HCA, Current Issues, Dawson Farm Park Improvements

A publication of the Hungerford Civic Association
Carl Henn, President; Art Stigile Vice President, Theo Anderson, Secretary, Elliott Fein, Treasurer

Hungerford and Gettysburg

The land you live on was farmed by Lawrence Dawson during the Civil War. He owned a few slaves, but was ardently pro Union. He was one of only 50 people in Montgomery County to vote for Lincoln in 1860. Rockville was pro Southern in sympathy as witnessed by the fact that they put up a monument to the Confederacy in 1913, 50 years after JEB Stuart’s cavalry passed through our town on the way to Gettysburg. The Confederate cavalry charged down Falls Road on a Sunday morning just as church was letting out at the Christ Episcopal Church (which still stands today next to City Hall.). Dawson was a well known Union supporter and hence had reason to fear how he might be treated by the Confederates. He and a few other Union supporters hid in the church vestry. While Stuart’s cavalry was in town, they got word that a wagon train of union supplies was coming up the Pike from Washington. They captured 125 wagons full of grain, pork and other valuable supplies. Meanwhile, someone ratted out Mr. Dawson, and troops came to the church and called him out by name. They took him and other Union supporters prisoner and marched out with them as they headed north. They marched him to Brookeville, where they let him and other Rockville prisoners go, in part because they were slowing down the march. Indeed, Stuart arrived at Gettysburg as it entered its third day of battle, and he had been out of communication for six days, depriving the Confederates of desperately needed reconnaissance and support. Some historians claim that Stuart’s delay cost Lee the battle.

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Stream Cleanup

Our stream cleanup on April 19 carried 15 bags of trash out of the Dawson Farm Stream, from the park to where the stream crosses W. Edmonston. Around 20 of us got together on a fine spring morning and found lots of bottles, cans, newspapers, and plastic sacks of all sorts. Folks, these wouldn’t be in our streams if we recycled them properly, or better yet didn’t create the demand for them. Thank you to everyone who helped out and to Rockville for its support.

Neighborhood Meeting

June 25, 7:00 at Elwood Smith

Agenda:

Police briefing
Community Garden
National Night Out
Scrap Drive
Traffic Straw Poll

Good Neighbors follow the Golden Rule – treating others as they would have themselves be treated. But the Golden Rule actually requires a touch more insight than that. We need to treat others as they would want to be treated. We aren’t all the same. Some Hungerford citizens push strollers, some ride bikes on the sidewalk, some get around in a wheel chair. All of these people are inconvenienced when you park your car across the sidewalk. Forcing someone in a wheel chair out into the street isn’t neighborly. It can expose them to danger, or shrink their world as they give up on walks because they are too often blocked by their neighbor’s cars.

This isn’t just a matter of being neighborly – you can get ticketed for parking across a sidewalk. You wouldn’t park in a handicapped parking space. Don’t park on the sidewalk for the same reason: to build a world that is accessible to all.

Hungerford Resolutions and City Response

At our last meeting, we adopted two resolutions to present to the City. We asked the City to consider putting the tennis court lights in Dogwood Park on a timer. The notion was to have the lights on when the courts are in use and off when they weren’t in use. We didn’t want this practice to change the ordinary “light’ s out” time, but rather to have the lights on only when in use during the open hours.

The City considered our request, but decided not to implement it for several reasons. The primary reason is that the type of light they have takes ten minutes to warm up. You can’t really run lights on an on-demand timer if it takes ten minutes for the lights to power up.

We also asked the City to put picnic tables and a grill in at the picnic shelter in Dawson Farm Park. The goal would be to make the park better serve as a place where friends and family could have a picnic or get together. It took us a lot of discussion to agree on this resolution due to a number of concerns. It turns out the Jefferson Square civic association had concerns as well. They worried about parking issues and about drawing vagrants and teenagers to the park. In deference to those concerns, and noting that there are picnic tables at both Dogwood and Elwood Smith, the City decided not to put in the picnic tables. HCA President Carl Henn then asked the City to substitute a request that the City repair and repaint the picnic tables at Elwood Smith.

Lessons from a Storm

On June 4 a powerful thunderstorm blew through and knocked out power in most of Hungerford for a day and in some parts longer. Many lessons can be learned from the experience. Most of them we already knew: Pay attention to weather forecasts, react immediately to tornado warnings, have batteries, flashlights and a radio ready.

Other lessons were more subtle. As the next day heated up and power stayed off, some homes heated up well beyond the comfort range. You could knock a few degrees off the rising temperature by closing the blinds that the sun shines in through, or by installing awnings on south facing windows. Better insulation can also keep the morning cool in the house longer. Radiant Barrier insulation under your roof can greatly reduce heat gain in summer. While we learned the downside of trees as they fell on powerlines and houses, the next day the shade of those remaining reminded us of their many positive contributions.

The same things that keep our houses comfortable when the AC is out also keep our bills lower when the power is on. Many energy experts think that we face real challenges keeping our grid stable as demand rises, both in Maryland and as a national concern. Reducing demand by investing in insulation, shades, awnings, compact fluorescent lightbulbs and more efficient appliances will reduce your energy bills and improve the stability of the electric grid.

National Night Out

August 5 from 6:30 to 8:00 we will have a National Night Out get together at the Elwood Smith Center (corner of Huntington and Mercer. Hotdogs, koolaid and conversation. Also, if you have any dead Compact Flourescent Lightbulbs, bring them along and we’ll see that they are properly recycled.

Community Garden?

The Hungerford Environment/Community Garden Committee wants to know who would want a plot if we were able to start a community garden. Please e-mail carlhenn@comcast.net if you are interested.

Readers respond

We got more comments regarding the free daily newspaper, The Examiner, than any other subject. One pointed out that the info on how to stop delivery was buried in text and needs to be in big, bold letters. (Done, see above) Another pointed out that the bags can be recycled as well as the newspaper at most grocery stores and many dry cleaners, if you get them before they get dirty. One noted that he’s seen neighbors put them in the recycling with the bag still on. Would you eat a candy bar with the wrapper still on? Recycling only works when we follow the rules of the program. One writer said that calling the number to end delivery doesn’t work, while another said you may have to call several times, but it works eventually.