As previously noted, Belgique Gourmande has been up for sale. The authentic Belgian restaurant is located right in the center of town and has a very nice outdoor eating area on Union Street. My wife & I have eaten there many times (ice cream & waffles for breakfast, yum!) and although a bit dingy, the food is tasty and the location convenient.

Now comes word that the restaurant has been sold! The new owners are planning to rebrand the restaurant the Cock & Bowl. This is great news, I’m looking forward to having a new restaurant in town. Will post more details as they become available.

2010 has arrived and Main Street continues to slump (well, in this case Mill Street). The Great Recession has not relinquished its icy grip on the world and small towns far and wide continue to struggle, including Occoquan.

Now word comes that two fine restaurants, The Garden Kitchen and Belgique Gourmande, are both up for sale. Apparently, each restaurant has been listed on craigslist (although, I was unable to find either listing).

That’s not all. The well-known local shop Country Morning is also for sale. Sadly, Irish Collection has become the latest business to announce that it will be closing.

What can you do? Shop and eat locally! If you have other ideas on how to help, sound off in the comments or drop me a line. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

The season of giving is upon us and once again the Town of Occoquan is counting on local generosity to help the homeless. To get involved, you can buy a $5 ornament, sign it and hang it on the tree at Occoquan Town Hall.

Ornaments will be available for purchase until Dec. 31 for a minimum donation of $5 at Simply Country, located at 311 Mill Street.

In the past 10 years, the Tree of Hope has raised over $8,500 to help the homeless. Proceeds from the Tree of Hope go to the Resident Rent Fund at the Hilda Barg Homeless Prevention Center.

Just read an interesting article about Occoquan on InsideNova.com that highlights the struggle of small town merchants during the great recession. The article does a good job summing up the efforts of local government and the Occoquan Merchants Association to increase the foot traffic in town.

Between the Summer Trolley Tour and the upcoming third annual 5K race in October, I am pleased to see such effort! I really hope the creativity pays off and our local merchants will survive and thrive.

PS – The battle over the Gaslight Landing project in the comments below the InsideNova.com are comical.

The 2009 Occoquan Spring Craft Fair will take place in Historic Occoquan, this weekend, June 6th & 7th. Per the semi-annual tradition, it will feature lots of greasy food and crafts from an array of artists and vendors.

You can park in nearby commuter lots and take a shuttle to Occoquan for $4/person (kids free). If you don’t mind a little traffic, there is parking to be found in the neighborhoods surrounding the fair.

UPDATE: Here are some pics from the craft fair:[Gallery not found]

In May of 2008 the Occoquan Town Council approved a franchise agreement with Verizon to bring FiOS digital television, internet, and telephone service to Occoquan. The initial prediction was that FiOS television service would be available as early as late summer or early fall of 2008.

If you’re like me and sick of paying Comcast over $200/month but do it anyway because there isn’t any other option, good news is on the way. Verizon releases information about FiOS construction on a bi-monthly basis and Occoquan has finally made the list! You can view which streets in Occoquan are going to be wired here: FiOS construction locations [PDF]

I haven’t seen very much activity around town yet so I’m guessing that most of the construction will take place during March. If you encounter a fiber construction issue, call the Verizon Virginia Construction Help Desk at 1-888-250-9710 to work it out. If you are already up and running on FiOS, leave a comment and let us know what you think!