Mark your calendars for the 2024 Talbot Avenue Bridge Lantern Walk on Saturday, November 16 at 5:00pm!
As many of you know, this is an annual family-friendly community event that weaves together neighborhoods once divided by racial segregation and fittingly takes place during Montgomery County’s “Remembrance and Reconciliation” Month.
The event is organized by the Talbot Avenue Bridge Committee and co-sponsored by the Lyttonsville Civic Association, North Woodside Citizens’ Association, and Rosemary Hills Neighbors’ Association.
This year, for the first time, the Lantern Walk will cross the fully completed new Talbot Avenue Bridge. We will also be honoring the memory of lifelong Lyttonsville resident and longtime civic leader Charlotte Coffield.
Start location: Parking lot of Rosemary Hills Elementary School, just below intersection of Talbot Ave. and Lanier Dr. (Lyttonsville side of bridge). Lantern Walk will start and end here and be immediately followed by a community reception in the all-purpose room of Rosemary Hills Elementary School.
Pat Tyson (Lyttonsville), Genevieve McDowell Owen (North Woodside), and Eva Santorini (Rosemary Hills) light a community Unity Lantern at the 2022 Talbot Avenue Bridge Lantern Walk. Photo by Jay Mallin
by Genevieve McDowell Owen
As the crisp air and falling leaves signal the arrival of autumn, our neighborhood is beginning to glow with the enchanting colors of the season. Fall and winter bring back beloved North Woodside traditions, both new and old, along with change.
The opening of the new Talbot Avenue Bridge is one of the changes coming. This important link between the North Woodside, Lyttonsville, and Rosemary Hills neighborhoods is scheduled to be finished and open to traffic around the new year. Residents will hopefully get a chance to walk the new bridge before that, though, during the upcoming Lantern Walk. I especially enjoy this newer neighborhood tradition; walking and singing in the warmth of candlelight and community. Plus I enjoy the opportunity to talk with the local elected officials who typically attend.
The Lantern Walk, scheduled for November 11 at 5pm (rain date November 12), commemorates the historic Talbot Avenue Bridge and serves as a bridge of remembrance that connects our past and future. I encourage everyone to participate in this event, which not only honors the historical importance of the bridge but also fittingly takes place during Montgomery County’s Remembrance and Reconciliation month, a time to “remember the past and dedicate ourselves anew to the work of justice and reconciliation through action.”
Just across the bridge another change is in the works: a new Lyttonsville park*, situated just on the other side of the Purple Line tracks from North Woodside. This welcome addition promises to be a space where neighbors can come together, play, enjoy the outdoors, and see restored parts of the historic bridge. I also look forward this time of year to seeing neighbors new and old at one of our long-time traditions, the Holiday Tree and Menorah Lighting festivities. Keep an eye out for more details about these events coming up in December. In the meantime, happy Halloween!
Genevieve McDowell Owen is President of the North Woodside Citizens Association. This “Letter from the President” ran in the Fall 2023 issue of NWCA’s neighborhood newsletter, The Beacon.
*On September 7, 2023, the Montgomery County Planning Board voted to approve the design of the future neighborhood park in Lyttonsville, which, when completed, will be the closest park to many North Woodside residents. Pat Tyson, President of the Lyttonsville Civic Association, and Anna White, a NWCA board member, were among the many community members and groups who provided oral and written testimony in support of the park. It will feature a Bridge Memorial made from the historic Talbot Avenue Bridge’s steel girders. For more information, including NWCA’s written and oral testimony, click here.
Welcome to North Woodside 