The Village at Shirlington is hosting its annual holiday event “Light Up the Village” (Photo courtesy of Federal Realty Investment Trust)
The lights are being turned back on in Shirlington for its annual holiday event next week.
Shirlington’s “Light Up the Village” is set for Thursday, Dec. 1 from 6-8:30 p.m.
Like previous years, the holiday event will include a Christmas tree lighting, horse-drawn carriage rides, selfies with Santa, and a holiday market featuring local makers. There will also be strolling entertainment, face painting, and balloon twisting.
Additionally, students from Bishop O’Connell High School and Shirlington-based Signature Theatre are both scheduled to perform holiday music.
The schedule with times is below:
6:00 pm Holiday Musical Performance by Signature Theatre
6:30 pm Tree Lighting celebration
6:40 pm Horse and Carriage Rides
7:00 pm Photos with Santa (located at Hardwood Artisans)
Live Holiday Music Performance by Bishop O’Connell High School
Food items and donations to the Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) will also be accepted at the event.
The Village of Shirlington, which is owned by Bethesda-based Federal Realty Investment Trust has had a slew of business openings in recent months with more likely on the way.
A local Christmas tree lot (Photo courtesy of Peter Golkin)
It’s almost Thanksgiving, which means it’s Christmas tree time here in Arlington.
As in past years, there are a number of tree sales going on in the county this holiday season. In fact, there appears to be more this year than in 2021. Many sales begin this weekend, right after the Thanksgiving holiday.
The Knights of Columbus, for instance, is resuming tree sales this year after being closed for the last two seasons due to Covid and tree supply issues.
But the group is cautioning locals that the price of a Christmas tree will be higher this year compared to last year due to rising operating costs and inflation.
“This will remain a challenging year for us, as have many other tree lot operators, as we have experienced almost a doubling of the wholesale costs from our suppliers due to the continuing Christmas tree shortage and the impact of inflation on shipping charges,” a spokesperson wrote ARLnow in an email. “While we realize this may reduce the amount we can raise from the sale, we felt it important to reopen the lot this year, as we’ve heard from many of our customers over the last few years that they miss their family tradition of heading down to the lot to get their tree.”
While not every tree sale posts prices in advance, at least two other local sales have appeared to have raised tree prices by about 15% compared to 2021.
Below are the sales that ARLnow has confirmed are happening this year.
Starts: Saturday, Nov. 26 at 9 a.m.
Clarendon United Methodist Church (606 N. Irving Street)
There will be 300 trees for sale this year. Pre-sale is open now, with pick-up at the church lot. The trees come from Canada and the six to seven-foot trees cost $85 this year, a ten-dollar increase from last year. All proceed are going to Arlington Thrive. This sale has been held annually since 2007.
Starts: Friday, Nov. 25 at noon Mount Olivet United Methodist Church (1500 N. Glebe Road)
The boys and girls of Scout Troop 167 are hosting a sale near Ballston again this year. It’s being held Thanksgiving weekend, on Nov. 25, 26, and 27. The sale starts at noon on Friday and Sunday, and 10 a.m. Saturday. It will go to 8 p.m. each night. The next weekend (Dec. 2, 3, and 4) are backup dates in case of inclement weather. Pre-sales are being accepted.
Columbus Day is the one federal holiday that Arlington County government does not observe.
Both because it’s a convenient holiday to swap for an off day on the unofficial holiday of Black Friday — the day after Thanksgiving — and because, despite his exploration feats, Columbus is regarded by some as “a murderer, tyrant, and scoundrel,” Columbus Day here is just any other day for county employees.
Of course, for many — including federal employees and Arlington Public Schools students — Columbus Day is a day off. But Columbus is not always mentioned as the reason.
“No School for Students (Countywide PL for Staff)” is how APS describes today’s day off, while other holidays on the school calendar are named.
Arlington Transit, meanwhile, is operating on a modified schedule, but Columbus is not credited.
“In observance of the Indigenous People’s Day holiday on Monday October 10, 2022, ART will be operating on a Saturday schedule,” the transit agency wrote.
Indigenous Peoples’ Day is now recognized by the White House, but started in the states, with South Dakota first adopting a version (“Native American Day”) as an alternative to Columbus Day in 1989 and other states like Alaska and Minnesota following suit in the mid-2010s. In some cases it’s used instead of the term Columbus Day, while in others it’s used in addition.
Columbus has his supporters, who tout his accomplishments despite all of the negatives associated with his journeys. And there are those who have simply always known today as Columbus Day and aren’t going to start calling it something else now.
But for others, calling the second Monday in October Indigenous Peoples’ Day is preferable.
With Columbus out of favor as a historical figure, especially locally, we’re wondering how many Arlington residents have, in their personal lives, taken to referring to today’s holiday as Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day.
ACPD SoberRide (Photo courtesy of Washington Regional Alcohol Program)
There will again be free Lyft rides on Independence Day, at least in part because of Amazon.
The trillion-dollar tech company with a growing presence in Arlington is donating $10,000 to the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) for its SoberRide partnership with Lyft.
Starting at 4 p.m. on Monday, locals will be able to enter a promotional SoberRide code in the Lyft app for a free ride up to $15. The promotion will run for 12 hours, until 4 a.m. on Tuesday, July 5.
The needed promo code will be posted on the SoberRide’s website at 3 p.m. on Monday.
This marks the sixth year of the partnership between WRAP and Lyft, which began in 2017. During that time, the program has offered thousands of rides around the D.C. area on major holidays to combat impaired driving.
Prior to the partnership with Lyft, WRAP had been partnering with local cab companies since 1991. Over the last three decades, WRAP’s SoberRide program has given more than 82,000 rides home in the D.C. area.
More than 2,200 rides will be available this July 4, WRAP President Kurt Erickson told ARLnow, three times the number of rides provided in 2019 when the record was set.
“Amazon’s further investment in this local and lifesaving program is a real and needed shot in the arm to better equip WRAP and SoberRide to rid area roadways of impaired drivers,” Kurt Erickson, WRAP’s President, said in a press release. “In as much, Amazon’s latest community investment will enhance SoberRide’s capacity in time for a holiday when more than four-in-ten U.S. traffic deaths involve drunk drivers.”
Beyond Amazon, other program sponsors include Anheuser-Busch, Gian Food, Glory Days Grill, New Belgium Brewing, and Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington.
There’s one alcohol-impaired-driving fatality every 45 minutes, on average, in the US, according to recent data from the National Highway Safety Traffic Administration (NHSTA). While drunk driving fatalities had been going down, from 2019 to 2020, they rose by nearly 15%, again according to the NHSTA.
With Arlington pretty much back to fully celebrating America’s birthday, there are plenty of events, parades, and barbeques going on this year locally. With Metro offering reduced service this July 4, the Arlington County Police Department is asking residents to “plan a sober ride home” from these events while advocating for the SoberRide program.
In April, the County Board approved Phase 2 of Amazon’s HQ2 with construction already underway in Crystal City and Pentagon City. It’s set to be completed next year, along with the signature “Helix.”
This $10,000 donation to SoberRide to help locals get home safely on July 4 is part of the company’s efforts to be a “good neighbor.”
“As we head into the July 4th holiday weekend, we are grateful to be partnering with the Washington Regional Alcohol Program to provide free, safe rides to thousands of passengers across the Greater Washington region,” said Patrick Phillippi, Senior Manager of Community Engagement at Amazon, in a release. “At Amazon, we are committed to being a good neighbor and partner to the community and we wish everyone a safe and healthy holiday weekend.”
— Arlington Department of Environmental Services (@ArlingtonDES) June 30, 2022
The monthly free paper shredding, scrap metal, and inert material drop-off event at the Shirlington facility that would have been scheduled for this Saturday shifts back a week, to July 9.
For those looking to check out the fireworks, Metrorail’s holiday schedule may be the impetus to stay in Arlington this year. Earlier this week, Metro announced service will be significantly reduced this Independence Day, relative to past holidays.
“Due to the reduced number of railcars available for service, capacity on Metrorail will be less than previous Independence Days,” said Metro’s press release. “That means customers should be prepared for longer lines to enter stations near the Mall after the fireworks, up to 60 minutes, and for crowding to occur.”
Metrorail will be operating until midnight, with trains every 20 minutes on the Blue and Orange lines and every 15 minutes on the Yellow Line. Trains will arrive every 7 minutes at the downtown stations serviced by several lines. Expect lines of up to an hour to catch a train after the fireworks, Metro says.
Metrobus and Arlington Transit (ART) buses will both be operating on a Sunday schedule. For ART, that means only a few of the busiest routes will be running.
There will also be an abundance of road closures in Arlington related to the fireworks show downtown.
A fireworks booth at the corner of Columbia Pike and Glebe Road (file photo)
The Arlington County Fire Department is sharing a few tips for those planning to using fireworks privately over the upcoming Independence Day weekend.
Only fireworks that emit flames or sparks within 12 feet and have a burning fuse of more than 1.5 inches long with a burning rate of more than four seconds are legal locally this year, according to the 2022 Consumer Fireworks Fact Sheet published by the county. The fireworks can not emit projectiles.
Fireworks that explode in any form or rise in the air, such as bottle rockets, are prohibited. Fireworks can not be used on public properties belonging to the county, state or the federal government.
Those who use, sell or distribute the illegal fireworks may receive a Class 1 misdemeanor charge, which carries a jail sentence of 12 months and $2,500 in fines, the fire department said.
A list of permissible consumer fireworks includes over 2,000 products which the public can purchase. The State Fire Marshal’s Office conducted field tests on the listed products to ensure their performance standards.
When using fireworks, the fire department cautioned folks to keep a minimum distance of 25 feet from other people and buildings, to only light one stick at a time and to move away after doing so. Fireworks users are also advised to only set them off in outdoor areas away from vehicles, according to the department.
Additionally, ACFD recommends only buying fireworks from local retail outlets that display a valid permit issued by the department’s Fire Prevention Office.
When the festivities are over, used fireworks should be submerged into a bucket of water to ensure they are extinguished before throwing them in the trash.
Fourth of July fireworks from the Iwo Jima memorial in 2021 (Flickr pool photo by Kevin Wolf)
For the first time in a couple of years, Arlington is back to fully celebrating America’s Independence Day.
In both 2020 and 2021, the pandemic led to the canceling of a number of official July 4 events as well as many of the local holiday festivities.
But, for the most part, Independence Day events, parades, and firework shows are back this year in Arlington.
The fireworks on the National Mall are set to start shooting off at 9:09 p.m. on Monday, July 4 and there are plenty of local spots to watch them without heading to the District.
Gateway Parkand the Key Bridge in Rosslyn are both popular viewing spots for viewing and will be open to the public. There’s no seating on the bridge, however.
Gravelly Point, just north of National Airport on the George Washington Parkway, is a National Park Service site and will also be open to the public. No “hard perimeter” or “physical security checkpoints” will be in place, a NPS spokesperson tells ARLnow, though certain areas may be roped off to help with crowd control.
Long Bridge Parkin Crystal City will be open to the public for firework viewing. Arlington County police will be on hand “conducting road closures and providing safety and security” on-site, a county spokesperson tells ARLnow.
Marine Corps War Memorial (Iwo Jima) near Rosslyn is one of the most popular spots to watch fireworks outside of the National Mall. No “hard perimeter” or security checkpoints will be in place, though it might get crowded and certain areas could be roped off.
Mount Vernon Trail along the Potomac River near Roosevelt Island provides “uninterrupted views” of the District’s skyline. Though, the best views are on the trial which is only accessible for bikes and pedestrians.
Prospect Hill Park near Pentagon City is a small county park from which one can view the fireworks, though it is only a half-acre and mostly used by nearby residents.
The View of DC observation deck on top of the CEB Tower at 1201 Wilson Blvd also will not be open this year for fireworks viewing, closing at 5 p.m. on July 4, an employee confirmed to ARLnow. In years past, residents were able to enter their names into a lottery to watch the show 31 floors up, but that isn’t the case this year.
The Washington Golf and Country Club off of N. Glebe Road is again set to have its own fireworks show, though it’s only open to members and their guests, we’re told.
For those looking to head downtown for the fireworks, Metrorail will be operating until midnight, with trains every 20 minutes on the Blue and Orange lines and every 15 minutes on the Yellow Line. Trains will arrive every 7 minutes at the downtown stations serviced by several lines.
Several Arlington communities and neighborhoods are back to holding parades and festive events this year as well:
Bluemont Bell Ringing gives a chance to “young and old” to ring the brass bell next to Fire Station 2 at the corner of N. George Mason Drive and Wilson Blvd.
Fairlington Fourth of July Parade is back for its four rendition after a two-year hiatus. It begins at 10 a.m. next to the old fire station at 3116 S. Abingdon Street.
Douglas Park Fourth of July Parade this year will be the 40th annual. Judging for best parade floats, costumes, and decorated bikes begins at 10 a.m. with the parade starting at 10:30 a.m.
Lyon Village’s 4th of July Parade and Picnicis scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the corner of Key Blvd and Highland Street. There will be antique cars, police vehicles, and fire trucks.
With all of this going on, there will also be road closures including Arlington Memorial Bridge and Arlington Memorial Circle starting at 6 a.m. on July 4.
Traffic on I-395 looking south as the sun sets (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)
The Memorial Day holiday weekend is almost here and with it comes the kickoff to the unofficial summer travel season.
AAA expects 39.2 million people will travel 50 miles or more this weekend, an increase of 8.3% over 2021. Most — nearly 35 million — will travel by car. Another 3 million will travel by air, a 25% increase from last year, the automobile association predicts.
Overall, that’s still down from the pre-pandemic 2019 figures of 42.8 million overall travelers, including 3.22 million air travelers.
When we asked ARLnow readers about their upcoming travel plans last month, 27% said they had no plans at the time to spend 2+ nights away from home this summer, while 60% said they were planning between one and three trips.
Of course, this Memorial Day weekend comes amid yet another Covid wave that, while less deadly than past waves, still means plenty of disruption to plans and apprehension about visiting vulnerable loved ones. Then there are those sky-high gas prices — a national average of $4.60 per gallon, per AAA.
With all that in mind, today we’re asking readers: are you planning to travel this weekend? And we’ll be comparing the results to a similar poll in 2013 when just shy of 35% said yes (at the time, the federal government sequester was blamed for dampening D.C. area residents’ enthusiasm for holiday travel).
Acme Pie owner Sol Schott puts a tray of pies into the oven (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Pies from Livin’ the Pie Life (photo courtesy of Livin’ the Pie Life)
Acme Pie owner Sol Schott makes pies (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Baking pies at Livin’ the Pie Life (photo courtesy of Livin’ the Pie Life)
Acme’s “Fresh Pies” sign (file photo)
Pie sign in the sky at Livin’ The Pie Life on N. Glebe Road
A line for pie stretches halfway down the block outside Livin’ The Pie Life in 2019
Two Arlington pie shops are baking up some surprises for Pi Day, now one of the biggest days of the year for their sales.
March 14 (aka 3.14) is Pi Day, honoring math’s greatest mystery It has become a day of celebration for mathematicians and dessert enthusiasts alike. Locally, Arlington’s two dedicated pie shops have taken full advantage of this baked good boon.
Last year, Pi Day was “almost-Thanksgiving busy” for Acme Pie Company which opened a storefront on Columbia Pike in 2019. This year, owner Sol Schott is preparing for similar levels of business.
“March 14 is always huge for us,” says Schott, speaking via phone from Florida where he’s enjoying a vacation before heading back home for the big day. “And I think [sales] will be close to what it was last year.”
In 2021, he sold about 100 large pies, 70 small pies, plus “a whole heck of a lot of slices.” This year, he says he’s going to make 500 to 600 pies total for the occasion. While Acme Pie normally has a rotating selection of flavors available, on March 14, the shop is going to try having most of their flavors ready to order.
Schott calls Pi Day one of the “top 3 days of the year” in terms of sales, behind the day before Thanksgiving and possibly Christmas. Both of those days, though, require more lead-up and preparation.
“It’s more of a blip,” says Schott. “But it’s great and we will take it.”
Acme Pie is also participating in BikeArlington’s Bike for Pie event this Sunday, the day before Pi Day. The five-mile ride ends at the Pike pie shop.
Livin’ the Pie Life on N. Glebe Road is where the Bike for Pie event begins.
The 11-year-old shop in the Glebewood neighborhood also is expecting a surge in business on March 14. Normally the shop is closed on Mondays, but this week, it will be open on Pi Day with special sweet offerings.
That includes a “Pi Day sampler box” which will contain three “cocktail-size pies + one surprise equalling 4 sweet treats” (3.14, get it?). Additionally, five random boxes will contain a $20 gift card to make the numerical holiday extra sweet for a few.
They are expecting to sell more than a thousand pies, co-owner Heather Sheire tells ARLnow. That includes the 150 pre-orders the shop has taken already for the sampler boxes. There will also be a hundred or so boxes waiting for those who are walking into the shop looking for a Pi Day treat.
(It’s hard not to get into Pi Day’s numerical spirit. In honor of Arlington’s two pie destinations, for instance, this article and its photo captions are exactly 628 words, or 2 times 314.)
Sheire says it’s hard to compare Pi Day to a normal day since the shop will have offerings that aren’t typically sold.
Thanksgiving is “a different animal,” says Livin’ the Pie Life’s other co-owner Wendy MacCallum, that lasts a whole week in terms of preparation, baking, and sales. This past Thanksgiving, the shop sold about 2,000 pies, she says.
While Thanksgiving is big business, Pi Day is much more fun, the local pie shop owners say. Less stressful and more opportunity to be creative, they note.
“Businesses, schools, mathematicians, they all love Pi Day,” MacCallum says. “And so do we.”
Ireland’s Four Courts in Courthouse (Photo courtesy of Ireland’s Four Courts)
Local bars are planning St. Patrick’s Day events and preparing for crowds that area expected to be the largest in a couple of years.
After two years of Covid-related restrictions and muted St. Patrick’s Day festivities, management at several local Irish pubs tells ARLnow that they expect this year’s holiday on March 17 to be “mayhem.”
Be it making up for lost time, the need to get out after another pandemic winter, or the fact that the first day of March Madness also falls on the holiday, bars are preparing for huge numbers this year. For many, large crowds will be welcomed.
“[St. Patrick’s Day] is the biggest business day of the year for us,” Dave Cahill, General Manager at Ireland’s Four Courts in Courthouse. “We are all going to be making up for missing the last two years.”
Michael McMahon, co-owner of Celtic House on Columbia Pike, agrees, saying that they are prepping for an entire weekend of festivities in hopes of spreading out the crowds a bit.
He notes with the holiday falling on a Thursday this year, he anticipates there will be four straight days of crowds and big business at his pub.
If St. Paddy’s Day 2022 ends up being seen as a turning point, it will have come full circle for many local bar owners — March 17, 2020 was the day that Celtic House, along with a number of other local restaurants, shut down due to the emerging coronavirus.
Two years later, there’s a cautious optimism that this year’s St. Patrick’s Day may signal a return to some semblance of normalcy.
“I do hope this is close to the end,” says McMahon. “But I’m not a scientist or a doctor.”
Below is a list of Arlington restaurants and pubs that are celebrating St. Patrick’s Day this year.
Arlington County government headquarters in Courthouse (file photo)
Many county services and operations will be shuttered on Monday (Feb. 21) for Presidents Day, which is officially called George Washington Day in Virginia.
County government, the courts and libraries are all closed on Monday. This also includes county vaccine clinics and COVID-19 testing sites. The test positivity rate in Arlington has dropped below 5% as demand for tests has slowed considerably since earlier this winter.
Arlington Public Schools are not in session on the federal holiday, but trash and recycling collection will happen as scheduled on Monday.
Seven ART bus lines will continue to run, but on a Saturday schedule. The remainder of the ART bus lines will not operate on Monday.
Metro trains will operate on a Saturday schedule, meaning stations open at 5 a.m. and close at midnight with Blue, Orange, Yellow and Silver line trains running every 24 minutes. Metro buses will be on a Saturday supplement schedule with a few additional routes than a normal weekend.
All parking will be free at Metro-owned parking facilities. And for those free parking fans, all county parking meters will not be enforced in honor of America’s first president.
While in most other states the third Monday in February is known as “Presidents Day,” in Virginia, the official state holiday is called George Washington Day.
America’s first president’s birthday is actually Feb. 22 and that’s the day the federal government first designated as a national holiday starting in 1885. Nearly a century later, in 1971, the holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February to also celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, who was born Feb. 12. Hence, the rise of “Presidents Day.”
But here in Virginia, the federal holiday and free parking is specifically in honor of the Commonwealth’s native son, George Washington.
