Notes: Alexandria opens fall recreation program registration

Good morning, Alexandria! 👋 Today is Wednesday, Aug. 6, the 218th day of 2025. There are 147 days left in the year.

🌥️ Today’s weather: Cloudy, with a high near 81 degrees. Calm wind becoming east 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Cloudy tonight, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 67 degrees. Northeast wind 5 to 7 mph.

🚨 You need to know

The City of Alexandria’s Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities Department will open registration for fall programs Wednesday (August 6) at 9 a.m. for city residents.

Non-residents can begin registering on Friday at 9 a.m. for the programs, which run from Sept. 6 through mid-November.

Residents can register online at alexandriava.gov/recreation, in person at the Lee Center Registration & Reservation Office at 1108 Jefferson St., or at any neighborhood recreation center.

The department offers classes, programs, and events throughout the fall season as students return to school.

Financial assistance is available for residents who need help accessing programs. Information about assistance options is available at alexandriava.gov/rpca/financial-assistance.

The city also offers after-school programming through its Power-On After School Program. Details about out-of-school-time programming are available at alexandriava.gov/rpca/ostp.

For a complete list of fall programming options and to register, visit alexandriava.gov/recreation.

Here’s what else you need to know

🗓️ On this date in 1890, a report was issued indicating that the old Tidal Basin and lock of the Alexandria Canal adjacent to the Potomac River were deteriorating. According to Historic Alexandria, “a charter from Congress authorizing the canal had been passed just sixty years earlier, in response to a proposal by Alexandria merchants to build a canal linking Georgetown with the Alexandria seaport, to capitalize on the new Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. Ultimately, when the canal was complete, there was a vertical drop of 38 feet achieved by the construction of four locks over the seven-mile course. The canal was abandoned in 1886, and the towpath through what is now Arlington was replaced by the electric railway to Mount Vernon. It would be nearly 90 years later for the Tidal Basin and lock to be restored as part of Alexandria’s Canal Center development”.

✊ Olivia Troye, who resigned as Trump’s coronavirus task force advisor in 2020, has transformed from White House insider to one of Trump’s fiercest critics while living in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood. In a detailed interview with ALXnow, the former Republican describes witnessing the Lafayette Square clearing and Trump’s COVID misinformation firsthand before making her dramatic break with the administration. Now publishing to over 300,000 Substack subscribers and having spoken at the Democratic National Convention, Troye says she’s dedicating her life to opposing the MAGA movement—despite losing friends and facing security concerns as a result of her outspoken resistance.

🆕 A new Vietnamese-Japanese fusion restaurant has soft-opened in Arlandria.

🎨 The Old Town North Alliance will transform the sidewalks and parking lots of Alexandria’s Arts & Cultural District into outdoor canvases during the second annual Chalk-A-Block festival on Sunday, Sept. 7.

🏠 Elme Communities is selling 19 apartment communities to Corland Partners. The $1.6 billion transaction includes three properties in Alexandria – Cascade at Landmark, Clayborne, and Elme Alexandria, according to ReBusinsess Online.

Tuesday’s Most Read

The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for August 5, 2025.

1. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream coming to Old Town
2. Old Town coffee shop and wine bar wants more outdoor seats and expanded hours
3. Bail granted for groomer accused of abusing dogs in Alexandria
4. Alexandria firefighters help extinguish commercial building blaze in Alexandria area of Fairfax County
5. 2D Noodles soft-opens on Mount Vernon Avenue in Arlandria

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s happening today in Alexandria, as per our event calendar.

• 11:00 am: “Drawn to Travel” by Marni Maree

Things To Do

• 2 p.m.: Ceramic Paint Party at Ellen Coolidge Burke Branch Library
• 4 p.m.: Creatives’ Club at James M. Duncan Jr. Branch Library
• 5 p.m.: Mobile Art Lab – Affirmation flowers at Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library
• 7 p.m.: Scent & Sip: An evening with Hemlock & Hearth & The Parlor at The Parlor
• 7 p.m.: Run Club at Murphy’s Grand Irish Pub

• 5:30 p.m.: Rescheduled: ARHA Redevelopment Work Group
• 5:30 p.m.: Mentor Information Session for Space of Her Own
• 7 p.m.: Independent Community Policing Review Board

Organizing an event? Submit your event to ALXnow’s Event Calendar.