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The celebration of a new community
South Silver Spring throws a block party
by Jason Gedeik, local activist and proud South Silver Spring resident
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| Original art by local artist Safori will be raffled off at the block party on May 20. |
As the spring shakes off the winter and embraces the approaching summer, so do the residents of South Silver Spring prepare to celebrate the growth of their new community. The neighborhood has rallied together and is planning the first ever annual South Silver Spring block party that will take place on Sunday, May 20th. This one day event will showcase the best of South Silver Spring and promises fun and entertainment for everyone ranging from children’s activities, live music, food and drink, an Arts Walk, a bazaar of local retailers, raffle prizes donated from local businesses and much more. The original Silver Spring well will also be turned on for the first time this year to mark the special occasion.
“The theme of this year’s block party is ‘celebrating community’ and it’s hard to imagine that just five years ago there really wasn’t much of a neighborhood to celebrate,” said David Fogel, vice president of the South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association (SSSNA) and local resident at Eastern Village. “This area has undergone such rapid development over the years creating an influx of new residents and businesses. We thought it was time to celebrate this growth by showcasing the diversity of our community through our local businesses, restaurants, artists and musicians.”
The areas growth is evident with an increase in population of approximately 1,500 residents over the past five years. Much of this expansion has been supported by an influx of new businesses setting up shop in the area ranging from Jackie’s Restaurant and Tiramisu Bakery & Cafe to Moorenko’s Ice Cream and Pyramid Atlantic Art Center. Organizations like Gateway Georgia Revitalization Corporation have also helped to transform the area into an arts and entertainment community through the ongoing Arts Walk initiative and the Heliport Gallery that showcases local artists.
With all this development, a group of active residents came together out of the desire to ensure they had a say in their community’s growth. In the summer of 2006, the first ever South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association was formed. “We really wanted to create an association of neighbors that would give us a stronger voice in helping to influence how our community was being shaped by the influx of new businesses and development,” said David Fogel. “Through my work with Gateway, I saw the power of communities to rebuild through a common vision and I really wanted to find a way to empower my neighbors while having fun.”
One of the first grassroots initiatives the association set in motion was the Yahoo Group List Serv created by Katie Henry of Eastern Village. This offered residents a forum to post questions and information related to life in South Silver Spring. “We started out with just a handful of people but after posting flyers around the area and leveraging our condo email groups to get the word out the SSSNA Yahoo Group has grown to over 100 members,” said David.
The association quickly evolved in sophistication and launched a comprehensive community website (southsilverspring.org) that hosts an active Web blog, community guide, event calendar and mailing group. “The website was designed to be an interactive tool that everyone in the community could use,” said Jimmy Obomsawin, developer of the website and South Silver Spring resident. “We based it on the Wikipedia format so that anyone with access to the Internet could edit the Website and add in relevant information whether about local art exhibitions, new businesses or concerns that needed addressing.”
SSSNA didn’t stop there. They have since hosted a number of neighborhood meetings focused on issues over new development projects and safety matters affecting the community. “We recently hosted the Police Commander of the 3rd District to deal with apprehensions over the level of crime incidents being reported in the area,” said Evan Glass. “After hearing a detailed report from Police Commander Betsy Davis and two of her officers, we were relieved to learn that crime has dramatically declined over the years and that the neighborhood is a much safer place to live in than we previously thought. That was a big relief to a lot of people who were getting worried by the information they heard through the rumor mill,” Evan said.
The neighborhood association hopes to raise enough funds through the block party raffle in order to expand upon its community organizing initiatives. “We’re confident that this is just the beginning of something great for our neighborhood,” said Evan Glass. “If we can engage enough people to care about the area’s growth and become active, then our community will become an even better place to live and work.” With passion like that, the future of South Silver Spring is in good hands.
The South Silver Spring Neighborhood Association would like to recognize the generous contributions of the block party sponsors including the Silver Spring Regional Center and Urban District, Discovery Communications, Montgomery Community College, Strosniders Hardware Stores, Gateway Georgia Revitalization Corporation.
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