Around Town

Whether you’re looking to cheer on local teams at the Del Ray vs. Old Town Softball Battle, explore numerous live music options ranging from traditional Irish sessions to karaoke nights, engage with local governance at various city meetings, or celebrate Pride Month with a special drag dinner, the coming days are packed with opportunities for entertainment, community connection, and cultural enrichment.

Here’s a look at the activities happening in Alexandria from Monday, June 2nd, through Sunday, June 8th; enjoy!


News

Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Del Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-5) will join the Virginia chapter of Moms Demand Action onstage at Market Square (301 King Street) on Friday (June 6).

Friday is National Gun Violence Awareness Day, and the annual rally is part of Wear Orange Weekend. Gun violence victims will be honored in events throughout the country by affected families and supporters. The city’s new Poet Laureate, Cristi Donoso, will also speak at the event, which includes an on-site blood mobile and a community resource fair.


Sponsored

Among the movers serving Alexandria, VA, 495 Movers stands out for a simple reason: its local hourly rate includes packing materials, furniture disassembly and reassembly, and protection for floors, walls, and elevators. The company has been in business since 2009 and has completed more than 20,000 moves, a number that keeps climbing.

Anyone who has hired movers in the DC area knows the familiar pattern. A low hourly rate wins the call. Then the invoice arrives with a charge for boxes, a charge for taking the bed apart, a fee for the stairs, and another for the elevator. By the end, the number on the bill has little to do with the number in the ad. 495 Movers was built to avoid that.

495 Movers at a glance

  • In business since: 2009 (17 years)
  • Moves completed: more than 20,000, local and long-distance
  • Licensed in: Virginia
  • Serves: Alexandria and the rest of the DMV
  • Local hourly rate includes: packing materials, furniture disassembly and reassembly, and home protection on every move
  • No separate fees for: stairs or elevators
  • Also offers: junk removal, custom crating, and self-storage
  • Reputation: 4.7 stars across nearly 1,000 Google reviews

Who is 495 Movers?

495 Movers is a full-service moving company serving Alexandria and the rest of the DMV, founded in 2009 by people who had worked as movers for several other companies first. They wanted to do it differently.

“We wanted to take a different approach, offering a simple, honest, and transparent approach for the customer,” said Moti Kachlon, co-owner at 495 Movers. For local moves, that meant building the most common extras into the hourly rate. Seventeen years and more than 20,000 moves later, the company is still growing.

What makes moving in Alexandria different?

Alexandria is a hard place to move. A truck on an Old Town block gets watched by neighbors, property managers, and a family wondering whether the sofa will make the turn on a staircase built long before sofas got this big.

Old Town’s rowhouses have narrow staircases and tight turns, which is why large furniture often has to come apart to get out. Del Ray’s bungalows and rowhouses have basements that hold more than anyone remembers. And condo and apartment buildings in Carlyle, Potomac Yard, and the West End often require movers to carry a certificate of insurance and book the elevator, with building managers who care a great deal about scuffed hallways. The street adds its own complications, from cobblestones to limited curb space.

That’s the context for how 495 Movers prices its work.

What does 495 Movers include in its hourly rate?

For local moves, the rate covers four things that many movers bill separately:

  • Packing materials. Boxes, tape, paper, and wrap are provided at no additional cost, whether a move needs a few or a few hundred.
  • Furniture disassembly and reassembly. Beds, tables, desks, sectionals, and wardrobes are taken apart, moved, and put back together at the new home. In an Old Town rowhouse, that’s often the only way a dresser gets down the stairs.

    (more…)


News

It took three years to finish, and on Saturday (June 7), Alexandria will officially recognize the completion of the Hooffs Run Interceptor and a rejuvenated African American Heritage Park.

The large project at 500 Holland Lane transports millions of gallons of raw sewage for processing at AlexRenew, and included a “full-scale restoration of the area surrounding Hooffs Run, including enhancements to the riparian buffer, the establishment of native trees and plants, and the creation of new wildlife habitats,” according to the city.


News

The date has been set for the ribbon cutting for a new vintage gift shop in Del Ray.

Stardust Vintage & Gift (1904 Mount Vernon Avenue) will formally be unveiled to the world at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, June 14. The event will include a continental breakfast, cake, and a toast to the business’s good fortune.


Event

If you are interested in learning more about Continuing Care Retirement Communities (also known as "Life Plan Communities"), whether for yourself or for a loved one, please join our free workshop on Wednesday, November 4 from 5:00-7:00 at the Arlington office of Long & Foster. We are hosting this workshop in conjunction with Lisa Bates of the Williamsburg Landing community, which is a particularly excellent model of the way these communities work, and one you may wish to consider!

– How do Continuing Care Retirement Communities work?
– What do they offer?
– How much do they cost, and what are the financial models offered?
– How do you how to evaluate them, and choose the one that's right for you?
– How do you make a plan for a move like this?
– How do you handle a lifetime's worth of possessions?


News

Alexandria City Councilman Canek Aguirre is stepping into a new role as Vice President of the Virginia Transit Association (VTA). His election, which took place at the VTA’s 48th Annual Conference and Expo in Richmond, was unanimous.

According to its website, the VTA  provides public education and legislative advocacy to support public transportation systems throughout the Commonwealth. The VTA has 125+ total members, which include transit properties, businesses, regional entities, and non-profit and organizational associate members.


News

The list including the City of Alexandria as a “Sanctuary Jurisdiction,” has been removed from the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) website.

President Donald J. Trump’s administration initially published the list, which included hundreds of communities across thirty-five states and the District of Columbia, on Thursday (May 29). At some point over the weekend, the list was unpublished from the website. The list included multiple errors, like listing localities multiple times, and incorrectly listing towns with small populations as cities.


News

Good Monday morning, Alexandria!

⛈️ Today’s weather: Sunny, with a high near 76 degrees. Calm wind becoming north around 6 mph in the morning. Mostly clear tonight, with a low around 55 degrees. Calm wind.


Around Town

The 16th Annual Taste of Del Ray brought 500 food enthusiasts to the Mount Vernon Recreation Center Fields on Sunday (June 1).

The event, which ran from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., was a sellout, highlighting the neighborhood’s diverse culinary offerings and naming winners across several categories.


News

A 35-year-old man from Fairfax County is facing several charges linked to two separate assaults near Alexandria Metro stations last Friday evening (May 30).

Jeffrey Gary has been arrested and charged with assault and battery, sexual battery, and two counts of abduction with force, according to officials at a joint press conference on Monday.