A Fiery Exercise
A full-scale emergency-preparedness exercise brought organized chaos to Reagan National Airport on Saturday, Sept. 21. The FAA mandates that a full-scale exercise be held every three years. Nearly 150 people volunteered to role play victims for the event. They were made up to simulate injuries that might be sustained in a plane crash. More than 50 emergency vehicles participated in the exercise.
Honoring AWLA
State Sen. Barbra Favola (D-31) presented Neil Trent, president and CEO, Animal Welfare League of Arlington and Patricia Ragan, chairman of AWLA board of directors, with a resolution on Sept. 3 on behalf of the Virginia Assembly.
Goodwill Fashion Show at Artisphere
Designer Tu-Anh Nguyen selects used clothing from Goodwill stores.
Arlington’s Artisphere featured the Fashion of Goodwill Runway Show and Gala on Tuesday, Sept. 24, which raised about $155,000 for the cause. With the theme “The Art of Fashion,” Vietnamese designer Tu-Anh Nguyen of Fairfax created the show from hand-selected items found at Goodwill of Greater Washington’s 15 retail stores.
Mapping County’s GIS Bureau
Location is everything.
A small staff in the county office building knows where to find everything in Arlington, down to the square foot.
A Bike Trip Through History
The Center Hiking Club hosts this season’s final historic marker bicycle tour.
Now that last weekend's heat wave is over and things are back to feeling fall-like, it's time for the last historic marker bicycle tour of the season, led by Bernie Bern of the Center Hiking Club.
Circle of Stars
USO honors top corporate donors.
The USO of Metropolitan Washington honored its top corporate sponsors Oct. 4 at the 10th Annual Stars and Stripes Night gala, naming 37 corporate donors to its 2013 Circle of the Stars.
Joining Harvest for Hope
Fundraiser to benefit programs for people with disabilities.
Volunteers of America (VOA) Chesapeake will hold its 4th annual Harvest for Hope Benefit Breakfast on Thursday, Oct. 10 at The Sheraton Pentagon City from 8-9:30 a.m.
The Arlington Players Presents ‘A Chorus Line’
Talented cast of 24 actors reveal their souls through song and dance.
Under the direction of Susan Devine, 56, of Fairfax, The Arlington Players is staging the iconic dance-musical “A Chorus Line,” through Oct. 12 at the Thomas Jefferson Community Center off Glebe Road in Arlington. The complex show features a cast of 24 actors, singers and dancers on a bare stage with only a wall-length mirror during their audition for a musical. The director Zach, played by formidable real-life director and actor Blakeman Brophy, moves freely through the audience, while running the auditions and putting actors through their paces. As the play progresses, Zach gets them to reveal their souls through song (“What I Did for Love,” and “I Can Do That”) and dance. Devine wanted to convey the feeling of Zach directing from an empty auditorium — even though he was moving around the audience. She said, “I wanted to make this feel like this was as real an audition as possible.”
Decorating for Fall
Local designers offer suggestions for bringing the harvest into your home.
The colors of autumn are all around as pumpkins and squash fill produce stands and leaves change from green to orange, red and yellow before falling from their branches. Local designers and tastemakers are unveiling home accents that bring the warm hues of the season into the home. Whether using pillows, throws or flowers, adding the colors and textures of fall requires less effort than one might expect. “Emerald green, orange and turquoise are three of the biggest color trends we’re seeing,” said Marcus Browning of European Country Living in Old Town Alexandria. “Throws and pillows are a given, but you can also tie in traditional and modern accessories with rugs, stained glass lamps with modern or intricate designs.” Small trays provide a canvas for highlighting color and adding functionality to a room, says Marika Meyer of Marika Meyer Interiors in Bethesda, Md. “Color and pattern are in right now,” she said. “I just purchased the C. Wonder (http://www.cwonder.com) navy and white chevron tray for my home. It adds a punch of color and freshness to a room. Preppy is back in a big way, too, offering lots of patterns.”
Style Meets Function
A local designer creates a stylish and functional master bathroom in an Alexandria home.
Once a modest room reserved for bathing, the bathroom has become a showcase for cutting-edge design and luxurious materials. One Alexandria family discovered this when they decided to remodel the long, narrow master bathroom in their colonial home. “Our old fixtures were wearing out,” said homeowner Pat Smith. “Also the bathroom layout was choppy and dark. There was plenty of square feet, but [the space] was inefficient.” The family hired Arlington designer Allie Mann of Case Design/Remodeling Inc. to transform the disjointed, utilitarian space into an oasis with a larger shower and additional areas for storage. “The client’s request for the bathroom remodel was a more open, connected plan,” said Mann. “Before the vanity space didn’t feel connected to the rest of the bathroom … and the [entire] space felt disconnected. The client wanted dual vanities … and a more modern feel.”
Negative Campaign
Candidates appear at minority business forum, attacking each other.
Local and statewide candidates for office appeared at an unprecedented forum in Northern Virginia last weekend, a collaboration of minority business groups of blacks, Hispanics and Asians. But as candidates arrived at the Annandale campus of the Northern Virginia Community College for a Sunday afternoon forum, voters realized that the tone of the campaign would remain unrelentingly negative. "All three of the Republican candidates are Tea Party right wing extremists," said Del. Ken Plum (D-36), who is running unopposed. "Look at their records and their stands on the issues." Plum attacked Cuccinelli's lawsuit against the Affordable Care Act as well as his investigation into a University of Virginia professor studying climate change. The longtime delegate also said the Republican attorney general candidate Sen. Mark Obenshain (R-25) has a similar record, including a bill that would have required women to report abortions to police. Together with the candidate for lieutenant governor, Plum said, the ticket is Tea Party from top to bottom.
Advocates for Affordable Housing In Arlington Battle Over WIsdom of Ballot Initiative
Green Party advocates take issue with opposition from Democrats.
Arlington County is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis, a sweeping demographic change that has wiped away more than half of affordable housing units for the poorest residents in the last decade according to a recent report.
Building International Bridges
Ukrainian Group spent 10 days here learning about business development, cultural opportunities.
They arrived as strangers but left filled with optimism and ideas for how to improve their own home, half a world away.
Flourishing After 55
Senior Activities
People Notes
Arlington County Board member Mary Hynes was elected vice president of the Virginia Transit Association for a two-year term.