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McLean Connection ❖ March 8-14, 2017 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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online at www.connectionnewspapers.comMarch 8-14, 2017

McLeanMcLean

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McLean High School students work on storiesfor “The Highlander,” magazine in a printjournalism class. “The Highlander” editor,Melanie Pincus, has been honored as VirginiaJournalist of the Year by the Virginia Associa-tion of Journalism Teachers and Advisers.

McLean Citizens Urge MoreChanges to FCPS PensionsNews, Page 3

McLean Project for the ArtsReceives ArtStars GrantNews, Page 9

McLean Citizens Urge MoreChanges to FCPS PensionsNews, Page 3

McLean Project for the ArtsReceives ArtStars GrantNews, Page 9

‘Highlander’Editor Honoredas Journalist of

the YearNews, Page 3

‘Highlander’Editor Honoredas Journalist of

the YearNews, Page 3

2 ❖ McLean Connection ❖ March 8-14, 2017 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com


NewsMcLean Connection Editor Kemal Kurspahic

703-778-9414 or [email protected]

By Colin Stoecker

The Connection

Melanie Pincus and her teacherand adviser, Lindsay Benedictsit in “The Highlander”newsmagazine room at

McLean High school. Every semester Pincus,a senior and second-year editor of the maga-zine spends a few late evenings a month withBenedict finalizing the articles, photos, andadvertisements for the magazine.

“We are collaborating on the magazine,and Melanie is in a leadership role to herpeers. As an editor she can look ahead tosee the future and the bigger picture,” saidBenedict, 33, journalism teacher at McLeanHigh.

1,700 copies of the magazine come outseven times a year. The Highlander is com-pletely self-funded by advertising with astudent business manager, who this year isa freshman.

Recently, Pincus’s work and investigative

reporting won her an award for VirginiaJournalist of the Year. The contest is hostedby the Virginia Association of JournalismTeachers and Advisers (VAJTA).

It was a competition for multimedia jour-nalism, but Benedict said that Melanie’swriting ability is what set her apart. “FirstPlace in newswriting stands out to me asshowing good journalism” said Benedict.

According to her teacher, Pincus has otherabilities that set her attitude towards jour-nalism apart from other students. “She wasalways the student who was willing to goout and get the story,” said Benedict. “Ifthere was a protest in McLean, Melanie saidI’m going to go cover it.”

Pincus went out and got pictures and in-

terviews ofthe protestand she wonan award forher report-ing. She alsodid an ar-ticle ont e a c h e r s ’salaries thatwas well re-ceived.

O t h e rFairfax County Public School students alsowon awards. Teagan Foti of Annandale HighSchool won second place honors in thestatewide competition and Nina Raneses of

McLean Student Wins Statewide Award for JournalismMelanie Pincus,editor of “TheHighlander”and senior atMcLean highschool (left)and LindsayBenedict, jour-nalism teacher.

By Fallon Forbush

The Connection

A vocal McLean citizens groupwants to see more changes to thepension system for Fairfax

County Public School employees.The McLean Citizens Association ap-

proved a resolution that was critical ofthe FCPS Educational Employees’Supplementary Retirement System ofFairfax County (ERFC) pension systemduring its Board of Director meeting onTuesday, March 1.

The MCA’s resolution urges the FCPSBoard to immediately establish an inde-pendent pension task force to make theERFC “financially sustainable withoutconsuming a greater share of FairfaxCounty resources.”

“We’re going to try to rescue a pensionfor the benefit of those who were madepromises to receive benefits and for thebenefit of citizens who would like thecounty’s money to be spent on more than

just pensions,” said Steve DelBianco, MCAboard member, during the meeting.

As of June 30, 2016, the ERFC wasunderfunded by $830 million, according tothe MCA.

“There’s a serious problem for God’ssakes,” said Dale Stein, MCA’s Budget andTaxation Committee chair, during the meet-ing. “It’s going to crowd out other expendi-tures.”

This would not be the first time the pen-sion system was reviewed.

In May 2016, the Aon Hewitt consultingfirm completed a “Retirement Plans Study”that

assessed the retirement benefits for newlyhired FCPS employees.

The study concluded that newly hiredFCPS employees are expected to retire withlower retirement benefit values when com-pared to the county’s other employee pen-sion plans.

But members of the MCA were critical ofthis study and questioned its objectivitysince the FCPS commissioned the study.

“What the Aon Hewitt report did not ana-lyze was—because they weren’t asked to—they didn’t analyze the extent to which thepension plan was underfunded,” LouiseEpstein, MCA’s Education and Youth Com-mittee Chair, said during the meeting. “Theydidn’t analyze the impact on county fi-nances, including the crowding out of otherexpenses. They didn’t analyze discrepanciesbetween what they call the discount rateand actual returns and the comparativecosts of different plans between [thecounty] and other employers, and theychose assumptions that tended to supportthe conclusions they reached.”

The FCPS is not oblivious to the need forreform.

The FCPS is currently considering imple-menting $4.7 million in reductions to itspension system by June in time for the fis-cal year 2018 budget.

RECOMMENDATIONS include loweringthe interest crediting rate on all ERFC mem-ber accounts from 5 percent to 4 percent.The FCPS is considering more changes fornew or nonvested ERFC members, includ-ing instituting a minimum retirement ageof 55; increasing the period for calculatingthe final average salary from three years to

five years; and changing the cost-of-liv-ing adjustment to equal 100 percent ofthe Consumer Price Index with a cap of4 percent.

While the MCA supports these options,the association only sees them as interimcost-savings measures and wants to seemore reductions. In MCA’s resolution, itexpects FCPS to implement the proposedtask force’s recommendations in time forits fiscal year 2019 budget.

The handful of teachers in the audi-ence were not happy, audibly huffing asboard members argued in favor of theresolution and clapping for the two mem-bers who stated their reasons for votingagainst the resolutions. The teacherswere not allowed to testify at the meet-ing.

“They don’t care whether or not we canlive in their community,” said Mimi Dash,spokesperson for the Fairfax EmployeePension Coalition. “They care that theirtaxes are going up.”

She was one of a handful of pensionbeneficiaries who attended the meetingin opposition to the resolution.

“Why do I continue to put forth my

McLean, Great Falls Citizens Associationsdiscuss county teachers’ pension system.

McLean Citizens Urge More Changes to FCPS Pensions

Melanie Pincushonored by VirginiaAssociation ofJournalism Teachersand Advisers.

Photos by

Colin Stoecker

The Connection

West Potomac High School won third place.In addition, Pincus was an intern for the

Connection Newspapers last summer, andrecalls writing stories on local events andtown hall meetings.

“I got to do fact checking and reportingwhen I worked at the Connection Newspa-pers,” she said.

The latest issue of “The Highlander” hasa photo titled “Beyond Gender,” and is thecover story of February’s issue.

“Gender identity is really relevant rightnow,” she said.

She enjoys getting to know the stories ofher fellow students,and has taken full ad-vantage of the jour-nalism education thatMcLean High schoolhas provided herwith.

Pincus said thatworking on “TheHighlander” maga-zine has shaped herhigh school experi-ence. “The highschool administrationhas always been sup-portive of us and thestudent body is inter-

ested,” she added.Reflecting on her award, Pincus said, “I

was really excited. I felt strange, but I guessI have been doing something right!”

See FCPS Pensions, Page 5

February’sissue of “TheHighlander”focuses ongender iden-tity, an in-creasinglyrelevant socialissue in highschools acrossthe country.


News

By Tim Peterson

The Connection

Fairfax County Chief of PoliceEdwin Roessler has named 16-year veteran Master Police OfficerLance Guckenberger as the of-

ficer who used deadly force, killingMohammad Azim Doudzai at his home inHerndon, the scene of a double shootingand barricade incident on Jan. 16.

Roessler released the name of the officerMarch 2, after a protracted risk assessmentand court action by the officer seeking arestraining order to stop the release of hisname. This is the first FCPD officer-involvedshooting since the Board of Supervisorsadopted recommendations from the Ad HocPolice Practices Review Commission, includ-ing releasing the name of the officer within10 days of an officer-involved deploymentof deadly force unless the chief determinesthat more time is needed to investigate ormitigate a credible threat to the officer and/or family.

Police say two men were shot insideDoudzai’s house, in the 13300 block of Cov-

ered Wagon Lane in Herndon. Officers fromthe Reston District station respondedaround 2.40 p.m. on Jan. 16, after theshooting victims had already gone to thehospital. A third man was trapped insidethe home with Doudzai, who police said wasarmed with both a gun and at least oneknife. Adding to the danger of the scenewere flames and smoke coming from theresidence, police said.

In an attempt to de-escalate the situation,members of the Crisis Negotiations teamand Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT)team were called in to negotiate withDoudzai. Guckenberger is assigned to theSpecial Operations Division responsible forboth those teams.

Doudzai eventually came to the front door,where Roessler said both less-lethal anddeadly force were used to bring him down.

In a press conference from the scene ofthe incident, Roessler said the less-lethalforce deployed included a taser and 40mmfoam bullet. The deadly force wasGuckenberger’s service firearm.

The exact sequence of those uses isn’tknown, but should be determined at the

conclusion of the ongoing FCPD investiga-tion, medical examiner’s findings and deci-sion from the Commonwealth’s Attorney.

A March 2 release from FCPD announc-ing the officer’s name failed to mention theless-lethal force used. FCPD spokespersonMPO Don Gotthardt said in an email thatdetail was probably not considered due tofocus being on the release of the name and

taking care of the officer.Guckenberger has been involved with two

prior cases involving use of deadly force,Roessler said the March 2 release, one in2005 and one in 2010; in both cases thesuspect survived.

The first involved a business holdup onJan. 14, 2005 in Falls Church and an ex-change of gunfire with the suspect inBailey’s Crossroads. Guckenberger receivedboth the Fairfax County Police Silver Medalof Valor and the Virginia Association ofChiefs of Police’s Award for Valor for hisactions in 2005 incident for rescuing thestore manager, according to press accountsfrom the time.

The second involved a man with a his-tory of mental illness who was reportedlyusing narcotics. He fired at officers multipletimes, police said, with what turned out tobe a BB gun powered by a CO2 cartridge.

“Both of those matters were determinedto be lawfully justified uses of force,”Roessler said, “in which the officer usedgreat restraint while being exposed to sus-pects who were using weapons against theinvolved officer while the officer was at-tempting to preserve the sanctity of humanlife for others.”

Both criminal and administrative investi-gations by FCPD into the Jan. 16 incidentare ongoing, police said.

In a press conference from thescene of the Jan. 16 officer-in-volved shooting-barricade inci-dent, Chief of Police EdwinRoessler said the less-lethal forcedeployed included a taser and40mm foam bullet. The deadlyforce was MPO LanceGuckenberger’s service firearm.

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Officer used deadly force in two prior cases,both determined to be lawfully justified.

Chief Releases Name of Officer in Shooting Death

The Center for Juvenile Justiceand Reform (CJJR) at theGeorgetown University McCourt

School of Public Policy awarded a FairfaxCounty team the 2016 Capstone of theYear Award for their efforts and successin redesigning and enhancing the youthdiversion and restorative justice pro-gram.Together, they reduced the use of formalprocessing and incarceration, improvedpublic safety, avoided wasteful spendingand limited the collateral consequencesof youth who find themselves in thecriminal justice system.

The Fairfax County team—comprisingseveral county agencies—participated inthe CJJR’s 2014 Juvenile Diversion Cer-tificate Program Capstone Project. To-gether, they created a two-part processaimed at improving diversion policiesand practices. One part, the AdolescentAccountability Program (AAP), provideda community alternative to formal crimi-nal charges against youth offenders. Thesecond endeavor was to redesign the ju-venile intake process through revised andenhanced use of screening and assess-ment tools, which enabled court servicesstaff to identify specific needs of indi-vidual offenders in order to assign ap-propriate and individual levels of super-vision and treatment options.

Photo by FCPD Public Affairs Bureau

Pictured, from left, back row: Shawn Martin (FCPD),Jamie McCarron (JDRDC), Elizabeth Jones (JDRDC),Vickie Shoap (FCPD); Front row: Erin Schaible (FCPD),Tracey Chiles (JDRDC), Lori Winter (JDRDC), MattThompson (JDRDC), Courtney Porter (JDRDC), KatrinaSmith (JDRDC); Not pictured: Bill Fulton (FCPD), AndyWehrlen (FCPD), Ailsa Burnett (JDRDC), MaryAnnPanarelli (FCPS)

Juvenile Justice Diversion Efforts HonoredThe Fairfax

County teamconsisted of lawenforcement of-ficers, proba-tion staff, pros-ecutors, schoolofficial, judges,policy makersand otheryouth-focusedleaders. Repre-sentatives ofthe followingcounty agen-cies partici-pated in the2014 JuvenileDiversion Cer-tificate Pro-gram CapstoneProject:

❖ FairfaxCounty PoliceDepartment

❖ Court Ser-vices Unit

❖ Fairfax County Public Schools❖ Fairfax County Department of Neigh-

borhood and Community Services❖ Northern Virginia Mediation ServicesThe Capstone of the Year Award is a pres-

tigious, nationally-recognized award that

distinguishes a certificate program par-ticipant, or team, who demonstrates themost significant progress in promotingthe overall well-being of youth in theircommunity through multi-system ap-proaches.

To have community events listed in the Connec-tion, visit connectionnewspapers.com/Calendar/.The deadline for submissions is noon on Friday.

BEGINNING MARCH 9Lent Meals that Heal. 6-7:30 p.m. each

Thursday through April 6 at Great FallsLutheran Church,10550 Georgetown Pike, GreatFalls. Lenten series to focus on hunger, societalissues; features global cuisine and targeteddiscussion. Visit www.gflutheran.org/lent-and-easter-at-christ-the-king or call 703-759-6068for more.

SATURDAY/MARCH 11Social Action Linking Together (SALT). 9-

11:15 a.m. at the Virginia InternationalUniversity (VIU), in Conference Room (VD-102),4401 Village Drive, Fairfax. Legislators willdiscuss safety net issues in the 2015 GeneralAssembly session. visit www.S-A-L-T.org orcontact John Horejsi at [email protected] or Dr.Bilgin at [email protected] for more.

TUESDAY/MARCH 14Vienna Oakton Chapter of NARFE. at 1 pm at

American Legion Post 180, 330 North Center St.,Vienna. National Active and Retired FederalEmployees Association Program will be “MyCareer in the Federal Government.” Forinformation, call 703-938-9757.

THURSDAY/MARCH 16Caregivers’ Support Group. 10-11:30 a.m. at

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax(UUCF) - Program Building, 2709 Hunter MillRoad, Oakton. Contact Jack Tarr at 703-821-6838 or [email protected].

Fairfax County 2018 Budgets. 7:30 p.m. at theMcLean Community Center Community Hall,1234 Ingleside Drive, McLean. A conversationon Fairfax County and Fairfax County PublicSchools 2018 Budgets, with speakers includingJohn Foust, Dranesville District Supervisor andJoe Mondoro, CFO, Fairfax County. Visitmcleancitizens.org/ for more.

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From Page 3

News

time and effort when the community issaying, ‘Well, you’re not deserving of this,’”said Andre Mayer, an intellectual disabili-ties teacher at Luther Jackson MiddleSchool in Falls Church.

“They’re destabilizing the teacher forceby giving people less reason to come toFairfax and giving people who have thepotential of retiring the impetus to retirequickly so they won’t get screwed in thisdeal,” said Cheryl Binkley, who recently re-tired from teaching at George C. MarshallHigh School in Falls Church. “They are de-stabilizing the teaching force big time, bigtime.”

Most of FCPS’s fiscal year 2018 budget,89 percent, is allocated to employee com-pensation, and the county is not looking toreduce or hold flat employee salaries.

FCPS started a compensation study lastyear and found that teacher pay is “signifi-cantly below the market average” in theregion, according to Kristen Michael, assis-tant superintendent of financial services forthe FCPS.

That’s why the fiscal year 2018 budgetincludes $33.2 million to increase teachersalaries. It also allocates $44 million for anincrease in pay of 2.5 percent for all eli-gible FCPS employees.

“We started this current school year with

approximately 180 vacancies,” Michael saidduring a town hall gathering about the bud-get in Great Falls.

The event was hosted by the Great FallsCitizens Association, another citizen orga-nization that has been critical of the pen-sion system, on Tuesday, Feb. 21.

THE NUMBER of unfilled teaching posi-tions is unprecedented for the county, ac-cording to Michael.

“This is an extremely complex issue whichreally does require expert input of whichno one on our [Education and Youth] com-mittee has,” said Kelly Green Kahn, MCAboard member, during the meeting.

She voted against the resolution becausethe urge for pension reform was not pairedwith the association’s recommendations toreform teacher salaries.

“We have a concern about bleeding in thepensions, but in fact we are bleeding in ourmost important capital which is our teach-ers,” she said.

Tom Brock was the other MCA boardmember who voted against the resolution.He told the board that teacher salary defi-ciencies would be only be worsened if thecounty took their recommendations.

The MCA’s Education and Youth Commit-tee will be hosting a public meeting on Tues-day, March 21, at the McLean Governmen-tal Center to discuss teacher compensation.

FCPS Pensions Debated


Opinion

In February, the Fairfax County Board ofSupervisors followed through in estab-lishing two forms of independent oversight of law enforcement for the first time

in county history.Richard Schott will begin as independent

auditor on April 17, reporting directly to theBoard of Supervisors.

Nine members have been named to thecounty’s inaugural Civilian Review Panel,

chaired by Adrian Steel. Morethan 140 Fairfax County resi-dents applied to be consideredto serve on the panel, and those

named appear to have a remarkable set ofqualifications.

Independent, civilian oversight of law en-forcement is a national best practice.

Schott is a 27-year veteran of the FBI wherehe specialized in training on officer use of force,civil rights and color of law issues. He workedon the Henry Glover and Danziger Bridge civilrights cases, prosecutions of New Orleans Po-lice Department officers for civil rights viola-tions after Hurricane Katrina.

The Office of the Auditor will handle casesof police use of force that result in serious in-jury and death and the Civilian Review Panelwill handle complaints about Fairfax CountyPolice abuse of authority or misconduct.

These methods of oversight were adopted

was involved in two other uses of deadly force,one in 2005 and one in 2010, with the suspectwounded but not killed in those two incidents.(The officer received valor awards for the 2005incident for rescuing the store manager dur-ing an armed robbery with shots fired.)

Other questions that we hope the auditor cananswer for the public:

According to the chief ’s statement at thescene on the day of the incident, two officersused less lethal force (taser and foam bullet)while one officer fired his service weapon. Wasa supervisor coordinating the plan? What wasthe sequence of events and uses of force? Wasthere an attempt to subdue the suspect with-out deadly force?

Why is so little additional information forth-coming about the incident? Subsequent re-leases have contained fewer details than wererelease on the day of the incident. What videoexists and when will it be released?

The policy states: “It is important to note the10 day period is primarily related to the re-lease of officer names and is only designed asa limit to not be exceeded without cause, nota recommended standard, and the board andthe public expect the Police Department to re-lease other appropriate preliminary factualinformation and updates to the public as soonas possible.”

Another area of inquiry is analysis of datareleased last year that indicates 40 percent ofthe subjects of use of force by FCPD are Afri-can American, while only 8 percent of thecounty population is African American.

— Mary Kimm

[email protected]

Independent, Civilian Oversight in PlaceNew auditor and panel will makean excellent police force better,more transparent and accountable.

Editorial

by the board following recommendations ofthe Ad Hoc Police Practices Review Commis-sion, established by Chairman Sharon Bulovain the wake of the police shooting death of JohnGeer and public reaction to 17 months whenFCPD released no information about the caseuntil forced to by court order.

Leadership of FCPD, especially Chief EdwinC. Roessler Jr., have embraced the almost allof the 202 recommendations of the commis-sion, which acknowledged the overall excel-lence of Fairfax County Police.

Nevertheless, the county’s first independentauditor will come on board with work to do.

In his mandate to monitor and review inter-nal investigations of Police Department officer-involved shootings, in-custody deaths and use-of-force cases in which an individual is killedor seriously injured, Schott will begin with theinvestigation of the officer-involved shootingdeath of Herndon resident Mohammad AzimDoudzai in progress.

Among the questions for Schott will be whyit took 45 days, rather than the recommended10 days, to release the name of the officer in-volved in the shooting. The chief needed theadditional time to fully investigate and miti-gate any possible threats to the officer and hisfamily, and respond to legal action by the of-ficer seeking to stop the release of his name, adelay permitted by the new policy. The officer

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McLean

Privy to‘Miracle Cures’To the Editor:

Thank you for your article aboutthe Feb. 24 Town Hall that Rep.Barbara Comstock (R-VA) skipped.I would like to clarify something.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA)question that I asked concernedthe science behind one of Ms.Comstock’s claims. In one of hertelephone town halls I heard hersay that one of the ways we’ll payfor the Republican ACA replace-ment will be that we’ll cure dis-eases like cancer and diabetes sothat expensive treatment becomesunnecessary.

I was astonished. How exciting!I am trained as a registered

nurse and this is what I reasoned:Because Republicans are trying torepeal the ACA this year and Ms.Comstock cited these cures as im-portant contributors to their newplan, Republicans must have atleast early indications of the dol-lars we’ll save.

Ms. Comstock must know aboutmultiple major scientific advances

that are already successfullythrough clinical trials and (unlessthey’re quick-acting cures) alreadybeing put into widespread practiceacross the country. These curescan’t rely on common-sense adviceinvolving diet, exercise and notsmoking because Americans arenotoriously resistant to behavioralchange. So, in her official capac-ity as our Representative sitting onthe US House Committee on Sci-ence, Space, and Technology, Ms.Comstock must be privy to whatcan only be called “miracle cures.”

So the question I wanted to askMs. Comstock at the telephonetown hall (she “ran out of time”)and then tried to ask at the in-per-son town hall (that she skipped)was “What special insights doesshe have regarding the sciencebehind her ACA funding claims?”

My husband is trained as a biolo-gist and works in translational sci-ence (getting new best practices intothe hands of healthcare profession-als). I asked him to tell me what Ms.Comstock was referring to.

He didn’t know either.The American Cancer Society

website says “In 2017, there will

be an estimated 1,688,780 newcancer cases diagnosed and600,920 cancer deaths in the US.”

Alane K. Dashner, RN, MSNGreat Falls

Community inPerilTo the Editor:

The malicious attack that oc-curred last November at TysonsCorner Mall in which a man usedanti-Muslim slurs and then bit an-other man in the face is an appall-ing example of violent bigotry.Rightfully so, the perpetrator wasrecently charged with a hatecrime.

As McLean residents, we areupset and deeply concerned thatthis incident occurred in one of ourneighborhood social hubs — aplace where we shop, eat, and so-cialize with our families. Our senseof safety and community is in perilwith this and other incidents ofhate crimes in our region, such asthe recent bomb threats againstJewish schools in Fairfax and

Letters to the Editor

Montgomery counties.Intolerance and violence in the

places where we live, work, andlearn diminishes our basic Ameri-can values of dignity and respectfor everyone. Virginia’s leadersmust commit to counter thisalarming trend, which has been onthe rise since the November elec-tions. Our leaders must speak outunequivocally and repeatedlyagainst hate crimes that targetmembers of our community, andimmediately dedicate more re-

sources toward investigating andprosecuting all suspected hatecrimes.

For our part, we refuse to let anytype of violence motivated by race,religion, or ethnicity become partof our everyday lives and vow tosupport our neighbors who arebeing targeted and marginalized.

Kathryn McCormickLori Boerner

Alicia PlerhoplesCarla Post

Christine Sonu ParkNadja Golding

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Canada & New England Cruise from Baltimore, Sept. 21-30 ......................................$674 plus taxesIncludes 9-Nights cruising on Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas With all meals & entertain-ment. Transfers to Baltimore Pier available From Vienna, Grosvenor Metro & McLean Metro.

Hourly Easter Egg Hunts for separate age groups 10a-4p

Easter Egg-StravanzaGo to the booking calendar at roerszoofari.com

and choose April 8, 9, 15 or 16 Advanced tickets required.

Free Face Painter,Bounce House &

Open Air Safari TourCamel Rides, Giraffe

and Camel Encounters extra.

Bring Your Own Basket!

9am-6pm

Sports

Winning ChampionshipMcLean Basketball’s eighth grade Division III team justtook the The Fairfax County Youth Basketball League(FCYBL) championship trophy home in a close game thatwas won with a 3-pointer in the last seconds of the game.The three game playoff series put them against Burke lastweekend where they won 44-25, then a close gameagainst Vienna 62-54 Saturday won them a spot inSunday’s game against Chantilly with a final score of 37-36. Players included: Patrick Anders, Garrett Brown,Gavin Bundy, Michael Casler, Luke Jackman, BrennanKalinowski Jad Kanaan, Sean Loftus, Andy Min and Nicho-las Morabit.


Community

By Steve Hibbard

The Connection

Following 3,000 years ofcustoms and traditions,the colorful Nowruz Fes-

tival — the Persian New Yearcelebration — will be held onSunday, March 12, 2017, from10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This year’s fes-tival, with more than 75 boothvendors, is free and will be heldin front of Bloomingdale’s atTysons Corner Center.

Nowruz, which normally fallsin early Spring, is when Persian-Americans will join locally tocelebrate the new year. Therewill be 75 vendors offering tra-ditional and exotic foods as wellas jewelry, artwork, crafts, andother traditional Persian prod-ucts. A main stage will be setup that provides entertainmentwith 60 musicians, dancers, art-ists, costumed characters, andtraditional players.

The Nowruz Festival is a fam-ily-friendly, fun celebration thatcelebrates life, love and goodwill. Of all the Persian nationalfestivals, the New Year celebra-tions are at once the most im-portant and the most colorful.This festival embodies a wealthof ancient rites and customs, andis about the only one in Persiawhich is not confined to the tra-ditions of only one religiousgroup. It symbolizes that conti-nuity of the ancient Persian cul-ture which has survived so manyadversities and vicissitudes.

The venue provides a funplace for people to celebratewith family and friends, to tastedelicious Persian food and en-

joy traditional and modern Per-sian entertainment. Among thetraditions, is a ceremonial tablecalled the cloth of seven dishes(each one beginning with thePersian letter Sin). The symbolicdishes consist of Sabzeh orsprouts, usually wheat or lentil,representing rebirth. Another isSamanu or a sweet, creamypudding. Another is Seer, whichis garlic in Persian, which rep-resents medicine.

In addition to attractingpeople from Virginia, Marylandand the District, this year, orga-nizers hope to attract interna-tional guests from other coun-tries that celebrate Nowruz, in-cluding Turkey, Afghanistan,and Tajikistan, among others.

The goal is to share theNowruz Festival with both Per-sians and non-Persians. Theevent sends out positive mes-sages, like celebrating earth,spring time, love and peace tothe community. Planners wantto bring different musicians anddancers from other countriesthat celebrate Nowruz, as wellas new musicians that offermore variety to the festival.They also want to bring differ-ent historical and costumedcharacters from Persia (like HajiFiruz, a traditional herald ofNowruz dressed in a red cos-tume and tambourine) that willinteract with the crowd.

The Nowruz Festival will be heldSunday, March 12, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.at Tysons Corner Center in front ofBloomingdale’s, at 8100 TysonsCorner Center, McLean, VA 22102.For details, contact organizerShohreh Asemi, at 202-369-1515 orvisit http://nowruzfestival.org.

The Nowruz Festival celebrating the Persian NewYear will be held on Sunday, March 12, from 10 a.m.to 6 p.m. at Tysons Corner Center.

The Nowruz Festival will beheld Sunday, March 12 atTysons Corner Center.

Celebrating thePersian New Year

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Langley Band Invited to National FestivalThe Langley High School Wind Symphony Band has been honored by being invitedto perform at the 2017 Music for All National Festival, a noted festival for schoolinstrumental music ensemble. The 26th annual festival will take place in India-napolis, Ind., on March 9-11, 2017. The Langley High School Wind Symphony isunder the direction of Doug Martin and was selected to perform by a panel ofmusic educators after submitting a recorded audition. The Langley High SchoolWind Symphony is one of 59 high school and middle school concert band andpercussion ensembles from across the nation selected to perform at the 2017Festival. They will perform in concert, be evaluated by renowned music educators,and participate in master classes and special events.

By Julia Luigs

McLean High School

Look deep into the mirror,and you may find a wholenew world on the otherside. But if you wish to

come back home, let fantasy be yourguide. With the touch of a reflection,Oakcrest High School plunges intothe mysterious world of “Throughthe Looking Glass” and comes outsinging.

“Through the Looking Glass” tellsthe story of Alice’s return to Won-

derland, only to findherself caught in themiddle of a war be-tween the Red andWhite Kingdoms, with

the Red Queen at the helm. Alicemust make her way across the chess-board land and save the game thatkeeps these kingdoms alive before time runs out. Thestory was directly adapted from Lewis Carroll’s origi-nal novel, with book and lyrics by Chris Blackwood,and music by Piers Chater Robinson.

As the young heroine Alice, Kiley Hatch portrayeda more flighty version of the beloved protagonist,which accentuated her childlike innocence. Alice’sjourney was fraught with peril thanks to the unstop-pable force that was the Red Queen, played by ClareKolasch. Kolasch physically dominated every sceneshe was in, using her body to emphasize every ac-tion, practically trembling with rage at the meremention of Alice in her court room.

As Alice’s guide through Wonderland, the WhiteKnight (Patricia Cuenca) added humor to the narra-tive, which helped flesh out the ridiculousness ofWonderland. Cuenca’s off-beat dance moves duringsongs like “Oh Frabjous Day” and interactions withher wooden horse Checkers were a delight to watch.Also providing some fun to the fantasy, Brigid Kilnerflourished as the White King. Kilner and Cuenca’sability to adapt to a more masculine character andlower singing octave made them both standout per-formances.

As a whole, the ensemble of the show providedwhimsy and wonder to the plot. During the act-end-

ing song “The Claws that Catch” the ensemble of theRed Court worked together to provide cohesive move-ments that expressed the fear of what the Red Queenhad planned as well as the power of the monsterabout to be unleashed. The performance was alsoheightened by the Red Queen’s vocals, which wereas powerful and domineering as she was. Althoughthere were some issues with diction throughout theshow, the emotion of all onstage helped convey thestakes at hand, and otherworldly harmonies fromactors not onstage helped emphasize the fantasy ofWonderland.

The tech for this show was clean and consistent.Sound had the daunting task of micing a great num-ber of cast members, but overall kept the balance sothat no one singer overpowered others. The set de-sign was minimal, with prism-like structures featur-ing different backdrops on each side, and the effectwas positive in that the sets led themselves to slightlyshorter transitions between scenes.

“Without balance all is lost,” said the White Knightto Alice during a difficult part of their journey. Suchis the case for the entire show, however the actorsand crew of Oakcrest’s “Through the Looking Glass”achieved the perfect balance of oddity and reality,making their journey a delightful one.

Photo contributed

A Delightful Journey

From left: Grace Ferguson, Angela Diaz-Bonilla, FalanKifle, Julia Weber, Nina Allen, Kyla Payne, KathrynHerrick and Clare Kolasch in Oakcrest High Schoolproduction of ‘Through the Looking Glass.’

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News

The McLean Project for the Arts (MPA)recently received a Shining Star ArtStarsAward of $10,000 from the Dominion Foun-dation. The award recognized MPA’sArtReach program, which offersunderserved students a field trip to experi-ence contemporary art exhibitions andhands-on art projects exploring STEAM(Science, Technology, Engineering, Art andMathematics) topics.

“ArtStars is about recognizing arts andcultural organizations that are making com-munities and schools more vibrant throughtheater, art, music, and other artistic forms,”said Hunter A. Applewhite, president of theDominion Foundation, the charitable armof Dominion Resources. “Dominion is proudto support these five winners as they con-tinue their efforts to enrich students’ edu-cation through the arts.”

Led by veteran artist-educator SharonFishel, ArtReach is a standards-based, two-part lesson that combines a field trip toMPA’s exhibition gallery with a related class-room session featuring hands-on artprojects that explore STEAM and other con-cepts through an arts perspective. In 2016alone, the program conducted more than90 ArtReach tours.

“MPA is honored and excited to receivethis recognition of our ArtReach program,”said Lori Carbonneau, Executive Director ofMPA. “The ArtStars grant encourages andsupports MPA in our work creating and de-livering our SOL-based arts and cultural lit-eracy partnership with Fairfax County Pub-lic Schools, and expanding visual arts edu-cation throughout our community.”

For more information, visitwww.mpaart.org.

McLean Project for the ArtsReceives Dominion ArtStars Grant

Photo contributed

MPA’s Executive Director Lori Carbonneau (far right) accepted the Do-minion ArtStar Award on behalf of MPA.

Fairfax County Police Department de-tectives have been searching for humanremains in two areas in the county. Thefirst being on the grounds of Holmes RunPark, near the 6000 block of Crater Place.The second site is at Tysons Pimmit Park,in the Falls Church area of the county,according to the FCPD Public AffairsBureau.

Search efforts resulted in the discov-ery of two sets of human remains inHolmes Run Park late on Thursday,March 2. Members of the Fairfax CountyPolice Department’s Search and RescueTeam, along with detectives from theCrime Scene Section and Special Agentswith the Federal Bureau of Investigation,made the discovery, approximately 300yards into the park from the intersectionof Crater Place and Yellowstone Drive.

Homicide, Gang Unit and Crime Scenedetectives are joined by members of thepolice department’s Search and RescueUnit, along with two “live find” and ca-daver dog teams from the Fairfax CountyFire and Rescue Department, UrbanSearch and Rescue Team and one ca-daver dog team from the MontgomeryCounty, Md. Police Department.

These searches could continue for anextended period of time.

Anyone with additional information re-lated to this case is asked to contact theMajor Crimes Division at 703-246-7800,or Crime Solvers electronically by visit-ing www.fairfaxcrimesolvers.org or text-a-tip by texting “TIP187” plus a messageto CRIMES(274637) or by calling 1-866-411-TIPS(8477), or call Fairfax CountyPolice at 703-691-2131.

Week in McLean

Detectives Search for Human Remains


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Address .................................. BR FB HB ... Postal City ... Sold Price .... Type ....... Lot AC PostalCode .......... Subdivision ............ Date Sold

1 7800 MERITAGE LN ............... 7 .. 6 .. 2 ...... MCLEAN ..... $3,500,000 .... Detached .... 0.86 ...... 22102 .............. THE RESERVE ............. 01/31/17

2 1310 CALDER RD .................. 4 .. 5 .. 1 ...... MCLEAN ..... $2,375,000 .... Detached .... 0.48 ...... 22101 ........... SALONA VILLAGE .......... 01/26/17

3 6617 BRAWNER ST ................ 7 .. 8 .. 2 ...... MCLEAN ..... $2,355,000 .... Detached .... 0.74 ...... 22101 ........... SALONA VILLAGE .......... 01/31/17

4 902 GEORGETOWN RIDGE CT ... 6 .. 6 .. 2 ...... MCLEAN ..... $2,300,000 .... Detached .... 1.03 ...... 22102 ........GEORGETOWN RIDGE ....... 01/05/17

5 1487 EVANS FARM DR ........... 4 .. 4 .. 1 ...... MCLEAN ..... $2,000,000 .... Detached .... 0.18 ...... 22101 .............. EVANS FARM ............. 01/25/17

6 1021 DEAD RUN DR .............. 5 .. 5 .. 1 ...... MCLEAN ..... $1,800,000 .... Detached .... 0.46 ...... 22101 ... BROYHILL LANGLEY ESTATES .. 01/23/17

7 1303 BALLANTRAE CT ........... 5 .. 4 .. 1 ...... MCLEAN ..... $1,750,000 .... Detached .... 1.00 ...... 22101 ......... BALLANTRAE FARMS ........ 01/13/17

8 11521 TRALEE DR ................. 5 .. 4 .. 1 ... GREAT FALLS .. $1,350,000 .... Detached .... 1.73 ...... 22066 ............ TRALEE ESTATES ........... 01/13/17

9 501 CHESAPEAKE DR ............ 5 .. 2 .. 1 ... GREAT FALLS .. $1,050,000 .... Detached .... 5.01 ...... 22066 ............. BOUNDBROOK ............ 01/27/17

10 709 CROWN MEADOW DR ..... 5 .. 5 .. 1 ... GREAT FALLS .. $1,050,000 .... Detached .... 1.75 ...... 22066 ....... RICHLAND MEADOWS ...... 01/04/17

Copyright 2016 RealEstate Business Intelligence. Source: MRIS as of February 15, 2017.

January, 2017 Top Sales inGreat Falls and McLean

Local REAL ESTATEPhotos by Deb Stevens/The Almanac

In January 2017, 11 Great Falls homes sold between

$1,350,000-$465,000.

67 homes sold between $3,500,000-$175,000

in the McLean and Falls Church area.

1 7800 Meritage Lane, McLean —$3,500,000

2 1310 Calder Road, McLean — $2,375,000

4 902 Georgetown Ridge Court, McLean —$2,300,000

8 11521 Tralee Drive, Great Falls — $1,350,000

10 709 Crown Meadow Drive, Great Falls— $1,050,000

9 501 Chesapeake Drive, Great Falls —$1,050,000


HomeLifeStyle

By Marilyn Campbell

The Connection

Those looking for kitchen de-sign ideas have a newsource of inspiration: theNational Kitchen & Bath

Association’s (NKBA) list of trends for2017. Local designers reveal whichtrends are most popular in the Wash-ington, D.C. region.

NKBA predicts that contemporary-styled kitchens will overtake traditionalto become the second most popular de-sign after transitional. Locally, MichaelWinn, president of Winn Design + Build expects tosee “a strong move towards transitional and contem-porary styles, with no fussy designs.”

Homeowners are looking for “kitchen spaces thatlook comfortable, calming and clutter-free,” saidShannon Kadwell of Anthony Wilder Design/Build,Inc.

Clean lines, built-in shelving and simple door stylesdominate kitchen designs. Megan Padilla, senior de-signer for Aidan Design reports an interest in cus-tom storage ideas. “We’re inspired by our work withclients who often have collections of table décor —everything from antique trays to vintage oysterplates,” she said. “By creating custom storage thesecherished items can be readily accessible.”

When it comes to painted cabinetry, gray is thenew white and the popularity of both colors showsno signs of slowing down, according to the NKBAsurvey. However, blue painted and high gloss kitchencabinets are emerging, especially in the Washingtonarea, says Winn. “Blues and grays are very popular[and] “White continues to be popular.”

For overall color schemes, two-toned kitchens aregaining popularity while blue and black are emerg-ing as sought after colors. “We’re seeing a rise in prod-uct offerings available in matte black — from appli-ances to plumbing fixtures to cabinet hardware,” saidPadilla. “We love it paired with white in a classicblack and white kitchen, but also as an accent piece.

Matte black also pairs beautifully with brass, whichhas been trending for the past couple of years.”

Quartz is the most sought-after kitchen countertopmaterial, followed by granite. “Most of our clientsaren’t really interested in a kitchen that [is] tootrendy since they plan to have it in place for 15-20years,” said Padilla. “We’ve seen an uptick in interestin incorporating color by way of alternate neutrals.Navy blue is probably the top choice, but taupes andlighter blues are also on the list.”

An interest among homeowners in incorporatingtechnology in kitchen design is increasing as well.About one third of the NKBA professionals surveyedreported recent projects that included wiring andpathways for future tech integration. “I would alsoexpect the technology side to be a focus in D.C.,”said Samantha Klickna, project developer with CaseDesign/Remodeling, Inc. “The ease and comfort ofcontrolling your home while at the office or on travelis very appealing and convenient for the city dweller.”

Induction cooktops and convection ovens are trend-ing higher, and microwave drawers are surpassingfreestanding or built-in microwaves in popularity.“People have been purchasing appliances like steamovens and induction ovens now more than ever be-fore,” said Kadwell. “People have less time, but stillwant to cook. They want to be able to cook quickly,so they’re looking for appliances that can accomplishthat.”

Local designershare populardesign ideas.

Kitchen Design Trends in 2017

Photos courtesy of Winn Design + Build

White and gray painted cabinets like those in thiskitchen by Winn Design + Build will dominatekitchen color schemes in 2017.

Homeowners are seeking kitchen spaces that arecalming and clutter-free says, Shannon Kadwell ofAnthony Wilder Design/Build, Inc.

Design trends for 2017 includekitchens with rustic and re-claimed woods, such as thisone by Aidan Design.


Love God, love your neighborFirst Church of Christ, Scientist

1683 Chain Bridge RoadMcLean, VA 22101

703-356-1365All are warmly welcomed

CSMcLean.org • ChristianScience.comchristianscienceDC.org

To learn more about Christian Science, visit:

To highlight your Faith Community, call Karen at 703-778-9422

DAILY EUCHARIST:WeekdaysMonday-Friday, 8:30 AMSaturday, 8:30 AM

SUNDAY LITURGY SCHEDULE:Saturday Vigil: 5:30 PMSunday: 7:30, 9:00, and 11:00 AM1:30 PM Spanish Liturgy

5312 North 10th Street,Arlington, Virginia 22205Parish Office: 703-528-6276

PARISH WEBSITE:www.stannchurch.org

All AreWelcome!

Send entertainment announcements toconnectionnewspapers.com/Calendar/.Deadline is Friday at noon for the follow-ing week’s paper. Photos/artworkencouraged.

ONGOINGTai Chi Beginners’ Practice.

Saturdays, 8-9 a.m. St. Luke’sCatholic School Gymnasium, 7005Georgetown Pike, McLean. WeeklyTai Chi practice. Group has met forover 20 years. Free. FreeTaiChi.org.703-759-9141.

Weekly Storytime. Wednesday andSaturday. 11 a.m. Barnes & Noble,7851 L Tysons Corner Center,McLean. Themes and titles vary. Freeadmission.

Bingo Night. Sundays. 4 p.m. FlameRoom, Vienna Volunteer FireDepartment, 400 Center St. S,Vienna. $10. www.vvfd.org/bingo.html.

The Golden Girls of NorthernVirginia, a senior women’s softballleague, is looking for players. Anywoman over the age of 40 isencouraged to join. All skill levels arewelcome. Play on Wednesdayevenings and Saturday mornings inVienna. Visit www.goldengirls.org.

Fishing Rod Rentals 8700 PotomacHills St., Great Falls. Rentalsavailable during visitor center hours.Fishing tackle and live bait areavailable for purchase. Reservationsrequired for group rentals. $6/rental(2 hour max). Valid driver’s licenserequired. Rod/reel combinations areperfect for beginners and children. AVirginia or Maryland freshwaterfishing license is required for those16 years or older. The park does notsell fishing licenses.www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/riverbend-park/

Colvin Run Mill open 11 - 4 p.m.daily, closed Tuesday. 10017 ColvinRun Road, Great Falls. FairfaxCounty’s operational 19th centurywater powered gristmill, offersrecreational and educationalactivities for all ages through dailytours, school programs and specialevents. Fees: $7/adult, $6 students16+ with ID, $5 children & seniors.January and Februar hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m., last tour 3 p.m. Admission topark is free except for some specialevents.

THURSDAY/MARCH 9LEGO Club (S.T.E.A.M.). 4:30 p.m. at

Great Falls Library, 9830 GeorgetownPike, Great Falls. Have fun, use theimagination and keep theengineering and problem-solvingskills flowing with lots of LEGObricks. Age 5-12. Free. Call 703-757-8560 for more.

River Cruise Night. 7-9 p.m. at PaddyBarry’s Irish Pub, 8150 LeesburgPike, Vienna. Learn about hostedgroup wine sailings as well asindividual reservations for 2017 and2018 on Europe’s waterways. [email protected] or byphone at 703-938-1300.

FRIDAY/MARCH 10Dinner & A Movie Trip. 3:30-10:30

p.m. at the Old Firehouse, 1440Chain Bridge Road, McLean. TheVillage at Leesburg is providing OldFirehouse participants an evening ofdining and entertainment. Dinner ata local restaurant will be followed by“Kong: Skull Island” in the unique, D-Box Motion Seats at Cobb Theaters.$35/$25 for McLean residents. Visitwww.mcleancenter.org or call 703-448-8336 for more.

SATURDAY/MARCH 11Spring Bazaar. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at

Vienna Volunteer Fire Department,400 Center St., South, Vienna. TheAuxiliary to the Vienna VolunteerFire Department will hold theirSpring Bazaar and Craft Show. Free.Call 703-309-3468 or [email protected] for more.

Essential Oils for Spring. 1 p.m. atthe Dolley Madison Library, 1244Oak Ridge Ave., McLean. Learn aboutthe benefits of essential oils and themany reasons to use them. Adults.Call 703-356-0770 for more.

Effective CommunicationWorkshop. 1-3 p.m. at PatrickHenry Library, 101 Maple Ave. E.,Vienna. Tom Pfeifer, the author of“Write it, Speak it: Writing a SpeechThey’ll APPLAUD!” presents tools fora more effective communicator andleader. Visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library or call 703-938-0405 formore.

Japanese Teas. 1-3 p.m. at Colvin RunMill, 10017 Colvin Run Road, GreatFalls. Taste a varied selection of teas

Entertainment

Adventures in LearningOn Thursday, April 13, the Shephard’s Center is having an open house to highlight theAdventures in Learning series, 10 a.m.-noon at Oakton-Vienna. 541 Marshall Road SW,Vienna. Using laughter and entertainment in learning. Visit www.scov.org or contact theoffice at 703-281-0538, [email protected].

Photo contributed

and take home a Cherry BlossomBlend tea sampler. $35. Call 703-759-2771 for more.

Gospel Concert. 3 p.m. at HistoricPleasant Grove, 8641 LewinsvilleRoad, McLean. Free. This communityevent features Voices of Worshipcommunity choir singing traditionalgospel music and uplifting spiritualsin a quaint 1895 church setting, nowan historic site. Visitwww.HistoricPleasantGrove.org formore.

MARCH 11-12McLean Youth Production. 3 p.m. at

the Old Firehouse, 1440 Chain BridgeRd., McLean. “The Stinky CheeseMan and Other Fairly Stupid Tales”adaptations. $15/$10 McLean districtresidents. Visitwww.mcleancenter.org or call 703-448-8336 for more.

SUNDAY/MARCH 12McLean Newcomers Luncheon.

11:30 a.m. at Nostos, 8100 BooneBlvd., Vienna. Cecilia Glembocki,Executive Director of the Virginia EggCouncil will speak about her 35 yearsof organizing the White House EggRoll. To R.S.V.P. for the luncheon, e-mail Gloria Cohan,[email protected] by March10. Visit www.McleanNewcomers.orgfor more.

Winter Traditional CelticConcerts. Shows at 4 and 6 p.m. atThe Old Brogue Irish Pub, 760-CWalker Road, Great Falls. Celticmusicians performing in a listeningroom by the fireside. $18/$12children. Visit oldbrogue.com or call703-759-3309 for more.

MONDAY/MARCH 13Lunch N’ Life. Noon at St Mark

Catholic Church 9970 Vale RoadVienna. Shepherd’s Center of Oakton-Vienna’s first Lunch N’ Life event ofthe year, with “Scandals in the City”Alice Roosevelt Longworth asportrayed by entertainer, ElaineFlynn. $10, prepayment required byWednesday, March 8. No refunds.Visit www.scov.org or call call 703-281-0538 for more.

TUESDAY/MARCH 1439th Annual Valor Awards. 11 a.m.-


1:30 p.m. at Hilton McLean TysonsCorner, 7920 Jones Branch Drive,McLean. To honor public safetyheroes from the Fairfax County PoliceDepartment, Fairfax County Fire &Rescue Department, Fairfax CountyOffice of the Sheriff, Town of ViennaPolice Department, and Town ofHerndon Police Department whohave put their personal safety at riskto keep our community andbusinesses safe. Entry is $125 for asingle ticket, or $1,250 for a table of10. Visit novachamber.org.

Lecture on Italy. 5 p.m. at Dante’sRistorante, 1148 Walker Road, GreatFalls. A discussion on experiences inItaly. Dinner plus $5 per person or$10 per couple to cover Dr. Cicali’stransportation. Call 703-759-4605.

Civil War Historian. 7:30 p.m. at theMcLean Community Center, 1234Ingleside Ave., McLean.The programwill feature noted Civil War historianJim Lewis who will discuss “TheEvolution of the Fairfax/LoudounCounty Boundary Line and J.E.B.Stuart’s Most Difficult AchievementDuring the American Civil War.” Theprogram is free and open to thepublic. Contact Carole Herrick at703-356-8223 for more.

THURSDAY/MARCH 16Vietnam Veterans Meeting. 7:30

p.m. at Neighbor’s Restaurant, 262DCedar Lane. Volko Ruhnke willdiscuss the development of hissuccessful board game, “Fire in theLake, Insurgency in Vietnam.” CallLen Ignatowski at 703-255- 0353 orvisit www.vva227.org.

FRIDAY/MARCH 17Children’s St. Paddy’s Party. 7-9

p.m. at the Old Firehouse, 1440Chain Bridge Road, McLean. Music,dancing, games, free catered food,videos and various attractions, 5thand 6th graders only. $35/$25McLean District residents. Visitwww.mcleancenter.org or call 703-448-8336 for more.

MARCH 17-18Disney’s Musical. Friday 7 p.m.,

Saturday 3 and 7 p.m. at KilmerMiddle School, 8100 Wolftrap Road,Vienna. $10. Email Leisa Sheridan [email protected] for more.

SATURDAY/MARCH 18Old-Fashioned Egg Hunt & Roll

10:30-11:30 a.m. at Freeman House,131 Church St. NE, Vienna. Children12 and under and their parents arewelcome to participate in an egg rolland visit with Easter Bunny, hostedby Historic Vienna, Inc. Visitwww.viennava.gov.

MARCH 18-19Sponsors Work Day. 9 a.m.-noon at

The Claude Moore Colonial Farm,6310 Georgetown Pike, McLean.McLean Trees Foundation needsvolunteers to help edge, mulch, andprune 30 trees along Chain BridgeRoad at Lewinsville Park, lunchprovided. Email [email protected] orvisit www.1771.org for more.

McLean Youth Production. 3 p.m. atthe Old Firehouse, 1440 Chain Bridge

Road, McLean. “The Stinky CheeseMan and Other Fairly Stupid Tales”adaptations. $15/$10 McLean districtresidents. Visit mcleancenter.org orcall 703-448-8336 for more.

SUNDAY/MARCH 19Breakfast Buffet. 10 a.m.-noon at

American Legion Post 180, 330Center St., N. Adults $9, children 12and under $3. Call 703-938-6580.

The National Brass Quintet. 3 p.m.at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 6715Georgetown Pike McLean. Works byHandel, Bach, Bozza, McKee,Bernstein, Barnes and a special multi-media tribute to veterans. Visitwww.stjohnsmclean.org/ for more.

Andy Suzuki & The Method. 8 p.m.at Jammin’ Java, 227 Maple Ave E.,Vienna. Andy Suzuki teams up withKozza Olatunji-Babumba. Visitwww.jamminjava.com.

FRIDAY/MARCH 24Atomic Trampoline & Movie. 8

a.m.-6 p.m. at the Old Firehouse,1440 Chain Bridge Road, McLean.Bounce on 40 interconnectingtrampolines and foam pits and thensee a PG or PG-13 movie. Visitwww.mcleancenter.org.

SpiritMind and Drum Circle. 7-9p.m. at Unity of Fairfax, 2854 HunterMill Road, Oakton. Join this mind-body-heart-spirit experience andgathering where participants areguided in co-creating a sacred spacethrough chanting, singing,meditating, and drumming. $20. VisitUnityoffairfax.org or call 703-281-1767 for more.

Calendar

Entertainment

By Michael Doan

City Choir

Not many high school choruses get to bothwrite and commission a piece of music. Butwith a grant from the Wolf Trap Founda-

tion for the Performing Arts, the Madison High SchoolMadrigals got composer Robert McCullough to helpthem write “Psalm of Life,” based on the HenryWadsworth Longfellow poem of the same name. TheVienna high school’s work was debuted by the cho-rus at Vienna Presbyterian Church in 2014.

This Madrigals are high-energy students. DirectorClaire Rowan estimates that the 30-member groupmakes 15 to 25 appearances throughout the area inDecember alone. You’ll see the singers, too, atfundraising events such as a drive for toys for thelocal hospital, holiday events and building dedica-tions.

The Madrigals and the women’s chorus will sing avariety of gospel, spiritual, classical and contempo-rary traditional music at City Choir of Washington’sMarch 12 concert (4:30 p.m.) at St. Luke Catholic

The Sunday, March 12 concert is at 4:30 p.m. at St. Luke Catholic Church in McLean.

Madison Madrigals to Perform in McLeanChurch in McLean. The Madrigals will do doubleduty, singing with us in Dona Nobis Pacem. Rowanfigures that the students’ friends, parents and schoolalumni will want to attend.

Madison also happens to be the place where Rob-ert Shafer got his start in 1968. Returning to theschool in advance of the concert, Shafer passed onsome history of the chorus to Rowan as they pre-pared the repertoire.

“I have heard his name for many years,” she said.“He is a legend in the choral world around here.”She particularly liked an anecdote of the past thatShafer passed on to her. When composer AaronCopland came to work with the students, Shafer tookhim to the Marco Polo restaurant. Copland only askedif they had franks and beans. She says, “He justwanted a hot dog!”

A few days later, Copland himself conducted theMadison choir in his famous and ferociously diffi-cult and a cappella “In the Beginning” in a specialconcert in 1975 honoring the bicentennial of theUnited States, in the Kennedy Center Concert Hall.

Tickets at www.citychoir.org, $25-$35.


Zone 6 Ad Deadline:

Monday Noon

703-778-9411

Zone 6: • Arlington • Great Falls

• McLean • Vienna/OaktonClassifiedClassified

LEGAL NOTICEAT&T Mobility, LLC is proposing to modify existing wirelesstelecommunications antennas on a building located at 815 S 18th Street, Arlington, Arlington County, VA 22202. The modi-fication will consist of replacing three existing antennas with three new antennas and adding three new RRHs at a center-line elevationcenter height of +/- 62 feet above gradegroundlevel on the +/- 73-foot building. Any interested party wishing to submit comments regarding the potential effects the proposed facility may have on any historic property may do so by send-ing such comments to: Project 6117000556-SF c/o EBI Con-sulting, EBI Consulting, 6876 Susquehanna Trail S,York, PA 17403, or via telephone at 617-715-1817781-273-2500.

21 Announcements 21 Announcements


21 Announcements 21 Announcements 21 Announcements

21 Announcements 21 Announcements 21 Announcements


PUBLIC NOTICE

VOLUNTARY REMEDIATION PROGRAM (VRP) ACTIVITY

DEQ VRP Site 00671

10th Street Flats3100 to 3128 10th Street North, and

932 North Highland StreetArlington County, Virginia 22201

VRP Participant:10th Street Flats LLC,

4401 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 600,Arlington, VA 22203

The 10th Street Flats Property, located at 3100 10th Street North (formerly 3100 to 3128 10th Street North, and 932 North Highland Street) in Arlington County, is participating in the Vol-untary Remediation Program (VRP) administered by the Virgin-ia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).The property was the former site of commercial activities that included a battery store, fuel storage, vehicle sales, and vehi-cle maintenance. Environmental investigations found on-site petroleum and volatile organic compound contamination of soil and groundwater. Remedial actions to mitigate potential risks to human health and the environment from thecontaminants have been proposed by 10th Street Flats, LLC and accepted by VDEQ-VRP. The remedial action consisted of soil excavation and disposal. A Certification of Satisfactory Completion of Remediation will be requested from DEQ-VRP. Questions or comments regarding this notice will be acceptedfor 30 days from the date of publication and should be ad-dressed to the contact below:

John DiehlEnvironmental Consultants and Contractors, Inc.43045 John Mosby HighwayChantilly, VA [email protected]


We pay top $ for STERLING, MEN'S WATCHES,

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26 Antiques 26 Antiques

JENNIFER SMITH ❖ Serving the Area Since 1995

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21 Announcements

ABC LICENSESugar Factory PFC, LLC trad-

ing as Sugar Factory (and Sugar Factory American

Brasserie), 1100 South Hayes Street, #H37, Arlington, VA

22202. The above establishment is

applying to the VIRGINIA DEPARTMENT OF

ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) for a Wine

and Beer On; Mixed Beverage (seating capacity 151 seats or

more) license to sell or manufacture alcoholic

beverages, John L. Sullivan, ManagerNOTE: Objections to the

issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later

than 30 days from the publish-ing date of the first of two required newspaper legal

notices. Objections should be registered at

www.abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.

21 Announcements

ABC LICENSETSKAAB, LLC trading as The Black Squirrel, 2670 I Avenir

Place, Vienna, VA 22180. The above establishment is apply-ing to the VIRGINIA DEPART-

MENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC)

for a Beer & Wine, On & Off Premises & Mixed Beverageslicense to sell or manufacture

alcoholic beverages. Thomas S. Knott, managing

memberNOTE: Objections to the issu-ance of this license must be

submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing

date of the first of two required newspaper legal notices.

Objections should be regis-tered at www.abc.virginia.gov

or 800-552-3200.

Newspapers & Online

HOW TO SUBMIT ADS TO

CLASSIFIED • CHOOSE 1 TO 6 ZONESE-mail [email protected]

or call Andrea @ 703-778-9411

EMPLOYMENT • CHOOSE 1 TO 6 ZONESE-mail [email protected]


Kenny Lourie is an Advertising Representative forThe Potomac Almanac & The Connection Newspapers.

By KENNETH B. LOURIE

Not until next year, anyway. Besides,there will be enough water gushing underthat bridge, almost as much seen a fewweeks back flowing onto the OrovilleSpillway in Northern California. At least Ihope so. Because if there’s no more ‘gus-hing,’ there’s likely no more, well; we don’thave to talk about that. Not talking andplanning for one’s future is bad for a cancerpatient’s business; self-fulfilling prophecyand all that presumptive karma. And withall the dos and don’ts and hopes andprayers in the cancer world, my generalphilosophy has been not to mess withMother Nature, too much, if you knowwhat I mean? I don’t necessarily believe inleaving well enough alone, but neither do Ibelieve in poking the bear.

I mean, I acknowledge that I’m dying,but aren’t we all really? Reminiscent to afew years back when a former ESPN Sportsanchor (Dan Patrick, I believe it was, nowof NBC Sports) made famous a similar char-acterization concerning a ballplayer’s injury,when he said: “He’s listed as day to day,but then again, aren’t we all?” Oh yeah. Alittle perspective goes a long way, even adecade or so in arrears. I guess that’s what’sso enriching about reading. Unfortunately,reading is not fundamental for me, writingand listening is. And as with my unexpectednon-small cell lung cancer diagnosis at age54 and a half (lifelong non-smoker, noimmediate family history of cancer or pre-mature death; I know, any death is prema-ture), I make the best of my situation andendeavor to strive to stay alive. I don’t dwellon the negative. Sure, I accept and under-stand my reality (maybe in some dispute,but not in my head though), but havingbeen raised with a positive attitude by bothmy late parents, I am able to endure untilscience/medicine finds a cure. It’s not ideal,but it’s a living — thank God!

And even more so the day after chemo-therapy, as I sit and write on Saturday,March 4. Reminded as I am of the situationI find myself living in and trying to learnfrom to cope and always hope. Somehowtrying to find a way to continue to take can-cer in stride while not hiding from the harshrealities that affect many cancer patients.Just as occasionally looking in the mirror isnot a pretty sight, nor is droning on andbeing cancer-centric. Though I am mostlycancer-centric in my weekly column, I hopeits contents provide enough context that itsheds some light on how one lives with aterminal disease rather than how that sameone puts off death.

I don’t mean to imply that being diag-nosed with cancer is akin to having a badroommate where you can sort of close theirbedroom door or try to ignore their com-ings and goings except as it concerns rentand utilities, but similar elements have to beenforced. ‘Enforced’ may be too strong aword. Maybe ingrained would be a betterword? You have to own the responsibility ofliving with a terminal disease, but somehowtry and not believe it. It sort of invokes thequote about minor surgery: “Minor surgeryis someone else having it.” When it’s mehaving it, it’s major. Compartmentalizingone’s cancer diagnosis/prognosis is crucialto its acceptance. Obviously, it dominatesyour thinking and awareness, but it can’t beallowed to control it. You just hope whenyou peel away the emotional layers youimpose to maintain an even/humorous keel(in my approach, anyway), it won’t resem-ble the damage seen on the OrovilleSpillway.

No More“Dating”

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Light tomorrowwith today!.

-Elizabeth Barret Browing


Zone 6 Ad Deadline:

Monday Noon

703-778-9411


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It’s Never Too Early to schedule your pool opening for 2017

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LANDSCAPING LANDSCAPING

CLEANING CLEANING Do what you can, with

what you have,where you are.

-TheodoreRoosevelt

Zone 6 Ad Deadline:

Tuesday 11 a.m.

703-778-9411


• McLean • Vienna/OaktonEmploymentEmployment

• NOW HIRING SEASONAL EMPLOYEES up to 6 Months!• WORK 30-40 HOURS DURING SEASON!• $10.00-$11.00 per hour PLUS OVERTIME• RETURNING SEASONAL BONUS!• REWARDING PHYSICAL WORK THAT WILL KEEP YOU IN SHAPE!

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Apply Online at our Website:

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Perfect for students, retirees, teachers, or anyone else who is looking fora generous extra paycheck while working alongside a world class team!

We are hiring several seasonal positions.

Educational InternshipsUnusual opportunity to learn many aspects ofthe newspaper business. Internships availablein reporting, photography, research, graphics.Opportunities for students, and for adultsconsidering change of career. Unpaid. [email protected]

Newspapers & Online

HOW TO SUBMIT ADS TO

CLASSIFIED • CHOOSE 1 TO 6 ZONESE-mail [email protected]


EMPLOYMENT • CHOOSE 1 TO 6 ZONESE-mail [email protected]


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