Weekend Roundup

Georgetowner • May 28, 2013

Potomac River Waterfowl Show Dinner and Reception

May 24th, 2013 at 06:00 PM | $50 | gretchen@cfsomd.com | Tel: 301-885-0108 | Event Website

All exhibits open at 6 p.m.; Mingle with acclaimed artists from the region as they show off their fine art photography, wildfowl carvings, hand carved decoys, oil paintings, beach glass jewelry, reclaimed birdhouses, miscellaneous wood carvings, sculptures, antique and collectible decoys, driftwood sculptures and more. Bring your decoys in from home and get free decoy appraisals and identifications. See antique display of decoys, water fowling artifacts, and more.

Address

St. Mary’s County Fairgrounds; 42455 Fairgrounds Rd; Leonardtown, MD 20650

Rolling Thunder, Veteran Author Readings and Wreath-Layings

May 25th, 2013 at 11:00 AM | Event Website

Rolling Thunder Rolls onto Pennsylvania Avenue! Rolling Thunder National’s commemorative wreath-laying with guest speaker Active Duty Marine Captain Martha McPhee. The Pickering (Ohio) High School Band will perform before and after the ceremony. Monday, May 27- 10:00 a.m. Fleet Reserve Association wreath-laying. 1:00 p.m. Naval District Washington wreath-laying with US Navy Band and Ceremonial Guard with guest speaker Rear Admiral (Ret.) Deborah Loewer. 2:00 p.m.

Address

United States Navy Memorial- Naval Heritage Center; 701 Pennsylvania Ave NW

Celebrate Kyrgyzstan and Central Asia

May 25th, 2013 at 04:00 PM | In advance, $20 for adults, $10 for ages 13-18, free for children ages 12 and under. | Event Website](http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/343837)

Kyrgyz Children’s Future is pleased to announce this fundraising event on Memorial Day Weekend.

This will include:

Dancers from the Silk Road Dance Company

Kyrgyz musicians playing traditional Kyrgyz instruments

Kyrgyz fashion designer showing her unique collection (invited — not confirmed)

A slideshow to showcase the beauty, history, and life in Kyrgyzstan

Light refreshments prepared by visiting Kyrgyz chef

Address

Saint Mark’s Presbyterian Church; 10701 Old Georgetown Road; North Bethesda, MD, 20852

Washington Sound Museum at BloomBars

May 25th, 2013 at 07:00 PM | Tel: 202-567-7713 | Event Website](http://www.bloombars.com/)

Washington Sound Museum is a cross-cultural collaborative music experience, a monthly intimate celebration of music and beverage, in partnership with Christlez Bacon & BloomBars. The purpose of the event is to introduce audiences to a variety of musical genres while bringing them together each month through collaboration. At 7pm, prior to the performance, patrons can enjoy a tea reception on the upper level of Bloombars.

Address

BloomBars; 3222 11th Street NW

Memorial Day Concert

May 26th, 2013 at 05:00 PM | $20, under 18 admitted free | musicinmlean@gmail.com | Tel: 202 244 7191 | [Event Website](http://www.nationalmenschorus.org/)

Memorial Day weekend provides the opportunity to celebrate the contributions and sacrifices of our men and women in the armed forces. The National Men’s Chorus, founded in 1999, will be led by Artistic Director Thomas Beveridge in a rousing program of patriotic music in honor of those who have served.

Address

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

Gary Tischler •

I went to the National Memorial Parade and got there a little late. So, I missed a few things.

I missed seeing Redskins quarterback and super-celebrity Robert Griffin III, who was honorary grand marshal of the parade and thrilled his fans. One woman said Griffin was the reason she came to the parade. I didn’t see parade grand marshal J.R. Martinez, the motivational speaker and Iraq veteran who was wounded there. I missed television star of “CSI: New York” and movie star of Lieutenant Dan fame in “Forrest Gump” Gary Sinise. I didn’t get to hear former American Idol winner Taylor Hicks belt out one tune.

But I did get to see George Washington, hailing a cab outside the Corcoran Gallery of Art. Who wouldn’t pick him up? A man walking behind me said: “You don’t see that every day.”

Griffin and Lieutenant Dan and Hicks and all those guys got big cheers on Memorial Day. But on Memorial Day, people remember. The people gathered in different places in the city over the long weekend, signaling the beginning of summer, and didn’t forget why, what and who they remembered. They cheered the loudest for the guys driving jeeps from World War II, or waving white-haired and sunny on a cloudy day, the real veterans, and those marching them, the women dressed like red-lipsticked nurses, or the Nam vets hanging from Hueys, and the men and kids dressed up in the red and blues of the Revolutionary War or carrying the banners that identified the next group from just about every engagement, battle or wars fought by members of our armed services. Operation Desert Storm, armed forces in Lebanon, the Civil War, the Korean War, Iraq and Afghanistan and children and youngster came marching at the end of Constitution Avenue bearing giant photographs of soldiers from the wars, fighting or fallen.

Up and down the avenue, you saw visitors, and locals, people from the surrounding conclaves of Maryland and Virginia, tourists from oversees, young parents with their baby-carrying carriages, the hot dogs, the dads, the kids on top of shoulders and the little dark-haired girl waving a flag at every group and everybody from the sidelines.

They heard all the anthems, the John Philip Sousa songs, the over-theres—and those caissons keep rolling our eyes have seen the glory—off we go into the wild blue yonder—from the halls of Montezuma—anchors aweigh—and heard the cadence of the three striper marching alongside the company of men marching to a different tune: “your left, your left, your right, your left”.

People will tell you that the marines, the army guys, the sailors, the flyers, the artillerymen, the slogging infantry, the musket holders and cavalry men fought for this thing and that thing and that cause and that reason, for freedom and liberty and the union, and that this would never happen again and always would. This is true, but other things are, too. I’ve never fired a shot in anger although I’ve worn the uniform for three years. A British poet thought he had it summed up: “Theirs [is] not to reason why, theirs [is] but to do or die.”

Maybe. I think they fought and died for country which means among many things all those people gathered on the avenue cheering them as they, or facsimiles thereof, marched by beaming among the flags, the heavy armored vehicle tires, the martial sounds and looked at pretty faces and beautiful faces of families. Wars are about neighborhoods and towns as much as reasons—or, rather, they’re the reason. They fought next to each other, for unit and home and country as well as what they believed in and dreamed about.

What I saw was a guy from Lebanon—isn’t that in Ohio, somebody asked and it is, but not that one—who raised his sons here in Maryland but still had family in that country whose capital Beirut was once called the Paris of the Middle East, and which is squarely within sounds of guns and rockets flying overhead or next door. I saw a man with a flag in his hat, and couples clutching each other, watching the marchers intently.

They cheered the bands from everywhere here and out there, the tubas shining without sunlight, the cheerleaders and twirlers, the baton throwers and drummers and the boys in the big hats from places American: kids from Beaverton, Oregon; Hillsborough, North Carolina; Schenectady, New York; Bayonne, New Jersey; Cache, Oklahoma; Ford Wayne, Indiana; Farmington, Missouri; Huntsville, Alabama; and Hope, Arkansas, where Bill Clinton grew up more or less.

They commemorated the 70th anniversary of World War II, the 50th anniversary of the Korean War and the 60th anniversary of the Vietnam War. Tattooed riders with white beards roared by, rolling thunderously.

A high school kid heard a high school band tune up to “Louie, Louie” and asked if that was an army song. I said, “Nope, that was a high school song. A rock and roll song.”

I didn’t see J.R., Gary, RG III or Taylor.

But resting at the World War II Memorial, I saw a man in a black jacket walking lightly with a cane, his white hair visible from a distance. I met Herman Zeitchik, the 89-year-old Army veteran who had landed on Utah Beach on D-Day and went all the way up France and Luxembourg and Belgium in the Ardennes Forest during the Battle of the Bulge and into Germany and came out the other side at the end of World War II.

He told stories: “I was in Patton’s army, artillery, and I was at the Bulge in the Huertgen Forest.” Somebody talked about the German 88s, a fearsome artillery that bludgeoned American GIs. “Don’t mention that number to me,” he said. He was clear eyed. “I’m Jewish, but we couldn’t be identified as such, in case we got captured by our dog tags.” He showed us his dog tags. Zeitchik helped to liberate a concentration camp at the end. He recently was at the Holocaust Commemoration at the Holocaust Museum. He was awarded the Chevalier French Legion of Honor. “In France, and in Belgium and Luxembourg, they just treated us like kings and heroes.” He described General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., the son of the American president, marching visibly on the beach at Utah. “People thought he would get killed,” he said. Roosevelt died of a heart attack, later in the war.

He wore his medals, his rifleman badge, his hat, he looked not like a survivor but like someone who had done honorable service in the greatest of all the wars. Now, he was telling stories and answering questions and shaking hands with another army man who had served in Cairo during the war.

They were making memories on Memorial Day, all the things worth remembering and keeping alive and passing on. Beyond “Louie, Louie.” We gotta go.

Georgetowner • May 23, 2013

Capital Collections Estate Auction

May 17th, 2013 at 10:00 AM | Free | info@weschlers.com | Tel: 202-628-1281 | Event Website

Capital Collections Estate Auctions are held approximately six times a year and combine American & European furniture & decorations, Asian works of art, jewelry, coins & watches, paintings, prints, drawings & sculpture and 20th century decorative arts. The auctions are held on Fridays and are available for exhibit the Saturday prior to the sale through Thursday.

An illustrated catalogue accompanies each sale and is available for purchase and online viewing at www.weschlers.com

Address

909 E Street NW

Concert for Life

May 17th, 2013 at 08:00 PM | $25.00 | carderdp@aol.com | Tel: 703-915-1889 | Event Website](http://www.concertforlife.org/)

The 20th Concert for Life AIDS benefit will be held at 8:00 PM on Friday, May 17, at Foundry United Methodist Church, 1500 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036. This year’s theme will be “Looking Back, Living Forward.”

100% of the proceeds from this all-volunteer, non-sectarian concert will go to beneficiary organizations that help people living with HIV/AIDS. Tickets are available at the door or online at www.concertforlife.org – Concert $25, Concert/Reception $75.

Address

Foundry United Methodist Church; 1500 16th Street NW

DC Shorts Laughs – Short Comedy Films and Stand-Up Comedy All in One Night

May 17th, 2013 at 07:00 PM | $15-$25 | lgross@scottcircle.com | Tel: 202-393-4266 | [Event Website](http://laughs.dcshorts.com/)

Summer is so close – so get ready for the giddy times ahead with some of the DC Short’s favorite comedy films – and live performances by the area’s top stand-up comedians from the famed Funniest Feds competition.

Address

U.S. Navy Memorial Heritage Center – Burke Theater, 701 Pennsylvania Ave., NW; Washington, DC 20001

Coldwell Banker & Operation Paws for Homes to Host a Pet Adoption Event

May 18th, 2013 at 12:00 PM | mnute@cbmove.com | Tel: 202-333-6100 | [Event Website](http://w.ophrescue.com/#ld)

OPH anticipates bringing a wide variety of dog breeds and ages… even puppies. Visit OPH’s “Adoptable Dogs” section on their website www.ophrescue.org . During our last three events a total of over 35 dogs were placed in their forever homes. With your help we can make this event even more successful.
We hope that you will come to our meet and greet with the pets and visit with volunteers from Operation Paws for Homes and a group of Coldwell Banker’s very own pet friendly agents.
Address

Georgetown Washington Harbour, 3000 K Street, NW, Suite 101

Music on the Lawn – Whitsunday

May 19th, 2013 at 12:00 PM | Free | office@gracedc.org | Tel: 202-333-7100 | Event Website](http://gracedc.org/news/upcoming.php)

Local musicians Herman Burney and Marshall Keys will be entertaining us with their bluesy jazz! Please join us and feel free to bring a picnic lunch. We’ll also have cake and festive drinks to help celebrate Whitsunday, which is considered to the birthday of the church.

Address

Grace Episcopal Church, Georgetown; 1041 Wisconsin Avenue, NW

Seven Hills Wine Dinner at Blue Duck Tavern

May 20th, 2013 at 07:30 PM | $145, plus tax & gratuity | marvina.williams@hyatt.com | Tel: 2024196755 | Event Website](http://www.blueducktavern.com/gallery/blueduck/index.html?icamp=blueducktavernredirect)

Join Executive Chef Sebastien Archambault & Chef de Cuisine John Melfi for an intimate, four-course dinner with Erik McLaughlin of Seven Hills Winery, one of the pioneering wineries in Washington State.

Wines to be poured include:

Seven Hills Riesling

Seven Hills Merlot

Seven Hills Cabernet

Plus, two single-varietal library selections

Address

Blue Duck Tavern; 1201 24th Street NW

Lisa Gillespie • May 14, 2013

Twenty years ago, Leah Strugis decided to take up a hobby outside of teaching in Juneau, Alaska, a community founded on gold mining with a population of 17 people. She enrolled in the local community college in a jewelry-making course, and 20 years later, she produces around 1,000 pieces of jewelry a month, some of which are sold at the Eastern Market outdoor fair each weekend.

Sturgis makes everything by hand, meaning that she does not use any hand or electronic tools to aid in what she calls, “abstract, organic and temporary” jewelry in her Alexandria, Va., home that she shares with her musician husband, Frank Solivan.

Sturgis attributes her success to customers at Eastern Market, where she makes half her sales, she says. Another portion comes from wholesale shows, where small boutiques and art galleries and artists meet to purchase items for regional shops. She goes to around 12 art shows every year, and because of this, her pieces are in shops from D.C. to Alaska.

She made the leap out of teaching into jewelry when her husband began working with the U.S. Navy Band and they moved from Alaska to D.C. ten years ago. She said the first few years she did not make much profit from her art, but she was circulating between local outdoor markets and building clientele. Seven years ago, she was invited to a whole sale show and that’s when she started increasing her volume.

“I went from having two or three stories that carried my work to within a few years, 120 stores,” which she describes as an on-the-floor catalog.

She started as a buyer for Imagine Artwear, an Alexandria handicraft boutique, but going in as a seller “opened my eyes to what was going on in the industry… this is how you get yourself out there and this how you get your jewelry into the hands of people.”
She travels around the country to these wholesale shows, which she would like to rely on, “but it’s so much work to do that. I have that at my fingertips with Eastern Market — it’s fun to be at Eastern Market.”

Steps Sturgis took to grow her business included making business cards and taking a class on “From Amateur to Professional” in Old Town Alexandria. She wants to keep her business small and to continue being the sole creator of her products, but she sees adding employees to handle her website, shipping pieces and financials.

“Still, as much as I want my business to grow, I want to primarily be the full maker. That’s something that I have a lot of integrity in, they know my hands were on it,” she said.

A few years ago, when her husband decided to quit the Navy Band and form a full-time bluegrass band, Frank Solivan and the Dirty Kitchen. She recently created a new line comprising of mandolin and guitar strings, “A perfect marriage of our two worlds,” she said.

To see Sturgis’ work, visit Leahsturgis.com, or visit Eastern Market. [gallery ids="101297,149993" nav="thumbs"]

Georgetowner • May 13, 2013

Opening Reception: Poetic Visions artworks by Brenda Kingery

May 10, 6 p.m. | FREE | gallery@callowayart.com | Tel: 202-965-4601 | Event Website

Kingery’s paintings have been described as Narrative Symbolism. Her work depicts a shared history of indigenous cultures, filled with life, movement and memories in a series of patterns that can almost be described as visual tapestries. Kingery was appointed in 2007 by the President of the United States to board of trustees of the Institute of American Indian and Native Alaskans in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Address

1643 Wisconsin Ave NW

85th Annual Georgetown Garden Tour

May 11, 10 a.m. | 35 | Event Website

Georgetown’s most intriguing gardens, open from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The tour is presented each year by the Georgetown Garden Club. It is supported by the generous contributions of neighbors and local merchants and benefits local environmental and beautification projects. Christ Church, 31st and O Streets NW, will serve as headquarters for the tour. Included in the $35 ticket price is an afternoon tea served, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at Keith Hall, Christ Church.

Address

Christ Church, 31st and O Streets NW

Copperthite Donation at Library

May 11, 2 p.m. | Event Website](http://www.cocopieco.com/)

Pie reception and donation of 1913 landmark photograph to Georgetown Public Library’s Peabody Collection on the occasion the 125th anniversary of the Connecticut-Copperthite Pie Baking Company; 3260 R St., N.W.

Address

Georgetown Library, 3260 R St., N.W.

The Castleton Festival’s Annual Viva La Musica Gala

May 11, 6:30 p.m. | $500 | BoxOffice@castletonfestival.org | Tel: 1-866-974-0767 | [Event Website](http://www.castletonfestival.org/)

The Castleton Festival’s annual Viva La Musica Gala, a benefit performance, silent auction and dinner, supports Maestro Lorin Maazel’s Castleton Artists Training Seminar (C.A.T.S.), a rigorous, credit-earning, eight-week program where promising young artists attend classes and coaching with professional artists, gaining invaluable artistic experience. This year’s gala will feature Grammy winner Susan Graham, accomplished pianist Alessandro Taverna and a special appearance by the US Army Chorus.

Address

Metropolitan Club of the City of Washington, 1700 H Street NW

Shortcut to Europe: European Union Embassies’ Open House

May 11, 10 a.m. | Free | emily@pivotpointcom.com | [Event Website](http://passportdc.org/)

Enjoy authentic music, dance, food, film, and art from 28 distinctive nations along with a rare behind-the-scenes look into the European Union embassies. Complimentary shuttle buses transport visitors along the embassy routes. Participating embassies include: Croatia, Denmark, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia, United Kingdom, Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, France, Slovakia, and Sweden. Admission is free, no reservations required, and complimentary shuttle service is provided.

Washington, DC and surrounding neighborhoods

Dumbarton House: An Ice Cream Sunday

May 12, 1 p.m. | $6 per child or adult and free for NSCDA and Dumbarton House members | education@DumbartonHouse.org | Tel: 202.337.2288 | [Event Website](http://icecreamsundaymay.eventbrite.com/#)

From 1 p.m. to 3 p.m, bring the family to make your own ice cream treats as well as sample an ice cream flavor popular during the Federal period at Dumbarton House. End your visit with a tour of Dumbarton House to learn about the history of early Georgetown First Lady Dolley Madison, a visitor to the historic home, who first popularized ice cream in America when she served it at the White House. Admission is $6 per child or adult and free for NSCDA and Dumbarton House members.

Address

2715 Q Street, NW

Georgetowner • May 9, 2013

Georgetown University Performing Arts: “Once Wild: Isadora in Russia”

May 3nd, 2013 at 08:00 PM | 25.00 | Tel: (202) 687-2787 | Event Website

On Friday May 3rd & Saturday, May 4th at 8 p.m. & Sunday, May 5th at 2 p.m., attend the world premiere dance theater collaboration of Once Wild: Isadora in Russia at the Davis Performing Arts Center, Gonda Theatre. Written by Helen Hayes Award winning playwright, Norman Allen with original music by Dominik Maican, and choreography by Cynthia Word. Once Wild steps across creative boundaries to offer a bold, new vision of seminal artist Isadora Duncan, her work and her years in Bolshevik Russia.

Address

Davis Performing Arts Center, Gonda Theatre at Georgetown University; 37th and O Street, NW

L’Eclat de Verre: “BLUE NARRATIVES” Opening Reception

May 3rd, 2013 at 06:00 PM | Tel: 202.333.6840 | Event Website](http://www.eclatdeverre.com/us/)

Save the date for the opening reception of “Blue Narratives” with the photographer Caroline von Tuempling on Friday, May 3, from 6 to 8 p.m. On view from Saturday, May 4, through Saturday, June 29, enjoy Tuempling’s first photographic exhibition at L’Eclat de Verre. In this limited edition collection of prints in large format, Tuempling invites us to travel with her and explore the beauty of blue.

Address

L’Eclat de Verre; 3336 M Street, NW

60th Annual Landon Azalea Garden Festival

May 3rd, 2013 at 10:00 AM | Free | alexis_polakoff@landon.net | Tel: 301-320-1014 | [Event Website](https://www.facebook.com/AzaleaFestival)

Come celebrate the 60th Annual Landon Azalea Garden Festival, May 3 to 5, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., daily. The weekend Festival offers something for everyone. Tour the two-and-a-half-acre azalea garden and shop the bountiful plant sale. FunLand offers rides/fun foods for kids. The more than 60 vendors at Specialty Boutiques, and antiques/collectables at Bearly Used Collection provide great shopping. Musical entertainment all weekend. Mark’s Run on Sun. at 8 a.m. is an annual 5k race and 1-mile fun run (www.marksrun.org).

Address

Landon School; 6101 Wilson Lane; Bethesda, MD 20817

Dumbarton Oaks Park: First Open House for Historic Park

May 4th, 2013 at 10:00 AM | [Event Website](

Dumbarton Oaks Park Conservancy is hosting an Open House for one of Washington’s most historic and bucolic urban parks. The park, designed by Beatrix Farrand and once enjoyed by local gentry, foreign dignitaries and poets, is now part of Rock Creek Park, one of 401 National Parks Service properties across the country.

Join the Open House on Saturday, May 4 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., for a free children’s music class in the meadow with the Levine School of music (parents welcome).

Address

3265 S Street, NW

Choral Evensong

May 4th, 2013 at 05:00 PM | Tel: 202-333-6677

Music of Philip Radcliffe, Thomas Tallis, and John Rutter. Sung by the professional Choir of Christ Church this series is free and open to the public as a gift to the community.

Address

Christ Church; Georgetown, 31st & O Street NW

The Little Folks School 40th Anniversary Gala & Auction “Make Our Garden Grow”

May 4th, 2013 at 07:00 PM | $250 per person ($175 tax deductible) | LFS2013auction@gmail.com | Tel: (202) 333-657 | [Event Website](http://www.littlefolks.org/)

The beloved Little Folks School in Georgetown is hosting the 40th Anniversary Gala to raise funds for a spectacular new permanent home at 3247 Q Street, NW. Funds raised will support the purchase and renovation of its new building. Reception & Silent Auction at 7 pm ~ Live Auction at 9 pm

Address

National Geographic Society; 1145 17th St NW

BOURBON STEAK: EAST Meets WEST Dinner

May 7th, 2013 at 08:00 PM | $150 per person (excluding tax and gratuity) | Tel: 202.944.2026 | [Event Website](http://www.bourbonsteakdc.com/)

Join Chef Michael Mina as he welcomes BOURBON STEAK’s new Executive Chef John Critchley and introduces PABU’s Executive Chef Johah Kim to Washington, D.C. This event will feature a six-course tasting menu, designed by the three chefs and featuring new Modern American specialties from BOURBON STEAK alongside Japanese Izakaya dishes from Baltimore’s PABU. Creative cocktail, spirit and wine pairings are included. . For reservations or more information, please call 202.944.2026.

Address

BOURBON STEAK’s

2800 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Gil Schafer Presentation and Book-Signing Reception Tickets

May 9, 6 p.m. | Prices start at $50.00 | DoyleDC@DoyleNewYork.com | Tel: (202) 342-6100 | [Event Website](https://www.georgetownhousetour.com/purchase-tickets/)

Doyle New York is honored to host an evening with award-winning architect Gil Schafer. His work has been featured in numerous publications, including Architectural Digest, Elle, Décor, Veranda, The New York Times & The Wall Street Journal.

Join Doyle New York for a presentation and book signing reception at the Blake Hall at St. John’s Episcopal Church. Doors open at 6 p.m. and book signing and reception immediately following.

Address

Blake Hall at St. John’s Episcopal Church

3240 O Street NW in Georgetown

Ari Post •

Virginia is Horse Country. Plain and simple. Equestrian culture is the lifeblood of the Middleburg and Loudoun County areas, where traditions of hunting, breeding and racing date back to the Revolution. Just as entertainment is the industry and culture of Hollywood, so it goes for horses and the Piedmont. Just walking through Middleburg, there is no mistaking the town’s deep-rooted affection for all things equine, as storefronts like the Red Fox Inn, Journeymen Saddlers, Middleburg Tack Exchange and the National Sporting Library and Museum line its main street.

The surrounding area is home to the longest standing equestrian traditions in the country, from annual sporting events to hunt clubs and breeding. For more than 150 years, horse enthusiasts from across the world gather in Upperville for the Upperville Colt and Horse Show, the oldest of its kind in the country, and one that has broken a lot of ground in its lifetime. Founded in 1840, the Piedmont Foxhounds in Virginia was the first foxhunting club in the United States. There even are records indicating that while the earliest politicians were settling matters of our government’s foundation, they once interrupted their proceedings to mount their horses and join the chase when a hunt coursed through.

Of course, there is the world famous Gold Cup steeplechase race at Great Meadows in The Plains, which just took place on May 4 to a crowd of some 50,000 attendants. The competition’s six hurdle and timber horse races as well as its Jack Russell Terrier races are anticipated equestrian events worldwide (they are well known testing grounds for future Olympic champions), and draw countless vendors, tents and tailgaters.

KESWICK HORSE SHOW

May 14 – 19

Around Charlottesville, south of Middleburg and Upperville, The 109th Annual Keswick Horse Show will be held again at the historic Keswick showgrounds from Tuesday, May 14 through 19, 2013. The events this year include the Eastminster Dog Show on Wednesday night, May 15, and the “Getting Centered” dinner and silent auction to benefit the Senior Center of Charlottesville on Thursday. The weekend starts with the USHJA National Hunter Derby followed by dinner under the tent Friday night.

Saturday is always a special gathering for the entire community as the Jumper Classic is a beautiful evening that has become a Keswick tradition. Finally, Sunday’s Down Home Fish Fry on the porch will be a relaxing conclusion to a wonderful week. www.KeswickHuntClub.com

54TH ANNUAL HUNT COUNTRY STABLE TOUR

MAY 25 – 26

Trinity Episcopal Church will host its 54th Annual Hunt Country Stable Tour in and around Upperville on Memorial Day weekend, May 25 and 26. A self-guided, countywide tour of all things equestrian, farms, stables and training tracks throughout the county will open their doors for visitors to offer a rare glimpse into the life and industry of the world or horses. The Country Fair at Trinity Church, on the grounds of the church, will also feature horse-themed arts & crafts in conjunction with the event, serving ice cream, treats for dogs and cats and more.

“The Stable Tour is a unique opportunity for the farmers to finally get their barns painted and show them off and teach people about what goes on at each farm,” says Betsy Crenshaw, of Trinity Episcopal Church. “And visitors are not otherwise allowed on these farms—these are privately owned farms and businesses. But this weekend, guests can enjoy these beautiful facilities, pet horses and feed them carrots, and enjoy this beautiful exchange. It’s also a day in the country—a chance to ride on some dirt roads, get your car good and dirty, and see what makes our area tick—which is the horse.”

Among the tour highlights is the Middleburg Training Track, an early-bird special for true horse lovers. This stop is an opportunity to stand rail-side and see Thoroughbreds condition and train. “This is where horses all around Virginia are trained to be race horses,” says Crenshaw. “If they are born here, they learn to be racehorses here.”

Horses are sent here as yearlings to be broken and begin their preliminary training before proceeding onto national and international tracks. Horses are conditioned year-round and ship out on race day from the track to compete. Built in 1956 by Paul Mellon, the facility features a 7/8-mile track with a four-stall starting gate, eleven barns, a tack room, bunk rooms and a veterinarian’s office. The demonstration is Saturday morning only from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. So, don’t be late.

On Saturday, May 25, The Piedmont Coaching Club will provide a demonstration, and on Sunday there will be an exhibit of traditional hunting attire. www.TrinityUpperville.org

UPPERVILLE COLT AND HORSE SHOW

JUNE 3 – 9

The Upperville Colt and Horse Show is the nation’s oldest horse show, dating back to 1853. Previous to the initiation of this national event, horses and stallions had been exhibited for prizes at country and state fairs, but it is widely accepted that the proper horse show we know today was introduced on the American sporting scene at Upperville. From the first year, there were so many entries and interest was so keen that a sponsoring club was immediately formed, and at the turn of the century, Upperville expanded its mission to become a five-day exhibition with a wide entry list of the finest equestrian talent in the world.

Featuring Hunting, Jumping and Breeding categories, our country’s oldest horse show features rider events from children’s competitions to Olympic and World Cup riders and horses. The event’s beautiful, grassy showgrounds, nestled in Loudoun’s rolling foothills, offers visi- tors a packed schedule of daily events steeped in the equestrian tradition, and involves over two thousand horse and rider combinations.

Around the world, horses are bred to jump, and at Upperville, many breeds are represented in the jumper competitions. The European horses, which are generally larger and heavier than most American breeds, are bred both in Europe and the United States specially to be used as sport horses, or riding horses. Grand prix level horses are the most talented jumpers in the show world a successful grand prix horse often has a price tag of $500,000 or more. Young prospects are usually broken to ride at two or three years of age and after training and experience over fences, make it to the jumper show rings. A horse could make it to the grand prix ring at the relatively early age of six or seven years, and continue to compete through its late teens.

The goal of many riders is of course to compete as a member of the United States Equestrian Team and ultimately the Olympics and there is no better place to test the waters than the Upperville Colt and Horse Show. www.Upperville.com

FRIDAY NIGHT POLO AT EDEN GLEN

Eden Glen is a small community just outside of Middleburg, known for its longstanding adoration of all things equestrian. Founded in 1787, the community is the year round center for fox hunting, steeplechase racing and polo on the East Coast. Surrounding the park is nothing but grazing land for horses, woods and rivers there is nothing to hear but the sweet songs of nature. A mile and a half from Eden Glen is one of the best riding facilities in the area, Fox Chase. This is the place to go for all riders, with events for children and adults of all ages, where guests are also welcome to board horses. Their most popular event by far is Friday night polo at Great Meadows, which gives spectators an opportunity to see the sport like never before.

Georgetowner • May 1, 2013

Sam Bush at The Hamilton Live

April 25th, 2013 at 07:30 PM | $51.50-$56 | ashleyscott@lotosnile.com | Tel: 202-787-1000 | Event Website

Sam Bush with openers Mark Walbridge, Bob Shank, and Sam Morgan of Hickory Wind. Grammy Award winning multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Sam Bush, known as the King of Telluride and the King of Newgrass, has helped to expand the horizons of bluegrass music, fusing it with jazz, rock, blues, and funk. He’s the co-founder of the genre-bending New Grass Revival and an in-demand musician who has played with Emmylou Harris, Bela Fleck, Charlie Haden, Lyle Lovett and Garth Brooks, among others.

Address

The Hamilton; 600 14th Street, N.W.

STASH

April 26th, 2013 at 06:00 PM | 0 | info@heinercontemporary.com | Tel: 202-338-0072 | Event Website

April 26 – June 8

Opening Reception: April 26, 6-8pm

Heiner Contemporary is pleased to announce STASH, an exhibition culled from the gallery’s flat files and storage, featuring work by Polly Apfelbaum, Ingrid Calame, Tara Donovan, Deborah Kass, Kate Shepherd, Jon-Phillip Sheridan and Austin Thomas. STASH diverges from typical programming by presenting artwork that is usually viewed by appointment.

Address

1675 Wisconsin Avenue NW

Georgetown House Tour 2013

April 27th, 2013 at 11:00 AM | $45-50 | Tel: 202-338-2287 | Event Website](https://stjohnsgeorgetown.ejoinme.org/MyPages/GeorgetownHouseTour/tabid/203906/Default.aspx)

Come to Georgetown on April 27th for the Georgetown House Tour featuring eight to twelve of Georgetown’s most beautiful homes. Every home on the Tour will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Included in your ticket price is a not-to-be missed Parish Tea in Blake Hall at the historic St. John’s Church from 2 to 5 p.m.

Address

St. John’s Church; 3240 O Street, NW

Bonhams Appraisals, Auction Highlights

April 27th, 2013 at 11:00 AM | Free | Tel: 202-333-1696

Bonhams will exhibit auction items and offer free appraisals during the Spring Exhibition Weekend. The exhibition is free and open to the public. Complimentary appraisals are available on April 27 by appointment. 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday. Contact Martin Gammon at Bonhams

Address

Four Seasons Hotel in Georgetown.

Washington Jewish Music Festival Opening Night: Noa

April 28th, 2013 at 07:30 PM | $38; $32 Member/Student with ID/Senior VIP (includes private reception and priority seating): $100 | [Event Website](http://washingtondcjcc.org/center-for-arts/music/wjmf/)

Celebrated Israeli artist Noa (Achinoam Nini) will kick off the 2013 Washington Jewish Music Festival with an homage to the beautiful Hebrew songs that inspired her personally and have molded Israeli culture and consciousness for the past 50 years. Noa, accompanied by musical director Gil Dor and the Yoed Nir String Quartet, will play some of her most famous songs from the past 23 years, as well as music from her most recent album The Israeli Songbook.

Sponsored by Louie and Ralph Dweck

Address

Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center; 7995 Georgia Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910

Opening of The Kreeger Museum Reflecting Pool and John L. Dreyfuss Exhibition

May 1st, 2013 at 10:00 AM | $7-$10 | visitorservices@kreegermuseum.org | Tel: 202-338-3552 | [Event Website](http://www.kreegermuseum.org/exhibitions/view/upcoming)

The Kreeger Museum is pleased to announce the opening of Inventions by John L. Dreyfuss on May 1, 2013. This inaugural exhibit around the Museum’s new reflecting pool includes several large-scale works from the sculptor’s Inventions series and marks a new exhibition space for the Museum.

In honor of The Kreeger Museum’s 20th anniversary in 2014, three additional pieces will be fabricated and installed next spring to complete this exhibition.

Address

The Kreeger Museum, 2401 Foxhall Road, NW

Blues Alley Jazz Night at the Fourth Estate Restaurant

May 1st, 2013 at 06:00 PM | jserwer@press.org | Tel: 202-662-7638 | [Event Website](http://www.press.org/restaurants/fourth-estate)

Through its exclusive partnership with Blues Alley, Georgetown’s iconic home for jazz, The Fourth Estate is thrilled to present “Jazz Night”.

On Wednesday May 1, The Fourth Estate restaurant will be hosting performances by musician-members of the renowned Blues Alley Youth Orchestra. Now is your chance to hear the Oscar Peterson or Joshua Redman of the future.

All attendees will receive 10% off their bill and will also receive discounts to Blues Alley shows in Georgetown.

Address

National Press Club; Fourth Estate Restaurant; 529 14th Street, NW., 13th Floor

Wally Greeves • April 25, 2013

The clicketty-clack of ?rubber tires hitting? highway cement ?separations is the only thing ?that I was really thinking? about when, after hurtling ?through a couple of still-?confusing, identical looking roadway roundabouts, ?the charming and mystical ?town of Pinehurst, North ?Carolina, appeared from? the clouds out of nowhere.?“Field of Dreams,” “Bagger ?Vance,” and the two golfers? (I mean hunters) that found ?Brigadoon came to mind. Far away-sounding French horns tapered off as we drove into the charming golf village that is busy readying itself for back-to-back men and women U.S. Opens in 2014. Non-chain bookshops, clothing boutiques and eateries line the streets of the small village business district, surrounded by stunning Carolina homes that busy local realtors rent for as much as $75,000 a week during the Open. On our visit, the Holly was our resort home away from home.
Christened in 1895, with dark oak passages and suck-you-in cute creaky hallways that cause women to grab you by the arm, the Holly was consummate in its décor down to its two restaurants that offer collar-only steak at night and mouth-melting banana strawberry smoothies in early a.m. pre-golf or spa attire.

Boasting nine golf courses, the Donald Ross designed Pinehurst #2 is, by far, the most infamous and will host the Open in 2014. Teeing off at 8:40a.m. in 39-degree rain weather may make it hard for me to recognize the audience-flocked fairways come Open time, but I will know that’s where they are by watching the momentarily grief-stricken amazed looks on the faces of pro-golfers as they watch their balls roll off perfectly groomed, innocent-looking, turtle-backed greens. Showering after my humbling round, the thought occurred to me that I had more of a chance of standing at the back of the tub and successfully tossing a wet bar of soap onto the elevated bathtub corner than I did of hitting any kind of iron shot that the #2 greens would hold. Fortunate to play my round with a member of the 106-year-old, Pinehurst-based golfing fraternity, the Tin Whistles (think well-dressed, philanthropic Hell’s Angels of golf), I was treated to warm and funny stories in the history-laden clubhouse, complete with walls sporting action pictures of every who’s-who and who has been in the game of golf.

Creamy crab and sweet corn bisque with lightly toasted fritters floating in it, and the cheerful one-liner-offering staff at the resort’s anchor facility, Carolina Dining Room, helped me feel better about the damage #2 did to my permanent record and my golf-battered ego. Bellboys, shuttle drivers, caddies and other good time co- conspirators can play Pinehurst courses at their leisure with few restrictions, which says a lot to me about a golf resort. It serves as a reminder to me that whatever multi-starred and architecturally crisp resort you may wander into, it will be the people that dictate carefree afternoon naps or the cause of unsettling heartburn.

Encouraged by the staff at the clubhouse the next morning and heartily welcomed by the threesome and caddie I was paired with, my wife rode with us as we teed off at 8:27 a.m. on Pinehurst #4. The threesome we were golfing with was at Pinehurst celebrating one brother’s victorious bout with leukemia from the other brother’s marrow donation, and the son’s recovery from a double hip operation. This inspirational dynamic, our scratch-shooting caddie Bradley’s witty repartee, my wife’s presence and the sunny day all made up for the amount of time I spent in the course’s legendary Fazio-created 180 sand traps. This winter was a long one in Pinehurst, and I just missed seeing the blooming azaleas and dogwoods that #4 usually boasts at this time of year. Nevertheless, the appealing monochromatic-magic created by pine needle boughs every- where satiated my aesthetic appetite and made it easier to find wayward tee shots.

Manufacturing empathy and sensitivity for the non- golfer are wasted efforts at Pinehurst because of the number of other activities avail- able to engage in as well as the interesting historical nature of the resort. My wife is still showing off a pedicure she received from a choice of more than 50 treatments at the spa, and there are sinful amounts of money-spending opportunities that include clothes, tennis, food, real estate, antiques, alcohol, pottery and any item you ever thought of with the putter boy logo spawned the weekend long laughable request for “more putter butter, please.” Just the fact that you find yourself requesting extra butter is relaxation recognition. The front porch of the Carolina in the early evening is a loafer wearing, cigar-smoking, pre-dinner drink eruption of laughter experience dotted with expert bag pipe tunes, proffered by kilt-wearing musicians. In the early 1900s, Annie Oakley lived at Pinehurst for almost 10 years, gave shooting exhibitions at the Carolina and taught shooting to more than 125,000 persons. The Town of Southern Pines is five miles away, has a railroad track right through the middle of it, quaint cafes, antiques stores, many latte places, and little benches in the middle of town with non-stressed-looking people sitting at them and smiling at each other’s stories.

Pinehurst #8 is a full seven minutes away from the main clubhouse by pleasant shuttle and lays out where the Pinehurst Gun Club once did. Even in all its regalia and splendor, with en- trance roads to Pinehurst nearby and abundant housing, the proximity of courses 1 through 5 can be overwhelming. Views of the adjacent fairways from the clubhouse showcase meticulously groomed areas of green expanse dot- ted with golfers swinging their clubs like bees beating their wings, expeditiously being herded toward green pollination by white-uniformed “bee-keeping” caddies. I had the first tee time of the day at #8 on Sunday, and I enjoyed all 420 acres of it. Paired up with the resort requisite cigar smoking, beer drinking, long-ball hitting, loud Texan and his equally enjoyable Coloradan brother-in-law, we made shots that would have made Annie Oakley proud. The Natural wet- lands combined with rolling hills through expansive pines and positively alone feel to this tract made it the favorite for me of the three courses I played in my weekend at Pinehurst.

Thanks to a certain colonel and his wife hailing from Pinehurst #7, we had a genuine Carolina barbecue open house to stop by after showering and checking out of the Holly. What a pleasurable way to end a great trip. I overheard the host say to my wife “Look at Wally, he is perfectly happy and doesn’t want to leave,” and at that moment he was right. I was truly lost in too much of a good thing.

For more information, visit Pinehurst.com. Pinehurst Resort, 80 Carolina Vista Drive, Pinehurst, N.C. 28374 — (855)-235-8507

Wandergolf will be a frequently appearing golf column in The Georgetowner that will be reporting on the golf interests of Washingtonians. If you have suggestions for columns or comments please email them to wally@wandergolf.com
[gallery ids="101257,147650,147628,147645,147640,147635" nav="thumbs"]