December 15 – 21, 2016
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d ed 1991 • Vol. X X V I No. 43
Falls Church • Tysons Corner • Merrifield • McLean • North Arlington • Bailey’s Crossroads
Inside This Week Tinner Hill Announces MLK Day March Edwin Henderson of the Tinner Hill Foundation for the advancement of civil rights announced at Monday that it is organizing a march from the Tinner Hill monument on S. Washington St. to Falls Church City Hall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Jan. 16. See News Briefs, page 9
F.C. Filmmaker Explores Opioid Addiction “Written Off,” a documentary from Falls Church production company The Biscuit Factory, explores the devastating and life-destroying effects of opioid addiction.
F.C. Council Delays Vote on New Whopping Tax Rate Hike Policy A Gingerbread Capitol
New School Costs Have No Economic Growth Offsets
by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
and Republicans in control of both the House and Senate, action on the federal sequester, on Metro, on tax and health care “reform,” on “over-regulation,” including a quick removal of Obama administration executive order mandates, will all be ready to happen.
The adoption of a new fiscal policy for the City of Falls Church designed to enable the City Council to begin tacking on five cents per year on the real estate tax rate this coming year for the next three years was delayed Monday night when the complexities of the proposed policy began to overwhelm Council members. It will come back for consideration the next time the Council meets in January. The plan is designed to provide the Council with the “policy” justification for having City taxpayers begin paying for the most expensive ($115 million) option for construction of a new high school at least three years prior to any actual construction, and that would also be prior to any citizen approval of a bond referendum for such an undertaking. If approved the policy would enable the introduction of a fivecent (per $100 of assessed valuation) real estate tax increase for each of the next three years – for a total tax hike of 15 cents over three years – to build a reserve of $6 million which would be used to sit idly in the City’s unassigned fund balance solely for the purpose of convincing the New York bond markets that lending the $115 million for the new high school (should the voters approve the bond sale) will be a safe bet. These rate hikes would be on top of an additional 2.5 cents that the City Hall renovation will cost taxpayers and the 1.5 cents that the library renovation, approved in a
Continued on Page 4
Continued on Page 5
See page 18
Charles M. Blow: Opposition to Trump
Nothing is safe or sacrosanct in Donald Trump’s developing governance team, and America had better start being alarmed about it and moving to actively oppose it. See page 15
Press Pass with Thievery Corporation
Thievery Corporation co-founder and Frederick, Md. native Rob Garza moved to California several years ago and now, when he comes back to the D.C. area, he says he doesn’t recognize it much anymore.
IT TOOK THREE WEEKS for Cafe Kindred’s Gary O’Hanlon and Jen Demetrio to create their gingerbread-version of the Unites States Capitol building. The coffee shop and cafe owners drew up a plan for the structure and it is made up of 90 pounds worth of gingerbread, icing, candy canes, Hershey kisses and pastillage. The gingerbread creation is on display at Cafe Kindred located at 450 N. Washington Street in Falls Church. (Photo: Drew Costley/News-Press)
Regional Congressmen Mull Trump Impact on Key Issues by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Index
Editorial..................6 Letters....................6 News & Notes.12-13 Comment......... 14-16 Business News....17 Sports..................20
Food & Dining......23 Calendar.........26-27 Comics, Sudoku & Crossword ..........29 Classified Ads......29 Critter Corner.......30
Four members of Virginia’s U.S. congressional delegation gathered in these indeterminate times before an audience at the Tysons Corner offices of the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce Monday to talk about the direction things may
be going with the regime change coming at the White House, and what can, should or shouldn’t be done about it. Incumbent Republican in the 10th (McLean-Loudoun) District of Virginia, Rep. Barbara Comstock rattled off with barely repressed glee that with Donald Trump coming into the presidency next month
PAGE 2 | DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016
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FOUR CONGRESSMEN from Virginia appeared at a forum hosted by the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce Monday. (C������� P����: C��� �� F���� C�����)
The Trump Impact Continued from Page 1
Democrats on the panel were not smiling. Reps. Don Beyer and Gerry Connolly of the region’s 8th (Falls Church, Arlington, Alexandria) and 11th (Fairfax) Districts were not looking so happy. Both focused attention on bi-partisan things they would like to see get done the next couple years, joined by Republican Rep. Rob Wittman of the lst (Tidewater) District. Rep. Connolly said, “All 11 of us (U.S. congressmen from Virginia) speak with one voice when it comes to supporting the military in our state, including cybersecurity.” But Connolly was also the most outspoken critic of Trump on the panel, saying that some of the changes he will bring, as outlined by Comstock, represent “a very cataclysmic situation.” Connolly said he’s worried about the breakdown of the world trading system, a dismantling of the Trans-Pacific Partnership “where China will fill the vacuum” and other developments that “resemble the renunciation of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I” that led to huge economic displacements, the rise of authoritarian regimes and World War II. “Trump has already created uncertainty that we’re very concerned about,” he said. “His personal interventions against Boeing and Carrier has led to an uncertainty that is already threatening the current string of 79 consecutive months of private sector job creation and an unemployment rate that has sunk to 4.6 percent.” Beyer said he was concerned that the TransAtlantic Trade and Investment Partnership being negotiated between the U.S. and the European Union remain intact. Connolly said that U.S. organized labor was misdirected in its opposition to these large international trade agreements because it is technology, and not these agreements, that are taking away their traditional jobs. “I was at a BMW plant in Munich last year, and we toured the plant for 10 minutes before we saw a single human. It was all robots.” “A higher skill set is required,” he added, and Wittman chimed in about the impact of
the driverless trucks (and other “unmanned autonomous systems”) that are coming down the pike. He hailed the dredging of the harbor at the Port of Virginia that will make it the only one of the U.S. east coast that can land some of the huge ships that can now make it through the revamped and expanded Panama Canal. But Connolly returned to his concerns about the impact of Russia both in violating the sovereignty of states in its region, its support for Assad, and the evidence that it interfered with the electoral process in the U.S. “This is a very troubling development,” he said, “which is complicated by Trump’s denigrating NATO.” Beyer said he’s “ambivalent about selfdriving cars and a robot economy,” adding, “Where is meaningful work going to come from?” He cited the statistic that now fully one in eight young adults are not in the work force. He said he hopes that progress can be made going forward in higher education reforms, by extending Pell Grants to year-round education, by refinancing student loan debt, and by extending the model of free community college to the entire nation, spurring a new K-14 approach to public education. Wittman said that extending access to high speed broadband Internet access to rural areas of the country will “level the playing field.” Connolly lashed out at Comstock’s comments about health care reform, saying “I couldn’t disagree more.” He said, “Republicans have had eight years to come up with an alternative plan to Obamacare, which has added 20 million to the insured so that now the uninsured is the lowest number in the history of the U.S., and has lowered costs. What will replace it?” Comstock insisted the GOP has a plan that includes keeping coverage for preexisting conditions and the ability of children to stay on their parents’ plans until age 26. Beyer said that he remains concerned that access to long-term birth control to stem, among other things, unplanned teen pregnancies, be recognized as an important national health issue. Moreover, he said, “97 percent of scientists say that global warming is the greatest threat that humanity faces. We need a functional and moral leadership to address issues like this and others.”
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F.C. Tax Rate Hike Vote Postponed Continued from Page 1
referendum last month, will cost, and that is before any consideration of additional needs of the City or its school system, with its exploding enrollment growth, are taken into account. That adds up to a nine-cent rate increase above the current tax rate of $1.315 per $100 of assessed real estate valuation without any added resources to handle the City’s or schools’ operating costs. The Council last spring slashed the schools’ funding request by almost $1 million in a year when enrollment growth was less than the more robust 5.6 percent growth this year. At Monday’s meeting, Councilman Dan Sze was the only one of the seven members (Councilman David Snyder was absent) who suggested that maybe some way of calculating how economic development might offset these projected tax rate hikes be factored in. Councilman Phil Duncan echoed the sentiment when the Council considered its next item, a measure offering budget guidance to the city manager for the upcoming budget cycle. Council
member Karen Oliver said she couldn’t see how such an inclusion was relevant, but voted yes with the majority, anyway. It was Vice Mayor Marybeth Connelly who proposed delaying the vote on the fiscal policy revisions, even though Oliver cautioned that by doing so, the Council might not have time to include the new policy guidelines in the upcoming Fiscal Year 2018 budget that will be developed next spring. The Council is currently lacking the benefit of the chief financial officer with the departure of Richard LaCondre last month, limiting its advisory options. Oliver, who chairs the Council’s Budget and Finance Committee that worked over recent months to devise the plan, wrote in a commentary last week that “The City faces a fiscal winter. We have enormous capital investment needs in the next 10 years, and our current capital reserves are not enough to cover all of it. The needs for school facilities, as well as investments in the library, city hall and our transportation network are enormous. Like the ant (in the “Ant and the Grasshopper” fable—ed.) we have already start-
ed saving, but we need to do much more.” But Robert LaJeunesse, a former City Council candidate who has often spoken before the Council on budget matters, challenged Oliver’s allusion to the fable, saying the choice is to either save or build. “Saving and borrowing at the same time is not good fiscal policy,” he cautioned, noting that the bond raters “recognize that the City can pay whether or not its unassigned fund balance is set higher.” He asked why the City’s debt load is held at half the level allowed by state law, and said, “Too many taxes on one generation breaks the social contract.” Sze said that “the public thinks that we already pay too much,” so “we need more time to sort this out.” He said that the tax rate “needs to have a revenue offset from economic development.” In the Council’s budget guidance to the city manager adopted Monday, it noted that the capital improvement demands underscore the Council’s intention “to maintain appropriate discipline on operating budgets for general governments and schools,” that “reflects a concern about the capacity of
DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016 | PAGE 5
taxpayers to afford both operating budgets that exceed revenues from economic growth as well as future debt service.” At the same time, it calls for the manager to “present a budget that provides a level of employee compensation that is competitive within the regional labor market and sustainable over the long
GG
term, and that funds the City pension plan.” Also, “the budget should provide options for funding improvements that will further the progress in making the City’s business districts vibrant, attractive and walkable, and options for funding the neighborhood traffic calming program on a sustained basis.”
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Campus Process’s Creative Lack
There is an astonishing lack of vision and creativity going into the effort so far to figure out how to expand the fast-growing Falls Church Public School System’s capacity, including a mind-boggling lack of appreciation for the “gift horse” that the transfer of the George Mason High School campus into the City limits as part of the deal the City made to sell its water system to Fairfax County. The “gift horse” took the form of allowing about 10.5 acres of the 36-acre parcel to be used exclusively for economic development. With the site in question located adjacent the West Falls Church Metro station, the acreage has represented a dizzying potential for economic return to the City, clearly designed originally to be an offset for the cost of a new or expanded high school. But the current plan is aimed at burdening the entire cost of the new school on City taxpayers, with only the most conservative consideration of the 10.5 acres. The plan calls for a sale of that land for $30 million (although its value has been assessed at a minimum of $40 million) and does not include a dime to be added from the resultant development of that land. This is so totally contrary to the experience of the City in the last decade and a half, when it remained ahead of its fiscal curve despite the deepest of recessions, the impact of federal sequestration and other factors. It was achieved by aggressive economic growth. For economic growth factors to be excluded from the current policy is unfathomable. Instead, taxpayers are being told they must bear the burden of a 15-cent increase in their real estate tax rate simply to salt away money in the City’s unassigned fund balance to assuage the perceived Scroogelike demands of New York bond market. The policy would begin implementation of that new tax even prior to the ability of voters to decide, presumably next November, whether or not to bond for a new school. The other factor, of course, is that the City’s current debt policy is at 50 percent of the level allowable by state law. But while we’re not fans of taking on too much debt, for the City Council to self-impose such limits at the obvious expense of taxpayers reflects a callous insensitivity to the overall fiscal health of the City and its residents. The sorely lacking factors involve alternatives to traditional “bricks and mortar” approaches. The Schools’ new interim superintendent, Dr. Robert Schiller, last week noted the trend toward K-16 educational approaches and this week U.S. Rep. Don Beyer said that pushing for free community college education opens the door for a K-14 approach. In either case, the City could pursue utilization of the underutilized University of Virginia and Virginia Tech Northern Virginia Grad Center, which was originally built with the promise that a second building would also be added.
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Left-Wing Hypocrisy in News-Press Editorial
Editor, In the November 23 News-Press, the editor treated us with a harangue on sanctuary cities, proudly proclaiming that Falls Church, is, or should be, one. Mean spirited, altright, hateful, bigoted, all terms used to describe anyone who disagrees with the in-vogue liberal moral policy prescription of the day. While the scope of the size of the illegal immigrant problem in our country gives anyone – citizen or policy
maker – pause, I for one am tired of the name calling for those who think first, that we have a serious problem, that without borders, we do not have a country. Second, that we should control our borders – just look at the deadly heroin epidemic to see one result of open borders. That the left wing (or alt-left), are pure hypocrites on this issue is provable by this segment below of Bill Clinton’s State of the Union Speech from 1996. He makes
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President elect Trump look moderate. Today’s alt-left would label him a bigot and a fascist and probably start looking for “safe spaces” to protect themselves from him, those poor delicate snowflakes. He ended this part of the speech with thunderous applause from both the Democrats and Republicans: “All Americans, not only in the states most heavily affected but in every place in this country, are rightly disturbed by the large numbers of illegal aliens entering our country… The jobs they hold might otherwise be held by citizens or legal immigrants. The public service they use impose burdens on our taxpayers… That’s why our administration has moved aggressively to secure our
borders more by hiring a record number of new border guards, by deporting twice as many criminal aliens as ever before, by cracking down on illegal hiring, by barring welfare benefits to illegal aliens,” he continued. “We are a nation of immigrants. But we are also a nation of laws. It is wrong and ultimately self-defeating for a nation of immigrants to permit the kind of abuse of our immigration laws we have seen in recent years, and we must do more to stop it.” Oh, and during the Carter Administration, all visas and immigration from Iran were stopped during the hostage crisis. Another example of alt-left hypocrisy. Dave Phelps Falls Church
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016 | PAGE 7
It’s Past Time to Reinvent Community TV in F.C. B� M��� Q. R�����
When I first moved to Falls Church in 1984, the late Sen. Barry Goldwater (R-Arizona) wrote and passed the Cable Communications Policy Act. A part of that law allowed local communities to negotiate a franchise fee with cable TV providers to create public access community TV. Like many other cities in Virginia and the nation that same year, citizens of Falls Church used the new authority to create a threeparty agreement to provide a community TV channel carried by the cable TV providers that then served the city. These agreements in all parts of America are called PEG agreements and that stands for Public, Education, and Government. Last summer I was asked to become a member of the Public Board for Falls Church Community TV, or FCCTV. I was happy to join with a very talented and experienced team of board members with special backgrounds in TV production, communications law, and accounting. The Public Board members include Board President Ken Feltman who is past president of the International Association of Political Consultants; Treasurer Richard Rankin who is an MBA whose work for our Public Boards was commended by the CPA firm of Diener and Associates; Amanda Lovins who is the marketing and development manager and a videographer for Creative Cauldron; Melissa Robison who
has produced videos for Time-Life; and Robert Shiretta who has produced TV programs in Falls Church for the last 17 years that reach an international audience. Mr. Feltman and Mr. Shiretta want to include
“The station operation does not need to be adversarial but new ideas are needed.”
more news about Chamber of Commerce members in Falls Church. But it became apparent to me very quickly that the 1984 agreement is obsolete in 2016 for many reasons including technological innovations. The agreement is also obsolete for the changing needs and priorities of the three parties which are the Public Board, the school system, and the government of Falls Church City. Back In 1984 cable TV providers relied on coaxial cable and telephone land lines only used copper wire. Fiber optical cable was extremely rare in 1984 and high definition television was only experimental in some countries. Old copper wire has now been replaced by fiber optic cables in most
of the country for both telephone landline voice calls and is the new standard for transmission of HDTV which itself became the new American standard for broadcast in 1993 and only recently became a reality for most homes. American Community Television Association estimates there are now there are well over 1,500 Public, Educational and Government, known as PEG, access centers in the United States and there may be as many as 5,000 cable television channels managed by these centers. Whether it’s local government meetings, school board sessions, religious or political programming, youth programming, distance learning, music or entertainment programming...these local community channels are a powerful voice for democracy. In a time when media consolidation is rampant and many local newspapers have a decline in readers, PEG access television has taken on greater importance as a voice for, about and by the community. There are well-run community TV channels in Fairfax County, Arlington, and Alexandria that provide great programming for their residents and still manage to balance the needs of the Public, the educational system, and the local government. But in Falls Church, the Public Board program opportunities of FCCTV have suffered the most because staff time has been disproportionately assigned to only the needs and
supervision of the city government rather than applied in an even manner as stipulated in the PEG agreement for FCCTV. The modern state of the art studio and equipment for FCCTV are located in the George Mason High School where they should be easy to use by students and citizens who want to produce public programs. Other equipment is located at City Hall to cover City Council and Planning Commission hearings. But under the current operation supervised by city employees instead of by the Public Board, access to the station has become so needlessly cumbersome and unfriendly to the public programmers that the independent public board is blocked from doing the job it is supposed to do and is capable of doing. The station operation does not need to be adversarial but new ideas are needed. Although Falls Church is a little city, we can still have public programming as good as our neighbors in Fairfax County, Arlington, and Alexandria. As a new board member in search of new solutions I am only asking that the Falls Church City Council cooperate with Public Board members to scrap the obsolete 1984 agreement and work with us to re-imagine a new agreement that is fair to all parties including the public access programmers. Mark Rhoads is a member of the Falls Church Cable Access Corporation Board.
Q������� �� ��� W��� Is the F.C. Council’s plan for a fivecent tax increase per year for the next three years a good idea? • Yes • No
Last Week’s Question:
Is the K-16 approach to education worth exploring in the City of Falls Church?
• Not sure
Log on to www.FCNP.com to cast your vote
FCNP On-Line polls are surveys, not scientific polls.
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PAGE 8 | DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Economy Party Supplies Prepares to Close After 28 Years by Drew Costley
Falls Church News-Press
A customer was checking out at Economy Party Supplies and Costumes when she saw the store’s owner, Diane Lahey, walk up to the counter area. “I’m sorry to see the store go,” she said to Lahey. “It is one of my favorite stores in town.” Lahey thanked the lady for her support, moral and financial. The woman was buying discounted Halloween decorations, costumes and other miscellaneous party supplies from the store, which is closing on Saturday, Dec. 24 after operating in the City of Falls Church for 28 years. Diane’s husband, Jim Lahey, was the heart and soul of the store and died in late September. That was one of a few reasons why she is deciding to close the store. “We made this decision to close for a few reasons. First, our lease is up on December 31st,” Lahey says, reciting a letter that she wrote to another local news outlet. “Secondly, the man who was the heart and soul of this store died on September 23rd. “He created the store and this was his baby and he’s gone….He created it 28 years ago and he was passionate about it until he left us. And, as the remaining owner, I’m ready to retire. The retail landscape has been changing over the past few years, as I’m sure everybody is aware, and I guess it’s just time to go.” The impending closure of
Economy Party Supplies and Costumes is a unique loss for Falls Church. Walking into the store, customers are greeted by wall-to-wall festive decorations for any occasion. Customers who venture into the store’s basement encounter characters of all kinds, albeit in costume form – the costume inventory of the store rivals and, in some case, tops the likes of Party City. Customers avail themselves of the professional grade costumes that the store provides throughout the year, but Halloween was always the busiest season. “He went before Halloween, which was really nasty,” Lahey says of her husband’s death. She says she has had some time to process because he was in the hospital for most of the month of September, but hasn’t had much besides that. “I was really busy, so you don’t have much time to process everything,” she says. “I mean, we were heading into Halloween and he was an integral part of the store during Halloween. I was usually down in the costume shop and he was usually upstairs with the props and all that kind of stuff and he wasn’t here for Halloween. He also loved the store, so he was here like 24/7 as the saying goes, so that was difficult.” After Halloween came and went, Lahey and her staff went about the business of preparing to close the store, which includes liquidating the store’s inventory. Discounts on items in the store
MARCUS PONDEXTER, who has been working at Economy Party Supplies and Costumes for 16 years, said that the full-time employees at the store are “really close.” The store is preparing to close on Saturday, Dec. 24 after being open for 28 years. (Photo: Drew Costley/News-Press) range between 40 – 70 percent off. This includes the store’s inventory of costumes, ranging from Cookie Monster, Kermit and Elmo to bears, eagles and dogs. Walking through the store, Lahey would stop to showcase Halloween decorations and costumes that her husband Jim bought throughout the years. She relays the enthusiasm he had for stocking the store with interesting,
SOME OF THE COSTUMES at Economy Party Supplies and Costumes hang on the wall. Lahey says that the costumes are on sale for 40 percent of what they would usually cost. (Photo: Drew Costley/ News-Press)
lifelike and interactive decorations and costumes. When Jim opened the store in 1988, he was in the office supplies business, as was Diane. Prior to opening Economy Party Supplies and Costumes, Jim was an office supplies salesman, and then the owner of Economy Office Products and Furniture, which Diane helped him start in 1969. At one point, he owned six stores around the region between the two companies. Eventually, he closed the office products company, consolidated the other locations of the party supplies and costumes businesses into the Falls Church location. He spent the duration of his life working at that store seven days a week. Jim’s enthusiasm for Economy Party Supplies and Costumes resulted in the creation of a community around the store and a familial nature to the store’s staff. Customers came from Arlington, McLean, Tysons Corner, and other places in Fairfax County to shop at the store, probably because the location is convenient in addition to the staff being congenial. “I’ve had parents come up to me and say ‘This is my kid’s favorite store.’ The sentiments have been great. I really appreciate that,” Lahey says. “Because you don’t even realize that when you’re in the heat of business, but they’ve been coming in and saying they can’t believe we’re closing.”
Diane, who said she didn’t work in the store as much Jim but still spent a substantial amount of time there, says that she’s going to miss the store’s employees. And they echo that sentiment. “Where do I start?” says Adela Spoon, who, along with her husband Mike, has worked with the Lahey family in some capacity or another for several years. “I was pregnant with my fourth child, who is going to be 13, and that Halloween I worked here, pregnant and fat.” She and Lahey shared a laugh over remembering how she sat behind the register on a stool. Marcus Pondexter, who grew up in McLean, has been working at Economy Party Supplies and Costumes for 16 years. He started at the store when he was 19 years old. He says that those who are full-time employees at the store are “really close” and then there are part-time and seasonal employees who come back to work at the store now and again. He says he enrolled in school a few days before speaking with the News-Press and he has another job. “I mean it’s sad because I’ve been here for so long,” he says. “But it’s another change, I guess, something you’ve got to get used to. It is sad, though. This store is like a landmark. We have people coming in here all the time sad about it. It’s pretty rough.”
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NEWS BRIEFS
DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016 | PAGE 9
Falls Church Sellers trust McEnearney Associates McEnearney.com
there when it counts
New 301 W. Broad Building Wins Awards Two prominent regional real estate-related organizations, the Delta Association dedicated to regional multi-family research, and the Northern Virginia chapter of the NAIOP, the commercial real estate development association, both have recognized the newly-completed 301 W. Broad mixed use project as the premier of the year in the area, and Rushmark Properties’ Stefan Gassner was presented with a special recognition for this by the Falls Church City Council Monday night. Home to Rushmark’s Stefan Gassner (center). (News-Press photo) the new 60,000-square foot Harris Teeter in downtown Falls Church, the project also has 285 apartments and another 2,500 square feet of retail. Hitt Construction was also a major player in bringing the project, which has proven an instant hit to Falls Church residents, to fruition. In a poll conducted last summer, 85 percent of Falls Church residents surveyed said they favored the addition of the project.
One Day DMV at F.C. City Hall Today
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According to Falls Church revenue commissioner Tom Clinton, the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles’ “Connect Service” will be set up in the Falls Church City Hall today (Thursday), and “it can handle most DMV transactions.” It will be in the Oak Conference Room at City Hall. Normally located at the Falls Church American Legion Post 130 on N. Oak Street on the second Monday, Wednesday and Thursday of each month, logistical issues caused it to be moved to City Hall today. “The DMV Connect Service can do almost everything that the DMV2Go Mobile Unit can, except provide the written test for a driver’s license or learner’s permit,” he said. Persons needing to have their driver’s license renewed in the next 12 months, or to have a new photo on their license, can get it done there.
Tinner Hill Announces MLK Day March in F.C. Edwin Henderson of the Falls Church-based Tinner Hill Foundation for the advancement of civil rights announced at Monday’s meeting of the Falls Church City Council that it is organizing a march from the Tinner Hill monument on S. Washington St. to the Falls Church City Hall on the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday Monday, January 16. A program on civil rights and racial healing will follow in the Council chambers at City Hall, he said.
F.C. Council Adopts Wish List for Richmond Monday the Falls Church City Council approved a 2017 Legislative Program of priorities for legislative action in Richmond that it will forward to members of the delegation representing the City, State Sen. Dick Saslaw and State Del. Marcus Simon, in advance of the convening of the annual legislative session in Richmond in early January. The document includes the City School Board’s legislative priorities and it recommends that the legislative programs of the Virginia Municipal League be adopted. Listed as priorities in the City’s program are matters related to public safety, including a request that the City be allowed to adopt an ordinance prohibiting possession of firearms and other dangerous weapons in any City-owned or publicly leased property or facility, including recreational facilities and libraries, City administrative offices and meeting rooms where Council and other boards and commissions formally meet to conduct the City’s business, and also to authorize the City to adopt an ordinance prohibiting an individual from knowingly possessing any firearm while such person is in a school zone, which is defined as the area within a distance of 1,000 feet of a school.
Hitt Wins Initial City Hall Renovation Bid The Falls Church City Council voted Monday to award a contract to Hitt Contracting, Inc. for $49,631 to assume “Construction Management at Risk Pre-Construction Phase” services for the City Hall public space and improvement projects. The services include cost studies, constructability reviews, staging and logistics reviews, scheduling, systems analyses, progress document reviews, value engineering, public engagement, pro-construction phase team meetings, subcontractor pre-qualification and preparation of a guaranteed maximum price proposal.
THIRD ANNUAL WINTER CLOTHING DRIVE Please help us help those less fortunate stay warm this winter. In partnership with United Community Ministries, we are collecting new or gently used winter clothing at every McEnearney Associates office.
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Opening Early 2017 NOW HIRING
Announcing Group Interviews for The Kensington Falls Church
Interview at our Information Center on any Thursday from December 15 until January 5 • 11am & 4pm 1212 West Broad Street, Falls Church, VA
H
ave you been searching for an organization with heart? Where you can make a difference in many lives? Where you can grow professionally and personally? Kensington Senior Living has been built upon two key values: a Love for Seniors and a Spirit to Serve. We are looking for individuals who share these values and would like to join our team in Falls Church, where we will love and care for our residents as we do our own families.
Now hiring qualified full-time (starting at 30 hours/week) and part-time team members
(Health and dental insurances, life insurance, paid time off and paid holidays for full-time positions. One free meal per day. 401k plan for team members who wish to contribute.) Care Managers (CNAs) Care Supervisors (CNAs) Licensed Professional Nurses (LPNs) Wellness Nurses (LPNs and RNs) Activities Coordinators
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Concierges Dining Coordinators Cooks Prep Cooks Utility Staff Servers
Maintenance Assistant Housekeepers Porters Drivers Laundry Attendants
7 0 3 . 9 9 2 . 9 8 6 8 | w w w. T h e K e n s i n g t o n F a l l s C h u rc h . c o m I n f o r m a t i o n C e n t e r : 1 2 1 2 We s t B ro a d S t re e t , F a l l s C h u rc h , VA 2 2 0 4 6
For immediate consideration or more details, email FallsChurchCareers@KensingtonSL.com or call 703-992-9868.
CITY OF FALLS CHURCH POLICE with Neighborhood Barbershop staff pose before the “Police Shave Off ” after the department’s Beards for Buddy campaign in November. (Courtesy Photo)
F.C. Police Grow It Out With Beards for Buddy by Drew Costley
Falls Church News-Press
If you saw City of Falls Church police officers with beards during the month of November, know that they were breaking the rules for good reason. Officers with the department took the popular Movember Movement – growing out their beards for the month to raise awareness for men’s health – to a new and personal level with Beards for Buddy. Several officers, fire marshal Tom Polera, city manager Wyatt Shields and other City staff grew out their beards throughout November to pay tribute to Buddy Turner, the department’s parking enforcement officer, who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October 2015. Last week, the officers and other City staff participated in the a “Police Shave Off” at the new Neighborhood Barbershop, which just opened for business at 417 W. Broad Street. This is the second year the department has done its Beards for Buddy tribute and Police Shave Off. “Come November of last year, Tom Polera, who is a dear friend of Buddy’s, made us aware of Movember, the move to recognize men’s health as an important factor and growing out a beard is an outward expression of a movement,” says Mary Gavin, chief of the Falls Church Police Department. “It’s against general orders, but what I do...is I ask those who want to participate to declare their support for Buddy.” In order to do that, officers who grow their beards out in sup-
port of their fellow officer carried around a card that said Beards for Buddy. Gavin says that Turner was with his wife when he called her to come to the station to deliver the news of his illness last year. “It’s very personal because we’re all coworkers, but we’re all good friends,” she says. “And I feel a special kin to Buddy because he’s just a really good guy. He’s out here as a public servant and he’s just a great employee. And so I was deeply effected in that it was a very emotional time for us all.” Gavin says that Turner has handled his cancer treatment, which consists of chemotherapy, with “great grace.” According to Gavin, Turner goes to chemo every other week and misses a day of work for treatment and then “he’s back on the road.” In addition to growing their beards out, the officers pool together funds amongst each other to help support Turner. Last year, the officers also did a donut tour with him. But Gavin says the officers really “get a kick” out of growing their beards in uniform. “Maybe it’s that they’re breaking a general order, which they think is really cool,” Gavin says with a laugh. “Or they just look very handsome in their beards. I have to give it to them. And you know, it’s funny, you think girls are bad about how they look and dress. I tell you, these guys, when they grow out their beards to listen to them walk around the halls and talk about other guys’ beards and stuff it’s pretty funny.”
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
GI F T GUI D E
HOLIDAY 2016 | PAGE 11
A Falls Church News-Press Advertorial
Falls Church Holiday Guide
Where to Shop This Holiday Season 9 R����
High-Energy Fitness for Every Body Type Whether you’re a beginner, just getting started, or a seasoned gym junkie, our circuit format is specifically designed to allow you to work at your own pace. You will be able to go at a speed that feels right for you until you’re ready to move up to the next level. This feature makes us truly unique and able to help every body type, safely and effectively! First Workout is Free! Get Fit. Never Hit.
9 Round 6649 Arlington Boulevard, Falls Church, VA 22042 703-276-9763 • 9Round.com/NOVA
A�� � F���� �� F���� C����� Art and Frame of Falls Church – Make Life Worth Framing!® Small enough to care, big enough to do the job! With our location being over 6,000 square feet we are also home to: • The birthplace of Jefferson Street Artists, 20 art/business studios, 16 committed, 4 available. • Kian Furniture, upholstery, caining, recondition, and repair. • Good Point Embroidery and Screen Printing, custom T-shirts and embroidery. • CeCe Caldwell’s Paints, eco-friendly, natural clay paints for furniture and home decor. • FIRSTfriday of Falls Church, a monthly, year round event that creates and promotes a business and social synergy for the arts and artists in and around the city of Falls Church with dinning and retail discounts. We host a new artist and musician each month. • Art Classes, Concerts, Paint Nights, and so much more! View us at artandframeoffallschurch.
Art & Frame of Falls Church
205 W. Jefferson St, Falls Church, VA 22046
703-534-4202 • artandframeoffallschurch.com
B������’� Originally a Three Chef’s Pancake House location over 40 years ago, Bentley’s has been serving the best Breakfast in Northern Virginia for over three decades. What began as a small town breakfast dinner in a Route 50 Motel consisting of a counter and seven booths has with the times grown to a 150 seat full service restaurant with Banquets and Catering facilities. But as with Falls Church itself, we have never lost our small town roots. Nor have we lost our Breakfast counter... Locally owned and operated since its inception and on our third generation of regulars Bentley’s remains a place to step out of the fast lane in Washington, D.C. No flashy metal or neon franchise lights, no glitz or glam with perrier and coffee drinks we can’t even try to spell – just comfortable booths, worn in counters, Great Breakfast, Hot Coffee, and a welcom-
ing Smile! You’ll find us still located just past 7 Corners on the Corner of Annandale and Route 50 right where we began almost a half century ago beside the Governor’s House Inn & Suites about seven miles west of our Nation’s Capitol. Sundays may have a wait as we still serve the best breakfast in town – Our Famous Eggs Benedicts, Omelets, Waffles, Pancakes, Crepes and more... but still the weekends are the best time. Whether new to the area, a native, or vacationing In D.C., no trip to Falls Church is complete without a stop by Bentley’s for breakfast.
Bentley’s 6654 Arlington Boulevard, Falls Church, VA 22042 703-532-4100 • bentleysfallschurch.com
C��� �� F���� C����� H������ F������ M����� The Holiday Farmers Market returns for three Saturdays in December! Enjoy the produce, meat, dairy, chocolates, flowers and plants you already love, infused to perfection with a little holiday spirit. Stroll along the expanded market, listen to local musicians, gobble on fresh donuts or crepes, sip on hot coffee, and shop for trees, wreaths, gifts, and so much more. Open 8 a.m. – noon on Saturday December 17. The Farmers Market is open year-round, every Saturday.
City of Falls Church Holiday Farmers Market www.fallschurchva.gov/Holiday www.facebook.com/FallsChurchFarmersMarket
F���� M���� Dorothy and Ralph “Curly” Fox first opened Foxes Music in Falls Church on President Eisenhower’s Inauguration Day in 1953, and the store has remained a proudly independent and locally owned operation ever since. Many of you know Foxes as the place to go for the best deal on rental instruments for your child’s school band and orchestra. But you might not be aware that we also have an extensive selection of competitively priced intermediate and professional level instruments when your child is ready to advance. If you have a current or potential guitarist in the family, you should check out our vast guitar inventory, ranging from $99.00 beginner models to top of the line custom shop instruments. We are the area’s largest dealer for Fender and Martin guitars, and our knowledgeable staff can help you choose the perfect instrument for your needs. Also keep us in mind for banjos, mandolins, ukuleles, keyboards and beginner drum sets. Ukes make the perfect stocking stuffer – both economical and easy to learn. Once you’ve chosen your instrument, we have all the accessories you will need as well as the largest selection of sheet music in the D.C. area. Our faculty of experienced and professional private instructors are available to help you get started out on the right foot or help carry you to the next level of proficiency. Learning a musical instrument can be a personally fulfilling and even life-altering experience. Consider giving someone the
gift of music this holiday season!
Foxes Music 416 S. Washington St., Falls Church, VA 22046 703-533-7393 • foxesmusic.com
G����� G������
German Gourmet is a gourmet grocery and delicatessen featuring fine foods, gifts and products from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Northern Europe. One of our top features is the broad range of bratwurst and cold cuts stocked throughout the year. Another big hit is our menu of delicious home-made sandwiches, salads, soups, stews and schnitzel. We also have a great selection of breads, cakes and pastries; both local and imported. Founded by Mr. Wilhelm Wenzel of Germany who, upon his retirement, sold to Mr. Raimund Pagani originally of Switzerland. Raimund operated the store for 20 years before selling to brothers Michael and Clifford Haene. In 2007 we moved into larger facilities at our current location on Columbia Pike and we continue our search for ways to improve our selections and offerings. Products: Too many to list! Please come to our store or give us a call. Many products will make their way onto our web site over time. Store Hours: Mon-Sat 9 a.m. – 7 p.m.; Sunday 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
GG
German Gourmet 5838 Columbia Pike, Falls Church, VA 22041 703-379-8080 • GermanGourmet.com
P���� G���� Plaka Grill’s Greek American Chef/Owner, Peter Drosos, is no stranger to the Northern Virginia Area; his grandparents settled in Vienna in 1955. Neither is he a stranger to restaurants. As a child, Peter helped out with his parents’ restaurant. When he graduated from James Madison High school in 2001, he moved on to culinary school in Athens, Greece. After obtaining a degree in culinary arts, he worked in several different Greek establishments, learning the art of handmade gyro and souvlaki. Coming back to Vienna, he opened his first restaurant, Plaka Grill, in October 2007. It quickly became a town area favorite, winning accolades from the Washingtonian, Northern Virginia Magazine, The Washington Post and the Sun Gazette. In 2015 Plaka opened a location in Falls Church, winning best new restaurant a few months later in the Falls Church News-Press. Plaka Grill is now an authentic Greek cuisine staple throughout Northern Virginia. The Vienna location offers a cozy, café vibe, while the Falls Church location has a modernistic feel, with a self-service wine bar and patio seating spring-fall. Both locations offer the signature “Plaka Gyro,” an exclusive recipe made in house from scratch. They also offer a variety of Greek beers and wine, available with dine-in or carry-out orders. Plaka Grill also provides catering services for all events ranging from corporate lunches to birthday parties and weddings. Both locations are open seven days a week for lunch and dinner, with specials often offered on the weekends.
Plaka Grill Falls Church 513 West Broad Street, Falls Church, VA 22046 703-639-0161 • plakagrill.com
PAGE 12 | DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Community News & Notes F.C. Resident Named Virginia School Nurse of the Year City of Falls Church resident Stefani Lailari was named Virginia School Nurse of the Year by the Virginia Association of School Nurses in on Saturday, Nov. 5, according to the Virginia Association of School Nurses. Lailari is a nurse at James K. Polk Elementary School in Alexandria, where she has been for the past decade. She received the award at a Celebration Luncheon at the Virginia Association of School Nurses Annual Fall Conference. Michelle Prescott, president of the Virginia Association of School Nurses, and Hope Luong, president-elect of the organization, presented Lailari with the award. There was a display created for her that sat in the conference room where the award ceremony was held.
Principal Preeann Johnson spoke about Lailari’s work in a discussion with ABC7 for a story they ran about the nurse winning the award. “She takes nursing to another level. When she came to us one of the first things we did that I remember so fondly is we turned our conference room into a dental office,” Johnson told ABC7. For more information, visit vasn.us/ conference.html.
PRS, Inc. President Speaks To Falls Church Rotary Club Wendy Gradison, president and CEO of Psychiatric Rehabilitation Services, spoke to the Falls Church Rotary Club at its biweekly dinner meeting at Harvest Moon Restaurant on Thursday, Dec. 1. PRS is a nonprofit that was recently featured in the News-
Press and is in its 56th year of serving Northern Virginia and D.C. to help people living with mental illness, substance abuse and related disorders or disabilities. Gradison spoke to the club about the work that her organization does. The Falls Church Rotary Club is hosting a Holiday Party on Thursday, Dec. 8 and is hosting its annual meeting and election of club officers and directors on Thursday, Dec. 15. For more information, visit fallschurchrotary.org.
F.C. Company Donates Trucks, Service to Toys for Tots PockitShip, a local on-demand pickup, delivery and moving company, is donating its moving trucks and service to deliver toys to more than 16,000 during Toys for Tots’ distribution week, which started on
AMERICAN LEGION POST 130 MEMBER Brendan Jeffs stands with the donations that Post 130 has collected so far for Toys for Tots. The organization’s donation drive will run through Saturday, Dec. 17 at 5 p.m. The post will be open to accept donations of new, unwrapped toys, cash and checks made out to American Legion Post 130 from 3 – 9 p.m. Monday – Friday and 1 – 5 p.m. on Saturday. (Photo: Courtesy of Bob Simpson)
Monday, Dec. 12 and will be held through Saturday, Dec. 17. Toys for Tots called this a “lifesaver” as they were short on trucks and drivers, according to PockitShip. They will be donating their services to help 25-30 Marines get the toys to these less fortunate communities. The company just launched their mobile app, which aims to revolutionize the way consumers and retailers move large, bulky and awkward items. For more information, visit pockitship.com.
The Kensington Set to Hire More Than 125 Employees The Kensington Senior Living Center is opening an assisted living community on W. Broad Street in Falls Church in early 2017 and is hiring more than 125 new employees as a result. One way that the company is
finding new hires for the facility is through group interviews, which it will hold every Thursday at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. until January 5, 2017. The group interviews will be held at The Kensington Information Center at 1212 W. Broad Street. Positions available include C.N.A.s or caregivers, L.P.N.s, kitchen and dining staff, housekeeping and maintenance staff, drivers, activities staff and concierge/receptionists. Prospective employees can register for group interviews by emailing FallsChurchCareers@ KensingtonSL.com or by calling 703-992-9868. Walk-ins are welcome. Those who aren’t able to attend the group interviews are encouraged by The Kensington to call and schedule an interview appointment. For more information, visit thekensingtonfallschurch.com.
FALLS CHURCH RESIDENT LOUISE INGALA (seated, second from left) celebrated her 100th birthday on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at with the Italian Conversation Group at the Falls Church Community Center’s Senior Center. Those seated in the photo with her are (l to r) Richard Sforza, Omero Sabatini, Palmira Caravetta, Mohamed Mekkawi and Luigi TornavaccaTriesch. Those standing in the photo are Wally Tornavacca-Triesch, Jaime Zenzano and Ronald Cappelletti. (Photo: Courtesy of Beverly Laub)
Send Us Your News & Notes!
The News-Press is always on the lookout for photos & items for Community News & Notes, School News & Notes and other sections of the paper. If you graduate, get married, get engaged, get an award, start a club, eat a club, tie your shoes, have a birthday, have a party, host an event or anything else you think is worth being mentioned in the News-Press, write it up and send it to us! If you have a photo, even better! Because of the amount of submissions we receive, we cannot guarantee all submissions will be published, but we’ll try our best!
Community News & Notes: newsandnotes@fcnp.com | School News & Notes: schoolnews@fcnp.com Mail: News & Notes, Falls Church News-Press, 200 Little Falls St. #508, Falls Church, VA 22046
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Rap Legend Chuck D to Speak At The Alden Theatre
Hip-hop legend Chuck D, leader of the seminal hip-hop group Public Enemy, will be the featured speaker at the McLean Community Center’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration on Sunday, Jan. 15. The event will be held in the community center’s Alden Theatre, located at 1234 Ingleside Ave., McLean, at 2 p.m. Chuck D helped redefine rap music and hip-hop culture with the release of the band’s explosive debut album, Yo Bum Rush the Show, in 1987. Now also a political activist, publisher and producer, Chuck D co-hosted “Unfiltered” on Air America Radio, testified before Congress in support of peer-to-peer MP3 sharing and was involved in a 2004 rap political convention. Most recently, he has appeared on national news programs providing commentary on the Black Lives Matter movement and the 2016 presidential campaigns. A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Chuck D is a go-to voice for insight on technology, politics, rap and soul music and race in America. Few artists have such a sophisticated knowledge and understanding of the intersection of popular culture and politics, as Chuck D will demonstrate by his speech, “Rap, Race, Reality.” Tickets for the event are $20 for the general public and $10 for McLean Community Center tax district residents. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit aldentheatre.org or call 703790-0123.
National Juried Art Show Exhibits in Crystal City “Figuratively Speaking,” a national juried art competition is the featured show at Gallery
Underground, located at 2100 Crystal Drive, Arlington, in December. All-media artists, sculptors, and photographers have created visual works interpreting a “figurative” theme in multiple ways: thorough the human form or by exploring a broader interpretation of the theme, such as figures of speech. This exhibition has been juried by John Morrell, chair of the Art and Art History Department at Georgetown University. In addition to a new all-media Members Show in the Main Gallery, also featured is painter Vicky Wilken, whose oils often depict scenes of her native Greece and reflections on her global travels. The gallery’s hours are 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Friday and 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Saturday. For more information, visit galleryunderground.org.
City of F.C. Offers New ‘Downtown Plaza’ Survey The City of Falls Church is inviting area residents and businesses to say what they would like to see at the new Downtown Plaza, which will be located in the 100 block of W. Broad Street, between the Hunan Cafe and Hot N Juicy Crawfish restaurants. Area residents are asked what they think would draw people to the area, like evening lighting, an active water feature, public art, benches, movable tables and chairs or games. The revitalized plaza will help to increase pedestrian traffic in the downtown area, provide economic benefits for local businesses and create a versatile space for everyone to enjoy in the heart of Downtown Falls Church City. The project is part of the City’s 2017-2021 Capital Improvement Program, and funding was provided by a grant from the Economic Development
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FALLS CHURCH’S FOURTH GRADE boys soccer team won the Arlington Soccer Association’s 5th Annual Fall Rec Tournament on Sunday, Nov. 20 in Arlington. After shutting out opponents in its �irst three games, the team won the championship in a dramatic penalty shootout. (P����: C������� �� E����� B����) Authority. The survey is available on the website fallschurchva. gov/DowntownPlaza through Monday, Jan. 2 at 5 p.m.
Annandale Lions Club Hosts Fruit Sale on Dec. 17 The Annandale Lions Club will be offering fresh navel oranges, grapefruit, juice oranges and mandarin oranges for sale by the case, half-case and quarter-case at $45 a case and less in smaller quantities at its fruit sale on Saturday, Dec. 17 from 8:15 a.m. until everything is sold out at the Annandale Swim Club, located at 7530 Little River Tpke., Annandale. White House ornaments, maple syrup, soup mix and cook books will also be on sale at the Annandale Swim Club and the Lions Club will collect donations of canned food for needy families. Proceeds from the sale will go to support the club’s charity and community endeavors, which include providing eyeglass recycling, eye exams and new glasses
as well as sight and hearing tests and college scholarships and supporting youth sports and environmental education. For more information, visit annandalelions.org.
Local Library Hosts Coloring Event, Movie Screening Woodrow Wilson Library, located at 6101 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church, is hosting two events over the next week aimed at rest and relaxation. The first is called Coloring For All and will be held on Thursday, Dec. 15 from 4 – 5 p.m. At that event, local residents of all ages can take a bit of time to themselves, turn on their imaginations and doing some coloring. Some supplies will be provided at this event, which doesn’t require registration. The coloring event will be held in the library’s meeting room 2. On Monday, Dec. 19, Woodrow Wilson Library is screening the film “The Polar Express,” from 1 – 3 p.m. This all ages show
requires registration. The screening will be held in the library’s meeting room 1 and 2. For more information, call 703-820-8774.
College Overview Event Scheduled for Dec. 20 The Arlington Employment Center, located at 2100 Washington Blvd., Arlington, is hosting an event called Yes, You CAN Go to College on Tuesday, Dec. 20 from 10 a.m. – noon. The event, which will include an overview of the college application and financial aid processes, is meant for attendees who are 16 and older. There will be information about Northern Virginia Community College at the event and information about how students can get started or continue their college careers. The event will be held on the first floor of the employment center. For more information, visit aec.arlingtonva.us/locations/ arlington-employment-center.
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BUSINESS & RESIDENTIAL
PAGE 14 | DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016
CO MME NT
A Penny for Your Thoughts
News of Greater Falls Church By Supervisor Penny Gross
Each year, my staff and I host a Mason District Holiday Town Gathering, an event we created in 1996, to usher in the holiday season. At Monday night’s gathering, The Bonnie Piano Quartet (Bonnie Schuen on keyboard, Jon Min Goodland on violin, Darlene Murphy on viola, and Daren Shumate on cello) played appropriate seasonal music, and friends and neighbors from all parts of Mason District enjoyed the opportunity to partake of refreshments and share stories. They also listened to my annual report about Mason District. While 2016 was an unusual year for our nation, it was not so different from other years in our county. Winter Storm Jonas started off the year, but considerable pre-planning by the Virginia Department of Transportation, the state agency that plows roadways in Fairfax County, and the county’s nonstop Emergency Operations Center, provided as much help as possible to keep residents safe and many roadways passable, with caution, for those who tried to venture out. The county’s hypothermia program utilized the faith community to handle the overflow of homeless persons needing shelter from the storm. I noted the challenges of the county budget, and the land use cases that made it through the rigorous community process: Spectrum on Route 7 in Culmore was approved and is awaiting building permits; a new Bailey’s Community Shelter is planned to replace the existing old non-ADA compliant structure a few blocks away on Moncure Avenue; the Citizen’s Land Use College for the Lincolnia Area is underway; Graham Park Plaza will apply for rezoning of a portion of the site for mixed use, and eLofts will repurpose an existing office building at the eastern edge of Mason District. The
Jefferson Fire Station will be replaced, Aldi is coming to the Annandale Shopping Center, and Longhorn Steakhouse opened in Skyline. Traffic and transportation continue as major efforts. In 2016, my office handled 12 traffic calming projects, and there are 10 more requests in the queue for review in 2017. Through Truck Restrictions were approved for five more roads, and Residential Permit Parking Districts were expanded in five neighborhoods. Pedestrian connectivity projects were either completed or under construction in nine areas, with walkway or trail designs underway for 17 other areas in Mason District. Bicycle lanes are being installed to improve getting safely around Annandale, especially, by pedal power. And bus stop improvements make waiting for, and alighting from, buses safer and more comfortable. Nearly 6,500 people voted absentee in person at the Mason District Governmental Center. Voter turnout for Mason District was 81.2 percent, slightly lower than the county overall record of 82.5 percent. Largest turnout precincts in Mason District were Barcroft with 89.4 percent, and Belvedere with 86.7 percent. Overall, 2016 was a good year in Mason District. Our children attend great schools, our parks are well used, and our public safety responders are top-notch. The everyday aggravations of life continue to be vexing, to be sure, but we are fortunate to live in Fairfax County, the envy of most other jurisdictions anywhere in the country. Happy holidays! Penny Gross is the Mason District Supervisor, in the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. She may be emailed at mason@fairfaxcounty.gov.
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Delegate Marcus Simon’s
Richmond Report So gather up your jackets, and move it to the exits I hope you have found a friend. Closing time Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. – Semisonic, “Closing Time” Goodbye 2016. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. We invited you in with high hopes that you’d bring us some really nice gifts. You were going to deliver us Democratic control of the Senate, big gains in the House, our first woman president, all so we could appoint the next three Supreme Court Justices. That was the plan. Your loud, boorish friend, the one with bad hair and the orange hue, he was only going to be here for a little while. He was going to leave early. You promised us. And your cranky uncle, the one that talks like the guy from that HBO show, he goes to bed early. That’s what you told us. He’d stick around long enough to have a substantive conversation about the big issues and challenges facing our country. We were going to take on Wall Street and the issues of income inequality, and crony capitalism, and write brilliant position papers on how to solve them. We’d have plenty of time to tinker around in the garage with the Affordable Care Act until we got the knocks and pings out, making it run as smoothly as it ought to be. Then he’d go to bed satisfied that his work here was done. Somehow, though, things went a little off the rails. Turns out the folks who’d come to the party didn’t want to just talk about how to fix the economy so it worked for everyone. They wanted to do something about it and they wanted to do it now. So you had to get firm with your cranky uncle and send him to bed, but the way you did it made everyone a little uncomfortable, and a lot of folks left early. And the loud orange guy just stuck around. As guest after guest left, he didn’t go anywhere. He just kept getting louder, and angrier, and more belligerent. And there was something intoxicating about it – for a lot of people. Not a majority, but enough. And those that got caught up in what he had to say,
they really got into it. And they took it all over. And kicked us out. And here we are in the dead of winter out in the cold, on the outside looking in. And it’s scary, because it looks like they just might burn the whole place down. And we feel helpless to stop them. Well, the good news is 2017 is coming. And 2017 is going to have our back. We’ve got a chance to start to set things right this year. In Virginia, we can start by electing Ralph Northam Governor. An actual brain surgeon with the bedside manner of an old country doctor. A real leader who couldn’t be more different than the loud man with the bad hair burning the place down. And here in Virginia we have a chance to turn the Virginia House of Delegates from red to blue, or at least make it closer to purple, by electing more good progressive people who share our values. Because people see what’s going on up the road in Washington and they’re ready to take action. Working together in 2017 we can build an economy in Virginia that sets an example for everyone and shows them what’s possible. We can have a living wage, so no one who works full time still lives in poverty. We can have paid sick leave, so single parents won’t lose their job for taking their kids to the doctor when they get sick. We can fix things so that you can go to college without having to mortgage your future under a mountain of college debt you have no hope from getting out from under. And if you’re already buried, we can give you tools to dig your way out so you can join the economy again. I’ll be working with 2017 to make sure our children are healthy, well educated, safe from gun violence, and can look forward to being more successful than their parents were. We’ll do it by removing barriers to upward mobility – barriers that have funneled all the wealth from our economic recovery into the hands of the few, leaving too many Virginians and Americans behind. Delegate Simon represents the 53rd District in the Virginia House of Delegates. He may be emailed at DelMSimon@house. virginia.gov.
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
NATI O NA L
Russia’s ‘Act of War’ Vs. the U.S.
Russia’s blatant meddling in November’s U.S. presidential election, as confirmed by a plethora of U.S. intelligence agencies, is at last being treated with the seriousness that it deserves. It is being called “an act of war” by U.S. lawmakers of both parties. This represents a bigger crisis for the U.S. perhaps in it history, because never has there been such a level of clear complicity in “an act of war” against the U.S. by leading members of the U.S. Republican Party and by the U.S. president-elect, no less. If you are talking war, you have to also be talking treason. None of this is metaphor or hyperbole. It is all too frighteningly real, and if there’s any honest commitment in Congress to get to the bottom of this, well, hold your hats! FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS One thing is for certain right now, we have an illegitimate president-elect, at best. Has America as a culture become so detached from reality that all the way to the top, image counts for more than facts? All the explanations for why these things were allowed to happen, including from the Obama White House, have been based in a perception of the image that blowing the whistle would create in the midst of a campaign. A perception! It’s like those who accuse people of a “perceived” conflict of interest, for example. If it’s only “perceived,” so what? Has our reality truly been reduced to a video game, or reality TV show? So, to a degree everyone who knew about the Russian meddling can be considered culpable so far. But there is a clear difference. On the one hand, people who should have known better decided to place their own or their party’s expediency ahead of national security. That’s pretty serious. But on the other hand, there are those who actively suppressed and lied about the information for the sake of personal gain, such as Sen. Mitch McConnell, other Republican leaders and, of course, Donald Trump. The best evidence of Trump’s guilt was his recent reaction when the claims were again made by the intelligence community. Any ordinary person would want evidence. But not Trump, he categorically denied it, like the stooge who reacts when a cop mentions a death exclaims, “I wasn’t anywhere near the murder!” (“Who said anything about a murder?” the cop replies. “Uh...I read about it in the papers!” And so on). Trump declared his guilt along with an obsessive need to cover it up in his initial knee jerk reaction to the news. He’s guilty as sin of aiding and abetting an enemy of the U.S. in an act of war against our sovereign nation. Trump’s “freak out” over moves to do recounts of the ballots in four states was a similarly guilty reveal. (Among the fall out from that was the claim by former CIA Chief James Woolsey on CNN that a third of U.S. ballots do not have a “paper trail” is “foolish.”) Now, we’re discovering what kind of an overlord Putin will be for us with the ruthless slaughter of innocents now going on in Aleppo. This investigation that is hopefully going to unfold will not stop short of exploring the decisive role of FBI Chief James Comey, whose unprecedented intervention into the election is believed to have made the decisive difference in the view of many top Clinton advisers. Comey can no longer be left out of this probe. He can no longer be assumed to have been operating only from impeccable personal integrity. Hardly. Then there is the role of the white supremacist lunatic fringe, which is now roaming the inner corridors of the Trump camp. Are they not potentially, at least, also culpable in aiding and abetting the enemy? How thoroughly is their role going to be explored? I’m confident that if it’s examined thoroughly, it will be found that much of the so-called alt-right was a Russian fifth column in the U.S. all along, at least since the 1970s when under “detente,” the Russian mafia made its big move into the U.S., stiffed the “Old Left” and took over the fringe Right.
DECEMEBER 15 - 21, 2016 | PAGE 15
Nicholas F. Benton
Nicholas Benton may be emailed at nfbenton@fcnp.com.
Patriotic Opposition to Donald Trump Nothing is safe or sacrosanct in Donald Trump’s developing governance team, and America had better start being alarmed about it and moving to actively oppose it. The time for voting has elapsed, but the time for being vocal has emerged. Let’s take the tally: He has chosen a man hostile to immigrants and with a complicated – to put it mildly – history on race to be attorney general. He has chosen a man who is anti-abortion, pro-fetal “personhood,” and anti-Obamacare to be secretary of health and human services. He has chosen a man who has criticized paid sick-leave policies and opposes increasing the federal minimum wage to lead the Department of Labor. He has chosen a climate change denier and anti-environmental-regulation crusader to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. He has chosen a vocal proponent of school vouchers to run the Department of Education. In a way, Trump seems to be trying to destroy these agencies from the inside out, the way a worm slowly NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE devours an apple. Furthermore, he is stacking these jobs with people who have given him cash. According to The Washington Post: “President-elect Donald Trump has now tapped six big donors and fundraisers to serve in his administration, lining up an unprecedented concentration of wealthy backers for top posts. Together with their families, Trump’s nominees gave $11.6 million to support his presidential bid, his allied super PACs and the Republican National Committee, according to a Washington Post analysis of federal campaign filings.” And, just as the CIA was asserting that Russia meddled in our election specifically to provide succor to this sap, reports emerged that Trump’s likely pick for secretary of state is Exxon’s chief executive, who has close ties to Vladimir Putin. Angry yet? Yes. Good! And understand this: You are not alone; you aren’t even in the minority. A Pew Research Center report published last week found: “Trump also receives low marks for his initial Cabinet choices and other high level appointments. By 51 percent to 40 percent, more say they disapprove than approve of the Cabinet choices and appointments Trump has made so far. Furthermore, the report found: “Just 37 percent of the public views Trump
Charles M. Blow
as well-qualified; 32 percent of registered voters described Trump as well-qualified in October. Majorities continue to say Trump is reckless (65 percent) and has poor judgment (62 percent), while 68 percent describe him as ‘hard to like.’” Since the election I have heard from more people than I can count who express fear and anxiety about Trump and the future of the country. I know that it can feel like we are all drowning in a deluge of compounding outrages, with every headline about this impending administration appearing to one-up the last, but take heart. You may have been on the losing side of this year’s election, but you are on the right side of history. In the final tally, courage will always defeat fear; love will always conquer hate; the beautiful diversity of America, and indeed all of humanity, will always outshine the darkness of racial enmity. This is the reason I write, to remind people of honor and courage; to tell them that their cause isn’t lost, that their destiny is victory. Maybe I am confined by my craft, pumping out polemics that, it is my great hope, help to stiffen the spines and lift the spirits of those determined to stare down the threat. Language, in that way, holds the possibility of transcendence and conscription. One of the first and most essential ways to mobilize around a cause is to establish its moral framing. In a 1780 letter written to a fellow revolutionary considering “retiring into private life,” staunch abolitionist Samuel Adams wrote: “If ever the Time should come, when vain & aspiring Men shall possess the highest Seats in Government, our Country will stand in Need of its experiencd Patriots to prevent its Ruin. There may be more Danger of this, than some, even of our well disposd Citizens may imagine. If the People should grant their Suffrages to Men, only because they conceive them to have been Friends to the Country, without Regard to the necessary Qualifications for the Places they are to fill, the Administration of Government will become a mere Farce, and our pub-lick Affairs will never be put on the Footing of solid Security.” There is no other time to which this could apply more perfectly than now. This is not the time for the “retiring” of “experiencd patriots.” A “vain and aspiring” man now possesses the highest seat in government and the administration of the government is on the verge of becoming a farce. America needs you...now. Speak up.
CO MME NT
Our Man in Arlington By Charlie Clark
Come January – just in time for Inauguration – you, too, can run a hotel in Arlington. Well, not the decked out fullTrump, but a “short-term rental” of rooms in your own home – better known under brand-names Airbnb, Craigslist and HomeAway. More than 1,000 Arlington homeowners have been doing it as part of the “sharing economy,” even though it’s illegal under the zoning laws. On Dec. 10, the County Board voted 4-1 to let those scofflaw part-time landlords come in from the cold. To enthusiasts, using apps to recruit boarders is great way for “just folks” to make extra money and help out-of-towners. Guests get a cheap “live with the locals” experience in neighborhoods away from the “hotel hegemony” bustle. But there’s resistance, I learned at County Board member Katie Cristol’s Dec. 5 talk to the Leeway Overlee Civic Association, and from 14 citizens who spoke Saturday during full board debate. The plan to allow but regulate short rentals via registration got moving in October. It involved surveys, community meetings, staff study and input from the Planning Board, Civic Federation, Chamber of Commerce, and commissions on Transportation, Aging and Economic Development. Time was short. The solons in Richmond last session voted to prevent localities from regulating Airbnb and the like, but Gov. Terry McAuliffe postponed
it pending a study. Arlington hopes to “inform” the powerful General Assembly in
January. Airbnb, meanwhile, after battling governments in New York and Austin, Texas, settled in court and accepted a more collaborative approach – one that would protect its business model but avoid handing scarce affordable housing to investors seeking profit from high-turnover guests. Arlington noted regulatory approaches in San Francisco, Portland, Denver (and most recently, New Orleans) and teamed up with Charlottesville, Roanoke and Botecourt County to prepare a registration plan. The idea is “not to quash but enable,” Cristol said. Airbnb representative William Burns, saying his 740 Arlington clients make an average of $5,600 a year, backed the proposal as “balanced.” As of Dec. 31, short-term rentals will be permitted as “accessory homestays,” if the unit is the homeowners’ primary residence (185 days a year). The owner simply registers online (or by U.S. mail). Enforcement – notoriously difficult – will be passive, meaning only if your neighbors complain two or three times about noise or trash will county staff confront you. (A small registration fee is under consideration to cover costs.) What’s not to like? “Loss of neighborhood familiarity,” iffy insurance and liability, came the complaints, and the notion that strangers are suddenly equipped
C i t y o f Fa l l s C h u r c h
CRIME REPORT Week of Dec. 5 - 11, 2016 Larceny from Building, 1230 W. Broad St. (Giant Foods) On Dec. 6, a cell phone was reported stolen sometime on Dec. 3. Larceny from Vehicle, 200 block W. Annandale Rd. On Dec. 8, an unknown suspect stole personal items from the victim’s unattended vehicle. There were no signs of forced entry. Larceny from Vehicle, 200 block Gundry Dr. On Dec. 8, various personal items were stolen from the victim’s vehicle some-
time overnight. Larceny from Vehicle, 300 block Lincoln Ave. On Dec. 8, a package was stolen sometime
with your neighbor’s house keys. Speakers described calling police after hearing six neighboring Airbnb guests arguing on a porch at midnight. “They all have cars and boyfriends, and the streets look like a parking lot,” said another. “Each neighborhood has its own character and vibe,” a man said, which “will likely change for the worse.” One big unresolved issue is whether the transient occupancy tax paid by hotel owners would apply (Airbnb has a mechanism for collecting such taxes). Board member John Vihstadt mentioned the T-word. (Though industry reps have not weighed in, Arlington’s revenue commissioner is likely to at budget time.) Vihstadt’s objections are based not on fear that short rentals destabilize neighborhoods. The process is “too rushed and overreaches,” he said. He called for embracing the sharing economy with a “more flexible, lighter hand of government.” *** “Thanks, Arlington, for 38 great years” reads the banner at the now-abandoned Lee-Lex (auto) Service Center at N. Lexington Street and Lee Highway. Actually, the one-time gas station has been there under different management since the 1950s. That was when budding country-pop singer Jimmy Dean – famous for the 1961 No. 1 hit “Big Bad John” and later as a brand of sausage – lived just down the block. Dean, who made his entertainment chops up Lee Highway at radio station WARL, hung out at Lee-Lex when it was a Gulf station.
after Dec. 1. Recovered Stolen Vehicle, 1107 W. Broad St. (U-Haul) On Dec. 8, a stolen truck was found recovered. Shoplifting, 1230 W. Broad St. (Giant Foods) On Dec. 8, merchandise was reported stolen from the store.
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B������� N��� � N���� F.C. Chamber Annual Report, Ugly Sweater Contest Set for Dec. 20 The Falls Church Chamber of Commerce is hosting its annual report to the membership luncheon and ugly sweater and tie contest on Tuesday, December 20 from 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. at the Italian Café, 7161 Lee Highway. A review of the organization’s 2016 accomplishments will be provided and the 2017 Officers and newly elected members will be announced. For more information or to register, visit www.FallsChurchChamber.org.
Arc of NoVa Offers New On-Site Services The Arc of Northern Virginia has launched a new initiative to bring its educational offerings on a broad range of disability topics to companies throughout Northern Virginia to assist their employees as they plan for their loved one with intellectual or developmental disabilities – at no cost to the company or employees. The Arc of Northern Virginia will come to a company’s own headquarters or offices and provide essential disability information in a number of formats: workshop in a single location; workshop in one location with webinar access to allow employees in other office locations to participate; or a small-group lunch session to discuss specific employee needs and concerns. For more information, please contact Rikki Epstein, Executive Director, at repstein@thearcofnova.org or 703-208-1119 ext. 106.
Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation Seeks Volunteers The Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation is seeking volunteers from the business community to join its Public Relations Committee, co-coordinated by local resident Debra Z. Roth. Individuals with technical expertise in or a strong interest and willingness to learn about public relations, promotions, writing, newsletter production, Constant Contact, press relations, event planning and social media are invited to submit a brief summary of qualifications to the Foundation’s President, Alex Boston at j.alex.boston@gmail.com.
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Christmas WITH
THE FALLS CHURCH EPISCOPAL All are Invited Sunday, Dec. 18 Fourth Sunday in Advent 9:00 a.m. “Godly Play”Advent Children’s Pageant with Holy Communion in the Main Sanctuary
11:15 a.m. A Service of Lessons and Carols with Holy Communion in the Historic Church
Saturday, Dec. 24 Christmas Eve 5:00 p.m. “Let There be Light” Children’s Pageant with Holy Communion in the Main Sanctuary
10:00 p.m. Choral and Instrumental Prelude in the Historic Church 10:30 p.m. Festive Holy Communion in the Historic Church
Sunday, Dec. 25 Christmas Day 10:00 a.m. Holy Communion in the Historic Church
115 E. Fairfax Street, Falls Church, Virginia 22046 • 703.241.0003 www.TheFallsChurch.org
Business News & Notes is compiled by Sally Cole, Executive Director of Greater Falls Church Chamber of Commerce. She may be emailed at sally@fallschurchchamber.org.
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PAGE 18 | DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
F.C. Filmmaker’s New Doc Explores Opioid Addiction by Matt Delaney
Falls Church News-Press
Matt Edwards had a pretty ordinary life. He had a collection of friends and loved ones in his small, northern Wisconsin hometown who supported his dreams of being whatever he wanted in the world. Then, a fluky surgery led to a Oxycontin prescription that began a decade-long downward spiral of dependence, deceit and addiction. Over the years, Edwards separated himself from everyone else, becoming another person who was given life but never committed to living it. He became easy for people to forget. He died at just 25. Edwards’ life is the focus of the new documentary “Written Off,” from writer/producer/director Molly Herman, co-founder of the Falls Church production company, The Biscuit Factory. Hermann, an experienced documentarian with a passion for churning out insightful work, has produced films for the Discovery Channel, National Geographic and PBS. With
Edwards’ was addicted in the truest sense of the word, acquiring Oxycontin purely to maintain the new normal it created for him. His journals detailed his dark descent by cataloging what drug he used, when and how much they cost. It also included personal notes of resistance, with messages like “I need to cut this out!” or circling a day’s intake and declaring “No more.” But he was shoulder-deep in his addiction and began to manipulate those closest to him in order to sustain it. Edwards even cut corners by skipping prescriptions and went for cheaper, more accessible heroin, catalyzing his decline. Edwards’ changing physical shape didn’t go unnoticed. His slender appearance became exacerbated by addiction and left him looking gaunt and fragile. To cover his tracks he crafted believable, yet equally tragic, lies such as being diagnosed with cancer. He received warmth for his bravery fighting the disease, but the cold truth would have done the contrary.
“The lack of sympathy and empathy people struggling with addiction encounter is a whole extra level of difficulty for them. In reality, he had a fatal disease, but it wasn’t cancer.” “Written Off,” she wanted to pursue a project about the stigma of addiction. Hermann witnessed the effects of opioid addiction first-hand. She lost a cousin 16 years ago to heroin addiction, and knows of other friends who’ve lost family to the same vices. These people weren’t monster, but addiction still coerced its way into their lives. An online search uncovered a blog by Edwards’ mother, Jane, and through her, Hermann learned of two journals Edwards kept during his final two years of life. With the help of a Kickstarter campaign including 430 backers and $56,585 in donations, Hermann set out to upend the parabolic story pattern most addiction retellings fall in line with. “Every time I opened up my computer, I felt like I was seeing the same story [about addiction] – ‘good life, down the toilet,’” Hermann says. “I always thought there must be more to the story than that – [than] somebody born to die.”
“The lack of sympathy and empathy people struggling with addiction encounter is a whole extra level of difficulty for them,” Hermann says. “In reality, he had a fatal disease, but it wasn’t cancer. He never got any sympathy for it, he only had to be ashamed about it.” That split reaction was why humanizing addiction became the focal point for Hermann and her staff. It’s an odd intent to say out loud because humans are primarily who suffer from addiction. However, those on the outside looking in scoff at Edwards and the millions of other Americans who fight their urges on a daily basis, labeling them as gluttons for punishment. Those attitudes ignore who Edwards was as a person. Once a bright mind fascinated with storytelling and theatre arts, and enamoured with writing – from poems to lists to vignettes – Edwards had interests just like anyone else. He wasn’t the stereotypical “junkie” lurking in alleyways that
FALLS CHURCH FILMMAKER Molly Hermann and director of photography Rob Lyall stand together in the photo above. Hermann and Lyall were key components of the team that made “Written Off.” The documentary was produced by The Biscuit Factory, a Falls Church-based production company that Hermann co-founded. In the photo on the right, Jane Funk, the mother of Matt Edwards, reads his journal during the filming of “Written Off.” The film focuses on Edwards life as a jumping off point for a discussion about the stigma of drug addiction. Edwards died of at age 25 after becoming addicted to drugs over the course of a decade. (Photos: Courtesy of The Biscuit Factory)
we’re oftentimes led to believe. “A lot of people put addicts in a box and have a pre-judgment of what an addict is supposed to be,” says Kerry Sullivan, a freelance editor who helped produce the film. “It’s actually not true. We all have the potential for being [an addict]. It just depends on the path our lives have taken.” So far, the film has been well received by audiences. This included the Wisconsin delegation on Capitol Hill and an addiction treatment group from the inner city of Baltimore, who found the documentary was reflective of their own experiences.
“Written Off” continues to gain steam as a powerful and innovative take on the complications involved with addiction. But Hermann cares most about paying homage to the man who helped make it all happen.
“Matt’s own words were what made this possible,” Hermann says. “That’s what I feel this film does for Matt – it extends his footprint on Earth, and hopefully shifts the way people think about addiction.”
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DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016 | PAGE 19
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6649 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church, VA 22042
The Providence Players
Performance Tonight and Final Weekend!
Funny, Heartwarming Holiday Classic - Purchase Tickets Online Today
Celebrating 19 Years Sunday 11 - 6 Of Quality Theater Experiences Monday 11 - 9
Five Stars from DCMetroTheaterArts.com
“The show will warm the heart of every family who sees it.” AND the Audiences are LOVING IT!
Barbara Robinson’s
Tuesday 11 - 9 Final Five Performances Thurs, Fri and Sat 7:30 pm December 15, 16, 17 Wednesday
11 - 9 Sat & Sun Matinees 2:00 pm December 17, 18 Thursday
11 - 9
Friday 11 - 9 Co-Produced with The Young Hearts Foundation Saturday 10 - 9
Based on the first book in Barbara Robinson's acclaimed Herdmans series, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, introduces us to the six "worst kids in the world." Now they have taken over the churches’ annual Christmas pageant! This funny, heartwarming, tale has become a family classic. A breezy one hour show and a Santa reception immediately after each performance
PERFORMING AT The James Lee Community Center Theater 2855 Annandale Road Falls Church, VA 22042
This special holiday production will benefit the work of an amazing group of teens who raise funds to battle blood cancers and other diseases. Half of all net proceeds from this production will be donated to Young Hearts Foundation in pursuit of their important mission.
ALWAYS AFFORDABLE
FCNP Reader Discount
$2.00 Off EachTicket With Online Purchase Use Coupon Code:
FCNPXMAS
At Online Checkout – Not Valid At The Door
General Admission Seating - $17
Tickets May Be Purchased Online At: www.providenceplayers.org Reserved By Email At: providenceplayerstickets@cox.net Or By Leaving A Voicemail At: 703-425-6782 Or Purchased at the Door
PAGE 20 | DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016
Mason Girls Hoops Beats 5A Mt. Vernon BY MATT DELANEY
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
A pivotal 50-42 victory over local 5A competitor Mount Vernon High School on Dec. 8 put George Mason’s varsity girls basketball team over .500 with a 3-2 record. Despite a 40-32 victory over Strasburg High School, Mason head coach Michael Gilroy was unhappy with his team’s effort and expected more from them no matter the perceived threat level of their opponent. Two days removed from the lukewarm win over Strasburg, the Mustangs pulled a 180 and rallied from behind to defeat a team that tried to make Mason underdogs in their own gym. “Huge win,” Gilroy said. “We scheduled a bunch of non-conference games and [so far] we’ve lost them all. I told the team ‘I wanna get one of these.’ We had our best practice of the year yesterday and it showed.” Mason found themselves in a 12-4 deficit midway through the first
quarter, but discipline on both ends of the court helped dig them out. By halftime Mount Vernon’s lead was trimmed to 29-27 due to limited looks for the Majors’ offense and a seven-point scoring flurry from junior guard Nicole Bloomgarden and forward Kaylee Hirsch, along with senior guard Sarah Lubnow in the half’s final two minutes. Two Hirsch free throws and two buckets from Bloomgarden gave Mason their first lead of the night at 34-31 early into the third quarter. Mount Vernon would take a narrow 35-34 lead again though the Mustangs tied it up when Bloomgarden split her next trip to the line. Entering the fourth all-even, Mason closed strong after gaining a definitive 43-37 edge when Bloomgarden completed a threepoint play and followed with a corner three the very next possession. Bloomgarden was responsible for more than half of the Mustangs’ offense with 29 points. Hirsch and Lubnow finished with seven and five points, respectively.
SPO RTS
MASON JUNIOR GUARD NICOLE BLOOMGARDEN (right) bumps teammate Lizzy Dodge after being introduced during a recent win against Strasburg High School. (P����: C���� S��) “My teammates really helped me,” Bloomgarden said of her performance. “We were all on our game tonight.” Modesty aside, Bloomgarden’s coach had his own thoughts on her statement game against Mt. Vernon.
Mustang Boys Basketball Squad Notches Dramatic 57-54 OT Win BY MATT DELANEY
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
An overtime thriller saw George Mason’s varsity boys basketball team pull out a dramatic 57-54 win over the visiting Pope John Paul the Great Catholic High School. After blowing a 10-point fourth quarter lead, sophomore guard Max Ashton forced overtime with a drive to the hoop in regulation’s
final minute to knot it up at 49 apiece. Both teams scored on their opening possessions in overtime to keep the game tied, but Mason got the edge when Ashton drove the lane again for another two. Successful trips to the free throw line for Ashton and junior guard Biruk Teshome ensured the win. “We were tested tonight and we responded like veterans,” head coach Chris Capannola said.
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
“We’re not at the top of the mountain, but we climbed a big part of it today. This is a great win.” As has been the case in all victories, the one-two punch of sophomores Ashton and forward Hollman Smith paved the way. Ashton took over the leading role for the night with his versatile game making an appearance at every crucial moment. Either a three-ball to end a dry spell or a game-extending drive
“Nicole did a great job of being aggressive,” Gilroy added. “I’ve been asking it of her for two years, and really she really stepped out of her shell.” Is this a seminal win for the Mustangs? Maybe, but it’s
undoubtedly a step in the right direction for a squad set on a 2A state tournament berth. Masons hosts Central High School on Friday, Dec. 16 before traveling to Warren County High School on Monday, Dec. 19.
to the hoop, Ashton was “Johnny on the spot” against the Wolves with 21 points, though he admits it wouldn’t be possible without the rest of his team. “It’s my first year and a lot of guys’ first year on varsity,” Ashton said. “We’re all trying to find our roles. I’m just glad to be a part of it.” A back and forth game had Mason’s young squad simultaneously looking in total control while also on the verge of collapse. For minutes at a time, the Mustangs cut seamlessly through John Paul’s defense and locked the Wolves out of the paint, such as a 15-2 run to end the third quarter that gave Mason a 42-32 lead.
And for the other moments, Mason committed errors that left those in attendance scratching their heads. For instance, the 10-point fourth quarter lead where the Wolves negated Mason’s offensive rhythm while capitalizing on second chances and poorly positioned Mustangs to earn a 49-47 advantage with a minute to spare. “We were unsure of when to go and when not to go,” Capannola added. “[But] that comes from experience. We weathered the storm and made big plays at the end.” The Mustangs travel to Central High School on Thursday, Dec. 15 before hosting Warren County High School on Monday, Dec. 19.
LO CA L
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016 | PAGE 21
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BAHRAIN WAS ONE of several countries represented at the Falls Church Elementary Parent Teacher Association’s International Night, which was held on Friday, Dec. 2 at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School. The event featured cuisine and cultural performances representing countries all over the world. (P����: C������� �� FCCPS P����/M������� C�������)
THE SEVENTH GRADE MIXED CHOIR at Mary Ellen Henderson sings as part of the school’s concert choirs under the direction of Lauren Carpal, Henderson’s chorus teacher. (P����: C���� S��)
FCCPS Superintedent Search Survey Opens The Falls Church City School Board is seeking public and staff input on the qualifications and characteristics they want to see in the next superintendent for the Falls Church City Public School system. A survey to gather input opened on Monday, Dec. 5, according to the school system’s Morning Announcements email. The survey will be open until January 20 and is available to the community at-large and staff. In addition to the survey, the Board’s search firm B.W.P. and Associates has set two Community Engagement inter-
views for this week, one of which was held on Wednesday, Dec. 7, to receive comment from the public. The other Community Engagement event will be held on Thursday, Dec. 8 from 7 – 8 p.m. at Thomas Jefferson Elementary School, located at 610 S. Oak Street. Several meetings with school system staff and administration have also been held and will be held on Thursday, Dec. 8. To take the survey, visit surveymonkey.com/r/9NHFVCT.
two new flags on Monday, Nov. 28 to raise in the front of the school. A parent donated an American flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol and came from Congressman Don Beyer’s office, and the school received a City of Falls Church flag that came from City Hall. The Henderson Flag Team students raise and lower the flags of the United States, City of Falls Church and Virginia every day.
Henderson Students Raise New Flags at Middle School
Marshall HS Students Set Records at Powerlifting Meet
Members of the Mary Ellen Henderson Flag Team unfurled
Three students from George C. Marshall High School set
Worship with us this Christmas season! Sunday, Dec. 18 – 8:30 and 10:45 a.m. services Wednesday, Dec. 21 – 7:30 p.m. The Longest Night Service for Hope and Healing Christmas Eve – 4:30 p.m. family service; 8:00 p.m. candlelight service Christmas Day – 10:00 a.m. service New Year’s Eve – 7-11 p.m. Falls Church Watch Night – Live music and more! New Year’s Day – 10:00 a.m. service Nursery child care available except Dec. 18 at 8:30 a.m. and Christmas Day 225 East Broad Street, Falls Church, VA 703-532-6518 www.fallschurchpresby.org
new American records at the 2016 Holiday Classic Powerlifting Meet on Saturday, Dec. 10 in Haymarket. Several of the girls earned medals at the meet as well. The team consists of students from Marshall’s personal fitness class. Maya El–Hage set the new American record in the deadlift 315 lbs. for the 198 lb. weight class in the 16/17-year-old age group), Christina Hall set the new American record for deadlift 265 lbs. for the 148 lb. weight class in the 16/17-year-old age group and Cassidy Bennett set the new American record for squat 210 lbs. and bench press 120 lbs. in the 148 lb. weight class in the 16/17-year-old age group. The team’s head coach Ryan Wood teaches safe training and competitive technique to execute proper lifts to his students. The team is co-ed and was represented by Andrew Tran in the men’s division.
7 Mason Speech and Debate Team Members Medal The speech and debate team at George Mason High School competed at the Washington-Arlington Catholic Forensic League’s Mega
Tournament on Saturday, Dec. 10 and seven of the team members came away with medals. Sean Swick placed 1st in Junior Varsity Lincoln Douglas, Katie Smith placed 4th in Extemporaneous Speaking and Tahaseen Shaik placed 4th in Novice Lincoln Douglas. The team of Miles Lankford and Chris Kim placed 4th in Junior Varsity Public Forum and the team of Meghan Murphy and Mithi Penaranda placed 5th in Novice Public Forum. For more information, visit wacfl.org.
GM Choral Students Audition For All-District Chorus Students in George Mason High School’s choral program auditioned for the All-District Chorus on November 12 and nine of them were selected to represent Mason at the District X Choral Festival on February 16-18. Lydia Gompper, Dexter Jackson, Miles Jackson, Cooper McGuire, Neil Menon, Ruthie Miller, Caroline Perez, Casandre Rice and Danielle ValderramaAvila were selected to go to the District X Choral Festival.
PAGE 22 | DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016 | PAGE 23
back in the 1990s. While Banh Ta’s fan-favorite banh mi sandwiches have not yet returned to the menu at Little Viet Garden, the Washington Post reports they will be bringing them back in the near future. What has already returned, however, are the deli’s pork belly bao buns, which I’m pleased to report are better than ever. Little Viet Garden 6783 Wilson Boulevard | Falls Church
Choolahh Indian BBQ Joins Mosaic District in 2 Weeks Little Viet Garden Now Open in Eden Center The former location of Eden Center banh mi favorite Banh Ta Deli has finally reopened in the form of Little Viet Garden. After shutting down earlier this year, the deli’s owners, Michael Phan and Anh Hong, renovated and reimagined their concept into a full-service, sit down restaurant. The new eatery shares the same name of the owner’s previous restaurant they ran in Arlington
The Mosaic District is adding to its arsenal of restaurants this month when Cleveland-based Choolaah Indian BBQ restaurants joins the lineup in two weeks. Billing its concept as “fine-casual,” Choolaah will feature four tandoor ovens in the middle of the restaurant, serving as a centerpiece to the dining room. Expect dishes like chicken tikka masala, lamb meatball wraps, salads, naan bread and traditional Indian ice cream called kulfi. Mosaic’s Choolaah Indian BBQ will be
Ring in the New Year with Mad Fox!
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FOUR TANDOOR OVENS are the focus of each Choolaah restaurant, including the upcoming Mosaic District location opening Dec. 28. (P����: C������� I����� BBQ) the chain’s first mid-Atlantic location with another coming to Sterling next year. Choolaah is scheduled to open in Mosaic District on Wednesday, December 28.
Choolaah Indian BBQ
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After 35 Years, Grevey’s Sports Bar Shutters in Merrifield Grevey’s, the longtime Yorktowne Shopping Center sports bar, shut down last
Sunday after 35 years in business. The bar and restaurant from former Washington Bullets star Kevin Grevey was a Merrifield mainstay long before the arrival of the Mosaic District and even the since-razed multiplex theater the new shopping destination replaced. Grevey’s was plastered with televisions, both inside and out, including booth-side TVs throughout the dining room. Last Saturday, there was a closing party with a live band and, just before last call, bar staff climbed atop the bar and led the room in a chant of “Grevey’s, Grevey’s!” – Jody Fellows
PAGE 24 | DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016
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Duo of Local Plays Offer Holiday Theatrics for Youth by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Two youth-centric holiday theatrical offerings are tempting area folks this season, both unique enough, on the one hand, but traditional enough, on the other, to enhance the warmth of these special days. One is more funny and the other more poignant and both are into their last week. They are presented within a quarter-mile of each other, the Creative Cauldron’s “A Christmas Carol Memory” being at the Art Space of Falls Church, 400 S. Maple, and the Providence Players’ “Best Christmas Pageant Ever” being at the theater in the James Lee Community Center on Annandale Road between the Falls Church city limits and Route 50. Local youth abound in both, and in terms of Falls Church specifically, with Thomas Jefferson Elementary’s Madeline Aldana and Arianna Vargas and Henderson Middle’s Constance Meade among those in the Cauldron show, and TJ’s Samuel Pounds among the energetic youths on the stage in the Providence Players show, which is presented in conjunction with The Young Hearts. Among other things, a highlight of the Cauldron production is the puppet mastery of designer Margie Jervis, now in her seventh season as resident designer and visual arts educator for Creative Cauldron. In 2010 she received a Strauss Fellowship Award from the Arts Council of Fairfax for her extraordinary work. Her colorful generally life-
sized puppets with their highly expressive faces – one was deemed almost too spooky and had to be softened a little – were designed for this show, adding an aura of otherworldliness that is entirely appropriate for the play’s theme, which is centered around a revival of an annual family reading of Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The Providence Players’ production of “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is based on a 1971 book by Barbara Robinson and tells the story of what happens when the six delinquent children of the non-church-going Herdman family decide to show up at a church on the promise of free snacks. Despite protests from other church goers, they are offered roles in the church’s annual youth Christmas pageant, and a highly unconventional version of the Christmas story results. However, the core meaning of that story shines through to at least one of the raucous Herdman kids. Robinson first published her story in McCall’s magazine, and then as a book that ultimately sold 800,000 copies. The Providence Players’ director Liz Mykietyn in her program note said of the show, “I know the script” (which she called ‘silly and sweet’) “inside out. I myself played ‘Beth Bradley’ when I was a kid, let’s just say circa early 1980s.” She added, “Laughing at Christmas time reminds me of my own family, for the family that laughs together bonds together just as much as when you are there for the rough times, too.”
Falls Church HS Offers Big, Bright Production ‘Shrek The Musical’ by Jessie Yu
Cappies Review
Following the renowned story of an antisocial ogre who finds himself on a quest to save a princess, Falls Church High School’s “Shrek The Musical” demonstrates that everyone has layers, and it’s crucial to look past physical appearances and differences in order to truly get to know someone. Carson Hopkins took on the titular role with stride, embodying the familiar character through an impressive accent that he
maintained throughout the show. Hopkins portrayed Shrek’s arc from a crude, brusque recluse to a hesitant friend and lover with realistic vulnerability and emotional vocals in numbers such as “Who I’d Be” and “When Words Fail.” The quirky chemistry that developed between him and Fiona, played by Eileanora Clock, carried the romance of the plot with endearing humor. Meanwhile, Patrick Kearney elevated his sidekick status as Donkey with gregarious clinginess that grew on both the audience and a softening Shrek. Scampering about and
CREATIVE CAULDRON’S LAURA CONNORS HULL sits next to one of the set pieces for the organization’s “A Christmas Carol Memory.” The production is one of two holiday-themed plays going on in Falls Church. (Photo: News-Press) In the case of the Cauldron’s show, creativity abounds beyond the puppetry and youth actors. The Cauldron’s storied founder and manager Laura Hull conceived and directs of this show, having commissioned Jennifer Clements to re-imagine the Dickens classic. Dickens’ poem in his story, “A Child’s Hymn,” is put to original music by Matt Conner and sung beautifully by young James Durham, who plays Tiny Tim. In her program notes, Hull says, “Memories of happy, pleasrolling all over the stage, Kearney kept the energy up and jokes going. Another notable performance that had the audience erupting into laughter was by Adam Ashley as the arrogant Lord Farquaad. Certainly not short on talent, Ashley delivered the petulant caricature of a dictator with ostentatious mannerisms and movements – all while on his knees. Although there were some technical difficulties with sound and at times the orchestra would occasionally overpower the actors onstage, overall, the musical performances were successfully entertaining. The visual aspects were what really brought this show together. The multilevel set was elaborately decorated to transform the stage from a muggy swamp to a gaudy castle and back again. The largerthan-life dragon’s head was evidently crafted with meticulous care and added a thrilling aspect to the scene of Fiona’s wedding with Farquaad when it appeared and blanketed the
ant, youthful times help us to reconnect to those who are close to us at the holidays. We remember fondly the stories and anecdotes of past celebrations. But often, just like Scrooge, we churn up memories that have been suppressed...the painful ones.” “I wanted to find a way to make the power of the Dickens story vivid and meaningful to a contemporary audience. Jen has woven a beautiful framing story for the tale – one may touch a nerve right now when many are feeling a deep divide in their fami-
lies and are searching for healing and reconciliation.” OK, so which one of these two fine shows do you want to see? Don’t be Buridan’s mule and starve in between them because you can’t make up your mind! If in doubt, do both. I did. The Providence show is Thursday – Saturday at 7:30 p.m. with final 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday. The Cauldron show is Thursday – next Tuesday at 7:30 (except 7 p.m. Sunday) and 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
FALLS CHURCH HIGH SCHOOL’S Patrick Kearney and Carson Hopkins played Donkey and Shrek, respectively in the school’s production of “Shrek The Musical.” (Photo: Courtesy of Harley Hopkins) stage with billowing smoke. Showing that conventional heroes are ogre-rated and that anyone can find love, the cast and
crew of Falls Church High School created a production that was big, bright, and beautiful for everyone to enjoy.
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016 | PAGE 25
Dec.
16 y
Frida
Flannel Underground Dogwood Tavern 10 p.m. 132 W. Broad St., Falls Church
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20 day
Tues
The Radiographers Black Cat 7:30 p.m. 1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
202-667-7960 • blackcatdc.com
A John Waters Christmas The Birchmere 7:30 p.m. 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria
703-549-7500 • birchmere.com
21
esday
Wedn
BY DREW COSTLEY
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS
Frederick, Md. native Rob Garza, who founded Thievery Corporation with Eric Hilton in Washington, D.C. in 1995, moved to the Bay Area several years ago. He said that when he comes back to the Washington, D.C. area, he doesn’t recognize it much anymore because of how much the city has changed. “I think cities are very different in general with a lot of people moving into the cities,” Garza said. “So D.C. is a very – I kind of miss the old D.C. to be honest. I come back to some of the old places and it’s like I don’t recognize because of the super gentrification of D.C. It’s very strange for me because I feel like it’s kind of a different place.” Garza and Hilton grew up in the same D.C. that fostered one the world’s strongest punk communities. Garza said that he remembers going to shows at the 9:30 Club in his youth, which is why his return to one of the more important venues to that scene is special. Thievery Corporation is coming home for a trio of shows at the 9:30 Club this weekend – Thursday, Dec. 15 – Saturday, Dec. 17 – but they are already sold out. If Garza looks hard enough, he’ll see some familiar sights, but the “super gentrification” that he spoke about to the News-Press is literally looming over the 9:30 Club. The Atlantic Plumbing building, a mixed-use complex with an upscale movie theatre, hipster shopping options and apartments that opened in 2015, towers over the famous music venue and is right next door to it. Luckily for those who end up missing out on the Thievery Corporation shows at 9:30, the dub/lounge/electronica collective is putting out a new album on February 10, 2017 called The Temple of I & I. Garza said that whereas their last album Suadade, which was released in 2014, was a “palate cleanser,” the upcom-
THIEVERY CORPORATION. (P����: C������� �� A������ L����) ing album will see Thievery return to a more traditional sound. “With this album it’s nice to take a break from what we usually do because on albums we kind of go through a lot of different genres in an album,” Garza said. “So it’s nice for the last album to be sort of a palate cleanser and now we’re ready to get back to the beats and stuff.” The usual artists who have been featured on Thievery Corporation records in the past – Mr. Lif, Loulou Ghelickhani, Notch and Ras Puma – will make a return on The Temple of I & I. But the Jamaican singer Racquel Jones, who will be featured on this upcoming album, is a new collaborator to the group. The Temple of I & I was chosen as the title of the new album, Garza said, “mainly because it sounds cool.” Perhaps it’s also a nod to
Garza and Hilton’s punk roots – this year is the 30th anniversary of I Against I, the third studio album from the seminal D.C. punk band Bad Brains. One of the constants in Thievery Corporation’s music is a certain punk ethos – the D.I.Y. attitude of the band is reflected in their entire catalog being self-released, they have a gnarly band name that asks more questions than it answers and they aren’t afraid to speak up and speak to truth to power. “The world is pretty crazy right now,” Garza said. “In our music, it’s not really about partisan politics, you know, Republicans versus Democrats. It’s kind of like larger conscious messages. Things that are more universal than just applied to the United States.” • For more information about Thievery Corporation, visit thieverycorporation.com.
Mint Condition The Birchmere 7:30 p.m.
These singles whet the appetites of the FCNP editorial team this week: Nicholas Benton – The End by The Doors
3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria
703-549-7500 • birchmere.com
Jody Fellows – Hey Ya! by OutKast Drew Costley – The Bay by Lyrics Born
CA L E NDA R
PAGE 26 | DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016
Community Events
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15
1-on-1 Computer Tutoring. Receive personalized assistance using computers, Internet and e-books. Registra�on required. To schedule an appointment, stop by the reference desk or call 703-2485035. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 2 – 4 p.m. 703-248-5035. Coloring For All. Take a bit of �me for yourself, turn on your imagina�on and gather to color at Woodrow Wilson Library. Woodrow Wilson Library (6101 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church). Free. 4 p.m. 703-820-8774. FCNP Holiday Party. The Falls Church News-Press will have its annual holiday party featuring eats from Ledo’s Pizza, liba�ons and music from George Mason High School band students. Center for Spiritual Enlightenment (222 N. Washington St., Falls Church). Free. 5:30 – 8 p.m. fcnp.com. Teen Time: Cookie Decora�ng. Children in grades 6 – 12 can gather at the Mary Riley Styles Public Library to decorate sugar cookies for the holidays. The library will provide the sugar cookies and the icing. Registra�on required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave.,
Falls Church). Free. 7 – 8 p.m. fallschurchva.gov/Library.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16
CLOSED: Mary Riley Styles Public Library. The Mary Riley Styles Public Library will be closed from noon – 2 p.m. while the library’s staff a�ends the City of Falls Church’s Employee Winter/ Holiday Luncheon. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Noon – 2 p.m. fallschurchva.gov/Library.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17
Holiday Farmers Market. The award-winning Farmers Market expands to include cra�s and gi�s, trees, wreaths, and so much more. City Hall Parking Lot (300 Park Ave., Falls Church). Free. 8 a.m. – noon. 703-248-5077. Book Sale. Used adult and children’s books for sale. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. 703-248-5034. First-Time Homebuyers. A presenta�on featuring �ps for buying a home for the first �me, presented by Housing Community Services of Northern Virginia. Woodrow Wilson Library (6101 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church). Free. 1 p.m. 703-820-8774.
&
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Send community event submissions to the News-Press by e-mail at calendar@fcnp. com; fax 703-342-0347; or by regular mail to 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046. Please include any photos or artwork with submissions. Deadline is Monday at noon for each week’s edition.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18 Book Sale. Used adult and children’s books for sale. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 1 – 5 p.m. 703-248-5034.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19
Movie Ma�nee. Woodrow Wilson Library will screen the winter classic “The Polar Express.” Woodrow Wilson Library (6101 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church). Free. 1 p.m. 703-820-8774. ESL Conversa�on Group. An ESL conversa�on group for adults focusing on “English Language and American Culture.” No registra�on required, meets in the Conference Group. Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20
1-on-1 Computer Tutoring. Receive personalized assistance using computers, Internet and e-books. Registra�on required. To schedule an appointment, stop by the reference desk or call 703-2485035. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Conference Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 2 – 4 p.m. 703-248-5035. Kids’ Chess Club. Children between the ages 7 – 14 can learn to play
chess. All skill levels are welcome. Thomas Jefferson Library (7415 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). Free. 4:45 – 5:45 p.m. 703-5731060. Paws to Read. Children can come and read with a canine companion. Readers rising grades K-6th. Registra�on Required. Mary Riley Styles Public Library Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 5 – 6 p.m. 703-248-5034.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21
Small Wonders. Children ages 12 – 23 months (accompanied by an adult) can gather for rhymes, stories, songs and ac�vites to build an early literacy founda�on. Thomas Jefferson Library (7415 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). Free. 10:30 a.m. 703-573-1060. Winter Story�me. This interac�ve story �me for children ages 3 – 4 includes books and ac�vi�es and this par�cular session is snowflake themed. Woodrow Wilson Library (6101 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church). Free. 10:30 a.m. 703-820-8774. Kids’ Chess Club. Children between the ages 7 – 15 can learn to play chess. All skill levels are welcome. Woodrow Wilson Library (6101 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church). Free. 4 – 5 p.m. 703-820-8774.
Theater Fine Arts THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15
“A Christmas Carol Memory.” A young orphan girl being raised by a warm but eccentric aunt is spending a tender �irst Christmas without her parents. While searching the attic for ornaments to decorate her aunt’s tree, she discovers a theatrical trunk once used by her puppeteer grandfather. When the extended family gathers on Christmas Eve, the contents in the trunk reawaken memories and spur the renewal of a long forgotten family tradition. Through Dec. 20. ArtSpace Falls Church (410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church). $15 – $60. 7:30 p.m. creativecauldron. org.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” The is the opening night of this production. Based on the �irst
book in Barbara Robinson’s acclaimed Herdmans series, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” introduces us to the six “worst kids in the world.” They lie, steal and cheat. Now they have taken over the churches’ annual Christmas pageant! The entire town has gathered in anticipation, waiting to see the Herdmans ruin Christmas – or will they? This production will bene�it the work of The Young Hearts, a group of amazing teens who raise funds to battle blood cancers and other diseases. Through Dec. 18. James Lee Community Center (2855 Annandale Road, Falls Church). $17. 7:30 p.m. providenceplayers.org.
“The Second City’s Black Side of the Moon.” An all-African American cast of The Second City’s smartest and most audacious sketch and stand-up artists breaks down and deconstructs the present American moment through comedy. They’re exactly what we need, exactly when we need it. So
if you suddenly feel like you’re living on an entirely different planet, migrate to the Black Side of the Moon. Through Jan. 1. Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company (641 D St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $20 – $79. 8 p.m. woollymammoth.net.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17
“Silver Belles.” When Oralene, the longtime director of small town Sylva Ridge’s Christmas Pageant, suddenly passes away, the Silver Belles must come to the rescue! With the spirit of Oralene looking on, the sterling-hued vixens band together, discover their talents and pull out all the stops to keep the beloved pageant alive. It’s “Golden Girls” meets “Designing Women” with a heaping helping of well-known Christmas tunes and clever new ditties. Through Dec. 24. Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington). $75. 8 p.m. sigtheatre.org.
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
CA L E NDA R
live_music&nightlife THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15 D��� ��� M�� ��������� R���� D�����, T�� G����� S���, J��� B���� ��� A����� L���. The State Theatre (220 N. Washington St., Falls Church). $39.99 – $124.99. 4:30 p.m. 703-237-0300. J��� S�������� ���� A������ D����� ��� G����� A������. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15 (Backstage). 7 p.m. 202667-7960. C����� L��� ���� S���� D������. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $35. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. D���� K������ B���. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504. T�� D������� ���� T�� Y�������� ��� G� P����. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $10. 8:30 p.m. 703-522-8340. J��� S�������� ���� A������ D����� ��� G����� A������. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $15 (Backstage). 9 p.m. 202667-7960. LATO D��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 9:30 p.m. 703-237-8333.
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16
Y��� B��� 2016 ��������� H���� � T�� P������, P����� P����� P���, D���� � T�� M������, T���� � T�� A������, T����� � T�� C����������� ��� B��� M��� R��. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $20 (Mainstage).
6 p.m. 202-667-7960. K����� D����� “H������ S���” ���� J�� S���� B��� ��� B��� C������. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 – $25. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. T�� NRIS. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $12. 8:30 p.m. 703-522-8340. C����� L������. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9 p.m. 703-241-9504. P�������� M��. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333.
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17
40 D����� F���. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504. J�� G��������� ��� T�� H����������. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $18 – $20. 5 p.m. 703-255-1566. S�������� J����� � T�� A������ J���� ���� S���� K���. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $39.50. 7:30 p.m. 703549-7500. C������ H������ ��������� T�� E�� C��� B��� ��� A������ P����. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $15. 8:30 p.m. 703522-8340. 2�� S��� B���. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 9 p.m. 703-241-9504. D��������. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $15 – $25. 9 p.m.
703-255-1566. E������� M�����: 80� H������ E����������� D���� P���� ���� DJ� S���� EP, K���� K, M��������� ��� K����� M�N����. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10 (Mainstage). 9:30 p.m. 202-667-7960. F������ U����������. Dogwood Tavern (132 W. Broad St., Falls Church). 10 p.m. 703-237-8333.
SUNDAY, DECEMBER 18
A C������ A��������: E��� 245 ���� B����T����. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $10. 1:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. J��� A���� B���. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 4 p.m. 703-241-9504. D���� W�� M����� ���� D���� C����. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $20 – $30. 6:30 p.m. 703-255-1566. R���-N-S���: A R��� ‘�’ R��� G����� S���. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). Free (Mainstage). 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960. M���� N���� �� I���. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $7. 7:30 p.m. 703-522-8340. L����� M�����’� E�������� C��������. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $45. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. A������ P���� S��� ���� J��� H������� ��� D��� C�������. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8:30 p.m. 703-241-9504.
DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016 | PAGE 27
J. F��� ��� T�� H���� A������. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m. 703-525-8646.
MONDAY, DECEMBER 19
T�� B������� B���. Iota Club and Café (2832 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). Free. 8 p.m. 703-522-8340. A�������� A����� ���� A�����/ A��������. Galaxy Hut (2711 Wilson Blvd., Arlington). $5. 9 p.m. 703-5258646.
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20
J�����’ J��� L���� S���� ��������� G19 ��� S����� S������. Jammin’ Java (227 Maple Ave. E, Vienna). $10 – $18 in advance; $13 – $18 day of the show. 6 p.m. 703-255-1566. T�� R������������ ���� F�������� ��� C�� G�������. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10 (Backstage). 7:30 p.m. 202-6677960. A J��� W����� C��������. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $49.50. 7:30 p.m. 703549-7500. M��� W����� ��� T�� B���� W�������. JV’s Restaurant (6666 Arlington Blvd., Falls Church). 8 p.m. 703-241-9504.
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 21
M��� C��������. The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria). $79.50 – $179.50. 7:30 p.m. 703-549-7500. R��� P���� ���� D����� J����. Black Cat (1811 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.). $10 (Backstage). 7:30 p.m. 202-667-7960.
P������� A����... Thursday, December 22 – Teen Kni�ng Club. Children in grades 6 – 12 come together to share projects, ask advice or learn how to knit. All skill levels
welcome. Scrap yarn and needles available for beginners. Registra�on required. Limited to 15 par�cipants. Mary Riley Styles Public Library’s Youth Services Room (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church). Free. 7 – 8 p.m. 703-248-5034.
Monday, December 26 – Holiday Closure: Christmas. Most City of Falls Church offices, including the Mary Riley Styles Public Library (which is closed from
Saturday, Dec. 23 at noon – Monday, Dec. 26), will be closed the day a�er the Christmas holiday. fallschurchva.gov.
Saturday, December 31 – Watch Night New Year’s Eve Celebra�on. Join thousands of area residents in downtown Falls Church City in the City’s annual
New Year’s Eve fes�vi�es including carnival games, local eats and live music. Broad and Washington Streets, Falls Church. Free. 7 p.m. – 12 a.m. watchnigh�allschurch.com.
C������� S���������� 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.
Email: calendar@fcnp.com | Fax: 703-342-0347; Attn: FCNP Calendar Mail: Falls Church News-Press, Attn: Calendar, 200 Little Falls St., #508, Falls Church, VA 22046
PAGE 28 | DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016
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C L AS S I F I E DS Help Wanted MAINTENANCE WORKER (PARTTIME) The City of Falls Church, VA is recruiting for a Maintenance Worker in the Recreation and Parks Division. This is part-time temporary position. This maintenance position is responsible for assisting the City’s Farmer’s Market. The incumbent will be responsible for building set-ups and general facilities duties within the City of Falls Church Recreation Division. RESPONSIBILITIES: Experience in maintenance work preferred, especially in the areas outlined above. Able to work outdoors for extended periods under all weather conditions, to include extremely hot summer weather. Satisfactory pre-employment physical, drug screen, and background check. HOURS: Saturday from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (approximately) and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. (this is an all year around position) SALARY: 14.53 an hour- There are no benefits with this position.
WANT THEM OUT OF THE HOUSE? Career Strategy, Resume Writing, Interview Coaching, Smart Job Hunting from former executive of major Talent Acquisition firm and FCC resident. Call Mike N at 703-501-7071
Public Notice ABC LICENSE LUZMIILAS BOLIVIAN RESTAURANT LLC , Trading as: Luzmilas Bolivian Restaurant, 809 West Broad Street, Suite F, Falls Church, Virginia 22046-3140. The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) for a Wine and Beer On Premises license to sell or manufacture alcoholic beverages. Grima Zambrana, Owner. NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices. Objections should be registered at www. abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.
We are pledged to the letter andspirit of Virginia’s policy for achieving equal housing opportunity throughout the Commonwealth. We encourage and support advertising and marketing programs in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap. All real estate advertised herein is subject to Virginia’s fair housing law which makes it illegal to advertise “any preference, limitation, or discrimination because of race, color, religion, national origin, sex, elderliness, familial status or handicap or intention to make any such preference, limitation, or discrimination.” This newspaper will not knowingly accept advertising for real estate that violates the fair housing law. Our readers are hereby informed that all dwellings advertised in this newspaper are available on an equal opportunity basis. For more information or to file a housing complaint call the Virginia Fair Housing Office at (804) 367-8530. Toll free call (888) 551-3247. For the hearing impaired call (804) 367-9753.
TO APPLY: You may apply online at www. fallschurchva.gov or via email to hr@ fallschurchva.gov . You may also submit your completed application to the City of Falls Church, HR Division, 300 Park Avenue, Suite 102W, Falls Church, VA 22046.
Call us today! 855-367-8637 www.umfs.org
AUCTION
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$750,000 OPENING BID! • Original List Price: $4,000,000
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REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION: During the selection process, applicants with disabilities may request reasonable accommodation with the agreement of the Human Resources Division. Requests should be directed to the Human Resources Division. The City of Falls Church does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, or disability.
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FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
Crossword
ACROSS
By David Levinson Wilk 1
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© 2016 David Levinson Wilk
Across
1. Miss at a bullfight?: Abbr.
1. Miss at a bullfight?: Abbr. 5. Literature Nobelist ____ Gordimer 11. Fluffy trio? 14. ____ and aahs 15. Friend since high school, say 16. “Uh-uh” 17. Atypical 18. Her 2009 song “3” is the shortest-titled #1 hit in Billboard history 19. Words before “You may kiss the bride” 20. Food whose name means “lumps” 22. Freeloader 24. “In what way?” 25. Region of ancient Greece 28. Give off, as vibes 29. Chernobyl’s locale: Abbr. 30. Pop singer with a fragrance line called Harajuku Lovers 33. “Beam ____, Scotty!” 35. Director Kurosawa 36. Deli offering traditionally studded with white peppercorns 41. Like some stockings or smudge-proof mascara 42. Cusps 45. TV actor whose Twitter bio reads “Some know me as Mr. Sulu from Star Trek” 51. Cousin of a moose 52. Approximately 53. Uncorks 54. Hurry, old-style
DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016 | PAGE 29
DOWN
1. Sweet plant often used to make molasses 2. Colony founded in 1587 only to be “lost” three years later 3. Small floor covering 4. “Hold on ____!” 5. Godot, in “Waiting for Godot” 6. Like Swiss mountains 7. ‘50s White House inits. 8. Beer variety, familiarly 9. Dealer buster 10. Queen in “Frozen” 11. It’s hard to understand 12. Appear gradually, on film 13. Clinton has one but Biden does not 21. Short smoke? 23. Slander 26. Quickly 27. “May I ____ favor?” 31. Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ____ You Get Enough”
CHUCKLE BROS BRIAN & RON BOYCHUK
5. Literature Nobelist ____ Gordimer
32. Geological span 34. 1914 Booth Tarkington novel 37. Seasonal beverage 38. Mined metal 39. VW or BMW 40. “This is the last straw!” 43. Draws out 44. Potentially dangerous 45. Die 46. Water or wind, e.g. 47. Fish-eating raptor 48. Traditional frat party 49. Isolate, in a way 50. Suffix with real or surreal 56. Org. that provides handicaps 57. Cassini dubbed Jackie Kennedy’s “Secretary of Style” 59. Valentine’s Day flower 62. Be bedridden 63. Org. of concern to Edward Snowden
55. Hall & Oates, e.g. 58. Alimentary canal, for short ... or a description of a stretch seen in 20-, 30-, 36- and 45-Across 60. ‘40s White House inits. 61. Jargons 64. Like some Keats works 65. Doctor’s charge 66. Dr. Seuss’s surname 67. Jedi foes 68. Attempt 69. Shining brightly 70. Crafty e-tailer
11. Fluffy trio?
Last Thursday’s Solution R A M P O M A R O C E A N P A R K A R I S R E S T C A K E R B Y E B E L O K N O W I F I L N O S E G R E T
Sudoku Level:
1
2
3
A S N S O E I T S S P A Y D E W P I T L D E
N E W A N E I D E L S C H E M A U G I N S E N T R E L L T T E S L A R G E B R E A F O N Z F I X E
C A N O N
A L I B I
L E V E L S
O N E I L L
T S Y O U T E M B E B E L O R R E R E K R O O O W I S E L
R E N T E R S R A S M E L
By The Mepham Group 4
14. ____ and aahs 15. Friend since high school, say 16. "Uh-uh" 17. Atypical 18. Her 2009 song "3" is the shortest-titled #1 hit in Billboard history 19. Words before "You may kiss the bride" 20. Food whose name means "lumps" 1
22. Freeloader 24. "In what way?" 25. Region of ancient Greece
LOOSE PARTS
28. Give off, as vibes
DAVE BLAZEK
29. Chernobyl's locale: Abbr. Solution to last Sunday’s puzzle
NICK KNACK
1
© 2016 N.F. Benton
12/18/16
Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit www.sudoku.org.uk.
© 2016 The Mepham Group. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency. All rights reserved.
LO CA L
PAGE 30 | DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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BACK IN THE DAY
laz y The dog. c k q u i fox sly p e d jum e r o v lazy the g . d o is Now time the all for o d g o to cows
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e c o mthe to of aid i r t h e re. pastu w N o the is e t i m all for o d g o to cows e c o mthe to
20 � 10 Y���� A�� �� ��� N���-P����
Falls Church News-Press Vol. VI, No. 40 • December 19, 1996
What A Move! It was a sight to see before daybreak last Sunday morning on East Broad St. (Route 7) in Falls Church. The old Proctor House, bathed in spotlight, slowly rumbling down the middle of the road, en route to its new location on the north side of the 300 block of East Broad.
It is no the timw e for g o all o cows d to go to the aid of the pa stu ir re. *** **
Falls Church News-Press Vol. XVI, No. 41 • December 14, 2006
10 Year s Ago
Thr ow it up. Pour it up It now is the time for all go od cows to go the to aid
Ka-Boom! 1st Phase of New F.C. City Center Unveiled With a Bang In a special City Hall briefing Tuesday afternoon attended by top Falls Church City officials and this newspaper, top representatives of Atlantic Realty company unveiled the parameters of the long-promised first phases of the Falls Church’s city center redevelopment.
THIS GUINEA PIG IS DRESSED AS SANTA CLAUS, but its name is Oreo. It was dressed up by local children who were feeling festive with the Christmas holiday right around the corner. Oreo’s partner-in-crime, Rocky, will be featured in an upcoming edition of the paper. Just because you’re not famous doesn’t mean your pet can’t be! Send in your Critter Corner submissions to crittercorner@fcnp.com.
WE EXIST TO MAKE SURE IT DOESN’T Multiple sclerosis interrupts the flow of information between the brain and the body and stops people from moving. With the help of people like you, the National MS Society addresses the challenges of each person whose life is affected by MS and helps them stay connected to the great big moving world.
JOIN ThE MOvEMENT jointhemovement.org
Beverly, diagnosed in 2001
Dare to find a career where you can truly make a difference. Your skills and talents could be exactly what we need to build the next generation of great teachers. Get resources to explore whether teaching is right for you at teach.org.
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
DEBORAH L. MARTIN (left). (Courtesy Photo)
Deborah Martin Dies In Car Accident at 63 Falls Church resident Deborah L. Martin died on Saturday, Dec. 10 in a car accident that also involved one of her daughters. Martin was born in South Carolina on January 24, 1953. She will be remembered for her love of people, animals and flowers. She was loved by everyone she met. She leaves behind four children, one of whom was badly injured in the car accident, one grandchild, five cats and two dogs. “We will miss her dearly and have loved the support that sur-
rounds us in our time of need,” said Elle Kime in an email to the News-Press. “We have set up an account for people who would like to support us.” The account referred to is a GoFundMe page that can be found at gofundme.com/fonucw. Funds raised at that page will go to help support the family Martin left behind. They also said that flowers can be sent to Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home, located at 9902 Braddock Road, Fairfax.
LO CA L
F.C.’s Vesta Downer Dies at 92
Vesta Stevens Downer, 92, a longtime resident of the city of Falls Church, died at home of natural causes on November 22, 2016, with family by her side. Born in Chester, Nova Scotia, when her father brought her pregnant mother from Connecticut to visit the place of his birth, she became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. at age 21. During the Great Depression, the family moved around Connecticut, due to her father’s series of jobs. Vesta attended a oneroom, rural schoolhouse before gaining admission to Norwich Free Academy. She obtained a B.A. from the University of Vermont in 1945 and a Masters in Social Work from Smith College in 1950. After graduate school, she worked in Baltimore as a social caseworker and at the Arlington Mental Health Center. She married Robert E. Downer, a congressional aide, in 1952. Settling in Falls Church, they had two daughters. Eventually, a new job with the Department of State led to a Foreign Service position for Bob, and the entire family moved with him to posts in the Philippines and Thailand. After five years in the Foreign Service, they returned to the same home they had lived in in Falls Church, and the girls attended George Mason High School. While in Bangkok, Vesta started a much-needed drugtreatment center for American
28-Year-Old Lifelong Resident of Falls Church Aaron White Dies Aaron Theodore White, who was born at Fairfax Hospital in Northern Virginia on New Year’s Eve in 1987 was the last baby born in the hospital that year. He died quite tragically early on the morning of December 5, 2016. He lived in the City of Falls Church throughout his short life. His family said that, “We want the world to remember him for the love he brought into it, for his kindness, his sense of fun, and his ability to bring people together. “We believe that the essence of Aaron was so real and accepting of others that people could not help but love him. His curiosity, his mischievousness, his interactions with all of the people who touched his life, made him someone people wanted to share with and be with.”
AARON THEODORE WHITE. (Courtesy Photo)
Aaron attended Falls Church City Public Schools throughout his grade school career. Before that, he went to preschool at Falls
DECEMBER 15 - 21, 2016 | PAGE 31
Church Presbyterian Church. In the years after he graduated from George Mason High School, he took classes at Northern Virginia Community College. His father, Ted White, who is the copy editor for the NewsPress, said, “He was into so many things and he had so many friends and it’s just...” After he trailed off, he made a sound of exasperation. At the time of his death, Aaron worked at T-Mobile and before that he worked at Game Stop for several years. He was the resident game expert at Game Stop, which grew out of his lifelong love of video games. “He had a good work ethic,” Ted said. “He always pleased the people he worked for.” At one point, Aaron talked about getting into veterinary work. The Foster Farm in West Virginia
Embassy dependents. On returning to the U.S., she re-established her social work career, working at Crossroads drug-treatment center in Fairfax and then Woodburn Community Mental Health Center in Annandale, and maintaining a private psychotherapy practice. She supervised graduate students, was on the board for social work licensure, and was instrumental in securing health-insurance coverage for psychotherapy performed by social workers in Virginia. Both before and after retirement, she enjoyed traveling all over the world with groups of seniors and ecological researchers. In 1995, as a member of the Older Women’s League, she attended the United Nations International Conference on Women, and while she did not witness First Lady Hillary Clinton’s “Women’s rights are human rights” speech at that event firsthand, she did watch it live on a closed-circuit television in another room. For years, she would go every summer with a group that cleaned and maintained a cabin on the Appalachian Trail. She loved gathering with her daughters and their families at Bethany Beach, Delaware. She was active in the Democratic Party and a variety of liberal and feminist causes, and was president of the Falls Church Democratic Committee for a time in the 1960s. She was for a number of years a member of Emmaus
United Church of Christ in Vienna, Virginia. A devoted runner since the age of 50, she frequently entered women’s 5K and 10K races, often coming in first in her division. In her 80s and beyond, even after giving up running, she still could be seen faithfully walking her one or two miles around the block whenever the weather permitted. She was a prodigious knitter, a crosswordpuzzle devotee, an avid gardener, a voracious reader and an inveterate letter writer, often penning “gotcha” letters to the editor, chiding newspaper staff on poor grammar and usage, or expressing her political views in no uncertain terms. Her family life was marred by tragedy: Her younger sister, helping with the World War II effort on the home front, was killed when the milk truck she was backing up a ramp at a farm overturned. Her younger brother died at 35 of a heart attack and two other brothers died in infancy. More recently, her younger daughter, Ann Downer-Hazell, a children’s book author, died in 2015 of ALS. Although acquainted with grief, Vesta lived a full life and gave unstintingly both to those she loved and to those in need. She is survived by a daughter, Judith E. Downer (Mrs. Alan Gordon), of Rego Park, New York, a son-in-law, Ed Hazell of Somerville, Massachusetts, and two grandsons.
posted on Facebook on Friday, Dec. 9 that a friend of Aaron’s made a donation to the organization in his honor, saying, “he loved animals.” His father confirmed that he loved animals. He owned a pair of black cats and co-owned a small dog for several years with a former girlfriend. Aaron was also a big man of music, even playing an instrument as a child. He always heard music being played, whether live or recorded, growing up and his brother Spencer took him to punk shows when he was younger. He recently went to see the band STRFKR at the 9:30 Club. Another love of Aaron’s was nature. He would spend weekends camping at his friend Chris’ Stony Brook Farm in Syria, Va. Aaron recently traveled to see his then girlfriend Lisa in Ireland. He often came over to his father Ted’s house at least twice a week to catch up and listen to music. The Tuesday after he got back from Ireland, he was at his father’s house, as was the News-Press, for a feature about his father’s life growing up in Falls Church and
life’s work as a writer. The two sat across the room from each other while Aaron debriefed his father on his adventures in Ireland. A memorial service for Aaron was held at the National Funeral Home Chapel on Saturday, Dec. 10. The chapel was packed with more than 200 people – the sanctuary was standing room only and there was overflow into the vestibule, which was also filled. Several people spoke about their love for Aaron and the memories they made with him at the service. A wake at Ireland’s Four Provinces followed the service. “That was the overwhelming message of everyone in the room. We all loved Aaron. He had no enemies. He brought joy into all their lives – so many lives. Many tears were shed,” Ted said to a group of his friends in an email the day of the service. “People I knew only by name hugged me and told me how much he’d spoken of me, always with love and admiration.” Aaron is survived by a large extended family and hundreds of friends who will miss him very much.
PAGE 32 | DECEMBER 15 – 21, 2016
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
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118 Tollgate Way | FCC
Wonderful renovated brick rambler featuring 3 BD/1 BA in Mclean High School District. Additional space in large finished attic. Great Yard. Offered at $499,000
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Wonderful renovated mid-century modern home featuring 4 beds/3bas on large private lot steps to EFC Metro. Offered at $1,050,000
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Breakfast with Santa December 17, 10am-12pm Please bring non-perishable food items to be donated to Food for Others
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102 Birch St #a-2, Falls Church, VA 22046
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