Since 2006, the Takoma Foundation has recognized community leaders through its annual Azalea Awards. The “people’s choice” nominations, for individuals and organizations across ten categories, are collected early each year with voting results announced around mid-May.
For 2020, the Takoma Foundation has created ten new categories that best represent Takoma Park and the surrounding area. In no particular order, the new categories are:
- Poopy Peeper: someone who makes everyone on their listserv aware of an illegal dog poop incident
- Traffic Calmer: someone who really hates vehicles on their street between the hours of 7-9:30am and 4-6:30pm.
- Fairweather Fan: someone who is all of a sudden wearing Washington Nationals and/or Baltimore Ravens attire around town.
- Hostage Negotiator: someone who manages to moderate the most peaceful listserv.
- Whistleblower: someone who maintains order by rightfully making anonymous complaints about neighbors.
- Navigator: someone who knows how to drive through the city maze of closed roads during construction
- Backseat Architect: someone who didn’t attend any of the earlier meetings yet has managed to come up with new designs for the Takoma Junction Development site.
- International Food Critic: someone who traveled to a foreign country once and is therefore the authority of determining the authenticity of a local ethnic restaurant.
- Captain Credential: someone containing the most acronyms following their email signature.
- Uber-Municipalist: A progressive resident against any change in Takoma Park and blames all things bad on new people coming here while an “All People Are Welcome Here” sign is posted in their front yard.
Voting begins mid-May, so please submit your nominations to the Takoma Foundation at:www.takomafoundation.org/events/azalea-awards
