In the news: GALA founders honored

The founders of the the GALA Hispanic Theatre -- which calls the Tivoli theater home -- have been named one of Washingtonian magazine's "Washingtonians of the Year." Here is what the magazine has to say about Rebecca and Hugo Medrano:

You don't have to speak Spanish to revel in the richness of Latino culture at GALA Hispanic Theatre—every performance has surtitles. And GALA founders Rebecca and Hugo Medrano create such vivid productions and bring such talented artists to their stage that audiences almost don't need to know Spanish to enjoy what they see.

The Medranos have "preserved, promoted, and continued the first solely Hispanic theater in DC for decades, educating children and the public in the classics," says Dorothy McSweeny, former chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. "In times of economic stress, they have hardly taken salaries in order to present a season of the best plays and artists from all over the Latino world."

Read more online at the Capital Comment blog.

Volunteer Opportunity at Tubman Elementary

Local nonprofit, the Grassroots Education Project, will be holding a day of service at Tubman Elementary on Martin Luther King Day (January 17). Nearly 180 people volunteered last year and they are looking for folks to help out this year, as well. Volunteers will work on a number of projects around the school. 

You can sign-up to volunteer at this link -- http://bit.ly/eDmLpW

MLK Day of Service 2011 at Tubman Elementary

Monday, January 17, 2010

10am - 1pm

3101 13th Street NW

Photo courtesy Grassroots Education Project.

Some local helicopter history

File this under "surprises from Google News alerts." Design blog The Curator of Shit (and a fine one it is) takes a look at the history of 774 Girard Street. The building, located in Pleasant Plains, was once the home of the Gyro Motor Company, which pioneered advances in the development of the helicopter and vertical flight in the early 20th century. You can read more about the history of the Gyro Motor Company and what has become of the Girard Street building here.

For all of their DC posts, visit this link.

So it's the new year …

As you may have noticed, the blogging has been a little light on the site but hope that will change in 2011. We'll be blogging more often to provide readers interesting news and tidbits on all things Columbia Heights.

Also, thanks to our Twitter followers, which surpassed the 900-mark over the weekend. What is your New Year's Resolution for Columbia Heights? Let us know by tweeting at TheHeightsLife.