The To Do List

Cool interior of Summer House, West front of the Capitol grounds, courtesy, Architect of the Capitol

Suit up in your seersucker, your straw hats and summer skorts and grab your wheelie shoes or walking sticks for a special tour of the Capitol. It is fun to explore your own neighborhood and you will see and learn a dozen things you didn’t know unless you are Tim or Robert, we suppose, who would barter their own brand of  factoids on such a tour. The Capitol folk are offering free outdoor walking tours of the building and the grounds Thursday, June 24 and Friday, June 25 at 1:30 p.m.  No registration or tickets are required…people can just show up outside of the Capitol Visitor Center’s North Gift Shop at the designated time. Wow. That’s a cool breeze of an idea for such a fortress of a building and grounds. Tours are 45 minutes in length. Comfortable shoes are recommended.

Oh, boy, the Fourth Annual Ward 6 Family Day is this Saturday at the Sherwood Recreation Center at 640 10th Street, NE.  Sponsored by Councilman Tommy Wells. Time is from 1PM-4PM so blow off the nap for the kiddies and come on down. There will be free food from Harris Teeter, raffle prizes galore (Washington Nationals and gift certificates to many local businesses), face painting, arts and crafts, free health screenings, a water activity for kids, music, games and much, much more, we hear.

Then, head over to the SE Branch Library for  an author talk with Katy Kelly (Lucy Rose and Melonhead series) at 4PM on Saturday. There will also be food served, sponsored by the Friends of SE library.

Next, get into the swing of things with the Trapeze School New York’s show of its trainers and long-term students here in Washington at the waterfront facility at 8:30pm Friday. Doors open at 8pm.   Tickets can be purchased in person at the school. July classes are also posted online. Whee! Jen, better sign up for a class there before your next milestone birthday!

For more entertainment, Dog and Pony DC‘s show, seek some Courage, finishes its run this week with shows Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and a final show Saturday at CHAW. Courage, a re-imagining of Mother Courage and Her Children by Bertolt Brecht, isn’t a play. It isn’t a cabaret. It isn’t a political rally. Part gypsy-punk concert, part tent-revival, part raucous night out with 60 of your closest friends, Sub-billed a Political Theater Revival, dog & pony dc is out to change the perception that Brecht is for the old and sedate with a rethinking of traditional Brechtian aesthetics. Courage urges you to take action and become an active participant in your life and the world.  Just like they do things in NYC!

Got a business or a business plan here? Next Tuesday, consider coming to the CAPITOL HILL PROMOTIONAL PARTNERSHIP FORUM at Hill’s Kitchen from 8:30am to 10am. The  Capitol Hill BID and its partners, CHAMPS and Barracks Row Main Street are exploring cooperative promotional opportunities that will not only save money but expose your Capitol Hill business to a wide range of consumers in and around DC. Learn About: CHAMPS 2010 Map – Get your ad space now on the most widely circulated map of Capitol Hill; and the Hill & Go Seek – 1st of it’s kind bike event on Capitol Hill. The  forum is free and open to anyone doing business on Capitol Hill. Refreshments will be provided. Space is limited, please RSVP nliggett@capitolhillbid.org; champs@capitolhill.org; or sharon@barracksrow.org.