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‘Another Way of Living’ Celebrates Reston

Documentary screened at community center on Founder’s Day.

When Rebekah Wingert-Jabi began to piece together a film about Reston’s history to date, she realized each member of the community created the web that shaped it.Her film, “Another Way of Living - The Story of Reston, VA,” was screened at the Reston Community Center on Saturday night as a part of the Reston Founder’s Day celebrations.“It wasn’t until I left Reston that I realized what a special place it was,” she said.The film, which took two years to create, weaves back and forth through Reston’s history and founder Robert Simon Jr.’s life. It showed how a place that once headlined as “An unlikely success story” is now the community for 75,000 people and counting.

Arbor Terrace of Herndon Wins 2013 Excellence Award

Arbor Terrace of Herndon was presented with a Senior Advisor Excellence Award for receiving consistently high ratings from residents and their families in 2013. SeniorAdvisor.com is a consumer reviews web site established by A Place for Mom (APFM), the nation’s largest senior living referral service, as a way for seniors and their families to share feedback on senior living communities and services. The inaugural Senior Advisor Excellence Award identifies the top senior living communities who have received an overall average rating of at least 4.5 stars on the site. The award winners were recognized for having the best customer ratings and reviews out of more than 100,000 senior care providers currently on SeniorAdvisor.com. Winners of the Excellence Award are located all over the country and represent the top tier of independent living, assisted living, and Alzheimer’s care communities on the SeniorAdvisor.com website. This exclusive designation places the winners in the top one percent of senior living communities nationwide according to consumers.

Capital One Headquarters Debated

Company wants a taller building in Tysons.

Capital One wants to make its future headquarters office building the tallest in Tysons Corner. McLean Citizens Association discussed the changes in the development plan at its April 2 Board of Directors meeting. The Building 3 office building, if constructed as planned, will rise 470 feet - 32 stories - into the Tysons skyline due to the mechanicals that will be placed at the top. This will make it the tallest building in the urban center. Their current McLean headquarters building is 14 stories. The new building is planned to be more than twice that size. “This is going to be a monster of a building,” said board member Mark Zetts during the zoning presentation.

Gyeonggi Province Governor Visits the Korean Bell Garden

The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority has announced that Kim Moon-Soon, Governor of the Gyeonggi Province of the Republic of Korea, donated $10,000 for the long-term maintenance of the Korean Bell Garden during his recent visit to the Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna. Governor Kim has a long standing relationship with the people of Fairfax County and has been an active part of the creation and completion of The Korean Bell Garden. The bell garden was fully funded by donations from the Republic of Korea and the Gyeonggi Province. This is the only traditional Korean garden with a bell in the western hemisphere and the only Korean bell on the east coast. The two--ton “Bell of Harmony” was donated by Governor Kim and the Gyeonggi Province in 2011 and is the jewel of the Bell Garden. The bell combines images of nature from both Korea and Virginia as a symbol of the Korean-American population in this region.

Carly Fiorina, founder of the ONE Woman Initiative and a Global Ambassador for Opportunity International, …

Local Designer Honored

Alexandria tastemaker blends a variety of styles.

Old Town Alexandra-based interior designer Anna Kucera has a knack for helping her clients turn their fanciful ideas in to concrete realities.

Floris United to Host Empty Bowls Fundraiser

Local potters give their time and talent to support Empty Bowls and help fight hunger in our area. The Reston and Herndon pottery classes at their respective Community Centers have been busy making hundreds and hundreds of ceramic bowls for an Empty Bowls fundraiser to benefit Food for Others, the largest distributor of free food in Northern Virginia and hosted by The Giving Circle of HOPE. Open to the public, the event will be held on Friday, April 25 from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Floris United Methodist Church, 13600 Frying Pan Rd, Herndon. Pre-event tickets are $25 and will be $30 at the door. Guests will receive a simple supper of soup, bread, a beverage, dessert and a handmade bowl, which they may keep to remind them that there are those in our community that are empty. For more information go to www.givingcircleofhope.org.

Spring Benefit to Support MPA

Honored Guest and Co-Chairs announced.

Award-winning USA Today sports columnist Christine Brennan will be the honored guest at McLean Project for the Arts (MPA) Spring Benefit. The annual fundraiser will be on Thursday, May 15, 7 - 9 p.m. at the home and gardens of Michelle and Chris Olson in McLean. Co-chairs for this year’s event are Sylvia Garfinkle and Laura Miller.

‘Victims’ Rights Are a Necessity’

Honoring crime victims with walk, words and candlelight vigil.

Siobhan Russell was just 19 when her ex-boyfriend killed her. Ron Kirby, a noted regional transportation planner, was murdered in his Alexandria home in November by an unknown assailant.

Forestville Talent on Display

Students and professional artists exhibit creativity at Spring Art Fair

Forestville Elementary was turned into an art museum last week. The school’s Parent Teacher Association held it’s Spring Art Fair on Thursday, displaying works by about 70 student artists and professionals from Great Falls Studios. “We do this every two to three years,” said event organizer and PTA member Maureen Gatti. “The artists have really appreciated being here for the children and the children like meeting the professional artists.” In the cafeteria, dance performances to popular songs like “In Summer” from the movie Frozen, even got the children in the audience dancing. Proud parents took pictures of their children on stage or in front of their art display. Fifth grade student Cassie Dallas, 11, said her love of oil painting began after she saw an artist painting at her local farmers market. Her parents sent her to lessons, and she gets to paint for one to two hours with her instructor every week.

Basheer & Edgemoore Wins National Community of the Year Award

Basheer & Edgemoore has been the recipient of a Silver Award at the National Sales and Marketing Awards for 2014. Hosted by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), Basheer & Edgemoore succeeded as a Silver Award Winner in the Community of the Year category.

Reston Celebrates History and Founder’s Birthday

Reston founder Robert Simon Jr.’s birthday bash was the biggest party in town.With cake, music performances, proclamations and even a quick visit from the governor, Saturday’s Founder’s Day festivities at Washington Plaza attracted hundreds of spectators and a big smile from Simon himself.The event, an early 100th birthday celebration for Simon and Reston’s 50th anniversary, was held from noon until nearly 3 p.m.“Bob Simon, here we had an idea guy that followed through, and out of that idea flourished a place that had extraordinary values,” said U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-11).

CATS Puts Special Needs Kids First

Children’s Adaptive Team Sports reinforces and praises with soccer and trophies.

Children with special needs can sometimes feel like they are not a part of a community. CATS - which stands for Children’s Adaptive Team Sports - helps these kids feel like real winners by putting them on their own basketball and soccer teams. “We’ve had some parents who were emotional and said they thought they’d never see their son play on a soccer team,” said founder and CEO Margarita Benavides. “Eighty percent of parents said there were improvements on motor skills or attention.”

Clearing Up ‘Diet’ Mistery

To the Editor, Thank you for your illuminating article on the so-called Walker Road ‘Diet’ in Great Falls [“Walker Road ‘Diet’ Nears Completion,” Great Falls Connection, April 2-8, 2014]. It goes a long way towards clearing up the mystery (to me and perhaps to others) of why we had to endure several months of inconvenience while different versions of construction crews plied their trade. If I understand it correctly, we spent a million dollars of scarce taxpayer funds to make the president of the Great Falls Citizens Association and the owner of The Brogue tavern happy. This at a cost nearly four times the original estimate. To further summarize, we Great Falls residents allegedly needed a crosswalk and it was determined that it could not be done without reducing the number of Walker Road lanes at the Great Falls Center.

Aldrin Elementary, Giant Announce Partnership

Aldrin Elementary and Giant of North Point announced their business partnership with a school assembly, on March 6. This is the first official school partnership for Giant. Aldrin's fifth and sixth grade chorus performed a special song and kindergartners created a video highlighting their recent field trip to Giant.

Herndon High in National Business Plan Competition

The Business Management Virtual Enterprise class at Herndon High recently placed first in best sales presentation, first in website design, second in company business card, and fifth in human resource case study during a trade show at Virginia Wesleyan College. The students created the company V-LO Chip, Inc. Their chip is the size of a stamp and can be placed on any item which would allow one to locate a lost, stolen, or misplaced object using a smartphone, laptop, or tablet. It can also be used for medical purposes to locate disoriented loved ones suffering from dementia or Alzheimer’s Disease. Team members include Paria Ahmadi, Daniel Cozza, Eduardo Delgado, Bobby Emmons, Bailey Hubble, Anthony Lieu, Stephanie Paendong, Nathan Petrelli, and Sam Sepassi. Team officers also played a part in the success of the competition but did not attend; they traveled to New York City on March 31, to represent Virginia in the National Business Plan competition. Officers are Steven Barbaro, Andrew Ipinza, Robert Koss, Travis Langtry, Andrew Maccini, Sara Pena, and Han Phan.

‘Country Store’ Celebrated

New exhibit displays artifacts and reproductions of a bygone era.

Although Freeman Store and Museum’s new exhibit, History of the Country Store, opened in early March, Historic Vienna Inc. chose a sunny and warm spring day for its opening reception on April 6. A steady stream of guests filtered through the store and museum examining the artifacts and reproductions on display in the store and upstairs in the museum and parlor. The Freeman Store is listed on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.

Wolftrap Elementary Wins Odyssey of the Mind Competition

Students from Wolftrap Elementary School competed at the NoVa North Odyssey of the Mind Region 9 Tournament, which took place at Oakton High School on March 8. Wolftrap Elementary's Division II Team competing for Problem #3,“It's How We Rule” placed first for the second year in a row, and will advance to the State Tournament in Rocky Mount, Va. on April 26. This was the first year that the sixth grade team participated in Division II where they competed against sixth, seventh and eighth grade teams from across the region. Team members are: Kiran Gowda, Wendy McHone, Ruhi Mehta, Valerie Nayak, Michael Shi, Katarina Stefanik and Lauen Van Stone, coached by Rachelle Stefanik and Tracy McHone. Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem solving program that involves students from kindergarten through college. Team members apply their critical thinking, team building and problem solving skills to produce an original performance or presentation in a variety of areas including: mechanical/vehicle, technical performance, classics, structure and performance. They then bring their solutions to competition on the local, state, and World level. For more information, visit http://www.odysseyofthemind.com.

Science Honor Society at Madison HS Raises Funds for Antibacterial Playground

Fundraisers and Vienna Rotary grant raise more than $24,000 to-date.

Between a diversity of fundraisers – from Bingo to “dining for dollars” - the National Science Honor Society [NSHS] of James Madison High School has raised more than $24,000 to-date toward construction of an antibacterial waiting room playground at Inova Loudoun Hospital Children’s Emergency Department. The Science Honor Society is working to raise $30,000. Officers of the honor club were charged with creating and executing fundraising projects.

The Robinson Singers recently practiced for the World Choir Games as Sydney Guillaume, the composer …

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