One Tire at a Time

Saturday, March 23 marked the third Shepherd Parkway community clean-up in as many months.

Participants included a boisterous group from the Wild Bunch Sports Bike Club of Maryland,  and American University's Zeta Psi fraternity.

During the February clean-up, a huge pile of tires and trash bags was left at the bottom of the escarpment below LeBaum Street because it was too slippery to haul up. Fifteen volunteers formed a chain to move it all up to the street, while others pulled dozens of bags full of trash off the slope just to the north.  In total, we removed an estimated 200 tires and 300 bags of trash from the forest.

A small but enthusiastic group from University of Maryland rescued trees south of Malcolm X Avenue from invasive English Ivy. 

Spring has sprung, and Shepherd Parkway is growing healthier and more beautiful with every clean-up event. 

Mark your calendars now for our next best chance on Saturday, April 20 from 10 am to 1 pm. 

The job is immense but every little bit counts. We need you, and your friends.

Who Says DC Can’t Handle Snow?

We knew we were taking a risk when we decided to have community clean-ups in January and February, but the week leading up to January 26 was remarkable, with the longest run of freezing temperatures in DC in five years. The afternoon before the event saw the winter's first snow fall. The half an inch that accumulated was enough to closed area schools two hours early, but the ten volunteers who appeared at our new meeting location at the corner of 4th and Newcomb Streets SE were undeterred. Temperatures rose to near 40, the began to melt, and the forest smiled on us.

An intrepid group from University of Maryland saved more than thirty trees along the south side of Malcolm X Avenue from an infestation of English ivy, while three strapping young men hauled 30 tires up the hill.

On Saturday, February 23, we hope for even better weather and an even better turn out from our amazing volunteers.

October Surprise on the Parkway

The removal of historic quantities of trash from the northernmost part of Shepherd Parkway reached new heights on October 20 when over 50 people participated in yet another Community Clean-Up day, the fifth of 2012.

Our largest contingent came from the District Church in Old Town Alexandria, led by the intrepid Omar Ojeda,  who can be seen here hauling of two refrigerators up a steep, treacherous slope below LeBaum Street.

Becky Harlan, a freelance documentary photographer currently pursuing a Master’s degree at the Corcoran College of Art + Design, joined us and took the photographs that accompany this post.

Another large group came to us from the Washington office of Holland and Knight, a major international law firm. Additional help came from the InternationalStudent Club at Gallaudet University, Washington Parks and People, and the AnacostiaWatershed Society. 

Robert Barrett, a faithful member of the Shepherd Parkway Committee, collected more than 50 tires from far below 4^th Street, and passed them off to volunteers from Metro Church who formed a line along the slippery incline to get them to the street high above. 

Our work is cut out for our last Community Clean-Up day of 2012. On Saturday, November 17  we will meet once again at the corner of Malcolm X Avenue and 2^nd Street SE at 9 AM and finish with pizza lunch courtesy of the Congress Heights Community Association.

The Trash of the 80s

On Saturday, September 25, over 60 volunteers descended on the corner of Malcolm X Avenue and 2nd Street SE for the fourth Community Clean-Up day of 2012.

Rondell Pooler of Washington Parks and People brought 36 students from Catholic University. Other volunteers were affiliated with American University Eco-Sense, the Anacostia Watershed Society, DC Young Professionals Kiwanis Club , and Oxon Hill High School. The Congress Heights Community Association generously provided a pizza lunch.


With the day's haul of over 200 large trash bags filled coming on top of the intense work earlier in the year, the forest along 2nd Street is clean at last. "We discovered the 1980s through its garbage, said Phil, an engineer from Elliot City, Maryland who heard about the event from the DC Metro Hiker group.

Nick Westrbooks, a senior at Howard University, filmed the action and created this brief news segment featured here. "Getting dirty was never so much fun," enthused Bethany, a nurse from Falls Church, Virginia.

 The final two Community Clean-Ups days of 2012 are Saturday, October 20 and Saturday, November 17. We'll be meet at the same place- Malcolm X Avenue and 2nd Street SE- at the same time- 9 AM.


We'll be focusing on the large concentrations of trash that remain in the woods along Newcomb, 4th, and LeBaum Streets. Thanks to the hard work of hundreds, the goal of completely cleaning the park north of Malcolm X Avenue- which once seemed impossible- is now within reach. Let's make it a reality.

Help Arrives...from Alabama

On Wednesday, July 26, 12 youths from the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Montgomery, Alabama helped clean-up the park along Newcomb Street.

The middle school-aged youth and three adult leaders came to us through the Steinbruck Center for Urban Studies, a ministry of Luther Place Memorial Church in downtown Washington. The center hosts church groups from throughout the United States and Canada, providing low-cost accommodations and setting them up with diverse service-learn opportunities around the city.   

When Program Coordinator Bianca Vazquez stumbled on Restore Shepherd Parkway's profile on Volunteer Match.org in January 2011, the productive partnership was born. Ascension is the third group Steinbruk Center group to work in Shepherd Parkway this year, the previous two having come from Saskatchewan (in western Canada) and Illinois.

While walking from the Congress Heights Metro Station to the work site, the group ran into The Advoc8te, creator of the well-known Congress Heights on the Rise blog and Eat, Shop, Live Anacostia.The Advoc8te lives very near Shepherd Parkway and has been a supporter the restoration effort from the beginning.

The volunteers enjoyed lunch from Popeye's courtesy of the Congress Heights Community Association. 

Thurgood Marshall Academy and City Year Answer the Call

On the morning of April 20, 35 students from the Thurgood Marshall Academy Public Charter School in Anacostia descended on the hill below 2nd Street SE for the first Shepherd Parkway clean-up featuring DC students. They were greeted by parkway committee chairman Nathan Harrington and ANC commissioner Lloyd Logan. “We believe that this park- and the people who live near it- deserve the same care and respect as parks and residents in the western part of the city,” Harrington told the volunteers.   


Led by Program Associate Kali Boehle-Silva and several intrepid teachers, students formed a line to move tires, TV sets, rugs, and other debris to the dumpster at the top of the hill.


Two weeks later, on May 4, a group of young adults from the City Year program attacked one of the most intensely polluted areas of the park, the steep slope below Lebaum Steet. The Committee thanks Civil Engagement Manager Daniel Lawson for making it possible.

 

March 17: A Miracle on 2nd Street

An unseasonably warm spring day greeted over 35 volunteers on St. Patrick's Day morning for the first of five community clean-up days scheduled for 2012. Volunteers hailed from as far as Germany and as close as the River Hill Apartments across the street.

With the help of Park Service staff, we filled a large dumpster and two compactor trucks with hundreds of tires, thousands of bottles, and a ton of furniture from the hillside between 2^nd Street and Malcolm X Avenue.

A big thanks to Alex Sanders of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club for bringing a hard-working group and to Julie Kutruff for bringing out the dumpster and the trucks. Volunteers were rewarded with a pizza lunch courtesy of the Anacostia Coordinating Council.

Our work is only just beginning. Hundreds of thousands of pounds of trash remain, defacing our forest oasis. Join us on May 19 as we continue the work of making it right.

Candian Students Remove Over One Ton of Debris from Along Lebaum Street

On Saturday and Monday of President's Day weekend, fifteen students and four adults from Lutheran Collegiate Bible Institute in Outlook, Saskatchewan, Canada put in over 200 hours of work along Lebaum Street at the northeastern most part of the parkway. They removed over a ton of trash from one of the most polluted areas.

They came to us from the Steinbruck Center for Urban Studies at Luther Place Memorial Church in downtown Washington. The center hosts traveling groups from around the world who come to DC to perform service. We hope this will be the first of many groups from Luther Place to help us restore Shepherd Parkway.

Thanks to Bianca Vazquez of the Steinbruck Center for making the arrangements, the Anacostia Watershed Society for providing trash bags, and John Gloster for providing gloves.

Announcing the 2012 Community Clean-Up Schedule

The Congress Heights Community Association is partnering with National Capitol Parks-East in an epic effort to restore the natural splendor of one of DC’s most neglected wooded areas. By removing trash, debris, and invasive species, we will be protecting our trees, wildlife and rivers and making the park into a place for all to enjoy.

Join us from 9 AM to 1 PM on:

Saturday, September 15

Saturday, October 20

Saturday, November 17

• Meet at Malcolm X Avenue and 2nd Street SE, just off of 295 and close to Congress Heights Metro.

• Gloves, bags, and lunch will be provided. Wear sturdy shoes and clothes you can get dirty.

• For more information, please contact Nathan Harrington at nbharrington@yahoo.com