News and Notes

Volunteers Needed

Opportunities, Alternatives & Resources (OAR) of Fairfax County is currently seeking volunteers to conduct one-to-one mentoring sessions with inmates and teach classes in the jail. Volunteers can also work with families of offenders during visiting hours in the Adult Detention Center. Special skills are not required. Contact the volunteer department at (703) 246-3033.

F.C. Collegians Prove Their Smarts … Again!

Hannah Graff, a graduate of McLean High School, and Megan Mitchell, a graduate of J.E.B. Stuart High School, have been named to the Dean’s List for the fall semester at The College of Wooster. Each achieved a grade point average of 3.5 or above.

David J. Andrews of Falls Church. David, a graduate of George Mason High School has been named to the Merit list at Kenyon College for the first semester of the 2004-2005 academic year for earning a grade-point average of at least 3.45.

Justin Woodward from Falls Church has been named to the Dean’s List for the Fall 2004 semester as a result of his academic performance at the Appalachian School of Law.

Meanwhile the Georgia Institute of Technology has announced that Bryan Angelo and Mariel Friberg of Fairfax, and Brandon Friloux of Falls Church have made the Dean’s List.

In news out of West Point, Cadet Thomas Berry of Falls Church was named to the Dean’s List at the U.S. Military Academy. Having spent many a semester on the Dean’s List, Elizabeth Twentyman of Falls Church, a junior at Washington and Lee University has been elected into the school’s Gamma of Virginia Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa. Congratulations on that achievement.

Mission on the Mercy

Kimberly Peake of Falls Church has embarked on a mission of mercy on board the aptly-named USNS Mercy to aid the survivors of the December Tsunami. Peake, a nurse at Aspen Medical, joined more than 90 Project HOPE medical volunteers aboard the vessel. The Mercy arrived on site Feb. 1 and will begin providing medical assistance as soon as possible.

Softball Registration Still Swinging

Mail-in registration for the 2005 Vienna Girls Softball League spring season will continue through March 13. Forms and additional information may be obtained at www.vgsl.org and at the Vienna Community Center lobby. Girls in Vienna and surrounding communities are invited to play in Tee-ball, Coach Pitch , 10U, 12U and senior divisions.

Certamen Consummatum Est

The Falls Church High School Level I-A Latin Team placed second at the Broadneck Certamen in Annapolis, MD this past Feb. 12, repeating their second place finish at the Flint Hill Certamen in early January. For the unenlightened, “certamen” mean’s “contest” in Latin. Yeah, we didn’t know that either. Students in these events are called on to demonstrate their knowledge of the Latin language, mythology, and Roman history and culture. The team is comprised of Lorraine Harbison, Yvonne Yee, Zach Jensen and Alex Pham. They were accompanied and tutored by their teacher, Paul Perrot of Falls Church.

Give Blood, Get Breakfast

Feb. 19 there will be a blood drive at Kemper-Macon Ware Lodge #64, located at 411 Little Falls St., Falls Church from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Breakfast will be provided to donors.

Pulitzer-Winning Journalist Speaks at Don Beyer Volvo

On Thursday, at Don Beyer Volvo in the City of Falls Church, Washington-born Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Edward P. Jones gave a reading of his novel The Known World. The novel, which confronts slavery in antebellum Virginia, has gained Jones recognition earning him both the Pulitzer Prize and a nomination for a National Book award.

Reading through sections of his book, Jones described the lives of slaves, and free black men captured and returned to slavery, after legally receiving their freedom, the simple writing style highlighting in stark relief the profound impact that the institution had on the lives of those living within its confines.

After the reading, Jones took questions from the audience, which filled nearly every seat in the Beyer showroom. Jones admitted that while The Known World tells a story of slave history, he ended up doing very little research on the subject. He said that, had he done a thorough study of the cultural artifacts of that time period, he would have felt compelled to include all the factual details. “The research would have highlighted the facts,” he said.

Though, it’s not to say that Jones didn’t try. He had planned to scour historical records in order to write with historical clarity. But he felt that the more he looked into the research, the less he felt connected to his story. “You make it up, that’s the best answer I could ever give you,” Jones told the audience. After a losing the struggle of compiling a wealth of historical information, Jones decided to let the story tell itself. “I thought I would write the book that was in my head.” Jones said. “My job was simply to produce the lives, and the intelligence of the readers would produce the rest,” Jones said.