photos be Rachael Golden/The Gazette Tom Patmesil (left) and Ken Stricklett pull a plastic table from Maple Lake. (Below) Eric Selby and daughters Anne and Lainey rake the banks of Maple Lake during Washington Grove's annual lake cleanup.

It's been 28 years, but Craig English says they'll have to haul him away before he quits as volunteer head of Washington Grove's annual Labor Day festivities.

Since taking over, English has worked with a group of other volunteers to turn the once-waning event into a jam-packed weekend of athletic competitions for all, topped off with a pot-luck banquet Monday evening.

The weekend now includes activities such as sack races, volleyball, croquet and tennis tournaments, a bicycle race and a relay triathlon, to name a few.

"It was one of those things that had kind of fallen into disrepair ... it needed an infusion of energy, and that's what I did," says English, who has lived in Washington Grove for 30 years.

But what keeps the self-proclaimed "fitness freak" from passing the torch to other residents?

"It's just fun, it's so much fun, there's no downside to it," he says. "... The event gives everybody an opportunity to meet new people, it's a great community-building activity."

Preserving and bolstering Washington Grove's characteristic sense of community is partly what drives so many of the town's 500 residents to participate in one way or another, from cleaning Maple Lake every year, to organizing social activities, to spending long hours advocating to protect the town's historic character.

The town's lively tradition of volunteerism and activism gives Washington Grove a certain degree of autonomy.

On the cultural side, residents organize music concerts, film series, holiday festivals, a children's library, and a summer camp.

Volunteers have also made the small town a visible force in issues such as the Shady Grove Master Plan and replacing the East Deer Park Drive bridge.

Part of Washington Grove's allure is its close-knit community, says Nancy Helm, a 21-year resident who has volunteered. "People are attracted to the town, so they want to contribute to the effort. I think virtually everybody at one point or the other is participating."

Six-year Mayor John Compton agrees: "The tradition under which Washington Grove developed is that it's a do-it-yourself kind of place."

Such active volunteerism is more common in small, incorporated municipalities, said Tom Reynolds, manager of research and information at the Maryland Municipal League. Washington Grove is "particularly known for its [level of] participation," he added.

The town's do-it-yourself attitude and its sense of community are what drove Shelley Winkler to become active in the town's fight against development on a portion of the Casey Farm, a meadow neighboring the town.

When Winkler moved to the Grove seven-and-a-half years ago, she knew the meadow was zoned for single family homes, but never thought much of it.

In 2001, when development was about to start, "I realized the impact it would have on the town, I realized the historic character was really worth preserving," she says.

Though she knew little about the county planning process, Winkler soon became "chief nudge" in the town's effort to designate the meadow to Legacy Open Space, a job that sometimes took up 40 hours a week.

The hours are worth it, she says, because "My home is not just my house, it's this 200-acre area... it's a family."

Some say that Washington Grove's form of government helps encourage residents to be active volunteers.

Small town government officials are closer and more accessible to residents, which makes it easier for them to keep people updated and involved, said Reynolds, of the Municipal League.

Ann Briggs, a 41-year resident, says the power of the town council, planning commission and board of zoning appeals to set or enforce zoning laws and other restrictions "empowers the people."

Washington Grove's size and "self-contained" layout also makes people feel part of the community and allows them to share their interests and talents with the town, says Briggs, who has served as mayor, planning commission chair and council member, and now organizes the Mousetrap Concert series.

When Briggs and two other residents started the chamber music concert series seven years ago, they decided to keep ticket prices low because "our objective was not to make money, it was to make music available," she says.

Similarly, councilwoman and 19-year resident Betsy Klinger has been running a children's library out of her garage for almost nine years because she "wanted the town to feel like they owned it," she says.

In 1996, a group of children from the town started the Acorn Library in Klinger's garage by pooling their books together and collecting book donations. The kids built shelves, decorated the room, and held "Reading Time" on the weekends.

Though the children's interest in the library eventually fizzled, people have continued donating books, Klinger says, so she continues to accept and file them. The library now has more than 3,000 books.

The town's culture of volunteerism plays an integral role in preserving and fostering its small community-feel, many residents agree, because working and participating together gives neighbors a chance to get to know each other.

"That's partly how we know each other, because we work so well together and it makes our life here," says Winkler.

"This is a small town, there's still that old community spirit here, and it has to be cultivated very aggressively," English says, "otherwise we slip into modern suburbia."