weekend discussion

(Updated at 6:20 p.m.) Well, that was a historic week. The history theme will continue this weekend with a patriotic bar crawl tomorrow night in preparation for the 4th of July.

If you’d rather focus on recent history, like say the legalization of gay marriage throughout the entire country, then you’ll have an opportunity for that too; the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance is hosting a Pride Month Social this Sunday evening from 4:30-7:30 p.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant (555 23rd Street S.).

Finally some housekeeping. Remember, the “Freedom Four” race is going down on Sunday, so sections of N. Courthouse Road, N. Rhodes Street and Wilson Boulevard will be closed that morning. Parking will be limited in the area, but things should start opening up after 10:30 a.m.

Feel free to discuss this weekend’s goings on or any other topic of local interest in the comments.

This week in local news started with a press conference at the Memorial Bridge, discussing the deterioration that has led federal authorities to close one lane of the bridge in each direction.

We were at the press conference but ultimately did not write an article about it, as there was little that was new from when we initially reported the story last Friday. One thing worth seeing, however: the photo included here, which shows the extent of the deterioration under the historic, 83-year-old span.

Feel free to discuss that or any other local item of interest in the comments.

It’s the weekend, which means it’s time to turn over the discussion to you, the readers.

Feel free to discuss any topic of local interest in the comments.

Also, please welcome Heather Mongilio, our new ARLnow.com reporter. Heather comes to by way of American University, where she was the editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Eagle.

Heather is a breaking news adrenaline junkie who’s also interested in reporting on health and mental health issues. In her spare time she enjoys reading, catching up on shows via Netflix and Hulu, landscape and nature photography and playing with her two dogs.

Flickr pool photo by Philliefan99

The weekend is finally here, which means three days of grilling, relaxing, being active outdoors, grumbling about motorcycle noise, spending time with friends and family, watching sports and, most importantly, remembering those who gave their lives in the service of our country.

We’ll think not only of the recent veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan but, with Rolling Thunder in town, of veterans of earlier foreign wars like the Vietnam War. Thinking about the Vietnam War and how it’s remembered in Arlington, the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery might first come to mind. But one can also think of Clarendon.

The county-produced video above covers the May 9 “Echoes of Little Saigon” history program, which explored the 1970s and 1980s in Clarendon, when the neighborhood was home to many Vietnamese refugees and the businesses they started, following the fall of Saigon.

Most of those businesses have since been displaced due to ever-rising rents, but their creators and customers who fled the war in Vietnam have largely gone on to raise families and successfully integrate themselves into American society. One could consider it a happy legacy of the war and a tribute to the cause of freedom and democracy that American service members fight for.

With that, feel free to use the comments section to discuss any local topics of interest this weekend. We’ll be back on Tuesday with more local news and notes.