School Notes
The following students enrolled at Virginia Tech were named to the dean’s list for the fall 2012 semester: Madalena R. McNeil is a junior majoring in international studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Owen T. Nugent is a sophomore majoring in general engineering in the College of Engineering. Kelley M. O'Leary is a senior majoring in interior design in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies. Catherine B. Royka is a sophomore majoring in communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Laina N. Schneider is a junior majoring in crop and soil environmental sciences in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. Kelly E. Wood is a senior majoring in political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Christopher A. Caldwell is a senior majoring in computer science in the College of Engineering. Hilmi D. Entabi is a senior majoring in mechanical engineering in the College of Engineering. Adam D. Frank is a senior majoring in sociology in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences. Travis E. Frank is a senior majoring in landscape architecture in the College of Architecture and Urban Studies. Sonia Garakyaraghi is a freshman majoring in university studies. Alan A. Gomez is a senior majoring in computer engineering in the College of Engineering. Juan G. Montolin is a senior majoring in geography in the College of Natural Resources and Environment.
People
The Alexandria City Council reappointed Gwendolyn Day-Fuller and Kathleen Schloeder to the Alexandria Library Board. Day-Fuller serves as the board’s secretary and Schloeder as its chair. The Alexandria Library Board also welcomed two new members this year, the City of Alexandria’s Vice Mayor, Allison Silberberg, and City Council appointee, Helen Desfosses. Silberberg, whose civic efforts promote social justice, has been an Alexandria resident since 1989, and was elected to City Council in November 2012.
Military Notes
Marine Corps Pvt. Mau E. Knight, brother of Darius J. Faison of Gainesville, Fla. and nephew of Marine Corps Sgt. Michael T. Knight of Alexandria, earned the title of United States Marine after graduating from recruit training at Marine Corps Recruit Depot, Parris Island, S. C. Knight is a 2009 graduate of Pine Ridge High School of Deltona, Fla.
Bulletin Board
Absentee Voting Opens On Tuesday June 11, there will be a Democratic Primary for Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Absentee voting for the primary began Friday, April 26. Many Alexandria voters are eligible to vote absentee, but relatively few take advantage of this option. Qualifying circumstances: commute and work for 11 of the 13 hours the polls are open; caregiver for a confined family member; unable to go to the polls in person on Election Day because of an illness or disability; or will be absent from Alexandria on Election Day because of personal business, work, school, or vacation. To learn more about these, and other circumstances in which absentee voting is an appropriate option, visit alexandriava.gov/Elections and click on “Absentee Voting,” or call 703-746-4050.
Tea Party Ticket
Republican convention selects conservative slate of candidates for November.
Perhaps the biggest sign that the Tea Party has taken control of the Republican Party of Virginia was the yellow Gadsden flag emblem that appeared on placards distributed by supporters of Jeannemarie Devolites Davis, who was one of seven candidates vying to be the nominee for lieutenant governor last weekend at a raucous convention in Richmond. Davis, who represented Fairfax County for a decade in the General Assembly, has a reputation as being a moderate.
Alexandria Bulletin Board
Information on events going on in Arlington.
Calendar
Ongoing Summer Classes. Art at the Center, 2804 Sherwood Hall Lane. Children ages 6-10 can participate. Register at www.artatthecenter.org or 703-201-1250. Art Exhibit. Through Sunday, May 26, Thursday, Friday and Sunday noon-4 p.m.; Saturday 1-4 p.m. at The Athenaeum, 201 Prince St. See works by Mary Margaret Pipkin. Free. Visit www.mmpipkin.com.
Half Marathon To Support Families
Fundraiser includes 1K fun run.
Several thousand runners and spectators will gather for the fourth annual Alexandria Running Festival Half Marathon and 5K this weekend.
A New Jefferson-Houston
The ground has been broken on the new site for the Jefferson-Houston Elementary School. The event featured a visit from the Washington National’s Running President Thomas Jefferson.
Centreville, Westfield Garner Cappies Nods
‘Cabaret’ and ‘Flowers for Algernon’ are honored.
When the winners are announced during the 14th annual Cappies Gala, June 9, at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., students from Centreville and Westfield high schools will be there, eager for the results. That’s because both schools were nominated for awards for their Cappies shows. Centreville received nominations for its high-spirited musical, “Cabaret,” and Westfield was recognized for its touching play, “Flowers for Algernon.”
2013 Athletes of the Year
Britt McHenry to keynote Sportsman’s Club dinner May 29.
Washington sportscaster Britt McHenry will be on hand as 26 of the city’s best high school athletes are honored for their academic and athletic excellence at the 57th annual Alexandria Sportsman’s Club Awards dinner May 29 at the Westin Carlyle Hotel. A sports reporter for ABC7/WJLA-TV and NewsChannel 8, McHenry is also the host of News Channel 8's High School Sports Final. Her keynote address will be the first given by a female in the history of the Sportsman’s Club.
Remembering a Promise To Remember
Alexandria war memorial is decaying.
The monument in front of Alexandria's railroad station is a pledge that residents who die in wartime service never will be forgotten. How, then, could the monument itself be so forgotten? On Monday, Nov. 11, 1940, a crowd of 3,000 gathered for the dedication. Speakers, whose words were not recorded, undoubtedly said the sacrifices of the dead would be remembered forever. But time has affected the stones representing those promises. Decay has set in. Joints are opening. Mortar and caulking have fallen aside, preparing the way for further damage. Those who participated in the long-ago ceremonies would be taken aback at what is visible today.
Volunteers To Place 5,000 Flags
On Saturday May 25, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 609, American Legion Post 1775 along with other veterans and volunteers will place more than 5,000 American flags at the graves at Alexandria National Cemetery, 1450 Wilkes St., Alexandria. It is the oldest veterans cemetery in the U.S., established in 1862.
A Joyous Occasion
To the Editor: Artists, their families and friends, and members of the community who attended the opening reception of “Art Uniting People” at the Lee Center not only got to see some powerful, moving, sad, jarring and funny works of art including photography, paintings, sketches and sculpture, they also got a chance to learn what it takes to be happy with Liberian-born storyteller Vera Oye' Yaa-Anna who told her tale of the king of the historic city of Timbuktu who was always unhappy no matter what his loyal subjects and servants tried to do. With the help of dancers Diane Freeman and Thomas Lee and drummers Yerone Sanders and Joseph Ngwa, the audience was soon clapping, dancing in their seats, down the aisles and on stage and chanting “I am Happy.” A few tried drumming including an intrigued four-year-old.
‘Lights Out’ District?
To the Editor: Keeping the streetlights on in Alexandria starts with city hall’s new Call-Click-Connect system, where like Dorothy going to Oz, you click three times and land in a place that asks you to “call the power company.” The city stays out of the loop and in the happy zone. You’re on your own road to discovery, dude. Arriving to the Historic District by Metro, you may begin your journey to the water by traversing the western end of King Street’s “lights out” district, where night-shuttered businesses and few restaurants create a picture of gothic gloom. It is here, like Pepper and Martin, whose shop is fronted by an unlit streetlamp, you might feel the need to squint.