By Janet Lowenbach (SLM '12) There is a big difference between knowing and understanding. I lived in Montgomery County for 42 years before joining Senior Leadership Montgomery (SLM). I had long ago witnessed the transition from the quaint one-story buildings on Wisconsin Avenue to the massive Air Rights Building, from the picturesque Chevy Chase cottages to the imposing McMansions. I had seen the escalation of the traffic; the closing, building, and rebuilding of the schools; the waves of ethnically diverse neighbors, the octopus-like expansion of the roads. Although I saw these changes, I didn't know the pulse of it, the press of active public servants that would manage it, and the escalating population that would need services. Nor did I know the people I would meet in the SLM class of 2012 with whom I would learn how the County worked, how we provide leadership to those who provide services. We bonded in the first meeting where Esther Newman, Founder and Executive Director of Leadership Montgomery, led an exercise in which we "met" our ancestors, people who migrated over the generations from Asia, Europe, and Africa and then settled in Montgomery County. Our new friendships in hand, we embarked on a journey - over eight months of travel and meetings - to find the undiscovered parts of the County. On a magic bus tour from Rockville to Upcounty areas, we stopped at Button Farm, where I was moved to tears to learn that Montgomery County residents had slaves. "I felt how cruel the institution of slavery was, and I was proud that our forefathers had the physical and mental stamina to withstand this treatment and that it didn't enslave their minds," classmate Margot Hall said later about the experience. Special Advertising Publication | June 2012
The County spread out below us from the amazing vantage point of the traffic monitoring plane. Caravans of traffic moved below from the green northern part of the County over to the Potomac River and then through the burgeoning towns of Clarksburg and Germantown. The ride-alongs with the police and fire departments offered a window into those dangerous and effective public services. "Traveling with the medical unit of the fire department was wonderful," said Sybil Greenhut. "They were so kind and professional to a patient in medical crisis. As a nurse, I saw excellent patent care." As for myself, I felt right at home watching television with the firefighters in a row of giant leather chairs and then, startled when the bell announced a fire, jumping into the big ladder truck.
Front row, left to right: Margruetta Bright Hall, Sandy K. Elson, Sandra L. Hughes, Janet L. Lowenbach, David Spitzer, Dieneke Johnson, Mary Catherine Henderson, Clair Dangler, Lois H, Neuman Second row, left to right: Elizabeth A. Brooks-Evans, Thomas Brunetto, DaCosta R. Mason, Maurine H. Beasley, Sybil Greenhut, Robert F. Levey, Clare E. Keller, Sylvia McKaig Seawright, Barbara Rady Kazdan, Michael A. Richardson, Connie Heller, Peter K. Vaslow, Ann E. Evans, and Marilyn M. Massey-Ball.
We held our breath, collectively, when the door to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility shut behind us. But what a surprise! The jail was nothing like TV prisons - with their barred cells, dark corridors, and nasty guards. "I was surprised by the very open and trusting environment that existed between inmates and staff," Marilyn Massey-Ball said, "and the level of educational opportunities and employment assistance provided to support offenders' rehabilitation and re-entry into the community." In the program called Government 101, we saw that the County government was active and alive. "The legislative analysts made the budget more understandable," Sally Seawright noted, "and they emphasized the high expectations the County has for service."
On an uncharacteristically warm wintry day, we crossed the foot bridge from the parking lot over Minnehaha Creek to the unique buildings scattered about Glen Echo Park.
mayor led us on a tour among the hidden trees and Victorian houses of Washington Grove. In the afternoon, we learned that there was "life after graduation" from SLM.
"I was most inspired by the Glen Echo Partnership," Peter Vaslow said, "in which the community and two independent and powerful government agencies (Federal and Montgomery County) could work together to successfully deal with funding issues, save Glen Echo, rebuild it, and even expand its purpose and function!"
We could continue the connections we made during our tour of the County and exploration of each other. I made new friends and benefited from the support of the class network in my search for a job. Others vowed to stay connected to grow and to serve the County and the Leadership Montgomery organization that had given us so much.
The purple and gold seats at The Music Center at Strathmore vibrated with light on our Arts day. "I have been a fan of the arts in Montgomery County for a long time," said Bob Levey. "It was very instructive to see Strathmore from the inside."
I am so grateful to all the people we met: the County officials and nonprofit leaders who serve the County and to Founder and Executive Director Esther Newman, Program Director Kati Gimes and my colleagues in the SLM of 2012 who gave us so much in this single year and will stand in memory as the reason we continue to work together.
A spring ice storm rained down glistening diamonds as a former
LEADERSHIP MONTGOMERY 2012 ANNUAL REPORT | 5