August 29 September 4, 2024
Fa lls Chur c h, V i r g i ni a • ww w. fc np. c om • Fr ee
Fou n d e d 1991 • Vol. XXXIV No. 29
The City of Falls Church’s Independent, Locally-Owned Newspaper of Record, Serving N. Virginia
No Issues In Trump’s Quick Stop at F.C.’s Eden Center
GRIP IT AND RIP IT
Brief Appearance Tuesday With Senate Race’s Cao by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Republican Presidential nominee Donald Trump made a brief stop at the Eden Center in the City of Falls Church early Monday morning prior to a quick stop at the Arlington National Cemetery, where a heavily-reported dispute broke out involving the Trump team’s violation of the cemetery’s “no photos” policy, and a plane trip out of town to a campaign event. Trump showed up at the Truong Tien restaurant in the Eden Center, arguably the most active and vibrant VietnameseAmerican gathering place in the U.S., with the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate Hung Cao. Cao is running against Democratic incumbent Tim Kaine. Trump spoke briefly and left without eating, although he reportedly ordered food to go. The event was carried by C-SPAN. The restaurant was opened last year by Thanh Huong Thi Truong and is one of dozens of outstanding Vietnamese restaurants in the center. At his brief appearance, Trump cited his endorsement of Hung Cao in the Republican primary earlier this year and now in for the general election, and said “I really like that name, Hung Cao,” repeating it twice. He said “I don’t know why but Vietnamese people love me.” He added that he believes he has a chance to win in Virginia against
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THE MERIDIAN VARSITY Golf Team hosted their first match last Thursday at Reston National. Led by (pictured above on the Tee) Senior, Alex Way, who shot one under par. The Mustangs beat the field in convincing fashion with a team score of 149, topping second place Yorktown by 14 points. (Photo: FCCPS)
Robert McCan Presents on His 100th Birthday by Nicholas F. Benton
Falls Church News-Press
Last Friday, Aug. 23, lifelong civil rights activist, Falls Church resident and active Falls Church Episcopal member the Rev. Dr. Robert L. McCan spoke at length and was honored at an event celebrating his 100th birthday at the D.C.-based headquarters of the U.S. Institute of Peace that he helped to found. McCan was at the top of his game in his half-hour lecture, a recollection of his many achievements that included working with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr., at the mid-afternoon event, attended by dozens of friends and supporters, including a large contingent from the Falls Church Episcopal led by its rector, the Rev. Burl Salmon and communications director Joel Wood, the Jefferson Senior Living facility in Arlington and the Goodwin House in greater Falls Church. McCan was introduced as “an American peacemaker and peace builder” who helped create what became the U.S. Institute of Peace over the course of a long and storied career in the minis-
try and peacemaking efforts. According to McCan, it was his experiences during World War II as a chaplain coming out of seminary in Missouri, and later in the war when he rode a bus from Asheville, North Carolina, to St. Louis, Missouri, with a young Japanese American whom his church was sponsoring to be released from an internment camp in order to attend medical school. He said that others on the bus jeered and taunted the student with signs that read, “Slap a Jap.” “While the war taught me to
hate and kill Japanese people, I had a Japanese friend and wanted instead to work with him toward world peace and a cross-cultural understanding,” McCan recalled. That marked the beginning of his lifelong ministry. He recalled the Southern Baptist convention at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, where he shared the stage with Dr. King, and as a result had spent an hour talking with him backstage before they
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