<bt>Hildie Carney has been a longtime citizen of Fairfax. She is involved in many aspects of the community, from the PTA to civics association. She is very active in improving different historic buildings of Fairfax. She is this week's People Profile.
Numbers of years in the community. My husband transferred here from California to do duty at the Pentagon over 40 years ago. We fell in love with the area immediately, and when he was offered a civilian job that was too good to refuse, he retired and I am still living at the same home.
Family: Lt. Cmdr. Charles Carney, deceased and four adult children. Cynthia, who is a hospice nurse and an author, lives in Tampa, Fla., with her husband Gregory Byrne and two children, Brendan and Patrick. Timothy is a musician, composer, and guitar teacher. Lives in Fairfax with two children, Sean and Dillon. Rev. Daniel Carney, lives in Texas and is a counselor at the Westwood Ministries. He has two children, Michah and Zackary. Jennifer Carney Meredith is a loan officer for National City Mortgage in Fairfax. She and her husband David live in Fairfax.
Education: Graduated from Elgin High School and received an AA in English from Elgin Community College. I took some more English courses at GMU in the 70s.
Current job or primary occupation: Self-employed. I have my own Consulting Firm "By Special Arrangement," which is a wedding and personal consulting business in Fairfax. I still like to do the weddings, but in recent years have been very involved with two high profile clients that demand most of my time.
Achievements: I have always been involved in my community, first when the children were attending city schools; I was the PTA, den mother, diving judge and sports mom. Later, I became involved in many other issues in the city. I am the immediate past president of Historic Fairfax City, Inc. having served as president for three years and a member of the Board for five.
I am a member of our Country Club Hills Civic Association and as membership chair raised our membership by 50 percent last year. I am a member of the Blenheim Task Force. I am a past president of the Commission for Women, have served on the City of Fairfax Human Services Board, Downtown Fairfax Coalition Board, the City of Fairfax InterService Club Council and on the Fairfax County Commission on Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation. My biggest achievement has been to lead the way to saving the very historic Blenheim site from development by persuading the City Council to purchase the site.
Activities, interests and hobbies: I am still a board member on Historic Fairfax City Inc. and my local civic association. I am a member of the Fairfax Ferns Garden Club and the St. Leo's Alter Guild. I am an avid swimmer, exercise regularly and like to spend time in my garden.
Favorite local restaurant or place in the community? Without a doubt, Artie's at Fairfax Circle because it is an excellent restaurant and is right in my neighborhood. There are many fine restaurants in the City of Fairfax and I stay mostly in the city when I go out to eat.
What are your community concerns? I think the City of Fairfax is a wonderful place to live and I want to be able to stay here and retire. We have some wonderful new homes being built in the city; however, not anything for a downscaling senior citizen. I would like to spearhead a move to assure that seniors can continue to live in the city. Since I am very interested in history and historic sites, I want to be involved in making sure that our historical integrity and culture is preserved with our redevelopment process.
What community "hidden treasure" do you think more people should know about? The Blenheim historic, 12-acre site on Old Lee Highway in Fairfax. The property is very close to the downtown area and right off a main highway, but unfortunately, not too many people know it's there. There is a semi-annual "Civil War Days" event and more and more people are attending each year. Since it is now going through a renovation process, it is not open to the public at this time; however, after the renovation process and the building of a museum and interpretative Center, the site will be open to the public about 2007.
What did you want to be when you grew up? I actually wanted to be a psychiatrist. It seems like it may have been a good choice. I seem to be a good listener and many of my friends come to me with their concerns!
Where do you see yourself in five years? I will either pursue my political career or finally retire. I want to continue to be active in my community, but I also want to spend more time with my family and grandchildren which means traveling to where they live.
Personal goals? Right now my personal goal is to get elected to the Fairfax City Council on May 2.