east of the river magazine august 2013

2 H EASTOFTHERIVERDCNEWS.COM

EAST OF THE RIVER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2013 H 3

District of Columbia Medicaid Managed Care Organization

For more information about how to become a Trusted

Health Plan member, please call

(202) 639-4030 or

trustedhp.com

Offering primary and specialty servicesfor the DC Healthy Families and theAlliance Program

Vision and Dentalalso available

Special services include:transportation and 24 hour nurse help line

Wellness Gift Card Incentive Program

We’re Your Trusted Health Plan

This program is funded in part by the Government of the District of Columbia Department of Health Care Finance

If you do not speak and/or read English, please call (202) 821-1100 between 8:15 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. A representative will assist you.'

‘Si no habla o lee inglés, llame al (202) 821-1100 entre las 8:15 a.m. y las 4:45 p.m. Un representante se complacerá en asistirle.’

ˆ¿·Eéoeƒ k¿k £M¨}¶μU ˆ~/’¨N £M¦}nlå ŠD}å: Š»ópý Š8:15 \—r ˆ^Š Nbpý 4:45 \—r mE’å μêšî ’å^¼ ˆmOE• l 202) 821-1100 ¨ª’åEåG¿:: £ƒ p’‹¨ ¨T«è•qG::

‘Nếu bạn không nói và/hoặc đọc tiếng Anh, xin gọi (202) 821-1100 từ 8 giờ 15 sáng đến 4 giờ 45 chiều. Sẽ có người đại diện giúp bạn.’

‘如果您不能講和/或不能閱讀英語，請在上午 8:15到下午 4:45之間給 (202) 821-1100 打電話，我們會有代表幫助您。’'영어로 대화를 못하시거나 영어를 읽지 못하시는 경우, 오전 8시 15분에서 오후 4시 45

분 사이에(202) 821-1100 번으로 전화해 주시기 바랍니다. 담당 직원이 도와드립니다.'

Si vous ne parlez pas ou lisez l'anglais, s'il vous plaît appeller (202) 821-1100 entre 8:15 du matin et 4:45 du soir. Un représentant vous aidera.

MORE INFORMATION


Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs1100 4th Street, SWWashington, DC 20024

“Capitalizing on the Thriving Vending Industry in the District of Columbia”Vending Regulations Training Symposium

- FREE OF CHARGE -

If you need further assistance with registering for this workshop, please call the Small Business Resource Center at (202) 442-4538 or email [email protected] or [email protected].

http://bizdc.ecenterdirect.com/Conferences.action (Keyword: “Vending”)

To Register, Go To:

On June 18, 2013, the City Council voted to approve new Vending Regulations which will dramatically change the vending industry in the District.

Please attend our Vending Regulations Training Symposium to learn about:

•VendorLicenses(Classes,types,andrequirements)

•SidewalkVending

•MobileVending(FoodTrucks)

•VendorEmployeeBadges

•PublicMarkets

•FeesandFines

•NewVendingOpportunities

•Andmanyothertopics

DCRA, OCFO/OTR, DDOE, DOH, FEMS, MPD, DDOT and others will be in attendance to answer questions related to vending.

The Training Symposium dates and times are:

Session 1:Saturday,August17,20139:00am–11:00am

Session 2:Monday,August19,20136:00pm–8:00pm

Session 3: Saturday,August24,20139:00am–11:00am

Session 4: Monday,August26,20136:00pm–8:00pm

Session 5: Tuesday,August27,20136:00pm–8:00pm(Multiplelanguageinterpretation)

Location:Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs 1100 4th Street SW 2nd Floor (Room E-200) Washington D.C. 20024

EAST OF THE RIVER MAGAZINE | AUGUST 2013 | CAPITALCOMMUNITYNEWS.COM

ON THE COVER:

44

2838

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS 10 ............What’s on Washington

12 ............East of the River Calendar

16 ............The Bulletin Board

21 ............��E�on�DC�•�by E. Ethelbert Miller

22 ............ Benning Road Residents Question Potential�SOME�Development�•�by Charnice Milton

24 ............ Congress Heights Residents Voice Concerns Regarding�Future�Development�•�by Charnice Milton

26 ............DC Streetcar Update�•�by Charnice A. Milton

27 ............ New Fort Stanton Recreation Center�Opens��•�by John Muller

28 ............Danger Spice�•�by Candace Y.A. Montague

30 ............Smart Fun in the Summertime�•�by Stephen Lilienthal

EAST WASHINGTON LIFE 32 ............Artistic Hospitality •�by Annette Nielsen

33 ............Lights Up at the Anacostia Playhouse •�by John Muller

34 ............Cedar Hill Bar and Grill�•�by John Muller

36 ............Luis�Peralta�Del�Valle�•�by Francesca Lo Basso

38 ............ Mynd Up Features BK�Adams’�Latest�Work�•�by John Muller

39 ............Buck�Hill�•�by Steve Monroe

40 ............Let’s�Get�Physical!�•�by Jazelle Hunt

42 ............ The Queen of Z-GoGo: A Profile of�Danette�‘Dani’�Tucker�•�by Candace Y.A. Montague

KIDS & FAMILY 44 ............Comfort�and�Care�with�Dignity�•�by Candace Y.A. Montague

46 ............ Protect Yourself from Being�Scammed�•�by Joann Mangione

HOMES & GARDENS 43 ............Changing�Hands�•�compiled by Don Denton

48 ............The Classifieds New staff at the Uniontown Bar & Grill are ready to serve you. Photo: John Muller. Story on page 34.


We welcome suggestions for stories. Send queries to [email protected]. We are also interested in your views on community issues which are published in the Last Word. Please limit your comments to 250 words. Letters may be edited for space. Please include your name, address and phone number. Send Last Word submissions to [email protected]. For employment opportunities email [email protected].

Hill Rag • Mid City dC • East Of tHE RivER • fagOn COMMunity guidEs

Capital Community news, inc.224 7th street, sE, suite 300, Washington, dC 20003202.543.8300capitalcommunitynews.com

EXECUTIVE EDITOR: Melissa ashabranner • [email protected]

Publisher: Jean-Keith Fagon • [email protected] © 2013 by Capital Community news. all Rights Reserved.

EditORial staffManaging Editor: Andrew Lightman • [email protected] & assoCiatE Editor: Maria Carolina Lopez • [email protected] notEs Editor: Susan Braun Johnson • [email protected] & FaMily notEbooK Editor: Kathleen Donner • [email protected] Editor: Annette Nielsen • [email protected]

aRts, dining & EntERtainMEnt art: Jim Magner • [email protected]: Emily Clark • [email protected] Celeste McCall • [email protected] Jonathan Bardzik • [email protected] assignMEnt: Maggie Hall • [email protected]: Karen Lyon • [email protected]: Mike Canning • [email protected]: Jean-Keith Fagon • [email protected] Stephen Monroe • [email protected] thErapy: Marissa Terrell • [email protected]: Barbara Wells • [email protected] WinE guys: Jon Genderson • [email protected]

CalEndaR & BullEtin BOaRdCalEndar Editor: Kathleen Donner • [email protected], [email protected]

gEnERal assignMEnt Martin Austermuhle • [email protected] Baccinelli • [email protected] Bell • [email protected] Bernard • [email protected] Boomer • [email protected] Brabham • [email protected] Deutsch • [email protected] Donner • [email protected] Phipps-Evans • [email protected] Johnson • [email protected] Lilienthal - [email protected] McCall • [email protected] Milton • [email protected] H. Muller • [email protected] Rich • [email protected] Samuel • [email protected] Schoell • [email protected] Avniel Spatz • [email protected] G. Stevens • [email protected] J. Waldron • [email protected] Weiner • [email protected] Wright • [email protected] Zatkowski • [email protected]

BEauty, HEaltH & fitnEssPatricia Cinelli • [email protected] Y.A. Montague • [email protected]

Kids & faMilyKathleen Donner • [email protected] Johnson • [email protected]

sOCiEty & EvEntsMickey Thompson • [email protected]

HOMEs & gaRdEnsDerek Thomas • [email protected] Plume • [email protected]

COMMEntaRyEthElbErt MillEr • [email protected]

thE NosE • [email protected]

PROduCtiOn/gRaPHiC/WEB dEsignart dirECtor: Jason Yen • [email protected] Designer: Lee Kyungmin • [email protected] MastEr: Andrew Lightman • [email protected]

advERtising & salEsaCCount ExECutivE: Kira Means, 202.543.8300 X16 • [email protected] ExECutivE: Jennifer Zatkowski, 202.543.8300 X20 • [email protected] advErtising: Maria Carolina Lopez, 202.543.8300 X12 • [email protected]

distRiButiOndistribution ManagEr: Andrew Lightmandistributors: MediaPoint, LLCdistribution inForMation: [email protected]

dEadlinEs & COntaCtsadvErtising: [email protected] ads: 15th of each monthClassiFiEd ads: 10th of each monthEditorial: 15th of each month; [email protected] board & CalEndar: 15th of each month; [email protected], [email protected]

Online Daily, Printed Monthlywww.eastoftheriverdcnews.com

Look for Next Issue of East of the River on September 7


UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE

IS A

DID YOU KNOW?If you knowingly collect benefits by intentionally providing false or inaccurate information when you filed your claim, you are committing FRAUD.

Examples include:

•An individual returns to work but continues to collect UI benefits.

•An individual works a part-time job but does not report his or her earnings to the state, thereby collecting more benefits than he or she is allowed.

•An individual performs temporary work while collecting UI benefits, but does not report the earnings when filing his or her weekly claim.

•An individual holds back information or gives false information to the state UI agency.

UI Fraud is punishable by law! PENALTIES Can Include:

•Criminal prosecution

•Penalties and fines

•Forfeiting future income tax refunds

• Ineligibility to collect UI benefits in the future

Don’t make your unemployment problem worse. If you think you may have committed UI Fraud, let us help you address the issue.

Call us today or visit does.dc.gov to read more about UI Fraud.1.877.372.8360


50th Anniversary ofMarch on WashingtonOn August 28, 2013, citizens from across this country will gather in Washington, DC to commemorate and celebrate the historic March On Washington which occurred 50 years ago on August 28, 1963. Two important sites to visit during this time are the Lincoln Memorial and the new Martin Luther King Memorial. On Saturday, August 24, there will be a march along the historic 1963 route. On August 28, the actual anniversary of the march and the “I Have a Dream” speech, there will be an interfaith service at 9 a.m. at the King Memorial before a 1 p.m. celebration on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, culminating with a ceremonial bell ringing at 3 p.m., the exact time of King’s famous speech.

“Make Some Noise: Students and the Civil Rights Movement” at Newseum explores the new generation of student leaders in the early 1960s who fought segregation by making their voices heard and exercising their First Amendment rights. “Make Some Noise,” the Newseum will launch a three-year changing exhibit, “Civil Rights at 50,” which will be updated each year to chronicle milestones in the civil rights movement from 1963, 1964 and 1965 through historic front pages, magazines and news images.

Michael Graves Designed Scaffolding on theWashington MonumentDon’t miss having a long look at the scaffolding around the Washing-ton Monument. The structural work is ongoing and the closest anyone at the National Park Service can come to the Monument’s reopening is 2014, but don’t miss the wrapping. The lights come on at dusk and stay on all night (488 lamps restore the marble tower’s glow). Michael Graves Associates tells us that the current scaffoling is from draw-ings done for the 1998-2000 millennium restoration work. Because everyone loved it, a bill was even introduced in Congress to keep the scaffolding up. Well it’s back now, due to the damage done by the 2011 earthquake. nps.gov/wamo

a month-by-month guide to events

See Our Website

for More Events!

WhatsOnWashington.com

Pennsylvania college students join the 1963 March on Wash-ington, the largest civil rights protest in history. Photo: Flip Schulke Archive

Photo: Courtesy Michael graves & associates


Asia After Dark: Chinese Martial ArtsTheir motto is Art, Drink and be Merry. This will cost you $25 in advance and $30 at the door (includes one dirnk). On Saturday August 17, 7-11 p.m. at the Sackler Gallery you’ll enjoy live hip-hop scores of classic kung fu flicks with DJs Hop Fu; watch wushu martial arts performances; get in balance with tai chi demonstrations; decorate a teacup sleeve with mash-ups of Asian art designs; meet experts behind the Smithsonian’s new frontier of 3D imaging; get 3D savvy in building a laser-cut Cosmic Buddha; join gallery conversations with Chinese art curators Keith Wilson and Daisy Wang; and sip a special cocktail. The suggested attire: Chinese-inspired dress. You must be 21 years old with valid photo ID to attend. asia.si.edu/asiaafterdark

Arts & Humanities Festival at St. Elizabeth’s EastThe Arts & Humanities Festival at St. Elizabeth’s East is a free festival showcasing the history, culture and community of Ward 8. Held on August 17 and 18, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., each day, the events feature an exciting scope of activities, live performances, art exhibits, readings and workshops that will be fun for the entire family. Artists and performers from all disciplines, including story-tellers, exhibition artists, singers, bands, rappers, workshop artists, historians, actors, dancers, drummers and musicians will be a part of this family-friendly festival. The heart of this free festival is located at one of the District’s most prized historic campuses, St. Elizabeths East, in the 1100 block of Alabama Avenue SE. The East Campus will soon be the home of a new Gateway Pavilion currently under construction and slated to open in September 2013. stelizabethseast.com

Montgomery County Agricultural FairThe Montgomery County Agricultural Fair was born out of the de-sire of 4-H leaders to provide a county show for the 4-H members in Montgomery County to exhibit their prize livestock, garden and home economics projects. Their initial meeting on a cold, March night in Rockville in 1945 started what today is the largest county fair in Maryland. A network of more than 2,000 volun-teers continue making contributions of their time, making the fair and agricultural center a vital part of the business community in Montgomery County. As the years passed, the facilities were con-tinually expanded upon and upgraded, as well as the upgrading of the classes and prizes offered at the fair. Check out the fairway, the rides, the animals and exhibits on Aug 9-17 at the Montgom-ery County Agricultural Center, 16 Chestnut St. Gaithersburg, MD. 301-926-3100. mcagfair.com

image: Rex Reed, amberlea Photography & design, llC

Crowd at a prior asia after dark event at the sackler. Photo: Cory gracePhoto: Courtesy Michael graves & associates

the african Heritage drummers and dancers will perform at the festival. Photo: Kia Hicks

SPECIAL EVENTSFamily-friendly Community Open House at the DC Streetcar Testing & Commissioning Site. Aug 10, 10 AM-noon. In anticipation of the system opening in the upcoming months, they invite you, their valued community mem-bers, to join the District Department of Trans-portation (DDOT) and the DC Streetcar Team for an Open House at the DC Streetcar Testing and Commissioning Site. Testing & Commis-sioning Site, 2860 So. Capitol St. SE.

International Unmanned Systems and Ro-botics Exposition. Aug 12-15. “The largest display of robotics and unmanned systems hardware in the world.” Walter E. Washington Convention Center. auvsishow.org

Truckeroo. 2013 remaining dates are Aug 16 and Sept 6, 11 AM-11 PM. Truckeroo is a monthly festival held at the corner of Half St. and M St., SE (across from the Navy Yard Metro Station on the Green line) showcasing food trucks from the Washington, DC area. It features 20 food trucks, picnic tables, games, cold drinks, plenty of shade and live music all day. Free admission. truckeroodc.com

NoMa Beer Fest. Aug 17, 2-8 PM. All of DC’s favorite beer-makers converge for NoMa Beer

Fest during DC Beer Week. Sample special summer ales and local favorites, with live music, DJs, games, and tasty food by Union Kitchen and local food trucks. All-local brew-eries include DC Brau, Chocolate City Brewing Company, District Chophouse, Capital City Brewing Company, Three Stars, Right Proper Brewery (opening soon in Shaw), and the Brewer’s Art (Baltimore). Reserve your beer tickets online now! $10 for 2 beers, or $10 for four sample tastings. Festival is in the parking Lot at 1250 First Street, NE. Entrance at First and N Streets, NE. NoMaBeerFest.org

Marine Barracks Evening Parade. Friday eve-nings through Aug 30. Guests admitted start-ing at 7 PM. Guests should be seated by 8 PM. Program begins at 8:45 PM. The Evening Parade has become a universal symbol of the professionalism, discipline and Esprit de Corps of the United States Marines. The ceremony begins with a concert by the United States Marine Band. Free. It is wise to have reserva-tions that can be made online at mbw.usmc.mil. Marine Barracks (front gate), Eighth and I sts. SE. 202-433-4073. mbw.usmc.mil

2013 Twilight Tattoo at Fort Myer. Wednes-days, through Aug 28, 7 PM with pre-ceremony pageantry starting at 6:45 PM. Members of the 3rd US Infantry (The Old Guard), the US Army

Band “Pershings Own,” Fife and Drum Corps and the US Army Drill Team will perform an hour-long sunset military Pageant. Over 100 Old Guard soldiers dressed in period uniforms will provide a glimpse of Army history from colonial times to the soldier of the future. Summerall Field on historic Fort Myer in Ar-lington, VA. usarmyband.com

Free Summer Saturdays at the Corcoran. This summer, from Memorial Day through Labor Day weekend, enjoy special exhibitions and pro-gramming free of charge in addition to Gallery tours, select workshops, demonstrations, and performances for all ages. Corcoran Gallery of Art, 500 17th St. NW. 202-639-1700. corco-ran.org

SUMMER MUSIC, MOVIES AND THEATERFree Summer Concert at National Building Museum. Aug 11, 2 PM. WPAS Summer Steps with Step Afrika! National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. 202-272-2448. nbm.org

NoMa Summer Screen “Outlaw Heroes”. Aug 14-Ferris Bueller’s Day Off; Aug 21- (rain date). 7-11 PM. Movie location at L St. be-tween 2nd and 3rd, NE. nomabid.org

Go-Go Swing: Washington DC’s Unstoppable Beat. Aug 16, 7-10 PM. DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities cordially invites you to Go-Go Swing: Washington DC’s Unstoppable Beat. A red carpet art exhibition revealing the untold stories of Washington DC’s signa-ture sound, Go-Go. Join them in an evening of interactive art, music, photography, fashion, and poetry that will document the history of Go-Go from its African, Latin, Jazz and Funk roots to the present. Go-Go Swing: Wash-ington DC’s Unstoppable Beat will celebrate pioneers of the indigenous genre featuring performances by Rare Essence and Black Al-ley Band. All-White-Attire Affair. 200 I St. SE. Hors d’oeuvres will be served. Valet parking available, $5. 200 I St. SE. 202-724-5613

Military Band Concerts at the US Capitol. Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays in summer (weather permitting). 8 PM. Mon-days, US Navy Band; Tuesdays, US Air Force Band; Wednesdays, US Marine Band; Fridays, US Army Band. Free. West Terrace US Capitol Building.

Yards Park Marine Band Thursday Night Con-certs (before the movie). Thursdays, 7:30 PM, through Aug 29. Yards Park is in the Capi-tol Riverfront at 355 Water Street SE, three blocks from Nationals Ballpark. Take the Green Line to Navy Yard (New Jersey Avenue exit). yardspark.org

Postgame Concerts at Nationals Park. Gavin DeGraw (August 31) and Montgomery Gentry (September 21) will comprise the lineup for the 2013 NatsLive Free Postgame Concert Se-ries following select Nationals home games throughout the summer. The performances will begin approximately 15 minutes after the final out of each Nationals game. Fans who wish to attend the free concerts must have a valid ticket for that day’s Nationals game, which can be purchased at nationals.com/NatsLive. The Double Play Giveaway & Concert Packs are also available at nationals.com/flex for those who want to ensure their seat for each of the four postgame concerts.

National Shrine Summer Organ Recitals. Sundays in Aug, 6 PM. Free. Free will offering accepted. All welcome. 400 Michigan Ave. NE. 202-526-8300. nationalshrine.com

Screen on the Green. Aug 12-Tootsie. On the National Mall between 7th and 12th Streets. friendsofscreenonthegreen.org

Navy Band “Concerts on the Avenue.” Tues-days, 7:30 PM (new time). US Navy Memorial. The United States Navy Band and its specialty groups will perform. Free. Seventh and Penn. Ave. NW. 202-737-2300. navymemorial.org

U Street Movies. Aug 21 and Sept 18. Contact [email protected] to help organize or donate. Movies shown at the Harrison Rec-reation Center field, V St. between 13th and 14th sts. NW. Free admission. Attendees are encouraged to come early to picnic in the park and listen to music spun by local DJs. movies.ustreet-dc.org

Rhythm in NoMa Concerts. Aug 29, Sept 26; 6-8 PM. Connect with business partners, family or friends while listening to a variety


Go-Go Swing: Washington DC’s Unstoppable Beat

Audience viewing ‘We Speak the Souls of Ancestors’ in the Gallery at 200 I (Eye) in the headquarters for the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. Photo: Jati Lindsay

CALENDAR

Aug 16, 7-10 PM. DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities cordially invites you to Go-Go Swing: Washington DC’s Unstoppable Beat. A red carpet art exhibition revealing the untold stories of Washington DC’s signature sound, Go-Go. Join them in an evening of interactive art, music, photography, fashion, and poetry that will document the history of Go-Go from its African, Latin, Jazz and Funk roots to the present. Go-Go Swing: Washington DC’s Unstoppable Beat will celebrate pioneers of the indigenous genre featuring performances by Rare Essence and Black Alley Band. All-White-Attire Affair. 200 I St. SE. Hors d’oeuvres will be served. Valet parking available, $5. 200 I St. SE. 202-724-5613


of popular musical styles, from Motown to funk to quiet jazz ensembles. location TBA. nomabid.org

Yards Park Friday Night Concert Series. Fridays, 8:30 PM. Here’s the lineup: Aug 16, Crowded Streets; Aug 23, Alma Tropicalia; and Aug 30, Framewerk. Yards Park is in the Capitol Riverfront at 355 Water Street SE, three blocks from Nationals Ballpark. Take the Green Line to Navy Yard (New Jersey Av-enue exit). yardspark.org

Air Force Band Concerts. Fridays in summer, 8 PM. Air Force Memorial at One Air Force Memorial Drive in Arlington, VA. (14th St. Bridge into Virginia, merge onto Washington Blvd. and then Columbia Pike in the direc-tion of the Navy Annex. Then follow signs.) Expect a pleasing mix of contemporary and patriotic tunes and spectacular views of the nighttime Washington, DC skyline. Free. air-forcememorial.org

Jazz in the Sculpture Garden. Fridays, through Aug 30 (rain or shine), 5-8 PM. Na-tional Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. Live jazz performed by an eclectic mix of top artists from the Washington area entertains visitors outdoors in front of the fountain or in the Pavilion Cafe (if it’s raining). The Pa-vilion Cafe features a seasonal tapas-style menu and bar service during the concerts. Everyone can enjoy these concerts. You do not have to order food or drinks. Free. 202- 289-3360. nga.gov

Live American Roots Music. Friday and Sat-urday nights in summer. The National Build-ing Museum has partnered with Hill Country Barbecue Market to present Hill Country’s Backyard Barbecue, a unique branded out-door experience featuring Hill Country’s award-winning Texas-style barbecue, ice-cold Shiner beers, and signature cocktails on the Museum’s spacious and picturesque West Lawn. Throughout the summer, the space features live American roots music on Friday and Saturday nights, presented by Hill Coun-try Live, Hill Country’s Austin-inspired music program. National Buildiong Museum, 401 F St. NW. 202-272-2448. nbm.org

Summer Breeze Jazz Concert at THEARC. Aug 18, 3 PM. Anacostia Diaspora Group presents the Summer Breeze Jazz Concert featuring Jazz Saxophonist Art Sherrod, Jr. and The Marcus Mitchell Project! $25. THEARC, 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE. 202-889-5901. thearcdc.org

Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Free For All “Much Ado About Nothing”. Aug 20-Sep 1. The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Free For All is a much-loved Washington tradition, offering free performances of a Shakespearean classic to the general public. Tickets for each performance of Much Ado About Nothing will be made available to the public on the day of the show by visiting Sidney Harman Hall as well as through an online lottery system. Seating is general ad-mission. Sidney Harman Hall, 610 F St. NW. 202-547-1122. shakespearetheatre.org

Labor Day Concert at the Capitol. Sept 1, 8 PM (gates open at 3 PM). The National Symphony Orchestra performs a free Labor Day Concert on the West Lawn of the U.S.

Capitol each year, the Sunday before Labor Day. Call the NSO Summer Concert Hotline at 202-416-8114 after 11 a.m. in the evnent of inclement weather.

Annual 1812 Overture Concert. Due to construction at the Sylvan Theater, there will be no 1812 Overture concert at the Washington Monument this summer.

AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOODMake Gyotaku Fish Prints. Aug 13, 10:30 AM-12:30 PM. How do Japanese fishermen record their catches? They roll ink or paint onto their catches and press them against a piece of paper to make a print. Using rubber fish, you, too, can make your own record in this workshop led by visual artist and educa-tor Jay Coleman. For all ages. Free, for infor-mation and reservations, call 202-633-4844. Anacostia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. anacostia.si.edu

Northeast Performing Arts Group Pres-ents “ON BROADWAY”. August 16-17, 7:30 PM. The award-winning Northeast Perform-ing Arts Group is presenting their 34th an-nual Summer Production “ON BROADWAY at THEARC Theater. “ON BROADWAY” is a dan-sical salute to Broadway past and present. Come be entertained, educated and uplift-ed. This dansical will touch the hearts and change minds of every soul. The performers range from ages 3 thru 25 years of age. $15-$25. $10 tickets for kids under 10 years-at the door. THEARC Theater, 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE. 202-388-1274. nepag.org

River Arts Workshop: Save Our River. Aug 16, 10:30 AM-12:30 PM. Join visual art-ist and educator Jay Coleman as he leads workshop participants in creating a work of art focusing on local wildlife and the im-portance of saving our rivers as inspired by the related exhibition. All workshop materi-als are provided. Just bring your creativity and imagination. Free, for information and reservations, call 202-633-4844. Anacostia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. ana-costia.si.edu

On Freedom’s Trail Bus Tour. Aug 17, 10:30 AM-2 PM. What was it like for black Ameri-cans living in the area in December 1862? War had come, and no city south of the Mason-Dixon Line except Washington, D.C., enjoyed the spirit of freedom for all of its citizens. Join historian C.R. Gibbs in exam-ining examples of black enterprise, organi-zation, and community spirit in the District, Alexandria in Virginia, and Prince George’s County in Maryland. For ages 16, up. Free, but space is limited; for information and reservations, call 202-633-4844. Anacostia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. ana-costia.si.edu

George Washington Carver Nature Trail Tour. Aug 21, 10:30 AM-12:30 PM. Walk the museum’s Dr. George Washington Carver Nature Trail and learn how the principles of Kwanzaa are used to explain the benefits of natural recycling, the insect community, medicinal plants, and other outdoor offer-ings. A brief film on the life of Dr. Carver is shown before the walk. For ages 8, up. Free; for reservations, call 202-633-4844. Anacos-


tia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. anacostia.si.edu

Metro Mambo: The Drum Circle and Washington, DC. Aug 24, 2-4 PM. Since its inception, the very title of the Metro Mambo series referenced cultural exploration. Hosted by Jim Byers (WPFW 89.3 FM’s Latin Flavor), graduate stu-dent Megan Sutherland explores the social tapestry of the drum circle and its special place in the fabric of Washington, D.C. After the pre-sentation, join the community in a festival of rhythm in our own drum circle! Free, but space is limited; for information and reservations, call 202-633-4844. Anacostia Com-munity Museum, 1901 Fort Pl. SE. anacostia.si.edu

Know Your Neighborhood: Good Hope Road Tour. Aug 29, 6 PM. Ex-plore the history of the Anacostia neighborhood and other sites near the Anacostia Library with Kalem Umrani, Chairman of the Barry Farm Historic Heritage Committee. Anacostia Library, 1800 Good Hope Rd. SE. 202-715-7707. dclibrary.org/anacostia

Respite Care: For Caregivers. Sept 10, 5 PM. Respite care information for caregivers.Is it time to consider respite care? Respite care informa-tion for caregivers.Is it time to consider respite care? The Lifespan Respite program is initiating new programs designed to help con-nect caregivers with the neces-sary resources to assist them with regaining perspective and fi nding comfort in even the most diffi cult caregiving situations. This program is free and open to all. Dorothy I. Height/Benning Library, 3935 Ben-ning Rd. NE. 202-281-2583. dcli-brary.org/benning

Ranger tours of the Civil War Defenses of Washington. Every Saturday through Sept 7, 10 AM-noon. Join a Ranger for tours of the Civil War Defenses of Washington. They will lead visitors to some of the remaining Civil War forts in the Nation’s Capital. Visitors are asked to contact Ranger Kenya Finely at 202-426-7723 for more information on the specifi c program themes. Fort Dupont Park. nps.gov/fodu

Knitting and Crocheting at Fran-cis A. Gregory Library. Mondays, 9:30 AM. Knitting will be the pri-mary focus, but crocheting lessons and support will continued to be provided. All levels of experience welcome. Francis A. Gregory Library, 3660 Alabama Ave. SE. 202-698-6373. dclibrary.org/francis

In Mynd Up, BK ADAMS•I AM ART. Through Aug 30. Exhibitionre cre-ates the playfulness and energy of being free. His goal is “2 become 2 change 2 grow 2 be imbedded 2 be one with 2 be a part of every canvas 2 be in every sculpture 2 be a walking exhibit.” Mynd Up is the artist’s fi rst solo exhibit with Hon-fl eur Gallery. Honfl eur Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Rd. SE. 202-365-8392. honfl eurgallery.com

Chocolate City Rest in Peace Ste-ven M. Cummings. Through Aug 30. Steven M. Cummings moved to Washington, DC in 1991, at the be-ginning of the end of the majority black city, and began photograph-ing the people of the city engaged in their daily lives. After living here for 22 years, the fi nal curtain is be-ginning to draw. He has come to re-alize the city is chocolate no more. The Gallery at Vivid Solutions, 1241 Good Hope Rd. SE. 202-365-8392. vividsolutionsgallery.com

Reclaiming the Edge: Urban Wa-terways and Civic Engagement. Through Sept 15. Based on research by the Anacostia Community Muse-um on the history, public use, and attitudes toward the Anacostia Riv-er and its watershed and on review of urban waterway developments in Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Louisville, London, and Shanghai, Reclaiming the Edge explores various issues regarding human interaction with natural resources in an urban set-ting. It looks at densely populated watersheds and at rivers as barri-ers to racial and ethnic integra-tion. The exhibition also examines civic attempts to recover, clean up, re-imagine, or engineer urban riv-ers for community access and use. 1901 Fort Pl. SE. 202-633-4820. anacostia.si.edu

Tour Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. Open daily, 7 AM-4 PM. Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gar-dens is about 700 acres and is part of Anacostia Park. The park includes the gardens, Kenilworth Marsh, ball fi elds and recreational facilities. It is the only National Park Service site devoted to the propagation and display of aquatic plants. Stop by the visitors center and ask if a ranger is free to show you around. You can also borrow a guidebook and binoculars if you leave a driv-er’s license. Free.1550 Anacostia Ave. NE. 202-426-6905. www.nps.gov/kepa

A Self-Reliant People: Greater Deanwood Heritage Trail. Discov-er, or see with new eyes, this tra-ditionally African American enclave in Far Northeast when you follow “A Self-Reliant People: Greater Dean-wood Heritage Trail.” Fifteen post-er-sized street signs combine sto-rytelling with historic photographs

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Fort Dupont Ice Arena Public Skating

Courtesy of Fort Dupont Ice Arena

Aug 10, 15, 16, 17, 18, 23, 30, 31 and Sept 2 at various times. DC’s only indoor ice skating. Fort Dupont Ice Arena, 3779 Ely Pl. NE. 202-584-5007. fdia.org


and maps to transport you back to the days before Deanwood was Deanwood. To pick up the trail go to Nannie Helen Bur-roughs Ave. and Division Ave. NE. Walk one block south to Foote Street, at the edge of Marvin Gaye Park. The 90-minute, self-guided tour will bring you along Nan-nie Helen Burroughs Avenue, up 49th St. and along Sheriff Rd. back to Minnesota Ave. and the Metro station. Walk the trail at your own pace and take time to enjoy this small town in the city. Don’t forget to pick up a free trail guide from businesses along the way. 202-661-7581. cultural-tourismdc.org

Tour the Frederick Douglass House. Tours are at 9 AM, 12:15 PM, 1:15 PM, 3 PM and 3:30 PM. Ranger led tours are the only way to see the inside of the Fred-erick Douglass house. Tours are ticketed, and there are a limited number of tickets available for each tour. Tour tickets are available by reservation or on a first-come, first-served walk-in basis. Visi-tors are strongly encouraged to make a reservation to guarantee their place on the tour. Tours last approximately 30 min-utes. 1411 W St. SE. 202-426-5960. nps.gov/frdo

SPORTS, DANCE AND PHYSICAL FITNESSDC United Soccer Home Matches. Aug 24. $23-$52. RFK Stadium. 202-587-5000. dcunited.com

Nats Baseball. Aug 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 27, 28, 29, 30 and 31; Sept 1. Nationals Park. 202-675-6287. washington.nation-als.mlb.com

National’s Ballpark Tours. Wednesday-Sunday (non-game days), 10:30 AM and 1:30 PM. On day of night-time home games, tours at 10:30 AM. Take the Na-tionals Park Ballpark Tour for a behind-the-scenes look at Nationals Park. $12-$15. All proceeds from Nationals Park Tours will be donated to the Nationals Dream Foundation. washington.nationals.mlb.com

Roller Skating at Anacostia Park. Skate weekends, sunrise to sunset. This is a covered, outdoor skating pavilion. Free. One-hour free skate “rental” has started but sizes and supplies are limited. Dur-ing summer months, open daily. Go east on Penn. Ave. across Anacostia River and make the first right turn onto Fairlawn Ave. and another right onto Nicholson and then into the park. 202-472-3873

Tidal Basin 3K Monthly Run. Third Wednesday of each month, noon. This run is free and informal. West Potomac Park (meet on Ohio Dr. at West Basin Dr., near the Tourmobile stand). 703-505-3567. dcroadrunners.org

Free Yoga Classes at Anacostia Neigh-borhood Library. Every Thursday, 7-8 PM. Yoga is a great way to relax, unwind and get grounded. Even if you’ve never done yoga before-this class is for you. Open

to people of all abilities, ages and body types. All you need to bring is yourself, comfortable clothing and an open mind. Judgment free zone: having a great time is encouraged! Register in person at Ana-costia Neighborhood Library or call 202-715-7707. 1800 Good Hope Rd. SE. dcli-brary.org/anacostia

Free Yoga Classes for Adults at Dorothy I. Height/Benning Library. Every Satur-day, 9:30 AM. This program is free and open to the public.

Free Exercise Classes at Kenilworth Ele-mentary School. Every Tuesday, Wednes-day and Thursday, 6-7 PM. Bring your own mat, water and towel. 1300 44th St. NE. For more information, email [email protected] or call 301-395-1013

Southeast Tennis and Learning Center. Open daily; Monday through Saturday, 9 AM-9 PM; Sunday, 9 AM-6 PM. Four indoor courts. Six outdoor courts. Summer hourly fees at $6 to $10 for adults. Kids 17 and under play for free. 701 Mississippi Ave. SE. 202-645-6242. dpr.dc.gov

MARKETSWard 8 Farmers Market. Open Saturdays, 9 AM-2 PM. THEARC, 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE. ward8farmersmarket.com

Anacostia Big Chair Flea Market. Satur-days, 10 AM-4 PM. The market features a diverse mix of art, crafts, imports, an-tiques, collectibles and furniture every Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. The market will also feature local specialty food, fruits and vegetables, flowers. 2215 Martin Lu-ther King Jr. Ave. SE. bigchairmarket.com

Fresh Tuesdays at Eastern Market. Every Tuesday, 3-7 PM. Tuesday afternoon farm-ers’ line of fresh produce. Eastern Market, 200 block of Seventh St. SE. 202-698-5253. easternmarket-dc.com

Eastern Market. Daily except Mondays and important holidays. Weekdays, 7 AM-7 PM; Saturdays, 7 AM-5 PM; Sundays, 9 AM-5 PM. Flea market and arts and crafts market open Saturdays and Sun-days, 9 AM-6 PM. 200 block of Seventh St. SE. 202-698-5253. easternmarket-dc.com

CIVIC LIFEAnnual Norton Job Fair. Aug 21, 10 AM-3 PM. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Nor-ton (D-DC) will hold her 16th annual Job Fair at the Washington Convention Cen-ter, 800 Mount Vernon Pl. NW-between 7th and 9th Sts. NW. There will be practi-cal workshops for people seeking employ-ment from 10-11 a.m. This year’s job fair is expected to feature over 100 employers with opportunities for federal, state, lo-cal and private-sector jobs. The job fair is open to DC residents only. Job-seekers must bring a photo ID, utility bill, or other proof of residency. 202-225-8050. norton.house.gov

ANC’s do not meet in August. u


BULLETIN BOARD

Luis Peralta Del Valle Wins East of the River Distinguished Artist Award

RCH Development Corporation (ADC) and the Gautier Family announce that Luis Peralta Del Valle is the winner of the second annual East of the River Dis-tinguished Artist Award. ADC will host an awards ceremony on Aug. 10 at Hon-fl eur Gallery to formally present Peralta Del Valle with his prize. Peralta Del Valle was selected based on his artistic excel-lence as well as for the impact he has made serving his immediate and extended com-munities in Washington, DC through the arts. A panel of individuals active in the Washington, DC arts community reviewed the submissions and selected Peralta Del Valle as the 2013 East of the River Distin-guished Artist. Th is year’s panel included: Zoma Wallace (Art Bank Coordinator for DCCAH), Shaymar Higgs (Founder & Head Designer, Peerless Creatives), Cath-erine Buell (Executive Director, St. Eliza-beth’s East), Terence Nicholson (Owner & Founder, 5 Rings Arts Services; artist; mu-sician), and Sharon Gautier (art collector and family representative).

Moving forward, ADC plans to con-tinue selecting and honoring one EotR art-ist with the $5,000 award each year. Th is award epitomizes the goals of ADC and the Gautier Family to create a home for the creative economy, artists, arts and cultural organizations to fulfi ll its mission of revital-ization and sustainable economic develop-ment in historic Anacostia.

Join ADC, the Gautier family, our es-teemed panel and Luis Peralta Del Valle on Saturday, Aug 10 from 6:30-7:30 p.m. at Honfl eur Gallery. Award will be given promptly at 7 p.m. Following the event, the LUMEN8FINALE! closing party for the summer-long LUMEN8ANACOS-TIA festival will be held next door at the Anacostia Arts Center from 7:30-11 p.m. Both events are free and open to the public.

Health and Jobs Fair at Parkside

On Saturday, Aug 17, 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Neighborhood As-sociates Corporation (NAC), working in partnership with Wig Capitol Foundation (WCF), will off er residents of the Kenilworth-Parkside com-munity in Ward 7, a Health & Jobs Fair, at the Chancy Spruell Center at 3517 Jay St. NE. Par-adise’s health and jobs fair will feature employers and exhibitors including Providence Hospital, Th e Art Institute of Washing-ton, H Street Country Club and many others. Exhibitors are en-couraged to contact event orga-nizers to avail themselves of this opportunity. For more informa-tion, contact either Ms. Crystal Hughes at 240-646-4528, [email protected] or visit wig-capitolfoundation.com.

DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities to Provide Funds to Facilities Projects

Th e DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities has awarded $535,488 to arts and humanities organizations in the District of Columbia through the second round of the Cul-tural Facilities Projects program for fi scal year 2013. Th e Cul-tural Facilities Project grants are awarded to arts and humanities organizations within the Dis-trict of Columbia that own or rent facilities designed to pres-ent performances, exhibitions or professional training so that all DC residents and visitors can experience the rich culture of our city. Grants provide fund-ing for one of the following areas: purchase of a currently leased venue, planning/design or implementation of capital improvement projects or pur-chase of long-term fi xtures and equipment. Eleven arts and hu-manities organizations receive funding totaling $535,488 to support capital purchase and project-based programs. Th e

Anacostia Arts Center was awarded $54,500 and Building Bridges/THEARC was award-ed $36,000.

Th e program was created to help organizations provide ac-cess to high-quality arts and humanities experiences for all District of Columbia residents and ensure that facilities are safe, comfortable and effi cient, so that arts and humanities organiza-tions may expand audiences and enhance their art form. Applica-tions intended to support or spur economic development initia-tives, as well as those that dem-onstrated environmental respon-sibility and sustainable building practices, were encouraged.

East River Family Strengthen-ing Collaborative Common Sense Parenting Classes

Classes will be held twice weekly on Mondays and Wednesdays. 5-7 p.m., starting Aug 26 and will be facilitated by parenting consultant Viv-ian Ledbetter. If you want to sign up for classes, email Viv-ian at [email protected].

Classes are at 3917 Minnesota Ave. NE.

DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative Wins $25M from US Dept. of Education

Th e grant, which leverages over 30 million in donations and partner programming, will be used to help transform edu-cation, healthcare, and other services available to children and their parents living in the Kenilworth-Parkside neighbor-hood. DC Promise Initiative provides a transformation con-tinuum of cradle-to-career ser-vices to the children and parents. Th e organization will receive the $25M over fi ve years to pro-vide wraparound services and community support to families across four schools and their communities: Neval Th omas El-ementary; Kenilworth Elemen-tary, Chavez Parkside Middle School’ and Chavaz Parkside High School. DCPNI is one of only seven US communities out of 60 applicants to receive the US. Dept. of Education Promise Neighborhood implementation

Luis Peralta Del Valle painting in his studio in Anacostia, East of the River. Photo: Luis Peralta Del Valle


grant. DCPNI partners currently operate programs serving over 1000 neighborhood children. Th e off er-ings span DCPNI’s education pipe-line, ranging from early learning in-terventions and elementary school supports all the way up to college preparation assistance, career edu-cation, and family and community support services.

World-Class Soccer Stadium Plans Announced

Mayor Gray and the ownership group of four-time Major League Soccer champion DC United an-nounced the signing of a public-private partnership term sheet to build a 20,000-25,000-seat, world-class soccer stadium in the Buzzard Point area of Southwest. Th e new stadium, to be located adjacent to the Fort McNair Army base, will be bounded by Half St. and Second St. SW, between R and T Sts., is antici-pated to be complete in time for the 2016 season. Th e Mayor also an-nounced that the deal anticipates a creative development plan, includ-ing a series of land swaps to support the approximately $300 million project and spur additional devel-opment without having an impact on the District’s debt cap.

While the development plans and eventual stadium construction take shape over the next three years for the soccer stadium and Anacos-tia municipal center, offi cials from the District’s Department of Gen-eral Services (DGS) will develop a relocation plan for tenants at Reeves as well as other District agencies that may be moved to the new Ana-costia complex when it is complete. Every eff ort will be made to keep se-lect tenants in the vicinity of Reeves for continuation of service to their target Ward 1 constituents.

Professional Development Course: Strategically Communi-cating Your Nonprofi t’s Mission

On Wednesday, Aug 14, 10:00 AM-noon, learn to develop a holis-tic communications program which connects to your strategic plan with Dionne Clemons of Brighter Strat-egies. Learn how to tie your organi-zation’s strategic plan into a holistic

communications program that is designed to communicate the best message through the right channels. Th ey will discuss how to measure your goals against organizational and communication’s specifi c goals. Registration fee is $49 for Center members; $89 for all others. Fee is $25 for nonprofi ts serving East of the River communities. Park-lands Community Center Suite at THEARC, 1901 Mississippi Ave. SE. 202-889-5901. thearcdc.org

Volunteer at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens

Volunteers engage in a wide va-riety of community service activities including the lily pond restoration, removal of invasive plants, painting, planting, pruning, trash removal and other projects, as needed. Th ese activities do require the ability to kneel, squat, lift, and perform rou-tine gardening and clean up func-tions over a period of three to four hours-sometimes in warm, cold, or rainy weather. Advanced work may involve wading through lily ponds, streams, and tributaries of the Ana-costia River, or the use of kayaks, fl at boats, and canoes. Volunteers are invited to join the Friends of Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens board members on the fourth Saturday of most months to improve and main-tain the gardens from 9-11 a.m. Th ey also invite volunteers to help during big events such as Earth Day, the Lily Festival and Public Lands Day. To register or to learn more about volunteer service activities, contact Tina at 202-494-0456, or [email protected]. Th ey are happy to work with individuals and groups to develop a one-time volunteer experience and/or create long-term service project. friendsofkenilworthgardens.org

Paddle Night on the AnacostiaCome “rediscover” your Ana-

costia River with free canoeing and kayaking! Join the Anacostia Watershed Society every Th urs-day, 5-7:30 p.m., at the Anacos-tia Community Boathouse, 1900 M St. SE, this summer and relax on the water with the whole fam-ily. Th ey’ll provide everything you need for a great paddling experi-

SATURDAYS: 9:00 AM TO 2:00 PM AT THEARC!!

Have Questions? Want to be on our mailing list? Contact us at [email protected]

Fresh Fruit, Vegetables, Bread and Meat.

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ence! Paddle night includes a wetland ecol-ogy tour. Participants will learn about the ecology of the surrounding wetlands and forests. From a canoe or kayak, participants will have the chance to see wildlife includ-ing beavers, muskrats, waterfowl and her-ons; as well as the rich fl ora of the riparian corridor including trees such as river birch, green ash, Eastern cottonwood and invasive plants like tree of heaven. Feel free to bring any fi eld guides, binoculars, and/or a hand lens to investigate the fl ora and fauna you will encounter. Other dates for the trip are Sept 5 and Oct 3. Registration is required. To register, visit anacostiaws.org.

District’s Free Summer Meals Program Expanded

Starting on Saturday, July 27, free sum-mer meals will be off ered on Saturdays across the District at select Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) and DC Public Library (DCPL) locations for chil-dren up to 18 years of age. Th e District ranks fi rst in the nation, by percentage, in reaching children who meet the qualifi ca-tions for the USDA Free Summer Meals

program. Th e program provides free, nu-tritious meals and snacks during the sum-mer months at government and non-profi t organizations throughout the District. No registration or application is necessary. Kids can simply show up at a free summer meals site during mealtime. Meals are of-fered from noon-2 p.m.

In Ward 7, Saturday meals are off er are served Fort Davis Community Center, 1400 41st St. SE and Dorothy I. Height/ Benning Library, 3935 Benning Rd. NE. In Ward 8, Saturday meals are served at the Bald Eagle Recreation Center, 100 Joliet St. SE and Anacostia Library, 1800 Good Hope Rd. SE.

Mayor Gray Cuts Ribbon on Renovated Recreation Center

On Saturday, July 20, there was a rib-bon-cutting ceremony and a celebration of Fort Stanton Community Day at the newly renovated Fort Stanton Recreation Cen-ter and Playground. Th e newly renovated Fort Stanton Recreation Center is the fi rst LEED Silver building in Ward 8. Amenities will include a gymnasium, fi tness room, se-

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIAHOUSING AUTHORITY

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS (RFP)

For ECI Payroll and HRIS SolutionRFP NO. 0016-2013

The District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA) is seeking proposals from qualifi ed vendors with the capac-ity to provide Payroll and Human Resources Management Software Applications; data conversion and development of an application interface with DCHA’s existing soft-ware applications; ongoing technical support and instal-lation and testing services; and, implementation services including end-user training, product customization and other services.

SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS will be available at 1133 North Capitol Street, NE, Room 300, Contracts and Procurement Administration, Washington, D.C. 20002 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning Monday, July 29, 2013.

SEALED PROPOSAL RESPONSES are due to the Issu-ing Offi ce by 11:00 a.m. (ET) on Friday, August 30, 2013.

Contact the Issuing Offi ce, LaShawn Mizzell-Mcleod on (202) 535-1212 or by email at [email protected]

for additional information.

Students and Mentors celebrate during a May 7 ceremony at the Bolling Club, on the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling.

Leckie Students Receive Mentors and Free LaptopsIn 2011, Leckie Elementary School pioneered a remarkable partnership with the

Area Coalition for Education-Excellence (ACE-E), with 86 members of the Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling ( JBAB) volunteering as Leckie ES mentors for students in grades 2-5. Since that time a plethora of students at both Leckie ES and neighboring Hart MS have benefi tted from this coalition. ACE-E, a non-profi t education charity, off ers direct support to Chapter 1 students by providing technology-based mentoring in local public schools near military bases and other federal installations. Th e goals of ACE-E are to serve as a vehicle for unifi cation, collaboration and coordination amid regional community, private sector, government and military volunteer resources.

Th is school year, several students and staff members from Leckie ES and Hart MS were invited to attend an awards banquet held at the Bolling Club, at JBAB, where select students were honored. Th e student honorees and their mentors, identifi ed in parentheses, are Aerielle Wiggins (Shelley Kolb), Jade Fox (Danielle Head), Novalee Kramer (Amy Gibson), Hevin Simon (Dawn Fears), Ahjae Horne (Claudiann Atkin-son), Chava Mack (Halli Driesslein), E’rieal Davis (Anthony & Tamara Calandra) and Jailynn Banks (Rhoda Wharton). Each student was presented with a computer with newly loaded MicroSoft Offi ce software.

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nior room, computer lab, multi-purpose room, teen/game room, kitchen and large foyer with natural light. Fort Stanton playground is the 5th of 32 city-wide projects to be completed under the Play DC initiative. It is part of the District’s “Fort Circle” parks, which are built on grounds that formerly were part of the Union fortifications that ringed the District during the Civil War. The playground has a fort theme. All play equip-ment is custom-made, and amenities include a poured-in-place rubber surface, inclusive play equipment, climbing fea-tures and an ADA-compatible merry-go-round. Fort Stanton Recreation Center is at 1812 Erie Street SE.

Construction Starts at Car Barn Training Center Site

DDOT has started work at the new Car Barn Training Center site, located at the cor-ner of 26th St. and Benning Rd. NE. Phase 1 will include the tracks and temporary facili-ties necessary to support system testing and certification for initial passenger service. Phase 2 construction is expected to begin this fall. This phase will include the actual Car Barn Training Center building, which will include space des-ignated for community use. By phasing construction in this way, the District will be able to provide passenger service prior to the completion of the CBTC facility. For more information on the DC Streetcar program, visit dcstreetcar.com.

William O. Lockridge Com-munity Foundation Honors Ten Outstanding Students

On June 22, the William O. Lockridge Community Foun-dation honored and awarded academic scholarships to ten high school students from Wards 7 and 8. The ceremony was held at the William O. Lockridge/Bellevue Library located at 115 Atlantic St.

Candace A. Ashley, DVM20 years of serving Capitol Hill

(minutes from Capitol Hill & Southwestvia 11th Street Bridge)

2210 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave, SE

202.889.8900American Express, MasterCard, Visa & Discover accepted

Animal Clinic of Anacostia


SW. The 2013 “William O. Lock-ridge Spread Wings Scholarship Awards” recipients are Tiffany Ad-ams (Ballou High School)-Eastern Nazarene College; Michael Burrell (Ballou High School)-Morehouse College; Sskayla Edwards (Ballou High School)-George Mason Uni-versity; Gaylon Foster (Accotink Academy)-Virginia Union Uni-versity; Vincent Howard (Dunbar High School)-Virginia State Uni-versity; Jasmyne Poindexter (Ana-costia High School)-Bennett Col-lege; Shanequa Turner (Ballou High School)-North Carolina AT&T; Alexis Young (Anacostia High School)-Florida A&M University; Danae Roach (Ballou High School)-Trinity College; and Alonzo Tabron (Anacostia High School)-Saint Au-gustine’s University.

Scholarship awards were in the amounts of $1,000 and $1,500 for the upcoming academic year. WilliamLockridgeCommunity-Foundation.org

DC Water Conducts Taste Test Challenge: Bottled vs. Tap Water

Is it tap or not tap? This is the question that DC Water’s Outreach Team will ask customers at a series of blind taste tests conducted across the District. These taste challenges, also known as “Water Wednesdays,” are designed to engage customers about the District’s drinking wa-ter and encourage them to drink tap water. Participants will sample bottled and tap water, to deter-mine which tastes better. The 125th participant will receive a prize and take a picture with the Water Drop. More than 800 people participated in similar taste tests last summer and more than half ranked tap water as better tasting than bottle water or did not taste a difference between the two samples. DC Wa-ter promotes tap water as a more economical and environmentally friendly alternative to bottled water. The Ward 7 Taste Test Challenge will be on Aug 21 (raindate, Aug 22) at the District Department of Employment Services, 4052 Min-nesota Ave. NE. The Ward 8 Taste Test Challenge will be on Aug 28 (raindate, Aug 29) at The Zone, 3939 South Capitol St. SE.

DC Streetcar Construction Update

Construction work along H Street/Benning Road to ready the corridor for DC Streetcar contin-ues. Stage 2 of the Western Turn-around work is set to began on July 31 and continues through mid-Oc-tober. The Western Turnaround re-fers to the extension of the streetcar tracks from 3rd St. NE to the top of the Hopscotch Bridge. Elements include construction of a streetcar platform where passengers may board or leave the streetcars with ac-cess to Union Station and tracks to allow the streetcar to reverse course and proceed eastbound through the corridor. Advance warning signs will be posted in work areas. The schedule is subject to change due to weather, material and equipment availability and other unforeseen conditions. DDOT encourages all motorists to Stay Alert and follow all signs as they travel through this corridor. More detailed construc-tion related notices, including spe-cific dates and locations, are avail-able by request. Send an email to [email protected] and indicate you wish to receive H/Ben-ning updates.

Digital Commons Opens at MLK Library

While many public libraries are offering some element or elements of what Digital Commons offers, MLK Library is the first to offer this size of space and number of services and programs focused on digital learning, digital literacy, and digital collaboration! Digital Commons is a new, state of the art incubator space for the tech enthusiast, small business start up and the tech nov-ice. Digital Commons is equipped with a 3D printer, a self-publishing book machine, a Skpe station,video phones, the latest eReader devices, smartboards, more than 80 public computers, spaces for meet ups and collaborative creation and more. Located on the first floor of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library, it’s your one stop shop for all of your technology needs. MLK Library, 901 G St. NW. 202-727-0321. dclibrary.org/mlk. u


ANACOSTIA RIVER REALTY

2412 Minnesota Ave. SE, Suite 101Washington, DC 20020

202-678-REAL(7325)[email protected]

www.AnacostiaRiverRealty.com

Sell. Buy. Rent.Property Management.

Darrin D. Davis, Principal Broker/Owner

Register for our Home Buying Workshop, September 17, 2013!



Bid Package No. 1Renovation of Scattered Sites located at 1379 F Street, N.E,

1373 Emerald Street, N.E., and 1326 E Street, N.E., Washington, DC

RFP No. - DCHE 2013-3

THE DC HOUSING ENTERPRISES (“DCHE”) is seeking to solicit proposals from qualified contractors to provide construc-tion services for substantial rehabilitation of scattered site row house dwellings located at 1379 F Street, N.E, 1373 Emerald Street, N.E., and 1326 E Streets, N.E., Washington, DC.

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL DOCUMENTS will be available at the DC Housing Enterprises Procurement Office, 1133 North Capitol Street, N.E., Suite 300, Office of Administrative Services, Washington, D.C. 20002-7599 (Issuing Office); between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning Monday, July 22, 2013.

PRE-CONSTRUCTION CONFERENCE – upon completion of the selection process a pre-construction conference with be sched-uled with the successful offeror.

SEALED BIDS ARE DUE: Friday, September 6, 2013 @ 11:00 a.m. at the Issuing Office identified above.

Please contact Lolita Washington, Contract Specialist at 202-535-1212 for additional information.

August remains my favorite month in this city. Maybe it’s because I never have enough money to get away and

other people do. I’m a solitary type of guy. August fi nds me sweaty and hot. Humidity rocks! I’ve never been a lover of cold or win-ter - no sleds or skis for me. Did Eli Whit-ney invent the shovel after the cotton gin? What’s the diff erence between snow and cot-ton when it comes to lifting and you’re get-ting up in age? When you become older you start thinking about your back hurting much like the pitch count in a game.

Which brings me back to baseball. Th is is the month one sits in the ball park and prays for miracles not to melt. Nothing worse than a team having a losing streak and falling be-hind a division leader. August is the month when players smell September and playoff s. Some hitters get hotter than the weather, while a dead arm can be a nightmare for a pitcher who was once a fl ame thrower. It’s worse than losing sight of the strike zone. It’s a writer’s block in front of a crowd.

In a few weeks I’ll start following wins and loses. Every game will matter. Th is will be around the time relationships fail. A late summer argument beginning at the beach might end on the boardwalk. Your favorite player starts to slump. A no name kid begins to make a name for himself. Is this why the ball park is called a fi eld of dreams?

In a hot August night I could be one fan among many; one crazy cheering individual stretching in the seventh inning, looking around at a sea of red hats and jerseys, a big pond of curly Ws overfl owing with excite-ment and suspense. Why would I want to be anywhere else?

Th is August will mark the 50th Anni-versary of the March on Washington. What if baseball was our barometer or measuring stick of how much our country has changed? Is improved race relations a pennant chase? Who is our MVP or Rookie of the Year in 2013? I remember after the Watts Riots of 1965 how every summer was predicted to explode into a festival of violence and anger spilling into our urban streets. We pulled to-gether special commissions and compiled re-ports in order to explain the ills of our nation.

We relied on stats and numbers long before the arrival of moneyball.

Back in 1963, King said the following:“In a sense we have come to our nation’s

capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnifi cent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promis-sory note to which every American was to fall heir. Th is note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, lib-erty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvi-ous today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro peo-ple a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insuffi cient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insuffi cient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check — a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fi erce urgency of now.”

If you are in the minority, America will make you sweat at times. Baseball reminds us that we commit errors - not fouls or penalties, but errors. Fifty years ago King challenged our country to fulfi ll its promise to all of its citi-zens. Our playing fi eld when it comes to eco-nomics must be fair with everyone having an opportunity to move beyond fi rst base. So, this August I tip my cap to King, knowing that it’s hotter than July. But who ever said things would be easy?

At the beginning of every baseball game we pause for a moment and listen to the singing of our national anthem. If one imag-ines a slight chill in the air it might come from great expectations and our inability to hit the curve.

E. Ethelbert Miller is a literary activist. He is the author of several books of poetry and two memoirs. Mr. Miller is the director of the Afri-can American Resource Center at Howard Uni-versity as well as the board chair for the Institute for Policy Studies. u

Praying for Miracles Not To Melt

by E. Ethelbert Miller


Last year, So Others Might Eat (SOME) purchased 4414 and 4430 Benning Road and an ad-

jacent lot on 45th Street in the hope of developing a new job training center, along with office space and affordable housing. While SOME has a history of charitable work east of the Anacostia River, some residents feel like they have not been well-informed about the orga-nization’s plans and partners.

HistoryAccording to a deed dated October

11, 2012, SOME bought the three land parcels from Benning Station LLC for $10.00 “...and other good and valuable consideration...” after previous develop-ment efforts failed three years earlier. According to a November 2012 state-ment from Linda Jo Smith and Father John Adams, SOME’s Chairperson and President, respectively, “The location was selected based on multiple factors including the [then] high unemploy-ment rate of 14.5% and the convenient location to the Metro, allowing residents from across the city to easily access ser-vices.” While there is currently a licensed employment training center on Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, “...in a short time we recognized the need for expan-

sion to help District residents prepare for the highest-growing employment sectors in our region.”

In addition to the employment training center, the organization plans to move their administration offices and partner with Unity Health Care. Cur-rently, Unity’s East of the River loca-tion operates out of two trailers on 45th Street; moving into the new facility will give them a chance to expand their medical and dental services. In the long-term, SOME will allow plans to develop about 220 affordable housing units for families and single adults, a sit-down deli shop, and over 200 parking spaces.

Raising AwarenessWhile Smith, a Ward 7 resident,

said that she informed Councilmember Yvette Alexander about the new devel-opment, 7D05 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Janis Hazel said that the community is not aware of it. “I asked SOME to do an outreach campaign in the summer and do an ANC presenta-tion in the fall,” she said. However, the only thing she saw was a June meeting with ANC commissioners, civic associa-tion leaders, and other stakeholders. “It was short-noticed,” Hazel said. “They didn’t send the invitation early enough

for people to respond.” Fr. Adams stated that the meeting

was not rushed, but acknowledged that not everyone was available to attend. “We did give out materials to those who attended the meeting in the hopes that they will spread the word to their con-stituents,” he said. Hazel intends to do this in her area; she enlisted help from Summer Youth Employment partici-pants to go door to door to raise aware-ness. Although Adams plans to make formal presentations for ANCs and other community groups in the fall, he believes that positive word-of-mouth would be instrumental in gaining com-munity support.

Carlyle Group’s Involvement Former ANC commissioner Rick

Tingling-Clemmons and his wife, Mi-chele, are worried about the potential development; however, their attention is focused on one of SOME’s donors. “When I found out that the Carlyle Group was involved, it threw up a red flag,” Rick said. The Carlyle Group is a global asset management firm based here in Washington, DC. Carlyle has been in the real estate market since 1997. According to their website, the firm “...focuses on opportunistic investments in

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

Benning Road Residents Question Potential SOME Development

by Charnice Milton


the major metropolitan mar-kets...primarily in the residen-tial, hotel, industrial, office, and retail sectors.” “When Carlyle moves into an area, they bring their own people to the proj-ect,” Michele explained. “That doesn’t always include commu-nity members.”

However, Adams stated that SOME never received fi-nancial support from the Car-lyle Group. The $5 million they received came from Carlyle’s co-founder and managing di-rector William Conway, Jr. and his wife, Joanne, through their non-profit, the Bedford Falls Foundation Charitable Trust. In fact, William Conway is SOME’s Housing Develop-ment Initiative Chairman and pledged $5 million towards the effort. In recognition of their efforts, SOME honored the Conways by naming their new-est housing development “Bed-ford Falls.”

Working Together While SOME is depend-

ing on word-of-mouth to raise awareness, Adams believes that their reputation east of the Anacostia River will help gain more community support. However, some residents still have questions about the de-velopment. “We are more than willing to meet with groups if they ask,” he said. “So far, what we do resonates with folks.” The Tingling-Clemmons hope that SOME and their partners are dedicated to invest in their community. “We are willing to work with and support SOME and their development part-ners,” said Rick, “but only if they do the same.”

To learn more about SOME, its programs, and upcoming develop-ments, visit some.org or contact them at 202-797-8806 or [email protected]. u

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It was not until Sharece Crawford received a Congress Heights Civic Association (CHCA) meeting notice along with a pamphlet that

she.found out about an upcoming mixed-use development anchored by the Congress Heights Metro Station. “When I saw the plans, I had a lot of questions,” she said. “Has this already taken place? What are they looking for?” As the Adviso-ry Neighborhood Commissioner (ANC) for the area (single-member district 8E04), Crawford is concerned for her constituents; therefore, she and other residents are making their opinions known.

Congress Heights Town CenterDuring the June 10 CHCA meeting, Geoffrey

Griffis of City Partners LLC presented plans for the new development. City Partners and Sanford Capital LLC, known collectively as Square 5914 LLC, have purchased three parcels of land on the corner of 13th Street and Alabama Avenue, and plan to bring a town center-style environment to the area surrounding the Metro station’s southern entrance. The development has two components: an eight-story building and another with over 200 residential units. A large courtyard surrounded by ground floor retail, along with wider sidewalks would make the area safe for pedestrians and Metro customers.

In May, the partnership submitted a planned-unit development (PUD) application to the Zoning Commission. If the Office of Planning approves, then a public hearing could be held sometime in the fall. However, to make a better case, Square 5914 needs the community’s support.

Informing the Community According to the DC Home Rule Act, “...

timely notice shall be given to each advisory neighborhood commission of requested or pro-posed zoning changes, variances, public im-provements, licenses, or permits of significance to neighborhood planning and development within its neighborhood commission area for its review, comment, and recommendation.” This

means that developers are required to discuss new projects with the affected ANC. Griffis said that he emailed ANC 8E, but never received a reply. He did send each Commissioner a package explaining the project, which Crawford said she received around June 2, although the material was dated May 2.

“After that meeting, I realized there were peo-ple that were actually still living in the proper-ties in question,” she said. “I knew that if I didn’t know, nine times out of ten, the people who lived there didn’t know either.” Crawford went door-to-door, passing out fliers informing residents on the potential plans and future meetings (includ-ing one held on June 21) with Square 5914 and other partners. “The development isn’t the worst thing from my perspective,” she said. “I think that fact that no one knew about before it hit the me-dia is the problem.”

Two Different Opinions For Ruth Bowell, a 40-year resident on Ala-

bama Avenue, the news surrounding the devel-opment was not a surprise; it was how quickly the process was moving. After hearing about the project through word of mouth, she attended the informational meeting. “No question was an-swered,” she said. “They didn’t discuss issues like moving the current residents.” She also accused Sanford Capital, who owns the apartment build-ings surrounding the Metro station, of neglecting its properties, leaving grass uncut and using it as a dumping ground. “I talked with the owner and he said that it’ll be taken care of,” she said. “Two weeks later, it hasn’t been taken care of.” Carter Nowell, Sanford’s founder and principal, stated that there will be plans to move current residents to new spaces in the neighborhood and give them special consideration if they wanted to move back.

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

Pedestrians wait for the bus outside the Congress Heights Metro Station. During June’s Congress Heights Civic Association meeting, Geoffrey Griffis of City Partners LLC presented plans to develop the area, surprising many residents. Photo: Charnice A. Milton

Congress Heights Residents Voice Concerns Regarding Future Development by Charnice A. Milton


However, Bowell does not ex-pect this to happen, saying, “They’ll just buy you out.”

While many residents are frustrated with Square 5914, others, like Khadijah Tribble, have a different perspective. “I don’t think Ward 8 residents will be pushed out of the pro-cess,” she explained. “However, we can’t keep pushing devel-opers away. We can’t always look at things from an either/or perspective. There’s always an opportunity for common ground.” Tribble did acknowl-edge that displaced residents could have a hard time mov-ing back if they cannot afford the new rates. “I would like to see most of that time and energy against the developers towards learning about home-ownership and finding bet-ter housing values,” she said. Tribble is not the only one that showed support for the development; some audience members voiced appreciation for the architecture and small business opportunities.

Moving ForwardWith more meeting op-

portunities in future, ANC 8E and Square 5914 are working towards a more col-laborative relationship; re-cently, they began discussing potential contingency plans for displaced residents who want the option of moving back without a change in rent. Griffis already stated that their plans will change according to the communi-ty’s needs. However, Craw-ford stated, “My concern is not in regards to develop-ment. We want development; we want to see our commu-nity grow...What we don’t want is for the residents that live here to be pushed out of the community. And we don’t want to be treated as if we don’t live there.” u



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On July 16, Anacostia res-idents attended the final public meeting for DC

Streetcar’s Anacostia Extension at Savoy Elementary School. Ending a process that began in 2010, residents had the opportu-nity to see and comment on the results of an Environmental As-sessment (EA) that would help identify the best track alignment for the upcoming streetcar line.

The ProcessAccording to the Nation-

al Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), federal agencies must determine how a proposed proj-ect and its alternatives could potentially affect the human en-vironment. One way to do this is by completing an EA, which allows federal and local agencies, as well as the public, to partici-pate. Part of the process is the public involvement program, which allows residents and other stakeholders to discuss the project with representatives from the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Federal Transit Administra-tion (FTA).

“Our first project meeting was back in January of 2011,” said Circe Torruellas, DDOT’s project manager, during the meeting. “We came out and the community shared some their initial ideas on whether they wanted a streetcar or they didn’t want one.” While the original

plans had the Anacostia Exten-sion beginning at the Anacostia Metro Station, travelling along Martin Luther King, Jr. Avenue, and ending at the 11th Street Bridge, the community’s feed-back helped create ten alterna-tive routes.

Goals and NeedsThe DC Streetcar team

identified two major needs for the Anacostia Extension: con-fronting the area’s mobility is-sues and providing an invest-ment for a strengthened and stabilized neighborhood. Those needs led to four goals. First, the project should provide mo-bility improvements to a tran-sit-dependent area. Second, it should foster economic devel-opment opportunities. Third, the project should also foster environmental preservation and sustainability. Finally, it should accommodate population and employment growth.

Possible AlternativesFollowing the goals and a

list of additional criteria, DC Streetcar pared the initial list of ten alternatives to four. One alternative, located on MLK and 13th Street, was eliminated because its negative impact on noise and vibration levels and buildings in the historic district. Another alternative was elimi-nated after a conceptual engi-

neering and traffic analysis. This leaves DC Streetcar with two remaining alternatives.

The first, Alternative 4, would pass through downtown Anacostia’s core, benefiting from MLK’s redevelopment process. However, if implemented, the area could lose up to 84 on-street spaces and create a complicated alignment with the Anacostia Metro Station. The second op-tion, Alternative 9, would use the CSX tracks to create a shorter and faster route that would ben-efit from the potential Poplar Point development. However, this option is two blocks away from MLK, making it less ac-cessible than Alternative 4. The team could also consider a “no-build alternative;” while this op-tion does not propose any traffic disruptions or additional costs, it does not fully satisfy all the goals.

Community ResponseWhile many community

members discussed the Ana-costia Extension’s future, oth-ers are already thinking about which alternative should be chosen. “I liked option 4,” said Don Wilson, an Anacostia res-ident. “It would connect more business and serve more peo-ple. With option 9, it’s ‘out of sight, out of mind.’” Les John-son, another resident, agrees: “I’m opposed to Alternative 9; it’s too out of the way and it would serve less people.”

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

Project manager Circe Torruellas discusses the Anacostia Extension’s initial list of ten alternative routes. Thanks to community input, the DC Streetcar team pared the list to two options. Photo: Charnice A. Milton

DC Streetcar Update by Charnice A. Milton


Wilson is one of many residents excited for the new streetcars. “I like how progressive it is,” he explained. “There will be more opportunities for amenities and business growth. It’s a step in the right direction.” Some, like long-time resident Fran-ces Battle, questioned the need for streetcars. “We had them years ago, but the city took them up and left the buses,” she explained. However, Battle was open to listening to the DC Streetcar representatives. “If they can explain it to me, then I might change my mind,” she said.

Next Steps The FTA and the Federal High-

way Administration (FHWA) has been reviewing the EA since June and should be finished by the end of July. In August, the EA will be available for a 30-day public review, including a one-week display at the Anacostia Library. The commu-nity’s comments will be cataloged and utilized to help make a selec-tion among the two alternatives. By September, the final document will be submitted for review and a decision regarding the line’s envi-ronmental determination should be made by September.

Ronaldo Nicholson DDOT’s chief engineer, reported that they have “substantially completed” the Operation and Commissioning Center located at South Capital Street and are planning to extend the current testing track up Firth Sterling Avenue towards Howard Road. “With effort, I would say by next spring or summer, we could tie it into the Anacostia Metro Sta-tion, which would complete the initial line segment,” he explained. Nicholson also stated that they are working with Joint Base Anacos-tia-Bolling to complete a traffic de-mand study to determine whether to open the line to customers. Oth-erwise, it will be used for commis-sion and operator training.

For more information regarding the Anacostia Extension for DC Streetcar, contact Circe Torruellas at 202-671-2847 or [email protected]. Visit DC Streetcar’s website at dcstreetcar.com or follow them on Facebook (dc-streetcar) and Twitter (@dcstreetcar) for updates. u

With a heat index upwards of one hundred degrees, the opening of the new Fort Stan-ton Recreation Center at 1812 Erie Street

SE could not have come at a more appropriate time. Last month Mayor Vincent Gray, city officials, mem-bers of the DC National Guard, and hundreds of area residents gathered to celebrate the latest public works project east of the river.

According to the Department of Parks and Rec-reation, the newly constructed $12.5 million Fort Stanton Recreation Center is the first LEED Silver certified building in Ward 8. Amenities include a new indoor gymnasium and a fitness room complete with treadmills, elliptical machines, dumbbells and kettle-bells. The center also includes a senior room, computer lab, multi-purpose room, teen/game room, kitchen and large foyer with natural light. The well-known basket-ball courts, baseball field, and swimming pool have been joined by a new playground.

At the ribbon cutting, after referring to the old Fort Stanton Recreation center as a “field house,” Mayor Gray said, “We have set out over the last two and half years to really level the playing field.”

The Mayor continued, “This is one of the more uniquely designed recreation centers that we have in the city. One of the things we decided is that we are not going to have a cookie cutter model where you go from one recreation center to the other and the only difference is where they are located rather than what they look like.”

Acknowledging neighborhood notables, Mayor Gray announced, “We are naming the multi-purpose room for Ms. Hutchinson,” alluding to Louise Dan-iel Hutchinson who authored the definitive book “The Anacostia Story: 1608 – 1930” in 1977. “And the Se-nior Room is being named for Ms. Addie Cook.”

Neighborhood Reactions Comparing the new recreation center to the old

one is like night and day, residents said. “Honestly, the previous rec was a dump,” said Ma-

rio Baten, Athletic Director of the Fort Stanton Long-horns youth football teams. Baten, who grew up on Douglass Road SE, knows the challenges and tempta-tions facing young people in the neighborhood. “This center will give the young men a new sense of pride and purpose. Of course, the equipment will help for better physical conditioning, but our whole goal is to build better citizens.”

Known as “Coach Mario,” Baten coordinates ten coaches across five teams of youths ages five to fourteen who compete in the DC Pop Warner League.

“It’s a very big improvement,” said Cassandra Wal-lace, who lives across the street from the recreation center and attended the opening with her two daugh-ters and son, who plays on the Longhorns. “This is not just for the children. It’s for the whole community, the older residents of Southeast, too.”

“I used to go to the old rec, but it was just small,” said Tyja Wallace, 13, an Honor Roll student at Kramer Ju-nior High School. “All you really could do was play table tennis. There were basketball courts but no playground.”

The new playground at Fort Stanton is the fifth of thirty-two city-wide projects to be completed under the Play DC initiative, launched last fall. As a part of the District’s “Fort Circle” parks, which are built on grounds that were part of the Union Army’s fortifi-cations that ringed Washington during the Civil War, the playground has a distinctive fort theme. All play equipment is custom-made, and amenities include a poured-in-place rubber surface, climbing features and an ADA-compatible merry-go-round.

Programs offered at Fort Stanton will include DPR’s Young Ladies on the Rise program for teenage girls, Senior Walk and Talk/Chew and Chat activity for seniors over 50, line dancing for all ages, and Poeti-cally Speaking for teens, adults and seniors. For more information call Fort Stanton at 202-671-1040. Coach Mario can be reached at 202-758-4064. u

New Fort Stanton Recreation Center Opens

by John Muller

Coach Mario Baten of the Fort Stanton Longhorns. Photo: John Muller

Mayor Gray addresses the community at the opening of the new $12.5 million Fort Stanton Recreation Center. Photo: John Muller


You may have noticed color-ful, three-ounce

packets being sold from behind the counter of many corner stores and gas stations around the city. Bearing cool names like Jazz, Spice, Scooby Snax, Zombie World, Potpourri, or K2 and decorated with characters like Scooby Doo, they appear to be harmless or even fun-ny. Recent arrivals in the District, they have landed in the hands of youth looking to get high. Kids may smoke the contents like mari-juana, but that’s where the similarities end.

The Lows of a FakeWeed High K2/Spice is a manufactured substance in-

tended to make people feel high. Synthetic mari-juana is a shredded mixture of plant material and chemical additives. Some brands are sprayed with fruit flavors to make them more appealing. Users smoke the product to get high, but the effects are not exactly like those of marijuana. The user may experience rapid heart rate, vomiting, or seizures, or become highly agitated, confused, hyperac-tive, or have tremors. The effects can be similar to the effects of someone on PCP, so doctors treat a person who is high on synthetic weed with a sedative to try and calm them down. There is no

commonly available test to determine whether a person has used synthetic weed.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, one in nine high school seniors has tried K2/Spice. In 2011 an estimated 11,406 synthetic weed users went to the emergency room, 75 per-cent of whom were between the ages of 13 and 29. The DC City Council banned the sale of syn-thetic drugs in December 2012, but several gas stations and convenience stores continue to sell them without age restriction.

Bath salts have also been used for the same purpose as synthetic marijuana. Similarly, use of

bath salts has caused many youth to go to the emergency room and has generated more than 6,000 calls to poison con-trol centers across the country, accord-ing to the American Association of Poi-son Control Centers.

Synthetic mari-juana is still a mys-tery in a lot of ways. Although it acts on the same receptors in the body as regu-lar marijuana it is chemically different. There are about 30 different synthetic cannabinoids and most of them have not been studied on human beings. Dr.

Cathleen Clancy, associate medical director of the National Capital Poison Center and associ-ate professor at George Washington University Emergency Medicine Department, says that syn-thetic weed is still a big unknown. “The effects are widely variable. People can become very agi-tated and paranoid. Or they can sometimes have something called couch lock where they become very stiff and don’t move a lot. Also, it’s important to note that no one is checking what’s in these little containers. So even if we did know the dose of what is in the container no one is checking to be sure it’s actually accurate. So when they use it

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

Danger SpiceDepartment of Health Campaign to Prevent Youth from Using Synthetic Marijuana

by Candace Y.A. Montague

Mayor Gray and DC Health Department Officials visit merchants in the Petworth Neighborhood to educate them on the harmful effects of selling Synthetic Marijuana products. Photo Lateef MangumDC Government


they are treating their brains like guinea pigs.”

Fake Weed + You = ZombieIn June 2012 the DC De-

partment of Health received an early warning from the Metro-politan Police Department that teens age 13+ were beginning to display a pattern of bizarre behavior. Since then DOH has taken swift action to combat the growing use of K2/Spice. Notes Interim Director Dr. Saul Levin, “We got a focus group of teens together and asked them, What kind of campaign do you think we could create to get the kids’ attention? We created the ‘Dan-ger: Fake Weed + You = Zombie’ campaign. The kids really reso-nate with it.” The zombie cam-paign can be seen on billboards, buses, and the Metro, and even made an appearance in Times Square in New York hours af-ter Mayor Gray announced its launch.

The campaign targets youth ages 13+ who are looking to smoke “legal” marijuana. Early intervention and education are critical at this stage because there is so much that is unknown about the long-term effects of K2/Spice. Dr. Levin theorizes that this kind of drug can affect brain function. “If this gets away from us, we could have kids getting seriously harmed from these sub-stances being sprayed onto this herb. It will affect their health and their cognitive processes. I believe it will affect their cogni-tive function.”

Why not Just Legalize Marijuana?

The increase of synthetic marijuana adds to the discussion about legalizing marijuana. Isn’t it better to allow people to smoke the natural product as opposed to witnessing a desperate search for a high from a manufactured replica? The DC City Council has been entertaining arguments about legalizing marijuana lately.

According to The Washington Post, Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) plan to introduce legislation this summer that would lessen the penalties for marijuana pos-session if offenders were caught with small amounts of cannabis. Marijuana is classified by the Drug Enforcement Administra-tion as a Schedule I category of controlled substances because of its potential for abuse. It has been praised for its power to control nausea and for stimu-lating the appetite of cancer patients. Yet some studies have shown that adults who smoked as teens show more memory deficits and trouble with overall concentration than their peers.

Studies about marijuana and its benefits have not been con-clusive. For every study that says marijuana is safe to use, there seems to be another that says it’s not. Dr. Levin cautions that even though marijuana has min-imal visible side effects, it can cause long-term health prob-lems. “Marijuana is a tobacco product. So anyone smoking it is taking in smoke that damages the lungs. Also, the psychoac-tive products of marijuana are dangerous. Sometimes we forget that. They are both very danger-ous drugs to youth because their brains are still developing.”

ResourcesThe DC Department of

Health has resources to help par-ents, teens, community leaders, and schools learn more about syn-thetic marijuana. Visit k2zom-biedc.com for more details, facts, quizzes, and parental guides about how to discuss it with teens. You may also find the campaign on Facebook, www.facebook.com/k2zombiedc, on Twitter, www.twitter.com/k2zombiedc, and on Instagram, www.instagram.com/k2zombiedc/#.

Candace Y.A. Montague is a free-lance health writer in Washing-ton, DC. u


Recently, Ms. Stacie Gra-ham, a science teacher from Fairfax County, was ready

to teach a Science in the Summer (SIS) class at the William O. Lock-ridge/Bellevue Neighborhood Li-brary on Atlantic Street, SW.

But the students and staff from the Sunshine Early Learning Cen-ter from southeast DC were miss-ing, delayed because of bad weather. Eventually the children and staff come. Soon they’re watching Gra-ham explain how to do cool experi-ments, including one in which a bal-loon charged with static electricity is held over a pile of salt. The charge makes the salt move. The kids per-form the experiments too.

Roosevelt, a Sunshine student, is smiling. He’s having fun learning.

Sunshine’s kids may have come late for class, but they are arriving

just in time to take SIS. It’s a good time in several ways for kids their age to start learning about STEM (Science. Engineering, Technology, and Mathematics).

Science in the SummerSIS keeps kids learning when

they are not in school. Kids from sec-ond to sixth grade who participate in SIS attend four classes lasting an hour where they learn about basic principles of science, and watch and perform themselves interesting, safe experiments that can be accomplished using basic household materials.

SIS started in the mid-80s when Dr. Virginia Cunningham, who worked for the pharmaceu-tical company, Smith Kline Bee-cham (now GlaxoSmithKline), developed a program to better ac-quaint kids with science.

The program takes place in sever-al metropolitan areas, including DC, where the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) oversees its implementation. This year, 13 neighborhood libraries in the DC Public Library (DCPL) system have served as sites for SIS programs including East of the River libraries Anacostia, Benning, and Lockridge/Bellevue. SIS has also been held in suburban DC library systems and Boys and Girls Clubs too.

“[Public] libraries are great places to hold the classes. They are commu-nity-based organizations with lots of books and other resources. It’s a good place for kids to come during the summer,” says Betty Calinger, who manages SIS for AAAS.

Science Can Be CoolNot every child will become a

scientist but Calinger sees the pro-gram contributing to something just as important: scientific literacy. That becomes more important as we move into an age in which familiarity with scientific concepts becomes more im-portant in everyday life and profes-sional careers. (See sidebar)

Kids learn that science is not some unknowable hocus-pocus. They learn about understandable scientific principles and see how those princi-ples apply to everyday life. They learn that persistence is important as scien-tists observe, investigate, develop hy-potheses to test, retest, and ultimately develop conclusions.

One instructor, Ms. Shana Farm-er, who teaches middle school science

at Cesar Chavez’ Parkside campus in Ward 7, tells her class of fourth to sixth graders at the Benning library in northeast DC: “Scientists are not always correct. It’s okay. That’s why we have to make predictions.”

That’s what’s great about SIS. Lesley Mason, who oversees SIS for DCPL, says: “There’s no pressure to perform” to strict academic stan-dards. “Kids can enjoy the moment” while learning.

Class At AnacostiaMs. Sherita Williams, a DCPS

schoolteacher, instructs SIS at the Anacostia library.

“I want to help introduce you to the world of science,” she tells her small class of second and third graders who’ve come on a Saturday afternoon.

Ms. Williams introduces the chil-dren to the atom and electrons, neu-trons, and protons. She then explains about the different types of magnets, and what the words “attract,” “repel” and “lodestone” (a stone with mag-netic properties) mean in science.

Later, the kids race cars by hold-ing a magnet which exerts a pull over the toy’s own magnet.

A class the next week conducted by Ms. Williams deals with electric-ity, and the children in an older class conduct experiments using a battery, wires, light bulbs, and a switch.

A student, Isaiah, who is entering fourth grade at Ketcham Elemen-tary, is still young enough to exclaim, “Yeah, I got it” when he makes his circuit work by having the light bulb turn bright. Not everything comes

NEIGHBORHOOD NEWS

Smart Fun in the SummertimeScience in the Summer Teaches Kids Science Can Be Fun and Interesting

by Stephen Lilienthal

DC kids at a Science in the Summer program.


easily for Isaiah, but he keeps persevering, sometimes receiving guidance from Ms. Williams, and eventually succeeds.

Kayla and Samori attend, respectively, the Center City Public Charter School and the Howard University Middle School of Mathematics and Sci-ence, work together as a team and independently.

Th ey learn about the diff er-ences between series and paral-lel circuits. Th ink of lights on a Christmas tree. Using a series cir-cuit, one light going out means the others will not work too. A parallel circuit allows one light to not work but the others to remain lit.

When the program ends, the students receive certifi cates and the guidebooks that contain ex-periments that can be performed safely and inexpensively at home.

Kids and Parents SpeakIsaiah likes SIS “ ‘cause I

like to make things.” Samori likes SIS because “It was fun. I learned a lot about electricity and electromagnets.”

Asiya Copeland, a SIS at-tendee at Benning, says she re-ceives lots of science instruction at her school but had never seen a lodestone before.

Asiya’s mother, Ms. Amina Copeland, a kindergarten teacher for DC Public Schools, is en-thused too.

Another parent, Vanessa Williams, a registered nurse and mother of Samori, sat through classes for the younger children. Her daughter, Jasmine, who’s of kindergarten age, received per-mission to attend with parental participation. She credits Sherita Williams (no relation) with mak-ing the program accessible for a younger student. “It’s an excel-lent, hands-on science program,” says Ms. Williams.

Expressing a sentiment shared by several mothers of SIS attendees, Ms. Williams adds, “I would like to see the library off er a program like this year round.

Stephen Lilienthal is a freelance writer. u

A recent report by the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy

Program discusses the “hidden STEM economy,” crediting work in science, engineering, technology, and mathematics with helping to drive economic growth. Th e report uses a broad-er defi nition of STEM by in-cluding maintenance, repair, and construction professionals whose jobs require in-depth knowledge of STEM and which pay well but which often are dismissed as “blue-collar.”

What that means to Roo-sevelt, the Sunshine student who attended SIS at Lockridge, and Rachel, a SIS participant at Anacostia, is that in about a de-cade from now when they start moving toward a career, STEM-related careers should off er good employment opportunities.

Rachel or Roosevelt could stay in the DC area and do well without a bachelor’s degree pro-vided that they master a specifi c area of STEM such as Heating, Ventilation, and Air Condition-ing (HVAC). But if they want a very lucrative career, which DC can certainly off er, then they will need to least a bachelor’s degree and, quite likely, a master’s de-gree or higher. Th ere are other areas, such as Birmingham, Ala-bama and Wichita, Kansas that have plenty of jobs in STEM but bachelor’s degrees are not cur-rently required.

Who knows what direction the lives of Rachel or Roosevelt will take ten years from now. But, thanks to SIS, they are having fun and learning this summer.

The Hidden STEM Economy


Every year for the past seven years, Earl Rodriguez has brought together friends and

family from across the District and the country to his Anacostia home. The gathering celebrates his Trinida-dian roots through food, art and mu-sic – and is named the “White Party” as the guests are asked to wear white to play off the décor – flowing strands of white fabric draped throughout the house and around the garden, used as tenting, in mobiles and parts of larger sculptural pieces.

Earl’s mother, Joyce Rodri-guez, who lives in New York City, makes the trip to DC to help out with the cooking.

“I taught all of my kids to cook. It’s a family tradition,” she says. “We start cooking early in the morning on the day of the party, as early as three o’clock.”

Sterling, Earl’s brother, comes up each year from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He is a HVAC profession-al, but enjoys cooking. “I learned to cook by watching my mom and I developed a knack for being in the kitchen. I began to experiment with food and enjoyed watching and listening to people’s comments in reaction to the taste that they were probably not expecting.”

While brother Earl hosts this grand event, overseeing every detail, Sterling laughs and says, “It is espe-cially fun for me to cook at my broth-er’s party because I love cooking side by side with my mother who thinks she might be the only one in the fam-ily that can cook.”

Earl describes the fun they have together. “I told her that we don’t need to wash the fish, just cook it. That made her upset, because West Indians believe that all meats have to be washed and spread with lime or lemon before you cook them. Then, I quickly explained to her that I had already washed the fish and seasoned it! We all had a good laugh.”

There are probably over 25 dishes from roti to curried goat, crab, fish broth, jerk chicken, Trini Pelau (a popular dish with rice, chicken and pi-geon peas), curried potatoes – all made by hand, from traditional recipes (see below for a recipe for Mango Chow).

Sterling says that there is a joy in cooking for a few hundred people. “Simply because everyone loved the food – I believe that if you cook not just for people to eat the food, but for people to eat and enjoy the food, then your food will have meaning.”

Earl, the hands-on entertainer, makes certain everyone is welcomed. “I greet every guest to make them all feel at home.” His residence has been the location for many art-fo-cused events since he purchased in Anacostia about a decade ago. Ro-driguez is a noted artist, and you might see his work represented in the LUMEN8 Anacostia events, or see one of the murals he has painted on local buildings.

“The fabric we use in the design and to decorate at this event really represents the fabric of life – how we’re woven into each other’s lives, our community – and this party is a celebration of that.”

EAST WASHINGTON LIFE

Artistic HospitalityEarl Rodriguez & Family

by Annette Nielsen

Top Left: Sterling (left) and Earl Rodriguez, brothers – make a fine team for the annual party that celebrates food and music representative of their Trinidadian roots with about 300 family members and friends in an artistic setting. Top Right: The artistry of the party extends to the outdoor space where draped fabric is hung throughout the garden. Bottom: Earl’s brother, Sterling Rodriguez, pre-party in the kitchen prepping vegetables to go into the noted restorative, post-party fish soup.


Mango ChowA mainstay in Caribbean cooking is an herb

called chadon beni – also called culantro. While it’s aroma is similar to cilantro found in the US, the fla-vor of chadon beni is much more intense. Typically, it’s minced and combined with garlic to provide a flavorful addition to dishes like mango chow.

4-5 ripe mangoes 1 bunch chadon beni (if you are unable to find this herb, you may substitute cilantro)4-5 cloves garlic, peeledLemon or lime juice, to tasteSalt

Wash and peel the mango (vertically score the skin with a sharp knife and peel back the skin; slice the flesh in strips, avoiding the pit). Leave in slices or cut up the mango to your liking.

Rinse the chadon beni (you may find chadon beni as small plants or in a specialty grocer.) In a blender, place chadon beni with garlic and a little water. Pulse until relatively smooth.

In a large bowl, mix the chadon beni seasoning blend and mango together. Add lime or lemon juice to taste and season with a little salt.

Note: For a spicier chow, you may add Scotch Bonnet pepper, pimento pepper or any pepper of your choice of pepper, to taste. This recipe can also be used for snacking on other things like pineapple, orange (not sweet), tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.

Annette Nielsen is a writer and a cook who has been engaged in food, farming and sustainability issues for over 15 years, and is currently at work on an Eastern Market cookbook. A native of the Adirondacks, and a long-time resident of both NYC and DC, she lives in Southwest near the waterfront with her husband and son. Follow her on twitter: @The_Kitchen_Cab; reach her by email: [email protected]. u

Mango Chow, a vibrant and flavorful tradition at the annual party combines slices of mango, garlic, citrus juice and chadon beni, a Trinidadian herb most similar to cilantro.

Signage for the Anacostia Playhouse now hangs outside of 2020 Shannon Place SE, while inside the black box theater

readies to stage its first season of productions.The well-chronicled challenges that have

faced Adele Robey and Julia Robey Christian as they have transitioned their theatre from H Street NE to Anacostia are not yet over.

“Our application for [tax-exempt] 501(c) 3 status has been in IRS limbo because of their backlog for almost a year,” Robey, CEO of the Anacostia Playhouse, told East of the River. “We can’t apply for any grants and can’t di-rectly offer tax deductions. We are well over budget and well behind schedule due to so many unforeseen bumps in the road.”

Despite the fiscal challenges the show must go on. On August 16 Theatre Alliance will open its inaugural production at the play-house, presenting “Broke-ology,” a drama the New York Times described in 2009 as “about the strains eating away at the unity of a small, tight-knit black family in Kansas City, Kan.” Performances will run on Thursdays and Fri-days at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm, and Sundays at 7pm until September 8th. General admission tickets are $25 and $15 for seniors and students with valid ID. Performances are being supported with a $75,000 grant from the DC Commission on Arts and Humanities.

“We’re hoping this production starts a community dialogue,” said Colin Hovde, Ar-tistic Director of Theatre Alliance. “Histori-cally, Wards 7 and 8 have been underserved by the arts and we hope our productions, which are socially responsible, will be plays people will talk about.”

Compared to THEARC’s 400-seat pro-

scenium theatre, which Hovde says can be challenging to fill, the configuration of the Anacostia Playhouse will allow for more in-timate productions with seating for 99 to 150.

Following “Broke-ology,” John Johnson of Verbal Gymnastics will open a 2-week run of the monologue-based “I Am Anacostia.” Show dates in September are expected to be announced shortly.

As the theatre moves closer to completion more performances will be added in the coming months. “We are currently in negotiations with DC Black Theatre Festival to do some regular programming at the Playhouse,” said Julia Robey Christian, COO of the Anacostia Playhouse.

When asked about the vision of the play-house, Robey says, “Right now I am thinking about the next 30 minutes, but in essence it’s to provide a space that does creative, interest-ing, thought-provoking work and helps pro-vide a basis for sound economic development. When we were on H Street [NE] we tried not to put restraints on our theater companies so that they could be as creative as possible. The result was some of the best small theater in town. What people could do in a little black room was breathtaking. I have no reason to be-lieve this will be any different and really look forward to see what those who use the space come up with.”

To secure tickets for Theatre Alliance’s Au-gust 16 – September 8 production of “Broke-ology” visit www.theateralliance.com or call (202) 241-2539

To donate to the Anacostia Playhouse visit www.anacostiaplayhouse.com/donate/ or send donations to Anacostia Playhouse, PO Box 15874 Washington, DC 20003. u

Lights Up at the Anacostia Playhouse

by John Muller

A look inside the confines of the Anacostia Playhouse. Photo: John Muller

Signage for the Anacostia Playhouse at 2020 Shannon Place. Photo: John Muller.


It doesn’t matter what you call it, Uniontown Bar & Grill or Cedar Hill Bar & Grill, all that mat-

ters is that after nearly a year’s wait, a sit-down restaurant has opened at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue SE and W Street SE in His-toric Anacostia.

With a soft opening of the first floor space last month, the best is yet to come; by early October co-owner Gabriele Tripodo expects to open the much anticipated second floor which will be a lounge space capable of hosting live music, open mics, and private parties.

Some changes have been made on the first floor. On a recent visit three flat screen televisions display-ing the British Open, an NBA sum-mer league game, and a professional soccer match hovered above the bar hugged by ten stools. Much heralded, the restaurant now has four beers on tap; Budweiser, Stella Artois, Miche-lob AmberBock, and Long Hammer IPA from Red Hook. “It’s the only tap in Ward 8,” Tripodo says proudly.

Near the door is a pair of small tables with seats on either side while in the center of the room there are three large rectangular tables each surrounded by six high-rise chairs.

When all the renovations are complete the facility will be able to accommodate 83 people upstairs for a total capacity of 151, including the downstairs restaurant, Tripodo says.

“I am a radical.” When Tripodo came to the Unit-

ed States in 1990 he arrived in Dallas, Texas where he became a dishwasher. Within a decade he was in Washing-ton, DC’s Capitol Hill neighborhood

running a franchise of Port City Java Café and Coffeehouse.

In 2008 he purchased Union Li-quors at the corner of 16th Street and Good Hope Road SE. During the five years that Tripodo has been in the neighborhood he has developed the reputation of being a fair mer-chant who applies the rules – such as carding anyone under the age of twenty-five and not allowing the sale of single cigarettes in his store – without prejudice.

Being a businessman in Anacos-tia is not easy. During our conversa-tion Tripodo shows me his iPhone with an application that allows him to monitor more than a dozen cam-eras that keep watch on his liquor store and the restaurant. With a tap he can look at a camera that watches

the interior of the restaurant. I raise my right hand which is reflected on his iPhone.

“I am a radical,” Tripodo says with a glint in his eye. “In this coun-try if you have a dream you can make it happen with hard work.”

Of Italian and Eritrean ancestry, Tripodo proclaims, “I am American by law, by choice, and by love.”

Better Service & QualityDespite the overwhelming en-

thusiasm that greeted and sustained the original Uniontown Bar & Grill, there was an undercurrent of dissatis-faction with the quality of service and food offerings.

But things seem to have changed. On my first visit, within two min-utes, I was kindly greeted by Lataya

Brown, a current student at the Uni-versity of the District of Columbia who lives a couple of blocks away.

Brown, working as a waitress for the first-time, says she regularly came to Uniontown with a collection of her friends. “I loved it when it was open and I’m glad to be here now. It gives the neighborhood a place to come.”

With a current staff of twelve, Tripodo says he is still taking appli-cations on a walk-in basis. “I would rather we are over-staffed so everyone gets the attention they need.”

The menu now offers four sal-ads (Chef ’s, Chicken, Salmon, and House), a “Waterfront Shrimp Cocktail” either deep fried or steamed golden, and soup of the day. Entrées include an overstuffed club, signature hamburger, Cajun chicken sandwich, and a 10 oz. Angus steak, grilled salmon, and a grilled chicken filet. An espresso machine will offer cappuccinos and other caffeinated beverages.

The goodwill the community and media afforded the former Uniontown Bar & Grill will surely return, along with commerce, as Tripodo says his goal is to “make this a positive place where everyone is welcome.”

In the coming months the name of the restaurant will be confirmed as trademark issues have delayed a for-mal announcement. Then, Tripodo says, the restaurant will have a website and presence on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.

Summer hours are tentatively scheduled for Monday thru Thursday, 11am – 12am, Friday and Saturday, 11am – 2:30 am, and Sunday 11am – 12am. For more information call (202) 450 – 2536. u


Cedar Hill Bar and GrillSit-down Restaurant Returns to Anacostia

by John Muller

New staff at the Uniontown Bar & Grill are ready to serve you. Photo: John Muller.


From residents as varied as Frederick Douglass and Ezra Pound to Marion Barry and

Marvin Gaye, the area east of the Anacostia River is rich with history. And this history is well-reflected in local artist Luis Peralta Del Valle’s artwork. Peralta Del Valle is the re-cipient of the second annual East of the River Distinguished Artist Award, presented by ARCH Devel-opment Corporation and the Gautier Family.

As he welcomes me into his house and studio space off MLK Jr Ave. in the heart of Southeast DC, Peralta Del Valle is bent over his easel, hard at work on a piece in his latest series of paintings “Freedom is Organic.” All the paintings are acrylic depic-tions of the Statue of Freedom which adorns the top of the Capitol Build-ing.

Peralta Del Valle’s DC roots run deep. He’s been here since 1985 when he and his family fled political insta-bility and years of civil war in their native country of Nicaragua. When they emigrated, Peralta Del Valle was just five years old.

They settled in Columbia Heights at 14th Street and Park Road NW – a working class African American

neighborhood infamous for the riot-ing that followed the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The area was a ghost town for decades until the Columbia Heights metro station opened in 1999.

“In my high school – Bell Mul-ticultural – we didn’t even have a gym or a cafeteria,” reflects Peralta Del Valle. “The area was known for prostitution and gangs – I lost a lot of friends along the way.”

He points to that loss as his rea-son for turning to art. “I realized I really needed to change my lifestyle,”


Luis Peralta Del ValleArt is Organic East of the Anacostia by Francesca Lo Basso

Luis Peralta Del Valle in his studio in Anacostia (Far left and net page top). His current series of art is based on the Staue of Freedom which sits atop the Capitol (image at left).


he says. He picked up his fi rst can of spray paint at thirteen and started painting graf-fi ti murals throughout the District. “My friends and I used to skip school and go to the Graffi ti Hall of Fame [the nickname for the metro tunnels starting around 14th and D Streets SW where taggers congregated in the 1990s] and the National Gallery.”

By sixteen, he had already received his fi rst commission. Home health fi tness com-pany Body by Jake donated a gym to his high school, and word of his reputation as a talented street artist quickly reached the company’s ears. “I had two weeks to paint an entire room in the gym so I hired a bunch of my graffi ti friends to help me,” says Peralta Del Valle. “Th at was the fi rst time I realized it might be possible to make a living off my art.”

Judy Byron, founder of the Corcoran Art Mentorship Program (CAMP), saw Peralta Del Valle’s work and took him under her wing. Th rough CAMP he was able to take classes in fi ne arts, and later became a men-tor assistant himself.

“In school, they teach you to follow a process – do a sketch fi rst, etc.,” describes Peralta Del Valle. “But I always feel like I’m in a hurry when I paint – like the painting is already there, I’m just discovering it.”

Walking through Peralta Del Valle’s house – an artist’s haven where literally ev-ery spare wall is covered with vibrant paint-ings by Peralta Del Valle, his wife and their friends – the infl uence of classical art on his work is clear: all of his paintings and draw-ings weave the bold colors and geometric shapes of graffi ti art with classical represen-tations of religious fi gures and cultural icons.

In the Freedom is Organic series, the im-ages of the Statue of Freedom dominate the canvases, but closer inspection reveals the

silhouettes of an apple, a loaf of bread and a fi sh peeking out from behind her helmet and a bold kelly green pear painted wherever her face should be. Th e paintings are all be-ing done on Yes! Organic Market and Harris Teeter paper bags glued to canvas and wood panels. For DC residents, the lurid red and green logos of these local supermarkets are probably more easily recognizable than the bronze fi gurine. “Th at’s why I wanted to do all these close up images of the statue,” says Peralta Del Valle. “It’s so high up on the building that no one really knows what it looks like.”

Accessibility is a key theme of Peralta Del Valle’s work. In the artist’s statement on his website, www.luisperaltagallery.com, he writes:

Art is to be used as a teaching tool to help people understand each others’ faiths and cultures. Th e arts have the power to infl uence any society and artists are respon-sible for spreading a message of hope.

“To create art, you only need a regular number 2 pencil,” says Peralta Del Valle. “Art is the poor man’s way out.”

Now in his early thirties, Peralta Del Valle runs the Luis Peralta Art and Design Company where he helps other artists gain exposure for their artwork and connect art advocates and collectors with local artists.

“People ask me if I’ll ever move,” says Peralta Del Valle, “and I always wonder ‘why would I?’Everything I need is here in DC.”

Peralta Del Valle’s work can be seen by appoint-ment at his home studio by calling 301-356-5699 or emailing [email protected]. Join Peralta Del Valle on August 10 from 6:30-7:30 at the Honfl eur Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Road SE, for a free event during which he will be presented with his award. u


REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS (RFQ)

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SOLICITATION DOCUMENTS will be available at DCHA, Office of Administrative Services, 1133 North Capitol Street, NE, Room 300, Washington, D.C. 20002 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, beginning Monday, August 5, 2013.

SEALED QUALIFICATION RESPONSES are due to the issu-ing Office by 4:00 p.m. (ET) on Thursday, September 19, 2013.

Contact to the Issuing Office should be with Lorry Bonds, Director of Administrative Services on (202) 535-1212 or by e-mail to [email protected] for additional

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“You’re it!” a young girl shrieked, tag-ging her friend and darting in the opposite direction as the recorded

sounds of birds chirping set the mood. After five minutes of giggling and chasing each other around inside ARCH Development’s Honfleur Gallery, the two little girls sat down in the tem-porary grass and admired a collection of new work by art iconoclast BK Adams.

Mynd Up, described as recreating the “play-fulness and energy of being free” is Adams’ first solo exhibition at the Honfleur Gallery..

On opening night last month the youngest attendees seemed to enjoy thoroughly them-selves, unmindful of the adults taking in the can-vasses, sculptures, and three dimensional pieces that typify the range of Adams’ work. A swing, entitled “Forever Young,” hung from the ceiling, inviting anyone playful enough to take a ride.

“I work in all kinds of mediums,” Adams says. “They help me to tell my story which is a collec-tion of the experiences we all have every day.”

When asked about the installation of the sod, which covered more than half of the floor, Adams says, “I grew up in DC when it was normal to walk in the grass. Now the grass is slowly disappearing.”

Known by his ambiguous trademark, “I AM ART,” Adams, a third generation painter, says, “I don’t know if that word supports my ideas. I am a horticulturist, an architect, a writer, a father, a husband, a brother, and a friend.”

In 2006 Adams was invited to teach at El-sie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Pub-lic Charter School in northeast DC. “I titled the class, ‘WE ARE ART’ and it helped to get the kids ready to create art from the first day. It removed any fears they may have had. Back in 2008, when I decided to dedicate myself 100% to creating art I decided that, ‘I AM ART’ was the best way to describe how I live.”

Although Adams has reservations about be-ing called an “artist” he says the meaning of “I AM ART” is the blueprint to his life. “I come with no light switch that goes on and off.”

Formerly the owner of The Eye Opener cof-fee shop in Mt. Rainer, Maryland for a decade, Adams says he was introduced to a property on Maple View Place SE in Historic Anacostia in the last month of 2008.

Growing up near 11th and Harvard Streets NW in the 1970s and 1980s Adams says he was unsure of what to expect upon relocating to the historic neighborhood.

“When I got here it was great,” Adams re-members. “It was wide open. There was a very small art presence here and instead of using the property for a home I started using it as a studio space.”

Since then Adams’ image and trademark has been seen stickered throughout the city; his work has been featured at the Kreeger Museum off Foxhall Road, NW and the Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum.

Last year, Adams was the first recipient of the East of the River Distinguished Artist Award presented by the Honfleur Gallery. “Adams was selected for the award based on his artistic excel-lence as well as for the significant impact he has made on the cultural landscape of Washington, D.C.,” says Duane Guatier, ARCH’s CEO. Ad-ams donated the entire award’s prize of $5,000 towards the construction of a medical facility for women in Nairobi, Kenya.

Next spring Adams will have a new exhibition at American University’s Katzen Arts Center.

Mynd Up runs at the Honfleur Gallery at 1241 Good Hope Road SE until August 30th. For more information call 202-365-8392 or visit www.honfleurgallery.com. u

Mynd Up Features BK Adams’ Latest Work

by John Muller

BK Adams at the opening of Mynd Up. Courtesy PhotoTwo little girls sit in the grass at BK Adams' Mynd Up exhibit. Photo by John Muller.

Sod covers the floor of the Honfleur Gallery in its new exhibit. Photo by John Muller.

D.C.’s Buck Hill Gets Well-Deserved TributeThe Roger “Buck” Hill tribute, honoring

D.C.’s own living legend of the saxophone, was a memorable event, with a great day of music and accolades in front of the large crowd that gath-ered June 30 at Queen’s Chapel United Method-ist Church in Beltsville, Md.

The Buck Hill Tribute Band led the way with noted educator and musician Davey Yarborough, saxophones, Michael Thomas, trumpet, Jon Oz-ment, piano, James King, bass and Keith Killgo, drums. The group played a jamming opening set featuring Hill originals, including “Jasing,” “The Sad Ones,” “Scope” and “Little Bossa.”

Proving himself much more than just a great saxophone player, Hill’s composing talents have drawn acclaim for years. Bassist King said “The Sad Ones” ranks with any tune by anyone, and King played it lovingly, driving the haunting melo-dy with his throbbing, lyrical lines. So, well known nationally and internationally for his golden saxo-phone sound and witty and lyrically fascinating riffs and solos, it was appropriate that the tribute highlighted Hill as the complete artist.

Hill still plays occasionally, but sat out that day as the distinguished honoree. He was seated right in the front pew of the church -- and dressed to the nines in a bright blue dress shirt, tie and black sus-penders that had little silver saxophones on them.

Tributes came from family members and from long distance from those like saxophone guru Andrew White, drummer Billy Hart, Len-ny Cujoe, Bootsie Barnes and Ted Carter, all praising Hill’s humble nature, his willingness to mentor other musicians and his work ethic that helped him become an icon in the industry for his dynamic saxophone stylings.

Proclamations were read from Gov. Martin O’Malley of Maryland and Prince George’s Coun-ty Executive Rushern Baker, and musicians and others on site also honored Hill fondly.

Many artists honored Hill with their playing in a jam session that lasted well into the evening, with an especially heartfelt number done by vocalist Sharon Clark, “I’ll Remember April,” that seemed to particularly capture the essence of the day.

Thanks to Cheyney and Tonya Thomas,

Undaunted Productions, the church and its Rev. B. Kevin Smalls, Rusty Hassan and Ellen Carter of WPFW Pacifica Radio, and everyone who had a hand in making the Roger “Buck” Hill Tribute a big success.

“LOVE” CD party at Twins JazzThe D.C. unveiling of trombonist Regi-

nald Cyntje’s “LOVE” CD is set for Aug. 9-10 at Twins Jazz, with good reviews already in for the recording (see reginaldcyntje.com) and with a sparkling CD release show performed by his band at Bethesda Blues and Jazz Supper Club last month. Cyntje, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts graduate, has a winner in “LOVE,” a worthy follow up to his debut CD a couple of years ago, “Freedom’s Children.”

Other special shows this month include vo-calist Coniece Washington’s CD release party Aug. 16 at Westminster Presbyterian Church. The New Jersey-raised Washington will perform songs from her debut CD of straight ahead jazz standards, “Love Changes,” with Vince Evans on piano, Jeff Neal, drums, James King, bass and Eli-jah Balbed, saxophone.

Also there are a couple of special tribute shows this month, Paul Carr’s tribute for Wayne Shorter, at Westminster, and Akua Allrich’s trib-ute for Nina Simone and Miriam Makeba at Bo-hemian Caverns.

Transparent Productions 2013-14 SeasonBobby Hill Jr. has announced details on the

upcoming season for the Transparent Produc-tions jazz series.

Highlights include the September Vision Music & Dance / on tour, October’s presentation

of Kevin Norton’s Breakfast of Champignon(s), November’s presentation of Taylor Ho Bynum’s Sextet, and a special March month of Women’s History Month performances.

The series begins Sunday, September 15 with The Roy Campbell Quartet at Bohemian Cav-erns. See www.transparentproductionsdc.org.

August Highlights: Marty Nau, Aug. 6, 13, 20, 27, Twins Jazz … Butch Warren Love To-ken, Aug. 9, Westminster Presbyterian Church … Terence Blanchard, Aug. 9-11, Blues Alley ... Reginald Cyntje “LOVE” CD Release Party, Aug. 9-10, Twins Jazz … Amina Figarova, Aug. 12, Blues Alley … Coniece Washington CD Release Party, Aug. 16, Westminster Church … Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet, Aug. 16-18, Blues Alley … Paul Carr, Tribute to Wayne Shorter, Aug. 23, Westminster Church … Akua Allrich Tribute to Nina Simone and Miriam Makeba, Aug. 24-25, Bohemian Caverns … Sharon Clark, Aug. 30, Westminster Church

August Birthdays: Big Nick Nicholas 2; Ed-die Jefferson 3; Louis Armstrong, Sonny Simmons 4; Lenny Breau 5; Rahsaan Roland Kirk 7; Lucky Millinder, Benny Carter 8; Jack DeJohnnette 9; Claude Thornhill 10; Russell Procope 11; Earl Coleman, Pat Matheny 12; Mulgrew Miller 13; Stuff Smith 14; Oscar Peterson, Mal Waldron, Bill Evans 16; Ike Quebec, Duke Pearson 17; Os-car Brashear 18; Jimmy Rowles 19; Count Basie, Art Farmer 21; Bobby Watson 23, Claude Hop-kins 24; Wayne Shorter, Pat Martino 25; Bran-ford Marsalis 26; Lester Young 27; Kenny Drew 28; Charlie Parker, Dinah Washington 29; Kenny Dorham 30. u


Tribute toBuck Hill by Steve Monroe

jazzAvenues

Vocalist Sharon Clark sings “I’ll Remember You” at the June 30 tribute to Buck Hill, legendary saxophonist.


Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday this past June, accomplished West African dance instructor Sylvia Soumah breezed into the

sun-filled smaller studio at The Washington School of Ballet at THEARC like a gust of enthusiasm and humor. Her drummer silently prepared his djun djun drum while participants chatted and exchanged smiles. With a silly anecdote, a compliment to the newest person in the room, a word of encouragement, and a pulsing beat, Soumah’s Moving Wisdom class began. Sometime during the routine she yelled out, “Now we add the shake! Everybody shake something, I don’t care what it is!”

Established in 2011, Moving Wisdom was de-signed for senior citizens to improve their quality of life and overall health through participation in dance classes that provide physical, mental, and social stim-ulation in an artistically enriching environment. The six-week classes are structured around an original, low-impact African dance routine, which is learned and rehearsed each session.

“When I come teach my seniors, they go all out and don’t hold back because they know how precious time is. I love it, it makes my day,” says Soumah. “I’ve met some really wonderful women [through the se-ries]. It’s like being with your mother or grandmoth-er.”

The program, funded by the DC Arts Commis-sion and offered for free, served about 16 African-American women of varying ages and abilities.

There’s Geraldine Howard, a Government Ac-countability Office retiree who has danced all her life and is currently in her 18th year with one of D.C.’s prominent African drum-and-dance circles—despite having a pacemaker. There’s Mary Buckley, a retired State Department agent who exercises regularly, but

ended up in class in an attempt to book Soumah’s dance company for a perfor-mance at the historic Shiloh Baptist Church in Shaw. There’s Kathleen Brad-ford, a retired Government Printing Office instruc-tor who has never taken a series of dance classes, but put herself out there to try something new. And there was also Colanna L., who found out about Moving Wisdom on its last day and brought her six year-old budding dancer, Amanda along to participate. Even THEARC staff members joined in—theater director Kimberly Douglas came to dance on her lunch break, and volunteer “Mama Lu” participated when she was at THEARC to work at the front desk.

Some of the women are familiar faces who’ve seen or danced with Sylvia before, either with her com-pany, Coyaba Dance Theater, or in the first Moving Wisdom series. Others come for one or two classes. All are there because they’re interested in improving their health.

“A reason I work [east of the river] is because there are a lot of ailments over here than can be taken care


Moving Wisdom participants prac-tice the routine to the beat of the djun djun. Photo: Jazelle Hunt.

Let’s Get Physical! by Jazelle Hunt


of through exercise,” Soumah ex-plains. “As you get older your body changes…but you can modify ev-erything. And that’s life. It doesn’t have to take away from the energy of your movement.”

Most of the participants maintain an additional form of fi tness outside of class, from walk-ing groups at Hillcrest Recreation Center to the vigorous party-workout, Kazaxe.

“For the last fi ve years I’ve been concentrating on my health issues. I’m learning something new and [Moving Wisdom] is not as strenuous as a lot of exercises,” says Bradford, who walks and gardens in her spare time. “I’m learning to venture out and not be so self-conscious.”

Th e participants may have come for the fi tness, but they stayed for the sisterhood. After class, they lingered to chat, trade resources, and put their heads to-gether to help Soumah fi nd do-nated space to continue the classes after the grant date.

“I like the energy, the in-struction, and the people that come,” says Yvonne Davis, Con-gress Heights resident and Li-brary of Congress retiree. “The fellowship is great. We’re all here to enjoy ourselves, and that

gets me moving.”On one day, a few ladies of-

fered insight and a listening ear as Soumah confi ded her challenges with being a woman in a male-dominated fi eld. Another day, Davis shared her Tupperware cat-alogues and tales of her world trav-els, and performance artist Farasha El taught everyone about alkaline water and shared a few bottles. Mary Buckley invited everyone to Shiloh for its 150th anniversary celebration. Somewhere in the middle of the series, Soumah en-couraged the class to join her on-stage for Dance Jam Family Day, held July 6 at the Portrait Gallery.

At the fi nal class, the ladies shared their contact information with Soumah so she could inform everyone when she found a loca-tion to continue off ering the series. And Moving Wisdom’s summer session ended congenially and uneventfully, as if everyone knew they’d be seeing each other again.

Moving Wisdom resumes on Sep-tember 10 from 11 a.m. to noon, and continues every Tuesday and Th urs-day, September through October at Th e Washington School of Ballet THEARC campus. Interested partic-ipants can simply drop in. For more information, call 202-274-4533. u Questions? Email us at [email protected]

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Sylvia Soumah (dressed in black) welcomes

Farasha El as Amanda, the youngest participant, looks on.Photo: Jazelle Hunt.

Sylvia Soumah (dressed in black) instructs participants

after the warm-up. Photo: Jazelle Hunt.


A crowd of more than 150 women gathered in the Boys and Girls Club on

Mississippi Avenue on a Satur-day morning to kick off the start of Trusted Health Plan. The buzz in the air was almost tangible. The music began at the command of a voice on the microphone. Some of the women knew the moves and those who didn’t would figure it out along the way. But they all fell into the groove without reser-vation as the GoGo beat pumped through the speakers. It’s their time. It’s their music. It’s their style of fitness. Leading the entire gymnasium with her raspy, alto voice and locks flowing in the air is one Danette Tucker, the creator and ‘Queen’ of the combina-tion of Zumba moves and GoGo music coined as Z-GoGo.

Who is this Queen?Danette ‘Dani’ Tucker was born and raised

in Southeast DC. She graduated from Banneker High School in 1988. She attended Howard Uni-versity after graduation. Dani has always had an affinity for fitness. At the age of 35, she had a hys-terectomy due to issues with fibroid tumors but her heart was not ready for surgery. She had to take a stress test. What started as a routine walk on a treadmill turned into an embarrassing moment that altered her attitude towards fitness. “I was on the treadmill and this 85 year old woman was next to me. They turned the speed up on me and I was struggling. She was just sailing and asking me ‘Are you alright?’ She basically whipped my ass. I had never been so embarrassed in all my life,” she laughs while recollecting.

Tucker, 43, has experience in ballet, tap, and jazz dance that she credits as helping her transition into Zumba. So how did she make the leap from

a traditionally Latin based routine to Z-GoGo. ”I started with Jazzercise a few times a week and then I started going to the gym. I lost 80 pounds doing Jazzercise, Hip Hop dance, and African dance. I added Zumba to my routine but I wasn’t motivated to teach it because I didn’t like Latin music. Once I started taking it [Zumba] at the Soul Factory and seeing how it was being taught there I figured out how to put GoGo music into it.” Her routine for Z-GoGo is 80 percent GoGo music and 20 per-cent other music.

Word of MouthHer first class in February 2012 had only eight

people. By Memorial Day, she had 459 people in her class. “It was all based on word of mouth. We hadn’t done hardly any advertising. Our classes are full. Every single class filled with Divas ready to work out.” She keeps the price at $5 and free for chil-dren so that everyone can participate. In Novem-ber 2012, Tucker and her fellow instructors made a DVD of their routine. All 2,000 copies were sold by the end of the month. Go-Go Fitness LLC (the umbrella company over Z-GoGo) offers 14 classes in the District, Prince George’s County and Wood-

bridge, VA. She is training teachers to instruct the course in Seattle, Fayetteville, and Atlanta very soon.

Trusted PartnershipsPartnerships has been one

of the components that has sus-tained Z-GoGo over the past year. Danette Tucker’s oldest friend and business partner, Erica Berry has been with Z-GoGo since its inception. She gives credit for the growth to Ms. Tucker’s person-ality and relationships with the women. “Dani has a very mag-netic personality. She makes every single person feel like she knows

him or her personally. The women feel that she cares about them because she does,” says Berry. It’s that kind of care that creates a bond among the participants and keeps them coming back for more. Ms. Berry further explains, “The women are beginning to see that they can do more than they thought they could. It’s grown into a well-ness movement where we take care of physical, mental, and spiritual health.”

Trusted Health Plan, the newest Medic-aid provider in the District, has also formulated a partnership with Go-Go Fitness LLC and Z-GoGo to help members stay fit and healthy. Trusted will provide transportation for their members to classes and pay the class fee for one year. Danette charges her good fortune to her faith in God. “None of this is possible without Him. It’s been amazing. And with Him we will keep Z-GoGo going.”

For more information, visit www.gogofitnessllc.com, Facebook www.facebook.com/groups/zgog-ofitnessllc/ or on Twitter @zgogofitnessllc.

Candace Y.A. Montague is the health reporter for East of the River. u


Danette Tucker instructs participants on the moves of Z-GoGo

The Queen of Z-GoGo: A Profile of Danette ‘Dani’ Tucker

A local fitness instructor fuses Zumba and GoGo music to create a unique movement



Changing hands is a list of most residential sales in the District of Columbia from the previous month. A feature of every issue, this list, based on the MRIs, is provided courtesy of Don Denton, manager of the Coldwell Banker offi ce on Capitol Hill. The list includes address, sales price and number of bedrooms.

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CHILLUM 6123 3RD ST NW $475,000 3

DEANWOOD 4407 SHERIFF RD NE $75,200 3211 55TH ST NE $93,500 25825 DIX ST NE $135,000 3311 59TH ST NE $157,000 23950 BLAINE ST NE $230,000 25030 CENTRAL AVE SE $230,000 3

FORT DUPONT PARK 4360 DUBOIS PL SE $93,000 34436 ALABAMA AVE SE $99,000 21688 FORT DUPONT ST SE $118,500 3900 BURNS ST SE $121,000 31178 46TH PL SE $149,000 24322 SOUTHERN AVE SE $158,888 31131 45TH PL SE $176,900 3819 ADRIAN ST SE $186,500 21549 FORT DUPONT ST SE $203,900 44237 HILDRETH ST SE $219,000 21613 FORT DUPONT ST SE $242,000 34619 HILLSIDE RD SE $244,950 44413 G ST SE $249,500 44143 ALABAMA AVE SE $275,000 31100 44TH PL SE $325,000 3705 BURNS ST SE $345,000 3

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HILL CREST 2537 36TH ST SE $190,000 32909 N ST SE $230,000 33802 SUITLAND RD SE $490,000 5

KINGMAN PARK 602 21ST ST NE $207,000 3602 21ST ST NE $207,000 32500 E ST NE $397,000 3

MARSHALL HEIGHTS 5515 B ST SE $58,000 25526 B ST SE $175,000 25545 B ST SE $195,000 25430 DRAKE PL SE $315,000 3

RANDLE HEIGHTS 1888 SAVANNAH PL SE $100,000 33315 22ND ST SE $202,500 3

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DEANWOOD 4274 FOOTE ST NE #2 $60,000 24639 MINNESOTA AVE NE #4639 $150,000 3

HILL CREST 3904 SOUTHERN AVE SE $59,000 13713 ALABAMA AVE SE #102 $71,500 2

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James Harbor rests comfortably and often during these waning summer days. On this particular day, Brenda Drayton-Hays, Clinical

Director for Hospice of Washington, DC, awak-ened him during one of her daily visits to his room. He smiles paternally at her and Rahikya Wilson, Executive Director for Hospice of Washington, DC. Harbor, a retired mental health home worker, has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He has been in the nursing home at United Medical Cen-ter for years. He praised Hospice for making his stay more comfortable and for fighting on his be-half. “In the last two weeks I have felt as though I am in a different atmosphere altogether,” he said. Mr. Harbor was familiar with Hospice of DC since his wife also received care from them so he was happy to have their help. “Some people have forgotten what the mission is. The staff seemed a little lost. Either you’re going to make people comfortable or you’re going to make them miser-able. What you guys have proven to me even if it’s shaky, it can be straightened. “

It is this kind of care and advocacy that Hos-pice of Washington, DC is hoping to do more of as they expand their services in Wards 7 and 8.

A history of end-of-life careWhile hospice in the United States is relatively

new, the concept goes back to the 1940s. A Brit-ish woman named Cicely Saunders inspired hos-pice. She was a nursing student during World War II and saw how badly people suffered when they were dying. She believed that people needed re-lief from the physical and psychological pain that comes with death, and that people deserved to die with dignity. Saunders’ philosophy came across the Atlantic Ocean with an American nurse named Florence Wald. She established the first hospice in America in 1974 in Branford, Connecticut. There are now more than 3,000 organizations that offer hospice care in the United States.

In 1982, the Medicare Hospice benefit was established under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Re-sponsibility Act giving federal funding to hospices across the country to provide assistance to eligible families. One of its chief lobbyists was Andrew T. Parker, founder and former president of Ameri-can Hospice. Parker, a reverend from Jacksonville, Florida, believed that patients come first. He was once quoted as saying, “It takes moral courage to do hospice work. It is not about us, it’s about the patients and family members.” Parker passed away in 2009 but his work continues on through advo-cates and workers of hospice all across the country.

No Grim Reaper

It’s common to associate the word “hospice” with death, but it is so much more than that. Hos-pice doesn’t bring death by any means. By the time a hospice is called in, death is imminent. The pur-

KIDS & FAMILY

Comfort and Care with DignityHospice of Washington DC brings palliative care to Wards 7 and 8


Rahikya Wilson, MSW, left and Brenda Drayton-Hays, BSN, RN right, visit with James Harbor, a patient at United Medical Center


pose of their organization is to make sure that the patient is not in pain, alone, and fearful for their family. Wilson says, “Hospice to us means quality of life and mak-ing those last days as comfortable as possible. Focusing on [the pa-tient] being pain free. We provide the finest individualized care.” For starters, hospice offers help with in-home care for patients who wish to be at their residence. There are hospice nurses, counselors, so-cial workers, aides, and volunteers available whenever the patient or their family need assistance.

When a patient is discharged from a hospital with an order for hospice care, representatives from HWDC meet with the family immediately to discuss what the needs of the family are and to make a plan on how to keep the patient comfortable while allevi-ating stress on their loved ones. Drayton-Hays explains that a nurse will visit the home and re-view the pain medications, physi-cal surroundings and space issues that can present a problem when attempting to bring in things such as hospital beds or oxygen tanks. Everything else is attended to as the situation arises. If their beloved doesn’t look well in the middle of the night, a qualified nurse is just a phone call away. Wilson says that Hospice of Washington DC is there for the families to meet their needs, not tell them what their needs are. “When I meet a new family I ask them what they need. Everybody may have the same diagnosis, but we have to focus on each patient on an individual basis. Their need might not be about pain. It might be a family issue or a bereavement issue. They might need respite care or connections with a spiritual leader. We handle those concerns one by one.”

‘I wish I would have known about them sooner’

Annette Lynch, 51, came to know about Hospice when her mother was dying of stage 4 breast cancer. Her mother, Bernice Lynch, seemed to be on the road

to recovery before the cancer re-turned and metastasized. “She lost the feeling in her legs and she just couldn’t walk much any more,” her daughter recalls. The elder Lynch became paralyzed and had to use a wheelchair to get around. “She had her surgery at UMC [United Medical Center] and was get-ting treatment at Howard. When Howard couldn’t do much more for us, they introduced us to Hos-pice of DC. My mother fell in love with the staff right away and they loved her back.” Bernice recalls how Hospice helped her manage her mother’s care and helped her deal with what was happening. “I wish I had known about them even sooner than when we were introduced. They really helped me because I needed to process what was happening. It was all going so fast. I’m very grateful for them.” Bernice Lynch passed away peace-fully on May 25 at age 70.

With education, Hospice of DC is hoping to change the face of its name from one that brings death to one that provides com-fort. As more people become familiar with their services they will feel more comfortable talk-ing about it and referring it to families. “Hospice tends to be a dirty word. Doctors don’t want to say hospice. And if a doctor is not OK with it because he doesn’t understand it, he’s not going to push it. We give people options. Hospice can follow a family and keep the pain controlled and do bereavement counseling for 13 months after death,” states Mrs. Drayton-Hays. “The success story for Hospice is that patient that transitioned peacefully sur-rounded by their loved ones.”

Hospice of DC is available to Medicaid and Medicare pa-tients as well as Veterans through the Veterans Administration. HWDC accepts patients regard-less of their payer source. For more information, visit www.americanhospice.com/washing-ton_dc or call 202-574-6994 or fax number (202) 905-0011.

Candace Y.A. Montague is a health reporter for East of the River. u


Getting scammed is not just a by-product of getting older like grey hair. There are highly successful business people, profes-

sors and other professionals with higher education and the benefit of younger age, who still get duped.

But, the predators do target the elderly more. The average age range for scam victims is between 55 and 65 years old. The prey may be lonely and inclined to trust a friendly person with an upbeat, helpful and caring manner about them.

Take for example, a southeast woman who was about to lose her home to foreclosure. A predator saw her property listed and approached her with a plan to provide her with a loan to make the back payments she owed to the mortgage company. The scammer does stop the foreclosure. So, why is this bad? After all, the person gets to stay in her home. It’s a problem because the loan wasn’t a loan at all. He in fact, had transferred the deed to the house into his own name, and took all the equity in the process.

To make matters worse, this woman finds her-self facing an eviction suit filed by the person who gave her the “loan” when it turns out that one of the pages he fraudulently talked her into signing was a bogus lease on her own house. When the homeowner failed to make the “rent” payments to the scammer, he sued to evict her. In addition, tak-ing advantage of the victim’s confusion about the true nature of the transfer, the scammer deprived her of finding a sustainable solution to her original foreclosure problem – something an attorney or housing counselor acting in the homeowner’s best interest could have helped with.

The story ends well for this neighbor, because the Legal Counsel for the Elderly (LCE), an af-filiate of AARP, was able to get her name off the loan, get her house back with all the equity and then helped her find a solution that kept her in her home.

Doug Shadel, the author of AARP’s book,

Outsmarting the Scam Artists, says the key to de-fending against fraud is the ability to recognize it. Here’s what to look for:

1. The caller or salesperson enthusiastically describes how much money you will make and what you might do with it, in an attempt to get you excited and make a quick decision to buy.

2. The scammer is asking lots of personal questions such as, how many kids and grandchildren you have, where you work, how long have you lived in your house – all done to build rapport and to profile you so the scammer can cus-tomize the pitch.

3. The scammer will tell you that you might

have won a million dollars or a big prize, but you first have to pay an administra-tive fee or taxes before you can receive it. (FYI – it is illegal for a sweepstakes to ask for payment.)

4. The scammer warns you that if you don’t pay right away, you’ll lose the deal: often scammers will create urgency by telling you the offer will expire soon.

5. The scam artist refuses to tell you how much of the donation goes to the actual charity versus to the person calling. Le-gitimate charities are required to tell you this if you ask.

6. The con artist will tell you that the of-fer is top secret and you shouldn’t tell anyone about it. This is intended to

KIDS & FAMILY

Protect Yourself from Being Scammed by Joann Mangione

Legal Counsel for the Elderly Supervising Attorney, Amy Mix and client.


keep the law and pos-sibly wiser family or neighbors away.

7. Scammers want to keep you from mak-ing an informed deci-sion so will often claim there’s no time to send written material.

8. Scam artists will tell you the economy is collaps-ing and so you should buy gold, or crime is on the rise, so you should buy a security system. Fear is a great motivator.

9. The seller offers free gifts such as a CD or DVD in return for your willingness to sit through a presenta-tion or buy a product.

10. A sale item is suddenly sold out, but a much better item is available for more money.

You may think you won’t ever be duped and maybe that’s true. But, as our city is made up of a number of close-knit neighborhoods, it’s worth the time to learn how to spot a scammer to protect yourself, your family or even a neighbor.

Family Members Can Be Scammers Too

Perhaps the saddest statistic when it comes to scams is that ac-cording to the National Council on Aging, more than 90% of all scams against the elderly are committed by a family member.

In another instance in south-east, an elderly woman had worked long and hard to pay off her mort-gage. However, her son persuaded his mother to give him power of attorney (POA) and things took a terrible turn. Using his mother’s POA, the son added his name to his mother’s home of over 45 years

and took out a series of mortgages on the house. The home that had been paid off before the son began this scheme was soon encumbered by a $180,000 mortgage that was in foreclosure.

Legal Counsel for the Elderly successfully filed a lawsuit to get the house back in her name and re-solved the son’s outstanding mort-gages on the house.

Shadel suggests watching out for red flags that may mean a neighbor or family member is vul-nerable or has already fallen victim to a scheme:

1. The phone rings off the hook inundated with calls seeking charitable dona-tions or offering deals.

2. You see lots of cheap new stuff around the house such as watches, pens and small applianc-es. Products of this na-ture may have come from order-to-win scams.

3. Payments or frequent withdrawals are made and paid to unfamiliar companies.

4. A person engages in se-cretive behavior.

5. A person has financial troubles. Watch for a sudden inability to pay for basic necessities or bills.

6. They demonstrate mood swings; the person is worried and anxious.

Joann Mangione is a Legal Counsel for the Elderly. Legal Coun-sel for the Elderly, an AARP affiliate, cham-pions the dignity and

rights of seniors in Washington, D.C. LCE provides free legal services for D.C. residents most in need. u

To place a classifi ed in East of the River, please call Carolina at Capital Community News, Inc. -202.543.8300 x12 or email [email protected]


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in myopinion

The African American community’s reaction to the George Zimmerman trial was as pre-dictable as the verdict itself. Some protested,

others thought we needed a renewed discussion about race and there were those who demanded an inter-vention by the Department of Justice.

But here’s what I know: 72 people got shot in Chi-cago over the July 4th weekend; and right now there are more black men in the grips of the criminal justice system than there were slaves in 1850. � e white man might be out to get us, but he sure didn’t murder my friend Stephan Pool last Labor Day weekend three blocks away from Nationals Park.

Prisons generate ten times more money than the NFL makes in TV revenue each year, a $70 billion industry that decides how many penitentiaries to build based on second and third grade reading scores. Lo and behold, only 20 percent of DC’s fourth grade public school students are pro� cient in reading. � e miscarriage of justice in Florida notwithstanding, the time to protest was when Tyler Elementary School had planks of plywood covering the windows before the neighborhood was gentri� ed.

So what’s the plan? Will more black men serve as mentors to young boys; or will we continue to sign online petitions in overwhelming numbers? Political action sounds great until you realize that folks are get-ting shot a block away from the President’s house in the Windy City.

� e 100 Black Men of America is an organization whose sole purpose is to mentor young men. � ey have leadership academies, science programs and have built 12 charter schools throughout the United

States. � e Big Brother Big Sister program is looking for committed positive black role models. Fraternities have mentoring programs of their own, making a dif-ference in our community one child at a time.

For those who doubt the impact community ser-vice could have, the following is a thank you note written by an eighth grader who was mentored by my fraternity in the spring: “� ank you for helping us tie ties and helping us respect women and other people. Also thank you for helping us be more like a man.”

My number one objective as the father of a 15-year-old son is to keep him alive. He’s already witnessed his minority cross country teammates handcu� ed at gunpoint by police o� cers for running too close to the train tracks while his white team-mates (who ran side by side) were una� ected. He has friends who’ve lost relatives to inner city violence. He saw Stephan laid out in a casket and read his obituary that said, “Stephan Manuel Pool, decorated Iraq War veteran, college educated, network engi-neer, Department of Justice.”

It’s been said that 2012 voter turnout in the black community remained high because of voter suppres-sion e� orts, attracting what I call the “oh hell no” vote. Trayvon Martin must become the catalyst for the black community to demonstrate to our so-called lighter counterparts that we will � ght for our children block by block, book by book. Only then, can we ex-pect others do the same.

Ivory Johnson owns the local � nancial planning � rm Delancey Wealth Management and lives a stone throw from Barracks Row. ◆

� e Lessons of TrayvonMentoring, Not Protest

by Ivory Johnson


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Location AddressRiver Terrace Rec Center & Elemantary School 420 34th St , NECVS - East River Park 320 40th St , NESafeway – NE 322 40th St , NE6th District Police Dept - Main 100 42nd St , NEWard Memorial AME 240 42nd St NE Kennilworth Elementary School 1300 44th ST NEUnity East of the River Health Center 123 45th ST NE First Baptist Church of Deanwood 1008 45th St NEDeanwood Public Library 1350 49th ST NEHughes Memorial United Methodist 25 53rd St NECapitol Gateway Senior Apts 201 58th St , NEMarvin Gaye Rec Center 6201 Banks Pl NEWatts Branch Recreation Center 6201 Banks St , NELangston Community Library 2600 Benning Rd , NEAnacostia Neighborhood Library 3935 Benning Rd NEBenning Branch Library 3935 Benning Rd NEMarshall Heights CDC 3939 Benning Rd , NEKelly Miller Recreation Center 4900 Brooks St , NETabernacle baptist Church 719 Division Ave NERandall Memorial Baptist Church 4417 Douglas St NEEast Capital Church of christ 5026 E Capitol St NESeat Pleasant CARE Pharmacy 350 Eastern Ave , NE7-Eleven 950 Eastern AVE NERiverside Center 5200 Foote St , NEMayfair Mansions 3744 ½ Hayes St NECitibank: East River Park 3917 Minnesota Ave , NEChartered Health Center NE 3924 Minnesota Ave , NEVending Machines – Deanwood Metro 4720 Minnesota Ave , NEThe Minnicks Market 4401 Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave NELederer Gardens 4800 Nannie Helen Burroughs Ave NESuburban Market 4600 Sherriff Rd NEPilgrim Rest Baptist Church 4601 Sheriff Road NEDave Brown Liquors 4721 Sheriff Road Northeast Dave Brown Liquor 4721 Sherriff Rd NEA & S Grocery 4748 Sheriff Rd NESt Rose Pentecostal Church 4816 Sherriff Rd NEMalcolm X Rec Center 3200 13th st SESt More Catholic Church 4275 4th St SE Fort Davis Recreation Center 1400 41st St , SEFerebee Hope Recreation Center 3999 8th St , SEEmanuel Baptist Church 2409 Ainger Place SEIHOP Restauarant 1523 Alabama Ave, SEGiant Food Store 1535 Alabama Ave , SESunTrust Bank 1571 Alabama Ave , SEParklands-Turner Community Library 1547 Alabama Ave , SEManor Village Apartments Leasing Office 1717 Alabama Ave , SEGarfield Elementary 2435 Alabama Ave

7th District Station 2455 Alabama Ave , SE6th District Police Dept - Satellite Station 2839 Alabama Ave , SEService Cleaners 2841 Alabama Ave , SESafeway – SE 2845 Alabama Ave SEPizza Hut 2859 Alabama Ave , SEAmerica’s Best Wings 2863 Alabama Ave , SEM&T Bank 2865 Alabama Ave , SEWashington Senior Wellness Center 3001 Alabama Ave , SESt Timothys Episcopal Church 3601 Alabama Ave SEFrancis A Gregory Neighborhood Library 3660 Alabama Ave , SENational Capital Parks--EAST 1900 Anacostia Dr , SEKid smiles 4837 Benning Road SEPimento Grill 4405 Bowen Rd SEEast Washington Heights Baptist Church 2220 Branch Ave ,SESt Johns Baptist Church 5228 Call Place SECapitol View Branch Library 5001 Central Ave , SEMarie Winston Elementary School 3100 Denver St , SESubway 4525 East Capitol StOur Lady Queen of Peace Church 3800 Ely Pl , SEAnacostia Museum for African Amer History 1901 Fort Pl SE - Back DoorSmithsonian Anacostia Marcia Burris 1901 Fort Place SE - Back DoorDC Center for Therapeutic Recreation 3030 G ST SEARCH 1227 Good Hope Rd , SEAnacostia Pizzeria 1243 Good Hope Rd , SESunTrust Bank 1340 Good Hope Rd , SEUnity Health Care Inc 1638 Good Hope Rd , SEBread for the City 1640 Good Hope Rd , SEMarbury Plaza Tenants Assoc 2300 Good Hope Rd , SEDollar Plus Supermarket 1453 Howard Rd , SEAscensions Psychological and Community Services 1526 Howard Rd SEDupont Park SDA Church 3985 Massachusettes Ave SEOrr Elementary School 2200 Minnesota Ave SEHart Recreation Center 601 Mississippi Ave , SESoutheast Tennis and Learning Center 701 Mississippi Ave , SEThe ARC 1901 Mississippi Ave , SENeighborhood Pharmacy 1932 Martin Luther King Jr , SEPNC Bank 2000 Martin Luther King Jr Ave , SEBank of America 2100 Martin Luther King Jr Ave , SEC Aidan Salon 2100 Martin Luther King Jr Ave , SEBig Chair Coffee 2122 Martin Luther King Jr Ave SEAnimal Clinic of Anacostia 2210 Martin Luther King Jr Ave , SEMax Robinson Center of Whitman-Walker Clinic 2301 Martin Luther King Jr Ave , SEThe United Black Fund 2500 Martin Luther King Ave SEThe Pizza Place 2910 Martin Luther King Ave SEMetropol Educational Services, 3rd Floor 3029 Marin Luther King Jr Ave , SENational Children’s Center - Southeast Campus 3400 Martin Luther King Jr , SEAssumption Catholic Church 3401 Martin Luther King Ave SECongress Heights Senior Wellness Center 3500 Martin Luther King Jr Ave , SECongress Heights Health Center 3720 Martin Luther King Jr Ave , SECVS - Skyland 2646 Naylor Rd , SEHarris Teeter 1350 Pennsylvania Ave SEThai Orchid Kitchen 2314 Pennsylvania Ave SESt Francis Xavier Church 2800 Pennsylvania Ave SE

Pennsylvania Ave Baptist Church 3000 Pennsylvania Ave SECVS – Penn Branch 3240 Pennsylvania Ave , SECongress Heights Recreation Center 100 Randle Pl , SEJohnson Memorial Baptist Church 800 Ridge Rd SERidge Recreation Center 800 Ridge Rd , SESavoy Recreation Center 2440 Shannon Pl SEPNC Bank 4100 South Capitol St , SERite Aid 4635 South Capitol St , SEUnited Medical Center 1310 Southern Ave , SEBenning Park Community Center 5100 Southern Ave SEBenning Stoddert Recreation Center 100 Stoddert Pl , SEUnion Temple Baptist Church 1225 W ST SESenior Living at Wayne Place 114 Wayne Place SEWashington Highlands Neighborhood Library 115 Atlantic St , SWBald Eagle At Fort Greble 100 Joliet St SWCovenant Baptist Church 3845 South Capitol StFaith Presbyterian Church 4161 South Capitol St SWHenson Ridge Town Homes Office 1804 Stanton Terrace, SEThe Wilson Building 1350 Pennsylvania Ave NWCCN office 224 7th ST SE Eastern Market 225 7th St SEYMCA Capitol View 2118 Ridgecrest Court SECW Harris Elementary School 301 53rd Street, SEDC Child & Family Services Agency 200 I Street SE

east of the river magazine august 2013

Documents

river magazine

new vending regulations

thriving vending industry

river calendar16

training symposium dates

dc streetcar updateby

xin gi

trusted health plan