Community News & Notes: June 24 – 30, 2010

F.C. TV Holds Photography & Filmmaking Contest

Falls Church City TV and Falls Church City Schools are teaming up for the first annual Bob Morrison Student Photo and Video Contest in memory of longtime board member, Morrison, who passed away July 12 at the age of 71.

FORMER FALLS CHURCH MAYOR Dan Gardner (right) was honored at a formal retirement ceremony including remarks by U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Clifford L. Stanley (left) which was held at the Pentagon last month. Gardner served as the City’s mayor from 2000-2006. He was the Pentagon’s Director of the Readiness and Training Policy and Programs Directorate and a member of the Senior Executive Service in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. (Courtesy Photo)

F.C. TV Holds Photography & Filmmaking Contest

Falls Church City TV and Falls Church City Schools are teaming up for the first annual Bob Morrison Student Photo and Video Contest in memory of longtime board member, Morrison, who passed away July 12 at the age of 71.

Open to students grades K – 12 as of the 2009-2010 school year who live or attend school in the City of Falls Church, the contest will offer the $250 Bob Morrison prize to the winner of each category.

Students can submit still photographs or videos illustrating the theme “Falls Church City – My Hometown.” A three-person judging panel will evaluate submissions based on creativity, theme and quality.

All entries must be received by 5 p.m. on Sept. 24. For more information and entry requirements for the contest, visit the Falls Church City Television website at www.fcctv.com.

Delegate Kory Holds Open Office Hours

Delegate Kaye Kory will be holding open office hours on Saturday, June 26 from 10 a.m. – noon at the James Lee Community Center (2855-A Annandale Rd., Falls Church) meeting room and on Thursday, July 1 from 1 – 3 p.m. at the Woodrow Wilson Library (6101 Knollwood Dr., Falls Church) conference room.

Appointments are not necessary, but can be arranged by contacting Susan Southworth at 703-354-6024 or by sending an e-mail to DelKKory@house.virginia.gov.

FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS founder and owner, Nicholas F. Benton (right), was honored Tuesday night by the Falls Church School Board, which nominated him for the Media Honor Roll of the Virginia School Boards Association for 2010. Benton also was named for the same honor in 1998 (see Editorial, Page 6 of this edition). Here, he’s shown with School Board Chair Ron Peppe. Also honored were George Bromley and Annette Hennessey of the Falls Church Times blog. (Photo: News-Press)

F.C. Resident Celebrates 90th Birthday

Dot Fernald, 60-year resident of Falls Church, recently celebrated her 90th birthday at her home with her two children, Linda and Carol, and their spouses.

Kaye Leads F.C. Artist’s Roundtable at ArtSpace

Cathy Kaye will discuss the art of lampwork beadmaking at this week’s Artists’ Roundtable tonight, Thursday, June 24, at 7 p.m. This event is free and open to all, and is being hosted at ArtSpace Falls Church (410 S. Maple Ave., Falls Church). Free parking is available in the garage.

Kaye has been a glass beadmaker, also known as a lampworker, since 1996. She has been featured in the coffee-table book “1,000 Glass Beads” and has had beads on display in the National Bead Museum. Her work has also been featured in local stores and in many trunk shows. For more information, visit www.fallschurcharts.org.

F.C. Government Buildings Reduce Office Hours

Starting July 1, the Falls Church City government hours will be changed due to budget cuts that also caused reduced staff.

Dogma Bakery (2772 S. Arlington Mill Dr., Arlington) held a retirement ceremony to honor Thor, a City of Falls Church canine patrol officer. Budget cuts to led to the termination of its canine department, sending Thor into early retirement. Rather than be donated to the Fairfax Police as was originally planned, Thor was returned to Bob Young, who originally donated him to the Falls Church police, who then gave ownership of Thor to his handler, Officer Jane Moreno. (Photo: Courtesy Elise Gebauer)

The Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls St., Falls Church) will close at 10 p.m. instead of 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. On Friday and Saturday, it will close at 11 p.m. instead of Midnight.

The permit counter hours for building and grading permits and land use applications will be 8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The Mary Riley Styles Public Library (120 N. Virginia Ave., Falls Church) will now be closed on Sundays, though the hours on days it is open will remain the same. The Local History Room will only be open 1 – 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 1 – 5 p.m. on Saturdays.

Budget cuts have also caused the library to cancel 15 magazine subscriptions and four electronic database subscriptions and cause a reduction in the purchase of other new materials. The Library Board of Trustees is accepting cash donations to help support the library and the Mary Riley Styles Public Library Foundation Trust is accepting tax deductible gifts. Additional details about the budget cuts can be found at www.fallschurchva.gov/library.

Two F.C. Holocaust Survivors Hold Art Exhibition

Irene Arwat and Azriel Arwat, two Falls Church artists and survivors of the Holocaust, held an exhibition titled “L’Chayim” on Father’s Day at ArtSpace Herndon (750 Center St., Herndon). Their paintings, sculptures and books can be found internationally in galleries and museums, including six sculptures created by Azriel on display at George Mason University (4400 University Dr., Fairfax).

F.C. Resident Graduates From NMH

Pinthip Huynh of Falls Church graduated from Northfield Mount Hermon (NMH) on May 23 at the private boarding school’s 127th commencement exercises.

NVSO Announces Registration, Event Line-Up

It was announced Monday, June 21 that the Northern Virginia Senior Olympics (NVSO) 2010 senior Olympics will be held Sept. 18 – 29 at Thomas Jefferson Community Center (3501 S. 2nd St., Arlington), with opening-day ceremonies beginning at 10:30 a.m.

The event is for seniors who are 50 years of age by Dec. 1 and will be comprised of 25 events, including two new events this year: bocce and fencing. In addition to traditional Olympic events, activities such as bowling, board games and card games will be included.

The deadline for registration is Sept. 1. Registration includes a $10 entry fee for the first event and $1 for each additional event. Registration forms can be found at senior centers, senior residences and www.nvso.com. For more information, call 703-228-3600, ext. 9996.

Congressman Moran Holds Federal Job Fair

From 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. on Monday, June 28, Congressman Jim Moran will put on a Federal Jobs Fair at T.C. Williams High School (3330 King St., Alexandria). Kim Bauhs, assistant director of recruitment of diversity for USAJobs, will be present as keynote speaker. Due to limitations in space, the job fair will only be open to residents of Virginia’s 8th Congressional District.

Representatives from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the Bureau of Prisons, the Census Bureau, the Congressional Budget Office, the Federal Aviation Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Transportation Security Administration, the United States Citizen and Immigration Services, the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, the State Department, the Treasury and the United States Secret Service will be present to answer questions about applying for and securing a job with the federal government.

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