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Long Live the Fight of the Parking Chair, Seat, Bench, Scooters, Strollers, Hopes, Dreams
📣 Welcome
📣 Welcome
Date 2/5/2026
Issue #19
Large snowstorms shrink our world. Going to the grocery store becomes The Event of the week. Half of your day is putting on and taking off snow gear. You barely leave the house. (I’m fine. It’s fine. WE’RE FINE.)
But at the same time, your local ecosystem expands. You see and talk with neighbors you don’t often see or talk with. You swap complaints about public services* and place your bets with Mother Nature.
And then, little micro-democracies pop up.
Enter: the Parking Chair.
The lawn-chair-as-a-claim-to-space is new to me. And I’m obsessed. While our society loves a technicality, the question “Do you actually get to claim this space right now?” is complicated, and kind of miraculous to witness. It pushes us to engage with the systems we often ignore—informal, unspoken, intensely specific—and it requires our participation.
It's imperfect, and someone is always unhappy. But most people honor it. And I think that’s all we can hope for. (And maybe a parking spot that isn’t a death trap.)
Good luck out there.
*Shoutout to the folks working hard to keep our roads clear and safe.
My Top Five:
Black History Month Events
A Plastic Free Recipe by neighbor Marylee Haughwout
Food Drive for PGIRC
Rachel Bush
LGN Editor
rsbush01@gmail.com
🏛️ City Updates
🏛️ City Updates
Brentwood:
Meet the new interim chief, Bob Althoff
Every Friday - Brentwood Food Pantry
10-2 PM
2/20 Fri - Black History Month Celebration
Colmar Manor:
I’ve decided to stop regularly covering Colmar Manor in the LGN. When I started this, I thought it made sense with our community schools in mind—but I was mistaken (that's on me). I’ll still share any notable updates I come across in the Nearby Happenings section. And if anyone feels strongly about keeping Colmar Manor covered, I’d genuinely welcome a volunteer.
Cottage City:
2/11 Wed - Swearing in Ceremony of Police Chief David Martini
Mount Rainier:
2/12 Th - Tree Commission Meeting
North Brentwood:
Black History Month Celebrations
🎒 School News
🎒 School News
After a week+ of snow days, everyone (parents and kids) has a little more appreciation for school and is ready to get back to it during the month of February. We appreciate the support staff and community members who worked together to clear sidewalks, intersections and crosswalks to create safe paths to school for our kids.
Ways to get involved during February
Support a teacher or classroom by making a purchase from their wishlists
2/10 and 2/24 - Join the MRES Family Language Exchange Club 6-7:30 at miXt Foodhall. Open to all community members hoping to learn and share their language(s)
2/9 - The First “Spanish First” MRES PTO meeting. The meeting will be conducted in Spanish with English translation available for those that need!
Interested in helping plan and support the Community Carnival in May? Reach out to MountRainierPTO@gmail.com. We rely on volunteer support for this magical event!
Celebrating Black History Month: A Month of Inspiration
Our school is honored to commemorate Black History Month with a series of meaningful events highlighting remarkable African American achievements. We will host our annual PTO Black History Month and Winter Art Showcase at 6 pm on February 26th, showcasing the creativity and cultural contributions of our students and community.
A special acknowledgment to our dedicated support team, who worked diligently to ensure a smooth return to school following the recent snowstorm. Their commitment to student safety and support is truly appreciated.
2/9 M - TSSE Book Club - "The Snowy Day"
- This will be an opportunity for students to connect with diverse storytelling. Additionally, we look forward to our upcoming Valentine's Day celebration, which promises to be a delightful event for our students.
Pictured: Dr. Carter G. Woodson, a founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. Carter Godwin Woodson was born in 1875 in New Canton, Buckingham Co, VA and died in Washington, DC in 1950. He is buried in Suitland, Prince George’s Co, Maryland at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery. Rest in Power, Dr. Woodson!
🌎 Stay Local
🌎 Stay Local
✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼
Celebrate Black History Month by Heather Ware
Black History Month marks 100 years of celebrating Black history and achievement.
This year’s theme is "A century of Black History Commemorations." Black History Month dates back to 1926, when Dr. Carter G. Woodson created Negro History Week to encourage Black Americans to become more interested in their history and heritage.
"I think Black folks understood what they had contributed to America’s historical narrative, but no one was talking about it," Kaye Whitehead, ASALH’s president, "No one was centralizing it until Dr. Carter G. Woodson was in 1926."
Woodson chose February for Negro History Week because it had the birthdays of President Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Lincoln was born on Feb. 12, and Douglass, a former slave who did not know his exact birthday, celebrated his on Feb. 14.
In 1976, 50 years after the first celebration, officially shifted from a week to a month and from "Negro history week" to "Black history month." It’s a time for all people – not just Black people – to celebrate Black history, heritage and contributions. Find events in your area this month to get involved.
🎭 Neighborhood Happenings
🎭 Neighborhood Happenings
Every Tuesday: GAT Weekly Walk from Joe’s at 10:30 #Free
1/27- 2/28 - Figures & More - Tinam Valk Exhibit
2/1 - Registration Open - Spring Art Classes Brentwood Arts Exchange
2/6 Fri GAT Community Potluck + Financial Goal Planning #Free
6 PM Mount Rainier Nature Center
2/7 Sa - Friendship Bracelets at the MtR Library #Free
2/7 Sa - Alternative Income Streams for Artists #Free
2/13 Sa - Proverbs Reggae Band 8-10 PM
2/19 Th - Research Your Roots: Genealogical Research 201#Free
2/11 Wed - AWPLI Bright Beginnings Coat Drive #Free
4-7 PM
2/13 Pre- Valentines Speed Dating at MiXt
Ages 25-45
2/17 - Adult Spanish Classes
Registration Limited
☮️ Volunteering and Mutual Aid
The PG County Immigrants Rights Collective (PGIRC) is a group of neighbors helping neighbors impacted by recent ICE kidnappings. This includes:
Donating money These GoFundMes help pay rent, legal fees, and buy groceries
Providing groceries The need is urgent. Please help if you can.
🧑🌾 Gateway Farmer's Market Feature
🧑🌾 Gateway Farmer's Market Feature
Join us indoors at miXt Food Hall! - Saturday Feb 28th & Mar 28th, 9-12pm. Stock up on fresh produce, meat, dairy, bread, baked goods, preserves and more.
Super kid friendly with plenty of options for breakfast and lunch.
Mark your calendars … the outdoor market opens on April 18th!
📚 Mount Rainier Public Library
📚 Mount Rainier Public Library
2/7 Sa - Friendship Bracelets! The Mount Rainier Branch Library has everything you need to make friendship bracelets with your children this Saturday afternoon. Come on by to craft and pick out some good winter reads while you are here.
Stella Eloise (official recipe/food critic of LGN) made this recipe, after purchasing everything from Glut -- no plastic -- as Marylee discusses below. Stella recommends!
🍲 Neighbor Submission: Red lentil dal with Aromatics
🍲 Neighbor Submission: Red lentil dal with Aromatics
Written and Submitted by Marylee Haughwout
Keeping it local and plastic free in the neighborhood
Hate plastic, especially wrapped around your food? Hate Jeff Bezos? Hate traffic and fluorescent lighting? Love healthy food and low cost ingredients that you can buy in your own reusable glass jar down the street and run into some neighbors you haven’t seen in a long time? You are invited to try the following recipe for a family friendly meal with ingredients sourced from Glut. ♥️
Adapted from Debra Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Cost: $12
Servings: 4 people
Total Time: Less than 40 minutes (prep+cook time)
Ingredients:
*1 cup red lentils
*1 1/2 cups rice
*1 small onion, finely chopped
*2 garlic cloves, sliced
*1 jalapeno chile, seeded and chopped (optional, especially with kids)
*3 TBS ghee, or butter, or olive oil
*½ tsp turmeric
*1 cup of coconut milk (unsweetened)
*1 tsp salt
*2 shallots, sliced
*¼ tsp red pepper flakes
*1 tsp mustard seeds
*1 tsp cumin seeds
*1 lime, optional
Preparation:
* All things you can get at Glut and make this budget and not wrapped in plastic if you bring your own jars for bulk items.
Rinse the red lentils several times. In a saucepan over medium-high heat, saute the onion, garlic and chile in 2 TBS ghee, butter or olive oil for 1 minute. Add the turmeric, lentils and 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the lentils are soft, about 20-30 minutes.
Make the rice.
Add the coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes more, stirring occasionally. Taste for salt and remove from heat.
With the remaining ghee, butter or olive oil, add the shallots, chile flakes, cumin seed and mustard seed. Fry the cumin and mustard seeds about 1 minute. Stir this into the dal. Serve over rice and squeeze in lime juice at the end.
☕ Etc.
☕ Etc.
The Farmer's Market is back! See you Saturday Feb 28th & Mar 28th. Thanks for the photo, Amy!
Holiday magic in Brentwood: the Brentwood Senior Society helped us wrap 150+ gifts with joy, generosity, and community spirit. 🎁❤️🎄
Historic Sis’s Tavern in North Brentwood Now Available for Private Rentals! Read more via the Hyattsville Wire.
Ohhhh what’s to come? What’s to come?
Mount Rainier officially opened its new community center in a renovated 117-year-old building. Read more via the Hyattsville Wire.
Twiggy and Billy in their Christmas costumes. Thanks for the cute pic, Aarthi!
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