Why would three neighborhood associations carry lanterns over a bridge that reopened two and a half years ago, and why would a history talk about a soda plant meet inside a train station?
Silver Spring's two big Saturdays this month, November 14 and November 21, both come back to the rail corridor that runs through the middle of town. One event takes place inside the old B&O station. One crosses the bridge the Purple Line took down and replaced. On the second Saturday, the Thanksgiving Parade closes downtown streets for a morning, and the next night the Purple Line starts closing one of the same intersections overnight. The month makes the most sense read in that order.
November 14 starts inside the B&O station
At 11 a.m. on Saturday, November 14, the Silver Spring Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Station at 8100 Georgia Avenue hosts "The History of Silver Spring's Canada Dry Bottling Plant," which runs until noon. Silver Spring Town Center, Inc. presents the talk with the Silver Spring Historical Society and Montgomery Preservation. The speaker is Jerry A. McCoy, who founded the historical society and sits on Montgomery Preservation's board.
Many people in town walk past the subject of the talk without knowing it. According to a Montgomery History account of the plant, construction started in 1945, the building was finished in 1946, and bottling began in 1947, supplying Washington and the Maryland suburbs. Soda production lasted about forty years. After that the building was used as a warehouse and storage space, and Canada Dry sold the property in the late 1990s. The two-story curving Art Moderne section of the plant was kept as part of a residential development called Silverton Condominium, at the corner of Blair Mill Road and East West Highway. That corner sits across the tracks from the B&O Railroad Station, so the talk happens within sight of the building it covers.
The station itself is part of the story. A downtown history program held in the old railroad depot sets up the evening, when the program moves to a bridge over the same tracks.
The bridge the Purple Line took down and gave back
The 2026 Talbot Avenue Bridge Lantern Walk gathers from 5:00 to 5:15 p.m. at Rosemary Hills Elementary School, 2111 Porter Road. An opening program and the walk run from 5:15 to 6:00 p.m., and a community reception at the school follows from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. The walk is free. Organizers ask for an RSVP, donations are optional, and spare lanterns and tea lights are on hand while they last.
The route is short and built around the bridge. Walkers meet at the end of the school parking lot nearest Talbot Avenue and Lanier Drive. The 0.7-mile figure-eight goes up Talbot Avenue and over the bridge, loops through the nearest North Woodside block, crosses back, loops through the nearest Lyttonsville block, and returns to the school. The Talbot Avenue Bridge Committee organizes the walk. The Lyttonsville Civic Association, the North Woodside Citizens' Association and the Rosemary Hills Neighbors' Association co-sponsor it.
The route crosses the bridge twice because the bridge's history is about connection. The Talbot Avenue Bridge Committee describes the original span as linking Lyttonsville, a historically Black community founded in 1853, with North Woodside, a neighborhood where racist deed covenants once kept Black residents out except as domestic servants. The original bridge was torn down in June 2019 for Purple Line construction. Its steel girders, made from an overturned B&O Railroad turntable, were saved for a planned memorial in the future Lyttonsville Neighborhood Park. The new bridge opened to pedestrians and vehicles on May 24, 2024, Montgomery County reported.
So the same railroad shows up twice in one day. In the morning, the B&O station hosts a talk about a downtown plant. In the evening, B&O steel waits in storage for a memorial while walkers cross the bridge that replaced it, rebuilt because a new rail line needed the space underneath.
The same evening, a new stage at The Fillmore
The third event on November 14 is the newest, and it does not overlap with the morning talk. The Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce is holding its first Silver Spring Showcase Community Concert at The Fillmore Silver Spring on Colesville Road, from 4 to 11 p.m. Source of the Spring reported that Chamber President and CEO Stephanie Helsing wants the concert to become an annual tradition.
The lineup is local and regional. It includes Mr. Gabe, a favorite with young children; the rock-and-blues band General MacArthur & the Boulevards; Silver Spring rapper-songwriter Sheun "She-unO" Ogunsunlade, a Strathmore Bernard/Ebb Songwriting Award finalist; Bottom Dwellers; Elikeh; and headliners The Nighthawks, who have played the Silver Spring Blues Festival before. After October 31, general admission is $30 in advance and $40 at the door, and VIP admission with reserved balcony seats and upstairs bar access is $50. Kids 13 and under get in free with an adult.
Here is the whole day in order, using the published times:
| Time | Event | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 11 a.m. to noon | Canada Dry bottling plant history talk | B&O Railroad Station, 8100 Georgia Ave. |
| 4 to 11 p.m. | Silver Spring Showcase Community Concert | The Fillmore Silver Spring, Colesville Road |
| 5:00 to 5:15 p.m. | Lantern Walk gathering | Rosemary Hills Elementary, 2111 Porter Road |
| 5:15 to 6:00 p.m. | Opening program and walk | Talbot Avenue Bridge loop |
| 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. | Community reception | Rosemary Hills Elementary |
The concert runs late enough that someone can finish the lantern reception at 7:30 and still catch the later sets on Colesville Road.
Two newer places to eat are close to the downtown end of that day. Momiji Sushi & Izakaya opened softly in late October at 1201 Fidler Lane, in the former Cubano's space across from Mi Rancho. It serves sushi, ramen, donburi and vegan options. Posted hours on Saturday are 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. At Ellsworth Place, Source of the Spring reported in September that the reopened Commas food hall was adding Kellem Coffee and Nips Juice House and bringing back Tokoa Cheesesteaks and Tato's.
The parade closes downtown, and the Purple Line takes the next night
A week later, the railroad theme turns practical. The Montgomery County Thanksgiving Parade steps off at 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 21, from Ellsworth Drive and Fenton Street. It heads south on Georgia Avenue to Silver Spring Avenue and goes on rain or shine. Source of the Spring lists inflatable turkeys and penguins, floats, marching bands and Santa. According to the county's November 2 announcement, the emcees are ABC7's Brian van de Graaff, who has hosted for more than a decade, and lifestyle host Roxanne Strouk. Marching bands from Blake, Springbrook, Northwood, Clarksburg and John F. Kennedy high schools are scheduled, along with Nutcracker-themed performances by Akhmedova Ballet and Maryland Youth Ballet.
According to the Downtown Silver Spring parade page, these streets close from 6 a.m. to about 1 p.m.:
- Georgia Avenue, both directions, from East-West Highway to Colesville Road, with traffic detoured to East-West Highway
- Cedar Avenue, Colesville Road to Wayne Avenue
- Pershing Drive, Cedar Avenue to Veterans Place, and Veterans Place, Pershing to Ellsworth Drive
- Ellsworth Drive, Georgia to Cedar avenues
- Roeder Road, Fenton Street to Cedar Avenue
- Fenton Street, Cameron Street to Wayne Avenue
- Wayne, Bonifant, Thayer and Silver Spring avenues, each from Georgia Avenue to Fenton Street
The garages matter most for anyone who parks downtown on a Friday night. The Town Center garage at Ellsworth Drive closes at 2 a.m. Saturday, and the Wayne Avenue garage closes at 8 a.m. Both reopen by 2 p.m. Parking is free that day at the Sligo Avenue, Cameron Street and Bonifant Street garages, and organizers suggest taking the Red Line to Silver Spring.
Once the parade crowd clears, the rail work starts. Beginning on or around Sunday, November 22 and running through December 1, the intersection of Wayne Avenue and Fenton Street closes nightly from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. for Purple Line work, Source of the Spring reported, citing the Montgomery County Department of Transportation. The closure was first planned to end in mid-October and was moved to late November. Ride On routes 15, 16, 17, 20 and 28 detour during those hours, and MCDOT's notice lists which stops are skipped and where to board instead. Weather or unexpected problems can shift these work windows.
How close the line is to running
Those overnight closures are part of the late-stage work. A Source of the Spring update on October 31 reported that the 16-mile, 21-station Purple Line was more than 90 percent complete. All track was in, live-wire testing was underway, and service was scheduled to start in winter 2027. Paving, sidewalks and most signal activations in downtown Silver Spring were done, with system testing expected later this year.
The Talbot Avenue Bridge was rebuilt so this line could pass under it. Wayne and Fenton close at night so its overhead wires and signals can be finished. The B&O girders saved from the old bridge are still waiting for the Lyttonsville Neighborhood Park memorial, which depends on Purple Line construction being finished. Once trains start running, which is scheduled for winter 2027, the bridge the lantern walkers cross on November 14 will span a working Purple Line.
Kim Kash follows Silver Spring's calendar the same way she follows its streets, from the old B&O station to the latest Purple Line detour notice. If you have questions about how the rail line and its nearby blocks fit your plans, let's connect.
