The Georgetown Metropolitan

COMMUNITY ANNOUNCEMENT – JANUARY 2024 

Since 1989, with strong support from the Georgetown community, Trees for  Georgetown^TM (TFG) has planted and cared for over 3,000 trees on the streets of  Georgetown. We have inoculated Elm trees on Q Street, prolonging their lives, and  have removed dead trees and stumps to make way for new trees. Our mission is  to maintain the street tree canopy on the residential streets of Georgetown. For 

many years, TFG worked with the Citizens Association of Georgetown (CAG) as  our fiscal agent, allowing tax-deductible donations to be made out to TFG through  their 501(c)(3) entity. CAG has recently informed the Trees for Georgetown  volunteer group that it is realigning its priorities and does not wish to sponsor our  group and its activities anymore. 

Accordingly, Trees for Georgetown is pleased to announce that Casey Trees, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that works to restore, enhance and protect the  tree canopy of Washington, DC through tree planting, education,  community action, and land preservation, has agreed to step in as our fiscal agent. 

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Nice flashback to when the canal had water in it when it froze and you could skate on it. Seems that they always drain it for winter these days sadly (probably for the better, repair-wise).
• Talk at the City Tavern Club next week on lingering impacts of the Iraq War.

After we finally got some substantial snow for the first time in years, I’ve decided to re-reun my post from 2016 on where the best sledding is around here, assuming/hoping we get more snow this winter:

A good blow of snow is in the forecast for this Friday. And if it is strong enough, you might be looking for a place to sled. But if you’re new to town, you might not know the best sledding hills. GM will help you out (at least for areas in and around Georgetown).

Probably the best location in Georgetown proper is the hill off the north side of Montrose Park (seen above). It’s fairly steep. The only tricky part is avoiding the giant tulip poplar that stands at the bottom of the hill. Steering ability is a must here.

The hill off of Reservoir Rd. just west of Georgetown Hospital also gets some use on snowy days. It’s not nearly as steep as the Montrose Park hill, but it’s much longer (if you can get your speed up).

For little tots, even the meager dips near the northwest corner of Volta Park can be enough. It may depend on the snow quality whether you’ll actually even get going at all there.

Beyond Georgetown, GM hears that Battery Kemble Park off Chain Bridge Rd. in Kent is a very popular spot. (ed. to add: I can say for a fact this is a great hill, albeit rather crowded)

Anyone have any other suggestions?

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Hopefully you didn’t miss it, but trash is getting picked up today despite the snow. Obviously it would normally be picked up Tuesday, but with MLK Day it got pushed back. The snow did not push it back any further. If you did miss it, the next trash day will be Saturday, again reflecting the MLK Day shift.
• Jack Evans is not running to challenge Brooke Pinto for the Ward 2 Councilmember seat.

A new shop is coming to the space vacated most recently by the 7-Eleven at Wisconsin and O St. The brand, M.M LaFleur, is a women’s clothing store. It is also another DTC brand, which has been a fairly consistent theme for a lot of the new shops in the neighborhood. DTC stands for “direct to consumer” and it encompasses all the brands you see on social media that have no (or minimal) physical presence. (In other words, they sell directly to consumers via delivery rather than through a department store or company-owned store). In some way it makes sense that DTC brands looking to dip a toe (or leg) into bricks-and-mortar would choose Georgetown to do it. Or rather, these brands probably have more to gain from a location in Georgetown over larger national brands that probably don’t get as large ROI from adding a new store here.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• GU’s expansion plans look towards downtown.
• Report on our last ANC meeting.

This week for Georgetown Time Machine I’m dipping back into the 1993 photos. This one is of the Georgetown institution W.T. Weaver & Sons back when they still operated as a traditional hardware store. Nowadays they’re still at the same address but located upstairs where they sell high end kitchen design pieces, like faucets and cabinet hardware.

W.T. Weaver & Sons was founded in Georgetown in 1889 and remains the oldest continually running shop in Georgetown. It was a general hardware store for most of its existence. Here’s a shot of this block almost 100 years ago:

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• Nice piece on the proliferation of pot shops in the neighborhood. (For the record, I did not say I was a teacher! I’m not sure how that got garbled in translation.)
• Breakfast burritos coming to Sara’s Market!!!

Last November, fencing went up around the old aqueduct abutment along the towpath. This was a replacement for flimsier fencing that had previously blocked access to the abutment. Although much sturdier than its predecessor, the new fence has already been breached.

There is no question that people want to be able to access the abutment. When access is open, it’s a popular spot for (mostly) young people to hang out (and typically consume various substances). But it’s really quite dangerous. Multiple people have died here over the recent past. Further, bottles are often thrown off the abutment to the Capital Crescent Below, which is not acceptable either. Thus, regrettably, the fence is necessary.

Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:

• The Tony of Tony and Joe’s has passed away.
• What to look forward to in 2024!