MCCF Annual Awards Banquet to be held May 15

by Jim Humphrey, Chair, MCCF Planning and Land Use Committee

The Montgomery County Civic Federation will honor outstanding community leaders at its Annual Awards Banquet, Friday, May 15, 6:00 – 9:30 PM, at the New Fortune Restaurant in Gaithersburg. This event is an annual tradition for the Civic Federation, established in 1925 as the umbrella organization for community organizations and leaders dedicated to preserving and improving quality of life for county residents.

Luella Mast will receive the Star Cup, the top award which is given to a Federation delegate or committee for outstanding public service contributions to the Federation and Montgomery County. Like many women in the civic community, Ms. Mast’s involvement began with her local PTAs, grew into board membership on the Montgomery County Council of PTAs where she served for two years as its president, and blossomed into work with a number of education-related organizations and two runs for the Montgomery County Board of Education. She has been active in the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County for over 30 years and has served for six years on the Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Commission. She has been on the executive board of the Greater Colesville Civic Association for 18 years, and just for fun, has served for 18 years on the board of the Washington, D.C. Saint Patrick’s Day Parade Committee. Within the Civic Federation itself, Ms. Mast has carried out the duties of Treasurer, 2003-2008; chaired the Bylaws Committee; and taken the lead on innumerable special projects.

Ms. Mast has resided in Colesville since 1970 with her husband, mathematician Phillip Mast. The Masts have two adult children and two grandchildren. Over almost 40 years, Ms. Mast she has balanced her life between her profession as an architect, her family life and intense civic activism.

The Gazette Award is bestowed annually on an individual or group for outstanding public service on behalf of the citizens of the county. This year the Gazette Award will be given to the Parents’ Coalition of Montgomery County. Council member Marc Elrich (D.-At Large) will be on hand to present the award to the group.

Founded in 2004, the Parents' Coalition is a group of parents and education advocates dedicated to enhancing the responsiveness and performance of the Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS). The Parents' Coalition seeks coherent, content-rich curriculum standards; high expectations combined with timely remediation and acceleration; a wider range of educational options for parents and children; greater transparency and accountability by MCPS and the County Board of Education; and meaningful community input. A primary focus of the group is the sharing of information between members and with the public in order to improve the County’s public schools.

Each year, the Sentinel Award is given to an individual or group for outstanding contribution to good government on a local level. The Montgomery County Stormwater Partners Network (MCSPN) will receive this year's Sentinel Award for their advocacy on behalf of the natural environment in Montgomery County. Robert Hoyt, Director of the county's Department of Environment Protection, will present the award to the group.

MCSPN was established in November 2005 and is composed of 22 local, regional and national organizations that originally came together to endorse a stronger stormwater permit for Montgomery County. Required under the Federal Clean Water Act, the permit is issued about every five years by the Maryland Department of the Environment. After three years of advocacy by MCSPN, the new permit was issued to the County in March 2009 with provisions for the cleanup of polluted waters and use of Environmental Site Design. The group's website, www.stormwaterpartners.org, provides information on such issues as local stream restoration projects and use of rain gardens, green roofs, and rain barrels for the collection and reuse of stormwater. Other activities include promoting use of low-impact development, encouraging formation of new watershed protection groups, and advocating "Green Streets" elements in the County's Road Code and a strengthening of Forest Conservation Laws.

Current members of the network are: Anacostia Watershed Citizens Advisory Committee; Anacostia Watershed Society; Audubon Naturalist Society; Clean Water Action; Chesapeake Bay Foundation; Citizens to Save South Valley Park and Whetstone Run; Eyes of Paint Branch; Friends of Cabin John Creek Watershed; Friends of the Earth; Friends of Hillmead; Friends of Rock Creek's Environment; Friends of Sligo Creek; Greater Goshen Citizens Association; Little Falls Watershed Association; Montgomery County Civic Federation; Natural Resources Defense Council; Neighbors of the Northwest Branch; Northwood-Four Corners Citizens Association; Patuxent Riverkeeper; Potomac Conservancy; Sierra Club; and, the West Montgomery County Citizens Association.

Those interested in attending the awards banquet should contact Mr. William Schrader, MCCF Treasurer (schraderw@erols.com), or go to the Federation website (www.montgomerycivic.org) to download the reservation form published in the MCCF May newsletter.

May meeting program - The program for the May 11 MCCF monthly meeting will be an informal lecture on the Chesapeake Bay presented by Bill Matuszeski, who served as Director of the EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program from 1991 to 2001. His presentation will focus on what more can be done to restore the bay, and will be followed by a question and answer period. The public is invited to attend the meeting, which will start at 7:45 p.m. in the first floor auditorium of the County Council Building in Rockville.

The views expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect formal positions adopted by the Federation. To submit an 800-1000 word column for consideration, send as an email attachment to theelms518@earthlink.net

This Page Last Edited: January 24, 2010 .