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Georgetowner • June 27, 2014

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.

Georgetowner •

Total Art: Contemporary Video

June 6th, 2014 at 12:00 PM | $8-10 | reservations@nmwa.org | Tel: 202-783-7373 | Event Website

Early videos were often single-channel shorts, made with experimental techniques and political content that critiqued mainstream media. A half-century later, video artists are attuned to popular media formats rather than critical of them. To create immersive, experiential works, today’s artists design elaborate stage sets, film at remote locations, incorporate digital technology and animation, and meticulously plan viewing spaces.

Address

National Museum of Women in the Arts; 1250 New York Ave NW

Volta Park Annual Fundraiser

June 6th, 2014 at 07:00 PM

Auction, live band and food and drink from 1789 Restaurant.

Address

Georgetown Visitation Prep, 35th Street and Volta Place.

Unlimited Wine at The Block

June 7th, 2014 at 01:00 PM | $30.00 | ilovebeer@drinkthedistrict.com | Tel: (202) 618-3663 | Event Website

It’s time for Drink the District and this time, it’s wine edition! For a limited time, tickets are just $30, so buy them while you can! Get out of the bars and into the sunshine to mingle with other young professionals, enjoy live music and try over 100 varietals of local, national and international wines. Buy now on LivingSocial, limited quantities available!

For more information check out our website, like us on Facebook at Drink the District and follow us on Twitter at @Drink_District

Address

The Block; 500 New York Ave NW

Les Papillons de Nuit

June 7th, 2014 at 05:00 PM | 125 per person, 200 per couple | cbaerveldt@iefusa.org | Tel: 1-240-290-0263 ext 118 | Event Website

An evening of tasting, music, and entertainment to save sight for a lifetime. Step back in time for a fun, festive one-woman Cabaret Theatre show written, produced and starring Robin Phillips. Evoking the bygone spirits of the Paris Music Hall scene from 1900s to the 1960s, you will be delighted and entertained. Wine and hors d’oeuvres prior to the show. Limited to first 75, reservations required.

Address

Carderock Falls Manor; 1323 Calder Road; McLean, Va. 22101

Sunday Supper

June 8th, 2014 at 05:30 AM | $250 | cpropsting@edens.com | Tel: 301-347-3492 | Event Website

D.C.’s acclaimed Union Market will be the setting for the third annual Sunday Supper to benefit the James Beard Foundation, specifically the Sunday Supper Union Market Scholarship, which helps fund a grant for up-and-coming women restaurateurs. Diners will share a communal table and enjoy the cooking of the chefs and food producers who make the evening possible. This year’s meal will feature three sit-down courses and dessert and will showcase Good Food Award ingredients.

Address

1309 5th St NW

A Rhapsodic Duo

June 8th, 2014 at 04:00 PM | $25 | musicinmclean@gmail.com | Tel: 703-356-0670 | Event Website

Pianist Thomas Pandolfi, known for his intensity and technical brilliance, along with cellist Doug Wolters, principal cellist of the Gettysburg Chamber Orchestra, present a variety of works for cello and piano. The program will include works by Schumann, Debussy, Bartok, and Chopin.

Address

Saint Luke Catholic Church; 7001 Georgetown Pike; McLean, VA 22101

The Reverend Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J. Institute on Sacred Scripture at Georgetown University

June 10th, 2014 at 04:30 PM

The 51st annual meeting of lectures on books of the Bible and Biblical themes.

Address

Reiss Science Building, 103, 37th and O St., N.W.

Natalie Koltun •

The U.S. Patent and Trade Office canceled the Washington Redskins’ trademark registration Wednesday after a 2-1 ruling, declaring its name offensive to Native Americans.

This is not the first time the team has had its trademark withdrawn. In 1992, a group of Native Americans that have long debated the nature of the nickname of the team brought the case to court and attempted to get the football team’s name changed. The ruling was overturned and the team regained its trademark.

Owned by Dan Snyder, the Redskins will not be forced to change its name. However, the ruling now limits the ability to enforce trademark infringements against individuals who attempt to manufacture and sell Redskins apparel, hats and other gear.

Although no official plans have been made, the Washington Redskins one step closer to a legal name change. The result of a new team name for the Redskins would hit pocketbooks especially hard, costing the team several million dollars to make the transition present on all Redskins merchandise, signage, facilities and stadium, according to the Washington Post.

Gary Tischler •

Sitting at a table for the 2014 Georgetown Business Association’s annual Leadership Luncheon at Tony and Joe’s Seafood Place at Washington Harbour, you could be forgiven if you felt a little blessed in this company of people who own or run businesses in Georgetown, in the company of fellow media types and your co-workers, in the company of local Washington political leaders.

You could see the Watergate, the Kennedy Center and the Potomac River flowing by and be pretty sure that you’re in the land of the high-powered.

But if truth be told, the luncheon was something a little better than that. It was hometown, happy and exuberant. It felt like a celebration of a community and a city all at once, and a celebration of small business entrepreneurship of the classiest kind, as embodied by the recipient of the 2014 GBA Lifetime Achievement Award Ron Swarthout of Georgetown Floorcoverings, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary.

All sorts of people were there, including representatives of the presenting sponsors Long & Foster of Georgetown, and sponsors like Friends of Hexagon, Georgetown Exxon & Georgetown Shell, The Georgetowner, and the Swarthout family, as well as GBA leaders like President Riyad Said, Vice President Janine Schoonover, Secretary Molly Quigley and Treasurer Karen Ohri, daughter of the honoree.

Some political leaders of this city were there, to honor the city, the community and Swarthout. There was a certain amount of celebratory swagger there, in the sense that there was a celebration of a booming city, a treasured, changing community that went beyond center-of-the-world braggadocio.

Muriel Bowser, the Ward 4 Councilmember and the Democratic candidate for mayor, was there, touting basically all the ways Washington was becoming a top-tier city in the eyes of the country and, yes, the world. Bowser, confident and assured, touted the city she will very likely, in the eyes of many, be running, if she can hold back two Independent challengers: at-large councilmember David Catania as well as former and long-time council member Carol Schwartz, who recently announced that she would be running.

Politics may have been a table-talk subject, but it wasn’t all that evident on the dais, where Bowser talked about Washington’s status as a go-to city for new residents, millennials, businesses and developers. “We are leaders in new construction, in fittest residents, in entrepreneurship, in visitors and as a vacation destination, in college graduates and as a technology hot spot,” Bowser said

Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans, one of the candidates whom Bowser defeated in the Democratic primary, recalled Georgetown and the city when things weren’t quite so economically sunny. “We had manholes blowing up,” he recalled. “You’d be walking down the street, and boom. Look where we are now.”

Yet both Bowser and Evans along with others were there to honor Swarthout, who was the very model of the kind of businessman who isn’t into bragging, beating his chest or taking all the credit. He succeeded his father, and his daughter, Karen bought the business in which he is still daily involved. “This was and is a family business all along,” he said. “It’s not I like I did this myself,” he said. “I had a lot of help. The people who worked here, steady as you go. The family, the community that made us welcome. And the residents here. Our customers, most important of all. Business serve their customers, and our customers are here. It’s like people say, it’s not about you.”

“It’s about helping people,” Swarthout told us earlier during a Georgetowner interview. “It’s about being proud of how you do the work and gaining people’s trust.”

You see the idea of community in his words and at the GBA leadership luncheon we attended, the community we work and live in, part of a great city to be sure. But you see the connections by looking at Swarthout at the Swarthout family table: wife, children, grandchildren and one great grandchild, by last count. You see the connections, reaching out into the village to include customers, the K Street location, the bridge overhead, and you hear the voices of the political leaders who in the best of times help create economic change, which means social and cultural change, which means the identity of a city.

You could find it all at a lunch: hot summer day, surf and turf on the plate with Key lime pie, gossip and news murmurs around the tables. You saw the accomplishments of change and the intimacy of people working together, the human parts interacting.

Robert Devaney •

“Read the book first,” said Ward 8 Councilmember Marion Barry, better known as “Mayor For Life,” the title of his autobiography, written with Omar Tyree. Barry was Mayor of Washington, D.C., from 1979 to 1991 and 1995 to 1999, and he was talking about the story of his life and his side of the story.

The colorful and controversial Barry is on a book tour and said of his “Mayor For Life”: “It’s an honest book — with the good, the bad and the ugly — more good than anything else.”

About 20 journalists attended a unique media “on-the-record” dinner with Barry June 20 at Look Supper Club on K Street. It was hosted by proprietor Michael Kosmides and Janet Donovan of Hollywood on the Potomac, and writers and editors got a chance to ask the former mayor questions about his political and personal life.

The 78-year-old Barry displayed the different sides of his personality, saying he was an overcomer and a people person and saw himself as someone fighting to give “help and hope.” He also said he saw himself “as a example to others,” displaying “courage, tenacity and vision.” “That’s Marion Barry in a nutshell,” he said.

As quickly as Barry would note that he has always been a champion for black America, he said: “I should not have gone to that hotel.” He was referring to his January 1990 arrest at the Vista Hotel by the FBI on drug charges. Barry served six months in jail. This is the part of the Barry story the nation recalls and laughs about. Nevertheless, a few years after that, he was re-elected as mayor. Barry’s commitment to the black community runs deep, and it has forgiven him because of his support.

Barry’s answers to the news publications or websites ranged from talking about Christian forgiveness — “70 times 70 times” — to not eating beef and other advice about nutrition. (Barry is a diabetic and was hospitalized last year for a blood infection.)

He gave advice to Bill Clinton, Barry said. “Bill is a overcomer.” There’s no time for “a pity party,” he added. “Correct your mistakes.”

While Barry can offer opinions on reparations (yes, but “not enough support”) or the Washington Redskins (“They should change that name.”), he remembers where he came from. His mother was the strongest influence during his early life. “She gave me stick-to-it-ness,” he said. As for today, of his son Christopher, he said: “I want to be a grandfather before I die.”

Toward the end of the dinner, if we did not already know, he told the media: D.C. will never have “another mayor like Marion Barry.”
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Georgetowner • June 24, 2014

From Georgetown and Washington, D.C., to Baltimore and Fort McHenry, it is a star-spangled summer with events and activities to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Burning of Washington, the Battle of Baltimore (Fort McHenry), the Star-Spangled Banner flag itself and the writing of what would become America’s national anthem, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” by Georgetowner Francis Scott Key.

June 10, Tuesday, 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., War of 1812 Commemoration Concert
— Enjoy early 19th century music by Friday Morning Music Club in the Belle Vue Room of Dumbarton House, 2715 Q St., NW. Admission is free. For details, call 202-337-2288.

June 14, Saturday, “Raise it Up” Flag Day Kick-Off
— Celebrate the 200th anniversary of “The Star Spangled Banner” on the National Mall with live musical performances.

Saturday, June 14, 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., Symposium on Outcomes of the War of 1812
— This symposium will focus on the war’s significant lasting effects on American history. Held at the Cosmos Club, 2121 Massachusetts Ave., NW. Tickets are $40. For more details, call 202-337-2288.

June 14, Flag Day, to July 6, Francis Scott Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner” Manuscript on View With the Star-Spangled Banner Flag.
— For the first time, Key’s “Star-Spangled Banner” manuscript will be on display alongside the flag that inspired our national anthem. The two pieces will be at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. For more details, call 202-633-1000.

Wednesday to Friday, June 18 to 20, 7 p.m., Picnic Theatre Company performs “The New York Idea”
— A summer garden performance of Langdon Mitchell’s masterpiece at Dumbarton House, 2715 Q St., NW. Tickets are $12 ($15 at door). For details, call 202-337-2288.

June 19, Thursday, 6 to 7 p.m., “The U.S. Navy during the War of 1812”
— Professor of history William M. Fowler, Jr., will discuss the U.S. Navy during the War of 1812 at the Anderson House, 2118 Massachusetts Ave., NW. For more details, call 202-785-2040.

Sunday, June 22, 1 to 3 p.m., Ice Cream Sunday at Dumbarton House
— Guests make their own ice cream, sample an ice cream flavor from the Federal period, and tour the museum in the Dumbarton House North Garden, 2715 Q St., NW. Tickets are $8. For more details, call 202-337-2288.

Wednesday, June 25, Outdoor Film Festival
— At Dumbarton House, 2715 Q St., NW. Rain date is July 2. For more details, call 202-337-2288.

Thursday, June 26, noon, Author’s Talk: “What So Proudly We Hailed”
— Historian Marc Leepson will discuss his new biography, “What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life.” National Archives, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. N.W.

Sunday, June 29, 3 p.m., DC Jazz Fest 2014: Bohemian Cavern Jazz Orchestra
— A night of classic jazz to honor the opening of the Dumbarton House as a museum in the Dumbarton North Garden, 2715 Q St., NW. Tickets are $12. For more details, call 202-337-2288.

Wednesday, July 2, 6 to 7 p.m., Music of the War of 1812 in America
— Celebrate the War of 1812 with music honoring the war’s heroes at the Anderson House, 2118 Massachusetts Ave., NW. For more details, call 202-785-2040.

Friday, July 4, Fourth of July Celebration on the National Mall
— Celebrate our nation’s freedom as the National Park Service illuminates the sky with a fireworks display.

Wednesday, July 9, Outdoor Film Festival
— At Dumbarton House, 2715 Q St., NW. Rain date is July 16. For more details, call 202-337-2288.

Friday, July 11, 7 p.m., Evening of Jazz with the International Club of D.C.
— Jazz, dancing, and food in the Dumbarton House North Garden, 2715 Q St., NW. For more details, call 202-337-2288.

Thursday, July 17, 6 to 8 p.m., Author’s Talk: “What So Proudly We Hailed”
— Historian Marc Leepson will discuss his new biography, “What So Proudly We Hailed: Francis Scott Key, A Life.” Held at the Anderson House at 2118 Massachusetts Ave., NW. For more details, call 202-785-2040.

Wednesday, July 23, Outdoor Film Festival
— At Dumbarton House, 2715 Q St., NW. Rain date is July 30. For more details, call 202-337-2288.

Wednesday, July 23, “Muster the Militias” War of 1812 Bicentennial Open House Weekend
— Walking tours and a Children’s tea & talk by American Girl author Valerie Tripp at Dumbarton House, 2715 Q St., NW. Admission is free. For more details, call 202-337-2288.

Friday, July 25, 4 to 4:30 p.m., Flag Folding at the National Museum of American History
— See the original Star-Spangled Banner and participate in folding a full-size replica in Flag Hall of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, 14th Street and Constitution Ave., NW. For more details, visit www.anthemforamerica.si.edu.

Saturday to Sunday, Aug. 23 to 24, 1 to 4 p.m., War of 1812 Family Festival & Dolley Day
— Walking tours, ice cream making, Dolley Cake, Federal period games, and crafts at Dumbarton House, 2715 Q St., NW. Tickets are $10. For more details, call 202-337-2288.

Aug. 23 to 24, Saturday to Sunday, 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Battle of Bladensburg Commemoration and Monument Unveiling.
— A day-long festival of events including a reenactment, musical performances, children’s village, Food Truck Rally, and fireworks at Waterfront Park, 4601 Annapolis Road, Bladensburg, Md., following the unveiling of the new Battle of Bladensburg Monument. Admission is free. For more detail, call 301-887-0777.

Aug. 24, Sunday, 8 a.m., 200th Anniversary of the Burning of Washington
— Commemorate the 200th anniversary of the British invasion of D.C. with a 5K run at the Historic Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E St., SE, as well as the Georgetown Family Festival and Yards Park Beer Festival, sponsored by On Tap Magazine. For more details, visit www.anthemforamerica.si.edu.

Saturday to Sunday, Aug. 30 to 31, Alexandria, Va., War of 1812 Commemorative Weekend
— The weekend festivities will include a yacht race, cricket match, tug of war game, boat tours, military and naval exhibits and performances. Admission is free. For more details, call 703-652-5367.

Wednesday to Thursday, Sept. 3 to 4, America Under Fire Symposium
— The symposium will feature renowned scholars of the War of 1812, followed by a commemorative dinner and reception at the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History at Decatur House, 1610 H St., NW. For more details, call 202-218-4307 or visit www.whitehousehistory.org.

Sept. 6 to 8 — Battle of North Point Commemoration (Baltimore County)
— Honor the Battle of North Point at Fort Howard Park, 9500 North Point Road, Edgemere, Md. Admission is free. For details, visit DundalkHistory.org.

Sept. 9 — Young Defenders’ Day at Fort McHenry
— Participate in a living American flag at Fort McHenry, 2400 E. Fort Ave., to honor the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812. For details, call 410-962-4290, x850.

Sept. 10 to 16 — Star-Spangled Spectacular
— Celebrate the bicentennial of our national anthem at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor with living history demonstrations, musical performances and a fireworks display. For details, call 1-800-266-5699, or visit StarSpangled200.com.

Sept. 12 — Defender’s Day Observance
— Enjoy Navy ship tours and the Star-Spangled air show practice from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For details, call 1-800-266-5699.

Sept. 13 — Public Ship Tours
— View the Star-Spangled Spectacular Aircraft Display and Festival at Martin State Airport, 701 Wilson Point Road, Middle River, MD, followed by an air show featuring the Blue Angels, concert and fireworks display. 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. For details, call 1-800-266-5699.

Sept. 14 — “By Dawn’s Early Light”: Flag Raising at Ft. McHenry
— Celebrate the 200th birthday of our national anthem with a flag raising ceremony at Fort McHenry National Monument & Historic shrine, featuring Governor Martin O’Malley. Following the ceremony, enjoy Navy ship tours, air shows and live musical performances. 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. For details, call 1-800-266-5699, or visit StarSpangled200.com.

Georgetowner • June 23, 2014

“Form, Light, Line: Architecture in Print” Opening Reception

June 20th, 2014 at 05:00 PM | free | info@oldprintgallery.com | Tel: (202) 965-1818 | Event Website

The Old Print Gallery’s summer exhibit Form, Light, Line: Architecture in Print will open on Friday, June 20, 2014, with a free nighttime reception from 5-8pm, open to the public. This group show of 18 printmakers spans over 90 years of creative expression, with prints by 20th century American artists John Taylor Arms, Martin Lewis, and Armin Landeck coupled with works by cutting-edge, contemporary printmakers. Artists have long found beauty in the strength, durability, and utility of buildings.

Address

The Old Print Gallery; 1220 31st Street, NW

Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa

June 20th, 2014 at 05:30 PM | FREE | andrew@afj.org | Tel: 202-464-7361 | Event Website

Join us for a reception with award-winning filmmaker Abby Ginzberg and clips of the new film, Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa.

Refreshments will be served

Soft Vengeance: Albie Sachs and the New South Africa is a film about Albie Sachs, a lawyer, writer, art lover and freedom fighter, set against the dramatic events leading to the overthrow of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Address

Alliance for Justice; 11 Dupont Circle NW; 2nd Floor

Pixar in Concert

June 20th, 2014 at 08:30 PM | $30.00 – $58.00 | philipc@wolftrap.org | Tel: 703.255.1900 ext. 1729 | Event Website

All your favorite animated Pixar films on the big screen including Finding Nemo, Up, Toy Story, and Monsters, Inc., paired with memorable scores played by the National Symphony Orchestra

Address

1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Virginia, 22182

Das- “Ethiopian Coffee Ceremony

June 21st, 2014 at 10:30 AM | contact@dasethiopian.com | Tel: (202) 333-4710 | Event Website

Experience an authentic tradition from the birthplace of coffee. Brought to you by Cervantes Coffee.

Address

Das Ethiopian; 1201 28th St NW

A Midsummer Day’s Reading

June 21st, 2014 at 2:00 PM | Free | julia.strusienski@dc.gov | Tel: 202-727-0232 | Event Website

Join the Georgetown Neighborhood Library as we celebrate D.C. Public Library’s Adult Summer Reading program by reading aloud the first three acts of the classic romantic comedy “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on the summer solstice—the day on which the action within the play begins.

All are invited to participate as readers, and no prior experience performing or reading publicly is necessary.

Questions? Interested in participating? E-mail julia.strusienski@dc.gov

Address

3260 R St. NW

Cathedral Sings!

June 22nd, 2014 at 07:30 PM | $10 | myoung@cathedral.org | Tel: 877-537-2228 | Event Website

Experience Washington National Cathedral in a whole new way. Join a community sing-along and read through the Brahms Requiem with Music Director, J. Reilly Lewis. Scores provided. You choose your part.

Address

Washington National Cathedral; 3101 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Ice Cream Sunday

June 22nd, 2014 at 01:00 PM | $8 per child and adult | info@dumbartonhouse.org | Event Website

Bring the family and join us in the Dumbarton House gardens to make your own cool ice cream treat, as well as sample an ice cream flavor popular during the Federal period. End your visit with a tour of Dumbarton House to learn about the history of early Georgetown and First Lady Dolley Madison, a visitor to our historic home, who first popularized ice cream in America when she served it at the White House.

Address

Dumbarton House; 2715 Q ST, NW

Greenhouse Birthday Party

June 22nd, 2014 at 01:00 PM | free admission | Tel: 703-777-3174 | Event Website

Have you sung to a building lately?

If not, come on out to Oatlands between 1pm and 4pm on June 22 for this free and fun event.

Balloons and cake while supplies last. Check back for cake cutting and “Happy Birthday” singing time as the event gets closer.
Address

Oatlands Historic House and Gardens; 20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane; Leesburg, VA 20175

Brunch for a Cause

June 22nd, 2014 at 12:30 PM | $45.00 | adivastateofmind@gmail.com | Tel: 301-520-4036 | Event Website

After a successful inaugural event in February, Brunch for a Cause returns this summer! Guests will enjoy an enriching afternoon discussing ways to serve the homeless community in DC, while delighting in a 3-course brunch menu (including unlimited mimosas) and networking with peers. Proceeds will benefit Miriam’s Kitchen, an organization dedicated to combating homelessness in DC.

Address

M Street Bar & Grill; 2033 M Street NW

Joseph Park •

The Georgetown Business Improvement District is inviting professional street artists to submit their proposals for art panels planned to be installed temporarily on the construction site of the Latham Hotel at the southwest corner of M street and 30th Street.

The interpretive theme for the project is the C&O Canal at Georgetown. Participating artists are encouraged to do their own artistic interpretation of the canal—Georgetown’s heavily visited, photographed area. Each installation will be displayed for six to eight weeks, after that the art board will be removed and stored by the BID.

The plywood panel will cover up a wall of the building facing M street until December which will alternate between the selected art proposals. The BID’s intention to install the art panels is to improve the overall streetscape of the street and discourage illegal graffiti drawings to happen on site.
The Latham Hotel was closed in 2012 to make improvements and repair water damage. In 2013, the property was purchased by SB-urban, which converted the property to a mixed-use retail and residential site.

All proposals must be submitted to Josh Hermias through email at jhermias@georgetowndc.com with the subject, “3000 M Street Public Art Proposal,” and be attached as a PDF file by 11:59 p.m., June 22.

Joseph Park •

The Fifth Annual BuddhaFest: A Festival for Heart and Mind will be held on June 19 to 22 at Artisphere’s Spectrum Theater (1611 N. Kent Street at the corner of Wilson Blvd).

The event will feature talks by famous speakers including Dan Harris, co-anchor of ABC News’ Nightline and the weekend edition of Good Morning America and Ram Dass, the author of “Be Here Now.”

At the festival, six different movies that highlight the Buddhist values of finding inner peace will be featured followed by a question-and-answer session with the director of the movie. The movie, “Blood Brother,” winner of the Grand Jury Award and the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival, will be shown on 7 p.m., Thursday June 19. Also, the documentary film, “Monk with a Camera” will be shown on Friday night at 9 p.m.

The major highlight of the festival is the Tibet Fest—scheduled to take place on Saturday at 3:30 p.m., where participants will have the opportunity to experience the Tibetan Buddhist culture and enjoy authentic Tibetan food, dance and music.

The BuddhaFest was created by Eric Forbis and Gabriel Riera “to share stories that would encourage people to explore meditation, live mindfully and seek greater levels of awareness and compassion.” the BuddhaFest website said.

To attend the festival, tickets will be available for purchase through the festival’s website at www.buddhafest.org. Free parking will be available at the Spectrum Theater garage and the Artisphere building garage.

Gary Tischler • June 19, 2014

Losses sometimes mount up.

In the past few days, we’ve lost a great American actress, who was, with her husband, also high in the list of eminent Civil Rights leaders, a radio deejay who defied the odds and the meaning of pop and rock popularity, a football coach who became an icon by winning four Super Bowls in Pittsburgh, a much beloved baseball star who spent his entire career in one city, and a jazz singer who never became a huge star but had an unforgettable voice.

So, we pay tribute to Ruby Dee, to Casey Kasem, to Chuck Knoll, to Tony Gwynn and to “Little” Jimmy Scott.

RUBY DEE

Ruby Dee was an indomitably brilliant actress in television, in movies and most especially on the American stage. Yet, even now, it is almost impossible to separate her from her late husband Ossie Davis, to whom she was married for 57 years, until his death in 2005. They were not only an enduring married couple, but also partners in their artistic, performing arts, in all sorts of venues, live and on film, but also in their highly visible participation in the civil rights movement. They were, if not joined at the hips, passionately united, heart, soul and mind.

They were also two unique sorts of performers. In this, Ruby Dee, who died at the age of 91 last week, was a slight head above her husband. Dee left an indelible impression, no matter what she did, she had the power as an actress to move the heart, disturb the memory and knock you around a bit in her presence on stage.

She was in “A Raisin in the Sun” on Broadway and in the movie version opposite Sidney Poitier. She played Denzel Washington’s mother in “American Gangster,” for which she was nominated for a Best Supporting Actress Oscar. She bowled over Broadway in her performance as Lea in the brilliant South African playwright Athol Fugar’s play, “Bozeman and Lea,” about a couple ostracized in Apartheid South Africa. She and Davis appeared together often most notably in “Purlie Victorious,” which Davis wrote and two films directed by Spike Lee, “Do The Right Thing” and “Jungle Fever.” They also partnered up even more notably and with courage by forging friendships with Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X . Dee emceed the 1963 March on Washington at which King gave his “I Have a Dream” speech.

They took risks together, risks that could have harmed their careers, including standing up for Ethel and Julius Rosenberg, the convicted spies who were executed in the 1950s.

But perhaps their most enduring work and partnership came as two people who loved each other with great passion, shared their passions for the work and were completely intertwined in matters of justice. According to a Washington Post profile by Will Haygood, she once gave him a note that said, “Dear Ossie, When I think of you let there silence and no writing at all. Ruby.”

This writer had the good fortune to interview them as a couple on the telephone. They were straight forward, forthright, and as best I can recall, neither interrupted the other. We saw her in “The Glass Menagerie” at Arena Stage in 1989. While the production had its problems, she was not one of them. She mesmerized. Still.

CASEY KASEM

If you were a commuter, if you rode around in a car, if you like to make a connection with the voices you heard over the car radio in the 1960s and onward through the 1970s and beyond to close to now, and if you liked rock and roll and the softer edges of pop music that would eventually lead you to a karaoke bar, you’d recognize the voice of Casey Kasem pretty much forever.

Kasem, who popularized a show called “America’s Top 40” (syndicated nationwide) over decades, passed away this weekend. His voice had already been lost from the airwaves and at 83, he had been suffering from a debilitating form of dementia. Yet, if his voice is still, it’s still remembered. He would single out songs and play them for individual listeners, a sometime sentimental ploy that proved to be highly effective. It was personalizing music in a way that shock jocks hardly ever managed. You can have fun with people that make you go deaf, but it’s hard to love them. His was an enduring voice, even as radio stations were splintering into genre choices—from jazz, to pop rock, to country, to alt, and every other taste. His top 40s show was consistently middle brow which is to say it was popular with just about everybody but the very edges, the very high brow.

It’s hard to argue with a guy who would without fail tell you: “Keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for the stars.”

CHUCK NOLL

Chuck Noll looked like a pro football coach. He had a burly build and a strong open face. He always looked like he was trying either to choke down a smile or a scowl during a game.

Career-wise, the man had a lot to smile about: he was the first NFL coach to win four Super Bowl titles, with Pittsburgh Steeler teams that played really stifling defense and were quarterbacked by Terry Bradshaw. Their biggest rivals in the AFC were the Oakland Raiders, owned by the Grinch-like Al Davis and sometimes coached by him. Watching those two teams go at in the 1970s was a bruising experience, especially if you happened to be standing on the sidelines—Mean Joe Green and the Pittsburgh Steelers would usually, but not always, prevail over Big Ben Davidson, George Blanda and others.

Noll won the old fashioned way. He didn’t trade away draft choices. He kept them and nurtured them. He had never coached an NFL team before he got the Steeler job, and he finished 1-13 his first year. He finished on top, in life and in football.

TONY GWYNN

Tony Gwynn died this week of cancer at the young age of 54. He lived a baseball life, he became a Hall of Famer, and he stayed in one town as a baseball player all his life. That town was San Diego, and you just don’t see that happening much any more.

But look at those stats from a guy whom his peers described as a happy guy, a good man and a brilliant baseball player, roaming right field for the San Diego Padres. They called him “Mr. Padre,” and here’s what he did: he played in two World Series, hit a bunch of singles, batted .338 lifetime, had 3,184 hits and eight National League batting titles. In 1997, he was inducted in the hall of fame with Cal Ripken, Jr., who spent his whole career in Baltimore. He was in a class all his own.

JIMMY SCOTT

If you’ve never heard of Jimmie Scott or heard him at all, it’s still not too late. He’s another reason why they created YouTube.

Scott, who died at the age of 88, has described as “star-crossed,” “under-rated,” “hard-luck” and so on, all of which is true, since he was not a huge star in the crowded firmament of jazz and pop and great song vocalists.

Given all that, he sure shone and shines bright: this thin, frail-looking guy with a high and tremulous voice who sang with the greats, including Lionel Hampton, who recorded a memorable album called “Falling in Love Is Wonderful” and had a hit with “Everybody’s Somebody’s Fool,” which could just about slam-dunk you with emotion and feeling.

Check out him out on YouTube. Listen to him. “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.” Try “Nothing Compares to You.” That’s “Little Jimmy Scott.” See if he just doesn’t break your heart.