DC Green Neighbors wants to help you be efficient

DC Green Neighbors will be setting up a table at the Petworth Farmers Market this weekend (June 20th) as part of their "green-focused market." The volunteer group will be sharing information on energy efficiency, solar panels, rain barrels and more, and will also have things for kids to play with and learn from (like worms!). 

Green Neighbors is an all-volunteer group of residents of the Petworth, Park View, Brightwood, and Columbia Heights neighborhoods. Their goal is to lower the emissions of carbon and other pollutants that contribute to global warming and to make renewable energy and other sustainable resources more accessible to everyone in the community. Green Neighbors see themselves as part of a larger District-wide, regional, national and international movement to preserve our climate and planet for future generations.

Trying to live the "think global, act local" concept, the group meets once a month, usually the third Monday, at the Petworth Library’s (depending on the availability of the meeting room). 

Stop by their table to meet and learn more about how to live green this weekend at the market. 

Kennedy Street Festival this Saturday!

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This is a great summer for the Petworth area, and it continues with the upcoming Kennedy Street Festival on June 20th, now in its second season!

The Festival is from 11am - 3pm and runs along Kennedy Street NW from 3rd Street to Georgia Ave. A community-driven, crowd-funded event, the Festival includes live music, food trucks, creative vendors, community resources, activities, art, face painting and more!

Kennedy Street isn't closing -- the Festival takes place on the sidewalks and in private space with music and art. (608 and 716 Kennedy Street will be filled with vendors.) Brick and mortar businesses will be open and serving up specials. Come out to enjoy street performances by jazz, soul, classical, folk and roots musicians. Compete in a neighborhood scavenger hunt or buy raffle tickets for a chance to win Washington Nationals seats, (donated by At-Large DC Council member Elissa Silverman).

Look for specials and guests at local favorites Culture Coffee, Andrene's Cafe, Tony's Place and Taqueria D.F. Local arts vendors include local master wood carver Boluwaji Omisore, funky thrift purveyor Vintage Glam, new local screen-printers Aniton Ink, and many more. Food trucks including Street Cream, Timber Pizza, and Karat Cakery will be filling neighborhood niches. 

(Timber Pizza Co. is opening a restaurant at 809 Upshur St NW, and Karat Cakery is a carrot cake food truck. I love carrot cake. I love food trucks. I'm so there.)

This year marks 100 years of Kennedy Street (more or less!). The street was laid out across the farmland of what is now Manor Park, Brightwood Park, North Petworth and 16th Street Heights between 1911 and 1918. Today, Kennedy is the commercial heart of these neighborhoods, with huge untapped potential to be a walkable, locally-serving main street. We'll have several DC government agencies and neighborhood volunteers on hand to talk about what's coming to Kennedy Street NW, including two streetscape improvement projects, a restaurant and apartment development, and more.

The Festival is a project of the Kennedy Street Development Association (KSDA), an all-volunteer, not-for-profit group of businesses and residents committed to enhancing community and commercial life on Kennedy Street. For more festival info, follow KSDA on Facebook and Twitter (@KennedyStreetNW).

Pictures from Grant Circle Social

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Neighbors braved the potential threat of rain and came out to the Grant Circle Social tonight, and were rewarded with no rain, cool(er) air and a bunch of people waiting to meet. There were new faces joining us tonight, as well as some "regulars." It was great to see everyone (and to meet Brandon Todd's mom!).

If you're interested in joining a Circle Social planning committee, comment below or sent Rob Mandle a message on the Grant Circle Social event page.

Feel free to tag yourself in the photos on Facebook!

Neighbors braved the potential threat of rain and came out to the Grant Circle Social tonight, and were rewarded with no...

Posted by Petworth News on Wednesday, June 17, 2015

Grant Circle Social tomorrow at 6pm

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The 6th Grant Circle Social is tomorrow, June 17th from 6 PM to 7 PM in the middle of Grant Circle. It's a great way to meet local residents, so be sure to tell your neighbors who may not be online to learn about it.

Whether you're stopping by for a few minutes or staying the full hour, it's a great opportunity to talk with neighbors. If you are interested in co-hosting a future Grant Circle Social, please contact Rob Mandle. 

About Grant Circle Socials
The Grant Circle Social series is a casual, no-agenda gathering of neighbors in Petworth's signature green space with an underlying goal of building social capital and fostering a sense of community.  Grant Circle Socials are held from 6pm to 7pm the Third Wednesday of the month. 

Strawberry Festival tomorrow (6/13)

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There are 200 seeds on an average strawberry and they're a member of the rose family.

Don't believe me? You can check for yourself tomorrow at the 149th Annual Strawberry Festival at St. Paul's Episcopal Church (i.e. the church in Rock Creek Cemetery). 149 years equals a lot of strawberries. 

It promises to be a great time for families and kids of all ages and sizes. There will be food, music, pony rides, arts and crafts, a moon bounce, field games and even a climbing wall. 

Plus, the ever-popular tours of historic Rock Creek Cemetery.

Oh, and there will be strawberries. 

Saturday, June 13, from 4-8 p.m. 
201 Allison St NW
(Rock Creek Church Road and Webster St NW)
stpaulrockcreek.org

Mapping Segregation: discussion on the history of DC neighborhoods

"How did restrictive housing covenants shape DC neighborhoods?"

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ANC 1A Commissioner Kent Boese posted information on his Park View blog about two upcoming, fascinating research presentations on the history and impact of segregation on DC neighborhoods. As the first presentation is in Park View, the meeting tomorrow will focus on the history of the Park View area. Below is an except of the blog post; head over to the Park View blog to read the full post.

Prologue DC historians Mara Cherkasky and Sarah Shoenfeld will present the latest findings in their ongoing research project, Mapping Segregation in Washington DC. This ongoing research project looks in depth at the historic segregation of DC’s housing, schools, recreation facilities, and more. The project’s first year has focused on racially restrictive housing covenants and legal challenges to them. 

Maps are used to better understand how many of DC’s “historically black” neighborhoods were once exclusively white, and how the city’s racial geography has been shaped by segregation. Maps tell stories that words cannot.

The first presentation is Wednesday, June 10 at 6:30 p.m. at the Park View Recreation Center (693 Otis Place NW) and the second is Wednesday, June 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Public Library, (901 G Street NW). Both events are free and open to the public.

Mapping Segregation is an ongoing project, so check their website for updates.

Excellent Source: Park View

Kennedy Street Festival fundraiser June 11th

The 2015 Kennedy Street Festival is coming up on June 20th, 11am - 3pm along Kennedy Street.

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To help raise funds to cover the costs of the festival, they are having a Happy Hour Fundraiser at Simple Bar and Grill on June 11th from 6-9pm. 

They are asking for a $10 donation at the door. 

For more info, visit the festival website... or if you can't make it, you can donate online! 

Crandall on Nat Geo: pics of the "real DC"

Local photographer Bill Crandall has a well-deserved reputation as a talented and prominent DC photographer. He was published today on the National Geographic PROOF website, in an article and picture story called "Forget Capitol Hill, These Images Show the Real D.C." by NatGeo Assistant Photo Editor Becky Harlan. 

Featuring Crandall's photography from around our local area (Shaw, Bloomingdale, Petworth), the pictures offer a snapshot of DC life away from the big dome downtown. 

More often than not, Washington, D.C., is associated with power and politics, with a dash of fireworks and monuments thrown in for good measure. That stereotype of the capital is exactly what photographer Bill Crandall avoids in his mysterious compositions of the District’s neighborhoods. His camera isn’t in the press pool but is turned on the “real city where people live.”

Check out the full article and gallery on the National Geographic PROOF website.

And congrats to Bill Crandall for being published on National Geographic!