Penn Branch Community - Page 2

Two Events, One Community

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Music lovers unite at PorchFest DC held at the rear of The Shops at Penn Branch (2021)

Stan Benton, PresidentThe First Annual Penn Ave East Main Street’s Art All Night and the Third Annual Porchfest SE events have come and gone.  However, questions and concerns remain.

Both music-filled events were held in the rear parking lot of the renovated Penn Branch Shopping Center. What a milestone!  Inside the shopping center, we now have thriving businesses (and non-profits) with multi-year leases. Art Art All Night and Porchfest brought music, minority-owned vendors, special presentations, food trucks, dancing, and dozens of smiles under KN95 face masks, outside of the building. The shopping center that bears our name is becoming both an economic beacon and gathering place for our community.

Last Sunday, Channel 9 News featured a story about Adams Morgan and Penn Branch Porchfest events. Then, tragically, just 72 hours later, Nikiesha Thomas was fatally shot by her boyfriend in the same parking lot. This generated a different type of news story. A story that adds to the stigma that East of the River communities are violent, crime-ridden, and generally unsafe. Bad things will happen. Still, the question remains: How do we change the narrative about our area? Do we want to be known for festivals and community gatherings? Or, crime stats? Finally, what more can we all do to outweigh bad news with stories about good events in our community? The choices are ours.

 We all want what’s best for our community—and naturally, passions will flare as we debate different methods. However, our association is only as strong as your level of involvement and support. Join a committee: Help PBCA to better coordinate and plan future community events that will reflect the best of who we are. Become a block captain: Help us to distribute our newsletter and keep everyone informed about what is being planned.

Please continue to be safe, take care of each other, and I’ll see you at the meeting!

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Porchfest SE At Penn Branch Shopping Center

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The Porchfest SE music festival took place on Sunday, October 3rd from 11:00am until 7:00pm at the Penn Branch Shopping Center. Check out this video from WUSA Channel 9.

 

 

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Penn Branch Oral History Project Officially Underway

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Last month PBCA Communications Director, Paul Grant was awarded a grant from DC Humanities, Oral History Collaborative Partnership to collect personal narratives from early Penn Branch families. The project, ‘We Are Penn Branch DC’ will focus on the stories of individuals who became residents of Penn Branch between 1945-1968.

PBCA Communications Director, Paul Grant will serve as Project Director for ‘We Are Penn Branch DC’ oral history project. He is has lived in Penn Branch since, 2012 and is also a member of the Oral History Association (OHA).

About DC Humanities

The DC Humanities Oral History Collaborative Partnership funds projects that explore and preserves Washington, DC life, history and culture through interviews with the people who have lived it.  Created in 2016 in response to a growing need to capture unrecorded Washington history, the DC Oral History Collaborative documents and preserves the stories and memories of DC residents as communities experience change and as residents age.  The Collaborative increases awareness of existing oral history recordings and gives residents the training and financial resources they need to conduct new interviews.  HumanitiesDC specializes in working with grantees who want to create new recorded stories or who want to dig into the archives and tell an old story with a new twist.

Why Oral History is Important?

Oral history is a field of study and a method of gathering, preserving and interpreting the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants in past events. Oral history is both the oldest type of historical inquiry, predating the written word, and one of the most modern, initiated with tape recorders in the 1940s and now using 21st-century digital technologies. These personal stories help fill gap between the major historical facts that we know and how real people experienced and understood these moments.  As the Washington, DC area and continues to experience significant political, cultural, and economic change over the past 70 years, it is critically important we preserve the memories  our most senior, and long-time residents and understand how the city’s evolution has impacted them.

The entire collection of stories will be archived in the permanent collection of the DC Public Library and the PBCA Executive Board is planning to host a public exhibition of the stories, once pandemic restrictions on public gatherings are released.  Interviews will be filmed through October 2021 and participants will receive a $75.00 honorarium for their time.

To share your story, please contact:

Paul Grant | E-mail :   [email protected]        Tel.: (202) 888-3236

To learn more about HumanitiesDC, please visit:

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Let’s Restore Our Community Park

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Join Us
Saturday, May 15th @ 9:00AM

On Saturday, May 15th at 9:00AM Penn Branch community members will meet to begin cleaning and restoration of 9-11 Memorial Park, located at the intersection of Carpenter Street and O Street SE.  In addition to cleaning, we will plant and install new shrubs and park signage purchased through a recent $1,000 grant from the Anacostia Watershed Society (AWS). 

 If you plan to join us, please remember to bring your gardening tools, including rakes, shovels, shears, trimmers as well as lawn and leaf and trash bags.

Can’t Join Us?  Please Make a Donation

Sign At 9-11 Memorial Park

The PBCA board is also making plans to launch a community fundraiser next month. Your donation will help us to replace the deteriorating bench and install new pavers in the main walkways. If you can’t join us on Saturday, May 15th, please consider making a donation to help us restore and maintain the gateway to our community!  To make a donation online, please visit: https://pennbranchdc.org/donate/

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Gallery: One of our last major community restoration of 9-11 Memorial Park took place on October 18, 2014. Many Penn Branch residents came out to help groom plants, restore walkways and flower beds.

All Hands on Deck!





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DC Office of Planning To Host Townhall About Small Area Plan for Pennsylvania Avenue East

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Small Area Plan 2021 DC OCP

DC-Office of PlanningThe DC Office of Planning (OP) is developing a Small Area Plan for the Pennsylvania Avenue East corridor. The plan will focus on enhancing a safe, accessible, and vibrant public realm; encouraging economic development and retail opportunities; improving transportation access and connectivity; and exploring housing opportunities to improve access for upward mobility. It is important that throughout this planning process you make your voice heard! To get involved, visit the project website (publicinput.com/PennAveSEPlan) to learn more, register for updates, provide critical feedback through the online survey, and sign-up for the first community townhall meeting!

The first community townhall will be held on Wednesday, April 14 at 6:00pm. The virtual meeting will be broadcast online at: publicinput.com/PennAveSEPlan. If you are unable to join online, you can also dial-in at: 855-925-2801 (pin: 9252).

Thanks for getting involved in the Pennsylvania Avenue East Small Area Plan. If you have questions about the plan, you can reach out to the OP project team at [email protected] or call: 855-925-2801 (pin: 9252).

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