Celebrating Our 50th Year, 2017

New Mark Commons was founded in 1967

Our 50th Anniversary Celebrations

In 2017, our community celebrated its 50th anniversary with a number of activities.

50th anniversary memoir cover​We made an all-out effort to collect remembrances, artifacts and photos. Some of our historic photos of a half century of life in NMC were compiled into posters that covered the walls of the Clubhouse for exhibitions that culminated with a celebration on October 21, 2017. The children of the late Edmund Bennett, the developer and builder who conceived of our historic mid-century modern community, came from across the country to attend. Bennett himself had attended the 25th anniversary celebration at the clubhouse in 1992.

Memoir Booklet: The 50th Anniversary Committee asked residents to share their memories and stories, and compiled them in a booklet distributed to each household: “NEW MARK COMMONS: A Community Memoir, 1967-2017.” The booklet was published with the help of a $1,000 ROC-N Matching Grant from the City of Rockville. New Mark’s matching contribution was  the hours of volunteer work by more than a dozen residents who were  involved in planning, interviewing, writing and compiling photographs for the commemorative pamphlet.

History Video: A special video/slide show of remembrances was shown at the Clubhouse. New Mark resident David Sloane and his sister-in-law Judi Francis created the beautiful video below. It is followed by postings of the news coverage of our 50th anniversary activities throughout the year. We hope you enjoy it, along with the Community Memoir.

 

Street Names Have Global Influence

Street Names Have Global Influence

The question of how New Mark Commons got its name has never been fully resolved, apart from references to the idea that it represented a “new mark” on the landscape. But the addition of Esplanade to our main street certainly provided an international ambience to the neighborhood (and has flummoxed countless residents to spell it and explain it to outsiders.)

Nonetheless, we do know this: Ed Bennett, developer of New Mark Commons, was keenly interested in the large-scale planned communities being developed in post-war Europe. He visited many of them and showed his appreciation in naming most of the streets in New Mark.

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New Mark at 50 Years: NMC Scenes

New Mark at 50 Years: NMC Scenes

Sally Guardia, a “New Mark Original” who moved into 100 NME in 1971, has leveraged her appreciation of the lakeside setting of her home with her knowledge of nature, artistic eye, and skilled photography.  We will be publishing photos from Sally and other New Mark...

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Stories from New Mark’s 50 Years: Wiffle Ball and the Swim Team

Stories from New Mark’s 50 Years: Wiffle Ball and the Swim Team

From New Mark Commons’ earliest beginnings in 1967, the spirit of competition, athleticism, and play kept residents busy and engaged: softball, tennis, scrabble, bridge, poker, swim team. And, oh—Wiffle Ball???

The community’s very first newspaper—that called itself the New Mark Commonist—and successive newsletters have reported much of it. And current residents remember the rest as they talk about 50 years of life in New Mark Commons.

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Note about photo sources