SILVER SPRING, MD-At
approximately 9:00 am Tuesday, May 15, the Montgomery County Council
will take up a resolution declaring May 27, 2007 “Rachel Carson Day” in
Montgomery County in honor of Carson’s 100th birthday anniversary.
Rachel Carson, known
as a key founder of the modern environmental movement with the success
of her best-selling book Silent Spring, was a resident of Silver
Spring.
“The County Council
urges the residents of Montgomery County to honor Rachel Carson by
discovering in nature a sense of wonder not only on Rachel Carson’s
birthday but every day thereafter,” as noted in the County Council’s
written resolution.
County residents and
area visitors can get a jumpstart on discovering their sense of wonder
during the Montgomery County Department of Parks’ two-day Rachel Carson
Greenway Celebration, Saturday, May 19 and Sunday, May 20.
“We’re throwing a
huge party to honor the enormous contribution of Rachel Carson’s life
work and her personal commitment to the conservation of open green
spaces, such as our county’s parks,” said Department of Parks Director
Mary Bradford. “As a Silver Spring resident, Rachel Carson frequently
enjoyed the parks and green spaces of Montgomery County near her home.
This celebration is a great chance to get outdoors and discover, or
rediscover the natural world with friends and family.”
The department’s
Rachel Carson Greenway Celebration will include Saturday park
naturalist-led “Sense of Wonder” hikes of one of the most popular
sections of the Rachel Carson Greenway at Burnt Mills Dam in Silver
Spring, Underground Railroad Experience Trail hikes at Woodlawn
Cultural Park in Sandy Spring and a “Contemplating Nature” hike at
Rachel Carson Conservation Park in Brookeville on Sunday. The
celebration will also include activities for the kids, such as a
real-life show and tell of the different kinds of fish and critters in
the Northwest Branch Stream at Burnt Mills Dam, free trolley rides and
Rachel Carson films at the National Capital Trolley Museum and walks to
showcase the big tree champions at the Trolley Museum.
A special feature
Saturday evening at Woodlawn Cultural Park, 6501 Norwood Road, in Sandy
Spring will include an evening talk on the night sky and the
Underground Railroad by renowned Historian Anthony Cohen. Saturday
evening’s event will conclude with a night hike at Woodlawn led by
Anthony Cohen and night sky stargazing with Montgomery College
Astronomer Dr. Harold Williams through telescopes provided courtesy of
the college.
On Sunday, the
department’s celebration will wrap-up with a birthday party for Rachel
Carson at the Rachel Carson Conservation Park, 22201 Zion Road, in
Brookville. The day’s event will also include nature fun for kids, such
as fishing in a barrel, a recycling game and making a big birthday
banner; birthday cake will also be provided for all attending.
As part of the
celebration, a team of hikers from REI will also hike the entire length
of the 25-mile Rachel Carson Greenway over the course of the two-day
event.
All events for the
greenway celebration are free. Former Montgomery County Planning Board
Chairman Derick Berlage is honorary event chair and current Planning
Board Chairman Royce Hanson will also be on hand for the festivities.
“The importance of
Rachel Carson is apparent within our parks system by the two special
places we have named in her honor,” said Chairman Hanson. “A few years
ago, the Board approved a plan that will make the Rachel Carson
Greenway the longest continuous trail in Montgomery County when it’s
completed-so celebrating the greenway for Carson’s centennial is a
befitting expression of our commitment to the principles of her work.”
The department’s 400+
parks system includes both the Rachel Carson Greenway and Rachel Carson
Conservation Park. Three different segments of trail along the Rachel
Carson Greenway are currently open and signed. Over the next several
years, additional segments of the greenway will be completed to make
the trail continuous, according the trail corridor plan approved by the
Montgomery County Planning Board in 2005.
For a complete
schedule of events and more information on the department’s Rachel
Carson Greenway Celebration visit www.MontgomeryTrails.org.