April in the neighborhood: Join a bee hunt; the most “Extreme” park cleanups; and a ribbon-cutting for a certain grocery store

Plus a couple of bonus end-of-March events that did not make it into our last roundup of local happenings.

Tea time at Peirce Mill: In the early 20th century, Peirce Mill was a tea house. On Saturday, March 29th, Friends of Peirce Mill and the National Park Service are reopening the tea house for the day. Visitors will enjoy free refreshments and music, and learn about about the entrepreneurial women who managed the business.

Join a bee hunt: Van Ness Main Street is hosting Spring NOW events from April 1st through May 10th, and they include a scavenger hunt celebrating these important insects. You’ll find their plush cousins at participating small businesses. Scan their attached QR code to be entered to win prizes.

(Forest Hills Connection is an editorially independent program of Van Ness Main Street.)

Bring wildflowers to Connecticut Avenue: Making the Van Ness/Forest Hills tree boxes bloom has the dual benefit of beautifying the public space and providing sustenance and shelter to bees and other pollinatorss. The spring plantings start with the Franklin Montessori block (4473 Connecticut) on March 29th. The Politics and Prose block gets some attention on April 5th. April 6th, they meet up at the former Walgreens (4225 Connecticut). April 12th, the focus is Forest Hills Senior Living (4901 Connecticut). Two more plantings in May take on tree boxes near Rosemary Bistro Cafe (May 3th at 5010 Connecticut) and Calvert Woodley (May 4th at 4339 Connecticut. All plantings are from 2 to 4 p.m., and gloves and tools are provided to volunteers.

Master Gardener Kathy Sykes is leading Van Ness Main Street’s Connecticut Avenue pollinator program for a seventh year. To sign up, email her at [email protected] with the date(s) you’d like to volunteer, the number of people, and their names.

Extreme Cleanup volunteers and their bounty at a previous event. (Rock Creek Conservancy photo)

A more “Extreme” volunteer activity: Rock Creek Conservancy’s “Extreme Cleanup” is an extended Earth Day celebration, and tackles litter in the Rock Creek watershed. Pick a date and a pick a park, then register.

Take the kids to the Rock Creek Nature Center: The Nature Center reopens on April 2nd after more than a month of HVAC repairs. And it’s marking ephemerals season with a month-long exhibit on these short-lived spring wildflowers.

An early return: No more waiting until May to stock up on Doña Rosa tamales and the other delicious fare at the UDC Van Ness farmers market. The past couple of years we’ve been graced with late April openings, and this year’s April 12th start is the earliest yet. Saturdays through December 6th, vendors will be outside the UDC Student Center between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. (The New Morning Farm market at Sheridan School returns on May 3rd.)

Guess what’s finally opening? You may have heard that a certain highly-anticipated grocery store is opening in Van Ness on April 4th. And if you happen to be around at 2 p.m. on that day, MOM’s Organic Market and its landlord, UDC, will welcome you to their ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Save the date for an all-ages dance party Van Ness Main Street’s Good Clean Fun initiative is keeping an eye on Forest Hills Park safety and maintenance, but it knows how to have fun, too. On April 26th from 4 to 6 p.m., they’re hosting an outdoor dance party with a live DJ, crafts and refreshments. Tickets are $5 per household, and the proceeds will support GCF.