A long-awaited segment of the Rhode Island Avenue Trolley Trail in Hyattsville will open Tuesday.

A small group of local and state officials will gather on the morning of Dec. 5 to officially open the half-mile paved segment stretching from Farragut Street south to Armentrout Drive.

The trail extension is important because it will connect the trolley trail to paths along the Northwest Branch of the Anacostia River, which heads towards Montgomery County, and the Northeast Branch, which leads to D.C.

Bicyclists previously had to cross the heavily trafficked Rhode Island Avenue and ride along a narrow shoulder to connect to the other trails, discouraging casual cyclists and families with younger children.

The Hyattsville Community Development Corporation is planning its own celebration of the trail extension for Saturday, Jan. 20.

A small group of local businesses are also running a “pub crawl” along the path to celebrate the opening.

Stop by Franklins, Maryland Meadworks, Pizzeria Paradiso, Shortcake Bakery and other local businesses between Dec. 5 and Jan. 6 to pick up a punchcard that will get you discounts and turn in your completed punchcard for a chance to win prizes.

Or you can join a group of local cyclists on two celebratory rides along the trolley trail on from 12:30 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9.

The rides, co-sponsored by Arrow Bicycle and Proteus Bicycles, will gather at Shortcake Bakery and at Proteus at 12:30 p.m., and meet in the middle at Denizen’s Brewing Co. at the Station at Riverdale Park.

And on Sunday, Dec. 10, the Runners SoHy group will do a self-paced three-mile run that includes the new trolley trail extension starting at 9 a.m.

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If you stop by Maryland Meadworks these days, you can still try some fall drinks.

The Hyattsville meadery at 4700 Rhode Island Ave., is nearly finished with this fall’s Figgitiboudit, a fig mead made from 20 pounds of figs harvested from a single location in College Park in October.

Meanwhile, it still has on tap ExorCyser, a half-mead, half-cider combination; Cranpa, a cranberry pomegranate mead; and pumpkin spice mead.

Owner Ken Carter told the Hyattsville Wire that the seasonal drinks are in part inspired by the general spirit of experimentation in mead making right now.

“American mead makers are really pushing the limits of ingredients,” he said.

Mead has taken off in recent years, growing from 60 producers in the U.S. in 2003 to 450 in 2020, and a recent report projected it will soon be a $2.26 billion market globally.

Carter said he’s planning collaborations with Vigilante Coffee, Denizens Brewing Co. and Franklins, as well as a mead using Tupelo honey from Louisiana, considered to be one of the finest quality honeys in the world.

A previous collaboration with Denizens produced a braggot — a combination of mead and beer — made with Miambo honey from Tanzania, Pilsner malt, a Belgian strong ale yeast, and Styrian Goldings hops.

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Kansas City Chiefs tight-end Travis Kelce brought some good karma to College Park’s The Hall CP with a recent visit while in town.

The standout NFL player, who has drawn a lot of attention recently for being the boyfriend of music star Taylor Swift, had a Triple Pepperoni & Hot Honey Pizza, the restaurant’s most popular menu item, staff at The Hall CP told the Hyattsville Wire.

Kelce has come to the Hall before on his own and is a fan of the pizza, they said.

On his most recent visit, he hung out, talked with some other guests and then came back the next day to get a pizza to go, staff added.

Other NFL players, including New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, have also been known to stop by, either on their own or with their teammates. Barkley got the Maryland Crab Dip, another popular dish.

So far, none of the Washington Commanders have stopped by, though The Hall CP has extended an invitation.

Staff said that Kelce and other NFL players have been very polite to guests who recognize them when they visit. The athletes typically don’t give autographs or take photos, but often ask them to just be able to hang out with their teammates and have fun.

The food hall typically waits to post photos of any professional athletes or other celebrities who visit, but word was already getting around College Park this week, with people stopping by looking for Kelce.

The Hall CP, which maintains an active Instagram account, posted a photo of Kelce which immediately drew more than 1,000 likes.

“Karma is the guy at The Hall coming straight home to meeee-ow,” the post read, citing a Swift song which she recently changed the lyrics to reference Kelce.

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A new brunch spot in the Woodridge neighborhood just south of Mount Rainier is now open for breakfast and lunch.

Starting this week, Emma’s Torch is serving food from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday at its location at 2212 Rhode Island Ave. NE near Zeke’s coffee shop and roastery. There’s a small indoor seating area.

The menu includes coffee and pastries, avocado toast, egg and cheese on a biscuit and coconut yogurt and granola for breakfast and crispy chicken sandwich, black-eyed pea fritter salad and caramelized onion tart for lunch. Several of the dishes are gluten-free and vegetarians.

There are also grab-and-go items like sandwiches and wraps, potato salad and shaved Brussels sprouts salad as well as their own house brands of hot sauce, granola, cookies and hot cocoa mix. They’ve also applied for an alcohol license.

Named for the poem on the base of the Statue of Liberty, the nonprofit cafe is run by refugees who are learning the culinary arts in order to get jobs in the dining industry.

Founder Kerry Brodie was recently featured in the New York Times. She noted that the nonprofit has helped 305 refugees from 42 countries to date, including a Syrian man who recently opened his own restaurant.

The D.C. cafe is run by Alix Haber, who previously worked with Foodhini, a meal delivery service that works with immigrant chefs.

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Part of the new Bladensburg library opens on Tuesday, Nov. 28

The first floor — which includes adult book stacks, open desks and the children’s section — will be open to the public starting at noon, after construction went more quickly than anticipated.

The 22,834 square-foot building is almost three times the size of the previous library at the same location at 4820 Annapolis Rd.

Gant Brunnett Architects designed the building to reflect the area’s history as a port, with a swooping design evocative of old-timey sailing ships.

Inside, there are rowboat shaped reading nooks, a mock bowsprit for the USS Prince George with a purple unicorn figurehead and authentic ship’s wheel, porthole-shaped windows, dock fencing and ocean blue carpeting and upholstery.

As with new libraries in Hyattsville and Laurel, the library also features a number of more modern features, including a maker space, indoor and outdoor fireplaces, solar panels, electric-car charging stations and the first county building that is certified LEED Silver.

The library will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday, Thursday and Friday; noon to 8 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday; and from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

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At a time of year when we’re supposed to be thankful, residents of Riverdale Park instead are dealing with the grief of unimaginable loss.

Two Riverdale Park elementary students, five-year-old Sky Sosa and 10-year-old Shalom Mbah, were struck by a van and killed while crossing the street in front of the school the morning of Monday, Nov. 20.

Over the last week, the community responded to the accident by showing their overwhelming support.

Neighbors, friends and strangers alike placed flowers, stuffed animals and novena candles at a makeshift memorial at the site of the accident and held a candlelight vigil on Saturday evening to remember them.

Riverdale Park Elementary arranged for counselors and virtual therapy sessions to be available to all students at the school.

A former city police officer organized a GoFundMe for the families that raised more than double its initial $20,000 goal in just five days.

Most importantly, residents of the Route 1 corridor have been discussing how to make the streets around schools safer, noting that a crossing guard normally stationed by the intersection had retired before the school year began.

The sheer grief everyone feels over the loss of these two children can only be lessened by time, by sharing as a community in the suffering and by working to make school crossings safer.

Tragedy strikes along the Route 1 corridor more often than we acknowledge, and during these times we need to come together to support each other, support the community and show how much we care.

Let the tragic loss that happened last week not be forgotten. If you haven’t already, you can show your support in many ways including:

• Visiting the memorial at Riverdale Park Elementary

• Donating to the GoFundMe

• Pushing your local and state elected officials for safer school crossings

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Franklins general store, brewery and restaurant released it second holiday-themed catalog.

The longtime popular Hyattsville destination, at 5123 Baltimore Ave, distributed roughly 10,000 copies of the old-school glossy toy catalog around the greater D.C. area earlier this month, even mailing some copies out.

Owner Mike Franklin told the Hyattsville Wire it was the second year in a row that he’s published the catalog as a way to boost holiday sales.

But whether he’ll keep doing it is “to be determined,” he added.

The 39-page catalog features toys, games, puzzles, science experiments and sports equipment for kids of all ages as well as three coupons.

There are two-page spreads on toys for toddlers, art and jewelry projects, Lego sets and puzzles and board games that adults would also enjoy. The center of the catalog is two pages of word searches and other games for kids.

Franklins and other locally owned stores will also be participating in Small Business Saturday on Nov. 25, offering discounts for shopping locally after the post-Thanksgiving Black Friday sales at major retailers.

You can pick up a copy of the catalog at Franklins general store.

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