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1 week ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
When Nicole Kovar gave up her weekly piano lessons and dreaded practices after five years, she never would have guessed where she would be today as the owner of her own business, Piano and More. “I started taking lessons when I was eight years old in Houston, Texas and had a piano teacher in her late 80s.
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1 week ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
The apparatus bay of Fire Station Number 8 was packed with descendants of the original Black volunteer firefighter department that started in 1918, members of the local neighborhood, friends and local officials. As Arlington County Fire Chief David Povlitz observed, “The amount of smiles and hugs here today is off the charts, amazing.
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1 month ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
The Easter bunny is hopping, the children are running, the parents are cheering and everyone is having a good time at the Sunrise of Arlington at 2000 N. Glebe Road on Sunday, April 13. As children gather in the yard in front of Sunrise, they discuss egg hunting strategies.
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1 month ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
A crowd carried signs, carried children on their shoulders and for part of the afternoon carried umbrellas at the Transgender Day of Visibility held on the National Mall the afternoon of March 31. A number of Arlington clergy including Rock Spring UCC showed up to support the Transgender Day of Visibility Rally. Each year on March 31 observers all around the world gather to raise awareness about transgender people.
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1 month ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
The Arlington Coalition of Black Clergy (ACBC) town hall attracted about 50 federal workers and contractors on March 25 at Macedonia Baptist Church. Rev. DeLishia Davis, pastor of Calloway Methodist Church and president of the Arlington Coalition of Black Clergy says, “We had so many of our congregants who had been fired or feel they may be soon that we wanted them to know their rights and get resources and be able to spend time in a safe space.” At the end of the meeting Rev.
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1 month ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
Del. Patrick Hope is pushing legislation to change the current Arlington County governance structure which he says was set up in the 1930s to disenfranchise Blacks and when Arlington’s population was 25,000. “It has grown to over 240,000, and the current structure is no longer relevant.”HR 2768 has passed the House of Delegates and Senate and is sitting on Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk. Youngkin has until March 24 to sign or veto it. “I haven’t had any indication of which way it will go,” Hope says.
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2 months ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
Culinary students wearing black “Kitchen of Purpose” aprons have just completed their risotto made with chicken broth and a little Parmesan. Chef Martha, the Culinary Manager and instructor, inspects one dish and remarks, “Not enough salt. You used the wrong broth; you used fish stock instead of chicken stock.”Kitchen of Purpose is the only dual language culinary institute in this area outside of New York City, and recently received a $50,000 Jacques Pépin Partnership (JFP) Circle Grant.
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2 months ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
The Rossana food trailer is parked in front of Thomas Jefferson Community Center on Sunday, Feb. 23 while Encore Stage and Studio’s “Flip the Script: Jamila’s Table” plays at the theatre inside. This is an original play about a young African American restaurant owner on Columbia Pike in Arlington. She is trying to expand her family’s generational soul food restaurant to incorporate the foods of other diverse cultures along the Pike including Vietnamese and Hispanic.
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2 months ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
Alvaro Alacon lives in Fairfax City but has worked with Arlington youth for many years including the Second Chance program. This was developed a number of years ago to give students who are found with drugs or alcohol the opportunity to attend Second Chance instead of being suspended. In addition, Alacon’s company, Impel, operates a program to mentor, provide after school activities, life skills and a model for a positive future for Arlington youth and their parents.
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2 months ago | 
arlingtonconnection.com | Shirley Ruhe
0 Votes Armed with a decorative hat, a basketful of cards and large golden balloons spelling out 100, Pam Henriksen celebrates her 100th birthday at a Mardi Gras get-together at the Metro Diner in Arlington on Tuesday, March 4. Keeping with the Lenten tradition of Shrove Tuesday she orders pancakes for dinner. To what does she owe her longevity? “Well, I really don’t know. I just keep moving forward. I’m having a good day.”