Frager's

Last night one of my favorite Capitol Hill spots suffered from a devastating fire.  Frager's Hardware was the mom and pop hardware store that everyone on the Hill went to.  It was, in my humble opinion, the type of store everyone should experience at some point in their life, and it was heartbreaking to hear that the 4 alarm fire left the building completely destroyed.  Thank goodness no one was hurt.

In my town growing up in CT we had a local hardware store where we went.  It was only in my teenage years that the Home Depots and Lowes seemed to come in and fill the area's need for hammers, paint and garden tools.  Growing up we had those little stores where you'd go for one specialty item.  There were no Targets or Walmarts anywhere near us until I was on my way to college.  When my sister revealed to a friend of hers in college we didn't have a Walmart or the like, they legitimately asked her where we got all of our stuff. We got it from places like Fragers.  People knew who you were when you walked in the door, and personal attention was a priority. 

Existing on the Hill for the last 93 years, Frager's has become a DC institution.  While I didn't grow up on the Hill, going to a place like Frager's now as an adult, somehow made living on the Hill feel that much more like I was at home.  They've helped me get replacement parts to fix my own toilet and their staff has walked around with me on several occasions as I was trying to come up with creative ways to build a variety of different props (from fishing poles to old fashioned microphones) for the theater company I work with.

Thank goodness the owners announced today that they plan on rebuilding.  There have also been a variety of fundraisers set up to assist the owners and staff while they rebuild.

So if you are able, please lend a helping hand to help out Frager's; they've certainly lent one to me in my times of need.