St. James’ Episcopal Church Held 2013 Arts and Crafts Fair
St. James’ Episcopal Church in Mount Vernon held its 6th annual Arts and Crafts Fair on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013, with 72 vendors offering hand-crafted items like musical instruments, jewelry, and paintings.
Creating ‘Vibrant Streets’
SFDC hosts Route 1 development forum.
The Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation, a non-profit corporation financed by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, jump-started its fall season by inviting a panel of three business leaders who conducted what amounted to a workshop on how to turn underutilized commercial and mixed use property in the Richmond Highway corridor into viable self-sustaining community and government supported projects.
Classified Advertising Oct. 2, 2013
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Something To Bark About
Park Authority approves Master Plan for Westgrove Park.
The Park Authority approved the Master Plan for Westgrove Park on a permanent basis Sept. 25, ending several years of community debate between environmental advocates who wanted Westgrove Park to remain as a natural resources Park, and dog owners who wanted an Off Leash Dog Park (OLDA) added to the Park.
Guest Editorial: Virginia’s Easy Access to Guns
A parent asks why background checks aren’t better.
How do you respond to a 7 year old when she comes home from school and says “we did our bad man drill today Mommy, but don’t worry it was just for practice, no one really came into our school to shoot us”?
Senior Volunteers Stay Active
Fifty percent of Mount Vernon RECenter’s volunteers are senior citizens.
The Mount Vernon RECenter is known for its ice skating rink, massive indoor swimming pool and fitness center with spa and sauna. It has 46 volunteers who help greet guests, clean up the fitness room, landscape the grounds and assist people with adapted swimming and ice-skating. Exactly half of them are retired senior citizens over 50 who want to stay active while giving back to the community.
Choosing a Home for the Golden Years
Many options for retirement communities in the region.
Jim Harkin, 81, and his wife, Phyllis, 80, have little free time these days. Jim spends his days protecting and photographing wildlife on the 60-acre campus at The Fairfax, a Sunrise Senior Living Community, in Fort Belvoir. He helped build, refurbish and maintain more than 20 birdhouses on the grounds, including homes for tree swallows and purple martins.
Active Seniors Compete for Glory
fter 11 days of more than 50 events held Sept. 7-19, the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics finished with a golf event at Forest Greens Golf Course in Triangle, Va. Other events ranged from cycling, swimming and pickle ball to Mexican train dominos and Scrabble.
Diverse Needs, Desires Drive Mobility Solutions
Seniors increasingly seek innovative plans that embrace both the present and the future.
Russ Glickman was a traditional full-service remodeler until the late 1990s when he abruptly added a host of accessibility certifications to a long list of building industry credentials. The service extension was less about opportunity than a personal call to apply what he’d learned from personal experience in helping his son, Michael, who was born with cerebral palsy.
Column: “Mor-Tality” or Less
Meaning, in my head anyway, the future and what there is left of it. More specifically, I mean life expectancy. When you’re given a “13-month to two-year” prognosis—at age 54 and a half, by a cancer doctor, your cancer doctor—the timeline between where you are and where you thought you’d be when becomes as clear as mud.
Residential Studios Put on Hold
Supervisors establish committee, plan additional public outreach.
At the recommendation of Chairman Sharon Bulova (D-At-Large) and Supervisor Michael Frey (R-Sully), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday deferred its Nov. 20 public hearing on a proposed residential studios (RSUs) amendment to conduct additional community outreach.
Now What?
Fairfax County braces for “domino effect” of federal government shutdown.
“We live in a ‘company town’ and the company is the federal government, so most of us have family and friends who are federal employees or contractors impacted by this shutdown,” Long said in a memo emailed to county employees Tuesday. Long said his biggest concern was the “domino effect” the shutdown will have on the local economy, and “the short-term uncertainty that will impact business decisions.”
Social Justice Matters
SALT forum gives candidates a chance to tell voters where they stand on social justice issues.
But one group also thinks voters should know where candidates stand on social justice issues when they go to the polls Nov. 5. “Our elected officials have a great deal of influence on the common good, so it’s reasonable that we find out where candidates stand on these issues,” said John Horejsi, founder of SALT (Social Action Linking Together), a non-partisan, faith-based advocacy group started in 1983.
Leadership Fairfax Honors Community Leaders Who Make a Difference
Leadership Fairfax (LFI) has chosen the 2013 Northern Virginia Leadership Awards (NVLA) recipients via a panel of community and business leaders evaluating nominations submitted by Leadership Fairfax alumni and the general public. The award recipients will be honored at the Northern Virginia Leadership Awards luncheon on Thursday, Nov. 7, at Westwood Country Club in Vienna.
Minority Chambers of Commerce to Host Candidates’ Forum
The recently formed alliance of Northern Virginia Minority Chambers of Commerce will give members of the fast growing minority business community the opportunity to meet with the commonwealth’s gubernatorial and statewide candidates at the first-ever joint Candidates’ Forum, Sunday, Oct. 6, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Northern Virginia Community College, Annandale Campus.
On the Job and Hot on the Trail
Finding people is fun for new, police bloodhound pups.
“We’ll get them out here and acclimate them to the noises — gunfire, [vehicle] brakes and birds,” said Masood. They’ll also be exposed to airplanes, wind, rain, heat, car horns honking, plus obstacles such as fences. And they’ll learn how it feels on their paws to walk in the woods, through brush, on cement, carpet, tile floors, etc. That way, said Clarke, “When they get out on the street, when they’re almost a year old, they’ll be ready.”
National Park Service Shutters Mount Vernon Trail Amid Budget Crisis
Parts of trail are barricaded;; parking lots closed/ Park Service Police issue parking tickets.
Woody Guthrie observed "This Land is Your Land." But that apparently does not apply to federal land during a government shutdown.
West Springfield Field Hockey Beats West Potomac in Overtime
Spartans extend winning streak to five games.
Spartans lost four straight prior to five-game winning streak.
The Taste of Fall
Local chefs and nutritionists offer healthy recipes for tasty fall dishes using seasonal ingredients.
When the temperature starts to drop and leaves begin to turn red and orange, you can often find chef Susan Limb meandering through local farmers markets, sorting through rough-textured, knotty sweet potatoes; tough, waxy butternut squash; and dusty, rose-colored apples.
Commentary: In Search of Affordable Housing
Challenges for Residential Studio Units and the need to address them.
Fairfax County’s Planning Commission will hold two workshops on Wednesday, Sept. 25 and Oct. 2 to expand the discussion about the proposed residential studio unit (RSU) amendment to the Zoning Ordinance. There will be a staff presentation on Sept. 25, and questions submitted online by citizens to the Planning Department will be answered in the second workshop on Oct 2. The plan is for both workshops to be televised on the county’s cable station.