Come Rain, Shine, Snow Or Sleet, F.C.’s Brown’s Hardware Delivers

By David Thompson

Falls Church News Press

March 7, 2014

The snow was pounding down with force and verve on Monday morning, and a calm silence swept through The Little City. The roads were almost empty and the sidewalks were untrodden; it had become a winter wonderland. However, it was business as usual at the corner of W. Broad and N. Washington streets, home to Brown’s Hardware.

Store after store was closed due to the winter weather, but the Falls Church’s Brown’s Hardware remained open. The store brimmed with merchandise, from kitchen supplies to gardening equipment, all fitted in a relatively small space. At the center of the store was the cashiers desk, the heart of the store, from which the dedicated staff reached out to their customers.

“We walked in today so people could get shovels, sleds, and whatever else they need,” Brown’s Hardware manager John Taylor said that Monday. No matter the weather, Brown’s will be open, its employees say, especially during adverse conditions.

“We’re here when they need us,” Taylor said.

Brown’s is the busiest before a storm, but when weather permits, Brown’s forte is helping customers with home improvement tasks, such as plumbing, electrical, and – come spring – gardening. But the cold weather has extended the winter season, with Brown’s this week selling out of ice-melting products.

Many of the store’s customers have had to deal with an increased amount of snow shoveling, but the snow brings additional problems for homeowners. Dipping temperatures can freeze water pipes, causing them to burst. And when the snow melts, flooding becomes an issue. For those with basement sump pumps, it’s important to make sure they are functional in the weeks after a snow storm. Minor plumbing repairs, along with minor electrical repairs, are the most common reasons people frequent Brown’s Hardware, and in the aftermath of the winter storm plumbing will still be high on the list.

Brown’s Hardware was founded in 1883, by James Brown, making the store 131 years old this year.

“We call him the godfather of hardware,” Taylor jokes, but hardware was not the only thing sold back then.

Brown’s was a general store, where locals would go to get anything and everything they needed.

“In 1949 we switched over to all hardware,” said Hugh Brown, grandson to the store’s founder, “strictly hardware and garden supplies.” In 1959, they relocated to their corner in downtown Falls Church.

Brown’s still aims to help customers with anything and everything, now with a hardware focus, and if they don’t have what the customer needs they will do their best to get it.

Brown’s has a long tradition of being hands-on with their customers, treating customers as next-door neighbors. Not only will Brown’s sell you the product you need for your newest home-improvement project, they will also give you much-needed advice – and even recommend trusted professionals when you need them.

They are a neighborhood store in a world in which neighborhood stores are becoming extinct, but Brown’s has found a way to become symbiotic with the hardware giants such as Home Depot.

“Home Depot sends us customers and we send them customers,” Taylor said. “It’s a two-way street.”

When Brown’s can’t provide what a customer needs, they’ll refer the customer to one of the larger stores. It’s a customer-service strategy that has worked for Brown’s Hardware and most importantly it has created a loyal customer base.

The small corner store has persevered. Brown’s may be entering a new chapter – with Hugh Brown, in his late 80’s, considering handing over management of the store – but Brown’s plans on being around for The Little City for a long time to come.

 

Creative Cauldron Artists Bring ‘Wonderland’ to The Little City

By David Thompson

Falls Church News Press

March 11, 2014

In 1865, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, wrote the classicAlice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Now, 149 years later, The Little City will tumble down the rabbit hole with the help of Creative Cauldron’s Learning Theater ensemble.

In charge of the visual aspects of the “Alice in Wonderland” play will be costume, set, and puppet designer Margie Jervis. A Falls Church native, Jervis has had a 30-year career in art, from sculpture to designing elements for play productions.

“We have truly enjoyed delving into the original text and are sticking to it,” Jervis said. “My contribution is to create visual ways to bring ‘Wonderland’ and all of its characters to life in our small theater space.”

The play will be performed at ArtSpace Falls Church, home to Creative Cauldron, a not-for-profit arts organization that provides opportunities for learning and participating in the performing and visual arts for children and adults.

Jervis joined the Creative Cauldron production team in 2009, in part because of the group’s commitment to creating art for a multigenerational audience.

The production of “Alice in Wonderland” will be utilizing the young talents Creative Cauldron has nurtured in its Learning Theater program. The program invites children to learn the art of play production.

“I love working with our kids! They have fantastic energy and come bouncing in the door, happy and ready to get into the work for the show,” Jervis said. “I think the most fun I have had with them is when I created the costumes and when they had their first fittings, transforming them into their characters.”

Alice in Wonderland is renowned for its many fantastical characters; bringing those characters to the stage puts great emphasis on costuming and the design of the production. Jervis’ inspiration for the costumes came from the original illustrations by John Tenniel, a British illustrator, graphic humorist, and political cartoonist in the second half of the 19th century.

“For me Alice in Wonderland and the original illustrations of John Tenniel are inseparable.” Jervis said. “Like Lewis Carroll, I am using the fashions of the Victorian period, as a springboard for humor and satire in the costume designs. The puppetry elements are completely in support of the action of the story and blend into the overall design.”

Many of Jervis’ productions for Creative Cauldron have included puppets, and “Alice in Wonderland” is no exception.

“A puppet can do things a person cannot! I like to use puppets when we have a visual aspect of the story to tell that is something magical,” Jervis said.

Creative designing and fostering the talents of young artists have both been key elements to Jarvis’ work with Creative Cauldron, and audiences will see both components combined with this spring’s production of “Alice in Wonderland.”

“Alice in Wonderland” runs March 14 – April 6. Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, with 2 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. The play will be performed at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Ave. Tickets are $15 for general admission and $12 for students and seniors. For more information, visit creativecauldron.org.

 

With Springtime Finally Here, Outdoor Dining Returns to F.C.

By David Thompson

Falls Church News Press

March 21, 2014

The snow, wind, and deep cold have embraced The Little City once again, leaving restaurants unable to open up their beloved outdoor seating areas.

Early this week, the popular patio at Clare and Don’s Beach Shack was surrounded by snow. Ireland’s Four Provinces had to leave its outdoor bar locked up even during its celebrated St. Patrick’s Day festivities. And Dogwood Tavern will have to wait a little longer before it can fully utilize its new outdoor deck and patio.

But the first day of spring is upon us, and soon warmer weather will follow – the kind of weather that makes Falls Church diners eager to take a seat outside.

Clare and Don’s Beach Shack

Clare and Don’s is a little taste of Florida, with festive sea-themed decorations, fresh seafood, and outdoor dining bringing it all together.

After opening in Clarendon in 2005 (giving the restaurant its name), Clare and Don’s moved to Falls Church in 2007. Its outdoor dining area, replete with beachy décor and a bar, has become a favorite in the City.

“We have the best food served on any patio in the Northern Virginia area,” said co-owner Rebecca Tax.

Year after year, Clare and Don’s is the top vote-getter in the Outdoor Eating category of the News-Press’ Best of Falls Church contest.

Spring will welcome its customers to special outdoor festivities like live music, karaoke, DJs and trivia nights. However, those who wish to brave the cold can use the outdoor seating right now – the patio is open all year long, even if you need your snow boots to enjoy a meal there.

Ireland’s Four Provinces

If you can’t find a seat inside the popular pub and restaurant Ireland’s Four Provinces, then look outside and you will see an outdoor bar and plenty of seating for all, weather permitting.

Four P’s, as it is lovingly called by its loyal customers, typically uses its front patio for its annual St. Patrick’s Day celebration. Due to the winter storm this past week, however, it was too cold outside for the patio to be used on Monday. Still, the atmosphere indoors was festive, with revelers enjoying green décor aplenty and Irish tunes filling the air.

“We usually open [the patio] on St. Paddy’s Day, and keep it open after that,” said Four P’s manager Travis Barnes. “Weather permitting, it will be open in the next week or so. As soon as we open the patio, we’re busy the entire time.”

Barnes also spoke of plans to remodel the patio, double its size and make it a covered space with heaters and fans – and even add a cigar lounge.

Dogwood Tavern

n June of last year, Dogwood Tavern began constructing their new upper level outdoor deck, leaving the patio closed during construction. The project finished just in time for the cold weather. After a brief period of use during the fall, it has largely been unused since its completion.

The patio-deck, sure to become a defining feature for Dogwood Tavern, will soon see its first full season of warm-weather use. The space seats 50 outdoor diners on the deck and 80 on the patio. In the two-story outdoor dining space, guests can enjoy four big-screen TVs and a full bar.

Jeremiah Mahoney, general manager of Dogwood, said the deck should open this weekend, as the weather is expected to improve.

Once it opens, Dogwood plans to keep the sports bar theme going outside with their many TVs, but you can also expect live music, too. Mahoney says they will likely have acoustic music on the deck during happy hour.

***

The forecast for the coming weeks appears to be on a warming trend, allowing the people of Falls Church to enjoy the outdoors at Clare and Don’s Beach Shack, Dogwood Tavern, and Ireland’s Four Provinces.

 

Mason Stage Becomes ‘Museum’ for Spring Play

By David Thompson

Falls Church News Press

March 25, 2014

The George Mason High School auditorium was buzzing with activity this week as young actors and stage crew members prepared for their spring play, “Museum.”

The stage crew, led by Mason teacher John Ballou and student Technical Director Madison Irwin, was readying the set on a visit to the school’s stage this Monday. Actors were trying out costumes. And Shawn Northrip, Mason theater arts teacher and the play’s director, was preparing his students for opening night.

The chaos on stage was all to put the finishing touches on a production that will see the Mason stage transformed into a modern art museum exhibit.

“Museum,” a mid-’70s satire written by Tina Howe, focuses on the closing day of one museum exhibit, The Broken Silence, and how the gallery visitors interact with it.

The characters approach the museum and The Broken Silence exhibit in an absurdist manner, retrieving meaning from the art where there is none. They stare at bare canvases and paint them with their own imagination.

“[The canvas is] blank but people find all this magnificent meaning in it,” Hannah Staples, a Mason student and “Museum” cast member, said.

If you ever went to a museum and watched the people instead of the exhibits, you would get the play that is “Museum.”

“It’s not your typical linear storytelling, which is a part of what I like about this piece,” Northrip said.

In one scene, a museum guard is followed by a man overcome by camera equipment. He starts to set up a tripod in front of some art – a blank canvas. He fumbles around for a minute or two before the guard yells, “You’re not allowed to take photographs in the museum!” From there, character after character enters the exhibit and explores it in their own absurdist way, and the audiences sees the strained relationship the guard has with the museum-goers.

“I think the audience will each relate to a group of characters. They will find a group of characters that they can connect to,” Northrip said.

The characters include, but are not limited to, the art groupies, the culture hounds, the tourists, the snobs, and the rich using the museum as a shopping venue.

Northrip could have chosen any play to produce for his fourth production with Mason – Shakespeare springs to mind, or a musical, and he’s done both before – but Northrip wanted to do something different.

“I read a lot of plays. When I read this one I thought it would be a fun and unique experience for the students. It also had 36 parts, which provided lots of opportunities for students to get involved,” Northrip said.

“Museum” runs March 27 – 29. Performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. The play will be performed at George Mason High School, 7124 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church. Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students. 

 

Press Pass: Three For A Song

By David Thompson

Falls Church News Press

July 23, 2014

Three For A Song, a trio specializing in songs from the 1920s and 1930s, has performed many times at Falls Church’s very own Creative Cauldron. They will be returning this Saturday, July 26, for a performance that’s a part of Creative Cauldron’s Summer Cabaret series.

“We’ve done multiple holiday shows together and have a semi-famous/infamous show in which we performed to a sold-out house by the light of flashlight after a storm,” said Three For A Song’s soprano Karin Paludan. “The Cauldron is a gem in Falls Church and we are delighted to have such a good relationship with them.”

Three For A Song came together in 2011 after Paludan, Alex Hassan, the group’s pianist, and Doug Bowles, the group’s tenor, were introduced by mutual friends, Jackie Anderson and Bill Ewing, at the National Symphony. The musicians discovered they all had a love for songs from the 1920s and 1930s and started performing shortly after realizing their shared musical tastes.

“After a few rehearsals we did our first performance together and then we hit the ground running,” Paludan said. “We performed in DC, NYC and LA in our first year as a group.”

Paludan is a Metropolitan Opera National Council Regional Award winner and has sung at the Kennedy Center and with the New York City Opera National Company, the Annapolis Opera and the Utah Festival Opera.

Hassan and his wife, Sara, have amassed a collection of over 40,000 pieces of sheet music from the 1920s and 1930s. They are regulars at the Library of Congress, where they scour a database called “It’s Showtime” for more undiscovered songs. Three For A Song created its live show called “The Greatest Songs You’ve (N)ever Heard” from the sheet music Hassan and his wife gathered.

“Alex had just discovered this collection when we all met, and so it was serendipity once again,” Paludan said.

Bowles earned a Master of Music degree in vocal performance at The Catholic University of America and was the first recipient of the National Italian American Foundation’s Pavarotti Scholarship for the Voice.

After a year and a half of performing, the trio recorded 21 songs in two days last August at the home of Jackie Anderson and Bill Ewing for its first CD, which shares a title with the live show. The CD will be available for sale at the show on Saturday.

“In addition to having a fabulous music room where we’d performed, Jackie and Bill were responsible for bringing us together,” Paludan said. “It was so wonderful to record the show where it all began.”

Three For A Song will perform “The Greatest Songs You’ve (N)ever Heard” this Saturday, July 26, at 8 p.m. at ArtSpace Falls Church, which is located at 410 S. Maple Ave. Tickets are $20 for general admission and $18 for students and seniors.

 

Filled with History, Vice Mayor’s Home Nearly as Old as F.C.

By David Thompson

Falls Church News Press

September 5, 2014

The house on the corner of Great Falls Street and North Maple Avenue in the City of Falls Church has undergone many renovations in the decades since it was built in the 1890s, but at its core lies a beautiful Victorian model almost as old as F.C. itself.

“The house was a traditional Victorian farmhouse with a big porch and a widow’s walk around the top,” David Snyder, the home’s owner and Vice Mayor of The Little City, tells the News-Press.

The house still has its original 1890s floors that creak and trigger thoughts of families come and gone. The walls reach up high and end with intricate crown molding, a stylistic choice rarely seen in more modern homes.

Surrounding Snyder’s house are newer homes and a high-rise apartment complex, hallmarks of contemporary suburban architecture. And while the the house may have been built more than 100 years ago, it didn’t make it to the 21st century without some updating.

“Around the 1920s someone wanted a different style house and removed some of the Victorian features on the outside.” Snyder said. The front porch was removed along with the widow’s walk and a garage and screened-in porch were added on the back. Snyder says the porch was a major factor in his purchase of the property in the late 90s. Another factor was the historic quality of the home.

“We love history and we’ve owned probably five different houses in the Falls Church area at one time or another,” Snyder says. The Vice Mayor’s love is evident throughout the home, with bookshelves adorned with old leather bound books and artifacts and paintings on the walls, but the house’s grounds revealed some history of its own.

“We dug up a civil war artifact with U.S. stamped on it,” Snyder says. He says it was a piece of a horse bit probably used during the time of the Civil War. Snyder also found a surveyor’s stake that might have been used prior to building the home and adjacent homes in the 1880s and 1890s.

Before Snyder bought the property, it was owned by notable political cartoonist Patrick Oliphant. Oliphant‘s political cartoons have appeared in numerous newspapers and have received many awards, including a Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning. Oliphant did his professional and personal art work in the house and left traces behind to prove it – there were splashes and dots of paint across the studio floor when the Snyders moved in.

“The studio [Oliphant] used was speckled with the paint from his brush, and we preserved a square of that. It’s almost like modern art.” says Snyder.

Living in an old house requires a lot of maintenance that goes beyond fixing paint-stained floors, which is something Snyder has embraced as the price of owning a historical home.

“It takes a certain flexibility and there’s upkeep you don’t have with a new house, but also its uniqueness is something that’s very appealing.” Snyder said. “I grew up in an old house and I like the quirkiness and the sense there’s no other house exactly like it anywhere in the world.”

The house has had about six owners in its lifetime, including Snyder, and with each owner the house has grown and changed with them. Additions here and reductions there have turned the home into an ever-evolving entity that has traveled through time and seen the history of the Little City.