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More than two hundred people attended the Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association's 11th Annual Meeting and 2006 Tourism Awards at Lansdowne Resort Clubhouse March 30. The winners of the 2006 Tourism Awards are:
Tourism Employee of the Year (Management): Jo Ann Sweeney, front desk manager, Holiday Inn Washington Dulles.
Tourism Employee of the Year (Non-Management): Lorita Malipal, guest service agent, Hampton Inn & Suites Leesburg.
Volunteer of the Year: Kim Labash, chair of the Bluemont Fair.
Tourism Event of the Year: Christmas in Middleburg.
Tourism Promotion/Campaign of the Year: Jazz on the Potomac, Lansdowne Resort.
Judy Patterson Tourism Award: Margaret Hubert, Tarara Winery and Peter Dunning, Bluemont Concert Series.
LCVA Partner of the Year: June Stanich of June Stanich Photography.
LCVA Distinguished Service Award: Organizations recognized included company Chief Kevin Wright for Hamilton fire units, Chief Joseph Pozzo, and Fire Marshall Keith Brower on behalf of all the fire and rescue personnel and volunteers who fought the Waterford School blaze.
LCVA Humanitarian Award: Embassy Suites Dulles North and Dysautonomia Youth Network of America (DYNA).
For the second year in a row Loudoun Sheriff's Deputy Aaron Taylor was recognized for his efforts in curbing drinking and driving in the county.
Taylor was among several law-enforcement personnel from around the Northern Virginia region recognized at the ceremony held at Westpark Hotel in Tysons Corner. Taylor arrested 39 impaired drivers in 2006. Taylor has been with the Sheriff's Office since June of 2004; he is currently assigned to the Sheriff's Office Community Policing Unit and serves the town of Round Hill.
The Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr., has appointed Loudoun County Clerk of the Circuit Court Gary Clemens of Ashburn, to a three-year term on the Virginia Circuit Court Advisory Committee. The purpose of advisory committee is to meet quarterly to review and discuss numerous issues related to the Circuit Court judges and Circuit Court clerks, as well as to Circuit Court operations in Virginia.
Koby Clark of Leesburg, a student majoring in wildlife science in the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech, received the National Wild Turkey Federation's Greater Richmond Chapter Annual Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to students in the fisheries and wildlife sciences department.
The following members of the Loudoun Cooperative Extension staff were named the recipients of the 2007 Outstanding Team Award: Beverly Samuels, senior extension agent, FCS; Debra Foster, coordinator; Leslie Estrella, financial counseling coordinator; Corey Childs, unit coordinator; Kendra Redmon, 4-H agent; Kim Monroe, 4-H program technician; Sue Naille, customer services assistant; Keith Lilly, administrative manager; Kimberly Dehaven, unit administrative assistant; Ed Senft, education program assistant; Leslie Blischak, Extension agent, horticulture; Debbie Dillion, Extension agent, horticulture.
The award is presented annually by the Alpha Gamma Chapter of Epsilon Sigma Phi to pay tribute for the accomplishments by interdisciplinary and other ad hoc teams organized for carrying out specified assignments and accomplishing specific goals within specific time limitations.
Army Spec. Jonell L. Conger has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.
During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises.
She is the daughter of Bonnie A. Dean of Sterling and granddaughter of Connie Hargreaves of Centreville. Conger graduated in 2001 from Chantilly High School, and received a bachelor's degree in 2005 from Ferrum College, Va.
One-hundred-eighty-three Senior Girl Scouts from the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital were awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award Sunday, May 13, at the council's annual "In Your Honor" ceremony at Trinity University in Washington, D.C. Of those, more than 120 are from Virginia. The Gold Award is the highest award achievable in Girl
The following are Gold Award winners from Loudoun:
Kasey Blackburn, Leesburg, redecorated three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a hallway for a shelter for women and children. She painted each room, provided new bedding, shower curtains, valences and blinds.
Dana Buckley, Leesburg, visited homeless shelters to teach the residents how to use computers. She also created a booklet of her lessons to leave with the residents.
Michelle Bunney, Sterling, redesigned the Ruritan kitchen to make it brighter and more appealing to the groups who use it.
Rachel Gottlieb, Leesburg, worked with children ages 5-13 in a local shelter. She taught them how to succeed in the future and had guest speakers talk about their jobs, training and skills.
Jennifer Mabee, South Riding, built and maintained a flower garden near the Alzheimer’s unit at Heritage Hall. The garden was in memory of Virginia Clough and was designed to help spark memories for the patients.
Keeley Mitchell, Sterling, offered weeklong child-care sessions for volunteers who were working to create a park, and were in need of child care in the evenings.
Anna Nielsen, Potomac Falls, helped educate children about how their actions can affect the environment. She presented six lessons at YMCA summer camps.
Katherine Peterson, Ashburn, gathered oral histories from long-time residents of Ashburn. The compiled stories were donated to the Thomas Balch Historical and Genealogical Library in Leesburg.
Meagan Tyding, Ashburn, restored a butterfly garden at a nature preserve. She replaced overgrown vegetation with native plants and installed a solar powered fountain.
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office was recognized for its role in the 2006 Virginia Law Enforcement Challenge for traffic-safety enforcement. The Loudoun Sheriff's Office took first place in the category of Virginia Sheriff's agencies whose total number of deputies falls between 451 and 700. As the largest full-service Sheriff's Office in the state, the Loudoun Sheriff's Office stands alone in this category. The agency must still however, receive a minimum number of points to receive an award.
The National Capital Chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society announces that the 25th Anniversary MS Bike Ride has raised more than $500,000 to date for the fight against MS. The event, which was held in Northern Virginia May 19 and 20, welcomed more than 650 cyclists.
The MS Bike Ride started and finished at Franklin Park in Purcellville, with a route through Loudoun and Fauquier counties.
Members of the Loudoun Sheriff's Office Auxiliary were honored during a banquet held at the Lakes Recreation Center in Ashburn. At the banquet, 14 members of the unit were recognized for achievements in the areas of team leadership, field training, information technology, special projects, and overall commitment in the area of volunteering.
The Loudoun Chapter of the Virginia Women Attorneys Association received an Award of Merit from the Virginia State Bar's Conference of Local Bar Associations.
The award recognizes the association's Adoption Day ceremony and fair in Loudoun. The ceremony honored seven families and the fair provided information about the Loudoun County Department of Family Services and five local adoption agencies.
Claire Elisabeth Grubbs of Sterling made the Seattle Pacific University winter quarter Dean's List. Student on the Dean's List have completed at least 12 credits and attained a 3/50 or higher grade point average.
Lisa Mathey, an adoption educator with Adoption Educators and former foster parent, won third place in the Virginia Department of Social Services creative writing contest, foster parent category, which was held for National Foster Care Month in May.
Mathey received a framed copy of her writing entry and was a featured speaker at the Foster Parents Appreciation Celebration.