THINK OUTSIDE CALENDAR WINTER 2016 Peace, Hope & Dreams, Love

Community Harvest 2016

A Year in Review: 2016

We thank everyone who attended our Community Harvest event on November 16 at the

Josephine Butler Parks Center, our hub for Think Outside! For Parks & People, the

joyful event reminded us of the deep collective power of all people working together

for the land and for greater equity and justice for all. The diverse work of our partners

was beautifully showcased during the event, which also featured the inspiring words of

Maya Angelou's poem, "Inaugural Poem", read by several youth participants of City

Kids Wilderness Project. We hope the event helped shine a light on ways that all

citizens can get involved in positive change-making, especially at the local level.

We invite all DC

residents to take

action for their

parks by joining,

volunteering,

advocating,

activating, or

giving to WPP. Let

us connect you to

resources and

strategies to reach

more parks and

people next year!

This December, we celebrate the

theme of Peace by inviting all people

to join us in lighting a candle for

community and bringing the light

back into our parks. Our Winter

Solstice gatherings at Riverside and

the Parks Center are opportunities to

reflect on how parks help us to

counter violence and promote peace.

As the year darkens and closes, we

invite you to celebrate the theme of

Hope & Dreams. Even as the cold

weather encourages us to nurture

our roots just as the trees do, we

invite you to look to the parks for

2016 was a year of growth, one which encouraged appreciation and

understanding of diversity and the power of community. As the year comes to

a close, Parks & People looks

back in celebration of the

almost 2000 volunteers who

dedicated 6,685 hours to plant-

ing 134 trees, cleaning up our

parks and waterways, cutting

back over six acres of invasive

species in our DC parks and

National Parks Service lands,

as well as so much more. In

2016, our Greening Centers

grew and distributed over

770lbs of fresh organic produce

to local DC residents. We

trained 142 adults and youth in

healthy food and urban

agriculture. We also succeeded

at boosting funding and public

accountability to our parks,

including winning a new Land and Waters Conservation grant.

Parks & People uses these 2016 milestones to set even higher Think Outside

goals for next year in order to reach new levels of advocacy, partnerships,

activation, volunteerism, and citywide impact! We invite you to reflect on the

past year and think about how you have given back to your community. What

improvements have you made to both yourself and the environment around

you? Did you volunteer at your local park or help grow food in an urban farm?

How could Parks & People help you get outside next year?

Share your 2016 community engagement stories and how you plan to give back

in 2017 with us at volunteer@washingtonparks.net for a chance to be featured

on our next seasonal calendar. Happy New Year!

While winter tends to be a time of turning inward and spending more time

inside, our farms at the Marvin Gaye Greening Center are still blooming! Due to

our model of four season urban agriculture, our farms are demonstrating how

parks and green

spaces can meet

our food needs

year-round. With

the help of our

hoop houses and

community-based

agricultural

model, we are

able to harvest

spinach, carrots,

kale, collards,

swiss chard, and

various lettuces

each week.

Come buy your greens with us at our Saturday Farm markets held 10am-2pm at

the Riverside Healthy Living Center. Or come out and get your hands dirty while

exploring and learning the ins and outs of urban gardening during our regular

Open Farm days at the Marvin Gaye Greening Center, Monday-Friday 2-5pm, as

well as this Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service, Monday, January 16 10am-

2pm.

encouragement and purpose as we

inaugurate a new year. We invite you to

attend our trainings in January, as well as

to share your

hopes and

dreams for

parks and

people on our

Facebook and

Twitter!

February

reminds us all

to Love our

parks, to take

care of them

and to appreciate the connections the land

helps us make to each other. Why not

celebrate Black History Month in the

parks?

Winter Harvest at the Greening Center

Check out our website at

www.washingtonparks.net/calendar for the most up-to-

date information on events and programs in parks citywide!

Bold events are organized by Parks & People.

February

LOVE

PARK LOCATIONS ANACOSTIA COMMUNITY MUSEUM

1901 FORT PL SE

ANACOSTIA PARK lines the east side of the Anacostia River in SE & NE

DC

C & O CANAL 1057 Thomas Jefferson St MW

HAINS POINT

1100 Ohio Dr NW

KENILWORTH AQUATIC GARDENS 1550 Anacostia Ave NE

MARVIN GAYE GREENING CENTER 5000 Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave NE

MARVIN GAYE PARK

Nannie Helen Burroughs & Division Ave Walks start at 51 & Bank St NE

MELVIN HAZEN PARK

2801 Quebec St. NW

MERIDIAN HILL/ MALCOLM X PARK 15th/16th Streets & Euclid St NW

METROPOLITAN BIKE TRAIL

4th and S St NE

NATIONAL MALL Independence Ave & 3rd St SW

NATIONAL ZOO

3001 Connecticut Ave NW

ROCK CREEK PARK 16th St & Colorado Ave NW

SHEPHERD PARKWAY

Martin Luther King & Malcolm X Avenues SE

TIDAL BASIN Tidal Basin and Ohio Dr SW

US BOTANICAL GARDEN 100 Maryland Avenue, SW

Saturday: Taekwondo, 10am-12p; Farm Market 10-2pm

Sunday: African Drum & Dance, 2-4pm

Monday-Friday: Open Farm at the Marvin Gaye Greening Center,

2-5pm

Monday: Words, Beats & Life, 3:30-7pm (www.wblinc.org)

Wednesday: Words, Beats & Life , 3:30-7pm;Taekwondo, 7-9pm

Every week at the Riverside Healthy Living Center:

December

PEACE

Sunday: Drum Circle 3-9pm

Monday: Yoga w/Sign of Jonah Partnerships in Healing, 6-8:30pm

Tuesday: Jazzercise w/Pretha Mitchell (jcls.jazzercise.com), 6:30pm

Swing Dancing w/The Jam Cellar (www.thejamcellar.com),

FREE lessons 8-9pm, $8 Dance 9-11:30pm

Marvin Gaye Park (601 Division Ave NE) Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park (2437 15th St NW)

202-GO-2-PARK

Washington Parks & People

www.washingtonparks.net

@washingtonparks

CONNEC

T W

ITH U

S Want to help the parks this

winter? We accept

volunteers for needs across

Parks & People, including

archives, campaign and

administrative support.

Read more at

washingtonparks.net/

volunteer or connect with us

on Volunteer Match. HOW

DO I V

OLU

NTEE

R?

Every Week at the Josephine Butler Parks Center:

-Penny Brew Coffee Shop, Riverside Center, 9-3pm

-Season in Seven, Riverside Center, 5:30 pm -Zoolights, National Zoological Park,

5-9pm (ongoing)

-Launch into Community Health & Wellness group, Riverside Center, 7:30-8:30pm, Free -Season Greetings, US Botanical

Garden, 10-5pm (ongoing)

-River Mutual Homes Community

Tree Planting, 1301 Delaware Ave

SW, 9-12:30pm

-Stars of the Holiday Sky, Rock

Creek Park Nature Center, 1pm

- HP100, Fun Bike Ride with WABA,

Hains Point, 8:45am-3:45pm

-Birds Around the Tidal Basin,

Roosevelt Memorial, 7:30-8:30am

-Winter Solstice Gathering, Josephine Butler Parks Center and Meridian Hill/Malcolm X Park,6:30-8pm

-Rare Beauties in Winter, Kenilworth

Aquatic Gardens, 10-10:30am and

1-1:30 pm

-Kwanzaa Presentation and Performance, Riverside Center, 7pm, Kids free, $10 suggested donation -Garden Walk, Kenilworth Aquatic

Gardens, 2-3pm

-Launch into Community Health & Wellness group, Riverside Health Center, 7:30-8:30pm, Free

-Creature Feature, Rock Creek Park

Nature Center, 4-5pm

-Invasive Species Removal, Melvin

Hazen Park, 10-2pm

-3 Kings Day, GALA Theatre, 11:30-2:30,

Free

-Chi Running Form Clinic, Fleet Feet

Adams Morgan, 11-12pm

-Launch into Community Health & Wellness group, Riverside Center, 7:30-8:30pm, Free

-Trail Ranger Coffee Hour,

Metropolitan Branch Trail 4th and S St

NE, 7:30-8:30am

-Community Forum: Documenting

the Anacostia River, Anacostia

Community Museum, 2-4pm

-Inauguration Week: MLK, Jr Day of Service, Meridian Hill Park 10-2pm - Open Farm and Open House, Marvin Gaye Greening Center & Riverside Center, 11a-2pm

-Inauguration Week: Yoga, Jose-phine Butler Parks Center, 7:30am, Free

-Inauguration Week: Grounding your Activism in Self-Empathy Training, Josephine Butler Parks Center, 1-3pm

- Inauguration Week: #inauguratesomethinggood Find a way to Think Outside and connect with nature and share it with us!

-Inauguration Week: Women’ s

March on Washington, National Mall,

10-5pm

-Penny Brew Coffee Shop, Riverside Center, 9-3pm

-Launch into Community Health & Wellness group, Riverside Center, 7:30-8:30pm, Free

-Penny Brew Coffee Shop, Riverside Center, 9-3pm

-DPR Fun Day, Various recreation

centers throughout DC, 9-5pm

-Garden Walk, Kenilworth Aquatic

Gardens, 2-3pm

-Farm to Table Healthy Cooking Class with Chef Gerard, Riverside Center, 11-2pm - Rooting DC, Wilson Senior High

School, 3950 Chesapeake St NW, 9a-4p

24 27

11 15 17

6 29

14 16

20 21

17 18

20

17

7

18

13

12

26 22

8

18

January

HOPE&DREAMS

12

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