By Elizabeth Hughes “Just look at what I wake up to every morning.” That’s former New York County prosecutor – turned Alexandria, Virginia local – Robert “Bob” Condon talking about his wife of 36 years, happy tears welling up in his eyes. We’re sitting in a hip, Old Town restaurant where the Condon’s have ordered three glasses of Rose’ for what will be a 75-minute interview that feels more like a conversation with trusted friends. Bob, or “Bobby” as Kathy aka Mrs. Condon refers to the noted attorney, listens to his wife talk about her career path and their respective lives together. It’s her turn. He’s about a decade older now, but sitting here coiffed to perfection and reading the room, the only thing that gives away his 88 years are a pair of eyeglasses around his neck. I put on my own, taking notes and listening to Kathy, 73, discuss a path that took her from the massive campus at University of Minnesota to George Mason University – eventually – to pharmaceutical sales, and to a lucrative, twenty-five-year stint with Lexis-Nexis. She called on government accounts, lobbying firms, and other power players. Regarding the move out of pharmaceutical sales, she acknowledges that “…the pipeline ran out and I needed to make a change.” Both Bob and Kathy say they didn’t meet through Lexis-Nexis, which is now known for breaking ground in legal AI. “We saw each other around town (in the District) at a time that I was ending my first marriage. We were social acquaintances for several years,” says Bob. For her part, Kathy says that in her 30’s she was determined to couple with someone who met her threshold and with whom she might age well. “I get asked this all of the time by younger women…
Photo above courtesy of Stephen Moore By Bob Tagert Most of you who have been in the DELMARVA area for any length of time are familiar with the Birchmere, an intimate concert hall in Alexandria that is host to live musical and comedy acts throughout the year. The main room seats 500 and provides dinner service with seats only a few feet from the stage. The location also features a bandstand with a bar and dance floor. The original Birchmere opened in 1966 as a restaurant and music was added in 1975, soon Michael Jaworek would arrive in town. Jaworek grew up in New Jersy and attended Nutley High School. He made a trip to New York City back then and caught a couple of shows. Not only was he impressed, he was hooked. “A light bulb went off above my head, I guess I need to get into show business”, he thought. After high school he attended Illinois University and that is where he embarked on his eventual career. While going to school, Michael and three other guys decided to get together and bring Blues acts from Chicago to perform on campus because nobody else was doing it, and the Blues were very popular on campus. “It was a gamble,” Michael says, “We needed 500 people to show up to break even. We sold 1500 tickets. It was 1972 and we were on our way.” After two years of school Michael realized that he wasn’t going to be a lawyer and initiated a degree in Arts Administration and that is what he does today. After he graduated, he worked at the University of Tennessee for two years promoting concerts, dances, movies and even one of Elvis Presley’s last shows. From there Michael relocated to this area and ran promotions…
By Lani Gering I had the pleasure of making a new friend last fall when we both had donned our “,la” – IYKYK – ball caps and were hopeful about the outcome of the election as we ran into each other at one of both of our favorite new watering holes – Frankie’s Kitchen & Bar. We exchanged compliments and went about our business in that first encounter but were later formally introduced by our mutual young friend and person responsible for the layout and design of this this publication, Erin. Erin knew that we would get along famously and even suggested that Tess would be excellent subject matter for this profile. After doing my “googling” homework, I found out that this is one very impressive woman on and above just being a lot of fun and a joy to be around. About Tess In the essence of time, I garnered the majority of the information below from her website tessbanion.com so we could just talk about what she does for fun when she isn’t writing during our interview: “Tess Banion, is an author, a producer and activist. She received her Master’s degree in Film and Media Studies from the University of Kansas in Spring 2011. Before graduate school she worked for several decades in political campaigns in Kansas and Minnesota. Tess’ inaugural novel, A Parting Glass, was described by James A. Cox, of the Midwest Book Review as “A deftly crafted and engaging story of hope and transformations, A Parting Glass showcases author Tess Banion’s genuine flair for narrative driven storytelling. One of those rare novels that will linger in the mind and memory of the reader long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf, A Parting Glass is unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community library…
By Bob Tagert This story begins quite some time ago. I moved to Old Town Alexandria in 1977. In 1978, Tom Mooney, Sr. and his wife, Melinda, opened Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub in the 700 Block of King Street. This was when I first met Tom Mooney, Jr. who is affectionately known in Alexandria as “Tommy” in order for locals to know which Tom was being referred to. I was 30 years old and Tommy was 8. As the saying goes…You’ve come a long way, baby! As Murphy’s began to grow, Tom worked in the restaurant growing up – he says we have him to thank for the majority of the split wood used in the famous fireplace during those years – and after high school began continuing his education. After graduating from Plymouth State University, he spread his wings and took his Marine Biology degree to Alaska for some research with Fish and Wildlife. At age 25, the restaurant beckoned and he returned to Old Town eventually become General Manager of Murphy’s. Along the way Tom married his college sweetheart Ann and together they have four grown children. Soon thoughts of expanding Murphy’s took hold. After a trip to Virginia Beach, Tom and Ann decided to relocate there and open a second Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub. The new Pub opened in 2003 and Tom relocated his family to the area. As the business grew, he realized the need for fresh seafood at his Irish restaurants. Leaning on his degree and his love of the water, he purchased another boat, secured a “Hook and Line’ license and started a charter business. From there he branched out into commercial fishing and purchased commercial habitat pots to begin fishing for Sea Bass as well as Cobia and Rockfish. Soon he was…
By Lani Gering Much has been written in and on several local media outlets in the last month about Alexandria’s newly sworn in Mayor – Alyia Gaskins. Even Wikipedia has her covered: “Alyia Gaskins is an American public health professional, urban planner, and politician serving as the mayor of Alexandria, Virginia. She assumed office as Alexandria’s first Black female mayor in January 2025, having previously focused on health equity, infrastructure, and housing issues throughout her career. Gaskins pursued higher education at Vanderbilt University, earning a degree in medicine, health, and society.[1] She subsequently obtained a M.P.H. from the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health and a Master’s in Urban Planning from the Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies.[1] Gaskins also completed a professional certificate in municipal finance from the University of Chicago.” Those write ups concentrated mainly on her impressive credentials and her vision for Alexandria but I wanted to concentrate of getting to know more about her on a more personal level. This is a “personality” profile… We met for our interview just 25 days after she had been sworn in. As anticipated, it has been a whirlwind of events and meetings. While she has been accustomed to the obligations as a Councilwoman for the last 4 years, the role of Mayor takes on a whole new meaning. Being the cities first Black female and quite possibly the youngest Mayor at 35 years of age, shines additional attention on her but she is very much up to the task. Mayor Gaskins is definitely a people person. She is very warm and inviting and definitely easy to talk to. When I asked her what her interests were outside of her mayoral duties, her first answer was spending time with her family and friends. She also likes to plan parties and organize gatherings – I guess that ties in with…
By Lani Gering “The mysterious power known as the Speed Force is an energy field that has, over the centuries, granted incredible powers of velocity to certain heroes.” While 79 year-old Fred Lash aka “Flash” doesn’t don a full body red leotard and zip around like the speed of light, he certainly is a force of energy. He came into our realm when Last Word columnist, Miriam Kramer – “Mim” to Fred – introduced us to her long-time family friend in order to facilitate some promotion for the Little Theatre of Alexandria’s (LTA) upcoming 90th Anniversary celebration. Fred is volunteering his time as Governor for Public Relations. After an email intro and a couple of phone calls, Fred and I made a coffee date to meet in person and talk about how we could work together promoting the LTA. I don’t really know what I expected but I knew the moment I saw this “George Burns” cool looking guy approaching the table, it had to be Fred. Those of you readers under 40 might have to google George so you understand the reference. I knew immediately I was in for a treat. Fred exudes enthusiasm and is passionate about the theatre and life in general. He is an entertainer both on stage and off and it doesn’t appear he is a stranger to anyone. When I asked if he would let the OTC profile him, he gladly accepted. (Flash with cocktail in hand: Portraying Beverly Westin in “August: Osage County” at Little Theatre of Alexandria.) While I have a tendency to make “assumptions,” – I know, bad word – when I sat down with Fred for this interview, I fully expected to hear about all his career in the theater. Well…I couldn’t have been more off base. Fred retired from…
By Lani Gering Since we celebrate “Earth Day” this month, I went on the search for a fresh face who has a deep respect for our planet and works on a daily basis with like-minded people who strive to preserve it to interview. After putting a few “feelers” out, a mutual friend told me I might want to talk to Ashlie Dolce. Little did I know that this Ashlie – now 27 years old – is the very same Ashlie that we have known since she was a teenager working at the front door of Old Town’s iconic Landini Brothers Restaurant. Ashlie started as a Hostess at the front door when she was 18 years old. Over the next 7 years, she moved up the hospitality ladder at LB’s eventually ending up as a Manager and the Events Coordinator. All the while, she was furthering her education at George Mason University where she graduated with a degree in Business Management. It isn’t easy maintaining a full-time job and carrying a full load at school at the same time and still carve out some personal time. In this day and age, there aren’t many people her age that take on this task. Ashlie told me that keeping the environment healthy and preserving our Blue Planet has been a priority in her life. She has participated in river clean-up programs while encouraging friends and family to join in and she was instrumental in improving the recycling program while at George Mason. She told me, “There was a huge issue with students not knowing Fairfax County “recycling rules”. One of my senior year projects was to provide informational signage for recycling by the bins on campus.” I have to admit that I have to revisit the rules for Alexandria every so often myself….
By Lani Gering w/F. Lennox Campello Many of you who are faithful readers of the OTC may remember that this phenomenal artist was the subject matter of our Gallery Beat column in the July 2017 issue. Fast forward to 2023, were happy to be invited to the opening of his exhibit at the Nepenthe Gallery in Fort Hunt last fall and had the pleasure of meeting Lee and his parents in person. It was a very enlightening experience and opened our eyes to what is possible if you really put your mind and talents to work no matter the obstacles. We are always looking for interesting art and cool photos for our covers and decided we should feature on of Lee’s originals. When I saw the image of “The Lion Family”, I immediately thought of our March issue since we all know that “March comes in like a lion…” We also thought it would be a good idea to feature Lee in this column since it ties in with the cover image. In doing my research, I ran across F. Lennox Campello aka Lenny’s aforementioned Gallery Beat column. After reading it again after almost 17 years, I decided I could no way trump what he wrote. He was very happy to do some updating for us and we offer you the following: This month I want to use this forum to discuss the work of a highly talented DMV area artist whose singular work came across my attention 7 years ago – Lee Jaworek. Quoting from his own website (http://www.leejaworek.com/), Lee Jaworek “calls his art Artism® – seeing the world through the prismatic lens of Autism. Lee is a young artist with Autism who tries to express his perception of the world through his art; the challenges — the triumphs…
By Bob Tagert After doing this publication for over 36 years, one of the fun things we get to do is to write about the personalities we have encountered along the way. This is one of the ways we get to meet and know about the individuals who make up our community. With Noelie Rickey, that is no exception. We actually met Noelie and her business partner Markos Panas at an Old Town Business Association mixer. They were both delightful and easy to talk to. Markos has a story of his own but we will save that for a later date. He and his father John founded Bread & Water Company in the Belle View Shopping Center where he eventually hired Noelie…but that is putting the cart before the horse. Noelie was born in Seattle, Washington in the late1960’s, in the heart of the Peace, Love, Sex, Waterbeds era. “That was a formidable time in my life”, she tells me. “When I was three years old my mom and dad divorced and my mom moved us into a Commune. It was a full-blown commune – one big house full of hippies,” she said with a smile. “My mom didn’t have a car so we hitch hiked everywhere. That was what you kind of did in the early 60’s into the 70’s,” as she giggled. Noelie remembers how living in a commune took constant negotiations. It is clear that she learned that skill well. “I remember being in conversations with adults as a kid. You had to think for yourself. We would have negotiations for the current night’s dinner, and then tomorrow night’s dinner. You know, that has always stuck with me as I got older,” she says. “A lot of our conversations were centered on getting along, and how do…
Gotta have a bit of true confession here. Our original “Personality Profile” subject got ambushed by an overwhelming amount of holiday activity and we just couldn’t carve out enough time to spend together last month to do her interview any justice. We look forward to introducing you all to one of Alexandria’s “Most Interesting Women” – obviously sans the beard and Dos Equis in hand – in the February issue. In the essence of time and a looming pre-holiday deadline, we turned to the “experts” at the anomaly called Wikipedia to garner some scoop on one of January’s “Most Interesting Babies” – Baby New Year. The Publisher of the Old Town Crier has had some personal experience portraying said “baby” at a couple of New Year’s Eve parties over the years but it was so long ago I couldn’t find any of the photos to scan…he looked fine in his diaper, sash and top hat back in the day. From the files of Wikipedia: The Baby New Year is a personification of the start of the New Year commonly seen in editorial cartoons. He symbolizes the “birth” of the next year and the “passing” of the prior year; in other words, a “rebirth”. Baby New Year’s purpose varies by myth, but he generally performs some sort of ceremonial duty over the course of his year such as chronicling the year’s events or presiding over the year as a symbol. History Early known instances of having babies as parts of new year’s traditions date back to ancient Greece. Modern use was popularized at the beginning of the 20th century. Legend The myth most associated with him is that he is a baby at the beginning of his year, but Baby New Year quickly ages until he is elderly (like Father Time, with whom he is often associated) at the end of his…
View More