To the Editor:
“It is our joy to serve our community,” is how Bill Hatcher, pastor at Centreville Baptist Church, has so perfectly expressed the spirit of all the people who came together and help make Centreville Day possible. As the president of Friends of Historic Centreville, I can’t begin to state how deeply grateful I am to all of those people: to members of the planning committee, to the sponsors and vendors of Centreville Day, to the community and school volunteers, to the churches and other property owners of the Historic District, to our local government, to everyone who contributed in any way to making this Centreville Day a success.
Centreville Day benefits the Friends of Historic Centreville (FHC), a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving local history and to help make Historic Centreville Park a meaningful part of our community. FHC is a small group, however, and Centreville Day, as evident from the length of the list below, is a large undertaking. Each contribution was important to creating the whole and greatly appreciated. Thus, is no special order, I want to acknowledge and thank the following:
Our sponsors: Gold sponsor, G&C Auto and Tire Center. Greg and Christine Caldwell’s generous gift enabled Centreville Day to again offer free children’s rides. Long-time silver sponsor, the Korean Central Presbyterian Church. New bronze sponsors the Kiddie Academy and Apple Federal Credit Union. Historic Centreville Society provided funding for living history enactors Charlie Anderson (the Swordmaster) and Beverly Pelcher (aka Cornelia Peak McDonald). Burke and Herbert Bank happily mustached Centreville Day. The Goddard School, Walgreens, The Rotary Club of Centreville and Chantilly, Bryan Hunt CPA, and Windows Plus were also business sponsors. A host of in-kind sponsors provide valuable services: Sign-a-rama, Republic Trash Removal and Recycling, RulyScapes, the Trinity Center and Cassidy-Turley property management, and Pack Rat. The Centre View can’t be thanked enough for it’s wonderful support and coverage of Centreville Day over the last 20 years.
Our Vendors: Are too numerous to list here, see the list on our website. Please know that your support makes Centreville Day possible and we appreciate it. I will give a shout out to our food vendors: Mrs. P’s Concessions, Coyote Grill, Smokes BBQ, and Chick-Fil-A.
Our Centreville Day Volunteers: A cadre of youth volunteers, most from Ormond Stone Middle School, did great job of prepping the area, greeting vendors, face painting, cleaning up and made the day run smoothly.
Churches: One of the nice things about Centreville Day is the participation of so many of the area’s churches. Centreville Baptist Church gives us the free shuttle service from the Trinity parking location (yes, we’ll do better on the parking signs next year), the Korean Central Presbyterian Church sweetens the day with cotton candy and the Hallelujah Taekwondo Mission. N-Zone and New Life Church brought the Fun-Zone. Wellspring United Church gave the day our awesome DJ, Myra Flemister of HB Productions. The two historic churches in the district, Saint John’s Episcopal Church and the Church of the Ascension were open for tours and other activities. The church of the Latter Day Saints and Oakton Baptist Church participated in our community marketplace.
Entertainers: Centreville Day is proud to feature local talent, and Centreville has definitely got talent. Many thanks to (in order of their scheduled performance): Sara Berrios sang the National Anthem, the JMU Dragon Dancers, Mia Saunders Ballet, Centreville Dance Theatre, Alliance Theatre, the Epic Quartet, Elizabeth Officer sang God Bless America, Harmony Road School of Music, the Tae Kwno Do Mission, singers Alberto Ramirez and Benitio Chavez, Flock of Eagles, SYA Cheer and the Creative Dance Center. (We know illness prevented some performances: plan on next year!)
Planning Committee and Non-profit Partners: Thanks to honorary chairs Eileen Curtis, president of the Dulles Regional Chamber and Shak Hill, vice chair of the Families and Children Trust Fund, Vendor Coordinator Dr. Marla Gebaide of Centreville Chiropractic Center, and Entertainment Coordinator Meg Crossett. Meg was also the liaison with DC Candlelighters, who organized the new Zombie Slouch race. Bill Hatcher, Outreach Pastor for Centreville Baptist Church was our Transportation Chairman. Steve Hunter of American Legion Post 1995 is our parade master. The parade also benefited from the support of the Faircrest Neighborhood Watch thanks to Steven and Donna Yeh. Boy Scout Troop 1995 did a great job running parade announcement cards and scouts and parents helped tremendously by cleaning up at the end of the day. Karen Waltman communicated with and oversaw all of our youth volunteers as well as running all over Northern Virginia in pursuit of prizes, programs and signs. SYA Cheer’s Tammy McCarron, Cheryl Lawson of the Flourless Pan, Marva Williams and Matt Lannon of the Centreville Volunteer Fire Department all made vital contributions. Carol Robison and Harriet Graves cheerfully led Alpha Delta Kappa’s wonderful children’s activities while Jim Daniels and Dr. Ted McCord coordinated the wonderful volunteers from Sully Historic Site and Mount Gilead docents. Joy Regis opened the Havener House and Sully History Commissioner Debbie Robison interpreted the Spindle Sears House.
Fairfax County Government: It wouldn’t be Centreville Day without Supervisor Michael Frey onstage. His assistant, Virginia Eller, does a wonderful job supporting this event. We couldn’t ask for a more community-spirited officer than Lt. Ryan Morgan of the Sully District. The professionals and volunteers of the Centreville fire stations also lend their expertise and support every year. I also want to acknowledge Winnie Williams of the Permits section of the Zoning office and all the personnel in various oversight departments who cope gracefully with late submissions and all the other contingencies of community events in a busy October season. And, last mentioned but not in any way least, is the cooperation and support of the Fairfax County Park Authority, especially Todd Brown, John Shafer, Lee Ann Shenefiel, Richard Fain, Eric Malmgren, and the volunteers and staff at Sully Historic Site.
Thank you one and all.
And many, many thanks to the people who came out and attended Centreville Day. We’re already booking delightful weather for next year, so put us down on your calendars and we’ll see you in October 2013