Era Wine Bar was nominated for a prestigious restaurant award in the greater D.C. area.

The Mount Rainier wine bar is one of five finalists for “Wine Program of the Year” at the 2024 Rammy Awards from the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington in July.

The other nominees are in some of the most high-end dining areas in D.C.: Apéro in Georgetown, Irregardless on H Street, Lulu’s Wine Garden on U Street and St. Anselm at Union Market.

Era was nominated last year as well, but didn’t win.

The category honors the “quality, diversity, clarity and value” of Era’s wine program as well as if it “best suits the cuisine and style of the restaurant while enhancing the dining experience.”

In recent years, several Route 1 restaurants have been nominated for Rammys, including Spice Kitchen West African Grill at the miXt Food Hall in Brentwood and Tacos A La Madre in College Park, a sign of the local restaurant scene coming of age.

Winners have included Pennyroyal Station in Mount Rainier, Little Miner Taco in Brentwood and 2Fifty Texas BBQ in Riverdale Park.

This year’s winners will be announced at a gala on Sunday, July 21, 2024 at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in D.C.

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The town of Edmonston will mark its centennial in June with a tour of the town’s diverse gardens, followed by a parade and festival.

The town’s Green Team will be hosting a garden tour from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 8, rain or shine.

The first stop on the tour will be at Edmonston Town Hall, located at 5005 52nd Ave., where you can pick up a guidebook with maps and details of each stop of the self-guided tour.

There is no formal ticket or fee, but the volunteer-run Green Team is recommending a suggested donation of $5 to offset some of the costs. You can register here for the tour.

You’re also encouraged to join Edmonston’s Centennial Celebration on June 1. The festivities will start with a vibrant parade, featuring a procession through the town showcasing our elected officials, mayor, and council members, accompanied by live DJ performances and entertainment acts.

Following the parade, the festival will kick off at Edmonston Recreation Center Park, ending with a spectacular fireworks display. The festival will feature food trucks, live entertainment, games, pony rides, a foam party and special recognition ceremonies for graduates and local businesses.

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Jennifer Axner, an energetic Hyattsville artist and official U.S. currency engraver, died on April 14. She was 44.

Axner was a journeyman-level banknote engraver for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, designing the official portraits of Treasury secretaries Jack Lew and Steve Mnuchin, as well as President Joe Biden.

On Route 1, she was also known as an energetic member of the local arts community. In 2012, she won the city of Hyattsville’s art contest for the Route 1 Ride bus wraparound. Her design made the bus look like a piece of wood with a paint tube listing local towns.

“I wanted to refer to the artists … that have been attracted to the new Hyattsville Arts District — as to suggest that their creative processes are ‘splashing’ color all over the neighborhoods,” she said at the time.

She won another contest for a traffic box wrap with a design that made it look like a popcorn popper, served on the jury that helped select a mural for the West Hyattsville Metro station and hosted pottery and fiber arts sales by local artists at her home.

In 2016, she organized the Hyattsville Figure Drawing group, which still meets regularly at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center.

As leader of the group, she promoted the traditional atelier method of teaching, in which students progress through a series of tasks under the supervision of an instructor.

She was also regularly featured at Pyramid Atlantic shows, selling a graphite-on-paper portrait of rappers Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre. You can also see some of her figure drawings on the group’s Instagram page, which is noted as “Artist: Jennifer.”

“Jenny showed many works of art with Pyramid, served on multiple nominating panels, volunteered at events, and was a joyful presence in Pyramid’s gallery, studios, and hearts,” Pyramid Atlantic said in a statement. “We are a better organization for her involvement and grateful for the time she shared with us.”

Donations in her memory are suggested to be made to Pyramid Atlantic.

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Taqueria Habanero has located a new home along the Route 1 corridor.

The popular College Park eatery will move into the former Jimmy John’s location at 7410 Baltimore Ave., next to Marathon Deli.

The news was announced by College Park’s The Restaurant Broker, which works with restaurant owners on real estate and played a part in finding the location.

The Taqueria Habereno location was “more than a lease; it’s about supporting our local businesses and enriching College Park’s thriving economy,” the company wrote on Instagram.

Taqueria Habanero had to close its previous location at 8145 Baltimore Ave. when the Campus Village Shoppes was sold to a new owner who plans to demolish the entire shopping center.

It will continue running a food truck outside the old location until the new one is finished.

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After its successful return last year, Community Forklift is continuing its First Friday community events starting in May.

On the first Friday of the month from May to September, the nonprofit reuse warehouse 4671 Tanglewood Dr. near Edmonston will be open late for live music, food and drinks for sale, local artist and vendor booths.

During the First Friday events, discounts on salvaged and surplus home goods and building materials and the material donation drop-off bay will be open late, too.

The first event will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 3. It will feature live music by jazz-influenced pop Band Brûlée, a Catalyst Hot Dogs food truck, drinks by Streetcar 82 Brewing Co. (available for purchase to those age 21 and older), local artists and vendors, and more.

You can RSVP for free on the Community Forklift website here.

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A Hyattsville architect will lead a workshop in May on how to “green” your historic home.

Rayya Newman, owner of Triple Line Studio, has been carefully renovating a 1905 Victorian she and her husband, Adam, bought in 2016.

Over the years, she’s learned a lot about how to use tax credits, grants and other incentives to restore a historic home and make it more environmentally sound — even adding a geothermal heating system.

“The key is timing,” she told the Hyattsville Wire. “Usually a house project is urgent, or overwhelming, or both.”

At the workshop, Newman will share tips such as how she tracks the typical lifespan of all of her appliances, roof and other household fixtures, plans ahead for a replacement and then gets preapproval from the Maryland Historical Trust, which allows her to get a tax credit when the time comes.

Another example is the EmPOWER program in Maryland, which offers rebates and incentives to homeowners who complete an energy audit.

The workshop, which costs $15, will feature representatives on historic preservation, electrification and stormwater from the Maryland Historical Trust, the Chesapeake Bay Trust, and Rewiring America.

There will also be a free mini-expo to talk with local contractors who specialize in historic homes, architects and related nonprofits as well as kids activities such as building a birdfeeder and solar-powered car.

The workshop and expo will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, at the pavilion at Bladensburg Waterfront Park. You can register for the workshop here.

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A private school on the border with Mount Rainier will hold an open house on Saturday, April 13.

Located at 2112 Varnum St. NE just across the border in D.C., Chance Academy offers classes for students who are being homeschooled and also runs a summer camp program.

Classes are focused on social-emotional learning to teach kids to be “out-of-the-box thinkers,” often involving field trips to local museums and cultural institutions.

Individual classes are designed to include students of different ages based on students’ skill levels and maturity. Parents can also sign their children up to attend only certain classes, as needed.

Qualified families can apply for a sliding-scale tuition or even free tuition based on their income and expenses. No family is turned away for an inability to pay.

Now in its 15th year, the program currently rents space inside Northeastern Presbyterian Church, but it is not a religious school or affiliated with any religion.

The open house will feature material from school classes on Singapore math, AMTA science and Fly Five social-emotional learning.

The open house will be held from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 13. You can also learn more information on the school’s website or by calling (240) 746-2550.

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