While it is still going to be a little quiet here in April on the waterfront until we start gearing up for Memorial Day in May, the foliage along American Way is finally starting to green up and the sun is spending more time shining than it did during the long last month of winter!

“March Madness” continues with the final rounds of college basketball being aired on the Harbor’s Jumbo Plaza Screen down on the waterfront. This is a fun way to watch some hoops, people watch and get some fresh air at the same time. Will be a great place to watch the championship game if weather permits!

You can see by the cool ad in this section that the Harbor is the proud host of the Annual Peep Diorama contest that the Washington Post sponsors. This has been a very creative contest over the years and it will be fun to see the actual compositions in person. There are some very imaginative people in our area as well as just “Peep Geeks” in general. Be sure to check them out and pick your favorite. You may be inspired to enter next year!

As has been the case since the inception of the Harbor, we have retailers coming and going on a regular basis (more on that in the May column) but the restaurant scene is booming. Granite City Food Brewery is set to open in late April on the first floor of the Esplanade Apartment complex and we are getting our very own Chipotle soon.

The MGM is going up really fast. I am looking forward to having a world class Casino in my neighborhood. The entertainment that will be coming to the MGM is going to be some of the best around.

The Wine & Food Festival returns the first weekend in May (2^nd & 3^rd) in the Carousel lot. This has proven to be a fun event for all of you foodies and winos out there in our readership. For complete information check out wineandfoodnh.com.

The month of March brought a whole lot of fundraising to the harbor with the St. Baldrick’s event held at Harrington’s Pub and Kitchen. For those of you unfamiliar with the St. Baldrick’s Foundation, it is a volunteer-driven charity that has a commitment to raising money for research to find cures for childhood cancers. The particular fundraiser hosted at HPK was a “head shaving” event where guys and gals offer to have their heads shaved after garnering monetary support from friends and co-workers. The top fundraiser at the event at HPK was Kenny Irwin aka “Uncle Kenny” as he is known her in PG County as well as St. Mary’s and Calvert. Kenny gets around – he is the On Premise Sales Manager for locally owned Bozick Distributors. This means that he gets the opportunity to visit bars and restaurants that carry the adult beverages he represents. His top dog is one of my favorites Coors Light! Kenny raised $2710.00 for the charity. The cool thing about him taking the challenge is that he really, really likes his hair! Congratulations to Uncle Kenny! If you want to know more about St. Baldrick’s at stbaldricks.org. Watch for an event in your area.

Looking forward to the warm weather and those April showers that are going to bring on the May flowers!! Have a Happy Easter everyone!

Written by: Lani Gering