Area Teens Claiming Some 'Turf' As Their Own In Downtown Silver Spring

Courtesy of The Gazette
Written by Laurie DeWitt
August 9, 2006

If it's Friday night -- or Saturday, or Sunday, for that matter -- Samath Warren can be found at his usual hangout in downtown Silver Spring.

There, he'll watch friends skateboard, sit and chat, or flirt with girls. Some nights, he'll play soccer or football. There is always something for him to do.

For the 14-year-old Silver Spring resident, as well as many other local teens, the Turf at Fenton Street and Ellsworth Drive is the ultimate place to chill.

After officials covered almost an acre with artificial turf -- the land will eventually be used to build a civic building and plaza with an ice rink -- the Turf, as the teens call it, became a social gathering spot, particularly for underage, drivers-license-free, penniless youths.

On Friday evening, Titi Mesgna, 13, sat on the Turf with Catherine Moore, 14, and Gillian McBride, 13, watching a group of friends horse around nearby as other teens sat in scattered groups across the artificial lawn.

"This is all I do," Mesgna said. "Before this, I don't even remember what I did. We were just talking about that."

"Before we did this, we sat at home," McBride said.

They used to go to a mall, Mesgna said, but not any more. Instead, they walk or take the bus to downtown Silver Spring, or ask their parents for a ride. Their parents don't mind, they said, as long as they stay in the general area.

Silver Spring parent George Slenkovich said he doesn't mind driving his teenage sons to the Turf when they feel like going, which is usually once a week.

"They're constantly begging to go there," he said. "They love that place."

His oldest son, who just turned 17, isn't as interested in hanging out there, he said, but his children in middle and high school enjoy it. They'll go for a movie and Chipotle, and then lounge outside, Slenkovich said.

"I take them down there and pick them up," he said. "There are always a lot of police and people. ...We feel it's safe."

"I think it's better to hang out here than in the middle of the street," McBride said.

"It'd be so terrible if they took this away," Mesgna said.

But "they" have plans to do exactly that, something the teens didn't realize. Work on the civic building and ice rink could begin this year.

"An ice skating rink?" Mesgna said. "We already have one of those in our area."

What she wants is a place where she and her friends can just hang out, for free, and not be asked to leave because they're loitering.

"The Turf is good because you don't have to pay," agreed Moore.

None of them brings much money, so they don't stay long in the restaurants and don't really shop. But that's not what they come for, anyway.

"I come here for my friends," Mesgna said.

So does Robert Barclay, 15, who walks to the Turf every weekend, staying until 10 p.m. or 11 p.m. His parents don't mind as long as he tells them where he's going.

"It's a place to hang out," said Jeremy Lebow, 13. Sometimes he goes to the movies, and sometimes he'll play pool, but those things cost money. The Turf, however, is free, he said.

"Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday I come here and I see people," said Jessy Taylor, 13.

The Turf has been like a real-life version of Friendster, a social networking Web site, for some of the teens, who have gotten to meet soon-to-be classmates at their high schools. In the Downcounty Consortium, students get to choose whether to attend Montgomery Blair, Northwood, John F. Kennedy, Albert Einstein or Wheaton high schools.

"We all went to the same middle school, but now we're getting separated," Mesgna said. The Turf would provide a place to meet, but that could change if the grass goes away.

The teens care about what goes there, a pleasant surprise for adults. "I'm an adult and I sometimes project that youth don't really care," said Frankie Blackburn, executive director of Impact Silver Spring and mother of three. However, she said, it's clear local teens are concerned about what goes on in their community.

The teens weren't sure whether they'd use the ice rink, but they did know what they would like to see -- a concert venue. "I want them to have concerts with good bands," Moore said.

Local bands, Mesgna said. Usually, they have to beg their parents to drive them to see groups they like. "Nobody comes here."

Except, of course, the teens.