Editorial: Award-Winning Connection Newspapers
Still striving to be the Connection to your community.
Connection Newspapers won dozens of awards from the Virginia Press Association for work done in 2015.
Arlington Snapshot: Yorktown Theatre To Present One-Person Shows
Yorktown High School’s One-Person Shows are the culmination of four years of the Yorktown Theatre Program. Each Theatre IV student chooses a literary, fictional or historical character and then writes, choreographs, directs, and acts in a 30-minute show about that character. Shows take place in the Yorktown Black Box on: April 21, 7 – 9 p.m; April 22, 5 – 10 p.m.; April 23, 11:15 a.m. – 10 p.m.; and April 28, 7 – 7:40 p.m. For a schedule of individual show topics and times, go to: http://yhstheatre.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/2016-OPS-Marathon-Program.pdf.
Arlington: Community Leaders and Muslims Discuss Islamophobia
Promoting more than just tolerance.
Nader Hasan remembers riding bikes through Shirlington with his cousin. The two of them grew up in the area and watched fireworks together from one of the nearby hills. But the two boys from Arlington grew up into very different men. When Major Nidal Hasan murdered 13 people in Fort Hood in 2009 as part of an attempt to spread fear and hate, it forced his cousin Nader Hasan to confront extremism on both sides of his community and his country.
Arlington: Haley Receives Training Grant
Wakefield High School French teacher, Susan Haley, was awarded a training grant from the French government to study for two weeks in Vichy, France.
Arlington: Station 8 Task Force Close to Consensus
Arlington to get subgroup results April 14.
There is optimism that consensus on the relocation or renovation of Fire Station 8 in High View Park is near, according to Alisa Cowen, one of the Task Force 8 members. Cowen said Task Force members had raised so many significant issues during their subgroup meetings that the issue, once fairly simple, became a complex “Pandora’s Box” of intersecting problems. That’s good news, according to Cowen, who thinks the outcome will be much more holistic for the community.
Many Good Choices for Arlington Seniors
Need a ride to the doctor? Your computer break down? Want to join a group trip to a Nats game?
Arlington: German Conversation for Fun
Seniors gather weekly in Arlington to engage in German
Last week the theme was "hats." Some people wore hats, and one person brought a computer printout of hats with names and historical dates associated. The weekly German conversation at the Langston-Brown Community and Senior Center is about to begin.
Arlington: Threading Your Way Through the Maze
Help for dementia patients and their families in Arlington; excellent services but many people don’t know what they are.
Laura “Fayse” Howard lives in the house her husband Allen built in South Arlington. The side entrance looks out on bird feeders hanging from a tree he planted. There is a bench big enough for two in the garden. The kitchen is the way kitchens used to be: cozy, galley size. In the living room, there are pictures of family, an antique organ, crocheted blankets, and a rescued dog named Diva who is keeping an eye on things from “her” armchair.
Speaker Series
Senior Services of Alexandria will present Aging Well, Working Together for a Livable Community for all Ages, next in a speaker series, on Wednesday, April 13, 10 a.m. to noon, at the Beatley Central Library, 5005 Duke Street, Alexandria.
Luxury Condos are a Growth Market for Seniors
Active retirees seek options for independent living, including condos in Alexandria, Arlington, Tysons, Reston, McLean, Bethesda and Chevy Chase, among others.
When Joyce and Don Lipman decided to move out of their Potomac, Md. home, they opted for a high-end townhouse instead of a retirement community.
Taking the Long View
Budgeted, incremental improvements are the key to effective planning, aging in place.
When they decided not to move-on after retirement, seniors Mike and Sandy Nusbaum slowly began enlarging their long-term residence with several goals in mind.
Golden Notes
Living well at any age.
‘Shark Tank’ for Seniors
High school students design and present tech products to improve lives of older adults.
Chantilly High School freshman Aru Rajpurohit remembers seeing her great-grandfather struggle to drink his morning tea and other beverages, his hands shaking from Parkinson’s disease.
Letter: Help Prevent Child Abuse
If you see a blue pinwheel dotting the landscape in April, we hope you will pause and think about what it represents--National Child Abuse Prevention Month.
Send in Mother's Day Photos to the Connection
Mother’s Day is May 8 this year and as usual every year at this time, this newspaper calls for submissions to our Mother’s Day photo gallery.
First Responders Honored at 38th Annual Valor Awards
‘Ready for All Emergencies’
Technician Ryland Chapman and Lieutenant Lawrence Mullin with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department were preparing to return home from a deployment with Virginia Task Force 1 to earthquake-rocked Kathmandu, Nepal when another quake sent them back out for duty.
Lawmakers Wrap-up Richmond Legislative Session
Unspent TANF grant money, prisoner rights among social issues discussed.
On average, low income families in Virginia who are eligible and sign up for funds from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) Block Grant receive $269 monthly and are cut off after five years. But lawmakers say there’s a lot more unexpended money available in the federal grant that, if it remains unused, could one day be taken back.
Clarendon Farmer’s Market Season Opens
Encouraging healthier eating.
The Clarendon Farmer’s Market at Courthouse slipped into its summer season amidst the raindrops on Saturday, April 2. Chester Beahm has driven 60 miles from Rivington, Va. to open his cheese stand at 8 a.m. Fields of Grace Farm offers four aged cheeses, four flavored cheese curds, two flavors of mozzarella, feta and more.
Arlington: The Undocumented American Story
Dinner with Beyer highlights difficulties facing undocumented immigrants in Northern Virginia.
The Pintos are an all-American family. Jerry Pinto, a 50-year-old man with a thick moustache, works in construction. He says he doesn't speak English and he lets his daughter do most of the translating.
Arlington: Business Panel Judges Young Entrepreneurs
Student entrepreneurs took the stage on March 31 in the Reinsch Library Auditorium at Marymount University to present their business plans before a panel of local business leaders and a public audience.