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The Latest
CJCA Officers Nominating Committee Formed
January 23, 2022
Seven 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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Cemetery Faces New Challenges as SHA Declares Expansion Will Have “No Adverse Effect” on Property
January 23, 2022
In 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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More Cabin John History On Display at Community Center
January 23, 2022
The 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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Local Nature: Nightlife – Flying Squirrels
January 23, 2022
Night 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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Minnie’s Island – Restorative Recreation And Ecological Preservation
November 14, 2021
Members 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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Restoration Underway At Gibson Grove Church
November 14, 2021
Restoration 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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Holiday Party: Celebrate the Season with Your Neighbors Dec. 12
November 14, 2021
With 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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Local Nature: A Golden Oldie
November 14, 2021
You 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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CJ Turkey Trot Ready to Roll Thanksgiving Morning
November 4, 2021
Once 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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MINNIE’S ISLAND ORGANIZATION MAKING HEADWAY ON MISSION
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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