Hill Rag Magazine – April 2024

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SPRING FLINGS WHAT’S ON WASHINGTON

Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival

The Sakura Matsuri—Japanese Street Festival features over 24 hours of Japanese cultural performances on four stages (including JPop, traditional Japanese music, and martial arts) and a diverse range of cultural exhibitors, artisan and commercial vendors of traditional and contemporary Japanese goods, and Japanese and other food and beverages. The festival also spotlights travel and tourism opportunities and innovative Japanese technologies. Saturday, April 13, 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, April 14, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., on Pennsylvania Avenue NW, between third and seventh. nationalcherryblossomfestival.org.

HAIR at Signature

Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860-1960

To inaugurate its 50th-anniversary season, the Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden presents “Revolutions: Art from the Hirshhorn Collection, 1860–1960,” a major survey of artwork made during a transformative period characterized by new currents in science and philosophy, and ever-increasing mechanization. “Revolutions” captures shifting cultural landscapes through the largely chronological presentation of 270 artworks in the museum’s permanent collection by 126 artists—including Francis Bacon, Jean Dubuffet, Lee Krasner, Wifredo Lam, Jacob Lawrence, Georgia O’Keeffe and Jackson Pollock—made during 100 turbulent and energetic years. “Revolutions” is at the Hirshhorn, Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW, through April 20, 2025. hirshhorn.si.edu.

From April 16 to July 7, Hair, the sensational, groundbreaking rock musical bursts with the jubilant spirit, raging rebellion and psychedelic color of the 1960s. A tribe of long-haired bohemian hippies on the cusp of adulthood champion freedom, pacifism, and joy, but confront a world thrown into chaos when one of their own receives a draft notice for the Vietnam War. With chart-topping hits such as “Aquarius,” “Let the Sunshine In,” and “Good Morning, Starshine,” HAIR’s vibrant, groovy celebration of peace, love and life changed Broadway forever and still resonates today. Tickets are $40 to $123. Signature Theatre is at 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. sigtheatre.org.

Grandma Moses, The Old Oaken Bucket, 1945. Oil on fiberboard. 14 ⅛ × 21 ⅛ in. (35.6 × 53.4 cm). Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Abraham Schneider, New York, 1974. Courtesy of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Photo: Alex Jamison

WHAT’S ON WASHINGTON

Jean-Joseph Mouret’s Les Fêtes de Thalie at the KC

This staged production is the modern premiere of Mouret’s Les Fêtes de Thalie, an opéra-ballet which broke with the French operas of its time by putting contemporary characters on stage. Opera Lafayette and Catherine Turocy continue this tradition by placing the action of these three very different stories in the modern world where every ruse ends in laughter. Les Fêtes de Thalie looks at love through the eyes of three women in these delightful vignettes: La Fille (The Girl), La Veuve Coquette (The Coquettish Widow) and La Femme (The Wife). Conducted by Christophe Rousset and directed by Catherine Turocy, these witty tales, in which women get the better of the men in their lives, feature a young and diverse cast of American singers and dancers. $30 to $135. Jean-Joseph Mouret’s Les Fêtes de Thalie is at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theatre on Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4, 7:30 p.m. (both days). kennedy-center.org.

Trevor Noah: Off the Record

Trevor Noah is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He was the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, from 2015 to 2022. He brings his “off the record” standup humor to the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall, 1776 D St. NW, on April 24 to 26 at 8 p.m. and April 27 and 28 at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $67. dar.org.

Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939 at the NPG

Through portraiture and biography, “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900–1939” illuminates the accomplishments of sixty convention-defying women who crossed the Atlantic to pursue personal and professional aspirations in the vibrant cultural milieu of Paris. As foreigners in a cosmopolitan city, these “exiles” escaped the constraints that limited them at home. Many used their newfound freedom to pursue culture-shifting experiments in a variety of fields, including art, literature, design, publishing, music, fashion, journalism, theater and dance. Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900-1939 is at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and G streets. NW, from April 26 to Feb. 23, 2025. npg.si.edu.

John Mellencamp: Live and In Person

John Mellencamp is an American singer-songwriter known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation. Mellencamp’s musical style has been described as rock, heartland rock, roots rock and folk rock. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2008, followed by an induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2018. At the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall, 1776 D St. NW, on Thursday, April 18, 8 p.m. Tickets start at $47. dar.org.

Josephine Baker Artist: Paul Colin Lithograph with pochoir coloring on paper 1927 National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, Bequest of Jean-Claude Baker© 2023 Artists Rights Society (ARS),New York/ ADAGP, Paris

Running of the Chihuahuas at The Wharf

The Running of the Chihuahuas returns to the Wharf’s District Pier on Saturday, May 4, 2 to 5 p.m. This fun-filled event features the iconic Chihuahua races, a Pacifico Beer Garden, Surfside taco stand, a DJ, pet photo booth and a giant inflatable Chihuahua for photo opportunities. Races start at 2:15 p.m. and continue throughout the event. Here’s the remaining schedule: 2:45 p.m., adoptable pet parade; 3:30 p.m., all-breeds costume contest; 4:14 p.m., chihuahuas races semi-finals, 4:30 p.m. final chihuahua race. Racer check-in is from 1 to 1:45 p.m. on the Transit Pier. wharfdc.com.

The Decemberists at The Anthem

For over 20 years, The Decemberists have been one of the most original, daring, and thrilling American rock bands. Their distinctive brand of hyper-literate folk-rock set them apart from the start with the release of their debut EP 5 Songs in 2001. Since then, the band has released nine full-length albums that are unbound by genre and highly ambitious, ranging from Americana-leaning storytelling epics to elements of 70's prog and hard rock. Now the enduring indie band is back with their first new music in six years, "Burial Ground." The Decemberists are at The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW, on Friday, May 10, 8 p.m. (doors at 6:30 p.m.). Tickets are $51 to $76. theanthemdc.com.

The Adams Morgan Art Walk

Together, in partnership with the Adams Morgan Partnership Business Improvement District, the DC Arts Center presents the 2024 AdMo Art Walk—a free, new way to experience art. Every year, local businesses in Adams Morgan partner with local artists in DC, who are invited to display their work all month long in the business’ storefront. The result is a neighborhood-wide public art exhibition where Adams Morgan becomes your own personal art gallery. This year’s art walk is from April 11 to 30. dcartscenter.org/artwalk.

Hester Street at Theater J

The world premiere of Hester Street, the theatrical adaptation of the beloved 1975 film by Joan Micklin Silver, marks the largest production Theater J’s stage has seen in years. Hester Street depicts the uplifting journey of Gitl, a young Jewish immigrant from Eastern Europe, who arrives with her son to meet her husband Jake in the tumult of the late19th century Lower East Side. Separated from his wife and the provincial limitations of his upbringing, Jake has fully embraced his new American life—one that has little in common with Gitl’s old-time ways. Faced with the disintegration of her marriage in a world she can barely comprehend, Gitl must find her voice, protect her son, and redefine her identity. Hester Street is at Theater J, 1529 16th St. NW, through April 21. Tickets are $69.99 to $90.99. edcjcc.org/theater-j.

Hester Street players enjoying a lighter moment in rehearsal.

Photo: Courtesy of the Adams Morgan BID and DC Arts Center

Photo: Courtesy of The Wharf

Handi-hour at the Renwick

On Thursday, April 25, 5:30 to 8 p.m., enjoy a night of DIY crafting, drinks, and fun at DC’s original craft happy hour. Learn how to make felt and yarn pom poms to fashion your own strand of garland. Enjoy light food, and beverages provided by ANXO cider. Light snacks, crafting materials, two drinks, and after-hours access to the Renwick Gallery are included in the ticket. Attendees must be 21+ to attend and show a valid ID at the door. Tickets are $25 and will be available beginning April 11. The Renwick is at 17th and Pennsylvania NW. americanart.si.edu.

Metamorphoses at the Folger

Ovid’s classic tales come to astonishing life in Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation where gods and mortals experience love, loss, and transformation. Juxtaposing the mythic and the modern, the stories of Aphrodite, Midas, Orpheus, Cupid, and others are told in a whimsical and poignant fashion, reminding us of the joys, follies, and heartbreaks of being human. Tickets start at $20. Pay-what-you-will on May 7, 7:30 p.m. Sales begin 5 p.m. day-of at the door and are available on a first come, first served basis. Metamorphoses is at the Folger, 201 East Capitol St., from May 7 to June 16. folger.edu.

The recurring theme, as with nearly all of Ovid’s work, is love – be it personal love or love personified in the figure of Amor.

National Cannabis Festival at RFK

The National Cannabis Festival returns to the RFK Stadium Grounds on Friday, April 19, 4 to 11 p.m. and Saturday, April 20, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., for two days of celebration featuring concert performances, Exhibitor Fair, Grower’s World, education programs, Munchies Zone, sponsor lounges and more. See their concert page at nationalcannabisfestival.com/concert. Must be 21+ to attend with a government-issued ID. General admission tickets (on sale now) are Friday, $55; Saturday, $75; $120 for both days. nationalcannabisfestival.com.

Rachel Barton Pine at the KC

Violinist Rachel Barton Pine inspires audiences worldwide with artistic excellence, boundless energy, unforgettable interpretations, and passion for philanthropy. Through her Rachel Barton Pine Foundation, she has championed, commissioned, and created educational materials to support the performance and study of music by Black composers, creating The String Student’s Library of Music by Black Composers. Accompanied by Matthew Hagle on piano.

Kennedy Center Terrace Theater on Friday, April 19, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 to $75. Kennedy-center.org.

Photo: Courtesy of Alive Coverage

Rachel Barton Pine in concert.

Meryl McMaster, Lead Me to Places I Could Never Find on My Own I, from the series “As Immense as the Sky,” 2019; Digital C-print, 40 x 60 in.; Courtesy of the artist, Stephen Bulger Gallery, and Pierre-François Ouellette art contemporain; © Meryl McMaster

New Worlds: Women to Watch

Through Aug. 11, the National Museum of Women in the Arts presents New Worlds: Women to Watch 2024, the largest edition of the museum’s longstanding series featuring international emerging artists. Opening April 14, the exhibition highlights the work of 28 visionary artists who imagine alternate realities. With perspectives that shift across geographies, cultural viewpoints and mediums, the artists inspire viewers to envision different futures. Admission is $16; seniors 70 and older and DC residents, $13; 21 and under, free. The National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW, is open daily, except Mondays. nmwa.org.

Project Glow at RFK Festival Grounds

Project GLOW, DC’s weekend-long electronic dance music festival returns to DC on April 27 and 28, 1 to 11 p.m., each day, with a vibrant lineup of some of the biggest headliners and edgiest artists, from ILLENIUM to Zedd to Rezz and more. More than fifty artists will take the three stages at the third edition of Project GLOW, presented by Insomniac (Electric Daisy Carnival) and Club Glow (Echostage, Soundcheck) at RFK Festival Grounds. Must be 18 or older. A two-day general admission pass is $195.38. There is also “general admission plus” and VIP tickets on sale at ProjectGlowFest.com.

Expecting at The Keegan

Shauna and Robbie are expecting… different things. Shauna expects motherhood won’t be easy. Robbie can’t wait to be a dad. Then she arrives. Encountering financial difficulties alongside the arrival of baby Aisling and the barriers Shauna faces, Robbie spirals. Can Shauna and Robbie adjust their expectations and find a way back to one another? Will they sink or swim? Break down barriers with c21 Theatre Company with this accessible new show as Shauna and Robbie plunge into parenthood. Developed in collaboration with deaf artist Paula Clarke and featuring both deaf and hearing artists, this poetic one-act play explores experiences unique to deaf and hearing couples. Expecting is at the Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW, from May 16 to 25. Tickets are $40: $35 for 62+. keegantheatre.com.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

The annual Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is on Saturday, May 4, 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, May 5, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. (rain or shine) at the Howard County Fairgrounds, West Friendship, MD. Stroll the grounds of the Festival and you will hear music that is indigenous to the shepherd’s life. Weaving songs, airs, jigs, hornpipes, waltzes fill the air. Bagpipes, harps, fiddles, mandolins, guitars, banjos, and hammered dulcimers ring throughout the festival, reminding us that both music and wool have come down to us through the ages. Also enjoy demonstrations, lectures, shows, sales, kids’ activities…and all things “sheep.” Admission is $12.50 when purchased online; $15 dayof; and free for under 18. Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival is 43 miles from DC. sheepandwool.org.

The Illusionists at the KC

The Illusionists is the world’s biggest-selling magic show. It has spawned two TV specials, and shattered box office records across the globe, dazzling audiences of all ages with a powerful mix of the most outrageous and astonishing acts ever seen on stage. This nonstop show features the jaw-dropping talents of the most incredible illusionists on earth. At the Kennedy Center Opera House on April 23 to 27, 7:30 p.m., and April 25, 27 and 28, at 1:30 p.m. Recommended for ages seven, up. Tickets are $35 to $169. kennedy-center.org.

Deaf Actor Paula Clarke and Hearing Actor Eoghan Lamb

WHAT’S ON WASHINGTON

Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction Object ID: 5415-028 Ed Rossbach Damask Waterfall, 1977 cotton welting cord, commercial fabric, plastic, satin damask, wrapped overall: 91.4 x 91.4 cm (36 x 36 in.) Long House Reserve. Photo: © Charles Benton, Courtesy The Artists’ Institute

Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction at the NGA

Woven Histories delves into dynamic moments when social and political issues have activated textile production and artmaking with heightened focus and urgency. Traced chronologically with 160 works made in a range of techniques—from oil painting to weaving, basketry, netting, knotting, and knitting—the exhibition explores the overlap between abstract art, fashion, design, and craft. Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstraction is at the National Gallery of Arts in the East Building, Concourse Galleries through July 28. nga.gov.

Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival at the KC

Tombs and Tomes Book Festival (Calling all bookworms!)

On Sunday, April 21, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., (rain date, April 28), experience the enchantment of books, stories, and the written word in a unique and historic venue in Washington DC—Historic Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E St. SE. Dozens of local authors, publishers, purveyors of seasonal snacks, and bookthemed arts and crafts artists will be ready to wow and dazzle all book lovers with their offerings. There will be several activities in addition to the market itself, including a keynote author presentation, a cemetery book author panel, and a poetry open mic. congressionalcemetery.org.

On Friday, May 10 and Saturday, May 11, 7:30 p.m. (both days), join the Kennedy Center in honoring the life and work of the “first lady of jazz,” legendary pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981). Hosted by the incomparable Dee Dee Bridgewater, this year’s two-day festival features performances by Eliane Elias, Endea Owens, Ingrid Jensen and the Center Song Project, Julia Keefe’s Indigenous Big Band, and more phenomenal women leading today’s jazz scene. The Mary Lou Williams Jazz Festival is at the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Tickets are $40 to $45. kennedy-center.org.

Frontieres sans Frontieres at Spooky Action

At a landfill in a country that feels familiar and foreign, three stateless youth have cobbled together a scrappy living: learning Engaleash, raising ruckus, dreaming big while getting by with little. Soon a whirlwind of tourists, social media influencers, foreign investors, and dogooders invade their home with promises of assistance and civilization—but at what cost? Philip Howze’s comic fantasia on cultural imperialism dazzles with its blistering satire and asks, who wins and who loses in a war to hold on to the people and places we love? Frontieres sans Frontieres is at at Spooky Action Theater, 1810 16th St. NW. from April 25 to May 19. spookyaction.org.

Photo: Kitty Linton

Mary Lou Williams (1910-1981)

New this year!!

GENERAL OPERATING SUPPORT

• A third application category for capacity building: This cohort will support small arts and humanities organizations that have not previously been awarded a grant by CAH

• Multi-year funding: To provide GOS organizations with greater stability and longer-term planning, a multiyear funding resource is being offered for fiscal years 2025 and 2026.

Submission Deadline: 10 pm ET, Thursday, April 11, 2024

EAST ARTS

This grant program goals are to:

• Provide access to high-quality arts and humanities experiences for residents who reside in the NE and SE quadrants of the District of Columbia.

• Enhance the quality of life by supporting a vibrant community identity through the arts and humanities.

• Support activities that highlight and elevate the creative excellence and accomplishments of artists and arts programming in the NE and SE quadrants of the District.

PROJECTS, EVENTS, OR FESTIVALS

This grant opportunity program goals:

• Provide access to high-quality arts and humanities experiences for all District of Columbia residents.

• Improve quality of life by supporting vibrant community projects within the arts and humanities.

• Strengthen the creative economy through investments in local individuals and organizations.

Submission Deadline: 10 pm ET, Thursday, April 11, 2024

dcarts.dc.gov/service/cah-grants

202-724-5613

WHAT’S ON WASHINGTON

Ellicott City SpringFest

On Saturday, April 20, noon to 8 p.m., enjoy Old Ellicott City’s two outdoor stages, food trucks, artisan crafts, kids’ activities, beer/wine gardens and the historical, eclectic town of Old Ellicott City with its 80 shops, restaurants and more. On the MAIN stage, Lot D: are Young Timerz, Electric Circus, Mercy Creek, Unity Band, Bond & Bently and Foreplay. On the WINE BIN Stage are: The Reilly Goulait Band, Fast Eddie & The Slow Pokes, Oella Express, A Work In Progress, Dirty Secret, and Swamp Donkey. Ellicott City is about 40 miles from DC. visitoldellicottcity.com/events/springfest-event.

The Return of Eva Peron: Momia en el closet at GALA

With tantalizing lyrics and the seductive allure of tango, waltz, and salsa, this wicked musical seamlessly blends history and fantasy. Follow the afterlife of Eva Perón when her preserved corpse ignites political scandals, clandestine affairs, and mysterious murders, exposing the intense love between Evita and the working class and her mesmerizing spiritual power as Argentina’s most revered icon. The Return of Eva Peron: Momia en el closet is at GALA Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW, from May 9 to June 9. Tickets are $25 to $48. galatheatre.org.

Madison Cunningham and Juana Molina at Wolf Trap

On Tuesday, April 16, 8 p.m. (doors at 6:30 p.m.), acclaimed artists Madison Cunningham and Juana Molina bring their unique takes on folk music to The Barns at Wolf Trap. Cunningham, fresh off a Grammy win for Best Folk Album and touring with Hozier and John Mayer, shares a candid self-portrait of doubt, revelations, and excitement. Molina left behind a popular sketch comedy show in Argentina to pursue music. Her singular style blends folk, electronic, and ambient sounds. Tickets start at $27. wolftrap.org.

Chocolate City Records: The Musical at the Lincoln

“Chocolate City Records, The Musical”, is set in Washington DC, in the 1980s, where the city’s rich history, iconic figures, and soulful sounds ignite a vibrant music scene. The musical unfolds the captivating tale of Luther, the visionary behind the emerging record label, and his ambition to create a musical empire. The spotlight intensifies as Luther’s new girl group, The Four Diamonds relationships unravel as they prepare for a fierce competition in New York City at the world-famous Apollo Theater. “Chocolate City Records, The Musical” is a celebration of passion, rivalry, and the music that defines the culture and resilience of the city. Chocolate City Records: The Musical is at the Lincoln Theater, 1215 U St. NW, May 10 and 11, 7 p.m. and May 12, 5 p.m. Tickets are $60 to $125. thelincolndc.com.

Juana Molina and Madison Cunningham

Juan Domingo Peron y su esposa Eva Peron en la ceremonia de Asuncion de su segunda presidencia.

STAR WARS WEEKEND RETURNS TO BARRACKS ROW!

MAY 3RD & 4TH

UNLEASH THE FORCE WITHIN!

Join the celebration on Barracks Row as 8th Street SE morphs into a Star Wars galaxy for a fan-fueled extravaganza.

May the 3 rd

The Force Awakens:

· Meet & Greet: Encounter favorite characters (5-6 PM, Eastern Market Metro Park).

· LIVE Lightsaber Battle: (5:30 PM, Eastern Market Metro Park).

· Jedi Lightsaber Parade: A visual spectacle (6-7 PM, from Eastern Market Metro Park to 8th St SE).

· Art & Entertainment: Explore Star Wars-themed art at Frame of Mine, plus all-day entertainment and exclusive food specials from & Pizza, Matchbox, Taco City DC, and more.

May the 4 TH

May the Force Be With You:

· Jedi Training for Younglings: Interactive fun for kids aged 3 to 10 (1-3 PM, 507 8th Street SE).

· Games & Movie Night: Enjoy Star Wars game demos at Labyrinth Games & Puzzles, and a screening of “STAR WARS: A NEW HOPE” at The Miracle Theater.

· More Meet & Greets: Engage with your favorite characters throughout the day.

Special Highlights:

• Themed Cocktails & Food at participating venues.

• Raffle: Win unique memorabilia or dining experiences, supporting Barracks Row Main Street.

For more details and raffle tickets, visit

barracksrow.org/ starwarsweekend

@barracksrow

LOCAL CALENDAR

Congressional Cemetery Launches Public Art Program. Historic Congressional Cemetery has announced a public art program, launching with a newly commissioned installation open through June 30. congressionalcemetery.org.

Congressional Investigations Exhibit at the Capitol. Open through July 2024. Examine historical investigations to see how Congress works, what happen s during its inquiries and how it often results in legislation. The Capitol Visitor Center is open to visitors with tour reservations from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily except Sundays Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Inauguration Day. visitthecapitol.gov.

Unknown Soldier at Arena. Through May 5. Cleaning out her grandmother’s home, Ellen Rabinowitz discovers the photograph of an anonymous soldier tucked away in a box of keepsakes. $76 to $95. Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. arenastage.org.

East City Art’s Capital Art Book Fair. April 6, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; April 7, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern Market’s North Hall, 225 Seventh St. SE. artbookfair.eastcity.com

Atlas Presents Silent Film Series: Bare Knees (1928). April 14, 4 p.m. In the film, Virginia Lee Corbin plays the family’s black sheep, who returns to her small hometown causing a sensation with her short skirts, cigarettes and other “flapper” accouterments. The screening with live musical accompaniment will include a pre-show intro and a post-show discussion with Andrew Earle Simpson. $25. atlasarts.org.

Courtesy of Gotham Productions

Brought to You by Schneider's of Capitol Hill

Congressional Cemetery Speaker Series: The Lincoln Assassination. April 14, 1 to 2:30 p.m. The story of the 16th President’s assassination is a well-known one. Hundreds of books, thousands of articles, and dozens of special exhibits are just some of the ways this story has been told. But have you ever seen the story told using the graves of those involved with the assassination? $5. Next Speaker Series talk is on Jewish Americans on May 19. congressionalcemetery.org.

Sing Out Piano Bar and Open Mic with Gay Man’s Chorus. April 10, 7:30 to 11 p.m. Come out to sing with live piano accompaniment or just enjoy the music. Free admission. The Atlas, 1333 H St. NE. atlasarts.org.

Congressional Cemetery’s Cherry Blossom 5k. April 13, 9 to 11 a.m. Enjoy a beautiful and invigorating run (or walk) inside the cemetery in the company of some of the cemetery’s beloved cherry trees. $35. congressionalcemetery.org.

SE/NE Library Book Sale. April 13, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Most books are $1. The new book sale location is NE Library, 330 Seventh St. NE (corner of Seventh Street and Maryland Avenue NE). dclibrary.org.

DC Beer Fest at Nat’s Park. Saturday, April 13, noon to 3 p.m. and 5 to 8 p.m. Bring your friends and soak in the spring weather while indulging in beer samples from over 80 breweries.

WINE. BEER.

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Retail Price: $315.88

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Mixed Case Price: $189.99 more than 40% Off Retail!

2021Scarpetta ‘Frico’ Rosso Toscana IGT$14.99$10.99

2020 Doussot Rollet Aloxe Corton Les Crapousuets $64.99$54.99

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VISIT CELLAR.COM CALL 202.543.9300

Groove to the live music beats and savor the culinary delights offered by a variety of food trucks. $50 general admission. Must be 21+. mlb.com/nationals/tickets/ events/dc-beer-festival.

Chiarina Chamber Players’ Enchantment: Trios by Arensky, Ravel, Boulanger, and Esmail. April 14, 7:30 p.m. These imaginative works create an all-encompassing experience where sound, sky, and seascape collide. St. Mark’s Capitol Hill, 301 A St. SE. General admission tickets are $30; 18 and under, free. chiarina.org.

Nat’s Park Friday Night Fireworks (with music). April 19 following the 6:45 p.m. game vs. the Astros. mlb.com/ nationals.

National Cannabis Festival. April 19 and 20. A celebration featuring concert performances, Exhibitor Fair, Grower’s World, education programs, Munchies Zone, sponsor lounges and more. RFK Stadium Grounds. $35 to $125. eventsdc.com/events/national-cannabis-festival-2.

SW Library Book Sale. April 20. 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and April 21, 1 to 3 p.m. Most items are $1 or less with a $5 bag sale on Sunday, 2 to 3 p.m. They take cash, checks and Venmo. Southwest Library, 900 Wesley Pl. SW. dclibrary.org.

Poetry on Demand with The Walking Mall Poet. April 20, noon to 3 p.m. Stop by the Southwest Library for a personalized typewritten poem written while you wait by The Walking Mall Poet. SW Library is at 900 Wesley Pl. SW. dclibrary.org.

Furia Flamenca Dance Company:

Recordando La Alhambra. April 27, 5 p.m. Discover how the Arab-Islamic world fused with the culture of Granada in Spain to help give birth to the gypsy dance form of flamenco. $37. The Atlas, 1333 H St. NE. atlasarts.org.

Half Street Central Farm Market

Opens for Season. Saturdays, May 4 through Dec. 21, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The market features table seating, music, kids’ activities, chef demos, and more.

FULL TIME JOB OPENING

Direct Support Professionals

Job Requirements:

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1250 Half St. SE. centralfarmmarkets. com/half-street.

Capital City Symphony: Take Me to the River. May 5, 5 p.m. Their season closer kicks off with French-Canadian American cellist Romain-Olivier Gray’s performance of Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A minor. Then embark on a musical voyage through iconic rivers with Smetana’s The Moldau and Florence Price’s The Mississippi River. Then a deep five into the Mississippi with Florence Price’s composition that pays homage to the river’s long journey through the US from dawn in Native American lands to New Orleans. $35. The Atlas, 1333 H St. NE. atlasarts.org.

Helen Hayes Awards at The Anthem. May 20, 6:30 p.m. (doors at 5 p.m.). $85 to $360. The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. theanthemdc.com.

American Roots Concert: Viv & Riley. May 5, 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. A bittersweet nostalgia lies at the heart of Imaginary People, the new album from Viv & Riley, released in 2023 on Free Dirt Records. Over ten tracks, the pair applies an indie roots sheen to newly composed pop gems. This is a free outdoor concert at Hill Center. Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. hillcenterdc.org.

CiNoMatic Outdoor Movies at Alethia Tanner Park. Wednesdays at sunset, May 8 to June 5. Bring your own chair and blanket and get there early to grab a spot on the lawn. Enjoy dinner from a local DC food truck, sit back, and enjoy the show. Alethia Tanner Park is at 227 Harry Thomas Way NE. nomabid.org/annual-events/cinematic.

SW Night Market. May 10 and 24; June 7 and 21; July 5 and 19, Aug. 2, 16 and 30; and Sept. 13 and 27; 4 to 10 p.m. Fourth and M streets, SW. marketswdc.com.

Carpe Librum Used Book Sale. May 11, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Join Carpe Librum in the middle block of Canal Park, 200 N St. SE,

up, nonprofit used-book sale. Browse through thousands of books all under $6. turningthepage.org.

Monthly Barracks Row Socials. May 15 (every third Wednesday), 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Barracks Row Mainstreet invites their friends and neighbors to this fun new event. Come solo and make friends. Visit barracksrow.org for location(s) and details.

Stone Room Concerts @ Hill Center. Latin GRAMMY Nominee Sam Reider & The Human Hands, May 17, 7 to 9 p.m., $20; Singer/Songwriter Rochelle Rice with Pianist Janelle Gill, June 14, 7 to 9 p.m., $20. Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. hillcenterdc.org.

Bike to Work at The Wharf. May 17, 7 to 9 a.m. Start your day by pedaling to The Wharf’s bicycle pit stop at 7th Street Park, Seventh and Maine avenues SW, for a quick snack. If you work from home, you can still ride to The Wharf for your morning coffee. wharfdc.com.

DuPont Brass in Concert. May 19, 3:45 to 5:30 p.m. DuPont Brass is a brass-driven supergroup from the DMV. Originally composed of five music majors from Howard University trying to raise money for tuition during the Christmas season, they have grown to a nine-piece ensemble consisting of brass, a rhythm section, and vocalists. $20. Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. hillcenterdc.org.

Congressional Cemetery Speaker Series: Jewish Americans. May 19, 1 to 2:30 p.m. Hear some of the Jewish narratives preserved forever at Historic Congressional Cemetery. Dozens of Jews are interred at Congressional. Their stories remain as a testament to the dedication of Jewish Americans to live and thrive in DC. $5. congressionalcemetery.org.

Helen Hayes Awards at The Anthem. May 20, 6:30 p.m. (doors at 5 p.m.). $85 to $360. The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. theanthemdc.com. ◆

walkways, lighting, and water features

• Patios, rooftop gardens, townhomes, single-family homes

• Trees & shrubs, formal & informal gardens

• Custom Masonry, Fencing, and Ironwork

• Restoration and Enhancement

Home Sweet Climate-Friendly Home

by Catherine Plume

With the cherry blossoms blooming in February, climate deniers are having a tough time of it. While global climate solutions are beyond the capacity of any one person, there are still impactful things that you can do to make your home and neighborhood a climate friendlier oasis—without breaking the bank.

Go solar!

Did you know that over 93% of the energy generated by Pepco, DC’s electric utility, comes from gas, nuclear, and coal sources that generate greenhouse gas (GHG) and contribute to climate change?

Thanks to DC’s many incentives, more than 56% of DC’s energy is generated from solar. In addition to being a renewable energy source, DC’s solar programs can save you money on your electric bill, generate lucrative solar renewable energy

credits (SRECs), and provide you with a federal tax credit that together can pay for the investment in four to five years. Don’t have the money to pay for the panels upfront or rent your home or live in an apartment or condo? DC has programs for you (https://doee.dc.gov/service/solar-initiatives) including free solar installations for qualifying residents through the Solar for All program (https:// doee.dc.gov/solarforall).

Reduce your food waste –and compost!

According to the DC Solid Waste Diversion Report 2019-2022, the District generated an estimated 64,000 tons of organic waste---food waste, leaves, and yard waste—in 2022. When landfilled or incinerated (as DC waste is), organic waste produces roughly equal parts of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4), a GHG 28 times

more impactful than CO2. While we await a District-wide residential composting program (the Department of Public Works (DPW) is currently piloting such a project across all eight DC Wards), you still have several options:

• food waste (including meat and dairy as of 2024!) can be dropped off for free at farmers markets across the District. See https:// zerowaste.dc.gov/foodwastedropoff for locations and times.

• food waste (but no meat or dairy) can be dropped off at one of 50 community gardens across the District through the Community Compost Cooperative. You’ll need to take a short training course and help mange the compost to participate. See https://dpr. dc.gov/page/community-compost-cooperative-network

• composting in your backyard. The DCbased Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) has some excellent resources for community and backyard composting along

The humble (and rat proof) home composter helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions and provides excellent organic fertilizer for your yard and garden. Photo credit: C. Plume

with tips for avoiding and eliminating rats. https:// cdn.ilsr.org/wp-content/ uploads/2022/08/OhRats-How-to-Avoid-Rodents-at-CommunityComposting-Sites-2.pdf

• compost your yard waste. Call 311 (or use the app) to schedule a pick up and place yard waste in the large brown paper bags available at most hardware stores.

Swap out your gas stove and furnace.

Matt Gravatt is chair of the Sierra Club DC Chapter and a Capitol Hill resident. He notes that swapping out your gas stove for an induction model or installing highly efficient heat pumps for home air and water heating is one of the best things you can do to improve air quality in your home. Gas appliances release toxic and carcinogenic chemicals directly into your home. Fortunately, there are a lot of cleaner options on the market at various price points. Matt notes, “The costs of these appliances are coming down while the

Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) offers tax benefits that help offset the costs. Since these appliances are highly efficient, making the switch to all-electric could reduce your utility bills. This handy calculator from Rewiring America (https://homes.rewiringamerica.org/calculator) can help homeowners and renters understand the credits and incentives available.” The DC Council is considering legislation, the Healthy Homes and Residential Electrification Amendment Act of 2023, that would help 30,000 low- and moderate-income households across DC electrify their homes at no cost.

Replace – or improve those old windows.

The US Department of Energy estimates that 25-30 percent of a home’s heating and cooling energy is lost through windows. It can be expensive to replace windows, so if you’re not ready to shell out the money, storm windows are making a comeback and can provide many of the same bene ts as energy-e cient windows at about 1/3 of the cost.

Still looking for climatefriendly ideas?

Keya Chatterjee, ANC 6A Vice Chair and Board President for the Sunrise Movement Education Fund, is a huge proponent of fossil-fuel-free lifestyles and has a solar-powered all-electric home where she line dries her clothes. “Sustainable lifestyles are a great way to save money, improve your health, and get closer to nature. Plus they are contagious! I remember being one of the very few parents biking to school with my preschooler back in 2013, and now we have so many parents participating in Hill Family Biking (hillfamilybiking.org/)! Similarly, if you start line drying your clothes and talking about how much longer your clothes last, you might inspire a neighbor to do the same, who might in turn inspire another neighbor, and so on and so on.”

Catherine Plume is a lifelong environmentalist, a writer, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club DC Chapter and an Admin for her neighborhood BuyNothing group. Perspectives expressed are her own and do not necessarily represent the positions of that organization. ◆

Lights Out!

It’s for the birds—and humans!

by Catherine Plume

Did you know the week of April 2-8, 2024 has officially been proclaimed International Dark Sky Week in Washington, DC? The proclamation notes that “DC’s residents – like 80% of all people living on Earth – live under a dome of light pollution that causes significant ecological harm and threatens the health and well-being of all life.” The Mayor issued the proclamation at the behest of DarkSky DC (www.facebook.com/darkskiesdc/), DC’s non-profit advocate for controlling light pollution. Local organizations City Wildlife (citywildlife. org/) and the National Capital Astronomers (capitalastronomers.org/) strongly supported the proclamation.

The timing of the declaration is important as it coincides with the spring bird migration when as many as 500 species of birds and literally millions of individual birds migrate north through the Atlantic Flyway that runs from Canada down along the east coast of the US (and through DC) and on into the Caribbean and South America. These birds follow the same route in the fall as they migrate south. Julia K. Stevenson, a DC native and member of Dark Sky DC, advocated for the proclamation, noting, “There are so many compelling reasons to reduce lighting and/or install better lighting options—the disruption to ecosystems, the harmful implications for human health, the energy wasted, and the sums of money expended. Unless reined in, artificial lights at night will wash away the stars, leaving us in a perpetual twilight.”

tion Act of 2022, requiring bird-safe glass and design on all new and majorly renovated buildings in DC. As a part of their advocacy for that bill, they’ve documented bird death due to collisions with glass windows and excessive lighting. Anne Lewis, Founding President of City Wildlife was pleased with the Dark Sky Week proclamation. “Light pollution is hazardous to wildlife. It confuses migratory birds and is a prime cause of bird/glass collisions. Light pollution also distorts circadian rhythms in wildlife—including birds—and predator/ prey relationships, causing an overall decrease in biodiversity. Dark Sky Week in DC will bring needed attention to the importance of reducing artificial night lighting in DC and will benefit our native wildlife.”

What Can You Do

How can you celebrate Dark Sky Week DC?

While there’s no mention of specific action that the DC government will be taking as a part of International Dark Sky Week, DarkSky.org has five principles for responsible lighting that you can follow to improve your outdoor lighting, to benefit humans and wildlife—and save money.

Do your lights have a clear purpose? If you have some lighting that does not serve a purpose, disconnect them or remove the lamp/bulb.

Is the light directed where it is needed? Any light aimed at the sky is wasted light that contributes to light pollution. Consider finding light fixtures that are more focused to eliminate any light going into the sky or onto your neighbor’s property.

City Wildlife has been advocating for less intense lighting in DC for years. They led the effort to pass the the Migratory Local Wildlife Protec-

Are the lights generating more light than you really need? You might be over-lighting, putting more light into the night environment than you

Just a sample of the birds that have fallen victim to over-lighting and glass windows in DC.

Photo Credit: City Wildlife

need. Change your light switch to a dimmer or use a lower-wattage bulb.

Are your lights on all night long? If so, why? Consider using timers for porch lights and occupancy sensors for security lights. These controls will save a lot of energy and eliminate unnecessary lighting that contributes to light pollution.

Are you using warmer colored lighting where possible?

When purchasing outdoor lighting products for your home, look at the correlated color temperature (CCT) for the lamp or xture, and make sure it’s 2700K (Kelvin) or lower. Higher numbers contribute more to light pollution. And, the color of your lighting matters, too. While science has yet to determine the “best” color of outdoor light for wildlife, there’s gathering consensus that yellow “bug lights— insect deterrent bulbs that your grandma might have used (in the 2000–2700K range) provide a great source of outdoor lighting for insects. And, in general, what’s good for insects, is good for birds.

Don’t forget that April 8, the Earth will be celebrating it’s own “Lights Out” day with a solar eclipse. While, DC isn’t directly in the pathway, the sun will still be approximately 90% obscured. What a great way to culminate DC’s Dark Sky Week!

Catherine Plume is a lifelong environmentalist, a writer, and a member of the Executive Committee of the Sierra Club DC Chapter and an Admin for her neighborhood BuyNothing group. Perspectives expressed are her own and do not necessarily represent the positions of that organization. ◆

A New Green Deal for Schools

With SBOE support, students turn to DC Council

by Theo Weller

In the face of the climate crisis and existing inequities in the city, it is crucial schools are prepared to prioritize student safety, health, and education,” said student Anna Mayer, co-founder of the School Without Walls chapter of the Sunrise Movement (www.sunrisemovement.org).

On Jan. 17, the DC State Board of Education (SBOE) unanimously voted in favor of a resolution supporting a Green New Deal for District Schools, becoming the second school board in the country to affirm such resolution. Led by School Without Walls High School (SWWHS, 2130 G St. NW) students including Mayer, the resolution aims to assure that all students “can attend safe, clean and climate prepared schools.”

75 people attended the DC SBOE meeting to support the resolution, which passed to an outburst of applause from supporters and from board members. “It was a relief— we had put a lot of work in and it felt like a really big culminating event of everything that we’ve been doing for the last three months,” said Mayer.

The DC Green New Deal for Schools consists of five demands. First, that schools are in safe and clean buildings. Second, that students should be provided with free and healthy lunch. Third, that schools should provide pathways to “green jobs,”,or jobs in sustainable industries. Fourth, that schools are equipped with climate disaster plans. And fifth, that curriculums are adjusted to include climate education.

It is modeled after the Green New Deal for Public Schools, a federal bill first introduced by Representative Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) in 2021. The only other district in the US to support the deal

at the state-level was Boulder Valley School District in November of 2023.

Under the leadership of then-sophomores Mayer and fellow co-founder Zoe Fisher, the SWWHS chapter of Sunrise began meeting at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year. The club’s faculty sponsor is Rachel Blessing, a long-time social studies teacher at SWWHS and also an alumni of the school.

Though the National Sunrise Movement wrote the draft for the Green New Deal for Schools, the SWWHS chapter was responsible for refining the resolution into a version that the SBOE would support.

Students saw they have done the work because they believe in the cause. “I’ve been motivated to get the Green New Deal for Schools passed because I believe one of the most effective ways to actually make an impact in stopping the climate crisis is to go to those in power and make systemic changes that will better our community,” said Fisher.

Gwen Morris, another junior who is part of the club, said advocacy with the SWWHS Sunrise chapter allows her to take positive action that will alleviate her fears about the future. “I’ve been scared and angry about the climate emergency for years,” she said. “The [Green New Deal for Schools] gives my peers and me a voice with which to stand up for our schools and enact change in our communities.”

The club now has around 20 members, but over 100 students from all eight wards are part of effort around the Green New Deal for Schools, according to Fisher. “I think they’re doing a great job in being change makers and changing the world,” said Blessing.

Though a victory for Sunrise Movement, the DC SBOE resolution is largely symbolic. DC’s SBOE is primarily in charge of setting the

Students pose with a DC State Board of Education members and a copy of their resolution after the latter was supported at a Jan. 17 meeting of SBOE. Photo: Courtesy SWWHS Sunrise

curriculum and graduation standards. Outside of that, the SBOE serves to advocate for students and use their knowledge to advise the O ce of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), but it does not have authority to impose change on the school system.

Persuading the DC City Council

DC Council would need to pass and fund legislation in order for the provisions of the Green New Deal to be implemented. At a meeting of the DC Council Committee of the Whole on Feb. 28, representatives from the Sunrise Club presented a report consisting of ten new, more speci c demands. Some of the most notable ones include a requirement for all eligible schools to be equipped with solar panels, modern and sustainable HVAC systems that are checked regularly and mandating that future DCPS renovations result in net zero energy buildings.

Numerous students from several DCPS schools testi ed. While the phrase “Green New Deal” sounds like a plan focused on sustainability, students spent much of the time arguing for better, more equitable infrastructure in schools.

Kahri Borum, a senior at Anacostia High School, described the subpar state of facilities at the school. “We look up to the ceiling and see exposed wires on every oor,” she said. “When we go into our bathrooms we have broken sinks and some of our toilets may be broken and will not get xed until a week later… How can we learn if we feel parts of the building are unsafe and unsanitary?”

DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) told the students that their coordinated testimony was quite impressive. But he questioned

the need for additional sustainable building requirements for DCPS buildings, noting that DC Code already includes the Clean Energy DC Building Code Amendment Act, which requires construction projects in DC to be net-zero by 2026.

Mindsets like Mendelson’s may detract from the urgency of writing Green New Deal for Schools legislation for DC. It might also be dicult to fund. With DC co ers already depleted due to the city’s struggling real estate market as well as the end of federal COVID-19 pandemic related aid, introducing new costs for schools is not an easy sell.

Despite a di cult path ahead, the club’s leaders say they feel condent going forward. DC SBOE representatives have assured SWWHS Sunrise members that they will advocate for legislation aligned with the deal in upcoming city council meetings. “I also know that we have a lot of support in various places in the city and so far the initiative has been a big success,” Mayer said, “and I have no real reason to think that it would stop.”

Along with working with council members to introduce DC Green Deal Legislation in place, the club is selling t-shirts to fund the creation of paraphernalia promoting the initiative.

The club plans to focus most of their e orts towards this legislation over the next few months. Learn more about the Sunrise Movement and the Green New Deal for Schools at www.sunrisemovement.org/campaign/green-new-deal-for-schools. Learn more about SWWHS at www. swwhs.org. ◆

11th Street Bridge Park Progress report on this exciting project

by Bill Matuszeski

The 11th Street Bridge Park, scheduled for completion by early 2026, will be the first elevated park in the nation’s capital – literally a park that is also a bridge. Stretching across the Anacostia River, the 11th Street Bridge Park will connect the city’s Navy Yard with the Anacostia neighborhoods in Southeast D.C., particularly the historically disenfranchised neighborhoods of Anacostia, Fairlawn and Barry Farm east of the river.

What has taken the time and consumed part of the budget were a series of steps to assure that the Bridge Park does not decrease the welfare and economic affordability of life for those on the Anacostia side of the River. There are intentional efforts to avoid displacement of current residents, increase homeownership in Black communities, and address unemployment rates. For example, renters of houses, apartments and business spaces might be essentially driven out by the increased rents resulting from increased demand because of the bridge project. So there should be a broad communitydriven set of projects grounded in equity to mitigate this issue.

Building Bridges Across

the River (Building-Bridges), the non-profit that will be in charge of the Bridge Park, is now active in the communities. As explained by Scott Kratz, Senior Vice President of Building Bridges, the idea is to expand beyond the construction of the new bridge and reach out to communities ahead of construction and make them want to join the others already in the mix of groups and neighborhoods to help design what should be in the Bridge Park and surrounding areas. A video about the resident-driven solutions addressing displacement concerns was produced by Pendragwn Productions and nominated for an Emmy.

It all seems to be working and spreading among neighborhoods and groups long at work in trying to deal with these issues. Three leaders have been especially important:

Kristina Noel leads the Anacostia Business Improvement District with a number of partnerships helping small businesses east of the River through technical assistance and cash grants.

Anesa Saunders runs the Skyland Workforce Center, where the 37th construction training program in advance of groundbreaking at the 11th Street Bridge Park was recently completed.

Carrie Vaughn is Director of Farms for the BridgePark Program of the 11th Street Bridge Project. Six bridge-park plots are planned to join other urban farms up and down the River.

Once the 11th Street Bridge Project opens for business, there will be classes indoors and outdoors on how best to grow all manner of plants. Families, school classes and individuals will all be welcome to join. There will also be docks where boats can be docked or rented. And many walks at all levels from one side of the River to the other. These will be filled with vistas of the River, distant boats and bridges.

A lot to look forward to! u

National Arboretum Azalea Peak. Peak bloom can vary by two weeks or more, depending on the weather, but usually takes place around the end of April. The earliest peak date reported in the last decade was April 15; the latest was May 4. usna.usda.gov.

Farmers’ Market SW Opens for Season. Saturdays, April 6 through Nov. 24, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The market, at Fourth and M streets SW, o ers baked goods, co ee, jams/jellies, prepared foods, pasture-raised meats & eggs, and locally grown fresh produce. diversemarkets.net.

Fort Stanton Park Monthly Volunteer Days. On the rst Saturday of every month, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., help remove trash and invasive plants from Fort Stanton Park. Volunteers meet in front of the Ft. Stanton Recreation Center, 1812 Erie St. SE. Register at ward8woods.org/ fort-stanton-park.

Shepherd Parkway Monthly Volunteer Days. On the second Saturday of every month, 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., help remove trash and invasive plants from Fort Shepherd Parkway. Volunteers meet at 555 Newcomb St. SE.

CALENDAR

Earth day 2024

Register at ward8woods.org/ shepherd-parkway.

seum in the Kogod Courtyard to learn how art and science can help protect the earth. americanart. si.edu.

Live at the Library--Sakura: Icon of Spring. April 18, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. For more than a hundred years, cherry blossoms have signaled the arrival of spring in Washington, DC. They have become symbols of peace and friendship between the United States and Japan. This display, “Sakura: Icon of Spring”, features the Library of Congress’s extensive Sakura collections and a new book on the subject. loc.gov/live.

Earth Day—Youth In Action: Indigenous Eco- Icon of Spring.

Earth Day—Youth In Action: Indigenous Ecosystems. April 20, 2 to 3 p.m. How do Native youth activists envision a sustainable future? How are Native communities uniquely a ected by climate change? Join Seneca Johnson (Mvskoke) and Sgaahl Siid Xyáahl Jaad (Marina Anderson [Haida/Tlingit]) in a conversation moderated by Jade Begay (Tesuque Pueblo/Diné) as they discuss their work to create a more equitable and sustainable future. American Indian Museum, Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW. americanindian.si.edu.

a hundred years, cherry blos- youth activists envision a sustainable future? How

Earth Day Family Festival. April 20, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., join the National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Mu-

Potomac River Cleanup at Gravelly Point Park. April 20, 8 to 11 a.m. Sign up for one of 50 spots available, which will allow you to make a di erence for your hometown river. Gravelly Point Park is o George Washington Parkway, Arlington. potomac. org/events.

Anacostia Watershed Society Earth Day Cleanup.

April 20, 10 a.m. to noon. Registration will be open until April 16. This year, join thousands of volunteers around the watershed to pick up trash, serve your community, and enjoy the Anacostia River. Visit their site registration portal at anacostiaws.org to choose your site and register. anacostiaws.org.

Flower Mart at the National Cathedral.

The National Cathedral’s 85th Flower Mart “In Bloom” is on Friday, May 3, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The annual Flower Mart is the largest fundraiser for the Cathedral’s gardens and grounds. It features a white elephant tent, an international oral display, plants and gifts for sale, tower climbs, free live entertainment, and food. allhallowsguild.org.

Arboretum Garden Fair and Plant Sale. April 27, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Celebrate spring with the Arboretum’s fantastic array of plants, expert gardening advice, dozens of local vendors, and outdoor activities in the New York Avenue parking lot. The annual Garden Fair & Plant Sale is FONA’s largest seasonal festival and is an important fundraiser for them. fona.org.

NoMa Farmers Market Opens for Season (in new location). Thurs-

days, May through October, from 4 to 8 p.m. This season the market is moving to Third Street, South of New York Ave., across from the Union Market District. diversemarkets.net.

Anacostia River Festival. May 4, 1 to 5 p.m. The 11th Street Bridge Park and the National Park Service present the tenth annual Anacostia River Festival. This free, family-friendly event features live entertainment, arts, crafts, games and art exhibitions.

The DC Department of Energy and Environment is hosting free fishing workshops. All gear, including rods, reels, bait, and tackle, will be provided by and staff will be on hand to instruct and help anglers new and old. bbardc.org/arf.

Half Street Central Farm Market Opens for Season. Saturdays, May 4 through Dec. 21, 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. The market features table seating, music, kids’ activities, chef demos, and more. 1250 Half St. SE. centralfarmmarkets.com/half-street.

Waste Less–Recycle More. To learn more about ways you can reduce household waste, sign up for periodic updates at zerowaste.dc.gov.

DC Food Waste Drop-Off

Sites. District residents can drop-off food waste to be composted at designated farmers markets and community sites. The drop-off locations are open on the weekends in all eight wards. Food Waste Drop-Off sites may be closed if the hosting farmers market is closed. Check their website for specifics dates at zerowaste.dc.gov/ foodwastedropoff.

DC Urban Farm Tax Abatement Program. DC offers up to a 90% property tax abatement for individuals whose property is being actively used as an urban farm, pursuant to DC Official Code §47-868 “Reduced tax liability for certain urban farms”, for a maximum annual abatement of $20,000. doee.dc.gov/ node/1592086. u

The 2024 Capitol Hill Achievement Awardees

by Stephanie Deutsch

Each year the Capitol Hill Community Foundation recognizes individuals who have made a significant contribution to our neighborhood in a wide variety of ways. There is a strong element of theater in this chosen this year. The honorees share a belief in the power of the performing arts to inform and inspire individuals and, beyond that, to knit communities together. For their significant contributions to Washington, DC, but more specifically to Capitol Hill, Vera Oyé Yaa-Anna, Jane Lang and Michael Witmore will be honored at a fundraising gala at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church on May 22.

Vera Oyé-Yaa Anna

Vera Oyé Yaa-Anna has built her career around traditions she learned in Liberia where she grew up “Americo-Liberian,” descended on her father’s side from Americans who had migrated there in the mid-nineteenth century to escape the horrors of slavery and on her mother’s from the Grebo people of West Africa. It was a childhood she describes as “privileged,” with good education at a private boarding school and little experience of racial prejudice. She went to university, studying marketing and, later, worked for the United Nations Industrialization Organization.

In 1980 Liberia’s president was ousted in a violent coup d’état creating social disruptions that brought Vera and other members of her family to America, specifically to Los Angeles. There she continued her studies and was awarded a bachelor of science degree in marketing at Pepperdine University. She found employment as a paralegal and a head hunter.

Over time, both in the US and in Liberia where she returned for a period, and battling a sense of dislocation and depression, Vera began to discern a sense of mission, a belief that her real role was not as a business woman but was, rather, as a story teller with powerful knowledge to

share with children. She realized that she knew much about food, dancing, music and culture and that there was a hunger here not just for the African-inspired food she prepared, but for the stories she told as she prepared it.

So, having settled in Washington, DC, in 2003, she created a non-profit called Oyé Palaver Hut, Inc. “Throughout West Africa,” she explains, “you have a place called the Palaver Hut. It’s a small gazebo-like structure that people use as a meeting place, like city hall. It’s where the elders come to listen to disputes and where people can come and settle them. It’s also where people come to be enter-

tained.” Vera’s enthusiasm was infectious and soon she was presenting story-telling programs for children at Friendship House, the social service center that served the Capitol Hill for decades. Her first grant of financial aid came from John Harrod at Eastern Market who gave her $250 so she could buy food and show children how to cook it and how to eat it. “I don’t eat fast food,” she says. “I couldn’t understand the food children were eating.” So she introduced them to avocadoes, okra, vegetable-laden jollof rice and kelewele or fried plantains. “I felt like the kids were absorbing happiness from me,” she remembers. “Children became my therapy.”

Jane Land, Vera Oyé Yaa-Anna and Michael Witmore are this years Capitol Hill Achievement Award honorees

Today Vera presents a variety of programs in venues from schools and after-school programs to public-housing sites and summer camps. She gets funding from sources such as the Capitol Hill Community Foundation and the DC Commission on the Arts. Her programs include, besides nutrition and cooking, African Djembe Drum Circles, dancing and participatory story-telling. She lives here on the Hill, but in other parts of the city as well children call her “Auntie Oyé.”

Thinking about her work Vera comments that “you throw the seeds out and you don’t know where they land.” She is convinced that she is doing the work she was born to do and that at least some of the seeds she scatters will take root in fertile soil, empowering and encouraging our young people.

Jane Lang

Jane Lang has had two distinct Washington, DC careers. She was for decades a successful lawyer, the first female partner at the prestigious Steptoe & Johnson law firm, a hard-charging litigator arguing, among other things, on behalf of victims of workplace discrimination, and, for several years, General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She is also dedicated to the arts and a serious and effective philanthropist. She is chairman of the Board of the Eugene M. Lang Foundation created by her father in 1963 which offers significant grants in support of education, the arts and civic engagement. And it is thanks to her efforts that the long-abandoned Atlas movie house on H Street NE has been transformed into the Atlas Performing Arts Center, a popular venue for theater, dance, music and a variety of programs for children.

Twenty-five years ago, Jane, who in addition to her legal career had long had an interest in the arts, produced a play based on the “Migration Series” paintings by Jacob Lawrence. Written by playwright Karen Evans (who had begun her career as president of the drama club at Eastern High School), “Leaving the Summerland” was eventually performed at Theater J at the Jewish Community Center and won a Helen Hays award for set design. The search for a suitable venue had made Jane aware of the lack of theater spaces available to rent for small productions. So she began to consider creating one.

When Jane and her late husband Paul Sprenger first visited the abandoned Atlas movie theater on

H Street she had never been to Northeast Washington. “I had traveled around the world,” she remembers with a laugh, “but I had never left Northwest.” When Paul suggested that the space might not be quite what she was looking for Jane responded that she had been convinced by a dream that – actually –it could work. In June of 2001, after complex legal and financial negotiations, the building was theirs.

During the years that followed Jane endured the skepticism of many. One potential donor told her that investing on H Street is like “flushing money down the toilet.” Another said “D.C. is a nightmare.” But she persevered, engaging in long negotiations with the city and raising some $24 million from a wide variety of sources including her father, philanthropist Eugene Lang, and the local Meyer, Kiplinger, Kogod and Cafritz Foundations. In March, 2005 the building’s dance studios opened with singer Debbie Allen cutting the ribbon. The theaters opened the following year.

Since then the Atlas has hosted a variety of events and productions from “Truth in Translation,” a play inspired by the translators working for South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commissions, to last season’s powerful Emmett Till trilogy about the 1954 murder of teenager Emmett Till and what followed. Annual free holiday concerts and family singalongs have been packed. The Step Afrika! dance troupe was for many years, as Jane says, “a great success for the Atlas.” Since 2014 the Mosaic Theater company has been in residence offering provocative plays and opportunities for discussion.

But leading the Atlas has never been easy. The lack of nearby parking or public transportation has been an ongoing issue. Audiences have been slow to come back after the Covid shutdowns. Still, Jane remains proud of what she has accomplished and optimistic about the future.

And now she is also a resident of Capitol Hill. After her husband Paul’s unexpected death in December 2014 Jane decided she had to move out of the Cleveland Park house they had both loved. She decided to move closer to the Atlas so she now lives at the Residences at Eastern Market, sharing her life with Pippin, a toy poodle with whom she walks “everywhere,” and her partner Bob Kapp. Between them they have 9 children and step-children and 24 grandchildren. She has, as she describes it understatedly, “a very full life.”

Michael Witmore

In 2011, when Michael Witmore was invited to come to Washington and interview for the job as Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, it was not his first experience there. Years before, as a young Congressional intern, he had supplemented his income by working as a telemarketer for the Folger. The best part of the job was getting standing-room tickets as often as he wanted. “I had read a lot of Shakespeare,” he remembers, “but I hadn’t seen a lot.” He thinks that during that period he saw “Twelfth Night” at least five times.

Michael’s love of Shakespeare dates back to his high school in a suburb of Boston. He says his earliest aspiration was to be a drummer in a heavy metal band but “someone thought I had an inner life,” he remembers, “and put me in honors English.” That class read The Odyssey, the Biblical book of Job and Shakespeare’s Othello. “It’s an interesting story,” he remembers. “What do you do when you meet a person who tells you the very lies you want to hear? I identified with Othello.”

Having been raised in an evangelical religious home, Michael was very familiar with the language of the King James Version of the Bible, roughly contemporaneous with that of Shakespeare. He realized that both Shakespeare and the Bible present people like Othello and Job in challenging, concrete situations. He became fascinated with the role of language and how it relates to the way we experience life, acquire knowledge and process what we know. He was from that time and is now, he says, a “truth seeker.”

Truth seeking led him to Vassar College where he originally thought he would be pre-med but ended up getting a strong liberal arts education and writing an undergraduate thesis on Othello and Epistemology (the study of knowledge – what it is and how we acquire it). At the University of California at Berkeley he received MA and PhD degrees in English literature. In 2011 he was a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin studying, among other things, patterns and meanings revealed by the computerized study of language, when he got the call from the Folger suggesting he apply for the directorship of the Library. His deep knowledge of Shakespeare plus his engagement with emerging fields of study meant that he got the job.

The position of Director of the Folger came with challenges. There were major anniversaries

to be celebrated – the 450th year since Shakespeare’s birth in 2014, the 400th since his death in 2016. The beautiful, almost 100-year-old building and its collections of rare manuscripts and books had significant problems of accessibility and space. And making Shakespeare relevant not just to scholars but to increasingly diverse audiences was an ongoing issue. Michael’s vision energized an extraordinary campaign that raised $51 million and has transformed the Library. After being closed since March 2020, it will reopen in June as a vastly more welcoming space, accessible to the handicapped and with, for the first time, all 82 copies of the Folger’s Shakespeare First Folios, over a third of the copies in the world, visible to visitors who will be able to learn more about the First Folio through interactive exhibits. The charming small theater, gardens, a café and a bar, as well as new exhibition space and a learning lab for children, will welcome the public.

Michael sees the renovated Folger as an expression of confidence that works written four hundred years ago can still entertain but can also invite us to talk about who we are and who we want to be and thus be part of creating the multinational civic democracy to which we aspire.

The Capitol Hill community has been enriched and enlivened by the work done in our midst by Vera Oyé Yaa-Anna, Jane Lang and Michael Witmore. The fundraising gala honoring them and celebrating our life together will be Wednesday, May 22 at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church at 3rd and A Streets SE. For information and tickets please contact Nicky Cymrot at 202-997-5722 or visit the Capitol Hill Community Foundation website at capitolhillcommunityfoundation.org. u

In Memory of Tom Johnson

Managing Partner of Hill Restaurant Group

by James Loots

Tom Johnson wasn’t always a fan of Capitol Hill. He and I first met in 2018, shortly after he relocated from his beloved Florida Keys with a daunting mission: to patch back together a half-dozen restaurants that had just emerged from bankruptcy and were again back under original ownership. He wasn’t too sure about this “big

take on the task of Managing Partner for a bunch of restaurants a thousand miles away, but some combination of adventure, challenge, and foolishness led him here. What is certain is that by the time he passed away suddenly on March 10, from injuries consistant with a fall, he had not only successfully restored the businesses and guided them through a devastating pandemic, but also become a fully invested and valued member of our local community.

city” lifestyle or the accompanying challenges of a workplace and workforce unlike any he had faced in his 30 years of industry experience. I’m still not certain how investor Bill Sport convinced Tom to

During his too-brief time with us, Tom made it his mission to learn and to lead both in his own life and in the neighborhood around him. His smiling face and good-natured greetings became familiar sights up and down Barracks Row, around Eastern Market, and along Pennsylvania Avenue as he strolled among the restaurant venues which included at the time of his passing: on Barracks Row – Lola’s, Playa Ocho, and Opheila’s Fish House; The Hawk and Dove on Pennsylvania Avenue, SE; and Boxcar across from Eastern Market.

Bringing his creative talents, hard work, and extensive experience to everything he did, Tom also quickly joined forces with others in promoting Barracks Row Main Street, Eastern Market Main Street, and as a member of the Washington Business Journal Leadership Trust. Tom combined his unique vision with exacting standards for the operational side of the restaurants. He deftly adapted and enhanced each venue – all the while listening closely to the needs and desires of employees, neighbors and patrons.

Like any self-respecting refugee from the Keys, Tom was never happier than when he was out on the water. Accordingly, he brought his boat up

from Florida and found both harbor and friendship on the Anacostia River, where he took the “helm” as elected Commodore of the Eastern Power Boat Club. In what was perhaps the most telling sign that Tom had fully adopted his new city, he recently moved from his Navy Yard apartment into a home in nearby Hillcrest.

Tom was a tireless advocate for what he believed, which sometimes brought him into the cross-hairs of political institutions and city officials, but he always approached each issue with integrity, honesty, and a genuine desire to seek resolution not conflict. Faced with regulatory and systemic challenges, he worked cooperatively towards solutions, ending up as co-chair of the Capitol Hill Business Interest Working Group. He was a great storyteller – sometimes autobiographical, sometimes decidedly fiction – but also a great listener and companion with an enduring sense of humor and perpetual practicality.

Born on February 15, 1969, in Van Nuys, California, Tom moved to Panama City, Florida as a child. He eventually settled in the Keys, where he spent over two decades. Talent and ambition enabled Tom to rise from washing dishes at a chain restaurant to managing a resort in Islamorada, never abandoning his wit and inspiration as a bartender and host. Along the way, Tom established himself as a respected resource for hospitality clients, founding Core Hospitality Consulting and providing advice and support in development, brand management, and operations.

Perhaps most important, in every stage and aspect of his life Tom forged bonds and friendships with employees, neighbors, business owners, and others that truly enriched his community and made this neighborhood his own.

He is survived by his mother Sharon Johnson and stepfather Michael G. Bowman.

A memorial celebration of Tom’s life was held at Stadium Sports, 300 Tingey Street SE, on Saturday March 23. u

La Plaza Owner Henry Mendoza Dies in El Salvador

Capitol Hill Loses A Beloved Soul

by Peter and Celeste McCall

The community was shocked to learn of the death of Henry Mendoza. Henry was the proprietor of La Plaza, (629 Pennsylvania Ave. SE), for 22 years a Pennsylvania Avenue mainstay. He was also, as one neighbor wrote in a post on social media site Nextdoor, “a bit of a hero to a lot of us.”

At the risk of repeating a tired cliché, Henry Mendoza epitomized the American dream. Henry, who died March 17 while visiting his native El Salvador, had operated Capitol Hill’s popular Tex-Mex/Salvadoran La Plaza for nearly a quarter century. He died of an apparent heart attack while playing soccer, his favorite sport.

Henry, who was 54, leaves behind his wife Evelyn and three children, ages 16, 13 and 8.

Not just the restaurant world, but the entire Capitol Hill community has lost a beloved soul. Henry was warm and welcoming, gregarious and generous, hard-working and humorous, enterprising and entertaining.

“Henry was the very spirit of hospitality,” former Hill resident Kris Swanson texted from her home in California. “He seemed to truly love feeding people and making them happy.” Added Hill neighbor Ann Goodwin: “La Plaza was a great place for neighborhood parties.”

We share many fond La Plaza memories. My Red Hat (women’s) club occasionally meets at La Plaza for lunch. Several years ago, my informal Spanish language group practiced our less than fluent Espanyol on Henry and his patient staff. Our “Ninth Street” neighborhood gang used to gather there annually. Each spring, La Plaza’s festive Cinco de Mayo celebration has featured mariachi music, margaritas and neighborhood camaraderie.

Arriving in the United States in the 1980s, Henry started out as a dishwasher at Las Placitas, on Barracks Row. Eventually, he saved up enough money—and expertise—to launch La Plaza at 629 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. For a few years, he owned a sister restaurant in Virginia. More recently, he operated Mi Vecindad (“My Neighborhood”) in the space now occupied by Hype Cafe near Frager’s Hardware. Both spinoffs closed, and Henry concentrated on the convivial, cozy La Plaza.

It wasn’t always easy. La Plaza weathered many obstacles—including rising prices and competition from other Tex-Mex eateries. But the Covid pandemic shutdown was by far the worst challenge.

“This was not how I envisioned the American dream,” Henry told me in 2020. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to reopen; at least until we get a vaccine. Without a vaccine, we would not be safe.”

How did his restaurant survive the pandemic? Government financial assistance was not enough, he said. Solution? He did not pay himself for six months—while working almost around the clock— and was able to retain and pay all nine employees.

Henry always went the extra mile. For years, he has kept La Plaza open for Thanksgiving. We’ve occasionally ordered La Plaza’s Thanksgiving dinners, and Henry always served us enough to feed the entire neighborhood. And, unlike most restaurants, La Plaza always serves on Christmas Day.

We will miss Henry, but La Plaza plans to stay open as he would wish under the management of his brother Juan Carlos Mendoza. u

GoFundMe

There is a GoFundMe campaign to help provide for Henry’s young family and to assist with funeral and estate expenses. Donate at https:// www.gofundme.com/f/henry-mendozas-wife-and-children

Henry Mendoza behind the bar at La Plaza. Photo: Andrew Lightman

Henry’s brother, Juan Carlos Mendoza, seen here with a poster of Henry in La Plaza, will be managing the restaurant going forward.

La Plaza

Where Charlie Could Be Charlie

by EV Downey

Raising a child with autism is a lesson in rejection. People often think that people with autism don’t have the same depth of feelings as others and aren’t close to those around them. At least in our case, this couldn’t be further from the truth. Our son Charlie is passionately close to his family and also felt the rejection by those in his community deeply.

One person on this earth never rejected Charlie, no matter how autistic his behavior, and that was Henry. For many years now, La Plaza has been the only restaurant Charlie could comfortably handle going to and a large part of that was due to Henry’s acceptance of him. This acceptance of my son made me also comfortable going there and I never had to be on edge as we enjoyed our meals. This is the reason why all of my kids’ family birthday meals were there, why Charlie’s high school graduation party, and why our regular family outings are all at La Plaza.

There are so many examples I could give of Henry’s welcoming of Charlie, but one speci cally stands out. My kids and I were sitting at a table in a far corner of the restaurant. It was nearly empty when we got there, but gradually the dinner crowd came in and it got louder and louder. Charlie became overwhelmed and started to scream. Luckily it was actually so loud that I could barely hear him, but I knew that it would be nearly impossible to get him out through the busy restaurant without causing a disruption to the other diners.

So I did what I’ve done many times. I put Charlie on the oor and lay on top of him, covering his ears with a scarf and providing him soothing deep pressure with my body. I also put a fast acting anti anxiety medication under his tongue. He lay there crying for about 10 minutes while it took e ect.

What did Henry do during this time? Brought me my check and took my money from me on the oor. Then he brought me a shot of tequila of course. Then another because of sure looked like I needed an extra one! As we were nally able to shu e out, Henry made sure to tell me that we were welcome back to his restaurant any time. He always told me that — Charlie is ALWAYS welcome here.

Charlie is close to graduating from college with degrees in Math and Computer Science. He is determined to go to work in the intelligence community to serve his country and make the world a better place. I credit some of his success to his many times enjoying meals at La Plaza where he could feel comfortable out in the community that didn’t always feel like it welcomed him.

As we move through our lives we should remember that there are many types of people and circumstances and try to be less judgmental. In other words, the whole world should be more like Henry and La Plaza. E.V.

In Praise of Henry

Proprietor of La Plaza and Capitol Hill Neighbor

by Tommy Wells

Henry—we all knew him as Henry— was a favorite member of our Capitol Hill family from his earliest days as a young man waiting tables at La Lomita. We all watched him start his own restaurant and raise his beautiful family right here among us. Henry was sweet, personable, and tireless, all key to running a successful business built on a foundation of friendship.

Maybe because of his love for his own children, Henry made La Plaza one of the Hill’s few family-friendly restaurants. I reveled in seeing children dining with their families, sometimes spilling out onto the sidewalk, to celebrate a birthday, a Capitol Hill baseball game, or some other event. And people of all ages gathered at La Plaza to just relax and enjoy being taken care of with a warm smile and a nice cold margarita. We cherished the place Henry created for all of us, and he showed his appreciation for our community by stenciling many of his customers’ names on the restaurant’s walls.

It is always sad to lose a member of the family, and in this case, it was much too soon. We grieve for Henry’s dear family and for an entire community that will sorely miss this very special man.

Tommy Wells is a former Ward 6 Councilmember and currently serves as Chairman of DC Water.

Charlie at La Plaza

ANC 6A REPORT

by Sarah Payne

CAPITOL ST.s

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC 6A) met via Zoom on March 14. Commissioners Keya Chatterjee (6A01, vice chair), Mike Velasquez (6A02), Roberta Shapiro (6A03), Amber Gove (6A04, chair), Dave Wethington (6A05) and Commissioner Robb Dooling (6A06, secretary) were in attendance. Commissioner Steve Moilanen (6A07, treasurer) was absent.

Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen (D) briefed the commission on the DC Council’s upcoming budget. “This is going to be a dicult budget,” Allen. “One of the toughest ones we’ve done in a while.”

Of particular signi cance is the “massive nancial gap” of $200 million needed to preserve the Washington Area Metropolitan Transit Authority (WMATA) bus and rail systems, Allen stated. “Our economy does not work if we don’t have a reliable transit system,” he pointed out.

Commissioner Dooling inquired about the future of funding for the streetcar extension to Benning Rd. NE. Allen “expects that the funding for eastern expansion will be included” in the Mayor’s budget.

The councilmember plans to host a budget town hall meeting later this spring to solicit community feedback. Input from neighbors, he said, is crucial especially with such a challenging budget.

Allen commented on the recently passed Secure DC bill. The legislation provides updated legal de nitions for carjacking, coordinates shooting reviews among the District’s agencies, and expands the security camera program, he said.

Allen emphasized “holding people accountable and crime prevention” are his two key goals, He is hopeful the legislation aids in their achievement. “I think we ultimately landed a package that is really going to make a di erence in our city,” he stated.

The commission voted to:

• approve a $1,370 grant to Celebrate Capitol Hill, Inc. to engage neighborhood youth in beautifying activities and public art;

• support a Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) application

for a special exception to the rear yard and lot occupancy requirements for the construction of a two-story rear addition to an existing, attached, two-story with cellar, principal dwelling unit at 1432 F St. NE;

• support a BZA application for a special exception from the rear addition requirements from the lot occupancy requirements to construct a third story and rear addition to an existing, attached, two-story with cellar, principal dwelling unit at 808 I St. NE;

• support a BZA application for a request an area variance from the lot dimension requirements to construct two new, attached, three-story with basement, principal dwelling units at 257 Warren St. NE with the condition that the developers obtain letters of support from neighbors;

• approve community members Becca Beuthe and Patrick Bloomstine as members to the Economic Development and Zoning (EDZ) and Transportation and Public Space (TPS) committees, respectively.

The next meeting of ANC 6A is at 7 p.m. April 11 via Zoom. Get details on committee meetings and how to join online at anc6a.org.

Sarah Payne is a reporter for Capital Community News. She can be reached at sarahp@hillrag.com. ◆

Door Dash Agreement

ANC 6B REPORT

by Elizabeth O’Gorek

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6B held a hybrid meeting via Zoom and in-person at 700 Pennsylvania Ave. SE on March 12. Frank Avery (6B01, treasurer); Jerry Sroufe (6B02); David Sobelsohn (6B03, secretary); Frank D’Andrea (6B04); Kasie Durkit (6B05); Chander Jayaraman (6B06, vice chair); Vince Mareino (6B07); Edward Ryder (6B08, chair); and Matt LaFortune (6B09) were present, either online or in the room.

Commissioners returned to consideration of a Settlement Agreement (SA) with DC Dash at 727 Eighth St. SE. The store is applying to the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) for a Medical Cannabis Dispensary License. The matter was rst raised in its January meeting.

Commissioner Sroufe worried about potential DC Dash customers illegally parking and consuming cannabis in the adjoining alley. The applicant has their employees warn customers verbally about both during transactions, not just through signage, he stated. He suggested DC

Councilmember Allen Visits

ADVISORY NEIGHBORHOOD COMMISSION 6A AMBER GOVE, CHAIR, 6A04@ANC.DC.GOV

Dash check their alley cameras regularly. Commissioner Sobelsohn agreed, adding DC Dash should include something on the issues in their employee manual.

Could the commission use SAs to compel Barracks Row liquor stores to remind customers of parking rules in the alley? Commissioner Mareino asked. The commisson should request both liquor and cannabis stores give these reminders, he said. Alternatively, the ANC should focus on efforts by the Department of Public Works (DPW), the District agency responsible for parking enforcement, Mareino suggested.

DC Dash, stated its Attorney Meredith Kinner, was willing to monitor spaces abutting the building. However, the business does not want to be responsible for monitoring the entire alley, she added. Kinner also objected to any language directing the business to prevent customers or vendors from entering if they parked illegally.

Secretary Sobelsohn, who authored the latest version of the SA, did not entirely disagree with Kinner.

The commission unanimously voted to assign ANC 6B ABCA Committee Chair Chander Jayaraman and Sobelsohn to revise the DC Dash SA. It will be presented at the March 26 ANC 6B executive meeting.

Other Matters

Parks and Recreation Committee

Chair Sroufe noted that action is happening on the Underpass and Virginia Avenue Corridor Vision Plan (ctycms.com/dc-capitol-riverfront/docs/ underpass-vision-plan.pdf). Plans are underway to make the underpass and skate park between Garfield Park and Virginia Avenue more attractive and to make the area more pleasant to use, he said. Sroufe asked the public to stay tuned as more information will be available next month.

The MS Society will hold a three-mile fundraising walk around Nationals Park on April 28. The route is entirely along sidewalks with police support. The route is along First Street to M Street SE to Fourth Street SE, then back along Fourth to the River Walk. Activity begins 8:30 a.m., with the walk starting at 10:00 a.m. Crowds are expected to disperse by 11:30 a.m. to noon. Register in advance at events.nationalmssociety.org

The commission authorized Commissioner Sroufe to testify at the March 15 DC Council hearing for the Protecting Historic Homes Amendment Act of 2023. Sroufe explained that the bill was prompted by several projects that had exceeded their permitted scope of demolition, many of them located in ANC 6B. He also noted that he planned to use the letter the ANC approved in November 2023 as his testimony. Commissioner D’Andrea expressed concern about the impact of the high fines the bill would allow Department of Buildings (DOB) to impose on individual applicants and so abstained.

The commission authorized Commissioner Avery to testify in support of the Home Purchase Act at a hearing March 18 before the DC Council Committee on Housing. The act extends the home purchase assistance program to include 911 and 311 call-takers and dispatchers. This, Commissioner Marieno said, aligns them with other first responders, such as the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) and DC Fire & Emergency Medical Services (DC FEMS) personnel. It is part of a holistic approach to resolving the on-going public safety challenges in our community and, specifically, the on-going challenges of the Office of Unified Communications (OUC). The bill had its first reading in DC Council in March and requires a sec-

Serving the Near Northeast, North Lincoln Park, and H Street communities

ANC 6A generally meets the second Thursday of the month, virtually on Zoom. www.anc6a.org

ALL ARE WELCOME

The Next meeting is 2nd Thursday, April 11, 7:00 p.m.

Transportation & Public Space Committee meeting

3rd Monday, April 15, 7:00 p.m.

Virtual Meeting via Zoom

Economic Development and Zoning Committee meeting

3rd Wednesday, April 17, 7:00 p.m.

Virtual Meeting via Zoom

Community Outreach Committee meeting

4th Monday, April 22, 7:00 p.m.

Virtual Meeting via Zoom

Alcohol Beverage Licensing Committee meeting

4th Tuesday, April 23, 7:00 p.m.

Virtual meeting via Zoom

We seek community-minded 6A residents interested in joining ANC 6A committees. Visit anc6a.org or email 6A06@anc.dc.gov for more information.

prior to the meeting. You will be able to enter the meeting no earlier than 15 minutes prior to its scheduled start time.

Wendell Felder Parkside – 7D03 7d03@anc.dc.gov

Chairperson

Brian Alcorn Capitol

Mike Davis River Terrace – 7D04

Ebony Payne Kingman Park – 7D05

Marc Friend Rosedale – 7D06 7d06@anc.dc.gov

Brianne Hill East – 7D10 7d10@anc.dc.gov

ond before going to vote before council. ANC 6B next meets in-person at 700 Penn. Ave. SE and via Zoom at 7 p.m. on April 8. The meeting was moved so as not to conflict with Eid al Fitr and the end of Ramadan. ANC 6B usually meets on the second Tuesday of each month. Find details at anc6b.org u

St. Joseph’s Expansion Raises Concerns

ANC 6C REPORT

by Sarah Payne

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6C met on March 13 via WebEx. Commissioners Christy Kwan (6C01), Leslie Merkle (6C02, secretary), Commissioner Jay Adelstein (6C03), Mark Eckenwiler (6C04, chair), Joel Kelty (6C05, treasurer), Commissioner Patricia Eguino (6C06) and Tony Goodman (6C07, vice chair) were in attendance.

Real Estate Attorney Derick Wallace representing St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church at 313 Second St. NE, briefed the ANC on the church’s application for expansion

into a nearby alley. The church, which has been a part of the community for over 150 years, plans to “modernize and expand” its physical infrastructure, he said.

Since zoning regulations prevent the addition of single, freestanding buildings to the existing site, the church plans to expand current buildings to “create a more gracious and useful space to allow for community meetings as well as to continue its outreach and all the other services that it provides to Capitol Hill,” Wallace said.

A portion of the alley, which runs from Second Street NE to Third Street NE, would be closed as a result of the expansion, Wallace explained. Public space, however, would remain sufficient for vehicles to enter from Third Street, come into the alley, turn around, back up and exit the alley.

Alley resident Robinson, spoke in opposition to the project and its potential impact on vehicular traffic, delivery services and egress. Robinson does not see “any general benefit to the public” that would result from the closure and noted the importance of “maintaining the public’s ability to traverse the alley, especially for those who routinely use it.”

Treasurer Kelty noted he was “sympathetic” to Robinson’s concerns and inquired about a possible straightening of the “contorted” alley through a land swap. Wallace noted that a land

swap has been “contemplated” with DDOT, but noted that there is “no finalization” at this time.

Given that cars would still have sufficient space to turn around in the alley, Chair Eckenwiler spoke in support of the project. “To the extent that turn maneuvers need to be made, I feel like that’s an adequate alternative,” he said. “I’m not really seeing the material impacts here.”

Commissioner Adelstein raised additional concern about an existing utility pole in the public space the church is proposing to take. Pepco, Washington Gas and Verizon have all been contacted about the project, Wallace stated. Ensuring that service is maintained in the alley and for neighboring residents, he said, is a top priority.

Treasurer Kelty echoed concern about the utility pole and noted that the project may be “impossible to move forward” given his previous experience working with Verizon. “If you’re not able to get Verizon to relocate that utility pole, then this idea doesn’t work,” Kelty said. “Then we’ve turned over public property to a private entity, and I think that’s problematic.”

The commission voted to send a provisional letter of support for the project to the Department of Buildings (DOB) Surveyor’s Office, noting a need for a final resolution to the relocation of the existing utility pole and encouraging the applicant to continue their ongoing dialogue with DDOT.

Other Matters

The commission voted to support an extension on the review period for the public space improvement permit application at 420 H St. NE. take an appeal for the Board of Zoning Adjustment (BZA) permit that was issued for 638 I St. NE for the alteration of rooftop architectural element as the permit allows construction atop the cornice in violation of the rooftop architectural element provision.

ANC 6C will meet next on April 10 at 7 p.m. via WebEx. Visit anc6c.org to learn more about the commission and register to attend the meeting.

Sarah Payne is a reporter for Capital Community News. She can be reached at sarahp@hillrag.com. u

St. Joseph’s Church is proposing an expansion to their property that would close portion of the adjacent alley. Photo courtesy of MTFA.

Plans for Engine 7

ANC 6D REPORT

by Andrew Lightman

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 6D met on March 11 via Zoom. Commissioners Bob Link (6DO1, vice chair), Gail Fast (6D03), Andrea Pawley (6D04), Fredrica (Rikki) Kramer (6D07, chair) and Rhonda Hamilton (6D08) were in attendance. Bruce Levine (6D06, secretary) and Ronald Collins (6D02, treasurer) were absent. Recently elected Commissioner Chearie Phelps-El (6D05) joined for her first meeting.

DC Fire and EMS Dept. (DCFEMS) Chief Communications Officer Noah Gray and DC Dept of General Services (DGS) Director of Public Safety Facilities Sean MacCarthy briefed the commission on plans for the current Engine 7 firehouse located at 1101 Half St. SW. The facility is located in the northern section of the DCFEMS fleet repair depot. The current Engine 7 firehouse is a two-bay facility with space for a brushfire unit, an ambulance and a pumper fire engine.

DCFEMS plans to move the repair depot to DC Village in Blue Plains and then demolish both it and the adjoining firehouse. A new facility for Engine 7 will then be built on the northern portion of the site, said MacCarthy. The new firehouse will house up to two engines, a ladder truck and a battalion management team, doubling the resources at the station. This reflects the increasing density of

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CAPITOL ST.s

the surrounding area, particularly Buzzard Point, he said.

Currently, DCFEMS is in the midst framing requirements, stated MacCarthy. Studio MB Principal Adam McGraw, the project’s architect, described the plans in more detail. The first step is to move DCFEMS fleet repair operations. The old depot will become a swing location for Engine 7. The old firehouse will then be demolished and a new one build in its place. Then the depot will be demolished and the land used by the city for other purposes. The project will commence in 2027, McGraw stated.

The new firehouse is being designed to facilitate future development on the southern section of the site, where the old depot is currently located, stated McGraw. It will feature a northern entrance designed with traffic safety in mind and underground parking for firefighters.

Commissioners emphasized the importance of developing affordable housing on the remainder of the site. The Office of the Deputy Mayor for Economic Development (DMPED) will be developing plans for the southern end of the parcel, stated MacCarthy.

2024 TOPP

The letter to the DC Dept. of Transportation (DDOT) with the commission’s comments on the agency’s Transportation and Parking Plan (TOPP) for the two stadiums was not sent, Chair Kramer reported. It was based on the 2023 TOPP. In the interim, Kramer said, the commission had received the 2024 draft TOPP, which rendered some of the comments nonsensical. So, Kramer had decided not to send the earlier letter.

The commission voted to send a Google document of the 2024 TOPP with commissioner’s comments in the margin along with a cover letter to DDOT. Commissioner Fast voted in opposition. Commissioner Phelps-El abstained.

Committee Matters

ANC 6D Transportation Committee Chair Kirk Sander informed commissioners of DDOT’s for

a temporary protected bike lane connecting the Wharf and Tidal Basin. Committee is working with DDOT on the issue, he stated.

ANC 6D ABCA Committee Chair Josh Perry reported completion of the Community Agreement with Lucky Buns, 675 Wharf St. SW. The commission approved it unanimously.

Perry recommended protesting the application for Good Company Donuts located at the intersection of Fourth and Maple Street SW. The commission voted to do so on the grounds of peace, order and quiet.

Other Matters

Metropolitan Police Dept. (MPD) Captain Kevin Harding briefed the commission on public safety. There were two robberies of Helly Hansen jackets from students walking home after school on I Street SW, Harding reported. MPD is shifting resources to protect students, he said. He also reported 12 incidents of unlawful gun shots. Lastly, Harding described gunfire on the 1200 block of Delaware Ave. SW. Two men shot at a vehicle. No one was injured.

Commission supported to:

• support the R ace for Hope 5K;

• support the Marine Corps Marathon;

• appoint Judith Farley, ANC 6D07, to its Transportation Committee;

• appoint Laura DeAngelo, ANC 6D03, to its ABCA Committee.

ANC 6D meets at 7 p.m. on the second Monday of every month. The next meeting is April 8, 2024. For more information, visit www.anc6d.org. u

Chief Smith and Commander Hall Visit

ANC 7D REPORT

by Sarah Payne

Advisory Neighborhood Commission (ANC) 7D met March 12 via Zoom. Commissioners Siraaj Hasan (7D01), Wendell Felder (7D03, chair), Mike Davis (7D04), Ebony Payne (7D05), Marc Friend (7D06), Brett Astmann (7D07, treasurer), Brian Alcorn (7D08, vice chair), Ashley Schapitl (7D09), secretary) and Brianne Eby-Stockert (7D10) were in attendance. Single Member District 7D02 remains vacant.

Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) First District Commander Colin Hall briefed the commission on crime trends and public safety initiatives. Gunfire around in the area is his “top concern.” The department is “pouring resources” into the area, he said. The increased police presence has improved public safety, he argued. “I think we are getting to a better place.” Neighbors have noticed.

Chair Felder commended the department’s community engagement citing safety walks and increase in patrol vehicles and officers on foot. Treasurer Astmann echoed Felder’s praise, commending their “visibility and availability” and effectiveness in pulling over vehicles on residential streets.

“We’ve definitely, anecdotally, noticed a big change, not only the police presence, but things just anecdotally seemed calmer,” Astmann said. “It feels like it’s making a big impact on the community.”

Concept design for Engine 7’s new Firehouse. Courtesy Studio MB.

MPD Chief Pamela Smith later joined the conversation. She pointed to the Secure DC Act, promising upcoming public safety initiatives. Enforcement and accountability, Smith stated, are key to mitigating violent crime in the city.

“We don’t want anybody or anyone to think that they can get away with crime in the District of Columbia, which is why you’ve seen a signi cant number of arrests and why you see our o cers are working very, very diligently 24 hours a day, seven days a week to ensure that we keep the people of the District of Columbia safe,” Smith said.

The Real-Time Crime Center, Smith said, will allow the department to work beyond jurisdictional lines with local, state and federal partners to track crime as it’s happening in real time. She attributed the delay in its opening to a missing piece of technology. Smith urged residents and business owners to grant MPD access to their security cameras for integration into the center once it is running.

Commissioner Friend inquired about possible alternative approaches to crime control. He referenced Baltimore’s city-wide gun violence reduction plan that examines crime from a public health perspective. Could a similar approach aid the District? he asked.

A holistic approach, Smith said, including economic development, mental health and wraparound services, particularly for youth, is key to the mitigation of crime and something MPD is actively engaging with. She emphasized the importance of working with the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS) to “rebuild and reestablish trust” with young people.

The commission voted to:

• write to Events DC requesting community engagement and coordination during the RFK campus spring festival season to help minimize negative impact to nearby residential communities;

• support the implementation of a District Department of Transportation (DDOT)

Bikeshare Station in the 1500 Block of North Carolina Avenue NE.

• request that DDOT extend the comment period beyond 10 days and to

provide the commission with additional information about the lane re-con guration project on westbound C Street NE between 17th and 16th Streets NE.

ANC 7D will meet next on April 9 at 6:30 p.m. via Zoom. You can learn more about the commission and register to attend at 7d0761. wixsite.com/anc7d-1.

Sarah Payne is a reporter for Capital Community News. She can be reached at sarahp@hillrag.com.

No to the Initiative Amendment Act

ANC 8F REPORT

by Andrew Lightman

Advisory Neighborhood Commission 8F (ANC 8F) met on March 19. Commissioners Nic Wilson (treasurer, 8F01), Rick Murphree (vice chair, 8F02), Brian Strege (secretary, 8F03) and Edward Daniels (chair, 8F04) and Clayton Rosenberg (8F05) were in attendance. This was the commission’s rst hybrid meeting.

Secretary Strege briefed the commission on the Initiative Amendment Act being sponsored by DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D) and At-Large Councilmember Anita Bonds (D). The new legislation, Strege said, adds language forbidding initiatives requiring Council appropriations to become e ective laws. This makes any framing of a legal initiative impossible, he argued, since all laws require some appropriations in order to be implemented.

Commissioners concurred in Strege’s analysis. They unanimously resolved against it.

Public Safety

Metropolitan Police Department (MPD)

Lieutenant Kenneth Taylor briefed the commission on public safety. In the past 30 days there were two armed assaults, three bur-

glaries, 41 motor vehicle thefts, 44 thefts from autos, 62 general thefts and one arson, he reported. Crime is down signi cantly from last year, he said.

Secretary Strege asked whether MPD had contemplated declaring Capitol Quarter’s L Street Courtyard a “drug-free zone” under the recently passed Secure DC Act. At the moment, MPD is limiting it to three at a time, responded Taylor. Perhaps the department might increase that number in the summer. MPD selects locations based on a combination of calls for service, drug arrests and intelligence, he said. The only one in the First District is located in Chinatown, he said.

Other Matters

Secretary Strege updated his colleagues on the vacant DC Housing Authority (DCHA) lots in his Single Member District (SMD). These include two Nationals parking lots and one fenced, weed- lled space. The commission has secured a meeting with DCHA about temporary uses for these parcels later in the month, he said. Commissioners are in favor of using the Nationals lots for resident and District employee parking.

ANC approved unanimously the Community Agreement with Whitlow’s on Water.

ANC 8F’ s next meeting is scheduled for April 16 at DDOT Headquarters at 250 M St. SE at 7 p.m. For more information, visit anc8f.org. ◆

Bulletin Board

Capitol Hill Volunteer Event at Hill Center

Have you ever thought about volunteering in our community, but haven’t quite known where to start? Maybe you’re worried about how much time you can commit. Or maybe you just don’t have any idea what organizations are out there and need your help. Let this volunteer fair on Saturday, April 27, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Ave. SE, be your guide to learning about opportunities with nearly 30 nonprofit organizations. You’ll have the chance to talk directly to representatives of organizations and find out what they do and what they’re looking for--quickly and all in one place. Whether you’re looking to make a difference in the community, develop new job skills, make new friends, or

H Street Farmers Market Opens for Season

The FRESHFARM H Street NE Market, 800 13th St. NE, is now open for the season on Saturdays, April 6 to Dec. 21, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. With chairs and tables, they welcome market visitors to come for the produce and stay for the vibe. This market offers a bit everything including: conventional and certified organic fruits and vegetables, grass-fed meats, pastured eggs, sweet and savory baked goods, locally roasted coffee, fermented pickles and krauts, sandwiches and flatbreads, fresh flowers, plants, and more. freshfarm.org.

spend time together as a family, there is an opportunity for everyone. barracksrow. org/event-details/volunteer-capitol-hill.

Marine Corps Evening Parades Resume

The 2024 Marine Corps Evening Parades, at Eighth and I streets SE, are every Friday from May 3 to Aug. 23. Gates open at 7 p.m.; close at 8 p.m.; the parade begins at 8:45 p.m.; and concludes at 10 p.m. Reservations are required. Attendance at this parade is a one-of-a-kind experience. For more than 60 years, the “Oldest Post of the Corps” has displayed the pride, professionalism, and esprit de corps of Marines throughout the world. Guests will see the finest in military excellence including performances by “The President’s Own” United States Marine

CHRS Preservation Café: Hidden Alleyways on Capitol Hill

On Tuesday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m., Hidden Alleyways on Capitol Hill will be presented, virtually, by Kim Prothro Williams, an architectural historian and the national register coordinator for the DC Historic Preservation Office. Capitol Hill’s alleyways have always been a fundamental part of the city’s life and economy. Deliberately hidden from public view by the capital’s early planners, DC’s alleys were created to provide access to stables, carriage houses, and other utility buildings. But as the city grew and property values rose, the nature of some alleys and their buildings changed, resulting in a parallel world of residential, manufacturing, and artistic spaces. Williams’ talk includes historical maps and photos, showing the social and physical history of the city’s alleys and buildings. She is the author of the author of several books, including her most recent one, Hidden Alleyways of Washington, DC. For more information at the register, visit chrs.org.

DCHFA, Your Homeownership Resource in the District.

DCHFA, Your Homeownership Resource in the District.

DCHFA, Your Homeownership Resource in the District.

DCHFA, Your Homeownership Resource in the District.

DC Open Doors

DC Open Doors

DC Open Doors

DC Open Doors is your key to homeownership int city. is programo ers competitive interest rates and lower mortgage insurance costs on rst trust

DC Open Doors

DC Open Doors is your key to homeownership in the city. This program offers competitive interest rates and lower mortgage insurance costs on first trust mortgages.You are not required to be a first-time homebuyer or a D.C. resident to qualify for DCOD. You must, however, be purchasing a home in the District of Columbia.

homebuyer or a D C. resident , be purchasing a home in the District of Columbia

DC Open Doors is your key to homeownership inthe city. is programo ers competitive interest rates and lower mortgage insurance costs on rst trust homebuyer or a D C. resident , be purchasing a home in the District of Columbia

HPAP provides interest free deferred loans for down serves as a co-administrator of this DC Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) rst-time home buyer program.

HPAP provides interest free deferred loans for down serves as a co-administrator of this DC Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) rst-time home buyer program.

HPAP provides interest free deferred loans for down serves as a co-administrator of this DC Department of Housing and Community Development’s (DHCD) rst-time home buyer program.

DC4ME

years or older who have fallen behind on insurance and tax payments as a result of their reverse mortgage. Quali ed District homeowners can receive up to

years or older who have fallen behind on insurance and tax payments as a result of their reverse mortgage. Quali ed District homeowners can receive up to

DC4ME provides mortgage assistance with optional down payment assistance to D.C. government employees. DC4ME is o ered to current full-time District government employees, including employees of District government-based instrumentalities, independent agencies, D.C. Public Charter Schools, and organizations, provided the applicant/borrower's employer falls under the oversight of the Council of the District of Columbia.

DC Open Doors is your key to homeownership inthe city. is programo ers competitive interest rates and lower mortgage insurance costs on rst trust homebuyer or a D C. resident , be purchasing a home in the District of Columbia Visit

years or older who have fallen behind on insurance and tax payments as a result of their reverse mortgage. Quali ed District homeowners can receive up to

DC4ME provides mortgage assistance with optional down payment assistance to D.C. government employees. DC4ME is o ered to current full-time District government employees, including employees of District government-based instrumentalities, independent agencies, D.C. Public Charter Schools, and organizations, provided the applicant/borrower's employer falls under the oversight of the Council of the District of Columbia.

COVID-19

DC4ME provides mortgage assistance with optional down payment assistance to D.C. government employees. DC4ME is offered to current fulltime District government employees, including employees of District government-based instrumentalities, independent agencies, D.C. Public Charter Schools, and organizations, provided the applicant/borrower’s employer falls under the oversight of the Council of the District of Columbia.

COVID-19

DC4ME provides mortgage assistance with optional down payment assistance to D.C. government employees. DC4ME is o ered to current full-time District government employees, including employees of District government-based instrumentalities, independent agencies, D.C. Public Charter Schools, and organizations, provided the applicant/borrower's employer falls under the oversight of the Council of the District of Columbia.

DC MAP COVID-19 provides nancial assistance to those a ected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quali ed borrowers can receive a loan of up to $5,000 per month to put toward their mortgage for up to six months.

COVID-19

DC MAP COVID-19 provides nancial assistance to those a ected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quali ed borrowers can receive a loan of up to $5,000 per month to put toward their mortgage for up to six months.

DC MAP COVID-19 provides nancial assistance to those a ected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Quali ed borrowers can receive a loan of up to $5,000 per month to put toward their mortgage for up to six months.

how to apply to any of DCHFA’s homeownership programs.

Oh What a Night: CHV Auction and Gala

April is the month for Capitol Hill Village’s major fund raisers: the Gala accompanied by a silent auction. These events raise funds to support critical Capitol Hill Village programs and services that allow older residents to continue to thrive in their homes on Capitol Hill. Bidding has opened on-line in the silent auction featuring vacation homes from Maine to Puerto Rico and west to California, services such as personal tours at local venues, and gift certificates for local restaurants, theaters, and businesses. The Gala, where Captain Dave Wilbar spins favorites from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, is on Saturday, April 20, 7 to 10 p.m., at St. Mark’s Church, 301 A St. SE. Buy Gala tickets for $150 or bid on auction items at /bidpal.net/chvgala.

Band, “The Commandant’s Own” United States Marine Drum and Bugle Corps, and the esteemed United States Marine Corps Silent Drill Platoon. Following the ceremony, guests will have the opportunity to meet Marines who performed throughout the parade as well as take photographs with the Marine Barracks mascot, Chesty XVI. barracks.marines.mil/Parades/Friday-Evening-Parade-Schedule-Reservation.

Budget Town Hall with Councilmember Charles Allen

On Tuesday, April 9, 7 to 8 p.m., join the Ward 6 Dems and Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen for a discussion on the Mayor’s proposed FY 2025 budget at Mr. Henry’s, 601 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. You’ll have the chance to hear from Allen about what’s in the budget and some of his priorities and the opportunity to ask your questions and share any thoughts on the proposed budget.

Carpe Librum Book Sales at Eastern Market

On April 14, May 19, June 23, July 21, Aug. 18, Sept. 22, Oct. 13 and Nov. 17, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Carpe Librum sells gently used books at 701 Pennsylvania Ave. SE. Books sell for $6 or under. Book sales are cancelled in the event of inclement weather. turningthepage.org.

Pups in the Park

On April 23, June 3, Aug. 2, Sept. 10 and 27, at 6:45 p.m., skip the dog park and come to Nationals Park. Pups in the Park is a unique opportunity to bring your dog to a Nationals game. You and your dog will both get to enjoy the game with other dogs and dog lovers from seats in their pet-friendly outfield reserved section. All proceeds from the dog ticket sales will be donated to the Humane Rescue Alliance. Human tickets are $35; dog tickets, $10. Please note, dogs are only permitted in sections 136-143. No dogs, excluding verified service animals, are allowed outside of these sections. The full information regarding Pups in the Park will be emailed to all special ticket event buyers 24 hours prior to the game. mlb. com/nationals/tickets/specials/ pups-in-the-park.

District Tickets Available for Nat’s Home Games

Approximately 400 District Tickets are now available for each home game and must be purchased in person at the Nationals Park Center Field Gate box office. (Visit nats.com/boxoffice for current box office hours.) These tickets can be purchased prior to game day—fans are limited to four games and four tickets per game per transaction and will be asked to show proof of DC residency. Pricing varies by game, starting as low as $5 for Value and Regular games, $9 for Prime games, $15 for Marquee games, and $25 Diamond games. They are non-transferrable and non-resalable. District Tickets replaces the previous walk-up program in which discounted tickets were available at the box office only on the day of the game. District Tickets may be purchased on the day of the game if supplies are available. nats.com/District.

Capitol Hill Classic 10k Registration Open

The 43rd annual National Capital Bank Capitol Hill Classic is on May 19. Washington’s largest and oldest 10k will bring runners through the roadways of historic Capitol Hill, winding past the US Capitol, the

Lighting up the night sky, fireworks return to the ballpark on Friday nights; April 19, May 3, and Sept. 13 and special Freedom Fireworks on July 3. Photo: Courtesy of the Washington Nationals Baseball Club

Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, the Folger Shakespeare Library, Lincoln Park, East Capitol Street, and the Fields at RFK. They also have their regular 3k and kids’ fun run that will follow the 10k. The 10k ($50) starts at 8:30 a.m.; the 3k ($40) immediately following the conclusion of the 10k and the fun run ($15) immediately following the 3k. Registration is open now at capitolhillclassic.com/registration.

NoMa Farmers Market Changes Location

NoMa’s Farmers Market returns for the season on Thursday, May 2, 4 to 8 p.m., at a new location— south of New York Avenue, across from the Union Market district. nomabid.org.

Folger Announces

New Café’s Crowdsourced Name

The name Quill & Crumb was the top vote-getter in a crowdsourced project to name the café. The Folger put out a public call asking for ideas for what to name the café early in February and received 1,750 suggestions. Folger sta members narrowed the list and shared ve options for the public to vote on. Quill & Crumb was the overwhelming favorite, with 37 percent of the votes. The new café that will be housed in the Folger’s historic Great Hall, will offer lunch, baked goods, and snacks alongside co ee and tea service during the day, and a fullservice bar and light bites in the evening. folger.edu.

Farmers Market SW Opens for Season

Farmers Market SW, Fourth and M streets SW, is now open for the

• The recall attempt is a misguided attempt to address a real problem.

• A recall is polarizing, making us less safe. It detracts from us coming together to find practical solutions to our safety problems.

• A recall will waste a significant amount of city-wide taxpayer dollars that could be better invested in real solutions.

If you are approached by someone with a recall petition,

Ben’s Chili Bowl’s Virginia Ali in Conversation at Hill Center

Virginia Ali was born in rural Virginia in 1933, moved to DC in ’52, and married Howard student Ben Ali in ’58, opening Ben’s Chili Bowl the same year. The eatery served chili dogs, half smokes and chili to locals and national civil rights leaders. After the death of MLK, Jr. in ’68, the DC U St. area faced harsh challenges: burned-out streets, crack-cocaine wars, Metro construction, and COVID shutdown. Despite setbacks, Mrs. Ali’s moral and ethical values, respecting everyone, and perseverance led to this iconic eatery being admired worldwide today. The Smithsonian placed Ben’s Chili Bowl on its list of the 20 Most Iconic Food Destinations Across America. Virginia Ali is in conversation with Chef Jerome Grant and Ben’s Official Historian Bernard Demczuk on Wednesday, April 24, 7 p.m. at Hill Center, 921 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. Admission is $10. hillcenterdc.org.

season on Saturdays, April 6 to Nov. 24, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The market offers baked goods, coffee, jams/ jellies, prepared foods, pasture-raised meats and eggs, and locally grown fresh produce. It also features live music, performances, lawn games, children’s activities and more. diversemarkets.net.

Sidewalk Safety Message from Capitol Hill Village

“Thank you, Capitol Hill residents, for reporting sidewalk safety hazards. Your reports help to keep us all safe, even though DC government response is sadly lacking. This chart shows that the number

of our complaints to 311 about Capitol Hill sidewalk hazards has more than doubled in the past year. If you don’t have the ability or time to file a 311 report of a sidewalk hazard, send a picture of the problem with the location of the problem to chvpedestriansafety@gmail.com and capitol Hill Village will file the report for you.” CapitolHillVillage.org.

Congressional Cemetery

Launches Public Art Program

Historic Congressional Cemetery has announced a public art program, launching with a newly commissioned installation. Aligning with the peak blooms of Congressional’s three dozen cherry blossom trees, DC-based artist Tommy Bobo will present a site-specific sculptural installation. Bobo will present an interactive installation at a memorial site located in the historic acreage of the cemetery. Floating inches off the ground, a small meadow of discrete mirrored sculptures will veil the cemetery’s landscape. A one-way wind phone will offer visitors a point of connection to speak with those dwelling in other worldly planes. Originally conceived of by Itaru Sasaki for his garden in Otsuchi, Japan, the wind phone has appeared in various forms and locations to create a dedicated space for mourning, remembrance and connection. The reflective pools of Bobo’s installation act as a vehicle to carry remembrances across the wind, ferrying the words spoken into the wind phone to people beyond. The installation will be on view to the public through June 30, 2024. congressionalcemetery.org.

Southwest Waterfront AARP Monthly Luncheon Meeting

On Wednesday, April 17, noon to 2 p.m., in a return engagement guest speaker international psychologist Dr. Roblyn P. Lewter will present Part II of lessons in living our best life at any age and from any space, aging gracefully, choosing happiness, and living a full life. All are welcome. Lunch is $5. The meeting is at River Park Mutual Homes South

Common Room, 1311 Delaware Ave. SW. For further information contact Betty Jean Tolbert Jones at bettyjeantolbertjones@yahoo.com or 202-554-0901.

The Great Brookland Yard Sale

The Great Brookland Yard Sale—a day for Brookland residents to host concurrent yard sales—on Saturday, May 11, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (rain date, May 18). Sales are all over Brookland, in individual seller’s yards, businesses, and churches. Printed maps are available for pick up at Atlantic Electric on sale day. brooklandcivic.org/gbys.

DGS’s Spring and Summer Readiness Activities

District residents are able to report certain maintenance needs through DC 311 year-round—such as landscaping, dog park maintenance, playground repairs, indoor pool maintenance, and overflowing re-

Life on a Sustainable Planet Symposium

On Thursday, April 18, 10:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m., in celebration of Earth Day 2024, former fellows of the National Museum of Natural History Dr. Peter Buck Fellowship program will present short talks related to their own science journeys. The symposium will offer an opportunity for the Smithsonian Science community and the public to network and hear from science leaders of the future on how their work is contributing to exploring and understanding our natural world. Free to the public, the symposium will feature expert speakers on topics such as: Assessing Global Change; Exploring and Understanding Biodiversity; Understanding Earth’s Origin and Evolution; and Humans in the 21st Century. naturalhistory.si.edu.

Presidential candidate, Mayor Pete Buttigieg drops by Ben’s Chile Bowl on Oct. 19, 2019.

Remaining Spring National Gallery Nights

The remaining popular (and free) National Gallery Nights take place on the second Thursday April 11 and May 9, 6 to 9 p.m. The evenings feature music, live performances, artmaking, and pop-up talks. Light fare, gelato, and beverages, including beer, wine, and specialty cocktails are available for purchase throughout the East Building and in the Terrace Café and Espresso & Gelato Bar. Their April and May programs also feature activities on the Fourth Street Plaza which are open to all without registration. Due to its popularity, they offer registration through a lottery system. The lottery takes place the week before each event. Additional passes are available at the East Building entrance—first come, first served—starting at 5:30 p.m. on the afternoon of each event. nga.gov/calendar/community-events/nights.

National Gallery Nights in April and May programs also feature activities on the Fourth Street Plaza which are open to all without registration.

cycling cans at Department of Parks and Recreation and DC Public Schools playgrounds. During the spring and summer seasons, residents can additionally submit requests for mowing services at over 600 District-owned locations, as well as requests for spray park and outdoor pool maintenance. dgs.dc.gov.

Explore DC Public Library Databases

On Thursday, May 2, noon to 1:30 p.m., join DC Library staff for this free presentation and workshop about how to use and discover information using library resources. MLK Library, 202-0 Computer Lab, 901 G St. NW. dclibrary.org.

SAAM Fellows Lectures

On Wednesday, May 8, Thursday, May 9, and Friday, May 10, 1 to 5 p.m. (all three days); join the 2023–2024 SAAM Fellows as they present new scholarship on a range of topics and time periods, media and messages. This multi-afternoon program will highlight a new generation of scholars who are engag-

ing the Smithsonian’s collections and archives in order to tell new stories about American art. The lectures are held in person and online; registration is required. The Smithsonian American Art Museum is at eighth and G streets NW. americanart.si.edu.

Call for Volunteers

No Recall in Ward 6 needs volunteers to install and distribute signs, staff potential popups and other tasks as the No Recall of Councilmember Charles Allen campaign grows. We’ll be holding workshops on April 18 and 22, 6-8 p.m. for best practices to hang and distribute signs. https:// NoWard6recall.org

Remember the Pearl Commemoration

In 1848, 77 enslaved men, women, and children boarded the three-masted Pearl schooner at the waterfront in Southwest Washington to sail to freedom. On Sunday, April 14, 2 p.m., at Westminster Church, 4th and I streets SW, there will be a commemorative program to Remember the Pearl. On Monday, April 15, 6 p.m., a celebratory procession from the church to the Southwest waterfront will take place to memorialize the event. The names of the Pearl passengers will be read, libations poured, and flowers tossed into the river in their honor. rememberthepearl.com.

Potomac Water Taxi Returns for Season

DC Water Taxi offers transportation to and from The Wharf, Georgetown, Old Town Alexandria and National Harbor. Departures begin at the Wharf at 11:45 a.m. and will depart every 30 minutes to one hour depending on the day. Purchase a Water Taxi season pass for $225. One way and round-trip tickets are also available at $22. cityexperiences.com.

Free DPR Lifeguard Training

DC DPR employs the International Lifeguard Training Program (ILTP) to train and certify lifeguards to work both indoor and outdoor aquatic facilities throughout the District. All candidates must be 16 or older and must pass the prerequisites screening on the first day of class which includes a 100 yard

SW Night Market Opens for Season (arts, food, flea and fun)

The SW Night Market, Fourth and M streets, SW, opens for the season on May 10, on alternate Fridays, 4 to 10 a.m., through Sept. 27. Exact dates are May 10 and 24; June 7 and 21; July 5 and 19, Aug. 2, 16 and 30; and Sept. 13 and 27. This eclectic night market features a diverse mix of art, crafts, handmade jewelry, accessories, bath/ beauty, vintage and antique furniture, and home furnishings. On stage, local musicians and DJs curate a mix of live music and inviting evening soundtracks. Additionally, specialty food businesses, a beer garden, a cigar lounge, and food trucks add to the programming mix. marketswdc.com.

Smithsonian Craft Show: Creating Joy

From May 2 to 5, the Smithsonian Craft Show celebrates the work of America’s best craft and design artists. Preview night is Wednesday, May 1, 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.; $250 to $500. General admission tickets are $20; Thursday to Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The show features basketry, ceramics, decorative ber, furniture, glass, Jewelry, leather, metal, mixed media, paper, wearable arts and wood. The Smithsonian

Craft Show: Creating Joy is at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Proceeds from the show bene t the programs and museums of the Smithsonian. smithsoniancraftshow.org.

• Complimentary Consultations

•

660 Pennsylvania Ave

Licensed master esthetician with over 15 years of experience.

In Loving Memory of Thomas Johnson

February 15, 1969 – March 10, 2024

swim; retrieve a 10 pound dive brick from the deepest part of the training facility, and more. Additional details and information, visit dpr.dc.gov/lifeguard.

The Bulletin Board includes event notices, volunteer opportunities and other community news. Do you have a notice for the Bulletin? Send it to bulletinboard@hillrag.com. ◆

Thomas Johnson, the Managing Partner of the Hill Restaurant Group, passed away on March 10, 2024. His sudden departure has left a profound void, deeply felt by his family, friends, and colleagues.

He is survived by his mother Sharon Johnson and stepfather Michael G. Bowman. Born on February 15, 1969, in Van Nuys, California, Thomas moved to Panama City, Florida, during his early years. Eventually settling in the Keys, he called it home for over two decades. Thomas was known for his strong will, occasional stubbornness, immense heart, and delightful sense of humor. He was a generous, loyal individual with a remarkable compassion for others. His love for storytelling and knack for connecting with people made him a cherished companion, always leaving a lasting impression.

Thomas embarked on a diverse journey, gaining expertise as a mechanical engineer, business owner, and entrepreneur. His passion for the hospitality industry led him to an extensive and varied career starting as a dishwasher and working his way up to head bartender at TGIF. While this was one of his proudest achievements, he never understated the cherished memories he created while honing his craft at Holiday Isle and making the Whale Harbor Group ultimately a success. All of this led to co-leading the Hill Restaurant Group in Washington DC alongside his friend and investor, William Sport, starting in 2018. Thomas was an influential figure in D.C.’s hospitality scene, serving as co-chair of the Capitol Hill Business Interest Working Group and contributing significantly to the community’s development and tourism promotion efforts.

Thomas was also the founder and CEO of Core Hospitality Consulting, providing comprehensive services to hospitality clients, ranging from property development to brand management.

His unexpected passing has deeply saddened his extensive network of family, friends, colleagues, and admirers. Thomas will be dearly missed, and his legacy of dedication and passion will continue to inspire those who knew him best.

A celebration of his life was held on March 23rd in Washington DC and one will be held in Islamorada, Florida.

Wearable art by Starr Hagenbring

The 2024 CHRS House & Garden Tour

A Mother’s Day Treat May 11 & 12

by Libby Quaid

Come for the beautifully preserved post-Civil War row houses, stay for the grand Mediterranean-style villa where a Washington power couple once held court. The Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s annual House & Garden Tour will be held Saturday and Sunday, May 11-12, Mother’s Day weekend.

Ticket holders will be able to visit a dozen homes and other buildings over the course of two days. The route stretches east from 5th Street SE to 13th Street NE and south from Massachusetts Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue.

The Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital on Pennsylvania Avenue SE will be the tour’s headquarters. There will be architectural tours of the building.

The Hill Center won’t be the only check-in location. You will be able to check in using Eventbrite and start the tour at half a dozen of the homes on the tour. Ticket holders can take their time and visit the houses on either or both days.

Tickets will go on sale through Eventbrite on April 1. The cost is $40 in advance and $50 the weekend of the tour.

Highlights include:

• A newly renovated, nearly 5,000-square-foot stucco villa-style house once owned by Democratic political strategist James Carville and Republican operative Mary Matalin.

• A detached brick home from the 1870s with a double-sized living room with deep plaster moldings and a terraced private side garden.

• A brick Queen Anne row house with spectacular views of the skyline, including the Capitol dome, from its third-floor balcony and an epic dining room mural.

• A 16-foot-wide row house with spaces (including a wide new galley kitchen) so well-planned, a family of five could live there comfortably.

The tour is the year’s biggest annual event for CHRS. It’s the 67th year the organization has offered a Mother’s Day tour of Capitol Hill homes and gardens. CHRS is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote, preserve and enhance the history and character of our neighborhood. CHRS also offers walking tours in the spring and fall and a House Expo in October. CHRS sponsors monthly free Preservation Cafes online and a monthly newsletter that includes zoning and preservation news. Chrs.org u

On the House Tour: A stunning garden and three views of a 1932 house on East Capitol Street. Laura Metzler Photography, courtesy of Anna Weaver

Capitol Hill Garden Club in 2024

Article and photos by Rindy

O’Brien

Think garden clubs, and you might dig up a 1950s memory of a group of well-groomed ladies who lunch and fiercely compete in floral arrangement contests. In that era, membership was by invitation only. Fast forward to the 1970s and 1980s when the Capitol Hill Garden Club was known for selling daffodil bulbs at Eastern Market on Saturdays in the fall. The daffodils were an extension of Lady Bird Johnson’s Capitol beautification project. Covid took its toll on Capitol Hill club membership, but creative leadership kept it afloat. Today, the Capitol Hill Garden Club is an active part of the Hill gardening community, and far from being your grandma’s garden club.

The Capitol Hill Garden Club’s mission is to bring together Washington area people interested in gardening, landscaping, and the environment. The club is a nonprofit organization and part of the bigger network of National Garden Clubs. The parent organization is in Saint Lou-

is, Missouri adjacent to the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Today individual clubs have a lot of latitude to organize their members to reflect their interests and locations. Long gone are the competitive flower shows for the Hill club.

Monthly Meetings

Currently the Capitol Hill Garden Club has 65 members according to Patricia Hindin, a volunteer responsible for 2024 membership. Annual membership costs $50 for an individual and $75 for a couple. Dues are collected in October each year, and you can join online at the club’s website, www.capitolhillgardenclub.org.

The club meets monthly from September through the end of May. In the winter months, the meetings are held virtually through Zoom, and the in-person meetings are held at the Northeast DC Library located at 330 7th Street, NE at 6:30 p.m.

The Capitol Hill Club is a group of

like-minded gardeners who enjoy learning more about the environment around them, and tips on how to improve their own home gardens. Melanie Dann, current President of the Club, says she is impressed with the thoughtfulness and inspiration that the membership brings to the meetings.

The club has maintained three community projects for many years, including keeping “turtle park” near Eastern Market looking beautiful and inviting.

The Capitol Hill Garden Club touring the National Cathedral gardens. The club meets most months at the NE Library located at 330 7th St. and shares tips and inspiration.

Daffodil sales were a fundraiser for the club back in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Lady Bird Johnson started the tradition of beautifying the city by planting the colorful flower during her White House stay.

“I think we have really provided an interesting variety of speakers and eld trips for our members,” says Melanie. In 2023, the gardeners have visited several local gardeners, the Hill Center, and the National Cathedral gardens. “It is reassuring as a fairly new gardener to hear from professional gardeners that everyone has failures,” Melanie notes. “We learned at the Hill Center that original designs have had to be adjusted because changes like trees needing to be removed, making a shade garden suddenly a sunny one.”

The membership is a diverse group. “Some members join having moved here from other cities where they had been a member of a garden club. They enjoy nding a community like their old ones,” says Patricia. “Others are first time members looking to connect with other gardeners.” The average age is somewhat older, as in many traditional institutions, but the leadership is hoping the great variety of speakers will bring in younger Hill residents.

Community Projects

The Capitol Hill Garden Club has sustained three community projects for years.

Turtle Park, a pocket park at Eastern Market, is one of the long running gardens maintained by the group. It is described as a legacy project honoring Edee Hogan and Muriel Martin Wein. “Several times a year, the club cleans up the park often joined by boy scout groups, that provide much appreciated muscle power,” says Melanie. “We are currently working with others to address the recent issue of homeless camping in the park.”

The Peabody Pollinator Habitat Garden is yet another example of a community project organized by the Hill club. Mary Blakeslee is spearheading the e ort, and recently gave the club a tour of the garden, explaining why certain plants have been chosen to ll spaces in the garden. The garden has been around long enough to make it a great sample of a pollinator garden.

A third project is spearheaded by Vira Sisolak, long time club member and Master Gardener. A pocket park off Massachusetts Avenue near the old Verizon switching station building is tended by Vira and other club members. Their work takes a neglected space and brings beauty to the Hill.

Melanie says the club is always open to considering projects that members are interested in helping with. “Many hands make light work,” says Melanie.

Upcoming Events

April 9th, the monthly meeting will feature one of the club’s new members, Karin Edgett.

Karin Edgett,

Karin will be sharing her interest and knowledge on edible owers. Karin says she liked the synergy of the Capitol Hill Garden Club and found it a convivial collective. She feels it will be a club that is welcoming to an eclectic gardener like herself. Karin loves using owers and herbs in her cooking and recently shared a great Cherry Blossom Lemonade drink that was both beautiful in presentation and taste. Karin is self-taught and keeps discovering new edible blooms and owers all the time. Her latest nd is forsythia blooms.

In May, the club hosts an annual garden walk for members only. Patricia Hindin is organizing this year’s walk She reports there are so many wonderful gardens to choose from that the walk will be a great treat for members. Having moved in two years ago, Patricia notes her own front garden is a work in progress, “I am excited about learning more about shade gardening which is new to me, and I plan to experiment with a lot of containers this summer,” says Patricia, “but it isn’t ready for a tour.”

If you have been wondering where you could meet other gardeners on the Hill, the club is your opportunity to network with likeminded people. Not often do you experience as much joy and comradery as the Capitol Hill Garden Club is inviting you to enjoy in 2024.

Rindy O’Brien loves connecting gardeners to one another and encourages new gardeners to give the club a try. Rindy can be reached at rindyobrien@gmail.com

new member to the Capitol Hill Garden Club, will be the April speaker at the monthly club meeting and will share her expertise on edible flowers. She recently served a cherry blossom lemon-ginger-ade that was a delicious taste of spring.

wentworthremodel.com 240.200.4802

The Capitol Hill Garden Club presents Dear Garden Problem Lady,

by Wendy Blair

In the Weeds

What is a weed? For gardeners, a weed is any plant that is in the wrong place. In a bed of pansies, a tulip is a weed. Plants that are not wanted in lawns, gardens or agriculture are generically called weeds. Weeds are incredibly tenacious and abundant even at the start of the growing season. You can see them all over Capitol Hill in tree boxes and at the edges of gardens and lawns.

What are some common early spring Capitol Hill weeds and how can they be removed?

Chickweed, purple deadnettle and common field speedwell are winter annuals emerging in late winter, taking advantage of the lack of competition at this time of year. The seeds germinate in the fall, live through the winter and produce seed in the spring. When the weather heats up, they will die back, waiting for cooler days to reemerge.

Chickweed, Stellaria media, is one of the first spring weeds. A member of the carnation family, chickweed leaves are footballshaped and ½ to 1 ½ inches long, with tiny ¼ inch white star-shaped flowers with five petals that are deeply indented and appear as 10 petals. The flowers partially close in the evening and the leaves fold over new shoots and buds at night.

Chickweed reproduces from stem joints and seeds. One plant can create thousands through seeds and runners. The seeds are viable for up to 10 years.

Pulling chickweed out by hand works well in our small Capitol Hill yards. Be sure to get the roots and all of the plant. Take care in how you dispose of weeds, because they can still

spread their seeds and regrow. Either eat them, put them in DC yard waste, which is composted at a high enough temperature to kill seeds, dispose of in the trash or give to chickens as a treat. The name chickweed reflects that chickens enjoy eating it.

Purple deadnettle, Lamium purpureum, has the square stem that identifies it as a

Chickweed Purple deadnettle

Common field speedwell

member of the mint family, heartshaped leaves with serrated edges, and light purple tubular owers. The upper leaves have a purple or reddish tint. The common name “deadnettle” refers to the similarity in appearance to nettles, but this plant is not a nettle and has no sting.

Purple deadnettle is an early food source for hungry pollinators and also self-pollinates, ensuring reproduction with or without assistance. Purple deadnettle has shallow roots and is easy to pull, especially when the soil is moist.

Common eld speedwell, Veronica persica, has small, light-blue owers (about 1/3 inch) and oval leaves with scalloped edges (1/3 to ¾ inch). Like chickweed, the stems are prostrate, growing along the ground, and the tips grow upright. Most growth occurs during the cool spring weather. Common eld speedwell reproduces only by seed. An individual plant can produce up to 6,500 seeds that can remain viable in the soil for up to 30 years and also reproduces from nodes on existing plants and pieces of roots. With speedwell, it is especially important to remove all of the roots. Seeds require some light to germinate, so turning over the soil is helpful in preventing growth.

Want to learn more about gardening or spend time with people who like plants? Join the Capitol Hill Garden Club at their April meeting on Tuesday, April 9 at 6:30 pm at the Northeast Library, 330 Maryland Ave NE. Visit the club website at capitolhillgardenclub.org.

Changing Hands

Changing Hands is a list of residential sales in Capitol Hill and contiguous neighborhoods from the previous month. A feature of every issue, this list, based on the MRIS, is provided courtesy of Don Denton, Associate Broker at Coldwell Banker Realty on Capitol Hill. The list includes address, sales price and number of bedrooms.

RANDLE HEIGHTS

BOLD

The

historic Hill streetscape

with every need within

blocks!

of this transformed

from

Rec Center, Buchanan Park, Safeway, Metro, Eastern Market, and River Trails. Low maintenance living at Watkins Alley ground-up build in 2020 features new everything structure, systems, appliances, windows, wiring, lighting, and pristine fixtures and finishes. Sleek European modern kitchen, immaculate baths, stone surfaces. EACH BEDROOM

On 16 April, we commemorate the anniversary of DC’s Compensated Emancipation Act, signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862. This piece of legislation would eventually result in the end of chattel slavery, an oppressive and inhuman system that had dominated the landscape of the United States since the 16th Century. This month’s column reviews theater that questions what freedom means: Freedom for one or many, the consequences of freedom of choice, and the effect of freedom on those we love. Read on for our curated selection.

In The Spotlight

Nancy, Mosaic Theater

Showing 28 Mar – 21 Apr mosaictheater.org

Did you know that Nancy Reagan, through the Bolling First Family of Virginia, is related to Pocahontas? Did you know that the Reagan administration catalyzed one of the most fundamental shifts in Native American life by its introduction of casino gambling into American Indian reservations? Nancy is a powerfully topical work by playwright Rhiana Yazzie that dives into the teased hair, legwarmers, neon glamor and shoulder pads of the 1980s—the setting for these significant personal and public historical convergences.

Directed by Ken-Matt Martin at the Mosaic Theater, Nancy examines freedom from differing yet interrelated perspectives: Freedom to use our own voices to narrate the history of our people. Freedom from harm caused by social, economic and environmental injustices, and freedom to live unencumbered by someone else’s perspective on who we are or should be.

Rhiana Yazzie’s career has been focused on centering Native American stories. A member of the Navajo Nation, her establishment of the New Native Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2009 enabled the

Theater Night

The Hill Rag’s Curated Selection of Theater in the DMV

by Matthew McClure

extensive network of Native playhouses and creatives in the Twin Cities to project their voices even further. Her work within these communities has seen her awarded a St. Paul’s Bush Foundation Fellowship in 2018 and most recently a Steinberg Playwright Award in 2020. “As an audience member, as a Native person, I want to have the same opportunity that everyone else has in that they get to explore the various pieces of their emotions and politics.” says Yazzie. “I feel that very often when we approach Native American work or Native Americans in this country, you’re often viewed as this phenomenon that’s been victimized throughout history, or you get placed on a pedestal for the atrocities that have happened to your community. Or you get viewed in ways that are almost otherworldly, like people getting so taken with Shamanism and Native American spirituality. It’s these opposites that seem to be the only places we can live in.”

Nancy tells the seemingly disparate stories of First Lady Nancy Reagan and Esmeralda and Jacqueline, a mother and daughter struggling to make ends meet amidst the paranoia and greed of 1980s America, a period during which a young Yazzie first became aware of the way her world was structured. “I was a small kid in the 1980s. I lived in a reservation border town called Farmington, New Mexico. I clearly recall understanding

Rhiana Yazzie. Photo courtesy Mosaic Theater.

Anaseini Katoa as Esmeralda and Lynn Hawley as Nancy Reagan. Art: Chris Banks

the difference between my people and non-native people. I remember my mother was so vocal about the Reagans. I remember how fearful life was because of Ronald Reagan and nuclear arms and the Cold War. I spent almost every day of my youth in the 1980s worried about nuclear war happening.”

The story of Pocahontas, a daughter of a Powhatan chief absorbed into white settler culture, mirrors that of many Native American tribes and their members. Nancy, Yazzie explains, is a meditation on the complexities of colonial power and its insidious ability to infiltrate Native social systems, with the character of Pocahontas standing in for this complex dynamic. “The idea of erasure and assimilation is a big piece of this experience. In any history of the US, there’s always a Native part that’s been left out. I always ask how you maintain your identity as a Native person. Pocahontas was complicit in allowing the English to settle. She plays into imported ideas of womanhood and authority. By a choice of assimilation or being complicit with white supremacy, you’re destroying your community more than the white community can destroy it.”

On Right Now

Macbeth, Shakespeare Theatre Company

Showing 9 Apr – 5 May shakespearetheatre.org

Could there be a more compelling study of the effects and consequence of free will than William Shakespeare’s Macbeth? I chatted to Simon Godwin, the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Artistic Director, about the STC’s production of this classic tale, being staged in an industrial area of NE DC.

Take note: While tickets are already sold out, a limited range of $20 lottery seats will be made available through todaytix.com from April 7, so get online now and register for alerts.

Macbeth is a play that explores the concept of freedom of choice, and the consequences of this freedom. How is this theme interpreted in the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s production of this classic work?

Simon: The play grapples with the riddle of agency versus destiny. How much are we really in control of our lives? In this production the witches, who make a series of powerful predictions at the start of the story, become a more empowered presence than usual: they become agents of change, as if

ARTS&DINING

leading Macbeth ever deeper into a spiral of terror and destruction, culminating in his own demise.

What has been a highlight of working with Ralph Fiennes and Indira Varma in the characters of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth respectively?

Simon: Ralph and Indira bring to these roles an extraordinary depth of experience in classical acting. Ralph has played many of the most iconic roles in Shakespeare and brings an exceptional understanding of his language. Working together with him for the third time has allowed us to build on our past successes to travel ever deeper into the psyche of Macbeth.

Indira combines a forensic understanding of the language and a delicate humanity and lack of judgment towards Lady Macbeth. Indira invites us to see Lady Macbeth as a complex, at times sympathetic, character who aspires to go beyond her situation, with disastrous and tragic consequences.

What does it mean to produce a play like Macbeth in Washington DC during a US presidential election year?

Simon: It’s a fantastic opportunity to share Shakespeare’s’ darkest study of power gone wrong in a city that’s navigating these questions every day. I can’t wait to be in fervent dialogue with audiences in Washington DC about this provocative and exhilarating story. u

Indira Varma and Ralph Fiennes in the Edinburgh production of Macbeth. Photo: Marc Brenner.

Macbeth: Simon Godwin. Photo: KK Ottesen.

Capitol Cuisine

by Celeste McCall

We’re back from sunny–if sometimes chilly–Florida. Yes, we miss the glorious sunsets, amazing wildlife and opping fresh shrimp and grouper plucked from the Gulf of Mexico. But Capitol Hill has greeted us with early blooming cherry blossoms, a new Nationals baseball season and exciting new restaurants. At the District Wharf, Little Chicken has found a new perch at 11 Pearl St. SW. The 60-seat poultry newbie is the new nest for the original Little Chicken, which ew its coop at downtown’s Midtown Center last summer. On a gorgeous early spring day, we checked it out.

This place is a hoot, and a bargain to boot. As husband Peter declared: “They ought to call it “BIG chicken!” Portions are large, but prices are relatively small. The snazzy, mainly pink space is out tted with a sleek stone bar, birdcage-framed booths and an all-weather glass enclosed patio. That’s where we sat. I started with a Jungle Chicken, a potent concoction of Jamaican rum, pineapple and lime. Other drinks include Orange Crush (orange, vodka, Triple Sec), Pineapple Express (mezcal. Thai chili, lime), beer and (canned) wines.

Here’s Peter: I ordered the “Pinky’s Out” chicken sandwich—messy but delicious. Crispy fried breasts are slathered in garlic sauce, Duke’s mayonnaise, pickles, cabbage, and cilantro. For extra avor I glopped on some Alabama-style white BBQ sauce. This tangy mayo-based dipping sauce was made famous by Big Bob Gibson’s Bar-B-Que in Decatur, Ala. It was a perfect dip for Celeste’s six chicken wings as well. In addition, we requested a side of cucumber salad. Other options are “Tendies” (chicken tenders), salads (including a Little Chicken Cobb), 15-piece fried chicken buckets and sides, mac-and-cheese,

curly fries and hushpuppies. Desserts? Specialty ice cream cones like Bam Bam, Crunch and Uncle Reese.

Lunch for two including my $14 cocktail, came to $50 before tip. Service was excellent. For more information visit www.justlittlechicken.com.

Pascual: High-End Mexican on Maryland Ave.

Another new hot spot is Pascual, a “contemporary” Mexican enterprise at 732 Maryland Ave. NW. If that address seems familiar, for years that site housed Kenny’s BBQ. And before that—Hogs on the Hill. Named for San Pascual, the patron saint of kitchens and cooks, Pascual is created by award-winning chef Isabel Coss— who grew up in Mexico City—and her husband/fellow chef Matt Conroy.

On a busy Friday evening, we appreciated our 7 p.m. reservations. The restaurant’s small space was packed; decibel level was high with tables close together. From the brief menu, we started with guacamole, presented in an earthenware bowl. The dark glaze was made from torched avocado leaves, unusual to say the least. Saucer-sized tostados crumbled as we scooped up the

At Pascual, the “contemporary Mexican” newcomer on Maryland Ave. NE, skate ala brasa is an exotic showstopper.

The District Wharf’s Little Chicken dispenses Buffalo wings with ranch or bleu cheese and a side, maybe pickled cukes.

At the District Wharf, Little Chicken’s new “nest” is outfitted with a sleek stone bar, lively atmosphere and generous portions.

chunky avocado spread.

Among appetizers we considered citrus ceviche, chayote salad or an evening special involving raw scallops. Peter chose prawns ala Diablo, which we found rather mushy. Heading the entrée menu was lamb neck—tagged at a lofty $50. We passed on that, but a fellow diner assured us that the portion was huge. Instead, we went for the skate ala brasa, an exotically different grilled fish served with shredded cabbage, pickled onions and soft tortillas. A chipotle mayo-like dip added zest.

es, breakfast sandwiches, and makeyour-own omelets. For hours and more information visit www.mamannyc.com.

More Latino

From the bar, margaritas and other potent potables flowed, including an offbeat red wine tagged at $16: a French Malbec. Service was excellent. Dinner for two, with a drink apiece and a 22 percent service charge, came to $141. For hours and more information visit www.pascualdc.com.

Navy Yard Plant Life and Mom

Plantish, an all-day “wellness café,” has debuted at 1 M St. SE, next to the Bullpen outdoor watering hole near Nationals Park. The healthy newcomer specializes in freshly squeezed juices, smoothies, sandwiches, wraps and all sorts of coffee and tea drinks. For more information visit www.plantish.com.

Nearby, Maman, the charming New York-based French bakery/ café, has unveiled its fifth Washington outpost; this one at 141 N St. SE. (Other spinoffs are in Union Market, Penn Quarter, Dupont Circle and Georgetown.) At Maman (French for “mom”), folks can nibble on assorted pastries including Danishes, croissants, scones and chocolate covered pretzels, as well as daily quich-

Providencia, an upscale “Asian/Latino” restaurant, is due to arrive at 1321 Linden Court NE, in an alleyway just off H. Created by chefs Erik-Bruner Yang, (who brought us nearby Maketto), Pedro Tobar and Daniel Gonzalez, Providencia explores the cross-cultural ingredients of the partners’ native Taiwan, Mexico and El Salvador through the eclectic menu. (No website yet.)

Market Watch

No, we’re no longer in ‘gator country, but we’ve discovered alligator sausage right here at Canales Quality Meats stand at Eastern Market. Sold in a frozen pack of three plump sausages for $17.99, the Cajun Alligator boudin comes from Beau Bridge, LA. Eastern Market is closed Monday. Visit www.canalesqualitymeats.com.

Gone

Stadium Sports Bar & Smokehouse, 300 Tingey St. SE, has departed the Navy Yard neighborhood. Nationals fans and other patrons will miss the vibe, TV screens, tacos, wings, nachos and lively happy hours. No word yet what’s going into that spot. Stay tuned. u

Canales Quality Meats stand at Eastern Market carries alligator sausage in a frozen pack of three for $17.99.

H Street Life

by Denzell Spencer

Living and working in the heart of Washington D.C. offers a myriad of experiences, from historic landmarks to culinary delights. Today, I’m excited to share with you my recent adventure that perfectly encapsulates the vibrant essence of the nation’s capital. Join me as I take you through a day filled with productivity, delicious food, and delightful coffee.

Solid State Books

Solid State Books, a place I’ve visited for its books and games, is not just a bookstore; it’s a haven for bibliophiles and remote workers alike. With its cozy ambiance and shelves stocked with literary treasures, it’s the ideal spot to settle in for a productive

workday. From the moment you step inside, you’re enveloped in a world of words, ideas, and creativity.

As I set up my workspace amidst the stacks of books, I can’t help but feel inspired by the energy of the place. The quiet hum of activity combined with the scent of freshly brewed coffee from the in-house cafe sets the perfect backdrop for diving into my tasks. Whether you’re typing away on a laptop or lost in the pages of a novel, Solid State Books provides the space and atmosphere for focused work and creative thinking. 600 H St. NE.

Pho Viet USA

After a morning of productivity, it’s time to indulge in some culinary delights, and what better way to do so than with a steaming bowl of pho from Pho Viet USA? As I stroll through the vibrant neighborhood, I’m greeted by the sights and sounds of DC life, from the eclectic storefronts to the bustling sidewalks.

Upon entering Pho Viet USA (333 H St NE, Washington, DC 20002), I’m immediately drawn to the aroma of simmering broth and fragrant herbs. I opt for their signature Pho Tai Nam, a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup featuring thinly sliced beef and tender brisket. With each spoonful, I’m transported on a culinary journey that warms the soul. The combination of rich flavors and comforting

warmth makes it the perfect midday meal.

The Wydown: A Sip of Perfection

No visit to H Street would be complete without a stop at The Wydown (600B H St NE) for a dose of caffeine perfection. This specialty coffee shop is renowned for its meticulous approach to crafting the perfect cup of coffee, and I’m eager to experience it firsthand. As I enter the cozy space, I’m greeted by the welcoming aroma of freshly ground beans and the sound of steam frothing milk.

I order a mocha, opting for the perfect balance of rich chocolate and bold espresso. As I take the first sip, I’m greeted by layers of flavor that leave me craving another taste. Paired with the charming ambiance and friendly baristas, it’s the ideal way to end my culinary journey on H Street.

It’s been a good day. From the inspiration found within the pages of books to the flavors that tantalize the taste buds, I feel enriched and satidfied. Whether you’re a local or just passing through, you never know what delights on H Street.

Denzell Spencer is the Director of Regional Philanthropy, NE at FoodCorps. FoodCorps partners with schools and communities to nourish kids’ health, education, and sense of belonging. For tips and retail recommendations in and near the H Street Corridor, email him at dspencer20003@gmail.com. u

Jen posing for a picture after helping Denzell get settled for a working lunch

Pho Tai Nam, Rare Steak & brisket only served in beef broth, $14.5

Tyla working remotely at Solid State Books.

Hill East Civic Association

HECA Ward 7 Election Forum

The Hill East Civic Association (HECA) invites you to participate in a Ward 7 Councilmember Candidate forum.

UPCOMING PROGRAMS

COMMUNITY EVENT

Volunteer Capitol Hill 2024 Saturday, April 6, 2:00pm - 4:00pm

STUDIO ARTS

Contemporary Watercolors Course

Begins Monday, April 1, 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Basic Drawing Techniques Course: Drawing From an Image

Begins Tuesday, April 2, 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Local Makers Workshop: Needle Felted

Cherry Blossom Hoop Workshop Sunday, April 7, 2:00pm - 3:30pm

Contemporary Watercolors Workshop

Saturday, April 27, 12:00pm - 2:00pm

Introduction to Linocut Printmaking Workshop

Saturday, April 27, 2:30pm - 5:00pm

Cherry Blossom Sip ’n Paint! Saturday, April 27, 5:30pm - 7:30pm

CONCERTS

Stone Room Concerts @ Hill Center Featuring Modern Folk/Americana

Sextet Buffalo Rose

Sunday, April 7, 4:30pm

Family Hoppy Hour with King Bullfrog Friday, April 26, 5:00pm

American Roots @ Hill Center Present

Rose & The Bros

Sunday, April 28, 4:30pm

COOKING CLASSES & TASTINGS

Master Chef: Cambodian Cooking with Celebrated Chef Erik Bruner-Yang

Sunday, April 21, 11:00am-2:00pm

SOLD OUT

Kitchen 101: Knife Skills with Chef Wendi James

Tuesday, April 23, 6:00pm-7:30pm

Brazilian Flavors with Marianne Tshihamba Saturday, April 27, 11:00am-2:00pm

LECTURES & CONVERSATIONS

Former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Admiral James Stavridis and Acclaimed Writer Elliot Ackerman Discuss 2054: A Novel in Conversation with Washington Post Foreign Affairs

Columnist David Ignatius Friday, April 5, 7:00pm

Ben’s Chili Bowl Co-Founder & DC Matriarch Virginia Ali in Conversation with Chef Jerome Grant and Ben’s Official Historian Bernard Demczuk Wednesday, April 24, 7:00pm

The forum will focus on Ward and District issues that are important to residents of Hill East. In order facilitate a thoughtful presentation of your ideas and vision for Ward 7, we will provide a list of questions in advance of the event. We anticipate the questions will touch on the following topics:

The list of questions will be drawn from Hill East neighbors. Submit questions to hilleastcivicassoc@gmail.com. www.hilleastcivicassociation.org

On The Noodle Road with Jen Lin-Liu: Mastering Stir Fry Sunday, April 7, 11:00am-2:00pm SOLD OUT

Kitchen 101: Knife Skills with Chef

Wendi James

Tuesday, April 9, 6:00pm-7:30pm

Sausage Making with Chef Mark Haskell

Tuesday, April 16, 6:00pm-8:00pm

A Trip to Morocco: Chicken with Preserved Lemons, Carrot Salad, and Mint Tea with Chef Marianne

Tshihamba

Wednesday, April 17, 6:00pm-8:00pm

Master Chef: Modern Chinese/Korean Cooking with CHIKO/Anju Chef Founder Scott Drewno Saturday, April 20, 11:00am-2:00pm SOLD OUT

ARTS&DINING

Art and the City

by Phil Hutinet

2024 Capital Art Book Fair

Eastern Market North Hall

Saturday, April 6 and Sunday, April 7 artbookfair.eastcityart.com

East City Art is thrilled to announce the return of the Capital Art Book Fair, now in its second year, slated to take place at Eastern Market’s North Hall. Scheduled for the weekend

of April 6 and 7, 2024, the fair promises an enriching experience for art enthusiasts and bibliophiles alike. Admission is free, inviting everyone to explore the diverse world of art publishing Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

This year’s fair is set to host an impressive array of thirty-six exhibitors hailing from various corners of the globe, including the DMV, the United States, Asia, and Europe. Attendees can expect a vibrant showcase of books that are themselves works of art, alongside artist-focused editions, limited-run publications, and a range of prints, DIY zines, graphic novels, and art magazines. Well over 100 creatives, including fine artists, independent publishers, illustrators, and photographers, will present their work, offering a unique glimpse into the contemporary art and publishing landscapes.

The fair will feature an impressive diversity of participants, from local talents like Vika Visual Arts and Girls on Film from Washington, DC, to international exhibitors like 51 Personae from Shanghai. Noteworthy local institutions such as Glenstone Museum and emerging indie presses will be among the highlights, creating a dynamic and multifaceted art book experience. Eastern Market North Hall, 225 7th Street SE. Saturday: 11 a.m.– 6 p.m. and Sunday: 10 a.m.- 4 p.m.

American Poetry Museum

Nando Alvarez “Transmutación”

March 23 through April 30

apoetmuseum.org/exhibits

“Transmutación” is an evocative exhibit that showcases the captivating screen prints and monoprints of artist Nando Alvarez. This collection stands out for its dynamic tension and intriguing allure, inviting viewers to delve into the narratives woven within each piece. Alvarez’s work in this exhibit is deeply influenced by the vivid hues and energetic style of chicha posters, infusing traditional screen printing techniques with a modern vibrancy. Alongside these visual pieces, poet Sami Miranda introduces an engaging interplay of art forms. His poems, inspired by the layout and spirit of chicha posters, engage in a reflective dialogue with Alvarez’s creations. The exhibit is currently on display at the American Poetry Museum until the end of April. 716 Monroe Street NE, Studio 25, Washington, DC. Hours: Thursday and Friday 5-7 p.m., Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 2-5 p.m. 202- 670-6252

HEMPHILL

Steven Cushner

March 16-April 27

hemphillfinearts.com/exhibitions

HEMPHILL presents “STEVEN CUSHNER,” through April 27. This exhibition delves into the intriguing debate of categorizing art as abstract or representational, challenging the viewer to transcend traditional dichotomies and embrace a more integrated perception of art. Cushner’s work embodies this synthesis, merging conceptual depth with aesthetic appeal in a manner that speaks directly to the contemporary art enthusiast.

Steven Cushner’s creative process is deeply introspective and yet universally resonant. His

Girls on Film from Washington, DC will be exhibiting again at this year’s Capital Art Book Fair. Photo: Genie Hutinet for East City Art.

“En Movimiento”, Screenprint by Nando Alvarez. Photo: Nando Alvarez.

Steven Cushner, Cloudburst #1, 2023, acrylic on canvas, 74 x 66 inches. Photo: HEMPHILL

most recent inspiration, drawn from a reflective moment on a beach, questioning the transient beauty of nature, has led to a body of work that unifies the abstract with the representational. His paintings and works on paper from 2022 to 2024 encapsulate this journey, offering viewers a chance to experience art beyond the confines of -isms and categorical limitations.

Cushner has garnered recognition for his distinctive approach to painting, earning fellowships and showcasing his work in esteemed galleries and collections across the nation, including the Hirshhorn Museum and the Yale University Art Gallery. This exhibition at HEMPHILL not only highlights Cushner’s artistic evolution but also invites visitors to reconsider their own perceptions of art, urging a deeper, more intuitive engagement with the visual language. 434 K Street NW. TuesdaySaturday, 10am - 5pm and by appointment. 202-234-5601

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Fighters for Freedom:

William H. Johnson Picturing Justice March 8 through September 8, 2024 americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/fightersfor-freedom

The “Fighters for Freedom” series by William H. Johnson is an artistic homage to key figures who have significantly contributed to the struggles and triumphs in the pursuit of freedom and justice. Painted in the mid-1940s, this series encapsulates the essence of courage and resilience demonstrated by notable individuals such as Harriet Tubman, George Washington Carver, Marian Anderson, and Mahatma Gandhi, alongside other unsung heroes who faced and overcame the challenges of racism, violence, and oppression. Through his vivid and expressive artwork, Johnson not only commemorates the achievements of these figures but also offers a nuanced narrative that intertwines their lives with broader historical and social contexts.

Johnson’s artwork serves as a powerful reminder of the interconnected nature of the fight for freedom and justice, illustrating how each individual’s contributions, regardless of their global recognition, are pivotal in shaping the course of history. By bringing to light both well-known and overlooked stories, he enriches our understanding of the multifaceted struggle for civil rights and peace, urging viewers to reflect on their roles in contemporary quests for equity and harmony.

The significance of Johnson’s “Fighters for Freedom” is further amplified by its preservation and presentation by the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM), which received a substantial collection of his works from the Harmon Foundation. The ongoing exhibitions, conservation efforts, and scholarly engagement with Johnson’s work at SAAM ensure that his artistic legacy continues to inspire and educate future generations. 8th and G Streets NW, Washington, DC. Open Daily, 11:30 a.m.–7:00 p.m. 202-633-7970.

Phil Hutinet is the founding publisher of East City Art, DC’s visual art journal of record. For more information visit www.eastcityart.com u

William H. Johnson, Harriet Tubman, ca. 1945, oil on paperboard, 28 7⁄8 x 23 3⁄8 in. (73.5 x 59.3 cm), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Harmon Foundation

ARTS&DINING

LEFT: Artist and art professor Lois Mailou Jones (1905-1998) in her classroom at Howard University (c. 1930s), where she taught and mentored students for nearly 50 years. Credit: Scurlock Studio Records, Archives Center, National Museum of American History

A Bold and Beautiful Vision

A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, DC, 1900–2000

by Phil Hutinet

The Anacostia Community Museum’s current exhibition, “A Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, DC, 1900–2000,” which opened on March 23, serves as a profound exploration into the rich yet often overlooked realm of Black arts education in the nation’s capital. This exhibition is more than just a celebration of artistic achievement; it is a tribute to the resilient community of artist-educators, students, and advocates who have established Washington, DC as a critical epicenter for African American artistic pedagogy.

Throughout the 20th century, Washington, DC, emerged as a fertile ground for nurturing some of the most prominent African American talents in various artistic domains. The exhibition spotlights luminaries such as musicians Duke Ellington, Billy Taylor, and Madame Lillian Evanti; visual artists Alma Thomas, Elizabeth Catlett, and James A. Porter; and in uential artist-educators including Sam Gilliam, Georgette Seabrooke Powell, and Loïs Mailou Jones. These gures have not only enriched the cultural fabric of the city through their artistic production but have also played pivotal roles in mentoring subsequent generations of exceptional artists.

“A Bold and Beautiful Vision” casts a spotlight on the remarkable dedication of Black artist-educators in Washington, DC, who, despite facing challenges such as underfunding and segregation, committed themselves to nurturing an appreciation and passion for the arts among the city’s youth.

At the March 19 press conference, Samir Meghelli, Senior Curator at Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum, explained that the exhibition’s objective is to bring to light the e orts of both celebrated and lesser-known artist-educators in the city. This acknowledgment pays homage to the crucial role they played in shaping Washington, DC’s artistic and cultural legacies as well as their impact on inspiring artistic pursuits among young African Americans.

These exceptional individuals not only bolstered the creation of Black art within the city but also extended its impact and renown on local, national, and international stages, signi cantly in uencing the broader artistic landscape.

On view, a collection of more than 85 objects and artworks were meticulously curated to trace the evolution and lineage of Black arts education in the region. Highlights include Elizabeth Catlett’s original prints from her inaugural solo exhibition, Madame Lillian Evanti’s custom Fischer piano, Alma Thomas’ painting supplies, a marionette crafted by William Buckner and his students, and various works by Sam Gilliam that depict the di er-

ABOVE: A student in front of the New Thing Art and Architecture Center, a community-based arts organization in Washington’s Adams Morgan neighborhood where hundreds of young people from across the city took classes in painting, drawing, filmmaking, photography, and African dance and drum in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Photo: Tom Zetterstrom, New Thing Art and Architecture Collection, Anacostia Community Museum, Smithsonian Institution

ent stages of his career. Artworks by Lou Stovall and Lloyd McNeill, produced for a concert series by The New Thing Art and Architecture Center, and a study drawing of James Baldwin by David C. Driskell, alongside works by his mentors at Howard University, broaden the exhibition’s scope, connecting local educational initiatives with broader artistic movements.

The exhibited items represent the convergence of artistic talent and educational advocacy. For instance, Madame Lillian Evanti’s piano not only symbolizes her prowess as a musician but also her role as an educator and advocate for the arts, showcasing the dual responsibilities many of these artist-educators embraced. Alma Thomas’s tools of trade reect a hands-on, experimental approach to arts education, emphasizing the values of creativity and personal expression.

A visual arts student at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, c. 1984. The nationally recognized pre-professional arts high school was established in 1974 by arts advocate Peggy Cooper Cafritz and theater director and choreographer Mike Malone. Photo: Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University Libraries

“A Bold and Beautiful Vision” aligns with the Anacostia Community Museum’s 2024 theme, “Our Education, Our Future,” focusing on the intersections between educational equity and the arts in the Washington metropolitan area. This exhibition is not only a retrospective look at the past century but also a forward-looking endeavor that aims to spark dialogue about the future of arts education and its critical role in cultivating a vibrant and dynamic cultural community.

Through “A Bold and Beautiful Vision,” the Anacostia Community Museum rea rms its commitment to exploring the nexus of art and education, championing the continued importance of arts education in community development, cultural enrichment, and the fostering of a more inclusive and equitable future.

On view through March 2, 2025. 1901 Fort Place SE Washington, DC. Hours 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily. 202-633-4820. anacostia.si.edu/visit

Phil Hutinet is the founding publisher of East City Art, DC’s visual art journal of record. For more information visit www.eastcityart.com ◆

Asure sign of spring is the annual juried Craft Show brought to you by the Smithsonian Women’s Committee.

This year the show dates are May 1-5.

All of the net proceeds go back to the Smithsonian’s 19 museums, research centers and the National Zoo for the amazing work they do for science, arts and community projects.

In 2014 the SWC started a program to recognize late career artists who have reached the pinnicle of their craft. The qualifying criteria for the Visionary Award is that the artist has been shown in major museums and in important collections.

Past winners of the Visionary Award include Albert Paley, Wendall Castle, Faith Ringgold, Dale Chihuly and Toots Zynsky. These amazing artists set the bar for future award winners. This year the award winners are all glass artists and their work is stunning. The Secretary of the Smithsonian, Lonnie Bunch, will present the awards on the opening night of the show.

Dan Dailey

Our first award winner is Dan Dailey. He blends together sculpture. painting, and storytelling with

2024 Smithsonian Craft Show

May 1-5 at the National Building Museum

by Susan Vallon

a deft hand that comes from his work work with Venini in Italy, Christalleris Daum in Paris and Waterford in Ireland.

Particularly note the amusing characters executed in Pate de Verre, a sort of sanded or frosted finish that harkens back to his time at Daum Glass in Paris. These pieces are not only amusing to look at, but the technical aspect of their execution is off the charts.

Also notable is his White Series. These vessels are executed with a fine eye toward the shape of the piece, but then have a calligraphic element in a contrasting color that is reminiscent of Matisse. Stunning.

Judith Schaecter

Our second award winner is Judith Schaecter, an artist who works in stained glass. Her technique is one of layering what she calls ”flash glass” or a pre-colored sheet of glass, with several layers of other colors, most of which are carved with an engraving tool. Her intricate drawings, meticiously carved into layers of the glass, are then set into frames to tell a story.

The stories are sometimes fanciful such as in the “Swarm,” a long, undulated piece with flowers, birds and butterflies or a heart rending piece like Raft of the Medusa, a graphic piece in sepia and grey tones, again, layered on pieces of glass to produce a soft depth color field.

Stained glass has never looked like this. If you think of the medium as a gaily colored panel that you set against a window to fracture light coming into your kitchen, you must see Judith’s work in person. It is quite amazing.

Norwood Viviano

Many years ago, the Women’s Committee thought to recognize mid-career artists who will in time reach the status of Visionary. These younger and therefore more easily collectable artists have a secure place in our show. We call this award “The Delphi” and it will be given to Norwood Viviano by the

president of the SWC, Trudi Hahn.

Norwood currently is an Associate Professor in Grand Valley State University in Michigan. As with the others, his pieces are in museums like the Renwick, Chrysler and Corning Museums.

Norwood presents his kilncast glass in tightly congested sculptures depicting urban landscapes. They typically depict cities with manufacturing history, with the sculptures show a changing landscape. They are of one color, but the light refraction makes them come alive.

He also does a series called “Global Cities.” The pieces in this series are elegant triangular or conical shapes suspended from the ceiling on cable wire. As congested as the first series is, the next one is all about light and space. The contrast between the two shows the breadth of the artist mind.

All of the artists will have their work in booth 117. A panel discussion led by Stephanie Stebich, director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum as well as the Renwick Gallery will lead the discussion on May 2 from 1-2:00.

For tickets to the Craft Show go to smithsoniancraftshow.org. Schedule: May 1 - Visionary Reception at 5 p.m. to introduce the Visionary and Delphi Award winners. Preview Night Party at 6 p.m. See website for prices. May 2-4: 10:305:30; Sunday, May 5: 11-5. General admission: $20. For more information go to smithsoniancraftshow.org. u

“Prima Donna” Circus Vase, blown glass, nickel and gold plated bronze, pate de verre and lamp-worked glass. 17 x 17 x 8 3/3 inches, by Dan Dailey

“De-Luxe” 2022, Stained Glass, 28 x 40 x 3 in; by Judisth Schaechter

Mining Industries: Seattle (detail), 3D kilncast glass, mirrored glass, fabricated steel. 17.5 x 14.5 x 38 inches, by Norwood Viviano

the LITERARY HILL

Iinterviewed Phil Hutinet, organizer of the Capitol Art Book Fair for this month’s column, to highlight what attendees might expect at this year’s fair.

Literary Hill: How do you define “Art Book?” Why are Art Books a compelling form for today’s readers?

Phil Hutinet: An “Art Book” is a term that encompasses a wide variety of forms, each captivating in its own right. At its simplest, it might be the classic coffee table book filled with exquisite photography or a comprehensive, full-color exploration of a

by Michelle LaFrance

day’s readers, who seek unique, tactile, and visually engaging experiences.

LH: Would you recap the details of the first Capital Art Book Fair at Eastern Market?

PH: Last spring, we were thrilled to launch the first Capital Art Book Fair, a milestone event that garnered significant attention, press and participation. Exhibitors were almost all American, with a notable exception being Hotam Press, a publisher from Vancouver, Canada, who received a spotlight feature in Hill Rag in 2023.

renowned artist’s work. However, the realm of Art Books extends far beyond these familiar formats, embracing limited edition runs, zines, graphic novels, and specialized art magazines.

These books are not just containers of art; they are art pieces in themselves. Some art books are recognized as art for their content, resembling conventional books while being intrinsic works of art. Others gain their status through their creation process, particularly those that are handprinted using techniques like letterpress, screen printing, or even innovative combinations of various methods. Such diversity and innovation make Art Books an increasingly appealing form for to-

The event boasted an impressive lineup of 30 exhibitors, with a considerable number hailing from the DMV, alongside others who traveled from as far as Pittsburgh and New York to participate. The enthusiasm and engagement from visitors were palpable throughout the fair. Many exhibitors completely sold out their inventory by Sunday.

A standout highlight of the fair was the contribution of Carolina Mayorga, a celebrated DC-based artist. As an educator at Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, Mayorga brought her unique creative vision to the fair, presenting a sitespecific installation titled “Capital Splash.” Her use of bright pink vinyl cut-outs not only added a vibrant visual element to the event but also underscored the dynamic and innovative spirit of the art book community.

LH: What can attendees of this year’s Art Book Fair anticipate?

PH: Attendees can revisit several of last year’s exhibitors, including local favorites such as My

Dead Aunt’s Books, Karin Edgett, Girls on Film, and Kate Fitzpatrick. Additionally, notable returning exhibitors like Inner Loop Press from Philadelphia, PA, and HOMOCATS from Brooklyn, NY, will grace the event once more.

The fair is welcoming a diverse array of firsttime participants that span museums, galleries, university presses, and exhibitors from across the globe. Marking its first museum participation, Glenstone from Potomac, MD, will join the fair alongside the debut university press exhibitor, Montana State University’s Courier Press. Hugo Bonamin and Linea Jensen from Brussels, Belgium, will showcase “Bruit,” published by Gevaert Editions, adding European flair.

The international presence is further bolstered by 51 Personae traveling from Shanghai, China, and MAKERMAKER from Seoul, Korea. Multiple Exposures Gallery, with roots in the Torpedo Factory of Alexandria, Virginia, plans to display a substantial collection of its members’ photography books. The IBe’ Art Institute from Hopewell, Virginia, will present unique monotype books, offering attendees a glimpse into one-of-akind printed works.

In total, the fair will host 36 exhibitors, representing an eclectic mix of well over 100 artists, publishers, and designers from local, national, and international backgrounds.

Two Art Book Reviews

Look for these art books at the 2023 Capitol Art Book Fair.

Art Diction Magazine

Readers interested in the interconnectedness of art and community healing are encouraged to pick up the current issue of Art-

The Capitol Art Book Fair and African American’s and Children’s Literature Return

2023 Capitol Art Book Fair

Devika Strother

Diction. The brainchild of Devika Strother, ArtDiction is a culture and art magazine that features photography, fashion, music, and art exhibits. The current issue features five artists who take up issues of healing, community, identity and intersectionality. Brittany creates abstract images of the Black diaspora, to celebrate, uplift, and communicate complex emotions of Blackness and its intersectionality.

James Flower’s sumptuous Afrocentric visual storytelling takes the form of portraits on steel plates. Zehra Batool’s multimedia work considers the everydayness of being a native of Maryland and a Muslim. Eanaj Janae’s paintings spotlight the Black community’s emotional struggles and triumphs, and the use of emotionally expressive art to heal. And finally, Tori Kovarik’s mixed-media abstract landscapes bear witness to trauma and the work of rebuilding as healing. For more information, visit artdictionmagazine.com .

bruit

“[A]s much a book object as can be and an artwork of itself,” Brussels artists, Hugo Bonamin and Linea Jensen, describe bruit. A book about color, movement, space, and texture, this 508-page collection of handmade pastels and brass plate printings has no pagination and no text. The artists write, “it is about the interaction of a color facing another/ bruit is the experience of narration left to the read-

er, making each copy of the book unique.” See bruitartbook.com for more information.

African Americans and Children’s Literature on Tour

In partnership with The Black Student Fund and The Institute for African American Writing, Esther Productions Inc. presents African American’s and Children’s Literature on Tour, to celebrate the work of Black writers in DC and DCbased literary history.

On April 20, 2024 from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm, the Tour features authors Joy Jones (trainer, performance poet, playwright, director of the arts organization, The Spoken Word, and founder of the Double Dutch team and DC Retro Jumpers) and E. Ethelbert Miller (memoirist, award-winning poet and 2022 Grammy nominee for the Best Spoken Word Poetry Album, Black Men Are Precious) discussing DC literary history. The event is hosted at the Cleveland Park Library, 3310 Connecticut Avenue NW. This event is supported by a grant from HumanitiesDC. aachildrenslit2023@ gmail.com .

Michelle LaFrance is Associate Professor of English at George Mason University. She teaches creative nonfiction, life writing, and civic writing at the Hill Center and blogs about writing, her upcoming writing classes, and writing retreats at writinglostriver. org. u

Poetic Hill

Chloe Yelena Miller

by Sandra Beasley

Chloe Yelena Miller has lived in Glover Park since 2010, minus a year and some summers working in Italy. She’s co-founder of Brown Bag Lit, an online writing program, where she co-curates programming and teaches classes. Chloe is the author of Viable (Lily Poetry Review Books) and Unrest (Finishing Line Press) and a three-time recipient of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities individual artist grant.

Chloe’s currently working on a poetry manuscript that (with her mother’s permission) documents her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis, surgery, treatment and recovery, as well as other issues of mortality. She’s drafting a memoir about her identity as an Italian-American who has lived five-plus years in Italy, although each chapter slowly dissolves into a poem.

ERASURE

I want to erase these documents, stages and grades, possibility of growth and spread

that is more flood than wildflowers.

I want to edit with a new, jumbo-sized, chisel tipped Sharpie this mammogram biopsy MRI down to something more

spare

just a hello, hi

I don’t want war language and radiation or ribbons on trees after the rain.

I want the soft focus of twilight that glows over the harbor, your before.

Sandra Beasley is the curator of “Poetic Hill,” a resident of Southwest, and the author of four poetry collections. If you live in D.C. and you’re interested in being featured, you can reach her at sandrabeasley@earthlink.net for questions and submissions (1-5 poems). u

Photo: Hans Noel

Hugo Bonamin and Linea Jensen

Above: Joy Jones, Director of The Spoken Word

Below: E. Ethelbert Miller, Award Winning Poet and Memoirist

Harold Sanco

AARP’s Senior Planet Fitness Sponsored Athlete

by Pattie Cinelli

Harold Sanco thought his nearly 35-year fitness career was over last year. One morning he woke up and felt numbness in his legs. His back was also hurting. “What’s going on?” He thought. Sanco was concerned about the pain, but since he rarely was injured or sick, he did not visit a physician. Then he woke up the next morning unable to move his legs.

At the emergency room he learned the horror of his situation. “You cannot leave this hospital,” doctors told him. “You have a serious impingement in your spine and we need to do surgery immediately. Any tweak could cause you to lose the use of your legs forever. We are admitting you now.”

The 62-year-old Sanco struggled with round-the-clock pain and countless bottles of prescription medication and wondered how, when and if he would ever be able to tie his shoes again. A return to his pre-surgery fitness level seemed like a pipe dream.

Eight months later, after two surgeries, Sanco said he finally felt like he was turning a corner. “My fitness helped me come back. I

could feel my legs again.”

Even though doctors told Sanco he could take up to a year to heal, he wasn’t going to let his situation dampen his spirit. “I’m not sitting around and being old,” he said. Instead Sanco thought of his back surgery as “just a pause.” He said he wasn’t ready to throw in the towel on his fitness career. “I’m not letting this surgery affect what I love to do. I wanted to get through this and keep on living well.”

AARP Senior Planet Program

Last January, Sanco shared his story with AARP’s Senior Planet program and was chose as a 2024 Senior Planet Sponsored Athlete. Sanco is one of five seniors that AARP found to be excited about fitness, have identified their wellness goals and are willing to share their experiences to inspire older adults.

AARP’s Senior Planet is a diverse collection of people aged 60 and older who are changing the way one ages by embracing opportunities to reshape lives, connect with and help one another —all while learning, growing, and having fun, the website states. Its fitness division offers a diverse group of well-

Harold Sanco teaching Riggins Ashley tennis on the Hill.

ness lectures and classes including yoga, stretching, Tai Chi and Barre. Senior Planet described Sanco as was one of many candidates who applied to be a sponsored athlete this year. But his experience, positivity and knowledge set Sanco apart from the crowd.

He told them, “I know aging can be synonymous with agility, strength and wellness…even when we su er signi cant physical setbacks that we don’t think we can overcome or change, as I did.” Sanco said he wants to change the way we think about aging so it is not something to be feared. “We should embrace aging mentally, physically and equitably with all communities having within their reach access to wellness and tness opportunities that meet them where they are.”

As a Senior Planet Sponsored Athlete Sanco hopes to pass on the countless lessons he learned from his injury. “I’m ready to inspire seniors all over the world to look at their possibilities and not their circumstances.” He said he wants to focus on teaching classes and lecturing in his Capitol Hill community. “I want to get seniors who do not exercise and who don’t belong to a gym moving, exercising and becoming more t. I plan to start out simple and easy.” Sanco said he is targeting community centers and senior organizations on the Hill.

Sanco is already teaching zoom HIIT classes for any level and training private tness clients. He also o ers private tennis lessons at Gareld Park and Eastern High School courts and is excited about his Fit for Tennis (or any racquet sport) class this spring. “It’s for people who want to play sports but don’t want to get injured.”

Sanco competitively played tennis in high school in Texas where

he grew up. When he arrived in DC in 1989 he had never taught an exercise class. I met Sanco the next year. We were both teaching lunchtime tness classes at Fit Physique, a tness studio on Pennsylvania Ave., NW owned by Hill tness entrepreneur Dega Schembri who is co-owner of Foundation Fitness in Cleveland Park. She saw the potential in Sanco to become a great instructor. “Dega grabbed a cassette tape, shoved it into the player and said, ‘Show me what you can do.’ I had to make up a routine on the spot, Sanco said. “She told me she thought I’d be a good instructor because I smiled and was upbeat.” Sanco found his niche in DC’s world of tness. Classes Sanco taught often had waiting lists. He moved into management as a group tness director as well as becoming a competitor in tness challenges. He was one of the most popular tness instructors in the metro area.

Sanco’s classes as an AARP Senior Sponsored Athlete will be found on the senior planet website (see below). He also said he plans to conduct tness lectures this spring. He wants to spread the word that with patience, perseverance and the right mindset, you can do whatever you want despite your age. Sanco said he learned that he could keep doing what he loves but in a di erent way and enjoy a healthy, active lifestyle once again.

To contact Harold Sanco: haroldfitdc@gmail.com or www.haroldsanco.com

To learn more about the AARP’s Senior Planet program: www.seniorplanet.org. ◆

Winter? What was that? It’s time for spring and summer. Time to frolic in the meadow, run through the forest, walk down the Mall. And therefore it is tick-time once again.

Ticks are ever-present in the mid-Atlantic. During warmer winter periods, they will be out “questing,” looking for their next meal. They also will produce many eggs, with thousands of millimeter-sized nymphs, each looking to feed as well. These nymphs, barely the size of a poppy seed, are responsible for many infections; the reason being is that they go unnoticed by the pet and their humans.

Reservoirs for ticks include the ever-present white-tailed deer, but mice are an even bigger host of these dangerous arachnids.

Ticks

The District Vet

by Dan Teich, DVM

What makes ticks so efficient at carrying diseases is that they firmly attach to the skin of an animal and feed slowly, over the course of several days. This length of time allows bacteria within the tick’s saliva to enter the unsuspecting animal.

Common ticks in the Mid-Atlantic include the blacklegged, lone star, American dog, and Asian longhorn tick. A host of diseases are transmitted by ticks, but the most common for dogs in our area include Lyme, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, and Anaplasmosis. These diseases are certainly not alone as Rock Mountain Spotted Fever and several Rickettsial diseases can be present as well.

The most known tick-borne disease is Lyme disease, whose namesake is Old Lyme, Connecticut. The causative agent is Borellia burgdorferi and can cause lethargy, joint pain, and even kidney failure. Clinical problems caused by Ehrlichi-

osis and Anaplasmosis are similar and can also be quite serious and may include fever, muscle pain, poor appetite, and even clotting problems.

The saving grace for dogs (and humans) is the length of time it takes for a biting tick to transfer infections to the host animal. For many diseases, the tick must be attached and feeding for at least a day. If you are a human, hopefully you will have washed off and noticed any ticks, but if you are a dog, you’d best be on a decent tick preventive.

Most tick preventives, paired with a flea preventive, don’t repel ticks; they kill them rapidly once the tick bites a dog. There are four main modalities of preventives: spray, collar, topical, and oral. Overall the easiest method is a oncemonthly oral preventive. Sarolaner, the active ingredient in Simparica, a product made by Zoetis, is very effective at preventing the transmission of tick-borne disease. It starts to kill ticks within hours and usually all ticks are dead within the day. Several other brands of oral and topical prevention also contain a drug from the same class as sarolaner.

Sarolaner is harmless to the dog, but some dogs may be sensitive and develop a tremor shortly after ingesting sarolaner. Usually the tremors resolve without intervention and there’s no lasting long-term harm to the dog.

It is not recommended to combine topicals with orals or collars. The oral medication alone should be sufficient to prevent most tick-borne infections. Of course inspecting your dog routinely, especially after a romp in the woods or tall grass is essential.

Dr. Teich is the medical director for District Veterinary Hospitals in Navy Yard, Eastern Market and Brookland. Visit www.districtvet.com for more information. u

S chool N otes

by Susan Braun Johnson

Northeast Stars

Montessori Preschool

NES students recently focused on the F letter sound. The lesson was reinforced by making flowers. The children took turns pronouncing what their names would be if they started with the letter F.

Northeast Stars Montessori Preschool, 1325 Maryland Ave NE; nestars.net

Payne

The Wildcats are having a great year! This month, the Student Government was able to take a special field trip to the White House. The students impressed the Secret Service with all their questions and inquisitiveness. The students have had other amazing experiences at the Planet Word Museum, and the Kennedy Center, and are looking forward to more adventures this spring!

Payne Elementary School, 1445 C St SE, paynedc.org

Friends Community School

Friends Community School first and second grade students held their Peacemaker Fair last month.

Through this project, they explored ways to be peacemakers themselves and interviewed someone they know who exemplifies peace. Then they turned these interviews into books, videos, posters, and dioramas to present at the fair.

long tradition of hitting the slopes at Liberty Mountain Resort in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. The day began at the crack of dawn with a bus ride, followed by equipment fitting and a ski lesson. The break from the classroom allowed the kids to practice persistence, independence, and responsibility in a new setting - and offered plenty of hills, thrills, and chills in the bargain. The Maury family greatly appreciates the generous grant from the Capitol Hill Community Foundation, without which the trip would not have been possible for all students.

Maury Elementary, 1250 Constitution Ave. NE, mauryelementary.com

Lesson learned: we can all be peacemakers!

Friends Community School, 5901 Westchester Park Drive, College Park, MD; friendscommunityschool.org

Maury

Maury Elementary’s fifth grade class continued a decades-

Mundo Verde

Celebrating biliteracy at Mundo Verde! Students recently enjoyed a vibrant Spanish book fair, immersing themselves in captivating stories and expanding their language skills. Through this enriching experience, they cultivate a deep appreciation for literature and language, embodying the spirit of our diverse educational journey.

J.F. Cook Campus, 30 P St NW, Wash, DC. Calle Ocho Campus, 4401 8th St NE, Wash, DC

Payne

Friends Community School

Maury

Capitol Hill Day School

Yep, it’s that time of year! Capitol Hill Day School seventh graders have begun work on their Year End Projects (YEPs)—a staple of their middle school program for over a decade—where students choose a topic of interest to focus on, learn how to research responsibly, conduct an interview with an expert in their topic field, and share their findings with families, teachers, and peers. Each student is paired with a staff mentor to guide them through the process. Mentors include administrators, teachers from different grade levels, specialists, etc., who check in with students on their progress, offer feedback and encouragement, and provide an initial level of accountability.

Capitol Hill Day School, 210 South Carolina Ave, SE; chds.org

Van Ness

Van Ness third grade Otters got to visit Capital City Go-Go’s Education Day and it was an absolute hit! From cheering on players to dancing it out to go-go at halftime, the energy was electric. This was one of the curated field trips Van Ness goes on with Live It Learn It—made possible in part from a generous grant from the Capitol Hill Community Foundation.

Van Ness Elementary School, 1150 5th St SE; vannesselementary.org

Eliot Hine

Eliot Hine Eagles have been busy! Students have been excelling both inside and outside of the classroom. Winter sports wrapped up with both girls and boy’s teams making it to the playoffs, and the girls placed second in the city. The debate team has been working hard, with two students qualifying for Debate League Championships. In addition, four students from the Eliot Hine Network had the opportunity to interview Maryland Governor Wes Moore.

Eliot Hine, 1830 Constitution Ave NE; eliothinemiddleschool.org

Waterfront Academy

Waterfront Academy held their annual science fair on March 21. Students presented science projects and were eager to share all they learned on concepts like the weather, resonance, and more.

Waterfront Academy, 222 M St. SW, waterfrontacademy.org

Templeton Academy

Ezekiel Lu, a senior at Templeton Academy, earned the prestigious honor of being chosen as one of just two delegates to represent DC at Washington Week through

the highly selective United States Senate Youth Program. This opportunity has afforded him the chance to engage with elected officials, like Senator Corey Booker and even meet the President of the United States himself, enriching his understanding of governance and leadership.

Templeton, Academy, 406 7th St NW, templetonacadmey.org u

Capitol Hill Day School

Van Ness

Eliot Hine

Waterfront Academy

Templeton Academy

Kids & Family

Kids Run the Bases at Nat’s Park

Kids ages four to ¬twelve can run the bases after every Sunday day game throughout the season. This year’s dates are April 7 and 21; May 5 and 26; June 9 and 16; July 7 and 21; Aug. 4 and 11; and Sept. 1 and 15. Kids Run the Bases begins immediately following the game, weather permitting. An adult must accompany runners to the field. Once the game has ended, it takes the grounds crew approximately 20 minutes to prepare the field. Kids and parents/guardians can begin lining up at the end of the seventh inning. Participants must exit the ballpark through the Right Field Gate. The line forms outside of the park on the sidewalk along First St. washington.nationals.mlb.com.

Ride the Antique Carousel at Flower Mart

The National Cathedral’s 85th Flower Mart “In Bloom” is on Friday, May 3, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition to their carousel, Flower Mart has a Children’s Area with an array of games and carnival rides. Tickets for the carousel, rides, and games, can be purchased at the ticket booth in the Children’s Area. All Hallows Guild has hosted Flower Mart since 1939. Flower Mart is the largest annual fundraiser for the Cathedral’s gardens and grounds. It features a white elephant tent, an international floral display, plants and gifts for sale, tower climbs, free live entertainment and food. allhallowsguild.org.

Marine Corps Marathon Kids’ Run Registration Opens

Registration has started for the MCM Kids Run which will be held on Saturday, Oct. 26, in Arlington, VA at the North Pentagon Parking Lot. Children ages five to twelve can participate in the one-mile fun run. Pre- and post-event hospitality, activities, entertainment, games and mascots make this an unforgettable event. The Kids Run offers families eight start time options between 9:20 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. marinemarathon.com.

Divinity Roxx at the KC

On Friday, May 3, 7 p.m.; Saturday, May 4, 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.; and Sunday, May 5, 1:30 p.m., celebrate self-love and positivity in Divinity Roxx’s fun and empowering live show. The upbeat and sunny music is filled with powerful messages that encourage young people to become the best versions of themselves. A Grammynominated musician, Divinity is praised for her ability to inspire others with her infectious grooves and memorable lyrics. She recently released her first family music album Ready, Set, Go! along with two picture books published by Scholastic, Inc. Tickets are $20. Divinity Roxx is most enjoyed by aged five, up. kennedy-center.org.

Photo: Courtesy of the Washington Nationals Baseball Club

All Hallows Guild’s antique carousel dates from around 1890 and is one of only two surviving carousels manufactured by the U.S. Merry-Go-Round Corporation.

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Apply today for School Year 2023-2024. Seats are limited. Complete the application online through MySchoolDC.org.

#ChoosePaul and we’ll choose you back! Increase your chances of being matched with Paul PCS by making us your #1 selection

Flying Circus Airshow Kid’s Day

Every Sunday, May through October, gates open at 11 a.m. for the Flying Circus Airshow just off Route 17, at 5114 Ritchie Road (Route 644) in Bealeton, VA. On Kid’s Day, May 19, kids under 18 are free. Vendors and special activities are from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Pre-show starts at 2 p.m. Airshow is from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Admission prices are $20 for adults; $15 for military; $10 for kids five to twelve; under five, free. flyingcircusairshow.com.

Spring Break Day of Play at RFK

On Tuesday, April 16, noon to 4 p.m., Events DC hosts a free, field-based event to gather adults and youth in DC for a day of fun and friendly competition. It features music, food trucks and activities for all ages. Assemble your squad of friends, teammates, or family--create your team of adults, youth or both to come play. Teams can be co-ed. Registration is required and free at playrfk.splashthat.com. All kids must be accompanied by an adult over the age of 18. Day of Play is at the Fields of RFK Campus, 401 Oklahoma Ave. NE. playrfk.splashthat.com.

Gay Men’s Chorus Youth Invasion Concert

On Sunday, April 28 at 4 p.m., at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE, the GenOUT Youth Chorus returns for their annual concert, Youth Invasion. This year, GenOUT will collaborate with the chorus of Jackson-Reed High School under the direction of Ronté Pierce. The concert will include songs such as “The Rainbow Connection,” “Sanctuary,” “The Storm is Passing Over,” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’” among many others. Tickets are free but reservations are required. gmcw.org/youth-invasion.

Capitol Hill Classic Kids’ Fun Run

The National Capital Bank Capitol Hill Classic, on May 19, is an annual 10k, 3k and Fun Race—the only race run exclusively on the roads of Capitol

Hill. Funds raised through the event benefit the Capitol Hill Cluster School, a DC public school serving over 1,100 students. This event is now in its 43rd year, and the 10k is the oldest and biggest in Washington, DC. The 10k ($50) starts out in front of Peabody Primary School, just a few blocks from the US Capitol. Runners traverse Capitol Hill, passing Stanton Park, the Capitol, the Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, Lincoln Park, the RFK stadium campus, and the Anacostia Riverwalk Trail. The 3k ($40) course also begins at Peabody Primary School. Runners head to East Capitol Street and trek to Lincoln Park and back. The Fun Run ($15) is a single lap around Stanton Park (approximately a third of a mile). capitolhillclassic.com.

Kids Welcome at Anacostia Watershed Society Earth Day Cleanup

Kids, accompanied by an adult, can join in the Anacostia Watershed Society’s Earth Day Cleanup—a DC-area tradition where thousands of volunteers cleanup sites all along the Anacostia River and its tributary streams throughout the watershed in DC, Prince George’s and Montgomery Counties. On the Saturday following Earth Day, thousands of volunteers come out to dozens of different sites to pick-up trash, serve their communities, and en-

joy the Anacostia River. Registration is now open for the 2024 cleanup which is on Saturday, April 20 10 a.m. to noon. Preregistration is required to volunteer and to get the coveted t-shirt at anacostiaws.org.

Great Movies in the Great Hall: The Lord of the Rings

Calling all Middle-Earth enthusiasts! Join the National Building Museum for a screening of The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in the Museum’s Great Hall on Saturday, April 27, 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. (doors at 6 p.m.). The evening begins with a virtual presentation by Joey WilsonBrook, a Tolkien researcher, from Edinburgh, Scotland. Wilson-Brook will set the scene for the journey into Middle-Earth, highlighting architectural points from Tolkien’s best-known work and its translation from page to the big screen. Whether you’re an elf, a hobbit, a dwarf, or a wizard, showcase your creativity and come dressed to impress. Please bring

Animal Family Days at Mount Vernon

On Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., experience a rare opportunity to see sheep, oxen and horses during Animal Family Days. Learn about Mount Vernon’s animals and the jobs they performed in the 18th century. Hear stories about the enslaved people who cared for the animals, such as Giles, a coachman, Peter Hardiman, a horse groom, and Kitty, a dairymaid. Explore the importance of fish and the Potomac River and the importance of horses in Washington’s life. $28 admission for adults; $15 for ages six to eleven; five and under, free. Mount Vernon is at 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, VA. mountvernon.org.

For the safety of their heritage breeds, disturbing or feeding animals is not permitted.

your own blankets or lawn chairs for seating in the Great Hall. Picnicking is welcome. Popcorn from District Pop will be available to purchase. Beverages (including beer and wine) will also be available for purchase. $15 for adults; under twelve, free; $5 for students. The National Building Museum is at 401 F St. NW. nbm.org.

Saturday Morning Live! at the National

Fun takes center stage at the National Theatre for Saturday Morning Live. Kids are invited to the Helen Hayes Gallery space on select Saturday mornings at 9:30 and 11 a.m. for wow-inspiring children’s entertainment of all sorts, from interactive performances, puppets, dance, and music. On Saturday, April 27, see O the Page where the magic of books can transport us to new worlds; illustrations and entire adventures can lift right o the page. When an imaginative young child dives into a book, the stories come to life around them. Through dance, music, puppetry, and vibrant imagery, this world premiere production will literally unfold before your eyes! Saturday Morning at the National shows are best enjoyed by ages three to six, but anyone is welcome to join in the fun. Tickets are free, but they request that you register in advance. Walk-up tickets are subject to availability. The National Theatre is at 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. nationaltheatre.org/saturday-morning-live.

Blossom Kids Website

Kids can learn all about the cherry blossoms with games, puzzles, art and history at nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/in-the-community/ blossomkids.

Children’s Business Fair at Dupont Circle

On Saturday, May 4, 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (rain date, May 11), come to the largest entrepreneurship event for children in North America. This morning-long fair at 1521 20th St. NW (Dupont Circle), gives children the opportunity to showcase their very own businesses. Children ages six to fourteen are invited to create a product or service and sell to customers at this morning-long market. Judges award prizes to recognize excellent work. Past businesses have included handmade greeting cards, a pet-sitting service for exotic birds, a photobomb booth, and a lemonade stand that donated a percentage of profits to protect honeybees. The possibilities are limited only to what children can create. Originally started in Austin, Texas, the Acton Children’s Business Fair has grown to over 455 fairs around the world, serving 23,022 young entrepreneurs in 206 cities and 12 countries. dcchildrensbusinessfair.org.

Hello, Museo

Join educators from the National Postal Museum (Byrne Classroom, 3rd floor), every other Tuesday, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., for a bilingual (English and Spanish) program featuring music, stories, crafts, and gallery exploration. Upcoming dates are April 16 and 30; May 14 and 28; June 11 and 25 and on and on. Designed for children ages two to five and their caregivers but all are welcome. Registration not required. The Smithsonian National Postal Museum is at 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE. postalmuseum.si.edu.

Únase a los educadores del Museo Postal Nacional cada dos martes para un programa bilingüe que presenta música, historias, artesanías y exploración de galerías. Diseñado para niños de 2 a 5 años y sus cuidadores, ¡pero todos son bienvenidos!

The Glen Echo Dentzel Carousel Opens for Season

You’re invited for a ride on one of the greater Washington area’s true treasures. Installed at Glen Echo Park in 1921, the canopy and the carved figures were made by the Dentzel Carousel Company of

Kids Welcome at NoMa’s Weekly Outdoor Movie Nights

On Wednesday evenings, May 8 through June 5, NoMa BID presents CiNoMatic, their outdoor movie series under the stars at Alethia Tanner Park, 227 Harry Thomas Way NE. The theme of CiNoMatic’s Spring Season is Epic Expeditions. Movie showings begin at sunset, with seating on the lawn at Alethia Tanner Park opening one hour prior to showtime. Guests are encouraged to arrive early, as seating is first-come, first-served. Movie-goers should bring their own blankets, chairs, and picnic dinners (NoMa restaurants are open for takeout!). Food and drinks will also be available for purchase from local food truck partners. Dogs on-leash are welcome. For more information and weather-related schedule updates, visit cinomatic.org.

Germantown, PA. It is a classic example of hand woodcarving popular during the early 1900s. From 1983 through 2003, the entire carousel was fully restored. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The carousel opens for the season on April 27. During carousel season. tickets are available for purchase in person at the carousel’s ticket booth during regular operating hours. Every person must have their own ticket, including babies and accompanying adults. Children under six must be accompanied by a paying adult to ride. $2 per ride; $5 for an all-day pass. Glen Echo Park is at 7300 MacArthur Blvd., Glen Echo, MD. glenechopark.org/carousel.

Brick Fest Live (inspires, educates and entertains)

At Brick Fest Live you can see the most lifesize models made from thousands of bricks built to unlock your imagination and enjoy hands-on activities and attractions assembled for maximum family fun. You can also meet contestants from the LEGO Masters TV; dive-in and get a photo with over 200,000 bricks; build, race and win at a 35 ft track; tag the graffiti wall with your name and special design; and create art mosaic and display it in the gallery. Brick Fest Live is at the Prince George Sports & Learning Complex in Landover MD on Saturday, April 27, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Sunday, April 28, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $19 to $39. Paid admission is required for all attendees ages three and older includ-

ing all parents and/or guardians. Children two and under are free. brickfestlive.com.

The World & Me: Exploring Earth’s Biodiversity

On Saturday, April 20, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., join the Natural History Museum for a special The World & Me as they celebrate biodiversity, movement, and the planet we call home with local dancers from company, Company | E, musicians from Sound Impact, science students from Howard University, and educators from the National Museum of Natural History. Watch a performance titled Letters to Earth and explore different hands-on activities with museum specimens, microscopes, and more to learn about DNA and some of the tiny and large organisms we share the Earth with. Registration not required. naturalhistory.si.edu.

Earth Day Family Festival

On Saturday, April 20, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., join the National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum in the Kogod Courtyard to learn how art and science can help protect the earth. Attendees of all ages can enjoy nature-themed activities and there will be face painting for children 12 and under. A scavenger hunt in the galleries features works from both museums that highlight the Earth’s natural wonders and the various ways artists help care for our planet. Free but registration is encouraged. americanart.si.edu.

Location: Maury Elementary *Pendindg DCPS Approval 1250 Constitution Ave. N.E

JUNE 26 TH – JULY 31 ST

Children ages 3-10 (PK3-5th Grade)

(Excluding holidays, weekends, and inclement weather.

Camp is closed 7/4 and 7/5)

HOURS:

8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Full Day

8:00 AM – 12:30 PM Half Day

12:30 PM – 5:00 PM Half Day

FLEXIBLE SCHEDULE

Whether you are looking for the morning, full-day, or all five weeks, we have you covered with top-notch programming.

Why Choose Polite Piggy’s This Summer?

Your child will find joy, friendships, and caring team members daily. In addition, we offer unique classes like art, music, sciences, Stemovate, chess, fitness, sports, cooking, Legos, and a hiking club with Aunt Lizzie.

P.S. We forgot to mention there are weekly water play sessions and plenty of popsicles!

2024 SUMMER CAMP FEES

Full Day: $87 per Day          $435 per week

Half Day: $67 per Day         $335 per week

Sibling Discount: 15% discount for each child after the first.

DCPS Employee/ First Responder/ Military Discount: 10%

NON-REFUNDABLE REGISTRATION FEE: $150 Per Child

* Includes a t-shirt and transportation for field trips.

SCHOLARSHIP NON-REFUNDABLE REGISTRATION FEE: $100 Per Child

* Family households earning $60,000 or less are welcome to apply and must submit proof of income at registration.

* Scholarship Registration Fee: $100 per child SERVING

Kids love us; parents trust us. Discover the difference that Polite Piggy’s makes.

OUTDOOR CAMP AT

Jun. 24 & 25, Aug.1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, & 9

Session 1: 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Session 2: 1:00 PM - 5:00 PM

*12:00-1:00 pm lunch break at home

*No bathroom access on the outdoor side

$45 per session

$225 per weekly session

PRIVATE CAMP GROUP

Meets at a Family’s Home

Campers will hang out with our camp leader going to the playground, museums, performances, and field trips. One family’s house will be the home-base for daily bathroom visits, lunch, and pick-up.

Group Rate:

$2,200 per week for up to 8 children

$440 per day for up to 8 children

Tot Rock: Groovy Nate at Discovery Theater

Work

On Tuesday, April 23 and Wednesday, April 25, 10:15 and 11:30 a.m., get your young ones, ages three to six, ready to dance with Groovy Nate and his interactive mix of comedy, music, and puppets. This performance encourages kids and families to move, sing, and play together creatively with many instruments and musical genres. Groovy Nate is a children’s entertainer who creates fun and educational shows using funky grooves, exotic musical instruments, and comedy. He is a graduate of Howard University where he studied jazz music and guitar. Shows are $8 for adults; $7 for kids; $3 for kids under two. Discovery Theater’s Ripley Center is at 1100 Je erson Dr. SW (on the National Mall). discoverytheater.org.

Taiko Drumming at Natural History

The Gaithersburg Book Festival, on Saturday, May 18, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is a free annual celebration of great books and great writing that has made its mark as one of the nation’s top literary events. At the Festival’s Children’s Village, award-winning children’s and YA authors speak about their recent books and give you an inside look into what inspires them. All books are available for purchase from the Politics and Prose Book Store on site. They also have several writing workshops and storywalks guaranteed to engage and stimulate your child’s book curiosity and interest in reading and writing. The Festival is in Bohrer Park, 506 So. Frederick Ave., Gaithersburg. Admission and shuttles from Shady Grove Metro and Lakeforest Mall are free. gaithersburgbookfestival.org.

Museum’s Baird Auditorium. Shows are $8 for adults; $7 for kids; $3 for kids under two. discoverytheater.org.

BEST Kids Superhero 5k & Fun Run

On Thursday, May 9, 10:15 and 11:30 a.m., Taiko drum artist Mark Rooney mixes the traditional power of this huge instrument with a modern vibe. His interactive performance rocks the house with massive sound and energy as participants learn some fascinating musical history and Japanese vocabulary—and have a chance to try their hand at playing these big drums. Taiko Drumming is at the Natural History

BEST Kids Superhero 5k & Fun Run is a celebration of the everyday heroes that make a positive impact in the lives of kids in DC’s foster care system. There are many ways to participate including running/walking the race, becoming a sponsor or volunteering. This family-friendly and strollerfriendly race is on Saturday, May 18, 8 a.m. and begins Bluemont Park, 601 N. Manchester St. Arlington, VA. The 5k registration is $30; youth 5k, $15; kids fun run, free. bestkids.org.

CROSSWORD City Living

by Myles Mellor

INITIATIVE OF THE CAPITOL HILL COMMUNITY FOUNDATION.

Photo by Lis Wackman

John Mann’s great-great-grandfather George Beckert arrived on Capitol Hill from his native Germany in 1844 looking for a new life. Beckert realized his dream, opening a brewery and beer garden at 13th and D Streets SE, where the Safeway market and aptly-named Beckert’s Park apartments now stand. Read John Mann’s oral history at CapitolHillHistory.org. Help preserve Capitol Hill history by becoming a volunteer.

APRIL SHOWERS BRING HILL HOMES

1100 E St, NE

RESTORED HISTORIC2-UNIT BAYSIDE BUNGALOW!

1100 E is a Commanding Corner Colonial with great size & amenities. The front has a wide, sitting or rocking, porch & a wide, leaded glass doorway leading to a bright traditional entrance foyer & ergonomic (wide!) stairs! The original, narrowwidth, oak floors are flawless, shown by the pure sunlight that pours in through the arched Pella windows & you can look up forever to the 10-foot-high ceilings. The woodwork is oak & chestnut in light colors, arched windows w/ plantation shutters for lumen control & privacy. The dream kitchen is completely modern, renovated by Capitol Kitchens, w/ coffered ceilings, large granite island (so big, its almost a continent!), Viking appliances, & dual farmhouse sink. In addition, there’s a wet bar, wine cooler, fireplace, & walk-in pantry! The attached screen porch leads to a private brick patio, w/ dedicated gas grill, plus access to the large, open mud room & the 2-car garage, via stairs. Up the elegant stairwell is the sleeping floor, with laundry closet. The front owners’ suite is bright & spacious, with designer bath that contains bothclawfoot tub & walk-in shower, as well as twin basins & a walk-in closet. The second bedroom is currently configured as an office, with (removable!) ‘partners’ desks & bookcases. The back bedroom has windows north & west, making this bright bedroom a joy, & is next to the laundry & 2nd bath. Downstairs via connecting stair, the LL apartment has a front entrance & garage access. It’s a fully licensed, high ceilinged, 1 bedroom apartment with designer kitchen, private laundry & the coolest shower on the Hill. While the current owners earned $30K via AirBnB, it also makes a perfect in-law, or guest suite. The heated double Garage is high-gated (& potentially higher!), while the driveway can also handle two vehicles! It’s time to thank your lucky stars: you could be the fourth owners of this 100-year-old home on the Hill!

$1.890M

4110 1st St, North Beach, MD

Idyllic 2+ bedroom, renovated cottage on the Bay has a large yard, and street presence nr the Bay. A home near the water where the light salty air tickles a thought, A winner in curb appeal. The front porch is the ideal place to watch the sun rise and set. Formal LR & DR, extra Parlor, and an enclosed wrap-around den, w/ laundry and designer kitchen, in St0ne & Stainless. with lots of room for the Chef. Upstairs, 2 BRs plus office, bath and walk-in closet for sleeping, working & storing. The fenced landscaped rear yard and the spacious patio offer potential space for croquet, bocci, pickle etc. PLUS a 2-story accessory building w/ ~2000sf water & septic partially roughed in w/ a bay view. Close proximity to major cities & quaint towns & haunts. 35-50 minutes TREE LINED RIDE from DC! $799K

Other DC Homes:

3945 Penn., Ave, Unit A

Fairfax Village 2 story, 2 BR Condo

$175K

516.5 8th St, SE 1/2 of Residential Bldg, ~ 900 sf $500K

To HILL with the Suburbs!