The City of Gaithersburg invites you to participate in activities that celebrate & improve the environment during Gaithersburg Green Month in April, and beyond. “In addition to being fun & educational, it is also a great way for students to earn service learning credits while making our community a better place to live.”

This year’s Green Month includes a variety of activities to help protect & preserve our environment. Below is access to a list of 50 ways to be a “Better Environmental Steward”: 50 Ways to be a Better Environmental Steward


The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck, a traveling food truck selling Hello Kitty-themed treats, will make a stop at Pike & Rose in North Bethesda on Saturday, April 8th from 10am-7pm. The truck will be located near The Gap on Grand Park Avenue. Treats like cookies, madeleines, macarons, clothing, bags, all decorated with Hello Kitty and other Sanrio characters, will be available while supplies last. The truck will make nearby stops in Tyson’s Corner from 10am-7pm on Saturday, March 25th and at The Mall in Columbia on Saturday, April 1 from 10am-7pm.

The Hello Kitty Cafe Truck has been making annual trips to MoCo with its last one being almost a year ago at Bethesda Row. There are two Hello Kitty Cafe Trucks in the US, one that travels up and down the East coast, and one that travels the West coast. Additionally, there are two Hello Kitty Cafes in the US, one in Las Vegas and one in California. You can learn more about the traveling trucks here.


About Arbor Day: Arbor Day is also a time to recognize that a city can be a hard place for trees to live, and that they need our tender love and care! It is a time to redouble our commitment to providing our trees what they need to thrive in our urban environment. One of the most important acts you can take to support our urban forest is to plant a tree where there wasn’t one. Residents and property owners across the City are planting trees this season in solidarity with this mission. For the trees you already have, remember that a broad area of woody or leafy mulched soil for the roots to grow in is ideal. And don’t forget to water your new trees. Typically, fifteen gallons once a week is sufficient for a new young tree, though watering twice a week can be a good idea during times of drought.

Maryland Arbor Day: This year, Maryland Arbor Day is April 5, while nationally recognized Arbor Day is April 28. Tree planting is best done earlier in the spring, but any time is a good time to celebrate trees! See the City’s Urban Forestry page to learn more about tree care and City tree programs.


Per Montgomery County: Olney Writer’s Group authors and members Kaitlyn Jain and Amy Chan Zhou will present a free program open to all residents on “Writing and Publishing a Memoir” at 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 26, at the Olney branch of Montgomery County Public Libraries (MCPL). Each recently published their memoirs and will have advice and tips for anyone who has been considering writing a memoir of their own. The Olney Library is located at 3500 Olney-Laytonsville Rd. in Olney. Advance registration is not required to attend, but seating is limited.

Ms. Jain and Ms. Zhou will describe the genesis of their writing projects, how they stayed motivated, their participation in and support from the Writer’s Group and the steps taken to successfully publish their works. A question-and-answer session will be part of the workshop. Light refreshments will follow. Ms. Jain is the author of Passports and Pacifiers: Traveling the World, One Tantrum at a Time(2021), which was published by Boston BELS Publishing. Ms. Zhou wrote Flowing with the Pearl River (2022), which was published by Santa Monica Press. Both memoirs can be found on Olney Library’s local author shelf and in MCPL’s catalog.


The Gaithersburg Book Festival has selected the finalists for its 5th annual poetry contest for high school students. More than 150 entries poured in from around the region from students who wrote poems on themes of diversity or inclusion.

The finalists, listed in alphabetical order with the school they attend, city in which they reside and grade, are:


MCPS will host the 2nd Annual Youth Climate Summit from 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 22. The event will take place at Tilden Middle School, which achieved a LEED Silver Certification in 2021 from the U.S. Green Building Council.

This student-led event is designed to educate MCPS high school students about climate change and equip them with the tools to create climate action projects to bring back to their communities. During the summit, students will talk with environmental mentors, collaborate with peer leaders and grow as environmental activists.


 Montgomery Parks, part of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission, is postponing the celebration of the newly renovated Hillwood Manor Neighborhood Park playground, due to inclement weather expected Saturday, March 25.  Instead, the event will be held next week, on the pre-scheduled rain date, Saturday, April 1, 2023 from 2:00-3:30 p.m. at Hillwood Manor Neighborhood Park 1301 Elson Street, Takoma Park, MD 20912 (speaking program begins at 2:15 p.m.).

Montgomery Parks is inviting the public to join in a celebration of the newly renovated Hillwood Manor Neighborhood Park playground. Attendees will enjoy fun on the modernized playground, refreshments, and giveaways. The festivities will be held: 


Per the City of Rockville: International Night will return Friday, March 17, following a two-year pandemic hiatus, for a free evening of multicultural fun and entertainment at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre.

From 6 p.m., International Night will showcase dance performances and traditional clothing displays, with an opportunity for attendees to sample unique and traditional foods from around the world, engage with and learn the customs of people from different countries, and discover our community’s different cultures.


National Harbor has become a prime location for its cherry tree celebration each year. This year’s festivities take place from March 20 to April 16 with National Harbor also serving as an official participant of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. In addition to National Harbor’s waterfront views, this year’s celebration will be filled with entertainment, food and drink specials, classes and more. The annual Sakura Sunday festival, an official participating event of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, will be held on Sunday, April 2 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will feature free cultural activities including Japanese inspired art, music, dance, culinary delights, and a Japanese market.

Per the press release: On April 8, in the Capital Canopy at National Harbor, Katsucon Entertainment, Inc., a Japanese entertainment and educational organization will provide an authentic Japanese tabletop experience. Games include Riichi Mahjong; Karuta card game flash cards to help teach Japanese to children ages five and older; Hanabi, a collaborative game where players have to give each other hints on the cards in order to make a firework display together (ages 10-15.) Games will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. on April 8. Register Here. Also on April 8, National Harbor, the Embassy of Japan will host a film day Lu Over the Wall and MIRAI.The films will be shown on National Harbor’s waterfront screen (150 National Plaza) starting at 2 p.m.


Per the Takoma Park Newsletter: The origin of paper winds through history and across centuries from papyrus in ancient Egypt to pulp-based paper from the Han dynasty in China to the invention of photographic paper in the early 19th century. Artists have transformed this common material into new worlds of invention and creativity. Three artists will share their paper-based work in the TRANSFORMATIONS exhibition at the Takoma Park Community Center (7500 Maple Ave) with an opening reception at 7:30 pm on March 23. The featured artists include Beth Caruso, Landry Dunand, and Randall Williams.

Beth Caruso’s work often depicts aspects of the self and the body in relation to nature. In her Inner Life series, she photographs subjects and scenes and then uses digital tools to transform them into mirrored, kaleidoscopic imagery. “This series stems from a vivid interplay of intellect and emotion, combined with the workings of my conscious and subconscious,” she said. “In this light, the work can be viewed as a dialogue between the inner life of the artist and her surroundings, reflecting a desire to reorder the elements of the external world.”


MCPS Superintendent Dr. Monifa McKnight will share her vision for MCPS and discuss the recent spate of anti-Semitic incidents in Montgomery County schools at a town hall sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC). The town hall will take place on Thursday, March 23 at 6:30pm at the Congregation Har Shalom in Potomac. RSVP here. 

Per JCRC: Dr. Monifa B. McKnight currently serves as the superintendent for MCPS. Prior to this role, she served as MCPS’ deputy superintendent. She also served as the Chief School Management and Instructional Leadership Officer for Howard County Public Schools.


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