Plan your Saturday: Morris dancers greet spring at Peirce Mill; Join the Rock Creek “Extreme Cleanup,” Shop the “Books and Blossoms” pop-up

4/7/2022 update: Friends of Peirce Mill says the mill will not be running on April 9th after all, due to a “recently identified safety issue.”

“The gears will be still, but the Mill will nevertheless be open to the public from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with volunteers and park rangers on hand to provide interpretation. The park will resolve the issue and get the Mill running again soon.”

Everything else? Still on.

The Rock Creek Morris Women are dancing at Peirce Mill for the first time since 2019.

In our neighborhood, signs of spring include brilliant tree and phlox blooms, the chatter of birds, and the grinding of the millstone at Peirce Mill.

This Saturday, April 9th, the 200-year-old mill is hosting its first milling day of the season, and the milling demonstrations will continue from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month through October.

At noon, Rock Creek Morris Women will assist in celebrating the end of winter and ushering in spring by performing traditional Morris dances. This has been a Peirce Mill tradition for well over 30 years, but this will be their first performance at the mill since 2019.

You might as well bring a picnic lunch and plan to stay a while. From noon to 3 p.m., the National Park Service, Friends of Peirce Mill and Rock Creek Conservancy are hosting “Spring in the Park,” with games and activities for families.

One of those activities, from 1 to 3 p.m., is plogging (walking and picking up trash) starting at Picnic Grove #1, across Tilden Street from the mill. Rock Creek Conservancy asks that volunteers register here.

This is one of several “Extreme Cleanup” events the conservancy and partners are hosting that day and this month. Don’t see your favorite spot on the cleanup list? Register for an individual cleanup, grab a trash bag and your gloves, and have at it!

Another way to put your gardening gloves to good use is planting fresh spring blooms with Master Gardener Kathy Sykes and Van Ness Main Street. Sykes and volunteers will be out on Saturday beautifying the streetery outside I’m Eddie Cano and Rosemary Bistro Cafe from 1 to 4 p.m. Sign up for this and other planting dates by emailing [email protected], with “Bulb Planting’ in the subject line.

Van Ness Main Street is also hosting “Books and Blossoms,”, which includes Carpe Librum’s used book and music sale outside 4340 Connecticut Avenue from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and cherry blossom-themed crafting from noon to 3 p.m.

Forest Hills Connection is a program of Van Ness Main Street.