summer

Last Day of School for APS Students

By ARLnow.com

Graduation day for the Arlington Mill and Langston high school continuation programsToday is the last day of school for high school students at Arlington Public Schools.

An early release is planned for Arlington’s high schools today, the start of students’ summer breaks. An early release will be held tomorrow (Thursday) for middle school students and on Friday for elementary school students, the end of their respective school years.

Commencement ceremonies will be held for APS high schools on Thursday, at DAR Constitution Hall in the District. The graduation for Washington-Lee will be held at 10:00 a.m., Yorktown at 3:00 p.m. and Wakefield at 8:00 p.m. Each ceremony will be broadcast live on the APS website, on Comcast channel 70 and Verizon FiOS channel 41.

Bishop O’Connell, a private Catholic high school in Arlington, has already held its 2013 graduation ceremony.

A listing of other APS graduation events, including middle school graduations, is available here.

Morning Poll: How Are You Dealing With the Heat?

By ARLnow.com

An otherwise cool May has given way to the usual D.C. summer combination of temperatures in the 90s and uncomfortable humidity.

With a “soupy and sultry” weekend in store, how do you plan to beat the heat?
 

Pentagon Row Concert Series Moves to Alley, Starts June 6

By ARLnow.com

Pentagon Row Summer Concert SeriesThe 11th annual “Rock the Row” summer concert series at Pentagon Row will start June 6, but in a different location than years past.

Thanks to major renovations at the shopping center’s plaza, this year the concerts will be held in the alley between Pentagon Row and the Pentagon City mall parking garage. The alley will be closed to traffic during the concerts. As before, the concerts will take place on Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

This year’s Rock the Row schedule is as follows:

The concerts are free and open to the public.

The renovations at the Pentagon Row plaza include an expanded ice rink during the winter, a turf lawn during the summer, revamped outdoor dining areas, 1,500 square feet of new retail and dining space, lighted water fountains and a stone fire pit. Construction on the project is expected to wrap up this fall.

File photo

Lubber Run Amphitheater Schedule Set

By ARLnow.com

Performance at Lubber Run Amphitheater (photo courtesy Arlington County)Arlington County has released the performance schedule for the upcoming summer season at the Lubber Run Amphitheater.

Opening night at the amphitheater is scheduled for Friday, June 14, with soul and R&B artist Marry Ann Redmond performing. The season will close on Saturday, Aug. 3 with hip hop and jazz artist Rico Amero.

The amphitheater, which underwent a round of critical repairs in 2011, is located at N. Columbus Street and 2nd Street N., two blocks north of Route 50.

The full schedule can be found below. All shows are free and open to the public, and start at 8:00 p.m. unless otherwise noted.

  • Friday, June 14 — Mary Ann Redmond (soul/R&B)
  • Saturday, June 15 — Halau O’Aulani and the Aloha Boys (Hawaiian dance)
  • Monday, June 17 — Metropolitan Chorus (choral)
  • Wednesday, June 19 — Potomac Harmony Chorus (a cappella)
  • Friday, June 21 — The U.S. Army Blues (jazz)
  • Saturday, June 22 — King Teddy (big band/swing)
  • Sunday, June 23 at 6:00 p.m. — The Constituents (acoustic/Caribbean)
  • Friday, June 28 — Margot MacDonald (singer-songwriter)
  • Saturday, June 29 — Eric Scott (pop/neo-soul)
  • Sunday, June 30 at 6:00 p.m. — Black Muddy River Band (acoustic)
  • Friday, July 5 — Colleen Shanley and Grand Junction (bluegrass/folk rock)
  • Saturday, July 6 — Mystic Warriors (New Age/jazz)
  • Sunday, July 7 at 6:00 p.m. — Bob Gibson Big Band (big band/swing)
  • Friday, July 12 — Juniper Lane (pop/rock)
  • Saturday, July 13 — Andrew Acosta and the New Old Time String Band (acoustic/traditional)
  • Friday, July 19 — Ted Garber (blues/rocsc
  • Saturday, July 20 — The Grandsons (rock)
  • Sunday, July 21 at 6:00 p.m. — Russkie Musikanti (Russian folk)
  • Friday, July 26 — “Much Ado About Nothing” (Shakespeare play)
  • Saturday, July 27 — The Tone Rangers (a cappella/comedy)
  • Friday, August 2 — Hexagon (political satire)
  • August 3 — Rico Amero (hip hop/jazz)

Rosslyn Film Fest Theme: Summer School

By ARLnow.com

Rosslyn Outdoor Film Festival (file photo)Rosslyn’s annual outdoor film festival starts in two months. This year’s theme: “Summer School.”

The movies will run on Friday nights from May 17 to August 30, in Rosslyn’s Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway). This summer’s festival features 16 well-known high school movies, starting with the 1985 classic The Breakfast Club.

This year’s scheduled is as follows.

  • May 17: The Breakfast Club (1985)
  • May 24: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
  • May 31: Clueless (1995)
  • June 7: Risky Business (1983)
  • June 14: Can’t Buy Me Love (1987)
  • June 21: Easy A (2010)
  • June 28: 10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
  • July 5: Bring It On (2000)
  • July 12: Pretty in Pink (1986)
  • July 19: She’s All That (1999)
  • July 26: Fame (1980)
  • August 2: Can’t Hardly Wait (1998)
  • August 9: Sixteen Candles (1984)
  • August 16: High School Musical 3 (2006)
  • August 23: American Graffiti (1973)
  • August 30: Grease (1978)

While most movie-goers walk or take Metro, parking is available in the nearby Atlantic Parking Garage, next to the Continental on N. Moore Street, for $3.

The theme of last year’s Rosslyn film fest was “Election Night.”

Morning Poll: Post-Labor Day Blues?

By ARLnow.com

The official first day of astronomical fall isn’t until Saturday, Sept. 22 but, in all practicality, many of the trappings of summer end with Labor Day.

Gone are summer vacations, outdoor swimming pools, and summer festivals like outdoor movies and the Arlington County Fair. Starting, however, are more mild temperatures, football, and fall events like Oktoberfest, wine festivals and Clarendon Day.

Which do you prefer? Are you sad about the end of summer, or happy about the beginning of fall?


Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Justice Dept. Upholds Va. Voter ID Law — A new Virginia law that expands the types of identification accepted at the polls while disallowing a rule that had allowed voting without an ID has been given a green light by the Justice Department, just in time for Election Day in November. [Washington Post]

Cars for Low-Income Families — The group Vehicles for Change has received a $1 million grant that will allow it to provide a couple dozen used cars to low-income families in Arlington, at low cost to the families. [Arlington Mercury]

Arlington Seeks Urban-Agriculture Feedback — Arlington is asking for the public’s thoughts on urban agriculture — including backyard chickens — in the county, via its Open Arlington website. One statement on the forum implores the county to “bring a Walmart to Arlington.” [Sun Gazette]

Cap City Hosting ‘Summer Farewell Party’ — Capitol City Brewing Company in Shirlington (4001 Campbell Avenue) is hosting a “Summer Farewell Party on the Patio” tonight. From 4:00 to 9:00 p.m., the restaurant will be offering $6 burgers, $6 brats, $5 margaritas and $3.50 beer pints. [Facebook]

Arlington Launches Mobile Tourism Site — Arlington Convention and Visitors Service has launched a mobile-optimized website for tourists. The site, which can be accessed via smartphone at www.StayArlington.com, features tools to discover and get directions to local dining, shopping, sight-seeing and entertainment options. [Arlington County]

Photo courtesy Pam C.

Local Media Stars Coming to Clarendon for ‘Junkies’ Sundress Party

By ARLnow.com

The Sports Junkies will be hosting their 5th annual Sundress Party at Clarendon Ballroom (3185 Wilson Blvd) tonight, and a number of local TV and radio personalities are expected to attend.

Doors at the Ballroom open at 5:00 p.m. and the event, which is free and open to the public, kicks off at 7:00 p.m. Ladies are encouraged to “get dressed in summer’s finest” and enter for chances to win prizes like gift cards to Victoria’s Secret, Nordstrom’s, Coach, and MAC cosmetics.

In addition to the Junkies themselves — Cakes, E.B., Lurch and J.P. — a number of local media personalities are expected to attend, including Angie Goff and Eun Yang from NBC 4; Bri Carter, Britt McHenry (pictured, with E.B.) and Jummy Olabanji from ABC 7; and Tommy McFly and Kelli Collis from Fresh 94.7 FM.

There will be a cover to enter the Ballroom after 10:00 p.m. Last year the Sundress Party was held at the Georgetown Waterfront.

The Junkies are on the air weekdays from 5:00 to 10:00 a.m. on WJFK 106.7 FM “The Fan.”

Photo courtesy CBS Radio

Morning Poll: Where Did You Go to the Beach This Summer?

By ARLnow.com

Kids are getting ready to go back to school and the Redskins just played a preseason football game. That can only mean one thing: summer is starting to wind down.

Labor Day may be only three weeks away, but don’t fret yet: the 10-day forecast is currently calling for six 90 degree days.

In the interest warm and sunny thoughts, let’s take a moment to reflect on where Arlington residents went (or are going) to the beach this summer. Which of the following popular beach destinations were on your travel agenda this summer?


County Spraygrounds Now Open

By Katie Pyzyk

Just in time for the arrival of hot weather, the county’s spraygrounds have opened.

The three parks — Drew Playground (3514 22nd Street S.), Hayes Park (1516 N. Lincoln Street) and Lyon Village Park (1800 N. Highland Street) — opened over the weekend and will remain in service until Labor Day weekend. Hours of operation can be found online.

A fourth sprayground was originally supposed to have opened already at Virginia Highlands Park, but now isn’t expected to be ready until next year.

Summer Photo Contest Results

ARLnow.com readers have spoken, and the photo above — “Morning Coffee at Iwo Jima” by Kevin Wolf — has been chosen as the best of the best in our pre-Memorial Day Summer Photo Contest.

The winning photo received 226 votes. “Fourth of July Fireworks from the Netherlands Carillon” by Clint Farrell was a close second with 210 votes, while our third place winner, “Douglas Park Fire Station” by Mary Troyan, received 183 votes.

Kevin, Clint and Mary will receive $100, $50 and $25 gift cards, respectively, to Fire Works Pizza in Courthouse (2350 Clarendon Blvd). Kevin will also receive a ARLnow.com tote bag. Thank you to Fire Works for sponsoring our contest and helping to give us give us some summer scenes to look forward to as we counted down the hours to Memorial Day weekend.

Here’s wishing you and yours a great holiday weekend, Arlington.

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