One Year Later || Un Año Después

Families picnic as the Barnard Hill Park tree blooms.

📣 Welcome

Date 4/3/26

Issue 24

As all beautiful stories of community go, the Lower Gateway Newsletter began in a moment of rage, sparked by an interaction with a neighbor on the Mount Rainier Facebook page. And here we are! One year later!

I believe our communities are safer and more joyful when we know and care for our neighbors, and that the spaces that make those connections possible only survive if we actively cherish them. This newsletter has been my way of living that out, and over the past year it’s become a quiet counterpoint to what algorithms amplify. Our community is defined not by division but by care, generosity, and connection. (Even if it is taxed with an occasional eye roll.)

From Ursula Le Guin’s translation of Tau Te Ching
Chapter 80

Let there be a little country without many people.
Let them have tools that do the work of ten or a hundred,
and never use them.
Let them be mindful of death
and disinclined to long journeys.
They’d have ships and carriages,
but no place to go.

They’d have armor and weapons,
but no parades.
Instead of writing,
they might go back to using knotted cords.
They’d enjoy eating,
take pleasure in clothes,
be happy with their houses,
devoted to their customs.

The next little country might be so close the people could hear cocks crowing and dogs barking there, but they’d get old and die without ever having been there.

Thanks for joining me. And thanks to the dozens of folks that contribute, edit, share, engage, critique, compliment, etc etc the newsletter. LGN doesn’t exist without you all.

Rachel Bush
LGN Editor
rsbush01@gmail.com

🏛️ City Updates

Prince George’s County’s 12-week virtual Civic Academy 04/06–06/29 (Mon) (6:30–8:00 PM) connects residents to learn how county systems work and access leadership opportunities, with certificates for graduates and spots open now.

Upcoming Official City Events:

Brentwood

2027 Proposed Budget

• 04/06 (Mon) (7:00 PM): Town Council Workshop – Brentwood Town Hall.

• 04/11 (Sat) (11:00 AM): LEMONFEST 2026 – Cultural Enrichment Center.

• 04/13 (Mon) (6:30 PM): Silent Book Club DC H St – Regional event/Brentwood-area interest.

• 04/14 (Tue) (7:00 PM): Brentwood Town Council Meeting – Brentwood Town Hall.

Cottage City

• 04/04 (Sat) (9:30–11:30 AM): Dueling Creek Clean-Up – Help keep our local waterways clean.

• 04/04 (Sat) (11:00 AM–1:00 PM): Easter Extravaganza – Cottage City Park (Games, egg hunt, and family fun).

• 04/08 (Wed) (6:30 PM): April Work Session & Regular Town Meeting – Town Hall.

Mount Rainier

• Code Connect: https://mountrainermdcodeconnect.comcate.com/en

• The City of Mount Rainier’s new parking system as of 04/01 (Wed), requiring drivers to pay in designated areas via ParkMobile (app, text, web, or phone) along key corridors like 34th Street, Rhode Island Avenue, and Bunker Hill Road.

• 04/07 (Tue) (All Day): Public Hearing on Proposed FY2027 Budget.

• 04/07 (Tue) (7:00 PM): Legislative Meeting of the Mayor and Council – City Hall/Potts Hall Welcome Center.

• 04/09 (Thu) (6:30–7:30 PM): Recreation Committee Meeting – City Hall.

• 04/13 (Mon) (All Day): Yard Waste and Compost Collection.

North Brentwood

• 04/06 (Mon) (7:30 PM): Town Meeting – Held via Zoom (Meeting ID: 433 091 3800 / Passcode: 4009).

• • 04/17 (Fri) (7:00 PM): Community Game Night – Sis's Tavern.

🎒 School News

PGCPS Calendar

Md. Department of Education committee begins search for permanent Prince George’s schools chief

Mount Rainier Elementary:

Upcoming dates and events

• 🌍 04/10 (Fri) (6:00–8:00 PM) – International Night - A celebration of the people and cultures at MRES

• 🍎 05/04–05/08 (Mon–Fri) – Teacher Appreciation Week - Stay posted on how to celebrate our teachers!

• 💼 05/13 (Wed) – Career Day - If you are not an MRES parent, but are interested in sharing your career with students, reach out to mountrainierPTO@gmail.com

• 🎡 05/16 (Sat) – Community Carnival

Thomas S. Stone Elementary:

• 📚 04/13 (Mon) — Next Book Club Session.

🌎 Stay Local

🎉Neighbor Spotlight - Krista Schlyer

Mount Rainier author and photographer Krista Schlyer has launched a narrative audio story about a three year sailing adventure she and her partner Bill started in 2020, at the height of the pandemic. The narrative podcast follows this journey through the eyes of Krista, the first mate on the Sailing Vessel Maggie May. The tale is filled with adventure--there are storms and rough seas and lightening-strikes--but it is not a story driven by one adrenaline rush after another. The real story concerns the day-to-day humor and struggle that happens in the quiet spaces within all adventures and especially sailing adventures. It's a true story about ordinary time, and extraordinary time; about courage, fear, frailty, adventure and love. It's a story of real life inside a little boat, sailing upon a big, big ocean.

The first full season, Thermometer Rising, was released last fall over 15 episodes, and was compiled in a limited edition printed chapter book. The second season will be released soon, starting 04/07 (Tue). You can listen to the story on https://www.patreon.com/FirstMatesLog and you can find the book on Krista’s website: https://kristaschlyer.squarespace.com/store.

Neighborhood Happenings

• 🎨 04/08 (Wed) (6:30–8:40 PM) – Craft Club Meetup at MiXt

• 🖼️ 04/11 (Sat) — Borderless & Real Characters Joint Opening Reception at Brentwood Arts Exchange.

• 📸 04/11 (Sat) – Party/Fundraiser for the new Community Darkroom and IRC

• 🗳️ 04/11 (Sat) – Neighborhood Meet and Greet for Jaime McGonnigal, Board of Education Candidate

• 🌿 04/11 (Sat) – Mount Rainier Nature Center Community Day and Seed Swap

• 🎶 04/10 (Fri) — Tower Green Listening Room Concert

• 🎓 04/16 (Thu) — The Business of Music & Performing Arts

• 🎹 04/16 (Thu) — Sonic Frontier Jam Series & Film Screening

• 🛍️ Artisan Shop Vendor Applications

• 🌎 04/18 (Sat) – Earth Day Celebration in Brentwood

Volunteering, Mutual Aid, Advocacy

• 🤝 04/11 (Sat) – Party/Fundraiser for the new Community Darkroom and IRC

• 🆘 PGIRC Families in Need of Support Sheet — Spreadsheet of PGIRC ICE-Impacted Families currently in need. Donate and share if and when you can.

• Are you concerned about the loss of habitat for pollinators, birds and other wildlife? Want to make a difference by creating beneficial and beautiful habitat on your own property? Want to be part of a wildlife-friendly community network? Help is available. Beginning in April, the Wildlife Habitat Program (affiliated with the Prince George’s Audubon Society) will offer County residents the opportunity for a no-cost, on-site, in-person visit with trained advisors working to bring positive change to your property. Visits go like this: volunteer Habitat Advisors typically spend an hour walking the property with you. They talk with you about native plants and landscape elements that provide food, water and shelter and nesting sites. Together you discuss topics like garden structure, lawn reduction, invasive plant removal, and water conservation, setting priorities and making a plan for moving forward. When ready, you can order an informative and attractive yard sign to celebrate your habitat. Email audubonwildlifehabitat@gmail.com to receive a sign-up invitation.

📚 Mount Rainier Library

• 🎨 04/04 (Sat) (1:00–3:00 PM) - Kids Create: Spring Flowers
  We’ll have arts and crafts supplies out in the children’s area including construction paper, pipe cleaners, and watercolors. Come by to create your own colorful flower art! More information can be found here.

• 📖 04/21 (Tue) (6:30 PM) - Join the Mount Rainier Library and the Prince George’s County Office of Human Rights for this month’s book club pick (and last year’s National Book Award winner) One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This by Omar El Akkhad. Get more info here.

Slightly Less-Local Stuff

• 👸 04/12 (Sun) - A Princess Party: Snow White at Prince George's Publick Playhouse

• 👕 04/19 (Sun) – HySwap, Donations accepted through 04/05 (Sun)

☕ Etc.

Submission from Kelsey Field: 

This past week, a house on our block was slated to be cleared out by a crew of workers; sold recently after being passed from hand to hand in the family. The family offered a few neighbors the chance to pick through the leftover furniture and things that hadn’t already been claimed. As we poked through the ransacked house, it became immediately clear those before us sought only the things of value - every jewelry box and drawer open and haphazardly discarded on the floor. It bothered me - the amount of stuff destined for a landfill that could have another life, and the disrespect for the house itself. You can see the house for what it was in its prime, a gorgeous, true mid-century modern masterpiece. The details on the lights, the ceilings, the real hardwood that has long-since been neglected whisper the lives that were in this hallway. I admittedly lost sleep over it, and began to feel stressed about this whole life just tossed into a dumpster. So I got to work. I saved what I could, bags of trinkets and christmas decorations, notes lovingly written to friends and frame upon frame of beloved cats and dogs. I never took the time to get to know the owners when we moved in; they tended to be insular, and outside the occasional wave, I never pushed to get to know them better. I wish I had. I got to know Gladys through her things - proud photos of the kitchen (stunning), and dark photos printed out of her years holiday decorations, including the framed certificate from when she won the Mount Rainier holiday decoration contest. The value wasn’t in the taken jewelry or sellable things. To me, it was abundantly clear her joy was sparked by cats, a few dogs, and the joy she brought to her family. Being a grandma to a sick child in the hospital, capturing a moment of comfort and love. Trinkets upon trinkets from Japan; not worth anything to most, but a gorgeous reminder of time and care that used to be taken to handpaint and make different from the rest. The dumpster quickly filled up with what couldn’t be saved, but I am left with the reminder of the importance of community (especially now), and taking the time to build that in small, seemingly unimportant ways.