The Georgetown Metropolitan

God morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• New bagel shop open!
• Speaking of spring fund raisers, the Georgetown Village spring gala is June 14th.

Come on out on June 3rd for the Friends of Volta Park’s annual spring cocktail party fundraiser! The party will be held at the George Town club from 4:30 – 6:30. This is one of my favorite annual get-togethers and a great way to catch up with neighbors.

From the group’s annoucement:

We’re pleased to announce that this year’s Volta Park Cocktail Party & Fundraiser returns to the George Town Club on June 3!

Historically, each spring, members of our community who care about Volta Park come together for its most important fundraiser of the year. Guests enjoy cocktails and appetizers while they bid on luxury items, gift certificates for dining and hotel experiences, vacations, and more, all donated by generous businesses and friends in our community.

Last year’s party – our first at the George Town Club – was such a success we’ve decided to gather there again this year, Saturday, June 3, from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. As is always the case, this event will have limited tickets and will sell out so please buy your tickets – $225 each on our “Donate” page or Venmo @FriendsofVoltaPark to secure your spot.

This year’s party is sponsored by Washington Fine Properties’ Liz D’Angio and Nancy Taylor Bubes, SeoulSpice, Georgetown University and Amore Learning. We thank each of these businesses and organizations for their steadfast support of our community.

As the source for the majority of our contributed donations and funding each year, this event is a must-attend for all of our Volta Park supporters. We hope to see you there!

Hope to see you all there!

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Bike to Work Day at Georgetown had both a giant water drop and a giant shad!
• Hardy Middle School principal leaves after parents’ complaints.

On May 25th, the City Tavern Club will be host to an event to kick off an effort to construct a memorial in DC to the middle passage. The evening will feature Congresswomen Eleanor Holmes Norton and the director of the Georgetown African American Historical Landmark Project, Adrena Crockett. It will start at 6:30 pm; sign up by emailing the club at Info@CityTaverndc.org.

This event continues an effort that the City Tavern has undertaken in recent years to reconcile with its past. The tavern was run for many years using enslaved labor, which did not come to an end until DC emancipation in 1862. Helping put a human face to that story, local historian Yvette LaGonterie has traced one particular family’s experience under bondage at the building. The club has installed a permanent display to honor one of that family’s member. Hosting this event is part of that ongoing effort.

Additionally, the City Tavern will host another event the night before at 6:30 pm. This will be a book talk and signing for Dr. Judith Reifsteck. Her book, Memoried and Storied, discusses the four lynchings in the South and how modern discussions of these events can help advance reconciliation and healing.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Bike to Work day this Friday! If you work from home, make it a Bike Around in a Loop to Work Day (that’s what I do a couple times a week at least…)
• Sara’s Market is back!

Monday night a lively group packed the community meeting room at the library to hear about the Georgetown Community Access and Circulation Study. The meeting was lead by the community engagement consultants, LINK, but DDOT representatives also spoke.

The main thrust of the first half of the meeting was to communicate what the study is, and isn’t. On the “is” side includes a list of possible changes to the way people travel to and from the neighborhood in the short and medium term. Short term items are things that can be installed in 1-3 years (or faster) that don’t need any specific budget authorization. This includes things like curb bulb outs or flex post installation. The medium term includes things that would take more like 2-4 years, and require more extensive design work, but not a full blown environmental review, for instance. That might include things like making certain streets one-way.

What the study is not going to address are projects on either end of short or medium term. In other words, extremely short term projects that already have a review process in place will not be included, simply because they can already be pursued. For instance, if you think an intersection without a stop sign could use one, you can already ask for one from DDOT (whether you’ll get it depends on the facts and circumstances). And on the flip side, long term items are also not included in the study simply because they are so big that they will need their own studies to be advanced. The obvious example for this is a Georgetown Metro station. We might all want it, but this study would have no power to bring it any closer to fruition so DDOT doesn’t want to waste time and money on the idea through the study.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• What you (may have) missed at the Garden Tour.
• I’m happy to report that the Volta pool fence is repaired, but the pool is still empty. I am pushing to get DPR to clean it up and fill it with water in time for Memorial Day weekend. (Separately, city crews cut through the iron fence on the north side of the park to get a truck out. Yet another thing at Volta Park the city needs to fix now!)

The time is here! Start watering those street trees!

It might feel like it’s rained a lot recently. And it has. But it’s already getting pretty hot. So you need to make sure every week that young trees have actually received at least 25 gallons of water a week. Heavy but brief rain showers don’t actually drop that much water on us. So it’s good to supplement it with water from a hose.

If it’s a new tree, hopefully it has an ooze tube, those large bags around the base of the tree that can be filled from a hole on the top. Fill them up once a week and you’re all set. If you don’t have one, you can just leave a hose dribbling out water for about 20-30 minutes, and that will suffice.

It is rewarding to see trees that were once meek become giants. I’ve lived on my current block for 11 years and I’ve already seen several trees make that transition. I’ve also seen several older trees cut down. It’s the inevitable end, but an end that can be softened by the presence of young and thriving trees. And keeping on top of watering them will ensure their future for many more years.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Great Georgetown-centric Q&A Cafe today as Carol interviews the man renovating Julia Child’s house.
• $4 million price drop for Jackie Kennedy’s old home. (Still crazy expensive…)

This week for Georgetown Time Machine, I’m dipping again into the 1993 photos, as I’ve done a lot recently. This one shows M St. just east of Potomac. And the photo really highlights something that has largely left M St.: cheap food.

From left to right, this stretch had a Subway shop, a Burrito Brothers, and a pizza shop (whose name escapes me). Nowadays this stretch includes Aesop (an expensive bodycare shop) and Dyptique (an expensive fragrance shop).