Falls Church News-Press Memorial Day 2023

Memorial Day Parade Program 2023 Monday, May 29, 2023 Falls Church, Virginia

Inside This Program:

Page 10

Veterans Ceremony Information

Page 13

Parade Grand Marshal

Page 14

Local Father and Son Share Service Stories

Page 15

Local Bolivian Dance Troupe

Page 16

F.C. Resident Celebrates 100 Years

Page 18

Memorial Day Schedule & Parade Lineup

Page 19

Letter from the Mayor

Page 20

Parade & Festival Map

Page 21

Memorial Day Vendor List

Page 22

Parade King & Queen

PAGE 10 | MAY 25 - 31, 2023

ME MO R I A L DAY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Memorial Day Ceremony 2023 Monday, May 29th at 11:00am

City of Falls Church Veterans Memorial 223 Little Falls St., Falls Church, VA 22046 Master of Ceremonies

Keynote Address

Harry Shovlin, American Legion Post 130

State Senator Chap Peterson

Posting of Colors

Presentation of Wreath in Memory of Departed Veterans

Color Guard from American Legion Post 130

Posting of MIA Flag

Sue Martin Stewart, Falls Church Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Escorted by Richard L. Anton, American Legion Post 130 and Howard Chatham, LCDR, USN (Retired)

Richard Anton, American Legion Post 130

National Anthem

City of Falls Church Concert Band Under the direction of Robert Little Vocals by Sgt. Major Robert Petillo (Retired), US Army Band

Reading of Names

Harry Shovlin, American Legion Post 130

Invocation

David Crance, VFW Post 9274, Chaplin

Prayer for the Departed Veterans David Crance, VFW Post 9274, Chaplin

Welcoming

David Tarter, City of Falls Church Mayor

Taps

Remembrance of the POW/MIAs

Master Gunnery Sgt. John Abbracciamento, Retired U.S. Marine Corps Band

Remarks

Color Guard from the American Legion Post 130

Presentations & Announcements

City of Falls Church Concert Band Under the direction of Robert Little Vocals by Sgt. Major Robert Petillo (Retired), US Army Band

Bob Smith, Vice Chair Greater Falls Church Veterans Council Jerome Gibbon Chairman, Greater Falls Church Veterans Council Harry Shovlin, Vice Chairman, Greater Falls Church Veterans Council

Retiring of Colors

God Bless America

This program was prepared by representatives of the Greater Falls Church Veterans Council including American Legion Post 130, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Martin Leppert Sipes Post 9274, Catholic War Veterans Paul and Jacques Martin Post 1652, Republic of Vietnam Association, Korean Vietnam Veterans Association, Falls Church Daughters of the American Revolution, Northern Virginia WWII Veterans, the Veterans Memorial Committee, and dedicated volunteers under the coordination of the City of Falls Church Recreation and Park Department. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability call (703) 248-5027 (TTY 711). Memorial Day Ceremony Monday, May 29th at 11:00am

Tysons Dental Corner Zina Alathari, DMD

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ME MO R I A L DAY

FCNP.COM | FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

MAY 25 - 31, 2023 | PAGE 11

Honoring our Fallen Heroes So few have given so much... so that we can enjoy even more

11am VETERANS' CEREMONY @ Community Center's Veterans Memorial Festival 9am-5pm • Fun Run @ 9am • Parade @ 2pm

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WWW.FCNP.COM The Falls Church News-Press is published weekly on Thursdays and is distributed free of charge throughout the City of Falls Church and the Greater Falls Church area. Offices are at 105 N. Virginia Ave.., #310, Falls Church, VA 22046. Reproduction of this publication in whole or part is prohibited except with the written permission of the publisher. ©2022Benton Communications Inc. The News-Press is printed on recycled paper.

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ME MO R I A L DAY

MAY 25 - 31, 2023 | PAGE 13

Local Business Owner Rebecca Tax Is This Year’s Grand Marshal

BY KYLEE TOLAND & PHEBE FAHMY FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

The owner of two prominent Little City businesses is this year’s Grand Marshal for the upcoming 41st Annual Memorial Day Parade on Monday, May 29.

Selected by The City of Falls Church’s Recreation and Parks Advisory Board for her “extensive community involvement” with various local organizations, Rebecca Tax will preside over the City’s annual festivities. Tax currently owns North Washington Street’s Clare and Don’s Beach Shack with her brother Dave, as well as Lazy Mike’s Deli, located just outside the City and near Meridian High School.

“Those who frequent Lazy Mike’s or Clare and Don’s during the lunch rush find their impact on building a sense of community quickly becomes evident with the crowds and conversations at both establishments that happen daily,” read the nomination letter by The City of Falls Church’s

Recreation and Parks Advisory Board.

A Falls Church resident for 16 years, Tax and her brother had previously owned businesses in Arlington for 10 years, including an ice cream parlor named Lazy Sunday.

After losing their lease, Tax said Falls Church was a “perfect location” as a new home for Lazy Sunday.

“It wasn’t anything I had ever planned on,” Tax said when talking about her beginnings as a business owner. “This sense of community here in Falls Church is really nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”

As for her “extensive community involvement,” Tax uses both Clare and Don’s Beach Shack and Lazy Mike’s Deli to host fundraiser dinners to help local organizations, make special ice cream flavors for school celebrations and donate food for school functions.

Aside from being a business owner, Tax personally has been involved in various local organizations, including Falls Church City Public Schools

and the Falls Church Homeless Shelter. Every Tuesday, Tax runs a food distribution center in Fairfax called Food Justice, where groceries and household items are provided to “about 100 families a week.” Tax also provides fresh produce for Columbia Baptist Church’s food pantry, located nearby Clare and Don’s.

“There’s unfortunately a great need in our community and surrounding areas [for food],” Tax said. “I have the ability to buy food wholesale, and I wanted to be able to share that with others who need it.”

When finding out she would be this year’s Grand Marshal, Tax said she initially felt a little “embarrassed” due to being put in the spotlight, but also “super proud.” She said her friend Gwenda Wilson had been nominating Tax for this title for years.

For her parade float, Tax said she was “at a loss” in what her theme should be. After bouncing off a few ideas, Tax said she began to think about what Memorial Day is and “what it

THIS YEAR’S GRAND MARSHAL Rebecca Tax owns two restaurants with her brother David Tax in F.C., as well as given back to the community with various fundraisers. (Photo: Phebe Fahmy) means.” To honor the holiday, Tax will be memorializing a friend’s son who was killed in Afghanistan, as well as another friend’s son who was killed in the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida.

As for what her words of

advice would be for those who may look up to her or are future Grand Marshals, Tax quoted the Golden Rule: “Treat people the way you want to be treated.”

“We like to be supportive of the community’s needs, and that generosity has come back multifold,” Tax said.

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ME MO R I A L DAY

PAGE 14 | MAY 25 - 31, 2023

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Re�lecting on Memorial Day: Local Father and Son Share Service Stories

BY SAM MOSTOW

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

For a local father-son duo, Memorial Day has a special and generational meaning.

John and Victor Wyand both served in the Army and are active members of the local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) organization.

John graduated from Berlin Brothersvalley High School in Berlin, Pennsylvania and served in the Vietnam War January 1969 – January 1970. Out of high school, he worked for the Army Map Service until he was drafted and sent overseas, working as a heavy vehicle operator. “[In Vietnam], I drove dump trucks and anything that had a motor in it for a year,” John said.

Victor, John’s son, is a Falls Church native who graduated from George C. Marshall High School.

He was on active duty in the Army February 2011 — May 2014, then transitioned to the Virginia National Guard, serving until May 2020. In active duty, he was stationed at Fort Campbell in Kentucky and completed a nine-month tour in eastern

Afghanistan.

Victor considered joining the Army after high school but decided against it, working in automotives as a mechanical apprentice. When he was 25, he enlisted and left for basic training.

“I decided that if I was going to [serve], that was the time to do it,” Victor said. “I just wanted to serve and protect and do my part.”

Reflecting on their time in the Army, John and Victor both cited the camaraderie between soldiers as something they are proud of and will always remember.

“We met a lot of great people who stepped up and did what they had to do and looked out for each other,” John said. “There are some folks that I will remember forever.”

Victor believes his time in the military helped shape his worldview.

“It’s just the perspective of what I have, and the freedom that I’m able to enjoy and the vast variety of all the people that I’ve gotten the chance to serve with,” he said.

John and Victor said being in the military brought them closer together and was beneficial to their

relationship as father and son. Their shared experiences helped them bond and understand each other.

“We consoled each other afterwards, because we both went through the same thing, essentially,” John said. “I think we’re a lot closer.”

As two people who served, both believe Memorial Day is an opportunity to thank those who paid the ultimate sacrifice and signed the “blank check” to their country.

“It’s not just the guys and gals that didn’t come back,” Victor said.

“It’s also people that didn’t come back the same anymore. Some people lose a significant part of themselves, not just physically, and you kind of have to memorialize that.”

“Some people, we don’t lose them in the war,” Victor continued.

“We lose them after the fact because they lose the fight at home.”

Both will walk in the Falls Church Memorial Day Parade with the VFW, either handing out flags or riding in a vehicle representing the organization. Afterwards, the VFW will hold a cookout and other festivities, inviting the community to participate with them. They will

JOHN (LEFT) and VICTOR (RIGHT) WYAND both served in the Army at different points in their lives. (P����: J��� W����) teach local scout troops how to fold the American flag and lead them through a flag retirement ceremony.

Being a part of the VFW allows the Wyands to continue serving their community. The organization helps maintain the same camaraderie that both loved in their service, and provides help to veterans who need

it. They work to ensure younger veterans have a community to be a part of, even if they did not deploy.

“The whole selfless service doesn’t stop after you get out,” Victor said. “And with organizations like the VFW, it becomes the shirt-off-your-back selfless service to your fellow veterans.”

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ME MO R I A L DAY

MAY 25 - 31, 2023 | PAGE 15

Parade Dance Troupe Keeps Local Bolivian Culture Alive

SHAYLA CRUZ leads the ‘caporales’ SENZANO leading the ‘tobas’ dance.

(Photo: Catherine Kane) dance. (Photo: Catherine Kane)

by Catherine Kane

Falls Church News-Press

Atop a nondescript parking ramp among doctors’ offices in Fairfax, people of all ages gather to keep Bolivian culture and tradition alive through music and dance.

Alma Boliviana, a dance troupe that will be among those performing at the Falls Church Memorial Day Parade, has over 100 members that meet twice a week to learn and rehearse traditional Bolivian dances and perform at festivals, parades and showcases around the region.

Daniela Senzano, a leader with the group, has been dancing for 18 years. It is her way of staying connected to her homeland.

“This is our way of connecting and making sure our culture gets passed down to the next generation,” Senzano said.

Senzano leads the ‘tobas’ dance, one of the three types of dances Alma Boliviana performs.

The tobas dance, which the group will perform at the Memorial Day Parade, is performed at festivals across Bolivia and originated with city folk who learned it from the Tobas people of the Bolivian Amazon.

“It’s very jungle-like,” Senzano said of the tobas dance and corresponding music. “You can hear the jaguar roaring in the music; it’s very fierce.”

Each dance, tobas, tinkus and caporales, has a distinctive ‘traje,’ or costume, that the dancers wear. For tobas, the traje is a two piece with a large feather headdress.

“We bring all the outfits in from Bolivia,” Senzano said. “They take a couple months to come in.”

As the leader for the tobas dance, Senzano teaches steps to her dancers and signals when to change steps, aided by a whistle.

Misla Pohren, another dancer in the group, has been dancing for 12 years. She came to the United States from Bolivia as a teen and said dancing brings back childhood memories from her home country. Pohren met her husband, Jeff Pohren, through Bolivian dance.

“He’s from Iowa,” she said of her husband. “But sometimes we joke that he’s more

Bolivian than I am because he knows all the dances and the language.”

Their two young children were among the many kids at the rooftop rehearsal.

“This is a very family-oriented group,” Misla said. “I want my kids to know about their mom’s home culture.”

The communal ties were evident with aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws and extended family all in attendance together at the rehearsal. Elder members of the group were selling traditional Bolivian food for the dancers to enjoy during breaks, which is one of the ways the group brings in money.

Alexandra Vadaurre, another dancer, said dancing is a way to express Bolivian culture.

“There are a lot of people here that would have never danced back in Bolivia, but it’s a way to connect to our home.”

Alma Boliviana, which is in its 32nd year, is part of a larger organization that represents Bolivian cultural groups in the Washington, D.C. area. The Pro-Bolivia Committee, founded in 1988, has 19 affiliated dance groups.

Lucio Villazon, the president of ProBolivia, said he sees performance at local events as an important part of the committee’s mission. He also affirmed the importance of keeping traditions alive.

“It’s our way to spread the culture and socialize between people,” Villazon said.

Alma Boliviana performs at ten parades throughout the area and even participated in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in 2011.

They have participated in the Falls Church Memorial Day parade for fifteen years.

“We love performing at the parades because we can see how much people are enjoying it,” Senzano said. “Sometimes the little kids like to dance with us and we love it.”

Jeff Pohren said dancing has a cathartic effect for him.

“Everything goes away,” Pohren said.

His wife and dance partner, Misla, echoed his sentiment.

“It’s that rush you get from performing.”

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PAGE 16 | MAY 25 - 31, 2023

ME MO R I A L DAY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Falls Church Resident Celebrates 100 Years of Service & Activism

BETTY ALLAN will be celebrating her 100th birthday on June 19. (P����: B�� B������)

BY PATRICIA LESLIE

Falls Church resident Betty Allan will soon join a select group.

When she celebrates her 100th birthday on June 19, she will become one of an estimated 90,000 people in the United States of 337,000,000 who are centenarians.

Her family of three children, their spouses and grandchildren in Falls Church, as well as from several states and Canada, will join Allan to celebrate her milestone at her home at Goodwin House.

The age-old question, “what’s the secret to your longevity?” is a refrain Allan often hears, and after a pause, she answers politely: “whole milk.” She doesn’t drink it now, though.

Her curiosity about the world, her love of travel, family and volunteerism are important elements of her long life.

She’s a former Falls Church School Board member who was active in the Village Preservation and Improvement Society and she’s a 50-year member of the League of Women Voters. During World War II, she was one of 10,000 “code girls,” the title of a 2017 bestselling book about the women who deciphered Japanese codes for the U.S. and helped win the war.

Born in New York state, Allan’s college credentials, which included a speciality in math, made her attractive to the U.S. Army Signal Corps, which hired her in 1944 to come to work in Washington.

In a 2007 email to a researcher, she described conditions where she started working for the government, beginning with

an all-night train ride from New York to Washington which, due to crowded conditions, forced her to sit on a suitcase.

She wore “a dark blue suit with white lace at the neck, matched by a little lace hat and snowy white gloves....” Upon arrival at Union Station, she and other recruits were greeted by a member of the Women’s Army Corps who ushered them into the open back of a small Army truck for transport to an unknown destination in the Virginia countryside. “It was a terribly hot July day,” she wrote.

While the truck driver stopped to make deliveries along the way, “we wilted in the sun.” Finally, upon arrival at Arlington Hall, they unloaded, filled out forms and had their photographs taken for a “sad badge” she wore for six years.

Allan said her job was “exacting under sometimes stressful conditions, but it was also an exciting time” working in “low barracks-like non-air conditioned buildings on three shifts,” a trifle different from today’s working environments.

In 1950, she broke from code-breaking and cashed in her retirement to travel to Europe for six months, but her talents and experiences were too valuable for the U.S. government to give up. The Central Intelligence Agency came calling, wanting her to work as a covert editor and researcher in Japan.

While waiting for security clearance, Allan served a stint as a hostess at the old Raleigh Hotel in D.C.

Continued on Page 17

ME MO R I A L DAY

FCNP.COM | FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

MAY 25 - 31, 2023 | PAGE 17

Activism, Exercise & Laughter Have Kept Local 100 Year Old Young

Continued from Page 16

In Japan, “I kept track of Soviet Union personnel through reports and newspapers,” she said in an interview with the Falls Church News-Press. One of the persons she covered was a Soviet defector, Yuri Rastvorov, whom Allan accompanied to Okinawa. Later, he went to work for the U.S. government.

Defectors were not all she met in Japan. There was also an Army intelligence officer, Dick Allan. The couple hit it off, becoming engaged and traveling for months around the world, enduring a breakup, then reconciliation, then marriage in 1955 and a move to Falls Church the next year to a home which is still in the family.

“We thought Falls Church was an attractive place, and I wanted a contemporary house with lots of windows which the agent called a ‘left-handed house’ since it wasn’t the usual standard Colonial,” Allan said.

Dick Allan died in 2015, a

few days before the couple’s 60th wedding anniversary. “I still miss him,” his widow said.

Moving to a happier subject, the cheerful and charming Allan says all she wants for her birthday are chocolates. “They keep me in chocolate,” she smiled as her son-in-law, Bob Burnett, sitting in on the interview, rushed over to her bureau and whipped open a drawer.

There in neat order lay delicacies from Belgium, Spain and other places, gifts from her family’s worldwide travels, an interest they inherited from Allan and her husband.

(The Allans racked up 55 trips with ElderHostel, now Road Scholar.)

Allan exercises daily (having won a gold medal for line dancing in the Senior Olympics!), has never smoked but used to drink wine and, to laughter, “maybe some other things.”

“I loved a good martini and when the kids came home from school, they might be poking themselves.

They were good kids in school, but I would fix myself a martini until my daughter (Susan) told me one day she could smell gin on me” and Allan stopped her mid-

afternoon drinking.

The countless hours she has spent volunteering have kept her interested in what goes on around her, including cofounding the “Green Team,” an environmentally-friendly group devoted to recycling and working against climate change at Goodwin House, where the Allans moved in 2004.

A longtime activist in many other groups, Allan still volunteers for the Democratic Party, calling voters who may need rides to the polls.

On her tray in her apartment sat the day’s Washington Post which Burnett says she reads every day, keeping up with news from other sources, too.

Her hearing and sight are acute, and she follows ballerinas and actors she used to see in person on stage. Burnett pulls up their performances on his phone for Allan to see and enjoy again.

Until around age 85, she ushered for Arena Stage. She laughed, reflecting on her memories there.

“That is, until they realized

BETTY ALLAN with her husband Dick and her three children in 1965. (P����: P������� L�����) they were ushering me!”

The best advice Allan has for anyone is to get involved.

“I mean, life would be pretty dull, if you didn’t,” Allan said.

With her positive attitude and good nature, no one will be surprised if she joins the

semi-supercentenarians (ages 105-109) and later, the supercentenarians (ages 110 and up).

It’s time to take Allan’s advice and hit the road, go eat chocolate, drink milk and maybe, have a martini or two.

And, yes, call voters.

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PAGE 18 | MAY 25 - 31, 2023

Your Official 2023 City of Falls Church Memorial Day Schedule City Hall and Community Center Grounds (300 Park Avenue)

Festival

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Fun Run 9 a.m.

(Starting line on Great Falls Street at Little Falls Street) Registration not required.

Music by The Coozies

Memorial Day Ceremony 11 a.m.

Hosted by the Greater Falls Church Veterans Council

Falls Church Concert Band 12:30 p.m.

Parade Starts 2 p.m.

(Park Avenue between West Street and Little Falls Street)

ME MO R I A L DAY

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

Memorial Day Parade Lineup

Falls Church City Sheriff’s Department City of Falls Church Police Department American Legion Veterans Post 130 Grand Marshall Rebecca Tax Falls Church City Council Falls Church City Public Schools Meridian High School King and Queen Greater Falls Church Veterans Council Martin Leppert Sipes VFW Post 9274 Charlie Co. 3rd Battalion, Virginia Army National Guard City of Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department City of Falls Church Recreation and Parks Department Falls Church News-Press

The Washington Scottish Pipe Band Girl Scout SU 50-14 Falls Church Kiwanis Little League Falls Church Village Preservation and Improvement Society Harley Owners Group, Fairfax, Virginia Chapter Dave and Melanie Elliott’s 1947 Dodge Shelley the South Jersey Shore Mermaid Fraternidad Embajadores del Folklore

Marcus Simon for Delegate John F. Nicoll Pipe Band KENA Shriners NOVA Parks Cheer DC Maha Yoga Girl Scout SU 50-12 Bikenetic Full Service Bicycle Shop Falls Church Forward and Bike Falls Church Morenada Embajadores del Folkore Functional Fitness VA

Boy Scout Troop 1996

Cub Scout Pack 1127

McKinley Technology High JROTC Drill Team

Parisa Dehghani-Tafti for Justice

Cub Scout Pack 681 (Saint James)

Temple Rodef Shalom Gun Violence Prevention Group

Shaun Van Steyn

Cub Scout Pack 657

Concerned Citizens Against Gun Violence

Save Soil Classic 1985 El Camino

Centro Cultural Bolivia

1964 Cadillac DeVille Convertible (Sam and Karen Jackson)

Mary Riley Styles Public Library Foundation

Falun Dafa of Washington, DC

Nokesville 4-H Equestrian Club

Alma Boliviana

City of Falls Church Public Works Department

Falls Church City Democratic Committee

Arlington County Fire Department: Fire Station 6

Operation Earthwatch

The Kensington Falls Church Tinkus Tiataco USA

Parade starts at 2 p.m. at the intersection of N. West St. and Park Ave. and runs through the intersection of Park Ave. and Little Falls St.

FCNP.COM | FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

ME MO R I A L DAY

Letter From City of Falls Church Mayor

MAY 25 - 31, 2023 | PAGE 19

Welcome to the City of Falls Church’s annual Memorial Day Parade and Festivities! We are pleased that you’ve chosen to spend this special day in The Little City.

As we gather on Memorial Day, it is important to remember the purpose of this holiday. Today we celebrate the military service members who have given their lives for their country. We pay tribute to these American heroes and their families and friends whose lives are forever changed, and we celebrate their legacy by honoring their commitment and sacrifices for our freedoms.

I hope you’ll join me for the Memorial Day Ceremony at 11:00 a.m. outside of the Community Center to celebrate our veterans and recognize those who continue to serve in the armed forces. State Senator Chap Petersen will be the keynote speaker for the ceremony.

At 2:00 p.m., join us for the annual Memorial Day parade along Park Avenue. Grand Marshal Rebecca Tax was selected based on her extensive community involvement with Falls Church City Public Schools, Falls Church Homeless Shelter, fundraising for local organizations, and all-around community support.

I encourage you to make this day an annual reminder of the good we can do in our communities and the world in honor of those who gave their lives in service.

P. David Tarter, Mayor City of Falls Church, Virginia

PAGE 20 | MAY 25 - 31, 2023

ME MO R I A L DAY

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MAY 25 - 31, 2023 | PAGE 21

ME MO R I A L DAY

PAGE 22 | MAY 25 - 31, 2023

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM

MHS King and Queen Reflect on High School Careers While Preparing for Parade

by Kylee Toland

Falls Church News-Press

As the City of Falls Church’s Memorial Day Parade and Festival nears, an important tradition will live on through Meridian High School seniors Ailene Neal and Alexander Werner.

This year’s MHS Prom King and Queen, Neal and Werner, will be honored in the Memorial Day parade.

Although the both of them said they weren’t surprised to be nominated (as they both nominated each other) they were “more than a little” surprised to hear that people were voting for them.

“It was somewhat of a shock, as I didn’t think that we had gotten enough notice to be the one of four pairs that had been nominated,” Werner said. “As we were walking up to get the crowns and sashes, I was more or less thinking ‘This is a joke… surely.’”

As graduating seniors of Meridian, both Neal and Werner said there have been various memorable moments of their high school careers.

Werner reflected on the fundraiser he organized this year for Extra Life — a fundraising program of Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals — for a

class project.

“It didn’t end up being all that big of an event.” Werner said. “But it was the culmination of a lot of hard work from the very start of freshman year.”

Neal said the memorable moments that come to her have been the “small things” she didn’t expect to remember. One of the most “striking” memories Neal shared was the day before the Covid shutdown, where Neal said she spent her last two classes “talking about whether or not school was going to close.”

“Little did I know I wouldn’t be back in the building until the same time next year,” Neal said.

Other moments the two seniors said they valued were working on big projects and assignments for their classes, attending various school functions such as Homecoming and Winter Formal, and the lessons they have learned along the way.

“The lessons I’ve taken from school have mainly been academic and will be helpful in college,” Neal said. “One of the more important lessons was that I learned the importance of focusing on areas I have a genuine interest in rather than just trying to check off diploma requirements, which helped to keep me motivated.”

“Probably the biggest lesson I’ve learned is if I keep at things, buckle down and work, stay determined and level-headed, I’ll pull through anything, and maybe even with some success,” Werner said.

Although both Neal and Werner said there’s not much advice they could give to their freshman year’s selves due to not wanting to change the paths they experienced, they reconsidered as reflecting seniors not procrastinating on assignments, joining more school organizations and being more confident.

“I was excited for high school going in as a freshman, but the last four years have really been me doing and exploring more each year as my academic and otherwise responsibilities were increasing,” Werner said.

Being featured in this year’s Memorial Day parade is exciting for Neal, although she said she was “a little nervous” but is “honored by the distinction.” Werner said he is most excited about “being a part of the action,” especially being near The Washington Scottish Pipe Band.

“It’s that excitement to be part of things that best sums up how I feel about being part of the parade,” Werner said. “I get to be featured as

SENIORS Ailene Neal and Alexander Werner will be featured in this year’s Memorial Day Parade. (Photo: Ailene Neal) part of what’s really this serious affair and grand spectacle, doing so as a representative of the Class of ’23.”

After graduation, Neal will be attending St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland, majoring in liberal arts and hoping to pursue her interests in music and literature. Werner will be attending the University of Virginia to work

toward a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. He also hopes to train and become a certified EMT to work toward his goal of becoming a medical doctor.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to look back and see how I’ve gone from not doing much of anything in ninth grade to representing the senior class to the city,” Werner said.

FCNP.COM | FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS

ME MO R I A L DAY

MAY 25 - 31, 2023 | PAGE 23

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ME MO R I A L DAY

PAGE 24 | MAY 25 - 31, 2023

Honoring our Veterans

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