Letter: Sleep Deprived
My name is Andrew and I am in 7th grade at South County Middle School. I am contacting you today about an important issue: FCPS high school start times. Because of where I live, I would have to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to get to the bus stop. I feel sleep deprived now waking up at 6:30 a.m. I would lose another hour in high school. I understand that the FCPS school board is considering a change in the start time. I am all for this change. It has been proven that sleep deprived teens get worse grades and are more accident-prone while driving. If the start time gets pushed back, FCPS students will be happier, safer, and they will get better grades. Please join me in support of pushing high school start times back.
Locals Donate to Toys for Tots
Implementing an idea from Phil Williams of the Clifton-Hoadly-Area-Pancake-Society, Gary Binge (president of the Kena Shrine Antique Car Club in Fairfax) and Clifton’s Jim Chesley co-chaired the first annual NoVA Cruise & Collection of Toys for Tots.
Field Trip Grant Program Exposes Children to Nature
Grant brings local elementary and middle schools to Hemlock Overlook Regional Park in Clifton.
The Dominion Foundation’s grant of $10,000 to the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority will allow for children from local elementary and middle schools to attend field trips at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park in Clifton as part of the Field Trip Grant Program.
Delegates Make Predictions for 2014
Q&A with delegates David Bulova (D-37) and Eileen Filler-Corn (D-41).
Q: What were some successes in 2013? A: The big one from last year was transportation, and it would be great to keep that momentum going into 2014. I see 2014 as being a potentially very productive year and a way to differentiate Virginia from the federal government and the gridlock we are seeing up there.
Benny is Back!
Arriving soon for your entertainment.
Jack Benny was a classic comedian of stage, screen, radio and television. He spanned decades and generations. He is even considered a forerunner of what is now called situation comedy. Some suggest that the comic styles of Jerry Seinfeld and Kelsey Grammar ("Frasier") have Benny-like qualities. Soon there will be a golden opportunity to see him again. Well, not "the" Jack Benny, but award-winning actor Tim Newell in a one-man performance of "Mister Benny" at the Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia in a production for all audiences, non-members and members alike.
Fairfax Symphony Orchestra Promises ‘Intense, Personal, Intimate Experience’
Concerts at GMU’s Harris Theater to celebrate the 100th birthday of Benjamin Britten.
Have you heard? The next performance of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (FSO) chamber series, will be in a special location; the Harris Theater at George Mason University.
South County Boys' Basketball Edges Langley
Stallion coach Hess faces former school in Holiday classic
South County beat Langley during the Mount Vernon holiday tournament.
Spiritual Wellness in the New Year
What is it and how does one achieve it?
As we begin a new year, many are focused on their spiritual health and well-being. In fact, the National Wellness Institute names spiritual wellness as one of the seven dimensions of overall wellness. It’s essential in life, say experts.
Cures for Cabin Fever
Creative ideas for housebound parents and children.
Winter brings frigid temperatures, icy roads, snow and often school closures. While sledding and building snowmen are fun, hazardous weather conditions mean much of the time is spent indoors, and soon the novelty of time off can become cabin fever. Local child education experts offer activity suggestions for filling those long winter days. Susan Friedman, executive editor for digital content at the National Association for the Education of Young Children and a Bethesda resident, suggests parents encourage a child’s natural curiosity. "In the same way that school classrooms have activity centers, parents can create boxes that focus on different activities like playing dress up with clothes, hats and neckties," she said. "You can create a box with art supplies and a box with games or puzzles."
In Defense of My Own Mechanism
So much of what I feel as a cancer survivor comes from the feedback I receive from others. Positive, complimentary, flattering characterizations are crucial to my optimistic outlook. Negative descriptions, reactions, etc., are not. Not to discount honesty, but the emotional divide on which a cancer patient’s self-assessment/attitude teeters is delicate indeed and honesty is sometimes (I said "sometimes") not the best policy. If I’m in the right mood, negativity can be deflected, absorbed even; not a problem. If I’m in the wrong mood, however, the negative can push me into a black hole of emotional despair. Regardless of whether the comment/observation is well-intended, accurate or even prudent under the circumstances, its effect can be deeply felt. Getting back to normal is not impossible and mostly within my control, but if it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not have to claw my way out.
Editorial: Looking to Hear from Readers in New Year
As local, weekly newspapers, the Connection’s mission is to deliver news readers need close to home, to help readers enjoy great local places and events, to advocate for community good, to call attention to unmet needs, to provide a forum for dialogue on local concerns, and to celebrate and record milestones and events in community and people’s lives. To succeed at any of that, we need your help.
Clifton, Fairfax Station and Lorton Home Sales: November, 2013
Clifton, Fairfax Station and Lorton Home Sales: November, 2013
Classified Advertising December 25, 2013
Read the latest ads here!
Children's Connection 2013
Annual children's issue showcases artistic talent of local students.
We asked principals and teachers from local schools to encourage students to contribute their stories and artwork for our annual Children's Issue. The responses as always, was enormous. While we were unable to publish every piece we received, we did our best to put together a paper of a balanced sampling of submitted stories, poems, drawings, paintings and photographs
Laura Angela Marcantonio, Ryan Lee Stiles Engaged
Mr. and Mrs. Palmer Marcantonio of Virginia Beach are happy to announce the engagement of their daughter, Laura Angela, to Ryan Lee Stiles. Ryan is the son of Ms. Audrey Stiles of Williamsburg and Mr. Ronald Stiles of Virginia Beach.
What More Could FBI Want?
Virginia leaders tout merits of Springfield site for FBI HQ relocation.
A high-ranking delegation of Virginia politicians gathered in Springfield Tuesday morning in a renewed effort to convince the Federal Bureau of Investigation to relocate its headquarters to a warehouse site in Springfield. The move in the high-stakes, highly competitive regional competition comes after site selection guidelines eliminated almost all other Northern Virginia locations.
In Harmony With Celebration Singers
Springfield show choir has been going strong 40 years.
The all-volunteer Celebration Singers performed their final holiday concert of the year on Sunday, Dec. 15 at St. John’s United Methodist Church in Springfield. The group started at Springfield Methodist Church in the 1960s by the name of the Wesleyan Singers. Some of the ladies have been singing together for 40-plus years. And through the years, membership has reached 66 people, but has since dwindled to 18.
A Year in a Fast Lane
2013 was a big year for transportation projects in Northern Virginia.
Construction dominated the scenery on I-95/395 between Garrisonville Road (Route 610) in Stafford County and Turkeycock Park near Edsall Road in the north as the 95 Express Lanes project crews advanced work in the 29-mile construction corridor keeping the project on-track to open to traffic in early 2015.
Food Assistance Cuts Affecting Locals
Cuts to the food stamp program are hitting local beneficiaries and food banks.
Melinda Anderson, 50, of Alexandria is feeling the extra pinch to her federally-subsidized food budget. "I have had to eat less and hit up more food banks in the area just to survive," she said while collecting her monthly food allotment from the Fairfax-based food-bank Food for Others. "I’m visiting three [food banks] a month now."
Backwards Thinking
Considering that I’ve been cancer-centric now for nearly five years, one would have thought I might have learned and totally embraced an alternative concept: forward living – and less thinking about past causes and their possible current effects. Certainly cancer causes physical manifestations and symptoms that are diagnosable and indicative of trouble. But it’s the unseen effects that in some cases cause as many difficulties. What I am referring to is the mental and emotional toll a terminal diagnosis and short term prognosis can have on the patient’s perspective on life and living, and what’s presumptively thought to be left of it.