Saloon Night Has Volunteers, Residents Dancing to Waymon Lucas Jr.

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Saloon NIght with Friends

We had a fabulous Saloon Night this month! Armed Forces Retirement Home-DC resident Waymon Lucas Jr. provided musical entertainment at the Defender’s Inn on the Home campus. The music encouraged several folks to hit the dance floor! As usual, Friends of the Soldiers Home provided the food, the drinks and the “friends” to enjoy the evening with residents. Everybody had a great time! Next Saloon Night — Tuesday evening, June 7. If you want to be part of the fun, write Lori Lincoln, who also took these wonderful photos, at volunteerfriendsofsoldiers (at) gmail (dot) com

Spring Rains Don’t Dampen Spirits at Happy Hour With Friends

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Happy Hour

Spirits were high at our last Happy Hour at the Soldiers Home! We had a Catholic University student share a joke with us, and residents who clearly enjoyed the conversation, music, jokes and all the fun. Sometimes we dance at Happy Hour, and this time we did as resident Ray spun tunes from the Golden Era. Resident Chris was the big winner of the trivia contests. Nam Knights Capital Chapter as always supplied the bar — and they tended it. As usual the Nam Knights provided a lot of fun and companionship. The next Happy Hour is the evening of May 31. To join the fun, write volunteerfriendsofsoldiers (at) gmail (dot) com.

Story and photos by Liz Cocke and Lori Lincoln.

Record Veteran Participation Makes Fourth Annual Spring Fling Special

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Spring Fling

Rain made a brief appearance, but puffy clouds, some sunshine and loads of fun carried the day at the Friends of the Soldiers Home’s fourth annual Spring Fling on May 7. A record number of Armed Forces Retirement Home-Washington veterans participated in this year’s event, making it extra special. Lots of families and many children from the community joined in the fun. Cecily, Herb Spice and the Cinnamonstix and Balance, the George Washington University ballet group, all turned in great performances. Children enjoyed organized games, face painting and running free in the driving range, kicking balls. President Lincoln’s Cottage and Christian Family Montessori School also held fun activities for kids. Food vendors DC Slices, Galang Indonesian, Captain Cookie and RockSalt were top notch, and the nature walk with Philip Blair as always was a good time.

None of this would have been possible without our sponsors — DCCX, Anheuser Busch, Annie’s Hardware and Crossfit Petworth. Thank you for your support for this wonderful event! We are also grateful to our great partners for this event — Nam Knights Capital Chapter, Points of Light, Travis Manion Foundation and Petworth News. Above all we are grateful to the residents and staff of the Armed Forces Retirement Home-Washington for welcoming all through their gate and giving such great support to the event. We will see you at the next festival — and it is just around the corner — July 4th!

More photos after the jump

Spring Fling Details Announced by Friends of the Soldiers Home

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Spring Fling

*** Updated May 4, 2016 ***

Rains will be ending in time for friends and neighbors to gather with distinguished veterans at the Armed Forces Retirement Home in Washington, D.C. this Saturday, May 7, from noon to 5pm. The forecast for Spring Fling is cloudy skies and 74-degree temperatures on the beautiful green expanse of the driving range, where we will gather on the Home’s beautiful 250-acre campus. (Enter Rock Creek Church Road and Randolph Streets.)

We are grateful to all of our sponsors for this year’s event — Anheuser-Busch, DCCX, Annie’s Hardware, Crossfit Petworth, AFRH, Nam Knights Capital Chapter, Points of Light, Travis Manion Foundation and Petworth News.

Friends of the Soldiers Home is proud to announce the final lineup for this year’s Fling, the fourth annual.

Leading off at 12:30 will be the superb jazz vocalist Cecily, back for her second Fling. She promises she will perform her new cover, “Been to the Moon,” which you can preview here: http://bit.ly/26OMiCm

At 1:30, geologist Philip Blair will lead a nature walk and point out fascinating features of the grounds that many people never realize are there. Phil’s walk-and-talk is always a popular feature of the Fling.

Herb Spice will pick up his saxophone at 1:30 and, along with the Cinnamonstix, fill the driving range with the sounds of smooth jazz. Please come on out on the dance floor under the big tent where Herb will play, and take a twirl!

Late arrivers don’t panic — Cecily and Herb will perform additional sets at 2:15 and 3:30, respectively.

Meanwhile, FOSH has a special treat at 3pm. Balance: The GW Ballet Group, will make a first appearance at the Fling. These dancers from George Washington University are making a special trip to the Soldiers Home, and we couldn’t be more thrilled that they will be performing a 20-minute routine.

Bring your appetites with you. Food offerings will have a little bit of everything, as Captain Cookie returns for his fourth consecutive Fling with his famous ice cream sandwiched between home-made cookies. Joining Captain Cookie will be main-course food trucks that include DC Slices, Nom Nom Gourmet and RockSalt. There will be a variety of beer choices, and Soldiers Home residents will operate a water stand.

Kids will have fun running on the vast open space of the driving range. But, there are organized activities as well, including kickball at 1pm, relay races at 2:15pm and capture the flag and soccer at 3:30pm.

We will have face painting throughout the event. President Lincoln’s Cottage (located on campus) will be on the driving range with a craft table for kids, and Christian Family Montessori School (located on the grounds of St. Paul’s Rock Creek Church Cemetery across the street from the Home) will be at the Fling to host a corn hole toss game.

Bring a lawn chair and a blanket and make yourselves comfortable. The festival is free if you walk or bicycle in. If you drive and park, there is a $10 donation for FOSH per carload. Leave your pets at home.

If you would like to spend 90 minutes of your day volunteering while you enjoy the Fling, you can sign up here: http://vols.pt/x8Q46B

We can’t wait to see you — come on out for Spring Fling 2016 and enjoy some time with neighbors, friends and distinguished Home residents who served their country so well. See you on Saturday!