The Woodley Gardens Civic Association has scheduled a Woodley Gardens community meeting on Wednesday, June 19, 2002 at 7:00 pm in the Dining Room of the Rockville Senior Center, 1150 Carnation Drive. At this meeting, community members will elect the 2002 WGCA officers. We also have a number of local political leaders on the agenda! Please make every effort to attend this important meeting.

A Nomination Committee for new WGCA Officers was appointed by the current WGCA Executive Committee; and the following candidates will be presented by this Committee at the June 19^th meeting:

President: Martin Trusty
Vice President: Pat Culpepper

Secretary: Nina Schneider

Additional candidates can be nominated by community members at the meeting. If more than two candidates are nominated for an office, the group attending the June 19^th meeting will vote by secret ballot. Otherwise, the candidate can be accepted by voice vote.

Other items on the agenda for the June 19^th meeting include:

• Summary of current and future events and issues of interest to Woodley Gardens residents presented by Bob Corbey, outgoing WGCA President
• Report from the Mayor and Council on City of Rockville issues of interest to the neighborhood, presented by Mayor Giammo and available city council members
• We have invited Senator Jennie Forehand, District 17 to present key issues from the Maryland Senate
• Presentation of key issues from the Maryland House of Delegates by Delegate Cheryl Kagan, District 17

On May 3^rd, City of Rockville Police arrested a 17-year-old male student from Richard Montgomery High School and charged him with the vandalism of 27 vehicles parked on residential streets in the Woodley Gardens neighborhood. The vandalism occurred late Saturday evening, March 30^th. Cars were pushed into one another and tires were slashed. Other neighborhoods had been similarly hit.

A neighbor on upper Crocus returned home at about 2:30 a.m., noticed some damage to a neighbor’s car, notified them and the police were called. The police were not able to get any leads and called upon the Neighborhood Watch to initiate its Telephone Tree to alert the neighbors and ask if anyone noticed anything that evening.

Hopefully you received a call, if not please contact your Block Captain. If you do not know who your Block Captain is, please ask the Chair of the Neighborhood Watch, George Galasso, preferably by e-mail or 301-762-7864.

This is an instance that should encourage support for Neighborhood Watch. Unfortunately, considerable damage was done and went unnoticed until after it was done, but we should be constantly alert to the possibility of burglary, vandalism or other street crime.

City police still encourage residents to take precautions by discouraging or minimizing potential damage when parking on streets.

Their advice includes:

1. Lock cars at all times. This will discourage

2. Activate car alarms. The alarm may both chase away vandals and alert neighbors that something suspicious may be occurring.

3. Call police immediately after hearing or seeing anything suspicious.

4. Even if you discover minor damage to your vehicle, report the incident to police. This helps establish a pattern and gives police more evidence in their pursuit of making arrests.

The Neighborhood Watch has been instrumental in petitioning for additional lighting for some of our very dark streets, and we have been informed that PEPCO will be improving the lighting on Blossom, Crocus and Aster. The work should be completed within the next 90 days.

The Neighborhood Watch will continue to work towards increased safety for the neighborhood. Get to know your Block Captain and indicate your support.

Rockville is known for having one of the most active Neighborhood Watch programs in the Washington metropolitan area. City Police have been working with Neighborhood Watch block captains to spread the word that residents need to remain alert.

If residents believe something suspicious is ongoing in their neighborhood, they should immediately call the Rockville emergency number, 301-340-7300. If anyone has information leading to any of the incidents, they can confidentially talk to Rockville City Police at the non-emergency number 301-309-3111.

The Civic Associations of College Gardens, Plymouth Woods and Woodley Gardens held a Spring Social on Friday, April 12, 2002 from 7:30 pm - 11:00 pm at the Rockville Civic Center Mansion.

Nestled in the heart of old Rockville, the Mansion grounds cover 153 acres. The Mansion plays host to weddings, receptions and other events in the surrounding park area.

There was a turnout of 70 residents who gathered from College Gardens, Plymouth Woods and Woodley Gardens. Attendees mingled, ate, drank and danced to deejayed music ranging from swing to rock.

College Gardens in past years had single-handedly sponsored this event. This year, the special twist was the inclusion of Plymouth Woods and Woodley Gardens. The purpose of the alliance was to build a cohesiveness among associations and to generate more ideas for future social and civic developments.

Organizers Kathy Oehl and Diane Ramick from College Gardens coordinated the event with co-organizers Bridget Ciapetta from Plymouth Woods and Joan McGuire from Woodley Gardens. Flowers were arranged by Pat Reuther, Ellen Dutka and Mary Corley. Bartenders Peter Carlson, Joe Gervasio and Hal Morgan graciously served drinks. Many others joined in to make this party happen. Ted Reuther, George Ramick, Alice Von Saunder, Alan Rawlins and Caitlin Carlson, to name a few.

Food was provided and ranged from cheese, crackers and hot artichoke dips to cold pasta salads, a sausage dish, turkey and many vegetables. Beer, wine and sodas were also provided.

For the first hour of the event, the art exhibit was open, displaying many fine artisans’ works.

Much chatter and discussion about Watts Branch Parkway and the new Mayor and Council was overheard in the halls and rooms of the Mansion.

To cap off the evening, dancing opened with President Ted Reuther of College Gardens and his wife Patricia and President Bob Corbey of Woodley Gardens and his wife Kelly inviting all party-goers to display pure energy on the dance floor for three hours.

Those who missed the event can catch the excitement next year. Stay tuned for details!

Perhaps you’ve seen this neighbor strolling past your home, perhaps you’ve heard of him, or even heard realtors use his family and business name as a selling point. Through the years, he’s been known to stop in front of each home and study the fresh look each homeowner generation has brought to the community in the past forty years… transformation of colors, structure and landscape, not to mention the preservation of trees which have always been the trademark of this community. Who is this neighbor walking past your home and why is he so interested in the look of these homes? He is Monroe Warren, Jr. of Meadowbrook, Inc, and marketer/ researcher in the building of Woodley Gardens over forty years ago.

In a recent, candid interview he confessed that he has always stood behind the Monroe Warren quality and workmanship. That’s why he raised his family and has always lived in one of his homes in Woodley Gardens.

"You see, my father, Monroe Senior had a philosophy. He said that there were three economic factors in life: housing, food and transportation. He greatly emphasized the first to his family and made a career of it," said Junior.

Monroe Warren, Sr. was the visionary who had built for over forty years before the conception of Woodley Gardens. His era began in the twenties with the D.C. row house development near 13^th and 14^th Streets, in an area called Petworth, NW Washington D.C. In the 1930’s the famous Kennedy Warren on Connecticut Avenue and in the ‘50’s luxury homes built on property belonging to Philip Barton Key, a relative of Francis Scott Key. The booming development was known as "Woodley" Hill on Cleveland Avenue, in the NW District of Columbia. The Avenue was named after President Cleveland who used this Key family property as his summer vacation home in the latter 19^th Century.

In the late 50’s, Meadowbrook, Inc., owned by the Monroe Warren family, had consolidated and acquired 260 acres. Woodley Gardens resides on this land today.

The father and son Warren team brought their independent skills to the table. Warren Senior, the land developer and prominent homebuilder knew the trends of the times well; a semi-custom home community nestled in a canopy of trees, with sidewalks, a swimming pool, and a shopping center. Warren Junior checked the pulse of the homebuyers by profiling their needs and together they came up with a simple solution. Planned Community! Where brick and block, a swim club that is home to many championships, small shopping center and mature trees all co-habitated in a warm friendly, family community – Woodley Gardens.

Architectural reputation was also evidenced in the construction of these homes…the finest brick ordered from Oxford, Pennsylvania and from Virginia.

Groundbreaking lined up the finest skilled artisans, carpenters, roofers and other construction workers, who were brought in and worked under the watchful eye of an assigned superintendent. "There was little margin for error by having a superintendent onsite at all times. That’s why the homes are quality constructed. Upon completion of floor installation in a room, for example, the superintendent would place a marble in the middle of a room on the floor. If the marble swayed to one corner, the floors were considered flawed and corrected immediately," explained Warren Junior. This demonstrates the fine workmanship of flooring placed in the homes.

Warren Junior came up with a catchy name to publicize the development to prospective buyers. Five homes built from Montgomery Avenue to Beall Avenue launched models for the upcoming Rockville Estates. Crocus Drive, the first street in the development, was built in 1961. Later on the name changed to Woodley Gardens, after the birth of Blossom, Azalea, Aster, Woodley, Hawthorne, Carnation, Wintergreen, and Larkspur.

Aster was partially built by Meadowbrook, Inc. in the mid-70’s, and later finished by Croyder and Irwin who purchased the lots from the Warrens and finished Aster. Later yet another builder appeared on the scene to finish off what Croyer and Irwin had started. Southern Engineering almost finished our development with its luxurious homes constructed on Hawthorne, Woodley, Wintergreen and Larkspur.

Meadowbrook, Inc. staff members and the original homeowners still reside in Woodley Gardens. Andrea Washburn on Nelson Street and the corner of Beall Avenue, and one of the sales representatives, who lives in the Woodley Gardens Coops. Aster Boulevard and the Carnation Drive cul-de-sac were completed by another builder.

Today, Woodley Gardens is still touted for its brick and block, natural surroundings and locale advantages. Homeowners can only appreciate firsthand the life this community affords!