Falls Church News-Press 1-27-2022

Jan. 27 - Feb. 2, 2022

Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee

Fou n d e d 1991 • Vol. XXXI N o . 50

The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia

Schools Shout Out Award Stick to Masking Mandate With City’s High Vaccination Rate, New Cases Declining

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

The Falls Church City School Board, having joined a lawsuit this week to challenge the constitutionality of new Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s executive order prohibiting mandatory masking in public schools, proceeded with its mandatory masking policy at its meeting this Tuesday amid reports that the Covid-19 pandemic is now abating precipitously in this region.

Despite loud protests amid parents with children in the school districts that joined the lawsuit defying the governor’s order – Alexandria City, Arlington County, the City of Richmond, Fairfax County, Hampton City, Prince William County and the City of Falls Church – F.C. Schools Superintendent Dr. Peter Noonan reported Tuesday that only a tiny handful of students showed

Continued on Page 3

ANOTHER ONE of the Falls Church Citizens for a Better City (CBC) iconic “Shout Out” awards was bestowed this week upon Suzanne Hladky and Adena Williams for “their outstanding contributions to the community as masterminds of Falls Church Better Together (FCBT) through sales of the now famous signature t-shirts and other apparel that raised more than $50,000 to date for those in need during the pandemic.” Shown here are members of the CBC Executive Board with the award winners (l. to r.) Tim Stevens, Phil Duncan, Hladky, CBC President Hal Lippman, Williams, Ken Feltman and Lindy Hockenberry.

(Photo: News-Press)

Amazing Dining Promises of Founder’s Row Revealed

by Patricia Leslie

Falls Church residents won’t have to go far when looking for new restaurants to sample this year.

They’ll be able to walk, bike, run or stroll to the four new places on tap to open at Founders Row.

The restaurants currently revealed will range from fine dining to “fast casual” and will offer foods from pineapple buns to gator bites, “healthy Asian street foods,” upscale Asian and “elegant modern American” cuisine.

Three of the restaurants are part

of the Happy Endings Hospitality (HEH) group and will share the same kitchen, although they are distinctively different concepts, says Joe Muffler, the managing director for the Mid-Atlantic region for Mill Creek Residential Trust LLC, Founders Row developers.

The trio are Chasin’ Tails Seafood Social, Roll Play Vietnamese Grill and Nue. The fourth restaurant is Ellie Bird, named after the owners’ youngest daughter who was born during the pandemic.

Continued on Page 4

Inside This Week Congressman Beyer Shares Thoughts on Abortion Access

Falls Church Area Camp Guide 2022

See Regional, Page 8

See Camp Guide, Pages 9 — 14

The 49th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision recently took place. In a column this week, Congressman Don Beyer shares why he believes abortion access is the key to economic freedom.

Camp season is just around the corner and now is the time to start registering.

Whether your little ones are looking for something outdoors or something more artsy, there is something for everyone.

Index

Editorial................................................ 6 Letters.................................................. 6 Comment............................................. 7 Crime Report....................................... 8 Camp Guide.................................. 9-14 Calendar............................................ 18 News & Notes.................................... 19 Classified Ads.................................... 20 Critter Corner..................................... 22 Business News.................................. 23

PAGE 2 | JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022

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Residents Report to F.C. Council On Poor Conditions at The Fields

Beyer Announces Re-Election Plans For A 5th Term in Congress

“It is terrible that the most affluent city in the U.S. has to tolerate rodents crawling over children,” exclaimed Falls Church City Councilman Phil Duncan at the City Council meeting Monday upon hearing testimony by residents of The Fields, the low income rental property that attracts tenants who benefit from low income housing tax credits in the City.

“We need to do whatever we can and clarify our authority,” said Mayor David Tarter. “I am stunned to hear this.”

The reports presented in person at the meeting were matched in the horror by which they were met Monday by the news from Fairfax County Health and F.C. Building Inspector office reports that there is little the City or any other authority can do to mitigate the conditions.

F.C. Building Inspector Don Russell, while saying he is sympathetic to the tenants’ concerns, said the state is very landlord-oriented and that local jurisdictions have little or no say in such matters, even though he noted in the case of other residential buildings in the City, operators are much quicker with efforts to mitigate such problems that arise.

Council member Letty Hardi noted that tenants at this site have repeatedly expressed publicly their complaints, including at an Oct. 12 meeting on the matter. “This is wholly unacceptable,” Hardi said Monday. “Landlords need to realize that if their families were there, they would not tolerate the conditions.”

The Fields is a complex of over 100 rental units managed by Kettler, a large development, investment and property management company based in McLean.

In a letter to the editor last month signed by Jennifer Santiago, Director of Equity Policy for the F.C. School System, and others, the “lack of response to serious conditions that remain there” was assailed.

“A number of children in The Fields complex suffer from asthma and other respiratory maladies that can be influenced by excessive mold on the walls and from rodent feces. Additionally, parents are truly concerned about their toddlers playing on floors of apartments infested with mice,” they wrote, adding that “all of this is documented with photos and testimonials of tenants.”

F.C. City Attorney told the Council that it has “no state authority to act on this.”

Donald S. Beyer, Jr., who represents the 8th District of Virginia that includes the City of Falls Church in the U.S. Congress, formally announced this week that he is seeking a fifth two-year term. Beyer, who Falls Church has considered a native by his connection to his family’s local auto dealership and service as the once-president of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce, served as Virginia’s lieutenant governor for two terms in the early 1990s, as the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and since 2014 in his current role as a U.S. Congressman.

Beyer is slated to face a challenger in the Democratic primary on June 21 in the person of Victoria Virasingh and if he wins that in the November general election from the winner of a Republican primary that will pit Monica Carpio against Heerak Kim in June, according to Ballotopedia.com.

In his announcement this week, Beyer said, “Today I announce that I am seeking reelection to Congress because of the powerful sense of urgency I feel about continuing my fights to build a strong and equitable economy, to protect our democracy from those who seek to undermine it, and to confront the threat of climate change.”

“This year, I worked harder than ever to help my constituents,” he added, “opening thousands of constituent cases with federal agencies on behalf of Northern Virginians and returning millions of dollars to VA-8 taxpayers. I helped enact major legislative accomplishments, including the American Rescue Plan, the enhanced Child Tax Credit, and the bipartisan infrastructure investment and jobs act. My bipartisan anti-hate crime legislation was signed into law by President Biden. I represented the United States at the Glasgow Conference on Climate Change, and chaired Congress’ Joint Economic Committee during one of the swiftest economic recoveries in American history.

“We have much more work to do in the year ahead and beyond, starting with comprehensive action on climate in the Build Back Better Act, which I helped draft as a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. We must ensure that we have an economy that allows everyone to succeed, which means making health care, child care, and housing more affordable. We must protect Americans’ right to vote, and pass reforms to prevent gun violence. I remain focused on the goal of delivering guaranteed paid family and medical leave to every American worker.”

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 3

FCCPS Joins Lawsuit Over Anti-Masking Mandates

Continued from Page 1

up at Falls Church schools Monday morning unmasked and all subsequently accepted masks to attend classes.

While Falls Church had become ranked as an area with a high rate of Covid transmission, Noonan said he hopes an updated report from the Fairfax Health Department will show that dropping quickly, both for Fairfax County and Falls Church City. Overall, the rate of infections have dropped 40 percent in this region most recently, as reported Tuesday.

With 99 percent of City schools staff fully vaccinated, and 97 percent of students aged 12-17, the City schools are considered among the most highly vaccinated in the state. Among those students ages 5-11, out of 1,135 total only 166, or 15 percent, were not fully vaccinated as of this week, and of those ages 12-15 only 48 of 819, or six percent, were not fully vaccinated, and of those ages 16-17, only three out of 400, or one percent, were not fully vaccinated and those age 18, only nine, or nine percent, were not fully vaccinated.

Noonan said that at this rate, the projected date for mandatory masking in the City schools of Feb. 14 still holds.

In terms of extracurricular activities, masking will remain mandatory until that date except otherwise stipulated by the Virginia High School League and as participation impacts grades are a factor, but that with optional activities, such as attendance at clubs, remain mandatory.

No quarantining is required of fully vaccinated students who have been identified as in contact with a positive case, and otherwise a five-day quarantine and 6-10 day mandatory masking is required.

Testing protocols remain in effect, with 600 students tested on Tuesday, including a “test to stay” option for students identified to have been in contact with an infected person.

The legal action by the school boards that represent over 350,000 students across the state, defends the right of school boards to enact policy at the local level, including policies that protect the health and wellbeing of all students and staff.

It is described as addressing

fundamental questions about the framework of public education in Virginia, as set out in the Virginia Constitution and by the General Assembly. At issue is whether locally elected school boards have the exclusive authority and responsibility conferred upon them by Article VIII 7 of the Constitution of Virginia over supervision of the public schools in their respective communities, or whether an executive order can unilaterally override that constitutional authority.

Also at issue is whether a governor can, through executive order, without legislative action by the Virginia General Assembly, reverse a lawfully-adopted statute.

In this case, Senate Bill 1303, adopted with the goal of returning students to safe in-person instruction five days a week in March 2021 and still legally in effect, provides that local school boards should follow The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) health and safety requirements.

Without the lawsuit, school boards are placed in a legally untenable position — faced with an executive order that is in con-

flict with the constitution and state law. Today’s action is not politically motivated. The seven school divisions who have joined the suit

have stated that they welcome the opportunity to collaborate with the governor to ensure the safety and welfare of all students.

Protect the ones you love,

get your flu shot today.

@vaccinatevirginia

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PAGE 4 | JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Founders Row to Welcome Four New Restaurants This Year Continued from Page 1

Chasin’ Tails “offers family-style dining that mimics a backyard boil, a traditional event occurring during crawfish season in Louisiana, but provides guests with a more elevated experience,” according to a Mill Creek press release. The restaurant will be moving to Falls Church from its North Arlington location just outside the City.

Muffler described Roll Play as a “grab and go” serving healthy food, with “exciting palettes from the streets of Vietnam” in a fast-casual style which, in restaurant parlance, is a hybrid of fast food and sit-down dining, lacking many frozen foods typically found at a fast-food.

Nue will be a full-service restaurant and bar specializing in Vietnamese fusion and cocktails.”The restaurant will provide customers an immersive dining experience featuring delicious, high-quality food in a setting that is an expression of Vietnamese art and imagery,” according to a press release.

Chasin’ Tails is looking to rebrand and “gloss up” its operations in its new Falls Church spot with a “more

sophisticated bar,” Muffler said. It also has a location in Centreville.

Ellie Bird is the baby sister of the famed Rooster and Owl restaurant established three years ago in the 14th Street corridor in downtown Washington, named as one of five new 2021 D.C. winners of a Michelin star.

When the pandemic hit, Carey and Yuan Tang, Ellie’s parents, had to quickly change Rooster and Owl’s business model when they realized a fine dining concept was not appealing to all; they added takeout.

Ellie Bird will focus on “contemporary, casual comfort,” according to a press release, and will have a child’s menu, too, for its dinner service Tuesday through Saturday and brunch on Saturdays.

Familiar dishes will be available like Rooster and Owl’s signature pineapple buns, “a subtly sweet and fluffy bun served with housemade cultured butter, a more savory take on one of Chef Yuan’s favorite pastries from Hong Kong,” the owners emailed. Other popular dishes are the miso Caesar salad, pork chops with roasted peaches and fried chicken in miso honey with pickles.

Prices will vary from $17 to $38 for

dinner and $15 to $25 for brunch.

“We’re excited to bring New American, chef-driven cuisine to Falls Church,” Carey Tang wrote.

And, yes, with two girls and a family restaurant, “we’re anticipating a lot of multi-tasking, but “we’re pretty used to doing more than one thing at once!”

The Tangs grew up in Falls Church and attended Falls Church schools.

The Tangs emailed: “Our ties to the area are deep. We held our first hospitality jobs as teens on Broad Street [at Applebee’s and Red Lobster].” Their parents live nearby, and the Tangs will shortly be moving back to Falls Church, having recently bought property here.

Chasin’ Tails says it is “the casual but full-service Louisiana crawfish chain” which has been open more than ten years. “We sincerely hope that we have delivered on our goal of offering the most-authentic besttasting drinks from Bourbon Street and the highest quality Cajun seafood always served with Southern Hospitality level service,” writes the owner, Di Dang, on its website. All its dishes are made from scratch with seafood cooked live, made to order,

and never pre-cooked.

Financing for Chasin’ Tails came from the $8 million Dang and his brother, Hac, won in poker over the years. Dang was an engineering major at the University of Virginia when he realized he could make a lot more money in poker, but he did graduate.

If Chasin’ Tails replicates its website menu at Founders Row, it will include combinations ranging from $82.99 for one to two persons up to $219.69 to feed up to five with two pounds of crawfish, two pounds of shrimp, four clusters of snow crab legs, one pound of king crab, six pieces of corn, six potatoes, a half-pound of sausage, and garlic noodles.

Roll Play has a Vienna location and Muffler wrote the Falls Church spot will have a similar menu with prices starting at $2.69 for a fried veggie roll up to a fully loaded bowl of jumbo garlic shrimp for $15.99.

A popular choice at Roll Play is the “banh mi,” a Vietnamese sandwich or French baguette with choice of meat or tofu ($10.99 to $14.98) or no meat ($8.99) and two fried eggs plus other toppings. Most of its pho is priced at $9.99 and comes with a

choice of toppings.

It’s been “a tough time for retailers” battling Covid, chain supply problems and labor shortages, Muffler noted. With the restaurants, “we took a ‘leap of faith’” over the last nine months to move ahead and plan openings.

Founders Row’s appeal to retailers is “a testament to the city of Falls Church,” Muffler emailed, which has “proximity to major employment, unparalleled accessibility, [and] high quality of life. The only thing lacking was a true destination retail environment which is what Phase I is creating.” For those who’ve avoided Broad for the last three years, the project is on Broad at North West Street.

“I can tell you this is nine years in the making,” Muffler sighed. “At least, one person at the office has been working on this for nine years.”

He is an Arlington resident who, he says, wishes he lived in Falls Church.

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Love Needs a Revival (Part 1)

“Don’t worry about when or why someone loves you. Just take the love; husband it; return it. Good arrives and we kick its tires and wonder if a better model is around the corner. Take the good whenever it comes and from any quarter. Good is in a startlingly short supply.”

– Tennessee Williams Few people have been able to understand, or to express their understanding of how love functions in the real, not idyllic, world better than Tennessee Williams, as all of his plays FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS and other writings exhibit.

But he fell out of favor with the architects of our culture many years before he ceased being so damned creative and insightful. His masterpieces like “Glass Menagerie,” “Streetcar Named Desire,” or “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” put meat on the bones of America’s post-World War II renaissance of moral generosity.

By the end of the 1960s, however, it was not Williams’ whose works had lost their luster, but the culture that was receiving them. In fact, he was getting ever more creative in his work, but by the dawn of the 1960s, the mood in the land was shifting away from his compassion, and of those like him who during the last 1940s and 1950s had adopted hard-biting but passionate romanticism, the creative work of filmmaker Frank Capra, the best new musicals on Broadway and the literary and philosophical works of existentialist writers and thinkers.

They were being replaced by a new and sullen mood, a mood of cynicism and nihilistic despair. Suddenly artists whose works did not wreak of this were considered irrelevant and sadly out of season.

Williams continued to exhibit his amazing compassion in his works, but now no one cared. He was carted off to the pasture, so to speak, so much so that when he choked and died in the early 1970s, some insisted he’d committed suicide, despite the fact his briefcase was filled with still new magnificent works.

This cultural shift, I have argued, led to the rise of Trumpism in our culture, a very serious threat to democracy, which to survive requires strong doses of optimism, love and compassion.

Some anti-democratic demagogues figured out along the course of the 20th century that happiness and love are prerequisites for the generous spirit that must undergird democratic institutions for them to flourish. They set about to reshape our culture by canceling such things. Authoritarianism, fascism and totalitarian spirit must be devoid of generosity and love, they rightly surmised.

These forces had hated FDR’s New Deal, which created Social Security and so much more. They sided with Hitler and Mussolini, engendering a mood of angry defiance in elements of the U.S. population to substitute for love and romance, which they insisted were remnants of a naivety. They fueled social and racial differences within the population, fueling flames of anger and hatred, using them to overwhelm sentimentality and compassion.

In the 1970s, this movement became called “postmodernism” to adapt to this end. Figures like the French philosophical fascist Michel Foucault were elevated, invited to speaking tours across the U.S. and to residence in the hotbed of the 1970s counterculture in Berkeley, Calif.

He was a major contributor to the spirit of the “God is dead” movement of that decade. He encouraged the university students that he lectured in that seminally important era to reject love as a relic of liberal sentimentality and to recognize that there are only two valid forces in culture, pleasure and power.

In the same decade came the rise of the “human potential” movement that worked to strip people of their senses of compassion and obligation for others and to replace it with a radical selfishness.

Thousands of cults arose in this period offering alternative realities altogether for their followers, all based on this notion of radical selfishness, no matter how they were packaging it as something else entirely.

“Anti-cult” so-called experts miss this core element of the brainwashed cults of that era, which was their appeal to the ego of the followers, to offer them the “special knowledge” that would elevate them above all others and by so doing use them to achieve their purposes.

(To be continued)

CO MME NT

JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 5

Nicholas F. Benton

at 1515 Californian, in suburban Arlington.

Our Man in Arlington quartered The bank companies with scale N. Courthouse Rd.,

By Charlie Clark

After two years of corporate and pandemic delays, BB&T Bank and SunTrust on Feb. 20 will officially become Truist.

That burgeoning corporate family tree affects me personally, as I have maintained accounts since childhood at Clarendon Trust, which morphed into First American, then Crestar, then SunTrust. (I still have my faded 1960s Clarendon Trust savings book.)

This churning of logos is the latest in more than a century of banking evolution in our parish, a trend that replaces institutions driven by local personalities with national brand names.

The oldest lending company I tracked was the Arlington Bank, created downtown in 1854 and named to honor George Washington Parke Custis, creator of Arlington House.

Thanks to old directory sleuthing by John Stanton of the Center for Local History, I learned that in 1912 a mainstay was the Rosslynbased Arlington National Bank (founded 1906 by big landowner names: Rucker, Ball, Mackey, Torreyson).

In Depression-era 1930, many saved at the Peoples State Bank of Cherrydale (actually in Ballston).

By the prosperous 1950s, Clarendon Trust (founded 1921) had eight branches, including in the heart of Clarendon and Westover.

Arlington National, by then renamed Arlington Trust, sponsored Little League and had my pals’ dads on its board. Now head-

it kept branches in Rosslyn and the Navy Annex. It competed (in banking and Little League) with First National Bank of Arlington, centrally located at 801 N. Glebe Rd. South Arlingtonians had Shirlington Trust at 1776 S. Randolph St. (sponsor of my youth basketball team).

First Federal Savings and Loan Association had three branches.

And the Arlington branch of the Falls Church Bank once occupied my current SunTrust site at Washington and Langston boulevards.

By the 1970s, you could deposit or borrow at The America Bank (five branches, near Courthouse and in Dominion Hills), First and Merchants National Bank and United Virginia (five branches).

In recent decades, locals have launched community banks--Virginia Commerce Bank in 1988 and John Marshall Bank in 2006.

The trend is toward the less personal. Diane Perry, who began her bank management career at Shirlington Trust in Cherrydale in 1979, said back then “banking was about customer relationships, getting to know the customers and their needs.” She recalls a “retired and widowed doctor who came into the bank almost every day to visit his safe deposit box. This was not because he needed to transact business; it was a social call.”

Another customer was neighboring Cherrydale Hardware.

The corporatization has been dramatic. I found it bizarre the first time I saw the Wells Fargo stagecoach insignia, for decades so

also enjoy clout with the county.

Former Treasurer Frank O’Leary recalled that in the 1980s, First American (founded 1978) had the big contract for processing up to 500,000 county transactions. That meant a fancy Christmas party out in Tysons Corner at which drinks and oysters were enjoyed by boldface county officials and banking execs.

Current Treasurer Carla de la Pava confirmed that this contract in 2005 went to Wachovia Bank, the arrangement handed to Wells Fargo when it acquired Wachovia in 2008.

The Wells Fargo contract signed in 2018, she explained, “saves an average of $325,000 annually on banking and custodial services.”

Banks, by any name, help balance the ledgers of Arlington life. *** County Manager Mark Schwartz warned of a possible “degradation in service” in February after county employees who decline a covid vaccination are forced onto unpaid leave. By March 1, the 7 percent who still resist face termination, he told the Arlington Committee of 100 Jan. 12.

Lamenting the 285 Arlingtonians who’ve died from the virus, Schwartz described the “uncertainty” the pandemic has brought, requiring preparation of four budgets in two years and three capital improvement plans in three years.

Arlington’s office vacancy rate now at 20 percent may bring a revenue drop that is somewhat permanent, he warned. Thank God, he added, for Amazon.

PAGE 6 | JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022

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E D I TO R I A L

CNN Finally Calls Out Fox News

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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In Support of Farrell Kelly’s Guest CNN has taken the gloves off in its criticism of Fox News, and Commentary

it is long overdue. In a morning segment yesterday, news anchor Brianna Keilar blasted Fox for “killing people” and “moral crimes” for it’s “anti-science BS” discouraging viewers from being vaccinated against the deadly Covid-19 virus. Keilar cited statistics from the National Institutes of Health that unvaxed people are 20 times more likely to die of Covid than those who are vaccinated, 17 times more likely to be hospitalized and 10 times more likely to be infected.

Despite pandemic fatigue, the death rate from the virus in the U.S. continues to rise, and everyone wants to believe that its latest and least deadly Omicron iteration will somehow be its last. But, realistically, who knows? The virus is clearly not behaving by our rules and its wishful thinking to believe we’re seeing the last or least verile version of it, as much as we all hope it is.

The number of deaths from this will surely top a million in the U.S. before this is brought under control, if that ever happens. Some think that, rather than complaining about the vaccine, they should be truly thankful for the veritable miracle of science that led to the rapid development of its life-saving power.

In this context, those who are actively opposing its usage in the face of daunting statistics about the death rate among those not vaccinated should, in our view, be more than simply roundly condemned, as CNN has now done. There ought to be laws against the witting spread of lies when it is so clear that lives are at stake. As much as, as a newspaper, we are staunch defenders of the right to freedom of speech, we are just as adamant in our insistence that it should not extend to wittingly lying when human lives are on the line.

Yes, Tucker Carlson and your ilk, if it were up to us, you’d be in jail for your criminal behavior in this regard. Carlson, as a Fox host, parades people on his show like Alex Berenson who claim that the Covid vaccine is “dangerous and ineffective” and insist that viewers must avoid getting it. It is worth noting that this is the same Carlson who is now overtly taking the side of Moscow against the U.S. in the developing crisis on the Russia-Ukraine border. Astonishing.

Is there a Moscow, or Chinese, angle to the anti-vax movement in the U.S.? It seems as if there almost has to be. It is remarkable that Donald Trump has been Moscow’s pet long before Moscow engaged in active measures to secure his questionable election in 2016 and his non-stop efforts to advance the Moscow cause during his regrettable years in the White House. For Moscow, it is the advance of its interests combined with the fomenting of chaos in the U.S. that does most to achieve its ends.

Editor, I teach at Meridian High School and want to commend Farrell Kelly on his guest commentary in last week’s NP. He eloquently expressed so many of the thoughts and feelings I’ve been having in response to the Governor’s order regarding masks. I completely agree that this is an opportunity to show that we as a community and individuals care about one another by taking actions that consider the benefit for all of us. Wearing a mask is an important covid mitigation step and a way for each of us to do something for each other and the greater good of all, which is a core value worth teaching by example.

Marc Robarge Falls Church

Removing the Mask Mandates Editor, Let’s be clear: Mandates remove choice. Rescinded mandates simply return choice. In this case, Governor Youngkin restored the ability for parents to make health decisions on behalf of their children. This is where the choice belongs. Governor Northam, on the other hand, instituted a universal mandate for all K-12 schools, tying parents’ hands and ensuring that kids continued to

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learn in an impaired, incomplete, and unbalanced environment.

Language matters, Mr. Benton.

Anyone in this city can still wear masks anytime and anywhere, ad infinitum, including students, school administration and staff.

Here’s a question for you: Why is it that states like California and New York, the most restricted and mandated in the country, are hemorrhaging residents to those states, like Florida and Texas, with the most relaxed Covid rules? One congresswoman from the Empire State recently had no trouble at all vacationing in the free, unmandated Sunshine State.

Curious.

Adrienne Varner Falls Church

Fax 703-342-0347 Mail or drop off Letters to the Editor, c/o Falls Church News-Press, 105 N. Virginia Ave., #310, Falls Church, VA 22046

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JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 7

F.C.’s New Vice Mayor Shares Plans for the Little City This Year

By Letty Hardi

“Leave it better than you found it.”

That was my answer when I had the opportunity to join a Boy Scouts’ meeting a few weeks ago and they asked what good citizenship means to me. Helping kids understand local government and the outsized role it has on our daily lives — and more importantly, our collective responsibility to make the good happen -— has been one of the most rewarding parts of this job. As your new Vice Mayor, I am honored to continue to serve and do my part in “leaving it better.”

Seating a new City Council is a good time to reflect on our achievements and the way ahead. In my six years on City Council, I’ve had the fortune of working with the most collaborative, and some would say, the most ambitious City Councils ever in Falls Church. We’ve all had a hand in that, and I hope that continues. Regardless of who is in leadership, there are multiple smart and dedicated people working on your behalf. And we are a team that actually likes working together — that’s a great, rare thing in politics that our residents should take a lot of comfort in!

After inheriting a backlog of capital needs, we’ve worked hard to renovate/ expand/build new schools, parks, sidewalks, a library, a city hall, and other infrastructure that has raised the quality of life for all generations. After years

of espousing welcoming values, we’ve made the most significant strides in affordable housing ever. Not to mention diversifying our tax base via development, growing new businesses and jobs, lowering our taxes ahead of schedule, and advancing walkability and transportation projects. Of course there is always room for improvement and more to do, but I am proud of our accomplishments and ready to turn our focus on what’s ahead.

The City Council will meet next week to map out priorities for the coming two years. I share my early thoughts below, but our priorities should ultimately be the community’s priorities, so I look forward to hearing from you.

(1) Covid-19 — Even if we want to be done with the pandemic, it is clearly not done with us. With our high vaccination rates and adherence to public health guidance, we will get through this. The past 21 months should teach us that when all things fall to the side, it is the people around us who matter the most. Focusing on community and collective good is our best shot out of our greatest challenges.

(2) Community for All – We can’t let up the gas on affordable housing and other equity work. This goes beyond housing – we need to ensure our infrastructure and policies work for everyone.

Our evolution from a car-centric culture means we need to keep advancing safer and accessible streets, protected bike

lanes, and traffic calming. Places that work for all means we need to have green space and tree canopy and invest in public art and holiday lights that support a vibrant business district. Striving for social and racial justice means we move from a check the box exercise to an everyday lens we use across our decisions. We should ask: does this lift up all, especially those who may not have a voice?

(3) Development and Housing Diversity — With the West Falls and Broad and Washington projects set to break ground this spring and two additional projects in the pipeline, we have cultivated a healthy queue of re-development. Yet we don’t want a multi-acre project on every corner, so we should have tools to enable the next generation of smaller, infill projects and more diverse housing types. We should have housing options that match our inclusive values — where seniors can age in place, college grads can afford to return home, families of all kinds can attend our topnotch schools, smaller homes can coexist in neighborhoods, and homeownership can be a reality for more.

(4) Climate — Like Covid, climate change needs to be our next big, shared existential crisis. We should be willing to make bold, decisive commitments to reduce our carbon footprint. As we face increasing and extreme weather events, resilience strategies will also be neces-

sary. We have begun to make significant investments in stormwater infrastructure, but no matter how many pipes we build to carry away water, upstream policy changes to reduce runoff should also be on the table.

(5) Reinvest in Our People – Foundational to all of the above, we need to continue with the mid-year investments we’ve made in our workforce. As part of the past several City Councils who asked departments to freeze budgets in order to take on all of the capital projects now completed, I now bear the responsibility to do what is right by our employees. Without talented professional staff, none of these ideas will turn into reality. A compensation benchmarking study is underway, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to responsibly balance this important priority in the upcoming budget.

Despite the weariness and challenges we have all faced, I remain optimistic about our future. We have steadily delivered real results across the City and laid the groundwork for more progress ahead. I am committed to continue being accessible, thoughtful, and transparent in representing you and helping you engage in local government via my blog posts and office hours. Let’s keep Falls Church moving forward together.

Letty Hardi is the Vice Mayor of the City of Falls Church

Question of the Week Last Week’s Question:

Should the City of Falls Church defy the Governor’s anti-mask mandate?

21% Yes

78% No

1% Not Sure

FCNP On-Line polls are surveys, not scientific polls.

[WRITE FOR THE PRESS]

The News-Press welcomes readers to send in submissions in the form of Letters to the Editor & Guest Commentaries. Letters to the Editor should be no more than 350 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four weeks. Guest Commentaries should be no more than 800 words and writers are limited to one appearance every four months. Because of space constraints, not all submissions will be published.

All submissions to the News-Press should be original, unpublished content. We reserve the right to edit submissions for length, grammar and accuracy. All submissions should include writer’s name, address, phone and e-mail address if available.

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PAGE 8 | JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2 2022

Congressman Don Beyer:

A Penny for Your Thoughts

News of Greater Falls Church

By Supervisor Penny Gross

It happened again this morning. The first driver stopped at the neighborhood intersection STOP sign, and had the right-of-way, while the second driver simply ignored the sign and barreled through the intersection, without slowing down. Fortunately, the first driver knew enough to wait for the cross traffic to pass. This was not the first time a driver blew through that STOP sign. In fact, in unscientific observations at that particular intersection, drivers failed to stop more than 50 percent of the time. Some slowed down, or hesitated, but none came to a full, braked stop. Sound familiar?

Failing to observe STOP signs appears to be an epidemic in this region, with no vaccine and, sadly, no cure, except changing human behavior. Yes, the law can be enforced, but it is unrealistic to expect police officers to be available at every intersection with a STOP sign to issue tickets to flagrant drivers. When an accident occurs, the at-fault driver can be cited for a traffic violation, little comfort for the victim who simply was obeying the law.

Speeding and STOP sign violations are common complaints from neighborhood associations seeking to slow traffic and make local streets safer for pedestrians and cyclists through an established community process.

Speed humps may have some success in slowing speeders, but STOP signs are designed to queue traffic rather than act as speed control devices. Each situation can be resolved by changing driver behavior.

Moving from highway speeds (Virginia’s 495 Beltway speed limit is 65 mph) and main arteries (35 and 45 mph) to local neighborhood streets (25 mph) may occur within a few blocks. Residential streets generally are narrower, without lane markings, and vehicles often are parked along the roadway, making the lanes even tighter. A few years ago, my office received a complaint when the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), the state

agency that controls and maintains most roadways in Fairfax County, narrowed marked lanes on Graham Road to accommodate a bike lane. “Now I have to pay attention to my driving,” the constituent wrote. My response?

“Yes, ma’am, you sure do!”

We all do. The average passenger vehicle weighs more than a ton, so a driver actually is operating a somewhat complicated machine that has the potential to inflict incredible damage to persons and property if the driver is not paying attention and adhering to the law.

Today’s vehicles contain a lot of distractions – radio, visual screens, holders for hands-free devices, dashboard indicators, audible alarms – that can take a driver’s attention away from the road. With windows up, modern passenger compartments are almost soundproof, so drivers may not hear emergency sirens and move out of the way, as happens frequently in downtown Annandale when Fire Station 8 rescue personnel have to navigate busy roadways to respond to 911 calls.

In our busy urban and urbanizing communities, a license to operate a vehicle carries an extra responsibility for safety and adherence to traffic laws. The driver who blew through the STOP sign this morning may have felt he/she was in the comfortable confines of their own neighborhood, but that would prove small comfort in an accident. That’s something to keep in mind the next time you insert a key into the ignition or push a button to start the engine. It may be an everyday action, but it comes with a huge responsibility that might start at the STOP sign at the end of your street.  Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.

C i t y o f Fa l l s C h u r c h

C RI M E R E PO RT

Week of Jan. 17 - 24, 2022 on scene recalled a commerSmoking Violation, Wilson Blvd, Jan 17, 12:58 PM, a male, 51, of Ashburn, VA, was issued a summons for Smoking in a Restaurant.

Weapon Law Offenses/Drunk in Public, Wilson Blvd, Jan 18, 04:47 AM, a male, 21, of no fixed address, was arrested for Weapon Law Offenses (machete) and Drunk in Public. Officers

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

cial robbery involving a machete in a neighboring jurisdiction.

Fairfax officers responded and confirmed the offender was the same.

Drunk in Public, Wilson Blvd, Jan 18, 3:27 AM, a white male, 19, of Falls Church, VA, was arrested for Drunk in Public.

Trespass, W Broad St, Jan 18, 08:02 AM, a male, 65, of no fixed address, was issued a summons

www.FCNP.com

for Trespass.

Fraud, N West St, 3:41 PM, an incident of fraud was reported.

Drunk in Public, Hillwood Ave, Jan 20, 1:37 AM, a white male, 40, of Arlington, VA, was arrested for Drunk in Public.

Larceny from Building, W Broad St, Jan 20, between 2:03 and 2:09 PM, items of value were taken by an unknown suspect described as a male between 6’2 -6’4, medium build, 180-200lbs, wearing a blue hat with a white logo, a white mask, gray hoodie, beige peacoat, black pants, orange sneakers and carrying a black book bag.

“Abortion Access Is Key to Economic Freedom” Saturday marked the 49th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision that granted women the right to safe and legal abortion. While the constitutional right to bodily autonomy has been repeatedly affirmed, a case currently before the Supreme Court has put reproductive rights in jeopardy.

A decision in Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which has the power to eliminate women’s access to comprehensive reproductive health, is the most serious threat in decades to women’s reproductive freedom.

This will certainly have consequences for women’s individual agency. But often overlooked are the economic impacts of restrictive laws that limit women’s freedom to choose if and when to have a child.

Access to safe and legal abortion enables people to make the decisions that are right for them and their financial security. These decisions have lifelong economic consequences not only for the people directly impacted, but also their families and communities. Being able to delay motherhood by one year due to access to legal abortion increased women’s wages by 11 percent on average. Access to abortion expanded women’s career opportunities, including higher likelihood of attaining a professional role, by almost 40 percentage points. And studies show that access to abortion increased women’s probability of graduating college by 72 percent. The effect was even larger for Black women, whose chances of completing college nearly tripled.

Access to abortion not only shapes the economic outcomes of the pregnant person, but also the economic circumstances that children grow up in. Women who wanted an abortion, but who were unable to get one, were subsequently more likely to have financial problems than the women who were able to obtain an abortion in time. After safe abortion was legalized, the percentage of children growing up in poverty decreased and future life outcomes improved, including increased college attendance rates.

Systemic racial inequality has led to pervasive health dis-

parities. For example, barriers to healthcare and discrimination have resulted in rates of pregnancy-related deaths that are three times higher among Black women relative to white women. Restricting access to reproductive healthcare will further exacerbate these long-standing inequalities. By contrast, safe abortion access improved economic outcomes for Black women at a higher magnitude than for white women, helping to narrow racial economic disparities, and reduced Black maternal mortality by 30 to 40 percent.

If the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, which is the likely outcome of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, abortion would be likely to quickly become illegal in 22 states. Clinics would close, and more than 40 percent of women of childbearing age would have to travel an average of 279 miles—up from 35 miles—to access comprehensive reproductive care. Further, the 22 states are concentrated in the South and Midwest and are disproportionately economically disadvantaged, such that the financial burden of accessing care and securing transportation, lodging, and childcare—because the majority of women seeking abortions already have children—would further exacerbate geographic inequality, strain household budgets, and constrict economic opportunity. As it is now, unnecessary restrictions on women seeking abortions, restrictions that have no basis in medical science and imperil women’s health and well-being, cost local economies $105 billion per year and suppress economic growth.

Protecting the right to safe and legal abortion ensures that women have the freedom to make the right decision for themselves and their families. And evidence clearly shows what people facing this difficult decision already know: Whether to have an abortion has far-reaching economic consequences. That is why it is best left up to the individuals to make the decision that is right for them, their families, and their futures.

 Congressman Don Beyer represents the 8th District in Congress.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

BAROODY CAMPS Baroody Camps Hosts Summer Camps In Northern Virginia Each Year.

Offering a variety of themed day camps, like Lego Engineering, Basketball, Science, Dance, Art and more!

(703) 539-2602 baroodycamps.com

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ACTING FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 5506 TALON COURT FAIRFAX, VA 22032 703.554.4931

BROOKSFIELD SCHOOL 1830 KIRBY ROAD MCLEAN, VA 22101 703.356.5437

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ACTON ACADEMY FALLS CHURCH TIMBERNOOK 513 W. BROAD STREET FALLS CHURCH, VA 22046 202.615.5552 actonfallschurch.org

BASIS INDEPENDENT MCLEAN 7925 JONES BRANCH DRIVE MCLEAN, VA 22102 703.854.1253 mclean.basisindependent.com

C3 CYBER CLUB 44710 CAPE COURT, #118 ASHBURN, VA 20147 703.729.0985

JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 9

CAMP RODEF SHALOM 2100 WESTMORELAND STREET FALLS CHURCH, VA 22046 703.532.2241 camptrs.org

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CAMP TWIN CREEKS 9235 HUNTERSVILLE ROAD MARLINTON, WV 24954 800.451.8806

CAMP JAM AT THE FOXCROFT SCHOOL 22407 FOXHOUND LANE MIDDLEBURG, VA 20117

CLAY CAFE STUDIOS 101 N. MAPLE AVENUE FALLS CHURCH, VA 22046 703.884.1586

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CAMP SHAKESPEARE

Shakespeare Theatre Company gives students between the ages of 7 and 18 the chance to dive into the world of one of the most celebrated playwrights in history: William Shakespeare. At Camp Shakespeare, students will transform into Shakespeare’s characters through voice, movement and imagination, unravel Shakespeare’s plays with text analysis, develop fundamental acting skills, learn the basics of stage combat, perform for friends and family onstage at the Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Camp Shakespeare 202-547-5688 Shakespearetheatre.org/camp

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PAGE 10 | JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022

COMMUNITY OF SCHOLARS AMERICAN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF INTERNATIONAL SERVICE 202.885.2442 CITY OF FALLS CHURCH RECREATION & PARKS CAMPS Registration will begin February 14 for City Residents and February 22 for non-City residents. Registration opens at 8 a.m. Registrations are taken in person and online only on the first two days of registration.

Phone-in registration opens for City Residents February 14 and for nonCity residents on February 22.

City of Falls Church Camps 223 Little Falls St. Falls Church, VA 22046 703-248-5077 fallschurchva.gov/camps

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

FAIRFAX ICE ARENA 3779 PICKETT RD FAIRFAX, VA 22031 703.323.1132

GRIER SUMMER 2522 GRIER SCHOOL ROAD TYRONE, PA 16686 814.684.3000

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grier.org

CONGRESSIONAL CAMP 3229 SLEEPY HOLLOW RD FALLS CHURCH, VA 22042 703.533.0931

GOLDEN BOOT SOCCER MULTIPLE LOCATIONS IN NOVA 703.287.0088

JHOON RHEE TAE KWON DO 1136 WEST BROAD STREET FALLS CHURCH, VA 22046 703.237.7433

Congocamp.org

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ENCORE STAGE AND STUDIO 4000 LORCOM LANE ARLINGTON, VA 22207 703.548.1154

GOW SCHOOL 2491 EMERY ROAD SOUTH WALES, NY 14139 716.652.3450

KENWOOD SUMMER DAY CAMP 4955 SUNSET LANE ANNANDALE, VA 703.256.4711

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kenwoodschool.com

american.edu/sis/communityofscholars

Summer Camps 2022

Little City, Big Fun!

REGISTRATION DATES City Residents: February 14 Non-City Residents: February 22

www.fallschurchva.gov/Camps

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CODE NINJAS 20 Different Themed Camps JR Camps for Ages 5-7 Full-day and half-day options are available Limited Capacity due to COVID Guidelines Code Ninjas 2 Locations 479 S. Maple Ave Falls Church, VA 22046 Alexandria 4694 King St Alexandria, VA 22302 codeninjas.com

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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•

LUNCH AND SNACKS PROVIDED

•

40 ACRE CAMPUS

•

SWIMMING, HORSEBACK RIDING, ARCHERY AND MORE

JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 11

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LIVING EARTH SCHOOL 101 ROCKY BOTTOM LANE AFTON, VA 22920 434.260.0086 livingearthva.com

CAMP COLUMBIA Our goal @Camp Columbia is to provide children with a fun, safe camp experi­ ence where they can learn of God’s love, form lasting friendships, and build self­ confidence. Grade School Camp is 8:30am - 4:30pm, M-F and includes a hot lunch, two snacks, a t-shirt, and themed activities each week.

Camp Columbia 103 West Columbia Street, Falls Church, VA 22046 703-534-5700 C0LUMBIABAPTIST.0RG/CAMP

MAD SCIENCE CAMP 12065 TECH ROAD SILVER SPRING, MD 20904 301.593.4777 dc.madscience.org

MASON GAME AND TECHNOLOGY ACADEMY 10900 UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD MANASSAS, VA 20110 703.993.7101 gmu.edu

MCLEAN COMMUNITY CENTER 1234 INGLESIDE AVENUE MCLEAN, VA 22101 703.790.0123 mcleancenter.org

MULFORD RIDING SCHOOL 15105 LEE HIGHWAY CENTREVILLE, VA 20121 703.946.7595 mulfordridingschool.com

SUMMER AT NORWOOD 8821 RIVER ROAD BETHESDA, MD 20817

MEDSTAR CAPITALS ICEPLEX 627 N. GLEBE ROAD ARLINGTON, VA 22203

301.841.2254 summeratnorwood.org

571.224.0575 medstarcapitalsiceplex.com

MERCERSBURG ACADEMY 100 ACADEMY DRIVE MERCERSBURG, PA 17236 717.328.6225 mercersburg.edu

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

OAKCREST SCHOOL 1619 CROWELL ROAD VIENNA, VA 22182 703.790.5450 oakcrest.org

CONGRESSIONAL CAMP Congressional Camp is an ACA accredited coed day camp designed for ages 3-14. We’re located on a beautiful, 40-acre campus in Falls Church, Virginia at Congressional Schools of Virginia. Our diverse programs include day camp, travel camps, academic classes and spe­ cialty camps which offer summers of new challenges, old traditions, friends and boundless FUN! We are also proud to launch our new site right up the street at Sleepy Hollow Elementary.

Congressional Camp 3229 Sleepy Hollow Road Falls Church, VA 22042 703-533-0931 congocamp.org

Didn’t see your Camp Ad In here?

Contact us today to find out about advertising in future issues!

Call: Sue Johnson sjohnson@fcnp.com • 703-587-1282

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 13

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PAGE 14 | JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022

PERFECT POINTE SUMMER DANCE CAMP LEE HIGHWAY ARLINGTON, VA 22207

CREATIVE CAULDRON

perfectpointe.com Creative Cauldron is a non-profit professional theater and educational arts space in Falls Church that brings quality, affordable arts experiences to the Washington, DC area community. Summer camps return in-person with covid-19 precautions in place. Campers will enjoy the engaging and imagination-fueled summer experience they’ve loved for 19 years! Each camp day, children will have the opportunity to work with Creative Cauldron’s seasoned and creative teaching artists in the areas of drama, music, movement, and art. Campers, grouped by age, will explore science, myth, folklore, music, and art and create a final performance to share with family and friends.

Creative Cauldron 410 S. Maple Avenue Falls Church, VA 22046 703.436.9948 Creativecauldron.org

SCHOOL OF ROCK VIENNA 111 CENTER STREET SOUTH VIENNA, VA 22180

THE LITTLE THEATRE OF ALEXANDRIA 600 WOLFE STREET ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314 703.683.5778 thelittletheatre.com

WASHINGTON SAILING MARINA CAMP 1 MARINA DRIVE ALEXANDRIA, VA 22314 703.548.9027

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SYNETIC THEATER 1800 S. BELL STREET ARLINGTON, VA 22202

YMCA CAMP KANATA 13524 CAMP KANATA ROAD WAKE FOREST, NC 27587 919.556.2661

703.824.8060 synetictheater.org

campkanata.org

600 Wolfe St., Alexandria, VA 22314

Children aged 3 through 8th grade are invited to join us for a memorable summer at our beautiful Old Town theater. Now in its 16th year, LTA is the premier Alexandria location for performing arts summer camps, featuring Acting; Musical Theater; Shakespeare; Improvisation; Playmaking; and a variety of specialty themed camps. Camps are full-day, mornings, afternoons and include an optional extended day program.

For online registration go to: thelittletheatre.com/education

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Students aged 5+ must show proof of COVID-19 vaccines in order to participate. A limited number of partial scholarships are made possible through the generosity of The LTA Council.

THE LITTLE THEATRE OF ALEXANDRIA

MEDSTAR CAPITALS ICEPLEX

At our beautiful Old Town location, now in its 16th year, we offer theater education for campers ages Pre-K through 8th grade, conducted by directors, actors and choreographers for a unique summer fun experience. Our exciting programs include improvisation, learning dance steps fit for musical theater and finding your singing voice.

MedStar Capitals Iceplex is a state-of\ the-art facility located atop the Ballston Common Mall Parking Garage in Arlington, Virginia. We are the official home of the NHL Washington Capitals.

Our plans for the 2021 Summer Camp options are to provide as much variety as possible, to accommodate all skaters - those campers learning to skate for the first time as well as those who are experienced athletes who need the best training and instructors – we have it all.

We have both half day and full day options available.

Never fear – we plan to have a lot of fun, whatever your camper decides to do – but we will always be safe, following all CDC guidelines.

Little Theatre of Alexandria 600 Wolfe Street Alexandria, VA 22314 703-683-5778 thelittletheatre.com

MedStar Capitals Iceplex 627 N. Glebe Road, Suite 800 Arlington, VA 22203 571.224.0555 medstarcapitalsiceplex.com

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

LO CA L

JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 15

Meridian H.S.’s ‘Tick, Tick...BOOM!’ Was Awesome

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

It was not easy for the enormously talented Meridian High School senior Sam Mostow to shine as the lead in last weekend’s fabulous Meridian student production of Jonathan Larson’s amazing musical “Tick, Tick…BOOM!” He was, after all, supposedly channeling the real Jonathan Larson, who wrote the game-changing Broadway musical, “Rent”, dying at age 36 on the eve of its off-Broadway premiere, He was, also, having to reckon with the Golden Globe Award-winning Andrew Garfield’s role in the play’s film version that is still streaming all over Netflix.

It was Mr. Mostow, the in-theflesh local version, who was challenged to come through with his own unique rendering, and he was delightfully successful as the musical’s lead, with he, the rest of the cast, the on-stage band and everyone else involved providing a uniquely memorable and profound experience for the hundreds who attended the brand new high school’s premiere production on its brand new stage last weekend.

A couple points to begin: 1. The theater at the new school facility is

indeed first rate, with the stage significantly wider and deeper than at the old now-demolished auditorium, and the lighting far better, and 2.

Falls Church in its entirety owes an enormous debt of gratitude to everyone involved in the effort to bring such a tight and effective version of this classic here with its unforgettable message that “love conquers fear” to all striving, underappreciated talents in the rough.

As a long-standing fan of Meridian theater dating back 30 years (29 of them coming under the high school’s old name), this writer notwithstanding his oft-challenging tendency to go overboard with the most recent good thing he’s seen has to rate this show one of a handful of the best he’s ever seen on our local stage. It is right up there with that production of “Les Mis” starring the unforgettable late Samuel Waters in our book.

If you saw this production, then you really don’t need to see the Andrew Garfield movie version on Netflix, but you’d probably want to.

The show is acutely autobiographical written by Larson about Larson, the real person, and at the risk of violating “spoiler alert” norms, video clips of him and his best friend, undoubtedly filmed by his loving family or

friends, performing in White Plains high school plays accompany the closing credits in the film, giving the viewer an even more sensual connection to Larson, his play and the way in which this Meridian production fully embodies the fabric of the musical.

Larson wrote “Tick, Tick…

BOOM” as his first successful play prior to writing “Rent,” which embodied some of its elements and came next.

It was real for Larson who was suffering the angst of turning age 30, and still an unknown, in 1990 as the musical’s backdrop.

All the Meridian students in the play undoubtedly think of age 30 as something far off, not aware of how soon it will break upon them all, with its highly judgmental context (that is, if you’re not incredibly famous by then).

But we love everything about this production, not only Mostow but the two other leaders, Emma Hart and Matthew Bloss-Baum, the three being the only participants not masked during its entirety.

Kudos to instructors Shawn Northrip and Mary Jo West, as director and musician conductor, respectively, as well as Jamie Sample and Janine Baumgardner, and then

MERIDIAN HIGH’S FIRST student musical production in the school’s new building, “Tick, Tick...BOOM!,” was met with standing ovations last weekend. (News-Press photo) each and every one of the students involved, among the other leads in the show being Diwata Penaranda, Drew Miller, Gwen Crowder-Smith, Phi Osechger and Ciara Theisz.

Accompanying them was the supporting actor ensemble of Amalia Alexander, Britannia Duerden, Edith Jagerskog, Eudora Neal, Greta Herman, Isabel Pierce, Josh Ferguson, Madeline Aldana, Paxton Hebblethwaite and Sean Lewin.

The band included Bobby Puentes, Caswell Loo, Jaden Shin, Kaethen Virmani, Wesley Crawford. Student production leads included Stage Manager Savannah Walker, and costume and prop designers Adin Smith and Lauren Gale Lobaton.

We can hope that by the time of the school’s next production, we’ll be able to see all those smiling faces that were hidden behind masks this time.

Mustang Boys Varsity Fall to Mustang Swim Team Making A Splash in the Pool (Junior) in 100 Back. These quali- son to prepare for Regional and Skyline, But JVs Win in Last Second By Leah Kirk fications allow the team to enter State Meets. For the first time the

by Nicholas F. Benton

Falls Church News-Press

The Meridian High School Mustangs boys basketball team fought valiantly before losing 68-60 to Skyline High at the Mustang gym Tuesday night, but that was the case for the Varsity.

Before that, the Junior Varsity Mustangs provided the evening’s most thrilling moments when

two clutch free throws by Daylen Martino with literally one second on the clock brought Meridian a 44-43 win.

In the varsity game that followed, the Mustangs fell behind early, 14-4, but rallied on the threepoint shooting of Duncan Miller to take a 31-27 halftime lead. A bruising second half, with junior center Wyatt Trundle leading the way for his team, saw Skyline gradually retake the lead and win going away.

MERIDIAN CENTER Wyatt Trundle aims a jump shot in late action at Tuesday’s Meridian loss to Skyline. (News-Press photo)

The Meridian High School Swim and Dive Team has continued to make a splash in the region as they enter their 3rd year in VHSL Class 3A competition.

This season, the 50-member co-ed team has participated in more geographically local meets, including many 6A teams such as Yorktown High School, McLean High School, among others. It has been a challenge competing against teams in much larger divisions, but the Mustangs have risen to the occasion and continue to impress in both Swimming and Diving events. Mustangs are undefeated in Conference Meets and 7-2 in Overall.

Mustang Swimmers have their eye on Regionals and States, having already qualified for State’s with Boy’s 200 Medley and 400 Free Relays, as well as Individual State Qualifiers, Benjamin McCracken (Junior) in 50 and 100 Free and 100 Fly, Carson Ruoff (Junior) in 50 and 100 Free and 100 Back, and Wesley Sturgill

these relays and the individuals to compete at the State Swim Meet later in February, bypassing the need to place at the Regional Meet.

Having local meets has also presented an opportunity to the Mustang Divers as well, allowing them to participate in regular season diving meets for the first time. In the past, the divers would have 1-2 Meets in the regular sea-

team has 6 Divers, 4 Females and 2 Males, who will compete at the Region 3B Dive Meet on February 4th at Colgan High School.

The Mustangs will close out their Regular Season this Friday, January 28, 2022 at 7:30 p.m. for their Senior Night Tri-Meet vs Manassas Park and James Wood at Manassas Park Community Pool before Regionals the following week.

MERIDIAN SWIMMERS race during a meet. (photo: Leah Kirk)

PAGE 16 | JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022

R E STAUR A NT SPOTLI GHT

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

CUATES, one of Falls Church’s newest restaurants, features a menu full of Mexican-style favorites. Pictured on the left is a plate of steaming hot grilled chicken fajitas served with sautéed Spanish onions, green peppers, celery, tomatoes, Mexican rice, refried beans, sour cream, pico de gallo and fresh flour tortillas. Have a sweet tooth? Pictured on the right are sopaipillas, a fried puff pastry dessert with cinnamon and honey. (Photo: Patricia Leslie)

Cuates Grill Now Serving Mexican Meals in the Little City

by Patricia Leslie

Come inside the bright and happy new Mexican-style restaurant at the corner of Broad and North Lee and take a brief trip anywhere south, south of here to enjoy warmer climes and sunny skies and escape the cold and blustery winter to enjoy a delicious meal at Cuates Grill.

Streams of colored lights sparkle and dangle from the ceiling amidst yellow, blue, and orange walls, some glass walls to admit the outdoors and brighten the surroundings.

Co-owner Luis Merchan told me he designed the Cuates interior, which he refreshes with finds from trips he makes, like the sombreros hanging on the wall. His menu matches the decor.

The large and varied choices of Mexican-style food range from spinach enchiladas ($11.95) to a seafood broth of shrimp, scallops, salmon, squid and clams (“Cazuela de Mariscos,” $16.95 or $25.95) to tortilla soup ($10.95) with all the staples and more one might expect at a Mexican restaurant, including “street tacos” ($2.95 and up).

The crispy and crackly chips and salsa which come with every meal are hard to resist. Before my entree arrives, I always try to refrain from consuming too many of them which are made onsite, Merchan said, but these, I gobbled up.

When it comes to Mexican food, I am such a bore, always ordering my fav, shredded chicken enchiladas with rice and beans, usually carrying one enchilada home, but not at Cuates. I cleaned my plate ($14.95).

My friend, Jessie, usually orders the same thing, too, chicken fajitas ($18.95), which, at Cuates, she found “delicious.”

They were grilled and served atop onions, green peppers, celery and tomatoes, with Mexican rice, refried beans, sour cream and flour tortillas whose supply was gladly replenished when Jessie requested more.

How she found room for the tasty sopaipillas for dessert confounded me who (surprise!) found room to help her out.

Sopaipillas are fried puff pastries sloshing in honey and cinnamon ($6.95), the taste as good as the description.

On another visit, I ordered

the Fiesta Quinoa salad ($12.95) and, following health experts who rave about the benefits of eating salmon, added a serving (+$4) which was scrumptious with corn and tomato bites, baby spinach leaves, avocado and more. That healthy meal made me feel good enough mentally to eat more sopaipillas, but I held back. Sigh.

Meanwhile, Merchan took time from his busy life at Cuates to chat with me and tell me that the word “cuates’’ means more than “amigos.” Cuates is a closer friendship which he and coowner Sergio Kehl have shared for decades, strengthened by opening their first restaurant in Georgetown in 2008, and then Alexandria in 2014.

Merchan earned his restaurant stripes working for the food trade in his homeland, Ecuador, before coming to the U.S. and working two years for the Embassy of Ecuador. Along the way at another restaurant, he met Kehl.

Oh, yeah, they had a tough time with Covid: “What was I going to do?” Merchan recalls: “It was our lives! I have one opportunity in this world. Why should I run? I needed to keep

open, follow the regulations, the cleaning, the safety. I decided to do my best” which he did. With just one employee to work in the kitchen maybe, Alexandria could stay open for deliveries. Gradually, the business came back and when the owners needed outdoor seating, Alexandria granted the permit in two days.

In Georgetown, without a permit they put tables outside in an alley, and Georgetown gave them a permit immediately.

It took only 40 days to open the Georgetown restaurant; he started on Cuates in Falls Church 11 months ago and still, no liquor permit. “Falls Church needs to be pro-business,” Merchan said, reluctant to speak ill of his new city government.

“We can work together, to grow as a community.”

His reasons for coming to the Little City echo those heard ‘round the town: “We’ve always loved Falls Church.

We’ve looked at McLean, too, but we got lucky and found this spot [the former location of the Locker Room]. We like the neighborhood, the traffic, its closeness to other businesses.”

Once Cuates secures its liquor permit (waiting more than a month since application was submitted before Christmas) there’s no doubt its intimate bar will become a popular watering hole for local yokels. Then, beer, margarita and other alcoholic beverage sales will boost revenues about 30 percent and put the new Cuates location on track to success, like its older restaurants.

The restaurant has a “loyalty program” for customers to earn points and redeem for later discounts. Park onsite or on the street.

Cuates Grill, 502 West Broad St. #5, Falls Church 20046. (703) 259-4846 Sunday — Thursday 11:30 am — 11pm, Saturday, 11:30 am — 12 am.

Info@cuatesgrill.com. www. cuatesgrillmenu.com Park at the center or on the street.

• This article is part of the “Restaurant Spotlight” series, which will feature one local restaurant and its menu each month. To suggest that your restaurant be covered, contact Amanda Snead, News Editor at asnead@fcnp.com

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 17

School News & Notes Students Selected for Youth Advisory Board

ing concepts. These brave risktakers are building a sisterhood at FCCPS and will be prepared to make an impact in the future.

Merdian students, Yousra Elzamzami (12th grade) and Preston Lieu (9th grade) have been selected to serve on the Harvard Youth Advisory Board this school year. They are two of only 34 students to serve on the committee in the nation. The committee will address some of the most challenging issues students face today and participate in a year-long project to cultivate a caring culture at Meridian High School and communities.

Practice ACT Exam This Saturday

Essay/Speaking Contest for Students The Virginia School Boards Association is holding a personal essay/speaking contest where the finalists will have an opportunity to present before an audience of more than 300 school board members and administrators at the 2022 VSBA Conference on Education held at the Richmond Delta Marriott on July 19, 2022. This year’s topic is Food Security. This year, the top 3 finalists will receive a $1,000 scholarship. Submissions are open to all Virginia public high school students (grades 9-12) and are an excellent opportunity to share their unique voices and compete for funds to further their education. More details can be found at surveymonkey. com/r/StudentEssay2022 or in Monday’s edition of the Morning Announcements.

OSE Students Coding with Girls Who Code Oak Street Elementary students participate in the national program Girls Who Code. This organization’s goal is to close the gender gap in technology.

Approximately 20 elementary girls work with 10 Meridian high school mentors each week. They create games either in Scratch or Python in their virtual meetings, introducing them to basic cod-

The Meridian PTSA hosts a practice ACT exam on Jan 29, 2022. This is a great way to determine if the ACT is a good fit for your student compared to the SAT. The exam will be in-person at MHS to simulate the test environment better, but it may switch to virtual if needed due to Covid (or snow). The cost is $25, and financial assistance is offered.

Middle School GIVE Day Club — Coin Wars GIVE Day is Monday, January 31. The Middle School is hosting Coin Wars through Fri, Jan 28.

Here’s how Coin Wars works: Each grade will have a water cooler bottle located in the cafeteria. Students can add their loose change to their grade’s bottle during lunch. The grade that raises the most money wins a prize for the entire grade. And there’s a catch: a student can drop a bill into another grade’s bottle. The total of all the bills will be subtracted from that grade’s collection. Gather up that loose change and use it to make a change.

Black History Month Essay Contest To celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, the Washington Wizards have launched an essay contest for DMV area high school and middle school students. The contest will honor Dr. Edwin Bancroft (E.B.) Henderson, a sports historian, educator, administrator, coach, athlete, and civil rights activist known as the “Grandfather of Black Basketball” here in Washington, D.C. Dr. Henderson, a great activist, wrote over 3,000 letters to the editor for the Washington Post and other newspapers on

IN THE MOUNT DANIEL LIBRARY, Mr. Shane Spindle has shared many past winners and honors of the American Library Association’s Caldecott Medal with the students with a unique display.

(Photo: Fccps)

civil rights and race relations.

Like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Dr. Henderson was a leader who inspired many, and now is your opportunity to write about a leader that has inspired you.

Submit a 250-word essay about a community leader who has had a positive impact in your life. One submission from a high school student and one submission from a middle school student will be selected to receive a scholarship contribution and additional recognition from the Washington Wizards. The deadline to submit your essay is March 17. For more information on the contest as well as rules and regulations, please visit nba.com/wizards/blackhistory.

Information Night for Rising 9th Graders The Meridian HS counseling department would like to remind families they will be hosting (virtually via Zoom) the rising 9th Grade Parent Information Night on January 27th at 7 p.m.

The following morning the high school counselors will be hosting a morning coffee virtual meeting for rising 9th-grade families on January 28th at 8:30 a.m. (virtually via zoom to answer any questions about high school for incoming freshmen).

Families will receive a link to the virtual sessions from the Meridian student service office on Thursday by noon. For more information regarding Rising 9th Grade, 10th, 11th, and 12thgrade registration for the 22-23

school year, please visit the Meridian High School webpage at the following link: mhs.fccps. org/o/mhs/page/course-selection-2022-2023. All videos, presentations, and important dates are posted for families.

Additional Info Nights Coming Soon: 2/1 at 6 p.m. — Rising 7th & 8th Grade Parent Information Night (virtual via Zoom) 2/2 at 7 p.m. — IB Parent Information Night (virtual via Zoom)

Cheer Team Send-Off On Wednesday The Meridian High School cheer team qualified for the first time in school history for the UCA National Gameday Competition taking place February 11 in Orlando, Florida. They will be hosting a send-off and fundraiser at Audacious Aleworks on Wednesday, February 2 from 4 — 9 p.m. This event will help them fund their trip and all proceeds will directly benefit the MHS cheer program. Donations can be made via Venmo @MerdianCheer.

School Board Chairs Host “Office Hours” FCCPS School Board Chair Laura Downs and Vice-Chair Tate Gould will be holding “office hours” at Clare & Don’s Beach

Shack (130 N Washington Street) on Wednesday, February 2 from 6—8 p.m. Residents may drop by (no registration required) to ask questions and offer feedback in a casual environment. As this will not be a private setting, community members who prefer to have a private exchange with the School Board can locate members’ email addresses on their website: https://www.fccps.org/ page/school-board

Coach Awarded Asst.

Coach of the Year Meridian High School’s assistant soccer coach, Nathan Greiner, was honored by the United Soccer Coaches, along with the Coaches of the year for colleges, high schools and Hall of Fame members. The award was presented by the outgoing CEO of the organization Lynn Berling-Manuel at the USC Annual Coaches Awards Banquet (in Kansas City, MO). Nathan was honored at the coach’s breakfast earlier that morning, along with all of the regional award winners for high school coaches.

They announced that he is being honored for his longtime service and helped lead Meridian HS to a 15—0—1 record and eleventh state championship.

United Soccer Coaches is the largest coach-driven and coachbased organization for any sport globally. The 80-year-old organization comprises 30,000 members/coaches. They advocate for coaches and the sport in general.

PAGE 18 | JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022

CA L E NDA R

FALLS CHURCH

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

CALENDAR LOCALEVENTS

THURSDAY, JANUARY 27 Falls Church Writers Group. A group for local aspiring writers.

Share your work, give and receive feedback. All kinds of writing considered. Bring something that you’re working on. This program will be held virtually on Zoom.

Please psullivan@fallschurchva. gov to request a Zoom invite.

(Virtual event, via Zoom, hosted

by Mary Riley Styles Library). 7 — 8 p.m.

Solace Outpost Trivia Night. Join Solace Outpost for live trivia every Tuesday and Thursday presented

by Pour House Trivia. Come drink, eat and win. First place teams win a $30 gift card. Second place teams win a $20 gift card. (444 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 7 — 9 p.m.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29 Farmers Market. Every Saturday, every week, you’ll find fresh, local produce, meat, dairy, flowers & plants, honey, and so much more!

Please review and abide by the Covid-19 guidelines. (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). 9 a.m. — 12 p.m.

Used Book Sale. Stop by Mary Riley Styles Upper Level Conference Room for their monthly used book sale. Get great bargains on books, compact discs, and DVDs for all ages. Most hardback-books sell for $2 (+ tax), paperback-books and DVDs for $1 (+ tax), and board books for $0.50 (+ tax). All proceeds support library programs and services. (120 N Virginia Ave., Falls Church). 10 a.m. — 6 p.m.

Bullet Journaling for Teens. Come

set some goals and get organized for the new year at Tysons Pimmit Library. This event is for ages 13 — 18. (7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church). 3 — 4 p.m.

Comedy Night. $5 Comedy Night is back inside at the State Theatre. Featuring DMV’s best up & coming comedians. Hosted

by Angel featuring Dale Dunlap, Adrian Rodney, Sandi Benton, Will McKoy, Liza Banks, Steven Chen, Shounak Vale, Jose Sanchez & Eddie Morrison. You must be 18 or over to enter unless accompanied by a parent. Valid ID required. (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). 7 — 8 p.m.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 1 Trivia Tuesday at Audacious Aleworks.

Join Audacious Aleworks every Tuesday for trivia at 7 p.m. The winning team of 1 to 6 receives a $25 gift card to the brewery as well as entry into online quarterly championships for $2500. (110 E Fairfax St., Falls Church). 7 — 9 p.m.

Trivia Night at the Casual Pint.

Do you know that the capital of Virginia is Falls Church? Do you know that Elvis was a member of the Beatles? If you know these things you should come to trivia Tuesday at 7:00 pm at the Casual Pint. As always trivia is outside in a covered breezeway and is contact free. Just download TrivNow on your phone and play along. (6410 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 7 — 8 p.m.

Solace Outpost Trivia Night. Join Solace Outpost for live trivia every Tuesday and Thursday presented

by Pour House Trivia. Come drink, eat and win. First place teams win a $30 gift card. Second place teams win a $20 gift card. (444

STOP BY THE CASUAL PINT on Tuesday night for weekly trivia plus food and drinks. (Photo: The

Casual Pint)

W. Broad St., Falls Church). 7 — 9 p.m.

(1645 Trap Rd. Vienna). $68+. 8 p.m. 703-255-1900.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2

Joint Operation with Harbor Boys and Toby Raps. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 – $25.

8 p.m. 703-255-1566.

Needlecraft Circles. Want to get crafty? Each Wednesday Thomas Jefferson Library teaches a new needlecraft. Supplies provided.

This event is for adults. (1545 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 1 — 2 p.m.

Afterschool Activities and Adventures. Introducing After School Activities and Adventures: the after-school activity of the week at Woodrow Wilson Library.

It might be games, activities, or crafts! It’s always a surprise and fun. Ages 6—12. Limited to the first 12 participants. (6101 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church). 4:30 — 5:30 p.m.

Pajama Storytime. Come in your pajamas and bring your teddy bear for a bedtime story at Tysons-Pimmit Library. Ages 0 to 6 and their families. (7584 Leesburg Pike, Falls Church). 7 — 7:30 p.m.

LIVEMUSIC THURSDAY, JANUARY 27 Bobby Thompson Show. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-2419504.

Branford Marsalis. Wolf Trap

FRIDAY, JANUARY 28 Josh Allen Trio. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504.

Raheem DeVaughn.

The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria). $69.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.

Enter the Haggis. Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Rd. Vienna). $28+. 8 p.m.

703-255-1900.

Get Back: The Apple Core’s All Beatles Music Experience.

Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $16 – $25. 8 p.m. 703255-1566.

Rusty Lost Highway Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-2419504.

Heather Peck. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church).

9:30 p.m. 703-237-8333.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 29 Reggie Right Eye Blues. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-

9504.

The Rockits. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $10. 7:15 p.m. 703-255-1566.

Who’s Bad: The Ultimate Michael Jackson Experience. The Birchmere (3701 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria). $39.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500.

Shakin’ Woods Blues, Rock & More. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.

Brad Doggett. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church).

9:30 p.m. 703-237-8333.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 30 Honky Tonk Cassnovas. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-2419504.

Mike Dawes with Trevor Gordon Hall. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $25. 7 p.m. 703255-1566.

Josh Allen Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-241-9504.

MONDAY, JANUARY 31 Tom Saputo Show: Live. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 7:30 p.m. 703-2419504.

Calendar Submissions Email: calendar@fcnp.com | Mail: Falls Church News-Press, Attn: Calendar, 105 N. Virginia Ave., #310, Falls Church, VA 22046

Be sure to include time, location, cost of admission, contact person and any other pertinent information. Event listings will be edited for content and space limitations. Please include any photos or artwork with submissions. Deadline is Monday at noon for the current week’s edition.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 19

C�������� N��� � N���� Creative Cauldron’s New Play Opens Feb. 10 The 2021-22 Season “Reignite, Reimagine!” continues at Creative Cauldron’s twelfth year producing and presenting live theater and music in Falls Church. “Girls of Madison Street” is a world premiere by Helen Hayes Outstanding Performer Iyona Blake. This work is presented as part of the second phase of Creative Cauldron’s “Bold New Works for Intimate Stages” program. The goal in this phase is to support the development of theater works written by women, and women-identifying writers and composers, and is sponsored by Jon Wiant. “Girls of Madison Street” runs from February 10 through March 6, 2022. “She Speaks,” an art exhibit featuring works by women of color will be in the gallery during the run of the show.

“Girls of Madison Street” centers on a tight-knit family of African American sisters confronting hidden truths and well kept secrets as they come together for their mother’s funeral. Conflicts emerge, tensions flare, but they soon learn that the bonds of sisterhood know no bounds as they unspool issues like illness, addiction, mental health, marriage, and more. This production is sponsored by Diener and Associates CPAs, and Community Engagement sponsor Tori McKinney.

Tickets are on sale now, and can be purchased at www.creativecauldron.org or by calling 703- 4369948. Performances will be socially distanced for the first two weeks, or until such time as the commu-

nity spread of Covid-19 is greatly reduced. Masks are required for all patrons at all times, and proof of vaccination or a negative CDC approved Covid test is required for all patrons over 5.

Nominations Grand Marshal of Memorial Day Parade The Recreation and Parks Department is pleased to announce the return of the annual City of Falls Church Memorial Day event. This is the 40th year of the community tradition that will include a Memorial Day Ceremony hosted by the Falls Church Veteran’s Council, a 3K Fun Run, civic, merchant, crafter and food vendors, live music, kids entertainment and a parade.

Do you know someone who has made exceptional, outstanding, distinguished, sustained, or unique contributions to the City of Falls Church? Nominate them to be the Grand Marshal of the 40th Annual Memorial Day Parade, which will be held on Monday, May 30, 2022!

The Grand Marshal will preside over the parade in a special vehicle and be profiled by the City government and local media.

Visit www.fallschurchva.gov/ MemorialDay for details on how to nominate someone and to find sponsorship and vendor applications.

Free At Home Covid Tests Now Available Residential households in the U.S. can order one set of four free at-home tests from USPS.com. Limit of one order per residential address.

A RESIDENT OF The Fields apartment complex appeared at the Falls Church City Council meeting Monday to describe conditions of rampant mice infestations and mold present there.

Council members expressed outrage at the conditions, but were told by the City’s building inspections department that the City has no authority over tenant-landlord relations under current state law. (P����: N���-P����).

One order includes 4 individual rapid antigen Covid-19 tests. Orders have begun to ship.

To order your free test kits, visit covidtests.gov or special.usps.com/ testkits and fill out your contact information and home address.

Fit4Mom Stroller Strides at Mosaic District Fit4Mom Mosaic is back!

Fit4Mom Stroller Strides is a functional, total-body conditioning workout designed for moms with kids in tow. Each 60-minute workout is comprised of strength training, cardio and core restoration, all while entertaining little ones.

Each Stroller Strides instructor is skilled to meet you where you are mentally and physically. You’ll leave

Restaurant Spotlight

Last week of every month Contact us today to advertise!

Call: Sue Johnson • sjohnson@fcnp.com • 703-587-1282

class feeling connected, successful and energized. No more mama guilt.

This class is all about self-care in a supportive and encouraging environment.

You can register for this event online at mosaicdistrict.com/events/ event/fit4mom-stroller-strides/. Your first class is free.

This event takes place every Tuesday and Thursday at Mosaic District in front of Mom & Pop.

Dar Al-Hijrah Sewing Academy Celebrates Graduation After surviving two Covid pandemic-related shutdowns, the Islamic Relief USA-sponsored sewing academy at Dar Al-Hijrah graduated its class of 12 students Tuesday afternoon, setting the stage for them

to embark on promising careers as seamstresses.

Sheikh Shaker AlSayed said programs like the sewing academy are necessary as they help “uplift the quality of life.” He encouraged the recently graduated students to pass on their knowledge.

The monthsl ong classes provide a total of 100 hours of instruction, where the students create commercial draperies, alterations, and dresses.

In addition to the instruction, Stacey Picard, assistant social services director for the mosque, said the academy provides an opportunity to bond with fellow peers and form a sisterhood of sorts. Many of the students arrived relatively recently to the United States from their homelands.

PAGE 20 | JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022

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30. Female sheep w 33. Least distant 36. Health haven 38. Pay attention nt 40. Mad 41. Window glass 42. Worshiped n to object 43. School off session 45. Section 47. Public vehicle s 49. Ripen, as cheese 50. Pull or haul cer 51. Wild donkey

UZZLE NO. 119

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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

PUZZLE NO. 120

21. Most scarlet 23. Rectify 25. Pats gently 26. Depart 27. Not accept 28. Affirmative votes 29. Cozy corner 30. Yellowfin or albacore 32. Demanded 41. Narrow

43. African animal, shortly 45. Toothed tools 47. Pigeon-____ 48. Clothed 49. That woman’s 50. 100% 51. Hitch 52. ____-man band 54. Pigeon sound

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ACROSS 35. Alter 1. Buck 36. Vegetable 5. Supportive drawer 8. Nibble 37. Chunk of 12. Kojak’s lack eternity 13. Captain’s 38. Strained record 39. Pig’s place 14. Strong cord 40. Glide 15. Wheel shaft 42. Deep-____ 16. Piercing tool pie 17. Had creditors 44. Classifieds 18. Utter unhappiness 46. Purl, e.g.

50. On the crest 20. Generation 22. Brief message 53. Perform 55. Long stick 24. Finished 28. Colony insect 56. Queue 57. Gloom 31. Shy 33. Wood cutter 58. Diamond shape 34. Plural 59. Nasty look pronoun

60. Lawn material 61. Bookie’s concern DOWN 1. Farce 2. Cab 3. Feels unwell 4. Envy’s color 5. School recess 6. Scrap 7. Eye rudely 8. Creak 9. Here’s partner 10. Chimpanzee, e.g.

11. Elope 19. Turned

ANSWER TO PUZZLE NO. 120

CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS USE AMERICAN SPELLING

SPORT QUIZ

By Ryan A. Berenz

PUZZLE NO. 122

37. Occupies 22. Model 42. Tarry 1. Name the NASCAR Hall of Famer who in 1963 became the first Black driver to win a race in NASCAR’s premier Grand 23. Play practice 38. United ative 43. Supporter National Series?

24. Hither and Kingdom 45. Movie spool ____ region 47. Small child 2. What Panamanian jockey amassed 9,530 career wins, including one at the (1984) and three straight at the 26.Kentucky Mowed Derby 39.

Air pollution 49. Mariner’s yes Stakes (1982-84)?

28. Linger Belmont 40.

Get sleepy 50. 22nd letter 29. Picks 41. Hang fire 51. Say further 31. Neither’s 3. What NFL franchise played its first season in 1967 but did not have a winning campaign until43. it finished 12-3 in the strikeLarge scarf mate shortened 1987 season?

45. Corn spike 32. Ruled 46. Cain’s mother 34. Mama’s 4. What New York Yankees lefthanded pitcher was named AL Rookie of the Year in 1981 and threw a no-hitter on July 4, 1983? fellow 47. Dawn 35. Guy moisture

UZZLE NO. 121

ZZLE ANSWERS SPELLING

JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 21

5. What name did the NBA’s Washington Wizards franchise have when it was established in 1961?

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6. Federation Internationale des Echecs (FIDE) is the global governing body of what game?

7. Name the Denver Nuggets coach who was fined and suspended for ordering his team to stop playing defense during a 156113 loss to the Sacramento Kings in November 1983.

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Last53.

Week’s Answers Attracted 31. “The Flying

ACROSS 1. Molecule part ____” 5. To’s opposite 1.32.

DOWN Gather •crops Reebok 2. Jessica Simpson • 3. Ebbets Field.

8. Wound 1. Summer 33. Gosh! covering cooler 34. Cooking 4. Dick Button •vessel 5. Chip Ganassi • 6. King • 7. The fumblerooski.

ANSWER TO PUZZLE NO. 122 12. Baby’s father 2. Light brownClancy 13. Small boy 3.

Different 35. Worth 14. Record CommandSyndicate, Inc 36. Out rangeKing4.Features (c)of2022 15. Discontinues 38. Midriffs 5. Liquid 16. Not deserved 39. Undress 6. Go on and on 18. Tease 41. Ache 7. Verse form 20. Hazel and 42. Tag Alice 8. Drinking aid incorrectly 21. Ranch 9. Flour 44.

Urgent want holders 24. Evergreen 48. Verbal shrubs 10. Imitated 25. Removers of 49. United 11. River 50. Roofline weeds bottoms detail 26. Swindle 17. Pulpit word 27. Duet number 51. Hair products 19. Used to be CROSSWORD PUZZLE ANSWERS 52. TV promos 21. Rug style 30. Pale USE AMERICAN SPELLING

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LO CA L

PAGE 22 | JANUARY 27 - FEBRUARY 2, 2022

BACK IN THE DAY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

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25 � 10 Y���� A�� �� ��� N���-P���� Falls Church News-Press Vol. VI, No. 45 • January 23, 1997

Falls Church News-Press Vol. XXI, No. 46 • February 2, 2012

President Sets Foot in City of Falls Church

Obama Visits Falls Church to Spell Out Housing & Mortgage Reforms

The President of the United States crossed into the City of Falls Church early Sunday morning to attend services with his wife at the Columbia Baptist Church.

President Clinton’s former pastor, Dr. Rex M Horne, was the guest preacher at all three Sunday servicess.

With five members of City Council sitting in the front row, President Barack Obama bounced onto the podium at the James Lee Community Center on Annandale Road yesterday morning to a standing, cheering reception from 400 people, waved and proclaimed, “It is great to be back in Falls Church!”

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DENNIS is a fun loving English Chocolate Labrador. He loves exploring the leafy streets of Falls Church City on long walks, having play dates with his friends Kovey and Boomer and socializing with his many fun neighbors around Whittier Park.

Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com.

I BUMPED INTO ADAM in the final days of The Complete Stategists existence in Falls Church as the city makes way for Whole Foods. A long time resident of the city, Adam started working in the shop in 2013. By the time 2015 rolled around he was managing the shop. When asked if he had any parting words, he summed up everything pretty succinctly by saying, “I can’t find the energy to be sad about any of this. I’ve enjoyed wasting a lot of time here.”(P����: J. M������ W�����)

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022 | PAGE 23

Fa l l s C h u r c h Business News & Notes

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The Compleat Strategist Has Closed The Compleat Strategist opened the Strategy and Fantasy World location in Falls Church in 1982, making it the oldest gaming stores in Northern Virginia. The decision to close was made upon the news that the building on East Broad would be repurposed to make way for a mixed-use development. The store carried a wide selection of board and card games, role-playing games and ran events for Magic: The Gathering, quests in Dungeons and Dragons and many obscure tabletop games. Manager Adam Fukumitsu reported that business had not waned and referred customers to the locations in New York City and King of Prussia.

get your flu shot today.

Solace Spreads to Navy Yard Solace Outpost brewery of Sterling announced the plans for a large taproom in DCs’ Navy Yard. The brewery opened in 2017 and brothers Ian and Eric Hilton expanded to the former Mad Fox site in Falls Church in 2020. The DC site won’t be brewing but they will be making one-off beers exclusive to the Navy Yard location.

Seven Corners Gym Property Sold for $21.5M Daytona Beach, Florida’s CTO Realty Growth Inc. sold the building at 1000 E Broad Street that houses 24 Hour Fitness in Seven Corners for $21.5 million, originally purchased in 2019 for $21.25 million.

The sale is part of a 1031 exchange deal with a Northern Virginia-based family which wasn’t immediately disclosed. The 1031 exchange provides real estate investors a tax deferral on the financial gain of a sale if they roll the proceeds directly in to a similar investment property in short order. The 3-acre site sits at the Seven Corners intersection.

Lockheed Martin Invests in Electra.aero

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Electra.aero Inc., a Falls Church-based hybrid-electric aircraft designer and builder, has received funding from Lockheed Martin Ventures. Electra specializes in the air taxi market and the investment will supports its plan to begin flight testing a hybrid-electric, ultra-short takeoff and landing aircraft (eSTOL) this year. The low-emission aircraft can take off within 100 feet using electricity transporting up to 1,800 pounds of cargo or seven to nine passengers up to 500 miles. The planes are designed to be flown through commercial airlines with on-demand customer booking as well as for cargo and medical transportation.

CBP’s Small Business Resiliency Program Community Business Partnership (CBP) will expand its target market into greater Northern Virginia and diversify its financial products and offerings through a revolving loan fund. CBP will increase its capacity to support its target markets, including small, women-, immigrant- and minority-owned businesses, specifically at-home business operators, through business counseling and curriculum in various languages spoken in the Northern Virginia service area. Funding of $350,000 will be deployed to increase CBP’s lending capacity and a loan loss reserve to support the lending. CBP will leverage grant dollars to secure future lending capital and technical financial assistance to help more than 150 borrowers. This includes the counties of Arlington, Fairfax, Frederick, Loudoun, Montgomery, Prince George, Prince William, Stafford, and Washington, cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park, towns of Clifton, Dumfries, Haymarket, Herndon, Leesburg, Occoquan, Quantico, Shenandoah, Vienna, and Warrenton. .  Business News & Notes is compiled by Elise Neil Bengtson, Executive Director of the Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at elise@fallschcurchchamber.org.

Make Your Pet a Star! Critter

Corner

Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be!

Snap a pic of your critter and email it to: CRITTERCORNER@FCNP.COM

Accepting Applications Through March 25, 2022 The Brown v. Board of Education Scholarship Program was established by the Virginia General Assembly in 2004 to provide educational opportunities for persons who were denied an education in Virginia between 1954 and 1964 due to the closing of the public schools during Massive Resistance. The program is now open to eligible applicants for the 2022–2023 school year. For applications and information on eligibility, visit: BROWNSCHOLARSHIP.VIRGINIA.GOV or contact Lily Jones, Division of Legislative Services, at (804) 698-1888.

PAGE 24 | JANUARY 27 - FEBUARY 2, 2022

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

We have buyers!

ROCK STAR Realty ... ROCK STAR Service

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We have well-qualified buyers looking for a detached home in the Falls Church City, McLean and North Arlington school districts.

Must have a total of at least 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths and a basement.

A garage would be nice but not a must-have.

Please call Karin if you have a home that fits our clients needs at 703-626-3257.

It’s never too early, or too late to start planning your next move.

Please contact us if you, a family member or friend need a caring, competent, and informed real estate professional.

CALL 703-867-TORI 2111 Wilson Blvd, Arlington, VA 22201

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