Looking for things to do this month? Good news: we just updated our events calendar with a bunch of great local events.
As always, if you have an event you want to promote, fill out this form. We’ll review the submission and add the event within a couple of days. If you’re a bar owner, be sure to let us know what you’re doing for St. Patrick’s Day so we can include your event in our upcoming St. Paddy’s guide.
If you’re heading to the Clarendon Mardi Gras/St. Patrick’s Day parade tonight, you might also be considering heading out to the bars afterward. Here are a few places where you can find some festive Fat Tuesday fun within walking distance of the parade.
Ragtime (1345 North Courthouse Road) — Ragtime is holding its 10th annual Mardi Gras party tonight. The restaurant is serving a special Cajun menu all day, Hurricanes and Cyclones are on special, and the Le Bon Temps Krew will be playing New Orleans jazz music from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. And yes, there will be beads.
Iota Club & Cafe (2832 Wilson Blvd) — Iota is hosting a parade viewing party on its front porch. After the parade, local southern acoustic rock outfit Brother Shamus will take the stage. Admission is $5 after the parade, free before.
Bayou Bakery (1515 North Courthouse Road) — The Louisiana-themed eatery in Courthouse is decked out in purple, gold and green for the holiday. Tonight the restaurant will be holding a “Bayou Gras” celebration with $7 plates including Chicken and Andouille Gumbo, Shrimp and Sausage Jambalaya, Crab Boil “Peppa Weenies” and Muff-a-Lottas. Abita is on tap at Bayou Bakery, but last we checked they were sold out of homemade King Cakes.
Screwtop Wine Bar (1025 North Fillmore Street) — For those looking for a more low-key atmosphere before or after the parade, Screwtop will be serving $7 Mardi Gras mimosas throughout the evening.
Four Courts/Ri-Ra/Kitty O’Shea’s — These Irish pubs along Wilson Boulevard won’t be holding any pre-St. Patrick’s Day specials or entertainment to coincide with the parade. However, each says they will be offering their normal Tuesday specials, which means beer as low as $2.50.
Since last month, Arlington County has been asking residents to tell their story for a new initiative that seeks to “celebrate Arlington’s rich cultural diversity through a variety of events, celebrations, and story-telling.”
While the Tell Arlington’s Story web site has more than a dozen video interviews with local folks who have personal tales to tell, on Tuesday you can see some of the stories in person. Third- and fourth-generation African American residents will be sharing their stories at the Arlington Central Library auditorium.
The event will be held from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. Storytellers include Mattie Walker, one-time teacher at the old Hoffman-Boston school and former Arlington Education Association President; Kline Price, the grandson of Charles Drew; and Kenny James, Yorktown high graduate and Arlington parks department employee.
The audience will have the opportunity to ask questions of the storytellers and to share their own stories.
The annual Arlington Spring Invitational soccer tournament will kick off Friday.
The tournament features 500+ boys and girls travel teams and about 4,500 players from around the mid-Atlantic region and beyond. One team is coming from as far away as Quebec, Canada. Teams range in age from Under-10 to Under-15.
The boys teams will play this weekend. Girls teams will play next weekend.
The tournament, which is sanctioned by US Youth Soccer, takes advantage of Arlington’s plentiful synthetic turf fields, which are ideal for the normally soggy month of March.
Unfortunately, rain is indeed in the forecast for Saturday and Sunday.
According to this article about the invitational, Arlington County has the highest concentration of synthetic fields in the country.
Just about every day, the Arlington County Fire Department responds to at least one report of a gas leak, and anecdotal evidence suggests that the leaks might be getting more frequent.
The county’s gas infrastructure includes older gas lines from the 1930s and 1940s that may be especially prone to failure. This winter, changes in temperatures have been especially unkind.
Most leaks are reported to be outside and underground. Generally, those are less dangerous, although larger leaks can sometimes prompt authorities to cordon off the area around the leak. Occasionally, the leak is inside a building, which is usually considered more dangerous due to the potential for the gas to build up in the structure. Inside gas leaks often require the building to be evacuated.
All gas leaks are costly in terms of repairs, which often require digging, and the expended time of first responders.
To address the issue, the Columbia Heights Civic Association will be holding a public meeting on Monday, March 14 called “Natural Gas Leaks — What Can We Do?” The meeting, which is open to residents of all Arlington communities, will address the larger gas leak problem as well as the question of what one should do if they smell gas.
“People are not really aware of what to do,” said Sara McKinley, who’s organizing the meeting. “We really need to encourage people when they smell gas… to call it in.”
A representative from Washington Gas will be in attendance.
“Washington Gas will participate in the meeting to discuss natural gas safety and reliability,” said Ruben Rodriguez, the company’s director of corporate communications. ” The company will also address questions from those attending the meeting.”
McKinley says Arlington is “plagued” by gas leaks, but the meeting won’t be able assigning blame.
“This isn’t a question of bashing the gas company,” she said. “If anything, we want to be supportive.”
The sign-up process for the Marine Corps Marathon is starting early this year.
Registration for the Oct. 30 race starts at noon today. As in years past, a total of 30,000 slots are available. Last year, when registration started in April, the race sold out within six days.
Early registration for active duty and reserve military service members ended last night.
The marathon is now in its 36th year.
Flickr pool photo by BrianMKA
Pay no mind to the white stuff on the ground. The start of spring is a mere four weeks away (March 20).
One annual springtime tradition that’s quickly approaching is Crystal City’s 5K Fridays.
Every Friday in April, starting on April 1, Crystal Drive and Old Jefferson Davis Highway will be shut down between 6:15 and 7:30 p.m. to allow hundreds of runners to take a jog through the heart of Crystal City.
Registration for individual races is $20, while registration for the entire series of five races is $75.
The first three races will include a tie-in with Crystal City’s upcoming FLASH photography exhibit. Runners will get free admission and a free drink at an after-party held in the exhibit space, provided they remember to hang on to their racing bib.
Mary Hynes is a busy lady.
Hynes, the current vice-chair of the Arlington County Board, serves on the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, recently joined the Metro Board of Directors, and is the Aviation Policy Liaison to the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. On any given day, Hynes might be dealing with transportation issues below ground, above ground and in the sky.
On Wednesday, from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., the multi-talented Hynes will host a community forum about helicopter noise. It’s a follow-up to meetings Hynes hosted in September and November, during which a number of residents voiced concerns about the noise generated by low-flying government helicopters.
Tomorrow’s meeting will discuss a proposed system for allowing more community input into helicopter issues.
Along with Hynes, the forum will include representatives from the Federal Aviation Administration, a representative from the Eastern Region Helicopter Association and a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
The meeting will be held in the Arlington County board room, on the third floor of 2100 Clarendon Boulevard.
Two comedy legends will be coming to the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse (2903 Columbia Pike) in the next month.
Jon Lovitz, of Saturday Night Live and The Critic fame, will be performing a total of four stand-up shows at the Drafthouse on Friday, Feb. 25 and Saturday, Feb. 26. Tickets are $30.
The next week, on Friday, March 4 and Saturday March 5, the single-name comedian Gallagher will be bringing his unique brand of comedy to the Drafthouse.
Gallagher is best known for his 80s cable TV specials, in which he would smash watermelons and other objects with a huge mallet, to the delight of trash bag-wearing audience members. His stand-up act at the Drafthouse, however, will not include an appearance by the famous “Sledge-O-Matic.”
In the world’s most concise publicity email (total: 19 words), Gallagher’s promotional manager confirmed that the show will not include any fruit smashing.
“This means all comedy without the mess!” wrote Christine Scherrer. “It’ll be a great show.”
Tickets to the show are $25.
With the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War upon us, events are planned in Arlington to mark that dark time in our nation’s history.
On Thursday, Warren Nelson, chair of the of the Arlington County Sesquicentennial of the American Civil War Committee, will speak at the Arlington Career Center on what the county is doing to preserve the history of the civil war.
The lecture will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m., and will also feature Ron Cogswell, Chief Operating Officer of the Civil War Trust.
Caught in the middle, Arlington was considered the northernmost point in the Confederacy and seen as the southernmost point in the Union territory.
A website depicting Arlington’s role in the Civil War has been created so residents can keep in the know about events during the 150th Celebration.
Who said the music had to be romantic around Valentine’s Day? IBIS did, and they want to you come and see them perform for free.
The chamber music society will appear for its “Isn’t it Romantic” performance at 4 p.m. Sunday February 13 at the Rock Spring Congregational Church at 5010 Little Falls Road in Arlington.
They’ll be performing a quartet of numbers, including “Liebeslied and Liebesfreund” by Fritz Kreisler, “Aeolian Harp” Etude and Ballade No. 3 in Ab by Chopin and “Piano Trio No. 1” by Brahms.
The music will be romantic, with flutes, strings and piano, according to IBIS.
Free street parking will be available for the performance.
IBIS was formed in Florida but now calls Arlington home.
Members of the seven-person group work with the likes of the Boston POPS Esplanade Orchestra and the Kennedy Center Opera House.
