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The Italian Gourmet Celebrates 40 Years
On Monday Dec. 9, 1974, The Italian Gourmet opened in Vienna. With its gourmet Italian prepared foods and specialty hard goods, The Italian Gourmet drew customers from all over the D.C. area. Today Jeremy and Margaret Schottler own the store, and their two children can often be found "helping" in the store as well. Six days a week (the deli is closed on Sunday for family time), The Italian Gourmet serves as a deli, gourmet food shop and caterer to the Vienna community. After working as a part time high school and college employee, Jeremy bought The Italian Gourmet in 1998, shortly after graduating from James Madison University. Jeremy combined his love of food and cooking with his business degree to this Vienna mainstay.
Great Falls Volunteers Take Part in Watershed Clean Up
Northern Virginia residents participated in the Annual Potomac River Watershed Cleanup on Saturday, April 5, sponsored by the Alice Ferguson Foundation. Last year, this Potomac watershed cleanup through the region collected over 300 tons of trash. The Great Falls Citizens Association organized over a dozen volunteers this year to clean up along Difficult Run stream and worked for over three hours to pull out debris along the trails and woods along the stream, which flows into the Potomac River. Many of the volunteers were high school students.
Celebrating Diversity
Reston founder Robert Simon visits Langston Hughes Middle.
Langston Hughes Middle School celebrated Diversity Day in a timely way this year.Themed “The Diversity of Reston: Then and Now,” the school invited Reston founder Robert Simon and local elementary principals to talk about how diversity impacted the growth of their community on Friday.“This is community,” said Simon. “Community is the most important word I want to leave with you. It always struck me that the best way to be happy is to be surrounded by good friends and relatives.”He told the students that he built the community based on the best parts of other communities he had seen during his travels. The most important part of Reston - and indeed the first part - was to create a plaza that would serve as the community center.
Teens Learn about Future Careers
Madison High teens participate in job-shadow program.
Medicine, business, computer security – 16 Madison High students learned about these careers and more during a recent, job-shadow program. Sponsored by FCPS and the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce, it enabled the students to experience various occupations firsthand. The teens listed their top three career interests and the Chamber matched them with businesses. Afterward, they shared their experiences with The Connection.
Writing Contest on Purpose of the Grange
Great Falls Day to be celebrated on May 4.
The Great Falls Historical Society invites young writers to participate in A Historic Essay Contest -- Seeing Today Through Yesterday’s Eyes. Great Falls Day will celebrate the 85th Anniversary of the Dedication of the Great Fall Grange at the Great Fall Grange Hall, 9818 Georgetown Pike, May 4, 2014, 1 to 5 p.m. Length, Font & Format: Minimum one type-written page, Times New Roman Font, 12 point; maximum three type-written pages, Times New Roman Font, 12 point; Microsoft Word Format. Deadline: Friday, April 25, 2014, 5 p.m. Eligible Age Groups: Level one: 8 to 12 years; level two: 13 to 15 years. Deliver entry to information desk at the Great Falls Library by Friday, April 25 at 5 p.m.
Journey of Discovery Continues
Third Women’s Collaborative to be held on April 17-20 in Middleburg.
Mary Jo Smrekar of Reston and Sue Ries Lamb of Alexandria are preparing to facilitate their third Women’s Collaborative at the Meadowkirk Retreat in Middleburg. What the two describe as a “journey of discovery” for up to twelve women takes place in three four-day sessions. The first gathering will be held from April 17 through April 20. The second retreat will be held on Oct. 9 – 12, and the third Nov. 13 – 16. Smrekar and Lamb met in 1972, and with a shared interest in exploring their own spirituality and their place in the world as women, they remained friends, and occasionally colleagues, throughout the years since. From 2006 to 2009 they participated in the first Hope Springs Leadership Collaborative and in 2010 they were part of the 35th and last Women’s Way Program, garnering experiences that led them to create their own local version of the collaborative in 2011.
Sharing the Inspiration
Great falls’ ‘Evening with the Authors’ allows writers, readers to learn form each other.
Jeff Preletz of Leesburg went to the “Evening with the Authors” as a reader, but he left convinced that he, too, is a writer who must finish his first book. He didn’t expect the turnout for a Saturday night event at the Great Falls Library to be so great that patrons would spill into the hall and out the front door. But he got what he came for – inspiration from authors to put his ideas in print. “This is no ordinary book signing,” he said. “We are conversing with published authors and learning from them.”
Living Legends: A Head for Numbers, a Heart for People
For Richard Allyn “Rick” Glassco, volunteering started early.
Richard Glassco has been the treasurer for ALIVE! (Alexandrians InVolved Ecumenically!) for 23 years. During that time ALIVE!, which was founded in 1969, has grown from an all-volunteer organization to one with volunteers from about 40 faith communities, a $1.3 million budget and about 14 employees.
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.
Earth Month Annual Cleanup
Jonathan Wood, Ava Kahn and Aimee Weldon volunteered Saturday, April 5, at annual spring cleanup which included the C&O canal.
Ball-Sellers House Opens for the Season
Twenty-five years or so before the Revolutionary War began, an English immigrant homesteaded in what is now Arlington’s Glen Carlin community. His name was John Ball and the small cabin he built, to house the family of wife Elizabeth and their five daughters, still stands.
Painter Debuts Children’s Book
“When I’m Not Myself” also offers insight into book production process.
Alexandria painter Kathy DeZarn Beynette’s second children’s book, “When I’m Not Myself,” was released worldwide in March.
Alexandria Painter Debuts Children’s Book
“When I’m Not Myself” also offers insight into book production process.
Alexandria painter Kathy DeZarn Beynette’s second children’s book, “When I’m Not Myself,” was released worldwide in March.
‘Another Way of Living’ Celebrates Reston
Documentary screened at community center on Founder’s Day.
When Rebekah Wingert-Jabi began to piece together a film about Reston’s history to date, she realized each member of the community created the web that shaped it.Her film, “Another Way of Living - The Story of Reston, VA,” was screened at the Reston Community Center on Saturday night as a part of the Reston Founder’s Day celebrations.“It wasn’t until I left Reston that I realized what a special place it was,” she said.The film, which took two years to create, weaves back and forth through Reston’s history and founder Robert Simon Jr.’s life. It showed how a place that once headlined as “An unlikely success story” is now the community for 75,000 people and counting.
Floris Sixth Graders Present ‘Annie’
Students further their theatre experience in April musical.
Annie, Jr. is the fourth in a series of musicals presented by the sixth grade classes at Floris Elementary. In a tradition started four years ago, the sixth grade students produce a “junior” length Broadway musical facilitated by their classroom teachers, music teachers, and other teachers and specialists. Students designed and created props and set pieces, ran the spotlights, and managed the backstage areas. “I have always been interested in technology,” said sixth grade student Sanjana Meduri, who assisted with the production’s sound tech.
Capital One Headquarters Debated
Company wants a taller building in Tysons.
Capital One wants to make its future headquarters office building the tallest in Tysons Corner. McLean Citizens Association discussed the changes in the development plan at its April 2 Board of Directors meeting. The Building 3 office building, if constructed as planned, will rise 470 feet - 32 stories - into the Tysons skyline due to the mechanicals that will be placed at the top. This will make it the tallest building in the urban center. Their current McLean headquarters building is 14 stories. The new building is planned to be more than twice that size. “This is going to be a monster of a building,” said board member Mark Zetts during the zoning presentation.
Gyeonggi Province Governor Visits the Korean Bell Garden
The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority has announced that Kim Moon-Soon, Governor of the Gyeonggi Province of the Republic of Korea, donated $10,000 for the long-term maintenance of the Korean Bell Garden during his recent visit to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna. Governor Kim has a long standing relationship with the people of Fairfax County and has been an active part of the creation and completion of The Korean Bell Garden. The bell garden was fully funded by donations from the Republic of Korea and the Gyeonggi Province. This is the only traditional Korean garden with a bell in the western hemisphere and the only Korean bell on the east coast. The two--ton “Bell of Harmony” was donated by Governor Kim and the Gyeonggi Province in 2011 and is the jewel of the Bell Garden. The bell combines images of nature from both Korea and Virginia as a symbol of the Korean-American population in this region.
Reston Celebrates History and Founder’s Birthday
Reston Celebrates History and Founder’s Birthday
Reston founder Robert Simon Jr.’s birthday bash was the biggest party in town.With cake, music performances, proclamations and even a quick visit from the governor, Saturday’s Founder’s Day festivities at Washington Plaza attracted hundreds of spectators and a big smile from Simon himself.The event, an early 100th birthday celebration for Simon and Reston’s 50th anniversary, was held from noon until nearly 3 p.m.“Bob Simon, here we had an idea guy that followed through, and out of that idea flourished a place that had extraordinary values,” said U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11).
CATS Puts Special Needs Kids First
Children’s Adaptive Team Sports reinforces and praises with soccer and trophies.
Children with special needs can sometimes feel like they are not a part of a community. CATS - which stands for Children’s Adaptive Team Sports - helps these kids feel like real winners by putting them on their own basketball and soccer teams. “We’ve had some parents who were emotional and said they thought they’d never see their son play on a soccer team,” said founder and CEO Margarita Benavides. “Eighty percent of parents said there were improvements on motor skills or attention.”
Clearing Up ‘Diet’ Mistery
To the Editor, Thank you for your illuminating article on the so-called Walker Road ‘Diet’ in Great Falls [“Walker Road ‘Diet’ Nears Completion,” Great Falls Connection, April 2-8, 2014]. It goes a long way towards clearing up the mystery (to me and perhaps to others) of why we had to endure several months of inconvenience while different versions of construction crews plied their trade. If I understand it correctly, we spent a million dollars of scarce taxpayer funds to make the president of the Great Falls Citizens Association and the owner of The Brogue tavern happy. This at a cost nearly four times the original estimate. To further summarize, we Great Falls residents allegedly needed a crosswalk and it was determined that it could not be done without reducing the number of Walker Road lanes at the Great Falls Center.