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Meet the Friends of the Soldiers’ Home! — Reception at Chez Billy on September 14th

August 31, 2012

Interior of Chez Billy

Here’s something worthy of support, so make sure you put it on your calendar. The Friends of the Soldiers’ Home will be hosting one of their first fundraisers on September 14th. Details are below.

This group has done a tremendous job so far of reestablishing a relationship between the Armed Forces Retirement Home and the Park View & Petworth neighborhoods. But, to continue and build upon their early success, they need support.

The fundraiser is not only a good way to provide financial support, but also a great opportunity to meet the group.

I hope to see you there!

Friday, Sept. 14, 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
upstairs at the fabulous Chez Billy
3815 Georgia Ave. N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20011

Suggested donation: $10 per person

Our July 4th celebration made clear we can’t hold events and meet our goals to serve the Armed Forces Retirement Home and surrounding community without your support.

RSVP at friendsofsoliders (at) gmail.com
Like us: Facebook.com/FriendsOfSoldiers
Follow us: twitter: @FriendsSoldiers

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Categories: Armed Forces Retirement Home, Community Involvement, Fundraisers
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4th at the Soldiers Home Huge Success

July 5, 2012

While it is too early to know exactly how many people enjoyed the 4th of July at the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) yesterday, it was clear that it was a popular destination for residents in the surrounding communities. The event rand from 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. and was organized by the Friends of the Soldiers’ Home in cooperation with AFRH. It included food vendors, catch and release fishing, a bicycle clinic and a lot of open space for kids to play in. It also provided a fairly good view of the National Fireworks.

Below are some photos from yesterday’s event.

(Some of the many people who showed up to enjoy the day and watch fireworks)

(Food options included Captain Cookie, the Lemon Grass Truck, Sugar High Bakery, Los Verracos, and Humble Pie)

(The fishing was particularly popular with the children)

(One of the AFRH residents brought some fireworks of his own. For a short while, he enjoyed interacting with some of the children and showing off his cannon — which fired blanks beautifully)

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Categories: Armed Forces Retirement Home, Celebrations, Holidays, Sports leisure and entertainment
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Invitation to Spend July 4th on the Grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home

June 21, 2012

The following announcement came through my email last night. It sounds like an enjoyable opportunity to spend the Fourth of July relaxing, fishing, and watching the fireworks on the south grounds of the Old Soldiers’ Home. I’m sure many won’t want to miss it (a PDF flyer is available here)

Friends of the Soldiers’ Home in cooperation with the Armed Forces Retirement Home present:

A July 4th Celebration

Family Fun* Local Food Vendors* Children’s Fishing* Hiking* Biking* Picnicking* Jogging* Soccer* Touch Football* Kickball* Tug of War* Balloon Twisting*

Watch the fireworks on the National Mall from one of the best vantage points in Washington, D.C., on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012, 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., on the southern grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, Washington, D.C. (Entrance at Rock Creek Church Road and Randolph Street)

 FOOD

Carry in picnic food and drink or purchase from these vendors courtesy of Grey DC:

  • Lemon Grass Truck: We serve Vietnamese Cuisine. The menu features 4 main items; banh mi, tacos, vermicelli noodles, and salad. All are topped with either lemongrass chicken or slow roasted pork. We will also be serving Bubble Tea!
  • Captain Cookie: Captain Cookie and the Milk Man is a bakery truck that serves fresh-baked cookies, local creamery milk and made-to-order ice cream sandwiches
  • PapsJuices, LLC: I produce my own juices from the freshest and finest Roots, Fruits Flowers in the world.
  • Los Verracos: In 2009, some friends in New Jersey/New York came together over a mutual admiration and respect of pork and all of its wonders. They decided they wanted to find a way to share this passion with friends and family. Los Verracos Supper Club was born.
  • We are Humble Pie! We offer updated, rustic interpretations of classic American pie flavors using seasonal, local produce and handmade all-butter crust. Plus, each tart fits in the palm of your hand!
  • Sugar High Bakery, a selection of baked goods with a twist. I bake everything from cakes to cookies to cupcakes, making sure to keep everything both tasty and fun! For samples of my work, you can check out my blog here and see other samples of my work on Facebook here.

CHILDREN’S ACTIVITIES

Trout Unlimited, the nation’s foremost organization for restoring fisheries, is supplying volunteers and donating 20 fishing poles and bait for children to use at the Soldiers Home fishing ponds stocked with fish. Catch-and-release fishing will occur from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

In addition to fishing we will have organized activities including soccer, touch football, kickball and tug of war. Thanks to Park View Kids Zone for helping supply equipment. Why go to the Mall when you can watch the fireworks from some of the high ground right here at the Soldiers Home? Fireworks begin shortly after 9 p.m.

Also featuring KazooTheBalloonMaker.com: Serving the DC metro area, Kazoo specializes in advanced, multi-balloon creations that are sure to make the kids smile and amaze the adults. No simple dogs or swords here. Available for parties and events of all kinds.

  •  ****STREET PARKING IS EXTREMELY LIMITED****Please walk or bike to the inside of the grounds; the H8 bus stops near the entrance and the Georgia/Petworth metro stop is a 10-minute walk from the entrance gate
  • No glass containers
  • Please help us keep the grounds clean by removing your own waste
  • No Rain Date

Friends of the Soldiers Home is a volunteer organization serving members of the Armed Forces Retirement Home. Friends extends enormous thanks to the veterans and staff of the Home for inviting the community inside the gates for this very special July 4 celebration.

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Armed Forces Retirement Home Closes Historic Eagle Gate for Renovations

June 4, 2012

In preparation of the Randolph Gate’s reopening, the bollards have been removed

Here’s some interesting news — the Armed Forces Retirement Home’s (AFRH) Eagle Gate — at Upshur Street — will officially be closing at 6:30 p.m. today so it can be renovated. At that time, the Randolph Gate will be reopened for use in the interim as a main entrance during the renovation. The AFRH also hopes to use the Randolph Gate more in the future with community events.

The Randolph Gate has been closed to vehicular traffic since December 9, 1953. The gate, along with the one at Park Road, was originally closed due to the construction of the Washington Hospital Center, and a desire for the Soldiers’ Home to not have traffic sitting on its property because of the construction.

The Eagle Gate is expected to reopen on November 9, 2012, at the latest.

The AFRH’s Eagle gate will be closed for renovations from June 4-November 9

Below if the description from the AFRH Website:

The Eagle gate will be closed for approximately 120 days beginning Monday, June 4, 2012.

GPS location for Randolph Gate is 333
Rock Creek Church Road, NW
Washington, DC 20011

Vehicle traffic will NOW enter the Home through Scale Gate, which is located on North Capitol Street and Randolph Street Gate, which is located on Rock Creek Church Road.

We will be changing our vehicle traffic pattern on the grounds of the Home to provide a safe and efficient entry and exit for traffic at Scale Gate and Randolph Street Gate.

A change in pedestrian traffic is also necessary. Pedestrians will enter using the Randolph Street Gate.

Eagle Gate ca. 1920

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Categories: Armed Forces Retirement Home, Restoration repair and maintenance
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Gardening at the Old Soldiers’ Home

May 15, 2012

Earlier this year I announced that there was a community gardening opportunity at the Old Soldiers’ Home. I’m happy to report that there was a good response to this opportunity — in which community members are paired with AFRH residents to work garden plots side-by-side.

Thus far, I’ve observed two things (even though the season has just begun) … 1) Working with and getting to know the AFRH residents is both rewarding and interesting; and, 2) Even though the garden is just a few yards inside the fence from Rock Creek Church Road and Park Place, there is definitely a very rural feeling on the other side of the fence. It is very easy to forget you are in the heart of D.C. when you are gardening there.

Below are a couple of photographs taken while AFRH residents and the outside community put up fencing to protect the gardens from the deer.


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Community Gardening Opportunity at the Armed Forces Retirement Home

March 22, 2012

As someone who sees the community garden plots of the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) on a daily basis, I find this opportunity exciting. At a recent Friends of the Soldiers’ Home planning meeting, I learned that the garden area just inside the fence at the intersection of Park Place and Rock Creek Church Road once supported about 60 resident gardeners at the AFRH. Now, there are only a few.

Because of the greatly reduced use of the gardens, the AFRH has offered to partner with the surrounding community and allow volunteers an opportunity to have garden plots of their own in exchange to those also willing to assist AFRH resident gardeners with their plots.

Those with garden plots would go though background checks and become full AFRH volunteers. For more details and to initiate the process, interested parties need to contact Carolyn Haug, Volunteer Coordinator at the AFRH. She can be reached at 202-541-7627 or at carolyn.haug (at) afrh.gov.

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Categories: Armed Forces Retirement Home, Lawns and gardens
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Temporary Increase in Traffic Due to Armed Forces Retirement Home’s Scott Building Project

February 6, 2012

One of many dump trucks recently seen on Rock Creek Church Road

Many residents along Rock Creek Church Road noted that there was a significant increase in construction traffic last week. This was mostly in the form of dump trucks containing fill dirt with a few cement mixers here and there. While the volume varied throughout the week, it was as great as 11 trucks during one period.

It didn’t take too long for me to find out where the trucks were going or what they were needed for. In short, the trucks are loaded with fill dirt that is needed by the Armed Forces Retirement Home’s (AFRH) Scott Building construction project.

In reaching out to the AFRH, I received the following information: “Even though the contractor crushed up the [former] building to provide fill for the [new] building’s foundation, there was not enough fill material to backfill around the building. The soil they pulled out from around the building was unacceptable for backfill. It was too wet and had too much organic material (rotting trees, leaves, etc.).” So, additional fill was needed.

The truck traffic on Rock Creek Church Road should only be for about one more week. As the AFRH explained to me, typically all construction vehicles enter in through the North Capitol Street Gate. The backfill area for the Scott Building is on the front of the building, which makes it difficult to easily and quickly access the site through the North Capitol Street Gate.

You can find an overview of the AFRH’s Scott Building on their Web site, which includes documents and a Web cam.

Construction of the AFRH's new Scott Building as of February 2, 2012

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Working with Metro for a Better Station Area Map

January 27, 2012

Station Area Map with numbers indicating where additional features could be located

One issue I’ve been working on for a very long time is getting the illuminated Station Area Maps at the Georgia Avenue-Petworth Station updated to include information I consider to be clear omissions. I began this process in October 2010 and thought I’d made some progress when WMATA committed to include Park View on future maps with updated maps scheduled for installation by March 2011. Well, clearly that did not happen. So, I’ve dug in again and have reopened the conversation with Metro.

While my initial observation was that Park View was inappropriately omitted from the map as Petworth, Columbia Heights, and Mt. Pleasant were all included, upon inspecting the map more closely I discovered that there were several opportunities to make the map better. Below are six significant improvements I noticed.

  1. Include Park View to show the location of the neighborhood;
  2. Show the location of the MPD 4D Substation at 750 Park Rd., NW;
  3. Include the Bruce-Monroe Park at Irving and Georgia Ave.;
  4. Show the location of the Cesar Chavez Public Charter School (770 Kenyon Street);
  5. Show the location of the Lincoln’s Cottage National Historic Site; and
  6. Include Armed Forces Retirement Home on the map to identify its location.

In each of these cases, the type of information suggested is in keeping with the categories of information WMATA currently includes on their maps. I’ll be sure to post follow ups as my conversations with Metro advance.

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Community & Soldiers’ Home Plan Year of Collaboration & Events

January 25, 2012

General Scott statue on the AFRH grounds

Here’s an update – and some exciting news – from the Friends of the Soldiers’ Home group.  At their last meeting on January 12, 2012, they developed a ‘road map’ for how the Armed Forces Retirement Home (AFRH) and surrounding communities would collaborate in 2012. This resulted in five concrete events and a number of potential event ideas and goals.

The five major events that will be held at the home in 2012 are:

  • A weekend day in May in which the community will be invited to enjoy the grounds with the residents, through a golf scramble, fishing in the ponds, kids’ biking and other outdoor fun!
  • June 6, D-Day (details of this event yet to be determined)
  • July 4, the community and residents will watch the Washington Monument fireworks together from the best spot in town, the top of the Hill on the Home grounds!
  • Oct. 7, at the Home’s annual antique car show, the community will participate
  • A date in December, the community for the second consecutive year will co-sponsor the holiday tree lighting

In addition to these events, the Friends group committed to continue volunteering to assist residents during AFRH Bingo nights. Starting in February, the community will supply a minimum of 10 volunteers for a Bingo night once each month. Dates and times still to come.

Other event ideas that were discussed but not yet planned included those listed below:

  • having the community help inaugurate a ’50s style food center with a sock hop
  • community/residents gathering together on the Home lawn to enjoy a live concert together
  • having a film festival/movie marathon
  • the community having a role, and a booth, at the annual bike race held at the Home
  • having a community outdoor volunteer day where we remove brush and/or do beautification
  • hosting a trivia night at one of the local bars/restaurants

Lastly, the Lincoln’s Cottage – located on the AFRH grounds — has also expressed an interest in working with the community in their events. Opportunities to collaborate with Lincoln’s Cottage include:

  • activities surrounding Emancipation Day, April 15-16
  • Memorial Day weekend events, possibly including walking tours of historic National Cemetery across the street from the Home grounds
  • activities in September marking the 150th anniversary of the Presidential Guard, created inLincoln’s time, now known as the Secret Service

To learn more, get involved, or join the Friends of the Soldiers’ Home group, email John Hughes.

If you are interested in additional volunteering opportunities at the AFRH, you can email Carolyn Weber or contact her by phone at 202-541-7627.

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Categories: Armed Forces Retirement Home, Community Involvement
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… And This Years Holiday Lights Winner Is — 4300 4th Street, NW

December 19, 2011

Last Thursday, Dec. 15th, the residents of the Armed Forces Retirement Home toured approximately 25 houses in the Park View and Petworth neighborhoods to judge the holiday decorations. This was the first year in what is hoped to be an annual event. Their guides were Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners Zach Hartman (ANC 4C09) and Kent Boese (ANC 1A08).

After tallying the votes, the winner is in … and it is the house at 4300 4th Street, NW, in Petworth (shown below)

While it’s tough to compete with the house above (many of us will have our work cut out for us next year), there were many, many housing in the surrounding area that deserve honorable mention. While its impossible to list them all, I have posted a few of them after the jump. (more…)

Categories: Armed Forces Retirement Home, Community Involvement, Holiday decorations
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