<i>Send announcements to the Reston Connection, 7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102, send an e-mail to reston@connectionnewspapers.com or fax to 703-917-0991. Deadline is Thursday 5 p.m. for the following week's paper. Photos/artwork encouraged. Call Meghan Williams at 703-917-6437 with questions. This free listing is reserved for activities and events that are open to the public at no or minimal cost.</i>
The Friends of Reston for Community Projects is the grateful recipient of a recent $1,000 grant from the Sallie Mae Fund. The grant will go towards the funding of the design and construction of the Nature House, a year-round nature education center to be built on the existing 72-acre Walker Nature Education Center site in Reston. The Reston Association will fund the operating costs of the building. The Nature House will provide nature education throughout the year to thousands of visitors. Designed to be about the size of a single family home, it will provide access to an assortment of educational resources, including reference materials, exhibits, natural history objects, lab equipment and a computer learning station. It will also provide expanded programs to school-age visitors on field trips and campers in the summertime. Call 703-904-0700.
Diwaniya for Women is a 30-minute television series for and with Arabic-speaking women. The Fairfax Public Access Television Station, Channel 30 will air this series four days weekly. The airing schedule is Monday, 11:30 a.m., Wednesday at 1 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 5:30 p.m. Each show features an enacted real-life story. Interspersed throughout the story, women discuss various issues related to the story. A message of hope and encouragement is always presented. Diwaniya is an Arabic term used to describe the room in a home or public gathering place where men gather to discuss issues of life. Typically, women do not have access to a diwaniya.
Again this year, WAHMfest.org, the Work At Home Moms expo, will be collecting used cell phones for the CALL TO PROTECT campaign. The CALL TO PROTECT campaign collects wireless phones to benefit victims of domestic violence. Proceeds from the sale of phones help fund agencies that fight domestic violence and are also used to support the educational efforts of the Wireless Foundation. Other phones are refurbished and become lifelines for domestic violence victims when faced with an emergency situation.
To donate a phone, call Marybeth Henry at 703-766-0294 or e-mail execdir@wahmfest.org.
The Reston Historic Trust is currently accepting donations of documents, photographs, significant letters and other memorabilia that illustrate the history of the community. Items will either become part of the Historic Trust’s permanent collection, be used as display materials at the Reston Museum or be donated to the George Mason Planned Community Archives for their exemplary collection over 300,000 pieces of Reston-related material.
Donations may be dropped off at the Reston Museum, located at Lake Anne Village Center. The Museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 12-6 p.m. Old newspapers, phone directories and other publicly distributed materials are not being accepted. Please contact Lynn Lillienthal at the Museum 703-709-7700, or at 703-966-9546 with any questions.
The Fairfax County School Board has initiated a pilot procedure to allow citizens to sign up electronically to address the board at regular business meetings and public hearings. Although citizens may continue to call the School Board Office at 703-246-3646 to sign up to speak, they may now also sign up electronically by accessing www.fcps.edu/schlbd/requestspeak.htm and completing the required form. Specific information regarding future Board meetings are available at www.fcps.edu/schlbd/calendar.htm and guidelines for addressing the board are available at www.fcps.edu/schlbd/info.htm#mtg.
The League of Women Voters of the Fairfax Area has published the 2005 edition of Facts for Voters. Published annually by the LWVFA, "Facts" is intended to be a resource for use by residents in the Fairfax Area. The brochure, though a compact 4 inches x9 inches, contains information about local, state and national elected officials plus contacts for all elected officials from the towns of Clifton, Herndon, Vienna and the City of Fairfax. It also contains information on voter registration and absentee voting plus important telephone numbers for schools, libraries and other public services and resources.
Pick up a new Facts for Voters free of charge at any Fairfax County library, Government Center, Community Center or high school. Call 703-658-9150.
At its meeting Sept. 1, the Greater Reston Arts Center’s general membership elected five new members to its Board of Directors and re-elected six current members. Directors were elected to either a one- or a three-year term.
New Board of Directors’ members elected to a one-year term include Nedra Agnew, financial advisor with The Agnew Group: LeggMason, and Joe Ritchey, principal, Prospective Inc. New members elected to a three-year term include Jorge Kfoury, CEO of Kfoury Construction Group; PJ Miller practice administrator, Town Center Orthopaedic Associates LLC; and Ed Sharp, president and chief operating officer, Integrated Systems Analysts Inc.
Board of Directors’ members re-elected to another term include artists Dale Adler, Ann R. Erickson, Mary Howard, Connie Slack, and Chuck Veatch, with The Charles A. Veatch Companies; and Kohann Whitney, Northrop Grumman.
The GRACE membership also thanked retiring board members Laura Edwards, a Torpedo Factory artist and Gregory L. Strickler with Anderson Strickler LLC.