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Mount Vernon Gazette ❖ January 25-31, 2018 ❖ 1www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

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January 25, 2018Mount Vernon’s Hometown Newspaper • A Connection Newspaper

See Promoting, Page 4

Winter FunGeorge Washington welcomes visitors at an earlier Presidents Day. This year’sWashington’s Birthday Celebration will be Feb. 17-19, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Feb. 22, 9a.m.-4 p.m., at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. On Feb.17-18, wish the Generala happy birthday while enjoying hoecakes made over the open fire,#PoseLikeThePrez in the Education Center Lobby and observe wreathlayings atWashington’s Tomb. Across the estate, listen to members of the Washington familyrecount stories about the General, visit with George and Martha Washington at theInterpretive Center and watch dancing demonstrations on the bowling green. OnFeb. 19, enjoy free admission to Mount Vernon, witness a presidential tributefeaturing honored guests, a wreathlaying at Washington’s tomb, watch Continentalsoldiers conduct a marching drill, and enjoy character performances around theestate. From 10 a.m.-4 p.m. greet author Jeff Finegan who will sign books from hisseries, “I Knew George Washington.” Visit www.mountvernon.org/birthday. Formore Winter Fun activities, see pages 12-15.

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By Andrea Worker

The Gazette

At its first monthly meetingof the New Year, theFairfax Alliance for Better

Bicycling (FABB) got right to work,inviting two Fairfax County Traf-fic Safety Police Officers to attendand expand the dialogue betweenlaw enforcement and cyclists inthe county.

FABB member Charlie Bobbishintroduced Officers PFC Sheila

Ayers, and PFC Christina Gaizickand began the conversation byasking them to comment on the“state of traffic safety” in FairfaxCounty.

Safety of all county residents isa priority, according to Ayers, bethey drivers, cyclists or pedestri-ans, but the officer added that sheand her colleague were particu-larly pleased to be invited to theFABB meeting to gain a better un-derstanding of the concerns of the

PromotingSafe BicyclingCycling advocacy group hostscounty law enforcement repsat monthly meeting.

From left: PFC Christina Gaizick and PFC Sheila Ayers ofTraffic Safety Services, Fairfax County Police Depart-ment, were the guests at the January meeting of FairfaxAlliance for Better Bicycling, held at the Patrick HenryPublic Library in Vienna.

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Winter FunWinter FunPage, 12

2 ❖ Mount Vernon Gazette ❖ January 25-31, 2018 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com


Mount Vernon Gazette Editor Steven Mauren

703-778-9415 or [email protected]

See Traffic Stops, Page 4

By David Siegel

The Gazette

The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra(FSO) will be saluting the nextgeneration of classical musi-cians with a special performance

by the 22-year-old Korean string virtuoso,In Mo Yang and the premiere of the 2018Fairfax County All-Stars Youth Orchestra.The Youth Orchestra features outstandinghigh school student musicians from acrossFairfax County selected through a competi-tive audition process.

“We are thrilled to build on the successof last year’s pilot program and showcasethe 2018 All-Stars,” said Jonathan Kerr,Executive Director, Fairfax Symphony. “TheFSO is unique in the orchestra field by pro-gramming such a significant education ini-tiative on our main series. Inspiring the nextgeneration of classical musicians is vital tothe FSO’s mission, and this program is in-valuable to maintain the artistic excellenceof the next generation of orchestral musi-cians.”

The Fairfax County All-Stars Youth Or-chestra is composed of nearly 20 musicians.Under the musical direction of FSO’s Chris-topher Zimmerman, the young musicianswill perform excerpts from Prokofiev’s“Romeo and Juliet” side-by-side with theprofessional musicians of the FSO. “The AllStars reflect Fairfax County’s diverse, artis-tic achievements and cultural leadershipand is an indication of its vibrant future,”said Zimmerman.

FSO mentor Patti Reid said, “I love theidea of sharing with the young musiciansso that they can experience what it’s like tobe in the symphony.

Knowing that the students are being af-fected by this is fabulous.”

For Dean Woods, another FSO mentor,“Working with the students is such an im-portant part of development as a musicianand as a person.”

In Mo Yang will perform Tchaikovsky’sViolin Concerto, playing the unique

“Joachim-Ma” Stradivari of 1714, the vio-lin used by Joseph Joachim for the premiereperformance of the Brahms Concertothrough the generosity of the New EnglandConservatory.

Students in the 2018 Fairfax County All-Stars Youth Orchestra include: BenjaminAscoli, Soni Bae, Huay Din Angel Estrada,Andrew Gantzer, Colin Hill, LiamJohansson, Michael Lee, Stephanie Man-ning, Anna Paek, Irene Paek, GeorgePekarsky, Daniel Shen, Katherine Yang, Alan

Fairfax Symphony Orchestra inspiring nextgeneration of music makers and music lovers.Inspiring Performance

Maestro Christopher Zimmermanconducting the Fairfax SymphonyOrchestra.

Where & WhenFairfax Symphony Orchestra in performance

with special guest In Mo Yang and the FairfaxCounty All-Stars Youth Orchestra at George MasonUniversity, Center for Arts, 4400 University Drive,Fairfax. Performance: Feb. 3, 2018 at 8 p.m. Tick-ets: $39, $53 and $65. Call 703-993-8888 or visitwww.cfa.gmu.edu

Fairfax County All Stars (2017) performing with Fairfax Sym-phony Orchestra.

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Zhen and Yilun Zhou.Impacts of the musical mentoring pro-

gram can be found in this comment from2017 All Star, Courtny Tern, “playing mu-sic with so many accomplished adults…Iwant to play as well as they do.”

“I can’t wait to hear these talented, stu-dent musicians from across Fairfax Countyin this rare opportunity to perform with theFairfax Symphony,” said Sharon Bulova,Chairman, Fairfax County Board of Super-visors.

By Michael Lee Pope

The Gazette

Police officers across Virginia will be-able to strip search drivers at trafficstops under a bill proposed from Del.

Patrick Hope (D-47). Hope says he intro-duced the bill as a reaction to the opioidcrisis after being approached by sheriffsacross the commonwealth who are con-cerned inmates might smuggle drugs intojails. Hope says sheriffs did not ask for stripsearches at traffic stops, although he addsthe two issues are linked in the code.

“The existing statute allows for stripsearches for weapons at traffic stops andgoing into jail, and that’s there for a reason— because you don’t want to put someonein your squad car who might have aweapon,” said Hope. “And so the questionis whether opioids today are lethal enoughwhere you need that same protection at atraffic stop where you are going to putsomebody in your car.”

Advocates for civil liberties are concernedthat strip searches would be based on noth-ing more than an arresting officer’s “rea-sonable cause to believe” that a suspect hasdrugs. They worry that suspicion may of-

ten be based on nothing more than a hunch.And although courts have upheld the abil-ity of sheriff ’s deputies to conduct stripsearches at jails, they say allowing stripsearches at minor traffic infractions wouldviolate the dignity of the accused — a bur-den that would disproportionately fall on

minorities.“This proposal will fall more heavily on

people of color because of disparate polic-ing,” said Claire Gastanaga, executive di-rector of the American Civil Liberties Unionof Virginia. “Keep in mind that people whoare black are eight times more likely to be

arrested for possession of marijuana in Ar-lington than white people, even thoughusage rates for both populations are thesame, about 13 percent.”

RECENT YEARS have seen the opioid cri-sis spiral out of control in Virginia. The num-ber of fentanyl-related overdose deaths in-creased by more than 30 percent last year,according to a recent report from the Vir-ginia Department of Health. Fentanyl is anopioid pain medication that’s 100 timesmore potent than heroin. It’s often used totreat pain after major surgeries, and it’s fre-quently traded on the black market. A dosethe size of a grain of sand can be lethal,creating a potential problem at jails.

“Google the words ‘jail’ and ‘overdose,’and you’ll come up with a number of hitsof people who are sneaking in drugs likefentanyl and heroin and other opioid typedrugs and people are overdosing on it,” saidHope. “It’s a very serious concern of the jailsand the sheriffs asked me to carry the bill.”

A Google search of “jail overdose” comesup with 8.7 million hits with horror storiesfrom across the country. Four inmates over-dosed in two days last year in Ohio. Two

Naked Truth About Strip Searches at Traffic StopsNorthern Virginia Democrat advocates for strip searches to combat opioid crisis.

A spokesman for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office says there are nonumbers that show smuggled opioids are a problem at the FairfaxCounty Adult Detention Center


News

From Page 3

Traffic Stopsinmates were found dead last year

after overdosing in a D.C. jail. In Mi-ami, prosecutors are considering mur-der charges after two inmates werefound dead after opioid overdoses.None of the stories seem to be fromVirginia, though, which worries crit-ics of the bill.

“My concern is that I’m not sure howcommon that is — how frequently thathappens — that drugs are beingsmuggled in,” said CindyCunningham, founder of a progressivegroup known as VA Plan. “A lot ofpeople are concerned about police ingeneral and I think at this point this issort of encouraging civil rights viola-tions.”

Requests for data on opioid smug-gling into the Arlington jail and theAlexandria jail received no responseat press time. And spokesman for theFairfax County Sheriff said no dataexisted to prove opioid smuggling wasa problem.

“There are no numbers that showthat smuggled opioids are a problemat the Fairfax County Adult Detention

From Page 1

Promoting Safe Bicycling

Sally Smallwood is the Safe Routesto School coordinator for theFairfax County Public Schools.Smallwood brought the FABBmembers up to speed on school-related bicycling events and activi-ties and encouraged people tonominate a School Crossing Guardof the Year by the Jan. 26 deadline.

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pedal-powered citizenry and to have anopportunity to discuss safe cycling practicesand education.

According to Ayers, statistics show a de-crease in cycling-related incidents, with onlyone fatality recently reported in 2015. Earlyfigures for 2017 indicate 72 reportable bi-cycle incidents, although the fact that thereare no clearly defined categories for bicycleaccidents in the statewide reporting systemTREDS (Traffic Records Electronic DataSystem) and that “reportable” incidentsmust meet a $1,500 damage or a report-able injury threshold in order to be includedin the TREDS data, left some attendeessomewhat in doubt as to the accuracy orusefulness of the information.

Jeff Anderson, president of FABB, SteveWard, the organization’s secretary, andboard member Bruce Wright all indicatedthat advocating for more specific reportingtools might be on the FABB work menu inthe future.

SEVERAL QUESTIONS were posed to theofficers regarding how to stay safe as a cy-clist on the road, and what to do when wit-nessing or experiencing interaction withaggressive drivers.

Although the answers did not provide thecyclists with many solutions, Ayers and

Gaizick both stressed that the first thing todo was “get out of the way and be safe.”Even when the incident is not deemed “re-portable,” the officers still encouraged theriders to “be the best witness you can beand call it in.” Calling in and providing asmuch detail about the alleged offender isstill helpful, and could cause the police toissue a “look out” for the vehicle.

In addition to the presentation and con-versation with Ayers and Gaizick, a reportby Sally Smallwood, Safe Routes to Schoolcoordinator for Fairfax County PublicSchools was on the agenda. Smallwoodbrought the members up to speed on edu-cational events scheduled for Fairfax Countyschools, a significant donation that wouldallow for a number of shareable bicycles tobe purchased for several elementary andmiddle schools, and preparation for thisyear’s “Bike to School Day” scheduled forMay 18.

Smallwood also wanted to spread theword that nominations for OutstandingCrossing Guard of the Year for 2017 werestill wanted, with the deadline being Jan.26 for the Feb. 14 announcement of thehonorees on Crossing Guard AppreciationDay. Anyone can nominate a crossing guardby going to the Virginia Department ofTransportation website atwww.virginiadot.org and searching Safe

Routes to School.

FAAB encourages all cycling enthusiasts ofall levels of ability and cycling usage to jointheir organization to stay informed, to bebetter educated on cycling safety, and toparticipate in social rides and other FABBactivities. FABB is on the web at www.fabb-bikes.org and has a Facebook page, as well.Its next meeting is Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. atthe Patrick Henry Public Library in Vienna.

See Truth About, Page 5


Alex/Riverside Estates $605,0008331 Blowing Rock Road

Beautiful Mt. Vernon Colonial w/stunning renovations! 4BRs, 3.5BAs, 3 lvls, garage & deck. Gorgeous addition w/exquisite remodeling expands the kit & family rm. The quality & design are exceptional. Stunning kit w/all the bells & whistles (skylight, tile & bamboo flooring, SS appliances, silestone counters, high-end cabinetry, double wall oven, gas cooktop) & a casual eating area

overlooking bkyd. Spectacular family rm w/gas FPL & sliding glass doors to the deck. Abundant windows provide natural lighting. 4BRs on the upper lvl. Lower lvl has a full bath, lg finished rec rm, & an additional rm that can be easily configured as a 5th BR. Roof replaced in “15. Wood FPL in living rm & lower lvl. This is a winner!

Alex/Potomac Valley $562,0008807 Vernon View Drive

Lovely 4BR, 2BA, 4 lvl, Split on a lg, beautiful .3 acre lot w/a fenced bkyd. Freshly painted interior & beautiful re-finished hdwds. Main lvl has a spacious & cozy Family rm w/gas FPL, 4th BR, & 2nd full bath. Upper level #1 offers an open kitchen plus Living & Dining

Rm. Upper level #2 has a full bath & 3BRs. The lower level has a lg partially fin-ished Rec rm. Good price on a super lot & very nice home that you can add some personal touches to. CS 3% on the house-Call Rex for an early visit 703-409-4784

Alex/Riverside Estates $548,0008608 Cherry Valley Lane

Charming 4BR, 2.5BA Colonial w/3 finished levels. Kitchen has been updated w/granite counters, break-fast bar & porcelain flooring. All Baths have been updated w/new tile, vanities, & fixtures to include double sinks in the master & main bathrooms. Family rm on main lvl has gas fireplace. Beautiful hdwd floors throughout. Lower lvl Rec Rm & extra Den/5th BR. 2

car garage has work area (work bench conveys). Walk-in attic access on upper lvl for lots of storage. Cozy brick patio w/screened gazebo (conveys). New roof in 2016. Walk to elementary & high schools. 5 minutes to Ft. Belvoir (S) & 15 minutes to Old Town, Alex (N). Best Value in Riverside Estates! Call Rex for showing. CS3%

Alex/Riverside Estates $2,7758314 Bound Brook Lane

Beautiful 3 level colonial w/1 car gar. Meticulously maintained. Lovely landscaping. Renovated kitchen, SS appliances, granite, breakfast bar. Re-fin hdwd floors. Gorgeous screened porch off Din Rm. Beautiful finished lower level. Minutes to Ft. Belvoir (S) & 15 minutes to Old Town, Alex (N).

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Stunning immaculate 2 level Rambler on a large spectacular landscaped half acre lot. Updated: Kitchen w/corian, SS appliances & cherry cabinets, 3 updated baths, 2 wood burning Fpls. Beautiful new/refinished hdwd floors-Large finished basement w/family rm, den/BR, 3rd bath & could be used as an in-law

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Alex/Riverside Estates $599,9008400 Cherry Valley

Riverside’s largest & most popular split foyer model w/2800 sq ft under roof, plus spacious 2 car garage- Meticulous-ly renovated & maintained - Updates include: kitchen, baths, roof, triple pane windows, furnace, A/C, exterior siding plus in-ground sprinkler system &

garage doors controlled by cell phone - The list goes on… Large deck overlooks a beautiful fenced backyard. 5 minutes to Ft. Belvoir (S), 15 mins to Alex (N) – Walk to schools. This is turnkey!

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News

Fairfax County Police Chief Ed Roessler releasedin-car video on Wednesday, Jan. 24, from a FairfaxCounty vehicle, which was at the scene of the Nov.17, 2017 U.S. Park Police shooting in the MountVernon District.

Fairfax County Police officers did not fire theirweapons and are considered witnesses to this shoot-ing. The U.S. Park Police shooting resulted in thedeath of Bijan C. Ghaisar, a Fairfax County resident.

“The family and friends of Bijan Ghaisar, as wellas the residents of Fairfax County, deserve to know

what happened,” Chairman Sharon Bulova said in apress release. “I support our Police Chief’s decisionto release the video. I also extend my greatest sym-pathies to the Ghaisar family during this tragic anddifficult time.”

The shooting is currently under investigation bythe FBI.

The video can be seen athttps://fcpdnews.wordpress.com/2018/01/24/

chief-roessler-releases-video-of-november-u-s-park-police-shooting-in-fairfax-county/

Chief Releases Video of Shooting

A 23-year-old man from Fredericksburg died Sun-day morning, Jan. 21, after losing control of his carand striking a tree, according to Fairfax County Po-lice.

Officers responded to the area of 6700 TelegraphRoad in Alexandria around 1 a.m. for the report of asingle-car crash. Once on scene, they located a HondaCivic.

The driver, 23-year-old, Walther Rubio Valladarez,

was the only occupant of the Honda.Detectives from the Crash Reconstruction Unit are

investigating the crash to determine if excessivespeed may have led to the crash. According to po-lice, it appeared that the Honda was traveling south-bound on Telegraph Road just prior to S. Kings High-way when he lost control of the car and went off theroad to the right into a tree. Valladarez was pro-nounced dead on the scene.

Driver Dies in Single-Car Crash

The following incidents were re-ported by the Mount Vernon DistrictPolice Station.

ROBBERY: 3200 block of LockheedBoulevard, Jan. 19 around 1 p.m. A manasked a stranger if he could use hisphone. The stranger told him he did nothave a phone and continued walkingwith his friend. The man approached themen a second time and demanded oneof their cell phones. When they said no,he assaulted one of them and a struggleensued. A passerby intervened and sepa-rated the parties. The suspect was notable to get the victim’s cellphone, but hestole his debit card. The two victims hadminor injuries. The suspect was not lo-cated. Detectives are investigating.

STOLEN VEHICLE WITH APPRE-HENSION: 8400 block of RichmondHighway, Jan. 18, around 4:40 p.m. Astolen vehicle was located by officersand a short vehicle chase ensued. The16-year-old juvenile driver eventuallyjumped out of the moving vehicle andfled on foot but was located a short timelater. There were no injuries reported.Further investigation determined therewas another juvenile accomplice to thevehicle theft.

TRAFFIC PURSUIT: 2200 block ofLangport Drive, Jan. 18, around 10:30p.m. Officers responding to a domesticdispute observed one involved persondriving away from the address at a highrate of speed and disregarding trafficlaws. The officers chased the vehicle buteventually lost sight if it. The identity ofthe driver was later determined and ar-

rest warrants were obtained.COMMERCIAL ARMED ROB-

BERY: 8792 Sacramento Drive (SuperMini Mart), Jan. 12 around 8:40 a.m. Asuspect described as a black man, ap-proximately 5’2” to 5’6” and 20 to 25years of old entered the store and de-manded money from the cash register.The suspect displayed a weapon duringthe robbery, however, there were noinjuries. Cash was taken from the busi-ness.

COMMERCIAL ARMED ROB-BERY: 8226 Russell Road (7-11), Jan.13 around 7:20 p.m.The suspect is de-scribed as a black man in his mid 20’sand armed with a hand gun. He enteredthe store and demanded money fromthe cash register. The suspect then ranaway from the business with an undis-closed amount of cash. There were noinjuries reported.

BOMB THREAT: A 46-year-old manis facing charges for threatening tobomb and shoot a police car. An inves-tigation determined that shortly after 5a.m. on Jan. 2, The suspect called theMount Vernon District Station andspoke to an officer. The officer tried tocommunicate with him, but he was notbeing responsive. As a result, the callwas transferred to the Department ofPublic Safety Communications (DPSC),or 9-1-1 call center, because the officerthought the man needed assistance.When the call was received by the 9-1-1 call center, the man began to makestatements about shooting and blowingup a police car with an officer inside.DPSC reported the incident and detec-

tives were assigned to investigate. Theinvestigation led to the suspect and hewas arrested the following evening inthe 11200 block of Fairfax Boulevard.He was charged with threatening tobomb or damage a means of transpor-tation.

JAN. 22LARCENIES6300 block of Columbia Pike, docu-

ments from residence7100 block of Mint Place, license

plate from vehicle8200 block of Richmond Highway,

cell phone from business9100 block of Richmond Highway,

property from businessJAN. 19LARCENIES6800 block of Vantage Drive, wallet

from vehicleJAN. 18STOLEN VEHICLES 4700 block of Hanrahan Place, 2002

Ford F350JAN. 17LARCENIES2900 block of Arlington Drive, mer-

chandise from business2500 block of Parkers Lane, wallets

from vehicle6700 block of Richmond Highway,

merchandise from business7700 block of Tauxemont Road, wal-

let from vehicle7400 block of Mount Vernon Square

Center, merchandise from business6500 block of Tower Drive, license

plates from vehicle

Crime Report

Center,” wrote Jamel Perkins, public informationofficer for the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office in aresponse to written questions.

Hope acknowledges that his bill may end upchanging significantly as it makes its way throughthe legislative sausage-making factory in Rich-mond, a process that starts this week with a sub-

committee hearing followed by a hearing in thefull committee. And then, if he’s lucky, a vote onthe House floor. Considering the heart of his billallows for strip searches at jails rather than trafficstops, he says, that part may end up being strippedout before it’s considered by member of the Houseof Delegates.

“If law enforcement feels like that’s not neces-sary, we’ll take it out,” said Hope.

Truth About Strip SearchesFrom Page 4


Opinion

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A Connection Newspaper

If these are the demographics to some-thing, you know it needs to be fixed, nomatter what “it” is. Especially somethingpaid for with public dollars.

Male, 60 percent; female 40 percent.Less than 2 percent poor.Less than 2 percent African American.Less than 2 percent Latino.These are the demographics of this year’s

freshman class at our Governor’s school, Tho-mas Jefferson High School for Science and

Technology, known as TJ.We also know that there are

geographic disparities (somemiddle schools have many

more students admitted than others; somehave none).

State Sen. Scott Surovell represents a partof the county that tends to be under repre-sented at Thomas Jefferson, and he is kickingoff what no doubt will be a lively discussionby introducing SB787, Governor’s Schools;enrollment, which would use both economics

and geography to change the admissions dy-namics at Jefferson.

Summary:“Requires any academic school Governor’s

School that has a focus on math, science, andtechnology and that has an overall enrollmentof over 1,000 students to accept for enrollment(i) a sufficient number of students eligible toreceive free or reduced price meals such thatthe total of such students is at least 50 percentof the weighted average of the participatingdivisions’ percentage of such students in theprevious school year and (ii) at least five stu-dents but no more than 15 students from eachmiddle school in each school division eligibleto matriculate students to such Governor’sschool who have completed at least two fullyears at such middle school.”

The school divisions currently participatingin TJHSST are: Arlington County, FairfaxCounty (includes City of Fairfax), Falls ChurchCity, Loudoun County, Prince William County.

We’ve said this before, because these demo-

graphics have been trending in this directionfor more than a decade.

Fairfax County Public Schools has a singleelite magnet school, Thomas Jefferson, and TJis frequently referred to as the top high schoolin the country. Dramatic disparity in themakeup of admissions at TJ is an indicator ofdisparity in early identification of students asgifted and talented, of access to advancedclasses and enrichment, and in the basic edu-cation that the Fairfax County Public schoolsystem offers to all of its students.

School leadership can’t continue to act likethere are things they can’t do anything about.Surovell deserves credit for giving an incen-tive to get started.

Learn about the referral and screening andselection process for full-time (Level IV) andschool-based (Levels II-III) Advanced AcademicPrograms at www.fcps.edu/registration/ad-vanced-academics-identification-and-placement.

— Mary Kimm

[email protected]

What’s Wrong with This Picture?Male, 60 percent; female 40 percent; less than 2 percent poor;less than 2 percent African American; less than 2 percent Latino.

Editorial

By Dan Storck

Mount Vernon

District Supervisor

Community engagement isvital to building andmaintaining strong com-

munities and passionate individu-als. As stated by Coretta ScottKing, “The greatness of a commu-nity is most accurately measuredby the compassionate actions of itsmembers.” I believe that statementto be true, especially here in theMount Vernon District. We havemany strong community leaderswho are driving issues from in-creased economic developmentand transportation improvementsalong the Richmond Highway Cor-ridor, to the protection of our natu-ral resources such as Dyke Marshand Mason Neck State Park. How-ever, we always need more voicesand helping hands.

I invite you to join us on Satur-day, Feb. 3, 2018, for our 31st An-nual Town Meeting at MountVernon High School to learn moreabout our District and how you canbe engaged in 2018. The morningwill start at 7:45 a.m. with theopening of the Exhibit Hall, whereyou can meet over 75 communitygroups and County agencies. Hereare just a few opportunities youwill find in the Exhibit Hall:

❖ Sign up to volunteer with the

United Community Ministries orGrandInvolve.

❖ Learn about Connector Busservice or the Fairfax County Ar-chaeological Research Team.

❖ Join the Mount Vernon Coun-cil of Citizens’ Associations, theSouth County Federation or theFriends of Huntley Meadows Park.

❖ Explore educational opportu-nities with the National Park Ser-

vice and the Literacy Council ofNorthern Virginia.

At 9:30 a.m. the program willbegin with musical performancesand my personal welcome ad-dressing our major accomplish-ments in 2017 and our main fo-cuses for 2018. Throughout themorning you will hear from sev-eral distinguished speakers aboutthe “State of the District and the

County.” Speakers include Boardof Supervisors Chairman SharonBulova, new County ExecutiveBryan Hill, Mount Vernon DistrictSchool Board Member KarenCorbett Sanders, new Superinten-dent of Schools Scott Brabrandand other community leaders.Audience members will have theopportunity to have their ques-tions answered directly by theseleaders. The highlight of the morn-ing will be taking a “virtual flyingtour” of the changes in our districtin this past year, with me as yourpilot.

Come out and join us. Learn andget involved. The more residentsengage and participate in our dis-trict, the more we will all be en-riched and fulfilled in our day-to-day interactions within our com-munity. Working together, we allhave a hand in our future and inimproving the quality of life for allMount Vernon residents.

Resolve to Get Involved in 2018Annual TownMeeting

31st Annual Mount Vernon DistrictTown Meeting

SATURDAY, FEB. 3, 20187:45 a.m. – Exhibit Hall Open9:30 a.m. – Speakers, Audience Q&A’s

and Virtual Tour

MOUNT VERNON HIGH SCHOOL8515 Old Mt Vernon Road, Alexandria

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck


Saturday, February 3, 2018 7:45 a.m. Exhibit Hall Open | 9:30 a.m. Speakers, Q&A’s and Virtual Tour

Mount Vernon High School8515 Old Mt Vernon Road, Alexandria, VA 22309

Resolve to Get Involved in 2018! 31st Annual Mount Vernon District Town Meeting

Join Supervisor Storck for the 31st

Annual Town Meeting! As part of the

town meeting, Supervisor Storck will

of the changes in the Mount Vernon

Speakers: Board of Supervisors

District School Board Member Karen

Corbett Sanders, New Superintendent

of Schools Scott Brabrand and other

[email protected]

WWW.FAIRFAXCOUNTY.GOV/MOUNTVERNON

Meet your community leaders and learn how to engage in making Mount Vernon the best community in NOVA!

Opinion

By Paul Krizek

State Delegate (D-44)

The first two full weeks of the Gen-eral Assembly 2018 Legislative Ses-sion are in the books and what a

busy and exciting start. It began with Gov-ernor McAuliffe’s final address to the jointassembly and then our new GovernorNortham’s first address to the joint assem-bly including the Supreme Court members,

the SCC, both housesand the entire new cabi-net. It ended with aweekend of successful

town meetings back here in Mount Vernonand Lee. We unanimously elected a newSpeaker of the House, Kirk Cox of ColonialHeights, and 19 new delegates were swornin. No doubt that there has been a dramaticchange in our composition since last year.And, personally, I am newly assigned to theimportant Appropriations Committee, oneof only four Appropriators from NorthernVirginia, and I remain on the historic Coun-ties, Cities and Towns Committee, in con-tinual existence since 1866. So far, one oftwo, from the 22 bills I introduced, have

passed out of subcom-mittee successfully.Many of these billsstarted as ideas from myconstituents. One suchbill is HB9, requiringuniform seat belt usagethroughout the vehicle.I am especially proud ofWest Potomac High

School senior Jonathan Tucker who camedown on Tuesday for a 7 am subcommitteehearing to testify on behalf of his seat beltbill which would get rid of the back seatexemption for adults. Most compelling wasJonathan’s point that when we exemptadults from wearing their seat belts in theback seat it sends a message that it is notunsafe, which is certainly not the case, toother passengers or the adult not wearinga seatbelt. Unfortunately, the bill died on aparty line vote.

I was honored to attend the inaugurationof Gov. Ralph Northam, Lt. Gov. JustinFairfax, and Attorney General Mark Herringlast Saturday. Dr. Northam’s speech wasboth inspiring and poignant. He highlightedthe diversity of his cabinet, which has more

women than men, matching the growingdiversity of our General Assembly where 12women were elected to the House last fall.He also emphasized the need for biparti-sanship partnership in steering our new Vir-ginia economy and for both parties to worktogether for the good of the Common-wealth.

That theme was echoed by Speaker Cox,the Republican leader who maintained hisparty’s control of the body by the slimmestof margins via the drawing of lots due to atie vote (don’t let anyone ever tell you thatyour vote doesn’t count). I am hopeful andencouraged that we will work together forthe good of all of the people of Virginia,already finding common ground on moretransparency with recorded votes and livevideo streaming in committees, and mostimportantly we must find a way in whichto expand Medicaid to 400,000 more Vir-ginians desperate for health care coverage.

Even though I am just in my second term,already I am serving as a mentor to newDel. Cheryl Turpin of Virginia Beach, whoby happy circumstance is also a graduateof Groveton High School (now WestPotomac). Certainly, there is much to learn

as a new delegate and I am eager to helpmy colleagues in any way possible navigatethe law making process. As I mentioned,there are more opportunities for the publicto follow the legislature in real-time thisyear than ever before. Video streams ofmeetings of House Full Committees can beaccessed online. You can also follow my leg-islation online atwww.virginiageneralassembly.gov or usethe nonpartisan Virginia Public AccessProject website vpap.org for more in depthinformation and breaking developments ofthe General Assembly session.

Thank you to everyone who took the timeout of their last Saturday schedule to par-ticipate in our town meetings at WaltWhitman Middle School and Hayfield El-ementary.

The audience came prepared with manygood questions and I enjoyed sharing thestage with my colleagues, and I really ap-preciate your feedback and involvement inour representative democracy. It is my plea-sure and honor to serve you in Richmond.Please consider a visit to my office in Rich-mond. You can email me at [email protected] or call 804-698-1044.

Much To Do — with Many New Faces

Commentary


See Long View, Page 18

Opinion

By Scott Surovell

State Senator (D-36)

The General Assembly acted on several of mybills last week, the first full week of the ses-sion. Two of my bills passed this week. First,

my bill to expand the types of abuse proceedings inwhich children can testify by video connection passedunanimously. Also, the Senate passed my legislationraising Virginia’s threshold between misdemeanorsand felonies to $500 after it was combined with othermembers’ bills. Virginia’s felony threshold is the low-est in the United States, has not changed since 1980,wastes taxpayer dollars and unnecessarily turns manyinto felons. Only two senators voted against the billand it now heads to the House of Delegates.

Two more of my bills are headed to the full Senatefor a vote this week. One bill requires all sex educa-tion programs to include the dangers of “sexting.”Second, on a 9 to 4 vote, the Senate TransportationCommittee approved my legislation that prohibitspeople from operating a motor vehicle with a phonein the driver’s hand. Similar legislation has failed topass out of committee the last four years, so I amhoping that the unprecedented increase in trafficdeaths is finally causing legislators to take note. Dis-tracted driving is a massive and growing problem.

The last two sessions, I have carried legislationrequested by The Education Fund to Stop Gun Vio-lence that would require background checks on allfirearm purchases. Unfortunately, the bill was de-feated on a party-line vote along with a dozen otherfirearm violence prevention bills. I am pleased thatSen. Adam Ebbin’s legislation prohibiting bump stockpurchases was reported out of committee.

This session, I introduced 61 bills and over 50 arestill in committee so it will be a busy week. Senatecommittees will soon consider my bill modernizing

Virginia’s assisted conceptionlaws to account for same-sexcouples, a bill to clarify au-thority to withhold spousalsupport from paychecks andanother to establish conse-quences to government offi-cials who violate the Free-dom of Information Act.

Importantly, my bipartisanlegislation to provide tempo-

rary driving permits to individuals who cannot es-tablish immigration status but who pay Virginia taxeswill be heard on Wednesday. Numerous studies havefound that the 15 states that have adopted this policyhave fewer accidents and hit and run cases and haveincreased tax revenue. My bill to close loopholesabused by car title and payday lenders is also up fora hearing on Monday.

I have also reintroduced my legislation to prohibitschools from using online textbooks without provid-ing children with computers. I have also introducedseparate legislation to prohibit systems like FairfaxCounty Public Schools from charging “tuition” or feesto low income students for online classes — FCPScurrently charges up to $350 per class for classeslike “online PE” or financial literacy to children re-ceiving free and reduced meals and do not even pro-vide them with computers. Public education shouldbe equally accessible to all and free — especially ifyour parents do not have resources.

On Saturday, nearly 100 people attended ourMount Vernon town hall meeting and another 50each in Lee District and Woodbridge.

Please complete my constituent survey atwww.scottsurovell.org/survey and you can alwaysprovide me feedback at [email protected].

It is an honor to serve as your state senator.

Progress on Transportation Safety

By Adam P. Ebbin

State Senator (D-30)

The second week of the 2018 General Assem-bly session wrapped up last Friday and itfeels like we’re finally hitting our stride. As-

we cautiously celebrate the doors reopening at fed-eral agencies in Washington and settle into a semi-regular rhythm, the hours are filled reviewing bills,discussing policy, hearing testimony, and sneakingin a quick lunch on the 100-year-old desks of theSenate floor. In between, I have had the pleasure ofreceiving many visits from constituents and amhumbled by the dedication of those who drove over100 miles to voice their perspective on upcominglegislation.

It’s been a difficult start for those of us advocatingfor gun violence prevention. The Senate Courts ofJustice Committee voted down my bill that wouldhave addressed loopholes that allow people prohib-ited from purchasing firearms from a licensed dealerto obtain firearms from a “private seller.” A glimmerof bipartisan progress emerged, however, as my leg-islation to ban bump stocks and other devices thatmake semi-automatics fire like machine guns (SB1)advanced for further consideration to the Senate Fi-nance Committee. Machine gun possession is alreadyheavily regulated at the federal and state level, andit makes sense to treat deadly firearm attachments,which turn semi-automatic weapons into de factomachine guns, with the same scrutiny. Five SenateRepublicans joined all six Democrats to move the bill

forward.I serve on three commit-

tees, where I play a part indeciding which legislativeproposals will advance to theSenate floor — a key step onlegislation’s journey to theGovernor’s desk. In the Sen-ate Agriculture, Conserva-tion and Natural ResourcesCommittee I’ve learned more

than I ever thought I’d know about fox penning, fe-ral cats, and yogurt manufacturing. We also work torejuvenate our oyster population, protect animalwelfare and preserve Virginia’s natural beauty.

Ensuring a fair and efficient voting process is oneof my highest priorities and, as a member of the Sen-ate Privileges and Elections Committee, I’ve intro-duced eight bills to do just that.

Governor Northam’s first official action was to signExecutive Order 1, which forbids discriminationbased on sexual orientation, gender identity, statusas a veteran, and other protected classes in publicemployment — a policy that has been put forth byfour of the past five governors. However, if we’regoing to continue to attract forward-thinking com-panies to the Commonwealth, we need a permanentpolicy. SB 202 represents my continuing effort topermanently codify these protections. As a memberof the Senate General Laws and Technology Com

Long View on Legislative Proposals


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Open House Sunday 1-4pm • Brambleton 23121 Ingersoll Way. Ashburn, VA. Classic colonial with front porch+ rear extension gives over 4200 sq ft finished, 9 ft ceiling on all levels, two story fam room+foyer model home condition$699,950 Steve Deleyiannis (703) 966.6062http://bit.Ly/2rmvqmr

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Gates of McLean1581 Spring Gate Dr #5304. McLean, VA. Two bedrooms, two full baths condominium within a walking distance from McLean Metro Station, and easy access to I-495. Kitchen and bathrooms renovated (stainless appliances, tile floors, wood cabinets, and granite counters). All the windows and the sliding doors have been replaced. Adjustable closet systems in the three closets. Onr car garage space. Home Warranty provided. $420,000 Bob & Nicole Hamilton (703) 966-8532 http://bit.ly/2n7jBQA

Open HouseSunday 2-4pmPointe at Park Circle 3315 Wyndham Cirlce #2234 Alexandria, VA. Convenience matters! Take a 10-minute free shuttle to pentagon city metro. Go a few blocks to shirlington, shopping. Fitness center, sauna, pool, clubhouse, assigned garage parking. Nicely updated 1 bed with private balcony! $219,000 Michelle Zelsman(202) 390-8714http://bit.Ly/2mucanq

Saintsbury Plaza 2903 Saintsbury Plaza # 106. Fairfax, VA. Gorgeous unit in a community for 55+. Enjoy the ease of this complex directly across from vienna metro. Cherry hrd floors throughout, cherry cabinets, and granite in kitchen. Tiled well maintained baths, large windows allowing natural light to flood in unit. Ceiling fans, stacked laundry, individual storage unit #58 in basement, electric fireplace in lr to convey, lots of storage in unit also $425,000 Jane King (703) 498-1034 http://bit.Ly/2mvimwk

Open HouseSunday 2-4pmGroveton Woods 7072 Huntley Run Place #98B Alexandria, VA.Just listed! Fantastic 3 bed, 2.5 Bath townhouse with garage conveniently located. Move-in ready!! First open house sunday jan 21 from 2-4.$385,000 Michelle Zelsman (202) 390-8714http://bit.Ly/2dqsek7

MARYAM MINICK571.319.9638

[email protected]

TINA BILLINGS571.355.3300

[email protected]

CAROL DORSEY804.548.3637

[email protected]

MONIQUE DEAN202.330.1884

[email protected]

CAILIN RAMSEY703.254.3141

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STORMY RAMSEY202.294.5212

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MARK MONTGOMERY202.669.4328

[email protected]

JOSEFINA HOOKER703.203.6092

[email protected]

VIDYA NADIG440.364.9488

[email protected]

SHEILA FALVEY703.599.0976

[email protected]

Open House Sunday 2-4pm • Tregaron 13021 Dunhill Dr. Fairfax, VA. Can’t imagine why one would want to leave alexandria, but if you must, this is the perfect home. Food is at the heart of this special home*a cook’s, chef’s or caterer’s delight*huge kit/fr w/2 full size ovens*2nd kit in gar*spotless 5/6 br, 5 ba, 2 car gar, ctr hall col in sought after tregaron* over 6000 fin sq ft on 3 Lvls*much more. $1,200,000 Edward Pagett (571) 237-4753 http://bit.Ly/2rojdc0


Winter Fun & Entertainment

Submit entertainment announcementsat www.connectionnewspapers.com/Cal-endar/. The deadline is noon on Friday.Photos/artwork encouraged.

ONGOING“Interlude: Unfinished Works.”

Various times, through Jan. 21, atTarget Gallery at the TorpedoFactory, 105 North Union St., Studio2. Target Gallery, the contemporaryexhibition space of the TorpedoFactory, spotlights the artistic processin Interlude: Unfinished Works. Arthas been left unfinished, bothintentionally and unintentionally,and creates a dialogue on what itmeans for art to be “finished.” Theexhibition features 21 artists fromacross the globe, including nineartists from the region. Visittorpedofactory.org/partners/target-gallery.

“Déjà Vu,” Art Exhibit. Through Feb.4, various times at at the TorpedoFactory, 105 North Union St., Studio29. Potomac Fiber Arts Gallery show“Déjà Vu,” highlights the work ofartists Elizabeth Davison, Elise Miller,and Dianne Harris Thomas. Visittorpedofactory.org.

“POUR.” Various times through Feb. 19at Torpedo Factory Art Center, TAGGallery, 105 N Union St. #311.Featuring Jennifer Brewer Stone andWhitney Staiger. Brewer will beshowing mixed media pieces withresin, texture paste, various paintsand gold leaf. Staiger is a jeweler andwill be showcasing how to cast intocuttlefish bones, one of the oldestways of casting metal. Visittorpedofactory.org.

“Form and Void.” Various timesthrough Feb. 25 at the Athenaeum,201 Prince St. Ellyn Weiss’s work isguided by a commitment toenvironmental sustainability andscientific truth, and her sheer delightin working with materials to makeart. Using tar, wire, liquid plastic,printing on acrylic, and large-scaledrawing, Weiss’s creations are areflection on survival andregeneration. Visit www.nvfaa.org orcall 703-548-0035.

“Winter Respite.” Through Feb. 25,Wednesday-Sunday, noon-4:30 p.m.at Green Spring Historic House, 4603Green Spring Road. NOVA Plein AirArtists debuts its exhibit “WinterRespite.” NOVA Plein Air Artists is agroup of Northern Virginia artistswho regularly paint together inoutdoor settings; in local public andprivate gardens, parks, farms,wineries, and at other local sites.This show features their recent oilpaintings showcasing floral still lifes,landscapes and florals, painted enplein air.Visitwww.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/green-spring.

New Project Studio. Through Feb.28, various times at the TorpedoFactory, 105 North Union St., Studio8. Over the course of three months,Korean painter and sculptor SuhYongsun will transform the NewProject Studio into a workshop andcommunity space for discussions andcreativity. He will explore public,social, and political issues in present-day Korea while developing a visualdiscourse of his time creating inAlexandria. Visit torpedofactory.org.

“Terracotta Warriors” in MarketSquare. Through March 11, all dayin Market Square, 301 King St. Tworeplicas of the famous “TerracottaWarriors.” Each replica stands sixfeet tall and weighs about 500pounds, and will be on displaythrough March 2018. Visitwww.alexandriava.gov for more

CAMPS, CLASSES & WORKSHOPSCommunity Dance. 7:30-9:30 p.m.

every third Friday at Hollin Hall

Senior Center, 1500 ShenandoahRoad. Live music. Tickets are $4. Call703-765-4573.

Life Drawing. Del Ray Artisans offers arange of open life drawing sessionsfor anyone to develop life-drawingskills further. Drop-in for the sessionand bring supplies to draw or paintlive models. Fee ranges from $8-$12.All skill levels are welcome. Del RayArtisans is located at 2704 MountVernon Ave. Visitwww.TheDelRayArtisans.org for aschedule.

The Harmony Heritage Singers(Mount Vernon Chapter ofBarbershop Harmony Society), adaytime, a cappella, Chorus,rehearses on the 2nd and 4th

Tuesdays, monthly, at Sherwood HallRegional Library, 2501 SherwoodHall Lane, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Newcomerswelcome for fun or to book for aperformance. Visitwww.HHSingers.org, or call Bruce at703-352-5271.

SATURDAY/JAN. 27Keck Collection Auction. 10 a.m. at

The Potomack Company, 1120 NorthFairfax St. More than 150 lots fromthe Keck collection and other specialpieces will be offered, including an18th century Italian painting, a pairof 19th century paintings after Jean-Honoré Fragonard and an importantpainting by Montague Dawson.Online auction follows on Tuesday,Jan. 30. Visitwww.potomackcompany.com or call703-684-4550.

U.S. Navy Band Concert. 7:30 p.m.at Rachel M. Schlesinger ConcertHall, 4915 East Campus Drive.Concert will feature a wide variety ofwind ensemble pieces including ShortRide in a Fast Machine, SymphonicMetamorphosis, and StubernicFantasy where 3 percussionistsmaneuver around a marimba. Free,no tickets required. Visitwww.nvcc.edu/schlesingercenter/ orwww.navyband.navy.mil.

FRIDAY/JAN. 26Open House. 9 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at

Metropolitan School of the Arts, 5775Barclay Road, Suite 4. MetropolitanSchool of the Arts (MSA) PerformingArts Academy of Alexandria, ishosting an open house with anopportunity for prospective studentsto meet and greet with MSA staff aswell as refreshments. Visitwww.metropolitanarts.org.

Scottish Celebration BurnsDinner. 6-9 p.m. at Sheraton SuitesOld Town, 801 N. St. Asaph St. Joinin a celebration of Scottish cultureand support the film, “Why TheyLeft: A Scottish Migration.” Buffetdinner including chicken and haggis.Cash bar, professional portraits,video of the film project, short talkon the story told in the film, t-shirts,Scottish magazines. Visitscottishmigration-film.com.

The James Brown Experience. 8p.m. at the Carlyle Club, 2050Ballenger Ave. Led by former JamesBrown drummer Robert “Mousey”Thompson, The James BrownExperience is all-star ensemble thatfaithfully performs the most popularsongs by one of the greatest musiclegends of our time. $30-$35. Visitthecarlyleclub.com.

Earth Day Artwork StudentCompetition Deadline. Thetheme of Earth Day 2018 is LocalAction, Global Impact. Students areencouraged to create an artisticdesign of the role they play inprotecting the Earth. The selectedartwork will be printed on Earth Dayt-shirts, reusable shopping bags,posters, fliers, and advertising todonors, as well as posted on theAlexandria Earth Day website. Visit

www.alexandriava.gov/recreation/earthday or call 703-861-8705.

FRIDAY/JAN. 26-SUNDAY/FEB. 4Alexandria Winter Restaurant

Week. In neighborhoods throughoutAlexandria, Virginia, including OldTown, Del Ray and the West End,participating restaurants will off a$35 three-course dinner for one or$35 dinner for two; select locationsoffering lunch from $10-20 perperson. Visitwww.AlexandriaRestaurantWeek.comor call 703-838-5005.

JAN. 27-MARCH 4“Passages.” Various times at Target

Gallery at the Torpedo Factory, 105North Union St., Studio 2. TargetGallery’s next exhibition, Passages,explores the lasting effects migrationhas on cultural identity from theperspective of immigrants andimmigrant families from across theglobal diaspora. The juror for thisexhibition was Adriana Ospina,curator of the Permanent Collectionand Education at the Art Museum ofAmericas. Visit torpedofactory.org/partners/target-gallery.

SUNDAY/JAN. 28Winter Wedding Showcase. 11 a.m.

at the Carlyle Club, 2050 BallengerAve. Experience live music, talk withaward winning professionals in theareas of floral design, cake designtravel, event planning, and more.

Gather ideas, taste free samples, fillgift bags and enter to win manyexciting prizes. $10. Visitthecarlyleclub.com/weddings.html.

Art of the Book - Calligraphy. 1-2p.m. at Historic Huntley, 6918Harrison Lane. Historic Huntley isoffering three classes this winter thatdelve into different aspects of bookmaking. Register for any of theseries. Call 703-768-2525 or visitwww.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/historic-huntley.

Pinewood Derby Workshop. 3-6p.m. at Ace Hardware, 809 S.Washington St. Old Town AceHardware is hosting a series ofpinewood derby workshops for localCub Scouts. During select Sundays inJanuary, the store will provide woodcuts, sandpaper, and work stationsfor scouts to prep their derby cars.The store asks that participatingScouts trace their car designs on theirwoodblocks prior to arriving at theworkshops. The store kindly requestsa $1 donation per woodcut to benefitBoy Scouts of America and Children’sNational, our local Children’s MiracleNetwork Hospital. Complimentarypopcorn will be served during theevent. [email protected] or callthe store (Monday-Saturday, 8-8;Sunday, 10-6) at 703-566-7040.

THURSDAY/FEB. 1Alexandria Poetry Contest Entry

Deadline. 5 p.m. at the City ofAlexandria, The Office of the Arts, adivision of the Department of

Recreation. The “DASHing Words inMotion” poetry contest, topics edgeon transportation, ideas might stemfrom The Alexandria TransitCompany’s DASH buses motto is“Keep Alexandria Moving.” Call 703-746-5565 or [email protected].

Blues Night with Meigs Hodge. 7p.m. at The Athenaeum, 201 PrinceSt. Meigs Hodge explores Delta andChicago styles through the music ofRobert Johnson, Muddy Waters, andothers; as well as contemporarystandards and original compositions.$10. Visit www.nvfaa.org or call 703-548-0035.

FEB. 2-MARCH 10Art Exhibit. Various times at The

Gallery @ Convergence, 1801 N.Quaker Lane. The All City HighSchool Art Exhibition hosted by theConvergence Arts Initiative returnsfor its third and most exciting year sofar. This year’s expanded eventfeatures over 90 Alexandria highschool students and will welcometwo additional schools to its juriedexhibition; Commonwealth Academyand The Howard Gardner School.Visit www.ourconvergence.org.

SATURDAY/FEB. 3Alexandria Warehouse Sale. 9 a.m.-

4 p.m. at The Westin Alexandria, 400Courthouse Square. The “Super Bowlof Shopping Event” (always occurringthe Saturday of Super Bowlweekend), the 13th AnnualAlexandria Warehouse Sale will takeplace at the Westin Hotel located inthe Carlyle District of Old TownAlexandria. Free to enter. Visitwww.AlexandriaWarehouseSale.com.

Watercolor Workshop: Paint aWinter Scene. 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.at Green Spring Gardens, 4603 GreenSpring Road. Learn to paint a winterlandscape in wa–tercolor with thehelp of artist Erik Hottenstein, whodemonstrates techniques fortranslating photographs into winterscenes and provides guidance foryour individual piece. $90. Visitwww.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/parktakes or call 703-642-5173.

Fighting for Freedpeople. 11 a.m. atAlexandria Black History Museum,902 Wythe St. Learn how twowomen, one black and one white,helped improve conditions whilecarving out new roles for themselvesin 19th century America. PaulaWhitacre’s recently published book,“A Civil Life in an Uncivil Time,” is abiography of Julia Wilbur and tellsthe story of how Wilbur and Jacobsbecame effective advocates for freepeople’s rights. Whitacre will beavailable to sign copies of her book.Call 703-746-4356.

A 1760s Celebration. Noon-4 p.m. atCarlyle House Historic Park, 121 N.Fairfax St. Join in to wish a veryhappy birthday to Alexandria townfounder, Col. John Carlyle. Festivitieswill include 18th-century dancing,live music, and a birthday treat.Admission is free, donations arewelcome. Visit www.novaparks.comor call 703-549-2997.

Freedom House Museum Tours. 1-5 p.m. at Freedom House Museum,1315 Duke St. The Freedom HouseMuseum was once the headquartersand holding pen for the largestdomestic slave trading firm in theUnited States, Franklin and Armfield.The building is currently owned bythe Northern Virginia Urban Leagueand together with the Office ofHistoric Alexandria, the public isinvited to visit the museum in thishistoric reminder of slavery.Admission is $5 per person. Space islimited and reservations arerecommended. Tickets can bepurchased online, or by cash or check

Winter Restaurant WeekMore than 60 Alexandria restaurants offer a $35 three-course dinner for

one or a $35 dinner for two during Alexandria Winter Restaurant Week,Friday, Jan. 26-Sunday, Feb. 4. More than 30 restaurants will also offer lunchmenus at $10, $15 or $20 per person in addition to the dinner offerings. Newto Alexandria Winter Restaurant Week are Hank’s Pasta Bar, Sunday inSaigon, Cedar Knoll, Café 44, La Trattoria and Nectar Coffee & Wine Bistro.Returning participants include Restaurant Eve, Sonoma Cellar, Magnolia’sOn King, Vermilion, Evening Star Cafe, Virtue Feed & Grain, Mason Social,Cheesetique, Columbia Firehouse and Del Ray Café. View the menu flip-bookand make reservations at www.AlexandriaRestaurantWeek.com.

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A Scottish-themed “Robbie Burns” dinner isplanned to raise funds for the historical documen-tary film, “Why They Left: A Scottish Migration,”written by Alexandria-based graphic designer EllenHamilton. Hamilton hopes to finish the film and havea screening in Alexandria this time next year. Shehas help with equipment and advice from veteranfilmmaker and reporter Margaret Kennedy of OldTown Productions.

Hamilton travels to the area near Glasgow,Scotland’s largest and most industrial city, with herhusband who is from that region. Being urban andbusy, this Lowland area tends to be overlooked byAmerican tourists. She was given a book on the his-tory of the area written by Scottish archaeologistDerek Alexander. Hamilton became interested in herown ancestor’s roots and decided to tell the story ofthe place that most Scots emigrated from. She foundthat most people are not aware of their own family’sstories and how they came to leave Scotland andtake the trip of seven or more weeks on a sailingvessel. Many people died on that journey. People werequarantined once they got to Alexandria, because ofthe threat of disease outbreaks. Hamilton featuresWilliam Gregory who bought and expanded thebuilding at 329 North Washington St. in Alexandria.Gregory came from Kilmarnock, Scotland where hisfamily ran a rug weaving factory.

Hamilton has interviewed local historians LanceMallamo and Michael Lee Pope for the project.

In Scotland, arranged for an on-camera interviewof Alexander in a 700 year old, castle on the banksof the Clyde river. The land that the castle sits on

and the neighboring town, Port Glasgow, are part ofthe story in the film. It was the place where manyScots climbed aboard a ship, and embarked on thatlong journey. The time frame that Hamilton writesabout, late 1700s, was also a time of major transi-tions for Scotland. The cotton revolution was restruc-turing the landscape with new towns, the use ofmoney by many for the first time, and the loss ofmost people’s rural homesteads. Roads were beingbuilt between towns for the first time, and Scotland’sinclusion in the country of Great Britain meant newwealth and new problems for its people.

To get the word out about the film and raise somemoney for promotion, production and permissions,she and her team of helpers are hosting a Scottishthemed “Robbie Burns” dinner where Hamilton willspeak about the story told in the film. She designedt-shirts for the event and will have Steven Halpersonof Tisara Photography on hand for professional por-traits. Guests are encouraged to wear their best tar-tan outfits for their portrait. The dinner will takeplace at the Sheraton Suites Old Town. Dinner willinclude haggis and roast chicken, and the classic Brit-ish dessert, trifle, which is berries, cake, cream andcustard in layers. The dinner will be held Friday, Jan.26, 6-9 p.m., at Sheraton Suites Old Town, 801 N.Saint Asaph St.

Hamilton’s website for the film is scottishmigration-film.com. She has opened her first online store calledYellow Dot Shop, where she is selling tickets to thedinner and other items; see yellow-dot-shop.myshopify.com. To contribute to the film, peoplecan visit at gofundme.com/Scots-Doc.

Scottish Dinner To Support Film

Thread factory inPaisley, Scotland.

Photos by Ellen Hamilton

McQueen gravestone, arelative of EllenHamilton, buried in SouthCarolina.



at the door. Visitwww.visitalexandriava.com/listings/freedom-house/4676/.

SUNDAY/FEB. 4Walk with Washington Tour. 2 p.m.

at the Alexandria Visitor Center(Ramsay House), 221 King St.Focuses on some of the mostimportant Old Towne sites associatedwith George Washington. 60-90 min.Free. Recommended for ages 10 andolder. Call 703-746-3301.

MONDAY/FEB. 5Microgreens. 7-8 p.m. at Barrett

Branch Library, 717 Queen St.Microgreens: What Are They, WhyThey Are So Fabulous, and How toGrow Them. Join us to learn theirmany benefits, and some simple waysto grow these delicious, nutritiousand inexpensive baby plants andsprouts at home. Come prepared toget a bit dirty while planting one’sown microgreen garden in class.Free. Advance registration requestedat mgnv.org. Questions, telephone703-228-6414 [email protected].

WEDNESDAY/FEB. 7Swing Dance. 9-11 p.m. at Nick’s

Nightclub, 642 South Pickett St. TheCutaways, with Dave Kitchen,promise a great time for swingdancers. An accomplished singer/songwriter active in the roots rockscene for over 15 years, since 1995Dave has been nominated for a dozenor so of the Washington AreaMusician’s Association’s WAMMIEAwards and has won twice. $10. Visitnicksnightclub.com/.

THURSDAY/FEB. 8Artists Reception. 6-8:30 p.m. at

Torpedo Factory Art Center, TAGGallery, 105 N Union St. #311. Witha demonstration by Jennifer BrewerStone and Whitney Staiger. Brewerwill be showing mixed media pieceswith resin, texture paste, variouspaints and gold leaf. Staiger is ajeweler and will be showcasing howto cast into cuttlefish bones, one ofthe oldest ways of casting metal.RSVP on Facebook at http://jennifersartgallery.cmail19.com/t/r-l-jrdhjudt-jytjiuthly-m/.

Artist Reception: Passages. 6-8p.m. Various times at at TorpedoFactory Art Center, Target Gallery,105 N Union St. The newestexhibition in Target Gallery, thecontemporary exhibition space forthe Torpedo Factory Art Center,explores the lasting effects migrationhas on cultural identity. Passagesgives an intimate look in to artists’individual experiences and how theyshaped who they are today. Visittorpedofactory.org.

FRIDAY/FEB. 9Concert. 7:30 p.m. at Blessed

Sacrament Catholic Church, 1427 W.Braddock Road. Director of MusicJohn McCrary will conduct theBlessed Sacrament Festival Chorusand Orchestra with soprano MichelleKunz, alto Sally Monson, tenor PhilPickens, bass Joshua Hong in aconcert of works including Bach’sAscension Oratorio and the Litaniaede venerabili altaris sacramento,KV143. Donations are encouraged.

Email [email protected] call 703-998-6100, ext. 103.

George Washington’s Birthday 2018Celebrate George Washington’s Birthday at His Home, Mount Vernon. Four

days of events, with free admission on Monday, Feb. 19 and Thursday, Feb. 22.Visit www.mountvernon.org/birthday or call 703-780-2000.

SATURDAY-SUNDAY/FEB. 17-18(9 a.m.-4 p.m.)George Washington’s Favorite Breakfast – 9 a.m.-noon – Join “General

Washington” for a sample of hoecakes prepared by Mount Vernon staff(while supplies last).

Mingle with Costumed Characters from George Washington’sWorld – 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

18th-century Dancing Demonstration with costumed characters.Wreathlaying Ceremonies at the tomb of George Washington throughout

the day.

MONDAY/FEB.19(9 a.m.-5 p.m.) Free admission.Visit George Washington’s home and burial site. The traditional

wreathlaying ceremony at Washington’s Tomb takes place at 10 a.m.followed by Mount Vernon’s official celebration on the east lawn includinga keynote speaker and 21-gun salute to the first president. Special militarydemonstrations and patriotic music will take place on the Bowling Greenat 11:15 a.m. “General Washington” is on the grounds to greet visitors andreceive birthday wishes all day.

Special musical tribute – 1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.Share selected stories with “George Washington” – 2 p.m.Wreathlaying at the tomb of George Washington – 3 p.m.Visit the Washington Library for the rare opportunity to tour the reading

room and examine replica documents.

THURSDAY/FEB. 22(9 a.m.-4 p.m.) Free admissionGeorge Washington’s 286th Birthday – Visit Mount Vernon on George

Washington’s actual birthday for wreathlaying ceremonies throughout theday. Enjoy a patriotic concert and observe a moving ceremony honoringnew citizens. Join “General Washington” for a slice of birthday cake (whilesupplies last).

Be Washington: It’s Your Turn to Lead – Mount Vernon has opened anew first-person interactive experience titled Be Washington: It’s YourTurn to Lead in its Donald W. Reynolds Museum and Education Center.

New Objects on View in the Donald W. Reynolds Museum and EducationCenter. A new installation will highlight objects related to one of the BeWashington’s scenarios: the Newburgh conspiracy.

New Revolutionary War 4-D Theater – The new 17-minute film focuseson Washington’s leadership and the pivotal campaigns that securedAmerican independence. This experience is included in admission.

The City of Alexandria celebrates George Washington’s Birthday with morethan a dozen events throughout February. Visit www.washingtonbirthday.netor call 703-829-6640.George Washington Birthday Parade – Feb. 19, 1-3 p.m., Old Town

Alexandria.Cherry Challenge – Jan. 28-Feb. 11, at various restaurants throughout

Alexandria. Walking with Washington Tours – Sundays in February2018, 2 p.m. at the Alexandria Visitor Center, 221 King St.

Washington’s Birthday Celebration – Feb. 17-19, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and Feb.22, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Visitwww.mountvernon.org/birthday or call 703-780-2000.

George Washington’s Birthnight Banquet & Ball – Saturday, Feb. 17,5:30-11 p.m. (9 p.m. if attending the ball only), at Gadsby’s TavernMuseum. Reservations required. Visit Alexandriava.gov/Shop or call 703-746-4242.

Historic Alexandria Open Houses – Feb. 19, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., variousmuseums throughout Old Town Alexandria. In honor of GeorgeWashington’s birthday, admission is free at these historic Alexandria sites:Friendship Firehouse Museum, Gadsby’s Tavern Museum, Stabler-Leadbeater Apothecary Museum and The Lyceum: Alexandria’s HistoryMuseum.

SATURDAY/FEB. 10Fancy Nancy Author Visit. 11:30

a.m.-12:30 p.m. at Hooray forBooks!, 1555 King St. Visitors shoulddress in their fanciest ensemble(that’s fancy for “outfit”) as Hoorayfor Books! welcome back JaneO’Connor. She will present and signher final Fancy Nancy picture book,Oodles of Kittens. To secure a spot inthe signing line, stop in, call 703-548-4092, or [email protected] topurchase a copy of

Oodles of Kittens. Recommended forchildren ages 3 and up. Freeadmission. Visitwww.hooray4books.com.

Seed Swap Day. 12:30-4 p.m. atGreen Spring Gardens, , 4603 GreenSpring Road. Washington Gardnenermagazine is hosting the 13th annualWashington Gardener Seed Exchangeat Green Spring Gardens. These seedswaps are in-person and face-to-face.Bring extra seeds and swap themwith other gardneners. Participantscan learn, network and prepare fornext year’s seed collecting.Registration is stronglyrecommended as space is limited.Register online atwww.brownpapertickets.com/event/3210698.

Freedom House Museum Tours. 1-5 p.m. at Freedom House Museum,1315 Duke St. The Freedom HouseMuseum was once the headquartersand holding pen for the largestdomestic slave trading firm in theUnited States, Franklin and Armfield.The building is currently owned bythe Northern Virginia Urban Leagueand together with the Office ofHistoric Alexandria, the public isinvited to visit the museum in thishistoric reminder of slavery.

Night Comes, Ellyn Weiss, 52" x 12', oil bar, charcoal, and acrylic, 2017.

‘Form and Void’Ellyn Weiss’s work is guided by a commitment to environmental sustainability and scientific truth, and her sheer delight in

working with materials to make art. Using tar, wire, liquid plastic, printing on acrylic, and large-scale drawing, Weiss’s cre-ations are a reflection on survival and regeneration. Through Feb. 25, various times at the Athenaeum, 201 Prince St. Visitwww.nvfaa.org or call 703-548-0035.


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Admission is $5 per person. Space islimited and reservations arerecommended. Tickets can bepurchased online, or by cash or checkat the door. Visitwww.visitalexandriava.com/listings/freedom-house/4676/.

Champagne and ChocolatesFundraiser. 4-7 p.m. at GunstonHall, 10709 Gunston Road, Lorton.Champagne, small plate horsd’oeuvres, desserts, mansion tours bycostumed historical interpreters,raffle and live auction to benefiteducational programs for GeorgeMason’s Gunston Hall. Music byRobinson High School String Quartet.Cocktail attire. $50 per person. RSVPby Feb. 3 at bit.ly/champagneandchocolates2018. Call703-550-9220.

Salon at the Statehouse III. 7 p.m.at The Athenaeum, 201 Prince St.Ashley and George Wilson willwelcome 50 guests to their recentlyrenovated, historical home, wheredinner will be served. $100. Visitwww.nvfaa.org or call 703-548-0035.

ASO Presents: Debussy & Sibelius.8-10 p.m. at Rachel M. SchlesingerConcert Hall & Arts Center, 4815 ECampus Drive. Join the ASO andMaestro José-Luis Novo for a concertwith nationalist themes. The ASOpresents Debussy’s Petite Suite, theOverture to Verdi’s epic Nabucco andLutosBawski’s MaBa Suita. Writtenon the heels of his acclaimedFinlandia, the concert ends withSibelius’ Symphony No. 2. $20-$80adult, $5 youth, $10 student. Call703-548-0885 or visit alexsym.org.

SUNDAY/FEB. 11Art of the Book - Paper. noon-1 p.m.

at Historic Huntley, 6918 HarrisonLane. Historic Huntley is offering

three classes this winter that delveinto different aspects of bookmaking. Register for any of theseries. Call 703-768-2525 or visitwww.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/historic-huntley.

Chocolate and Wine Tasting. 1-3p.m. at The Italian Place, 621 WytheSt. Join The Italian Place of OldTown for a complimentary wine andchocolate tasting before Valentine’sday. Meet local chocolatier, SarahDwyer from Chouquette in Marylandwho will offer a variety of chocolatesamples. Free. Call 571-777-8981 orvisit theitalianplaceofoldtown.com.

After Four Decades, La Cuisine Says Sweet Goodbye

Walk with Washington Tour. 2 p.m.at the Alexandria Visitor Center(Ramsay House), 221 King St. Focuseson some of the most important OldTowne sites associated with GeorgeWashington. 60-90 min. Free.Recommended for ages 10 and older.Call 703-746-3301.

Alexandria Symphony Orchestra. 3p.m. at George Washington MasonicMemorial, 101 Callahan Drive. Enjoy aworld tour exploring themes ofnationalism, led by Maestro José-LuisNovo. A delicate collection of Frenchdances originally written for twopianos, the ASO presents Debussy’s

Petite Suite. Dropping by Italy for alittle opera, Maestro Novo willconduct the Overture to Verdi’s epicNabucco. Commissioned by Polishradio and complete with a polkamovement, the program continueswith LutosBawski’s MaBa Suita.Admittedly a “confession of the soulÓand written on the heels of hisacclaimed Finlandia, the concert endswith Sibelius’ Symphony No. 2,proclaiming the grandeur of hishomeland and the struggle forFinland’s independence. $5-$80. Visitwww.alexsym.org.

FEB. 15-MARCH 3U-Street the musical. Various times

at the Richard Kauffman Auditorium(Lee Center), 1108 Jefferson St. U-Street, the musical is an explorationof homelessness in America broughtto life with 12 musical numbers, anda 30-member cast from around theD.C. metro area. The production isalso a fundraiser to support programsfor low-income youth in Alexandria.$20. Call 703-640-4980 or visitwww.momentumcinc.org.

By Hope Nelson

Eventually, every meal must end — evena feast that has kept going for 47 years.And for La Cuisine, the longtime cook-

ery shop in Old Town’s grand finale was sweetindeed.

“What we thought would be a month-longprocess … lasted three days,” said ownerNancy Pollard. “We did not expect it.”

Nor did Pollard and her teamof “Cuisinettes” — devoted LaCuisine employees — expect thegaggle of longtime customers

who waited outside 323 Cameron Street fortheir turn to enter the shop to reminisce, saygoodbye — and pick up some deals.

“From what I understand, there was a lineout the door and it was freezing — and thepeople apparently … were all trading stories

about cooking and how much they loved thestore. It was kind of like a little community ofpeople who had been coming to our shop fora long time,” Pollard said. “It was all very posi-tive, even though it was like 19 degrees. Andof course we never saw any of this because wecouldn’t see beyond the sea of people in our700-square-foot (space).”

Over the years, La Cuisine developed a fol-lowing for being one of the top choices forhome cooks who were looking for high-qual-ity materials at a fair price. From cast iron tocookbooks, copper pots to new knives, the shopwas small but mighty, a tour de force for any-one looking to restock their kitchen — or treatthemselves.

“I’m still answering letters from people whowrote really, really lovely things,” Pollard said.

With the shop in good shape financially andall her ducks in a row, Pollard knew it would

be a good time to close things down on a highnote.

“I was ready to retire,” she said. And as herfamily continued to expand, including twograndsons, “I really wanted to spend more timewith them.”

As for what’s next for the Cameron Streetspace, Pollard says there’s no news to report atthe moment. Perhaps she will open its doorsfor a pop-up store here and there, or donatethe space to a group for political-campaign pur-poses. Regardless, she and her husband willcontinue to live right above what was her life-blood for so many years.

“We’re staying,” Pollard said, “except when Ivisit my grandsons.”

Appetite

Hope Nelson owns and operates the KitchenRecessionista blog, located at www.kitchenrecessionista.com. Email her any time [email protected].


By Vernon Miles

The Gazette

The Lee-Fendall House opened as a museum to celebrate the bicentennial, butin the 40 years since it was purchased bythe Virginia Trust for Historic Preserva-

tion, there’s a half of the building’s history that hasn’tbeen told. Much of the building’s history has focusedon the home’s owners, like the Lee Family or the la-bor figure John Lewis. But for the first time, the Lee-Fendall House is working to tell the story of the slavesand servants who build the house and labored un-der generations of families.

The home was built in 1785, and when the Leefamily moved in they came with 51 men, womenand children enslaved to the family. Unlike manyprominent homes of the day, the Lee home had itskitchens, cleaning and slave quarters all in the samebuilding. With a dozen slaves working in the home,African-Americans living in the home far outnum-bered the white family that owned it.

But according to Amanda Roper, assistant managerfor the Lee-Fendall House, finding records discuss-ing the slaves and their lives has been a challenge.The museum works from a combination of taxrecords and context clues from other pieces of localhistory. It isn’t stated where the slaves were from,and, when the family fell into more dire financialstraits in 1805, it isn’t known where the 15 slavessold from the household went. Roper says the mu-seum is still trying to find the records of sale, butthat it was very likely many of them were separatedfrom their family and children, with some probablysent to work on plantations in the deep south.

The history of the house is a exhibit to the evolv-ing national views of abolition and race. A later ho-meowner, Phillip Fendall, was an abolitionist and amember of the American Colonization Society.Fendall didn’t believe in racial equality, however, and

like other abolitionist Virginians supported a plan tosend former slaves back to Africa to the newlyfounded nation of Liberia. Documents from the homeshow that one man from the house, Henry Tate, didmake the journey to Liberia to seek a better life. Ropersays the museum was confused at first, because thedocument looked like a bill of sale to another familymember, but a handwritten note on the back notesthat Tate “has made his journey across the sea tofreedom.”

By 1850, 10 percent of Alexandria’s populationwere freed black citizens. One of them, Malvina Har-ris, was biracial and hired to look after two of thefamily daughters as a nurse. Harris couldn’t read orwrite, so Roper said opportunities for work werescarce. By 1850, the slave trade had been outlawedbut the fugitive slave law was in effect, so slave catch-ers regularly kidnapped freed black men and womenand sold them into slavery. Roper said a freed womanlike Harris attaching herself to a prominent localhome was one means of protection.

After the Civil War, Alexandria was still the sceneof outbursts of racial violence against the local blackcommunity, which had swelled during the war asescaped slaves from across the south fled north.However, by the time the Lees returned to the homein 1870, many of the Reconstruction programs de-signed to revive the economy and give newly freedblack citizens a chance at starting a new life had dis-appeared. Many were forced to return to work forthe same families that had owned them. Roper saidthere were very little records of employment in thehome.

In 1903, the home was sold to Robert Downham,a liquor dealer and eventually mayor, who made

New Lee-Fendall tourexamines the life of slavesand servants throughoutthe home’s history

Under theSame Roof

Amanda Roper leads a tour outside ofthe Lee-Fendall House

Pho

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by Verno

n M

iles /T

he G

azette

History

See New Tour, Page 18


News

Metropolitan School of the Arts (MSA) Perform-ing Arts Academy of Alexandria is hosting its openhouse on Friday, Jan. 26 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.with an opportunity to meet MSA staff. The openhouse is located at 5775 Barclay Road, Suite 4, inAlexandria. Visit www.metropolitanarts.org.

The Academy at Metropolitan School of the Arts isa college preparatory performing arts program for

emerging young artists, grades 7-12, who are dedi-cated to high-caliber academics and pre-professionalperforming arts education.

Founder and executive director, Melissa Dobbs, wasclassically trained at Duke Ellington School of theArts in Washington, D.C., George Mason Universityand the Royal Academy of Dance in London, whereshe became a registered teacher.

Students line up at the Metropolitan School of the Arts Performing Arts Academy.

Pho

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by Laura M

an

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Open House at Performing Arts Academy

Submit civic/community announce-ments at ConnectionNewspapers.com/Calendar. Photos and artwork welcome.Deadline is Thursday at noon, at least twoweeks before event.

FY 2019 SCHOOLS BUDGETFCPS Superintendent Scott S. Brabrand

presented the 2018-19 schoolyear (FY 2019) ProposedBudget at the School Board meetingon Thursday, Jan. 11. The SchoolBoard plans to hold a public hearingon the Proposed Budget on Jan. 29,with additional hearings on Jan. 30and Jan. 31, if needed. Get moreinformation on the FCPS budget atwww.fcps.edu/about-fcps/budget/fy2019.

THURSDAY/JAN. 25Planning Commission Embark

Public Hearing. 7:30 p.m. atFairfax County Government Center,12000 Government Center Parkway,Fairfax. Embark Richmond Highwayis an initiative focused on creating a

multimodal future for RichmondHighway Corridor where residents,workers, and visitors can walk, bike,or drive to the places they want togo. Visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/planning-zoning/embark-richmond-highway.

FRIDAY/JAN. 26Nomination Deadline. Nominations

are being accepted by the VirginiaDepartment of Transportation forVirginia’s 2017 Outstanding CrossingGuard of the Year. Parents, students,and teachers are welcome to submit anomination and photo online. Visitwww.fcps.edu/news/nominations-open-2017-virginia-outstanding-crossing-guard for more.

THURSDAY/FEB. 1Award Nomination Deadline. 5

p.m. The Fairfax County VolunteerService Awards is a community-widecelebration of volunteerism. For acomplete list of categories andguidelines, visit

www.volunteerfairfax.org or callKristen Moore at Volunteer Fairfax at703-246-3531.

Comment Period Closes. The publicis invited to share their perspectiveson the proposals with the ParkAuthority Board either at themeeting, via correspondence or byemail. Visit www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/feemeeting for more.

Registration Opens: Two-way andImmersion Programs. FairfaxCounty Public Schools’ (FCPS) onlineregistration for the county-widelottery. Current prekindergartenstudents may apply for thekindergarten immersion program andcurrent kindergarten students mayapply for the first grade immersionprograms for the 2018-19 schoolyear. Applications must be submittedby 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 1, forthe first grade immersion programand by 4 p.m. on Thursday, April 5,for the kindergarten immersionprogram. Visit www.fcps.edu/registration/world-language-immersion-programs-registration.

Bulletin Board

Donating for Toys for TotsKindergarten students from Chesterbrook Academy Preschool in Alexandria donatedfour boxes of gifts to benefit Toys for Tots, a gift drive run by the U.S. Marine CorpsReserve. Students delivered the toys on Dec. 15 to the offices of Tom & Cindy and Asso-ciates at Long & Foster. The donations were distributed to children in need in the com-munity in time for the holidays.


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

By KENNETH B. LOURIE

Not a reference to the iconic televisionseries of my youth, but there was “danger,”Ken Lourie, and it wasn’t caused by Dr.Zachary Smith nor by “robot,” (Robbie) either.And it wasn’t a conspiracy. It was simply aconfluence of absenteeism by my health careproviders. Both my oncologist and internalmedicine doctor were absent with leave andyours truly was caught in the crossfire, so tospeak. Let me provide some context to helpyou appreciate my dilemma.

I have chemotherapy every six weeks.Accordingly, I have lab work the Wednesdaybefore the Friday to check for anomalies –anomalies which over the years have occa-sionally delayed my infusion by up to twoweeks waiting for my body to settle. In theearly days of treatment, my white blood cellcount was crucial; too low and no treatment;too high, it was never too high. No treatmentand the cancer was left unchecked. Anincredibly stressful occurrence when yourtreatment is stopped. Whether or not a weekor two delay ultimately mattered in checkingthe cancer, it certainly mattered – emotionally,to the patient. You feel adrift, sort of, which isexactly how I felt during the first two weeks ofJanuary.

Typically, what my current lab work pre-sents is my creatinine level and the associatedglomular filtration rate, measuring kidneyfunction/efficiency. After nearly nine years ofinfused toxicity, I have suffered some collateraldamage to a major organ. My oncologist andinternal medicine doctor are incredibly sensi-tive and concerned about this damage. Perthese results, every medical decision madeconcerning me; from prescriptions approvedto “normal” internal medicine stuff to whetherI get “contrast” when I have my scans andMRIs to what chemotherapy drug I infuse andhow frequently its infused, is decided with mykidneys in mind. Nothing happens medicallyuntil my kidneys sign off on it, if you knowwhat I mean?

As it happened, my creatinine level for myJan. 12 infusion was higher than usual. Whenthis measure occurs, I know to call theInfusion Center and ask the head nurse if Ishould come in for treatment. She will contactmy oncologist and with his direction, willadvise me what to do, except for this week.My oncologist was away and though anotheroncologist – whom I’ve never met – was cov-ering, I’m not really sure she knows enoughabout my situation. Specifically that I’m a bitof a special case, per my oncologist’s owncharacterization of me, and I’ve never goneseven weeks, let alone eight weeks withouttreatment. Delaying my infusion would breaka multi-year precedent. In fact, around theholidays when I asked my oncologist if I couldextend my infusion interval from six to sevenweeks (to accommodate life), he emphaticallysaid “No.” Moreover (to complicate a cover-ing physician’s decision), my oncologist hasalso told me that if I were a new patient withcreatinine levels as chronically high as mine,he wouldn’t/couldn’t treat me until those lev-els reduced.

So not only was I in the middle of anunprecedented one to possibly two-weekdelay in my infusion, but I also needed anoncologist – who I don’t know and who does-n’t know me – to decide/make an excep-tion/maybe risk her medical license (if some-thing were to happen to me), to authorizetreatment for a patient whose creatinine levelsfall outside of protocol, and me not havingeither of my two primary-care physiciansavailable for consultation. And other than thedefault emails advising that both were out oftown, I had nowhere to go and no one to turnto.

Heck, I might as well have been onanother planet, given the limited choices Ihad.

Lost inSpace

From Page 10

Opinion

mittee, I was happy to see my fellow com-mittee members advance the bill on a deci-sive 12-3 vote.

A flurry of orange cards has appeared onmy desk this week, giving notice that thisor that bill will soon be considered in com-mittee. Some proposals have been appear-ing on that desk, in one form or another,for several years. Fourteen years in the Gen-eral Assembly have granted me somelonger-term perspective, however, andwhile I have seen many of my proposalsbecome law, others require persistent efforteach year. Once again, I have introducedlegislation to decriminalize marijuana,which has steadily gained more allies, in-cluding several Republicans this year. Mybill would make people who possess smallamounts of marijuana subject to an esca-lating fine, from $50 to $250 per violation,rather than a criminal record.

Over three town hall meetings this pastweekend, I was able to hear a multitude ofquestions and concerns on pending legisla-tion. Your valuable input on issues rangingfrom disability waivers and education, toMetro and non-partisan redistricting, wasinformative and engaging. On Saturday, Iwill be in Alexandria and Arlington for twomore town hall meetings. I hope that youwill join us.

AlexandriaSaturday, Jan. 27, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m., Mount

Vernon Community School, 2601 CommonwealthAve., with Del. Mark Levine.

ArlingtonSaturday, Jan. 27, 1:30 – 3:30 p.m., Walter Reed

Community Center, 2909 16th Street S., with Del.eAlfonso Lopez.

Please consider following me on Twitter@AdamEbbin, liking my facebook page atfacebook.com/ebbincampaign, emailingyour views to me [email protected], and takingmy survey at www.AdamEbbin.com/Survey.

It is my continued honor to serve thepeople of the 30th District.

Long View

notes at the time of having difficulties em-ploying servants to staff the large home.Roper said at the time, new generations ofblack youth had begun to push for job op-portunities beyond housework, leading towhat Downham and others called “the ser-vant problem.” Life outside the Lee-FendallHouse was beginning to change as well. Thefirst sit-in occurred at the Queen Street Li-brary, setting the stage for future civil rightsaction. By 1937, Downham was forced tosell the home, this time to labor leader JohnLewis.

Lewis’ ownership of the home was the endof its servant days. John Lewis was assistedby a chauffeur and bodyguard named JamesLewis, who became a trusted friend of JohnLewis and his right-hand man.

The “Under the Same Roof” tour will behosted on Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. Tickets in ad-vance are $8 or $12 at the door.

New TourFrom Page 16


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