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Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
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February 11-17, 2009 ❖ Volume XXIII, Number 6
Oak Hill ❖ Herndon
Herndon HighCelebrates Art
News, Page 7
Boundary ChangesClose to Approval
News, Page 3
Bulova BecomesCounty Chairman
News, Page 4
Herndon HighCelebrates Art
News, Page 7
Boundary ChangesClose to Approval
News, Page 3
Bulova BecomesCounty Chairman
News, Page 4
Hailey O’Brian,Haseeb Sarabiand RichardCostigan, all
Herndon HighSchool seniors,participated inthis year’s stu-
dent-art exhibit.
2 ❖ Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
People
Whether in her Clifton homeor a classroom in Herndonor Lorton, Vicki Blum ismaking the world a brighter
place. Using a contrasting palette of warmand cool oil paints, she finds a dab here anda swish there can make a world of differ-ence.
A painting teacher for only a short time,Blum divides her time between two ofFairfax County’s newest haven for artists:ArtSpace in Herndon and the WorkhouseArts Center in Lorton.
“What a bonanza for this area,” she saidof her classrooms and the gallery space theyprovide for herself and her students. “It’sall really fantastic.”
The whole Northern Virginia area has anabundance of artistic talent, Blum said, fromthe artist groups in Great Falls where shegot her start, to the Torpedo Factory whereshe took some early classes. Even in herClifton backyard, Blum has helped the tal-ent in her own community, helping to coor-dinate last year’s art show and in the plan-ning of the town’s barn dances each fall forthe past several years.
BLUM started painting about 12 years ago,when she finished college classes and de-cided to re-engage in a favorite hobby.
“I’ve loved to paint and draw since I wasa kid, and I took a few classes in college,but after graduating law school, I realized Iwasn’t happy,” Blum said. She decided todo something just for her, and shortly there-after she enrolled in a class at the Art Leaguein Alexandria, better known as the TorpedoFactory. That was the end of her unhappi-ness.
“I started taking one class and neverlooked back,” she said.
Soon, Blum was taking masters levelcourses, traveling for shows and classes andlearning how to work through creative dryspells and difficult pieces.
“We had to do things over and over againand wipe it away and try it again,” Blumsaid. “I became a much faster painter, I gotcomfortable using bolder strokes.”
She hopes her students are enjoying herclasses as much as she is enjoying teachingthem.
“When I decided to start, it was becausefolks asked me what they should do to fixtheir projects,” she said. “It was so muchfun. I loved looking at a project and saying,‘OK, this is what you need to do,’ and see-ing how the painting came together. I en-joyed the ability to show how not difficultit can be.”
THE CLASSES IN HERNDON, on Thurs-day evenings, are for beginning and inter-mediate painters and center on a particu-lar topic. Blum brings in various objects forher students to paint and helps them whenthey ask for her advice.
Some day, when Blum has free time be-tween teaching classes and her full-time jobas a mortgage banking lobbyist — she ad-mits it’s been a “complex” job as of late —Blum would like to take a dance class atthe Workhouse or branch out to paint land-scapes.
“Every time I drive by the creek in Clifton,I’d like to jump out of my car, set up aneasel and paint it,” she said. “There’s onearea in particular, where the creek bendswith fallen trees, but I know people love topaint the General Store.”
She’d also like to do more portraits, wherethe strokes aren’t as daring and the realchallenge is making the final product re-semble the subject.
“Portraits are very intense and you haveto take a concentrated approach,” she said.“With a still life, there’s paint flying around.When you do a portrait, you can really en-joy the concept of putting colors down.”
IN THE MEANTIME, Blum will continueteaching at both facilities and enjoy livingin Clifton with her husband, Dave, a life-long Clifton resident, and their son, David,7, a student at St. Leo the Great CatholicSchool in Fairfax.
Blum muses that becoming a painter fulltime is a nice idea, but one of her formerclassmates and teachers, Kurt Schwarz, isconvinced she could make the switch frompart-time painter to full-time artist.
“She’s a very hard worker, very dedi-cated,” said Schwarz, whom Blum met atthe Torpedo Factory more than a decadeago. “She’s very talented with her color andher brush work. She’s developed a tech-nique of teaching where she starts a paint-ing in a bit of an earth tone backgroundand makes it work. It’s a very individualstyle and I’m very proud of her.”
Schwarz said Blum could very well makea full-time living as an artist if she wantedto, a vote of confidence not many artistswill ever hear.
While Blum’s students would no doubtsupport her if she chose to paint full time,they would undoubtedly miss her optimismand sunny disposition.
“She is the definition of vitality,” saidTricia Ratliff, a student in Blum’s Herndonclass. “I really think for her, the world is ahappy place.”
Ratliff likes the personal attention shegets from Blum’s classes and the help she’sreceived on her own projects.
“I haven’t been able to find a class likethis anywhere,” she said. “If you’re work-ing on a project for a gallery exhibit, shecoaches you to make the outcome moresuccessful.”
Blum has become a fixture in the North-ern Virginia art scene; she is the Marylandand Virginia ambassador to the PortraitSociety of America and is currently work-ing on their annual conference in Restonlater this spring. She’s already hoping to beinvited back to teach at both the ArtSpacein Herndon and the Workhouse in Lortonfor the spring sessions.
“Teaching isn’t something I set out to do,but I really enjoy it,” she said.
Once a law student,Vicki Blum is now atthe head of the art class.
Portrait of an ArtistLocal artist Vicki Blum gives some pointers to a student in the art classshe teaches at the Lorton Arts Center on Feb. 8.
Artist Vicki Blum of Clifton helps Meg Baber of Lorton in a class at theLorton Arts Center on Feb. 8.
Vicki Blum,teaches paintingclasses at theLorton Arts Center.
“I started takingone class and neverlooked back.”
— Vicki Blum
BY Amber Healy
The Connection
Pho
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Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 ❖ 3www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
News
Crossfield Elementary School held its third annualMathapalooza, also known as Math Night, Thursday,Feb. 5. Families came to the school to participate in
games and activities centered around math and involving esti-
Photo Contributed
Crossfield student Coleman Jenkins plays the Fraction Game with his mother and sister at Mathapalooza.
Mathapalooza Returns to CrossfieldCrossfield Elementary invites families to third annual Math Night.
mation, graphing, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction,fractions and more. At a CSPN Zone set up in the gym, childrenplayed sports that involved math and the children enjoyed sharingtheir number sense with their parents.
After a few minor adjustments aremade, the Fairfax County SchoolBoard is likely to approve the new
western Fairfax County elementary-schoolboundaries proposed by staff earlier thisyear.
“I think it’s pretty close. It is really theonly possible way to address the overcrowd-ing at Oak Hill [Elementary School],” saidSchool Board member Stuart Gibson(Hunter Mill), who represents part of thearea affected by the school redistricting.
Fairfax County Public Schools must ad-just attendance areas to accommodate theopening of the new Coppermine Elemen-tary School in the Herndon area next year.
Gibson and other School Board membersdiscussed the school boundary changes dur-ing a work session Feb. 9. They will vote onthe final elementary-school boundarychanges Feb. 19.
If the School Board adopts the staff ’sboundary proposal, attendance areas atHerndon, McNair, Hutchinson, Oak Hill andFloris elementary schools would change. Aspart of the proposal, school officials havealso recommended opening a new giftedand talented center at McNair and somestudents currently attending the center atOak Hill would be likely to move.
Gibson said he is in favor of many partsof the recommendations, particularly the
new McNair gifted and talented center,which he said may attract some families liv-ing in the attendance area back to the schoolthat currently attend elsewhere. But he didworry that the recommendation may con-tinue to leave Floris overcrowded.
School Board member Kathy Smith, whoalso represents the area, said she did notsupport parts of the staff recommendationthat moved particular neighborhoods fromFloris to Oak Hill.
If the staff recommendations wereadopted, Coppermine Elementary wouldopen as a “Title I” school, an institution thatreceives extra money from the federal gov-ernment because more than 40 percent ofits student population is considered poor.
McNair, which currently has a large low-income population, would lose its “Title I”status under the staff proposal.
— Julia O’Donoghue
Boundary Changes Close to ApprovalBoard Receptive toRecommendedBoundaries
The following chart shows how demographics at each of the elementary schools would changeas a result of Fairfax County Public Schools staff recommendation. The percentages reflect theportion of the student body that would fall into each category both before and after the staff bound-ary was adopted. Poor students are defined as those who qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.ESOL students are those who qualify for English-as-a-second-language services.
Elementary School Demographics Before and After Boundary Change:
FlorisPoor 3.5% 3.4%
ESOL 5.7% 4.6%
Oak HillPoor 4.4% 4.1%
ESOL 4.6% 3.9%
McNairPoor 47.3% 36.0%
ESOL 28.9% 20.2%
CopperminePoor - 43.9%
SOL - 27.9%
HutchinsonPoor 36.5% 37.8%
ESOL 54.9% 56.4%
HerndonPoor 23.8% 25.9%
ESOL 34.2% 36.7%
Before Boundary Change After Boundary Change
Herndon Connection Editor Kemal Kurspahic
703-917-6428 or [email protected]
Viewpoints
Valentine’s Day:Celebration of Love
Nicole Landau, Oak Hill, The Ma-deira School, ninth grade
“My friends and I exchange hugs, sweetsand cards on Valentine’s Day. It is such afeel-good holiday. Everyone really has anopportunity to ‘spread the love’.”
Sam Faktorow of Reston, LangleyHigh School Class of ‘09
“I don’t really like Valentine’s Day becauseit is very commercialized. It’s not so muchabout love as making up for treating yoursignificant other poorly the rest of the year.It makes people feel better about not beingthe best boyfriend or girlfriend, but I thinkif you really care about someone you shouldtreat them well every day of the year, notjust one day and if not you should break up.I think they should change the name to Hall-mark Day.”
Clint Leonard, McLean HighSchool Class of ‘09
“It’s a day where people love eachother.”
Natalie Holm, McLean HighSchool
“It’s just a day where you can go allout about your feelings for someone.On a normal day it would be weird,but Valentine’s Day gives you an ex-cuse.”
— Merrill Roth and
Danielle Landau
4 ❖ Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
News
Week in Herndon
Police ConcludeCrashInvestigation
The police department investigationof the crash that resulted in the deathof Joseph Taylor of Herndon has con-cluded with the following findings:There was an approximate one hourdelay in initial reporting of the crash;The crash most likely occurred shortlyafter midnight; Speed and alcoholwere factors in the crash; Taylor wasnot wearing a seatbelt; The cause ofdeath was a broken neck, accordingto the medical examiner.
Around 2:24a.m. on Thursday, Jan.1, police responded to the area ofDranesville Road and Powells TavernPlace for a vehicle that reportedlystruck a fence and fled. Officers didnot find the striking vehicle.
Later that same morning, around9:51 a.m. officers were again calledto the same area for a vehicle thatcrashed through a fence. Officers lo-cated the vehicle, a 1997 Mazda, inthe backyard of a home in the 1300block of Rock Chapel Road. It appearsthe vehicle was traveling north onDranesville Road. Just after PowellsTavern Place, the driver lost controland crossed over the median into thesouthbound lanes. The car struck thecurb, rolled through two fences andthen struck a house where it came torest. The house was unoccupied at thetime. The driver, a 31-year-oldHerndon-area man was pronounceddead at the scene.
Discussion ofIntelligence Issues
The Hazak Active Retirees Chapterof Congregation Beth Emeth,Herndon, will present a talk by MarkLowenthal, formerly assistant directorof Central Intelligence for Analysisand Production, Tuesday, Feb. 17, at1 p.m.
Lowenthal has written extensivelyon intelligence and national securityissues, including five books and morethan 90 articles or studies. His mostrecent book, “Intelligence: From Se-crets to Policy,” has become the stan-dard college and graduate school text-book on the subject. Lowenthal willoffer an overview of the relationshipbetween the American and Israeli in-telligence communities.
There is no cost and light refresh-ments are served.ºFor more informa-tion, call 703-860-4515, Ext. 127.Congregation Beth Emeth is locatedat 12523 Lawyers Road, Herndon.
By Julia O’Donoghue
The Connection
Former Braddock District Su-
pervisor Sharon Bulova (D)was sworn in as the FairfaxCounty Board of Supervisor’s new-
est chairman at the county government cen-ter Feb. 6.
Bulova defeated Springfield SupervisorPatrick Herrity (R) by 1,217 votes, a mar-gin of less than two percent, in a specialelection for the countywide seat three daysearlier. She replaces now U.S. Rep. GerryConnolly (D-11), who left the office to jointhe U.S. Congress in early January.
A 21-year county board veteran, Bulovaserves as chair of the supervisor’s budgetcommittee and was a founder of the Vir-ginia Railway Express (VRE), a commutertrain to Washington D.C. with stations insouthern and central Fairfax.
In opening remarks at the swearingin ceremony, Fairfax County public in-formation officer Merni Fitzgerald alsosaid Bulova had “championed the re-development of Tysons Corner as an en-vironmental project,” while serving asBraddock District supervisor.
AS CHAIRMAN, Bulova has her workcut out for her in 2009. Fairfax Countymust close a projected $650 millionbudget hole in the annual budget thatbegins in July.
Approximately 75 percent of the lo-cal government’s revenue comes fromreal estate taxes and the county’s prop-erty values have fallen significantly. Thesupervisors would have to raise the realestate property tax rate 14 to 15 cents justto keep county revenue at the same level aslast year.
According to Bulova, residents shouldbrace themselves for some cuts to countyservices, though Fairfax will try to take careof its most vulnerable citizens.
“We will adopt changes that will bring ourbudget into equilibrium …[But we] needto take care of those among us who needour help now more than ever,” said the newchairman at the swearing in ceremony.
“Working together, we will come throughthese difficult financial times. … The dark-est hour is just before the dawn,” she added.
THOUGH FACING a tough situation,Fairfax County’s economy is also resilient,according to Bulova.
Hilton Hotels recently decided to moveits headquarters to Fairfax over other localjurisdictions. The military’s Base Realign-ment And Closure process will also bringnew jobs and economic development to thesouthern part of the county, said Bulova.
As chairman, Bulova will also push forthe extension of Metro rail west in the In-terstate 66 corridor and the expansion ofVRE services, she said.
HERRITY, whose father served as boardchairman in the 1970s and 1980s, attendedBulova’s swearing-in ceremony.
His race with Bulova is the closest high-profile countywide contest between aDemocrat and Republican in several years.The last two Fairfax County chairmen, bothDemocrats, won their seats by a larger mar-gin than Bulova did last week.
Former chairman Kate Hanley beat formerSupervisor Elaine McConnell (R-Spring-field) in a 1995 special election with 52percent of the vote and approximately 3,500ballots. In 2004, Connolly won his firstchairman’s race by nine points and approxi-mately 17,000 ballots.
Bulova lost two magisterial districts,Mount Vernon and Dranesville, whichHanley and Connolly had won over the pastfour election cycles.
Democrat winsspecial election byslim margin Feb. 3.
Bulova Becomes Chairman
Judge Jan Brodie swore inSharon Bulova as the newFairfax County chairman Feb. 6.
Herrity said the election results prove thatnot all residents are pleased with the direc-tion of the county’s leadership in recentyears.
“I am going to continue to stand up forwhat I believe in. … Clearly there is a dif-ference of opinion in the county,” he said.
THE ELECTION RESULTS do not neces-sarily reflect the views of the larger elec-torate. Voter turnout for the special elec-tion, at 16.1 percent, was low countywide.
Of the Fairfax’s nine magisterial districts,Braddock — which Bulova has representedfor over 20 years — had the highest voterturnout of 22 percent. Springfield — whichHerrity and his father have both represented— had the second highest, with 18.9 per-cent.
With 11.9 percent, Sully was the magis-terial district with the lowest turnout in thespecial election. It is also the only districtbesides Herrity’s Springfield that is repre-sented by a Republican, Michael Frey, onthe Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
“Working together, we will comethrough these difficult financial times.”
— Fairfax ChairmanSharon Bulova
Sharon Bulova addressed the crowd after her swearing in as FairfaxCounty chairman Feb. 6.
Co
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Fairfax County ChairmanSpecial Election Results
Fairfax County provided these returns for the FairfaxCounty chairman special election Feb. 3.
District Voter Bulova HerrityTurnout (%)
Braddock 22.7 8,750 5,849Hunter Mill 15.5 6,655 5,129Dranesville 17.1 5,810 6,252Lee 13.3 4,665 3,489Mason 15.7 4,510 3,519Mount Vernon 14.7 5,066 5,256Providence 14.7 5,148 4,356Springfield 18.9 5,758 9,155Sully 11.9 3,437 5,023Absentee - 2,150 2,704Total 16.1 51,965 50,759
Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 ❖ 5www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
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Remodeling the ProcessNew local businessattempts to defy recessionby changing the wayhomeowners renovate.
From left, Mina and Mark Fies andMichelle Cini of Synergy Design and Con-struction sit in the home theater in Brianand Suzanne Pirko’s basement, which Ciniand Fies designed.
Business
See Beautifying Home, Page 15
By Mike DiCicco
The Connection
By most accounts, this is not the best timeto start a business in the home industry,but that is what Herndon resident MinaFies did last month, when she launched
Synergy Design and Construction Inc. The Reston-based company consists of Fies, her husband Markand designer Michelle Cini, who currently lives inD.C. but plans to return soon to her hometown ofReston.
The trio hopes to find success despite the plum-meting economy by reshaping the process of homerenovation.
The concept is relatively simple. Normally,homeowners who want to renovate contact a num-ber of contractors and each company comes up withits own vision for the project and its own price tag.Instead, Synergy works through a detailed designwith the homeowner and then puts the project outto bid among three or four of the 11 or so contrac-tors with whom the company partners.
Now! Thousands of picturesof sports, graduations,current events and more—never published, but postedon the Web. Free forevaluation,available forprints.
ConnectionNewspapers.comClick on “Photo Gallery”
6 ❖ Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
It’s a common sense measure thatwouldn’t stop a single qualified Vir-ginian from buying a gun. We havethe technology to implement it with-
out massive expense or additional bu-reaucracy.
Right now, some of the guns sold atgun shows in Virginia are sold with-out the background check required of gunsales in any other official setting. This allowseven convicted felons, stalkers with restrain-ing orders against them, and people withdocumented mental health problems thatcould make them a danger to themselves orothers a clear path to purchasing a firearm.
There is no reason for this.In November, at the “Nation’s Gun Show”
the Dulles Expo Center in Chantilly was thescene of record gun sales. It was an ebullient
gathering of people with shared inter-ests, and no doubt all but the tiniestpercentage of participants were law-abiding, responsible people, fully
qualified to own the guns they were buying.The record sales were motivated in part be-cause of concern by some gun enthusiastsabout new restrictions on some firearms thatcould come with Democratic control of Con-gress and the White House, and in part be-cause of the recession.
Why would those people want to run the riskthat a tragedy like the one at Virginia Technearly two years ago that claimed the lives of33 people would involve a gun purchased with-out a proper background check at the Nation’sGun Show?
For the record, the Virginia Tech shooter wasable to buy his guns legally because his namewas mistakenly not included on the list of thoseexcluded from gun ownership; he was previ-ously ruled a danger to himself or others andshould not have been able to buy from a li-censed gun dealer. But if he had been excludedthrough normal means, he could have traveleda few miles from his home to the gun show inChantilly in search of weapons he could buywithout a background check.
In any event, legislation in the General As-sembly that would have closed the gun showloophole is dead for this year. Only one North-ern Virginia senator, Ken Cuccinelli, votedagainst closing the loophole.
Affront to families of Virginia Tech victimsleaves option open for felons and people withdocumented mental illness to buy guns.
Gun Show Loop Hole Stays OpenOpinion
Editorial
Send information to [email protected] or call703-917-6437. Deadline is Thursday.Photos/artwork welcome.
All 37 Fairfax County Fire andRescue Department stationsare holding a food drive for localhomeless shelters through Wednes-day, Feb. 11. Drop off non-perishablefood items at all stations.
The Herndon Police Depart-ment is now seeking children ages14-17 to attend the Youth PoliceAcademy on Thursday evenings,March 5-May 7, 6-8 p.m. at theHerndon Police Department, 397Herndon Parkway. The Youth PoliceAcademy is a 10-week program thatoffers area teens a better under-standing of the Police Departmentand a greater awareness of the dailychallenges faced by police officers.Fee: $10. Applicants must providetheir own transportation to and fromtraining. Acceptance into the pro-gram is subject to review ofapplicant’s criminal record and po-lice contact history. For anapplication visit www.herndon-va.gov or contact PFC ChristopherW. Farbry at 703-435-3134 [email protected].
The American Legion, WayneM. Kidwell, Post voted to donate atotal of $7,000 dollars to the follow-ing Veteran organizations: VAVeterans Care Center, DC VA Medi-cal Center, Angel of Mercy, MarineSemper Fi Fund and Fisher HouseFoundations. These funds wereraised during the Memorial DayPoppy Campaign and Snow Conesales at the
Herndon Festival last year. In ad-dition to the organizations above, adonation will also be made to theHerndon High School Naval JuniorROTC in appreciation for all the helpthey provide the Post throughout theyear.
Partial scholarships areavailable for new English as a
Second Language (ESL)classes. Northern Virginia Commu-nity College and The Dulles RegionalChamber of Commerce are now en-rolling qualified participants for newESL for Employment classes thatstart in February. To qualify for thematching scholarship, applicantsneed to be from moderate-incomehouseholds, complete NOVA’s ESLscreening test and present documen-tation needed to work for U.S.employers. To learn more about anyof NOVA’s 8 ESL for Employmentclass locations for the Spring 2009semester, call 703-764-7779 or e-mail [email protected].
The Fairfax County Police De-partment is seeking residents toattend the upcoming Spring CitizensPolice Academy, held Thursday eve-nings March 12-May 16, 6:30-10p.m. The Citizens Police Academy isa 10-week program and classes are acombination of lecture and interac-tive activities. Topics include SWATand special operations, gangs, 911communications center, patrol,crime prevention, crime scene, iden-tity theft and a tour of the AdultDetention Center. The program isoffered free of charge. Applicantsmust live or work in Fairfax County,be 18 and provide their own trans-portation. [email protected] or call 703-280-0713 for applications.
Mothers First-Herndon/Reston is a nonprofit support orga-nization helping women transitionfrom careers to at-home mother-hood. Meetings are on the first andsecond Wednesdays of eachmonth at 10 a.m. at the HerndonFortnightly Library, 768 Center St.,Herndon. Mothers First will go on afield trip to the Udvar Hazy Air andSpace Museum Feb. 18, 4:15 p.m.RSVP to 703-467-0391.
Square dances at the HerndonSenior Center, 873 Grace St.,Herndon, every Saturday. $5 for6 classes for seniors, $10 for non-se-niors. Call 703-464-6200.
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Community Notes
Volunteering
Become a volunteer stream monitor and help Reston Association assessthe health of our streams. Assist with stream monitoring at several locationsthroughout Reston during all season. A training workshop will be held Feb.11, 7:30-9:30 p.m., at 1930 Isaac Newton Square, Reston. Contact Ha Brock, Vol-unteer Coordinator, at 703-435-7986.
The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program is seeking volunteers todeliver free tax preparation services at no cost to working families and individu-als. Volunteers contribute a few hours weekly during tax season to help preparetax returns, or serve as greeters, screeners, site coordinators and interpreters. Toregister as a volunteer contact James Do at 571-749-7838, TTY 703-533-5316, [email protected].
To have community events listed in theConnection, send to [email protected] or call 703-917-6437 with questions. Deadline isFriday.
WEDNESDAY/FEB. 11Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory
Committee. 7 p.m., HooverConference Room, 765 Lynn Street,Herndon. The Pedestrian and BicycleAdvisory Committee will meet. Call703-435-6804.
FRIDAY/FEB. 13Lincoln-Reagan Dinner. The
Republican Club of Greater Reston ishosting the seventh annual Lincoln-Reagan Diinner at 6:30 p.m. at theHidden Creek Country Club, 1711Clubhouse Road, Reston. $50/person. RSVP by Feb. 9 to RCGR,P.O. Box 2891, Reston VA 20195.
WEDNESDAY/FEB. 18MOMS Club. 10-11:30 a.m., Herndon
Community Center, 814 FerndaleAve., Herndon. The MOMS Club ofHerndon will host its monthlymeeting. All Herndon and Oak Hillstay at home mothers are [email protected].
MONDAY/FEB. 23NARFE Meeting. 11:30 a.m.,
Amphora’s Diner Deluxe, 1151 EldenSt., Herndon. The National Activeand Retired Federal EmployeesAssociation Chapter 1241 will have aluncheon meeting. Christopher D.Allen, Advanced Financial Advisor,Ameriprise Financial Services, willspeak. Call 703-435-3523 to makeyour choice of lunch entree for $16.Visit www.vanarfe.org/1241/1241news.pdf.
Bulletin Board
WriteThe Connection welcomes views on any public issue.
The deadline for all material is noon Friday. Letters must be signed.Include home address and home and business numbers. Letters are
routinely edited for libel, grammar, good taste and factual errors. Sendto:
Letters to the EditorThe Connection
7913 Westpark DriveMcLean, Va. 22102Call: 703-917-6444.
By fax: 703-917-0991.By e-mail: [email protected]
Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 ❖ 7www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
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News
Herndon High Celebrates ArtThe 19th Herndon HighSchool Art Show show-cases art students’ talents.
Once again, the Herndon Fine Arts De-partment extended an invitation toexperience the Herndon High Schoolannual student-art exhibit. In both the
teachers’ and the student’s opinions, this year trumpspast years in the diversity of contributions. The artshow, a collection of more than 1,000 pieces, wasdisplayed in the gym foyer and showcased artworkform every art class. The long list includes 3-D, photo,computer graphics and many more media. HaseebSarabi, a senior in both AP Photo and AP Studioclasses, said, “This year there is much more of a stress
on social issues, current events and politics.”The artwork ranged from photographs, to prints,
to drawings and even computer-altered images. Su-san Silva, a faculty member in the Fine Arts Depart-ment, said she was truly impressed with this, herfirst show at Herndon High School. Silva said, “It isgreat to see the students display their work like this.There is no pressure because there are no awards,so the students can just strut their stuff.”
Wayne Zink, also an art teacher at HerndonHigh School, has been involved with this showfor years. “There is not only more artwork thisyear, there is more of a range of types of art styles.I’m really impressed with my students.” The showcame down this past Friday as the Herndon FineArts Department started brainstorming for nextyear’s show.
— Danielle Landau
Haseeb Sarabi with his photograph.
Richard Costigan, a senior from Herndon, with his artwork.
Hailey O’Brian, a senior from Reston.
Pho
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s by D
anielle Landau/T
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on
nectio
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8 ❖ Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 ❖ 9www.ConnectionNewspapers.com www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
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*This offer available only at Chantilly location
An exhibition of contemporarylandscape paintings and sculpturewill be on display at ArtSpace Herndon,750 Center St., Herndon, throughMarch 9. The reception will be heldFeb. 21, 5-7 p.m. Large paintings by JoFleming of Great Falls and bronze sculp-tures by Bill Moore of Silver Spring, MDwill be shown.
The Elden Street Players received13 nominations for outstanding perfor-mance in three productions duringcalendar year 2008. The WashingtonArea Community Theatre Honors pro-gram announced the nominations at TheBirchmere in Alexandria. WATCH is anorganization of thirty area communitytheater companies founded for the adju-dication and presentation of annualawards recognizing artistic and technicalexcellence in community theatrethroughout the metropolitan Washing-ton, D.C. area. The awards ceremonywill be held March 1, 7 p.m., at theBirchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave.,Alexandria.
Mandarin Oriental, Washington D.C.,in association with Galerie Brigitte ofReston, presents an exhibit of modernlacquer, Vietnamese paintings, “Blend-ing Traditions: ContemporaryLacquer” by Duong Sen. The gallery,located on the ballroom mezzanine levelof Mandarin Oriental, Washington, D.C.,will run the exhibit now through Feb-ruary. The artwork is available for
purchase through Galerie Brigitte. Call703-860-2345 or visitwww.galeriebrigitte.com.
Works by Matthew Best will be ondisplay through April 6 at the GreaterReston Arts Center, 12001 Market St.,Suite 103, Reston.
Send announcements to [email protected] or call 703-917-6437. Deadline is Thursday for thefollowing week’s paper. Photos/artworkencouraged. For additional listings, visitwww.connectionnewspapers.com.
WEDNESDAY/FEB. 11Adult Book Discussion. 10:30 a.m.,
Reston Regional Library, 11925Bowman Towne Drive, Reston. Callfor title. Call 703-689-2700.
I Love the Color Red. 10:30 a.m.,Reston Regional Library, 11925Bowman Towne Drive, Reston. Storiesand activities. Ages 2-3 with an adult.Call 703-689-2700.
Valentine’s Day Storytime. 11 a.m.,Herndon Fortnightly Library, 768Center St., Herndon. CelebrateValentine’s Day with stories, songs,activities and a craft. Ages 2-5 withadult. Call 703-437-8855.
Spanish Chats. 7 p.m., RestonRegional Library, 11925 BowmanTowne Drive, Reston. Informalrefresher for people who want topractice Spanish. Adults only. Call703-689-2700.
FRIDAY/FEB. 13Lincoln Day Dinner. 6:30 p.m.,
Hidden Creek Country Club, 1711Clubhouse Road, Reston. RestonRepublicans will host the seventhannual Lincoln Day Dinner. Choice ofentree (NY Strip Steak or ChickenFlorentine), salad, dessert,champagne toast, glass wine. Cashbar. $50/person. Mail check andstating entrée preference to RCGR,P.O. Box 2891, Reston, VA 20195.Call 703.406.9740.
SATURDAY/FEB. 14The Fabulous Hubcaps. The Fabulous
Hubcaps, an oldies and classic rockshow band, will perform at theHerndon Community Center, 814Ferndale Ave., 8-11:30 p.m. Tickets:$35/person. Call Yvonne at 571-313-0189 or e-mail Chris [email protected].
Contra Dance. 7:15-10:45, RestonCommunity Center, 2310 Colts NeckRoad, Reston. Celebrate Valentine’s as
Susan Taylor calls a contra dance tothe music of the June Apple Band.Beginners’ workshop 7:15-8 p.m.,dance 8-10:45 p.m. Admission: $7(workshop free). Partner notnecessary. Bring snack to share (juiceprovided). Call 703-476-4500.
Valentine’s Day at the Hyatt. HyattRegency Reston, 1800 Presidents St.,Reston. The Hyatt is offering twopackages for Valentine’s Day. Enjoy athree-course dinner at the hotel’sMarket Street Bar & Grill Restaurant,breakfast for two and champagne andstrawberries for $269 per couple. Stayin the Presidential Suite, have DomPerignon, chocolates and more andwake up to breakfast in bed for$2,999.99 per couple. Call 703-709-1234 for reservations.
Chocolate Festival. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.,Floris United Methodist Church,13600 Frying Pan Road, Herndon.Floris United is hosting the 17thAnnual Chocolate Festival to raisefunds for charity. This event is opento everyone in the community andwill feature chocolate, music, games,door prizes, a silent auction and a liveauction. For every package of diapersbrought to donate, one raffle ticketwill be given. Call 703-793-0026.
SUNDAY/FEB. 15Capitol Steps. The Capitol Steps
Benefit Performance to benefit RestonInterfaith will take pace at 7 p.m. atthe Hyatt Regency Reston, 1800Presidents St., Reston. Enjoy wine,desserts, a live and silent auction andsponsorship opportunities. Call AmyMcDowell, Events andCommunications Manager, at 571-323-9582 [email protected],or visit www.restoninterfaith.org tosign up.
WEDNESDAY/FEB. 18Newseum Trip. 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Join
Reston Association for a trip to theNewseum, the world’s mostinteractive museum. This trip is forSenior adults, 55 years and older. Buspick up locations at Hunters WoodShopping Center, Thoreau Place andLake Anne Fellowship House. $30/
Reston Residents; $36/Non-RestonResidents. Call 703-435-6577 toregister.
THURSDAY/FEB. 19Canines in Reston. 7-8 p.m., Reston
Association, 1930 Isaac NewtonSquare, Reston. Learn about thecoyote and how they are changing foxbehavior. $3/RA members; $5/non-residents. Reservations required byFeb. 17; call 703-435-6530.
SATURDAY/FEB. 21Norman Wright and the Travelers
are performing their bluegrass musicat Holy Cross Lutheran Church, 1090Sterling Road, Herndon, 7:30 p.m.Tickets: $12; call 703-435-8377.
Reston Chorale. 6 and 8 p.m., RestonCommunity Center, 2310 Colts NeckRoad, Reston. The Reston Choralewill perform two shows. Visitwww.restonchorale.org.
SUNDAY/FEB. 22Jazz Meets Rock. 2-3 p.m., Frying Pan
Farm Park, 2739 W. Ox Road,Herndon. Explore the evolution ofstyle during the years when greatslike John Coltrain and GroverWashington were kings. Free. Call703-437-9101.
Capitol Steps. 7 p.m., Herndon HighSchool Auditorium. The awardwinning political satire group Capitol
Steps will perform to benefit the Classof 2009. Tickets: $35/person; visitwww.fcps.edu/HerndonHS/.
MONDAY/FEB. 23Ansel Adams: A Documentary. 7
p.m., Lake Anne Community Center,1609 N. Washington Plaza, Reston.Join the Great Falls Group of theSierra Club for this Emmy Award-winning film featuring scenery fromthe American West and photographerAnsel Adams. Contact Linda Burchfielat 703-506-4310 [email protected]
FRIDAY/FEB. 27Organic Gardening. 7-8:30 p.m.,
Reston Association, 1930 IsaacNewton Square, Reston. Join a mastergardener for some information onorganic gardening. $5/RA members;$8/non-residents. Reservationsrequired by Feb. 24; call 703-435-6530.
Australia’s Audrey Auld will be performing her acousticroots music Sunday, Feb. 15, 4 p.m., at the Tortilla Factory,648 Elden St., Herndon. Tickets: $20. Call 703-620-3168.
Calendar
The Greater Reston Arts Center, 12001 Market St., Suite103, Reston, will hold “Focus Exhibitions” through Feb.14. Works from Erin Antognoli, Joy Every and MarciaWolfson Ray will be on display.
Art
The Reston Museum will beclosed for renovations throughApril 17. A new interior and new exhib-its are in the works. Children’s ArtWorkshops will be on hiatus during therenovations, but Pat Mcintyre’s ArtWorkshop will continue Saturdays, 10a.m.-12 p.m.
Audition. 7:30 p.m., Lindsay C.Petersen Hall, 266 Sunset Park Drive,Herndon. The Reston CommunityPlayers are holding auditions for theirproduction of “Laughing Stock.”There are 9 male roles and 5 femaleroles.
SATURDAY/FEB. 28 Audition. 2 p.m., Lindsay C. Petersen
Hall, 266 Sunset Park Drive, Herndon.The Reston Community Players areholding auditions for their productionof “Laughing Stock.” There are 9 maleroles and 5 female roles.
“Shining City,” Elden StreetPlayers at the Industrial StrengthTheatre, through Feb. 14. Seeeldenstreetplayers.org.
“Hansel & Gretel,” Theater forYoung Audiences, Elden Street Play-ers at the Industrial Strength Theatre,through Feb. 15 . Seeeldenstreetplayers.org.
“The Full Monty,” Reston Com-munity Players at CenterStage of theReston Community Center, 8 p.m.,Friday, March 6; 8 p.m. Saturday,March 7; 8 p.m., Friday, March13; 8 p.m., Saturday, March 14(sign interpretation); 2:30 p.m., Sun-day, March 15; 8 p.m., Friday,March 20, and 8 p.m., Saturday,March 21; 2:30 p.m., Sunday,March 22; 8 p.m., Friday, March27, and 8 p.m., Saturday, March28. See www.restonplayers.org.
“Falsettos,” Elden Street Playersat the Industrial Strength Theatre,March 13-April 4 . Seeeldenstreetplayers.org.
“Something Different 2009,”
Theater for Young Audiences, EldenStreet Players at the IndustrialStrength Theatre, March 21-April5. See eldenstreetplayers.org.
“Laughing Stock,” Reston Com-munity Players at CenterStage of theReston Community Center, 8 p.m.,Friday, May 1; 8 p.m. Saturday,May 2; 8 p.m., Friday, May 8; 8p.m., Saturday, May 9 (sign inter-pretation); 2:30 p.m., Sunday, May10; 8 p.m., Friday, May 15, and 8p.m., Saturday, May 16 . Seewww.restonplayers.org.
“The History Boys,” EldenStreet Players at the IndustrialStrength Theatre, June 5-27. Seeeldenstreetplayers.org.
“Fairytales in Training,” The-ater for Young Audiences, EldenStreet Players at the IndustrialStrength Theatre, June 13-28. Seeeldenstreetplayers.org.
“Amour,” Elden Street Players atthe Industrial Strength Theatre, July31-Aug. 22. Seeeldenstreetplayers.org.
Theater
10 ❖ Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
The County Line
By Julia O’Donoghue
The Connection
Fairfax County School Board mem-bers pushed staff to answer ques-tions about the impacts of chang-ing school start times as they
launched a community outreach effort thisweek.
The School Board is considering movingback start times for older students, in partbecause research suggests it is beneficial forteenagers to start school later so they don’tneed to rise so early. With current starttimes, high school and secondary schoolbuses pick students up shortly after 6 a.m.
The proposal would also affect the starttimes for several elementary schools sinceFairfax County Public Schools uses the samebuses in three different shifts to carry theentire student population to school.
Currently, Fairfax schools start between7:20 a.m. and 9:25 a.m., with most highschools in the “first tier” of school starttimes, beginning before 8 a.m. Under thenew proposal, which could go into effectnext year, all schools would start between7:50 a.m. and 9:40 a.m., with no highschool classes getting under way earlierthan 8:30 a.m.
The school system hopes to get feedbackfrom the public on the proposal at sevencommunity dialogues scheduled for Feb. 24,25 and 26.
They are also encouraging residents to fillout a new survey about the bell schedulechange, which can be found at http://www.fcps.edu/news/start.
The School Board expects vote on the bellschedule proposal in early March.
FOR YEARS, a group of citizens have beenadvocating for the later high school starttimes, attending nearly every school boardmeeting and signing up to provide publictestimony on a regular basis. They formedthe organization SLEEP, which stands forStart Later for Excellence in Education Pro-posal, and collected thousands of signaturesin support of their cause.
But recently, community members wary
But School Board members generally sup-portive of the bell schedule change said staffshould to provide more specific information,not just speculation, about the impact thelater high school start times would have onafter-school activities like sports.
“I think it is a mistake to go into townhall meetings without any more informa-tion. … [The information on late buses]should be made available to the public,”said School Board member Kaye Kory (Ma-son).
“I would say if we don’t have the factstogether, then we don’t do the public meet-ings,” said School Board member Tina Hone[At-large] of the community dialoguesscheduled for later this month.
FURTHER DISCUSSION of the publicmeeting format revealed how touchy theissue of a bell schedule change has becomefor the school system and School Boardmembers.
Officials are taking pains to record an in-troduction to the issue of bell schedulechanges that will be played at all publicmeetings on the topic, so that there is nodifferentiation between the staff presenta-tions at each session.
“We have tried to do so that it is not bi-ased in any way,” said School Board mem-ber Liz Bradsher (Springfield).
“That is why we are taping the introduc-tion, so everything can be the same acrossthe board,” said School Board memberTessie Wilson (Braddock).
Yet there was some question at the SchoolBoard’s work session about what type of rolethe “science of teenage sleep” should playin the recorded presentation.
In general, School Board members whosupport the bell schedule change thoughtstudies linking later high school start timesto better teenage health and academic per-formance should play a larger role in thevideo. But others, who are skeptical of theproposal, said they had not seen any evi-dence that there was link between highschool start times and academic perfor-mance.
“I have never seen a correlation betweenlater start times and student achievement,”said Smith.
“If there is not an impact on learning, thenwhy are we even looking at this?” repliedSchool Board member Phil Niedzielski-Eichner (Providence) to Smith’s statement.
County Tax RateOver The Years
Fairfax County faces a projected deficit ofapproximately $650 million next year andseveral supervisors had admitted the countywill probably have to increase the real estateproperty tax rate to close the budget gap.
If the supervisors wanted to hold countyrevenue — and the average residents’ real es-tate tax bill — to its 2008 level, they wouldhave to increase the tax rate approximately14 to 15 cents per $100 of assessed value, thehighest single real estate tax rate increase ofthe last 30 years.
But even with a 14 to 15 cent increase, thereal estate tax rate would still only be $1.03,significantly lower than any rate approved bythe Fairfax County Board of Supervisors from1978 to 2005.
Still, most residents have seen their actualreal estate tax bill nearly double since 2000,even as the tax rate has continued to go downevery year. The tax rate — at its lowest in2007 and 2008 — did not provide much taxrelief, given that most residents were stillpaying much more to the local governmentfor their home or commercial property thanthey had in years past.
The following is a chart of the FairfaxCounty real estate tax rate and the amount ithas fluctuated annually since 1978:
FAIRFAX COUNTY REAL ESTATETax Rates per $100 of Assessed Value
Year Tax Rate AnnualFluctuation
1978 $1.741979 $1.64 ($0.10)1980 $1.54 ($0.10)1981 $1.54 $0.001982 $1.51 ($0.03)1983 $.1.47 ($0.04)1984 $1.47 ($0.00)1985 $1.46 ($0.01)1986 $1.39 ($0.07)1987 $1.35 ($0.04)1988 $1.32 ($0.03)1989 $1.30 ($0.02)1990 $1.19 ($0.11)1991 $1.11 ($0.08)1992 $1.11 $0.001993 $1.16 $0.051994 $1.16 $0.001995 $1.16 $0.001996 $1.16 $0.001997 $1.23 $0.071998 $1.23 $0.001999 $1.23 $0.002000 $1.23 $0.002001 $1.23 $0.002002 $1.23 $0.002003 $1.21 ($0.02)2004 $1.16 ($0.05)2005 $1.13 ($0.03)2006 $1.00 ($.0.13)2007 $0.89 ($0.11)2008 $0.89 $0.002009 $0.92 $0.03
School Board asksfor answers onimpact to athletics.
Getting Started on Start Times
Community Dialogues onBell Schedule Changes
The School Board will hold public meetingsabout proposed changes to school start times. Notemultiple locations on each night.
FEB. 24, 7 P.M. – 9 P.M.Annandale High School, Longfellow Middle School,
Oak View Elementary School
FEB. 25, 7 P.M. – 9 P.M.Herndon High School, Rocky Run Middle School
FEB. 26, 7 P.M. – 9 P.M.Providence Elementary School,
Whitman Middle School
Pho
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by Julia O
’Do
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Get Involved Fill out a new survey
about proposed bellschedule changes athttp://www.fcps.edu/news/start.htm. A list ofcurrent start times andproposed start times forevery school in thecounty is available at thesame site.
Some Fairfax County residents feel high school studentshave to be on school buses too early in the morning.
County Notebook
of the initiative, particularly those who haveconcerns about its impact on high schoolactivities like sports, have started to orga-nize in opposition to later start times.
They formed advocacy organizations likeWAKE (Worried About Keeping Extra-curriculars) and SOS (Save Our Sport).Many are particularly concerned how laterstart times might impact the high schoolswim program.
DURING A WORK SESSION Feb. 9, someSchool Board members pressed staff foranswers regarding the later high school starttimes’ effect on “late buses,” which providetransportation for students participating insports and other programs after school.
The schoolsystem’s transpor-tation departmentwas unable to givespecifics on thelater high schoolstart times impacton “late bus runs.”But transportationofficial LindaFarby said thebuses would need
roughly 30 more minutes to come back tothe high schools after their traditional af-ternoon drop-offs.
Instead of elementary schools, severalmiddle schools would be among the lastdismissals in the school system each day andbuses would have to complete longer routesbefore coming back to pick up students athigh school late for sports events or otheractivities, said Farby.
“The answer is yes it will delay late busservice,” she said of the proposal to changethe bell schedule.
THE SCHOOL SYSTEM could also face ashortage of bus drivers if the high schoolstart times — and therefore the high school“late buses” — were pushed back since someemployees are not willing to work the laterhours, according to Farby.
Farby also left open the possibility thatthe school system could be forced to leaseor rent more vehicles to help with “late bus”transportation if the existing fleet was notable to accommodate the later transporta-tion schedule by itself in a timely manner.
Under the current proposal, the schoolsystem would save money if it switched tolater school start times, though the need torent or lease more buses could affect theestimates of the proposal’s cost savings,according to staff.
School Board member Kathy Smith(Sully), who has been skeptical of the pro-posal to change the bell schedule, said offi-cials also have no way of modeling how thenew bell schedule would interact with traf-fic patterns.
“This model does not and cannot tell youthe effect of being in traffic,” said Smith.
Some school staff said it is also difficultto judge the impact a bell schedule changecould have on high school sports travel,given that team schedules are likely to
change if theproposal takeseffect nextyear.
For example,in order to ac-c o m m o d a t ethe later highschool starttimes, moregames andsporting eventsare likely totake place onSaturday, saidschool officials.
Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 ❖ 11www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
COMMUNITIES OF WORSHIP
To Highlight your Faith CommunityCall Winslow at
703-917-6473
bbb
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Sunday Communion Services7:45 a.m. 9:00 a.m.
11:15 a.m. 5:00 p.m.The Rev. James Papile, RectorThe Rev. Jacqueline Thomson
The Rev. Denise Trogdon703-437-6530
www.stannes-reston.org1700 Wainwright Dr., Reston
Child care provided at later morning services
ST. ANNE’SEPISCOPALCHURCH- Reston
Progressive & Welcoming
Call Specific Agents to Confirm Dates & Times.
When you visit one of these Open Houses, tell the Realtor you saw it in this Connection Newspaper. For more real estate listings and open houses visit www.ConnectionNewspapers.com,
click the Real Estate links on the right side.
11574 Southington Ln • $700,000 • Sun 1-4 • Linda SonnhalterWeichert • 703-855-4632
Your New Home is Waiting for You at These OPENSFebruary 14th & 15th
To add your Realtor represented Open Houseto these weekly listings, please call Lauri Swift or Winslow Wacker
703-821-5050 or E-Mail the info [email protected]
All listings due by Monday at 3 p.m.
Herndon12311 Cliveden $539,900 Sun 1-4 Hui Zhang Classic Realty 703-637-140011574 Southington Ln $700,000 Sun 1-4 Linda Sonnhalter Weichert 703-855-4632
Reston2517 Freetown Dr $449,997 Sun 1-4 Diana James Weichert 703-938-60701989 Logan Manor Dr $694,500 Sun 1-4 Eileen Dubose National Realty 703-860-4600
The next Herndon High SchoolPTSA Meeting will be held Wednes-day, Feb. 11, 7 p.m. in the Lecture Hall(Door #1). Dr. Jack Dale, Superinten-dent of Schools for Fairfax County, willbe the guest speaker. Issues currentlyunder consideration that will impact ourstudents, including the 10 Point GradingScale recently approved by the SchoolBoard, FCPS Budget and School StartTimes/Revised Bell Schedule.
Chris Skinner will be at HerndonHigh School Thursday, Feb. 12 tospeak to students on “The UltimateLearning Experience.” Students willhear from Skinner during the school dayand he will give a presentation to par-ents at 7:30 p.m. Skinner will speakabout the power of choices in determin-ing how our lives progress.
Spring Sports Physical Blitz Dayat Herndon High School will be heldFeb. 12, 2:30-3:30 p.m. Coaches fromeach Spring sport will be collecting andreviewing physicals in the Gym lobbyfrom all athletes who plan to attend try-outs. Every athlete must have a physicalon file by Feb. 23 and will not be al-lowed to participate in try outs until oneis submitted. Coaches may also be col-lecting Emergency Care, CommunicableDisease and Extracurricular Policy formsalong with physicals; check team Website for details. Any athlete who doesnot submit a physical on Feb. 12 willneed to bring their completed physicalto Ms. Sheedfar after school in the Ath-letic Training Room before they will becleared for participation.
The Herndon High School Band Par-ents Association presents the 2009Bingo Blast Friday, Feb. 20, 6-9 p.m.in the Herndon High School cafeteria,700 Bennett St., Herndon. Prizes andfood on hand. All proceeds benefit theHerndon High School Band.
Learn about post-secondary educa-tion options at a workshop entitled“What Am I Going To Do AfterHigh School?” Wednesday, Feb. 25,7-8:30 p.m. at South Lakes High School,11400 South Lakes Drive, Reston. Free.E-mail [email protected] orcall 571-423-4150 to register.
Herndon Elementary School,620 Dranesville Road, is holding a Ca-reer Fair Thursday, April 2, withsession one from 10 a.m.-12 p.m. andsession two from 1-3 p.m. Call 703-326-3117, fax to 703-326-3197 or [email protected] [email protected] to register.
During February and March, GloryDays will donate a percentage ofyour purchase to the Herndon HighSchool Class of 2011. Submit an item-ized receipt (not credit card copy) toSherry Amado or Keysha Moon. Askyour neighbors, friends, relatives to saveand donate their receipts. Receipts caneither be mailed to the high school c/oMs. Amado or Ms. Moon or placed in thebox located in the main office.
The HHS Sports Boosters News-letter is now available for viewingonline at www.herndonathletics.org/index.cfm?action=main.bnewsletters.
Students from Carson, Herndonand Hughes Middle Schools andHerndon and South Lakes HighSchools won regional awards inthe Scholastic Art Awards competitionsponsored by the Alliance for YoungArtists and Writers. Their work will beon display at Northern Virginia Commu-nity College’s Ernst Community CulturalCenter in Annandale Friday, Feb. 13-Thursday, Feb. 26. An awards ceremonyfor Gold and Silver Key winners isplanned for Tuesday, Feb. 24, 7:30 p.m.
Faith NotesSchools
Faith Notes are for announcementsand events in the faith community, in-cluding special holiday services. Send [email protected] call 703-917-6437. Deadline isThursday.
Congregation Beth EmethHazak Chapter, 12523 LawyersRoad, Herndon, hosts prominentspeakers and entertainers on thethird Tuesday of each month, at1 p.m. Free light refreshments areserved. Call 703-860-4515, Ext. 127.The guest list is as follows:
Feb. 17: Dr. Mark Lowenthal, for-merly Assistant Director of CentralIntelligence for Analysis and Produc-tion
March 17: Dr. Louis Blumen,Jewish Medieval Medicine
April 21: Steven Gross, The Ho-locaust in Hungary
May 19: Speaker from Embassyof Israel
June 16: Year-end Luncheon
St. Timothy’s EpiscopalChurch, 432 Van Buren Street,Herndon, is hosting their annual“Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper”Tuesday, Feb. 24, 6-8 p.m. Enjoypancakes, French toast sticks, ham,and other treats. $12/family; $6/adult, Call 703-437-3790.
Citizenship classes meetThursdays, through March 26 atSt. Anne’s Episcopal Church, 1700Wainwright Drive, Reston. The goalis to prepare qualified adult studentsto pass the USCIS interview andexam for naturalization to becomeU.S. citizens. Book fee of $15.00. Call703-437-6530.
The Northern Virginia He-brew Congregation, 1441 WiehleAve., Reston, welcomes the Co-op ofIsraeli Artists for the Israeli Arts andCrafts Fair Saturday, Feb. 28, 6-10p.m. and Sunday, March 1, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. The Co-op represents artistsfrom the artists’ colony of Safed andelsewhere in Israel. Payment will beaccepted by cash or check only. Visitwww.nvhcreston.org or call 703-437-7733.
Cedar Run CommunityChurch, 13560 McLearen Road,Herndon, is hosting a live simulcastevent entitled “Focus On Marriage –Seeing Your Marriage Through TheEyes Of God” Saturday, Feb. 28, 9a.m.-5 p.m. Visit www.ccn.tv/focusonmarriage.
A parenting workshop will beheld Friday, March 6, 6:30-8:30p.m. at Trinity Presbyterian Church,651 Dranesville Road, Herndon.Learn a three-step program to ad-dress challenging behaviors, promotepositive behavior and enhance fam-ily relationships. $29/person, $20/couples or groups. [email protected] toregister.
Congregation Beth Emeth,12523 Lawyers Road, Herndon, willhost a Yiddish Club on the firstTuesday of each month. Mem-bers will engage in a variety ofactivities that utilize the Yiddish lan-guage, including reading stories,listening to music and radio broad-casts, reading Yiddish newspapersand more. Free. Call 703-860-4515,Ext. 127.
12 ❖ Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
Sports
Two Oakton High Wrestlers Capture District Titles
Herndon’s Josh Pike and Westfield’s John Orchard-Hays met in the 119finals at last week’s Concorde District Championships.
Herndon’s Ziegerreaches 130-divisionfinals.
Pho
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raig Sterbutzel/T
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By Rich Sanders
The Connection
The Oakton High wrestling teamhad two champions crowned atlast Saturday afternoon’sConcorde District Champion-
ships. Cougar wrestlers Matt Patinos (160-weight class) and Chris Butters (125) bothcaptured their respective weight-class titles.
Westfield High finished first in the teamstandings with 196.5 points, finishing aheadof second-place Robinson (188.5) and third-place Fairfax (119). Chantilly (85), Oakton(71), Herndon (52) and Centreville (36) fin-ished fourth through seventh, respectively.
Patinos defeated Robinson’s Wes Jones inthe 160 finals. He reached the title matchwith wins over Chantilly’s Wes Scholnickand Herndon’s Adam Valcott.
At the 125 finals, Oakton’s Butters de-feated Westfield’s Jerrod Branch in thechampionship match. He made it to the fi-nals with a semifinals win over Chantilly’sLloyd Tenaglia.
Other top-four finishers for Oakton whowill advance to this weekend’s NorthernRegion Championships at Fairfax HighSchool were David Millago (third at 215),Wade Kostkan (fourth at 152), Chris Lopina(fourth at 145) and Ethan Doyle (fourth at140).
Herndon High saw four of its wrestlersadvance to regionals. The Hornet wrestlersto go furthest at districts were Nick Ziegler,who reached the 130 finals before losing toWestfield’s Brandon Berling, and Josh Pike,who made it to the 119-title match before
losing to Westfield’s John Orchard-Hays.Ziegler made it to the title match by de-feating Oakton’s Ryan Wood and Robinson’sCharlie Vanney. Pike defeated Chantilly’sWes Litton in a semifinals match to makethe finals round. Other place finishers forHerndon were Matt Olem (fourth at 135)and Gabe Pike (fourth at 103).
The Concorde District Gymnastics Cham-pionships took place at Centreville HighSchool last Thursday, Feb. 5. The teamchampion was Chantilly High (143.325points), which finished ahead of secondplace Robinson (133.55) and third placeCentreville (127.325).
Herndon High’s Lauren Sullivan (36.025)finished third in all-around competition.The all-around champion was Chantilly’sElly Taura. Robinson’s Amanda Famiglletti
was second.On vault, Sullivan (9.5) finished second,
while Herndon teammate Qadera Malveaux(9.35) was fourth. Sullivan was second onbeam and fourth on floor.
The Oakton High girls and boys swim anddive teams had strong showings at lastweekend’s Concorde District Champion-ships. The Cougar girls finished second inthe team standings with 324.5 points, be-hind first-place Robinson (434). The Oaktonboys, meanwhile, finished third with 355.5points, behind champion Robinson (402)and second-place Fairfax (360).
Oakton highlights included a first-placefinish by the boys 200 medley relay team,made up of Michael Hallock (backstroke),KJ Park, (breast), Zach Smith (fly) and Bra-dley Phillips (free). Also, the Oakton boys
400 free relay team of Bradley Phillips,Kevin Cho, KJ Park and Michael Hallocktook second.
The Oakton girls 400 free relay team alsowas second. The foursome was made up ofQuinn Wilkinson, Brooke Ream, Allie Maherand Kaitlin Pawlowicz.
Oakton’s Bradley Phillips won both the boys200 free and 500 free races. Also, Oakton’sKaitlin Pawlowicz, a sophomore, took first inboth the girls 200 free and 500 free races.She set district records in both races.
In the boys 200 IM, Park won with a timeof 1:55.79. In the boys 100 free, Hallocktook second place in the “A” final. JuniorWilkinson was fifth in the girls 100 free andsixth in the 50 free. In the boys 100 back,Hallock captured first place. And teammatePark was first in the boys 100 breaststroke.Ashley Doran finished sixth in the girls 100back race.
The Northern Region Championships willtake place this Thursday through Saturdayat Oak Marr Recreation Center. Preliminar-ies are Thursday and Friday and the finalsare on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m.
The Herndon boys’ swim team finishedfourth overall at the Concorde DistrictChampionships. The Hornets boys’ 200-yardmedley relay team of Christian Matthews,Mark Rodakowski, Danny Camozzo andChristian Polito finished second behind first-place Oakton.
Herndon’s Robert Carroll finished thirdin 1-meter diving. Camozzo was fourth inthe 100 fly. Brian Via was third in the 500free. Rodakowski was fourth in the 100breaststroke.
The sixth-place Herndon girls had astrong meet from Molly Cudahy, who wonthe 100 backstroke event. Also for the Hor-nets, Jenna VanCamp was third in the 100breaststroke.
Sports Roundups
Herndon High boys basketball player Isaac Johnsonmakes his move to get past a Chantilly player during theConcorde District game played last Friday night.Chantilly won a close one, 60-58. The Hornets wrap upthe regular season at Westfield this Friday night.
Pho
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by Steven Silto
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The Herndon Ice Hockey Club won its firstNorthern Virginia Scholastic Hockey League(NVSHL) title with a recent 4-1 win over McLean.The victory not only clinched the regular season title,but it guaranteed the team a bye in the first round ofthe upcoming NVSHL playoffs.
After a series of dominating wins, the victoryover McLean did not come easy as the Hornetsstruggled in the first two periods. Despiteoutshooting its opponent 11-4 in the first period,Herndon was unable to penetrate the Highland-ers’ netminder. The second period proved no bet-ter and ended with the Hornets in the unfamiliarposition of being behind, 1-0. But the Hornets’league-leading offense finally woke up two min-utes into the third period when junior MaxKortegast scored off a pass from Ville Rutanen. Thegoal seemed to wake the struggling Hornets andless than a minute later, senior assistant captainChris O’Brien notched an unassisted tally to puthis team ahead 2-1. The game remained close, butwith just under six minutes remaining, freshmanMichael Horn combined with sophomore MattEllison to open the Hornets’ lead to 3-1. Thirtyseconds later, Herndon locked up the victory with
an unassisted goal by junior Sam Stone.Herndon was scheduled to finish off its regular
season against North Stafford at Reston SkateQuestlast week. Four Herndon seniors — Kyle Curran,Krister Kasulis, Andrew Norman and Chris O’Brien— were to be honored prior to the game in SeniorNight ceremonies.
The Thomas Jefferson High boys and girlsswim and dive teams narrowly lost their recent dualmeets against Liberty District opponent Woodson.The boys lost 159-156 while the girls lost 161-154.Both teams finished the regular season with 4-3records. The Jefferson team of Anna Lan (McLeanresident), Lauren Laffosse, Brianna Kim and Jae Sim(Reston) won the medley relay. Individual event placefinishers for the Jefferson girls included Brenna Ferris(Herndon), Sim, Kelsey Rainey (McLean) and AedanCollins (McLean).
The Jefferson boys captured all three relays. WadeGong (Herndon), Alex Dona, Matt Callahan(Vienna), Sam Speers (McLean) and StephenSeliskar (McLean) were each on two winning re-lays and Zachary Batts (Reston) was also on a win-ning relay.
Herndon Connection Sports Editor Rich Sanders
703-917-6439 or [email protected]
Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 ❖ 13www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
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note. Meghan Anderson, the Muscular Dys-trophy Association’s program coordinator,planned the quick pep-talk event,jumpstarting the MDA-Burger King partner-ship. The Shamrock Campaign, whichAnderson helps oversee, is a fund-raiserwhere merchandise is sold in stores andboutiques and the profits go to MDA re-search and funding. “Burger King Corpo-rate got involved this year and is sellingspecial crowns for the Shamrock Cam-paign,” Anderson said.
Ava McLin, a 3-and-half-year-old wholives in Reston with her parents Anya andRandy, attended the meeting to help inspireBurger King employees to sell the crownsfor MDA funding. McLin, a girl who lovesthe outdoors, was diagnosed with spinalmuscular atrophy Type II in 2006 before herfirst birthday. Muscular atrophy is an inher-ited genetic disease that causes nerves inthe child’s spine to malfunction; it is one of40 kinds of muscular dystrophy. A cure forthe illness has yet to be discovered. Contri-butions to MDA are directed to researchingthe 40 types of muscular dystrophy. BothAnderson and the McLin family look for-ward to Burger King’s help in the fightagainst muscular dystrophy. To learn morevisit www.MDA.org orWWW.FriendsofAva.com.
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Ava’s StoryReston Burger Kingteams up with MDAin honor of AvaMcLin.
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14 ❖ Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
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MPRINT EDITIONS
I have to admit, the pain was a bit unusual,and it had migrated so, at my wife, Dina’s, insis-tence, I made the trek to my HMO’s emergencyroom, relayed my symptoms to the receptionistand took a seat in their waiting room.
All things considered, the wait wasn’t intermi-nable, nor was it hours; of course, it wasn’t min-utes, either, but given the holiday-nature of theday, it could have been much worse.
And apparently, so could the diagnosis. Afterhaving my vital signs taken by a nurse, andanswering questions from a physician’s assistant,there was no clear picture (heck, at this point, itwasn’t even blurry, it was completely befuddling,even after the chest x-ray was viewed) to explainmy discomfort. It was so befuddling that the phy-sician’s assistant actually involved a doctor.
He asked me the standard questions. Myanswers offered no standard help. So much so,that I remember asking the doctor, if it only hurtwhen I make certain movements, perhaps Ishouldn’t make those movements; and thenwatching as the doctor shrugged his shouldersand said, “Yes, probably.” And so I was excused,with the ever-popular: “If it gets worse, comeback.” And symptom-wise, it didn’t; it got better,until five days later.
That’s when the same physician’s assistantcalled back. Still puzzled by my pain and lack ofsymptoms, she had, on her own initiative soughtout the opinion of a Radiologist to review mychart/x-ray. Based on that consultation, I wasurged to go to my nearest HMO pharmacy, thatevening, to pick up a precautionary prescriptionto begin taking immediately. The concern was,despite being asymptomatic, perhaps I had atouch of pneumonia. And so it continued.
The next day, still improving and symptomfree, my HMO called to tell me that they hadordered a CT Scan. Somewhat perplexed by theiruncharacteristic speed, I nonetheless compliedand went the very next day. TWO HOURS aftercompleting the scan, my primary doctor called todiscuss the results. Unfortunately — and surpris-ingly — there was cause (given my age andhealth history) for concern.
Perhaps I’d like to schedule an appointmentto discuss the findings, my doctor suggested. “No,just tell me,” I said. And so he did. There werelesions on my lungs that might be malignant.WHAT! Still unsure, however, the doctor sched-uled an appointment with a pulmonary specialistas soon as possible. Two hours later, ON THESAME DAY, the appointment was made for thenext afternoon, with a P.E.T. scan to follow, all ofwhich seemed incredibly fast and efficient givenmy previous experiences with this same HMO.Nevertheless, I was appreciative of their record-breaking haste.
The pulmonary doctor didn’t interpret the x-ray and CT scan as the cancer threat that my pri-mary care doctor and radiologist had (cancelingthe P.E.T. scan in the process), but nonetheless,suggested I return in a week, take a second x-rayand see what develops. And so I did. Still symp-tom free.
A week later, I’m back with the pulmonaryspecialist, second x-ray in hand. The second x-rayconfirmed the doctor’s suspicions that maybe Ihad indeed had pneumonia and so two weeksafter the initial fact, I was once again excused;with the “We’ll call you if ... “ goodbye.
THE NEXT DAY, the pulmonary doctor callsback to say that, upon further review with yetanother radiologist, he now wants to me to seeanother doctor, a thoracic surgeon.
Five days later, I see the thoracic surgeon, x-rays and CT scan in hand. Likewise puzzled bywhat he sees, he apologized for his inconclusive-ness and says he too, would like to review the x-ray and scan with his radiologist to get a betterunderstanding A biopsy and/or surgery are cer-tainly possible but he’s not sure. Moreover, he’snot sure another diagnostic test (P.E.T. scan,M.R.I.) would clarify anything. Let him revieweverything he asks, and he’ll get back to me,probably in the next day or two.
THE NEXT DAY, the thoracic surgeon callsback to tell me that he now thinks I should havethe P.E.T scan and to schedule it as soon as it’sconvenient. And so it continues.
Four weeks later and still wondering. I would-n’t say I’m worrying yet, however, but I am begin-ning to have a little trouble falling asleep.
Kenny Lourie is an Advertising Representative forThe Almanac & The Connection Newspapers.
Dying To FindOut, Sort OfBy KENNETH B. LOURIE
An expert is someone who knowssome of the
worst mistakesthat can bemade in his
subject and howto avoid them.
-WernerHeisenberg
21 Announcements 21 Announcements 21 Announcements
Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 ❖ 15www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
“We know we’re bringing the best pricefor the plan we know they want,” said Fies,the company’s founder and CEO, noting thathomeowners often have a hard time com-paring prices when different contractors areproposing different plans made with differ-ent products and materials.
“The whole reason Mina and Mark and Iwanted to start this was because we’ve seenthe frustration on the part of not just thehomeowner but also contractors,” Cini said.She has been working as an interior de-signer and architect for six years and previ-ously worked with Mina Fies at a homerenovation company, now defunct.
Fies has worked in sales and marketingfor design firms for 16 years and is a li-censed real estateagent and mort-gage specialist.Mark Fies, a busi-ness manager bytrade, works be-hind the scenes asthe company’schief financial of-ficer.
“No one expectstwo women toshow up when they call a construction con-tractor,” Cini said.
“The looks we get — ‘You’re not actuallygoing to do the work, are you?’” Mina Fieslaughed.
They don’t do the heavy lifting.
FOR EACH PROJECT, the two womenwork out a few different plans and then,with the homeowner, combine elements ofeach plan into a final design, which speci-fies “everything from the faucet to the lightfixtures to the towel bar,” Mina Fies said.The project is put out to bid among a fewcontractors the company knows well andthat operate in the price range and scopeof the renovation, and then Synergy acts asthe homeowner’s agent throughout the con-struction. “So the client doesn’t end up be-ing their own project manager,” she said.
The process is similar to the approach thatis usually taken in commercial design-and-build projects.
“Our concept is absolutely working. We’renot only getting interest from clients, we’regetting interest from contractors,” Fies said,noting that the contractors save money inmarketing and design work.
“They do a great service for both the ho-meowner and also the general contractor,”agreed Jason Kirkpatrick, owner ofKirkpatrick Construction in Centreville. Hesaid his company often competes with othercontractors who aren’t offering comparableplans or quality and that homeowners maynot know the difference. “We try to edu-cate homeowners on choosing a contractor,”he said, “even if they don’t choose us.”
Kirkpatrick said he didn’t know of any
From Page 5
Beautifying HomeFor ‘Better Times’
other company following Synergy’s model.“There are companies out there that try tocapitalize on connecting the homeownerwith the contractor. What they do is so muchmore,” he said, adding that Synergy capi-talized on having each project built by thebest contractor possible. “They’re not go-ing to bring me in on a project that’s not agood fit,” he said.
Kirkpatrick said his company does “verycomplicated projects that others don’t wantto or don’t know how to” and only operatesin Northern Virginia. Only when Synergyhas a job that fits that profile does he ex-pect to be contacted.
Kirkpatrick said he had also just broughtSynergy in to work on one of his ownprojects, a partial home renovation and
large addition to ahome. He said hehad only everbrought one otheroutside designer into work with him.“For me to bringanyone else in onany of our projectstakes a lot,” he said.
Having justlaunched, Synergy
does not have any completed projects yet,but one project Fies and Cini designed to-gether was the basement of Ashburn resi-dents Brian and Suzanne Pirko, which wascompleted last May.
AT FIRST, Suzanne Pirko said, the couplejust wanted drywall and a bathroom.“Michelle walked us through and had greatsuggestions that we never would havethought of on our own.”
The 1,800-square-foot basement nowhouses a home theater, a family room, akitchenette, a home office, a playroom, astorage room and open spaces, as well asthe requisite bathroom.
Because of the arrangement and numberof supporting poles in the community’sbasements, most of the Pirkos’ neighborshave much of their basements taken up bya single long, open space. Cini avoided thisdesign by placing the family room and kitch-enette at an angle, hiding the poles in thewalls and carving a number of smaller ar-eas out of the space.
“It feels more like an upstairs than a base-ment,” Pirko said. “People always say itdoesn’t feel like a basement.” Cini said thiswas a function of hiding the poles in walls,rather than in columns.
With the market depressed, Fies said,more people who might have moved arenow trying to make their homes more liv-able places to wait out the slump and arealso looking for ways to make their housesmore valuable for when they do sell. Manyare also “in cash positions,” having takentheir money out of market investments andseeking other ways to invest it, she said.
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16 ❖ Herndon Connection ❖ February 11-17, 2009 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com
Event organizers and staff from Body by Geoff take the last plunge during the annualPolar Dip at Lake Anne on Saturday.
Polar Dip Raises $17,000
Heidi Marggraf of Reston participates inthe 2nd Annual Polar Dip for the secondtime in Reston on Feb. 7.
Andy Susi and Bill Katrba, both of Reston,participate in the 2nd Annual Polar Dip.
Friends and family of the Polar Dip participants watch the 2nd Annual Polar Dip at LakeAnne in Reston.
Eduardo Faubert, chef and owner of the Jasmine Café inReston, jumps into Lake Anne during the 2nd AnnualPolar Dip at Lake Anne in Reston on Feb. 7.
Photos by Robbie Hammer/The Connection
Friends and family of the Polar Dip participants watchthe 2nd Annual Polar Dip at Lake Anne in Reston on Feb.7. More than $17,000 was raised from the event forsupport of Camp Sunshine.
