Leaving McLean Day
5 p.m. People only allowed to leave not enter. Police report no incidences. Perfect day for family fun. Election results from McLean Community Center race should be available later in the evening.
3:30 p.m. Traffic moving but bumper-to-bumper on Chain Bridge Road between Westmoreland and Great Falls — about three-quarters of a mile. Fairfax police doing a great job of keeping traffic moving on Chain Bridge in front of Lewinsville Park. Continue reading
By Bobbi Bowman, The McLean Ear
MCLEAN, VA – A committee of the McLean Community Center board met behind closed doors Tuesday night to discuss their decades-long partnership with the McLean Project for the Arts whose gallery and studio are located in the Community Center.
MPA runs the Center’s Visual Arts program and pays a yearly fee of about $20,000 for 2000 square feet of space, under their 21-year-old agreement. Continue reading
Tuesday May 11, Noon, McLean Rotary, Jan Scruggs, father of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. Lutheran Church of the Redeemer
1545 Chain Bridge Road Fellowship Hall.
7 pm. McLean Project for the Arts, Spring fundraiser . Gov. Robert McDonnell, guest of honor. Contact: streanor@mpaart.org or call 703-790-1953.
7 pm. Kent Gardens PTA Meeting, Media Center.
7 pm. McLean Community Players Auditions for Little Women, The Musical, McLean Committee Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave.
7:30pm. Chesterbrook Elementary School PTA Meeting.
Wednesday May 12, 7:30 am. Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce, Breakfast Series, Converting to a green business.
7:30 pm. McLean Community Center Program Committee, McLean Committee Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave.
7 p.m. Old Firehouse Teen Center, Open House for Rising 7th-Graders
Thursday, May 13, Churchill Rd. Elementary PTA, Exploratory Arts Room.
Friday, May 14, 7:30 pm, Spring Hill Elementary, Family Astronomy Night, Turner Farm.
Saturday, May 15, McLean Day, Lewinsville Park, 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Residents will elect four adults and two students members to the McLean Community Center board that oversees the center’s $17.4 million in funds and its operations. Lewinsville Park, 1659 Chain Bridge Rd.
Youth candidates, one from the McLean High School boundary area and one from the Langley High School boundary area. Youth candidates do not have to attend these schools to serve on the board. Absentee ballots through Wednesday, May 12. Residents may pick up an absentee ballot package at the Center’s reception desk, or may call the Center at 703-790-0123, TTY: 711, or send a request by E-mail, to have the package mailed to their homes. Completed ballots must be received by the Center by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 12.
11 am. Claude Moore Colonial Farm, Market Fair. Continues thru Sunday.
Sunday May 16, 3 pm. Doug Berky presents Gems: The World’s Wisdom Stories, McLean Committee Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave.
Monday, May 17, 7:30 pm. McLean High PTSA.
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Put a Smile on Someone’s Face – Maybe Even Your Own
Help make Vinson Hall Retirement Community’s “Fun Fest 2010” a success by volunteering your time.
The Fun Fest is June 5th from 10am to 4pm at Vinson Hall, which is located at 6251 Old Dominion Dr.
Vinson Hall is looking for people willing to work two-hour shifts running a game booth, selling tickets, or staffing one of the stands selling tasty treats.
In addition to games and food, there will be plenty of entertainment including the Fairfax Youth Symphonic Orchestra, Bach to Rock, the McLean Presbyterian Choir, and the Vinson Hall Vixens Dance Ensemble.
The rain date is June 12. To volunteer, contact Phil DuBois at (703) 538-2994 or philipd@vinsonhall.org.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged mclean, mclean high school, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean Virginia, va
If you have $225 to spend and an empty spot on your social calendar Tuesday night, you might want to attend the Spring Benefit of the McLean Project for the Arts.
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell, a Republican is the guest of honor for the cocktail/garden party along with an estimated 300 – 400 other folks supporting the arts. Gov. Thomas Kaine, a Democrat, was the guest of honor last year. Continue reading
Posted in Community
Tagged Gov. Robert McDonnell, mclean, McLean Project for the Arts, McLean Va, McLean Virginia, va
Shoppers at the 24th annual Pleasant Grove Day spring fair at the former church at 8642 Lewinsville Rd, just west of Spring Hill Road.
The 24th annual Pleasant Grove Day spring fair at the former church on Lewinsville Rd, just west of Spring Hill Road united the black folks who grew up there, the largely white folks who saved the church and the shoppers who came to support it.
“Historic Pleasant Grove Church is a landmark with a once-humble history nestled in now prosperous McLean, Virginia,” says the website of the coalition that now cares for the church. Continue reading
By Bobbi Bowman, The McLean Ear
MCLEAN, VA – “I really don’t like talking to adults,” said Mary Roberts, of McLean High School, one of two teachers honored as Outstanding Teacher of the Year by the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce Thursday.
Each year the Chamber honors two teachers and two outstanding business students from McLean and Langley High Schools. The other honorees: Matthew Howard, physics teacher and Caitlin Cox, a student, both from Langley, and Kristina Bettner, a student at McLean. Continue reading
McLean has two symbols of spring: The azaleas which have bloomed, awed and vanished. The McLean Farmers Market which opens at 8 tomorrow morning in Lewinsville Park on Chain Bridge Road.
The McLean market, one of 12 county-supervised outdoor markets, brings thousands of county residents homegrown fruits, vegetables, flowers, herbs and homemade bakery goods. The McLean market, started in 1980, is the second oldest in the county. Fairfax is one year older.
“I go with my mom,” said Zeima Habal, who grew up in McLean and now lives in Vienna. “It’s a nice way to spend time with her,” she said.
Her Farmers Market favorite: “There’s a Turkish woman who makes phyllo and cheese pies called borek.”
Sarah Decker, of McLean, said, “I love the wholesomeness of shopping outside, early on a summer Friday morning, from local vendors. I’m a wholehearted supporter of “buying local” as much as possible. The McLean Farmers Market is just the right size for me to breeze through on my way to work and stock up on seasonal fruits and vegetables.”
The purpose of the farmers markets from Lorton to Herndon: To provide citizens the opportunity to purchase locally grown/produced agricultural products. To provide local farmers and producers with a direct market for their products.
The sellers: They must be directly engaged in the growth, production of the products sold. All products . . . will be grown or produced by the vendor. Re-selling is prohibited.
The products: All items sold must be grown or produced by the vendor within 125 miles of Fairfax County. Any vendor who sells items that he/she has not grown or produced within these limits will be expelled from all Fairfax County Markets, according to the Fairfax County Park Authority which supervises the markets.
“My wife usually goes every week. There is an Amish family with fresh meat, eggs and baked goods, “ said Vance Zavela, of McLean. “They used to have the best carrot muffins but they stopped. They were the best I’ve ever had.”
If you want to go: McLean Farmers Market, 1659 Chain Bridge Rd, Lewinsville Park.
When: 8 a.m. – Noon, every Friday, May 7 – Nov. 19.
Vendors
American Rose Services-cut roses/potted plants
Country Gardens-plants/herbs
Emine’s Baklava & Börek -savory & sweet desserts
G. Flores Produce-
produce
Grace’s Pastries -baked goods
J & W Valley View Farm -produce and herbs
Lois’s Produce -produce and herbs
Lyn Phipps-
cut flowers/ plants
Middleburg Creamery-
ice cream
Mt Olympus Berry Farm-
produce
Reid’s Orchard -fruits, cider and herbs
Salsa las Glorias-
salsa
Sharkawi Farm-
herbs, teas, seasonings, plants
Valentine’s Country Bakery & Meats-
meat/baked goods
Westmoreland Berry Farm-
fruit
Posted in Community
Tagged Fairfax County Park Authority, mclean, McLean Farmers Market, McLean Va, McLean Virginia, va, Virginia
By Bobbi Bowman, The McLean Ear
MCLEAN, VA – The McLean Citizens Association voted Wednesday night to support Fairfax County’s plan to transform Tysons Corner into a city of about 40,000 people in the next 20 years complete with buildings up to 40 stories high at subway stations, more housing than office buildings, new schools, fire and police stations and athletic fields.
The Citizens Association, the coalition of citizens associations in the McLean area, said they were trying to minimize the impact of the new city on surrounding communities by requiring that public facilities like expanding the Dulles Toll Road keep pace with the development. Continue reading
The McLean Citizens Association meets tonight to vote on two resolutions centering on Fairfax County’s plans to turn our neighbor Tysons Corner into a city in about 20 years.
MCA president Rob Jackson said in an e-mail this week: “We also have two important resolutions on Tysons Corner. . . While the Planning Commission has held its public hearing on Tysons, the record is still open and the Commission has not yet marked up the Comprehensive Plan or the Zoning Ordinance for recommendation to the Board of Supervisors. The Comp Plan resolution is long, but this is the largest land use case in the United States. It builds on all of our previous resolutions, but also provides positions on the specific matters to be decided by the county in the very near term. The zoning resolution is much shorter, as the proposed ordinance amendments merely allow what is proposed in the revised Comp Plan.
The McLean Community Association is a federation of homeowners associations in and around McLean. The members are usually appointed by their homeowners associations. The group is totally voluntary.
The MCA has been carefully following the Tysons proposals. In April, an estimated 100 people attended the MCA meeting to hear an explanation of the Tysons’ proposals. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will ultimately adopt a plan for Tysons future growth.
“Essentially, our resolution would support the proposal made on March 17 by Planning Commissioner Walter Alcorn, with several key modifications/additions, which we believe would flesh out the plan; provide for sustainable growth at the four new rail stations in Tysons; protect the surrounding communities, including McLean, Vienna, Falls Church and Great Falls; and insist added density be accompanied by the necessary accretions to public facilities, which are paid primarily by the landowners that stand to gain huge profits from the zoning changes. The resolution recommends the county use the same funding formula (75-25 – landowner/other sources) that has been used successfully by both Fairfax and Loudoun Counties in the Route 28 corridor,” Jackson said.
“Also key to the resolution is our insistence on an interim and lower re-planning trigger . . . in the event the Dulles Toll Road cannot be expanded. The linchpin to Tysons growth . . . is an expansions of the Dulles Toll Road and (now) the possible imposition of dynamic pricing, which would be designed to reduce peak period volume on the Toll Road by 10 to 20%. Many, including several planning commissioners, fear that much of this traffic would simply shift to neighborhood streets—a completely unacceptable result.
“Toll Road expansion would require new state legislation, approval from the Dept. of the Interior to turn over parts of Wolf Trap National Park; the likely condemnation of portions of private residential lots; invasion of multiple resource protection areas designed to protect the Chesapeake Bay; and the dismantling and rebuilding of multiple Silver Line support facilities that are just being constructed. . . It would also require elected officials to explain why we need to spend several hundred million dollars more to expand the Toll Road after spending $5.3 billion to bring rail to Wiehle Avenue, a project originally sold to residents as a means to reduce Toll Road traffic. Many of us simply do not believe expansion is possible. Therefore, there needs to be a lower, interim re-planning trigger in the event the Toll Road is not expanded.”
If you want to attend:
When: 8 p.m.
Where: McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Avenue.
Bring coffee these are usually long meetings.
Waiting for former First Lady Laura Bush at Books-A-Million in downtown McLean
By Bobbi Bowman, The McLean Ear
Former First Lady Laura Bush greeted more than 400 men, women, high school students, and former members of the Bush administration in the downtown McLean Books-A-Million store where she signed her new memoir which went on sale today.
Dressed in a black jacket with white flecks, a black shell and gold necklace, the First Lady never stopped signing “Spoken from the Heart” as she graciously greeted those who had waited for up to three hours to briefly see her. She started a little after 12 noon and by 1:30 pm. the double line that had formed outside the bookstore was gone. She stayed until 2 to greet stragglers and sign books.
A signed copy of Spoken from the Heart
Some of our McLean neighbors explain in their own words why they attended the book signing with Laura Bush:
Mark V. Rosenker
Mark V. Rosenker, former director of the White House Military Office and former director of the National Transportation Safety Board: “I haven’t seen Mrs. Bush since I left the White House. She looks fabulous. But she always looks fabulous.” His office in the White House was directly across from Mrs. Bush’s office. Barney, her dog, would often visit and Mrs. Bush would come to fetch him, Rosenker recalled.
Chandler Ebeier, left, and her mother Candy Stoltz
Candy Stoltz and her daughter Chandler Ebeier: “I was born and raised in Midland (Texas)” Mrs. Bush’s hometown. “I’ve known George W for 30 years. I think she’s a wonderful First Lady. I told her I’ve known your grandparents for years.” Mrs. Stoltz also said she worked in the Bush Administration.
Chandler, a sophomore at Langley High School, came “just to say I met her.”
Lori Wiseman, left, her mother, Anne Blodgett, center, friend Stephanie Singleton
Lori Wiseman and her mother Anne Blodgett, of Palm Springs, CA.arrived at 9 a.m. Mrs. Blodgett came because “I’m a died in the wool Republican. I first met Mr. and Mrs. Bush when they came to Palm Springs.”
Lori Wiseman: “I admire Laura Bush but I came from my Mom. I wanted to get the book as a surprise for her for Mother’s Day.” Mrs. Blodgett came to surprise her granddaughter on her 18th birthday and to celebrate Mother’s Day.
Stephanie Singleton, a friend, came because “I always liked Laura Bush, She represented the U.S. very well.”
Mary Beth Nethercutt, left, Linda Nutter, right
Mary Beth Nethercutt, wife of former U.S. Rep. George Nethercutt, of eastern Washington state: “I worked for her husband’s administration. I thought she epitomized what a First Lady should represent. She kept her priorities of her marriage and her daughters at the top of the list.”
Mrs. Nethercutt said she was director of the congressional legislative office for NOAA, an agency within the Commerce Department.
Her friend Linda Nutter: “I think (Laura Bush) has been one of the best First Ladies. Our son Aaron worked for the administration for three years. He was one of the bike riders that President Bush liked to ride his mountain bike with” for exercise.
Erin Winland, left, Alexis Eakin, center, Tyla Winland, right
Alexia Eakin : “I really respect Laura Bush and was excited to meet her. She’s very personable. It was a fun experience.. . . I was impressed that she made eye contact with every person.”
Tyla Winland: “ I really admire and respect Laura Bush and her husband for the service that they gave to this country. . . She was so much for education as First Lady and I respected her attention to that. . . She’s a classy lady and I just wanted to meet her.”
Daughter Erin Winland: “She’s a role model. She has two young daughters — very classy.”
The Scene
At 9:45 am. Ladies and a few men were already camped out in front of the Books-A-Million store awaiting the former First Lady’s arrival.
The ladies, many seated in lawn chairs, watched as the Secret Service detail setup metal detectors outside the store and did the sweep with a bomb-sniffing dog inside. The Secret Service also inspected some delivery trucks that arrived at other stores in the small shopping mall. Then the lawn chairs disappeared and the standing began.
Those waiting to see Mrs. Bush walked through metal detectors and were prohibited from carrying any bags, cameras, strollers, backpacks and even pens into the store.
On Monday, store staff bought an ornate gold chair from Treasure Trove and a cushion from Squire Chase to make Mrs. Bush as comfortable as possible as she signed an expected 600 books today. Both stores are located in McLean.
What was the day like for merchants who were neighbors of the bookstore: Tim Hong, assistant manager, at Total Wine said at one point the line blocked the entrance and exit to his store. He asked his neighbors to double the line to solve the problem. “Everyone was very understanding,” he said.
On the other side some of the staff members at the Bank of America had signed copies on their desks. They said they couldn’t talk to the press.
Other merchants mildly complained that some of their customers had trouble finding parking in the crammed parking lot.
Posted in Breaking News, Community
Tagged Books-A-Million, Laura Bush, Mark Rosenker, Mary Beth Nethercutt, mclean, McLean Va, McLean Virginia, Secret Service, va, Virginia
The McLean Ear 