Southwest will have two of the "Party Animals" decorated by local artists as an elephant and donkey will be placed inside the Waterside Mall at 4^th & M St. S.W.

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A public meeting to discuss the public schools was held Apr. 23 at Jefferson Jr. High. Tommy Wells, who represents Southwest now that we are part of Ward 6, welcomed local residents to make their comments and suggestions at the microphone.

School Board Chair Peggy Cooper Cafritz was in attendance and listed three main requirements for improving local education. They were:

• Teaching quality in the classroom
• Parent involvement
• Children ready to learn when they arrive at school – not distraught and hungry.

On the last point Ms Cafritz

Southwest will get a look at the plan for Waterside Mall reconstruction Mon., May 20 when Kaempfer Co. and other developers describe the Planned Unit Development (PUD) they intend to show to the D.C. Zoning Commission

Community Calendar page 2

S.W. Website News page 2

Jefferson Jr honor society page 2

Police awards page 4

Youth news page 5

Syphax Village homes page 6

Arena Stage page 7

Captions for page 1

New town homes are under construction as part of Syphax Village at N St. S.W. and Half St.

Dozens of Southwest youth joined in the Safety Patrol Parade through downtown May 4.

PAGE TWO

Wellness Coordinator

Products for the health of your future

Nutritional supplements

Clinically-tested herbals

Air and water purification

MONTHLY MEETINGS

Mon. May. 20 SWNA monthly public meeting – St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church 222 M St. S.W. – 7:30 pm

Thurs. May. 23 NARFE S.W. Branch Library -lunch at 12:30, meeting at 1 pm

Tues. June 4 Police Citizens Advisory Committee – 415 4^th St. S.W. – 7 pm

Sat. June 8 11 am – 3 pm Yard Sale at 3^rd & G S.W. Capital Park II & IV. 484-3938

Mon. June 10 Advisory Neighborhood Comm. 6D meeting – Westminster Church, 400 I (Eye) St. S.W.- 7 pm

Wed. June 19 AARP Trip

Sun. June 23 "History of Black Dressmakers", True Reformers Bldg., (Humanities Council Salon - Info. 387-3391) 12^th & U St. S.W. 3 pm

June 24 SWNA monthly public meeting – St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church – 222 M St. S.W. 7 pm

WEEKLY & BIWEEKLY MEETINGS

Komen Toastmasters, First & Third Saturdays – SW Branch Library, 900 Wesley Pl S.W. 10 am

Fil-Am Toastmaster Second and Fourth Wed. – SW Branch Library, 6:45 pm

School Street Toastmasters, every Tuesday, 400 Virginia Ave. S.W., Room 88 – noon

S.W. Kiwanis, Every Monday – SE University, 6^th & I St. S.W. – 6:30 pm to 7:30pm

PAGE THREE

The Blues as Literature will be the subject of a lecture and demonstration, with audience participation, at Southeastern University at 6 pm Thurs. May 23. Muriel Cauthen and O. D. Alexander will lead the discussion.

A series of Library Salons began April 9. It has included art by Ernest Jones, Margo Arnold, Jeannette Robinson Glover; photography by Dr. Ann Pharr and discussions by Kwame Alexander, poet, and Tony James.

The following 53 students at Jefferson Jr. High in Southwest have been inducted into the National Junior Honor Society:

Anne Dongling An, Shakira Ayers, LaTanya Bolden, Brenda Bomilla, Miriam Brown, Christina Carroll, Hua Chen, Jin Chen, Susu Chen, Wen-na Chen, Xia Chen, Kendra Day, Allison de Groot, Guorui Deng, Jasmin Drain, Michael Dubose, Mallori Edley, Leah Fall, Nefertari Francis, Jasmine Garland, Natasha Gerst, Kelcie glass, Mria Goldsmith, Jasmine Gooding, Lauren Grimes, Xiao-bo Gu, Guang-Zhi Guo, Romoa Hennings, Derrick Holloway, Su-shi Huang, Thiezue James, Whitney Lane, Wing Yan Lau, Di Xiong Lee, Qiao-hui Li, Terri Li, Xu-Qui Lin, Kristen Lingham, Meng Jia Liu, Levia McClanahan, Gregory Miller, Anita Obodo, Nwadiuto Onyegbula, David Pickens, Melvin Recinos, Chun-Xue Ren, Tiffany Robinson, Kevin Siu, Sherard Thorne, Efrem Tuquabo, Ye Wang, Qi Zhang, Qiao-Feng Zhang.

CONGRATULATIONS !

A Space Day exhibit at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum on Independence Ave. S.W. displayed ham radio satellites developed by the AMSAT group which includes Southwest’s Perry Klein of Washington Cable. The display showed how radio amateurs build and launch satellites for science and ham radio communications.

Mr. Klein reports that "the new IMAX movie "Space Station" at the museum is the first 3-D movie filmed from space. The movie includes a segment in which the astronauts aboard the Space Station are using equipment furnished by our group to communicate with school-kids in a school in Texas."

Annie King Phillips, left, receives an award as founder of the SW Youth Activities Task Force from Dr. Beryl Rice.

Walter Brooks, a founder of YATF, receives an award from Thelma Jones.

Lisa Matthews, left, a job trainee of the YATF in her early years, poses with YATF member Delmar Weathers next to a print Ms. Phillips bought in auction.

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At the annual awards banquet sponsored by the First District Citizens Advisory Council May 3, officers and citizens of Southwest received recognition.

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Jackie Benson of Channel Four TV was MC for the police awards banquet and posted with First District recipients of awards. Left to right are: Will Hill, chair of the citizens advisory council, Fiorst District Commander Alan J. Dreher, Irv Gamza, Ms. Benson, Alice Valentine and C. W. Hargrave.

Naomi Monk received an award for outstanding community service.

The S.W. Scholarship Committee and Amidon School will share the proceeds of a recent yard sale on Fourth St. S.W. between G and I St.

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Mrs. Barbara Murray set up a table for the S.W. Scholarship Committee, which she heads. Her son Tony, at left, and husband Lonnie and several neighbors chipped in.

PAGER FIVE

Jefferson Jr. High’s baseball team poses before its winning game with Elliott Jr. Front row, left to right: Devin Yeldell, Dandre Gibbs, Gerard Hall, Ricardo Bailey, Sterling Goodwin; Back row, left to right: Kendrick Thomas, Stephen Turhart, Ricardo Lucas, Steven Alfaro, Nathaniel Waldron, Jerry Johnson, Everette Evans.

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Y-Care, a "best practices" program of the YMCA, which has been operating from Link & Learn in Waterside Mall, will use Westminster Church as headquarters for its 9 two-week summer day camps and late August one week camp.

The cost for the two week camps is $200, with additional charge for before 9 am and after 4 pm care. For information call 234-0750, the Anthony Bowen YMCA near HowardUniversity.

Two new 9-week programs for junior high youth ages 11 to 14 will be offered this summer at Westminster Church at 4^th and I St. S.W. The first is a Tues and Thursday evening program of movies, tie-dye, arts & crafts, discussions, games, cookouts, service projects. Southwest resident Cheryl Palmer, who works with youth at Children’s Hospital, will be the Director.

The second is a Saturday program of field trips to various ethnic markets throughout the city, with cooking experiences back at the church. Called Culinary Tours with Auntie Oye, the program is led by Vera Oye Yaa-Anna, a professional storyteller and culinary artist from Liberia. This is a program of the Renaissance Development Corporation of the church. For information on registering children for either or both programs call the church office 202-484-7700.

PAGE SIX

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It was almost six years to the day when a group of Southwest Neighborhood Assembly representatives and neighborhood residents first met with Manna Inc. officials to discuss transforming the former William Syphax Elementary School into affordable housing.

On Saturday, April 13, 2002, members of that early group gathered again at the historical site. This time, they were there to celebrate the start of construction of the new homes and the transformation of a neighborhood they had envisioned so many years ago.

"Manna hopes to not only revive the old Syphax School, but to also give the community new life through our revitalization activities," said Manna President George Rothman.

Some 50 residents and some city officials who shared the vision of a revitalized neighborhood attended the Saturday morning celebration amid the construction. In addition to Rothman, Manna's founder and chairman of the Board, Jim Dickerson, as well as Carrollburg Place residents Emma Ward and ANC 2D03 Commissioner Tony Mapp, joined in the celebration. Recognized guests included Ward 6 Council member Sharon Ambrose, Margaret Feldman, SWNA, Stanley Jackson, director of DC Department of Housing and Community Development, Vivian Vasallo, of Fannie Mae Foundation, Muriel Garr, of SunTrust, Gwen Hawkins, representing PEPCO, Oramenta Newsome, of Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Barry Watkins, of BB&T, and Ernest Skinner, of CitiBank.

Dr. Marc Weiss, who served as president of the Southwest Neighborhood Assembly in 1996 and was instrumental in recruiting Manna for this project, delivered the opening address, noting the struggle and many obstacles the project encountered along the way. "But we did it," Weiss said.

Manna's construction of new town homes and condominiums will be the second residential development to be built in Southwest in more than 25 years. While many residents living near the old school welcomed the idea of turning the abandoned school into a productive site, some residents opposed the construction of homes there. Many supported a proposal to preserve the building as a museum honoring William Syphax, the school's namesake and the first black member of the Board of Trustees of Colored Schools of Washington and Georgetown. The original school building on Half Street, which was built in 1901 for African-Americans. is a registered historical landmark. That portion of the site has been preserved by Manna.

Manna's founder, Jim Dickerson, said that the Syphax Village project is one of the latest examples of what can be achieved when people come together to help the city's hardworking low and moderate-income families. When completed, the Syphax Village project will feature 29 three-bedroom town homes and 12 condominiums. The first phase of the project, located in the 200 block of N Street SW, contains eight town homes. The sale price ranges from $118,000 to $125,000 and is based on income.

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PAGE SEVEN

Retiring S.W. NARFE president Eugene Buehler was given the "Distinguished Annuitant Ward" by Blue Cross/Blue Shield at the meeting of the National Association of Retired Persons in the SW Branch Library in April.

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By Wallace Babington

A Moon for the Misbegotten has often been called Long Day’s Journey into Night – Part II. James Tyrone in Moon is that same older brother in the O’Neill autobiographical play. He is the drunk who is devastated at the death of his mother – an even from which he seems never to have recovered. Because of this close association with Long Day’s Journey, James Tyrone has always been considered in my mind the focal point of the story in Moon. Not so. That function belongs to the neighbor, Josie; the strong willed, larger than life woman whose relationship to James provides the dynamics and conflict of the play.

This is not your conventional drama with an obvious beginning, middle and end. It’s more like a chamber work – a series of skits and bits of conversation, dreaming, and wishful thinking.

The play takes place over one night with Jamie and Josie sharing and revealing their loves, disappointments and dreams. If you accept the plight of these two lost souls, then the play will capture you and hold your attention and interest throughout the evening. If you stand off from them and distance yourself from their revelations and loneliness, then the evening will be a loss.

Arena’s production has so much going for it: a set that immediately places you in an atmosphere of poverty, loneliness and despair. Lighting that truly lights the drama and supports the action.

However, the play comes almost to a halt when James and Josie are the lone figures on stage. What should be the climax of the interaction of these characters, turns out to be dreary and almost uninteresting. James’ soliloquy about his mother’s death and the train ride with her coffin is one of the most beautiful, eloquent and toughing segments of drama ever written; those words do not come across at that level in this production. It is when Josie and her father fight, struggle and compromise that the play is at its most compelling.

An unexpected pleasure of this production is the amount of humor that comes through despite all the unhappiness and despair. This adds immensely to the enjoyment of the evening and understanding of the play. It’s hard to believe that Moon had problems with the censors when it first toured the country in 1947. How times have changed.

Arena has expressed a desire to emphasize American plays throughout the season. What better way to show the expanse and breadth of American theater than to mount the two plays that run concurrently on Arena stages this month: Polk County and this O’Neill gem. Two extremes of American playwriting that in juxtaposition demonstrate the richness and uniqueness of our theater.

A Moon for the Misbegotten by Eugene O’Neill at Arena’s Kreeger Theater through June 16.

Jenny Lieu has transferred her gift shop from Waterside Mall to an even larger site on Rockville Pike in Rockville, MD.

Adjacent to a large IHOP (International House of Pancakes) and a block from a huge Marlo’s Furniture, the Jenny’s Card and Gift shares the Ritchie Shopping Mall with a wide variety of other shops.

The address is765-A Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. Phone 301-279-8798

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At one of the counters of the new Jenny’s Card & Gift Shop in Rockville are Jenny Lieu, right, and Garrie Chen, who are offering discounts for Southwest customers who visit their new store in Rockville..