March 14: Keeping Agriculture Local. Montgomery County produces more than $120 million annually in commercial horticulture, including: landscape, nursery, greenhouse, turf and garden center industries, as well as commercial fruit and vegetable production. Chuck Schuster, Extension Service educator, and horticulturist, will talk about why it is important for us to maintain this growing industry.

March 21: Crossway Community:  Providing Housing, Childcare, and Education for Single-Parent Families.   Kathleen Guinan, CEO (with husband Ed November 2008 WETA Hometown Heroes) will discuss this initiative created in 1990 to provide low-income mothers with educational opportunities while at the same time providing child-care options.  Crossway acts to combine the best aspects of homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters and transitional housing programs into an environment that fosters community learning. The public/private partnerships built by the Crossway Community is a model of how regional governments can support the creation of innovative and community-serving initiatives.  Come hear Kathleen's latest success stories of this worthy organization, supported by our own Alliance.

March 28: Finding a New Way Forward in Afghanistan. General McChrystal’s counterinsurgency is unlikely to work because it cannot be executed on behalf of another government and the Muslim world does not want the United States to be its savior. Dr. Douglas MacGregor, retired army colonel, will elaborate on why he believes it would be best for us to withdraw from Afghanistan.