The Urbana Volunteer Fire Department’s 49th Community Carnival is open nightly this week through Sunday, July 23.

The event is tailored towards fun for the whole family. Admission and parking are free, and the doors open every evening this week at 5:30, with rides opening at 6:00. There are a variety of carnival games throughout the midway. This year, there will be free nightly live music and fireworks at 10:00 PM Thursday night. A Blackstone 36″ Griddle is being raffled off, with the raffle drawing Sunday night. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, unlimited ride tickets are available for $20.

This year’s dining options include shrimp platters, fried chicken, pizza, pit beef sandwiches, country ham, and more. There is also a beer garden. Summer treats are also available, including ice cream, Sno Cones (Hawaiian shaved ice), and funnel cake. The Urbana VFD requests that pets and coolers stay off the carnival grounds.

We have complied a list of the tallest slides in and around MoCo for your thrill seekers.  They are listed below in no particular order.

• Cabin John Park, 1 slide temporarily out of order (7400 Tuckerman Lane Bethesda, MD 20817)
• Butler’s Orchard (22222 Davis Mill Road Germantown, MD 20876)

  

• Greenbriar Local Park (12525 Glen Road Travilah, MD 20854)

  

• Damascus Recreational Park (23723 Kings Valley Road Damascus, MD 20787) 

• RIO Washingtonian Center Playground (231 Rio Blvd, Gaithersburg, MD 20878)
• Kemp Mill Urban Park (1200 Arcola Avenue Wheaton, MD 20902)

  

• Wheaton Regional Park (2000 Shorefield Road Wheaton, Maryland 20902)

  

• Beyond MoCo: Lafayette-Pointer Park and Recreation Center (5900 33rd St., NW, Quesada St NW, Washington, DC 20015)

  

• Beyond MoCo: The Big Slide Mount Tabor Park At Rocky Ridge (13616 Motters Station Road Rocky Bridge, MD 21778)

  

• Beyond MoCo: Blandair Regional Park (5750 Oakland Mills Rd Columbia, MD 21045)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ4Nz9IhtSP/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

For those moms whose children are fascinated with all things dinosaurs, read on to find out where you can take your littles to learn more and explore their curiosities.  They are listed by distance from the approximate middle of Montgomery County.

The Path to the Past in the outdoor Nature Exploration Area located in the Locust Grove Nature Center (7777 Democracy Blvd. Bethesda, MD) lets you “Take a journey back through time, starting from present day to when dinosaurs roamed the Earth millions of years ago. As you walk, learn about the different periods of geologic time. When did the first plants and mammals appear? Have temperatures changed over time? How have our continents changed?  You’ll end your journey at a dig site, where you’ll discover a life size replica of a dinosaur fossil. Become a paleontologist; find your tools in the workbox at the dig site and see which dinosaur fossil you unearth.”  More information available on their site.

Dinosaur Park (13100 Mid-Atlantic Boulevard Laurel, MD 20708) is an outdoor park with a fenced fossil site and playground.  You can “Walk the same ground the dinosaurs did millions of years ago in Laurel, Maryland! Discover secrets of Prince George’s County’s prehistoric past at Dinosaur Park. The park is a unique site which preserves a rare deposit of fossils from the early Cretaceous period, about 115 million years ago.”  The park is open to the public on the first and third Saturdays of each month with varying hours and the playground is open daily.  More information available on their site.  

Beginning in October, Dinos Alive is a temporary dinosaur exhibit in an immersive Jurassic venue at the Rhode Island Center (524 Rhode Island Ave NE, 20002).  It features over 80 life-size animated replicas of species such as the T-Rex, Stegosaurus, Velociraptor, and Suchomimus.  The fully immersive VR experience is suitable for ages 4+.  Estimated duration is 60-75 minutes, all ages are welcome, and tickets start at $20.  More information available on their site.

The David H. Koch Hall of Fossils – Deep Time exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (1000 Madison Drive NW, Washington, DC 20560) located on the first floor is described as a “massive, 31,000-square-foot exhibition will inspire a new generation of dinosaur lovers and scientists.”  Admission is free and the museum is open every day 10 am-5:30 pm except December 25. More information available on their site.

The Dinosaur Mysteries exhibit at the Maryland Science Center (601 Light St Baltimore, MD 21230) is one where “you’re the paleontologist. Over a dozen full size dinosaurs roam this exhibit hall. Walk under, over, and through a landscape filled with dig pits, a field lab, excavation sites, and other areas of discovery.”  This exhibit is particularly great as it allows littles to see over a dozen dinosaurs on display, work in a field lap and dig pits, and walk in a trackway of dinosaur footsteps.  “Full size skeletons and casts of fossilized remains are on display and everything is hands-on. Touch a triceratops skull. Grab a brush and work side by side with other dinosaur hunters. Pick up a set of calipers and measure the length of dinosaur leg bones or sit in a nest of eggs. Stand in a footprint in the dinosaur trackway.  Listen for the roar of a lumbering giant.”  More information available on their site. 

The Dinosaurs exhibit at the Maryland Zoo (1 Safari Place Baltimore, MD 21217) is available until November 30, 2022 and was named a 2022 Best of Baltimore winner for Best Kids’ Exhibit.  “Travel through a prehistoric forest of roaring, rustling dinosaurs deep in the heart of the Zoo. You’ll take a winding path through our Maryland Wilderness to experience up-close encounters with life-size, animatronic dinosaurs like velociraptors, triceratops, tyrannosaurus rex, and more, created by Dino Don Inc. The fully robotic creatures move their heads, arms, tails, and even spit water! Along your journey, we’ll help you spot the connections between animals at the Zoo and these prehistoric beasts. Learn how these fascinating creatures moved, hunted, and reared their young in many of the same ways our animals do today.”  The exhibit is open from 10 am – 4 pm with last entry at 3:45 pm.  You can buy a ticket with or without zoo admission.  More information available on their site.  

Dinosaur Land (3848 Stonewall Jackson Highway White Post, VA 22663) is an outdoor walkable theme park  It is a roadside attraction park with over 50 life size dinosaurs, “inviting visitors to step into the world of the prehistoric past, turning back the pages of time to the Mesozoic era, when dinosaurs were the only creatures that roamed the earth.”  They also have a gift shop with a variety of dinosaur items.  Beginning September 8, Dinosaur Land will be closed every Thursday through December.  Tickets are $6 for ages 2-10, $8 for 11 and up.  Their hours vary by the season and can be found on their site.

Featured photo courtesy of Maryland Science Center

Per Montgomery County:

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, April 5, 2022

Council unanimously approved special appropriation to develop a public-private initiative between Casa Ruben, Inc., the Robert I. Schattner Foundation and Montgomery County  

ROCKVILLE, Md, April 5, 2022–Today the Council unanimously approved a $450,000 special appropriation to the County’s Fiscal Year 2022 Operating Budget for an initiative that will help provide healthcare to uninsured, underinsured and under-resourced children and youth across Montgomery County, as part of an exciting public-private partnership between Casa Ruben, Inc., the Robert I. Schattner Foundation and Montgomery County.

“There is nothing more important than the public health of our community,” said Council President Gabe Albornoz, chair of the Health and Human Services Committee. “We must meet communities where they are, in a culturally appropriate manner, to eliminate barriers to access quality care. This initiative will achieve both and reinforce our commitment to closing public health disparities in our community.”

“During the pandemic, we’ve learned that we can’t just sit back and wait for folks to come to us for services, we have to go to them,” said Councilmember Andrew Friedson. “We have to do it on their turf, in their terms, in their language, in a way that is culturally competent. By partnering with local nonprofits and leveraging private dollars, this exciting effort will help us do that.”

Through this $450,000 special appropriation, the County will fund the purchase of a vehicle that will serve as a pediatric mobile medical clinic and, in turn, the Robert I. Schattner Foundation will provide matching funds of up to $450,000 directly to Casa Ruben, Inc. to fund the clinic staff and operating expenses. As part of the effort, Casa Ruben Inc. and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will collaborate to identify children in need and provide necessary resources to improve their overall health and ability to enroll in school.

During the pandemic many children, especially newcomer children and those in under-resourced zip codes in our County, fell behind or were not able to receive the necessary vaccinations to enroll in school. The State of Maryland’s Immunet system reported that approximately 70 percent of uninsured, recently arrived youth aged zero to 21 years of age missed their recommended scheduled vaccines during the pandemic. The State of Maryland also reported a drop of 46 percent in vaccinations during the pandemic and encouraged leaders and pediatricians to re-engage families in care and use mobile units to bridge the gaps. Mobile medical care has been shown to be a cost effective and helpful way to reach underserved and disenfranchised communities that do not have easy access mainstream healthcare.

Casa Ruben, a local non-profit organization that provides comprehensive primary care, vaccinations, referrals to behavioral health care and other services to low-income communities, including many immigrant families and families of color, stepped up to fill this need and provided more than 7,000 immunizations to Montgomery County children during the pandemic.

More information on this special appropriation can be found in the Council staff report.

For more information on the County’s health initiatives please visit the DHHS website

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Dinosaurs are coming to Gaithersburg., when Jurassic Wonder visits the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. Jurassic Wonder is an animatronic (robot) dinosaur show where dinosaurs come alive right before your eyes, moving around and making real dinosaur sounds.

The event, which is a suitable for ages 1-12, is experienced from the safety of your car. Included in the car your is a free educational audio tour that you can stream from your phone or car radio.

The event is taking place on Saturday, March 12 – Sunday, March 13 and costs $12 per car. It is recommended to buy tickets early as supply is limited, per the company website.

Montgomery County Fairgrounds, 501 Perry Parkway, Gaithersburg MD, 20877