Off the CUPF: Community Use of Public Facilities

Countdown to NYE!! | We Want to Thank You All

• Derek Ross and Emily Brewster-McCarthy • Season 2 • Episode 4

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In this podcast, Community Relations and Special Projects, Emily Brewster-McCarthy and Communications and Outreach Program Manager Derek Ross will discuss the visible changes at CUPF. During this discussion, they give shoutouts to all the new faces at CUPF. On this episode, we are joined by our special guest, CUPF's new Director of Community Relations, Eric Rasch!!

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SPEAKER_03:

Welcome to Off the Cuff, a Community Use of Public Facilities Podcast, the show where we explore, discuss, and introduce you, our listeners, to the wonderful world of community use. I'm Emily Brewster McCarthy.

Derek Ross:

And I am Derek Ross. Together, we are your host, and we are here to provide you with some of the most up-to-date news and information about Cuff. Emily, are you ready to get started? Absolutely, I'm ready to get started. You stop by Mambo? Oh, yeah, yeah. I'm ready to Mambo. Emily, Emily, Emily, I think we're back.

SPEAKER_03:

We are back.

Derek Ross:

We are back. It feels like we're back. We're in the studio, feeling good. We just came from a meeting, a PIO meeting, public information office. For those of you who don't know, in a county, we're always meeting and figuring out new things. How are you doing, Emily?

SPEAKER_03:

I'm feeling great. How about yourself?

Derek Ross:

I'm feeling good. We have some people here with us. We do, we do. We do, we do. But before we get to that person, surprise, surprise, let's do some check-ins. Check-ins, highs and lows. You want to go first?

SPEAKER_03:

Uh sure.

Derek Ross:

Okay. All right. What you got?

SPEAKER_03:

Highs, you know, I'm really excited about all these new changes. And I keep using the word excited, but it really is. Like, it really is exciting. I feel so good. Um, lows? I know I say I'd never have one, but I'm gonna say it now.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, uh-oh.

SPEAKER_03:

I think the low is that you know, I feel like maybe the fact that I didn't fully eat breakfast today.

Derek Ross:

Oh, not the hungry.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I'm a little hangry right now.

Derek Ross:

Okay, okay, okay, okay. That's a low. That's a low. What do I what else do you got? You got anything else?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, you know, I have my daughter's celebrating a special birthday today. So happy birthday. What? Oh yeah. Oh, yeah. But yeah, I mean, that's about it. What about you?

Derek Ross:

You know what? You know what? I feel like, you know, I'll highs and lows. That's how where can we go with this? Highs, I think it, you know, we're preparing for so much in the county. So much. So many different departments are kind of aligned at the same time. We're working on so much when it comes to emergency management, communications, outreach, when it comes to languages, and so many things that we're trying to formulate. And I find that, you know what, we're all at the same spot.

SPEAKER_03:

We really are.

Derek Ross:

We all are working together and we're going to get this done together. But a low is also too that, you know, technically, this is also our countdown to New Year's Eve. We want to thank you all. So we're closing out the year. We are closing out 2025. Wow. Wow. But let's jump ahead and let's get to this special guest. Emily, would you mind giving the community so much? Let can we explain who this guest is? Can you break it down?

SPEAKER_03:

We have a very, very special guest with us, Eric Roch. He has joined the team as the new division manager of CUF for community relations with special projects. The division has been established to enhance community engagement, boost awareness of cuff services, and drive strategic initiatives countywide. The division will oversee communications, which is us, that's us. Childcare and Marion Fryer Plaza programs, fostering stronger connections and support across the community. Wow. So, Eric, welcome.

SPEAKER_04:

Thank you, guys. Thank you. You guys are amazing. And this off the cuff podcast is amazing too. So it's uh it's a real privilege to be here with you today.

SPEAKER_03:

Thank you for joining us. Thank you for joining us. Do you have any, you know, any special things that you want to share with us? Where are you coming from? Because you were with Cuff before, but now you're in a new position.

SPEAKER_04:

Right. Well, you know what? Let me just jump on those highs and lows. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right, let's get it. Let's get it. All right. So, a high for me is this new position, right? And uh it's moving into this newly established division manager role and leading community relations and strategic projects, a position designed to strengthen how Montgomery County engages with residents, partners, and public spaces. That is a high. I'm very excited about it. I'm excited about working with you guys and the others in the team and in Wheaton in the headquarters. And so that's a that's very much a high. And a low is uh leaving the Silver Springs Civic Building. Oh, yeah. After more than a decade, it can hurt. It can kind of feel like uh leaving family. And so I would say that's a low. So you're feeling bittersweet a little bit. It's bittersweet. I mean, yeah, and um, and that's a great way of describing it. And uh, but I can tell you it's all within community use of public facilities, and I'm excited just to make an impact and join you guys in the mission. And so there we go for some highs and lows.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. We're definitely uh happy that you have joined us over at Wheaton Headquarters, which is where Comms is uh established. So I know that you have a lot of wonderful things to add to uh our team, even though you have already done amazing, amazing, wonderful things over at Silver Spring. We did do a little bit of a soft intro to our new um division manager of Silver Springs uh last episode, and we'll have you know other people kind of join us in future episodes, uh correct after the start of the new year, like we were saying last time new year, new us. Yes. Uh, and that really means new year, new us because we have a lot of new faces, uh, maybe some old faces that are appearing in new positions, uh new places. Um, so if you've loved Eric before at Silver Spring, you're not gonna stop seeing him because you're over here and you're still gonna love him.

Derek Ross:

He's here. He's with us. And you know, we get a chance to work with Eric, and I've got a chance to get to know Eric for a couple years now and to know that we get to work under this umbrella, this whole organizational chart kind of energy. I am excited. Eric, you have done so much, so much. So, so allow us to embask in your ambiance and just enjoy.

SPEAKER_04:

When you guys say, when you guys say I, you might as well say we because it is a team effort. And I'll tell you, all the folks in Silver Spring that make it happen day in, day out, they're really the unsung heroes. And um, those are the ones we should be giving, you know, kudos to and a round of applause for. They're they're really a fantastic group in Silver Spring.

SPEAKER_03:

So and this is why he's such a wonderful leader. Look at this. Look at this, hyping everybody up. This is exactly what we're about, right?

Derek Ross:

So we're we're about to say we're about that life. We're about that. We're about that cuff life. We're we're here. We have Eric here, and I know Eric, we're announcing as a special guest, so we don't want to get too much into it because we know Eric is just here to kind of enjoy us and just kind of enjoy this environment, the podcast environment. So we're gonna keep it moving. Eric, we got you here, so we may just drop in some couple ideas and as we're going through it. And if you want to chime in, please chime in. You know, give it give us some of that Eric energy and just let us know. Let us know. But, Emily, you know, I just want to shout out because you just brought it up. You know, we always do this whole kind of like, did you know? But to all our listeners, did you know Cuff has a new director? A new core services operations manager, new Silver Spring Building Operations Manager, a new community relations operations manager. We're just going down the list, right? We're doing a lot of lists. We're just naming them out. We also get to bring it up because Eric is here, so he could always chime in if he needed to. But Emily, we talked about it before, but now that we have Eric here, this energy is real.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, yeah, 100%.

Derek Ross:

Okay, okay, okay. I'm just making sure I'm making sure I'm not I'm not the only one just feeling some kind of way, just feeling all good when I go home. Like we got all this good energy going on.

SPEAKER_03:

No, we're all hype over here.

Derek Ross:

We're hype. Yeah, okay. We're hype, we're hype. So once again, to all of our listeners, yes, we do have a lot of new leadership. We have a lot going on. We're gonna make sure we work on our public announcements. We're gonna make sure that the information is shared. We also have been working behind the scenes, working with Eric right now to make sure that there's announcements being done to different organizations, different departments. We're gonna do everything that we can to make sure this information is shared, shared, shared, shared. Uh Emily, I think we should talk about a little bit of some of the things that are happening at Cuff. I'm talking about some of the good stuff. Like right now, I notice when you walk into Cuff on our main building the colors.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh, yeah. We revamp revamped our office. Yes. When you walk in, we have a beautiful, beautiful screen that displays office information like operating hours, some of the cool things that we're doing out in the community, all of our events, uh places, facilities. Um, we just have uh a new look.

Derek Ross:

Yeah. We have a new look. I'd probably say there's always that energy when you just see so many colors popping, so much screens, images, the new faces. I also want to give a shout out to so many different people now because when I'm walking in, we get to get talk to our new director. There's always a big smile. Eric is always smiling. I can joke now with that. Eric, why are you always smiling? There's a lot of reasons to smile. A lot of reasons to smile. I say that now because if you ever get a chance to, when I've ever Googled or chatted or looked up Eric information, Eric has a big smile, always smiling, doing great things. That's what makes it so easy for us to kind of work together to make sure we're gonna tag team this and do everything possible from a cuff comms community relations aspect of it. So, Emily, is there anything else about what you see in our department now that has changed, or is there something that you want to highlight or anything like that?

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, we've been working a lot on our collaborative efforts within the county. We've been reaching out uh, you know, to different departments. We're really trying to band together and create one big unified just resource space. Um, so whoever comes up to us, we're always gonna be able to have or lead them in the right direction, you know, lead them to the right resources, whether it's our department or not. You know, we really want to make sure that the community knows that um Montgomery County has a lot of opportunities and resources for the community.

SPEAKER_02:

They do.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. So we want to make sure we highlight, you know, some of the some of the departments that are actually not even some, all the departments that are doing these amazing, beautiful, wonderful things for the community. Yes. And I know we have a list of things, Derek. Do you want to uh list some of them all?

Derek Ross:

Sure, sure, sure. We're we're just gonna go down. If and if and I'm gonna speak now. Say if we miss naming anybody, please let us know. We're letting you know now. We're not doing it on that.

SPEAKER_03:

Let us know so we can add you to the next one.

Derek Ross:

We're gonna add you to the next one. We're gonna keep adding. But once again, you know, give a shout out with Department of Environmental Protection, uh, DEP, Montgomery Parks, Department of Recreation, uh Wheaton Urban District, Downtown Silver Spring, Parks and Rec Advisory Board. We have the Office Community Partnerships, PIO, Public Information Office, Department of Transportation, Montgomery County Department of Transportation, Maryland Department of Transportation, County Cable Montgomery, Tebs County Technology Team, Active Montgomery, Vermont Systems, the VSI, how everything goes down. That's just the tip of the iceberg, Emily.

SPEAKER_03:

I mean, we have uh the ICB, the interagency coordinating board, uh, which are full of members from different, you know, places, uh, different jobs, different backgrounds within Montgomery County that all come together to make decisions um and approve things for the community uh through Cuff. And then we also have um partnerships with Montgomery County Public Schools, Montgomery County Um Animal Services and Adoption Center, the County Department of Corrections, which has a wonderful sweet treat you know program called Sweet Release. Sweet release. And those what is it, the blue-hairy muffins that we're always Oh yeah, the muffins. Oh, the muffins. Oh my goodness, the muffins are so good. So good.

Derek Ross:

Yeah, we're gonna talk about them.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, I think at every meeting uh that we have now we order breakfast from them. Yes, we do. Yeah, right. Uh coffee and uh and some baked goods, and everybody's super happy whenever we uh get from them. So please reach out to them and get your baked goods. Uh uh MCPL, Montgomery County Public Libraries, we're partnering with them a lot to do community pulse um to kind of see what the community needs. Um and then we also have uh partnerships with the regional services centers, um, up county, mid-county. Uh we're we're going around the county just to kind of touch base with whoever wants to share their information with us and we can share it with everybody else. Um, Silver Spring Civic Building, Cuff team. Yeah, the team. Right? And then the Cuff team at Wheaton. And our team is we're not a super huge, huge team, but you know, I think we're we're under 40, 40 people, right? On our staff. And every single person on our team plays an uh an integral part of what we do at Cuff. And we are so invested in what we do with the community, and it's just such a we're just we have a lot of opportunities and a lot of things, I guess, in the works. Yes, we do. Um and so we can't wait for you guys to hear it.

Derek Ross:

Yeah, yeah. That's because we're counting down. We are counting down to the New Year's. The New Year's is coming and we're getting ready for it. Eric, you know, I don't want to put you on the spot, but I know Eric. Well, how many years? Was it over 10 years, Eric, of being in the county? Yeah, over a decade now. Over over a I like when you say decade. Decade sounds different when I say 10. Decade sounds like it matters a little, totally different. We would name it, no, just rattling off organizations and departments. And I know your your network and how much you've done in the community. Are are we missing anybody and anything or anything like that? Any departments that you want to shout out?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, you know what I would say is um the one thing that just kind of is missing from here is the nonprofits that you know really contribute to the success of the civic building and uh community use as a whole. Those those nonprofits are really, you know, the heartbeat of uh the community. And sometimes they're doing things that the county department simply can't do. They're working with the populations that they can't always do. So now, you might have done it um strategically, which is probably a good idea because you can't name all the nonprofits. There's just so many of them in Montgomery County that we would certainly leave some off. And we don't want hurt feelings, do we, guys? No. No. So you guys are the best. I really like that. But yeah, those nonprofits, um, they do make make things happen in in Montgomery County.

SPEAKER_03:

And actually, that might bring us to something that we just learned about today, right? Yeah. Um, we uh want to promote something called Montgomery Gives Local, right? That's something that uh PIO we just met with them and uh we spoke about, you know, promoting, giving back to local nonprofits or local just organizations that help the community. So again, like what Eric was saying, we're not gonna say specifically, right, who, but we would really appreciate for just think about, you know, the giving campaigns, the local giving campaigns. Uh try to, you know, see if you can give back to the local organizations, just give back to your community. And, you know, we'll we'll kind of help along with that as well. Uh I know we're working with like um employee giving campaigns. We're doing a whole bunch of wonder, wonderful, wonderful things. But really, this one, the local giving campaign, uh, we really want to focus on that because we really want to um help uplift and bring attention to these wonderful organizations that are doing so so many great things for our community that might not have, let's say, this big of a space or a voice, right, to kind of spread their message. And so whatever we can do to kind of um bring light to that, you know, we're gonna do it.

Derek Ross:

I agree. I agree. See, see, see, I like that. See, see, that make me feel good. That makes me feel good. Matter of fact, I need to jump on that. And you say, what was it called? Montgomery Gives Local.

SPEAKER_03:

It's Montgomery Gives Local.

Derek Ross:

Okay, okay.

SPEAKER_03:

And then you can um explore all the nonprofits that are under that at Montgomery County M D.gov backslash volunteer center.

Derek Ross:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

Inspire others by sharing your giving and tagging hashtag MontgomeryGivesLocal.

Derek Ross:

Hashtag, okay. All right. I like it. I like it. So so once again, this is our New Year's Eve. Kind of like we're counting down. We're just letting people know like who have we talked to over the years, who has been our biggest point of contact in regards to just 2025, which is now pretty much almost over. We only have a few couple weeks left. Oh, I know. No, we we only have a few weeks left. I don't know. Then I'm gonna see you next year. I'm playing with you. Like, you can start talking like see you next year. See you next year. See you next year. But once again, as we get to continue or get ready to close out this podcast, we always give in a high fives saying hello. But we can ask, because Eric is here. Eric is here. Eric, do you have any plans for New Year's? Are you doing anything?

SPEAKER_04:

Well, you know what? All right, so I'm gonna in the did you did you know, right? The did you know section, okay? I'll throw a couple of things out. One is a did you know that Cuff is one of only a few public entities in the county that runs on it as an enterprise fund, meaning access to public spaces is sustained by the very communities that use them. That's a did you know?

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, okay, hey, snap, snap, snap.

SPEAKER_04:

We know that, but a lot of people don't know that we're an enterprise fund. And so that's why we really are balancing the cost with the use just to be able to sustain uh such a known uh department. Yeah. Now, here's another did you know. Okay, I'm gonna go personal on this. Okay, let's see. Let's hear it. Let's hear it. So I got uh me and my wife, we have two uh boys that speak French and we love going to festivals and cheering on Mbappé. And because this is a New Year's special, did you know that last year over New Year's we were in Ethiopia? Ooh, and bringing in the new year in Ethiopia, and so uh that's where I was last year. I have not thought about where we'll be. Actually, uh, we should be in San Francisco now that I'm thinking about it. That's exciting. So we'll be in the States this year, but um, you know, it's always wonderful to try to be with family, with friends, especially at this time of year. Um, it's not always the easiest for all of us. Agree. And so I like that the whole season of giving and what you're talking about earlier, about where you can give, let your heart be light at this season. Um, and think about those that, you know, they don't have the friends, they don't have the family nearby. And so um, this is what we are. It's Montgomery County. This is who we are. So yeah, um, but yeah, I would love to know where you guys are gonna be too for New Year's.

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, bounce back, let's go.

Derek Ross:

Well, Emily, I'm a little upset because every time Eric talks about going out of town, going some places, I always say I'm coming. He just laughs.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm gonna just get in the suitcase and zip myself up. Just take me with a few.

Derek Ross:

Like, I'm joking. Like, I'm telling, like, I'm going with you. We're going to come here. We're gonna be in your luggage. Like, just put us in the car with it.

SPEAKER_03:

Let's get in a way mode.

SPEAKER_04:

We'll be in San Francisco, those self-driving cars, those automated cars out there.

SPEAKER_03:

Oh no, those are those are scary. Let me not get it. They're in D.C., you've seen them, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

You got the drivers in DC.

Derek Ross:

Yes, no drivers in in San Francisco. No drivers. Well, Eric, we're well, I know for me for New Year's, it's definitely gonna stay local, but I'm always looking to find stuff. I joke, my joke last time was that I have um jokingly, I put it like this. I've tried to do New Year's in the city, doing stuff in DC. I spent hours trying to find parking on New Year's Eve, and I was like, you know what? I'm not doing this right. You know, I I don't drive around right prior to New Year's, the ball drop, I'm still looking for a parking space. All this, you know, it was just too much. But this year, I'm definitely gonna go for more or less something local, catch up with some people, some friends, and really drop, bring the ball in right, you know, have some good times and stuff like that, and prepare for another, once again, off the cuff podcast. Just throwing that out there again, another season, another year of it. But Emily, what's up with you?

SPEAKER_03:

Okay, so I know I said I was gonna spend it with family, which I still am.

Derek Ross:

Okay.

SPEAKER_03:

I'm not sure if I'm gonna spend it with family at like, you know, an elaborate party. By elaborate, I mean at my aunt's house. And it's always elaborate no matter what kind of party we have. So that. Um, or maybe it's just kind of low-key. I really so I like to ask my daughter what she likes to do. Um, you know, sometimes things can holidays we're meeting people like back to back to back. So she might want to be at home and just play and you know, have her cousins over or something like that. So we'll we'll play by ear. We'll play by ear. Play by ear. I think either way, we're gonna have fun. We're gonna have fun. And we're gonna count, you know, down to the new year, just like we're counting down now.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03:

So, like I said, new year new, maybe not personally, new year new me. Okay, because I'm gonna be the same no matter where you meet me, right? But new year new us for cuff, because we have a lot of just new, new, new, new, new, new things. New. Um, and not new, like in a way where you should be scared of anything. People should just be ready for like the amount of energy we're just bringing.

Derek Ross:

We're bringing it. We're bringing it. I hope you can hear it in our voices, how excited we are. Just so excited, so excited. I think you mentioned your daughter. It's like if I ever get a chance to bring the new year, I probably as long as I got nuggets for my son. Oh, we

SPEAKER_03:

We were just talking about nuggets. Yeah, we were just talking about long.

Derek Ross:

You got nuggets for the kids. They love the nuggets anyway. Oh, it's just my son. My son loves nuggets. As long as the nuggets are there at the party, he's fine. And I probably like it too. I'm not gonna lie. If you want nuggets, I'm gonna probably eat some too. But we're closing out the podcast. We want to say, first of all, thank you to so many different organizations. And Eric mentioned nonprofits. There's so many different people that we want to mention, we're trying to mention, but we have a lot of people we could mention, right? We have uh a lot of people, and we're gonna continue to go through that list. We're gonna continue to get a good feel for what's going on, all of this new energy. Uh closeouts. You want to do a closeout, Emily?

SPEAKER_03:

Um, sure. Really quick, before um I say my closeout, I did want to say, you know, if you're interested in joining us or joining a conversation or just brainstorming with us, let us know. We are open. Uh, all of our information is on our website. We'll also link it here underneath um the podcast information. Of course. Uh, yeah, just follow us, you know, and have fun. Come on this ride with us. Yeah, like that. Uh yeah, you know, I think that might be like the closeout, right? Like for me, yeah. Uh I'm feeling good. Feeling good. I'm excited. Yes.

Derek Ross:

If y'all can't hear it in the you can't hear it, we can see it right now. You will smile. Smiling. Ear to ear, grinning. Just grinning, just grinning. You got me grinning. I'm trying to be all serious because we have our balls here. Eric is here, whatever.

SPEAKER_04:

No, do you guys do resolutions? New Year's resolutions? We can. Okay. All right. We can. Okay. This is one for our listeners. If you're still with us, like and smash that subscribe button.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't know what it is.

SPEAKER_04:

But no, if you're still with us, okay, here is a New Year's resolution for you. Try a new cuff facility. Go out there, try one, celebrate something, uh, get you know, a group together to use one of the cuff facilities. There are countless facilities all across the county. Let them know, Eric. That would be a great resolution, I think. Yeah. To try maybe one new facility a month or a quarter. Yeah. But just put it out there. Go for it, guys. Um, don't be scared. Go on our website, look through all the different things, and find the perfect venue for you.

SPEAKER_03:

Ooh. I already have ideas rolling in my head. I'm thinking bingo night. I'm thinking open mic night. I'm thinking DD Gaming Night. I'm thinking all these things. How about how about we, you know what, Eric? You are absolutely right. Eric is right. Let's get people in in our facilities. Let's get them in a facility. Why not?

Derek Ross:

We got a lot of them. Why not? Why not? You know what? I think that's a good way to close it. I have nothing to say. We're just going to just let Eric end it like that. Uh that is great. I like New Year's resolutions and all that stuff. Once again, I have nothing. I I'm I'm feeling good. Emily got me smiling. We got Eric here. Eric, stop smiling.

SPEAKER_04:

No, hey, this was a real pleasure to be with you guys today, to see the magic that the off the cuff, you know, takes every day the work, the preparation, and it's it's worth a listen. I've listened to all the episodes and I love them and I think they're really valuable. We love to hear that.

Derek Ross:

Thank you so much, Eric. Thank you so much. Thank you, Eric. Once again, to our our our friends, our family, to the community, so many people that are listening to the podcast, check out all the other county podcasts too. Check out all of these departments in Montgomery County. Just check us out. See what's going on in the county. Uh, once again, thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And we'll see you again next time. There's a high five. Is that right?

SPEAKER_03:

We'll see y'all next time. I'm gonna I'm gonna put this in. I'm gonna fist bump them because we recall last time I tried to give Derek a high five and there was a splash that just happened because my hand was very sweaty. So we're gonna go ahead and say, we'll see y'all later, and we're gonna fist bump this out. Oh, fist bump it out.

Derek Ross:

If you have glasses, cheers to the new year. Cheers to the new year. Thank y'all so much. Thank you so much. See you next time.

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