Social Scene

Georgetowner • June 7, 2012

Washington is one of the social, fraternal cities in the world, it’s a town that’s full of associations, organizations, societies, orders, and institutions, networking across the city, holding meetings, honoring group efforts and individuals, good people all gathering together to make some differences here and there.

It is a kind of subterranean culture, a world whose citizens are continually active, but whose activities often go little noted in the larger world of the whole city. Yet, those meetings, those events and celebrations contain worlds of concern, feelings and talk and expressions and plans about things that matter to each and every one of us.

And so it was that you saw representatives of groups such as The Humanities Council of Washington DC, the DC Commission on the Arts & Humanities, attorneys, ambassadors, former diplomats, educators and an assortment of co-conspirators in the quest to come together on missions that raise awareness, that enrich the culture, that act as agents for changes and improvement in the community and world at large all gathered together at the Meridian International Center, whose title speaks for itself.

The occasion had a title: “Through the Eyes of a Child: Seeing a Just World”, which was the closing event for the Humanities Council’s “Live to Read” initiative which had spent weeks encouraging and helping Washingtonians, especially its young people, to read, centered around one book: “To Kill A Mockingbird,” the classic American coming-of age novel about a 1950s small southern town in Mississippi and the quietly heroic attorney who challenges his community to seek justice.

My guess is that the event—which featured people who knew each other and people who did not coming together purposefully—will not go viral on U Tube, nor make the front page of the Washington Post. It was a small thing, in terms of size, number of people, results. What was it about? Oh, race, justice, society, children, education, the haunted history of the United States, our personal memories about such matters, the echoes of matters rarely touched on or felt so deeply. It was a quiet thing, but parts of it rang loudly in the heart.

So: books were passed out, popcorn, and later portions of shrimp were consumed and the amenities of such things were observed. And then, people began to talk, and somehow, the whole thing became more than an exercise. Prominent people were duly noted: F. Scott Bolden, described as a “Washington super-lawyer”, joked that he was here to show that lawyers can be human, then shared announcing the Lawyers for Humanities Initiative with Joy Ford Austin, Executive Director of the Humanities Council of DC.

Then Judith Terra, in her role as Chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, read from one of the closing sections of “Mockingbird” in which Atticus Finch, having lost the case but not the cause, walked out of the courthouse, and his daughter, sitting high up with the communities black citizens was admonished to “Stand Up, your father is passing”. Terra recalled remembering this and her own father who had passed away the day after 9/11.

Katherine Estrada, a student at Raymond Elementary School, also read beautifully from the book. She was followed by a panel discussion on featuring Lorraine Henry, a Master Teacher in the Department of English at Howard University and Uzodinma Iweala, , a novel and son of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, of Nigeria, who was a leading candidate to become President of the World Bank. The discussion darted around concepts of narrative—how children inherit stories, for instance, but also create them—it touched on innocence and its loss, on books and reading and writing. Iweala , a Radcliffe Fellow at Harvard wrote the well-received novel “Beasts of No Nation” about child soldiers in Africa, and talked movingly about the power of narrative vis a vis children.

“To Kill a Mockingbird” is of course a book that it seems almost everyone has read, or seen in the form of the movie in which Gregory Peck was forever enshrined as the just lawyer Atticus Finch,the good man of decency. It still resonates, in this city, and elsewhere. One woman talked about the time of the assassination of JFK, when she was a first grade teacher in upstate New York, and how a black student stood up and said, “Now they will blame us for it.” A young teacher from Emerson Prep had come with some of her students, two from Viet Nam, another from Haiti.

The panel discussion was moderated by Sharon Wilkinson, the Diplomatic Advisor at the Meridian.

The usual things happened: old friends and acquaintances caught up, cards and e-mail addresses were exchanged. But a buzz remained, as if some important memories had been created, because serious, hopeful and urgent matters were discussed in a small place in Washington during an election year without politics being mentioned. Hearing Harper Lee’s words transcended the urgent desires of the town’s transient population to be elected or re-elected.

Here with these people and this time, the words of Atticus Finch and Scout resonated and stayed with you on the way home and you remembered them in the morning.

Gatherings like this are all around us, like words that matter. Check your e-mail. [gallery ids="100832,125737" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • May 17, 2012

Wednesday, April 17th was the kickoff reception at Café Milano to announce the co-chairs for the 2012 Knock Out Abuse Against Women fundraising dinner.

The co-chairs are Charrisse Jackson-Jordan and Michelle Schoenfeld. The date is November 1, at the Ritz-Carlton in the West End (the one at 22nd & M). Andre Wells will once again design the gala.
[gallery ids="100749,122223,122209" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

On Apr. 11, Ris restaurant hosted a media sneak peek of a multi-day event celebrating Iceland and its cuisine, spearheaded by award-winning chef Thrainn Fryr. Newly appointed Ambassador Gudmundur A. Stefansson quipped that, following an economic setback, Iceland was “getting out of the woods.” He went on to share that it was no surprise as Iceland has no woods. Ris featured a menu that included a “Reykjavik 101” cocktail that no doubt inspired the imbibers to hop on Icelandair for a dip in the geothermal Blue Lagoon. [gallery ids="100743,121628,121599,121623,121609,121617" nav="thumbs"]

Mary Bird •

Down the rabbit hole took on new meaning with the pirouetting enchantress Maki Onuki as Alice, a slinky Red Queen, seductive Cheshire Cat, aerial bicycling Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, elegant white rabbit, beguiling piglets and hedgehogs and every possible imaginative detail as Septime Webre debuted his take on Alice at the Kennedy Center on Apr. 12. The after party at the Oriental Mandarin was a true love fest as Webre acknowledged his creative team, front and foremost composer Mathew Pierce, Cirque du Soleil costumer Liz Vanda, set designer James Kronzer and puppet maker Eric J.VanWyk. [gallery ids="100744,121648,121641,121663,121633,121668,121626,121675,121681,121655" nav="thumbs"]

Michelle Kingston •

With over 30 years of experience, Luigi Parasmo opened his own namesake salon in Georgetown last week. Parasmo, who was born in Rome, Italy, has styled for iconic brands such as Valentino, Armani, D&G, and Versace during Fashion Week Milan, and Tory Burch and Thyphoon at Fashion Week New York. He has lived in D.C. for 20 years now and has previously worked at Watergate, Erin Gomez and Toka Salon. [gallery ids="100746,121704,121686,121699,121694" nav="thumbs"]

Jeff Malet •

The Washington Humane Society’s 6th Annual Fashion for Paws took place at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C. on April 14 2012, featuring fundraising models who agreed to raise a minimum of $5000 in the weeks leading up to the event. Opening the event were custom made designs by the Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing’s 2012 Debut Class. Several of FIDM’s top design students were asked to create a custom couture outfit exclusively for the Fashion for Paws show to match their line that was recently showcased in Los Angelas at FIDM’s annual Debut Gala. Five students were asked to take on the challenge of creating one-of-a-kind, high fashioned garments for models and then a matching outfit for some of Fashion for Paws much loved “model” dogs to wear down the runway. These custom creations were designed and made completely by the students from the Debut 2012 group.

View our photos of the event plus a behind the scenes look at the FIDM designs by clicking on the icons below. (All photos by Jeff Malet) [gallery ids="122184,122033,122025,122016,122007,121998,121989,121978,121969,121961,121953,121943,121934,122042,122050,122058,122175,122166,122157,122148,122136,122124,122112,122103,122094,122086,122077,122067,121926,121919,121773,121765,121756,121747,121738,121729,122197,121720,122207,122219,121709,122228,121782,121791,121799,121909,121901,121889,121881,121872,121861,121853,121844,121835,121826,121817,121809,100748" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • May 16, 2012

On Apr. 30, Councilman Jack Evans presented the 2012 Duke Zeibert Capital Achievement Award from the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington to former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams. The event at the Hamilton recognized Williams?s dedication and leadership on behalf of the Washington?s vibrant restaurant industry. For over 90 years, RAMW has been ?fighting for the right to eat, drink and be merry, hospitably, responsibly and profitably.? The annual gala ?Hats Off to Restaurants!? will be held at the Marriot Wardman Park June 24.

Jade Floyd •

The perfect pairing goes beyond bites and sips as food and wine festivals spring to life throughout the summer, many of them with a purpose of not only nourishing your palette, but also feeding the community. Add to the recipe a dash of music and a charitable endeavor and you have a dish that just might overwhelm the senses.

Celebrity chefs like Tom Colicchio, Emeril Lagasse and Mario Batali have all sharpened their knives for a cause and spearheaded their own philanthropic endeavors from pediatric AIDS to anti-hunger initiatives. DC’s own Spike Mendelsohn is joining their ranks, as he hosts “Sound Bites” on May 20th for DC Central Kitchen (DCCK). For more than 23 years DCCK has whipped up meals feeding underprivileged populations across the city, all with the purpose of using food as a tool for empowerment. DC chefs have engaged by mentoring DCCK students, inviting them for internships in their kitchens and judging student cook-offs.

Mendelsohn, along with 9:30 Club, the Thievery Corporation’s Eric Hilton, Brightest Young Things, and 15 noted D.C. restaurants have come together to raise awareness and funds for DCCK. The event mixes charity, food and music with DJ sets by Will Eastman and performances by Bones Fur Feather, The Archives and Nappy Riddem. Participating restaurants include BONMI, Borinquen, Cork, Della?s, Dolce Gelati, Harry?s Smokehouse, Indique, Jackie?s, Mie N Yu, Pepe Food Truck by Jose Andres, Policy, Rappahannock Oysters, Room 11, Shake Shack and Taylor Gourmet. Also part of the festivities is a cocktail competition with DC’s spiciest mixologists from Oyamel, the Passenger, Fujimar and The Gibson.

We are uniquely positioned to take further advantage of the relationships built within the restaurant and hospitality industry through these events, says Paul Day of DCCK. Sound Bites taps into a younger audience with its festival atmosphere, the 9:30 club, and hip beats from local bands.

The event is designed to raise funds for the eight programs housed at DCCK, including the Culinary Job Training program that utilizes experienced local chefs to mentor students and guide them towards their culinary futures. DCCK identifies 25 students each semester to participate in 16-week-long culinary immersion courses. Their mission is to prepare unemployed, underemployed, formerly incarcerated persons, and homeless adults for careers in the foodservice industry.? Careers that can land them a position in restaurants such as the ones that have joined forces for Sound Bites. In fact, 90 percent of graduates obtain jobs after graduation and today they serve in reputable places like the Gaylord National Resort and Smithsonian Institution.

Day said that “Events like Sound Bites help us build relationships in the culinary world and find internships, employment and additional training experiences for our Culinary Job Training program students.” In 2011, 78 percent of graduates from the program were formerly incarcerated and nearly 70 percent had struggled with addiction. DCCK goes beyond the traditional roles associated with anti-hunger programs. They train low-income and disadvantaged populations to become productive members of the community.

Tickets for Sound Bites are $40 and are available at www.ticketfly.com or the 9:30 Club and Merriweather Post Pavilion box offices. For more information, visit [www.soundbitesdc.com](http://www.soundbitesdc.com).

**Upcoming Food and Wine Festivals for a Cause**
* DC101 Chili Cook-Off May 21st at the RFK Stadium benefiting the National Kidney Foundation’s programs.

* The 19th Annual Taste of Georgetown takes place June 2nd benefitting
the Georgetown Ministry Center’s services supporting the homeless.

* National Association for the Specialty Food Trade Summer Fancy Food Show on June 17th to 19th with more than 2,400 exhibitors from around the world, presenting more than 180,000 specialty foods. Last year, exhibitors donated 100,000 pounds of specialty foods and beverages – enough to fill eight tractor trailers – to the DC Central Kitchen.

***Jade Floyd is a managing associate at a D.C.-based international public relations firm and has served on the board of directors for the D.C. Arts and Humanities Education Collaborative for nearly five years. She is a frequent volunteer and host of fundraising events across the District, supporting arts, animal welfare and education related causes.***