Alexandria, VA – Alexandria celebrated its 275th birthday last month. I feel a special connection to Alexandria’s birthday celebrations. The first print I ever had published in a newspaper was of the birthday celebration at Market Square (The Alexandria Packet, July 16-23, 1980).
Backstory: I was taking a photography class at Northern Virginia Community College, and one of my classmates thought The Packet (now the Gazette Packet) was short a photographer. I gathered my courage and my photo 101 final project, black and white “portraits” of plants I took on my lunch hours at the U.S. Botanical Gardens to Jim Coldsmith, the editor. Coldsmith studied them carefully and said, “These are very nice. Can you photograph anything that moves more quickly than a plant growing?” He suggested I photograph the birthday celebration, and when one of my photos wound up on the front page, I was hooked.
Now, all these years later, I am musing about Alexandria’s birthday celebrations and wondering
- when they moved from Market Square to their current location at Oronoco Bay Park,
- when the Alexandria Symphony began playing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture leading up to fireworks, and
- when the tradition of a cake being cut and served by the Council began (now it’s cupcakes instead of cake).
What I’ve learned so far:
- When the celebration moved to Oronoco Bay Park: Former City Manager Mark Jinks (served 2015-2021) reminded me that before moving to Oronoco Bay Park, the celebration was held at Jones Point Park. Jinks didn’t have an exact date for when the celebration moved to the Waterfront. He wrote: “It was at Jones Point until around 1999 when it had to be moved for the Woodrow Wilson Bridge construction project. The move to Oronoco Bay Park was intended to be temporary because of neighboring residential concerns about intense uses in that park. It turned out the neighborhood loved it, and the event has stayed in Oronoco Park since then.”
- As for when the Alexandria Symphony started performing at Alexandria Birthday Celebrations, Kim Allen Kluge, music director of the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra (from 1989-2016) wrote: “We started performing for the birthday celebration in my second year with ASO during summer of 1990. I worked closely with Vola Lawson (City Manager, 1985-2000) to create this special event. I believe we moved the location in 2000…Performing Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture leading up to fireworks started then.”
Melynda Wilcox, former president of the ASO (2019-2023) added, “For some recent perspective, in the summer of 2022, just months after Russia had invaded Ukraine, the ASO chose NOT to play the 1812, a decision that was supported by City staff. Despite (current Maestro) Jim Ross’ explanation from the podium, some disappointed and unhappy audience members took to social media to claim that the ASO replaced it because it was the work of a Russian composer. In fact, the reason was that the ASO felt it inappropriate at that time to perform a piece commemorating a Russian military victory over Napoleon. We returned the 1812 to the program last summer and will play it again.”
I haven’t researched when serving birthday cake became part of the celebration but searching for Birthday Cakes on Google, I found “Birthday cakes have been a part of birthday celebrations in Western European countries since the middle of the 19th century. However, the link between cakes and birthday celebrations may date back to ancient Roman times. In classical Roman culture, cakes were occasionally served at special birthdays and weddings.”
In “The history of the birthday cake,” Phil Collins posted on July 20, 2020, “According to historians, the first birthday cake is thought to date back to Ancient Greece where they baked moon-shaped desserts as a tribute to Artemis, the Goddess of the Moon. In fact, the cakes would also be decorated with candles in order to make them shine like the moon….”
On Cakes & Bakes*, I read, “… In different cultures, people think that when you blow out your birthday candles, your wishes go up into the sky with the smoke. They believe these wishes reach the heavens where kind spirits live.”
More research is needed on the history of Alexandria’s birthday celebrations, and more than I can write about it in this column. I’ll close with one of my favorite memories recorded in my journal on July 12, 2009.
“There was a breeze, lovely but cool. I was alone. An Afghani family offered me food from their picnic. Cheese and crackers, sausage, fried chicken, cherries and grapes. Sweet. I was really touched. I ate most of it even though I wasn’t hungry.” Their gesture exemplified what I so love about Alexandria – how very kind people can be to total strangers.
Happy Birthday, Alexandria, and many more.
Mosaic artist/photographer Nina Tisara is the founder of Living Legends of Alexandria.
*From cakesandbakes.co.uk, Why Do We Blow Out Birthday Candles? Superstitions and Symbolism: Echoes from the Past, published March 21, 2024.
