Falls Church News & Notes

The Competition Swim Clinic is now accepting enrollment for its 2004-05 classes. The clinic consists of once a week classes running from October to mid-June covering all four competitive strokes. The program accommodates all skill levels from Novice through Elite. Interested parties should contact Lou Sharp at 703-931-1229. These guys will have you swimming like Michael Phelps in no time.

For those looking well into the future, circle Nov. 6 on your calendar. That’s the date of the Abigail Alliance Precious Gems Gala. The event will be held at the Tantallon Country Club and the 2004 Honorary Chair will be Emmy-winning newscaster Leon Harris. The Abigail Alliance is an advocacy organization working for better access to developmental drugs, named after Abigail Burroughs a George Mason High School student who succumbed to cancer in 2001. For more information visit www.abigail-alliance.org.)

Representative Jim Moran (D – Va.) will be on hand to interview Veterans’ sharing their personal stories for the Veterans Oral History Project Friday, August 20 at 11 a.m. at the Hollin Hall Senior Center. The project, started by the Library of Congress’ American Folklife Center, chronicles the first hand accounts of veterans who have served this nation during wartime. Many of the interviews will air on Cox Channel 35 and Fairfax County Channel 16 later this fall.

George Mason University Adjunct Professor Karen L. Bune received a certificate of appreciation from the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Special Programs, Office for Victims of Crime for her work on behalf of crime victims. Bune also recently received a similar award from Peddlers for Peace for her support of homicide survivors.

Anne Norland, a student at Haycock Elementary in Falls Church is part of the choral ensemble of the World Premier of The Enchantment of Dreams as part of the Washington Opera’s Opera Camp. The opera was a written by the team of composer Cary John Franklin and librettist Michael Patrick Albano, known for another popular children’s opera The Thunder of Horses. The camp which started on July 19 and ends with the performance at The Roundhouse Theater in Bethesda on August 14 and 15, makes it a goal of presenting the world of opera to kids. Members of the opera camp take part in all the aspects of putting on an opera including making props and helping compose rhythmic phrases for the production.

Along with getting first-hand experience about opera, the campers attended private voice lessons, yoga for singers, performance strategies, craft workshop, opera history, character development, and even make-up classes.

The program is meant to promote the musical education for the students and to increase the awareness of opera in the community.

Performances will be held at the Roundhouse Theater in Bethesda, August 14 and 15, at Noon and 2:00 p.m. Tickets are free, but must be reserved ahead of time by calling 202-448-3465.

The News-Press would like to congratulate Drew Maier for making the Dean’s List for the Spring semester at the University of Virginia, proving once and for all that he works just as hard on campus as he does in the News-Press offices.

ON A FACT-FINDING MISSION to Southern California last weekend, News-Press' Nicholas Benton (left) scoped out the Dugout Club digs at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles with brother and fellow investigator Chris Benton, sister-in-law Judy and nephew Travis. (News-Press photo)