Ward 5 Week is here with activities ranging from sports to storytelling to celebrate the community’s history and culture.
Events include a community bike ride on new extensions of the Metropolitan Branch Trail on Thursday and free golf lessons on Friday for seniors at Langston Golf Course, one of the oldest African American golf clubs in the United States.
Former D.C. Council member Harry Thomas Sr., who represented Ward 5 from 1987 to 1999, created the annual tradition. Zachary Parker, who currently represents the area, revived it in 2023.
One of the week’s highlights took place Tuesday at Nationals Park, said Melissa Littlepage, communications director for Parker. The baseball team donated 500 tickets to Ward 5 residents for the second game of a double-header against the Atlanta Braves. Heavy rain caused a two-hour delay.
Littlepage, who lives in the ward’s Langdon neighborhood, added that organizers wanted to host activities for a diverse set of groups including seniors, children and dog owners so everyone has something to attend.
“Ward 5 is just a really beautifully diverse ward,” she said. “We’ve got all kinds of demographics represented in our community.”
These weekday events lead to Ward 5 Day on Saturday with food, music and a youth entrepreneur fair at Turkey Thicket Recreation Center, 1100 Michigan Ave. NE.
New this year is “Walk Thru Ward 5,” an interactive exhibit where community members will display their own stories.
“I think that’ll be a really engaging exhibit and a way for neighbors to learn about the history and culture of neighborhoods across Ward 5,” Littlepage said.
The idea for this addition came from Andrianna Lovelace, a constituent services coordinator in the council member’s office, who grew up in the Trinidad neighborhood.
Lovelace wanted new neighbors and old neighbors to collaborate “in celebrating what makes their neighborhoods unique,” Littlepage said.
The Ward 5 Constituent Services Fund covers some of the week’s expenses, but most of the celebration comes together with the help of volunteers, the community and local sponsors, according to Littlepage.
In addition to the Nationals’ ticket donation, for example, the Woodridge Library hosted the Children’s Storytime Read-aloud on Monday.
Vendors at Taste of Ward 5, which takes place during Ward 5 Day, donate their food as a way of giving back to the community, Littlepage added.
Other Half Brewing is another sponsor of Ward 5 Week. Its doors will be open to community members and pets from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday for Yappy Hour, an event new to the week’s lineup.
“I’m always happy to support the local community,” said Matt Splain, manager of the taproom in the Ivy City neighborhood.
The brewery, which is based in Brooklyn, New York, wants each of its eight locations to be part of the local neighborhood, Splain said.
“We’re not trying to take any political sides, but we want to just show the community that we are here,” he added. “We’re happy to support what’s going on and kind of go from there.”
Damenica Ellis covers Ward 5 for HUNewsService.com.
