Letters to the Editor

Thanks to All Who Helped GM Grads Go All Night

Editor,

The 16th annual George Mason High School PTSA All-Night Graduation Celebration was a rousing success. Our newest graduates and their families have expressed nothing but praise for this drug and alcohol-free event.

We would like to thank all the teachers, parents, and community members who volunteered their time and effort to make this wonderful celebration happen. In addition, businesses and individuals who donated prizes, refreshments, funding and services are acknowledged in our ad in this edition of this newspaper.

Once again, our community has come together to create something extraordinary, an evening the Class of 2004 will never forget.

Renee Andrews, Connie Corbino, Karen Gould, ANGC Co-chairs, Sharon Schoeller, PTSA President

Another Lot Of Commerical Land Lost

Editor,

Another council meeting, another commercially zoned property bites the dust.

The recent Council decision to allow residential development of the commercial property owned by the fire department continues to demonstrate the direction of our city's development "plan." To add further insult to injury, the city voluntarily gave up a half an acre of potential park land, proffered to the city years ago to make up for loss of pervious surface in construction of the new fire house parking lot. Now this land too will be lost to development.

We seem to be caught up in a tidal wave of residential development. When will it stop? What commercial area, however small, will next be considered for high density residential or mixed use development? Will we start to encroach on other park land? When will we stop bending to the pressure of the regional residential housing shortage and start designing a commercial development plan to serve our community needs?

We must be cautious with our zeal for rezoning land. It will be difficult to convert residential property to commercial when the winds of development shift than it is to convert commercial property to residential.

Gordon Theisz, Falls Church

Choralis’ Another Cultural Gem For F.C.

Editor,

Wow! A week before the fourth Gretchen Kuhrmann delivered some fireworks to Woodson High School with her Falls Church community choir, Choralis. The orchestra was hot, the soloists were hot, and the choir was hot.

The performance of Carl Orff's "Carmina Burana" was powerful and thrilling. The music filled the auditorium and the ears, heads, and chests of the impressively numerous audience. The orchestra (where did they come from?) was solidly professional. The quality soloist brought personality to their interpretations and were obviously enjoying themselves. And the choir - I was blown away at how seasoned they sounded after only four years of making music together and blown away again when I saw at the ticket table in the foyer six cd's for sale. How does a volunteer choir manage six cd's in four years!? That's a good trick.

Ms. Kuhrmann must be a very talented performance leader. In addition, she also directs a summer festival workshop for young singers who last Saturday were rocking note for difficult note alongside the adult Choralis choristers. Mr. Orff, an early twentieth century visionary music educator would have been proud. Brava.

Choralis is another cultural gem of which Falls Church can be proud.

Dennis West, Falls Church