This Month 4 You Can Run a Marathon (Believe It Or Not) 6 A Baby Boomer Goes to Boot Camp 8 If It’s Wednesday It’s Tango Time 10 Wo rking Off the Beef C o w b oy Style 12 My Life with A Ve g g i e - Te e n D e p a rt m e n t s Vo i c e M a i l . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 Ask Judith. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 6 Spencer Say s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 8 Business Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 9 Business Serv i c e s. . . . . . . .2 3 D o w n L o a d. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 5 In The Stars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 3 Kids’ Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . .3 4 Capital Kids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 5 Community Calendar . . . .3 6 C l a s s i f i e d s. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 8 R e l i g i o n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 8 Vol. 1 No. 11 Fe b ru a ry 18 2000 o f T h e H i l l S t aying fit in th e year 2000 … i t’s n ot what yo u r m o m m a ta u g h t yo u ! Dear Members of the Capitol Hill Community: It is with much regret that I write to inform you of St. Coletta’s decision to cease our efforts to develop the property at 1214-1232 Pennsylvania Avenue. All of us are extremely appreciative of our friends and neighbors who have written in support of our cause. We will never forget your kindness and it does a lot to ease this disappointment. Unfortunately, the events of this past week have been so troubling that we have no choice but to withdraw. Those of you who know me are aware that I love a good fight, but this fight has taken an ugly turn. The actions of a few people have made it impossible to win without “hitting below the belt” and this we refuse to do. On Thursday, February 10, a past president of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society called the school and demanded to see the last three years’ worth of tax records. He said he wanted to see what our salaries were and where we got our money and described himself as “too angry to speak”. He was enraged over the letter that I placed in the Voice of the Hill. He said that the letter suggested a cabal between CHRS and HPRB. I can only describe this phone call as an attempt at intimidation. On Saturday, February 12, someone brought to my attention that I was an item on the agenda of the CHRS meeting for February 15, 2000, “ New Developments; Raimo “no more compromises” at voiceofthehill.com. and full page ad in Voice of the Hill.” Neither I, nor anyone else at St. Coletta, was invited to attend that meeting nor were we informed that we were the subject of not only that but another agenda item, “ Zoning - St. Coletta issues.” I might remind both the individual who called to complain about my letter and the other members of CHRS that in America, and this was America the last time I checked, we have something called freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Since we have never been invited to address the Restoration Society and were only included on the agenda of the Historic Preservation Committee of CHRS because we sought them out, the only way to get our point across is in the press. When St. Coletta requested time to make a presentation to the Historic Preservation Committee of CHRS in November 1999, we were told that someone would contact us regarding any questions or concerns the committee members had about this project. To date, we have never received that phone call. In fact, we have never had any communication with the Restoration Society except through HPRB staff. We had been warned about the curious relationship between CHRS and HPRB but we were unprepared for their outright lunacy. Here, briefly are the hoops St. Coletta has jumped through, the compromises we offered and the costs we have incurred. We were prepared to make sensible accommodations bearing in mind that our purpose is to serve our mentally retarded brothers and sisters. So in the spirit of compromise and good faith we: • Secured the services of a real estate lawyer and an architect—$75,000 to date. • Secured bond financing • Agreed to move the intact Victorian on Pennsylvania Avenue in two pieces— $150,000. • Agreed to keep and stabilize the first two rooms of the shotgun house - $200 per foot. We were not prepared to grant every whim of addle minded preservationists who insisted that we do the following: • Restore the entire shotgun house—$200,000 • Move the Victorian in one piece—$250,000 • Keep and stabilize the garage and use it as a drive-thru—$200,000 We were also not prepared to be threatened and harassed. On Saturday, I received a disturbing telephone call at the school. The caller, a male, seemed startled that someone had answered the phone on a Saturday. I guess cowards prefer voice mail. Anyway, he asked where a non-profit got the money for a full-page ad. He went on to say, “ You whores over there got that money from your pimp, (and he named the property owner).” I submit to you that such actions by our neighbors are symptomatic of a kind of vigilante mentality that should not be tolerated. Let’s clear our minds for a minute and think about what is really happening here. There is a man, who, since 1965, before the time of the Historic Preservation Laws, has been assembling a group of properties on Pennsylvania Avenue. That man owns those properties and some people don’t approve of how he has maintained them. I am not saying who is right or wrong in that aspect of this scenario,indeed, perhaps this man did not keep his property the way others wanted him to; perhaps he flew in the face of historic preservation in the name of sound business practice. Does this make him evil? Does this give members of a private club (CHRS) the right to influence a public agency (HPRB) to the extent that this citizen is prevented from selling his property and St. Coletta is prohibited from buying it? Even worse, does this give these club members license to vilify this person with such venom that it spills over on anyone who associates with him? Please be very clear about my reason for withdrawing from this fight. I cannot risk having those feelings infect the future of St. Coletta. The school needs to be in a place where we will be welcomed and included. The intransigent attitudes and outrageous demands of CHRS and HPRB staff has made this location impossible for us. You have to pity people who fail to understand that the sole purpose for our brief existence on this planet is to make this journey better for those who come after us. How small and ridiculous are those who want for their epitaph, “I thwarted my neighbor.” Congratulations, you have won your petty victory; I hope you’re proud. To our friends,and especially to the neighbors on E and 13th Streets, we are sorry, good luck and thank you. To the local ANC representatives, especially the chairman who took time to visit our school,you represent us fairly and well, thank you. I would add that we are not giving up. We plan to continue to search for a property in the District that will accommodate the school. If you see a promising site e-mail me at sraimo@stcoletta.org. Sharon Raimo c St. Coletta School currently serves 37 students. We will expand to the 5th grade next year. If you would like more information about the school, please call me at 202-543- 2881. Thank you. BRANDI LAPERRIERE Executive Director To the Editor: I read with interest your article on the Congress Market [January Voice], specifically the section on the mom and pop stores. I’m a native Washingtonian who is still living in the area where I grew up and remember fondly the mom and pop stores—the DGS. These District Grocery Stores were run by some of the nicest people around. [There was] one in particular you didn’t mention: Mudrick’s store was at the corner of 13th and G Streets, NE for many years and moved to the corner of 13th and F. Many people in the neighborhood would not have eaten had not Mudrick given them “credit” for a few days. They were good peo - ple and great neighborhood friends. Those were the days. Sincerely, BARBARA M. MURPHY To the Editor: I think I know why all the oyster shells. [History in Your Own Backyard, Voice Jan. 2000] If you keep a couple of chickens around for the eggs or to have a roaster for dinner, you have to give them something to peck at on the ground. It’s necessary for their digestion. Also, the calcium in the oyster shells builds good eggshells. At least that’s how I remember it at my grandmother’s house a long, long time ago. I don’t know what they use where there aren’t any oysters, but for chicken growers near the Long Island Sound or the Chesapeake, oysters were the obvious choice. MARIE BIRNBAUM To the Editor: I read with great interest the article in your January 21 edition regarding Eastern Market. I found it very interesting and informative—as far as it went. I don’t understand how an article can be published about the history of the market up to the present day without explaining the evolution and importance of the arts activities located there. Not only is there an art gallery in the North Hall of the market, any weekend patron knows that there is a vibrant and dynamic outdoor arts and crafts festival and flea market that adds life and beauty to the market experience. This hasn’t happened overnight. Since the 1970’s the outdoor art and craft activities of the market have grown and matured. They are a major element of the market dynamic, and provide the synergy that expands the market experience throughout the entire market square. The weekly Eastern Market art and craft venue is the ONLY one of its kind in the entire tri-state Metropolitan area, and it provides the venue for many artists and craftspersons to pursue their work and create a livelihood from it. Not to mention the fact that the outdoor mar ket has proven over the years to be an incubator for small business (only seven short blocks from the U.S. Capitol). Dozens of businesses, which are now nationally known, began their evolution on the sidewalks surrounding Eastern Market. So please, whether you are writing a book, or editing an article about Eastern Market, do not forget that in addition to being an historic food and farmer’s market, it is an important center for the arts in the Nation’s Capital. L A R RY GALLO MICHAEL BERMAN The Eastern Market Arts and Crafts Association www.voiceofthehill.com 3 Vo i cem a i l The Voice of the Hill is published and distributed monthly to Capitol Hill residence and business locations. The focus is on the community and includes contiguous neighborhoods from Gallaudet University to the Navy Yard and from the Capitol to the Stadium Armory Complex. Publication and distribution is the third Friday of each month. Advertising deadline is the first of the month preceding publication. Voice of the Hill 120 11th St.,SE,Rear Washington DC 20003 202-544-0703 Main office 202-544-2557 Editorial 202-547-5133 Fax www.voiceofthehill.com bruce@voiceofthehill.com stephanie@voiceofthehill.com adele@voiceofthehill.com Staff Stephanie Cavanaugh, Editor Bruce Robey WebMaster Adele Robey Graphic Design and Production Jill Silva Robert Shamo Advertising Gene Miller, Church Editor Larry Kaufer, Sports Editor Shaun Koiner, Circulation Manager Phoenix Graphics,Inc. T/A Voice of the Hill and Stephanie Cavanaugh Publishers Contributing Writers Judith Capen Margaret Cytron Kristen Hartke Celeste McCall Memberships Printing & Graphic Communication Association Printing Industry of America Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and Professionals Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington Barracks Row Business Alliance VOICE o f T h e H i l l Brenda Sanchez Duncan Spencer Rick Weber Bonny Wolf To the Editor: Just happened to see the comments on Duncan Spencer’s charter school piece and wanted to add two thoughts. First, concerning Susan Chapin’s lament that there’s little information about the choices available, your readers might like to know that there is a new resource funded by NSF and co-sponsored by this Board (the DC Public Charter School Board), DC Public Schools (DCPS), the 21st Century Schools Fund, and FOCUS (Friends of Choice in Urban Schools). It’s a website, www.DCSchoolSearch.com, which provides profiles of all DCPS and public charter schools in the District and is searchable by wards, grade levels, and other indicators. Parents can browse through potential choices and look at issues like facilities, program, staff, and most important, student achievement. Also, if any of your readers do want to think about starting a public charter high school on the Hill, we’ll be distributing a new application package in March, with responses due in June. If they will contact us (at 1717 K Street, NW, Suite 802, Washington DC 20006), we’ll be happy to send the package itself, plus information on public meetings we’ll be conducting in the spring to answer questions from potential applicants. Thanks for a very enjoyable publication! Sincerely, NELSON SMITH Executive Director DC Public Charter School Board To the Editor: I am writing to tell you about another private school on Capitol Hill that was not included in your recent review of public, private, and charter schools on Capitol Hill. Cornerstone Community School is a private, non-denominational Christ-centered school located at 907 Maryland Avenue, NE. We offer an affordable,quality education to students in the 1st-4th grade. Cornerstone opened in 1998 and 4 www.voiceofthehill.com have accepted the challenge in pas t years, and many of them found it to be a life-altering experience. There’s Donna Hansen, a grandmother of six who lives near Stanton Park; she ran her first marathon a little more than a year ago after completing the training program, and hasn’t stopped since. In addition to her first marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, she has also run the Portland and New York Before your New Year’s resolution about better health and more exercise fades into oblivion, think about this: You could run the Marine Corps Marathon this year. No joke. Even if you’ve never run before or exercised on a regular basis, there is a training program that will have you in shape for a 26.2-mile marathon by the end of the summer. Hundreds of our Hill neighbors As the senior coach for the National AIDS Marathon Training Program, I can attest to the success stories of Donna Hansen and Alan Henry, as well as the thousands of area residents who have learned the joy of running and the incredible sense of accomplishment in completing a marathon. The National AIDS Marathon Training Program is a fund-raising event for the Whitman-Walker Marathons, and is planning to compete in the San Diego and Chicago Marathons later this year. And there’s Alan Henry, who lives near Eastern Market; he dropped 30 pounds training for his first marathon, but in the process picked up bragging rights at Tunnicliff’s. According to Henry, the training program showed him that “some things that seem impossible can be done.” Believe It Or Not, You Can Run A Marathon Hill residents run to help people with AIDS go the distance BY RICK WEBER www.voiceofthehill.com 5 Clinic, the area’s largest AIDS services provider. The program offers a double bonus by helping you prepare for a marathon while you help others. Participants in the prog ram, an overwhelming majority of whom are first-time marathoners, sign up to train for a marathon while gathering financial sponsors, much like the AIDS Walk and AIDS Ride programs. The program culminates in participants competing in and finishing Washingtons Marine Corps Marathon, which takes place in late October, to the applause, admiration and awe of their friends and family. I’ve been marathoning for more than 15 years, and in that time I’ve heard or tried just about every training regimen there is. I can honestly say that the AIDS marathon program offers the most sensible and realistic training schedule I have ever seen. If you can run or walk a distance of three miles, the National AIDS Marathon Training Program will provide everything you need to prepare yourself for a marathon within six months. Nadine Daniel, who lives near Union Station, completed the program and the Marine Corps Marathon last year. She is a traffic court adjudicator, and spends her days listening to other people’s excuses. Daniel says, “I hear all the excuses not to do something,” and decided she had run out of excuses to herself about not getting into shape. Daniel points to the age-old adage that a journey of a thousand miles starts with a fir st step. Jeff Kenney lives and works near the Marine Barracks, and says he never ran three miles before doing the National AIDS Marathon Training Program. Since completing his first marathon, he has found the confidence and discipline to go off and achieve other fitness goals. A swimmer in high school, Jeff, like most of us, became too busy as an adult to compete in sports. But training for a marathon rekindled his interest in swimming. “I started swimming midway through the program as a way to cross-train,” says Kenney, who stuck with his swim - ming regimen even after completing the marathon. He’ll compete in his first swim meet as an adult on February 19th and 20th. Kenney is the owner of Professional Development Partners, Inc., on 8th St. SE, which develops licensing exams for professionals, such as architects and accountants, so he knows professionalism when he sees it. He gives the AIDS Marathon program high marks for providing beginner runners all they need to complete a marathon. Kenney claims his endorsement of the program has convinced a staff member at Giorgio’s, where Kenney gets his morning coffee, to do the marathon program this year. “She was already planning to run the Marine Corps, but I think I convinced her that having the water stops and all the support” was well worth registering for the program. Participants who sign up for the National AIDS Marathon Training Program are provided a complete sixmonth training schedule and matched up with runners of their own starting ability, so that participants never feel alone. “The camaraderie is key” to keeping up with your training schedule, according to Henry. Kenney agrees, adding “I could never have done anything like this without the peer pressure.” The training program begins with a three-mile run and/or walk. Participants are encouraged to cover the distance at a pace that is comfortable for them, which could include a combination of walking and running. Participants are then placed into “pace groups” consisting of people who completed the three-mile distance in about the same time. Each week (either Saturday or Sunday), participants meet at the same training site with hundreds of other runners, gather into their assigned pace groups (usually consisting of 10-12 participants) and go off on a training run following a course designed by the coaching staff. The program starts off small, with the first three-mile run, and adds distance to each week’s run g radually and incrementally. “It’s incredible,” says Daniel, that after starting from zero, within about eight weeks “you’re referring to seven or eight miles as a ‘short’ run.” The National AIDS Mara th o n Training Pro gram fo l l ows a re g i m e n d eveloped by U.S. Oly mp i a n m a ra thoner Jeff Galloway, which i n c o rp o rates one- or two - m i n u t e walk bre a ks into the we e k ly “long” runs. The walk bre a ks allow both n ovice and experienced ru n n e rs to build st re n g th and stamina more effic i e n t ly and safe ly. Galloway boast s that his appro a ch can help even seasoned mara th o n e rs ach i eve “pers o nal re c o rds” by taking a common sense appro a ch to distance tra i n i n g . A minimum time commitment by each participant is a weekly g roup run and two 30-minute run/walk training sessions during the week . Most participants find the time requirement very reasonable, and some even voice skepticism at first that they are doing enough to be prepared for a marathon. While the program’s training schedule is set up so that weekday runs are done individually (so that people can more easily fit it into their schedule), I’ve discovered that many groups get together even during the week out of a sense of camaraderie and companionship. “You make new friends,” Henry says. “People let down their defenses, and work hard to support each other.” In addition to training, each par - ticipant commits to raising at least $1,700 for Whitman-Walker by getting sponsors. For many participants, the fund-raising is just as important as the training in achieving their marathon goals. “Your friends and family are banking on you doing this, and you don’t want to let them down,” says Henry. “It’s a nice double punch to know you’re doing something to help others” while improving your own health. “It’s surprising how generous people are by opening their purses to $50 and $100 donations,” says Daniel. “My largest donation was $500.” The program last year raised more than $2.5 million for Whitman- Walker, and this year we hope to exceed $3 million. In the few short years that the marathon program has been in existence (1998 was its inaugural year), it has become one of Whitman-Walker’s largest fund-raising events, providing thousands of people with AIDS access to life-saving drugs. The program has six training sites conveniently located around the Washington area. The closest site to Capitol Hill is at Waterside Mall in Southwest, which meets every Saturday. Runners at that site train on the National Mall, around Hains Point and along the scenic Capital Crescent Trail. Other nearby sites which meet on Sunday include the C&O Canal in Georgetown and the Columbia Marina just across the 14th St. bridge in Arlington. Participants at the marina run on the bike path along the George Washington Parkway. Registration for the 2000 National AIDS Marathon Training Program is now underway. (You may have seen the ads in the Metro trains.) Training begins in late April with orientation and health-information meetings taking place until then. For more information about the program, or to register, call 202-543-2RUN. If you’ve dreamed about doing a marathon, the National AIDS Marathon Training Program is a “great thing”, says Hansen. “Everyone is able to do it.” Rick Weber is a Washington journalist and long-time resident of Capitol Hill. He is a veteran marathoner and is cur - rently training to run the New Orleans Marathon in early 2001. “It’s incredible,” says Daniel, that after starting from zero, within about eight weeks “you’re referring to seven or eight miles as a ‘short’ run.” Midlife is a time when the fruits of our labor finally fall into our laps. Unfortunately, time and gravity also conspire to make our laps wider. As Rose, one of the character s from the TV show “The Golden Girls” said, “...The older you get, the better you get, unless you’re a banana.” Unwilling to ripen in their present state, the trendsetting first wave of Baby Boomers to hit midlife is fighting back. They’re walking, taking dance lessons, swimming, and working out. My single friend Barbara has explored a variety of fitness options. She just took up jogging, has lost a few pounds, and feels great. “An added benefit” of jogging, she says with a sardonic laugh, “is that I’m thrilled to hear the sound of heavy breathing again, even if it’s only my own.” Jogging isn’t for me, heavy breathing just makes me cough. But that hasn’t stopped me from looking for an activity I can enjoy while firming the upside down happy faces that appear on my knees each time I bend over to tie my shoes. I began with water aerobics, and was particularly enthralled by the flotation belt. It acts like an aquatic WonderBra. The problem is, when I accidentally flipped over onto my stomach, those luscious mounds almost suffocated me. Horseback riding sounded like a great way to firm my thighs, but my horse had other ideas. Each time I mounted him, he thought it was a signal to return to the barn at ninety miles an hour. I tried Yoga too. I loved the Zen part, but during the different posi - tions I kept wondering why, if God had meant for me to touch my toes, he didn’t put them closer to my hands. Then I took an “abs” class. Unfortunately, it was coed. The guy directly opposite me had failed to step into a rather strategic item of male intimate attire. Each time I raised my head, I viewed a close facsimile of the little package that comes tucked into my Thanksgiving turkey. My tap class was fun, but it’s a tad humiliating when your classmates, who range in age from five to twelve, keep correcting your missteps. I even tried a spinning class. For three days afterwards, I was so numb from the bike saddle I felt as if my perineum was still locked in a vise similar to that used for a mammogram. Nothing worked. I had to do something! So I called GI Jane and signed up for Boot Camp. GI Jane, is actually Capitol Hill resident, Jane Greene, a widow, grandmother, and former career military physical therapist. As a young woman she began to gain weight until she ballooned up to 198 pounds and wore a size 20. In her late forties she’d had enough and joined a gym. Her transformation was so astounding, friends and colleagues asked her to help them get into shape. She began by coaching people at home. When her cottage business was featured on the evening news, she was swamped with callers asking if she would help them, too. Three years ago she opened the Health, Diet and Fitness Boot Camp at 645 Pennsylvania Avenue (on the third floor of Market Square). The staff includes Jane, two other trainers, and four university students who volunteer their services. They see as many as 250 clients each week for group and one-on-one sessions. The Boot Camp is an unassuming maze of small workout and weight rooms, a no-frills locker room, and an informal office. In one area, dramatic “before” and “after” pictures of clients adorn the walls. They promise that in thirty days of working out three or four times per week, I can lose several dress sizes while toning and sculpting whatever is left over. Jane bounded out of her office to greet me. At nearly 55, she’s a petite size-4, and solid muscle. I had the feeling she could bench press me with one hand. Attaining incredible shape apparently increases one’s lung capacity. Jane booms like a drill sergeant. Between her voice, her Energizer Bunny pep, and her intense confidence in the work she does, you end up both scared half to death, and an instant believer The second thing you notice is that Jane is not a diplomat. I’m pretty happy with my size and fig - ure, I just want to tone up what I have. It was very obvious that she didn’t agree. She ushered me into a small room where two women were waiting to begin class. My classmates had already done their warm-up stretching exercises. I didn’t have time— which was a real mistake. As I positioned myself on a mat, Jane warned, “Everything we do hurts. It burns. Just remember, Jane told me it’s going to burn.” She didn’t lie. We started with a series of abdominal and leg exercises and then added elastic bands to increase the torture. I’m not a “work through the 6 www.voiceofthehill.com Bouncing Baby Jeanne Eck Heads for Boot Camp www.voiceofthehill.com 7 Boomer burn” kind of chick, so when it hurt too much, I stopped until the burn abated. My classmates confided that “she’s being easy on us today.” Could have fooled me! I could feel the flab on my thighs begging for mercy. I wondered if there was a bucket under the floor that catches all the fat and calories that are burned every day. From the floor exercise area, we went to the weight/workout room. Jane taught me how to do squats and lunges, then she handed me a pair of 5 lb. hand weights to work my arms and upper body. “You’re looking good...That’s how you keep that butt and thighs gorgeous...good form..give me twelve more,” she bellowed as we worked every part of our upper bodies. After the workout, a gentler side of Jane emerged. She shared her deep, spiritual belief that at Boot Camp, she has found her life calling. 90% of her clients are obese. Many are teenagers. “There’s an epidemic of obesity in America. Most of the clients who come here come from other gyms. This is a haven for them. There’s no intimidation. There’s not a scene here… This is the only place available where they can come and hide and feel accepted. They can work out in a private room where no one is looking at them.” As she sees it, part of her job is also to listen to the pain that led to her clients’ obesity. In some respects, she’s not just a trainer, she’s also a mother and social worker—with an edge. People leave messages on her answering machine twenty-four hours a day, begging for help. “I’m the only one who will do people for two, three, four, five months, up to a year. I’m the only one who will give them the group workout, the inyour- face kind of thing, and the motivation and attention that other gyms won’t. I’ve never worked so hard in my life. But the results of helping someone else is just phenomenal because you’re changing someone’s life, you’re making someone happy… that’s very powerful.” Jane’s off to help another client so I leave. There’s a problem. I have to walk back down to street level. My thighs are not happy. I consider going down on my fanny, but I don’t want to look like a wimp. As I take one tentative step at a time down to the street, my muscles scream in rebellion. She wasn’t exaggerating when she said I’d hurt, but that’s what change is all about. Jane’s making it happen. Jeanne M. Eck is a Capitol Hill-based writer and frequent contributor to the Voice of the Hill Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 10-9 Friday, Saturday 10-6 Sunday 12-6 522 Eighth Street, SE 202.543.3030 • Drymount & Lamination • Conservation Framing • Pre-framed gifts • Commercial Discounts • Calligraphy Major Credit Cards Accepted Frame of Mine offers custom framing…but we specialize in do-it-yourself picture framing. We cut all the materials and work with you to put it all together. You leave with a picture that’s ready to hang! on Capitol Hill 8 www.voiceofthehill.com BY BRENDA SANCHEZ I WAS FIRST INTRODUCED TO DANCING TANGO a few years ago at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. Daniel Trenner and Rebecca Shulman, a couple of New York professional dancers, would come for a weekend a month to teach tango in Washington at various venues, CHAW among them. When their schedules no longer brought them back to Washington, tango on the Hill disappeared. While there were classes around town, I knew of nothing in the neighborhood that would keep me dancing on a regular basis…and then I heard about Leon. T u e s d ays May Be at Morrie’s … But We d n e s d ays is D e f i n i t e ly at Leon’s www.voiceofthehill.com 9 entering a world of music, love and fantasy. I’ll never forget my first visit, when I was greeted with friendly smiles from complete strangers, and observed people from all parts of the world joined by their passion for the dance. As a Latin dance I thought tango’s appeal would be limited. To my surprise I found not only American and Latin American dancers, but also Asians and Africans dressed in full regalia mastering the moves. It is a real pleasure to feel part not only of a continent, but of the world. T h e re is also a wo n d e rful fre e d o m f rom eve ry d ay social const ra i n t s . E ven on the Hill, where th e re is such a mix of people, we tend to socialize w i th a limited re p re s e n tation of th e population. At Leon’s th e re are no l a st names or power suits. We know e a ch other by first names only, and you could be dancing with a top exe cu t i ve or a hard wo rking messenger. The setting is very unlike that of a dance studio as well. It has more the atmosphere of a party. People show up, unprompted, with water, wine, cookies and fruit. Our classmate, Beto, might bring a platter of his wonderful tuna hors d’oeuvres. Though classes are supposed to run from 7-9, I have never left the place before 10:30—and left a roomful of people still dancing. Last summer, a large wood floor was installed in the rear yard, and lit by torches. There were many informal dances under the stars. When I asked Leon why he opened his house and let the tango love rs ta ke over he said, “because when th ey arri ve at my door, the eve n i n g becomes a night of fanta s y, and I e n j oy my role to make eve ry th i n g right for that moment in time.” Shall We Dance? In this town, one can tango every night of the week: Diversite at 14th and U St. NW, on Mondays, Lulus on M and 23rd St., NW on Tuesdays, Leon and Ruth’s on Wednesdays (you must call him at 683-3589, the place is small, and class size is ver y limited), DCDC with Viviana and Isidoro at 4908 Wisconsin Avenue on Thursdays, Habana Village at 18th and Columbia Road on Saturdays, and on Sundays there is Stars in Rockville Pike, Coco Loco in Chinatown, and Pines of Florence on Leesburg Pike. In addition, there are “Milongas” or tango dances on the weekend either in public spaces or organized by members of the tango community. Workshops also take place during the week and the weekends, taking advantage of the traveling teachers from Argentina and other parts of the globe. I Know a Dark, Secluded Place… Just on the other side of the Capitol, Leon Harris and his teaching partner Ruth Kubishen conduct tango classes every Wednesday night. Leon has cleared the fir st floor of his turn-of-the-century town house to serve as his main dance studio. First timers are taught the 8-count “basic step” in a small class on the second floor led by Leon’s assistants Grace and Ali. For some people that’s enough of an introduction to move on to the Beginners class on their second visit. Others prefer to stay at the very basic level until they feel confident that they know the steps. The Beginners, Intermediate and Advanced classes take place on the main floor. A studio on the base - ment level is available to anyone that wants to dance and not take part of the class. Sounds like every other dance studio you say? Not at all. Visiting Leon and Ruth’s is a must for tango lovers. Why? The people, the ambiance… the passion. Entering the “Casa del Baile,” as Leon calls his home, is PROVIDE CHEAP FINANCING FOR HOMEOWNERS WASHINGTON, D.C. When you compare the interest rates on a home equity line of credit to those you would normally pay on a credit card or personal loan, you’ll probably find that your home offers a better deal. Not to mention interest on a home equity line of credit is tax deductible*, a money saving advantage other loans can’t offer. Plus, you’ll enjoy the convenience a line of credit offers. You can open a line for amounts up to $500,000 and simply write a check when you need cash. Funds can be used for any reason and are terrific for paying down high interest debt or financing home improvements. Consider a line of credit even if you have funds available for your project already. Financial planners often advise their clients to obtain lines of credit to avoid liquidating high yield investments. After all, why use after tax funds when you can borrow at a lower rate than your investments are yielding and still get a tax break! Approval is done on the entire line up front and qualification is easy. All credit and equity situa - tions are considered, and programs for self-employed people are available. So when you need cash, borrow from your home. After all, you’ve worked hard for your home, isn’t it time to put it to work for you? Get a home equity line of credit today. Craig Strent is Vice-President of Apex Home Loans, Inc. He can be reached at 301-474-7100 or by email at craig@apexhomeloans.com. A D V E RT I S E M E N T www.apexhomeloans.com Craig Strent, Vice President There are also several local websites that give information on classes, workshops, and exhibitions. The listings at www.dcdancenet.com/ tango and www.vivianatango.com are particularly good. Learning the Moves In Argentina, when a man wants to learn to dance tango, he has to dance the woman’s part with the Master of the dance—and only with the Master’s approval can he then ask a lady to dance. Men are called the “leaders,” women are called the “followers,” but don’t be mislead by the sexis t tone. The leading and the following is really a conversation that happens between the partners. A good leader is receptive to the needs of the follower, and takes pride in allowing the follower space to show-off. A good follower will never attempt to upstage her leader, but has subtle ways of asking and taking time in the dance for any embellishments she wants to make. The point is that the man needs to know the movements that his dancing partner makes in order to lead her correctly and to give her space to make her moves. In a recent workshop, with a professional couple from Argentina, there was a whole section teaching the “leaders” to listen to the “followers.” It is not a one sided dance. While the dance is based on the simple 8-count “basic step” you learn on the fir st evening of class, there is a vocabulary to the silent conversation that is tango. It is much like learning the letters of the alphabet so that one can then make words. Every movement in this dance means something, and calls for a response. For example, in the dancing embrace, when the leader walks to the left of the follower or straight in front of her, she just walks. But, should the leader walk to the right of the follower, that is a request for the woman to “walk to the cross” that is, for the woman to stop and cross her feet on the count of 4. A tap from the man’s thigh to the woman’s thigh may mean a request to displace that is, to move in the opposite direction. However, it could also be a request to wrap her leg around his into what is called a “gancho.” It all depends on how soon the man withdraws his leg. Tango has a very subtle vocabulary and the fun is in the learning, the practice, the music and the flirtation that accompanies every movement. Brenda Sanchez, is an architect and long time Hill resident with a passion for dance. 10 www.voiceofthehill.com how they met. “I was looking for a partner and found Jerry.” Since then, they’ve placed seventh in the world in the “Silver” category, for dancers 45 years and older. The class awaits instructor Jim Raywalt, who’s making the trek from Bowie. Finally he strides in, tall and lean—a dancer’s build. He dons a small microphone. “ALL RIGHT!! First, you’ve gotta think of Elvis...hips, not lips,” bawls Raywalt. “Start with your left foot, move your hips right to left.” As Raywalt demonstrates, the class follows the intricate steps pretty well. Later, we chat with dancers who are taking a break. Petite, energetic Ivy Mazor, who lives down the street, discovered Sheridan’s through Red River Western Wear, at Sixth and BY CELESTE MCCA L L It’s shortly after 9 PM on a Wednesday night at Sheridan’s, the folksy new steakhouse and Country Western dance hall on Capitol Hill’s Barracks Row. Most patrons have polished off their chicken-fried steak, 12-ounce New York strips or Padre Island seafood stew in the upstairs, candlelit dining room. Clad in leathersoled boots and swirling fringed skirts and—more often, blue jeans— 10 or so dancers are poised to begin their line dance class, while spect ators perch on cowhide covered barstools sipping beer. Washington is just digging out from the latest snowfall, so lots of people are late— or under the weather. Sheridan’s proprietor Sandy Thompson, stylish in a Southwest aquapatterned vest and pleated skirt, will be pitching in as deejay since husband Jerry, who normally spins the Country Western platters, is down with the flu. Sandy and Jerry, whose day job is with the Department of Defense, have been instructors and competition dancers for years. In fact that ’s great way to catch up with friends. Raywalt is a little bossy but he’ s good!” Jacqueline Aamot, another Hill dweller, is celebrating a slightly belated birthday. Her neighbor, Pam Causer (who’s here tonight, too), “thought it would be a good thing to do—and I’m a great fan of country and western.” Joey Towery chimes in that his classmates have become friends off the dance floor as well: “We walk our dogs together. I come here to dance with our friends and it takes my mind off work.” Sandy Thompson and her business partner Steve Sabatini offer Country and Western dance classes three times a week for just $5 per class. Mondays are for beginners; you don’t need a partner, they’ll find you one. Wednesdays are line dancing and Thursdays intermediate to advanced. Sessions go from 8:15 to 9:15 PM. Sandy estimates she has 20 to 30 students, “but it’s hard to tell because of the bad weather. People come from all over and learn about us mainly by word-ofmouth.” She adds. “They come in for dinner and then they dance off the calories!” It would seem that this would be the LAST place to dine if you want to shed holiday flab and tighten Pennsylvania Ave. SE, which Sandy also owns, and where classes were held before Sheridan’s opened. “I love it,” says Ivy. “It’s a great form of exercise!” Ivy’s friend and neighbor Scott Briscoe weighs in on the chow as well as the dancing. He’s just devoured black bean cakes, salad and the “legendary” bread pudding and thinks the food is wonderful (we agree). “It’s fun, being with your friends,” he says. “We all look stupid, but we’re having a good time. This place is clean and well lit, and the acoustics are great. They don’t have to blare the music.” Adds Judy Shinogle, who teaches bike classes at the Washington Sports Club and lives at Sixth and East Capitol, “It’s interesting and a Wo rking off the Beef at Sheridan’s Steak Ho u s e T H E W I L D W E S T M E E T S C A P I T O L H I L L www.voiceofthehill.com 11 up that tummy. If you’re on the Dr. Atkins diet (which allows mucho protein), you’re in seventh heaven, but otherwise it’s not easy to watch your waistline at Sheridan’s. “Our portions are huge,” says chef Mike Finney. “We watch plates come back from the diners, and they are all empty. Our lamb shank is gnawed to the bone, like Fred Flintstone got a hold of it.” There are actually two chefs dishing out Sheridan’s rib-sticking Western chow. 28-year old Mike, and Steven Ritter, 32. Steven recently returned to Washington after 10 years at Saxon’s by the River, in Wilmington, NC. He’s the baker, and is justly proud of his homemade jalapeno corn muffins and desserts like bourbon pecan pie, bread pudding (with dark and light chocolate and currants), coconut/white chocolate and raspberry layer cake. Mike’s originally from Ponca City, OK, but spent 7 years in F resno, CA at the Daily Planet, where everything was made from scratch, as it is here. While he admits to throwing in some Latino and Asian touches, he says, “we try to stay with our Wild West theme.” That menu changes pretty frequently. One newcomer is the 12- ounce Red River pork chop ($16). It looks beautiful on the plate, stuffed with cranberries, sundried tomatoes and cornbread and finished with a cranberry demi-glaze. Our favorite, however, is the Li’l Cowpoke. Tagged at $11, the 4-ounce, fork tender filet is lightly coated with Bearnaise sauce, propped up against a ziggurat of skins-on garlic mashed potatoes, and escorted by crunchy carrots. Another sure bet is the Padre Island Seafood stew ($14). Garnished with French bread slices, the wellseasoned mélange was swimming with shrimp, mussels, chunks of salmon and other goodies. There are a few heart (and hip) friendly offerings on the menu—relatively light entrées like fish-of-theday, buffalo and meat chili and the chef’s market salad—a Caesar or a crunchy stack of field greens topped with shrimp, Southwestern spiced beef or chicken. Sheridan’s tries to keep prices reasonable, so people can dine there regularly. There’s also a three-course, pre-theater dinner, served from 5:30 to 6:30 PM daily, and priced at $18.74—well timed for folks heading to a film or show at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop around the corner on 7th Street. Entrées on the pre-theatr e menu might include country-fried steak or the Li’l Cowpoke filet. While prices may be moderate, the décor is deluxe. The upstairs restaurant features chandeliers, giltframed mirrors and Oriental carpets. The tables are covered with crisp white linen and champagne flutes sit ready for a celebration. Opening a restaurant and nightclub has fulfilled a life-long dream for Sandy Thompson. “When I was 15, I worked in Borden’s Cafeteria in Tulsa, and I waitressed my way through college (Oklahoma State University in Stillwater).” She majored in both home economics and interior design. “I can actually cook,” she laughs. She can also design, and had well-developed ideas about decorating the restaurant. “I wanted to stage it in the 1874 period, and I watched a lot of cowboy movies!” Sheridan’s 1874 Old West Steakhouse, 713 Eighth Street SE (546-6955) Open daily; dinner only. Red River Western Wear, 641 Pennsylvania Ave. SE (546- 6930) Closed Sunday. Celeste McCall is a writer living on Capitol Hill and a frequent contributor to The Voice. Let Thom put a S O L D sign on your house. Thom Burn s Thom Burn s Serving Capitol Hill for 22 years and counting. 202 547-5805 Office 202 543-5616 Home REALTYPROS Since 1961 CustomPhotoService 12 www.voiceofthehill.com Pass the Tofu – Life with a Ve g e t a r i a n Te e n BY BONNY WO L F Ten years ago, every third grader I knew— including my own—was intent on preventing deforestation in South America. In the process, they became deeply caring human beings. They worried about protecting endangered species— plant and animal—and saving the planet. This, I know, is a good thing. But by the time my son was 15, his consciousness had evolved to the point where he found it immoral to eat meat. Which left us with the dinner dilemma of how to feed two carnivores and a growing boy whose favorite vegetable is the olive. We are not alone. For many reasons—ethics, health, religion, environment, fashion—American teenagers have given up Whoppers and Chicken McNuggets. A 1992 Yankelovich survey found that 37 percent of children under 18 were vegetarians, and a recent poll by a research firm that studies teenagers found that more than 30 percent think being a vegetarian is “in.” The trend is obvious in the marketplace. A few years ago, vegetarian foods were only available in health food stores. Now Safeway has frozen vegetarian entrees and soy milk. Even fast food restaurants are on board. My son says if you ask for a veggie Big Mac, most McDonald’s employees know you want special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles, onions on a sesame-seed bun … but no allbeef patties. He does admit that teen vegetarians at fast-food restaurants “mostly eat fries.” Vegetarianism has gone to college with many teens. Duke University two years ago reported that 20 percent of the school’s students were vegetarians. Oberlin and Macalester colleges have vegetarian dining halls. There are vegetarian rock bands and vegetarian cartoon characters. Bart Simpson’s little sister Lisa is a vegetarian. Teens have many real-life models. Madonna’s a vegetarian as is Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam. Other vegetarians include Daryl Hannah, Janet Jackson, the artist formerly known as Prince, Paul McCartney, Natalie Merchant and Phylicia Rashad. And if their parents aren’t impressed with those vegetarians, teens can mention Socrates, Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Mahatama Gandhi, Albert Einstein and Clara Barton. There are many reasons teens stop eating meat. Charlotte Oman, a senior at the National Cathedral School who lives on East Capitol Street, says she “saw a statistic” that all the g rain used in this country by the meat industry could feed one small starving country. “Americans eat too much meat,” she says. “Grazing land could be used for better purposes, like feeding Bosnia.” Charlotte describes herself as “a picky eater,” a label that would fit many teens. “I don’t really like fruit or vegetables,” she says. “No mushrooms, eggplants or any of that kind of stuff—anything that looks funny.” Although Charlotte gave up a meatless diet last year—she says it was a pain at school—all her friends are vege tarians. My son Jonathan Levy, a senior at Duke Ellington School of the Arts, also has a number of vegetarian friends. “The idea of eating an animal always I blame it on the rain fo re st . www.voiceofthehill.com 13 seemed weird to me,” he says. He has been a vegetarian for three years. Both he and Charlotte say their friends give many reasons for not eating meat: Some do it for health reasons, some to lose weight, some to “be cool,” some because they’re really “crunchy” (defined as “believing in animal rights and g ranola”) and some just don’t like the taste of meat. The American Dietetic Association has said vegetarian diets can be healthful and nutritionally adequate when “appropriately planned.” And there’s the rub. Teenagers aren’t big planners. Parents’ biggest concern is often the nutritional adequacy of their child’s food choices. The key is variety —plenty of fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, whole-grain products, nuts, seeds and legumes. Some vegetarians will eat dairy products and eggs. But Charlotte Oman is not the only teenager who’s a picky eater. My son, for example, will not eat any food that has even touched tomatoes, spinach or eggplant. He used to rule out peas, mushrooms and zucchini but now says, “I can live with them in small quantities.” Or, “I can always pick them out.” This leaves what I call the white diet—cheese, pasta, bread (no whole grain), ice cream, eggs, butter, potatoes. This cannot be good for a g rowing boy. But this is sometimes easier to hear from a nutritionist than your mother. Doctors can refer parents to nutritionists who deal with teen vegetarians or the American Dietetic Association (1-800-366-1655) will suggest a registered dietitian. L i ke all teens, ve g eta rians have particular nutritional needs. The ye a rs b et ween 13 and 19 are a time of t remendous physical change and grow th. The biggest nutritional conc e rns for teen ve g eta rians are prot e i n , calcium, iron, and vitamin B-12 . In addition to milk, cheese and eggs, sources of protein for vegetarians are beans, breads, cereals, nuts, peanut butter, tofu and soy milk. Calcium intake during adolescence establishes bone integrity for life. Half the adult skeleton develops during the teen years as well as 15 percent of adult height. So if teen vegetarians don’t eat dairy products, they can get calcium from green leafy vegetables such as spinach, collard greens, mustard greens and kale, almonds, sunflower seeds, calciumfortified orange juice and soy milk, and, for those who eat fish, canned private parties•celebrations•special events 2 Quail 2 Quail Wo o f * * It could mean “Feed Me,” but more than likely your dog is telling you to take your film to Mo t o Photo—for memories that will last a lifetime. E x t ra Set of P r i n t s when ordering original color print processing. Every Thursday 666 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20003 202 547-2100 NEW STORE HOURS! Mon-Fri 9-7 • Sat 9-5 • Sun 12-4 Thursday & Sunday Special! FREE Second Set of Prints Bring in your film to be developed and receive a second set of prints for free! 25% Off Film Developing Receive 25% off the regular price of processing and printing 35mm color print film. Limit 2 rolls. May not be combined with other coupons or offers. Club Moto* members receive additional 10% off. Participating stores only. 14 www.voiceofthehill.com mended that a food containing vitamin C be eaten as part of a meal to increase the amount of iron you absorb. Vitamin B-12—important to the nervous system and production of red blood cells—can only be found in animal protein. Vegans who eat salmon and sardines with bones Teenagers—particularly girls—also need iron. Without red meat, other iron sources must be found. Foods high in iron include broccoli, watermelon, spinach, raisins, black-eyed peas, blackstrap molasses, chickpeas and pinto beans. It is also recom- Vegans These are the strictest g roup. When my son told me he was going vegetarian, he softened it by saying, “But don’t worry Mom, I’m not a vegan.” Vegans eat no animal products or byproducts. So no milk, no eggs, no leather. Vegetarians These folks eat no meat, poultry or fish. Some are lacto-vegetarians who eat dairy products, ovo-vegetarians who include eggs and lacto-ovo-vegetarians who eat both. Pesco- and pollovegetarians This is not an uncommon group for teens. They eat fish and chicken, respectively, but no red meat. Semi-vegetarians I have heard some teens describe their diet this way. It means they pick and choose, but probably don’t eat red meat … much. Black Bean Chili 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 medium onion, diced 4 large garlic cloves, minced 1 red pepper, diced no dairy or egg prod - ucts will need to add it to their diet. The vitamin can be found in some cereals such as Grape Nuts and some fortified soy milk. The Vegetarian Way: Total Health for You and Your Family by Virginia and Mark Messina—nutritionists who are vegetarians —is a good source for more specific guidance on vegetarian nutrition. The book also includes sample menus and recipes. The Messinas urge parents to support their teen’s vegetarianism and occasionally to make vegetarian meals for the whole family. They write, “Teens have a lot of things on their minds. Generally, planning well-balanced meals isn’t one of them. If you want your vegetarian teen to be healthy, you may need to pitch in …” Me and Marge Simpson. 545 7th Street, SE Washington, DC 20003 We’ve got hot stuff to keep you warm ! capitol hill a rts w o r k s h o p Visit www.chaw.org for more information. 202-547-6839 AND DON’T FORGET ABOUT SUMMER ARTS CAMPS…. stop by and ask for details! Spring Semester is Underway! Check out our new shorter session classes: IKEBANA (6 weeks, begins Feb. 26) BALLROOM DANCE (4 weeks, begins March 3) JOURNALING (8 weeks, begins March 29) and full semester classes in all the arts for all ages Call for Entries: Sights and Sounds: Still Life and Food a new publication of poetry and photography Entry deadline: March 3 Call for more information Capitol Hill Art League Gallery Talk: Mirror Images Thursday, March 2, 7:30 p.m. Films on the Hill REMEMBER LAST NIGHT? (1935) Friday, March 10, 7:30 p.m. Theater Alliance Children's Production How to Eat Like a Child Opens March 24! www.voiceofthehill.com 15 4 teaspoons ground cumin 12 teaspoon cayenne 1 4-ounce can mild green chilies 3 16-ounce cans black beans 1 can yellow corn (or Mexican corn) packed in water 2 bay leaves 1 cup vegetable broth Salt and pepper Heat oil in large pan over high heat. Add onions, garlic and red pepper and cook, stirring occasionally. Add cumin, cayenne and green chilies. When onions are soft, about 5 minutes, add blac k beans, corn, bay leaves and vegetable broth. Bring to boil, reduce heat to simmer and cook at medi - um heat uncovered for 30 minutes. Serve with sour cream, grated Monterey Jack cheese, and chopped fresh cilantro. Serves 4. Vegetable Stir Fry You can use whatever vegetables you like for this recipe. Cut vegetables in small pieces so they cook quickly. Stir-fried vegetables should be al dente—tender but crisp. 14 cup plus 6 tablespoons vegetable broth 2 teaspoons minced garlic 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger 2 cups broccoli flowerets 1 cup sliced carrots, cut 1/8” thick on the diagonal 1 cup snow peas, halved widthwise 1 small red onion, thinly sliced 1 14-ounce package firm tofu, cut in 14” cubes 2 tablespoons soy sauce 1 tablespoon cornstarch 2 cups bean sprouts 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar Pepper Combine 14 cup vegetable broth, garlic and ginger in a wok or large skillet. Simmer for 2 minutes over moderate heat. Add broccoli, snow peas, carrots and onion. Cook, stirring, over moderately high heat until vegetables get slightly soft, about 5 minutes. Add tofu and soy sauce. In small bowl, mix remaining 6 tablespoons broth with cornstarch. Add to wok mixture and simmer until sauce thickens and vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add sprouts and vinegar and toss. Season with pepper to taste Serves 4. Bonny Wolf is working on a book about the Eastern Market. If you have infor - mation you would like to share with her, please e-mail bwolf@his.com. E QUITY CHECK Home sale prices are up! Curious how much equity you have in your home? E-Mail for a quick, home equity check! FAISON@Realtor.com Tom & Alice Faison “Spouses Who Sell Houses” Associate Broker, GRI REMAX Capital Properties 202.255.5554 or 202.546.5881 401 M Street, SW 2400 14th Street, NW 725 8th Street, SE 202-554-8840 202-986-7360 202-547-6540 Washington, DC Washington, DC Washington, DC Besides being sort of famous, in a modest C a p i tol Hill way, another thing I love about my job writing this column is how many of my questions come from people I run into at parties, around, in the car...In this age of E-everything, good old ear mail is alive and well on the Hill! Of course, the bad thing is that I forget half the questions people ask me...but here are a couple of “ear mail” questions, beginning with one that some people asked me at a Preservation Café. I gave ’em a card and told ’em to call, but they haven’t—it is a question worth answering: Dear Judith: Our house has some kind of hardboard siding on the back that is more or less disintegrating. Any suggestions? We’d like to stay away from vinyl and aluminum. After all, that’s why we’re here and not in Burke…. CURIOUS AT THE CA F É Dear Curious: My partner told me about a fiber-cement product that is being recommended by the Histo ri c Preservation staff downtown (who will review your building permit application if it includes any exterior work). It looks like wood siding but is noncombustible. This is a nicer looking and non-toxic version of the ubiquitous cement asbestos siding of the 1920s and 30s that was so durable that it is still with us. The fiber cement siding is called “Hardiplank,” comes with a fifty year warranty, and is manufactured by James Hardie, 1-800-9-Hardie. Basically this new stuff is made of Portland cement, sand, and some natural fibers. Sounds pretty durable, doesn’t it? (No, I do not own any stock in the company. Also, I have ne ver actually used the material itself but have specified it for a Capitol Hill project that I hope to have under construction very soon. I will let you know how that goes…). Hardiplank comes in smooth and various fake “wood”-like textures: I recommend smooth. It also comes in different “exposures” (that is, the amount of siding that is visible, versus that total siding size). I recommend the smallest exposure of 5”. The really big exposures mostly look like you’re trying to save money and, it seems to me, have scale problems. They look too big on our little buildings. Dear Judith: We just bought our th re e - ye a r-old a wood bed frame/head and footboard with some kind of clear finish. It looks to us like it is thirties-era and we were wondering if there is anything toxic in the finish. TEETHING ON FOURTH STREET Dear Teething: Part of my job as an architect is to be a generalist and to know who to go to for authoritative answers to questions I’m not qualified to answer. So, when I called up env i ro n m e n tal consultant Mark D’Ascenzo to ask him about an asbestos inspection, I asked him about the finish. He told me he has heard of cases of lead being present in clear finishes like varnish or shellac although he’s has never run into it. He thinks the likelihood of finding lead at the level that is regulated (you will find traces of lead in almost all paint, but it is below the threshold that is currently regulated) is very very slim. But, if you ’re really wor ried, you can have it tested by an environmental lab. Dear Judith: That top round thing on the last post on our iron front steps is loose. It’s attached to a long rod that tapers to a point that my kids claim is a sword. What is this, and should I be worried? NINJA MOM Dear Mom: Our cast iron front stairs/stoops are examples of n i n et e e n th century indust rialized pre f a b ri c a t i o n technology. They consist of a number of relatively standardized parts that ar rived on the site as pieces and were bolted together. The long rod attached to that round piece once had a threaded end that went through the bottom step and secured the post, called the newel, to the step. With time and water, that rod has rusted through, so now your newel post is attached to the bottom step only by rust. You should worry about this. If someone slips and knocks the newel loose as they fall you could have both an injured person and shattered cast iron. Have it repaired. The repair is actually pretty simple. Your ironworker should take away the loose piece and attach a new stainless steel rod, th readed at the end. (When this very thing happened to our stairs last year, I put a piece of aluminum foil over the open end on the post so if it rained the water wouldn’t have a superhighway down the hollow post to the same location where it had rusted before.) Then your ironworker will come back and reinstall the piece, rebolting it to the bottom step and you can figure that newel is good for another hundred years! If your ironworker suggests welding the newel post back to the bottom step, thank him for his efforts and call someone else. Our cast iron should almost never be welded, and an ironworker who doesn’t know that shouldn’t be trusted to work on your antique newel! To prevent water penetration again at this location, or anywhere else on your stoop and stair, examine it carefully. Anywhere you see loose rust 16 www.voiceofthehill.com Ask Judith THE ORNAME NTAL GARDEN garden revitalizations • streetbed plantings • urban gardens • maintenance KIM BRENEGAR 202 x 544 x 7831 H&W Contracting, Ltd. MAURICE HILL, CEO Home Improvements Don’t let your house get you down. Let H&W Contracting keep it up. We can take care of it all. Home Improvements Kitchens and Baths • Painting • Plumbing • Doors & Locks • Drains and Downspouts • Drywall and Plastering • Brickwork • Carpentry • Ceilings • Concrete • Roofing • Fences General Cleaning and Repairs Windows • Appliances • Blinds and Shades • Linoleum Tile • Hot Water Heaters • Exterminating • Landscaping 202 398 7117 use a wire brush to brush it away. Paint the location with a rust converter, then use an exterior caulk to fill any open joints, holes or the like. Now you can paint. Even if you’re not up for a complete repainting job on your stoop, do this interim job and you can wait another year or two for the big job. Dear Judith: Our contractor said he’d get the permit. Today we got a big thing stuck to our door ordering us to stop work. Now what? SINGING THE B LUES Dear Blues: Ever heard “The check is in the mail?” or “I have a nice bridge for sale?” Ask your contractor, nicely, if he neglected to post the permit he got, but be prepared for the possibility that he didn’t get one. Oops. Now you must get a permit before you can begin work again. If the work is on any part of the exterior of your house, it will have to go th rough Histo ri c Preservation review. If your house is already occupying sixty or more percent of the lot—or forty percent if it’s semi-detached—and you are adding to it, you will need to get a zoning variance, often an eight-month process. If that’s the case, let’s hope you haven’t already torn down the back wall... Once you get your building permit—a piece of pink paper about 4” by 8 1/2”—don’t forget to post it prominently, usually in a front window, so everyone knows you’ve got it. Dear Judith Our bed’s old head and footboard have several different wood veneers, but the veneer is damaged in some places and the clear finish is sort of rough and lifted. Can we just paint it? Will the paint adhere to whatever that finish is? How do we know what it is? RUBY AND RED Dear Ruby and Red No, you can’t paint it and that is that. (After my principal squeeze and I graduated from www.voiceofthehill.com 17 Thinking of Taking that Big Step… Get a seasoned pro behind you! Over ten years experience selling real estate, both residential and commercial pro p e rties. LARRY CHARTIENITZ Pardoe/ERA (Direct) 202-546-7000 x 228 (Cell) 202-255-3731 E-mail: larrychartienitz@pardoe-capitolhill.com Licensed in DC, VA and MD. For all your real estate needs, call undergraduate architecture school we bought an old house with four other recent graduates and then proceeded to undo the icky accretions of decades. I spent more hours than I care to think about removing old paint from old trim that had been painted and painted and painted. After that sad experience, I have resisted temptation to paint wood—and, especially an old piece of furniture on which some original designer or builder created patterns in different woods. It seems a shame to paint something like that. If you want painted, why not buy a steel bed that needs paint to prevent corrosion, or that knotty pine stuff that is sold unfinished. If you’re dying to paint and stencil, do the walls—or maybe a border on the floor…) As for the rough finish, from your description, it sounds like the original finish has alligatored with time. When an old clear finish, usually shellac or varnish, yellows or alligators, it is time to refinish. But fir st you want to know what the finish is: varnish, shellac, or lacquer. We have developed a sophisticated finish test kit for the office consisting of cans of lacquer thinner and of alcohol. If the finish is either varnish or shellac, the alcohol will dissolve it allowing you to get the old finish off. If it is lacquer, it can be removed with lacquer thinner. Now a new finish can be applied. Judith Capen, AIA, practicing restoration architect is the author of many of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s award-winning guidelines for work on Capitol Hill Homes. Washington cab drivers, those philosop h e rs without port folio, have d e s c ribed the city’s fear zones, and Capitol Hill is one of them. Just try to get a cab here and you’ll see what I mean. They (the cabbies) just don’t like us, and as we travel east wa rd, away from the comfo rt i n g bosom of the Capitol Dome, the dislike becomes intense. While you are waiting on Pennsylvania Avenue’s icy granite curb, the cabbies— scores of them—are waiting in long queues at Union Station for the dream fare. They don’t want us. What they want is a nice long trip out to the suburbs. This is why I was careening through the night during the millennium snowstorm w i th a dist raught neighbor biting her t e eth. An imp o rtant law ye r, she had called a cab to her Capitol Hill house— mansion would be a better word—and the cab never came. By then it was too late for the subway. She had to make a plane to give a speech and in desperation called a neighbor—me. At the airport, a vast line of cabs sat idling, their windshield wipers beating wetly against the spitting snow. Now, thanks to the outspoken Sandra Seegars, the woman who came within a few signatures of ousting the ruffian former Mayor Marion Barry by recall petition, the fear zones are out in the open. The cabbies say they are terrified of “Southeast,” which for us is a fine part of the city, and they are terrified of black youths dressed in the popular “gangsta” garb. When Seegars said this in public, and as a city official—a member of the DC Taxicab Commission —there was a minor outcry. The mayor piously scolded her, disavowing such sentiments from the Tony Williams regime. I suspect if Seegars had been white, she would have been dismissed—and probably rightly so, in the weird double-speak of this city’s racial politics. That’s beside the point—what is important is the attitude of the cabbies and why that attitude exists. Though it is true that driving a cab in the city can be risky—and recent assaults and killings underscore that point—it is also true that what cabbies really dislike is poor people, and crime gives them a decent cover. Poor people seldom tip well, and can seldom afford the long rides cabbies prefer. They are almost never headed for the Willard Hotel, Potomac or the airport. In fact the poor taxi rider has a 50 percent chance of asking for a destination far, far from the cabby’s happy hunting ground. But let’s look for a minute at the strange relationship between cabbies, the poor, and the concept of taxi transportation being a “public service.” First: Most cabbies are not rich themselves—ipse loquitur—as my lawyer neighbor would put it. Second: Cabs in Washington are a poor economic choice. Take my trip to the airpor t: Metro, $1.80. Cab, $13. That kind of multiple greatly weakens the “public service” aspect of the Washington cab. It is a posh service, it is carriage trade, it is vastly more expensive than the bus or the Metro. For a poor person to be taking a cab, he’s got to be either desperate or a little bit crazy or disabled. T h i rd: Cabbies, like the butlers of long-gone wealthy families, have taken on the attitudes of their employers—the well-heeled big tipper headed to a fine hotel. Cabbies, as their recent comments during the Seegars’ blowup reveal, are social and economic snobs. Let’s take the “public service” thing a bit further. Restaurants also provide “public accommodation,” and a long and honorable battle was fought to extend that accommodation to every American. Yet where is the outrage at restaurants that require a coat and tie, or “proper attire?” Could the “gangsta” dressed youths enter these dining rooms with impunity? I suspect only with a lawyer or a film crew in tow. Yet we’re meant to be outraged when cabbies pass them by. On the other hand, there’s a free market aspect to be honored here. If you want to go to the fine restaurant, you don the tie. It’s a subtle part of the social contract. Therefore if you want the cab to stop, you wear the tie and maybe carry a briefcase. You want the service, the cabbie wants the tip. Many blacks argue that even with the tie, they get passed up. This—not the “gangsta” dress issue—is a legitimate gripe by the riding public. Also legitimate is the gripe by many Hill residents that cab queues are seldom filled with waiting cabs on the Hill’s business c o rri d o rs: Pe n n s ylvania Avenue, 8th Street SE, and Massachusetts Avenue. The situation has been so bad that at least one restaurateur on Pennsylvania Avenue has used his own car to get patrons back to “civilization” after dining. Why don’t they like us? Beyond the issue of rich and poor, black and white, the Hill has a “short haul” problem. I’ve often seen cabbies react with ill-disguised disgust when asked to travel from Union Station to a Hill address. From the cabby’s point of view, he’s waited an hour in line to take a $3.50 fare. The same applies to the cab called to a Hill home for the trip to the station or airport or Metro rail stop—it’s not great business for them. Is there hope? Yes, and it’s in the works. If a cou - ple of New Jers ey entre p re n e u rs get the ri g h t approvals, a new jitney system of shuttle buses that will concentrate on commercial corridors will provide short trip transportation and bridge the gap— social and financial—between bus and Metro and the upscale only cabbies. Charles Hentz, who runs such a jitney in Atlantic City is pitching it here. It would run from Union Station to the Washington Navy Yard, and from Union Station to downtown (to name only the most Hill-oriented routes now being planned). The rides would cost $1.50 irrespective of length. Where, you may well ask, did Hentz hatch such a scheme? It was here on the Hill. He was taking his grandson Matthew Ec ker to watch the U.S. Marine Corps Parade at the Barracks at 8th and I Streets SE. When the famous show was over, he walked out to the street and tried to hail a cab. Then he started calling. “I called 20 cabs. Nobody showed up,” he said. Ipse Loquitur. Duncan Spencer is a regular columnist for the Voice of the Hill and The Hill newspapers. 18 www.voiceofthehill.com Spencer Says The Hill’s a Cab Desert And Here’s Why CELEBRATION 2000 JAZZ BRUNCH SUNDAY, JANUARY 2, 2000 FROM 1-4 PM MILLENNIUM NEW YEAR’S JAZZ CELEBRATION DECEMBER 29 AND 30 Closed December 24 - 29, 1999 and December 30, 1999 - January 1, 2000 424A 8TH STREET, SE ON CAPITOL HILL • 202-546-8308 WEDNESDAY-SATURDAY 6:30PM THRUCLOSING SUNDAY 12-4PM A CHAMPAGNE LOUNGE AND GARDEN CAFE Ed Dillon’s not sure exa c t ly how old Grubb’s Pharmacy is, but he knows it’s been a pharmacy for over a hundre d years. He also knows that at around the turn of the last century the place was owned by a fellow named Randal. That’s because Randal’s niece, Goldie Humphrey (who was 101 when she passed away), gave Ed a photo of the front of the store that dates back to 1895. Randal and several employees are standing under the awning that once sheltered café tables that were set out in the summertime. The drugstore used to have a pretty fancy soda fountain. Ed thinks there were several owners between Mr. Randel and Charles and John Grubb who bought the store in about 1932. There were also a lot of pharmacies on the Hill early in the last century. Many were still around when Ed took over the business in the late 1960s. Ed says, “Jimmy T’s used to be a pharmacy. There used to be one at 2nd and Constitution, one at 7th and Maryland, another where Antiques on the Hill is. There were probably 10 or 12 pharmacies in this fairly immediate area, one on just about every corner.” In the past few years Grubbs has gotten increasingly involved in helping customers with vitamins, herbs, diet counseling and non-traditional medications, in addition to dispensing prescription medicines. We said to Ed that it seems he’s returning to an earlier time, when pharmacists played a much more active role in the health of the customer. Ed: You know, that’s what’s remarkable. I would say about 90% of the stuff they did back then was prepared on site, or made from natural ingredients. They made tinctures—like belladonna… Voice: Isn’t that what you use to do in your mother- in-law? Ed: Yeah, I guess. But it has a bunch of other uses. It can be used as a cardiac regulator, but at the same time it has digestive uses. Back then they would actually get belladonna leaves, put them in a glass tube—what they called a percolator—extract the active ingredient, and use it as a tincture. It used to be that the doctor would tell the pharmacist, here are the four things I want in my prescription… and the pharmacist would prepare it. Voice: When did that change? Ed: Early in the 20th century—when the first major pharmaceutical companies started up. What they did was to take some of the guesswork out of p re p a ring medicines, sta n d a rdize things. They made tablets, prepackaged medications—they really weren’t into research. In the beginning, I think, pharmacists really looked forward to the change because you could clearly prepare more prescriptions if some were prefabricated—tablets that you simply had to count. Voice: But over the years pharmacists seemed to do less…. Ed: I think the real change in the pharmaceutical industry was when the first antibiotics came out, in the late 30’ early 40s. Penicillin was something that there was no alternative to. At that point manufacturers realized that if they did research—if they did discover Penicillin—that there was a huge market, and an enormous amount of profit. So from the 40s until really about ten years ago that was the cycle. More and more was manufactured and the pharmacist did less and less compounding, less and less consulting. He re a l ly became “count, pour, stick and lick.” You know, we’d put stuff into a container and put a label on it. Voice: Which brings us back to the future doesn’t it? Ed: Yes, now we’re seeing changes. We’re trying to be involved with the patient, to talk to them about the whole concept of their health. What we try to do is merge the two things together. We’re n ot abandoning our traditional practice. What we’re trying to do is expand it to include all the other things. Voice: That’s pretty different from count, pour, stick and lick. Ed:We think the advantage of having a pharmacist is being able to talk to the patient about the medication first of all, and then also to be able to talk beyond the medication. When someone comes in with a prescription, that prescription is designed to cure a specific illness, or treat a specific problem. There may well be underlying problems that make the patient or individual prone to the disease or condition. Voice: Like what? Ed: Like chronic allergies. You keep coming in for steroid nasal spr ays—and that’s going to help you. But if you’re allergic to something, it makes a helluva lot more sense to find out what you’re allergic to and treat the underlying allergy, as opposed to relying on medication. Voice: Are you saying that sometimes doctors will prescribe something for an allergy without looking www.voiceofthehill.com 19 Business Bits G ru b b ’s Care Pharmacy Heads Back to the Future Randal’s (aka Grubbs) Pharmacy, ca. 1895 mentation. When Pauling first began talking about the benefits of vitamin C, a lot of the medical community said this guy’s a quac k. Now everyone says vitamin C will boost the immune system—and the immune system is one of the body’s pri m a ry defenses against a whole host of diseases. Voice: There does seem to be increasing acceptance for altern a t i ve medicines, even those th a t seemed fairly “out there” just a few years ago. Ed: I think the medical community is recognizing that things like St. John’s Wort really do work. Voice: It’s like you’re running two businesses, a traditional pharmacy and a vitamin store. Ed: Rather than say we have two separate businesses, what we’re trying to do is combine the two so that when people come in, and are talking about herbal medications, and they’re diabetics, we say ‘well there are certainly things to help you but there’s a point where you’re going to have to go to the traditional medical community and utilize insulin shots, and monitor your blood glucose.’ Voice: So lets talk about diet and supplements. Ed: I think the old adage, we are what we eat, st i l l counts. You have to fuel your body in a proper way. You can get your car to run on ke rosene for a while but it’s going to be spitting and jerking and not ru nning ve ry well. Then you put super octane gas in and it runs smooth and you get better mileage. You can function on peanut butter sandwiches and ch o c olate milk, if th a t’s what you want, and you could p ro b a b ly live a re a s o n a b ly long life, but the qu e st i o n is…. will you be operating at peak efficiency? Voice: Why not just go to a vitamin store? Ed: When you go to health food stores, or to someone that is strictly in the natural line, they tend to close their eyes—just like the traditional medical community has closed their eyes to the value of natural supplements. There’s no reason why someone shouldn’t be able to use the best of both worlds. We have professionals on staff that not only understand the products, they also understand the implications the products are going to have on your total health; we can address your needs if you’re diabetic, overweight… whatever. Voice: You would also, if they were regular customers, have records of their prescription medications. Ed. Absolutely right. Voice: You’ve installed a software program that gives a description of the various vitamins and nutritional supplements, tracks the research that’s been done on those supplements, and suggest s dietary changes. How does that work? Ed: What we do is a customized analysis of your nutritional needs. We sit you down and ask your age, sex, exercise habits, specific health problems, and general state of health. We ask if you smoke or take oral contraceptives. We talk about stress and your job, your lifestyle.... Then we produce an optimal nutritional plan for you. The plan shows how much calcium you should get everyday, how much vitamin C, how much B. The next thing that we can do is have you bring in a list of everything you ate over a three-day per iod. We punch it into the computer—this thing even has a McDonalds menu. Then we take your optimal nutrition chart and compare it to what you ate. Let me tell you. You get frightened when you see this stuff. Voice: I think I’m pretty typical of most people. I sleep through the nutrition stuff. I just want to know how can I rev the energy—and lose weight. Ed: I know that! I know that. But as a wise man once said, if it was easy everybody would be doing it. There are simple solutions. But the simple solufor the cause? Ed. I won’t say that. If you go to a top allergist, they will. But traditional medicine is designed to treat sick people and make them better. Not necessarily to keep healthy people well. Maybe that’s a simplification, but not many people go to the doctor when they’re well. We tend NOT to say, OK we’ve cured that sinus infection, what can we do to prevent you from getting another one? Voice: Need I ask why? Ed: It used to be you had a family physician you went to, and they knew you, and they also had time to sit down and talk to you. If you were the last patient of the day you might get a 20-minute office visit extended to an hour. Today, with managed care, physicians are really being hammered with how much time they can spend with an individual patient. With some managed care organizations you might not get to see the same physician all the time. You may never see the same physician twice. Voice: So, in a way, you’re filling that gap…. Ed:We’ll talk to people, we’ll make recommendations, but if we think there’s a serious medical condition involved, we’ll say ‘here’s information, talk to your physician, see what he or she thinks about this and we’ll go from there.’ Voice: How is it that you’ve gotten into vitamins and nutrition in such a big way? Ed: I know—I have seen—alternative medicine work. I’ve always had a strong belief that there is a great deal to natural health and vitamin supple- 20 www.voiceofthehill.com Frager’s Tr u e Va l u e 1101-1115 Pennsylvania Ave.,SE • Washington,DC 20003 • Phone 202-543-6157 Fax 202-543-9048 Hours Monday-Friday 7am - 7pm • Saturday: 7am-5:55pm,Sunday: 8am-5:00pm Grubbs Pharmacy today. tions require discipline and require long-term commitment. There is no magic bullet, no Penicillin for weight loss. You’re right, it is the most common question…it’s real simple. Change your diet, exercise and change your lifestyle. Voice. How about high protein and other popular diets? Ed: Diets where you lose weight very very dramatically work because you’re starving yourself. You can do that. Lock yourself in a room and just drink water. Boy, watch the weight come off. The fact is all diets are based on eating fewer calories. You know, you can eat tropical fruit all you want and what happens is you get sick of eating tropical fruit so you only eat so many calories. Or you eat just bread, or just protein. Just carbs. Some of these diets deplete the body to the point where you might be in some nutritional danger. You may look thinner, feel lighter, but if you’re destroying your immune system are you really benefiting yourself? If all you’re doing is eating steak, and you’re doing without fresh vegetables, where are you getting your B vitamins from? Where are you getting your vitamin C? Voice: Can we stick with the losing weight part? Ed: I know this isn’t the answer you’re looking for but th e re ’s re a l ly only one way to lose we i g h t . That’s to eat fewer calories than you burn. Voice: sigh Ed: The difficulty is that we have the caveman complex built into us. When we start to eat less, our bodies say there’s a famine coming, lets turn down our metabolism so that we won’t starve to death. So what happens is you’re eating fewer calories and you’re gaining weight. Take the reverse of this—a football player, Howie Long was an example. This guy should be burning maybe 3,000-3,500 calories a day. He’s bigger than you and can eat more. In training camp he would eat 20,000 calories a day and lose weight. Voice: 20,000! Ed: 20,000. He’d sit there and eat steak after steak, mashed potatoes, chocolate milk shakes. What’s happening is he’s burning fat and building lean muscle mass. And his metabolism is at such high rate that he’s burning it as fast as it goes in. Voice: So the idea is to build the muscle to burn the fat. Ed: A 150 lb person with 20% body fat might burn 2000 calories a day. A 150 person with 10% body fat ratio—more lean muscle—is gonna burn 2300 or 2400 just sitting here. www.voiceofthehill.com 21 Banana Cafe & Piano Bar Serving the Best Cuban, Puerto Rican, & Mexican Food in the City! Open for lunch, dinner & Sunday Brunch No Cover! Piano Bar Upstairs Tues-Sat Performances by Deena Javor and Chuck Smith Happy Hour Tues-Fri 5-7:30 Upstairs only Drink Specials with Free Hors d’oeuvres 500 8th St, SE 1 block east of Blue/Orange Eastern Market Metro / 202-543-5906 Log On! w w w. v o i c e o f t h e h i l l . c o m Your daily newspaper for Capitol Hill P Distinctive Collars & Leads P Expert All-Breed Grooming P Premium Pet Foods & Treats P Unique Gifts and Toys… for Pets and Pet Lovers 224 Seventh Street, SE, Washington, DC Directly across from Eastern Market! (202) 544-8710 Voice: And, of course, more exercise is key. Ed: Look at guys who dig holes for a living—now I’m not talking about the guy who’s leaning on the shovel—I’m talking about someone who takes the shovel and digs 8 hours a day. There are no fat ones. They’re all in good shape. It almost doesn’t matter what you eat because the exercise alone will burn the calories. Vo i c e : You do have these energy boost e rs though…. Ed: Oh yeah! There are things. Voice: Oh yeah! Tell me about them…. Ed: There are enzymes that help in the digestive process. Think about the way the body works. You take in food—in whatever form—and sooner or later the body breaks it down. We actually burn it, like an engine… and the energy from that burning process makes the body run. So if you can find something that turns the heat up a little bit, even a slight amount, it’s gonna help. Voice: Can popping vitamins take the place of proper diet? Ed: I’m a strong believer that it’s better to eat the n a t u ral food than to ta ke a supplement. Eve n though we don’t sell carrot s — we sell beta - carotene—ideally you’d be better off eating a carrot than taking a capsule. However, sometimes that’s impractical—if the amount of beta-carotene you need is contained in 12 car rots, you might get tired of chewing. A nutritionist said, the closer to the ground the healthier the food is. The prettier the package, the easier to open, the worse it is for you. If you want good food, pull a carrot out of the ground, wash the dirt off it—maybe don’t even wash the dirt off, it might be healthy for you—and eat it. When you get to these individually wrapped little nibbles, and they’ve got maybe some fancy cellophane around them, I guarantee you, those are poison. Voice: The more you process the food the worse it is? Ed: Pull the carrot out of the ground and eat it, it’s great. If you boil it, you lose something. If you chop it up and put a sauce on it you lose something. And if you buy it in a can with a whole bunch of syrup, it might taste great, but you might as well be eating cardboard with sugar sprinkled on it for all the nutritional value you’re gonna get. If you want to lose weight and feel better. You have to think about it. Make it part of your consciousness. Think about it every time you put something in your mouth. Subway has a great commercial. They show you a Whopper and it has something like 30 grams of fat. You can buy a 6-inch Subway sandwich that has less than 6 grams of fat. That’s a pretty good-looking sandwich, and healthier eating. Ed Dillon Grubbs Care Pharmacy 326 East Capitol St., NE 543-4400 Capitol Hill Brokers Council Installs New Officers. The Capitol Hill Brokers Council held their annual installation luncheon, celebrating the association’s newly elected officers, on Thursday, February 3rd at Caffe Italiano. Bert Planagan, of Pardoe Real Estate, will serve as president. Maria Strylowski is vice president. Cathy Cormack and Nancy Richards share the duties of secretary, and Bridgette Cline is the treasurer . The guest speaker at the luncheon was John Imparato, Director of Information Management at the Washington Navy Yard. Imparato is supervising the $200 million renovation of the Yard, which will Old fashioned service with a smile at Grubbs. allow the population to double—to approximately 10,000 individuals—by 20001. He discussed the construction within the Navy Yard, as well as the plans that public and private developers are putting in place for the surrounding area. Hill’s First Million Dollar Home Sold. While we’re on real estate, the top edge of home prices on Capitol Hill has finally tripped over the million-dollar mark. The property at 712 East Capitol, was listed by Phyllis Jane Young of Pardoe Real Estate, and sold by fellow Pardoean Hugh Kelly. Says Phyllis, “I am delighted to be a part of such a milestone for Capitol Hill. This community has been the sleeping gem of Washington for a long time. What makes it even nicer is that a family that has lived on the Hill for over 20 years bought the house. They understand what a unique and wonderful property this is—and what a unique and wonderful community Capitol Hill is.” Celebrating Women. The Color Me Human Players h ave been entertaining Wa s h i n g ton audiences with original productions since 1979. This March th ey’ll be in perfo rmance eve ry Sunday, at th e ch a mpagne bar/bist ro, Ellingto n’s on 8th. The series, titled “Woman: Her Essence, Her Beauty” was put together in honor of National Woman’s Month and each week something different will be performed between 5 and 6PM. The full schedule was not finalized at press time but booked for certain is fo rmer va u d ev i l l i a n Deborah Dell Branham, who’ll discuss her experiences as a black woman on the vaudeville circuit. She’s slated for the March 5th opener, and will s h a re the stage with the Play m a ke rs Re p e rto ry C o mp a ny, local kids who’ll perfo rm Afri c a n A m e rican Fo l k-Tales. We ’re told that oth e r evenings will fe a t u re poet ry readings, dra m a t i c monologues, and musical perfo rm a n c e s . Admission is $10. Ellington’s on 8th, 424A 8th St., SE 546-8308. New Directions in Watercolor. Opening February 27 at the Newman Gallery, a new exhibit featuring 7 watercolorists who’ve been collaborating on the creation of this show since 1998. The artists met eve ry Fri d ay at 8AM at the Lost Dog Café in Shepherdstown, Virginia. After coffee they’d go off to spend the morning painting at the Antietam Battlefield, along the Potomac River, on a nearby farm or roadside, or indoors in poor weather. Over the months, the artists moved away from t raditional tra n s p a rent wa t e rc o l o rs, st ret ch i n g toward more experimental uses of the medium, and more abstract designs. The results will be on view at Newman’s through March 25, with an artist re c e ption on Sunday, Fe b ru a ry 27 from 3-5PM. Newman’s is at 513 11th St., SE. 544-7577. Coming this Summer, the Union Veterinary Clinic at 609 2nd Street NE, will be catering to dogs and cats of all spots and stripes. Sadly, we still don’t have a local vet for our elephants and donkeys. Bruce Herwald DVM of the top rated Dupont Veterinary Clinic will be opening a new full-service, state-of-the-current-art, practice with surgery, hosp i talization, dentist ry and boarding. Herwa l d ’s associate, Julie Giles DVM, who is well known to many Hill dwellers, will be in charge of the new facility. Herwald says that he and Giles felt there was “considerable demand from our Hill clientele to come and set up an office here.” Right now they’re still in the design phase. Herwald’s working with Hill architect Stan Andrulis to completely renovate the 3-story building and put an addition on the back. When it’s finished, he says, “it’ll be a pretty buff joint.” In the meantime both Herwald and Giles can be 22 www.voiceofthehill.com WESTERN WEAR WHERE THE REAL COWBOY SHOPS! 202-546-5566 641 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE Washington, DC (1/2 block from the Eastern Market Metro) Try Capitol Hill’s Best Kept Secret BUY ONE ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT SUNDAY BRUNCH AND GET A SECOND AT HALF PRICE Caffe Italiano’s classic Italian-European cuisine, quiet, romantic atmosphere, extensive & reasonably priced menu, provides the ultimate in dining pleasure. Private parties catered on or off premises. Ask about our “after hours parties,” perfect for birthday and anniversary celebrations, jazz parties, and fund raisers! HAPPY HOUR Monday-Friday 5PM to 7PM • $2 Rail Drinks M-Th: 11am-3pm; 5-10pm. Fri: 11am-3pm, 5pm-11pm Sat: 5:30-11pm. Sunday brunch only 10:30am-3pm 1129 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, SE • 202.544.5500 Please bring this ad. B ru n c h Major credit cards including Diners Club GI A N N I N A LY N N ATTORNEY AT LAW General and Family Practice Estate Planning • Probate • Domestic Relations • Real Estate • Equine Law Licensed in the District of Columbia and Maryland 1008 Pennsylvania Ave., SE (202) 544-2200 Washington, DC 20003 Atty_Lynn@Sprynet.com reached at 466-2211. (Thanks to Sharon Isch for the heads-up on this!) Our Town, Inc is a Hill-based firm that works with companies that are moving people into the area to find “best-fit” neighborhoods for the newcomers. One aspect of that business—customizing tours, seminars and events for agencies and businesses that need to promote the region to out-of-towners —recently landed Capitol Hill in the limelight. The Hill was showcased as a “neighborhood in detail” for a tour given to business development officials from 19 jurisdictions in the gre a t e r Washington area. Our Town’s Patrice Henkel says they took the group around the Capitol and “the official, monumental Hill.” Then they toured the neighborhood, and Eastern Market—a visit filmed by Channel 8 News, who showed the segment on their evening broadcast. For more info about Our Town, Inc, call Patrice Henkel or Scott Stafford at 546-9335. Itty Bitty Rumor Mill. Not confirmed at press time: That 7-11 will be taking over the One Stop Food Shop on 8th St., SE (returning to a space they left some years ago); that a new bike shop may be moving into the Met ropolis space; that the sale of Sherrill’s Bakery is days from being final; and that it looks like Giorgio’s on 7th Street is about to change hands. Business Bits is written by Voice of the Hill editor Stephanie Cavanaugh Coming soon…a new option for Fido. www.voiceofthehill.com 23 Motophoto 666 PA Ave.,SE 547-2100 See our ad on page 13 Picture Framing Frame of Mine 522 8th St.,SE 543-3030 See our ad on page 7 Newman Gallery and Custom Frames 511 11th St.,SE 544-7577 See our ad on page 29 Plumbing & Heating Leakbusters Plumbing & Remodeling 202 544-5000 Real Estate Valerie M. Blake Prudential Carruthers Realtors 5025 Wisconsin Ave,NW 202-362-1348,x111 www.DCHomeQuest.com Thom Burns Coldwell Banker Real Estate 109 8th St. NE 547-5805 Larry C Pardoe Real Estate 605 PA Ave.,SE 546-7000 Tom & Alice Faison REMAX Real Estate 220 7th St.,SE 547-5881 John C. Formant John C. Formant Real Estate 225 PA Ave.,SE 544-3900 Pardoe Real Estate 605 PA Ave.,SE 546-7000 See our ad on the back cover Jackie von Schlegel REMAX Real Estate 220 7th St.,547-5600 Antiques Antiques on the Hill 701 North Carolina Ave.,SE See our ad on page 26 Attorneys Davis & Gooch 920 Pennsylvania Avenue,SE 543-3600 Rick Halberstein & Karen Byrne 705 D St.,SE 543-1110 Arts Center Capitol Hill Arts Workshop 545 7th St.,SE 547-6839 See our ad on page 14 Association CHAMPS 621 PA Ave.,SE 547-7788 Bank National Capital Bank 316 PA Ave.,SE 546-8000 See our ad on page 29 Books Capitol Hill Books 657 C Street,SE,544-1621 Good Used Books Bought & Sold. See p. 43 Riverby Books 419 E. Capitol St.,SE 547-3228 See our ad on page 42 Chimney Cleaning Winston’s Chimney Service Washington DC (301)571-8546 See our ad on page 24 Church Christ Church Washington Parish 620 G St.,SE 547-9300 See our ad on page 41 Clothing & Gifts Art & Soul 225 PA Ave.,SE 548-0105 See our ad on page 22 Red River Western Wear 641 PA Ave.,SE 546-5566 See our ad on page 22 The Village 705 N. Carolina Ave.,SE 546-3040 See our ad on page 37 Computer Consultant Better Computer Solutions 623 N. Carolina Ave.,SE 546-8084 See our ad on page 32 Drug Store Grubbs Care Pharmacy 326 E Capitol SE 543-4400 See our ad on page 14 Garden and Landscape Holler Landscapes 543-5172 Ornamental Garden 544-7831 See our ad on page 16 Grocery The 8th Street Market 419 8th St.,SE Groceries Greens & Other Things! Hardware Fragers Hardware 1115 Pennsylvania Ave.,SE 543-6157 See our ad on page 20 Health & Fitness GI Jane 645 Pennsylvania Ave.,SE 547-7906 See our ad on page 26 Home Furnishings Woven History 311 7th St.,SE 543-1705 See our ad on page 27 Home Repair Federal City Iron 321 K St.,NE 547-1945 See our ad on page 24 Handyman on the Hill Washington DC 206-7185 See our ad on page 25 H&W Contracting, Ltd. 398-7117 See our ad on page 16 Income Tax Services Jackson Hewitt Tax Service 8th St.,SE 554-8840 Mortgage Lenders Apex Home Loans 1-800-914-8475,ext. 2075 See our ad on page 9 Pet Supplies Doolittle’s Pet Supply 224 7th St.,SE 544-8710 See our ad on page 21 Photography Asman Photo 924 Penn. Ave,SE 547-7713 See our ad on page 11 Business Directory Listings: Voice of the Hill is including a yellow-pages style directory of businesses and services that cater to the Capitol Hill community. To be included in the directory businesses must commit to a one-year contract,payable in advance by check, Visa or Mastercard. The annual fee is $250. Display advertisers on annual contracts will be included in the directory at no additional charge. Each business will be given three lines in the directory; two must be used for the company name,address and phone number. An extra line is available for your name,a description of your business or service,or a direction to see your ad. Additional lines may be added at an annual cost of $60 per line (per year). If you would like to be included in the next directory, please fill in the fol - lowing form and send it,along with your check or payment information,to: The Voice of the Hill, 120 11th St.,SE, Washington,DC 20003. If you have questions please call Bruce Robey at 544-0703. Your Name:_____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Company Name: ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Address: _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ Phone: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Business Description: (30 character maximum) _____________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please charge my Mastercard or Visa Name on Card:__________________________________________________________________________________________________ Card Number: _______________________________________________________________________Expiration Date:____________ Phyllis Jane Young Pardoe Real Estate 605 PA Ave.,SE 546-7000 Real Estate Settlement Capital Home Title 703 D St.,SE Washington DC 544-4300 See our ad on page 24 Congressional Title 650 PA Ave.,SE 544-0800 See our ad on page 25 Eastern Market Title 210 7th St.,SE 546-3100 See our ad on page 29 Restaurants 2 Quail 320 Massachusetts Ave. NE 543-8030 See our ad on page 13 Banana Café 400 8th St.,SE 543-5906 See our ad on page 21 Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream 327 7th St.,SE 546-CAKE See our ad on page 26 Bluestone Cafe 327 7th St.,SE 547-9007 See our ad on page 15 Caffe Italiano 1129 PA Ave.,SE 544-5500 See our ad on page 22 Ellington’s on 8th 424A 8th St SE 546-8308 See our ad on page 18 Hawk ’n’ Dove 329 PA Ave.,SE 543-3300 See our ad on page 27 Business Serv i c e s continued next page 24 www.voiceofthehill.com Business Serv i c e s Las Placitas 518 8th St.,SE 543-3700 See our ad on page 25 Park Café 106 13th St.,SE 543-0184 See our ad on page 37 Sheridan’s Steak House 713 8th St.,SE 546-6955 See our ad page 7 White Tiger 301 Mass. Ave.,NE 546-5900 See our ad on page 33 Salon RPM Salon 225 PA Ave.,SE 543-6481 See our ad on page 24 Social Services Capitol Hill Group Ministr y 421 Seward Sq.,SE 544-0385 Schools Capitol Hill Day School 210 S. Carolina Ave.,SE 547-2244 Edmond Burke School 2955 Upton St.,NW 362-8882 Levine School of Music 2801 Upton St.,NW 686-9772 St Peter’s School 422 3rd St.,SE 544-1618 Spiritual Advisors Corrin Bennett 920 G St.,SE 543-5825 See ad on page 28 Gabrielle Hill 639 E. Capitol SE 544-438 See ad on page 28 Vacation/Travel Consultatns Jan Cammarata Judiciary Express Travel 7th & Penn SE, 547-3007 Yoga Studio Dancing Heart Center for Yoga 221 5th St.,NE 544-0841 See our ad on page 28 Winston’s Quality Service since 1976 Cleanings • Repairs • Relinings Expert second opinion Air duct cleaning 301-571-8546 Licensed • Insured • Certified 202-CHIMNEY (244-6639) Recommended by Washingtonian Magazine 1984-1987 DCHIC #3615 Chimney Ser v i c e Massage 20% off Thru March 17, 2000 (must mention ad when booking appointment) ———————— “On Track” Facial with skin scanner $25 with this ad Tuesday-Friday Only Thru March 17, 2000 ———————— Classic Spa Manicure 1/2 Price with this ad Tuesday-Friday Only Thru March 17, 2000 225 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE 202-543-6481 www.RPMSALONS.com RPM HAIR & SKIN CARE CENTER CAPITAL home title, llc 703 D Street, SE Washington, DC 20003 Phone 202 544-4300 FAX (202) 544-7876 E-mail capitalhometitle@erols.com Michael Hines Other Settlement Locations Georgetown Chevy Chase Columbia, MD Camp Springs, MD Rockville, MD Annapolis, MD Bowie, MD Greenbelt, MD Crofton, MD Baltimore, MD Across from the Eastern Market Metr o Federal City Iron, Ltd. All Ornamental Ironwork Expert Cast Iron Stair Repairs Window Bars & Security Gates Fencing & Tree Boxes Metal Repairs SPECIALIZING IN CAPITOL HILL STYLES 202-547-1945 Best Price Guaranteed! Free Estimates 321 (rear) K St., NE e-mail: steel1M@aol.com Co nly Robe rt PERSONAL COMPUTER FLUENCY Training and application support for MS Office • Word • Excel • Access • Outlook • Powerpoint 623 North Carolina Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20003 Phone/Fax 202.546.8084 email rconly@bellatlantic.net www.voiceofthehill.com 25 d o w nL o a d Salvadorian and Mexican Cancun Cantina is now Cuisine and Great Margaritas known as LAS PLACITAS 1 LAS PLACITAS CANTINA Buy one entree, get a Great Mexican & NEW second entree Latin Dishes! for half price Buy one entree, get a second entree free! 518 8th St., SE 723 8th St., SE 543-3700 546-9340 1 coupon per table. Good for lunch and dinner. Valid through 3/17/00 We have been located on Capitol Hill for more than 20 years serving the District of Columbia and Maryland Let us make your refinance, purchase or sale hassle free with no stress Call us 202-544-0800 650 Pennsylvania Ave., SE Suite 170 Washington, DC 20003 H a n d y m a n on the Hill Masonry Brick & Stone Concrete Brick Pointing Carpentry Decks & Fences Roof Repairs Painting 2 0 2 - 2 06 - 718 5 St. Coletta School Quits Quest to Build on the Hill And It’s Pretty Ugly All Around Here’s hoping that by the time you read this, everyone involved will have calmed down, rethought, and ironed out their differences. As of this writing, the only point of ag reement is that it is sad that St. Coletta School has abandoned plans to build a new facility on Capitol Hill. St. Coletta is an Alexandria-based school for children and adults with physical and mental disabilities. Since many of the individuals that the facility serves live in DC, school officials decided to build a District branch in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue, SE. Then the plans ran into a little opposition from the Capitol Hill Re sto ration Societ y ( CHRS) and DC’s Histo ric Pre s e rvation Rev i ew Board (HPRB). The difficulty was not with the design, though both CHRS and HPRB wanted to see some modifications to make it more compatible with Hill architecture. The foment was over the little “shotgun” house on E Street, SE, and the removal of the garage behind it, so that St. Coletta could use the alley as a school bus entrance. St. Coletta was adamant that this was the only plan that would work. The children need a protected entrance so they can’t dart into heavily traff i cked Pe n n s ylvania Avenue. The Re sto ra t i o n Society was equally set on protecting the dwelling. Now suddenly it ’s all over. St. Coletta has folded its hand and the school’s executive director Sharon Raimo says they’ll be looking for another property in the District to develop. A number of events over the last two we e ks brought matters to this unfortunate point. Sparks began to fly over Brian Furness’s editorial in the February issue of the Restoration Society newsletter, which was posted to the Voice of the Hill website on February 7th. Furness, the president of CHRS, said: “Capitol Hill is about many things, and one of the things we’re about is history...Historic structures, both grand and humble, contribute to a sense of who and what we are by preserving what we’ve come from. This is what we’re about in the dialogue regarding the “shotgun” house, the small house in the 1200 block of E St., SE that St. Coletta has proposed to demolish to build a dri veway for th e school building it wants to build on Pennsylvania Avenue. ...I hope that neighbors are as outraged as I am that the owner let the property deteriorate as the pictures on the Voice of the Hill’s website so g raphically show. The deterioration is not accidental-it’s purposeful. It’s the same approach that the owner, Larry Quillian, used a bunch of years ago when he bought the pro p e rties in the 1200 block of Pennsylvania Avenue. When he couldn’t use the buildings as he wanted because of the legal limitations imposed on using buildings in an historic district, he let them deteriorate and then, successfully, got a permit to demolish them. It’s called demolition by neglect. So now he’s let the shotgun house become a blight on the neighborhood, an eyesore-all of the things the neighbors claim-and now he wants to reap the rewards. Great! Does this send a message that we want to send other developers? Let your property deteriorate for a couple of years (or as long as necessary) and wait for the neighbors to be willing to accept anything just to get rid of it? Some neighborhoods—and neighbors — h ave fought this kind of behavior when it is practiced by the city, or by private owners... Ask the scores that testified at Councilmember Ambrose’s hearing on nuisance properties! And the legislation she has proposed, the legislation that would force owners to preserve their properties or risk having the city do it at their expense, languished befo re th e Council. It’s a scandal! The shotgun house case certainly underlines the need for such legislation, and for stronger neighborhood pressure on property owners to maintain their property. Would anyone be defending tearing d own the house if it had been pro p e rly maintained? If it had been preserved in a fashion that reminded us of our origins as a community instead of our failings? Maybe. It is much more likely that the neighborhood would be pressing for a solution that preserved our past and helped ensure that the adults and children served by St. Coletta get the attention and education they need. I think that such a solution is possible and that finding it is an endeavor worthy of the talents the St. Coletta team has brought to the rest of the design problems it has faced. And after all, what heritage is it that we leave our children if we destroy our past to build a driveway or a parking lot?” Anyone who has been following the St. Coletta story would do a double take after reading this editorial. Sharon Raimo has publically stated, numerous times, that St. Coletta will restore the original portion of the shotgun house. Her response to the editorial blazed onto the Voice website, “I have just read Brian Furness’s take on the shotgun house controversy. No matter how many times I say that St. Coletta has ag reed to keep the historic portion of the house, the restoration folks act as if they have not heard me. Enough Already! We will keep the house, we will restore the house... We are being more than reasonable. We just don’t want to keep the 1938 addition which actually alters the house so that it is no longer a true s h otgun house...and we do not want the 1917 26 www.voiceofthehill.com AN T I QU E S BU Y SE L L TR A D E 701 N. CAROLINA AVE, SE WASHINGTON, DC 202-543-1819 E a s t e rn Market 327 7th St., SE • (202) 546-CAKE G e o rgetown 3135 M Street, NW (202) 965-2222 ext 2 THE ORIGINAL HEALTH, DIET AND FITNESS BOOT CAMP of Capitol Hill for Sull and Small Figures is Helping to Reduce the Epidemic of Obesity in America Call G.I. Jane for a FREE workout! 202-543-6899 or 202-547-7906 645 Pennsylvania Ave, SE / Eastern Market Metro Mon-Fri 6:30am-9:30pm • Sat 9:30am-1pm • Closed Sun. www.washington.digitalcity.com/bootcamp SIGN UP FOR 1 YEAR Get unlimited fitness training and full body workouts with free weights $50/month. Join up now! Expires March 31. With this ad. Not valid with any other offer. 2-28-00 garage that was refurbished in the 1950’s. That is what the fuss is about. It’s time for the restoration folks to be as reasonable as the school has been. We’re done making concessions.” But Furness says that “there was no formal agreement with CHRS.” He doesn’t know if one was agreed to with HPRB. From here matters deteriorated quickly. Dick Wolf, past president of CHRS phoned the school and asked to see the past three years tax records. Wolf says “I did this on my own initiative,” not as a member of the Restoration Society. “I felt,” he said, “that St. Coletta had misrepresented some things in the ad that appeared in the [January issue of the] Voice of the Hill.” He was particularly conc e rned about St. Colet ta finances; would th e i r “financial situation allow them to be flexible in building, or would they make an argument that moving the bus access would be cost prohibitive.” Raimo, in an ad that appears in this issue of the Voice of the Hill, says that Wolf asked for the tax re c o rds, and that he was “enraged” about St . Coletta’s ad in the January issue of the paper; a letter soliciting community support for the project. Wolf, she says, felt her letter “suggested a cabal between CHRS and HPRB.” Then Raimo found out that St. Coletta was an agenda item for the February 15th CHRS meeting and was furious that she was not invited to the meeting. Furness explains that “this is a board meeting, not a general membership meeting...St. Coletta is on the agenda along with Bryan School, Lovejoy School, and Kentucky Courts. It’s included as part of a committee report like the minutes, the treasurer’s report, and House Tour organizing.” Finally, Raimo received a phone call at the school on Saturday, February 12. She says the “caller, a male...asked where a non-profit got the money for a full-page ad. He went on to say, ‘You whores over there got that money from your pimp, (and he named the property owner).’” That same afternoon she announced the cancellation of the building project. Furness denies that CHRS was responsible for the call, and regrets Raimo’s decision to cancel plans to build. “We take no joy from St. Coletta pulling out. We just need to sit down and talk. There were possibilities to work something out. It’s a good project in an area that desperately needs something done.” But Raimo claims she was never given the opportunity to address CHRS, and that—at root— the fuss has nothing to do with the shotgun house. The school had the misfortune of getting mixed up in an ancient CHRS vendetta against property owner Larry Quillian who, she says, is being vilified “with such venom that it spills over on anyone who associates with him.” Quillian agrees. He sent the following letter to the editor of the Voice as soon as he heard that St. Coletta was pulling out: “Now that the Capitol Hill Restoration Society (CHRS) has intimidated St. Coletta off of Capitol Hill, it’s time to set the record straight. I own the land that St. Coletta School was going to build on—and CHRS hates me. CHRS hates me because, for decades, they have unsuccessfully demanded that I bankrupt myself by treating the buildings on my property as “Living Museums” (CHRS’s words). CHRS hates me because, after th ey drew th e boundary of the historic district specifically to stop me from developing my property, I did not restore those buildings to their originally built condition. For the record: I assembled this property before The Historic Preser vation Act, and for the specific purpose of development. When I bought the buildings one was seriously damaged by fire, while others were vacant and vandalized. None of the ones that have been torn down could have been economically saved—I would gladly be collecting rent on them if I could. CHRS hates me because I publicly offered to GIVE them ALL of the buildings so that th ey could restore them. (I did ask that they pay fair market rent on the land under the buildings—that was fair, wasn’t it?) But CHRS refused to accept the buildings, and they hate me for embarrassing them by making the offer. Now CHRS has blocked the development of the St. Colet ta School for handicapped ch i l d re n because they hate me. CHRS must, at some point, and in the immortal words of our last mayor, “Get over it.” They must put the best interest of the community above their bitter hatred of me, and allow development of this property. Incidentally, and again for the record: I was born and raised in DC, lived most of my life on Capitol Hill, built and restored dozens of buildings here (twice winning awa rds for outstanding re sto rations), am a member of CHRS, a founding member of the Capitol Hill Association of Merchants and P ro fessionals (CHAMPS), and have most of my assets invested in the Capitol Hill community-so who are these people who are saying that I don’t have the best interest of the community at heart? CHRS has been attacking me by name for years (I guess every organization needs a boogeyman to keep the faithful riled up)—but they are the ones who are blocking St. Colet ta from building a school!” So that’s it. Though everyone says it’s regrettable, it’s over. And everyone, including the neighborhood, is a loser. w w w, vo i c e o fthehill.com has had a point/counterp o i n t - st yle posting area set up since late December. Included are fo rmal statements from HPRB, CH R S and St. Colet ta, along with an area for reader comment. That section remains open so that you can read the statements or continue the discussion. Filling the Gap New Retail Construction Planned at Eastern Market Metro Stop CapHillLLC, a development company that owns the Payless Shoes and Last Stop for Jeans buildings on 8th Street, SE, has received approval from the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) and the Capitol Hill Restoration Society (CHRS) to build 5,000 square feet of new office and retail space in the parking lot on D Street that faces the Eastern Market Metro Plaza. www.voiceofthehill.com 27 A rchitect Allen Neyman, of NS Architects in Silver Spring, had originally proposed a row of onestory brick buildings for the location. This concept was rejected by both CHRS and HPRB, who agreed that the buildings needed to be appear more “substantial.” The newly approved design st ri kes a middle ground. The facades of the red brick buildings will be the same height as the adjacent Victorian row houses—but the second floor, with its row of seven windows and deep metal cornice at the roofline, will be false. Maurice Kreindler, manager of the project, says he’s not yet sure what if anything will be visible through the second floor windows. It’s possible the treatment will be similar to another structure with a false upstairs around the corner at 417 8th Street, just above Pizza Boli (bet you never noticed that). As for tenants for the new storefronts, Kreindler says “We think it will be ideal for service-type users like a tax preparation service, a copy shop, a barber shop, a nail salon or a cyber cafe or coffee bar/donut shop... any retail user that appreciates our proximity to the Eastern Market Metro stop. The developers expect to have building permits in hand shortly, and begin construction in May. Kreindler says, “with a little luck we’ll finish the job by late September.” In addition to this project, CapHillLLC is seeking a zoning variance to add 300 sq ft to a building that they’d like to construct in the space between the Last Stop for Jeans and Popeye’s on 8th Street. Under current zoning regulations th ey are required to keep the building size to 830 sq ft, w h i ch is extre m e ly small for a retail space. Kreindler says, “without a zoning exception we p ro b a b ly will not build on the lot because th e building would be so small that it probably would not be cost effective to build.” Developers Present Plans for Kentucky Courts Mixed Income Townhouses,Homeownership N e a rly 100 residents showed up at Pay n e Elementary School on C Street SE the evening of February 9, to hear presentations by two companies that have submitted proposals for the redevelopment of the Kentucky Courts housing project-and the order of the evening was, don’t panic. Ke n t u cky Courts has two sections, the now closed family units that front on Kentucky Avenue at C Street, SE, and several low rise apartment buildings for seniors that are located a block away, at approximately 13th and D Streets, SE. In between the two sections are single-family homes. When the family units were closed in 1996 for housing code violations it was the intention of housing receiver David Gilmore to rehabilitate the existing property and restore it as low income housing. The neighborhood protested. Kentucky Courts had long been a major trouble spot for drug dealing and violence, and a rehab just promised continued p roblems. Wi th the help of Councilmember Sharon Ambrose, the neighbors prevailed. It was decided to seek a developer to create mixed income housing on the site. L a st night Ambrose said she was extre m e ly pleased with how hard the DC Housing Authority (DCHA) had worked at scouting out developers. It was not an easy task given the mixed income requirement, the relatively small scale of the project, and the awkwardly shaped and spaced lots. Ambrose said that the all she kept hearing was, “Sharon, it’s just too small.” Jessica F ranklin, DCHA’s project manager introduced the developers saying “Don’t be alarmed. Don’t be upset by what you hear.” Part of the selection process, she explained, is for the developers to demonstrate how they’ll work with the community. The designs, she emphasized, are preliminary, and can be modified to suit the neighborhood. The first pre s e n tation was by Innova t i ve Development Solutions (IDS), their development p a rt n e rs, the Community Pre s e rvation and Development Corporation (CPDC), and architects Sorg and Associates. Andy Botticello, president of IDS, said that the team had carefully studied the market and the area, and determined that the existing buildings demonst rated “st ra i g h t fo rwa rd incompatibility with the community.” He emphasized that it is “critical that the design be well thought out, and well done.” Their proposal includes demolishing all buildings and creating a range of housing styles for a range of incomes. The family housing project on Kentucky Avenue would be replaced with 3-story townhouses with first floor apartments. Each unit would have a deep front garden, spacious back yard, and rear parking. The senior housing would be replaced with an 84-unit condominium, styled to look like townhouses, some with private entry from the street. Prices would range from $125,000 to $275,000. To keep the community mixed, assistance would be available for low-income purchasers that passed a screening process. The re p re s e n ta t i ve from Sorg and Associates, architects for the project, stressed their awareness of the variety of housing styles on the Hill and their intention to “custom design houses that will relate to the neighborhood.” SDS Group LLC, the second presenter, is a collective of eight different firms including developers, architects, designers and planners. Consultant Ed Batal was the executive director of the Ellen Wilson Development Corporation, the organization that redeveloped the Ellen Wilson housing project and created the mixed income new townhouse community near the SE Freeway between 6th and 7th Streets, SE. Project Director Sandy Marenberg said that his group proposes to replace the Ke n t u cky Court s family units with 52 townhouses, each with a 1st floor flat that could be made handicapped accessible. There would be a 20-foot setback from the street, 32-foot deep backyards, a rear alley system and parking. Cecily Bedwell, the architect, said her intent was to “preserve the streetscape,” and design buildings that reflected the “elegant” houses in the neighborhood with their tall windows, and cornices. M a renberg said that the units would be less expensive than their competitors. The beginning p rice, for one of the ground floor apart m e n t s , would be $89,000. The top price would be $280,000 for a 3-story townhouse with a basement rental unit. Assistance would be given to qualified lowincome buyers. Purchasers, said Marenberg, could select from an array of upgrades in carpeting and appliances, like “any suburban options.” The deve l o p e r’s intent, he said, is to attra c t 311 & 315 7th Street, SE • 202.543.1705 www.wovenhistory.com Store Hours: 10-6, Tue-Sun. Eastern Market Metro Woven Hi s t o ry and Silk Ro a d 320 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE C A P I T O L H I L L 202-543-3300 FAX 202-543-2529 Join the whole United States in a Simultaneous Guinness Toast at the Hawk ‘n’ Dove Saturday night February 26 at 11:30pm Jump fully into March Madness All NCAA college tourney games will be shown at the Hawk ‘n’ Dove Join the Hawk’s 32nd St. Patty’s Day Celebration on March 17 Great Irish Food • Bagpipers • Dee Jay & Dancing 201 East Capitol Street, S E •Washington, DC Folger T h e a t re S h a k e s p e a r e ’s Adapted and Directed by Joe Calarco F e b ru a ry 18 – Marc h 19 Folger Box Office: 202.544.7077 28 www.voiceofthehill.com GA B R I E L L E HI L L Spiritual Coach 202/544-4386 hillhouse@erols.com lign your body, mind and spirit P E R S O N A L G ROWT H A N D S PI R I T UA L M E N TO R I N G CORRIN BENNETT, M.S., ADTR Experienced Personal Growth Coach and Spiritual Mentor since 1976 202/543-5825 BY APPOINTMENT PA To Find Your Vo i c e off without a falter, and the extraordinarily focused cast managed to make the intricately staged production flow effortlessly. Not an easy task in a play that has 82 characters played by 9 people, who are each called upon to make lightning swift changes of personality while negotiating a multi-leveled set. Spoon River Anthology, which was published by Edgar Lee Masters in serialized form between 1914 and 1915, is actually not a play at all—though it has been staged many times before. It is a collection of the (fictional) recollections of the residents of a small Illinois town. Each of the memoirs is a monologue, and none has a happy ending—being as all of the characters are dead. But Masters shows that there are many ways to reach the end. Some people have a rompingly good time getting there, others don’t. The Theater Alliance cast did a uniformly fine job with a complex production that called not just for the ability to quickly describe a new character without benefit of costume change, but a way with melody, spoken and sung, as well. Scenes were setup by the cast performing as a Greek chorus. Other times they sang—quite enchantingly—the traditional hymns that were selected for the production by Music Director Jeffery Watson. Stephen Jarrett, who directed this production, did a tremendous job of choreographing the show, making excellent use of the marvelously decaying, m u l t i - l evel graveya rd set designed by Elizabeth Baldwin. Dan Covey designed the evocative lighting. “Primary Colors” Art League’s Latest Show Drenched in Bright Pigment, Political Rhetoric BY KRISTEN HARTKE Hot on the heels of the New Hampshire primary, the Capitol Hill Art League perks up an otherwise frozen Washington winter with its new exhibit, “Primary Colors”. The show, which opened with a public reception on February 3rd, plays on two themes-politics and bold color. Many of the pieces that the artists submitted are filled with both patriotic and political overtones (it is, after all, an election year), and seriously saturated colors. The result is an exhibit that is bright and witty, featuring a wide variety of paintings, photography, and mixed media work by Washington area artists. David Evelyn’s take on the “See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil” theme won a Best in Show young professionals to homeownership, and create new homes for residents that are in “housing that’s old and requires a lot of maintenance.” The SDS group does not propose to tear down Kentucky Cour t’s senior buildings. They intend to modify their appearance by changing the institutional front doors, relandscaping, and painting the panels below the windows a “more subdued color.” Marenberg said financing is in place and the project can be completed within a year. Both proposals drew pluses and minuses from the audience during the question and answer session that followed the presentation. The IDS/CPDC partnership was generally praised for respecting the historic nature of the community in the design plans, while the SDS proposal that was displayed was seen as “pedestrian.” S eve ral members of the audience we re concerned about the senior buildings and the residents that would be displaced if the apartments were torn down. Others felt that putting a new face on the old buildings was just putting off replacing them for a few years. Another concern was that while both plans made it possible for low-income residents to buy apartments or houses, there did not appear to be a provision to keep prices affordable on resale. Sharon A m b rose said that th e re would be safe g u a rd s against “flipping.” Jessica Franklin, in a follow-up discussion after the meeting, said that it was an issue that could be worked out; there are a number of mechanisms that can be put in place to keep those dwellings affordable. The final decision between the developers will be made by the Kentucky Courts Developer Selection Committee, a group of Capitol Hill residents that have volunteered to represent the neighborhood, and make the final developer recommendation to DC Department of Procurement and the Housing Receiver. That decision is expected by the 23rd of February. Preservation Café Series Moves to Caffe Italiano Next Session: Roofing 101 The Capitol Hill Re sto ra t i o n S o c i et y’s popular Pre s e rva t i o n Café will begin a new series of lectures on caring for your antique home this Fe b ru a ry 23 at 6:30PM. The first lecture will be by Dav i d Lindeman of L&M Contracting, a to p - ra n ke d Washington-area roofing contractor. Lindeman will explain the oft-times mystifying ins and outs of roof repair and replacement. If you’ve ever been intimidated by a roofing contractor (or heard enough horror s tories to prefer moving to fixing the roof), Lindeman will describe the basic roof types, the pros and cons of different materials, as well as care, repair and replacement. Future Preservation Cafés will be held on the last Wednesday of each month through June 28. The location is: Caffe Italiano, 1129 Pennsylvania Ave., SE. Start-up time is 6:30PM. O ther topics scheduled for spring include: researching your house history; how when and why to negotiate the permitting maze; social history of Eastern Market; and a walking tour of 8th Street. Spoon River Anthology Who Says the Dead Tell No Tales? The blue slip tucked inside the program for one of the last performances of “Spoon River Anthology” noted that Andrew McCarty would be replacing Kenneth Corbin for the evening’s show. That’s a common enough notice for theatergoers—you figure that Corbin’s out ill, and McCarty’s his understudy. But in this case there was no understudy. Andrew McCarty was the assistant stage manager for the Capitol Hill Theater Alliance production. He went on after a single rehearsal, and with scarcely 24 hours to memorize the lines-for ten different characters. This little play within a play was comp l et e ly invisible to the audience. McCarty pulled his part New plans underway for Kentucky Courts. www.voiceofthehill.com 29 honor; Capitol Hill artist Theresa Markiw also won Best in Show. Several other Capitol Hill artists are also fe a t u red in the exhibit, including Rich a rd Agemo’s series of self-portraits, a watercolor landscape by Alan Braley, Shelly Wischhusen’s impressionistic sunflower oil painting, and photographs by Gayle Krughoff. The show was juried by David Gracylany, associate dire c tor of continuing education at th e Corcoran College of Art and Design. Like many art p ro fessionals who are asked to judge local art shows, Gracylany was not quite sure what to expect and was pleasantly surprised by the extremely high quality of the work from which he had to choose. Art League judges come from the National Gallery, the Corcoran, Addison-Ripley and other galleries, and are thrilled at the work League members produce — especially in comp a rison to shows th ey have judged at other area art leagues. “ P ri m a ry Colors” will be open to the public th rough Fe b ru a ry 25th at the Capitol Hill Art League gallery, which is located at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 Seventh St., SE. Call 547-6839 for more information. Have a Yen to Write for the Voice? Don’t Be Shy. We Want to Hear from You! The Voice is looking for feature writers with an i n t e re st in things Capitol Hill: our re s i d e n t s , schools, businesses, events, activities, history, and homes. We like a quick and amusing read that still manages to be information packed, and includes as m u ch commenta ry as possible (or appro p ri a t e ) from neighbors. Over the next few months we’ll have issues that focus on gardening, old houses, food and restaurants, spring events, and local writers, poetry and fiction. If you have an article idea that you think fits, send a proposal along with a clip or two of your previously published work. Though most of our Voice feature writers are pros, they all had to start somewhere. If you’ve not been published, your proposal should be at least 300 words so we can get an idea of your style. If you have ideas that don’t fit our upcoming themes, go ahead and submit them. You may end up having a hand in shaping the content of a future issue. In addition to features we’re looking for a few good columnists. We’re looking for a reporter to c over our local (meaning Capitol Hill, not th e Kennedy Center) arts scene: theater, music, dance, and gallery exhibits. We’re also looking for someone to handle our kids and schools section. If you’re interested in being considered for either of these columns, we’d like to see a proposal that explains how you’d handle the job, and includes your qualifications. Guidelines: PLEASE take a look at back copies of the paper to get an idea of the paper’s style. You can download past issues from the website arch i ves at www. vo i c eofthehill. com All articles must focus on Capitol Hill people, events and places. We rarely publish first person pieces. Articles are normally 1000-1500 words. The Voice is published the third Friday of each m o n th. All articles are due on the first of th e month. We prefer e-mail to disk. We pay 10 cents per word for feature articles and columns that are published in the paper. Pieces accepted for the website only are not paid. You may submit article ideas and clips via e-mail to Stephanie@voiceofthehill.com, or snail mail to: Stephanie Cavanaugh, 242 Ke n t u cky Ave., SE, 20003. The Download section of The Voice is just a taste of the news that has been posted to www.voiceofthehill. com over the last few weeks—articles and news bites, gathered from weeks of web-writings, that we think are worth repeating in the paper. Unless otherwise noted, all Download articles are written by Voice editor Stephanie Cavanaugh. NOW OPEN! Camels are a great choice of cheap transportation on some parts of the planet, but a round Washington, you need four tire s , not four hoofs, to get around. That’s where National Capital Bank can help you. We have one of the lowest new car loan rates in town for any breed of car, truck, or sport-utility vehicle. So if you’re on the prowl for a Mustang, Cougar, Ram, or even a Beetle, just stop by or call ( 2 0 2 ) 5 4 6 - 8 0 0 0 to apply over the phone. Looking for cheap t r a nsp o r t a tion? We re c o m m e n d Option B. 316 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. • (202) 546-8000 5228 44th Street, N.W. • (202) 966-2688 Rates subject to change without notice. Loans are subject to normal credit criteria. Member FDIC. Option B. 6.95% APR New Car Loans Up to 60 Months. 60 monthly payments of $19.78 per $1,000 borrowed. Option A. 30 www.voiceofthehill.com BY KRISTEN HARTKE The muted strains of New Age music fill your ears and a faint scent of jasmine incense hangs in the air as you slip into a D ow nwa rd Dog pose. Your belly sways beneath you momentarily as you gently raise yo u rself to a standing position, feeling a release of pressure on your back and the stretch of a tiny contented arm inside your body. When yo u’re pregnant, inner peace becomes fraught with different meanings, and the practice of yoga is often said to have a calming influence on both mother and fetus. For Moms and Babies-To-Be Kamakshi began offering classes for mothers-to-be when she noticed that there seemed to be a major baby boom in the neighborhood. She had also noticed that “there just weren’t a lot of prenatal yoga classes around, possibly because, economically, you may not get the same numbers as with a traditional class.” But DancingHeart’s classes quickly became popular, drawing women from Capitol Hill and across the city. “There are specific things that a pregnant woman can’t do in terms of classical yoga,” says Kamakshi, “so we try to emphasize what they can do. During pregnancy, hormones are being transmitted to your body to allow it to do all kinds of things, like open up the hips. Yoga can be used to help integrate the change.” DancingHeart’s prenatal yoga classes emphasize strengthening and toning as a way to free up energy within the body, and Kamakshi pays special attention to bre a thing tech n i ques. “As th e abdomen grows,” she says, “women must learn to breath into the ribcage since there’s a baby in there taking up most of the available space. A shift in patterning can make deep breathing much easier.” Pranayama, the yoga practice of breathing, is absolutely essential to pregnant women, according to Kamakshi, because “The breath is our central connection to spirit and our ability to be empowered. The physiological benefits are extraordinary.” S aying that it is entire ly dissimilar from th e Lamaze method, but similar to the Bradley method, Kamakshi notes that women who practice yoga find that the Pra n ayama bre a thing tech n i qu e greatly reduces pain and stress during labor. But perhaps the most valuable commodity to come out of DancingHeart’s prenatal classes, says Kamakshi, is the sense of connection that grows between the women. “What’s really been gratifying to me,” she enthuses, “is the community that’s been born from the class.” Dana Wright, a Capitol Hill mother of threemonth- old twins, was a regular participant in one of the DancingHeart’s prenatal classes, along with nine other women. They have all remained in touch with each other even though they don’t have much time in the early days of parenthood to plan too many get-togethers. “The class was a great way to meet other people on the Hill that were having children,” says Wright, who was a newcomer to yoga and did not know any of the other moms when the class began. “We truly did connect. If someone didn’t show up for class one week, then we would all need to find out what happened.” A truly self-contained community of its own, Wright’s prenatal class banded together when one woman’s obstetrician suddenly closed his practice. “Imagine!” exclaims Wright. “She was 22 weeks pregnant and was really panicked about what to do. So the next week she brought in her insurance book and we all went through it together. Several of our d o c to rs we re listed, so she ended up ch o o s i n g another OB who was the doctor of someone else in the class.” Beyond the normal bonds of the common experiences shared by the women in Wright’s class, there was an even more special connection between Wright and two of the moms. They each had twins. What furthers the irony is that they all live within a three block radius—and their six babies were born w i thin six we e ks of each oth e r. Coincidence? Maybe, but you may want to watch out when you d rink the water around 11 th St re et and Independence Avenue. Or maybe it was those yoga poses. Wright found yoga allowed her to stay limber during her pregnancy while also helping to keep her shoulders and b a ck aligned. Nowa d ays, howeve r, she’s hav i n g trouble finding time away from the twins, although she says “I really would love to continue doing the yoga. I found it very relaxing.” New Moms Benefit Too G etting post - n a tal moms into the studio, says Kamakshi, is truly a problem. She thought she had a solution when she tried offering a mommy-baby yoga class last year. It didn’t work out. But, says Kamakshi, “It was a really great idea. What I envisioned was to create a childcare co-op, which would allow the women to rotate, but everybody was just overwhelmed.” Not the least of yogas benefits is simply giving a new mother a break from the stresses of babycare. “Mothers tend to think it ’s selfish,” says Kamakshi, “But it is not selfish to take time for yourself. How can you refuel and give to anybody else without that personal time?” Ideally, Kamakshi would like to offer a separate class for postnatal mothers, which would focus on toning abdominal muscles and stimulating new blood cells for more rapid recovery following childf a m i l yTi e s Yo g a , Yo u t h , and Moms-To - B e A Capitol Hill studio’s quest to bring phys i c a l strength and inner peace to local families www.voiceofthehill.com 31 birth. She says, “Inversions are fabulous for postnatal women, because it helps the internal organs reorganize themselves.” Headstanding mamas? Now, there’s a class! Yoga for Tots and Teens The DancingHeart studio has recently begun offering classes to yoga-minded youngsters, with two classes geared toward 4- to 7-year-olds and 8-to 13- year-olds. Kamakshi saw this idea as simply another way of connecting with the community but did not have time to teach the class herself. When she met Gretchen Kessler, she says, “I knew it would work.” A long-time resident of Capitol Hill, Ke s s l e r teaches kindergarten at the Capitol Hill Day School and taught movement classes at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop for several years, which is also where Ka m a kshi taught yo ga befo re opening up DancingHeart. Kessler began studying yoga about five years ago at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, but had heard about Kamakshi and felt that someday their paths would cross. When the two did meet, Kessler began studying yoga with Kamakshi, and eventually the idea of teaching yoga to children came up. Kessler was e n th u s i a stic about the opport u n i t y, saying “My own experience as a kindergarten teacher and as a movement teacher just made the concept seem like a natural.” While it may be difficult to imagine, the children’s yoga classes are quite serene and structured, without dampening the enthusiasm of the participants. Says Kessler, “If there’s something I’ve real - ized, it’s that kids love ritual,” and she uses that idea to full effect in her classes. With the New Age music humming in the background, the children sit in a circle and proceed into performing a series of poses, ending the class qu i et ly with a few medita t i ve moments around a lighted candle. The younger children’s class is based around storytelling, an element which Kessler felt was essential to the whole concept. Just a few weeks before the classes were set to begin, Kessler attended a wo rkshop sponsored by the MidAtlantic Yo ga Association and led by yoga master Shakta Kaur Khalsa. Her book, “Fly Like a Butterfly,” has become absolutely essential to Kessler as she teaches the class, because Khalsa’s ch i l d re n’s classes have a strong storytelling component. Kessler prepares a story for each class which involves a series of different poses, evoking images such as mounta i n s , clouds, butterflies, and elephants. The fact that such young children can stay so focused for a one-hour class is a testament to Kessler’s own background as both a parent and teacher. Her 9-year-old daughter, Hannah, helps out with the younger children’s class, and then stays on as a participant in the older children’s class. Kessler’s classes for adolescents do not have the storytelling component, “I think they would probably be insulted. By the time kids are nine years old, they are already dealing with body image and social issues and the yoga class can be a good forum for helping them deal with that.” What Kessler finds particularly gratifying is the high volume of positive feedback she’s been getting from parents. “I often think that if we adults had been given that opportunity as children to be still and quiet—in a positive way—that we would truly benefit from it as we grew older.” Kessler’s only regret about the children’s yoga classes is that they are mostly filled with girls, and that boys—particularly older boys—somehow view yoga as a “girl’s” activity. She thought she might have captured the attention of some boys when she did a yoga demonstration for a 6th grade science class at the Day School when they were studying anatomy. “We did a series of postures,” says Kessler, “and I would ask them what muscles they thought they were using. Several of the boys seemed really interested and asked me a lot of questions about yoga and how it related to muscles and strengthening.” Unfortunately, when push came to shove, the older boys just weren’t ready to participate in a yoga class with girls their own age. The giggling on the part of the girls probably didn ’t help either. The success of the ch i l d re n’s classes has led Kamakshi to give more thought to another age group she would like to bring into th e DancingHeart: teenagers and young adults. “We have some young twenty-year-old kids coming to classes now,” she says, “and I just love working with them. They are so enthusiastic and interested in so many different things. It’s a whole new kind of energy.” Kamakshi’s vision is to continue using yoga as a way to bring different elements of the community together which, in turn, can be used to create positive social action. Recently, she has been talking to Gallaudet University about creating yoga instruction for the deaf, as another way of reaching out to a different segment of the population. “Yoga is as vast as the subcontinent of India,” she says. “It has infinite possibilities, and that is no accident.” If your own interest in yoga has not yet been piqued, just give Kamakshi a few minutes. She’s bound to come up with something, designed with you in mind.The DancingHeart Center for Yoga is located at 221 Fif th St., NE. For information about classes, please call 544-0841. Kristen Hartke is a Capitol Hill writer and frequent contributor to The Voice of the Hill. G et the news, join th e discussion, read the ads. A ny time, day or night. Voice of the Hill. Capitol Hill’s only intern et daily ! Log on! www. v o i c e o f t h e h i l l . c o m 32 www.voiceofthehill.com Tae Kwon Do, a form of martial arts that means “the art of kicking and punching,” was originated by wa rri o rs in Ko re a a round the sixth century. Jhoon Rhee, who developed his own school, first practiced it in the United States in 1956. Today there a re seve ral large associations of Tae Kwon Do schools across the country, and Tae Kwon Do has been recognized as a sport in the summer Olympics. Tae Kwon Do teaches discipline, self-contro l , p hysical fitness, concentration, and stamina, as well as self-protection. The sport is for anybody— children, adults of all ages, and families—all that’s required is an interest and willingness to work hard. It’s a great activity to do with a parent, child, or sibling because you can learn at your own pace but train and practice together. The school, or dojang, that my daughter Stefanie and I belong to is part of the U.S. Tae Kwon Do College. The College was founded by Grandmaster M.P. Kim, who was raised and trained in Korea, and now has a school here in Richmond, Virginia. Our teacher, Master Erica Gutman, received her training from Grandmaster Kim, has a fifth-degree black belt, and teaches Tae Kwon Do in the traditional Korean way at several locations on Capitol Hill: The Oxford Academy of the Arts, CHAW, and St. Peter’s School. Fellow student, Lynne Lawrence, says, “My son, Michael, wanted me to take Tae Kwon Do with him. At first I felt silly trying to do the moves, sometimes I still do. It’s a lot harder than it looks. But when you learn the belt requirements and earn a belt, it’s a great sense of accomplishment. You want to go and get that next belt. Master Gutman’s a great teacher, too. She really strives for excellence with her students.” Michael, a fourth-grader at Watkins Elementary, says he likes Tae Kwon Do because “it’s self-defense, good exercise, and fun. It’s given me confidence in myself.” I took up Tae Kwon Do four years ago along with my daughter, who was eight at the time. We now both have first-degree black belts. I did not think I lacked self-confidence when I started, and yet I found it difficult to yell at the appropriate times when kicking or punching. I would “speak” my scream very timidly, and follow that immediately with a giggle. It was quite a revelation to learn where power really comes from inside us. But once I found the power to let out a really loud scream (in front of other people), I could also find that power to support a strong punch or kick. Now my “favorite part” of Tae Kwon Do is board breaking, which one accomplishes with a solid burst of power and a loud scream. Non-Violent Self-Defense Contrary to popular perception, Tae Kwon Do is n ot about violence; it’s just the opposite. Although it is a system of self-defense, the discipline has an underlying principle of nonviolence. In fact, Master Gutman stresses that you use Tae Kwon Do only if your life is in danger or if you need to ward off a dangerous situation. The first defense is to avoid a fight (screaming is useful for that because it can scare off an attacker). A major part of the philosophy is respect—for your body and your life, for the Asian culture, and for the master, your instructor. It is serious business, as it should be when it’s your life you are talking about. My daughter, Stefanie, a seventh-grader at Stuart- Hobson Middle School, agrees that “You have to know how to defend yourself in today’s society. I gained confidence and built some good muscles.” She has enjoyed the belt ceremonies and breaking boards and the fact that her mother couldn’t tell her what to do in the dojang! We have the chance in Tae Kwon Do to relate as equals. When you enter the dojang, you leave eve ry th i n g behind and become a martial arts student just like eve rybody else. Students at the rank of “no belt” to s e c o n d - d e gree or higher black belt may be in yo u r c l a s s . The more advanced students help the newe r students; it’s an expected part of tra i n i n g . The lowe r- ra n ked students are expected to respect the higher-ranked students. You are also expected to address them as ma’am or sir. Lynne Lawrence says “at first it was hard for me to address a twelve-year-old with a black belt as sir, but we do it out of respect.” Watching advanced students in class is also a great learning experience; it gives you an idea of what to expect. What happens in a typical class? Classes are usually about 45 minutes to an hour long. We all wear a U.S. Tae Kwon Do College uniform, which you must buy through the instructor. Upon entering the dojang, students bow to the instructor and salute the American and Korean flags. After a series of warm-up exercises, the instructor leads a series of drills, such as down blocks or roundhouse kicks. Then you will practice yo u r form, which is a set of choreographed arm, hand, and foot movements that blend together a series of specific punches, blocks and kicks. Forms s tart out simple and become progressively harder as a student moves up the ranks. Learning the forms gives you an opportunity to learn and perfect blocking and kicking moves. T h e re may also be some sparring (fighting). Everyone who spars is required to wear protective padding. There is no hitting or kicking to the face or back. We practice our kicks with targets sometimes, and in that situation you can kick with a lot of power and make a very satisfying loud smack when you connect just right. It helps to attend class frequently and to train re g u l a rly. Eleve n - ye a r-old Caithlin Madiga n attends two or three classes a week. She loves Tae Kwon Do and has advanced very rapidly—she will be testing for her second-degree black belt this year. She has some funny stories to tell, like the time she was the only student at her rank to test and so she was paired up with an instructor for the sparring. She executed the proper moves and threw the instructor over as she was supposed to, but then tripped over her fallen partner and fell to the mat, too. Seth Melendy, a ninth-grader at Wilson High School, already has a second-degree black belt— and half dozen awards to his credit, including trophies, a medal and a banner. He says that Tae Kwon Do keeps him calm and is a really good workout. His favorite aspect is sparring. Seth plans to earn his third-degree black belt before going off to college, where he may join a martial arts club to continue his training. Earning those Black Belts Everyone has dreams of earning a black belt when they fir st start out, but it does take a few years of training before getting even close. New students start out at the rank of “no belt” and then earn ten colored belts before achieving bo-black (preliminary black belt) and then first-degree black belt. Students test eve ry two months for a new belt. For each belt test th e re is a fo rm, two kick combinations, two one-step sparring tech n i ques, and a wri tten tenet of Tae Kwon Do to learn. Higher levels also t e st in free sparring and board breaking. Each test c o sts extra (above the cost of training), but the belt A Window to Another Culture… Tae Kwon Do for Fun and Fitness BY MARGARET CYTRO N Margaret and Stefanie Cytron degree black belts, and progressively longer periods of training as you advance. Achieving the rank of fifth- degree black belt, master, or grandmaster usually takes a lifetime of dedication. The tests are followed by belt presentation ceremonies, and families and visitors have a chance to proudly watch the students receive their higher ra n ked belts. Some students will also re c e i ve honor student awards. Students who are competitive and wish to earn trophies can sign up for optional tournaments. These are sponsored by various organizations in the area and cost extra. Students who test in Richmond get to know students from other U.S. Tae KwonDo College schools in the area, and attend special seminars, test before a panel of Masters, and participate in a candle-lit tea ceremony at the conclusion of the test day. Tae Kwon Do is a commitment, a source of pride, a window to another culture, and good for a lifetime of health and well-being! Margaret Cytron is a publications supervisor at the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, part of the Library of Congress. This article was written with the assistance of Lynne Lawrence. www.voiceofthehill.com 33 you earn and a certificate are included in the test fe e . There is a special six-month training before you can test for bo-black and first-degree black belts. These special tests occur in Richmond with the Grandmaster and all the masters from the area. Once the student has earned a black belt, he or she can continue to advance by learning more complex material and taking additional tests. There are ten test levels called“gups” between first and second S TA R RY DAYS Your Astrological Guide to the Pursuit of Happiness by Jeffrey Howard © Got something you want to do? This calendar makes it easy! You’ll find swell nights for romance,when to shop or have a party, and who to invite. Want to get a haircut? This calendar tells you when,and it works for everyone! The pull of the Planets impact every one of us regardless of our birthda y, and using this calendar can help us all in our pursuit of happiness. Friday 2.18.00 Take an acting class. Saturday 2.19.00 Paint your face,then sing a song to the Full Moon tonight. Sunday 2.20.00 Wake up early. Take a long walk. Monday 2.21.00 If you’re going somewhere, plan extra time to get there. The Planet Mercury turns retrograde at 7:46 AM when travel and communications could be a little snarly. Tuesday 2.22.00 Write gushy, sappy, over-thetop love notes to family, friends and lovers. Wednesday 2.23.00 One of my friends dedicates 20% of his work-time to keeping his work area,equipment and papers and such,tidy and organized. How nice it would be if we all brought such consciousness to family and friends. The Planets favor taking a couple of hours this evening to bring your attention to your relationships. Thursday 2.24.00 Happy Birthday Kamakshi! Friday 2.25.00 Love with a compassionate heart. Saturday 2.26.00 Plan your next big trip. Sunday 2.27.00 Just before 10 PM,turn down the lights. Turn off the TV. Slow down. No reading. No eating. Prepare to transition to the land of slumber. Monday 2.28.00 Given any thought to preparing your taxes? Tuesday 2.29.00 Make a list of your fears,and what you might do about each of them. (Possibilities are OK. Correct answers are not required.) Wednesday 3.1.00 Establish and maintain clear boundaries in relationships and work. Thursday 3.2.00 This is an election year. For whom are you going to vote? Volunteer to help at least one candidate. Democracy demands participation. Friday 3.3.00 Plan a surprise for your lover. Saturday 3.4.00 Can you do something for someone else without sacrificing yourself in the process? Sunday 3.5.00 Feeling a little vulnerable today? Who do you trust? Share your feelings,your dreams and fears. Monday 3.6.00 Prepare to launch new ideas. Tuesday 3.7.00 Launch! Wednesday 3.8.00 Ever take a course in Anger Management? Might come in handy today. Thursday 3.9.00 Lift your shoulders to your ears. Hold. Release. Again. Hold. Release. Friday 3.10.00 If you go out to eat tonight, watch those calories. Saturday 3.11.00 Send someone a beautiful card. Make it yourself. Sunday 3.12.00 Loosen up. When was the last time you played Scrabble? Find someone to play with tonight. Monday 3.13.00 Move slow so you can hear your intuition. Tuesday 3.14.00 Some old hurts might be healed with thoughtful and kind words today. Wednesday 3.15.00 Relax. You are not the Center of the Universe! Thursday 3.16.00 Breathe in. Hold. Exhale. Relax. Smile. This might be challenging today. Let’s try it again. Inhale . . . Smile. Jeffrey Howard is a professional astrologer who lives on Capitol Hill with his wife,yoga teacher Kamakshi Hart and two highly evolved beings who have chosen to incarnate as cats. To: AAP From: BJG Happy Valentine’s Day from S.A. See you soon. Love you and thinking about you. To: Jennifer My Birthday Valentine From: Kevin Everyday I spend with you is special. I love you. To: Kevin From: Jennifer My special Valentine. I love you ver y, very, very much!!!! To: Mommy From: Willie,Baxter, Stewie and Nickie Happy Valentine’s Day To: Sally B. From: Rolf “If you love for love,oh yes,then love me! Love me forever, as I will always love you!” To: Paul Frentsos From: DHD XOXO To: Mommy and Daddy Lynn Cavanaugh From: Baby/Stinky Roses are red, Violets are blue, You’re the super-est parents and I LOVE YOU!!!! To: John From: Claudia My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep; the more I give to thee, The more I have,for both are infinite. To: PJF From: DHD B1: Submit ILYWAMH...XOXOXOXO To: EmuGirl From: EmuBoy I can’t wait to spend another summer with you...You are the most interesting, most intelligent and most sincere person I’ve ever been with. Don’t change a thing! To: Niki mou From: Gambro S’agapo poly. To: unknown From: unsilent Within you I lose myself. Without you I find myself, Wanting to be lost again. To: LOML From: aaron To the very best,the sweetest, The Love of My Life — A very Happy Valentines Day, The first as my wife. To: Mom From: The Flower Girls To the greatest Mom alive, We love you more than the deepest snow, We love you more than you will ever know. We love you way more than the superbowl, You’re the best girl scout leader in the world. You give us sun on days with only shadows, You give us smiles when we’re filled with gloom, When you are not near us, we feel sad, When you’re around us,you make us glad. †You’re the best Mom. love and kisses, †††††††††††††††the flower girls To: Sweets From: Sack HELLO LITTLE HONEY! To: Linda Norton From: Bruce and Adele Robey Roses are Red Violets are Blue Please get well soon We Love You To: Peggy O’Brien From: Bruce Robey, with help from William Shakespeare Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments. Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove. O, no,it is an ever- fixed mark that looks on tempests and is never shaken; It is star to every wandering bark,Whose worth’s unknown,although his height be taken. Love’s not time’s fool,though rosy lips and cheeks within his bending sickle’s compass come; Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,But bears it out even to the edge of doom. If this be error and upon me proved,I never writ,nor no man ever loved.† C u p i d ’s arro w s Doing a weapons form using the bong (a heavy stick). PROUDLY SPONSORED BY Jackie PEACHES AND POOH BEAR K i d s ’ C a l e n d a r Activities of Pa rticular Interest to Kids and Their Pa r e n t s Jackie von Schlegel, CBR, GRI Capitol Hill and Chesapeake Beach are our neighborhoods, we hope you’ll make them yours. 202-547-5600 (W) • 202-543-4296 (H) • 301-855-6443 (H) email: jackiev@realtor.com / Licensed in DC, MD and VA REMAX Capital Properties Exhibits Capital Children’s Museum 800 3rd St.,NE Forever Young: A Portrait of the Black Child” Through the power of photographs and words, Washington photographer Nestor Hernandez and poet Laini Mataka have assembled a powerful celebration of the beauty, innocence and joy of the black child. Many children are unaware of the camera’s presence. The collection of over 80 black and white photographs show children in everyday life from the United States,Ghana, and Cuba combined with compelling verses by Mataka. Through March 25 Hand-Made Toys from Ghana’s Kiddafest The Kiddafest 1999 Festival in Ghana,which attracted over 50,000 children, featured a toy making contest for children ages 7 to 13. Twenty winning entries of hand made toys are on display at the Children’s Museum through March 26,2000. Kiddafest, created by the Accra International Children Arts Festival and presented by the National Theater Ghana and the Ghana Education Service,has become the largest international arts festival for African children. Launched in Accra,Ghana in 1994,the festival helps kids discover their own culture through their own creations,as well as appreciating other world cultures. Japan: Through the Eyes of a Child Experience the many wonders of the Land of the Rising Sun,from its history to the innovative technology of modern Japan. The exhibit features a present-day Japanese home,complete with a kitchen,bathroom and a traditional tatami room. Visitors disembark on a crowded Japanese street. There they are able to visit an electronics shop,a kimono maker, a local vegetable shop,and a bento counter where children can serve Japanese lunch to customers. Children can take a ride on the Shinkansen and visit a classroom to experience a day in the lives of Japanese children. The 2500 square-foot exhibit was developed by Capital Children’s Museum and the Japan American Society of Washington in conjunction with Japanese designers and exhibit fabricators. Saturday, February 19 Design a stamp album of famous African Americans, write a letter to famous African Americans,draw a commemorative stamp for Black History month and explore the African stamps in the “Stamps and Stories” galler y. Visitors will also create a large stamp mural of Phillis Wheatley (1753-1784),one of America’s first black poets. It’s a “Hands-on Learning!” activity in celebration of Black History Month at The Discovery Center, National Postal Museum. 2 Massachusetts Ave.,NE. 1-3PM. FREE. Natural Hair Care Day at the Capital Children’s Museum. A day full of activities that highlight the many ways that African American hairstyles are created and their origins. 2:00 p.m.- Natural hair care workshop for parents with Pamela Ferrell, owner of Cornrows & Co. Activities from Noon-4PM. Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St.,NE. General admission is $6, $4 for senior citizens,and free to museum members and children 2 and under. The museum is open daily from 10 AM- 5 PM Call (202) 675-4120 for general information. Saturday February 19 - Monday February 21 Teen and Family Ski Trip. 3-day trip includes skiing at Timerline and Canaan in West Virginia. Lodging at Camp Horseshoe. The cost is approximately $125 including equipment. Trip is sponsored by the St. Mark’s Episcopal Church Youth Group but open to all,believers and skeptics alike,as are all other youth activities. Kids 7th grade and up may go on this trip without parents. Call Ginger Gaines-Cirelli,Director of Youth Ministries,for more information,543-0053,ext. 17. Sunday February 20 Make Adinkra Cloth. Use stamps representing traditional Adinkra symbols to create replicas of this cloth from Ghana. Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St.,NE. See Saturday, February 19 listing for admission information. Monday February 21 The Black West: Black Cowboys & Indians. Learn about fantastic characters who never appeared in Hollywood westerns or standard history books with actor, composer, and producer George Circling Eagle! 2PM. Also: Make Adinkra Cloth Use stamps representing traditional Adinkra symbols to create replicas of this cloth from Ghana. Noon to 4PM. Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St.,NE. See Saturday, February 19 listing for admission information. Saturday February 26 Best Book Sale on Capitol Hill 10AM - 4PM Rain or Shine. Help the Friends of the Southeast Library to provide needed services to their patrons. ALL hardcover books = $1.00,large paperbacks = $.50,regular-sized paperbacks = $.25. Come one,come all. Library located across from Eastern Market Metro,at 7th Street,1 block south of Pennsylvania Avenue. Don’t miss this GREAT sale. Make an African Bracelet! The Southern Ndbele women of Africa are known for making beautiful jewelry. Make a beaded jewelry piece just like one that would be given to a young African boy or girl. Noon to 4PM. Also: Stories from African Culture. Griot Baba C.,the masterful teller of tales,will share wonderful stories about African culture. 2PM. Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St.,NE. See Saturday, February 19 listing for admission information. Sunday February 27 Build a Bridge! What makes bridges so strong and sturdy you could ride elephants across them? Investigate different shapes and see how they hold up to heavy loads. 11AM and 2PM for children 4-7. Noon to 3PM for children 8 and up. Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St.,NE. See Saturday, February 19 listing for admission information. Saturday, March 4 Caring for and Preserving your Family Letters. Join Linda Edquist,museum conservator, and Andy Carroll,editor of the national best-seller Letters of a Nation and founder of the Legacy Project,as they discuss the importance of preserving family histories through letters. The Legacy Project,which has been featured on the History Channel,Nightline and in The New York Times, is specifically devoted to preserving American wartime correspondence. Currently, six such letters are fea - tured in the museum’s “Last Letters” exhibit. Following the discussion,there will be a demonstration on how to preserve your family documents through proper handling techniques and the use of appropriate archival materials. 1-3PM. National Postal Museum. 2 Mass. Ave.,NE. FREE. Cartoon Animation. Draw a cartoon and watch it come to life! Sessions at 11:30 AM,12:30 PM,1:30 PM,3 PM,and 4 PM. Also,Doll Making: Japan celebrates “Girl’s Day” with a festival of royal dolls. Noon to 4PM. Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St.,NE. See Saturday, February 19 listing for admission information. Sunday, March 5 Doll Making: Japan celebrates “Girl’s Day” with a festival of royal dolls. Noon to 4PM. Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St.,NE. See Saturday, February 19 listing for admission information. Theater on 8th Street. The Color Me Human Players in performance at Ellington’s on 8th. Today’s show features Deborah Dell Branham,who’ll discuss her experiences as a black woman on the vaudeville circuit. She share the stages with the Playmakers Repertory Compan y, local kids who’ll perform African American Folk-Tales. $10 per person. 6PM. 424A 8th Street,SE. 546-8308. Saturday, March 11. Cartoon Animation. Draw a cartoon and watch it come to life! Sessions at 11:30 AM,12:30 PM,1:30 PM,3 PM,and 4 PM. Also: Make a Mexican Monarch Butterfly. Noon to 4PM. Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St.,NE. See Saturday, February 19 listing for admission information. Sunday, March 12 Make a Mexican Monarch Butterfly. Noon to 4PM. Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St.,NE. See Saturday, February 19 listing for admission information. March 17 St. Patrick’s Day! Saturday, March 18 Julius Caesar Live. Hail to the chief? Plots and intrigue abound in this thriller. Re-discover one of Shakespeare’s classic political works,as we set loose “the dogs of war.” Bring your family back to see a full production of Julius Caesar on the Folger stage,starting May 9. With the Folger head of education Janet Field-Pickering. Folger Shakespeare Librar y, 201 E. Capitol St.,SE. 10 AM,$10,Ages 9-14 Call 544-7077 for ticket info 34 www.voiceofthehill.com www.voiceofthehill.com 35 C a p i t a lKids The Voice aims to print all the news about our neighborhood kids and neighborhood schools. But if you don’t tell us, chances are we won’t find out. Please send information (we’re particularly interested in getting more kids’ writing!) to Voice editor Stephanie Cavanaugh. E-mail is preferred: Stephanie@ voiceofthehill.com), mailing address is 242 Kentucky Avenue, SE. She can also be reached by phone at 544-2557. Friends of Tyler School to Receive Keller Award CHAMPS Community Foundation Announces Major Grant The Friends of Tyler School (FOTS) has been select - ed as this ye a r’s recipient of the $75 00 Arn o l d Ke l l e r, Jr. Awa rd, the CHAMPS Community Foundation’s largest annual grant. In previous years the award has been given to organizations like Food and Friends, the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, and Friendship House. Friends of Tyler, is a 10-year-old tutoring and after school program that serves over fifty students, age 5 to 16, that are either students at Tyl e r Elementary at 10th and G Street, SE, graduates of Tyler who are now in Junior High or High School, or students who moved from Tyler to one of the neighborhood charter schools. Almost all of the young people ser ved live in public housing known for crime and drugs. The organization, which is headqu a rt e red at 1529 Pennsylvania Avenue, SE, wants to purchase an adjacent building at 1531 Pennsylvania for the ove rf l owing pro gram. Jan Eich h o rn, founder of FOTS, says “the minute we have space, we fill it.” The Keller Award money will be earmarked for payments for the new building. Says Jan, who won a Community Achievement Award for her work with FOTS in 1995, “CHAMPS was instrumental in starting the program, and we’re thrilled that they’ve been so supportive.” FOTS has started a capital campaign in this their 10th anniversary year. Last fall the organization received a $5000 grant from the George Preston Marshall Foundation, which was also earmarked for the purchase and refurbishment of the new building. Proposals are still pending with a number of other foundations. Jan says she needs tutors as much as she needs contributions. The requirement is fairly minimal: just a few hours, one evening a week, to help with elementary school-le vel reading and math. Please call Jan at 547-8855 to volunteer, and to find out more about financial support. The Keller Award is named for Dr. Arnold Keller, pastor emeritus of the Lutheran Church of the Re fo rmation, and one of the fo u n d e rs of th e Capitol Hill Community Achievement Awards. The award is funded from the proceeds of the Capitol Hill Community Ach i evement Awa rd dinner, which is held each May. The Capitol Hill Community Ach i eve m e n t Achievement Awards recognize and celebrate outstanding contributions of members of the Capitol Hill community. This 17th annual awards ceremony, which will be held May 17th in the Great Hall of the Folger Shakespeare Library, honors the Shakespeare Theatre’s Artistic Director, Michael Kahn, volunteer extraordinaire, Bruce Brennan and Robbie Scharf, Children’s Librarian at the SE Library. ists scribbled as students and city officials sang the official Capitalsaurus song. Dr. Peter Kranz, a Paleontologist, teacher, and P resident of the Dinosaur Fund, the non-pro f i t o r ganization pro m oting dinosaur re s e a rch th a t sponsored this event, says ceremonial street signs were supposed to go up, but they didn’t. He figures the city will install them if they’re bugged long enough. Incidental to the celebration of Capitalsaurus D ay and Capita l s a u rus Court was Kra n z ’s announcement of a District dinosaur find that’s actually 40-years-old. Back when this beast’s bones we re first discove red the Ra ptor species wa s unknown. The paperwork pertaining to the discovery was recently uncovered, and so the rather late announcement. Kranz says “There are undoubtedly lots more bones in the District.” He mentioned that there are plans to turn the reser voir near Children’s Hospital into a park and he hopes they’ll be able to set up a dig area. He would also like to see legislation passed for reporting finds. Our thanks to Stephanie Deutsch for her contributions to this article. Cleverly Raised Funds at The Hill Pre-School The Hill Preschool, at 337 N. Carolina Avenue, SE, is no longer in the wrapping paper business, or the garage sale business, or the bake sale business. Says school fundraising chair Alice Faison, “who bakes anymore anyway?” Over the past few years the parents have come up with some pretty creative ways of raising funds for school scholarships and other needs. Ways that don’t involve buying expensive stuff that you don’t really want from beagle-eyed tykes. Here’s a good one: The school buys a block of tickets from the Shakespeare Theatre at a discounted price and then resells them to parents and the community at the regular box office rate. Now in hand, tickets for the March 8 perfo rmance of “ C o ri o l a n u s ,” the May 4 perfo rmance of “T h e C o u n t ry Wi fe ,” and the July 13 th show of Tennessee Williams’s “Camino Real.” Tickets are $46.50 (there’s a 10% discount if you subscribe to the three play series), and include special refreshments during intermission. Here’s another: Millennium Makeover Pac kages from salon-to-the-stars (see November issue of the Voice) RPM. They’re a $110 value. The school sells them for $55, and gets to keep 50%. Alice says they’re making more money for the school than they ever have, and “it’s not so labor intensive for the parents.” To purchase tickets or makeover packages call Alice at 544-1045. Capitalsaurus Day 2000 Hill Street Renamed Capitalsauris Cour t The heavy clay soil that causes such backbreaking toil in our gardens happens to have an unexpected benefit. It’s a fine medium for preserving dinosaur bones. Over the years the skeletal remains of three dinosaurs have been found in the District, all of them east of Rock Creek Park. The first discovery was at the turn of the last cen - tury in what is now the 100 block of F Street, SE. The remains of a 100-million-year-old relative of meateating Ty ra n n o s a u rus Rex, we re found 30 fe et below ground by workmen who were building a sewer. In 1998 students from Watkins and Smothers elementary schools lobbied the City Council to have the dinosaur named Capita l s a u rus, or Capi fo r s h o rt. Last year the kids appro a ched Councilmember Sharon Ambrose to have the street where Capi was found renamed Capitalsaurus Court. On October 19, 1999, the designation became official. On January 28, 2000—which is the date that the original discovery of Capi was registered at the Smithsonian—TV cameras zoomed in and journal- SUNDAYS AT 8:15 A.M. Holy Eucharist Rite I followed by breakfast and Adult Forum. Nursery provided. 11:00 A.M. HOLY EUCHARIST Rite II followed by Coffee Hour. Nursery provided WEDNESDAYS AT 7:30 A.M. Holy Eucharist Rite II followed by breakfast. THURSDAY NIGHT EUCHARIST & SOUP 6:30 p.m. Our doors are open to all CH R I S T CH U R C H EWA S H I N G T O N PA R I S H Washington’s Oldest Episcopal Parish 620 G St., SE • Washington, DC 20003 • (202) 547-9300 on Capitol Hill near Eastern Market Metro Stop Handicapped accessible from back parking lot, off Archibald Walk, between E and G Streets 36 www.voiceofthehill.com ing will undergo extensive building renovations and will be closed for approximately six months. During this time visitors can view exhibits in two other locations in the Navy Yard. The Navy Museum Annex in Building 70 will house an exhibit on the Korean Conflict,and the Navy Art Gallery in Building 67 will feature art exhibits. “The Navy in the Forgotten War: Korea 1950-53” Exhibit commemorates the 50th anniversary of the conflict in Korea,covering the themes of naval aviation,gunfire support,amphibious operations, minesweeping, medical support,and armistice negotiations. A restored Landing Craft Vehicle Personnel (LCVP) will domi - nate the exhibition. Navy Museum Annex,Building 70. Exhibit will remain on display until 2001. “Building a Navy Yard in a New Capital” In celebration of the Bicen - tennial of the Washington Navy Yard (1799-1999),the Navy Art Gallery is featuring the exhibit,“Building a Navy Yard in a New Capital.” Focusing on the early histor y of the Yard,the exhibit traces the most significant events during the early period,in particular the War of 1812 and the burning of the Yard. It examines the origin,early architecture,and role of the Washington Navy Yard in the development of the U.S. Navy. Through May 2000. “Best of the Navy Ar t Gallery” A selection of favorite paintings from the collection of the Navy Art Galler y. In the Navy Art Galler y. EVENTS Friday, February 18 Preview! Shakespeare’s R&J. Regional premier of a show that won rave reviews Off- Broadway. A “retelling of ‘’Romeo and Juliet,’’ in a marvelously watchable way..” said Peter Marks of the New York Times. Adapted and directed by Helen Hayes Award winner, Joe Calarco. Folger Shakespeare Library. 8PM. Tickets: $27-$36 (Previews: $22-$25). Call (202) 544- 7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). • Red and Blue (Holly Productions,1967) , The White Bus (Holly Productions, 1967) The Ride of the Valkyrie (Holly Productions,1967) three film “vignettes” at the Library of Congress. 7 PM. Pickford Theater, 3rd flr of the Madison Bldg. Library of Congress film reservations may be made by phone, beginning one week before any given show. Call 707- 5677 during business hours (Monday-Friday, 9 AM to 4:30 PM). Reserved seats must be claimed at least 10 minutes before showtime,after which standbys will be admitted to unclaimed seats. All programs are free,but seating is limited to 64 seats. The Mar y Pickford Theater is located on the 3rd floor of the Madison building. Saturday, February 19 Preview! Shakespeare’s R&J. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36 (Previews: $22-$25). Call (202) 544- 7077 for information on the - atre subscriptions (new this season!). Sunday, February 20 Opening Night! Shakespeare’s R&J. 2PM matinee. 7:30PM Opening. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Tuesday, February 22 Classics Dark and Dangerous: Silver Blaze (Highgate,1976) and Murder By Decree (Highlight,1978). Films at the Library of Congress. 6:30 PM,Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. Wednesday, February 23 Lunchtime Concert. Pack your lunch and head to the Brownbag Music series at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation. Today’s concert features Keith Reas on the organ. 12:10-12:50PM. 212 E. Capitol St.,SE. Free. • The Loved One (MGM, 1965). Something to offend everyone. Film at the Library of Congress. 7PM. Mar y Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. • Awards Benefit and Fine Ar t Show and Sale. Zacks Restaurant,613 PA Ave., 8:00PM. For more info call 543-7202 • Suzanne Smith discusses (and signs) her newly pub - lished book Dancing in the Street: Motown and the Cultural Politics of Detroit. Library of Congress. Mumford Room,6th floor of the Madison Building, at 7:30 PM. Free,no tickets required. Rescheduled from January 26. • Shakespeare’s R&J. Regional premier of a show that won rave reviews Off- Broadway. A “retelling of ‘’Romeo and Juliet,’’ in a marvelously watchable way..” said Peter Marks of the New York Times. Adapted and directed by Helen Hayes Award winner, Joe Calarco. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). • Preservation Café: Roofing 101. Caffe Italiano,1129 PA Ave.,SE 6:30PM. Thursday, February 24 I’ll Make Me a World, Parts 5- 6 (1963-present) (Blackside, 1999). A filmed look at cur - rent African-American artists who are revolutionizing American culture,such as Amiri Baraka,Alice Walker, Spike Lee,and Julie Dash. Library of Congress. 7PM. Arts Calendar Photography by John Hilton. The photos of Capitol Hill artist John Hilton range from tickling silly to stunning. See them at ReMax Real Estate, 220 7th St.,SE. Call 547- 5600. • “Relief Prints” by Eric May. Bird-in-Hand Bookstore and Galleries is featuring intricate and whimsical prints by this accomplished wood engraver from March 1 through April 12. Opening reception March 11 from 3 to 6PM. Galler y hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10-5PM. 323 7th St.,SE. Call 543-0744. • “Primary Colors” group show at the Capitol Hill Ar t League. A bright and witty exhibit of paintings,photography and mixed media works by Washington area artists. Through February 25. “Mirror Images: Portrait of an Artist” runs February 29 - March 31. Gallery Talk: Thursday, March 2nd,7:30 - 9 PM. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop,545 7th St., SE. 547-6839. • “New Directions in Watercolor.” At the Newman Gallery, a new exhibit featuring abstract and experimental works by 7 watercolorists. Opening reception, February 27,3-5PM. Show runs through March 25. Newman’s is at 513 11th St.,SE. 544- 7577. • Awards Benefit and Fine Ar t Show and Sale. Zacks Restaurant,613 PA Ave., 8:00PM. For more info call 543-7202 EXHIBITS The National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Ave.,NE “Posted Aboard R.M.S. Titanic” Check your watch and note the time. Titanic sank in about 160 minutes,probably less time than you will spend touring “Posted Aboard R.M.S. Titanic.” The exhibit tells the story of the sea post clerks who perished in 1912. The exhibit also explores the condition of the mail which remains inside the hull nine decades after the sinking. Video film footage of the mail - room,shown in this exhibit, reveals that the mailbags still survive. Selected Exhibition Artifacts: John Starr March’s pocket watch,found on his body when it was recovered at sea. The gold time-piece stopped ticking at 1:27 AM on the morning of April 15, 1912; Four postal facing slips found in Oscar Scott Woody’s suit coat the night he died; Oscar Scott Woody’s personal effects bag, mail chain, key, and Ingersoll/Midgett pocket watch,corroded from immersion in sea water; Sea post clerk Woody’s travel order, issued on April 1,1912, instructing him to proceed to Southampton for service aboard R.M.S. Titanic; and a life jacket used in the motion picture Titanic. Through June 12,2000. “Mayhem by Mail” The vital duties of the United States Postal Inspection Service are the focus of “Mayhem by Mail.” The exhibit uses historic documents and objects - including confiscated booty, counterfeit lithographs, crime scene photographs and reconstructed mail bombs - to highlight the service’s essential role in protecting the American public and their mail. Through April 23,2000. Exhibitions at the Library of Congress “John Bull and Uncle Sam: Four Centuries of British- American Relations” Closing March 4th! The second in a series of exhibitions celebrating the Library’s bicentennial theme “Libraries,Creativity, Liberty” is now on view. “John Bull and Uncle Sam,” a joint project of the Library of Congress and the British Librar y, brings together for the first time treasures from the two largest libraries in the English-speaking world. The exhibition explores the inter - woven history of the two nations from the earliest British settlement in Virginia to the present and demonstrates the extraordinary cul - tural exchange that has been a constant feature of the rela - tionship between Great Britain and the United States. Contact: (202) 707-4604. (Northwest Gallery and Pavilion of the Thomas Jefferson Building through March 4) “By Securing to Authors: Copyright,Commerce,and Creativity in America” This exhibition features a wide range of items that have been copyrighted in America, including original Ken and Barbie dolls,Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech and the statue of the “Maltese Falcon” that was used in the film of the same name. Exhibition hours are 8:30 AM to 5 PM,Monday- Friday. Fourth Floor, Green/Blue Corridors, Madison Building. Open indefinitely “Here to Stay: The Legacy of George and Ira Gershwin” The George and Ira Gershwin Room is a permanent exhibition area for materials from the Library’s George and Ira Gershwin Collection,the world’s preeminent resource for the documentary legacy of the Gershwin brothers. “Here to Stay: The Legacy of George and Ira Gershwin” includes George’s piano and desk,Ira’s typing table and typewriter, a self-portrait oil painting of each brother, handwritten musical manuscripts and other documents that chronicle their lives and careers. An audio-video kiosk allows visitors to view film footage and learn more about the Gershwins and their music. (George and Ira Gershwin Room,Northwest Ground Floor Corridor of the Jefferson Building, open indefinitely) “American Treasures of the Library of Congress” The unprecedented permanent “American Treasures” exhibition,made possible by a grant from the Xerox Foundation,showcases 240 items that represent the breadth and depth of the Library’s American historical items. Featured in the “Top Treasures” case this summer is Thomas Jefferson’s “rough draft” of the Declaration of Independence. (Southwest Gallery and Pavilion of the Thomas Jefferson Building). For additional information,call (202) 707-3834. “The Gerry Mulligan Collection” Gerry Mulligan’s gold-plated Conn baritone saxophone is the centerpiece of this permanent exhibition. Other items on display from the Library’s Gerry Mulligan Collection are photographs that document Mulligan’s long career, music manuscripts in Mulligan’s hand,record covers,performance programs and posters, and a 1981 Grammy that he won for the best jazz instr umental performance in his album Walk on the Water. Hours for the exhibition are 8:30 AM to 5 PM Monday- Friday. Foyer of the Performing Arts Reading Room,LM 113 in the Madison Building, open indefinitely. The Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St., SE The Shakespeare Gallery (permanent) The Shakespeare Gallery, which is adjacent to the Folger’s Great Hall,is a permanent multi-media exhibition which gives visitors a chance to browse electronically through the Folger’s rich treasures pertaining to Shakespeare and his time. “All is but Fortune” Good Fortune. Bad Fortune: which will it be? and for how long? who will rise? who will fall? In the classical world the goddess Fortuna,often pictured with her constantly turning wheel,came to embody the arbitrary in life. The Fortuna of the Renaissance, who could not be completely subsumed into Christianity, is featured in this exhibition as she appeared in emblems,on title pages,in plays,poems, and prose,as well as on medals and in works of art. Today, as we look toward a new century and a new millennium, our awareness of the revolutions of time,pictured in Fortune’s turning wheel,is especially acute, and because fortunes change,but Fortune doesn’t, you will find this goddess more familiar than you think. Through June 10,2000. The Washington Navy Yard— 8th & M Sts.,SE Beginning in January 2000, the main Navy Museum build- Thursday, March 2 ANC6A Meeting. 7PM. JO Wilson Elementary School. 7th and K Sts.,NE. • Gallery Talk. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. 7:30 - 9 PM. At the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, 545 7th St.,SE. Free. • Only Two Can Play (Vale Film,1962). A filmed adaptation of Kingsley Amis’s satiric novel starring Peter Sellers. 7PM. Library of Congress. Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg . See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Friday, March 3 The Prisoner (London Independent/Facet,1955). Film at the Library of Congress. 7PM. Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. • Ensemble Sarband presents “Sefarad”: Music of Spanish Jews in the Mediterranean and the Ottoman Empire. At 8PM. Library of Congress. Info 707- 7540. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 8 PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544- 7077 for information on the - atre subscriptions (new this season!). Saturday ,March 4 Caring for and Preserving your Family Letters. Join Linda Edquist,museum conservator, and Andy Carroll,editor of the national best seller Letters of a Nation and founder of the Legacy Project,discuss the importance of preserving family histories through letters. The Legacy Project is specifically devoted to preserving American wartime correspondence. Currently, six such letters are featured in the muse - um’s “Last Letters” exhibit. Following the discussion, there will be a demonstration on how to preserve your family documents through proper handling techniques and the use of archival materials. 1-3 PM. National Postal Museum. 2 Mass Ave.,NE. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 8 PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544- 7077 for information on the - atre subscriptions (new this season!). Sunday, March 5 Theater on 8th Street. The Color Me Human Players in performance at bistro/champagne bar Ellington’s on 8th. $10 per person. 6PM. 424A 8th Street,SE. 546-8308. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 2PM matinee and 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Monday March 6- Fri. 10 Democracy and the Rule of Law in a Changing World Order. A symposium that examines the relationship between the rule of law and the spread of democracy in many parts of the world and look at how countries with dif - fering legal traditions confront major common problems under a constitutionally provided rule of law. Library of Congress. To attend,contact Rose Marie Clemandot in the Law Library by phone: 707- 5067 or e-mail: rcle@loc.gov. Tuesday, March 7 ANC6B Meeting. 7PM. 921 Pennsylvania Ave.,SE. • Enrico Caruso the Reluctant Movie Star. Presentation by Paul Fryer, Senior Lecturer in Theatre,at Rose Bruford College (U.K.),is illustrated by film and audio clips that explore Caruso’s appearances in motion pictures and the impact and influence of the tenor upon the development of the 20th century’s great attempt at democratizing ar t through the cinema screen. 7PM. Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for information. Wednesday, March 8 Pett and Pott (1934). The Arsenal Stadium Myster y (G & S Films,1939). The G & S Films Company was formed in 1938 with the goal of bringing Gilbert and Sullivan operas to the screen. After their first film, The Mikado, turned into a costly flop,the company adopted a less exotic motto: “Bring Britain to the Screen.” Indeed,what could be more British than a story about a Scotland Yard inspector investigating the murder of a star soccer player? The Arsenal Stadium Mystery, which includes appearances by the members of the popular London soccer club,is a hugely entertaining whodunit, with Leslie Banks excelling in the role of Inspector Slade. This was undoubtedly the best,but also the last G & S production. It is preceded by Pett and Pott, a delightful short from the Grierson documentary group.7PM. Librar y of Congress. Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for info. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Thursday, March 9 The Trans-Atlantic Mystery (Vitaphone,1932). Transatlantic Tunnel (Gaumont-British,1935). The British remake of the 1933 German film Der Tunnel is a spectacular futuristic fantasy with a star-studded Anglo- American cast. 7PM. Library of Congress. Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for info. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Friday, March 10 Remember Last Night (1935). This comedy mystery was www.voiceofthehill.com 37 Park Cafe on Capitol Hill 106 13th St., SE at the east end of Lincoln Park Continental & Latin Fare Mon 6pm-10pm Tues-Sat noon-3pm & 6pm-11:30pm Sunday noon-8:30 pm Large Wine list New Menu Items Daily Specials Mention the ad and recieve a special surprise! 202-543-0184 Opening reception sunday february 2oth 12-4pm feb. 20th- Mar. 31st gallery New Paintings by THE VILLAGE 705 N. Carolina Ave. Se Eastern Market Tues-Fri 11-6 Sat 10-6, Sun 12-4 202 • 546 • 3040 Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg . See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). • Juilliard String Quartet at Library of Congress. Beethoven’s Quartet in G Major, op. 18,no. 2; the Quartet no. 15 in E-flat Minor, op. 144, by Shostakovich; and Mendelssohn’s Quartet no. 4 in E Minor, op. 44,no. 2. The concert begins at 8 PM. Coolidge Auditorium, Library of Congress. Free but tickets required. Tickets may still be available through TicketMaster for a nominal fee. Call (301) 808-6900 or (202) 432-SEAT. Friday, February 25 The Juilliard String Quartet at the Library of Congress. Beethoven’s Quartet in G Major, op. 18,no. 2; the Quartet no. 15 in E-flat Minor, op. 144, by Shostakovich; and Mendelssohn’s Quartet no. 4 in E Minor, op. 44,no. 2. Coolidge Auditorium. 8 PM. Free but tickets required. Tickets may still be available through TicketMaster for a nominal fee. Call (301) 808- 6900 or (202) 432-SEAT. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 8 PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544- 7077 for information on the - atre subscriptions (new this season!). • Quatermass and the Pit, Episode 3: Imps and Demons (1959) and The Creeping Unknown (Hammer Films, 1955). From the BBC TV sci - ence fiction miniseries by Nigel Kneale. 7PM Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. Saturday, February 26 • Best Book Sale on Capitol Hill 10AM - 4PM Rain or Shine. Help the Friends of the Southeast Library to provide needed services to their patrons. ALL hardcover books = $1.00,large paperbacks = $.50,regular-sized paperbacks = $.25. Come one, come all. Library located across from Eastern Mar ket Metro,at 7th Street,1 block south of Pennsylvania Avenue. Don’t miss this GREAT sale. • Shakespeare’s R&J. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). • Momentum Dance Theatre presents THIN and “Collard Greens and Gefilte Fish: A Menu for Black and Jewish Survival” at Living Stage, 1901 14th St.,NW, 8:30pm.and 10:30pm. THIN traverses the rocky terrain of women and body image. It uniquely blends dance,theater, music and humor to address the pressures women and girls face,and the possible responses. Collard Greens explores the cultural framework that unites and divides Blacks and Jews. For more information please call 202/672-0102 Sunday, February 27 Shakespeare’s R&J. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544- 7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). • “New Directions in Watercolor.” At the Newman Gallery, a new exhibit featuring abstract and experimental works by 7 watercolorists. Opening reception,3-5PM • Momentum Dance Theatre presents THIN and “Collard Greens and Gefilte Fish: A Menu for Black and Jewish Survival” See Feb. 26. Monday, February 28 The Sentimental Agent: Express Delivery (ATV Production,1963). Danger Man: An Affair of State (ITC, 1961). The Adventurer: Miss Me Once,Miss Me Twice,and Miss Me Once Again (ITC, 1972). Director: Cyril Frankel. Writer: Marty Roth. Cast: Gene Barry, Barry Morse. (30 minutes,sound,color, 16mm; LC Collection). Films at the Library of Congress. 7PM. Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg . See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. Monday, February 28 • Poets Arthur Sze and Vijay Seshadri. Seminar and Supper, 5:30 PM,Reading, 8 PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. 201 E. Capitol St., SE. 544-7077 for ticket info. Tuesday, February 29 Sherlock Holmes on Television in the 1980s: The Sign of Four (Mapleton, 1983). Young Sherlock: The Young Master (Granada, 1985). At the Library of Congress. 6:30PM Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. • Spirituals by the Virginia State University Choir. The culminating event for African- American History Month at the Library of Congress. Noon. Free. Coolidge Auditorium of the Jefferson Building. Contact: 707-7540. Wednesday, March 1 Lunchtime Concert. Pack your lunch and head to the Brownbag Music series at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation. Today’s concert features “Faith,Spirit & Soul” with a selection of beloved spirituals. 12:10-12:50PM. 212 E. Capitol St.,SE. Free. • The Girl with Green Eyes (Woodfall,1964). Director: Desmond Davis. Writer: Edna O’Brien,from her novel The Lonely Girl. Cast: Rita Tushingham, Peter Finch, Lynn Redgrave. 7PM. Library of Congress. Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for info • Shakespeare’s R&J. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Universal Studio’s answer to The Thin Man. Robert Young, Constance Cummings and the ultimate snooty butler, Arthur Treacher. 7:30PM. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. 545 7th St., SE. 547-6839 for tickets. • Concert at 8. Rolf Schulte on the violin,Alan Feinberg on piano,and William Purvis on French horn. Library of Congress. 8PM. 707-7540. • The Lodger (Gainsborough, 1926). Blackmail (British International,1929). Director: Alfred Hitchcock. The Lodger is the master’s most famous silent film,a chilling Jack the Ripper tale set on the fogg y streets of London. More notable is Blackmail, widely known as Britain’s first sound film. 6PM. Library of Congress. Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg. See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 8PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544- 7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Saturday, March 11 Shakespeare’s R&J. 8 PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544- 7077 for information on the - atre subscriptions (new this season!). • “Relief Prints” by Eric May. Bird-in-Hand Bookstore and Galleries is featuring intricate and whimsical prints by this accomplished wood engraver from March 1 through April 12. Opening reception March 11 from 3 to 6PM. Galler y hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10-5PM. 323 7th St.,SE. Call 543-0744. Sunday, March 12 Theater on 8th Street. The Color Me Human Players in performance at bistro/champagne bar Ellington’s on 8th. $10 per person. 6PM. 424A 8th Street,SE. 546-8308. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 2PM and 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Monday, March 13 Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Forty years after the publication of one of the best selling Beat classics of all time, A Coney Island of the Mind, Lawrence Ferlinghetti offers us A Far Rockaway of the Heart,a collection of 101 poems singing of childhood,literature, America,love,art,religion,airplanes, Italy, the end of the millennium and dogs- all with such freedom and energy it’s enough to make a person realize that the Beat does,in fact,go on. Ferlinghetti is the co-founder of the illustrious City Lights bookstore. Last year, he was named the first poet laureate of San Francisco. 8PM reading. Folger Shakespeare Library. 201 E. Capitol St.,SE. Tuesday, March 14 Nick Weber, who owns a local rose nurser y, will be discussing “Old Roses” at the Capitol Hill Garden Club meet- 38 www.voiceofthehill.com classifieds • Want to purchase Quality used books,Single volumes or entire library! Call Steve at Riverby Books 202- 544-1925 Books Bought and Sold. We want what you can give, we pay what we can afford. Capitol Hill Books. Capitol Hill’s only used bookstore across the street from Eastern Market. 657 C Street,SE 202/544-1621 Jeep for Sale 1996 Jeep Cherokee Sport, 2dr, Std Trans,Pwr windows and locks,55K miles,excellent cond. $12,500. Darryl Moran 240-725-0143. Grocery Deliver y Limited area and weight. Safeway at Kentucky and C. Great timesaver for non-shoppers. Call 202-546-1657 Office for Rent Furnished office use of con - ference room,reception area. Capitol Hill-Eastern Market. Michael Hines,202-544-4300 Help Wanted Assistant Manager, 30 hours, some weekends. Retail experience necessary pet experi - ence preferred. Call Dennis at Dooolittles. 544-8710. Volunteers Needed J.O. Wilson elementary school at 6th and K Street,NE needs volunteers,especially arts and crafts,for the after school program, Friday afternoons 4-5:30. Not necessar y to come every Friday. Please call Nettie Jones,J.O. Wilson After School Program Director at 202-724-4707. Help Wanted Full time receptionist for Capitol Hill office. Fax resume to 202-544-7876. Seeking Couple to Share Nanny Capitol Hill couple with infant son looking for nanny sharing arrangement with one additional child. Preferably full time. If interested,please call 547-2376. Nanny Needed Experienced nanny needed. 25 hours a week to care for infant twins in our Capitol Hill home. Experience and references required. Please call (202) 544-1433 Classified Ad Placement Form First Name______________________________________________________________________________________ Last Name______________________________________________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________________________________________ City/State/ZIP __________________________________________________________________________________ Phone Number ___________________________________________Email_________________________________ Category h Apartments/Rooms h Auto h Books h Children’s Items h Electronics h Furniture h Office h Other ______________________________________________ h Personals h Positions hServices hTools h Website h Newspaper h Both The web classified ads are a free community service of the Voice of the Hill. N ewspaper ads are $20 for the first 20 wo rds and $.25 per wo rd th e re a ft e r. Visa and MasterCard are accepted. Please describe the item and please be concise, there is a 200 website character limitation (there is no limit to print ads)_______________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ Please enclose payment with order. Mail to Voice of the Hill, 120 11th Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003. Or fax information (credit card payment only) to 202-547-5133. Credit Card Number/Type____________________________________Exp. Date___________________________ Name on Card __________________________________________________________________________________ Signature _______________________________________________________________________________________ ing. 7PM. Capitol Hill Baptist Church. 6th and A NE. 544- 0560. • Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers (Flower Films,1980). Always for Pleasure (Flower Films,1978). Two from documentary filmmaker Les Blank. 7PM. Library of Congress. . Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg . See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. Wednesday, March 15 Lunchtime Concert. Pack your lunch and head to the Brownbag Music series at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation. Today’s concert features Tzvetan Konstantinov on the piano. 12:10- 12:50PM. 212 E. Capitol St., SE. Free. • EMCAC Meeting. 7 PM,also at the Northeast Branch Library, but might be changed. Please check www.voiceofthehill. com for update. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Thursday, March 16 Hamburger U (Paramount, 1965). Hamburger Sandwich (Educational Media,1969). Pound (Pound Films 1970). Director/Writer: Rober t Downey. Two jolly shorts and a feature. Look for Rober t Downey, Jr. as a puppy. 7PM. Mary Pickford Theater, 3rd Floor of the Madison Bldg . See Friday February 18 listing for reservation information. • Shakespeare’s R&J. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre subscriptions (new this season!). Friday, March 17 St. Patrick’s Day! • Shakespeare’s R&J. Final performance. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077 for information on theatre sub - scriptions (new this season!). R e l i g i o n Christ Church + Washington Parish Sets St. Patrick’s Dinner and Silent Auction Christ Church is hosting its annual St. Patrick’s Dinner and Silent Auction on Saturday, March 18,2000 at 7PM. The menu features the traditional Irish feast of corned beef and cabbage. Vegetarian entrees will be available for those so inclined. Items to be auctioned off include a week at a cabin in Maine; a long weekend in a condo in the Keystone,Breckenridge,Colorado, ski area; fancy baked goods; gift certificates to popular DC dining establishments,and a signed,first-edition copy of a famous Irish author’s latest book. Tickets are $10 for adults,$5 for seniors and children,and children under 5 eat free. For more information and to order tickets,please call 547-9300,or visit their website, HYPER - LINK “http://www.washingtonparish.org” www.washingtonparish. org. Christ Church + Washington Parish is located at 620 G St.,SE.,just a few blocks from Eastern Market Metro. Capitol Hill Group Ministry Annual Tax Clinic Opens The 28th annual Capitol Hill Group Ministry tax clinic, available at no charge to those earning $30,000 or less,will be open every Thursday evening at 7 PM from February 10 through April 13 at Lincoln Park United Methodist Church (1301 North Carolina Avenue,NE,right off Lincoln Park). Training is available for volunteers during clinic hours. We’re not looking for tax law experts,just folks who have prepared their own taxes and are willing to help others. For more information please call Capitol Hill Group Ministry at 544-0631. Marriage Workshop at St. Peter’s Parish William Coffin. M.Ed.,will be presenting a marriage workshop called Christian PREP, which is based on years of research into what makes marriages work and what destroys them. Coffin has over 20 years experience in marriage preparation and marriage enrichment,and is the marriage preparation coordinator for the Archdiocese of Washnigton. The two-part workshop will be presented on Sunday, February 27 and Sunday, March 5 in the St. Peter’s Church Hall. The cost is $60 per couple. Call Sonia Faletti at 543-6801 for information. Capitol Hill Group Ministry Seeks Volunteers Are you looking for a new and unique way to help out in the Capitol Hill neighborhood this spring? Capitol Hill Group Ministry’s Congregation Based Shelter Project provides emergency shelter at neighborhood churches for families who have nowhere to go. If you can volunteer to spend an evening and overnight helping a family, please call Robert Washington at Capitol Hill Group Ministry 202/544-3150. Ebenezer United Methodist Lenten Services Ebenezer will conduct a series of Lenten services in March beginning with Ash Wednesday service,March 8 at 7PM. Daytime services will be held at Noon on March 15,22,and 29. Ebenezer is at 4th and D Sts.,SE. 544-1415 Washington Community Fellowship Schedules Lenten,Easter Services Washington Community Fellowship will celebrate Ash Wednesday with a special service at 7 AM on March 3. Easter Week services include a 7 PM service on Maundy Thursday April 20,a Good Friday service at 7:30 PM on April 21,with Easter Sunrise services at 7 AM on Easter Sunday, April 23. Washington Community Fellowship is located at 9th and Maryland,NE. Telephone 543-1926 for further information. St. Monica’s Lenten Services St. Monica’s Episcopal Church will offer a Shrove Tuesday service at 6PM on March 7. Ash Wednesday services are March 8 at 7AM and 12 Noon. The Wednesday Lenten Series and Stations of the Cross is every Wednesday from March 15-April 12. The discussion topic will be “Christian Commitment.” St. Monica’s is at 1340 Massachusetts Ave.,SE. 547-8401. Interim Senior Pastor Begins Term at Lutheran Church of the Reformation The Rev. Roger L. Dahlin was installed during Sunday morning worship,January 23,as interim senior pastor. The office has been vacant since the retirement of Pastor Paul Wee. Pastor Dahlin will serve for approximately 10-12 months,or until the call process for a new senior pastor is complete. The Lutheran Church of the Reformation is located at 212 East Capitol St.,SE. 543-4200. 208 Mass. Ave., NE (202) 546-6969-6970 750ml wine—Buy 6 and get 20% off Deli Platters $4.99 per person 1Women’s History Month Begins The treasures from Istanbul’ s Topkapi Palace go on display at the Corcoran Museum. Brownbag Music series at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation. 12:10-12:50PM. 212 E. Capitol St., SE. Free. 2ANC6A Meeting . 7PM. J.O. Wilson Elementary School. 7th and K Sts., NE. Gallery Talk at the Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. 7:30 - 9 PM. 545 7th St., SE. Free. Shakespeare’s R&J. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Call 544-7077. 3The Prisoner (London Independent/Facet, 1955). Film at the Library of Congress. 7PM. Pickford Theater, Madison Bldg. Ensemble Sarband presents “Sefarad”: Music of Spanish Jews in the Mediterranean and the Ottoman Empire. At 8PM. Library of Congress. Info 707- 7540. 4Caring for and Preserving your Family Letters. Linda Edquist and Andy Carroll discuss the importance of preserving family histories through letters. A demonstra tion on how to preserve your family documents follows. 1-3 PM. Free. National Postal Museum. 2 Mass Ave., NE. 5The Color Me Human Players in performance at bistro/champagne bar Ellington’s on 8th. Today’s feature: former vaudevillian Deborah Dell Branham $10 per person. 6PM. 424A 8th Street, SE. 546-8308. 6Democracy and the Rule of Law in a Changing World Order. Symposium examining relationship between rule of law and spread of democracy in many parts of the world. Library of Congress. Free. Call Rose Marie Clemandot to register: 707-5067. 10 Ursela Hegi, author of Stones form the River, reads at the Folger Shakespeare Library. 8PM. $13. 201 E. Capitol St., SE. 544-7077. Remember Last Night (1935). 7:30PM. Capitol Hill Arts Workshop. 545 7th St., SE. 547-6839 for tickets. 11 Relief Prints by Eric May. Bird-in-Hand Bookstore and Galleries through April 12. Opening reception today 3-6. 323 7th St., SE. 543-0744. Cartoon Animation . 11:30 AM, 12:30, 1:30, 3, & 4 PM.Capital Children’s Museum. 800 3rd St., NE. 12 Washington’s St. Patrick’ s Day Parade. Noon. Constitution Avenue, between 7th and 17th Streets. Girl Scouts were founded today in 1912. 13 Lawrence Ferlinghetti. 40 years after the publication of Beat classic, A Coney Island of the Mind, the poet laureate of San Francisco offers us A Far Rockaway of the Heart. Tonight at 8PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. 201 E. Capitol St., SE. 544-7077. 14 Nick Weber discusses “Old Roses” at the Capitol Hill Garden Club meeting. 7PM. Capitol Hill Baptist Church. 6th and A NE. 544-0560. Garlic Is As Good As Ten Mothers (Flower Films, 1980). Always for Pleasure (1978). 7PM. Library of Congress. Pickford Theater, Madison Bldg. 15 Brownbag Music series at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation. Tzvetan Konstantinov, piano. 12:10- 12:50PM. 212 E. Capitol St., SE. Free. EMCAC Meeting. 7 PM, Northeast Branch Library, may be changed. www.voiceofthehill. com for update. 18 Shakespeare’s R&J . A Adapted and directed by Helen Hayes Award winner, Joe Calarco. 7:30PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. Tickets: $27-$36. Closes Sunday March 19! 19 Full Moon 20 First Day of Spring 21 Flowers of Silk and Gold: Four centuries of Ottoman embroidery at the Textile Museum 2320 S St., NW. 22 Brownbag Music series at the Lutheran Church of the Reformation. 12:10-12:50PM. 212 E. Capitol St., SE. Free. 23 Symposium and performance with The Four Tops! Moderated by Norman Middleton and Dr. Suzanne Smith. At 8 PM, Library of Congress. 24 “New Directions in Watercolor,” at the Newman Gallery, features abstract and experimental works by 7 watercolorists. Opening reception, February 27, 3-5PM. Show closes tomorrow! 513 11th St., SE. 544-7577. 25 Smithsonian Kite Festival. 10AM on the grounds of the Washington Monument (Rain Date March 26) 26 Capitol Hill Chorale “Greatest of All Times” James L. Turk, conducting. Favorite choruses from opera and oratorio as well as independent choral masterpieces. At the Capitol Hill Presbyterian Church. 547- 6839. 27 Japan: Through the Eyes of a Child. Visit a Japanese home, with kitchen, bath - room and traditional tatami room. See a crowded Japanese street and visit an electronics shop, a kimono maker, and others. At Capital Children’s Museum, 800 3rd St., NE. 29 Celebrate the Bicentennial of the Washington Navy Yard! “Building a Navy Yard in a New Capital” in the navy Art Galler y examines the Yard’s history and role in the development of the U.S. Navy. Washington Navy Yard. 8th and M St., SE. 30 Exhibit alert! See the works of Honore Daumier at the Phillips Collection. 1600 21st St., NW. 31 Folger Consort presents, “Orpheus’ Lyre.” A concert of Baroque music from the end of the 16th century. Preconcert discussion at 7PM. Concert at 8PM. Folger Shakespeare Library. 201 East Capitol St., SE. through April 2nd 28 Play hooky! Catch the Martin Johnson Heade exhibit in the National Gallery of Art’s West Building. PHYLLIS JANE YOUNG PARDOE Real Estate ERA Office 202.262.7253 • Home 202.544.4236 email: phyllisjaneyoung@realtor.com Licensed broker in DC, MD and VA. 16 Hamburger U (Paramount, 1965). Hamburger Sandwich (Educational Media, 1969). Pound (Pound Films 1970). Director/Writer: Robert Downey. Two jolly shorts and a feature. Look for Robert Downey, Jr. as a puppy. 7PM. Pickford Theater, Madison Bldg. 9 7Mardi Gras ANC6B Meeting. 7PM. 921 Pennsylvania Ave., SE. 8Ash Wednesday The Arsenal Stadium Myster y (G & S Films, 1939), entertain - ing whodunit preceded by Pett and Pott, short promoting telephone service in Great Britain. 7PM. Library of Congress. Pickford Theater, Madison Bldg. EQUAL HOUSING OPPORTUNITY Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday The best view on real estate STARTING TODAY: THE WASHINGTON FLOWER AND GARDEN SHOW AT THE WASHINGTON CONVENTION CENTER. MARCH 9-12 M A RCH 17 St. Patrick’s Day! Julius Caesar Live. Janet Field-Pickering, head of education at Folger Library, sets loose “the dogs of war.” Family program at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 E. Capitol St., SE. 10 AM, $10, Ages 9-14 Call 544-7077. 605 Pe n n s y l vania Avenue, SE / 202-547-3525 / www. p a rd o e - c a p i t o l h i l l . c o m EQ 1996 1997 1998 1999 The Capitol Hill Condo Market is Hot! Hot! Hot! If you own a condo on Capitol Hill (or anywhere in Washington, DC) now is the time to sell! Call us at 202.547.3525! 27 50 95 1 5 0 Condos sold Condos sold Condos sold Condos sold