Join ANC Commissioners Danielle Geong (4B09) & Jinin Berry (4B10) for a clean up of Riggs Road on August 16, 2025. Meet at Riggs Road & Oglethorpe Street NE at 8:00 am.

Gloves, trash pickers, and bags provided.

All ages welcome. Community service hours offered.

Sign up: bit.ly/riggsrd

Join ANC Commissioners Danielle Geong (4B09) & Keith Sellars (5A01) for a neighborhood clean up along Eastern Avenue on Saturday, August 2, 2025, from 8:00 am to 9:00 am. We will also be picking up trash around the edges of Fort Circle Park near Sargent & Galloway.

Meet at Eastern Avenue & Kennedy Street NE at 8am. Trash bags, grabbers, gloves, and water provided.

All ages welcome. Community service hours available.

RSVP at https://bit.ly/4B09.

Please let your neighbors know.

Download flyer.

Join ANC Commissioners Danielle Geong (4B09) & Keith Sellars (5A01) for a neighborhood clean up along Eastern Avenue on Saturday, August 2, 2025, from 8:00 am to 9:00 am.

Meet at Eastern Avenue & Kennedy Street NE at 8am. Trash bags, grabbers, gloves, and water provided.

All ages welcome. Community service hours available.

RSVP at https://bit.ly/4B09.

Please let your neighbors know.

Download flyer.

Washington Jewish Week recently recognized the 103rd birthday of Silver Spring resident Sylvia Potash, one of the founding members of Shaare Tefila Congregation, which was originally established in the Riggs Park neighborhood. Most probably know a little bit about the Jewish roots of the neighborhood and that Shaare Tefila was located where Faith Moravian Church now sits at 405 Riggs Road NE before moving to the Silver Spring area.

Random fun fact. When I served as president of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association from 2017 to 2019, I applied for a grant on behalf of the association to do an oral history project of the neighborhood. I reached out to the then executive director of Shaare Tefila to see if they would be interested in being part of the project. We had a nice conversation, and they ended up providing a letter of support for the application. We did not get the grant. But during our conversation, I learned that the executive director and I grew up in the same neighborhood back in California. Her father had a dental practice in a building at the end of the street of my childhood home. This was before my time of course. My neighborhood, like many urban areas and inner ring suburbs, saw white flight during the 1960s and ’70s and by the time I was born, there was only one white family remaining on the block. Anyhow we had a nice time chatting about other random coincidences of having grown up in the same neighborhood during different periods of time and both making our way to the DC area as adults.

Anyways, the Washington Jewish Week article provides some interesting history about Shaare Tefila’s establishment in Riggs Park.

I recently attended a memorial service for a beloved neighbor, Ms. Elaine Faye Gunter. Ms. Elaine was one of the first people I met when I started attending community meetings several years ago now. She was so kind, so warm, so welcoming. Humble, generous, and encouraging.

Ms. Elaine earned a Master of Science degree in Information and Telecommunications Systems from Johns Hopkins University. She worked as a senior software engineer for NASA for many years. She worked pretty much up until her passing at 77 years old. Ms. Elaine was like many elders in the neighborhood, particularly women, who enjoyed a remarkable career, accomplishing a lot in the face of discrimination.

I don’t quite remember the year I met Ms. Elaine. We developed a warm friendship through our community involvement. I will always remember how she stood for decency. Literally standing up in meetings to ask that everyone, whether new to the neighborhood or a long-term resident, be treated with respect.

Ms. Elaine was a core member of the Lamond-Riggs Citizens Association development task force. By the time I moved to the neighborhood and started attending meetings, a couple of big projects were just getting underway. At almost every meeting, Ms. Elaine would ask for a wine bar.

We did not get that wine bar before Ms. Elaine passed. A group of us would get together every so often outside the neighborhood for food and friendship. One of the last memories I have of her was my birthday dinner in May. She gifted me wind chimes for my porch. Hopefully we will get a chance soon to raise a glass in the neighborhood for the gift that was Ms. Elaine.

May she rest well and memories of her be a comfort to all those who loved her.

From Faith Moravian Church

Join Faith Moravian Church for an exhilarating West African Dance Class at Faith Moravian Church! Get ready to move your body and immerse yourself in the vibrant rhythms and energetic dance styles of West Africa.

Led by Ashanté Green, Creative Director of Dance Institute of Washington, you’ll have the opportunity to learn traditional dance steps, explore the rich cultural heritage of West Africa, and connect with fellow dance enthusiasts. She will guide you through the movements, ensuring an enjoyable and inclusive experience for all skill levels.

Whether you’re a beginner or have previous dance experience, this class is open to everyone who wants to have fun and embrace the spirit of West African dance. So, mark your calendars for Saturday, February 10, 2024, at 10:00 AM (EST), and get ready to let loose and groove to the infectious beats!

This morning, I attended the funeral service for my neighbor Mrs. Cobb. She lived a full 96 years. Mrs. Cobb and her family moved to Riggs Park on Hamilton Street NE around 1960, one of the first Black families to do so. She held a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Hampton (Institute) University and trained a generation of nurses in DC. She was active in her Michigan Park Christian Church community.

It was a treat to know Mrs. Cobb and to hear the tributes to her. Reggie and Chucky Royster, two brothers who grew up on Hamilton Street with Mrs. Cobbs’ sons–Benny, David, and the late Tyrone–shared that Mrs. Cobb was part of a group of families who all moved onto the 900 and 1000 blocks of Hamilton Street NE in the late 1950s and early 1960s. These families looked out for each other’s families, took each other’s children to school, fed each other’s children, and corrected each other’s children when they did something wrong. They worked in a number of different professions. Reflecting on their time growing up on Hamilton Street in the 1960s and ’70s, Reggie Royster said it was like being part of a miracle on Hamilton Street.

I always tell people one of the reasons I was drawn to this part of Riggs Park and Hamilton Street in particular was that when I was looking at my house, it reminded me of the neighborhood where I grew up. A neighborhood where neighbors knew one another, held block parties and parades, always shared a friendly wave and hello, and looked out for each other.

By the time I purchased my home on Hamilton across the street from Mrs. Cobb in 2010, she would have been 83 years old. One would not know it. I certainly did not. She was pretty active and spry well into her 90s. A neighbor and I joke that the women on the block all live into their 90s because of all the steps in these houses. Or maybe it is because they are some of the kindest people I know. In any case, Mrs. Cobb started slowing down probably around 93 years old. She would sit on her porch every day simply enjoying the fresh air and quiet.

Mrs. Cobb was part of a group of elderly Black women on the block whom I know only by last name. Only today did I learn her first name. Marianne P. Cobb. May she rest well and memories of her be a comfort and blessing to her loved ones.