Powell Elementary Carnival is Saturday!

Powell Elementary is having a Carnival on Saturday, May 30th. Sponsored by the parents group (POPPS), the Carnival is a fundraiser to help with paying for technology upgrades for the students. (Here's a PDF of the flyer.)

Come to the Carnival from 11am - 4pm at the Upshur Park basketball courts. There will be cake walks, a bouncy house, bean bag toss, face painting, art stations, food, and much more.

I know some of the teachers and parents working on this event, and they are putting a lot effort in to make this a fun day for the community.

The fundraising part is a raffle to win 75,000 air miles with United Airlines. That’s like a pair of tickets to your favorite dream getaway — only $5 for a ticket. And you get to help fund the needs of the students. Win win. You can even buy your raffle tickets online.

And to make Carnival day quicker, you can pre-purchase activity tickets online (valid for games and food) as well. They ask that you keep your receipt and bring it over on Carnival Day.

Or if you’re just feeling generous, you can donate to their good cause.

Powell Bilingual Elementary School has been recognized nationally as a model for dual language education, and a shining example of what can go right in public education. Your generous donation will help to support the school with the purchase of classroom supplies and technology upgrades, as well as funding educational field trips and enrichment programming for students.

Hope to see you there!

Because the rats are hungry?

View fullsize

Do birds eat spaghetti?

A reader shared this photo of food scrapings left piled up on the grass in front of the Hebrew Home on Spring Rd NW. He's looking for suggestions on how to deal with it. Todd says:

This is a regular occurrence in my corner of Petworth. This specific location is directly in front of the Hebrew Home (1125 Spring Rd NW), though I've seen it other places.

Someone comes and deposits their leftovers, presumably to feed birds or squirrels. I think we all know that rats are the primary consumers of this buffet. (Really, do birds eat spaghetti?).

It's both baffling and disgusting. Someone clearly goes out of their way to bring this - it doesn't seem to just be the same as casually tossed aside chicken bones. This is probably better suited for the Rant category, as I'm guessing whoever does it is likely either mentally ill, and not just ill informed. Short of grabbing a garbage bag and rubber gloves or putting up "No Food Dumping" signs, I don't know how to fix this.

What are your suggestions on how to respond / stop this? Comment below or on Facebook.

May 30th is going to be busy

View fullsize

This weekend is busy -- EL Haynes has a festival, Powell Elementary is having a Carnival at Upshur Park at 11am, and the Petworth Library is having a Summer Reading Kickoff celebration, featuring one of the National's Presidential Mascots. Wonder who it'll be (please be Teddy please be Teddy!)

You can meet the mascot at the Petworth Library (4200 Kansas Ave NW) from 2:30 - 3pm on the 30th.

I'll post more info on all three events soon.

Is Petworth strange & hypnotic?

Nah, we just enjoying living here. (Ok, maybe we're a little strange.) 

What is it about Petworth that inspires so many strange, hynpotic blogs? http://t.co/cGnQXlUiuV

— Will Sommer (@willsommer) May 26, 2015

Bottle of hydrochloric acid found at Petworth spray park

An example of muriatic (hydrochloric) acid used at a pool

File under WTF for the DC's Department of Parks & Recreation...

A parent found a full and uncapped bottle of muriatic (hydrochloric) acid at the Petworth Spray park on Sunday. The chemical is used as a cleaning agent and likely left by a DPR employee after cleaning the water pumps, etc., for the opening weekend... a very, very absent-minded employee who needs to be retrained on proper chemical handling.  (Here's some examples on how muriatic acid is used.)

Read the full article and some angry comments on Popville.com.

5/27/15 Update: I followed up with the DCPR Aquatics Director.

It's a DC birthday

I received some cool, DC-centric birthday gifts from family and friends today. A beautiful gold leaf map of DC (you can even see Petworth on it) and a signed copy of The Martini Shot by George Pelecanos. Thanks Heather & Fletchers!

And you know you're getting older when your teenage niece writes in a birthday card "Age is only a number!"  :)

View fullsize

View fullsize

A sign of the times in DC

Posted on a streetlight...  "Helping DC residents grow it organically since 2015"  

Truly a sign of the times for Initiative 71 and pot decriminalization here in Washington.

It's about being a good neighbor

View fullsize

This.

I've mentioned before on the blog (ok, complained) about litter in front of people's homes... saying unless you're infirm, how about grabbing a bag and spending a few minutes picking up litter once in a while?

Today, walking home from the Metro, that's exactly what I saw David Bylsma doing on 7th Street NW. I walked by and said "Thanks for picking up the garbage!" and he gave me a smile and a thumbs up. 

Then I remembered my earlier post, and realized that I wanted to shine a light on this neighbor who was doing something positive for his street. So I walked back, introduced myself and started chatting with him.

"It looked so bad today," David said. "So I thought I'd get a bag and pick some up. Then I decided I'm just gonna do the whole block." 

With a pair of gloves and a garbage bag, he picked up all the litter strewn along his part of 7th Street. "It hasn't taken me that long to do the whole block. My back isn't that sore," he said with a smile.

This is something we should all take the time to do once in a while.

Thanks David!

5/25 Update: To put an interesting perspective on this article, it has been one of my most popular articles on Facebook. It's been read 3,306 times, Liked 118 times. And the comments are great. Give them a read.

Family yard-sale at Quincy & 5th Saturday

Cute kid for sale, or maybe it's just cute kid clothes...

There's a large yard-sale happening this weekend at Quincy St, at 5th St. and Rock Creek Church St. NW

Eight families are taking part in the sale, offering clothes for boys and girls, baby and toddler stuff and more. 

Saturday, 23 May
9am - 2pm

Though from the Craigslist post, it sounds like they're selling the whole shebang and getting out of dodge: selling the kid, baby AND the house...

Source: Craigslist

Local residents talk about why they chose Petworth

Belinda Garza, Matt Hartwig and cutie Graciela

There's a nice article on UrbanFamily.com about local residents Matt Hartwig and Belinda Garza and their reasons for moving to Petworth to put down roots. For them, it was about the community. 

I've met both Matt and Belinda at local social and community events, and they are very engaged in the neighborhood.

From the article:

"Petworth is one of several neighborhoods in D.C. that’s seen a transformation as a result of the city’s landmark growth in recent years. New restaurants and businesses (including “an actual bookstore that sells books,” Hartwig wrily notes) have popped up within walking distance—and for the couple, so has a community."

Belinda is quoted saying about Petworth: “The neighborhood is changing so much, and so quickly, that all the residents are really active in what’s going on,” Garza says. D.C.’s growth has led to the development of New York-style enclaves with their own identities. Says Hartwig, “Each neighborhood is developing its own vibe. This one feels very family-oriented. You still have a nice mix of new people with longtime residents, who have seen the neighborhood go through all kinds of transitions.”

Source: Read the full article on UrbanFamily.