photo compliments of Congressional Cemetary
Fundraising and grassroots activism comes in all kinds of forms. The Canine Corp, the growing group of folks who pay to walk their pups at the Congressional Cemetery, was born of hopes to make the historic grounds, located adjacent to the DC Jail, safer and to raise funds for the crumbling and deteriorating 35 acre property. Now, the group is hosting chamber musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra.
Eric deWaardt, owner of anEnglish shepherd named Timmy, is a musician with the orchestra. He is arranging a series of Chamber Music Concerts in the cemetery chapel. The goals of the series are to raise money, spread the love of chamber music, give local musicians and interesting place to perform. Surprisingly, the historic chapel wonderful acoustics in our lovely historic chapel. The first concert is Sunday, September 23rd at 4pm, with works by Handel-Halvorsen, Mozart, Ravel, Piazolla, and Dvorak. Tickets are $20 general tickets and $15 for seniors and students. Tickets available at the door or at congressionalcemetery.org.
Another way to support the cemetery is to don your sneakers and run in the second annual Dead Man’s Run on October 6. It’s a twilight (spooky!) 5 k run amidst the 33,000 graves, both historic and recent.
Presently, one thousand graves remain available at Congressional Cemetery. It costs between $3500 and $5000 to be buried there. Call 202-543-0539 or write to staff (at) congressionalcemetery (dot) org for more information.