Snow caused it to be delayed for one week but nearly everyone was able to rearrange schedules to attend the Birth Night Supper and Ball at the Mt. Vernon Inn last weekend.
"There were only two couples who weren't able to make it," said James Rees, the executive director at Mt. Vernon. "We were concerned about changing the date but are very pleased that things worked out so well."
The only disappointment was that General Washington couldn't be there. He was represented by his wife.
"Though I am but a poor shadow of my beloved husband, I am delighted to be here to celebrate his birthday with our neighbors and friends and want you all to know that we long for the day when we can return to our home at Mt. Vernon," Mrs. Washington said.
Two special guests joined Mrs. Washington and the assemblage to celebrate. Susan Allen, wife of Virginia's junior Republican Senator, George Allen was there as was David Walker, the comptroller general of the United States. Both are residents of Mt. Vernon.
"I have never been to a birth night ball but am delighted to be part of this wonderful celebration of George Washington, a great American hero," Susan Allen said. "These events are so important because they keep history alive."
Sen. Allen was unable to be present because he was returning from the West Coast. "I missed my plane or I would have been with him," Susan Allen said.
"The good thing about that is that I can be here tonight."
The Allens live in Mt. Vernon with their three children — a freshman at Mt. Vernon High School, a student at Stratford Landing Elementary School and the youngest, a pre-schooler at Aldersgate.
"We have always tried very hard to make sure that the children live a normal life," Allen said. "That means that sometimes they are good and sometimes they are naughty, just like everyone else's kids. We have a lot of discussions about issues at our house and the kids understand that somethings stay at home and other things can be discussed with their friends and at school.
"They have always lived with a father who is in public life so they are very well adjusted. They like athletics and music and do all of the things that kids do. It keeps us busy just making certain that we have the kind of time at home with them that they need," she said.
EVEN THOUGH THE Allens have lived in different parts of the state, Susan Allen spent eight years of her childhood in Annandale. "My father was military and we were here for quite some time," she said. After Northern Virginia, the family moved to Charlottesville where Susan met her husband. She attended college at the University of South Carolina. "I just wanted to get away from home and see something else," she said.
She is involved in raising money for breast cancer research and as a volunteer in the Fairfax County Public school system. "My husband and I are very committed to the public school system and I spend as much time as I can volunteering my time," she said.
WALKER IS NOT A native Virginian but has lived in Northern Virginia on more than one occasion as a member of the public and private sector. He was appointed to be the comptroller general of the United States in 1998.
"The comptroller General is the accountability officer and the executive director of the General Accounting Office," Walker explained. "I work with Congress to improve the economy and the effectiveness of the government. We fight waste, fraud and abuse and mismanagement and are working to transform the government to see that it better serves the people into the 21st century."
The comptroller general is appointed for 15 years and can only be removed for cause — impeached. A congressional commission recommends at least two nominees to the president, the president makes a selection and the U.S. Senate must confirm the nomination. In Walker's case, there were 60 applicants and he was selected.
Walker is an Alabaman by birth and has lived throughout the south. He has worked in large private firms such as Price-Waterhouse and Arthur Anderson and has served as an Assistant Secretary of the U. S. Department of Labor, as director of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation and as a trustee for Social Security and Medicare. He has a Master's degree from Harvard and is a certified public accountant.
"Of all of the jobs that I have had, I have enjoyed my work as a public servant the most," he said. "You don't make but a fraction of the money in the public sector but you can make a difference in people's lives and that is what is important to me," he said.
Like most government agencies, Walker is dealing with issues related to national security. "Right now we are dealing with the issues surrounding the creation of a new Department of Homeland Security," he said. "We are also dealing with health care and what we are going to do about that in this country. Also, of course, we are looking at the imbalance between projected revenues and expenditures and what, in the long-term, we are going to do about that."
Walker is concerned about the Middle East for more than one reason. His son, a member of the armed forces, is stationed in the Middle East. "I am concerned about my son, of course, but I am also concerned about those fiscal imbalances," he said. "If we don't do something about those, we are mortgaging the futures of our kids and grandkids," he said.