Reminder: Bike to Work Day is tomorrow - May 18th - Adams Morgan pit stop!

Update on the 18th Street Streetscape Construction - PEPCO work completed - sidewalk work to continue

Adams Morgan Main Street Group hosts event with Alliance Francaise - May 19th - Kalorama Park

Sign the petition to support small businesses!

Adams Morgan Farmers Market kicks off the season on May 26th - 40th Anniversary

Interns ROCK - June 8th through June 17th

Reminder: Bike to Work Day is tomorrow - May 18th - Adams Morgan Pit Stop

On Friday May 18, 2012 Commuter Connections and the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) - located on Columbia Road in Adams Morgan invite you to join over 11,000 area commuters for a celebration of bicycling as a clean, fun and healthy way to get to work.

Bike to Work Day is a free event for both new and experienced bicycle commuters throughout the Washington metropolitan region. Those who register and attend one of 58 regional pit stops will receive a free Bike to Work Day T-Shirt*, food, drinks, and a chance at winning bicycles or other great raffle prizes. (*T-Shirt supplies are limited to first 11,000 who register). http://www.biketoworkmetrodc.org/

We will be hosting an Adams Morgan Pit Stop again this year.

Here are the details:

Location: Triangle Park (informally called Unity Park)
Address: Columbia Road/Champlain Street and Euclid Street, NW

Pit Stop Time: 7:00am to 9:30am

We will have a DJ spinning tunes from 7:30 to 9:30 to pump up the cyclists and free coffee, pastries and fruit from Tryst.

We will also have donations from ALL NATURAL BODYARMOR® SuperDrink™, an antioxidant and nutrient rich refreshment beverage formulated to support the body’s immune system.  Each exotic fruit & tea flavor beverage is loaded with polyphenols, Vitamins A, B complex, C & E as well as electrolytes and amino acids available in 6 exotic fruit flavors.

We will also be joined by City Bikes who will be doing a bike repair clinic and MINT Fitness who will be passing out information about their classes, spa, memberships, etc...

And also the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society will be passing out information about their programs.

Please contact Kristen at kbarden@adamsmorganonline.org or 202-997-0783 with questions.

Update on 18th Street Streetscape Construction - PEPCO work complete - sidewalk work to continue

As you have noticed the final work to complete the east side of the intersection of 18th and Kalorama Road and the sidewalk just north of the intersection, has lagged behind the rest of the project. This was due to the work that PEPCO needed to complete to lower the manholes in that area and also lower the cables running through those manholes. This work was completed this week and now DDOT and their contractors can complete the intersection and corner without further delay.

You have also probably noticed that DDOT has installed new bike racks with the Adams Morgan branding on the frame and also all the tree fences around the new tree boxes. They have begun the replace the trash cans and soon will install matching recylcing cans next to each trash can.

The project should be finished in June and we have begun plans for a ribbon cutting/celebration for sometime in July. Stay tuned!

Questions about this work may be directed to DDOT Project Engineer Victor I. Egu at 202-621-8993.  For more information about the Adams Morgan Streetscape Project please visit the project website at adamsmorganstreetscapeproject.com .

Adams Morgan Main Street Group hosts event with Alliance Francaise - May 19th- Kalorama Park

On Saturday May 19th, Adams Morgan Main Street Group in collaboration with Alliance Francaise are sponsoring:

URBAN CORPS: "Le Petit Bal 2 Rue" by Compagnie De Fakto

Two dancers pull out all the stops in this audition story!

Location: Kalorama Park - At the intersection of Columbia Rd., Kalorama Rd., and 19th Street NW

Date & time: Saturday, May 19 2012 | 2:00 PM

Cost: Free

Urban Corps creates a new give and take between French and American dancers, generating a symbiotic, artistic relationship. This collaboration, the likes of which is unprecedented in D.C., serves as proof that urban issues are not only local, but mutually influenced on both sides of the Atlantic and across the globe.

Urban Corps performances highlight the unique interpretation of French dancers, who have been influenced by contemporary dance, theater, mime, circus, capoeira and, of course, American hip-hop.

The second performance of Urban Corps is "Le Petit Bal 2 Rue", by dance company De Fakto.

In "Le Petit Bal 2 Rue" two dancers pull out all the stops for an audition in front of 1950s film actor, André Bourvil, in this charming mix of contemporary dance, hip hop, and classic French movies. For this particular performance, Aurelien Kairo will be dancing with Clarisse Veaux, from the dance company Stylistik.

Aurelien Kairo has danced with some of the greatest contemporary choreographers, including Marie-Claude Pietragalla and Maurice Béjart. He created the company De Fakto in 2002, and has been a lead choreographer and dancer since then, always proposing dance forms both influenced by his contemporary dance training and by his passion for Hip Hop dance.

Come enjoy great weather in Kalorama Park and some unique French dance.

For more information visit: http://www.francedc.org/en/CulturalEvent.aspx?id=894 .

Sign the petition to support small businesses!

As reported in our 4-13-12 News You Can Use, on April 4, officials with the DC Office of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs (DCRA) and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) raided a number of Adams Morgan and U Street area businesses that sell vintage and used goods. They threatened them with closure for failing to be properly licensed. However businesses were all operating with a basic business license and believed they were operating according to the law. This was an ill-conceived and executed action which the businesses found very threatening simply because DCRA all of a sudden changed their mind about which license these businesses needed.

As many of you know, the AMPBID and many in the business community immediately rallied behind our community’s concerns with officials at DCRA and the DC Council.

Our advocacy made a difference: the city apologized and is trying to work cooperatively with us. However, ultimate resolution lies with the City Council – who must step up to protect our businesses against needless, overbearing and out-dated regulations that will benefit no one while causing considerable harm and expense to our local business community.

WE NEED YOU! …and everyone you know to contact the City Council to urge that municipal regulations be brought into the modern age.

ONLY YOU! …can ensure that the City Council understands what needs to be done and how to do it right!

Thanks to the work of Robert Clayton, attorney for Crooked Beat Records, we’ve refined the second hand business regulations and requested an exemption for stores that sell used, vintage or antique books; used, vintage or antique phonographic records, video tapes, compact discs, tape recordings, or other video or tape recordings;  used, vintage or antique clothes or clothing; used, vintage or antique jewels and jewelry valued at $500 or less; and used, vintage or antique furniture or furnishings valued at $3,000 or less.

We are requesting that DC Council pass emergency legislation that would provide 90 days of relief and time to establish a permanent exemption for businesses that sell used and vintage goods. The exemption would mean, for example, that any store that sold jewelry for no more than $500 per item, or furniture for no more than $3,000 an item, would not be considered “used” goods stores and therefore exempted from the heavy, additional regulatory load now required by city law.

We’re hopeful that Councilmember Jim Graham will introduce emergency exemption and then take up permanent legislation that we have submitted.  It’s vital that this happen – for the sake of our community, our businesses and to re-establish a sense of trust between local government and the local businesses that drive our economy.

The peition can be found here:

Adams Morgan Farmers Market kicks off the season on May 26th- 40th Anniversary

The Adams Morgan Farmers Market is opening Saturday May 26th with it's official opening on Saturday June 7th. Michael Tabor from Licking Creek Bend Farm will be celebrating their 40th year operating this historic market in DC that was established with the help of then-Council Chair David Clarke who was a regular customer and passed away some time ago. They are looking forward to a very fruitful season.

The market operates from 8:00 am to 1:30 pm. Michael is very interested in helping to promote local businesses at the market opening that weekend. Please contact Kristen at: kbarden@adamsmorganonline.org or by calling 202-997-0783 if you would like to participate in some way.

They have also told us that they have an abundance of garlic scapes this year that our local restaurants may want to purchase. The growing season for scapes is short so if you are interested please contact them at: esiegel2@igc.org or 301 587-1739 or at www.lickingcreekbendfarm.com .

Garlic scapes  are the curling tops of garlic plants, which are as edible and delicious as the garlic bulbs and called by some, a “GARLIC LOVER’S NIRVANA!”

As the garlic bulb grows, a shoot pokes its way through the ground. Similar looking to a green scallion, the shoot is long and thin, curling into gorgeous tendrils. If not picked at this point, the shoots dry and turn beige, like the garlic peel and they prevent the bulb from growing larger.

Interns ROCK - June 8th through June 17th

In 2010, The Washington Center for Internships and Academic Seminars (TWC) in conjunction with MTV-U and Destination DC, launched the first InternsROCK!, a city-wide intern appreciation week.

The initiative honors approximately 20,000 interns who flock to the nation’s capital each year to test-drive their careers at local businesses,

nonprofits and government agencies.

In the last two years that the event was held, over 118 vendors and 3,400 student interns from all over the D.C. area have participated in the event.

TWC is pleased to announce its third annual InternsROCK!, which will take place from June 8–17, 2012.

As a result of the program’s popularity, InternsROCK! received national media attention and was mentioned in over 60 news outlets locally and nationally.

How does it work? Interns who are in D.C., Virginia and Maryland can pick up InternsROCK ID’s from a variety of locations which will be announced in the middle of May on our InternsROCK! “intern” website. http://www.internsrockdc.com/

Interns will receive discounts from restaurants, retailers and music

venues. Interns will also be invited to exclusive InternsROCK! events.

Does the intern need to be affiliated with The Washington

Center to participate? No! All interns throughout Washington, D.C. are encouraged to participate. But interns must show proof of their internship with a letter from their internship site/supervisor in order to pick up their InternsROCK! ID.

What types of discounts are available to students? Generally, interns will receive 20% off, 30% off or buy-one, get-one free discounts at participating businesses. Businesses are encouraged to provide free services or products.

How does a local business participate? Area businesses can participate by offering eligible discounts. For more information about becoming a participating business, please contact Maha Neouchy at 202-238-7706 or maha.neouchy@twc.edu .

Cost to participate as an intern? It’s FREE! All interns need to do is show proof of internship and a letter from their host organization to pick up their InternsROCK! ID. Interns will not be eligible for discounts

if they do not show this ID to participating businesses.

About The Washington Center The Washington Center for Internships and Academic seminars is an independent, nonprofit organization that serves hundreds of colleges and universities in the United States

and other countries by providing selected students challenging opportunities to work and learn in Washington, D.C., for academic credit.

The largest program of its kind, The Washington Center has more than 50,000 alumni who have become leaders in numerous professions and nations around the world. It was established in 1975. For more information about The Washington Center visit: www.twc.edu.