Calendar

PAGE 18 | OCTOBER 22 – 28, 2020

FALLS CHURCH CALENDAR

CALENDAR

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

LOCALEVENTS

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

Halloween Scavenger Hunt. In lieu of the normal Halloween Carnival due to the Covid19 pandemic, the City of Falls Church Recreation and Parks Department is hosting a HallowScream Scavenger Hunt around parks in The Little City. Between Oct. 23 – Nov. 1, six signs will be hidden in six different City of Falls Church parks. Each sign will have a letter. Find all the signs and unscramble the letters to reveal the Hallow-Scream code word, and participants will win a Hallow-Scream Scavenger Hunt t-shirt. For more information, visit fallschurchva.gov/1763/ Halloween-Scavenger-Hunt.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24

Falls Church Farmers Market To

Go. The Falls Church Farmers Market has converted to a preorder, to-go event. All orders must be placed in advance of Saturday’s market which will be open from 8 a.m. – noon for preorder pick-up only in front of City Hall (300 Park Ave.).

In-Person Early Voting. The last two Saturdays in October (Oct. 24 & 31) are open for early inperson voting for City of Falls Church voters. All visitors to City Hall must wear a mask or face covering. Voters must bring a valid Voter ID, which as of July 1 includes their Voter Information Notice (aka Voter Card) or a utility bill with their name and registered address on it. Valid Photo IDs — such as a Virginia Drivers License, U.S. Passport or Employment Badge — are still accepted as Voter ID as well. Voters over the age of 65 or with physical limitations may vote curbside outside City Hall. They should call the Elections Office at 703-248-5085 (TTY 711) once they’ve arrived or call ahead and make an appointment. Be advised that the Falls Church Farmers Market occurs in the City Hall parking lot every Saturday morning from 8 a.m. – noon and parking will not be available directly in front of City Hall at that time. City Hall (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). 9. a.m. – 5 p.m.

Prescription Drug Take-Back

Day. The public can drop-off pills for disposal with the City of Falls Church Police Department. Drop off any expired, unused, or unwanted pills and patches free and anonymously. Vape pens and eCigarettes are also accepted as long as the battery is removed. Note that police cannot accept liquids or needles/ sharps at this event. At the last Take-Back Day event in October 2019, Americans turned in over 882,919 pounds of unwanted medicines through over 6,174 collection sites nationwide. In Virginia alone, 23,958 pounds of unwanted medicines were collected at 203 sites state-wide. For more information, visit the DEA Take Back Day website at takebackday.dea.gov. Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church). 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Dia de Muertos / Day of the

Dead. Interested attendees can come celebrate the Day of the Dead with park staff for a night of family fun. Participants will make calaveras, the decorative sugar skull masks and costumes, hear holiday lore and see some live animals. Afterward, the group will go on a night hike through the candlelit forest. For families. Register children and adults; children must be accompanied by a registered adult. To register, contact 703-228-4747. Long Branch Nature Center at Glencarlyn Park (625 S. Carlin Springs Rd., Arlington). 6 – 7:30 p.m. VIRTUALEVENTS

MONDAY, OCTOBER 19

City Council Meeting (online). MARS RODEO will be performing at JV’s Restaurant on Friday. (Photo: MarsRodeo.com )

City Council meetings are held the second and fourth Monday of the month, with the exception of August and December when only one meeting is held. These meetings are open to the public and are conducted to allow Council Members to discuss upcoming legislation and policy issues and the public is invited to speak. All participating members of the City Council will be present at this meeting through electronic means. All members of the public may view this electronic meeting via www.fallschurchva. gov/CouncilMeetings. The meeting may also be viewed on FCCTV (Cox 11, RCN 2, Verizon 35). Video will be available after the meeting both online and on FCCTV. The virtual meeting will be held pursuant to and in compliance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, Section 2.2-3708.2, adopted to allow for continued government operation during the COVID19 declared emergency. 7:30 – 11 p.m.

LIVEMUSIC

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 22

Jehovah’s Favorite Choir. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). 7 p.m. 703-2370300.

Sol Roots Band Live. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-2419504.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23

Andrew Renner (5 p.m.) and Josh

Allen Band (7 p.m.). Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington Street, Ste A Falls Church). 703858-9186.

Mars Rodeo. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 5:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.

The Cassaday Concoction. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). 7:30 p.m. 703237-0300.

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

Brad Pugh. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 9 p.m. 703-237-8333.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 24

City Farm Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504.

Born Cross Eyed. Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington Street, Ste A Falls Church). 7 p.m. 703-858-9186.

Feel Free. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-237-0300.

Jamison Greene Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-2419504.

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25

Shree. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 9 p.m. 703-237-8333

Lady Limbo Band. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 5 p.m. 703-241-9504.

Frank O — Singer/Songwriter

Open Mic. Falls Church Distillers (442 S. Washington Street, Ste A Falls Church). 5 p.m. 703-8589186.

Form of Expression. The State Theatre (220 N Washington St., Falls Church). $25. 7 p.m. 703237-0300.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

LOCAL

OCTOBER 22 – 28, 2020 | PAGE 15

SAD-O-WEEN NO MORE! The Halloween window painting normally run by Falls Church Art’s Marty Behr was picked up George Mason High School’s PTSA president Mary Asel to the great relief from the community. And Sleepy Hollow resident Cat Tallant’s last minute decision to bring her haunted path back to her front yard has been well received by her neighbors (especially the younger ones). (Photos: News-Press)

Halloween Festivities Stave Off Virus Cancellations By Adapting

by Matt Delaney

Falls Church News-Press

Ghouls and ghosts have seemed a bit too real as the world struggles with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, but that hasn’t spooked Falls Church residents from pulling off their own modified ways of showing their Halloween spirit.

Government officials have spent the weeks leading up to one of the calendar’s more social holidays by urging against its traditions.

Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross wrote in her News-Press column last week that “Handing treats to children door-to-door is not recommended this year, nor are tailgate-type handouts in large parking lots, referred to as ‘trunk or treat.’” The City of Falls Church sang the same tune in its own notice Wednesday, saying people were safest at home and that a costume mask is a not a good substitute for a cloth face covering.

Residents, however, responded to the political encouragement to abort this year’s festivities by instead getting creative with how it’s celebrated.

Within the City was last weekend’s revival of the annual Halloween Window Painting event.

Normally organized by Falls Church Art’s Marty Behr, the arts group said at the start of the month that it would be forgoing its yearly event. Enter George Mason High School’s Parent-Teacher-Student Association, led by President Mary Asel, who said she took over the “well-oiled machine” that Behr had spent over a decade assembling. The community response was overwhelmingly positive.

“There are lots of groups and families that look forward to doing the painting every year,” Asel said, noting that everyone came prepared with their own masks and adhered to social distancing. “In the 2020 spirit, it is a smaller effort this year, but I think it’s still a really lovely effort.”

Asel rounded up some “volunteers” (i.e. her two teenage sons) to man the paint-mixing table at Mr. Brown’s park this past weekend. There, some groups who had arranged to take up painting some businesses were met by passersby who joined in on the spot to help out.

All in all, Asel estimated that at least a dozen businesses — who she said were also eager to participate — have offered up their windows. And while Asel could only get her sons to sacrifice their Saturday and Sunday mornings just once, she’s not stopping other groups who have reached out about painting. She also said that some who participated in years past had gone off on their own and started painting business windows.

One of the City-run efforts that serves as a good candy bonanza for younger children is the annual Halloween Carnival. That event taking place in the community center’s basketball court predictably forced it to be called off, but Scarlett Williams, the City’s special events program supervisor, has rolled out two events in its stead to give kids a reason to dress up.

First is the (free) Hallow-Scream Scavenger Hunt that takes place throughout six of the City’s parks. Starting on Friday and running until next Sunday, Nov. 1, costumed kiddos will have to find six Halloweenthemed pictures hidden at Lincoln Park, Crossman Park, Cavalier Trail Park, West End Park, Cherry Hill Park and Howard E. Herman Park. Those who find all six pictures and decipher the code word they spell out by Nov. 1 will get a free t-shirt.

The community center is also holding Halloween Pop-Up events on the big day, with Pumpkin Painting in Cherry Hill Park; Birdhouse Painting in Berman Park and Scarecrow Making in Frady Park. This event requires registration to make sure social distancing is followed, so those interested should go to webtrac.fallschurchva. gov/wbwsc/webtrac.wsc/wbsplash. html?wbp=1.

Outside of City limits people are getting equally crafty about how they give kids their trick-or-treating thrills.

The Jefferson Village Civic Association, which is based out of the Jefferson Village neighborhood just south of Lee Highway along Graham Road, is hosting a Halloween Grab & Go next Saturday, Oct. 31 from 3 – 4 p.m.

The Fall Fest — complete with a bouncy house and kids gathering together in costumes — is usually the association’s biggest event.

Devin Pharr, the association’s chair, said they nearly didn’t even attempt to hold something tailored to Covid safety protocols this year, though in his words, “That’s not what we’re about. It’s not just about planning when things are good; it’s about planning when things are hard, too.”

For this year, the group is having families come out to the intersection of Marshall Street and Custis Parkway. That’s when a steady procession of children in their holiday garb will parade down the street and pick up individual gift bags of candy at separate stations.

The hope of the association is that it will replace that night’s usual rounds of trick-or-treating for antsy parents. But he’s not expecting kids to make it the smoothest production.

“It will be like when you see people in a marathon — how they set up stations of water on the route, but don’t do a very neat job of picking up a cup,” Pharr said. “It’s going to be similar, though not quite as fast, but possibly just as messy considering it’s kids.”

And a final staple of the Halloween season locally is Cat Tallant’s Haunted Path at Sleepy Hollow, in the Sleepy Hollow neighborhood.

The nurse who works around Covid-19 patients was having anxiety over even putting together her often-extensive haunted house display around the front and back of her house.

After waffling on the decision, she finally committed to setting up what she called a “Spider Walk” in the front of her house that’s less congested and easier to progress through for interested families. Kids will still be able to pick up candy at the end of their trip through the haunted path and will witness her new blow-spider (hence the name). She hasn’t spent too much time getting the word out since it’s been such a late decision, but she is happy about putting it out for the neighborhood’s children.

“We’re just happy to be able to do something that the community and the kids can look forward to during this time, that’s really why we did it,” Tallant said. “These little kids don’t even have their friends to play with. It’s really, really sad.”

The path goes live on Oct. 30 & 31, and runs from 6 – 9 p.m. both days.