“People wear their Easter bonnets to church, you know?” David Perruzza says. “And JR.’s is located on Church Street, so it makes it fun.”
Of course, the bonnets you’ll see this weekend at the 17th Street bar won’t be at all like those you might see in a congregation. Toake just two examples, favorites from the 20 years Perruzza has been hosting JR.’s Easter Bonnet Contest: A topper in which one rabbit would mechanically bump another from behind, and a “Golden Showers” one featuring a bunny on top “peeing” a yellow stream leading to a puddle of gold on the front.
Another bonnet that has previously been seen at JR.’s is a frilly purple one worn by Freddie Lutz, owner of Freddie’s Beach Bar in Crystal City. Inspiration for Lutz’s most famous Easter cap came from a childhood friend’s lesbian wedding. “I went to her wedding and they had these purple and lavender poofs all the way down the aisle,” explains Lutz, who talked his friend into letting him re-purpose the poofs for a different kind of ceremony: He now wears it every year at Freddie’s Easter Bonnet Brunch — though not the whole time. “I usually do a little bonnet fashion show myself,” Lutz says, laughing, “I change just like Diana Ross.”
This Sunday’s Easter brunch at Freddie’s lasts six hours — an hour longer than usual — and those donning bonnets can enter a contest to win bar gift cards in amounts of $150, $100 and $50, announced later that day. “Of course I stole the idea from my good friend Eric Little at JR.’s,” Lutz concedes about his contest, which has taken place practically since the bar opened 15 years ago. Naturally, mad-hatters could enter both contests, since the JR.’s event, 28 years after Little started it, is set for 7 p.m. Sunday, with the winner fetching $250 in cash.
In fact, every year there is a lot of overlap between the two contests, even among those at the very top. Perruzza won Freddie’s contest six years ago, and more recently Lutz donned his bonnet at JR.’s. “No, I didn’t win — but I came close.”
JR.’s Easter Bonnet Contest is this Sunday, April 5, at 7 p.m. sharp at 1519 17th St. NW. Call 202-328-0090 or visit jrsbar-dc.com. Freddie’s Easter Bonnet Brunch is Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 555 South 23rd St. in Arlington. Cost is $25 to eat, with reservations necessary. Call 703-685-0555 or visit freddiesbeachbar.com.
A Drag Queen Story Time event scheduled for Saturday, April 6, at Freddie's Beach Bar in Arlington, Va., was delayed for over an hour after an unknown person emailed a bomb threat.
Local police evacuated the popular LGBTQ bar while a bomb-sniffing dog searched the premises.
Ultimately, the dog found no trace of any explosives. Patrons of Freddie's, who had clustered in the outdoor seating area and parking lot behind the bar, eventually returned inside, and the show -- featuring musical numbers and children's book readings by drag queen Tara Hoot -- continued.
“We lost over 500 people in D.C. last year to overdoses, both people who are intentionally using opioids and people whose drugs are laced with opioids who don’t know it,” says Alexandra Bradley, the outreach and community engagement manager for the D.C.-based harm reduction organization HIPS, Inc., which serves communities impacted by sex work and substance abuse.
“We’ve seen fentanyl show up in cocaine and methamphetamine and other drugs, which are stimulants,” notes Bradley. “So the folks using those drugs are not used to having opioids in their system. Even a little bit of a strong drug like fentanyl could easily do a lot of damage and put someone at risk. You’re also speed-balling at that point, because you’re using different kinds of drugs at the same time, which increases your risk of overdose. That’s what we saw at the beginning of this year.”
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