Business in Brief: Small businesses need us right now; Calvert Woodley block party Aug. 24; P&P’s ‘Opus’

Van Ness Main Street’s latest fundraising campaign has raised $5,000 for its mission: promoting and supporting small and local businesses in myriad ways. And that means it is halfway to its goal of $10,000 raised by September 30th. Donations can be directed to the VNMS 10th Anniversary Growth Fund or its programs (Forest Hills Park, Connecticut Avenue pollinator planting, and Forest Hills Connection).

(FHC has been a program of VNMS since 2021. We maintain our editorial independence.)

Owning and operating a small business is not an easy thing in the best of times. These… are not the best of times. So any show of support is helpful. Which brings us to…

It’s Metropolitan Washington Restaurant Week, now through August 24th. Participating restaurants include Rosemary Bistro Cafe, Sfoglina Pasta House and Rosedale. (Their Restaurant Week menus are hyperlinked to their names.) And you could, of course, dine at any local restaurant during the week. They’ll be glad to see you.

Calvert Woodley is throwing a block party. At the wine and spirits store’s end-of-summer celebration, there will be tastings, food trucks, and games and prizes for all ages from 4 to 7 p.m. on Sunday, August 24th.

The Muchas Gracias sidewalk cafe has been removed, for now. There are normally tables and chairs here for the restaurant’s customers.

As Muchas Gracias works on renewing its public space permit, ANC 3F has sent a letter of support to DC’s Public Space Committee, signed by five of the six commissioners.

The Muchas Gracias sidewalk cafe was gone by August 1st, when ANC 3F Commissioner Courtney Carlson snapped this photo of a bustling evening scene.

In the meantime, Muchas Gracias still has an outdoor space for diners out back.

A celebration of writers and readers: This Library of Congress’s National Book Festival is on Saturday, September 6th. And Politics and Prose returns as the official bookseller for a 12th year.

Politics and Prose, publisher. One thing that makes P&P unique among bookstores, whether they are small and independent or part of large and national chains, is its selection of books by self-published authors. Another twist: The bookstore printed the works. Washingtonian covered the program, called Opus, which has a year-long waiting list.