PBCA will host an informal Penn Branch Playdate at the playground so that families with children in the neighborhood can get together.
Join us at Pope Branch Park Playground from
Date / Time:
2:00pm. –4:00pm
Saturday, March 19
(Rain date: March 24)
Light refreshments will be served.
Happy almost Spring, Neighbors. It’s a bit of a difficult time at the moment with the war in Ukraine and lots of global tension in the air. Locally, we also had our fair share of issues with two attempted car-jackings in our community.Locally, we also had our fair share of issues with two attempted car-jackings in our community.
Terry Clyburn, our Safety Chairperson, will arrange a Public Safety / Carjacking Safety training session, facilitated by MPD later this month. In addition, we’ll have a ‘Ward Walk’ with 6th District MPD Commander Darnel Robinson on March 26th, from 9:00am-11:00am. He’ll walk the neighborhood with us to discuss the various crimes and other safety issues of concern. We will keep you in the loop as dates solidify.
In other news, this will be the final month that we print the Penn Branch newsletter, due to the rising printing costs and our limited bandwidth to produce and physically distribute it each month. Please make sure you have signed-up to receive our e-mail, so you can stay up-to-date. If you’re not presently on our mailing list, go to our website at PennBranchDC.org and enter your info in the green “Join Our Mailing List” box. It’s important that we stay connected in difficult times.
Lastly, our neighbor and highly respected ANC 7B04 Commissioner, Cydne Nash, has resigned due to health reasons. She has been a fantastic advocate and we’d like to express our gratitude for her service. Most of all, we wish her a speedy recovery. Please stay safe everyone and I’ll see you at the meeting.
Stan Benton, PBCA President
Tonight PBCA will build on recent communty wide conversations about the proposed Phase II development at Penn Branch Shopping Center by discussing community-owned grocery stores. Mike Houston, General Manager, of the Takoma Park-Silver Spring Co-Op is our invited guest speaker for our General Body Meeting tonight at 7:00pm.
The owner of The Shops at Penn Branch (Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners) recently made public their plans to develop Phase II, an apartment building that will be built over the rear parking lot of the renovated shopping center located at along Pennsylvania and Branch Avenues.
Their current building design and plan includes:
At Tuesday’s meeting PBCA will hold elections for the following candidates and positions on our executive board:
POSITIONS
CANDIDATES
Marie Fritz | Marie was born and raised in northeast Pennsylvania and has lived in DC for over 20 years. After college she participated in a one-year volunteer service program in New York in which she lived and worked in a homeless shelter for women and children. She has worked in community development, direct social services, evaluation, and low-income housing policy. Marie completed her PhD in government and politics at the University of Maryland and teaches courses on social policy, social science research, and U.S. politics at American University. She has served as PBCA Recording Secretary, since January 2021.
Natiya Curtis | Natiya grew up in the Eckington neighborhood of DC in the 1990s. She attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Spelman College, and Howard University School of Law. After law school she briefly practiced law in Philadelphia, but quickly realized there is no place like home. She is currently employed at the Social Security Administration (SSA) as an attorney. She has been a resident of Penn Branch since 2016. She has served has Parliamentarian, since 2021.
Sarah Byun | A resident of D.C. for nearly 20 years, I am more certain than ever that our capital is my favorite city in the world. I moved here from Kentucky after college, to complete graduate school (American University) and begin my career on Capitol Hill. While I’m grateful for those years working in the House and Senate, and then lobbying for medical associations, no job has been more fulfilling than parenting my two children. In addition to homeschooling my kids, I also work for an online meal planning company (www.cooksmarts.com), providing marketing and communications support, and managing special projects. My family and I are members of National Community Church. We enjoy walks around the neighborhood, traveling, hosting friends and family, dog sitting, and doing anything touristy in D.C.
Erica M Nichols | I currently reside and work in the Penn Branch Community. I moved to the DMV area from Tampa, FL, Go Buc’s, with my husband Brian Nichols and two dogs Callie and Bo Nichols. I’m a fine arts major with a BFA from the University of North Florida out of Jacksonville, FL and a MA in Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in San Francisco, CA. I’ve been married to my amazing partner and father Brian T. Nichols for 11+ years and we just added an addition to our family last year with our son who is 1, Sterling Silver Nichols. I currently teach at our community school Randle Highlands Elementary as an Art Teacher.
We heard about the great Penn Branch area through a student bike ride I volunteered for in 2015 and fell in love with the neighbors and the beauty of the mature natural landscape. We’ve been residents of Penn Branch since Aug. 2017 and look forward to making more joyous memories as the years pass.