Colmar Manor to break ground on community center

Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) has also designated the Port Towns as "Capital for a Day" on that day and is scheduled to visit all of the four Port Towns: Bladensburg, Colmar Manor, Cottage City and Edmonston.

Gear up for

Port Towns Day

The 12th annual Port Towns Day will be held noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 20 at the Bladensburg Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Road. This year's theme is "Destination Health" and healthy lifestyles will be promoted. Craft and food vendors are encouraged to participate. Go to www.porttowns.org/ptday.

Mount Rainier plans centennial celebration

In April 2010, the city of Mount Rainier will be 100 years old, and officials have begun planning the city's celebration. Community members who live and work in the city are invited to be part of the planning process. To become part of the planning committee, e-mail Janis Lomax at jlomax@mountrainiermd.org.

Park police seek public comment in Riverdale

The Prince George's County division of the Park Police is up for reaccreditation by the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies, Inc., and as part of the assessment process, will hold a public information session 7 p.m. Monday.

CALEA is an organization made up of law enforcement officials from an array of departments and areas and bases their accreditation on standards for equipment, practices, policies, procedures and administration.

The Prince George's County division of the Park Police has earned CALEA accreditation twice already. The accreditation period lasts three years.

"This is our third assessment for accreditation," Lt. Stanley R. Johnson of the Park Police said. "We like to give the public a chance to come and speak if they have any concern."

The public information session will be held in the auditorium of The Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission Park and Recreation Administration Building located at 6600 Kenilworth Avenue, in Riverdale.

Public comments at the information session will be limited to 10 minutes per person. Comments are supposed to be directly related to CALEA's standards.

Residents who are unable to attend, but would like to offer a comment are encouraged to call and leave a message at 240-876-4253 on the date of the information session, between 12 noon and 4 pm.

Telephone comments are also limited to 10 minutes per commenter.

Johnson said the CALEA accreditation is important to ensuring the Park Police provide the best service possible because CALEA standards are so high.

The major advent is you have people from the outside that review your policies and procedures," he said. "I think that's a bonus because they have no bias in seeing how we perform our duties. We really have to maintain these standards throughout this three-year period."

Mini Olympics

held in Cheverly

Caught up in the spirit of the Summer Olympic Games in Beijing , students enrolled in the Mothers Day Out program through the Cheverly United Methodist Church recently participated in a Summer Olympic Camp where all students earned gold medals for participating in soccer, balloon volleyball, gymnastics, nerf baseball and Frisbee discus. Students also learned how to make egg rolls, use chopsticks and create paper fans.

Additionally, Hyattsville's DeMatha Catholic High School graduate and crew team member Sean Harder brought in a crew oar for students to hold. Open houses for Mothers Day Out enrollment will be held 10 a.m. to noon Sept. 9 and Sept. 11 at the church at 2801 Cheverly Ave. Call Dorothy Tamai at 301-773-1995 or Elizabeth Harder at 301-341-1988.

Theater company gaining recognition in its first year

Active Cultures, a theater company based out of University Park, won the STAGE International Script Competition for the best play about science and technology.

"Photograph 51," a play written and developed at Active Cultures, won the award Aug. 5 from a pool of over 150 other submissions.

Active Cultures is currently in its first year of operation and "Photograph 51" was the third production ever put on by the group.

"‘Photograph 51' gave the local scientific community theater something to be proud of," said Mary Resing, the play's artistic director. "We are thrilled and quite a bit surprised that Photograph 51 has received this level of international recognition."

Go to www.activecultures.org.

BSU, community working

to curb tobacco use

The Maryland Center at Bowie State University has funds available for Prince George's County community-based organizations that are interested in helping to reduce tobacco use and eliminate cancers related to tobacco use.

The Maryland Center anticipates that eight to 12 awards, averaging between $3,000 and $10,000, will be made for fiscal year 2009. Awards will be distributed by Sept. 1. The center has funded more than $2 million in community grants throughout Prince George's County since 2000 and this is the ninth year it has collaborated with community organizations in this project.

"We are again privileged to collaborate with some of the organizations and individuals in Prince George's County that are most committed to improving community vitality," said Terry Lawlah, executive director of The Maryland Center.

Flowers students fill their summer with science

Nadeige Chop of Bowie and Myryah Nicholas of Mitchellville, both seniors at Springdale's Charles H. Flowers High School, earned college credits through the National Science Foundation Summer Academy June 14 through July 19 at Bennett College in Greenbsoro, N.C.

Both Chop and Nicholas received computational science training, attended seminars, visited museums and earned seven college credits in biology and pre-calculus.

National Night Out scheduled in

Landover Hills

The Town of Landover Hills will hold its National Night Out celebration 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Town Hall at 6904 Taylor Street.

Most municipalities held their National Night Out celebrations the same night as communities nationwide on Aug. 5.