Friends of the Woodridge Library Book Sale this Saturday

The Friends of the Woodridge Library is having its fall used book sale this Saturday, November 17, from 9:30 am until 4:00 pm, at the library (located at the corner of 18th Street and Rhode Island Avenue NE).

Proceeds will benefit the nonprofit organization, which in turn supports the branch library's programming.

This is possibly the last FWL book sale before the current branch closes and an interim building is set up to make way for the new Woodridge Library. You can keep up with the details of the transition, and provide your feedback, on the project's site. A heads-up, the next community meeting is coming up on December 3 January 7, 2013, 6:00 pm, at the library.

Hope you'll come out, find a deal or three on some books, and support a great cause - see you there!

A new neighborhood just appeared in DC - Bloomingdale!

Check out this full-page advertisement from the current issue of the Washington City Paper:

It turns out Bloomingdale is a new neighborhood! Not sure exactly when it came into being, but for the sake of argument, let's assume it's happened in the last year or two.

I'm looking forward to checking this new neighborhood out! Wonder what was there before the hot new Bloomingdale neighborhood appeared? It would be neat if someone could dig up that history. Maybe it was a corn field back in the 1980s? It must have been platted some time in the 1990s, with construction beginning at the dawn of the current millennium. Great to hear that DC continues to grow!

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Now, in all honesty, this is just another example of people in one part of the city "discovering" a part of town that simply wasn't on their radar. DC's neighborhoods, from North Portal Estates to Bellevue, from the Palisades to Capitol View, have all been there for years, but some just don't have the recognition of a Dupont Circle or a Capitol Hill. Eventually, the "gentrification wave" washes over them, though, and suddenly a neighborhood becomes a "hot, new" place. Get ready for it, Deanwood. You don't really exist right now, but someday, you'll become hip and cool, and someone will declare you "new."

First step for the Post Metro section - report local election results

This weekend, Patrick B. Pexton, the Washington Post's ombudsman, wrote an article lamenting his paper's coverage of local news [The Post forgets to be local]. In it, he states that the complaint he hears most is that "The paper is so thin" and that the Metro section could use some more heft.

Map of Ward 5 from ancdc.us

I recommend the following as a start: actually report the election results for the representatives most closely tied to the people in the city that the paper calls its home: the Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners.

To the best of my knowledge, these results have not been published by a single print medium in DC (to this point). If you want them, you need to go to the Board of Election's results page. This is fantastic if you have internet access, but much of the city's population does not, and gets its news from the daily paper and evening television news, just like we all did two decades ago. Elderly neighbors and people who don't obsessively check local blogs need a place to find this information that's accessible to them.

This wouldn't need to be a flashy story, and it certainly wouldn't need a novel infographic. Just a simple map for each ward, like the one above, along with a list of each candidate and the results.

Simple. Informative. Necessary (information is the lifeblood of a functioning democracy). And the best part: NO ONE ELSE HAS DONE IT. The Post can take the lead here.

To be certain, it would be a week late, so perhaps it doesn't qualify as news anymore, but it would be a service to residents whom the Washington Post and its ombudsman yearn to serve. The new commissioners don't take office until after the first of the year, so this would still give residents time to familiarize themselves with their new representatives.

What do you say, Mr. Pexton? See what you can do about getting this feature in the paper. It might add two pages to a thin Metro section.

Art Enables Saturday Workshop

We're always happy to spread the word about events at Art Enables, one of our favorite places in Woodridge, DC, on Rhode Island Avenue NE. This weekend, check our their latest art workshop.

From their release:

Please join Art Enables for the first in a series of Second Saturday workshops

Saturday, November 10th from 1 to 3 pm* A wired workshop

Come make artwork from wire and create lines that take on a life of their own as 2D objects expand to the 3rd dimension. We’ll provide basic materials, instruction, and guidance as long as you bring the inspiration.

Second Saturday workshops are designed to increase community engagement and provide everyone a chance to participate in a variety of the creative processes and bring more art into their lives. Come tour the studio and make some art!

*Free - reservations are required so we have enough materials.

Please RSVP to events@art-enables.org

This Saturday - the first FoRIA Fall Fest

Different commercial districts around the city have had fall festivals for years, taking advantage of what is usually good weather to invite people from around the city and the region to see the great things available in those neighborhoods. Adams Morgan Day has been the granddaddy of these festivals for some time now, but thanks to increased buzz (and a lot more space to work with), the H Street Festival is quickly becoming one of the bigger ones in the city.

Thankfully, another festival is being added to the mix. A stretch of Rhode Island Avenue NE that runs through Woodridge will be hosing the first Friends of Rhode Island Avenue (FoRIA) Fall Fest this Saturday, September 22, from noon to 4 p.m.

"Downtown" Woodridge is an underutilized, under-appreciated, and under-capitalized diamond-in-the-rough. It has the bones that are required for a great commercial strip - tree-lined wide sidewalks, nearly continuous commercial frontage, lots of people within walking distance, and the proposed return of a streetcar line will give it the premium transportation that it needs to shine.

If you haven't been to Woodridge lately, head over there on Saturday and check it out, and consider joining FoRIA (it's free!) and lending a hand to their great momentum.

Northern charm and Southern efficiency?

Here's a quick story about how, even though city services in DC are so much better than in the bad old days, there still is much to be desired...

I found a license plate from a car in our front yard one morning. I sent a tweet to the DMV, asking what I should do with it. They told me to mail it to the Southwest Service Center. Unfortunately, I didn't have an envelope big enough to do so at the time, so I left the plate next to the mail pile in our entryway, planning to take it to the DMV personally when I got a chance.

That chance came yesterday. After biking to Dupont Circle for a haircut and Foggy Bottom for a appointment with my doctor, I headed down to Southwest to give the plate to the DMV in hopes they could reunite it with its rightful owner.

Since I don't have a car anymore, I've stopped paying attention to when DMV offices are actually open. I didn't realize all locations are closed on Mondays. When I arrived at 95 M Street SW, a few women were talking with the security guard who had come outside to give them directions about when and where else they could conduct their business.

Thinking I might have a chance at simply leaving the license plate with the guard, I told her my story and asked if she could give it to someone when they came in the next day. She quickly responded, "I don't want to be responsible for that. You take it to the police next door."

Disappointed that this was going to be more than a simple transaction on my part, I trudged over to the police station I had walked past moments earlier. After opening the door, I realized I had to walk through a metal detector. I thought about the small saw blade that I often carry with me (handy for taking down illegal signs on lampposts and doing a little illicit tree pruning where kids have torn branches from our young street trees), and then I realized that I had a metal license plate in my hand, so there was no way I could avoid setting off some alarm.

Boldly striding through the arch, I was greeted with a loud beep that caught the attention of a woman behind a desk about 40 feet away. She mumbled something in my direction, but I couldn't hear her over the rumble of an air-conditioner. After letting her know twice that couldn't hear her, she finally got out of her seat and came over to the front desk. I briefly explained the situation, and told her that the DMV guard recommended I bring the plate to the police.

After looking at me quizzically, she turned around to grab a piece of paper and asked for my name, phone number, address, and date and time I found the plate. I couldn't remember the date exactly, but let her know it was some time ago. She asked why I didn't return the plate immediately, and I let her know that I was busy and it hadn't been a priority. "This was my first chance to go to the DMV, and that's why I'm here now," I replied.

The woman (who did not appear to be an officer, as she was not in uniform), took the plate and walked past her desk to a cubicle located behind hers. A uniformed officer emerged, and after a brief discussion, they both came back up to the front counter.

The officer told me to take the plate back over to the DMV. I reminded him that they're closed on Mondays, and he replied that I should go back tomorrow. When I told him that I did not have time to do so later, he shrugged, handed the license plate back to me, and walked away.

At that point, I strongly considered just pitching it in the garbage can and walking out of the building. Thinking better (I really didn't want to provoke the kind of reaction that would get me jailed for some stupid reason), I put the plate back in my bag, laughed, and walked out of the building.

Anyone want a DC license plate? Maybe you could try to find its owner. I gave it a shot, I failed, and I'm ready for someone else to take a turn.

Casey Trees staff cycling over 500 miles for tree research

Photo by Christopher Horn of Casey Trees

Casey Trees is a local non-profit centered around planting trees and spreading awareness about how to take care of them here in the District. I've been volunteering with them since just after I moved into the city (it was either fall of 2004 or summer of 2005, I can't remember - when I started volunteering, not when I moved here!), and they've consistently been one of the most important voices for making this a better city, in my opinion.

Casey Trees staff members will be helping raise money again this year for the Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund) through a 585 mile bike tour this coming August. The 2012 “Tour des Trees” will begin near Beaverton, Oregon, and cyclists will have to deal with elevation changes of over 4,300 ft as well as several days of 100+ mile riding.

In 2011, Casey Trees actually hosted the event, which began in Virginia Beach, VA and stopped at their headquarters before ending at American University’s campus.

In its 21 year history, the Tour has raised over $5 million to advance arboriculture education and research, which is directly used for, amongst other things, studying urban forestry. The TREE Fund’s work has a direct impact on such hot-button tree topics in D.C. as public safety and electric service reliability, disease and pest control, and economic concerns including real estate values, air pollution reduction, and the urban heat island effect.

Casey Trees is sending two staff members, Sara Turner, the Urban Forestry Manager, and Neil Irvin, an Urban Forestry Crew Member, who will attempt to raise $7,000 to contribute to the TREE Fund research while biking, planting trees, and generating conversation about the importance of D.C.’s and the nation’s tree canopy. Consider them stewards of the District’s green future. To help them reach their individual fundraising goals, donate here:

Sara Turner, Casey Trees Urban Forestry Manager

Neil Irvin, Casey Trees Urban Forestry Crew Member

They’ll be documenting each and every turn on the Tour via the Casey Trees blog, Tree Speak, and on Facebook and Twitter.

Be sure to follow their progress!