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Robert Devaney • October 11, 2012

A night following the U.S. presidential debate, the Georgetown Business Association will host a panel-style candidate forum Oct. 4 for candidates vying for D.C.’s two contested At-Large seats on the District Council.

Mary Brooks Beatty, Michael A. Brown, David Grosso and Vincent Orange, will answer questions and make their case to the Georgetown residential and business community, Oct. 4, 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church (3240 O St., N.W.).

The forum, moderated by Davis Kennedy, publisher-editor of the Current Newspapers, and co-sponsored by the Citizens Association of Georgetown, will include questions submitted by the community, the audience, and the event’s local media sponsors: the Georgetowner, the Georgetown Current, the Georgetown Dish and the Georgetown Patch.

Incumbent Michael A. Brown (Ward 4) was first elected in 2008 and currently serves as the District Council Chairman Pro-Tempore and as an at-large councilmember alongside D.C.’s other at-large councilman, Vincent Orange (Ward 5), who was elected in the April 2011 Special Election. Mary Brooks Beatty (Ward 6) and David Grosso (Ward 5) round out the field as challengers.

Event RSVPs should be forwarded to admin@otimwilliams.com for confirmed seating. [gallery ids="101000,133132,133121,133129" nav="thumbs"]

Gary Tischler •

Today, Oct. 1, the Times Picayune of New Orleans ceases publication as a daily newspaper and will instead publish three times during the week: Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. That makes New Orleans the largest metropolitan area in the United States without a daily newspaper.

More than that, though, the news was indicative of the precarious and fast-changing world of newspapers as a thinning force in the media world, as many dailies have gone out of business altogether, and as the Internet becomes an increasing source of news for many Americans, a fact that has also altered the way news are being presented on television.

Today’s news also comes on the heels of the announcement of the death of former New York Times publisher Arthur Ochs “Punch” Sulzberger, a reminder of a time when major newspapers were a significant force in our daily lives in terms of how we viewed and received the news, in terms of the discussion and presentation and reporting of American politics.

Sulzberger was a living symbol of the prime status that the New York Times—the paper of record—held in the publishing world when its reporters ranged the world, and its investigative pull and factual authority was rivaled only by the then rising Washington Post.

Sulzberger—a member of the powerful family which had led the Times since 1896—was the publisher for 30 years, during which the Times garnered 31 Pulitzer Prizes, led the way in publishing the Pentagon Papers. The Washington Post followed suit in that court battle and then found its own source of journalistic glory in its Watergate coverage, followed closely by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times.

During that time, it meant something to be a reporter in the world—American college graduates brushed off journalism schools all over the country, eager to follow in the footsteps of Woodward and Bernstein and legendary Times reporters like Johnny Apple or Tom Wicker. Books were written by publishers, reporters and writers that worked for national dailies, and books were written about them. “The Boys on the Boys” is as great a piece of work about election coverage of the 1960s and 1970s as you could hope to find, not to mention Gay Talese’s history of the Times, “The Kingdom and the Power.”

“Punch” became publisher at the age of 37. He not only increased circulation for the paper—when others were declining—but increased its size and its reach, making it more of a modern newspaper with a redesign that had a little something for everyone, something it still does You could make an argument that the Times cultural section, its book review, if not its sports department, were and remain second to none.

The new Times initiatives in popular culture, for instance, were not greeted with joy by some of the more hidebound members of the ruling powers at the paper, including the Sulzberger family itself, but it helped the Times become a powerful force nationally.

Sulzberger, who acquired his nickname of “Punch” by dint of his service in the United States Marines, was 86. He died after a long illness, according to news sources.

His son, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, Jr., continues the tradition that a family member would always be at the helm of the paper. According to reports, he said that his father “was an absolutely fierce defender of the freedom of the press,” an accolade also deserved by his rival Katharine Graham at the Washington Post.

Hayley Markovich •

Dinaw Mengestu writer, novelist, teacher and Georgetown University graduate was awarded a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” the university announced Oct. 2. The grant of $500,000 comes with no strings attached.

“The MacArthur Fellowship is not only a recognition of their impressive past accomplishments but also, more importantly, an investment in their potential for the future. We believe in their creative instincts and hope the freedom the Fellowship provides will enable them to pursue unfettered their insights and ideas for the benefit of the world,” said MacArthur head Robert Gallucci of the awardees.

Mengestu, an Ethiopian native who immigrated to the United States at the age of two, received his bachelor’s degree from Georgetown College in 2000. He received a master’s degree in fine arts from Columbia University in 2005. He serves as Lannan Chair of Poetics of Georgetown University Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice. He began teaching the course, “The Writer’s Perspective,” this fall. “Having the honor of coming back as the chair, more than anything, confirms the value of the program,” Mengestu said. “It was during my time as a Lannan fellow that I most profoundly felt that I had found a community of students who didn’t all necessarily want to be writers, but who were just as serious and engaged with literature as I was.”

His first two novels “The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears,” published in 2007, and “How to Read the Air,” published in 2010, are about the Ethiopian immigrant experience. His next novel “All Our Names” is being finished. His journalism and fiction have also appeared publications including Harper’s, Granta, Rolling Stone, the New Yorker and the Wall Street Journal.

Twenty-two others — including a pediatric neurosurgeon, a marine ecologist, an arts entrepreneur and a journalist — were awarded $500,000 grants in this year’s class.

Robert Devaney • October 10, 2012

The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, Korean religious leader, businessman and founder of the Unification Church died Sept. 3 in South Korea. He was 92. Moon considered himself the second coming of Jesus Christ, an idea directly heretical to mainstream Christianity.

In the popular mind, his Unification Church provoked images of mass marriages performed by Moon and his wife — the “True Parents” — and of young promoters who sold flowers at the airport or on the streets. And his Moonies, a word church members do not like, have been accused of being part of a religious cult.

His attendant business interests ranged widely from media and automobiles to supplying fresh fish to local restaurants, namely, sushi.

But the powerful ambitions and personality of Moon sought more: he wanted influence throughout the world, East to West. Where was the best place to set up his own version of a heaven-on-earth lobbying firm? In America. And the best place there? Of course, the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C.

Beside his religious activities, the fiercely anti-communist Moon become known in the United States for strongly supporting then-enbattled President Richard Nixon, who later resigned. He led a huge rally at the National Mall, complete with fireworks, in the late 1970s. People here took notice, even as a few young Unification Church missionaries spoke casually with Georgetown University students in the lobby of Lauinger Library. (A new religion which unites the peoples and churches of Christianity can sound fresh, pure and worthy to a young mind.)

Moon’s church and businesses continued to grow, and he was ready to stake his claim as a major Washington influencer by establishing the Washington Times in 1982. While it was during the administration of President Ronald Reagan, it came along before many other popular media outlets which trumpeted conservative issues.

I got the opportunity to work as an editor at the Washington Times during the 1990s — the Bill Clinton years — working in special sections. We wrote and edited varied features, anything from travel, history, dining, real estate, jobs to specials on inaugurations, Martin Luther King, Jr., Apollo XI and World War II. Our bailiwick did not involve any ideological comments, specifically speaking, although we were aware of the preferences of the editor at the time, Wesley Pruden. Just being in the newsroom, it was instructive for a centrist Democrat like myself to learn a bit of the thinking from the conservative — and increasingly Republican — playbook.

Now, the Washington Times newsroom is off the beaten path, as far as media offices go. While the Washington Post — and the Washington Star (many staffers went to the Times when it folded) in its heyday — chose downtown D.C., the Times is in Northeast D.C. on New York Avenue between the National Arboretum and the train tracks.

There was that one day in the mid-90s when Rev. Moon, who would visit occasionally and go straight to the executive offices, walked around the voluminous newsroom meeting each editor and writer individually at his or her desk. One veteran writer, surprised at this never-before greeting, said that it was either really bad or really good. (The Times could wait for about another 15 years before things might go really bad.) Moon smiled as he joked about a top investigative reporter’s weight and poked him in the belly, saying he liked to eat as much fish as Moon liked to. At least, that’s what what the translator told the reporter who was not used to being messed with and who, I imagined, had to restrain himself as I also imagined steam coming out of his ears.

Like most newsroom creatures, Times employees were skeptical of authority and would make a quip as easily as those on 15th Street. They called their paper “little scrappy,” which did more with less and whose editors encouraged new hires to take chances. One said he was glad people believed in God, because he knew along with others that companies affiliated with the Unification Church had worked with News World Communications to spend more $1 billion over the years on the newspaper, which was one of the first to report regularly on religion, spirituality and, yes, God.

Of course, that other newspaper on 15th Street — “the OP” as Times editors said — looked down at Moon’s creation as Washington Post editor Ben Bradlee vowed never to visit — until a birthday party for Arnaud de Borchgrave, a former editor-in-chief of the Times. Bradlee had worked with de Borchgrave at Newsweek in Europe and was happy to go to the New York Avenue newsroom as the Times printing presses produced a Times parody version for de Borchgrave’s party in the Arbor Ballroom; the banner headline aptly read: “A legend in his own mind.”

The Washington Times persevered in its quest to bring an alternative voice to the Washington and national scene, even as it sometimes beat the Post on local news stories. It was not afraid to make mistakes and offered many reporters who went on to bigger media groups a great start. Allow me to mention a few (mostly former) staffers who made the newspaper shine and had an impact for me, professionally and personally: Patrick Butters, Peter VanDevanter, Kevin Chaffee, Ann Geracimos, Tracy Woodward, Jim Brantley, Denise Barnes, John McCaslin, Lorraine Woellert, Tony Blankley, Deborah Simmons, Adrienne Washington, Cathryn Donohoe, Thom Loverro, Susan Ferrechio and Jerry Seper.

After the Times fell victim to squabbles within the Moon family, its staff and sections were cut a few years ago — and it looked like the end was near. But Moon did not want to lose face, as it were, and intervened two years ago and took the newspaper away from one of his sons who had controlled it. Today, the Times remains a strong conservative and journalistic voice amid the newer ones, such as the Washington Examiner, adding to a more dynamic media landscape. It is trying for a comeback. Whatever your opinion of its ideological bent, you know the Times kept D.C. from being a one-newspaper town. And you can thank its writers, editors, photographers, artists and pressmen — and a self-proclaimed messiah — for that bit of journalistic luck. [gallery ids="100969,130854" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • October 9, 2012

Bar Dupont James Bond Party

October 5 | Free admission

“Bond, James Bond.” This week marks 50 years since Sean Connery first said this famous phrase in “Dr. No,” the first Bond film. Bar Dupont — 1500 New Hampshire Ave., N.W., is celebrating this anniversary with an all night movie party. Cocktails and songs from the films will be featured, and there will be a photo wall covered with Bond-related images. The event starts at 5 p.m. Admission is free; cocktails are $11 to $12.

D.C. Fine Art Photography Fair

October 6-7 | Free

The fair will feature more than 15 fine art photography galleries from all around the United States. On display will be a range of photos from the 19th century to modern images, all available for purchase. Saturday morning from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. hosts a panel discussion, “On Collecting Photography.” The fair will be held at 2801 16th St., N.W., accessible by the Columbia Heights metro and bus routes. Saturday, Oct. 6, noon to 7 p.m.; Sunday, Oct. 7, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. All events free to the public.
For more information: 202-986-0105

Redskins’ Lorenzo Alexander at Sprinkles Cupcakes

October 6 | Free

Washington Redskins linebacker Lorenzo Alexander will be making an appearance at Sprinkles Cupcakes in Georgetown from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.
Address:
Sprinkles Cupcakes, 3015 M St., N.W

Oktoberfest 2012

October 6, Noon to 7 p.m. | $25

The Capitol City Brewery in Arlington hosts its 13th Annual Mid-Atlanic Oktoberfest, featuring more than 50 breweries, giving four-ounce samples. The event will also host local food vendors, an authentic German band and Oktoberfest food. The event is $25 to sample beer, which includes a wristband, tasting glass and ten tickets; it is free for those who do not wish to drink. This is a 21+ with valid ID event, taps close at 6:00 p.m.
Address:
Shirlington Village, 4001 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, Va.

Columbia Heights Day Festival

October 6 | Free

The Sixth Annual Columbia Heights Day festival is this Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It will boast live music, a petting zoo and a cupcake-eating contest. There will also be a yoga workshop starting at 10 a.m. and a food truck row. More than 60 local nonprofits and businesses will be there. The festival is at the Harriet Tubman Elementary Field, Kenyon St NW, between 11th and 13th Streets. A complete schedule of events can be found on www.columbiaheightsday.org.

Taste of D.C.

October 6-8, Noon to 7 p.m.| $10

More than 50 Capital Region restaurants and food trucks will be serving food at the festival, located on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W, between 9th and 14th Streets. Restaurants will have four items for sale, with some items under $3. The festival will host a beer pavilion, serving more than 30 brews, wine and non-alcoholic beverages. There will be music, a chili-eating contest and family-friendly activities.

Robert Devaney • October 3, 2012

The Georgetown Business Improvement District is getting a new boss, the group announced last week. Joe Sternlieb, the new BID chief executive officer begins his job in mid-October. The BID’s previous executive director, James Bracco, departed in July.

Sternlieb, who holds a master’s degree in city planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has years of experience in D.C., including as vice president of acquisitions at EastBanc, Inc., and as deputy director of the Downtown D.C. BID for 10 years.

“I have a passion for the District and for helping the city reach all of its potential,” said Sternlieb in a BID press release. “So, leading the Georgetown BID is one of the greatest positions that a city planner like me aspires to hold. Georgetown is one of the greatest mixed-use neighborhoods in the nation. Still, it faces the challenges of access and mobility; competition from revitalizing city neighborhoods; addressing 21st century environmental issues; and the need to realize its full potential as an employment center, retail destination and waterfront community. This is an exciting time for Georgetown and the District and I am really looking forward to getting started.”

“The Georgetown BID is moving in an exciting direction to help ensure the continued success of the neighborhood as a vibrant local community and international destination,” said Crystal Sullivan, president of the Georgetown BID’s board of directors. “Joe is widely regarded for his talent, energy and ability to move things forward and we are pleased to welcome him to the Georgetown BID. We are looking forward to the leadership and vision he will bring to the Georgetown business community.”

“Prior to his leadership role at Downtown D.C.,” according to the Georgetown BID, “Joe was staff director of the D.C. Council Committee on Economic Development where he shepherded the BID enabling legislation through the City Council. He currently serves on the Board of several civic organizations, including the D.C. Building Industry Association, D.C. Surface Transit, Inc., and D.C. Vote.”

Established in 1999 by its property owners and merchants, the non-profit Georgetown BID has more than 1,000 members. Its full-time CEO reports directly to the BID’s board of directors. There are nine business improvement districts in Washington, D.C.; there are more than 1,000 in the U.S.

David Post • October 2, 2012

The old man was sitting at the kitchen table, holding a hanky over his weeping eyes.

“What’s the matter, Pa?”

“I’m confused.”

In the movie Moonstruck, family and neighbors were pouring into the kitchen. The mother had just demanded her husband terminate his affair, and he meekly agreed. One brother had just proposed to his reluctant brother’s long-suffering fiancé. And now the grandfather was crying.
Mitt Romney has a similar effect. I’m confused.

I can’t figure out where I fit into his view of America. Am I in the 99%, the 50%, the 47% or 100%?
Being in the 1% in the top 1% of income and wealth would be nice, but I’m not.
Even being in the top 13% and paying tax at Mr. Romney’s income tax rate would help. My rate is much higher because I work for a living and don’t have overseas investments.

Mr. Romney recently criticized 47%-ers for being 0%-ers and paying no federal income tax. He says they won’t vote for him anyway. Since I pay income tax, he must be counting on my vote.
On the other hand, some say he has been 0%-er on some of his tax returns. If he is a 0%-er, can he vote for himself in good conscience? It takes real political courage to call half the country a bunch of moochers who feel “entitled” when you belong to that club. If he were a 35%-er, paying the top tax rate, surely he’d proudly tell us, but we’ll never know because his lips are sealed.

Learning that I’m not a 50%-er was a surprise. I thought I was doing pretty well. I got a good education, have graduate degrees, repaid my student loans, live pretty comfortably, don’t live paycheck to paycheck, own my home, and have some savings and retirement. Then, Mr. Romney said the average middle-income family earned $250,000. OK, I’m below average.

Even worse, this 50% thing makes me feel horribly guilty. Is my company a sweat shop? We don’t pay any of our employees enough to be a 50%-er, or even half of a 50%-er if someone else in their home earns enough to lift the household up to that $250,000 average. It’s a wonder all of my employees haven’t quit and taken an average job somewhere else.

If 47%-ers pay no tax and 50%-ers earn $250,000, that means only 3% earn between the point where the 0% bracket ends and $250,000. Paul Ryan is good at charts and graphs. You can bet that’s a good one.

To clear it all up, Mr. Romney now says his campaign is “about the 100% of Americans.”

Are non-Americans now 0%-ers?

I’m so confused.

Get me a hanky.

Georgetowner • October 1, 2012

Kenneth Cole Pentagon City – Rock the Vote Event

September 27th, 2012 at 06:00 PM | Free

6-8pm on Thursday, September 27, 2012 Kenneth Cole Pentagon City will be hosting an in-store charity event in support of Rock the Vote. 20% of the total sales from the evening will be donated to AWEARNESS, the Kenneth Cole Foundation in support of Rock the Vote. Rock the Vote’s street team will be present registering customers to vote. Customers can enjoy bubbly and bites while they shop and will be offered a free gift with purchase.

Address

Kenneth Cole

Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, 1100 South Hayes Street, Arlington, VA 22202

2012 Nyumbani Benefit and Auction

September 28th, 2012 at 06:00 PM | $165-$325 | kerrymckenney@me.com | Tel: (202) 257-2335

Celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Founding of the Nyumbani Children’s Home, Kenya. Theme: Nyumbani: From Vision to Reality — Twenty Years and Growing. Attire: Business.
Address

Ritz Carlton Hotel – 1150 22nd Street, NW

2012 Green Festival

September 29th, 2012 at 10:00 AM | Event Website

We’re kicking off our fall festival season September 29-30, returning to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. Along with classic program favorites – Green Business, Fair Trade, Community Action and more – Green Festival introduces brand new, hands-on stages, including: DIY, Good Food, Live Art Demonstration and Eco-Fashion Showcase.

Address

Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place Northwest

DC Walk for the Animals

September 29th, 2012 at 10:00 AM | $20/adults $15/12 years and younger $0/3 years old | events@washhumane.org | Tel: 202-683-1822 | Event Website

The DC Walk for the Animals will be held on Saturday, September 29, 2012 from 10am – 2pm at Marie Reed Elementary School in Washington, DC. It is a fundraising walk that will also feature booths, activities, music, contests and adoptable animals.

Address

2200 Champlain St. NW

Auction of Vintage Fashion, Couture and Jewelry

September 29th, 2012 at 11:00 AM | no admission | questions@sloansandkenyon.com | Tel: 301-634-2330 | Event Website

Over 600 lots of vintage and contemporary fashion, couture and accessories by
designers including Chanel, Hermès, Pucci, Louis Vuitton, Vivienne
Westwood, Dolce & Gabbana, Oscar de la Renta, Yves Saint Laurent and many others; signed vintage costume jewelry and moderately priced gold and gemstone jewelry

Exhibition

Wednesday, September 26th: 12 – 5 pm

Thursday, September 27th: 10 am- 7 pm

Friday, September 28th: 10 am – 5 pm

Address

Sloans & Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers, 7034 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase MD 20815

Washington National Cathedral Presents Haydn’s Creation

September 29th, 2012 at 05:00 PM | $25.00 | webcomments@cathedral.org | Tel: (202) 537-2228 | Event Website

Marking the 105 years since the laying of its Foundation Stone, the Cathedral begins its new music season with Franz Joseph Haydn’s stunning Creation, featuring Gillian Keith, soprano; Rufus Müller, tenor; Christòpher Nomura, bass; the Cathedral Choir and classical-period orchestra under the direction of Canon Michael McCarthy.

Address

3101 Wisconsin Avenue NW

Pack the Pantries

September 29th, 2012 at 09:00 AM | Free | jeffgasser@gmail.com | Tel: 989-293-9836 | Event Website

Help us feed feed a family in need in Washington D.C.

Partnering churches and congregations from downtown Washington D.C. will collect food items to fill 1,000 boxes (13x12x9) to feed the hungry in the greater Washington D.C. area. On September 29, volunteers will pack the food into the boxes to deliver to the National Capital Area Food Bank. Let us know if you would like to come help or donate food.

Remember… September is Hunger Action Month! All are welcome!

Address

Latter-day Saint 16th Street Chapel, 4901 16th Street NW

Second Annual “Fore” the Kids Golf Tournament

October 1st, 2012 at 07:30 AM | Call for details | jim@pennslyvaniaavenuegroup.com | Tel: 703-973-3830

You are invited to join us at Hidden Creek Country Club for our second annual Golf Tournament. This great event to come out and meet fellow Golf enthusiasts all while supporting a good cause!

Address

Hidden Creek Country Club, 1711 Clubhouse Rd., Reston, VA 20190

Gary Tischler • September 27, 2012

Fall, brisk, as normal as average but a little bit better, came to town, getting weather folks to shut up about storm fronts and severe weather warnings. The weather was acting like autumn weather does, full of change, a frisky optimism. That’s what it felt like in Washington: it was a fall signal without the dying leaves doing their much-heralded twirls to the ground. It was more like a beginning or, at least, a respite.

Because in Washington in the Year of Our Great Divide, 2012, it remains an election year marching irresolutely toward a resolution in November, a spell of good weather like this seemed over a weekend like a return to normalcy where we bless the average, everyday offerings of urban living. After all, there was baseball, the Nationals, and a star quarterback on the Washington Redskins who seemed to be fulfilling his promise right before our eyes.

And, as one local writer somewhat irreligiously put it to us, a panda cub had been born onto us. This event which had occurred the previous weekend put a certain buoyancy in the air, because we vividly remembered the female panda’s last cub, the remarkable Tai Shan who had left us for a preserve in China not that long ago, and who was still tremendously missed. With the announcement of the unexpected birth, instant memories of Tai Shan and his star power, and the thousands of stuffed panda toys that were sold upon his arrival came to mind. The newcomer, who appeared to be healthy, had no name yet, per Chinese tradition. Everyone referred to him as butter stick, which was about the size and description that fit the tiny cub, often referred to, rarely seen.

All this non-political news made the fall weekend special, the kind where you could start your Friday sitting at a Starbucks, or your local café, drink latte or regular, and watch the family of man drive by, run by and bike by, more often than not. You took a taste of normal into your life—the yard sale signs, the sales at Safeway—not so much at Whole Foods. On the other hand, it was between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. So, Jewish food with its potato latkes, dumplings and soups appeared in the delis to our delight.

In the neighborhoods of our cities, there was no lacking for things to do: in Dupont Circle, they held a street fair on 17th Street which meant traffic troubles but brought out man and beast and fried chicken smells and local artisans and artists, a pause in the day of running from dry cleaner, to hardware store to grocery store. The new performance arts season with concerts, and plays and operas and dancing in abundance. Our park, by Adams Mill Road, along with the dog park, the soccer field and the basketball courts were busy.

Elsewhere, you could go to the National Mall and get your fill of books and writers, authors and bloggers and poets in the willing flesh for the annual National Book Festival. You could come to city’s annual Latino festival, with a festive parade of nations which opened your eyes wide to the diversity of the Hispanic world. This city, in weather like this, revealed itself in the way a body does to singer John Mayer — as a wonderland.

On Sunday, we bought sweet nothings at Heller’s Bakery and exercised our walking feet all over Mount Pleasant. I spent some time on the phone later with my son, who lives in Las Vegas, and we talked about things and memories we hadn’t talked of in some time, for no reason except that it seemed right. I think the weather made you feel safe to do things like that. And yet, sunlight, and a breezy wind which might incline you to dance or sing can be deceiving.

If you turned on your television, computer or whatever screen which feeds you like a succubus with information, those uninvited guests in your living room, your house or your phone were never far away. I mean, of course, those fine ladies and gentlemen running for elected office, who approved those ads not done by SuperPACs or other interests groups. I especially mean Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama, who drop by with the regularly of an uncle looking for a free meal. On NBC News’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, something of a food fight threatened to break out among the round table participants as Republican strategist Bay Buchanan got into an argument with Morning Joe’s Joe Scarborough, a conservative himself.

Later in the evening, CBS News’s “60 Minutes” had lengthy interviews with Romney and Obama (separately), which were revealing for not really revealing anything. Have to wait for the debates.

By then, the balloon of optimism in the air had burst. The Redskins, on a track to give up, oh, I don’t know, one thousand points this year, gave up another 30-plus and lost again to Cincinnati 38-31, and the Nationals, although still with a magic number of six, and owning a clinched playoff sport, managed to lose two of three to Milwaukee.

And the panda cub died. I was following scores on the net when I saw it, short and terse: “Panda Cub at the National Zoo Dies.”

“Oh, no,” I yelled aloud, and I’m sure it was part of a collective sigh. No one knows exactly what happened. Today, it was learned that the cub had a liver problem. The mother behaved perfectly as she is wont to do as a mother. The cub with no name was gone. “It was devastating,” the director of the National Zoo said.

It was the week of anticipation, free and clear, that made this news so hard to bear. It’s not that we knew the little cub intimately or had even had a glimpse of him. We knew it already. He would have been the second coming of Tai Shan, the panda rock star spreading magnetism and stardust around like he had done with such ease.

It’s hard because pandas are endangered, because the mother had a number of failed pregnancies and because Pandas have difficulty breeding and reproducing. It’s hard because they are also, no other word for it, enchanting. We all remember the triumphant Tai Shan making his debut in front of a hardened press corps at the National Zoo, a group of journalists who were turned into instant blubber. He was a performer whether trying to navigate a tree branch in front of a crowd or diving into his birthday cake. He was a boost, a gift, a boon for the National Zoo in monetary ways, but also a boost for all of us in this city, and everyone who visited the city. The last time I saw him, he was clambering up a hill, his bottom fur sporting pink frosting after he sat in his birthday cake.

That’s what was dancing before our eyes when the announcement of the new cub came. And that’s what disappeared like a stone when the news of his passing came.

Fall, though remained, the air still bright as the next Sunday, the next good news. In my front yard, a black squirrel who lived among the three houses around us, suddenly turned around, looked at me and stood up. Not once, but three times. I mention this because it was a rare thing. Squirrels in this neighborhood run from people unlike the squirrels on Capitol Hill, who have picked up the habit of begging for nuts and treats the way the politicians they live among troll for votes.

At a time like this, you take comfort in what presents itself, however modest.

Robert Devaney • September 26, 2012

Georgetown’s oldest Baptist church community continued its 150th anniversary celebrations Sept. 15 on Dumbarton Street in front of the First Baptist Church, Georgetown and in adjacent Rose Park. The festivities included food, music, dancing, a book and clothing sale, as well as a prayer table and games in the park. The Baptist church at 2624 Dumbarton Street, N.W., is one of Georgetown’s historic black churches and welcomed the entire neighborhood to its Saturday street fair. The church will continue the celebration with a 150th Anniversary Prayer Breakfast on Sept. 29 — and an anniversary ball in October.
Its 12th pastor, Rev. Robert Pines, arrived at 2006. Pines — who went to Georgetown Washington University and Dunbar High School — says he feels like he is back in his old neighborhood.

Here is an excerpt from a summary on church history:

First Baptist Church, Georgetown was founded October 5, 1862 by the Reverend Sandy Alexander, a former slave. (Alexander also founded Jerusalem Baptist Church which is located at 26th & P Streets, N.W.) Before the formal organization of the church, Collins Williams, a licensed preacher from Fredericksburg, Va., and his wife Betsey had led religious meetings in Georgetown in private residences on 27th and P Streets, 27th and N Streets, and then at his own home. Williams donated a small piece of land at 29th and O Streets to be used for a church.

In 1856, Rev. Alexander came to Georgetown to start a Baptist church but found only two Baptists in the community. However, he was soon able to find many converts and built up a large congregation that was greatly expanded by the arrival of a group from the Shiloh Church of Fredericksburg. This congregation erected a small frame structure known as the “Ark” on the land donated by Collins Williams at 29th and O Streets. The building was soon found to be too small, and a committee of Brothers, Henry Lucas, William Wormley and William T. Brown selected the present site at 27th and Dumbarton Streets for the new building.

Rev. Alexander embarked on a trip north and solicited $300 for the new building while the members were able to negotiate a loan for another $300. The cornerstone for the church was laid in 1882. The male members of the church dug foundations at night, while the women cooked hot suppers. The cost of the stone foundations was $800 which exhausted the building fund so for a time the building stood incomplete. Finally, Rev. Alexander himself took over the responsibility of seeing that the building was completed. When the trustees went to make the church’s first payment on the note, the receipt was made out to the First African Baptist Church. Trustee William T. Brown refused to accept this receipt insisting that he represented the First Baptist Church. The receipt was torn up and another one, correctly worded, was written. Brother Brown had objected to the congregation being robbed of the honor of being the first church of the Baptist denomination in Georgetown.

There is a third Baptist church in Georgetown thanks to Rev. Sandy Alexander. It is the Alexander Memorial Baptist Church, founded in the first years of the 20th century, at 2709 N St., N.W.

Also, we should recall that it is the 150th anniversary of the D.C. Emancipation Act, signed into law in April 1862, followed by the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

For more information, visit FBCGT.org

Article updated Sept. 26 to include mention of Alexander Memorial Baptist Church on N Street in Georgetown.
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