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Column: Small Step on Long Road to Ethics Reform
Virginians deserve to know that their leaders are ethical and honest, both from their actions and the rules that govern those actions. For the second year in a row, the General Assembly has taken a small step in the right direction, but our Commonwealth needs real and substantive change.
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Great Falls: Novel on ‘Becoming Lisette’
Great Falls author Rebecca Glenn recreates 18th-century France in historical fiction novel.
In local author Rebecca Glenn’s debut novel “Becoming Lisette,” a tale emerges of an independent French girl pursuing her dreams to overcome cultural and historical boundaries in the artistic world of late 18-century France.
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Potomac: Luncheon To Benefit First Tee
Program teaches golf and life skills.
Golf fans may one day see the name Brittany Campbell of Silver Spring on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour. The 13-year-old middle-school student shot the longest drive of all the female golfers in her competition last year. Golf has become her passion since she started in The First Tee program with free lessons at Sligo Creek Golf Course four years ago. “I’m trying to get into college on a scholarship,” she said. “But I still play to have fun … that’s my goal.”
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Langley High Seniors Wrap Up 4U Campaign
Provide support and encouragement for underclassmen through campaign.
As the much-anticipated graduation season gets in full-swing for the Class of 2014, a lingering feeling of nostalgia can push some people to reflect on their school years—what they’ve accomplished and what they’ve learned.
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Commentary: Yellow Line Petition, Hybrid Tax Refunds and I-495 Changes
Last week, I wrote about the status of some transportation projects in our community. Here are a few more important things.
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It’s Almost Time for Fairfax Fall Festival
Crafts, food, music, children’s rides and lumberjacks.
There’s something for everyone at the Fairfax Fall Festival. This year’s event is slated for Saturday, Oct. 11 (rain date, Oct. 12), from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and offers everything from crafts to food, music, children’s activities, rides, four stages of entertainment and lumberjacks.
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Focus on Transportation
McLean, Great Falls Citizens Associations meet with state Secretary of Transportation.
State Secretary of Transportation Aubrey Layne Jr.’s firsthand experience with northern Virginia road congestion happened as he was running late to a meeting last week. His excuse for arriving tardy to the March 31 McLean and Great Falls citizens associations’ community hearing gave the 100-plus members in the audience some comic relief before he delved into more serious topics like the Route 7 expansion and increasing tolls.
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STITCH Art Exhibit Opens at Reston GRACE
New exhibit displays the art of needlework.
“I am really thrilled with the level of artists we were able to bring to this exhibition,” said Holly McCullough, executive director and curator of exhibitions at the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE). “The work is such varied interpretations of needlework that it makes you rethink your preconceptions of what needlework is … the artists reverse our expectations of the medium.” The exhibit STITCH is a group exhibition of needlework and its incorporation into forms of contemporary art. On Thursday, Jan. 16, an opening reception at the GRACE art gallery was attended by many of the exhibiting artists. “Negative space often plays a role in my work,” said Pam Rogers, a resident of Bethesda, Md. “I make my paint out of soil in minerals in my art work … often I sew into the work, creating new planes, repairing embellishing the images.”
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McLean Rotary Names Business Person of Year
Christopher Fay recognized for efforts with Homestretch.
The McLean Rotary Club named its Business Person of the Year during their Tuesday, June 12 meeting, honoring Christopher Fay of Homestretch, a Falls Church-based nonprofit that provides homeless families with the ability to secure permanent housing, as well as obtain the skills needed to obtain self-sufficiency.
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Share Hosts Benefit Concert
Local musicians play to support local nonprofit.
Charles Wesley United Methodist Church hosted their third annual benefit concert for Share of McLean, a local nonprofit that assists the needy in the McLean area. Share’s five-fold mission includes a food pantry, clothing room, transportation to medical appointments, family assistance in the form of rent or utility payments and furniture delivery.
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Giving Circle of Hope Honors 2013 Nonprofit Partners
Connections for Hope Partnership of Herndon receives first ever Impact Grant Award of $25,000.
Hidden Creek Country Club in Reston was the venue on May 14 for the Giving Circle of Hope’s annual gathering to showcase the nonprofit partners to whom the organization’s members have chosen to award grants for the coming year. Each fall, eligible members of the Circle – persons who have contributed at least $1 per day for the year to the Grant Fund – review applications and vote to award grants for specific projects that help people in need in Northern Virginia.
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How Best To Restore Dyke Marsh?
The draft Dyke Marsh Restoration Plan and Long-Term Management Plan/ Environmental Impact Statement is available for public comment until March 18. The National Park Service presented three options for the restoration and long-term management of Dyke Marsh at a public meeting on Feb. 26. NPS is recommending alternative C, which would restore up to 245 acres of wetland. This alternative allows for Dyke Marsh to be restored as much as possible, using hydrologic restoration. In October 2013, the U.S. Department of the Interior announced that Dyke Marsh would receive $25 million for restoration.
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PenFed Foundation Honors ‘Hero at Home’
Gala salutes family and friends of deployed military personnel and caregivers of wounded veterans.
Dahlia Constantine, Arlington resident and Patrick Henry Elementary School teacher, met her husband Justin in Argentina in April of 2006.
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Dominion Simulates Hurricane
Exercise allows Dominion Power to practice for severe storm events.
Dominion Power hosted a hurricane drill Wednesday, June 6, simulating the effects of fictional Hurricane Joseph and showing how they would manage such a storm. The Herndon headquarters serves about 900,000 customers.
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Youth Suicide Prevention Training Offered Online
Interactive training helps adults deal with serious issues.
Following several incidents in the community involving youth and suicide, Laura Yager, the director of partnership and resource development for the Fairfax-Falls Church Community Services Board, said the community has recognized the need for youth suicide prevention.
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Oakton’s Lourdes Navarro in ‘Pippi Longstocking’
Plays the title character’s girlfriend in children’s show.
A children’s classic comes to life when The City of Fairfax Theatre Company and Truro Anglican Church present “Pippi Longstocking: The Family Musical.”
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Fairfax: Board Approves 2018-2022 Capital Improvement Program
Five-year plan includes three new elementary schools and one new high school.
This year, Fairfax County Public Schools experienced one of the smallest annual enrollment increases in nearly a decade: 1,368 students, compared to the average of 2,400 since the 2008-09 school year, bringing the total to 187,202.
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Pay It Forward with Candy Bars Goes Viral at West Springfield
Throw Shine messages captured on Mars Candy video.
Pay It Forward with Candy Bars Goes Viral at West Springfield
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McLean WinterFest Parade Celebrates Eighth Run
Holiday
More than 60 groups marched down the mile-long parade route for the WinterFest Parade in McLean on Sunday, Dec. 4. “It’s been around for a long time,” says Maureen Scholz a seven-year member of the parade’s steering committee.
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Local Artists, Crafters Share Their Stories in Bethesda
Annual craft show benefits Clara Barton Community Center.
Some of the community’s most creative people participated in the 10th annual Clara Barton Craft Show on Sunday, Dec. 4.