Vienna Among Top-earning Towns, Best for Families
In addition to being one of the top three “Best Places to Live,” Money Magazine has named Vienna on its list of “Top-Earning Towns.” Vienna is ranked 24 in a list of 25 towns across the country that have above national average household income and home prices. Vienna is joined on the list by Falls Church, at number 18 on the “Top-Earning Town” list.
Two FCPS Students Elected Key Club International Officers
Two Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) students have been elected to the 2013-14 Key Club International Board of Trustees. Raeford Penny, a student at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology (TJHSST), was elected international president of the organization, and Eric Yoon of Oakton High School was elected as an international trustee.
Creative Framing Hosts Artist Shari MacFarlane
Bob Cramer, owner of Creative Framing on Maple Avenue West in downtown Vienna, invites members of the community to come in and enjoy original works by water and mixed media artist Shari MacFarlane.
Viewpoints: What are you looking forward to the most this school year?
“I’m looking forward to sports, football, basketball … looking forward to that. Also the challenge of new classes this year because junior year is typically the most difficult. I’m starting to look at colleges this year.”
Excited to Go Back to School
Fairfax County Public Schools began school year on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
If any of the children waiting at a Westbriar Elementary School bus stop had first-day-of-school jitters, no one showed them. The kids intuitively lined up as the bus approached the stop as parents waved good-bye. The children were excited; parents marked another passage in their children’s lives.
Capturing Vienna’s History
Historic Vienna, Inc. project recorded and filmed residents’ recollections of earlier Vienna.
There was a time when there was no Rt. 66 ramp in Vienna … mainly because there was a time when there was no Rt. 66 anywhere nearby. Nor was there a Capital Beltway. There was, however, a time when a train from Alexandria stopped in Vienna going west. There was a time when there were maple trees on Maple Avenue and churches along Church Street. Before Louise Archer Elementary School was named after the principal who ran the school for many pivotal years, it was a “colored” school.
Town Launches Shop Vienna Initiative
In July of this year, the Town of Vienna launched the Shop Vienna initiative, an online directory listing all in-town businesses. The directory is organized by category and individuals who “claim” their business will have their own micro-site on the town’s website.
YMM Art Space Opens in Vienna
YMM Art Space is a children’s art education company that started eight years ago in Shenzhen, China, by Yang Hongmei, with the mission to provide children with the highest quality art programs and to stimulate children’s innate creativity through art education. Mrs. Yang started out as a private art teacher offering lessons from her home and eventually expanding her vision, YMM Art Space, into a global arts education center with locations in Hong-Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Beijing, China as well as Toronto, Canada. Currently, there are over 30,000 students enrolled in YMM Art Space globally, and their age ranges from 2-18 years old.
Classified Advertising Sept. 4, 2013
Read the latest ads here!
Column: From Weak to Week
Eight days and seven nights. Not exactly the vacation I was planning. Nevertheless, admitted to the hospital on Friday, August 2nd. Discharged on Friday, August 9th: that was my hospital “staycation.” Though I definitely improved as the post-surgical week went on, the process itself – specifically, nearly four days in S.I.C.U. (Surgical Intensive Care) with round-the-clock monitoring, nursing and doctoring – was hardly restful. In fact, if you read the following prose, you’ll presumably develop an understanding of the cons.
Every Year Is Election Year in Virginia
Northern Virginia has most two-party races on ballot.
While the Virginia governor’s race is the one getting the most attention, both nationally and in the state, Virginia’s House of Delegates race is shaping up to be the most competitive in a decade. According to an official candidate list released last month by the Virginia State Board of Elections, 57 House seats will be contested this November — marking only the second time in the last decade where at least half of the 100 House seats will have more than one name on the ballot.
What in the World Does a Supervisor Do, and Why Should We Care?
Local Government 101: Where the rubber meets the road.
We see them at just about every community event. They manage a budget larger than the budgets of four states, and rule over a county with a diverse, well-educated population of more than a million people. The 10 members of the Fairfax County Supervisors have an intense, time-consuming, insanely detailed job, one that comes with enormous power and even more responsibilities. They impact our lives in large and small ways, allocating money and resources in ways that can propel our community forward—or cost us our first-rate status in education, livability and culture. Yet most of us, media included, are so focused on politics at the state and national level that we overlook the decision-makers in our own backyard.
Obsessed With Politics? Fairfax County Welcomes You!
What newcomers need to know to be politically-savvy insiders.
Fairfax County may be physically separated from Washington, D.C.—the ground-zero of All Things Political—but residents here are a politically-savvy bunch. We know who Larry Sabato is—a prominent University of Virginia political analyst—and we pay attention to Not Larry Sabato—a Virginia politics blog by Ben Tribbett, a Fairfax County resident and self-described “vicious campaign insultant.” We follow our politicians on Twitter and Facebook.
Supervisors Give Us Their Best “Insider” Tips
Fairfax County has a fantastic park and library system, with tons of activities to enjoy. One of my personal favorites is the Cardboard Boat Regatta at Lake Accotink Park every summer.
An Insider's Guide to the Arts in Northern Virginia
A selection of upcoming arts productions, happening right where you live.
There are more artists of every stripe making art in Northern Virginia than you may realize. Populating the bedroom communities, small towns, growing cities and metropolitan areas of Fairfax County, Arlington and Alexandria are your pick of dance, theatre, choral, symphonic, visual and performance, music and fill-in-the-blank groups. Look beyond Wolf Trap and Jammin' Java to the Torpedo Art Factory, the Workhouse Arts Center, and smaller, quality groups like ArtSpace Herndon and McLean Project for the Arts to cast their creative spell (that's only to name a few). Delve in and, we dare you, let your stereotypes of an artless string of suburbs dissolve. In place you'll get something much better than stereotypes: some culture.
Lifetime Learning Institute of Northern Virginia
Affiliated with Northern Virginia Community College, the Lifetime Learning Institute of Northern Virginia (LLI) is a non-profit, member-run organization dedicated to providing continuing educational opportunities to older adults of all backgrounds and income levels.
The Non-profits of Vienna
AHC, a nonprofit developer of affordable housing, operates in Vienna to provide quality homes for low- and moderate-income families. AHC Also offers services for residents and homeownership opportunities.
The Beauty of Vienna Living
From national recognition to local perspective, views on life in Vienna.
What surprised many people living in the Vienna area is not that Vienna was voted by Money magazine as the third best small town to live in in America but that it did not come in first. That’s Vienna pride.
A Fading Craft Thrives in Vienna
Guarantee Shoe Repair blends business with congeniality and nature.
The cream-colored two-story clapboard house at 131 Church St. N.W. could be mostly any one’s home in Vienna. It’s well cared-for with rose bushes and an array of flowers and greenery out front. To the side is a small fish pond and to the back is a gazebo anchored by a fountain. The gazebo’s flooring covers an obsolete well whose pump remains a visual magnet.
Area Chambers of Commerce: Meet Your Vienna Business Contacts
Meet the Vienna business associations and chambers of commerce who want to meet you and get to know your business too.