Weekly Village News for May 23, 2025

From Frank...

We had a wonderful evening of reminiscing about Cleveland Park on Wednesday at the library. The event was moderated by Peggy Robin (member and moderator of the Cleveland Park list serv) and the featured speakers were longtime residents, Margaret Lenzner, Roy Shrobe, Judy Hubbard, Rives Carroll, and Eleanor Oliver. Much was shared including such things as Cleveland Park once had TWO toy stores, the space where Streets is located has always been a grocery store, Joan & Walter Mondale lived on Lowell Street, and in 1984, Rives Carroll worked on an oral history project with her students at Eaton Elementary in which they conducted interviews with residents, one of whom lived in Cleveland Park in 1907! You can read these oral histories on the website of the Cleveland Park Historical Society.  This fascinating program was presented as part of our celebration of Older Americans Month and organized by our Village Co-Chair, Sandy Rubin.

Next week at the library we have two more exciting programs. First, on Wednesday, May 28th at 5pm, there will be a panel discussion by individuals who witnessed and drove major cultural changes, moderated by Lynn Neary, retired NPR on-air personality. See the article below for complete details on this exciting event. Then, on Thursday, May 29th at 2pm, we’ll have another panel discussion about the power of the Village in members’ lives.

We have many more subscribers to this newsletter (approximately 1,200) than we have members, so if you’ve been thinking about joining, but want more information, please come to hear from existing members about their perspectives. Please remember these points:

• There are two membership levels: social members can go to any event or activity that we offer and Members Plus can go to programs AND receive volunteer services, such as transportation, personalized tech support, and handy-person services.  

  
  

• Free memberships are available to those with an adjusted gross income below $50,000 for an individual or $60,000 for a household.

  
  

Oftentimes I speak to longtime residents, and I ask them if they’d like to join the Village and I hear, “I think I am a member!” This just happened the other day, in fact. When I got back to the office and looked up their record, they were last a member in 2013. Our memberships are renewed annually, so if you’re not sure, please give us a call at 202-615-5853 or email info@cwpv.org and we’ll let you know your membership status. We’re 241 members strong, but we’re always hoping to increase our ranks. More people means that we are more likely to connect people with similar interests to do fun, new activities!

I hope everyone has a restful long Memorial Day weekend and finds time to reflect on the ultimate sacrifice made by the men and women of our military.

All Village news and events are here.

— Frank Finamore, Executive Director

P.S. As a reminder, the Village office will be closed on Monday. For Members Plus who might need a service next week, please contact the office ASAP, preferably this afternoon (Friday) so that we can list your request before the office closes.