
Greenbelter asks, “What in God’s name is pickleball?”
The niche sport that has grown in popularity for teenagers and young adults over social media this year has been around in the senior community of Greenbelt since before the COVID-19 pandemic. What began as four people playing pickleball — three of whom had never played before — turned into an organized senior program that meets four times a week ...

Black-Gum Tree Lived 300 years in Greenbelt
A black-gum tree lived to an unusually old age in Greenbelt, Maryland, near Research Road and the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center. Within a few years of 1720, this black gum sprouted in an old-growth forest, based on growth rings visible on the tree’s stump and the historical record. In 2018, the black gum died and was cut down. The tree’s ...

MDOT Launches Feasibility Study for Greenbelt East Trail
Engineering and design consultants from MDOT and Neighborhood Design Center (NDC) meet with advocates for the Greenbelt East Trail. Left to right: Diane Harris and Dan Behrend of Friends of the Greenbelt East Trail, Greenbelt mayor pro-tem Kristen Weaver, design consultants Ben Max (MDOT/JMT Engineering ), Micaela Ada (NDC), Toyin Animashaun (MDOT/JMT), and Laura Robinson (NDC), Charnell Ferguson from ...

Greenbelter Kathy Labukas among Top Senior Swimmers in the U.S.
From left, Greenbelt Sharks swimmers Kathy Labukas, Billy Webb, Kendra Keeney, Sandra Bowman, coach Jack Trudeau, Jean Lentz and Jon McElderry at the Princemont League Championship in August of 1959. Kathy was 9 and won 2nd place in freestyle. Kathy Labukas grew up in Greenbelt and swam with its first swim team, which formed in 1957. The coach, Al Castaldi, ...

What *are* those craaaazy cars in Greenbelt’s parking lot?
Recent sightings of Clarke Bedford’s art cars awaiting service at Greenbelt Auto and Truck. Meet the Creator I’m just one of the many Greenbelters using this parking lot near the Greenbelt Co-op who’s stopped to gawk and photograph the incredible-looking cars sometimes parked there. These “art cars” are the work of Clarke Bedford, retired after 23 years as a conservator ...

Famous Native Bee Lab and its Greenbelt Volunteers
Not far from Greenbelt, located inside the Patuxent Wildlife Research Refuge, is this humble little laboratory – the Native Bee Inventory and Monitoring Lab – that’s internationally famous among entomologists, ecologists and an assortment of nature-loving professionals and amateurs, too. It’s led by Sam Droege (rhymes with “hoagie”), a wildlife biologist with the Eastern Ecological Science Center, which works with ...

2023 Greenbelt Pride Festival Videos!
Greenbelt’s Second Annual Pride Festival earlier this month was a joyful and inspiring event, a feel-good happening I didn’t know I needed until suddenly I did. A sentiment no doubt shared by the large crowd. Seeing some very competent photographers and videographers at the event, I stopped taking them myself, except for snapping this cute dog all dolled-up for Pride ...

Welcome to Greenbelt’s Revolution Dance Studio!
There’s a new business in town, a most welcome dance studio located conveniently in Beltway Plaza Mall – the Evolution Dance Studio. It’s located near the AMC movie theaters, next to Shaymar Higgs’ Free Art for All and across the hall from his Third Space Lounge. It’s a creative hub! So far, classes are offered in: Ballet/Lyrical, Hip Hop, Jazz, ...

2023 Green Man Festival Video and Photos
This year’s Greenbelt Green Man Festival was a huge hit, thanks in large part to these intrepid organizers, from left: Tim Sauerwein, Raven Eyes Cagle, Dorian Winterfeld and Amethyst Dwyer. We thank them!! Entertainment Highlights Video Like the festival itself, this highlights video was a collaboration. (A two-day festival edited down to 4 minutes? It took a village!) The names ...

Wild Reels Film Festival Highlights Outdoor Recreation
The Festival Recently I felt lucky that I heard through the grapevine about a new film festival happening on a Saturday afternoon in the beloved and gorgeous Old Greenbelt Theatre. Because it was a “private screening” with invites going to friends and family, word of mouth somehow brought it to my attention. All I knew was the name – Wild ...

So you want to get a shed in GHI…
by Kate Murray It’s finally time to clean out your understairs closet and get an outdoor shed for your GHI townhouse. It’s a bit of a process and takes some planning but it’s doable. Here’s what I’ve learned if it’s helpful for you. This was definitely a learning curve for me and I spent a good deal of time stalking ...

Greenbelt Robots Compete at National Championship
In March 2023, four robots built by students at Eleanor Roosevelt High School competed at the US Open robotics championship that was held in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Pictured below is one of these robots at the US Open and three of the students who built it: Ashwin Selvarajasingham, Ben Ruby, and Veena Raj (left to right). The national competition was ...

Greenbelt – Where Musicians Are Video’d for YouTube
Greenbelt is special – I’m betting you all agree. Not only do we have music festivals and a thriving live music and music festival scene but Greenbelt is increasingly where bands know they can perform and afterwards receive a nice video for promotional use and their own enjoyment. New Deal Cafe Playlist Let’s start with the largest collection of Greenbelt ...

A Honda Dealer Comes to Greenbelt
That’s my blue CRV on far right side in this photo. I’ve driven various Honda models for going on 30 years now, buying from dealers but never living close enough to use them for service. That changed last October with the opening of “Honda of Greenbelt,” the large dealership now just off Greenbelt Road (6500 Capitol Drive) and minutes from ...

Don’t Miss the Greenbelt Lake Photo Exhibit at National Wildlife Center
Photo by Raven Eyes Cagle Now you have even more reasons to visit the Patuxent Wildlife Refuge this winter – for the fabulous exhibit of photos taken around our beloved Greenbelt Lake, on display through February 28. Yesterday’s reception for the show and a chance to meet the photographers drew quite a crowd – kudos to organizer Graeme Simpson for ...

GATe offers Promotional Videos for Greenbelt Nonprofits
Hey, Greenbelt-based nonprofits, charities and volunteer organizations! Greenbelt Access Television (GATe) works with groups like yours to create short promotional videos (also called PSAs or public service announcements). These videos can: Introduce viewers to your organization Call for volunteers for your organization Promote a cause important to your organization The resulting videos would be “evergreen” or of long-lasting usefulness. For ...

The Maglev’s Diminishing Prospects
A status update on the Baltimore-Washington maglev proposal, 17 months after the federal government halted its environmental review On November 14, 2022, a maglev representative spoke at NASA Goddard in Greenbelt, and he seemed inexplicably confident that the proposed maglev would be built between Baltimore and Washington. This blog post examines his statements for clues about why he was so ...

Susan’s Hula Hooping Journey is a True Greenbelt Story
I started blogging back in 2005 (about the gardening world) but what prompted me to start my first VIDEO blog – a “vlog” – was living in Greenbelt. Yes, it was seeing the fun that people of all ages were having at the Crazy Quilt Music Festival last October that led to my trying a hula hoop (thanks to Terri ...

Badminton Comes to Greenbelt
Badminton in the Youth Center’s gym, Sunday from 11 to 1. When Peter Teuben moved to Greenbelt in 2021 he saw no signs here of the sport he’d been playing all his life – badminton. Then during the Labor Day Festival he noticed a badminton event, so took the opportunity to meet other players and talk up the need for ...

The Campaign for Safer Walking and Cycling on Greenbelt Road
The latest in the campaign by cyclists and walkers for safer passage along Greenbelt Road? A web page.Greenbelt NASA Trail.org about the need for a bike lane between Eleanor Roosevelt High School and NASA Goddard, and a wonderful video covering a public event to publicize the need. The “Greenbelt Trail Walk” event attracted such key luminaries as Nicole Williams (a ...