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Mount Vernon Gazette ❖ January 17-23, 2013 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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Scuttle (Emma Ekman) and the seagulls (Ellen Roberts, Brian Selcik, Winnie Hurd,Payson White and Anna Johnson) help Ariel (Emily Flack) get used to her new legsand self confidence with a little dance and song, “Positoovity.”

Ursula’s henchmen, Flotsam (LucyRoberts) and Jetsam (Brendan DeBie)persuade Ariel (Emily Flack) to visitUrsula.

Ursula (McKenzie Sterner) proposes adeal to Ariel (Emily Flack).

Prince Eric (Daniel Jarzen) proposes a dance to Ariel(Emily Flack) as a means to communicate since Arielcannot utter a sound.

Chef Louis (ClaireHavranek) prepares afish dinner for Ariel andPrince Eric.

Final Rehearsals for ‘Little Mermaid, Jr.’

The Aldersgate Church Community The-ater is in final rehearsal for the upcom-ing performances of “Walt Disney’sLittle Mermaid, Jr.” Show dates are

Jan. 18, 19, 25, 26 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 20, 21,

26, 27 at 2 p.m.Call 703-660-2611 or visit acctonline.org for in-formation/tickets.Aldersgate is located at 1301 Collingwood Roadin Alexandria.

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By Michael Lee Pope

The Gazette

The fight over a proposedcell tower at SandburgMiddle School several

years ago now seems like a Water-loo moment, the end of a campaignto build large and intrusive celltowers at schools and in neighbor-hoods. As they had over and overagain, residents in Mount Vernonopposed the proposal by MilestoneCommunications. Supporters likethe idea that the design incorpo-rated an existing light pole, and theSandburg design would have cre-ated revenue streams from threeseparate antennas — some ofwhich would be shared with theschool. Opposition was so greatthat the plan was scuttled, andnow large chunks of the MountVernon areas remain dead zones.

“These cell tower companies al-ways want to construct thesemonoliths,” said Riverside Estatesresident Robert Reynolds. “And allof the neighbors have come to re-

sent having these show up inneighborhoods and at schools.”

Like many people in the MountVernon area, Reynolds is a veteranof the antenna wars. Several yearsago, he led an effort to opposeconstruction of a cell tower behindhis house. Now he and many oth-ers in Mount Vernon are ready togo on the offensive by advocatingfor a new technology that uses aseries of smaller antennas that arescattered around rather than alarge monolithic structure thattowers in the air. The drawback isthat it’s much more expensive forthe cell tower companies, and sofar no companies have come for-ward with a proposal to use Dis-tributed Antenna System in thearea.

“Colonial Williamsburg is reallythe model of what we are tryingto do in Mount Vernon,” saidDavid Dale, former co-chairman ofthe Mount Vernon Council of Citi-zens Associations. “You don’t seecell towers hovering over historic

By Michael Lee Pope

The Gazette

The plight of the nonviolentfelon has been a losingcause in Northern Virginia

for decades. Year after year, Demo-crats introduce a bill that wouldrestore voting rights for nonviolent

felons. And year after year, theeffort fizzles in Richmond. Sowhen Republican Gov. BobMcDonnell announced his supportfor automatic restoration of civilrights for nonviolent felons, manybelieved this might finally be theyear supporters could see some

Antenna WarsMount Vernon residents holdout for more expensive and lessunsightly cell coverage.

Civil Rights StruggleIn RichmondNorthern Virginia Democratsfinally get traction on votingrights for nonviolent felons.

2 ❖ Mount Vernon Gazette ❖ January 17-23, 2013 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com


News

Hollin Meadows Hosts Ice Cream Making and Gardening

Jen Finnegan is the outdoor education coordinator at Hollin MeadowsElementary School. She led some families through the school’s monthlySecond Sunday activities on Jan. 13. The families picked herbs from theschool’s garden to enhance the homemade ice cream they were about tomake.

Volunteer Maddie Johnson helps children with their ice cream making project.The youngsters placed the ingredients in a plastic bag and then inside a bagfilled with ice and rock salt. They shook the bags to make ice cream.

Jaden and her mother do some gardening before making ice cream.

Aslan and Sammy enjoy some ice cream and conversa-tion after all their hard work.

Sammy enjoys the firstbites of the ice cream thathe made.

Shachi and Charlotte are hard at work making ice creamin their bags.

Anuj took his task, shaking his bagof ingredients, very seriously.

Charlotte enjoys the efforts of herlabors. The children made icecream sundaes in the bags afterthe ice cream was frozen.

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JACKI SORENSEN'S FITNESS CLASSES

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Jacki Sorensen's Aerobic Dancingstarts January 23

at Charles Houston Recreation CenterMonday/Wednesday - 10:15 am& Wednesday - 5:30 pmRegister on line atalexandriava.gov › Recreation

For more information,Call: 202-657-1150Email: [email protected]: www.Jackis.com

News

Trainer Inducted Into Hall of FameT

reating sprainedankles, separatedshoulders and

aching backs are everydayoccurrences for FairfaxCounty Police Department’sathletic trainer NancyBurke.

Burke serves a vital rolefor the agency in keepingover 1,300 Fairfax CountyPolice officers in top formdespite the tough physicaltoll the job can have onone’s body.

“Obviously physical fit-ness is critical for those inpublic safety; whether theyare chasing a suspect in thedark or helping lift a per-son out of a wrecked car, itis a very physically demand-ing job,” Burke said. Sheadded, “It’s extremely re-warding to be able to helptreat and educate officerson how to get healthy, stayhealthy and get them back to duty after they’ve hadan injury.”

Burke’s efforts are now being widely recognizedas she has been tapped for the 2013 Virginia Ath-letic Trainers’ Association (VATA) Hall of Fame. The

Nancy Burke

VATA is an organization dedi-cated to the health and well-being of Virginians who arephysically active and this isthe third year for the Hall ofFame selection process.

Burke began her career asan athletic trainer in a sec-ondary school setting aftergraduating from James Madi-son University in 1973. Afterearning her Master’s Degreefrom Eastern Kentucky Uni-versity, she continued her ca-reer in Fairfax County. Herexpertise in sports medicineis nationally known as sheserved as the head athletictrainer for World Cup SabreFencing in 1992 and 1994, asite medical director for theAtlanta Olympic Games in1996, and chaired the U.S.Lacrosse Association SafetyCommittee, where her contri-butions helped result in themandate of protective

eyewear and new safety standards for goalkeepers’helmets.

For more information about the Fairfax CountyPolice Department’s programs or personnel, contactthe Public Information Office at 703-246-2253.

For a free digi-tal subscriptionto one or allof the 15ConnectionNewspapers,go towww.connectionnewspapers.com/subscribe

Be the first toknow – get yourpaper before ithits the press.

Complete digitalreplica of theprint edition,including photosand ads, deliv-ered weeklyto your e-mailbox.

Questions?E-mail:[email protected]


The classic horror “Night of the LivingDead” will open at West Potomac HighSchool on Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. In the play, agroup of people are trapped inside a

farmhouse in West Virginia as legions of the walkingdead try to get inside and use them for food.

Students starring in the play include Alex Amico,Hilary Canary, Miles Gheesling, Eliza Lore, KatelynMcConville and Joe Quinn

“Night of the Living Dead” will play Jan. 24 –26:Thursday, Friday and Saturday evening at 7 p.m. andSaturday afternoon at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10. All

WPHS presents“Night of the Living Dead.”

A Thirst for Human Flesh …

Alex Amico and Hilary Canary Valentina Selnick and Katelyn McConville

Joe Quinn and Alex Amico

Joe Quinn, Miles Gheesling, Alex Amico, Katelyn McConville, Eliza Lore and HilaryCanary

performances are at West Potomac High School inthe Kogelman Theatre at 6500 Quander Road. Tick-ets are available at the door.

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News

Holding Out for More Expensive, Less Unsightly Cell CoverageFrom Page 1

buildings in Colonial Williamsburg, and yetvisitors don’t have to enter a blackout.”

DISTRIBUTED ANTENNA SYSTEMSare already in use in many places, includ-ing Colonial Williamsburg as well as manyNorthern Virginia locations — Dranesville,Merrifield and Reston to name a few. Last year, the Mount Vernon Council ofCitizens Associations adopted a resolutionstrongly encouraging the use of DAS tech-nology instead of the large-scale towers thatloom over the horizon. So far, none of the companies that spe-cialize in constructing cell antennas havebeen willing to put together a proposal toinstall the smaller-scale system, whichwould be more expensive than construct-ing a tower and provide smaller revenues

from leases to providers.“They would have to show that DAS is

not feasible,” said Mount Vernon PlanningCommissioner Earl Flanagan. “So far thathasn’t hap-pened, butt e c h n o l o g ychanges all thetime.”

In NorthernVirginia, a cot-tage industry ofcompanies hasemerged toc o n s t r u c tcellphone infra-structure andlease it to providers. Some, such as Mile-stone, specialize in towers. Others, such asAmerican Tower Company and Crown

Castle, offer both towers and DAS technol-ogy.

Once constructed, the facilities are leasedto major providers such as AT&T, T-Mobile,

Spring andCricket.

So far, thebusiness planhas not beenable to supporta proposal in-corporating theless intrusiveDAS technol-ogy.

“With thee c o n o m i c

downturn, I wouldn’t expect DAS technol-ogy to be coming to Mount Vernon anytimesoon,” said Flanagan. “They just don’t have

“With the economic downturn,I wouldn’t expect DAStechnology to be coming toMount Vernon anytime soon.”— Mount Vernon Planning Commissioner Earl

Flanagan

the money to pay for it.”

IN THE LAST six years, demand for dataservice has increased 8,000 percent nation-wide, according to industry statistics. As smartphones proliferate, more andmore customers require more and moreservice as technology struggles to keep pace. Some in Mount Vernon are hopeful that anew “cube” technology invented in Restonmay be an answer that will provide servicewithout unsightly cell towers. Whatever technology comes down thepike, neighbors here say they are ready tooppose any effort to erect cell towers thatmany consider aesthetically unpleasantmonolithic structures. “People who are di-rectly impacted come out of the woodworkto oppose them,” said Mount Vernon Dis-trict Supervisor Gerry Hyland.

Getting Traction on Voting Rights for Nonviolent FelonsFrom Page 1

action on the issue.“As a nation that believes in re-

demption and second chances, wemust provide a clear path for willingindividuals to be productive membersof society once they have served theirsentences and paid their fines andrestitution,” said McDonnell. “It is

time for Vir-ginia to joinmost of theother statesand make therestoration ofcivil rights anautomatic pro-cess for nonvio-lent offenders.”

Within min-utes of thespeech, a num-ber of civil-rights advocacy

groups spoke out in support of thegovernor’s push. The American CivilLiberties Union of Virginia praised theeffort as a way to shed “this vestigeof the Jim Crow era.” Virginia Orga-nizing and Virginia New Majority alsoissued written statements supportingthe effort, which now had bipartisanappeal. State Sen. Don McEachin (D-9) even called on the governor toname the legislation in honor of the

late state Sen. Yvonne Miller (D-5), whowas a longtime advocate for restoring civilrights to nonviolent felons.

Then House Republicans pulled the rugout. During a Monday meeting of the HouseSubcommittee on Constitutional Amend-m e n t s ,members ofthe Republi-can majorityrejected abill intro-duced byD e l .C h a r n i e l eHerring (D-46). HouseRepublicansindicated that they were willing to breakwith the Republican governor, the Republi-can lieutenant governor and the Republi-can attorney general — a demonstration ofdiversity in a party that usually speaks inlockstep on major issues.

“A number of Republicans stood up on thefloor of the House and essentially attackedthe governor for supporting this,” said Del.Rob Krupicka (D-45). “It’s clear they don’tintend to follow his wishes.”

THE EFFORT is still alive on the Senateside, where state Sen. Louise Lucas (D-18)introduced SJ 266. On Tuesday, a Senatesubcommittee was deadlocked on the issueand cast a 3-to-3 vote. That means the bill

will move on to the next meeting of theSenate Committee on Privileges and Elec-tions next week without a recommendation.Supporters are hopeful that they can get theissue out of committee and onto consider-ation by the full Senate, which is evenly di-

vided be-tween Re-publicansand Demo-crats. Be-cause Re-p u b l i c a nLt. Gov. BillBolling hasalready an-n o u n c e dhis support

for the initiative, he could end up casting atie-breaking vote in favor of automatic res-toration.

“The House of Delegates still has time toreverse their course by voting for theSenate’s version of the bill,” said John Liss,executive director of Virginia New Major-ity. “Automatic rights restoration opens thedoor for those convicted of non-violent felo-nies to become full participants in our com-munity.”

Currently, more than 350,000 Virginianshave been stripped of their right to vote.That’s more than one in five African Ameri-cans and 7 percent of the adult population.The way things currently stand, only thegovernor has authority to restore rights.

Since he became governor in 2011,McDonnell has restored rights to more than4,000 people — more than any other gov-ernor in history. And yet even though theRepublican governor has signaled that theissue is important to him, many Republi-cans oppose the move because it would in-crease the power of Democrats.

“If you are thinking about this in politicalterms, the majority of felons who would gettheir rights restored are probably morelikely to vote Democratic than Republican,”said Geoff Skelley, analyst with the Univer-sity of Virginia Center for Politics. “If you’rea Republican, why would you support it?”

FOR NOW, the effort is still alive on theSenate side. But even supporters acknowl-edge that it will have a very difficult time ifit makes it back to the House after cross-over. Even if the measure is able to get outof the Senate Privileges and Elections Com-mittee on Tuesday, it will still face a vote ofthe full Senate and, ultimately, the samehostile members of the House subcommit-tee that already killed the effort this week.Then the bill must pass again next year af-ter the election before ultimately being con-sidered by the voters. “We must not losethe chance to put this question before thevoters in 2014,” said ACLU of Virginia ex-ecutive director Claire Gastanaga. “For toolong, Virginia has been out of step with therest of the country by continuing to disen-franchise all felons for life.”

See Bulletin Board, Page 15

“Automatic rights restorationopens the door for those convictedof non-violent felonies to becomefull participants in our community.”

— John Liss, executive director,Virginia New Majority

Email announcements to [email protected]. Deadline is the Thurs-day at noon.

THURSDAY/JAN. 17Meeting. Mt. Vernon AAUW presents a program

on “Senior Scams” at 7 p.m. at Mount VernonGovernment Center, 2511 Parkers Lane. Getadvice on ways to avoids scams, as well asdetecting the signs of fraud and identity theft.703-718-9902.

THROUGH JAN. 18January Fruit Sale. The Mount Vernon Lions

club will have a January fruit sale of naval

oranges, grapefruit and honeybells. Prepaidorders made by Jan. 18 with a delivery date ofJan. 26. Contact Andrea Corsillo 703-960-4973or Tom Wilson 703-585-6327.

SATURDAY/JAN. 19West Potomac Science Fair. 8 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

in the cafeteria at the school. There will be 100projects on display, showcasing what thestudents have learned in their honors classes.The top 20 projects will be invited to theregional fair at Robinson High School.

Joint Town Hall Meeting. 10 a.m. atKingstowne Thompson Center, 6090 KingstowneVillage Parkway. Delegate Mark Sickles (D-43),Senator George Barker (D-39), Senator AdamEbbin (D-30), Senator Toddy Puller (D-36) and

Supervisor Jeff McKay will discuss the 2013General Assembly Session and how it will affectFairfax County. There will be a question andanswer period for each representative.

THURSDAY/JAN. 24Meeting. Colonial Republican Women will meet

from 6:30-9 p.m. at Virginia Hills AdministrationCenter at Old Virginia Hills School, 6520 DianaLane. Refreshments will be served. [email protected] or callDebbie at 703-768-1934.

SATURDAY/JAN. 26Gala. The George Washington Chapter of the Sons

of the American Revolution will host a formalgala event at the Belle Haven Country Club.They will present the SAR Gold GoodCitizenship Medal to U.S. Army retired GeneralFrederick J. Kroesen, Jr.

SATURDAY/FEB. 9Boater Education Course. 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the

Knights of Columbus Hall, 8592 RichmondHighway. This course meets all the staterequirements to allow people to operate boats.Contact Rich Miller at [email protected] or703-780-3765 to get an enrollment form.

Bulletin Board

“If you’re aRepublican,why would yousupport it?”

— Geoff Skelley,analyst with the

University of VirginiaCenter for Politics


Business

SFDC Hosts Beautification Awards Ceremony

Jennifer Tillman (left) and Nakia Wilson accepted theAward for Huntington Gateway. The certificates werehanded out in honor of Mary Thonen, a long-servingboard member and prior president of the SoutheastFairfax Development Corporation.

David Versel, executivedirector of the SoutheastFairfax Development Corpo-ration, handed out severalBeautification Awards tolocal businesses. Theyincluded Taco Bell, Chili’s,Huntington Gateway,Mount Zephyr Commonsand Montebello.

The Jan. 16 reception provided an opportunity for com-munity members to network.

The Beautification Awards included displays targeted atimproving the image of businesses along RichmondHighway.

Doug Kennet, president ofthe Montebello Condo-minium OwnersAssociation’s Board ofDirectors, accepts thespecial plaque on behalf ofthe property.

Economic Development Topic of Chamber Meeting

The Chamber Board welcomes Dr. Gerald Gordon, Fairfax County Economic Develop-ment Authority, to the AM Network Breakfast: Jane Gandee, ServiceMaster of Alexan-dria; Gordon; John Barsa; Jay McConville, Lockheed Martin; Michael Gailliot, Cen-tury 20 New Millenium, and Tony Riolo, Burke & Herbert Bank.

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The future of economicgrowth in FairfaxCounty will be found in

the new field of personalizedmedicine, along with the cur-rent growth sectors of IT andfinancial services according toDr. Gerald Gordon, presidentand CEO of the Fairfax CountyEconomic Development Au-thority speaking to the MountVernon-Lee Chamber of Com-merce.

To withstand current eco-nomic pressures, small busi-nesses will need a cost andvalue proposition that showsthey can do better than whatlarger businesses would do in-house, Gordon said. He alsomentioned that trends showthat minority and women-

owned businesses are growing dis-proportionately faster in NorthernVirginia that in other areas of thecounty.

Fairfax County faces the sameserious economic situation it didin 1977, Gordon said. Diversifica-tion of the types of businesses inFairfax County will be essential tokeep tax rates on homeowners lowand to ensure a healthy localeconomy.

The Greater Richmond Highwaycorridor will find economic devel-opment opportunities with thegrowth at Fort Belvoir, Gordonsaid.

At the networking breakfast, thechamber of commerce also wel-comed a new business member,American Disposal Services andregional manager Brian Taugher.

Photos by Renée Ruggles/The Gazette


Opinion

Virginia, and especially Northern Vir-ginia, is woefully short on funds fortransportation. One reason is thatits gas tax, a logical way to fund

transportation infrastructure, is one of the low-est in the nation, and has remained flatsince the ’80s, since it is not indexedfor inflation. So the buying power ofthe gas tax has been dwindling.

It seems obvious that one way to fixthis is to allow it to rise with inflation, orchange it to a percentage of the price of a gal-lon of fuel. Tying road funding to gas consump-tion is a logical connection, and the increaseencourages conservation and more fuel-effi-cient vehicles.

Instead, Gov. Bob McDonnell has proposedeliminating the gas tax, replacing the fundingwith an increase in the sales tax plus a plan toshift money from other state spending, likeeducation, human services and public safety,

to transportation.With considerable agreement that Virginia

needs about $1 billion a year to pay roads andtransit, this proposal would raise about one-third of that.

Part of the Governor’s plan also callsfor a $100 annual fee on vehicles thatuse alternative fuels.

Raising the sales tax to pay for roadsis particularly unfair to the many resi-

dents of Northern Virginia who have chosento live in Arlington, Alexandria and other ar-eas that are walkable and provide easy accessto public transit.

Penalizing drivers of hybrid and electric ve-hicles by charging them more than six timeswhat other vehicles pay is not in the best in-terests of anyone who breathes the air in Vir-ginia, and is a stark slap at innovation.

The entire proposal makes about as muchsense as forcing a select few Northern Virginia

residents, the drivers on the Dulles Toll Road,to almost single-handedly pay for rail to Dulles.Dulles airport is one of the key economic driv-ers for the Commonwealth of Virginia. Build-ing rail to serve the airport is an economic in-vestment that will have broad benefits in rev-enue for the state. A disproportionately smallamount of that revenue will make it back toNorthern Virginia. So it is welcome that theGovernor’s proposal calls for diverting someof the “new” transportation money to Dullesrail.

The current proposal would make Virginiathe only state without a gas tax. It seems un-wise for a state with such dramatic transpor-tation deficits to abandon the one source offunding that makes sense. More money isneeded; that requires addition, not subtraction.

— Mary Kimm,

[email protected]

Transportation Money Eliminating the gastax makes no sense.

Editorial

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A Connection Newspaper

By Michael O’Reilly

Editor’s Note: This month, The Gazette begins featur-ing a monthly column written by community leadersinvolved in Fairfax County’s nonprofit organizations.Every year, thousands of Fairfax County residents vol-unteer with nonprofits in a variety of ways, whether it’sdriving a senior citizen to a medical appointment or serv-ing meals to the homeless in one of the county’shypothermia shelters. According to Volunteer Fairfax –a nonprofit that matches volunteers with service projects- individuals volunteered 205,688 hours of service to thecommunity. We launch this series with a column byMichael O’Reilly, chairman of the Governing Board of theFairfax-Falls Church Partnership to Prevent and EndHomelessness.

Our Fairfax-Falls Church communityis one of the most affluent in thecountry. Our schools are second to

none. We are the home for many Fortune 500businesses. Even with the challengingeconomy, our unemployment rate is among thelowest in the country.

Despite these strengths, our community alsoincludes people who are homeless and are stay-ing at emergency shelters, living in their carsor camping in the woods. Our community in-cludes families with no place to sleep at nightand children with no place to go after school.It saddens me to report that there were over3,000 homeless individuals in our communitythis past year. It is unacceptable to have home-less men, women and children in our commu-nity.

Homelessness impacts every person in ourcommunity and each has a role in ending it.Through the good work of many non-profit andreligious organizations, for many years wehave directed our collective efforts to manag-ing the homeless issues. However, little wasdone to find longer term solutions to preventand end homelessness. That has now changed.

The leadership of Congressman GerryConnolly helped to galvanize all of the energyand effort in the entire community. The FairfaxCounty Board of Supervisors with leadershipfrom Chairman Bulova and SupervisorCatherine Hudgins and all of our key stake-holders from the non-profit, government, faith

and business community came together to de-velop an impressive 10 Year Plan to Preventand End Homelessness. The Plan recognizesthe right of all people to have a safe, afford-able place in which to live. The Plan envisionsour entire community working together aspartners to eliminate homelessness. We havesome very steep goals and lots of hard workahead to reach our goal of ending homelessnessin Fairfax County by the end of 2018.

We have made huge strides in the develop-ment of the governance structure called ThePartnership to Prevent and End Homelessness.The Office to Prevent and End Homelessnesswas established within Fairfax County. We haveconstituted a Governing Board made up ofbusiness leaders, elected officials, builders,clergy, law enforcement and others. We havecreated a new Consumer Advisory Council toensure that currently homeless and formerlyhomeless have an active voice in the imple-mentation of our plan.

We have much more work to do. We haverecently moved our collective efforts to thePlan’s goal of creating 2,650 new housing units.We have supported and will continue to sup-port efforts to amend the County’s housingcode to permit more individual housing op-tions. We hosted a day-long outreach programfor our faith based communities which showspromise at increasing the housing stock.

Through our collective prevention and rapidrehousing strategies, community case manage-ment and the provision of other critical ser-vices, we prevented last year over 1,400 indi-viduals from becoming homeless by providingcommunity case management and other ser-vices. In addition, we have launched a Hous-ing Locator Network to strengthen relation-ships with landlords and to help move thehomeless in our community more rapidly intopermanent housing. Through the work of ourPartnership we have seen an impressive in-crease in homeless families and individualsplaced in permanent housing from 482 in 2010to 853 in 2012. Many adults and children havebeen positively impacted. This can only be at-

From left: Michael O’Reilly, JimCorcoran and Dean Klein duringJeans Day 2012.

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A 10-Year Mission: To End Homelessness

tributed to the commitment that many in ourcommunity have made to end homelessness.

Our approach to preventing and endinghomelessness is predicated on us doing so inpartnership with a broad coalition ofnonprofits, faith communities, businesses andgovernment. Working together allows us todo amazing things.

I thank you for your interest and commit-ment and look forward to our continued worktogether with all of our partners in the comingyears as we strive to prevent and endhomelessness in our community. If you wouldlike to become involved in this important workplease go to www.fairfaxcounty.gov/homelessor call 703-324-9492 for more information.

Michael O’Reilly is chairman of the Governing Boardof Fairfax Falls Church Partnership to Prevent and EndHomelessness.


Opinion

By Scott A. Surovell

Delegate (D-44)

Governor McDonnell’s transportation pro-posal dominated the first three days of ses-sion. I welcome this long-overdue debate.

The improvement of Route 1 is exactly the kind ofproject that has been stalled because of the lack ofstate money because it cannot be tolled or cannot beimproved by a public-private partnership. It will only

happen with real money fromnew tax revenue.

Virginia’s gas tax, one of thelowest in the nation, has been at

17.5 cents since 1985. As roads crumble and Metrostruggles to move more passengers, Virginians can-not expect to have a reliable transportation systemwithout infusing more funds. This means we all haveto face up to increasing the gas tax. The preliminaryresults of my constituent survey are that 55 percentof my constituents agree.

I commend the Governor for putting forth a trans-portation funding proposal for debate, but I do notview his proposal as the right solution. We will bedebating several approaches.

THE GOVERNOR’S PLAN has five components:(1) eliminate the $0.175 gas tax except for dieseland replace it with a new 0.8 percent general salestax dedicated to transportation; (2) divert .25 per-cent of the existing sales tax from education, publicsafety and healthcare and fund transportation; (3)dedicate an new vehicle $15/year registration feeand dedicate these funds to intercity rail and tran-sit; (4) impose a $100 annual fee on alternative fuelvehicles; and (5) dedicate sales taxes from internetsales to transportation, if Congress authorizes statesto tax internet sales (a big if).

Three years ago, Virginia Department ofTransportation’s report, VTRANS 2025, concludedthat the state’s transportation maintenance and con-struction funding shortfall is between $4-5 billionper year over the next 20 years. GovernorMcDonnell’s plan will generate only $3 billion overfive years according to initial estimates. In otherwords, the Governor’s plan funds no more than 12-15 percent of the actual shortfall. His math does notwork.

Virginia’s roads have always been funded with userfees — the more you drive, the more you pay. TheGovernor’s plan abandons that principle and says thateveryone should pay, whether they are using theroads or not, even when you walk to the store andbuy a loaf of bread.

THE ALTERNATIVE VEHICLEFEE is also troublesome. Hybridsand electric cars pay less in gastaxes because they use gas moreefficiently, but there are only91,000 on the road out of sevenmillion vehicles in Virginia or 1.3percent of all cars. AverageAmerican vehicle fuel efficiencyis 23.8 MPG. If a hybrid driver

gets 40 MPG and drives 15,000 miles, that driversaves about 255 gallons of gas or $44.66 of gas taxesper year (and about $867 per year in gas costs bythe way). The Governor wants these drivers to paythat and another $55 on top of that. That’s not fairand creates reverse incentives. People should not bepunished for conserving energy and polluting less.

Also, many Virginians purchased diesel passengercars because of the cars’ fuel efficiency. The 2012Volkswagen Beetle, Golf and Passatt get 40-42 MPGon the highway. Not only will these drivers pay morewith sales taxes, they will also pay the same gas taxesthey do today simply because they purchased fuel-efficient vehicles.

There is no question that gas tax revenues are adeclining source of revenue, but they also work.Thirty percent of gas taxes are paid by non-Virgin-ians. People passing through Virginia should also payfor the cost of our roads, as we do when traveling inother states.

Again, I welcome the Governor’s proposal and Ilook forward to working with him on better solu-tions to fix this problem once and for all. Let’s avoidgimmicks.

During the week or so that my constituent surveyhas been online at www.scottsurovell.org/survey,about 100 people have responded. I hope to get more.

The initial results are interesting. Transportationhas passed the economy as the #1 issue. For U.S. 1,64 percent of 44th District residents support a Yel-low Line Metro extension to Lorton over light rail(12 percent) or more buses (9 percent). Here aresome other interesting results: 74 percent supportpaying more for renewable energy, 80 percent sup-port no-excuse absentee voting for seniors, 55 per-cent support raising the gas tax and 49 percent sup-port raising the sales tax for transportation. The topchoice for improving schools is lower class sizes (30percent) and 74 percent oppose the $25 million taxcredit for private schools passed last year.

If you have any comments or suggestions, pleaseemail me at [email protected] and be sure tocomplete my online survey at www.scottsurovell.org/survey. It is an honor to serve as your state delegate.

Transportation Debate Begins

Commentary

Army National Guard Pvt.Werner Van Der Heyde has gradu-ated from Basic Combat Training at FortSill, Lawton, Okla. Van Der Heyde is theson of Leroy and Maria Van Der Heydeof Reading Ave., Alexandria.

Air Force Airman Jean-PearceE. Jenkins graduated from basic mili-tary training at Lackland Air Force Base,San Antonio, Texas. He is the son ofThomas Jenkins of Alexandria, andLeslie Lefeat of Clarksville, Tenn.Jenkins graduated in 2010 from WestPotomac High School, Alexandria.

Coast Guard Seaman Mitchell S.Piontek, a 2010 graduate of WestPotomac High School, Alexandria, re-cently graduated from the U.S. Coast

Guard Recruit Training Center in CapeMay, N.J.

Army Pvt. Keith A. Muschek hasgraduated from Basic Combat Trainingat Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla. Muschek isthe son of Jill and stepson of Nick Chitof Alexandria.

Navy Seaman Apprentice DavidR. Ratcliff, son of Pilar M. and RalphO. Ratcliff of Alexandria, was recentlypromoted to his current rank upongraduation from recruit training at Re-cruit Training Command, Great Lakes,Ill. Ratcliff is a 2010 graduate of WestPotomac High School of Alexandria.

Navy Seaman Victor Kpeyibor,son of Rose A. Adukpo and John Y.

Kpeyibor, both of Alexandria, recentlycompleted U.S. Navy basic training atRecruit Training Command, GreatLakes, Ill.

Army Reserve Pfc. Cole S.Warner has graduated from basic in-fantry training at Fort Benning,Columbus, Ga. He is the son of RogerWarner of Cokeville, Wyo., and TamaraStolpe of Alexandria. Warner graduatedin 2007 from Cokeville High School.

Air Force Airman Jessica Brad-ley graduated from basic militarytraining at Lackland Air Force Base, SanAntonio, Texas. She is the niece of Jen-nifer Bradley-Farmer of Alexandria, andJacque Bradley-Washington of RoundRock, Texas.

Military Notes


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Helen D. AndersonHelen D. Anderson died Jan. 9, 2013. She was the

beloved mother of Earl and Thomas Anderson andgrandmother to Dennis, Brenda, Nancy and Toni. Avisitation was held on Monday, Jan. 14, at CameronUnited Methodist Church, 3130 Franconia Road, Al-exandria, where funeral services took place. Inter-ment followed at Mount Comfort Cemetery.

Hilary Carr Hilary Carr, 62, of Alexandria, died on Thursday,

Jan. 3, 2013. She was the sister of Malcolm Carr ofVentura, Calif.

A Memorial Service will be held on Monday, Jan.28, at 11 a.m. at Westminster Presbyterian Church,2701 Cameron Mills Road, Alexandria. Memorialsmay be made to Wounded Warriors or the local SPCA.A guest register may be found atwww.everlyfuneralhomes.com.

Edward Arthur DaggitLt. Col. Edward Arthur Daggit

Ph.D., USA Ret., age 80, ofHarrisonburg, Va., died on FridayJan. 11, 2013.

He is survived by wife, Darla L.Daggit (nee Cullen); son, AndrewA. Daggit of Star Tannery, Va.;grandsons, Bryant T. Daggit ofWinchester, Va. and Jonathan A.Taylor of Davenport, Iowa; his sis-ter, Elizabeth M. Haynes of Springfield, Va., onenephew; three nieces; and nine grandnephews andgrandnieces.

Edward was born in New Orleans, La., on June15, 1932 and subsequently lived in the DC Metro-politan area. He attended local schools, mainly inAlexandria, through 10th grade. He graduated highschool at Staunton Military Academy, Staunton, Va.,and college at USMA, West Point, NY, in 1953 with abachelor’s degree and a commission in the Infantry.Later he received degrees at Rensalaer PolytechnicInstitute, Troy, N.Y. (Masters in Mathematics, 1959)and New York University (Ph.D. in Mathematics,1968).

During his 22 years of service in the Army, he hadoverseas assignments in Sendai and Kokura in Ja-pan, Seoul, Korea, Heidelberg, Germany, and Dalat,Vietnam, where he was advisor to the dean of theVietnamese Military Academy. Twice he was assignedto the Math Department at USMA where he gainedsix years of teaching experience.

After retiring in 1975, he filled in for a professoron a year’s sabbatical at Clinch Valley College, Wise,Va. and subsequently taught 20 years at Grove CityCollege, Grove City, Penn. During a leave of absencein 1992-1993, he and Darla visited over 100 ROTCunits on behalf of the Officer’s Christian Fellowship.Since January 2008, he has resided in a Health Carefacility in the Sunnyside Retirement Community inHarrisonburg, Va.

Interment will be at Arlington National Cemeteryat a later date.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Research forCA, Heart Association, Alzheimers Association, a

church, or other Christian works such as SunnysideRetirement Community or The Officer’s ChristianFellowship. Visit www.kygers.com.

Muriel S. RectorMuriel S. Rector, 90, formerly of

Alexandria, died on Dec. 19, 2012,in Kilmarnock, Va. Born Oct. 17,1922, in Cincinnati, Ohio, she ispredeceased by her parents, JessieAllen Schmick and Walter PaulSchmick, four brothers, Walter,Allen, Philip, and Paul Schmickand one sister, Angela SchmickRuttle.

Muriel graduated from the University of Cincin-nati in 1944 where she was a member of Kappa KappaGamma sorority, and later received a master’s de-gree in elementary education from Case WesternReserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She movedwith her husband, George B. Rector, to Lakewood,Ohio, in 1953, and taught at Lincoln ElementarySchool there for many years. Each summer Murieltraveled extensively throughout Europe, the MiddleEast, and Russia, and studied in England and Italy.In 1984 she retired to Alexandria, where she volun-teered at the Carpenter’s Shelter and worked atCrown Bookstore in the Bradlee Shopping Center.She was a member of Mount Vernon PresbyterianChurch in Alexandria. Her other interests were knit-ting, studying the Civil War, and cooking for friends,family and neighbors.

Survivors include two sons, Cleland M. Rector ofWheaton, Ill., and Dr. James B. Rector of BoulderColo., a daughter, Joy Rector Gwaltney of WhiteStone, Va., and five grandchildren, Darren Rector,Carey Rector, Jessica Rector, Ellen Gwaltney Johnsonand William Blair Gwaltney.

A private graveside service will take place on May4, 2013, at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati,Ohio.

Willard F. TownsendLt. Col. Willard F. Townsend (USAF-Ret.), age 79,

of Pike Road, Ala. died on July 31,2012.

Willard resided in the Mt.Vernon-area of Alexandria from1972 to 1985 and during that timeforged many close friendships thathe maintained long after he movedto Montgomery, Ala. in 1985.

Willard’s long service in the AirForce brought him to the area with assignments atthe Pentagon and Ft. Meade, Md. Willard is prede-ceased by his first wife, Barbara Ann, and is survivedby his wife, Diane Underwood Townsend; four chil-dren, Richard Townsend of Harrisburg, Penn., JamesTownsend of Alpharetta, Ga., Jamie Underwood ofLake Park, Ga., Tara Martin Marquis of Montgomery,Ala., as well as seven grandchildren. A Full HonorsMilitary Funeral ceremony will be held at ArlingtonMemorial Cemetery at 3 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 25,2013. A reception will follow at Ireland’s Four Courtsrestaurant in Arlington.

Obituaries

Email announcements to [email protected].

Tae Kim was recently initiated intoPhi Kappa Phi. Kim is studying medicineat Pennsylvania State University.

George Forrest Allen, a graduateof West Potomac High School and theson of George and Susan Allen, wasnamed to the dean’s list at Hampden-

Sydney College.

Gregory Scott Casey Jr., a gradu-ate of Gonzaga College High School andthe son of Mr. and Mrs. Gregory S. CaseySr., was named to the dean’s list atHampden-Sydney College.

Colin Chadduck has been named tothe Emory & Henry College’s dean’s listfor the fall semester.

Megan Elizabeth Epperson, ma-joring in biological sciences; ShannonKay Frydenlund, majoring in elemen-tary education; Amanda MichelleSmith, majoring in philosophy (law,liberty and justice); Melissa Chris-tine Beaty , majoring in politicalscience; and Emily Anne Smoot,majoring in pre-business, have beennamed to the dean’s list at ClemsonUniversity for the fall semester.

School Notes


ACCT

ALDERSGATE CHURCH COMMUNITY THEATER Presents

Presents

Aldersgate Church Community Theater1301 Collingwood Rd., Alexandria, VA 22308

$10 for children, students, seniors • $12 for adults

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For more information/tickets: 703-660-2611 or visit acctonline.org

Directed byMichael Page and Corey Latta

Co-Produced byShelagh Roberts, Kathy Havranek,Michelle Lawrence

Directed byMichael Page and Corey Latta

Co-Produced byShelagh Roberts, Kathy Havranek,Michelle Lawrence

January 18, 19, 25, 26 at 7:30pmJanuary 20, 21, 26, 27 at 2:00pmJanuary 18, 19, 25, 26 at 7:30pmJanuary 20, 21, 26, 27 at 2:00pm

(presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI)

Opinion

By Linda T. “Toddy” Puller

State Senator (D-36)

The Virginia General Assembly convened inRichmond last Wednesday. So far one of themajor issues is whether or not to lift the

moratorium on mining uranium. The bill before usis one that would go forward to set up regulationsshould the ban be lifted. Many people have contacted

me regarding this issue sharingstudies and concerns pro and con.

Another issue gaining a lot ofattention is Governor Robert

McDonnell’s reappointment of Helen Dragas to theUniversity of Virginia Board of Visitors. Her reap-pointment must be confirmed by the General Assem-bly. After meeting with Ms. Dragas and consideringthe damage that has been done to our stellar, flag-ship public university, I have decided that I cannotvote for her confirmation and have informed Ms.Dragas of my decision.

I have introduced several bills to assist veteranswith unemployment and to aid people with healthcare coverage. These include:

SB 829 would amend the Code of Virginia to en-act a comprehensive program to reduce unemploy-ment among veterans by assisting businesses to at-tract, hire, and retain veterans.

SB 831 would provide a tax credit for hiring veter-ans. SB 730 would provide an exemption for non-profit veteran’s organizations to qualify for sales anduse tax exemption.

In the area of health care in-surance, SB 947 would prohibita health insurer from makingmodifications to prescriptiondrug coverage to increase theprice of the drug or removing oraltering the quantity allowedwithout 60 days prior notifica-tion. These kinds of changes canimpact insured patients withoutgiving them time to try to make

different arrangements or find alternative coverage.Therefore, I believe this legislation is needed.

SB 945 would require health plans to allow “cer-tain covered persons to pay their cost-sharing obli-gations under their health benefits plan in 12 equalmonthly installments.” This could be very helpful topeople suffering from chronic illnesses such as mul-tiple sclerosis that require excessively expensivemedications. The Joint Commission on Health Carethat I chair strongly supports this bill.

Two town hall meetings are planned: in Lee Dis-trict, Saturday, Jan. 19, 10 a.m. at the ThompsonCenter, 6090 Kingstowne Village Parkway,Kingstowne, and in Mount Vernon District, Satur-day, Feb. 16, 9:30 a.m., Mount Vernon GovernmentCenter, 2511 Parkers Lane, Alexandria.

Please continue to let me hear from you on issuesof concern. Email me at:[email protected]; phone: 1-804-698-7536; and mailing address: Senate of Virginia, P.O.Box 396, Richmond, Virginia 23218.

General Assembly Gets Underway

Commentary

Club members VictorFuentes, Geoff Gallante,Freddy Fuentes, MicheleSt. John and MargaretSt. John preparedburgers, sweet potatofries and apple pie forSeniors at the HollinHall Senior Center inDecember.

Intergenerational Meal-Gathering

Noticed somethingsprouting at theHollin Hall Senior

Center? Youth from the MountVernon 4H Awesome Adventur-ers Community Club havejoined with seniors from theHollin Hall Senior Center on anintergenerational gardeningproject.In August, the 4H Club wasawarded a Youth Jumpstartgrant from Generations Unitedand The MetLife Foundationdesigned to promoteintergenerational solutions tosocietal challenges and buildstronger communities, with a2012 focus on hunger and nu-trition.Building on their previous gar-dening project, the grant hasenabled the 4Hers and seniorsto build additional raised gar-den beds at the Hollin Hall Senior Center. Usingthe vegetables that will be harvested, they willprepare and enjoy meals together.

For more information about 4H in FairfaxCounty, visit http://offices.ext.vt.edu/fairfax/pro-grams/4h/

The Mount Vernon 4H Awesome AdventurersCommunity Club is open to youth ages 9-18.

In addition to the gardening project, youth par-ticipate in technology workshops in collaboration

with the Microsoft Store at Pentagon City, pro-vide community service and work together toidentify additional activities they would like toorganize and participate in.

For more information, email [email protected].

Seniors who would like to join in theintergenerational gardening project can inquireat the Hollin Hall Senior Center or email us [email protected]

Vice President Sophia Gullassists Ed Raduazo inassembling a garden bed.

12 ❖ Mount Vernon Gazette ❖ January 17-23, 2013 Mount Vernon Gazette ❖ January 17-23, 2013 ❖ 13www.ConnectionNewspapers.com www.ConnectionNewspapers.com


News

By Michael K. Bohn

The Gazette

The Plymouth Haven neighborhood is welcoming another newmodular home, the third in thelast five years. Last week, Ply-

mouth Haven native, Jim Harvey, and hiswife Colleen, watched a crane operator liftthe modules of their new home into place.Jim Harvey had mixed feelings as the newhouse replaced the one he grew up in withsix brothers.

“As we started to think about a replace-ment house,” Harvey said, “one of my broth-ers steered me toward modular homes. Hesaid that we would be able to move in morequickly. And once we began digging into the

details, we were impressed with the qual-ity of construction.”

HandCrafted Homes of Henderson, N.C.fabricated the modules and trucked themto the site. Harvey hired a general contrac-tor to prepare the site, pour the foundation,which he accomplished in December, andhandle the loose ends after the modules areassembled. The fabricator installed all of themodules and made the house waterproofin two days. The Harveys expect to movein during March.

Another family on Alden built a modularhome two years go, and a third homeownercommissioned one on Fort Hunt Road acrossfrom the park five years ago. A fourth re-cent modular construction is on the cornerof Cedar Dale Lane and Collingwood Road.

All are substantial homes, with all of thefeatures of traditionally-built houses, andshould not be confused with a “manufac-tured” home — cousin Eddie’s trailer house.

Modular home sales increased 33 percentnationwide during the period 1992-2005,according to U.S. Census data, rising from33,000 units annually to 44,000. However,the popping of the housing bubble in thelate 2000s hit the industry just as hard asthe site-built sector.

By 2011, national modular sales hadfallen to 10,000 homes.

Homebuyers can get a better deal withmodular homes, according to KevinFlaherty, a spokesman for modular housematters at the National Association of HomeBuilders (NHAB). “When homeowners

choose modular construction, they experi-ence measurable savings in cost and time.”

The NAHB reports that the national av-erage time from start to completion for amodular home is five months, compared tonearly seven months for a site-built home.That reduced period translates to labor costsavings.

Further, the national average “permitvalue” of a modular home was $77 persquare foot, as of February 2012, versus$94/SF for site-built. (Permit value is thefigure that reflects the specifications in thebuilding permit. Since many owners alreadyown the lot, permit value excludes landcosts.)

Flaherty said that modular sales were up11 percent for the first nine months of 2012.

Colleen and Jim Harvey amid the bustle of the installation of their new Plymouth Havenhome.

A crane lifts a second-story module into placeless than an hour after the crew set the lastground floor section.

A New Home in Five Easy Pieces Trend grows formodular homes.

One of the Harveys’ neighbors built a modular home two years ago.Just a block from the Harveys’ new home is a large modular construc-tion with views of Fort Hunt Park.

Pho

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s by M

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Starter: ALOO TIKKIPotato patties stuffed withflavorful spiced cheese and peas.Served with tamarind chutney,cilantro chutney and yogurt.For Main Courses:BOTI KEBAB MASALABoneless pieces of lamb firstcharbroiled in the charcoal clayoven tandoor and then cooked inchef’s special exotic curry sauce.

Served with hot baked Naanbread and Basmati rice.HARIYALI TIKKABoneless pieces of chickenbreasts marinated overnight inHariyali sauce (fresh cilantro,baby spinach, yogurt andflavorful spices) and roasted toorder in the charcoal clay oventandoor Served with vegetables(potato and green beans), Naanbread, and Basmati rice.

Januar

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From Page 6

Bulletin Board

TUESDAY/FEB. 19Genealogical Society Meeting. 1 p.m. at Hollin Hall

Senior Center, 1500 Shenandoah Road. Hear a presentationon “Our Ancestors Did Not Live Alone,” which talks aboutexploring the family of neighbors and other acquaintancesto learn more about the ancestors. Visitwww.mvgenealogy.org or 703-866-2478.

THURSDAY/FEB. 21Meeting. Colonial Republican Women will meet from 6:30-9

p.m. at Virginia Hills Administration Center at Old VirginiaHills School, 6520 Diana Lane. Refreshments will beserved. E-mail [email protected] or callDebbie at 703-768-1934.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDFairfax County needs a Meals on Wheels coordinator for

the Mount Vernon area. Contact Fairfax County’s VolunteerSolutions at 703-324-5406, TTY 703-449-1186,[email protected], or visit VolunteerSolutions at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dfs/olderadultservicesand click on volunteers.

AARP Tax-Aide, a national volunteer-run tax counseling andpreparation service for low to moderate income and elderlycitizens, needs volunteers to electronically complete andfile federal and state income tax forms for the 2013 taxseason.The program offers free five-day training using IRScomputers and software. Volunteers become IRS CertifiedTax Counselors after completing and passing the IRSexamination. Training sessions will be held in Annandale,Centerville and Alexandria in Jan. 2013. Visitwww.aarp.org/taxaide.

ONGOINGAlzheimer’s Association support groups provide a place

for people with Alzheimer’s, their caregivers, familymembers, and/or friends to share valuable information,caregiving tips and concerns throughout the Alzheimer’sjourney. Groups are facilitated by trained group leaders andare ongoing, free and open to the community. There is ameeting on the second Thursday of the month at 7:30 p.m.at Good Shepherd Catholic Church, 8710 Mount VernonHighway. Call the Alzheimer’s Association 24/7 Helpline at703-359-4440 or 800-272-3900 before attending a groupfor the first time to verify meeting information, obtaindirections or other information about the group. Acomplete list of all groups in the National Capital Arearegion can be viewed at www.alz.org/nca.

Postpartum Support Virginia sponsors a free, bi-monthlysupport group for women suffering depression and/oranxiety during pregnancy or in the first year followingchildbirth. Meets on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of eachmonth at Inova Alexandria Hospital, Health EducationCenter, rooms 1-2, 4320 Seminary Road. Contact co-moderator Susan Doyle at [email protected] or 571-403-0673.

The Boy Scout Troop 1906 is seeking members. They meetevery Saturday morning at 9 a.m. at Bethlehem BaptistChurch Parsonage, 7836 Fordson Road. Visitwww.boyscouts-ncac.org/colonial for more.

UCM’s Back Porch Thrift Store is in need of donations offurniture. UCM will pick up furniture, as well as otherlarger donations, or they can be dropped off at the back ofthe store Monday through Saturday, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.To arrange for pick-ups, call 703-768-7106, ext. 320.Located at the Mt. Vernon Crossroads Shopping Center at7838 Richmond Hwy.

Training Courses. The American Red Cross in the NationalCapital Region will host training courses in CPR, First Aid,and AED in the Alexandria and Fort Belvoir offices. Theseclasses offer a two-year certification. Classes range from$70-$110 and are available Tuesdays, Wednesdays,Thursdays, or Saturdays. Advance registration is required.To register for a class or find another class in your area, call1-800-RED-CROSS or visit redcross.org/takeaclass.

Dance for Parkinson’s Disease. Thursdays, 1:30-2:30p.m. At Heritage Presbyterian Church, 8503 Fort Hunt Rd.Those with Parkinson’s and caregivers are welcome. Nodance experience necessary.

The Gazette welcomes views on any public issue.The deadline for all material is noon Friday. Letters

must be signed. Include home address and home andbusiness numbers. Letters are routinely edited for

libel, grammar, good taste and factual errors. Sendto:

Letters to the EditorThe Gazette

1606 King St.Alexandria VA 22314Call: 703-917-6444.

[email protected]

Write


Dine at Presidential Hotspots

By Amber Healy

The Gazette

It’s only the beginning of January, butthe Steep Canyon Rangers have theirwhole year booked.The Grammy-nominated quintet from

North Carolina are about to kick off not onlya tour of clubs, but also the four-day Moun-tain Song at Sea cruise in Miami in Febru-ary before heading into the studio to recorda new album, followed by another roundof tour dates.

And on Jan. 25, they’ll make their thirdstop at the Birchmere, a venue lead singerWoody Platt called a “legendary” place, es-pecially in the world of bluegrass music.

“People have come up to us after showsand said I don’t like bluegrass, but I loveyour band,” he said. “We’re not a typicalbluegrass band. We dance around a lot, wesing, we have a really good time.”

Bluegrass music “has a lot of layers” anddifferent styles, from those deemed “classi-cal” bluegrass to the more contemporarybluegrass/roots music made popular — andunexpectedly, Platt said — by groups likeMumford and Sons and the Avett Brothersin recent years.

Platt, the lead singer and guitarist, isjoined in the band by banjo player GrahamSharp, mandolin player Mike Guggino, fid-dler Nicky Sanders and upright bassist

E-mail announcements to [email protected]. Photos andartwork are encouraged. Deadline isThursday at noon.

ONGOINGHomeschool Studio Class.

Beginning in February at Art at theCenter, 2804 Sherwood Hall Lane.Children ages 6-10 can participate.Register at www.artatthecenter.orgor 703-201-1250.

Tavern Toddlers. Mondays, 10:30a.m.-noon. Mondays through the endof April. Designed for walkersthrough 36 months and theircaregivers. Tavern Toddlers featuresa weekly open playtime in Gadsby’shistoric ballroom. Gadsby’s TavernMuseum is located at 134 NorthRoyal St. Call 703-746-4242 or visitwww.gadsbystavern.org.

THURSDAY/JAN. 17Creative Writing Session. 1 p.m. at

Hollin Hall Senior Center, 1500Shenandoah Road. Get the creativejuices flowing with the help ofCamilla Clocker and Julie Ellis. Free,open to the public. 703-765-4573.

Blockbuster Thursday. 6:30 p.m. atCharles Beatley Library, 5005 DukeSt. Call for title. Free. 703-746-1702.

English as a Second LanguageClass. 10 a.m. at Charles BeatleyLibrary, 5005 Duke St. All levels See Calendar, Page 18

Charles Humphrey III. The band started ona lark, as the musicians met while in col-lege at Chapel Hill in North Carolina andbegan playing together “as a pure hobby,”just for fun. As the time came for gradua-tion, the band had developed “some mo-mentum” and decided to make a go of it inthe world of music.

“We’re very lucky,” Platt said. “A lot ofbands come together because of their mu-sical talent, but we were friends who hap-pened to like playing together.”

THE BAND’S BEEN SUCCESSFUL, too,earning their first Grammy nod for their lastalbum, “Nobody Knows You.” There hasbeen one other Grammy nomination, butthat was for an album the band recordedwith their friend and part-year banjoist,Steve Martin. Yes, that Steve Martin, of Sat-urday Night Live and movie fame.

It turns out that Martin’s wife was a friendof the band before she met him, Platt said.Martin’s played banjo for more than 50years, and when the band was invited to adinner party while the Martins were on va-cation in western North Carolina, an im-promptu jam session turned into a musicalrelationship. Most recently, Martin joinedthe Steep Canyon Rangers on Late Nightwith David Letterman, The View and a con-cert on the Mall last summer.

“We couldn’t have planned it any better,”

Platt laughed. “We’re thrilled at how itturned out.”

Martin won’t be joining the Rangers atThe Birchmere, but Platt said the partner-ship has helped bring people to gigs. He alsocredits the Internet withhelping the band spreadtheir music, as the digitaltechnology for sharingmusic with thousands ofpeople with a few clicks ofa computer wasn’t around,or as legal, when the band

started out more than a decade ago.He also encourages people who’ve seen

the Rangers perform before to come to theshow later this month, as they’ll be tryingout new material from the upcoming record.

“We’re really happy witheverything right now,” Plattsaid. “We’re booked for therest of the year. Festivalsstart booking early, andwe’ve got the cruise, whichwe host. There’s a lot goingon.”

Patrick’s Day1988. The res-t a u r a n tfeatures pho-tos of Reagan,the originaltable where hedined and abust of thepresident.

L a u r aBush: Jack-son 20 – LauraBush dinedhere duringher husband’sp r e s i d e n c y .This tavernwas named forPresident An-drew Jacksonand his visageon the $20bill.

G e o r g eWashington

and Early Presidents: Gadsby’s Tavern Restaurant – Fa-vorite of George Washington and hosted all of the first fiveU.S. presidents. Restaurant Week menu includes an applewood-smoked pork chop, seared chicken with nutmeg andsage cream, and a honey cake with cinnamon glaze.

Mount Vernon Inn Restaurant – Adjacent to GeorgeWashington’s Mount Vernon Estate.

Restaurant Week also features hot eateries beloved byfoodie magazines, like Virtue Feed & Grain, named a Top 50Best New Restaurant by Bon Appetit, and Cheesetique, hon-ored on Food & Wine’s ‘Best Mac N Cheese’ list.

View menus, book your table, and discover presidentialconnections at www.VisitAlexandriaVA.com.

welcome. Free. 703-746-1702.Great Books Discussion. 7 p.m. at

Charles Beatley Library, 5005 DukeSt. Call for title. Free. 703-746-1702.

Story Time. 10:30 a.m. or 3 p.m. atCharles Beatley Library, 5005 DukeSt. Children ages 3-5 years. Free.Registration required. 703-746-1702ext. 5.

Paws to Read. 5:30 p.m. at CharlesBeatley Library, 5005 Duke St. Signup to read to a dog. For children ingrades 1 to 6. Registration required.703-746-1702 ext. 5.

Mother Goose Time. 10 a.m. atJames Duncan Library, 2501Commonwealth Ave. One-year-oldscan sing, enjoy fingerplays andbounces. Free. 703-746-1705.

Story Time. 11 a.m. at James DuncanLibrary, 2501 Commonwealth Ave.Children ages 3-5 can enjoy stories,play time and a craft. Free. 703-746-1705.

Classic Film Series. 5 p.m. at EllenCoolidge Burke Library, 4701Seminary Road. Watch a “Farewell toArms.” Free. 703-746-1704.

Pajama Party. 7 p.m. at EllenCoolidge Burke Library, 4701Seminary Road. Pajamas optional,but children ages 3-6 can enjoystories, songs, games and crafts. Free.703-746-1704.

Story Time. 4 p.m. at Kate BarrettLibrary, 717 Queen St. Children ages3 and up can enjoy stories, songs,

Entertainment

Birchmere Hosts Steep Canyon Rangers

DetailsTickets are still available for the

Steep Canyon Rangers’ upcomingshow at The Birchmere and can bepurchased at the club’s website,www.birchmere.com.

Band returns to The Birchmere at the start ofa busy year of bluegrass.

Steep Canyon Rangers will be performing at The Birchmere in Alexan-dria on Friday, Jan. 25. Clockwise from left: Charles Humphrey III,Graham Sharp, Mike Guggino, Woody Platt and Nicky Sanders.

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Alexandria celebrates the inauguration with a specialedition of Restaurant Week. Kicking off inaugural week-end and lasting for 10 days, Jan. 18-27, Alexandria’spresidential hotspots and more than 50 eateries are offer-ing $35 three-course dinners or $35 dinners for two. Withfine dining plus acclaimed neighborhood favorites, patronscan see why President Obama and the First Family havefrequented Alexandria eateries. Diners can treat their earsand their taste buds at piano bar shows by the White Housepianist who performed for every president from Nixonthrough Clinton, and go back in time and dine at GeorgeWashington’s favorite tavern, which has hosted all of thecountry’s first five presidents.

Alexandria’s presidential culinary connections include:Barack Obama and the First Family: Several of the

Obama’s Alexandria eateries are participating in Restau-rant Week.

Del Ray Pizzeria – Featuring presidential pies enjoyedby President Barack Obama.

The Majestic – Chef Shannon Overmiller presents selec-tions from the First Family’s menu for Michelle’s mother’sbirthday, including a classic Caesar salad, fried oysters,fried green tomatoes, and the Majestic’s signaturemeatloaf.

Union Street Public House – Sample trout and gumbo at thiseatery visited by Michelle and Malia Obama.

White House Pianist for Nixon through Clinton:The Grille at Morrison House – Piano bar features Bob Smith,the White House pianist who performed for every presidentfrom Nixon through Clinton. Performances Tuesdays, Fridaysand Saturdays. Throughout the week, Chef Brian McPhersonpresents fresh seasonal selections including a pumpkin soupwith duck confit and an olive oil poached Scottish salmon.

Ronald Reagan: Ireland’s Own (formerly Pat Troy’sIreland’s Own) – Surprise visit by Ronald Reagan on St.

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Del Ray Pizzeria


The Best in Family Dining

An Alexandria community fixture for more than100 years, the Royal Restaurant offers the bestin Greek, Italian and American cuisine. Enjoyburgers, steaks, prime rib, chicken, seafood,pasta and full salad bar complete with specialchildren’s menu items.

Foodfit for a king

on a family budget

734 North Saint Asaph Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314703-548-1616 • www.theroyalrestaurant.com

Award-winning wine menu • Major credit cards accepted

By Jeanne Theismann

The Gazette

The year is 1992 and unemployment is highin Buffalo, N.Y., where former millworkerJerry Lukowski hatches a plan to earn some

quick cash by producing a Chippendale’s-style stripshow in “The Full Monty,” now playing at The LittleTheatre of Alexandria.

The cleverly written and composed musical com-edy by Terrence McNally and David Yazbek is directedby Frank D. Shutts II, who has cast wisely and wellfor the LTA production of the 2001 Drama Desk Awardwinner for Best Musical.

“This is not about T&A,” Shutts said following theJan. 12 opening night production. “It’s a love storyabout six guys that you want to root for.”

With an energetic and appealing cast, the heart-warming story of six unemployed men who form anexotic dance troupe for a one-night only, no-holdsbarred strip show is buoyant and bawdy while keep-ing the same poignancy that madethe original 1997 film such a suc-cess.

“Never in a million years did Ithink I would be taking my clothesoff in front of 200 people,” saidChristopher Harris, who plays un-employed Dave Bukatinsky. “Butthis is such a heartwarming storyand the audience is always cheer-ing us on. It’s really been such anamazing adventure.”

In the pivotal role of Jerry isJames Hotsko, with Michael Gale,Malcolm Lee, Keith Miller, JackStein and Harris rounding out the“Hot Metal Boys,” as they havecome to call themselves. Collec-tively, they form a formidableteam with the young but versatileColin Cech as Jerry’s son Nathan.

Jennifer Strand rocks the role

Little Theatre debuts“The Full Monty.”

The Bare Necessities

Entertainment

of the droll, D-list piano pro Jeannette, who joinsthe act and draws blood as well as laughs with herrazor sharp assessments of her amateur colleagues.

Other notable performances are turned in by AmyConley as Pam Lukowski, Cara Giambrone as GeorgieBukatinsky and Annie Ermlick as the hot-bloodedVicki Nichols.

The commanding score is under the capable batonof Christopher A. Tomasino with particular kudos tothe horn-driven charts. Highlights include “Big BlackMan,” delivered with panache by Lee, “You Rule MyWorld” with Harris and Stein, and the tender “YouWalk with Me” with Miller and Gale. As expected,the finale of “Let It Go” brings the audience to itsfeet.

(Spoiler alert: The playful choreography by IvanDavila does include limited male nudity.)

The final moment before the lights dim is not hardto guess — a theatrical triumph for the stellar actorsand the entire cast and crew of The Little Theatre ofAlexandria. Without a doubt, you have to see it tobelieve it.

“The Full Monty” is playing now through Feb. 2 atThe Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe St. Fortickets or more information, call 703-683-0496 or visitwww.thelittletheatre.com.

The “Hot Metal Boys” — Malcolm Lee (Noah), Keith Miller (Ethan), Michael Gale(Malcolm), Christopher Harris (Dave), James Hotsko (Jerry), and Jack Stein (Harold) —prepare for the no-holds barred finale of “The Full Monty.”

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Cast and production staff members celebrate openingnight of “The Full Monty” Jan. 12 at The Little Theatre ofAlexandria.

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Visit These Houses of WorshipJoin a Club, Make New Friends, or Expand Your Horizons…

To Advertise Your Faith Community, call Karen at 703-917-6468

Christ the SaviourAnglican Church

“To Love & Serve the Lord withGladness & Singleness of Heart”

www.christthesaviouranglican.org

703-953-2854

Location – Washington Mill E.S.9100 Cherrytree Drive

Worship Service – 10 a.m.Inter-generational Sunday School – after service

Good ShepherdCatholic Church

8710 Mount Vernon Highway, Alexandria VA, 22309Tel: 703-780-4055 Fax: 703-360-5385 www.gs-cc.org

Loving as Christ loves, serving as Christ serves

Saturday Evening5:00 pm; 6:30 pm (en Español)

Sunday7:30; 9:00; 10:30 am; 12:00 Noon

2:00 pm (en Español)

6:30 pm Mass (from Sept. 9until mid June)

Weekdays(Mass or CommunionService) 9:00 am (followed by Rosary)

Children’s Liturgy of the WordSundays (Sept.-July) during 9:00 amMass (English)

Sign Language InterpreterSunday at 9:00 am Mass

Mass Schedule

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movement and more, including a weeklycraft or short film. Free. 703-746-1703.

FRIDAY/JAN. 18Slam Alexandria. The Northern

Virginia Fine Arts Society announcesspoken word poetry events at theAthenaeum in Old Town. Admissionis free for all, but attendeesinterested in competing in the poetryslam can pay an entry fee of $10 fora chance to win a $100 cash prize.Featuring live music, scheduledartists, and an open mic, SLAMALEXANDRIA is hosted by Shelly Belland co-sponsored by the NVFAA andShelly B. Arts. The event starts at 7p.m. and is located at TheAthenaeum, 201 Prince St.

Music and Dance. 7:30-9:30 p.m. atHollin Hall Senior Center, 1500Shenandoah Road. Enjoy dancing tothe music of the Mount VernonSwing Band. $4/public. 703-765-4573.

Tech Zoo Fridays. Noon at EllenCoolidge Burke Library, 4701Seminary Road. Learn about e-reading devices or bring one alreadyowned. Free. 703-746-1704.

Theater Performance. 7:30 p.m. atAldersgate Church CommunityTheater, see Disney’s “LittleMermaid, Jr.” Visit acctonline.org or703-660-2611 for tickets andinformation.

Music Performance. 7:30 p.m. atBirchmere, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave.See Bottle Rockets perform withMarshall Crenshaw. $27.50/person.Visit birchmere.com for more.

Wee Ones Story Time. 10:30-11 a.m.at Hooray for Books, 1555 King St.Children up to age 2 can explore theworld with stories and songs. Free.

Visit www.hooray4books.com or 703-548-4092.

Presidential Beer Dinner. 7-9:30p.m. at Gadsby’s Tavern Museum,134 N. Royal St. In partnership withYards Brewery. Each course willhighlight a different president. $85/person. Reservations required. 703-746-4242.

JAN. 18 THROUGH JAN. 21George Washington Presidential

Scavenger Hunt. Children canexplore Mount Vernon Estate, 3200Mount Vernon Memorial Highway,for clues that will lead to a prize. The44th visitor through the gate will alsoreceive a gift. $17/adult; $8/child 6-11; children under 5 free. Visitwww.mountvernon.org.

SATURDAY/JAN. 19Garden Design: Session Two. 9:30-

11:30 a.m. at Green Spring Gardens,4603 Green Spring Road. $35. Learnhow to assess and improve growingconditions, discover great plants andcreate a sustainable garden. Registeronline at www.greenspring.org or703-642-5173. Code 290 182 3201.

SOUPer Saturday. 9 a.m.-noon atTorpedo Factory, 105 N. Union St.Select a handcrafted bowl donated bya local potter and get acomplimentary serving of soup.Bowls are $20 each, with proceedsbenefitting United CommunityMinistries.

Pine Wood Derby Workshop. 10a.m.-2 p.m. at Old Town AceHardware, 809 S. Washington St.Cub Scouts can bring their cars, withthe design traced onto the car, andhave them be rough cut. Sanders,sandpaper and tools will be availablefor additional work to be done on thecars. $1 voluntary donation per car

accepted. 703-879-0475.Saturday Stories. 11 a.m. at Charles

Beatley Library, 5005 Duke St. Allages can enjoy stories and songs.Free. 703-746-1702.

Theater Performance. 7:30 p.m. atAldersgate Church CommunityTheater, see Disney’s “LittleMermaid, Jr.” Visit acctonline.org or703-660-2611 for tickets andinformation.

Wee Ones Story Time. 10:30-11 a.m.at Hooray for Books, 1555 King St.Children up to age 2 can explore theworld with stories and songs. Free.Visit www.hooray4books.com or 703-548-4092.

Author Meeting. Local author MarfeDelano will launch her new book“Master George’s People,” based onresearch into George Washington andthe slaves who worked his estate,from 3:30-5 p.m. at Hooray forBooks, 1555 King St. Free. Visitwww.hooray4books.com or 703-548-4092.

Book Signing and Lecture. 1 p.m. atthe Lee-Fendell House, 614 OronocoSt. Honor the birthday of Light HorseHarry Lee with cake and champagneat the Lee-Fendall House, featuringhistorian/author Mike Cecere and“Wedded to My Sword: TheRevolutionary War Service of LightHorse Harry Lee.” $7 per person, andmay be purchased at the door or at703-548-1789.

Author Signing. 1-3 p.m. at LavenderMoon Cupcakery, 116 S. Royal St.Local author Kara Carter will signcopies of her book “Abby’s Quilt,”which is about her grandmother.Free.

SUNDAY/JAN. 20Music. Peter Mayer will perform with

Copper Ponies at 7 p.m. at Church ofthe Resurrection, 2280 N.

EntertainmentBeauregard St. $18/general; $15/advance. Tickets can be purchased atfocusmusic.org.

Annual Jury Information Session.2-3 p.m. in Studio 31 at the TorpedoFactory, 105 N. Union St. Visualartists who are interested in joiningthe Torpedo Factory Artists’Association can get moreinformation. Free. Visitwww.torpedofactory.org.

Family Tea. 3-4:30 p.m. at Gadsby’sTavern Restaurant, 138 N. Royal St.Children can bring their dolls andenjoy tea and period-inspireddelicacies with their parents and Mrs.Dolley Madison. $35/person.Reservations required. Visitwww.gadsbystavern.org or 703-746-4242.

Don’t Be a Drip: Using WaterWisely. 1:30-3 p.m. at Green SpringGardens, 4603 Green Spring Road.$10. Learn how to handle excesswater with rain gardens and more.Register online atwww.greenspring.org or 703-642-5173. Code: 290 182 1901.

Theater Performance. 2 p.m. atAldersgate Church CommunityTheater, see Disney’s “LittleMermaid, Jr.” Visit acctonline.org or703-660-2611 for tickets andinformation.

Choir Festival. 7 p.m. at BethlehemBaptist Church, 7836 Fordson Road.Enjoy the 18th annual Ventures inCommunity festival. Free-willoffering will be distributed amongseveral non-profit groups in the area.703-360-4170.

THROUGH JAN. 20Art Exhibit. See “Joys of the Season” at

Site 2 Gallery, Torpedo Factory ArtCenter, 105 N. Union St. See all-media exhibits by five TorpedoFactory artists. Free. Visitwww.torpedofactory.org or 703-838-4565.

MONDAY/JAN. 21Theater Performance. 2 p.m. at

Aldersgate Church CommunityTheater, see Disney’s “LittleMermaid, Jr.” Visit acctonline.org or703-660-2611 for tickets andinformation.

TUESDAY/JAN. 22Billy Cobham’s Spectrum Band

“40th Anniversary Tour.” $35.The Birchmere Music Hall is locatedat 3701 Mount Vernon Ave. Visitwww.birchmere.com or call 703-549-7500.

Time for 2s. 11 a.m. at Charles BeatleyLibrary, 5005 Duke St. For childrenages 24-36 months. Free.Registration required, 703-746-1702ext. 5.

Baby Rhyme Time. 11:30 a.m. atCharles Beatley Library, 5005 DukeSt. Children up to 11 months withadult. Free. Registration required,703-746-1702 ext. 5.

Game Night. 7 p.m. at Charles BeatleyLibrary, 5005 Duke St. Children ages8-12. Games change monthly. Free.703-746-1702.

Songs and Stories. 10 a.m. or 11 a.m.at James Duncan Library, 2501Commonwealth Ave. Children ages 1-4 can enjoy songs, fingerplays andstories. Free. 703-746-1705.

Paws to Read. 5:30 p.m. at JamesDuncan Library, 2501Commonwealth Ave. Sign up at thechildren’s desk or call 703-746-1783to reserve a 15-minute slot to read toa dog. For students in grades 1-6.

Tuesday Tots. 11 a.m. at EllenCoolidge Burke Library, 4701Seminary Road. Children ages 2-3can enjoy stories, songs, games andmaking crafts. Free. 703-746-1704.

Mother Goose Time. 10 a.m. at KateBarrett Library, 717 Queen St.Children ages 12-24 months canenjoy songs, games and interactivefun. Free. 703-746-1703.

Stories to Grow On. Children ages 2and up can enjoy stories, songs,movement and interactive fun at 11a.m. at Kate Barrett Library, 717Queen St. Free. 703-746-1703.

Concert. 7:30 p.m. at Ainslie ArtsCenter at Episcopal High School,3900 W. Braddock Road. Hear theNational Chamber Players. Free. Visitwww.episcopalhighschool.org formore.

WEDNESDAY/JAN. 23Author Series. 7-8:30 p.m. at Charles

Beatley Library, 5005 Duke St.William Burton McCormick willspeak about his novel “Lenin’sHarem,” a work of historical fictionset during the Russian revolution.Free. www.alexandria.lib.va.us or703-746-1702.

Time for 2s. 11 a.m. at Charles BeatleyLibrary, 5005 Duke St. For childrenages 24-36 months. Free.Registration required, 703-746-1702ext. 5.

Spanish Story Time. 1 p.m. atCharles Beatley Library, 5005 DukeSt. All levels welcome. Free. 703-746-1702.

Meeting. 7 p.m. at James DuncanLibrary, 2501 Commonwealth Ave.Learn about the Friends of DuncanLibrary. 703-746-1705.

Nature Program. 3:30 p.m. at JamesDuncan Library, 2501Commonwealth Ave. A Buddie FordNature Center naturalist will talk onvarious topics, often bringinganimals. For children in grades K-5.Free. 703-746-1705.

Mother Goose Time. 10 a.m. at KateBarrett Library, 717 Queen St.Children ages 12-24 months canenjoy songs, games and interactivefun. Free. 703-746-1703.

Stories to Grow On. Children ages 2and up can enjoy stories, songs,movement and interactive fun at 11a.m. at Kate Barrett Library, 717Queen St. Free. 703-746-1703.

THURSDAY/JAN. 24Art Focus Group. 7:30-9 p.m. Classes

are $25 each or $200 for the 10 classseries. A school or group of teacherscan share the registration for the fullseries. At 2804 Sherwood Hall Lane.Call 703-201-1250.

Blockbuster Thursday. 6:30 p.m. atCharles Beatley Library, 5005 DukeSt. Call for title. Free. 703-746-1702.

Story Time. 10:30 a.m. or 3 p.m. atCharles Beatley Library, 5005 DukeSt. Children ages 3-5 years. Free.Registration required. 703-746-1702ext. 5.

Fire Safety Story Time. 10:30 a.m. atCharles Beatley Library, 5005 DukeSt. Children ages 3-5 can learn aboutfire safety from a representative fromthe Alexandria Fire Department.Free. Registration required. 703-746-1702 ext. 5.

Mother Goose Time. 10 a.m. atJames Duncan Library, 2501Commonwealth Ave. One-year-oldscan sing, enjoy fingerplays andbounces. Free. 703-746-1705.

Story Time. 11 a.m. at James DuncanLibrary, 2501 Commonwealth Ave.Children ages 3-5 can enjoy stories,play time and a craft. Free. 703-746-1705.

Short Story Discussion. 7 p.m. atEllen Coolidge Burke Library, 4701Seminary Road. Discuss stories from“Other Voices, Other Vistas” editedby Barbara Solomon. Free. 703-746-1704.

Pajama Party. 7 p.m. at EllenCoolidge Burke Library, 4701Seminary Road. Pajamas optional,but children ages 3-6 can enjoystories, songs, games and crafts. Free.703-746-1704.

Story Time. 4 p.m. at Kate BarrettLibrary, 717 Queen St. Children ages3 and up can enjoy stories, songs,movement and more, including aweekly craft or short film. Free. 703-746-1703.


Zone 3 Ad Deadline:

Tuesday Noon

703-917-6400

Zone 3: • Alexandria

• Mount VernonClassifiedClassified

21 Announcements 21 Announcements 21 Announcements

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ABC LICENSEROSEMARINO D’ITALIA, LLC trading as ROSEMARINO D’ITALIA 1905 Mount Vernon Ave, Alexandria, VA 22301. The above establishment is applying to the VIRGINIA DE-PARTMENT OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL (ABC) for a Beer and wine on prem-ise license to sell or manufac-ture alcoholic beverages. Rosemeri Espinoza, OwnerNOTE: 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. Ob-jections should be registered at www.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.

26 Antiques

We pay top $ for antique furniture and mid-century

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and costume jewelry,paintings/art glass/clocks.

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Zone 3 Ad Deadline:

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• Mount VernonEmploymentEmployment

Accounting Clerk & Assistant

WOODLAWN AUTO CENTER 5634 MT VERNON MEM HWY 22309

703-780-4707 ask for Chris

Childcare WorkerWork in Nursery on Sunday mornings at

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HERE IS A JOB THAT IS FULFILLING IN MOREWAYS THAN ONE! We are looking for Companionsand CNA’s to help our clients remain independent intheir homes. Live ins needed. To learn about becoming aComfort Keeper visit us at www.BeAComfortKeeper.com

703-591-7117

WE ARE COMFORT KEEPER®

HOUSEKEEPER sought by Alexandria family daily from 9 to 1.

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Hourly rate. Call 202-639-6537.

LABORERMount Comfort Cemetery

Full time cemetery work

DL required

Heavy equipment operation a plus

Must be available to work weekends

Verbal and written communication a must

SATURDAY: INTERVIEWS ON SITE 1/12/2013 AND 1/19/2013

8:00 a.m to 1 p.m.First come, first served

[email protected]. Box 110, Mount Vernon, VA 22121 • Fax: 703-780-8320

Great Part-Time Job Opportunities!

Historic TradesLearn a trade and welcome guests to George Washington’s Distillery &Gristmill, the Pioneer Farm, and the Blacksmith Shop. Help tell the storyof Washington the entrepreneur. Call Steve Bashore, Manager of HistoricTrades, at 703-799-6805 or email [email protected].

Mansion Tour GuidesWelcome guests to the most visited historic home in America and giveengaging walking tours around the historic area. Call Jeremy Ray, Asst.Manager of History Interpretation, at 703-799-8629 or [email protected].

Education Center/Hands-on-HistoryHelp make history come to life for Mount Vernon’s youngest visitors inthe Education Center and Hands-on-History Center. Call Diana Cordray,Education Center Manager, at 703-799-8602 or [email protected].

Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association is an Equal Opportunity Employer

Preschool TeacherSeeking mature energetic creative person for full-time Lead Teacherposition at Alexandria Location Pre-school. Prior experience working in childcare. Bachelor’s Degree. Com-petitive Salary & Med Benefits. Earned leave & all Federal Holidays Off, Paid Annual Training, 401(K). Position avail immediately. Fax re-sume 703-765-6356 or Email re-sume: [email protected]. EOE

PT RN/LPNMWF 1/2 day in allergy office.

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Seeking experienced Property Manager and

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Saturday, February 2from 9:00-Noon

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or call Andrea @ 703-778-9411

ZONESZone 1: The Reston Connection The Oak Hill/

Herndon ConnectionZone 2: The Springfield Connection The Burke Connection The Fairfax Connection The Fairfax Station/Clifton/

Lorton ConnectionZone 3: The Alexandria

Gazette PacketThe Mount Vernon Gazette

Zone 4: Centre View North Centre View SouthZone 5: The Potomac AlmanacZone 6: The Arlington Connection

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HOW TO SUBMIT ADS TO

The futurecomes one day

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Zone 3 Ad Deadline:

Tuesday Noon

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• Mount Vernon

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SportsMount Vernon Gazette Sports Editor Jon Roetman

703-224-3015 or [email protected]

MV Girls’ BasketballRemains UndefeatedIn District Play

The Mount Vernon girls’ basketball teamsandwiched a one-point loss to a toughHighland Springs team between a pair oflopsided National District victories duringa five-day span.

After beating Stuart 87-15 on Jan. 11,Mount Vernon suffered its second loss ofthe season — a 64-63 defeat at the handsof Highland Springs, which improved to 13-1. Three days later, the Majors bounced backwith a 93-16 victory against Falls Church.

According to stats from the WashingtonPost’s website, Mount Vernonhad seven players score at leastseven points against Stuart.Kelly Loftus led the way with 16points. Tiffany Webster finishedwith 13 points, Chanel Shannon

scored 11, Erin Irving added 10, SamanthaPorter tallied nine, Taylor Dunham hadeight and Chanise Ray finished with seven.

Against Highland Springs, Loftus led theMajors with 16 points. Shannon scored 15points and Irving added 11.

Against Falls Church, Loftus scored agame-high 24 points. Webster finished with18 points, Irving totaled 13 and Porterscored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.Shannon scored 11 points and Dunhamadded 10.

Mount Vernon improved to 11-2 overalland 7-0 in the National District. The Ma-jors’ two losses were to teams outside ofthe Northern Region by a combined threepoints.

Mount Vernon will travel to face Wash-ington-Lee at 7:45 p.m. on Thursday, Jan.17.

Mount VernonBoys’ BasketballWins Fourth Straight

The Mount Vernon boys’ basketball teamdefeated Falls Church 62-34 on Jan. 14, giv-

ing the Majors four consecutive victoriesand six wins in their last seven games.

According to stats from the WashingtonPost’s Web site, Bryce Washington led theMajors with 15 points. Demarcus Edwardsscored nine points, Trevor Breaux addedeight and Shawny Lovitt finished withseven.

Mount Vernon improved to 8-6 overalland 4-3 in the National District. The Ma-jors will host Washington-Lee at 7:45 p.m.on Thursday, Jan. 17.

West PotomacBoys’ Basketball FallsTo Lake Braddock

The West Potomac boys’ basketball teamdropped into a three-way tie for secondplace in the Patriot District after losing toLake Braddock 46-43 on Jan. 15.

According to stats from the Washington

Post’s website, Brandon Pressley led WestPotomac with 17 points. Kwame Camon fin-ished with 11 points and DeMornayPierson-El added eight.

The Wolverines dropped to 8-6 overalland 5-2 in the Patriot District. WestPotomac is tied for second with LakeBraddock and T.C. Williams. Woodson leadsthe district with a 7-0 record.

West Potomac will travel to face T.C. Wil-liams at 7:45 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 18.

Freshman Erin Irving and the Mount Vernon girls’basketball team finished the first half of their Na-tional District schedule with a 7-0 record.

Javon Trice and the West Potomac boys’ basketballteam are in a three-way tie for second place in thePatriot District.

Sports

Briefs

Pho

to

s by Lo

uise K

rafft/T

he G

azette

‘To ReachThe Beach’

The West Potomac DanceTeam took over the floorat the boy’s varsity basket-

ball game against Lee during half-time last Friday evening, Jan. 11.The team was joined by dancersfrom area schools for the perfor-mance as part of the ongoingpreparations for the upcomingdance competition “Reach theBeach,” to be held in Ocean City,Md. at the end of February.

The varsity dance team held athree-day dance workshop to teacharea youth the dance that theyperformed at halftime of Friday’sMichaela Molina, Jordan Mc Cray, Jill Humphreys and

Meghan Mallon.

Paola Vasquez, Addison Laragy, Mary Grace Mc Peek,Kiera McAllister and Alondra Alvarez.

Pho

to

s by Laura M

arshall

game.The next dance workshop will

be held on Jan. 30, 31 and Feb.

1. Funds raised will help to de-fray the trip’s costs for the danc-ers.


Special Thanks to

By Marilyn Campbell

The Gazette

An Arlington residentand George MasonUniversity professorhas an unconventional

way of helping her students mas-ter complex concepts and evalu-ate their proficiency: She requiresthem to watch movies.

Laurie Meamber, an associateprofessor of marketing in Mason’sSchool of Management in Fairfax,teaches a consumer behaviorcourse in which students study theactions and motivations of buyers.Meamber teaches them how toanalyze why and how consumersmake certain decisions. The class studies charactersin popular films to see the concepts they learnthroughout the semester.

“A primary goal of a consumer behavior course isfor students to better understand consumer behav-ior in order to become more effective marketingmanagers,” said Meamber. “An additional goal … isto enhance their knowledge of consumer behaviorso that they as consumers can consume wisely.”

Meamber says that through watching and analyz-ing movies, her classes examine the entire range ofinternal, external and situational influences on con-sumer behavior. She divides her class into threegroups and each group focuses on one factor thataffects consumer behavior: external influences, in-ternal influences and decision-making.

“Students [write] a brief plot summary, providingdescriptions of the major characters as consumersand analyzing concepts that they had learned in thecourse that appear in the film,” she said. “They dothis in a comprehensive fashion, after having learnedall of the ideas taught in consumer behavior. Thisallows them to reflect upon, apply and synthesizethe entire range of knowledge they have acquired inthe course.”

Mason spokeswoman Catherine Probst said, “Alongthe way, the students construct consumer profiles ofthe characters and examine reasons why and how

they make decisions throughout the film. Specifically,students are looking for influences on consumer be-havior based on attitudes, motivation, income leveland occupation.”

Mason student, and Reston resident, BenCoffinberger took Meamber’s consumer behaviorclass during the fall semester. His group chose “TheDevil Wears Prada.”

“We presented it by dressing up as the four maincharacters and acting out small scenes from the moviethat provided examples of important marketing con-cepts we learned throughout the semester,” saidCoffinberger. “I was forced to identify and apply themarketing concepts I learned in the consumer be-havior course to the scenes in the movie. Before tak-ing this class, I didn’t think to really recognize con-sumer-marketing behaviors in movies, television andeveryday life. Now I view things in a totally differ-ent light.”

Meamber says the increasing popularity of socialmedia makes the movie approach a successful learn-ing tool. “As time moves forward, this type of as-signment fits in with the interests and learning stylesof this generation of undergraduate students,” shesaid. “This type of assignment allows students toanalyze and reflect upon movies as a medium thatportrays many examples of consumers and of con-sumer behavior.”

Off to the MoviesMason professor has unconventional method ofteaching complex concepts.

Photo courtesy of George Mason University

George Mason University professor Laurie Meamber usesmovies to teach students about consumer behavior.

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By Marilyn Campbell

The Gazette

Can climbing on monkey barshelp a child’s cognitive devel-opment? Can a game of tagboost preschooler’s social

skills? The nation’s top pediatricians say“yes” and some local educators agree.

A policy statement released earlier thismonth by the American Academy of Pedi-atrics said recess, when provided in a safeenvironment and under supervision, pro-vides children with cognitive, physical,emotional and social benefits. Additionally,the AAP recommended that unstructuredplay be used in conjunction with physicaleducation in schools.

“Recess and unstructured play providechildren with opportunities to explore,problem-solve and learn in ways that en-hance their socio-emotional, physical andcognitive development,” said Julie K. Kidd,associate professor and early childhoodeducation academic program coordinator atGeorge Mason University in Fairfax. “Thephysical and mental break from academicactivities enables children to return to theirstudies more focused and ready to learn.”

SOME LOCAL SCHOOLS agree that re-cess is an important part of a student’s day.“In addition to physical education classes,our students enjoy unstructured recess ev-ery day,” said Dick Ewing, head of school atthe Norwood School in Potomac, Md. “Ofcourse, there are the health benefits of thephysical activity, and teachers will tell youthat children are more focused in the class-room after recess, but there are also sev-eral social-emotional benefits. Childrenlearn important life skills during recess.They learn how to effectively communicate,collaborate, cooperate and problem solveduring various playground games. Creativ-ity also comes into play as children makeup their own games.”

Joan Holden, head of school for St.Stephen’s & St. Agnes School in Alexandria,developed play areas known as “TinkeringSpaces” on campus, “dedicated spots wherestudents work together with educationalgames, building tools and puzzles, wherethere are no assessments or evaluations, justa relaxing, fun atmosphere that brings outteamwork, creativity, invention and prob-lem-solving,” said Holden. “I thought itwould be great to have age-appropriatespaces on each campus where studentscould tinker in a very informal way, withno instructions. The only ground rule is thatyou can’t destroy what someone else hasstarted. You can either build on it or startyour own project.”

American Academy of Pediatrics research-ers and local educators concluded that re-

cess and free play activities are a criticalpart of development and social interactionthat students may not get in a classroom.

American Academy of Pediatrics research-ers also recommended that recess not bewithheld from children as punishment. Sh-annon Melideo, chair of the education de-partment and an associate professor at theSchool of Education and Human Servicesat Marymount University in Arlington,agrees: “Too often the children who aredenied recess as a punishment are the chil-dren who need recess most.”

Some local educators say that recess giveschildren an opportunity to learn how tomanage their free time. “Current researchin brain development highlights the connec-tions between physical activity, attentionand memory,” said Dresden Koons, head ofLower School at St. Andrew’s EpiscopalSchool in Potomac. “We … [believe] thatwhat happens outside the classroom ben-efits what goes on inside it, and vice versa.Most of all, we want our students to takeappropriate risks in a safe environment andto experience repeated successes on theplayground that will translate into theirsuccess as learners and as human beings.”

THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDI-ATRICS STATEMENT stresses that recessshould complement, not replace physicaleducation classes, even for schools with lim-ited outdoor space, and Reston-based Na-tional Association for Sport and PhysicalEducation spokeswoman Paula Keyes Kunagreed. She said, “All children need a mini-mum of 60 minutes of physical activity ev-ery day. Regular daily recess should be apart of every school day. It provides chil-dren with discretionary time to be active,helps them develop healthy bodies and en-joy movement.”She added that NAPSE is calling on schoolsacross the country to find creative ways ofincreasing their students’ physical activitylevels before, during and after school.

Importance of RecessPediatric researchers say unstructured playcan help a child’s cognitive, physical,emotional and social development.

Students at Norwood School inPotomac, Md., enjoy outdoorrecess. The American Academy ofPediatrics says that recess — whenprovided in a safe, supervisedenvironment — offers childrenphysical, emotional and socialbenefits.

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