May/June 2005 Newsline

Dates for the Fridge

Saturday, June 11th: Cheverly Day

Saturday, June 11th @ 10:00 a.m.: Cicada Crunch Run/Walk

Friday, June 17th @ 11:00 a.m.: CPRC Playgroup, End of the Year Potluck

Saturday, July 2nd : CPRC Campout, Watkins Park

Letter from the Coordinator

We have lived in Cheverly now just for 2 years and cannot begin to express how wonderful a place it has been for us and our family. From help during a difficult pregnancy, to Mother's Day Out just a few houses down the street; from friends in the babysitting co-op and playgroup, to the meals many people have been delivering to our doorstep this week -- we have definitely benefited from community support and the small town feel of Cheverly.

Life threw me some unexpected hurdles this year and I didn't do all the things I had wished as CPRC Lead Coordinator. But I want to reiterate what I wrote this time last year, that things do not have to be perfect to be worthwhile. Small things, even less than perfect endeavors, can mean a lot.

Please keep that spirit in mind as we plan for the coming year. Your house doesn't need to be spotless or well decorated in order to host a potluck. You can hold a caroling party even if it means we just sing in the living room, if that's all you are up for. It's fine to organize a camping trip and only have a few families show up. Each little thing builds connections among neighbors and strengthens our community. (Of course big events are fun, too!)

I have high hopes and plans for the coming CPRC year. Please come to my house for a meeting on Wed. night, June 29th at 8 p.m. to kick off planning for the next year (301/322-5958).

Take care and have a wonderful summer!

Caroline Bridgers

A Heartfelt Thank You

by Kathryn Andrews

After nearly nine years of volunteering for CPRC, we thank Tammie Nelson-Stringer (mom to Ann Marie and Kimberly) for her service to the organization and community, and wish her well with her continued volunteer work in Cheverly (Kids Care, Cheverly Day, T-Ball, Meals on Wheels, and the list goes on.) She has played an integral role in Cheverly Parents Resource Center, volunteering in roles ranging from president to playgroup coordinator, webmaster to database manager, and -- we think -- everything in between. Tammie has been vital to growing CPRC into the vibrant group it is today, and may be the longest-serving board member in CPRC’s history. She has seen us through good and rough times, and we will miss her active participation.

I recently asked Tammie if she had any words of wisdom to impart to those of us who continue working with CPRC. Her words are so eloquent that I asked if I could share them with you. Gracious as ever, Tammie agreed.

“I learned that if I attend a meeting just to get some information about an organization, I will invariably end up with a long term job :-) Just kidding.

“I have learned that Cheverly is a great place to live, and that there is a wonderful core of people who really care about the community and will work hard to help keep Cheverly a great place to live. These are people you can always count on to step up and coordinate a big event or coach a team. I have during some years wished there were more of the second line people; folks to staff information tables and lead small events. However, I have been pleasantly surprised with T-Ball this year to see more new people get involved.

“I love the fact that as your children grow, you can follow them and stay active and involved. I have moved from CPRC to the Cheverly Kids Care Club and the Boys and Girls Club and will doubtless become involved in the Cheverly Young Actors Guild. And later on the Garden Club and someday . . . the Golden Circle Club. :-)

“We have a wonderful slice of life here, a great community in so many ways. There are all the fun things, like the playgroups and the youth sports and the potluck dinner groups and Cheverly Day. But there is also the wonderful support of neighbors who know you and care about you. When my daughter was born, two weeks of meals were made for me and delivered to my door by 10 different families. When my husband's grandfather died and was buried in Arlington Cemetery, my neighbors cooked and baked and we returned to the house from the funeral to a full buffet of homemade comfort food all set up with no one in sight as if it had been done by magic elves. And as the old wisdom goes, what comes around goes around. Everyone in Cheverly reaches out to each other because it feels like the right thing to do. But you have that added benefit of knowing that when you are the one in need, those same folks, or others in their place, will be there for you.”

According to playgroup coordinator Cindy Popol, “When Tammie is involved, you know something will happen.” We have been so fortunate over the past nine years to have “something happen” due, in large part, to Tammie Stringer Nelson. On behalf of Caroline, Melanie, Marisa, Cindy, Janice, Lauren, and the Cheverly Parent Resource Center, many thanks, friend, for a job well done.

CPRC Playgroup

Well, yet another fantastic year of playgroup is coming to a close. While the cool, wet spring has kept us indoors more than we would have liked, we are all looking forward to the sunny summer days ahead. The last official day of playgroup (and our end-of-the-year potluck, see details below) will be Friday, June 17th. The unofficial summer playgroup schedule is Mondays and Fridays from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at Gast Park. The summer crowd tends to be more sparse than the rest of the year, but Gast Park is a popular place and chances are good that you'll find friends there, especially on a cool summer morning. If you're planning on going to the park and you'd like company, feel free to call around or send an email - you're likely to find someone to meet you there. On to some spring news, our bake sale at the spring flea market turned-out to be a very successful fundraiser. We made just over $200, which will go towards the purchase of some great new toys and equipment for the upcoming year. A huge thanks to all our bakers and to those who helped at the table. A special thanks has to go out to Mike and Katie Troyner, who made 10 amazing cheesecakes for the event.

As mentioned above, our end-of-the-year potluck will be on Friday, June 17th, 11:00 a.m., at the Gast Park. Pizza and drinks will be provided, so feel free bring a side dish or dessert to share. Please let me know (my phone number and email address are below) if you will be coming so I can order the pizza accordingly. This is always a wonderful event and all of our CPRC friends are invited. We hope to see many of you there. Finally, I would like to say a special thank you to Janice Brabham for her service as playgroup coordinator this year. She accepted the position when we really needed someone to step-in and help. She ordered a great batch of equipment, organized DP schedules, planned events and much more. Her efforts are tremendously appreciated. For the upcoming year, Jan Brahm and I will be co-coordinators for playgroup. We are looking forward to planning a great year, including various activities, events, field trips, etc. We welcome suggestions and especially welcome volunteer event coordinators. One final note as you plan your post-summer schedules, we are planning on having playgroup on Tuesdays and Fridays next year, at least during the winter. I'll keep you posted on exactly when this new schedule will start. Until then, I wish everyone a wonderful summer. Abrazos! Cindy Popol (301) 773-2211 lcpopol@mdonline.net

CICADA CRUNCH II

5K Run/2K Fun Walk

DASH FOR DIABETES!

Join us on Cheverly Day!

10 a.m., Saturday, June 11, 2005

Cheverly Town Park

Register On Race Day

between 8:45-9:40 a.m.

 

CPRC Camp Out

Lance Davis and Melanie Hartwig-Davis are organizing another camp out at Watkins Park. The date is Saturday, July 2nd. We plan to meet at the camp grounds at lunch, enjoy the park, train, animals and nature center all afternoon, and stay the night. Sunday's schedule is flexible. Join us for all or part of it! Even if you don't want to stay the night, there is lots of fun to be had. Contact Melanie at hd.squared@verizon.net to make your reservation and receive more detailed information. Cost is $5-10/family depending on how many participants there are.

Summer Schedule for Cheverly Methodist Church

Join Cheverly United Methodist Church for our summer service schedule, starting June 5th (after Memorial weekend). The early Praise Service (informal and uplifting) will be at 8:30 a.m. in the sanctuary, followed by our 'regular' Summer Service at 10:00 a.m., also in the sanctuary (more traditional, but also with praise music). We look forward to seeing you!

Cheverly Day Is Coming!

The Methodist Church will be serving pizza, drinks and popcorn. Come by for lunch (upper lot) and/or dinner (lower lot near the beer garden). Visit our information booth in the upper lot for FREE stuff, or purchase one of our cookbooks or t-shirts. Be sure to pick up a COUPON for UNO CHICAGO GRILL. The church is sponsoring a fundraiser at the Boulevard at Capital Centre location on Tuesday, June 14th. Come any time that day, give them your coupon, and YOUR community church will benefit from a donation from Uno Chicago Grill. Take outs are available. Call ahead and pick it up for the family! Take the night off from cooking and support Cheverly United Methodist Church. (The coupon is required, so come by our booth and get one!)

Be a Therapeutic Foster Parent for Concern

CONCERN is a private non-profit child service agency that has been providing quality services to children since 1978. We pioneered the concept of Therapeutic Foster Care. CONCERN has been providing therapeutic foster care in Maryland since 1988 and is considered a Preferred Provider by the State of Maryland. We serve children from birth to age twenty-one, from all over the state of Maryland. We presently have over eighty children in our care. CONCERN is looking to recruit families to serve the traumatized children that are referred to us. The children you would be serving, are children who have been neglected, abandoned, physically and or sexually abused. These children need committed parents who will help them heal. Their sense of self has been distorted and they see little hope for themselves. This is hard work but very rewarding in the long run. If your sense of fairness and justice move you to care for such a child, consider becoming a Foster Parent for CONCERN. We will teach you what you need to know as well as provide you with on going support so you can be successful. We presently have over sixty families that provide this service. We have a very good retention record for both foster parents and staff. We provide unparalleled support and training to our families. Our financial compensation to our foster parents for their services, is above the mean for therapeutic foster care providers in the State of Maryland. CONCERN also provides our foster parent with 23 days of paid respite a year. For more information and the schedule for upcoming foster parent orientation training dates, please call Richard Brown or Carrie Knebel at 301/429-2370.

CPRC on the Web

by Kathryn Andrews

More changes have been made to our home on the web, http://www.cheverlyparent.org . In addition to up-to-the-minute news about Cheverly Parent Resource Center, our site includes useful links to other parenting and local resources in a new, easy to navigate format. We hope you take a minute to check it out.

We’ve also added features to our news listserv (http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/cprc_news/) – our new database section includes CPRC member recommendations for babysitters, pediatricians, pediatric dentists, and home repair help. This is a member-driven tool – we encourage additions to these sections, and welcome suggestions for additional database content. Visit the database at http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/cprc_news/database . And if you aren’t a member but would like to join the news or playgroup listservs, please contact me (webmaster@cheverlyparent.org).

New content will be added to the website throughout the summer, so visit the website frequently. We’re always looking for new ideas to add to our site…maybe a Cheverly blog? Maybe new categories in our listserv database (recipes, kid-friendly crafts)? If you have comments, suggestions, or photos, I’d love to hear from you.

Other Resources on the Web…

Free Summer Movies! AMC, Regal, and Lowes movie theaters are sponsoring free family movies this summer – visit their websites for information:

AMC: http://www.moviewatcher.com/promos/summercamp/

Regal: http://www.regalcinemas.com/family_film/index.html

Lowes: http://www.enjoytheshow.com/promotions/kidsfilmseries/

Sincere Thanks To All CPRC Volunteers

Thanks to everyone who volunteered this year. Our magnificent officers have done a great job!

Kathryn Andrews has been very busy as our webmaster. Keep checking our web site to see the many updates. I truly believe that this web site is instrumental in attracting new families with children to our town. Many people research possible places to move on the Internet, and type in "Cheverly and Kids" to any search site and it won't take you long to happen upon this Web site Kathryn's worked so hard on, complete with photos and links to all sorts of area information. I know she is always looking to add on new information so contact her if you have any ideas! She also is the one to contact if you wish to be added to either of our listserves. webmaster@cheverlyparent.org

Kudos to Marisa Summers for editing our Newsline every two months. This link to the community (especially those without email access) has been quite important. Marissa organizes what members submit in an attractive way so that we can all keep up to date on happening around town of interest to families with kids. editor@cheverlyparent.org

Janice Brahm started the year as playgroup coordinator and continues to organize our Designated Parent schedule, without which playgroup just doesn't seem to run as well! Many thanks to her for volunteering for this duty this year, also thanks to Cindy who returned to the position as her newborn grew a bit older. Thanks to both for getting us some new toys! playgroup@cheverlyparent.org

A special thanks to Alex Carter for starting off as Welcome Basket coordinator, and assembling so may baskets, and a thanks to our new welcome co-coordinators, Lauren Alexander and Andrea Leal, who have been so busy distributing them. I have heard from several new families how much they appreciated being visited soon upon their arrival with a welcome basket. If you have any ideas for inclusion into the baskets please contact one of them. welcome@cheverlyparent.org

We could not have functioned this year without our treasurer, Melanie Hartwig-Davis, who graciously agreeed to take over the position when our former treasurer had to leave the country. It isn't a glamorous job but is a necessary and unsung part of any organization -- thank you Melanie for volunteering for us! treasurer@cheverlyparent.org

Finally, a big thanks to Tammie Nelson-Stringer who has worked so hard through the years in many different positions in the CPRC! This year she still was doing our database, which allows us to print mailing labels and send Evites to many people in town, both former and current members of CPRC and anyone who has shown an interest in the organization -- with this database we can reach many more people than are just on cprc_news. Tammie has also organized people to distribute the Newsline. A whole lot of thanks to you Tammie for making a smooth transition to our new database manager, Kate Hanson. databse@cheverlyparent.org

Finally, I'd like to thank the Academy... no, just joking! Thanks to everyone who has made my life so great here this past year, and I look forward to an even better CPRC year next year as my newborn gets less colicky and I have more energy. Most of our officers have agreed to stay on for another year, but please contact me if you feel like taking a more active role in any area, I'm sure something can be arranged! coordinator@cheverlyparent.org Caroline Bridgers