Spring Fling Details Announced!

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Spring Fling

This Saturday, May 3, 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., on the lower grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home, Rock Creek Church Rd & Randolph St., NW, Washington, D.C.

Featuring:

• The cool jazz sounds of Herb Spice & The Cinnamonstix and The Nicole Saphos Group Cecily.
• A large outdoor checkerboard and lawn bowling! Courtesy of President Lincoln’s Cottage, kids will get a chance to participate in two of Lincoln’s favorite games on the same campus he called home for a quarter of his presidency.
• Back by popular demand! A 60-minute nature walk of the Home’s lower grounds at 2 p.m. with Mary Pat Rowan, a landscape architect who will talk about native plants, and Philip Blair, a geology expert who will talk about the site’s fascinating underground.
• Children will be able to design their own crown and take a picture with Sleeping Beauty’s Princess Aurora and the Prince! Kirov Academy of Ballet of Washington, located just outside the Soldiers Home campus, will host this special exhibit.
• Free yoga beginners class on the lawn at 3 p.m., courtesy of Yoga Heights on Georgia Avenue in D.C.! Bring your mat or a beach towel or sit right down on the lawn.
• Carnival Games: Corn hole toss, lawn darts, putting mats, lawn dice, volleyball, horse shoes, bucket toss, ring toss, bocce, knock the pyramid.
• Local food vendors — Captain Cookie and the Milk Man, Crusty Dog DC and Pollo Loco.
• Local craft beer from DC Brau.
• Hiking, biking, picknicking and fun.

This is a FREE event, with a $5 donation per car for those who drive in.

D.C.’s own pop-soul singer Cecily! She’ll sing to the cool jazz grooves of Herb Spice & The Cinnamonstix!

Friends of the Soldiers Home is grateful to our sponsors for this event: Armed Forces Retirement Home Resident Fund Advisory Board, GreenLine Real Estate, Annie’s Hardware and DCMTB, D.C.’s only mountain bike racing team.

April Showers Bring Delightful Happy Hour With Friends

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Happy Hour

 

Are Resident Edward Woessner and Friends volunteer M.C. Russell ready for “Dancing With The Stars?” You bet!

Story by Liz Cocke; photos by Lori Lincoln and Liz Cocke

Finally it is Spring! The spirits were high at Happy Hour on Tuesday, April 29. This is a great time of year to celebrate. There was a great combination of volunteers, who engaged residents in deep conversation and even dancing! There were also bad jokes and quizzes and prizes offered by our Emcee, and beautiful background music spun by resident DJ extraordinaire Ray Anderson. If you haven’t joined us, please do, it’s a marvelous evening to enjoy some party food, drinks and conversation. The volunteers also enjoy catching up with each other since a month has passed from the last Happy Hour. Remember, Happy Hour happens the fourth Tuesday of each month. Come and join us! If you would like to come, drop a note to volunteerfriendsofsoldiers (at) gmail (dot) com.

Friends volunteers made sure residents had their favorite food and beverage at Happy Hour on April 29.

Residents of the Armed Forces Retirement Home had a good time making connections with volunteers in pleasant conversation at Happy Hour on April 29.

Friends Hold Successful Spring Fundraiser at Annie’s Hardware

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Fund raising, Spring Fling

Friends of the Soldiers Home volunteers cooked delicious hot dogs and greeted supporters at their spring fundraiser held outside Annie’s Hardware on Saturday, April 26. The talk at the event centered on Spring Fling, as the free outdoor festival on the grounds of the Armed Forces Retirement Home will be held exactly one week after the fundraiser. Some people who were at Annie’s to buy some hardware stopped to visit, donate and learn about the volunteer work that the Friends do at the Soldiers Home.

Finally, at 3pm when all the hot dogs were sold out, it came time for Annie’s Hardware owner Anne Stom to temporarily leave her busy post at the store’s main cash register and come outside for the big drawing. Anne donated a Weber gas grill that retails for $399 that would be raffled off to a lucky winner. Of course it was only appropriate that Anne herself would reach into the large plastic bin and determine who would soon be grilling in style.

The lucky winner was Constance Durham, who earlier in the day was kind enough to “take a chance” and help Friends of the Soldiers Home. When Constance was reached after the drawing, she said she was stunned, and that she hadn’t won anything before. She promptly came down to the store and picked up her beautiful grill. Anne said Constance was ecstatic.

We want to thank all of our friends and supporters for making the trip down to Annie’s to support our work. We’d also like to thank Annie’s customers who perhaps weren’t planning to donate to a worthy cause when they headed to the store Saturday but took time to show their support. Above all we’d like to thank Anne Stom, who has supported Friends of the Soldiers Home since the very beginning and has shown over and over again how she cares about veterans and her community.

If you weren’t able to come to Annie’s but would still like to show your support, go to friendsofsoldiers.org and click on the “donate” button.

Now that some of the hard work is out of the way, we hope to see you for some fun at Spring Fling on May 3!

Photo caption: Anne Stom, owner of Annie’s Hardware, reaches in the bin to pick a winner for the raffle of a $399 Weber gas grill at the Friends Spring Fundraiser April 26. Friends President John Hughes holds the bin while Friends Board Member Timothy Jones, right, looks on.

Reminder! Friends of the Soldiers Home Spring Fundraiser is Saturday

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Fund raising

The weather forecast outside Annie’s Hardware Saturday is 70 degrees and sunny when Friends of the Soldiers Home holds its Spring Fundraiser from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the store, 1240 Upshur St. N.W., Washington, D.C.

Come and have a hot dog, buy a t-shirt or buy a chance on a Weber grill that retails for $399!

Fundraisers enable us to host festivals such as Spring Fling at the Soldiers Home on May 3 that are free to members of the public. They also support our volunteer projects for veterans that have costs, such as Saloon Night With Friends, which is very popular with Soldiers Home residents.

We are grateful to everyone who has supported us since our first full year of existence in 2012 and hope that you will continue to do so. We thank Annie’s Hardware for hosting our Spring Fundraiser at the store.

If you can’t make it to Annie’s, remember that you can donate at our website, friendsofsoldiers.org.

Soldiers Home Golf Memberships Again Offered Through Friends of the Soldiers Home

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golf

Golf Course at the Armed Forces Retirement Home. Photo by Matt McClain of the Washington Post.

Friends of the Soldiers Home for the second consecutive year is pleased to announce that through our organization, members of the community have an opportunity to become associate members of the Armed Forces Retirement Home Golf Course.

This is an exciting opportunity to use a nine-hole golf course located on the Home’s beautiful, historic campus in the heart of Washington, D.C.
T
his opportunity shows continued growth in the Friends-Home partnership that includes 40 events each year, including the upcoming Spring Fling festival on Saturday, May 3.

Below is everything you need to know about getting a membership, courtesy of the Friends’ golf program coordinator, Craig Isakow.

What is the membership fee and for how long does the fee cover membership:  The annual membership fee covers membership from Oct 1 to September 30th.  The annual fee is $750.  Starting June 1 each year new members can pay a prorated fee of $62.50 per month for the remainder of the year (e.g. if you join June 1st the fee will be $250 through September 30th.)

What is the contact information for the golf pro?
Matt Kayson, PGA
AFRH Golf Course
(202) 541-7773
mkaysonpga (at) icloud (dot) com

What are the guest fees: During the week, fees are $12 for nine holes, $18 for 18 holes (play the same nine holes twice). On the weekend and holidays, the fees are $15 for nine holes and $25 for 18 holes.

How much for a cart: Riding carts are $12 for nine holes, $20 for 18 holes.  Pull carts are $3.When is the course open: 364 days a year (closed on Dec. 25)

How much to hit balls on the driving range: Full service range and three sizes of buckets of balls available $3, $5, $7

Are there any fees per round: Your membership includes unlimited rounds walking. Carts are extra.

Can my wife/son/husband/roomate be included in my membership: The membership allows two members per household, meaning immediate family members residing in the household.  This does not include roomates. If there are additional members of the household who would also like to play, they can play for the guest fee.

Are there clubs available to rent: Yes, $5.

Can I get lessons: Yes, the golf pro on site provides lessons.

Are there other amenities/restaurants on site: No, at this time there is only a small starter house with vending machines.

Are there tournaments: Yes there are monthly tournaments that are followed by cookouts on site.

What is the condition of the course: The course recently hired a news groundskeeper. The current condition is comparable to local D.C. public courses.

How many current associate golf members: Right now there are over 300 associate members, but the course hardly ever gets backed up.

Where can I get more information about supporting Friends of the Soldiers Home: Learn more about Friends of Soldier Home and donate here: http://friendsofsoldiers.org/  In order to continue to build this wonderful partnership between the community and the Home, Friends of the Soldiers Home requests a $30 donation from each person who purchases a golf membership. We also ask that you be willing to volunteer at some of our activities.

What is the next step to join: There is a membership form that can be picked up at the golf course that needs to be filled out (or click here to get the membership form electronically).  Once approved then you will receive a golf membership card and car decal that will allow you onto the AFRH grounds.  Once you have the form filled out take it by the golf course or email it to mkaysonpga (at) icloud (dot) com

Additional Questions: Submit your interest and questions through this form or contact Matt at the golf shack directly by calling 202-541-7773.

2nd Annual Spring Fling on May 3rd

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Public events, Spring Fling

Annie’s Ace Hardware Hosting April 26th Friends of Soldiers Home Fundraiser

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Fundraising

World War II Veterans Welcomed Home at Armed Forces Retirement Home on April 5, 2014

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Tributes

World War II veterans were welcomed home to the Armed Forces Retirement Home yesterday following a special visit to the conflict’s memorial on the National Mall. A Marine band played, active military members saluted and many members of the community came out to wave flags and say thank you. Some of the WWII veterans were Home residents while others were flown in as part of the Honor Flights program.

Photos by Isabelle Hughes.

Saloon Night Goes Highbrow With Sharing of College Thesis

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Happy Hour, History

This week at Saloon Night With Friends, a good time — and a college thesis — were shared. William Opferman, pictured below, left, first connected with Friends volunteer Karina Lichtman, seated below right, earlier this year. He said she looks exactly like his granddaughter. The two got to visiting and discovered more similarities. Eventually, they learned that William, Karina and Karina’s fellow George Washington University volunteer, Hannah Schaefer, pictured standing in the far right of the photo, all share the same college major. So at Saloon Night on April 1, William brought with him a wonderful gift — his thesis! He instructed the volunteers to “plagiarize as much as you want!” (We hope Karina’s and Hannah’s professors aren’t reading this.) The thesis is pictured in an envelope on the table below. Resident Dallas Lamb, center, is also pictured. If you want to read a great story about Mr. Opferman almost being lost at sea during the Korean War, you can find it here: http://1.usa.gov/1fFYQ5q

This post and photo by Lori Lincoln