The Connection

    Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck with Lady Shirley Short, retired firefighter and Volunteer Extraordinaire, and Lord Ron Fitzsimmons, founder of Alice’s Kids.
  

The 2023 Salute to Lord and Lady was held at the Fairfax County Government Center on Tuesday, Oct. 3. Each Fairfax County County Board of Supervisor recognized two honorees from their district who have demonstrated exceptional volunteer service, heroism, community spirit, or other special accomplishment.

MOUNT VERNON DISTRICT

Lady Shirley Short

Shirley Short, or as we call her – our Volunteer Extraordinaire – is an amazing asset to Team MVD and Mount Vernon residents. Shirley is a retired Fairfax County firefighter and played an integral role helping residents during the 2006 Huntington flood. Shirley works tirelessly in assisting with the many community events we host each year, volunteering thousands of hours. To name a few, Shirley helps lead the Ides of Bark Dog Festival each year and single-handedly organized a new addition to our Town Meeting – Taste of Mount Vernon. Shirley’s dedication, willingness to jump in at all times and her can-do attitude makes a difference for all of us.

Lord Ron Fitzsimmons, Alice’s Kids

Ron Fitzsimmons and his sister Laura Fitzsimmons Peters created Alice’s Kids to anonymously help children in need in our community, and across the country. Alice’s Kids provides gift cards to teachers and counselors who have identified a child’s needs. The teacher then gives the gift card to a parent or caregiver who takes the child to buy the needed item, or is able to purchase it and surprise the child. Through Alice’s Kids, Ron has helped put smiles on the faces of thousands of children. It is efforts like this that make Ron deserving of this recognition. https://aliceskids.org/

FRANCONIA DISTRICT

Lady Sharron Dreyer

Sharron Dreyer has been a Franconia district resident since 1972. She is a registered nurse and was a founding staff member of Hospice of Northern Virginia (now Capital Caring). She then served as Director of Senior and Specialized Housing for Fairfax Dept of Housing for 16 years and has served as the Franconia district representative to the Commission on Aging since 2014. Sharron is an elder in her church, a volunteer with a variety of service organizations, and has served on both the Virginia Housing Study Commission and the Fairfax County Communitywide Housing Strategic Plan Task Force. She has resided at Greenspring since 2011 where she has discovered working with clay and is a co-leader of the Greenspring Pottery Workshop.

Lord Dr. Bryon L. Garner

A veteran of the U.S. Navy, Bryon Garner has lived in Alexandria VA since 2019. Bryon exemplifies a culture of service having served on the Fairfax County Redistricting committee in 2021. In 2020, he served on the City of Alexandria Commission on HIV/AIDS Awareness and since 2022, he has served as a board member of the Police Civilian Review Panel. Bryon is a 2023 graduate of the Union Institute & University PhD program where his research focuses on patriotism and veteran identity. Bryon and his wife of seven years, Dr. Sidra Smith, are active members of Metropolitan AME church in Washington DC.