Saturday’s toodling brought me up the hill from Shirlington into Fairlington, where at a little after 2 p.m. and courtesy the personnel from Fire Station #9, Santa made his annual appearance, starting at Abingdon Elementary School and then riding around Fairlington on a firetruck.
While the event — a tradition for years — did take place in 2020, it was a downscaled version, with little interaction between the children and ol’ Saint Nick. COVID concerns, you see.
As it seems we are beginning to make our collective peace with COVID, the 2020 rules were loosened for 2021. Kids had the chance to get up and close and personal with the jolly fat man (Santa, not me…), presenting their list of Christmas wishes and promising that they had been good little boys and girls all year long.
(Ah, fibbing to Santa. That takes me back!)
After about 20 minutes, when all the photos had been taken and wishes listened to, Santa (who seems to have been working out during COVID, as he was positively svelte) hopped on top of a firetruck to begin his tour of the community.
Not exactly like old times, but getting closer. And for that, we should be thankful.
MOVING, MOVING, MOVING — KEEP THOSE BOXES MOVING: By the end of this week, I’ll be in the midst of two moves. One of the office, the other of myself.
The former already has begun; sports editor Dave and this weekend trundled boxes of items across the street and down a block (in our cars) to the new space, to lessen the load for the moving crew when it arrives later in the month. We’ll be doing the same every couple of days.
On the personal front, my move-out-of-the-condo-get-it-renovated-then-see-what-happens effort begins when the lease on a Falls Church apartment kicks in on Wednesday. There will be a few things moved in then, but the big shuffle will be next Monday, the 20th, when enough stuff gets moved in so I can at least start living there.
(No need to move everything, or even most things, from the Shirlington condo, as odds are I probably will go back to it after the renovations are completed at some point next spring. But that is a decision for another day.)
Will be the first time in 20+ years I’m living in a place with hallways shared with others. But I’ll adjust.
R.I.P. RICH DOUD: News came late last week that former Arlington Chamber of Commerce president Rich Doud, who retired in 2014, had died.
Sorry to hear it, as I always enjoyed my time with Rich. He had quite the sense of humor — some of it barbed — about the Arlington scene and those who held leadership roles in it.
Rather than do an obituary, we chose to re-run an article that first was published back when Doud retired. Lots of people said nice things about him. (I was there and I did, too, but quoting oneself in an article, no matter how brilliant the repartee, would be just tacky.)
— Scott McCaffrey