Free ice skating and skate rentals to all active and retired military personnel on Sunday, November 9. More details available here.

Community invited to brainstorm, collaborate with planners November 10-18 in open sessions with public to capture concepts, goals for sector plan area

The Montgomery County Planning Department is conducting a weeklong charrette - a series of intensive workshops - to gather ideas and craft a concept framework plan for the Westbard Sector Plan. The PlanWestbard Community Charrette will take place during the week of November 10; a full schedule of meetings is posted online at www.montgomeryplanning.org/planwestbard. Daytime workshops will be conducted at the Westwood II Office Building (5110 Ridgefield Rd, Bethesda, MD) from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. and evening presentations will be held during the week at the Walt Whitman High School cafeteria (7100 Whittier Blvd, Bethesda, MD) from 6 - 9 p.m. The final presentation of the completed Concept Plan being held at Westland Middle School (5511 Massachusetts Ave, Bethesda, MD) from 7 - 9 p.m. 

Planners, developers and historians reveal how politics and policies transformed the community

On Wednesday, November 12, the Montgomery County Planning Department is launching its Winter Speakers Series, titled "A Once and Future County: Lessons on How Planning Politics Shaped Montgomery County." The five evening sessions will offer presentations by Royce Hanson, former chairman of the County's Planning Board; panel discussions among regional planning experts; and question-and-answer sessions with attendees. Topics will reflect the subject of Hanson's soon-to-be published book: Suburb: Planning Politics and the Public Interest in Montgomery County 1910-2010. Each 90-minute event is free to the public and will be streamed online live. The November 12 session will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Planning Department headquarters at 8787 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, Md. Presentations in December and subsequent months will begin at 5:30 p.m. and conclude at 7 p.m. Learn more about the Once and Future County Speakers Series.

Photo Credit: District of Columbia Public Library, Washingtoniana Division.
 

Montgomery Parks staff has a lot to be thankful for this year. We want to hear what you are thankful for. Please share your stories at www.Facebook.com/MontgomeryParks.

Montgomery Parks has made a difficult decision to cancel the annual Garden of Lights show this year due to ongoing construction at Brookside Gardens. Find information on many other holiday happenings in Montgomery Parks here.

Watch the videocast of Planning Director Gwen Wright's presentation at NIH from November 5 where she presented on key strategies for achieving healthy communities as part of the seminar "The National Prevention Strategy: Prioritizing Prevention to Improve the Nation's Health." Learn more about the event. 

View the video presentation.

Montgomery Parks 2014 - 2015 deer management program is in progress. The annual program helps to reduce and maintain deer populations in accordance with the goals of the County's deer management plan. For more details please visit www.Parksdeermanagement.org.

Short video features highlights of the digital map associated with the new Zoning Ordinance. Check it out.