Town Topics

Ina Bjorbekk • November 18, 2013

This Monday, Nov.11, ceremonies will take place all over Washington D.C – and America — in honor of military veterans. Veterans Day, formerly known as Armistice Day, has been celebrated since the end of World War I. It became an official national holiday in 1954, when Congress passed a bill making it a day to honor American veterans of all wars. Veterans Day takes place every year on the 11th day of the 11th month, the day in 1918 when World War I officially ended.

It is a federal holiday in the District of Columbia, which also means no parking restrictions in the city, no trash pick-up and government office closures.

Veterans Day Observance
World War II Memorial, 9 a.m

Special ceremony celebrating World War II Veterans. Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley will speak, and a U.S. Postal Service commemorative stamp will be unveiled.

National Veterans Day at Arlington Cemetery
Arlington Cemetary, 11 a.m.

To honor those who have served in the armed forces. Ceremony starts at the Tomb of the Unknowns with the laying of a presidential wreath and will be continued inside the Memorial Amphitheater.

U.S. Navy Memorial
Naval Heritage Center, 1 p.m.

Wreath-laying by the Naval District of Washington will take place near the Lone Sailor statue on the Memorial Plaza.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial
Constitution Avenue and Henry Bacon Drive, 1 p.m.

Veterans and their families will pay tribute to those who have served in military in Vietnam and other conflicts. A wreath-laying ceremony will take place by the Wall.

Freedom Bell Ringing Ceremony
Arlington Cemetery, West side Entrance of the welcome center, 1 p.m.

A ringing ceremony will be held by the welcome center at Arlington Cemetery. Visitors can ring the Freedom Bell to pay tribute to the armed forces or to honor loved ones in the military.

The Women in Military Service for America Memorial
Arlington Cemetery, The Women’s Memorial, 3 p.m.

The Women’s Memorial 16th annual Veterans Day Ceremony to honor all servicewomen, past and present. The ceremony will include a keynote address by Susan Scanlan, president of Women’s Research & Education Institute, a wreath-laying, and veterans’ remarks. Five servicewomen will join Scanlan to pay tribute to military veterans.

Mount Vernon Salutes Veterans
3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway,?
Mount Vernon, Va.
11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Performances by the Harmony Heritage Singers and Air Force String Orchestra and a wreath-laying ceremony. Free admission for all active duty, former or retired military personnel in honor of veterans. Veterans are invited to place a flower on George Washington’s tomb. Admission to Mount Vernon: adults, $17; children, $8.

Raise a Glass to Honor Our Veterans
Jack Rose Dining Saloon, 2007 18th St., NW.
6 p.m to 9 p.m

Exclusive tastings of rare single malt whiskies, sponsored by Potomac Wine & Spirits and Jack Rose Dining Saloon, in honor of veterans. Tickets are $100, and proceeds will benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.
RSVP to info@jackrosediningsaloon.com

Honoring Our United States Armed Forces, Our Veterans and Their Families
DAR Constitution Hall, 1776 D St., NW.
7 p.m.

A free concert by the organizers of the National Veterans Day Salute. Host Sheryl Lee Ralph will be joined by artists Katie Armiger, Carolyn Malachi, Y’Anna Crawley, among others, to honor veterans, military and their families.

Robert Devaney •

In one of the most intense, agenda-packed meetings in recent memory, the Georgetown-Burleith Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2E voiced concerns, if not flat-out disapproval, about design concepts for the West Heating Plant – Four Seasons Residences, an underground addition for Hyde-Addison Elementary School and the former Georgetown Theater space with a rear addition.

During the Nov. 4 meeting’s police report, Lt. Hedgecock said Halloween was mostly incident-free except for some broken car windows. He indicated police were looking into drag racing along M Street between stop lights late in the night.

In an ironic twist, one of most easily approved items was Georgetown University’s new Northeast Triangle Residence Hall across Reiss Science Building near the wall of Visitation Prep — as well as the re-purposed Ryan-Mulledy-Gervase Halls within the university’s historic Dahlgren Quadrangle. The old Jesuit residences will be renovated for student use. The Northwest Triangle Hall will house 225 students; Ryan-Mulledy, 160. The total of 385 additional beds meets the Campus Plan’s call for additional on-campus spaces by fall 2015. This solution satisfied students, administrators and Georgetown residents. It is seen as an early result of the university-neighborhood peace accords of last year, already perceived as a model for town-gown conflict nationwide.
As the for the Hyde-Addison School (3219 O St., NW) addition with elevated playground and underground meeting rooms and a gymnasium, the design calls for a “landscape solution” that “lifts the lawn,” so to speak, to level the grade from P Street to O Street with a glass wall entrance facing O Street. The $12-million project for the D.C. Public Schools by the Department of General Services was news to many. Some neighbors with adjacent property to the schools expressed frustration at the quickness of such a major project as well as its proximity and noise. Commissioner Jeff Jones asked DGS “to engage neighbors more closely — and notify neighbors of reports, schedules and plans.”

The huge West Heating Plant (1051 29th St., NW) project, set to become the Four Seasons Residences, was met from some approval from neighbors and groups but disapproval from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the D.C. Preservation League. The ANC itself disapproved, calling for a re-thinking of concept in a five-page response. ANC chair Ron Lewis asked the primary question: “Can this building be saved?” There was concern about increased fenestration and brighter lighting during the night. A proposed bridge over the C&O Canal, connecting the Four Seasons Hotel to the condominiums, appeared to be dead on arrival.

With supporters like former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and Bob Peck, formerly of the General Services Administration, in the audience, the Levy Group and the Georgetown Group gave an overview of the future look of the reconstructed building with new parkland along Rock Creek and K Street for the neighborhood. The engineering assessment by new owner, Georgetown29K, LLC, found the present structure unfit for habitation as well as rehabilitation. It sees the old heating plant as so systemic with cracks — and rust — that a waiver should be invoked that allows most of the building to be demolished with the west facade on 29th Street being the anchor from which the new rebuilding flows; the group must show “good cause” for such a waiver of the covenant. Commissioner Bill Starrels took the lead in recommendations that call for the building not to be replace and an independent engineering review.

The former Georgetown Theater (1351 Wisconsin Ave., NW) property, purchased only weeks ago by architect Robert Bell, ran into trouble with neighbors in the backyards near its proposed rear additions. Bell’s designs for the theater are seen by many as a salvation to this tattered section of Wisconsin Avenue. Bell said at the meeting the front facade and its iconic “Georgetown” neon sign would be fixed by July 4. Neighbors on Dumbarton Street and on O Street disagreed with Bell and said the scale of his design for the property would about the property lines too severely and restrict the space for homes facing the center of the block. Others said they had just heard about the project. While liking the design in the general, the ANC expressed concern about scale, mass and height of the project. It also asked that the residents and the developer begin simply to talk.

Robert Devaney • October 24, 2013

The advisory neighborhood commission for Glover Park is running a survey on Wisconsin Avenue traffic before it comments on Nov. 4 at a transportation committee meeting, chaired by councilmember Mary Cheh. The survey site states: “Voices have been raised, mostly loudly by people who do not live in Glover Park, against the lane changes on Wisconsin Avenue, which were designed to slow traffic through our commercial center and increase pedestrian safety. The lane changes on Wisconsin Avenue north of Calvert Street have already been reversed. It is possible this hearing will result in a decision to return Wisconsin Avenue in Glover Park back to the way it was before the streetscape project.” For more details, visit [web] (http://www.anc3b.org)

Gary Tischler • October 21, 2013

We lost the next-to-last of the Mercury Seven astronaut Scott Carpenter, the learned film critic of the New Republic and elsewhere, Stanley Kaufman, and the lyrical, Pulitzer Prize-winning Cuban-American novelist Oscar Hijuelos these past few days.

SCOTT CARPENTER

Scott Carpenter, one of the pioneering, original group of brave astronauts who were the first Americans to orbit the earth in the early era of space rivalry with the Soviet Union, died at 88 of complications from a stroke Oct. 10 in Vail, Colo., at a hospice.

He was a Navy man from the beginning, commissioned in 1949, becoming a naval aviator in 1951 and serving in the Korean War. He was a test pilot, and eventually became one of the Mercury 7 Astronauts selected and introduced on April 10, 1959. Among them was John Glenn, who would become the first American to orbit the earth. Carpenter was the second. The backup pilot for the first mission, Carpenter was at Mission Control and was heard to say, “Godspeed, John Glenn,” as Glenn’s spacecraft burst the bounds of earth. Carpenter piloted his Aurora 7 craft on May 24 of that year, eating “Space Food Sticks” in space. He overshot the landing zone for his splashdown, by a considerable distance, but he was found in his life raft.

For the record here are the Mercury 7 astronauts: Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., died 1998, U.S. Navy; Virgil Ivan (Gus) Grissom, died 1967, was commander of the Gemini mission, killed in a fire during a launch pad test one month before the scheduled launch of Apollo 1; John Herschel Glenn, Jr., former U.S. senator, Buckeye, oldest man in space; Malcolm Scott Carpenter; died 2013; Walter Marty (Wally) Schirra, Jr., died 2007; Leroy Gordon (Gordo) Cooper, died 2004; Donald Kent (Deke) Slayton, died 1993.

John Glenn was quoted as saying “Godspeed, Scott Carpenter, my great friend,” when hearing the news of Carpenter’s passing.

STANLEY KAUFFMANN

Stanley Kauffmann wrote movie—or film—reviews for the New Republic for more than 50 years with a break, writing theater reviews for the New York Times. Think of all the movies viewed for such an assignment—strung together, review after review, year after year, a lifetime in the dark.

Then, think of the straight forward, but deeply felt reviews he wrote. I remember reading him a lot. He took the job and the films seriously, but perhaps this came from being originally a man of the theater as well.

I have some empathy and sympathy for the task. Reviewing films or stage productions involves story-telling and imagery in varying degrees, as well as words, and the telling of the saga of ourselves, we humans on earth.

For Kauffmann, for all reviewers and writers, this meant dealing daily with the sublime and the ridiculous, the sublime, even among the pearls before swine, outdoing the ridiculous, and the latter becoming sublime at times. Ask Charlie Chaplin or Woody Allen, if you could.

What was evidenced in his writing was a passion, a love and affection for what he wrote about. What seemed evident in his bearing was erudition, seriousness, respect, intellect and culture. He made Americans—he was not alone in this—look at foreign films in new ways but rarely did so with the intent of calling attention to himself.

Kauffmann was 97.

OSCAR HIJUELOS

If Oscar Hijuelos had never written another book other than “The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love,” he would still be famous, because that’s the book that made him a Pulitzer Prize guy in 1989.

But he did write more: “Our House in the Last World,” the wonderful, almost magical “The Fourteen Sisters of Emilio Montez O’Brien,” “Beautiful Maria of My Soul,” “A Simple Habana Melody,” “Thoughts Without Cigarettes, A Memoir,” “Dark Dude,” “Empress of the Splendid Season,” “Mr. Ives’ Christmas” and “Our House in the Last World.” Taken together, the titles alone suggest a style, a way with words, a lot of lyricism, lore, family memories, a great American and family theme.

His career, his output—and they will last pretty much forever—are another great addition to the fabric, the literary quilters of our immigration literature, which is in broad terms pretty much all of the output. It’s a crazy quilt with particular flavors and concerns of a country where everyone is an immigrant, an outsider, and insider, where citizenship and country are about matters of heart and soul, not addresses.

Hijuelos happened to be of a Cuban ethnic background—with that came soul, music, rhythm, mysterious tales, religion, neighborhoods and the tentacles of family.

He died after collapsing on a tennis court. He was only 62.

Robert Devaney • October 17, 2013

According to reports received over the weekend, the Georgetown Business Improvement Business District picked up 86 bags of trash at Georgetown Waterfront Park. Since the park is technically closed due to the partial government shutdown, the BID stepped up to assist. Though the fountain is off, people still visit the park.

Robert Devaney • October 10, 2013

The Georgetowner first published Oct. 7, 1954. Its frontpage held a profile, an essay, news about an outdoor art fair and column, entitled “Potomac Packett,” along with a memo from founding publisher Ami Stewart. It was the 20th century, yet this newspaper looked like it was from the War of 1812.

The succeeding owner-publishers have only been two: David Roffman and Sonya Bernhardt. Each has added his and her stamp on the paper. To leaf through the newspaper archives of the Georgetowner during the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, 2010s is to see hometown American history in the nation’s capital. How special it is to read a story in the Georgetowner that reports N Street neighbor John Kennedy is considering a run for the presidency.

Those seven individual decades have seen and brought many changes in America, in media and in journalism. You and we know all about the digital revolution and live it. Ways to communicate may shift, but a good story remains a good story. And truth remains the truth. These are core principles at the Georgetowner.

In 2014, the Georgetowner will turn 60 all the way, will introduce a few surprises — and will, no doubt, celebrate with its own gala.
Meanwhile, and more importantly, let us wish a great Georgetowner a happy birthday. Frida Burling turned 98 on Sept. 16. She had a party at her 29th Street home with her family. At 98, she still e-mails friends and family and remains interested in and supportive of her Georgetown community. And we expect to hear from her soon enough. Stay well and true, Frida, and we will, too.

Robert Devaney •

Theirs is a Georgetown story few could keep up with, much less conceive. Developer Herbert Miller and his wife Patrice Miller have lived throughout Georgetown in some of its finest houses as well as being part of community service and charities. In Herb’s case, his career involves work on major real estate projects across Washington, D.C.

While the Millers lived here for decades from N Street to O Street to Q Street and back, they have downsized to a condo near 14th and P Streets, NW, and have departed Georgetown.

For all this, they are the honorees for the 2013 Georgetown Gala — the annual Citizens Association of Georgetown event that brings together more than 350 guests, neighbors, sponsors and politicos — to be held Oct. 18 at the Italian Embassy. The gala committee said of the Millers: “We couldn’t let them leave without a proper goodbye.”

CAG’s big event and the Millers certainly meet the group’s goal: “to celebrate Georgetown and CAG’s mission of historic preservation and improving the life of the community.”

While Patrice Miller has volunteered for many Georgetown non-profits that include CAG and Georgetown Senior Center as well as offering the family home for many fundraisers, she is not one to be in the limelight.

The Miller family has five children: Ben, Alexis, David, Daniel and Caroline (the oldest two from a previous marriage), now in their 20s and 30s. Ben and Dan Miller have their own take on development work with their Fundrise concept and run the Powerhouse on Grace Street.

The empty-nesting parents spend a lot of time in their place on the Eastern Shore, where Patrice is on the board of the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, Md.

She charmingly points to her husband, whose mixed retail projects in D.C. are epic tales. They married in 1983, after Herb asked Patrice to marry him on a birthday and the same day he bought a house on N Street. Meanwhile, Patrice is happy to have Herb talk at length to anyone else.

After George Washington University, Herb Miller lived on M Street, next to the Round Table, near 28th Street. In 1967, Miller founded Western Development Corporation, a real estate development and management organization with a 44-year history of innovative mixed-use development.

Its signature work in Georgetown: the condos and the Shops at Georgetown Park retail as well as Washington Harbour. Elsewhere in D.C.: Market Square on Pennsylvania Avenue and Gallery Place next to the Verizon Center.

Miller also formed the Mills Corporation — which held super regional malls: Potomac Mills, Franklin Mills (Philadelphia), Sawgrass Mills (Ft. Lauderdale) and Gurnee Mills (Chicago).

In the mid-1990s, Miller led the Mayor’s Interactive Downtown Task Force, a 100-member committee charged with re-vitalizing Washington’s central areas. Apparently, it worked: a new convention center and renewed Carnegie Library, two examples among many.

Today, after taking back, trying to retain and revitalize Georgetown Park in his own vision, Miller seems pragmatic, knowing all things change. He did note that the complex could not get an anchor, such as Bloomingdale’s Soho, a deal he almost sealed — it was complicated by D.C. government. After all, this is the guy who in his first years as a broker in the shopping center business convinced Stanley Marcus to put Neiman Marcus at Mazza Gallerie. Some people also forget that Georgetown Park was the first urban mall in America.
These days, Miller will only work on projects that have a community benefit, he says. There is one that involves businesses, real estate and the community, but that’s all he is letting on for today.

One of his passions is the Chesapeake Crescent Initiative, “a regional collaborative to advance innovation in energy, life sciences and security in the ‘Chesapeake Crescent’ region of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and the District of Columbia. CCI’s leadership includes federal government agencies, state and local government leaders, major private sector companies as well as academic institutions.”

Miller believes it is the national capital region that should be leading the way in innovation and integration of “safe and smart city” technologies.

“Government needs innovation,” he says. He cites numbers and statistics: growth over decades, only 6 percent for the non-military part of the federal budget, whereas states have averaged a 400 percent increase and cities a 600-percent increase. The aim is to get rid of things that are inflexible, he says.

As far as the so-called Walmart bill that was vetoed, Miller says, “Don’t penalize the merchants, help them.” Perhaps, he adds, give back a bit of excess sales tax to them to help increase wages. And in the campaign for mayor, as much as he likes Mayor Gray — who has not declared whether he will run for re-election or not, Miller simply says, “It’s Jack’s time,” referring to councilman Jack Evans, who is running for mayor.

And, as much as Miller is seeing the big picture in terms of government and economic development, he concludes: “In the future, people need to manage their own neighborhood.”

That is something Georgetown knows a lot about — and it is glad to have had Herb and Patrice Miller in its midst for, lo, these many years.

Meet the Millers — and Your Neighbors — at the Gala
Come to the Georgetown Gala, Oct. 18, to cheer the Millers and also thank other for their community work, such as the second of the gala’s“Community Pillars”: Capital Asset Management Group.

A Community Pillar sponsorship patron, Capital Asset Management Group, founded by John Girouard, is celebrating a big year. Not only was the firm named as one of the Premier Advisory Practices in the Washington, D.C., metro region, Girouard ‘s second book, “Take Back Your Money: How to Survive the Next Recession and the One After That” will be published this month. For over 35 years, Girouard and CAMG have taught families throughout the Washington metropolitan area region how to achieve financial independence sooner and safer in both good times and bad through CAMG’s learning center, the Institute for Financial Independence. The Girouard family has planted deep roots in the Georgetown community as John’s wife, Colleen Girouard, is the co-chair of the Citizen’s Association of Georgetown Gala and on the board of the Washington Animal Rescue League. John Girouard is on the board of the George Town Club.