Neighbors Celebrate Glen Echo Park With Holiday Fundraising Contest

GLEN ECHO, MD — Montgomery County residents are helping Glen Echo Park with its year-end fundraising campaign by holding a competition to see which neighborhood can raise the most money for the park.

So far, nearly a dozen neighborhoods are involved in the competition to raise funds for the park. The neighborhoods include the Town of Glen Echo, Bannockburn, Cabin John, Fairway Hills, Glen Echo Heights, Woodacres, Kenwood, Glen Mar Park, Fort Sumner/Sumner, Bannockburn Estates and Tulip Hill.

Barbara Martin, who serves on the board of Glen Echo Park, said a group of volunteers banded together this fall to offer their help to the park's fundraising efforts by launching the neighborhood competition. Members of the group agreed to serve as neighborhood captains for the fundraising competition.

The year-end campaign is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the park and is especially important as the park seeks to regain its footing after dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic for almost three years, Martin said in an email to Patch.

If additional neighborhoods in Montgomery County want to get involved in the Glen Echo Park fundraising campaign, they can contact the park at info@glenechopark.org. To donate money to their neighborhood team, residents can select their neighborhood on the main page of the fundraising site, where the different teams are listed.

The goal of the fundraising campaign is to raise $105,000 for Glen Echo Park. All donors who give a gift of $100 or more will receive a Glen Echo Park mug. Donors who give a gift of $250 or more will receive a Glen Echo Park picnic blanket and will be recognized in Glen Echo Park’s Classes and Events digital catalog, annual report and website.

The online fundraising campaign site went live Tuesday and had already raised more than $17,000 as of Wednesday afternoon.

The winning neighborhood will receive a day at the park, with carousel rides on the historic Dentzel Carousel, a dedicated area to celebrate the victory, and snacks for the neighborhood.

Glen Echo Park, at 7300 MacArthur Blvd., is owned by the National Park Service, but is funded through grants and donations. The park is managed by the Glen Echo Park Partnership for Arts and Culture in partnership with the National Park Service and Montgomery County.

The park averages more than 350,000 visitors a year. The Dentzel Carousel is the only park ride that remains from when the park operated as the privately owned Glen Echo Amusement Park, which closed in 1968. The National Park Service assumed ownership of the park in 1971.

Glen Echo Park will be kicking off the 2022 holiday season on Saturday, Dec. 3 at its Light Up The Holidays celebration, with a pottery sale, glass-blown ornament making, hot chocolate, Puppet Co. Playhouse performances and the Jazzy Wings & Things food truck.