When those looking to show off and prepare Adams Morgan’s strip for the inauguration masses got together, several ideas were knocked around. How about we allow people to write messages to the president? Could we let them hit a stuffed Republican elephant until candy comes out? Maybe we could put up flags to show how international we are? And what about all that piss?
Check, check, check, check. “We’re prepared,” says Kristen Barden, executive director of the neighborhood business improvement district (BID). Yesterday, six portable toilets were installed—-three in the SunTrust alley and three more in the alley near the parking garage, next to Little Shop of Flowers. They’ll be there through Inauguration Day, with pickup scheduled for Wednesday.
The BID also switched out the Festivus pole at 18th Street/Adams Mill/Columbia Road, replacing it with what Borden describes as a “low-tech Listserv” for the inauguration.
Pens, notebook paper, and pushpins are provided to people who want to express themselves to the Prez-Elect. A few early highlights: “Allah Guides You With Wisdom, Mr. President. Iran & U.S. Love you,” “Arrest Bush for War Crimes,” “Make Weed Legal,” “Keep It In Your Pants,” and that old chestnut: “Give D.C. a Vote.”
The Festivus press inspired the BID, in conjunction with Adams Morgan MainStreet, to keep hope alive that the kiosk could be more than a place for offers to dog-walk and fliers for bands. “That was a big hit,” says Barden. “It drew a lot of people to Adams Morgan and we love that….It created a buzz.”
It’ll switch out again around Valentines’ Day, where it’ll be a repository for people to perform “random acts of kindness” she says. After that, it’ll revert back to the wheat-pasters, at least for awhile.
The kiosk is also the site for a pinata bashing today and tomorrow, which we wrote about yesterday.
Also new: flags. Adams Morgan businesses were invited to request flags from any country. The BID/MainStreet group paid for the flags, the poles, and the brackets. The Diner’s was up this morning. Owner Constantine Stavropoulos went with the home team:
