National Night Out, Takoma Park, Maryland, August 7, 2018

The boss at my current day job decided to spend a large chunk of August in India with his family (where they originally came from). No, I’m not getting paid while he’s in India visiting members of his extended family who still live there. (Without going into details, let’s just say that I’ve been working for this guy for over four months and not only have my hours not increased to full-time work, despite his assurances that it would eventually happen, but they have gotten increasingly erratic.) I took a one-day offer to do some side work for a friend of mine while he’s working at his day job in Takoma Park, Maryland.

The annual National Night Out happened to be taking place on that same day and it’s near where my friend works so my friend and I decided to head over to that event to check it out. I’ve attended the National Night Out events in Greenbelt (and I even wrote a blog post about it back in 2016) so I was okay with seeing how a different town observes that event. I took some photos as well.

The event was held in the parking lot outside of Piney Branch Elementary School (which was closed for summer vacation). The police closed down the street that went past the school.

The police and other local community groups gave away free food and drinks. I managed to eat a hot dog and a hamburger for dinner.

A local television station was covering this event.

MacGruff the Crimefighting Dog was there greeting people and having his picture taken with them.

There were all kinds of activities for people of all ages to do, including playing with a giant chess set, playing with a giant Jenga tower, petting a police horse, and playing various games. A deejay was there spinning the tunes while all this was happening. Everyone present seemed to have a good time.

There was even a “Dunk-A-Cop” game where kids could throw balls to soak a cop.

There was a petition drive to recall the Takoma Park City Council. I don’t know what the issue was about nor did I bother to find out because I don’t live in Takoma Park.

Here’s a video of the event, which I helped to shoot and edit using a friend’s iPodTouch. I played around with the slow-motion features of this camera during the jump rope footage, which was pretty interesting when I viewed it later.

The Greenbelt Labor Day Parade (September 4, 2017)

Previous in This Series

The Day Before the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival
Greenbelt Labor Day Festival (Day 1)
Greenbelt Labor Day Festival (Day 2)
Greenbelt Labor Day Festival (Day 3)

Doing constant walking during the holiday weekend began to take a toll on me by Labor Day itself. I woke up feeling totally stiff and sore and I was facing a day that included the annual Labor Day Parade in the morning then the afternoon would be the fourth and final day of the Labor Day Festival itself.

I briefly thought about blowing off the parade until I remembered that some of my friends were marching in it and I really wanted to see them strut their stuff on the parade route. So I forced myself out of bed and ate a quick breakfast. I decided to drive my car as close to the parade route as possible. I figured that I would have better luck if I parked towards the early part of the route instead of Roosevelt Center, where the parade ends and it is also where the festival fairgrounds are located so it draws a larger crowd. I was proven correct and I really lucked out when I found a parking spot located just around the corner from the parade route.

I found the temperature to be quite reasonable. It was in the low 70s with low humidity and it was bright and sunny outside. I set up my folding chair, pulled out my new Canon camera (which I bought off eBay for $80 and it arrived just a few days before the holiday weekend), and waited for the parade to begin. I started taking pictures when the marchers arrived.

Paul Downs, who won the Greenbelt’s Outstanding Citizen Award just three days ago, was in the first car in that parade.

A colonial-style fife and drum corp marched behind the car carrying Paul Downs.

Mayor Emmett Jordan and the Greenbelt City Council rode in this vintage red fire truck.

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen took part in the parade.

The parade continued with more marchers, some of whom were on horseback.

There was this ominous looking military vehicle in the parade. There were no signs indicating who this vehicle was aligned with or anything like that.

The next two photos show robots that were created by a group of students known as The Irrational Engineers.

It was the unions who helped to create Labor Day to begin with so a few local unions took part in this parade.

Some local political groups and politicians took part in this parade.

Maryland State Senator Paul Pinsky worked the crowds as he marched in the parade.

Maryland House of Delegates member Anne Healey preferred to ride instead.

There were a contingent calling for affordable health care available for all U.S. citizens.

This one politician, David Grogan, managed to get Spider-Man (or someone dressed like him) on his side.

Here’s one of my friends, Patty Daukantas, who was riding in the Toastmasters parade float.

Makerspace 125 finally showed off its completed parade float, which I saw being constructed during the last few days.

Some more of my friends were marching with the New Deal Cafe. This group won the Best in Parade award and they were awarded $400. Here are a few still photos I shot.

I also shot a short video of this group in action. They took a festive New Orleans Mardi Gras jazz approach, which probably explains why they won.

Here’s the rest of the parade that I photographed.

Finally here is the Mission BBQ truck which ended the parade.

After the parade ended I went back home where I ate lunch (mainly because it was cheaper than eating yet another meal at the festival).

Next in This Series

Greenbelt Labor Day Festival (Day 4)

Greenbelt Labor Day Parade and the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival, September 7, 2015

Last year I participated in the annual Greenbelt Labor Day Parade for the first time and I still remembered that it was a very hot and humid day. I did it on behalf of the Greenbelt Cooperative Initiative, which is trying to start a few worker-owned cooperatives. (At the time I was tasked with potentially starting a thrift store. When I had problems with finding affordable space, the group suggested that I try running a flea market instead. I not only found difficulty with finding an open space that people can easily access by car or bike or walking, but I would’ve had to deal with two layers of bureaucracy–mainly filling out tons of paperwork on both the local and county levels. I was working on my own to begin with and starting a weekly flea market was way too daunting a task to do alone. Plus I’m dealing with other issues in my life so I decided to resign.)

So this year I didn’t have any parade-related responsibilities. There were a few groups who invited me to march with them but I ended up declining because the memories of the high heat and high humidity were still too fresh in my mind. So this year I brought a folding chair to the parade route and set it up in a shaded area. It wasn’t too bad in the shade at first but, by the end of the parade, the heat had shot up (it ultimately climbed to the high 80’s) so I was very happy that I didn’t participate this year.

The parade consisted of different types of participants. There’s, Solange Hess, who was named as this year’s Greenbelt’s Outstanding Citizen.

There are the police, firefighters, and military units (including ROTC). Some of them march carrying flags, some march playing musical instruments (like bagpipes), and some ride in the latest vehicles.

Then there were the beauty pageant winners. Not only were there people from the Miss Greenbelt pageant but there were also others from another pageant that took place in nearby College Park.

Then there are the various local businesses and community groups, such as the Greenbelt Elementary School PTA.

Greenbelt chapter of the Toastmasters.

Greenbelt Animal Control.

Local Girl Scouts troop.

Local Cub Scouts troop.

Greenbelt Boys and Girls Club.

The Eleanor Roosevelt Democratic Club.

The Greenbelt Interfaith Leaders Association.

The Mishkan Torah congregation.

Radio Communications.

The New Deal Cafe, which is currently celebrating its 20th anniversary.

The Greenbelt Theater and the Greenbelt Museum marched together.

The Greenbelt Food Bank.

The Greenbelt Arts Center

Wells Ice Rink, located in nearby College Park.

Members of the Greenbelt Climate Action Network (GCAN) and the Chesapeake Education, Arts, and Research Society (CHEARS) dressed up as butterflies and bees in order to raise awareness on the importance of pollinators. Other participants held signs announcing the various programs that GCAN and CHEARS run on a regular basis, such as the Greenbelt Time Bank, the Reel and Meal movie series, and various recycling programs.

There were even a fleet of electric cars in the parade, who were there to demonstrate green transportation.

There was a robot demonstration by members of the Eleanor Roosevelt High School Robotics Club.

Makerspace 125 had a float shaped like a steam engine in order to show its commitment to the STEAM movement.

St. George’s Episcopal Church of Glenn Dale, Maryland marched in the parade.

There was an anti-abortion group.

The local anti-poverty activist group RESULTS participated.

The Communication Workers of America made a statement about its ongoing negotiations with Verizon.

The National Park Service participated.

Even the local Sunoco gas station participated.

The local realtors, Town Center Realty & Associates, Inc.

Then there were the various performers who were intent on putting on a good show all along the parade route.

Since next year is an election year, the candidates running for public office were out in full force. There was Donna Edwards, who is running for Senator.

There was Chris Van Hollen, who is also running for Senator.

There was Paul Pinsky’s re-election campaign as Maryland State Senator.

There’s Brian Frosh, who’s running for Maryland State Attorney General.

There’s U.S. Congressman Steny Hoyer, who’s running for re-election.

There’s Congressman Hoyer’s rival, Kristin Beck, who hopes to unseat him in the Democratic Primaries next year.

There’s Maryland House Delegate Anne Healey, who’s running for re-election.

There’s Maryland House Delegate Alonzo T. Washington, who’s also running for re-election.

There’s Sydney J. Harrison, who’s running for re-election to the Prince George’s County’s Clerk of the Circuit Court.

There’s Angela Alsobrooks, who’s running for re-election as State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County.

There’s Todd M. Turner, who’s running for re-election to the Prince George’s County Council.

This trio of cars signified the end of the Greenbelt Labor Day Parade.

Once the parade ended at noon, the last day of the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival started. I hung around the festival grounds after the parade ended because I needed to pick up my watercolor that I submitted to the Art Show but I had to wait until that show formally ended at 4 p.m. So I basically ate lunch, did some web surfing with the laptop that I brought with me, and uploaded a bunch of photos on my various social media account. A craft show was held on that final day so I browsed that as well while I took these photos.