Our Groundbreaking Ceremony took place on Friday,
October 22nd, 1999.

A Takoma Village Cohousing member describes the happy event:

"My short take on Groundbreaking is that it was a glorious event. Forty-two chairs filled with warm bodies, standing room only for another twenty. Two TV stations, a couple of print reporters and documentary crew for Don. Blue striped tent, Aspen and Butternut tee shirts worn by TVCers, a small backhoe, balloons at every corner, a stylish blue portable toilet, the lot filled to the edges with cars. A half dozen speakers excited about the kind of economic development that TVC represents, quipping that the several trains that passed by during the speeches are a positive measure of the health and prosperity of the city and prodding each other to do more to develop opportunities in the city. Business suits from HUD, Industrial Bank, PATH and DC government. A beautiful visionary speech from Anna Amato. Golden shovels turning the soft earth. Jovial--yea even elated--atmosphere on a breezy blue day. A good day for laying the foundation for this castle we are building in the air.
- Respectfully submitted by Scribe in Training"

"I want to start with a quick follow-up to the previous speaker's remarks. Of the 37 units sold, 18 will house people from the state of Maryland, 4 from the state of Virginia, one from South Carolina, and one moving here from the sunny state of Florida. Most people who know me will now expect a series of jokes and cute stories, but as I am nervous and have never given a speech before I am afraid to tell jokes because people might not laugh. But one cute story. In case you didn't know, the reason our tee shirt colors are forest green and butternut beige is because Takoma Village is located between Aspen (which is dark green) and Butternut Streets. Now for the serious speech.

Until this day, the Community of Takoma Village was made up of the intentions, dreams, plans and designs that flowed from the hearts and minds of 40 people (give or take a few) who have a somewhat rosy view of what a community could be, and architects and a developer who thought this was the right time and place to build a neighborhood, rather than just another set of buildings. It was made up of relationships, mostly among people who didn't know each other at first, and who have since come to trust and care about each other.

From this day on, Takoma Village Cohousing will be a place of dirt and brick and mortar and wood and cementitious hardy plank siding and geothermal pumps and pipes, located on a very specific piece of land bounded by Blair Road, Butternut, Aspen and 4th Streets in the City of Washington, D.C.

When it is finished, the end product will be greater than the sum of its physical structures and its human relationships. It will be a caring neighborhood and community. A neighborhood where:

• Grace might take her neighbor Mary Jane for a doctor's appointment.
• Dennis can come home after a long day to a home-cooked meal that he didn't have to cook.
• Don can garden and it will be enjoyed by 50 or more people, rather than just himself.
• I will keep an eye on Christy's boys so she can run out and pick up some medicine for one of them.
• Someone would lend Eric their car when his won't start.
• There's always someone around who's up for throwing a Frisbee around or going to a movie.

This neighborhood is also part of the larger community of Takoma, D.C. which we are very excited, proud and privileged to be a part of.

On behalf of the rest of the group, I would like to thank Don Tucker, our developer who has taken on some of the most difficult tasks in actually building a Cohousing community, and Ann Zabaldo, for her enthusiasm and determination, and the bankers and community leaders who have helped this project become a reality.

On behalf of myself, I would like to express my joy at being part of this group and gratitude to each member of this community for the contribution they have made so far to this community, and therefore, also to me.

I'd like to end with a quote by Henry David Thoreau:

'If you advance confidently in the direction of your dreams; and
live the life which you have imagined, you will meet with a
success unmatched in common hours...If you have built castles in the air,
your work need not be lost; for that is where they should be.
Now put the foundations under them.'

Thank you.