People

Helping Hands

Senior Services of Alexandria

Five years ago, Mary Lee Anderson was asked if she could help Senior Services of Alexandria set up an information database. Since that time, what was supposed to be a part-time commitment has turned into a second career for the international telecommunications corporate executive.

Arlene Hewitt Sets the Pace for Seniors in Alexandria

A recipe for activism at any age.

She is four feet 10 inches tall and 84 years old. She tutors children who cannot read; she champions health insurance for the uninsured in Alexandria; she meets with mayors and senators; she takes 90-year-old gentlemen out to dinner; she wants to reduce the teen pregnancy rate in Alexandria; and she never lets more than a few days go by without chatting with her children or grandsons, usually via email or skype.

Aging in Place

Finding out about the latest services and programs.

Alexandria is a great place to be a senior – there are so many different services and organizations with programs designed to help older residents remain in their homes and age in place safely and in a healthy environment.

Life at Culpepper Garden

Award-winning retirement community celebrates 40th anniversary.

It is St Patrick's Day at Culpepper Garden in Arlington, and there is a party underway downstairs. As the accordionist touches the black and white keys, Marilyn Jarvis stands up and makes her way to the aisle, grabs a partner, Adrianna Bustamante, and begins tap dancing to "The Sidewalks of New York."

Lee Senior Center in Arlington Is a Creative Hub

Painting, pottery, rock bands, and social dance are big hits.

A passer-by at Lee Center in Arlington stopped in to see the country music players the other day and left feeling this group of musicians was worth staying to hear for the whole hour.

Inclusive Camaraderie for Seniors in Alexandria

Class offers a place to chat and get balanced.

Margaret Lewis got things going for seniors at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center, starting the first Tai Chi class, knitting group and square dancing classes about 15 or 20 years ago. “It all started with Margaret Lewis,” says Donna MacDonald.

Getting Dirty for a Good Cause

Staff and volunteers plant native grasses along Big Rocky Run.

Wearing sturdy boots and wielding shovels and wheelbarrows, some two dozen people recently left their comfortable offices to dig in the soil at Ellanor C. Lawrence Park. When they were done, a variety of native grasses had been planted to beautify the Big Rocky Run stream valley and help stabilize the banks there. Participating were staff members and volunteers from Fairfax County’s Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (DPWES), Stormwater; Park Authority; and the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District (NVSWCD).

Fairfax One: ‘Ambulance in the Air’

A close-up look at Fairfax County’s police helicopter.

Members of the Sully District Police Station’s Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) recently toured Fairfax County’s heliport, got to speak with a pilot and saw the Fairfax One helicopter up close. It’s a twin-engine, Bell 429 and does both police and medivac missions for the county. And one of its pilots, PFC Nick Taormina, is a paramedic as well as a police officer.

News Briefs for the Week of April 1

Roundups

Potomac: ‘Girls’ Night Out’ Features Author Iris Krasnow

Women gather for a night of learning and laughter

“The Healing Power of Women’s Friendships” — a timely topic for a “Girls Night Out” evening — set the tone and spirit for an evening featuring the wisdom of journalist and New York Times best-selling author Iris Krasnow.

Potomac Doctor Fixes Broken Hearts

“Heart healer” Craig Sable saves lives of Ugandan children.

“I am staring at a list of the names of over 100 Ugandan children with holes, blockages and leaks in their heart, knowing that for some, in a few short weeks, the dream that they and their families have been praying for will finally come true...."

Out & About: Spring (Finally) Finds Potomac

Column: Emerging from the Polar Vortex

Spring is here; time to dig in and preserve the local environment.

It seems like such a short time ago that the words “polar” and “climate change” prompted only images of iconic polar bears searching for the last melting Arctic ice floes. Few of us had even heard of “polar vortexes” and their impacts on the Potomac Subregion, but we have all learned rapidly about this other, more local, effect of climate change. Now, finally, the daffodils are budding up and it appears the long winter is over.

Move Me Festival Gets Arlington Moving

Bowen McCauley Dance returned to Kenmore Middle School last Saturday with the 6th annual Move Me Festival. Music, theatre and dance workshops and performances were held throughout the afternoon in the middle school.

Participants serve Arlington Works! as part of their year-long service commitment.

AmeriCorps members pledge to get things done for America. When they embark upon their year of community service, they vow to unite fellow Americans and strengthen communities. The now eight-member Arlington Works! AmeriCorps team has been doing just this since the partnership started in 2011. This year’s Arlington Works! team is the fourth AmeriCorps team to work with two non-profits, the Arlington Education and Employment Program (REEP) and Edu-Futuro, a partner program of Arlington Public Schools that sets out to ensure opportunities for children of immigrant families.

The Connection