Falls Church News & Notes

Congratulations to City Council Member David F. Snyder who was recently named Northern Virginia Transportation Authority Chair. With that title, he will head up all of NVTA’s meetings and all NVTA resolutions would bear his signature. Falls Church Mayor Daniel E. Gardner designated Council Member Snyder to the NVTA in February of 2003 due to his experience in the region’s transportation initiatives representing City Council on several regional transportation planning agencies. Among those he served on: the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments Transportation Planning Board.

More from the kudos department, congrats to Matthew Molaski (George Mason High School Class of 2000) received his Associates Degree in Culinary Arts from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York on May 27. He is currently working at Café Saint-Ex in D.C. (1847 14th St.), but will return to the Culinary Institute in August to pursue his Bachelors degree.

James M. Perry III has successfully navigated the labyrinth of collegiate academia and graduated from McDaniel College on May 22.

Further north, Todd A. H. Greenwood of Falls Church attained his bachelor of arts degree. He graduated magna cum laude with a double major in government and Spanish. He minored in economics.

Bryan Montanio (George C. Marshall High School), Dione-Marianne Brigola (Falls Church High School), and Andrew Montgomery (Falls Church) have been named Virginia Tech Pamplin Leaders. They will each be awarded a one-year $1,000 scholarship for their efforts. The award is presented annually to one student at each Virginia public high school attending Virginia Tech.

How do you top off a season when you win a State Soccer Championship? How about taking part in a ceremony honoring your achievement at RFK Stadium? The D.C. United will honor the State Champion boys and girls soccer teams of George Mason High School this Saturday, July 17 at 7:30. What’s sick is that that best player on the United is younger than every member of both Mason teams. Go see the Mustangs and then watch Freddy Adu take it to the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Stuart High School has been named the recipient of the International Baccalaureate North America Inspiration Award. Principal Mel Riddile will accept the award at the IB North America Conference July 18.

The canvas may be a small one, but soon the entire nation will be able to view the work of Falls Church’s Phil Jordan. Jordan served as the Art Director, Designer and Typographer for the new stamp by the U.S. Postal Service commemorating author James Baldwin (Go Tell It on the Mountain, The Fire Next Time), one of the foremost writers during the civil rights period. The stamp features a portrait of Baldwin painted by illustrator Thomas Blackshear II of Colorado Springs.

After a long tenure of service with Christ Crossman United Methodist Church, Bev Laub has retired. Known as the “voice” of the church to those who called while she served as its secretary, Bev was given a fine send off on Friday, July 2. Her friends at CCUMC will miss her greatly, particularly her gentle humor and genuine compassion.

Graduation isn’t limited for those who have spend ridiculous amounts of time in Home Room and Phys. Ed. On June 18 Easter Seals Child Development Center of Northern Virginia watched as their four- and five-year-olds took their first step towards Kindergarten. In front of proud parents and emotional teachers the students completed their final year of pre-school. Check out the newest graduates in their caps and gowns in the picture. College is just around the corner.

A week later, Easter Seals Child Development Center of Northern Virginia held their second annual Summer Picnic at Cherry Hill Park. Complete with a Moon Bounce trampoline, bubbles, and a karaoke machine (you can never start training too eaerly for American Idol) concluded a great school year for the Center. Under the leadership of Center Director Ghezal Zekrya, the parents were engaged in creating a fun and food filled afternoon for the kids.

Volunteers of any age are needed to help with events at the 2004 Northern Virginia Senior Olympics September 18-30. Events will be held in Alexandria, Annandale, Arlington, Dumfries, Falls Church, Franconia and Sterling. For information and to sign up, call Lisa Herr at 703-670-7112, ext. 225.

Central Michigan University is holding registration for its Washington classes July 19-30. For information on enrolling 877-679-1268.

Delegate Bob Hull (D-Falls Church) is shown with Jackie Bong-Wright, Ms. Senior Virginian for 2004, after recently receiving the Freedom Fighter of the Year award from the National Congress of Vietnamese-Americans for his successful efforts to enact legislation to have the flag of the former Republic of Vietnam officially recognized by Virginia as the Vietnamese-American Heritage Flag.

The CARDINALS, an 11/12-year old team in Arlington Little League completed its season with a pool-party celebration during the last week of June. News-Press Staff Reporter Mike Hume (back row-right) acted as an assistant coach for the team, along with Daniel Chang (back row-center). Head Coach Jim Linkins (back row-left) led the team through a character-building season. While there weren’t as many positive marks in the win column as the team would have liked, there were plenty of positives on the field in terms of learning the game of baseball, as well as many a valuable life-lesson along the way. With a solid core of returning 11-year-olds, the Cardinals are poised next year for a vengeful run at the championship that eluded them this season. Members of the team from left to right: Charlie Peterson, John Todd, Troy Miller, Josh Cummins, Charlie Vitale, Michael Yuhas, Sean Cassidy, Billy Bunting, John Guerci and Eli Fannon. Unable to attend and not pictured are Nicholas Blank and Andrew D’Addario.