Reston Little League Presents Leadership Awards
Sean Dooley, director at The Wise Investor Group at RW Baird in Reston, presented Leadership Awards to deserving players who are entering their final season of baseball in Reston Little League, as well as RLL alumni who have chosen to continue teaching the game as youth umpires. During ceremonies held in conjunction with the annual Little League Parade at Reston Town Center, each awardee was honored with an award certificate that cited their “sportsmanship during past seasons, their potential for continued leadership development as they graduate on to new teams and schools, and their love of the game.” In addition, each awardee received a Scholarship Award for Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA) leadership training. Players have as many as 15 seasons of experience playing baseball in Reston Little League, starting at age 4. Awardees are: Jack Thompson (Athletics), Aiden O’Donovan (Phillies), Josh Meade (Yankees), Sully Gholson (Nationals), Vikrant Magadi (Rays), Shea Huntington (Pirates), Nick Gryski (Red Sox), Braden Huebsch (Mets), Owen Walker (Umpire), and Kyle Sather (Umpire).
Exciting Week at Lake Anne Elementary
Lake Anne Elementary had an exciting week as several employees from the Smithsonian Zoo Migratory Bird Center came to the school to work with first and second graders. The ladies captured birds, held them, tagged them (while students watched) and then released them back into the wild. In addition, the students were taken down a trial and shown how to lift logs and leaves to locate possible food that the birds might eat off of (worms, snails, etc.).
Cycling for Change
More than 150 attend Ride to Provide in Reston Town Center.
More than 150 people gave up their Saturday morning last week to cycle for a cause. The fifth annual Ride To Provide, an event to raise money for youth programs and healing military veterans, drew in cyclists throughout the greater D.C. metro area thanks to the balmy weather and a chance to ride with Washington Redskins football players.
Area Students Win Scholarships
MLK Cultural Foundation Dream Makers Gala raises money for students.
Fifteen northern Virginia students received scholarships to follow their dreams last week. The Martin Luther King Cultural Foundation Dream Makers Award Gala drew in hundreds of people to raise money and hand out college scholarships on Thursday. “It’s something like this that will make me go to work tomorrow and want to make the world a better place for our children,” said Lieutenant Governor Ralph Northam during a speech.
Tax Burden Targets Low-Income Workers in Northern Virginia
Average tax burden for low-income workers is highest in Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax.
Families that are struggling to make ends meet in Northern Virginia are the target of local governments in Northern Virginia, which has the highest tax burden in the region for low-income workers. Wealthy people face the highest tax burden in Prince George's County and Montgomery County. But here in Virginia, poor people face the biggest tax burden in Arlington, according to a new study by the Office of Revenue Analysis in the District of Columbia. Alexandria ranked second, and Fairfax County ranked third.
SOL Night at Lake Anne
Lake Anne hosted their annual SOL night on March 26 for students. The teachers and staff members were on hand all over the building with games, problems, and many other activities for the students to work on. The students worked both with the teachers, as a group, and individually on their own on all SOL related topics as a means to boost them academically for the taking of the SOLs coming up soon. Pictured here is fifth grade teacher Mr. Garcia showing Tristan and Lucas how to work through a science problem.
Walking for a Cause
Reston’s 4th annual Kidney Walk a success.
More than 300 people banded together to support the fight against kidney disease on Sunday. The National Kidney Foundation’s fourth annual Reston Kidney Walk in the town center garnered about $83,000 from pre-registered walkers alone. “This is more of a family-driven event,” said NKF Development Manager Jessica Shatzel. “Our gala is a corporate driven event. A lot of our teams are families that return year after year.” Jessica Blevins, Gainsville, and her family came out to support the NKF walk with a “Team Logan” banner.
CATS Puts Special Needs Kids First
Children’s Adaptive Team Sports reinforces and praises with soccer and trophies.
Children with special needs can sometimes feel like they are not a part of a community. CATS - which stands for Children’s Adaptive Team Sports - helps these kids feel like real winners by putting them on their own basketball and soccer teams. “We’ve had some parents who were emotional and said they thought they’d never see their son play on a soccer team,” said founder and CEO Margarita Benavides. “Eighty percent of parents said there were improvements on motor skills or attention.”
Baron Cameron Update Discussed
Reston 2020, residents debate county plans for local park.
The Reston Citizens Association met with concerned residents to address possible changes to Baron Cameron Park last week. The changes, which are a scheduled update of the park, were discussed and debated at the April 7 meeting at Buzz Aldrin Elementary School. “What we want you to do is think about what’s missing, what’s not there,” said Reston 2020 co-chairman Terry Maynard. He explained some of the changes - adding a picnic pavilion, restrooms, a larger trail network and additional parking - among other additions. Fairfax County also included alternative plans that included an indoor recreational center.
Reston’s Best Honored
23rd annual Best of Reston celebrates birthdays and service.
Reston is a place where - as they say - people can live, play, work and serve. The Best of Reston honored those committed to community service and celebrated founder Robert Simon’s 100th birthday on Thursday with a black-tie affair at the Hyatt Regency in Reston Town Center. The 23rd annual event, hosted by Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce and Cornerstones, reeled in nearly 900 attendees. “This community takes pride in the people who serve,” said GRCC President Mark S. Ingrao. “We’ve been thinking so much about that in the last few weeks with all the celebrations going on here. I don’t know if it’s the water in Lake Anne or the secret ingredient in Bob’s lunchtime beverage, but there’s something about the community that says, ‘You are welcome here.’”
The Honey Bunch
Sweet Virginia partners with GMU to educate students about bees.
Educational outreach is sweet nectar for Sweet Virginia. Executive Director Dan Price is using college students to promote honeybee sustainability to college students in the changing world. “I thought someone needed to get the population of bees in Washington, D.C. back to what it used to be,” said Price. “I made that my mission.” Price has put bees in the forefront of minds in D.C. by installing two hives on top of the National Geographic Museum.
World of Beer offers IT platform for business lunches
If you are looking for a unique location to hold a sales meeting that’s not far from your Arlington, Alexandria, or Ballston office, think World of Beer. The tavern that’s best known for after-work socializing and live music on weekends, is now offering meeting space and teleconference so companies can conduct online training or other web-based events for its employees. "We are a great place for off-site meetings," said Evan Matz, owner of World of Beer at 901 North Glebe Road in Ballston. "With little notice, CEOs and managers can reserve a separate room equipped with our IP-based video and wall monitor systems. It’s a perfect place to hold working lunches."
Michael DiBacco, 46, of Reston, Dies
Michael DiBacco, 46, of Reston, died at home on March 27. He was surrounded by family and friends after enduring a seven month battle with pancreatic cancer. Born Oct. 19, 1967 in Asheville, N.C., his family moved to Herndon in 1980. After graduation from Herndon High School in 1986, Michael attended Embry Riddle University, where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Wesleyan University, and Old Dominion University.
Neil Simon's Touching, Sweet "Chapter Two" Arrives at Reston's CenterStage
Neil Simon has a "trademark witty, snappy dialogue, and relatable characters that audiences enjoy ", said Joshua Redford, artistic director, Reston Community Players (RCP) . Shortly the RCP will bring Simon's "wide appeal to local audiences" with his "Chapter Two." "Chapter Two" follows the life of George Schneider, a recent widower trying to make his way in a new and rather bumpy world of dating after a long marriage. George is "still coming to terms with his wife's death, who stumbles into a new relationship. He's caught between wanting to move ahead but being unable to let go...with his trademark charm and dry, acerbic wit." said Jeff Breslow who plays George.
Independent Progressive
Let’s hear it for the new leadership in Richmond—especially Governor Terry McAuliffe and Attorney General Mark Herring. Imagine Virginia leaders fighting for health care for 400,000 people and going to court fighting for cleaner water and air, and human equality under the law?! Just a few months ago, Virginia’s governor and Attorney General were little more than late night comedy fare, up to their ears in corruption scandal and opposing health care for the non-wealthy, cleaner air and water, and equality. But these two Democrats are trying to roll large boulders up a steep incline with broad support among a large majority of Virginians but precious little support from too many elected. Governor McAuliffe has succeeded in energizing a slim Senate majority of Democrats and a handful of moderate Republicans to back market-driven insurance reform which will take available federal tax dollars and extend basic health insurance to up to 400,000 Virginians now without any health care.