President’s Corner – Page 2 – Penn Branch Community Association

Coming Together Again

Published on September 3, 2021September 7, 2021

Stan Benton, President It looks as if the smoldering heat of summer is over, and the hurricane season has begun. When I look at the impact of Hurricane Irma in New York and other hard-hit areas, I feel sad for their hardship but grateful that it hasn’t impacted us much. Hopefully our luck will continue. Unfortunately, we’ve had three carjackings over the past few months. Please stay vigilant when you’re out and about, especially when entering and exiting your cars. Thankfully, Terry Clyburn, our neighbor on Texas Ave, has volunteered to become the Chairperson of the Safety Committee. He will be coordinating with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to keep us informed and he will develop ideas on how the neighborhood can deal with the increasing crime. Now that summer is over, we’ll be coming together again for our monthly General Body meetings. Thanks to the Delta variant, our meetings will still be taking place on Zoom. If you haven’t done so already, please get vaccinated against COVID-19 to protect yourself and others in the community. Thank you.

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

Stan Benton,

President, PBCA

Planting Cherished Memories

Published on May 9, 2021May 9, 2021

President's Corner

As we move into the month of May, we celebrate the mothers, grandmothers, aunties, kinship caregivers, and other members of our community who provide love and guidance to us all. For those whose mothers have passed, we hope this can be a time to reflect on cherished memories. Happy Mother’s Day! A big ‘Thank You’ to the many neighbors who donated funds to improve our Penn Branch 9-11 Memorial Park! In the coming months, the PBCA Executive Committee will announce a fundraiser related to continuing to improve the park while celebrating families—past and present—who are connected to our community. We really look forward to seeing everyone at the park planting on May 15^th at 9 am. Although CDC and city guidelines for outside mask-wearing have changed, since we will be working in a small space, please plan to wear a face-covering to keep all of our neighbors safe.
Please continue to be safe and take care of each other and I’ll see you at the meeting!

Stan Benton,
PBCA President

It’s Spring Again

Published on April 11, 2021May 9, 2021

President's Corner

Spring is looking good. As the weather is getting nicer, now is the time to get back outside to prep our backyards, patios and gardens for use during throughout the warmer months. Your PBCA board has also sprung into action along with a few dedicated community members to help plan our first spring cleaning of 9-11 Memorial Park. It is the gateway to our neighborhood at the intersections of Carpenter and O Street SE. Last month, Joan McKenzie applied for and was awarded a $1,000 grant from the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS), on behalf of PBCA, to spruce up the park. The funds will go towards new native plantings and additional signage. However, the park is in also need of a new bench and paving stones. These additional costs were not covered by the grant. So, we’ll soon be launching a fundraiser to help us pay for those items. In the meantime, we’ll gladly accept your donations.

Lastly, we have new families in the neighborhood. Let’s welcome them. Let your block captain know so that we can invite them to join us and deliver our famously practical welcome buckets, which Mrs. Patricia Hall is always putting together with loving care. Thank you for your continued support.

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

Stan
PBCA President

Shall We Dance?

Published on March 5, 2021March 6, 2021

President's Corner

PBCA Dinner Dance-Early 1990s (credit Patricia Q Hall)

I’m starting to see a sliver of light at the end of this COVID-19 tunnel as more vaccines become available.

Perhaps we’ll soon be able to have our meetings in-person and maybe even bring to fruition one of the PBCA Board’s long-term goals for 2022: Bringing back The Annual Penn Branch Dinner Dance.

The Dinner Dance was started in 1987 by the former PBCCA President, Eloise Prince, and was held annually until 2015. The event provided an excellent way for new and longstanding neighbors to get to know one another. I always enjoyed seeing the younger folks, along with our seniors, all on the dance floor performing the latest line-dance together.

After being held up in our homes for the past year, now is the time to start planning for this event–as well as other ways to get us back together again. To do this, we’ll need your help. Please make a donation to PBCA and share with us any creative ideas you may have. Until then, lets’ keep fingers crossed for continued progress in beating back this virus.

See you at the meeting!

Stan

The late Mrs. Eloise Prince was a former PBCA President and is believed to have organized the first Dinner Dance

PBCA Dinner Dance-Early 1990s

‘The Last Dance:’
AUGUST 2014

A quick look back at images from past ‘ Dinner Dance’ events where Penn Branch residents came out looking their best to celebrate, mix and mingle with community and city leadership.

Current PBCA President Stan Benton is All Smiles (2014)

Councilmember & Mayoral Candidate, Muriel Bowser (2014)

At-large Council Candidate, Robert White

Reverend Kendrick Curry Ph.D, Pastor of Pennsylvania Avenue Baptist Church

Former President, Jimmie Williams Leads on the Dance Floor (2014)

Relieving Cabin Fever

Published on February 7, 2021February 11, 2021

President's Corner

As COVID-19 keeps trying all of our patience, we hope to relieve some of your cabin fever by having a panel of speakers at this week’s meeting that’ll talk about the parks and recreation in the area.

Hopefully, this will give you new ideas on things you can do safely outside the house. The COVID vaccine rollout isn’t going as smooth as it could be. Those that meet the requirements (65 and older and/or working in a health care setting in DC) should regularly check out DC’s Coronavirus website at https://coronavirus.dc.gov to see where they can sign up to receive the vaccine. I highly recommend everyone to go to that website and sign up for their alerts via email or text. This will help keep you up to date on the latest COVID issues for DC residents. Let’s check in on our neighbors to see if they need assistance with those tasks.

As you know, the Block Captains are an essential part of our PBCA communications. If you don’t know who your Block Captain is or if you are not receiving email updates from us, please let us know by dropping us a note at: [email protected], or by giving me a call at 240-416-9221 . And lastly, we have many new neighbors. If you’re not a PBCA member yet, please either reach out to your Block Captain or get on our website at pennbranchdc.org to join.

Thank you and I look forward to seeing you at the next meeting!

Stan Benton,
PBCA President

A Community On The Move

President's Corner - Page 2

Coming Together Again

Planting Cherished Memories

It’s Spring Again

Shall We Dance?

‘The Last Dance:’
AUGUST 2014

Relieving Cabin Fever

President's Corner - Page 2

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