Wednesday, October 25, 2006

BV Updates; Book Sale; HFK Auction

The Changes at Buckingham Village

The four-hundred block of North Thomas Street was the first to see demolition as crews tore down buildings that are part of Buckingham Village 2 on Monday Oct. 23; by Tuesday, much of Village 2 was gone. The village will be refilled with luxury townhouses starting in $750,000 range.

Village 2 is bounded east and west by George Mason Drive and Thomas Street and north and south by Henderson Road and North 4th Street.

To see a couple short, silent video clips of the demolition,
click here and here.

Paradigm Companies, the owner and developer of the property, released this statement via email, and Pat Hope was nice enough to send this along to me:

"To ensure safety for all residents (especially the children) and construction personnel, we will be temporarily closing sidewalks while the process is taking place and re-opening them at the end of each workday. In addition to the crossing guards at the corners of Pershing Drive and North George Mason Drive and North Henderson Road and North George Mason Drive, we plan to have construction personnel as well as signage at the corners of North 4th Street and George Mason Drive and North Henderson [Drive] and North Thomas [Street] at the
beginning and end of the school day to assist the children and their families to and from Barrett School."

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BV Walking Tour
The Buckingham Villages Walking Tour has been rescheduled to take place on Saturday, Oct. 28 (it had been rained out a couple weeks ago).

The tour of all three villages runs 9 - 11a.m. starting at the BV rental office, 4319 North Pershing Drive.

Questions? Contact:
Freida Wray, Site Plan Coordinator, at 703/228-3541 or
Gizele M. Carnell-Johnson Clerk, Planning Commission (703) 228-3525

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Who Needs the Book Sale When They Give Away the Best for Free?

I love used book sales, often buying more books than I’ll ever get around to reading. Still, it wasn’t the
huge sign for the book sale in the Arlington County Central Library parking garage the other morning that got me so happy.

The volunteers who sort through all the books had found what they believed to be the good, but un-sell-able, books and placed them on shelves just outside the doors to the elevator.

If I love book sales, I love free books even more (one of the many perks of being a professor is that publishers just send me books out of the blue). I must have gotten to the free shelves shortly after the volunteers had filled them, and the salivation began.

How are these beauties just left for anyone to take?

I brought that question to Cindy Sweet, the book sale coordinator for the
Friends of the Arlington Library.
The volunteers have to sort through 60,000 to 70,000 items, she said, looking for books in four general categories: books for the sale (the most valuable), books for the store inside the library (it’s open regularly year-round), books for the free shelves and finally books that have to be trashed.

“A lot of times you’ll see they’re slightly tattered,” she said, referring to the free books, “but they’re very readable.”

I told Ms. Sweet I love those books because I’m always hoping to find the gem they missed.

“Chances are slim,” she said.

None of the volunteers has a background in bookselling, she said, but “We’re pretty good at spotting these,” books that have any market value, she claimed.

Au contraire!

Where else—for free no less—could I find “Funk and Wagnalls New Encyclopedia," the 15th volume from “Lace" to "Maots”? I’m pretty sure this blue-covered classic with gilt lettering is from 1975 by the Roman numerals on the title page.

“Maots” it turns out is Mao Tse-Tung, the philosopher-chief of Chinese communism. This volume also includes information on Lao-tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher who produced “Tao te Ching.” When they let Volume 2 slip through their fingers, which I’m sure includes the Buddha, I’ll have the whole of Chinese philosophy at my fingertips!

I ask you, How did this gem get by your group, Ms. Sweet?

Or, even better, how did the “Microwave Cookbook” get past you?

With recipes from 1984 like Tomato Jalapeno Cheese Dip and a cooking time of only 7 minutes (at most!), the good people of Sanyo (makers of car radios and microwave ovens) have nothing on Rachael Ray.

From page 44:
Recipe for Tomato Jalapeno Cheese Dip:

Makes about 4 Cups.
Total Cooking Time 7 minutes
2 pounds process American cheese, cubed
1 can (1&1/2 ounces) tomatoes and jalapeno peppers, drained
1 can (5&1/3 ounces) evaporated milk.

Combine all ingredients in 2-quart glass measure or microwave bowl. Cook on HI (max. power) 7 minutes, or until cheese is melted, stirring once during cooking time. Blend thoroughly with electric mixer. Pour into serving bowl. Serve with corn chips or dipping-style potato chips.

Extra dip can be frozen in plastic containers. To reheat, cook on 55 (defrost) 1 minute. Stir and repeat until dipping consistency.

175 more pages of these babies!

The Arlington County Central Library Book Sale runs at the Central Branch, 1015 N. Quincy St., from Friday Oct. 27 (for members only, but you can buy a membership at the door) through Saturday Oct. 28 and Sunday Oct. 29, for the rest of us. Click the links for more info.

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Hope for Kids Auction

Pat Hope of the Hope for Kids charity reported that last Thursday's HFK auction netted about $5,000 for the group with about 60-70 people attending throughout the night (Excellent!). [See the Oct. 15 post, below].

Remember that all secure, tax-deductible donations with HFK go to the children. Administrative costs and other overhead expenses are paid by the HFK board.

In the past Hope for Kids has bought jackets, books, school supplies and, of course, holiday gifts for the children of the region.


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