St. Patrick’s Day is celebrated on March 17, the day that is his religious feast day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century. The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for over a thousand years. On St. Patrick’s Day, which falls during the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption of meat were waived and people would dance, drink, and feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage. The First Parade The first St. Patrick’s Day parade took place not in Ireland, but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City on March 17, 1762. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers to reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as fellow Irishmen serving in the English army. Over the next thirty-five years, Irish patriotism among American immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called “Irish Aid” societies, like the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick and the Hibernian Society. Each group would hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which actually first became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and drums. In 1848, several New York Irish aid societies decided to unite their parades to form one New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Today, that parade is supposedly the world ‘s oldest civilian parade and the largest in the United States, with over 150,000 participants. Each year, nearly three million people line the one-and-a-half mile parade route to watch the procession, which takes more than five hours. Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Savannah also celebrate the day with parades including between 10,000 to 20,000 participants. A bit larger than our very own parade that takes place on the 4th….
Saturday, March 4th 12:30 pm Held annually on the first Saturday in March, the Parade has grown to be the largest one-day event in Old Town Alexandria. Featuring pipe bands, Irish dance schools, community groups, and a host of other musicians and performers. It is a fantastic day to spend with family or friends. For over 40 years, the Ballyshaners have been pleased to provide Alexandrians with the finest Irish celebrations. Join us as our parade steps out once again! The parade will officially start at the corner of King and Alfred Streets at 12:15 pm and proceed east on to King Street, finishing at the corner of Lee and Cameron Streets. With thousands of spectators and participants expected, parade goers are encouraged to take advantage of public transportation. The closest Metro is the Blue Line, King Street/Old Town. There is a free trolley from the Metro, or the activities can be reached by a short 10 minute walk down King Street. Come early and check out the morning’s events. The classic cars are back this year as well as the very popular dog show sponsored by the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria. Be sure to doll up your pooch and let them strut their best Irish stuff around Old Town as well. 09:00AM – 11:00AM Classic Car Show 100-111 N. Pitt Street 11:00AM – 12:00PM Animal Welfare League Dog Show 300 King Street at the Fountain in front of Grand Reviewing Stand About the Ballyshaners: Ballyshaners means “Old Towners” in Gaelic, the Irish language. Ballyshaners, Inc. was founded in 1980 by a small group of dedicated volunteers for the explicit purpose of organizing a Saint Patrick’s Day Parade in Old Town, Alexandria. The Parade is now well into its fourth decade and the number and variety of participants is…
By Miriam R. Kramer As a teenager in 1985 I first ran across Margaret Atwood’s newly published work, The Handmaid’s Tale, at Old Town’s wonderful Olsson’s Books & Records, which formerly stood on S. Union Street in Alexandria. I was taken aback by the power and simplicity of her writing. This classic work of radical dystopian fiction describes the fate and musings of one woman, Offred, a Handmaid in a monotheocracy called Gilead, formed after the imagined destruction of the United States of America. Recently Atwood’s powerful book has been adapted into an equally riveting series on the streaming network Hulu. In this patriarchal post-American society, martial law and a totalitarian regime controls the movement of all citizens and women in particular, all of whom must cleave to traditionally interpreted monotheistic, puritanical values, or suffer terrible punishments. Those in charge twist the Bible’s words into propaganda, dividing women into high-status Wives, nun-like propagandists and teachers known as Aunts, servant slaves such as Handmaids and Marthas (housekeepers/cooks), low-status Econowives, and finally the Unwomen, those too unruly to do anything but shovel toxic waste in the Colonies until they die, or others who serve as speakeasy-style prostitutes. No women work outside the home, and none, even those with higher status, are allowed to read and write. Fertile women are particularly prized for their ability to continue the human race, since disease and chemical waste in the former United States have caused sterility among the population at large. Therefore, those few women proven to be fertile who are not already married to high-ranking Commanders in the rigidly conservative new hierarchy are requisitioned as Handmaids. They exist as puritanically dressed sexual slaves subject to impregnation on religious monthly Ceremony Days. Handmaids bear the burden of continuing to populate the country in pleasure-free, wife-supervised rituals…
Nothing is more symbolic of springtime in the D.C. region than cherry blossoms. This year, there are plenty of ways to enjoy the fluffy pink and white wonders in Alexandria, VA. Take a stroll along Old Town Alexandria’s picturesque streets lined with cherry blossoms and flowering trees and enjoy food and drink specials available for in-person dining or takeout. See the D.C. cherry blossoms from a Potomac River perch with high-speed water taxi tours or take a bike ride to the Tidal Basin. Don’t forget to check out highly anticipated return of The National Cherry Blossom Festival from March 20 to April 16th. Find events that honor both American and Japanese cultures, such as the Torpedo Factory Art Center’s Cherry Blossom Jubilee. Learn more about cherry blossom experiences in Alexandria at VisitAlexandriaVA.com/CherryBlossoms and find a list of cherry blossom tours, special events and food and drink offerings. Beginning March 18th Water Taxi to the Wharf to See Cherry Blossoms Departures beginning at 1:30 p.m.; check website for details Admission: Starting at $23 one-way; $37 round-trip for adults Departs from the Alexandria Marina 1 Cameron Street 703-684-0580 citycruises.com Cruise from Old Town Alexandria to Washington, D.C., to enjoy the famous cherry blossoms from the water. City Cruises Potomac Water Taxi offers a 25-minute direct water taxi from Old Town to The Wharf development in D.C. From the dock at The Wharf, it is a 10-minute walk to the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin. The water taxi docks at the Transit Pier, 950 Wharf St. SW, near the Tidal Basin, the National Mall, Haines Point and a Capital Bikeshare station. March 20th through April 16th Cherry Blossom Guided Tours with Pedego Electric Bikes Alexandria Departures at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on weekends; by appointment on weekdays Admission: $69 per bike ($10 for passenger riders on cargo or tandem bikes) Pedego Alexandria 210 North Lee Street 571-312-5168 pedegoalexandria.com Join a three-hour guided tour from Old Town…
By Ron Powers This month I’d like to focus on one of my all-time favorite songs by the legendary Ramones. “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” was released in 1977 and quickly became a punk rock classic. It tells the story of a young girl who rebels against the status quo and embraces the punk lifestyle. The song is a prime example of the Ramones’ trademark sound, with its fast-paced, aggressive guitar riffs and upbeat drumming. Since their formation in New York City in the early 1970s, the Ramones have been a major force in the punk rock movement. They have inspired countless musicians and fans alike with their no-holds-barred approach to music, and “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” is no exception. The Ramones kick things off with a fast and swaying guitar riff and a straightforward rock drumbeat. After a quick musical intro, we hear Joey Ramone sing the lines, “Well the kids are all hopped up and ready to go / They’re ready to go now / And they’re going to the Discotheque Au Go Go”. The music and vocals mix together to create a feeling reminiscent of The Beach Boys and the sound of a growling dog. “Sheena Is a Punk Rocker” is a prime example of how punk rock reignited the spirit of rock and roll. The Ramones presented the basic feeling and joy at the center of 50s and 60s rock music with an image and grit that resonated with a new generation. For the chorus, the band introduces a new and faster-paced chord progression that kicks up the energy of the song. On top of the music we hear the hook, “Sheena Is a punk rocker” repeated over and over by Joey. Under the top line, Dee Dee Ramone adds a vocal harmony that gives…
By F. Lennox Campello Those of you who are regular readers of this column know that one of my constant concerns is the poor relationship between DC museum area curators and DC area artists, and the rarity of interest by most DC area museum professionals in their own area’s art scene and artists. Like anything, there are notable, but rare, exceptions, the most important and notable of them being the Trawick Prize, sponsored now for several decades by the amazing Carol Trawick. And one of the unexpected benefits of the Trawick Prize and the Bethesda Painting Awards has been that they have “forced” the hired DC, VA and MD museum professionals and curators that they often hire to jury the prize, to look at the work of artists from the region. As a result, some amazing success stories have spawned from that exposure. Area artists should be very grateful to Ms. Trawick for all that she has done and continues to do for the fine arts around the capital region. At American University’s beautiful Katzen Museum, its hard-working director Jack Rasmussen has orchestrated a show through March 19 titled “The Trawick Prize: 20th Anniversary Emerald Award.” The show celebrates the impact of The Trawick Prize for Contemporary Arts, which as I have noted, is a “local” visual arts prize that honors artists from Maryland, Washington, D.C., and Virginia in an annual juried competition. Now in its 20th year, the prize was established by Bethesda, Md.-based community activist and philanthropist Carol Trawick in 2002. To date, The Trawick Prize has awarded over $300,000 to local contemporary artists and has exhibited the work of more than 200 artists who reached the level of finalists in each year’s competition. This exhibition presents the work of artists who were awarded the “Best in Show”…
By Lani Gering It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were “Falling Back” and the world turned dark there for a few months. Now that March has arrived, we can see the light at the end of the day when we “Spring Forward” on the 12th. Every U.S. state observes daylight saving time (DST), with the exceptions of Arizona (although some Native American tribes do observe DST in their territories) and Hawaii. Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands, do not observe daylight saving time even though they are U.S. territories. This may change this year even though legislation over whether to make daylight saving time permanent is still hung up in Congress. As I was looking to the “interwebs” for some updated information on where the legislation stands, I ran across some pretty cool background relative to the creation of DST. The information below was garnered from a piece I found on the NBC Channel 5 in Chicago’s website: What is daylight saving time? Daylight saving time is a changing of the clocks that typically begins in spring and ends in fall in what is often referred to as “spring forward” and “fall back.” Under the conditions of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, daylight saving time starts on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November. On those days, clocks either shift forward or backward one hour. But it wasn’t always that way. Clocks used to spring ahead on the first Sunday in April and remained that way until the final Sunday in October, but a change was put in place in part to allow children to trick-or-treat in more daylight. In the United States, daylight saving time lasts for a total of 34 weeks, running from early-to-mid March to…
Presidents Day is an American holiday celebrated on the third Monday in February; Presidents Day 2023 occurs on Monday, February 20th. Originally established in 1885 in recognition of President George Washington, the holiday became popularly known as Presidents Day after it was moved as part of 1971’s Uniform Monday Holiday Act, an attempt to create more three-day weekends for the nation’s workers. While several states still have individual holidays honoring the birthdays of Washington, Abraham Lincoln and other figures, Presidents Day is now popularly viewed as a day to celebrate all U.S. presidents, past and present. The story of Presidents Day begins in 1800. Following the death of George Washington in 1799, his February 22 birthday became a perennial day of remembrance. At the time, Washington was venerated as the most important figure in American history, and events like the 1832 centennial of his birth and the start of construction of the Washington Monument in 1848 were cause for national celebration. While Washington’s Birthday was an unofficial observance for most of the 1800s, it was not until the late 1870s that it became a federal holiday. Senator Steven Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas was the first to propose the measure, and in 1879 President Rutherford B. Hayes signed it into law. The holiday initially only applied to the District of Columbia, but in 1885 it was expanded to the whole country. At the time, Washington’s Birthday joined four other nationally recognized federal bank holidays—Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, the Fourth of July and Thanksgiving—and was the first to celebrate the life of an individual American. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, signed into law in 1983, was the second. The shift from Washington’s Birthday to Presidents Day began in the late 1960s, when Congress proposed a measure known as the Uniform Monday Holiday Act. Championed by Senator Robert McClory of Illinois, this law sought to shift…
By F. Lennox Campello The Compass Atelier has what I consider the best artist schooling in the DMV – better, in fact, than all of the major Universities in our area. That’s a big statement to make, but it comes from me, and thus I am ready to back it up as needed. Notice that I wrote “art schooling.” I choose my words carefully – what Glen Kessler and the other professionals who teach at the Compass Atelier do is to school people who want to develop and expand their artistic prowess, plus their artistic acumen, in leaps and bounds. The results are spectacular to say the least. I’ve seen the work of artists who just started painting a few years ago and already deliver immensely intelligent work. One of them is the superbly talented Dora Patin – I think that Patin is a painting prodigy. She has also only been painting for a handful of years, and yet her trompe l’oeil paintings are breathtaking in their ability to fool the eye. Either Patin has painting super powers or owns the most enviable painting learning skills on a planetary level! On to the review… Currently and until February 11, 2023, the Compass Atelier has the first of two Master Thesis shows at the galleries of Strathmore Mansion. Strathmore Mansion is one of the great jewels of the cultural tapestry of the Greater Washington region. – The Mansion’s art galleries are at 10701 Rockville Pike in North Bethesda/Rockville, right off Rockville Pike and within walking distance of the Metro stop by the same name and with plenty of free parking. Its vibrant director, Lesley Morris manages to organize one great visual show after another, and is herself a terrific asset to the Mansion’s hardworking staff. The current show is ample evidence…
By Miriam R. Kramer “He’s a real nowhere man Sitting in his nowhere land Making all his nowhere plans for nobody Doesn’t have a point of view Knows not where he’s going to Isn’t he a bit like you and me?” Lennon/ McCartney Harry the Spare. William the Heir. The former a young man floating angry, purposeless, and bemused in his gilded cage; the latter distant, walking a straight line, fulfilling endless rote duties to the public while carrying the weight of an ancient monarchy on his shoulders. In writing the book Spare, Harry, Duke of Sussex, has given people all over the world a look at his inner workings of the monarchy, a world shrouded in secrecy despite a rabid, lying paparazzi creating controversy with splashy headlines and stolen pictures. Harry delves into his worship of his mother Diana, his undiagnosed and life-changing trauma at her death, and his complex, troubled relationship with his family. He also reveals the path he trod and the therapy he experienced to find his raison d’être. Harry sketches himself as a lad traumatized repeatedly by a ravenous paparazzi paid hundreds of thousands of pounds for pictures of royalty. As a young man he re-lives the memory of his mother’s fate at the hands of tabloid journalists over and over, searching for his purpose and goals despite the emptiness he feels from her loss and his highly unusual role within British culture. He reveals his difficulty in losing his early memories of his mother after she died, and his bout with magical thinking. Until he was 23 he believed on some level that his mother was alive and had disappeared to escape the press, with the intention to come back some day. Down for Eton from his birth, Harry detested its emphasis on…
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