The Northwood-Four Corners Civic Association is sponsoring its Third Annual Rachel Carson Meadow Festival on 15 May.

You can enter the park from the north on Southwood Avenue at Edgewood Avenue (only 16 parking spaces in the lot), from the south side on

University Boulevard at Brunett Avenue, or from the west off Royalton Road (parking on the street).  There is overflow parking at the Myosenji Buddhist Temple at the corner of University Blvd. and Brunett Ave., but walking to the park is recommended.  See the map.

“If I had influence with the good fairy who is supposed to preside over the christening of all children, I should ask that her gift to each child in the world be a sense of wonder so indestructible that it would last throughout life.”

—Rachel Carson, A Sense of Wonder

Highlights

Join us in the meadow for the following activities:

• Participate in singing, dancing, a mummer’s play, or crafts as part of the Washington Revels Festival Day and performance.  (Visit revelsdc.org to sign up.)
• Compete in the Pitting of the Pooches (fun family dog show with prizes such as “best kisser” and “looks most like their owner”)
• Make wreaths or crowns from invasive vines
• Peruse displays and demonstrations provided by environmental and local organizations such as the Rainscapes Program and the Forest Knolls Community Pool
• Attend a Yoga class taught by Northwood resident yogini Carrie Ganz
• Hug the 180+ year-old black walnut tree (right)
• Get up close to nature in the meadow, and answer the question “What’s That?” with Northwood resident naturalist Carole Barth
• See a Taekwondo demonstration by Northwood dad Tony Tran
• Enjoy the kids’ soccer clinic run by Northwood dad Aleks Beltran
• Learn about meadow gardening with Northwood resident Catherine Zimmerman (author of Urban and Suburban Meadows, see The Meadow Project)

The meadow in North Four Corners Park serves as our “village green” where Four Corners residents walk dogs, chat, watch fireflies, sled, toss a frisbee, read, and enjoy a hundred other pursuits.  It’s a convenient spot for families, where kids can engage in unstructured outdoor play.  Next door to the Oaks independent living facility, it’s also convenient for seniors.

We created the Meadow Festival to demonstrate what a valuable resource this is for the highly developed, densely populated, and diverse communities of down-county.  We have also named this plot of land “Rachel Carson Meadow” to honor the pioneering environmentalist who lived just across the Northwest Branch, and to celebrate her last book, The Sense of Wonder, about the importance of sharing nature with children.

For more information, contact Carole Barth, 301.593.7863 or cbarth@mindspring.com.

PLEASE NOTE:  Due to MoCo Department of Parks regulations, no sales are allowed in the park.  Therefore, there will be no refreshments, and exhibitors are not permitted to sell any items, although they may take orders.

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© 2011 NFCCA.