 9 project an attempt to spur panic selling so that the residents would sell out and get out” and warned fellow residents “to be alert to more such psychological pressures designed to speed sales.”
The citizens association meetings with Lebling and his associate, Buford M. Hayden, were contentious. Mrs. Wilson Frazier quipped, to great applause, “I don’t think anyone has our personal interests at heart. You speak of ideal sites for riverside apartments; well, I like the view too, and I like to take my children down there to see it.” Mother of two and PTA officer Mrs. Jerry Shaw stated, “I’m willing to hang on forever. This may be a community of individuals, but one thing we all have in common is our desire to stay.”
Perhaps Mrs. Don Iglehart best summed up community opinion on Lebling’s proposal: “These people keep talking about progress and feel sorry for us. They say we’re five miles away from where we can buy a loaf of bread. Well, we like it that way. That’s why we came.”
Nearly three-quarters of Cabin John residents were against the shockingly massive plan, and passionate community opposition effectively put an end to it. A decade later, the community shared their vision of Cabin John’s future: a quiet atmosphere, small own friendliness, many trees and a diversity of homes, people and cultures. This vision formed the basis of the Cabin John Community Plan, later incorporated into the 1990 Bethesda-Chevy Chase Master Plan. While residents no longer need to go five miles for a loaf of bread, community engagement has allowed Cabin John to retain its unique character and small town charm.
By Rachel Donnan, CJ Historian, Contributing Writer [...]
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January 21, 2026Community Survey
The Cabin John Citizens Association (CJCA) is collecting citizen feedback on current topics of importance: zoning changes, new building and development, changes and challenges to our local retail and services, areas of interest in which the community wishes CJCA to engage.
Please take a few minutes to share your thoughts about what you love, what needs improvement, and what you want CJCA to work on in the coming years to keep Cabin John the awesome community it is.
Go the this URL: https://forms.gle/WVWy3jjg4DM2geNg9
or scan the QR code
THE SURVEY WILL CLOSE January 31, 2026 [...]
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January 21, 2026At the Nov. 19 meeting of the Cabin John Citizens Association Cabin John residents voted to have the CJCA engage resources to understand how current zoning initiatives could impact Cabin John commercial properties.
This action followed a lively discussion about land use issues in Cabin John and came on the heels of a well-attended Nov. 4 community meeting with Councilmember Andrew Friedson that focused on the council’s latest zoning initiatives. It also followed an Oct. 29 county-required meeting held by local developer Sean Ruppert about his plans to build five $2.5 million townhomes at the corner of 77th and Macarthur Boulevard–a property that has been home to a number of retail establishments since the original building was constructed in 1930. For the last 21 years that site has been home to Level Fitness, which was forced to vacate the property in preparation for its sale.
At the Nov. 19 meeting CJCA Co-president Heidi Lewis discussed the land use issues that Cabin John has faced since the CJCA was created in 1919. She then presented current concerns which center around new zoning rules and county priorities that could incentivize developers to convert Cabin John’s retail properties into multi-family residential housing.
She and co-president Scott Lewis solicited the crowd’s feelings on increased housing density, including accessory dwelling units (ADUs) and townhomes. Participants noted how ADUs could make it easier for residents to age in place or to provide a living option for adult children of homeowners who cannot afford to buy a CJ home. The crowd also was generally supportive of townhomes, especially the two existing townhome developments that are set back from the main roads and have a lot of green space incorporated into their properties.
Parking was the primary concern raised regarding greater housing density. With no parking allowed on Macarthur Boulevard and Seven Locks, additional cars will need to park on side streets, many of which are too narrow and/or already crowded with cars.
The other concern voiced was the possibility of townhomes along MacArthur Blvd. changing the character of the community. In conjunction with this point, it was suggested that the community explore what it would take for MacArthur Blvd. to be designated a Maryland Scenic Byway should that designation help protect it from overdevelopment.
The conversation then shifted to Cabin John’s retail environment. While one participant expressed a desire to see fewer commercial enterprises and more variety in housing stock in Cabin John, most people weighing in expressed support for the mix of housing and retail that CJ has currently. Others spoke explicitly about the need to keep our retail spaces and how important it is to be able to eat at a restaurant or pick up groceries without needing to drive into Bethesda or Potomac.
At the end of the discussion, the following two motions were unanimously approved:
A motion to authorize the CJCA to spend a reasonable amount to engage appropriate experts for our immediate concerns relating to zoning issues tied to the current retail spaces in Cabin John.
A motion to officially ask the county to make the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center more useful for fitness, including additional staffing and increasing its hours of operation, especially in the morning and on weekends.
By Susan Shipp, Contributing Writer [...]
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January 21, 2026The Bethesda Co-Op has been an institution in Cabin John and beyond since 1983. Offering true organic and natural food–including local food–the Co-Op also offers vegan snacks and meals, charcuterie, cheeses, and a selection of affordable wine and local craft beer. As a Cabin Johner, a visit to the Co-Op also typically includes running into a neighbor and getting caught-up on local Cabin John news…and gossip.
Unfortunately, changes in shopping patterns and increased wholesale costs of goods have put the Co-Op in a dire financial situation. Simply put, revenue is not covering costs on a monthly basis. The situation is such that the Co-Op may not be sustainable long-term. It is important that the community realizes how serious the situation is. It’s worth noting that the Co-Op has experienced challenges previously and has been able to return to normal operations. The Co-Op’s board and its management are actively working to address these difficulties and restore its vitality.
So here’s what we can do to help: shop there. Before driving 10 minutes to a store outside our neighborhood, consider shopping at the Co-Op for some of your grocery needs. Increasing sales volume at the Co-Op will help cover costs and support its long-term viability. The Co-Op is also in the early planning phases of a Community Day to demonstrate mutual support between the Co-Op and Cabin John. Stay tuned for more details.
By Scott Lewis, Contributing Writer [...]
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January 21, 2026The Holly and the Ivy (Berries, that is)
Walking along the C&O Canal in Cabin John this month I’ve noticed fruits on some of our trees and shrubs. This caused me to ask some questions. Many of the fruits are eaten by birds, but why do some fruits remain until late winter or early spring? Why are some fruits more beneficial to bird life than others? Why do some fruits have an overall negative impact on our local ecosystem? In this column I’ll answer these questions and explain why American holly fruit is primarily beneficial, while English ivy fruits are detrimental to the ecosystem.
First, let’s address timing: I know of several areas with American holly trees that are always filled with berries through the fall. These berries typically remain until sometime in mid-winter. Then for several days, the trees are filled with robins, cedar waxwings, eastern bluebirds and other over-wintering birds, and they are stripped clean of fruits. For some shrubs and trees, frost and thaw cycles break down bitter compounds and increase sugars, making the fruits more palatable and energy-rich. Birds will start the winter by eating the most desirable fruits first, waiting for the other fruits to be transformed later in winter. Examples of these late-winter survival fruits include hollies, viburnum, dogwood, bayberry, and sumac. However, if food is scarce, birds may start eating them in late fall.
Now, let’s address why some fruits are more beneficial for birds than others. The rule of thumb is that fruit from native shrubs and trees has higher fat content than fruit from non-native, invasive plants. This is why migrating birds will go out of their way to find and eat the fruit of native plants, even if non-native fruit is available. A study by Rochester Institute of Technology measured the fat percentage of common invasive species (bush honeysuckle, buckthorn, and multi-flora rose) at less than one percent. Compare this to the fat content for native dogwood, viburnum, and spicebush at 25-50%. Spicebush are very common along the C&O Canal and Minnie’s Island, as deer don’t like their aromatic leaves. This year was a very good fruit production year, and most of these high-energy spicebush fruits were gone by mid-fall.
Finally, let’s address good vs. bad fruits from an overall eco-system health perspective. I remember taking a walk on Cabin John Island in the late winter, when I noticed a large number of robins eating the fruit from large English ivy vines growing on a sycamore (note that I would have cut the vines but the tree was leaning over Cabin John Creek). In doing research for this article, I found that English ivy fruits are high in fat/energy, and thus good for birds. However, as long as the birds eat the fruit, they will be excreting the seeds all over the island, which ultimately limits plant diversity and impacts native plant populations as the ivy spreads. Other non-native invasive plants are particularly bad–low energy fruits that spread the plant to new areas. Examples of this include oriental bittersweet, porcelain berry, and Japanese honeysuckle.
The bottom line for landowners and bird enthusiasts is to remove the invasive shrubs and vines, and leave room (or plant) native plants. Many common native vines and shrubs are great for our resident and migrating birds. If you watch carefully, you may be able to witness a multi-day feeding frenzy.
By Joe Saliunas, Maryland Master Naturalist, Board Chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy
Contributing Writer [...]
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November 7, 2025TURKEY TROT
Build your Hunger for Thanksgiving at our Annual Cabin John Turkey Trot
Held since 2017, our Annual Turkey Trot is a great way to start Thanksgiving. Bring yourself, your family, your visitors, and your furry friends to this widely attended event. Thanksgiving Day (November 27) at 10:00 am.
We will have two types of shirts this year!
Navy, long-sleeve cotton shirts. Adult sizes XL, L, M, S and child sizes L, M, S.
Bimini blue, moisture-wicking, long-sleeve shirts. Adult sizes XL, L, M, S and child sizes L, M, S.
The 2.5-mile run/walk starts and ends near the parking lot at the Cabin John Local Park, making a loop via MacArthur Blvd., 79th St., the C&O Canal towpath, and back up to MacArthur at the Union Arch Bridge.
Registration is free but we do request you bring a food donation – see below. We do ask you to register if you are coming and please sign the waiver which will be available as you register on this website.
REGISTRATION AND VOLUNTEERING:
When registering you will have the opportunity to buy event T-shirts and to volunteer to put up course signs beforehand or to be a course monitor to keep our runners/walkers safe.
To register and buy t-shirts, go to: https://my.cheddarup.com/c/the-2025-annual-cjca-turkey-trot-copy/items
Questions about registration or volunteering? Contact cjcapresidents@gmail.com.
FOOD DONATIONS:
Give thanks by giving back – we ask everyone to bring a few non-perishable grocery items to the Turkey Trot for donation to Manna Food Center’s Smart Sack program. The Smart Sack Program provides backpacks of food each weekend to some 2,850 Montgomery County school kids. Popular food items include jars of peanut butter, boxes of granola bars, instant oatmeal, and canned vegetables and fruits.
LIABILITY WAIVER:
Lastly, all participants enter at their own risk. The CJCA, the CJCA officers and volunteers are not responsible for any accidents or injuries as a result of your participation.
HOLIDAY GIVING TREE
Can you donate to the CJ Holiday Gift Tree?
So Others Might Eat (SOME) is a local, DC-based nonprofit that fights poverty and homelessness by providing housing, healthcare, training, and social services, and this joint effort by the communities of Brookmont, Glen Echo, and Cabin John has become the largest source of holiday-season support, empowering parents to provide gifts for their children on Christmas morning and obtain basic necessities for themselves.
This will be Cabin John’s 16th year of providing holiday gifts to the 200 families in SOME’s transitional housing. It is always so heartwarming to see how many of our CJ families participate each year. HOW TO GIVE:
There will be an artificial tree inside Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center with donation ornaments. Each ornament designates a gift card sum and there will also be several tags with specific gift requests for children who live in SOME housing.
Gifts usually range from $50-$60. Any dolls should be African American; please supply batteries with toys, and no toys of violence (guns, pistols, etc.). Visa gift cards are a great idea for teenagers!
Do NOT wrap your gift! Parents will wrap the gifts for their children.
*** PLEASE REMEMBER TO ATTACH THE ORNAMENT TO YOUR GIFT***
As in the last couple of years, gift cards in $50 increments to stores such as Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Macy’s as well as gift cards for Visa and Mastercard would be most appreciated. You do not need to select an ornament from the tree in order to donate.
Purchase the cards yourself and drop them off at Lori Rieckelman’s house (6423 79th Street) or order them from the merchant online and have them sent directly to her. Text her at 301-655-4404 when leaving cards in the bin on her porch so that they can be quickly retrieved. Please write the amount on the gift cards if it is not specified.
Venmo/Zelle – You can send your donation to Lori by either Venmo (@Lori-Rieckelman) or Zelle (rieckell@aol.com) and she will purchase gift cards in your name.Ornaments will be hung the weekend of November 22. Gifts can be dropped off at Lori’s house or she can pick them up from you.
Gifts need to be delivered by December 9.
Questions: Contact Lori Rieckelman at 301-655-4404 or rieckell@aol.com. Thank you so much!
CJCA NEWS – OCTOBER MEETING MINUTES
The October CJCA meeting was held on Wednesday, October 22 at CBNRC.
1. The motion to accept September meeting minutes was seconded and approved.
2. eCommerce Update–The CJCA requires an eCommerce platform for the Crab Feast, tee-shirts, trivia night and other events. Cheddar Up is the current provider, built for non-profits but is a bit clunky. The CJCA will consider other options.
3. Opal, a Cabin John-based builder, has scheduled a land use meeting, as required, for October 28.
4. November 4 meeting with Andrew Friedson to discuss current zoning laws and the impact to our community. Friedson will specifically address Zoning Text Amendment (ZTA) 25-03 which enables expedited approval for rezoning property from commercial to residential. Developers of the Level Fitness property have said they expect to use this expedited zoning. Heidi Lewis, Susan Shipp and Taffy Kingscott plan to connect to prepare for the meeting.
5. The Turkey Trot was discussed and a t-shirt design vote was taken. Long sleeve cotton tees were the winner.
6. Crab Feast financial update–revenue from this year’s event was $11.5K. Net revenue was $1.4K, which was lower than in the past but attributed to additional investments in equipment. Street sellers were again discussed.
7. New Cabin John directory–distribution is planned for November.
8. Cabin John sign–the current version was previously been voted on and approved. The question of revisiting the design and placement was raised.
9. Can we improve CBNRC with Level closing? After pursuing this option it does not seem like there are many avenues to improve the existing space, equipment or hours.
The November CJCA meeting will be held on Wednesday, November 19 at 7:30pm at CBNRC. The CJCA will facilitate a discussion on land use in Cabin John, broadly construed. We encourage in-person participation but allow for a remote option: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6942294360?pwd=n25MwfwZvgvwb63WlKoO7G0JZbCaqz.1&omn=84122658587. Meeting ID: 694 229 4360. Passcode: 672906
By Scott Lewis & Kelly Banuls [...]
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November 7, 2025Sixty-four years ago, during the construction of the Capital Beltway, Maryland used eminent domain to take land from an African American cemetery in Cabin John. On Oct. 22, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA), with the approval of the Maryland Board of Public Works, gave a piece of that land back. The parcel of less than a quarter-acre potentially holds 26 graves.
This action comes two years after the SHA conducted a survey of the Beltway right-of-way that abuts the Morningstar Moses Cemetery in Cabin John. The survey was conducted using ground-penetrating radar, which enables archaeologists to see potential burial shafts and other subsurface anomalies without digging. It found over two dozen possible and probable unmarked burial sites in the state-owned land. At the urging of Friends of Moses Hall, the SHA committed to conveying any unneeded right-of-way land containing graves to Morningstar Tabernacle Number 88, whose board of trustees oversees the cemetery.
The land conveyance marks a significant milestone for the descendants of those buried at the cemetery and the Friends of Moses Hall, the non-profit that was formed in 2023 to preserve the cemetery site. “This important action by the state of Maryland not only helps restore sacred land historically connected to the cemetery but also affirms the cultural and ancestral significance of Morningstar’s legacy,” said Shannon Steward, descendant and Friends of Moses Hall board member.
Several organizations submitted letters of support to the Board of Public Works in advance of the October meeting, including Friends of Moses Hall, the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites, and the Maryland Sierra Club. These letters now form part of the public record, ensuring that the community’s advocacy and the historical significance of the site are documented for future researchers, descendants, and preservation efforts.
The history of this property dates back to 1880, when a formerly enslaved couple, Robert and Sarah Gibson, purchased land along what is now Seven Locks Road in Cabin John. Over the next decade, nine other African American families joined them, forming a self-sufficient settlement first known as Gibson Grove (later No. 10). These families built a supportive community rooted in faith, mutual care, and education.
In 1882, they opened the first school for Black children in the district. Three years later, they founded Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 of the Order of Moses, a benevolent society that provided financial support to those in need, burial assistance, and community fellowship. The society’s two-story building, known as Moses Hall, and the adjacent cemetery became the heart of community life. In 1898, the Gibson Grove AME Zion Church was established on land donated by Sarah Gibson.
The stone foundation is all that is left of Moses Hall and there are very few headstones visible in the cemetery today. But the land holds the graves of community founders, including Sarah Gibson, and Emma Jones, a respected midwife and longtime housekeeper for Clara Barton in Glen Echo. By combing death notices in old newspapers and other extensive research, Friends of Moses Hall has identified 131 men, women and children who were buried in the cemetery between the 1880s and the 1970s. An extensive ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey conducted in 2021 found the likelihood of hundreds more resting across both the cemetery property and portions of the land surrounding it.
Learn more at: friendsofmoseshall.org
By Charlotte Troup Leighton
Contributing Writer [...]
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November 7, 2025The potential new owners of the commercial property at the corner of MacArthur Blvd. and 77th Street formally presented their five-townhome plan to the community in a lively meeting October 29 at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center. Some 75 people attended the meeting and another 40 joined via Zoom.
OPaL Design Build, run by CJ residents Sean Ruppert and Jason Woodard, has a contract on the property. They were required to hold the community meeting as part of their plan to file for a commercial to residential reconstruction application. Elizabeth Rogers, a land use attorney at Lerch Early, hired by OPaL, presented the plan, which did not differ dramatically from what Sean Ruppert had presented informally at a community meeting on May 29.
With the revised plan, the five townhouses will be attached with green roofs on the carports that connect the residences. While described as two-stories with a cellar, each townhouse will also have a loft bringing the height to 32 feet and be sized at roughly 4,100 square feet. OPaL said they plan to price the units in the mid $2 millions.
Under the project timeline, OPaL would submit its application before the end of 2025, complete the property purchase in March 2026, and allow approximately nine months for zoning changes, stormwater management review, and building permit approvals, with final permits expected by the end of 2026. They also spoke of a phased construction plan, with three homes being built starting in early 2027 and the remainder following after the initial sales.
The timeline prompted the question why Level Fitness was only given 90 days to vacate the space. The response by Rogers was that the seller gave Level Fitness notice to get the property ready for sale. Later in the meeting, she added that for the zoning process they intend to use, the property needs to be vacant at the time of application.
Despite significant community concern over potential stormwater drainage issues raised at the May meeting, OPaL did not present a comprehensive stormwater management plan to the community. They did say they would be reducing the impervious land from 65% to 46% of the property and that “some kind of bioretention” to store water would be included and indicated that the net water runoff would be reduced. They did not provide any additional detail when asked about the impact the five large basements would have on underground water flow and containment.
While a number of community members spoke in favor of the proposed development, others spoke passionately about the current building that dates from 1930. One attendee said the building “represents the spirit of Cabin John” and asked for a compromise that could preserve the building. OPaL responded that there is no way to save the building and plans to move forward.
By Susan Shipp
Contributing Writer [...]
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November 7, 2025The Village News has been going strong for over fifty years. Looking back through the November issues of the newsletter (or any issues) offers a brief snapshot of Cabin John throughout the years. It goes without saying that the Chicken & Crab Feast got top billing in many of them! But it is also interesting to note that some of the community’s concerns in the 1970s and 1980s—airplane noise, development—are still being collectively addressed today. Here are some of the headline stories and tidbits from past November issues:
In 1970, just a few years after the Village News started, a bake sale sponsored by the majorettes and the PTA raked in $90 on Election Day. Over 70% of registered voters in Cabin John and Bannockburn came out, “and that’s something to be proud of.” A classified ad in 1972 read “Needed: One Village News Deliverer. We need a deliverer for the 100 houses in the Cabin John Gardens! This will earn some lucky person $1 every month!” In 1975, “the protests by the Cabin John community concerning ‘noise pollution’ by jet plane overflights brought about a meeting with officials from the FAA, EPA and various elected officials…about 400 jets roar overhead daily.” “Goodbye, N-8 Bus Line.” On November 12,1976, with champagne and pretzels being passed around, the N-8 bus made its final trip through Cabin John. “The little buses—their small size geared to weight limitation on MacArthur—had been running since 1960 when the last of the old No. 20 trolley cars had given up their ghost.” “Cabin John has finally been granted two crosswalks on MacArthur Blvd” following several accidents with cars and pedestrians, declared the 1984 issue. An advertisement in this issue listed a “House for Sale: 6503 81st Street, 3 bedrooms for $128,000.” A 1987 story with some urgency explained “‘Cabin John’s Future is Directly Involved in Updating Master Plan. Citizen and Community Action Gets Under Way.’ Your involvement is needed now if you want to influence the type of community Cabin John will be in the next decades.” Issues included transportation; facilities and services; historic sites; development and environment, which noted that all development must be considered in the context of preserving the existing sense of space in Cabin John by maintaining trees and narrow streets; protecting streams, springs and drainage; and retaining the current housing scale and density.
In 1990, the Cabin John Post Office celebrated its first Customer Appreciation Day. A 1929 postal van was on site and customers could get a specially designed Cabin John cancellation on their mail. The Wild Bird Center on MacArthur Boulevard (where Level Fitness is today) celebrated its 8th birthday in 1993 by hosting two bald eagles and a peregrine falcon for local visitors. In 2004, cyclist Lance Armstrong and the Tour of Hope rode down “Cabin John’s ‘Main Street.” In addition to 20 team members, over 1000 local riders joined the last leg from Rockville to the Mall,” passing by many residents who lined MacArthur Boulevard. A photo of Cabin John’s unofficial mayor, Danny Harris, and his wife Margaret smiling with their huge black walnut haul for the Potomac Conservancy’s “Growing Native” program appeared in the 2007 issue. In 2011, Landell’s Barbershop took over the space previously occupied by Sharon’s Bouquet Florist by Captain’s Market. Hair cuts were $16 and a hot shave $14.
“Cabin John Citizens Association Meeting Looks at Air and Street Traffic” yet again in 2016, one of many times these serious concerns were raised in the newsletter over the decades. In 2017, “The Inaugural Cabin John Turkey Trot Set for Thanksgiving Day” was announced. The 2.5 mile run/walk goes down MacArthur, along the C&O Canal, then up to and across the one lane bridge. The Turkey Trot continues to be a community favorite. “Cabin John Citizens Association Commits $2000 for Moses Hall Cemetery Clean-Up.” In 2019, half the profits from the 50th Annual Chicken & Crab Feast funded the initial clean up of the culturally significant African American burial site on Seven Locks Road. The Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 Cemetery and Hall was named one of America’s Most Endangered Historic Places by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in 2021.
By Rachel Donnan, CJ Historian
Contributing Writer [...]
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November 7, 2025If you look at old photos of Minnie’s Island, one of the first things you notice is the abundance of trees across the island. This started changing in the 2010s, as the emerald ash borer spread to our area, rapidly killing ash trees of all sizes within several years. The impacts to Minnie’s Island were significant, as ash trees were among the largest and most common trees on the island. Areas that used to be fully shaded were exposed to the sun, often resulting in explosive growth of non-native, invasive vines, which further impacted the remaining trees. The large sunny expanses also limited use of much of the island during the summer months.
When Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy (MICC) was formed in 2021, an early goal was to restore the tree canopy on the island. Four years in, we are making good progress toward that goal. In 2022, we planted about ten small (one foot) hybrid American chestnuts. Several are now over ten feet tall. In 2023, we made a large purchase of saplings (also about one foot) from the Maryland State Tree Nursery. We planted dozens of Virginia pine, white oak, cherry, locust, and river birch trees. Many of the Virginia pines are now over four feet tall, and the slower-growing oak trees are about three feet tall. We planted the water-loving river birch closer to the river, but it is not clear if they survived several floods. This spring we planted about fifteen larger (six to eight foot) white oak and red oak trees using funding provided through a Chesapeake Bay Trust grant. Oak trees are considered a keystone species that supports a large variety of insects and animals. All of the newly planted oak trees appear to be doing well. We also planted a small number of native ornamental trees, including red bud, American plum, and sweet crabapple.
Another early MICC goal was to remove (or control) the significant growth of the non-native invasive plants. As the removal continued, it became apparent that there was significant growth of naturally occurring saplings that self-seeded, including bitternut hickory, hackberry, elm, ash, locust, and beech. These are some of the fastest growing trees, as they started from seed and developed healthy root systems early on.
Our success has taken significant effort. We cage all of our larger saplings in fourteen gauge wire to protect them from deer browse and buck rub, and we often need to increase cage size every year to match the trees’ growth. At least twice a year we clear the cages and areas around the trees of invasive vines. In addition, we have had to water newly-planted trees during dry times, including significant effort this summer to ensure our newly-planted oak trees had access to water. We have not noticed beaver impacts on the island in the last several years, but we constantly monitor and we would cage our larger trees if beaver activity is noticed.
As we approach the winter months, I’d like to remind prospective island visitors to exercise caution due to the dangers of cold water. While Minnie’s will remain open to visitation during the day, MICC typically does not sponsor events from November through February, when the combined air and water temperatures are below 100 degrees, or when the river level is above five feet as measured at Little Falls.
By Joe Saliunas, certified Maryland Master Naturalist, vice-chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy
Contributing Writer [...]
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October 20, 2025A longtime anchor in the Cabin John community will soon be saying goodbye. Level Fitness, which has served local residents for more than two decades, announced that it will close its doors on November 30, 2025.
The decision to close Level Fitness was not made by the gym itself. The property is under contract for sale to Opal Homes, which currently plans to redevelop the site into residential luxury townhomes. As a result, the landlord has informed Level Fitness that its lease will be terminated. Many of Level’s 430 members, along with 70 additional passholders, were disappointed by the news and had hoped the landlord would provide more notice before requiring the gym to close.
Despite the difficult news, the Level staff is committed to maintaining operations at full strength until the final day. “Our goal over the next few months is to continue providing the same level of care, service, and support our members have always known,” the owners said in a message to the Level community. They also pledged to keep all staff fully employed through November.
Since opening its doors 21 years ago, Level Fitness has become more than just a place to work out. Members often note that Level has been as much about community as about fitness, a place where people support one another. Member Amy Elsbree regrets the closure, “Over the years I worked with a trainer, joined fitness classes, and used the exercise equipment on my own. Whatever workout phase I was in, Level had what I needed. A bonus was that I saw familiar faces from the CJ community in the classes and around the gym, making it feel like home.” In announcing the closing, the owners of Level Fitness expressed deep gratitude to the members who sustained them through the years: “We could not have thrived without your loyalty, energy, and encouragement.”
The building itself has a much longer history as a community gathering spot. According to Cabin John historian Judy Welles, as far back as the 1930s, it housed a post office before later becoming a beauty shop and gift store, where women gathered for haircuts, crafts, gifts, and even antiques. In later decades, it was home to an outdoor adventure store and a wild bird shop. For almost 100 years, the site has been a commercial establishment that has added to the unique character of Cabin John. The commercial history of the site carries forward to Level’s present business. And, converting the entire property to residential use will require a change of its current commercial designation by Montgomery County.
Level Fitness invites community members to continue visiting in the months ahead and to share memories—both of the gym itself and of the building’s unique role in Cabin John’s commercial history—as the closing date approaches.
By Sarah Craven, Contributing Writer [...]
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October 20, 2025CJCA News–Important Meeting Updates
Unfortunately, our planned speaker for the October meeting, long time Cabin John resident Harley Balzer, has had to reschedule, hopefully for November. He will lead a discussion on his recently published book Failure: Russia Under Putin. Watch for updates in November’s Village News and via the CJCA listserv.
We have two upcoming meetings this fall:
Wednesday, October 22, 7:30pm, CBNRC. We will discuss a number of CJCA-related topics and events as well as review the budget. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6942294360?pwd=n25MwfwZvgvwb63WlKoO7G0JZbCaqz.1&omn=84122658587. Meeting ID: 694 229 4360. Passcode: 672906
Tuesday, November 4 at 7:00pm, CBNRC. District 1 Montgomery County Councilmember Andrew Friedson will discuss a variety of topics. including zoning and new home construction impacting our community. https://us06web.zoom.us/j/6942294360?pwd=n25MwfwZvgvwb63WlKoO7G0JZbCaqz.1&omn=84122658587. Meeting ID: 694 229 4360. Passcode: 672906
There is also a Pre-Submission Community Meeting where OPaL will discuss their plans for the proposed development of the property located at 7687 MacArthur Blvd. and give the community an opportunity to provide input. Tuesday, October 28 at 6:30 PM, CBNRC.
Public Works Corner
Two important updates this month on major capital programs impacting our community:
First, the northern extension of the Virginia High Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes. This project extends the HOT lanes to just south of the Maryland border and includes several fly-overs, new bridges over the beltway and exit/interchange changes. The project is expected to be complete by the end of this year with the HOT lanes opening by the end of December. Expect lane closures and other changes to traffic patterns as the project accelerates to completion. More information is available at https://495next.vdot.virginia.gov/.
Second, progress continues on the Purple Line, a light rail project that extends from New Carrollton to Bethesda. All track is scheduled to be in place by the summer of 2026 with the Purple Line formally opening to the public in late 2027. The Capital Crescent trail, a popular bike, walk and run trail, has been closed east of Bethesda for many years and is being used for construction access. The trail is scheduled to be opened back to the public in the spring of 2026. More information can be found at https://www.purplelinemd.com/.
By Scott Lewis [...]
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October 20, 2025While walking my dog, I often stop to smell the roses–quite literally. Thanks to the hard work of the MacArthur Boulevard Beautification Committee, Cabin John’s main street boasts lush verges of flowers, plants and grasses. Roses, peonies, butterfly bush, allium, daisies, liriope, lilies, salvia, and ornamental grasses burst with color and texture, buzzing with bees and butterflies. Some stretch along the sidewalk for nearly a block, some are smaller manicured corner gardens with stones or wooden landscape edging and pebble pots. The Cabin John Citizens Association sponsored the committee in 2019 to celebrate its 100th Anniversary.
Many residents may not realize that Cabin John’s first beautification committee was formed in the late 1960s, when the yet to be named Cabin John Village News first launched and the new sense of local pride led to an effort of “prettying up our town.”
The April 1967 newsletter announced Operation Clean-Up, “Cabin John’s face-lifting day. That’s when your trash will be the business of the Citizens Association Beautification Committee.” Through a community fundraising initiative, nearly $500 was collected to fill some 30 garden plots with evergreens and azaleas that stretched from Persimmon Tree Road to the Union Arch Bridge.
Each of these plots measured 4’ x12’ and had local resident sponsors. Teams comprised of 4-H Girls, Girl Scout Troop 248, the Cabin John Garden Association and the Brookmont Garden Club sponsored several plots too. Each was tasked with planting and maintaining their individual plots. A local resident’s father who worked at the National Arboretum helped secure more flowering shrubs to complete the fall planting, while the Village News urged teams to plant their own various bulbs for springtime color. Volunteers collected cast off logs from the PEPCO yard to create edgings. The Citizens Association invited local guest speakers including congressmen and councilmen to help “mark a new ‘fringe benefit’ for Cabin John.”
In October 1967, the community celebrated its beautification of MacArthur Boulevard with an Arbor Day gathering at the baseball field, featuring apple cider, donuts and guest speakers. “Hundreds of people have helped us in one way or another to get this far. The little garden plots are the community’s. Share with us Saturday with your interest and pride in our project!!!”
By 1968, local efforts along MacArthur Boulevard had flourished and the curbside gardens burst with color and plants. The Cabin John Citizens Association addressed various community matters in the Village News (some of which sound familiar today): the planting of flowers along MacArthur Boulevard, the petitioning against jet noise and jet pollution, the search for a satisfactory site for a swimming pool on Seven Locks Road, and getting the “county and Aqueduct police to cut down drag-racing and other delinquent activities.”
However, despite its initial success, the beautification committee of the late 1960s seems to have been short-lived, as the local newsletter often noted the ongoing vandalism and destruction of the gardens, which even led to an arrest.
“We hope you have noticed the gardens along MacArthur… especially those of the Girl Scouts near the bridge, and the Brownies, across from the fire house. Many, many people have donated their time and effort to making the gardens into what they are today. Unfortunately, many of the gardens have been destroyed by deliberate vandalism. In some of them, plants have been dug up and carried off. In many more, passers-by have cut off the flowers and plants or uprooted them for their own selfish, temporary and immature pleasure. We urge you to take pride in the community’s effort to beautify itself. We also must warn our vandals that the gardens are on Army property. There has been one arrest already for destruction and the police have been alerted to watch for destroyers.”
“We should remember that the plants have been purchased with the money from the entire community. Their destruction is a kick in the shins to each and every one of us! Their health and attractiveness are an asset to all of us!”
Today, the Cabin John Beautification Committee once again celebrates community spirit through its cultivation of MacArthur Boulevard’s green verges (thankfully without any issues of vandalism). Headed by longtime local resident Susan Roberts, the project continues to maintain the vibrant gardens and add new sections. With the help of regular volunteers, including Scott Hoffman, whose assistance with spring mulching and new plantings is invaluable, the committee has transformed the main street into a verdant thoroughfare. The CJCA, donations and a bake sale at this year’s crab feast, all help to fund this ongoing project, as do its volunteers.
One of those volunteers, Sarah Cahill, has worked with the beautification committee since 2020. After meeting fellow volunteers, she was inspired to plant as many native plantings as possible, digging up several black eyed susans from her own garden and transplanting them to the roadside plots. “It’s a lot of work, but I get so much back in return. I meet wonderful people who stop to chat, I get a chance to educate people on native plants and share seeds, and I am always surrounded by butterflies and bees.” If you would like to help keep Cabin John beautiful, volunteers are always welcome.
By Rachel Donnan, CJ Historian, Contributing Writer [...]
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October 20, 2025One of the first things you will notice if you walk the trails of Minnie’s Island this month is the large number of plants with yellow flowers. In particular, Minnie’s has a population of hundreds of bear’s foot (Smallanthus uvedalia) plants. They grow up to eight feet tall and the flowers are typically covered with bees. Other yellow-flowered plants blooming this month on Minnie’s includes wingstem (Verbesina alternafolia), crowbeard (Verbesina occidentalis), lance-leaf coneflower (Rudeckia laciniata), pale-leaved sunflower (Heliantus strumosus), and multiple species of goldenrod (Solidago). All of these plants are in the daisy (Asteracia) family.
Why do so many fall-blooming plants have yellow flowers? In browsing the internet, I couldn’t find definitive answers; however, there are a number of hypotheses that make sense. One is that yellow flowers are particularly attractive to the pollinators that co-evolved with the plants. While they look just yellow to us, they appear multi-colored when viewed under the ultra-violet spectrum that insects see in, with the target for pollinators highlighted. Another is that it takes less energy for plants to produce yellow flowers than other colors, and this is particularly important in the late summer and fall when dry conditions are not unusual. A third is that most of these plants are meadow plants that co-evolved with grasses, and the yellow-colored flowers stand out to pollinators against the browns of the fall grasses.
All of these yellow wildflowers are native to our area, and many make great additions to your garden. My garden is enhanced by wingsteam, pale-leaved sunflower, and several species of goldenrod. They all can be grown from seed or transplanted (remember you are not allowed to dig up plants from the C&O Canal). I wouldn’t be surprised if most readers already have some “volunteer” goldenrods in their gardens.
Don’t be afraid to plant goldenrod–some people think it causes hay fever–but that is not true. The primary culprit for hayfever is ragweed, which is wind-pollinated. Goldenrod has colorful flowers that are pollinated by insects. It is known for attracting a very diverse number of different pollinators, including moths, wasps, and many species of small native bees. Goldenrods can be difficult to identify as there are many species in our area. One of the tools that you can use to narrow your search is the citizen-science application, iNaturalist. There is a project in iNaturalist called “2024 Plants: Potomac Gorge, MD,” at https://www.inaturalist.org/projects/2024-plants-potomac-gorge-md with over 10,000 observations. The most common goldenrod observations on this site include zigzag, early, elm-leaved, giant, and wrinkle-leaved goldenrods. Unsurprisingly, these are some of the easiest to identify goldenrods.
This is a great time of year to walk the canal, hike along the river, or grab your canoe and come and visit Minnie’s.
By Joe Saliunas, Contributing Writer, Maryland Master Naturalist and vice-chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy [...]
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September 12, 2025CJCA NEWS
The CJCA Officers have planned a busy and exciting Fall for our community. In addition to the Annual Crab Feast earlier this month, our first meeting of the year will feature our local and well-known bird expert Clive Harris.
First our events:
Turkey Trot will be held on Thanksgiving Day, November 27 at 10:00am at the Cabin John Local Park (the field behind CBNRC).
Holiday Party will be held on Sunday, December 14 from 5:00-7:00pm at the CBNRC
And our meetings:
Winter Birds with Clive Harris – CJCA Meeting at the CBRNC on Wednesday September 24th at 7:30
As the days grow shorter and the air turns crisp, our feathered visitors begin to change. This winter, join us for a special presentation by Clive Harris, who will explore the fascinating variety of birds we can expect to see in the coming months.
Some of these species have traveled incredible distances on their seasonal migrations, while others are hardy locals that brighten our landscapes throughout the colder season. To bring their stories to life, Clive will share a selection of his own photographs, capturing both the beauty and the unique behaviors of these winter birds.
Whether you’re an avid birder or simply curious about the natural world around you, this talk promises to be both informative and inspiring.
Harley Balzer will lead a discussion on his recently published book ‘Failure: Russia Under Putin’ – CJCA Meeting at the CBRNC on Wednesday October 22nd at 7:30
Failure examines the significant failures Russia has faced under Vladimir Putin’s leadership and presents an important counterpoint to a broad range of studies emphasizing Russia’s resurrection, status as a persistent power, or successful military reform. Harvey Balzer is a Professor at Georgetown University and a leading expert on Russian politics, society, and history. His research and teaching focus on the evolution of post-Soviet states, democratization, and comparative political systems. Widely published and frequently sought after for his insights, he has advised policymakers and contributed to international discussions on Russia’s role in global affairs.
Discussion with Evan Glass, Montgomery County Councilman – CJCA Meeting at the CBRNC on Wednesday September 24th at 7:30
Evan Glass is the first openly LGBTQ+ person ever elected to the Council. He’s passionate about making the county a more inclusive, sustainable, and connected place—whether through expanding affordable housing, improving public transportation, or advancing environmental initiatives. Before entering public service, Evan spent 12 years as a journalist with CNN and later led Gandhi Brigade Youth Media, helping young people find their voices through storytelling. Today, he lives in Silver Spring with his husband, Jason, and their two rescue beagles—always keeping one eye on community progress and the other on the neighborhood dog park.
By Scott Lewis
WE REALLY NEED A LAYOUT/DESIGN VOLUNTEER AT The Village News
We know people love reading The Village News, and the volunteers that write, edit, manage the ads and finances, and put together the layout of the newsletter each month. The VN team enjoys working together and bringing you the important neighborhood updates, human interest stories, photo spreads and more.
We’ve been operating with an interim layout designer doing double duty at CJCA for nearly a year now and we really, really need to find a person or two who could take over the layout of the newsletter.
If you want to find out more and/or think you could lend a hand, please contact vneditorial@gmail.com.
CJ 2025 NEIGHBORHOOD DIRECTORY – FINAL CALL FOR ENTRIES
CJCA will publish an updated Neighborhood Directory this fall. If you have not yet added or updated your household contact information, please do so by September 30 at https://cabinjohn.org/index.php/cabin-john-directory/.
If you had a listing in the 2021 Directory and do not indicate otherwise, that listing will be repeated in the new Directory. If you have new neighbors, please encourage them to submit their contact information!
Local Talent: We will again include a section in the directory where neighbors can share the services they provide, e.g. artists, health and wellness services, musicians, notary public. If you want to be included in the Local Talent list (the listing is free) and have not already done so, please submit a short description of your talent along with your name, phone, email address and and website address, if applicable, to CJDirectory2020@gmail.com. If you had a Local Talent listing in the 2021 Directory but have not replied to the confirmation email request sent from CJDirectory2020@gmail.com on August 30, your listing will not appear in the 2025 Directory.
Questions? Contact Marcy Harrison at CJDirectory2020@email.com. [...]
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September 12, 2025I remember the chorus to a traditional song from my youth:
Picking up paw-paws, put em in your pocket (x3)
Way down yonder in the paw-paw patch
You can pick up fruits from our local paw-paw patches that are found along the canal and river, but they are usually too soft to put in your pocket.
The paw-paw (Asimina triloba) produces the largest edible fruit of any native plant in North America. Trees are most often found growing in the understory (in the shade of larger canopy trees) along floodplains, but they fruit best in full sun. Trees grow up to 35 feet in height and can have trunks up to 12 inches in diameter. The leaves can be up to 12 inches long. Paw-paws can be one of the most common understory trees, as their bark, leaves, and twigs have chemicals that are distasteful to deer and other grazers. An exception is that they are the host plant for zebra swallowtail caterpillars.
I am seeing significant quantities of paw-paw fruit on trees this year. Two years ago, I saw just a handful of fruits on Minnie’s Island. Last year, I saw only two small fruits. This year I have seen fruit on many trees and all signs point to a good harvest. I expect that this year’s production is due to good conditions during pollination in April and a wet June and July. Pollination is not easy for paw-paws, as trees require pollen from a genetically distinct tree in order to produce fruit. This cross-pollination is often difficult since many paw-paw patches contain just one individual plant that has runners creating cloned copies of the individual. Most fruits in our area mature from late August through September.
I encourage you to take a walk along the river and pick up some paw-paw fruits. Individuals are allowed to harvest paw-paw fruits from C&O Canal National Historic Park for personal consumption. According to the Superintendent’s Compendium at https://www.nps.gov/choh/learn/management/superintendent-s-compendium.htm there is a daily limit of one-half gallon of fruit per person. I most often find them on the ground, and you need to be quick to pick them up before the insects and animals get to them. Not all trees have fruit, and I find the best way of locating them is from their musty, sweet smell.
Paw-paw fruits have nicknames like “custard apple” or “West Virginia banana.” Their taste is often described as a cross between a mango and a banana. You can eat fresh fruits raw (with skin and seeds removed), but my favorite way of eating paw-paws is to make ice cream. There are multiple recipes online, and they typically involve collecting enough paw-paws to have about two cups of fruit pulp, plus cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Bon appétit!
By Joe Saliunas, Certified Maryland Master Naturalist & vice-chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy
Contributing Writer [...]
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September 12, 2025Finn Tomlinson of Tomlinson Terrace took his jumping skills to Japan this summer. The U.S. jump rope team collectively earned 29 medals in World Championships, coming in fifth in terms of medals earned, out of about 30 countries competing. Finn, along with three teammates, earned a third-place medal in a single rope team freestyle event in the International Open Tournament after qualifying in February.
The competition was held in Kawasaki, Japan July 26-August 3, and was organized by the International Jump Rope Union.
The U.S. team faced teams from Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Belgium, France, Sweden, Denmark, South Africa, China, Spain, Kenya and elsewhere. Japan and Hong Kong were among the top competitors.
“I was in ‘four style’ with three of my friends and we had a clean, normal-looking routine, which is what we wanted, because we hit a lot of misses in the beginning of the practice season,” Finn said. “I loved watching the Japanese and Chinese teams compete because you can see they have such a high work ethic and they put a lot of time and practice into their events,” Finn added.
“The culture of jump rope is so chill and everybody is so nice. That’s why I do it. And in Kawasaki, I traded my U.S. team jersey with an athlete from Hong Kong for his shirt, and I got keychains and I made new friends. It’s not a cutthroat atmosphere and we can both learn from each other.”
Finn, a junior at McLean School, moved to Cabin John at age 9 and while he also liked basketball, jump roping captured his interest because it required the most creativity, discipline and teamwork. It also requires—and develops—a high level of fitness.
Whereas Worlds are held every two years, the national competition is held annually. This year it was held in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, in June. Many U.S. team players hope the World Championships will raise the profile of jump roping and help make it an Olympic event. “It’s a great sport because you never stop learning,” Finn said.
By Hugh Biggar [...]
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August 14, 2025Welcome to a new program year for the Cabin John Citizens Association. We have a number of interesting meetings and activities planned for this coming year.
The CJCA Officers elected at the May meeting to serve for 2025-2026 are:
· Co-Presidents – Scott & Heidi Lewis
· Vice Presidents – Marcy Harrison and Pete Couste
· Secretary – Kelly Banuls
· Treasurer – Gilbert Schwartz (to be formally elected in September)
We would like to thank Bob Walsh for his service to the CJCA as CJCA treasurer and Charlotte Troup Leighton for her years of service as a vice-president leading CJCA’s advocacy agenda. Much appreciation to you both!
Our first CJCA meeting of the program year is Wednesday, September 24 at 7:30 pm at the CBNRC. Clive Harris will discuss birds we can expect to see during the coming winter months, some of which will have migrated long distances. He is an enthusiastic birder and a former president of the Montgomery Bird Club, a chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society, as well as a former member of the Maryland-DC Bird Records Committee. He will illustrate the talk with some of his photos.
CJCA 2025-2026 CALENDAR
2025
Saturday, September 13 – 55th Annual Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast , 2:00-6:00 pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, September 24 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
At this meeting, Clive Harris will discuss birds we can expect to see during the coming winter months, some of which will have migrated long distances. Clive is an enthusiastic birder and a former president of the Montgomery Bird Club, a chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society, as well as a former member of the Maryland-DC Bird Records Committee. He will illustrate the talk with some of his photos.
Sunday, October 5 – CJ Blood Drive, 10:00 am-3:00 pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, October 22 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, November 19 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Thursday, November 27 – CJ Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot, 10:00 am- Cabin John Local Park (field behind CBNRC)
Sunday, December 14 – CJ Holiday Party, 5:00-7:00 pm – CBNRC
2026
Wednesday, January 21 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Saturday, January 24 – Trivia Night, 6:30-10:30 pm – CBNRC
Sunday, February 1 – CJ Blood Drive, 10:00 am-3:00 pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, February 25 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Saturday, March 21– Bike Clinic, 10:00 am-12:00 pm – CBNRC
Sunday, March 22 – Spring Egg Hunt, 4:00 pm – Playground & Field at CBNRC
Wednesday, March 25 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, April 22 – CJCA meeting, 7:30pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, May 20 – CJCA Meeting, 7:30pm – CBNRC
Sunday, May 31 – CJ Blood Drive, 10:00 am-3:00 pm – CBNRC
Saturday, July 4 – July 4th Parade – 79th Street at MacArthur Blvd to CBNRC
By Scott and Heidi Lewis, CJCA Co-Presidents [...]
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August 14, 2025Get ready for an afternoon of great food, live music, and community fun! The 2025 Cabin John Chicken & Crab Feast will be held on Saturday, September 13, from 2:00 to 6:00 PM — and you won’t want to miss it.
Feast on steamed crabs, grilled chicken with a secret-recipe rub, fresh, perfectly cooked vegetables, homemade baked beans, and more — all prepared and served by your Cabin John neighbors.
Festivities kick off at 2:00, with the DC Starlight Orchestra—featuring CJCA Co-President Scott Lewis—taking the stage shortly after. The event runs until 6:00 PM, offering plenty of time to eat, mingle, and enjoy the music.
The Chicken & Crab Feast is Cabin John’s largest community gathering, drawing more than 600 residents and friends each year. It also serves as a key fundraiser for the Cabin John Citizens’ Association.
There will be games and activities for kids, run by the friendly staff of the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center.
Volunteers Needed!
It takes over 150 people to plan, prep, serve, and clean up the Crab Feast every year. Ask anyone who has worked the Crab Feast and they will confirm it is really fun volunteering for an hour or two. You’ll never regret getting to know your neighbors a little better and getting that warm feeling from knowing you’ve done your part.
You can volunteer here – https://forms.gle/EMbXvbzL5dJsy1WR6
Buy your tickets at – https://my.cheddarup.com/c/2024-cjca-chicken-and-crab-feast-copy/items
2025 Tickets and prices:
Veggie 5 Sides Dinner Meal Ticket – $18 in advance, $20 at the door
Chicken & 3 Sides Dinner Meal Ticket – $20 in advance, $24 at the door
3 Crabs & 3 Sides Dinner Meal Ticket – $21 in advance, $25 at the door
6 Crabs Dinner Meal Ticket – $24 in advance, $30 at the door [...]
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August 14, 2025Despite the heat, humidity, and some particularly aggressive insects, community volunteers showed up in force for Friends of Moses Hall’s June 21 cemetery clean-up at the historic Morningstar Moses Cemetery in Cabin John. While late spring clean-ups tend to be lighter than those in the fall, they bring their own challenges—namely brambles, bugs, and high temperatures. But none of that slowed volunteers down. Thanks to their hard work, the cemetery looks better than ever.
Earlier in the month, many Cabin John residents also turned out for the premiere of the new short documentary, Help Us to Help Each Other, Lord: The Story of Morningstar Tabernacle Number 88 of Cabin John, Maryland. Written and directed by L. Paige Whitley and produced by Friends of Moses Hall, the film debuted June 3 at Round House Theatre before a crowd of nearly 270 attendees, including descendants of those buried at the site and local public officials.
The powerful film offers a moving look at the enduring legacy of Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 and the fight to preserve African American history, heritage, and sacred ground. It was also featured at the 2025 Conference on Public Archaeology in Washington, DC, and additional screenings—including a virtual event—are in the works.
Learn more at www.friendsofmoseshall.org.
By Charlotte Troup Leighton
Contributing Writer [...]
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June 9, 2025CJCA May Meeting: Officers Elected; Plummers Island Presentation
The CJCA held its last meeting of the 2024-2025 Program Year on Thursday, May 28. After the review and approval of the April CJCA Meeting Minutes and a presentation of the upcoming community events, the first substantial matter was election of the CJCA officers for the 2025-2026 Program Year.
Here is the slate of officers:
Co-Presidents – Heidi & Scott Lewis
Vice President – Marcy Harrison
Vice President – Pete Couste
Secretary – Kelly Banuls
Treasurer – Bob Walsh will serve through the summer. A new treasurer will take on the role in the fall.
The second substantial matter was a presentation from Robert Soreng on Plummers Island. Just downstream from the American Legion Bridge, Plummers Island is 12.2 acres in size with a high point of 72 feet. The island is maintained by the Washington Biologists’ Field Club. Its main purpose is to bring together biologists in the region from government and educational institutions to socialize and exchange ideas. Additionally, members carry out long-term studies on changes in ecology and biological diversity in the local area without human interference. Membership is by invitation and is limited to 65 local members.
Plummers Island is considered the most thoroughly studied island in North America. Some of the more interesting projects conducted there include studies on beetles, giant silk moths and peregrine falcons. The potential expansion of the American Legion Bridge is cause for concern; a widened bridge would have enormous impact on water quality and flow. More information on the island can be found at https://wbfc.science/.
Palisades Free Swim For CJ Residents Begins June 17
As part of a long-standing agreement, Cabin John residents are admitted free of charge to the popular Palisades Pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, June 20 through Labor Day—whether or not they are members of the private swim club on Seven Locks Road.
The Cabin John Free Swim originated as a part of a 1967 agreement between the Cabin John community and the founders of the Palisades Pool for the neighborhood support and approval of the zoning variance needed to construct the pool.
Cabin Johners must sign in at the pool’s front check-in desk and provide proof of residency (your listing in the CJ Neighborhood directory, an ID with an address, or a utility bill mailed to a Cabin John address).
Children aged 7 and under must be accompanied by a supervising adult. Children aged 8-14 without an adult are asked to satisfy a swim test by swimming one length of the pool and treading water for one minute.
Public Works Corner: Log Wall Construction Completed!
After several years of construction, the dry wall between mile 11 and 11.5 has been completed. Originally constructed from 1828-1831, the “Log Wall” is approximately 1,015 linear feet long and built with historic drylaid stone wall, which extends as high as 35 feet.
According to the National Park Service, this portion of the canal was altered in the 1960s by the installation of the Potomac Interceptor Combined Sewer, which is operated and maintained by DC Water. In 2015 and 2016 a series of sinkholes formed, necessitating that the water in the canal be lowered over a four-mile stretch, including upstream of the log wall to mile 13.5 and downstream towards Washington, DC.
While there are some lingering impacts at Carderock–primarily parking–this project is otherwise complete. The detours have been deconstructed, the tow path has been repaired, and there is a new fence along the top of the wall for added safety.
Announcing the CJCA 2025-2026 Calendar!
We are pleased to announce the calendar for CJCA Events for 2025-2026:
We begin the fall with the 55th Annual Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast – Saturday, September 13, 2:00-6:00 pm.
Our three Blood Drives, all on Sundays – October 5, February 1 and May 31 starting at 10:00 am. We are spacing them 60+ days apart for the double red givers!
Our ever-popular Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot will be on November 27 at 10:00 am (on Thanksgiving, of course).
Our annual Holiday Party will be Sunday, December 14 starting at 5:00 pm.
The renowned CJCA Trivia Night – Saturday, January 24 starting at 6:30 pm.
We will have a go at the Bike Clinic again given its popularity. Saturday, April 11th, at 10:00 am.
Our Spring Egg Hunt will be Sunday, April 12, at 4:00 pm (one week after MCPS spring break).
Our Wednesday night CJCA Meetings – September 17, October 15, November 19, January 21, February 18, March 18, April 15, and May 20.
Celebrating America, the Cabin John July 4th Parade is on Saturday, July 4 starting at 10:00 am [...]
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June 9, 2025OPaL Design Build, a Cabin John-based home builder, is proposing a five-home development at 7687 MacArthur Boulevard, home to Level Fitness for 20 years. Sean Ruppert, president of OPaL, held an informal meeting May 29 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center to share his plans with the community.
The OPAL plan calls for five homes, each between 3,900 and 4,100 square feet that would sell for roughly $2.5 million. They would be three stories tall, just under the 35-foot height restriction, and include full basements. Each would include a one-car garage and off-street parking for one car.
Two homes would be standalone and three would be attached as that allows OPaL to comply with simplified rezoning rules for developers wanting to convert commercial property to multi-family residential units.
Acknowledging neighborhood concerns about stormwater management, Ruppert said he is looking at such features as permeable pavers, partial green roofs and other steps to mitigate rainwater runoff. As part of the plan, he will have to upgrade the ditch parallel to MacArthur Boulevard that currently catches stormwater. He plans to prepare a stormwater management plan to submit for county approval in the next month.
Meeting participants also raised concerns about increased parking issues on 77th Street. (There is no street parking allowed on MacArthur nor across the street in the private townhome development called MacArthur Park.)
Another issue raised is the potential loss of one of the few commercial properties in Cabin John. To paraphrase one neighbor’s comment, “It’s the restaurants, post offices and other local businesses that make Cabin John a community, otherwise we are just a neighborhood.” Several attendees expressed their desire to see Level Fitness remain in operation there.
Ruppert, who said he is the contract owner of the property, has 90 days to determine if his plan is going to work and he wants to move forward, and nine months to finalize a purchase. His plan is to hold the county-required community meeting to explain the plan in more detail, including rezoning and stormwater management, in late June or July.
Ruppert decided to explore purchasing and developing the property after hearing a December 2024 pitch by Broad Branch Partners who wanted to put 11 townhouses on the roughly half-acre property. The owner, former CJ resident James Wilner, is selling the property, currently zoned primarily commercial, for $3.15 million. It includes three buildings, one of which is residential, and parking for 16 cars.
You can see the designs on their website: https://www.opaldc.com/7687macarthur
By Susan Shipp
Contributing Writer [...]
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June 9, 2025Many artists have called Cabin John home. Something about the area seems to nurture creativity. While visiting the “yellow house” by the C&O Canal towpath on the recent Cabin John House Tour, I was reminded that the artist Joseph C. Claghorn had lived there nearly a century ago.
Joseph Conover Claghorn was born in Philadelphia in 1869. He studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, as well as the School of Industrial Art and the School of Architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.
Claghorn was nationally recognized for his landscape paintings, murals and etchings. His subject matter stretched from New England to Florida. His uncle, James L. Claghorn, was a collector and arts patron who served as president of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. The family counted New England sea captains and whalers among their ancestors.
In 1900, Joseph Claghorn lived in San Francisco, where he worked as an artist. By 1902, he was back on the East Coast in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania and married to Constance Inman. He worked as an artist and teacher, while Constance was a homemaker. They had a child, Joseph Claghorn Jr. on August 17, 1906 but he sadly passed away only 45 days later. Claghorn continued to work as a teacher and artist and–according to teacher announcements in the local paper–was appointed to the manual training department in a local school at a monthly salary of $155.55.
Sometime before 1920, the Claghorns moved to Hiatt Place in Washington D.C. At age 50, he worked as an arts and crafts teacher in a public high school and continued painting. And by 1929, the couple was living in Cabin John in the small cottage by the canal. As noted during the house tour, the original part of the home was a one-room fishing hut built around 1900. During the 1920s, several rooms were added to the structure, including the two-story studio on the south side of the house overlooking the Potomac River (Washington Home & Garden magazine, 1990). Claghorn called his large studio in the cottage “the Paint Box.”
Claghorn’s works often depicted fleeting or tranquil moments in nature and were painted in an impressionist style with loose brushstrokes of soft colors and light. Working in both watercolor and oil, his works portrayed pastoral scenes of fields and rivers, views down winding rural roads, and scenic coastlines. Works sometimes included figures in nature, clapboard houses, blacksmith shops, or small village streets with horse-drawn coaches. He was also an accomplished etcher, creating detailed architectural renderings of local landmarks such as the White House and Mount Vernon, as well as landscapes and portraits. Yet his landscape etchings maintain a soft, almost ethereal quality.
When I first came across (online) his watercolor titled Women on a Riverbank (Call to Dinner) c. 1909, I thought this work must be along the Potomac River near the Claghorns’ home. In this painting, early evening light illuminates the placid water, the almost bare trees dotted with a few autumnal orange and yellow leaves. Two women in long dresses and aprons stand along the river’s edge, facing away from the viewer. One of the women raises her hands to her mouth and appears to be calling out. A lone man further up the riverbank faces the women from a distance, as if poised to listen. Beyond the lone figure, between the canal side of the river and the island on the left, the river opens up. This vista feels familiar. It could be the riverside path in Cabin John between Locks 8 and 10, looking west towards Great Falls, where the sheltered channel gives way to the wide expanse of the Potomac.
However, according to census records and newspaper articles, Joseph and Constance did not move to Cabin John until the 1920s. In 1909, they would have still been residing in Swarthmore. Yet a 1907 print titled Rock Creek Near Georgetown suggests Claghorn had already spent time in this area. Perhaps he even found his way to the Cabin John Hotel and discovered the fishing hut along the canal.
Joseph Claghorn was prominent in the local DC art scene. He was a member of the Arts Club, the Washington Water Color Club and the Landscape Club, and served as secretary of the Society of Washington Artists. In 1932, his work was exhibited in several venues, including a show of his paintings and etchings at the Arts Club. The Smithsonian held an exhibition of 41 of his prints that included landscapes, portraits, buildings, and even several nude figures. The Sunday Star newspaper noted “it is seldom that an etcher employs with such facility so many methods and sets forth such a variety of subjects. Some of Mr. Claghorn’s work is pure etching in line, some is soft-ground and aquatint, some in color……there is something very poetic and lovely about Mr. Claghorn’s soft ground and aquatint etchings of landscape, themes witnessing to lightness of touch and sensitiveness of perception.”
Claghorn died in 1947. His wife Constance remained at the “yellow house” until the 1960s. She gifted the Smithsonian American Art Museum 11 of her husband’s artworks.
By Rachel Donnan, CJ Historian
Contributing Writer [...]
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June 9, 2025The View from Minnie’s Island–Measuring Water Levels on the Potomac
If you kayak, fish, hike the Billy Goat Trail, or just love being in nature, you likely check the Little Falls gauge before heading out. The US Geological Survey (USGS) gauge located at the Little Falls Dam is the most useful monitor for local Potomac River levels.
On May 15 this year, the river crested at 11.7 feet on the gauge, driven by a watershed-wide rain event that produced significant flooding in Western Maryland. As a point of reference, USGS classifies five feet as the “action level,” 10 feet as a minor flood, 12 feet as a moderate flood, and 14 feet as a major flood. The last time the river was higher was in June 2018, when the river crested at 12.4 feet.
While there are undeniably negative aspects of floods, they are a critical part of what makes the Potomac Gorge so unique and biologically rich. The Potomac is a rare large East Coast river that does not have major dams or reservoirs. This allows floods to scour riverbanks, which disrupts the growth of trees and shrubs, and creates new habitats for wildflowers.
The impact of the flood on Minnie’s Island has been positive overall. The flooding cleared away multiple fallen trees that were blocking the canoe landing and trails. Unfortunately, much of this wood is likely accumulating downstream in places like Fletchers Cove. It will be interesting to see if new native plants will be found on Minnie’s in the scoured areas.
I’m surprised to be writing about flooding, as I had planned on writing on the drought conditions that have persisted in our area over the past couple of years. As recently as early May this year, the river was at 3.2 feet, and for much of last summer the river was below 2.7 feet. The impact of droughts is especially visible in the scour plain portions of Minnie’s–areas covered by water when the river is between three and five feet. Last summer, there were significantly fewer flowering perennials in the scour plain compared to 2024.
It’s not clear how this rain will change the drought conditions that have impacted much of the Potomac watershed this year. As of May 19, the precipitation at Washington National Airport is one half-inch above the historical average, while BWI and Dulles are still well below historical averages.
The Little Falls Gauge can be monitored at: https://waterdata.usgs.gov/monitoring-location/01646500/#dataTypeId=continuous-00065-0&period=P7D. Another very useful link is the National Weather Service 10-day river level probability at https://www.weather.gov/erh/mmefs_marfc?id=BRKM2&model=NAEFS.
By Joe Saliunas, Certified Maryland Master Naturalist, Vice-Chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy
Contributing Writer [...]
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May 13, 2025CJCA May Meeting and Announcements
The final CJCA meeting of the year will be held at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center on Wednesday, May 28 at 7:30 p.m. You can also join online via https://meet.google.com/tpr-rbor-kyo/. There are two topics on the agenda. First, a presentation on Plummers Island. Plummers Island is a 12-acre Potomac River island visible from the American Legion Bridge. Second, we will hold elections for the CJCA for the 2025-2026 program year. If you are interested in a position, feel free to reach out to any CJCA officer or cjcapresidents@gmail.com.
CJCA Treasurer Position Open
Are you seeking to engage with our community in a much-needed and rewarding way? Can you spend a couple hours a week managing the funds associated with the CJCA? Have you ever written a check? If you answered “yes” to any of the above then you have the skills to become the next CJCA treasurer! Bob Walsh, who has capably and responsively managed our financial operations, will be stepping down this summer. Watch for an article next month on Bob’s contributions to Cabin John. Please email cjcapresidents@gmail.com if you are interested in the position. Many thanks from your CJCA board.
The Village News Layout Editor Needed
Do you want to contribute to the community? Get to know your neighbors? Volunteer with an awesome group of people? The Village News is seeking a new layout designer. We are seeking an amateur or professional to help lay out content and advertising for our monthly issues. The commitment is approximately 15 hours per month and we can provide some training.
Please contact interim layout designer Heidi Lewis, heidibrownlewis@gmail.com, to ask questions, offer ideas, or maybe do a “ride-along” for an issue to see if you’d like to step up and help out.
April CJCA Meeting: Officer Johnson Shares Public Safety Update
The April CJCA Meeting was held on Wednesday, April 28 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center. The meeting began with the review and approval of the March meeting minutes. The March meeting featured Montgomery County Board of Education Member Julie Yang, representing the Walt Whitman catchment area (District 3).
The balance of the April meeting focused on public safety in Cabin John and surrounding areas and featured Desmond Johnson, Community Services Officer for the Montgomery County Police Department. After completing the police academy, Officer Johnson was assigned to the 4th District (Wheaton). Officer Johnson served as a patrol officer for three years until 2013, when he transferred to the Recruitment/Backgrounds Section. He served as a recruiter from 2013-18 and later transferred to the 3rd District (Silver Spring) where he spent 2018-20 as a patrol officer. After the pandemic, Officer Johnson transferred to the 2nd District (Bethesda) in December 2022, to take on his current role of community services officer.
During the CJCA meeting Officer Johnson provided updates on crime in our area and best practices to avoid becoming a victim:
Crime Reporting & Data Access–Data Montgomery is a public tool providing crime reports by geographic area. Local crime data can be filtered by zip code or police beat. Go to https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/ and click on “Public Safety” to access it.
The most common crimes in the area are theft from autos (often due to unlocked doors and visible valuables), and fraud scams which include the grandparent scam (your grandchild is in trouble somehow/somewhere and needs money), romance scams, technical support scams, and banking scams. In general, scams begin with a phone call or other outreach with an attempt to engage using one of the approaches above.
Crime Prevention Tips–Always lock car and home doors; remove valuables from vehicles; use alarm systems (including on upper floors), surveillance cameras and motion lights; test old alarm systems to ensure they still function correctly; be cautious of unsolicited phone calls requesting personal or financial info; form active neighborhood watch groups or listservs; and notify a neighbor if you’re going on vacation so they will collect mail and turn on/off various lighting.
Police Staffing Challenges–The Bethesda District covers approximately 56.2 square miles and is covered by 8-9 officers per shift. Ideal staffing would be approximately 15 officers per shift. Fewer applicants are joining law enforcement despite budget and hiring bonuses, and recruitment and attrition remain major challenges.
Juvenile Crime & Legal Limitations–Many auto-related crimes are committed by juveniles from outside the area. This is driven, in part, by new laws which limit police authority to question minors without a guardian, complicating enforcement.
Technology & Surveillance–MoCoConnect: Residents can register their home security cameras (Ring, SimpliSafe, etc.) with this police initiative to aid investigations. A Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) and drone program help monitor incidents and guide officer response.
Drug Use–Overdoses and drug-related incidents have declined in recent years. Police conduct outreach (e.g., school presentations) about substance abuse, especially during prom season.
Check Fraud via USPS–Reports of checks being stolen and altered (“check washing”) have significantly increased. In some cases, postal workers have been involved. Report such fraud to the U.S. Postal Inspector and local police, and consider using online payment services.
Traffic & Cyclist Law Enforcement–As Cabin John is a major destination and thruway for bicyclists, Officer Johnson reminds us that bicyclists must obey stop signs and also noted that bicyclists/groups of bicyclists are legally entitled to take up a full lane just like a car. The CJCA is aware that friction between cyclists and drivers remains a neighborhood concern.
In addition to 911, two other important phone numbers to know are the Montgomery County Police NON-emergency number (301) 279-8000, and Officer Johnson’s direct line, which is (240) 773-3672. [...]
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May 13, 2025Friends of Moses Hall is honored to announce the distinguished panelists confirmed for the premiere of Help Us to Help Each Other, Lord: The Story of Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 of Cabin John, Maryland—a new documentary short film that sheds light on the rich legacy of African American benevolent societies and the historic Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 of the Order of Moses in Cabin John, Maryland.
The premiere, taking place on June 3 at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, will be followed by a panel discussion featuring nationally recognized leaders in historic preservation, African American burial ground advocacy, and cultural history. Their work has shaped public understanding of African American heritage through community-based research, education, and activism. We are thrilled to welcome the following speakers:
Lisa M. Fager, Executive Director of the Black Georgetown Foundation, is a leading voice in the preservation of African American cemeteries. Under her leadership, the historic Mount Zion and Female Union Band Society Cemeteries in Georgetown have gained national attention. Her advocacy helped propel the DC African American Burial Grounds Act of 2025 and earned her the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution’s first-ever Excellence in Historic Preservation medal.
Dr. Kami Fletcher, Associate Professor of African Diasporic Histories at Goucher College, is a pioneering “death scholar” whose research focuses on African American burial practices as acts of resistance and community empowerment. A co-founder of the Collective for Radical Death Studies, Dr. Fletcher has written extensively on African American death practices and their enduring cultural significance.
Chris Haley, Director of the Study of the Legacy of Slavery for the Maryland State Archives and Director of the Utopia Film Festival, brings a unique perspective that blends genealogy, historical research, and the arts. He is co-director of the acclaimed documentary Unmarked, which investigates neglected African American burial sites and the stories they hold.
Dr. Elgin Klugh, Professor at Coppin State University, leads the Laurel Cemetery Memorial Project, which seeks to restore public memory of a once-prominent African American cemetery in Baltimore that was destroyed in the 1950s. As an applied anthropologist, Dr. Klugh’s work combines scholarship with community engagement.
This powerful conversation will explore the cultural importance of African American burial grounds, the legacy of benevolent societies, and the challenges and triumphs of descendant-led preservation efforts.
We hope you will join us for this inspirational evening of history, remembrance, and resilience. Tickets and sponsorship opportunities are available at friendsofmoseshall.org.
By Charlotte Troup Leighton [...]
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May 13, 2025Shortly after moving to the DC area in the 1980s, I visited Mason Neck State Park in southern Fairfax County, where I saw my first bald eagles. At the time, seeing a bald eagle was a rare occurrence, as they were just starting their recovery following the banning of DDT in 1972. At Mason Neck, I met fellow eagle enthusiasts, and became involved in the bald eagle survey conducted at the state park there and at Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge. We would excitedly share information about nests in the area. I remember at the time there were three–one on Mason Neck, one near Pohick Bay on Fort Belvoir, and one just upstream of the water intake at Great Falls. It was not unusual for several of us to meet with our spotting scopes to watch the nest at Great Falls, sharing notes on nest building, feeding, and the excitement of seeing the heads of young eagles emerge from the nest for the first time.
In the years that followed, new eagle nests were found nearly every year, and seeing a bald eagle in the DC area, while always exciting, was not unusual. The first nest that I am aware of in the Cabin John area was started about twenty years ago on the Virginia shoreline just downstream of Sycamore Island. According to Dan Rauch, wildlife biologist with the DC Department of Energy & Environment, in 2024 there were 26 active nests on the Potomac between Great Falls and Mount Vernon. In our immediate area, I’m aware of three this year–one on the Virginia shore below Sycamore Island, one off Offutt Island below Old Angler’s Inn, and new this year, a possible nest in a sycamore tree on a small island located between Minnie’s Island and the mouth of Cabin John Creek.
I first observed the Cabin John nest on February 15. I did not see an eagle on the nest at that time but I did observe one perched nearby. On March 16, I first spotted the white head of an adult eagle on the nest, although I have not seen any activity since, despite near daily visits. Given the lack of activity, the new nest may not be active. It may also be an “alternate” nest for the pair below Sycamore Island, less than a mile away. In our area, pair formation and nest building starts in October, eggs are laid in February, eggs hatch in April and the young fledge (leave the nest) in May or June.
Observers can view the nest with the naked eye from the towpath about 100 feet upstream from the bench near the pedestrian bridge below the rope swings. Please send me a note if you see any activity at joe@minniesisland.org. If you do see activity, please do not disturb or get close to the nest. I’ll provide an update next month.
By Joe Saliunas
Certified Maryland Master Naturalist and Vice-Chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy [...]
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April 13, 2025SEEKING: LAYOUT DESIGNER FOR The Village News
Do you enjoy reading the VN? Have you ever used any sort of layout or design tool for a holiday card or class newsletter? Want to join a great team and meet lots of CJ’ers? Then you might be our next layout designer!
Contact Heidi Lewis – heidibrownlewis@gmail.com – to find out more and see if you might be willing to lend a hand.
CJ HOUSE TOUR, MAY 3 – HOW TO GET YOUR TICKETS
We welcome you to participate in the Cabin John House Tour on Saturday, May 3, from 1-5pm, rain or shine. Nine fascinating houses in Cabin John will be open for you to enjoy thanks to the generous cooperation of their owners. Tour participants can see one of the oldest homes in CJ, one of the newest, several award-winning designs, stunning renovations featuring light-filled rooms and wood views, including one overlooking the C&O Canal/Potomac River, lush exteriors, an expanded original Sears “kit house,” and unique stonework and art collections.
TICKETS – Tickets for this event are $25 per person and are limited to persons over the age of 12. Tickets can be purchased in person with cash, check made payable to CJCA, or Venmo in the parking lot of the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center, 7425 MacArthur Boulevard, on April 30 from 9-10am and 12-1pm, May 1 from 6-8pm, or May 3 from 12-3pm, or online using a credit card (+fee) at https://2025-house-tour.cheddarup.com. Each participant will be asked to sign a waiver form and will receive an entrance ticket, house descriptions and a tour map. Proceeds from the tour will be donated to the Cabin John Citizens Association.
HELP! We still need more HOUSE MONITORS! Please volunteer for 2 hours (or 1?) to be stationed in one of the houses and check in tour participants. Contact Marcy Harrison, tour organizer, at marcyharrison@earthlink.net or 301-908-8906 to volunteer. Thank you!!
CJCA NEWS: APRIL & MAY CJCA MEETINGS
Please join your neighbors at the April meeting of the CJCA. The meeting will take place on Wednesday, April 23 at 7:30pm at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center. You can also join online at https://meet.google.com/kga-refj-dix. This month’s topic will be crime and crime prevention. Our Montgomery County Community Liaison Officer Desmond Johnson will be attending to lead the discussion.
CJCA’s last meeting of the year will be Wednesday, May 28th at 7:30pm at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center. Online at https://meet.google.com/tpr-rbor-kyo. May’s topics include a presentation on Plummers Island and also the election of CJCA Officers for the 2025-2026.
By Scott Lewis
PUBLIC WORKS CORNER
Virginia Beltway–In Spring 2025, I-495/Beltway travelers just south of the Maryland border will experience something new. Instead of driving on the current lanes that have been in service since this stretch of the Beltway opened in 1962, motorists will ride on newly constructed lanes that are being built on the outside of the current Beltway alignment. The traffic switch for both north- and southbound I-495 will be implemented in phases, as sections of the new, outside lanes are completed.
Westbard Redevelopment–With Giant, Montgomery County Liquors, Oak Barrel & Vine, and Tatte open, this redevelopment effort is entering its second phase with construction in the area formerly occupied by Giant. New apartments, townhomes and retail space will be completed in 2026, along with green space, a park and more parking. Additional information can be found at www.westbardsquare.com.
By Scott Lewis [...]
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April 13, 2025Julie Yang, who represents District 3 (the Whitman, BCC, Churchill, Richard Montgomery, and Walter Johnson catchment areas) on the Montgomery County Board of Education, provided an informative update and answered questions relating to public education and schools in our community at the March CJCA meeting.
Born in Wuhan, China, Ms. Yang found herself on a predestined educational path to a career in the city’s meat factory. That trajectory was changed by an elementary school teacher who, refusing to accept that her students could not do better, gave up her own time before and after school to give them the extra coaching and support they needed. While many of the young second-grade students did not appreciate the extra work at the time, Ms. Yang now credits that teacher with helping her and nine other students climb out of their educational tier by the end of the school year.
She went on to become an educator herself–moving to the U.S. for graduate school and then serving more than 20 years as a classroom teacher, school instructional data analyst, and college and career counselor.
Ms. Yang provided the following updates on these issues affecting education in Montgomery County:
Reading – The elementary school curriculum is being changed to focus more on the science of reading and phonics and is decidedly moving away from whole language techniques.
Final Exams and Assessments – Ms. Yang suggests that the overall assessment process for students needs to be balanced and multi-faceted. This could include tests and/or other assessment mechanisms. Some students entering college have had issues with final exams having, not had final exams in high school. This is a key subject this spring before the Board of Education.
Cell Phones – Pyle Middle School is part of a pilot program on cell phone usage in schools and its impact on students’ behavior and academic performance. The overall intent is to limit cell phone usage during school hours.
Hate and Bias – There is a code of conduct that determines how kids are to behave and – if there are violations – how to address them. One focus is to ensure code of conduct and disciplinary actions are handled consistently. Hate and bias events are monitored carefully and undergo a quarterly review.
Vaping – Montgomery County was awarded a settlement from Juul and will install vape detectors in bathrooms with the proceeds. Vape shops must be a mile or further from every school in Montgomery County.
New Programs – The county has implemented a number of new programs including photography and automotive diagnosis & repair.
Enrollment in MCPS is flat overall but experiencing an increase in the number of students who speak English as a second language, and students who have special education needs. The lack of MCPS enrollment growth is consistent with the relatively flat growth in overall population.
Teachers – A new blueprint for teacher salary has been implemented across Maryland, and Montgomery County is ahead of its implementation schedule. This fact is ensuring Montgomery County schools are close to 100% staffed.
Funding – Montgomery County Public Schools receive 28% of their budget from the state, 3% from the federal government with the balance from the county itself. Near-term focus is on special education given the increase in special education needs across the county. The second focus is on security. Lastly, there is some underfunding on the teacher pension programs; the county expects to address this as well .
Funding from the federal government – Ms.Yang made the point that the federal funding from the Department of Education primarily supports special education and schools serving low income families. Regarding the potential impact of the Department of Education closure, Ms. Yang explained that the local Boards of Education have always set the policies relating to the local schools. Additionally, through non-Department of Education grants, the federal government supports equipment purchases for technical training such as automotive mechanics, and these grants are at risk.
Student member of the Board of Education – There is one student member on the Montgomery County Board of Education who serves a one-year period and who is elected via a multi-step process. This student has full voting authority with the exception of personnel issues. Montgomery County was one of the first counties in the country to implement such a program.
By Scott Lewis and Kelly Banuls [...]
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April 13, 2025The Clara Barton Center for Children (CBCC) celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year, continuing a tradition of education in what is one of Cabin John’s historic school buildings.
As Cabin John grew from the rural pastures of the late 1800s to the village of the 1960s and beyond, local children attended schools that ranged from a nearby one-room log cabin to a small schoolhouse on Wilson Lane, fraught with kids’ long walk across the Union Arch Bridge. Local African American children faced further challenges to educational opportunities, moving from various one-room schoolhouses and a five-year period without any schooling options at all. With the opening of the Glen Echo-Cabin John School in 1928, Cabin John’s kids returned to this side of the bridge. In 1955, it was among the first integrated schools in Montgomery County and served as a successful model for others.
When Washington, DC began to limit student enrollment to local taxpayers only, the Glen Echo School on Wilson Lane became more crowded, with 91 students spread across two additional buildings. Cabin John and Glen Echo citizens lobbied for a new school. Land was purchased from the owner of the Cabin John Hotel, Mrs. Bobinger, for $15,000 and despite the contentious issue of naming rights (Glen Echo ultimately got top billing, while Cabin John the location), the community welcomed the Glen Echo-Cabin John School. With strong civic pride from the start, the new school was the recipient of gifts from local groups, including not one but two pianos, as well as a cherished painting donated by a local woman, “only to send her husband hurrying to the school that evening to retrieve their marriage license which had always been kept in the back of the picture frame.” Citizens donated flowers and shrubs and helped with landscaping.
Designed by prominent Washington architect Howard Wright Cutler, the original red brick Glen Echo-Cabin John School was a larger version of the Garrett Park School, also built in 1928. These modern buildings were a departure from the traditional, domestic spaces of small one- and two-room schoolhouses and reflected Montgomery County’s growing identity through a more urban, modern architecture. The original facade of the Glen Echo-Cabin John School (which faces MacArthur Boulevard), with its Art Deco lines and centered decorative stone relief, was considered the most architecturally important aspect of the building. Unfortunately, a 1960s addition to the school partly obscured the noteworthy facade, though one can still glimpse details on the second level exterior.
According to a Maryland Historic Trust site survey, the school “exemplifies the spirit of Montgomery County’s new academic vision….The new image which this building presents–the image of a solid and stable institution that is both tradition and modern–is the visual equivalent of major reforms in the public school system during the post World War 1 period.”
In 1944, befitting this symbolic reform, the school changed its name to honor Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. And in 1954, it became one of the first schools in the county to integrate following the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education. The number of African American students at the school–14 percent–was higher than any other elementary school in the county at the time.
After Bannockburn Elementary School opened in 1957, enrollment at the Clara Barton School dropped. It closed in 1974 and became the recreation center. That following year, a one-room kindergarten class was opened. Today, the Clara Barton Center for Children continues to teach and nurture preschool children in this historic local building.
By Rachel Donnan
CJ Historian [...]
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March 12, 2025For the first time since 2019, Cabin John residents will soon be able to visit some uniquely lovely homes and gardens in our community. This year’s CJCA House Tour will be held on Saturday, May 3, from 1-5 pm, rain or shine. Nine Cabin John houses will be open for you to enjoy thanks to the generous cooperation of their owners. Don’t miss this wonderful opportunity!
Tickets for this event are $25 per person and are limited to persons over the age of 12. Tickets can be purchased on the day of the tour as well as in advance–both online, starting in mid-April, and in person on April 30 and May 1. Detailed ticket sale times and locations will be listed in the April Village News. Each participant will be asked to sign a waiver form and will receive an entrance ticket, house descriptions, and a tour map. Proceeds from the tour will be donated to the Cabin John Citizens Association.
Please volunteer for a 2-hour shift as a House Monitor! We need 2 monitors in each house to check in each tour participant and to keep an eye out for safety and security. The ticket cost for monitors is discounted to $15. Contact the tour organizer, Marcy Harrison, at 301-908-8906 or marcyharrison@earthlink.net to volunteer.
Tour participants may visit any or all of these homes:
6542 80th Street (Peggy Portner (Johnston)) – historic 1866 building with many original fixtures and fascinating antique furniture and collections
6619 81st Street (Meryl Governski) – home transformed into a light-filled, open plan home with many woodland views; featured in Home and Design magazine
6601 80th Place (Pascal & Monica Pittman) – lovely renovations, interesting interior surprises and exterior amenities
17 Carver Road (Christina Eck & Jack Mandel) – renovated original 1941 bungalow features Jack’s beautiful stonework inside and out including a fireplace/pizza oven combo
7719 Tomlinson Avenue (Kim Henderson) – an original 1930 Sears kit stucco home with extensive renovations and expansions and lush exterior features
6428 79th Street (Sean Ruppert & Jason Woodward) – award-winning home designed with many lovely features and a separate “in-law” apartment; pool
8018 Riverside Drive (Sue Mulroney & Adam Myers) – the “yellow house” on the canal; expanded and modernized with retained historic features; unique pottery and dinosaur bone collections
7402 Arden Road (Anthony & Kate Polise) – possibly the newest home in CJ with unique interior natatorium
9 Froude (Geetika Srivastava & Vishal Rana) – mid-century modern design in the gardens highlighting natural materials; features a Chihuly glass chandelier and other art.
When you see the homeowners (listed above) in the neighborhood, please give them a shout out of thanks!
Put the date on your calendar and plan to be a part of this great community event! Spread the word, but, please, only to residents in our Cabin John community. [...]
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March 12, 2025February CJCA Meeting Notes – The February CJCA meeting was held on February 26. After a review of the January meeting minutes and a review of the upcoming Cabin John area events, two representatives of Tree Friends United, Jonathan Nowick and Carl Gunther, led a very informative conversation on their organization. Tree Friends United is a group of citizens centered in the Glen Echo, MD area who are concerned with the accelerating spread of invasive species overwhelming Montgomery County’s parklands, roads, and neighborhoods. As volunteers, they assist the National Park Service (NPS), the county, and residents to remove invasive vines that are smothering trees and plants that are destroying native ecosystems. Montgomery County’s Dept. of Transportation does not have funding or staff to remove invasives from our roadways. Moreover, NPS invasive management programs are tiny and cover huge areas. Consider that Montgomery Parks has 34,000 acres in 415 parks to manage and the NPS C&O Canal stretches 185 miles.
NPS authorizes Tree Friends to lead groups and functions as a weed warrior certification program offering training on invasives identification. Interested in participating? Go to https://www.treefriendsunited.com/.
The next CJCA Meeting will be Wednesday, March 26 at 7:30 pm at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center and online at https://meet.google.com/qqc-eiaz-gms. Julie Yang, District 3 Board Member for the Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) system is slated to attend. She will lead a conversation on issues within MCPS and how she and MCPS are addressing them. For anyone in Cabin John with school age children, this will be an interesting and informative meeting.
REMINDER: CJ DIRECTORY UPDATES ARE DUE APRIL 15! – Thank you to the 25% of CJ households which have sent in updates! If you have not already done so, please submit any changes (or “no changes”) to your household contact information for the 2025 Cabin John Neighborhood Directory by April 15. Mail in the form you received in your 2025 Annual Dues Letter, or send an email to CJDirectory2020@gmail.com, or submit the form from the CJ website (go to https://bit.ly/3ChQdS2). We want to hear from every household! Thank you!
SPRING EGG HUNT – The Cabin John Spring Egg Hunt, a delightful 15-minute scramble by the youngest Cabin Johners for goody-filled eggs, will be held Sunday, April 6, 2025, at 4:00 pm at the Cabin John Local Park (aka field behind the Clara Barton Center). All CJ kids elementary school age and younger (accompanied by parents or responsible adults) are welcome to participate in the hunt. Families should gather on the basketball court and wait for instructions from the volunteers, who will let the young hunters down to the lower playground in age-group waves. Plan to stay and play at the park and maybe your children will meet some new neighborhood friends.
Cabin John Neighborly News
Village News contributor Sarah Craven won first prize in the essay and short story category of Bethesda Urban Partnership’s 2025 writing competition for her entry, “Golden Gifts.” Winners will be reading at an awards ceremony on Friday, March 14 at 7 pm at The Bethesdan Hotel, 8120 Wisconsin Avenue. The event is open to the public. Congratulations, Sarah!
A reminder that the celebration of life for Cabin John original Reed Martin will be held on March 29, 2025, at 1:00 pm at Bethesda United Methodist Church, 8300 Old Georgetown Road, Bethesda. Musicians are invited to bring instruments for a jam session following the service. Light refreshments will be served. The service will be live-streamed as well. More information and live stream are available at: https://everloved.com/life-of/reed-martin/funeral/?flow=201
Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department Seeks Volunteers from the Community
The Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department (CJPVFD) is calling on passionate individuals to join our ranks and make a difference in the community. Whether you’re interested in serving as a firefighter, emergency medical services (EMS) provider, or in a support role, the CJPVFD offers a unique opportunity to serve your neighbors and contribute to public safety while enjoying valuable personal and professional benefits.
Serving with the Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department isn’t just about answering emergency calls, it’s about becoming an integral part of a dedicated team that makes a tangible difference in people’s lives every day. As a volunteer firefighter or EMS provider, you’ll gain hands-on experience, receive professional training, and build lasting bonds with others who share your commitment to service. Volunteers are essential to the success of the department, and you’ll be a crucial part of a team that has served the Cabin John community since 1930.
Volunteering with us means becoming part of a close-knit team that works together to respond to emergencies, solve problems, and support each other in both our professional and personal lives.
As a volunteer firefighter or EMS provider, you’ll have a direct impact on the safety and well-being of your neighbors in Cabin John and throughout Montgomery County. Every call to which you respond is an opportunity to save lives, protect property, and improve the community. Your work will have immediate, tangible results.
Training
All frontline CJPVFD members must become emergency medical technicians (EMTs). As a CJPVFD member, you’ll receive training through the Montgomery County Public Safety Training Academy that includes everything from EMT to rescue and fire suppression techniques (if you’re interested in being a firefighter). Training is provided at no cost to you and is designed to prepare you for real-world situations in both EMS and firefighting roles. In addition, we offer ongoing educational opportunities to help you advance in your skills and certifications.
Volunteers commit to working a minimum of one 12-hour shift per week (from 7 pm to 7 am or a weekend day shift 7am to 7pm) and occasional special events (e.g., Potomac Day). We recognize that people’s schedules and personal lives sometimes conflict with our service requirements. CJPVFD members have “vacation days” that excuse them from their duty nights, and members frequently provide coverage for each other when people are unable to do a duty night.
Uniforms and Equipment
CJPVFD and Montgomery County provide all volunteers with station uniforms (except footwear) and protective equipment.
Financial and Personal Benefits for Volunteers
Serving with CJPVFD also comes with numerous benefits that make volunteering a rewarding experience beyond just the satisfaction of helping others.
Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP)
All CJPVFD members can participate in Montgomery County’s Length of Service Awards Program (LOSAP), which rewards volunteers for their years of service. CJPVFD members become eligible for monthly LOSAP payments for their lifetime based on their age and after having accumulated a certain number of years of active service.
Other Financial Benefits
Active volunteers are eligible for tax incentives, including a state income tax credit of up to $7,000 per year (after three years of service) and a $2,500 deduction on Montgomery County property tax for resident homeowners. Additionally, CJPVFD members can receive an annual cash stipend from Montgomery County based on their level of activity. Members are also eligible to receive up to $1,830 in tuition assistance for certificate or degree programs (funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis until exhausted). The Maryland State Firefighters Association (MSFA) offers scholarships for which CJPVFD members are eligible.
Wellness Benefits
CJPVFD members are required to have an annual physical examination, which is provided free of charge by Montgomery County. Any CJPVFD member who has served the Department for the previous six months may be eligible for reimbursement if the Montgomery County Fire-Rescue Occupational Medical Service advises them to see an outside specialist. Both of the CJPVFD stations have fitness equipment available for members to use 24 hours a day. CJPVFD members can also receive a free recreation pass to allow them to use any County fitness or swimming facility. Additionally, the Montgomery County Fire-Rescue Service provides various health and wellness services to career and volunteer members alike.
Insurance Coverage
CJPVFD volunteers are covered by comprehensive insurance policies for any injuries or accidents that occur while on duty.
How to Join
If you’re ready to make a meaningful impact on your community, CJPVFD is waiting for you. To apply or learn more, visit our website (www.cjpvfd.org/volunteer) or send us an email at membership@cjpvfd.org. Whether you’re looking to become a firefighter, an EMT, or just want to support the department in another way, we’ll guide you through the process and provide the training and resources you need.
Join the Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department today and become part of something that truly matters. Your service can save lives—and offer rewards that last a lifetime!
by Erik Gaull [...]
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March 12, 2025When walking from Lockhouse 8 to Minnie’s Island, it is not unusual to get into conversations about Minnie’s when folks ask “Is that the one with the cabin?” (Yes–it is one of three local islands with cabins), or “Is that the one with the rope and ferry?” (No–that’s Sycamore Island). This article will briefly discuss the major islands in the Potomac from the American Legion Bridge down to Glen Echo Heights, including Plummers, Swainsons, Minnie’s, Cedar, Cabin John, and Sycamore Islands (listed from upstream to downstream). There is a rich history associated with each of these local islands.
Plummers Island is located just downstream of the American Legion Bridge. You can walk to Plummer’s Island by following a trail that starts behind Lockhouse 11, but you can only cross the rocky channel to access the island when water levels are low. The twelve-acre island is called “the most thoroughly studied island in North America” by the Washington Biologist’s Field Club, which owned the island from 1908 until it was transferred to the National Park Service. The island has the most biological diversity of all the local islands due to multiple habitats. The club maintains a small, locked cabin on the top of the island. A wealth of information about the club and Plummer’s Island can be found at https://wbfc.science. The website highlights the threat to Plummers Island posed by the potential expansion of the American Legion Bridge.
Swainson Island is a narrow island located just downstream of Lock 10 that can be accessed by walking when the water is low. Judith Welles’ book, Cabin John: Legends of an Uncommon Place tells the story of Bill Swainson, a squatter on the island for over 30 years. He is described as “a very strong and fearless man and people didn’t cross him. In fact, he threatened to shoot people who wandered down his road.” Piers from a bridge to the island remain today.
Minnie’s Island is located one hundred yards downriver from Lock 8. The eight-acre property, including one large island and several smaller islands, is owned by Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy and is open to the public during daylight hours. Minnie’s can be accessed by a watercraft, typically canoes or standup paddle boards. Minnie’s has a cabin that is visible from the C&O Canal. Minnie’s has served as a residence, nature retreat, or conservation property since 1904. For more information on Minnie’s, visit our website at www.minniesisland.org. We also regularly post information on our Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy Facebook page.
Cedar Island is located just upstream of the mouth of Cabin John Creek and can be accessed on foot when the river is low. I always assumed that this area was owned by the National Park Service as part of the C&O Canal National Historic Park, but it is in fact owned by Montgomery Parks. This twelve-acre area is “dedicated to environmental preservation and remains undeveloped.” Careful searchers may be able to find remnants of structures that connected the Cabin John Bridge Hotel to the river on the island.
Cabin John Island is located just upstream of Lockhouse 7 and can be accessed via a foot trail from the C&O Canal that starts just above where Minnehaha Branch (the creek that flows through Glen Echo Park) enters the Potomac. The island is owned by the National Park Service. This is the largest of our local islands and has an extensive “social trail” system that can offer solitude for hikers. Explorers can find the remains of stone chimneys from cabins that were on the island. Cabin John Island is home to an extensive display of spring wildflowers that are easily viewed from the trails. Weed Warriors, trained by the National Park Service, control the non-native plants on the island. Several acres on the island were severely damaged by the windstorm that struck our area in the summer of 2023.
Sycamore Island is located between Locks 6 and 7 and is accessed via a ferry attached to a wire rope system. The ferry landing can be accessed from MacArthur Boulevard from a trail opposite the Sycamore Store. Sycamore Island has been owned by the Sycamore Island Club since 1889. Island access is limited to club members and their guests. The club and the island have a rich history that is well documented by many articles on the club’s website at www.sycamoreisland.org. The island has a cabin that includes facilities for a full-time caretaker, picnic areas, a swimming platform, and canoe storage. Membership in the club is in high demand and is determined by a lottery held every two years.
As we approach spring, it’s a great time to do some exploring on these local islands!
By Joe Saliunas, Maryland Master Naturalist, Vice-Chair Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy
Contributing Writer [...]
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March 12, 2025The summer of 1918 saw the height of DC society at the Cabin John Bridge Hotel. Thanks to the Club de Vingt, established by Washington’s society ladies, the declining hotel was once again the place to be.
When the Club de Vingt, an upscale New York City nightclub, arrived in Cabin John, its popularity gave local country clubs a run for their money.
The original Club de Vingt started in 1916 in the former Vanderbilt stables on Madison Avenue and 52nd Street in New York, and featured tea dances and performances. An offshoot of the club was imported to the Washington Club two years later, helped along by several New York socialites who had relocated to the nation’s capital during the war.
According to local newspapers, the Club de Vingt took over “the old hotel at Cabin John Bridge, refurbished it a bit, put in little tables, shaded candles, quaint lanterns, and all the paraphernalia to make it attractive.” The club offered tea, dinner and supper daily, “with a cold buffet luncheon on Sunday.”
It was open to the public but special rooms and shady piazzas were reserved for club members only. Live music for dancing was performed by the Club de Vingt Orchestra, which traveled down from New York to play at the hotel. (The orchestra’s scratchy singles can be found online at the Discography of American Historical Recordings).
The July 28, 1918 New York Sun newspaper noted that “All the New Yorkers of the new war set here, and a number from other places, who like to be as New Yorky as possible, are interested in it, and its dinners and teas, and especially its supper dances, have been very popular for several months past. Now that it has taken over the old hotel at Cabin John Bridge—a lovely situation on the Conduit Road and overlooking the Potomac—it is making all sorts of a hit.”
The hotel hosted a number of “pleasant little dinner parties” for club guests, including President Wilson’s daughter, Margaret, and his cousin, Helen. One Saturday evening most of the young people at the Chevy Chase Club “looked the situation over, pronounced the entertainment dull and departed in a body for the Club de Vingt” proclaimed the society pages of local papers.
The “Free Milk for France” group held a philanthropic fundraiser at the hotel to send powdered milk to France in the midst of a shortage there. For the themed party, the hotel grounds were illuminated by Japanese lanterns and club members wore traditional Japanese clothing, while the country’s ambassador was among the notable guests.
The famous Japanese dancer Michio Itow performed the “Noh”-inspired drama, “At The Hawk’s Well.” which was adapted by William Butler Yeats especially for the dancer. Itow was a pioneer of American modern dance, and his performance at the Cabin John Bridge Hotel was only the second outdoor one in the entire country.
The Cabin John Bridge Hotel was founded by Rosa and Joseph Bobinger. Rosa’s husband, Joseph, worked as a stone mason on the Union Arch Bridge, while she sold drinks, food and her famous chicken dish to the workers from her small stand. Demand for Rosa’s cooking led the couple to purchase 100 acres of land on the west side of the bridge in 1870 to build a hotel and restaurant.
Their business grew from a small German-influenced tavern to an elaborate Victorian folly with over forty rooms filled with the finest furnishings, cavernous banquet halls, intimate dining rooms, an orchestrion, and formal gardens. Society “reveled in the hotel’s charm and setting,” savored its rich European furniture, farm to table food, and rolling grounds. During its heyday in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Cabin John Bridge Hotel was an elegant oasis frequented by congressmen, senators, diplomats and even a few presidents.
The Bobinger’s son, William, and his wife, continued to run the hotel until 1914, when they leased it out. Over the years the hotel’s popularity slowly waned due to local option laws and gambling violations, and competition from nearby country clubs and Glen Echo. In 1931, a suspicious fire destroyed the hotel. The brick gas house, next to the local park tennis courts, is all that remains of the hotel today.
The short-lived Club de Vingt ushered in a grand, albeit brief, revival of the earlier splendor of the Cabin John Bridge Hotel.
By Rachel Donnan, CJ Historian
Contributing Writer [...]
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February 14, 2025We hope all is well with each member of our community here in early 2025. And thanks to all those who came out to our many events and a special thanks to our volunteers that made all this happen. The past year included our traditional events such as the July 4th parade, Crab Feast, Turkey Trot, the Holiday Party, Trivia Night, and Spring Egg Hunt, plus new events such as the History Talk and our Bike Clinic last April. Plus – this year – the Cabin John House Tour on Saturday, May 3. Your financial support and your support via volunteering made all this happen.You can pay dues at – https://cjca-2025-dues.cheddarup.com. Thank you.
Also this year, we will be updating the CJCA Directory. Did you become a Cabin John resident after March 2021? Have you changed your email–or abandoned your landline–or had another child/children or become an empty nester? The CJCA Neighborhood Directory will be updated and printed this fall. It is time for you to provide updated contact information!
We are seeking to hear from EVERY resident of Cabin John (in both 20818 and 20817 zip codes), to either confirm the existing information (“no changes”) or provide updated information to include in the print and online versions of the directory. You decide what information you want to share, and it can be different for the print versus online directory. You do not need to be a member of CJCA to be included in the directory. You will have the option of updating your Directory information as you process your dues payment here.
If you are not ready to pay your dues, but want to provide your directory information now, please click on this link: https://bit.ly/3ChQdS2. [...]
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February 6, 2025A large gathering of neighbors participated in CJCA’s January meeting, which featured a very interesting panel discussion on building and zoning in Montgomery County. Panelists included Meredith Wellington (Planning Advisor), Debbie Spielberg (Assistant to the County Executive), Michelle Rosenfeld (Land Use, Zoning Lawyer), and was moderated by Heidi Lewis and Charlotte Troup Leighton.
The county faces a housing shortage, and with heavy lobbying from builders, the consensus is that the current county council is very pro-development, with only a few members supporting slow growth. This stance is reflected in the current planning board as well. In fact, most panelists asserted that this is the most pro-development planning board ever. The planning board is not elected, but appointed, and thus is less focused on specific neighborhoods, such as Cabin John.
County land planning begins with the master plan, a long-term policy document that guides the future growth, development, and land use within a county. It sets a vision for how the community should evolve over time and influences zoning ordinances, infrastructure investments, and public services. The county planning board is guided by the master plan, but has the power to supersede it. Zoning ordinances are objective standards approved by the county council that dictate what can be built or how an existing building can be modified. The Cabin John master plan was last updated in 1990. In the latest county growth plan, Thrive Montgomery 2050, Cabin John is considered a “corridor-focused” growth area.
The CJCA, via the Village News, previously presented information on the Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative (see October 2024 issue). The panel’s view is that the particular incarnation will not proceed BUT some of its proponents on the council may advance certain sections of the original plan and urged that everyone stay up-to-date on council activity. To that point, Andrew Friedson,
Montgomery County Councilmember for District 1, recently introduced a 5-point plan (see graphic).
The panel suggested the following steps to ensure that Cabin John and its citizens influence land use that preserves and enhances its unique character:
– Get involved as early as possible with all development activity and subdivision attempts.
– Review any zoning or building applications to ensure they comply with regulations.
– Hire a land use attorney with Montgomery County experience to help review applications.
– Review online resources such as Montgomery Planning development review dashboard – https://montgomeryplanning.org/development/ – where all development applications are posted.
– Attend hearings to ask questions of the planning staff and voice substantive concerns.
The CJCA, on the advice of the panel, is organizing a committee to examine land use practices that impact Cabin John.
By Charlotte Troup Leighton & Scott Lewis [...]
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February 6, 2025WE WANT YOU!…in the 2025 CJ DIRECTORY
Did you become a Cabin John resident after March 2021? Have you changed your email–or abandoned your landline–or had another child/children or become an empty nester? The CJCA Neighborhood Directory will be updated and printed this fall. It is time for you to provide updated contact information!
We are seeking to hear from EVERY resident of Cabin John (in both 20818 and 20817 zip codes), to either confirm the existing information (“no changes”) or provide updated information to include in the print and online versions of the directory. You decide what information you want to share, and it can be different for the print versus online directory. You do not need to be a member of CJCA to be included in the directory.
We are reaching out in several ways, so you may receive more than one request. Pick the easiest method that works for you to respond, but please do respond!
Method 1: Reply to the email you may have received. We sent an email to all addresses currently listed in the online directory at the end of January. The instructions are to reply with “no changes” or reply and submit any changed contact information to CJDirectory2020@gmail.com.
Method 2: Complete the directory contact information form you received along with the CJCA annual dues letter. Instructions are to reply with “NO CHANGES” or reply with the form completed, and mail (with your dues payment!) using the envelope provided, or drop it off at the address listed at the bottom of the form.
Method 3: If you are on the CheddarUp website to make your dues and donations payments, use the link provided to reach the CJCA website where you can complete the online form, “CJ Directory: Residents’ Names and Contact Info.” You can check the box to indicate “no changes” or continue and enter your information in the form.
Method 4: At any time you can go to the CJCA website (www.cabinjohn.org), select the top navigation choice “Get Connected,” select the drop down choice “CJ Directory,” and scroll down to the online form, “CJ Directory: Residents’ Names and Contact Info.” You can check the box to indicate “no changes” or continue and enter your information in the form.
To make it easy to remember, please respond by tax day: April 15, 2025!
Reminder: If you want to be included in the Local Talent list in the 2025 directory, submit a short description of your talent along with your name, title, phone, email address, and any website to reference. Send to CJDirectory2020@gmail.com.
If you have any questions at any time, please contact Marcy Harrison, directory administrator, at CJDirectory2020@gmail.com, or call/text 301-908-8906. [...]
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February 6, 2025CJ House Tour – Volunteer House Monitors Needed
The first CJCA house and garden tour since 2008 will occur on Saturday, May 3, from 1-5 pm, rain or shine. There will be nine fascinating houses, all located in Cabin John, open for viewing by tour participants. We will talk more about the houses on the tour and ticket sales in next month’s Village News.
Right now we would like to start soliciting volunteers to help us with the event! Of utmost importance is the role of house monitor. We plan to have two house monitor volunteers stationed in each house for a 2-hour shift (1-3 pm or 3-5 pm). This allows monitors to have time to view other houses if they want to participate in the tour. The role of the monitor is to check in visitors as they enter the house, keep a watchful eye out to make sure the house and visitors remain safe, enforce any “house rules” that the owners have posted, and answer any questions they can, based on information homeowners have provided. (Some, but not all, of the homeowners will also be there to answer questions.) This job requires standing all or part of the time.
If you are interested in volunteering to be a house monitor, please contact Marcy Harrison, marcyharrison@earthlink.net, or text/call 301-908-8906, and indicate your shift time preference. There are lots of open slots to fill–36 volunteers are needed! As a thank you, house monitors can receive a discounted price on tour tickets.
We will also need a few volunteers to sell tickets on the day of the event, from 12-3 pm. These are one or two-hour shifts, sitting at a table. Please contact Marcy if you are interested in volunteering to be a ticket seller and indicate your time preference.
Thanks for helping your Cabin John community!
CJCA News: February Meeting
Wednesday, February 26, 7:30 pm at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center
Join remotely at https://meet.google.com/ndm-rpuh-rum
Please join the CJCA for an informative presentation from Tree Friends Unlimited. Tree Friends Unlimited is a group concerned with the accelerating spread of invasive species overwhelming Montgomery County’s parklands, roads, and neighborhoods. As volunteers, they assist the National Park Service, the county, and residents in removing invasive vines that are smothering trees and plants that are destroying native ecosystems. As advocates, they are allied with other groups to seek broader public awareness of the growing problem, achieve better funding, and establish coordinated action to counter invasives.
Public Works Corner
By Scott Lewis
Some updates on local projects for public works enthusiasts:
Stabilization of dry laid stone wall at Mile Marker 11 (log wall)–The towpath is now open between miles 11 and 11.5. Carderock Recreation Area Parking Lot B (mile 10.75) is closed. Parking lots A, C, and D will remain open through construction. See nps.gov for more information.
Virginia 495 Express Lanes Northern Extension/Hot Lanes–The big beam installation, where 495N was temporarily shut down and rerouted, was completed in late January. The beams were installed at the Dulles Toll Road Extension intersection. Overall work remains on schedule for completion late this year. See vdot.virgina.gov for more information.
WSSC Water Commissioners Now Accepting Applications for Engineering Scholarship Program Winners receive $2,000 annually and are eligible for up to $8,000 over four consecutive years. In addition, scholarship winners are given priority for paid summer internships. See wsscwater.com/scholarship for more information. [...]
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February 6, 2025Close readers of the Village News might have noticed the absence recently of my monthly columns on local natural history and the stunning illustrations of our esteemed Cabin John artist-in-residence, Trudy Nicholson. The truth is that this current article, my last, has been a challenge to write. Farewells are always the most difficult of human interactions to put into words. This task is especially difficult because of those of you who have expressed appreciation to me verbally, by email, or even old-fashioned letters. I will miss you even if you never wrote, but perhaps took a second look at the bird at your winter feeder or that plant along the Potomac because your eyes have been opened to natural history.
For me, writing the monthly nature column and spotlighting the remarkable species living on our doorstep beginning with the April 2013 issue, has been an enriching 11 years of local discovery. The first essay focused on spring singers—the wood warblers that herald the arrival of a new season—while the last, in the October 2024 issue of the Village News, featured the common carp. In between, there have been 100+ articles, each exploring the ecology of our non-human neighbors in Cabin John. Over that long decade, my professional work has increased in geographic scope and interests. Now, the demands of creating a company to manufacture a new technology called TrailGuard AI has taken center stage. This company uses state-of-the-art artificial intelligence (AI) in tiny cameras that is sent over cell, long-range radio, or satellite to park rangers or villagers in Asia and Africa to provide real-time alerts to: 1) stop poachers before they kill wildlife and 2) detect large mammals that enter into conflict with humans near villages—think elephants and tigers. I have also started on other projects to help save nature around the world, so something had to give.
Even after 11 years of these essays, there are still many more stories to tell: there are more than 1,800 native plant species in our area, hundreds of species of vertebrates, and thousands of invertebrates, and I have covered only a fraction of them. I hope that in some small way I have inspired you to take a fresh look at the natural world around us. The great biologist and defender of Charles Darwin, Thomas Henry Huxley, once wrote, “To persons uninstructed in natural history, their country or seaside stroll is a walk through a gallery filled with wondrous works of art, nine-tenths of which have their faces turned to the wall.” It was Trudy’s aim in fine illustration and mine in prose to serve as a kind of periodic gallery guide to Cabin John’s nature.
I was planning on writing a longer piece on a vision for Cabin John in January 2035—what our community would look like if we find a way to continue to reconnect with nature and each other. Since this is the last column, here is an annotated wish list:
By 2035, most Cabin John residents would have converted their monoculture grass lawns to delightful gardens of native shrubs, trees, wildflowers, and ferns, or at least a quarter of their yards, to enrich our lives with more birds, beetles, and butterflies.
By 2035, Cabin John residents would have decided to join the movement to reduce light pollution and return to children, non-human creatures and ourselves the dark sky and an enhanced experience of star gazing. Light pollution hurts us all.
By 2035, the majority of Cabin John residents would have switched over to native plants that have no need for watering, fertilizers, or insecticides, keeping us free from exposure to cancer-causing substances.
By 2035, even where new houses have gone in and trees cut down, efforts would be underway for a massive replanting of oaks, maples, hackberry, and other natives to create a band of forest stretching from the water tower on Archbold Terrace and Cabin Road, down to MacArthur Boulevard, and all the way to Riverside Drive on the Canal—a fully connected forested corridor allowing birds to fly from the Potomac River to the top of our neighborhood in uninterrupted greenery.
By 2035, when on a walk along the Potomac you would be able to stop and drink the water and see native fish and plants in a restored river.
Finally, by 2035, every child growing up in Cabin John would be able at age ten to name at least ten native plants and animals.
Together, we can do this. Thank you again for your attention to these columns. May your Cabin John nature strolls in the days and months ahead be glorious and filled with discovery and resolve to do what you are able to preserve and restore our area’s nature.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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February 6, 2025This is the first of what will hopefully be a series of regular articles describing what is going on in nature down by the river near Cabin John. Most of my observations will come from Minnie’s Island but the observations you can make anywhere along the river near Cabin John will be similar. I hope to share the sense of wonder you can experience when you spend time by the Potomac.
It looks like this winter is starting colder than average and cold weather has always meant “Fun Ducks” for me. There are some ducks that you can expect to find year-round in the C&O Canal or Potomac River, such as Mallards. However, during the winter, and especially in cold winters when the river at least partially freezes, you can find the fun ducks. For me, fun ducks are ducks that breed to our north, visit in winter, and just look really cool and different from the ducks you see here in the summer.
One group of fun ducks are the diving ducks that feed underwater. This can be frustrating to the bird watcher due to the “now you see them, now you don’t” phenomenon. Our most common diving ducks in winter include the Common Merganser, Hooded Merganser, Ring-Necked Duck, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, and Common Goldeneye. I remember a cold winter day several years ago when I saw a raft (large flocks of ducks are called rafts) of several hundred Ring-Necked Ducks below Cabin John Island. Common Mergansers can be found year-round in the channel by Minnie’s Island. Diving ducks in the winter like to eat protein, and their food source includes freshwater clams and mussels, crayfish, insect larvae, and small fish. These ducks are mostly seen far out in the deeper river waters.
Another group of fun ducks are the dabbling ducks that feed close to the surface. Our most common dabbling ducks include the Mallard, American Black Duck, and Wood Duck. These ducks mostly eat aquatic vegetation. These ducks can be seen in the canal and the river.
A third group are not ducks but behave like ducks. Grebes and loons feed like diving ducks but are in different families of birds. For many years, you could regularly see Pied-billed Grebes in the channel by Sycamore Island. Common Loons have been reported but are quite uncommon.
So how can you see these ducks? A good pair of binoculars is essential. I use 8×42 binoculars–a good balance between magnification (8 power) and letting in a lot of light for a bright image (42 mm objective lens). Birders who regularly look for ducks almost always use a spotting scope mounted on a tripod. Spotting scopes have greater magnification (20-60 power) but are not as easy to handle as binoculars.
A good way to tell if there are fun ducks in the river is to monitor the birding website, eBird. It features a wealth of information and there is a specific link that shows recent reports from Locks 8 and 9 in Cabin John. There are typically several reports posted each week. Check it out at https://ebird.org/hotspot/L761179/recent-checklists. Posts in mid-January recorded both Common and Hooded Mergansers.
Happy birding!
By Joe Saliunas, Contributing Writer
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Joe Saliunas is certified as a Maryland Master Naturalist and is Vice-Chair of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy. [...]
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January 15, 2025What was the first country to give women the right to vote? How many colors will you find in a regular bag of M&Ms? What is the name of Jordan’s capital city? If you know the answers to these questions, then the CJCA Trivia Night is for you! Our 2025 Trivia Night will be held on Saturday, January 25 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center starting at 6:30 pm (sharp). As with previous years, players can count on roughly two and a half hours of challenging trivia, a grand prize for the winning team and bragging rights for the entire year.
We will have a cash / Venmo bar for beer and wine (and new this year you can pre-order drink tickets). Soft drinks and light snacks will be provided. Teams are encouraged to bring their own picnic if they want to dine while they play. Or consider catering from one of our Holiday Party Raffle Sponsors – Sal’s, The Wild Tomato, Sushi and You, the Glen Echo Inn and Kanpai Sushi. The Trivia Night does sell out so make sure you register early. Form your team of up to eight players, come up with a team name and register at: https://the-2025-annual-trivia-night.cheddarup.com.
The cost is $10 a player or $70 for a team of eight players. On the registration site, you can either purchase a table of up to eight players or buy up to four individual seats. We will partner those buying individual seats. And if you buy a table, don’t feel you need to fill all eight seats, but every additional person does help with trivia!
Lastly, spectators are welcome but we request you indicate your attendance by “purchasing” a FREE ticket. Proceeds from the night will support the community activities and projects of the Cabin John Citizens Association, which is hosting the evening. Please note that this is an adults-only event–participants must be 21 years old or older.
By Scott Lewis [...]
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January 15, 2025CJCA News
The January Cabin John Citizens Association (CJCA) meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, at 7:30 p.m. at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC) and virtually via meet.google.com/kyk-dcmq-ybt.
The primary topic of this meeting is “A Citizen’s Guide to Planning and Zoning“. We will convene a panel discussion to discuss the role of zoning in residential development, key participants, tools and documents, the process and appeals, citizen engagement, and challenges and controversies. We will also review November’s meeting minutes and discuss upcoming CJCA events including the Trivia Night and the House Tour.
SAVE THE DATE: CJ House Tour! Saturday, May 3, 1-5 pm
Mark your calendars and plan to attend and/or help volunteer as a house monitor that day. Stay tuned for more details next month!
New print version of the CJ Neighborhood Directory coming in 2025!
CJCA will publish an updated Neighborhood Directory this fall. Between now and May we will ask residents to submit updated or new contact information for each household. There will be multiple ways to do this, via online and paper submissions. You will also be able to choose what information you want published in the online version of the directory.
Paper submission: In the 2025 annual CJCA dues letter there will be a directory contact information form. You can mail it to CJCA along with your dues payment.
Electronic: There will be a link to submit contact information along with electronic dues payments via Cheddar Up. Alternatively, you can submit contact information on the form on CJCA’s website (www.cabinjohn.org)/Get Connected/CJ Directory.
Local Talent: We will again include a section in the directory where neighbors can share the services they provide, e.g. artists, health and wellness services, musicians, notary public… To be included in the Local Talent list, submit a short description of your talent along with your name, title, phone and email address to CJDirectory2020@gmail.com.
Questions? Contact Marcy Harrison at CJDirectory2020@email.com. [...]
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January 15, 2025(Please see an important update provided by the developer after the meeting at the end of this article)
A standing-room-only crowd of close to 100 people gathered at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center on December 12, 2024, for a presentation by the potential developers of 7687 MacArthur Boulevard, which is at the corner of 77th Street and MacArthur Boulevard and is currently occupied by Level Fitness.
The potential developers are Bethesda-based Broad Branch Partners, headed by Shane Crowley and Jason Weinstein. Both spoke at the meeting. Also present was their lawyer, Matthew Gordon of Selzer Gurvitch, and their civil engineer. The property owner, former Cabin John resident Jim Wilner, was represented at the meeting by CJ resident James Cahill, who specializes in landlord representation services and investment sales brokerage.
The developers began by describing other projects they have completed in the area, including 6970 West Avenue, Bethesda, where they built three new luxury 4-bedroom, 4-and-a-half bath elevator “Smart Home” townhouse condos that they are selling for $2.8 million each. Another property mentioned was 4702 West Virginia Avenue in Bethesda, where they recently received site plan approval to build a 125,000 square foot 11-story highrise that will include 53 condominiums, 6 townhouses and a 100-space parking garage.
The discussion shifted to their plans for 7687 MacArthur Blvd., a 0.42-acre parcel (21,000 square feet) that currently has three buildings totaling some 6,200 square feet of space and 16 parking spaces. The current selling price is $3.15 million ($509 per square foot). At the time of the meeting, the developer’s plan was to build 11 luxury townhomes, four in one building facing MacArthur Blvd. and seven in a second building facing 77th Street.
Generally, each unit would be four stories, 44 feet in height with a flat roof and a two-car garage on the ground floor. There would be a 20-foot wide private alley to allow cars to enter and exit their garages, but no off-street parking for the owners or their visitors. The setback from 77th Street would include a five-foot buffer from the curb and a six-foot wide sidewalk. The street width would remain 50 feet wide. The asking price per unit is anticipated to be between $1.5 million and $2 million.
The developers have not yet bought the property and it seems that any sale would be contingent on the successful map amendment to change the zoning of the property. Currently, 75% of the property is zoned C-1 (according to the real estate listing) or CRT (according to the developers). The C-1 and CRT designations allow for a range of business uses.
The other 25% of the property, roughly 5,000 to 6,000 square feet is zoned R-90, which is typically used for single-family detached homes and requires a 30-foot setback from the street and a minimum rear setback of 25 feet with lots recorded between 1941 and 1954 allowed to have a rear set back of 20 feet. The building height restriction for R-90 is 35 feet to roof peak or 30 foot to mean height between eaves and ridge of gable, hip, mansard or gambrel roof. A number of residents raised concerns about the planned building height, but the developers did not express any flexibility on that issue.
The developers are proposing to rezone the whole property to CRN–commercial/residential neighborhood. The developers pointed out that this rezoning would put limits on the kinds of commercial enterprises that could be located on the land, while making it suitable for their townhouse development.
However, the CRN rezoning would also raise the allowable density of the 25% of the property that is currently zoned R-90. The developers made it clear that their development plan does not work without the R-90 portion of the property rezoned to CRN.
At different times during the meeting, the developers and Jim Cahill suggested that if the property is not rezoned and the development does not move forward, the community could find the property bought by an implied undesirable business, citing as examples a dry cleaner, an auto body shop, an overnight methadone clinic or ”a daycare with 200 cars entering and exiting the property every day.”
One resident let the developers know that this property is one of only a handful of commercial properties in Cabin John. Generally, the community appreciates its local retailers and the businesses that have operated 7687 MacArthur Blvd. have been good neighbors. Past enterprises have included a hair salon, an antiques shop, a canoe and kayak retailer, and the Wild Bird Center. For the past 20 years, Level Fitness has leased the space.
The developers outlined a timeline for rezoning:
Submission of Local Map Amendment application to the Maryland-National Capital Parks and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC): January 2025
Review of Local Map Amendment Application by M-NCPPC and the county planning board: 1st Quarter 2025
Review of Local Map Amendment Application by Office of Zone and Hearing Examiner: Spring 2025
Review of Local Map Amendment Application by County Council: Summer 2025
Additional Pre-Submission Community Meeting for Preliminary Plan/Site Plan: Summer 2025
Planning Board Review of Preliminary Plan/Site Plan Applications: Late 2025-Early 2026
There was no additional discussion on the process so it is not clear if this represents all the steps in the county’s rezoning process. Nor were details provided about when the developers would actually purchase the lot.
While the rezoning requirements do not include soil studies, stormwater management plans or parking and traffic impacts, residents raised those concerns as part of the meeting. The plan clearly reduces the green footprint of the property which could have drainage consequences. The developer explained that their plan would incorporate significant stormwater management into the landscaping on a strip of land on the east side of the property. It sounds as if drainage spouts from the buildings would be buried underneath the alleyway and flow to this rainscape-landscape.
The developers acknowledged that they are aware that the open gully along MacArthur Blvd. is where stormwater runoff flows from 77th Street. Residents pointed out that this gully currently fills and occasionally floods over, sending water down into the MacArthur Park townhome development across MacArthur Blvd. The developers acknowledged that they have not driven down into the MacArthur Park development and seemed unaware that it consists of 45 townhomes on 10.5 acres, a much more bucolic townhouse development in keeping with the Cabin John community.
Regarding the traffic impact, the developer said the county traffic studies use standard traffic models for differing property types and would indicate a lower traffic impact than possible commercial applications of the property. However, the number of housing units on 77th Street would almost double, from 12 homes currently to 23 dwellings. Residents also raised concerns regarding trash collection management, parking and street navigation. Twice the crowd applauded residents who spoke about this proposed development not being consistent with the neighborhood and the Cabin John community at large.
UPDATE: On December 18, 2024, attorney Matthew Gordon representing Broad Branch Partners emailed CJCA: “I will be in touch with more detail in January, but I wanted to provide a quick update. My client heard the feedback and is now going back to the drawing board to develop a plan with less density and building height and will pursue development as permitted by the current zoning for the property (i.e., rezoning is no longer being pursued).”
By Susan Shipp, Contributing Writer [...]
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November 8, 2024HOLIDAY PARTY
This year’s Cabin John Holiday Party for young and old will be on Sunday, December 15, 5:00-7:00 pm at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC). This is an event co-sponsored by the CBNRC and the CJCA. We’ll have food, drink, music, merriment, the world-famous raffle, and a visit from Santa!
Please note–all children must be accompanied by an adult 18+; this is not a drop-off event.
Volunteers are needed to help run the party. If you can assist with decorating, set up of tables and chairs, food pickup, or contacting merchants for the raffle, please reach out to cjcapresidents@gmail.com.
By Heidi Lewis
GIVING TREE
2024 marks the 15th year that the Cabin John community will be providing resources and love-in-action to the 200 families in SOME’s transitional housing. It is always so heartwarming to see how many of our families participate each year.So Others Might Eat (SOME) is a local, DC-based nonprofit that fights poverty and homelessness by providing housing, healthcare, training, and social services, and this joint effort by the communities of Brookmont, Glen Echo, and Cabin John has become the largest source of holiday-season support, empowering parents to provide gifts under the tree for their children on Christmas morning, and basic necessities for themselves.HOW TO GIVE:
In previous years ornaments were hung on trees outside the community center but this year the tree will be inside. Ornaments are printed with gift card denominations. There are NO specific gift requests this year as SOME does not have staff sufficient to manage the individual gifts.
This year we are asking for gift cards in $50 increments to stores such as Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Macy’s as well as gift cards for Visa and Mastercard would be most appreciated. You do not need to select an ornament from the tree in order to donate.
Purchase the cards yourself and drop them off at Lori Rieckelman’s house (6423 79th Street) or order them from the merchant online and have them sent directly to Lori. Text her (301-655-4404) when you have left items in the bin on her porch so that she can quickly retrieve them. You may also give items to Lori at the holiday party on December 15. Please write the amount on the gift cards in case it is not already printed on the card. You can also send your donation to Lori by either Venmo (@Lori-Rieckelman) or Zelle (rieckell@aol.com) and she will purchase gift cards in your name.
By Lori Rieckelman [...]
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November 8, 2024Cabin John Mourns the Passing of Reed Martin
Reed Martin, former resident of Cabin John, passed away on September 30 in memory care at Brookside Potomac at the age of 78. Reed was a longtime fixture in Cabin John, along with his wife Barbara, hosting an annual yard sale at his home on 79th Street, riding his bike, creating his egg tree, leading the annual Fourth of July parade in his Model A Ford, and playing banjo at Glen Echo.
The Village News published a two-part account of Reed’s eclectic life and times in the May and June 2011 issues. Ted Orme’s articles can be found on page 3 in each issue at 2011 May Newsletter – Community of Cabin John, Maryland and 2011 June Newsletter – Community of Cabin John, Maryland. The Washington Post also published an article about Reed and his collections at Collector digs up relics of D.C. hobbies – The Washington Post. Multiple videos on Youtube feature Reed demonstrating his talents on the banjo and the website Bluegrass Today published a tribute, Reed Martin passes – Bluegrass Today. The Martin family is planning a celebration of life at Glen Echo in Spring 2025.
Reed’s numerous friends in the community have shared their memories of him:
For us, Reed (and Barbara) loomed large in community events since we arrived in CJ 24 years ago. They took time to add so many delightful touches, such as leading the CJ July 4 parade in their vintage cars, covering their front dogwood tree with hundreds of plastic eggs of every color every Easter, riding the canal on bicycles built for two, and sharing divided plants from their garden. Long before we had street signs to slow down traffic on 79th, Reed would run after cars himself telling them to slow down as kids were playing. Long before the NextDoor app where we can advertise stuff to give away, Reed would take whatever old furniture we put out (sorry, Barbara).
In more recent years, we could always count on seeing Reed on the canal at any time of day, whatever the weather. In his 80s, he would cycle back and forth from downtime DC several times a day on bikes he cobbled together himself from old parts that looked like something out of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Antiques Road Show.
It is no exaggeration or hyperbole to honor Reed as one of a kind. We don’t have a flagpole or I would place it at half mast.
Remembering Reed and Barbara with fondness and awe for their creativity. #Grateful4CJCharacters
Gabrielle Herderschee-Hunter and Han Herderschee
Reed was one of a kind…such a unique and talented guy who loved Cabin John so much.
Lori Rieckelman
I miss Reed too, although I didn’t really know him until we moved from 81st Street to Riverside Drive in 2019. In the relatively short time between moving to our current house through Reed’s going into Brookdale (memory care), we went on spontaneous bike rides together, shared fries at Captin’s Market, sat on his porch while we shared stories or he played some banjo for me, or just paused for a while by the side of the road or towpath and talked about music and Reed’s earlier days. I’m sure my experience was similar to those of so many in Cabin John. What a fascinating and wonderful guy! Here’s a clip from YouTube of Reed playing a short banjo piece (there are others if you look): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVpf4UCmpms
Adam Myers
It is the sad end to an era. Reed Martin was the first person to welcome me into the neighborhood. He followed the moving truck down the street, knocked on the front door, and introduced himself before we started unloading. I will miss him.
Bob Ward
A prolific and creative old time banjo player, Reed took a particular interest in my hobby, playing Irish traditional music. Not only would he join us at our session at the Irish Inn sometimes, he would also come to music parties and jams. A most memorable event was a mighty music party at Toby Thompson’s Log Cabin at the end of Riverside Drive in 2018.
When Covid hit in the spring of 2020 Reed Martin would hang out with us and play music at Lockhouse 8 down by the canal. He would entertain us with stories about Cabin John’s past, play some Old Time tunes and then give us a tour of his eclectic house and banjo (and other stuff) collection.
When I walked the dog along the C&O Canal Reed would often slow down his bike, ride alongside for a long chat and a lot of laughter. I loved the man.
Tina Eck
It is no exaggeration to say that Reed Martin is why we’ve lived in Cabin John for the last 27 years. We had a short window to find housing when a work opportunity prompted a move from Connecticut to the DC region. Among the places we visited, we toured a couple of houses in CJ but did not know much about the area. This was pre-Zillow, pre-Google even!! I called the post office to ask if anyone there would have information about the area, and left my address.
About a week later we received a packet with a handwritten letter and a copy of the Village News. The letter writer extolled the virtues of Cabin John–“friendly neighborhood where people know each other, so close to DC people ride their bikes to work along the canal.” That someone who didn’t even know us would take the time to write and send us a letter was all we needed to know–we were moving to Cabin John.
The letter writer–Reed Martin–and his wife Barbara were the unofficial Mayor and First Lady of Cabin John in our minds, and their examples of community involvement and neighborly spirit set the tone for all of us as we try to carry on those values.
Heidi and Scott Lewis [...]
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October 19, 2024CJCA NEWS
The CJCA has an exciting fall planned and hope that residents find these activities informative and fun:
CJCA Meeting at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center
Thursday, October 23, 7:30 pm
Maryland State Senator Sara N. Love will attend (note that she is not up for re-election in November). In addition, Burr Gray will present information about the two ballot initiatives.
Cabin John History Presentation at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center
Friday, November 8, 6:00 pm
Who or what is Cabin John? We live in a place steeped in mystery, ghosts, and legends. There are historic engineering marvels, too, and not just what you might think you already know. Come hear more about it in a history talk by our very own Judith Welles, author of Cabin John: Legends and Life of an Uncommon Place. She’ll tell new stories and show some never before seen photos. And if you have any Cabin John artifacts, feel free to bring them. Stay for dessert!
Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot
Thursday, November 28, 10:00 am
Everyone will be at our annual Thanksgiving Day walk or run along the canal. Join us!
PUBLIC WORKS CORNER – Water Main Break
Anyone in the vicinity of the intersection of Arden Road and 75th Street on Thursday, September 12, just two days before the Crab Feast, would have noticed water bubbling up from the small WSSC cover and a few other spots nearby, indicating a water main break.
Unfortunately, Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center and Clara Barton Center for Children were forced to close the next day due to reduced water pressure. At that time, the Chicken and Crab Feast was also in jeopardy. But thanks to the quick response from the WSSC, the water main was repaired, the building reopened, and the show went on.
Why does a water main break?
Material: Of the almost-6,000 miles of water mains in WSSC’s distribution system, approximately 2,900 miles are cast iron pipe (16-inch diameter and less), which were installed between 1916 and 1976. These pipes are prone to breaks because cast iron is a brittle material that is very sensitive to external pressure.
Soil Erosion: A previous pipeline break, excavation, or nearby construction often erodes soil around water mains, which can cause breaks.
Corrosion: Older pipes are not cement-lined and corrode inside and outside, increasing the chances of a break.
Pipe Diameter: The smaller the pipe’s diameter, the greater the risk that it will break.
Age: The break rate for pipes increases after 60 years. Age alone, however, cannot always be used as an indicator of failure. Some pipes installed in the early 1900s have never broken.
Temperature: A sudden temperature drop of even 10 degrees in the air or water temperature can dramatically increase stress on a pipe.
How to report a water main break? The WSSC asks the public to call 301-206-4002, report the problem on their mobile app, or email emergencycallcenter@wsscwater.com. Unless there is an emergency, calling 911 is not recommended. You can also sign up for alerts on their website to be kept informed of issues related to water service.
CABIN JOHN’S 54TH ANNUAL CRAB FEAST WAS A HUGE SUCCESS!
By Pete Cousté
(See all the photos in the full posted newsletter in the Archives section of the website.)
It takes a village to put together the Cabin John Chicken & Crab Feast. And our village stepped forward again on September 14th to create another successful event.
For the 54th time, Cabin John residents gathered at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC) for our largest event of the year to share a meal, visit with long-time neighbors, and meet new residents.
This year, more than 130 volunteers helped to plan, promote, prep, sell, set up, cook, and serve about 500 meals and 600 drinks. Together they temporarily transformed our community center into a pop-up restaurant complete with live music by the Starlight Orchestra and kids’ activities.
In just four hours, we consumed 17 bushels of crabs, 270 pounds of chicken, and vegetables galore, including carrots, green beans, potato salad, cole slaw, collard greens, and baked beans. New to the menu was local corn on the cob, as well as vegetarian versions of baked beans and collard greens.
As the event coordinator this year, I was amazed and humbled by the determination and dedication of the many Cabin John residents who offered their time and talents to make this event come to life.
We cannot thank enough those who helped make the day possible:
First, the Cabin John Citizens Association co-presidents Scott & Heidi Lewis led the promotion and ticketing. Those helping with advance sales were Clare Amoruso, Burr Gray, Helen Harris, Dallas Harrison, Marcy Harrison, Jean Johnson, Susan Roberts, Robin Sidel, and Sherri Stahl.
Volunteers handling ticket and merchandise sales for the event were Kathleen Leverenz, Heather Tomlinson, Tina Adler, Assie Crossman, Deb Duffy, Michelle Fryer, Peg Jobst, Heidi Lewis, Susan Roberts, and Della Couste Neve.
Vegetable preparations on Friday were spearheaded by crew chief Karen Melchar. Those helping Karen this year included Marcy Harrison, Meredith Griggs, Elaine Hornauer, Beverly Sullivan, Sue Mulroney, Mireille Lisimaque, Gilles Lisimaque, Veronica Evans, Jan Iris Smith, Alexis Danis, Sarah Danis, Sue Pierce, Alexander Aghababyan, Kathy Sullivan, Saadat Kydyrmysheva, Daisy Lewis, Alex Aghabab-Yan, Dalia Jennings, Nyeclon Simms, Kyelow Simms, and Della Couste Neve.
Burr Gray served as crew chief of set-up again. Those helping included Rick Duffy, Charles Betancourt, Helen Daniel, Emily Helmes, Dana Verkouteren, Lee Arbetman, Manishvar Manimaran, Ella Benjamin, Ryan Elliott, Stella Elliott, Nadine Boersema, Ann He, Rich He, Tylar Zarfoss, Paul Shedlarski, Scott Lewis, and Heidi Lewis.
The kitchen crew, headed by crew chief Meredith McGuire and Kathleen Black, included Bramman Avery, Mary Kay Young, Veronica Evans, Marcy Harrison, Patty Lee, Sue Pierce, Jesse Friedlander, Judith Bell, and Karen Melchar.
The chicken crew, overseen by chief Dan Mustico, included Phil Corcoran, Mike Donnellan, Pat Neve and Daisy Lewis.
Crab and corn cooking were supervised by Barry Hubscher. His crew included Josh Chambers, John Buttman, Dan Berman, Chris Enyart, Dylan Enyart and Pat Neve.
Susan Shipp was chief wrangler for volunteer scheduling and the serving line. Handling our the food on the serving line were Reiko Berman Shingu, Ella Benjamin, Barbara Wilmarth, Harry Rieckelman, Lori Rieckelman, Linda Green, Helen Daniel, Meredith Griggs, Alexis Danis, Sarah Danis, Amy Elsbree, Dallas Harrison, Michel Ellert-Beck, Christine Chambers, Stacey Corcoran, Sue Mulroney, Alice Kuangjin Zhang, Clive Harris, Helen Harris, Delia Jennings, Gabby Herderschee-Hunter, Robin Sidel, Julian Sidel, Elliott Schoen, Jeff Shipp, Sullivan, Karen Beverly, and Karen Melchar.
Jackie Hoglund was crew chief for beverages. Those assisting included Theresa Kowal, Rita Gerhard, Joel Todd, Jennifer Fedder, Alicia Deeny, Kathy Dowd, Beth Ferrenz and Julie McLean.
Our lemonade stand was managed by Jeff and Anne Rothman. Sydney Ishida, My Linh Bui and Andrea Williams also helped.
Heidi Lewis coordinated bussing tables. Those helping were Sue Mulroney, Ella Benjamin, Cassandra Morrison, Josh Church, Nora Church, Finn Tomlinson, Finn Sullivan, Alice Kuangjin Zhang, Cristiano Andrade and Marcelo Andrade.
Scott Lewis oversaw clean-up. Those assisting included Burr Gray, Tim Shank, Rick Duffy, Ulrish Apeki, Yanzhen Tian, Patrick Fitzgerald, Finn Tomlinson, Finn Sullivan, Jeff Shipp, Susan Shipp, Elliot Shoen and Karen Melchar.
Also, thank you to the musicians of the Starlight Orchestra for the entertainment. Our gratitude to Bob Walsh, CJCA treasurer, for his assistance with the event.
Finally, thank you to the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center staff for providing children’s activities during the event. A special thank you to Barry Jones, who manages CBNRC, and has made it an integral part of the annual crab feast, while helping to develop a true partnership with the Cabin John Citizens Association.
Undoubtedly, there are others who pitched in whose names may have been overlooked. Please know that your help was greatly appreciated. If you didn’t join in this year, you missed a good one. We hope you can make it next year.
When you see any of these volunteers, please take a moment to thank them and consider joining them to volunteer for an hour or two next year. It takes the entire village. Go to cabinjohn.org to get involved or email cjcapresidents@gmail.com. [...]
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October 19, 2024As we know, Montgomery County has issues with housing. With a population of over one million people, and expected growth of 200,000 in the next 25 years, there is simply not enough housing planned to accommodate that growth. Furthermore, some members of the business community believe the cost of housing, which has escalated dramatically over the past several decades, will drive businesses and people away, particularly downcounty.
Enter the Attainable Housing Strategies initiative, which is currently being advocated for by the Montgomery County Council, of which Andrew Friedson is president and our District 1 Councilmember. The primary goal of AHS is to develop recommendations to increase options for property owners to build more housing types in the county, particularly along the county’s growth corridors as set out in the approved Thrive Montgomery 2050 plan. Growth corridors are centered around transit stations and along mixed-use corridors that are walkable, bikeable and transit-accessible.
While an obvious approach is higher-density housing, such as large multi-family buildings, this is not the ideal solution because more than a third of the county is still zoned exclusively for single-family housing. The intent of AHS is to provide an opportunity to look at zoning laws to determine if a middle ground to increase the number of units can be found all the while maintaining neighborhood character.
The Facts:
The AHS initiative consists of three types of housing density plans:
For Cabin Johners, the small scale recommendations from the AHS would be most applicable (to the extent this program has been developed). The County Planning Board recommends new house-scale (i.e., existing lot-line setbacks and height restrictions) attainable housing be permitted by right in the R‑40, R‑60, R‑90 and R‑200 zones as follows:
duplexes everywhere in the R-40, R-60, R-90, and R-200 zones;
triplexes everywhere in the R-40, R-60, and R-90 zones, and in the R-200 zone within a Priority Housing District;* and
quadplexes in the R-40, R-60, R-90, and R-200 zones within the Priority Housing District.*
*Note that Cabin John is not within the county’s Priority Housing District.
Most homes in Cabin John south of Archbold Terrace and Longridge Court are located in the R-90 zone, while those in Cabin John Gardens fall under the R-60 zone. Homes north of Archbold Terrace and Longridge Court are designated R-200. If elements of the AHS are adopted in their current form, property owners could have the opportunity to increase housing density in these ways: in the R-60 or R-90 zones, a detached single-family home could be replaced with a duplex or triplex and in the R-200 zone, a detached single-family home could be replaced with a duplex.
The Status
The AHS is only a set of recommendations at this point. No legislation is up for consideration and any draft legislation would require public hearings. County administration just wrapped up its series of six listening sessions, intended for residents to weigh in on the proposed initiative, with the last held on October 2. The CJCA is in information-gathering mode at this time.
The Feedback
CJCA officers were in attendance at the listening session held at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School on September 25. Examples of comments and concerns expressed by the public regarding the potential AHS initiative included (in no particular order):
Many recognize the need for increased density and agree something must be done.
The county needs to increase its tax base. Too many people and businesses are moving out of Maryland for a myriad of reasons (cost of living, lack of housing, regulations, taxes, jobs).
Many argued that such an impactful change to zoning regulations should be placed on the ballot for the public to decide and not be left to the County Council.
Many expressed concerns with how increased density would impact the “peace and tranquility” of single-family housing neighborhoods and potentially reduce property values.
There were questions about the role of developers in the AHS process and any subsequent legislation.
What additional investments in public transit are being made to support AHS?
Given that many MCPS schools are at or over capacity, a) how would the schools manage the increased enrollment, and b) should the county be more concerned with addressing the school overcrowding instead of emphasizing AHS?
Has sufficient due diligence been performed? Can the data be shared? For example, what have we learned from the impact of allowing the construction of accessory dwelling units (ADUs)? How many ADUs have been built, where are they, and who occupies them? What about the current stock of planned housing units?
Our county executive has come out against the recommendations.
A new duplex in Cabin John–with all the typical new home bells and whistles–would hardly be priced below an “attainable” $1 million.
Would there be attainable housing–under $750k–anywhere in the priority areas close to Metro?
The Chevy Chase Lake development was cited as an example of the impact on single-family home neighborhoods, i.e. resultant high traffic and high noise with the higher density.
Cabin Johners are encouraged to visit https://montgomeryplanning.org/planning/housing/attainable-housing-strategies-initiative/ for more information. The next steps will be up to the Montgomery County Council. Given the large impact and consequences of the AHS and its recommendations, there will be much feedback and, in many cases, pushback. The CJCA will continue to monitor the AHS and may make it the subject of an upcoming community meeting.
By Scott Lewis, Charlotte Troup-Leighton, and Marcy Harrison
Contributing Writers [...]
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October 19, 2024The history of Cabin John is entwined with spooky fables and folklore. Tales about the origin of the name Cabin John, passed down through generations, describe various incarnations of a mysterious hermit who lived in the woods near the Cabin John Bridge and creek.
Some legends depict “John” as a salty, tattooed pirate who jumped ship and settled here, burying his stolen treasure nearby. Property deeds from the sale of lots by the American Land Company included a clause that the “party of the first part reserves the right to one-half interest in any treasure or articles of special value which may have been hidden on said lot or parcel by John of the Cabin.”
J.H. Wilson Marriott’s 15¢ booklet from 1903 titled Picturesque Cabin John told the story of a lone man who lived along the creek, long before the Union Arch Bridge was completed in 1862. This loner “disappeared as mysteriously as he came, and nothing was ever known as to his fate. His old cabin crumbled into ruins.” A ghost called “John of the Cabin” was often seen near a primitive shelter in the woods, and was even used as a clever marketing ploy for the American Land Company’s sale of lots in Cabin John Park in the early 1900s. The ghost of John was rumored to return on gusty nights, only to disappear in a flash of light when others saw him. Many locals feared crossing the Union Arch Bridge after dark.
I recently came across one of the Montgomery County Historical Society’s online “History Conversations” from 2021, in which historian and educator Karen Yaffe Lottes spoke about her book (with Dorothy Pugh), In Search of Maryland Ghosts: Montgomery County, a fun and educational take on some local history through a supernatural lens.
The book recounts ghost stories from the wider area, including one from right here in Cabin John by an anonymous storyteller. This person’s father grew up in Cabin John and was a paperboy in the 1960s.
Every morning, the boy woke up before dawn to deliver newspapers along his route. At that time, the Union Arch Bridge was a busy, two lane thoroughfare. One morning, the young paperboy walked out to the middle of the bridge–to get the best view of the dwindling stars he’d said, but later revealed it was to toss bottles off the bridge for fun. In the predawn stillness, he heard a strange sound, not that of a vehicle but rather a rhythmic sound like people marching.
The sound was coming from Glen Echo, so the frightened young delivery boy raced back towards Cabin John and hid as the marching reached the bridge. He heard a voice say “Break step, march” and the footsteps heading towards him changed to a walk. This young man learned years later, when he was in the service, that soldiers don’t march across a bridge as it creates vibrations that could damage its structural integrity.
The boy stayed crouched down and out of sight. “He heard the footsteps, the clothing rustling, and the clanking of metal on metal. It seemed like hundreds of men trooped by before they were finally off the bridge. He heard the command, ‘Resume step, march.’ In three beats, the rhythm of the footsteps went from walking to marching. When they were finally all past, curiosity overcame fear and my father crawled up (and looked)…The roadway, on the Cabin John side of the bridge, runs in a straight line for nearly a mile—and it was empty.”
Construction on the Union Arch Bridge began in 1857 by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers under chief engineer Lieutenant Montgomery C. Meigs. The historic aqueduct, once the longest single span stone arch bridge in the world, was designed to carry clean drinking water from Great Falls to Washington D.C. During the Civil War, Union soldiers did indeed camp in this area to protect the bridge from damage, as well as the capital’s water supply.
Just another ghostly yarn to add to the legend of Cabin John!
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer [...]
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September 16, 2024September CJCA Meeting & the Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative
NOTE: We will NOT meet at CBNRC this September & the hearing meeting location has been changed to Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School; registration required.
The September Cabin John Citizens Association Meeting scheduled for Wednesday, September 25 will NOT BE HELD at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center. Instead, we will do a CJCA meeting “field trip” to the hearing on the Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative to be held at the Bethesda – Chevy Chase High School (4301 East-West Highway, Bethesda), from 7:00 to 9:00pm Sept. 25th. Register by noon on September 21 to attend:
https://mcgmd.wufoo.com/forms/z1x6zubk1qub83c
The Attainable Housing Strategies Initiative is a set of potential zoning modifications prepared by the Montgomery County Planning Department and recommended to the county council in June by the Montgomery County Planning Board. The modifications would allow property owners to have the option to build a wider range of housing types in areas of the county that have only allowed one single-family detached home per lot for decades.
This is an important and interesting initiative. More information at https://montgomeryplanning.org/county-council-and-montgomery-planning-to-host-community-listening-sessions-on-planning-board-recommendations-to-help-address-the-countys-housing-crisis/
If you would like to attend but need transportation, we will be putting together carpools – contact cjcapresidents@gmail.com.
The October CJCA Meeting will be held, as usual, on October 23 at CBNRC at 7:30pm.
Public Works Corner – Beltway/Commuter Updates
Another Village News issue and yes, another update on the Beltway. Commuters who travel regularly over the American Legion Bridge to Virginia will note–and be annoyed by–the construction just south of the bridge. Virginia is extending the HOT (High Occupancy Toll) lanes northward to just south of the GW Parkway interchange. When this is completed, Virginia will have almost 90 miles of HOT lanes across three areas: the I-95/I-395 lanes running from the Stafford area to the D.C. border; the Beltway lanes running from the Springfield Interchange to just south of the GW Parkway; and the I-66 Express Lanes from Rosslyn to Gainesville. One might be interested to know that an SUV towing a one-axle trailer from CJ out to Manassas and beyond will incur over $75 in fees if using the HOT lanes the entire journey. The two new miles of HOT lanes from the Dulles Toll Road to just south of the GW Parkway will open late 2025, assuming the project remains on schedule.
But what of the American Legion Bridge and potential Beltway expansion in Maryland? The public-private partnership agreement previously in place fell apart, so Maryland has essentially restarted the process, including the collection of public input and establishment of a funding approach. Here’s what’s known:
1. The Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) has conducted a land survey in Maryland and Virginia in preparation for a new bridge.
2. According to MDOT only 6 years of use remain before the bridge will need refurbishment or replacement.
3. Wes Moore and MDOT have emphasized potential multimodal improvements to the bridge to include new bicycle and pedestrian access as well as toll lanes and widening.
4. Pushback against the widening continues based on environmental and other concerns, some of this generated from our community given the impacts it would have on Cabin John.
5. The funding required for such a significant project is not in place with some grants approved, others still under consideration and at least one grant outright denied.
6. Virginia and its local county governments are very supportive of a new bridge, but their construction is about to end.
7. Any new expansion project would start 2026 or later and would not be complete until 2032 or later.
Village News Seeks Layout Editor
Cabin John’s hometown newsletter has kept CJ’ers connected and informed for 58 years, and to make it to 59, we need someone to volunteer to help us put it together.
If you can use Word, PPT, Google Docs, or similar software — you can do it! Graphic design experience is a plus, but you can also learn on the job.
Please contact VN editor Shelly McKenzie at vneditorial@gmail.com to find out more.
CJ House Tour 2025: WANTED – Homes/Gardens to Show!
It has been a long time since the last CJ House Tour: 2008! We are seeking homes to be showcased during a tour to be held on a Saturday or Sunday in May or June 2025. We would appreciate hearing from you if you might like to have your home included on the tour. Does your home have architectural or historic features of interest? Do you have beautiful or unique interior design? Do you have art, hobby or crafts collections in your home that you are willing to show off? Do you expect to have a gorgeous spring garden to share?
Please contact Marcy Harrison, marcyharrison@earthlink.net, 301-908-8906, to discuss. Thank you! [...]
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September 16, 2024The first-ever reunion for descendants of Morningstar Moses Tabernacle No. 88, the African American benevolent society that once supported the historic community of Gibson Grove in Cabin John was held August 24 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center.
The gathering brought together multiple generations of the White family, including several members who live on Carver Road and the Coates family, some of whom traveled from the Baltimore area to attend. Descendants of the Crawford family joined in via FaceTime.
The reunion was hosted by the Friends of Moses Hall, a non-profit organization that has been working since 2020 to protect the site of the benevolent society’s Moses Hall and cemetery.
Located on Seven Locks Road just south of the Beltway overpass, the cemetery, which has not been in use since the 1970s, was thought to hold dozens of grave sites. But thanks to the efforts of the Friends of Moses Hall, the state of Maryland conducted a geophysical survey in 2021 that revealed evidence of 377 likely graves, including a number in the current right-of-way for the Capital Beltway.
Those buried in the cemetery were all members of the Morningstar No. 88 benevolent society. These organizations provided crucial financial and educational support, burial services and social opportunities that sustained black communities during a period of legal and social segregation in Maryland.
According to the 1900 US census, the Gibson Grove community held 18 African American households with 122 inhabitants, including nine men working as farmers, seven as construction workers and laborers, six as quarrymen, five as railway workers and three hotel staff. Several women worked as domestic help in private homes or in local hotels, and others took in laundry to supplement their incomes. By 1958, the Gibson Grove community consisted of 32 families on Carver and Seven Locks roads.
Friends of Moses Hall hopes that future reunions will bring together even more descendants to ensure that the cemetery and all that it represents are preserved for future generations.
To find out more about the cemetery and its importance in Cabin John’s history, visit the Friends of Moses Hall website at https://www.friendsofmoseshall.org/
By Susan Shipp, Contributing Writer [...]
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September 16, 2024A second neighborhood meeting with Potomac Heritage Homes was held on August 27 regarding their proposed development of the 2.3-acre wooded lot off 80th Place.
About 25 residents packed the room at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center to hear Heritage Homes discuss plans to build four large houses on one of the last forested lots in Cabin John. The proposal would require clear-cutting more than half of the woods and destroying the tree canopy. Residents once again raised many concerns about the proposal, including significant drainage issues that will impact houses downstream from MacArthur Boulevard, the substantial loss of forest and wildlife, the lack of emergency vehicle access, increased traffic congestion, and trash issues.
Potomac Heritage Homes personnel stated that their plans meet the county requirements. They also noted that trees would remain on the proposed 1.2-acre forest easement that runs along the stream, providing a “habitat for squirrels and bugs.” A separate application is required for this forest conservation plan. This particular lot is listed in the 1990 Bethesda-Chevy Chase Master Plan, which notes that a floodplain study is needed and that there may be some wetlands outside the stream buffer. The master plan also states that the trees and slope are to be preserved to enhance the treed character of the site.
Residents stated for the record that this proposed development would be disastrous for Cabin John and that the community intends to contest the plan. If you would like to receive updates, please email nathan.canestaro@gmail.com. [...]
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September 16, 2024Summer strollers along the C&O Canal are often amazed to see schools of massive fish, lunkers as they are known to anglers, lurking in the dark water. They are common carp, an introduced species that is increasingly sought after by fly fishermen and reel casters alike. In Germany, there are fishing clubs formed solely around the pursuit of this species of giant fish. The carp in the Potomac originally hail from the Caspian Sea region or East Asia and the species was probably introduced in the mid-1800s. It remains unclear which species of fish they displaced or their overall ecological effects, as back then there were few fish biologists or aquatic ecologists trained to explore such impacts. Today, we know that the common carp is the most widely introduced fish globally, found in almost every country. Local anglers pursue them for sport because of the fight they offer if they strike on light tackle; around the world, fish in the carp family are a main source of protein. You won’t find carp on the menu much in the Potomac area, as they are too troublesome to filet, but in Asian cuisines, carp is a delicacy.
Our common carp grows to up to 30 inches in length and typically weighs about 10 pounds, but some can reach 30 pounds. They are distinguished by two barbels, or fleshy growths, on either side of the mouth, a thick body, an elongated dorsal fin, and a forked tail. In the spring in the C&O Canal, when they are spawning, they make quite a splash, as several males can mingle with a single female as she lays more than 100,000 eggs over the aquatic vegetation. There is no parental care; the baby carp are left to their own devices or blind luck to avoid a wide range of predators. Survivors reach maturity in three to four years and live about 15 years.
It is ironic that another common name of the carp family is the minnow family. Indeed, true minnows belong to this family, the Cyprinids, but so do some massive beasts. With over 3,000 species, the Cyprinidae is not only the largest family of freshwater fish in the world, it is also the most diverse family among all the world’s vertebrate families. The largest Cyprinid is the Siamese carp, or giant barb, a species native to the Mekong River of Southeast Asia. The giant barb can reach 10 feet long and weigh up to 660 pounds, but overfishing has left it critically endangered. Here in America, many people are familiar with another member of the Cyprinid family, koi, a popular fish of backyard ponds.
Along the canal, we can admire the fly fishermen trying to reel in giant carp. They stalk the spooky easily spooked fish and try to coax them into taking their lure, a tiny hook with a few strands of quills and feathers that can be made to resemble mulberry fruits or cottonwood seeds, two favorite food items when aquatic insects are not hatching in numbers. We can admire even more the angler who tries to eat one of these fish. A common complaint about carp is that they are extremely bony. Unlike the easily fileted members of the salmon family, carp are full of tiny splinters that easily stick in your gums.
I will never forget my first time eating a fish in the carp family. It was the year 1975 and I was a newly minted Peace Corps volunteer with an unusual assignment to become a survey biologist in a newly created tiger reserve in the lowland jungles of remote western Nepal. It took me two days and fifty miles on elephant-back to reach the headquarters of the Bardia tiger reserve. It was monsoon season, and all the roads were washed out, so the only way to reach the reserve was by elephant. Soon after the elephant drivers dumped me off, the park warden suggested that we take a reconnaissance trip from the headquarters near our home village of Thakurdwara to the village of Chisapani (meaning “cold water”), located 16 miles north at the gorge where the mighty Karnali River leaves the outermost range of the Himalayas and reaches the Gangetic plain. Chisapani was a small village populated by the Rajis, an ethnic group who lived by catching, among other fish, the giant Golden Mahseer, also one of the pre-eminent sport fish in the world for fly fishermen.
For many of the forest guards stationed at Chisapani, I was probably one of the first, if not the first, white person they had ever seen. Nepal had been closed to westerners until around 1960, but even in the ensuing 15 years, few westerners had ventured along the great Karnali. In honor of my visit, the guards welcomed me with a feast: large chunks of freshly caught mahseer and piles of white rice, washed down with the unpleasant distilled rice wine known as raksi. I had heard of mahseer, but I had no idea a large fish could have so many bones. After eating another mouthful of mahseer, which had quite a muddy taste, I swallowed. I felt something in my throat. I tried to swallow again and took a swig of water. The object in my throat became more noticeable and then painful. It was a fish bone. For the next hour I tried everything that the Nepali guards told me to do when they had a similar problem: grab a big handful of rice and stuff it in my mouth, not to chew it, just swallow hard and force the fish bone down. I tried that technique three times, to no avail. The fish had hooked me.
It was late by then, after ten and time for bed; I was exhausted after the 16-mile trek in the rain and concerned about the new resident in my throat. I lay down but had little luck in sleeping. I must have dozed off a bit but when I woke up it was the same situation: the fish bone hadn’t budged. I started to contemplate my alternatives. The nearest doctor or clinic would be 65 miles away and take several days of walking in the monsoon rains to reach. And the embarrassment! I hadn’t been at my post for two weeks and I would have to return to a health post or maybe even fly back to Kathmandu or take a bus to see a fishbone removal specialist.
Brooding over my rotten luck, I walked towards the surging Karnali River that was in full spate. The dark brown water hurtled along the riverbanks. I climbed up the carved wooden steps of a thatch-roofed platform that villagers used to watch over their rice paddies to keep the wild animals from eating their crops. During the day, old men often sit on these platforms, play cards, and drink more raksi, especially during the monsoon, when, after the rice paddy is planted, there is not much to do but watch the river flow by.
I was trying to console myself when I saw an old man wearing nothing more than a Nepali hat called a topi and a loincloth. He climbed up the stairs and just stared at me. When I greeted him with a namaste, the traditional greeting (which literally means I bow to the god in you) words started to pour from his mouth. I nodded because it was too painful to say more than a few words in Nepali, or any other language at the moment. He was telling me fascinating stories, one after the other: what it was like to live his whole life in Chisapani, fishing for the mahseer; the tigers that approached the village and sometimes killed their water buffalo. Finally I had to stop him. I spoke up in Nepali, “Grandfather, I would love to hear your stories. But I have a fishbone stuck in my throat and it’s killing me.”
He merely smiled and said, “Why didn’t you say so? I will be right back.” He returned a few minutes later with a small leather pouch. He opened it and poured some dried and shriveled objects into his palm. “Here, chew on these dried lali gurans petals. We fishermen get fish bones in our throats all the time. In a few minutes after sucking on the petals, the fishbone will pass.” And then he went off to tend to his buffalo.An hour later, as if by magic, the fish bone was gone. I could swallow without pain. I had no idea what had just happened. Later, in grad school, I studied the chemical composition of lali gurans, the red rhododendron that is the national flower of Nepal. I learned that the foliage of rhododendrons was quite toxic to herbivores, likely due to a compound called Andromeda toxin. Perhaps the dried petals concentrated minute amounts of Andromeda toxin that caused the mucous membranes in my throat to work overtime, coating the bone and dislodging it from my gullet. Perhaps it served me as a placebo, and it was only a matter of time before the same membranes finally streamed the stuck bone away: a coincidence. In any event, I will never forget that lovely grandfather, his kind gesture, and his sparing me a miserable 65-mile walk in the monsoon rains. I have never touched carp again. I still admire them as they splash about in spring in the canal, but I will leave them to the avid fishermen. Let them seize the day, and the fish. Perhaps they have their own version of dried rhododendron petals if they choose to cook their catch.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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September 16, 2024No Development on 80th Place. Roots Before Roofs. Trees Not Drywells.
By now, nearly all of Cabin John has noticed the cute squirrel signs (and others) with a serious message against the proposed development on 80th Place. Potomac Heritage Homes plans to build four large, nearly identical houses in the 2.3-acre woods between 80th and 81st Streets, bulldozing more than half of one of the last large, undeveloped tracts of land in Cabin John. Filled with majestic trees and teeming with wildlife, the woods adjoin the Carderock Conservation Area at the end of 80th Place. A stream runs through the middle, under MacArthur Boulevard and down toward the Potomac.
Residents of the surrounding streets have mobilized in an effort to halt this proposed development. Concerns include drainage issues, emergency vehicle access and destruction of the natural environment. Clearing most of the wooded parcel would have a tremendous impact on wildlife and forever change the rural, woodsy character of Cabin John—one of the reasons people have chosen to live here since J.S. Tomlinson’s American Land Company began offering lots in 1913. In fact, on Tomlinson’s early maps of Cabin John Park, this lot was intended to be a public space for a school and baseball field.
Many Cabin Johners attended recent contentious meetings with the builder to voice their disapproval and concerns. It’s reminiscent of another time in Cabin John’s history, when residents had a voice in determining the future of the community.
In 1959, Bogley & Co. real estate brokerage proposed a massive project in Cabin John that included a large shopping center, offices, a motel and luxury “apartment houses” to replace 350 modest homes in the area. The Montgomery County Sentinel newspaper described the scheme in a July 30, 1959 article, “‘Dream Plan’ Viewed Dimly by Cabin John Residents.” Several locals quoted predicted that the plan would “fall flat on its face before it ever gets started.”
Andrew Wilkins, one of the founding members of the Cabin John Citizens Association in 1919, said “Personally, we love Cabin John and deeply resent promoters who claim to want to help the community but who really only want to make money and more money.” Dr. Henry Briefs, an economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisors, was shocked by the proposed development and said “We came out here to live, not to speculate in real estate. We like to have a safe, friendly, small town atmosphere for our eight children and still be so close to the city… Capital appreciation is certainly not our first consideration.” At a Cabin John Citizens Association special meeting, nearly three-quarters of the community expressed their dismay at the Bogley plan, and ultimately put a stop to the project.
Throughout the 1960s, developers conveyed interest in Cabin John’s unused parcels of land. Residents became increasingly worried about the potential loss of the neighborhood’s character and rural feel. In 1971, a community survey was sent to all residents in which their vision of Cabin John emerged. The Cabin John Community Plan was born and was later incorporated into the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Master Plan.
The Cabin John Community Plan “contains our goals, objectives and proposals for the future of the area in which we live—and the assertion that we, the citizens, have both the right and the duty to direct the lifestyle we choose to follow, rather than have it done for us.” Cabin John residents expressed their wishes to maintain a quiet atmosphere, small town friendliness, many trees and a diversity of homes, people and cultures.
The Bethesda-Chevy Chase Master Plan (1990) notes that the “unique character of the Cabin John community should be retained by keeping the existing scale and type of housing along with the semi-rural, wooded environment. This community is one of the few areas in Bethesda-Chevy Chase providing a diversity of housing types at a range of prices. This mix results in an opportunity for housing for people who otherwise might not be able to live in the Palisades Area. This is one important factor in the strong sense of community among the citizens of Cabin John. It is important that this neighborhood with its variety of housing be maintained.”
The Master Plan notes that the “Large stands of mature trees are not only a critical asset from an environmental perspective but also greatly contribute to the ambience associated with the area.” While many of the original neighborhood houses have been sensitively renovated or replaced with larger ones, older homes remain too. Wooded yards and front porches dot the narrow roads. Residents of Cabin John still embrace values of small town warmth, green surroundings, abundant trees, eclectic homes and a rustic aesthetic. Its self-defined identity continues to endure for now.
By Rachel Donnan
CJ Historian [...]
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August 9, 2024We are fortunate to have a packed calendar for the coming CJCA Program Year. We will start with our Annual Crab Feast on September 14 from 2-6 pm at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC). Here are some additional highlights from our year ahead:
— Our three Blood Drives, all on Sundays–October 6, February 2 and May 4 starting at 10:00 am.— CJ’s very own Judy Welles will be giving a History Talk on Friday, November 8 at 6:00 pm.— Our ever popular Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot will be on November 28 at 10:00 am (on Thanksgiving, of course).— Our annual Holiday Party will be Sunday, December 15 starting at 5:00 pm.— The incomparable CJCA Trivia Night–Saturday, January 25 starting at 6:30 pm.— We will have a go at the Bike Clinic again given its popularity. Saturday, April 5 at 10:00 am.— Our Spring Egg Hunt will be Sunday, April 6 at 4:00 pm (one week prior to MCPS spring break).— Our Wednesday night CJCA Meetings–September 25, October 23, January 22, February 26, March 26, April 23 and May 28.— Cabin John Home & Garden Tour–June date TBD.
To be considered and scheduled. We would need a volunteer to lead:
— Cabin John History Walk
Here’s a rundown by month:
2024
Wednesday, September 25–CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm, CBNRC
Saturday, September 14–54th Annual Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast, CBNRC
Wednesday, September 25–CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm, CBNRC
Sunday, October 6–CJ Blood Drive, 10am-3 pm, CBNRC
Wednesday, October 23–CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm, CBNRC
Friday, November 8–History Talk with Judy Welles, 6 pm, CBNRC
November 28–CJ Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot, 10 am
Sunday, December 15–CJ Holiday Party, 5-7 pm, CBNRC
2025
Wednesday, January 22–CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm, CBNRC
Saturday, January 25–Trivia Night, 6:30-10:30 pm, CBNRC
Sunday, February 2–CJ Blood Drive, 10 am-3 pm, CBNRC
Wednesday, February 26–CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm, CBNRC
Wednesday, March 26–CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm, CBNRC
Saturday, April 5 at 10 am–Bike Clinic
Sunday, April 6, at 4 pm–Spring Egg Hunt–Playground & Field at CBNRC
Wednesday, April 23–CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm, CBNRC
Sunday, May 4–CJ Blood Drive, 10 am to 3 pm, CBNRC
Wednesday, May 28–CJCA Meeting, 7:30 pm, CBNRC
June, TBD – Cabin John Home & Garden tour
Friday, July 4–Parade, MacArthur Boulevard to CBNRC
As always, thank you to our many volunteers who make all this happen!!
By Scott Lewis [...]
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August 9, 2024BUY TICKETS: https://2024-cjca-chicken-and-crab-feast.cheddarup.com
SIGN UP TO VOLUNTEER: https://tinyurl.com/CJCAcrabfeast
Delicious steamed crabs, tasty grilled chicken with a secret recipe rub, yummy fresh vegetables cooked to perfection, homemade baked beans and more will be served up by CJ neighbors while the Starlight Orchestra serenades the crowd.
The food and fun start at 2 pm. The 15-piece jazz and swing band gets underway shortly thereafter. The fun continues until 6 pm. The crab feast is the largest community event of the year and typically brings together some 600 Cabin Johners and friends. It is also an important fundraiser for the Cabin John Citizens’ Association.
Games and activities for kids will be run by the staff of the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC).
The Crab Feast Director this year is none other than CJ’s famed crab master Pete Couste! With his New Orleans roots and his years of experience selecting and preparing the crab feast’s main event–Maryland blue crabs–he’s going to make sure the good times roll at the 2024 Chicken & Crab Feast.
But Pete and his crew chiefs NEED LOTS OF HELP:
Volunteers Needed!
It takes over 150 people to plan, prep, serve, and clean up the Crab Feast every year. Ask anyone who has worked the Crab Feast and they will confirm that it is really fun volunteering for an hour or two. You’ll never regret getting to know your neighbors a little better and getting that warm feeling from knowing you’ve done your part.
SSL hours approved–Middle and high school students can earn up to four hours of SSL credit.
Volunteers needed for 2-hour shifts these days and times:
Friday:
Veggie Prep 3-7 pm
Saturday:
Table/chairs setup 10 am-2 pm
Table cleaning/resetting 2-6 pm
Chicken grill crew 11 am-5 pm
Kitchen crew 11 am-5 pm
Ticket sales table 12:30 pm-6:30 pm
Serving line 1:45 pm-6:15 pm
Clean up crew 5:30 pm-7 pm
Plus lots of other jobs for volunteers 10 am-7 pm
To volunteer sign up: https://tinyurl.com/CJCAcrabfeast
Buy Your Tickets Now–Buying tickets in advance saves you money and helps us plan quantities.
2024 tickets and prices:
Chicken + 3 sides $18 advance, $20 at door
3 Crabs + 3 sides – $20
OR
6 Crabs (no sides) …. $22 advance, $25 at door.
Sides only (5 sides) $18 advance, $20 at door
How to buy:
Online at CJCA’s CheddarUp site (must buy by 5pm Friday, September 13)
https://2024-cjca-chicken-and-crab-feast.cheddarup.com
In-person sales (checks, cash, credit card) – CJCA volunteers will set up a table to sell advance tickets – come by to purchase your advance tickets:
Wednesday, September 11, 10 am-11 am, CBNRC Senior Room
Thursday, September 12, 6 pm-7 pm, Sidewalk near CJ Post Office
Friday, September 13, 4 pm-6 pm, CBNRC back blacktop
Day of event: You can, of course, buy tickets at the door on Saturday, but will pay the higher “at door” price.
Questions or comments on Crab Feast? Email cjcapresidents@gmail.com
[...]
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August 9, 2024On a languid afternoon in July, a pastime to have won the approval of Thoreau would be to stretch out on the banks of the Potomac, journal in hand, waiting for deep thoughts to arise or a wading bird to land nearby. Or if a philosopher considered deep thought too taxing, perhaps best not to contemplate anything at all, just gaze across to Virginia’s shore or up at the intense blue sky. The cicadas’ loud racket made a riverside nap now impossible. Better to admire the tiger swallowtail flapping by, a concentration of black and yellow reticulations. And then a great blue heron lifts off from its hunting pond, on the way to another favorite spot. But cast an eye long enough and a new face appears in nature. What is this bluish-white flowering plant growing in a large mat along the banks? Could it be an aquatic orchid? But since when do orchids grow in water?
It was about twenty years ago as I sat like a poor-man’s Thoreau on a summer’s day that I made this discovery. One of the strangest experiences in nature is to come upon a plant family from the tropics you know well in all its diversity and not realize that there are representatives right in your own Maryland neighborhood. I knew the ground-dwelling orchids in our area, but this plant had me stumped until I counted the petals in its irregular flower and saw the telltale bracts beneath the corolla. Could this be an Acanth? Later I learned about the Carolina wild petunia, but what was this little gem? I consulted some local plant lists and to my surprise discovered that I had spotted an American willow weed, a member of the genus Justicia: some of the most beautiful flowering plants in the world. The Acanthaceae (Acanths for short) are a group of about 2,500 species and can be found from lush rainforests in Costa Rica, Brazil, and Indonesia to the deserts of Namibia. We may know them as cultivated petunias, or to those ornamental lovers, as the vivid yellow and red flowers and bracts of Pachystachys. But there it was, covering the shallows of quiet side pools in the Potomac, Justicia americana, our diminutive American water willow. I suppose it was named water willow because, like willows, it is native to the water’s edge and the leaves are somewhat willow-shaped.
American water willow grows as far west as Texas, and from New England, reaching up to northern Ontario and Quebec, and down to Florida. The reason the water willow grows in clumps is that it spreads from underground stems and can, in the right conditions of water, nutrients, and sunlight, form massive mats covering as much as 1,000 square feet, though I have never seen any colonies that enormous around Cabin John.
I would imagine in the big colonies of water willows, the bee traffic would be something to behold. Each white and purple blossom of the half-inch-wide flowers sports bee guidelines, steering the insect pollinators to their destination, like lines on an airstrip. Butterflies also visit water willow.
It’s a lovely plant to get to know on a hot summer day with nothing better to do. Go look for it. And take your notebook in case the meaning of life strikes you while you sit watching colonies of water willow undulate in the riffles.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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August 9, 2024Do You Have Cabin John History to Share?
We moved to Cabin John almost ten years ago from London, where every time we stepped out our front door we were walking through history. Though Cabin John is not quite on par with that, our small community is steeped in local history—through its legends of John of the Cabin and buried treasures, to the historic structures we see each day. The One Lane Bridge, Gibson Grove, tales of the old hotel and older original homes are all part of Cabin John’s unique story.
The Cabin John History Committee would like to add images of historical pieces from residents’ personal collections to our digital archive. If you have any Cabin John documents, ephemera, memorabilia or even stories that you are happy to share, please let us know! I have some old postcards, trolley tickets and even a handful of 1936 Daisy Air Rifle paper targets that were found in our walls while doing minor work. Perhaps you have a menu or teacup from the Cabin John Hotel, old pictures/signs, something interesting you uncovered during renovations or even something found in the basement of an older home.
We hope to add photographs of any pieces to our digital photo archive (not the memorabilia itself). We’d also welcome photos of Cabin John houses, particularly the older original ones and any interesting or quirky details, as well as some of the more unique houses that dot the streets.Please send an email to rachdonnan@gmail.com if you have anything related to Cabin John history you’d like to chat about or share.
By Rachel Donnan, CJ Historian [...]
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June 9, 2024CJCA News – May Meeting Minutes/Election of Officers
The last CJCA meeting of the 2023-2024 program year was held Wednesday, May 22. This well-attended meeting featured a fascinating presentation from CJ’s own local historian Judy Welles. Attendees learned many interesting facts and some new historical information that Judy has uncovered in the last few years. For example, did you know that:
In 1913 Cabin John had the world’s longest single-arch stone bridge
Cabin John once had a hotel where at least three presidents dined
Two of the six bridges that support the Washington Aqueduct are in Cabin John.
Several CJ’ers brought artifacts for show and tell, including prehistoric spear heads, arrow heads, and a very ancient hide scraper, all found by Linda Green in her yard; some of Richard Hirsh’s extensive collection of articles and pictures; an embossing stamper from Moses Morningstar congregation shared by Diane Baxter; and records and sheet music published by the Cabin John Recording Company, collected by Jerry Hornauer.
The presentation from Judy was an abbreviated taste of an in-depth Cabin John history presentation CJCA will sponsor this fall for all our neighboring communities to enjoy. Through slides and discussion Judy will share her extensive knowledge of our area including habitation by native Americans, European exploration in the 1700s, establishment as a country escape for Washingtonians in the late 1800s, development as a bucolic suburb in the early 1900s, our area’s role in the suffrage and civil rights movements, and the colorful characters that have played roles through the years.
After the history presentation, the meeting moved to the annual election of CJCA officers. The current slate of officers was re-elected for the 2024-2025 program year: Co-Presidents Heidi & Scott Lewis, Vice President Marcy Harrison, Vice President Charlotte Troup Leighton, Secretary Kelly Banuls, and Treasurer Bob Walsh. CJCA is actively seeking new people to serve as officers–volunteering for a year or two is a fantastic way to meet lots of CJ’ers and get really connected to our great neighborhood. Email cjcapresidents@gmail.com to find out more.
The next CJCA meeting will be in September, but there are plenty of activities all summer long–see the community calendar on the back page of this issue.
Palisades Pool Open To All CJ Residents 11am-1pm Tuesdays and Thursdays, June 18-August 28
Over the summer, Cabin John residents are admitted free of charge to the Palisades Pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11am to 1pm. Children under the age of eight must be accompanied by a person 15 years or older. Please sign in at the pool–proof of residency (driver’s license or other photo ID, plus two pieces of mail) is required for admission. The Palisades Pool (301-229-2598) is located off Seven Locks Road between Long Ridge Court and Cypress Grove Lane. The Cabin John Free Swim was part of an agreement between the Cabin John community and the founders of the Palisades Pool to gain neighborhood approval of the zoning variance that permitted the pool to be constructed.
Public Works Corner – Washington Aqueduct Old Conduit Repairs Project
Work continues on this project and many will continue to notice significant activity along MacArthur Boulevard, including within Cabin John.
The commonly referred to “Old Conduit” has been under repair since late November 2023. The Old Conduit is a 12-mile-long pipe carrying water from the Potomac River near Great Falls to the Dalecarlia Reservoir just over the border in Washington, DC.
The single-lane closures that have been occurring along MacArthur are expected to wind down in the next several weeks. The project–with a capital cost of over $50 million–will be completed this year.
CJCA Listserv – Sign up to receive Cabin John News in Your Inbox
A reminder that CJCA maintains a listserv (operated through a Google Groups) that we use as our primary communications medium. We send out announcements on upcoming events, matters concerning the community, and other important news. We only send three to five emails a month so we don’t overwhelm your inbox.
To join this listserv, send an email to:
cjca-official-news+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll need to include your name and address in Cabin John so we can maintain the safety and integrity of the list.
The CJCA listserv is private and the mailing list is never sold or given to anyone. Only current CJCA officers have the ability to send information.
By Scott and Heidi Lewis [...]
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June 9, 2024One of our region’s most challenging environmental struggles has been cleaning up the Potomac River. Of course, the river’s pollution has been with us for many decades, but it wasn’t always so. Back in the days when George Washington would leave the civilization of what is now Georgetown to survey the hinterlands (perhaps Cabin John), the Potomac was free from modern-day pollutants. It was safe to drink from, or to catch fish in, or harvest other food along its shores, as nature-savvy Native Americans had been doing for centuries. The water was pure then, in part, because the watershed was largely undisturbed, without the siltation and organic pollution of so many inhabitants upstream dumping waste into the river. But there was another factor, an underwater sanitation team, purifying the river on a daily basis. Behold the native mussel, small but mighty. Mussels, like other bivalves such as clams and oysters, use their gill structures to filter water passing through them to remove nutrients and silt.
In pre-Colonial times, native mussel populations were so abundant, as gleaned from historical records, that they probably filtered entire sections of the river of nutrients and sediment every few days. Native Americans not only collected native mussels for food, but also used the shells as utensils and for jewelry. Later, in the last two centuries, mussels became the raw material for making pearl buttons. Since the 1950s, native and non-native mussel species have been the preferred substrate for cultured pearls in Japan, and their harvest remains an important industry.
The important economic uses of mussels should not overshadow their contribution to global biodiversity. There are about 900 species of freshwater mussels in the world. The center of the universe is a group of about 300 species, not in the Amazon, Orinoco, or the Ganges, but in the southeastern United States, especially around Mobile Bay and throughout Alabama’s rivers and streams. Some have highly charismatic names: the fuzzy pigtoe; purple wartyback; winged spike; fluted elephantear; spectaclecase; rough rabbitsfoot; and orangefoot pimpleback, to name a few. And mussels are favorite food items for a wide range of freshwater predators—feathered, furred, and scaly. They are central players to the integrity of the Potomac ecosystem.
Despite the incredible diversity of native freshwater mussels in the United States, they, like other freshwater invertebrates, are among the most endangered creatures on Earth. The most serious threats are pollution and competition from other invasive mussel species. Here in Maryland we have about 17 species of native mussels, like the native yellow lampmussel, to name but one, but you will find few, if any, of them in our stretch of the Potomac. Instead, non-native species are prevalent. The reasons why non-native species are outcompeting natives are not entirely clear. One possibility is that they become overwhelmed by the same pollutants that they otherwise filter out, or are unable to cope with particular pollutants. And it is also not entirely clear if the non-native mussels are any less “filter workhorses” than the native mussels. Research questions abound.
The presence of healthy populations of native species of mussels is a strong biological indicator of the health of the Potomac and other rivers, and conservationists and aquatic biologists regularly survey local waters for their abundance. The results show dramatic declines of the native species and, in many places, replacement by invasives. Now, the dominant species found in surveys are mussels that never evolved in our local waters.
Cleaning up the river with better zoning regulations, restricting development along the river, and keeping pollutants out, is critical for the restoration and future health of our native ecosystems. Being able to drink from the Potomac without fear of infection or disease should be a non-negotiable demand for future generations. So our native mussels are the equivalent of canaries in the coal mine: where they flourish—when we keep urban growth far from the riverbanks, reduce nutrients from agricultural runoff and other pollutants—that is where our efforts are succeeding.
The proliferation of non-native mussels, like the crayfish discussed in a previous column, presents a more vexing challenge. The potential of gene editing, to someday remove or greatly reduce the reproductive abilities of non-natives holds out some promise for removal of invasives. Until then, let’s give our native yellow lampmussels all the help they can get by fighting for a pollution-free Potomac.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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June 9, 2024I recently came across a Village News article from twenty-plus years ago about a book called Living High by June Burn, first published in 1941. An old friend from Washington State sent this autobiography to a long ago local resident, certain that June Burn’s adventurous and unconventional life started right here in Cabin John.
June’s book begins in 1919:
“Up the Potomac River in Maryland, not far north of the district line, there used to be a little log cabin on a knoll in the heart of a hundred acre place. It had woods all about and clear cool brooks winding by on three sides. Down the trail from the house was a large tulip poplar tree that spread its huge limbs over a stone walled spring.
In a Washington newspaper I had placed an advertisement: “WANTED, a cabin mate. Every country inconvenience. Mile walk from Cabin John trolley, through a pine cathedral. Brooks, spring, woods, wild strawberries soon. No bath, no telephone, no neighbors in sight.”
Thirty women responded to June’s ad. Unable to choose one of them, she invited all thirty to the cabin to draw straws. She also invited Ensign Farrar Burn, a weekend rambler who was detailed to Washington during the war. He’d come across her cabin one Sunday while she was out, and left a note pinned to the door asking if he could send her some photos he’d taken of her rustic home.
When June was offered a job she’d applied for with the Red Cross in St. Louis, Farrar proposed marriage and staying put in the simple cabin in the woods that they both loved. Within a month, June and Farrar married and “the Glen Echo postmistress said, ‘Well, you got your cabin mate, didn’t you?’”
June wrote of spring rains filling the brooks, about “rooster violets came out along the trail to the car line” and bluets “like a dream low over the meadows.” She described the dogwood trees and mountain laurel, and how the brook “crossed the trail seven times on the way to the post office, every crossing different. Here it would be shallow, the sweet singing water honey-colored over the fallen autumn leaves…. At another crossing, the brook narrowed and was deep and still. I had to jump it here. At another, it winkled happily over flat steppingstones.”
After Farrar was discharged from the Navy several months later, they visited a library. Finding an atlas, they scoured the maps in search of a place to make their permanent home. Enthralled by the idea of living on an island, they chose Washington and started planning their journey to their next home, on an island in Puget Sound.
Inez “June” Chandler Harris was an adventurous and independent spirit who was born in 1893 in Alabama. As a young woman, she worked as a writer for McCall’s magazine. Together with a friend, they hatched a plan to take turns working, so they could each spend a few months to explore what they wanted to pursue in life. June rented that small cabin in the woods as a place to write when it was her turn.
Farrar Burn was born in 1888 in Arkansas. After he and June married, they slowly made their way across the US towards Seattle and their island. They had two sons. They even returned to the cabin in the woods for a brief time when the boys were infants. They spent time in the Arctic Circle working with indigenous communities. Farrar, a musician who “sings and sells his own songs,” and June toured the country with their children in the Burn Ballad Bungalow, a car remodeled into a 1920s version of a camper van.
In her fifties, June studied soil and its impact on health. She did a one year internship in England on an organic farm. Back in the US, the couple continued writing, making music and cobbling together a fulfilling and fascinating life. June died in 1969 and Farrar in 1974.
Living High is the story of June and Farrar’s adventures after their meet-cute in the Washington, DC area. But it’s her opening pages that ring familiar. The reader gets a sense of place that sounds remarkably like the Cabin John Creek or somewhere just beyond Cabin John’s borders, perhaps nearby over the bridge. Wherever June’s rustic cabin stood, her writing paints a picture of the natural beauty of Cabin John and the surrounding area before development touched much of the landscape.
By Rachel Donnan, CJ Historian [...]
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June 9, 2024You may have seen the signs on MacArthur Boulevard protesting development on 80th Place in Cabin John and wondered “What’s going on?” Potomac Heritage Homes (PHH) plans to build four residences on the 2.3-acre wooded lot between 80th and 81st Streets, and in order to do so will bulldoze half the forest on the property. This will destroy the green space and wildlife that our neighborhood values so much. This will also significantly increase the run-off from this lot–resulting in greater flow into the creek and culvert that runs beneath MacArthur Boulevard. This could have significant implications for properties located downstream from the construction site.
PHH recently held a neighborhood meeting, a required step before it submits a development plan to the county for approval. Discussions were contentious; the developer stated that he will not make any concessions to the community and that his primary concern is “maximizing the economic value of the property.” We are waiting to see if he submits his plan to the county or holds another meeting. There will be future opportunities for Cabin John residents to make their voices heard on this issue; if you’d like to receive updates, please email nathan.canestaro@gmail.com to get on our mailing list.
By Nathan Canestaro [...]
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May 16, 2024CJCA News and Updates
The April CJCA meeting was focused entirely on the construction at First Agape/Gibson Grove and Scotland AME Zion Churches on Seven Locks (see article “Preservation of Two Historic African American Churches on Seven Locks Road”).
Our next meeting–and the last until the fall–will be held on Wednesday, May 22 at 7:30 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC). We will have a discussion on CJCA history and election of officers for the 2024-2025 program year. Feel free to join in person or on https://meet.google.com/rqp-dudh-tss.
2024-2025 CJCA Calendar Preview
CJCA will finalize and print the calendar for the next program year in the June newsletter. We intend to hold our regular events, starting with the Fourth of July parade, the Crab Feast, the Turkey Trot, the Holiday Party, Trivia Night, and the Spring Egg Hunt. In addition, we are planning a Cabin John Day Out to Minnie’s Island with the Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy this summer, a Cabin John Home Tour next spring, and another bike clinic, also next spring. We are particularly excited about the Cabin John Home Tour as many people have expressed interest and we last held one about a decade ago.
Topics already in development for our regular monthly CJCA meetings include a presentation on ballot initiatives this election cycle at the October meeting. These initiatives can often be confusing so CJCA will present them objectively, relying on local CJers who understand each of these initiatives (absolutely no information will be presented on individual candidates). A future meeting will feature an ornithologist with a presentation on local birds. We’ll also have three blood drives with incentives for first time donors!
We are always looking for your ideas regarding how CJCA can meet its chartered purpose to “(1) stimulate civic interest of a non-partisan and non-sectarian nature, (2) represent the interests of its citizens before appropriate agencies, and (3) promote the general welfare of Cabin John and adjacent areas in Montgomery County, Maryland” so feel free to make suggestions by emailing cjcapresidents@gmail.com.
By Scott Lewis [...]
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May 16, 2024We had an enthusiastic turnout for CJCA’s April community meeting and panel discussion, with at least 30 in-person attendees and our largest online audience since some of our pandemic Zoom meetings. The program highlighted the impressive restoration efforts at the Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church on Seven Locks Road near Tuckerman Lane and the First Agape A.M.E. Zion Church at Gibson Grove, which is just outside of Cabin John on Seven Locks and the Beltway underpass. These historic churches are part of Montgomery County’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
Moderating the discussion was Rebeccah Ballo, Historic Preservation Supervisor for the Montgomery County Planning Department, who manages the work of the county’s Historic Preservation Commission in overseeing the preservation and protection of historic districts and sites within the county. Ms. Ballo spoke about the county’s role in the work to preserve these two churches and 455 other Master Plan historic sites in the county.
We welcomed Rev. Dr. Evalina Huggins, presiding elder of the Baltimore District of A.M.E. Zion churches, representing the historic Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church, and the church’s current pastor. Rev. Dr. Huggins provides supervisory oversight to 19 Baltimore District churches around the Beltway, including leadership to four historic houses of worship currently undertaking construction projects—Scotland and First Agape among them.
Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church was built by hand by Black congregants and opened in 1924. The original wood-frame structure, one of the last of its kind in the region, was nearly destroyed by floods and intense storms over the last five years. We were all amazed as Rev. Dr. Huggins shared photos of the church structure being lifted off the ground and set down on its new waterproof foundation. Rev. Dr. Huggins stressed that the county’s commitment to this project and restorative justice has been crucial to righting wrongs of the early 1960s for the Scotland community.
Rev. Edgar S. Bankhead, Sr., the pastor of First Agape A.M.E. Zion Church at Gibson Grove, was appointed to First Agape in 1996. Rev. Bankhead shared that the original Gibson Grove Church was built in 1898 on land donated by former slave Sarah Gibson, the founder of the once vibrant African American community of Gibson Grove (also known as No. 10) in Cabin John. Rev. Bankhead also spoke about the devastating fire on Ash Wednesday 2004 that put an abrupt end to the in-progress renovation. Stormwater erosion, a felled tree, the close proximity of the Beltway, and other challenges have long thwarted rebuilding of this historic treasure.
A number of Gibson Grove descendants currently reside in Cabin John, including members of the White family, whose ancestors planned the community’s first Crab Feast, a fundraiser for the Cabin John Home Study group, in 1964. After eight years of Crab Feasts put on entirely by the Black community, the CJCA was asked to help organize the event, with the responsibilities and proceeds distributed to various causes benefitting the Cabin John community. The Crab Feast has now been a beloved tradition for nearly 60 years.
The construction of I-495 in the early 1960s split the Gibson Grove community in two and took a significant amount of land from area landowners, impacting the Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Hall, and Gibson Grove Church properties. Poor stormwater management for the highway project resulted in decades of runoff impacts at both sites—creating significant challenges to current preservation efforts.
Rev. Bankhead shared photos, renderings, and updates regarding the stabilization work at the First Agape site. This urgent work was funded by a legislative bond bill sponsored by our District 16 Maryland State Delegation following Delegate Sara Love and then Senator Susan Lee’s attendance at a Fall 2020 Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Hall site tour hosted by Friends of Moses Hall.
The timing of the planned reconstruction and expansion of the First Agape A.M.E. Zion Church building is dependent on the state’s expansion of I-495, which will include church property impacts mitigated by the state’s construction of new stormwater management infrastructure, a new church parking lot in conjunction with the replacement of the Seven Locks Beltway overpass, and a new sidewalk from the church to the entrance of the Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Hall site. First Agape is also receiving archaeological and technical support from the Maryland Department of Transportation related to the 2022 exhumation of an unidentified grave at the site.
Wood salvaged from trees removed from the property will be used in the construction of a new First Agape Church sanctuary that incorporates the historic Gibson Grove Church facade. The expanded building will include a new fellowship hall with an arts and STEM center. First Agape A.M.E. Zion Church has launched a fundraising campaign for the planned renovation.
The Cabin John community is grateful to Ms. Ballo, Rev. Bankhead, and Rev. Dr. Huggins for their participation in our April meeting and we wish them success in their good work to preserve our area’s treasured historic resources.
Learn More at:
Montgomery County – Montgomery Planning – Historic Preservation
Historic Preservation
National Park Service: Historic Resources Study – African American Communities Along the C&O Canal
http://npshistory.com/publications/choh/hrs-african-american-communities.pdf
Montgomery Planning – History of Scotland
https://montgomeryplanning.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/Scotland-A.M.E.-Zion-Church_Historic-Overview_EHT-Traceries.r.pdf
First Agape A.M.E. Zion Church
https://www.1stagape.com
Scotland A.M.E. Zion Church
http://npshistory.com/publications/choh/hrs-african-american-communities.pdf
Preserve Black History in Montgomery County
By Charlotte Troup Leighton, Contributing Writer [...]
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May 16, 2024While driving by the pop-up construction site for the “Old Conduit Repairs” across the bridge on my morning school run, I was reminded of some fascinating historical photos of the Washington Aqueduct. During daily traversing, it’s easy to forget that the Union Arch Bridge (the Cabin John Bridge) is on the National Register of Historic Places, a magnificent feat of engineering that was built to carry the Washington Aqueduct across the steep ravine and over Cabin John Creek. MacArthur Boulevard, previously known as Conduit Road, was never meant to be a busy thoroughfare but rather a service road for accessing and maintaining the massive underground pipe that lies beneath it.
Begun in 1857 by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers under chief engineer Lieutenant Montgomery C. Meigs, the Washington Aqueduct was designed to carry clean drinking water to Washington, D.C. The system was based upon the New York and Boston aqueducts completed the previous decade.
Constructed of brick, stone, and mortar, the underground conduit is nine feet in diameter. From the intake at Great Falls, where a dam was constructed in the Potomac River, the twelve mile-long circular pipe carries the diverted water to the Dalecarlia Reservoir. The aqueduct relies on gravity to direct the flow of water. From the reservoir, water is treated and distributed to some 1.1 million people in Washington, D.C., Arlington County and parts of Fairfax County. The aqueduct produces, on average, 135 million gallons of water per day.
In order to carry the aqueduct across Cabin John Creek, Lieutenant Meigs designed the Union Arch Bridge. Completed in 1862, the Cabin John Bridge was the longest single span stone arch bridge in the world until 1903. Made in part with distinctive red Seneca stone, the bridge is 450 feet long with an arch span of 220 feet and was one of Meigs’s crowning achievements. His name is engraved in many locations along the aqueduct, including several places on the bridge.
Until 1923, the Old Conduit was the sole source of water for the Washington Aqueduct system. In the early 1920s, due to a growing city and higher demand for water, the Army Corps expanded the system and constructed a second conduit that runs parallel to the old one. This conduit’s centerline runs below the pedestrian/bike path along MacArthur Boulevard.
In March 2022, an inspection of the Old Conduit revealed compromises to its structural integrity caused by violations of vehicle weight restrictions on the roadway. Repairs to the Washington Aqueduct system, in operation for an astonishing 160 years, will continue through the end of the year.
By Rachel Donnan, Contributing Writer [...]
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April 12, 2024March Meeting Notes – CJCA held its monthly meeting at the CBNRC on Wednesday, March, 20. In addition to the approval of February’s meeting minutes, we had a fantastic slide show and update from the Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy (see “What is Minnie’s Island?” in this issue) and a discussion with the team that publishes the Village News (VN).
Did you know that the Village News is published 10 times a year, and has been published since 1967? It is currently produced by editor Shelly McKenzie, layout editor Joan Roskosh, and business manager Marcy Harrison. Each edition of the VN takes well over 40 volunteer hours to produce, and annual costs for printing and mailing run $12,000-$13,000, with about 75% funded by the wonderful advertisers who support the paper; the balance is covered by CJCA dues. The VN has a slate of regular columnists who help provide content, but is always looking for writers, photographers, illustrators, a dedicated reporter to gather neighborhood news, and curious people who would like to interview the many interesting neighbors we have in Cabin John. Please reach out to editor Shelly McKenzie at vneditorial@gmail.com if you want to help out or just want to find out more.
The April CJCA meeting will feature a panel discussion with Rev. Dr. Evalina Huggins of Scotland AME Zion Church; Rev. Edgar S. Bankhead of First Agape AME Zion Church at Gibson Grove; and Rebeccah Ballo, the Historic Preservation Supervisor for Montgomery County Planning. See the story on the front page for more information.
Call for Candidates–CJCA is a volunteer organization run by and for our community of 750 or so households, and it remains vital because so many Cabin Johners have stepped up to serve as officers for a year or two (or slightly more…). Cabin John keeps its small-town feeling because the CJ ethos is passed from old neighbor to new, and there is no better way to get to know the old timers and newcomers, the old ways and the new ideas, than to take on a role in CJCA. Anyone interested in becoming an officer (president, vice president, secretary, treasurer), or even vaguely curious about what each does, can email cjcapresidents@gmail.com. At the April CJCA meeting we will put forth the names of all who are willing to stand for office for the 2024-2025 term, with elections held at the May meeting.
Curious About Construction Activity at First Agape/Gibson Grove and Scotland AME Zion Churches on Seven Locks?
Join us at our next CJCA Meeting on April 24 to learn more!
Scotland AME Zion Church, built by hand by Black congregants and opened in 1924, has literally been lifted off the ground and set down on its new waterproof foundation. The original wood-frame structure, one of the last of its kind in the region, was nearly destroyed by floods and intense storms over the last five years.
First Agape AME Zion Church at Gibson Grove, built in 1898 on land donated by Sarah Gibson, the founder of the African American community of Gibson Grove (also known as No. 10), was almost completely destroyed by a devastating fire on Ash Wednesday, 2004. Stormwater erosion, a felled tree, the close proximity of the Beltway, and other challenges have long thwarted restoration of this historic treasure.
Our special guests will share plans and progress for renovation of these cherished historic resources, both of which are part of Montgomery County’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
CJCA looks forward to welcoming:
Rev. Dr. Evalina Huggins of Scotland AME Zion Church
Rev. Edgar S. Bankhead of First Agape AME Zion Church at Gibson Grove
Rebeccah Ballo, Historic Preservation Supervisor for Montgomery County Planning
April 24 at 7:30pm, Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center
All are welcome.
Please use this link to join this meeting virtually if you are not able to attend in person:
https://meet.google.com/nkb-aphd-rgw
By Heidi & Scott Lewis [...]
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April 12, 2024It’s not some far-off exotic island or a hair care product. It’s just 100 yards off shore from Lockhouse 8 on the C&O Canal and is roughly eight acres of boulders, trees, plants, and wildlife. Accessible only by canoe, the island features a 30-foot by 15-foot wooden cabin with a large deck. In addition, Minnie’s is home to many rare species of plants brought by frequent floods–wildflowers bloom in the spring, warblers sing in the towering trees and young mergansers hone their diving skills in the river.
The beginning of modern time for the island was 1904 when John Trammell and Minnie Jenkins staked a claim on the island. It served as a vacation property for them and then changed hands several times before it was donated in 1994 to the Potomac Conservancy by the owners at the time–Margaret Ruess and Bobbi Miller. In 2021, it was donated by the Potomac Conservancy to Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy (MICC). MICC’s vision is to engage the community in making the island an inviting, accessible, and safe environment for nature-based recreation, social connection, education, conservation, and scientific research.
As this is a relatively new resource, MICC is actively considering uses and next steps. Ideas include nature walks, volunteer activities days, organized youth camping for groups fewer than 20, sponsored Eagle Scout/Gold Award and SSL projects, arts and wellness-related day trips, and engagement with Washington Biologists’ Field Club.
CJCA and MICC are planning an open house later this year with plenty of volunteer canoe ferrymen to help everyone in the community reach Minnie’s for a visit. In the meantime, please visit MICC’s website at https://www.minniesisland.org to learn more.
by Scott Lewis [...]
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April 12, 2024If the previous month’s article focused on the ecological harm caused by non-native, invasive crayfish, this column highlights an example of ecological remedy: rewilding through the return of a native, the American shad. Aside from being an ecological success story, the shad has a glorious role in American history. It was once one of the most abundant fish species in eastern North America and was even described as “the fish that fed the nation’s founders.” Adult shad are no minnows: they weigh between three and eight pounds, so George Washington might have split his order with John Adams.
An interesting aspect of the shad’s biology is that it’s an ocean-dwelling fish. They spend their life in the Atlantic before heading back to their spawning grounds among the rivers of the eastern seaboard. The term that biologists used to describe this behavior is “anadromous,” a pattern characteristic of various species of salmon and eels and among lesser known fish that live in the oceans but return to breed in freshwater on the east and west coasts of the United States. Shad vary in what they do after they breed; in the northern part of their range—up to Canada—they will breed and return to the ocean and repeat this circuit of their life history several times before they die. But in the southern part of the range—from the Carolinas down to Florida—shad breed once when they return to their spawning grounds, and that’s the end of the story.
The name shad comes from “sceadd,” the old English term for herring. The shad is indeed a form of herring and, like the common herring, it used to be abundant in the Potomac. But with overfishing, along with increasing pollution and sedimentation during the 20th century, shad all but disappeared from the Potomac and many other East Coast rivers. The rewilding of the Potomac, you could say, began around 1982 when a moratorium on harvesting shad from the river was enacted and an effort to reduce pollution and improve water quality began in earnest. But the numbers of American shad in the river still remained low. Sometime thereafter the Interstate Commission of the Potomac River Basin (ICPRB) stepped in and, beginning in 1995, inaugurated a program to restock American shad. The trick was to release fingerling shad in strategic locations in the river, thereby allowing them to imprint to their historic spawning and nursery waters and help stocks reestablish themselves. Each spring, as adult shad returned from the ocean to the Potomac River, ICPRB teams collected eggs and fertilized shad roe to be raised in fish hatcheries. The released fingerlings in the Potomac were carefully monitored, and the survival rate of each year’s class was recorded in the sampling surveys for juvenile shad. By stocking with fingerlings in the right places, the numbers of shad rose rapidly.
Great story so far, but only half complete. The migratory shad, eager to return further up river and find historic spawning areas, met a roadblock in the form of the Little Falls Dam located between Lock 5 and 6. While a fishway was under construction to assist the adult shad to maneuver upstream beyond the dam, stocking continued and then extended after the fishway was opened; the annual additions of more fingerlings helped propel the shad’s recovery even more. By 2014, when the project ended, the American shad was home again in our area, thriving in the Potomac. An even more encouraging footnote is that since 2002, Potomac shad have become what biologists term a “source population” for eggs to boost restoration efforts in other river systems where recovery has been slower than in the Potomac. These include several other streams in Maryland, the Rappahannock River in Virginia, the Susquehanna River in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and some of Delaware’s rivers.
The process of “rewilding” requires source populations, safe, expanding populations that allow high recruitment to jump-start new satellite populations within the former range. It’s the same process of first finding a stable population from which to recruit candidates to repopulate a depleted area that is driving the restoration of black rhinos and white rhinos in Africa, although moving rhinos is a bit more of a logistics issue than catching and shipping around shad fingerlings. The principle and the inspiration are the same, though: to right ecological wrongs and restore ecological systems with the species that once defined them before our species decimated those populations.
Let’s hope humans can learn lessons of restoration from the natural world. If in 2024 the effects of the recovery of shad can somehow wash downstream to the seat of government, and help us recover our democratic traditions, that would be a restoration that would affect not just the Potomac, but the future of life on Earth.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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March 11, 2024Bob Peterson recently shared this photo of a brick from his former home at the corner of 81st Street and Macarthur Boulevard, juxtaposed with his new apartment home in Northern Virginia. Bob and his late wife Michelle lived in this Cabin John home for 20 years where they raised a family. Bob was beloved on 81st Street for his quiet kindness and warm sense of humor. He took daily walks and was often seen bringing in neighbor’s trash cans or trimming and tending to the wild vines and grass along Macarthur Boulevard.
Bob rented his home from Evan Mater, a longtime Cabin John resident and owner of several properties. Evan was well known to the community for his love of Cabin John and in particular his efforts to conserve the trees, woodlands and the creek adjacent to his land. He was also known for pitching in to help his neighbors–whether it was clearing 81st Street with his front-end loader during a historic blizzard or helping an elderly neighbor with conservation of a beloved tree.
In 2022, Evan died suddenly, leaving his estate to family members who have been selling off Evan’s former home and properties, including the home that Bob and Michelle Peterson enjoyed for so many happy years. A builder, ironically named “Heritage Homes,” has recently poured a foundation for a new house to take the place of the former Peterson residence. Heritage reportedly also has plans to build additional houses on a 2.4-acre wooded lot adjacent to Bob’s former home–one of the last undeveloped pieces of properties in Cabin John. Next to parkland and a creek, this large lot is home to a significant cluster of mature trees–several of which are over 100 feet tall–and the wildlife that depends on them.
In recent years, 81st Street has been awash with developers bulldozing the former modest homes that lined our street and replacing them with towering houses that are built within inches of county setbacks. “Development is inevitable” is the explanation. But with all of this new construction, we are at risk of losing our Cabin John “heritage,” including the wildlife and woodlands that drew so many of us to this special community. In the past few years, we have seen dozens of magnificent trees on our street, including a historic dawn redwood tree and several centenarian oaks felled for the sake of the “clear-cut” look currently in favor with the builders and buyers of these new homes. For most projects, not a single tree is left standing on the lot, dramatically altering the appearance and character of our neighborhood.
In his departure email to 81st Street, the ever-kind Bob said he hoped that a nice family would move into the new home and have much happiness and joy. That is indeed the heritage that we all hope for in Cabin John. However, we now are at significant risk of losing one of the last large wooded plots in our iconic town to what inevitably will be a treeless manifestation of luxury living in the 21st century. There are opportunities to push back on this outcome. As a community, we should use all of our resources to preserve our Cabin John heritage.
By Sarah Craven [...]
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March 11, 2024Nestled between announcements of lost keys and a handkerchief sale at the Rockville Millinery Shop, the Montgomery Sentinel newspaper ran a short but shocking headline: “Woman Killed at Cabin John Hotel.” While dining at the Cabin John Hotel on the evening of January 5, 1921 Mr. Edward V. Killeen and members of his party “struck up an acquaintance during the evening” with Mrs. Deborah A. Harris and her friends, including Mr. Burnett W. Tanner, and “there was considerable drinking.” As both parties left the hotel to return to the city, it was alleged that Mr. Killeen and Mr. Tanner “became involved in a controversy and that vile language was used.” Killeen pulled out a revolver. Mrs. Harris threw herself between the men in a desperate attempt to stop the squabble. A shot was fired, piercing Mrs. Harris through her hand and heart. She was instantly killed.
Several months later, Mr. Killeen was tried for murder by a jury in Rockville. Two ballots were taken; on the first, three voted for manslaughter and on the second Mr. Killeen was acquitted, to the huge relief of his family and friends in the courtroom. One of his witnesses, Evelyn La Rue, was so overcome by nervousness after testifying that she told others she must take something to calm her nerves when returning to her hotel. The paper reported that she was found in her room seriously ill and died that evening after taking an unknown “dose by mistake.”
Local lore paints a picture of the Cabin John Hotel as an elegant oasis that evolved from a modest snack stand set up by Rosa Bobinger to an opulent resort frequented by congressmen, senators, diplomats and even a few presidents. Society “reveled in the hotel’s charm and setting,” savored its rich European furniture, farm to table food, and gardens. But a number of short news items from the early decades of the 1900s suggest a slightly sordid side of the Cabin John Hotel, including illegal alcohol sales, gambling charges and yes, even murder.
The hotel was founded by Rosa and Joseph Bobinger, originally from Germany. Rosa’s husband Joseph worked as a stone mason on the Union Arch Bridge, while she sold drinks, food and her famous chicken dish to the workers at a stand. Demand for Rosa’s cooking, and perhaps her business acumen, led the couple to purchase 100 acres of land on the west side of the bridge in 1870 to build a hotel and restaurant. Their business grew from a small German-influenced tavern to an elaborate Victorian folly with over forty rooms filled with the finest furnishings, cavernous banquet halls, intimate dining rooms, an orchestrion, and formal gardens. Across the road, on land acquired several years later, outbuildings included a stable, ice house, gas house and one of the largest asparagus beds in the country. The brick gas house, next to the tennis courts, is all that remains of the hotel today.
Meals of Potomac bass, oyster cocktails and potted grouse in a champagne sauerkraut, followed by camembert and fancy cake, were served on the hotel’s Bavarian china in elegant dining rooms. The most “popular airs of the day were rendered daily by the orchestrion,” a large music box or organ, and “you could hear it for miles; the music would go all over the park and the whole area.”
Guests meandered among winding pathways bordered by magnolias, wildflowers and flowering shrubs that stretched from Conduit Road (now MacArthur Boulevard) to the Potomac River. Day trippers enjoyed dining at the hotel or cold drinks in the garden’s rustic gazebos, boating in the creek, and live music. John Philip Sousa and his 21 instrumentalists played in the two story cedar summerhouse bandstand. A “Lovers Lane Bridge” was constructed across the canal and one thousand lights were strung up to illuminate the entire gardens from the hotel to the river.
The summer of 1903 offered a new program from Haley’s concert band and the screening of motion pictures in the magnificent Palm Garden, Cabin John’s own riverside theater. Built in 1899, the conservatory-like structure could seat up to 1,200 people. After Rosa passed away in 1893 (Joseph died in 1881), her sons William and George Bobinger took over the Cabin John Hotel and focused on dining and daily visitors to the grounds and no longer offered overnight stays. Local newspapers advertised the resort, a “favorite diversion of all Washingtonians” and regularly wrote about the goings on at the hotel. In the summers of the early 1900s, during its heyday, the hotel and its surroundings entertained thousands of urban “pleasure seekers.” An amusement park was opened on the hotel’s rolling grounds in 1920. But some newspaper stories about the hotel in the early 1900s (not to mention Mrs. Harris’s murder) seem slightly incongruous with the hotel’s lavish, first class reputation. Though the upstairs offered fine dining and European elegance, the basement rathskeller and its slot machines attracted a more raucous crowd.
Several times in 1902 (and later), William was charged with violating local alcohol laws—Montgomery County had been a dry county since 1880—and gambling laws, a pattern of violations that continued with some regularity. “Conduit Road Resort Men Again in Court: Mr Bobinger Charged with Keeping Gambling House,” screamed one headline.
In 1903, legal proceedings were instituted against the brothers by a small group who claimed that the Bobingers agreed to sell the property for $125,000 and had accepted a down payment of $1,000. The agreement of sale was recorded in Rockville. The brothers allegedly refused to complete the deal and claimed they were “not in the proper mental and physical condition at the time the contract was made” and had already leased the property to a Mr. Noonan. A brief 1905 article stated that William and George Bobinger would not be conducting the hotel that season and had sold much of the hotel contents at auction. The hotel would be leased and run as a temperance resort, and no amusements would be operated on Sundays.
In 1908 (the year that George Bobinger died) the Sentinel reported that the Cabin John Hotel and grounds had been sold to a syndicate that included one of Washington’s most prominent businessmen and the resort would be shut to pave way for a “handsome suburban center” and the continuation of the railway line to Great Falls. In 1909, the popular Palm Garden Theatre, which had been constructed ten years earlier for $10,000 burned to the ground. William and his wife continued to run the hotel until 1914, when they leased it out. Despite the addition of the amusement park, the hotel’s popularity slowly waned, in part due to competition from Glen Echo, rowdy fights and prohibition. After William died in 1926, his wife closed the doors to the hotel for good, its history locked inside. Four years later, in 1931, a suspicious fire destroyed the hotel.
Once one of the Washington area’s most popular resorts, the Cabin John Hotel had “entertained both prince and peasant.” Standing in the park by the one lane bridge today, it’s hard to imagine this bustling grand resort of sophistication and scandal that once stood in our neighborhood.
By Rachel Donnan
Cabin John Historian/Contributing Writer [...]
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March 11, 2024CJCA Membership – Contribute Your Dues by May 1
We’re hard-pressed to imagine a better value for the money than the $20 annual dues that we ask each household to contribute to the Cabin John Citizens Association.
Your contribution makes possible community events such as the Turkey Trot, Holiday Party, Spring Egg Hunt, History Walk, Bike Clinic and 4th of July Parade; neighborhood communication and information via The Village News and cabinjohn.org; and ongoing advocacy for safe streets, quiet skies, unspoiled parks and streams, and preserved and interpreted history.
Cabin John is the vibrant, congenial, connected place it is because so many people here have decided that investing their time, talents, and resources in our community is worth it.
Please watch for a separate letter to be emailed to all households in Cabin John. And thank you to all those who donate their time, money and resources to our community!
CJCA News – February Meeting Minutes (National Park Service updates); Spring Egg Hunt; April 6 Bike Clinic; Topics for March 20 & April 24 Meetings
National Park Service Presentation at February CJCA Meeting
Attendees at our February meeting were treated to an excellent presentation on the National Park Service (NPS) projects underway along our beloved canal. Joe Reed, Professional Engineer and Certified Floodplain Manager, used a presentation (https://cabinjohn.org/wp-content/uploads/2024) to provide this detailed update to our community. Here are the highlights:
– The Log Wall – This has been a frequent topic for our community as there is much interest, particularly as it impacts the water level in the canal. The dry-laid stone wall was originally built in 1828 and suffered a flood in 1889, was disrupted in the 1960s with the construction of the Potomac Interceptor, and suffered sinkholes formation in the past decade. The NPS has an active project to remediate these issues and prevent the failure of the 1,015 foot long wall, maintain the continuity of the 184.5 mile towpath, restore hydraulic connectivity (“fill it up with water”) and stabilize the nearby tributaries. Completion of the project is expected this summer if the weather cooperates.
– Georgetown Locks and Walls – A large-scale construction project to rehabilitate multiple historic structures including Locks 1, 2, and 5; Inlet Lock 1; Guard Lock 1; Level 4 North and South Walls upstream of Wisconsin Avenue; and Level 4 Wall at 34th Street. All of these sites are located along the lower five miles of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park. The project will begin in early Spring 2024 and construction will last approximately two years, weather dependent.
– Fletchers Cove Access Road – This is to repair damage caused by a flash flood on July 8, 2019. During the high-intensity rainfall event, the existing stormwater drainage system was overcome, causing damage to NPS infrastructure. This project will repair stormwater drainage features (swales, pipes, drainage channels, and underdrain systems), stabilize bridges and roadways supporting traffic along the access road to the lower Fletchers Cove Parking Lot, and repave damaged road surfaces.
– Rehabilitation of Levels 20, 21, and 22 – There are plans to rehabilitate portions of the canal in a 7.8-mile section of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal. The project is located between Milepost 14.3 (Lock 20) and Milepost 22.1 (Lock 23 and Inlet Lock 2). This reach is the most upstream portion of the watered section of the canal near Great Falls and is a very popular recreation area with over one million visitors per year. The primary objective of the sediment and debris removal is to improve the hydraulic connectivity of the canal along this reach, referred to as Levels 20, 21, and 22. Over time, sediment and debris have accumulated within the project area to the point where it has disrupted canal water flow and impacted many of the park’s critical mission components. Due to funding constraints, it’s anticipated that not all accumulated sediment within this reach of the canal will be addressed. Currently, only sediment removal from the canal prism extending from Lock 20 and moving upstream to just past the Great Falls Tavern Parking Area are included in the awarded construction project.
A big thank you to Joe Reed and the National Park Service!
Spring Egg Hunt
Sunday, March 17, 2024 at 4 pm at Cabin John Local Park (aka the field behind Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center).
All Cabin John Kids elementary school age and younger (accompanied by parents or responsible adults) are invited to the Cabin John Spring Egg Hunt. Bring a basket and don’t be late because all the eggs are usually found within 15 minutes!
Thank you to Kelly Banuls and Kathleen Levernz for organizing and running the egg hunt. Email cjcapresidents@gmail.com if you have any questions.
Bike Clinic – Saturday, April 6
The CJCA will be holding a bike clinic at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center on Saturday, April 6 at 10am. We expect to have instructions on how to fix a flat tire, traffic safety information, helmet fitting and other simple bike maintenance. Additionally, we plan to have bike technicians on hand who can fix those flat tires, lubricate chains, adjust brakes and gear shifts, tighten wheel hubs, and adjust seats. Watch for more information and sign-up details in March. Information on how to register will be provided on the CJCA GoogleGroup ListServ. If you are not receiving emails please visit the “Get Connected” tab on cabinjohn.org for more details. How do you know if you are on the CJCA GoogleGroup ListServ? If you receive emails with a subject line starting with then you do indeed receive them.
CJCA Meeting – March 20
The March meeting is a week earlier than usual to avoid MCPS spring break. In addition to the usual updates on CJCA, we will also have an update on Minnie’s Island and a discussion on the Village News.
CJCA Meeting – April 24
Panel Discussion: Preservation of Two Historic African American Churches on Seven Locks Road
Please mark your calendars to attend an informative and inspiring panel discussion at our April 24 CJCA community meeting (7:30pm at Clara Barton NRC with a virtual option). We look forward to welcoming Rev. Dr. Evalina Huggins of Scotland AME Zion Church; Rev. Edgar S. Bankhead of First Agape AME Zion Church at Gibson Grove; and Rebeccah Ballo, the Historic Preservation Supervisor for Montgomery County Planning. Our special guests will share plans and progress for restoration of these cherished historic resources, both of which are part of Montgomery County’s Master Plan for Historic Preservation.
By Scott and Heidi Lewis [...]
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March 11, 2024The title of this column may seem like a cheap way to grab your attention, but the ecological health of our beloved river requires some sirens to sound the alarm. Beneath the roiling waters of the Potomac, an invasion that could determine the future of life in the river is in full swing. And the problem is us–specifically, fishermen who love the river and their pastime but whose practices threaten the extinction of what makes the Potomac and the rivers and streams of the Southeast so globally important for nature conservation.
So who is the invader? Crayfish, crawdaddies, mudbugs–whatever you want to call them. Widely used as bait by local fisherman to catch smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, perch, catfish, or other fish–actually, just about any fish in the Potomac would eat a crayfish. But when the fishermen are done for the day, rather than carry the buckets of bait back to their car–or leave the crayfish in the forest for the birds, foxes, and raccoons–they dump the crayfish in the river. The three most commonly used crayfish for bait in our region are the virile crawfish, the rusty crayfish, and the red swamp crayfish. While the first two species are native to the waters of the upper Midwest and the red swamp crayfish is found in Louisiana, all are alien invaders in our area. If they were simply gobbled up by native fish, turtles, and aquatic birds soon after the fishermen dumped their bait, that would at least give our local crayfish a chance. But these three species escape, flourish, and outcompete the nine species of native crayfish we have in Maryland. Some natives, like the acuminate crayfish, are on the watchlist as species of concern for extinction.
As a group, crayfish are stunningly diverse in the United States. When the amateur naturalist is asked to name the likely center of diversity for most any group of organisms a common response is, “Oh, it must be the Amazon.” But in fact, the center of the universe, as far as crayfish (and freshwater mussels) are concerned, is the streams and rivers of the southeastern U.S. (and to a lesser extent the streams of eastern and southern Australia and Tasmania). Crayfish are considered by some ecologists as keystone species in freshwater streams. By keystone, we mean that their removal would have a destabilizing effect on many species in the ecosystem. Conversely, their recolonization can have the opposite effect. For example, think of the recovery of the North American beaver whose triumphant return from near-extinction has created new habitats for many freshwater species. Many species feed on crayfish who in turn feed on leaf material fallen into streams and recycle these nutrients. Removing crayfish from the ecosystem upsets the balance.
So, what is the problem here? If the acuminate crayfish are replaced by the rusty or virile crayfish, won’t the newcomers play the same ecological role? In a word, no; they are not ecological equivalents. First, some of the non-natives are aggressive to the native species and eat them. Second, these non-natives can reach densities 7-10 times higher than the native species of crayfish. Such high density of invasives has knock-on effects by reducing the leaf matter and detritus that freshwater mussels, snails, freshwater invertebrates, and other species feed on; they reduce the numbers of amphibians by eating their eggs and ultimately, by depleting the supply of all of the above, they diminish the feed of the very fish that anglers want to catch. Simply put, non-native crayfish screw up the system.
How can we stop the spread? About 20% of Maryland anglers use crayfish as bait. About 70% of these anglers release the bait alive in the water when they are done for the day. Proper education of fishermen not to dump their bait in the water would be a good start. Prevention is the ticket as it is very hard to control these invasive crayfish once they have entered a stream in large numbers. Another approach would be to allow fishermen to use only dead, not live crayfish as bait. That would help solve part of the problem. But the best solution of all is to keep non-native crayfish far away from the Potomac and its feeder streams. Once they have become established, there is little chance of removal. One hope for the far-off future: gene editing could allow scientists to create versions of the three invasives where the females don’t reproduce and the males are infertile. Then their populations would crash naturally. Until then, if you see someone fishing with crawdaddies, you might gently suggest they dump the leftover live ones where the raccoons and other animals can have their own crawdaddy feast–far from the shore.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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February 8, 2024CJCA NEWS
Maryland Department of Transportation Update
The CJCA Meeting was held at the CBNRC on Wednesday, January 24. After the approval of minutes, Sam Ray from the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) joined virtually and provided the following update.
As many are aware, over the last 6 years, the Maryland Department of Transportation was separately advancing an environmental study and a public-private partnership or P3 agreement related to the American Legion Bridge, I-495 and I-270. Accelerate Maryland Partners, which was the party that entered into an agreement with the state and included Transurban as one of the owners, terminated the agreement with the state last March. Hence, the public private partnership is no longer happening.
MDOT is now stepping back from the P3 concept to collect public input on multiple areas so that a comprehensive program of transportation needs of the corridor can be developed. According to MDOT, the following items were considered priorities:
Strong support for a bicycle and pedestrian connection across the Potomac River to connect to existing networks
Recognition that we must address the existing American Legion Bridge
Support for better transit across the river including, at minimum, a solution of fast and convenient bus transit entailing managed travel lanes
Public funding options were more desirable than a P3
MDOT is now looking at a comprehensive program of multiple projects in the corridor that would prioritize:
Transit and ridesharing–with options such as improving the MARC Brunswick line, bus rapid transit, and commuter bus using managed lanes in the corridor and expansion of programs to incentivize people not to drive alone but carpool, take transit, shift travel times, or other ways to reduce single drivers on the road
Transit-oriented development near WMATA transit stations
Bicycle and pedestrian connections throughout the corridor with a focus on connecting transit, rideshare, rail, and existing bicycle and pedestrian facilities
Replacement of the American Legion Bridge and a phased approach to managed lanes including deprioritizing work on I-270 in Rockville
Moving forward with a study on I-270 north of I-370/Intercounty Connector
Lastly, MDOT reported that an environmental impact study looked at the replacement of (only) the American Legion Bridge and managed high-occupancy toll lanes from the GWMP in VA to just I-270. That study was completed in August 2022 when the Federal Highway Administration issued a Record of Decision and that Record of Decision still stands. The State Highway Administration is still advancing a design on the portion of that study including the American Legion Bridge and the I-270 West Spur. This remains unfunded.
CJCA will continue to monitor this situation and reiterated our view that alternatives such as improved public transportation and other infrastructure investments are vastly superior to widening the beltway.
CJCA Website Update
Robin Sidel, webmaster for CJCA’s CabinJohn.org website, attended the meeting to remind the community of the information available on the cabinjohn.org website, solicit feedback on how to make it more useful, and present options for keeping the website in good working order. Ideas shared by attendees included making the calendar of events easily accessible on the home page; making the donations, ticketing, and merchandising process better for both purchasers and the CJCA treasurer; adding an archive of CJCA emailed updates; and possibly including a local services and businesses page as a resource and potential source of income to offset the cost of website maintenance.
The current iteration of the website was designed eight years ago by a local resource who is no longer available, and some functions and templates have reached the end of their lifespan. At the very least, repair work by a technical resource will be necessary, and we will also need professional help to improve donations and purchasing functionality.
The popular Village News archive on the website, which contains 50+ years of PDFs of issues beginning in 1967 (with a very few missing issues), is one of the functions that had been inoperable the last few months due to outdated templates; we are happy to report it is the first repair completed and is back online!
The meeting attendees gave Robin a big round of applause for all the work she has done for the past eight years to keep the website going, and we are so thankful she is willing to continue her duties as we work to get the site updated and ready for the next decade of service.
PUBLIC WORKS CORNER – Little Falls Parkway
If you’ve driven in Bethesda recently, you will have undoubtedly noticed changes with Little Falls Parkway. Since the pandemic, there have been a number of plans proposed to make the relatively short stretch of road more pedestrian friendly. Recently, the Montgomery County Council unanimously chose to move forward with an adjusted plan for the Little Falls Parkway Road Diet Project, which county council members called a “compromise.”
Little Falls Parkway is now a continuously open parkway with the two outside lanes open for recreational use by cyclists and pedestrians and the interior two lanes reserved for vehicular traffic. The road pavement will remain in place.
The compromise allows emergency fire and rescue vehicles use of the roadway when responding to emergencies. This plan also allows the county to change its mind later and regain the pavement for traffic lanes if there are issues with the Road Diet. The new plan also eliminates the proposed creation of a linear park, which was not included in any county master plans.
There is significant information on websites such as montgomeryparks.org and others that include the history of the Road Diet, should readers seek additional information.
By Scott & Heidi Lewis [...]
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February 8, 2024Keeping in Touch: Opt In To Receive CJCA Emails
CJCA maintains a Listserv (operated through a Google Group) that we use as our primary communications medium. We send out announcements on upcoming events, matters concerning the community and other items. For those not on the CJCA Listserv, recent messages covered topics such as Trivia Night, blood donations, the CJCA monthly meeting and the holiday party. And we do try to minimize the number of messages sent in a given month.
So how does one enroll? To join this list, send an email to:
cjca-official-news+subscribe@googlegroups.com. You’ll need to include your name and address in Cabin John so we can maintain the safety and integrity of the list.
The CJCA Listserv is private and the mailing list is not sold or given to anyone outside the CJCA. Additionally, only current elected officers have the ability to send information.
In addition to the official CJCA Listserv There are other unofficial listservs that may be of interest, some volunteer, some commercial. Visit the “Get Connected” tab on the Cabin John web page for more details.
Bike Clinic – April 6
The CJCA will be holding a bike clinic at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center on Saturday, April 6 at 10am. This will be an opportunity to get bikes ready for spring riding. We expect to have instructions on how to fix a flat tire, traffic safety information, helmet fitting and other simple bike maintenance. Additionally, we plan to have bike technicians on hand who can fix those flat tires, lubricate chains, adjust brakes and gear shifts, tighten wheel hubs, and adjust seats. Watch for more information and sign-up details in March.
By Scott Lewis [...]
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February 8, 2024While writing this column, I decided to open the window and let an unusually warm January breeze roll in. My thoughts about an early end to winter were met by a chorus of birds rejecting my proposition. “Uh-uh,” they called. “Uh-uh.” Perfect timing, I thought, and inspiration, because I was writing about my doubting feathered neighbors, the Fish Crow, a smart cousin of the Common Crow and Northern Raven, but with a unique song, an utterance that fills one with hesitation.
Wherever there is water along the East Coast and Mississippi River Valley, or carrion to scavenge in between, you will hear this Doubting Tom of a bird singing away in a cluster of its kin, sometimes with Common Crows in the mix. The Common Crow is—dare we say it–more common, and its familiar guttural, “Caaaw! Caugh!!” is a sound even non-birders can pick out. To the naked eye, there is nothing that readily distinguishes a Common Crow from a Fish Crow, but its call is clearly different. The nasal-sounding song of the Fish Crow is so distinctive that once you learn it, you will never mistake it for anything else. Only an expert can identify subtle physical differences between the two species, so minor that I will avoid mentioning them here (ok—among other tweaks to the basic crow body plan, the Fish Crow is slightly smaller with a less robust beak). Even if you do learn to recognize these differences in the pages of a field guide or comparing images on the internet, you will be hard pressed to transfer what you have learned to what you are seeing silhouetted against the sky in the top of the bare trees of winter. Better to cup your hand to your ear and listen for the distinct nasal serenade.
The name Fish Crow assumes too much, as if this species is what scientists might term an obligate piscivore, a dedicated fish-eater. Like its congener the Common Crow, the Fish Crow will eat just about anything—insects, fruit, seeds, trash, dead fish, other carrion. Being omnivorous is often a path to success for spreading your kind far and wide, scientists find. Think of other omnivores in our midst like raccoons and opossums and how widespread they are. And think about the arrival or eventual residency of a classic omnivore: the North American black bear, followed by another, the coyote. They will be joining us in Cabin John soon.
The tendency for a few Common Crows to mix in with a flock of the more social Fish Crow illustrates a point made in last month’s column: what new marvels are revealed if we only stop, look–and listen. When I started birding around Cabin John many years ago, I didn’t know about the presence of Fish Crows nearby: I had never heard them until a birding colleague pointed them out. Then my life changed for the better.
You can hear them all over Cabin John, even fairly far from the Potomac, although they tend to be more common by the river. The Fish Crow is another example of a phenomenon in some groups of birds where two species look almost identical but can easily be told apart by the songs once they vocalize. More importantly, they don’t interbreed. Maybe they recognize features that we don’t, so they instantly know who is who in the crow community without opening their beaks. We will undoubtedly find more definitive answers with future behavioral studies as to what keeps them separated. Until then, we can only wonder about other species hiding in plain sight that will emerge if we follow the simple instructions for being a naturalist (or surviving life as a pedestrian along MacArthur Boulevard): stop, look, and listen.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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January 25, 2024Our annual CJCA Trivia Night returns on Saturday, January 27 at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center starting at 6:30pm (sharp). This is a perfect way to spend a cold winter’s evening! Please note that this is an adults-only event–participants must be 21 years old or older.
This year, we will be introducing a new trivia caller, just to change things up a bit. Players can still count on roughly two and a half hours of challenging trivia, a grand prize for the winning team and bragging rights for the entire year.
The cost is $12 a player or $86 for a team of eight players. Proceeds from the night will support the community activities and projects of the Cabin John Citizens Association, which is hosting the evening.
As in previous years, we will also have a cash / Venmo bar for beer and wine. Soft drinks and light snacks will be provided. Teams are encouraged to bring their own picnic if they want to dine while they play and part of the fun every year is seeing the spreads that teams bring. (Though there is certainly no shame in bringing takeout from one of our local restaurants.)
There will be multiple rounds of questions, with a 30-minute half-time break to give folks an opportunity to visit with their neighbors.
The Trivia Night does sell out so make sure you don’t miss out. Form your team of
up to eight players, and go to Ticketleap.com and search for “Cabin John” to register. You can either purchase a table of up to eight players or buy up to four individual seats. We will partner those buying individual seats. And if you buy a table, don’t feel you need to fill all eight seats, but every additional person does help with trivia! Lastly, spectators are welcome but we request you purchase an individual ticket.
By Scott Lewis [...]
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January 25, 2024A Case to Help Support Your CJCA
We’re hard-pressed to imagine better value for your money than the $20 dues each household is asked to contribute to the Cabin John Citizens Association.
Your contribution makes possible community events such as the Turkey Trot, Holiday Party, Spring Egg Hunt, and 4th of July Parade; neighborhood communication and information via The Village News, our website at cabinjohn.org, and the ongoing advocacy for safe streets, quiet skies, unspoiled parks and streams, and preserved and interpreted history.
Cabin John is a vibrant, congenial, connected place because so many people who call Cabin John home have decided that investing their time, talents, and resources in our community is worth it. We hope you feel this way, too.
In the next Village News we will share more information on how we can join together, get involved, and help support each other – and help support this special place.
Association Meeting Notes
The November 29, 2023, CJCA meeting featured an update from CJCA Outreach Coordinators Courtney Krutoy and Kathryn Levernz, who shared that we have a few areas without a block coordinator including Caraway Street, MacArthur Boulevard, and MacArthur Park Condominiums, among others. If you are interested in finding out more about the role of our block coordinators and/or have interest in becoming one, please email Courtney and Kathryn at CJCAcommunityoutreach@gmail.com. Plans are underway for a newcomers picnic on Saturday, April 21, 2024. Anyone who has moved to Cabin John since 2020 is especially welcome, as this will be the first newcomers event since the pandemic pause. Keep watch for more details in future issues. Gail Marcus led a discussion about her and her neighbors’ successful efforts to get the county to install crosswalks across Seven Locks Road. One key to success is a focus on the highest priority locations–a crosswalk at every street is not possible. In the coming months CJCA will compile a map of crosswalk locations that have already been proposed so that all Cabin John residents can advocate for pedestrian safety and share thoughts on additional locations.
The January 2024 CJCA Meeting will be held on Wednesday, January 24 from 7:30 pm to 8:30 pm at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center. Feel free to attend in person or virtually via meet.google.com/aqy-ndpm-hdm. We will have a representative from MDOT give an update on Beltway expansion, and have a discussion about plans for the CJCA website.
Public Works Corner
Washington Aqueduct Old Conduit Repairs Project – Many will have noticed construction offices have been set up just over the Union Arch Bridge in Glen Echo. Washington Aqueduct crews began conducting repairs to deteriorated sections of the utility’s First Conduit, commonly referred to as the “Old Conduit,” located under MacArthur Boulevard beginning in late November 2023. Repair work takes place Monday-Friday, 7:00 am-5:30 pm, at various locations along the conduit, which may result in lane closures along MacArthur Boulevard.
Aqueduct staff conducted a visual inspection of the Old Conduit in March 2022 and determined that repairs and maintenance work were required to address compromises to the conduit’s structural integrity caused by violations of imposed vehicle weight restrictions on MacArthur Boulevard.The Old Conduit is a 12-mile-long circular tube structure carrying water from the Potomac River near Great Falls to the Dalecarlia Reservoir, which serves as the primary source of drinking water for approximately one million people living, working, or visiting the District of Columbia, Arlington County, Virginia, and other areas in northern Virginia, including portions of Fairfax County.
Stabilize Dry Laid Stone Wall – “Log Wall” – at Mile Marker 11 on the C&O Towpath – There is quite a detour and much equipment along the canal in the Carderock region. The National Park Service is stabilizing approximately 1,000 feet of historic dry laid stone wall along the canal at mile marker 11. The wall was originally constructed between 1828 and 1831 and is often referred to as the “Log Wall” and is 35 feet high in some sections.
This portion of the canal was altered in the 1960s by the installation of the Potomac Interceptor Combined Sewer, which is operated and maintained by DCWATER. In 2015 and 2016 a series of sinkholes formed, necessitating the water in the canal to be lowered along a four-mile stretch, including upstream of the Log Wall to Widewater (mile 13.5) and downstream toward Washington, DC.
The project’s main goals include maintaining the “Towpath Continuity” of the 184.5-mile-long primary trail system in the park; restoring the flow of water within the canal prism; reducing risks to adjacent infrastructure; and performing stabilization (reduction of sediment load) of some limited reaches of the tributaries emptying into the canal within the project area.
By Heidi & Scott Lewis [...]
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January 25, 2024A Resolution for 2024: Slowing Down to Look at Nature
The pace of technological change seems to speed up with each passing year. Just in the past twelve months we have seen the explosion of ChatGPT and generative AI, moving us closer to when machines assume a lot more human activities. Quantum computing lurks on the horizon with the potential of making AI even more powerful. Tesla’s Optimus Gen 2 robot seems even more human-like than did the first iteration, and machines like it could soon handle even more tasks that are dangerous, repetitive, or do we dare admit, too difficult for humans.
But as computers and the AI software that runs on them speed up, our species may find our way to a healthier, more sustainable biosphere and future for humanity, not by speeding up, but by slowing down. For it is only by taking it slow that we are able to observe nature and fully appreciate our connections to the natural world. And there are enormous benefits in doing so, one that Optimus 2 or Optimus 10 will never know: the opportunity to allow our experience of nature to calm the turmoil inside of us and, most importantly, to appreciate the awesomeness of the natural world.
Awe is one of the most fundamental—and un-machinelike—emotions our species can experience. A recent study by scientists at Johns Hopkins found that almost three-quarters of participants in a survey said they experienced awe, or had been awestruck, most frequently from encounters with the natural world. It does not have to be gained observing a double rainbow from the rim of the Grand Canyon, or bursts of lava spouting from Hawaii’s volcanoes. We can feel a sense of awe watching a beaver felling a tree along the Potomac, or a bald eagle harassing an osprey to release the fish in its talons, or a wood duck preening in afternoon light, or a giant male snapping turtle breaking the surface of the canal as it mounted a female, just as its ancestors had been doing since the time of the dinosaurs. These were all scenes in nature that played out right in front of me over the years as I walked or rode my bike along the Potomac. A knowledge of natural history was helpful in identifying what I was seeing; but also essential was my willingness to slow down and look. The male wood duck spotted far away and without the aid of binoculars could have been dismissed as a mallard drake if I had not stopped to examine the silhouette and then the head feathers more closely. The snapping turtle could have been a log in the water as I whizzed along on my mountain bike if I hadn’t hit the brakes for a second look.
So that is my New Year’s resolution. To hit the brakes more often, and look more closely, to slow down. The practice of slowing down when in the wild can be seen as an offshoot of what is known in Buddhist teachings as the Sacred Art of Pausing. As Tara Brach, our local teacher on this matter, puts it: “Through the sacred art of pausing we develop the capacity to stop hiding, to stop running away from our experience. We begin to trust in our natural intelligence, in our naturally wise heart, in our capacity to open to whatever arises.”
The Sacred Art of slowing down, then, let’s call it, and engage our capacity to appreciate nature right in front of our eyes. Just as computers increase computational speed, let’s slow down and engage in an activity that Optimus 10 will likely never see any value in doing, such as stopping to watch a Great Blue Heron stalk through the shallows and then stand perfectly still, waiting for its prey to move. Let’s be more like the heron than the robot.
And to rediscover our sense of awe for nature, that is another resolution worth considering. A sense of awe may be one of the most useful and reassuring traits we have retained from our days moving across the savannas of East Africa as primitive hominids. Awe opens us up to possibilities of seeing the natural world and a heightened sense of beauty, the amazing designs as a result of evolution, and a growing sense of humility as to our place in the grand scheme of things. But how do we keep that connection in a world of high-speed computers, noise pollution, and light pollution taking away our view of the Milky Way and the planets?
Over the next ten installments of Local Nature, we shall take our heron-like qualities and bring them to the banks of the Potomac, featuring the species found along the eddies and in the pools and currents of our beloved wild river, in what will be the last year of this column. Eleven years have passed since I began this project, writing about local natural history, and it has been ever so rewarding. In large part, I have seen these columns over the years as a means to focus a spotlight on the exceptional talent of Trudy Nicholson, who has faithfully illustrated every article. But, for me, the demands of my day job—which ironically involves more and more about computers, computer vision, and AI in the service of protecting nature—has so increased that it seems appropriate to draw this column to a close at the end of 2024, or at least take a pause for a year.
In the meantime, let’s move down to the shores of the Potomac and see what we can find that can put us in awe of wild nature.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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January 24, 2024Cabin John has benefited from the work of a new grassroots volunteer group that has been saving its trees and natural ecosystem. Tree Friends United, which has more than 20 Cabin John residents among its 130 members, has run three outings to our neighborhood since it began work last March. The outings have focused on the trees choked by English ivy and other invasive vines along the river side of MacArthur Boulevard from the one-lane bridge to the Clara Barton Parkway access ramp. The area is looking much better, and Tree Friends plans to return periodically to keep it up. The outings are part of a larger effort by Tree Friends to save trees from Cabin John, down MacArthur to the Brookmont neighborhood. It has also focused on Glen Echo Park and the Clara Barton House area. The group has succeeded in saving hundreds of trees. There is still much work to be done, and Tree Friends welcomes new volunteers to pitch in. The outings are only two hours. You work at your own pace, enjoy fellowship, and get healthy outdoor exercise and instant gratification. Contact coordinator Jon Nowick at avanti7700@verizon.net to get on the email list. The next two outings are set for Thursdays from 1-3pm: January 11 down MacArthur near the former Sycamore Store at Walhonding Road and January 25 on the other (inbound) side of the one-lane bridge. Sign up for one or both by searching “avanti7700@verizon.net” at signupgenius.com. [...]
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November 18, 2023Minutes from October 25, 2023 CJCA Meeting
The Cabin John Citizens Association held its October meeting at 7:30 pm Wednesday, October 25, 2023, at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center. The well-attended meeting included a visit from our State Delegate Sarah Wolek, and a presentation on the Cabin John History Committee by Rachel Donnan. After the May meeting minutes were approved, the following items were addressed:
Update from Maryland District 16 (our district) Delegate Sarah Wolek – Sarah Wolek attended our meeting in person. Delegate Wolek was appointed in April 2023 to the seat that was vacated when Ariana Kelley was appointed as District 16’s state senator. Delegate Sarah Wolek serves on the Appropriations Committee and the Education and Economic Development Subcommittee. The Appropriations Committee reviews legislation related to the state operating and capital budgets and is currently chaired by Delegate Ben Barnes. This includes legislation on collective bargaining, fiscal procedures, higher education institutions, state and local agency procedures and programs, and social services among others. Twenty-six delegates serve on the committee and its five subcommittees. The Education and Economic Development Subcommittee is chaired by Delegate Stephanie Smith and is responsible for legislation related to primary and secondary education, community colleges, scholarships, and economic development. Additional members of Delegate Wolek’s staff include Claudia Fess, chief of staff, and Anna Saderholm, legislative staff. Constituents can contact Delegate Wolek via email at sarah.wolek@house.state.md.us or by phone at (410) 841-3642, (301) 858-3642, or 1-800-492-7122, ext. 3642 (toll free).
Update on the History Committee – Rachel Donnan provided an update on the formation of CJCA History Committee, which she will chair. The goals of the committee are to:
Undertake an effort to survey and catalog materials related to CJ history held by community members and others
Develop ideas how CJCA could house physical artifacts and documents
Develop ideas for digital archives of CJCA artifacts, photos, and information
Develop programs and events to make historical information available to CJers in ways that are interesting and engaging
Encourage people to get involved in learning about and preserving CJ history
Anyone interested in participating in the history committee should contact Rachel Donnan at rachdonnan@gmail.com.
After the main agenda items were concluded, 81st Street resident Nathan Conestra shared news regarding development of a wooded lot bordered by MacArthur Boulevard, 80th Street and 81st Street. Nathan provided background on the lot, current known development plans, and bordering property owners’ concerns. He invited neighbors who are interested in staying informed and assisting in efforts to limit negative impacts to contact him at nathan.canestaro@gmail.com to be put on a mailing list. More information can be found in Nathan’s letter to the community in this issue of the Village News.
CJCA’s Family Events For Hometown Holiday Fun – Plans are well underway for the Turkey Trot, Thanksgiving Day at 10:00 am on the field behind the Clara Barton Center (aka Cabin John Local Park); and the Annual Holiday Party, 5:00-7:00 pm, Sunday, December 10. Can you lend a couple of hours to help? If so, please contact cjcapresidents@gmail.com to let us know which event you can help out with. CJ student helpers are always welcome and can earn SSL hours at both events!
Public Works Corner – An almost monthly update on all public works in and around Cabin John
American Legion Bridge and 270 Corridor Program Perhaps the biggest update for public works is the rebranding of the “Beltway Expansion” project. With the demise of the Transurban Public-Private Partnership, the expansion plans have been rebranded as the American Legion Bridge and 270 Corridor Program (https://americanlegionbridge270.com/#about). As this is somewhat of a reset, there will be a number of information sessions–called “Open Houses.” The nearest will be at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School on Monday, November 13 from 6:30-8:30 pm. This session will be an opportunity to learn more about the program and provide feedback. CJCA will attend this meeting and report back to the community.
Stabilization of the Drylaid Stone Wall at Mile Marker 11 (Log Wall) C&O National Park plans to stabilize an approximately 1,015 linear foot long historic drylaid stone wall, which varies in height up to 35 feet tall. A drylaid stone wall is a wall that is constructed without the use of mortar or concrete to hold the stones in place. The wall was originally constructed between 1828 and 1831 and is often referred to as the “Log Wall,” as found in an 1890 engineer’s report. This portion of the canal was altered in the 1960s by the installation of the Potomac Interceptor Combined Sewer, which is operated and maintained by DC Water. Currently, water is being pumped out of the canal and there are detours and closures in the area. Check the following for up-to-date information: https://www.nps.gov/choh/planyourvisit/stabilize-drylaid-stone-wall-at-mile-marker-11-log-wall.htm.
Sewer Work below the One Lane Bridge As reported in the September Village News, the metering work below the Union Arch bridge was completed earlier in the fall. Now, all equipment and related materials have been removed. This was a DC Water project.
Union Arch Bridge Cleaning – Many will have noticed that rainwater is not draining well from the bridge, in particular toward the Glen Echo side. As a result, the Army Corps of Engineers closed the bridge and cleared the drainage over the weekend of November 4 and 5.
Recent Line Painting along MacArthur – It’s hard not to notice the poor line painting along MacArthur Boulevard–squiggly lines, tire-tracked wet paint–overall a sloppy job. CJCA will reach out to the appropriate authorities to attempt to rectify this situation.
By Heidi & Scott Lewis [...]
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November 17, 2023Anyone walking or driving on Seven Locks Road on or after October 16 will have noticed the construction work for the installation of crosswalks at several intersections. This project is the culmination of over five years of effort by a number of Cabin John residents and provides a textbook example of the need for persistence, and the benefits of having multiple advocates for a cause. It may be worthwhile to recount the journey so that others may benefit from our “lessons learned.”
As many local residents know, Seven Locks Road is a hilly commuter road with a sidewalk for pedestrians on only one side. Persimmon Tree Lane and MacArthur Boulevard are also commuter roads with a sidewalk on only one side, but Seven Locks Road has the unhappy distinction that most of the homes are on the side of the road without a sidewalk. Furthermore, most of the side streets do not have other outlets—Seven Locks is the only way to come and go. In addition, it provides foot and vehicle access to the shopping center at the corner of Seven Locks and MacArthur, and to Palisades Pool and neighboring Seven Locks Park. Hence, there has been a long-standing concern about pedestrian safety on Seven Locks Road.
We are fortunate that Cabin John is a walkable community, but we are also situated along busy commuter roads and pedestrian safety is a real concern. CJCA leadership, along with a number of local community members, have been lobbying for crosswalks at a number of key locations on Seven Locks, MacArthur, and Persimmon Tree for years. Residents who have raised this issue include Andrew Strasfogel, and myself on Cypress Grove Lane; Jaime Montoya of Thornley Court; Kelly Banuls and Jessica Blake Hawke of the Persimmon Tree neighborhood, and probably others behind the scenes. Between all of us, we have been in contact with the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), Montgomery Planning, and several of our elected officials (especially Councilmember Andrew Friedson and Delegate Marc Korman).
Progress was slow and uneven. The 2019 requests for crosswalks resulted in some signage along Seven Locks Road, but no crosswalks. We were told that requirements set by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) required ramps wherever there were crosswalks. This, of course, added to the cost and complexity of such a project. Another criterion for the installation of crosswalks and ramps was the level of pedestrian traffic, but the occasions when county employees monitored the flow of pedestrian traffic were not times of peak usage. Thus, our requests for crosswalks were rejected several times.
But we persisted. And found new allies. In 2021, members of Palisades Pool indicated a need for a crosswalk at the access road leading to the pool and Seven Locks Park. Later, the county announced plans for pedestrian safety upgrades farther north on Seven Locks, prompting us to renew our request for support for our part of the roadway. These efforts grew towards the end of 2022, when Korman’s and Friedson’s offices both got actively involved. They connected us with a very helpful staffer in the MCDOT office, and things started to move.
One issue throughout the process was where to install the crosswalks. Having crosswalks at all the intersections was clearly untenable, but everyone who made a request proposed a somewhat different mix and number of crosswalks. A key breakthrough came thanks to a suggestion to put crosswalks at the same intersections where signs had been installed a few years ago. The logic behind the location of those signs was never completely clear, but it proved to be a recommendation that the county couldn’t challenge. Indeed, the final list of approved crosswalks was exactly the list we submitted based on the existing signs.
Not every advocacy story has such a happy ending, but in this case, the effort was undoubtedly helped by a combination of factors: a number of people advocating for the same thing, which must have helped convince the powers-that-be that the need was real; persistence over several years and continued efforts even when we got negative responses; and the assistance of vigilant staffers in the offices of our elected officials.
Charlotte Troup Leighton, CJCA’s Co-Vice President, reports that we should stay tuned for additional progress updates, saying “The new crosswalks on Seven Locks are a win for Cabin John, but CJCA will continue to advocate for additional pedestrian crosswalks and other safety improvements in our community.”
By Gail H. Marcus
Cabin John resident [...]
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November 16, 2023The tranquility of a late August day evaporated with the whine of a landscaping crew’s gasoline-powered lawn mower. The noise drowned out the songs of the Carolina wrens in the yard, one of our loudest singers. A month later, the same landscaping team had shifted to leaf-blowing the few sycamore and black walnut leaves that had fallen on a cool morning. Shutting the windows and even putting on headphones failed to block out the noise. When the landscapers finally stopped their racket, I felt my sanity creep back. What have we become? Across Cabin John, we are surrounded by an unwelcome ensemble of noisy machinery dedicated to propagating one of the worst inventions of modern suburbia—large lawns of grass.
If you polled residents for the reasons they moved from an urban environment to Cabin John, the most common responses would likely be: a) for the peace and quiet; b) living closer to nature; and c) living near the Potomac. For me, it was to wake up to birdsong every morning instead of the jarring sounds of sirens around Dupont Circle. I wanted to hear the nocturnal hoots of owls instead of car alarms going off. When relatives visited us from New York City, they were startled by the explosion of bird song and then would proclaim the place paradise.
This column is part lament to our Paradise Lost and part how-to guide to regain our little stretch of paradise. Let’s dispense with the lament. With increasing frequency, I see the telltale yellow signage on freshly mowed lawns warning that the grass has been sprayed with chemicals that could be toxic to pets and children. But what about the birds and butterflies that make our neighborhood such a pleasant place to stroll? Rachel Carson, a local who birded along our towpath in her spare time, alerted us to the perils of spraying chemicals–DDT in particular–in her classic Silent Spring. Yet, decades later, somehow, the chemical and lawn care companies have convinced the average homeowner and citizens’ associations to think that the epitome of civilization is a green lawn populated by non-native grasses. It is not. A green lawn maintained by chemicals and fertilizers is not natural, it is a green desert. Nor are our exotic shrubs natural. Our native creatures did not evolve with these species of plants and so, often, do not pollinate them. Nor is it natural or ecologically appropriate to continue pumping more greenhouse gasses from gas-powered lawn mowers and blowers into the atmosphere to keep our green monsters “tidy.”
So what would be a safer, more beautiful, and ecologically sensitive alternative? What about a lawn or section of lawn devoted to native species that attracts birds, bees, butterflies, moths, and other creatures, that turns it into a vibrant ecosystem right at our doorstep? In 2022, I devoted ten columns to lovely native plants that could replace chemically maintained green lawns. This year’s columns have focused on the fascinating insects that help maintain a sustainable biosphere and attract birds to our yards. This column tries to put it all together. As citizens of Cabin John and more importantly, as citizens of Earth, I believe, we need to do the right thing and explore how to think globally but act locally by re-envisioning our yards as an opportunity to sequester carbon and grow plants as if Mother Nature was our landscaping guide. Climate breakdown is upon us, and we are leaving most of the ecological and financial bills to those who follow us. But we can start to clean up our act now—for the sake of the present as well as the future.
Here are some simple things you can do:
The single most useful action you can take, even if you want to keep your lawn, is to plant a native oak tree (or better yet, two). I have covered oaks before, but no single group of species feeds more kinds of caterpillars than oak trees, estimated at 350-426 species. The next most useful group includes native (not Japanese) black cherries (Prunus serotinus), choke cherries, river birch, box elder, maples, blueberries, which all feed more than 150 species of caterpillars.
If you have space in the sun for a garden of helpful herbs, you might try out: goldenrods (82 species of caterpillars); native sunflowers (58 species of caterpillars); wild native strawberries as a ground cover (48 species of caterpillars); native hibiscus (but not the commonly planted Rose of Sharon) (37 species of caterpillars); Joe-pye weeds (31 species); native geranium (25 species of caterpillars); or false indigo (24 species of caterpillars). We grow false indigo, and in addition to producing some of the most beautiful wildflowers in our area, the insect pollinators love them. Do your bees a favor and plant false indigo. Milkweeds: give them a try in sunny spots.
There are many other natives: Indian pink, ironweed, turtlehead, to name a few. These species don’t attract as many species as the above-mentioned plants but attract specific species of insects many ecologists suggest we should include in our efforts to bring back native species, or to use the term in vogue, rewild. For example, the Baltimore checkerspot, the state butterfly of Maryland, lays its eggs only on white turtlehead plants, a kind of wild snapdragon.
If you want to learn more about which natives to grow, an excellent guide, prepared for Tennessee but applicable to our area, offers some great suggestions.
https://blog.wfsu.org/blog-coastal-health/2023/10/bang-for-your-caterpillar-buck-which-plants-host-the-most/?ref=blogemail
You can obtain many of the suggested plants at local native plant nurseries in our area, as well as advice on how to prepare your lawn for an ecological makeover, or by mail order.
Think of it this way: if there were a referendum nationally to create new wildlands the size of the state of Florida, most Americans would probably vote for such an initiative. Rewilding is now taking root around the world. Perhaps the best example, although controversial among scientists, is the reintroduction of wolves to the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. We don’t need to bring wolves back to our front yards, but endangered bumblebees wouldn’t be a bad thing, or a Baltimore Checkerspot in a damp area full of turtlehead. Ironically, geographic information specialists estimate that currently, an area estimated to be equal to the size of Florida is devoted to maintaining suburban lawns. If we could only give an area the size of Rhode Island, let alone Florida, back to nature the rewilding of suburbia would be an ecological triumph.
And how can residents of Cabin John and Montgomery County help out? Well for starters, those leaves falling from the maples and oaks and sycamores in your yard? Let them be. Overwintering caterpillars that fall from the trees as they become inactive for the winter, for example, lay dormant under the protective cover of fallen leaves. When you walk through the park or the Cabin John Creek trail, the trail and the forest floor are covered by the copper-colored leaves of beech trees, or the light browns of chestnut oaks, or the yellow of tulip poplars. The fallen leaves, as they turn to mulch, naturally re-fertilize our forests. The same, on a smaller scale, could be true for our yards if cared for with nature in mind.
Just imagine, if you planted natives, and left the fallen leaves to enrich your gardens and give habitat to our overwintering creatures, in these new circumstances, the relative quiet in the absence of gas-powered lawn mowers and blowers would restore paradise, through rewilding.
So, please neighbors, join the movement.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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October 20, 2023September 16, 2023 was a beautiful day for the annual Cabin John Crab and Chicken Feast, and a great crew of veteran and new volunteers turned out to make it another memorable community event. Thank you to everyone who worked to make this event so special and to everyone who came to enjoy the feast!
Despite an unfortunate overlap with the Rosh Hashanah holiday, this year we served 489 meals, nearly as much as last year’s record. Although we significantly increased our supply of collard greens this year, we once again ran out! Due to the increased popularity of the collard greens side, we are considering changing the name of next year’s event to the “Cabin John Crab, Chicken and Collard Greens Feast.” If only we could get the acronym CJCCCGF to catch on! At a minimum, we will buy more collards so we don’t run out next year.
As has been the case for over 50 years, the heart of the CJ Crab and Chicken Feast is the volunteers. A large number of volunteers have returned year after year, and we have many new volunteers each year. This coming year there will again be many opportunities for new volunteers; maybe you? If you would like to put a bookmark on volunteering for next year, please contact cjcrabfeast@gmail.com. Ask any volunteer and they will tell you it is not only rewarding to support your community, but working at the event itself is a lot of fun and a great way to meet your neighbors.
THANK YOU:
Entertainment – Starlight Orchestra, CBNRC kids activities, and face painting by Eric Nothman
Crab Cooks – Pete Couste (chief), Chris Couste, Michelle Couste, Barry Hubscher, Josh Chambers, Billy Rieger, David Williams, Jennifer Williams
Chicken Cooks – Dan Mustico (chief), Mike Donnellan, Ray Swayze
Kitchen Crew – Kathleen Black (chief), Meredith McGuire (chief), Sally Mee, Elliott Schoen, Bramman Avery, Amy Mason, Sam Mason, Patty Lee, Judith Bell, Tamzin Smith, Mary K. Young
Veg Prep – Karen Melchar (chief), Susan Gelb, Alexis Dani, Sarah Danis, Heidi Lewis, Delia Tamzin Smith, Susan Graham, Connie Summers, Claire Mustico, Sam Mustico, Mireille Lisimaque, Gilles Lismaque, Sandy Occhipinti, Diana Carter, Susan Fitzgerald, Daisy Lewis, Delia Jennings
Serving Crew – Susan Shipp (chief), Diana Carter, Carissa DeCramer, Leslie Meyers, Barbara Wilmarth, Linda Green, Elizabeth Miller, Steve Miller, Meredith Griggs, Barbara Wilmarth, Karen Melchar, Delia Jennings, Christine Chambers, Mireille Lisimaque, Mary Patton, Stacey Corcoran, Harry Rieckelman, Phil Corcoran, Patrick Ryan, Beverly Sullivan, Mary Patton, Anastasia Donnellan, Amy Elsbree, Helen Harris, Clive Harris, Lynn Hopkins, Leslie Baldwin, Bev Sullivan
Beverages – Jackie Hoglund, Rita Gerharz, Joel Todd, Theresa Kowal, Michael Brintnall, Kathleen Dowd
Lemonade – Jeff Rothman (co-chief), Anne Rothman (co-chief), Sydney Ishida, My Linh Bui, Simone Allen, Andrea Williams
Bake Sale – Scoutmaster Shuyan Liu and scouts from BSA Troop 4
Setup and Teardown/Cleanup – Burr Gray (chief), Jeff Ship, Mark Smith, Anne Rothman, Jeff Rothman, Bruce Meyers, Bill Robison, Manisvhar Manimaran, Travis Riemer, Helen Daniel, Dawn Lowrie, Rick Lowrie, Elliot Allain, Sam Mustico, Carl McCabe, Kirin Burns, Billy Robison, Helen Daniels, Kieran Burns, Tristan Allain, Rich Allain, John Gibbons, Clive Harris
CJCA Table – Kelly Banuls, Serafina Allain, Claire Mustico, Perla Calderon and daughters, Lily Brown, Cassidy Wolf, Caroline Mauerer
Table Bussers – Heidi Lewis, Elliott Allen, Laurel Haeni, Elise Atallah, Miles Swayze, Finn Tomlinson, Finn Sullivan
CBNRC Staff – Barry Jones (CBNRC director), Lolita Powell-Jones, John Mbeng, Brandi Scott-Swales, Ciara Swales, Cleo Schulman, Jayden DaCosta, Vaulx Carter, Jeremy Kwon, Melih Karaca
Ticket Sales – Heather Tomlinson (chief), Lisan Martin, Deb Duffy, Lief Krvaric, Kathleen Leverenz
Advance Ticket Sales – Courtney Krutoy, Kathleen Leverenz
Publicity and Website – Heidi Lewis, Leilia McCabe, Kaylia McCabe, Robin Sidel
Volunteer Coordination – Heidi Lewis
By Carl McCabe
2023 Crab Feast Coordinator [...]
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October 20, 2023The words “lovable” and “insect” rarely share the same sentence when uttered by adults, the adjective “lovable” usually passed over in favor of some descriptor more like “#^$*!-ing” insects. But for kids, there is one group where the kinder word is fitting: ladybugs. What is it about ladybugs, or more correctly, ladybird beetles, that children find so adorable? I have seen no empirical studies about cuteness in insects so I will venture a few guesses.
Somehow, we often associate animals that are round or roly-poly with cuteness. Think beavers, or hedgehogs, bear cubs, or even porcupines. Whatever rolls up into a ball, we want to cuddle. Well, maybe not porcupines. But if the body plan is long and sinuous like a snake, or has a mouth full of pointed teeth, or sports a sharp tip to its abdomen, like a hornet, we reach for a stick or a can of Raid. Ladybird beetles seem more like wind-up toy bugs, so clown-like in their coloration, with seven black polka dots on the body set off against a rich crimson shell. Maybe it’s the way they take off, like little helicopters with wing flaps, that makes them so engaging. Perhaps it’s instead because kids learn early that these creatures are harmless but voraciously eat other bugs that threaten the backyard garden. From any perspective, ladybird beetles are among the most beloved of insects, and not just in the eyes of kids.
Animal behavior theory, however, suggests that we should be wary if we have a sudden urge to eat them. In nature, the combination of red and black, in any orientation—spots or stripes—is considered warning coloration, a visual shout-out to stay away. In the case of ladybird beetles, the striking contrast of red and black signals to birds that they are distasteful.
Over 430 species of ladybird beetles exist in the United States, some introduced, brought in to control aphids that suck the juices out of important commercial crops. These species of ladybird beetles vary between having bands or spots. The spotted species can be distinguished by the number of black dots on them—such as the two-spotted and the seven-spotted, the latter being the most common ladybird beetle that children love to draw and hold in their hands. But there are also thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, seventeen, and twenty-spotted ladybird beetles.
Ladybugs consume a wide variety of garden pests including, in addition to aphids, cinch bugs, asparagus beetle larvae, alfalfa weevils, thrips, potato beetle larvae, spider mites, and mealybugs, to name a few. Adult ladybird beetles can eat their own weight in aphids every day and a larva, also aphid feeders, can consume more than 50 per day. That is serious pest control if you have hundreds of beetles in your tomato patch.
Ladybugs are so helpful in producing bountiful gardens that some enthusiasts purchase and release these beetles in hopes of adding additional biological control to the mix. Unfortunately, beetles do fly, and these introduced beetles rarely stay put. The life cycle of the ladybird beetle essentially guarantees this outcome. Unlike most insect species in our area, ladybird beetles overwinter as adults, hiding in secluded spots (under logs or branches, for example) and often in large aggregations, there being safety in numbers. But early in spring, these clusters of ladybirds disperse in search of prey and suitable sites to lay their eggs, laying up to 1,000 eggs on plant surfaces and often where aphids are plentiful. Once ladybirds have devoured the aphids in an affected garden they will move on in search of happier hunting grounds down the street in the neighbor’s bushes. The best way to attract ladybird beetles to your garden from places nearby, and keep active populations of them in your garden as long as possible, is to avoid the use of pesticides and herbicides that kill them as well as your targeted pests.
Ladybirds do have predators beyond the human pesticide user. Swifts and swallows, two groups of birds that feed on the wing, are immune to the toxins emitted by ladybirds and pick them off in flight. Some spiders feed on ladybirds, as do dragonflies, frogs, and true sucking bugs. Parasitic wasps kill them as well, using the bodies of the poor ladybirds as food for their own larvae. Nature can be brutal.
But ladybirds must be doing fairly well in avoiding these predators, as they are still flitting about in gardens, at least those free from pesticides. Stop spraying your vegetables and flowers and make a home for these helpful friends. They make wonderful neighbors, even if they soon move on.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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October 20, 2023With Halloween fast approaching, it seemed the perfect time to revisit a history column I wrote some years ago about Cabin John’s spooky legends and tales, from a ghostly hermit in the woods to a mysterious female stranger and family burial grounds.
Captain John Smith, who helped establish Jamestown, was the first to map the Potomac River, and made his way from the Chesapeake to Great Falls. Cabin John is most likely a corruption of the name Captain John. Stories about the name Cabin John, passed down through generations, describe various incarnations of a mysterious recluse who lived in the woods near the creek. The ghost of “John” was even used as a clever marketing ploy for the American Land Company’s sale of lots in Cabin John Park in the early 1900s.
Some legends depict “John” as a salty, tattooed man who jumped ship and settled here, burying his stolen treasure nearby. Property deeds from the sale of lots by the American Land Company included that the “party of the first part reserves the right to one-half interest in any treasure or articles of special value which may have been hidden on said lot or parcel by John of the Cabin.” The ghost of John was rumored to return on gusty nights, only to disappear in a flash of light when others saw him. Crossing the Union Arch Bridge after dark instilled fear in many locals.
A 15¢ booklet from 1903 called Picturesque Cabin John by J.H. Wilson Marriott told the tale of a lone man who lived along the creek, long before the bridge was completed in 1864. This loner “disappeared as mysteriously as he came, and nothing was ever known as to his fate. His old cabin crumbled into ruins.” A ghost called “John of the Cabin” was often seen near his lonely, desolate shelter in the woods. The legend of the female stranger, whose grave does indeed exist in St. Paul’s Cemetery in Alexandria, appeared in newspapers throughout the 1800s. (I wrote about her in the September 2021 Village News history column.) A 1912 romance novel by Charles T. Johnson Jr. connected this legend to Cabin John.
Johnson’s tale depicted a love triangle between an English nobleman, a young army surgeon named John and a beautiful orphan. During a heated exchange, the nobleman fell and died. The lovers escaped to America, sailing along “historic waters made famous by the widely heralded exploits of the redoubtable Captain John Smith” and married en route. The fugitives made their home along the verdant Cabin John Creek. After many happy months, John’s wife fell ill. He took her across the Potomac River to Alexandria in search of a doctor, but she passed away. Honoring her wish to remain unknown, he buried her below a marble slab inscribed “To the Memory of a Female Stranger.” John returned to their creekside home distraught. Years later, his brother arrived from England, only to find a deserted, overgrown cabin, all signs of life rotted away, the skeleton of his kin near the creek and a note signed “Affectionately, your brother, John.”
Another version of the legend described a beautiful Snow White-like character who haunted a cabin by the creek. “She was queen of the forest….Her cabin was a bower of vines…Wild birds flew about her head, rabbits hopped about her feet, and squirrels from every nearby tree ate from her hand.” But one day she disappeared, and those who claimed to have seen her fly towards the heavens later feared being near the creek at nightfall.
Whoever John of the Cabin was—a hermit, a pirate, a lover—iterations of his story lived on through local folklore. These tales piqued the interest of J.S. Tomlinson, the owner of the American Land Company, who purchased most of the land that is now Cabin John and began selling lots in 1912. Tomlinson’s early maps of Cabin John Park pinpoint John’s Cabin, along the creek beside an elm tree. Besides laying partial claim to any found treasure, Tomlinson included a photograph of the site of John’s Cabin in the company’s brochure, with the supposed ghost of John lurking in the shadows.
Before Tomlinson developed Cabin John Park, the land was owned by only several families. One of the earliest land owners, Joseph White, purchased a large swath in 1784. His family eventually owned all of what is now Cabin John Park. Edith Armstrong’s 1947 historical pamphlet on Cabin John’s history notes that the White family graveyard was “near a large cedar tree not far from where Second Street and Ridge Road (now Arden Road and 75th Place) join. The old tombstones were hauled away during the construction of the C&O Canal, a majority of the workers were Irish immigrants. Many Irish laborers who died during the 1832 cholera plague were buried on a plot of land along Persimmon Tree Road; the land was later sold to the Friendship School’s founders for $5.00 as it was of little use for farming.
If you are out trick or treating on October 31st, keep your eyes peeled for the ghost called “John of the Cabin!”
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer [...]
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September 14, 2023CJCA Meetings
The CJCA’s first meeting of the 2023-2024 year will be held on Wednesday, October 25th, at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (we will not have a September meeting). Topics include a discussion regarding a Cabin John History Committee, results from our Crab Feast and a review and discussion of the upcoming CJCA Calendar, including proposed meeting topics and other events.
A Proposed Cabin John History Committee
The CJCA recently appointed a Cabin John History Committee to be chaired by Rachel Donnan, the VN’s history columnist.
The committee has an ambitious agenda that aims to preserve Cabin John’s unique history while encouraging the community to engage with its story.
Some of the committee’s tasks will include the survey and cataloging of Cabin John historical materials held by residents and others; reprinting “Cabin John: Legends and Life of an Uncommon Place” by Judy Welles, including her additional research since its publication; and further developing educational community events and programs.
The history committee will be presented at the October CJCA meeting to invite community members who may be interested in contributing their time and effort towards preserving Cabin John history.
Public Works Update: Metering Work Along Canal Complete
After close to a year of work, the WSSC “Metering Work” has been completed on the canal at the Cabin John Creek underpass near the wooden pedestrian bridge over the canal. This is the point where the WSSC line connects with the line managed by DC Water.
Changes in technology have eliminated the need for metering hence the need for this project. In addition, and more importantly for our community, heavy rain events have led to the creek overrunning its banks and spilling into the canal so this project included some reinforcement work as well.
By Scott Lewis
CJCA Co-President [...]
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September 14, 2023There’s one, then another, then a hundred or more. The fireflies flashing their warm green glow as they swarm under the crown of a giant black walnut tree are a sight to behold. A civilization of flying beacons, each emitting tiny tail lights to track their movements, reminding us of nature’s spectacle, visible from our own backyards. The flashing glow of these flying insects must trigger many a young imagination: What causes them to light up? What are they saying to each other, or to me? Who eats them? Do they make good pets?
I wasn’t so interested in decoding firefly communication or exploring how they turned on the lights; like most young boys, I was simply keen to catch them in my jar, often forgetting to release them before they expired. I didn’t realize what a marvelous example of evolution fireflies represented: creatures capable of “bioluminescence”–creating light through chemicals they produce in their own body—the ultimate party trick, better than walking on the ceiling. (Imagine if back in the days of disco, John Travolta could flash in colors while he gyrated—that’s what fireflies do). Fireflies contain the aptly named enzyme luciferase that catalyzes a compound, luciferin, that in the presence of oxygen, emits a green light. Common eastern fireflies (Photinus pyralis), or what we used to call back in New Jersey lightning bugs, were a revelation to me, a natural sign that the long days of summer were finally upon us.
Those creatures that light up summer evenings– fireflies, lightning bugs, or, as they are sometimes called, glow worms–are neither flies (order Diptera), nor true bugs (order Homoptera), nor anything like a worm, but beetles. If you look closely at lightning bugs when they land on your arm to rest for a moment, you can see the pair of wing covers folding over the wings when at rest. These covers, or elytra, are but one feature that make beetles different from true bugs (which lack elytra), or flies (which have tiny feelers, called halteres, that stick out from their bodies like bicycle kickstands). Lightning bugs belong to the beetle family Lampyridae, which holds more than 2,000 species. They are distinguished by their relatively soft bodies (compare them to the body-armor exoskeleton of a scarab or dung beetle) and, of course, their light-emitting talent. The ability to give off light may have originated as a warning signal to larval predators that this creature was distasteful.
While the origins of bioluminescence in fireflies may have been to ward off creatures that could ingest them, the phenomenon of lighting up one’s body shifted to advertise reproductive status. How does this new feature enhance the ability of the organism to leave more offspring that reach reproductive age? Each species seems to have its own distinct lightning bug language able to help individuals detect and find each other in the dark. But the lightning bug story gets darker: the females of some species of fireflies, which can be flightless, emit light so as to attract males. But instead of procreating with their insect suitors, the hungry females lure in the naïve males and eat them. Diabolical; maybe that’s why they call it luciferin.
As Lampyrids and their cousins, the Elaterids, or click beetles, are global in distribution, glorious displays of fireflies can be found in many regions. There are even firefly reserves, such as in the mangrove swamps of Bangladesh, called the Sundarbans (which has the highest incidences of tigers taking humans, so be watchful, lightning bug eco-tourist). One of my favorite Elaterids is a tropical species that not only makes an audible click when handled, but also has two bright green “headlights” that make it visible on a dark night in the rainforest. Among biologists in Costa Rica, these charmers became lovingly known as Volkswagen beetles for their green high beams.
As awe-inspiring as they are, the phenomenon of giant aggregations of fireflies may become a thing of the past. Biologists have warned of an insect armageddon—a massive die-off of insects now underway. Even though people are familiar with the phrase “the sixth great extinction of life on Earth”—an era we are currently living in—they may not realize that the loss of insect species and populations is a major component. If the numbers of insects keep declining, our crop production and our own species may not be far behind, since we depend on healthy plant and animal ecosystems for survival.
What can we do to help lightning bugs and their kind? The first thing I mentioned in last month’s column on the Prometheus moth was to turn off lights at night when you can. Bright lights are thought to interfere with the adults when they fly in twilight. Fireflies breed for only a short period of the year. Leave the lights off or put them on motion-sensors, and let fireflies breed in peace. Stop using pesticide and herbicides in your yard. You can’t have it both ways—a heavy application of toxic chemicals AND the firefly light show. Another critical action is to preserve more insect habitat–habitat that is, in essence, wildlife habitat. What’s good for lynx and lemur is good for the lightning bug. In another register, it all goes back to our first brushes with the wonders of the natural world. If the evening glow of fireflies does not reawaken in us our intrinsic connections to nature, if those vital ties to life on Earth are severed, our lives and our presence on Earth are much diminished. A world without fireflies is an impoverished biosphere filled with summer nights of total darkness.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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August 17, 2023The 2023 Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast will be held Saturday, September 16, from 2 – 6 pm.
Delicious steamed crabs, tasty grilled chicken with a secret recipe rub, yummy fresh vegetables cooked to perfection, homemade baked beans and more will be served up by CJ neighbors while the Starlight Orchestra serenades the crowd.
The food and fun are served up starting at 2 pm. The 15-piece jazz and swing band gets underway shortly thereafter. The fun continues until 6 pm. The crab feast is the largest community event of the year and typically brings together some 600 Cabin Johners and friends. It is also an important fundraiser for the Cabin John Citizens’ Association.
Games and activities for kids will be run by the staff of the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center.
Volunteers Needed!
It takes over 150 people to plan, prep, serve, and clean up the Crab Feast every year. Ask anyone who has worked the Crab Feast and they will confirm it is really fun volunteering for an hour or two. You’ll never regret getting to know your neighbors a little better and getting that warm feeling from knowing you’ve done your part.
You can volunteer to: serve on the line, snap beans and cut collards at veg prep, help in the kitchen or at the grill, help keep the water and drinks filled, help setup/cleanup, and more!
If you can volunteer a couple of hours on Saturday, September 16 or the days leading up to it, email Scott and Heidi at cjcapresidents@gmail.com. SSL hours approved.
Buy Your Tickets Now
Buying tickets in advance saves money and helps us plan quantities. See below for online and in person ticket sales options.
Crab Feast Tickets – How To Buy in Advance
2023 Tickets and prices:
Chicken + 3 sides ………………………….……………… $18 advance, $20 at door
3 Crabs + 3 sides – …………………………………….. $20 advance, $25 at door
Sides only (5 sides) ……………………………..…….. $18 advance, $20 at door
6 Crabs (no sides) ……………………………………….. $22 advance, $28 at door
How to buy:
Contact your CJCA Block Coordinator – checks only. Don’t know your block coordinator? Contact CJCAcommunityoutreach@gmail.com to find out
Online at the CJCA website – go to www.cabinjohn.org. Credit cards accepted. Your tickets will be held at the door
Venmo – Send your Venmo payment to @cabinjohn (Cabin John Citizens Assoc)
On the Venmo app, first select “Pay or Request”
Enter @cabinjohn as the recipient
The app defaults to results for People – you may need to click the “Business” tab to get to Cabin John Citizens Assoc @cabinjohn
After you enter your payment amount, please use the note field to add your full name and the number and kinds of tickets you are paying for. Your tickets will be held at the door.
By Heidi Lewis
CJCA Co-President
CJCApresidents@gmail.com [...]
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August 17, 2023We are pleased to announce the calendar for CJCA Events for 2023-2024 (to June 2024). Here are some highlights:
We begin the Fall with the 53rd Annual Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast – Saturday, September 16, 2:00-6:00 pm
In keeping with previous years, we will have three Blood Drives, all on Sundays – October 1, February 4 and May 5 starting at 10:00 am.
The very-well attended Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot will be on November 23 at 10:00 am (Thanksgiving, of course).
Our annual Holiday Party will be Sunday, December 10, starting at 5:00 pm.
The world-renowned CJCA Trivia Night – Saturday, January 27 starting at 6:30 pm.
Our Spring Egg Hunt will be Sunday, March 17, at 4:00 pm (one week prior to MCPS spring break).
Our Wednesday night CJCA Meetings – October 25, November 29, January 24, February 21, March 21, April 24 and May 22.
2023
Saturday, September 16 — 52nd Annual Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast – CBNRC
Sunday, October 1 — CJ Blood Drive, 10am to 3pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, October 25 — CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
November 23 — CJ Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot, 10:00am
Wednesday, November 29 — CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Sunday, December 10 — CJ Holiday Party – 5:00 – 7:00 pm – CBNRC
2024
Wednesday, January 24 — CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Saturday, January 27 — Trivia Night, time 6:30pm – 10:30 pm – CBNRC
Sunday, February 4 — CJ Blood Drive, 10 am to 3 pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, February 21 — CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Sunday, March 17 — CJ Spring Egg Hunt, 4:00 pm – Playground & Field at CBNRC
Wednesday, March 20 — CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, April 24 — CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Sunday, May 5 — CJ Blood Drive, 10 am to 3 pm – CBNRC
Wednesday, May 22 — CJCA Meeting, 7:30 pm – CBNRC
Thursday, July 4 – July Fourth Parade
As always, thank you to our many volunteers who make all this happen!!
By Scott Lewis
CJCA Co-President [...]
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August 17, 2023Friends of Moses Hall, now in its third year of advocacy to protect and preserve the historic Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Hall in Cabin John, is launching a fundraising campaign now that it has 501(c)(3) status, allowing donors to receive a tax-deduction for their gifts.
The funds are needed to move forward with the development of a comprehensive conservation and restoration plan, which will enable the organization to apply for large grants. The phased restoration plan for the site will prioritize mitigation of erosion and providing safe access.
Since 2020, Friends of Moses Hall (FMH) has secured small grants totaling $5,000 from the James R. Trader Foundation, the Sierra Club Maryland Chapter, and the Janet Montgomery Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Cabin John Citizens Association played a critical role in the group’s early efforts in 2020, by sponsoring cleanups and donating $2,000 to haul away massive amounts of debris.
Additionally, area law firms and the University of Maryland Clinical Law Program generously have provided pro bono legal services to FMH since 2020.
But the vast majority of funds received to date – more than $12,000 – came directly from individuals, descendants, and the founding members of FMH. These monies were used for bamboo remediation, insurance, a new website, clean-up and tour events, engineering consultants, and educational materials. Through its work, FMH has grown from a grassroots community effort focused on drawing attention to a historic African-American cemetery that the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) was ignoring in its Beltway expansion plans into a non-profit advocacy organization that has brought national attention to the site’s history, as well as its importance as a compelling example of racial injustice in highway infrastructure projects — past and present.
Along the way, FMH forced the SHA to acknowledge that the historic cemetery and Gibson Grove community were disturbed by earlier highway construction and to rethink their Beltway expansion plans. The pending federal lawsuit represents FMH’s continued advocacy at the highest level, but the organization is also committed in the long-term to the restoration and preservation of the Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Hall site.
FMH recently retained consulting civil engineers and planners to develop a phased restoration plan for the site. While a significant portion of the engineers’ work is being generously offered on a pro bono basis, there are some hard costs and subcontractor deliverables that FMH will need to cover.
FMH needs to raise at least $8,000 to move forward with a detailed topographical survey, which is essential to inform the site restoration plan. State highway officials have agreed to share some data from their 2021 ground penetrating radar (GPR) survey of the property so that FMH’s engineers ideally can pull it into the topographical survey to show the precise location of graves.
FMH’s most pressing needs will require professional services, including tree work and erosion control to protect graves.
Cabin Johners have been incredibly generous with their time, talent, and resources in support of FMH in the past. They have been enthusiastic participants in volunteer clean-ups at the Morningstar Moses site over the years, which typically occur in the spring and fall. FMH did not conduct a spring clean-up this year, but we will have work to do in the fall. Stay tuned and have your rakes on standby!
In the meantime, anyone willing to make a donation of any size to help the group move forward with the topographical survey and tree work at the Morningstar Moses site, please visit: https://www.friendsofmoseshall.org/support
If you have any questions about the mission and work of FMH, please email us at morningstarmosescj@gmail.com.
By Charlotte Troup Leighton
CJCA Vice President
Susan Shipp
CJ resident [...]
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August 17, 2023If you had a chance to save a piece of the natural world and all you had to do was flip a switch, would you do it? Believe it or not, many of us have that power at our fingertips. For example, if you have nightlights on the perimeter of your property and turned them off or put them on a motion-sensor trigger, you would add to a feature of suburban life that is fast disappearing—pitch darkness. Instead, so much in the summer night seems to be illuminated, to the detriment of clearly seeing the stars, planets, and the August meteor showers at night, but also some of the most spectacular creatures on Earth.
One such species frequents our backyards and woodlands, The Prometheus moth, named after the Greek God who gave humans the gifts of fire and wisdom. Its food plant is the most common woody shrub found along the banks of the Potomac River, spicebush (Lindera benzoin), a member of the laurel (or avocado) family. The leaves and bright red fruits of spicebush are incredibly fragrant especially if, like me, you think of a turpentine aroma as a kind of natural perfume. The fruits, rich in lipids, are a favorite of birds heading south in early fall. The leaves are just as aromatic and in many ways also serve as a caterpillar fast-food outlet for two of our loveliest flying insects. On some of the leaves you can find the caterpillars of the spicebush swallowtail, a beautiful metallic blue butterfly (previously covered in this column). Another fan of spicebush leaves is the stunning Prometheus moth (Callosamia promethea), measuring over four inches in length. The feathery antennae are typical of the species in this moth’s family, the Saturniids, which includes more than 1,300 species, mostly tropical. But it’s the wings that are works of art, especially in the female, with a palette of rich reddish-browns highlighted by a black eye spot in each wing. The male is more subdued in a tuxedo of dark charcoal trimmed in tan.
You are much more likely to see the spicebush swallowtail than the Prometheus silk moth because the brilliant female is only active at night. In fact, that is one common way to separate moths from butterflies—moths fly at night and butterflies fly during the day. There are other distinguishing features: butterflies typically have little clubs at the end of their antennae and moths have anything but clubs. There are exceptions to these rules, as nature’s way is to create exceptions to virtually every rule as a byproduct of evolution by natural selection. As if to highlight this point about nature’s never-ending exceptions to the rule, the Prometheus moth is the only known member of its family where the males fly during the day and the females only fly at night (the males and females do overlap briefly in their activities at dusk in order to mate). How do male Prometheus moths avoid predators in the daytime? By mimicking a type of butterfly, the poisonous pipevine swallowtail, a cousin of the non-poisonous spicebush swallowtail.
If the creator had an inordinate fondness for beetles because he made so many of them (numbering around 330,000 species), as noted in a previous column, some such fondness must also have been showered on moths along the way. We think of butterflies as super diverse, with about 17,500 species, yet that is but a speck in the butterfly net compared to moths, of which about 160,000 species have been identified, just half the number of beetles.
Human urban dwellers have unfairly attributed an ignoble reputation to these diverse creatures because of the clothes moth, whose preferred habitat is the beloved cashmere sweater in the drawer (with food stains on it), or the pantry where grains are stored. But once you are out in nature, the variety and beauty of moths is plain to any nighttime beholder. Instead of the dull gray-brown of indoor moths, the Saturniids and other giant moths are some of the most attractive of all insects.
They also have an outsized role to play in three main areas. First, and most narrowly human-centered, certain moth species have been cultivated for centuries to produce silk for the finest clothing and carpets. Second, and of considerable ecological importance, far more species of plants are pollinated by moths than by butterflies, and many flowering plants have evolved unique signaling mechanisms to reel them in. Moth-pollinated plants produce the flowers that open only at night and have strong, often pleasant aromas. In the cloud forests of Costa Rica, I’ve had the privilege of seeing one species of moth, the hawk moth, visiting a flowering plant in the nightshade family with a flower eight inches long. Nectar puddles at the base of the corolla of this plant, called Solandra, attract the hawk moth, its only known pollinator, which reaches the nectar with its extraordinary proboscis, which is just over eight inches in length when unfurled. But even many plants that flower during the day keep their flowers open at night and the nectar flowing to take advantage of the abundance of moths. Third, and also ecologically important, is the role of the moth in the food chain. Moth caterpillars have been described as tubes of protein, so vital to the menu of our beloved backyard birds. In the late spring and summer, caterpillars are a featured item in the diets of warblers, vireos, catbirds, and all our other backyard singers that can locate them. Adult moths, after they emerge, are a mainstay for our local bats, that themselves also help us by keeping down the populations of mosquitoes when not feeding on moths.
So why do we need to turn out the lights at night? The lights attract moths and the light pollution of our suburban landscapes may cause them metabolic stress and cellular damage. In many cases, these lights are unnecessary. If you must have outdoor lights, please consider buying motion-sensor activated lights. These are more likely to scare off intruders by adding the element of surprise than lights that stay on all night. And if we all turn off unnecessary lights, another lost treasure might reappear—the multitude of stars visible agai on a clear night.
If you have kids and want to turn them on to the diversity of nature, or reawaken the kid in you, go purchase a black light on the Internet, and on a warm humid moonless night, put a white sheet over your black UV light and be amazed at the moths that appear. You might even come face-to-face with Prometheus.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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August 9, 2023The 2023 Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast will be held Saturday, September 16, from 2 – 6 pm.
Buy your tickets in advance and save $$$.
Delicious steamed crabs, tasty dry-rubbed and grilled chicken, yummy fresh vegetables cooked to perfection, homemade baked beans and more will be served up by CJ neighbors while the Starlight Orchestra serenades the crowd.
The food and fun are served up starting at 2 pm. The 15-piece jazz and swing band gets underway shortly thereafter. The fun continues until 6 pm. The crab feast is the largest community event of the year and typically brings together some 600 Cabin Johners and friends. It is also an important fundraiser for the Cabin John Citizens’ Association.
Games and activities for kids will be run by the staff of the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center.
Volunteers Needed!
It takes over 150 people to plan, prep, serve, and clean up the Crab Feast every year. Ask anyone who has worked the Crab Feast and they will confirm it is really fun volunteering for an hour or two. You’ll never regret getting to know your neighbors a little better and getting that warm feeling from knowing you’ve done your part.
You can volunteer to: serve on the line, snap beans and cut collards at veg prep, help in the kitchen or at the grill, help keep the water and drinks filled, help setup/cleanup, and more!
If you can volunteer a couple of hours on Saturday, September 16 or the days leading up to it, email Scott and Heidi at cjcapresidents@gmail.com. SSL hours approved.
Buy Your Tickets Now
Buying tickets in advance saves money and helps us plan quantities.
2023 Tickets and prices:
Chicken + 3 sides ………………………………… $18 advance, $20 at door
Sides only (6 sides) …………………………….. $18 advance, $20 at door
3 Crabs + 3 sides ……………………………………. $20 advance, $25 at door
Crabs (no sides) …………………………………….. $22 advance, $28 at door
How to buy:
Contact your CJCA Block Coordinator – checks only. Don’t know your block coordinator? Contact CJCAcommunityoutreach@gmail.com to find out
Online: Credit cards and Venmo accepted. Your tickets will be held at the door [...]
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June 12, 2023May CJCA Meeting Notes – Legislative Update from Delegate Marc Korman
The May 24 CJCA meeting (the last before summer break) featured a visit from our Maryland Legislative District 16 Delegate Marc Korman. Marc is the Maryland House of Delegates Majority Leader, he sits on the Appropriations Committee, the Capital Budget Subcommittee, and is Chair of the Transportation and Environment Subcommittee. Marc provided CJCA meeting attendees with copies of his recent letter to District 16 residents, which is also posted on the CJCA website: https://cabinjohn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Marc-Korman-Letter.pdf
Marc shared that the General Assembly made progress on several bills to improve transportation funding, including passing a bill that allows Maryland to issue transportation bonds based on future federal highway aid, which is up right now thanks to the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Although former Governor Hogan’s plans to widen I-495 and I-270 are not legislative undertakings, meeting attendees were keen to tap Marc’s line of sight into current developments and hear his thoughts on what Governor Moore’s administration may be doing.
Marc stated that the Moore administration, which includes Secretary of Transportation Paul Wiedefeld, who most recently ran WMATA, is expected to make an announcement in June to provide information on their approach to the I-495 and I-270 corridors, and how the process will work for the public to participate. He expects the administration to pursue a different type of contracting process than the public-private for-profit model of the previous administration. He also expects a multi-modal plan that includes buses and other transit options.
Meeting attendees including CJCA VP Charlotte Troup Leighton, and Friends of Cabin John Creek board member (and former CJCA president) Burr Gray shared with Delegate Korman concerns regarding any new interchange at River Road. As can be seen on the Virginia side of the American Legion bridge, a very large footprint is necessary to accommodate the complicated interchanges that feed traffic from connecting roads onto both regular and express toll lanes of highways. Marc shared that one idea that has been floated is not to have new access points onto the toll lanes at River Road. There could be a mid-road access point to allow drivers to enter the toll lanes from the regular lanes once they were on the highway.
There was discussion on:
The state of the American Legion Bridge—old though still very safe, probably will be replaced by new bridge with the toll lanes project but that is not the only way to extend the useful life of the bridge
The Purple Line—construction has restarted but still probably four to four and a half years before completion
The Capital Crescent Trail—will be accessible along the Purple Line route, but there probably will not be a tunnel under Wisconsin Ave. So, disappointingly, users may have to cross Wisconsin Ave. at street level, though a bridge over Connecticut Ave. has been built.
New Community Outreach Directors
Courtney Krutoy and Kathleen Leverenz were introduced as the new Community Outreach Directors, responsible for recruiting and managing block captains, welcoming newcomers, gathering neighborly news, and promoting awareness of CJCA resources and events. Courtney described the team’s plans and shared a little about what drew her family to Cabin John more than a decade ago. Everyone is encouraged to contact Courtney and Kathleen at CJCAcommunityoutreach@gmail.com to tell them of new neighbors so Courtney and Kathleen can arrange to deliver a welcome bag.
CJCA Officer Elections
Attendees at the May meeting voted unanimously to elect the following officers to another one-year term:
Co-Presidents – Scott and Heidi Lewis
Co-Vice Presidents – Charlotte Troup Leighton and Marcy Harrison
Secretary – Kelly Banuls
Treasurer–- Robert Walsh
CJCA Volunteer Recognition
The following volunteers were recognized for their amazing, enthusiastic, tireless, year-round service to all Cabin Johners:
Karen Melchar, Justin Webster – Blood Drives
Loretta Devery Ingalls, Joan Roskosh, Marcy Harrison – The Village News
Robin Sidel – CabinJohn.org website
Allison and Patrick DeGravelles, Carl McCabe – Crab Feast
Susan Roberts – MacArthur Beautification
Judith Bell – Neighbor 2 Neighbor
Judith Welles, Rachel Donnan – History
Burr Gray, Susan Shipp – Past Presidents and volunteers for everything
By Heidi Lewis
CJCA Co-President [...]
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June 12, 2023As part of a long-standing agreement, Cabin John residents are admitted free of charge to the popular Palisades Pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, June 20 through Labor Day—whether or not they are members of the private swim club on Seven Locks Road.
The Cabin John Free Swim originated as a part of a 1967 agreement between the Cabin John community and the founders of the Palisades Pool for the neighborhood support and approval of the zoning variance needed to construct the pool.
Cabin Johners must sign in at the pool’s front check-in desk and provide proof of residency (your listing in the CJ Neighborhood directory, an ID with an address, or a utility bill mailed to a Cabin John address).
Children aged 7 and under must be accompanied by a supervising adult. Children aged 8-14 without an adult are asked to satisfy a swim test by swimming one length of the pool and treading water for one minute.
For more info, call or email the club at 301-229-2598, or send an email to info@palisadespool.com [...]
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June 12, 2023A young woman in a striped coat gazes out from the photo, a plumed hat perched on her head. In other snapshots, she sits grinning from a canoe with paddle in hand, smiles with her two boys along the banks of the river and poses in her garden. These black and white images perfectly capture Edith Martin Armstrong, affectionately known as “Bin,” an early pioneer of Cabin John. Bin was a loving mother and wife, a keen canoeist, an avid gardener, a dedicated volunteer, and a creative seamstress. And, she was Cabin John’s first historian.
In 1947, Armstrong wrote the well-researched and very thorough “A Brief History of Cabin John Park.” She also penned a folksy tale of life along the C&O Canal called Days at Cabin John. Though the characters are fictional, the stories of the neighborhood are steeped in truth.
Edith Martin was born in Nashville, Tennessee on April 9, 1892 and was the oldest of four children. In 1906, Edith’s mother passed away when she was just 14, and the family relocated to Washington, DC for her father’s government job. Edith’s education was effectively ended, as she was tasked with raising her three younger siblings. Fast forward several years, and Edith’s brother Lex, who worked for the Navy Department, invited his co-worker Walter Armstrong to the Washington Canoe Club. Edith tagged along, and she and Walter met at the club and married soon after. They had two sons, Richard and David.
With fond memories of childhood trolley trips out to Cabin John, Edith soon convinced Walter that it was an ideal place to raise their young boys. In 1919, Cabin John was quite rural with a small population of several hundred people. It lacked many amenities, including electricity and plumbing, and had just one small shop.
But for Edith it was magical: “The creek was like a chapel walled in by blackhaw and roofed by sycamores leaning from the banks. In its quietness, I had a feeling of spiritual uplift. The murmuring of the water changed to soft organ-like tones and a wood thrush lifted his song like chanting from a choir loft,” she wrote in her novel.
Edith and Walter bought a tenant house on Riverside Avenue, about a mile from the Union Arch Bridge and trolley at Glen Echo. Their yard held a “cluster of three dogwoods coming into bloom and a redbud spread shade for the porch. Oaks, a sycamore, a persimmon, a hickory, and a huge locust scenting the air left an opening for a lawn. “Wild flowers went on through the tumbling fence to the wood across the lane.” Though in need of work, her son Richard remembered the home sat about 100 yards back from the C&O Canal on two lots and boasted chickens, large gardens, “apple trees, grapes and strawberries…The entire area provided more than one childhood adventure to tell.”
The young couple threw themselves into their new home and community. They worked not only on renovating and expanding their house but bringing improvements to Cabin John. Edith’s husband Walter was one of the “Four Horsemen,” a group of civic-minded residents who led the Cabin John Citizens Association and used their political connections to petition for a new school. The Glen Echo-Cabin John School (now the Clara Barton Center) was built in 1928 thanks in part to their efforts.
Edith helped form the Homemaker’s Club and Lay Health Club. She was involved with the Hermon Presbyterian Church and was a member of the Social Welfare League. As a volunteer for the American Red Cross, she received recognition for 10,000 hours of service.
It seems it was the verdant abundance of Cabin John that really took hold of Edith. She created a rainwater-fed pond in her yard and loved walking along the canal and tending to her garden. Her love of wildflowers, nature, and gardening shines through nearly every page of her book Days at Cabin John. Published in 1958, in some ways it feels like a meditation on nature along the Potomac River interspersed with local anecdotes. Her descriptions of flowers, trees, and wildlife fill nearly every page.
The novel tells the story of a young mother called Binny Laceson, who moves with her family to a small tenant house in Cabin John. Though the characters are fictional, they tell the true stories of real life “old timers” who lived along the C&O Canal during the 1920s.
Written in “authentic Maryland backland dialect,” the reader gets a sense of the rustic kind of people who lived in Cabin John during that time.
“Dog my cats, I ‘most forgot what I come for. I’m glad I ‘membered, ‘cause there wouldn’t be no peace at our house with John Hebbs a-goin’ on ‘bout his wants always bein’ forgot,” exclaimed Binny’s neighbor, Mrs. Hebbs, whose gossip drives the narrative. In another passage, she explains why she doesn’t want to boat the canal: “My worry over younguns a-drownin’ was the main reason…I’ve saw ‘em more’n once a-danglin’ by a rope over the side of a boat and a-squealin’ like a pig, but you had to tie little uns if you wanted ‘em to grow up.”
The history of Cabin John is woven throughout the chapters—from the legend of John of the Cabin and buried treasure to the lock tenders and the arrival of electricity—as are stories from Bin’s own life, including a visit to the Cabin John Hotel where she was gifted several pieces of the hotel’s china. (Edith was in fact gifted a teapot, pitcher, and saucer by Mary Bobinger, the daughter-in-law of founders Joseph and Rosa Bobinger. In 1973, Bin donated her hotel china to the Clara Barton House, believing Clara herself must have been a hotel patron during its heyday).
Before her book, Edith wrote “A Brief History of Cabin John Park,” a 12-page typed pamphlet that was sold to benefit the Brookmont Garden Club. According to Edith’s grandson, Rick Armstrong, Walter was a stickler for facts and advised Bin to be sure to get authoritative sources. Her history remains one of our community’s primary sources of historical information.
Bin’s fascination with local history was far reaching. She provided material to the National Park Service and gave lectures on the canal for various clubs. She was elected vice president of the Montgomery County Historical Society.
The Armstrongs moved to the Wood Acres neighborhood in the early 1940s, in part due to gas rationing according to Rick. After Walter retired, they moved to the Chesapeake Bay. When Walter passed away, Bin was motivated to write her book about their “country mice” days in Cabin John and a disappearing way of life.
By all accounts, Edith was very energetic and “busy all the time. When she did sit down, her hands continued to be busy sewing, repairing clothes, crocheting, or doing some other necessary work,” her son Richard remembered.
Bin settled in Naples, Florida and continued volunteering, traveling, painting, and sewing. At age 80, she made hundreds of Christmas socks, pillows, and stuffed animals to donate. “My husband always complained he got tired just watching me,” she recalled in a local newspaper story at that time.
Edith’s granddaughter Jill Armstrong Shultz warmly remembers a “short, wrinkled and energetic” Bin visiting them in Potomac when she took trips overseas. “40 countries and 17 of the islands!” she’d laugh. Jill recalls Bin telling stories of Cabin John and some of the families, especially during the Depression when she and Walter supported some of them, including a neighbor who would “come and do the dishes after dinner” so that Bin could offer her money in a more dignified way. “I made too much food tonight, would you be able to take some home with you?” was a common refrain.
Jill believes “that my father and mother’s deep appreciation of community, and how to nourish it, was one of their greatest gifts to us.” Clearly, this was something Jill’s father, Richard, got from his own mother Bin. Edith Martin Armstrong passed away on February 5, 1983. The dedication of Days at Cabin John reads “To my grandchildren: may they enjoy the memories I cherish.” How fortunate we are to have a record of her memories that paint a glimpse of those earliest days at Cabin John.
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer [...]
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June 12, 2023One of the most famous conversations about nature and evolution is a reported exchange between the Archbishop of Canterbury and the great evolutionary geneticist J.B.S. Haldane. The Archbishop asked, “What could one conclude as to the nature of the Creator from a study of his creation?” Haldane is said to have answered, “an inordinate fondness for beetles.” The quip is often followed by the explanation: “Because he made so many of them.” The anecdote may be apocryphal, but the number of beetle species is one of those off-the-chart statistics in nature. Currently, entomologists recognize upwards of 350,000 species. To put this in perspective, about one in every four identified species of animal life forms on Earth is a kind of beetle.
That’s a staggering thought. It also prompts several questions: what, for example, would our world be like if there had been 350,000 species of Hominids to appear instead of the 12 or so that have walked the Earth? Would Homo sapiens still be the dominant species?
We can only speculate why there haven’t been more species of Hominids and why beetles would be seen as God’s chosen creatures. One explanation is that over the course of evolution, beetles as a group (the Insect order Coleoptera) seem to have experienced very low rates of extinctions; beetle species that appear in the fossil record of the Cretaceous about 65 million years ago (when the dinosaurs disappeared), for example, are recognizable as more or less the same as some modern species. Another explanation is that about that time, a great evolutionary flourish of flowering plants occurred, and beetles took advantage of this proliferation of plants as a source of so many plant parts upon which to feed, from nectar, flowers, seeds, leaves, stems, tree sap, bark, and roots. In addition many beetle species feed on rotting plant and animal tissues.
One such beetle that specializes on the rot of the world is the massive Eastern Hercules beetle. The largest beetle in the eastern United States, it is also called the rhinoceros beetle, because of its prodigious size and horns. The Hercules beetle can grow up to 2.5 inches in length, including the horn. The larvae of this beetle prefer rotting heartwood. In this beetle’s adult form, rotting fruit and tree sap are the preferred diet.
As a biologist of mammalian rhinos, I find some parallels between them and the Rhinoceros (Hercules) beetle quite striking. Both mammalian rhinos and rhino beetles are among the largest of their kind and both eat plant matter and like fruit. In the mammalian version, both males and females possess horns, but horns are lacking in female beetles. However, in both the pachyderms and the beetles, the males fight with their horns (at least the two African species of rhinos do so) in competition for females.
These large beetles form one of the most charismatic species, and we can see some representatives here in Maryland. But if we head to the tropics, that is where beetles truly are a sight to behold. There are beetles that live in the cloud forests of Central America that appear to have been dipped in 24-karat gold or in silver. There are others, like our tiger beetles in the U.S., with flashy metallic paint jobs.
Let’s be honest: most of us would not list beetles as our favorite kind of animal. That’s understandable, especially if you look at those that eat flesh and hair, such as Dermestids, the scariest beetles for museum curators because they can wipe out a collection of bird and mammal skins and specimens, or if you find dung beetles that roll away the dung of elephants or donkeys to be unpleasant or a reminder of the futility of existence.
But consider this fact: of the 250,000 or so flowering plants—near 90% of all things green—the vast majority are pollinated by beetles. So, without the pollination heroics of the Hercules beetle and its vast number of relatives, our Earth would be a stark place indeed.
Let me be more direct: Do you love magnolias? If you are like me, you prefer them to ornamental cherries and even more so when you realize that some of the magnolia species local gardeners plant are native to our area or a bit further to the southeast. When magnolias, among the oldest of flowering plants, first evolved, there were no butterflies or birds about, so magnolias devised ways to attract a most reliable pollinator—the beetle. The first task was to bring in the beetles, and the magnolias did this by exuding an irresistible fragrance that attracted the ungraceful beetles. But once arrived on the sturdy platforms created by the open flowers, the beetles don’t bother to eat pollen; they have mouth parts suited for munching on plant tissue. Now you know why magnolias have evolved such thick leathery blossoms, extra padding if you will, to attract beetles that bump into the male parts of the flowers and become inadvertently dusted in pollen to transport to the next open blossom and achieve fertilization.
Ingenious is what the non-scientist might call it, or what evolutionary biologists name as co-evolution: where an odd couple like the showy magnolia and a non-descript beetle, totally unrelated, can become best friends who rely on each other to survive and where adaptations of one partner trigger responding adaptations in its evolutionary dance partner.
So, not only should we applaud evolution by natural selection, we should shout a hurrah for co-evolution every time we smell the incredible aroma emanating from the giant flower of a southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora). Despite our sometime dismissal of or occasional distaste for this beetle or that, there is very good reason to be inordinately fond of them.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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May 21, 2023The Cabin John History 10K Run and 5K Walk held Saturday, May 6, 2023, was good fun, good company, and was blessed with good weather!
Around 25 walkers and three runners gathered across from the neighborhood shops that originally opened in 1928 as a gas and automobile accessory station. Through the years, ownership, name, and commercial purpose have changed from Baker’s Store with grocery items and a gas station; to Dickerson’s Grocery a gas station; to the Good & Quick when the remaining gas pump was removed and a lunch counter installed; to the Captain’s Market we know today.
With nearly 100 years of well-documented history at the starting line alone, it was clear the route would need some focus and editorial direction or risk taking a full day to complete. The May 6 route was conceived by Cabin Johner Elliott Schoen, an avid runner who meets with a few neighbors most Sundays at 7:00 am in front of the Captin’s Market to run anywhere from 5 – 10 miles. The rich history of the neighborhood running routes was the inspiration for the History Run & Walk. (The group welcomes new runners – just show up on a Sunday!)
Elliott’s wife, Meredith McGuire, added additional historical references to the planned route through research of local reference sources and a meeting with CJ’s historian-in-residence and author, Judith Welles, to tap Judith’s deep knowledge. Judith’s book, “Cabin John: Legends and Life of an Uncommon Place,” is the premiere source for Cabin John history.
On Saturday morning, after a few opening remarks, Elliott led the 10K runners up Tomlinson Ave. (named by J.S. Tomlinson, developer of Cabin John Park) toward the Gibson Grove AME Zion Church where a school for Black children met 1911-1931, back down Seven Locks through Carver Road and to 79th street and the canal, up to Glen Echo Park, where segregationist policies led to the arrest of several Howard University students, peacefully attempting to ride the Carousel (the resulting court case came to the attention of U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy and eventually made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court,) then up the hill to the Bannockburn community and back across the Union Arch bridge to Cabin John.
The much larger walking group included people from school age through golden age plus a few pets. Tour guide Meredith McGuire led the walkers to the Clara Barton School (the first integrated public school in Montgomery County); past the site of the Cabin John Bridge Hotel; the civil engineering landmark Union Arch Bridge; the turn-around path of the Georgetown to Cabin John Trolley; and Bannockburn Elementary, which in 1968-1971, conducted its own parent-led voluntary busing program with DC school Meyer Elementary.
This article only touches on the wealth of information shared during the Cabin John History Run & Walk. The full tour route annotations with reference material links is posted on Cabin John’s website, www.cabinjohn.org. A PDF can be downloaded from the website at this link:
https://cabinjohn.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Site-by-site-Descriptions.pdf
Many thanks to Elliott, Meredith, and Judith for making this event so interesting. We hope to sponsor more organized walks in the coming months – keep watch for notice in the Village News and CJCA official listserv.
By Heidi Lewis [...]
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May 14, 2023WATER INFRASTRUCTUREMany will recall DC Water came to our January CJCA Meeting and discussed the sewer rehab project. Not to be outdone—and because we can’t seem to get enough information on sewer systems—we invited the WSSC to the April CJCA meeting!
WSSC is directly responsible for the sewer lines traveling parallel to the Cabin John Creek that connect to the Potomac Interceptor right where the Cabin John Creek travels under the canal. Walkers who use the trail down to the canal from the Union Arch bridge will undoubtedly have noticed the work underway. The Potomac Interceptor sewer essentially parallels the canal from just beyond the Beltway to the Blue Plains Advanced Wastewater Treatment Plant.
Construction started in June 2022 and will be completed in July 2023, weather permitting.
So what is going on?
Due to sewer line breaks and overflows in this area, a rehabilitation program was required. Additionally, a metering system—which measures the WSSC inflow to DC Water’s Potomac Interceptor—was abandoned and replaced with other metering schemes elsewhere in the system. Metering is required, as WSSC must reimburse DC Water for its share of inflow.
If you’re interested in the technical details: metering “vaults” are being abandoned and replaced with straight pipes. Approximately 200 linear feet of 30” Prestressed Concrete Pressure Pipe (PCCP) is being replaced with 36” C900 Polyvinyl Chloride Pipe (PVC) using the open trench method. A temporary access road was installed from the roadway to the project site (railroad ties, etc.) to support this work. According to WSSC, the completed project will extend the life of sewer pipes by at least 50 years.
Many will ask, can we discuss sewers some more at an upcoming meeting(?)
Maybe at this point, we’ll let it rest. However, the CJCA will stay abreast of DC Water’s project to evaluate and rehabilitate (as necessary) the Potomac Interceptor pipe in Cabin John and beyond. Please see the February 2023 Village News for more information on that separate—and larger—project.
WMATA PROPOSED UNDERTAKING TO DEMOLISH OLD TROLLEY TRESTLESAs discussed during the April CJCA meeting, the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) seeks to demolish the deteriorating trolley trestles that once carried trolley passengers from Georgetown to Glen Echo Park and the Cabin John Bridge Hotel. CJCA is a consulting party for the National Park Service’s (NPS) evaluation of the proposed undertaking—the trestles near MacArthur Blvd.’s intersections at Walhonding Road and Wilson Road are on NPS property, and NPS and WMATA will need a special use permit from NPS to do the demolition. NPS has already determined the demolition of the bridges constitutes an adverse effect on historic properties, but that does not mean the special permit will not be issued—it means NPS will work to develop and evaluate alternatives or modifications to the undertaking that could minimize or mitigate adverse effects.
CJCA solicited feedback from Cabin Johners and summarized those concerns and ideas in comments submitted to NPS. CJCA will continue to engage with the town of Glen Echo, the Bannockburn Civic Association, and other consulting parties as this process unfolds.
COFFEE WITH A COP
The town of Glen Echo hosted a “Coffee with a Cop” session in early April, and your CJCA was an active participant. District 2 Community Police Officer Desmond Johnson, a county police department community outreach officer from the Montgomery County Police Department, met with residents (Cabin John is in MCPD District 2). Of primary concern was the increase in crime, particularly car break-ins, across our part of Bethesda. While we’ve seen fewer break-ins in the past several months, car break-in crime is on the rise. Some communities have hired off- duty/retired police officers to patrol their neighborhoods, noting neither Glen Echo nor Cabin John is considering such an action. Also, like all other police departments, the Montgomery County Police Department is having difficulties recruiting new officers.
The following three crime prevention measures are oft repeated, but according to Officer Johnson, they make a significant difference:
Lock your car doors AND remove your valuables (or hide them out-of-site).
Install motion-detecting exterior lighting.
Add exterior-facing cameras (such as Ring, Arlo, Nest, Blink {no endorsement of these devices}) strategically around your house.
Please note 301-279-8000 is the police non-emergency phone number. Examples of non-emergency calls include noise complaints, parking violations, traffic collisions (where there are no personal injuries), and loose or barking dogs.
NEXT CJCA MTG: MAY 24, 7:30 PM – PLEASE PLAN TO ATTENDOur Maryland State Delegate Mark Korman will join us on Wednesday, May 24, at 7:30 pm, for the CJCA meeting at Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC). We will also vote on officers for the 2023-2024 CJCA. Lastly, the new Community Outreach Coordinators, Courtney Krutoy and Kathleen Leverenz, are scheduled to appear.
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
May 24 – CJCA Meeting: 7:30 pm, CBNRCMay 25 – Deadline to submit photos of CJ graduates to The Village News
July 4 – July Fourth Parade (from the MacArthur Plaza Shopping Center to CBNRC.) We are seeking a volunteer to help us organize this event! [...]
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May 14, 2023In my childhood in New Jersey, I can remember stretching out on a carpet of red clover in spring and summer, pulsing with the sounds of bumblebees. The bumblebees were hard at work, sipping nectar from the tiny clover flowers and dandelions and gathering saffron-colored pollen into their little leg baskets. Only much later did I learn that these storage structures were modified hairs, rather than the tiny picnic baskets of my vivid imagination. I lay prone for hours, watching bees go about their business; school was out, and I had nothing better to do than linger in the backyard of our small bungalow tracking these flying dervishes.
Today, in Cabin John, most parents of young children wouldn’t approve of their young children sprawled out on the lawn to meditate on bumblebees. For one reason, it would be a waste of time: there are so few bumblebees left. During the past twenty years, populations of bumblebees in the U.S. have nosedived. Five states in the western U.S. and three states in the east—Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island—have seen the extinction of bumblebees. Elsewhere, such as in Maryland, populations are in steep decline. The second reason health-conscious parents would keep their kids and pets off the artificially controlled grass lawn is because the only way to maintain their own little green rectangle is through the massive application of harmful—if not deadly— chemicals.
Maryland Ecology 101: in our local area, the natural vegetation is comprised of hardwood forest. Trying to maintain a grass lawn is to fight constantly against nature. And the only way to prevent the annual deluge of seeds of broad-leaved trees and shrubs from overtaking your lawn is to poison them, daring them to take root amidst the sward of putting-green grass.
But our suburban lawns are an illusion as symbols of tranquility: while conveying a sense of calm and order, they are dead zones, harboring no insects that feed the birds around us, killing the earthworms that aerate the soil, and becoming a death trap for bees, flies, and other important pollinators that might land on a few flowering weeds in the midst of the grass and ingest or become covered in herbicides. As I quoted in an earlier column, the food writer Michael Pollan described a grass lawn as “a garden under totalitarian control.”
Forget the aesthetics, and let’s turn to economics and assess what we are losing as a nation in the decline of bumblebees. More than 70 out of our top 100 food crops are pollinated by the bumblebee and other bee species. If you complain about high prices for fruits and some vegetables pollinated by bees, imagine what prices will be when farmers have to resort to hand pollination (widely impractical) or to carting colonies of bees and their beekeepers around agricultural areas of the country at the precise time to pollinate crops, far beyond current pollinator transport to augment the declining populations of honeybees and bumblebees. Pollination is one of those ecosystem services that nature provides for free but would be unaffordable to replicate in some other fashion.
So what do we need to turn things around for the humble, hard-working bumblebee? The recent plan issued by the Biden administration for two-thirds of all automobiles produced in the U.S. to be electric by 2035 is immensely encouraging and an essential milestone to move our world from reliance on fossil fuels and avoid climate breakdown. Even in 2023, a walk in the neighborhood requires you to keep an eye out for the quiet and increasingly common electric vehicles whooshing by. So the outlook, at least in zip code 20818, is quite a rosy picture. Let me offer another vision to accompany the lines of electric vehicles in the neighborhood: that by 2035, two-thirds of all single-family homes will have at least half their yard converted from grass lawns doused with herbicides to gardens of native trees, shrubs, and wildflowers that need no pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, or watering. And yards full of a resurgent population of bumblebees. Cabin John as a wild pollinator preserve, the first in Maryland.
We all want to save the whales that ply the oceans. But let’s not neglect our responsibilities here at home. We can start by saving the bumblebee in our backyards.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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April 18, 2023Get Ready for the Cabin John History Run & Walk on Saturday May 6 at 7:30am
But what is it?
⇒ All are welcome to join either an enjoyably-paced 10K jog or an easygoing 5K walk through Cabin John and adjacent neighborhoods.
The 2023 History Run & Walk has a focus on Education and Civil Rights. We will stop for a bit of discussion at each site – bring your knowledge and your questions.
When is it?
⇒ Both the joggers and the walkers will start at 7:30am on Saturday, May 6th.
Where do we start?
⇒ We will start at the Captain’s Market, and end at the driveway of 7507 MacArthur Blvd (Lewis’s home). Corner of 75th Place and MacArthur.
Will there be food?
⇒ Yes! Snacks, water, and Gatorade will be available at the end (7507 MacArthur).
I have a soccer game to go to, can I drop out half-way through?
⇒ Of course! We’d be happy to have you join any part of either event.
I want to come! What should I do next?
⇒ Please register at https://tinyurl.com/5d7vpxet. You’ll have the opportunity to register for the run or the walk.
Can I get a map with stops and historical descriptions so I can do this on my own?
⇒ Sure, we’ll post that on the CJ Website afterwards. But what better way to spend a lovely Saturday morning than with your friends and neighbors.
Lastly, a big thank you to Elliott Schoen and Meredith McGuire for conceiving of and leading the 2023 History Run/Walk, and to Judith Welles for compiling and sharing her comprehensive knowledge of Cabin John history in her book and writings, on which this “Education and Civil Rights” focused itinerary rests. [...]
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April 7, 2023Volunteers Needed to Help Cleanup Cabin John Creek and Trail!
Friends of Cabin John Creek and CJCA need your help picking up trash along the trail and creek to prevent any debris from floating down to the Potomac River and then into the Chesapeake Bay.
When: April 15, 9:30am-noon (Rain Date: April 16)
Where: Cabin John Local Park (Trailhead at Playground)
Directions: MacArthur Blvd to Cabin John. The creek is behind the tennis courts and CBNRC.
Questions? Greg Gurley at greg@cabinjohncreek.org
What to Know: Bring gloves and clothes that can get dirty. Pre-approved for MCPS SSL hours. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult supervisor.
April 2023 Community Calendar
April 15 – Creek Cleanup, meet at creek trailhead at the playground
(Rain date: April 16)
April 22 – Weed Warrior Workday: 10:00am-12:00pm, meet at creek trailhead at the playground.
April 22 – Casino Royale (55+): 12:00pm-3:00pm, CBNRC*
April 26 – CJCA meeting: 7:30 pm, CBNRC*
May 1 – CJCA annual membership fees ($20) due. https://cabinjohn.org/index.php/support-cjca/
May 6 – Cabin John History Run (8.5K): 7:30 am, start in front of Captain’s Market
May 7 – Spring Blood Drive: 10:00am-3:00pm, CBNRC*
May 25 – Deadline to submit photos of CJ graduates to The Village News
* Clara Barton Community Center has been rebranded to Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC).
Next CJCA Mtg: April 26, 7:30 pm
Join us on Wednesday, April 26, at 7:30 pm, for this month’s CJCA meeting at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center (CBNRC). For those unable to attend in person, we encourage you to attend remotely via Google Meet at http://meet.google.com/cxx-ieve-pfk
CJCA March Meeting Recap – Canal Trust speaker
April’s CJCA Meeting, held on Wednesday, March 29, featured the usual approval of the previous month’s meeting minutes and a review of the upcoming CJCA and local events (see CJCA event list elsewhere in this edition of The Village News). In addition, the meeting featured two other agenda items of interest to the Cabin John community. First, Charlotte Troup Leighton provided a brief update on the Beltway Expansion, explaining that Trans Urban had exited the project. She suggested we invite Marc Korman to an upcoming meeting to provide updates on the Beltway Expansion Project. The CJCA contacted Korman and confirmed he would appear at the May meeting.
The second agenda item was an overview and update from the C&O Canal Trust. Robin Zanotti, C&O Canal Trust president and Charissa Hipp, director of marketing & communications, attended virtually.
The C&O Canal National Historical Park (NHP) is the 16th most visited National Park in the nation, with over 5 million visitors a year – more than Yellowstone, Yosemite, or the Grand Canyon – and features a 184.5 mile towpath.
The C&O Canal Trust was founded in 2007 as the nonprofit partner of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park and supports four initiatives: Towpath Forever, Towpath Resurfacing, Canal Classroom, and the protection of rare, threatened endangered plants. The Canal Trust manages the Canal Quarters program, where you can spend the night at one of 7 historic, preserved blockhouses. Of note was the fact that the C&O Canal’s deferred maintenance is estimated to be over $250 million. Looking for more information or ways to get involved? See https://www.canaltrust.org. [...]
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April 7, 2023Those who’ve lived in Cabin John for more than a few years will remember Reed and Barbara Martin leading our 4th of July parades in one of Reed’s magnificent antique cars. Some may have been lucky enough to get a glimpse inside the Martins’ garage, which was packed full of Reed’s many treasures. Now everyone has a chance to see the entire collection when it goes to auction on May 13, 2023 (doors open at 8:00 am, and the auction starts at 9:00 am) Frederick Fairgrounds 797 E Patrick St, Frederick, MD 21701. Billed as “The Lifetime Collection of Reed Martin of Cabin John, Maryland – One of the Finest Tether Car Collections in the Country,” the auction includes not only tether cars but antique roadsters, engines of all types, old photographs, toys, advertising and more. For more information, check out the Parzow Auction House website or contact Howard Parzow, Auctioneer, at 301-351-6544 or hparzow@aol.com.
Link to the auction house website: http://www.parzowauctions.com/upcoming_auctions_5.html [...]
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April 7, 2023One of the extraordinary natural history experiences in Cabin John is to stroll through the woods in late-March to early April and marvel at the spring wildflowers sprawling like a carpet along the banks of the Potomac or on the slopes of Cabin John Park. These vistas, however ephemeral, fill our hearts with joy and have inspired many a poet. What few casual strollers may know, however, is that we owe a good deal of this unrivaled display to an unsuspecting diminutive creature—the ant. Wild wood poppy, spring beauty, Dutchman’s breeches and its cousin bleeding hearts, yellow trout lily, many species of violet, bloodroot, twinleaf, various Trillium species, and bellworts—to name a few of the early spring stars—are all dependent on a group of ants (often in the genus Aphaenogaster), that pick up ripe seeds and carry them off to their lairs. There, in these underground nests, the seed is stripped of its fatty attached tissue (called an elaiosome). The fat sac is then divvied up to feed the hungry larvae in the nest. And the discarded seed? It is deposited in a site with exceptionally good conditions for germination: darkness, proper humidity and temperature, often in soil rich in organic matter, and far from the location of parent plants in case a seed predator was cueing in on the seeds that might fall conveniently below the parent or were left sitting on the soil surface where the seed might desiccate.
As it turns out, dispersal of seeds by ants is widespread from Maryland to Brazil, from Cape Town, South Africa to Perth, Australia. In fact, more than 11,000 flowering plant species found in 77 plant families and among 334 genera rely on ants to move their seeds—that is, almost 1 in every 25 species of plants relies on ants for dispersal. Having evolved among so many different families of plants from different continents is a big deal in nature; ant dispersal is an example of what biologist call convergent evolution.
Several years ago, I wrote an article in this column entitled “Ants in Our Plants” featuring this phenomenon of ant-mediated seed dispersal in wild ginger (Asarum). It was told mostly from the perspective of the plants, so this being our year of invertebrates, the focus here is on the ants.
Few groups of insects deserve as much awe as the ant. Farmers, harvesters, predators, slave masters, ecosystem engineers, not to mention food for many tropical birds, ants have many roles in nature.
As many as 12,000 species have been recorded, making them one of the richest groups of insects and one of nature’s largest families of invertebrates (all species of ants belong to the family Formicidae). Ants are actually wingless bees or wasps, as all are in the same order—the Hymenoptera. That is why ants share a painful trait, they sting and can inject formic acid in the wound they make. Most ants, though, are harmless and only sting when threatened, and the ones that harvest our seeds are nothing to fear.
Ants come in many sizes, from the smallest at slightly less than a millimeter, to the giant bullet ant of Central and South America measuring up to 30 mm (1.2 inches). The latter is one to avoid, I can say from personal experience. The local name for this species is “bala,” Spanish for bullet, and it seems quite apt. The sensation of being stung by this ant known to science as Paraponera clavata has been equated to being shot. I have not experienced the latter, but I have encountered a bala and brushed many off while working in Costa Rica, a most unpleasant experience.
Ants are ancient, the first appearing over 100 million years ago, so the relationship between ants and plants developed only after the flowering plants exploded about 60 million years ago. Before then, ants lived on scavenging and each other. But eventually, plants that evolved to produce these fleshy attachments to their seeds found a reliable carrier of their seeds. Why more plant species don’t produce elaiosomes and rely on ants is not clear.
We do know how important ants are to our forest ecosystems. Where mature forests have been logged or their understories have been disturbed, ant populations are diminished. We may thus expect to see fewer wildflowers or other plants dispersed by ants and the seeds in these disturbed sites will fall to the ground, dry out, and die without germinating. In fact, some biologists have suggested counts of ant species and populations as the ideal “bio-assay” to estimate the intactness and uniqueness of tropical forests. The ant faunas of tropical forests are relatively well known compared to other invertebrates. A rapid census of an area’s ant fauna can tell biologists a lot about the health and diversity of the overall forest that would take much longer to gain by sampling all of its trees and other plants. Of great interest to bird fanatics are the diverse array of bird species—ant-wrens, ant-pittas, ant-thrush, antbirds, etc.—that make their living following around swarms of army ants across the tropics. The birds wait patiently above the swarming ant legions as insects desperate to escape flit in the air to be snatched by the hungry birds.
Ants are one more species that we should cherish. Sure, if they come after food sitting around in your kitchen, they can be pests. But for ants in the garden—have a heart and don’t spray with chemicals if you want to keep this chain of nature intact. Every time you see an ant crawling across the countertop, show it the door on a piece of newspaper. Think of its kin that provide us with these fantastic spring displays of Dutchmen’s breeches and trout lilies and let them live.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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March 9, 2023The Janet Montgomery DAR Chapter awarded the DAR Excellence in Historic Preservation Medal to the Friends of Moses Hall on January 14. This award honors individuals and groups that promote local history and historic preservation. Friends of Moses Hall was also honored by DAR’s presentation of a Women in American History Award for Sarah Gibson.
The history of Sarah Gibson and the Gibson Grove community presents a unique opportunity to educate the public about the important role African American benevolent societies played during a time of racial segregation in Maryland.
Learn more about the work of Friends of Moses Hall at https://www.friendsofmoseshall.org/. [...]
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March 9, 2023The Cabin John Spring Egg Hunt, a delightful 15-minute scramble by the youngest Cabin Johners for goody-filled eggs, will be held Sunday, March 26, 2023, at 4:00 pm at the Cabin John Local Park (aka field behind the Clara Barton Center).
All CJ kids elementary school age and younger (accompanied by parents or responsible adults) are welcome to participate in the hunt. Families should gather on the basketball court and wait for instructions from the volunteers, who will let the young hunters down to the lower playground in age-group waves. Plan to stay and play at the park and maybe your children will meet some new neighborhood friends.
CJCA Village News Editor Loretta Devery Ingalls is managing the Spring Egg Hunt. We want to ensure there are enough eggs for everyone, so please RSVP to cjcapresidents@gmail.com with the number of children in your group.
Bring a basket and don’t be late. The last hunt drew some 50 kids, and all 800 eggs were found within 15 minutes!
By Heidi Lewis
Co-President, CJCA [...]
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March 9, 2023We’re hard-pressed to imagine a better value for money than the $20 dues we ask each household to contribute to the Cabin John Citizens Association.
Your contribution makes possible community events such as the Turkey Trot, Holiday Party, Spring Egg Hunt, and 4th of July Parade; neighborhood communication and information via The Village News and cabinjohn.org; and ongoing advocacy for safe streets, quiet skies, unspoiled parks, and streams, and preserved and interpreted history.
Cabin John is the vibrant, congenial, connected place it is because so many people here have decided that investing their time, talents, and resources in our community is worth it. Please use the form on page 11 to submit your $20 dues today. Alternatively, you can go to the CJCA website (www.cabinjohn.org) and fill out the CJCA Dues & Donations Form in the tab: Support CJCA ($).
By Scott and Heidi Lewis
Co-Presidents, CJCA [...]
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March 9, 2023Colorful names of animal aggregations abound: a crash of rhinos, a murder of crows, a murmuration of starlings. I have yet to find one that applies to the humble earthworm. When you brush away the leaf litter and dig into the forest soil, what do you call the wriggling masses of earthworms interrupted in the middle of performing nature’s chores? So I offer the following: a churn of earthworms. For where we have a wealth of earthworms in our forests, we have a secret ingredient to saving life on Earth.
An early sign of spring is the activity of earthworms, pushing through the earth and pulling down decaying plant matter with them. This rather pedestrian description of the daily lives of earthworms masks their superpower characteristics: those upstairs/downstairs earthworm movements have many beneficial attributes. The most obvious, as any serious gardener will tell you, is the aeration and softening of the soil. These interactions, between worms and soil, benefit plants by improving water flow through the soil and allowing tiny chutes and tunnels for gas exchange that improve root condition and growth. But the biggest benefit is one that scientists are only now discovering: that native earthworms punch above their weight when it comes to sequestering carbon in the soils. It is theorized that where leaf litter builds up under the forest canopy, if there are fewer earthworms in the soil layer, decomposition is slower than where earthworms are plentiful. Instead of pulling down the layer of decaying leaf material, the litter in these areas where few native earthworms release gases back into the atmosphere, thus having minimal effect on improving carbon balance and stabilizing the climate.
Most birdwatchers see worms as food for robins, woodpeckers, bluebirds, catbirds, orioles, wrens, and nuthatches, to name a few. It seems that robins, barn swallows, and mourning doves—some of our favorite backyard birds—may eat half their weight each day in earthworms. Why such a passion for the mucous-covered crawlers? Earthworms are rich in protein and other nutrients and have a high moisture content, important for birds during periods of water scarcity. But one of the most important reasons birds often feast on them is simply that worms are usually plentiful and easy to find. The old cliché, the early bird gets the worm, may not jibe with what we know about bird foraging behavior.
The aquatic species, from birds, to toads, snakes, salamanders, and especially fish, also love the diet of worms. The attractiveness of worms to fish brings back memories of childhood, baiting the hook with a nightcrawler. But here is where the ecological unraveling starts. The worms typically used for attracting fish, sold as nightcrawlers, are non-native, from Asia, likely arriving in ornamental potted plants. Called jumping worms, the first invaders to reach our area were discovered in Baltimore in 1939. Since then, several species of the non-native worms collectively known as jumping worms (genus Amythas) have outcompeted our native red and common earthworms (genus Lumbricus). This usurpation is quite serious because jumping worms are actually harmful to forest health. They grow rapidly and become very large, up to six inches in length. But unlike our natives, they are surface feeders so they damage the soil instead of aerating it. Birds do eat jumping and non-jumping worms, but not enough of the former to keep them from spreading.
How do you tell natives from the non-native jumpers? When you expose the surface layer of soil in your garden or in the forest, if the worms you uncover start to flop violently, these are likely jumping worms. The flip-flopping is a behavior that likely evolved to escape predators. There are other distinguishing characteristics, too, that indicate you have jumping worms: they sport a pale egg case (the clitellum) compared to their dark body, whereas the natives have darker egg cases.
Now for the native earthworm’s second superpower: all species of earthworms are hermaphrodites, so they don’t need another worm to make more worms. If a mate is available, they will have worm sex, but that is optional rather than mandatory for procreation.
Our native earthworms survive the winter by digging deep in the soil. Jumping worms usually don’t stick around for the winter as adults but leave massive egg cases. That feature also contributes to their spread. So as fishing season approaches, if you like to use worms for bait and you buy them from a store, you can thread non-native earthworms on your hook, but don’t release unused worms into the environment when your fishing excursion is over. In the northern forests of the U.S., non-native earthworms have already done major damage to the hardwood forests, where they have replaced native worms. Safely get rid of them and leave our lovely wild nature for the Lumbricids.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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February 7, 2023At the January CJCA meeting, what was meant to be a discussion on the sewer bypass work happening where the C&O Canal intersects with Cabin John Creek at the bottom of the path from the one-lane bridge morphed into a productive and interesting conversation on a number of topics related to the canal, the sewer system, and related topics.
A number of representatives from DC Water and from the National Park Service joined virtually—we are grateful for their time and the information they shared. The meeting also spawned follow-on activities, including sending invitations to both the WSSC and the NPS to attend an upcoming meeting.
The work being conducted now at the Cabin John Creek underpass and wooden footbridge over the canal is WSSC work (there was some confusion regarding which utility was responsible for this current work, as the WSSC sent the CJCA to DC Water). According to DC Water, WSSC is replacing metering-related equipment. This is where the Potomac Interceptor, the main sewer, and the sewer pipe coming down Cabin John Creek merge. We will get more information on this project and pass that along to the CJCA.
Perhaps the most interesting new information shared was regarding the sewer rehab project recently initiated in Cabin John and beyond. The Potomac Interceptor, which travels through Cabin John along the canal, is constructed of reinforced concrete pipe (RCP), ranging from 72 to 96 inches in diameter and terminates at the Blue Plains treatment plant. Known as the LZ09 and LZ03 Potomac Interceptor Pipe Rehabilitation, Montgomery County, MD and the District of Columbia Project, DC Water is being proactive and evaluating the state of these sewer lines and will develop a remediation strategy for the sewer pipe as necessary. Only after the state of the sewer pipes is known can a remediation plan be created, but DC Water notes that this project will extend the useful life of the RCP approximately 50 years.
This map illustrates the two zones that are part of this project (a third zone is along the DC/MD border). The project team includes DC Water and Sewer Authority (DC Water), NPS, and two design consultants, Greeley and Hansen and O’Brien & Gere. The project is following the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and unfortunately the public comment period closed in June 2022. Lastly, the work on the LZ09 has an anticipated construction start date of spring 2024 and a completion date of fall 2025. For the LZ03 B zone, we only know the anticipated construction start date is 2025.
Lastly, the NPS shared information on what is known as the Timber Wall. This is just outbound from mile 11 (and outside Cabin John but of interest to many CJers). Built many years ago, these timbers were stacked to create a wall to support the towpath and the canal itself. Naturally, over time, the timbers have decayed, threatening the integrity of the Timber Wall. The NPS is actively considering steps to address this issue but did not share many of these at the meeting. The CJCA will invite the NPS to an upcoming meeting to discuss this particular project and the canal in general. Stay tuned.
The well-attended meeting was aided by a number of CJCAers who shared their knowledge on the topics discussed. All shared their opinions—this is, of course, the CJCA!
By Scott Lewis
CJCA Co-President, Contributing Writer [...]
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February 7, 2023If you are a Cabin John resident and have a valid email address in the directory database, you may set up a unique, password-protected account so that you can view the resident listings in the directory online from any computer or mobile device. Detailed instructions are available on the CJCA website (www.cabinjohn.org): Get Connected/CJ Directory.
As a reminder, if you do not want to share your contact information online, you can opt out entirely or partially. See the instructions on the website. If you have any questions or concerns contact Marcy Harrison, CJCA VP Communications/Directory administrator at cjdirectory2020@gmail.com or call 301-908-8906.
By Marcy Harrison
CJCA VP Communications [...]
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February 7, 2023Help us welcome Bingo back to Cabin John for the first time since 2020. Family Bingo Night will be held at the Clara Barton Community Center (CBCC) Friday, March 31 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. This year’s celebrity callers—MD House of Delegates members Marc Korman and Sara Love—have returned and will call great numbers. Admission and parking are free. Each five-dollar Bingo card you buy brings a better chance of taking home one of the many tempting prizes. Pizza slices and soft drinks available at bargain rates.
Bingo Night is sponsored by the Friends of Clara Barton Community Center (FCBCC) (www.friendscbcc.org) and the Montgomery County Recreation Department. Proceeds from the event help fund activities and programs at the Center. For more information call the CBCC office at 240-777-4910. The net proceeds (about $1,000 last time) go to support the Center’s program and activities. Most recently the FCBCC senior account paid for t-shirts for the seniors that attend various programs. We’ll also be buying a color printer for the Center in the near future.
By Burr Gray
Contributing Writer [...]
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February 7, 2023Nestled in the woods behind 81st Street are the remnants of Bucolston Quarry. A brief stroll along the path leads to the mossy outline of a shallow pond and ruins of a stone cottage, its graffiti-covered chimney still precariously standing. Some rusted metal bits, both large and small, litter the woods amongst decaying leaves. A stone bridge arches over the creek.
The trail running from the end of 80th Place into the woods is used mostly by dog walkers nowadays. However, to local Cabin John boys in the 1950s (and perhaps a few girls), the old abandoned quarry and woods were a place of endless adventures and exploration, model boat races in the creek, and even home to a storied recluse with countless cats.
Bucolston Quarry was owned by Hugh White, a federal government lawyer who resided on Main Street (now 81st Street). It operated from 1926 to 1943. The quarry supplied the stone for the Calvert Bridge in Washington, DC, as well as an underpass in Silver Spring.
Dennis Carter spent his primary school years in Cabin John and moved to the house his father and uncle built at the top of 81st Street in 1950. Now living in Texas, he recently reminisced about his adventures in the quarry and woods behind his house, which he, his brother, and friends roamed as kids.
The small building along the dirt road was the “weighing station” and opposite was an “obscure elliptical pond which was always covered with layers of leaves. This is where we used to come and get tadpoles.” One night the weighing station caught fire, and Dennis remembers the fire trucks lined up along the dirt road below his house. His father “went down and helped put the fire out with my mother’s broom. Needless to say, there wasn’t much broom left when he returned.”
During one summer, Dennis and his brother built a dam in the creek and held toy boat races with other neighborhood children. They built cable cars from toy erector sets which traveled along a kite string rigged from his porch into the woods.
As with many childhood adventure stories, there was also the requisite mysterious figure in the woods who instilled fear into neighborhood kids. “We called him the ‘Cat Man,’” says Dennis. “I only saw him once when he cut across our yard, probably on his way to hitch hike up Persimmon Tree Road. All I remember about him was that he wore a large brimmed floppy hat and had a long coat” and lived in the weighing station with many cats.
Cabin John resident Paul Mazzi grew up on 81st Street and has lived here his entire life (except for his 1966-1969 stint in the army) and “can’t imagine living anywhere else.”
Paul was friends with Dennis’ older brother Fuzzy, and he too fondly recalls adventures in the woods. “The stone quarry was a most amazing place. For us young boys it was adventure on steroids.”
He describes two large ponds created by the excavated stone that measured about 30 x 40 feet across and up to a few feet deep. The nearby creek and rain water ensured the ponds were always full. “Snakes, salamanders, spiders, frogs, tadpoles—who could ask for anything better than that.”
Paul also remembers the recluse residing in the woods, albeit slightly differently as the cat lady, called “Cat Man” by Cabin John kids. Cat Man lived with many felines “in a ramshackle shack across from the weigh station. Everything was in a state of disrepair,” says Paul, “ and I saw the elderly lady only on rare occasions. We would sneak by the shack hoping not to be noticed and scolded.”
As he and his friends became older, the canal and river became far more interesting spots to explore.
Evan Mater, who died in 2021, lived on 81st Street his entire life. Evan knew the old quarry well, and once led a small group of neighbors on a tour of the woods many years ago. He even found the remains of his old 1949 Plymouth that he’d crashed into the quarry as a young man, in an attempt to create some cinematic smash-up that ended in a fizzle as the car rolled down into the hole. Wander far enough into the woods and you can still find it. (Bob Peterson, a neighbor, wrote about this excursion for The Village News in 2008).
Evan also shared his memories of Cat Man living in the woods looking after many strays. Cat Man apparently never returned after the weighing station burned in the fire, though the cats wandered the woods for many years after.
That timelessness of childhood adventure and wonder continues in Cabin John. When we first moved here, my school aged children loved to explore these woods too, poking around the old weighing station, building a dirt bike track, and searching for treasures with a metal detector. We never did come across any cats.
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer [...]
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February 7, 2023The great entomologist E. O. Wilson spoke for all scientists and naturalists who are passionate about insects when he said, “Every kid has a bug period. I never grew out of mine.” What parents have not seen their kids become fascinated with ant farms? It’s easy to understand how children remain enchanted by fireflies (actually a beetle, not a fly) or Monarch butterflies or Luna Moths. But you probably won’t find many kids or adults who maintain a lifelong yen for the long-legged, ungainly looking crane flies. That is a pity.
When one encounters a crane fly in the house, the first inclination is to swat this creature, which resembles a giant mosquito, before it has a chance to bite a family member. But that shameful act would be a case of mistaken identity. The crane fly has no mouthparts to speak of, and it doesn’t live to suck blood. The only purpose it has in its sweet short life—typically one to two weeks after emerging from the larval stage—is to breed. Although it looks like a male mosquito on stilts, or a weird cross between a midge and a daddy long-legs spider, the crane fly is harmless to humans and a great boon to the ecology of the living world. And in winter, when most insects have died off or gone into a kind of hibernation, a group of crane flies known as winter crane flies can be seen flitting about on sunny days.
The name winter crane fly bears no false advertising; it is one of the few species of insect that is on the wing in the year’s coldest season. Winter crane flies are slightly smaller than the crane fly most people see in their houses in the summer, the common crane fly. The crane flies obtain their name because they have the long-legged appearance of cranes and a beak like the sandhill or whooping cranes of the U.S. These crane flies also represent the order of the true flies, the Diptera. A tip for identification useful to bug lovers: the order of true flies, the Diptera—that includes horse flies, black flies, crane flies, midges, gnats, and mosquitoes—only have one pair of wings. All of the other “flies”—dragonflies and damselflies (order Odonata) or butterflies like our beloved Monarchs (order Lepidoptera)—have two pair of wings. So do bees, wasps, and yellow jackets—(order Hymenoptera). Moreover, if the species is a true fly the name fly will be a separate word, unlike dragonfly or butterfly which is incorporated in the same word.
But what makes the group we call crane flies so special in nature? The answer is their predominance in wild nature and their contribution to the food web. Some ecologists estimate that the greatest contributor to the biomass of living organisms in the Arctic tundra is not the brown bear, polar bear, caribou, or musk ox, but, per hectare, the larvae of the common crane fly. Sometimes called leatherjackets because of their tough outer coating, the larvae can stay in the ground in a damp area for 1-4 years until it reaches the adult stage and emerges to breed. But either as a larval grub in the ground or as an adult on the wing, the common crane fly is an attention grabber, emerging in great swarms. There to vacuum them up are the shorebirds—especially phalaropes and sandpipers of various kinds. In fact, it is estimated that the entire diet of some of these shorebirds is composed of crane fly larvae and adults and that the breeding of these shorebirds is timed to the emergence of the crane fly larvae as adults.
But let’s return from the Arctic to a cold, but not freezing, February afternoon in Cabin John. There, flying about some fallen logs, are winter crane flies like giant winter mosquitoes, looking for mates. Which begs the question, why would an insect fly in winter? The best answer seems to be that for the winter crane fly, if you are only alive for a week or two as an adult, and your sole purpose is to breed, then seeing to your business in a predator-free period of the year and nothing to eat you might be a smart evolutionary adaptation. It has been working for them for 180 million years, so why change now?
When we see the summer crane fly or the winter crane fly, stop and admire this creature that has been around far longer than humans. It has figured out how to cope in this challenging world for millennia, even if its time on the stage as an individual is rather short. Don’t hasten the demise of your crane fly with a broom; raise your broom in a salute.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nichols
Contributing Artist [...]
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January 7, 2023Trivia Night does sell out so to make sure you don’t miss out, form your team of up to eight players, and register.
After a three-year hiatus, the Cabin John Trivia Night is back! This year’s Trivia Night will be held at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center on Saturday, January 28th. A perfect way to spend a cold winter’s evening (and note there is no football that evening).
The night will include roughly two hours of trivia, a grand prize for the winning team, as well as other prizes given throughout the night.
There will be a cash bar for beer and wine. Teams are encouraged to bring their own food if they want to dine while they play. Light snacks and non-alcoholic drinks will be provided.
The cost is $12 per player or $80 for a team of eight players. Proceeds from the night will support the community activities and projects of the Cabin John Citizens Association, which is hosting the evening.
Participants should plan to arrive at 6:30pm to socialize, settle in, and be ready for the 7:00 pm start. There will be multiple rounds of questions, with a 30-minute half-time break to give folks time to say hi to their neighbors.
Individuals and small groups may request to be paired up with other players to make an eight-person team, or you can go it alone.
See you there!
By Scott Lewis
CJCA Co-President [...]
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January 7, 2023As part of our latest grant from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, Friends of Cabin John Creek is improving our Creek Keepers volunteer program. Friends of Cabin John Creek Needs Creek Keepers! Volunteer! See info@cabinjohncreek.org
Our volunteer Creek Keepers help us monitor and maintain the health of the Cabin John Creek and its tributaries. Our Creek Keepers are essential stewards of the watershed and can help support our outreach events, monitor creek conditions, report issues, remove invasives, and lead cleanups wherever they live. Training is provided.
The work of stewards is variable, depending on interest and time, as well as the needs of their segment and their community… We do provide quarterly activities for you to get involved.
Signup as a Creek Keeper at info@cabinjohncreek.org and for our FoCJC e-newsletter to be notified of our events.
Salt Watch – Help us monitor harmful salts in the creeks! Be a citizen scientist and help us and our partner Izaak Walton league of America monitor harmful salts in our streams. Go to SaltWatch.org and Take the Salt Watch Pledge to order a free test kit and get out there!
By Greg GurleyDirector, Friends of Cabin John Creek (FoCJC) [...]
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January 7, 2023In 1987, at the opening of the Invertebrate Exhibit at the National Zoological Park, Edward O. Wilson, one of the greatest evolutionary biologists of our time, gave the invocation address, entitled “The Little Things That Run the World (The Importance and Conservation of Invertebrates).” This defining lecture changed the course of modern conservation and refocused our understanding of some of the least known inhabitants of the biosphere. In the exhibit and in his public discourse, bugs, moths, and beetles, along with Ed’s beloved ants—he was nicknamed the Antman, before there was a Spiderman—took center stage and highlighted the outsized role creatures without backbones (i.e., invertebrates) play in the machinery of nature. Insects pollinate our orange groves and the orchids of the rainforests, disperse seeds, and as nature’s custodians, remove dead carcasses from the scene, thereby minimizing the spread of disease. In any natural environment, in terms of biomass (the weight of living things), the largest percentage of animal biomass comes not from elephants or hippos but from invertebrates. Who knew? Ed Wilson, who left us in December 2021, certainly did. In his honor, this year’s theme for our natural history explorations of the Cabin John vicinity will center on the little things that run the world. Have your hand lens or magnifying glass at the ready as we take a deeper look.
Sometimes invertebrates can be pests, like the horse flies of the backyard or the now-pervasive Japanese mosquitoes of the courtyard. But our local invertebrates are also creations of great beauty and mystery, from the praying mantis and walking stick, which resemble twigs and leaves, to the butterflies, moths, and beetles, whose vibrant scales and exoskeletons are evolutionary jewels of nature.
Pausing, to Appreciate the Comma
If asked to select the punctuation that best expressed your personality, what would you choose? The most exuberant might go for the exclamation point; the most dogmatic, the period. For those who tend to run on, how about a colon? For you who harbor existential doubts, there is the obvious choice—the question mark. But for those most reflective among us, there is the comma.
If you chose one of the last two types of punctuation for yourself, the natural world holds a pleasant surprise: there are two beautiful butterflies, closely related, that live in our region, the Eastern Comma and the Question Mark. Known collectively as the Anglewings, because of the odd angles and edges in the shape of their wings (the genus name is Polygonia, or many angles), there are few butterflies more camouflaged. When their wings are folded above their bodies, the veins on the undersides, along with the ragged-looking edges of the wings, give them the appearance of a dead leaf stuck to a twig.
When their wings are spread out to gather the warmth of the sun, these two species are a study in orange wings with conspicuous brown spots. When their wings fold up again, the orange disappears and we again see the dead leaf incarnation. But look a bit closer with your macro-focusing binoculars, and you will see something quite unusual: on the ventral (underneath) side of the wing is a punctuation mark in silvery-white with a black border—a comma shape for the Eastern Comma, and a question mark for its congener, the Question Mark butterfly. For the rest of this essay, we will focus on the Eastern Comma illustrated here, a native to the eastern half of the U.S., although much applies to the Question Mark as well.
Although on relatively the small side, these butterflies are fast flyers and aggressive. A male will chase off other males that seek to pursue any females in the territory where it has perched.
They may also land on a sweaty person in summer to drink up the salt using the uncurled proboscis that serves as a tongue. Why salt and not the sweet elixir from flowers? Not all butterflies fuel up exclusively on flower nectar; the Angelwings will feed on rotting fruit and even rotting carrion. There is good reason for this expanded diet: most butterfly species don’t live past the summer season, but Eastern Commas can hibernate in our area. To do so, however, requires a greater intake of salts, minerals, and protein to survive. Around the time the Monarchs head south and other butterflies die off, the Eastern Commas look for an old woodpile in which to spend the winter. Then in the first warm days of spring they wake up and take off—they are among the first butterflies you will see on the wing—in search of tree sap as their first meal of the new season.Another favorable aspect of the Eastern Comma is its choice of host plants. If you have a predilection for beer, you may like this butterfly. One of its favored host plants, pictured here, is the native hops vine, Humulus lupulus, whose flowers from female plants flavor your Budweiser. Butterflies of this species also like nettles. A patch of my native plant garden is dedicated to supporting Cabin John’s Eastern Comma population and includes nettles, along with a trellis of hops. I have never tried to collect the hop fruits for beer manufacture—my beer comes from the Bethesda Coop. But I share my garden with butterflies, few more beautiful and interesting than the Eastern Comma. Maybe you, too, can pause, respect the comma, grow some hops and nettles, and perhaps leave a woodpile in the corner of the backyard for this lovely resident.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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November 18, 2022Our 5th annual, widely-attended, and FREE Turkey Trot will be held Thanksgiving (November 24) at 10:00 am. The 2.5-mile run/walk starts near the parking lot at the Cabin John Local Park and makes a loop via MacArthur Blvd., 79th St., and the canal. More precisely, it follows the bike path along MacArthur to 79th St., then down to the C&O Canal, back along the canal towpath to the one-lane-bridge footpath, then up and over the bridge back to the park. Don’t worry, there will be signs and course monitors along the route. We start at the Cabin John Local Park (at the one-lane bridge) by the parking lot – follow the crowd.
FOOD DONATIONS
Please consider bringing non-perishable grocery items to this year’s Turkey Trot. As has been our tradition, we will be collecting food and donating it to Manna Food Center’s Smart Sack program. The Smart Sack Program provides backpacks of food each weekend to some 2,850 Montgomery County school kids. Popular food items include jars of peanut butter, boxes of granola bars, instant oatmeal, and canned vegetables and fruits.
REGISTRATION AND VOLUNTEERING
As always, the Turkey Trot is free, but we are asking every household to please register online at https://tinyurl.com/mrsc4zbh so that we can plan accordingly. When registering, you also will have the opportunity to volunteer. Please consider signing up to put up course signs before the event or to be a course monitor during the trot.
Questions about registration or volunteering? Contact cjcapresidents@gmail.com. [...]
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November 18, 20222022 will be the 13th year of Cabin Johnners generously providing resources and love-in-action to the 200 families in SOME’s transitional housing, and we want to make it a lucky 13. 2021 was the best year yet, with over 100 CJ families donating a whopping $9,500, so we’ve got a challenge this year to see if we can break $10,000.
So Others Might Eat (SOME) is a local, DC-based nonprofit that fights poverty and homelessness by providing housing, healthcare, training, and social services, and this joint effort by the communities of Brookmont, Glen Echo, and Cabin John has become the largest source of holiday-season support, empowering parents to provide gifts under the tree for their children on Christmas morning and basic necessities for themselves.
HOW TO GIVE:
Gift cards
As with the last couple of years, gift cards in $50 increments to stores such as Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Macy’s as well as gift cards for Visa and Mastercard would be most appreciated.
Purchase the cards yourself and drop them off at Lori Rieckelman’s house or order them from the merchant online and have them sent directly to Lori. Text her (301-655-4404) when you have left cards in the bin on her porch so that she can quickly retrieve them. Her address is 6423 79th Street. You may also give the gift cards to Lori at the CJ Holiday Party.
Venmo/Zelle
You can send your donation to Lori by either Venmo (@Lori-Rieckelman) or Zelle (rieckell@aol.com) and she will purchase gift cards in your name.
After pausing during the pandemic, we will once again have specific wish lists from SOME program children so that CJers can provide the items to make their Christmas wishes come true. We have only eight families with specific lists, so if you want to do some shopping on behalf of one of these youngsters, contact Lori at rieckell@aol.com or call/text her at 301-655-4404.
All donations are due by Sunday, December 11 – the day of the Cabin John Holiday Party.
By Lori Rieckelman and Heidi Lewis [...]
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November 18, 2022At the October CJCA meeting, the community approved allowing residents to access an online version of the CJCA Neighborhood Directory. The online system will be available in January for authorized residents to view the information. Residents will not be able to edit any information. Only individuals who are both a) in the directory currently, and b) set up an account (see below) will have access. Also, new Cabin Johnners (arrivals after March 2021) can request to be included in the online directory and get online access.
Unless you “opt out” of the database, all the information that is currently in the 2021 printed directory for your household will be displayed in the online directory.
To “opt out” please send an email to cjdirectory2020@gmail.com and indicate that you want to opt out. If you opt out, no information will be displayed for your household. If you do not have email access, you can submit your request to opt out in writing and mail to CJCA Attn: Directory, P.O. Box 31, Cabin John, MD 20818.
If you want to access the directory online or through a mobile app, you will need to set up an individual account with your email address and password. As part of the initial sign-up, you will also set up a profile that specifies which data elements you would like to display, e.g., names, emails, cell phone numbers, child names. Detailed instructions and an instructional video with screenshots of how to create an account and set up a profile will be available in early January and will be emailed to all residents currently in the database.
If you would like to submit any edits to your household information please send an email with your edits to cjdirectory2020@gmail.com.
If you have any questions please contact Marcy Harrison, CJCA VP Communications at marcyharrison@earthlink.net or call 301-908-8906.
By Marcy Harrison
CJCA VP of Communications [...]
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November 18, 2022Friends of Moses Hall, the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the Natural Resources Defense Council filed a federal lawsuit Oct. 11 against the Maryland Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration.
The lawsuit seeks to stop additional action on the Beltway expansion project—including any financial commitments to any private partners for the toll-lane construction—while the errors in the environmental review are corrected.
The toll-lane project threatens two historic sites of national significance to Cabin John: the Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Plummers Island, which has been studied by the Washington Biologists’ Field Club for over a century.
The lawsuit lays out deficiencies in the state’s environmental review, including:
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) ignored a requirement that they consider how additional traffic on the Beltway and 270 would increase soot (PM2.5) levels near the highway
MDOT is not disclosing details about its claim that the toll lanes will reduce traffic, while the U.S. Department of Transportation said it could not confirm the “plausibility” or “validity” of MDOT’s traffic findings
MDOT and FHWA acknowledge that people buried in the 130-year-old Morningstar Moses Cemetery could be in the path of the expanded highway, but failed to perform a simple assessment to determine if the project would, in fact, disturb any graves
New piers for a widened American Legion Bridge would occupy Plummers Island, a site considered to be the most scientifically studied island in North America, which could worsen flooding and erosion on the island. Construction on the undeveloped island and the widened bridge’s shadow would damage research plots and rare plants.
By Charlotte Troup-Leighton
VP of Advocacy, CJCA [...]
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November 18, 2022“Beep, Beep!”
As children, we would imitate the sound of the cartoon Road Runner, joining in utter delight as the feathered hero once again foiled the often-elaborate plans for its capture by the bird’s arch-enemy, Wile E. Coyote. And the more technologically advanced the scheme to catch Road Runner, and the more awful the outcome for Wile E. Coyote, the harder we laughed.
“Beep, Beep!”
Cartoon animals are never portrayed as they are in real life; too “savage” for young eyes to bear. Let’s start with the footrace of roadrunner vs. coyote. Even going flat out, its body parallel to the ground, using its tail for balance, the real roadrunner barely exceeds 20 MPH, while a coyote can reach speeds double that. Advantage coyote. If we wanted to see this engagement unfold in real life, we in Maryland would have to head west. The roadrunner, a largely terrestrial member of the cuckoo family, ranges no further east than western Louisiana; it is mainly a desert dweller of the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico. Coyotes, in contrast, range across North America and are now in our backyards. And that is where our real story begins.
It was not until the early 1970s that the first coyote was spotted in Maryland. Since then, coyotes have spread across the state, reaching Montgomery County in 1990. Today, coyotes are thought to number in the thousands in Maryland alone. Coyotes are believed to be resident in Rock Creek Park and probably live in the Cabin John Creek Park and along the Potomac. With so much small-mammal and bird prey available for their omnivorous diet, coyotes are built to become the suburban wolf, or at least what many biologists more rightly consider as the ecological equivalent of the Eurasian golden jackal, which is a jack of all trades when it comes to eating whatever it encounters. The big question that ecologists ask, and is still unanswered, is what took the coyotes so long to reach Maryland, the Hudson Valley, Cape Cod, or many Eastern locales? There were always plenty of white-tailed deer fawns and small mammals. Why did they take so long to be part of our local fauna?
It is not because they are especially secretive, and thus rarely spotted or counted. People often mistake coyotes for wolves, but coyotes are much smaller. The average male coyote weighs from 18 to 44 lbs. (the female slightly less) while in comparison, the average male North American wolf weighs about 80 lbs. The carnivore biologist Randall Eaton once described the wolf as a pair of jaws with track shoes. The same image can be applied to coyotes who are even faster than wolves although slightly smaller in the jaw department. Coyotes top out at 35 to 43 mph and wolves at 31 to 37 mph. Coyotes have to be fast because wolves will kill them if they intrude on wolves’ territories or try to scavenge a carcass.
The hostility between wolves and coyotes must have periods of truce, because the emergence of the coywolf, a hybrid between wolves and coyotes suggests some degree of hanky-panky. Coywolfs have been sighted regularly in eastern Canada and New England but not in our parts.
Coyotes will eat just about anything, including lots of grass, fruits, and even caterpillars in their seasonal diets when birds and small mammals are scarce and no roadrunners are available. Coyotes hunting in packs can even bring down larger prey such as adult deer, although as far as I know, there are no reports of them hunting in packs locally.
Has any reader of this column seen a coyote in Cabin John? It would be my joy to end this year of natural history columns on animals that move in the night with my own sighting along 78th St., or down by the Potomac. I hope such a sighting will come soon. Since moving to Cabin John 28 years ago, it has become much more common to hear breeding red foxes vocalize in the backyard. Perhaps some night in the next few years we will hear the soulful sounds of our own resident coyotes. Far more poetic than “Beep-Beep.”
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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October 18, 2022Agenda for the Next CJCA Meeting
The next CJCA meeting will be held Wednesday, October 26, 2022, at 7:30pm at the Clara Barton Community Center.
Feel free to join remotely as well. We will be using Google Meet to allow remote users: https://meet.google.com/fhf-grxw-ndo. For more information on Google Meet – https://support.google.com/meet/
Agenda:
Discuss possible merchandise options and uses of the Cabin John poster created by Trudy Nicholson; the framed original was presented to former CJCA President Susan Shipp at the Crab FeastShare and discuss ideas for the Turkey Trot and Holiday PartyDiscuss and vote on making the Cabin John Directory available onlineInterview artists Trudy and Mike Nicholson, Cabin Johnners of many decades, and view their art display
Village News Seeks New Production & Layout Editor
Noelle Tower, who has been making the Village News look great for the last 6 years, will be moving to California with her family at the end of 2022, so we are looking for someone to take over the layout of the Village News. If you have a flair for graphic design and have familiarity with Adobe InDesign or similar programs to layout the stories, pictures, and ads that make up the Village News, please contact Heidi Lewis at cjcapresidents@lawbc.com or VN editor Loretta Devery Ingalls at VNeditorial@gmail.com.
Successful Blood Drive
The Blood Drive held on Sunday, October 2, yielded 40 pints! And that’s with no double reds because Inova was not able to provide the machine. Our drive goal was 32 so that’s a terrific outcome. The total includes most of the 33 who signed up in advance online, plus 14 walk-ins. One pint of blood can save up to three lives so the efforts of the donors and volunteers that day will make a profound difference for up to 120 people. Many thanks to Karen Melchar, Burr Gray, and Justin Weber for organizing and running the blood drive, and Clara Barton Center Director Barry Jones and his staff for opening and operating the community center. Email cjblooddrive@gmail.com to be included on emails related to future blood drives.
Volunteers Wanted to Help Re-Imagine the Holiday Party
The Cabin John Holiday Party, which will be held on Sunday, December 11 at the Clara Barton Center, has been a community tradition going back several decades. Like all long-running events, there is a periodic need for new ideas and new volunteer coordinators to ensure the event remains vital and meaningful for the community. If you would like to help re-imagine and relaunch the Holiday Party, please contact Heidi Lewis at cjcapresidents@gmail.com.
Minutes from September CJCA Meeting
CJCA Secretary Kelly Banuls prepared the minutes from the September meeting, held online due to a Covid case on the board. There were 15 people in attendance.
1. Crab Feast Preliminary Results – presented by Scott Lewis511 meals were sold this year, which is down about 40 meals from 2021, but with supplies on hand from previous years and increased beverage sales, the 2022 feast netted around $2,000 more than 2021.The CJCA was short on block coordinators, which may have attributed to lower advance ticket sales door-to-door, though online sales increased year over year.Carl McCabe has volunteered to be coordinator of future Crab Feasts. Thank you, Carl!2. Pedestrian Safety – presented by Charlotte Troup Leighton
Vision Zero, Montgomery County’s future bicycle and pedestrian safety plan, includes a set of recommendations to help the County prioritize investments, including a goal to eliminate accidents by 2030, but limited funds are available.CJCA has been advocating for more crosswalks, specifically on Seven Locks Rd. at the entrance to Seven Locks Park and Palisades Pool. The County has not yet approved a crosswalk, and it will be a continued uphill battle to get the funding.There will be a short sidewalk addition on the west side of Seven Locks Rd. connecting First Agape AME Church and the entrance to Morningstar Moses Cemetery.During open discussion, neighbors mentioned the success of Tomlinson Ave. in petitioning for speed bumps many years ago and the idea of neighborhood funding for the crosswalk, but no specific actions were decided.Charlotte’s presentation will be shared with the community via the Cabin John listerv.
3. CJ Directory Online – presented by Marcy Harrison (see story on page 9)
The CJCA has the option to move the directory online, with mobile access as well.The online directory would be password protected and searchable.The plan is to keep the directory centrally managed by CJCA VP of Communication to maintain data consistency and accuracy.There will be a community vote on whether to provide an online version of the directory at the October meeting.
4. Palisades Swim Hours
Palisades Pool Association has requested a change to Cabin John residents’ free swim periods, moving from 11am-1pm (Tues/Thurs) to 10am-12pm (Tues/Thurs).Free swim periods for Cabin Johnners were a condition for the Palisades Pool Association to receive support needed from CJCA to build the pool.Discussion included concerns that new hours would limit lunch-hour use and warmer pool hours.Call for vote was motioned by Heidi Lewis and received a second from Darla Cable.There were 0 votes in favor of approving the requested change in hours, and 15 votes against approving the request. CJCA will respond to the Palisades Association. [...]
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October 18, 2022The Cabin John Neighborhood Directory is a valued, helpful resource for residents. CJCA has published and distributed a print version of the directory to all 700+ residents for many years, the most recent being in the spring of 2021. CJCA will publish a new print version in 2024 or 2025. Publishing every 4-5 years means that new members of the community are not included in the print version for often several years.
Some community members have inquired about the possibility of making the directory available online, in a way that could be updated more frequently. The vendor used to print the most recent directory, AtoZ Connect (atozconnect.com), does have that capability. AtoZ Connect is the vendor currently used by Walt Whitman High School and other local schools.
A vote on whether to make the directory available online will be held at the October 26 meeting. Anyone attending either in the room or online can vote.
Online directory FAQs
Who could view the online directory?
Only Cabin John residents already listed in the directory will be allowed to create a unique, individual, password-protected account to access the information electronically. All passwords are hashed. The CJCA VP Communications must manually approve any new users.
Can Cabin Johnners update their own information in an online directory?
Information can only be viewed online; residents cannot edit their own listing information online. All edits will be made by the CJCA VP Communications. CJCA will provide instructions for submitting changes to the directory listing information.
Can we choose what information is available online?
When you set up your account to view the online directory, you can indicate which items of information (adult names, phone numbers, email addresses, children names) you want to be displayed in the online directory. The default is that the same information currently displayed in the print version of the directory will be displayed online.
Can we choose to not have ANY of our information available online?
If you do not want ANY of your information to be displayed in the online directory you can “opt out,” i.e., your information will be deleted from the database so that it will not be available for display by anyone accessing the directory online. CJCA will provide instructions for how individuals can opt out. Your information can still be included in the next print directory if you so choose.
How is the online database secured?
Please refer to AtoZ Connect’s website to review their data privacy and security features, https://atozconnect.com/terms/. The decision to participate in the online directory is solely the responsibility of the individual. CJCA makes no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, as to the operation or security of AtoZ Connect.
Can we look up residents by street as well as by name?
The online directory information is displayed alphabetically by last name and can be easily searched for any name or for listings by street name. On the mobile app you can also set up “favorites” for a quick display of residents you often want to view.
If you have any questions or concerns, or to see how the online or mobile app directory works, please contact Marcy Harrison, VP Communications at marcyharrison@earthlink.net or call 301-908-8906.
By Marcy Harrison
CJCA VP Communications [...]
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October 18, 2022October is upon us, which means pumpkins and witches are cropping up around the neighborhood in anticipation of celebrating the spookiest holiday of the year!
Up first, don’t miss out on the Haunted House at the Clara Barton Community Center (CBCC) on Sunday, October 30 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm, presented by the Friends of the CBCC and the Montgomery County Department of Recreation. Free for all ages, though children up to age 10 are most likely to be spellbound. Little ones may want a hand to hold as spooky guides bring visitors along the path. Teenagers can earn SSL hours helping create a spooky atmosphere for brave attendees.
Go to www.FriendsCBCC.org to learn about the Community Center, located at 7425 MacArthur Blvd. in Cabin John, and for more information on the event, call the Center at 240-777-4910.
The thrills and chills won’t end there, as Halloween follows the next day, Monday, October 31. The pandemic forced Cabin Johners to get creative for Halloween in 2020 and 2021 so that sweets could be doled out while keeping trick-or-treaters, their families, and treat-givers safe. The resulting plan, which encouraged Cabin Johnners to set up their treats on tables or in other creative ways outside their homes, created an incredibly festive and fun atmosphere throughout the community, and Cabin Johnners are welcome to continue the tradition. Treat givers can opt to sit outside with their treats and enjoy chatting with neighbors as they come by.
As always, if you’d prefer not to participate, just turn off your lights or put a sign by your mailbox.
Please send any pictures you take to VNeditorial@gmail.com by Nov. 1 for possible publication in the November issue of The Village News.
Happy trick-or-treating! [...]
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October 18, 2022Hands-down, the favorite TV show for kids growing up in a previous era was The Mickey Mouse Club. The spell those creatures with big ears cast over children continues to this day, now as the cartoon characters draw masses of children to the vast Disney empire. But what if Uncle Walt had had a different inspiration? What if while passing by a clear-running stream on his morning walk or stopping near a patch of cattails bordering a pond, he spotted a cartoon-like rodent from real life, with a pointy nose and whiskers, webbed feet, and a long tail? Would we be watching reruns of The Mickey Muskrat Club?
We’ll never know why Walt Disney chose such an ignominious rodent as the mouse to elevate to global icon status when perfectly lovable large rodents with outsized personalities went unclaimed—marmots, prairie dogs, beaver, capybaras, or even porcupines. But let’s fantasize for a moment that cartoon editors presented Walt Disney with sketches of our local muskrat, and it had won the charm contest.
There is much to be said for this semi-aquatic mammal, Disney might be told. Living alongside beavers that also prefer marshy habitats, it can readily be distinguished from the latter by its smaller size and its distinctive narrow, long tail whereas the beaver has a broad flat tail; both use this appendage like a rudder. To swim, both use their powerful hind webbed feet. Muskrats can stay under for a long time, too, as much as 17 minutes similar to the beaver. Their bodies, like marine mammals, can tolerate the build-up of CO2 and lactic acid in the muscles.
Muskrats run only about 16-28 inches long, with half that length being their whip-like tail so about half as long as beavers. They are much lighter, too: beavers can reach 60 lbs. while muskrats only weigh between 1.4 and 4.4 lbs. Even so, muskrats are the largest member of the family of rodents known as the Cricetidae which includes deer mice, lemmings, hamsters, and voles (but not true rats which are part of the Muridae family; beavers belong to the family Castoridae in the Order Rodentia).
Muskrats have reddish brown fur, attractive enough that a fur industry developed around this species. For a time muskrat lined coats were in fashion. Muskrats may look cute, but be careful, inside that body is a musk gland, from which the animal’s name came, that can stink up a place. The scientific name is Ondatra zibethica; Ondatra being the Huron word for this species, and the specific epithet, zibethica, refers to the word civet or civet musk, another species with scent glands. Muskrats, like the mustelids such as skunks, wolverines, and weasels, use their special glands to scent-mark their territories.
If you are trying to spot a muskrat in the Potomac, watch the river and look for a v-shaped chevron with a nose at the tip of the arrow, making its way across to Virginia or back, especially around dawn or dusk. Another way to find them is to look for their dens. The muskrat abode has a charming name, just like its inhabitants—the dwelling is called a “push-up” because the shelter, constructed of sticks and other material, looks like a forest igloo. The entrance to the push-up is from underwater, giving the muskrat some privacy and serving as a safety feature from predators. Lots of creatures will eat muskrats, especially baby muskrats. The long list includes most North American carnivorous mammals and birds, snakes, reptiles, and even large fish.
Another good place to find muskrats is in a wetland or in part of the canal that is rich in cattails—one of their favorite food items. Muskrats live mostly on vegetable matter, but like most mammals, they are opportunists, occasionally dining on small animals. Like beavers, they can heavily influence local vegetation composition and structure by their selective feeding.
Muskrats are native to only North America, but were introduced widely in Europe in the 20th century for reasons unknown, perhaps to encourage economic use of another fur-bearing mammal for the fashion industry. They have taken root in northern Europe where they are considered a pest species, but attempts to eradicate them have proved difficult.
I was not yet a biologist when I was first introduced to Mickey and Minnie, but now it occurs to me that Walt must have kept them on contraceptives as part of their contract: they never had offspring during their Disney run. It’s hard to restrain libidinous muskrats who can have two to three litters per year with six to eight muskrateers per litter. Most rodents, except for prairie dogs and a few others are prolific breeders. It’s part of what is called their life-history strategy—life spans are short, in the case of the muskrat of about 3-4 years, so pump out the young while you can to pass as many genes as possible into the next generation. Reports of muskrats surviving to 10 years exist, but most are probably taken by predators before they reach the golden years. The population of muskrats in our area seems stable, so long after Mickey and Minnie are gone, there will be muskrats chewing on a cattail or gathering sticks and reeds for a new push-up, preparing to house the next generation of pups.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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September 19, 2022CJCA September 28 Meeting – 7:30pm
Clara Barton Community Center
The September CJCA meeting will feature a variety of topics, including:
Crab Feast recap – We will provide a summary with the “numbers” and a facilitate a quick conversation on how the event went.
Pedestrian Safety – Charlotte Troup Leighton, CJCA VP for Advocacy will present ongoing efforts of the CJCA in advocating pedestrian safety and provide tips for residents who wish to advocate for safety on their streets.
Update on the Cabin John Directory – Marcy Harrison, CJCA VP Communications, will reintroduce the option of online access.
Trudy and Mike Nicholson – We will host an interview and art display with two of Cabin John’s talented local artists. Trudy (illustrator for The Village News’ nature column) and Mike will talk about their long residency in Cabin John and share some of their drawings and photography.
We will also honor Susan Shipp, our retiring CJCA President, and thank her for the wealth of new ideas she brought to our community and her untiring support.
Feel free to join remotely! We will be using Google Meet to allow remote users: https://meet.google.com/ybi-mfie-jma
All are welcome! Hope to see you there! [...]
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September 19, 2022We are pleased to announce the calendar for CJCA Events for the rest of 2022 through June 2023. Here are some highlights:
In keeping with previous years, we will have three Blood Drives, all on Sundays – October 2, February 5, and May 7 (starting at 10am).The still new-ish Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot will be on November 24 at 10am (on Thanksgiving of course).Our annual Holiday Party will be on Sunday, December 11 starting at 5pm.The original and world-renowned CJCA Trivia Night triumphantly returns – Saturday, January 28. Time TBA.Our Spring Egg Hunt will be Sunday, March 26 (one week prior to MCPS Spring Break). Time TBA.Our Wednesday night CJCA Meetings – September 28, October 26, November 30, January 25, February 22, March 29, April 26, and May 24. All at 7:30pm.
Chronologically we have:
2022
Saturday, September 17 – 52nd Annual Cabin John Chicken and Crab FeastWednesday, September 28 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm Sunday, October 2 – CJ Blood Drive, 10am to 3pmWednesday, October 26 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm Thursday, November 24 – CJ Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot, 10:00amWednesday, November 30 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm Sunday, December 11 – CJ Holiday Party, 5:00 pm
2023
Wednesday, January 25 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pm Saturday, January 28 – Trivia Night, time TBASunday, February 5 – CJ Blood Drive, 10 am to 3 pmWednesday, February 22 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pmWednesday, March 29 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pmSunday, March 26 – CJ Spring Egg Hunt, time TBAWednesday, April 26 – CJCA meeting, 7:30 pmSunday, May 7 – CJ Blood Drive, 10 am to 3 pmWednesday, May 24 – CJCA Meeting, 7:30 pm
We hope you will join us for as many of these activities as you can. As always, thank you to our many volunteers who make all this happen! [...]
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September 19, 2022For those of us untuned to the natural world, our first brush with bats may well have come via Halloween costumes or horror films featuring Count Dracula, Transylvania’s most infamous castle owner. The last three years of the COVID-19 pandemic have changed all that. Those who follow popular accounts of the fieldwork of epidemiologists and virologists researching the vector of the COVID-19 virus have seen bats brought to center stage—in particular the diminutive, cave-dwelling horseshoe bats of China. Many Chinese eat bats, as do people in other countries, and the most common hypothesis for much of the past two-and-a-half years appeared to be that horseshoe bats carrying the disease captured in caves near Wuhan, China were brought to a wildlife market where, after slaughter, they were consumed by locals, who subsequently became infected. Another hypothesis is that, prior to their being killed, the bats would have been held in cages, possibly sitting stacked on top of enclosures containing other wildlife species destined for the pot. The stress of captivity and close confinement with other species probably led to the bats to excrete their urine and feces more often and possibly causing other species caged below them, when consumed, to become a source of the disease.
If this description of the Wuhan wet market sounds like a far cry from a farmer’s market in Bethesda or Brookmont, well it is. On display to be killed and chopped up at a wet market typically are a menagerie of birds, reptiles, amphibians, civets, weasels, forest rodents, and a canid called the raccoon dog, along with whatever bats are in season. The prevalence of wildlife markets in much of southeast Asia, and most commonly in China, have been the conservationist’s nightmare. For years, tigers were raised on farms in captive crowded conditions then killed for their body parts, to be served to customers at high prices. This practice has been largely controlled, but the wildlife markets for other species still flourish. In fact, the raccoon dog is such a popular delicacy that thousands are raised in captivity on farms dedicated to that purpose to supply markets such as those in Wuhan.
This is where things turn deadly. A study published this summer in Science magazine claims that not only was the Wuhan wet market COVID-19’s ground zero, but the most likely species to transmit the virus was the raccoon dog and not the Chinese horseshoe bat. Whatever the source, the occurrence of this inter-species disease transmission is a testament to our increasingly disturbed relationship with nature. We should not be eating wild animals, especially kept in conditions like in the Wuhan wet market. Had people not eaten raccoon dogs or horseshoe bats, there is a good chance the world would not have changed so dramatically over the past three years.
The COVID-19 outbreak is not a one-time viral animal-to-human transmission event. In fact, scientists have documented at least 14 serious outbreaks of viruses since the year 2000, all zoonotic spillovers, a term used when a disease jumps from animals to humans. One famous example is the deadly Ebola virus, jumping to at least some of the humans who ate the meat of great apes in West Africa. An example of secondary transmission occurred in the case of the MERS virus, where camels were eaten that had been dripped on and contaminated by the feces and urine of bats roosting in palm trees above them.
But let’s get back to bats. You will never see a horseshoe bat here in Cabin John except in articles about COVID-19. About 100 species of horseshoe bats occur across the world, but not in North or South America. They are tiny fellows that have funny faces, eat insects, and cluster in caves. If you have read about bats and COVID-19 or bats and viruses, you will have learned that bats are a source pool for many kinds of viruses. But that perception could be due to a simple numerical relationship: among mammals, bats are second only to rodents in the diversity of their species. Nearly two-thirds of all mammal species are either rodents or bats. So, we should expect a largely tropical group like bats or rodents to harbor lots of viruses.
It is all but guaranteed that more zoonotic spillovers will occur in the years to come. How many will trigger pandemics, like the SARS-2 or COVID-19 viruses, remains to be seen. But one way our species can avoid more outbreaks is to stop eating wild animals, especially, bats, rodents, primates, and carnivores. Easier said than done on a world scale, but look at what our ignorance has caused us.
Bats may also teach us a great deal about how to live with not only COVID but other potentially deadly viruses. For some reason, bats are unaffected by the viral diseases that wreak havoc when passed to humans. Some biologists say it is because bats run hot: their higher body temperatures during flight make their bodies unsuitable for the viruses to work their will. We don’t really know. But it makes sense to learn all we can about species that can harbor and cope with nasty viruses, in anticipation of COVID-25 and COVID-31.
I want to end our summer salute to bats on a more uplifting note. Rather than thinking of bats primarily as a source of disease, I prefer to think of them as a source of wonder. The space for these columns is too limited to expound on the evolutionary marvel that bats are, the only true flying mammals. As I watch our mosquito-eating bats emerge into the dusk, wheeling and darting on fluttery wings in pursuit of insects that also carry diseases like Dengue fever, I think of them more as guardians than as a source of fear. Fly on little bat!
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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August 17, 2022Chicken and Crab Feast 2022Saturday, September 17, 20222:00 — 6:00 PMClara Barton Community Center
You don’t want to miss the gustation of the crustacean, the fire-grilling of the fowl, the simmering of the sides, the valor of the volunteers, the swinging of the band, and especially the fellowship of friends and neighbors swapping laughs and stories while cracking those crab claws.
BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW:Buying tickets in advance saves money and helps us plan quantities.
ADVANCE TICKET SALES ARE NOW CLOSED. PLEASE PURCHASE TICKETS WHEN YOU ARRIVE.
TICKETS AND PRICES:Chicken + 3 sides: $18 advance | $20 at door3 Crabs + 3 sides – OR – 6 Crabs (no sides): $25 advance | $30 at doorSides only (6 sides): $18 advance | $20 at door
HOW TO BUY:
Contact your CJCA Block Coordinator — checks only. Don’t know your block coordinator? Contact CJCAcommunityoutreach@gmail.com to find out.
Fill out the online form and pay online via PayPal/Credit Card or Venmo. Your tickets will be held at the door.
CAN YOU LEND A HAND?Attending the Crab Feast is lots of fun – but what’s REALLY fun is volunteering for an hour or two! We need at least 20 new volunteers this year to replace those who have stepped down or moved away. You’ll never regret getting to know neighbors better and feeling the sense of belonging that comes with volunteering.
We need the following help:
servers
veg preppers
kids’ activity planners
ticket sellers
kitchen crew
setup/cleanup helping hands
If you can volunteer a couple of hours on Saturday, Sept. 17 or the days leading up to it, email volunteer coordinator Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net. SSL hours are available for Friday, Sept. 16, 4:00 pm – 7:00 pm and anytime on Saturday, the 17. [...]
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August 17, 2022After almost three years of study, Montgomery County Planning released its first-ever Pedestrian Master Plan last month. The 59-page draft plan puts forth dozens of recommendations aimed at improving pedestrian safety and increase walking rates throughout the county.
Montgomery Planning is now inviting the public to hear from the planners and provide feedback at two September meetings:
A virtual meeting Tues., Sept. 7 at 7:00 pm (you must RSVP to attend)
An in-person meeting, Tues., Sept. 13 at 7:00 pm at their offices in Wheaton
The Cabin John Citizens Association has been advocating for improved pedestrian safety, including crosswalks and LED street lighting, in Cabin John for the past decade or more with limited success. The CJCA urges CJ residents to attend the meetings and ask for more crosswalks and improved lighting in Cabin John.
Our neighboring Glen Echo community has successfully landed marked and/or signaled pedestrian crosswalks at several points on MacArthur Blvd. in recent years. The only additional MacArthur Blvd. crosswalk Cabin John secured in the past six years has been at 79th Street.
While the Pedestrian Master Plan does not get into specifics on where improvements should go, it does call for better pedestrian connections to county parklands. This clearly argues for a crosswalk from the sidewalk on the southside of Seven Locks Rd. across Seven Locks to the entrance driveway for Seven Locks Local Park. The county must have intended this as it left an opening in the guardrail and a cutaway in the curb at this point. Yet, it never bothered to put in the crosswalk that would make for safe pedestrian access to the park.
The plan states that students should be able to ”safely and directly walk” to school. For years, the CJCA has been asking the county to make it safer for CJ students to walk to their bus stops.
In Sept. 2019, the CJCA sent a detailed request to county officials. It explained how the community of Cabin John has three main roads—MacArthur Blvd., Seven Locks Rd., and Persimmon Tree Rd. where the speed limits are 30 or 35 mph. We asked for six crosswalks to connect a side street with one of the seven school bus stops and/or seven Ride On bus stops along MacArthur Blvd. The only one we received was at 79th Street.
Due to the dramatic increase in commuter traffic on these main roads, we also asked for the following crosswalks on Seven Locks and Persimmon Tree:
Crosswalk across Seven Locks Rd. at Carver Rd. to allow the 20 homes on Carver access to the sidewalk on Seven Locks as well as the school bus stop
Crosswalk across Seven Locks Rd. at the service road for Seven Locks Park/Palisades Pool for access to those facilities
Crosswalk across Seven Locks Rd. at Cypress Grove Lane so that the 27 households on Cypress Grove have safe access to the side walk on Seven Locks
Crosswalk at Persimmon Tree Rd. and Caraway Rd. for residents of Caraway and 81st to access sidewalk, school bus stop, and Ride On bus stop
They were all denied, in part, using the Catch-22 logic that there was not enough pedestrian traffic to justify them. The notion that pedestrians avoided trying to cross these busy roads because there is no crosswalk, did not seem to be part of their consideration.
Please reach out to Charlotte Troup Leighton at troupleighton@gmail.com if you want to help push for additional crosswalks and other pedestrian safety measures in Cabin John.
By Charlotte Troup Leighton
CJCA Vice President of Advocacy [...]
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August 17, 2022Since its announcement in the March 2021 issue of The Village News, the Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy Corp (MICC) has been hard at work. The MICC is officially a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charged with the “preservation of the ecological, architectural, scientific, and humanist legacy of Minnie’s Island,”
an eight-acre island located in the Potomac River, approximately 100 yards off the shore from Lockhouse 8 on the C&O Canal.
MICC legally owns Minnie’s Island, and it is open to the public—mainly accessible via kayak. We’ve cleared trails, removed invasive vines, and dedicated conservation areas of the island, which consist of boulders and a variety of trees, plants, and wildlife. We’re working with George Mason University to
schedule a BioBlitz to identify as much of the wildlife on the island as possible. We’re also rebuilding the foundation of the cabin located on the island, which now has a fully functioning wood burning stove.
MICC is also working with the National Park Service to try to restore and maintain Lockhouse 8, the lock, and the surrounding areas. We welcome any insights from Cabin Johners on successfully navigating that process!
Our goal is for Minnie’s Island to be a place where community families (including you!) can come to camp, barbecue, and generally enjoy the bucolic environment. MICC is a local resource for the enjoyment of the community, and our mission priorities are to make the island accessible to Wounded Warriors, frontline workers, first responders, and under-funded regional schools.
In the next 18 months, we hope to install a solar array and composting toilet and refurbish the existing well on the island.
We’re also launching Minnie’s Kayaking Lessons since it’s easiest to access the island to volunteer via kayak. We’re also planning to offer fly fishing lessons. More information about this and the MICC can be found on our website www.MinniesIsland.org.
None of this would be possible without the support of the Cabin John community in the form of volunteerism, donations, and advice.
We have more than 180 volunteers and supporters, so thank you! Thanks also to the folks who live between 81st. St. and Riverside Dr. who are getting used to my dog Cayenne barking as I drive to Lockhouse 8!
If you would like to find out more about accessing the island, volunteering, or our work in general, stop by our table at the upcoming CJCA Crab Feast on Sept. 17 or check out our website.
We can’t wait to have you on the island!
By Pascal Pittman
Chairperson, Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy Corp (MICC) [...]
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August 16, 2022In the daytime, Cabin John’s tree-lined streets belong to adults in their cars and service trucks, kids on their bikes, and dog walkers or other pedestrians. But after dark, other mammals join the night traffic. Here on 78th St., one can see strolling white-tailed deer heading for the neighbor’s Hosta. At midnight, a clever fox sniffs around for rats and mice. But by far the most abundant night mammals on our street are the local bats. Stand under a sycamore or some other grand tree and look at the darkening sky; the first sixty minutes after sundown is bat hour. Look up at the right moment and there will be a flutter of something, and if it is light enough and you are close enough, you might see a pair of rounded, mouse-like ears around a furry little body tucked between broad wings. A bat! And if you had in hand a bat detector, a device that picks up the vocalizations of the flying mammals flitting overhead, it would most likely tell you, by the specific frequencies it registered, that you were watching the nocturnal maneuvering and feeding of brown bats in two sizes—little and big.
The two most common bats in our neighborhood are the little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus) and the big brown bat (Eptesicus fuscus)—we don’t have a medium brown bat, at least here in North America. Although they share a similar common name, the difference in genus tells you that they are not closely related. The little brown bat weighs less than one third of an ounce, and the big brown bat tips the scale at about half an ounce. In both species, females are larger than males. In truth, if you had a little brown bat in one hand and big brown bat in the other, as I have done, the big brown looks like a simply larger reconstruction of the little brown.
One aspect in which they differ greatly is their diets. Little brown bats prefer soft-bodied insects. If we only could train a swarm of little brown bats to follow us around at night (they do forage at times in groups), they would make short work of the annoying mosquitoes trying to bite us. Little brown bats can fill their stomachs in one hour while mosquito hunting, eating 150 or more in their initial feeding flight. Each night these bats can eat half their own weight in flying pests. But the real heroes of the evening are the big brown bats—they are devoted beetle eaters. Cucumber beetles, snout beetles, Japanese beetles—big brown bats have the strong mandibles and jaw muscles to crunch through the tough protective outer elytra exoskeletons to reach the juicy bits. And in so doing, big brown bats protect our crops, as cucumber beetles are a major scourge of corn crops, and are among farmers’ best friends.
Despite their small size, both the little and big brown bats live a long time. The record for the little brown is 34 years (average 7 years) and 20 years (again average of 7 years) for the big brown bat. Think about how many millions of mosquitoes a single little brown or how many cucumber beetles a big brown would eat in a lifetime? Knowing this, why would we want to remove them from our neighborhoods?
But that is what is happening, from forces we can control and one we cannot. If you use pesticides in your yard, you are directly leading to a decline in bats that protect us from insect swarms (not to mention the songbirds in our yards). Do nature and our mosquito-eating bats a favor by finding organic compounds to protect those roses. Or better yet, heed the pleas from last year’s columns and plant natives in your garden—you’ll never worry about chemicals or watering again.
There is another more insidious killer of bats: a disease known as white-nose syndrome caused by the fungus Pseudogymnoascus destructans. What a fitting specific epithet: destructans. On the outside, the effect of this disease causes the appearance of a white growth on body parts, including the nose, ears, and wings. Internally, the disease causes bats to use up critical fat reserves during hibernation periods, basically leading to starvation. The disease has become so widespread and with such high mortality that the little brown bat is now considered endangered, and other species of Myotis, like the Indiana Bat, face threats of extinction. Thankfully, the disease does not kill every bat in a colony and has skipped over some altogether. It also appears that some individuals are more likely to survive based on genetic variation: individuals that remain in torpor longer and thus store up larger fat reserves tend to be less affected. And there have been behavioral shifts, too, or selection for certain preventative behaviors. In hibernacula, the term used for places where bats hibernate, those where bats shun each other and roost singly are more likely to avoid infections. Being highly social seems to be a condition leading to disease spread, as white-nose requires close contact between hibernating individuals. It is reported that in some colonies where bat-clustering was the norm before exposure to white-nose, only 1.2% of little brown bats hibernated singly; after white-nose syndrome hit a hibernacula, 45% started finding their own spot.
In contrast, for reasons yet unknown, the big brown bat is unaffected by white-nose, and in many places the populations are increasing. One reason why big-browns may avoid white-nose, even in caves where it occurs, is that they hibernate longer and maintain much larger fat stores throughout the hibernation period. Clearly, in winter, in this age of white-nosed syndrome, it pays to be a really fat bat.
Even in August, our bats are gearing up for winter, swooping and swiveling, dipping and darting after all the flying insects they can eat. Cabin John is richer for them, and we wish them good dining. Let’s make the bats feel even more at home by keeping the big trees in our yards that offer them shelter during the day and shade our streets in the heat of summer. Save a tree, save a dozen bats, our natural bug-zappers.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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June 13, 2022Chicken and Crab Feast In Need of New Coordinator(s)
Cabin John’s annual community celebration and fundraising event held each September urgently needs a new coordinator or coordinators to take the over helm from Allison and Patrick de Gravelles who have capably overseen the event for the last five years. Thank you, Allison and Patrick!
Allison and Patrick said, “Coordinating the Chicken and Crab Feast has been a highlight of our time as Cabin John residents, and we have thoroughly enjoyed having a hand in the community’s largest annual fundraiser. For the most part, the work of the coordinator is as simple as making sure the supplies are purchased and ready to go on time. The event largely runs itself because of the incredible corps of volunteers that turns out each year.”
The position of Crab Feast coordinator has been held by a fantastic cast of Cabin John volunteers and is one of the best ways to get involved in our special community. And many of the volunteers who manage the vegetable prep, chicken and crab cooking, drink sales, setup, serving, and more will carry on for this year. We just need some enthusiastic logistical leadership!
To find out more, please call, text, or email Scott Lewis: (202) 257-9957, cjcapresidents@gmail.com.
Top Ten Reasons YOU Should Become the Next Crab Feast Coordinator
10) Support CJCA Activities. Funds raised by the Crab Feast support other great CJCA activities, like the Turkey Trot, the Holiday Party, and Fourth of July Parade as well as The Village News and CJ Directory.
9) Perfect Time of Year. It takes place on the second Saturday after Labor Day, when Cabin John weather is at its best.
8) Set Game Plan. It’s been a roaring success for 51 years, so the game plan is tried and true.
7) Experienced Crew. There’s a cadre of experienced crew chiefs to back you up, with long lists of volunteer crew
members already recruited.
6) See and Be Seen. You will see and be seen at the most happening event of the season.
5) Learn Secret Recipes. You will learn the secret to making those delicious collards!
4) Find Happiness. Your idea of happiness is a trunkload of Kirkland paper towels.
3) You Cabin John!
2) Built-in Expertise. You will have the expertise of Allison and Patrick available in August to help you get organized.
And the number one reason why you should become the next CJ Feast Coordinator(s):
1) We need you!
Thank you to former Crab Feast Director Tina Rouse for inspiring this Top Ten list. [...]
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June 13, 2022Invasive Plant Species: Your Garden May Not Be the Oasis You Think
CJ resident and ecologist Mark Frey started his talk on invasive plant species by telling the attendees of the June 1 CJCA meeting they were not going to like what he had to say…and he was right!
Folks in the audience actually groaned as he described well-loved greenery, including English Ivy, Bush Honeysuckle, Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina), and the Butterfly Bush as plants non grata in the garden.
It turns out the dense ground cover provided by English Ivy also makes a perfect habitat for rats.
The fragrant Bush Honeysuckle produces berries that birds love. But it’s like giving them a diet of Twinkies, said Frey, explaining that the lower nutritional value means birds are undernourished. The early leafing by Bush Honeysuckles also attracts birds building nests. But since they leaf out before other shrubs, there is a less dense protective canopy making the nests more vulnerable to predators, such as racoons and hawks.
Nandina also is bad news for birds, and possibly cats and dogs, as its berries contain cyanide and can be toxic when consumed in large enough quantities.
The Butterfly Bush actually harms the beautiful flying insect it is named after. While its abundant nectar attracts butterflies and other pollinators, the leaves of the Butterfly Bush do not provide caterpillars with the feed and habitat they need to grow into butterflies.
These plants and others named by Frey, including Pachysandra, Silver Grass (Miscanthus), Periwinkle, daylilies, most viburnums, and Garlic Mustard are all problematic because of how easily they spread, crowding out native species that local insects and animals need for their habitat.
Garlic Mustard is especially insidious as it also produces harmful chemicals that can damage the soil, making it harder for native plants to grow. Frey and fellow CJ resident Eric Dinerstein, who writes the beloved Nature column in this newsletter, are on a personal crusade to eradicate Garlic Mustard from the area of Cabin John Creek in our community.
If you’ve hiked the forest trail from Seven Locks to the park by the one-lane bridge recently, you may have noticed pulled Garlic Mustard lying on the trail. The plant is easy to identify and pull when it first comes up, and it must be pulled two years in a row to get rid of it. Next spring, they hope to create a wedding brigade of CJ residents to tackle the Garlic Mustard scourge in this area.
The good news to come out of Frey’s talk is that there are plenty of native plants that can be used in the garden to achieve a similar effect without doing harm to the ecosystem.
For instance, butterfly milkweed also produces lots of nectar attracting butterflies, including the threatened Monarch butterfly, which only lays eggs in the nine milkweed species. It’s easy to grow, but does take several years to flower.
Instead of invasive ground covers, Frey suggests trying Pennsylvania Sedge, a drought tolerant, low-growing plant that provides dense cover. For cover in shady areas, consider Wild Ginger, whose early-blooming hidden flowers provide food to insects. While Wild Ginger goes bare in the winter months, it comes up early to provide cover.
Consider swapping out Silver Grass and other invasive grasess for switchgrass, Little bluestem and native sedges, which not only look good but can fight erosion.
Frey provided the following links for more information and purchasing native plants:
https://www.earthsangha.org/wpn
http://chesapeakenatives.org/
https://www.mdflora.org/plantsales.html/
CJCA Officers Elected for the 2022-2023 Term
Four new officers are joining a cadre of dedicated returning veterans to lead the Cabin John Citizens Association for the coming year. Attendees at the June 1 CJCA meeting elected new co-presidents Scott and Heidi Lewis of MacArthur Blvd., who said they stepped up to ensure that Cabin John activities and traditions carry on.
The two other new officers are Kelly Banuls as secretary and Vice President of Communications Theresa Burton. The new officers will be profiled in upcoming issues of The Village News.
When you see these folks in the neighborhood, make sure to thank them for their service!
• Co-Presidents — Heidi Lewis and Scott Lewis
• Secretary — Kelly Banuls
• Treasurer — Bob Walsh
• Vice Presidents for Activities — Irena Bojanova
• Vice President for Activities — Kesha Leets
• Vice President for Advocacy — Charlotte Troup-Leighton
• Vice President for Communications — Marcy Harrison
• Vice President for Communications —Theresa Burton
• Vice President for Community Outreach — Stephanie Lai
• Vice President for Community Outreach — Heather Tomlinson
• Vice President for Community Service — Justin Webster
By Susan Shipp
CJ Resident, Past Co-President CJCA [...]
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June 13, 2022As always, CJ residents can take a well-timed dip in Palisades Pool whether they are members of the private swim club on Seven Locks or not. Once the pool starts their summer hours on June 20 through Labor Day, Cabin John residents are admitted free of charge to the Palisade Pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm.
The Cabin John Free Swim arrangement is part of the 1967 agreement between the Cabin John community and the founders of the Palisades Pool to gain neighborhood approval of the zoning variance that permitted the pool to be constructed.
Cabin Johners need to sign in at the pool and provide some proof of residency such as being listed in the CJ Community Directory, an ID with address, or mail received at a Cabin John address. Children ages 7 and under must be accompanied by a supervising adult. Children age 8-14 who will be left by themselves at the pool will be asked to satisfy the swim test by swimming one length of the pool and treading water for one minute.
Happy Swimming! [...]
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June 13, 2022Although thunderstorms raged the night before, the Cabin John Creek subsided and the sun shone brightly May 28 for the inaugural Cabin John Creek Challenge, which drew some 50 participants including nine Cabin Johners.
Organized by the Friends of the Cabin John Creek (FoCJC), the challenge involved walking the 10 miles of the CJ Creek trail from Goya Drive in Rockville all the way down to the Potomac River. Hikers also had/have the option of hiking the various trail segments over the course of 2022.
A special thanks to Cabin Johner and FoCJC Board member Scott Hoffman for setting up the water and information stations along the trail and to the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club for keeping the trails well maintained.
Prior to the start of the hike, State Delegates Marc Korman and Sara Love presented a citation provided by the General Assembly in Annapolis and a proclamation crafted by the county. Both documents celebrated the CJ Creek and the efforts of the FoCJC to advocate on the creek’s behalf. FoCJC board member Greg Gurley then spoke about the threats to the creek, especially stormwater runoff, as well as various aspects of the 10 miles ahead. Then the eager hikers were off.
An early treat was the evidence of beavers, but none were sighted that day. Prior to the hike, Greg and another board member, CJ resident Jon Putnam, had placed educational QR codes at pertinent spots in the path to educate walkers on particular watershed subjects. Lunch was taken on the benches beneath the large sycamore tree at the Locust Grove Nature Center off of Democracy Blvd. There was a really lovely stretch of mountain laurel in bloom in the section between Bradley Blvd. and River Rd.
In the end, the larger group broke into three smaller groups as they made their way downstream towards the Potomac, thus allowing everyone to hike at their own pace. All participants received the lovely “CJ Creek Challenge 2022” sticker on the basis of either completing all 10 miles that day or with the promise of finishing the remaining segments sometime this year.
The Challenge is the first of the outreach and educational events/activities that FoCJC is planning as part of the new $53,000 grant received from the Chesapeake Bay Trust and the Montgomery County Dept of Environmental Protection. This event seems likely to be repeated each year from here on out.
The hope is that over time the M-NCPPC Montgomery Parks, who were very supportive of the Challenge, along with the County/State DOT offices, will work to make the trail more continuous with improved crossings at the highways and also continue managing stormwater runoff into the creek. The Cabin John community should be extremely proud of nurturing and supporting FoCJC over all of these years.
By Burr Gray
President, Friends of the Cabin John Creek [...]
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June 13, 2022Halloween comes early to Cabin John: for the summer months the next three columns will focus on some of the most fascinating animals to inhabit our night skies.
Welcome to the world of bats. For some readers, this will be your first introduction to these remarkable creatures, among the most highly specialized of vertebrates. For the more hesitant reader, this is an opportunity to shed your bat phobia, as I did, when I morphed from a young man squeamish about bats to one who gained appreciation for these fascinating, intelligent mammals. Appreciation turned to rapture when I held in my hands the adorable Honduran white bat, which looks like a bat in a clown costume. This bat and other fruit-eaters became the focus of my Ph.D. field research in the cloud forests of Costa Rica.
Once you move past the Dracula propaganda, bats have a lot to like about them: for example, they are the only mammals that have mastered flight. Sure, there are “flying” squirrels and “flying” lemurs, but those mammals can only glide through the forest from one tree to another for a few hundred meters. Bats fly rings around them, and some migrate from here to Central America. Bats are also 1st runner-up to rodents for the title of most diverse group of mammals. There are about 4,000 species of rodents and about 1,400 species of bats. Even so, about one out of every five species of mammal is a bat. In addition, from an evolutionary perspective, the giant flying foxes and smaller fruit bats of Asia are closer to primates than they are to rodents. Think of bats as our very distant cousins.
Bat diversity is astounding—in the tropics you can find in the same forest: bats that catch fish with their feet; bats with long tongues that, like hummingbirds, feed on flower nectar; bats that eat figs, frogs, birds, katydids, lizards, and even other bats. I won’t mention vampires, three species that feed exclusively on the blood of mammals or birds, except to say that they are highly intelligent creatures with complex social lives. As flying agriculturalists, bats are essential for so many tropical fruits whose flowers they pollinate or whose fruits and seeds they disperse, such as the progenitor of the banana, the agave that gives us tequila, and delicious fruits like figs and papayas. Bats also serve as flying pest control agents, consuming tons of flying insects that could destroy food crops, such as the corn borer moths they intercept in the air as the moths move north from Mexico to the U.S. grain belt. The bats that live near us in the Washington, D.C. area, the focus of these columns, eat only insects, from beetles to flies to gnats to mosquitos. So give bats, the most remarkable creatures in nature you may once have found frightening, a chance.
Hoary, Hoary Night
Sometimes children are handicapped by awful names. It’s the curse of clueless parents. The same phenomenon happens when oblivious naturalists bestow an unfortunate name on an otherwise beautiful species. A case in point: in 1796, on a collecting trip to America, the French naturalist Palisot de Beauvois dubbed a handsome bat covered in dense fur and displaying long narrow wings that he had discovered a “hoary bat” (Atalpha cinerea). The name stuck, and though infelicitous in truth, it is accurate. Hoary is a kind of fur where dark bands end in white tips, giving the animal that sports such pelage a hoary, or frosted appearance. A better descriptor might have been “tree bark bat,” as its fur blends so perfectly against the trunk of a tree or branch that predators cannot spot it.
Hoary bats, and their three close cousins, the red, yellow, and chestnut bats, have faces like tiny dogs, with a dog-like muzzle and pointed ears. If the hoary bat’s coat does not have sufficient aesthetic appeal, please Google images of the red, yellow, and chestnut bats. I have held all three of these species in my hand, and they are surely among the most beautiful of mammals. The red bat is a crimson fellow, the yellow bat is a mixture of gold and saffron, and the chestnut bat’s fur is a lustrous reddish-brown.
All four of these insect-eating bats can be found in our region. Their very small eyes are a result of adaptations for echolocation (bat sonar) to navigate through the forest or pick off bugs on the wing. Imagine a Chihuahua that finds its way around or to its food bowl by sending out signals from its mouth and listening for the echo to find objects. Over time, its eyeballs would shrink, too, but maybe its ears would become more funnel-shaped and open. (If you are looking for bats that truly resemble dogs, look at the faces of the fruit bats of Africa, Asia, and the South Pacific. Bats in this group don’t echolocate but instead have developed large eyes, excellent night vision, and a keen sense of smell.)
Female hoary bats weigh slightly less than an ounce (females are 40% heavier than males) and have a wingspan of about 15 inches. Remarkably, when its wings are folded under its body, it can fit in the palm of your hand. But don’t let that small size fool you. These bats are long-distance migrants, here with us for the summer or traveling much further north into Canada to roost before heading back south to spend the winter in the southwestern United States or Central America. Individuals tracked with telemetry devices have been known to fly 25 miles a night. Hoary bats are widespread in North America and even occur in Hawaii, one of the few land-based mammals that reached that archipelago.
All migratory species face great risks during transit. Wind turbines and the energy from wind they harvest are essential if we are to move to 100% renewable energy. But where wind turbines occur along migration routes, which they often do, as they are located on ridges typically used by birds and bats for increased lift or navigation, collision by bats or birds can be common with tens of thousands killed each year. Hoary bats have a higher mortality rate from wind turbine accidents than any other North American bat. One theory is that exhausted migrating bats mistake wind turbines for trees upon which they can roost.
Watch for these bats as you look to the night sky. If the wings seem long and narrow it is most likely a hoary bat, or maybe its cousin the red bat, out for a night of filling its mouth with moths to prepare for the upcoming trip north to Canada or south to Costa Rica.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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May 17, 2022On April 10, after several months of deliberations and conversations with a broad cross section of Cabin John residents, the Cabin John Citizens Association (CJCA) Nominating Committee submitted a slate of candidates, including Heidi and Scott Lewis serving as co-presidents, for the 2022-2023 term.
The Committee nominated Kelly Banuls as secretary, replacing Meredith Griggs who is stepping down, and Theresa Burton to the newly-created position of vice president for communications focusing on the CJCA listserv and other outreach to the community through emails, The Village News, and the website, cabinjohn.org.
Theresa will join Marcy Harrison, the CJCA’s other vice president of communications, whose focus is on the Cabin John Directory.
Eight officers are returning to their CJCA positions. Elections for the 2022-2023 term will be held at the Wednesday, June 1 CJCA meeting at 7:30 pm at the Clara Barton Community Center.
Outgoing president Susan Shipp served the Cabin John community in the role for six years. Among her more visible accomplishments was the CJCA 100th anniversary celebration and projects, which include the ongoing beautification of MacArthur Blvd. and Cabin John sign project, as well as driving CJCA support for the preservation of CJ’s historic Moses Hall and Cemetery.
Less visible to the community is the behind the scenes work Susan led in restructuring the officer structure of the association. Susan split the one vice president position into eight distinct roles, allowing for greater involvement from CJ residents, while lessening the scope and workload of both the president and the vice president roles.
Susan also reintroduced the concept of co-presidents by recruiting Vashi Van Wyke to serve as co-president for this current year. Together Susan and Vashti demonstrated that leadership of the CJCA is a cooperative, collaborative effort that is shared by many.
In addition to the elected officers, CJCA has volunteers who have committed their time and talents for specific activities including Chicken and Crab Feast Coordinators, Allison and Patrick de Gravelles; Neighbor-2-Neighbor Coordinator, Judith Bell; and SSL Coordinator, Stephanie Lai.
The community’s two most visible communications tools – CabinJohn.org and The Village News – benefit from the skills and dedication of Robin Sidel for the website and Loretta Devery Ingalls and Noelle Tower for the newsletter. Thankfully, they have agreed to continue as editors!
The Nominating Committee included seven Cabin John residents: Amanda Benjamin, Phil Corcoran, Sarah Craven, Amy Elsbree, Andy Fishburn, Marget Mauer, and Neil Shaut. The CJCA is grateful for their work.
The full slate of officers nominated for 2022-2023 CJCA leadership includes:
• Co-Presidents — Heidi Lewis and Scott Lewis
• Secretary — Kelly Banuls
• Treasurer — Bob Walsh
• Vice Presidents for Activities — Irena Bojanova
• Vice President for Activities — Kesha Leets
• Vice President for Advocacy — Charlotte Troup-Leighton
• Vice President for Communications — Marcy Harrison
• Vice President for Communications —Theresa Burton
• Vice President for Community Outreach — Stephanie Lai
• Vice President for Community Outreach — Heather Tomlinson
• Vice President for Community Service — Justin Webster
By Amy Elsbree
Coordinator, CJCA Officers Nominating Committee [...]
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May 17, 2022A small but committed group of volunteers took to the trails and even went to the other side of the creek to collect trash during the annual Cabin John Creek Cleanup held April 9.
“We finally got rid of those landscaping tarps which have been an eyesore for some time,” noted Greg Gurley, the Friends of the Cabin John Creek director who coordinated the event, which is cosponsored by the Cabin John Citizens Association.
In all, the nine volunteers collected 13 big orange bags of trash, two bags of recyclables as well as the tarps, a metal bedspring, a tire, a busted plastic laundry basket, and a toilet seat!
Thanks all and keep picking up trash as you hike the trails!
As a follow-up to the February CJCA meeting, the Friends of Cabin John Creek wants the CJ community to know that the Chesapeake Bay Trust did award a $53,523 grant to the group for a public outreach and stewardship projects in the Cabin John Creek Watershed.
Greg reports that the funds will support a variety of efforts to protect the creeks in the watershed, including community outreach to more diverse neighborhoods, increased water quality monitoring, and the expansion of the Creek Keepers stewardship program.
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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May 17, 2022The next CJCA meeting will be held on Wednesday, June 1 at the Clara Barton Community Center at 7:30 pm. It will include two important votes:
The Election of the CJCA Officers for the 2022-2023 term. (See related story)Approval of an online password-protected version of the CJCA Neighborhood Directory.
Invasive Plants in Parks & Your Garden
What are they? What can be done?
Invasive plant species, like the Kudzu vines and bamboo found in local parks or the Nandina that we planted in our garden years ago, can jeopardize our environment.
To learn more about problematic invasive plants and native plant alternatives, come to the June 1 CJCA meeting for a presentation by CJ resident and invasive plant species expert Mark Frey. If we are lucky, maybe he will also share how he manages to grow grapes, apples, pears, blueberries, and strawberries on his tiny plot in Cabin John Gardens!
Mark Frey has been working in natural areas for more than 20 years with much of that time focused on invasive species. Professionally he is the National Park Service lead for Science and Natural Resources Management in the Southeast Region.
Mark has also held roles managing the invasive plant program for the National Capital Region, as the NPS national Invasive Plant Program Manager, as the Chief of Natural and Cultural Resources for Mount Rainier National Park, and as a Project Director for the National Invasive Species Council. Mark’s federal career began in San Francisco where he managed the Presidio Trust’s habitat restoration program.
Frey has lived in Cabin John for ten years. In his spare time he is an active Weed Warrior volunteer for Montgomery County Parks.
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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May 16, 2022Ask an art major what comes to mind when they hear the word “Nighthawks,” and the response is immediate: the name of an iconic Edward Hopper canvas, painted in 1942. The oil on canvas features three customers and a server behind the counter of a well-lit diner, late at night, viewed through the restaurant’s large glass windows and set against a gloomy urban streetscape. It is arguably Hopper’s most famous work and one of the most recognizable paintings in American art. Even though New York City is full of pigeons, there is not a bird in sight, resting for the night on a lintel or edge of a rooftop.
If Hopper had set up his sketchpad, sitting across the street in late spring or summer, and had worked until late afternoon or dusk, he might have heard overhead a loud peent. And if he looked up from his work, he might have noticed a bird flying with irregular wing beats, as if it were injured, darting this way and that. There, above the streets of Greenwich Village, he would have spotted one of the most fascinating birds of our avifauna, the common nighthawk.
Nighthawks, even for seasoned naturalists, are more commonly heard than seen. Here in Cabin John, every Spring around May 5th, I remember to listen for that distinct nasal peent, uttered way above me, and then look skyward for an erratic tapered winged bird beating vigorously across the sky. Peent!
Good luck trying to see one when it is perched. Even though the common nighthawk is no hummingbird, measuring almost 10 inches long and with a wingspan of nearly 24 inches, when perched on a tree branch or wooden post, the cryptic coloration of its plumage—as if the bird were coated in flakes of bark rather than feathers—renders it nearly invisible. It becomes one with its perching stand. If it doesn’t move, you could walk by a few feet from the bird and never see it.
Another reason people rarely see nighthawks is that even though they breed here, their time in our area is relatively short. They arrive from the south in early May and most stay until the end of summer, though some individuals begin heading south again by end of July. Where “south” is depends. Some of the species fly all the way to Uruguay and Argentina to winter, one of the longest migrations of North American birds, about 4,100 miles. Nighthawks live only around 4-6 years, but still that is a lot of frequent flier miles to put on those wings.
Why would a bird fly so far each year in its relatively short lifespan? To thrive and breed, common nighthawks must eat lots of insects, which they catch on the wing in their huge gaping mouth. Nighthawks are an anomaly, a bird with a tiny beak, but when it opens its mouth it reveals an enormous opening, able to swallow whole insects in flight. By flying to where insects are abundant during the breeding season in our area in June and then leaving before fall when flying insects virtually disappear, the migrating nighthawks take advantage of the austral summer in Argentina, when the flying bugs are fluttering and the tango dancers perspiring in the heat and humidity of December and January.
An interesting physical characteristic of nighthawks and other members of its family is weak legs. This is a bird that is poorly designed to move around much on the ground, yet that is where it builds its nest. It lays its two eggs in a small pile of stones and gravel, and then…blends. A favorite nesting spot is the flat roofs of office buildings in Washington, D.C. The more flat roofs available in a city, the more nighthawks can nest.
Finding nighthawks and their close relatives, called nightjars in Europe, Africa, and Asia, when they are perched and at rest at night is made easier with a flashlight. From far away, the reflective eye shine you see from a perched bird is a bright red dot. In fact, when I was fresh out of college and studying tigers in the wild jungles of southern Nepal, I came upon this field tip in a book by Jim Corbett, the most famous hunter of man-eating tigers and leopards in the British Colonial era. He warned the reader: “One red eye, and it’s a nightjar. Two red eyes and it’s a tiger.”
I did see nightjars on the road a lot when driving along the dirt tracks, their single red eye lit up by the pick-up truck’s headlights. Occasionally, to my great delight, there would be two red dots. There are no tigers in my backyard here, only the odd fox and raccoon. But in early May, I stand on duty, binoculars around my neck, ears cocked, for that familiar call of the long-distance flier home from the Argentine. Peent!
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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April 15, 2022Loss of natural habitat, caused by everything from invasive species to climate change, is causing an alarming loss of bird population in Cabin John and throughout North America, Clive Harris told the 45 or so attendees of the March 30 CJCA meeting.
Clive, an avid birder and past president of the Montgomery Bird Club, focused his talk on birds that breed in Cabin John. Using photographs and snippets of taped bird calls, Clive introduced the audience to dozens of bird species, while noting that when out birding about 80 percent of the birds are heard and only about 20 percent are seen.
Roughly half of the 110 to 120 breeding bird species in Montgomery County are migratory, wintering as far south as the Andes Mountains in South America and returning here year after year to breed. This means they are also vulnerable to habitat issues where they winter.
Clive cited a recent study by the journal Science that found North America has lost more than a quarter of its bird population, some three billion birds, since 1970!
In Cabin John, more homes and lawns, too many deer, and the growth of invasive plants are impacting the local bird habitat. Clive explained that all birds feed their young insects and non-native vegetation does not support as many insects as native plants. In the case of Chickadees, if more than 30 percent of the vegetation is invasive, the species cannot maintain its population.
The Wood Thrush, a migratory bird that winters in Central America and crosses the Gulf of Mexico in a single night’s flight as it comes north in the spring, is in jeopardy because of habitat loss in its wintering grounds and here where it breeds. Clive explained that the large deer population feeds on the underbrush where they build their nests, not only decreasing their food supply but making them vulnerable to predators.
But not all bird populations are declining. Pesticide bans in the 1970s have led to increases in Raptor populations. Clive said there appear to be a growing number of Bald Eagles, who partner for life, nesting high in the trees along the Potomac River north of Cabin John.
A pair of Peregrine Falcons have been present on the American Legion Bridge for more than 15 years, Clive noted, apparently the first breeding pair in the county since the 1940s. You can follow a track down by the south side of the bridge, all the way to the river to view them. A nesting box was placed on the bridge and is used by the falcons during the breeding season.
Clive ended his talk with a list of things we can do to protect birds:
Protect birds from window collisions
Over one billion birds die each year due to striking window glass, with roughly half being collisions with windows in homes and other low-rise structures. In addition to screens, decals, and other alterations to the windows, one easy way to reduce threats is to place bird feeders well away from your windows.
Keep your cat inside, or outside in an enclosed location
Free-ranging cats kill more birds than any other direct threat – some 2.4 billion birds a year in the United States alone, according to the American Bird Conservancy.
Improve your backyard habitat
Gardens full of exotic and non-native plants do not support the native bird population. The reason is simple – native plants support native insects and with a few exceptions, all birds, even seedeaters, feed insects to their chicks.
Native plants also provide the seeds, berries, and nectar to which our birds are adapted. (In fact, berries of some widely planted exotics such as Nandina, are toxic to birds.) Trees and shrubs also provide shelter and nesting sites for birds.
Reduce pesticide use
Some pesticides pose an immediate threat to birds, while others impact insects upon which birds depend. Neonicotinoids like imidacloprid are widely-used, systemic pesticides which are transferred to all parts of the treated plant, including seeds, leaves, nectar, and pollen.
Wholesale spraying for mosquitoes is also a threat to birds. Despite what their websites promise, the sprays used by “mosquito control” companies promoting “pest-free” yards contain synthetic pyrethroids, which kill all insects that land on the treated leaves. We all are aware of the ongoing decline of insects – “the insect apocalypse” in the words of some scientists – and much of this is due to overuse of pesticides. No insects = no birds.
Provide food, water, and nesting sites
Most of us feed birds, and those with sufficient space may also provide water and nest-boxes. In addition to placing bird feeders away from windows, they should be sited near vegetation to provide cover.
Feeders also should also be cleaned regularly to avoid avian diseases passing bird to bird. Sterilize hummingbird feeders regularly, and in hot weather, change the nectar frequently.
Birdbaths or fountains need their water changed frequently – daily in hot weather – to avoid mosquitoes and to prevent the spread of bacterial disease.
Nest-boxes must be carefully sited to avoid predators and other hazards. Since box designs, which target individual species, vary so much, seek out advice from such websites as NestWatch from The Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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April 15, 2022More than 70 families have moved to Cabin John since we held the last New Neighbors Potluck in 2019!
Now that the pandemic restrictions are lifted, let’s give them a proper Cabin John welcome at the 3rd annual potluck to be held April 24 from 5 pm to 7 pm at the Clara Barton Community Center.
If you are one of the 70 “new” CJ families, we hope you will RSVP and come enjoy the good food and the chance to meet more of the community.
If you are a longtime Cabin Johner, we hope you will RSVP and sign up to bring a salad, side dish, or dessert. The Cabin John Citizens Association will provide beverages and pizza to round out the meal. Please also consider volunteering!
Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and we can dine al fresco on the black top. If we get enough volunteers, there will be games for the kids. Student Service Learning (SSL) hours are available for students willing to work between 3 pm and 8 pm.
Please go to the SignUp Genius, https://tinyurl.com/CJNewNeighborPotluck, to RSVP, bring food, and/or volunteer. For questions or to sign up by email, reach out to Stephanie Lai (laifamily2002@gmail.com) and Heather Tomlinson (heatherbtomlinson@yahoo.com), our two CJCA vice presidents for community outreach who are coordinating this event. Please mark your RSVP for children 12 and under so we can plan games accordingly.
We are looking forward to seeing you there!
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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April 15, 2022The Cabin John Citizens Association is seeking community input on whether or not to provide residents with an online version of the 2021 Cabin John Neighborhood Directory. The print directory was provided free last year to the roughly 750 residences and businesses within Cabin John.
As explained to the attendees of the March 30 CJCA meeting, a password-protected online version would allow CJ residents to view and search all the listings, and, optionally, keep their own contact information up to date. The CJCA wants the community to weigh in on whether to proceed with these options.
Please share your thoughts by email to CJDirectory2020@gmail.com. The community will vote on having an online directory at the next CJCA meeting, June 1.
The online directory would not replace the print directory, which the CJCA is committed to publishing and distributing free to all residents at least every five years.
The primary benefits of an online directory would be its search features and the convenience of being able to access the most up-to-date information from any computer or smartphone. The online search allows you to enter a name or partial name or street name and see all matching resident listings.
Another major benefit is that residents could update their own information online – phone numbers, email addresses, etc. – between print editions of the directory. (The alternative to this is for the database administrator, Marcy Harrison, to keep the online directory information up to date, entering the edits that residents submit via the form on the CJCA website.)
An online version would also give folks who move to Cabin John a chance to share their contact information in a timely manner rather than having to wait years for the next print directory.
Please be assured that all your contact information would remain secure online. Our database vendor, AtoZ Connect, has over 12 years of experience in providing safe, secure membership listings to schools, community organizations, and other non-profits.
The only information that could be viewed online is the same information that is printed in the directory. Access to the online directory is controlled. Individuals who want online access would set up their own password-protected account. Only residents currently in the directory database are allowed to create accounts. New CJ residents would need to be entered into the database by the administrator.
If you have any questions or concerns about the options, please contact Marcy at marcyharrison@earthlink.net or 301-908-8096.
By Marcy Harrison
VP for Communications [...]
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April 15, 2022What is nature’s signal that spring is here? To the gardener, pink clouds of cherry blossoms and magnolias floating above beds of bright tulips and daffodils announce the start of the season. For naturalists, it is sound that takes precedence over the visual. Our backyard Northern Cardinal has brightened his chirping song, and the Carolina Wren seems to sing with greater gusto. Less melodic is the cacophony of Common Grackles, flocks of them, singing like a hundred small rusty gates swinging in the treetops, announcing it is time to pair up.
I am no herpetologist, but for me nothing marks the change of seasons like the chorus of Spring Peepers. If you want to hear them up close, go stroll along the Potomac at dusk between mid-March and early April. Stop and listen at the nearest pond in the canal bordering the towpath. You will hear the males singing en masse, a swampy symphony of Spring Peepers. An announcement that one of our most charismatic little frogs has come out of cold storage—frogs essentially hibernate during the winter—to resume the great rush to breed.
At first, the song of thousands of these amorous males may strike the novice nature lover as rather unfrog-like, especially if all you know are the boom of bullfrogs or the “ribbet-ribbet” of cartoon amphibians. Let’s work our way up the chorus: A single Spring Peeper sounds much like the chirping of a baby chick. Two singing at once sounds like birds dueting. But a chorus of Spring Peepers, when the number of individuals calling swells into the thousands, transforms into something otherworldly, like the sound of thousands of tiny sleigh bells ringing. Spring Peepers are known to call at other times of year, such as before they enter hibernation, but the early spring is the main amphibian hootenanny.
Their songs can be heard throughout much of eastern North America and into Canada, wherever there are their preferred swamps and ponds dotting the landscape.
Despite the loud chorus, when you stand next to a pond of peepers, they are often impossible to spot. For one, they only call when the light starts to fade. Further, they are tiny; about a dozen of these Romeos can fit in your palm. Each one measuring about 1 inch in length and weighing no more than 0.1-0.2 oz. Adult Spring Peepers can be either brown, tan, olive green, or grey. Across the back is a dark cross which gives the species its specific epithet (crucifer). The camouflage coloration makes them look like leaves on the pond bottom.
Males are slightly smaller than females—that is, until they start to sing. Only males sing, and when they do, they inflate a throat sac with air, and the expansion and deflation of the sac, like a balloon, makes the distinct peeping sound. We as humans share a lot of our DNA with other vertebrates and a not insignificant amount with frogs. But an inflatable throat sac is obviously not a feature we share. But imagine if Luciano Pavarotti could inflate a throat pouch to twice his body size and let loose? That is what a male Spring Peeper does.
What are females looking for in a mate? It is apparently the peep that attracts the females. But among a host of peepers, which one is the female likely to select? The one that peeps the loudest or the longest? Or can the females discriminate, and the winner is the male with the most perfectly pitched peep? The answer seems to be which male can call the loudest and most often that gains a chance to breed. Males mate with females, the eggs are later released at the edge of the pond, and after a few weeks, tadpoles emerge and grow into new peepers.
Being the loudest and longest singer is not always such a hot idea for an amphibian, however. When I was studying tropical bats during my PhD research in Costa Rica, I traveled to Panama to spend some time at a world-renowned research station run by the Smithsonian Institution, on Barro Colorado Island, in the Canal Zone. At the time, another PhD student, Michael Ryan, who went on to great recognition as an evolutionary biologist, was studying an amphibian called the Tungara frog. These common frogs would gather around shallow bodies of water, and the males would sing and sing in hopes of attracting a mate. But there is more to this story. Hovering over the singing party were large shadows, like black silk handkerchiefs come to life. These were frog-eating bats (Trachops cirrhosis) on the hunt. And as it turned out, Tungara frogs were a favorite prey item. Mike learned this because the bats, which I helped capture for him in mist nets set over the ponds, would, when brought back to the lab and placed in large darkened rooms equipped with speakers, fly instinctively into the speakers if Mike played a recording of the male frog’s calls through them. As it turned out, the Tungara males that called too loud or too often, ended up as bat food. But of course, those that rarely called had no chance of attracting a female. So, the trick was to call just the right amount, at the right moment, even if singing came with a built-in risk.
Why do frogs call at night? One reason almost all amphibians are nocturnal is to avoid the assortment of daytime predators. Every large predatory vertebrate that includes pond edges or stream banks as part of its hunting route eats frogs. At night there are still predators abroad, though: night herons, skunks, snakes, and even diving water beetles that feast on tadpoles and sometimes eggs. Those few amphibians that are active during the day typically live in humid, wet rainforests; many among them, such as poison-arrow frogs with their bright red, yellow, green, and cobalt blue pigments that warn potential predators to leave them alone, incorporate highly toxic compounds in their skin glands.
Being active at night also keeps amphibians out of the sun’s desiccating rays that would dry out their sensitive membranes. It is at night when the Spring Peepers leave the confines of the pond and move around at the base of bushes and up the lower branches to search for invertebrates—food they require to sustain another springtime ringing round of sleigh bells.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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April 15, 2022A 1913 obituary from the Evening Star was recently brought to my attention by a local history buff.* The obituary was for Mrs. Esther Stewart, also known as “Mother Stewart,” who died at her home at Lock 13 at the age of eighty-three. The newspaper clipping is an introduction to one the C&O Canal’s many characters. Mrs. Stewart worked as a lock tender, an innkeeper, and even had a brush with the law for selling alcohol.
According to the Evening Star newspaper, “Mother Stewart” lived between Cabin John and Great Falls for more than 60 years, where she was well known to neighbors and boatmen alike along the C&O Canal. During the Civil War, Mrs. Stewart kept the Great Falls Hotel, where both Union and Confederate armies enjoyed her hospitality. (The Great Falls Hotel or Tavern, now the C&O Canal National Historical Park Visitor Center, had operated as an inn and restaurant for many years beginning in 1830).
At some point Mrs. Stewart moved to lock 13, where she worked as both a merchant and lock tender. She is buried at the Potomac United Methodist Church, her large yet modestly decorated headstone towards the back of the chapel.
Born in Pennsylvania on January 1, 1831, Mrs. Esther Stewart (also Stuart, Steward) was listed in several censuses, although some entries contradict her obituary. She was widowed by the age of 48, and lived with a son named Charles.
The 1910 census refers to a nephew named Charles Stewart in her household; the obituary notes that her only surviving relatives were a brother in Pennsylvania and a nephew named Charles Zeigler, who had lived with her. However, the administrator of her estate was Charles S. Stewart; he placed a notice to creditors in a 1914 newspaper. He was listed as her son in both the 1880 and 1900 census. The 1910 census notes Mrs. Stewart’s occupation as “Lock Tender,” and Charles Stewart as a “Canal Laborer.” The 1920 census logs his occupation as lock tender at Lock 9. The National Park Service roster, while their records are incomplete, lists Charles S. Stewart as lock tender at locks 10 and/or 11 from 1888-1939, with no mention of Esther Stewart.
Construction of the C&O Canal began in 1828 as a transport route for coal from Western Maryland to Georgetown. The 184.5 mile long canal had 74 lift locks to manage the 605 foot elevation between Cumberland and D.C. The locks were simple, hand-operated gates based on Leonardo da Vinci’s original 1485 design. Lock keepers not only opened gates for passing boat traffic but also offered provisions for boatmen and mules. Women and children were integral to canal life, working as unpaid laborers and helping with lock duties. They tended gardens and flocks of chickens and other animals, for both their own families and to sell. Some lock keepers also sold “intoxicating beverages,” which was prohibited.
Lock tenders were usually married men, as they were considered far more reliable than single ones. The few women who assumed the role of lock tender did so after their husbands died or were drafted into the Civil War. The role was a physically demanding one, and keepers had to be on call from “dawn to dawn” to operate the gates for boats passing through the lock. The Seven Locks area boasted several women lock tenders, who had taken on the role following the death of their husbands. However, records suggest that Mrs. Stewart began her work along the canal as a widow.
So where did the name “Mother Stewart” come from? Could this nickname have derived from Mrs. Stewart’s hospitable nature and lengthy presence along the canal? Or could the Mother Stewart moniker be a tongue in cheek nod to another newsworthy Mother Stewart, Eliza Daniel Stewart, who had been an early temperance movement leader in the 1870s?
Perhaps so, for in the July 30,1886 Montgomery County Sentinel, the town of Rockville was “the scene of considerable excitement” when a number of parties charged with “violation of the local option law by selling intoxicating liquors in Potomac district” appeared in court. Those charged included the Cabin John postmaster Michael McQuade, Mrs. Rosa Bobinger of the Cabin John Hotel, and Mrs. Esther Stewart. According to reports, “the crowd became so great that it was necessary to have the proceedings in the Court House.” Witnesses testified that they had purchased whiskey from Mrs. Stewart, and she was held to bail for $200.
Mrs. Stewart later had another brush with the court, this time as a victim. In 1911, a local Cabin John resident was convicted of the “larceny of a large number of chickens and ducks from Mrs. Esther Stewart.”
The incomplete story of Mother Stewart and her brief historic role as a woman lock tender remains an intriguing mystery. Following her death on June 27, 1913, the census indicates Charles assumed the role of lock tender and lived at Lock 9 (though NPS records indicate he was a lock keeper long before then). Floods and competition from the railroad had a huge impact on the canal, and operations ceased in 1924. Charles remained at Lock 9 until at least 1930.
* With thanks to Mr. William Bauman, a C&O Canal Association volunteer.
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer [...]
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March 15, 2022First In-Person CJCA Meeting since February 2020!!
Come to socialize at 7 pm, the meeting will start at 7:30 pm
Time to Learn About Those Birds in Your Backyard
One of the few silver-linings of the pandemic is that folks took advantage of Cabin John’s beautiful surroundings and enjoyed walks along the canal towpath and Cabin John creek. Closer to home, they set up bird feeders and let nature come to them.
CJ residents who want to learn about the birds they’ve been watching these past two years should come to the March 30 CJCA meeting where CJ resident Clive Harris, avid birder and past president of the Montgomery Bird Club, a chapter of the Maryland Ornithological Society, will be the featured speaker. Clive, who also is an accomplished photographer, will share his insights on birds and birding in the area.
Since this will be our first in-person meeting in two years, please feel free to come at 7 pm to socialize a bit. The meeting will start promptly at 7:30 pm.
Clive will present on the birds that breed in the woods along the canal and the Potomac. His talk and slide presentation will feature both those birds that spend the whole year in our neighborhood as well as those that winter in Central America or further south and come back here each spring to raise their families.
An enthusiastic birder both here and abroad, he leads field trips for the Montgomery Bird Club and is also a member of the Maryland/District of Columbia Records Committee which evaluates reports of sightings of new or very rare bird species in Maryland or DC to convert them into documented records that can be used reliably for scientific studies of bird distribution and patterns of avian vagrancy.
Clive first became interested in birding with his dad when he was 7 years old and living in Hong Kong. Clive, an economist with the World Bank, moved to Cabin John with his family in 2001, after four years in India. He and his wife Helen had developed an attachment to living near the C&O Canal when they first moved to the United States in the 1990s and lived in Brookmont.
Dues Are Critical To Active CJCA
A big thank you to the households and businesses that have paid their Cabin John Citizens Association dues. Some Cabin Johners also used this opportunity to make an additional donation to the CJCA or to give funds to the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center and the Friends of Cabin John Creek.
All of these organizations benefit everyone in the community and we hope you will do your part by paying your 2022 dues as promptly as possible.
There are two easy ways to pay:
Online at www.cabjinjohn.org – Select Support CJCA ($) from the home page.
(You can pay by Credit Card, PayPal, or Venmo)
Complete the form in the dues letter you received recently and mail it with your check made payable to the CJCA to: CJCA, P.O. Box 31, Cabin John, MD 20818.
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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March 15, 2022JANUARY CJCA MEETING RECAP
Like the stream itself, the non-profit Friends of the Cabin John Creek (FoCJC) keeps rolling along, doing more and more good work to protect the waterway and its watershed, which runs from Rockville to the Potomac.
Over the last seven years, the creek group has received some $260,000 in public outreach and stewardship grants from the Chesapeake Bay Trust, FoCJC President Burr Gray told the 27 participants at the Feb. 23 CJCA Zoom meeting. These grant monies have been used to reduce stormwater runoff through rain barrel and rain scape programs as well as other activities to raise public awareness.
The group, which started as a CJCA committee in 1999, is waiting to hear whether it will receive an additional grant of $75,000 for 2022-2023. According to Burr, some of those funds will be used to expand the Creek Keepers program started last November.
Creek Keepers, including Cabin Johners Sarah Cahill, Alexandra Freeman, Doug Pyle, and Judy Welles as well as 25 other upstream residents, have been trained to monitor quarter-mile segments of the creek. They are documenting the general condition of the creek, including erosion issues, fallen trees impeding the water flow, and other criteria. The information helps inform ongoing FoCJC stewardship efforts.
Another goal for the Creek Keepers program is to engage the neighborhoods throughout the whole 25-mile CJ creek watershed. FoCJC wants the program to be the catalyst for more creek cleanups, water monitoring, anti-erosion efforts, and other activities to ensure the ongoing stewardship of the creek and its tributaries.
FoCJC is definitely interested in more Cabin Johners signing on as Creek Keepers. Anyone interested should email Burr Gray at burrgray@aol.com.
The FoCJC is planning a new event this year. The CJ Creek Challenge Hike, slated for May 14, is a nine-mile hike starting at Goya Dr. in Potomac and ending at Cabin John Local Park, with an option to follow the creek all the way down to the Potomac. Participants will also have an option of joining in for smaller hikes comprised of sections of the trail. There will be water stations along the way and refreshments at the end of the hike. Burr promises it will be festive!
Burr thanked Cabin John residents for being some of the group’s most loyal donors. On average, Cabin Johners donate some $3,800 annually. Since grant money can only be used for specific programs, the unrestricted donations from CJ residents and others is critical to helping the organization run smoothly and grow, he explained. Donations to the 501(c)(3) organization are tax deductible.
Mark Your Calendar: CJ Creek Cleanup Set for April 9
This year’s creek cleanup, jointly sponsored by the FoCJC and the Cabin John Citizens Association will be held April 9, from 2 pm to 4:30 pm.
Plan to gather at the park by the one-lane bridge at 1:45 pm for equipment and instruction. The clean-up, held rain or shine, is messy and old clothes are recommended. Bring gloves if you have them.
SSL hours are available, but children ages 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult. The CJCA will send out an email if inclement weather forces us to reschedule. [...]
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March 15, 2022Bannockburn Moms Without Borders, an informal group of moms who have known each other since their now-grown kids were in kindergarten at Bannockburn Elementary School, are working with other groups to provide food to more than 50 Afghan refugee families being housed temporarily at a hotel in Bethesda.
Connecting with Nourishing Bethesda and St. John’s Norwood Episcopal Church in February, the moms pitched in and purchased hundreds of loaves of bread from Yekta Market. The culturally-appropriate bread was a huge hit and so they decided to supplement it with feta cheese, dried fruits, and nuts, explained Sarah Craven of 81st Street. Sarah and Nooshen Amiri of Bethesda brought the idea of aiding Afghan refugees to their mom’s group, which had participated in community service projects together with their kids throughout the years.
The moms have been asked to continue their efforts until the end of May when all of the families are expected to be relocated. They are asking for help to ensure that they can provide enough food so that every family gets what it needs. Each week they spend some $400 and to date they have only raised about $2,500.
They calculate that they need at least another $2,500 to cover the upcoming weeks. Sarah says any additional funds raised will go towards more food and toiletries as these families came to the United States with little more than the clothes on their backs.
To contribute to this effort – Venmo your donation to @Kathy-Oconnor-17151. She is the Bannockburn mom and CPA serving as treasurer for the group. If you would rather donate by check, please contact Sarah Craven at lovecraven@gmail.com to make arrangements. [...]
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March 15, 2022Our species has a fascination with top predators. Polls repeatedly show that the most popular wild animal in the world is the tiger. Lions also occupy a place high on the list. And the exaggerated alarm about the chances of a shark attack is rekindled in each generation of swimmers and beachgoers. Any animal of another species that could possibly kill a human—grizzly bear, mountain lion, and so on—typically elicits a powerful emotional reaction. There is an innate fear of some large predators, tracing back to the Pleistocene era populated by flat-faced bears and massive dire wolves, when even our ancestors were fair game for a tasty dinner.
Steven Spielberg probably never took a course in evolutionary biology in film school, but in Jaws he certainly mastered the style of tapping into primal fear. When it comes to portraying feathered creatures on film as frightening, Alfred Hitchcock was the first in his classic, The Birds. Thankfully, the Spielberg sequel franchise never branched out to other species: had the director of Jaws decided to go multi-species, he might have named his next opus Claws, starring the Great Horned Owl, among the fiercest predators you can find in the bird world, though not known in nature for attacking humans.
Here is a top predator you don’t have to fly to Alaska to see up close. The Great Horned Owl lives just about everywhere—including in New York’s Central Park and in some parks around D.C. And like the giant shark in Spielberg’s epic, Great Horned Owls will target as prey even species considerably larger than themselves.
The Great Horned, Bubo virginianus, is among the largest of the nearly 250 species of owls. Within the genus Bubo, it is second only to the Forest-Eagle Owl of Eurasia in size. The Forest-Eagle Owl is quite similar in appearance to the Great Horned and plays the same role in nature as one of the top avian predators. Modern genetic analysis, though, shows that the Great Horned Owl’s nearest relative is actually the Snowy Owl. As in almost all owl and many raptorial bird species, females are larger than males. In the case of the Great Horned Owl, females can be fifty percent larger than males, females weighing in at about 3.5 lbs. and males typically around 2.5 lbs. This barrel-chested owl is built for powerful flight: it is almost as fast as the Forest-Eagle Owl, which has been clocked at 40 mph, and almost as strong as the Eagle Owl and another species called the Powerful Owl, the latter capable of catching arboreal marsupials like gliders, possums, and even poor koalas.
But unless the Great Horned Owl gives its deep five-note hoot (the common name for this species in the vernacular is the hoot owl), you won’t easily see one. Aside from strong flight muscles and talons, the Great Horned Owl is a study in camouflage. Barred feathers help it blend in with the trees in which it roosts. What might call attention besides its robust size are the plumes or horns on its head. Like the long-eared owl and the Eastern Screech Owl, the Great Horned’s ear tufts are feathers that may serve a role in attracting mates. Like all other owls, the ears are on the sides of the head, placed asymmetrically to maximize detection of prey scurrying about the ground. Another distinguishing feature of this bird is its massive yellow eyes. Owls have incredibly sharp vision, particularly at night. In fact, proportional to their body size, owls have among the largest eyes among vertebrates, filled with rod-like structures that enhance night vision.
The acuity of their eyesight and hearing far eclipses their sense of smell. In fact, Great Horned Owls have no sense of smell. Some birds—vultures, some fruit-eating birds, and many seabirds, for example—do have a sense of smell, but sometimes a strong olfactory skill could be a disadvantage, especially if part of your diet includes the various species of skunks and weasels that are members of the Mustelid family. Some Great Horned Owls that are avid skunkers reportedly smell like their prey. Better not to smell yourself or your meal in this case.
Not just skunks, but virtually every other vertebrate in their territory, must beware, for this owl has been recorded to eat over 500 species of animals, some as large as young foxes and coyotes. Great Horned Owls catch a variety of songbirds and even go after other owls, like the Eastern Screech Owl featured in last month’s column. Falcons, even osprey, are not safe. But the mainstays of the Great Horned Owl’s diet are ground-dwelling rodents and insectivorous mammals that they often hunt at dawn and dusk. Even large insects are eaten when they are plentiful. If not fussy about their food items, Great Horned Owls seem also to make use of a variety of nesting spots. Tree cavities are ideal but Great Horned pairs are more than comfortable taking over stick nests of other raptors like red-tailed hawks, osprey, or eagles. Human-made structures, if suitable and in places with lots of rodents, are also prime nest locations. Perhaps their ability to hunt across a range of habitats and eat a wide variety of prey partly explains their massive range: from the edge of the Canadian and Alaskan tundra to Argentina.
The fierce gaze of this species belies a softer side. Great Horned Owls are devoted parents and invest much energy in raising their two young. They even tolerate the young of the previous year hanging around the territory before they move off on their own. When their youngsters do leave they typically travel less than several miles from their natal area.
So how did this bird get its Latin name? Bubo was the name of the pet owl of the goddess Athena. As such, owls have long been associated with wisdom and knowledge. That assignation makes sense: in the wild, banded birds have been recorded to live up to 29 years. Time to have accumulated a lot of wisdom and serve as a natural control of vermin on the ground. Fierce in appearance, we need these large avian predators to keep our forests healthy lest an oversupply of rodents eat all the native seeds in the forest, and prevent our forests from regenerating. Bubo the Great keeps nature in balance, and ecologists are thankful.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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February 17, 2022Please keep a lookout in your mailbox for your 2022 Cabin John Citizens Association dues letter. Only $20 per household annually, the dues collected are critical to supporting all the activities and advocacy of the CJCA, which works hard to keep Cabin John the unique and vibrant community we all treasure.
In 2021, dues helped cover the cost of the beautiful and informative Cabin John Directory that was mailed to every CJ household. Dues also helped cover expenses associated with the Cabin John website, the 4th of July parade, our welcome bags for newcomers, the beautification of MacArthur Blvd., and the advocacy work on behalf of a thoughtful Beltway expansion and the preservation of the Morningstar 88 Moses Hall and Cemetery.
Seems like a pretty good return for $20.
In addition to dues information, the CJCA letter will detail how you can make contributions to the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center and the Friends of the Cabin John Creek. The letter also will give you a way to correct, update, or add directory listings information. Most importantly, there will be a way to indicate your willingness to volunteer to help the Cabin John Citizens Association in the coming year.
The CJCA does not exist without citizen support. Please do your part by paying your 2022 dues as promptly as possible.
Don’t want to wait until your letter arrives to take care of your dues payment? Go to the Cabin John website, www.cabinjohn. org/about-cjca/pay-dues, where you can pay by credit card or Venmo. [...]
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February 17, 2022While the pandemic forced the Friends of Cabin John Creek (FoCJC) to pause most of its community activities, it’s still been hard at work protecting the Cabin John Creek and its watershed. We spent the last two years implementing the $64,000 grant received from the Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT) in 2020. Please come to the CJCA Zoom meeting on Feb. 23 at 7:30 pm to hear of the FoCJC’s past and the future endeavors focused on our wonderful creek.
But first, many thanks to all Cabin Johners who have supported FoCJC during this past year and before that. Your donations are unrestricted funds which are so valuable and usually go toward the critical task of capacity building. Funds that we obtain via grants are usually targeted to certain specific tasks and have less flexibility.
While we’ll go into detail at the meeting, the highlights of what we were able to accomplish with our last CBT grant includes:
Publication of a FoCJC Rain Planter Instructional Video, intern-created and -produced, available on our website, www.cabinjohncreek.org Publication of a virtual RainScapes Garden Tour, intern-created, also on the website Two FoCJC/Audubon Naturalist Society Creek Critter Water Quality Monitoring events Five creek clean-ups A storm drain labeling program for Bannockburn Estates A rain garden tour with the Bannockburn Community Clubhouse Provided a CJ Creek Watershed Girl Scout Troop with a Watershed Journey-in-a-Box, including planning and educational materials for a multi-badge workshop that the troop will run for itself, with an Each-One, Teach-One component, so older Girl Scouts will be able to lead an event for younger scouts. Developed with our independent school partner St. Andrew’s Episcopal School in Potomac, a Middle/Upper School Watershed Stewardship curriculum component. Installed, with the help of local Cabin Johner Bruce Lamb, eight rain planters at various homes and a church.
Our largest effort of 2021 was a nine-day Creek Keeper Launch Event, consisting of an ecosystem walking assessment/adoption as part of a new on-going creek stewardship program in partnership with Montgomery Parks and Planning. Fourteen Creek Keeper teams were formed, with 30 participants, representing numerous communities.
We plan to do even more in the coming years. We applied for another CBT grant a couple of months ago. That proposal focuses on the Creek Keepers group as critical in growing awareness and support for the CJ creek upstream. Our hope is that these folks will act as nuclei of energy and ideas and activity in various locations throughout the watershed.
One effort that will definitely occur in 2022 regardless of whether we get the grant is to organize a hike along the entire CJ Creek Trail, from the Potomac as far upstream as possible—or maybe we’ll start up north and walk downstream. We’ll be smart in designing the walk so that people are able to participate in only a portion of the hike if they are so inclined. It will be quite festive!
The hike planning committee has some current and former CJ residents (Jon Putnam, Greg Gurley, and Burr Gray) involved in the effort. Feel free to reach out to Burr (burrgray@aol.com) if you would like to be involved in any fashion.
By Burr Gray
President, Friends of the Cabin John Creek [...]
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February 17, 2022It’s been a chilly start to the new year, but Glen Echo Park continues to offer some great programs. The social dance groups are staying warm by waltzing, tangoing, and swinging. Check the website for various opportunities both in person and online.
Classes continue to be offered in painting, pottery, photography, music, glass blowing, etc. Spring and summer class and camp offerings will be published later in February.
The art galleries are presenting new exhibitions through February and March. The Popcorn Gallery features the intriguing and colorful work of DC artist James S.Terrell. His solo exhibition Discombobulation: A Collide of Scope combines the traditional style of color blocking popularized by Josef Albers and images from Terrell’s everyday life. Heavily inspired by quilt design patterns and stained glass, his acrylic and sharpie paintings create illusions that tell a story.
Starting Feb. 26 and running for a month, the Stone Gallery will feature an exhibit by Bethesda resident Jackie Hoysted. Called Symbiotica, the interactive art installation lights up in unison to the heartbeats of participants when they place their fingers on connected pulse-sensors. Hoysted’s installation invites the public to contemplate the concept of symbiosis and mutually beneficial relationships, as well as how we as humans need to cooperate together to become better co-inhabitants of the planet.
On view in the Park View Gallery starting Feb. 26 will be What’s On Your Mind? featuring the work of more than 20 Walter Johnson High School photography students who were asked to share their perspectives on issues of importance to them.
Park View Gallery is open Monday through Saturday, 10 AM to 4 PM. Popcorn and Stone Tower galleries are open on the weekends 12 to 6 PM. In addition, several resident artists’ studios will be open on the weekends, so come by to check them out!
Glen Echo Park Partnership continues to work with the county and the National Park Service on needed facility upgrades. The Spanish Ballroom is our next big project. We will be assessing for upgrades to the building, including repairs to the historic dance floor and potential climate control options.
Other planning includes the upcoming visit of the Urban Land Institute Advisory Panel in March. The panel consists of architects and urban planners who will be offering ideas on our long-term facilities improvements.
The Glen Echo Park Partnership board will be seeking new members to fill vacant positions starting this spring. Information will be posted on the website. Should anyone have questions, they can contact me at morrism@email.gwu.edu.
By Martha Morris
President, Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture [...]
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February 17, 2022Even in the dead of winter, nature speaks to us. For the past two months, my wife and I have been charmed by the calls of a most interesting visitor, the Eastern Screech Owl, which has been perching around 78th Street. Every evening at dusk and then between 8:30 and 9 PM, the distinct quiet hoots of this diminutive owl have made me drop what I was reading. I even stopped listening to music on headphones so I could catch the evening nocturne. In 28 years of living here, this is the first time I have heard this owl.
The Eastern Screech Owl (Megascops asio) has the distinction of being one of the most misnamed of birds. Unlike one of its prey items, the Mourning Dove, which does indeed utter a melancholy song, this night predator doesn’t screech at all (unless really agitated). Instead, it offers gentle tremolos or soft calls. Far different from the booming sounds of our region’s larger owls, the Great Horned Owl and the Barred Owl.
If you are used to the image of big fierce- looking owls, you must downsize your search image to spot this one. Adult Eastern Screech Owls are tiny, ranging from 6 to 10 inches long and weighing in at 4-8 ounces. Diminutive birds that are strictly nocturnal in their behavior, they become even harder to see because they are among the best-camouflaged bird species in our region. Eastern Screech Owls sport a dark gray plumage, but the complex patterns and streaks in the feathers allow it to blend with tree bark. They like to nest in abandoned tree cavities where they hole up during the day. But when they do emerge to stand on the cavity’s ledge, pressed against one wall, they disappear visually into the bark. Further south, where pine trees dominate the forest, you can find reddish members of the species. Some birders say this adaptation enables their plumage to merge more successfully with the tawny bark of pine trees or the bright leaves of some deciduous trees, but this is hearsay and not based on genetics. For either color morph, skilled birders rarely spot them, let alone neophytes.
But their presence is typically unmistakable: a weird roll of a song that someone once described as, “Oh-o-o-o-o that I never had been bor-r-r-r-n!” And you can hear them almost anywhere. Females are larger than males as in most owls and have different vocalizations.
Eastern Screech Owls are generalists in habitat selection: deciduous forests, open parklands, forests bordering rivers, even suburban areas such as here in Cabin John. Find a locale with lots of mice and songbirds and they are content. One of their favorite food items is the aforementioned Mourning Dove, which stands no chance against the sharp talons of this little owl. Nor do over 100 other species of birds that have been recorded in their diet. That said, rats and mice make up the bulk of their menu, so they do us homeowners a favor. But they will eat about any small prey item and love crickets, grasshoppers, and other insects, especially during the breeding season. It’s hard to know what drives habitat selection strategies in animals, and discovering those strategies is a major branch of ecology. For this owl in particular, questions emerge: Is it the presence of lots of easy prey to catch, like birds that hang out at backyard feeders, or is it the availability of tree holes for nesting found in older trees, often a scarce resource? Another possibility is that these owls seek out places where larger, predatory owls such as Great Horned Owls and Barred Owls rarely venture, finding roosting spots near houses and in open areas. Perhaps the desire to avoid predators drives habitat selection more than any other factor.
When dusk falls, our owl awakens. Often it hunts from a perch, swooping down to make a kill. Blessed with sharp nocturnal vision and acute hearing, the Eastern Screech Owl is reportedly able to detect the sounds of mice under a blanket of snow. It is in the “swoop” that their extraordinary evolutionary adaptations for night hunting emerge. Their fine hearing is aided by a feature common to owls, something that would look unusual in humans: ears that are asymmetrically placed on the sides of the head (the tufts of feathers that stick up on the top of the head look like ears but are fake). This slight shift enables the owl to compare the differences between each ear’s perception of sound to lock in on an object. The flight feathers are exceptional too: they are serrated at the tips. This built-in noise damper removes the sound of flapping wings, enabling a sneak attack.
My hypothesis is that the screech owl came to visit us and take up temporary residence to move away from dangerous Barred and Great Horned owls now that February, the start of the owl’s breeding season, is upon us (although our neighborhood is full of Cooper’s Hawks, a diurnal raptor also known to go after screech owls). I would have liked to know the motivation for the visits, but I was still so pleased that the owl faithfully called each night and then again before dawn. Sometimes it would even wake us up at night. It had clearly settled in at home in Cabin John.
Then it happened: Radio silence. During the following two weeks, I strained to listen for the songs of our new friend. Night after night, nothing but silence or the annoying sound of a jet plane headed to National Airport. Had I spoken too soon about our backyard being a Barred Owl-free zone? I was walking out in the backyard forest the other day when I saw a large bird with broad wings flap into the same tree our local Eastern Screech Owl had used as its calling perch! A Barred Owl! I hooted at it angrily and it flew away. Two days later my wife thought she heard our friend calling, but it was far away. I thought I had heard it, too. Maybe wishful thinking, a trait of many birders who, eager to see or hear a special bird, can convince themselves they did. I hope he is still around.
The Eastern Screech Owl can live up to 20 years in captivity, but life is much shorter in the wild. Perhaps our friend has moved to Glen Echo for the time being, to visit other families and scour the ground for mice and voles. That is what I like to think, anyway.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration By Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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January 23, 2022Seven CJ residents have agreed to serve on a nominating committee charged with developing a slate of Cabin John Citizens Association officers for 2022-2023. After six years at the helm of the CJCA, President Susan Shipp is stepping down. Vashti VanWyke, who is serving as co- president this year, is in a one-year term to help transition to new leadership.
In addition to the position(s) of president, the association is also looking for a secretary, and a co-vice president of communications to manage the CJ listserv and help the president(s) with email communications and stories for The Village News.
The committee is charged with identifying its slate by the end of March, with the election scheduled for the May 25 CJCA meeting. The members are:
• Amanda Benjamin of McKay Circle
• Phil Corcoran of MacArthur Blvd.
• Sarah Craven of 81st Street
• Amy Elsbree of 79th Street
• Andy Fishburn, Tomlinson Terrace
• Marget Maurer of 79th Street
• Neil Shaut of MacArthur Blvd.
Membership in the nominating committee is open. Please reach out to Amy Elsbree at amy.elsbree@gmail.com or one of the other members, if you would like to join in its important work or if you are interested in serving as a CJCA officer for the upcoming year. [...]
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January 23, 2022In summer 2018 the Maryland State Highway Administration held a series of public workshops on the newly proposed $11 billion Beltway expansion plan. The maps they shared at those workshops did not even mark the site of the Moses Hall & Cemetery property in Cabin John.
However, in the intervening years, the SHA worked closely with descendants of the cemetery, the Friends of Moses Hall, the Cabin John Citizens Association, county officials, historic preservation groups, and others to do right by the cemetery. They conducted an archeological survey, cleared invasive bamboo and, most recently, conducted an expensive ground-penetrating radar survey of part of the property to look for gravesites.
The results were stunning: more than 189 probable burials and 188 possible graves within the surveyed portion of the cemetery itself and, shockingly, evidence of 34 likely gravesites in the existing Beltway right-of-way.
Now it appears the SHA is reverting back to its original stance and looking for ways to negate the cemetery.
At a Jan. 4 virtual meeting with groups engaged in protecting the cemetery, the SHA announced that it has worked to ensure that the Beltway expansion would avoid the cemetery; therefore, they are reversing the assessment made earlier in the Section 106 process and finding the expansion would have “no adverse effect” on the property. With this determination, the SHA is no longer obligated to provide assistance or otherwise mitigate impacts to the property. Community groups strongly disagree with this “no-adverse-effect” finding.
Furthermore, Steve Archer, the SHA official presiding over the meeting, announced that the SHA is not responsible for any detrimental impacts to the cemetery and the Gibson Grove community caused by the original Beltway construction, since it occurred before the passage of the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) in 1970 and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) in 1966.
The CJCA, Friends of Moses Hall, Montgomery Planning, State Delegate Sara Love, and others have long raised the issue of environmental justice going back to the construction of the Beltway in the early 1960s. In a November letter to the SHA, the National Trust for Historic Preservation summarized the issue forcefully:
“The most important part of the cumulative impact analysis will be the past impacts – the damage and destruction directly and indirectly inflicted on this historic property, as well as on the Gibson Grove AME Zion Church and the wider Black community of Cabin John, by the earlier highway construction.”
The Trust argued that the SHA should “ensure that robust mitigation is developed commensurate with the magnitude of these adverse cumulative impacts.”
The SHA had appeared to agree. In a September 2021 article in The Washington Post, Julie M. Schablitsky, the Maryland Department of Transportation’s chief archeologist is quoted as saying, “We own the faults of the Maryland Roads Commission impacting this community 60 years ago… It’s our responsibility now to repair that damage and come in and do the right thing.”
Assuming the Maryland Historical Trust concurs with SHA’s finding of “no adverse effect” to the historic property, the SHA is not required to address potential impacts through mitigation or to commit to any additional archeological investigations of the property prior to the Record of Decision (ROD) at the end of the NEPA process, which is expected later in 2022.
The CJCA, Friends of Moses Hall, and others are calling on the SHA to do additional GPR survey work for gravesites, especially in more of the Beltway right- of-way and on the cemetery side of the fence line. The state has acknowledged it does not know if additional graves will be found within the areas that will be impacted by Beltway construction; however, SHA says there will be no further investigation until they are closer to final design and construction.
By delaying further archeological investigation, the Friends of Moses Hall and others argue, avoidance options should gravesites be found will be more limited and could result in the relocation of graves, which many descendants oppose.
During the virtual meeting, the SHA did reiterate a few commitments it made earlier.
Most importantly, the SHA said it would transfer the Beltway right-of-way land where the GPR found likely gravesites to the cemetery. The Federal Highway Administration suggested that SHA could delay the land transfer until after the ROD. Ultimately, both highway agencies agree to conclude the Section 106 process with a “no- adverse-effect” finding for the cemetery, since the expansion will not physically encroach on the current boundary of the cemetery property.
As part of the noise abatement wall that will be constructed, the SHA said it will construct a “context-sensitive” design of the noise barrier facing the cemetery. It could incorporate displays helping to tell the history of the Gibson Grove community and the important role the Morningstar fraternal order played in the community from the late 1800s into the 1950s.
SHA also committed to build a sidewalk between Gibson Grove Church and the cemetery. Community groups see these measures as totally inadequate for environmental justice. Absent any commitment to the restoration of the cemetery site, the property will not be safe to receive visitors for the foreseeable future.
By Susan Shipp, CJCA President [...]
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January 23, 2022The Clara Barton Community Center has a new exhibit of historical photos on display thanks to the generosity of CJ resident Paulo Lyra and the efforts of the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center (FCBCC). The new photos featuring Cabin John history are on display in the center’s community room next to the kitchen.
Viewing the six images, one can see and feel, for at least a moment, what life was like in the early 20th century on the C&O canal, in Glen Echo Park, and at the Cabin John Bridge and the Bridge Hotel.
Hanging the pictures was the culmination of a project that began several years ago, when Mr. Lyra put a note on the community listserv alerting folks that the images were available. Mr. Lyra, with help from several local historians, had carefully selected the photos from various sources. Only a few historical photos have resolution fine enough for prints this size.
Noticing the listserv post, FCBCC board member Stace Kimmel saw that it was an opportunity to expand the community center’s display of historic CJ images. Under the leadership of Burr Gray, the Cabin John Citizens Association created seven historical panels tracing Cabin John’s history that have hung in the center’s main hallway since 2004.
Stacey contacted Mr. Lyra and alerted the other board members, who made individual contributions to fund the pictures’ restoration. Ritch Kepler laboriously lifted the photos from their old warped backings and supplied new ones that are rigid and smooth. The pandemic postponed further action, and the framed photos remained in storage until November, when Ritch, Barry, and Burr Gray (another FCBCC board member) teamed up to hang the images.
Many thanks go to Mr. Lyra for his gift of these impressive photographs.
By Burr Gray, Regular Contributor [...]
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January 23, 2022Night owls: a term we assign to those who keep late hours—carousing, reading, bingeing on Netflix, or engaging in activities best left unmentioned. In general, speaking as a mammalogist, I find that the human species goes to bed early. Maybe a quick trip outside with the dog after dinner or a glance at the moon or the stars. Then it’s back inside, hardly enough time to encounter the world of living things moving, flying, and foraging out there in the dark. We are, in our diurnal ways, an anomaly among the world’s 6,400 species of mammals, as most are nocturnal. The same is true for many species of amphibians, but relatively few birds.
I became a night owl as a result of my research interests. In Costa Rica and Panama in 1980, I conducted my Ph.D. field research on tropical fruit bats. I learned so much about the natural world—and made observations that my diurnal fellow biologists never witnessed—simply by walking around late at night in rainforests while checking my mist nets for captured bats or listening to the sounds. At night, rainforests come alive with the vocalizations of kinkajous, frogs, calling insects, and owls. But, my own knowledge of our nocturnal neighbors back here in the temperate zone has been rather limited except for a spotted owl study in the winter of 1980 on the slopes of Mt. Baker, WA. For these reasons, I have dedicated the Local Nature columns for 2022 to the theme of introducing the nocturnal wildlife of Cabin John so that I can learn more as well.
Among the topics we will explore are how widespread nocturnal behavior is among animals, how this behavior evolved, and the remarkable adaptations species have evolved to navigate life at night.
But first, a plea directly related to appreciating nature at night. Light pollution has been well documented to upset the natural rhythms of nocturnal wildlife. Lights are safety essentials on busy highways and intersections but not continuously in backyards or, for that matter, in parking lots. If you have bright outdoor flood lights that remain on all night, you may disrupt the behavior of many nocturnal animals and increase their mortality by making them more visible to predators, upsetting mating patterns, and causing disorientation. The simple, cheap solution to being a good neighbor and a friend to nocturnal animals while still attending to safety is to rig outdoor beams with a motion sensor and timer so they become active only when needed.
Now please join me in this and subsequent columns this year as we peer into the fascinating lives of the night movers.
GLIDING THROUGH LIFE
As a child, my favorite cartoon was The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show. The stars were the clever Rocky, a flying squirrel, and his friend, Bullwinkle J. Moose, animated residents of Frostbite Falls, Minnesota. Every week, the pair matched wits with their antagonists, the devious Boris Badenov and his partner, Natasha Fatale. I never knew at age 7 that flying squirrels actually existed in nature and could be found in the nearby forests in New Jersey where I grew up. When I did become aware of flying squirrels from my mammalogy textbooks, the Rocky connection was apt: they struck me as creatures designed by evolution but with an assist from a cartoonist. The flying squirrel’s enormous black eyes for seeing at night, long black whiskers, soft gray-brown fur, white undersides, and a skin fold that stretches between their paws and limbs allow this mammal to accomplish daredevil leaps and glides between distant trees. At rest, the skin fold fits over its shoulders like a cape. These 8-to-10-inch-long mammals with a flat 4-to- 5-inch tail are arguably the most adorable mammals on Earth. They live among us in the D.C. area but only where there are large tracts of forest. But even if you live next to a large tract, as we do in Cabin John, you probably have never seen one. Besides being active only at night they are also rather shy. Unless one somehow crawls into a cranny of your house you probably won’t encounter them, although you might hear the squeaky- wheel sounds they make.
The name flying squirrel is a misnomer. Bats are the only true flying mammals with about 1,400 species. However, there are several different lineages in the squirrel family (Sciuridae) and under a dozen or so species that, instead of flying, glide long distances through forests and savannas. Outside the squirrel family is another glider, the flying lemur. The flying lemur neither flies nor is a true lemur but instead is placed in its own Family (Cynocephalidae) and Order (Dermoptera, as opposed to the squirrels in the Rodentia). They are restricted to the tropical forests of southeast Asia (the sunda flying lemur) or the southern islands of the Philippines (the Philippines flying lemur).
Although not as maneuverable as bats, the aerial displays of flying squirrels are still impressive, and my first encounter with one of these night gliders was unforgettable. When I was studying tigers in Nepal in the 1970s I would spend the night in tree houses to photograph the giant cats at dawn patrolling their territories on the jungle track below my perch. One night while camped out in a fragrant tree related to frankincense, I fell asleep and woke suddenly to a loud scratching above me. At first, I thought a leopard had climbed up to join me. When I turned on my flashlight, I was startled to see a giant Indian flying squirrel (Petaurista petaurista) staring straight at me! It had made its day roost in a cavity in my tree, or his tree. He scampered up the trunk and jumped into the night. I watched in awe as it landed on a tree easily 75 feet away. The scientific literature reports that this species is capable of long-distance glides over 1,000 feet!
Our Cabin John variety of flying squirrel (Glaucomys volans) doesn’t glide as far as its South Asian relative, but the leaps of this smaller species are still impressive. They glide up to 200 feet but most “flights” are of much shorter distance. Prior to landing on the next tree, they turn their skin fold into a parachute and adjust the angle of landing to dampen the shock of touchdown. These arboreal mammals, while daredevils in the air, are feeble crawlers on the ground.
Sometimes these gliding mammals sail between trees in small groups in search of food. Flying squirrels live on oak acorns, hickory nuts, and beechnuts, which they store for winter consumption to tide them over until spring. Both sexes are territorial and males have larger home ranges than females (2.5-16 hectares for adult males vs 2-7 hectares for females). Male and female territories overlap and are often centered around large red or white oak trees or hickories that provide seasonal bonanzas.
Where nut trees are dense, home ranges are smaller; where the trees are more dispersed, the squirrels spread out. In fragmented forests, squirrels must range across several patches. Large tracts of forest, like we have along Cabin John Creek, are preferred for obvious reasons over fragmented forests.
In winter, flying squirrels don’t hibernate but instead roost together in a heap of several related individuals. Home is a cavity excavated by a woodpecker or a crevice in an old tree. Flying squirrels supplement their nut diets with insects, buds, fungi, carrion, birds’ eggs, and even nestlings.
From southeastern Canada to Florida, across the eastern half of North America, this charming member of our night fauna is there for you to find it. But you will have to look hard. The sworn enemy of our local flying squirrels, their real-life Boris Badenovs, are snakes and screech owls (see next month’s column), but also raccoons and probably any mammal or bird of prey that can catch them. But they must catch them first. These nimble acrobats escape with a spread of their skin folds and glide to safety in the next tree, leaving the snake and befuddled raccoon behind.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration By Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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November 14, 2021Members of the Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy (MICC) meeting with CJ residents Oct. 27 shared tales of their multifaceted efforts to restore Minnie’s Island’s natural habitat and refurbish the cabin on the property to comfortably host veterans, educational groups, and others looking to enjoy the beautiful surroundings.
In addition to sharing photos of their work, Pascal Pittman, chairperson of the MICC board, explained that when they started it was impossible to walk the length of the island due to all the overgrown vegetation— now there is a new pathway. They also uncovered a well and hope to install a solar array to power a pump for the well. They plan to have a composting toilet and an overarching goal of a net-zero footprint.
Pascal also stressed a goal of fun and noted that they have hauled a grill out to the cabin deck and already hosted a BBQ for volunteers.
CJ resident Hanna Moerland, who chairs the group’s Natural Resources Committee, stressed that the group has “a mandate to figure out how to balance the community goals with the preservation of the Potomac Gorge’s unique biodiversity.”
She noted that there are 1,400 different plant species in the Potomac Gorge and some 300 species are considered rare, endangered, or threatened. During one recent effort at removing invasive vines, they uncovered a rare Maryland goldenrod plant, which they will protect from island visitors. (See this month’s Nature column for more on the goldenrod.)
Another CJ resident, Neil Shaut, heads up the Physical Facilities Committee, which he describes as the group responsible for safety, whether it has to do with transporting people to and from the island, securing the cabin, or keeping the first aid kit at the ready. This month, they have experts going out to the island to do a forensic survey of the cabin and its foundation to see what needs to be done to ensure its soundness.
The goals are ambitious and the MICC welcomes anyone interested in volunteering or just curious about their work to check out their website, www.minniesisland.org.
Susan Shipp, CJCA President [...]
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November 14, 2021Restoration of the historic Gibson Grove Church on Seven Locks Rd. kicked off Oct. 20 with a groundbreaking ceremony to announce the effort and recognize the state officials who helped secure funding for this critical first step. More than 40 people, including a dozen CJ residents, attended the midday event.
As explained by E.S Bankhead, Jr., chairman of the church’s board of trustees, phase one will actually see some of the structure torn down in order to stabilize the belfry and the front of the building, which must be kept intact to keep the church’s historic designation. Construction equipment was at the property as the newsletter went to press.
Phase one is being funded by a $550,000 state bond awarded in April to stabilize and improve the Gibson Grove site. The bond initiative was first introduced by State Delegate Sara Love and strongly supported by Delegate Marc Korman of the Appropriations Committee. State Senator Susan Lee sponsored the initiative in the Senate.
The total cost of the church rebuilding and expansion project is estimated at $3.2 million. The church property suffered significant structural damage in a 2004 fire, just a year after the First Agape AME Zion Church took over the church property and completed refurbishing it. As the church worked to raise funds and address the restoration requirements due to its historic designation, the property sustained further damage when a massive tree limb dropped on the structure in 2015. Additionally, poorly managed stormwater drainage from the Capital Beltway has caused extensive erosion to the site.
The State Highway Administration recently pledged to mitigate stormwater damage to the church property and the church hopes that will include land improvements to allow for a parking lot on the site. To avoid further tree damage, the church is seeking a county permit to remove two trees, but will mill the wood and store it to use in the new building.
Susan Shipp, CJCA President [...]
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November 14, 2021With the mask mandate lifted and school-age children able to be vaccinated, the Cabin John Citizens Association wants to bring back the CJ Holiday Party. It’s a wonderful annual event that brings the community together to enjoy some holiday cheer.
The free festivities include a sing-along, crafts, a selfie station, and a delicious assortment of food and drink as well as the ever-popular visit from Santa. A raffle, which raises money for SOME (So Others Might Eat) keeps getting bigger with more than a dozen prizes valued between $50 and $400.
The community center is booked for Dec. 12 from 5:00 to 7:00 pm, but we need volunteers to make it happen. We need you to give a couple hours now to help solicit raffle prizes. Or you could volunteer to arrive two hours before the event to decorate and set up. We also need people to help out during the party to keep it running smoothly and to clean up afterwards.
To volunteer, please contact Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@ verizon.net or 301-320-5106. [...]
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November 14, 2021You don’t need an advanced degree in plant taxonomy to recognize goldenrod. From the passenger’s seat of a car speeding down the Clara Barton Parkway, there it is: golden fingers waving at you from tall green stalks. The splash of dazzling color in early August from this roadside fixture signals the approach of fall. Well into October, various species of goldenrod combine with asters, wingstem, boneset, and mistflower to make fall flowering a colorful passage into cooler weather. In fact, I used to think of goldenrod, when I was a budding naturalist living in Illinois, as the harbinger of autumn. I had no idea until I started my coursework in biology how much more goldenrod has to teach us about pattern and process in the natural world.
Let’s start with the basics: goldenrod is in the aster family, one of the largest in the world with over 23,000 species. Those zinnias, marigolds, sunflowers, and chrysanthemums in your flower garden, or the artichokes, lettuce, and endive in your vegetable garden—all are relatives of goldenrod. The green liquor known as absinthe in the Henri Toulouse-Lautrec painting is also known as wormwood, another genus (Artemisia) in the aster family. And “Aachoo!!!,” the cause of hay fever and fall allergies? Over there, at the edge of an unmown lawn, is ragweed (Ambrosia).
But don’t point the finger at goldenrod: it is pollinated by insects, unlike the wind- pollinated ragweed. Goldenrod does no harm, meaning it doesn’t trigger any allergic response. Goldenrod is one of the more diverse genera of the aster plants, with about 110-120 species in total, most of them found in central and eastern North America and a few in the United Kingdom. The name Solidago, goldenrod’s genus, comes from the Latin word “solida,” meaning “whole,” and “ago” meaning “to make.”
The cultural aspects of goldenrod are as interesting as the ecological insights its study offers. Goldenrod is a heroic plant in American colonial history. The story goes that after the Boston Tea Party, finding an alternative to the imported tea, Camellia chinensis, became a colonist’s imperative. Enter Solidago, and soon goldenrod tea became known as “liberty tea” (like replacing the French with “freedom” in French fries, I suppose). Goldenrod tea became the only tea rebellious colonists would drink during their protests against British rule and its hated taxes, imposed without representation. Eventually, goldenrod tea became a much sought-after export tea to, of all places, China, the original home of Camellia!
Most impressive of all, at the turn of the last century goldenrod made a short list for the ultimate accolade—national flower—in competition with the columbine, the daisy, and clover. There was drama surrounding the final choice and even fake news: In the 1940s while still a front-runner in the belated decision on a national flower, goldenrod was accused of being the cause of hay fever, no doubt because it shares the same flowering time as ragweed, the true culprit. Despite a later reprieve from plant science as the cause of allergies, goldenrod eventually lost out, but not until 1986 when the rose received the coveted honor of national flower, anointed so by President Ronald Reagan. A poor choice, in my view: one might say that if you have seen one cultivated rose, you have seen them all.
More seriously, the national flower is not even native to the United States! Although there are many native species in the genus Rosa, this was not the type of rose Reagan had in mind. He favored ones more like the cultivated roses that have no native pollinators and don’t produce nectar. In contrast, goldenrod is a native and a staple for nectar feeders, as well as a sign of good luck and fortune in many cultures.
But it is the ecologist who sings the loudest praises for goldenrods, because this wild native teaches us a basic lesson essential to understanding nature: that most species on Earth are rare. Among the 75 species of goldenrod in the United States and, in particular, the 23 species in our local flora, most goldenrods are uncommon—they have very narrow ranges, low population densities, or both. Sure, there is the ubiquitous Canada goldenrod along the highways and byways of the eastern United States, but in North America, these few goldenrod species that are widespread and common are the exceptions. Instead, many goldenrods are unique to rare soil types like calcareous rocks or sandstones.
Perhaps the most impressive of these is an endangered goldenrod species that was recently encountered in our area along the Potomac and part of one of the rarest plant communities on Earth, called a scour community. I wrote about this phenomenon a few years back in this column. The Potomac, like other wild rivers, scours out riverbanks and eddies during flooding events. Left in the exposed soil and scattered on the river boulders are the seeds of plants adapted for the wild river ride. When the water level drops, the floating seeds settle into nooks and crannies, germinate, and take root. Do they ever take root! This rare goldenrod has a thick rhizome that not only helps it to cling tightly to the rocks during floods but to store a lot of nutrients. The nutrient reservoir and the lack of competitors in this narrow ecological niche grant this goldenrod species a fate many of us would like to have: a very long existence. It is likely that the goldenrods you almost stepped on will outlive you and even your children.
But back to nature’s lesson: in any group of plants and animals with lots of similar species—a pattern repeated again and again, from deer mice to fence lizards to goldenrods—there are always a few species in the genus that are abundant and range widely, and a majority of species that are rare. It is this pattern of rarity that drivesus as scientists, and many others as well, to discern it, map it, and save these rarities, the precious gems of nature.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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November 4, 2021Once again, Cabin John residents and friends will have a chance to join their neighbors in a family-friendly run/walk at the 4th annual CJ Turkey Trot to be held Thanksgiving morning at 10 am.
The free trot will start at Cabin John Local Park, by the one-lane bridge. Folks are asked to gather by the banner at the park. We’ll take a quick commemorative photo and send participants on their way.
The 2.5 mile run/walk, organized by the Cabin John citizens Association, follows the bike path from the park, to 79th Street, down to the C&O Canal, along the canal to the path by the one-lane bridge and back to the park. There will be signs and course monitors along the route.
Food Donations Encouraged
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we are asking all participants to bring non-perishable grocery items for Manna Food Center’s Smart Sack program.
The Smart Sack Program provides backpacks of food each weekend to some 2,850 Montgomery County school kids. Popular food items include jars of peanut butter, boxes of granola bars, instant oatmeal, canned vegetables and fruits.
Registration, Volunteering and T-Shirt Orders
The trot is free, but we are asking every household who is thinking about coming out, to please register so that we can plan accordingly.
When registering, you also will have the opportunity to purchase t-shirts. The 2021 version will be a long-sleeved smoke gray t-shirt with a masked turkey logo. Available in a range of sizes, the shirts sell for $18 for adult sizes and $16 for youth sizes. The deadline for t-shirt orders is COB Nov. 11.
During the online registration process, you will also be asked if you are willing to volunteer to put up course signs before the event or to be a course monitor during the trot. Please consider helping to make this event safe and successful.
Questions about registration, t-shirt orders or volunteering? Contact Kesha Leets at kesha.leets@gmail.com. [...]
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October 14, 2021 In March, Pascall Pittman and other founders of Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy (MICC) met with CJ residents to share a vision of an organization “dedicated to the preservation of the ecological, architectural, scientific and humanist legacy of Minnie’s Island.”
Located in the Potomac River about 100 yards off-shore from Lockhouse 8 on the C&O Canal, Minnie’s Island is roughly eight acres of wild habitat with a dilapidated wooden lodge and large deck at one end.
Thanks to the outpouring of support from the community and beyond, MICC has made great strides in the intervening seven months. Come to the Oct. 27 CJCA Zoom meeting for a comprehensive update on this exciting project.
When MICC first started, all of the trails on Minnie’s were completely overgrown and totally concealed. The cabin was replete with debris left by previous occupants, including numerous vagrants. Now, the trails have been significantly cleared and the cabin has been pretty well cleaned of debris and secured. Two structured volunteer days are scheduled for October to continue clearing invasive species and to deliver a 350 lb. wood-burning stove to the cabin.
Other progress includes:
MICC has now been designated by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. The Potomac Conservancy has indicated that with this designation, they should be able to convey Minnie’s Island to the MICC by the end of October.
The Natural Resources Committee, under the leadership of Hanna Moerland and technical guidance of Eric Dinerstein, is implementing an Invasive Species Eradication Program. This is a big effort and can really use volunteer assistance. SSL hours are available.
Our Physical Facilities Committee, led by Neil Shaut, along with many volunteers, located the water well, cleaned the cabin, and delivered a propane BBQ grill to the island. The nationally recognized structural engineering firm, Robert Sillman Associates, with an expertise in historic preservation, is providing guidance on structural upgrades for the cabin.
MICC is creating an Arts & Design Committee to ensure that everything we do, while respecting conservation and natural resource considerations, is of the highest aesthetic standards, providing for an enriching environment for our target users: veterans, frontline workers, first responders, and students from local schools. Conversations with the National Park Service continue regarding the use of Lockhouse No. 8.
By Susan Shipp, CJCA President
Juliet Rodman, MICC Development Committee Chair [...]
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October 14, 2021A supplemental study of the environmental impacts to the state’s Beltway expansion plan, released Oct. 1, paints a decidedly mixed picture of the traffic impacts on the 12-mile stretch of highway included in the project as well as with the River Road interchange and other local roads.
It also details adverse impacts to treasured parkland abutting Cabin John. For example, the study calls for a temporary access road off the Clara Barton Parkway that would parallel the C&O Canal “for construction vehicles and materials to build the new American Legion Bridge” as well as for changes to access ramps.
It also talks about impacts to Cabin John Valley Stream Park “to accommodate widening of I-495, replacement of the bridges across Seven Locks Road and Cabin John Parkway” and new interchange modifications at River Rd.
While the study purports to have modified the initial plans to avoid impacts to Morningstar Moses Hall and Cemetery, there are still major issues with regard to the property as well as the historic Gibson Grove Church property.
What all this means for Cabin John, especially with regard to traffic, is something we have to decipher and comment on prior to the Nov. 15th public comment deadline on the study, which is formally called the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS).
To aid the Cabin John Citizens Association in its advocacy efforts, the community voted at the Sept. 29 CJCA meeting to approve up to $3,000 to, once again, engage the engineering consulting firm VHBMetroDC to review the SDEIS and provide technical points on traffic and other negative impacts.
The goal is to have VHB provide its analysis by the end of October to give the CJCA time to share it with the community along with guidance on how to submit comments.
By Susan Shipp, CJCA President [...]
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October 14, 2021The challenges of Covid prompted some changes to this year’s Chicken and Crab Feast. But that didn’t stop hundreds of Cabin John residents and friends from coming out Sept. 18 to enjoy each other’s company, the delicious food, and the beautiful music of the Starlight Orchestra.
It was the 10th year the crowd was serenaded by these talented musicians, who generously play only for their supper. Thank you CJ resident and band member Scott Lewis for hooking us up those many years ago!
Safety tweaks to the 51-year-old tradition included moving ticket sales and the serving line outside. The table seating, also outside, was widely spaced and, in some cases, shaded by tents, thanks to community center director Barry Jones, who borrowed canopies from other rec centers. The center also provided all the tables and chairs and staff to help ensure the event ran smoothly and safely. The center is a much-valued partner in so many CJ traditions!
All together some 525 meals were served and at least $5,000 raised through ticket sales and donations. While the final tally is still being calculated, the amount is on par with earlier feasts and will be used to support The Village News, MacArthur Blvd. Beautification, and the many CJCA-sponsored activities that we are looking to start holding again after a 17-month pandemic-induced hiatus.
The Chicken and Crab Feast could not happen without the roughly 100 volunteers who step up to do everything from going door-to-door to sell tickets and preparing vegetables before the event to setting up tables, cooking all the incredible food, dishing up the dinners, serving the drinks, and cleaning up at the end of a very long day.
For a couple of extremely dedicated volunteers the preparation for this beloved tradition starts more than a month before the big event. Since 2016, Allison and Patrick de Gravelles have coordinated this event, purchasing everything from paper goods and wooden mallets to cinnamon for the carrots and lemons for the lemonade. They deal with the permits and ensure that all of the cooking and food handling will pass muster with the county health inspector. This year they contended with the loss of some suppliers as well as the need to rethink how we handled aspects of the event. The tasks before and during the event are too numerous to count, yet Allison and Patrick handle every detail efficiently and without even breaking a sweat!
A new duo of incredibly capable and unflappable volunteers appeared on the scene this year to handle ticket sales before and during the event. Despite being rookies, Stephanie Lai and Heather Tomlinson successfully coordinated the ticket selling efforts of more than 30 volunteers.
All together some 577 tickets were sold, with 52 percent of purchasers opting for crab dinners and 48 percent for chicken. Another shout out goes to Robin Sidel, the CJ website editor, who made it possible for folks to buy tickets via the website, which accounted for 14 percent of ticket sales.
It wouldn’t be a CJ Chicken and Crab Feast without Pete Cousté leading the crab cooking and Richard Hopkins manning the grill. Seriously, is there a better chicken rub to be found anywhere?! Heidi Lewis and Karen Melchar always seem to make a party out of prepping vegetables. The kitchen crew, headed by Kathleen Black, made sure there were plenty of tasty sides for meat eaters and vegetarians alike.
Here are all of your neighbors who stepped up to keep this tradition going. Maybe next year you will consider joining them?!
ADVANCE TICKET SELLERS – coordinated by Stephanie Lai and Heather Tomlinson
Clare Amoruso, Lee Arbetman, Jessica Blake Hawke, Diana Carter, Deb Duffy, Amy Elsbree, Burr Gray, Linda Green, Helen Harris, Dallas Harrison, Marcy Harrison, Jim Heller, Elaine Hornauer, Virginia Ibarra, Dee Jennings, Courtney Krutoy, Charlotte Troup Leighton, Marget Maurer, Lorraine Minor, David Nester, Jenny Perry, Mandy and Tim Rehm, Lori Rieckelman, Susan Roberts, Juliet Rodman, Anne Rothman, Tim Shank, Robin Sidel, Jan Iris Smith, Sherri Stahl, Shannon Steward, Judy Welles, Lee Young
VEGGIE PREP – headed by Heidi Lewis and Karen Melchar
Sally Alain, Crista Gibbons, Marcy Harrison, Kerry, Sam and Clare Mustico, Yoshimi Nai, Lisa Norris, Wendy Rosensweig, Shannon Steward, Oona Stieglitz, Austin White, Barbara Wilmarth
CHICKEN CREW – headed by Richard Hopkins
Lynn Hopkins, Cole Hessman, Melih Karaca, Dennis Pillsbury
CRAB CREW – headed by Pete Cousté
Dan Berman, Joanne Carl, Michele Cousté, Anastasia Donnellan, Chris Enyart, Barry Hubscher, Dave Rosen
KITCHEN CREW – headed by Kathleen Black
Judith Bell, Reiko Berman, Anastasia Donnellan, Marcy Harrison, Sue Pierce, Shelly McKenzie, Andrew Strasfogel
SET UP – coordinated by Burr Gray
Dennis Bensen, Sarah Craven, Mark Gillespie, Greg Gurley, Emily Helmes, Jackie Hoglund, Melih Karaca, Scott Lewis, Anna McGuire, Bruce Meyers, Hanna Moerland, Dan Mustico, Pascal Pittman, Anne and Jeff Rothman, Ilene Rosen
DAY-OF TICKET SALES AND CJCA TABLE – coordinated by Stephanie Lai and Heather Tomlinson
Diana Carter, Amy Elsbree, Grace Lai, Heidi Lewis, Lori Rieckelman, Susan Roberts, Clara, Finn and Tatum Tomlinson
BEVERAGES – headed by Florence Lehr
Jackie Hoglund
LEMONADE – headed by Anne Rothman
My Lin Bui, Sydney Ishida, Andrea Williams
SERVERS – coordinated by Susan Shipp
Leslie Baldwin, Sarah Craven, Gail Davenport, Janet and Walt Dence, Emily Franklin, Lynn Gertzog, Linda Green, Meredith Griggs, Helen Harris, Lynn Hopkins, Dallas and Judy Harrison, Jim Ingraham, Dee Jennings, Anna McGuire, Karen Melchar, Leslie Meyers, Mark Posin, Jordan Rosenthal, Robin Sidel, Benno Schmidt, Jeff Shipp, Shannon Steward, Austin White, Barbara Wilmarth
CLEAN UP – headed by Allison & Patrick de Gravelles and Burr Gray
Leslie Baldwin, Kathleen Black, Michele and Pete Cousté, Rick Duffy, Amy Elsbree, Ken Eng, Clive and Helen Harris, Richard Hopkins, Marcy Harrison, Jackie Hoglund, Florence Lehr, Mike Liebman, Karen Melchar, David Pillsbury, Jordan Rosenthal, Benno Schmidt, Jeff and Susan Shipp, Shannon Steward, as well as others there at the end who kindly pitched in!
PHOTOGRAPHER – Rick Hatch
Apologies to anyone that we inadvertently left off this list. Please know that your assistance in the success of this event was greatly appreciated.
By Susan Shipp, CJCA President [...]
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October 14, 2021The pandemic forced Cabin Johners to get creative for Halloween last year so that sweets could be doled out while keeping trick-or-treaters, their families, and treat givers safe. The resulting plan, pulled together by Robin Sidel and former CJ resident Nancy Russell, created an incredibly festive and fun atmosphere throughout the community.
The Cabin John Citizens Association wants to encourage Cabin Johners to continuethis thoughtful and creative approach to the holiday. Here’s how to participate:
FOR THOSE GIVING OUT CANDY
– Make sure your treats are commercially wrapped.
– Starting at 5 pm on Halloween, set the treats up outside your house in a way that makes it easy for trick-or-treaters to pick one. Some ideas:
– Place treats on a table at the end of your driveway.
– Use wood skewers to decorate your lawn with treat bags attached.
– Hang treat bags from a tree in your yard with string or clothespins.
– If you’d like to enjoy the festivities, set up a chair behind your table or elsewhere that provides safe space between you and the trick-or-treaters.
– Masks are encouraged when unable to socially distance.
– If you’d rather not participate, turn your lights off or put a sign on your dooror mailbox.
FOR TRICK-OR-TREATERS AND PARENTS
– At least one adult should supervise each group of trick-or-treaters.
– Please respect those who don’t wish to participate and only approach houses with goodies set up outside. No ringing doorbells.
– Avoid crowding ⎯ if there’s a group already at one house, move on to the next one and circle back once they’ve moved on.
– Masks are encouraged when unable to socially distance.
– Bring flashlights and wear reflective clothing, lights, or glow necklaces and bracelets to make yourselves visible once it gets dark.
Please send any pictures you take to VNeditorial@ gmail.com by Nov. 1 for publication in the November issue of The Village News.
Happy trick-or-treating!
By Loretta Devery Ingalls, Village News Editor [...]
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October 14, 2021First year, sleep; second year, creep; third year, leap. That’s the advice of green-thumbs for those who decide to plant native species in their gardens. In other words, have patience with your new seedlings.
There may be a less happy corollary to this timetable, though, at least when your focus shifts from introducing a single new plant to filling an entire garden with natives: first year, seeds; second year, weeds; third year, chaos. That was the progression of my backyard botanical garden composed of native species. It descended rapidly from orderly patches of flowering plants, each with their own marker, to a dense undifferentiated tangle along the margins and often around valuable but slow-growing natives, threatening to shade them out. I mistakenly assumed that just by planting natives, everyone would get along. They’d somehow keep to their assigned section and not eye their neighboring plant’s turf with longing. After all, I figured, these plants had tens of thousands of years of evolution to figure out competition and coexistence.
Was I ever wrong! Just because plants are native, they can be as aggressive as any non-native in crowding out the less competitive—I prefer “more sensitive”— members of our local flora. The spillover of one flowering plant may be unwelcome and require the seemingly unnatural experience of weeding out natives and treating them a bit like invasive weeds. There is a great solution to this predicament, though: put the over-extenders in separate pots and share them with your friends. My wife and I, for example, currently have this problem with the magnificent blue passion flower vine, which produces the most spectacular flowers in our local flora. It took three years in a sunny spot for this species to rev up but now it volunteers everywhere. Now we have run out of friends or neighbors to whom to offer pots of this vine. So if you need blue passion flower vine for your trellises or sunny front porches, drop me an email at edinerstein@ resolve.ngo. The bumblebees will love you.
Obedient plant (Physostegia virginiana) is one native that you think would behave given its name. A member of the mint family, the obedient plant sends up 3-foot stems at the end of summer and offers a delightful spray of lilac-to-magenta flowers along its stalks. The name is derived from the plant’s pliancy: if you bend the stem gently, rather than snap off, it will keep that bended shape as it continues to grow. If planted in the right conditions, however, in well-watered areas on fertile soil and in partial sun, the obedient plant can become rather disobedient and wander into the neighboring plant beds.
I don’t mind this overreach because the obedient plant is such a wonderful wildflower to grow, attracting ruby-throated hummingbirds, butterflies, and bumblebees to its copious nectar. Also known as false dragonhead—it resembles snapdragons from childhood gardens—obedient plant ranges from eastern Canada to Mexico. Aside from prompting childhood memories, long flowering time is another great reason to add obedient plant to your garden. Long after the last aster flower has bid adieu in October, deep into November and early December will be the bright magenta flowers of obedient plant.
We all like to be exceptions to the rule, and obedient plant is a prime example. It’s a member of the mint family, the Lamiaceae, which in general is one of the most odiferous families of plants out there. We value fragrant members of the family—basil, sage, lavender, rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, and others we use as herbs—and then there is the stinky dead nettle. With more than 7,000 species in the family, the mint is one of the top 10 families of flowering plants. I would wager that you can tell almost every species, or at least genus, apart by its odor—at least a mint connoisseur could. But you can’t tell obedient plant by its odor. It has none. Like the coleus plant, another mint we use as an indoor decoration, obedient plant has to go by its luxurious flowering stalk to claim a place in our garden and hearts. But it is a noteworthy species to have. When the dark early days of December make spring and summer feel like a distant memory, there is the still-flowering obedient plant telling us to be patient. Winter will pass and there will be flowers again.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration By Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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September 20, 2021Various state agencies are taking critical action on the state’s Beltway expansion plans, prompting what could be the last opportunity for Cabin John residents to weigh in on the massive project.
Most anticipated, is the expected mid- September publication of the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS), which will trigger the last 45-day public comment period and public hearing of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process for the Beltway expansion.
The project would replace the American Legion Bridge and add four toll lanes – two in each direction – from the Virginia side of the bridge, up the Beltway to the I-270 spur, and up l-270 to l-370.
Plan to attend the Sept. 29 CJCA meeting, 7:30 p.m. which will be held via Zoom, for a briefing on the latest developments and ways to provide comments. The citizens association also will be asking the community to authorize up to $2,000 to, once again, engage VHBMetroDC, to review the SDEIS and provide technical points on traffic and other negative impacts.
The initial DEIS, produced by the Federal Highway Administration and the Maryland Department of Transportation and published for comment in July 2020, was 19,000 pages and yet still inadequate. Of particular concern to Cabin John was its failure to address construction and long- term impacts on our local roads as well as the noise and visual impacts of the planned exit ramp to River Rd. The supplemental DEIS is supposed to address many issues raised in the public comments submitted last fall.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS THAT WILL BE TALKED ABOUT INCLUDE:
A Sept. 8 communication from the SHA saying it is proposing that the Beltway expansion “completely avoids” the Morningstar Moses Hall and Cemetery as well as the adjacent MDOT SHA right-of-way for the current Beltway after archaeological mapping and ground penetrating radar surveys at the cemetery this summer indicated 14 probable graves and the potential for as many as 34 burials within the current Beltway right-of-way, according to report findings released by the SHA to the CJCA, the Friends of Moses Hall, and other consulting parties to the Section 106 process.
The surveys, which only covered a portion of the cemetery, also found the potential for hundreds more graves than the 80 that have been identified by the Friends of Moses Hall through historical records. Under Section 106, the government is requiredto review the Beltway expansion project’s potential impact on historic properties.
The transmittal letter explained that the state’s selection of a preferred design alternative in January prompted the SHA to update the Section 106 review. Other historical properties near Cabin John in the review include the C&O Canal and Plummers Island. The SHA is asking all consulting parties to provide comments on the updated Section 106 documentation by Oct. 8.
The August 11 action by the Maryland Board of Public Works giving two Maryland Department of Transportation agencies approval to move forward with the Public-Private Partnership Agreement with Accelerate Maryland Partners LLC (Transurban) for pre-development work on the New American Legion Bridge I-270 Traffic Relief Plan.
BPW’s approval is a significant milestone in advancing the Beltway expansion project as the predevelopment agreement gives the go-ahead for Transurban to work towards a 30% design level for the project, so it will be vitally important for community stakeholders to engage during this process.
By Charlotte Troup Leighton, CJCA Vice President for Advocacy
Susan Shipp, CJCA President [...]
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September 20, 2021What brought your family to Cabin John? I grew up in Silver Spring and after a lot of moving around on the East and West Coasts, my husband, four kids, and I moved to Cabin John from Boston in 2014. We feel like we hit the jackpot in terms of fabulous local schools, amazing and accessible nature, and a cozy, supportive community. We love Cabin John!
What led you to volunteer as vice president of activities? On the theory that great communities don’t just exist but have to be nurtured over time, we try to do our part when we can to help Cabin John continue to thrive. I served as co-editor of the Village News for a couple of years and am currently the vice chair of the Western Montgomery County Citizens Advisory Board, which includes Cabin John.
Susan Shipp has been a tireless and dedicated leader of the CJCA for many years now, and I agreed to be her co-president this year because the job is really too big for just one person. I’m hoping to support Susan primarily by helping out with the monthly CJCA meetings.
We are also both interested in setting the precedent for a regular co-presidency every year so that this important community role is shared and manageable. If you’re ready to give back to CJ, consider volunteering to be a CJCA co-President starting in June 2022! Your community needs you! [...]
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September 20, 2021Across the Potomac River, the grave of a mysterious young woman who died over 200 years ago rests in an Alexandria cemetery. The legend of the female stranger has been a part of Old Town’s lore for centuries. One hundred years after her death, a romance novel attempted to sprinkle some of the legend’s fairy dust on Cabin John, just as the area was being developed by J.S. Tomlinson’s American Land Company. To this day, the identity of the female stranger remains an abiding mystery.
Alexandria’s Gadsby’s Tavern and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Cemetery, as well as the valley below the Cabin John Bridge all played a role in the 1912 novel. On a recent weekend, I dragged my family across the Potomac in search of the female stranger’s story, and perhaps to even catch a glimpse of her ghost in Gadsby’s, where she died.
The story begins in St. Paul’s Cemetery, where a large marble slab set upon six rounded legs continues to draw tourists. It’s inscribed with the following:
To the memory of a
FEMALE STRANGER
Whose mortal sufferings terminated
on the 14th day of October 1816
Aged 23 years and 8 months.
This stone is placed here by her disconsolate
Husband in whose arms she sighed out her
Latest breath and who under God
Did his utmost even to soothe the cold
dead ear of death.
How loved how valued once avails thee not
To whom related or by whom begot
A heap of dust alone remains of thee
Tis all though art and all the proud shall be.
To him gave all the Prophets witness that
Through his name whosoever believeth in
Him shall receive remission of sins.
Acts 10th Chap 43rd verse
The story of Old Alexandria’s female stranger and her husband portray them as mysterious upper class figures, often with a British accent. The couple met the end of their tragic tale in room 8 of the City Hotel (now Gadsby’s Tavern), where the young wife died of an unknown illness. The legend of the female stranger was chronicled in countless newspapers throughout the 1800s.
An 1882 book by William F. Carne, The Narrative of John Trust, describes a love triangle between orphans. Another tale recounts a young couple who disembarked from their ship because the wife had taken ill. She succumbed to her illness and her husband, after paying for her tombstone with forged English notes, disappeared.
One popular theory is that the female stranger may have been Theodosia Burr Alston, the daughter of Aaron Burr (the carrot that convinced my Hamilton-mad daughter to come along on our excursion), who went missing at sea in 1813. Some forty years after Theodosia disappeared, a pirate and sailor claimed they had taken her boat and held her captive, then secretly brought her ashore when she fell ill.
What connects the legend of the female stranger to Cabin John? A 1912 romance novel by Charles T. Johnson Jr., The Legend of the Female Stranger: A Tale of Cabin John Bridge and Old Alexandria.
Johnson’s novel depicts the story of a beautiful young orphan raised by an elderly nobleman in England. The lord fell in love with her but was devastated to learn that she loved a young army surgeon named John. After he witnessed the young woman and her lover embrace, heated words were exchanged and the lord accidentally fell, never to recover.
The young lovers, fearful of murder charges, escaped to America with the help of John’s brother, a ship captain. They married en route. Upon reaching the shores of the Potomac, John’s brother took them to a place he’d seen on a previous journey, a place that “should he ever desire a place whither he might hide from all the world, yet remain at the very elbow of civilization, he knew of no nook more ideal than in this valley on the banks of this peaceful brook.”
Along Cabin John’s Run, the couple built a small, rustic cabin and lived happily in the abundant forest. Yet the young woman’s health slowly deteriorated. One September morning John returned from an outing and found his bride delirious with fever. He grabbed his canoe and paddled to Alexandria. The couple were helped to the City Hotel, a distinguished inn which boasted dinner guests that included George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette. A doctor was summoned to their room. John’s wife confessed that should she not survive, she wished to remain unknown, a stranger in a strange land.
On October 14th, 1816 the young woman passed away, leaving behind her distraught husband John. As promised, he buried her beneath a slab that memorialized a female stranger; her burial plot and tabletop gravestone would have been a considerable expense. John returned to his cabin in the woods, distraught. He wandered the creek, birds and squirrels his only friends. His unkempt hair and overgrown beard enveloped his gaunt body.
Is the female stranger’s shattered husband the reclusive hermit that gave Cabin John its name? Mr. Johnson’s novel weaves together two legends, borrowing Old Alexandria’s female stranger and placing her alongside John of the Cabin. It is interesting to note that Johnson’s book ends with a “Nota Bene” that details the trip to Cabin John Bridge, “long a favorite jaunt of pleasure seekers. The beautiful valley spanned by the big bridge, which was home to the lovers during their exile, lies about five miles northwest of Washington.” Whether pure fiction or a catchy sales pitch for the new development, the mystery endures.
By Rachel Donnan, Regular Contributor [...]
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September 20, 2021The end of summer cues the flowering members of the Aster family to take center stage. Fall aster, boneset, mistflower, goldenrod, wingstem, and even ragweed turn out for the last big flowering episode of the season. The warm sunny days of late August bring the most colorful aster of all, black-eyed Susans. They appear then seemingly everywhere, especially in garden edges. This local sun-worshipper is the state flower of Maryland, and happily a native species, ranging across much of the eastern U.S.
What sets off black-eyed Susans from other flowers is of course the brilliance of their golden yellow ray flowers (the petals) punctuated by a black or blackish brown disc in the center. The petals appear to have absorbed the sun’s rays so intenselyas to infuse them with a yellow-gold that brings happiness to those who gaze at the masses in the flower beds. The disk flowers attract a lovely visitor to drink the nectar, the American Painted Lady butterfly. This species undertakes long migrations here and in Europe where, across the Atlantic, it is believed some individuals have migrated from Iceland to south of the Sahara Desert.
The alternate-leaved plants have hairy leaves, thus earning Rudbeckia hirta as its specific epithet, hirta meaning hairy. Carolus Linnaeus, the namer of most botanical things, named our black-eyed Susan after Olof Rudbeck the Younger and the senior Rudbeck. Olof the Younger was Linnaeus’s patron and a naturalist in his own right. Olof the Elder was a scientist of many stripes: aside from discovering the lymph system, for example, he also created Sweden’s first botanic garden.
The black eyed-Susan is also known as coneflower, so named because the ray petals are displayed downward, showing off the darker center of disc flowers, much like a badminton shuttlecock. Perhaps this makes the seeds in the flower heads more accessible. The American goldfinches are now frequenting our gardens, feeding on those oil-rich seeds of the coneflower to build their fat stores (many of the species overwinter here). In fact, this for me signals summer’s end, the brilliant canary yellow- and-black plumage of the males and the less colorful females performing their looping, up-and-down flight, like seed-fueled stunt pilots flitting from one flower bed of black- eyed Susans to another. The males twitter a melodic finch song as they move from patch to patch, one of the more joyful songs in nature. The bright yellow and black of the birds, the brilliant flowers they seek out for seeds, and their song of summer’s end— together they remind us how good it is to be alive, even in the age of COVID.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration By Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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August 21, 2021The community center is open, the coordinators, crab cooker, chicken griller, and sides chef, along with other key volunteers, are on board, and that means the annual Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast is back in business!
This year’s event will be held Saturday, Sept. 18 from 2 pm to 6 pm. The same crowd- pleasing menu of delicious grilled chicken, tasty steamed crabs, and classic side dishes will be served. There also will be beer, wine, sodas, and lemonade for sale.
Attendees will enjoy the sounds of the talented and generous Starlight Orchestra. The 12-piece jazz and swing band is now firmly part of the Crab Feast tradition having provided the event with live entertainment since 2011!
There will be plenty of dining tables set up outside so that folks can relax and enjoy the great food, many beverage options, and live entertainment while visiting with friends and neighbors.
Traditionally, dining tables are also set up inside the all-purpose room in case of inclement weather. Due to Covid, we will not be able to offer an indoor dining option. Should we have rain, dinners will be offered to go. All volunteers working inside at the event will be masked, per current county requirements.
Due to the extremely high price of crabs, we are selling two different meal tickets this year. As always, patrons can save money by purchasing their tickets in advance:
A chicken dinner ticket costs $16 in advance and $18 at the door. With your ticket, you get a piece of grilled chicken and three sides, or five sides, if you want a vegetarian option. A crab dinner ticket costs $20 in advance or $25 at the door. With this ticket, you get three crabs and three sides OR six crabs and no sides.
This annual event is not only a wonderful community gathering, but the primary fundraiser for the Cabin John Citizens Association, whose work includes The Village News, the Cabin John Directory, community advocacy, and activities ranging from blood drives and the new neighbor potluck to July 4th festivities, CJ Trivia Night, and the Turkey Trot. [...]
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August 21, 2021While the historic Gibson Grove Church on Seven Locks Rd. may look abandoned, it is not. Pastor Edgar Bankhead, his wife Judi, and the congregation have been working tirelessly with local and state officials, and the Cabin John community to restore the Gibson Grove Church, which was tragically destroyed by fire 17 years ago.
A great deal has been spent on pre- construction surveys, civil engineer evaluations, historic filings, and reports. After much work, numerous meetings, applications, submissions, and revised building plans, the 1st Agape AME Zion Church at Gibson Grove has been awarded a legislative state bond initiative that will allow substantial construction to begin. The congregation hopes the restoration will start this year.
The Bankheads have been leading the church for close to 20 years. In 2003, after Cabin John’s historic AME Zion Church lost membership due to parishioners moving out of the community, Bishop Williams of the AME Zion Conference appointed Pastor Bankhead to bring his congregation to the historic AME Zion Church at Gibson Grove for continued use and restoration. The inside of the church was restored in 2003 with hopes of upgrading the heating and plumbing systems in the spring of 2004. Unfortunately, the historic church was destroyed by fire a week before that upgrade was to take place in the spring of 2004.
As efforts to rebuild and upgrade the historic church got underway, the restoration efforts were impacted by setback after setback, including additional damage caused when a massive tree fell on the building. But Pastor Bankhead and his congregation, who held services at Adat Shalom on Persimmon Tree Rd. until the pandemic forced them online, have persevered.
Shortly after the fire it was discovered that the church has asbestos siding which requires special guidelines for removal; the historic siding is still under the asbestos. Another challenge is due to the county’s historic designation given to the church on the 100th anniversary of its 1898 founding by Sara Gibson, a freed slave. The historic designation has made approval for building plans exacting, time consuming, and expensive.
To complicate matters further, the State Highway Administration has been involved due to the beltway’s drainage ditch that is so close to the church that it has eroded church land and requires stabilization/upgrade before church building can commence. The highway administration and church representatives are working diligently to coordinate and synchronize construction. The church now has a tree preservation and removal plan approved by the historic commission. For more information on the Gibson Grove Church visit their website www.1stagape.com.
By Angela Coppola, CJ Resident [...]
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August 21, 2021KESHA LEETS Vice President, Activities
WHAT BROUGHT YOUR FAMILY TO CABIN JOHN? My husband, Ryan and I were researching preschools in the DMV area after Ryan accepted a job in Bethesda. We fell in love with Clara Barton Center for Children (CBCC), and knowing preference is given to Cabin John residents, we rented the only house available and crossed our fingers our daughter, Evelina, would be accepted (we now have a happy Hummingbird!). We moved from Philadelphia in April 2020 and had our son, Van, in July 2020.
AFTER LIVING HERE FOR A YEAR, WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT CABIN JOHN? We’ve found the trails and river activities hard to beat!
WHAT CJCA ACTIVITIES HAVE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY PARTICIPATED IN? The only event we’ve been able to participate in so far is the 4th of July parade – it was a blast! We’re also looking forward to the infamous Crab Feast this fall.
WHAT LED YOU TO VOLUNTEER AS VICE PRESIDENT OF ACTIVITIES? As a newcomer (especially during pandemic), it’s hard to find ways to contribute and connect with the community. Volunteering (even virtually, to start) has helped me meet other Cabin Johners and get involved in CJ’s most loved activities.
ARE YOU EMPLOYED, JUGGLING ANY OTHER VOLUNTEER WORK? I work full time as a Project Manager at a media firm in DC. I’ve also joined the board of CBCC for the coming school year.
WHEN NOT IN CABIN JOHN, WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO BE? On a ski trip anywhere.
READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? I just finished All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.
WHAT IS SOMETHING FOLKS MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT YOU AND/OR YOUR FAMILY? My husband and I own an indoor bike-to- the-beat cycling studio in Colorado!
JUSTIN WEBSTER Vice President, Community Service
WHAT BROUGHT YOUR FAMILY TO CABIN JOHN? My family moved to Cabin John in August of 2019 from downtown DC. We were attracted to the area because of the proximity to our work, the access to nature, and the history of Cabin John. My husband Brandon, our dog Charlie, and I felt at home in CJ right away!
WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT CABIN JOHN? We like the close friendships we have created with our wonderful neighbors and that there is SO much to do in the area.
WHAT CJCA ACTIVITIES HAVE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY PARTICIPATED IN? We have been fortunate to participate in the 2019 Crab and Chicken Feast and the 2021 Fourth of July Parade. We look forward to joining many more activities!
WHAT LED YOU TO VOLUNTEER AS VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICE? I wanted to be part of bringing people in our community together to create meaningful relationships and to better our community for all. I have been involved with many health-care related councils and organizations and have found that having a presence on these councils has allowed growth both for myself and for others.
ARE YOU EMPLOYED, JUGGLING ANY OTHER VOLUNTEER WORK? I have worked as a Registered Nurse at Sibley Memorial Hospital for the past five years. I recently started a job with a transport company managing their Specialty Care Transport Nurse division. That has kept me quite busy over the last month or so.
WHEN NOT IN CABIN JOHN, WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO BE? We love to cruise around the world. We are excited to get back to cruising after this long pandemic!
READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? Recently I’ve finished The Promised Land by Barack Obama and Promise Me, Dad by Joe Biden, and I’m currently reading What Happened to You by Oprah and Bruce Perry. I have also read way too many books on healthcare related topics.
WHAT IS SOMETHING FOLKS MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT YOU AND/OR YOUR FAMILY? We are very down to earth and enjoy a nice glass of wine. If you are in our neighborhood, you probably know our house by the solar on the roof or the color changing lights.
HEATHER TOMLINSON Vice President, Community Outreach
WHAT BROUGHT YOUR FAMILY TO CABIN JOHN? Sidewalks, libraries, nectarines, crickets, and Poppy brought me to Cabin John. To be fair, they brought us back to the Bethesda area more generally because this is where I grew up. I’ve lived in Ghana; Southern California; Nashville; Athens, Georgia; Cleveland Park and Capitol Hill; and, for the eight years prior to moving here, Jakarta, Indonesia.
At the center of those far-flung places was always the DC area. Being near my dad (Poppy) and extended family again is a major draw to living here, especially for my three children, Tatum (14), Finn (12), and Clara (12).
Most importantly, we came to Cabin John to live on the corner of Tomlinson Terrace and Tomlinson Court because of our long Tomlinson family history as founders of Cabin John…just kidding. We arrived in the summer of 2018, and the issue of our name and address is an (epic) coincidence. I welcome ideas for stories to explain the synergy.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE BEST ABOUT CABIN JOHN? Having the trails, greenery and water within minutes of our front door is the best part of Cabin John. It’s unique to live in a place that gives almost equal access to culture, history, art, nature, and restaurants that serve both bubble tea and Ethiopian food. I love the sense of community, the eclectic philosophies of residents, the yard art and gardens, and the common value of simplicity in living. Pandemic parenting was made easier by having wide, quiet streets for four- square courts, BLM chalk art, and Tomlinson Terrace Gang music video productions. I love Cabin John and feel extremely fortunate that we found our home here.
WHAT CJCA ACTIVITIES HAVE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY PARTICIPATED IN? The Chicken and Crab Feast was the first neighborhood event I attended and loved because of the amazing combination of meeting people, eating rice krispie treats (and a little chicken), and listening to live jazz. One of the funniest events we attended was “ice skating” on large foam pads at Clara Barton Community Center at a winter festival. My favorite events are the trivia nights for adults.
WHAT LED YOU TO VOLUNTEER AS VICE PRESIDENT OF ACTIVITIES? Susan Shipp kindly invited me to participate, and Stephanie Lai is a friend of mine. Stephanie is the actual Vice President, and I plan to remain a deputy VP; is that a title?* I am aware of the quiet, behind- the-scenes work it takes to pull off a few “simple” neighborhood activities. As a relative newcomer, I am grateful for the opportunities these activities provide to meet people and for my children to feel connected and rooted, so I want to do my part to support them. Having volunteers is like having Bisquick in the pantry: helpful and under-appreciated.
*CJCA notes that this is not an official title.
ARE YOU EMPLOYED, JUGGLING ANY OTHER VOLUNTEER WORK? I’m an early childhood development specialist for The World Bank. I recently worked for a regional NGO and developed a strategic plan for early childhood education for the state of Maryland, and now I’m working on a strategic plan for early childhood development for Pakistan. I’m on two boards for an NGO I co-founded in Indonesia to support refugees, Roshan Learning Center and YICF. Before Covid melted my brain, I was involved at our church, Episcopal Church of the Redeemer. Throughout this weird year, I was part of the Montgomery County Public Schools Family Engagement Advisory Team (no small FEAT, as it were) and on a Maryland Advisory Council Tech Equity and Access Committee.
WHEN NOT IN CABIN JOHN, WHERE DO YOU LIKE TO BE? I wouldn’t pass up the chance to be at Deep Creek Lake, in Lake Tahoe, Santa Cruz or Monterey, Tuscany, Paris, Aix-en-Provence, a cabin in the Poconos, Bali, or my mother’s garden.
READ ANY GOOD BOOKS LATELY? I recently read Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell, The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett and The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas.
WHAT IS SOMETHING FOLKS MIGHT BE SURPRISED TO LEARN ABOUT YOU AND/OR YOUR FAMILY? My son suggests that I mention that my father Robert J. Biggar is “a famous scientist,” who helped discover the epidemiology and treatment for HIV/AIDS, especially reducing maternal-child transmission, and just wrote a piece about the parallels of the experiences of AIDS to Covid-19. [...]
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August 21, 2021Tall oaks, hickories, tulip trees, hackberries, or maples create a lovely canopy in a yard and a veritable ecological umbrella: as food for an abundance of caterpillars that attract birds; shelter for bats that eat mosquitoes; protection from soil erosion during our increasingly violent rainstorms; and in summer, a much-welcomed ecological service—natural cooling of our houses by shielding them from the sun. In the current climate crisis, those trees store a lot of carbon in their trunks and roots, so homeowners that coexist with trees are thereby doing their part to draw down greenhouse gases and maintain a livable biosphere for future generations. But one inescapable ecological consequence of a tree canopy is the dense shade it creates for any plants below. What among our native flora can we plant that appeals to the eye and flourishes without need of abundant sun?
There are several shade-loving plants to welcome to our gardens such as the wild ginger covered earlier this year. This month’s topic plant offers a most striking gardening solution: Jack-in-the-pulpit. This plant looks like it belongs in the tropical rainforest rather than in Cabin John; in fact, most of its relatives live close to the equator. Yet, there it is, growing happily along forest trails in the neighborhood park. Arisaema triphyllum, as it is known, is a native species of the understory of the Eastern Deciduous forests ranging from Nova Scotia to Florida and west to Texas. Also called bog onion, brown dragon, or Indian turnip, Jack-in the pulpit grows to a height of about two feet. It is a perennial, meaning that once you plant it, it will keep coming back. Some of the Jacks growing along the Cabin John trail may be older than the adults who hike past them.
The most striking feature of the plant, and its namesake, is a large purple-striped “hoodie,” called in botanical lingo a spathe. That is the pulpit. Standing in the pulpit is “Jack,” the eight-inch long flowering stalk, called a spadix, resembling a miniature corn cob in yellow-green. This spadix-inside-a-spathe, or Jack-in-the-pulpit, is characteristic of Jack’s plant family, the Arums (Araceae). So now you can think of the more familiar Philodendron, Monstera, Dieffenbachia, Spathiphyllum, or Anthurium occupying a pot in your living room as an indoor Jack-in- the-pulpit.
Also interesting about this plant, aside from its sensuous looks, is its reproductive sex story. Spoiler alert: there is a Jill-in-the pulpit. Lining the spadix are densely packed flowers that are either male or female. But here is where it gets complicated. The plants start off the flowering season as male. As the plant ages and grows larger, however, the spadix starts making a lot more female flowers on the stalk so Jack becomes Jill. We call this in the botanical parlance sequential hermaphroditism. Enter the fungus gnat attracted to the male flowers by the peculiar scent. They are trapped temporarily inside, where they become sprinkled with pollen grains. The fungus gnats make their escape from the male plants, but once they find the female plants they fall inside and cannot escape. Crawling up through a female stalk, the fungus gnats deposit their pollen on the stigmas of the female flowers. The plant is unable to self-pollinate because by the time the female flowers on a plant have matured, the male flowers have withered and died. Thus, the female flowers need to be pollinated by the male flowers of a different plant. This mechanism prevents inbreeding and contributes to the genetic vigor of the species.
The fruits are smooth, shiny green berries that cluster on the spadix. They ripen to a bright red in the fall and are eaten by wild turkey and wood thrush. If you gather 0the seeds in the fall from your garden you can scatter them on the soil and they will germinate, creating more baby Jacks and Jills. It may take several years before a flower appears, but with a bit of work you can cover an area with these beautiful plants. The fruits ripen in late summer and fall, turning a bright red color before the plants go dormant. Each berry produces 1 to 5 seeds. If the seeds are freed from the berry they will germinate the next spring, producing a plant with a single rounded leaf. Seedlings need three or more years of growth before they become large enough to flower.
Underneath that mysterious looking stem and flowering part is a corm, an underground storage organ common to crocuses, gladioli, or cyclamens. This part can be dried, cut thin, and fried like potato chips, but it’s better to leave it in the ground to make more Jack-in-the-pulpits. The plants are a bit toxic, though, which is why the deer seem to avoid them, another plus of the species for the deer-persecuted gardener. If you really want to go wild, there is an even more sensuous-looking native member of this genus, the green dragon (Arisaema dracontium). It grows several feet taller than the Jack version, and has a long snake-like spathe. (When it comes to related snake-like plants, Arisaema speciosum is the famed “cobra lily,” a non- native from Asia that could scare young children.)
With a host of elegant Jack or Jill-in-the- pulpits or green dragons, the shadiest part of your garden could also become its most mysterious.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration By Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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June 27, 2021Cabin John’s rich history was recognized at the national level this month when the National Trust for Historic Preservation announced their selection of the Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 Order of Moses Cemetery and Hall site as one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places of 2021.
“Saving the Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Hall site is how we make good on promises to expand our infrastructure in an equitable way without further destruction of communities of color,” said Katherine Malone-France, Chief Preservation Officer, National Trust for Historic Preservation on announcing the list June 3.
In referencing the original Beltway construction in the 1960s, Malone-France went on to note that “past disregard for the heritage of the community of Gibson Grove in transportation projects has already resulted in the loss of an important part of our full American story. This endangered listing challenges us to do the right thing today as we expand our infrastructure, so there will be no additional wrong to correct in the future, and it also calls attention to the threats facing African American cemeteries across the country.”
Friends of Moses Hall, a coalition of neighbors, descendants, and others experienced in archaeology, genealogy, historic preservation, research, and advocacy have been working tirelessly to lead the effort to save this Cabin John treasure by advocating that any Beltway expansion avoid the cemetery and by working to preserve the site. Having the property recognized at the national level brings critical attention to this irreplaceable site and further supports these efforts.
On May 12, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced a new scaled-back version of its Beltway expansion plan. The new recommended preferred alternative (RPA) focuses solely on “building a new American Legion Bridge and delivering two high occupancy toll (HOT) managed lanes in each direction on Phase 1 South: American Legion Bridge I-270 to I-370 with no action at this time on I-495 east of the I-270 eastern spur,” according to MDOT.
The new RPA will be the focus of a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement anticipated to be published in September. The Supplemental DEIS will trigger a 45-day period for public comment, including a public hearing.
The new RPA also has led to changes in the timeline for the National Historic Preservation Act Section 106 process for the project. Friends of Moses Hall, the CJCA, and other consulting parties have been told by the State Highway Administration (SHA) that they will update the limits of construction and development disturbance to reflect the new RPA as well as to include design minimization efforts on the historic Gibson Grove Church and Moses Cemetery and Hall properties.
The state’s latest archaeological report on the cemetery site was released on May 25 and acknowledges that there is evidence of burials within or adjacent to the current Beltway right-of-way, warranting additional archaeological investigations and the incorporation of mitigation options, including the relocation of remains.
Advocacy efforts by Friends of Moses Hall are not limited to saving the cemetery from ground disturbances at the site. The group believes the state is giving short shrift to environmental impacts and past racial injustice. This is an ongoing effort that will call on the SHA to right past wrongs.
One very positive step for the community is the collective push from consulting parties and Montgomery County Planning for a pedestrian connection between the historic Gibson Grove Church building and the Moses Cemetery and Hall site. SHA has agreed to include a new sidewalk between the two resources as well as a widened path on the east side of Seven Locks, within the state right-of-way. Seven Locks is a county road, so any improvements outside the state right-of-way are the responsibility of Montgomery County.
All of this is part of a broader effort to renew the physical connection between these historic properties. Perhaps a Gibson Grove Community historic district designation could be a reality one day?
By Charlotte Troup Leighton
CJCA Vice President for Advocacy [...]
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June 27, 2021The community gave a literal thumbs up to the Cabin John sign design unveiled at the May 25 CJCA meeting—with the meeting held on Zoom, the 25 or so participants were asked to vote with their thumbs on screen. The design, created by CJ resident Jack Mandel of Carver Rd., was unanimously approved. Jack is a stone mason with a stonework design/build business.
As Jack explained to meeting participants, the sign design incorporates the iconic Cabin John Bridge in two ways. One is the shape of the base, which has an arched opening similar in shape to the bridge. The other bridge element is that he has acquired a piece of the Seneca red sandstone that was left over from the bridge repairs done some 20 years ago. Additional sandstone that is the same color as the bridge will also be used. The rest of the base is likely to be made of local Carderock stone.
To reflect the community’s love of nature, a planter will be built into the base under the archway. Meeting participants suggested that native species be planted there. After consultation with CJ’s historian Judy Welles, it was determined that the established date for Cabin John should be 1878, which is the year the first Cabin John postmaster was appointed. The CJCA acquired the original appointment certificate, dated March 18, 1878, last year.
CJCA Vice President Greg Pawlson, chair of the sign committee, detailed next steps, including approval from the shopping center, county permitting, and a more detailed cost estimate. He also noted the goal of refurbishing and lighting the existing CJ sign at the community center and of posting simple metal Welcome to Historic Cabin John signs at the various entrances to the community.
It could cost close to $20,000 for all of these sign efforts to come to fruition and that is with Jack donating his design services. CJCA President Susan Shipp explained the 100th anniversary fundraising efforts netted some $5,000 toward the sign project. She also believes the CJCA has the reserves to provide an additional $3,000. That means additional fundraising will be needed.
If you would like to help with the fundraising, please contact Darla Cable at darlacmd@yahoo.com or Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net.
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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June 27, 2021At the May meeting, the community voted in the following Cabin John Citizens Association officers for a one-year term.
As you can see from the list, there are still a couple of openings. Please consider serving your community by volunteering alongside these neighbors. For more information on the open positions, please contact Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net.
CO-PRESIDENTS
Susan Shipp and Vashti Van Wyke
Serving together for one year as a transition after the pandemic. The CJCA will need new co-presidents in 2022.
TREASURER
Bob Walsh
INTERIM SECRETARY
Meredith Griggs
Looking for a new secretary
VICE PRESIDENT, ACTIVITIES
Irena Bojanova
VICE PRESIDENT, ACTIVITIES
Kesha Leets
VICE PRESIDENT, ADVOCACY
Charlotte Troup Leighton
VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS
Marcy Harrison
(Directory and website support)
VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNICATIONS
VACANT
(Manage email lists, send emails, and news stories)
VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Stephanie Lai
VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Heather Tomlinson
VICE PRESIDENT, COMMUNITY SERVICE
Justin Webster [...]
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June 27, 2021A glorious benefit of living in the tropics is the wide variety of trees and vines that delight the eye with explosions of vivid blossoms. Often these large showy flowers, designed to attract bees and other pollinators, cover all the branches or stems. Even the names of these trees are suggestive or mysterious: Golden rain tree, Golden Trumpet, Yellow Bells, Flamboyant, Flame of the Forest, African Tulip, Jacaranda, Coral Bean, Rosy Trumpet. These trees and their displays are even more spectacular when the flowers precede the flush of new leaves. In contrast, it is rare to find native trees in the temperate zone covered by clouds of flowers in the spring. For sure, there are the ornamental cherries at the Tidal Basin or planted in Kenwood, but those are imports. There is the ubiquitous redbud, but its flowers are tiny compared to the African Sausage tree. Trumpet creeper is an aggressive native climber and that counts, as does Catalpa. Our best native candidate for most spectacular flowering tree, however, is the White fringe tree, also known as the Virginia fringe tree.
That species grows very well in our area but ranges north to New Jersey. There are even specimens found in New York City. But its stronghold is in the southeast to central Florida where every spring, adult fringe trees issue forth a seasonal wedding dress of lacy white fringy blossoms. Arborists tell us that the more sun the fringe tree receives the more prolific the flowering.
When you drive by one in a car it is as if the wedding dress is suspended five feet above the ground minus only the bride. The four white petals of the blossoms are unusual in how thin they are. Masses of them, though, cover the crown of the tree before the tree fully leafs out in May. Male and female flowers typically occur on separate trees but sometimes on the same tree. On female trees, a bright blue fruit appears in the late summer or early fall and is devoured by the American robin.
The fringe tree is a member of the olive family, with its characteristic four petals and opposite leaves, and the fruit is somewhat reminiscent of a blue olive. More familiar to us are green ash and white ash, which are also members of the olive family. And herein lurks a small concern. In the western part of its range, the fringe tree seems to be affected by the Emerald Ash Borer, a non-native jewel beetle from Asia that is finishing off our ash trees but so far has left the fringe trees alone. Experiments are underway with the introduction of a parasitic wasp from Russia that controls ash borer. The wasp burrows into the tree and lays its eggs on the ash borer larvae, killing them as its own wasp larvae feed on the host.
The fringe tree is a little-known wonder, and in my opinion not planted enough. I see so many vacant (only grass front lawns) lots in our neighborhood, in full sun, where a well- placed Virginia fringe tree would bring decades of joy and an appreciative warble from the robins in the neighborhood. Do you want to beautify Cabin John? Easy, plant Chionanthes virginicus and amaze your neighbors.
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration By Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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May 29, 2021Like many Cabin John residents, my dog Toby and I know Alpine Veterinary Hospital well. This particular site along MacArthur Boulevard has served the Cabin John community for nearly a century. Long before it started welcoming pets through its doors in 1973, it was a center of Cabin John’s social life—a grocery shop and gas station that went by various names including Benson’s and Sid’s, as well as a soda fountain, barbershop, and laundromat.
Judge Charles E. Benson, an administrative judge and county commissioner, was one of the early residents of this area and played a substantial role in the development of Cabin John as a community. In 1907, he purchased part of Thomas Tuohey’s property along Conduit Road and Halifax Street (now MacArthur Blvd and 78th Street). Benson owned a number of structures including a store, stable, blacksmith shop, garage, and home.
Benson’s shop was a vibrant neighborhood place; it was a meeting here in 1930 that led to the establishment of the Cabin John Volunteer Fire Department. Judge Benson was also known to hold court in the back of his store, where he’d administer the occasional fine to drivers caught speeding along Conduit Road (or let them go).
Benson’s market later morphed into Cohan’s. In 1940, Louis Cohan and his wife Jenny lived in Cabin John where Louis was manager of a retail grocery. His 1942 draft registration card lists his employer as the “Community Store” of Cabin John and Charles E. Benson as his main contact.
Shortly thereafter the market was known as Sid’s. “If you were looking for someone, that was where you went to find out where they were,” recalled Millie Ransome in 2011 while reminiscing to Judy Welles about Cabin John in the 1940s and 1950s. Here you could find out “anything about anybody.” Millie had grown up on 78th Street and frequented the market when she was a teenager.
Recently, local Cabin John history buff Rich Hirsh came across an interesting find on eBay: a 1954 Sinclair Service Station promotional calendar for Lachman’s Cabin John Market, purveyor of “Meats, Groceries, Frozen Foods & Sundries.” The question is, who was Lachman?
Mary Morgal and Evan Mater, two long time Cabin John residents, remember this market and gas station as “Sid’s.” While the market bore a sign out front saying Lachman’s, customers in the 1950s never called it that. Whether or not Sid was the Lachman of the sign remains a puzzle; so far, no Sid Lachman, or any other Lachman, has been found living in or near Cabin John at that time.
Evan Mater recently recalled the shop during the 1950s: “Gas pumps. And a big tank with kerosene. It was your basic small grocery store of the day…Next to the store, to the east, was a small diner. It was all one building, the diner and the store. Served the usual breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” He remembers a barbershop where he went for haircuts as a young boy, located downstairs below the diner. There was also a car and motorcycle repair shop run by Walter Spates located out back.
While the gas pumps remained, rowdy teenagers who hung around the diner eventually led to complaints and its closure. The local kids moved on to the nearby Dickerson’s Grocery (once the Good and Quick and now the Captain’s Market), a short stroll down MacArthur and Cabin John’s only other gas station at that time. More importantly, according to Evan Mater, was the free air for your bike tires at Dickerson’s. “An important point to bicycle riding kids in that day.”
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer
[See photos by accessing the article in the Village News Archive: 2021 May Newsletter] [...]
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May 21, 2021When Pandora White was a young girl, her grandmother Mary White would march her and her siblings along a path in the woods that ran behind 19 Carver Rd. to the Moses lodge and cemetery where she would put them to work. They would either clean up the lodge for some adult function or a funeral or they would tidy up around the family graves.
Pandora, 71, still lives on Carver Rd. On April 10, she was back at the cemetery, along with 22 others who have relatives buried in the historic African American cemetery at the edge of Cabin John. The descendants were gathered by the trustees of the newly reestablished Morningstar Moses 88 ownership group to have a tour of the cemetery now that the bamboo and debris have been removed by the state.
The other important reason for the meeting was to inform the descendants that in the course of clearing the bamboo, the state found indications of possible gravesites within the right-of-way of the existing Beltway. While Pandora was pleased with the cleanup efforts, she is concerned about the possibility of graves outside the cemetery fence.
“I’m very pleased about how it’s been cleared out.” she said, noting that she didn’t realize how far back the graves went. Should the state determine that there are graves in the right-of-way, she wants them left alone. “I don’t think they should disturb the graves, but they should go around them,” turning that land over to the cemetery, she added.
Steve Archer, cultural resources team leader at the Maryland State Highway Administration, said they are still completing their archeological investigations of the site for a report that will “provide detailed surface mapping of the cemetery as well as historical research to understand what we can from an archival perspective.” He expects the report to be released this summer.
However, the report will not address whether there are gravesites in the Beltway right-of-way. To determine that, Archer explained that they would have to do a two-step investigation. First, they would dig just deep enough to determine if there are any grave shafts. If they find any, they would work with the descendants and the community to determine a proper course of action. Only then, if it is determined that any human remains are to be relocated, would they dig deeper to unearth those remains. Archer gave no time frame for when they might start this investigation.
For now, the cemetery remains closed to the public while the state completes its current assessments. The Friends of Moses Hall, a group comprised of descendants, historic preservationists, and Cabin John community members, also requests that the public stay away as they are starting a bamboo remediation project June 7 that requires the use of chemicals to kill the bamboo. In some cases, bamboo that the state cut in January had already sent up new shoots that stand six feet tall or more.
The Friends of Moses Hall has another request of the public. They are asking people with any ties to Moses Hall to go through their family photo albums, letters, and other documents. They are hoping that folks might find photographs of events held there, letters that might mention a Moses Hall function, or other documents with reference to the property. Any information, from any source, in any format, that mentions the lodge or cemetery, even if it’s just in passing, would be of interest to the group.
Friends of Moses Hall can be reached via email at morningstarmosescj@gmail.com.
SUSAN SHIPP, CJCA President [...]
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May 21, 2021The annual Cabin John Creek cleanup, held April 24, had its best turnout in years with 34 people, including 10 students, scouring the woods and creek from MacArthur Blvd. to at least sandy beach. The Friends of Cabin John Creek organized an additional cleanup for May 2nd to tackle the rest of the creek to Seven Locks.
The energetic group on the 24th picked up 21 bags of trash as well as three bags of cans, bottles, and other recyclables. They also hauled up two tires, and some 150 pounds of loose trash that included plastic tree cages, metal pipes, a hub cap, and a tire jack.
There was only one scrape requiring a band-aid, and folks wore masks and generally followed social distancing protocols, making the event a safety success as well. Thanks to everyone who came out.
GREG GURLEY, Director, Friends of the Cabin John Creek [...]
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May 21, 2021After multiple years and a pandemic, the Cabin John sign committee is excited to be able to share a recommended sign design with the community at the May 26 Cabin John Citizens Association meeting. CJCA officer elections also will be held during the Zoom meeting, which will begin at 7:30 pm.
The community endorsed a Cabin John sign project as part of the celebrations for the CJCA’s 100th anniversary in 2019. In addition to civic pride, the idea for a prominent Cabin John sign stemmed from community frustration that, as part of the revamping of the Cabin John Shopping Center at Seven Locks and Tuckerman Lane, the developers decided to rename the shopping center and planned townhouses Cabin John Village.
After some debate about how best to plant our flag as the REAL Cabin John, the decision was made to come up with a sign that simply says: Historic Cabin John, established 1912. The only other guidance was that the sign be placed somewhere along MacArthur Blvd.
With those marching orders, the CJ sign committee, led by CJCA Vice President Greg Pawlson, has been working diligently, although somewhat sporadically, throughout the pandemic. The group’s work became inspired when Jack Mandel, a stone mason and owner of his own stonework design business, recently joined the effort. Other committee members are Darla Cable, Dallas Harrison, Charlotte and Russ Leighton, and Susan Shipp.
Thanks to Greg Pawlson’s efforts, the MacArthur Plaza shopping center has tentatively agreed to allow a Cabin John sign to be installed on the grassy area between the landscaping and the stop sign at the corner of Seven Locks and MacArthur Blvd.
The committee hopes that CJ residents will join in the Zoom meeting for the design unveiling and a discussion about next steps, including the additional fundraising that will be needed to make this sign a reality. A link to the meeting will be emailed prior to May 26.
2021 CJCA OFFICER ELECTIONS – 2021 CJCA Officer Elections also will be held at the May 26 meeting. The slate is still being put together, and we are still looking for officers to serve in a number of positions. So, don’t be shy, reach out to Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net and let her know that you are ready to volunteer your time to give back to our wonderful community.
SUSAN SHIPP, CJCA President [...]
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May 21, 2021In nature’s beauty pageant, what is the most stunning wildflower native to Maryland? There are spectacular candidates like Calypso orchid and Shooting star. But my vote is for a wildflower that shares our state name—Spigelia marylandica—known more familiarly as Woodland pinkroot or Indian Pink. With its spectacular 2-inch-long, crimson-tubed flowers on the outside contrasting with creamy yellow tips, it will stop you in your tracks. The flowering display at the tips is set off against a strikingly symmetrical arrangement of leaves—pairs are born opposite each other and emerge right out of the stems, with the leaves rotated 90 degrees to the pair above or below them. Botanists call this pattern of leaf arrangement “decussate”—a great word for novices to name-drop to show their chops. Such decussate leaves are in turn marked by an elegant venation pattern of deep grooves in the upper leaf surface. Elegant leaves, stunning flowers—this is the kind of plant that can convince doubters of Darwin’s theory that evolution is capable of producing living organisms of extraordinary beauty.
The beauty of Woodland pinkroot is perhaps accentuated because it is relatively rare in our area, even though it bears the epithet “marylandica.” In fact, I have never seen it in the wild during my Maryland nature walks, even though white-tailed deer, the notorious native wildflower remover, avoids pinkroot. Woodland pinkroot can be found throughout the greater southeastern U.S., but wherever you look it is never common. Woodland pinkroot prefers rich, moist woods and wooded stream banks. Although in nature it is typically found in partial to full shade, it requires well-drained soil.
Plant breeders know beauty when they see it, so Woodland pinkroot has been brought into the garden trade, aided by its long flowering period and ability to tolerate shade. You can even order it online. There are showier cultivars for sale, but I would stick with the original. Some report it can do well in sunny spots, forming dense clumps and exploding with more flowers than the plants stuck under shade. But from personal experience, I suggest heeding the warning of horticulturalists: this species requires well-drained soils. To be able to admire this beauty at home, under the canopy forest in my backyard, I planted five Woodland pinkroots. They flowered prolifically for a few years and then died. My backyard, like many here in Cabin John, is underlain by dense clay, not the preferred soil type for this species. So a rich deposit of deep topsoil mixed with some gravel to enhance drainage might be the ticket. I will try again.
There may be a good reason that deer know to avoid Woodland pinkroot. Some botanists put Spigelia in its own family, the Spigeliaceae, but most consider it part of the Loganiacieae, a mostly tropical family. Not familiar with it? Many plants in this family store highly toxic alkaloids such as strychnine in their leaves, repelling herbivores, deer among them. Spigelia was also known as wormgrass because it was once used as a concoction to rid humans, children especially, of worms. The dire consequences of inappropriate doses, however, is well documented, leading to cramps and severe pain in various parts of the body. Spigelia isn’t even a particularly pleasant name for a plant genus, but that’s simply coincidental.
Botanists have a penchant for naming genera or species after…fellow botanists, and Spigelia is no exception. None other than famed 18th century botanist Carl Linnaeus, known as the Father of Taxonomy, named this plant in honor of Adrian van der Spigel, a Brussels doctor whose 1606 text described the creation of herbaria using dried plants.
Unlike the rest of the plant, the nectar of Woodland pinkroot is not toxic, however, and a favorite of our ruby-throated hummingbirds. So what could be a better occupant of your garden? A gorgeous plant that attracts one of our most charismatic birds, the diminutive hummer. Enjoy the summer with this exquisite pairing of nature and honor Maryland’s name by introducing it to your yard.
ERIC DINERSTEIN, Contributing Writer
ILLUSTRATION BY TRUDY NICHOLSON [...]
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April 16, 2021Are you impressed with the 2021 Cabin John Directory? Do you appreciate the news you read in The Village News? Are you glad people are advocating on your behalf for quieter skies, a less impactful Beltway expansion plan, and the preservation of CJ’s Moses Hall & cemetery?
Then please support the Cabin John Citizens Association by paying your 2021 dues. As of early April, only some 300 CJ households and businesses have paid their $20 dues. That figure represents just a 40 percent participation rate. Show your appreciation for what the CJCA does by paying your dues today.
Checks can be mailed to CJCA, P.O. Box 31, Cabin John, MD 20818. Payment is also possible online at www.cabinjohn.org under the Support CJCA tab. [...]
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April 16, 2021The CJ founders of a newly created entity that aims to assume control of Minnie’s Island, received near universal support from the roughly 50 people who listened to their plans at the March 24 CJCA Zoom meeting. Minnie’s Island, located in the Potomac River about 100 yards off-shore from Lockhouse 8 on the C&O Canal, is roughly eight acres of wild habitat with a dilapidated wooden lodge and large deck at one end.
Led by Pascal Pittman of 80th Place, the Minnie’s Island Community Conservancy (MICC) is being formed to receive ownership of the island from the Potomac Conservancy. The other founding members of MICC are CJ residents Burr Gray, Jack Mandel, and Mac Thornton.
A day after the meeting MICC became a registered corporation, allowing it to begin working on its 501(c)(3) status. The organization “is dedicated to the preservation of the ecological, architectural, scientific, and humanist legacy of Minnie’s Island,” according to its mission statement. To achieve its aims, MICC is counting on community awareness, volunteerism, and donations to support the refurbishment of the cabin, the removal of non-invasive species from the island, and on-going maintenance, Pascal told meeting participants.
For the structure, he envisions bringing to working order the composting toilet, a woodburning stove, and a well. The addition of solar panels would allow for electricity. It will take a couple of years, he noted. But then the island would be ready to host six to eight people at a time for recreation, educational programs, conservation, and scientific research.
MICC also is in discussions with the National Park Service to take on maintenance responsibility for Lockhouse 8. Pascal explained that its role would be two-fold: the lockhouse would serve as a staging area for access to Minnie’s, primarily by enabling the canoes and kayaks needed to reach the island to be stored in its basement. It would also allow the group to schedule more educational programs as they would be able to use the lockhouse as meeting space if inclement weather kept the group from transporting people to the island.
Pascal said they are hoping to raise funds initially by having folks donate $250 a year and volunteer time working on island projects. But he stressed that Minnie’s would not be “a Sycamore Island private club” and that its fundraising is not part of a “pay to play” plan. He assured meeting attendees that the public would have access to the island “in a controlled manner.”
To find out more about MICC, email Pascal Pittman at pascaldpittman@gmail.com.
By Susan Shipp, CJCA President [...]
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April 16, 2021After two years of major plantings, the MacArthur Blvd. Beautification effort is shifting to maintenance mode this year. Like any horticultural project, that still means that weeding, trimming, watering, setting stakes, and mulching are needed on a continual basis.
While we do appreciate the many “thanks” shouted as people pass by when we’re working, what we need even more are some additional volunteers.
Most of the planted areas have a primary caretaker. What’s needed are volunteers that can be called on to pitch in with weeding on occasion or to serve as a substitute waterer when the primary caregiver is out of town. Frankly, any additional help would be much appreciated.
Please contact Susan Roberts at susanroberts487@gmail.com or 301-320-4451 if you can help out.
By Susan Roberts, Coordinator, MacArthur Blvd. Beautification Committee [...]
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April 16, 2021Every spring, Mother Nature rolls out her most exquisite carpets for a limited time only. Rarely is it a red carpet, but throws in shades of yellow, blue, purple, and white on a green background are plentiful. There are the displays of Virginia bluebells, the lacy green foliage and peculiar pantaloons-like flowers of Dutchman’s breeches, the sprawl of wood violets. Nature only keeps these carpets out to catch the sun’s rays for a short while: return a month later and they will have disappeared, buried below ground until the next year.
Botanists call these spring beauties (an actual common name of a common wildflower called Claytonia) spring ephemerals, ephemeral because the whole life cycle of the plant—emergence of leaves, flowering, fruiting, and dieback of the aboveground tissues—happens in a month or less. The early flowering is triggered by several cues: growing day length and increasing warmth of the soil, availability of nutrients, and the buzzing of pollinators like bees and flies. But most of all, it is sunshine—an abundance of it flooding the forest understory with photons between the Ides of March and the leafing out and closure of the canopy trees by mid-April. As one botanist put it, the spring ephemerals emerge during the short time when the forest is not a forest, but more like a prairie.
My favorite spring ephemeral has a shorter time on stage than almost any other— the American trout lily (Erythronium americanum). First come the alluring mottled brown and green leaves, the pattern resembling the sides of a brook trout. Emerging above the splayed leaves is a comely yellow flower with six fused petals. Jump to see this display when you hear of it in the neighborhood because nature doesn’t wait around for your procrastination. For about one week after the first blossoms emerge—which seems to be the duration of flowering—a carpet of yellow on green blankets parts of the Cabin John Creek Trail (the flowers close up at night, so nocturnal botanizing is fruitless). A few days of rainy weather and deep mud on the trail, and all but the most avid hikers can miss this impressive display.
Making the carpet of these blossoms even more scarce is the fact that many trout lilies rarely flower until at least four years of age. Even then, sexual reproduction in this plant is rather scant, with less than 10% of the population producing seeds; most spread by underground bulbs branching off from a full-grown plant. Another fascinating challenge is that trout lily puts much more effort into deeper penetration of the bulb into the soil than do other members of the lily family, more than two feet down.
Barring blockage by some impenetrable surface, the plant will continue to grow downwards rather than upwards. A tip to gardeners: if you want to force your trout lilies to flower, dig a six-inch hole and place a flat rock at the bottom and fill it with rich soil. Once the plant’s bulb encounters the rock, it sends up a flower rather than trying to force its roots through or around the rock.
Trout lilies die back every year, but how long do these perennials live? Some colonies of trout lilies are as ancient as they are vast; some are estimated to be 300 years old. Imagine, wildflowers that far outlive humans.
Perhaps the most interesting ecological feature of the trout lily, though, is that this species, like many plants featured in this column and in our flora of spring ephemerals, has evolved to have its seeds dispersed by ants. Attached to each seed in the pod is a fleshy fatty tissue called an elaiosome that attracts several species of intrepid ants. These ants carry the seeds to their burrows, away from seed predators lurking in the colony, and give the seeds a safe spot for germination. In return for their labors, the ants feed the fatty tissue to their larvae.
Mother Nature rolls out her trout lily carpet each spring but not exactly like clockwork. Climate change is likely altering the emergence time of spring ephemerals and possibly the life cycles of the pollinators—flies and bees—and seed dispersers, the ants.
Scientists, naturalists, and citizen scientists are closely monitoring the timing of ecosystem cycles of germination, flowering, and the arrival of pollinators to study how climate warming may be affecting their synchronization. Japan reported last week that its famous cherry trees blossomed this year on the earliest date in 1,200 years.
Will we see trout lilies and other spring ephemerals appear earlier in the calendar? Will the bees be there to greet them?
By Eric Dinerstein, Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson, Contributing Artist [...]
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March 29, 2021While we’ve all become armchair travelers this past year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us take daily strolls across what was once a must-see tourist destination, the subject of postcards, photographs, and letters. At the turn of the 20th century, the Cabin John Bridge was on the itinerary of the capital’s visitors and locals alike. “We went to Cabin John Bridge,” wrote Mabel Hubbard Bell to her “darling Alec” in 1899. “We really had an awfully good time, and the heat was tempered by breezes and clouds.” Leisurely drives to the Cabin John Bridge were mentioned on several occasions in Mabel’s correspondence to her husband, Alexander Graham Bell, when they lived in Washington D.C.
The industrious photographer Alexander J. Yowell took every advantage of this popular tourist attraction and moved to the area in 1891. He set up his photography studio in a rustic wooden house under the elegant bridge, where one could purchase “a beautiful photogravure of Cabin John Bridge sent to any part of the world, post paid, for 15 cents, or a photograph for 30 cents.”
In a stroke of marketing genius, Yowell deemed himself “Successor to John of the Cabin” after the legend of the mysterious stranger who lived along the creek. He put out a twelve page pamphlet entitled The Cabin of John: A World-renowned Architectural Structure, A Famous Hotel and Pleasure Resort in which he described the history and specifications of the Cabin John Bridge.
The pamphlet recounted in great detail the story of “John” the squatter, clothed in animal skins, who lived in a cabin in the woods and from whom Cabin John and its creek, bridge, and hotel all derived their names. It praised the first class reputation of the Cabin John Hotel resort and included a page of “Questions Answered” that covered any curious query a tourist might have had. Designed by Montgomery C. Meigs and completed in 1864, the Cabin John Bridge was the world’s largest single arch span bridge with a span of 220 feet. Sightseers flocked to the spot to view the bridge and enjoy the hotel.
Yowell concluded, “I will cheerfully give any information I can, and will accord you every courtesy that will tend to make your visit profitable and pleasant, and should you desire to have a picture of yourself taken under the largest stone arch Bridge in the world, rest assured that you will be fairly and honorably treated.” Who wouldn’t pay 15 to 30 cents after such a sales pitch?
There may be many images by Alex J. Yowell out there—in his pamphlet he noted the “thousands of specimens” of his work around the world. Perhaps Yowell’s most widely recognized photograph, at least by Cabin John residents, is a view downstream with the photographer’s quaint cabin on the right side of the frame, the arch of the monumental bridge containing the tranquil scene.
Richard Cook has two wonderful examples of Yowell’s tintypes in his private collection. Tintypes were popular throughout the second half of the nineteenth century and commonly used by open air and street photographers. The negatives were applied to black enameled metal plates, so the image could be processed within moments and handed to the customer on the spot.
One image shows three gentlemen in waistcoats and ties, holding their bowler hats while posed below the bridge’s arch. Another tintype, dated 1893, depicts four young women perched on a bench in a classical pose against the stonework of the bridge. Wearing long dresses and decorative hats, one of the women holds a parasol; another raises a piece of fruit in her hand, plucked from the upside down hat in her lap, the hat perhaps that of the nearest young lady in the foreground. Each of the tintypes are mounted in a mat paper frame that included Yowell’s calling card of sorts: a description of the Cabin John Bridge and its impressive dimensions, compliments of the photographer.
Alex J. Yowell was born on April, 15 1857 in Virginia. He and his wife Sarah had five sons. His eldest, Leroy, was also a photographer in 1900, and perhaps helped run his father’s studio. After the heyday of the bridge and hotel, Yowell remained in Washington D.C. where he worked as a printer and was a member of the Freemasons. He died November 22, 1939.
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer
[See photos by accessing the article in the Village News Archive: 2021 March Newsletter] [...]
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March 21, 2021Everyone should have received the 2021 CJCA dues letter, which was mailed earlier this month.
Please remember to pay your dues ASAP. Thanks!
WAYS TO PAY:
Pay using the online form.
Pay by check. Mail checks to:CJCAPO Box 31Cabin John, MD 20818
Pay via paypal:www.paypal.me/cabinjohn [...]
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March 21, 2021Some 60 people, mostly Cabin John residents along with members of Carderock’s citizens association, a smattering of activists, and a couple of government officials joined the Feb. 24 CJCA Zoom meeting that provided an update on the flurry of activity surrounding the intertwined efforts of the preservation of the Morningstar 88 Moses Hall & Cemetery and the state’s massive Beltway Expansion plans.
Charlotte Troup Leighton, CJCA vice president for advocacy and a founding member of the Friends of Moses Hall, provided a detailed and insightful update. One of the important takeaways was that the State Highway Administration’s selection of Preferred Alternative 9, which calls for two managed toll lanes in each direction on I-495 and I-270, as well as its choice of a pre-development public-private partnership (P3) partner, now shifts the focus to the state’s Board of Public Works (BPW) and its upcoming vote to approve the pre- development partner and the next phase of work.
The swing vote on the board is Comptroller Peter Franchot, who has announced his candidacy for governor in 2022, and Charlotte suggested that a writing campaign to him may at least force more stipulations in the BPW vote. Her full presentation, which details numerous other efforts and points of interest, is linked to this story on the Cabin John website.
Meeting participants also benefited from the wisdom of Carol Rubin, Special Project Manager for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC) dealing with the Beltway expansion, who joined the call to hear more about the community’s concerns. In February the M-NPPC voiced opposition to the state’s selection of a preferred alternative that does not use any tolls to fund mass transit. The commission has also raised a wide range of environmental concerns about the expansion plans.
At the meeting, Rubin answered a host of questions about the massive project’s potential impacts. She noted that the National Park Service is “just as upset as we are at this point” and mentioned specific concerns they have about the Clara Barton Parkway and Plummer’s Island. She believes any P3 contractor that comes in should be told they have “to respect the church and the cemetery,” adding that she wants developers to create an interpretive walking museum at the cemetery.
The community will have the chance to meet again with Rubin later in March. The Cabin John Citizens Association and the Friends of Moses Hall also will be participating in a March 10 meeting with state officials concerning a preliminary draft of how it intends to minimize or mitigate any impacts to historical and cultural resources as part of the Beltway Expansion project. Stay tuned…
By Susan ShippCJCA President [...]
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March 21, 2021Spring is just around the corner and that means it’s time to collect the plastic bags, cans, and other trash that has collected along the Cabin John Creek since our last effort. We need a lot of volunteers this year as we are expanding the cleanup to include the new 1.3-mile forest trail that runs between Seven Locks Rd. and the park by the one-lane bridge.
Co-sponsored by the Friends of the Cabin John Creek and the Cabin John Citizens Association, this year’s cleanup will be held Saturday, April 24 from 2 pm to 4:30 pm. (If inclement weather forces us to cancel, we will try again on Saturday, May 1.)
Due to COVID, all participants must pre-register. Pre-registration will be done through the county’s volunteer website. You will need to create an account and complete a COVID-19 waiver form. Unfortunately, due to contact tracing and other requirements, we cannot allow people to participate who have not pre-registered. The CJCA will send out an email with the signup link as soon as it’s available. The deadline for pre-registering is April 23 at noon.
If you are under 18 years old, you still need to pre-register on the website, print out the COVID-19 waiver, have your parents sign it, and bring it to the park. This event is preapproved for SSL hours. Children ages 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
Please plan to meet at Cabin John Local Park by the one-lane bridge at 1:45 pm. The clean-up, held rain or shine, is messy and old clothes are recommended. Sturdy shoes that you don’t mind getting wet are also a good idea. Masks are a must, and a personal water bottle is highly recommended. Gloves will be provided, but to ensure a better fit you may want to bring your own.
Once you are signed in you will be given some trash bags and a portion or the creek or trail to clean up. There is a lot of creek and trail to tackle so we will have no trouble maintaining the required six feet between people of different households.
For more information, please contact Greg Gurley at ggurley1@gmail.com or Susan Shipp at jsjsshipp3@verizon.net.
By Susan ShippCJCA President
Greg GurleyDirector, Friends of the Cabin John Creek [...]
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March 20, 2021While we’ve all become armchair travelers this past year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many of us take daily strolls across what was once a must-see tourist destination, the subject of postcards, photographs, and letters. At the turn of the 20th century, the Cabin John Bridge was on the itinerary of the capital’s visitors and locals alike. “We went to Cabin John Bridge,” wrote Mabel Hubbard Bell to her “darling Alec” in 1899. “We really had an awfully good time, and the heat was tempered by breezes and clouds.”
Leisurely drives to the Cabin John Bridge were mentioned on several occasions in Mabel’s correspondence to her husband, Alexander Graham Bell, when they lived in Washington D.C.
The industrious photographer Alexander J. Yowell took every advantage of this popular tourist attraction and moved to the area in 1891. He set up his photography studio in a rustic wooden house under the elegant bridge, where one could purchase “a beautiful photogravure of Cabin John Bridge sent to any part of the world, post paid, for 15 cents, or a photograph for 30 cents.”
In a stroke of marketing genius, Yowell deemed himself “Successor to John of the Cabin” after the legend of the mysterious stranger who lived along the creek. He put out a twelve page pamphlet entitled The Cabin of John: A World-renowned Architectural Structure, A Famous Hotel and Pleasure Resort in which he described the history and specifications of the Cabin John Bridge.
The pamphlet recounted in great detail the story of “John” the squatter, clothed in animal skins, who lived in a cabin in the woods and from whom Cabin John and its creek, bridge, and hotel all derived their names. It praised the first class reputation of the Cabin John Hotel resort and included a page of “Questions Answered” that covered any curious query a tourist might have had. Designed by Montgomery C. Meigs and completed in 1864, the Cabin John Bridge was the world’s largest single arch span bridge with a span of 220 feet. Sightseers flocked to the spot to view the bridge and enjoy the hotel.
Yowell concluded, “I will cheerfully give any information I can, and will accord you every courtesy that will tend to make your visit profitable and pleasant, and should you desire to have a picture of yourself taken under the largest stone arch Bridge in the world, rest assured that you will be fairly and honorably treated.” Who wouldn’t pay 15 to 30 cents after such a sales pitch?
There may be many images by Alex J. Yowell out there—in his pamphlet he noted the “thousands of specimens” of his work around the world. Perhaps Yowell’s most widely recognized photograph, at least by Cabin John residents, is a view downstream with the photographer’s quaint cabin on the right side of the frame, the arch of the monumental bridge containing the tranquil scene.
Richard Cook has two wonderful examples of Yowell’s tintypes in his private collection. Tintypes were popular throughout the second half of the nineteenth century and commonly used by open air and street photographers. The negatives were applied to black enameled metal plates, so the image could be processed within moments and handed to the customer on the spot.
One image shows three gentlemen in waistcoats and ties, holding their bowler hats while posed below the bridge’s arch. Another tintype, dated 1893, depicts four young women perched on a bench in a classical pose against the stonework of the bridge. Wearing long dresses and decorative hats, one of the women holds a parasol; another raises a piece of fruit in her hand, plucked from the upside down hat in her lap, the hat perhaps that of the nearest young lady in the foreground. Each of the tintypes are mounted in a mat paper frame that included Yowell’s calling card of sorts: a description of the Cabin John Bridge and its impressive dimensions, compliments of the photographer.
Alex J. Yowell was born on April, 15 1857 in Virginia. He and his wife Sarah had five sons. His eldest, Leroy, was also a photographer in 1900, and perhaps helped run his father’s studio. After the heyday of the bridge and hotel, Yowell remained in Washington D.C. where he worked as a printer and was a member of the Freemasons. He died November 22, 1939.
By Rachel Donnan Contributing Writer [...]
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March 19, 2021Protecting precious topsoil by avoiding erosion is the guiding principle of every responsible farmer. Gardeners should heed the same commandment. In bright sunlit gardens, a wide variety of plants can effectively shield the exposed earth from washing away in a heavy rainstorm. But because much of Cabin John is still covered by trees, the challenge emerges when the canopy shades out sun-loving plants. In these spots the soil surface sits bare, exposed to heavy rains and wind, unless you find a shade-loving ground cover.
Fortunately, native plant species in our area have evolved to thrive under a dense tree canopy. Two such species could become the foot soldiers in an effort to repopulate the gardens of Cabin John with native vegetation that offer beautiful flowers, lush evergreen foliage, or both. And each has a fascinating ecological story to tell.
One of the most interesting species in our entire native flora is wild ginger, sometimes known as Canada wild ginger (Asarum canadense). It bears no taxonomic relation to the cultivated ginger plant of the tropics or to its relative, turmeric—both members of the Zingerberaceae, the true ginger family. Canada wild ginger belongs to the Dutchman’s pipe family, a group largely tropical and known for its bizarrely shaped flowers that resemble deep-bowled curved tobacco pipes. Many members of this family (Aristolochiaceae) are vines or lianas. Canada wild ginger grows solely prostrate and in the dense shade in areas along Cabin John Creek, covering the ground layer with heart- or kidney-shaped leaves. But it is the flowers that are most amazing: dark, mysterious, hairy, purple blossoms with three petal-like structures that are tapered at the tips and fused at the base to form a cup. Right out of a dark fairy tale.
After pollination, a pod emerges inside the flower that splits open upon ripening to expose seeds covered in a fatty tissue. That fatty tissue is attractive to ants that carry off the seeds to their lairs, feed the fatty tissue to the larvae, and thereby disperse the seeds unharmed. Wild ginger is but one of the p to 25% of our early spring ephemeral wildflowers in our area that rely on ants to disperse their seeds (these were covered in the April 2015 Local Nature column entitled Ants in our Plants). Now you can bring this star of local nature into that shady spot in your yard.
A companion of wild ginger in the shadiest parts of our Cabin John Creek trail is partridgeberry. It’s easy to spot in winter, a ground-hugger with evergreen, opposite leaves that sport white stripes down the mid-vein of each leaf. In winter there is often a bright red berry, tasteless to us but gobbled down by wild turkey, partridge, quail, and other overwintering birds, and even foxes, skunks, and mice.
Partridgeberry is one of our most diminutive plants but spreads beautifully and would make an excellent garden- border plant mixed with an edging of rocks. Partridgeberry is one of the few temperate-zone plants, along with bedstraw and buttonbush, that belong to the tropical family Rubiaceae, known also as the coffee tree family. The miniature flowers of the partridgeberry even slightly resemble the much larger flowers of coffee and its allies in the family.
Quinine is another famous plant that belongs to the Rubes (as botanists affectionately call them). The Rubes contain some of the most beautiful flowering trees in the world, including my favorite, a species called Captaincookia, found only on the island of New Caledonia.
There’s not much to eat on a partridgeberry, so don’t grow it for its fruit. Canada wild ginger, in contrast, was sought out by Native Americans for the underground tubers that served as a spicy seasoning. Not recommended these days as further biochemical research shows that the plant contains some noxious chemicals. However, the Native Americans gave Canada wild ginger an important place in their natural apothecary. They treated a variety of ailments ranging from urinary tract infections and tuberculosis to convulsions with its roots.
But it’s that ant-bait that really intrigues me. I have yet to do this, but someday, this spring while waiting for the pandemic isolation to lift, when the ant-attracting seeds are out, I am going to lay prone and be eye-level with the wild ginger I have in my backyard forest and wait for the ants to arrive. Even in 2021 you can still feel like Charles Darwin about to encounter an evolutionary spectacle in miniature.
By Eric Dinerstein Contributing Writer
Illustrations by Trudy Nicholson Contributing Artist [...]
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February 27, 2021A walk along the lower trail bordering Cabin John Creek requires a bit of boulder hopping. A relatively flat path gives way in a certain section to a world of jutting rocks, exposed roots, and low-growing trees—the most enchanted part of our local forest. The boulders are often topped by Polypody ferns, also known as rock cap ferns for their penchant to grow in depressions on rocks. If you stumble on a root and reach for a nearby shrub to keep your balance, more likely than not, you would be grasping the leathery evergreen leaves of the mountain laurel or a broom- like branch of witch hazel. And if you did fall, you might find yourself lying prone next to mapleleaf viburnum. These three shrubs—mountain laurel, witch hazel, and mapleleaf viburnum—are among the most common in the wildest reach by the creek, but only where the geology underlying the path beneath your feet is different from the rest of the trail.
An expert on the flora of the Great Smoky Mountains, the botanist Dan Pittillo, once shared this insight with me while on a nature hike: “If you want to be a botanist, become a geologist.” It turns out that this puzzling piece of advice makes more sense the longer you spend in nature looking at plants. If you know the underlying geology and soils of an area, you can often predict the plants and plant communities to be found there. A lot of plants, especially the more rare ones, prefer, or are limited to, a distinct substrate where they compete best for resources. And where the boulders composed of schist and gneiss— two common coarse-grained metamorphic rocks—create an obstacle course along the creek, the rarest plants along the Potomac grow: crane fly orchid, Adam-and-Eve orchid, rattlesnake plantain orchid, hepatica, and spotted wintergreen. And shading them from above is that trio of shrubs worthy of our attention as ecologists and a place in our gardens as restorationists. Fortunately for us, while all three of these plants are most common in the rocky stretches, they are easy to grow in the flat smooth soils of backyard Cabin John.
Mountain laurel is typically a plant of the mountains and the state flower of Connecticut and Pennsylvania. For anyone who has hiked or driven along the slopes of Sugarloaf Mountain near Comus, Maryland in early May, the magnificent white or pink blossoms of mountain laurel greet you. So to see so much mountain laurel in the lowland forests around us is a botanical treat. It is likely the distinct geologic conditions of those schist and gneiss outcrops that allow the shrub to grow at this lower elevation. The abundant flowers attract the interest of native bumblebees and the fragrance of the blossoms has been compared to that of grape bubble gum (that was meant as a compliment by a gum chewing botanist). The mountain laurel is in the same family as Rhododendron (in Latin, the rose trees). If you’re thinking of planting in your flower bed some rose bushes this year, please reconsider. Roses attract no native insects. Mountain laurel does, it is much lovelier, can grow in partial shade, is evergreen, and so much easier to care for, requiring no pesticides like fragile roses typically do.
Witch hazel, you probably know, is famous for its exceptional properties as a natural astringent. We covered this shrub in a previous column in the November 2015 issue because it has a remarkable behavior not seen in almost any other plant: it flowers in winter (only the native witch hazel does this—the imported Chinese or Japanese witch hazel flowers in spring). What better way to add mystery and diversity to your garden than to plant witch hazel? This is a marvelous shrub that in late November sports bright thin yellow petals that stand out against snow and dark grey skies. It is pollinated by tough all-weather flies, bees, moths, and even beetles that venture out in the late fall and early winter. And laying their eggs on the witch hazel are the beautiful striped hairstreak and harvester butterflies, as well as the witches hat aphid.
Mapleleaf viburnum is so named because the paired opposite leaves resemble the leaves of maples, just like a gardener’s favorite, oakleaf viburnum, and has foliage resembling that of white oaks. The mapleleaf viburnum doesn’t receive the same attention as other viburnums, a number of which are planted in local gardens and are not native. Yet its fall fruits attract white-throated sparrows, cardinals, and other birds. Its delicate white flowers are my favorite among the viburnums. But the mapleleaf viburnum earns a first prize among all of our native shrubs: most beautiful fall foliage. In autumn, the leaves of mapleleaf viburnum turn exquisite hues from purple to blue or magenta. When the afternoon sun backlights this viburnum, it is one of the visual pleasures of my early November walks along the creek. Just as the mountain laurel can sub for rose bushes, the mapleleaf viburnum can take the place of the invasive burning bush planted so frequently in our neighborhood. Do the eye test from the images on the internet for fall foliage and watch your preference shift to the native.
And the runner-up for the most beautiful fall foliage? I offer witch hazel. Unlike mapleleaf viburnum, which is a solid purple, witch hazel leaves can come in shades of purple, yellow, red, or orange, on single leaves or all on the same leaf. It is a blaze of fall color condensed to a single bush.
Set against the cheery evergreen foliage of the mountain laurel you have several gorgeous native shrubs that give pleasure over the seasons, require no care once planted, and will prosper for decades. Better still, you can purchase these plants online or at local nurseries like Nature by Design in Alexandria, where I bought most of my native plants. And, in this era of COVID-19 and home delivery, Nature by Design brings plants to your door. Go to www.nature-by-design.com to find these three stalwart shrubs and virtually all of the natives that I’ll write about and Trudy will illustrate in this year’s columns. Late February or March is an excellent time to put them in the ground.
We are lucky to be living so close to wilderness. And with the addition of these three plants, we can bring a parcel of wilderness right into our yards.
ERIC DINERSTEIN , Contributing Writer
ILLUSTRATION BY TRUDY NICHOLSON [...]
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February 14, 2021Cabin John Goes to the Dogs, Cats and Rabbits During Pandemic
Like the rest of the country, the pandemic has prompted residents of Cabin John to adopt dogs, cats, and other pets. Here are some of the furry friends that have joined families in the neighborhood over the past year.
Buster joined the Gibbons family on 75th Pl. and is curled up in his fur beanbag, one of many favorite pandemic nap spots.Degie, a goldendoodle, joined Amy Ross and Bob Wilkoff on Macarthur Blvd. in August when he was three months old. He is very goofy and is amazed by how many of his long-lost “doodle” cousins also live in the neighborhood. One individual not so happy that he’s joined their household is Ms. T, a very spoiled 10-year-old cat.The Thomas family of Cabin Rd. adopted two rescue bunnies (sisters!) in June from the House Rabbit Society. Their names are Tia Tofu and Gigi.Seventy-fifth Place is also the new home of Maise, a rescue pup from Louisiana adopted by the Harris family in late December after being fostered by the Holland family of 79th Place. Foster mom Jill brings her dog Dexter for the occasional visit with Maise and mom Helen.In July, goldendoodle Ellie joined mom Maybe and the Cohen/Liebman family of 79th Pl. and enjoys playing with all her neighborhood puppy pals.Andy, Meredith, Tenley, and Phoebe Fishburn of Tomlinson Terr. adopted Boxer puppy Taffy in April. Taffy has a lot of energy, so she is out and about on at least three walks a day. She says “woof woof” to all her new doggie friends.Rocky was adopted by Tom Wilmarth of 75th Pl. in June 2020 when he was eight weeks old. He and Tom split their time between Cabin John and Arizona.Harry is a six-month-old coonhound adopted in November by the Shirzad family of Seven Locks Rd. He is an energetic and playful puppy, and they feel very lucky for him to be part of their family.Diane Dompka of MacArthur Blvd. adopted pandemic sidekick LuLu on March 20 from the Humane Rescue Alliance. She has been the best stay-at-home pal one could wish for. She looks and acts like Diane’s former pet LuLu.Marlene Beckman and Ken Speckler of 79th St. welcomed a new “grand pup,” Stella. Their daughter had been fostering puppies for Lucky Dog Animal Rescue prior to the pandemic, and her four previous rescue pups were immediately adopted. She met Stella and knew she was “the one.” The two of them live in Vienna, VA.On 83rd Place, the Patt-Corner family’s six-year-old pup Julian had become lonely during the pandemic, so they adopted nine-month-old rescue Aussie, Koda, through SOHO Dog Rescue, which saves herding dogs and mixes. They became fast friends. Koda is a delight!
By Loretta Devery IngallsVillage News Content Editor [...]
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February 14, 2021A Brief Explanation of the CJCA Financial Statement
As you can see from the 2020 CJCA Financial Statement (below), the Cabin John Citizens Association is fiscally sound even though we were unable to hold our big fundraiser, the CJ Chicken and Crab Feast.
The last CJCA-sponsored event before the pandemic shut everything down was our Trivia Night fundraiser, which netted close to $1,200 towards the CJ Signage project. The signage committee, spearheaded by Greg Paulson, a CJCA vice president, is hoping to have a couple of design options to share with the community this spring.
The generous $1,500 100th Anniversary donation in this year’s financials was given to support the MacArthur Blvd. Beautification Project.
The statement, prepared by CJCA Treasurer Bob Walsh of 81st Street, shows that 2020 income primarily came from dues and donations. A big thank you to all the duespaying community members and those that generously donated additional funds totaling $3,843 to the CJCA as well as $2,091 to the Friends of the Cabin John Creek and $1,456 to the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center.
It is disheartening that only half of the roughly 750 CJ households and businesses make the effort to pay the $20 annual dues. I hope when you receive the dues letter shortly, you will consider all that the CJCA does and take the time to pay your dues.
Of note, The Village News came within $500 of breaking even this year, with revenue topping $12,200 and printing and mailing expenses coming in at some $12,700.
On the expense side, some $3,300 was spent on advocacy tied to the state’s Beltway expansion and the preservation of the Morningstar 88 Moses Hall and cemetery.
Our balance on hand at the start of 2020 is impressive at more than $28,000. The CJCA does have outstanding obligations of more than $7,000 for the 2021 CJ Directory and likely $800 or so for additional work on our website, www.cabinjohn.org.
By Susan ShippCJCA President [...]
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February 14, 2021Marcy Harrison: Retired but Not Retiring
Longtime CJ volunteer Marcy Harrison of Cypress Grove Lane took on the role of CJCA vice president of communications and editor of the 2021 Cabin John Directory in late 2019. Now that the directory project is just about wrapped up—look for your directory in the mail this March — Marcy is adding to her Cabin John volunteer duties.
As of February, Marcy is the business manager for The Village News. In that role, Marcy will be managing all of the newsletter’s display and classified advertising, subscriptions, andthe master mailing list.
Marcy will also continue to serve as a CJCA vice president of communications, focusing on maintaining directory listing information and helping with the Cabin John website.
The Cabin John Citizens Association would love to add a second vice president of communications. This volunteer would be responsible for publicizing CJCA events and other activities in the newsletter and on the CJCA listserv.
Anyone interested in learning more about this position is urged to contact CJCA President Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net.
The Village News recently interviewed Marcy about her new role and life in general:
Since we last interviewed you in late 2019, you retired from your job in the healthcare industry. How is that going?
I love, love, love it! Every day is a Saturday! I get great joy from little things that are new for me now—like how much easier it is to do errands during the week when there are few people out. I have the time to reconnect with friends, and to pursue new learning on miscellaneous topics.
I have always wanted to assume more volunteer service roles, such as the CJCA business manager, and to be more available to help out with our three daughters and our grandkids. Now I can. My youngest daughter is taking full advantage of my newly available time to help her plan her October wedding. I have not yet started all the home organization projects that are waiting for me, but I have been able to take up some new hobbies.
Tell us about that.
I’m diving deeply into birding. I’ve taken trips with the Audubon Naturalist Society and the Montgomery Bird Club. I’m participating in the backyard bird count and other bird counting efforts. I’m taking up bird photography. There is so much to learn!
Like a lot of people in the pandemic, I am doing more reading. I found the Diane Rehm Book Club online, and I am enjoying it a lot. I also plan to re-start piano and banjo lessons.
Do you have any post-pandemic retirement plans?
My husband and I hope to get back to doing more traveling. We were supposed to go to Portugal last October. I’ve been studying Portuguese online for a year!
I also hope to find a local book club, movie club, and game night group. If you have any suggestions for finding these, please let me know!
Nancy Russell: Leader of Spirited Community Outreach
Did you receive a CJ welcome bag when you moved to Cabin John? Have you attended the annual New Neighbor Potluck or bought a ticket to CJCA’s annual Chicken and Crab Feast fundraiser from a block coordinator? If so, you have Nancy Russell to thank.
For more than four years, Nancy has served as the CJCA’s vice president for community outreach. Nancy took the newly created position so that she could focus on creating community cohesion.
Elected in May 2017, Nancy had the CJ Block Coordinator Program up and running before the end of the year. After breaking down the community into 31 “blocks” of one to two dozen households, Nancy recruited one or more volunteers for each area.
In addition to welcome bag deliveries and ticket sales for the crab feast, block coordinators are occasionally asked to share important community news, such as when the revamped Neighbor 2 Neighbor assistance program — another Nancy led effort — was launched. In 2018, Nancy coordinated the inaugural New Neighbors Potluck held each spring.
Nancy has enriched the community well beyond her official role. Nancy and her husband Craig have been active members of the community since 2004 when they moved into their home on 76th Street, lending a hand at crab feasts, Fourth of July celebrations, and CJ holiday parties.
In March, Nancy and Craig will be moving to Sonoma, CA, which will surely benefit from their enthusiastic community spirit. The CJCA wishes them well in their new adventure and offers a heartfelt thanks for all the ways they enriched the community over the years.
BY SUSAN SHIPPCJCA President [...]
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February 14, 2021Moses Hall Fieldwork Underway As State Moves Forward With Beltway Plans
The State Highway Administration started to clear bamboo in mid-January at the Morningstar Moses Hall & Cemetery site as part of additional field investigations required under theenvironmental review process tied to Gov. Hogan’s Beltway expansion plans.
But even though the final environmental impact statement is not expected until the fall, on Jan. 27 Maryland highway officials announced their pick for a plan to expand I-495 and I-270 that would add four toll lanes to each roadway. As currently envisioned, the plan also would include a managed lane flyover access ramp at River Road that would cross Seven Locks Rd. and encroach on the Moses Hall property.
Furthermore, the Maryland Department of Transportation expects to choose a predevelopment contractor for the multibillion-dollar project this month. While it’s still too early to know what these choices might mean for Cabin John, the Moses Hall property is already dealing with a number of issues driven by the state’s Beltway expansion efforts.
The Cabin John Citizens Association will host a Zoom meeting Feb. 24 at 7:30pm to provide an update on the state’s expansion plans and all the work going into preserving the Moses Hall property. Please look for a CJCA email with the Zoom meeting link a few days before the meeting.
Reconstituting Morningstar Tabernacle Number 88, Inc.
A critical piece to protecting the Moses Hall property has been to reestablish an ownership entity.
In 1885 Cabin John’s African American community established Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88, a local branch of the Ancient United Order of Brothers and Sisters, Sons and Daughters of Moses, a black fraternal organization created by Peter Paul Brown in 1868 in Pennsylvania.
Most of this small community, early on known as Gibson Grove and later as simply No. 10, belonged to Morningstar 88. It built the Moses Hall lodge, a two-story structure, on land formally conveyed to Morningstar Moses 88 by John D.W. Moore in 1901. (Earlier in 1887 George and wife Surilla— aka Cyrilla—Scott had conveyeda portion of their land to Morningstar 88 to create a small “road” to reach the burial site and hall.)
Like other benevolent societies in this era, Morningstar 88 played a critical role in the post-Emancipation era by providing to its members funds in case of illness, education to orphans,and, uniquely in Montgomery County, a burial place for its members not requiring specific church affiliation. (While most of its members were part of the local Gibson Grove AME Zion Church, there were some who belonged to area Baptist churches.) Morningstar’s Moses Hall was not only used for lodge meetings, it also served as a social center for the community and at times housed the Cabin John School for black children.
By the mid-1990s, the need for Morningstar 88 dwindled as insurance and other services became more available to the community, but lodge members continued to be buried in the Morningstar Moses Cemetery well into the 1970s. Over time, however, Morningstar 88 became defunct.
Moses Hall descendants and volunteers have worked diligently with pro bono counsel over the past year to appoint substitute trustees to reestablish the ownership entity, address tax issues, and bring it in good standing with the state. The three substitute trustees are Moses Hall descendant Austin E. White of Carver Rd., local preservationist Eileen McGuckian, and archeologistDr. Alexandra Jones. They will work to establish by-laws and add trustees while moving forward with meaningful preservation and advocacy efforts for this historic site.
Ensuring the State’s Fieldwork Does No Harm
Most immediately, this effort enabled trustees to appear at the Dec. 29 court hearing to request that the state’s attorney more carefully define and limit the state highway administration’s(SHA) access and work at this sensitive site.
As part of the environmental assessment, the SHA must complete additional field investigations, monitored by an on-site archaeologist, within the Limits of Disturbance (LOD) area of the potential Beltway expansion. A number of known burial sites and the foundation of the hall — the only known physical remains of an Order of Moses Hall in Montgomery County — fall within the LOD.
To complete its investigations, the state must first remove the bamboo from the property. As of early February, the cutting was well underway, but the state still needed to work out the complicated logistics for removal of the cut bamboo from the property. Beltway lane closures will be required for the project. The cemetery and hall site is currently closed to the public.
Friends of Moses Hall Continues Its Preservation Efforts
Friends of Moses Hall, a group comprised of descendants of Moses Hall, historic preservationists, and Cabin John community members, has been working tirelessly since fall 2019 to preserve and protect the property. In 2020, the Cabin John Citizens Association provided $2,000 to haul away mounds of debris cleared by volunteers.
With the state now required to clear out the remaining bamboo on the property so that its assessment can continue, Friends of Moses Hall is focusing on ensuring the bamboo does not growback. The group brought in a landscaper that does bamboo remediation. He expects it will take several years of treatments to fully eradicate the bamboo. The cost estimate for the first year of treatment exceeds $4,000.
In late January, Friends of Moses Hall received a $3,000 Trader Foundation grant from the Coalition to Protect Maryland Burial Sites. This grant money is earmarked for bamboo remediation and to cover filing fees to bring Morningstar 88 Moses Hall in good standing with the state.
In the coming months Friends of Moses Hall, the Cabin John Citizens Association, and others will be working with the SHA and the private contractors it selects to avoid and mitigateimpacts to the property as part of the next phase of the environmental process.
Please visit Friends of Moses Hall’s recently launched website www.friendsofmoseshall.org to learn more about Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Hall and the ongoing efforts to preserveand protect this historic treasure in Cabin John.
By Charlotte Troup LeightonCJCA Vice President for Advocacy [...]
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January 29, 2021Thoreau cherished his Walden Pond. We, the fortunate residents of Cabin John, live closer to wilderness than the reclusive Henry David. To the south is the wild Potomac and its luxurious riparian forest, which form the C&O Canal National Historic Park. A fact few know: the Potomac is one of the three wildest (i.e., undammed) rivers to flow through the capital city of any nation. To the north, protecting us from the noise and motor madness of the Beltway, is Cabin John Local Park, which hugs Cabin John Creek and serves as refuge for many rare plants of Maryland.
But in between these two parks, where has the wildness gone that not so long ago was in evidence? The truth is that Cabin John has been transformed in the past 25 years from a village of small cottages underneath majestic shade trees and patches of wild to large houses with extensive lawns and many fewer trees. This is not a condemnation but simply an observation of a trend, one that plays out in many of the suburbs of large metropolitan areas of America.
Another trend some of us have noticed: with the increase in the cover of our yards by monocultures of grass lawns kept green and thriving by chemicals and fertilizers, populations of bees, butterflies, moths, and beetles—what E. O. Wilson called, “the little things that run the world”—are plummeting rapidly. Even those who don’t like beetles or flies or are scared of caterpillars falling from tree canopies probably love the songs of birds in our backyards. But in fact, those songbirds—our beloved catbird, the spunky Carolina wren, the proud American robin, the ethereal flutist known as the wood thrush—are made primarily from bugs. And these songsters require lots of bugs to feed their young and themselves. In September, when insects become scarce, a helping of wild fruits is also a draw for those species needing to tank up before migrating south for winter. (Of course, the other vital role that insects play besides being a convenient meal is their central role in pollination of our crops and garden plants).
Perhaps Cabin John residents have become more tuned in to birds than ever before, given how much time we have spent this past year staring out into our backyards. As the world ponders how to build back better after the coronavirus pandemic, what can we, as good citizens of Cabin John, do to aid in this effort? My suggestion is that, in addition to whatever else we might plan to do, we become good ecological citizens as well. And more specifically, I suggest we join the growing global movement to restore nature by turning a fraction of our expansive grass lawns and city parks into homegrown wildlife preserves.
Entomologist Doug Tallamy, a professor at the University of Delaware and the leading proponent of bringing nature into our backyards, identifies the scope of the problem and what we can do to rectify it:
“It’s actually quite simple—abandon the age- old concept that humans live here and nature is somewhere else and embrace the concept that we need to share our spaces with nature. We enjoy a walk in the woods; we enjoy seeing butterflies, birds, beautiful flowers, etc. Research has shown that spending time in nature is the very best way to recharge your attention span and deal with the stresses of life. Living with nature is a healthy necessity, not a sacrifice we must endure.
We have 45.6 million acres of lawns and it is growing by 500 square miles each year. That’s an area 8 times the size of New Jersey from which the species that run our ecosystems have been removed. Now that we see the big picture, homeowners can take action.
Lawn should be restricted to the areas on which we walk in our landscapes; it is a mechanism for guiding us through our landscapes. Lawn should not be our default landscaping practice. If we cut the area of lawn in half, we could create the equivalent of a new national park that is 20 million acresin size. That alone would create the biggest natural area in the nation, bigger than most of our national parks combined.”
In Cabin John, most residents have large yards, a rarity inside the Capital Beltway. We don’t have to go so far as to cut the land area of our yards in half, though. Creating a garden bed devoted to native plants would be a good start.
To guide the ecological citizens among us, the columns for this year will have a common theme: What are the most beautiful native plants we can grow that feed the bugs and butterflies that feed the birds and help prevent the extinction of life on Earth?
Each month’s column will feature a favorite that is easy to grow, is available from local nurseries, and that contributes to rewilding your yard. Can you imagine an archipelago of wild gardens across Cabin John, serving as a safe haven for Monarch butterflies and Luna moths? Where American Goldfinches gather seeds and catbirds imitate the bird songs of the neighborhood? When it comes to nature, isn’t this the very essence of building back better?
We’ll build up to the end point, the last column of 2021, for creating your own backyard forest preserve. But for the first installment, let’s start small with that flower bed or patch of yard turned over to nature. This month considers the ground cover we gardeners often plant or allow to spread to avoid weeding. The most common invaders, English ivy and winter creeper (covered in last year’s columns on alien invasives) crowd out native plants in our forests and in our yards. Let’s yank them out, and in their place, try these two spectacular ground covers: Woodland stonecrop and Allegheny spurge. Many people are familiar with stonecrops: with their thick succulent leaves they are popular indoor and roof- garden plants as they require little care and store water in their tissues. The non-native varieties planted on roofs are covered in sprays of flowers of vivid colors. Our single native, Woodland stonecrop (Sedum ternatum), has a pure white corolla. It thrives in bright sun and is about the easiest plant to propagate: if you inadvertently slice off a stem in planting or transplanting, stick it in the ground. The plant spreads quickly over the surface and in the spring, you will enjoy a carpet of lovely foliage and white flowers (you can even eat the leaves in salad or put the flowers in jars of pickles). Make your bees happy; those that come will pollinate other flowering species in your garden.
Then there is the Allegheny spurge, one of the most beautiful ground covers in the region, sporting male flowers rising in spikes of white above attractive scalloped leaves dotted in purple and silver. It is much more attractive, in fact, than the ubiquitous non-native Japanese spurge that chokes out all below it. The Allegheny, or mountain, spurge spreads more slowly than Japanese spurge so you can plan out your garden and move it and stonecrop around.
If you have picked a sunny spot to start your very own wildlife preserve, stick in plugs of woodland stonecrop stems a few inches apart. If you have a shady spot, go with the Allegheny spurge. Above all, don’t give the periwinkle (a highly toxic plant that is all over gardens in Cabin John) an inch of space and keep out the English ivy.
With these native ground covers, we can beautify Cabin John and offer food for our dwindling bee populations as well as all the other insects threatened by the chemical warfare that rages in suburbia.
ERIC DINERSTEIN, Contributing Writer
ILLUSTRATION BY TRUDY NICHOLSON [...]
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January 29, 2021Your CJCA Dues Payment Matters Now More Than Ever.
Please keep a lookout in your mailbox for your 2021 Cabin John Citizens Association dues letter. Only $20 per household annually, the dues collected are critical to supporting all the activities and advocacy of the CJCA.
Dues from the community is the primary source of CJCA funds. Generally, 50 percent of the community pays dues, bringing in roughly $7,000. Our other major fundraiser is the annual Chicken and Crab Feast, which usually nets about $3,500. As you know, the pandemic forced us to cancel the 2020 crab feast, dealing a blow to our budget.
In addition to dues information, the letter will detail how you can make contributions to the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center and the Friends of the Cabin John Creek.
The CJCA benefits everyone in the community through activities, advocacy, The Village News, the Cabin John website, the directory, and other services. We hope you will do your part by paying your 2021 dues as promptly as possible.
Don’t want to wait until you receive the letter? Take care of business and pay your dues online now!
By Susan ShippCJCA President [...]
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January 29, 20212020 was the 10th anniversary of Cabin John’s Giving Tree Project, and the community pulled together to raise a record amount.
The project, which benefits SOME (So Others Might Eat), a Washington, DC organization that helps the poor and homeless through services, such as training and shelter, aimed to raise $5,000 to match the community’s generosity in previous years. Some 100 Cabin John families donated a total of $7,210 in gift cards, far exceeding the goal.
“It is heartwarming to see the outpouring of generosity. One of the many reasons to love living here!” said Lori Reickelman of 79th Street. Lori has coordinated this effort since it began. She sends a big thank you to all who contributed.
By Susan ShippCJCA President [...]
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January 29, 2021The new 2021 Cabin John Directory is on track to be in the mail by the end of February. While this represents a delay from our original goal of publishing in 2020, the Cabin John Citizens Association hopes you will find it worth the wait. The CJ Directory, last published in 2015, is mailed free of charge to every household in Cabin John. For the 2021 version, we are adding email addresses and cell phone numbers for adults listed. Like previous directories, there will be the ability to look up names by street, a local talent section, and information on local businesses and services.
While the pandemic precluded house-to-house canvassing for resident information as was done for previous directories, every attempt was made to reach all 715 or so households in 2020 through notices in The Village News, letters, emails, and phone calls. The listings are comprehensive for Cabin John and include 20817 residents living within the geographic boundaries of Cabin John (the triangle created by the Capital Beltway, Cabin John Parkway and the Potomac River) who were previously listed in the 2015 directory and/or who are dues paying members of the Cabin John Citizens Association.
ATTENTION NEW CABIN JOHN RESIDENTSThe directory editors are concerned that folks who moved into Cabin John during the pandemic may not have had a chance to express their interest in being included in the new directory.
If you became a CJ resident in 2020 and have not yet shared your name, address, and any contact information you want to be in a directory listing, please send an email to the editor, Marcy Harrison, at cjdirectory2020@gmail.com. She will be happy to answer any questions and work with you to be included.
By Marcy Harrison2021 CJ Directory Editor [...]
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November 29, 2020This past spring, as Covid-19 lockdowns began and people worried about the availability of fresh food, victory gardens and backyard chickens became a growing trend. In Cabin John, raised beds and deer-proof fencing became more common. But what many of Cabin John’s backyard farmers may not have known is that their newly cultivated gardens revisited a pastoral community tradition.
Today’s Cabin John was originally parcels of land owned and farmed by a handful of families during the late 1700s and 1800s, with few houses dotting the landscape. In 1870, Joseph and Rosa Bobinger purchased 100 acres west of the Union Arch Bridge, and the legendary Cabin John Bridge Hotel was born. Joseph had worked as a stonemason on the bridge, while Rosa operated a nearby refreshment stand, selling drinks and cakes and later her chicken dinner, which cemented her reputation as an excellent cook. Across from the hotel, where the tennis courts and baseball field are located, were once stables, a smoke house, dairy building, an ice house, a red brick gas house (which still stands today), poultry houses, a large garden, and perhaps most interestingly, one of the largest asparagus beds in the country.
The hotel was famous for its elaborate and freshly cooked meals, a turn of the 20th century farm to table restaurant. From Maryland fried chicken to a small-mouth bass platter, with the bass split down the middle, golden brown and garnished with tartar sauce and boiled new potatoes, meals were fresh and local. Some of the wine was made from local vineyards on both sides of the Cabin John Branch (though the Bobingers prided themselves on their far more sophisticated European wines). The hotel’s homemade biscuits were famous. Special enclosures were built in the creek, which held bass caught in the river, and many vegetables were grown in the gardens across Conduit Road (MacArthur Blvd).
Rosa Bobinger’s famous chicken dish, advertised as “fried spring chicken, Cabin John style,” made the leap from her small food stand during the construction of the Union Arch Bridge to their grand hotel. And it made an appearance in Edith Armstrong’s 1958 historic novel, Days at Cabin John, a story of family and neighbors in Cabin John during the 1920s. Though the characters are imagined, the book captures the community’s history and anecdotes through Armstrong’s eyes. Strolling by the hotel one afternoon, the narrator decides to knock on the door and is met by Rosa Bobinger’s daughter in law:
“Is it true Maryland fried chicken originated at the hotel?” I asked. “Yes, indeed it is.” She told us how the chicken was served quartered on a platter with curled bacon on top, and around it was brown gravy and golden brown corn fritters.
In 1912 the American Land Company, owned by J.S. Tomlinson, purchased 600 acres for the development of a new community called Cabin John Park, “Farmlets for Pleasure and Profit” near Cabin John Bridge. Thus began Tomlinson’s sales pitch of 100-foot-wide lots, 15,000 to 40,000 square feet in size, and “specially arranged for comfortable homes and suitable places to raise chickens and to grow all kinds of fruit and vegetables for family and market purposes.”
A July 1914 sales ad promoted Cabin John Park’s features: perfect drainage, fertile land, fruit, vegetables, apples, cherries, peaches, pears, plums, sweet & Irish potatoes, lettuce, kale, cabbage, grapes and melons, all garden crops, and chicken farms.
A brochure touted “Big Profits in Little Crops” and tells of an old gentleman who “turned special attention to the cultivations of lettuce,” which made him thousands of dollars. The American Land Company also offered a free course through the Home Correspondence School to those who purchased lots to learn the best crops to grow. The area had over 30 species of trees, and a “splendid variety of shrubs, plants, weeds, ferns and all kinds of growth to fascinate a student in botany.”
Armstrong’s novel upholds that selling point:
We shared much of the bounty of late autumn. We gathered hickory nuts, large and paper shelled, from our yard, enough of them to fill a round reed basket. They would enhance the flavor of cookies, cakes and candy throughout the winter. Persimmons tumbled tender and ripe from a slender tree near the hickory… down by the canal we found walnuts scattered beneath the tree like fallen apples.
Many of the residents’ recollections in Elizabeth Kytle’s 1976 Time Was: A Cabin John Memory Book also described a village of farms and gardens and an astonishing abundance of home grown food. Lena Brown recalled her father’s farm during the years before 1912: a 4 acre parcel that stood where Carver Road now is, filled with “cabbages, potatoes, tomatoes, broccoli, sweet potatoes and corn. There were peppers, watermelons, cantaloupes.” Norman Tuohey recalled how flour from the mill in Seneca traveled along the C&O Canal and was unloaded at Cabin John, where it could be collected by Potomac merchants. Other residents mentioned a “big grove of pawpaw trees right down past Cabin John Creek” and “collecting chestnuts to take home for roasting.”
In the early 1920s, when Mrs. Josephine Havens was a college student, “everybody had vegetable gardens, and you worked in your family’s garden and helped….We had asparagus, we had beautiful tomatoes, gorgeous strawberries—we used to sell those beautiful strawberries around the neighborhood. String beans and corn and everything. Fruit trees too, peaches and apples and cherries…Mother used to can—oh, killed herself canning all summer long.”
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer [...]
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November 29, 2020The new trail high above Cabin John Creek is a wonder. On my first hike along this route, I marveled at the stunning views from on high, looking down through the forest canopy. Birding in spring from there will be a joy if one can keep an eye out for mountain bikers. The route winds its way past majestic trees that escaped the loggers’ saws. These cove forests harbor massive tall tulip poplars and chestnut oaks, probably because they grew up on slopes too steep to log. But absent is a most sorely missed resident—the American chestnut.
Once upon a time, about 200 years ago, the forests in Cabin John and along the entire Appalachian Mountain chain looked much different than today. They were filled with giant American chestnuts—a hundred feet tall and up to five feet in diameter. The American chestnut is a native to eastern North America, a member of the same family as our lovely beech and oak trees. Like these other species, they produced an annual abundant crop of nuts, often three to a cluster, that fell to the ground where they provided nourishment for deer, turkeys, bears, pigs, and humans (of course). Unlike oak acorns, the nutritious nuts of the chestnut could be eaten raw, and were far more tasty. And the wood, although not as valuable as some oaks or cherry, had a straight grain, was easy to work, and was highly resistant to rot. It served as the basis for entire industries such as the production of railroad ties, railroad-car construction, and, from its extracts, tannins for the leather industry. The species was once so abundant, it is estimated that in parts of Pennsylvania, for example, chestnuts accounted for 30% of all the individual trees in the forest. Some historians believe that it was the demise of the American chestnut that led residents of Appalachia to abandon the dying forests and turn to another resource found below the ground—high-sulfur-content coal.
Officially, the cause of the demise of the species’ abundance was discovered in 1904 officially but perhaps the decline occurred even earlier informally. The American chestnut is a part of a genus (Castanea) that includes species native to Europe, China, and Japan (the chestnuts you buy in the market today are C. sativa, a smaller version of the edible nuts). It is estimated that from the start of the decline in 1900 to the last standing chestnuts in the 1930s, over 30 billion trees died.
What caused this valuable tree species to disappear and the forest to turn over, its place filled by other trees? Ironically, a place erected in part to save endangered species—the Bronx Zoo—became the entry point of the American chestnut killer. Asian species of chestnuts were imported to plant on the zoo grounds, and with them came a fungus called the chestnut blight. The Chinese chestnut is resistant or even immune to this blight, a fungus known to science as Cryphonectrica parasitica. But within about 20 years, the fungus spread to native American chestnuts, which had no resistance to it. The spores of the fungus could live on neighboring oak trees and infect its chestnut neighbors. The effects were so devastating that virtually all of the chestnut trees in the eastern U.S. were wiped out. Here is the odd discovery: the fungus eschews the roots of the chestnut, only infecting the above ground tissues. Even more surprising is this: when the mature chestnut becomes infected and apparently dies a few years later, it’s not really dead. If the base is left intact in the ground, the American chestnut is a vigorous stump sprouter. New leaders emerge quickly and the shoots, well, shoot up. Saplings can grow for about a decade or two and then, wham!, the fungal infection returns and the young tree saplings die back again. It’s an American tragedy: the trees try to recover only to be felled as an adolescent, the cycle repeated over and over.
For decades, devoted chestnut lovers have tried to bring the trees back, using cross-breeding techniques developed for other plants to create a blight-resistant chestnut. These efforts have borne little success. But we live in a world of rapid scientific evolution both in theory and technique. New genetic methods have been applied to transfer disease-resistant genes to American chestnut seedlings. Infection, or resistance to the blight, appears to be controlled by just a few genes, and if the right mix can be found, in theory we can regrow our chestnut forests.
Enter the ethical dilemmas: should scientists “play God” and alter the genetic structure of the American chestnut to make it blight resistant? If successful, would it become a genetically modified organism, known as a GMO, or a GRO, one of the first genetically recovered organisms?
My vote is full speed ahead with the genetics program. We already have so altered our forest structure and composition; for example, losing ash trees to the imported emerald tree borer and Eastern hemlocks to the hemlock wooly adelgid (a beetle and a sucking bug, respectively, both native to Asia and covered in earlier columns). In some places our forests are described as senescent, decimated by over-abundant, browsing white-tailed deer that prevent edible seedlings of native trees from becoming established. Humans have long modified plant traits dating back at least 10,000 years. Transgenic trees are created today using more sophisticated techniques. And just as we hope to create an American chestnut resistant to chestnut blight, perhaps we can someday genetically modify a blight by making it so much less virulent that it is rendered virtually harmless. As we live in a world of novel coronaviruses, and other pathogens that infect humans via zoonotic spillovers from other mammals, we may wish for the scientific expertise to rapidly create vaccines, not only for humans but also for American chestnuts.
Perhaps someday, 50 years from now, future residents walking along the Cabin John Creek trail will hear the thud of chestnuts falling to the ground from mature replanted, blight-resistant trees with bears and turkeys eagerly waiting below.
And so ends this year’s articles. The shared theme has been invasive species that threaten or whose spread diminishes our local nature—an ecological downer. Next year returns with a much more hopeful theme: a year of articles featuring glorious native plants to plant in your yard (you have the time). Your family can create your own private national park, be it five square feet devoted to natives, or your entire backyard. And in these articles Trudy Nicholson and I will introduce a marvelous nursery of plants attractive to native pollinators, fruit-eaters, and your own sense of aesthetics. By joining us in planting natives, you will not only be beautifying Cabin John, you will be helping the world by drawing down carbon. And life on Earth needs all the help we can give it right now.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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November 18, 2020The Cabin John Community Listserv serves as CJ’s informal neighborhood listserv that lets all members share information, post items for sale, ask questions, make recommendations, report missing pets, and otherwise reach out to the community. Since its inception, the Cabin John listserv has been hosted on Yahoo Groups, which announced it is shutting down effective Dec. 15.
The Cabin John Listserv is now on Groups.io. To join this listserv, send an email with your name and street address (to verify residence) to: cabinjohn+subscribe@groups.io. Membership is open to current and former CJ residents. The purpose of this listserv is to share information and have discussions that are hyperlocal to Cabin John and that are non-commercial/non-political in nature.
Anyone wishing to advertise their business to the CJ community may want to consider The Village News. Classified ads are 30 cents a word.
The community listserv differs from the Cabin John Citizens Association listserv, which remains the go-to source for timely news and information about upcoming community events and important issues of possible interest to CJ residents. The CJCA listserv lets the association keep CJ residents informed without overloading the inbox – usually just a few emails a month. CJCA listserv members cannot communicate with each other. To join this list, send an email to: cjca-official-news+subscribe@googlegroups.com.
More information on local listservs is available in the Get Connected section of the website.
By Susan ShippCJCA President [...]
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November 17, 2020THE DEADLINE FOR DONATIONS IS DEC. 5For Info: rieckell@aol.com
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Cabin John’s Giving Tree Project. Like many things in 2020, the pandemic is redefining this community service effort, which provides gifts to children and adults in need through SOME (So Others Might Eat), a Washington DC organization that helps the poor and homeless through services, such as training and shelter Instead of gifts for the upcoming holidays, SOME is asking for gift cards for the people in its transitional housing. In previous years, CJ residents have provided generous gifts for 50 to 60 people living in SOME’s transitional housing. The community traditionally raises an additional $500 or more for SOME through the raffle at the holiday party.
SOME says the switch to gift cards is to minimize donor risk of COVID through shopping. Recipients can make their purchases online, and no one involved has any increased exposure. Gift cards in $50 increments to stores such as Target, Walmart, Macy’s, and Amazon, as well as Visa and Mastercard would be most versatile. But cards for any retailer of any denomination are appreciated.
It will take about $5,000 worth of gift cards for Cabin John to be as generous as in previous years, says Lori Rieckelman of 79th Street. Rieckelman coordinates this effort with the Brookmont and Glen Echo communities. Given the economic hardship faced by so many during this difficult year, wouldn’t it be great if we could give even more?
Gift cards should be brought to Lori’s house. Email Lori at rieckell@aol.com to arrange a drop off time.
By Lori RieckelmanCJ Resident [...]
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November 16, 2020In the last month, politicians and the media have focused their attention on Cabin John’s Moses Hall and Cemetery. The historic African American property off Seven Locks Rd. is threatened by the state’s planned Beltway expansion.
Maryland State Delegate Sara Love and the Friends of Moses Hall hosted a private tour of the Moses Morningstar Cemetery, Moses Hall lodge site, and Gibson Grove Church Oct. 17 for county and state officials as well as members of the media. The event aimed to draw attention to efforts by descendants of Moses Hall as well as the CJ community and preservationists to protect these important historic sites. If the Beltway expansion moves forward as currently designed, project maps and reports show graves and portions of the Moses Hall foundation would fall within the construction Limits of Disturbance.
In a Sept. 24 Maryland Matters article on environmental justice, Delegate Love described how the construction of the Beltway in the 1960s decimated the Gibson Grove community and stated that the government has a responsibility “not to exacerbate prior injustices, but to reverse them.” Love wants the Hogan administration to “stop its mad dash to widen I-495 at all costs.” The tour came about in response to her article.
Picture perfect fall weather greeted the 30 tour guests, which included Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, Maryland Senator Susan Lee, Montgomery County Councilman Will Jawando, and a number of officials from Montgomery County Planning, M-NCPPC, the Montgomery County Historic Preservation Commission, and the National Capital Planning Commission. Members of the press from The Washington Post and The Economist also attended.
Descendants of those buried at Moses Morningstar and members of the Gibson Grove First Agape A.M.E. Zion Church community, including Cabin John residents Austin White and Shannon Stewart, shared family stories, along with a rich collection of artifacts, photos, memorabilia, and historical records with inquisitive tour guests.
Some public officials were moved to tears by the impassioned remarks of Washington DC archaeologist Dr. Alexandra Jones, a staunch advocate of the property since writing her doctoral thesis on the Gibson Grove Community in 2010. Delegate Love said that the event was “powerful, humbling, and enlightening” and shared her commitment to supporting efforts to preserve, protect, and restore these sites.
The Oct. 18 Washington Post article written by tour participant Katherine Shaver described the cemetery as “hardly peaceful with Beltway traffic roaring just past the bamboo grove” at the edge of the cemetery. The article noted that historians combing through death notices, burial records, and family histories have documented 78 burials there between 1894 and 1977.
The Post story caught the attention of Maryland Senator Ben Cardin, who joined with Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Congressmen Jamie Raskin and David Trone to urge the Federal Highway Administration and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation to avoid possible physical impacts to the Moses Morningstar Cemetery and Hall, as well as Gibson Grove Church. Their Oct. 26 letter went on to suggest that such a major infrastructure project should “promote recovery from earlier impacts by enhancing the visibility and access of the cemetery site and its connection to the community.”
Spurred by the Post’s coverage, the CBC Radio, Canada’s national public broadcaster, aired a segment Oct. 29 featuring DC resident Diane Baxter, whose great grandfather was buried in the CJ Moses cemetery in 1894.
The ongoing advocacy and growing public awareness have prompted the State Highway Administration to conduct additional field investigations at the cemetery. To do so, the SHA will remove bamboo with hand tools so that the Moses Hall lodge foundation and any gravesites remain undisturbed.
SHA officials estimate the bamboo removal process will take up to a month and require daily monitoring by field archaeologists. Friends of Moses Hall will also have representatives on site monitoring the work.
Friends of Moses Hall (FMH) is a dedicated group of volunteers, including descendants, members of the Cabin John community as well as others with expertise in archaeology, genealogy, historic preservation, research, and advocacy. FMH was organized in 2020 with the purpose of saving Moses Morningstar Cemetery and Lodge Hall from destruction by the I-495 Beltway expansion. FMH aims to preserve the site as a hallowed resting place and an important African-American historical site.
By Charlotte Troup LeightonCJCA Vice President for Advocacy [...]
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October 29, 2020If only the founding fathers had decided that the walls of all academic buildings in New England colleges be covered in Virginia creeper, our vibrant native climber. How much more intense our autumn color would be if this woody vine—a study in scarlet foliage—were the main attraction. In fact, the only other native plant that out-crimsons the Virginia creeper is another native, poison ivy. But among the three most common climbing woody vines in our area that occasionally strangle trees, the third, English ivy, is an exotic invasive.
You might be partial to Downton Abbey, or to Westminster Abbey, but English ivy is one entity of the sceptered isle we and our forests can live better without. If you walk or bike along the towpath from Washington, D.C. to Cabin John, you will see an ecological demarcation at the border between the District and Maryland. On the D.C. side, thick columns of English ivy twine around the trees between the towpath and the Potomac River. The funds or effort have not been mustered to rid the forest of this plant pest. Yet once you cross into Maryland, English ivy has been snipped at the base, yanked, and stripped from the trees once draped in this climber. Forest stewards of the local conservancies have so far kept pace with attempts of this freeloading vine to re-establish itself.
There are more than 250,000 species of flowering plants in the world, and about 2,500 make their living as climbers rather than as free-standing plants. Those that have green, herbaceous stems we call vines and those with woody stems like poison ivy, Virginia creeper, and English ivy are termed lianas. Native climbers can take over tropical forests in areas of little or no human disturbance and account for as much as 40% of the leaf canopy. In most forests, though, native trees have learned to cope with hitchhiking vines and lianas. Except where the hitchhiker is an alien species like English ivy. English ivy and other non-native climbers can so overload the host tree that they shade out its foliage, sometimes leading to death of the tree. In some instances, the added weight of the lianas growing up its trunk can topple a tree. The fallen liana, meanwhile, does not die but keeps spreading, searching out a new host to climb. A walk through our local forest shows that English ivy is far more destructive than Virginia creeper or poison ivy as both of these natives tend to be more common only at the edge of the forest. English ivy can attack anywhere.
How did English ivy become such a headache to maintaining the health of our native forests? It was first reported in the 1800s in Virginia, but it was likely brought earlier to these shores by the first colonists. Later, perhaps in an effort to add Old World luster to the campuses of some of America’s most renowned and oldest colleges in the Northeast, the walls of academic institutions were covered in English ivy. This gave rise, of course, to the group name of a set of these colleges. Not to be outdone, other colleges, private schools, and public schools followed the style. English ivy soon spread to gardens and stately houses.
Once established, English ivy fruits in abundance; its bluish berries full of seeds ingested and then spread by the cedar waxwing, American robin, and mockingbird and the imported and ubiquitous European starling and house sparrow. Now every gardener in the East is familiar with English ivy.
Another reason English ivy has proliferated is that it is evergreen. While Virginia creeper and poison ivy shed their leaves, English ivy is a tough customer, holding on to its green foliage and photosynthesizing even in the dead of winter. It is the grip and the heavy load of vine and leaf material, though, that threaten the host trees the ivy clings to as it races skyward to grab a better position in the sunlight.
So the best thing to do is to learn to recognize English ivy as a citizen scientist, and then take the next step and become a citizen pruner. In its place, the beloved Virginia creeper and the less-loved but colorful poison ivy vine are likely to appear: two climbers that the native flora evolved with and can coexist alongside.
As we live in the era of climate disruption, one important solution to retaining a living biosphere—one where the inevitable increase in average global temperature stays below a 1.5 degrees Celsius—is to plant more native trees. Trees are the greatest invention in millions of years of evolution for drawing down carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. But to give them a chance, we should weed out the destructive, invasive species, like English ivy, that don’t belong here.
I am not anti-English ivy. In its natural environment, in western and eastern Europe, it is an important food source for native birds. English ivy also has historical significance: the early Romans recognized ivy as a symbol of intellectual skills, and ivy wreaths were awarded to those who won poetry and athletic contests. But let’s remove the crowns of English ivy on our native trees along the Potomac and help to save our forests.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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October 19, 2020The leaves are turning, the nights getting cool, and pumpkins are populating the roadside stands. Yep, Halloween is just about here. Sadly, with the Clara Barton Community Center still closed, the Friends of Clara Barton C.C. will not be running the Haunted House this October. But what about trick-or-treating? Many neighbors have asked the CJCA what is happening in Cabin John.
The association has never endeavored to organize Halloween events, but they did open this topic up for discussion at the Sept. 10 CJCA Zoom meeting. The neighbors in attendance generally felt trick-or-treating could proceed, but the community should be encouraged to follow guidelines to increase safety and show respect for neighbors who don’t wish to participate.
In early October, Montgomery County issued guidance discouraging trick-or-treating and offering safer alternatives. The CJCA considered a number of ideas, but concluded that many still risk folks gathering in unsafe numbers or are difficult to implement safely in our small neighborhood streets.
The association hopes folks will still get in the Halloween spirit by carving pumpkins, making festive chalk drawings, and decorating their houses and yards. The Village News would love to have photo submissions of your Halloween décor as well as costumed people and pets. Please send your photos to VNEditorial@gmail.com no later than Nov. 3 for possible publicationin the November newsletter.
WHAT ABOUT TRICK-OR-TREATING?Despite the county guidance against it, the CJCA expects that some CJ residents will opt to let their kids hit the streets, and others will gladly make treats available.
Should you choose to trick-or-treat, the CJCA encourages everyone to follow these important guidelines to minimize the risk of spreading COVID while participating in this Halloween tradition.
FOR PEOPLE PASSING OUT GOODIES
Only offer commercially-wrapped treats. Skip the bowl and spread the treats out on the table or make individual grab-n-go bags.Put your goodies on a table in front of the house or at the end of the driveway so there is no touching of doorbells or crowding by entryways.Put hand sanitizer on the table, and encourage trick-or-treaters to use it before picking up their treat.If you are outside with your treats, wear a mask and stay at least six feet away from the table and the trick-or-treaters.Encourage trick-or-treaters not to linger and discourage any congregating.
FOR TRICK-OR-TREATERS & PARENTS
At least one adult should supervise each group of trick-or-treaters to ensure that social distancing and other guidelines are followed.Show respect for neighbors who don’t participate. No doorbell ringing! Only approach neighbors who have set up their offerings outside.Wear the right masks. Costume masks do not necessarily provide protection. Incorporate a cloth mask into the costume. (A fun pre-Halloween activity might be to get a white or black mask and have your child paint or draw on it to make it work with their costume.)Trick-or-treat only with family members or those kids that are part of your quarantine pod. Do not invite folks outside of Cabin John into the neighborhood to trick-or-treat with you.Maintain six feet of distance between groups and from neighbors passing out treats.If a particular street becomes congested, trick-or-treating groups should stay to the right side of the street in the direction they are moving.Candy and treats should not be eaten while trick-or-treating. Better to wait until home after hands are washed.
With Halloween falling on a Saturday AND a full moon, we hope our CJ ghouls and goblins can have some safe outdoor fun however you choose to celebrate.
Remember: keep wearing masks, stay six feet apart, and wash hands! We’re headed into flu season, and this is no time to let up!
BY NANCY RUSSELLOutgoing CJCA Vice President of Community Outreach
Addendum:A map is being developed to mark homes that have agreed to participate in safe, socially-distanced trick-or-treating. To add your house to the map, fill out this short google form.
The map will be shared with the CJ Neighborhood and CJCA listservs no later than Saturday morning (October 31). [...]
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October 18, 2020Cabin John residents have until Nov. 9 to submit comments in response to the the 19,000-page draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) on the state’s massive plan to expand I-495 and I-270 using variablepricing toll lanes.
Given the size of the DEIS and the complexity of all the potential impacts to our community, the Cabin John Citizens Association hired VHBMetroDC, a transportation, design, engineering andconsulting firm in mid-September to provide guidance.
The consulting contract came after a Sept. 10 emergency CJCA meeting, held via Zoom, during which the community authorized up to $2,000 for consultants to develop technical points that focus on the negative impacts to traffic on MacArthur Blvd., Seven Locks Rd. and Persimmon Tree Rd., both during construction and in the longer term.
The community also approved $1,000 to be given to help CJ’s Evergreen neighborhood on Cypress Grove Lane with their efforts to oppose any property takings on their street as well as to argue for noise barriers, storm water management and tree canopy replacement. The Carderock Springs Community Association also contracted with VHB for assistance with their comments. VHB is also providing pro bono consulting services to the Friends of Moses Hall & Cemetery to develop their written comments. Final comment letters from all of these groups will be posted as they become available.
The concerns raised in the DEIS are many. There is the overarching question of whether this project, estimated at $11 billion or more, is needed given the commuting changes brought about by the pandemic. Other serious concerns for Cabin John, including property takings, noise pollution, stormwater runoff, local road congestion, parkland loss, and negative impacts on ourcultural resources, such as the Moses Hall & Cemetery site and the C&O Canal. (See below for the various points that you could raise in your comment letter.)
Cabin John residents are urged to submit comments either via email to MLSNEPA-P3@mdot.maryland.gov, or by letter to: Lisa Choplin, DBIA, I-495 & I-270 P3 Program Director, MDOT State Highway Administration I-495 & I-270 P3 Office, 707 North Calvert Street, Mail Stop P-601, Baltimore, MD 21202.
Whichever way you comment, it is most impactful if you share a copy of your comments with County Executive Marc Elrich and members of the County Council as well as our state delegates and congressional delegation. The CJCA would also be interested in a copy of your comment letter. Please send it to Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net.
Comment Letter: What to Say?
Here are points you could raise in a number of key areas:
CONSTRUCTIONThe replacement of I-495 bridges over local roadways and the reconstruction of local roadway bridges over the highway could have substantial impact on our community’s commutes and quality of life. The Final EIS must detail potential roadway closures and needed modifications in these locations.
The current construction analysis fails to explain how construction materials would be stored and staged along I-495 between the C&C Canal and Seven Locks Rd. as well as the means and methods of constructing the new River Rd. (MD 190) off-ramp. A Supplement DEIS and Final EIS needs these disclosures and a Construction Management Plan. Cabin John would object to any staging/storage that causes disruption for our residents and/or affects sensitive areas like parkland and seeks a commitment to avoid such uses in the Final EIS.
LONG-TERM TRAFFICThe induced traffic created by the project could cause substantial long-term harm to our community. In the Traffic Technical Report, Figure 5-73 indicates that the Clara Barton Parkway and River Rd., would see greater than 10% increases in delays with the project. Despite this clear impact, this effect is not reported in the Draft EIS and is not proposed for mitigations. This failure must be addressed in a Supplemental DEIS with community impacts substantively resolved.
The analysis of arterials that do not intersect I-495 is limited and inconsistent, as reported in Figure 5-73. While MD 410 is analyzed for traffic impacts, other state highways like Wilson Rd. (MD 188) and Goldsboro Rd. (MD 614) are not evaluated.
MacArthur Blvd. and Seven Locks Rd., both critical non-state road commuter routes, do not receive any traffic impact analysis. This glaring omission is especially egregious as Appendix A of the Traffic Technical Report, states that the River Rd., Cabin John Parkway, and Clara Barton Parkway exit ramps will seeincreases of up to 55% over existing volumes and up to 40% over volumes in the No-Build Alternative. No substantial modifications to the parkways are planned by SHA, Montgomery County, or the National Park Service. A Supplemental DEIS is needed to model the traffic impacts on Seven Locks and MacArthur and the Final EIS needs to include appropriate mitigation.
Future Clara Barton Parkway traffic would make use of MacArthur Blvd. at the Cabin John and Glen Echo exits, which are at unacceptable peak-hour operating conditions today. The constrained infrastructure in the area, including the one-lane Union Arch Bridge and the reversible lane management at Glen Echo, means limited ways to address the increased volumes. The Supplemental and Final EIS must include mitigations to minimize the impacts of commuter traffic spillover into our community.
NEW RIVER RD. OFF-RAMPThe noise impacts as well as the visual impacts of the new MD 190 off-ramp are inadequately analyzed in the Draft EIS. More detailed noise analysis and a Visual Impact Assessment should be prepared and incorporated into a Supplemental DEIS for review and comment.
The MD 190 off-ramp would negatively affect sensitive wetlands and parkland, as shown in Appendix D. Section 4(f) considerations require the evaluation of approaches to avoid the use of such parkland. Because of the unacceptable visual and property impacts, the Final EIS should remove an eastbound flyover off-ramp onto MD 190 and replace it with an at-grade exit.
NOISE ANALYSIS & BARRIERSPast promises to provide noise barriers along I-495 in our vicinity have not been kept. While the Noise Analysis Technical Report (Appendix J) indicates it is feasible and reasonable to construct noise barriers along both sides of I-495 between Persimmon Tree Lane and Seven Locks Rd., the Final EIS, Record of Decision, and project implementation need to include a commitment by the SHA that noise barriers are constructed at no direct cost to residents.
The noise barrier design should include information about the location, height, grading, tree takings and its acoustical effectiveness so that it can be assessed by our community.
Even if the project does not move forward, we implore SHA and Montgomery County officials to develop a program and associated funding for “Type II” noise barriers to address the unconscionable onslaught of noise already subjected on our community.
MOSES HALL & CEMETERYThe Moses Hall & Cemetery property is described in the DEIS as being “adversely affected” by all build alternatives. As currently designed, the limits of disturbance (LOD) would significantly impact the historic property, including portions of the Moses Hall foundation wall, a section of the access way from Seven Locks Rd, and grave locations. This is unacceptable and the final EIS must offer mitigation that protects this historic property.
PARKLAND & TREE CANOPYWe are concerned by the impacts to parks surrounding our community and insufficient efforts to avoid their use. Consistent with Section 4(f) of the Department of Transportation Act, use of Federal and local parkland should be avoided wherever possible. As indicated in the Environmental Resource Mapping (Appendix D), the construction of the project would affect meaningful portions of the C&O Canal. The off-ramp from I-495 to MD 190 would require substantial use of Cabin John Park.
The Draft Section 4(f) Evaluation (Appendix F) fails to document any efforts to avoid this use. Further avoidance measures must be pursued and described in the Final EIS.
The tree canopy and bucolic setting define Cabin John and substantial tree removal would alter the visual character of the community. Avoidance measures must be taken to reduce the number of trees affected by the project and should be documented in detail.
STORMWATERThe stormwater analysis in the Draft EIS is inadequate to ensure that existing and future stormwater issues associated with the project are properly managed. According to the Natural Resources Technical Report, the Cabin John Creek watershed would see substantial impacts (Table 2.3-8). These impacts would result from additional impervious surfaces from the Alternatives (Table 2.9-60). The Final EIS must contain more detailed information regarding the Preferred Alternative approach to addressing stormwater in Cabin John and its environs.
BY SUSAN SHIPPCJCA President [...]
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October 17, 2020The project to repave the Clara Parton Parkway, which began this summer, is now reaching Cabin John.
According to a press release from the National Park Service, pavement repairs at the Clara Barton Parkway interchange in Cabin John are underway mid-October. They will start on the Eastbound ramp, which is planned to be closed nightly from 7:00 pm to 6:15 am until Oct. 24. The Westbound ramp will then close beginning Oct. 25 through Nov. 2 — during this time the Westbound ramp will be closed day and night, and drivers will need to detour.
The park service will then be making safety updates to the Cabin John Access Road, including updated striping and signage for two turning lanes onto MacArthur Blvd., and bolder Don’t Block The Box (DBTB) pavement striping and stop bars at Ericsson Rd.
This phase of the work will close the Cabin John Access Road from 7:00 am to 5:00 pm:
Nov. 3 to Nov. 6 at Ericsson Rd.Nov. 7 and Nov. 8 (northbound)Nov. 9 and Nov. 10 (southbound)
NPS will post detours, and flaggers will be present to during the day to direct traffic.
For more information, visit http://go.nps.gov/CBParkwayRepaving or contact Aaron LaRocca, Chief of Staff for the George Washington Memorial Parkway, at aaron_larocca@nps.gov or by calling 202-438-6619.
BY LORETTA DEVERY INGALLSVillage News Content Editor [...]
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September 29, 2020A beginning naturalist’s pop-quiz: Wintercreeper. Does the name refer to:
A) a forest bird that overwinters in the northern hemisphere, maneuvering up and down the tree trunks in search of insects hiding under the bark?B) derogatory epithet for a birder who moves too slowly on the fast-paced Christmas Bird Count?C) an invasive alien ground cover from China threatening our native forests and gardens?
If you have been following the themes for this year’s columns, you will know that the correct answer must be “C.” We are nearing the last of the tales of the dirty dozen or so alien invasive plant species that threaten our natural habitats.
One of the worst of these invasives is also, perversely, one of the most attractive, which partly explains its broad reach. Wintercreeper, also called Fortune’s spindle, is a spreading vine native to China that was first brought to the U.S. around 1907. Cultivated as a garden favorite for the bright purple undersides of its leaves and its rapid growth as a ground cover, horticulturalists created lots of variants. Some sport golden-edged foliage or white trimmed margins. Over the decades, a horticulturist’s delight has become an ecologist’s nightmare. Wintercreeper is one of our fastest growing invasive plants and can rapidly climb over bare areas of the soil and penetrate deep into the forest, even in areas of dense shade. Not satisfied with an earthbound niche, the vines routinely climb up trunks to strangle trees. And when sticking to the horizontal, it can shade out any living ground plant that lies in its way.
Probably every gardener in Cabin John has come upon wintercreeper. American robins, attracted to their bright orange seeds with fleshy arils attached, devour the fruits and drop seeds in the garden. So, no matter how vigilant you are in your backyard weeding, every spring you can find baby wintercreepers sprouting from seed. Even more likely, if you fail to pull out the entire root system when you yank out wintercreeper, it will return to say hello next spring. Wintercreeper is not just a Maryland phenomenon; it is considered a serious invasive across the Eastern U.S. and ranges far into the Midwest and south to Texas.
Wintercreeper belongs to the same genus, Euonymus, as strawberry bush, the native shrub that, in my last column, I encouraged local landscapers to plant in place of Leyland cypress. All members of the genus have the same attractive types of fruits and bright green leaves, but we want to see strawberry bush flourish in our neighborhood to feed our local birds because it is native and not destructive of the local ecology. To round out other members of the genus Euonymus in our area, we also have wahoo or burning-bush (E. atropurpureum) and winged burning-bush (E. alatus). Both of these species offer brilliant fall foliage, especially winged burning-bush, which turns a vivid pinkish purple. When the leaves are turning, you can spot winged burning-bush along the towpath. When sunlight backlights the foliage of the non-native winged burning-bush, it is among the most beautiful in nature. China is its native habitat; here it is just another problem species, however lovely. And beneath the winged burning-bush, its companion interloper, wintercreeper, can often be found growing in mats over the floodplain forest of the Potomac.
I have yet to see wintercreeper climb up the stems of winged burning-bush, but it would be fitting ecological fable—one invasive taking out the other. Let’s take them both out but leave the wahoo, the strawberry bush, and the native flora of our Potomac forests.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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September 11, 2020The Cabin John Citizens Association and two CJ residents testified Sept. 3 at a virtual hearing to provide comments on the possible environmental impacts of Governor Hogan’s massive planto expand I-495 and I-270 using variablepricing toll lanes.
This was one of six public hearings collecting oral comments on the 19,000-page draft environmental impact statement for the project. Speakers were given three minutes for their statements.
Charlotte Troup Leighton of Cypress Grove Lane spoke on behalf of the Evergreen community, which backs up to the Beltway. There are 27 homes on Cypress Grove Lane, and a number of them would be directly impacted as the expansion plan is currently defined. (See Charlotte Troup Leighton’s testimony.)
In addition to expressing general concern about the project being ill-conceived and fiscally irresponsible, Charlotte raised very specific issues with the lack of detail in the plan when it comes to stormwater management, the effectiveness and placement of noise barriers, and the harmful effects on the neighborhood of living through years of construction.
Charlotte also expressed opposition to a flyover access ramp that looks to be located on part of the Moses Hall & Cemetery property, which is also off Cypress Grove Lane.
Kara Cunzeman, also of Cypress Grove Lane, spoke to some of the same issues. “We ask that a more detailed plan be put together that mitigates negative consequences to our properties, local wildlife, and the environment during and after the construction,” she said. (See Kara Cunzeman’s testimony.)
Kara also called the plan a “complete failure of innovation” that does not address the root of the congestion problem and contributes to climate change.
Speaking on behalf of the Cabin John community, CJCA President Susan Shipp said it stands with the Evergreen families in opposition to property takings and the flyover access ramp. She also stressed the need for effective noise barriers and stormwater management. (See Susan Shipp’s testimony.)
She also said it is unacceptable that the Moses Hall & Cemetery property, including grave locations, are identified as “adversely impacted” by the expansion plans.
Susan’s testimony raised a number of concerns about the projected traffic impacts both during construction and in the longer term. Traffic analysis in the 19,000-page draft environmental impact statement indicates that both River Road and the Clara Barton Parkway will see a greater than 10% increase in delay with managed lanes on I-495. She also noted the lack of documented impacts on Cabin John’s local roads, including Persimmon Tree, Seven Locks Rd., and MacArthur Blvd.
She said, “The impacts to these roads must be thoroughly evaluated in the final EIS and mitigation incorporated through improvements to these roadways and policies to reduce their levels of traffic congestion.”
The CJCA, Evergreen neighborhood, and Friends of Moses Hall and Cemetery will now shift their focus to putting together more extensive written comments, which must be submitted by Nov. 9. If there are community members willing to help with this effort, please contact Charlotte Troup Leighton or Susan Shipp.
Individual community members are also encouraged to submit written statements.
CJ RESIDENTS PLEASE SUBMIT COMMENTS!
With the years-long construction slated to take place at our doorstep and the project’s possible impact on neighborhood park lands and the historic African American properties in our community, now is the time for Cabin Johners to educate themselves and voice their opinions about this project. The full DEIS, including all technical reports, can be found at: https://495-270-p3.com/deis/. The county’s planning department analysis is available at https:/montgomeryplanningboard.org/i-495-and-i-270-managed-lanes-study/.
Cabin John residents are urged to submit written comments on the DEIS comment form, via email to MLSNEPA-P3@mdot.maryland.gov, or by letter to: Lisa Choplin, DBIA, I-495 & I-270 P3 Program Director, I-495 & I-270 P3 Office, 707 North Calvert Street, Mail Stop P-601, Baltimore, MD 21202.
Whichever way you choose to comment, it is most impactful if you share a copy of your comments with County Executive Marc Elrich and members of the County Council, as well as our state delegates and congressional delegation. Contact information for all of these folks are available in the PDF below.
BY CHARLOTTE TROUP LEIGHTONCJCA Vice President for Advocacy [...]
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September 11, 2020The county is asking Cabin John residents and others who live in communities under the flight paths from Reagan National Airport (DCA) to complete an airplane noise questionnaire tohelp determine priorities for proposing new arrival and departure procedures.
Participants have until Sept. 21 to complete the survey.
As we all know, Cabin John has on average more than 11,000 planes creating noise overhead each month. It is very important that our community’s perspectives on this noise be well represented in this survey.
While responses are anonymous, you will be asked to put your zip code in at the end of the questionnaire.
The survey is part of a joint effort by Arlington and Montgomery counties to identify, evaluate, and propose ways to reduce the impact of aircraft noise on communities to the north of Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA).
Earlier this year, the two counties hired a consulting team to provide the technical expertise to evaluate flight procedures and noise exposure prior to and following the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA’s) 2015 implementation of its NextGen procedures at DCA. As part of their study, the consultants also will be developing alternative flight procedures designed to meet FAA criteria and mitigate airplane noise in our communities.
While the consultants have been hired by the two counties, they will be working with DCA’s Community Noise Working Group, which includes 15 members and their alternates split evenly between Maryland, Washington DC, and Virginia. Two CJ residents, Bill Noonan and Susan Shipp, are in their fourth year on the working group. The goal of the noise working group is toidentify practical aircraft noise solutions and make recommendations to the FAA.
Formed in fall of 2015, the DCA noise working group has struggled to engage the FAA in any meaningful action to mitigate airplane noise on the ground despite putting forward 18 recommendations for the agency’s consideration. The technical expertise provided by the consultants is expected to ensure the FAA’s ability to act on any new working group recommendations that come out of this joint county-sponsored effort.
To keep up with the study updates, visit Arlington County Aircraft Noise page.
Go to Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition to sign up for key updates on FAA developments and other airplane noise news of importance to Cabin John residents. [...]
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September 11, 2020Last month, in the story I wrote about our wonderfully redesigned CabinJohn.org website, I made a terrible blunder. I forgot to thank Bob Epstein of Arden Rd. for the use of the phenomenal photo he took of Cabin John community members on the Cabin John Bridge. To me it’s an iconic image that captures both the uniqueness of place and the esprit de corps that makes ourcommunity so special.
I remember when the photo was taken, in the fall of 2001. We had moved into the neighborhood in July and our daughter was born a month later. We read in The Village News that there would be a party Nov. 17 to celebrate the reopening of the one-lane bridge, which had been shut down for several months for repairs.
As the photo will attest, the weather was glorious. In typical Cabin John fashion, there was a low-key parade, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and refreshments. Jeff and I, with Jackie in her stroller, were swept along with the crowd to stand on the bridge for this photograph to be taken.
At the time, we only knew a handful of Cabin John families, and they had not come out for this event. At that moment, standing in the midst of the welcoming crowd, is when I started to fall a little bit in love with this community.
We have a framed copy of Bob’s picture hanging in our house. It makes me exceedingly happy to have it on the homepage of the Cabin John website. I hope when you take a look at it, youwill pause to consider all that the image says about our home.
So, thank you Bob for capturing a beautiful image of an iconic structure and a window into the community of Cabin John.
Read a 2001 Washington Post story about the Cabin John Bridge.
Susan ShippCJCA President [...]
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August 29, 2020I was delighted to receive a wonderful handwritten letter a couple of days before the deadline for this column. Though Mr. Jesse J. Crook’s correspondence began by expressing doubt as to whether anyone in Cabin John would remember him, his name is certainly familiar to me within the context of Cabin John history, and I’m sure it will ring a bell for other residents too.
Mr. Crook wrote to me about my last column on Cabin John’s Post Office history. His letter added some engaging personal insights to this story, as he worked at the post office while a young man. Jesse J. Crook was born in 1935 in his grandmother Mary Tuohey’s house on 79th Street, in “the upstairs front room over the porch. My mother Loretta Cynthia Tuohey was born in the same house, same room, June 9, 1915. Fast forward to 1955, my first son when he was 3 days old also lived in the same room.” He lived in Cabin John until 1958, when he moved to the Eastern Shore after graduating from the University of Maryland.
The house on 79th Street was built around 1913 by Mr. Crook’s grandfather, David Tuohey, and was one of only a few houses in Cabin John at that time. Mr. Crook’s great-grandparents lived on Conduit Road in a charming house that served as the general store and post office for many years. Dennis Tuohey, his great grandfather, was postmaster from 1894 through 1919. David Tuohey later took over the shop and called it Tuohey’s Restaurant. As Mr. Crook recollects in his letter, family lore indeed confirms that the “first real post office in Cabin John was at the store which later became, as we knew it, the ‘Beer Joint’” following Prohibition in 1934.
In 1927, the post office moved to the 5th Street (77th Street) shop run by Mr. and Mrs. Scott, then Mrs. Irene Carper became postmaster when she and her husband took over the shop.
Mr. Crook’s aunt, Mrs. Ruth (Tuohey) Shuff, served briefly as postmaster and according to Mr. Crook she gave up the position after she married Charles Shuff, a widower on 6th Street. It was Ruth who convinced Eloise Laura Linkins (McKelvey) to apply for postmaster in 1945. Mrs. Linkins had two children from her first marriage, including a son Robert whom Mr. Crook knew well. Robert married Carol Fudge, a Cabin John Gardens neighbor and classmate.
In 1955, Mr. Crook rented his grandmother “mom mom” Tuohey’s house, in which he was born, as she’d had a stroke and moved in with his aunt Ruth on Brickyard Road. “At that time there were four houses between MacArthur Boulevard and Falls Road.” While submitting a change of address with Mrs. McKelvey, Mr. Crook saw an advert for sub postal clerks for Cabin John (3rd class post office) and Glen Echo (2nd class post office), at $1.53-1/2 per hour. Having experience delivering the Christmas mail a few years earlier, “I took the required postal test, passed and went to work.”
He continues: “Cabin John was allowed 4 clerk hours a day, Mrs. McKelvey told me I could work a flexible schedule, but had to work every Saturday morn, as we were swamped writing money orders. There were no banks in Cabin John, Glen Echo, Potomac, closest bank was in Bethesda and Cabin John people did not use banks. When I had extra time Mrs. McKelvey would take leave, which allowed me to work extra hours. She was a great person, fair/kind to everyone and dedicated to doing things right, and by the book. I worked there from 1955-1958. Without her help I would have been at Md. several more years.”
Mr. Crook and his wife bought a house in Cabin John Gardens and befriended their neighbors Jimmy and Shirley Shuler, a young couple with a daughter. “As I was graduating from Md., I recommended Shirley apply for my job at the post office. Eloise hired her right away.” Shirley worked with Mrs. McKelvey for 14 years and became postmaster from 1972 until 1988.
These personal anecdotes bring life to the story of Cabin John. What a pleasure it was to receive this unexpected letter. My reply to Mr. Crook is in the mail.
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer [...]
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August 29, 2020Of the many uses of plants, enhancing the privacy of one’s property by growing a border of thick impenetrable trees or shrubs is a common phenomenon, especially in the modern suburb. A favorite planting of local landscapers is Leyland Cypress, a non-native that is cheap, grows quickly, and is evergreen—and therefore is widely used (even if flimsy, prone to being blown onto roofs in heavy snowstorms, or to dieback where water collects). You can understand the basic rationale: why erect an ugly expensive chain link fence to demarcate your property line when, with a few years of patience, a row of plants, especially if they are evergreen, gives you the seclusion you are looking for? Another addition to border botanicals is non-native yew, or boxwood, which also forms a green “hedge” against peeping Toms and Tanyas.
But among the worst choices for a boundary planting is privet. Privet is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the Olive family (Oleaceae) that also contains another non-native hedge favorite, Forsythia. Forsythia, like privet, is highly invasive but, unlike privet, captivates us with its beautiful flowers and willowy branches. Privet is certainly among the uglier plants in our flora: its blunt-tipped leaves give way to white flower clusters at the tips of branches that give off the odor of old socks. The fruits are shiny blackish-blue berries containing one-to-four seeds, and like the conspicuous fleshy fruits of a number of invasive trees and shrubs, they are food for birds. Robins and other thrushes spread the seeds from the yard’s edge into the forests. Privets germinate well in disturbed soils on the edges of forests or even in the forest interior.
Of the 50 species in the privet genus (Ligustrum), eight are found in our area, all from somewhere else, as indicated by the specific epithets of Ligustrums named sinense, japonicum, or amurense, the last species referring to the Amur region along the border of Russia and China, home to the Amur (Siberian) tiger. L. vulgare, the common privet (vulgare or vulgaris meaning common in Latin) is from southern Europe; it was planted in Elizabethan gardens in the time of Shakespeare, became a favorite edge demarcation in English gardens, and is often featured in hedgerows. In fact, the name privet became associated with the word privacy.
In my walks through our native forests, I come upon privet now and then. If the invader is small in stature, say less than two feet high, I try to pull it out. Further south from us, the invasion of privet into native forests, particularly L. sinense pictured here, has become a major problem for park managers, crowding out native plants and affecting not only their growth but survival. If that is not enough reason to carry a pair of tree pruners in your forest forays, here is another: the fruits and leaves of this plant are full of toxic terpenoid glycosides that can fatally poison humans as well as our beloved dogs if ingested.
Seeking seclusion through plantings fulfills a landscaping urge and an often burning desire to be left alone. For those who choose to maximize their privacy and still want to stay with native plants, the choice is limited. Aside from Eastern red cedar—also known as Eastern juniper—or Virginia pine, we have very few native trees and shrubs that are truly evergreen and thus block the view year-round. Even bald cypress trees, the most graceful tree we can grow, is a conifer that drops its needle leaves in winter. So let me make a recommendation that solves the problem: a native, evergreen shrub that forms a dense hedge, has shiny attractive foliage, and produces fascinating fleshy red and orange fruits beloved by songbirds: Strawberry bush. And with its patriotic specific epithet, Euonymus americanus, what more can you ask for? A dense row of strawberry bush offers food for migratory songbirds and shelter for residents in the snows of winter and the breeding season. Within a few years, a row of seedlings planted in the fall becomes a dense, tall hedge. Strawberry bush shows that privatization is possible, even while being ecologically correct.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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August 14, 2020The proposed $10+ billion beltway expansion project reached an important milestone in July with the release of the much-anticipated draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). Now it’s time for the public to submit comments, and Cabin John residents are being urged to raise their concerns before the Oct. 8 comment period deadline.
The close to 1,800-page draft DEIS includes traffic, environmental, engineering, and financial analyses of the six build alternatives, in comparison to the no-build alternative, along 48 miles of Interstates 270 and 495. The DEIS also describes existing conditions and anticipated impacts — as well as conceptual mitigation — to the community, environment, natural resources,and cultural resources.
All of the six build alternatives retained and analyzed in the DEIS include the addition of two lanes in each direction on I-495, incorporating a dynamic tolling managed lanes network with either express toll lanes (ETL) or high-occupancy toll lanes (HOT). Build alternatives will also include new managed toll lanes on I-270 and the full replacement of the American Legion Bridge.
The CJCA has a number of ongoing concerns related to the beltway expansion that have been shared with state officials and local agencies over the past 12 to 18 months. These concerns include property takings, noise and air pollution, stormwater runoff, arterial road congestion, loss of parkland, and the negative impacts on our cultural resources, such as the Moses Hall and Cemetery site, Gibson Grove Church, and the C&O Canal. A number of Cabin John neighbors in the Evergreen subdivision are expected to be directly impacted.
In its 63-page analysis of the DEIS, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, which owns significant park land along I-495, criticized the DEIS for underestimatingits impact on natural, cultural, and recreational resources, and not taking into account local traffic considerations. The review also raised major concerns about its assessment of stormwater treatment, saying that the stormwater management “approach presented in the DEIS is insufficient and ignores decades of degradation that the existing highways have inflicted on local land.”
Many in the region are questioning the need for this expensive project in light of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on transportation patterns. MDOT SHA touches on this in the DEIS, but is clearly committed to moving forward with what they consider long-range transportation improvements.
CJ RESIDENTS PLEASE SUBMIT COMMENTS!
With the years-long construction slated to take place at our doorstep and the project’s possible impact on neighborhood park lands and the historic African American properties in our community, now is the time for Cabin Johners to educate themselves and voice their opinions about this project. The full DEIS, including all technical reports, can be found at: https://495-270-p3.com/deis/. The county’s planning department analysis is available at https:/montgomeryplanningboard.org/i-495-and-i-270-managed-lanes-study/. The state will be holding four online and two in-person public hearings between August 18 and September 10.
Cabin John residents are urged to submit comments at one of the public hearings, on the DEIS comment form, via email to MLSNEPA-P3@mdot.maryland.gov, or by letter to: Lisa Choplin, DBIA, I-495 & I-270 P3 Program Director, I-495 & I-270 P3 Office, 707 North Calvert Street, Mail Stop P-601, Baltimore, MD 21202.
Whichever way you choose to comment, it is most impactful if you share a copy of your comments with County Executive Marc Elrich and members of the County Council, as well as our state delegates and congressional delegation. Contact information for all of these folks are available in the PDF below.
BY CHARLOTTE TROUP LEIGHTONCJCA Vice President for Advocacy
Contact-Information-for-Your-Government-Officials [...]
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August 14, 2020More than 500 residents of Cabin John, Bannockburn, Glen Echo, and surrounding communities recently joined with millions around the world to peacefully protest against police brutality and an end to institutional racism.
The local Black Lives Matter event, held June 6, 2020, was organized by Cabin John resident Debra Budiani-Saberi with the support of local mothers Brandy Swayze and Jen Jordan. The concept quickly evolved from Debra’s poster-making gatherings into what materialized as a stunning community based, peaceful, child-family-senior-friendly demonstration with protesters socially distanced over four miles of the bike path along MacArthur Blvd., stretching from the Brookmont neighborhood to Persimmon Tree Rd.
After some 45 minutes of standing in solidarity with BLM protesters elsewhere, many of the demonstrators made their way to the park by the one-lane bridge to observe a moment of silence for black lives lost due to police brutality and to hear from a number of speakers. U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, fired up with the U.S. Constitution in hand, outlined new legislation to hold police accountable that was being drafted in the Maryland House of Representatives.
Two brilliant Bethesda Gen Z-ers, Ian Shayan and Sam Smith, shared their perspectives as did a number of other speakers. “I’m proud to see such a diverse mix of people here today. Your support is indeed inspiring,” noted Sam’s dad, Michael Smith. “But now that we’re all together, we need to have some honest conversations with one another. We can’t ‘get there’ if we’re not willing to ‘go there.’ So let’s all go there together.”
The community showed up to listen to black persons’ experiences of racial targeting and violence, reflections on white privilege and to ally towards making change. The road to ending injustices and narrowing disparities is long and uphill. Yet new and renewed commitments are in the making. May we forge ahead with courageous conversations and actions to deepen our healing and expand privileges. May this indeed be the darkness of the womb and an era of rebirthing.
Taking a collective and public stand, here in our own community with family and neighbors, for an end to racial profiling, police brutality, and systemic racism is a small and important step forward. All ages young and old came together to say— enough is enough. A challenging road still lies ahead, and hashtags and social media posts are not where the work lies. We need each other as a source of strength to walk the talk and hold each other accountable in the long haul. May we continue to act on our convictions.
Thank you to Cabin John residents Susan Shipp, Deborah Duffy, and Burr Grey for your logistical assistance. This spontaneous event would have not been possible without your quick and timely help. Deep appreciation for the Bannockburn PTA Diversity and Inclusion Committee for endorsing this event.
BY JEN JORDAN AND BY DEBRA BUDIANI-SABERI [...]
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August 13, 2020By the end of the month Cabin Johners should have a new natural surface trail to enjoy on walks between Seven Locks at Cypress Grove and the park by the one-lane bridge.
A five-person crew has been working the better part of two months to build a new roughly 1.5 mile section of the Montgomery Parks Cabin John Stream Valley Trail, according to Bob Turnbull, Montgomery Parks Natural Surface Trails Construction Manager. Turnbull estimates the cost to be about $60,000, including an $18,000 bridge that is the final piece of the trail to be built.
With its completion, the whole 8.8 mile Cabin John trail, which runs from Cabin John Regional Park at Goya Rd. to MacArthur Blvd., will be a multi-use trail for bikers as well as hikers. There will be updated maps posted at the kiosk at the MacArthur Blvd. trailhead as well as at the Cypress Grove entrance to the trail. In addition to the bridge installation, the crew is still working on some safety tweaks.
“We’ve ridden the trail, and in a couple of places, it is too fast downhill. So we are going back to slow it down and improve the sight lines for shared use,” said Turnbill. They will also be curtailing access to some of the old trail that has become too dangerous due to erosion. However, they are maintaining several access points to the creek where the new trail intersects with the old one. Turnbull says they have gotten better at building natural surface trails in difficult terrain, and he believes this section will now be more sustainable.
Turnbull is asking the community to help maintain the trail by:
Reporting safety issues, such as downed trees and other serious trail concerns at service.center@montgomeryparks.org or by calling 301-495-2595.Curtailing your use of the trail after heavy rains. He suggests calling the RainoutLine phone at 240-270-0008, and selecting ext. 6 for the Cabin John Creek Trail to hear an automated message about trail closures due to weather.Becoming a Trail Ranger volunteer for this section of the trail. Trail Rangers inspect and perform light trail maintenance work on assigned trail(s) once every three months and after major storm events. (You must be 18 years old to be a ranger.)
BIGGER TRAIL PROJECT POSSIBLY COMING SOON
Turnbull is hopeful that Montgomery Parks will be back in this area late next year working on a bigger project to recreate a trail that would let hikers and bikers go back into the woods from Seven Locks and River to a new crossing directly opposite where the Cabin John trail runs from River Rd. to Bradley Blvd.
Currently, trail users have to leave the park at Seven Locks Rd. shortly before the River Rd. intersection. They then have to cross the intersection and stay on River Rd. until after the Quarry Springs condominium development, where they pick the trail back up again.
If Parks is able to secure this $200,000 donation, said Turnbull, it will be able to build a natural surface trail through the 57 acres of park land from River Rd. up near Carderock Springs Rd., where a safe road crossing with flashing beacon lights will be built to connect with the rest of the Cabin John trail.
BY SUSAN SHIPPCJCA President [...]
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August 12, 2020Cabin John’s treasured Moses Hall and cemetery site was largely ignored early in the state’s initial efforts to characterize possible impact zones for the beltway expansion. Consequently, as part of NEPA/Section 106 process, the site was misrepresented in the state’s Cultural Resources Technical Report, putting it in significant jeopardy.
But thanks to the diligent efforts of a number of Moses Hall descendants, county historians, community volunteers, and Cabin John residents over the past year the state has reclassified the property. Officially, as part of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), there has been a “determination of eligibility for the Morningstar Tabernacle No. 88 Moses Hall and Cemetery, finding it NRHP-eligible.” Subject to Maryland Historical Trust (MHT) concurrence with this finding, this is a big win for this important cultural resource.
Unfortunately, despite this recognition of historic significance, the Moses Hall & Cemetery property is still described in the DEIS as being “adversely affected” by all six build alternatives. According to MDOT SHA, the work proposed at this location includes widening along the outside of the I-495 inner loop to construct two new managed lanes and a new ramp to connect the managed lanes with River Road at the existing interchange.
As currently designed, the limits of disturbance (LOD) would impact the historic property, including portions of the Moses Hall foundation wall, a section of the former access road from Seven Locks Road, as well as potential grave locations. MDOT indicates that the agency is continuing to examine engineering avoidance alternatives at this location. Limited additional surface mapping and investigative studies are expected at the Moses Hall Lodge and cemetery property in the coming months.
Advocacy and preservation efforts related to the Moses Hall property and the Gibson Grove Church, which sits on the other side of the beltway along Seven Locks, are likely to be stepped up in the coming months. If you are interested in helping to work on these preservation efforts, please contact Charlotte Troup Leighton at troupleighton@gmail.com. [...]
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June 29, 2020It’s early June and in our area the fragrance of honeysuckle clings to the roadsides. When I was a child growing up in coastal New Jersey, my first memory of the natural world was the wild honeysuckle growing in an abandoned lot across the street. We would gather at dusk, when the aroma of honeysuckle was most powerful, and pick the alternating yellow and white blossoms. Biting into the spur at the end of the flower, we became nectar robbers, stealing the reward that nature (evolution) had offered the actual pollinators.
Little did I know that our nectar-robbing gang was plundering an exotic species—Lonicera japonica—or Japanese honeysuckle. In Cabin John, if you’re on the sidewalk along Seven Locks Road in early June, it is impossible to avoid the inviting odor of this invader, even with a makeshift Covid-19 mask over your nose. We have nine species of honeysuckle in our area, only one of them native (see Village News, September 2013). The rest are all introduced, and a few of those are botanical terrors.
The Japanese species is a sun-worshipper. You will only find it along the roadside or at the edge of abandoned lawn, often growing next to Common Privet, another invader from Europe, also flowering right now but not as fragrant. But the worst species of the lot is our subject, the Tatarian Honeysuckle. This aggressive, vibrant shrub or small tree is native to Siberia and other parts of East Asia. It is safe to say that there may well be more individual plants of Tatarian Honeysuckle in North America than back in the old country.
Like many of our invasive plants, Tatarian Honeysuckle was introduced to the U.S. as an intriguing ornamental; that happened way back in 1752, so I suppose it has deeper roots in the country than most of us. This honeysuckle’s vigorous growth of the species would have made any novice gardeners back in the colonial era proud of their efforts. But this invasive has subsequently taken local nature hostage across the entire continental United States, reaching all the way to Alaska. The Tatarian Honeysuckle grows in any disturbed patch of land; it reaches these new germination sites easily as numerous birds and mammals ingest its berries and spread the seeds.
Unlike the Japanese honeysuckle, alternating with white and yellow flowers, the Tatarian corollas range from white, to pink, to crimson. Tubular in shape, they are attractive. But for our native plants, this is all a deception: they are experiencing one stage or another of Death by Honeysuckle. Unlike the Japanese version that stakes out territory along sidewalks, the Tatarian can tolerate dense shade. So it roams into the forest interior, spreads thanks to the native fruit-eating fauna, and eventually shades out all that grows under it. No more forest recruitment under Tatarian rule.
There is always controversy over invasive plants, and one can almost hear the refrain from live-and-let-live ecologists, “There are good plants among exotics, too.”
At one of the birding hotspots for spring migrants in the D.C. area—Monticello Park near Ridge Road in Alexandria, VA—birders are divided. When a campaign was underway to remove the English ivy, Periwinkle, and other invasive plants along the warbler-rich hillsides, there was also a plan to rip out the Tatarian Honeysuckle lining the stream that is the lifeblood of this park. The stream is very shallow and forms pools, and in the spring, warblers, orioles, grosbeaks, vireos, and thrushes drop down from the canopy to take their daily bath—sometimes probably more than once a day for a few individuals. In the spring, we joke that in many birding hotspots like Rock Creek Park, there is a rash of Birder’s Neck Disorder—a condition brought about by craning one’s neck for hours at a time to examine the treetops for that singing Blackburnian or Bay-breasted warbler. Or was it a Cape May?
Those species that prefer the upper canopy grace us with their presence as they rather boldly take their bath in the Monticello streambed. Like Land Rovers converging on the lion pride coming in for a drink around a waterhole, the avid birders descend around the bathers and gape in awe or click away. I am one of the wicked. Some aficionados even stake out a particular puddle that is known to be a favorite and sit all morning in front of their cannon-like telephoto lenses on their tripods waiting for the perfect shot.
The Tatarian Honeysuckle is perhaps the most common shrub along the stream (for a complete list of plants here see the inventory on http://www.mpnature.com/). Those who care for birds believe that the presence of the invasive honeysuckle actually offers splendid perches for post-bath preening for the birds (not the birders) and a staging platform to await their turn at the preferred pool while another is taking the waters. Some land-use managers point to the presence of these robust invasive shrubs as protecting the banks from erosion that might otherwise soil the bathing pools with silt after heavy rains. From this perspective, pulling out these Tatarians or cutting them down would likely do more harm than good. My view is that it might shake things up for a year or two, but other native shrubs—spicebush, dogwood, burning-bush, and others would take its role. The birds wouldn’t care.
Thinking more broadly, we can add the Tatarian Honeysuckle to our list of Ten Most Wanted for Removal List. If we could only tend our natural areas like we weed and prune our front yard gardens, we would restore the ecological imbalance. A chainsaw applied by a knowledgeable invasive species manager could perform wonders in a weekend.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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June 18, 2020
Sadly with the pandemic still making large gatherings dangerous, Cabin John’s long-standing 4th of July parade and festivities will be on hiatus this year.
But that doesn’t mean the community can’t show its patriotism in other ways. Thanks to John and Annmarie Allen of 81st St., who have been on community flag duty for the last six years, MacArthur Blvd. will be sporting the Red, White, and Blue per usual.
Now we ask that the community go big with your patriotic décor. Get out your bunting, flags, balloons, and t-shirts. Decorate your home, your car, your bike, and yourself! Feel free to make chalk drawings in celebration of our nation’s 244th birthday.
On this Independence Day, as you stroll the streets of Cabin John amidst the patriotic colors and paraphernalia, remember all that has made the U.S.A. great over these past two and a half centuries and know that we can help carry our country through these troubled times.
Check out photos from previous July 4th celebrations.
By Susan ShippCJCA President [...]
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May 31, 2020The Pandemic Did Not Rain on Danny Harris’s 95th Birthday Parade
Danny’s 95th birthday celebration kicked off a few days before his May 2 birthday when the Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Dept. brought their 1930 Brockway Fire Engine by the house to wish him well. Danny’s great grandson, Anthony Farris, born and raised in Cabin John Gardens, is a county police officer. He arranged for squad cars to come by with lights flashing to give Danny a salute.
A proud World War II veteran, Danny’s military service was recognized by Stefan Luteijn, an assistant naval attaché with the Embassy of the Netherlands and a Persimmon Tree neighbor. He presented Danny with a friendship pin from the Royal Dutch Navy saying, “The Dutch are grateful to the United States for saving Europe and grateful for you for serving in World War II.”By Susan ShippCJCA President [...]
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May 29, 2020The slightly yellowed paper is about the size of a diploma. Folded into eighths, Post Office Department is authoritatively spelled out in Old English font. Swirling cursive proclaims the appointment of Joseph Bobinger to Postmaster on the 18th day of March, 1878 by the Postmaster General of the United States, David M. Key.
“Now know ye, That confiding in the integrity, ability, and punctuality of the said Joseph Bobinger, I do commission him a Postmaster, authorized to execute the duties of that Office at Cabin John…” The lower left corner bears the raised red seal of the Post Office Department, used between 1837 and 1970: a galloping horse and rider, mail bag strung to the saddle, encircled by the words ‘Post Office Department United States of America.’ The lower right bears a small signature ‘D.M. Key.’
America’s postal service was created in 1775 when Benjamin Franklin was appointed the first Postmaster General by the Continental Congress. By 1885 postage cost about 2 cents per ounce, and there were nearly 43,000 post offices in the United States, including one right in Cabin John. With the assistance of local historian Richard Cook, the Cabin John Citizens Association acquired the Bobinger postmaster certificate for $177.50 at a Feb. 1 eBay auction. The seller, a dealer in old paper items, stumbled across this document some years back at a local flea market.
Joseph Bobinger and his wife Rosa are better known as builders of the legendary Cabin John Bridge Hotel, which began as a modest guest house and refreshment stand along Conduit Road (now MacArthur Blvd.). He migrated to the U.S. from Germany, and came to this area to work as a stonemason on the Union Arch Bridge. With his artistic temperament and business acumen, Bobinger was a prominent local figure. In the mid 19th century, candidates for Postmaster were proposed by the community or previous employer. The Postmaster was often a sideline to a primary job such as shopkeeper, or in Bobinger’s case, hotelier.
In 1890 nearly 41 million people, 65% of the American population, lived in rural areas and had to collect their mail from a post office. According to records, Bobinger was the Postmaster at the hotel for a mere five months. As the hotel’s popularity as a summer resort rose, the post office was moved closer towards the canal, and Michael McQuade took over the mail. By 1891 Andrew J. Jackson assumed the role of Postmaster, and the post office was relocated back to MacArthur Blvd. near its current location. That building burned down in 1893.
Beginning in 1894, another prominent name in the Cabin John story was named Postmaster. A 1917 Evening Star newspaper article wrote, “A pretty cottage with a wealth of flowers and big gardens. That is the home of the postmaster, though the post office building and general store are a few yards farther on and set somewhat back from the Conduit Road, so that a semicircular drive, beaten by the hoofs of many horses and ground by the wheels of many country wagons and carriages, leads up to the store porch.”
That general store was Dennis Touhey’s, “a place where people could let off their political opinions. People would just go after their mail, and they would meet here casually, like around the cracker barrel in the good old days,” said local resident Charles Smith in 1913. Touhey served as Postmaster for thirty years during boom times for the mail. In 1900, the Post Office Department operated over 76,000 branches, the largest number in its history, though that number had fallen to 59,000 by 1910.
During the late 1800s demands for goods by mail grew. In 1912 Congress authorized the Parcel Post service, which allowed the posting of goods up to 11 pounds. (An Ohio couple actually mailed their 8 month old baby to his grandmother a few miles away for 15 cents!) Marketing and merchandising through Parcel Post boosted the growth of mail-order houses, and that same year Sears saw a five fold increase in orders. At one time at least 20 different models of Sears mail order homes were represented in Cabin John, though many have since been demolished.
From 1925 to 1936 Charles Scott and his wife ran the post office within their small shop at 77th Street and MacArthur Blvd. Mrs. Irene Carper took over as Postmaster and shopkeeper in 1936. Dennis Touhey’s granddaughter Ruth Shuff briefly served as acting Postmaster when Mrs. Laura McKelvey took over in 1944 (initially under her maiden name Linkins). Mrs. McKelvey built a small frame addition to her home on 77th Street, and as noted in a 1976 Village News article she “originated the graceful custom of wrapping stamps in waxed paper.” Mrs. McKelvey retired after 27 years, and the newsletter honored her long service with a poem:
Our Little Post Office
Have you been by
The house on the hill
Where the colors fly proudly
At the wind’s will?
In a small room
Three ladies about
From morning to noon
And evening thereabout
Our mail handling,
With care and proficiency,
‘Tis time we are saluting
Our ladies, gratefully.
Thank you Mrs. McKelvey, Mrs. Shuler, Mrs. Clark
Organizational challenges in the 1960s led to the 1970 Postal Reorganization Act, and the transformation into today’s United States Postal Service. Mrs. Shuler, having helped Mrs. McKelvey for 14 years, took over as Postmaster in 1972 and helped move Cabin John’s post office to the north end of the Clara Barton School. The post office moved to its present location in the 1980s and LaVerne G. Baptiste assumed the postmaster role in 1989. The current postmaster, Jonathan Black, started in 2007.
Panels depicting Cabin John’s history hang from the walls of the post office today thanks to the efforts of several residents back in 1998. The postal service continues to play a fundamental role not only in American life but in the community. The Cabin John Post Office even delivers and picks up the mail at 91-year-old Mary Morgal’s front door so that she does not have to climb down the stairs to her mailbox. A little bit of the “cracker barrel in the good old days” in that.
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer
[See photos by accessing the article in the Village News Archive: 2020 May Newsletter] [...]
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May 29, 2020Staying indoors much of these past two months has probably led many lockdowners to confront one of the most foul-smelling creatures to invade the United States in the past fifty years: the brown marmorated stink bug. You have seen them on your sofas and curtains. Maybe one landed on your head while sitting in your favorite chair, you crushed it inadvertently with your hand, and it emitted a defensive odor that would make you think twice before disturbing another one. Originally from Asia and first discovered in Pennsylvania in 1996, this stink bug is now ubiquitous—present in 44 states.
Not just invasive bugs, but invasive plants can smell foul, too. Growing in abundance along the towpath is last month’s stinker, the garlic mustard. Perhaps the worst smelling among the local flora is the perfectly named dead-nettle, a mint that reeks of dead animal when the leaves are crushed. You can find it in your garden or in any grass median along a sidewalk. In fact, many mints, one of the largest families of flowering plants with over 7000 species, smell rather “off.” Sure, the mint family contains lovely cultivated plants like lavender, thyme, and lemon-balm, but most wild mints have a deep musky smell, stemming from chemicals called secondary compounds that likely evolved to avoid a plant’s greatest threat—some large-mouthed four-legged herbivore or a sap-sucking insect. Native Americans took advantage of this evolutionary adaptation of plants: they learned to extract oil of pennyroyal, a native mint, to repel biting insects. And then of course, there is catnip, another mint, that needs no introduction.
But there are also a multitude of more insidious invasive plants that we are willing to tolerate, or even cherish, because to us they smell divine. At perhaps the top of the list of favorable impressions is the multi-flora rose (Rosa multiflora). Originally brought to the U.S. from eastern Asia, it is also called the Japanese rose or, as the Latin name implies, the many-flowered rose. It was considered a valued ornamental because its flowers are larger and more abundant than the native roses, and it offered value when planted in hedgerows, as fodder for livestock, or to prevent soil erosion.
Outside of the fragrant, or winter, honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) covered in a Local Nature column in September 2013, there is no other invasive plant with an aroma as intoxicating to inhale as the perfume of multi-flora rose. The experience is most profound, I’ve found, when riding my bike along country roads on the way to Poolesville or Sugarloaf Mountain. This scrambling rosebush species has taken a liking to road edges where there is enough sun and moisture to meet its needs.
So what’s there to dislike about a plant species that smells like one we might recommend for lining the passageway to heaven? Especially one that is more fragrant than virtually our entire native flora and even more powerfully scented than our four native wild-rose species: low pasture rose, pasture rose, swamp rose, and climbing rose?
The answer is that a multi-flora rose is truly invasive: it doesn’t behave like a valued guest but takes over where it is not welcome. The understory of our native forests is filling up with this species, crowding out our beautiful native wildflowers and shrubs. There are sections of forest along the towpath where multi-flora rose grows so thick it outnumbers all other woody plants. Hiking in shorts would be a bad idea, even if there were no poison ivy around.
Birds and mammals eat the rose hips and spread the seeds. Although clearly the species is a food source, it prevents even more nutritious plants like oak and hickory trees, as well as rare and exquisite vegetation like spring ephemerals, from getting a start. And the only sure way to keep this plant in check is to dig it out by the roots. As with many other rose species, there are downward curved thorns along the stems and branches to dissuade you from attempting to restore the ecological balance.
If we ever organize a Cabin John Invasive Weed Removal Brigade, the multi-flora rose I think should be among the first targets for banishment, along with the plants this column introduced this year: fig buttercup, garlic mustard, and its neighbor, Japanese knotweed. We should welcome human immigrants to our shores—they enrich our nation. The same cannot be said for invasive plants that are allowed to destroy the ecological balance and diversity of our flora.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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April 29, 2020In late December 2019, I suggested to Trudy Nicholson, our supremely talented illustrator, that we organize the monthly Local Nature column around a specific theme for that calendar year. For 2020, the unifying thread would be invasive species that can be found inhabiting and spreading along the towpath or the Cabin John Creek Trail. We had intended to feature mostly invasive plants—like garlic mustard—and a few animals, like starlings, the subject of the inaugural entry for January 2020. What seemed like a puzzling choice of topic categories at first, now seems prescient as a new invasive, the novel coronavirus, has spread globally.
One barely mentioned aspect of life in the past 45 days is that almost everyone has at least glanced at a graph or two that tracks the spread of the new coronavirus. Others have taken the next step to increase their scientific knowledge: exploring the logic behind “flattening the curve,” or for the more ambitious, the basics of population ecology and the distinction we hear daily between “exponential growth” and linear growth. It is only a matter of time before “zoonotic spillover”—here defined as the transmission of a pathogen from a vertebrate animal to a human—becomes a term that children learn about in school and then explain to their parents. For those of us who practice wildlife science for a living, interpreting graphs and weighing assumptions underpinning complex modeling of wildlife populations or infectious wildlife diseases, these activities are part of the routine. For epidemiologists, too, the workflow consists of gathering data, erecting preliminary hypotheses, testing, gathering more data, and refining models. These are the well-established steps to inch closer to explaining what is happening now in the simplest way possible, and most importantly, what will likely happen next. Developing a vaccine and antivirals to treat this novel, invasive coronavirus species is done by the same scientific method used by other branches of science, and now accelerated by modern technology like artificial intelligence. In the case now before us there are clear life and death outcomes for individuals, societies, and economies.
In the midst of the current crisis, we are in the hands of epidemiologists and immunologists for scientific knowledge. May they do their work quickly and successfully. But what can wildlife biologists contribute to the conversation about prevention of the next zoonotic spillover, when yet another deadly virus jumps from a non-human species to humans? A lot, but first some background. We know that the closely related SARS virus (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome; COVID-19’s extended name is SARS-CoV-2)—the outbreak of which originated in 2003 in China—occurs naturally in bats, though bats are not themselves affected by the SARS virus. The most logical vector of the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is the horseshoe bat, a member of the bat order Chiroptera. Horseshoe bats roost in the limestone caves common in Hubei province, and bats are eaten by the local populace. It is speculated that live bats captured from caves were caged and transported to markets. These cages would then be stacked on top of cages of other wild species consumed by the local population. At the top of that menu is the scaly anteater, or pangolin, one of the most endangered mammals in the world. Pangolins are a delicacy and fetch high prices for their dietary and reputed medicinal value. When mammals are stressed, such as when bats are captured and placed in cages being taken to market or at the market site, they, like all mammals, shed the viruses they carry via urine and feces. These excreted substances containing the live virus likely infected the more commonly eaten species (such as pangolins) which were kept in cages, alive, beneath the bat cages.
A simple solution to reducing the chances for zoonotic spillovers is to stop people from collecting or eating bats. This can be accomplished by closing all wildlife markets where consumers can indulge in eating not just bats, but everything from primates to pangolins. We don’t know what virus will jump next from one mammal to another. The Chinese government has pledged to close these markets, a challenging but important step.
But I recommend another solution to the problem, offered as a bat ecologist who has spent some time in bat caves. My advice: stay out of bat caves, or better yet, keep people out of them as we are doing in the U.S., where a fungal infection called white nose syndrome is wiping out whole colonies of bats. This fungus is spread from one cave to the next, perhaps by unwitting spelunkers and naturalists. In China, bat hunters often go into caves to catch bats for the wildlife markets. Chinese bat ecologists (of which there are many) could work with the Chinese authorities to locate prominent bat caves and station guards and install security cameras to prevent trespassers from entering.
One could pose the question: why protect bats at all, given what they may carry? Why not just poison the caves? In defense of bats, they do much more good in the world than bad: controlling mosquito and crop pest populations, pollinating flowers, and dispersing fruits. Bats are also the engineers of tropical forests. We just need to leave them alone and protect their habitats.
One can find reasons why these zoonotic spillovers are likely to continue. If little or nothing is done to remove incentives that bring people more and more in contact with creatures of the forest, then this is our new normal. We must address some of the drivers of this behavior like overpopulation, extreme poverty, and profiteering by those exploiting tropical rainforests. One root cause that largely goes unspoken, offered by a colleague who leads an organization to promote the ethical treatment of wildlife: “The whole of humanity has been brought to its knees because of cruelty to animals. Think about that.”
And now on to the original topic of this monthly edition, the garlic mustard plant, which is an invasive that, unlike a coronavirus, can easily be controlled, especially along the Potomac towpath where it proliferates in abundance. This invasive member of the mustard family hails from Europe. It is so named because when you crush the young leaves, it smells like garlic. Even the scientific name Alliaria petiolata makes this reference, as Allium is the genus of garlic. Garlic mustard was introduced to North America by European colonists in the 1800s for medicinal purposes and as a food flavoring. Among the local native herbivores, the deer along the towpath will eat almost anything, but won’t touch garlic mustard. Nor will insect herbivores that feed on wild native mustards.
In a few days you will see the white, four-petaled garlic mustard flowers on tall spikes. In some places they choke out our wonderful spring wildflowers, just like the invasive fig buttercup featured in last month’s column. Before you next go out, learn to recognize the plant from this accompanying illustration or Google its photo. And when you see the plant growing in clumps, pull the plants out by the roots. This is one invasion we can stop with low-tech weeding.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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March 29, 2020Heading up Seven Locks Road towards River Road, the woods behind the Evergreen development hide a significant piece of Cabin John history. That history continues, albeit in a near dilapidated state, just a few steps away. Moses Hall lodge and cemetery and the Gibson Grove A.M.E. Zion Church, both established around the turn of the 20th century, played a fundamental role in Cabin John’s African American history and in the development of Cabin John itself. This deep connection with Gibson Grove’s past still resonates in the community today. However, this history is facing a new and urgent threat with the proposed widening of the beltway, and the fate of this significant burial ground is up in the air.
Built in 1898, the original Gibson Grove Church was named in honor of Mrs. Sarah Gibson, a former slave who lived in this area. Sarah, a seamstress, was born in Virginia and was married to Louis Gibson, a wagon driver and field hand. After the Civil War, she and Louis were separated as they fled the plantation where they were enslaved. Sarah made the arduous journey towards Washington, D.C. with her children, and was eventually reunited with her husband at the Shiloh Baptist Church, a known meeting place for former slaves.
Sarah and Louis settled in Potomac where they worked on a farm. At that time, much of the land in Cabin John was owned by J.D.W. Moore (the father of Lilly Stone). In the 1880s, J.D.W. Moore sold plots of land along Seven Locks Road to several farm workers; some ten families purchased acreage and a community was born.
Sarah and Louis were among the first to buy land from Moore, and purchased four and half acres. (Ninety-two-year-old Mrs. Lena Brown recalled in Elizabeth Kytle’s Time Was (1976) that her father had bought four and half acres for $300; another source notes the land was purchased for $101). Sarah Gibson, a religious woman who longed for a place near home to worship, donated a part of her property for the construction of a church. The original Gibson Grove Church stood on the lower south side of the present site and was built with trees from Sarah’s land. Baptisms took place in the nearby Cabin John Creek, and the church itself had a burial ground.
In 1923, the current church was built on the same site and known as “the little white church on the hill” (Alexandra Jones, Gibson Grove Gone But Not Forgotten, 2010). In a 2000 report, the Maryland Historical Trust noted that the church was “an excellent example of early 20th century vernacular ecclesiastical design, (as) it includes an entry vestibule, the sanctuary, and a small side and rear addition.” The Trust noted that the church retained “integrity of location, design, setting, feeling, and association” and that it derives its significance from “its association with the African American settlement of Gibson Grove that was founded in the 1880s by former slaves…it is the only remaining structure associated with the African American Gibson Grove community, which grew out of Moore’s land sales to his black farm workers.”
In 2002, due to its shrinking numbers, Gibson Grove Church closed. The church was taken over by a new congregation, the First Agape A.M.E. Zion Church. On Ash Wednesday 2004, a fire in the church caused significant damage. The church has yet to reopen. Despite its current state, much of Gibson Grove Church’s quiet character remained evident over the years, from its simple gabled roof, modest entry, and belfry.
Alongside the church property, which was bisected by the beltway in the early 1960s, is Moses Hall and cemetery. On a windy day, the crackling and rustling of the overgrown bamboo nearly drowns out the noise of the traffic. The first hints of the historical importance of this site are the few visible gravestones emerging from overgrown brush and leaves. One headstone reads “Wallace Mason Born May 14, 1899 Died Sept 1st, 1931.” Another marks the resting place of “Allen White 1925-1973,” who is believed to be the last person buried in this sacred ground.
The Morningstar Tabernacle Number 88, Ancient United Order of Sons and Daughters, Brothers and Sisters of Moses—or Moses Hall—was one of many lodges founded by former slaves throughout the area. Moses Hall was intrinsic to the Gibson Grove Church community, and played a vital role in the community’s self sufficiency during segregation. Everyone was a member, and burial in the cemetery was one of the privileges (Jones, 2010). Built on land conveyed by George and Surilla Scott in 1887, the Morningstar Tabernacle Number 88 was a secret fraternal organization. The hall was a two story wood building constructed to serve as a center of social life for former slaves in the area: as a community center, a school, and meeting house.
Moses Hall remained an essential part of the community until younger members began to move away from the area. Today, the hall’s rock wall foundation, barely visible within the thick bamboo, is all that’s left. The cemetery is believed to be the site of over 50 burials, and the recent effort cleanup effort revealed more than 100 grave markers, consisting of headstones or even simple rocks from the nearby quarry. Sarah Gibson, who died in January 1929, is buried here.
Local Cabin John resident Austin White I of Carver Rd. recalls visiting Moses Hall as a child: his grandmother would gather him and his cousins together one or two times a month. They’d walk from their nearby homes through woods and the cemetery to sweep the floors of the hall, put out water, and light the kerosene lamps ahead of meetings.
Mr. White, at 66 years young, is a lifelong Cabin John resident. His family history reaches far back within Cabin John and the Gibson Grove Church: he and his five siblings were all baptized there and attended services; his son, Austin White II (pictured in the cleanup story on pg. X), went to Sunday school before the church closed. Mr. White’s mother, Elizabeth, served as an usher at the church all of her life and was believed to have the last funeral in Gibson Grove Church in 1991. Nathan White, a cousin, is the last person to be married in the church. Mr. White’s descendants trace back to the many families who established the Gibson Grove community—including the Crawford, Harris, and White families—all of whom contributed to the maintenance of Moses Hall. Mr. White’s father Rodney is buried in Moses Hall cemetery, as is his uncle, grandmother, and other family members.
Though Gibson Grove Church was granted historical status some years ago, the hallowed ground of Moses Hall cemetery has yet to be designated for historic preservation. Yet the two sites are very much intertwined. History connects the past with the present, reflecting the deep roots of the Cabin John African American settlement along Seven Locks Road. Moses Hall and Gibson Grove Church are part of the historical narrative of both Cabin John and many of its families today.
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer
[See photos by accessing the article in the Village News Archive: 2020 March Newsletter] [...]
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March 29, 2020The welcome mat of early spring in our area carpets the ground in golden-yellow buttercups. Great writers took note. Wordsworth waxed on about their spring beauty; D. H. Lawrence wove them into his epic, Sons and Lovers. Who doesn’t love the cheerful countenance of brilliant yellow buttercups against fresh green leaves, a botanical punctuation mark to the end of a dreary gray February?
For Europeans, the buttercup is a symbol of the reawakening of life. But for those of us residing in the former colonies, the most common buttercup species are, surprisingly, invaders that threaten to smother our wealth of early spring wildflowers. If you want some local evidence, take a stroll in early March along the Cabin John Creek Trail. What many CJ residents don’t know is that we live next to one of the finest paths in Montgomery County for viewing and conserving native wildflowers, some of which are endangered. Bloodroot, Spring Beauty, Dutchman’s breeches, violets of several species and colors, early Saxifrage, wild ginger, Bluets, Bluebells, Golden Alexander—the list goes on.
But in the flat, damp places bordering the creek, a dense mat of an insidious invasive threatens our native wildflowers. It is fittingly named false celandine, but it is also known as the fig buttercup.
There are 19 species in the genus of buttercup (Ranunculus) found in the DC-Maryland-Virginia flora; 12 are native. It is the other seven species, however, that pose danger. By far the worst is the fig buttercup. Present in the eastern U.S. since the 1880s and more recently a favorite ornamental among gardeners, fig buttercup is now considered invasive in many states in the eastern U.S. and on the West Coast as well. In the Cabin John area specifically, fig buttercup was barely a problem 26 years ago when I first moved to our neighborhood and began walking along Cabin John Creek; it only reached alarming coverage about a decade ago. Even in my own backyard, a visiting landscaper—who happened to be my German brother-in-law—who probably knew how charming the fig buttercup was back home, planted bunches of it around my backyard from a single patch on our property. Soon thereafter I decided to create a native plant botanical garden, decidedly counter to the well-being of the fig buttercups in my midst. It has taken years of diligent weeding and a mixture of vinegar, dishwashing detergent, salt, and water to send the fig buttercups into retreat. Each year this has been my early spring struggle, but the invader is now under control. If I were to let up for one year, however, they would return, spreading via their underground tubers and runners and swamping my carpet of native Virginia bluebells and wild ginger.
What has saved the Cabin John Creek Trail so far is that the fig buttercup struggles to persist in steep or even sloping terrain, so the native wildflowers that cling to the rocky upland sections are safe for now. But native wildflower species that call the terrace next to the creek their home are in grave danger.
Mid-March through late April is the time of blooming for what makes our region spectacular, the early spring wildflowers known as spring ephemerals. Although perennial plants, they emerge every spring along the forest floor when the forest is more like a prairie in the levels of light that reach the ground. While the trees are still leafless and the unfiltered sun’s rays warm the earth, these magnificent wildflowers flourish, often in vast carpets of Dutchman’s breeches, trout lilies, bellwort, wild ginger, and Spring Beauty. Pollinated typically by hardy bees and flies, they quickly live out their short lives, set seed, and have their seeds carried off by the most improbable of dispersers—ants. The ants are attracted to the tiny fat deposits attached to the seeds, which they carry back to their underground lairs and eat. The abundance and variety of ant-dispersed plants makes our flora nearly unique in the world.
If you don’t hike along the creek from early March to April’s end, you will not see this great flowering because the whole life strategy of these ephemerals is to do their business in early spring and then die back until the following year. The fig buttercup largely dies back by late-April as well so the time to eradicate it is now.
So what can be done?
A small army of adult volunteers, perhaps combined with Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, along with a few knowledgeable botanical chaperons from the Maryland Parks Department, could probably restore our creek flora in a week of weeding. But if you don’t dig out the tubers of the plant, this effort will be in vain. Alternatively, a one-time application of an herbicide in spots where fig celandine forms dense mats is probably the most effective cure.
What can gardeners do in their backyards? Learn to identify the leaves of fig buttercup when they first emerge in late February. Where they are thick, and especially mixed in with English ivy and False Periwinkle, which are also invasives, you can spray with a mixture of vinegar, salt, dishwashing detergent, and water when there is a three-day stretch of sunny weather. You can also cover them with a plastic tarp to prevent sunlight from striking the leaves. Presto, the fig buttercup turns brown and dies. Now you can replant with lovely native ground-cover plants: marsh marigold, wild ginger, native stonecrop, and instead of Japanese spurge, try Allegheny spurge.
There is another reason to rid ourselves of fig buttercup besides allowing native plants to flourish. The leaves may resemble fig leaves, thus the genus name Ficaria, but the plant is quite poisonous. This is a common feature of the Buttercup family worldwide, which includes monkshood and some other of the most toxic plants known to our species.
To some readers, this year’s series of columns on invasive plants and animals may seem like a monthly installment of bad news after more bad news—how Cabin John is being invaded by alien plants rather than celebrating what we have. But a future bereft of spring beauty is precisely the reason to call attention to the dangers now. We have something spectacular on our doorstep, and future residents will never know the glory of early spring wildflower walks if we let the false celandine crawl all over them.
And a promise: Next year’s theme will focus on creating your own national park in a corner of your yard by planting native species. Each month we will profile a wonderful species that adds beauty and is part of the native Maryland ecosystem. For now, let’s be on alert. Fig buttercup is our flora’s equivalent of the coronavirus.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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March 16, 2020Support the CJCA with these convenient online forms:
Pay your 2020 CJCA dues: FORM
Help ensure that the 2020 directory is as accurate as possible by submitting your household contact information: FORM
Support your community by volunteering in the CJ Neighbor 2 Neighbor program: FORM
Support your community by volunteering with the CJCA: FORM
THANK YOU! [...]
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March 15, 2020With the coronavirus disrupting daily life as we know it, the coordinators of Cabin John’s Neighbor 2 Neighbor program want to remind everyone that CJ residents are ready to provide assistance during this time of “social distancing” and the need to avoid public transportation, crowded areas and other potentially unhealthy situations.
The Neighbor 2 Neighbor (N2N) volunteers are available to help with grocery shopping, drug store runs, rides to doctors’ appointments, meal preparation, errands and other activities. Other assistance provided by N2N volunteers includes pet visits, yard work, simple household jobs and help with bill paying, tax documents and other paperwork.
During this difficult time, it maybe hard for your usual support network of friends, family and hired help to assist you when you need it. Please don’t hesitate to contact Neighbor 2 Neighbor for help.
N2N coordinators can be reached by calling 301-799-4550 or emailing 4cjn2n@gmail.com.
You can also find out more about the program, request assistance, and sign up to volunteer, by filling out this online form.
If you are interested in being part of the N2N volunteer network, please reach out to the N2N coordinators using the contact information provided above.
Be safe,
Judith Bell, Alissa Fox, Bob Norris and Nancy Russell
Cabin John Neighbor 2 Neighbor Coordinators [...]
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February 29, 2020Identifying trees from a distance is always a tough call even for veteran naturalists. So, when you can snap up a field tip that always holds true and allows you to proudly name a tree species from the car window or across a hillside, it’s a nugget of natural history knowledge to treasure. My first nugget came from a professor at the University of Washington who taught me how to spot a Western Hemlock, a common needle-bearing evergreen of the Pacific Northwest. He pointed at the way the tip of this tall conifer bent over—the Western Hemlock’s “Droopy Toopee,” he called it. Try it next time as a surefire way to distinguish the Western Hemlock standing in mixed forests filled with spruces, true firs, douglas firs, yews, cedars, and pines, the other needle-bearing trees found along the nation’s west coast.
Interestingly, the Eastern and Carolina Hemlock species differ from their Western relative in that their “toopees” stand straight up, at attention. But, if they mirrored the current state of their species’ health, they would be at half-mast or lower. For about 70 years now, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), an invasive member of the sucking bug, or true bug, family (the Hemiptera), has infested stands of Eastern Hemlocks in the eastern deciduous forests of the U.S. The aphid-like insect is pictured here. The infestation now spans an area from northern Georgia to Nova Scotia, affecting 90% of the North American range of the Eastern Hemlock.
Oddly, HWA has been present in the western United States for thousands of years, where it causes only minor damage to the native Western Hemlock. Natural predators and parasitic wasps keep HWA in check there, aided by the Western Hemlock’s considerable power of resistance to infection. HWA was introduced to eastern North America from Japan and was first discovered south of us, near Richmond, Virginia. The HWA is native to Japan and East Asia; it sucks the sap from native hemlocks and spruce species there but does not cause mortality.
In the eastern United States and southern Canada, the HWA is out to get every hemlock standing. The adult bug is less than a millimeter long and oval in body shape—hardly imposing. But its mouth parts, four thin, thread-like structures that are packed together, measure three times the length of the body. When this hypodermic-like structure pierces the plant’s tissues, it begins to suck out the sap to gain its meal and sometimes injects a toxin in the process. Perhaps the toxin helps to keep the stored reserves flowing or inhibits the hemlock’s capacity to fight back with its own chemical defense. If heavily infested, the hemlock needles turn from their typical healthy dark green to gray-green. Now desiccated, the hemlocks begin shedding their needles. Death usually follows four to ten years after being infected. Even trees that somehow cling to existence after having their juices sucked out remain in poor health and often die of secondary causes.
Interestingly, there are several healthy-looking Eastern Hemlocks in our Cabin John neighborhood that were planted as ornamentals along property edges. Those I can reach as yet show none of the telltale signs of infestation: bunches of tiny white woolly balls at the juncture of the needles—HWA egg cases. Making the HWA even more difficult to control is that it reproduces asexually and can have two generations per year. Each individual can lay up to 300 eggs in the woolly egg sacs. Larvae emerge in spring and are spread around by wind or on the feet of birds and mammals. The nymph, the stage after the larval period, stays put and lives on a single tree.
Let’s now scale up from the single tree to the forest so, to use that tired but apt metaphor, we don’t miss seeing the forest for the trees. A number of potential cures have been tried to halt the destruction of the Eastern and Carolina Hemlock, but none seem to be working well. These include introducing native pathogens and parasitoids from Japan and introducing the black lady beetle, which is native to the western U.S. and Canada and preys exclusively on the eggs of various Woolly Adelgids. Treating individual trees is possible but costly and hard to achieve if the tree is quite tall.
A recent president once said derisively, “If you have seen one redwood, you have seen them all.” That lack of appreciation for native conifers notwithstanding, if we apply the same logic to the less imposing Eastern Hemlock, and they were to disappear from our forests, would they be missed, and would their place simply be taken by some other tree? As it turns out, Eastern Hemlocks, an abundant species in native New England forests, are vital to the ecological health of that system. Hemlocks prevent soil erosion, provide food for deer and other wildlife, and offer shelter for deer in winter. Elsewhere, hemlocks often line riverbanks and create a microclimate favored by newts and salamanders, while providing nesting ground for birds and cool water in the streams below, which is essential for brook trout to thrive.
When the eminent ecologist Paul Ehrlich famously coined the airplane rivet metaphor to answer critics about the overall effect of individual species extinctions, his argument was that an airplane could possibly lose a rivet here and there, but we really don’t know which rivet popping out of the wing could lead to a cascade of rivets popping and the wing falling off. The loss of Eastern Hemlocks to the HWA could have a cascading effect on what ecologists call the structure and functioning of the Eastern deciduous forest ecosystem. The next time you walk in a forest covered in hemlock, see if you can imagine the rivets popping. And look at the tips of the trees—they may be drooping under the weight of extinction.
Perhaps it will be possible to use new genetic techniques to transplant the genes that code for HWA resistance in Western Hemlocks or Asian species of hemlocks into hemlock seedlings and plant these HWA-resistant strains. Until then, there is little to do but send in armies of lady beetles that at least slow down the demise of the hemlock.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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February 11, 2020HAWAIIAN-THEMED FAMILY BINGO NIGHT SET FOR FEB. 28
Aloha, and Llaki maika’i! (Greetings, and Good Luck!) Don a lei and play to win amid Hawaiian Ha’aheo (decorations) at Family Bingo Night 2020. This fun-filled family event is to be held Friday, Feb. 28. from 7:00 to 9:00 pm. at the Clara Barton Community Center (CBCC), Hawaiian shirts are optional.
As hopes are dashed or flung high with each number called, this year’s celebrity callers— MD House of Delegates members Marc Korman and Sara Love—will attempt to ease tensions and maintain order.
Admission is free. But each five-dollar Bingo card you buy brings a better chance of taking home one of the many tempting prizes. Pizza slices and soft drinks will be available at bargain rates. We are looking for donations appropriate for kids or adult bingo prizes. Please contact Stace Kimmel at Stace. Kimmel@gmail.com, if you’ve got anything to offer up.
Bingo Night is sponsored by the Friends of Clara Barton Community Center and the Montgomery County Recreation Department. Proceeds from the event help fund activities and programs at the center. For more information, call the center’s office at 240-777-4910 [...]
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February 11, 2020Thanks to the generosity of the many CJ residents who donated time, talent, and funds, the Cabin John Citizens Association was able to celebrate 100 years of civic pride throughout 2019.
Through donations and a very successful Team Trivia Night fundraiser, the association raised some $6,300 for the MacArthur Blvd. Beatification and Cabin John Signage projects. Halfway through the year, the CJCA threw the community a wonderful Cabin John Day celebration. These activities, along with Cabin John’s long-standing traditions, made for a very busy and spirited year worthy of reflection.
100 YEARS OF TRIVIA NIGHTThe first anniversary activity drew 140 CJ residents and friends together for a fun evening of team trivia and community celebration. Spearheaded by Scott and Heidi Lewi, with a huge assist from Florence Lehr, Helen and Clive Harris as well as Craig and Nancy Russell, the night also served as a very successful fundraiser, bringing in close to $1,300 for our anniversary projects.
MACARTHUR BLVD. BEAUTIFICATIONSusan Roberts of Wishbone Terrace jumped in to spearhead the gardening effort along Cabin John’s “main street.” The first round of planting in April was done near Alpine Vet with the help of Elizabeth Miller and Susan Shipp. Scott Hoffman, arriving on his gator with a trailer full of helpful supplies, provided critical muscle to get the job done. The plants have prospered, thanks to Anna at Alpine for watering all summer. Minor damage was done by WSSC when the water main broke on 78th St., but the plants have survived.
The second project was on the east side of the access road to the Clara Barton Parkway. Elaine Hornauer took responsibility for this area. In mid-August, Scott, Elaine, Beverly, and Susan Roberst added new plants to this area, as well as stones to the corner to protect them from cars. Elaine faithfully weeded and hauled water until the October rains lent a hand.
Beverly led the charge for the third project at the west side of the access road. She weeded the long-neglected patch of grasses that were there and added some of her Sedum, which she watered over the summer. At the end of October, the crew rallied, adding several plants to this area, as well as a rose bush to the base of 75th St. Jackie Hoglund of Russell Rd. stopped by with some Salvia plants, which she donated and helped plant. It was great to have her help and her donation!
In November, professionals came on the scene to tackle a 75-foot strip of green space where the soil was like concrete from vehicles using it as roadway. A number of CJ residents donated plants for this stretch. A special shoutout to Darla Cable, who dug up and transported five mature Knockout Rose bushes that instantly gave some prominence and, hopefully, protection to this vulnerable strip of land.
It’s incredibly impressive what this handful of dedicated folks accomplished in one planting season. They not only improved the look of our community, but they also made the bike path safer in stretches by providing a more substantial barrier between it and the roadway.
They hope to continue their work in 2020, if they can recruit more volunteers for planting “parties” and receive more donations of drought-tolerant plantings. Please reach out to Susan Roberts, susanroberts487@gmail. com, if you can help.
CABIN JOHN SIGNAGEThere was not quite the bandwidth to tackle this project in 2019. The good news is we have $3,000 in 100th Anniversary funds earmarked for the effort and the possibility of additional funds from the citizens association and new donors. We also have a few folks who have expressed a willingness to help.
To make it happen in 2020, we need a group of people willing to see this project through. If you would be willing to serve on the CJ Signage Committee, please contact Susan Shipp, jsjshipp3@verizon.net.
CABIN JOHN DAYLuckily, when the call went out for volunteers to make Cabin John Day a reality, members of the community really stepped up. As a result, more than 200 people gathered June 1 for a celebratory afternoon of festivities, food, and live music.
The highlights of the day were two activities that truly let participants appreciate the uniqueness of our community. Nancy Russell, Meredith McGuire, and Caitlin Schoen created a clever scavenger hunt that had dozens of kids running around the grounds collecting prizes and learning about Cabin John’s past in the process. Everyone had the opportunity to reflect on Cabin John’s history by perusing the popup museum pulled together by Burr Gray and Joel Ann Todd, with many CJ residents loaning their memorabilia and artifacts.
Thanks to all who pitched in with their time, talents, and donations to make our 100th Anniversary year such a success.
BY SUSAN SHIPP CJCA PresidentBY SUSAN ROBERTS Chair of the Beautification Committee [...]
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January 29, 2020Author’s Note
For 2020, Trudy Nicholson and I are going to add a new dimension to the Local Nature column by sticking with a single theme that will run through each of the year’s articles. This year we will focus on species that are considered by biologists as invasive and, in a few cases, a menace to our native ecosystems here in Cabin John. An invasive species is one that is not native to a specific location and that has a tendency to damage the environment, the economy, human health, or all three. Non-native plants and animals are found on almost every continent; though in most cases they do not become established or spread far and wide. But a few arrivals—some released from captivity (Burmese pythons in the Everglades), others escaped from gardens (privet and periwinkle), or others stowed away in wooden packing material or crates transported by plane or ship (the emerald ash borer, for example, a beetle that kills native ash trees)—have resulted in ecological mayhem. Cause for the most alarm occurs when non-natives arrive, colonize, and spread across remote islands. For example, the Galapagos archipelago suffers from goats, cats, and rats introduced by settlers from the mainland. The goats eat the vegetation favored by tortoises; the cats kill native lizards and mammals; and rats eat bird eggs. All are very difficult to eradicate. The island of Guam is threatened by the brown tree snake, which eats native birds, and a fortune has been spent to remove it. And then there are the Hawaiian Islands where, you name it, it’s likely to be an invasive plant or animal. And Hawaiian wildlife officers are on alert for brown tree snakes hitchhiking in the wheel well of planes from Guam. Many exotic species do little damage to the local ecological fabric on islands, but others rend it asunder, especially when the native species did not evolve with introduced large herbivores, predators, and certain diseases.
In the Washington, DC area, we of course live on the mainland, so our ecological situation is less fragile than that of remote archipelagos. But even on large continents, as we shall learn over the next year, entire species can be wiped out by a new organism. Ecologists rank the threats posed by exotic invasive species as the number two cause of species extinction, far behind number one, habitat conversion, but still significant.
As usual, Trudy will bring her immense artistic talents to interpreting these unwanted neighbors. In these superb illustrations, you will see a paradox: that even the worst invaders to our ecosystem are often physically quite attractive species.
A Murmuration of Starlings
When animals of the same species aggregate in large numbers, it sparks the poetic side of human nature. A scold of jays, a conspiracy of ravens, a murder of crows: well, maybe the dark poetic side. Fortunately, there is also a charm of finches, a bouquet of pheasants, and an exaltation of larks to balance the picture. And perhaps the most poetic of all is a murmuration of starlings (murmuration refers to the act of murmuring).
European starlings are ubiquitous in our area and exceed 200 million birds in the U.S. as a whole. You can’t miss them: a plump, feisty, yellow-beaked bird about the size of an American robin, covered in purple and green iridescent feathers, with a splattering of white spots in the breeding season. Most striking is their behavior. Starlings are street fighters, and gangs of them push away other native birds from winter feeders. Even worse, in the breeding season, starlings prefer to make their nests in tree cavities, a feature in short supply in nature. In fact, ornithologists attribute aggressive starlings bent on taking over tree holes to a decline in the gorgeous red-headed woodpecker, bluebirds, and purple martins. Starlings also raid grain crops, and reduce milk production on dairy farms by stealing grain in cattle feed. Large murmurations at airports pose the serious threat of flying into jet engines (causing a major air crash in 1960 in Boston, killing 62 people).
As their name suggests, European starlings are native to Europe, so what crazy person would ever think of bringing them to U.S. shores? We can indirectly blame Shakespeare. In Henry IV, Part 1, Hotspur is fighting King Henry and seeks ways to upset the monarch. He dreams up teaching a starling to repeat the name of one of the King’s enemies, “Mortimer,” over and over. (Starlings are, in fact, skilled mimics.)
In 1890, a German immigrant, who was a bird and Shakespeare enthusiast, thought that it would be a brilliant idea to introduce all of the 60+ bird species mentioned by the Bard to the U.S. On a cold winter day, Eugene Schieffelin released 60 starlings into New York’s Central Park. Unfortunately, the frigid weather did not knock them off. They took root, and now they are one of the most common birds in North America.
There is a hidden element in this story worthy of greater illumination: Schieffelin was a member of the American Acclimatization Society, whose mission was to introduce plants and animals from the Old World to offer comfort and familiarity to emigrants who settled here. This notion of bringing familiar plants and animals to new lands has been a propensity of all colonists, much to the detriment of native species. New Zealand is perhaps the most extreme example: Maori and western colonists introduced mammal species—marsupials, weasels and their relatives, and rodents—that never occurred there, which has led to extinctions or severe population declines of some of the most interesting animals on Earth. These include the world’s only flightless parrot called the Kakapo, the kiwi, and the moa, a 500 lb. flightless bird. Aside from a few bat species, mammals were not native to these islands.
Starlings and their relatives in their native habitats are glorious birds, especially the members of the family in tropical parts of Africa and Asia. One has to look no further than the Splendid Starling or Superb Starling of East Africa, with their dazzling plumage, or the charismatic Talking Myna of Asia. But put them in a place where they did not evolve, say Florida or Texas, and ecologists beware: trouble lies ahead.
As I write this, starlings in my backyard are gathering in a tree. How many red-headed woodpeckers did they usurp from nesting Cabin John? How many bluebirds and tree swallows lost the breeding cavities to these pushy birds? Shakespeare, why couldn’t you have stuck to writing about the gentle blackbird singing in the dead of night or the nightingale?
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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January 14, 2020SIGNUP IS NOW CLOSED. WE HAVE REACHED CAPACITY.
With 20 teams and some 140 participants, last year’s event almost sold out. To make sure you don’t miss out, form your team of up to eight players, and register below!
Individuals and small groups may request to be paired up with other players to make an eight-person team, or you can go it alone. Once you’ve registered, you will need to drop off or send your payment to: Scott Lewis, 7507 MacArthur Blvd.
More About CJ Team Trivia
Back by popular demand, an adult night of CJ Team Trivia! The friendly and fun competition will be held Feb. 22 at the Clara Barton Community Center.
The night will include roughly two hours of trivia, a grand prize for the winning team as well as other prizes given throughout the night, non-alcoholic beverages, and snacks. There will be a cash bar for beer and wine, and teams can bring in their own food if they want to dine while they play. The cost is $10 a player or $70 for a team of eight players. Proceeds from the night will support the community activities and projects of the Cabin John Citizens Association, which is hosting the evening.
Participants should plan to arrive at 6:00 pm to socialize, settle in, and be ready for the 7:00 pm start. There will be multiple rounds of questions, with a 30-minute half-time break to give folks time to say hi to their neighbors.
By Susan ShippCJCA President [...]
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November 29, 2019What was that blur of red streaking across the backyard? Could that be a fox standing in the fading light at the end of the street?
I remember the joy I felt when I recognized a fox sprinted across the backyard about a decade ago. Even in wild Cabin John, I mostly saw foxes on the Clara Barton Parkway, flattened by a motorist. The beautiful bright red fur like a flag billowing in the rush of air created by passing cars, how sad it seems to lose such beautiful animals from speeding automobiles. But in the late fall, it’s a good time to look and listen for those that remain of this marvelous carnivore along the Cabin John Creek Trail.
The flash of crimson fur in the forest is one of nature’s great sightings. The red fox’s repertoire of vocalizations is even more vivid—a mixture of woofs, barks, screams, whines, yips, and chattering sounds. Heard from a distance, sometimes they seem like a cross between an angry or hungry parrot and an animal just awakened and letting you know about it. When the ripe wild persimmons are falling from the trees in the neighborhood, the foxes come around at night to eat them and any smaller mammals intending to feast on the aromatic fruits. If you hear strange vocalizations, chances are good it’s your neighbor, the fox.
The ability to subsist on a wide variety of diets has made the red fox the world’s most widespread carnivore among flesh-eating mammals (along with the common leopard). Fruit, roots, birds, small mammals, turtles—there’s a lot on the menu. This omnivorous diet allows the clever fox to move into new habitats or disperse far and wide. They are found across the entire Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic Circle (where they bully the arctic fox), to North Africa (where they encounter a desert-dwelling fox species, among other carnivores such as the caracal). They range down to Central America and go across Asia, absent only from a few islands and extremely dry deserts. They are also the largest among the five species of foxes in the U.S.—the others being the arctic, grey, kit, and swift fox.
There is another reason why foxes are likely to share our zip code and others dominated by the urban/suburban form of land use: there is little chance they will encounter a wolf or mountain lion, and there are fewer coyotes than in less densely settled areas. In places where predators are larger than themselves, foxes typically cling to the outskirts of the territories of those larger carnivores lest they become a meal. Foxes have their stalkers, too, and a wolverine as well as a wolf would eat one. Golden eagles carry them off regularly. When the top carnivores are no longer around because humans are intolerant of their presence, smaller carnivores often flourish in numbers. In ecology, this phenomenon goes by the jargo-bit “meso-predator release.” Think of mountain lions and wolves or tigers and lions and mega-predators. When they are absent, smaller predators that typically are an order of magnitude less in body mass—i.e. meso-predators—unencumbered by predation risk themselves, see their numbers explode. This release of the predation pressure has severe ecological implications, as a rapid rise in middle-sized predators—in our case foxes, bobcats, weasels, and so forth—take over and put increased pressure on the smaller prey they devour—rodents, birds, amphibians, reptiles, even some beetles. An offshoot of this ecological scenario occurs when foxes or other meso-predators are introduced to islands or on continents like Australia that never had these species and lack large predators to keep them in check. In those cases, the meso-predators devastate native birds and marsupials. Foxes are considered a top ten pest species Down Under, spreading across the continent since they were introduced about 150 years ago.
That’s why nature is so complicated. Foxes provide so much pleasure to nature lovers where they are native. But they become a scourge in ecosystems in which the species they feed on never evolved an effective suite of anti-predator strategies to prevent their capture by foxes, or, hard to resist saying this, of their being outfoxed.
Still, I am saddened whenever I see a dead fox. Evolution is just a process with no purpose, but I can’t help but think that the red fox—graceful, elegant, with a fur coat anyone can envy—marks a pinnacle in aesthetics in the record so far. And when I see one along the Clara Barton Parkway or MacArthur Boulevard, laid out on the pavement, I long to bring back the trolley car that used to run to our hamlet from DC. The slower pace would be safer for adults, children—and foxes.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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November 29, 2019Long before A League of Their Own, we had the girl who was the “Leader in Cabin John Triumph,” the girl who “Shows Boys How.” As the excitement of the Nationals’ 2019 World Series Championship slowly wanes, some baseball stories go unnoticed. This includes one baseball star right in our backyard. Not Walter Johnson, but Evelyn Lynch, who for several years in the early 1930s was a star player for the local Cabin John firemen’s baseball team and many others.
Evelyn Lynch was born in 1910 and started playing baseball as a child, a glove in her hand from the time she could walk. Growing up on Conduit Road (now MacArthur Blvd.) on the District line, she played for a number of boys’ teams while in elementary school. At the age of 9, she was on the Linworth Insects, a DC boys’ team that paid her 50 cents each Saturday for playing catcher. “Reckon I’ve been a pro a long while,” she once joked to a sports writer.
In 1922, an 11-year-old Evelyn beamed from a photo in the Washington Evening Star newspaper, the first of many pictures and articles highlighting her baseball ambitions and accomplishments. With hopes of one day catching for Walter Johnson, Washington Senators owner Clark Griffith promised her she just might do so. Though that hope never materialized, Lynch did play a number of games at DC’s Griffith Stadium over the course of her career. A 1937 newspaper story boasted a photo montage of Lynch in action, singing the praises of the capital’s only female professional baseball player.
When Evelyn was 15, she joined her father at a New York Bloomer Girls game in Bowie. From the 1890s to 1930s, the professional Bloomer Girls baseball teams, named for the loose trousers worn by the female players, “barnstormed” across the country playing local community, semi-pro, and minor league men’s teams along the way.
Hundreds of Bloomer Girls teams throughout the country offered young female players a chance at adventure, travel, and a paycheck. At this particular game, Evelyn approached the New York manager and declared, “I’m as good a ball player as any of them.”
One successful tryout later and she joined the nationally known New York team for several years. Touring with the team across the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, she not only pitched but played second base and outfield. She returned to the DC area and continued to play for several local sandlot teams, playing “a better game than many men” according to newspapers.
In 1934, Cabin John lucked out and the Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department baseball team signed Miss Lynch to play first base. The Cabin John Park Volunteer Fire Department was organized only a few years earlier, in 1930 during a meeting of residents above Mr. Charles Benson’s shop (now Alpine Veterinary Hospital). With the addition of Lynch, the Cabin John team was one of Montgomery County League’s top teams. Former Major League player Jack Bentley, who started with the Washington Senators in 1913, noted that “baseball was THE SPORT in Montgomery County at the time.”
Lynch may have landed upon Cabin John due to her older brother Douglas, “more familiarly known as the brother of Evelyn Lynch”. He was both a resident of Cabin John and a player on the team. Her debut game with the Cabin John firemen saw Evelyn hit three singles and, together with her faultless outfielding, they won 11-7 over Wheaton. A 1934 matchup against Bethesda A.C. saw Lynch save the game with a line-drive catch in the tenth inning, beating Bethesda by one run.
In 1936, the Cabin John nine won the Montgomery County League title. That summer in 40 games, Lynch batted an awesome .375.
By 1937, Lynch was playing first base for Baltimore’s semi-pro Young Men’s Sports Club in Sunday doubleheaders. The Baltimore Sun noted: “Women find baseball hard to understand and play. There is a certain trick of throwing the ball that usually only men can master. But Miss Lynch hurls a speedy ball and catches well too. One spectator, in the gallery of several hundred, declared she had better baseball form than some of the men.”Evelyn threw right-handed but batted left, and was a natural athlete. “I would rather play ball than eat, but I must work, so I am a telephone operator at a Washington hotel,” Evelyn once told a journalist. A May 1937 advertisement in the Evening Star sports pages read, “Girl Wants Ball Job. Evelyn Lynch, girl baseball star, is available today to any male team needing a player.”
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer
[See photos by accessing the article in the Village News Archive: 2019 November Newsletter] [...]
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November 18, 2019Join your CJ friends and meet new neighbors at the CJCA Holiday party on Sunday, December 11, at the Clara Barton Community Center from 5 to 7 pm. In addition to lots of complimentary food and drink – from sushi and pizza to eggnog and sparkling cider, there is something for everyone at this event:
Crafts and other activities for children
A holiday song singalong for all ages
Raffle of gift certificates and gift baskets from many of your favorite local merchants with proceeds going to So Others Might Eat (S.O.M.E.)
Santa’s arrival on the fire department’s big ladder truck
A chance for kids to visit with Santa and receive a gift bag
Come enjoy the fun at this traditional Cabin John event which is co-sponsored by the Cabin John Citizens Association and the Clara Barton Community Center. [...]
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November 18, 2019FREE – FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY
WHEN: 10:00 am, Nov. 28 / Thanksgiving Day
WHERE: Cabin John Local Park, By the one-lane bridge
REGISTER!
Once again, Cabin John residents and friends will have a chance to join their neighbors in a family-friendly run/walk at the CJ Turkey Trot Thanksgiving morning. While the trot is free, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we are asking all participants to bring nonperishable grocery items for Manna Food Center’s Smart Sack program.
The Smart Sack Program provides backpacks of food each weekend to some 2,850 Montgomery County school kids. Popular food items include jars of peanut butter, boxes of granola bars, instant oatmeal, and canned vegetables and fruits.
The trot will start at 10 am Thanksgiving Day, which is Nov. 28 this year. Folks are asked to gather by the banner at the park by the one-lane bridge. We’ll take a quick commemorative photo before the race begins.
To keep it simple, there will be only one race option this year: the 2.5 mile run/walk that has participants following the bike path from the park, to 79th Street, down to the C&O Canal, along the canal to the path by the one-lane bridge, and back to the park. There will be water and light refreshments at the end of the race.
The trot is free, but if you and your family are thinking about coming, we are asking that you please register online so that we can plan accordingly.
When registering, you also will have the opportunity to purchase a 2019 navy blue long sleeve t-shirt with the Turkey Trot logo for $16.
CAN YOU VOLUNTEER?
As always, volunteers are key to making this event safe and successful. We need volunteers to help set up before the event or to be course monitors during the trot. To volunteer, please register online at the link above or contact Irena Bojanova at ibojanova@gmail.com.
BY IRENA BOJANOVA
CJCA Vice President of Activities [...]
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November 18, 2019Come share some holiday cheer with your neighbors at the annual CJ Holiday Party to be held at the community center Dec. 15 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.
The free festivities include a sing-along, crafts, a selfie station, and a delicious assortment of food and drink as well as the ever-popular visit from Santa.
A raffle, which raises money for SOME (So Others Might Eat) keeps getting bigger with more than a dozen prizes valued between $50 and $400.
Sponsored by the Cabin John Citizens Association, this event only comes together with the help of volunteers. Can you spare a couple hours? We need help now soliciting raffle prizes, at 3:00 pm on Dec. 15 for decorating and set up and during the party to keep it running smoothly.
To volunteer, please contact Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net or 301-320-5106. [...]
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November 18, 2019Roughly 20 CJ residents braved the rain and skipped the start of Game 7 of the World Series Oct. 30 to discuss ways to preserve and protect the Moses Hall Cemetery, a historically significant African American burial site located within Cabin John, off Seven Locks Rd.
The cemetery is in very poor condition with tombstones knocked over, broken, and buried; the grounds enveloped with bamboo, fallen trees, and vines. Neither the state nor the county has fully assessed the number of graves there, and Beltway expansion plans threaten the property.
By the end of the evening, the community unanimously voted to commit $2,000—half of the $4,000 profit from the 50th Chicken & Crab Feast—to fund initial cleanup of the site. For decades, Crab Feast proceeds were split among deserving community causes, and those present at the meeting felt it was fitting that funds from the 50th should go to preserving the cemetery where members of Crab Feast founder Bill White’s family and other Carver Rd. families are buried.
Charlotte Troup Leighton, CJCA vice president of advocacy, whose home on Cypress Grove Lane is next to the Moses Hall site, detailed some of the issues that need to be tackled. First is to establish current ownership of the cemetery, which can be done by locating at least 10 descendants of Tabernacle 88 members. Tabernacle 88 was the fraternal order that established the hall and cemetery sometime after the Civil War.
One descendant, Diane Baxter of Washington DC, attended the meeting and detailed how she is compiling a list of members from Moses Hall records from the early 1990s as well as the minutes of tabernacle meetings and death notices from funeral homes that operated at that time.
Another attendee, Eileen McGuckian, director of the county non-profit Montgomery Preservation and the project director for the 2018 County Inventory of Cemeteries, explained that Moses Hall is site #226 on the county website inventory of cemeteries. She recommended reaching out to the Coalition to Protect Burial Sites, which helps map cemeteries throughout Maryland and has grants of up to $2,000 for preservation, and talking to the African American Genealogical Association for help in searching records. She also noted that the best time to do cleanup work is between October and April, when a lot of underbrush has died off.
In addition to ownership, there are several levels of approval needed to receive historic designation. These were outlined by Brian Crane, head of historic preservation of the Montgomery County Planning Board. Crane also informed the group that the county has some budget to train people in basic cemetery conservation and hopes to hold a workshop in the coming year. Charlotte said that some state money may be available to preserve African American sites, including cemeteries.
Anyone interested in helping with Moses Hall cemetery restoration and preservation
should contact Charlotte at troupleighton@gmail.com.
BY MEREDITH GRIGGS
CJCA Secretary [...]
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October 29, 2019Naturalists at the edge of a forest are like Labrador Retrievers on a riverbank: nothing can stop us from plunging in. For the naturalist, each entry is bound to turn up something new and exciting, and the rewards greatly outweigh any possible risk. For those scared of the great woods, however, there is always something to fear. In the American pioneer era, it was the bogeyman or wolves, but today, from the Amazon rainforest to the Potomac, it is more often the fear of snakes. Across much of North America over the last two decades, though, another threat has joined the list of reasons that may come to mind to shun the woods—blood-sucking ticks. Ticks have been with us forever, but it is the spread of Lyme disease transmitted by several species that has perhaps more than any other creature, fantasized or real, made the woods a place to avoid rather than explore.
Anyone who has contracted Lyme disease knows that it is nothing to make light of, although if caught early, a treatment of Doxycycline cures the problem. While the black-legged tick, or deer tick, infects humans, white-tailed deer and rodents carry the disease. So the spread of both deer and rodents, fueled by the absence or decline of natural predators to control their populations, is another reason why Lyme is so prevalent.
Scientists are working on a vaccine to prevent Lyme disease, the fastest spreading vector-borne disease in the U.S. But that is likely years away. In the near term, can we look to nature for a possible preventative, perhaps one that Native Americans might have used? Is there particularly one to ward off adult deer ticks or the tiny juvenile form most active in spring and summer, and today, the major transmitters of Lyme? The juvenile ticks are the important vector because-at 2 mm-they are hard to spot in the human crevices in which they like to hide; adult ticks are much bigger, like the one pictured here, and also must remain attached to the skin for 46-48 hours for transmission of the bacterium that causes Lyme to occur.
Enter one of the most beautiful shrubs in our native flora, American beautyberry, known to the science world as Callicarpa americana. If you take a walk around the Cabin John neighborhood you might discover along a border edge a large sprawling shrub covered in clusters of bright purple berries. Most likely, this is Japanese beautyberry because it is widely cultivated here as an ornamental. But no need for the exotic Japanese variety when you can buy the native American version from local plant nurseries or from online providers who will ship them directly to you.
Go ahead and try a few of the purple berries. Sweet but a little astringent, they are edible and can be used for jam and jellies. Better to leave them for the woodpeckers, finches, mockingbirds, catbirds, wild turkeys, and any bird migrating south in fall, though. There is a third benefit to planting American beautyberry aside from the aesthetics of bright purple berries in October to brighten up the yard or as a way to feed our backyard birds—its leaves, stems, and bark serve as a top-notch tick repellent.
An old folk medicine to prevent ticks from latching on to you during a woodland stroll is to follow some simple steps to make a tick repellent cream. It can be produced from shaving of bark, stems, and leaves, diced, boiled in two cups of water, and allowed to simmer for 10 minutes. Then mix in some neem oil or other heavy oil and some beeswax to form a cream or paste. Put your pants inside your socks and apply the cream to them and to other parts where ticks might land. The treatment works for hours. I suppose you could probably just crush the leaves and rub them on your skin like America’s first inhabitants may have. Pioneers knew to put the leaves of American beautyberry under the saddles of horses and mules to keep the bugs away.
The fear of ticks in spring and summer shouldn’t keep us out of the woods. But that sentiment may not be enough for those who have already contracted Lyme or those yet to suffer from it but who still maintain a deep fear and loathing of ticks. This condition even has its own name, entonophobia, one among the 650 “phobias” recorded to date, and not to be confused with entomophobia, the fear of insects. Ticks are not insects but are rather more closely related to spiders and scorpions, as adults have eight legs rather than six.
Of course, we could consider inviting opossums into our yards. They feast on ticks and keep the balance of nature in place. Otherwise, plant your own crop of beautyberry.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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October 25, 2019You may not be spooked yet, but Halloween’s ominous aura is all around—dead leaves rattling in skeletal trees, the dark creeping further into the day. It all points to this year’s heart-thumping, skin-tingling Haunted House at the Clara Barton Community Center, set for Sunday, Oct. 27 from 4:00 to 6:00 pm.
Your path will be haunted by spectral entities from beyond the grave, witches will tell your fortune (this includes both children and adults), games will test your nerves and skills. All ages are welcome, free of charge, though children under 12 are most likely to be spellbound.
Little ones may want a hand to hold. There will be small gifts for the kids and delicious refreshments for all. Teenagers can earn SSL hours by pitching in behind the scenes and also by scaring everybody as zombies and ghouls.
The Haunted House will be conjured up for the 15th time by the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center (FCBCC) together with the Montgomery County Department of Recreation. For more information, call the center at 240-777-4910. [...]
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September 29, 2019Starting on the first of September, I keep a watchful eye on the swollen fruits hanging from the two prized pawpaw trees growing in my backyard forest. The largest and most delicious fruit native to North America is almost ripe, and this year, I should harvest a pawpaw crop exceeding 20 fruits. Out back the other day I started daydreaming of prehistoric giant ground sloths—the original dispersers of pawpaw—roaming along the Potomac River, sniffing the aromatic ripe fruits and bending the slender trees down to grab their custard-like dessert.
My daydream was swiftly interrupted by a small swarm of aggressive mosquitoes that forced me to beat a retreat. What is going on in our backyards? It’s September and the mosquitoes are still thick. It’s enough to consider not only applying mosquito repellent but also resorting to broadcast spraying to kill the pests.
Please don’t. Someday soon, we will be able to release sterile male mosquitoes in our yards or across entire neighborhoods or apply other natural controls to take back our backyards. Or, if you are growing vegetables and tempted to spray for garden pests, or striving for a perfect grass lawn, please, homeowner, put away the Round-Up. There are natural concoctions that work just as well without the indiscriminate killing that is contributing to Insect Armageddon. (See my article in last month’s Village News.) Besides, persistent indiscriminate spraying also increases the likely evolution of resilience of the heirs of the survivors, making the pesticide less effective should there come a time it is really needed.
Pesticides never target one species, like mosquitoes, but kill almost every bug with which they come in contact, while also spreading the risk of environmentally caused cancers in humans. By trying to control insects with chemical poisons, we are inadvertently compromising the integrity of our local ecosystems. Herbicides add to the problem by sinking into the soil and killing off soil invertebrates that play a critical role in the ecology of soils.
But let’s stay above ground and consider the consequences of widespread use of pesticides and herbicides to our most treasured aerial neighbors — the birds that roost in our backyard trees and shrubs and fill our lives with nature’s songs. If you only remember one sentence from this article please hold on to this thought:
The birds we love are made from bugs.
OK, American Robins hunt worms but even earthworms disappear after heavy applications of herbicides and the robins may then starve. And just before fall migration, many resident birds switch to eating fruits before departing for warmer climes. But when they head north again, nest, and raise their young, it is the flush of caterpillars and bugs that sustain them. And in turn, they act as our natural pest control agents if we only give them a chance.
Evidence of their ecological roles echoes and shapes their common names. The start of Spring to me begins with the “wheep” call of the Great-crested Flycatcher singing from high in the treetops in my backyard forest. Flitting up and down the tree trunks and branches are lively Blue-gray Gnatcatchers, flicking their tails as they merrily gobble insects. And it’s not just our Great-crested or the deep-in-the-forest Acadian Flycatcher that reflect their roles in their names. There are lots of species in the tropics whose last name is “flycatcher.” Besides gnatcatchers, there are groups of birds called bee-eaters and spiderhunters. Even birds without allusion to a bug in their common names share a common food source—the millions of insects that left unchecked would defoliate our forests.
Songbirds do their work in the daytime and our insect-eating bats take the night shift. From beetles to moths to mosquitoes to flies, bats vacuum up the insects flying in the warm night air. Sadly, I now notice fewer and fewer bats flitting about over the 25 years I have lived in Cabin John. My evidence is only anecdotal, but I suspect bats are in decline here just as they are in areas where they have been monitored.
I’ve gone out back daily to check on the pawpaws. Although delicious, the fruiting season is exceedingly short—a matter of days. If you don’t pick the yellow-green fruits just as they begin to turn soft, deer, raccoons, opossums, or squirrels will devour them. The mosquito swarm returns, shortening my inspection. But as I return to the porch I hear the sound of a Carolina Wren calling from a low branch, though with an imperfect “Tea-kettle, tea-kettle, tea-kettle”—it must be a young bird hatched early in spring or perhaps a fledgling from a second clutch, made possible by the abundance of insects in the yard.
Ecology is about balance. I love the sounds of warblers, flycatchers, woodpeckers, gnatcatchers, wrens, and catbirds. Let’s let them live their lives—goodness knows they are short enough—without poisoning them and ourselves with pesticides.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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September 16, 2019Cabin John residents interested in the county’s plans to improve bicycle and pedestrian safety are urged to come to the Sept. 25 citizens association meeting (starting at 7:30 at the community center) to hear county officials explain the goals of the county approved Bicycle Master Plan and a new initiative to create a countywide Pedestrian Master Plan.
The Planning Department’s David Anspacher, who served as project manager for the Bicycle Master Plan will be on hand to provide an overview of the plan, which focuses on increasing bicycling rates in the county, improving safety and creating a highly connected, convenient and low-stress bicycling network.
The 378-page plan details more than 1,100 miles of bikeways, of which slightly more than one quarter (281 miles) currently exists. There are 377 miles of bikeways designated as priority construction. Approximately 42 percent of the recommended bike network is seen as being implemented “as opportunities arise” rather than “stand-alone projects.” The plan recommends an array of bikeway types, from shared roads, which offer the least separation from traffic to separated, buffered bike lanes and bicycle boulevards, as well as secure bicycle storage facilities at transit stations.
Anspacher, who supervises the County’s transit, pedestrian and Vision Zero planning efforts, will share information from the county’s Department of Transportation on their most immediate implementation efforts. When the county council approved the bike plan late last year they stipulated that the county is not guaranteeing all bikeways in the plan will be built as specified. They also removed language that specified implementation years for each phase of the project.
Also joining us for the meeting will be Eli Glazier, project manager for the county’s Pedestrian Master Plan, a two-year initiative that is just getting underway. The plan will assess all of the roads in the county based on their levels of “pedestrian comfort,” including walkability, safety and accessibility for all. It will also prioritize pedestrian infrastructure and recommend updates to county policies, operational practices, and design standards.In addition to this meeting, residents can share their thoughts on their pedestrian experiences and what should be included in the master plan by attending one of the community meetings scheduled for October. The meeting closest to Cabin John will be held on Oct. 16 from 7 pm to 9 pm at the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center, 4805 Edgemoor Lane.
PEDESTRIAN & BIKER CRASHES RISE
The need for improved pedestrian and bicycle safety measures is acute. The Bethesda Beat reported this summer that “through the first half of the year, 272 pedestrians and bicyclists have been struck by vehicles on roads in Montgomery County – about 1.5 per day, according to county data.” This represents an increase of about 14% from the same six months in 2018, when 238 crashes occurred.
According to county data, about 40% of the crashes so far in 2019 have occurred on county roads, while roughly 30% happened on state roads. Another 20% occurred in areas such as driveways, parking lots or alleys and the remaining 10% of crashes were on municipal or other roads. The media outlet reported six pedestrian fatalities in the first half of 2019. In addition, there have been at least three additional pedestrian fatalities and one bicyclist fatality in the county during July and August, according to police data.
By Susan Ship
CJCA President [...]
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August 29, 2019One reads “Monday morning. You have been good to me—and I know it this morning when everyone is in their fine clothes. E.” The other is scrawled across the front of the image and continues onto the split-sided back: “Dear Mother, So pleased to get yours this A.M. Have so much to tell you and yet nothing very interesting or new…..If nothing happens will reach Laurel about 9am. Shall bring my furs for you to keep this summer….M”
Curious and quirky, these handwritten notes grace postcards from 1909, one addressed to Ohio and one to Gaithersburg. Pictured on the front of each is a colorful, imposing image of the Cabin John Bridge, which at the time was the largest stone arch in the world. At the turn of the 20th century, not only was the Cabin John Bridge a national landmark written about in papers from Washington DC to Tennessee, but the Cabin John Hotel was one of the best known places around the capital. Congressmen and diplomats wined and dined there and even a few presidents savored the famous fish and chicken dinners served in the elegant inn.
Photos and postcards of the historic landmark were popular at the time. The Washington DC photographer Alexander Yowell had his studio under the bridge, and for many years took photos of weekend visitors according to local historian Richard Cook. One old image shows a stand alongside the bridge, possibly Yowell’s, offering ‘Postcard & Tintypes Bridge Pictures.’
Cabin John becomes noticeably quiet for the month of August as residents escape the oppressive heat, yet in the early 1900s Cabin John was a summer paradise that people escaped to. The postcards are a reminder that it was one of the most well known resorts this area has ever known. (This was a good ten years before JS Tomlinson of the American Land Company began offering lots for sale, the “little farms” of Cabin John Park).
Local newspapers called the Cabin John Bridge and Hotel resort a “favorite diversion of all Washingtonians” and regularly wrote about the goings on at the hotel. In the summers of the early 1900s the hotel and its surroundings entertained thousands of urban “pleasure seekers.”
The Cabin John Hotel’s beginnings were modest. Joseph Bobinger worked as a stone mason on the Union Arch Bridge, while his wife Rosa set up a small roadside stand alongside the bridge and sold drinks, food and her famous chicken dish. It was the demand for Rosa’s cooking, and perhaps her business acumen, that led the couple to purchase 100 acres of land on the west side of the bridge in 1870 to build a hotel and restaurant.
Their business evolved from a small German-influenced tavern to an elaborate Victorian folly with over forty rooms filled with the finest European furniture and carpets, cavernous banquet halls, intimate dining rooms, an orchestrion, and formal gardens of exotic plants and flowers. The orchestrion, a large music box or organ, was a huge attraction. One of the Bobinger grandsons recalled in Elizabeth Kytle’s 1976 Time Was memory book that a beautiful stained, leaded glass room housed the instrument that came from Berlin, and how “you could hear it for miles; the music would go all over the park and the whole area.”
Across the road, on land acquired several years later, they built outbuildings, including a stable, an ice house, a gas house and one of the largest asparagus beds in the country. The old gas house, which sits next to the tennis courts, is the only building that remains today. In 1900 the Bobingers added an amusement park that boasted a scenic railway and carousel in an effort to attract even more visitors to the resort. These were the years that the hotel was “blooming.”
Visitors who arrived by the Cabin John street car that terminated in Glen Echo crossed a pedestrian footbridge to the exquisite hotel gardens dotted with summerhouses. Lush landscaped lawns stretched from Conduit Road (now MacArthur Blvd) to the canal and Potomac River. Day-trippers enjoyed dining at the hotel or cold drinks in the garden’s gazebos, boating in the creek, and listening to live music.
The summer of 1903 offered a new program from Haley’s concert band and the screening of motion pictures in the magnificent Palm Garden, Cabin John’s own riverside theater. The film of the Corbett-McGovern fight was a real crowd-pleaser. “Cabin John continues to entertain great throngs of visitors, despite the cloudy weather. There are so many attractions at this park, in addition to the unrivaled band concerts and the famous black bass and chicken dinners of the club house, it is not surprising that at a season when the city itself has little to offer in the way of an evening’s amusement, that Cabin John Bridge should flourish, whatever the weather” proclaimed The Washington Times.
The hotel’s popularity slowly waned, in part due to competition from Glen Echo, rowdy fights and prohibition. Its doors were shut in 1926 with its history locked inside. Four years later, in 1931, a suspicious fire destroyed the Cabin John Hotel. Looking back from a quiet August day, it’s hard to imagine this bustling grand resort that once stood in this neighborhood, the music of the orchestrion drifting all the way to Persimmon Tree Road.
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer
[See photos by accessing the article in the Village News Archive: 2019 August Newsletter] [...]
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August 29, 2019Images of melting polar ice caps, rampaging forest fires in Siberia, and sweltering Europeans coping with a recent record heat wave crowd the TV news and social media feeds over this scorching July and early August. Another set of victims, millions of them, are suffering without any video footage. But we know from emerging scientific surveys that they are fast disappearing. I would say ‘dropping like flies’ if it weren’t so accurate.
Entomologists, ecologists, and any close observers of nature and attentive readers of environmental news have noticed an alarming phenomenon: insect numbers are plummeting rapidly. Changing climates are a big part of the problem but another is the widespread use of pesticides. The changes were first observed by anecdotal accounts of motorists and motorcyclists in Germany who noticed the drastic decline in moths and butterflies and other flying insects (including flies) plastered against their windshields. Soon citizen scientists contributed to the death count monitoring the decline in well-known showy species of butterflies. More recently, field scientists who have tracked insect abundance and diversity have started to revisit field sites they sampled decades ago and came up with alarming statistics. One scientist who studied the diverse group of elegant small lizards called anoles (genus Anolis with over 400 species), returned to the spot in Puerto Rico where several decades ago he had sampled for insects—Anolis food. In his original study, he found insects to be abundant; today in the same lush tropical forest many groups of insects were scarce. The problem is so widespread and of concern that some scientists have dubbed it an Insect Armageddon.
But before the sobering part of this column resumes, let’s celebrate the evolutionary exuberance of insects, in particular, beetles. Perhaps the most famous exchange in encounters between 20th century theologians and evolutionary biologists came when the great British scientist J.B.S. Haldane was engaged in conversation with the Archbishop of Canterbury. The cleric asked Haldane: “From your detailed studies of nature what can you discern about the guiding hand of God?” (or something close to that). Without hesitating, Haldane replied, “The Good Lord must have had an inordinate fondness of beetles.”
The cheeky response was based on studies by naturalists that showed beetles to be the most diverse group of insects and the beetle order—the Coleoptera—to embrace more species than any other group in the animal kingdom with about 330,000 known species. Within the beetles, the polyglot of species classified as ground beetles in the family Carabidae are among the most diverse: more than 40,000 species have been found world-wide and 2,000 species in North America alone.
A biologist with the Smithsonian who specialized on Carabids and other beetle families made three important scientific discoveries by doing something a little crazy. He brought an insect fogger to the Amazon and started doing something unthinkable: he sprayed the leafy canopy of a living Leuhea, a common tropical rainforest tree and set up a systematic set of traps to catch what would fall dead from the leaves and branches. This rain of beetle specimens and other insects gave the first stunning result: over 1200 species of beetles were living in each individual tree of this species of Leuhea, L. seemannii. The second fascinating insight was that many of these canopy-dwelling beetles were actually Carabids, whose common name is ground beetles—a misnomer if there ever was one, and that many more beetles lived in the canopy than on the ground in the rainforest. But the most important finding of all was that 163 species were found only in Leuhea seemannii trees—that is endemic to them—but NOT in neighboring trees of a different genus or species!
The great insight for conservation was that when one tree was fogged and the beetle rain catalogued and counted, that wasn’t necessarily an indicator of the beetles in an adjacent tree of a different species because there could be a remarkable turnover of rosters of beetles from one canopy tree species to the next. This turnover of species along gradients or elevations is what scientists term Beta-diversity (alpha-diversity would be the number of species found in a single tree or a single hectare). Conserving beta-diversity is the most important and most neglected feature in conservation plans in the tropics—we just don’t know enough about how species compositions change form one tree or one patch of forest to the next.
Then this scientist, Terry Erwin, really went out on a limb. Doing some simple arithmetic, he proclaimed that his experiments, based on an assumption of 50,000 species of tropical trees and 1200 species per tree, indicated, with the aid of a little arm-waving, that you end up with at least 30 million species estimated on Earth. The estimate was extremely controversial: most scientists today estimate no more than 10 million species on Earth. Any way you look at it, though, there is a preponderance of beetles with whom we share the Earth.
But it is not just the sheer diversity of insects, it is their staggering numbers, at least when you compare them to other creatures, that is so stunning. And it is their rapid demise that have scientists up in arms. First it was the bees, then butterflies, but what about all the micro-insects we can barely distinguish with the naked eye? Could this be the greatest crisis of all in the world of biodiversity, one that could have a profound effect for humanity as well? Next month’s column will cover what those effects are and what we can do to prevent insect Armageddon. For this month, let’s stop and admire the insects.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist
Ground Beetle [...]
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August 26, 2019Mark your calendars as you won’t want to miss the 50th Cabin John Chicken and Crab Feast to be held Sept. 14 from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm at the community center. Join your neighbors and bring your friends for the Cabin John Citizens Association’s largest community gathering and fundraiser.
The same crowd-pleasing menu of delicious grilled chicken, tasty steamed crabs and classic side dishes will be served. There also will be beer, wine, sodas and lemonade for sale. Your sweet tooth will be satisfied by items from the Whitman Girl Up Club bake sale. A new commemorative t-shirt, designed by CJ resident and Georgetown student Delaney Corcoran, will be available for $15.
Attendees will enjoy the sounds of the talented and generous Starlight Orchestra. The 12-piece jazz and swing band is now firmly part of the Crab Feast tradition as this will be their eighth year playing and singing for the crowd. Face painting and other kids activities will be offered if someone volunteers to organize them. Enjoy the food, fun, and camaraderie for $16 a ticket. Or save $2 by buying your ticket in advance from a block coordinator or ticket seller.
Proceeds support The Village News, mailed free to all CJ residents, as well as the Fourth of July celebration, holiday party, and other CJCA activities.
The crab feast is a success each year because of the 90-plus volunteers who pitch in. We need volunteers and not just the same wonderful Cabin Johners who have been stepping up for decades. The following 41 people and probably a few more that I missed, have been volunteering at the Crab Feast for at least the past 20 years: Clare and Phil Amoruso, Bramman Avery, Judith Bell, Kathleen and Tom Black, Diana Carter, Angela Coppola, Pete Couste, Helen Daniel, Janet and Walt Dence, Deb and Rick Duffy, Susan and John Gelb, Burr Gray, Greg and Robin Gurley, Linda Green, Meredith Griggs, Lynn Hopkins, Elaine & Gerry Hornauer, John Hughes, Lisa Landsman, Eric Libre, Heidi and Scott Lewis, Karen Melchar, Loraine Minor, Lori Rieckelman, Susan Roberts, Benno Schmidt, Stephanie Smart, Oona Steiglitz, Beverly Sullivan, Larry West, Barbara and Bruce Wilmarth and Mary Kay Young.
Just like you, many of these folks were/are working full-time, had/have children at home as well as other family obligations. Nevertheless, year in and year out they have made it a priority to give back to their community. But how much longer can we expect them to keep this beloved tradition and critical citizens association fundraiser going? We need new folks to sell tickets in advance, prepare the veggies, help the chefs, cook, set up, serve, and clean up.
Please sign on to volunteer by emailing cjcrabfeast@gmail.com. Allison and Patrick de Gravelles, the dynamic duo coordinating the feast for their fourth year, will get back in touch with ways you can help. They also can be reached by phone at 301-742-4762 (Allison) or 301-605-7267 (Patrick).
SSL HOURS OFFERED FOR CRAB FEAST VOLUNTEERS
In addition to the dozens of adult volunteers, we welcome middle and high school students looking to earn SSL hours supporting this event. On Friday afternoon, Sept. 1-3, SSL volunteers will help prepare vegetables for cooking Saturday morning. Saturday’s SSL volunteers will help set up, keep the tables cleared, work the lemonade stand, fetch and carry and clean up. Plan to work a 2 to 4 hours between 9:00 am and 7:00 pm on Saturday, Sept. 14, the day of the event. If interested, contact Stephanie Lai, laifamily2002@gmail.com.
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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June 29, 2019The first days of summer herald the flowering of one of the most exotic-looking plants in the world. It is a thin, fragile vine with quarter-sized chartreuse blossoms popping out along its stems that uses curlycue tendrils to climb over other plants. A novice botanist might mistake it as an escapee from a Panamanian or Costa Rican garden, its seeds somehow transported to Cabin John, rather than as a native to Maryland.
I am talking about the yellow passion flower vine, which can be found growing in decidedly non-equatorial forests from Pennsylvania west to Kansas and south to Florida and Texas. In fact, the yellow passion flower vine holds the record as the northernmost ranging species in the genus Passifora, a tropical group of 550 species found mostly in Central America, the Andes, and the Amazon (and a few native to China for good measure). Locally, you can find the yellow passion flower vine growing wild on Plummers Island, gracefully arching over other plants.
The amazingly showy flowers of the various passion flower species have made them a source of great interest to gardeners worldwide. Many hybrids also have been created using the other North American species, the larger and even more audacious-looking blue passion flower. Words fail to describe the floral exuberance of this genus with its corona (as it is called) of multiple layers and seemingly a zillion parts.
The name passion flower was applied to it by Christian missionaries who came upon these plants when they first reached South America in the 16th century. To them, ever on the lookout for symbolism in the New World, this wild looking plant suggested the death of Christ. The double row of colored filaments that is the corona signified in their eyes either the halo around Christ’s head or the crown of thorns — quite a difference. The five stamens (the male parts) and the three spreading styles (the female parts) with their flattened heads resembled in their minds the wounds and the nails of the cross. Finally, the tendrils of the vines suggested the whips used to flay Christ.
The vivid imaginations of these early missionaries and their religious bent precluded them from witnessing one of the most spectacular interactions between plants and animals in the secular realm. While we only have the two species of passion flower vines in North America, numerous species flourish along the equator, where their exuberant flowers are visited and pollinated by many kinds of hummingbirds, attracted to the bright red flowers. The hummingbirds follow the course of the spreading woody vines through the forest to the large showy flowers scattered here and there along the vines.
Another important visitor shares an intense interest in the passion flower vine, although not the flower, but the leaves. This is the elegant Heliconia butterfly, characterized by its long narrow wings. The female lays her eggs on the passion flower vines, and the larvae devour the leaves. This simple interaction, parallels to which we see here in our backyards with many butterflies, has in the case of the passion flower vine and the Heliconia set off an arms race that is one of the greatest stories in tropical ecology and evolutionary biology.
The interaction has been termed co-evolution by some scientists and co-adaptation by others. Co-evolution is a bit like the kids’ game of “you do this to me, I will do that to you” in response, provoking a continuous escalation where one species tries to one-up the other in order to leave more offspring for the next generation. Whatever term best applies, co-evolution or co-adaptation, it is a remarkable story that goes like this: If a bunch of caterpillars feast on its foliage, the loss of leaf tissue reduces the passion flower vine’s photosynthetic capacity and presumably the plant’s fitness, in this case its ability to produce many flowers and fruits, and reproduce.
To combat the female butterflies from successfully laying their eggs and being chewed up by caterpillars, the passion flower vine has erected an array of defense mechanisms. There is the obvious one: make the leaves unpalatable by producing chemicals that would be distasteful to the larvae. The larvae are unaffected by the toxins and instead sequester the compounds in their bodies to make them and the adult butterflies distasteful to birds. A number of Passiflora plants generate nectar glands, not just in the flowers, but in the stems of the plant; these attract ants that will serve as bodyguards, not only drinking the nectar but acting as leaf sheriffs, ridding the leaves of eggs that the female butterfly might lay on their surface. Some Passiflora vines disguise or vary the shapes of their leaves to make it harder for ovipositing females to find them.
Perhaps the most intricate and clever adaptation is that of plants which create fake tiny structures that are essentially mimetic eggs of the Heliconia. A passing female will see this leaf already occupied by these tiny orange appendages stuck to the leaf surface, and rather than add more eggs, increasing the chances they will all be detected by a predator, she moves on to an unoccupied leaf. The list of defense mechanisms goes on, but each time the plant comes up with a new strategy, the butterfly finds a way around it to some degree, or else there would be no more Heliconia butterflies.
If all this talk about chewing on plants has made you hungry there is more in store from the Passiflora. Anyone who has delighted in passion fruit, granadilla or maracuja, known to science as Passiflora edulis, knows how tasty these fruits are. Our local yellow passion flower is less endowed with these fruits, at least from the human standpoint, but birds eat them.
There is another local beauty that seeks out passion flower vines for other purposes, however. One of our most attractive butterflies, the Variagated fritillary, lays its eggs on the Passion flower vine. It’s a fast flying species and hard to approach, so much so that one witty lepidopterist gave it the genus name Euptoieta, meaning easily scared.
The early Christian missionaries saw one thing when it comes to passion flowers, ecologists and evolutionary biologists see another: the marvelous interactions Passiflora has with the insects and birds around them. These interactions are worth examining closely, yet another source of wonder of the natural world, an arms race going on right in front of our eyes.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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June 26, 2019Thanks to the efforts of Susan Roberts, Scott Hoffman and Elizabeth Miller, the JCA’s 100th Anniversary MacArthur Blvd. Beautification Project is officially underway.
The crew met May 18 and in a little over two hours they transformed a roughly six-foot corner of heavily-trampled dirt adjacent to the Alpine Vet parking lot into a lovely patch of green. The hard part was tilling the “soil” and mixing in a mound of growing material.
They planted Sedge, a grass-like perennial, Black-Eyed Susans and Catmint. The plot was finished off with edging, mulch and some snow stakes with pinwheels to keep the cars and bicyclists from straying into the greenery. The folks at Alpine Vet have agreed to water regularly.
Inspired by this initial effort, Elaine Hornauer and Beverly Sullivan tackled the weeds overtaking the greenery on either side of the access road to the Clara Barton Parkway. Thanks Elaine and Beverly.
While additional planting will have to wait until the fall, Susan Roberts urges anyone who sees spots along the “green” strip that would benefit from snow stakes to contact her at susanroberts487@gmail.com so that the CJCA can provide stakes to install. The CJCA also is looking for homeowners adjacent to the bike path that would be willing to water if the CJCA planted by their homes.
BY SUSAN SHIPP
CJCA President [...]
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June 26, 2019In Cabin John for the 4th of July? We’ve got your patriotic fun all planned out! Join your neighbors for the annual Cabin John parade and party in honor of our nation’s Independence Day.
Bike, stroller and people decorating gets underway at 10:30 am at the 6400 block of 79th Street. The Cabin John Citizens Association will provide decorating supplies for parents to use to help their kids prepare their rides and themselves for the parade.
The parade itself gets underway at 11:00 am, starting at 79th Street, just below MacArthur Blvd. The parade will head down the bike path along MacArthur Blvd. to 75th Street and end at the playground behind the Clara Barton Community Center.
After the half-mile parade stay and enjoy some refreshments, the reading of the Declaration of Independence and some fun for the kids.
Adult and student volunteers are needed. SSL hours are available for middle school and high school students who are able to help with the decorating, keeping the parade participants moving along the route, managing a few postparade games and helping with clean-up. Contact Stephanie Lai at laifamily2002@gmail.com to sign up. Adult volunteers should contact Irena Bojanova at ibojanova@gmail.com if you are willing to be a parade route marshall or help out with the post-parade playground party.
BY SUSAN SHIPP
CJCA President [...]
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June 26, 2019The May 29 citizens association meeting brought some 40 concerned citizens to the community center to hear from Carol Rubin, an attorney at the Maryland National Parks & Planning Commission, who also serves as the county’s project manager and liaison for the state’s Beltway Expansion project.
At the end of April, Rubin and her Prince Georges County counterpart wrote a report that raised major concerns about many aspects of the proposed project including the possible taking of private lands, the negative impact on parklands and the absence of mass transit options. Another major concern is that the plan seems more focused on easing the congestion for through traffic than addressing local traffic woes.
Eight days after the CJCA meeting, the planning commission voted to give an unfavorable recommendation for the six alternatives the state has retained for more detailed study. The commission vote came one day after a contentious vote by the three-person State Board of Public Works to allow the Department of Transportation to proceed with the project under a Public-Private Partnership (P3) arrangement.
However, as part of that vote, the state agreed to make phase one of the project focus on improvements to I-270. They also agreed that 10 percent of net toll revenue would go to local jurisdictions for mass transit.
At the meeting Rubin explained that in addition to a mass transit component, Montgomery County’s master plan calls for I-270 to be expanded and to see traffic demand management options, such as stoplighted access to the highways, implemented. She noted that the proposed expansion is not actually a congestion-relief plan but rather a regional bypass plan that will not ensure easy access to key business areas (e.g., Georgia Ave., National Harbor).
She also mentioned that the County Council does not want the Parks & Planning Commission to convey any parkland. (The State Highway Commission has eminent domain over private property but not public lands. If conservation easements are taken, or conveyed, they must be replaced fourfold in another location, but this cannot be done with stream beds.) Sierra Club, Friends of Sligo Creek, Rock Creek Conservancy, and Audubon Society, among others, also oppose the current expansion plans.
The montgomeryplanningboard.org site has a tool showing which Beltway access points are envisaged, as well as many documents on the expansion.
BY MEREDITH GRIGGS
CJCA Secretary [...]
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May 29, 2019Looking down, the crow spied a skink.
It swooped from its branch in a blink.
The bird grabbed the skink’s tail
Forcing the lizard to bail
And leave the crow a wriggling link.
There is much to be admired about a fellow vertebrate as elegant as the blue-tailed skink. Or as crafty. In the Looks Department, this species, also known as the red-headed lizard, is slim and sleek, up to eight inches long, and sports flashy racing stripes on its body, five to be exact, that fade with age. If the brightly colored juveniles with their vivid blue tails survive to adulthood, they lose the blue pigmentation in the tail and their distinct stripes in favor of a uniform dull-brown coloration and a distinct red head.
Skinks are most visible when it is sunny, and this time of year, a favorite locus for skink-spotting is along the towpath by the little footbridge at Lock 8. Skinks are ectotherms, so they need the sun’s energy to warm up their bodies. And when they are warm, they hunt arthropods—spiders, insects—and even larger prey like newborn mice, frogs, and small lizards.
But what makes skinks so unusual is neither their coloration nor their feeding patterns, but a clever adaptation that is called in scientific parlance “anti-predator behavior”—or what we might call simply “how to avoid being the menu.” Skinks have a wide range of neighbors that would like to eat them, from fellow reptilians, such as snakes, to birds such as crows and hawks, and mammals that include everything from moles, shrews, opossums, skunks, raccoons, and, if allowed outside, house cats. But first these hunters have to catch one.
Skinks—at least a warmed-up skink— are incredibly quick and can dart away at the first sign of danger. But if caught by teeth, talons, or paws, they have another card to play: skinks can disconnect the links, or vertebrae in their tails, and leave behind the entire length or just a segment. The predator, now distracted, can eat or play with the twitching tail, while the skink runs for cover to hide, live another day, and over time regenerate what was left behind. And perhaps surprisingly, if the encounter with the predator is not too much of a mismatch, skinks can bite.
So why the blue tail found in the juvenile? One theory might be that the bright color is used to draw the attack of a predator away from the vital organs and focus instead on a dispensable tail. But its mammalian predators are color-blind, so……..More theory is needed.
There are just over 1500 species of skinks in the world, with only 15 species in North America and the vast majority in Africa, South and East Asia, and Australia. The most interesting group of skinks in the world, in my view, live on the island of New Caledonia, in the Coral Sea due east of Brisbane, and on the nearby archipelago of the Solomon Islands. The long, narrow island of New Caledonia, also known as Grand Terre, broke off from Australia about 60 million years ago and, as the Earth’s tectonic plates shifted, ended up too isolated from the mainland for vertebrates to make their way over to it. There were no terrestrial mammals on Grand Terre at the time of separation so, in the absence of large mammalian predators, the lizards took over the various feeding niches. Over 70 species of geckos (mostly) and skinks have evolved in solitude with few hunters, except each other. So among these endemic geckos and skinks are found the world’s largest versions. The giant gecko in the endemic genus Rhacodactylus is the heavyweight at about half a pound and measuring 17 inches including the tail. It is essentially the T. rex of the island, eating other vertebrates. Running away from the giant gecko are more than two dozen species of skinks, including one of the world’s longest skink species.
The largest skink in terms of body weight and length is the Solomon Islands skink from the nearby archipelago. It averages 23 inches in length and weighs almost two pounds. Interestingly, the skinks in the Solomons are entirely herbivorous and live up in the canopy of strangler fig trees, ingesting the leaves of the plants that grow as epiphytes on their branches.
The Solomons skink has the benefit of hiding in the dense foliage of the tall trees. But if you are our local five-striped version that lives on the ground, better to keep a wary eye out and thinking fast—if you are quite attached to keeping that stunning blue tail.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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April 29, 2019The signs of spring are everywhere for avid naturalists: the opening of mysterious purple and yellow pawpaw flowers; the voluptuous leaves of skunk cabbage emerging from the damp soil; the lusty singing of spring peepers from the vernal pools and ponds; wood ducks on the canal, male and female pairing up for nesting season. But for those with an eye for butterflies, the flight of the Mourning Cloak is a certainty that the days are growing longer, and the sun will indeed shine warmly again, after a cold damp winter marked by a parade of grey days.
Perhaps one reason why naturalists first learn their birds or plants, and arrive late to butterflies and moths, is that the former are easier to identify than the latter. Birds are colorful and sing, and there are numerous field guides–and now downloadable recordings –to teach the neophyte. Plants sit still for you, and you can even whip out your cell phone, upload the image to a program like LeafSnap, and presto! you have the name of the species sent to your phone.
There are websites to learn the names of butterflies or to send an image to, but try and get many of our species to sit still long enough for a photo. And some of the groups are difficult for the amateur to tell apart, like the numerous kinds of skippers. But there is really no way to confuse a Mourning Cloak with any other butterfly. For the Mourning Cloak, there is no pairing of similar species, as there is for the Monarch or Viceroy or the various swallowtails meant to frustrate the beginning lepidopterist. The Mourning Cloak is a large butterfly, with a wingspan of four inches, and the only species with a dark maroon color to its dorsal side, trimmed with pale-yellow edges that resemble a butterfly with its petticoats showing. The black border between the Maroon “cloak” and the yellow petticoat is made all the more lively by bright blue iridescent spots.
The Mourning Cloak is also among the longest-lived of all butterflies, with a lifespan of 11-12 months. In our area during the summer, the species feeds on the sap of trees, then goes into a suspended state called estivation (similar to that of amphibians), but becomes active again in the fall to feed and store up food—more sap from oak trees—to survive the winter. Come spring, Mourning Cloaks are the first on the wing.
When a Mourning Cloak has landed, you might not see it right away. Because it holds its wings upright, the ventral side of the wings is perfectly camouflaged against the tree bark. Females are soon off again to lay their eggs on the leaves of the preferred food of the spiny caterpillars that emerge when their eggs hatch: elm, willow, cottonwood, aspen, birch, or hackberry trees.
Mourning Cloaks are quite common across not only North America, but northern Europe and northern Asia as well. Does their success in numbers and distribution have to do with their relative longevity? No one really knows.
Nor is there consensus on the most existential question of them all for a butterfly: why go through metamorphosis? Why not hatch out from an egg and be done with it? Why go through life first as a caterpillar, then form a chrysalis, and then emerge as an adult? All for the sheer drama of the transformations from ugly, often stinging larvae to dull colored cocoons, to emergent gorgeous butterfly. In England, another common name for the Mourning Cloak is the Grand Surprise butterfly. And is there a grander surprise than a butterfly emerging from its dull earth-tone pupae as one of the most beautiful creatures on Earth?
Evolutionary biologists point towards competition to explain many phenomena in nature and typically see the evolution of true metamorphosis through this lens. They hypothesize that the main advantage of complete metamorphosis is to remove competition between the young and old. In essence, larval insects and adult insects fill different ecological feeding niches. Caterpillars feed on leaves and all they do is eat, showing complete indifference to reproduction. In contrast, adult butterflies visit flowers in search of nectar and mates. The theory goes that because larvae and adults do not compete for food or shelter, more of each can coexist relative to species in which the young and old live in the same locales and eat the same things. It’s all about survival. There are other theories as well, but, however metamorphosis evolved, the enormous numbers and diversity of metamorphosing insects on Earth, the predominant life form on this planet, clearly show that it must have value as an evolutionary strategy for successful reproduction. Kafka’s Gregor Samsa may have woken up surprised and miserable but, from a naturalist’s point of view, he joined a very successful way of life. And if he had turned into a Mourning Cloak instead of a bug, he might have been happier for it, too.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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April 22, 2019The April 24 CJCA meeting will serve as a working session for three 100 Anniversary projects: Cabin John Day, MacArthur Blvd. Beautification and Cabin John signage. Thanks to generous donations sent in with people’s dues and the $1,225 raised from the February Team Trivia Night, there is upwards of $6,000 to put towards these efforts.
The money is key, but we also need some concrete plans and, and most importantly, manpower to bring these projects to fruition.
Please come to the meeting, to be held on April 24 from 7:30 to 8:45 pm at the community center and join in the planning. The aim of the meeting is to brainstorm ideas and approaches, identify the questions that need answering and make decisions about how to move forward. Ideally, next steps will be assigned to those willing to take on the tasks. If you cannot make the meeting but are still interested in working on any of these projects, please reach out! The scope of these projects will be dictated, in part, by the level of commitment from the community.
Here is a bit about each project and some of what we will be discussing at the meeting:
CABIN JOHN DAY, JUNE 1
A free celebration of our community and the 100th anniversary of the citizens association. Cosponsored by the Clara Barton Community Center, the event will run from approximately 4:00 to 7 :00 pm. Ideas include a pop-up Cabin John museum, kids activities, music, food trucks. Beverages, including beer and wine could be sold by the CJCA.
Do Cabin John-based organizations and businesses want to sponsor activity booths? Should there be a North vs. South Cabin John softball game or other such contests that encourage friendly competition between areas or streets of Cabin John? In addition to deciding which of the above ideas we should act on, there are other questions to consider.
MACARTHUR BLVD. BEAUTIFICATION
The goal of this project is two-fold: We want to spruce up Cabin John’s “main street” by planting in the “green” strip between the roadway and the bike path. We also want to make it safer for pedestrians and bicyclists by keeping cars and trucks from straying into the path or parking their cars on the green strip thereby blocking the site lines for vehicles and pedestrians.
We have preliminary approval from the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the property as part of the Washington Aqueduct. There are guidelines we need to follow regarding the types of plantings. We also need to consider the benefits of mounding the soil like the Hopkins have done in front of their property as a way to keep vehicles on the road. We also need to consider what stretches we would tackle, if we need different approaches for different stretches of roadside and maintenance issues.
WELCOME TO CABIN JOHN SIGNAGE
Neighborhood signs come in all shapes, sizes and materials. They convey different things and the costs are as wide-ranging as the design. The Army Corps of Engineers has given its preliminary approval for a sign at the corner of Seven Locks Rd. and MacArthur Blvd., which has been suggested as a good site since it often considered the center of “town. The Corps says a sign there would need to be on a pole as opposed to something more structural like the sign for Cabin John Gardens.
In addition to design and cost, there are questions about whether we would want more than one sign and, if so, where would they be located? Do we need to get county approval before installing any signage? Can we install some solar lighting so that our signs are lit at night? One resident has urged us to take on repairing, repainting and lighting the Cabin John sign that we have on the community center property.
By Susan Ship
CJCA President [...]
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April 22, 2019The State Highway Administration is finally acknowledging that some Cabin John homes adjacent to the Beltway will be “directly affected” by the state’s plan to add four toll lanes on I-495. In most cases, directly affected appears to mean homeowners could lose parts of yards and possibly see noise barriers constructed closer to their houses. But it also is possible the SHA could take homes.
Overall, the state’s latest analysis shows that the plan to widen the American Legion Bridge and I-495 from the bridge to I-95 – the so-called first phase of the 70-mile $9 to $11 billion Public Private Partnership (P3) Program – would require 34 homes and three businesses to be taken. The expansion also would directly affect up to 574 homes, 18 parks and recreation facilities, nine National Register Historical Properties, and impact some 575 acres of forest canopy, more than 280 acres of “unique and sensitive areas”, four acres of wetlands and 11 miles of “waters”. It is unclear what that means for all the green space in and around Cabin John.
These findings were released as part of a series of workshops being held in April and May to bring the public along as the P3 project moves into a new phase of more detailed study as part of the required Environmental Impact Study. Cabin Johners are urged to attend one of these workshops or to review the materials online and, most importantly, register your concerns before June 14 either online at 495-270-p3.com or via email at 495-270-p3@sha.state.md.us. The SHA says it will use the feedback it gets as part of its effort to minimize environmental and community impacts.
This latest study comes just a couple weeks after eight SHA officials came to the March 27 CJCA meeting to detail the dire reality of congestion on the Beltway and to present the six alternatives for adding toll lanes to help keep the traffic moving. All six alternatives will be part of this next phase. The SHA aims to have its Draft Environmental Impact Study completed and a “preferred alternative” selected by early 2020.
An issue of concern to come out of the CJCA meeting was the SHA stating they are not doing a new noise analysis. Instead they will base this massive project’s noise modeling on extrapolated data from a Beltway noise analysis done in 2005. Decisions about where noise barriers are placed and how tall they are built are based on this noise modeling. Other attendees voiced concerns about increased noise and pollution for all of Cabin John, the unfairness of having traffic lanes that only the wealthy can afford to use, the lack of mass transit initiatives and the lack of information about the impact on arterial roads such as River Rd. and MacArthur Blvd.
State Delegate Marc Korman attended the meeting and provided an update on legislative initiatives to ensure proper oversight of a private entity controlling roads that were built with taxpayers’ dollars. Unfortunately, the legislative session ended without those measures passing.
By Susan Ship
CJCA President [...]
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April 22, 2019CJCA officer elections will be held at the May meeting and the association would very much like to expand its ranks. To serve the evolving needs of this community, we continue to re-envision the role of CJCA officers by redefining existing roles and creating new positions to fulfill those needs.
We’ve discovered that it truly does take a village to provide the activities, advocacy, and outreach that keeps our community connected and vibrant.
There are a wide-range of opportunities available. Please consider stepping into one of these important roles. Not only will you be serving the community, but you will also be joining a great group of dedicated volunteers.
CJCA SECRETARY
Meredith Griggs graciously stepped in to serve as interim secretary last year. She had already held that position in 2009 and 2010. The primary responsibility of the secretary is to take the minutes at the eight CJCA meetings held each year. (There are no meetings June, July, August and December.)
VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICE
This person will help coordinate existing and new community service projects. Current efforts includes three blood drives each year, the creek cleanup, and the Holiday Giving Tree Project, which provides gifts to people transitioning out of homelessness. The CJ community is very supportive of its community service projects and is interested in more opportunities. This position offers the possibility of expanding the menu of service projects offered.
CO-VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNITY OUTREACH
Nancy Russell has agreed to continue in her post as Vice President of Community Outreach however she is looking for someone to share this position as she expects to spend less time in Cabin John over the coming year. She currently oversees the Block Coordinator Program, Crab and Chicken Feast ticket sales, and the New Neighbor Potluck.
VICE PRESIDENT OF ADVOCACY
The CJCA is seeking an additional Vice President of Advocacy to ensure that the organization has the manpower to stay on top of issues such as the beltway expansion, cut-through traffic, proposed property subdivisions, airplane noise, and pedestrian safety.
VICE PRESIDENT OF ACTIVITIES
In recent years, the CJCA has added a number of popular events that bring the community together to share some fun. The CJCA would like to have an additional Vice President of Activities to help coordinate and be a resource to the volunteers that organize Team Trivia Night, the Spring Egg Hunt, the New Neighbor Potluck, the 4th of July Parade, the Turkey Trot, and the Holiday Party.
VICE PRESIDENT OF COMMUNICATIONS
Communications is key to keeping our community tight-knit. The CJ directory will be five years old at the end of 2019. It is also showing its age in that it does not include email addresses or more than a couple of phone numbers per household. The CJCA is looking to use AtoZ Connect, the company that makes the Bannockburn, Pyle and Whitman school directories, to produce our next directory and to create an online version. The Vice President of Communication would take the lead on coordinating this
project.
CONTENT EDITOR, THE VILLAGE NEWS
Just over two years ago Vashti Van Wyke agreed to serve as the newsletter’s content editor even though she had four kids ages eight and under! During her time of exceptional service she introduced new columns and features, worked with Production Editor Noelle Tower on a complete redesign of the newsletter and streamlined its editorial process. Thankfully for the person who takes on this important role, her efforts mean that the newsletter is put out with great efficiency. The CJCA, and the community as a whole, are incredibly grateful for her dedicated service.
The content editor works hand-in-hand with the production/layout editor, Noelle Tower, to put together 10 issues of The Village News each year. The editor also coordinates the work of the newsletter’s passionate Cabin John columnists who write about local nature, history, gardening, and goodneighborliness, as well as with the CJCA on community coverage and advocacy issues. The Village News also welcomes more CJ writers willing to be a regular contributor or to provide the occasional story.
CABINJOHN.ORG TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Robin Sidel, editor of the CJCA website, is looking for someone with technical WordPress experience to assist with some of the more complicated web-based projects she would like to tackle.
If you would like to know more about any of these positions or if you have ideas about other ways you could serve the community, please reach out to a CJCA officer, drop Susan Shipp an email at jsjshipp3@verizon.net or give her a call at 202-297-8718.
By Susan Ship
CJCA President [...]
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March 29, 2019“A Good Place To Either Get Blessed or Cussed”
In February, 140 residents came together for Cabin John’s Inaugural Trivia Night in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Cabin John Citizens Association. One hundred years ago, the entire population of Cabin John was not much larger than the number of residents that filled the Clara Barton Community Center a few weeks ago.
In 1919, Woodrow Wilson was president. The U.S. Congress passed the 19th amendment granting women the right to vote. Ripley’s Believe It Or Not cartoon first appeared in a newspaper (it would later lampoon the Cabin John Fire Department in 1938). The Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees. A loaf of bread cost around 8 cents, as did a gallon of gas. One could buy a Palmers soft drink, bottled right on Wisconsin Avenue, for around 5 cents at Tuohey’s store on Conduit Rd. (now MacArthur Blvd.). A blacksmith’s shop stood on the corner of Seven Locks Rd. and Conduit Rd., Cabin John’s busiest thoroughfare dotted with horses, carriages and wagons.
In 1919, Cabin John’s 1.3 square miles boasted only a handful of houses and summer shacks, with bucolic views of nothing more than ‘fields of corn stubble’ and trees. Day trippers hopped off the trolley on the opposite side of the Union Arch Bridge and wandered across to the Cabin John Bridge Hotel. Though long past its heyday, the hotel’s landscaped gardens offered a wonderful country escape from D.C. Visitors and ramblers could hike around Cabin John, gather chestnuts and persimmons, lay out a picnic and then head down to the river in hopes of catching a canal boat on the C&O Canal back to Georgetown.
Mrs Josephine Havens, a long-ago resident who started coming to Cabin John in 1912 as a child, recalled in Time Was, A Cabin John Memory Book (1976) seeing President Wilson drive along Conduit Rd. to Great Falls in what she thought was a Pierce Arrow: “I gathered it must have one of his favorite drives…You didn’t see too many people going by in cars, so when I’d see him I’d always wave.”
J.S. Tomlinson’s American Land Company began selling lots in Cabin John in 1912 when the area was home to only a handful of families; by 1920 around 100 lots were sold. The cost of a half acre lot was about $200. The lanes off of Conduit Rd. remained unpaved, there was no electricity, the post was untimely, and the elementary school was across the bridge on Wilson Lane. As more people discovered this rural enclave, demands for community improvements and services grew. A small group of interested residents spearheaded by four local gentlemen founded the Cabin John Park Citizens Association in 1919. Andrew C. Wilkins, Charles H. Godbold, Walter B. Armstrong and Ellis R. King were known as the Four Horsemen of Cabin John for their efforts to forge ahead—perhaps also in a nod to the best selling novel of that year, “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse”.
Meetings were held at Junior Hall (a large building at corner of 79th Street and MacArthur). Mrs. Havens, whose father was Charles Godbold, recollected that “the Citizens Association was really responsible for getting the roads and everything else going. In the twenties it was a very active group. When they started getting these houses built, they had to have electricity and other utilities. Our roads were all dirt at one time. It was just a gradual process of them all working together, fighting for it, and getting it done.”
Mr. and Mrs. Charles R. Smith bought a lot at Tomlinson’s auction and built their house in 1914, as well as several other houses in the neighborhood. Mr. Smith was a charter member of the Citizens Association, and though he was often too busy to attend meetings, he recalled the “First time I did go, I said ‘This is a good place to either get blessed or cussed.’ But it started right off with a bang.”
And what a bang indeed. The Cabin John Citizens Association has continued to advocate for the community through its decades of perseverance, civic engagement and tenacity. As Cabin John grew, the Citizens Association was as a charter member of the Montgomery County Civic Federation in 1925. Three years later, it helped establish the Glen Echo-Cabin John School, which became the Clara Barton School in 1944. During the 1920s, the Citizens Association organized a trash collection service, a July 4th fireworks display, sponsored Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops, improved telephone lines and the postal service, and brought electricity to Cabin John.
Perhaps one of the more significant actions of the CJCA was the drafting of a community plan in the early 1970s, following a contentious and unsuccessful proposal by the Bogley Company to develop a high rise shopping plaza in Cabin John. The Citizens Association surveyed residents which resulted in the Cabin John Community Plan that “contains our goals, objectives, and proposals for the future of the area in which we live—and the assertion that we, the citizens, have both the right and the duty to direct the lifestyle we choose to follow, rather than have it done for us.”
Ongoing activities of the CJCA include the Chicken and Crab Feast, a Potomac River canoe excursion, a Cabin John Creek clean up, the July 4th parade, neighborhood blood drives, the Turkey Trot and New Neighbors Potluck. The CJCA publishes The Village News, which has been the community’s newsletter since 1965. Cabin John continues to face urgent issues, from airplane noise and pollution to the proposed beltway expansion. While fostering a unique sense of community, the Cabin John Citizens Association is more relevant than ever in representing our collective voice to maintain this mellow, eclectic community.
By Rachel Donnan
Contributing Writer [...]
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March 29, 2019At first glance, the diminutive Winter Wren is nothing to write home about. A plump lump of a bird covered in dull dark brown, barred plumage, this winter visitor is one of our smallest North American bird species. And then there is that rather silly-looking short tail, often held in the upright position, as if this appendage got stuck in the manufacturing process. Unlike other bird species, where males have more flamboyant feathers while females stay understated to avoid attracting predators to their nests, the feathers of adult male and female Winter Wrens are almost identical.
The Winter Wren breeds in the far northern forests in conifer stands and dense broadleaf forest groves, nesting high in tree cavities where it can find them, and feeding on bugs up in the trees. But in winter, the bird moves south, and can be found in the woods around Cabin John and elsewhere in Maryland and Virginia. Rather then stay in the trees as in the breeding season, our winter visitors spend their days on the forest floor, searching cracks and crevices and even venturing into cavities and underground openings, selecting from an invertebrate menu “the daily special”–whatever is creeping or crawling at that moment from November to March. It is this penchant during winter foraging for exploring caves and crannies that gave rise to the Winter Wren’s scientific name—Troglodytes, similar sounding to troglodyte. Today, the derogatory epithet “Troglodyte” is typically applied to a person who is considered reclusive, reactionary, or whose views are out-of-date. The origin of its use, however, was to describe the lifestyles of cave-dwelling prehistoric humans.
On the winter range all you will hear from the Winter Wren is an unimpressive, sparrow-like klip-klip emanating from its equally undistinguished short bill. If that’s all there was to the call, my account of this creature could pretty much stop here and move on to the next bird.
But take a walk if you can in the northern forests in spring. Your ears would perk up and you would become determined to seek out the songster that is filling the forest with the longest, one of the loudest, and certainly the richest notes uttered by any North American species. There on a branch, announcing, “this is my territory”, is the creature we nonchalantly pass over in winter—the diminutive Winter Wren. In fact, adjusted for it’s body size, the Winter Wren may have the loudest call of any bird in the world. Scientists have determined that per unit of weight, the Winter Wren delivers its song with 10 times more power than a crowing rooster.
Another fascinating fact about the Winter Wren is that until recently it had one of the largest ranges of any bird, stretching across the northern hemisphere. Now, geneticists have split this species into three: a Pacific Wren on the Western coast of North America, the Winter Wren across the rest of our continent, and the Eurasian Wren that ranges from Cornwall, England to Korea. Interestingly, Europe, Russia, and the rest of Asia have just this one species of wren in their avifauna. In contrast, wrens exploded in diversity in the New World, with more than 80 species, mostly in the tropics. Perhaps the most appealing singer, at least to me, is the desert species of the southwest—the Canyon Wren, a song marked by powerful descending whistles and fake kisses at the end.
But it is the foraging behavior in winter of our little wren-ball that fascinates me the most: the Winter Wren’s ground-feeding predilection and the way it skulks under leaves or twigs or ventures into brush piles or crevices in search of the hiding places of invertebrates. At least in winter, it feeds more like a mouse than a bird—a mouse with a beak. In New Zealand there is an endemic species of cave-roosting bat that although it can fly instead it crawls on the ground and feeds on invertebrates just like a small nocturnal rodent. Some desert-dwelling bats in the U.S. hunt on the ground to catch scorpions. It is this ability to shift its feeding style to the season that I find so interesting.
If, no one in the birding literature or naturalists’ journals has offered this aphorism before, I hereby submit it: never judge a bird by its plumage.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist
WINTER WREN [...]
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March 28, 2019CJ Creek Clean Up Set for March 30
Hints of spring are finally here and that means it’s time to collect the plastic bags, cans and other trash that has collected along the Cabin John Creek since our last effort.
Co-sponsored by the Friends of the Cabin John Creek and the Cabin John Citizens Association, this year’s cleanup will be held Saturday, March 30, from 1:00 to 3:00 pm. Please gather at Cabin John Local Park by the one-lane bridge at 12:45 pm. Refreshments and gloves will be provided. But bring your own gloves if you can. The clean-up, held rain or shine,is messy and old clothes are recommended.
SSL hours are available for the cleanup. Children ages 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult. The CJCA will send out an email if inclement weather forces us to reschedule.
Spring Egg Hunt April 14
The 21st annual Cabin John Spring Egg Hunt is scheduled for Sunday, April 14 at 4:00 pm. All CJ kids elementary school age and younger are welcome to participate in the hunt, which will take place at the lower playground in the park by the one-lane bridge.
Bring a basket and don’t be late. Last year’s hunt drew some 45 kids and all 500 eggs were found within 15 minutes! Plan to stay and play at the park and maybe your children will meet some new neighborhood friends.
Please RSVP to Irena Bojanova, ibojanova@gmail.com, with the number of children in your group. Irena also asks you to consider volunteering to help prepare the eggs and set up the hunt.
2nd Annual New Neighbors Potluck April 28
Are you new to Cabin John? We’d love to meet you! All residents new to Cabin John since April 2018 are invited to a dinner to be held at the Clara Barton Community Center on Sunday, April 28 from 5:00 – 7:00 pm.
More established residents are urged to come welcome our new neighbors and bring a side dish, salad or dessert to share. The Cabin John Citizens Association will provide pizza and drinks. Weather permitting, there will be outdoor games for children.
To ensure that we have enough food for all, please RSVP through Sign-Up Genius.
New to CJ and Missing A Welcome Bag?
If you’re new to Cabin John, we hope you’ve received a welcome bag from your Block Coordinator. The bag includes the CJ directory, a history of Cabin John and other useful information. If not, please contact Nancy Russell, nc3russell@yahoo.com, (301) 219-3750. [...]
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March 28, 2019Some 140 Cabin Johners came out for a fun night of trivia Feb. 23, 2019 that also raised a not-so-trivial amount for CJCA 100th Anniversary projects. Between registration fees and beverage sales, the event brought in $1,225, which will go towards the MacArthur Beautification project and Welcome to Cabin John signage.
Thanks to the decorating talents of Helen Harris and Heidi Lewis the community center was transformed into a lovely party place complete with mood lighting and flowers on the tables. Trivia host Fred Fields challenged everyone with his questions, while bartenders Florence Lehr and Jackie Hoglund kept the beer and wine flowing.
The winning team, Trivia Newton John, took home the CJ Trivia Trophy and an $80 gift certificate to 7 Locks Brewing, where we hope they will make CJ proud by winning again at one of the brewery’s Thursday night trivia competitions.
“]Thanks to Scott Lewis for coordinating this event and to Heidi Lewis, Clive, Helen, Will and Alex Harris, Nancy and Craig Russell and Jeff Shipp for their planning and set up. [...]
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March 27, 2019Beltway expansion concerns dominated the discussion with Councilmember Andrew Friedson at the CJCA’s Feb. 27 meeting. Residents were glad to hear Friedson say that he had met personally with State Highway Administration officials and made clear his opposition to the taking of private property for any Beltway expansion.
The 35 residents in attendance raised many additional concerns, including noise and air pollution, storm water runoff and the potential inequity that expensive toll lanes would have on county residents who cannot afford to pay tolls in excess of $40 like on I-66 in Virginia. Cabin Johners also voiced concerns about the lack of transparency regarding state plans for the American Legion Bridge.
Friedson responded by saying that the state needs to focus on the bridge first and foremost as it is the cause of the worst congestion. Residents and Friedson also agreed that mass transit needs to be part of any state “traffic relief ” plan.
Friedson acknowledged the cut-through traffic and airplane noise challenges our community endures, although time constraints did not allow for deeper conversation on those issues. Friedson said one issue he feels strongly about is pedestrian safety and he seemed receptive to helping Cabin John get crosswalks on MacArthur Blvd. and Seven Locks Rd.
SUGGESTED CROSSWALKS FOR CABIN JOHN
The councilmember asked the CJCA to provide a list of suggested crosswalks. Here are the locations we’ve identified. They are suggested primarily because they provide safe access to sidewalks as well as Ride-On or school bus stops. Email Greg Pawlson, gpawlson@gmail.com, with your thoughts this list.
Crosswalk across MacArthur Blvd. at the Captain’s Market
Crosswalk across MacArthur Blvd. at 77th Street
Crosswalk across MacArthur Blvd. at the westbound stop sign at Seven Locks Rd.
Crosswalk across MacArthur Blvd. at lower 79th Street to the Ride On bus stop
Crosswalk across MacArthur Blvd. at 80th Street
Crosswalk across MacArthur Blvd. at 81st Street
Crosswalk across Seven Locks Rd. at Carver Rd.
Crosswalk across Seven Locks Rd. at Long Ridge Rd.
Crosswalk across Seven Locks Rd. at the service road for Seven Locks Park/Palisades Pool
Crosswalk across Seven Locks Rd. at Cypress Grove Lane
Crosswalk across Seven Locks Rd. at Lilly Stone (Carderock neighborhood)
BY SUSAN SHIPP
CJCA President [...]
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March 7, 2019Cabin John residents have identified activities to celebrate 100 years of civic pride as well as ways to give back that will help ensure that Cabin John continues to be the wonderfully vibrant and beautiful community that we call home.
But we need volunteers and funding to realize some of these goals. The CJCA operates with a lean budget considering all that we do.
As 100th anniversary efforts have gotten underway, the most pressing question has been what kind of budget do we have for the various projects. The reality at this time is not much. For instance, folks working on some Welcome to Cabin John signage don’t know whether we are looking at one simple sign, which might cost less than $2,000 or multiple signs so that folks know they are entering Cabin John when they are on MacArthur Blvd. or Seven Locks.
Similarly, we have started to get bids for a MacArthur Blvd. beautification effort and have found landscapers estimating close to $2,000 for a 75-foot stretch. Can we get companies to sponsor some planting areas? Are there county funds we might tap? There are a couple of Cabin Johners who have already volunteered to be part of this project, but more people are needed to explore all our options.
Holding a Cabin John Day where the community comes together to celebrate with activities for the kids, a popup Cabin John museum to educate, some food and entertainment is strongly supported, but exactly how that comes together depends on having a budget and, even more important, having a committee of volunteers to plan the day. Right now, we’ve got the date, Saturday June 1, booked with the community center, but no volunteers or funds to make it happen.
The CJCA needs you to pay your dues, give generously to a special 100th Anniversary fund and sign up to help with one or more our 100th Anniversary efforts. Visit this page to fill out a form, or look for the CJCA dues letter in your mailbox.
To volunteer, fill out this form, or send me an email at jsjshipp3@verizon.net.
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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February 28, 2019When the weather forecast warns of a looming polar vortex, my first concern as a naturalist is: How will our overwintering songbirds survive this extreme event? We, like our neighbors, heed the public service advisories to keep our two dogs inside. But there is no precautionary measure for the birds that live outdoors 24/7. And even if we could somehow coax a few robins, mockingbirds, a willing junco, or a shivering titmouse into the house, they would be flapping at the windows and French doors, desperate to be released again into the backyard icebox.
Then the biologist in me awakens and posits another question: With the severe weather events associated with climate change predicted to be more common and more extreme, will there be rapid selection among those populations of birds that live multiple years and stay sedentary in our area in favor of those who decide instead to take their chances by migrating farther south in fall? Doing so, after all, might increase their chances of being alive to breed and successfully raise offspring the following spring.
For those birds that do overwinter, the secret of their survival is their ability to store fat and then burn it in times of numbing cold and wind in order to keep their body temperature stoked and at homeostasis. A few species such as chickadees are able to drop their body temperature a few degrees to conserve energy during cold days but for most species it is all about building the fat layer for conditions like those we experienced in late January. When not conserving energy by fluffing their feathers and hiding out of the wind, they seek out what energy-rich fruits remain now that all the insects are dead or dormant and seeds are hard to find.
Once the worst of the polar vortex ends, you might see flocks of American robins roaming about for whatever fruit is still available. And that is where the remarkable Winterberry plant takes center stage.
I am so thankful that a few years ago we planted two female Winterberry bushes in the front yard (and have a female Eastern red cedar offering its berries in the back). Winterberry is a relative of the American Holly tree. It grows neither as stout and tall as the holly, and unlike the holly, it drops its leaves in winter—all the better to make its bright red berries stand out against a snow-lined branch.
Those who care about birds, and that, I will wager, is most people in Cabin John, can always put out suet and seeds in bird feeders to sustain our avian friends. But much better is to go to a local nursery or order on-line at least three Winterberry bushes. You will need at least two because Winterberry, like American Holly and the Eastern Red Cedar, are among the 8% of plants globally that are dioecious—meaning male and female flowers grow on separate plants. So, if you want to have a big crop of bright red berries decking out your female bush or, even better, two female shrubs, a male is needed to be planted nearby. Based on observations made in my walking expeditions in our neighborhood, it is my conclusion that almost every single-family home in our hamlet has room in a sunny spot for three Winterberry bushes. Or if you are more partial to dogwoods or viburnums or the like, you can find a list of other native species to plant and specimens from our local nurseries that produce fruits birds love. The non-Florida dogwoods—such as the pagoda dogwood or silly dogwood, or even red and green-osier dogwoods—produce beautiful fall foliage, brightly colored branches, and offer fruits to birds that are among the most nutritious available. In all these cases you will likely need two; even though dogwoods are not dioecious they don’t self-pollinate, so having a compadre next to it ensures cross-pollination and fruit set.
There are other good choices: Northern bayberry or southern myrtle in warm sunny spots, snowberry, American Beautyberry (not the Japanese version), and red or black chokecherry make birds merry. Even the somewhat scraggly branched staghorn sumac with its dramatic displays of powder-coated fruits (related to the source of sumac for Persian cooking)—we have three of these interesting looking plants in our yard—welcome birds in winter that live on the edge of starvation.
Two days before the recent polar vortex descended from the north, I found myself northwest of Philadelphia driving on a highway past Valley Forge, PA. I didn’t exit, but I did have this thought: how would Washington’s Army have survived the historic cold temperatures we just witnessed this past week? Would there have been a lot more desertions or deaths? And then because I study natural history rather than American history, my thoughts shifted to the question I posed at the beginning: How will the birds of the future survive these extreme weather events?
That is when I came up with the idea of a local Winterberry Army. Many of you know that we are launching a campaign to plant 100 trees this year in honor of the Cabin John Citizens Association’s 100-year anniversary. But what if we have a Winterberry Army, or at least a Brigade, of Cabin John gardeners who take a pledge to plant Winterberry—a male and at least one female—in their yards, or one or more of the other showy shrubs I mentioned above? Why, we could even have streets where one neighbor’s male Winterberry or pagoda dogwood could provide the pollen for their nearest neighbor’s female.
And, at recent Citizen’s Meetings, that “Welcoming sign” we have discussed erecting at the edge of Cabin John? It could read:
Welcome to Cabin John
The Winterberry Capital of the United States
or better yet, if we all joined in and offered a greater diversity of plants:
Welcome to Cabin John
The Winter Bird Fruit Capital of North America
Who is with me?
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist
WINTERBERRY [...]
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January 29, 2019Most of the birds that stick around Cabin John in winter have the dullest of plumage. Among the exceptions, there is of course the bold bon vivant, the Northern cardinal, decked out in vivid scarlet feathers. But a real treat is to see a gang of Eastern bluebirds flitting through the woods or along a field edge, reminding us that color vision is a miraculous gift we primates share with birds, even though somewhat underutilized for the dull tones of winter.
There is no better test of this color-vision privilege than to compare the black-and-white illustration of an Eastern bluebird that accompanies this article with the real thing on a snowy day, its radiant blue head and back feathers set off against an orange neck and throat and a white belly. If ever a bird seemed to be wearing a uniform, this would be the one. Western bluebirds and mountain bluebirds are lovely, too, living west of the Continental Divide, but I think ornithologists missed an opportunity by not giving the Eastern species a name such as the Brilliant bluebird as they did with the Resplendent quetzal.
Bluebirds are in the thrush family, and while their songs are far less melodic than the Wood thrush or Veery who visit our local forests in the spring and summer, or the now silent but visible Hermit thrush who winters here, they have plumage that must be the envy of the other thrushes, who tend to be spotted or a bit more reddish on the back or even a dull grey.
Colorful plumage in the winter might not seem like a great anti-predator strategy: in an environment of leafless trees and shrubs, it is much easier for a cruising Cooper’s hawk to spot a bluebird. But at this time of year, bluebirds stick together in groups. They have safety in numbers, and they warn each other about the presence of possible threats. Maryland might not seem like a great wintering spot. The insects are in diapause, eggs deposited under bark or nymphs resting underground, waiting for spring to arrive. And so the bluebirds shift to a fruit diet, and Maryland provides a smorgasbord assisted by thoughtful gardeners who plant native dogwood whose fruits are rich in nutrients to sustain overwintering birds. Wild grape, sumac, hackberry, dried raspberries, bayberries, Virginia creeper (a member of the grape family), eastern juniper—all fuel the bluebirds.
The Eastern Bluebird’s story is a perfect one to welcome in a new year with hope for better things to come. The species had made a remarkable comeback from the early part of the 20th century when it suffered a heavy toll due to the invasion of European starlings that took over their nest cavities, cowbirds that parasitized their nests, habitat loss, and pesticides. But by curtailing pesticides and placing nestboxes across rural America whose openings are suitable only for bluebirds, this beloved songster has come back. At the callous hand of many of us, bluebirds faced declines; in the respectful embrace of birders and nature lovers, bluebirds have made a resurgence that continues into this century and 2019.
In this shutdown season, there is no reason to be a shut-in. Why not go out and listen for its soft warbles and find our winter bluebirds? And when you find some, think good thoughts about the restorative gestures we can make for other species with whom we share this beautiful and colorful Earth.
By Eric Dinerstein
Contributing Writer
Illustration by Trudy Nicholson
Contributing Artist [...]
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January 19, 2019As its first 100th anniversary event, the Cabin John Citizens Association is hosting 100 Years of Trivia, an adult night of Team Trivia on February 23 at the Clara Barton Community Center.
The night will include roughly two hours of trivia, a grand prize for the winning team as well as other prizes given throughout the night, non-alcoholic beverages, and snacks. There will be a cash bar for beer and wine and teams can bring in their own food if they want to dine while they play.
The cost is $10 a player or $70 for a team of eight players. Proceeds from the night will go to 100th anniversary community projects like the Welcome to Cabin John sign and the MacArthur Blvd. beautification project.
Participants should plan to arrive at 6:30 pm to settle in and be ready for the 7:00 pm start. There will be multiple rounds of questions with a 20-minute half-time break to give folks time to say hi to their neighbors. To get in on the action, form your team of up to eight players and fill out the form below to register.
Individuals and small groups may request to be paired up with other players to make an eight-person team, or you can go it alone. Once you’ve registered, you will need to drop off or send your payment to: Scott Lewis, 7507 MacArthur Blvd.
Space is limited at the community center so we encourage you to register your team in advance. It will also help us plan appropriately.
Register now!
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November 12, 2018The October 26 CJCA Meeting focused on ways to celebrate Cabin John’s past, while also protecting its future.
Greg Pawlson, CJCA vice president of advocacy, and Cypress Grove resident Charlotte Troup-Leighton shared the latest on the state’s massive $9 billion beltway expansion plan. In this initial phase of the project, the state is looking at how well the 19 ideas it received from the private sector meet six criteria it is using to assess their viability. Greg said the criteria of “no public funding” would seem to limit the final set of alternatives to beltway expansion through a public-private partnership (P3).
Greg introduced a guest, David Hondowicz of the recently formed Citizens Against Beltway Expansion (CABE), who noted that the Montgomery County Planning Department and other agencies are taking issue with how the state is approaching its environmental impacts assessment with some calling the criteria biased in favor of Gov. Hogan’s toll-lane solution.
Charlotte talked about having conversations with candidates for county and state offices to make sure they are aware of community concerns.
All CJ residents are urged to become more informed. To that end, Charlotte and Greg shared a background paper and “cheat sheet” of websites that provide additional information and various viewpoints.
For more information or to work with other Cabin Johners on this issue, contact Greg Pawlson at gpawlson@gmail.com and
Charlotte Troup-Leighton at troupleighton@gmail.com.
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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November 12, 2018The second half of the October 26 CJCA meeting was devoted to 100th anniversary plans, with a number of folks committing to spearheading specific projects.
As an initial phase of the MacArthur Blvd. beautification effort, Susan Roberts, in absentia, put forth a proposal to plant a very damaged 50-foot stretch of grassy area that runs along MacArthur near the intersection of Seven Locks.
While different design proposals are being solicited and details worked out, those present at the meeting approved funding
this initial effort in the hopes that it could be used as a pilot to interest others, including outside groups like the Washington Aqueduct, in planting other sections along MacArthur.
Charlotte Troup-Leighton, who led the successful effort to replace the Evergreen neighborhood sign at Cypress Grove, offered to be part of a small committee that will explore Welcome to Cabin John sign options. Another temporary signage idea to be explored is streetlight banners along MacArthur Blvd.
Eric Dinerstein and Vashti Van Wyke are stepping up to organize a campaign to help restore the CJ tree canopy. Their goal will be to get 100 native trees planted in Cabin John by residents either planting in their yard and/or in public places.
Everyone agreed that we should move forward with a Cabin John Day on June 2. The Clara Barton Community Center has said it wants to work with us to create a family-friendly event, possibly pirate-themed, that could include a treasure hunt and moon bounce. A number of folks were enthusiastic about making it a BBQ, having music and hosting another Cabin John pop-up museum like the one held a couple years ago. It would be great if several people come together to work with the community center to plan this anniversary party!
Scott Lewis, also in absentia, said he would help to coordinate a Trivia Night party for adults to be held at the community center. There was also discussion of making it a fundraising event.
Other projects that attendees considered favorably were a 100th Anniversary edition of the Cabin John Directory and a CJ House Tour that would ideally include some of the 100-year-old homes in the community.
The creativity and constructiveness of this community is impressive. All of these activities and initiatives are worthwhile. All they need is YOU to offer up your time and talent to make them happen.
Please contact Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net to get involved!
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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October 24, 2018With some 200 Cabin Johners, family and friends coming out for the inaugural CJ Turkey Trot in 2017, it was decided before the end of that race that the trot should become an annual event.
This year Thanksgiving is Nov. 22. The Turkey Trot, sponsored by the Cabin John Citizens Association, will get underway at 10 a.m. (sharp!) at the park by the one-lane bridge.
As before, there will be two race options:
For elementary school-aged kids and younger, there will be a one-mile Tot Trot consisting of several loops around the park.
For participants of all ages, there will be a roughly 2.5 mile run/walk that has participants following the bike path from the park, to 79th Street, down to the C&O Canal, along the canal to the path by the one-lane bridge and back to the park.
The trot is free, but we are asking every household who is thinking about coming out, to please register online so that we can plan accordingly.
When you register online, you also will have the opportunity to purchase a 2018 Turkey Trot t-shirt for $15.
Drive for Manna Food Center
While the trot is free, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, we are asking all participants to bring a jar of peanut butter, a box of granola bars, instant oatmeal or other non-perishable grocery items for Manna Food Center’s Smart Sack program that provides backpacks of food for school kids on the weekends.
Can you Volunteer?
As always, volunteers are key to making any event safe and successful. We need volunteers to help set up before the event or to be a course monitors during the trot. To volunteer, please register online or contact Irena Bojanova at ibojanova@gmail.com. SSL hours are available for middle school and high school volunteers. [...]
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October 18, 2018The co-op is moving quickly to follow-up on suggestions made by Cabin Johners at the Sept. 26 Cabin John Citizens Association meeting. “For the holidays, we will be stocking a variety of new items, setting up displays that provide dinner and entertaining suggestions and stepping up our email and Facebook presence,” says Manager Helen Atkocious, who spoke at the meeting along with her assistant Mary Jaeger. Among the products they will be offering in the coming weeks are German chocolates and advent calendars, specialty baked goods, and 2019 datebooks and calendars.
“If we can get more CJ residents to check out the co-op, they will see that we offer a lot of competitively-priced groceries, beer and wine and maybe we can save them a trip to stores that are 20 minutes away,” noted Atkocious at an Oct. 4 follow-up meeting. Right now, customers spend an average of $25 per shopping trip, using the co-op more like a convenience store than their local grocer. To encourage more shopping by CJers and to say thank-you for the ongoing community support, the co-op is offering Village News subscribers 5 percent off one shopping trip during the month of November. (See the co-op ad in the printed newsletter.)
Among the challenges voiced during the CJCA meeting was the lack of parking during the lunchtime hours. Even though the landlord has posted 30-minute parking signs in front of the store, restaurant patrons and others frequently leave their cars in those spots for an hour or more. The CJCA passed a motion to send a letter to the Co-op’s landlord asking that a number of parking spots be dedicated to Co-op shoppers during peak business hours.
In 2019, the co-op plans to look at ways it might implement additional community suggestions including having customers pre-order fish or chicken for pick-up on specified afternoons, establishing discount days, and creating a members’ rewards program for frequent shoppers.
By Susan Shipp [...]
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October 18, 2018Could CJ Have Cast the Swing Votes in the June Primaries?
Ever think your vote doesn’t count? Think again. Twelve votes was all it took for candidate Sara Love to win the District 16 Democratic State Delegate primary and get her name on the November ballot for the chance to represent us in Annapolis. Plus, the Democratic candidate for County Executive, Marc Elrich, won with just a 77-vote margin.
Of the 1,880 registered Democrats in Cabin John’s precinct, 668 or 36 percent, voted in the June primary. The Cabin John precinct includes all of Cabin John as well as some residents between Wilson Lane and the Cabin John Parkway. CJ voters could definitely have made the difference in those two primary contests.
The most interesting fact about our precinct is that we are shrinking. In 2014, we had more than 3,100 registered voters. In 2018, it’s just under 3,000. CJ voter turnout for the June primaries was low, only 25 percent. As with most of the nation, our precinct logs a higher turnout for the general election and even more during a presidential election. But even for the 2016 presidential race, CJ voter turnout was just 37 percent.
The general election on Nov. 6 includes the race for governor, as well as a U.S. senator and our representative in Congress. In addition, voters will be deciding state officials, our next county executive, and all nine members of the county council, which controls Montgomery County’s $5.6 billion operating budget. They have the most direct impact on our lives when it comes to issues like traffic, schools, jobs, taxes, you name it. Imagine how many more elections we could swing if we all voted. Please come out and vote on Election Day or vote early in person or by mail. See you at the polls!
Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6, 7 am – 8 pm
Cabin John Election Precinct 07-03
Clara Barton Community Center
Early Voting: Oct. 25 – Nov. 1, 10 am – 8 pm (includes same-day registration)
Closest Early Voting Location: Potomac Community Rec Center, 11315 Falls Rd, Potomac
Absentee Voting by Mail: Request deadline is October 30.
By Pete Couste
Volunteer Election Judge [...]
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September 24, 2018The Bethesda Co-op has served as Cabin John’s neighborhood market for 35 years. Back in the day, its natural food offerings made it a unique destination that drew customers from miles away. But supermarkets now sell aisles of organic products and the co-op knows it needs to do more to stay relevant.
At the Sept. 26 Cabin John Citizens Association meeting we will be hosting a conversation with the Co-op starting at 7:30 p.m. at the community center. It’s your chance to tell Co-op General Manager Helen Atkocious, a Cabin John resident, and her assistant, Mary Jaeger, what the store needs to stock and other changes it should consider to make you a regular customer. They also will share some challenges they face and answer questions about the business.
One of the big benefits the co-op offers is convenience. Not only are they within walking distance, they also stay open 13-hours a day, from 8 am to 9 pm. (On Sundays the hours are 8 am to 8 pm.) But the nearness and long hours are not translating into adequate sales. Please bring your suggestions and concerns. Come join the conversation to help the co-op serve our community for years to come.
By Susan Shipp [...]
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September 5, 2018The 2018 Grateful Shred
NEW DATE: Saturday, Sept 22, between 9:00 a.m. and noon
Bring your unwanted papers to the Clara Barton Community Center and a crew of helping hands will meet your car to help unload. The shredded paper will be baled and taken to a recycling facility.
The truck can process the following: paper clips, staples, rubber bands, folders, binder clips, hanging folders (including their metal strips), and labels. It CANNOT take newspapers, cardboard, heavy plastic, heavy metals, 3-ring binders, boxes, trash, floppy disks, CDs, or X-rays.
You’ll be asked to donate $5.00 for each box of paper (or $3.00 for half box and $2.00 for a quarter box).
Important Note: All-Shred can shred home office papers, paper clips, staples, rubber bands, folders, binder clips, hanging folders (even with metal strips), and labels. They don’t do newspapers, 3-ring binders, cardboard, heavy plastic, heavy metals, boxes, trash, floppy disks, or CDs. You will need to take any cardboard boxes back with you.
The Grateful Shred is sponsored by the Friends of Clara Barton Community Center (FCBCC) and any proceeds will support programs at the Center. For more information, call 240-777-4910 or visit www. friendscbcc.org.
[...]
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August 16, 2018Delicious steamed crabs, tasty grilled chicken with Richard’s famous rub, fresh vegetables, homemade baked beans and more all served up while the Starlight Orchestra serenades the crowd.
That’s what is in store for attendees to Cabin John’s Chicken and Crab Feast on Sept. 15 at the Clara Barton Community Center. The food and fun are served up starting at 2 pm. The 15-piece jazz and swing band gets underway shortly thereafter. The fun continues until 6 pm.
The crab feast is the largest community event of the year and typically brings together some 600 Cabin Johners and friends. It is also an important fundraiser for the Cabin John Citizens’ Association.
Enjoy the food, fun, and camaraderie for $16 a ticket. Or save $2 by buying your ticket in advance from a block coordinator or ticket seller. Proceeds support The Village News, mailed free to all CJ residents, as well as the Fourth of July celebration, holiday party, and other CJ activities.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
The Crab Feast is a success each year because of the many, many volunteers who pitch in. Please consider volunteering for advance preparations or for an hour or two from 9 am to 7 pm on the 15th. Just e-mail cjcrabfeast@gmail.com or call the crab feast co-coordinators Allison and Patrick de Gravelles at 301-742-4762 and 301-605-7267, respectively.
By Susan Shipp
CJCA President [...]
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August 16, 2018Maryland’s $7.6 billion plan to expand the Beltway and I-270 will be the focus of the first fall meeting of the Cabin John Citizens Association on Sept. 26. State transportation officials will be on hand to present some preliminary alternatives and to answer attendees’ questions.
This is a massive and controversial undertaking that could profoundly impact Cabin John.
Governor Larry Hogan unveiled his concept of a Public-Private Partnership (P3) program to address ongoing traffic congestion on the American Legion Bridge, I-495, and the I-270 corridor last fall. Under the P3 approach, the state would develop general project parameters and scope of the project. While there are alternatives under consideration, it is highly likely that the state would then contract with one or more private developers to design, build, finance, and operate up to four toll lanes on I-495 between the American Legion Bridge and the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and on I-270 between I-495 and I-70. This is similar in some ways to the toll lanes on the Beltway in Virginia developed using the P3 approach.
As part of the process, the Maryland Department of Transportation (MDOT) initiated a number of public informational meetings starting in Dec. 2017. Most recently, MDOT held community workshops in July to discuss a preliminary range of construction alternatives, which is an early step in the federally mandated environmental assessment process. MDOT plans to draft its environmental impact statement and select its desired alternative by fall 2019.
More information on these alternatives and the project in general.
Cabin John, especially the Evergreen neighborhood which backs up to the Beltway, could be impacted in a number of major ways by any Beltway expansion. While the community would benefit if the plan reduced gridlock on the Beltway and I-270, it could also face increased noise, local traffic, off-ramp congestion, and pollution. Most alarming is the potential for the taking of private property through eminent domain. All residents of Cabin John are urged to become informed and participate in these early phases of the project.
CJ residents Charlotte Troup Leighton and Greg Pawlson have been monitoring the project, attending several of the MDOT informational meetings and having conversations and correspondence with MDOT officials, the Montgomery County Council, the Maryland Legislature and the offices of Attorney General Brian Frosh, Rep. Jamie Raskin and Sen. Chris Van Hollen. In addition, the CJCA (Susan Shipp and Greg Pawlson) and the Evergreen citizens (led by Charlotte Troup Leighton) submitted formal comment letters during the MDOT June “call for comments” on the project. Read the letter.
With the study process well underway, a number of citizens groups have formed to follow and/or outright oppose the project. While the CJCA is monitoring their activities, it has not endorsed any other group at this point in time or taken a formal position for or against the state’s plans.
By Greg Pawlson
CJCA VP of Advocacy
Beltway Expansion Commentary
By Greg Pawlson
CJCA VP of Advocacy
The following are my own observations from talking to MDOT officials, elected officials, and others in Maryland and Virginia, and doing some background reading on the subject. These views are not the official position of CJCA.
It appears to me that the Beltway/I-270 expansion project has three major aspects. The first is political given it is an initiative of Republican Governor Larry Hogan. It is clear that many jurisdictions, primarily but not exclusively Republican, are using the P3 approach to build infrastructure, since they are unwilling or unable to raise taxes, including the gasoline tax, to pay for needed public infrastructure, including this current $7 billion project to mitigate Beltway traffic.
The P3 approach appears to have resulted in mixed success. (For more information, Google “P3 construction”). If one is opposed to this approach to financing and construction, and since it appears that Hogan and his senior officials in MDOT are locked into using it, then it would seem that political opposition should include electing politicians who are willing to consider raising taxes to support infrastructure development. There are already several coalitions forming in Maryland in opposition to the project, including “Citizens Against Beltway Expansion” (CABE).
Secondly, there is a real need for a comprehensive approach to solving DC’s growing traffic congestion, which virtually all of us experience on a daily basis on the Beltway and on our neighborhood streets. I don’t see any single solution, but perhaps mitigation through a wide variety of approaches. These could include nonhighway-related solutions like staggered work times (especially in our area given the number
of government employees) and more telecommuting, as well as mass transit with light rail, heavy rail and other forms of non-highway based transportation along with bus lanes, self-driving electric buses and vans and cars. At present I am not aware of any effective effort to consider a wide-reaching and innovative set of approaches to our transportation problems.
Finally, there is the MDOT P3 project itself, with the constraints imposed on the Maryland Department of Transportation by Gov. Hogan that includes only minimal state (or federal) funding for this project. This approach makes it almost certain that alternatives that MDOT will adopt will be highway-based restricted toll lanes built and administered by a private entity.
At any rate, the next year should prove very critical as this project moves forward. Given our strategic and vulnerable location, we need everyone from Cabin John to be involved in this project, and to provide input to make ourselves heard and hopefully influence the final outcome. So please come to the Wednesday, Sept. 26 CJCA meeting and reach out to Susan Shipp, Charlotte Troup Leighton or myself gpawlson@gmail.com) to learn more. [...]
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August 16, 2018A memorable day indeed.
The photo is evidence that whatever many and varied decisions this particular group of Cabin Johners had made in their lives, those paths all intersected on July 8th for a great day on the Potomac River.
There were a few things that made this trip different from others. First, the boats were already down at the water’s edge when everyone arrived courtesy of some hard-working participants. That is a big thing.
Second, the water level was 4.0, the highest that we’ve run the trip. Fewer rocks to run into but perhaps a bit more difficult to make course corrections due to the faster flowing current.
Third, this is the first time we’ve had lunch in that sandy beach just upstream of Carderock on the MD side. Can’t see any sign of civilization from there.
Fourth, we ran Stubblefied whitewater after positioning ourselves on the MD side. This is actually an easier approach, especially at higher water levels, than from the VA side.
The CJ Citizens Association supported the event with a subsidy of about $500.
Participants included: Peter and Vicky Gray Bross; Bob Walsh and son Hayden; Burr Gray; Carolyn Reimann, and daughters Emily and Katie; Duane Thompson and son D’Michael; Doug Pyle; Alexandra Freeman and Taylor; Marcy Harrison and Chip Wright; Dave McGaw, plus Steve and another friend; Mike Liebman and son Seth; Andrew Strasfogel; Elizabeth Jackson; John Butman; Patty Lee; Jana Butman; Alex Butman; Marget Maurer and son Andrew; Shellie Gainsburg and daughter Rachel; Tim and Mandy Rehm and their two children Pearl and Liam; Kevin Kearney; Dana Verkouteren and Mary Tyszkiewicz; Harriett Crosby; Arek Simpson; and Greg Gurley.
By Burr Gray [...]
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May 23, 2018The campaign yard signs are sprouting around CJ—it must be election season! The ballot will be jam-packed with candidates so now is the time to do your research. Primary Day is Tuesday, June 26, which is after school gets out and prime vacation time. So you may want to vote during the early voting period, from June 14 to June 21.
Our closest early voting site is the Potomac Comm. Rec. Center at 11315 Falls Rd., Potomac. Early voting works just like regular voting—just walk in, show ID, and vote.
Important Dates:
Voter Registration Deadline, Primary — June 5
Early Voting — June 14 to June 21 10:00 am to 8:00 pm
Primary Day — June 26 7:00 am to 8:00 pm
To register to vote or get voting information, visit the MoCo Board of Elections at montgomerycountymd.gov/Elections.
By Vashti Van Wyke [...]
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May 3, 2018The next CJ Blood Drive will take place on Mother’s Day, Sunday, May 13, 2018 at the Clara Barton Community Center.
The drive, which will be run by Inova Blood Donor Services, is from 10 am to 3 pm and drop-ins are welcome. You should
allow an hour to donate.
As a special thank-you for donating, Inova will enter all donors who complete the screening process into a drawing for two tickets to see the Zac Brown Band July 27th at Nationals Park.
To sign up for a specific time slot, please go to the Inova website and you can schedule your appointment yourself. Or send an email to Karen Melchar at cjblooddrive@gmail.com and we can schedule your appointment for you. For planning purposes, Karen also asks that you send her an email if you plan to donate, but do not want to schedule an appointment.
As always, we can use help staffing the sign-in table and helping with setup and take down. Please consider volunteering for an hour or two. [...]
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May 3, 2018Please consider volunteering for one of these important roles.
CJCA SECRETARY
After seven years of dedicated service, Amy Elsbree is stepping down as CJCA secretary. The primary responsibility of the
secretary is to take the minutes at CJCA meetings and provide occasional stories for the newsletter. Amy also took on
special projects, such as helping with tributes to Burr Gray and Clare Amoruso.
SSL COORDINATOR
Now that the CJCA is approved to offer Student Service Learning (SSL) hours, we are in need of an SSL coordinator. The
job, which should only take a couple hours a month and does not require meeting or event attendance, will help ensure the
volunteering students receive their hours in a timely fashion.
NEIGHBOR 2 NEIGHBOR COORDINATOR
Judith Bell and Bob Norris are in search of one or two people who can join them as coordinators of this valuable community service program. As the lead coordinator, Judith is the first responder for calls that come in seeking assistance. She also keeps the master list of volunteers and the services they are equipped to provide. Like Bob Norris, the new coordinator(s) will provide back-up when Judith is unavailable.
Contact Susan Shipp if you’re interested in helping out with the CJCA. [...]
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May 3, 2018Dog waste. Sure, it stinks, but you’ve got to pick up after your dog. It’s either dealing with the smell or not getting clean
drinking water. Let me show you what I mean… I counted nearly twentyfive piles of dog waste on a small section of MacArthur Boulevard in Cabin John. That’s a lot of dog owners who don’t care about the watershed.
What is a watershed, you might ask? No, it’s not a shed that holds water. Try again. A watershed is an area or ridge of land that separates waters flowing to different rivers, basins or seas. If you don’t pick up after your pet, the waste gets washed into the watershed.
To help you understand, I’m going to tell a story…. Once upon a time, you’re walking your dog. He uses the bathroom twice.
But instead of doing the responsible thing by picking it up, you just say “It stinks!” and walk away.
That night it rains and rains and rains. The next morning, you wake up and walk your dog. When you pass by the place you walked your dog yesterday, you expect to see the dog waste. Instead, you just see wet grass. So, where did all the waste go?
It’s simple. When you don’t pick up after your pet, it either:
A) decomposes into the dirt or
B) gets washed away.
It does both of these things. If the waste gets washed away, then it transports from where you left it to the Potomac River, which leads to the Chesapeake Bay.
And did you know that a single gram of dog waste can contain 23 million—that’s right, 23 MILLION—fecal coliform bacteria? Bacteria causes many diseases and viruses that can make both dogs and people sick. Dog poop is the number 3 cause of water pollution.
The big question is: why do some people not pick up after their pet? The answer is maybe that they don’t do it because it’s disgusting. But what’s even more disgusting is that we are drinking all that polluted water. So if you own a dog, please do your part to protect our watershed!
BY LUCY DONNAN
4th Grade [...]
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April 19, 2018Due to term limits, there will be an open seat on the Montgomery County Council representing District 1, which covers Bethesda, Cabin John, Potomac, and Poolesville. Come out to a candidate forum at the Clara Barton
community center Sunday, April 29 at 2 pm to hear from the democratic primary candidates running in District 1. Bring your questions!
Confirmed attendees are: Bill Cook, Pete Fosselman, Ana Sol Gutierrez, Jim McGee, Reggie Oldak, Dalbin Osorio, and Meredith Wellington. The forum is organized by several local progressive groups including Indivisible Cabin John.
The primary election is June 26, with early voting from June 12 to 21. [...]
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March 15, 2018New to Cabin John? We’d love to meet you!
All residents new to Cabin John in 2017 or 2018 are invited to a dinner to be held at the Clara Barton Community Center on Sunday,
April 22 from 5-7 pm. More established residents are urged to come welcome our new neighbors and bring along a side dish or dessert to share. The Cabin John Citizens Association will provide lasagna and drinks. There also will be games for the children and door prizes!
To ensure that we have food for all, please RSVP through Sign-Up Genius, an online sign-up site that has been established for
our potluck.
For questions, please contact Nancy Russell at nc3russell@yahoo.com or 301-229-1716.
BY Nancy Russell
VP Community Service & Outreach, CJCA [...]
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March 14, 2018Neighbor to Neighbor (N2N), a roster of residents ready to assist elderly Cabin Johners when needed, is due for some self-improvement. Originally formed nine years ago to “help our older neighbors live comfortably in their own homes as long as possible,” the group consists of about 30 volunteers, including three coordinators (currently Judith Bell, Bob Norris, and Susan Shipp) who maintain the volunteer list, receive requests for assistance, and match each requester with an available volunteer.
For a time, this system worked reasonably well. But these days hardly anyone calls N2N and it’s clear the program needs to be revitalized. Volunteers on the N2N roster have been polled occasionally to confirm their availability and their preferred ways to help out, but no new volunteers have been recruited. Outreach to new volunteers will be critical to keeping the program going.
Also, everyone in Cabin John is nine years older than they were when N2N began. That means that there are newly elderly neighbors who might occasionally like a little help, and N2N is not aware who they are. Figuring out how best to reach out to this population is an ongoing challenge.
“Aging in Place” was much in the news in 2009, and N2N was meant to foster that phenomenon in Cabin John. But Cabin Johners of any age may need temporary assistance, and N2N volunteers have been happy to help out when they can. Should the program formally change its mission to one of helping any CJ resident in need of assistance? Equally important is making sure N2N is providing the services that neighbors need. The vast majority of N2N requests have been for transportation to appointments, the grocery store, and other errands, though volunteers have also shoveled snow, walked dogs, and organized paperwork.
Interested? Please fill out this survey to let us know how N2N can help you or you can help serve others in the community.
BY JUDITH BELL
Neighbor to Neighbor Coordinator [...]
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March 6, 2018It was a standing room only crowd at the Jan. 31 CJCA meeting as more than fifty Cabin Johners showed up to learn about the current plans for repairs and improvements to the C&O Canal.
Park Superintendent Kevin Brandt reviewed an extensive plan for $10 million in canal improvements stretching from Violettes Lock to the District line. Although work is already underway, the complexity of the effort means water is not likely to flow in the Cabin John portion of the canal until the spring of 2021, provided additional state funding is secured next year.
Cabin John residents shared their concerns about the canal and the construction plans. Mac Thorton of Wishbone Terrace spoke for many paddlers when he lamented that the lack of water in the canal means Potomac paddlers can no longer loop back to their starting point. Brandt responded that the loop between Lock 5 and Fletcher’s Boat House should be restored this summer.
A number of attendees spoke to the environmental impacts of not having water in the canal and of the repairs. Brandt explained that the canal is now considered to be wetlands and that any work must go through an environmental assessment
and mitigate the loss of the wetlands.
Brandt credited community advocacy for helping the park secure state funds this year for canal repairs. He said citizens will need to express similar support – especially to county leaders who set priorities for state funding in their jurisdictions – to secure the additional funding needed to rewater the canal between Great Falls and Lock 5 at the DC Maryland line.
BY AMY ELSBREE
CJCA Board Member [...]
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March 6, 2018On Jan. 30 the builder and engineer of a proposed subdivision of 7555 MacArthur Blvd. met with the parcel’s neighbors to present a preliminary plan.
The schematic showed the .6-acre lot divided into two properties – the existing home keeping 82-feet of MacArthur Blvd. frontage and a second lot behind it with a 25-foot “pipestem” from MacArthur Blvd. to the parcel. A driveway would run from MacArthur to the back lot, where a new house would be surrounded by homes on Tomlinson Ave., 77th Street, and MacArthur Blvd.
Neighbors are concerned that existing water drainage issues due to slope and clay soil would be exacerbated by adding a new home and long driveway. Dean Packard, an engineer on the project, said the plan likely would include water drainage to MacArthur Blvd.
Neighbors were also concerned about the loss of trees. The drawings show the driveway running extremely close, if not over, a 29-inch Cedar. A 24 to 34-inch Silver Maple appears to sit within five feet of the proposed home.
Rembrandt Builders, the CJ company looking to subdivide the lot, indicated that soil composition and drainage issues might prompt them to reconsider moving forward. On Feb. 12, Rembrandt President Jim Graham-Yooll said in an email that they are “investigating the soils now and will make a decision after we know what their composition is.”
At a fall CJCA meeting, the association reaffirmed its opposition to pipestem or lot subdivisions that would increase
housing density, harm mature trees, or worsen water drainage.
BY SUSAN SHIPP
CJCA President [...]
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January 28, 2018The Dec. 3, 2017 holiday craft fair at the Clara Barton community center featured the beautiful wares of close to 50 artists, including six from Cabin John. John Walter Kingscott of Riverside Dr. and his inlay serving boards escaped the lens of this photographer. Here are the other Cabin Johners shown with their unique works of art.
EVA STOLWEIN
of 78th Street makes striking and colorful jewelry from dichroic glass. Dichroic (“dyecrow-ick”) means “two-colored” in Greek. NASA developed a process to make dichroic-fused glass in the 1950s. Stolwein makes her glass at the Art Glass Center at Glen Echo.
SUSAN GOODELL
of 83rd Place grew up on a sheep farm in Maine. Goodell and her husband Warren sit amidst a wealth of her beautiful woven goods.
EBRU KARACA
of Arden Rd. displays a lovely assortments of knitted dolls, animals, and blankets.
KATHLEEN STEVENSON
of Arden Rd. creates gorgeous painted silk scarves as well as mixed media and collage notecards.
STANLEY SCHAPER
of 78th Street works at the community center and makes lovely wood carvings in his spare time. [...]
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January 28, 2018Some 200 Cabin Johners, family and friends came out for the first annual Cabin John Turkey Trot held on Thanksgiving Day. The weather was perfect for the roughly 2.5 mile run/walk that started at the park by the one-lane bridge, looped participants down MacArthur Blvd., along the canal and back up to the park.
There was also a shorter tot trot comprised of several loops around the park. The overwhelming consensus is that this should be an annual event. The Cabin John Citizens Association would like to thank the many volunteers who
helped make this event possible, with a special shout out to CJCA Vice President of Activities Irena Bojanova who took the lead in organizing the trot.
See more photos from the Turkey Trot. [...]
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December 1, 2017We all know Cabin John is a friendly community with a lot of heart. But the Cabin John Citizens Association is looking to be even more warm and welcoming with the creation of a block coordinators program. Come to the Nov. 29 CJCA meeting at 7:30 pm in the community center to learn more about it.
The aim of this new neighborhood support structure, which divides Cabin John up into 33 “blocks” with one or more coordinators, is to help welcome new families to Cabin John, share information about the Neighbor-2-Neighbor assistance program, and communicate any block concerns or ideas to the CJCA, says Nancy Russell, the CJCA vice president of community outreach and service. Russell, who is spearheading this effort, has recruited 11 block coordinators to date.
“While the role of block coordinator should not be very time consuming, it is vital to creating more interconnectedness in our community,” says Russell. “It’s a great way for parents of school-age kids to get involved,” she added. The block system has been developed using the Crab Feast advanced ticket seller structure organized by Clare Amoruso. The table below illustrates the different “block” areas and the estimate of how many houses are in each block. If you live in one of the areas that needs a coordinator, please consider volunteering.
Community service also will be a focus of the November meeting. The CJCA wants community feedback on the Neighbor-2-Neighbor program, the CJ blood drives, and the creek cleanup it co-sponsors with the Friends of the Cabin John Creek. In addition, the CJCA wants to see if there is interest in doing more as a community.
For example, we could host a Cabin John night at Manna Food Center, where a group of 20 – 30 Cabin Johners could work to sort food and pack food boxes for distribution at the center.
By Nancy Russell and Susan Shipp
We Need You!
See an empty slot for your block? Please consider signing up to be a block coordinator! To find out more, contact Nancy Russell at nc3russell@yahoo.com or 301-229-1716.
Updated!
Find out who your block coordinator is and how to get in touch with him/her! [...]
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December 1, 2017Come enjoy some holiday cheer with your friends and neighbors at the annual CJ Holiday Party. While the highlight of the evening is Santa, who comes down off his fire truck to visit with the kids and pass out treats, there is always plenty of other fun for attendees of all ages.
The free festivities include a sing-along, crafts, a selfie station, and a delicious assortment of food and drink, including sushi, subs, and sweets as well as pizza and veggie platters. The raffle to raise funds for SOME (So Others Might Eat) keeps getting bigger and better. Tickets are $1 each or 12 for $10. At last year’s event, 13 participants won prizes valued between $50 and $400.
Sponsored by the Cabin John Citizens Association, the party will be held at the Clara Barton Community Center from 5 pm to 7 pm on Dec. 10. We need help to make this party a success. To volunteer, please contact Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net or 301-320-5106.
By Susan Shipp [...]
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October 1, 2017On September 9, after almost a year of planning, the Great Potomac River Tire Rodeo, organized by Cabin John’s Kevin Kearney and Bannockburn’s Beth Rogers, removed 229 tires from the Potomac River between the Cabin John Creek and Lock 10. More than 50 volunteers, many from co-sponsor Canoe Cruisers Association, came together on a cloudless, sunny day to haul out the tires and load them into a large dumpster for proper disposal.
Kevin, who has lived on Webb Road in Cabin John for 30 years, had discovered the huge number of abandoned tires on his twice-daily forays down to the Potomac. His house backs onto the Clara Barton Parkway and it takes him just 400 steps to get to the river’s edge – he considers the expanse his extended backyard and has tended it for many years, removing trash, debris, and invasives.
“My motto has been think globally, act locally, commit personally,” he says. Kevin started removing tires on his own, little by little, dragging them up to the tow path for the Park Service to remove. It was a “mellow” undertaking, he said, reminding him of the pleasures of clamming when he was a little boy. Following his lead, other neighbors, including Beth, who met Kevin along the river one day as he was picking up trash, started removing tires as well.
As the number of dislodged tires grew, the Park Service eventually told Kevin and Beth that they were “illegally dumping” the tires on federal property (the river, where the tires had been, is state land). Undeterred, Kevin started hauling the heavy tires all the way up to his house for disposal, dragging two or three at a time with his bicycle! But this wasn’t a sustainable model, and there were still a lot more tires out there.
In 2016, with help from Delegate Marc Korman, Kevin and Beth got the Park Service, which is the only entity allowed to operate vehicles on the towpath, to agree to move the tires up to Lock 10; and the county agreed to haul them away for disposal. Overall, during this first “mellow” phase of the operation, Kevin, Beth, and several friends and neighbors, removed about 150 tires. Quite a haul!
But they knew there were still many more tires remaining in our stretch of the river. So, a year ago, they decided to plan a formal clean-up day, complete with a park permit and an industrialsized dumpster. Beth wrote a successful proposal for a small amount of funding for the clean-up from NRG, an energy company that runs coal-fired plants and was being fined $1 million for nitrogen discharges in the Potomac and Patuxent Rivers (the small grant came out of the fine amount). Kevin and Beth also lined up vital support from the Canoe Cruisers Association, which helped with volunteers, boats, river-savvy, liability insurance, and life preservers on the day of the event.
More than 50 volunteers showed up on Sept. 9 for the long day of boating, digging, and hauling tires. Based on their reconnaissance, Kevin and Beth thought there were probably about 80 tires, at most, remaining between the mouth of the Cabin John Creek and Lock 10. Instead, their huge dumpster was filled to overflowing with 229 tires at the end of the day.
“Kevin was the spark for this clean-up. The river is his backyard and he knows it like the back of his hand,” said Beth. “The day itself was such a high. We had perfect weather, so many enthusiastic volunteers, and we removed so many more tires than we expected.” Several Cabin Johners helped with the clean-up, including Larry Heflin, who helmed the lunch foodrun (paid for by the grant), Burr Gray, and others.
Beth estimates there may be up to 1000 tires per linear mile in this part of the Potomac River. She speculates that the tires, which are all about 40 years old, may have originated at a large tire farm that operated in Winchester, VA, 50 miles upstream. The good news, she reports, is that new tire purchases now include a small fee to cover proper disposal of old tires, meaning there are not many new tires making their way into the Potomac today.
Adding it all up, over the last two years local volunteers have dug out almost 380 tires from the river near Cabin John, an amazing service to our local water ecology. Asked whether more tire rodeos are in Cabin John’s future, Beth and Kevin each demurred, with Kevin commenting (wisely) that, “You can ruin things in life that you enjoy doing by doing them too much.” Regardless, Cabin Johners can offer a grateful thanks to these two dedicated volunteers for helping make our tiny part of the earth a bit cleaner and less encumbered by the waste of our modern world.
By Vashti Van Wyke [...]
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September 11, 2017Want to gather with friends and neighbors for an afternoon of delicious food, refreshing beverages, and superb music? Then plan to head to Cabin John’s 48th Annual Chicken and Crab Feast Sept. 16 at the Clara Barton Community Center.
The food and fun are served up starting at 2:00 pm. The Starlight Orchestra, a 15-piece jazz and swing band, gets underway shortly thereafter. The fun continues until 6:00 pm. Around 4 pm the Cabin John Citizens Association will take a few minutes to honor Clare Amoruso for her three decades of service to the community. (See profile pg. 3)
A local tradition since 1970, the Crab Feast is not only a fun community event that brings some 600 Cabin Johners and their friends together; it is also an important fundraiser for the Cabin John Citizens Association. Dinner tickets are available for $16 at the door, and $14 if bought in advance (please call 301-320-2685). Proceeds from this event support The Village News, a 16-page newsletter free to all CJ residents, as well as the Fourth of July celebration, the holiday party, and other activities and service.
The Crab Feast is a success each year because of the many, many volunteers who pitch in. Please consider volunteering for advance preparations or for an hour or two from 9:00 am to 7:00 pm on the 16th. Thanks to the efforts of Laura Miller and Greg Pawlson, the CJCA is now able to offer SSL hours for middle and high school students who volunteer at CJCA community events. Anyone wishing to lend a hand should e-mail cjcrabfeast@gmail.com or call Crab Feast Coordinator Allison de Gravelles at 301-742-4762.
Clare Amoruso To Be Honored at CJ Crab Feast
After more than 30 years of almost constant service to the community, Clare Amoruso is stepping away from her current roles as coordinator of Crab Feast advanced ticket sales and as treasurer for the Cabin John Citizens Association. But the community is not going to let her “retire” without saying thanks.
Please join the CJCA at the Crab Feast around 4 pm, when the incredible Starlight Orchestra takes their break, to pay tribute to Clare for her decades of service to the Cabin John community.
By Susan Shipp [...]
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September 11, 2017The summer swelter did not keep close to 200 Cabin Johners of all ages from gathering to commemorate the Fourth of July with the annual parade and reading of the Declaration of Independence.
This year the festivities kicked off at 10:30 am with some 50 families meeting to decorate bikes and strollers. Their efforts guaranteed a fantastic display of patriotism when the parade got underway at 11:00 am. The parade marchers made their way along the MacArthur Boulevard bike and pedestrian path and were met at the Clara Barton Community Center by Pam Zilly playing patriotic tunes on her bagpipes.
Once the parade arrived at the community center black top, everyone enjoyed watermelon, donuts, and much-appreciated beverages. Larry Hefflin led the annual reading of excerpts from the Declaration of Independence and the kids played with bubbles, balls, and other trinkets.
This year brought some changes to the traditional activities. The reversal of the parade direction was considered a success by all as it provided a much safer and larger space for the post-parade celebration by ending at the community center black top. The pre-parade decorating took place on 79th Street below the shopping center and provided direct access to the bike and pedestrian path without the need to cross MacArthur Boulevard at the start of the route.
Many thanks to the Lai and Ingalls families for coordinating the bike and stroller decorating and the Ruppert and Jaeger/Tunador families for hosting the pre-parade fun in their driveways. The CJCA also thanks Amy Elsbree, Irena Bojanova, Greg Pawlson, and Nancy Russell for coordinating the refreshments and fun at the end of the parade and to all who pitched in to make the day such a success. If you have suggestions for next year’s parade or would like to lend a hand, please be in touch with CJCA President Susan Shipp at jsjshipp3@verizon.net.
By Amy Elsbree [...]
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September 1, 2017Most of us know Cabin John Creek from the great views on the trail that runs from the playground at the one-lane bridge to Seven Locks Rd. by Cypress Grove Lane. It’s about a half-hour hike. Though there are serious ascents, descents, and some stretches of rocky ankle-twisting opportunity, looking at “our” creek is pure joy.
Most of the time it’s a peaceful spring-fed stream–always flowing, sometimes flat, and much of the time presenting views of gentle cascades over low rocks and ledges. One guy who’s been walking the trail and looking at the creek for over forty years is my 76th St. neighbor, Walt Dence. Walt told me that for decades he’s wanted to experience our creek valley from the perspective of the river. That would mean either
wading the whole thing or paddling it in a boat.
Walt Dence is an electronics engineer, who has been a long-time flat-water canoer. He taught canoeing at a camp for two years in the 1950s. In 2010, Walt and his son, Ross, took their first paddle on the Potomac, participating in the annual Cabin John canoe trip. They have been paddling regularly since 2013 and took some white-water lessons a couple years ago. Now Ross, who lives in Washington, D.C., brings the grandkids out and they all canoe together.
Walt’s has been waiting for the right conditions to run Cabin John Creek from where it goes under River Road, down through Cabin John to the C&O Canal. The water level must be higher than ordinary summertime flow, but less than a flood. It turns out that our stretch of Cabin John Creek is a highly rated white-water canoeing destination–who’d have guessed! With its many twists and turns, flats, drops, and shallows, our stretch is about 3 miles.
On the water, it takes about an hour. For Walt to enjoy the run with his son, everything had to come together on a weekend. At 75 years old, he finally got his chance. The last week of July saw a lot of rain — in some areas, torrential. Walt checked the paint-marked boulder at the edge of the creek by River Rd. The water level was just right–about one-and-a-half feet above the summer norm.
As the rain subsided in the late morning on July 29, Walt, Ross, and Ross’s friend Aaron Otte, put in by River Rd. Ross was in his solo white-water canoe, and he had a GoPro video camera. “Once you are down on the water, you are in nature,” said Walt. “You don’t even hear the noise from the cars whizzing by on River Road.” The trip ended at the canal about an hour later with the men only having to walk their boats once or twice. Walt’s dream had become reality. Walt observed, “After staring down at the rapids in rain storms for decades, finally getting into the water was amazing. “The view of the valley from the creek is just beautiful.”
By Peter Vogt [...]
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April 20, 2017Montgomery County anticipates it will spend $2.1 million repaving the streets of Cabin John this summer. The project is to begin after July 1 and once underway will take roughly three months, according to county officials who came to the March 29 CJCA meeting to provide an overview of the work. Your roads are in bad shape, which means “we will be building brand new roads,” said John Birton, program manager with the Department of Highway Services.
Birton explained that concrete work and curbs will be done first and then roadways will be repaved. Curbs will not be added to road unless they existed before the repaving. The new asphalt is quick drying and should be dry in about an hour. Work is done on one side of the street at a time to allow for traffic. However, there may be short periods when residents will not have access to their driveways. No roads are slated to be widened as part of the project.
Residents will receive a comprehensive project newsletter about three weeks before the project begins and signs will be posted at least 48 hours before repaving starts on a road, according to Norman Smith, the project manager who will be on site daily. The work is schedule between the hours of 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. However, hours could be extended and Saturday work permitted to expedite the project. Trash and recycling trucks should have no trouble working around the repaving operations. Once the project is underway, the county will post updates on their website.
The actual work will be performed by a private contractor under contract to the county. While the contractor is in Cabin John, Smith said, residents will be able to take advantage of the county’s competitive bid contract prices to repair their driveway aprons. The driveway apron is the portion of the driveway, often concrete, that is within the public right-of-way. Driveway repairs are also be a possibility as the contractors are allowed to do private work too.
Dan Sheridan, with the county’s division of transportation engineering took questions on 17 areas with planned modifications to address drainage concerns. Residents raised a number of water concerns, including pooling at the 79th Street underpass to Riverside Dr. the intersection of Arden Rd. and 76th Street and areas of 81st and 83rd streets. “There are not a lot of storm drains out there so we are limited in what we can do,” said Sheridan. However, he believes they will be able to address minor issues.
Pamela Rowe from the county’s department of Environmental Protection said her department is working with the highway division to see about a broader approach to stormwater issues in Cabin John, including the possibility of biorentention swales at the bottom of some streets. Rowe said this effort is on a different timeline so as not to slowdown the paving project. She also noted that she has funding for a dozen more free residential RainScape assessments should anyone in Cabin John be interested.
By Susan Shipp [...]
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April 1, 2017The March 29 CJCA meeting promises to be of interest to almost every resident in Cabin John. The topic of the evening will be the county’s upcoming roadway rehabilitation project, which will touch almost every county road in the neighborhood. The meeting, to be held at the Clara Barton Community Center, will begin at 7:30 pm.
County officials from the Department of Transportation (DOT) will be providing an overview of the project, which is scheduled to begin shortly after July 1, the start of the county’s new fiscal year. Roadway rehabilitation is one of the most extensive repaving options. Established primarily for the county’s mature neighborhoods, rehabilitation Heavily damaged Riverside Dr. will be repaired as part of includes the total removal and replacement of pavement exhibiting widespread areas of fatigue-related distress as well as base and subgrade failures, according to DOT. The goal is to “fix and enhance existing roads, curbs and sidewalks. I am stressing existing,” says Josh Faust, public outreach manager for the department’s division of highway
services. New construction is not the purview of this project, he added.
That said, the DOT is working with the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to see if some long-standing stormwater issues on CJ streets such as 76th Street and 81st Street above MacArthur Blvd. and 83rd Street below MacArthur might be addressed in conjunction with the resurfacing project, according to Pamela Rowe, a DEP staffer who has been working with the Friends of the Cabin John Creek on the county’s RainScapes program and other storm water issues. Engineers, arborists and project managers have already spent time in the neighborhood assessing the roads and determining a tree protection plan. Some of the county’s experts will join Faust and Rowe at the meeting. The work plan and schedule, which is typically phased, will also be discussed.
Cabin John has a number of other road concerns – from the dangers of cut-through traffic and the mounting frustrations of navigating MacArthur Blvd. during the morning and evening rush hours to the MacArthur Blvd. drainage issues impacting Cabin John Gardens. While extremely important to the community, these issues are not within the scope of the county’s Highway Services Division. If you have roadway concerns outside the repaving project, please contact CJCA President Susan Shipp to discuss. Work on these issues is ongoing.
— Susan Shipp [...]
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February 23, 2017At its January meeting, the Cabin John Citizens Association unanimously voted to support the Montgomery County Quiet Skies Coalition. This new group is bringing together more than a dozen Montgomery County communities to advocate for comprehensive solutions to mitigate airplane noise in our neighborhoods.
The coalition, which has been drawing up to 50 participants at its monthly meetings, has formed committees to focus on communications and outreach, research and information gathering, legislative initiatives and activism along with a group looking at how best to structure the coalition.
Cabin John was well represented at the Feb. 6 coalition meeting, with six residents attending and Gretchen Gaston presenting a status report on several legislative actions. The coalition is urging Montgomery County residents to tell their elected officials how untenable the situation has become and to ask for their help. Excessive airplane noise and the FAA’s implementation of NextGen technology without consideration of the communities under the flight paths near major airports is a national problem. The DC area is behind the curve in voicing its distress.
Here are some ways Cabin Johners can communicate their frustrations and concerns regarding the excessive airplane noise from the arrivals and departures out of Reagan National Airport (DCA).
Keep filing complaints using the Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority’s (MWAA) DCA Noise Complaint Form. Try to be as specific as you can — time of day/night,whether the plane is in-bound or out-bound and what was disrupted, a walk, sleep, conversation — when you complete the easy-to-fill out form. (It takes three minutes at most.) This is the most quantifiable way for our elected officials to understand that the noise is real.
Write a letter to support the Reagan National Community Noise Working Group’s 6-point Plan The community representatives of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Working Group (the group created to represent community concerns and recommend aircraft noise solutions to the FAA) recently submitted a plan to the airport authority that contains several provisions that would greatly benefit communities under the current flight paths. Among other things, the plan calls on the FAA to:
move navigation waypoints away from communities
increase departure altitudes
implement a runway rotation plan to scatter departure noise more equitably
review approach procedures to determine changes necessary to reduce noise
conduct area-wide noise assessment studies
implement a 24/7 Fly Quiet Program
promote more traffic in and out of Washington Dulles
The Maryland members of the airport authority as well as well as elected officials at the county, state and national level need to hear from constituents that their support of this plans is expected and appreciated. For a list of elected officials’ email addresses and a sample letter, please go to the Montgomery County Quite Skies Coalition website.
By Susan Shipp [...]
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February 23, 2017Big changes have come to the local Clara Barton community building in the past few months. Paula Curran, a long-time Cabin John resident, became the new director of the Clara Barton Center for Children, and Barry Jones joined the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center as its new director.
Located at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and 75th Street, the 89-year-old building is a local gem housing both a preschool and a Montgomery County recreation facility. The Clara Barton Center for Children (CBCC), which occupies the north end of the building, is a
renowned, play-based preschool. It was founded in 1975 after the school board decided to close the Clara Barton Elementary School which had occupied the site since 1928. The community center, located in the south end of the building, is operated by the Montgomery County Department of Recreation and offers fitness and activity programs for seniors, children, and other residents. A recreation center first
operated at the site in 1957, although in a different building, according to local historian Judith Welles. In 1990, the center moved into its present location.
Paula Curran
The CBCC preschool has been a pillar of the Cabin John community for decades, providing a warm, loving, and happy start for many of Cabin John’s youngest citizens. Paula Curran became the center’s new director in October, after serving as the school’s administrator for
12 years. A resident of Carver Road since 1999 with her husband Matt, Curran first came to know CBCC when their oldest daughter started at Clara Barton in 2004. Two other children are also alumni.
The school has 75 children in five classrooms (all named after birds!), 15 staff members, and two outdoor playgrounds.“Part of what makes this school so special is that it is tucked away in this little community and many of the children go on to elementary school with their friends,” said Curran. “The children’s days are filled with joyful learning, exploring, creating, making choices, and experimenting. That is the basis of what we do.”
Curran says she is committed to the positive, play-based program. While she anticipates there will be “a few tweaks here and there,” she says that “one of my favorite things is seeing families come back who were at the school years ago, and I can tell them that the school is pretty much like it was when they were here. It’s just a wonderful community.”
Although Cabin John residents are given a priority for admission, the school’s small size and sibling preference means there is usually a waitlist for new students. Curran admits that this is a challenging part of her job. She also wants local families to know that the school provides financial aid and encourages all families to apply for admission, regardless of ability to pay.
The school is known for the remarkable longevity of its staff, many of whom have been at the school a decade or longer. Cabin Johners Maris Miles and Deborah Duffy have worked at the school for 13 and 12 years respectively. In January, Duffy took on the role of assistant director at the preschool. Cabin Johner Liz Clark, a 21-year veteran teacher at CBCC, attended Clara Barton Elementary in the 1960s.
Barry Jones
Barry Jones has been on the job as director of the recreation center since December. While this position is his first for Montgomery County, Jones, an Arlington native, worked in recreation and community programming for Fairfax County for five years. He is eager to connect with Cabin Johners about their interests to expand offerings that best meet community’s needs. “This center has a lot of potential and I want people to use the resources we have here. It all starts with programming,” said Jones.
He says the center has several well-utilized programs for seniors that he hopes to expand to more days, including a drop-in morning program with social activities, breakfast, games, crafts, and recreation. Jones would like to add adult evening classes, perhaps Zumba, interval training, or dance classes. He plans to hold demonstration classes to see what residents are interested in.
He also wants to get young people engaged at the center. He is considering a drop-in after school program for young people with homework space, an open gym, and pool and ping-pong tables. Jones says the monthly Mac Friday program, open to kids in 3rd to 6th grade, draws between 70 and 90 kids once a month for pizza, basketball, crafts, dancing, and video games.
Jones wants the community to know that he is, “someone who is available and open…if there are things that people need or want, don’t be afraid to ask. The community center belongs to the people and is here to serve their interests. We work for them and we want to make the center the best that it can be.” Finally, he notes that citizens can rent the social hall, community room, and the smaller
meeting room for meetings and activities. Just call to make a reservation. The center’s number is 240-777-4910.
By Vashti Van Wyke
[...]
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January 17, 2017The WSSC is about to begin a two-year sewer expansion project that is likely to impact traffic at River Rd and Seven Locks for the duration of the project. Called the Cabin John Sewer Relief Project, it is an $8 million overhaul of the sewer system paid for by Federal Realty Investment Trust to expand some 2,700 feet of sewer main along River Rd. and Seven Locks Rd. (See attached photo.) The added capacity is needed because of development along Rockville Pike, including Pike and Rose, and the upcoming White Flint redevelopment.
Phase one of the project is along Seven Locks Rd and the contractors expect it “to begin in earnest in early February (i.e. the actual digging, with the related lane closures, etc.). This work will largely be done at nighttime. Until then, the contractor will be doing some test pitting and saw cutting of asphalt, which will involve some related temporary lane closures during the day, outside of rush hour,” according to Jay Corbalis, a Federal Realty employee who is on the Cabin John Sewer Project Team
Please let the CJCA know of any issues you have in conjunction with this project so that we can see if they can be addressed. [...]
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January 16, 2017The Federal Aviation Administration announced Jan. 5 that it would terminate its proposed changes to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) north flow departure procedures, known as LAZIR B. The agency said it based its decision on feedback from communities around the airport. If the LAZIR B plan had gone forward Cabin John likely would have seen and heard even more departures overhead.
However, this decision does not address the current volume of air traffic and consequent noise that Cabin John has been subjected to since December 2015 when the FAA made significant flight path changes using its NextGen technology. The NextGen system shifts air traffic from radar to GPS-based air traffic control and is the source of the more concentrated flight paths over Cabin John and other communities along the Potomac River. This issue is not unique to our area. Communities near airports around the country are experiencing similar airplane noise problems as the NextGen technology is being rolled out.
A growing number of government officials and local communities are working to address the noise problems from DCA arrivals and departures. Cabin John is being asked to join a coalition of Montgomery County communities working to mitigate the airplane noise. At its Jan. 25 meeting, the CJCA will discuss this issue further and vote on whether to align ourselves with this coalition. [...]
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January 11, 2017A festive crowd, estimated at more than 200, showed up for the annual CJ holiday party Dec. 11 at the community center. No one went hungry with plenty of sushi, subs, pizza, and platters of fruits, veggies, cheeses and sweets for all. A crafts table and selfie photo station, along with a rousing sing-along, kept folks entertained while they waited for the main attraction.
Santa showed up as anticipated, atop the ladder truck of the Cabin John Volunteer Fire Department. He spent time with dozens of kids, listening to their wish lists, taking pictures and handing out stockings of treats. After Santa departed, it was time for the other anticipated activity: the raffle of many generous gifts from local businesses. Thirteen winners walked away with prizes and $622 was raised for the S.O.M.E. gift-giving project organized by Lori Rieckelman. (See related story.)
Sponsored by the Cabin John Citizens Association, this evening of community and free fun was successful due to the coordination efforts of CJCA Vice President Greg Pawlson and his wife Jean Johnson. He was assisted by a large contingent of helpers. Elaine Hornauer and Robin and Evan Gurley tackled decorations. Larry Heflin picked up the Christmas tree. Nancy Russell, Susan Roberts and Lori Rieckelman sold raffle tickets. Clare Amoruso arranged raffle prizes and food orders. Marcy Harrison and Amy Elsbree kept the food and drink tables filled. With Susan Roberts at the piano, Heidi and Daisy Lewis and Crista Gibbons led the singing with guest singers ranging in age from toddlers to college age. Burr Gray provided invaluable assistance throughout the night. My apologies to anyone that is inadvertently missing from this list, especially those folks who stuck around to make clean up a breeze. [...]
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November 25, 2016Have you ever wished that your eye would suddenly light on an item perfect for someone on your holiday list — something that’s for sale AND certain not to be duplicated? Well, that happens all the time at the annual Clara Barton Holiday Craft Show. Come check it out! You’ll browse pottery, woodwork, glass, things to eat, things to wear, things to read–all being sold by the local artists, artisans, and authors who made them. No middlemen.
The ninth annual craft fair is set for Dec. 4 from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m., at the Clara Barton Community Recreation Center, 7425 MacArthur Blvd. in Cabin John. Admission and parking are free. For more information, go to the FCBCC website www.FriendsCBCC.org or contact Leslie Barden, 301-365-1311 or email cbcc.craftshow@verizon.net.
Each year the Friends of Clara Barton Community Center organizes the Holiday Craft Show in cooperation with the Montgomery County Department of Recreation. The Friends of Clara Barton Community Center is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization that supports programs at the Clara Barton Community Recreation Center. The center’s phone number is 240-777-4910. [...]
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November 2, 2016The next Cabin John Citizens Association Blood Drive is on Sunday, Nov. 6, 10 am to 4 pm at the Clara Barton Center. After years of issues with the Red Cross, including the last-minute cancellation of June’s drive, the CJCA has arranged for Inova Blood Donor Services to run this drive. They promise an efficient drive with donors moving through the process in less than an hour.
To book a donation time, you are encouraged to sign up online at www.inovabloodsaves.org) or to contact Karen Melchar at cjblooddrive@gmail.com.
We also need volunteers to help make this blood drive a success. Specifically, volunteers are needed to help setup, to pick up sandwiches for the Inova workers from Market on the Boulevard, and to help out at the registration desk. Please contact Karen by email at cjblooddrive@gmail.com or call 301-229-9049, if you can donate an hour or so of your time. [...]
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November 2, 2016More than thirty Cabin Johners attended the Sept. 28 CJCA meeting, which focused on two issues of significant community concern. New CJCA President Susan Shipp led a discussion about the growing
aircraft noise in Cabin John and resident Trav Daniels led a discussion about the excessive and unsafe commuter traffic on Cabin John roads.
The CJCA will form a working group to focus on aircraft noise issue. Anyone interested in this effort should contact Susan at jsjshipp3@verizon.net. In addition, Susan urged residents to contact the FAA to comment on their proposed plans to increase the air traffic over Cabin John. While the deadline for commenting on the specific plan has passed, Cabin Johners are encouraged to file noise complaints at http://www.flyreagan.com/dca/reagan-nationalsubmit-noise-complaint. Letters to congressional, state and local lawmakers are also needed to engage them in the fight.
Trav Daniels explained that the county has been evaluating the cut-through traffic situation and has proposed a Do Not Enter sign at the intersection of Seven Locks Rd. and Tomlinson Avenue. Attendees at the meeting did not feel this was an adequate solution and discussed possible alternatives including posting signs at MacArthur Blvd. and 77th and 78th Streets to stop left turns into the neighborhood as the police report 60 percent of the traffic is coming off of MacArthur . Other ideas were to lower the speed limit and post it more clearly, make Arden Rd. one way heading west, and install traffic calming devices such as speed bumps.
Trav and other community members will meet with county officials to discuss alternative approaches to the Tomlinson-Arden mitigation effort. Susan Shipp noted the recent changes to the intersection of MacArthur and the Clara Barton Parkway, including the lane markings and poles on the corners. Those present agreed that these are improvements and it is now easier to get out of Cabin John Gardens for drivers and it is safer for pedestrians. By Amy Elsbree [...]
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October 17, 2016The Clara Barton Community Center will hold its 11th annual Haunted House on Sunday, October 30, from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Clara Barton Center. Once again, the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center, in conjunction with the Montgomery County Department of Recreation, will create a scary experience just before Halloween!
Although all ages are welcome, children up to age 12 will probably find it most rewarding. Please accompany the young ones. No charge for entry. Fortunes will be told, witches will cast spells, zombies will abound, refreshments will be served, and small gift items will be handed out to kids.
For adults, feel free to visit and have your fortune told. Plus, we will have a small, separate section that will feature things particularly frightening to grownups! For more information about the event, contact the Center at 240-777-4910. [...]
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August 23, 2016Cabin John’s 47th Annual Chicken & Crab Feast, slated for Sept. 17, promises to provide the usual delicious food, refreshing drinks and superb live music from the Starlight Orchestra. It also will be a chance for the community to says thanks to Burr Gray for the two decades of service that he has given to Cabin John.
Join your neighbors, bring your friends and come to the Clara Barton Community Center between 2 and 6 pm for this fun community celebration. A local tradition since 1970, the crab feast is an important fundraiser for the Cabin John Citizens’ Association. Dinner tickets are available for $15 at the door, and $13 if bought in advance (call 301-320-2685).
The Crab Feast is a success each year because of the many, many volunteers who pitch in. Please consider volunteering for advance preparations or for an hour or two from 9 am to 7 pm on the 17th. Just e-mail cjcrabfeast@gmail.com or call Crab Feast coordinator Allison de Gravelles at 301-742-4762. [...]
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August 22, 2016Cabin Johners were out on the Potomac River on July 10th in record numbers. We had 67 people paddle about 20 canoes and 10 kayaks down the river from Old Anglers to Lockhouse 10—pretty much the largest group in the last ten years.
Calleva could rent us only 10 canoes, so we borrowed another six from Dave Smith, who used to run Potomac Outdoors in Cabin John in the location where Level Fitness is located. But we still needed more canoes so we sent a desperate request via listserv to the CJ community who responded. Many thanks to Mac Thornton, Drew Engleson, Trudi Bick, and Tim Kallman for loaning us their trusty watercraft. We had exactly the right number.
The river level was at 3.3 on the Little Falls gage, which is perfect; high enough to cover most rocks but not too swift. Once again, our Calleva Head Guide was CJ resident Olivia Murphy. Calleva is such a valuable resource when it comes to group water adventures. There is no one else around who can provide canoes, guides, and overall coordination for a large trip like ours. Liquid Adventures has joined forces with Calleva and provided most of the kayaks. Our intrepid Cabin John adventurers this year included the following: Dale & Hannah Stahl, Stephanie & Mike Lai and their two kids, Ulrich Apel, Bob Walsh and David Shell and two youngsters, Robert Patt-Corner, Nancy and Craig Russell, Dave McGaw and a slew of friends, Anne Reb and a friend Maureen, Greg Da Re & Catalina Marulanda and their two children, Patrick & Allison de Gravelles, Sarah Craven & Matt McGuire and son Jack, Angela Miller and her two children, Mike Liebman & son Seth, Javier Barsantini and family, Elaine Hornauer & Gil, Darren & Monica Hornauer, Diana and Irena Bojanova, Eduardo Cortina, Grey & Jessica Emmons, Rose Braue and friend, Steve Bergstrom and his wife, Peter Bross & Vicky Gray, Burr & Fiona Gray and Lily Robinson, Jim Blitz plus one, and the ubiquitous Reed Martin.
Regardless how long you have lived in Cabin John, if you haven’t been out on the river, think about coming next year. We had lots of novice paddlers this year and everyone did just fine. OK, OK, so
one boat and one kayak did tip at Stubblefield, the bouncy wavy whitewater stretch, but I figure that
was probably an obligatory gesture of respect to the river gods. On a warm summer day, not so bad to
do a little swimming in the Potomac. As always, the event is funded by fees from the participants and with support from CJCA, based on the principle that getting Cabin Johners out onto the river is always a good thing.
By Burr Gray [...]
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July 2, 2016Join your neighbors for Cabin John’s own patriotic tribute to the 4th of July as we parade from the Clara Barton Community Center to the shopping center at Seven Locks and Mac Arthur Blvd. Gather at the community center, where small flags, pinwheels and hats will be provided by CJCA prior to the start of the parade at 11 a.m. Or join the parade in route as we stroll the bike path to the grassy area adjacent the Firehouse dry cleaners parking lot. Wear patriotic garb if you wish, but otherwise the attire is casual and fun. Feel free to decorate bikes, strollers, dog collars and the like.
At the end of the parade there will be drinks, donuts and watermelon as well as some activities for the kids and a reading of select passages from the Declaration of Independence. The festivities will wrap up about noon. [...]
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July 2, 2016Over the summer, Cabin John children and an accompanying adult are admitted free of charge to the Palisades Pool on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 am to 1 pm. Children age 7 and under must be accompanied by a supervising adult. Children age 8-14 who will be left by themselves at the pool will be asked to satisfy the swim test by swimming one length of the pool and treading water for one minute.
Please sign in at the pool – some proof of residency (such as being listed in the CJ Community Directory, an ID with address, or mail received at a Cabin John address) may be required for admission. The Palisades Pool (301-229-2598) is located off Seven Locks Road between Carver Road and Cyprus Grove Lane. The Cabin John Free Swim was part of an agreement between the Cabin John community and the founders of the Palisades Pool to gain neighborhood approval of the zoning variance that permitted the pool to be constructed.
By Burr Gray [...]
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June 26, 2016Our annual Potomac River canoe/kayak trip is set for Sunday, July 10. We will continue to rely on Calleva/Liquid Adventures for general organization and canoes/kayaks. As usual, we will put in at Old Anglers Inn in the morning (probably around 10 am) and take out at Lockhouse 10 in Cabin John in the mid-afternoon (probably between 3 to 3:30 pm). The trip is generally limited to Cabin John residents and friends, but we can usually fit in outsiders. Fees are $15/head (maximum of $30/canoe), and there is a separate charge of $30 if you rent a canoe or kayak. These fees, along with the CJCA subsidy, pay for the Calleva/Liquid Adventure guides and associated costs.
On the trip, you will definitely encounter herons and ducks and possibly ospreys and eagles. We’ll likely have lunch on the Virginia side by Scott’s Run creek, which has a nice waterfall that some of the more adventurous can sit under. Expert guides and instruction will be provided. Canoe/kayak paddling instruction is strongly recommended for all and begins at the River’s edge about 10 am. Expect to get wet in some fashion during this trip. People do tip over on occasion, usually unexpectedly. Some of us will avoid Yellow Falls, which can be somewhat difficult, and some will seize the challenge. All expect to have fun going through Stubblefield Falls, just upstream of the Beltway Bridge. It’s wavy and bouncy but no rocks. We’ll get some pictures of you in your canoe/kayak as you go through, so it’s an opportunity of a lifetime to get yourself in an action photo.
Bring your own canoe/kayak or let us know that you will need to rent one. You will need to bring
your own lunch/sodas/water/sun tan lotion. As always, the mystery dessert is provided by CJCA.
Past participants are sworn to secrecy regarding the mystery dessert.
If you are planning to participate, it is very important that you notify Burr Gray (burrgray@
aol.com) as soon as you know you will be coming but no later than July 1 so that we can plan on how
many guides to get and provide you in advance with other instruction and the specifics of the trip. Please indicate the following: (1) number of canoes or kayaks you will need to rent or will bring
yourself, (2) number of people in your group, plus the ages of any kids, and (3) level of xpertise.
State in particular whether you will rent or bring your own canoe/kayak, and give a phone number
where you can be reached the morning of the trip and an e-mail address. We will send out some
detailed information as we finalize the list of Cabin John adventurers.
Burr Gray [...]
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June 25, 2016This summer the Clara Barton Community Center is hosting three nights of free films to be shown al fresco. Bring a chair or blanket and settle in for a fun family night at the movies. The first “Movie on the Lawn” night, June 24, will feature the Disney/Pixar film Inside Out. Showtime is at 8 p.m. Drinks and snacks will be sold. On July 22, Alexander and the Terrible Horrible No Good Very Bad Day is scheduled. The final film will be Pan on August 12. Contact the community center at 240-777-4910 for weather updates.
Our goal is to “bring the entire community together for a great time of laughter and fun. So please come and enjoy a night out under the stars with your neighbors and the staff of Clara Barton,” says Derrick Perry, the Recreation Specialist at the center. [...]
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June 25, 2016This spring the county replanted the grassy median strips between MacArthur Blvd. and the shared-use path that runs through Cabin John. Their work was not even completed when tire ruts could be seen at several points along the route. That prompted quick action by Cabin Johners, Susan Roberts, Peter Vogt and Walt Dence. With funding from the CJCA, Walt and Peter have installed some 150 snow stakes to deter drivers from straying into the median. In addition to distracted
drivers, cars have been observed pulling onto the median to go around a car making a left turn or to take a phone call. Landscape crews and delivery trucks also have been spotted parking their vehicles on the median while they take care of business across the street.
This is not the first effort to keep drivers off the roadside greenery. A year ago, Walt and Peter posted signs along the route that read “Soft Soil– Do Not Drive or Park.” Their motivation is simple. “MacArthur Blvd is our Main Street. It’s a matter of civic pride that we keep it looking good,” said Vogt. First proposed in 2003, the MacArthur Blvd. bikeway improvement project was started in 2013 and completed last year. [...]
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June 10, 2016The May 25 meeting of the Cabin John Citizens Association was a lively combination of election of new officers and tribute to outgoing President Burr Gray. Burr kicked off the meeting with touching remarks summarizing his 19 years in office. He reminded the crowd of more than 50 Cabin Johners of funny moments, thanked his fellow officers from over the years and the many volunteers who have given so much time and effort to events, and talked about the amazing community that we have here in Cabin John. As his final act in office, Burr oversaw the election of a new slate of officers, which was approved with a unanimous voice vote. Serving as President will be Susan Shipp; as Vice President, Greg Pawlson in interim status until a full time Vice President is chosen; as Treasurer, Clare Amoruso; and as Secretary, Amy Elsbree.
As Susan Shipp took charge of the meeting, Burr presented her with several items for safekeeping
by the new CJCA President including historic photos of Cabin John, a silver dish left from the
Cabin John Bridge Hotel, and the official CJCA gavel. Susan accepted the items and offered the
assembled Cabin Johners her commitment to serve the community as President. [...]
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June 10, 2016From its most early days, Cabin John has been fortunate to have leaders who have made the community the kind of place it is, a great place to live, with the right kind of services and amenities. We can look back to leaders who started the fire department, organized the first church, and opened
the first community store. Others helped develop sections of Cabin John Park, began the citizens association, supported the Glen Echo-Cabin John School that is now the Clara Barton Community Center, began the Village News, and started the home school program and the first Cabin John Crab Feast.
Many people, starting in 1919, have served as president of the Cabin John Citizens Association, usually serving one or two years. And then came Burr Gray, elected to lead the citizens association in 1997 who was reelected and reelected, by acclimation, and occasionally a bit of arm twisting, for 20 years. He has raised the bar on service, enlivening old traditions and starting new ones that continue to bring the community together.
Right at the start, in 1997, Burr encouraged Cabin Johners to volunteer for activities, become officers of the Citizens Association, and participate in the first Cabin John Creek Cleanup.
That year, all volunteers, including the Cabin John Citizens Association, received awards from the County. The creek cleanup has continued for 20 years, now a community tradition to keep the waterway that streams to the Potomac River, and ultimately the Chesapeake Bay, clean and a
wonderful place to enjoy. Burr followed the creek cleanup with support for the Friends of Cabin John Creek Watershed. That now involves a coalition of neighboring community organizations, united in an effort to curb storm water runoff. The effort has merited a state grant, and Burr also brought forward Cabin John’s organizer-in-chief (of Crab Feast fame) Tina Rouse to manage the grant. After all, Cabin John Creek, originally named Captain John’s Run, was probably the Cabin John namesake—say it fast, Captain John, Capt. John, Cap’n John, Cabin John!
In 1998, Burr started summer lectures as a way to bring the community together. The first lecture
was by a scientist on the wonders of the universe. Lectures were followed by dances after a few years and later by a revival of Bingo! In 2003, he brought County Council member Roger Berliner to call the numbers, followed by State delegates, another new tradition. It was also in 1998 that Burr led the citizens association in trying to convince the C&O Canal National Historical Park to repair, resilt, and rewater the Seven Locks section near Cabin John. That effort also continues.
Cabin John has had many longstanding traditions. In earlier days, Cabin John residents could always
be found at the Potomac River and C&O Canal, boating, fishing, and even ice skating in the winter.
Then there was the holiday party and egg roll (dating back to probably the 1950s) to the Crab
Feast started in the 1970s. But it was Burr Gray who brought the community’s love for the river to a new level in 1999. He started the annual canoe trip, sometimes called the Cabin John Regatta
or the Cabin John Float, where some 50 people head to the water in canoes and kayaks guided by
professionals and all arranged by Burr.
In 1999, the Cabin John Citizens Association began other initiatives under Burr’s leadership with
vivid results benefiting the community today. The effort to improve the bike path began that year,
spearheaded by Susan Roberts. And recognizing the long and important history of the community,
Burr engaged with others in the start of a permanent historical exhibit now displayed at Clara Barton Community Center and involving creative Cabin John writers, designers, a filmmaker and framer.
Then in 2000, Cabin John began its web site, moving into the era of modern social media to
promote the community. Other improvements led by Burr included the plan and later building of a
children’s playground behind the tennis courts at Clara Barton Community Center. Community spirit
was ever present in Burr’s start of annual blood drives, another new tradition for Cabin John. He
revitalized the July 4 celebration with a bike parade and his reading of the Declaration of Independence, adorned by his 3-corner hat. In days of yore that celebration had included fire engines from the Cabin John Volunteer Fire Department (before they became too big for the firehouse and too heavy for MacArthur Boulevard with the aqueduct underneath) and Cabin John’s marching
majorettes.
In November, 2001, after 9/11, Burr led the community to a patriotic gathering to celebrate the
reopening of the Cabin John Bridge, marked by an iconic photograph with the American flag on the bridge. After a spectacular 2001, the next year Burr and the Citizens Association advocated for county funding to extend the hours and add staff to the Clara Barton Center. That effort also led to the formation of a nonprofit support group, the Friends of Clara Barton Center, led by Burr. The group began the annual craft fair that raises funds for the Center and other programs to benefit the community from children to older adults, with new fitness equipment, classes and activity.
In subsequent years, Burr led the Citizens Association in focusing attention to airplane and helicopter noise over the Potomac River and to the sewer project, to try to eliminate the stink along the Seven Locks of the Canal. He rallied volunteers to make sure that Cabin John was counted, fully, in the 2010 Census. Burr also served on the Boards of the Potomac Conservancy and neighboring Glen Echo Park, supporting efforts that add to Cabin John’s quality of life. Then there was the need to preserve Gibson Grove cemetery, as Burr and other volunteers helped clean the area, fix a path, and establish a roadside panel to highlight the history.
In 2008, Burr made sure that Cabin John celebrated the 400th Anniversary of Captain John Smith’s voyage on the Potomac River in 1608, possibly the Captain John of Captain John’s Run. That event
brought the community together to celebrate its history and the Citizens Association published the book, Cabin John: Legends and Life of an Uncommon Place.
As a leader, Burr has always kept the diversity of the community in mind, looking for ways to bring children and teenagers into events and to address the concerns of residents. Through it all, Burr has been one of the most active volunteers in Cabin John, not only leading but always pitching in where needed. He has picked up, set up, or put away tables for meetings and especially, for the Cabin John Crab Feast. And every year, Burr has agreed (sometimes under pressure) to serve and been reelected as President of the Cabin John Citizens Association. All of this incredible service to Cabin John has been accompanied by Burr’s wonderful optimism, enthusiasm, caring, and just plain
friendliness. In all of this, Burr Gray has demonstrated Cabin John’s longstanding tradition
of service and leadership and added an important chapter to the community’s history.
By Judy Welles [...]
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April 26, 2016The Bethesda Co-op continues their 40th anniversary celebration with a May Fest, Saturday May 7th, 12-5, at the store and parking lot on Seven Locks Rd. “It’s our way of saying thanks to the community for all their support,” says General Manager Helen Atkocius. Founded in 1975, the co-op moved to Cabin John in the late 1980s.
In addition to beer, wine and food tastings, there will be a moon bounce and live music from Wicked Jezabel, an all-female band that covers retro rock and dance hits from the last five decades, as well as folk musicians Caolaidhe and Meghan, of the 19th Street Band. [...]
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April 26, 2016Grateful Shred, a document shredding party, will be held on Saturday, May 14, 9 am til noon, at the Clara Barton Community Center. The Shred is an opportunity for residents to clean out home files and avoid fraud or identity theft.
Bring those no-longer needed bills, statements, letters—anything with private, confidential, or sensitive information that you want to get rid of—securely! All Shred, a reliable Maryland firm, will provide a mobile shredding truck. Inside it is a cross-cut shredder that cuts your pages into tiny paper chips (confetti-sized) while you watch. The paper chips are then baled and sent to a recycling facility.
You are asked to donate $5 per box of paper to be shredded (that means a one-cubic-foot storage box or the equivalent). Don’t have quite a box full? You can have a half-box or the equivalent shredded for $3 or a quarter-box for $2. The event is sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center, a registered charity, and all profits from the shred go to support programs at the Clara Barton Community Center. Donations can be deducted as either charitable or business expenses. Receipts will be available.
For more information, call the Center at 240-777-4910 or -4911, or visit
the Friends’ website at www.FriendsCBCC.org
.
Note that All Shred has no problem shredding (along with home office papers), paper clips, staples, rubber bands, folders, binder clips, hanging folders (even with metal strips), and labels. But they don’t do newspapers, cardboard,
heavy plastic, heavy metals, 3-ring binders, boxes, trash, floppy disks, CDs, or X-rays. You will be asked to take your box/case holding the papers back with you.
By Lori Rieckelman [...]
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April 20, 2016Due to inclement weather, the annual Cabin John creek cleanup is rescheduled for April 30, from 10 a.m. to noon. Plan to meet at the playground next to the Cabin John Bridge to help with the annual spring cleaning of our beautiful waterway.
Cleanup will take place going upstream from that location. (After the presentation, we will ask for a few volunteers to start at the creek location near the Cypress Grove/Seven Locks entrance.) Refreshments and gloves are provided but its recommended to bring your own work gloves if you have them. Wear clothes that you don’t mind getting wet. Children ages 12 and under need to be accompanied by an adult. The cleanup will proceed unless it is really raining hard.
This event is being organized by the Friends of the Cabin John Creek (FoCJC) in coordination with CJCA. For more information, please contact Burr Gray, burrgray@aol.com, 703-607-2740 (work) or 240-753-5918 (cell). [...]
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March 16, 2016Representatives from Montgomery County, the National Park Service, and Congressman Chris Van Hollen’s office joined CJ residents in a discussion of neighborhood traffic issues at the Feb. 24 Cabin John Citizens Association meeting.
According to CJCA President Burr Gray, the talk focused on the following three traffic concerns:
morning cut-thru commuter traffic on Tomlinson Ave. and Arden Rd.
westbound evening traffic that gets stuck on the one-lane bridge after the traffic
light has changed
better access to the Cabin John Gardens during the morning and evening rush hours
As a result of the discussion, the County will consider the following:
making the lettering bigger on the “No Left Turn” sign at Seven Locks Rd. and Tomlinson Ave.
videotaping the license plates of the cars making the illegal left turns to figure out where the cars are coming from
continuing their analysis (any expediting of the analysis would be appreciated) of Arden Road-related requests from CJCA as well as including a review of traffic flow at
the Seven Locks/MacArthur Blvd intersection
looking at the stoplight on the one-lane bridge to see if any tinkering with
timing could keep people going west in the evening from getting stuck on the bridge after
the light changes
conducting a study/long term look at the MacArthur Blvd three-way Stop sign to
see how to improve traffic flow.
The National Park Service, with possible help from the County, will be looking at how make safer access from Cabin John Gardens onto the Clara Barton Parkway access road. This might involve better markings to keep cars from blocking access into the two sections of the gardens and plastic piping to protect pedestrians walking out of the Gardens.
The meeting attendees voted to request that the park service close down the entrance from the Clara Barton Parkway to Cabin John during the morning rush hour, and close the exit from Cabin John to the parkway in the evening rush hour. (The effect of such change would likely affect VA commuters disproportionately.) While this outcome may seem unlikely prior to any study of the issue, it reflects the frustration by members of the community regarding the many cars that cut through the Cabin John in an effort to avoid traffic on the Beltway. It is not clear yet whether the National Park Service will conduct a study of the issue. [...]
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January 27, 2016The next Cabin John Citizens Association Red Cross Blood Drive is on Sunday, Jan. 31 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. at the Clara Barton Center. Please contact Karen Melchar or Loretta Ingalls at cjblooddrive@gmail.com to book a donation time. Drop-ins are welcome, but those who have signed up will have priority if there is a wait. The best time to drop in is late morning after 11 a.m. or in the afternoon. Bring others to donate with you!
CJCA President Burr Gray is also asking for volunteers. Many of the tasks do not require much time, but are key to making the blood drive a success. On the 31st, volunteers are needed to help setup, to pick up sandwiches for the Red Cross workers from Market on the Boulevard, and to help with clean up. Someone to pick up refreshments on Saturday is also needed. “We need people to take over these tasks for either a single drive or all three drives in 2016,” says Gray, “It’s time to give those folks who have been handling these tasks for the past 15 years a break.” Contact cjblooddrive@gmail.com if you can help. [...]
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December 2, 2015Celebrate the holiday season with your neighbors on Sunday, Dec.13 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Clara Barton Community Center. There is something for everyone at this event, including door prizes, crafts and other activities for children and a sing-along for all ages. The evening ends with a visit from Santa, who offers gift bags to all young guests.
There will be complimentary food (sushi, pizza, subs, and more) and drinks (hot cider, eggnog, sparkling cider, etc.) A raffle for gift certificates and other goodies from many of your favorite local merchants is held to support the annual holiday gift drive for families in transitional housing run by SOME (So Others Might Eat), an interfaith, community-based organization that provides food, shelter, education, training and other services to the poor and homeless in Washington D.C. More information is available at SOME.
This long-standing Cabin John event is co-sponsored by the Cabin John Citizens Association and the Clara Barton Community Center. [...]
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December 1, 2015Once again the Cabin John Citizens Association is partnering with the community of Brookmont and SOME to provide holiday gifts for families in need. To participate, just go to the tree outside of the Clara Barton Community Center and pick one or more of the cards that are tied like ornaments to the tree. The cards have the information you need purchase a gift that will brighten somebody’s holiday.
SOME (So Others Might Eat) is an interfaith, community-based organization provides food, shelter, education, training and other services to the poor and homeless in Washington D.C. (website: www.some.org)The families we help are those who live in SOME’s transitional housing.
The children’s “ornaments” have the name, age, and gender on it as well as gift suggestions. Gifts are usually in the price range of $20-$40. Any dolls should be African American, please supply batteries with toys, and bring no toys of violence (guns, pistols, etc.). Please do NOT wrap your gift. (The parents like to wrap the gifts for their children)
Visa gift cards are great ideas for teenagers!
This year there is also the option of buying a family gift. The children’s parents are setting up their homes in the SOME transitional housing and are in need of a range of new household items, including pots, pans, sheets, comforters, towels and cleaning supplies. Gift cards to Target or Kmart are also very nice gifts, enabling the parents to select what they need for their home.
It is very important that you attach the ornament with the recipient information to your gift. Lori Rieckelman spearheads this community effort. She asks that unwrapped gifts either be:
* brought to the CJCA Holiday party that will be held Dec. 13 at the Clara Barton Community Center
* dropped off at 6423 79th Street. (Please place the gift in the bin on the front porch.)
Please do not pick an ornament if you cannot follow through with donating a gift. Every year there are several ornaments that are picked from the tree and no gifts are donated. This creates difficulty at the last minute so please be mindful of this.
Questions? Email Lori at rieckell@aol.com or call her at 301-320-6299. [...]
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November 27, 2015The ninth annual Holiday Craft Show will be held from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 6, at the Clara Barton Community Center. The show is sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center (FCBCC).
Plan to come, admire, and shop! There will be all kinds of crafts for sale – jewelry, glass, fiber arts, pottery, ornaments, wood crafts, hand knit sweaters, baby items, prints, paintings, photography, books, soaps and lotions, cookies, local honey, and more. So stop in and enjoy meeting many of the most creative people in our greater community. For more information, consult the FCBCC website www.FriendsCBCC.org or contact Leslie Barden, 301-365-1311 or cbcc.craftshow@verizon.net. [...]
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November 4, 2015More than 550 people feasted on crabs, chicken and vegetarian sides at this year’s Crab Feast, which raised some $4,500 to support Cabin John Citizens Association activities. There was something for everyone at the Sept. 19 event, including great tunes from the Starlight Orchestra, who once again donated their talents to entertain the crowd.
This year’s Crab Feast marked the tenth and final year of volunteer Tina Rouse as managing director. Over the years, Tina has coordinated an army of volunteers and through hurricanes, storms and fire alarms has made sure the show always went on. Tina said that she got into the Crab Feast business to meet cool people, and that, in fact, she had. Cabin John has benefited greatly from her work and spirit. [...]
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August 6, 2015Cabin John resident Norm Martin and his classic rock and blues band, Terraplane, will be in concert on August 13 at Glen Echo Park. The free concert, which is part of the park’s summer concert series, starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Bumper Car Pavilion and runs for about an hour.
In addition to Norm Martin, who plays guitar and sings lead vocals, Terraplane features Clint Chamberlin, Duncan McHale, Frank Caligiuri and David Steigerwald.
The Bumper Car Pavilion is completely covered and the concert will be held rain or shine. Bring a picnic or purchase a snack at the Glen Echo Cafe. The Dentzel carousel will also be running from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. [...]
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July 17, 2015Mark your calendars! The 46th annual Cabin John Crab & Chicken Feast will be held Saturday, Sept. 19, from 2-6 p.m. at the Clara Barton Community Center. A local tradition since 1969, this annual event allows Cabin Johners to celebrate their community spirit with old friends and new. Proceeds support Cabin John Citizens Association activities, including holiday parties, the creek cleanup, blood drives, etc.
In addition to serving up freshly-steamed crabs, BBQ chicken, baked beans, potato salad, collard greens, carrots and other sides, the Crab Feast has live music for the grown-ups, fun activities for the kids, and Cabin John t-shirts and memorabilia for sale.
It takes scores of volunteers to make this event a success each year. If you have even an hour to spare in support of your community, please email CJ Crab Feast and the organizers will find a task that is right for you! [...]
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July 17, 2015The 17th Annual CJ Canoe Trip, postponed due to high water, is rescheduled for Sunday, Aug. 23. CJCA President Burr Gray asks anyone planning to canoe to send an email as soon as you decide but no later than Aug 16 with the following info: your cell phone number, the names of all participants in your party and whether any are kids. Most important, please include whether you need to rent a canoe or kayak or will be bringing your own watercraft.
As in the recent past, Calleva Outdoor Adventures will coordinate efforts that day and provide canoes. Kayaks and kayak guides will be provided by Liquid Adventures, a Cabin John company run by CJ Gardens resident Tom McEwan. Last year we got about 11 kayaks out on the water, and hope to do so this year as well.
As usual, we will put in at Old Anglers Inn in the morning (probably around 10 am) and take out at Lockhouse 10 in Cabin John in the mid-afternoon (probably between 3 – 3:30 pm). The trip is generally limited to Cabin John residents and friends, but we can usually fit in outsiders. Fees are $15/head (maximum of $30/canoe), and there is a separate charge of $30 if you rent a canoe or kayak. These fees, along with a sbusidy from the Cabin John Citizens Association, pay for the Calleva and Liquid Adventure guides and associated costs.
On the trip, you are likely to encounter herons, ducks and possibly ospreys and eagles. We plan to stop for lunch on the Virginia side by Scott’s Run Creek, which has a nice waterfall that in previous years has drawn some of the more adventurous.
Canoe/kayak paddling instruction is strongly recommended for all and begins at the River’s edge about 10 am. Expect to get wet in some fashion during this trip. People do tip over on occasion, usually unexpectedly. We will avoid Yellow Falls, which can be somewhat difficult, but expect to have fun going through Stubblefield Falls, just upstream of the Beltway Bridge. It’s wavy and bouncy but no rocks. We’ll get some pictures of you in your canoe/kayak as you go through, so it’s an opportunity of a lifetime to get yourself in an action photo.
Bring your own canoe/kayak or let us know that you will need to rent one. You will need to bring your own lunch/sodas/water/sun tan lotion. As always, the mystery dessert is provided by CJCA. Past participants are sworn to secrecy regarding the mystery dessert.
More information will be emailed to participants in advance of the trip. [...]
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May 27, 2015After more than a decade of inspirational leadership, Tina Rouse is ready for someone else to coordinate the annual Cabin John Crab Feast. Could you be that person? Tina is looking to identify her successor prior to this September’s event so that she can show them the ropes this year in preparation for running the show at the 2016 feast. It could be one person, a couple, or a few good (wo)men, looking for a way to feel really good about themselves and their community.
Top Ten Reasons You Should Become the Next Crab Feast Organizer
10) Funds raised by the Crab Feast support other great CJCA and local activities, like the Holiday Party, Creek Clean-Up, and Fourth of July Parade.
9) It takes place on the second Saturday after Labor Day, when Cabin John weather is at its best.
8) It’s been a roaring success for 45 years, so you won’t be starting from scratch.
7) There’s a cadre of experienced crew chiefs to back you up, with long lists of volunteer crew members already recruited.
6) To see and be seen at the most happening musical event of the season.
5) You can apprentice this year, and take over next year.
4) All the collard greens you can eat!
3) Your idea of happiness is a trunkload of Kirkland paper towels.
2) You ♥ Cabin John!
And the number one reason why you should become the next Cabin John Crab Feast
Organizer:
1) We need you!
To find out more, please contact Tina Rouse (cjcrabfeast@aol.com or 301.229.6532) [...]
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May 27, 2015Looking for a safe way to dispose of no longer needed bills, bank statements, letters and other documents? Bring them to The Grateful Shred — a shredding party — at the Clara Barton Community Center on Saturday. June 6th from 9 am til noon. Not only will your papers be safely destroyed, but you will be supporting the community center at the same time. You are asked to donate $5 per box of paper to be shredded (that means a one-cubic-foot storage box or the equivalent). Don’t have quite a box full? You can have a half-box or the equivalent shredded for $3, or a quarter-box for $2.
It’s an opportunity for residents to clean out home files and avoid fraud or identity theft. Clean Cut Shredding will provide a mobile shredding truck. Inside it is a cross-cut shredder that cuts your pages into tiny paper chips (confettisized) while you watch. The paper chips are then baled and sent to a recycling facility.
The event is sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center, a registered charity, and all profits from the shred go to support programs at the Clara Barton Community Center. Donations can be deducted as either charitable or business expenses. Receipts will be available. For more information, call the Center at 240-777-4910 or -4911, or visit the Friends’ website at www.FriendsCBCC.org.
Note that Clean Cut Shredding has no problem shredding (along with home office papers), paper clips, staples, rubber bands, folders, binder clips, hanging folders (even with metal strips), and labels. But they don’t do newspapers, cardboard, heavy plastic, heavy metals, 3-ring binders, boxes, trash, floppy disks, CDs, or X-rays. [...]
Read more...
May 27, 2015The 17th Annual CJ Canoe Trip is set for Sunday, June 28. As in the recent past, Calleva Outdoor Adventures will coordinate efforts that day and provide canoes. Kayaks and kayak guides will be provided by Liquid Adventures, a Cabin John company run by CJ Gardens resident Tom McEwan. Last year we got about 11 kayaks out on the water, and hope to do so this year as well.
As usual, we will put in at Old Anglers Inn in the morning (probably around 10 am) and take out at Lockhouse 10 in Cabin John in the mid-afternoon (probably between 3 – 3:30 pm). The trip is generally limited to Cabin John residents and friends, but we can usually fit in outsiders. Fees are $15/head (maximum of $30/canoe), and there is a separate charge of $30 if you rent a canoe or kayak. These fees, along with a sbusidy from the Cabin John Citizens Association, pay for the Calleva and Liquid Adventure guides and associated costs.
On the trip, you are likely to encounter herons, ducks and possibly ospreys and eagles. We plan to stop for lunch on the Virginia side by Scott’s Run Creek, which has a nice waterfall that in previous years has drawn some of the more adventurous.
Canoe/kayak paddling instruction is strongly recommended for all and begins at the River’s edge about 10 am. Expect to get wet in some fashion during this trip. People do tip over on occasion, usually unexpectedly. We will avoid Yellow Falls, which can be somewhat difficult, but expect to have fun going through Stubblefield Falls, just upstream of the Beltway Bridge. It’s wavy and bouncy but no rocks. We’ll get some pictures of you in your canoe/kayak as you go through, so it’s an opportunity of a lifetime to get yourself in an action photo.
Bring your own canoe/kayak or let us know that you will need to rent one. You will need to bring your own lunch/sodas/water/sun tan lotion. As always, the mystery dessert is provided by CJCA. Past participants are sworn to secrecy regarding the mystery dessert.
If you are planning to participate, it is very important that you notify Burr Gray (burrgray@aol.com) as soon as you know you will be coming but no later than June 21 so that we can plan on how many guides to get and provide you in advance with other instruction and the specifics of the trip. Please indicate the following: 1) number of canoes or kayaks you will need to rent or will bring yourself, 2) number of people in your group, plus the ages of any kids, and 3) level of expertise. State in particular whether you will rent or bring your own canoe/kayak, and give a phone number where you can be reached the morning of the trip and an e-mail address. More information will be emailed to participants in advance of the trip. [...]
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April 22, 2015Help keep our neighborhood beautiful and safe by joining in the annual Cabin John Creek cleanup Saturday, April 25 from 9:30 a.m. til noon. We will meet at the playground next to the Cabin John Bridge. Even if you have just an hour or two, your help would be appreciated.
Refreshments and gloves provided but bring your own gloves if you have them. Wear clothes that you don’t mind getting wet. Children ages 12 and under need to be accompanied by an adult. The cleanup will proceed unless it is raining. This event is being organized by the Friends of the Cabin John Creek (FOCJC) in coordination with the Cabin John Citizens Association. for more information, please contact Burr Gray (burrgray@aol.com, 703-607-2740 or 240-753-5918). [...]
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February 10, 2015Montgomery County Council Member Roger Berliner and Marc Korman, Cabin John’s delegate in the Maryland General Assembly, will be calling numbers at the Family Bingo Night, scheduled for Feb. 27 at the Clara Barton Community Center. The games begin at 7 p.m.
In addition to politicians, Bingo Night offers modest prizes to the winner of each game. At the end of the evening, all kids are sent home with a parting gift. The cost of one bingo bard for the two-hour event is $5. At that price, long-time participants are known to manage multiple cards at once. Pizza, popcorn and drinks will be available for purchase.
Bingo Night is sponsored by the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center, and proceeds go to support the center. Questions? Call the Center at 240-777-4910 or -4911, or visit Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center. [...]
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February 4, 2015Shavonyuette Dotson has been named the director at the Clara Barton Neighborhood Recreation Center taking over late last year for the retiring Modestine Snead. Prior to taking the helm at the community center, Dotson was the director of the Boys & Girls Club in Manassas, VA. Dotson has a dual degree from the University of Wisconsin in Women’s Studies and Theater Arts and is working on a master’s degree in public administration.
The Center is home to several programs such as “Senior Sensations,” a program designed for active adults ages 55 and older which meets on Mondays and Wednesdays, and a myriad of courses such as Senior Shape, Tai Chi, Senior Weight Training, Zumba, Bone Builders, and Karate. Dotson is thrilled to be working at the Clara Barton center and is excited about implementing some new and interesting programs. She is already aware that many in the Cabin John community do not fully utilize the center at the corner of MacArthur Blvd and 75th Street. Dotson has already identified a number of ways the center might expand its offerings, including additional youth activities, more evening exercise classes, and possibly a computer center. [...]
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November 22, 2014Looking for unique gifts this holiday? Want to support local artisans? Come to the 8th annual holiday craft show on Dec. 7 from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Clara Barton Community Center. The fair, sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center, brings together dozens of local artisans selling everything from jewelry, pottery and wood crafts to soaps, holiday decorations, local honey and more. [...]
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November 22, 2014The numbers are in. This year’s Chicken and Crab Feast served up close to 500 meals and brought in just over $10,000. After expenses, the Cabin John Citizens Association raised close to $3,500 to support association activities.
As significant as the fundraising is the sense of community that is fostered during this event. Dozens of residents, young and old, volunteer their time to make this event a success. While hundreds come together, not just for the good food and lively tunes, but to share a meal with their friends and neighbors.
Here are photos from this year’s festivities and behind-the scenes efforts: [...]
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October 28, 2014The Oct. 5 community blood drive drew 34 donors, most of them Cabin John residents, and collected 32 pints of blood for the Red Cross. The drive, held at the community center, exceeded expectations, surpassing the 30-pint goal set by the Red Cross.
Cabin John hosts three blood drives annually. The Cabin John Community Association sponsors the drives, which are organized by CJ resident Karen Melchar. CJCA President Burr Gray thanks the following people who helped with the October drive: Tina Adler, Sondra Baxt, Larry Heflin, Lisan Martin, Scott Lewis, Bill Jobst, Susan Shipp, Nancy Shaw and, of course, Karen Melchar. [...]
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August 18, 2014Mark your calendars! The 45th annual Cabin John Crab & Chicken Feast will be held Saturday, Sept. 13, from 2-6 p.m. at the Clara Barton Community Center. A local tradition since 1969, this annual event allows Cabin Johners to celebrate their community spirit with old friends and new. Proceeds support Cabin John Citizens Association activities, including holiday parties, the creek cleanup, blood drives, etc.
In addition to serving up freshly-steamed crabs, BBQ chicken, baked beans, potato salad, collard greens, carrots and other sides, the Crab Feast has live music for the grown-ups, fun activities for the kids, and Cabin John t-shirts and memorabilia for sale. Tickets are available for $13 at the door, and $11 if bought in advance (call 301-320-4451).
We are still looking for volunteers. If you are able to help for an hour, please e-mail: crabfeast@aol.com [...]
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June 18, 2014Grab a flag, wear your patriotic garb, decorate your bike or just come out and join your neighbors for the annual Cabin John parade. It’s a casual but festive way to mark the holiday. Everyone is welcome, including dogs. Small flags, pinwheels and hats will be provided by CJCA for the parade participants.
Gather at the Clara Barton Community Center at 11 a.m. on July 4. The parade route follows the bike path to the grassy area at the shopping center. Refreshments will be provided and the reading of passages from the Declaration of Independence to incite the crowd occur upon reaching the shopping center. The festivities will end around noon.
This year we will need help with each of the following aspects of the event (procuring and/or distributing the refreshments, distributing flags/pinwheels/hats, set up at the shopping center, clean up, etc.), so please let Burr Gray (burrgray@aol.com) know if you can help with any of those tasks. [...]
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June 17, 2014The 16th Annual CJ Canoe Trip is set for Sunday, June 29. We will continue to rely on Calleva for general organization and canoes, but a special feature this year will be the involvement of Liquid Adventures, a Cabin John company run by CJ Gardens resident Tom McEwan. Liquid Adventures will be promoting kayak use, rental and instruction. So we hope those of you who have always thought about getting out in a kayak will seize this wonderful opportunity.
Once again, we will put in at Old Anglers Inn in the morning (probably around 10:00 a.m.) and take out at Lockhouse 10 in Cabin John in the mid-afternoon (probably between 3 and 3:30 pm). The trip is generally limited to Cabin John residents and friends, but we may be able to include others. Fees are $15/head (maximum of $30/canoe), and there is a separate charge of $30 if you rent a canoe or kayak. These fees, along with the CJCA subsidy, pay for the Calleva and Liquid Adventure guides and associated costs.
On the trip, you will definitely encounter herons and ducks and possibly ospreys and eagles. We’ll likely have lunch on the Virginia side by Scott’s Run creek, which has a nice waterfall that some of the more adventurous can sit under. Expert guides, including Byron the Great, and instruction will be provided. Canoe/kayak paddling instruction is strongly recommended for all and begins at the River’s edge about 10 am. Expect to get wet in some fashion during this trip. Boaters have been known to tip over. We will avoid Yellow Falls, which can be somewhat difficult, but expect to have fun going through Stubblefield Falls, just upstream of the Beltway Bridge. It’s wavy and bouncy but no rocks. We’ll get some pictures of you in your canoe/kayak as you go through, so it’s an opportunity of a lifetime to get yourself in an action photo.
Bring your own canoe/kayak or let us know that you will need to rent one. You will need to bring your own lunch/sodas/water/sun tan lotion. As always, the mystery dessert is provided by CJCA. Past participants are sworn to secrecy regarding the mystery dessert. If you are planning to participate, it is very important that you notify Burr Gray (burrgray@aol.com) as soon as you know you will be coming but no later than June 24 so that we can plan on how many guides to get and provide you in advance with other instruction and the specifics of the trip. Please indicate the following: (1) number of canoes or kayaks you will need to rent or will bring yourself, (2) number of people in your group, plus the ages of any kids, and (3) level of expertise. State in particular whether you will rent or bring your own canoe/kayak, and give a phone number where you can be reached the morning of the trip and an e-mail address. We will send out some detailed information as we finalize the list of Cabin John adventurers. This event is sponsored and subsidized in part by CJCA and this year by Liquid Adventures. [...]
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June 17, 2014by Gloria Mckinney Slayton
Do you know who your neighbors are? The folks who live on Carver Road do. Last year two houses were sold on Carver Road -—the Swedenburg house and the Gibbs-Thompson house. In addition, two new renters arrived with their families. Everyone seemed friendly enough. We would wave to each other but we didn’t know each other’s names or much about each other. To fix that situation, a block party was organized and wow, talk about a multi-cultural event! One of the new residents, from Asia, moved here with a daughter and granddaughter; another, from India, has two young children. Also new to Carver are a U.S. couple with two college-age boys and another comprised of a South American wife and an Iranian husband.
The party was a combination of a potluck along with a moderate donation per household to pay for ice, paper goods, charcoal, hot dogs, hamburgers and various fixings. What we discovered was that not only are the residents multi-cultural but multi-talented as well. The foods were the best of many regions from around the world, all fresh, home-made, authentic and yummy. German, Carribean, South American and Asian dishes were served along with good old USA soul food. It was really quite easy to organize. There were three organizers: myself, Austin White and Jack Mandel. We prepared flyers announcing a desire to have a block party which indicated what we thought might be a donation amount, a list of things we might need from individuals (i.e, grill, coolers, tables, umbrellas, etc.) and possible dates and who to contact. Basically it was a feeler to see if there would be any interest. We had no idea what to expect but were overwhelmed with the enthusiasm and support. One resident brought a pretzel machine that made hot pretzels, another organized activities for the children. A basketball hoop was set up in the middle of the circle and hasn’t been moved since. We had a pit-master, and live entertainment from our very own violinist, Tina Eck. One of our young adults played DJ on his music machine and and another resident brought out his authentic Tiki Bar.
The original plan was to hold the block party from 11 a.m. until 6 p.m., but everyone was having such a good time that the party continued well until after midnight and then all over again the next morning. Now that’s what I call a party! The event was so well received that our German resident held a October-fest party modeled after it. Carver Road has a legacy of community activity and support. Most notably it was the site of the original Cabin John Crab Feast. It has changed over the years from an all African-American street of 20 government built houses to a mixture of housing types. It is cosmopolitan in both spirit and in culture. Create your own street legacy and discover the personalities and awesomeness of your neighbors. Have a block party! [...]
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April 8, 2014Safely dispose of all your old bills, tax documents, letters and other private, confidential or sensitive information at this year’s Grateful Shred –a shredding party– to be held Saturday, May 10, from 9 a.m.-12 noon, at the Clara Barton Community Center, 7425 MacArthur Blvd., Cabin John, MD.
Clean Cut Shredding, a reliable Rockville firm, will provide a mobile shredding truck. Inside it is a cross-cut shredder that cuts your pages into tiny paper chips (confetti-sized), while you watch. The paper chips are then baled and sent to a recycling facility.
In addition to helping residents avoid fraud or identity theft, the shredding event is a fundraiser sponsored by the non-profit Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center. Proceeds support activities at the Center, which is a facility of the Montgomery County Recreation Department. Participants are asked to donate $5 per box of paper to be shredded (that means a one-cubic-foot storage box or the equivalent). Don’t have quite a box full? You can have a half-box or the equivalent shredded for $3 or a quarter-box for $2. Donations can be deducted as either charitable or business expenses. Receipts will be available. For more information, call the Center at 240-777-4910.
As you sort through your piles of paper, please keep in mind that Clean Cut Shredding has no problem shredding (along with home office papers), paper clips, staples, rubber bands, folders, 3-ring binders, binder clips, hanging folders (even with metal strips), and labels. But they don’t do newspapers, cardboard, heavy plastic, heavy metals, boxes, trash, floppy disks, or CDs. [...]
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April 7, 2014The scenic Cabin John Creek, which creates a natural neighborhood boundary to the northeast, is in need of some TLC and the Cabin John Citizen’s Association hopes you can help. Please join your neighbors for the 18th annual Cabin John Creek Cleanup on Saturday, April 26 from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Volunteers should gather at the playground in Cabin John Local Park, by the one-lane bridge. Gloves and garbage bags are provided along with refreshments. Old clothes and sturdy shoes are recommended. The cleanup takes place rain or shine, unless there is severe weather. Children ages 12 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
The event is organized by the Friends of the Cabin John Creek Watershed, a volunteer environmental action group started in 1999 by members of Cabin John Citizens Association. Its membership now includes other citizens associations and interested citizens within and outside the watershed, including residents of Glen Echo, Bethesda, Potomac and Rockville. Groups who want to tackle a section of the river trail can contact Burr Gray at burrgray@aol.com or at 703-607-2740
(work), or 240-753-5918 (cell) to coordinate. [...]
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April 6, 2014Calling all Cabin John kids. Bring a basket or bag and come to the 16th Annual Cabin John Spring Egg Hunt. The hunt will be held this Sunday, April 13th at 4:00 p.m. The weather forecast calls for a warm but overcast day, with no rain.
Children from toddler to six or seven years old will have fun gathering eggs filled with treats and small toys. Each child should bring a basket to hold the eggs they collect. Older siblings are welcome too. Head to the lower playground at the park by the one-lane bridge. (Just below the tennis courts.) The fun begins at 4:00 p.m. sharp. Please RSVP to Ollie Soria, 301-922-0991, with the number of children in your group. The Cabin John Community Association thanks Ms. Soria for organizing this popular event. [...]
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December 11, 2013Celebrate the holiday season with your neighbors on Sunday, December 15 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Clara Barton Community Center. There is something for everyone at this event, including crafts and other activities for children and a sing-along for all ages. The evening ends with a visit from Santa, who distributes gift bags for all young guests.
There will be complimentary food (sushi, pizza, subs, and more) and drinks (hot cider, eggnog, sparkling cider, etc.) A raffle of gift certificates from many of your favorite local merchants will support a local charity.
This long-standing Cabin John event is co-sponsored by the Cabin John Citizens Association and the Clara Barton Community Center. [...]
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December 11, 2013Four Cabin John residents were among the 57 artists participating in the 7th annual Holiday Craft Show held at the Clara Barton Community Center on Dec. 7.
Diana Carter offered her unique jewelry designs. Rachelle Cherol’s booth was well stocked with pine wreaths, roping and many other holiday decorations. Eric Dinerstein, wildlife scientist and author, signed copies of his books, The Kingdom of Rarities and Tigerland and Other Unintended Destinations. Woodcarver Stan Schaper’s table displayed a wonderful assortment of wooden toys, puzzles, frames and more.
The seventh annual show was coordinated by the Friends of Clara Barton Community Center, a non-profit charity that supports programs at the Clara Barton Center. [...]
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November 5, 2013More than 500 people feasted on crabs and chicken at this year’s Crab Feast, which raised some $3,000 to support Cabin John Citizens Association activities. There was something for everyone at this year’s event, including great tunes from the Starlight Orchestra, who once again donated their talents to entertain the crowd. Local politicians Phil Andrews, who serves on the City Council, and Marc Korman, in the running for a seat in the State House of Representatives, stopped by as did the Fire Department, when the smoke from the roasting chickens triggered the building’s fire alarm.
It takes a community to put on a Crab Feast. CJCA President Burr Gray shared his thanks in a recent newsletter:
There are folks who have been handling the same significant tasks for years.
Pete Couste and his crab cookers come to mind. Trudi Bick and her wacky, funny “Cabin
Janes” handling the booze. The guys who work for John Hughes and drive the big truck to do
chair and table pickup/dropoff are long-timers. I know that many of the crew doing the food
prep/serving are veterans along with some new faces this year. There are many CJ residents
who contribute a couple of hours to the cause because this is what they are able to give. A
complete listing will be forthcoming. We can’t do it without this “all hands on deck” effort by
our community.
In particular, we must applaud Crab Feast Coordinator Extraordinaire Tina Rouse
(plus hubby Mark and son Kalev). Through hurricanes, fire alarms, county inspections, etc.,
Tina and her meticulous spreadsheet and tireless efforts keep the show going. We are all in your
debt, Tina. [...]
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September 4, 2013The 43th annual Cabin John Crab & Chicken Feast is Saturday, Sept. 7, from 2-6 p.m. at the Clara Barton Community Center. A local tradition since 1970, this annual event allows Cabin Johners to celebrate their community spirit with old friends and new. Proceeds support Cabin John Citizens Association activities, including holiday parties, the creek cleanup, blood drives, etc.
In addition to serving up freshly-steamed crabs, BBQ chicken, baked beans, potato salad, collard greens, carrots and other sides, the Crab Feast has live music for the grown-ups, fun activities for the kids, and Cabin John t-shirts and memorabilia for sale. Tickets are available for $13 at the door, and $11 if bought in advance (call 301-320-4451). The weather forecast sounds delightful, although rains and winds have never shut the feast down, so join your neighbors for a tasty meal.
We are still looking for volunteers. If you are able to help for an hour, please e-mail: crabfeast@aol.com [...]
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July 17, 2013Come join your neighbors this Sunday, July 21, for the annual Cabin John Canoe Trip down the Potomac River. The five-hour, family-friendly adventure includes expert guides and canoe paddling instruction. There is a good chance paddlers will see herons, ospreys, ducks and maybe even an eagle.
The trip, sponsored and arranged by the Cabin John Citizen’s Association, will start at 10 a.m. at Old Anglers Inn. Take out will be at Lockhouse 10 in Cabin John in the mid-afternoon, roughly between 3:00 – 3:30 p.m. The lunch stop will probably be on the Virginia side by Scott’s Run Creek, which has a nice waterfall that has been a draw for intrepid participants on previous trips.
Expect to get wet in some fashion during the day. Canoes do tip over on occasion, usually without much warning. The trip route will avoid Yellow Falls, which can be somewhat difficult. But expect to have fun going through Stubblefield Falls, just upstream of the Beltway Bridge. It’s wavy and bouncy but no rocks. CJCA plans to get pictures of paddlers as they go through the falls, so it’s an opportunity of a lifetime for a nice action photo.
Fees are $15 per person or a maximum of $30 per canoe. These fees, along with the CJCA subsidy, pay for paddling instructors from Calleva Outdoor Adventures and associated costs. The trip is limited to Cabin John residents and friends. Canoes and kayaks are available for a $30 rental fee, which includes life jackets. Canoe paddling instruction is strongly recommended for all and begins at the River’s edge about 10:00 a.m.
Bring your own lunch, beverages and sunscreen. As always, the mystery dessert is provided by CJCA and past participants are sworn to secrecy so that the dessert remains a mystery to all first-timers. Bring your own canoe/kayak or let us know that you will need to rent one from Calleva.
If you are planning to participate, it is very important that you notify Burr Gray (burrgray@aol.com) as soon as you know you will be coming so that we can arrange for the appropriate number of guides. In your email, please include the following:
(1) Number of people in your group, plus the ages of any children
(2) Whether you will be renting or bringing your own canoes or kayaks
(If you are supplying your own, please let us know the number of canoes and/or kayaks you will have for your group.)
(3) Level of paddling expertise for each participant
(4) Whether you will rent or bring your own canoe/kayak
(5) Phone number where you can be reached the morning of the trip and an e-mail address.
Detailed information will be sent out as the trip is finalized. [...]
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May 10, 2013Tax season is over, now is the time to get rid of those old records! Avoid fraud or identity theft—and clean out your home files. Bring your papers to this year’s Grateful Shred on May 11 from 9 a.m. to noon at the Clara Barton Community Center.
ALL-SHRED, a noted firm in Frederick, MD, will provide secure disposal using a mobile shredding truck, which contains a cross-cut shredder that cuts documents into tiny paper chips. (The shreds are then baled and sent to paper plants to be recycled.)
We ask that you donate $5 per box of paper (that means a one-cubic-foot storage box or the equivalent). Don’t have quite a box full? You can have a half-box or the equivalent shredded for $3 or a quarter-box for $2. Proceeds from these donations go to support activities at the Center, which is a facility of the Montgomery County Recreation Department.
The shredding event is sponsored by the nonprofit Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center. Questions? Call the Center at 240-777-4910.
Note: All-Shred has no problem shredding (along with your home/office papers), paper clips, staples, rubber bands, folders, binder clips, hanging folders (even with metal strips), and labels. But they don’t do newspapers, 3-ring binders, cardboard, heavy plastic, heavy metals, boxes, trash, floppy disks, or CDs. [...]
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March 26, 2013With the weather forecast calling for significant rain Friday into Saturday, the Cabin John Creek Cleanup originally scheduled for April 20 is being rescheduled for Saturday, April 27th from 9:30 a.m. to noon. “Even though the weather on Saturday looks good, it is never a good idea to send a lot of people down to the Creek when things are slippery and the water levels might be higher than normal. So, we are postponing the Creek cleanup for one week to Sat April 27,” said CJCA President Burr Gray. “The weather on the 27th is supposed to be nice. Hope to see you there.”
Details are below in the original post.
Help Cleanup Cabin John Creek April 20
The scenic Cabin John Creek, which creates a natural neighborhood boundary to the northeast, is in need of some TLC and the Cabin John Citizen’s Association hopes you can help. Please join your neighbors for the 17th annual Cabin John Creek Cleanup on Saturday, April 20 from 9:30 a.m. to noon.
Volunteers should gather at the playground in Cabin John Local Park, by the one-lane bridge. Gloves and garbage bags are provided along with refreshments. Old clothes and sturdy shoes are recommended. The cleanup takes place rain or shine, unless there is heavy rain. Children ages 12 and under must be accompanies by an adult.
The event is organized by the Friends of the Cabin John Creek Watershed, a volunteer environmental action group started in 1999 by members of Cabin John Citizens Association in Cabin John, Maryland. It’s membership now includes other citizens associations and interested citizens within and outside the watershed, including residents of Glen Echo, Bethesda, Potomac and Rockville. Groups who want to tackle a section of the river trail can contact Burr Gray at burrgray@aol.com or by cell at 240-753-5918 to coordinate. [...]
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March 26, 2013A good-sized crowd filled the community center Feb. 22 for the annual Bingo Night sponsored by the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center. A variety of games were called with winners picking prizes from a kids’ table stocked with toys or an adults’ table filled with items from the Bethesda Co-op and jewelry donated by Linda Morelli. [...]
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February 25, 2013The February board meeting for the Cabin John Citizen’s Association scheduled for Feb. 26th is cancelled. CJCA President Burr Gray noted that there was no pressing business and that many board members would be out of town on the scheduled meeting date. Mark your calendars for the next CJCA meeting on Tuesday, March 26.
The association meets the fourth Tuesday of every month (except December, June, July, and August) at 7:30pm at the Clara Barton Community Center, 7425 MacArthur Boulevard. [...]
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February 20, 2013Another lively night of Bingo will take place Friday Feb. 22 at the Community Center. Kids and adults can join in the fun from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Guest number callers, including a possible visit by Montgomery County Council Chair Roger Berliner, will keep things lively.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center, Bingo cards will be $5/card with prizes for the winners. Plus all the kids receive a prize at the end of the evening. Pizza slices and drinks will be sold. Net proceeds from the evening will help fund programs at the Center. [...]
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January 22, 2013Before your Super Bowl celebrations get underway, please consider donating blood at the CJCA Red Cross Blood drive Sunday, Feb. 3rd from 10 – 4 pm. Held at the Clara Barton Community Center, our goal for this drive is 40 pints of blood.
Please email Karen Melchar (contact us) to schedule a donation time. (For example, 11:15, 11:30, 11:45 etc.) In the event that the Red Cross is running behind schedule, volunteer coordinators will send a text message with schedule updates to anyone that requests notification. If you have questions about your eligibility, please check the Red Cross website (www.redcross.org) for more information.
Students can give blood at age 16 with parent’s permission, and at age 17 on their own. This is an important community service, and it can’t get more convenient than having the Red Cross come to the neighborhood.
Our community is responsible for donating more than 1400 pints of blood in the past 10 years. We count on our loyal donors to return, but we really do need some new blood, so to speak. If you are eligible to donate but haven’t done so in the past, consider joining this Cabin John tradition of community service. [...]
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January 22, 2013In preparation for the Jan. 22nd Cabin John Community Association Meeting, CJCA President Burr Gray and Vice President Greg Pawlson recently reviewed the county plans for revamping the bike path along MacArthur Blvd. (Photos of the plans are posted below.) CJCA will continue to monitor the project and provide status reports as construction proceeds.
The project, titled MacArthur Blvd. Bikeway Improvements, “provides for bikeway improvements along 13,800 feet of MacArthur Blvd. from 495 to Oberlin Ave,” according to project documents posted on the county website. As part of the project, the road is slated to be widened “to provide 2-3 feet shoulders to accommodate the needs of on-road commuter and experienced bicyclists. The existing shared-use path will be upgraded to current standards to promote usage and enhance safety for all users.”
A Nov. 2012 engineering progress report by the county’s Department of Transportation provides a milestone schedule for the project that has the first phase of construction, utility relocation, commencing in February. The progress report estimates that the project could be “substantially completed” by Sept. 2014. [...]
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December 17, 2012Sounds of holiday cheer rang out from the community center Dec. 16 as a good crowd came together for the annual holiday party. Friends gathering made for plenty of conversation, a sing-a-long provided music, and the raffle of gifts from local merchants led to much applause.
But the sound that caused a fever pitch amongst the children was the Cabin John Volunteer Fire Dept. fire engine arriving on the playground with lights flashing and music blaring to deliver Santa to the party.
Santa handed out gift bags to dozens of children and posed for pictures with young and “old” alike.
Tom Wilmarth handled raffle ticket sales.
Liz Clark, Lori Rieckelman and Ruth Rabner collected angel tree donations for children in need.
CJCA President Burr Gray led the sing-a-long with Susan Roberts providing piano accompaniment.
To see all the photos from the party, click here. [...]
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December 4, 2012Five Cabin John residents were among the 54 artists who came out for the 6th annual Holiday Craft Show held at the Clara Barton Community Center on Dec. 2.
In addition, Suzanne Shirzad had a booth where she sold her creative knitware. [...]
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December 4, 2012The Cabin John Citizens Association is partnering with the community of Brookmont and SOME to provide holiday gifts for children in need. To participate, just go to the tree outside of the Clara Barton Community Center and pick one or more of the 57 names that are tied like ornaments to the tree. In addition to the child’s name, the “ornaments” list the age, gender and gift wish list of the child.
Last year Cabin John residents generously donated gifts for 50 children. SOME and the children were so appreciative of our generosity. Because of this year’s need, SOME has asked us to increase the number to gifts for 57 children. SOME (So Others Might Eat) is an interfaith, community-based organization provides food, shelter, education, training and other services to the poor and homeless in Washington D.C. (website: www.some.org)
Here are the details:
Pick one or more names from the tree.
Purchase NEW gifts — usually in the price range of $15 – $25. (Any dolls should be African American. Please include batteries if the toy needs them. No guns or other toys of violence. Visa gift cards are great ideas for teenagers.)
Attach the child’s name to your gift.
Please do NOT wrap your gift/s. (The parents will wrap the gifts with Earth Presents www.earthpresents.com gift wrap courtesy of Brookmont resident Julie Littell.)
Bring your unwrapped gift either to the CJCA Holiday party on Dec. 16 or drop it off at Lori Rieckelman’s house anytime before Dec. 17th. The Rieckelmans live at 6423 79th Street. There will be a bin on the porch for gifts.
Questions? Email Lori at rieckell@aol.com or call her at 301-320-6299.
[...]
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November 26, 2012Celebrate the holiday season with your neighbors on Sunday, December 16, at the Clara Barton Community Center from 5 to 7 pm. There is something for everyone at this event:
Crafts and other activities for children
Singing of holiday songs for all ages
Lots of complimentary food (sushi, pizza, subs, and more) and drinks (hot cider, eggnog, sparkling cider, etc.)
Raffle of gift certificates from many of your favorite local merchants
Visit from Santa who hands out gift bags to kids
Enjoy the fun at this traditional Cabin John event which is co-sponsored by the Cabin John Citizens Association and the Clara Barton Community Center.
Photos from the 2011 Festivities [...]
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November 26, 2012The 5th annual Holiday Craft Show, sponsored by the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center, will be held at the Center on Sunday, Dec. 2nd, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Local artists and crafters will be selling everything from jewelry and ceramics to fiber arts, soaps and wood crafts. There will also be prints, oils, watercolors, photography and more. Come and browse, meet the artists and possibly even find some gifts for the holidays. [...]
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November 26, 2012More than 200 children and adults made their way through the annual Haunted House, held at the Clara Barton community center on Oct. 28. Along the way, participants met a cackling witch, artfully played by Missy Bell, working on her potions and had their fortunes told by Caroline Casey, with Jan Iris-Smith providing helpful advice.
All the scares seem to whet participants’ appetites as some 15 pizzas and gallons of apple cider were given out to the crowd.
The event, free to the public, was organized by the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center in conjunction with the county. Thanks to the community center staff for assisting with the setup and operations. [...]
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August 14, 2012It’s time to mark your calendars for the Cabin John’s 43rd Annual Crab & Chicken Feast on Saturday, September 8th, from 2-6 p.m. at the Clara Barton Community Center! A local tradition since 1970, this annual event allows Cabin Johners to celebrate their community spirit with old friends and new. Highlights include delicious food and refreshments for all, live music for the grown-ups, fun activities for the kids, and Cabin John t-shirts and memorabilia for sale. Tickets are available for $13 at the door, and $11 if bought in advance (call 301-320-2685 or 301-320-4451). And if you want to help out, we need help with all sorts of things, like cleanup during and after the event, or perhaps some chicken cooking for an hour. Or how about mixing up some fresh, thirst-quenching lemonade? If you are able to help, please e-mail cjcrabfeast@aol.com.
More info… [...]
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June 13, 2012Volunteers are needed for restoring pathways, improving access and removing trash.
Where: 7 Locks Road near Cypress Grove Lane & the Beltway Overpass
When: Saturday 23 June
Time: 9:30 AM
The Cabin John Citizens Association has organized several cleanup efforts at the historic cemetery. (The cemetery site is also where Moses Hall once stood.) As in past years, the local Cabin John Boy Scout Troop will be helping with the cleanup and restoration efforts, but additional volunteers would be much appreciated.
We ask that you bring working/yard gloves, loppers, and safety glasses if you have them. If you have a small saw that would work to cut down bamboo, that would be a great help.
CJCA will provide water and softdrinks/sodas. We expect to finish by noon.
If you can help or if you have questions, please contact Angela Coppola (contact us). It will be helpful to know ahead of time how many workers we have. [...]
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June 13, 2012CJCA has made arrangements to run the annual Canoe Trip on July 1 (a Sunday) this year. Once again, we will put in at Old Anglers Inn in the morning (probably around 10:00 a.m.) and take out at Lockhouse 10 in Cabin John in the mid-afternoon (probably between 3:00 – 3:30 p.m.). The trip is limited to Cabin John residents and friends. Fees are $15/head (maximum of $30/canoe), and there is a separate charge of $30 if you rent a canoe or kayak. These fees, along with the CJCA subsidy, pay for the Calleva guides and associated costs. See herons, ospreys, ducks, maybe an eagle, maybe deer. We’ll probably have lunch on the Virginia side by Scott’s Run creek, which has a nice waterfall that some of the more adventurous can sit under. Expert guides and instruction provided. Canoe paddling instruction is strongly recommended for all and begins at the River’s edge about 10:00 a.m. Expect to get wet in some fashion during this trip. People do tip over on occasion, usually without much warning. We will avoid Yellow Falls, which can be somewhat difficult, but expect to have fun going through Stubblefield Falls, just upstream of the Beltway Bridge. It’s wavy and bouncy but no rocks. We’ll get some pictures of you in your canoe/kayak as you go through, so it’s an opportunity of a lifetime to get yourself in an action photo.
Bring your own canoe/kayak or let us know that you will need to rent one from Calleva. You will need to bring your own lunch/sodas/water/sun tan lotion. As always, dessert provided by CJCA.
If you are planning to participate, it is very very important that you notify Burr Gray (contact us) by June 26 so that we can plan on how many guides to get and provide you in advance with other instruction and the specifics of the trip. Please indicate the number of canoes or kayaks and people (ages of any kids) and level of expertise. State in particular, whether you will need to rent one or more canoes, and give a phone number/e-mail address. We will send out some detailed information as we finalize the list of Cabin John adventurers. This event is sponsored and subsidized in part by CJCA. [...]
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May 24, 2012The parade starts at 11:00 a.m. at the Community Center and is informal but quite festive since CJCA distributes hats, pin wheels, flags, etc to all participants. Kids bring decorated bikes. Families bring their dogs. The Cabin John Marching Band (a guy with a boom box) plays various patriotic songs as people walk along the bike path from the Community Center to the MacArthur Plaza shopping center in the middle of the community. Upon arrival around 11:30 a.m., everyone is met with doughnuts, watermelon, lemonade, and a vigorous and rousing reading of the Declaration of Independence. (OK, so we don’t actually read the whole thing, just the really good stuff.) Occasionally there will be new elements added to the affair, such as the hula hoop contest last year. [...]
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May 24, 2012The next CJCA Red Cross Blood drive will be on Sunday, June 3 from 10 – 4 pm at the Clara Barton Community Center. Please email Karen Melchar (contact us) with a time slot (for example, 11:15, 11:30, 11:45 etc.) that works best for your schedule. If you have questions about your eligibility, please check the Red Cross website (www.redcross.org) for more information.
Students can give blood at age 16 with parent’s permission, and at age 17 on their own. This is an important community service, and it can’t get more convenient than having the Red Cross come to the neighborhood.
Our community is responsible for donating more than 1400 pints of blood in the past 10 years. We count on our loyal donors to return, but we really do need some new blood, so to speak. So please, if you are eligible to donate but haven’t done so in the past, consider joining this CJ tradition of community service. The refreshments are outstanding, and we are working with people’s cell phone numbers to be able to alert them in advance of their time slot if there is a significant backup [...]
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May 22, 2012The last scheduled CJCA meeting until Sept will occur this Tues (May 22) at 7:30 p.m. at the community Center. The agenda includes: (1) election of officers, (2) recognition and thanks to Gabrielle Herderschee-Hunter for her six years as CJCA VP, and (3) the unveiling of the new CJCA web site. The new site has lots of different features that will interest people.
Hope to see you there. Refreshments will be excellent.
Burr Gray
CJCA President [...]
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May 18, 2012Volunteers are needed to help with a yard sale next Saturday and Sunday, May 19-20, at the home of Danny and Margaret Harris. For over 30 years Danny has been an angel, collecting building materials and furniture from building supply stores, families, and builders who are doing demolitions, then trucking all this to needy families in West Virginia and other depressed regions in our larger area. Danny also was responsible for placing the flags on the telephone poles for many years. Now it’s Cabin John’s turn to pay back their generosity and help Danny and Margaret when they need it. If you can spare even a couple of hours, please get in touch with Eleanor Balaban (ELEANOR.BALABAN@Longandfoster.com) or Judy Lund (ludmantx@aol.com).
The Yard Sale itself is set for May 20th from 10 – 4 p.m., at 8207 Caraway St, Cabin John. Furniture, tools, household goods, knick-knacks and lots of good stuff.
Thanks,
Burr Gray
CJCA President [...]
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May 18, 2012Dateline: May 18, 2012
As you may be aware from the article on the cover of the last “The Village News,” the Friends of the Clara Barton Community Center is having their Fifth Annual Grateful Shred this coming weekend, Saturday, May 19th (9:00 a.m. – 12 Noon) at the Clara Barton Community Center. They ask for contributions of $5/box, or $3/shopping bag. Now is the time to get rid of those old bank statements and other sensitive stuff.
Now is the time to get motivated, get those boxes into your car, and get over to the Center this coming Saturday. Just do it.
If you are a senior and need assistance getting the items to shred to the center, please can contact the CJ Neighbor 2 Neighbor Coordinator, Judy Lund, at (301) 263-2975. You will need to do this in advance so that the process can be coordinated.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the Grateful Shred event coordinator Leslie Barden at 301-365-1311 (home), or by email at leslie.barden@comcast.net
Burr Gray
CJCA President [...]
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April 14, 2012On Sunday, March 20 2 pm – 3:30 pm, Judy will lead a history walk and talk about Cabin John sites from the mid-1800s. Meet and park, if driving, at Clara Barton Community Center, 7425 Macarthur Blvd, Cabin John. The walk will go along the bike path on MacArthur Blvd. to Seven Locks Road, a little less than half a mile. (If it rains, the walk will be rescheduled.) For information call (301) 229-8110 or email judywelles @ verizon.net [...]
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Welcome to Cabin John!
Check out the latest news and events calendar.
The historic one-lane Union Arch Bridge on MacArthur Blvd. is the gateway to Cabin John, a community of some 700 homes nestled in the woods between the C & O Canal and Cabin John Creek. It’s a laid-back neighborhood with natural beauty, history and an active community led by the Cabin John Citizens Association (CJCA). Whether you live here or are just visiting, enjoy the nature and join in the fun activities.
