A Family Affair
Generations of neighbors gather to celebrate the 51st annual Dunn-Loring Woods block party.
“We try to come back every year. This was a great place to grow up and just be a kid. It still is.” —Michael O’Roarke, who brought his wife Joan and son Lan to Saturday’s 51st annual Dunn-Loring Woods block party.
Whole Foods Supports the Oakton-Vienna Shepherd’s Center
Several times a year, the Whole Foods Market stores hold community giving days (otherwise known as “5 percent days”) where five percent of that day’s net sales are donated to a local nonprofit. The Shepherd’s Center of Oakton-Vienna (SCOV) in partnership with Our Daily Bread were the recipients of a recently held Whole Foods “5 percent Day” at the Vienna store where $4,338 was raised.
Koi Bring a Bit of Japan to Vienna
ZNA Potomac Koi Club hosts weekend competition at Meadowlark Gardens.
If Meadowlark Botanical Gardens and glistening other-worldly koi seem to be a perfect fit, that’s because they were harmoniously wed on Sept. 7 and 8, as the ZNA Potomac Koi Club presented its annual koi show and competition. The competition, bringing in nishikigoi [koi] hobbyists from Connecticut to South Carolina, was open and free to the public. Two hundred and sixty two nishikigoi, “living jewels,” entered the competition this year, breaking the Potomac chapter’s record for the show.
Regional Flavors of India Come to Vienna
Curry Mantra 3 offers traditional and signature dishes.
Curry Mantra 3 turned upside-down the adage, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch,” on Sept. 8. Not only did the new restaurant at Cedar Park Shopping Center serve free lunch to celebrate its grand opening, it served free dinner, as well. Vienna guests and loyal customers from Curry Mantra 1 and 2 lined up at the door in support of Vienna’s newest entry into the town’s burgeoning restaurant scene. A hostess manning the door let people in as guests left—that’s how busy it was.
Joe Gittinger of Dunn Loring Wins Fishing Tournament
Joe Gittinger of Dunn Loring places first in historical first known fishing tournament in the country to offer a designated cash purse for individuals with intellectual disabilities. He collected $250 with the 1st place prize of the Travis Smith Special Angler Award. The designated cash purse was added to this year’s Lancaster County Little League Spanish Mackerel tournament on Saturday, Aug. 24th. The tournament is based in Kilmarnock, Va., located in Virginia’s Northern Neck, with 56 vessels competing in the waters of the Chesapeake Bay.
Weichert, Realtors Recognizes Patricia Stack
Sales Associate Patricia Stack of the Vienna office was individually recognized for her exceptional industry success during the month of July. A top producer, Stack led the region, which comprises offices throughout Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier and Delaware counties, in resale dollar volume. Invite this top neighborhood specialist in to learn about the real estate services that Weichert, Realtors has to offer. She can be reached in Weichert’s Vienna office at 156 East Maple Avenue or by phone at 703-938-6070.
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.
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.
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.