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Anders Ohm • December 1, 2014

Not everyone is fortunate enough to dine out on Thanksgiving or to buy all the ingredients for one at home. Here are some opportunities for charity and volunteering to help others in the spirit of Thanksgiving.

Before your Thanksgiving dinner go for a run at the 13th annual Thanksgiving Day Trot For Hunger held by So Others Might Eat. The 5K run/walk will begin at Freedom Plaza at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving morning. Money raised from the race will benefit homeless families and adults, by providing food, clothes and healthcare. $35 for timed participants.

Another opportunity for a Thanksgiving run will be at the Arlington Turkey Trot, which supports local charities. This 5K race will start at 8 a.m. at the Christ Church of Arlington, 3020 North Pershing Drive.

Capital Area Food Bank’s mission is to provide food the hungry in the Washington metro area and now through November 30, CAFB is running its Thanksgiving campaign Turkey @ Every Table, which provides senior citizens with a turkey and other Thanksgiving foods. 4900 Puerto Rico Ave. NE.

Sign up for a shift to prepare food or deliver meals with Food & Friends on the days leading up to Thanksgiving and on Thanksgiving Day. Food & Friends provides food to people living with life-challenging illnesses like cancer and HIV/AIDS. 219 Riggs Road NE. 202-269-2277.

Meanwhile, looking for a restaurant for your Thanksgiving dinner? Here are a few places around D.C. where you can go to enjoy Thanksgiving 2014.

The Grill Room at Capella — 1050 31st St. NW — has a brunch and dinner buffet available on Thanksgiving. On the menu: pan-roasted diver scallops with pumpkin and carnaroli risotto. The buffet is $95 per person. 202-617-2424.

Martin’s Tavern — 1264 Wisconsin Ave. NW — is one Georgetown classic not to be missed. This is where Jack Kennedy proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier in 1952.

Peacock Cafe — 3251 Prospect St. NW — is another Georgetown classic. While best known for its weekend brunch, the friendly place is ready for Thanksgiving and has excellent vegan selections. And, yes, previous occupants of the White House have dined here. 202-625-2740.

1789 Restaurant — 1230 36th St. NW — is yet another Georgetown classic for dinner. The ’89 tastes and looks the part. This is where President Barack Obama took German Chancellor Angela Merkel for an intimate dinner in 2011. 202-965-1789.

Equinox Restaurant — 818 Connecticut Ave. NW — offers Thanksgiving Day Dinner, 2 p.m. to 7 p.m.: $65 per person for three courses – $90 with wine pairing; $35, children 12 and under for three courses. The wide selection includes leek chowder, beet salad, quail, venison, pork, scallops or turkey, along with pumpkin tart, chocolate torte or coconut cake.

Tony and Joes — 3000 K St. NW — where you are skate and dine this year for Thanksgiving. For $20, enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner. Also, enjoy fall cocktails and ice skating at the Georgetown Waterfront. 202-448-8005.

Bourbon Steak– 2800 Pennsylvania Ave. NW — is offering a three-course set menu on this day with seating from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. The set menu is $110 per person and can be seen at www.bourbonsteakdc.com

Cafe Milano — 3251 Prospect St. NW — will offer a sparkling brunch buffet, 11a.m. to 4 p.m. Also, enjoy familiar favorites from the regular dinner menu from 6 to 9 p.m.

Old Ebbitt Grill — 675 15th St. NW — will be having a traditional turkey dinner along with stuffing, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce. Adults, $25.95; children’s portions, $15.95. 202-347-4800.

Nage Bistro — 1600 Rhode Island Ave. NW — is having a Thanksgiving dinner with Southern favorites. The menu includes Cajun deep-fried turkey, cornbread, mac and cheese and more. 202-448-8005.

Cafe Dupont and Bar Dupont — Dupont Circle Hotel, 1500 New Hampshire Ave. NW — will have a prix-fixe Thanksgiving menu with a choice of appetizers, entrees, sides and desserts. $55 per person. 202-797-0169.

Ardeo and Bardeo — 3311 Connecticut Ave. NW — has a three-course Thanksgiving dinner available, serving gnocchi, sweet potato, apple soup and, of course, turkey. The meal is $45 per person and $23 for children 10 and under. 202-244-6750.

DBGB Kitchen + Bar — 931 H St. NW — is offering a three-course prix-fixe menu: $65 per person; children under 12, $35; noon to 8 p.m.

Gary Tischler •

Almost from the moment he arrived in Washington, D.C., as a young, firebrand civil rights activist, Marion S. Barry, Jr., captured the imagination of the city, as he made headlines and news, for better and worse. He was mayor of D.C. for four terms and dubbed “Mayor for Life.”

He was at the center of a political firestorm in the infamous 1990 drug bust at a downtown D.C. hotel room. He went to prison and returned in a kind of triumph to become mayor again. He would rise again to become Ward 8 City Council member, and time and time again, through sickness and health, a censure by the District Council, and most recently, a controversial autobiography, Barry made news. He was admired and loved and often when spoke, he outraged more than a lot of people. He was a seemingly endless fodder for stories and headlines.

Here is the latest—but not probably not last—headline about him: “Marion Barry, Four-term Mayor of the District of Columbia, Dead at 78.”

Barry, who had entered the hospital over the weekend, died in the early hours of Nov. 23, after being released to his home. He had been battling various illnesses for a number of years. He died at United Medical Center.

The last time we saw Barry, we interviewed him during lunch at the Fours Seasons Hotel in Georgetown about his autobiography, “Mayor for Life: The Incredible Life of Marion Barry Jr.” It is a book which proved revealing about his deep South upbringing that forged his politics and thinking. It also provides some shocking details about that 1990 sting operation that led to his prison term.

Mayor Vincent Gray issued this statement about Barry’s passing: “Marion was not just a colleague but also was a friend with whom I shared many fond moments about governing the city. He loved the District of Columbia, and so many Washingtonians loved him.”

As the Ward 8 Councilmember, Barry supported an embattled Gray in his bid for re-nomination as the Democratic candidate in the April primary, which was won by Ward 4 Councilmember Muriel Bowser, who was then supported by Barry and went on to win the general election.

Mayor-elect Muriel Bowser, “shocked and deeply saddened” by Barry’s passing, said in a statement: “Mayor Marion Barry gave a voice to those who need it most and lived his life in service to others. … He has been a part of my family for decades, and he will continue to be an example to me and so many others.”

Former mayoral candidate and the longest-serving member of the District Council, Jack Evans wrote: “Mayor Barry never backed down from the belief that Washington, D.C., should do more, should be more, for every person who lives here.”

Barry is survived by his wife, Cora, and one son, Marion Christopher Barry.

Memorial services are pending. Mayor Gray said that he will speak with the Barry family and the District Council about government ceremonies that would be “worthy of a true statesman of the District of Columbia.”

Robert Devaney •

Rent the Runway, the women’s online service that rents luxury gowns, designer dresses and accessories, opened a store at 3336 M St. NW on Nov. 24. Checking out flashy, stylish outfits and sipping wine, influential women of D.C. flooded the 4,354-square-foot Georgetown space that is larger than its New York store. [gallery ids="101933,136078,136072,136076" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney • November 26, 2014

Scientist, sculptor and arts patron Lolo Sarnoff died Nov. 9 at the age of 98. She was best known later in later as the founder of Arts for the Aging, a nonprofit which provides arts engagement programs for older adults in the greater Washington area.

Lili-Charlotte (Lolo) Sarnoff was born in Frankfurt, Germany, daughter of Willy and Martha Dreyfus, nee Koch. Later, the family moved to Berlin and after 1936 to Switzerland. Her big dream was to be a fashion designer. She studied at the University of Zurich and married her first husband an American doctoral student, Stephen Heineman.

After World War II and serving as a nurse at New York’s Bellevue Hospital, she met her second husband, Stanley Sarnoff.

In 1954, with their young children Robert and Dana, the Sarnoffs moved to Bethesda to work at the National Institutes of Health. The couple co-invented the electro-phrenic respirator, a device that replaced the iron lung in the treatment of bulbar polio. They also formed their scientific research company.

In the 1960s, Sarnoff began to become more active in the arts community. She co-founded the Washington Performing Arts Society Women’s Committee and the Washington Opera Women’s Committee. She is a trustee of the Washington Ballet and involved with the Corcoran Women’s Committee.

In 1971, one of Sarnoff’s sculptures, “The Flame,” was installed at the Kennedy Center’s Opera House. Later, after she taught art at an NIH program for those with Alzheimer’s disease, Sarnoff began Arts For The Aging, Inc., with its arts education programs for those will all forms of dementia.

Sarnoff is survived by her children, Dana Bargezi and Robert and Tricia Sarnoff; four grandchildren, Nick Bargezi, Ivan and Genesis Belanger, Kyle and Patrick Feinson, and by one great-granddaughter, Lily Sophie Bargezi. (Her husband died in 1990.)

Memorial services and burial will be held in Vermont at a later date. The Cabot Funeral Home in Woodstock, Vt., is assisting the family.

Georgetowner • November 24, 2014

2014 Winter Contemporary Show Opening Reception

November 21st, 2014 at 05:00 PM | free | info@oldprintgallery.com | Tel: 2029651818 | Event Website

The Old Print Gallery’s 2014 Winter Contemporary Show will open on Friday, Nov. 21, with a celebratory nighttime reception from 5 to 8pm at the gallery. Works by 12 contemporary printmakers, were chosen for the show. The prints selected are an impressive display of the current eclecticism found in contemporary printmaking. Purposeful and inventive, the prints are successful experiments in medium, color, and scale. Come celebrate with gallery curators, local artists, and art lovers.

Address

The Old Print Gallery; 1220 31st Street, N.W.

Pike & Rose Holiday Tree Lighting

November 21st, 2014 at 06:30 PM | Free to attend | shelby@brandlinkdc.com | Tel: 202-733-5223 | Event Website

Pike & Rose invites the community to celebrate the grand opening of the development with its first-ever holiday tree lighting festival. The evening’s festivities will be emceed by beloved D.C. radio personality, Tommy McFly of The Tommy Show. Additionally, this free to attend event will include a kids crafting station, stilt walkers and live “reindeer” ponies available for photo ops. Live entertainment will be provided by acapella groups.

Address

Pike & Rose, 11580 Old Georgetown Road. North Bethesda, Md.

Quote-Along “A Christmas Story”

November 21st, 2014 at 07:30 PM | Free | evelyn.hill@fairfaxcounty.gov | Tel: 703-790-0123 | Event Website

Put your bunny pajamas on, get your secret decoder rings out, and experience this holiday movie in a totally different way. Go ahead, yell your favorite lines. We triple-dog-dare you! Rated PG, 94 minutes. Free. Reservations are not required.

Address

The Alden; 1234 Ingleside Ave; McLean, Va. 22101

Visitation Fall Play ‘The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940’

November 21st, 2014 at 07:30 PM | $10.00 | dnastal@vsi.org | Tel: 202-337-3350 | Event Website

Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School’s highly regarded theater program will showcase “The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940” November 21 and 22 at 7:30 and November 23 at 2 p.m.

Address

1524 35th Street, NW

Frédéric Yonnet Live at Blues Alley

November 21st, 2014 at 08:00 PM | 25 | info@fredyonnet.com | Tel: (202) 337-4141 | Event Website

Frédéric Yonnet performs at Georgetown’s Blues Alley delivering a high energy, urban jazz, funk-filled show that’s guaranteed to blow you away.

Yonnet and his band perform tracks from his current project, Reed My Lips: The Rough Cut, as well as a popular R&B, funk tunes you’d never expect to hear on a harmonica.

Order tickets online today at BluesAlley.com!

Friday, November 21 @ 8PM & 10 PM

Saturday, November 22 @ 8PM & 10 PM

Doors at 6:00PM

General Admission tickets are $25.00

Address

1073 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Speakeasy Shorts: Film Screening

November 22nd, 2014 at 07:30 PM | $20-30 | info@dcshorts.com | Tel: 202-681-1151 | Event Website

DC Shorts and SpeakeasyDC have combined forces for the Speakeasy Shorts competition. Ten teams of filmmakers will be assigned to ten storytellers to create short films based on original stories, all shot and produced in the District.

On November 22, the audience will return to watch the eight minute films and vote for their favorite. The top film team and storyteller will receive a $1,000 cash prize and additional prizes will be awarded to winners of the other categories.

Address

U.S. Navy Memorial’s Burke Theater; 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Tudor Tots: Turkey and Thanks

November 22nd, 2014 at 10:30 AM | $5 | press@tudorplace.org | Tel: 202-965-0400 | Event Website

Though steeped in tradition, Thanksgiving is always fresh for children. Have fun learning about customs old and new in this program featuring an interactive story, songs, movement, and a craft centered on the holiday. Tots will take home a holiday craft they’ve made themselves. Parents/caregivers remain with children.

For ages 2-4 with accompanying adult(s).

Address

Tudor Place Historic House and Garden; 1644 31st Street NW

Come Write In!

November 24th, 2014 at 07:30 PM | julia.strusienski@dc.gov | Event Website

It’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), and the library is supporting participants by hosting weekly Come Write In! sessions, during which we guarantee a quiet, encouraging space for writers to work.

The sessions will take place Monday evenings from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the Second Floor Nonfiction Reading Room, where writers will find reserved tables, a small display of relevant books, and the free wifi and tabletop charging stations that are always available for use.

Address

Georgetown Neighborhood Library; 3260 R St. NW

Thanksgiving Eve Dinner

November 26th, 2014 at 07:30 PM | Free | Tel: 202-337-9070

Thanksgiving Eve Dinner at Georgetown Lutheran Church

Address

1556 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Robert Devaney • November 20, 2014

Three robberies on early Saturday morning, Nov. 8, were reported in or close to Georgetown as well as another on Oct. 31 up Wisconsin Avenue, according to the Metropolitan Police Department. The area is not known for many crimes involving guns or knives.

All four crimes occurred in MPD’s Second District, which includes Georgetown, Dupont Circle and almost all of Northwest Washington. Two of the crimes happened within three or four blocks of Second District headquarters at 3320 Idaho Ave., NW.

A robbery occurred at 33rd and P Streets, NW, on 1:40 a.m., Nov. 8. Police are looking for two black males, both with thin build and dark complexion, and at 5 foot 7 to 5 foot 8.

A armed robbery happened 2:26 a.m., Nov. 8, in the 3000 block of Idaho Avenue, NW. MPD is looking for two black males, 5 foot 10 to six foot, slim build, dark clothing. One was armed with a silver gun.

Also, on Nov. 8, just 2 a.m., at Rhode Island and Connecticut Avenues, NW., there was an assault with a deadly weapon — a knife. The suspect was arrested.

An armed robbery was committed Oct. 31, just after midnight, in the 3700 block of Macomb Street, NW, which intersects with Wisconsin Avenue.

Dana Farrior •

There’s no denying the historic appeal of Georgetown and its charming small businesses, such as those on P Street. In fact, the village and stores on the 3200 block of P Street have caught the attention of American Express for its annual Small Business Saturday promotions.

As Small Business Saturday celebrates its fifth anniversary, American Express chose Washington, D.C., along with four other cities to celebrate the businesses that keep these neighborhoods thriving.

On Nov. 29, for the first time, the American Express Main Street Makeover initiative will pair “Main Streets” with a professional designer who will re-do and decorate the door and window fronts of small businesses in time for the holidays and Christmastime.

Interior designer Sheila Bridges will design and execute the makeover for P Street where she will emphasize the following business: Anthony’s Tuxedos & Wedding Creations (3237 P St., NW), upscale consignment boutique Ella-Rue (3231 P St., NW), contemporary art gallery P Street Gallerie (3235 P St., NW), specialty store Just Paper & Tea (3232 P St., NW) and children’s clothing boutique Little Birdies (3236 P St., NW).

“I chose P Street in Georgetown not only because of its obvious historic charm (It is a beautiful tree lined street with cobblestones, trolley tracks and brick sidewalks) but also because of the sense of community that seems to exist amongst all of the small, independent retailers who have businesses on that block,” said Sheila.

“I loved that there were storeowners who had been there for 30 plus years and others who had only been there for a few months. Everyone seemed supportive of one another,” Bridges add.

Bridges traveled to Georgetown last week to talk with business owners and to get a better understanding of her canvas. Once she was able to see her vision, she talked to shop owners and began her planning.

“We were just flattered to even be chosen,” said Krista Johnson, owner of Ella-Rue. “So, I think most of us just let Sheila do her thing.”

Bridges went with a reindeer theme for all five stores, each varying in style. For Little Birdies, the children’s clothing boutique, the reindeers will have more of a whimsical feel, contrasting with Ella-Rue and Anthony’s Tuxedos which will have a more mature look.

In recognition of the holidays and Small Business Saturday, most of the shops will offer holiday-themed merchandise and discounts. Ella-Rue is taking 10 percent off all American Express purchases. With refreshed storefronts and window displays, American Express and retailers hope to attract consumers to shop at these local businesses this holiday season.
Also, if customers register their American Express card on its website, they become eligible for its “Spend $10, Receive $10” sweepstakes. Spend $10 or more on Nov. 29, and receive a statement credit for each qualifying transaction within 90 days thereafter.

Gary Tischler • November 19, 2014

 The scene looked and sounded familiar.

Walking into Kramerbooks and Afterwords Café on Connecticut Avenue last week for a lunchtime interview, mayoral candidate Carol Schwartz was greeted by a couple of diners with a “We’re voting for you, Carol.”  After the interview, riding on the 42 bus, a woman recognized her and introduced her as a candidate for mayor of the District of Columbia, urging passengers to vote for her.

This is nothing new for Carol Schwartz.  Those shout-outs are echoes of all of her previous campaigns in the city, running for school board, and the city council,  where she occupied the lone non-Democratic Party seat for a period of 16 years as well as four mayoral runs.

People know Carol Schwartz.

She is not alone either—this campaign, long-running since the April primary and slow to gain traction and has seen all three candidates fanning out into forays into the city’s neighborhoods for one-on-one contacts, to street corners and Metro Stops, going door to door, or to meet and greets.  Schwartz, Muriel Bowser, the Democratic Primary winner back in April, and David Catania, the long-time, at-large District councilmember, have made it a point to get personal face time with prospective voters throughout the city.  Catania and Schwartz, both former Republicans, are running as Independents.

For Schwartz,  it’s a little more simple.

People really do know Carol Schwartz, and not just from her travels throughout the city in this campaign.  And it’s fair to say that the people who know her, like her.  This good will and warmth may or may not translate into votes.  Schwartz is hoping it does.  This is likely the most engaging, appealing and effective part of her campaign.

“I’m telling you, I feel like I have the energy of a teenager,” Schwartz said over lunch.  “It’s just there.  I get by on four hours of sleep a night. You get up, and you’re raring to go.”

She says she did not decide to run on a whim, or out of some lingering anger over her last campaigns, six years ago,  in which she lost the Republican Primary, and then lost a write-in campaign. Some media observers have called her decision to run an exercise in nostalgia, which she dismisses.

“I want to be mayor of this city,” she said. “I know with all my heart that I would be a great mayor, and I have the experience to prove it. “

Her experience is deep and real and runs across a broad range of issues. On the District Council, where she served a total of four terms, she chaired committees on public works and the environment, on local, regional and federal affairs. While being a Republican, she often and consistently seemed more progressive than her Democratic colleagues. 

She served as chair of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Board of Directors as well as president. In 2004, she chaired COG’s National Capital Region Emergency Preparedness Council.  The former special education teacher calls herself the real education candidate.

All the major candidates who are running claim across-the-board support among whites, African Americans, women, minorities and gays, but Schwartz can claim that she’s gotten that  support in previous city-wide campaigns.  Although she was defeated in all of her mayoral campaigns—three against Mayor Marion Barry and one against Anthony Williams—she rang up impressive numbers across the city as a Republican candidate.

Schwartz came to Washington as an energetic young Jewish woman from Texas.  She was smitten right away.  “I have had  a life-long love affair with this city,” she said, more than once.  She began political life as a Republican. (“I was and am a fiscal conservative,” she said.) She is certainly one of the most progressive and often liberal Republican you ever saw, when it came to social issues, help for the homeless, the unemployed, the underserved of this city and the working class.

“When I lost the primary, and then the write-in, well, okay, that was that,” she said, referring to her 2008 council campaign. “I wasn’t all that eager to get back into politics.” But she continued her life-long volunteer activities—Whitman Walker board member, Washington Animal Rescue League, Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Club—because, she said, “if there are opportunities to take care of a problem, then I want to be there.”

Yet, here she is, a live wire and optimistic and full of fire, even though all the polls that have surfaced put her solidly in third place.  She is not backing away. She’s not discouraged, even as time runs out on the campaign. “I know about the polls, but when you’re out there, there’s something different going on,” she said. “There’s . . . I don’t know . . . something going on underneath.  I think I can still win. I really do.”

She’s been talking a lot about Washington as a tale of two cities—in particular the income gap, the great disparity between the have and have-nots.  To that end, she’s promised to create a mayor’s office for disparity solutions.

She’s running against the wind—she’s her own campaign manager, with her daughter Hilary, who is a professional standup comedian, as co-manager.  Another daughter, Stephanie, is an attorney, and her son Doug is a singer, songwriter and author.

We asked her about the possibility if she would consider running for the District Council in the future, should she not win Tuesday, Schwartz replied, “I’m not thinking about the future right now. I’m running for mayor right now.”

Dana Farrior •

Georgetown University touts its community connections with the release of its 2014 community engagement annual report, “Georgetown University in the District of Columbia.”

“As an anchor institution in the District and a Catholic and Jesuit university, Georgetown University has a strong commitment to advancing the common good, and we seek to do that as a driver of the economy, a community partner and a good neighbor,” said Lauralyn Lee, Associate Vice President for Community Engagement and Strategic Initiatives.

The university invites its neighbors to review the report – and to learn about the wide range of ways Georgetown University is at work in the District. The list is impressive and, in some places, unexpected. The university is continuing its expansion with a Downtown campus and plans include other places farther to the east side of the city.

For more detailed information regarding these and other initiatives, visit communityengagement.georgetown.edu/annual-report .
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Robert Devaney •

Ina Ginsburg, who fled Nazi Europe to emigrate to the United States and went on to become one of the tastemakers of Washington society, died Nov. 9 at her Washington, D.C., home at the age of 98.

The stylish and social Ginsburg intersected with the careers of artist Andy Warhol, who drew her in several silk-screen portraits, and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who also hailed from her native Austria — and with many of the movers and shakers in Georgetown and Washington during the second half of the 20th century.

Ginsburg hosted parties at her Georgetown home which she shared with her second husband, David Ginsburg, a Washington insider, whom he met after the end of World War II in Europe when he was with the U.S. Army. Later, she worked as the Washington editor for Warhol’s Interview Magazine in the 1980s, when it branded Washington as “Hollywood on the Potomac.”

A supporter of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Ginsburg was also a founding member of the Washington National Opera and trustee of the American Film Institute. She also brought art into the Federal Reserve’s headquarters and helped to begin the Fed’s fine arts board.

Interviewed herself and written about by other publications, Ginsburg was often in the pages of The Georgetowner as well. She was last seen on its website in an Oct. 8 story about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg being presented with the Institute for Education’s 2014 Cultural Diplomacy Award.

“Ina was an integral part of Washington at its very best,” said photographer Didi Cutler. “Intelligent, glamorous, sophisticated , artistic and creative, she was a passionate supporter of the arts. A warm and gracious hostess, she entertained in great style. I felt privileged to be among her many friends.”

Kevin Chaffee, senior editor at Washington Life, said: “Ina was one of the most sophisticated and fashionable women in Washington for well over a half-century and also one of the wittiest and most intelligent. After I read her stories in Andy Warhol’s Interview back in the Reagan years, she would tell me all the stuff she didn’t dare put in! Later, she was a great source for my own pieces. She was a major character — the last of the best in so many ways.”

Born Ida Spira in Vienna on Oct. 10, 1916, Ginsburg is survived by her three children — Jonathan Ginsburg of Fairfax, Va., Susan Ginsburg of Alexandria, Va., and Mark Ginsburg of Berlin — and by two grandchildren.