Text Box: Stan Fowler, a Park Ranger at Glen Echo Park for the past 30 years, who took it upon himself to solve many of the park’s problems with a crew of volunteers and to ensure the ongoing popularity of dances in the Spanish Ballroom, was unexpectedly transferred by the National Park Service to the Mount Vernon Trail in Virginia His reassignment provoked a storm of public protest, with hundreds of letters, emails and phone calls to NPS and members of Congress, begging that the decision be reversed. It was to no avail, and Fowler will only be seen at the park in the future as a volunteer. “Ballroom Loses Its Partner,” a front page article in the Metro section of The Washington Post announced. Fowler, 60, had been expecting to work at the park until his retirement, but his appeal of the transfer was denied, according to the article. Park officials stressed that the transfer was not punitive but was occasioned by a need to reduce the number of rangers at the park and they expected Fowler to be more valuable on the high-volume Mount Vernon Trail than at the ballroom. At last month’s town council meeting Councilmember Nancy Long, said that although the town is not normally in the practice of commenting on park personnel issues, she wished to express her sadness at Fowler’s reassignment. She cited his long-running passion for preserving the dance floor in the Spanish Ballroom and the redirecting of the Text Box: Minnehaha Creek as just two of his contributions to the park and to the Town of Glen Echo. Beginning in the 1970s, he organized volunteers to clean the ballroom floor and replace broken floorboards. In 1996 he devised a method to stabilize the floor, all of which saved the park thousands of dollars. In the 1990s he again mobilized volunteers for seven years of labor renovating the bumper car pavilion, which was likely to be demolished at a cost of more than half a million dollars, This project was enabled by $100,000 in donations. In 2005 he spared the Federal Highway Administration from spending $600,000 to prevent erosion at Minnehaha Creek by getting his volunteers to reposition the giant boulders using pulleys and ropes. At the last town council meeting, resident Raya Bodnarchuk said she thought it sad Fowler was being taken from the park he loved so much and motivated so many people to volunteer. Dottie Marshall, Superintendent of the George Washington Memorial Parkway, who was present at the meeting, said Fowler was absolutely able to continue to enjoy the events at Glen Echo Park and would likely be brought in for special events when more rangers are needed for security. She said they are also keen to have more people trained on the special care needed for the Ballroom dance floor. She added that they are “not out of the water” yet concerning the re diverting of the Minnehaha Creek, as the Army Corps of Engineers has not done a final inspection of the project. Text Box: POPULAR RANGER TRANSFERRED FROM GLEN ECHO PARK By Carlotta Anderson and Kathleen Kotcher Text Box: CHURCH STARTS ONGOING FOOD DRIVE Glen Echo Baptist Church is starting an ongoing Food Drive on Sunday, Feb.1. Donations of canned goods can be placed in the covered container next to the door on the parking lot level on Wednesdays from 7:00 – 8:00 p.m. and Sundays from 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. In case of precipitation or freezing weather, the container will be on the other side of the unlocked door immediately inside the church. Donations received during the month of February will go to Bethesda Help, and will be delivered there at the end of the month. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact Anne Curtis at 301-277-1672, or Susan Draize at 301-229-2220.