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<cl>Celebrating the launch of Fannie Mae and Coldwell Banker Residential Residential Brokerage’s ‘Borrow with Confidence’ campaign on Friday, Oct. 3, are, from the left, David Elan, vice president for housing and community development, Fannie Mae; Gail Mitkoff, director of industry relations, Fannie Mae; Nick D’Ambrosia, vice president and director of operations, Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage; David Jeffers, director of Fannie Mae’s Northern Virginia Partnership Office; Virginia State Sen. Janet Howell; Tom Stevens, senior vice president of the Mid-Atlantic region for NRT Inc. and president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage; Margaret Liu, vice president for government and industry relations, Fannie Mae; and Jim MacLin, president, Preferred Service Mortgage.

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<cl>New community stage at Tysons Corner

<lst>Tysons Corner formally unveiled its latest attraction last weekend when the mall launched its new community stage, complete with an audiovisual and lighting system on the lower level next to H&M. The stage will feature a variety of events and activities for audiences of all ages. The facility will also be available for use by school groups, local performer and other community talents.

Upcoming performances include Diane Macklin, storyteller, Thursday, Oct. 23, 11-11:45 a.m.; The Amazing Lula’s ‘Let’s Make a Circus, Saturday, Oct. 25, 1:30-2:45 p.m.; classical guitar and flute duo Steven Seidenman and Michelle Williams, Sunday, Oct. 25, 4-5 p.m. A continued engagement by Mr. Knick Knack will take place each Friday, 11-11:45 a.m., offering musical story times.

Renato Scozia, owner of Café Oggi in McLean, has pledged to donate 10 percent of Café Oggi’s proceeds every Wednesday night throughout October to help build Clemyjontri playground, where children with and without disabilities can play side by side. Clemyjontri nights at Café Oggi include Oct. 22 and 29. Café Oggi is located at 6671 Old Dominion Drive in McLean. For reservations, call Café Oggi at 703-442-7360.

The Vienna-Tysons Chamber of Commerce The Vienna-Tysons Chamber of Commerce Golf calendar of upcoming events is as follows:

Every Tuesday and Thursday — Lunch and Lead tip group, 12:15-1:30 p.m. at Shula’s Steakhouse, 8028 Leesburg Pike in the Tysons Corner Marriott. R.S.V.P. to Harry Silverman, 703-319-8806. Dutch.

Wednesday, Oct. 22 — Member benefits committee meeting. R.S.V.P. to Jodi Scholes, 703-255-1500.

Wednesday, Oct. 22 — Ethics Day for Marshall high School. At George Mason University, help future leaders learn about ethical responsibilities. 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Contact Matt Brennan to volunteer to be a table leader, 703-620-4977.

Thursday, Oct. 23 — Business development committee meeting. R.S.V.P. to Joan Fletcher, 703-273-9299.

Tuesday, Nov. 18 — Evening mixer at Sunrise Assisted Living at Hunter Mill, 2863 Hunter Mill Road. Meet more area business owners and fellow chamber members. $5. R.S.V.P. to 703-281-1333.

Wednesday, Nov. 19 — Lunch and Learn, 12-1:15 p.m. at HQ Global Workplace, 8300 Boone Blvd., #500. Whole Foods lunch provided by speakers. R.S.V.P. to 703-281-1333. Space limited to 20 people.

The Vienna Halloween Parade will take place Oct. 29 on Maple Avenue. The parade committee has chosen the theme "Celebrating Our Volunteers: 100 Years of the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department.” There will be a mixer co-sponsored by the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and the Vienna Inn from 5-7 p.m. at SunTrust bank, 515 Maple Ave. E. The cost is $5 for the mixer. The parade will run 7-9 p.m. For sponsorship opportunities, to receive a registration packet or for more information, call the office at 703-281-1333.

"Retirement Plans for Small Businesses," an educational seminar that addresses the different employer-sponsored retirement plans available for small businesses, will be offered on Thursday, Oct. 30, 5:30-6:30 p.m., at Legg Mason Wood Walker Inc., 8444 Westpark Drive, Suite 100, McLean. No charge, but registration is required. Contact Jerry Booth at 703-761-7686 or jrbooth@leggmason.com.

Jendai Japanese restaurant will offer 10 percent off the lunch buffet weekdays 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. and 10 percent off happy hour weekdays 5-7 p.m. Jendai is located at Tysons Corner Mall next to Hecht's and offers a full-service lunch and dinner menu. A children’s menu with a free toy is available. The offer ends Oct. 31. For further information, call 703-748-1200.

Throughout October, Tiny Heirlooms will be honoring International Dollhouse and Miniatures Month by raffling off a dollhouse to benefit Growing Hope, Northern Virginia Kids Fighting Cancer. Tickets are $3 each or $10 for five and will be on sale through Oct. 31. The dollhouse is on display at Tiny Heirlooms, 1401 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 100, McLean, across from Langley Shopping Center. Call 703-288-3544 or see www.tinyheirlooms.com for further details.

Women's "Accelerated Networking" luncheon event. On Wednesday, Nov. 5, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., this event will provide the opportunity to make new contacts, discover new alliances and gain new insights, ideas and strategies. Guest speaker Arzu Calis, a certified leadership coach, will address the topic “Five Steps to Lead Yourself to Health, Wealth and Happiness.” She defines leadership as our capacity to lead ourselves to health, happiness and prosperity. Calis works with women business owners, entrepreneurs and sales people in growing their business exponentially. Before launching her own executive coaching and leadership development company, Calis worked with Fortune 100 companies in the high-tech industry for over a decade. Doors open and informal networking begins at 11 a.m. at 8000 Crescent Towers, Suite 1700, Tysons Corner. Cost for nonmembers is $48 and includes lunch. Cost for eWomen’s Network members is $35. Beginning Nov. 3, all registrations are $55 if still available. Register online at www.eWomenNetwork.com.

America's largest bipartisan women's business organization, Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), opened a Washington, D.C., office at 1615 L St. N.W. Ann Sullivan of McLean brings extensive Capitol Hill lobbying and business ownership experience to lead the new WIPP Washington office. WIPP is headquartered in Oklahoma City, where it was founded and in two years has rapidly grown to 460,000 women in business nationwide.

Sullivan became associated with WIPP two years ago as federal legislative consultant and will continue in this capacity as well as head the WIPP Washington office.

Sullivan is president of Madison Services Group, a woman-owned company in McLean, which provides government relations services to corporate and nonprofit clients. She knows Capitol Hill both as a lobbyist and a senior adviser in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives. Sullivan was involved at the forefront of government deregulation of the energy industry. Her legislative expertise includes government procurement, health care, tax, environmental and energy policies.

Women Impacting Public Policy is a national, bipartisan group comprising over 460,000 diverse businesswomen and women business owners. WIPP strengthens members' sphere of influence in the legislative process of our nation, creates economic opportunities for members and builds alliances with other small business organizations. Visit www.wipp.org.

The McLean Massage Therapy Center has opened at 1447 Dolley Madison Blvd., Suite G-2, McLean. The center’s expertise is massage therapy techniques that result in pain relief and stress reduction. The center provides not only traditional massage therapy but also cutting-edge methods such as Muscle Release Technique (MRT). MRT helps individuals with neck pain, back pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, tendinitis, fibromyalgia, sciatica, plantar fasciitis and more.

The Recreation Vehicle Industry has presented Derrick Crandall of McLean, president and CEO of the American Recreation Coalition in Washington, D.C., with its 2003 National Legislative Award. This award recognized individuals who have distinguished themselves in legislative matters pertaining to the recreation vehicle (RV) industry.

Tiny Heirlooms, a store offering fine miniatures and dollhouse items, is now accepting reservations for craft parties of up to 12 guests. Call 703-288-3544 for details. Receive a free mini Tiny Heirlooms shopping bag for one’s dollhouse with any purchase of $10 or more. One per customer. Offer good while supplies last. Tiny Heirlooms is located at 1401 Chain Bridge Road, Suite 100, McLean, across from Langley Shopping Center. Tiny Heirlooms can be reached via e-mail at customerservice@tinyheirlooms.com.

Patton Harris Rust & Associates PC provided the technical justification for a 5.2-percent decrease in the required parking space for the proposed Tysons Corner Center Mall expansion. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the reduction from the County Zoning Ordinance on July 21.

Cardinal Bank opened its ninth location in Northern Virginia and second in the Tysons area at 8270 Greensboro Drive, near Tysons II Galleria. The new office provides a 24-hour ATM. A 10th office in Leesburg will open in October.

Virginia state Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd) joined Fannie Mae, the nation’s largest source of financing for home mortgages, and Coldwell Baker Residential Realtors to launch the “Borrow with Confidence” campaign in Northern Virginia. The campaign intends to prevent unwarranted high-cost lending while helping home buyers get the best mortgage financing for which they qualify while expanding homeowner opportunities in Northern Virginia.

The “Borrow with Confidence” campaign will harness the power of Realtors to promote consumer awareness about he benefits of seeking out responsible lenders and shopping for the best mortgage; debunk many of the myths that surround the home-buying process; ensure that Realtors are knowledgeable about low-cost flexible mortgage loans and are committed to the principle of offering potential homebuyers competitive rates.

As part of the campaign, Fannie Mae will provide all participating Realtors with mandatory continuing education training on affordable mortgage products that address barriers many borrowers face. Realtors will be provided with a list of participating lenders that are offering these mortgage products, as well as a list of local counseling agencies that help borrowers who may need additional assistance preparing themselves for the home-buying process. Coldwell Baker Residential Brokerage will join local officials in Northern Virginia to create awareness about the issues of high-cost lending.

Vienna entrepreneur Sandra Hambley was honored for her talents and achievements during an awards dinner at the third annual Décor & You Conference in Windsor Lock, Conn., on Sept. 3-6. Hambley received the Rookie Regional Director Award, a top award for franchise development. Décor & You, a national interior decorating franchise with more than 19 locations, offers comprehensive personalized service with a complete line of fine custom furniture, window and wall coverings, art and accessories for all budgets.

At its annual dinner The Brain Tumor Society presented the Roche Family Award to financial planner Barry Glassman, C.F.P., C.F.S., senior vice president of Cassaday & Co. Inc., McLean. This year, Glassman was recognized for his outstanding service on behalf of the national, nonprofit organization that has, since 1990, provided funds for research, educational resources and patient family support to victims of brain tumors.

Since losing a close friend to a brain tumor at 17, Glassman has been actively involved in fund-raising for this cause. As a college student, he helped form a group called Campuses against Cancer. Later he concentrated his efforts on the Brain Tumor Society in hopes of promoting and facilitating their work, which includes research grants and patient resources. In his acceptance speech, Glassman has been instrumental in organizing an annual fund-raising event in Washington, D.C., which has raised significant dollars and increased the level of public awareness. For six years now, the Cassidy & Pinkard 5K Run/Walk has attracted thousands of participants, including survivors, to the spring event. In chairing or co-chairing the event, Glassman brings to the task the energy, creativity, organizational skills and enthusiasm that have helped raise over $1 million for the Brain Tumor Society.

Excedent Technologies of Vienna, a global leader in business e-mail hosting, anti-virus and Spam-filtering solutions, launched Webmail.us, the most complete enterprise e-mail solution available to small and emerging businesses. To kick off Webmail.us, free “dot-US” domain names will be given away for a limited time to new e-mail hosting customers. Webmail.us is an e-mail hosting solution that allows small businesses to set up their e-mail system without having to purchase or maintain any hardware or software, including mail servers, virus scanning devices and other e-mail-related applications. Webmail.us is a wholly owned subsidiary of Excedent Technologies, a leader in outsourced e-mail-hosting solutions to over 1,200 small businesses and service providers worldwide.

The pilot program of Abrakadoodle Inc. — the series of art classes now being offered at the McLean Community Center, day-care centers and private schools for “Mini-doodlers,” children 2 1/2 to kindergarten, and “Doodlers,” grades one through six — has expanded to multiple classes at the McLean Community Center due to parent demand. This fall it is anticipated that more than 600 children will participate in Abrakadoodle classes at more than 25 sites. Teachers are trained to identify artistic skill levels in each child in order to offer age-appropriate and skill-enhancing classes. Techniques used by old masters and contemporary artists alike.

Mary C. Rogers of McLean began offering classes with Rosemarie Hartnett of Great Falls this year. Both are former executives of Computertots.

Abrakadoodle Inc. was accepted this year into the Reston Chamber of Commerce Incubator Program. Rogers plans to franchise Abrakadoodle nationally next year.

Hal Berens, franchisee of The UPS Store located at 1350 Beverly Road, McLean, recently received international recognition by earning the Field Award for Distribution Management from SOLE - The International Society of Logistics. The award was presented at the organization’s annual convention in Huntsville, Ala. As The UPS Store of McLean franchisee, Berens is responsible for managing the distribution of all types of parcels and freight from a diverse customer base. He recently moved a federal government office of 840 employees from one building to another in Philadelphia as the prime contractor, while at the same time in the process of shipping several million dollars’ worth of equipment from Atlanta, Ga., back to McLean for a large corporate account and storing these items in a secure local warehouse. While performing these duties, his store continued to ship their customers’ parcels and freight.

SOLE is a nonprofit international professional society composed of individuals organized to enhance the art and science of logistics technology, education and management. SOLE was founded in 1966 as the Society of Logistics Engineers "to engage in educational, scientific, and literary endeavors to advance the art of logistics technology and management." There are over 90 SOLE chapters in more than 50 countries throughout the world. Chapters conduct technical meetings, symposia and workshops, all designed to provide the SOLE member with opportunities for professional advancement. Chapters and districts also sponsor regional technical meetings.

Bath & Body Works has launched a new design concept, which made its debut on Friday, Oct. 17, at the Bath & Body Works store in Tysons Corner Center in McLean. The flagship store concept features a complete renovation of the store and the introduction of new product lines for beauty, body care and the home.

The new design includes sleek white walls, modernized lighting systems, and three distinct performance rooms: beauty, body care and home fragrance, with new product lines.

Sam & Harry's of Washington, D.C., is offering a new option in its line of dining options: corporate and social catering services throughout the national capital area. Sam & Harry's Catering is operating from the Sam & Harry's Tysons Corner location, at 8240 Leesburg Pike, Vienna. Because this location is normally closed during lunch, the Catering Division can now offer on-premise private dining in any of five different rooms, at lunch during the week, for daytime events on Saturday and all day on Sunday.