Addressing Our Community Tree Triangle

by Cheryl Copeland


The NWCA Community Design Committee formed in early 2021. Our original discussions focused on the location of a memorial bench, but our goal was and remains to take a broader look at the use of neighborhood green spaces. We are interested in placemaking within the shared publicly owned pieces of land that are part of the fabric of North Woodside.

There are areas within our neighborhood that are imbued with memory as places for community interactions. One of these is the triangle at the intersection of Luzerne Ave. and Glen Ross Rd. where the community tree sits. It has served for decades as the place where neighbors come together to celebrate winter holidays. In the summer of 2020 it was where our youth called neighbors to action. And popular food trucks popped up alongside it in 2021. Alas, those moments, when the community injects the space with energy, are brief and few. The minimally maintained triangle is forgettable at best, and not many neighbors are drawn there during other times of the year. This place could be so much more than it is! At the urging of an adjacent neighbor, the Community Design Committee has begun to address this opportunity.

The land that we are referring to as the Community Tree Triangle is owned by Montgomery County and maintained by the Department of Transportation (MCDOT). Community Design Committee members have already been in communication with our assigned project contact (our county arborist) and a MCDOT traffic engineer. These officials appear very willing to approve NWCA’s efforts to improve the site. We’ve learned that permits will not be required, but county review of a design and coordination of its implementation are. We will maintain regular communications with the various county entities to ensure that improvements can move forward.

With the approval of the NWCA Board, members of the Community Design Committee solicited proposals for a master plan from three local women-owned landscape design firms. We met with each firm at the triangle and shared the following guidelines for the design:

  • Replace the grass with plantings of native species sourced from environmentally conscious growers and suppliers to attract pollinators and provide food and cover for birds. Consider the educational opportunity these types of plantings could offer the community.
  • Maintain and possibly enhance the use of the area for the annual neighborhood holiday tree and menorah lighting events.
  • Consider features like stepstone pathways to invite the community to engage in the space.
  • Consider sight lines for traffic safety throughout the year.
  • Long-term maintenance should be minimal.
The NWCA Board voted to approve the proposal from Strawberry Fields

After careful review and input from the committee, the NWCA Board voted to approve the proposal from Strawberry Fields Design, LLC, to provide master plan landscape design services. Strawberry Fields was selected for its experience working with Montgomery County and on community projects of similar scope and scale and previous work in our neighborhood. Owner Kellie Cox is communicative, engaging, and knowledgeable. The board agreed to move forward with this investment in the design for a piece of land within our neighborhood because of the potential impacts on the community as a whole: visual, environmental, safety, and use.

Neighbors will be invited to engage in the design at key points in the process:

  • Prior to the landscape design work beginning, neighbors will be able to provide input via an online form and participate in a neighborhood meeting to chat with the designer, ask questions, and offer their ideas.
  • Once Strawberry Fields has developed a preliminary design plan, the Community Design Committee would share it with neighbors for further input at a meeting and/or via the neighborhood listserv and website.
  • It would also be shared with our county contacts for their review and input.
  • Strawberry Fields would take all the above input into consideration before finalizing a master plan.


The timeline for all of this will be sent out via the listserv in the coming months. We look forward to hearing what our neighbors would like to see happen with our shared space in the heart of our community!

The landscape master plan is a first step in making the Community Tree Triangle a more special place for our North Woodside community. Implementing that plan will require funding to turn drawings into plants and stepstones and flowers. At almost 2,200 square feet, this is a large area. The cost to achieve our goal is not yet known, but we can anticipate that it could be substantial. Rest assured that the Community Design Committee is already exploring ways to meet the challenge, such as grant opportunities, work parties, fundraising initiatives, and phasing the work to implement as funds become available.

Donations are always appreciated as an investment in our shared community design efforts. Interested neighbors may go to visit the NWCA donation page and follow instructions for contribution to the Neighborhood Beautification and Memorial Fund.

If discussions about the potential improvements to our neighborhood green spaces interest you, please join our Community Design Committee email list.

On December 18, 2022, neighbors gathered at the Community Tree Triangle for the 74th Annual Tree Lighting and 5th Annual Menorah Lighting and enjoyed hot cider and latkes. Photo by Phyllida Paterson

Happy Holidays!

To all who celebrate the various holidays of the season…Happy Hanukkah!…Happy Solstice!…Merry Christmas!…Happy Kwanzaa!…Happy New Year!

Here are a few photos of last weekend’s community Menorah Lighting, which was followed by the community Tree Lighting and a visit from Santa. Photos by Genevieve McDowell Owen, Phyllida Paterson, and Rebecca Doran

Many thanks to all the neighbors who contributed their time, talents and resources to the event. It takes a village!

And for those who missed, a new song sung at the event:

Woodside Wassail (words by David Kitzmiller)

Wassail, wassail, all over the town!
Our punch, it is red, and our cookies, they are brown.
The goodies are spread by the old Christmas tree,
From the wassailing bowl, we’ll drink to thee!

Here’s to North Woodside Civic so good,
Which strives to keep order in this neighborhood.
From 16th to Linden, all’s well we will say;
So we’re gathered together to brighten this day!

Wassail, wassail all over Woodside!
Remember your neighbors in this wintertide.
At Luzerne and Glen Ross, we’ll now light our tree,
From the wassailing bowl, we’ll drink to thee!

Light and love to all. And stay warm–the northern winds sure are a blowin’ out there!

Holiday Tree Lighting

Join us for holiday cheer, caroling, hot apple cider, and a visit with Santa at our annual North Woodside Community Tree Lighting (corner of Glen Ross Rd. and Luzerne Ave.) on Sunday, December 12th at 4:45 pm.

In the spirit of giving, we will have a bin available for donations of non-perishable food items for the Capital Area Food Bank. If you prefer to make a cash donation to the food bank, please click here.

We will also be collecting cash donations to support the Community Tree Lighting.

Hope to see you there!

Neighborhood Food Drive for Capital Area Food Bank

Please help support Capital Area Food Bank by making a donation through our neighborhood virtual food drive page. Last year, we set and reached the goal of $2021, so this year we’re aiming for $2022.  Can you help us reach this amount? Thank you for any contribution, small or large, that you can make! 

Note: there will also be a bin for donations of nonperishable food items at the Community Tree Lighting, which will take place at 4:45pm Sunday, December 12, 2021 (triangle at intersection of Luzerne Ave and Glen Ross Rd)

72nd Annual Tree Lighting

Singing following the lighting of North Woodside’s Community Tree on December 13, 2020

This year’s Tree Lighting program, organized by Holiday Committee Co-Chair Julie Lees, opened with an alto sax version of Let It Snow, followed by a small group of physically distanced singers blending their voices together for Dona Nobis Pacem (Give Us Peace).

After a few words of welcome by NWCA President David Cox, the Community Tree was lit and O Christmas Tree sung. Then it was time for a certain white-bearded man’s arrival to the tune of Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. Neighborhood children came, by appointment, to greet Santa and pick up treats. The event was streamed live and can be viewed below.

Thanks to Snider’s for once again donating a box of oranges for Santa’s treat table.

3rd Annual Menorah Lighting

On December 10, 2020, Merrie Blocker, NWCA Vice President, led a traditional lighting for the first night of Hanukkah at the new outdoor menorah on the island where Glen Ross and Luzerne meet. Afterwards, neighbors came, by appointment, to pick up latkes (potato pancakes) and Hanukkah gelt (chocolate coins). The event was streamed live and can be viewed below.