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On May 25th our country will celebrate Memorial Day. It is bound to be a special celebration during this 250th year of Independence. 

This will be the 158th anniversary of the first official national commemoration of Memorial Day, known then as Decoration Day. It was held in Arlington National Cemetery on May 30, 1868, to honor the more than 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers who died in that single bloodiest military conflict in American history.  

After World War I, […]

In 1996, historian Tony Cohen set out on an 8-week journey to explore the Underground Railroad, the secret network to freedom of enslaved self-liberators. Cohen traced the steps of freedom-seekers along wilderness trails and waterways, traveling by foot, boat, and rail across 5 states and 1,200 miles, from Maryland to Canada. He stopped at towns along the way, visiting historic safehouses, African American communities, and Quaker sanctuaries, to chronicle stories of freedom through artifacts, documents, […]

The 2026 Preakness Stakes with post time at 7:01 PM EDT on May 16, 2026, is the 151st running of this prestigious horse race for 3-year-old fillies. The 2026 race will take place at Laurel Park in Maryland due to renovations at the traditional venue, Pimlico Race Course, in Baltimore.  

The Preakness Stakes is a part of the Triple Crown, and takes place annually in mid-May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. The race began […]

As the warm weather approaches and the flowers and crops bloom, the Montgomery County Office of Consumer Protection (OCP) is warning homeowners about the spring crop of driveway-paving scammers who typically look to exploit them. These scammers are a common problem not only in Montgomery County, but also across Maryland. Homeowners should be aware and take appropriate measures to avoid falling victim to it.

OCP has been taking measures against individuals who performed unlicensed home improvement work, particularly those […]

Celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 10th. This celebration can be traced back as far as ancient Greek and Roman festivals honoring mother goddesses and an early Christian Lenten festival, “Mothering Sunday.”

As celebrated in the United States, Mother’s Day predates the Civil War when Ann Reeves Jarvis promoted “Mothers’ Day Work Clubs” to teach local women how to properly care for their children. In 1868 Jarvis organized “Mothers’ Friendship Day,” when mothers […]

Drinking Water Week takes place during the first week of May — from May 3 to 9 this year. The theme is “Protect the Source.” In our daily lives, we drink water without thinking about where it is coming from and whether it is safe for us. Polluted drinking water can be responsible for many illnesses, which is why awareness is so important. 

 People have been storing and distributing drinking water since the beginning of time. During the hunter-gatherer period of […]

Asian American, Native Hawai’ian, Pacific Islander Heritage Month was created by a joint congressional resolution in 1992. May coincides with two key milestones in AANHPI history in the US, the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants on May 7, 1843, and the contribution of Chinese immigrants to the transcontinental railroad, completed on May 10, 1869. In 2021, a presidential proclamation expanded this to include Native Hawaiians.  

The AANHPI umbrella term includes cultures from the entire Asian continent—including East, Southeast and South Asia—and the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia. As of 2021, there […]

You have no doubt heard of Cinco de Mayo, but do you know what it is? Well, prepare the guacamole, pour the tequila, and grab a Corona (the beer not the virus!) and let’s learn about it. 

Cinco de Mayo celebrates an important date in history – May 5, 1862. The Battle of Puebla pitted elite French forces against a vastly undermanned Mexican army. If you’re wondering why the results of this battle matter, let’s take a closer look at the world stage in 1860. At the time, Mexico was struggling financially. They […]

On May 8, 1945, after WWII had ravaged Europe for 5 years, the German army surrendered and the world celebrated Victory in Europe Day. Just a week before Hitler committed suicide leaving Germany under the leadership of Karl Dönitz, who began negotiations for surrender with the Western Allies hoping to avoid the Soviets. 

The allies were unwilling to provoke Joseph Stalin and insisted that Germany surrender to all the Allies simultaneously. The main concern of many […]

If you neglected to start your plantings for Spring, never fear. On Saturday, May 9th from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm, Poolesville Presbyterian Church will host the Annual Gardenfest. 

The sale will feature Annual Flowers, Veggies, and Native Plants; free tours of the Community Garden (11:30 –1:30); a Garden/Outdoor Stuff Tent Sale; and a Plant Swap Table where you can donate surplus supplies and take what you need. 

Vegetable plants will be $3 or 8/$20. You won’t have to […]