Main Street updates: Monthly shop-local pop-ups, Connecticut Ave. plantings, Windom Place cleanup, small business support

Van Ness Main Street’s annual holiday pop-up market is expanding into a monthly, all-seasons event.

From March to November, on the second Saturdays of each month, eight Made-in-DC (or nearby) vendors will set up shop inside the Van Ness Main Street office at 4340 Connecticut Avenue. And outside, Carpe Librum will sell used books and music to raise money for literacy nonprofit Turning the Page.

On March 9th – opening day – the eight vendors will include Lita+Ro, Lofty Stories, and fashion designer Ruby Douglas.

Carpe Librum’s hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The individual vendors’ hours may vary. For more information, visit Van Ness Main Street’s Eventbrite page for the pop-ups, and register there to receive updates as vendors and other information are added.

Interested in being one of the vendors at a future pop-up? Sign up here.

Make Connecticut Avenue bloom

Another seasonal Van Ness Main Street initiative is celebrating its fifth year: the pollinator planting program. Every spring and fall since 2019, Master Gardener Kathy Sykes has partnered with the Main Street and volunteers to plant native flowers that attract and nourish birds, bees and butterflies. Sykes will be leading the plantings on Saturdays and Sundays from 1 to 3 p.m., starting on March 30th:

Saturday, March 30 – Outside of 4225 Connecticut (former Walgreens)
Sunday, March 31 – Calvert Woodley Fine Wines & Spirits, 4339 Connecticut
Saturday, April 6 – Franklin Montessori School, 4473 Connecticut
Sunday, April 7 – UDC Law School, 4340 Connecticut
Saturday, April 13 – Forest Hills Senior Living, 4901 Connecticut
Sunday, April 14 – Rosemary Bistro Cafe, 5010 Connecticut
Saturday, April 20 – Politics and Prose, 5015 Connecticut
Saturday, April 27 – Rain Date

Volunteers of all ages and abilities are welcome. Digging tools and gloves are provided. To sign up, email [email protected] with “Pollinator Planting” in the subject line. Donations are also appreciated.

Also, it won’t be long before the tulips, daffodils and other perennials planted by volunteers last fall sprout and bloom.

Windom Place cleanup

Another effort to beautify the Connecticut Avenue corridor is taking place at 1 p.m. on Friday, March 1st. Van Ness-based home health care provider Philia Home Care is hosting a community cleanup day at the Windom Place Soapstone Park entrance behind 4401 Connecticut Avenue. Philia will provide gloves, trash bags and water for volunteers. For more information, email [email protected] or call 202-607-2525.

The trailhead and hillside here are longtime trash magnets. A 2017 cleanup crew even recovered a toilet.

Small and local business support

Van Ness Main Street in January awarded the following small business grants: Shemali’s, for its patio; Bread Furst for front and back signage, lighting and front patio refurbishment; and Flavor Garden, to complement a $25,000 Great Streets grant for its renovation. Flavor Garden reopened on Tuesday, February 13th.

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