November 18, 2025 • 27 mins
Listen as CUPF Communications and Outreach Specialist, Derek Ross and CUPF Program Specialist - Childcare & Special Projects, Emily Brewster-McCarthy discuss their goals for the new podcast season. With great excitement, we will once again be joined by Acting Director Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas. In this episode, we will do a recap of our first season and the importance of revamping and enhancing our communication in the community. Want to learn more about available venues, we got you covered.
Connect with Off the CUPF
- Follow CUPF on Instagram and X
- Email us at CUPFPodcast@montgomerycountymd.gov
- For the latest updates go to Community Use Bridge
- For more info about CUPF go to our website
Thanks for listening!!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ramona Bell-Pearson (00:12):
We are CUPF, and thank you for joining
our community podcast.
Let's get started.
Derek Ross (00:17):
Here we go.
Here we go.
We are back.
We are back back.
I'm talking about season finaleback.
I'm talking what we learn andwhat's next.
A little bit of a goodbye fornow, too, because we're going to
think about taking a hiatus.
You see how we're just jumpinginto it as if we've just been
best friends.
We haven't been talking for awhile.
What's going on, everybody?
(00:37):
My name is Derek Ross.
I'm communication specialistfor CUPF, Community Use of
Public Facilities.
Yeah, we're here.
We're here.
I want to jump straight intothe highs and lows.
I think my high, and I want tomention it because I'm so happy,
but I think we can officiallyannounce that Emily is a part of
the podcast.
Now, I'm talking like thatbecause I want to say yay, but
(01:00):
then I want to announce it.
But then Emily's sitting righthere.
So, Emily, are you officiallypart of this podcast?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (01:05):
I absolutely am.
I am now gonna officially beyour co-host.
Uh, we're so excited.
I'm so excited.
Yeah.
Uh again, Emily BrewsterMcCarthy.
I am a program specialist withchildcare and special projects
with communities of publicfacilities.
Super, super excited to berecording and be a part of this
(01:26):
podcast.
Derek Ross (01:27):
And I'm not moving like there's a music playing,
but yes, yes, yes, yes.
Emily.
Emily, thank you, Emily.
Thank you, thank you, thankyou.
I know there are so many peoplethat are part of our office and
our organization, our groups.
There's so many people, so manychannels, and the opportunity
to work with so many greatpeople in the county has been
such a great experience.
And Emily, thank you forjoining the podcast.
(01:49):
I didn't want to say it.
I wanted one you to say itbecause I didn't want to be
like, Emily's part of thepodcast, and you W like, no, I'm
not.
Uh-oh.
Well, maybe we didn't have agood meeting.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (01:57):
Can I back out now?
Okay, that's what I've thought.
I'm committed.
I've committed.
Derek Ross (02:03):
You in it now.
You in it now.
Your name is on it now.
So we got to do it.
But yes, yes, yes, yes.
That is a high.
Another high for me, too, isthe fact that um I am really
excited about these virtualtours.
The virtual tours is a veryimportant topic, a conversation
that has come up numerous times.
Individuals, community groups,people want to see our
facilities.
They not just want to see it,they want to feel like they're
(02:25):
in it.
And I agree, and we all agreethat being able to get a chance
to just do these virtual tourswill give individuals an eye.
You can see inside and you cankind of get an idea of what the
room could look like, how itcould be prepared for your
event.
So be on the lookout for highschool virtual tours.
I think we also did someWheaton, a little bit of our
Wheaton Urban District as well,too.
(02:46):
So we're going to try to takethe virtual tours.
We're going to try to expand onthem.
We're going to get them on awebsite.
It's taking time.
That's my high.
My low is it is taking timebecause there is a process with
it.
And that process is also beingfacilitated by Tebs.
Tebs, the technology team withthe county, has been very great
in helping us get not only thispodcast, it's phenomenal,
communities, public facilitiespodcast going, but it's also
(03:08):
been helping us with our virtualtours as well.
And the number one things, or acouple things that we're
working on, is the ADAaccommodations and languages.
That is a very important optionto have with these virtual
tours.
It's a platform.
We're working on it.
We want to be able to make surewe have that opportunity for
communities to just go to it andmaybe click it and put it in a
way that they can kind ofunderstand it and make it
(03:30):
better.
So let me stop talking becauseI am excited about this stuff.
The virtual tours, we got aco-host coming in.
I'm also making sure thatVanessa understands that she has
her seat here, it is justthere.
Vanessa can always joinanytime.
I'm making looking at Vanessa,making sure she's like Vanessa
can join anytime she wants.
Matter of fact, Vanessa, you'rehere now.
You we'll just leave and youcan just take over the podcast
as well to Vanessa.
(03:50):
But highs and lows, I'll stoptalking.
Emily, you got any highs andlows?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:55):
Yeah, uh, my hi is definitely the fact
that you just announced thatI'm the co-host of the podcast.
Uh, super excited about that.
You know, we have a lot ofplans for the next year or so.
We're looking at things to addto our calendar.
I'm just super excited to touchbase with the community along
with other stakeholders.
And I'm just super, superexcited about all the
(04:17):
opportunities that are going tocome up uh within this next
year.
Um, as far as lows, I don'treally know that I have one per
se.
I will say, oh, actually, I dohave a low.
Probably the fact that likewhen I get out of here, I have
to put gas in my car.
And that's one of like the mosttaxing things that I can do.
I don't know why I hate puttinggas in my car.
(04:38):
But it's just, it's just one ofthose things where I'm like,
oh, I have to do this again.
Start my life.
My shout out to my parentsbecause they definitely would be
like, that's why you need toget an electric car.
And I'm like, you know what?
You're right.
But yeah, that's it.
Uh lava to Vanessa, right?
What are your highs and lows?
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (04:59):
Well, uh, I I think my high is uh that
it's great, a great day today.
The the weather's nice, and I Ithink that you know, every day
that you wake up, it's it's agood day.
Absolutely.
That's deep.
Oh, I think really deep.
I'm sorry.
Derek Ross (05:14):
We're supposed to be talking about community stuff.
I was about to get out of penand paper.
Go ahead.
We love it, we love it.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (05:23):
And then the low is uh that school's
starting, so there's uh moretraffic.
Yes, and uh there's school bustickets.
You know, if you guys are notaware, the tickets for not
stopping when the school buscomes, it's uh $250.
So that is the low.
But uh yeah, just be aware,guys.
Stop for the the school buses.
Absolutely.
And if there's no like median,like a cement median, you have
(05:46):
you have to stop.
Even if it's on the oppositeside on a really major highway
or road.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (05:51):
So PSA, make sure you uh pay attention
while you're driving.
Make sure that if there's abus, you stop and uh, you know,
make sure that the kids get offsafely and get on safely.
Derek Ross (06:00):
So look at that.
And once again, this is ourbasically our season finale.
You know, it's not like it'sover over, like TV show over
over.
This is just our chance toregroup, revamp, you know,
enhance our communications, justenhance everything, just making
sure we're we're aligned withnot only the county departments
and the county government,Montgomery County government,
but we're also aligned with alsointernally as well, too.
(06:22):
And Vanessa has been doing agreat job of explaining, you
know, expectations.
We've also been able to getsome information from previous
leadership as well, too.
Shout out to Ron Ramona.
So we are rocking.
We are rocking on some great,great things.
Uh, so let's get into it.
I do want to ask the questionto all our listeners.
You know, we do all of this didyou know stuff, but are you
familiar or do you know aboutCUPF Available Venues?
(06:44):
It's on our website.
I know you got to do someclicking and stuff like that.
But Emily, let's get into it.
We got a long list, but youknow, we'll try to speed through
it as much as possible, but wecan jump around, jump around.
I I I could jump in, and I knowVanessa's gonna definitely
chime in on a few of them aswell, too.
But when we're talking aboutavailable venues, we have this
list here, Emily.
Do you do you want to startthis list off?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (07:05):
Yeah, sure.
Uh one of our first, uh, thebiggest or bigger venues we have
are the regional servicescenters.
Uh, we have one in Bethesdaslash Chubby Chase.
We have one in Mid County, um,which is our Wheaton location,
and we have one in Up County.
Um, and then I'll go through alittle bit more.
We have um the availability andthe option to reserve athletic
(07:28):
fields.
And that's covering Vanessa.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
That's in school andout-of-school use as well.
Yes.
Um, and then we have governmentbuildings, which include things
like our council officebuilding, Isaiah Ike Leggett
Executive Office Building.
Uh, and then we have ClarksburgCottage.
Um, do you guys want to moveinto uh library meeting rooms?
(07:50):
We want to touch base a littlebit about that because I know
there's some new changes there.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (07:56):
Yes, I do want to say that we just
implemented free use, freefacility use for libraries.
So people can go online andreserve up to two um library
rooms a month for free.
And uh that doesn't includelike if there's staff cost or
cleanup costs, things like that.
But for the facility use, it'sfree, which is something that's
(08:17):
that's new.
And I think it would bebeneficial to a lot of smaller
businesses that want to domeeting spaces there.
Um I do also want to mention wehave the police district two
and three meeting rooms as well,if people want to use that
space.
And I know uh Emily had talkedabout the council office
building.
And the council officebuilding, people can rent, I'm
(08:38):
not sure if people knew, but youcan rent the cafeteria, a
lecture hall.
There's four conference rooms,two hearing rooms.
And for the EOB, you can alsorent the cafeteria, the
auditorium, and the lobby.
So just letting people knowthat there's different options.
When you go onto our website,you'll be able to look it up by
the facility type, and thenit'll let you know what rooms
are available at those sites.
(08:59):
So, and I do feel like thesesites are also maybe
underutilized, and maybe peoplejust don't realize that they're
out there and available for usefor renting.
Derek Ross (09:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Look at that, look at that.
Yeah, I mean, we're talkingabout a lot of the facilities,
and you're wondering like, whatwhy are y'all going through
these facilities like that?
It's a long list, everybody.
It's a long list of facilitiesthat you can reserve through
Cov.
A lot of the community use thatcomes in, especially Montgomery
County, because that's where weare located, Montgomery County,
Maryland.
Uh, there are a lot offacilities that you can reserve
(09:28):
through theCommunity Use of Public Facilities
office.
Once again, reach out to us,check in with us if there's an
activity, an event, let us know.
But Emily, let's jump back ontothis list.
I know we're going down umpublic school facilities.
That that that's that's a bigone.
Uh I'm not gonna lie, that's ahuge one.
We have indoor and outdoor.
There's a big difference,indoor and outdoor in regards to
(09:50):
how you do that.
Indoor can be what cafeterias,uh, classrooms, uh, well,
auditoriums as well to gyms.
Gyms alma.
Gymnasiums.
We love the gymnasiums.
We love some gymnasiums.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (10:02):
And I do want to mention that if for any
particular reason any of theorganizations are having issues
trying to come up with thepayment for the full year or for
half of the year, they canalways feel free to apply for
the fee facility assistanceprogram.
If they go to our website underprograms, there's a FFAP, um,
it's it's a whole page dedicatedto FFAP.
(10:23):
And then you can look up to seewhat the program is is and uh
you can also apply theredirectly.
And uh you can apply.
And within a week or so, you'llbe receiving an email
confirmation that we receivedyour application.
And after a thorough check, ifif applicable, you can receive
an award for the year.
And every year it starts over.
(10:44):
So after July 1st, everyone canfeel free to apply and see if
your organization qualifies, andthat definitely will assist in
paying some of the facility feesfor the Montgomery County
public schools locations.
Derek Ross (10:56):
Nice, nice.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (10:57):
Yeah.
Like Derek mentioned, a lot ofour indoor public school
facilities.
I mean, like you said, it'sgyms, APRs, classrooms that can
be used from a wide variety ofthings.
It could be different meetings,like community meetings.
It could be you have abasketball team that likes to do
tournaments.
(11:18):
But just a quick reminder thatall of our facilities are public
facilities.
And so uh they should be opento the public.
You reserve the space.
If somebody walks in, they canjoin you.
So we like to keep things openand available to the community.
Derek Ross (11:34):
And Vanessa, I know that we're going to talk about
it as we go down this list, butit's very important because not
only is our headquarters at theWheaton headquarters, that we
also talk about the WheatonUrban District.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (11:44):
Yeah, we've been doing a lot of a lot
of events at the Wheaton UrbanDistrict at the Marion Friar
Town Plaza and uh the urbanpark.
And it's been really nice tosee the public come out and be
able to be immersed in in theseevents.
I was at the Taste of Wheatonand I did see it was a very nice
event.
We also had a table.
CUPF also had a table.
Yes, we did.
(12:04):
We had a lot of giveaways.
Our giveaways, like by the timeI got there, the giveaways were
gone.
And I was like, wow, that'snice.
Okay.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (12:11):
That was Derek.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (12:12):
Yeah, you guys did a great job.
Great job.
Um, we also have, I also wantto mention that the Silver
Springs Civic Building has aVeterans Plaza as well that's
heavily used.
We have a lot of festivalsthroughout the year.
They do a lot of uh bookings.
So, you know, if people we seethis is the only facility that
can book um private events.
So we have like, you know,weddings, bar mitzvahs, um,
(12:34):
little, well, not little, butlarge conferences.
And, you know, people come inand they reserve space up to a
year in advance at the SilverSpring Civic Building.
And kudos to Silver Springbecause they do a lot of work.
They bring in also a lot of umrevenue.
And I think that it's veryadmirable that they're like on
top of all the events.
And, you know, we actually hadRamona Ramona's retirement party
(12:57):
there.
And it was such a greatcollaboration.
I got to see the Silver Springteam get in and uh do like, like
assist us with the eventprocess, the before and the
after.
And they did such a great job.
And I really appreciate it.
So I know that if they gave usthis type of love, I know they
do it to all for all theircustomers.
But um, another thing is likethe Silver Spring Civic Building
(13:18):
has a uh, like if someone needsassistance in pain, they have a
program called the CommunityAccess Program that people can
also apply online.
And depending on the type ofevent, there's a questionnaire,
and then you could just you cananswer the questions.
And based on the type of event,you'll get an award.
But you know, there's acommittee that that looks it
(13:38):
over and you might receive anaward for that um that goes
toward the facility fees.
So we definitely have thatprogram to assist anyone that
wants to have an event at theSilver Spring Civic Building.
And it's a lovely venue, it'svery nice.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (13:50):
Yeah, it's amazing.
It's beautiful.
Yeah.
Um, I will say to kind of uhcircle back, I understand that
like the Silver Spring uh CivicBuilding that's packed.
It's jam-packed, it is booked.
I mean, there's events, youknow, during the weekends, like
Vanessa said, weddings, youknow, bar mitzvahs, bot
mitzvahs, like literally there'scultural events that happen
(14:12):
right outside and the plaza.
Uh they have like ice skating,like uh during like the colder
months.
Uh they're they're an awesome,awesome facility.
Um, but to kind of like goback, what if you don't find
space there?
Right?
What if you don't find space?
We have so many differentfacilities, right?
They might not be as big asSilver Spring, right?
(14:33):
But we have a lot ofavailability.
Like I have two that I canthink of right off the top of my
head that are in Rockville.
We have the Great Courthouse,uh, the Great Courthouse and the
Red Brick Courthouse, whichhave been recently used by I
think uh students that have beenfilming.
So you can even like use themas sets for something that
you're filming.
Um so you know, we we try tothink outside the box here.
(14:56):
Um, sure, events are all funand dandy, but we can use them
for all sorts of things, right?
Trunk or treat, filming astudent film, um, doing like um,
I think we were talking before,like doing like student
government like mock trials ormock interviews.
Oh, yeah, yeah, things likethat, which would be super cool.
Um, I think, you know, maybegiving the community some ideas
as to what they can use it foruh might open up the door a
(15:19):
little bit to just differentthings coming in.
Derek Ross (15:21):
So agreed.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I I think that'll be cool.
I I know now that we've had achance to go around and start
visiting more facilities, takingpictures, doing the virtual
tours, and throwing that back inthe virtual tours back again.
Be on the lookout for thevirtual tours, just throw that
back out there.
It looked good.
It is going to be great.
Once again, shout out to uh theTebs team, Mighty Tebs team,
(15:41):
for giving us this opportunityto work with them on that level.
But getting back into it, but Ido agree that there are a lot
of facilities, especially whenwe you we don't want to say
underutilized or say that we'retaking it away from any
facility, but there are justsome facilities that are hot.
There they are the hot spots togo, depending on if you took
Montgomery County, put it on themap.
If you looked at it from thetop down, you probably look at
certain facilities in certainareas that get high usage, which
(16:05):
is all great, fine and dandy.
But there are someunderutilized facilities that
may be just around the cornerfrom where you live or in your
location as well.
But we also mentioned, I thinkthe great courthouse is
definitely one of my favoriteones.
I've we've had a chance to gothere.
I think it was it was nice.
It was really nice.
It looked like it looked likeyou could film a movie in there.
100%.
That's just me.
Um, but we also too haveVanessa mentioned it, the police
(16:27):
stations, the police stationmeeting rooms, just District 2
and District 3 in MontgomeryCounty.
Really nice conference rooms.
Really, really nice.
I think a lot of maybe HOAs orsome groups may use those rooms
for stuff like that as well,too.
And then you got to look in thearea as well, too.
Like the District 2 isBethesda, District 3 is with
Silver Spring.
So a lot of times, if you'relooking for community spaces and
stuff like that, just I wouldjoking to say, take it to the
(16:49):
map.
Look at your map and see what'sin your area and just look up.
We can look up elementaryschools, middle schools, high
schools.
You can just go through andfigure out what matches and
stuff like that.
But Vanessa, we were talkingabout underutilized.
And now I can ask you as ouracting director, is there a
utilized facility that you wantto bring up that maybe somebody
just doesn't know or some partof a facility that somebody
maybe just don't know about?
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (17:10):
Uh, I do want to highlight maybe
Clarksburg Cottage becausethat's a nice little structure
building that it people use itall the time, but I just feel
like it could have more use.
It's um in Clarksburg, rightoff of exit 18.
Um, the only thing is that theparking might be a bit
challenging, but I think it'sit's a very nice space.
If people go online, you'd beable to to check it out.
(17:32):
And I I do want to promote itso people can can take a look.
And I I think it's a very nicevenue.
Derek Ross (17:39):
Agreed, agreed.
I've been there a few times.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (17:40):
It's nice, it's nice.
Yeah.
Derek Ross (17:41):
Emily, I know we talk about underutilized.
Is there a and you mentionedparking lots too as well, and
that's a great one.
Is there another one that youcan think of that you may have?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (17:50):
I think you hit the nail on the head
with the gray courthouse.
I really like the graycourthouse.
And like Vanessa said, yeah,some of our spots, the gray
courthouse being in the center,in the heart of Rockville.
Um, and we have plenty ofparking lots and stuff
surrounding, um, and it's closeto the metro.
Uh, we also have to look atthat.
Like, what's the accessibilitylike for our community?
(18:12):
Uh, a lot of the spaces arelike Derek said, within walking
distance of where you live.
So it's really just checkingout what you have around you.
And, you know, we're we'reobviously we're gonna talk a
little bit more about this, butwe're gonna revamp.
And we we have a lot ofoutreach ideas and a lot of
things that are gonna come toplay within the next, you know,
(18:32):
six months, eight months.
And I think you're gonna beseeing and hearing a lot more of
us in a lot more of our spaces.
Um, and we're gonna be, youknow, trying to host events at
our own spaces.
I think that's gonna be one ofthe biggest sellers here is that
you're gonna see us in our ownspaces.
Yeah.
Um, and then hopefully thatmeans that we'll get to pour
back into those spaces too.
(18:54):
Uh, you know, we'll get somerevamps, you know.
Wow, we're thinking aboutpossibly getting some rain
barrels in, things like thatwhere we definitely want to give
back to our community.
So yeah, I mean, I thinkthere's a lot of things.
We've said a lot of placesalready.
Yeah, I don't know if anybodyhas any other shout-outs or any
locations that they want toshout out.
Derek Ross (19:13):
I mean, those locations, I mean, like say we
rattle them down, service,regional services centers,
athletic fields, governmentbuildings, McCormick County
Public Libraries, ClarksboroughCottage, Public Schools, Silver
Spring City Building, Wheaton,Urban District.
Uh, we have underutilizedfacilities.
We have a lot of facilities.
I don't want to speed throughthem because I don't want people
to think that we're just goingto ignore ones and just bring
them up.
We have a lot.
Visit our website, Community ofPublic Facilities.
(19:36):
Just go to it, click around,see what see what's there.
If there's something that youmay want to talk about, of
course, give us a call, emailus, and check us out just to see
what's going on.
But as we as we go through it,I I once again, this is our
season finale.
We're just going to regroup.
We're going to just go huddleup.
We're going to talk about it.
Probably going to watch alittle bit of some football.
No, I'm just joking with you.
No, we're going to go get intoit and try to figure it out.
(19:59):
But when I talk about whatwe've learned or what's next,
probably say when we started offthis podcast with just me and
Ramona, it was just aconversation and idea about what
ways that we can do to getourselves out there in the
community.
And the podcast, once it wasmentioned again, once our PIO
office, which is publicinformation office, and we had a
chance to visibly and hear andsee a lot of the podcasts and a
(20:21):
lot of individuals doing it fordifferent departments.
I thought CUPF was perfectlyaligned to try to jump into that
as well.
And Ramona was always greatwith her voice and bringing and
all of the stuff with being adirector, which is key to having
that person on the podcast.
And same with Vanessa as well,too.
Vanessa has a lot of years ofexperience in the county, same
with Emily as well, too.
And get information fromindividuals that know so much
about the county is great.
(20:42):
And so having y'all on thepodcast has been amazing and
will continue to be amazing aswell, too.
But the impact of our podcastright now is looking as if this
is a good go for us.
This is good.
This is good, good feelings,stuff like that.
So I hope that people or ourcommunity understands that what
we're trying to do here is we'retrying to be great.
Not just great.
I'm talking about Tony theTiger.
(21:03):
Great.
You know, we're going to try todo whatever we can to do the
best that we can.
And the podcast seems to beworking a little bit better than
I thought personally, becauseyou know, we just don't know.
But the fact is that we haveVanessa here to kind of give us
that stamp of approval andmaking sure it's working, and
Emily here as well, too.
We have Tebs on our back endhelping us as well too getting
through.
This feels like this isworking.
So that's why it's time torevamp season finale.
(21:25):
That's why it's time to reallysit down, figure it out, put
this together, put this bow onthis package and make it work.
But Emily, how how do you feelabout the podcast and next steps
and goodbyes for now and all ofthat stuff?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:37):
Well, I mean, you just introduced me as
the co host.
So saying goodbye seems alittle uh, I guess, early.
But um, no, I'm super exciteduh uh for the direction that
we're heading in.
Uh, I think we have a lot ofawesome opportunities uh ahead.
We have a lot of creative justjuices flowing right now.
(21:58):
And that's it's a good, it's agood place to be.
Uh, we have a lot of ideas, alot of just just everything, uh,
just putting it all on thetable and just creating and
paving away from there, I thinkis is gonna be an awesome and
awesome just road to be on.
So if you guys can be on thatroad with us, I think that would
be great.
There's gonna be a lot of umnew opportunities, new
(22:22):
information, uh, new way toprovide that information.
Again, you'll see us out on youknow in the community, you'll
hear us on the podcast.
Um, yeah, I'm just super,super, super excited to be here.
And you guys will hear from meagain uh when we uh return.
Oh, yeah.
Derek Ross (22:40):
And and I I I I do enjoy leading and doing stuff
like that and getting theconversation started.
But best believe, Emily, we'regoing to create this package
where everybody gets the chancesto get their voice in and stuff
like that.
Because once again, I I can'ttake away from these years of
experience.
Vanessa, uh, I I can put thisback on you because I know that
you know the impact of havingyou on this podcast has been
(23:01):
epic.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (23:01):
Oh, wow.
Gang.
Absolutely.
Derek Ross (23:03):
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, Vanessa.
Vanessa's not crying yet, soI'm not doing enough to get her
to She's a pro, though.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (23:09):
She says she's not a pro, but she's
a pro.
She needs to be on the pro.
Derek Ross (23:12):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Vanessa talking, I don't knowif I want to do the podcast.
Well, you're here now, you'renot going anywhere.
Actually, you're locked in.
Yeah.
You're locked in.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (23:19):
So we close the door.
We're locking the door.
You can't get leaves.
Oh, wow.
Derek Ross (23:24):
But Vanessa, what do you have anything to say about
as we do a season finale to thispodcast, and your input has
been great since you've been onthe show.
But anything about the podcastor just Well, thank you.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (23:33):
I actually I love the, as Emily mentioned,
I love the direction of thepodcast.
I didn't know how it was gonnaflow, but I've seen throughout
the different episodes, it'sbeen really great.
And I like giving out thisinformation that people might
not know, you know.
Um, so I know we gave a lot oflike a long list of the
different facilities we have.
I just want people to have inmind that anything that you book
(23:56):
for our facilities or space,spaces have to be open to the
public.
So just make sure everybodyknows that.
Um, yeah, for the privateevents, if you do want to have a
private event, the onlylocation is the Silver Spring
Civic building.
But that building has a lot ofother spaces um as well, smaller
spaces too for other othertypes of events.
But I I love that people arelearning more about us and maybe
(24:17):
there were questions thatpeople had and where we've been
answering them as we go.
So I think this is this podcastis great, and I think it was a
great idea.
Thank you, Derek, for forfinding it.
And uh thank you, Tebs also forhelping us make it happen.
And I think it's it's it's beengreat.
And I really like that I'm I'vebeen a part of it.
(24:38):
And yeah, thank you toeverybody.
Derek Ross (24:41):
Yeah, thank you.
Look at that.
We we just giving thank yousaround, high five and everybody,
because I I have down highfives, high fives going around
for everybody as well, too.
But uh, y'all said thank you tome, but Ramona gave the hit the
thumbs up.
Our former director, RamonaBell Pearson, gave the thumbs up
and said, Let's do it.
And I was like, Well, podcastis what we're gonna do.
We shall do it then.
Let's let's let's get into it.
Once the director says it'srock, I don't want to sit on too
(25:02):
long.
I just want to take that energyand go with it.
But once again, the podcastwhere we're gonna take a little
hiatus.
Not not nothing too long.
I'm not talking about you'regonna see us in 2027.
No, no, no, no.
We're just gonna take a coupleweeks to really, really Oh,
you'll see me way before that.
So we got we got a lot.
We got a lot.
So we're gonna come back.
Don't be surprised if you heara new podcast intro.
(25:23):
We shout outs to Ramona.
We don't want to take away fromit, but we're probably gonna
use your cuts of your voice todo other stuff as well.
We have a lot of newopportunities with new guests,
partnerships, uh, new energyfrom our new co-hosts as well,
too.
And we're hoping that Vanessacomes around too.
And then once again, too, we'llwe'll we'll have new, new, new
leadership as well, too, aswell.
So there's gonna be new voices,some new, some new thoughts,
(25:43):
opinions, and everything elselike that.
So be on the lookout, be on thelookout.
But I I think we're at a goodpoint where maybe we should end
this podcast.
Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe weshould.
I don't want to, I don't wantto say season finale, we're
ending it.
And good, nobody wants to say agoodbye.
But Emily, how would you liketo end this podcast?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (25:58):
You know, I'm gonna keep it super,
super, super simple.
Derek Ross (26:01):
Okay.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (26:02):
It's a rep.
I like all right.
Derek Ross (26:05):
I like that.
All right, I like that.
I like that.
Vanessa, you are you want tosay anything?
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (26:10):
I just want to drop the mic, but I
don't want to like call static.
No, no, no.
On a hypothetical mic.
Yeah.
Derek Ross (26:19):
Okay, okay.
Well, we we're wrapping it up,dropping the mic and everything
like that.
But but that is it for rightnow.
We look forward to uh comingback again stronger, faster, all
just in touch with each other.
We're we're gonna we're gonnaget this together, everybody,
and best believe that this newwhat you see in the future is
going to be something, somethingto just witness, just
witnessing greatness as it comestogether.
(26:40):
But once again, thank you verymuch and stay touched,
everybody.
Stay in touch.
But thank you.
Announcer (26:45):
This podcast is brought to you by County Cable
Montgomery, your source for newsand information from the
Montgomery County government.
Connect with us via cable,Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube
by searching for County CableMoco.
We are CUPF, and thank you for joining
our community podcast.
Let's get started.
Derek Ross (00:17):
Here we go.
Here we go.
We are back.
We are back back.
I'm talking about season finaleback.
I'm talking what we learn andwhat's next.
A little bit of a goodbye fornow, too, because we're going to
think about taking a hiatus.
You see how we're just jumpinginto it as if we've just been
best friends.
We haven't been talking for awhile.
What's going on, everybody?
(00:37):
My name is Derek Ross.
I'm communication specialistfor CUPF, Community Use of
Public Facilities.
Yeah, we're here.
We're here.
I want to jump straight intothe highs and lows.
I think my high, and I want tomention it because I'm so happy,
but I think we can officiallyannounce that Emily is a part of
the podcast.
Now, I'm talking like thatbecause I want to say yay, but
(01:00):
then I want to announce it.
But then Emily's sitting righthere.
So, Emily, are you officiallypart of this podcast?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (01:05):
I absolutely am.
I am now gonna officially beyour co-host.
Uh, we're so excited.
I'm so excited.
Yeah.
Uh again, Emily BrewsterMcCarthy.
I am a program specialist withchildcare and special projects
with communities of publicfacilities.
Super, super excited to berecording and be a part of this
(01:26):
podcast.
Derek Ross (01:27):
And I'm not moving like there's a music playing,
but yes, yes, yes, yes.
Emily.
Emily, thank you, Emily.
Thank you, thank you, thankyou.
I know there are so many peoplethat are part of our office and
our organization, our groups.
There's so many people, so manychannels, and the opportunity
to work with so many greatpeople in the county has been
such a great experience.
And Emily, thank you forjoining the podcast.
(01:49):
I didn't want to say it.
I wanted one you to say itbecause I didn't want to be
like, Emily's part of thepodcast, and you W like, no, I'm
not.
Uh-oh.
Well, maybe we didn't have agood meeting.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (01:57):
Can I back out now?
Okay, that's what I've thought.
I'm committed.
I've committed.
Derek Ross (02:03):
You in it now.
You in it now.
Your name is on it now.
So we got to do it.
But yes, yes, yes, yes.
That is a high.
Another high for me, too, isthe fact that um I am really
excited about these virtualtours.
The virtual tours is a veryimportant topic, a conversation
that has come up numerous times.
Individuals, community groups,people want to see our
facilities.
They not just want to see it,they want to feel like they're
(02:25):
in it.
And I agree, and we all agreethat being able to get a chance
to just do these virtual tourswill give individuals an eye.
You can see inside and you cankind of get an idea of what the
room could look like, how itcould be prepared for your
event.
So be on the lookout for highschool virtual tours.
I think we also did someWheaton, a little bit of our
Wheaton Urban District as well,too.
(02:46):
So we're going to try to takethe virtual tours.
We're going to try to expand onthem.
We're going to get them on awebsite.
It's taking time.
That's my high.
My low is it is taking timebecause there is a process with
it.
And that process is also beingfacilitated by Tebs.
Tebs, the technology team withthe county, has been very great
in helping us get not only thispodcast, it's phenomenal,
communities, public facilitiespodcast going, but it's also
(03:08):
been helping us with our virtualtours as well.
And the number one things, or acouple things that we're
working on, is the ADAaccommodations and languages.
That is a very important optionto have with these virtual
tours.
It's a platform.
We're working on it.
We want to be able to make surewe have that opportunity for
communities to just go to it andmaybe click it and put it in a
way that they can kind ofunderstand it and make it
(03:30):
better.
So let me stop talking becauseI am excited about this stuff.
The virtual tours, we got aco-host coming in.
I'm also making sure thatVanessa understands that she has
her seat here, it is justthere.
Vanessa can always joinanytime.
I'm making looking at Vanessa,making sure she's like Vanessa
can join anytime she wants.
Matter of fact, Vanessa, you'rehere now.
You we'll just leave and youcan just take over the podcast
as well to Vanessa.
(03:50):
But highs and lows, I'll stoptalking.
Emily, you got any highs andlows?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (03:55):
Yeah, uh, my hi is definitely the fact
that you just announced thatI'm the co-host of the podcast.
Uh, super excited about that.
You know, we have a lot ofplans for the next year or so.
We're looking at things to addto our calendar.
I'm just super excited to touchbase with the community along
with other stakeholders.
And I'm just super, superexcited about all the
(04:17):
opportunities that are going tocome up uh within this next
year.
Um, as far as lows, I don'treally know that I have one per
se.
I will say, oh, actually, I dohave a low.
Probably the fact that likewhen I get out of here, I have
to put gas in my car.
And that's one of like the mosttaxing things that I can do.
I don't know why I hate puttinggas in my car.
(04:38):
But it's just, it's just one ofthose things where I'm like,
oh, I have to do this again.
Start my life.
My shout out to my parentsbecause they definitely would be
like, that's why you need toget an electric car.
And I'm like, you know what?
You're right.
But yeah, that's it.
Uh lava to Vanessa, right?
What are your highs and lows?
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (04:59):
Well, uh, I I think my high is uh that
it's great, a great day today.
The the weather's nice, and I Ithink that you know, every day
that you wake up, it's it's agood day.
Absolutely.
That's deep.
Oh, I think really deep.
I'm sorry.
Derek Ross (05:14):
We're supposed to be talking about community stuff.
I was about to get out of penand paper.
Go ahead.
We love it, we love it.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (05:23):
And then the low is uh that school's
starting, so there's uh moretraffic.
Yes, and uh there's school bustickets.
You know, if you guys are notaware, the tickets for not
stopping when the school buscomes, it's uh $250.
So that is the low.
But uh yeah, just be aware,guys.
Stop for the the school buses.
Absolutely.
And if there's no like median,like a cement median, you have
(05:46):
you have to stop.
Even if it's on the oppositeside on a really major highway
or road.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (05:51):
So PSA, make sure you uh pay attention
while you're driving.
Make sure that if there's abus, you stop and uh, you know,
make sure that the kids get offsafely and get on safely.
Derek Ross (06:00):
So look at that.
And once again, this is ourbasically our season finale.
You know, it's not like it'sover over, like TV show over
over.
This is just our chance toregroup, revamp, you know,
enhance our communications, justenhance everything, just making
sure we're we're aligned withnot only the county departments
and the county government,Montgomery County government,
but we're also aligned with alsointernally as well, too.
(06:22):
And Vanessa has been doing agreat job of explaining, you
know, expectations.
We've also been able to getsome information from previous
leadership as well, too.
Shout out to Ron Ramona.
So we are rocking.
We are rocking on some great,great things.
Uh, so let's get into it.
I do want to ask the questionto all our listeners.
You know, we do all of this didyou know stuff, but are you
familiar or do you know aboutCUPF Available Venues?
(06:44):
It's on our website.
I know you got to do someclicking and stuff like that.
But Emily, let's get into it.
We got a long list, but youknow, we'll try to speed through
it as much as possible, but wecan jump around, jump around.
I I I could jump in, and I knowVanessa's gonna definitely
chime in on a few of them aswell, too.
But when we're talking aboutavailable venues, we have this
list here, Emily.
Do you do you want to startthis list off?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (07:05):
Yeah, sure.
Uh one of our first, uh, thebiggest or bigger venues we have
are the regional servicescenters.
Uh, we have one in Bethesdaslash Chubby Chase.
We have one in Mid County, um,which is our Wheaton location,
and we have one in Up County.
Um, and then I'll go through alittle bit more.
We have um the availability andthe option to reserve athletic
(07:28):
fields.
And that's covering Vanessa.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
That's in school andout-of-school use as well.
Yes.
Um, and then we have governmentbuildings, which include things
like our council officebuilding, Isaiah Ike Leggett
Executive Office Building.
Uh, and then we have ClarksburgCottage.
Um, do you guys want to moveinto uh library meeting rooms?
(07:50):
We want to touch base a littlebit about that because I know
there's some new changes there.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (07:56):
Yes, I do want to say that we just
implemented free use, freefacility use for libraries.
So people can go online andreserve up to two um library
rooms a month for free.
And uh that doesn't includelike if there's staff cost or
cleanup costs, things like that.
But for the facility use, it'sfree, which is something that's
(08:17):
that's new.
And I think it would bebeneficial to a lot of smaller
businesses that want to domeeting spaces there.
Um I do also want to mention wehave the police district two
and three meeting rooms as well,if people want to use that
space.
And I know uh Emily had talkedabout the council office
building.
And the council officebuilding, people can rent, I'm
(08:38):
not sure if people knew, but youcan rent the cafeteria, a
lecture hall.
There's four conference rooms,two hearing rooms.
And for the EOB, you can alsorent the cafeteria, the
auditorium, and the lobby.
So just letting people knowthat there's different options.
When you go onto our website,you'll be able to look it up by
the facility type, and thenit'll let you know what rooms
are available at those sites.
(08:59):
So, and I do feel like thesesites are also maybe
underutilized, and maybe peoplejust don't realize that they're
out there and available for usefor renting.
Derek Ross (09:08):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Look at that, look at that.
Yeah, I mean, we're talkingabout a lot of the facilities,
and you're wondering like, whatwhy are y'all going through
these facilities like that?
It's a long list, everybody.
It's a long list of facilitiesthat you can reserve through
Cov.
A lot of the community use thatcomes in, especially Montgomery
County, because that's where weare located, Montgomery County,
Maryland.
Uh, there are a lot offacilities that you can reserve
(09:28):
through theCommunity Use of Public Facilities
office.
Once again, reach out to us,check in with us if there's an
activity, an event, let us know.
But Emily, let's jump back ontothis list.
I know we're going down umpublic school facilities.
That that that's that's a bigone.
Uh I'm not gonna lie, that's ahuge one.
We have indoor and outdoor.
There's a big difference,indoor and outdoor in regards to
(09:50):
how you do that.
Indoor can be what cafeterias,uh, classrooms, uh, well,
auditoriums as well to gyms.
Gyms alma.
Gymnasiums.
We love the gymnasiums.
We love some gymnasiums.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (10:02):
And I do want to mention that if for any
particular reason any of theorganizations are having issues
trying to come up with thepayment for the full year or for
half of the year, they canalways feel free to apply for
the fee facility assistanceprogram.
If they go to our website underprograms, there's a FFAP, um,
it's it's a whole page dedicatedto FFAP.
(10:23):
And then you can look up to seewhat the program is is and uh
you can also apply theredirectly.
And uh you can apply.
And within a week or so, you'llbe receiving an email
confirmation that we receivedyour application.
And after a thorough check, ifif applicable, you can receive
an award for the year.
And every year it starts over.
(10:44):
So after July 1st, everyone canfeel free to apply and see if
your organization qualifies, andthat definitely will assist in
paying some of the facility feesfor the Montgomery County
public schools locations.
Derek Ross (10:56):
Nice, nice.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (10:57):
Yeah.
Like Derek mentioned, a lot ofour indoor public school
facilities.
I mean, like you said, it'sgyms, APRs, classrooms that can
be used from a wide variety ofthings.
It could be different meetings,like community meetings.
It could be you have abasketball team that likes to do
tournaments.
(11:18):
But just a quick reminder thatall of our facilities are public
facilities.
And so uh they should be opento the public.
You reserve the space.
If somebody walks in, they canjoin you.
So we like to keep things openand available to the community.
Derek Ross (11:34):
And Vanessa, I know that we're going to talk about
it as we go down this list, butit's very important because not
only is our headquarters at theWheaton headquarters, that we
also talk about the WheatonUrban District.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (11:44):
Yeah, we've been doing a lot of a lot
of events at the Wheaton UrbanDistrict at the Marion Friar
Town Plaza and uh the urbanpark.
And it's been really nice tosee the public come out and be
able to be immersed in in theseevents.
I was at the Taste of Wheatonand I did see it was a very nice
event.
We also had a table.
CUPF also had a table.
Yes, we did.
(12:04):
We had a lot of giveaways.
Our giveaways, like by the timeI got there, the giveaways were
gone.
And I was like, wow, that'snice.
Okay.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (12:11):
That was Derek.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (12:12):
Yeah, you guys did a great job.
Great job.
Um, we also have, I also wantto mention that the Silver
Springs Civic Building has aVeterans Plaza as well that's
heavily used.
We have a lot of festivalsthroughout the year.
They do a lot of uh bookings.
So, you know, if people we seethis is the only facility that
can book um private events.
So we have like, you know,weddings, bar mitzvahs, um,
(12:34):
little, well, not little, butlarge conferences.
And, you know, people come inand they reserve space up to a
year in advance at the SilverSpring Civic Building.
And kudos to Silver Springbecause they do a lot of work.
They bring in also a lot of umrevenue.
And I think that it's veryadmirable that they're like on
top of all the events.
And, you know, we actually hadRamona Ramona's retirement party
(12:57):
there.
And it was such a greatcollaboration.
I got to see the Silver Springteam get in and uh do like, like
assist us with the eventprocess, the before and the
after.
And they did such a great job.
And I really appreciate it.
So I know that if they gave usthis type of love, I know they
do it to all for all theircustomers.
But um, another thing is likethe Silver Spring Civic Building
(13:18):
has a uh, like if someone needsassistance in pain, they have a
program called the CommunityAccess Program that people can
also apply online.
And depending on the type ofevent, there's a questionnaire,
and then you could just you cananswer the questions.
And based on the type of event,you'll get an award.
But you know, there's acommittee that that looks it
(13:38):
over and you might receive anaward for that um that goes
toward the facility fees.
So we definitely have thatprogram to assist anyone that
wants to have an event at theSilver Spring Civic Building.
And it's a lovely venue, it'svery nice.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (13:50):
Yeah, it's amazing.
It's beautiful.
Yeah.
Um, I will say to kind of uhcircle back, I understand that
like the Silver Spring uh CivicBuilding that's packed.
It's jam-packed, it is booked.
I mean, there's events, youknow, during the weekends, like
Vanessa said, weddings, youknow, bar mitzvahs, bot
mitzvahs, like literally there'scultural events that happen
(14:12):
right outside and the plaza.
Uh they have like ice skating,like uh during like the colder
months.
Uh they're they're an awesome,awesome facility.
Um, but to kind of like goback, what if you don't find
space there?
Right?
What if you don't find space?
We have so many differentfacilities, right?
They might not be as big asSilver Spring, right?
(14:33):
But we have a lot ofavailability.
Like I have two that I canthink of right off the top of my
head that are in Rockville.
We have the Great Courthouse,uh, the Great Courthouse and the
Red Brick Courthouse, whichhave been recently used by I
think uh students that have beenfilming.
So you can even like use themas sets for something that
you're filming.
Um so you know, we we try tothink outside the box here.
(14:56):
Um, sure, events are all funand dandy, but we can use them
for all sorts of things, right?
Trunk or treat, filming astudent film, um, doing like um,
I think we were talking before,like doing like student
government like mock trials ormock interviews.
Oh, yeah, yeah, things likethat, which would be super cool.
Um, I think, you know, maybegiving the community some ideas
as to what they can use it foruh might open up the door a
(15:19):
little bit to just differentthings coming in.
Derek Ross (15:21):
So agreed.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I I think that'll be cool.
I I know now that we've had achance to go around and start
visiting more facilities, takingpictures, doing the virtual
tours, and throwing that back inthe virtual tours back again.
Be on the lookout for thevirtual tours, just throw that
back out there.
It looked good.
It is going to be great.
Once again, shout out to uh theTebs team, Mighty Tebs team,
(15:41):
for giving us this opportunityto work with them on that level.
But getting back into it, but Ido agree that there are a lot
of facilities, especially whenwe you we don't want to say
underutilized or say that we'retaking it away from any
facility, but there are justsome facilities that are hot.
There they are the hot spots togo, depending on if you took
Montgomery County, put it on themap.
If you looked at it from thetop down, you probably look at
certain facilities in certainareas that get high usage, which
(16:05):
is all great, fine and dandy.
But there are someunderutilized facilities that
may be just around the cornerfrom where you live or in your
location as well.
But we also mentioned, I thinkthe great courthouse is
definitely one of my favoriteones.
I've we've had a chance to gothere.
I think it was it was nice.
It was really nice.
It looked like it looked likeyou could film a movie in there.
100%.
That's just me.
Um, but we also too haveVanessa mentioned it, the police
(16:27):
stations, the police stationmeeting rooms, just District 2
and District 3 in MontgomeryCounty.
Really nice conference rooms.
Really, really nice.
I think a lot of maybe HOAs orsome groups may use those rooms
for stuff like that as well,too.
And then you got to look in thearea as well, too.
Like the District 2 isBethesda, District 3 is with
Silver Spring.
So a lot of times, if you'relooking for community spaces and
stuff like that, just I wouldjoking to say, take it to the
(16:49):
map.
Look at your map and see what'sin your area and just look up.
We can look up elementaryschools, middle schools, high
schools.
You can just go through andfigure out what matches and
stuff like that.
But Vanessa, we were talkingabout underutilized.
And now I can ask you as ouracting director, is there a
utilized facility that you wantto bring up that maybe somebody
just doesn't know or some partof a facility that somebody
maybe just don't know about?
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (17:10):
Uh, I do want to highlight maybe
Clarksburg Cottage becausethat's a nice little structure
building that it people use itall the time, but I just feel
like it could have more use.
It's um in Clarksburg, rightoff of exit 18.
Um, the only thing is that theparking might be a bit
challenging, but I think it'sit's a very nice space.
If people go online, you'd beable to to check it out.
(17:32):
And I I do want to promote itso people can can take a look.
And I I think it's a very nicevenue.
Derek Ross (17:39):
Agreed, agreed.
I've been there a few times.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (17:40):
It's nice, it's nice.
Yeah.
Derek Ross (17:41):
Emily, I know we talk about underutilized.
Is there a and you mentionedparking lots too as well, and
that's a great one.
Is there another one that youcan think of that you may have?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (17:50):
I think you hit the nail on the head
with the gray courthouse.
I really like the graycourthouse.
And like Vanessa said, yeah,some of our spots, the gray
courthouse being in the center,in the heart of Rockville.
Um, and we have plenty ofparking lots and stuff
surrounding, um, and it's closeto the metro.
Uh, we also have to look atthat.
Like, what's the accessibilitylike for our community?
(18:12):
Uh, a lot of the spaces arelike Derek said, within walking
distance of where you live.
So it's really just checkingout what you have around you.
And, you know, we're we'reobviously we're gonna talk a
little bit more about this, butwe're gonna revamp.
And we we have a lot ofoutreach ideas and a lot of
things that are gonna come toplay within the next, you know,
(18:32):
six months, eight months.
And I think you're gonna beseeing and hearing a lot more of
us in a lot more of our spaces.
Um, and we're gonna be, youknow, trying to host events at
our own spaces.
I think that's gonna be one ofthe biggest sellers here is that
you're gonna see us in our ownspaces.
Yeah.
Um, and then hopefully thatmeans that we'll get to pour
back into those spaces too.
(18:54):
Uh, you know, we'll get somerevamps, you know.
Wow, we're thinking aboutpossibly getting some rain
barrels in, things like thatwhere we definitely want to give
back to our community.
So yeah, I mean, I thinkthere's a lot of things.
We've said a lot of placesalready.
Yeah, I don't know if anybodyhas any other shout-outs or any
locations that they want toshout out.
Derek Ross (19:13):
I mean, those locations, I mean, like say we
rattle them down, service,regional services centers,
athletic fields, governmentbuildings, McCormick County
Public Libraries, ClarksboroughCottage, Public Schools, Silver
Spring City Building, Wheaton,Urban District.
Uh, we have underutilizedfacilities.
We have a lot of facilities.
I don't want to speed throughthem because I don't want people
to think that we're just goingto ignore ones and just bring
them up.
We have a lot.
Visit our website, Community ofPublic Facilities.
(19:36):
Just go to it, click around,see what see what's there.
If there's something that youmay want to talk about, of
course, give us a call, emailus, and check us out just to see
what's going on.
But as we as we go through it,I I once again, this is our
season finale.
We're just going to regroup.
We're going to just go huddleup.
We're going to talk about it.
Probably going to watch alittle bit of some football.
No, I'm just joking with you.
No, we're going to go get intoit and try to figure it out.
(19:59):
But when I talk about whatwe've learned or what's next,
probably say when we started offthis podcast with just me and
Ramona, it was just aconversation and idea about what
ways that we can do to getourselves out there in the
community.
And the podcast, once it wasmentioned again, once our PIO
office, which is publicinformation office, and we had a
chance to visibly and hear andsee a lot of the podcasts and a
(20:21):
lot of individuals doing it fordifferent departments.
I thought CUPF was perfectlyaligned to try to jump into that
as well.
And Ramona was always greatwith her voice and bringing and
all of the stuff with being adirector, which is key to having
that person on the podcast.
And same with Vanessa as well,too.
Vanessa has a lot of years ofexperience in the county, same
with Emily as well, too.
And get information fromindividuals that know so much
about the county is great.
(20:42):
And so having y'all on thepodcast has been amazing and
will continue to be amazing aswell, too.
But the impact of our podcastright now is looking as if this
is a good go for us.
This is good.
This is good, good feelings,stuff like that.
So I hope that people or ourcommunity understands that what
we're trying to do here is we'retrying to be great.
Not just great.
I'm talking about Tony theTiger.
(21:03):
Great.
You know, we're going to try todo whatever we can to do the
best that we can.
And the podcast seems to beworking a little bit better than
I thought personally, becauseyou know, we just don't know.
But the fact is that we haveVanessa here to kind of give us
that stamp of approval andmaking sure it's working, and
Emily here as well, too.
We have Tebs on our back endhelping us as well too getting
through.
This feels like this isworking.
So that's why it's time torevamp season finale.
(21:25):
That's why it's time to reallysit down, figure it out, put
this together, put this bow onthis package and make it work.
But Emily, how how do you feelabout the podcast and next steps
and goodbyes for now and all ofthat stuff?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (21:37):
Well, I mean, you just introduced me as
the co host.
So saying goodbye seems alittle uh, I guess, early.
But um, no, I'm super exciteduh uh for the direction that
we're heading in.
Uh, I think we have a lot ofawesome opportunities uh ahead.
We have a lot of creative justjuices flowing right now.
(21:58):
And that's it's a good, it's agood place to be.
Uh, we have a lot of ideas, alot of just just everything, uh,
just putting it all on thetable and just creating and
paving away from there, I thinkis is gonna be an awesome and
awesome just road to be on.
So if you guys can be on thatroad with us, I think that would
be great.
There's gonna be a lot of umnew opportunities, new
(22:22):
information, uh, new way toprovide that information.
Again, you'll see us out on youknow in the community, you'll
hear us on the podcast.
Um, yeah, I'm just super,super, super excited to be here.
And you guys will hear from meagain uh when we uh return.
Oh, yeah.
Derek Ross (22:40):
And and I I I I do enjoy leading and doing stuff
like that and getting theconversation started.
But best believe, Emily, we'regoing to create this package
where everybody gets the chancesto get their voice in and stuff
like that.
Because once again, I I can'ttake away from these years of
experience.
Vanessa, uh, I I can put thisback on you because I know that
you know the impact of havingyou on this podcast has been
(23:01):
epic.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (23:01):
Oh, wow.
Gang.
Absolutely.
Derek Ross (23:03):
You know what I'm saying?
Yeah, Vanessa.
Vanessa's not crying yet, soI'm not doing enough to get her
to She's a pro, though.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (23:09):
She says she's not a pro, but she's
a pro.
She needs to be on the pro.
Derek Ross (23:12):
Exactly.
Exactly.
Vanessa talking, I don't knowif I want to do the podcast.
Well, you're here now, you'renot going anywhere.
Actually, you're locked in.
Yeah.
You're locked in.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (23:19):
So we close the door.
We're locking the door.
You can't get leaves.
Oh, wow.
Derek Ross (23:24):
But Vanessa, what do you have anything to say about
as we do a season finale to thispodcast, and your input has
been great since you've been onthe show.
But anything about the podcastor just Well, thank you.
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (23:33):
I actually I love the, as Emily mentioned,
I love the direction of thepodcast.
I didn't know how it was gonnaflow, but I've seen throughout
the different episodes, it'sbeen really great.
And I like giving out thisinformation that people might
not know, you know.
Um, so I know we gave a lot oflike a long list of the
different facilities we have.
I just want people to have inmind that anything that you book
(23:56):
for our facilities or space,spaces have to be open to the
public.
So just make sure everybodyknows that.
Um, yeah, for the privateevents, if you do want to have a
private event, the onlylocation is the Silver Spring
Civic building.
But that building has a lot ofother spaces um as well, smaller
spaces too for other othertypes of events.
But I I love that people arelearning more about us and maybe
(24:17):
there were questions thatpeople had and where we've been
answering them as we go.
So I think this is this podcastis great, and I think it was a
great idea.
Thank you, Derek, for forfinding it.
And uh thank you, Tebs also forhelping us make it happen.
And I think it's it's it's beengreat.
And I really like that I'm I'vebeen a part of it.
(24:38):
And yeah, thank you toeverybody.
Derek Ross (24:41):
Yeah, thank you.
Look at that.
We we just giving thank yousaround, high five and everybody,
because I I have down highfives, high fives going around
for everybody as well, too.
But uh, y'all said thank you tome, but Ramona gave the hit the
thumbs up.
Our former director, RamonaBell Pearson, gave the thumbs up
and said, Let's do it.
And I was like, Well, podcastis what we're gonna do.
We shall do it then.
Let's let's let's get into it.
Once the director says it'srock, I don't want to sit on too
(25:02):
long.
I just want to take that energyand go with it.
But once again, the podcastwhere we're gonna take a little
hiatus.
Not not nothing too long.
I'm not talking about you'regonna see us in 2027.
No, no, no, no.
We're just gonna take a coupleweeks to really, really Oh,
you'll see me way before that.
So we got we got a lot.
We got a lot.
So we're gonna come back.
Don't be surprised if you heara new podcast intro.
(25:23):
We shout outs to Ramona.
We don't want to take away fromit, but we're probably gonna
use your cuts of your voice todo other stuff as well.
We have a lot of newopportunities with new guests,
partnerships, uh, new energyfrom our new co-hosts as well,
too.
And we're hoping that Vanessacomes around too.
And then once again, too, we'llwe'll we'll have new, new, new
leadership as well, too, aswell.
So there's gonna be new voices,some new, some new thoughts,
(25:43):
opinions, and everything elselike that.
So be on the lookout, be on thelookout.
But I I think we're at a goodpoint where maybe we should end
this podcast.
Maybe, maybe, maybe, maybe weshould.
I don't want to, I don't wantto say season finale, we're
ending it.
And good, nobody wants to say agoodbye.
But Emily, how would you liketo end this podcast?
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (25:58):
You know, I'm gonna keep it super,
super, super simple.
Derek Ross (26:01):
Okay.
Emily Brewster-McCarthy (26:02):
It's a rep.
I like all right.
Derek Ross (26:05):
I like that.
All right, I like that.
I like that.
Vanessa, you are you want tosay anything?
Vanessa Lopez-Cuevas (26:10):
I just want to drop the mic, but I
don't want to like call static.
No, no, no.
On a hypothetical mic.
Yeah.
Derek Ross (26:19):
Okay, okay.
Well, we we're wrapping it up,dropping the mic and everything
like that.
But but that is it for rightnow.
We look forward to uh comingback again stronger, faster, all
just in touch with each other.
We're we're gonna we're gonnaget this together, everybody,
and best believe that this newwhat you see in the future is
going to be something, somethingto just witness, just
witnessing greatness as it comestogether.
(26:40):
But once again, thank you verymuch and stay touched,
everybody.
Stay in touch.
But thank you.
Announcer (26:45):
This podcast is brought to you by County Cable
Montgomery, your source for newsand information from the
Montgomery County government.
Connect with us via cable,Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube
by searching for County CableMoco.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.