The official first day of astronomical fall isn’t until Saturday, Sept. 22 but, in all practicality, many of the trappings of summer end with Labor Day.
Gone are summer vacations, outdoor swimming pools, and summer festivals like outdoor movies and the Arlington County Fair. Starting, however, are more mild temperatures, football, and fall events like Oktoberfest, wine festivals and Clarendon Day.
New Exhibit At N. Va. Art Center –– The new Northern Virginia Art Center in Crystal City will be hosting a new exhibit starting tomorrow, Sept. 1, until Sept. 30. The exhibit, entitled “Grand Visions: Small World,” features a jury-selected collection of visual artworks (including paintings, pottery and sculpture) from a variety of local artists. An opening gala will be held from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14. [Northern Virginia Art Center]
Marymount Receives Cybersecurity Grant — Arlington-based Marymount University has been awarded a $1.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation to fund a four-year cybersecurity scholarship program. [Press Release]
Despite quickly rising gas prices — jumping at least 40 cents in the past two months — AAA says this will be the busiest Labor Day weekend in terms of travel since 2008 and the start of the recession. It’s the third summer holiday travel period this year projected to set a post-recession record.
Some 799,900 Washington area residents are expected to travel more than 50 miles for Labor Day, up 3.5 percent from 2011. Of those travelers, 86.8 percent are expected to travel by car, 7.9 percent by air, and 5.3 percent by other means.
Arlington’s administrative offices, public libraries, courts, schools and nature centers will be closed on Monday, Sept. 3. Community centers will be closed, with the exception of Barcroft, which will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
County pools will be open under a modified schedule. The Wakefield High School pool will be open from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Labor Day. The Yorktown pool will also be open from 12:00 to 6:00 p.m., and the Washington-Lee pool will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
The plan was for elected officials and other Democratic notables to get dunked while raising money for the Arlington County Democratic Committee. Alas, Mother Nature had other plans. With storms in the forecast, organizers reluctantly canceled the first annual Democratic dunking. Instead, as heavy rains descended on the area, attendees had to make due with the usual formula of chili, music and conversation as they huddled inside the hot and humid Lyon Park Community Center.
Among the brave dunk tank volunteers who stayed dry last night were County Board member Mary Hynes, Del. David Englin, School Board member Sally Baird, former 31st District state Senate candidate Jaime Areizaga-Soto. Also on the dunk list were blogger and consultant Ben Tribbett, ACDC Chair Mike Lieberman, ACDC Finance Chair Bree Raum, Arlington Joint Campaign Co-Chair Lauren Hall, former School Board candidate Terron Sims and ACDC precinct operations chair Kip Malinosky.
The monicker, which comes from AAA Mid-Atlantic, refers to the sudden, jolting return to heavy traffic that occurs when Washingtonians return from their summer vacations and head back to work — while students in Virginia, at the same time, head back to school.
Among other traffic jams, nearly the entire length of northbound I-395 was slow this morning, from the 14th Street Bridge through Alexandria.
Courts, libraries, schools and the Department of Human Services will be closed. All community centers will be closed, except for the Barcroft Sports and Fitness Center, which will be open from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
ART buses will operate on a holiday schedule. Parking meters will not be enforced. Trash and recycling pickup will take place as scheduled.
Pinkberry Opens in Clarendon — The new Pinkberry frozen yogurt store in Clarendon officially opens its doors at 11:00 this morning. Yesterday evening, people queued up around the block as the store gave away free frozen yogurt to anyone willing to wait in line. The giveaway didn’t seem to be hurting Red Mango, Pinkberry’s froyo rival. One block away, Red Mango was still doing brisk business as the Pinkberry line grew.
Dems Plan Dunk Tank at Chili Cookoff — Arlington County Democrats have a new weapon in their fundraising arsenal — a dunk tank. County Dems plan to roll out the dunk tank during their annual Labor Day Chili Cookoff, with the goal of collecting cash from those who want to dunk elected officials. [Sun Gazette]
Few details about the event were revealed ahead of time, but with the announcement featuring remarks by County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman and local lawmaker Del. Patrick Hope, one could reasonably assume that the bulk of the new event was to take place in Arlington, right?
Wrong.
The one-day event is expected take place Labor Day weekend along the W&OD Trail in Arlington. It will feature “a sports event with a historic twist, a large-scale environmental action activity (biggest in the park’s history) and a festival featuring a national recording artist which we expect will draw several thousand attendees,” said Chris Browne, Vice President of the Greater Washington Sports Alliance.
“It is going to be BIG and very relevant to our regional community,” Browne added.
A crowd that included county board members, school board members, state legislators, elected county officers and Democratic donors gathered outside the Lyon Park Community Center for the end-of-summer tradition, which also featured drinks, music and a moon bounce for the kids.
Guests of honor included the three local Democrats up for reelection this year: county board member Chris Zimmerman, school board member Sally Baird and congressman Jim Moran. Virginia House of Delegates minority leader Ward Armstrong was also on hand for the afternoon event.
