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Brief: Gingerbread Activities at Deer Park Elementary
The Gingerbread Man will help K-2 students at Deer Park Elementary learn about school geography and the staff members when local author Laura Murray comes to share her book, “The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School,” Dec. 12, at 9 a.m.
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Centre View School Notes: Nov. 21, 2012
school notes
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Editorial: Be Part of Children's Centre View
During the last week of each year, the Centre View devotes its entire issue to the creativity of local students and children. The results are always remarkable. It is a keepsake edition for many families.
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Editorial: Diversity Growing
Tune in to our series on immigration.
This week, Centre View and Connection Newspapers kicks off a series about immigration, diversity and the growing population of foreign-born residents in Fairfax County. County reporter Victoria Ross opens with a story that captures vignettes and statistics of the changing population.
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Handling ‘Everything under the Sun’
Animal Control officer talks about his job.
Andy Sanderson has been a police officer for 20 years and an animal control officer for 15, and he recently shared his knowledge and expertise with members of the Sully District Station’s Citizens Advisory Committee.
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Caring for Seniors
Just a few years ago, one phone call changed our lives forever. As parents of two young girls, we were busy with our lives — work, preschool, plans for summer vacation: the usual daily routine. The call that turned our lives upside down came from the neighbor of my mother-in-law in Florida. They were concerned that she had been getting lost while driving to the store, and wanted to be sure we knew there was a serious problem. Just a few weeks later, I found myself visiting assisted living and retirement communities in Alexandria and helping her move back up north. Together, we navigated a whole new world of estate planning, Medicare, military benefits and memory loss. Increasingly, we turned to friends who had been through similar experiences with their parents for advice, guidance and support. We learned that we live in a great area for seniors and uncovered many resources available to our family. It took a lot of time and patience, but eventually we felt like “experts” in the field.
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The Importance of Giving Back
It’s hard to believe that 140 years have passed since Julia Johns brought together a group of forward-thinking women to open a hospital in Alexandria. Much has changed over the last century and a half, but one thing remains constant: the overwhelming support Inova Alexandria Hospital has received from our dedicated community. Giving back is both a privilege and a perpetuation of the good we see all around us. Whether it is programs within our hospital, or partnering with local organizations on community health and wellness initiatives, we are involved in a wide range of opportunities to advance healthcare for those who need it most. With Thanksgiving approaching, it’s a good time to take stock of some of the ways we brought this commitment to life in 2012: * October’s Walk to Fight Breast Cancer, which we sponsor in partnership with the City of Alexandria and the Inova Alexandria Hospital Foundation, attracted 900 participants. Proceeds benefit the Alexandria Breast Cancer Walk Fund at Inova Alexandria Hospital, which provides mammograms to uninsured women or those in financial need. Since the walk began in 1994, more than 7,000 women have been helped thanks to the generous support of sponsors, walkers and their pledges.
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Bulletin Board
Thursday/Nov. 1 Free Parenting Seminar. 7-9 p.m. Jodi Sleeper-Triplett, founder of the movement for ADHD coaching for youth, will present seminar on "ADHD Coaching Strategies for Parents" in Room 348A at the George Washington Middle School Campus. The Anne R. Lipnick Special Education Family Resource Center and Alexandria City Public Schools Office of Special Education Services are sponsoring the event. To RSVP, contact Mónica Sanjur at 703-824-0129. Through Nov. 3 Birth Center 25th Anniversary. 1-5 p.m. BirthCare and Women's Health, a practice of certified nurse-midwives supporting families who choose to give birth outside of the hospital, will celebrate 25 years of service to the community. The celebration will be held in the U.S. Patent and Trade Office Atrium located at 600 Dulany St. Free and open to the public. Visit www.birthcare.org. Monday/Nov. 5 Camp Dinner Meeting. 6:30 p.m. The R.E. Lee Camp will host its dinner meeting at the American Legion Post 24 Hall at 400 Cameron St. at S. Royal St behind Gadsby's Tavern. The cost to attend the dinner is $25 per person and cash bar or BYOB. Rich Gillespsie, the Director of Education for Northern Virginia’s Mosby Heritage Area, will speak on “Mosby, Katy’s Hollow, and You.” RSVP to Lawrence Graham at 703-217-7871 or Lawrence@va-scv.net. Checks should be made out to R.E. Lee Camp #726 and mailed to P.O. Box 4024, Oakton, Va 22124. Visit www.leecamp.org.
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As Sandy Rolls In, Still Plan to Vote
Variety of choices in political landscape.
Hurricane Sandy means that the week preceding the election will not be what we were expecting. This editorial is being written Sunday night, Oct. 28, as forecasters predict five inches of rain and 65-mile-per-hour winds over the next two days. With some predicting that power could take a week or more to restore, we have to worry about the likely condition of the Eastern seaboard will be on Election Day, Nov. 6. Absentee voting in person had been cancelled for Monday, and most government offices were closed in anticipation of the storm. What will this mean for voter turnout, for access to voting places on Election Day? We don't believe that there are significant numbers of undecided voters in Northern Virginia. There are voters who know who they would vote for if they did vote, but they might not be committed to voting if circumstances are difficult. The outcome of the national election, both who will be president and which party controls the U.S. Senate and by what margin, could depend on voter turnout in Virginia. Make a commitment to have your vote counted, no matter how many days you might be without electricity. We are not endorsing candidates for elected office this year. We do recommend that voters support local bond questions for investments in libraries, schools, transportation, parks, stormwater management and public safety.
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Westfield Wins VTA Competition
School’s first victory in statewide acting contest.
The local community knows how talented Westfield High’s theater students are; now, so do people in the rest of the state. The young thespians won the school’s first-ever Virginia Theatre Association (VTA) competition, beating out 44 other schools statewide. The event was held Oct. 26-28 at the Reston Hyatt, and Westfield’s victory propels its actors to sectional competition, March 6-10, in Louisville, Ky. There, they’ll vie against some 30 other first-place winners from across the Southeastern U.S. Westfield performed the one-act play, “The Hothouse,” by Harold Pinter and were onstage 45 minutes. And besides the overall championship, students Mitchell Buckley and Madeleine Bloxam took home All-Star Acting awards. “I’m very proud of the work the students did, especially since it was a student-directed piece,” said Westfield Theater Director Susie Pike. “They tackled difficult material — absurdist theater, which is very mature. So it was a great learning experience, and one of my goals here in the department is to provide as many learning and leadership opportunities as I can.”
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‘Serve with Napkins and Ketchup’
Recipes for Thanksgiving
Students in teacher Caryn Lynch’s first-grade class at Colin Powell Elementary tell their favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner and how they’d prepare it. Turkey – “Stuff it with turkey and put it in the oven. Cook it 2 minutes at 1 degree and serve it with chicken-fried rice.”
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Boy Scout Food Drive Successful
The annual, Boy Scout “Scouting for Food” Drive was Saturday, Nov. 10. Locally, Scouts collected food donated by residents, sorted it and brought it to WFCM (Western Fairfax Christian Ministries) for its food pantry. Some 58,691 pounds of food was collected in the Sully District – which is 1,700 pounds more than last year.
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Boy Scout Food Drive Successful
The annual, Boy Scout “Scouting for Food” Drive was Saturday, Nov. 10. Locally, Scouts collected food donated by residents, sorted it and brought it to WFCM (Western Fairfax Christian Ministries) for its food pantry. Some 58,691 pounds of food was collected in the Sully District – which is 1,700 pounds more than last year.
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Roundups
ONC Needs Community’s Help
Our Neighbor’s Child (ONC) is preparing for its 21st holiday season providing new toys and clothing for children of families in financial crisis in Centreville, Chantilly and Western Fairfax. But it’s a volunteer organization and it can only carry out its mission with the support of local churches, schools, businesses and individuals. And this year, in the face of a difficult economy, ONC needs help more than ever from groups or individuals willing to furnish clothing for local children in need. The number of requests for winter coats, jackets and other warm clothing is high again this year. Specific information (sizes, etc.) will be available before Thanksgiving.
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40 Years Prison for Centreville Murder
Man killed his ex-girlfriend’s sister.
Despite the fact that Man Ha Park left his wife and daughter to run off with another woman, they both testified on his behalf before he was sentenced for murdering that woman’s sister. But neither their pleas nor tears could save him from being sentenced to 40 years in prison for a killing so brutal that the prosecutor called the crime scene “a blood bath — worse than in many horror movies.” The offense occurred June 6, 2011 and was actually a triple stabbing. The murder victim was Centreville resident Mihwa Kim, 49. During Park’s preliminary hearing, Sept. 7, 2011, the ex-girlfriend, Shanna Kim, 52, testified that Park stabbed both her and her sister and then tried killing himself, as well. She said he was armed with two long knives — a kitchen knife and a sushi knife. The tragedy happened inside the Elms of Centreville apartment complex, across Braddock Road from the Old Centreville Crossing Shopping Center. Shanna Kim had known Park four years and he’d lived with her and her sister in that apartment — where Mihwa’s husband and 14-year-old daughter also lived — until Park moved out, May 29, 2011.
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Remembering Bonnie Huneke - Virginia Run Turkey Trot To Be Run in Huneke’s Honor
Time doesn’t heal — you just call it the new normal.” - Stephen Huneke, widower
Each year, the Virginia Run Turkey Trot is run in honor of a community resident who’s died of cancer, and this year’s Thanksgiving Day event is in memory of Bonnie Huneke. She died Oct. 27, 2011 of breast cancer at age 50. Sixteen-year residents of Centreville’s Virginia Run community, she and her husband Stephen, a government contractor and retired Army major, were married 21 years; their children are Elizabeth, 31, Craig, 26 and Mary, 19. Bonnie’s first husband, Army CWO3 Billy Bolin, preceded her in death. “She was one of those super-friendly people who never met someone she didn’t like,” said Stephen Huneke. “Every day, she’d be out walking our golden retriever and met a lot of neighbors that way.” Bonnie also loved planting flowers and gardening; and as the children grew, she and Stephen enjoyed attending their athletic events in SYA and in high school. She also volunteered at Virginia Run Elementary, Stone Middle and Westfield High and worked at Westfield’s blood drives, too. An active person, she used to be an avid runner until a bone tumor on her right knee, 18 years ago, forced her to have a prosthetic knee. Because of that, several times over the last 15 years, doctors had to remove scar tissue on her knee.
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Remembering Bonnie Huneke - Virginia Run Turkey Trot To Be Run in Huneke’s Honor
Time doesn’t heal — you just call it the new normal.” - Stephen Huneke, widower
Each year, the Virginia Run Turkey Trot is run in honor of a community resident who’s died of cancer, and this year’s Thanksgiving Day event is in memory of Bonnie Huneke. She died Oct. 27, 2011 of breast cancer at age 50. Sixteen-year residents of Centreville’s Virginia Run community, she and her husband Stephen, a government contractor and retired Army major, were married 21 years; their children are Elizabeth, 31, Craig, 26 and Mary, 19. Bonnie’s first husband, Army CWO3 Billy Bolin, preceded her in death. “She was one of those super-friendly people who never met someone she didn’t like,” said Stephen Huneke. “Every day, she’d be out walking our golden retriever and met a lot of neighbors that way.” Bonnie also loved planting flowers and gardening; and as the children grew, she and Stephen enjoyed attending their athletic events in SYA and in high school. She also volunteered at Virginia Run Elementary, Stone Middle and Westfield High and worked at Westfield’s blood drives, too. An active person, she used to be an avid runner until a bone tumor on her right knee, 18 years ago, forced her to have a prosthetic knee. Because of that, several times over the last 15 years, doctors had to remove scar tissue on her knee.
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Entertainment
Nov. 21 through Jan. 6, 2013 Bull Run Festival of Lights. This event features more than two miles of holiday light displays, food, fire pits for marshmallow roasting, carnival rides, hay rides and Santa's Enchanted Lights. The light show is open Monday through Thursday, 5:30-9:30 p.m. and Friday through Sunday and holidays, 5:30-10 p.m. Admission is $15 per car Monday through Thursday; $20 per car Friday through Sunday and holidays. At Bull Run Regional Park located at 7700 Bull Run Drive, Centreville. Visitwww.bullrunfestivaloflights.com or call 703-359-4633.
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McLean Home Sales: October, 2012
In October 2012, 74 homes sold between $2,100,000-$165,000 in the McLean and Falls Church area.
McLean Home Sales in October, 2012
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Bulletin Board
The Chantilly Academy Auto Technology and Auto Collision Repair classes are looking for used cars as donations to the program. Contact Ann Booker at 703-227-3041 or Kenny Brown at 703-222-7466. Northern Virginia Neighbors Club. A non-profit organization offering an opportunity to meet new friends. Activities include book clubs, card games, crafts, fitness, gardening, mah jong, needleworks, rummoli, theater and more. Meet members at one of the monthly luncheons, coffees or mixers. Email nvn156@yahoo.com.