In and Around Morningside-Skyline
By Mary McHale 301-735-3451
Morningside installs new Speed Cameras on Suitland Rd.
Elayne McKenzie sent this warning: “Be careful while driving through Morningside. They have installed northbound and southbound speed cameras in front of the Exxon gas station and across the street.
“I received a $40 ticket in the mail. (Plus, a $3.50 service charge.) I’ve lived in the area for 32 years and never received one of those. I spoke with the Morningside Police Department, and they said this is all new. They just got approval to install speed cameras. There may be more coming in the future.”
Thank you for the warning, Elayne! I’ll slow down!
Town of Morningside: volunteers needed for July 4
A very Happy Birthday to Morningside’s Mayor Benn Cann on May 18!
May meetings: Monthly Work Session May 14, 7 p.m. Monthly Town General Meeting, May 21. Both at 7 p.m.
After the election of two Council Members on May 6, there will be a Swearing-in Ceremony on Monday, May 20 at 7 p.m.
Morningside’s annual Spring Clean-Up is coming up the weekend of May
18 /19. Hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Also, on Sunday, May 19, a Low-Cost Dog & Cat Shot Clinic.
Skate Van & Ice-Cream Social, June 22.
Volunteers are needed for the 4th of July Parade, Family Fun, and Fireworks. For information or to volunteer, call 301-736-2301.
Graduations
Meghan Elizabeth Nyers, daughter of Larry and Jody Bowman Nyers, received her psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) degree in April from Walden University. Meghan is also a graduate of the University of Maryland Baltimore County as well as earning a master’s degree in nursing from The Citadel. “Her desire to continue her education has taken her to achieving this milestone of becoming a nurse practitioner. We are very proud of all of her academic accomplishments.”
Email your graduations to me at muddmm@gmail.com. Include name of graduate, school, plans for the future, and any further remarks you’d like to add.
Fur and feather report
I have a bowl of water on my back deck, so the birds have another place to get a drink. However, in recent days the only ones I’ve seen using it is a black cat who drops by regularly, a squirrel and a possum.
Cicadas are coming this spring and summer to “the American Midwest and South.” I’m not sure if that means Maryland.
The Prince George’s County Animal Services and Adoption Facility (ASFAC) has resumed accepting pets whose owners can no longer care for them. In addition, all adoption fees,
including spay and neuter services, have returned to their original price schedule. (ASFAC had suspended the intake of owner-surrender dogs due to space constraints and the facility undergoing a deep cleaning protocol for diseases.)
A Low-cost Dog & Cat shot clinic will be held in the Town of Morningside on Sunday, May 19.
Changing landscape
Daughter Sheila and I enjoyed a Mexican drink and Enchiladas at 100 Plus Latino on Allentown Way in Camp Springs. It’s not a new restaurant, but it was new to us, and it was good! Maybe Tacos or Burritos next time.
Pimlico, in Baltimore, will shut down for “rebuilding,” after the Preakness, coming up May 17–18. It looks as though Preakness Stakes 2025 and 2026 will be at Laurel Park. Having the Preakness there will be a boon for local business and will introduce the racing world to Laurel Park. It remains to be soon what will happen to Laurel Park when the race returns to a new Pimlico.
A home at 4703 Old Soper Road, in Camp Springs, has sold for $214,900.
Places to go & things to do
Movies on the Potomac returned to National Harbor on May 2. The movies are Thursdays at 7 for “date night” and Sundays at 6 for “family night.” They will continue through September 29. Among the films: The Fall Guy, Tarot, Star Wars: Episode 1, Kung Fu Panda, Civil War, Godzilla-Kong: The New Empire, and more. The movies are outdoors, free, and on the big screen. Bring a blanket and carry-out food from one of the Harbor’s many restaurants. May be cancelled due to weather.
James Williams, Oxon Hill Boys and Girls Club coach
James Lynnwood Williams, Jr., Morgan State ’81 grad, died April 2. He was born in Washington to James and Barbara Williams.
He graduated from Mackin High School, Class of ’74 and continued his education at Purdue and Morgan State where he won MEAC Championships. An amazing athlete, he played football, basketball, baseball, and track and field.
James married Charleen Griffin on June 27, 1983.
He worked for 35 years in the Federal Government, retiring in 2015 as a Supervisory Senior Auditor. Among the departments he worked for: Defense, Environmental Protection, and U.S. Postal Service Office of the Inspector General.
He was a member of St. Columba Catholic Church, in Oxon Hill, and a football, basketball and tee-ball coach for the Oxon Hill Boys and Girls Club.
Survivors include his wife Charleen, daughter Donna, son Derrick, four granddaughters, his father James Williams Sr. and a host of other family. Mass of Christian Burial was at St. Philip the Apostle Church, Fr. Ryan Pinda, Celebrant. Repast, at St. Philip’s. Interment, Resurrection Cemetery.
His wife Charleen paid tribute in Loving Memory of my wonderful husband, “Of all the special gifts in life, however great or small, to have you as my Husband for 40 years was the greatest gift of all.”
Milestones
Happy Birthday to Kyle Dameron, May 12; Henrietta Bookhart, Ted Harris and Micheal White, May 13; my next-door neighbor, John Smith, May 14; my granddaughter Naomi Gallegos and Helen Fadness, May 15; Fr. Charles McCann, Kenneth Darcey, Tim Cordero and Kitty Marshall, May 16; Kim Cannon, May 17; Morningside Mayor Benn Cann and Patti Parco Grey, May 18.
Happy Anniversary to Donna & Wayne Anderson on May 14.
Happy Mother’s Day to Mothers and Grandmothers everywhere!
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Brandywine-Aquasco
By Audrey Johnson 301-922-5384
FELLOWSHIP PAINT FUN
You do not want to miss our Fellowship Paint Fun May 19, from 4–8 p.m. Will see you there. Releve, 5010 Brown Station Road/Suite 145 Upper Marlboro, Maryland 20772. Tickets are available today. Donation of $50.00. Sponsored By: Health & Welfare Ministry Nottinghammyers@outlook.com, www.nmc1867.Org. Come join the fellowship.
CLINTON UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Sunday, April 22, 2024, our guest speaker at Clinton United Methodist Church was Rev. Dr. Rodney Thomas Smothers who is the lead coach and consultant for rTs Coaching Associates and The Smothers Group. For 41 years he served as a local church pastor, on Annual Conference teams; Executive Leadership Teams as Director of Leadership and Congregational Development. He currently serves as a coach for SBC-21.
Pastor Smothers has founded new congregations, served as the lead pastor of multicultural, urban, and suburban congregations, and served as an adjunct seminary professor in the areas of administration, evangelism, worship, and United Methodist History.
Dr. Smothers served as the Director of Evangelism at the General Board of Discipleship. As a congregational consultant, worship leader, and coach, he resources laity and pastors, local churches, and denominational leaders in the areas of congregational vitality, leadership effectiveness, strategic ministries, and the development of skilled servant workers.
He has pastored congregations in the North Georgia and Baltimore-Washington Annual Conferences, leading them through congregational revitalization, new construction, and remodeling programs. Additionally, he has implemented stewardship, discipleship, strategic visioning, and leader development systems.
As a community leader, he has developed ministries for Senior Citizens, Youth Enrichment, partnerships with schools, and served in prison ministries. He has also collaborated with other pastors in the development of affordable housing ministries. He is a graduate of Leadership Atlanta, Georgia, and Leadership Prince George’s County Maryland.
He earned his Master of Divinity in 1982; and in 1993 his Doctor of Ministry, from Gammon Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Center (ITC) in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2013, he completed the Howard University School of Business Executive Leadership for Minister’s Program.
Dr. Smothers co-authored RESURGENCE: Navigating the Changing Ministry Landscape (with Candace M. Lewis), BLANK SLATE: Write your Own Rules for a 22nd-Century Church Movement (with Lia McIntosh and Jasmine Rose Smothers). Cry From the Pew (with Kay Kotan) and recently contributed to What’s Next? Twenty-Two United Methodist Leaders Discuss the Future of The Church. He is married to Lynn Thomas Smothers, M.D., and the father of three young adults.
KUDOS TO BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY ALUMNI
Congratulations to Dr. Vernon J. Hurte (01) who was selected to participate in the 2024–2025 AGB Institute for Leadership & Governance in Higher Education. The institute proudly supports higher education leaders on their professional journeys, with more than 20 past participants becoming presidents or chancellors of higher education institutions. Dr. Vernon J. Hurte is Senior Vice President for Student Affairs and University Life, Towson University.
BULLDOG 5K WALK/RUN
Join us May 19, 2024, for our Bulldog 5K Walk/Run from 2–5 p.m. at Bowie State University. The race will begin from Parking Lot J, 14000 Jericho Park Road, Bowie, MD, 20715 (parking available in Lots H & I). Check-in: 1–2:15 p.m. Race begins at 2 p.m. Cost Early Bird: $40; Day of Race: $50
Race cutoff time 3:30 p.m. Contact information Jenifer Coke, 301-860-4778, jcoke@bowiestate.edu. Make sure you register for this event: https://bit.ly/Bulldog5KRace
CONGRATULATIONS
Certificate of membership. This is to certify that Karon A. Johnson has been duly enrolled as a member of the Alpha Sigma Nu Jesuit Honor Society April 21, 2024.
COMMUNITY SUPPORT SYSTEMS, INC/FOOD PANTRIES
BADEN FOOD PANTRY: St. Paul Episcopal Church Hall, 13500 Baden-Westwood Road, Brandywine, Maryland. Distribution on Fridays from 9:30–11 a.m. MISSION NUTRITION: Gwynn Park High School 13800 Brandywine Road, Brandywine, Maryland. Distribution 3Rd Tuesday of the month from 4–6 p.m.
HAPPY 21st ANNIVERSARY
Join us Sunday, May 19, 2024, Martha & the Sisters in Christ, Devine Spirituals, DC Stars, Gospel Singers, Burning Bush, Serenity Baltimore, New Vizion, D’Andre Creekmore (Mime), Minister Earl Bynum & Co. Special Guest: It is A Surprise. Food will be sold. For more information, contact (202) 710-2420.
The Musical Selections will be performed at Meridian Baptist Church, 5354 Sheriff Road, Capitol Heights, Maryland 20743. Doors open 3 p.m. Advance ticket $20.00. Program starts at 4 p.m. Door Ticket cost $25.00. MC: Patricia Copeland and MC: Earl Bynum.
AN ALUMNI SOCIAL AFFAIR
Prince George’s County Chapter Bowie State University National Alumni Association, Inc. Annual Benefit an Alumni Social Affair Brunch will be held on Sunday, June 23, 2024, from 11 a.m.–3 p.m. at Martin’s Crosswinds, 7400 Greenway Centre Drive, Greenbelt, Maryland 20770. Funds to support the PGCAC Scholarship Fund. Tickets cost $70 ($7.00 Tax Deductible Contribution). Cash Bar, Music, Dancing and Vendors. Contact Addie Martin 301-868-6081, Rose Coleman 301-518-4861, or any chapter member.
Emailricbbowler@comcast.net.
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