President's Corner

Bearing Witness

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Penn Branch digs out from our first snow storm of 2025

Happy New Year, Neighbors!
Last week I attended a panel hosted by Humanities DC that commemorated the 100th birthday of renowned American author and essayist James Baldwin. Three distinguished writers discussed the importance of bearing witness–sharing and preserving your own testimony of current or past events. Stories can deepen our understanding of the past, give meaning to our present, and inspire change.  So much of what PBCA does at this moment is also about bearing witness.

Paul Grant, President, Penn Branch Community Association (2022-2026)
Paul Grant, President, PBCA

9/11 Memorial Park
 Next month we will launch our memorial paver fundraising campaign for 9/11 Memorial Park. Our goal is to make that little pocket park a beautiful gathering space that memorializes those D.C. residents who tragically lost their lives on 9/11. Named pavers will be a testament to the many wonderful families–past and present–who have made Penn Branch the best neighborhood in the District of Columbia.

This year we will attempt to host a mix of virtual and two or three seasonal, in-person community meetings. Our January meeting will be held virtually on Tuesday. Please  join us. Our new Ward 7 Councilmember, Wendell Felder, is planning to join us.  Establishing meaningful dialog with our new councilmember will help him to shape a fruitful policy agenda for our communities. I want to congratulate him for taking the torch of service on the DC Council and wish him every success.
Also, Leah Gage from Humanities DC  will also join our meeting to share information about their open oral history and independent practitioner fellowship grants. Both are wonderful opportunities to get humanities training while preserving and interpreting D.C. stories. 

Renew Your Membership

Finally, please take a moment to visit our revised website and renew your membership. Your continued support is the engine that keeps our community on the move.  Membership runs January 1-Dec 31st.  Our executive board is laser focused on bringing greater value to your membership, increasing our connection to each other–and with greater Ward 7, and improving our public spaces.

Keep safe. Check on your neighbors. And never stop sharing your story.

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Staying Connected in Challenging Times

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Stan Benton, PresidentHappy 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

New Year, New Opportunities

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Stan Benton, PresidentHopefully everybody’s enjoying the New Year so far. ‘New Year, new opportunities,’ as they say.  For PBCA, that means new officer positions that we need to fill on the board. Our First Vice President, Kyle Murphy, will not run for re-election, and our current Treasurer Moh Williams has decided to step down. I’d like to give some appreciation to Kyle and Moh for stepping up to the challenge.

The good news is that we’re finally holding our elections next week and we have some amazing candidates ready to go. This includes Secretary Marie Fritz, who is seeking to fill our vacant 2nd Vice-President chair and Parliamentarian, Natiya Curtis is also seeking another term in that seat. Please make sure your membership is up to date so that you can vote.

Finally, the COVID-19 Omicron variant is spreading fast. Please continue to be safe and practice social distancing.  To locate COVID test kits, go to https://coronavirus.dc.gov  Under Testing click on Test Yourself DC At-Home Kit then scroll to the bottom to see real-time test availability at the various Test Yourself Locations. Take note that experts advise to take at least two antigen tests over the course of about two days, if you have been exposed.

Please stay safe everyone and I’ll see you at the meeting.

Stan Benton,

PBCA President

A Change of Season

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A Change of Season

Stan Benton, PresidentThroughout the past few weeks, leaves have finally begun to change color, and the temperature was rapidly dropping. I was glad to see some kids in the community keeping the Halloween tradition of Trick-or-Treating alive, as I enjoyed interacting with them and their parents passing by our home.

Halloween also coincides with the Latinx ‘Day of the Dead,’ which is a colorful tradition and time to remember and celebrate the lives of those that have passed on. We fondly remember the people we lost in 2021 among our neighbors and those that served as part of our PBCA. On the COVID-19 side, booster shots are now available for those eligible, including people who had a Johnson & Johnson shot. Please check the Mayor’s website for more information https://coronavirus.dc.gov .

Along with the change of season come holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas, a time many of us look forward to because we spend more time with friends and family. Not only for those times, PBCA is making plans to increase our capacity to serve our neighborhood: We will be holding elections for several officer positions, including 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice-President, Recording Secretary and Parliamentarian. We also hope to fill our vacant committee positions of Membership and Block Captain Committee, Legislative Committee, Nomination and Leadership Development Committee. I would like to encourage you to volunteer for such roles. We would love to have you!

Finally, we plan to officially kick-off our membership drive for 2022 next month. Please join us to make the upcoming year our best ever!

That’s all from me for now. Take care of each OTHER

Stan Benton, President PBCA

Two Events, One Community

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Music lovers unite at PorchFest DC held at the rear of The Shops at Penn Branch (2021)

Stan Benton, PresidentThe First Annual Penn Ave East Main Street’s Art All Night and the Third Annual Porchfest SE events have come and gone.  However, questions and concerns remain.

Both music-filled events were held in the rear parking lot of the renovated Penn Branch Shopping Center. What a milestone!  Inside the shopping center, we now have thriving businesses (and non-profits) with multi-year leases. Art Art All Night and Porchfest brought music, minority-owned vendors, special presentations, food trucks, dancing, and dozens of smiles under KN95 face masks, outside of the building. The shopping center that bears our name is becoming both an economic beacon and gathering place for our community.

Last Sunday, Channel 9 News featured a story about Adams Morgan and Penn Branch Porchfest events. Then, tragically, just 72 hours later, Nikiesha Thomas was fatally shot by her boyfriend in the same parking lot. This generated a different type of news story. A story that adds to the stigma that East of the River communities are violent, crime-ridden, and generally unsafe. Bad things will happen. Still, the question remains: How do we change the narrative about our area? Do we want to be known for festivals and community gatherings? Or, crime stats? Finally, what more can we all do to outweigh bad news with stories about good events in our community? The choices are ours.

 We all want what’s best for our community—and naturally, passions will flare as we debate different methods. However, our association is only as strong as your level of involvement and support. Join a committee: Help PBCA to better coordinate and plan future community events that will reflect the best of who we are. Become a block captain: Help us to distribute our newsletter and keep everyone informed about what is being planned.

Please continue to be safe, take care of each other, and I’ll see you at the meeting!

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Penn Branch digs out from our first snow storm of 2025

Bearing Witness

Happy New Year, Neighbors!Last week I attended a panel hosted by Humanities DC that commemorated the 100th birthday of renowned

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