Northwood News ♦ February 2021

President’s Message

By Linda Perlman

A new year, a new president, and a COVID-19 vaccine!  2021 is starting off well; that is, if you can manage to ignore an insurrection at the United States Capitol building and the resulting second impeachment of Donald Trump, and a nationwide COVID-19 death toll of more than 400,000.  The risk from the coronavirus is far from over, so Mask Up, folks, and continue to social distance.

Our civic association meetings have been conducted remotely, via Zoom, since April 2020.  I do not expect in-person meetings or events to resume until the pandemic is over and it is safe to resume meetings.  I miss seeing everyone in person, Fiona’s raffles, and the delectable treats at NFCCA meetings.

The next NFCCA meeting will be on Wednesday, 10 February 2021, at 7:30 pm.  The Zoom link for this meeting will be publicized via the NFCCA Groups.io listserv and Next Door/Northwood-Four Corners [see how to join both here], and will be available on this NFCCA website.  All residents of the Northwood-Four Corners-Forest Knolls area are encouraged to attend this virtual meeting.  If you are not already a member of the NFCCA, please pay your dues (still only $10 per household, per year) to support civic association activities, including this newsletter.  [Check to see if you’re currently a member here.]

We were saddened to learn in early January of the death of Tommy Raskin, the 25-year-old son of our District 8 Congressman Jamie Raskin and Sarah Bloom Raskin.  The NFCCA Board of Directors voted to make a contribution to the Tommy Raskin Memorial Fund for People and Animals.

The last words of the traditional Passover Seder are “next year in Jerusalem.”  As the final moment in the Seder, this phrase finishes the Seder’s journey from a reminder of the suffering of the past (and present) to hopes for freedom for all in the future.  My (nonreligious) family held a virtual Seder in 2020.  We ended our Seder with the words “next year in Silver Spring,” as an expression of hope that our family could enjoy Passover dinner together in 2021.  That is unlikely to happen (this year Passover begins at sundown on 27 March), but “next year together” is my hope for all our families.   ■