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Marketing Tips from Agents

Precise pricing is key.

Homes in Potomac have always been considered desirable — but the numbers sold and the values of the properties have ended their declines since their highs in 2006.

In 1996, Bernie DeLeo was exactly where he thought he should be. A former actor-turned-film producer and writer, DeLeo was living in New York City with his wife and young son. He had an agent, and had just gotten work on a sitcom—Life’s Work—starring Michael O’Keefe. But one weekend, while he was in Los Angeles, he got a call from his wife that irrevocably changed the course of his life. Charlie, his 3-year-old son, had been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.

Obituary: Irene M. Collier

Irene Byrne McAndrew (Prendergast) Collier, of Washington, D.C., died on March 11, 2013, in Richland, Wash., at the age of 73, of natural causes related to dementia and juvenile diabetes.

Celebration Time in Centreville

International Music and Dance Fiesta is April 27.

A variety of ethnic songs, dances, food and fun are on tap for the third annual Centreville International Music and Dance Fiesta. It’s slated for Saturday, April 27, from 7-10 p.m., at Centreville United Methodist Church, 6400 Old Centreville Road.

Volunteers Assist in 6th Annual C&O Canal Pride Days

On Saturday, April 20, the C&O Canal Trust, in partnership with the C&O Canal National Historical Park, kicked off the 6th annual C&O Canal Pride Days, the single largest volunteer event to take place in the park.

Letter to the Editor: Ideal of Equality

The Boy Scouts are among the many organizations that help make Alexandria such a fine place to live and grow. Civic, religious, and educational organizations sponsor troops across the city, some dating far back in the century since Scouting began.

Inaugural Tours At Ivy Hill Cemetery

Saturday, April 20, saw the first annual public tours of Ivy Hill Cemetery, located on King Street not far from Janney’s Lane. Organized by a ninth-generation native of Alexandria, Lucy Burke Goddin, visitors were met at graveside by interpreters in period garb who offered introductions to the selected "permanent residents."

Letter to the Editor: Focus on Needs Not Wants

Taxpayer funds should not subsidize any private company, no matter how much City Hall and special interest groups want its services. To do so requires all taxpayers to assume a business risk without benefitting as shareholders from the company’s profits.

Rotary Honors Lee Stewart

Lee Stewart, a senior at Episcopal High School, was presented the Community Service Award by the Rotary Club of Alexandria at the club's weekly luncheon April 16 at Belle Haven Country Club. A life-long Alexandrian, Stewart was recognized for her leadership with Martha's Table as well as her fundraising efforts to support EHS's partner school in Kenya. Additionally, she spearheaded fundraising efforts to build a partner school building in Palto, Haiti.

Art Competition Winners Announced

U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11) attends ceremony at Lorton Workhouse Arts Center.

More than 200 high school students and their parents and teachers gathered at the Lorton Workhouse Arts Center last week to hear U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11) and judges from across Virginia’s 11th Congressional District announce the winners of the annual Congressional Art Competition.

‘You Can’t Stop the Beat’

“Hairspray” takes the stage at Robinson Secondary.

Robinson Secondary’s Cappies production is “Hairspray,” and Director Chip Rome is more excited about this show than he’s been about any show in “quite some time.”

Hollin Meadows Celebrates Earth Day

Girl Scouts held a used book sale and also added the last few boxes of this season’s cookies on the table at the annual Earth Day celebration at Hollin Meadows Math and Science Focus School on Saturday, April 20.

Entertainment

Calendar

‘Pacific Pulse’ Nicholaus Aman attempts to express the nature of the Pacific coast through his solo exhibition, Pacific Pulse, at Alexandria's Artspace 109 Gallery. The Pacific Pulse exhibition will be on display through May 11. Artspace 109 is located at 109 North Fairfax Street, 3rd Floor Alexandria. Gallery hours are: Tuesday through Friday noon-5 p.m., Saturdays 11 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sundays noon-5 p.m.

Letter to the Editor: Scholarship Fund of Alexandria Says Farewell to Yowell

Novelist Paul Auster wrote that the best one can do in life is to “leave the world a little better than you found it.” On June 30, after 10 years as the Scholarship Fund of Alexandria’s Executive Director Susan Yowell will leave the organization a lot better than when she arrived a decade ago.

GW Parkway Classic

Amid heightened security, runners honor Boston, Laboy.

In the wake of the recent terror attacks at the Boston Marathon, security was stepped up April 21 as more than 6,000 runners took to the streets of Alexandria in the 29th annual GW Parkway Classic.

Letter to the Editor: Losing Pools

Drip, drip, drip — that’s the sound of Alexandria’s pools going down the drain. Lee — closed. Ewald — closed. Colasanto — closed. Warwick — proposed to close in just over two months. That leaves Old Town and Chinquapin as the only two major public pools in the city — and those will be gone in 5 to 10 years.

Letter to the Editor: Myths about Bikeshare

I am writing in response to recent letters criticizing the Capital Bikeshare (CaBi) program in the Alexandria Gazette Packet. Myths about CaBi seem to be spreading and I'd like to set the record straight.

Letter to the Editor: How City Counts Parking Spaces

As the City Council moves forward with plans for waterfront development and considers other issues that impact resident parking, such as allowing for food trucks, I feel compelled to reiterate the parking concerns residents have in Old Town.

Lake Braddock Senior Receives Scholarship

Nathaniel Smith awarded $5,000 from Northern Virginia Urban League.

The Northern Virginia Urban League awarded $50,000 in scholarships to local high school students at its annual Community Service and Scholarship Awards Dinner Friday, April 19. The organization, whose mission it is to enable disadvantaged youth to achieve economic and academic success, awarded one scholarship to Lake Braddock Secondary School senior Nathaniel Smith.

The Connection