Eastland Gardens Civic Association

Courtesy East of the River, February, 2010
Eastland Gardens and surrounding housing, including Kenilworth Courts, suffered
a rash of burglaries in November and December. The Eastland Gardens Civic Association (EGCA) asked for additional police visibility and encouraged residents to watch out for one another and report suspicious activity.Burglaries continued.

“They think this is an older neighborhood, and we’re okay,” says one 25-
year resident who asked not to be identified. “But we’re not.”

In the wee hours of Jan. 20, a lone man allegedly cut the phone lines to
the resident’s home, disabling the alarm system she thought was protecting her
and her houseguest. The man tried numerous windows before entering
through a kitchen window. He woke the houseguest, demanding her purse,
and struggled with her. The house guest’s screams woke the resident, but the burglar
escaped with both women’s purses, which contained personal and work-related
items.  click here to read more.

courtesy NBC Washington January 2010

A multi-year road project to replace a six-lane bridge and surrounding ramps near Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue is finally completed. The entry way into Eastland Gardens is virtually completed featuring amphitheaters, spot lights, public art installations and an improved navigation into the community, out of the community and en route to hwy 295. .Click here to see coverage.

Courtesy DC Examiner, September 2009
...The grim snapshot of DC’s wellbeing makes ACHIEVE Kids Tri aka Camp ACHIEVE for inner city kids remarkable. Camp ACHIEVE is not just a sports camp. The free camp is in its third year and features instruction in swimming, biking, and running along with nutrition education that culminates in a United States Triathlon Association (USAT) sanctioned kids’ triathlon on July 24th. This summer, the camp expanded to three locations in DC: Turkey Thicket Recreation Center, Kenilworth Parkside Recreation Center, and Benning Park Community Center. A satellite location of Camp ACHIEVE is located in Houston, Texas. McDonald’s, Craft clothing, Kahru shoes, Bike Lane, and Speedo are among the sponsors of the free camp. About half of the kids attended the triathlon camp before. click here to read entire article

courtesy Washington Post April 2009
President Barack Obama on Tuesday rolled up his sleeves and got his shoes muddy as he, Vice President Joe Biden and former President Bill Clinton planted trees at a national park site along the Anacostia River in northeast Washington.

Obama let Clinton be the first to dig into the dirt. He said the former president had to leave to attend a fundraiser. "I don't want him getting off scot-free," Obama joked.

Gripping a shovel with gloved hands, Clinton dug a hole into the ground.

"I think the president has pretty good shoveling skills," Obama said of Clinton's work.

The stop at the Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens came after Obama signed into law a bill that triples the size of the AmeriCorps program over eight years and expands ways for people to serve their communities. click here to read full article

courtesy Washington Post July 31, 2008

On a recent hot morning, dozens of D.C. kids were not lounging in front of a television, playing Wii or surfing the Internet. They were running, and doing so happily.

"We're teaching them lifetime fitness," said Molly Quinn, a triathlete and executive director of Achieve!, a Washington-based nonprofit group that runs a triathlon camp for inner-city kids in the District.

For six weeks, the youths are meeting for 3 1/2 hours Mondays through Fridays to run, swim, bike and learn about a living a healthy life. The camp is certified by USA Triathlon as an official training program. At the end of the six weeks, the athletes (no campers here) participate in a USA Triathlon-sanctioned triathlon.  click here to read more

courtesy lappjoe.com October 2007

Owen Davis became a friend of my parents when they moved to Kenilworth in the 1960's.  They were impressed with his righteous character and by his concern for his lower income Kenilworth Courts neighbors, whose children shared Kenilworth Elementary with Eastland Gardens children.

During my recent years in Kenilworth doing research on the history of the neighborhood, he became a friend to me as well.  An elderly man with a long memory, I interviewed him about the history of the neighborhood.  It was always a treat to go and knock on the door of the 42nd Street home that he and his wife had moved into on the day of their October, 1939 wedding.  I loved hearing the booming "Who is it?" from his still-deep voice, and then being invited in to sit at his dining room table and chat. click here to read more

courtesy Capitol Community News, November 2006
Washington’s best kept secret is in Eastland Gardens. The vision of Mable Spencer, Elizabeth Marshall, Gaston Briggs, William Williams, Russell Chambers and Clifton Glover came to fruition over seventy years ago when the first Eastland Gardens Civic Association was formed. Though this thriving middle class neighborhood was established in 1929, the residents of Eastland Gardens did not receive municipal services, like mail delivery and police officers on foot patrol, until 1931. click here to read more

courtesy Washington Informer, June 2007
Her first all brick home is located in the Aquatic Gardens community in Northeast Washington, across from a lovely park that includes a tennis court. The neighborhood
is quiet, green and beautiful. Zerline said when she looks out her window at 11 PM and sees the park…she feels like she’s in “the Rock Creek Park of Northeast.” click here to read more

courtesy Washington Post July 2007
Summer has slowed to slog and drag. The heat churns high - scorching, stifling - and green grass cowers. Midsummer is a vampire.

But just beyond Northeast Washington's public housing, beyond broken bottle glass scattered like mosaics of alienation and anger, there lies an Eden.

The lotus are blooming. In the worst months of Washington's summer, as other flowers wither in the exhausting sun, the lotus stretch five feet and higher, reaching for the sky.

Thousands of water lilies are unfolding into lotus blossoms in Kenilworth Park and Aquatic Gardens. Nearly 45 ponds fill with Red Flare and Afterglow, Josephine and Madame Walska, all soft pinks and pure whites, each keeping a promise made by Claude Monet. click here to read more