Latest News

Georgetowner • June 30, 2014

2014 Georgetown Business Association Leadership Luncheon

June 18th, 2014 at 12:00 PM | $50-75 | info@gtownbusiness.com

2014 Georgetown Business Association Leadership Luncheon, Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place, Washington Harbour, honoring Ron Swarthout of Georgetown Floorcoverings, which is celebrating its 60th year of business in Georgetown

Address

Tony & Joe’s Seafood Place; 3000 K St NW

Louisiana Swamp Romp with Big Sam’s Funky Nation BeauSoleil avec Michael Doucet Stooges Brass Band

June 13th, 2014 at 08:00 PM | $30.00 – $150.00 | philipc@wolftrap.org | Tel: 703.255.1900 ext. 1729 | Event Website

The Big Easy party is back! Dance to Louisiana’s hottest Cajun, zydeco, and brass bands and jump in the second line parade

Address

1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia, 22182

Glam at the Graham A Summer Styling Fashion Show and White Party Benefiting Capitol Movement

June 14th, 2014 at 02:00 PM | $25 | Event Website

Mix up sensational beach stylings from Mars Vida paired with Wired and Inspired Jewels, sported by the ladies of Capitol Movement Dance Company and Redskins Cheerleaders, at one of the most spectacular rooftops in town.

Add some sizzle to your summer and get

Glam at the Graham, all in the name of a great cause!

Guests please wear white.

Address

The Graham Georgetown; 1075 Thomas Jefferson St, NW

Miss D.C. Pageant

June 15th, 2014 at 06:30 PM | $35 | Event Website

The Miss DC Pageant is a preliminary competition whose purpose is to select the young women (Miss DC & Miss DC’s Outstanding Teen) who will represent the District of Columbia in the upcoming Miss America and Miss America’s Outstanding Teen competitions.

Address

Arena Stage – The Kreeger Theater; 1101 Sixth Street, SW

Father’s Day Barbecue

June 15th, 2014 at 11:00 AM | info@mountvernon.org | Tel: 7037800011 | Event Website

Treat Dad to a special Father’s Day barbecue at the Mount Vernon Inn on June 15! Your choice of an entrée, side, dessert, and beverage is $30 for adults, $15 for children (ages 6 – 11), and free for children 5 and under. Call 703.780.0011 to reserve your table. View the menu: MountVernon.org/Inn

Address

Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant; 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway; Mount Vernon, VA 22121

Volta Park: Zack Smith and The Dixie Power Trio

June 15th, 2014 at 05:00 PM

Calling all dad’s for a special Father’s Day celebration. Dads and their families will enjoy chilling out with the southern funk sounds of Dixie Power Trio. This concert will feature special chair messages for dads plus a father and child dance contest. In addition to cupcakes and ice cream, the Surf Side food truck will be serving up tacos and other mexi-cali morsels, and there will be many other fun activities for all ages. This event, hosted by the Citizen’s Association of Georgetown, will be held Sunday, June 15 at 5 p.m. at Volta Park at 34th and Q Streets.

Address

1555 34th St NW

Gary Tischler •

It’s likely that Diana McLellan, when she wrote the dishy, witty gossip column, “The Ear,” may have had occasion to mention Howard E. Baker, who was at various time United States Senator from Tennessee, House Minority and Majority Leader  and White House Chief of Staff to President Ronald Reagan. She surely shared a one-of-a kind quality with the esteemed Republican stalwart, once deemed “The Great Conciliator.”

In the overheated, combative atmosphere of “Our Town,” where tiny celebrities are often writ large and without shame and where to reach across to across the aisle would be to have your hand singed, there are few  people with McLellan’s breezy wit and intelligence and Baker’s calming ability to bring opposed political types together to make things work and get things done.

The other “Our Town,”  the one we remember, but perhaps not the one that is, lost both Baker and McLellan this week; Baker at 88 from complications from a stroke and McLellan to cancer.

HOWARD E. BAKER, 88

If achievement were all to a life story, you might not have to write an obituary. You could just put down the facts:

= Republican Senator from Tennessee (1967 to 1985).

= Senate Minority Leader (1977 to 1981).

= Senate Majority Leader (1985 to 1985).

= White House Chief of Staff for President Ronald Reagan (1987 to 1988).

= Founder (with Senate Majority Leaders Bob Dole, Tom Daschle and George Mitchell) of the Bipartisan Policy Center (2007).

= Recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1984).

= Vice Chairman of the Senate Watergate Committee (1973 to 1974).

= Husband, father and family man.

And, not to forget, photographer of note.

Baker was—not to forget, either—a member of what writer Ira Shapiro called “The Last Great Senate” in his book of the same title, whose members included Ted Kennedy, Robert Byrd, Joseph Muskie, Gaylord Nelson and Robert Dole, to name a few.

In the Watergate hearing, it was Baker who framed the issue for the members, with the famous comment,  “What did the president know, and when did he know it?”

Baker, while a stalwart and dependable conservative in the GOP ranks, was never a die-hard ideologue in any of the sense and examples we see today. He worked with Democrats, and often cast votes (on the Panama Canal issue, for instance) that did not serve him well politically within his own party, and in the service of his political ambitions, which included a brief run for the presidency.

He came from a state that had its own political giants in history from Andrew Jackson to Estes Kevauver.  He was not a table-pounder, but he had a persistent, and insistent authority and authenticity—the good, honest politician,  a giant rich in the respect of colleagues and presidents. When Baker spoke, his peers tended to listen in a time when the Senate was still a collegial place where its members, Democrats and Republicans, gathered together over lunch, at receptions and social gatherings. It was not a place full of dropped gauntlets and paralysis, a perception much in vogue today.

It was James Baker, Secretary of State under President Reagan, who dubbed him the “quintessential mediator.”  We don’t have any of those today.

DIANA MCLELLAN, 76

When it comes to McLellan, author, gossip columnist, blogger, poet, biographer, and just about the most enduringly fresh glass of water—spiked, possibly with something stronger—that you might ever run across, we don’t have many of those today, either.

British-born McLellan had also been, among other things, a dress designer and telephone operator. She worked at the long defunct but still nostalgically remembered Washington Star, where she began writing a gossip column, called “The Ear,” which was the best (and at first only ) real gossip column in town.

She wrote with great, zingy, bubbly zeal, often referred to the Washington Post as the O.P.—as in the “other paper.” She had a lot to write about with people like Henry Kissinger, Ted Kennedy, the Kennedys in general, the Bradlees and others around. She was not always entirely accurate, but she did not as far as we can recall have a malicious bone in her body.  Which is not to say that she did not skewer and sometimes embarrass people, but she did her duty and damage with good cheer and humor so that, sometimes, her victims did not lie bleeding.

She took “The Ear” to the Post, when the Star was extinguished—and, then, to the Washington Times.  We would often run into her, and she was always gracious, funny, full of news, a little out of breath and telling tales not entirely out of school.

Later, she wrote for the Washingtonian—sometimes profiles of just plain folks or city oddities. We recall a touching and compelling tribute to the life and passing of a Capitol Hill waitress and single mother, which was done with such empathy, eye for detail and big heart that was far removed from “The Ear.”

She also wrote a book called “The Girls,” a gossipy, but also insightful multi-bio of movie personalities, often rumored to be ladies who loved ladies, like Greta Garbo.  A book that could have been merely sensational proved to be something a little better, written, as was everything by McLellan, with style and wit.

Finally, there was “Making Hay,” a thin, but rich poetry collection, whose contents flew like a fluttery, slightly wobbly, but sharp arrows straight to the heart of matters.

We can add this: no matter what might be going on with her, papers dying,  this and that of daily life, Diana McLellan was always a welcome sight, a beautiful noise, the lady with the coat of many colors. “This Ear” could talk, but she could also listen. 

All of us, I think, whoever had occasion to be around her, in our profession, miss her already and forever and a day.

Natalie Koltun •

In the spirit of summer, Washington, D.C., celebrates the 48th annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall. Thousands of visitors attend the festival each year to explore diverse cultural traditions from around the world. The festival is open to the public June 25 to June 29 and July 2 to July 6.

This year, the festival will feature two programs: “China: Tradition and the Art of Living” and “Kenya: Mambo Poa.” Visitors are invited to enjoy a variety of family-friendly activities — from traditional dance shows and musical performance to food demonstrations and art displays.

Michael Atwood Mason, director of Smithsonian’s Center for Folklife and Culture Heritage, welcomed visitors and performers to the festival at the opening ceremony June 25. After opening remarks, the Dimen Dong Folk Chorus performed a traditional Chinese song and introduced Thomas Wesonga and his Kenyan program singers to the stage for a Kenyan song and dance routine.

Activities offered in the China section of the festival include martial arts and dance performances, pottery and textile art displays, calligraphy, a teahouse and cooking demonstrations of traditional Chinese cuisine. Here, you can taste the flavors of China by sampling lo mein or pork dumpling dishes at the Chi Fan Le tent.

If you’re craving traditional Kenyan food, Spice Routes Café offers chicken curry, goat stew, samosas and mahamri, a sweet donut-like pastry. While you’re eating, enjoy the vibrant sounds of Kenyan music, such as benga, taarab, ohangla and chakacha, which combine traditional instruments with contemporary rhythms and styles.

The festival is open for ten days on the National Mall, rain or shine, and will feature a variety of activities and performances that change daily for guests of all ages. Admission is free. For more information, visit festival.si.edu.
[gallery ids="116361,116333,116340,116349,116355,116366" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

DDOT Public Meeting for Canal Road

June 26th, 2014 at 06:30 PM

The District Department of Transportation will hold its second of three public meetings to review draft concepts of transportation safety improvements on Canal Road, NW, between Chain Bridge and M Street, NW. The DDOT meeting will include an overview presentation and discussion of the draft concepts, including safety, traffic operations, signage and more, as well as an opportunity for residents to provide their input regarding the improvements.

Address

Palisades Neighborhood Library, 4901 V St., NW.

Twentythirtysomething Book Club (T.T.B.C.)

June 26th, 2014 at 07:30 PM | Free | Erika.Rydberg@dc.gov | Tel: 202-727-0232 | Event Website

Are you a local reader between the ages of 21 and 35? Looking for a more casual book club experience? Then join us for Twentythirtysomething Book Club (T.T.B.C.), a new book group for younger adults.

In our June selection, Young Money, Kevin Roose explores post-2008 Wall Street through the lens of its newest arrivals.

We will be meeting at Breadsoda (2233 Wisconsin Ave. NW) in Glover Park.
For more information, check out our MeetUp page or email.

Address

2233 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Relish

June 27th, 2014 at 10:00 AM | relishdc@gmail.com | Tel: (202) 333-5343 | Event Website

It’s that time of the year again for Relish’s bi-annual sale as they discount spring and summer pieces to make way for fall looks. Pieces from designers like Balenciaga, Dries Van Noten, Marc Jacobs, Marni, Martin Margiela and Yohji Yamamoto at 30% to 50% off.

The clothing, shoes, and accessories sale starts Friday, June 27th at 10 a.m., and the store will be closed this Thursday for inventory prior to the sale.

Address

3312 Cady’s Alley NW

Maze Buildout Tour

June 27th, 2014 at 06:30 PM | $10 Member | $12 Non-member | Tel: 202-272-2448 | Event Website

Curious about this summer’s BIG Maze? Come get a sneak preview during construction to find out about the maze’s unique design concept and its production process. Visit go.nbm.org/MazeTours for more details.

Address

National Building Museum; 401 F Street NW`

The Bromley Dinner and Art Reception

June 27th, 2014 at 06:30 PM | $55.00 | brucemcbarnette@gmail.com | Tel: 800 777-7680. | Event Website

The Bromley Dinner and Art Reception will be held at the Embassy of Slovakia in Washington DC on Friday, June 27, 2014, 6:30pm to 9:30pm and will benefit a school girls in Africa. Produced by Bruce McBarnette, Esq. and Summit Connection LLC, this reception will display a variety of work from artists and feature Slovakian cuisine prepared by the Embassy’s chef.

30% of art sales will be donated to the Bromley Mission, which educates girls in Liberia, Africa.

Address

3523 International Court, NW, Washington, DC, 20008

Jack the Bulldog’s First Birthday Party on Healy Lawn, Georgetown University

Jack the Bulldog is celebrating his first birthday, noon to 2 p.m., Friday, June 27. Georgetown University invites neighbors and families to celebrate with him. Free ice cream, too; 37th & O Streets, NW.

Unlimited Beer & Wine at The Lot Saturday, June 28th

June 28th, 2014 at 01:00 PM | $40 online | ilovebeer@drinkthedistrict.com | Tel: 202.618.3663 | Event Website](http://drinkthedistrict.com/)

Get your daisy dukes and American flag patterned shirts ready… it’s time for Drink the District: Red, White, and Brew! For a limited time, presale tickets are just $40! Come to The Lot (50 M Street NE, DC) Saturday, June 28th to try over 100 all-American beers and wines.

The three hour sessions allow attendees to get out of the bars and into the sunshine to socialize with other young professionals, enjoy live music, play lawn games and eat from the best food trucks DC has to offer.
Address

The Lot; 50 M Street NE

Castleton Festival: Madama Butterfly

June 28th, 2014 at 07:00 PM | [Event Website](https://www.castletonfestival.org/)

Maestro Lorin Maazel will conduct a new production of Madama Butterfly at the 2014 Castleton Festival, held in the 650-seat Festival Theatre. Madama Butterfly, one of Giacomo Puccini’s most influential and famous works which tells the dramatic love story of an American naval officer and his young Japanese bride, directed by Tomer Zvulun.

Address

Castleton Farms; 7 Castleton Meadow Lane; Castleton, VA 22716

Beethoven’s 9th performed by The Philadelphia Orchestra

June 28th, 2014 at 08:15 PM | $25.00 – $65.00 | philipc@wolftrap.org | Tel: 703.255.1900 ext. 1729 | [Event Website](http://www.wolftrap.org/Find_Performances_and_Events/Performance/14Filene/0628show14.aspx)

The triumphant “Ode to Joy” in Beethoven’s 9th is one of the most uplifting musical moments of all time. Hear it performed by one of the world’s leading orchestras in its only 2014 D.C.-area appearance.

Address

1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia, 22182

Take an Om Break Yoga at the Georgetown Neighborhood Library

July 1st, 2014 at 12:30 PM | Free | Erika.Rydberg@dc.gov | Tel: 202-727-0232 | [Event Website](http://dclibrary.org/georgetown)

Yoga continues this July at the Georgetown Neighborhood Library. In addition to our continuing afternoon classes we now will have a few evening classes as well.

As of this month we also have 6 community yoga mats available on a first come first serve basis.

To RSVP to any or all classes please email Erika.Rydberg@dc.gov with your name and the class dates you are interested in. I will take the first 30 RSVPs for each class, the remainder will be put on a wait-list.

Address

3260 R Street NW Washington, DC 20007

Gary Tischler •

We lost two remarkable and gifted men in the last week: one a scholar, a charismatic, often lyrical, interpreter, celebrator and regretful critic of the Arab world; the other an exuberant, multi-gifted actor who was at home in both spaghetti westerns and the plays of Tennessee Williams.

We lost Fouad Ajami to cancer at the age of 68, and Eli Wallach at 98.

FOUAD AJAMI—Ajami was born in a small Lebanese village but grew up in Beirut and was, with all of his passionate connection to Middle Eastern history and culture, a citizen of the world and the United States, specifically, where he gained citizenship. Growing up in Beirut—once called the Paris of the Middle East—and Lebanon perhaps gave him the grounding for a generous, sometimes divided spirit, and made him a gifted interpreter of the deeply rooted and passionately held cultural and political strains of a diverse array of Middle Eastern countries.

As an academic, but also as a writer of historical and contemporary books on the Middle East and its relationship to the west, Ajami wrote with a literary gift and keen political analysis about the region in such books as “The Dream Palace of the Arabs: A Generation’s Odyssey,” “The Arab Predicament: Arab Political Thought and Practice Since 1967,” and, most recently, “The Syrian Rebellion” and “Crosswinds: The Way of Saudi Arabia.”

Ajami became a familiar face during the first Gulf War and especially in the post-September-11 world on television, on CNN, PBS and CBS, talking about the complexities of the region, about the plight of the Palestinians and about the need for peacemaking. He was also a keen advocate of the U.S. war in Iraq, becoming closely involved as a kind of advisor to the likes of Condoleezza Rice and Paul Wolfowitz, the foreign policy intellectuals in the administration of President George W. Bush. He predicted, as did others, that Iraq would welcome the Americans. Recent events, among other things, have borne out neither that prediction nor the idea of an eventual outcome of stability in Iraq after the end of Saddam Hussein.

He abhorred Arab dictators and, after initial elation, was saddened by the results of the Arab Spring, especially in Syria and Egypt. Right or wrong—and he was more often right—he wrote about the Middle East with courage, with a poet’s emotion, with an intellectual’s sharp analysis and without malice.

Ajami’s gifts were to look at the world in which he was raised, with compassion that did not offend credulity. He carried himself often oozing bright charm , a pleasant charisma which came across as authoritative on television and with great impact in person. His friendships were not limited by religion, ethnicity or nation.

ELI WALLACH—Eli Wallach was 98 when he died this week, a son of Brooklyn and Jewish parents who did not entirely approve when their son decided to become an actor.

He became an astonishingly good actor—minus movie star looks—but fueled by Method acting, imagination and a gift for making very bad people appear very interesting. His life, which he shared with his wife fellow actress Anne Jackson for decades, was rich in parts, 150 roles scattered across theater, Broadway, television and films.

Wallach said that his popular film work supported his and his wife’s theater passion, which may be true, since he was acclaimed for his work by such playwrights as Tennessee Williams, Murray Schisgal and Eugene Ionesco. He and Jackson were often teamed up and were considered outstanding interpreters of Schisgal’s brand of middle-class urban angst as displayed in dysfunctional marriages, which they displayed in Schisgal’s hit play, “Luv”.

Like it or not, however, Wallach, with his raspy voice, his intense gaze, his fiery acting, will probably be most remembered for roles which he chewed up and spit out like a carny act. That would be the bandit leader in “The Magnificent Seven,” opposite Yul Brynner and Steve McQueen, and in “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” an epic Sergio Leone spaghetti western, in which he was both the bad and the ugly part.

A number of years ago, when Wallach and Jackson were co-starring in the comedy “The Nest of the Woodgrouse” at the Kennedy Center, the Georgetowner met the couple for lunch at Nathan’s Restaurant. We got a chance to see and feel Wallach’s natural gift for story-telling. He spellbound the table with touching, almost elegiac, memories of time spent in the making of “The Misfits,” which had in its cast Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, Montgomery Clift, Thelma Ritter and Wallach. John Huston directed a famously dramatic set, what with Arthur Miller, who had written the script for Monroe, on set, the fragile Clift barely hanging on, Monroe often struggling and battling with Miller. “She had a way about her,” Wallach said. “She was very sweet even when she had problems. That was an experience you’ll never forget.” At the time, Wallach was the only survivor of the movie. In the aftermath, Gable suffered a fatal heart attack, Clift died and Monroe followed soon after. It was the last film for all three.

Wallach recalled then the impact of “The Magnificent Seven.” “Unbelievable,” he said. “I was famous. I walked into my bank some time after the movie opened, and the teller greeted me with ‘You came back. Why?’” Those were the dying words of the bandit leader, played by Wallach, after Brynner’s all-in-black hero had gunned him down.

Even in his old age, Wallach continued to work. He played the memorable, double-crossing and candy-loving don in the last “Godfather” film. He performed most recently in Oliver Stone’s sequel “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” In 2010, Wallach received an Honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

Gary Tischler • June 27, 2014

When we still can, we always remember in the days of our lives. People come and go, sleep next to us. They change our diapers and love us and leave us, too. People come and go, out there in the world, making history of note. We hear about their feats and their departures and we remember them as we remember those near to us, but not in the same way. We are all, in this time, making history, remembering it, forgetting it, too.

We are always reminded of this every day of the year. Yet for a time over a weekend, we saw how things work: for those left behind in history’s backwash, barefoot in the tide, death is always about remembering, long ago, and a day ago too. We remember the lives led, and in doing so, add up a life and count our losses.

Everywhere on television and in newspapers, and in those with memories going back far enough, we remembered the events, the heroes, the history and the survivors of what is remembered as D-Day, the storming of the beaches and assault of Fortress Europe on June 6, 1944, 70 years ago. We watched as veterans of that battle, frail, thin, weighty in medals, still in uniforms. Some, we saw, be interviewed, talk the memories, watched as Herman Zeitchik who was there lay a wreath at the World War II Memorial, a bus ride away, decades gone. We talked with him last year on Memorial Day, and shared his memories, and watched him talk with another veteran who was in Egypt doing different duties.

The remaining veterans—and there are fewer still every day—remember what actually happened, and still grieve over friends and comrades who lie in the fields of Normandy under rows of white crosses. We ourselves remember the events as history, trying at the same time to imagine who they were then.

It is one way of remembering. Another is when we note the passing of people whom we did not know, but remember nonetheless as being a curious imbedded part of our lives, singers, athletes, young movie stars in their prime. We count them as losses, and remember who we were, when they cast a kind of spell of memory on us. They are people like Don Zimmer, the inveterate, almost ideal ball player, as opposed to baseball star, a man who played for almost every Major League team, plus some in Japan and South America, who carried nicknames like “Zim,” “Gerbil” and Popeye” as player, coach or manager for the Dodgers, Cubs, Red Sox and Yankees. When he played he was a utility infielder, which is to say that he played shortstop, and all the three bases which is only fitting. By the time, he passed away, he looked like baseball itself and was 83 years old, and we remember him and his teams when we spent our time trading baseball cards.

Mona Freeman was an actress in the movies, on television, and on stage, but mostly she was the petite All-American blonde girl in movies during the 1940s and 1950s. She charmed teenage boys who may have not ever dated not only a starlet, but the cheerleaders in their high schools. It irked her some, this wholesome image, those same parts opposite everyone from Tab Hunter to Jerry Lewis, because she had talent, but it’s a hard game to beat. You may note that she played a young woman having an affair with Edward G. Robinson in the theater, but it’s all those pictures with the curly blond hair, the modest two-piece swim suits, the optimistic energy of her films and face in films when we too were young, and so in noting the deaths of Freeman and Zimmer, we remember ourselves as well as them.

More immediately for those of us on the newspaper and in the neighborhood was a June 7 gathering at F. Scott’s on 36th Street. It was a “Memory-All” in celebration of the life of Suzanne Johnston Causey Dwyer Gookin, a Georgetown luminary and vivid presence in Washington, D.C., a woman who, when she wasn’t being called mom or grandma by her daughters and their offspring, was still called Suzi by just about everyone else she knew.

At the Georgetowner, we certainly never called her Suzanne—we called her friend, respected her talents as a reporter, a gadfly, a talker and conversationalist, a bright star shining, and perhaps less kind names when she irritated, which as her daughters agreed, she also had a gift for. Suzi wrote the Georgetowner social scene column, “EEN&T,” as in “Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat,” a play off another popular column in the Washington Star, “The Ear.”

The gathering included the family, daughters Liza Lowndes Gookin Hodskins of Arlington, Va., and Allison Dwyer Utsch of New York City, as well as grandsons Philip and Adrian Utsch, and great-grandsons Josiah, Lucas and Phoenix, and friends, people she knew, who knew her, who got a.m. phone calls from her, who worked with her, and traveled with her and had adventures with her.

When we heard that she had passed away, it was kind of a shock—not matter what the age. It was hard to imagine that Suzi would deign to die. She knew everybody and was not afraid to use bluster, charm, bullishness, her considerable intelligence to get to do what she wanted—crash a party, get back stage, start an argument, rally for a cause, meet the most handsome man, or make you, if you were a grandson, a little dizzy on an outing.

She liked beautiful things, smart people, and convertibles and in Georgetown, maybe most of all—she was one of the people that deserve a hall of fame for most memorable. She had a challenging and consistent kind of courage which when encountered was often a little fearsome. Columnist and pundit Eleanor Clift was here, remembering getting early morning phone calls from her. Reportedly, Lyndon Johnson, having read her writings, said, “Suzi writes with more perception than the other reporters.”

At the restaurant, a grandson read parts of a short story she had written—“The Rumble Seat”—and its description of time and longing, and material and what an old car looked and felt like and what it meant. It had the after glow of champagne from a Fitzgerald story.

So, when we know and care, as family, as friends, we don’t think of history or old movies, we think squarely and sweetly of them—and that’s what everyone did at the “Memory-All” for “Suzi.”
[gallery ids="101767,141290,141292,141285" nav="thumbs"]

Robert Devaney •

Ed Lara, the popular, well-known owner of Georgetown Hairstyling, died suddenly Saturday night, June 7, of a heart attack at his home in Severna Park, Md. The 55-year-old Lara had purchased the business at 1329 35th St., NW, from his stepfather Rigo Landa a few years ago. The classic, old-school barber shop was been run as such at the same location since 1913.

Landa, who retired in November 2012, said that the family is stunned by the 55-year-old’s death. Lara’s mother is devastated, he said. The heart-broken staff at Georgetown Styling continued to work this week, as it prepared for Lara’s funeral this Saturday, June 14, in Silver Spring, Md.

Lara worked in the airline business before joining his stepfather at Georgetown Hairstyling. He was also a musician, playing guitar and drums, and was a member of the band, Prescription for Disaster, which has performed at several Volta Park events. Last Friday, Lara was drumming with his band at Georgetown Visitation Prep at the Volta Park benefit the night before his death. Lara lived in Georgetown during the week because of his business and stayed at his Severna Park home over the weekend. He loved his German shepherd, Daisy, who was also in the shop during the week.

The following is the June 11 death notice for Eduardo Lara:
Beloved son of Sara (Rigo) Landa and Jose Lara; nephew of Vilma Montiel and Mimi Lara; cousin of Tony Montiel, Vilma Montiel, David (Silene) Pujals, Tony Pujals and Mimi Belt. Also survived by his lifelong special friend Patty Nugent.

Relatives and friends may call at Collins Funeral Home, 500 University Boulevard West, Silver Spring, Md., (valet parking), Friday, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday, June 13; Mass of Christian Burial at St. John the Evangelist Church, 10103 Georgia Avenue, Silver Spring, Md., Saturday, June 14, 12:30 p.m. Interment: Gate of Heaven Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital , P.O. Box 1000, Dept. 142, Memphis, Tenn. 38148.
[gallery ids="101768,141283,141280" nav="thumbs"]

Joseph Park •

The Green Festival, America’s largest sustainability and green-living event, was held by May 31 and June 1 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

At the festival, participants had the opportunity to listen to speaker address ways that helps to create more sustainable community.

In the presentation, “Strategies for Ultimate Vitality & Longevity with Nutrient Dense Superfoods,” presented by Renita Reitz, the nutritionist explained a way to rejuvenate the body by presenting the nutritional values found in antioxidant food.

“When you use water and hibiscus tea as a base, and sweetness that comes from mulberries, not only is your food all-natural but also has a detoxification effect.” Reitz said.

The nutritionist also stressed on integrating healthy fats and fiber as part of a healthy diet.

“Consuming four to six tablespoons of coconut oil or eating a whole fruit of avocado is highly recommended. Your body needs to accumulate healthy fats apart from all the fat you accumulate from eating meat products.” Reitz said.

As a part of Green Festival’s effort to raise awareness on eco-friendly environment, professionals presented practical tips on how to garden in a way that is beneficial to the environment.

“One of the most important things to remember when gardening is to find the beauty in ecological function — not merely on the color of the flower.” Kim Eierman said. “We always have to think beyond the garden itself and think about the ecosystem and embrace biodiversity.”

Eierman warned the audience of the detrimental effect that many of our traditional gardening practices can have on the environment.

“Some of our standard gardening practices are actually damaging to the environment,” Eierman said. She noted the American love affair with lawns, our tendency to plant in monocultures, our emphasis on exotic, non-native plants, and our frequent use of pesticides. “Every landscape matters.” said Eierman.

Gabriel Axel, a neuroscientist gave a talk on the experiences he had with yoga and the effects that yoga had on his life.

“Despite the busyness that I had with life, yoga is a great place for me to cultivate my mind, soul and body. Yoga can be defined as a way to harness our being to its full-capacity.” Axel said.

Axel also explained how his studies in neurology also helped him in establishing his personal goals in doing yoga.
“I had a personal goal in mind going into yoga, a sense of devotion to nature, to align our lives more to the nature’s harmony. And this goes well with the festival’s theme of green living as well,” Axel said.

Companies that are in line with the festival’s eco-friendly values were exhibitors, including the Veri Soda Company—a organic soda company based in San Francisco.

“We are an organic soda company. In every can of soda we make, we have fruit juices and natural extracts to replace the artificial chemicals that other sodas have,” said Leonard Freeke, the founder of the Veri Soda. He went on to explain how he started to develop the idea of an organic soda and how he managed to produce organic soda.

“The idea of an organic soda came to my mind to give my own kids a healthier soda to drink,” Freeke said. “And when I conducted an extensive amount of research in creating a healthy soda, it wasn’t so easy. But we found a way to adapt recipes of the original sodas—sodas that were free from artificial flavors and chemicals.”

Over the years, Green Festival has become a platform for companies and organizations come to showcase their green-living products and services, and where locals go to learn how to live healthier, more sustainable lives.

Brent D. Glass •

When we planned the dedication of the new Star-Spangled Banner gallery at the National Museum of American History, it was important to me—as a grandson of immigrants—to include a naturalization ceremony as part of the proceedings. I could think of no better way to make the connection between the flag and American identity than to welcome people from around the world as they became American citizens.

The ceremony took place on Nov. 19, 2008, the first of several sponsored by the museum in the past six years. A powerful and moving experience, it coincided with the reopening of the museum after a $120-million, two-year renovation. Our goal was to “shine new light on American history” with exhibitions and programs that interpreted the museum’s extensive collections in historical context. We presented a new architecture, creating a space that would be more welcoming and easier to navigate than the cold, dark modernist building that opened in 1964. Now, a sun-lit atrium would serve as a public square, a setting for informal gathering, and a crossroads of ideas, information, and events, surrounded by landmark symbols of freedom and justice—the Woolworth’s lunch counter and a heroic statue of George Washington.

The new exhibition of the Star-Spangled Banner, the flag that inspired our national anthem, anchors the public square in a special gallery that is a triumph of engineering and craftsmanship. A contemporary sculpture provides a dramatic entrance to the gallery, and a multimedia exhibit provides historical context. It was a great joy to call attention to the pivotal role women have played throughout the flag’s history—Mary Pickersgill and her team of young women who sewed the flag; Georgiana Armistead Appleton who safeguarded the banner during the Civil War; Amelia Fowler who led the conservation effort for the Smithsonian in 1914; and Suzanne Thomassen-Krauss who directed the most recent conservation project.

But it is the extraordinary opportunity to see the flag up close, dramatically presented “by the dawn’s early light,” that is a truly profound experience. I have seen visitors moved to tears. School children on scheduled tours sometimes sing the national anthem. Two days after the presidential inauguration in 2009, from my office I heard the “Star-Spangled Banner” sung so beautifully that I had to investigate. It turned out that the Boys Choir of Kenya, after participating in the inauguration, now were inspired by seeing the flag exhibit. Thousands of museum visitors gave them a roaring ovation.

Whenever I conducted a tour at the museum, I always made a point to say “welcome to your National Museum of American History.” By preserving the flag we not only saved one of America’s great treasures but also preserved a fundamental principle of a democratic society: history belongs to all of us. As a public historian, I believe more than ever that history is a resource for understanding our own times. Only if we know the past and why it matters will we understand and appreciate the opportunities and responsibilities of citizenship.

Brent D. Glass, Ph.D., a Georgetowner since 2006, is Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where he served as director from 2002 to 2011. An author and international consultant on museum leadership, Glass has participated in State Department public diplomacy initiatives in Egypt, Russia and Europe; served on the Flight 93 Memorial Commission; and advises museums across the country through the Kennedy Center’s DeVos Institute. His next book, a collection of essays on place and American history, will be published by Simon and Schuster in 2015. [gallery ids="101752,141592,141579,141584,141590" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner •

Friday, June 6, 7 p.m. – Volta Park Annual Fundraiser, Georgetown Visitation Prep, 35th Street and Volta Place. Auction, live band and food and drink from 1789 Restaurant.

June 6 to Aug. 1– The District Department of Transportation is now accepting applications for the Transportation Alternatives Program. For more details, visit www.ddot.dc.gov/page/transportation-alternatives-program or call 202-671-4580.

Saturday, June 7, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. — Glover Park Day, picnic, games and neighbors, at Guy Mason Recreation Center at Wisconsin Avenue and Calvert Street, NW.

Saturday, June 7, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. – Pet Adoption, Washington Harbour, 3000 K St., NW, Plaza Level, rain or shine. Coldwell Banker is partnering with Operation Paws for Homes to host the event. Preview a portion of the available pets by visiting www.ophrescue.org. For details, visit www.cbmove.com/georgetown or call 202-333-6100.

Tuesday, June 10, 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Georgetown BID Annual Meeting, Georgetown Business Improvement District meets at Pinstripes, 3222 M St., NW (entrance at Wisconsin Avenue and the canal). RSVP: 202-298-9222; events@GeorgetownDC.com.

Tuesday, June 10, 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. — Caring for Aging Parents, Georgetown University, Healy Hall, HR Conference Room, 37th and O streets, NW. This educational workshop will help individuals prepare for the associated risks of a longer life, including care-giving responsibilities and expenses. Register online at www.metlifeplansmart.com.

Sunday, Father’s Day, June 15, 5 p.m. — Concerts in the Park, at Volta Park, hosted by the Citizens Association of Georgetown, with Dixie Power Trio, a father-child dance and ice cream and cupcakes and the Surfside foodtruck.

Wednesday, June 18, noon – 2014 Georgetown Business Association Leadership Luncheon, Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place, Washington Harbour, honoring Ron Swarthout of Georgetown Floorcoverings, which is celebrating its 60th year of business in Georgetown. Swarthout ran the business full-time from 1967 until 2012, when his daughter Karen bought the business. Karen Swarthout Ohri is treasurer of the GBA.