A Story 46 Years in the Making, and It Needs You to Write the Next Chapter

On September 16, 1981, a small group of neighbors sat down in a room together and did something quietly radical: they decided that the stories of our community, the everyday ones, the ones that don't usually make it into history books, were worth saving.

They had founded Sandy Spring Museum the year before, in 1980, with little more than conviction and a shared belief that a place is only as strong as its memory of itself. They didn't have 100,000 digitized records. They didn't have a Regional Folklife Center. They had an idea, a handful of volunteers, and the audacity to think that ordinary history was worth extraordinary effort.

Forty-five years later, that idea is a living institution. And on Wednesday, September 16, 2026, we're inviting our entire community, virtually, wherever you are, to celebrate our Second Annual Founders' Day and to ask a simple question: what will we leave for the next 46 years?

What They Built

Because of those founders, and because of everyone who has supported this work since, Sandy Spring Museum today holds more than 100,000 digitized historical records. We serve as Montgomery County's Regional Folklife Center, documenting not just the past but the living, breathing traditions of the people who call this region home right now. The Strawberry Festival. History Happy Hour. Oral histories, family photographs, recipes, and rituals that would otherwise disappear with a generation.

None of that happens by accident. It happens because people, members, donors, volunteers, decide, year after year, that this story matters enough to fund it.

“Your adult children and grandchildren may not yet know it the way you do, but they will inherit the community whose stories we're preserving, and someday, they may be the ones deciding whether this work continues.”

Why This Moment Matters

Here's the truth: preservation is never finished. Every year, more collections need digitizing, more stories need recording, more traditions of our growing and changing community need documenting before they're lost. The work our founders started in 1981 is not behind us, it's in front of us, and it's more urgent than ever.

That's what Founders' Day is for. It's not just a celebration of what's already been built. It's a day of giving, a chance to invest, together, in what comes next.

To Our Bentley Circle and Longtime Supporters: This Is Your Legacy, Too

To our Bentley Circle members and our most steadfast donors, you didn't just write checks. You made a decision, sustained over years, that this community's memory deserves protecting. Every digitized record, every folklife program, every school visit to this museum carries a piece of your generosity in it. On September 16, we want to honor that, and we want to ask you for one more thing.

Bring someone with you to the Sandy Spring Museum family.

You know this museum's value because you've lived it. Your adult children and grandchildren may not yet know it the way you do, but they will inherit the community whose stories we're preserving, and someday, they may be the ones deciding whether this work continues. Founders' Day is the perfect, low-pressure moment to introduce them: forward them this invitation, tell them why you give, invite them to make their first gift alongside yours, even a modest one. A tradition of giving, like a tradition of memory, is best passed down deliberately, not left to chance.

To Those Who're Considering a Gift…

Maybe you've been to a Strawberry Festival. Maybe you've laughed your way through a History Happy Hour or scrolled through a historic photo we posted online. If so, you're already part of this story, you just haven't picked up the pen yet.

You don't need to be a historian or a lifelong Sandy Spring resident to help preserve this region's history or embracing the evolving cultures. You just need to believe, as those founders did in 1981, that ordinary stories deserve extraordinary care. A gift of any size on September 16 helps us digitize another record, document another tradition, share the cultural programs in our retinue, and make sure this community's memory doesn't quietly disappear.

One Day, One Community, One Story Still Being Written

Forty-six years ago, a handful of visionaries decided our region's history was worth saving. On September 16, we're asking every member of this community, longtime champions, Bentley Circle members, first-time supporters, and the next generation waiting to be invited in, to say yes to that same vision, together.

Join us virtually. Make a gift. And bring someone with you.

Sandy Spring Museum is Montgomery County's Regional Folklife Center, preserving and sharing the stories, traditions, and history that make our community unique.