The Southwest Chamber Players will continue their series of free monthly concerts through the summer at St. Augustine's Episcopal Church, Sixth Street and Maine Avenue. The dates are: Wednesday, June 30; Wednesday, July 14 and on Thursday, August 19th.

I just want to thank you for keeping me abreast of what health care is available in this neighborhood. Your article on the Southwest Health Clinic saved my life. I was having an asthma attack and remembered the story about the clinic and the photo showing its location. The Southwester keeps me informed.

Nations Bank and the Housing Counseling Services, Inc. will be holding a free first time homebuyer's seminar. It will be on Wednesday, June 30 from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. The location is the Nations Bank building which is located at 703 - 15th Street, NW. Reservations are necessary. Call Lulpe Mena at 202-667-7006.

Come learn about: 1) How to apply for a mortgage; 2) Preparing a budget and resolving credit problems; 3) The role of the realtor in the purchase process, and 4) Understanding settlement.

HomeFree USA

Speakers at the May meeting of Southwest's AARP chapter told of the uncertainty caused by the Year 2000 problem with computers, and about efforts to save social security without destroying it.

Bill Dodds of the National Council of Senior Citizens argued against "privatizing" social security. In Washington, DC alone, there are 43,000 social security checks mailed out monthly, totaling $67,053,000 a month.

Dodds quoted a Wall Street Journal article which said that "if only two percentage points of payroll tax were diverted into privatized accounts, $60 BILLION a year could flow into mutual funds and other securities."

The new Southwest Task Force is off to a highly promising start. A remarkable 45 people attended the May meeting held at Southeastern University, to focus on a range of issues in Southwest. The group included leaders from many organizations, condo associations, and housing councils.

If this is the kind of turnout we're going to get, and the energy level is going to be this high, the Southwest Task Force is going to make a real contribution.

Let me be clear about its purpose. The intent of the Task Force is to assist Southwest organizations in getting City government to respond to their concerns. I hope other people are drawn into the process, as well as organizations.

One of the overriding concerns that comes back to me, from every neighborhood I represent, is that City government does not respond, at least not in the manner that local groups would like. Police. Public Works. Consumer and Regulatory Affairs. Economic Development. You name it.

Being the Council member, I have the ability to get City agencies to meet with local groups, to make those agencies respond. The Task Force is the vehicle by which we can bring the community and government together.

The Task Force will address quality of life issues, such as fixing streets and sidewalks, caring for trees, and the general appearance of Southwest. It can look at plans for the Waterfront and it can offer another forum for talking about Waterside Mall. It can look at many other issues.

In the past six weeks, the task force has undertaken these key activities: It initiated the formation of the Jack Evans Southwest-wide Task Force; it also provides leadership and coordination for this broad-based community-wide effort. WM/WF co-chair Mercedes Sandoval-Beene is the facilitator for each Task Force meeting and coordinates the agenda and meeting logistics with Evans' office of Constituent Services. Meetings were held on February 11, March 18 and May 19. (Next meeting date TBA).

More than 40 community leaders, stakeholders, business owners, and city officials attend each meeting. Special thanks to Southeastern University for the use of their meeting room facilities. The meetings are open to the public, and all attendees are expected to join an action group. WM/WF members Davey Renshaw, Dick Westbrook, and Andrew Kreider each chair an action group.

The Arts & Culture action group led by Ms. Renshaw, with the help of WM/WF co-chair Judith Neiman, initiated a letter-writing campaign and petition to keep Arena Stage in Southwest. The Arena Board has postponed making a decision until August, pending the outcome of a feasibility study. The action group will soon be coordinating meetings with City officials and Arena Stage to explore tax credit incentives and zoning changes.

The Department of Public Works action group, led by Mr. Westbrook, organized the area's first-ever walk-through with City DPW officials to address problems in street maintenance and solid waste management. DPW immediately fixed sidewalks at 7th and I Streets; removed traffic barriers at 4th and G Streets; and removed debris from several locations as a result of the walk-through on May 12.

Mr. Krieder's Retail action group organized a meeting with Bresler & Reiner and Colonial Parking to address and make recommendations for parking and pedestrian access at Waterside Mall. Colonial Parking will be completing a Traffic Management Study by the end of June, at which time the Retail action group's recommendations will be considered. Additionally, the group presented to Bresler & Reiner, a timetable to implement no-smoking policies, upgrading of the mall entry doors, and other improvements.

Neighbors wearing orange hats stroll their neighborhood to demonstrate the presence of citizens willing to act in order to reduce crime. They typically walk with some form of communication to contact the police in case they witness criminal activity. They are also on the lookout for public safety problems like streetlights that are "out". In the Southwest neighborhood the "Orange Hats" mainly act to demonstrate neighborhood resolve to reduce crime.

The first outing of 1999 was in May and it was not the usual "Orange Hat" stroll around the neighborhood. A police commander, a police lieutenant, a police sergeant and several police patrolmen actually joined the "Orange Hats" on their walk. This was an unprecedented, very high-level, very community-visible display of police support for "Orange Hats" in the Southwest.

Second, the Metropolitan Police Summer Mobilization Unit was in our neighborhood that night. This is a special police task-force operating on summer evenings to put a forceful police presence in selected neighborhoods. As the "Orange Hats" strolled the Southwest, police cars were active everywhere. We saw them on each block and we saw the police make arrests.

Let's work together toward a greater sense of community, less crime in our neighborhood and more enjoyment of our wonderful SW environment.

The struggles and successes of a school year were visible on the children's faces who rode to New York City on May 8th to be on the NBC "TODAY" Show. This national morning television show was a great thrill for the students of Anthony Bowen's "SAY YES" to Math and Science Program. Forty students and seven adults left Anthony Bowen at midnight for a five hour trip to Rockefeller Plaza NBC Studios.

The outdoor broadcast started at 7 am Saturday morning. But the journey to NYC started long before then. "SAY YES", a highly challenging and motivating program funded by Shell Oil Corporation, has armed the students of this program with the ability to fulfill their desires to learn, comprehend, and scholatically achieve the hidden treasures of education.

"SAY YES" has equipped thousands, hundreds of thousands with the confidence to continue to excel. Ms. Emma Dunham, team coordinator, along with other "SAY YES" teachers, one acting as tour guide, have navigated these children's abilities to higher levels and even beyond.

LAW DAY -- U.S. ATTORNEY'S PROGRAM AT AMIDON

The U.S. Attorney's Office is a sponsor of lots of students at Amidon Elementary. Every year they have a mock trial. This year on May 7, they had a mock trial presentation to the entire school. It was "The Big Bad Wolf v. The Three Little Pigs" & the verdict was left up to each classroom.

The Attorney's program sponsored a Law Day poster contest for all 5th and 6th grade students. The theme was, "Celebrate Your Freedom."

Computers Donated -- The U.S. Attorney's Office is in receipt of pentium computers. They are donating all 800 of their 486 computers to the DC Schools -- 100 are going to Amidon.

The male mentor/mentee program held their annual luncheon at Phillips Flagship Restaurant on June 11, 1999.

The Cavalier's Club at Anthony Bowen

The Cavaliers, a group which promotes Southwest (by honoring both the past and present institutions of Southwest), will donate funds to Bowen Elementary to use at their graduation ceremony. Two awards, in the name of Leon Fields will be presented, to an outstanding boy and girl. It is fitting that this man who did so much for Southwest youths will be honored in this way.

JEFFERSON JUNIOR HIGH MATH TEACHER WINS PRESIDENTIAL AWARD

The Southwest Youth Activities Task Force has made grants to Southwest groups for summer programs, totaling over $6,000.

The Southwest Child Development Center received $600 for field trips. The annual Project Wonder summer camp at Landsburgh Park -- staged by local churches -- received $500.

The regular touch football camp at King Greenleaf field for 60 or so youngsters is put on by the adult touch football team formerly called The Stallions, now called The Jets. They will use $1,1000 from YATF for their program.

Basketball jerseys for the 10 teams of the new summer league of 13-to-17-year-olds were bought by a grant of $1,268 from YATF. They began play at King-Greenleaf court June 5.

According to the SWHC director, Bill Jones, "in the recent budget review, the consensus was that the Public Benefit Corporation supported fully the SWHC for the coming fiscal year." He had voiced concern at a SWNA meeting which was held in the early spring but seemed confident about the clinic's future when speaking recently.

Southwest DC has had a community-based health center for nearly 60 years. The center, located at 850 Delaware Ave., SW, at the corner of Delaware Ave. and I (Eye) St., SW, is just three blocks east of the Waterfront Station on the Metrorail Green Line. The health center was developed during the administration of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, as the Federal and DC government focused on the shabby living conditions and poor services provided to residents living so close to the center of the U.S. government, the Capitol building itself.

A comprehensive health center was designed in 1939 and opened the next year. From the beginning a full range of services was provided, including internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN and dental care. Today, those same services and more are provided, mostly in the same physical spaces occupied from the first day forward. It is a community-based clinic, operated by the DC Health and Hospitals Public Benefit Corporation, which was established in 1997. DC Public School Nursing and DC General Hospital also are part of the new corporation.

The center is handicapped accessible at the rear of the building off the parking lot and convenient to public transportation. Although most patients are from the neighborhoods directly south of the U.S. Capitol, the center serves patients from all other wards of the city.

The Millennium Arts Center, MAC (formerly called the Southwest Arts Center) is finally about to become a reality. Our focus for the past 18 months has been on gaining control of the building. From this moment on, our attention will be turned toward moving into the building and getting MAC up and running. Toward that effort, we would appreciate any volunteers that would like to help us give MAC a "face lift."

Among the many programs and special events scheduled is Time Capsule 2000, a major fund raising event taking place at the Millennium Arts Center in July 2000. People nationwide will be participating and lots of memorabilia will buried in time capsules to be opened on the 500th birthday of the United States. Prior to the event, pre-selected articles to be buried will be on exhibit at MAC.

Blossom Athey, long time resident of Southwest, was recently honored by the DC Legal Aid Society for over fifty years of dedication to the legal needs of the indigent in our community.

This prestigious Award is to recognize those in the community who have demonstrated a commitment to pro bono legal representation. Others who have received this award include Justice Thurgood Marshall in 1993, the Honorable Janet Reno in 1994, and in 1998, Eric H. Holder, Jr., U.S. Department of Justice.

Last month at Arena Stage a memorial service (more appropriately and accurately titled a celebration) was held for Richard Bauer. He was remembered by family, fellow actors, directors, and neighbors. He was described as a gentle, humane, loving, tender, shy man -- but also a man with a great sense of humor. It was the humor that prevaded the celebration: memories of events that continue to bring a smile to those who had the good fortune to know Richard. There was laughter and tears -- but more of the former.

Hogates is not just for tourists...this landmark restaurant on the waterfront has been an enigma to us for some time. As we have listened to local comments ranging from "I haven't been there in years" to "it seems so open and busy", "its a good place for parties" and..."the tourists go there", we have been mystified because we have always enjoyed Hogates for lunch, brunch or dinner.

And our lunch last week did not disappoint us. When my husband mentioned Clams Casino, not on the lunch menu, our waiter assured us that the chef would be happy to oblige. The tenderloin tips with vegetables and noodles and just a hint of Jalapeņo was also a wise choice. I had my favorite Crab Cake, very good...the only thing I enjoy more is the Catfish. A good cup of coffee is always a plus. Add a window seat on the waterfront and nothing could be more relaxing.

The Executive Chef, William Bednar trained at America's premier school for chefs, the Culinary Institute of America at Hyde Park, NY. He is most accommodating and handles small or large groups with equal ease. He is also known in the community for his many charitable interests.

Maybe the solution to this mystery is that people are expecting Hogates to be something other than what it is. It isn't small and intimate, it isn't ethnic or unusual and you will never be served a painting on a plate or a dessert that is a structural wonder.

While Hogates is not a "4-star" restaurant, I would like to coin a new term in the restaurant critique world. It is a "4-square" restaurant....good food, good service, good value and a good view.