Send your club or organization's announcement to The Loudoun Connection, 7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102, e-mail to loudoun@connectionnewspapers.com or fax to 703-917-0991. Deadline is two weeks before publication. Photos/artwork encouraged. Questions? Call Bonnie Eaton at 703-917-6449.
Ruritan Club. The Ashburn Ruritan Club will hold a dinner meeting at Ashburn Presbyterian Church, 20962 Ashburn Road, at 7 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 10. The event will celebrate the tenth anniversary of receiving the club's charter from national headquarters. The Ruritan Club, a community service organization, seeks concerned citizens in the Ashburn area. Call 703-729-2962.
The La Leche League of Sterling holds monthly meetings. The group supports mothers who breastfeed and provides information to women considering nursing their babies. Call Elizabeth for more information at 703-689-0811.
Knitting and Crochet Group. For women who are 55 years of age and older. Meet at the Loudoun County Senior Center at Cascades Marketplace each Friday at 10 a.m. to make afghans, lap robes, baby hats and sweaters. The group has donated over 300 items to the Loudoun County Homeless Shelter, the Northern Virginia Ronald McDonald House, the Loudoun Hospital Center and the Long Term Care Unit at Loudoun Hospital. The yarn is donated to the Senior Center from individuals in the community and from the Good Shepherd Alliance Inc. The group is accepting donations of yarn and needles and donations to purchase yarn, that will help continue with the special projects. Drop donations at the Senior Center at Cascades Marketplace, 21060 Whitfield Place, Sterling. For more information, call Kim at 703-430-2397.
Stress Management. The Community Resilience Project of Loudoun County offers a Stress Management Skill Practice Group at the Rust Library, 380 Old Waterford Road, Leesburg. Group meets the first and third Tuesdays of the month. Free. Call June Eddinger at 703-737-8524.
Loudoun Sketch Club was founded in 1944 by women artists and today features over 50
members who meet regularly during the year to paint Loudoun scenes and participate in group shows throughout the county.
Readers’ Theater for Youth. Children ages 8-12 may attend a program offered on Wednesday afternoons at 4 p.m. at Eastern Loudoun Regional Library, 21030 Whitfield Place, Sterling, through April 16. Children will receive a script, pick out an acting role and read in front of other participants in a non-threatening atmosphere. Backdrops, costumes and props will be used. A new play will be performed each week. Advance registration required. Call 703-444-3228, Ext. 309. Visit www.lcpl.lib.va.us.
CountrySide Women's Club is an active group that holds most activities during the daytime. On going special interest groups include: Book Club, Bridge, Day Trippers, Lunch Bunch, Stitchery, Evening Socials, Casual Gourmet, Walking and more. A monthly newsletter is published with club information and events. Call president Janet Gatton at 703-404-0455 or Carol McClellan at 703-433-1960 for information.
Learning Disabilities. LDSocial Sisters meets at the Eastern Loudoun Regional Library in Cascades, 21030 Whitfield Place, Sterling. The group welcomes young women, ages 17 to 30, who share a common bond in learning differences. Gatherings are primarily for social events, with future volunteer activities. For additional information, email "LDSocial Sisters@aol.com"
Mom and Tot Playgroup at Sterling Annex, 1115 W. Church Road, Sterling, meets regularly. Spend a morning with children and other moms. Space and toys provided. Cost is $2 per session. Call 703-430-6673.
The No Names Writers Group (NNWG) of Loudoun County is seeking new qualified members. NNWG provides a creative outlet for area writers of many genres, including sword-and-sorcery, contemporary and dark fantasy, science fiction, and suspense, as well as mainstream. Members include published and unpublished authors. Meets monthly at Eastern Loudoun Regional Library in Sterling on the second Tuesday of each month when members can present and critique each other's work. Prospective new members are asked to submit a letter of introduction and writing samples to the group. Contact Meg Kermon at 703-430-2431 or meg_kermon@hotmail.com for more information.
Big Brothers Big Sisters is seeking volunteers who are looking to change a child's life. Agency programs aim to positively and profoundly affect a child's self-esteem, self confidence, academic performance and relationship-building skills, while instilling new hope for the future. For more information, call Michelle St. John at 703-444-0671.
Moms In Touch International is a group of mothers who gather to pray for students, teachers and schools. To obtain a listing of MITI nearby groups praying for schools visit the ministry's Web site at www.MomsInTouch.org. The Web site also offers instructional materials, as well as videos and leadership resources to help mothers start MITI groups for schools that don't already have one. For more information, contact the ministry at 1-800-949-MOMS or info@MomsInTouch.org or in Virginia call 1-757-482-5882 or miti4va@erols.com.
The Eastern Loudoun Civil War Roundtable meets at the Sterling Annex in Sterling the third Tuesday of every month, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Non-members are welcome. Call Steve Meserve at 703-404-0542 or Rebecca Fitzgerald at 703-430-4367.
Depression and Manic Depression Support Group. The Sterling/Reston Chapter of DRADA meets the first and third Tuesdays of the month, from 7-9 p.m. For location, contact Traci 703-433-1448; or Jan 703-669-5177. DRADA stands for Depressive and Related Affective Disorders Association, a non-profit self-help group sponsored by Johns Hopkins that has been in existence for over 20 years.
Great Falls Women's Club. New members who live in Fairfax or Loudoun counties are welcome. The club's activities include cultural tours, Bridge groups, a garden group, a book discussion group, a knitting group that makes blankets for hurt and abused children, and dinner groups that dine together in restaurants or in each others' homes. Tennis and golf groups are available to start. The club awards scholarships to college students and is actively involved in improving the Great Falls Firehouse. Annual dues is $35. Send checks to Karen Magley, membership chairman. Call 703-430-8488.
Birthday Blessing, Inc., is a nonprofit organization created to deliver gifts to needy children who might not receive a gift on their birthday. Birthday Blessing finds these children through social services, homeless shelters, youth shelters and prison ministries. The organization is looking for sponsors, new toys for children 3-16 years old, new books, wrapping paper, birthday cards and shipping boxes. Monetary donations can be made to sponsor children or can be made in the honor of a friend or relative. Call Sharon Hough at 703-481-8180, or visit www.BirthdayBlessing.org.
The Loudoun County Chapter of CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) meets on the fourth Wednesday of every month, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Meetings are held in the Lower Level Conference Room of the Town of Leesburg Town Hall at 25 Market St.
The Loudoun Family Child Care Coalition (LFCCC) meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. The LFCCC's goal is to provide support for child care providers by raising awareness of the unique experience of quality home-based family child care through advocacy, training and education. In cooperation with Child Nutrition, Inc. and Loudoun County Social Services, LFCCC covers the Leesburg, Sterling, Ashburn and neighboring communities to provide on-going advocacy. Call 703-715-6656.
Amputee Support Group Of Northern Virginia, a support group for amputees, their families and friends, meets the first Tuesday of every month, 7:30-9 p.m., at INOVA Fairfax Hospital, Department of Rehabilitation Gym Area, Women & Children's Center, First Floor, 3300 Gallows Road in Falls Church. The cost is free and parking is provided in the garage for all cars displaying handicapped placards or license plates. For more information, contact Irvin Axelrod at 703-222-7120 or e-mail asgnva@earthlink.net.
Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) invites new membership for a chapter forming in Sterling. For information, call 703-620-2279 or e-mail tward@mmiconnect.com.
The Ketoctin Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution serving Loudoun County meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 11:30 a.m., except July and August. Members can trace lineage to a Revolutionary War soldier or patriot. The objective of the group is to promote patriotism, education and historic preservation. Call Gail Adams at 703-443-2787.