Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is on Monday, and Arlington has plans to honor the civil rights leader. Here is a short list of some of the events in the area.
The county’s big event is on Sunday at Washington-Lee High School (1301 N. Stafford St) from 7:00-9:00 p.m. The tribute includes a variety of performances, including a keynote address from Howard University’s Dr. Wilmer Leon, gospel music from Larry Bland and the Volunteer Choir, and a dance tribute by Urban Artistry. The Arlington Food Assistance Center (AFAC) will be accepting non-perishable food donations at the program.
Monday is a nationwide Day of Service to honor Dr. King’s call to serve. AFAC is looking for volunteers to help with food drives at the Giant grocery stores on Columbia Pike (2501 9th Rd S.), at Virginia Square (3450 Washington Blvd), at Lyon Village (3115 Lee Hwy) and at Bailey’s Crossroads in Falls Church (3480 S. Jefferson St). Anyone interested can sign up on the AFAC website.
Volunteer Emergency Support Team (VEST) members will host an event on Monday outside the Barcroft Sports and Fitness Center (4200 S. Four Mile Run) from 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m. to distribute emergency preparedness information. Volunteers can sign up on the VEST website.
Also as part of the Day of Service, volunteers are invited to spend Monday afternoon at Long Branch Nature Center to remove invasive plant species. Participants must be at least 10 years old and are encouraged to wear rugged clothes and work gloves. For more information, contact Steve Young at 703-578-4419.
Individuals and families are invited to help in the neighborhood and stream clean-up near Barcroft Park on Monday from 10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Volunteers will clean up portions of Four Mile Run Road and stream. Due to the popularity of this event, volunteers must register.
Arlington government offices, schools and libraries will be closed on Monday. Metro and ART will be running on a holiday schedule. Metro will also be doing major work on the Orange and Blue lines during the long weekend, starting at 10:00 p.m. on Friday.
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- AFAC Requests Produce Donations June 22, 2011
So basically, if you want to volunteer on MLK Jr Day, you can’t be…car-free.
Any location is easily reached by bike.
Bike? I can’t afford a bike. I’m paying Bondi’s taxes.
maybe she bought a tandem bike with those tax dollars….problem solved?
She’s not my type.
There’s a car tax joke in here somewhere.
I don’t get off work on Monday, does that mean my boss is racist?
Only if s/he is white.
Nothing commemorates Dr. King like a call to remove invasive plant species.
I did that at Arlington House once, it was pretty cool. They even gave me a tshirt, which I of course turned into rolling papers.
It’s service to the community, John, which was the point of MLK Day. Don’t go harshing on that.
drax, sorry, i’m with John on this.
MLK was about social justice … not about pulling weeds in the toniest neighborhood of one of the wealthiest counties in the country.
i’m pretty sure MLK wouldn’t show up to that event if he were still here.
Short of marching on some government building, what would you have people do, then? It’s just an attempt to have folks get out and do something for the community, that’s all.
deliver food for food and friends.
Why don’t you give us a list of Fontain-approved community service events so we can know in advance which ones meet your criteria?
Only in Arlington would someone think of the idea that pulling ‘invasive plant species’ (known outside of Arlington County as weeds) would be a good way to commemorate Dr. King. Come on drax, you have to admit that’s a little funny.
I don’t think a list is needed, certainly you can come up with something yourself… but food banks, shelters, library, etc etc all could use some help.
A little teensy weensy bit of a chuckle, maybe.
Oh, BTW, an invasive species and a weed are not the same thing.
I know, but it’s more fun to pretend that they are.
Since when is Columbia Heights West/Forest Glen (off of S. Carlin Springs Road) one of the “toniest neighborhoods” in Arlington?
And since when do only rich white people use nature centers?
i stand corrected.
but they are still nice neighborhoods. all of Arlington
Pretty nice, but they could all be a lot nicer if all the non-native species were removed.
You are talking about Clarendon, right?
Something tells me that social justice liberals would probably be pretty upset over MLK’s views on gay marriage
Well that ruins it then, novasteve. Let’s tear down his memorial and pull weeds on his holiday.
I wonder, though, what Bayard Rustin would think?
Martin Luther King died in 1968. No reasonable person would expect him to have had views on marriage equality.
What I will take heart about is the fact that his wife, Coretta Scott King came out in favor of marriage equality. If anyone knew his heart and where he would stand on this issue, it would be her. She equated the struggle blacks had for their civil rights with the struggles gays have had for theirs.
But thanks for tossing out a comment with absolute no basis in fact… again.
He was a huge philanderer/adulterer, by the by.
Oh, okay. Never mind then, let’s roll back the entire civil rights movement.
I will harp on how others have distorted MLKs dream.
the sharptons, the jacksons. you name it.
Where?
You are on fire today.
I’m going to flash back a little more than a decade and celebrate Lee-Jackson-King Day by rolling the General Lee out of the garage and jump over Four Mile Run while evading Boss Hogg Zimmerman, Flash, Rosco, and Cleatus.
I’ll flash back a few more years and pick up Enos.
Does that leave Daisy for me?
She’ll be in the General with me. Got to save her from Boss Hogg Zimmerman.
LOL!
It’s MLK Day – Daisy doesn’t, uh, discriminate. Equal access for all!
Awesome! So I’ve got a chance!!!!
I’ll drink to that, Overgrown Bush!
Too bad the majority of Arlington doesn’t understand what MLK stood for. They probably would not be honoring him. Entitlements were not part of his agenda.
Really lame and stupid comment.
+1
Lee Jackson day is Friday.
What’s Lee Jackson day?
Originally Va. was incensed about having to recognize an MLK day so they “conveniently” combined an existing holiday, Lee-Jackson day, with MLK and called it Lee-Jackson-King day.
Pretty cool, huh?
Hm. I’m Libertarian, so I guess I can’t object to people doing their thing. I’m not a Southerner, though, so I can’t quite relate to Lee-worship.
Lee isn’t the one worshiped, Jackson is – he actually has a “shrine.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee%E2%80%93Jackson%E2%80%93King_Day