The Historic Arlington Roundtable Brown-Bag Lunch provides an informal opportunity for people interested in planning for and preserving the historic places, history, traditions, and heritage of Arlington to get to know each other and share information. Please bring your lunch with you to 2100 Clarendon Boulevard on Tuesday, March 1 at 12:15 p.m.
The Arlington County Fair received three 2004 Communications Awards at the 2005 Annual Virginia Association of Fairs (VAF)Conference. The fair was awarded second place for the 30-second TV spot that ran on Comcast Cable, third place for the fair's first display ad in El Tiempo Latino Newspaper, and third place for the fair souvenir t-shirt created by Anita Morgan, Fair Board member. The VAF Communication Award entries were judged on universal criteria including design, quality and clarity of production, use of color, value of information, appropriateness and creativity.
The 2005 Arlington County Fair will be held August 18-21, 2005 at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center, 3501 South 2nd St., Arlington.
A “Moon Tree” was planted at the Arlington National Cemetery in honor of Stuart A. Roosa, the astronaut who carried tree seeds to the moon and back aboard Apollo 14, on Feb. 9. Roosa brought hundreds of loblolly pine, sycamore, sweet gum, redwood and Douglas fir seeds with him to honor the U.S. Forest Service, for whom he worked as a smoke jumper, jumping from airplanes to battle forest fires. Roosa passed away in December 1994. The tree is planted to celebrate the anniversaries of several space program tragedies: the Apollo 1 fire and the Challenger and Colombia disasters. The tree planted at the Arlington Cemetery is a descendent of the first sycamore planted at Mississippi State. Representatives from NASA, the U.S. Forest Service and the military, as well as students from Cannelton Elementary School in Cannelton, Indiana, where one of the original Moon Trees was planted, will attend the event. The event will be hosted by the Roosa family.
Hundreds of the Moon Trees have been planted around the country including at the White House, NASA facilities, state capitols and Valley Forge. Moon Trees have also been planted in Brazil and Switzerland and one was given to the Emperor of Japan.
NASA is hoping to track down all the Moon Trees, although the location of only a few of them is known now. Anyone knowing the location of a Moon Tree should contact dwilliam@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. To learn more about American Forests, visit www.americanforests.org.
The Arlington Civic Federation 911 Scholarship Fund was established in the spring following Sept. 11, 2001, at the Arlington Community Foundation by the Arlington County Civic Federation. Five scholarships of $1,000 are awarded to high-school seniors with a 2.5 or higher GPA to attend an accredited postsecondary institution. Applicants must have a parent who has been an Arlington County uniformed public safety personnel or dispatcher for no fewer than 10 years, retired from one of the respective departments, been permanently disabled on the job or killed in the line of duty. The scholarship may be renewed for up to three years if the student remains in good academic standing. Applications are available at http://www.arlcf.org or by e-mail to jhadden@arlcf.org , or by calling the Foundation office at 703-243-4785. The scholarship application deadline is March 4. Civic Federation 911 Scholarship applicants must submit a statement from the parent's department of service with their Foundation scholarship application.
The Arlington Community Foundation deadline for submission of grant proposals for the Arlington Education Fund is April 22, by 5 p.m. The goal of the Arlington Education Fund is to mobilize support in the community for creating programs that enhance educational opportunities in Arlington. Grant proposals may also be submitted for the Rabil-Armstrong Instructional Staff Development Fund, which was established to support professional development for teachers and administrators of Arlington Public Schools. For information about the Arlington Community Foundation’s Education Fund or to download the proposal forms, visit www.ARLCF.org.
The Northern Virginia Conservation Trust (NVCT) has put the historic Shreve House and the surrounding grounds adjoining Cherrydale Park under a Preservation, Conservation and Open Space Easement. This restricts the rights of the owners, currently Joseph and Pamela Bianculli, to make changes to the historic home, to subdivide the property, to develop the land or to remove the mature trees of the site. NVCT is a nonprofit land trust founded in 1994, which has preserved over 1,300 acres of Northern Virginia. Visit www.nvct.org.
The Arlington County Board has started up a number of new services and procedures for residents who want to find out about the Board’s meeting agenda. Residents can call the Board during meetings Saturdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and Tuesdays 1-9 p.m. at 703-228-5715. The meetings can also be seen live on County Cable Channel AVN 71 or via www.arlingtonva.us.
Also, the possibility to send instant messages to County Board office staff to ask questions about agenda items has been started up. To do this, download a free instant message program from http://messager.yahoo.com. The screen name is ArlingtonBoardMeeting.
Residents can also download a speaker slip at home, print and fill it out and bring to the meeting to submit to the clerk. Visit www.arlingtonva.us.
Another possibility is to submit a comment online about specific agenda items. E-mail countyboard@arlingtonva.us or visit www.arlingtonva.us.
During meetings, an information desk is staffed in the Board Room 307 foyer to answer questions about the meeting.
The Arlington County Red Cross Board of Directors announced today that Sens. Elizabeth and Robert Dole have graciously agreed to be honorary chairpersons of the first ever signature Gala to honor WW II veterans and Red Cross workers of Arlington on April 8. Board members Ken Swain, senior VP of Mercantile Potomac Bank, and Janie Guthrie of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority are co-chairs of the event. The Arlington County Chapter of the American Red Cross has selected this focus for the Gala because the development of Arlington County and its Red Cross are so closely linked with the growth of Arlington during WW II, and because many of the longtime patrons and supporters of the Chapter are veterans of the war years. Tickets (at $50 and $200 VIP) go on sale Feb. 14.
The Arlington Community Foundation Scholarship Program will be awarding $150,000 to 90 students in May 2005. Scholarships range from $500 to $5,000, and more than half of the awards are renewable. Scholarships are available to Arlington high-school seniors, previous Foundation scholarship recipients, and other post-high-school students. Scholarship application deadline is Friday, March 4. One application form makes a student eligible for all applicable scholarships. Eight new scholarship funds have been established for 2005. See www.arlcf.org, e-mail jhadden@arlcf.org, or call 703-243-4785.
Virginia21, the commonwealth’s advocate for young voters, has launched a new Web site, www.Virginia21.org, which will feature advocacy tools. Includes online polls, a “weblog,” discussion boards, legislation tracking, issue briefs, fact sheets and policy papers.
Honor friends, relatives and spouse by giving a gift in their name to support one of the community funds. The Arlington Community Foundation will send gift recipients a special gift card notifying them of the gift and where the support has been directed. Call 703-243-4785. The gift form is on the foundation Web site, www.arlcf.org. Fill it out and fax it in to 703-243-4796 or mail it to the Arlington Community Foundation, 2525 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22201.
Individuals and organizations wishing to donate to tsunami relief efforts can visit the Arlington Community Foundation Web site at http://www.arlcf.org. The home page offers a link to a list of agencies identified by the Council on Foundations. Additionally, those wishing to donate through the foundation may do so; the foundation will process checks and forward money to the agencies identified by donors. This administrative handling is free of charge. To learn more about making supporting tsunami relief efforts through the foundation, call 703-243-4785.