Washington City Paper (December 11, 2020 )

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NEWS: WILL RESIDENTS TRUST A COVID VACCINE? 4 SPORTS: WOODWORKING WITH A WNBA CHAMPION 8 FOOD: EATERIES SHIFT TO TAKEOUT THIS WINTER 26

THE DISTRICT'S FREE WEEKLY SINCE 1981 VOLUME 40, NO. 40 WASHINGTONCITYPAPER.COM DECEMBER 2020

2020 IN PHOTOS Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

youneed need mortgage mortgage assistance DoDoyou assistance due to the effects of COVID-19? due to the effects of COVID-19?

DC MAP (Mortgage Assistance Program) COVID-19 is here to help District homeowners stay in their homes during this pandemic.

DC MAP (Mortgage Assistance Program) COVID-19 is here to help

District homeowners stay in their homes during this pandemic.

DC provides zero-interest monthly mortgage assistance DC MAP MAPCOVID-19 COVID-19 provides zero- interest monthly assistance loansloans up that now include the coverage of condo and homeowner association fees up to $5,000 for up to six months for qualified homeowners. to $5,000 for up to six months for qualified homeowners.

DC MAP COVID-19 provides zero- interest monthly assistance loans up to $5,000 for up to six months for qualified homeowners.

Borrower Qualifications:

• Must be borrower’s primary residence and must be located in the District of Columbia Borrower • MustQualifications: have been current as of the March 1st payment (prior to being affected by COVID-19) • Must be borrower’s primary residence and must be located in • Must be able to document income affected due to COVID-19 the District of Columbia • Borrower must be the borrower on the home loan, not just a • Must have been current as of the March 1st payment (prior to member of the household being affected by COVID-19) • Must show proof that the borrower is not eligible for • Must be able to document income affected to COVID-19 forbearance or other types of relief offereddue through the servicer Hit Funds • Borrower mustand/or be theHardest borrower on the home loan, not just a • If borrower is still affected after the CARES Act ends, then member of the household relief may be offered at that time (See additional terms)

• Must show proof that the borrower is not eligible for forbearance or other types of relief offered through the servicer and/or For Hardest Hitlist Funds a full of borrower qualifications and loan terms, visit • If borrower is still affected after the CARES Act ends, then relief may be offered at that time (See additional terms)

www.dchfa.org/homeownership

For a full list of borrower qualifications and loan terms, visit

www.dchfa.org/homeownership

DC MAP COVID-19 financial assistance will be granted on a first come, first served basis until the program allocation has been exhausted. Homeowners seeking assistance through DC MAP COVID-19 should call 1-833-429-0537 to begin the process of applying. Questions regarding DC MAP COVID-19 may also be emailed to DCMAP@dchfa.org.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS COVER STORY 10 2020 in Photos: An unprecedented year, as seen through the lenses of staff photographer Darrow Montgomery

NEWS 4 Loose Lips: Local health leaders work to build the public’s trust in a COVID-19 vaccine, despite the skepticism of some Washingtonians.

6 Railing Against: Historic preservation rules and costly exterior repairs could force lowincome residents out of a Mount Pleasant apartment building.

SPORTS 8 Hardwood Scores: When she’s off the basketball court, Mystics star Elena Delle Donne pursues her other passion—woodworking.

FOOD 26 Cold Cuts: Restaurants are shifting their focus to takeout to remain viable through the winter.

ARTS 28 Playing It by Ear: Nine months after local music venues closed, staff share how they’re staying afloat.

31 Film: Zilberman on Wander Darkly

CITY LIGHTS 32 City Lights: Take in a puppetpowered Nutcracker production or listen to new music from a former Dischord artist.

DIVERSIONS 31 Crossword 34 Savage Love 35 Classifieds On the cover: Darrow Montgomery; Protestor on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, June 7

Darrow Montgomery | 2100 Block of H Street NW, November 23 Editorial

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NEWS LOOSE LIPS

One Shot With data showing that residents are hesitant to get a COVID-19 vaccine, DC Health must craft its public message carefully.

While Mayor Muriel Bowser is trying to pry more doses of a coronavirus vaccine from the federal government, her health department is wondering how to convince more people to get the vaccine when it becomes available.

DC Health Director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt expects 6,800 doses of a vaccine could arrive in D.C. as early as this month, but those will only cover a fraction of the 85,100 District health care workers who are first in line to receive it.

Beyond availability, another significant obstacle to inoculation in the District (and throughout the country) is vaccine skepticism and resistance. Preliminary local survey data from DC Health shows that about 44 percent of Black residents polled and about 11 percent of Hispanic residents polled would not accept a COVID-19 vaccine. Resistance among White and Asian people, according to the survey data, ranges from about 3 to 4 percent, respectively.

Broken down by employment, the data shows that 50 percent of Black essential workers and 46 percent of Black health care workers who responded to the survey would not accept a coronavirus vaccine. Twenty percent of Hispanic essential workers and 10 percent of Hispanic health care workers also would not accept a vaccine. Eighteen percent of health care workers and about 25 percent of essential workers, regardless of race, wouldn’t accept the vaccine, according to the survey’s initial results.

That data, presented last month during a vaccine advisory committee meeting, mirrors national trends. Black, Hispanic, Latinx, and Indigenous people throughout the country are generally more skeptical of vaccines—and for good reason, given America’s history of medical experimentation on Black and Brown bodies.

National polling also suggests that, regardless of race, Americans are skeptical of a coronavirus vaccine, though confidence is increasing.

A Pew Research Center survey conducted from Nov. 18 to 29 found that 60 percent of Americans would “definitely” or “probably” take the vaccine, up from 51 percent in September. Nearly 40 percent of respondents said they probably would not get a coronavirus vaccine.

Photo illustration by Julia Terbrock

By Mitch Ryals @MitchRyals

D.C.’s COVID-19 vaccine advisory group, made up of health professionals and community members, is tasked with reviewing and providing feedback to DC Health on vaccine clinical trials.

During its November meeting, the committee discussed strategies around public messaging in light of the data around vaccine hesitancy.

The survey data carries particular importance considering the coronavirus’ disproportionate impact on Black people, who make up 47 percent of D.C.’s positive cases. As of Dec. 7, 518 Black D.C. residents have died from COVID-19, making up 74 percent of the total deaths, compared to Hispanic and Latinx people, who make up 13 percent of deaths, and nonHispanic White people, who make up 10 percent of deaths.

“We are very aware that, when we go out and talk to people about getting this vaccine, we may have one chance not to lose their trust,” Nesbitt told the committee.

Exhibit A for how not to craft messaging about a vaccine comes from the White House.

Forget the mixed messages coming from the current occupant of the Oval Office, the insults lobbed at the country’s top infectious disease expert, and the politicization of public health guidance. Just the name of President Donald Trump’s vaccine program—Operation Warp Speed—is enough to raise suspicions.

“The moment I heard it, I went, ‘Oh no,’” says Sandra Quinn, a public health professor at the University of Maryland who studies health care trust in communities of color. “It raised concerns that didn’t have to be there.”

During the vaccine committee’s November meeting, Dr. J. Desiree Pineda, an endocrinologist and internist who serves on the

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committee, relayed a conversation with one of her patients. The patient expressed concern about the speed with which the vaccine was produced and could be approved. Pineda told the group that her strategy has been to acknowledge the speedy timeline, but to emphasize that all the necessary steps were followed.

“They know that it was all done quickly, and to create trust in the patient, we really have to tell them … why it was done that way. Not that the results were compromised, but that it was just done quickly,” she said in the meeting.

The speedy timeline is one of Sheila Bunn’s primary concerns. The Ward 8 resident, who works as Ward 7 Councilmember Vincent Gray’s chief of staff but is speaking on her own behalf, says she will get the vaccine, but wants to wait for more information on its safety.

“I think, like any person, once there’s been evidence that it works, and that I’m not turning into Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, then I’ll get it,” Bunn says “But like with anything, you want to make sure it’s safe. I’m not gonna rush out there and jump to get it, but I’m confident that I will.”

Bunn says it’s essential that the government be as transparent as possible about the vaccine, including what happens if a person refuses to get it.

“I want folks to get the vaccine, but I understand there’s a segment of folks who won’t,” she says. “That’s why the government has to be clear and strong in its messaging that it’s safe.”

Ward 5 resident Patrice Lancaster echoes Bunn’s concerns about the quick timeline.

“I was concerned about how quickly it’s being rolled out,” Lancaster says. “I would have liked it to go through some trials where we could have a year or so to see how it affects people.

Let Congress go first. [Sen.] Mitch McConnell should go first.”

Misinformation about vaccines in general, like the widely shared but never validated theory that they cause autism, also contributes to skepticism. But for Black people in particular, there are plenty of facts that provide a basis for distrust in vaccines.

Medical experiments on enslaved people are well documented, as are those on Black people in more recent memory. Perhaps the most infamous example is the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, which ended in 1972. For 40 years, the U.S. government lied to Black men infected with syphilis in order to study the disease’s effects on the human body. Men in the study went untreated and were left to suffer, even after penicillin became available as a treatment.

While the unethical Tuskegee experiment looms large in the minds of many Black people, the coronavirus vaccine comes with its own set of concerns. In the November meeting, Nesbitt grappled with the need to get information out quickly and accurately while still waiting for answers to crucial questions the public will have. Are there any long-term side effects? How long will protection from the virus last? Is the vaccine safe for young children? Does it affect a 60-year-old Black man and a 25-year-old Latinx woman differently?

“We don’t have subpopulation analysis yet.

We don’t have the data profiles on pediatrics. We don’t have the data profiles on pregnant women.

We don’t have the data analysis on chronic disease patients or the level of sub-analysis for racial and ethnic minorities,” Nesbitt said. “So how do we balance ... our need to start effectively communicating what we do know, if a vaccine is going to be in our community in a matter of weeks?”

NEWS Dr. Kimberly Henderson, DC Health’s director of communications, said at the November meeting that the department will follow the CDC’s “Vaccinate with Confidence” guide, which emphasizes transparency about the process for approving the vaccine and leaning on physicians, people, and organizations with credibility in the community to deliver the message.

One such partner is the D.C.-based Black Coalition Against COVID-19. Ambrose Lane Jr., a co-founding member and chair of the local health advocacy group Health Alliance Network, says one message will be that “if you live in the past, you might die in the future.” Lane says messaging campaigns seeking to boost confidence in the vaccine should highlight Black people in positions of authority in medicine and science and lean on historically Black colleges and universities, churches, community-based organizations, and trusted community leaders.

Lane says he’s participating in Howard University’s forthcoming clinical vaccine trial.

“We have to show by our actions that we can trust the science, and we need the involvement of African Americans if we’re going to have an effective vaccine,” he says.

The BCAC also recently released a Love Letter to Black America. The letter, signed by prominent Black health professionals, including Howard University president and surgeon Wayne Frederick, urges Black people to participate in clinical trials and to take the vaccine.

Quinn, the UMD professor and researcher, emphasizes the importance of trusted community members’ role. She adds that, based on her research on flu vaccine uptake, messages around the benefit for the larger community could resonate.

“I think for communities being devastated by this, that may be a powerful message: ‘How do we look out for our neighbors, our families, our broader community?’” Quinn says.

To address unanswerable questions, Nesbitt has suggested DC Health needs to be upfront about what they don’t know and emphasize confidence in the processes that produced the vaccine. So far, two companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for emergency approval following large-scale clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people.

Pfizer says its vaccine is 95 percent effective in a trial with more than 40,000 participants; Moderna states its trial of about 30,000 people showed 94.5 percent effectiveness. Both clinical trials resulted in only mild side effects for participants. Emergency approval would allow some Americans to receive the vaccine before the FDA can complete the usual monthslong authorization process. The U.S. Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices would subsequently recommend how to use the vaccine.

On Tuesday, the FDA confirmed that its review of Pfizer’s data aligned with the pharmaceutical company’s claim that its vaccine is 95 percent effective. The vaccine’s efficacy was similar “across age groups, genders, racial and ethnic groups,” the FDA determined.

Nesbitt told D.C. councilmembers during a

conference call last week that DC Health has convened focus groups and interviews with community messengers.

During her appearance on WAMU’s Politics Hour last Friday afternoon, Bowser said she will take the vaccine when it’s available and encouraged others to do the same.

“Like most people, I was concerned, especially concerned about the political nature of it,” Bowser said. “I pay close attention to the scientists. We had a member of our team [Deputy Mayor for Health and Human Services Wayne Turnage] participate in one of the trials, and I’ve gotten a lot of feedback from him. Dr. Nesbitt has been intricately involved with the Warp Speed project. So, I have very high confidence in taking it, and I will take it as soon as I can.”

DC Health’s efforts are playing out as the D.C. Council is considering a bill that would allow children as young as 11 to get vaccinated without parental consent. Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh introduced the bill in March 2019 in response to a measles outbreak in 11 states. In 2019, the vaccination rates in D.C. public, charter, and private schools ranged from about 90 to 91 percent, shy of the 95 percent that DC Health recommends. Routine vaccinations for children under 3 dropped from 14,346 administered in the first half of 2018 to just 9,685 administered in the first half of 2020, WAMU reported.

The bill passed 10-3 on first vote and will come up for a second and final vote next week before it lands on Bowser’s desk. Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White, Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie, and At-Large Councilmember Robert White voted against it.

Robert White voted against the bill because he believes 11 is too young to choose “to override parental consent on a major health issue that could have side effects. We shouldn’t dismiss that.” He pointed out that the Council rejected a bill in 2018 that would have extended voting rights to 16-year-olds.

He clarified during an interview last week that he believes vaccines in general are safe and does not subscribe to the anti-vaccine movement.

Trayon White has voiced similar concerns about taking away parents’ rights to make medical decisions for their children. He’s also expressed skepticism of vaccine safety in the past. McDuffie has not responded to requests to explain his vote.

Robert White, for his part, says he plans to take the coronavirus vaccine as soon as it’s available.

“I think the government, not that long ago, breached its trust with African American communities in a very real way, in the lifetime of several councilmembers,” he says, referring to the Tuskegee study. “We can’t ignore that fact, nor demand communities must get over it without acknowledging where the distrust comes from.

“As a public official, I have to take the vaccine to really set the example because it is so important for the public health, and I will do that,” he adds. “We have to, as a government, lead by example on this, as opposed to trying to mandate it.”

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NEWS CITY DESK

Railing Against The latest tension between maintaining affordable housing and preserving historic architecture

Darrow Montgomery

3060 16th St. NW

By Amanda Michelle Gomez @AmanduhGomez Restrictive zoning, poor management, low-paying jobs, and income inequality all make creating and maintaining affordable housing in D.C. challenging. For a 90-unit apartment building in Mount Pleasant, a historic designation makes keeping housing costs low for its residents—some of whom earn less than $36,400 annually—all the more difficult.

The issue? Repairing 25 corroded balconies to the tune of $1.69 million. To take all the balconies down and replace them with edging instead would save the residents, who own shares of the property or their individual units, more than half a million dollars. But removing all the balconies is not even an option because D.C.’s Historic Preservation Review Board wouldn’t allow it, say the residents of 3060 16th St. NW. The balconies have been a fixture of the building since it was first constructed at the turn of the century.

“You can’t even put a plant on it,” says Fatima Da Silva-Lopez of the ornamental balconies.

She and a few other residents met in the common room of their building in late February to discuss the balconies, which no one uses but are a source of anxiety nonetheless. Originally from Brazil, Da Silva-Lopez has lived in the

building for more than three decades.

“We were security,” she said at the meeting.

“We used to have people sign in and out visitors when I came here.”

“I also remember my mom having to heat water, having to take the water from the kitchen and into the bathroom, so we can take warm showers with buckets,” Rocío Leonzo recalled as the group reminisced. “Their elevators did not work, so everybody went up and down stairs.”

Leonzo and her family moved into the building in 1977, when she was 6 years old. At that time, the building was owned by Antioch School of Law. School leaders neglected the property and tried to force the tenants, who were mostly immigrants, out. It took seven years for the tenants to form a cooperative to collectively purchase and rehabilitate their forsaken building.

During the rehab, residents were without heat for two years and without hot water for one.

“It was tough, but it was good memories,” Leonzo said. “Everybody knows each other. We saw each other grow up, and now we see our kids play and grow up with each other.”

“She was in charge of caring for most of us. I’m pretty sure the parents would say ‘Rocío, keep them in order,’” joked Melina Jimenez-Flores.

Now in their mid-40s, the women have known each other practically all their lives.

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They remember bobbing for apples in the basement and the yard sales out front. They also remember their parents meeting with their neighbors in the common room just as they do nowadays to go over the responsibilities that come with collectively owning and managing a multifamily property. They’ve lived in the building all this time, and over the years, their husbands and kids have joined them.

Cooperative living was not always easy, but the hard times were past them, or so they thought.

A loan to pay for the balcony repairs would result in a 16.6 percent increase of the monthly fees for the average one-bedroom unit next year. The building’s financial reserves cannot cover the cost, and a portion of those funds were reserved for essentials like replacing the boiler in their century-old building next spring. The building, called the Renaissance, is a “condop,” meaning it contains both co-op and condo units.

The cooperative, which owns a total of 29 units, would be hit harder because they have larger units and fees are based on square footage.

“It’s going to hit the families the hardest,” says Randy Keesler, the cooperative president.

“For everybody, it is going to be a belt-tightening effort,” adds Neha Desai, the condo president.

The co-op and condo are in agreement that repairing the balconies will be a burden for

everyone, particularly in this time of economic uncertainty, so they are actively searching for a solution. Perhaps the Historic Preservation Review Board could let the Renaissance just remove the balconies? Local representatives told the residents that the board is unlikely to do so. If the board recommends against granting a permit, the Renaissance could appeal to the “Mayor’s Agent,” who has the final say on what is in the public’s interest under the D.C. historic preservation law. Or perhaps the Renaissance could also apply for a historic grant? The application process takes upwards of six months and the maximum award is $25,000. The balconies need to be taken care of by the end of 2023, because they are at risk of falling. Installing stainless steel beams and replacing the corroded under-window steel pieces could cost anywhere from $1.35 to $1.69 million dollars.

“We are reaching out to the building owners to better understand the situation and discuss options,” says a spokesperson with the D.C. Office of Planning, which oversees historic preservation and its board, when City Paper requested comment.

The stakes are high if the Renaissance receives no help. Fourteen owners who earn less than 30 percent of the median family income and who were part of the original group of tenants who formed the cooperative would have to spend nearly one-third of their income to pay off the loan for the balconies in their monthly fees.

Their average income is $14,600. This is not feasible, so some would be forced to end their membership and sell. To leave the building is rare, but some co-op members would have no other option.

“It’s income that we simply don’t have,” says Jimenez-Flores, who works at a charter school and whose husband is a mechanic. “Where are we going to go? It’s almost impossible. I’m living here with seven people. It’s home hospice for us—home hospice with a 93-year-old.”

Da Silva-Lopez had plans to retire in a few years. She is part of the janitorial staff at Georgetown University Hospital. She’s worked for a long time, both for her cooperative and at her job, and eventually would like to enjoy the fruits of her labor, as most do when they get older. Da Silva-Lopez is in her mid-50s. Not only have the balconies complicated her plans, but so has the coronavirus pandemic. She was laid off during the pandemic and just returned to work two months ago. Now she’s behind on bills, including her co-op fees.

“They pay me $15 an hour, so it is not enough to survive in this city,” Da Silva-Lopez tells City Paper over Zoom. She uses her neighbor’s computer for the call. “I am by myself to pay my bills.

I don’t have any husband or no help from anybody else.”

Keesler says three members are behind on monthly fees, and six in total either lost their jobs or saw their wages reduced during the pandemic. The co-op is working out a payment plan with members that are struggling. Adding another expense to satisfy the historic character of the neighborhood could be the thing that destroys the membership, so Keesler is hoping to reach a compromise with the city.

NEWS “We have this tension between two public policies—one is to try to help create affordable housing and sustain it, and another policy is to create beautiful architecture and sustain it,” says Keesler.

“The cooperative predates the historic district,” he adds. “The historic district, which is supposed to be a boon to property owners, is no boon to us. It’s really kind of a yoke around our necks.”

The Kenesaw Cooperative formed in 1977, while Mount Pleasant was first recognized as a historic district nine years later in 1986. Both the history of the cooperative and the building it occupies are documented on street signs around the neighborhood. One sign explains the history of the Kenesaw Apartment House, now called the Renaissance, which opened around 1906 and housed members of Congress and other prominent Washingtonians, including legendary pitcher Walter Johnson. The building, designed by Frank L. Averill and George W. Stone, marked the acceptance of apartment buildings in a neighborhood riddled with single family homes, according to Historic Mount Pleasant. Another sign tells the story of the Kenesaw Cooperative, one of the first cooperatives in the District to use the landmark Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. A blackand-white photo taken in 1978 that is now on display on a street sign shows Kenesaw tenants and their supporters marching north down 16th Street NW; Keesler is among those marching.

It took years of organizing for the Kenesaw Cooperative to take ownership of their building.

“I know this must be a dream come true,” said the first home-rule mayor of D.C., Walter Washington, of the Kenesaw Cooperative.

According to a Washington Post article published at the time, lawmakers believed the building at 16th and Irving streets NW served as a model for what other tenant associations in the city could do should their landlords decide to sell.

The District government helped Kenesaw’s dreams materialize. In January 1985, the District of Columbia Development Corporation provided $1.6 million in financing to the cooperative so it could purchase units, according to the Recorder of Deeds. Later that year, the loan was assigned to the Department of Housing and Community Development. And in February 1986, DCDC provided about $970,000 in additional financing. DHCD again was assigned these loans. Now, the cooperative is enlisting government assistance once again.

“If you want to keep a nice appearance, we need help with that,” says Robin Madrid, a former condo president. “We do our part with all the other stuff, keeping the building standing and keeping the diverse building for what it is … And it’s been a struggle to both rebuild what needs to be rebuilt and to keep the fees down.”

A number of years ago, Madrid says the roof needed a special assessment, so fees went up to cover the costs, but no one was priced out.

Keesler says cooperative fees average around $500 per month, and his own is $750.

Generally speaking, creating and maintaining cooperatives is challenging. Cooperative

members have to deal with a lot of complex regulations and compliance requirements, says Elizabeth Floyd, a supervising attorney at the Housing Cooperative Preservation Initiative with the Neighborhood Legal Services Program. She provides technical support to struggling cooperatives for this reason.

While she cannot speak to how pervasive the problem is, Floyd knows of a few instances where a historic designation has created problems for co-op members. She recalls one co-op president telling her about having to spend money they otherwise wouldn’t to accommodate a request from the Historic Preservation Review Board. The building, mostly made up of seniors, wanted to replace their front door, which had glass panes near the knob, with solid wood for security reasons during renovations.

But the board told the cooperative that members had to replace the front door with a replica.

The cooperative opted to purchase a security door to put in front of their door instead.

“They ended up having to dig into their own funds that they had raised for the building, literally through bake sales and fashion shows,” says Floyd.

While challenging to maintain, D.C. invests in cooperatives because they are viewed as a viable way to preserve affordable housing.

Cooperatives have been used to push back against displacement in gentrifying neighborhoods like Mount Pleasant. Kenesaw is part of a long and rich history of turning Black and Brown tenants into collective owners.

“Some people ask me, ‘Why don’t you move to Virginia or Maryland?’ I look around and say, ‘I don’t want to leave here.’ My doctor is three or four blocks from here,” says Teresa Baldizon.

“I know the neighborhood and the neighborhood knows me.”

Originally from Nicaragua, Baldizon came to the District on a student visa in 1973. She moved into the Renaissance four years later and never left. Baldizon lives with her 92-year-old mother, her sister, and her niece. Her nephew also owns a share in the cooperative and lives in his own unit.

The Kenesaw is a community within a community. Keesler’s godson, Victor Bernal, lives in the building, and Bernal’s mother, Angela Rosas, took care of Keesler’s kids when he and his wife would go to work. They celebrate the holidays together and would have gathered for Thanksgiving had it not been for the pandemic.

Rosas, who is 82, moved into the building in 1977 with three of her friends from church. She remembers the days when the building’s residents did their own landscaping. Every family pitched in and took care of the building.

“I cleaned on Saturdays,” laughs Rosas.

Some of the residents humored returning to those days to save money and put it toward the balcony repairs. They just don’t want anyone to be displaced.

“It is a very unique place that I love, and I hope that it doesn’t change too much or that I am forced to move out,” says Bernal. “I honestly don’t see myself ever leaving the building because I love the area, I love the building. I just couldn’t imagine living somewhere else.”

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SPORTS BASKETBALL

Hardwood Scores How Elena Delle Donne and her wife turned a passion project into a full-fledged woodworking business

Amanda Delle Donne

Elena Delle Donne

By Kelyn Soong @KelynSoong Elena Delle Donne and her wife Amanda needed a coffee table for their home. They were living in Delaware during the WNBA offseason at the time, and like many couples, they visited several furniture and home decor stores in search of the perfect piece.

No luck. They left not with a coffee table, but a realization.

“A lot of the stuff we were seeing, we thought that we could make ourselves,” Amanda says. “It was super expensive in stores. So we decided to go home and make the coffee table.”

And they did. They bought the wood, invited a friend with woodworking experience over to help, and watched YouTube tutorials for guidance. Weeks later, they had their own homemade coffee table.

Four years later, Delle Donne and Amanda are still working with wood. Except now, they’re making things for other people as the only members— not including their dogs Wrigley and Rasta—of the recently rebranded Deldon custom woodworking company. It’s a full-fledged business.

When she’s not working out at the gym, Delle Donne, a star for the Washington Mystics and the 2015 and 2019 WNBA MVP, is likely diving into

projects with Amanda inside a 1,500-square-foot warehouse near their home in Alexandria.

Deldon, which started off as a table business and has morphed into more of a wall art and custom cutting board company, has given Delle Donne a glimpse into her post-WNBA life.

“It’s almost like we have a 9-to-5 [job] and we’re carpenters, which we never thought either one of us would be, but we are,” Amanda says. “It’s been great.”

Delle Donne gets on the phone and starts defending herself. In 2016, ESPN profiled Delle Donne and wrote about her interest in woodworking. The author of the piece, Taffy BrodesserAkner, explained that Amanda “does most of the design and cutting work.”

Translation: She does most of the grunt work.

“Well, that’s the story of our relationship,” Amanda says with a laugh. “No, I’m just kidding.

As far as, like, designing pieces, I think she designs most of the wall art. As far as design, kind of coming up with the ideas, I think it’s equally both of us, but when it comes to, like, the work that nobody wants to do, honestly, yes, I am doing that.”

That includes handling everything on the business side, answering emails, and cleaning up the shop. “I think for the first time the other day I caught her vacuuming the shop, which was

8 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

a sight,” Amanda jokes.

Delle Donne is nearby and hears all of her wife’s comments.

“My response is that every business needs a doer and a dreamer, and I have taken on the dreamer role,” she says with a chuckle.

Neither had much experience with woodworking prior to 2016, but both grew up in households where building things was the norm.

Delle Donne’s father is a real estate developer, and she would follow him around during his projects starting at age 4 or 5. But instead of taking an interest in the business side, Delle Donne gravitated toward people using tools. Some would even let her use a nail gun or play with the wood. At home, she would make her dad gifts out of wood, like a wooden house he still has in his office and wooden golf clubs.

“I just have been really into making things,” Delle Donne says. “It even started when I was young. I loved K’Nex and Legos. I just loved building. It was something my dad and I would do together.”

Amanda says she grew up building forts, ramps, and whatever projects involved nailing things together with her brothers. As a couple, Delle Donne and Amanda, who got married on Nov. 3, 2017, have bonded through their shared interest in DIY projects.

After Delle Donne posted a photo of their first coffee table to her Instagram account in 2016, they started receiving comments about where to get the table. People were interested in purchasing one from them. Their passion project and side hustle quickly turned into a full-time business.

The hours working in the woodshop each day has brought them even closer together.

“We spend every minute of every day together,” Amanda says. “And we just really enjoy it. It’s a lot of fun. I married my best friend. I go to work with my best friend every day. And honestly, we’re just blessed. It’s great.”

For Delle Donne, woodworking is therapeutic.

“I feel like I just get into the shop, and it’s just me and that piece, and then to be able to be doing it alongside Amanda and then also our shop dogs, like it’s the perfect thing, especially through COVID,” she says. “But my favorite part is when a customer comes to us with an order—I always do the wall art, so sometimes the customer will just give us an idea, and I can literally run with it any way I want.”

Her most recent project is a basketball hoop line based on throwback NBA jerseys. Delle Donne mostly works on the wall art, while Amanda handles the cutting boards. The drawings for the basketball hoops are complete, but the pair haven’t had time to focus on them due to an influx of holiday orders.

Delle Donne describes the Deldon aesthetic as “very clean lines, sharp.” She and Amanda draw on inspirations from their own home.

“Sometimes Amanda has to stop me because I go back to, like, whites, blues, and grays,” Delle Donne says. “And she’s like, you know, not everybody has the same house as us. You might want to change it up. But yeah, I think it always kind of goes back to, like, what my favorite things are, and those colors will come through often, and I have to remind myself to change it up.”

When the 2020 WNBA season started this past July, Delle Donne did not make the trip to Bradenton, Florida, with her Mystics teammates out of health concerns. Her personal physician, who has treated her for Lyme disease, determined Delle Donne was at high risk for contracting COVID-19. Even though the league’s panel of doctors denied her medical exemption, she still opted to sit out of the season. Delle Donne initially believed that meant forfeiting her paycheck, but the Mystics announced shortly after that she would be paid even after opting out of the season.

The time away from basketball allowed Delle Donne to dive further into woodworking. But there were moments where she felt she needed to do more to stay connected to what was happening in Florida. Throughout the summer, the WNBA and several Mystics players took on prominent roles in calling attention to police brutality and anti-Black racism. Before a nationally televised game in August, the Mystics decided to sit out the game in protest over a shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where a White police officer shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, seven times in the back.

Delle Donne put her woodworking skills to use.

She and Amanda came up with the idea to create a “Demand Justice Basketball Hoop.” All of the proceeds will go to the NAACP. “I was like, gosh, like, we gotta do something,” Delle Donne recalls. “And we’re kind of just going back and forth, like trying to figure out what we can do. And we’re like, yeah, we’re woodworkers, we could create something so amazing, and something that we were kind of able to just reflect on what Black Lives Matter means to us and to our culture. So that’s where the design came from.”

Eventually, the two want to turn their focus toward designing and away from cutting the wood themselves. That way, they could ideally lower prices so more people can afford their pieces. Perhaps they would even hire other woodworkers to join the team. The current turnaround for orders generally takes two weeks.

“I think the end goal is to still always have this business, but to be more on the design side and just kind of be able to create pieces and offer them at lower prices where we can kind of get everybody some Deldon pieces,” Amanda says. “Right now, obviously, everything’s handmade. So we’re kind of more of a premium product. It would be great if we could, in some way, lower prices to make it so everybody could afford them.”

As for basketball, Delle Donne says she’s only doing “light stuff right now,” like lifting and practicing shooting. She trains at her strength coach’s gym, and there’s a basketball hoop in the warehouse, as well.

But with Deldon, she can already envision a future beyond being one of the best basketball players in the world. In that reality, Delle Donne is a woodworker.

“Like Amanda said, we do need to find a way where we can make more quicker and be able to charge less, and I’m sure that’ll be the next step,” she says. “But for now, this has been amazing, and I do feel like it’s something we’re so passionate about. I don’t see this ever going away.”

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10/28/2020 3:45:44 PM 9 washingtoncitypaper.com december 2020

10 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

2020 IN PHOTOS Photographs by Darrow Montgomery

As 2020 finally draws to a close, the idea of looking back on the past 50 or so weeks doesn’t seem particularly appealing. It’s tempting to let future historians tell the story of this year we spent inside and let the rest of us move on, and yet it’s not that simple. The memories of 2020—of Zoom calls that replaced birthday celebrations and holidays, of uprisings against police violence and governmental oppression, of empty restaurants and full hospitals—will be lodged in our hippocampi for quite a while. Maybe even forever.

The staff of City Paper has spent the past nine months chronicling the ups and downs of the coronavirus pandemic and much of the rest of the news that’s taken place in D.C. That work, for the most part, has occurred in our homes, but our staff photographer, Darrow Montgomery, went out to chronicle the world as it changed. He met activists fighting for racial justice, a 5-year-old already making his mark on the go-go scene, and dozens of other newsworthy individuals, documenting them all from a distance. He also captured the more somber moments: a fence covered in posters from this year’s Black Lives Matter marches, notes about masks taped to the doors of businesses, and pleas for help from people who can no longer afford their rent. In the depths of Rock Creek Park, he even found a message left by another visitor who just wanted to say hello.

So even though recalling precise details and dates from this year might be difficult, we invite you to take a walk through the past 12 months with Montgomery. Linger over the stones that look like mountains, recall what the inside of a bowling alley looks like (shot for a story that got bumped for pandemic coverage), and catch a glimpse of a house stripped to its bones before being remodeled. Even a pandemic can’t stop progress.

—Caroline Jones

Left Page: 3400 Block of 16th Street NW; Top: Rock Creek Park; Above: 5-year-old Mikael “Lil Kelz” Murray washingtoncitypaper.com december 2020 11

Left page, clockwise from top left: Brian Farrow, local musician; Black Lives Matter Plaza; Jamie Turner; Lafayette Square; 2500 Block of K Street NW Right page, clockwise from top: Ty Hobson-Powell; Sandwich shop, 14th Street NW; 16th Street NW

12 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

washingtoncitypaper.com december 2020 13

Clockwise from top left: Frank O. Agbro; Apartment Building on 15th Street NW; Elizabeth Acevedo; 2700 Block of Porter Street NW

14 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

E

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Experience outdoor holiday shopping in the heart of DowntownDC F Street between 7th & 9th Streets NW

Nov. 20 Thru

Dec. 23, 2020

12 p.m. to 8 p.m.

( *Closed Monday, Dec.14 )

6nual

an downtownholidaymarket.com

@DtwnHolidayMkt

DowntownHolidayMarket

get ere to Scan h fo on your in all the device e il b o m

#DowntownHolidayMarket

2020 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 20 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

D.C.’s Outdoor Shopping Village Unveils Expanded, SociallyDistanced Retail Experience November 20 – December 23 | 12PM-8PM F Street between 7th & 9th (Gallery Place Metro Station) Closed Thanksgiving Day, and Mondays Nov. 30, Dec. 7 and Dec. 14

PLAY ALL FOUR HOLIDAY TICKETS FOR A CHANCE TO WIN CASH AND OVER $50,000 IN SECOND CHANCE CASH PRIZES!

Note: The market will operate daily, regardless of rain or snow.

The DowntownDC Holiday Market returns for its 16th year, in a more spacious outdoor setting, perfect for safe, socially-distanced holiday shopping! Operated by the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) and Diverse Markets Management, this year’s market will move from its previous sidewalk location into the street, taking over two entire blocks of F Street NW, from 7th to 9th Streets NW. The increased footprint will allow for wider aisles on the street and guests can shop confidently with social distance in accordance with current COVID-19 guidance. Whether you’re shopping for friends, family or yourself, the Downtown Holiday Market is your one stop shop for unique gifts.

Here’s what you can find: • More than 70 vendors from the region will showcase unique and handmade crafts, clothing, glasswork, jewelry, paintings, photographs, woodworking and so much more at the market.

• Shoppers can support District creatives including Blackowned and minority-owned businesses with their locally-made products at the Made in DC booth presented by the Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD).

• Food, festivities and entertainment while you shop, including a fist-of-its-kind Mixed Reality Activation by ARTECHOUSE DC! • New this year, find this season’s trending styles at the DowntownDC BID’s District of Fashion booth.

ENTER NON-WINNING HOLIDAY TICKETS AT DCLOTTERY.COM TO play.

PROMO PERIOD: 11/4/20 – 1/13/21

In 2005, the DowntownDC Business Improvement District (BID) in collaboration with Diverse Markets Management (DMM) created an outdoor holiday shopping marketplace for the DowntownDC community. Today, DowntownDC is a retail and tourist destination and The Downtown Holiday Market is at the heart of it all. The Market is committed to environmental sustainability and many Market exhibitors offer fair-trade imports and gifts made from recycled and sustainable resources. The Market is conveniently accessible by public transportation including Metrorail, Metrobus and Capital Bikeshare.

For more information on daily performances and vendors, visit DowntownHolidayMarket.com. Vendors rotate daily, so we look forward to seeing you throughout this holiday season again and again!

Follow us on Twitter @DtwnHolidayMkt and on Facebook and Instagram @DowntownHolidayMarket (#DowntownDCHolidayMarket).

dclottery.com Fast Play tickets cannot be cancelled. DC Scratcher games may continue to be sold even when all the top prizes have been claimed.

Washington City Paper | 1/2 pg | 4.8542” x 11.25” | 4c | New | Holiday Scratcher

Neil Albert President & CEO DowntownDC Business Improvement District

Mike Berman Executive Director Diverse Markets Management

2020 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 20 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

EXHIBITORS Find unique and wonderful items offered by over 70 exhibitors.

Please note, exhibitors are scheduled for either the First Half of the show (Friday, November 20 - Sunday, December 6), the Second Half of the show (Tuesday, December 8 - Wednesday, December 23) or For the Entire show.

Scan here to get all the info on your mobile device at

See the Exhibitor Categories for the participant list, booth numbers, and days of participation.

See the SITE MAP for booth locations.

Downtown HolidayMarket.com

View detailed description of exhibitors and a link to their business at DowntownHolidayMarket.com.

CERAMICS

instagram.com/ littletibetboutique

Kerri Henry Pottery #49 Second Half kerrihenrypottery.com

Maskerade by Kiwi #35 Second Half maskeradebykiwi.com

CLOTHES & ACCESSORIES

Indigo Moon #58 First Half Indigomoonclothing.com

SITE MAP

Canimals

Chocoparadise #43 Entire Show chocoparadise.net

getcanimals.com

Chouquette Chocolates #4 Entire Show chouquette.us

Chopstick Art #50 Second Half chopstickart.com

H3O Farms #38 Entire Show

Circuit Breaker Labs

COLLECTIBLES

District of Fashion #32 Entire Show facebook.com/ districtoffashion

GIFT FOODS

#49 First Half

SLANT #16 First Half slantevolution.com

Art Inca Native #9, 10 Entire Show

CRAFT

#54 Entire Show

FarEast Antiques #44, 45 Entire Show

CircuitBreakerLabs.com

iconsDC #28 First Half iconsDC.com

#37 First Half

Hope’s Journals Made in DC / Black Owned

Keche #51 First Half kechewool.com

Jentz Prints #20, 21 Entire Show instagram.com/jentz_prints

Little Tibet Boutique #24, 25 Entire Show

Tom Rall #29, 30 Entire Show

#39, 40 Entire Show thedcpopup.com New York Puzzle Company #47 Entire Show newyorkpuzzlecompany.com

Mondepice Spices and Teas #33, 34 Entire Show mondepice.com RAKO Coffee Roasters #1 Entire Show rakocoffee.com The Baking District #42 First Half thebakingdistrict.com The Capital Candy Jar #F5 Entire Show thecapitalcandyjar.com

The Downtown Holiday Market is centrally located in the heart of Downtown DC, centered at 8th and F Street, NW. It is easily accessible by foot, bike, and Metro (Gallery Pl-Chinatown).

Smithsonian American Art Museum & National Portrait Gallery

F ST 5

6

7

9 10 11

12 13 14 15

23 24 25 26

8

27 28 29 30

8TH ST

4

19 20 21 22

Shake Shack 800 F St NW

6

31 32 33 34

35 36 37 38

39 40 41 42

43 44 45

46 47 48 49

50 51 52 53

54 55 56 57

58 59 60

Hotel Monaco 700 F St NW

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2020 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 20 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

Food 6

3

Food 4/5

2

Food 2/3

1

16 17 18

7TH ST NW

Gallery Place/ Chinatown Metro

Food 1

9TH ST NW

801 F St NW

GIFT FOODS (cont.)

Souvenir Arts #15 Entire Show russian-classics.com

Stio Designs #17 Entire Show ancientcoindesigns.com

The Choksey Group #23 Entire Show facebook.com/ thechokseygoup

Turtles Webb #5 First Half turtleswebb.com

The Sands of Time Bazaar #18 Second Half facebook.com/ SandsofTimeBazaar

PAINTING

Toro Mata #7 Entire Show toromata.com

Cherry Blossom Creative #48 Entire Show cherryblossomcreative.com

Tunisian Touch #59 Entire Show tunisiantouch.com

Jonathan Blum #28 Second Half Jonathanblumportraits.com

Verokamoda #52 First Half

JEWELRY

Marcella Kriebel Art & Illustration #55 Entire Show marcellakriebel.com

ARTICLE22 #35 First Half article22.com

P.A.I.N.T.S. Institute #31 Second Half paintsinstitute.org

Deco Etc. #22 Entire Show deco-jewelry.com

Painted Palettes #58 Second Half paintedpalettes.com

Mundo Handmade #11 Entire Show mundohandmade.com

Lost & Forged #41 Entire Show lostandforged.com

Rayhart #16 Second Half rayhart.com

Silk Road Traders #12 Entire Show silkroadtraders.net

Southwest Expressions #26 Entire Show nativecraftsworld.com

The EWBA Store #51, 52 Second Half ewbastore.com

The Taste of Germany #F2 Entire Show thetasteofgermany.com

GLASS Cecil Art Glass #46 Entire Show facebook.com/cecilartglass Joy of Glass #27 First Half joyofglass.com New World Glass #19 Entire Show newworldglass.com

IMPORTED CRAFTS Baby Alpaca #60 Entire Show From Egypt With Love #53 Entire Show fromegyptwithlove-epy.com Journeys Spirited Gifts #56 Second Half journeysgifts.com KVZ Designs #8 Entire Show kvzdesigns.com

Art by Zachary Sasim #18 First Half zacharysasim.com

Tsolmon-Art #2 Entire Show tsolmonart.com

Coastal HoBo #13, 14 Entire Show coastalhobo.com

The Neighborgoods #5 Second Half theneighborgoods.com

PRINTMAKING

Freres Branchiaux Candle Company #50 Entire Show freresbranchiaux.com

WOOD

Female Power Project #3 Entire Show ledablack.com Pyramid Atlantic Art Center #37 Second Half pyramidatlanticartcenter.com

SOAPS & CANDLES Banner Bee Co #31 First Half bannerbees.com

Joyful Bath Co. #36 Entire Show joyfulbathco.com

TEXTILES

Godet Woodworking #58 Second Half godetfurniture.com Mistura Timepieces #6 Entire Show woodcoholics.com

Naked Decor #27 Second Half nakeddecor.com

FREE VIRTUAL CONCERT SING OUT LOUD FOR ALL TO HEAR!

Part 1 Streaming Now Part 2 Starts DECEMBER 19 AT 4 PM

WOLFTRAP.ORG/SESSIONS

GIFT CARDS AND MEMBERSHIPS MAKE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFTS WOLFTRAP.ORG/GIFT 2020 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 20 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

MUSIC SCHEDULE The Market Screen presents a musical feast of more than 40 performers by some of the area’s best blues, rock, jazz, soul, country, world, and contemporary artists. And of course, it wouldn’t be a “holiday” market without some of your favorite seasonal standards. Check the performer list below, and find more information about all of the performers in the Musical Entertainment section of DowntownHolidayMarket.com.

Alpha Dog Blues Ensemble Acoustic Blues

Kentucky Avenue Modern Americana

Andres Garcia Acoustic Blues

King Street Bluegrass Bluegrass, Americana

Bob Sheppard Roots, Rock, Americana

Kiss and Ride Blues, Jazz, Soul

Cecily Bumbray Jazz, R &B

Liltwith dancers from the Culkin Live Dance Company Irish, Step Dancers

Conor & the Wild Hunt Americana, Folk Rock

Lost Baggage American Songbook

Djangolaya Gypsy Jazz Erin HarpeCountry Blues Duo Blues Flo Anito Singer Songwriter Howard University Vocal Jazz Studies featuring Afro Blue, SaaSy and HU Jazz Singers Jazz, A Capella Jazz Trotters Jazz Jelly Roll Mortals with special guest Janine Wilson Folk, Roots, Americana Karen Collins & The Backroads Band Folk, Roots, Americana

Low Water Bridge Band Folk, Roots, Americana Moose Jaw Bluegrass, Americana More Kibel!

Bluegrass, Americana

Surf Jaguars Surf Rock

The Lovejoy Group Jazz, Holiday

The 19th Street Band Folk Rock, Americana

The Sweater Set Folk Pop

Painted Trillium Celtic, Folk

The All New Genetically Altered Jug Band Folk, Roots, Americana

Tritone Jazz Trio Jazz

Sara Curtin Folk, Roots, Americana, Holiday

The Archives Reggae

Washington Youth Choir A Cappella

Split String Soup Bluegrass, Americana

The Honey Larks Soul

Music Pilgrim Trio Jazz, Traditional Folk, Holiday Nina Casey Trio Swing, American Songbook

HEY 2030, SEE YOU AT COLLEGE. dccollegesavings.com

2020 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 20 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

CAPITOL HILL AUTO SERVICE 6 1 5 I n d e p e n d e n c e Av e S E | Wa s h i n g t o n , D . C . 2 0 0 0 3 | 2 0 2 - 5 4 3 - 5 1 5 5 | c a p i t o l h i l l a u t o s e r v i c e . c o m

HONEST QUALITY WORK AT AN AFFORDABLE PRICE

Our family is here to take care of your family, safely, during every season!

IMPORT & DOMESTIC AUTO REPAIRS | CERTIFIED ASE TECHNICIANS We provide top notch service for import and domestic car repairs.

FOOD & DRINK

Find freshly prepared food, coffee, hot chocolate, and more tasty treats for the entire show from these local businesses.

Alexa’s Empanadas

Old Blue BBQ

#F1 Entire Show

#F4 Entire Show

facebook.com/alexasempanadas

oldbluebbq.com

BindaasxRasika

The Capital Candy Jar

#F3 Entire Show

#F5 Entire Show

bindaasdc.com

thecapitalcandyjar.com

Migue’s Mini Donuts

The Taste of Germany

#F6 Entire Show

#F2 Entire Show

facebook.com/miguesminis

thetasteofgermany.com

Interstellar Studios

Servicing brakes, exhaust, tune ups, engine repairs, electrical, and A.C. Systems.

Call or email us today!

2 0 2 - 5 4 3 - 5 1 5 5 | C A P I TO L H I L L AU TO @ G M A I L . C O M M O N DA Y - F R I DA Y, 7 : 0 0 A M - 6 : 0 0 P M

VOTED BEST PLACE TO GET YOUR CAR SERVICED: 2020

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2020 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 20 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

Interstellar Studios

CERTIFIED REPAIR SHOP

SPECIAL PROGRAMS ARTECHOUSE DC XR Installation

Schedule: Onsite the Entire Market In collaboration with ARTECHOUSE, Washington, DC’s award-winning digital art gallery, a first-of-its-kind Mixed Reality Installation will be placed throughout the Downtown Holiday Market! Visitors can engage with these seasonally-themed installations by downloading the Artechouse App on their smartphones.

The interactive installations promote the innovative and cutting-edge digital experiences on display at ARTECHOUSE DC. Their newest exhibition, Crystalline, has turned their entire gallery space into an intensely interactive homage to the wonders of the Classic Blue color (Open to the public all Fall/Winter).

The Holiday Market Screen

Virtual Musical Performances Schedule: (2pm and 6pm each day) Virtual performances will showcase local musicians and bands daily on our LED Market Screen. With live performances unavailable this holiday season, we have gathered both new and favorite market performers to present more than 30 different performances welcoming visitors to the festive surroundings! From holiday classics to inspired originals, the music will be featured “live” on screen, heard throughout the market, as well as re-broadcasted on the market’s Youtube channel!

Holiday Movie Screenings Schedule: Friday, Saturday, Sunday at 4pm.

Visitors will be pleasantly surprised to catch their favorite family-friendly holiday films on weekend evenings at the market. Movies like How the Grinch Stole Christmas, The Polar Express, A Christmas Story, The Muppet Christmas Carol, and more will be aired for families visiting the market.

Saturday Morning Theater Shorts from the National Theater Schedule: Saturday at 12:30pm The National Theater has been actively producing virtual theater performances to accommodate for the difficult challenges faced with the COVID-19 pandemic. Their Saturday Morning Theater Shorts series will be aired every Saturday at the market (12:30pm). The videos showcase the talented actors and actresses that grace the National Theater stage throughout their live seasons.

Messaging from Downtown DC Business Support, Holiday Greetings, and Animations Schedule: Daily Between scheduled musical and entertainment content, the Market Screen at the Downtown Holiday Market will be used to promote many of the impacted businesses and cultural organizations in Downtown DC. Holiday Greetings and special messaging will be interspersed throughout daily market hours to remind visitors of the exciting attractions and destinations in Downtown DC. An interactive ticker featuring social media posts from #DowntownHolidayMarket will also share photos and twitter mentions in real time across the live screen!

2020 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 20 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

Creating economic stability for DC’s Ward 8 residents THRIVE East of the River is helping hundreds of families in Ward 8 navigate the COVID-19 pandemic through financial assistance and mentorship Leaving her father’s funeral, Tiffany Jessup prepared for life as the head of her household after losing a loved one to COVID-19.

“Assistance from THRIVE East of the River

She peered down at her phone only to learn that transition had a sudden complication. Like millions of people across the country, Jessup was furloughed.

it seems like people living in the inner city

While uncertainty loomed throughout the month of May, come June, help was on the way.

She was selected to be a beneficiary of The THRIVE East of the River partnership, a collaboration between Martha’s Table, Bread for the City, 11th Street Bridge Park (a project of Building Bridges Across the River) and Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative (FSFSC), designed to address immediate economic instability posed by COVID-19 to DC’s Ward 8 residents with the goal of supporting a total of 500 families.

THRIVE East of the River first came onto Jessup’s radar while serving as President of the Savannah Apartment Tenants Association — an affordable housing development with 60 units. That complex is located at the Douglass Community Land Trust, which was stood up by 11th Street Bridge Park to create inclusive and equitable development and preservation of permanently affordable housing.

“Assistance from THRIVE East of the River represents hope,” says Jessup. “Sometimes it seems like people living in the inner city just get lost in the shuffle and that nobody is thinking about us. This assistance showed us that there are people out there that truly understand our situation and want to help.”

THRIVE East of the River has supported more than 350 low-to-moderate income families living in Ward 8, a historically Black community, since its June launch. It has distributed nearly $2 million in financial aid to those people — all of whom had preexisting relationships with one of the four aforementioned nonprofits.

Photos Courtesy of 11th Street Bridge Park

Jessup, who has worked as a paralegal for more than 20 years, was now unexpectedly without a source of income and tasked with supporting her mother — who she lives with in Washington, D.C.’s Ward 8 neighborhood.

represents hope,” says Jessup. “Sometimes just get lost in the shuffle and that nobody is thinking about us. This assistance showed us that there are people out there that truly understand our situation and want to help.”

This partnership has raised nearly $4 million in funding from companies like Capital One — who has been a longtime supporter of many organizations in Ward 8.

“Capital One stepped up and recognized the immediate need in our community,” says Scott Kratz, Director of 11th Street Bridge Park. “Capital One has been making an impact east of the river for quite some time and continues to invest in it with the upcoming opening of the Capital One Cafe at the historic Anacostia MLK Gateway project.”

Participants receive five months of support including weekly groceries, monthly dry goods and $5,500 in financial assistance. Assigned community navigators from FSFSC are helping those families access unemployment insurance, tax credits and other available benefits.

FSFSC is offering Capital One’s financial well-being course to teach budgeting skills to Ward 8 residents in an effort to help them manage the financial assistance they’re receiving through THRIVE East of the River.

“The financial well-being component in THRIVE is essential for family success,” says Nekkita Beans, a special project coordinator at FSFSC. “We’re educating people about how to create a budget that meets their specific situation. We’re also offering support as community navigators to act as liaisons to connect people with all of the resources being offered to sustain their needs.”

a world where everyone has an equal opportunity to prosper by advocating for an inclusive society, building thriving communities and creating financial tools that enrich lives.

“Capital One is proud to support an initiative organized by strong nonprofits that are embedded in the community they serve and trusted by Anacostia’s residents,” says Naomi Smouha, Community Relations Manager at Capital One. “We’re committed to ensuring that individuals and families who have been directly affected by the pandemic are equipped with the proper resources and support needed to navigate these challenging times.”

For Jessup, the hope that support brought to her and the residents she represents at the Savannah Apartments continues to shine.

“Our residents stand strong, we stand together and we are thankful,” Jessup said. “It felt like that support came overnight and all of a sudden we had people in our corner to help provide resources and meet the unique needs of every person exactly where they stand,” Jessup said.

That support comes as part of the larger Capital One Impact Initiative, which focuses on creating SPONSORED STORY FROM CAPITAL ONE

2020 DOWNTOWN HOLIDAY MARKET | Nov. 20 thru Dec. 23 : 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. DAILY | DowntownHolidayMarket.com

Clockwise from top left: 1100 Block of 18th Street NW; Kenilworth Katrina; 1600 Block of Lamont Street NW; 1200 Block of Jackson Street NE

washingtoncitypaper.com december 2020 23

Clockwise from top: Jahnia Phillips, Howard University women’s bowling team; 3100 Block of Mount Pleasant Street NW; Bar, Mount Pleasant Street NW;

24 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

Clockwise from top: Buzzard Point; 400 Block of Longfellow Street NW; Chris Bradshaw

washingtoncitypaper.com december 2020 25

FOOD YOUNG & HUNGRY

Cold Cuts

have dialed back activities of their own volition, opting to focus on takeout and delivery for the time being. In discussing the rationale behind their tough calls, they all mention their employees. When restaurants swing from being open to closed except for takeout, they typically reduce staffing levels. Job security is low and the District’s unemployment system continues to be difficult to navigate.

With COVID-19 cases climbing once more, four bars and restaurants that received winterization grants are focusing on takeout and delivery instead.

When Sandra Basanti answers the phone, she sits in the dark, decade-old dining room of Pie Shop on H Street NE, peering at a picture of Bob Marley on the wall. Her business is part restaurant and part performance venue—she misses the music most of all. “My entire life, my therapy, my escape, and community revolves around the live music scene and going to shows and seeing familiar faces,” she says. “That’s just not going to happen this year.”

Ten months into the COVID-19 pandemic, Basanti’s morale is suffering. Like all entrepreneurs, she prefers to be in the driver’s seat, making plans and projections. “Being at the mercy of the city and what’s happening in the country and the world, that part is nerve-wracking,” she says. “The mental gymnastics of it all is exhausting. The back and forth. The yo-yoing.

We all have whiplash from the different rules and regulations that are constantly changing.

The mental burnout is so real.”

Fluctuating operating restrictions that accompany the city’s phased reopening process have exhausted the owners and staff of local bars and restaurants. District leaders have frequently adjusted policies since the stay-at-home order was lifted on May 29, as they try to mitigate risk while dealing with the consequences of the pandemic and the accompanying economic recession. Restaurants have been crawling toward a hazy finish line, hoping the federal government will finally step in with targeted relief, even though it might be too late.

Most recently, Mayor Muriel Bowser mandated restaurants reduce their indoor seating capacities from 50 to 25 percent starting Dec. 14. Jurisdictions across the country are ending indoor dining because multiple studies deem the activity risky. She also imposed a 10 p.m. cutoff for on-premises alcohol sales. These moves come as D.C. recorded 1,451 new cases of COVID-19 and 12 deaths in the first five days of December alone.

Some owners have opted not to open to the full extent the District permits. City Paper spoke with Basanti and three other operators who

Illustration by Julia Terbrock

By Laura Hayes @LauraHayesDC

26 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

Pie Shop’s dining room has remained closed throughout the pandemic, but Basanti opened the establishment’s patio in September.

Optimistic she could attract customers even in the cold, she applied for a $6,000 winterization grant from the District. She spent $2,000 of the money she received on marketing the patio, but ultimately returned the grant. The money wasn’t a match for the risk.

“It wasn’t financially sustainable,” Basanti says. “We appreciated the people who did come, but it’s not the kind of place where you’re going to spend $100 per person on pie and drinks. We decided we’re not even going to try when cases kept spiking. Temperatures are going to drop.

It’s flu season. It’s not worth the risk to employees and patrons. We made the call finally and returned the funds.”

Basanti wishes aid arrived in a different order. The winterization grant had a swift spending deadline and tight stipulations on how the money could be allocated, and only benefitted venues with outdoor space. “I wish that they had rolled out the Bridge Fund earlier instead of winterization, because then people really could have gotten money that could be used for all sorts of things,” she says.

The Bridge Fund is a $100 million grant program earmarked for D.C.’s hardest hit sectors: hotels, restaurants, entertainment, and retail.

The city is tending to hotels first, but restaurants will see the largest disbursement of grant money—$35 million in total. The application process opened Monday, Dec. 7. Like all grants, there are guidelines for how funds can be spent, but there’s far more wiggle room.

“They should have rolled this out in August to get ahead of the winter,” Basanti says. “If we can get assistance, I hope I can give my staff some mental health paid time off to decompress. And like everybody, we have fixed costs.

I really avoid thinking too far into the future because it’s too daunting.”

Shaw bar Ivy and Coney can also only think in the immediate term and decided to close its outdoor space, despite investing time and resources to make it cozy. Sunday, Dec. 6, was the last day patrons could dine and drink on the roof deck until the owners feel confident operating again. In the meantime, they’ll focus on takeout and delivery, just as they did from mid-March through late July, when they first welcomed customers onto the roof. They have yet to reopen their indoor space.

“Ninety-five percent of the decision was the rise in cases,” says co-owner Josh Saltzman.

“It looks like it’s going to get worse once the results of Thanksgiving come in. It’s not safe right now. We did one last weekend to get some more money into our staff’s pockets so we can

FOOD try to ride this out. It’s just a pause, hopefully a short one.”

Saltzman describes 2020 as the “most brutal” year of his life. “Me and my wife went to a one-income household,” he says. “[Co-owners] Chris [Powers] and Adam [Fry] are the same way. Luckily, we have significant others who have been supportive because we’re trying to keep as many people employed as possible.”

Bartending loses its appeal when you’re not slinging drinks to droves of patrons cheering on their favorite teams, according to Saltzman.

“It’s tough to come in excited for work when the max we can seat is 18 people in a bar that used to hold many multiples of that,” he says. “One of the things people like about bartending is that it’s fast-paced. When it’s slower and [limited to] table service, it’s harder to keep yourself going.

Saturday nights used to fly by.”

Saltzman is counting on financial support from the Bridge Fund to carry his bar to its seventh anniversary in January. “The name and everything is what it needs to be—a bridge to vaccines,” he says. “I wish the federal government had been as responsive as the D.C. government in trying to come up with ideas.”

He believes the feds, in ignoring near-constant calls for specific aid for the hospitality industry, aren’t grasping the full supply chain involved in keeping restaurants running.

“Think about the laundry company that supplies us with bar rags in Columbia Heights,” Saltzman continues, referring to A Andrews Linen Services. “It’s everyone. Any funds that help us get through this tough period ensures there will be community on the other end.”

Two newer restaurants, Queen’s English and Baan Siam, say they’ve fared as well as possible during the pandemic and are cautiously optimistic about the future. They too will focus on takeout and delivery in the coming months.

Sarah Thompson and Chef Henji Cheung brought Columbia Heights modern Hong Kong cooking when Queen’s English opened last year. After Bowser suspended on-premises dining on March 15, Thompson says they decided to go dormant for seven weeks. “That was the hardest day of my adult life, having to call 15 staff members to say we have to close,” she says.

The restaurant opened again at the end of April for takeout and delivery. Once Phase 2 of reopening got underway in June, Queen’s English set out five patio tables. Then they secured a streatery in August, allowing them to seat as many people outside as they could in their 1,400-square-foot dining room before the pandemic. Like Ivy and Coney and Pie Shop, Queen’s English hasn’t dabbled in indoor dining.

Their streatery setup was inviting. Receiving a winterization grant allowed Queen’s English to invest in outdoor furniture and lighting, plus tents for the spring. But December’s cold snap doesn’t jibe with fine dining, and reliably acquiring propane has been a challenge.

They too will revert to takeout and delivery in January, after a short break to give employees time to recuperate and quarantine before spending time with family.

“With our style of service, it would require

a lot of employees being outside,” Thompson explains. “Why are we trying to serve in 40 degree weather? It’s not fun for the guest and it’s not fun making your employees stand out there.”

For restaurants whose food doesn’t translate well to being boxed up, clinging to outdoor dining may be the only chance for survival.

They’re hoping Washingtonians will make like Scandinavians by bucking up and dressing in layers. Baan Siam partner Tom Healy isn’t convinced that will happen.

“Outdoor dining is dropping off,” he says.

The data-obsessed restaurant co-owner tracks how many people are searching for reservations on online platforms. “It dropped like a stone as soon as the weather started averaging 40 degrees … When the wind is blowing 25 miles per hour, it’s miserable.”

Baan Siam in Mount Vernon Triangle has only received a winterization grant. Other forms of aid were off limits because the restaurant just opened in June. Businesses often have to share sales and staffing histories to be eligible for funds. The Northern Thai restaurant initially utilized 16 outside tables, but recently dropped to seven. “For the brave souls that want to come out, we have tents and heaters,” Healy says.

The restaurant is fortunate that its food travels well. A new to-go deal featuring two appetizers, two entrees, a dessert, and two drinks for $60 is enticing diners. The kitchen is slammed, according to Healy. “When you have days that are cold and dark and you see Chef [P’Boom] in the kitchen with flames shooting out of the wok, you think, ‘God, that’s great!’”

Unlike Pie Shop, Ivy and Coney, and Queen’s English, Baan Siam experimented with indoor dining starting in August. “Case numbers were down, the restaurant is huge, and we had our ventilation redone,” Healy says. “We felt pretty secure about it.”

That feeling didn’t last. “People started getting more and more lax with the rules,” Healy explains. “There were more incidents of conflicts with customers who didn’t want to wear masks. We made the decision, as a restaurant with our staff, that if we were losing control of the situation, we’d stop. We’re months away from a vaccine. All I have to do is get my crew through this without anyone getting infected and I’ve won the game.”

Healy knows he’s privileged to be in the position to close indoor dining and scale back outdoor dining. He has an understanding landlord and has turned $3,600 in profit in the six months they’ve been operating. That may not seem like much, but many restaurants are only bringing in 20 to 40 percent of their typical sales, breaking even at best and hemorrhaging money at worst.

“We’re doing OK,” Healy continues.

“Everyone has reached this zombie-like state of just accepting every hit that comes along. We’re on this roller coaster every day trying to find where solid ground is. The vaccine is the biggest hope on the horizon. As we continue to have to make changes on what is now like a monthly basis, at least we know there’s hope.”

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washingtoncitypaper.com december 2020 27

ARTS

Playing It by Ear

By Dora Segall Contributing Writer Live music venues shut their doors almost as soon as COVID-19 hit D.C., and nine months later, they show few signs of reopening. Independent venues were especially vulnerable—most had to furlough employees. After the weekly federal unemployment benefit of $600 ended in July, workers began searching for new ways to make ends meet.

Five people working at independent D.C. music venues shared with City Paper how they have managed to keep busy and stay afloat without income from in-person shows.

Johnny O’Connor Johnny O’Connor has been Songbyrd Music House’s primary talent buyer since 2016. Things were looking good for the Adams Morgan venue at the start of this year.

Songbyrd had expanded to host small shows in its Vinyl Lounge upstairs, in addition to its larger, basement-level concerts. It also ran a successful record store, daytime cafe, and nighttime bar.

all but about five of its employees. O’Connor was one of the lucky ones.

The effects have been tough for O’Connor psychologically. “Anybody in live music with a job right now is extremely lucky,” he notes. But when “everybody says it’s time to pause and be grateful, I kind of just have this visceral, like, ‘Fuck that’ reaction. I really miss the people that I enjoy doing what I love with.”

O’Connor has spent the past several months rescheduling shows and helping with new initiatives to generate profit for Songbyrd during the pandemic. The venue livestreams performances, but organizing them has been complicated for a number of reasons. Recording equipment is expensive, and the lack of bar sales makes it difficult for artists and venue workers alike to profit. Another challenge is finding new acts to record this far into the pandemic. “We can’t afford to cover anybody’s travel, [so we] have to get bands that are somewhat close to D.C.,” O’Connor explains. “After a while, the ones that could make money will probably have all done livestreams already.”

For the past several months, O’Connor has also commuted to and from his home in Baltimore each Saturday and Sunday to serve brunch. Nov. 22 was his last day serving. Outdoor dining, film screenings, and livestream projects were great activities for keeping customers engaged over the summer, but drawing people in as it gets colder will be more challenging.

As prospects for the winter look increasingly bleak, O’Connor has turned to opportunities beyond Songbyrd. He has been working in management for a couple musicians in Baltimore, helping them find record deals and other opportunities. He has thought about starting a nonprofit for artists there. “You kind of have to wear both hats,” he explains. “I love Songbyrd and want it to stay in business, [but] then also, you got to think about yourself.”

James Lore

Music venue workers are struggling to make ends meet as the pandemic rages on.

Zeeshan Shad Unlike O’Connor, he was furloughed during the pandemic.

COVID-19 hit Shad both as a booker and as a musician. “I got into this whole thing through playing music,” he explains. He first discovered the D.C. music scene as an undergraduate at Washington College while playing drums for gigs in the city. More recently, he joined a local band called Tosser. They had two tours scheduled for this past spring, one in the South and one in Europe. With the pandemic, both of

those plans went out the window.

Shad moved in with his dad on the Eastern Shore as soon as Songbyrd stopped putting on in-person shows. “I kind of just locked myself out of music for a little bit,” he says. “I think I was super burned out and kind of needed to refocus my energy.”

Shad managed to keep his job through the summer. In August, he went to Songbyrd to pick up his paycheck. Both owners were there and said they needed to talk to him. They told him they were financially hemorrhaging and needed to furlough him. “It was a conversation that I knew was inevitably going to happen,” Shad says. “There just wasn’t enough [going on] to justify having two bookers.”

He had already been considering his next steps and is now pursuing a master’s in music business at Berklee College of Music. “I’m basically taking everything that I’ve learned and trying to expand it to another level, with the hopes that when this all comes back, I’ll have more options in terms of what I can [do] within the industry,” Shad explains. He is not sure whether or not he will return to Songbyrd, but he does plan to stay in D.C. “I’ve been able to travel extensively through playing music, [but] I always know I’m home when I’m here,” he says.

Jon Weiss Jon Weiss was part of the founding team behind The Wharf’s Union Stage in 2017 and has been a talent buyer there ever since. By the start of 2020, he was booking shows for three other venues as well. In March, he started working with Union Stage to book concerts

A selfie of Johnny O’Connor Then the pandemic hit. “All of that is just totally gone,” O’Connor says. When D.C. banned mass gatherings of 50 people or more, the majority of Songbyrd’s revenue sources disappeared. The venue was forced to furlough

Before mid-March, Zeeshan Shad spent his days booking shows for Songbyrd’s Vinyl Lounge, scheduling sound techs, and sending out venue advances and holds. He also helped schedule and prepare for events downstairs when he had extra time. He had started out at Songbyrd as an intern fresh out of college in 2016. Then, one day, owner Alisha Edmonson told him she was planning on opening a new performance space in the room adjacent to the bar and asked if he wanted to book the shows there. Shad immediately agreed. In the years that followed, the Vinyl Lounge became a national touring room.

28 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

Julia Leiby

Johnny O’Connor

Zeeshan Shad

Jon Weiss

washingtoncitypaper.com december 2020 29

ARTS

Like Weiss, Peter Lillis was part of Union Stage’s founding team in 2017. For three years, he oversaw marketing, sales, and graphic design there and at Jammin’ Java. In September, he was furloughed.

“I’m grateful for the time that I did get to spend [there],” Lillis says. “I kept working for the business for a long time—well into the pandemic, which I know is rare for a lot of people in my position, or really in any kind of hospitality business this year.”

Since he lost that work, Lillis has been taking some time to reevaluate whether he wants to continue working in live music. He admits that under normal circumstances, he’d probably be “chugging along, and maybe have those thoughts but [not] necessarily have time to face them.” Lillis feels good about his employment prospects in another industry, at least until a job in music is possible again. “There are tons of trade associations and non-office things like that,” he says. “In terms of marketing, it’s a lot of the same motions, it’s just what you’re talking about and who you’re talking to.”

Lillis started taking a six-month-long online coding class in October to give himself an edge. “It’s not easy, and I haven’t been in school in a very long time, but I think that it

Apothecary, where they sell teas and smokable blends made from homegrown herbs like lavender and chamomile. At the same time, Smyers has found time to slow down.

“It’s definitely a harder time, going back to living paycheck to paycheck, but in a spiritual way, I kind of do feel a little more free ... just stepping back and seeing what’s important,” they said.

Smyers is nervous for the future of Black Cat when it does return. “A lot of places are cleaner, sleeker, [and] definitely more digital,” they note. Black Cat, in comparison, has always been cashless and relatively low-tech.

“I think our little happy, crusty era is coming to an end,” Smyers says.

Peter Lillis pairs well with my marketing experience,” he explains.

In the coming months, Lillis hopes to see more assistance for people who worked in live music prior to the pandemic. “In terms of providing service and relief to music venues, it must include … the people who make the venues happen—the bartenders, the security guards, the marketing managers, the cleaners who come in after-hours,” he says, “because those are the people who are at risk for health complications, [and] in terms of venues, that they are the people that make [them] alive.”

Lindsay Smyers Lindsay Smyers has worked for Black Cat for the past 10 years, most recently as the primary talent buyer and as an operational owner.

Before the pandemic, they spent every afternoon at the venue, booking shows and scrambling to help with all sorts of challenges that come up between shows.

“It feels like a distant dream,” Smyers says.

“It’s just so quiet now.”

Black Cat hosted its last show of the year on March 12. Smyers missed it, leaving early to travel to North Carolina. “I remember I ran into [my friend] Mark, as I walked out ... he said, ‘You’re not staying [for the] show?’ I’m like, ‘No, I gotta go to North Carolina ... I’ll catch the next one,’” they say. “I keep thinking about that, how I used to take for granted that I’ll just catch the next one, and there wasn’t a next one.”

They are grateful that Black Cat was quick to respond when the pandemic hit. Owner Dante Ferrando foresaw the pandemic lasting for more than just a month or two, and has found ways to support his staff despite the lack of work. Thanks to a Paycheck Protection

30 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

Maegan Wood

Peter Lillis

Program loan the venue received in August, many are employed part-time. Smyers was hired for 23-hour workweeks and now makes 50 percent of their pre-pandemic paycheck.

“It’s enough,” they say. “I’m used to making egg noodles stretch longer than I would in other circumstances, [and I’m] reverting back to this kind of lifestyle.”

Black Cat’s PPP funds, however, will run out this month. If new forms of financial support are not approved soon, it will have to once again fire its employees.

Despite the halt on live shows, Smyers has kept pretty busy. They sell merchandise for Black Cat out of their basement and have also started their own business, Three Moon

Patricia Kotrady

for Capital Turnaround, an 850 capacity theater in Navy Yard. The first sold-out show was scheduled for the end of the month.

“That never played out, obviously,” he says.

Nine months later, Weiss is down to scheduling events for just two venues—Union Stage and Jammin’ Java in Vienna. His workday has completely changed. Before the pandemic, a typical day consisted of answering countless emails and then sending out offers to artists and agents. On slower days, he had time to look up musicians who had not played at Union Stage before and reach out to get the venue on their radar. “That’s about 90 percent of my time now,” he says.

Another adjustment for Weiss has been planning livestreams and reduced capacity shows. At the end of September, Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office approved Union Stage as one of six venues to host events for audiences of no more than 50 people, but the plan was suspended due to a spike of COVID19 cases in November. “It just makes things harder,” Weiss says.

Weiss has spent more time on self-care since the pandemic set in. “I’ve been trying to exercise once a day just to kind of, like, take my mind off things,” he says. “But to put it bluntly, it fucking sucks, man.”

Weiss normally takes a lot of pride in his job.

“There were times where I would get yelled at [because] a big part of this job is that it is a sales job,” he says, “but at the end of the day, when I’d go to the venue and have a beer or see a band that I’ve never heard of that I helped book the show, I’d go home and go to sleep thinking, ‘That was awesome. I did choose the right job.’

That kind of feeling is very hard to grasp now.”

Lindsay Smyers

ARTS FILM REVIEW

DIVERSIONS CROSSWORD

Mini Puzzle

By Brendan Emmett Quigley

Wander Darkly Directed by Tara Miele Roger Ebert famously said, “No good movie is too long. No bad movie is short enough.â€? By that standard, Wander Darkly is an excruciating 90 minutes. Its characters are unlikable, its story is clichĂŠd, and its emotional beats are pathetic. There is a supernatural element to the film, and since it depicts the highs and lows of a romantic relationship, the easiest comparison is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. But at least Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman had the good sense to create flawed, interesting characters who are worth caring about. Tara Miele, who wrote and directed this film, fails to achieve that baseline.

Adrienne (Sienna Miller) and Matteo (Diego Luna) are a couple living in Los Angeles. They are not married, but they have a newborn. After a tense evening, they are in a car accident. The exact outcome of the car accident is unclear: Perhaps they survived, perhaps they both died, or perhaps they are in a limbo state where they hallucinate about their shared past. Either way, Miele focuses on Adrienne and how she reels after the accident. Sometimes she is aware she is reliving the past, which confuses her, while at other times, she is caught up in the moment.

This new reality is an opportunity for her to reflect on her time with Matteo.

The biggest problem, one that Miele never overcomes, is that Matteo and Adrienne do not have distinct personalities. We have little reason to care about their relationship, except for the fact that the movie is about them. Luna is

Wander Darkly is available to stream Friday on demand.

40. ___ Tumor (experimental electronic musician)

43. Provincetown’s locale

45. Bulletproof protections 47. French bread made of sludge and grime?

50. Pilot product 51. Pretoria’s land: Abbr.

52. Finished 54. Guest post piece 57. “My stars!�

61. Gambling game that doesn’t last very long?

64. Woman’s voice 65. “I’ve ___ thinking�

66. Dolphins coach Flores 67. General atmosphere 68. Poses questions 69. Practical jokes Down 1. The bestest one evah!

2. Departed 3. Where you might strike 4. Helmet, in slang 5. Sashimi fish 6. Did a crawl 7. Crazy in the coconut 8. Loopy 9. Messy meal that comes with a WetNap

34. Most-streamed songs, presumably 39. Unfilled, as dates

Across 1. Simply not true 6. Huge chunk 10. Dead zone?

14. No longer sleeping 15. Where it all begins 16. Military chopper 17. Run-of-the-mill flirt?

20. Looked over 21. “’Twas just a scratch�

22. Galileo Galilei Airport city 23. Grazer’s spot 25. Broken ground?

26. Puppet that cleans up around the house?

34. Comic Gardner of SNL 35. They know every corny joke in the book 36. Missing from the post 37. “___ happening!�

38. Sevastopol Sketches author 41. Bother 42. Low end of the Mohs scale 44. Bread served with hummus

31. Unexpected ending

30. Name plate?

33. Certain lodge members

32. Rich dessert

Blundering in the Dark

one of the most charming actors in the industry, and it takes actual work to make him this boring. Wander Darkly is effectively a series of flashbacks, and the only remarkable thing about the early stage of their relationship is the dearth of chemistry. What should be their honeymoon period looks like two visibly bored actors going through the motions.

One underlying question throughout the film is the nature of Adrienne’s existence. Are we seeing her dreams or some sort of purgatory?

Who is alive, and what level of cognition do they finally have? The film ultimately resolves this issue, although it has little dramatic weight.

There are no rules to this version of the afterlife (or whatever), except that the film relentlessly strives for maximum poignancy. Some scenes have a dramatic edge—character actor Beth Grant adds a strain of credibility as Adrienne’s mother—although they do not have much of an emotional effect. When the couple openly questions why they even bother staying together, the audience should not wonder the same thing.

There is no reason this premise cannot work.

If handled properly, romance can capture our imaginations and tug at our emotions. What happens here, though, is absent any sense of specificity. We do not know who these people are, which means we cannot decide whether they are a worthwhile fit. Wander Darkly is mostly tedious, at least until its final moments, and then it gets downright offensive. Over imagery of dolphins and Adrienne on a boat, a recognizable pop song plays on the soundtrack. The tune is a cloying, downbeat cover of “Don’t Save Me� by HAIM. The cover drains the song of its considerable charm, to the point that it becomes an affront to good taste. That Miele thinks this schlock could move an audience is an insult to our intelligence and our hearts. —Alan Zilberman

46. Knickknack holder 48. Total number of Oscar nominations for Marilyn Monroe

10. “Why, I never!�

11. Some require tags 12. Suggesting explicit awareness of itself 13. Top seed’s benefit, maybe 18. Hemsworth of Hollywood 19. At the top of 24. Polish for publication 25. Not bad but not great 26. Power Trip’s genre 27. Stewardesses’ workspace 28. Go off script 29. One who smokes marijuana religiously

49. Language of Lahore 52. Capital on a fjord 53. Canceling power 54. Poems detailing heroic deeds 55. Class in a church basement, for short 56. Mind-numbingly long time 58. Escalator company 59. Yards after the catch, e.g.

60. Co-op residents 61. Three hours before school often starts 62. Magic league 63. “Daisy� ad pres.

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washingtoncitypaper.com december 2020 31

CITY LIGHTS City Lights

A Walk in the Park One of the pandemic’s silver linings is that it has pushed so many of us to explore nature in a socially distanced fashion.

Photoworks’ online exhibit A Walk in the Park, juried by photographer Barbara Tyroler, spotlights the visually calming landscapes of the D.C. area, notably the C&O Canal and the Potomac River.

Some of the 39 photographers’ five dozen works capture wildlife, including Miki Jourdan’s pintail duck, Amanda Mason’s spotted lanternflies in the shadow of a sunburst, Dennis O’Keefe’s egret in reflection, and Linda McKnight’s intriguingly shaky portrayal of a buck in the brambles. A few images include human interlopers, including Irene Owsley’s kayaker improbably poised to go down a rocky waterfall. But the exhibit’s most common, and resonant, portrayals are unpopulated landscapes limned in a melancholy fitting for our pandemic times: mist-enveloped trees

by Richard Batch and Gaetana Ebbole, seemingly frozen waterfalls by Charlie Fox-Whelpton, ghostly tree limbs by Sarah Hood Salomon, and gracefully lapping water by Lewis Schrager. The exhibit may be online only, but if it gets you out of lockdown, it has served its purpose. The exhibition is available through the end of January at glenechophotoworks.org.

—Louis Jacobson

City Lights

The Hole

City Lights

The Nutcracker

email vimeo@thepuppetco.org to request assistance. If the virtual experience leaves you wanting more in the way of puppets, take a stroll through the open grounds of Glen Echo Park and make a stop at The Puppet Co.’s festooned window for an eyeful of holiday cheer. The show is available to rent on Vimeo. $12.

—Elizabeth Tuten

City Lights

Reed Appleseed

In the opening minutes of The Hole, Tsai Ming-liang’s 1998 film, disembodied voices berate government officials for botching the response to a viral outbreak. Later, a man and a woman, both tenants of a grim, concrete apartment building in Taipei, opt out of an evacuation to ride out the epidemic at home. Most of their neighbors have fled the mysterious disease, which makes those it infects scurry around like cockroaches. Upstairs, the man copes by caring for a stray cat and drinking himself into a stupor. On the floor below him, the woman escapes into song-and-dance fantasies where she dons Broadway-style outfits and sings like Grace Chang.

When a plumber working on the man’s apartment leaves behind a gaping hole, he unwittingly creates a portal bridging the man and woman’s sealed-off worlds. From there, the story unfolds in the deliberate, lived-in style of slow cinema. Though The Hole takes place just before 2000, its dank, rain-soaked Taipei feels postapocalyptic. It’s a film about living in a crumbling world and finding human connection through an aperture that might not have opened if things weren’t falling apart. The film is available to stream through Suns Cinema at bigworldpictures.vhx.tv. $8. —Will Lennon 32 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

The Puppet Co., a puppet theater and workshop located in Glen Echo Park, is presenting the 32nd run of its most popular show, The Nutcracker, on video this year. Their version tells Clara’s familiar story with a fairytale twist, introducing other beloved characters with handmade puppets and fantastical scenery.

Founded in 1983, The Puppet Co.’s mission is to excite the public about the puppet arts through shows, classes, and workshops.

The founding team retired this year, installing two women to helm the playhouse: artistic director Elizabeth Dapo and executive director Toni Goldberg. Renting the puppet show costs $12 on Vimeo, but the theater’s website acknowledges that some of their “puppet watching families have been particularly hard hit during this extraordinary year,” and encourages those who are able to donate to the Nutcracker Fund for families unable to pay the rental fee. Families in need of support to view the show can

At Boundary Stone, Reed Doherty started behind the bar and ended up inside the jukebox. His EP, Reed Appleseed (2017), was at the front of the deck, alongside selections from the Chuck Brown Band and Pavement. On Thanksgiving, the Bloomingdale bar closed until further notice after nine years in the neighborhood. Over the years, Boundary Stone’s been many things, but night in and night out, it was a place where people could gather around music—whether at open mic nights on Mondays or shows throughout the week. Doherty was the charismatic showman who led open mics and managed bookings for the live shows.

He introduced the bands, did the sound, and would sometimes join in on guitar or vocals at the end of a show. In an uncanny and quiet moment, you could see him singing one song across the bar, then hear his voice softly coming out of the jukebox, singing the same song. His own songwriting is folk-oriented and skews psychedelic in his most recent project, Half Bath, but he found space for himself regardless of who was playing. The barriers between crowd and performer broke down, and musicians rotated until something clicked. Next to seeing your friends and enjoying the food, it was the kind of moment you held out for; it was the kind of moment that Doherty cultivated, which feels so distant now.

But while live shows are out the window, you can listen to Reed Appleseed and Half Bath to try and recapture those moments from your own house. The albums are available on iTunes, Spotify, and Bandcamp. Prices vary.

—Michael Loria

City Lights

City Lights

The AFI European Union Film Showcase, now in its 33rd year, is a great opportunity to break free from whatever prestige drama you’ve been rewatching for the past couple months. One of the better films in this year’s slate is Servants, a dramatic thriller from the Czech Republic. Yes, it is a tough sell: It’s a black-and-white film, using the classic 4:3 aspect ratio, that follows a group of idealistic young priests in former Czechoslovakia. Beyond that, however, director Ivan Ostrochovský has a cool, icy style that draws the viewer into the material. These young priests are angry that the higher-ups are cooperating with the state, effectively suppressing religious freedom, so they turn to small acts of rebellion with serious ramifications. This clash of values effectively turns the young priests into unlikely noir heroes—taciturn and desperate, they want injustice in a corrupt system, not unlike the private investigators and detectives that might be played by Bogart or Mitchum. The realities of life behind the Iron Curtain limit the outcomes for these young men, so Servants is ultimately about the freedom in the choices they make. Single tickets for the AFI EU Film Showcase are available at afieu.eventive.org. The film is available to stream from Dec. 13–20. $13.

—Alan Zilberman

These days, Bethesda native Rob Moss spends his time in Portland, Oregon, where he moved in 2009, working as a freelance writer for tech companies. But in another life, Moss was present at the birth of Dischord Records, playing bass in Government Issue and Artificial Peace. When Moss left the music business in the ’80s, he never looked back, and his accomplishments as a writer include the rock ’n’ roll crime novel Descending Memphis. This year, with his band Skin-Tight Skin, Moss released his first album of new music in 37 years—in the middle of a pandemic. We’ve Come Back to Rock ’n’ Roll is the work of a mature artist returning to a youthful milieu. Yet if his tempo has slowed down since the early harDCore days, his sardonic tone—and sense of humor—is intact. On the bluesy garage-punk number “No 48 Crash,” dedicated to Suzi Quatro, Moss mewls a snarling, charming invitation: “Suzi, you’re in some movie / You’re kinda groovy / Let’s eat some sushi.” Moss enlists a different lead guitarist on each track; “No 48 Crash” features Billy Loosigian of Willie Alexander and the Boom Boom Band, while “Life at 33 1/3 RPM” scores Wilco’s Nels Cline. Moss may warn of heavy sarcasm, but there’s something life-affirming in it; even though he closes the album with “Rock ’n’ Roll is Dead,” you can tell he doesn’t believe it, and as the pounding beat and generous cowbell demonstrate, it’s not. The album is available on Bandcamp. $8–$10.

—Pat Padua

Servants

We’ve Come Back to Rock ‘n’ Roll

City Lights

AIDS Memorial Quilt Virtual Exhibition We’re living through more than one pandemic right now.

Although COVID-19 is at the forefront of most people’s minds, Dec. 1 was World AIDS Day, a more-than-30-yearold commemorative day to raise awareness about the global reach of AIDS. Last year, UNAIDS estimated that 38 million people worldwide lived with HIV and that an estimated 32.7 million people have died from AIDS-related illnesses since the beginning of the epidemic. COVID and AIDS are not the same, but since the beginning of 2020, scholars and activists have been pointing out their similarities—especially the racial and class disparities in their effects on different communities. December is an especially potent time to think about resilience, medicine, and memory. One of the best ways to do that is spending time with the virtual AIDS Memorial Quilt, a digitized version of the physical memorial. The quilt was first displayed on the National Mall in 1987, with 1,920 panels commemorating the dead; when it was last stretched in its entirety across the Mall in 1996, it had more than 39,000. It’s now too large to be displayed fully in one place, but on World AIDS Day, much of it is typically exhibited across the country. COVID-19 made this year’s public display impossible. Instead, the quilt’s blocks can be seen online, categorized by state and curated by display hosts—D.C.’s include the Library of Congress and Whitman-Walker Health. The memorials are full of love, grief, and sometimes anger; some are deeply specific (“Bill Richmond; 1956–1987; Think of me as a bed of flowers where thoughts are planted and dreams are filled”) and others general (“For babies and young children”). They are a reminder of the past and a call to action for the present.

The exhibition is available at aidsmemorial.org/quilt. Free.

—Emma Sarappo washingtoncitypaper.com december 2020 33

DIVERSIONS SAVAGE LOVE Something is bothering me and I don’t know where else to turn. I’m a bisexual man. I’ve been married to a great guy for the past six years. Despite COVID, we gathered safely for an outdoor Thanksgiving dinner with my family. My mom, my brother and sister-in-law, and my adult nieces and nephews and their partners were there. Each household contributed to the feast, and we had a wonderful evening.

While my husband and I were snuggling in bed later, he said that my casserole was a big hit thanks to the “secret ingredient.” When I asked what he meant, he informed me that he had deposited my come from a blowjob he’d given me earlier that day in my halffinished casserole. When I asked why he did this, he said he thought it was hot and he was aroused watching my family ingest it. To me, this seems a bit twisted and feels like a deeply disrespectful act toward my family. Now, I cannot sleep and it is impossible for me to think of anything else. I wish he had never told me.

I am writing to you as I don’t know where else to turn.

—Confused And Shuddering Sleeplessly, Entirely Revolted Over Loaded Entrée

Give the gift of local news.

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Some letters you suspect are fake, some letters you know are fake, and some letters you hope are fake. I wish I could say this letter fell into the second category—a letter I knew to be fake—but I once got a letter from a man who would excuse himself at dinner parties, quickly rub one out in the bathroom, and then dip the bristles of his hosts’ toothbrushes in his semen. (That was 20 years ago, and I still secure my toothbrush in a secret, undisclosed location whenever we have company.) So as much as I wish we lived in a world where something like this could never happen, CASSEROLE, we sadly don’t live in that world.

That said … some details don’t add up. I’ve been in the receiving end of plenty of blowjobs in my time, CASSEROLE, and there are tells when a guy doesn’t swallow. A man who’s holding your load in his mouth has a certain look; his mouth and jaw are set in a particular and revealing way. There’s also no post-blowjob kissing or snuggling. And if you were to say, “Thank you, that was great,” and they hummed back, “Mmm-hmm,” instead of saying, “You’re welcome,” you would immediately know the guy didn’t swallow. And yet you would have us believe that your husband somehow gave you a blowjob and somehow didn’t swallow your load without you noticing and then … what? He strolled around the house with a mouth full of come until the opportunity to defile your casserole presented itself?

Then again … impromptu blowjobs sometimes happen, CASSEROLE, and they sometimes happen in kitchens. So I suppose it’s possible your husband interrupted you while you were making a casserole and then quickly leaned over and spat your load into your casserole and managed to give it a quick stir … without you noticing the spit or the stir? Sounds improbable … but I suppose your husband could have created a diversion that took your attention off him and that mouthful of come and your casserole long enough to execute the spit-andstir maneuver undetected. Perhaps he pointed at something outside the window or tossed a flash-bang grenade into the dining room.

34 december 2020 washingtoncitypaper.com

But even if he did all of this—blew you, didn’t swallow, created a diversion, and spat your semen into a casserole you planned to share with your entire family—would he tell you about it? The guy who was glazing his friend’s toothbrushes didn’t brag to his friends about it.

He wrote to me about it, described it as a compulsion, and asked me how to stop. That your husband would be so clueless as to think you wouldn’t be revolted and upset by this is, if you’ll forgive me, a little hard to swallow.

Still … your nieces and nephews are adults … so it’s possible you and your husband are getting up there in years … and he could be suffering from early onset dementia; inappropriate sexual behavior and poor impulse control can be early symptoms.

So on the off, off, off chance this actually happened, CASSEROLE, here’s my advice: If your husband spat your load into a half-finished casserole and then watched your whole family consume it and then assumed you would think it was hot, CASSEROLE, then you absolutely, positively need to divorce him. Let us count the ways you can’t trust this man: You can’t trust

“Don’t wait for your dick to slam itself down on the self-destruct button.” him with your semen, you can’t trust him not to feed your come to your mother, you can’t trust him around your siblings and nieces and nephews. You can’t even leave him in the company of an unaccompanied casserole. So unless you looked into his eyes on your wedding day and thought, “This is a guy who would feed a woman her own son’s semen, and I’m fine with that,” your husband isn’t the “great guy” you thought he was. He’s a monster and what he did is unforgivable, even criminal. Divorce the asserole. You might want to consider calling the cops and pressing charges for sexual assault—here’s hoping you saved some of the casserole for DNA testing—but you’ll have to weigh involving the police against burdening your mother with the knowledge of your Thanksgiving casserole’s secret ingredient.

—Dan Savage P.S. A casserole is really more of a side dish at Thanksgiving, isn’t it?

Forgive my English. I write from Italy. I’m a quarter of a century old and I have been with my girlfriend for seven years. I can’t tell you how long the “sex high” lasted—the time when she wanted to have sex as often as possible—but it was maybe three years. Now if she’s

stressed, if we are not in a bed, if she hasn’t just shaved her legs, if she’s just woke up, if she’s nervous for any reason at all, she doesn’t want to have sex. I’m not one of those men who thinks exclusively about his own pleasure. I have asked her if she has any fantasies. She does not. I have asked her if I should be doing anything different. She says not. She doesn’t masturbate, she doesn’t watch porn. I purchased a sex toy for us. She will not touch it. And when I try to talk to her, she says that her sexuality is none of my business. I am miserable. I don’t know what to do.

She says I am “fixated on sex” and that there is more to life than that. I jerk off a lot, of course, which she only just started to accept. At first, she considered it equivalent to cheating. Is it wrong to end a relationship of seven years because of a matter of different views on sex? I love her so much and leaving would be hard. Please help me.

—Who Has Yearnings Forgive my bluntness: Either your girlfriend never liked sex all that much or, after seven years, she’s no longer excited about sex with you. If she were willing to talk about it, WHY, you might be able to do something about it; you might be able to revive your sex life by trying new things together, experimenting with toys, having adventures. But she’s made it clear she’s not interested in discussing things, much less doing things. And while she doesn’t think her sexuality is any of your business, she clearly sees your sexuality as her business, e.g., until recently she thought you were cheating on her when you jerked off … which is kind of nuts, considering how infrequently she wants to fuck you.

There’s nothing wrong with ending a sexually exclusive relationship when the sex doesn’t work and your partner couldn’t care less that you’re unhappy and only grudgingly allows you to masturbate. As much as you love her, it’s not working and it’s only going to get worse. You’re at once every two weeks now and will soon be down to once a month, then once every three months, then once a year. Eventually you’ll cheat on her out of sheer desperation, and the breakup won’t just be painful, WHY, it will be messy and painful and you’ll be cast as the bad guy. Don’t wait for your dick to slam itself down on the self-destruct button. End it now. —DS P.S. Your English is so much better than my Italian!

A personal note: Allena Gabosch was a towering figure in Seattle’s sex-positive community.

She co-founded Seattle’s Beyond the Edge Cafe, which quickly became a warm and welcoming home for Seattle’s queer, kink, and poly communities. She went on to lead Seattle’s Center for Sex Positive Culture, aka “The Wet Spot,” and helped launch the Seattle Erotic Arts Festival. She was a gifted public speaker, a tireless advocate, and a hilarious storyteller with a giving and generous spirit. She also made the best chocolate chip cookies in town. Allena will be missed and she will be remembered.

My condolences to her many friends and many families.

—DS Email your Savage Love questions to mail@savagelove.net

CLASSIFIEDS Legal MONUMENT ACADEMY PCS REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Monument Academy PCS solicits proposals for the following: 1. Interactive Flat Planel Dislays and Installation and Training Full RFP(s) by request.

Proposals shall be submitted as PDF documents no later than 5:00 PM on Wednesday, December 30, 2020. Contact: bids@mapcsdc.org SHINING STARS MONTESSORI ACADEMY PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL NOTICE: FOR PROPOSALS FOR MULTIPLE SERVICES Shining Stars Montessori Academy Public Charter School solicits proposals for the following services: * Property & Building/ Facility Management Services * Facility construction and remodeling services ( to include exterior and interior spaces or grounds ) * ELL curriculum and instruction Support Services * HR and Talent Development Services * Office , Administrative and Student Records Management Support Services * Curriculum Support Services * IT support ( to include but not limited to enhanced networking support , education technology support, hardware and subscriptions to support distance learning teaching and learning) * Professional services to support school reopening * Fencing and Building Security Full RFP available by request. Proposals shall be emailed as PDF documents no later than 5:00 PM on 12/22/2020. Contact: procurement@shiningstarspcs.org PURSUANT TO A REQUEST FROM THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA STATE HEALTH PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT AGENCY (SHPDA), PT Network, LLC d/b/a Pivot Physical Therapy is applying for Certificates of Need for physical therapy services at its 8 existing clinics at the following addresses: 1090 Vermont Ave. NW, 20005 and 1115 U St. NW, Ste. 202, 20009, in Ward 1; 1150 18th St. NW, 20036 and 1001 G St. NW, 20001, in Ward 2; 3508 Connecticut Ave. NW, 20008 and 3301 New Mexico Ave. NW Ste. 250, 20016, in Ward 3; and 470 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Ste. 602, 20024 and 300 M Street SE, Unit 104, 20003, in Ward 6.

SHPDA has waived the requirement for a letter of intent. For additional information contact the SHPDA at (202) 442-5875.

DIGITAL PIONEERS ACADEMY is seeking qualified bids from prospective candidates to provide finance and operations assistance.

The scope will include but not be limited to budgeting, accounts payable and receivables, contract tracking, and grant supporting and applications.

DPA will be considering multiple contracts for this work. Proposals are due no later than December 15th, 2020. For the full RFP, please email operations@ digitalpioneersacademy. org MUNDO VERDE PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS Knowledge Management System MVPCS is seeking proposals for an enterprise-wide knowledge management system(s) to facilitate document retrieval and integrate existing communications platforms.

Please contact Elle Carne at ecarne@mundoverdepcs.org and jhalperin@mundoverdepcs. org for full RFP details, including bid due date.

Note that the contract may not be effective until reviewed and approved by the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board.

CARLOS ROSARIO PUBLIC CHARTER SCHOOL REQUEST FOR QUOTES The Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School seeks qualified proposals for the purchase of approximately 750 laptops.

HP is the preferable brand, however other manufacturers will be considered. Laptop configurations should balance affordability with cost containment. Each laptop should ship with the latest release of Windows 10 Pro. Please provide a separate cost for the possibility of Internet access via use of a SIM card as well as a separate cost to configure the laptops to our specifications should we decide to go that route.

Questions and completed proposals should be directed to Fernando Sugaray at fsugaray@carlosrosario.org .

Proposals are due by 5p on December 16, 2020 via email to Fernando Sugaray with a copy to Gwenever Ellis at gellis@carlosrosario.org .

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