With spring around the corner, many local families may be looking forward to a new season of sports—with events like NBA’s March Madness to close out one season and usher in another.
With that in mind, the Washington Wizards teamed up with local libraries to give families something to look forward to amid all the hype—and an incentive to keep kids from falling into a winter slump.
DMV libraries including Montgomery County Public Libraries, D.C. Public Library, Prince George’s County Memorial Library System, Alexandria Library, Arlington Public Library and Fairfax County Public Library are running a special challenge through March 20.
The “Wizards Winter Reading Challenge” encourages literacy through a free program for ages 3 to 19 in which kids and teens can earn badges, join interactive events and build healthy reading habits.
“It is important to make reading enticing and attractive for children and to keep them reading through their teen years,” says Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, in a news release.
It may be hard for parents to rationalize the weekly library trip when kids just want to get home and out of the cold, but completing the challenge unlocks prizes at local libraries (while supplies last) and enters families into a raffle to win two tickets to one of the Wizards’ last home games April 12.
“A great way to promote life-long reading is to connect readers with books that capture their attention. I am pleased the Washington Wizards are working with our public libraries to make those connections,” Elrich adds.
To register for the challenge, visit dcfamily.com/winterreadingchallenge.
Harris family donation secures 36th park for Northern Virginia families
A local family with a history of philanthropic contributions to NOVA Parks, the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority, recently donated a historic property to be used as a new community park in Northern Virginia.
The Harris family signed over the deed to 85 acres in Leesburg in December, according to NOVA Parks. It will be the home of the new Cattail Regional Park—the 36th park in the regional NOVA Parks system.
Not only will the park be another green space for families and community members to enjoy, but as a site that had been in the Harris family for generations, it’s steeped in historic and community ties.
First, it has ties to NOVA Parks itself via Henry Harris, who grew up on the property and is also the nephew of A.V. Symington, who donated Temple Hall Farm to the park system 30 years ago.
But the land also has broader historic ties. One of its buildings had served as a bed and breakfast in 1776, and its location—at the corner of Edwards Ferry Road and Battlefield Parkway—was at the center of events with local historical significance.
Fortifications were created along Edwards Ferry Road during the Civil War and years later, during the Civil Rights Movement, the Cattail farm was used by the Harris family as a place for Black children to swim after the public pool closed in Leesburg.
Today, the property includes mature forests, open fields and an upland bog, and once transformed into a park, plans include an entrance, parking and trail network with informative signs, NOVA Parks notes in a news release.
This donation falls in line with a strategic plan NOVA Parks has in place to expand its footprint. In 2022, the parks system added 128 acres along the Potomac River in norther Loudoun County and a 44-acre botanical preserve in Alexandria.
Its latest project is a partnership with Loudoun Water to build Reservoir Park at Beaverdam, which is opening with new facilities in early 2024.
