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Countdown to the Folk Festival...
September 14

The Jelly Roll Mortals practicing for the Folk Festival at the Independence Day parade. Photo by Eric Bond.

Tell me that it's evolution...!

Young performers to rock the 2008 Takoma Park Folk Festival

Middle School students Ben Miller and Michael Untereiner—both formerly of blahblahblah—will be rocking the festival with their new group, High Definition. Photo by Sue Katz-Miller.

When the Takoma Park Folk Festival started 31 years ago, the Grassy Nook Stage was established as a family stage. “But,” says Kevin Adler, Chair of the Festival, “there’s been an evolution. We’ve always had the aim to entertain kids, but now we’re showcasing kids as entertainers.”

Takoma Park to host an eclectic line-up

Lea returns to the Takoma Park Folk Festival with brand new songs (and plenty of old favorites). Photo by Julie Wiatt.

by Kevin Adler

Organizers of the Takoma Park Folk Festival like to say that it’s the “festival of the folk of Takoma Park.” It’s a true statement, and it’s at the heart of the Festival’s special appeal. After all, there are many wonderful cultural events throughout the year; Montgomery County and the greater DC area is blessed with an immeasurable variety of musicians, dancers, artists, and artisans. But few events are embraced as deeply by performers, volunteers, participants, and visitors.

“I think of the Folk Festival as a giant block party,” said Robbi Kimball, a local Realtor and member of the Folk Festival Committee. “It’s a community event with a genuine homegrown flavor. Plus, I see just about everyone I know in Takoma Park.”

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NEWS

General Assembly opens,
but hard feelings remain

Legislators and environmentalists work to lower greenhouse gas emissions

Governor O'Malley focuses on education and public safety in 2009 budget

Maryland can weather tough times, says O'Malley in State of the State address

Reagan Day?
Maryland senators want to remember the Gipper

Legislator wants proof of citizenship for voter registration

Domestic partners and insurance companies get the rules

More restrictions possible for oystermen

O'Malley's Baystat may control cleanup funds

O'Malley scolds EPA for vehicle pollution roadblock

Governor and General Assembly grapple with foreclosure crisis

Franchot worried about
mortgage crisis and taxes

Law would punish drivers with loose pets in pickup beds

Looking ahead: 2008

Takoma Park:
New year, new mayor, new opportunities

County:
Keeping priorities straight during a budget crunch

Maryland:
A chance for progress

Congress:
A year of transition from Republican control

Retrospective

A look back at twenty years

Looking back at 2007 in Silver Spring and Takoma Park

Best of the Best of the Best 2007: You voted for your favorites... Read the results

Takoma news

Takoma fails to keep carbon diet set in 2000

ISO Republicans: Takoma Park lacks non-Democratic judges for 2008 elections

It's a done deal: new council takes office

Kathy Porter: Q & A

Is Takoma Park going condo?

Talk of Takoma: George’s Leventhal's collision with near-death—“You come this close, it makes you pause”

Talk of Takoma: Professor Backwoods discovers Broadway—John Guernsey's Valentine of a musical

Talk of Takoma: Don't trash-talk Brennan

Talk of Takoma: Leon Seltzer documents the Salvadoran "children left behind"

Spring Park spring sees the light

Takoma Park remains a Sanctuary City

The ethics of eating: Local non-profit promotes compassion at the dining table

Takoma Pork

Colbert loses mayoral bid. But read about his inspiring campaign

Focus on schools

Critics are raving about Pork TV's new fall lineup

Silver Spring

Silver Spring construction to reach new heights

Coalition works to reopen the Old Blair Auditorium

Montgomery County

Infrastructure responsibility is a must; Poplar Run developers face unprecedented requirements to contribute

Sligo Creek Golf Course
Big changes, major reservations

U.S.

Edwards, Wynn face off on bankruptcy, corporate donors

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FEATURES

Bill's looking for a piece of the action from the WMATA land deal.

Staying Alive

Vintage stores bring fashions of proms past to life

¡Zumba!

Roda Movement Studio brings Latin energy to Old Takoma

Girl Power

When I was in college in the mid-Seventies, I took a course called “Women in American History” that, as its title suggests, examined American history from the Puritans to what was then the present by focusing on women. Nowadays a course like this might be called “American History,” but back then, the central assumption, even in academia, was that men constituted some kind of default setting from which women were an aberration.

New on Editor's Blog

Letters:

Our Purple Line vote: What we learned

Is Takoma Park becoming a gated community?

From Alabama to Obama

Stand up for animals

If you register them, they will vote

Granola Park: Inaccredable

"Really, all the council needs to ask is two questions: “Are you breathing?” and “Do you expect to continue breathing for a year or so more?” This could be done in writing - on a VERY SIMPLE form. Nobody would have to get all dressed up to appear before the council (hmmm, the goddess-motif dress, the tie-dyed t-shirt, or the pants-suit?)...."

Granola Park: You and your bright ideas

"A resident posed a problem to the city council at its March 24th meeting. A stay-at-home mom, she would like to drop by her friends’ houses or Jequie Park* and NOT get a ticket for parking in a permit-only zone...."

Granola Park: The WMATA Matter

"Break out the chains and your copies of “We Shall Overcome”! It is time to affix yourself to the nearest Metro bus...."

ap•PARENT•ly: Rosa Parks and the dishes at AOL

"My daughter was recently studying about Rosa Parks at her school. I've always found the sort of courage which Rosa Parks epitomized to be the highest form of courage; the one form to which all people can aspire, and which if even 10% of us mustered the world would continue to transform in marvelous ways. However, I was taken aback at a question she asked me. She asked, "Dad, do you do any work like Rosa Parks, getting bad laws changed?...."

Bike riding for nervous parents

"My daughter had been rather indifferent about riding bikes for a while. She had a glamorous two-wheeler bought by my mother for a few years, but has been rather steadfast about not having the training wheels taken off (since a brief attempt last summer). However, recently a neighborhood kid who is younger has mastered the two-wheeler herself, so it became urgent to be rid of the training wheels...."

GreenThink

Resolution Earth: How can I reduce my carbon footrint

Activists take polar plunge
to fight global warming
Click image for slideshow

Biz Buzz

Takoma Park's Window Wonderland
Click image for slideshow

Family

Parenting: The perfect child

apParently: Doing nothing

"When you sit down at the end of the year and attempt to tote up the accomplishments, the stay at home parent has an invisible list."

International connections

Teaching Peace

Et al.

Queries for Carrie: Cold comfort

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