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25 CENTS Newsstand PriceMAY 31 - JUNE 6, 2017

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EncorePresents‘That’s Life’News, Page 3

Police PracticesImprove,CitizensDemand MoreNews, Page 5

‘Imagine If’News, Page 4

Jenna Frisby (left) and Claire Griese getinto the swing of things for Encore’supcoming show, “That’s Life.”

Calendar, Page 8

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2 ❖ Centre View ❖ May 31 - June 6, 2017 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com

Public Hearing NoticeFairfax County

Secondary Six Year Plan

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and The

Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County, in accordance

with Section 33.2-331 of the Code of Virginia, will conduct

a joint public hearing in the Board Auditorium, Fairfax

County Government Center, 12000 Government Center

Parkway, Fairfax, VA 22035 at 3 p.m. on June 20, 2017.

The purpose of this public hearing is to receive public

comment on the Secondary Six Year Improvement Plan for

Fiscal Years 2018 through 2023. Copies of the proposed

plan may be reviewed at the VDOT’s Northern Virginia

VDOT ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment

in all programs and activities in accordance with Title VI

more information or special assistance for persons with

Persons wishing to speak at this public hearing should

How can you help?

www.foha.org

Adoptone of our lovable

cats or dogs.

Volunteeryour time or

services.

Donatemoney orsuppliesfor theShelter.

Turn your Houseinto a Home

IglooIglooBernieBernie WessonWesson

News

Centreville Labor Resource Center challenges thecommunity to raise $5,000 for new computers andtraining programs for workers in 24 hours, on June8. Go to the Centreville Immigration Forum websitefor details, or check www.DoMore24.org/npos/centreville-labor-resource-center

DoMore24 is sponsored by United Way of the Na-tional Capitol Area, and gives prizes throughout the24 hours for “most money raised” or “most individualdonations received” or “most selfies posted.”

Centreville Labor Resource Center is now nearly 6years old, and needs to step into the 21st centurywith programs to train workers in new skills. Work-ers need new skills to meet the demands of employ-ers, and to improve their English ability. Approxi-mately 85 percent of workers at the center are new

immigrants, and others are long-time American resi-dents. The center programs are offered at no cost tomembers or to employers, and the nonprofitCentreville Immigration Forum raises funds to pro-vide this community service. This past year Centerstaff mediated 1,097 jobs between workers and em-ployers, ensuring that both parties were in agree-ment on job details and fair wages to be paid. More-over, the Center served about 300 members last yearthrough our job placement services, and even morethrough community outreach, classes and specialevents.

Go to Domore24 online, to donate. Donations of$24 or more will help CLRC win prizes, and gifts willbe multiplied many times over. https://domore24.org/npos/centreville-labor-resource-center

Resource Center Joins DoMore24

Lineman’s RodeoA Northern Virginia ElectricCooperative team of jour-neyman line technicians(linemen) won the overalljourneyman competition atthe 15th Annual Gaff-n-GoLineman’s Rodeo, March20, at Meadow Event Parkin Doswell, Va. The teamcompeted against 17 otherjourneyman teams from 14electric utilities, includingDominion Energy Virginiaand Duke Energy. NOVEC,headquartered inManassas, is a not-for-profit corporation thatsupplies and distributes electricity and provides energy-related services to morethan 165,000 metered customers in Fairfax, Fauquier, Loudoun, Prince William,Stafford and Clarke counties, the City of Manassas Park, and the Town of Clifton.Visit www.novec.com.

Rose ShowMore than 50 categories of rose fragrance,form and artistry will be explored at the61st annual Rose Show is this weekend atMerrifield Garden Center- Fair Oaks, at12101 Lee Highway. Hours are Saturday 1-6 p.m. and Sunday 11-4 p.m. Elements ofthe show include a photography, designand horticulture competition, hosted byArlington Rose Foundation at MerrifieldGarden Center- Fair Oaks. Rosarians willbe on duty to answer any questions at thisfree event. Call 703-371-9351 or [email protected] for more.

Career DayKindergarten studentsdressed up for CareerDay at Union MillElementary School.


News

By Bonnie Hobbs

Take creative choreogra-phy, talented dancers,upbeat music and mixwell. The result is

Encore’s upcoming show, “That’sLife.” It takes the stage Saturday,June 10, at 8 p.m., and Sunday,June 11, at 3:30 p.m.

Performances are in NOVA’s Ri-chard Ernst Theater, 8333 LittleRiver Turnpike, Annandale. Ticketsare $19-26 at the door or viawww.Encore-tap.org. For more in-formation, call 703-222-5511.

“We have an exciting show filledwith wonderful, new dance num-bers,” said Director/ChoreographerRaynor van der Merwe. “It’s a dancereview, and I chose music that talksabout love, life and relationshipsand the journeys we take.”

There are 25 dancers — twodozen girls and one boy — and,said van der Merwe, “They’ve beena total inspiration to me, this year. They’veembraced everything that was thrown atthem. They’ve worked so hard and camewith such open minds and open hearts thatthey’ve really grown.”

The show begins with the iconic song,“That’s Life,” and ends with the appropri-ately titled, “Big Finish.” And in between,said van der Merwe, “The music takes youthrough an emotional journey. The audiencewill really enjoy the diversity of rhythm andmusic. The finale features the dancecompany’s two, graduating seniors,Jenna Frisby and Claire Griese. I’msuper proud of them, and they havebeautiful singing voices.”

Frisby, an 18-year-old senior atCentreville High, has been dancingsince age 3. “I love performing —just getting onstage and sharing myhard work,” she said. “I’m in my10th season with Encore, and it’staught me dedication because I’vehad to give up a lot to manage myschedule. I dance about 25 hours aweek, so it’s hard to balance thatwith schoolwork.”

But she has no regrets becauseof her love of dance. In this show,she said, each number flows intothe next. Her favorite is “You Can’tStop the Beat” from the musical,“Hairspray,” because “It’s a reallyhigh-energy, jazz number with thefull company. And each [ability]level of dancer wears a differentcolor dress — either bright orange,pink or green.”

Frisby said the audience will lovethe show’s variety of dance styles,

plus both the fast and slow songs. In thefall, she’ll attend Baylor University to ma-jor in communications and journalism. “I’vebeen with Encore for so long, it’s really hardto leave,” she said. “But I’m excited to seewhat the next chapter of my life will be.”

Griese, a Chantilly High senior, is headedto Oklahoma City University to eventuallymajor in dance. She’s been an Encore mem-ber for seven years. “It’s taught me a lotabout responsibility and following throughwith my commitments in life,” she said. “I

also have better time-management skillsbecause of this, so it’s about more than justdancing. At this age, kids don’t always un-derstand the importance of putting a lot ofhard work into what you want to do.”

Her favorite number in this show is “CryMe a River” by Michael Bublé’s. “It’s the bestto dance to and I love this music,” saidGriese. “I’ve always bugged Raynor aboutputting in this song; and, this year, I toldher, ‘It’s time.’ So one day, she started cho-reographing it in class and we all loved it.”

It’s a contemporary number witha jazz feel, but more intense, saidGriese. “I like changing it up and do-ing something like that,” she said.“We wear two-piece, turquoisedresses with beading, and some girlswill dance with silky, blue fabric. It’sreally cool, and we’re excited to seehow the lighting looks with itonstage.”

Overall, she said, “We have a lotof new dances and choreography thisyear, so people familiar with ourshows will see something different.And in the finale, Jenna and I willsing on top of big platforms whileother girls are spinning us around.”

Also in the show is Chantilly sopho-more Rithika Ashok, who’s alsodanced since age 3 and has been withEncore since she was 8. “My mom isa dance teacher so, from a young age,it was instilled in me,” she said. “ButI enjoy dancing; after being at school,with all the stress, I can lose myselfin dance.”

In the upcoming show, Ashok es-pecially likes the song, “Too DarnHot,” a fast-paced, stylistic numberwith a jazz dance. “We wear black-and-red velvet dresses for it,” shesaid. “I really like fast songs, and thisis an upbeat one that gets the audi-

ence going.”“Cut, Print” is another of her favorites.

“It’s a lyrical jazz dance, and we wear flowywhite dresses and dance with pink fabricas we’re entering the stage,” said Ashok.She, too, said this new production shouldbe a hit with the audience. “It’s a really goodrepresentation of Broadway-style numbersand is the closest you can get to Broadwayhere,” she said. “The whole show is upbeatand good for all ages, and everyone willenjoy it.”

Encore presents“That’s Life”at NOVA.

‘Emotional Journey and Exciting New Show’

Photos Courtesy of Raynor van der Merwe

Performing are (front row, from left) Maya Tischler, Moni Artieda, Becca Perron,Isabel Morrison, Olivia Terry and Julia Tubridy; and (back row, from left) BeaTremblay, Veronica Litschgi, Tiffany Jones and Kendra Walsh.

Encore’s new show, “That’s Life,” takes the stage June 10-11 at NOVA.


News

By Bonnie Hobbs

Aidan is a 6-year-old boy with animaginary friend, Ralph. Troubleis, no one else believes he’s real— not even Aidan’s mom or sis-

ter Nadia — until they all end up in Ralph’simaginary world.

That’s the premise of Chantilly High’supcoming children’s show, “Imagine If.” Thecurtain rises Friday, June 2, at 7 p.m.; Sat-urday, June 3, at 2 and 7 p.m.; and Sunday,June 4, at 2 p.m. Tickets are $5 at the dooror via www.chantillyhsdrama.com.

This original comedy was written byChantilly Theater Director ShannonKhatcheressian. “I wrote it four years agoabout my son Aidan, so it’s funny watchingthe show now and seeing how much myown kids have grown and changed sincethen,” she said. “Ironically, my daughterNadia has grown into the character I wrotefor her when she was 3 months old.”

The play features a cast and crew of 75Drama I and II students; and, saidKhatcheressian, “I’m excited about thisgroup of kids. We have a lot of new facesthis year, in both the cast and crew, andthey’ve worked very hard together. They’vehoned their acting craft and abilities andhave established a great sense of comedictiming. And all that makes for a fast-paced,zany show.”

She said the story revolves around “ac-cepting others even though they’re differ-ent — and celebrating those differences.The best part about this show is that everyfamily member will be able to relate to acharacter onstage, enjoy themselves and,hopefully, get a nice reminder about what’struly important in life — our families,friends and relationships.”

Portraying Aidan is sophomore JaredBelsky. “At the beginning, he’s pretty timidand shy, but relaxed and open with his bestfriend, Ralph,” said Belsky. “He’s more con-

fident with Ralph than when he’s at school.But since Ralph is imaginary, he gets pickedon for talking to someone that no one elsethinks is real.”

Making matters worse, whenever Ralphdoes something crazy, Aidan is blamed forit. So eventually, Ralph invites him to hisworld to meet his friends there and havean adventure. But humans aren’t allowedin Ralph’s world, so Aidan has to be dis-guised so the other imaginary friends won’tcatch him.

“It’s a lot of fun playing Aidan becausehe’s young, so I get to play off his childishinnocence,” said Belsky. “And I interact withall these extreme, wacky characters becauseAidan is fascinated by them.”

As for the play, he said, “We have a reallygood cast — everyone’s very talented — andit’s enjoyable for both kids and adults.Everyone’s going to have a good time.” It’sfun being in a children’s show, said Belsky,because “The actors aren’t as stressed, sowe’re having a good time onstage. And sinceit’s over-the-top, no one’s embarrassed tomake a fool of themselves.”

Sophomore Shreya Surapaneni playsAidan’s best buddy, Dylan. “She’s a reallywacky, goofy troublemaker and loves goof-ing around with Aidan,” said Surapaneni.“She’s spontaneous and super-silly, but isafraid he’s going to grow up and forgetabout her.”

She said this role allows her to bring outher inner child. “Things I can’t do as me, Ican do as her — like dance whenever I want— and it’s not weird,” said Surapaneni. “Ina children’s play, you get to do all these sillythings that make you and all the kids laugh.And it makes me happy to see them enjoy-ing themselves.”

Surapaneni said the audience “will lovethe good friendship between Aidan andDylan, and how one’s like, ‘Let’s do this,’and the other’s like, ‘No, we can’t.’ And thecostumes are wacky and hilarious to lookat. Without the actors even saying a line,people will just see them and start giggling.”

Freshman Piper Read is in charge of cos-tumes and is having a great time creatingthem. “We either put them together out ofthings we already had or ordered them forthe show,” she said. “There are a lot of fun,

bright colors on these crazy, imaginary char-acters. They’re things that children wouldimagine, because that’s the goal of theshow.”

For example, she said, Princess Ice Creamwill wear a waffle-cone skirt and an ice-cream shirt with sprinkles. Other charac-ters include a mermaid, a dragon and analien. And one girl — who’s both girly anda tomboy — will wear a Washington Na-tionals jersey and baseball-themed hair bowwith a tutu and red leggings.

“People will really like being in a child’sworld,” said Read. “It’s all bright and color-ful, and I think they’ll like the costumes,too, as well as the plot. It’s fun to be in animaginary world for an hour and a half.”

THE SHOW’S production manager is jun-ior Caroline Woodson, and she’s been guid-ing the production team of underclassmento make sure all the costumes, props andmakeup are ready. “There are a lot of funprops for this show,” she said. “We ordereda few hundred flowers because each audi-ence member will get one at the start ofAct Two. Then, when prompted, they’ll holdthem up and become a flower field — and

CPMSAC to Honor StudentsThe Chantilly Pyramid Minority Student Achievement

Committee (CPMSAC) will hold its 33rd Annual Motivationand Academic Achievement Awards Program on Saturday,June 3, at 5 p.m., at Chantilly High for middle- and high-school students. Elementary-school students will be hon-ored Sunday, June 4, at 4 p.m., at London Towne Elemen-tary. This year’s theme is: “Commitment to Mission: Pur-suing Higher Achievement and Academic Excellence.”

Free Carseat InspectionsCertified technicians from the Sully District Police Sta-

tion will perform free, child safety carseat inspectionsThursday, June 8, from 5-8:30 p.m., at the station, 4900Stonecroft Blvd. in Chantilly. No appointment is necessary.

But residents should install the child safety seats them-selves so technicians may properly inspect and adjust them,as needed.

Because of time constraints, only the first 35 vehiclesarriving on each date will be inspected. That way, inspec-tors may have enough time to properly instruct thecaregiver on the correct use of the child seat. Call 703-814-7000, ext. 5140, to confirm dates and times.

Autism Safety FairAutism Speaks, National Capital Area Chapter, is spon-

soring an Autism Safety Fair, in collaboration with the Fra-ternal Order of Police, the Autism Society of Northern Vir-ginia, and Parents of Autistic Children Northern Virginia.The event takes place at the Fairfax County Criminal Jus-tice Academy Range, 3721 Stonecroft Blvd, Chantilly, on

Saturday, June 10, noon-3:30 p.m.Register at act.autismspeaks.org/fairfaxsafetyfair.

Donate Blood atFire Academy

The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Academy, 4600 WestOx Road, Fairfax, will host a blood drive on Tuesday, June13, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Inova Blood Donor Services Bloodmobile will be lo-cated in the bays.

For appointments and directions, visit inova.org/donateblood,Click on Schedule a Donation, then click on Donate Blood, anduse Sponsor Code 8184, or contact Lt. Vernon (Ty) Corbin Jr. at571-585-2203,or [email protected] or call 1-

Roundups

Chantilly Highpresents children’splay, “Imagine If.”

Zany, Fast-Paced Show Celebrates Differences

Photo by

Bonnie Hobbs

(Standing,from left)are VickieLy, LilyBlack,KatyaOrlov, KyleeDownie,SammySheirichand JennaAntonacci;(in front)are ShreyaSurapaneniand JaredBelsky.

the actors will search among them for par-ticular colors.”

In addition, said Woodson, “We’re build-ing an enormous boulder out of wood,papier mâché and chicken wire. And we’realso finding cool lamps and comforters forAidan’s bedroom. The set even has a slideand will be super-bright and colorful. Thescenes take place in Aidan’s school, bed-room and under his bed — which is wherethe imaginary world, the Land of FunFriends, is.”

The makeup will also be creative and in-ventive, said Woodson. “Some of the imagi-nary friends will be covered in polka dots,”she said. “The alien will have crazy-coloredface paint and lipstick, and one fun friendwill have his face made up like a dog. “

She’s enjoyed getting to know all the un-derclassmen and teaching them because,she said, “They’ll all be in charge of thesethings one day.”

Regarding the show, said Woodson, “It’sreally cool because the kids will love theimaginary things coming to life on stage.And the parents will get all the jokes, too,just like the children, so everyone will en-joy it.”


News

See Police, Page 10

By Andrea Worker

Centre View

John Lovaas admitted that he wasa bit of a skeptic. Speaking at theMay 22 meeting to update FairfaxCounty residents on the Ad Hoc

Police Practices Review Commission’s rec-ommendations, the Restonian acknowl-edged that he hadn’t been expecting all thatmuch to come from the 32-member com-mission established by Board of SupervisorsChairman Sharon Bulova — in spite of thefact that Lovaas had actually been chosenas an alternate representative.

“But I am more and more impressed bywhat’s coming out of the implementationstage,” said Lovaas.

Lovaas may now be cautiously optimis-tic, but the meeting that highlightedprogress, also subjected its panelists to criti-cism, shouts, protest signs, and a dose ofexpressed disbelief from many in the small,but vocal audience.

To provide the update and take questionsfrom the audience were Bulova; Supervi-sor John Cook (R-Braddock); Police ChiefEdwin Roessler, Jr.; Richard Schott, inde-pendent police auditor; Adrian Steel, AdHoc Commission vice chair; ShirleyGinwright, Communities of Trust chair; and

David Rohrer, deputy county executive forpublic safety.

Bulova opened the session at the Govern-ment Center by announcing that the boardhad already approved and implemented orput in motion 172 of the 202 recommenda-tions that the commission presented in itsfinal report on Oct. 20, 2016. “I am proud… that in the first year 88 percent of the

recommendations have been approved,”said Bulova, stressing that the board hadtaken the commission’s findings seriously,and worked in collaboration with theSheriff’s Office, as well, to ensure the bestpossible results.

TWO NEW FORMS of independent over-sight for the Fairfax County Police Depart-ment (FCPD) were established because ofthe Ad Hoc Commission. The supervisorsrecently named nine members — chosenfrom more than 140 applicants — to theCivilian Review Panel, to be chaired bySteel. In addition to the Review Panel,Schott has been named as the independentpolice auditor, to report directly to the Boardof Supervisors.

The Civilian Panel will have the author-ity to review completed FCPD internal ad-ministrative investigations regarding civil-ian complaints against an officer. They mayhold meetings to inform the public on howinvestigations were conducted. They mayreview complaints of harassment or dis-crimination, reckless endangerment of adetainee, or serious violations of FairfaxCounty or police procedures, and misuse ofauthority, as part of their duties.

The independent police auditor willhandle the cases of police use-of-force that

result in serious injury or death.The Ad Hoc Commission, made up of pri-

vate citizens and members of the law en-forcement, legal, and academic communi-ties, as well as members of the media andpublic relations arena, divided their reviewresponsibilities into five categories: Use-of-force, independent oversight, mental healthand crisis intervention training (CIT), com-munications, and diversity and recruiting.

Cook chairs the board’s Public SafetyCommittee, and had the task of bringingthe recommendations to the committee andseeing that they were “worked through, notjust rubber stamped one way or the other.”

The majority of the recommendations —34 percent — came from the use-of-forcesub-committee. Even though review of po-lice practices had been on-going before, theimpetus for the establishment of the Ad HocCommission itself came after the 2013 fa-tal shooting of John Geer of Springfield, bythen Fairfax County Patrolman AdamTorres, while Geer stood unarmed in hisown doorway.

After Geer’s death, with no informationbeing made available to the public, severalcommunity groups formed and petitionedfor reforms and more accountability fromcounty law enforcement agencies. In early

Board cites progress on Police Practices improvements, but some citizens demand more.

Police Practices Improve, Citizens Demand More

Photo by Andrea Worker

Supervisor John Cook (R-Braddock), as chair of the board’sPublic Safety Committee, co-hosteda public forum updating citizenson the recommendations made bythe Ad Hoc Police Practices ReviewCommission.


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A Connection Newspaper

Opinion

On Memorial Day, we rememberall of those who have died inmilitary service, more than400,000 in World War II, more

than 30,000 in Korea, more than 50,000 inVietnam.

As many as 620,000 soldiers died in the CivilWar, stunningly about 2 percent of the popu-lation at that time. To compare, while morethan 2.5 million soldiers have served in Iraqand Afghanistan, that number is still less thanone percent of the U.S. population.

Since Sept. 11, 2001, more than 6,880 U.S.military service men and women have died insupport of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On Memorial Day, there are many ways toremember the fallen, includinga visit to Arlington NationalCemetery, or many other localcommemorations. But at a

minimum, wherever you are, you can observea moment of silence at 12:01 p.m. along withIraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America(IAVA), or you can set your own moment atsome point during the day.

More than 52,000 U.S. military service mem-bers have been wounded in action, althoughthat number is likely to be revised upward. In2013, the military confirmed traumatic braininjury in more than 220,000 of the more than2.5 million troops who have served in Iraq andAfghanistan. The long-term consequences ofmany of these injuries, including mental healthconsequences, are unknown, but they will re-quire a national commitment to excellence inhealth care and services for both active dutymilitary personnel and veterans. Virginia’s U.S.Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine continueto advocate for better service from the Veter-ans Administration.

Cuts proposed to health care, food assistanceand other aspects of the social safety net inthe proposed budget would disproportionatelyharm veterans.

EVERY YEAR around Memorial Day, thisnewspaper names the local men and womenwho have died in military service since Sept.11, 2001.

Marcus D. Prince, 22, of Norfolk, Virginia died April26, 2016 in Juffir, Bahrain. Prince was a U.S. Navycivilian who was supporting Operation Inherent Re-solve.

Blane D. Bussell, 60, of Virginia, died Jan. 26, 2016in Manama, Bahrain; Bussell was a U.S. Navy civilianwho was supporting Operation Inherent Resolve.

Sgt. Charles C. Strong, 28, of Suffolk, died Sept. 15,2014 in Herat Province, Afghanistan while conductingcombat operations. Sgt. David H. Stewart, 34, ofStafford, was one of three Marines who died June 20,2014 while conducting combat operations in Helmandprovince, Afghanistan.

Seaman Philip Frazier Manes, 21, of Fairfax, diedSept. 27, in Manama, Bahrain. He was supportingOperation Inherent Resolve.

Army Sgt. Lyle D. Turnbull, 31, of Norfolk, died Oct.18, 2013 in Kuwait, from a medical emergency. Capt.Brandon L. Cyr, 28, of Woodbridge, was one of fourairmen who died April 27, 2013, near Kandahar Air-field, Afghanistan, in the crash of an MC-12 aircraft.

1st Lt. Robert J. Hess, 26, of the Kings Park Westneighborhood of Fairfax, was killed by enemy fire onApril 23, 2013, Afghanistan. Hess was known as “RJ”and graduated from Robinson Secondary School in2005, where he played football, lacrosse and was thecaptain of the swim team. He was a U.S. ArmyBlackhawk helicopter pilot who deployed to Afghani-

stan on April 11, 2013. His family remembers his senseof humor and his natural leadership ability.

Master Sgt. George A. Banner Jr., 37, of Orange,died Aug. 20, 2013, of injuries sustained when enemyforces attacked his unit with small arms fire in WardakProvince, Afghanistan.

Spc. Caryn E. Nouv, 29, of Newport News, was oneof two soldiers who died July 27, 2013 in Ghazni Prov-ince, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemyforces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explo-sive device and small arms fire.

Lance Cpl. Niall W. Coti-Sears, 23, of Arlington, diedJune 23, 2012, while conducting combat operations inHelmand province, Afghanistan. Coti-Sears lovedmusic, played the guitar, composed songs and enter-tained family and friends at holiday gatherings. Niallwas very close to his grandfather, William Coti, whowas a Marine. “He was always my protege,” WilliamCoti told the Arlington Connection. “He always wantedto be a Marine and he followed my example. It weighsheavily on me that this had to happen.”

Chief Warrant Officer Five John C. Pratt, 51, ofSpringfield, died May 28, 2012 in Kabul, Afghanistan,when his helicopter crashed.

Staff Sgt. Jessica M. Wing, 42, of Alexandria, diedAug. 27, 2012 in Kuwait City, Kuwait.

In February 2012, Brig. Gen. Terence J. Hildner, 49,of Fairfax, was the highest ranking military officer todie in the war. Hildner died Feb. 3, 2012 in Kabul prov-ince, Afghanistan.

Sgt. Aaron X. Wittman, 28, of Chester, Virginia, diedJan. 10, 2013 from small arms fire. Sgt. David J. Cham-bers, 25, of Hampton, Virginia, died Jan. 16, 2013 froma roadside bomb. Sgt. Robert J. Billings, 30, ofClarksville, Virginia, died Oct. 13, 2012 when enemyforces attacked with an improvised explosive device.Staff Sgt. Jonathan P. Schmidt, 28, of Petersburg, Va.,died Sept. 1, 2012 from enemy small arms fire. 1st Lt.Stephen C. Prasnicki, 24, of Lexington, Virginia, diedJune 27, 2012, from a roadside bomb.

Aaron Carson Vaughn, 30, was one of 30 Americanservice members and 22 Navy SEALs killed Aug. 6,2011 when their Chinook helicopter was shot down inAfghanistan. Vaughn’s family has ties to McLean andBurke. He was survived by his wife, Kimberly, and theirtwo children.

Spc. Douglas Jay Green, 23 of Sterling, died Aug. 28,2011. when insurgents attacked his unit using a road-side bomb in Afghanistan. Green enlisted in 2007, afterattending Potomac Falls High School.

Pfc. Benjamin J. Park, 25, of Fairfax Station, diedJune 18, 2010 at Zhari district, Kandahar, Afghanistan,of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unitwith an improvised explosive device.

May 12, 2010, Donald J. Lamar II, 23 ofFredericksburg, was killed in Afghanistan. ChristopherD. Worrell, 35 of Virginia Beach, was killed in Iraq onApril 22, 2010. Steven J. Bishop, 29 of Christianburg,was killed March 13, 2010 in Iraq. Kielin T. Dunn, 19of Chesapeake, was killed Feb. 18, 2010 in Afghani-stan. Brandon T. Islip, 23 of Richmond, was killed Nov.29, 2009, in Afghanistan. Stephan L. Mace, 21 ofLovettsville, died Oct. 3, 2009 in Afghanistan.

Bill Cahir, 40 of Alexandria, died Aug. 13, 2009 ofa gunshot wound while conducting combat operationsin the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. After Sept.11, 2001, Cahir decided to leave his career as a jour-nalist and join the Marine Corps. His application tobecome a Marine was denied because of his age, buthe successfully lobbied members of Congress to get aspecial exemption.

Lance Cpl. Daniel Ryan Bennett, 23 of Clifton diedJan. 11, 2009, in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. 2ndLt. Sean P. O’Connor of Burke died Oct. 19, 2008 whilestationed at Hunter Army Air Field, Savannah, Geor-gia. O’Connor was an athlete in soccer, baseball andfootball who attended Fairfax County Public Schoolsand was a 1999 graduate of Bishop Denis J. O’ConnellHigh School in Arlington.

Pfc. David Sharrett II, 27 of Oakton, died Jan, 16,2008 in Iraq. On Oct. 24, 2008, his father, David H.Sharrett, was on hand as the Oakton Post Office onWhite Granite Drive was renamed to honor his son. Butthe senior Sharrett has battled to learn the truth abouthis son’s death, that he was killed by his lieutenant ina “friendly fire” incident. In April, 2012, Sharrett Sr.obtained documents confirming some of the details ofhis son’s death and a subsequent cover-up.

Army 1st Lt. Thomas J. Brown, 26, a George MasonUniversity graduate and Burke resident, died on Sept.

23, 2008, while serving in Iraq, from small arms fire.Sgt. Scott Kirkpatrick, 26, died on Aug. 11, 2007, in

Arab Jabour, Iraq. Kirkpatrick, who graduated fromPark View High School in Sterling, and also consideredHerndon and Reston as his hometowns, was a cham-pion slam poet.

Ami Neiberger-Miller lost her brother, U.S. ArmySpc. Christopher Neiberger, in August 2007 when hewas killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq. He was 22.

Staff Sgt. Jesse G. Clowers Jr., 27, of Herndon, diedwhen an improvised bomb exploded near his vehiclein Afghanistan on Aug. 12, 2007. Jonathan D.Winterbottom, 21, of Falls Church, died in Iraq on May23, 2007, when an IED exploded near his vehicle.

Nicholas Rapavi, 22, of Springfield, died Nov. 24,2006, during combat in Anbar province in Iraq. ArmyCpl. Andy D. Anderson, 24, was killed by enemy firein Ar Ramadi, Iraq on Tuesday, June 6, 2006.

Spc. Robert Drawl Jr., 21, a 2003 graduate of T.C.Williams High School, was killed by a bomb in Kunar,Afghanistan, on Aug. 19, 2006.

U.S. Army Specialist Felipe J. Garcia Villareal, 26 ofBurke, was injured in Iraq and flown to WashingtonHospital Center, where he died Feb. 12, 2006. He wasa graduate of Herndon High School.

Capt. Shane R. M. Mahaffee, 36, a 1987 graduateof Mount Vernon High School, died May 15, 2006. Hewas a lawyer, married, with two children.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Nicholas Kirven, 21, waskilled in Afghanistan in 2005 during a firefight in acave with insurgents. He enlisted while still in highschool after Sept. 11, 2001.

Fairfax Station resident Pfc. Dillon Jutras, 20, waskilled in combat operations in Al Anbar Province ofIraq on Oct. 29, 2005.

Maj. William F. Hecker III, a 1987 graduate ofMcLean High School, was killed in action in Iraq, Jan.5, 2005. Staff Sgt. Ayman Taha, 31, of Vienna, waskilled Dec. 30, 2005, when an enemy munitions cachehe was prepping for demolition exploded. Army Capt.Chris Petty of Vienna was killed Jan. 5, 2006.

Staff Sgt. George T. Alexander Jr., the 2,000th sol-dier to be killed in Iraq, was literally born into theArmy here in Northern Virginia, at DeWitt Army Hos-pital at Fort Belvoir. Alexander died at Brooke ArmyMedical Center in San Antonio, Texas, Oct. 22, 2005,of injuries sustained in Iraq five days earlier.

Lt. Col. Thomas A. Wren, 44, of Lorton, died inTallil, Iraq on Nov. 5, 2005. Marine Capt. MichaelMartino, 32 of the City of Fairfax, died Nov. 2, 2005,when his helicopter was brought down in Iraq.

1st Lt. Laura M. Walker of Oakton was killed on Aug.18, 2005, in Kandahar, Afghanistan. CW4 Matthew S.Lourey of Lorton died from injuries sustained on May26, 2005 in Buhriz, Iraq. Operations Officer Helge Boesof Fairfax was killed on Feb. 5, 2003, while participat-ing in counterterrorism efforts in eastern Afghanistan.

Among other local lives lost: Lance Cpl. Tavon LeeHubbard, 24, of Reston; 1st Lt. Alexander Wetherbee,27, of McLean; 1st Lt. Jeff Kaylor, 25, of Clifton; CoastGuard Petty Officer Nathan B. Bruckenthal, 24, ofHerndon; Army Chief Warrant Officer Sharon T.Swartworth, 43, of Mount Vernon; Command Sgt. Maj.James D. Blankenbecler, 40, of Mount Vernon; Capt.James F. Adamouski, 29, of Springfield; Sgt. DeForestL. Talbert, 22, of Alexandria; Marine Cpl. Binh N. Le,20, of Alexandria; Staff Sgt. Russell Verdugo, 34, ofAlexandria; Army Capt. Mark N. Stubenhofer, 30, fromSpringfield; Marine Gunnery Sgt. Javier Obleas-PradoPena, 36, from Falls Church; Marine Sgt. KrisnaNachampassak, 27, from Burke; Army Staff Sgt.Nathaniel J. Nyren, 31, from Reston; Marine LanceCpl. Tenzin Dengkhim, 19, from Falls Church, NavyChief Joel Egan Baldwin, 37, from Arlington; Maj.Joseph McCloud, of Alexandria, and Major Gloria D.Davis, 47 of Lorton.

Capt. Jesse A. Ozbat, 28 of Prince George, Virginia,died on May 20, 2012 in Afghanistan from a roadsidebomb. Constructionman Trevor J. Stanley, 22, of Vir-ginia Beach, died April 7, 2012 while deployed toCamp Lemonnier, Djibouti. Pfc. Michael W. Pyron, 30,of Hopewell, Va., died Jan. 10, 2012 in Afghanistan.Maj. Samuel M. Griffith, 36, of Virginia Beach, diedDec. 14, 2011 in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. James RonaldLeep Jr., 44 of Richmond, died Oct. 17, 2011 at For-ward Operating Base Kalsu in Iraq. Spc. Levi EfrainNuncio, 24 of Harrisonburg, died June 22, 2011 in Af-ghanistan. Capt. Michael Wray Newton, 30 of Newport

Remembering on Memorial Day 2017

Editorial

See Memorial Day, Page 11


The Center for Ballet Arts, Inc.

3955 Pender Drive, Suite 105, Fairfax, VA 22030 Call: 703-273-5344thecenterforballetarts.com

Invites you to our Summer Intensive Session

July 10th through August 12th

Ballet, Pointe,

Modern, Jazz, Tap,

Core Strengthening

& Full-Day Children’s

Summer Dance camps

The Center for Ballet Arts, Inc.

Transform 66 Outside the Beltway

Fairfax County and Prince William CountyPublic Information Meetings

All meeting times are 6-8:30 p.m. A brief presentation at

each meeting will begin at 7 p.m.

Monday, June 12, 2017

Oakton High School Cafeteria

2900 Sutton Road, Vienna, VA 22181

Wednesday, June 14, 2017

Stone Middle School Cafeteria

5500 Sully Park Drive, Centreville, VA 20120

Thursday, June 15, 2017

Piney Branch Elementary School Cafeteria/Gym

8301 Linton Hall Road, Bristow, VA 20136

Find out about plans to transform 22.5 miles of I-66 from I-495/

Capital Beltway to University Boulevard in Gainesville to provide

congestion relief and enhanced safety, as well as new travel choices

and reliability.

Stop by between 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to view the preliminary

concept plans submitted by I-66 Express Mobility Partners, VDOT’s

selected partner for the project, and learn more about the proposed

improvements. Attend the formal presentation at 7 p.m. VDOT and

questions.

Review project information at www.Transform66.org, at the meet-

Drive, Fairfax, VA 22030. Please call 800-FOR-ROAD (800-367-

7623) or TTY/TDD 711 to ensure the availability of appropriate

personnel to answer your questions. Preliminary concept plans and

project schedule will be available at the meetings for review and

regarding environmental, right of way and civil rights information.

Give your oral or written comments at the meetings. You may

also email comments to [email protected]. or mail

them to Susan Shaw, P.E., Megaprojects Director, at the VDOT

“Transform 66 Outside the Beltway” in the subject line. A summary

of comments submitted by June 30, 2017 will be posted on the

project website.

VDOT ensures nondiscrimination and equal employment in all

programs and activities in accordance with Title VI and Title VII of

the Civil Rights Act of 1964. If you need more information or special

contact VDOT’s Civil Rights at 703-259-1775 or TTY/TDD 711.

State Project: 0066-96A-497 UPC: 110741

Opinion

See Letters, Page 12

By Valerie Nguyen

Centreville High School

It’s prom/graduation season with summer breaka few weeks away, and high school membersof the Youth Council of the Unified PreventionCoalition of Fairfax County want youth and

adults to know the Virginia laws to prevent under-age drinking. They’ll be taking part in another ProjectSticker Shock event June 12 in the Annandale andHerndon areas.

Adolescents and full-time college students mostoften use substances for the first time during Juneor July, according to the U.S. Substance Abuse andMental Health Services Administration’s NationalSurvey on Drug Use and Health.So now is a great time to remindeveryone of laws to protect under-age youth.

The Project Sticker Shock com-munity awareness program is de-

signed to pre-vent people 21and older frompurchasing al-

cohol and providing it to under-age individuals. Participants visitpartnering stores and place stick-ers with a warning message aboutthe penalties for providing alcoholto anyone under 21 and using afake ID to purchase alcohol.

In December, I participated in a Project StickerShock in the Centreville area. This was my first timedoing this, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I wasquite nervous going into the stores as this was a newconcept with me.

Thankfully, I went with Ms. Amanda Pusey (ahealth prevention specialist from the Fairfax-FallsChurch Community Services Board), and we met upwith some other youth members from the GraceCommunity Center’s Youth Council who also wereenthusiastic on limiting alcohol and raising aware-ness for mental health as well.

Fairfax County Police Department officers andschool resource officers also help out by taking part

in the event, along with other adultvolunteers.

It was really fun to see otherteens my age involved in some-thing so vital to our community.We all started with a large roll ofstickers provided by the VirginiaABC education unit. I was unsureif we would ever use up all of thestickers as it was quite a ton, butwe managed sure enough to useup all the rolls sticking the stick-ers on various beer containerswarning buyers to not buy alcoholfor those underage and the conse-quences of giving alcohol to teens.

I had a really great time meeting with new like-minded teens who had the same mission statement.It was fun to have a competition to see who couldput the most stickers on the most amounts of con-tainers! Who knew just sticking stickers all over (mychildhood dream) could be so much fun? While atthe same time knowing that I was a small part in ahuge impact in my community hopefully one dayending alcohol abuse once and for all.

Valerie Nguyen is an 11th-grade student at Centreville HighSchool and member of the Youth Council Executive Committee.For more information about the Unified Prevention Coalition,see www.unifiedpreventioncoalition.org. For information aboutjoining the Youth Council, email [email protected].

Project Sticker Shock on June 12

Fairfax County Public Schools studentsheld a Project Sticker Shock event inDecember. The next scheduled event isJune 12.

Commentary

Vote in PrimaryTo the Editor:

The Virginia gubernatorial pri-mary is coming up on June 13, andmy choice for the Republicannominee is Ed Gillespie.

Ed knows what Virginia needsto start growing again. He’s put-ting forward policies to cut Virgin-ians’ taxes, restore faith in ourgovernment, improve how ourstate government operates, boostjob creation, and support smallbusinesses.

Looking beyond the June pri-mary, Ed is the candidate best po-sitioned to win in November be-cause he has demonstrated a com-mitment to serving as governor forall Virginians. He’s running a posi-tive, issues-based campaign ofwhich we can all be proud.

Out on the trail, I’ve often heardEd talk about how he we get our

economy growing again. He be-lieves that with all of valuable re-sources, Virginia should be in thetop five states when it comes toeconomic growth — not the bot-tom five. His policies will makethat vision a reality.

I am confident that together wecan make Virginia the best stateto do business. Ed Gillespie has myvote, and I hope you’ll supporthim, too.

Anna LeeCentreville

Worthy ofCondemnationTo the Editor:

The barbaric attack against in-nocent civilian lives in Manches-ter is worthy of condemnation.

Around 10:30 p.m. on Monday,May 22, thousands of excited chil-

dren and their parents were justleaving the Manchester Arena,having spent the last few hours atthe concert. They were just outwith their loved ones having agood time. It was at that momentlives changed forever. A blast inthe walkway between ManchesterArena and Victoria Station wentoff claiming the lives of 22, andinjuring countless others. AsAhmadi Muslims, we extend ourcondolences to the British peopleand stand with them in mourningtheir loss.

While some may claim that theperpetrators have acted in thename of Islam, nothing could befarther from reality. The irony isall the more apparent as the holyand peaceful month of Ramadanis less than a week

away. Instead of preparing for

Letters to the Editor


News

By Ashley Claire Simpson

More than 16 years ago, Pop-lar Tree Elementary School’sthen special educationteacher, Chris Pascarella,

had a vision of her students’ upcoming highschool experience. She just couldn’t acceptthe reality that the students before her, wholoved music and moving to all kinds ofrhythms, might not get to experience a highschool prom. Pascarella felt that they de-served a signature dance where they couldmake some lifelong memories. So, she or-ganized a small prom specifically for highschool students with special needs.

Since the early 2000s, this prom, witheach year’s theme being “A Day to Remem-ber,” has grown into an annual springtimeevent that brings hundreds of students to-gether from schools across Fairfax CountyPublic Schools (FCPS). This May, 336 highschool students were able to experience the16th Annual Day Prom — all with the helpof 205 teachers and general education stu-dent volunteers.

“When I taught special needs students atPoplar Tree, I knew they loved music,”Pascarella said. “When they were oldenough to be going to high school, I startedorganizing a small dance for the specialneeds students at Herndon High School andtwo other schools. At first, we had the eventat the Hyatt in Reston, but we’ve since out-grown that space. It grew from threeschools, to now students in special ed pro-grams from 18 schools.”

Day Prom, hosted at the Waterford in FairOaks, has become an annual event that stu-dents anticipate for much of the academicyear. The annual dance has gotten so largethat organizers had to break the event intotwo days. This year, the two dances tookplace from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednes-day, May 17, and the again on Wednesday,May 24.

“Of course, it’s so rewarding to see DayProm come together every year,” saidPascarella. “The students start asking aboutit at the beginning of every school year.”

Although this prom is not an official FCPSevent, its execution takes the collaborationand cooperation of special needs teachersand Parent Teacher Student Associations(PTSAs) from each school that participates.The Waterford donates the space to holdthe event, and the deejay contributes histime and service free of charge. The rest ofit is up to teachers and parents to make surethese students get the prom they look for-ward to every year, even getting creativewhere necessary.

“In previous years, many of the schoolsused to send the students in limos,”Pascarella said. “Many schools now use theFCPS buses. Some schools fund-raise, andsome PTSAs make donations in order tocollect money for food, transportation, andeverything else.”

The morning of Wednesday, May 24, stu-dents from nine high schools arrived at theWaterford – Chantilly, Herndon, LakeBraddock, Lee, Oakton, Robinson, Stuart,

Westfield and Woodson.Girls stepped off the school buses in vi-

brant dresses, and the young men enteredthe Waterford in button-down shirts, suitjackets, and, many in ties. Before they en-tered the ballroom, with a wide woodendance floor surrounded by round tables fortaking breaks and eating lunch, teachersand student volunteers pinned boutonnieresto the boys’ suit jackets and slid corsagesonto the girls’ wrists.

David Raich, a special education teacherat Westfield High School, arrived at thedance with two busloads of students. Hesaid the energy among his students wasnothing short of electric.

“They look forward to their prom,” Raichsaid. “They talk about it all year. And, weas teachers spend classroom time prepar-ing them for meeting new people from otherschools, for dancing, and we review theproper manners for the event. Before thedance starts, some of the female teacherswill do hair and makeup for some of thestudents. Male teachers will help tie and

fasten the ties. It’s really like Christmas forthem. They get off the bus with big smiles.It’s really good for self-esteem.”

Teachers and case managers from specialneeds programs attend the dance as bothchaperones and as part of a support systemfor their students.

Speech pathologists Erin Andreani andStacy Pete, both from Lee High School,came to the dance prepared to help theirstudents exercise communication skills.

“If we see one of our students needing anintervention as they try to communicatewith any of the other students here, we’rehere to step in and help them facilitate aconversation,” said Andreani, who alsoworks at West Springfield. “Being here al-lows us to see how our kids are reachingtheir communication goals outside the class-room. And, for the kids here who do go tothe general ed prom with their own school,Day Prom is great preparation.”

Pete enjoys being at Day Prom both tosee her students demonstrate what they’velearned in the classroom, and to witness

them enjoying themselves in a typical so-cial setting.

“We like to see our kids out in the com-munity, and, in this case, getting to have aprom of their own,” Pete said. “They don’thave to miss out on fun things. Here, theyget to enjoy what everyone, including thegen ed kids, does.”

Even though their time at the Day Promwas a work day for school staff members,the teachers said there is no way that DayProm can compare even remotely to a regu-lar day in the classroom.

“For most of these kids, a late night promwould just be too much,” said MarianneMcKeon, a career preparation teacher atRobinson. “Here, they get to experience asemi-formal dance. They all love music soyou get to see their little walls come down.This is a day they can be with their bud-dies, having a good time, without us hov-ering.”

Just like any classic high school dance,teachers stood at the edge of the dance floornodding to the beat of both today’s hits andmore classic party songs like the “YMCA”and “The Cupid Shuffle.” At this prom, someteachers and student volunteers were on thedance floor, making sure that everyone,even the students in wheelchairs, could losethemselves in the cheerful music.

After 16 years of Day Prom, Pascarellasaid that planning for it has almost becomesecond nature to her. Booking venues anddesignating tasks to different groups ofteachers is practically reflexive to her. Whatshe will never get used to, or take forgranted, is the feeling she gets from seeingall the students soaking in everything attheir own prom.

“They are just so happy,” Pascarella said,watching some of the students skip fromthe room where their photos were taken,into the ballroom. “I have no doubt thatwhen I retire, someone else will take over.This event has become too important. Ev-ery year, without fail, both parents and stu-dents start talking about it in September,and everyone involved is excited to start theplanning process in winter.”

Students with special needs enjoytheir own Day Prom.‘A Day to Remember’

Students from nine high schools – Chantilly, Herndon, Lake Braddock,Lee, Oakton, Robinson, Stuart, Westfield and Woodson — take to thedance floor.

Students from Westfield High School gather outside their school for the buses to take them to the Day Prom.

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Entertainment

Submit entertainment announcements atConnectionNewspapers.com/Calendar. Photos andartwork welcome. Deadline is Thursday at noon, atleast two weeks before event.

ONGOINGBaby Toddler Sign Classes. 10-11:30 a.m.

Fridays in May at the NOVA Natural BirthCenter, 4200 Technology Court, Suite A,Chantilly. Lisa Carlson of Toddler Signs hasways to teach a baby or toddler to how toexpress themselves with signing months beforethey can in words. Cost is $60 for all four classesor $20 each. Classes will be taught again inJune. Visit www.novabirthcenter.com for more.

Carolina Shag Dance. Wednesdays, 6:30-10p.m. at Arlington/Fairfax Elks Lodge, 8421Arlington Blvd., Fairfax. Free lessons at 7:30p.m.; no partners needed; dinner menu at 6:45p.m. Tickets are $8. Visit www.nvshag.org.

Toddlin’ Twos. Tuesdays, 10:30 and 11:30 a.m.at the Chantilly Library, 4000 Stringfellow Road.Early literacy storytime with songs and activitiesincluded. Age 2 with caregiver, free. Call 703-502-3883 to reserve a spot.

Storytime for Three to Fives. Tuesdays, 1:30p.m. at the Chantilly Library, 4000 StringfellowRoad. Stories and activities for children age 3-5with caregiver. Free. Call 703-502-3883 toreserve a spot.

English Conversation Group. Thursdays, 7p.m. at the Chantilly Library, 4000 StringfellowRoad. Practice English with a group of studentsand adults. Free. Call 703-502-3883 to reserve aspace.

English Conversation Group. Tuesdays, 10:30a.m. at the Chantilly Library, 4000 StringfellowRoad. Practice English with a group of studentsand adults. Free. Call 703-502-3883 to reserve aspace.

Practice English Conversation Group.Saturdays, 3-5 p.m. at Centreville RegionalLibrary, 14200 St. Germain Drive. Drop in andenjoy casual conversation and learning for adultlearners of English. Volunteer led program. Call703-830-2223 for more.

English as Second Language Book Club.Mondays, 7-9 p.m. at Centreville RegionalLibrary, 14200 St. Germain Drive. Adultslearning English meet to discuss a book chosenby the group. Call the library 703-830-2223 forbook title.

Advanced English Conversation Group.Tuesdays, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. at CentrevilleRegional Library, 14200 St. Germain Drive.Drop-in conversation group for adult English asSecond Language speakers who want to improvetheir skills. Call 703-830-2223 for more.

Plant Clinic. Saturdays, 10:30 a.m. at theChantilly Library, 4000 Stringfellow Road. Aneighborhood plant clinic with horticultural tips,information, techniques, and advice. Free. Call703-502-3883 to reserve a space.

ESL Book Club. Mondays, 7 p.m. at theCentreville Regional Library, 14200 St. GermainDrive. Meet and discuss a book chosen by group.Free. Call 703-830-2223 with questions and toreserve a spot.

ESL Book Club. Every other Saturday, 11 a.m. atthe Chantilly Library, 4000 Stringfellow Road.Adults learning English are welcome to meetand discuss a book chosen by the group. To findout book title, call 703-502-3883.

Lego Block Party. Every other Tuesday, 3 p.m. atthe Chantilly Library, 4000 Stringfellow Road.Legos will be provided for an afternoon ofbuilding. Grades 3-6. Free. Call 703-502-3883 toreserve a spot.

Duplo Storytime. Every other Wednesday, 10:30and 11:30 a.m. at the Chantilly Library, 4000Stringfellow Road. Develop and reinforce earlyliteracy skills for reading success. Ages 1-3 withadult. Free. Call 703-502-3883 to reserve a spot.

Live After Five. Fridays at 5:30 p.m. at TheWinery at Bull Run, 15950 Lee Highway. EveryFriday night a band plays on the patio of thewinery. Free to attend. Visitwww.wineryatbullrun.com for a full schedule.

Mondays are Family Night. 5-7 p.m. at Villagio,7145 Main St. $45 for a family of four. Call 703-543-2030 for more.

Legos Kids Club. Every other Tuesday, 10:30a.m. at the Centreville Regional Library, 14200St. Germain Drive. Thousands of Legos forchildren to play with. Ages 6-12. Free. Call 703-830-2223 to reserve a space.

Starlight Storytime. Every other Wednesday, 7p.m. at the Centreville Regional Library, 14200St. Germain Drive. Stories under the stars forages 4-8. Wear pajamas and bring stuffedfriends. Free. Call 703-830-2223 to reserve a

space.Over-40 Softball League. A Fairfax-based

league is looking for enough players to formanother team. Players must be at last 40 years ofage to be eligible. All games are doubleheaders -played on Sundays at Bready Park in Herndonbetween 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. If interested, [email protected] for more.

One-on-One English Conversation. Varioustimes at Centreville Regional Library, 14200 St.Germain Drive. Spend an hour with a volunteertutor to practice conversing in English. Varioustimes and days. Reservations are required. Callthe library at 703-830-2223 to make areservation.

FRIDAY/JUNE 2Grand Opening. 9 a.m. at At Home, at 13910

Metrotech Drive. Ribbon cutting of a 100,00-square-foot home decor store. Visitwww.athome.com/ for more.

Forks, Corks and Kegs. 6-11 p.m. at St Andrewthe Apostle School, 6720 Union Mill Road,Clifton. A tasting festival of local breweries,Virginia wines, and food trucks with a live band,lawn games, and silent auction. Old Bust Head,Bad Wolf, Heritage, Forge Brew Works, andGrowling Bear breweries will be pouring. $55 inadvance, $65 at door. Visit hand.bid/standrew.

Imagine If! 7 p.m. at Chantilly High School, 4201Stringfellow Road. Comedy for the wholefamily. $5. Visit www.chantillyhsdrama.com.

SATURDAY/JUNE 3Family Discovery Day. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,14150 Upperridge Drive, Centreville. Learn howto find your ancestors. Free. [email protected] for more.

Fair Lakes SpringFest. 1-4:30 p.m. in theparking lot at 12450 Fair Lakes Circle. Liveperformances, strolling characters, Whole FoodsMarket Kids Marketplace, dance troupes,instrument petting zoo, carnival games, facepainting, fire and police vehicle tours, food, andcommunity booths. [email protected] or call 301-452-1459.

Imagine If! 7 p.m. at Chantilly High School, 4201Stringfellow Road. Comedy for the wholefamily. $5. Visit www.chantillyhsdrama.com.

JUNE 3-4Civil War Living History weekend. Various

times at the Fairfax Station Railroad Museum,11200 Fairfax Station Road. Demonstrations ofcamp life, musket firings, candle making, CivilWar re-enactors from the Victorian DanceEnsemble of the Civil War Dance Foundation informal ball dress of the time dancing andteaching authentic dance steps of that period.Museum members and ages 4 and under, free;ages 5-15, $2; 16 and older, $5. Visitwww.fairfax-station.org, or call 703-425-9225.

SUNDAY/JUNE 4Wine, Whiskers and Wags. 1-5 p.m. at Paradise

Springs Winery, 13219 Yates Ford Road, Clifton.Benefit hosted by Friends of the Fairfax CountyAnimal Shelter. Wine tasting, food, a silentauction, raffle and much more. Well-behavedchildren and dogs welcome. Admission is $40 inadvance and $45 at the door. Visit ffcas.org.

MONDAY/JUNE 5Youth Chorus Auditions. 4:45-8:30 p.m. at

6935 Columbia Pike, Annandale. The FairfaxChoral Society encourages children between theages of 5-19 to audition for one of the fivechoirs that meet at the Annandale campus. Visitfairfaxchoralsociety.org/youthprograms/youthchoruses/ for more.

FRIDAY/JUNE 9Combo Classic Golf Tournament. 11 a.m. at

the Twin Lakes Golf Course, 6201 Union MillRoad, Clifton. This tournament pairs golferswith and without disabilities to compete. $180per team. Call 703-324-8782 or [email protected] for more.

SATURDAY/JUNE 10Festival to Fight Cancer. 7:30-11 a.m. at

Centreville High School, 6001 Union Mill Road,Clifton. A 2-mile run with all of the funds will bedonated to Special Love, a non profitorganization that provides camps, programs,and financial aid for families affected bychildhood cancer. Visitwildcatsvscancer.wixsite.com for more.

Combo Classic Golf Tournament. 8 a.m. at theTwin Lakes Golf Course, 6201 Union Mill Road,Clifton. This tournament pairs golfers with andwithout disabilities to compete. $180 per team.Call 703-324-8782 or [email protected] for more.

Musical Production. 8-10 p.m. at Richard J.Ernst Theatre, Annandale NOVA Campus, 8333Little River Turnpike. Encore Theatrical ArtsProject presents their 21st original Broadway-style spring musical “That’s Life.” A song anddance musical about life, love and the journeyswe take along the way. $19-$26. Visitwww.Encore-tap.org for more.

MONDAY/JUNE 19Dulles Chamber’s Annual Golf Scramble. 7

a.m. at Chantilly National Golf & Country Club,14901 Braddock Road. Registration andBreakfast at 7 and tee-off at 8. Visitwww.dulleschamber.org or call 571-323-5304.

Wine, Whiskers and WagsOn Sunday, June 4 it’s Wine, Whiskers and Wags, from 1-5 p.m. at Para-dise Springs Winery, 13219 Yates Ford Road, Clifton. Benefit hosted byFriends of the Fairfax County Animal Shelter. Wine tasting, food, a silentauction, raffle and much more. Well-behaved children and dogs wel-come. Admission is $40 per person in advance and $45 at the door. Visitffcas.org for more.

Photo by Mary O’Malley


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From Page 5

2015 protests demanding “Justice for John Geer”were held outside police headquarters and thecounty government center.

The public did not learn the name of the officerinvolved in the shooting, or many of the relevantdetails until 17 months after the incident, when theinformation was released by a court order. The de-mand for more transparency did not fade away. InMarch of 2015, Bulova received the board’s supportto create the Ad Hoc Commission with the missionto “review FCPD policies and practices related tocritical incidents, use-of-force training policies, threatassessments, as well as those within the Internal Af-fairs Division.”

While insisting that avoiding any loss of life dur-ing police-public interaction had always been theguiding standard, at the meeting Cook said that oneresult of the commission’s efforts was a re-commit-ment to the “Sanctity of Life” philosophy. Cook ref-erenced revisions made to FCPD policies. Last up-dated in 2013, revised General Order 540 on thesubject of the use-of-force by county law enforce-ment personnel took effect on March 31 of this year.The order will be reviewed again in January of 2019,to determine its effectiveness and make any addi-tional revisions if necessary.

Roessler also made mention of the revised poli-cies, explaining that a number of policies had beenconsolidated into “one concise document” to clarifythe appropriate actions to be taken while carryingout their duties, and the proper reporting requiredafter the use of force by county police officers.

WITH 52 ADVISEMENTS, the communicationssub-committee of the commission came in second,targeting the transparency complaints and address-ing the timeline gap between a use-of-force eventand the public’s access to the details.

Roessler announced the establishment of a PublicAffairs Bureau within the FCPD. The chief also men-tioned pages on the FCPD’s website where informa-tion on use-of-force incidents are made available,including links to press conferences and briefingsby Roessler and other officials.

Shirley Ginwright is the chair of the Fairfax CountyCommunities of Trust Committee (COTC), a diversecitizen group “focused on strengthening and build-ing positive relationships between public safety agen-cies and the communities they serve.” Since its in-ception in December, 2014, COTC has been lookingfor ways to connect law enforcement with the resi-dents they serve. They have a particular interest inprograms that focus on the county’s youth, and cut-ting off the “supply” of youngsters in the school-to-prison pipeline. Ginwright invited the audience toattend the COTC’s upcoming “Public Safety Day” onJune 3 in Lorton.

Despite the numerous high notes in the one-yearAd Hoc Police Practices Review Commission’s reportcard, things got heated during the public commen-tary session. Caycee Utley, lead organizer with Show-ing up for Racial Justice (SURJ) Northern Virginia,castigated all of the panelists over the death of 37-year-old Natasha McKenna, diagnosed with schizo-phrenia, bipolar disorder and depression from theage of 14. The 5’ 4,” 130-pound African-AmericanMcKenna, in custody at the Fairfax Adult DetentionCenter on an outstanding warrant for attacking apolice officer, was tasered multiple times whensheriff’s deputies tried to put her in a wheeled re-straint chair. At the time, McKenna was handcuffedbehind her back, shackled around the legs with abobble strap connecting the restraints, and had a

spit mask placed over her face.McKenna went into cardiac arrest shortly after be-

ing tasered. She was revived, but died five days laterwhen it was determined that she had no brain activ-ity, and life support was discontinued.

“Whose side are you on?” shouted several mem-bers of the SURJ group, waving their posters andpointing to an empty seat with a sign reading“Natasha McKenna” placed upon it.

“We don’t want to be on sides,” answered Cook.The new police internal auditor, Schott, added,

“This is what I have been hired to address.”Both Roessler and Bulova tried to explain that the

case of McKenna and some of the others being refer-enced by the SURJ supporters were not within theirdirect purview, citing that the Sheriff’s Office doesnot report to the Board of Supervisors.

“So nobody protects us from them?” Utley replied.“What pressures have you put on the sheriff?”

Attendee Jenifer Hitchcock “couldn’t understandhow they cleared the deputies” involved in McKenna’sdeath.

AT ONE POINT during the public comment phase,Cook refused to respond to “people yelling out ofturn” and Bulova threatened to adjourn the meeting.

After Utley said, “There can’t be any trust until thereis justice,” Bulova invited her to “talk personally” af-ter the meeting.

Several of the citizen speakers described the Civil-ian Review Panel and the police auditor as “tooth-less” — lacking in the power to do anything. “Smokeand mirrors,” said Mary Tracy of Alexandria. “Thecounty has a long way to go on this. What about bodycams? The Department of Justice was offering $1million grants, but we made no efforts to get them.”

Several of the panelists explained that the auditoris prohibited under Virginia Law from investigatingor conducting interviews. Citizens responded thatthey were willing to help the board get those changesmade at the General Assembly, “just show us what todo. Support us.”

Kofi Annan, president of the Fairfax NAACP, took amore conciliatory approach in his remarks, callingthe work done so far “a good start,” but he challengedthe county to look into the disparity in the treatmentof blacks versus whites within the legal system andin detention. Annan called for measures to track suchinformation and make it easily available to the pub-lic.

George Becerra of Burke, a community advocateand familiar face at public meetings on diverse is-sues around the county, asked a different kind ofquestion of the panelists. He glanced around the largeauditorium, then, pointing to the small numbers inattendance, Becerra asked “How will you change youroutreach efforts?”

In response, Ginwright with Communities of Trustreferred again to her organization’s Public Safety Dayscampaigns. After the meeting, Becerra expressed hisdisappointment with the answer. He acknowledgedthat citizens were equally responsible for informingthemselves and in becoming engaged, but said thatthe information is often hard to find and overwhelm-ing. With so many media relations personnel andstaffers, Becerra thinks just a bit more of the workshould fall on the county’s side of the fence.

“During campaigns, politicians find a way to bom-bard your email with information and requests fordonations and support.” Becerra wants to know whysomething similar can’t be done for these importantissues and meetings. “There’s maybe 40 people heretonight. Forty people out of a population of 1.1 mil-lion. That’s a lot of voices going unheard.”

Police Practices Under Public Scrutiny


From Page 6

News, died June 11, 2011 in Afghanistan. Capt.Charles A. Ransom, 31, of Midlothian was one ofeight airmen who died April 27, 2011, at the KabulInternational Airport, Afghanistan, from gunfire.Sgt. Sean T. Callahan, 23, of Warrenton died April23, 2011 in combat in Afghanistan. Sgt. 1st ClassAnthony Venetz Jr., 30, of Prince William died Jan.28, 2011 in Afghanistan, after being been seriouslywounded months before. Spc. Sean R. Cutsforth,22, of Radford, died Dec. 15, 2010 in Afghanistan.Spc. William K. Middleton, 26, of Norfolk died Nov.22, 2010 in Afghanistan. Staff Sgt. Christopher F.Cabacoy, 30, of Virginia Beach died July 5, 2010,in Afghanistan.

If you know of someone who should beincluded in this list, or if you would like toshare how you are honoring the memory ofa family member or friend lost, or aboutthe progress of someone injured, please letus know.

— Mary Kimm

[email protected]

Memorial Day 2017

Opinion

Submit civic/community announcements atConnectionNewspapers.com/Calendar. Photos andartwork welcome. Deadline is Thursday at noon, atleast two weeks before event.

VOLUNTEERS NEEDEDVolunteers needed at the Fairfax Station

Railroad Museum, 11200 Fairfax Station Road,Fairfax Station. The Museum offers a variety ofexciting volunteer opportunities in Museumevents, programs and administration. [email protected] or 703-945-7483to explore services that will fit your scheduleand interests. Visit www.fairfax-station.org, orcall 703-425-9225 for more.

SATURDAY/JUNE 3Yard Sales. 8 a.m.-1 p.m. at Oakton Baptist

Church of Chantilly, 14001 Sullyfield Circle,Chantilly. Oakton Baptist Church of Chantillymembers will be have individual Yard Sales inthe church parking lot. Rain date is Saturday,June 10.

Sexual Trafficking Walk. 8 a.m. at the FairfaxCounty Government Center, 12000 GovernmentCenter Parkway, Fairfax. Help raise awarenessand prevent teen sex trafficking by participatingin the Just Ask Walk/Run for Freedom.Sponsored by Just Ask Trafficking Prevention.Visit justaskprevention.com for more.

SUNDAY/JUNE 4Democratic Candidate Forum. 6:30-8:30 p.m.

at the Mountain View School, 5775 SpindleCourt, Centreville. Meet the three Democraticcandidates for the 67th House District and makean informed selection for one of thesecandidates on June 13th in Virginia’s PrimaryElection. State Sen. Dave Marsden (D-37) willmoderate the forum. Candidates are John W.Carey, Karrie Delaney, and Hannah Risheq. Visitsullydemocrats.org for more.

TUESDAY/JUNE 6Sully Democratic Committee. 7:30-9 p.m. at

the Sully Government Center, 4900 StonecroftBlvd., Chantilly. Meet like-minded neighborsand learn how to become involved in ourpolitical process. Free. Visit sullydemocrats.org.

THURSDAY/JUNE 8Public Comment Meeting. 7 p.m. at Brookfield

Elementary School, 4200 Lees Corner Road,Chantilly. The Fairfax County Park Authoritywill gather public input on the draft master planrevision for Ellanor C. Lawrence Park. The draftmaster plan revision is available for review onthe project’s website at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/plandev/eclawrence.htm. To speak at themeeting or for more information, contact JudyPedersen at 703-324-8662 [email protected].

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-Thomas Fuller

An expert is someone who knows some of the worst mis-

takes that can be made in his subject and how to avoid them.-Werner Heisenberg Kenny Lourie is an Advertising Representative for

The Potomac Almanac & The Connection Newspapers.

By KENNETH B. LOURIENot that I need a pound bag of M&Ms to

weigh 16 actual ounces (it’s now down to 10.70oz.) or a half gallon of ice cream to weigh 64ounces (rather than the 48 oz. it currently is) orthe “family” size bag of Utz potato chips tomeasure more than its current/meager/non-typical-family size of 9.5 ounces (down from 14ounces that I remember), nevertheless; I doneed to feel the love, and right now I don’t. Isort of understand price points and the businessmodels ingrained to retain customer loyalty(price matters more than size, generally), but Iam hard-pressed to ignore the fact that eventhough I’m spending the same amount of moneyas I always have, I’m not getting anywhere nearthe same amount of product as I always have.

Not that the few items I’ve listed here are sta-ples (well, maybe not to you they aren’t), or thenecessary building blocks of a healthy diet, theyare pieces to a puzzle which characterizes someof my eating habits — and probably some ofyours, too. After all, we are all victims of adver-tising messages which bombard us 24-7, on tele-vision, on radio, in print and on devices. In away, we’re all sitting ducks targeted to quackaccordingly because some entity/marketingstrategist knows who we are, what we’re doingand when we’re doing it. It’s not exactly “BigBrother,” but it’s a bit more than “Little Sister.”

My brother, Richard and I grew up in the50s. We ate cookies, candy and snack cakesuntil the cows came home, and we didn’t evenlive on a farm. Quite the opposite, we lived insuburbia, seven miles from Boston, according tothe sign on Rte. 9. We ate dessert after breakfast,lunch and dinner and a few times in between:after school and before bedtime. Why? Becausemy mother had been non-stop advertised-toabout the importance of calcium and the bestway for children to get calcium was to drinkeight glasses of milk per day to “build strongbones and healthy bodies.” And the only way toget us boys to drink that much milk was to feedus something for which milk was a kind of elixir:cookies, cakes, snack cakes, etc. So we ate anddrink to our hearts content, but more impor-tantly, we ate and drank to the development ofour bones and bodies. And so it continues to thisday, sort of, mostly. As my sister-in-law, Vanessasays and then laughs after listening to Richardand I talk about our dessert issues: “Boy, yourmother did some job on you two.”

I’m exaggerating, a bit, with respect to ourcurrent daily consumption. I mean, who couldkeep up that pace? Moreover, given certainage/weight/cancer realities (particularly concern-ing yours truly), it would be totally, extraordinar-ily irresponsible to continue to snack-cake andcookie our way through the day. Still, the urge tosplurge seems hard-wired into our brains andwhen the moment is right, it might not be Cialisthat we always think of. (Do you remember theSeinfeld episode when George was determinedto combine sex and eating and brought a sand-wich to bed? For the record, the thought hasnever crossed my mind.)

I imagine as you’ve read this column you’vedeveloped a sense that given the Lourie’s long-standing — and sitting commitment to suchhedonistic pursuits, pennies, nickels, dimes orquarters on the dollar are unlikely to dissuadeeither one of us from our Santa-like appointedrounds.

Still, we’re not idiots. We’re aware of theeffects on our bodies if we devolve into thesnack cake eating machines of our youth/ado-lescence. We’re not getting any younger nor arewe likely getting any thinner or healthier. I’d liketo think we’ve gotten smarter and more respect-ful of what foods go in and by association whatmoney goes out.

But as difficult as it is to turn an ocean lineraround after it’s headed out to sea, so too is itdifficult for yours truly to care less about whatI’ve spent my entire life caring more about: des-sert/sweets. However, I do anticipate a reactionto this most recent size reduction. As my mother,Celia, used to say: “It’s enough already.”

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News

From Page 7

Letters

What do Pro Football Hall ofFamer Darrell Green, Ko-rean Commander GeneralVincent K. Brooks, U.S. Rep.

Bobby Scott and the Northern Virginia Ur-ban League (NVUL) have in common? TheNorthern Virginia Urban League honoredsix champions in the community for lead-ership and community service and awarded$50,000 in scholarships to local minorityNorthern Virginia high school seniors at its27th Annual Community Service and Schol-arship Awards Gala on Friday, April 28 atthe Hilton McLean Tysons Corner. Thetheme was “Celebrating Champions in OurCommunity.”

Those recognized as Community Cham-pions included:

❖ Darrell Green (former WashingtonRedskin and Pro Football Hall of Famer) -Champion of the Community, Man of theYear Award. Green spoke of his challeng-ing upbringing and despite the success ofhis NFL career his life beyond #28 is de-voted to God and community.

❖ U.S. Rep. Robert “Bobby” C. Scott (D-3) - Congressional Leadership Award. Scottspoke of the critical value of historic pres-ervation and advocacy for affordablehealthcare

❖ Mele Melton (founder of Culturfied

Foundation) - Emerging Leader Under 40Award. The owner of 27 Taco Bells spokeof changing culture and the need for chil-dren to become “Culturefied.”

❖ Brigadier General (Retired) Leo A.Brooks, Sr., Brigadier General (Retired) LeoA. Brooks, Jr., and General Vincent K.

And presents $50,000 in scholarships at its 27th Annual Awards Gala.Urban League Honors Community Leaders

Brooks - Leadership and Military ServiceAward - African-American family with fa-ther and two sons to attain rank of generalin the U.S. Army. History making, press-averse, family with two generations of gen-erals and three generals in the family is anunprecedented milestone. Son Vincent who

commands Korea is managing the conflictfor the Trump Administration.

Seniors receiving a college scholarship inthe amount of $5,000 each were:

❖ Yosaph Boku - Mount Vernon HighSchool, Alexandria.

❖ Jessica Brisco - T.C. Williams HighSchool, Alexandria.

❖ Christian Clark - Washington-Lee HighSchool, Arlington.

❖ Nicholas Conklu - Washington-Lee HighSchool, Arlington.

❖ Abigail Darko - Heritage High School,Leesburg.

❖ Morgan Hobson - Fairfax High School,Fairfax.

❖ Miranda Merritt - Thomas A. EdisonHigh School, Alexandria.

❖ Oshae Moore - Robert E. Lee HighSchool, Springfield.

❖ Aaron Moorer - Mount Vernon HighSchool, Alexandria.

❖ Matthew Ritchie - Loudoun Academyof Science, Sterling/Broad Run High School,Ashburn.

Monies raised from the gala will benefitpreservation of the Freedom House Mu-seum, STEM Education Programs, STEMSummer Camps, STEM Technology Exposi-tions, Mentoring Programs, Leadership De-velopment Programs for Young Profession-als, and $50,000 in Scholarship Awards toMinority Youth. Visit www.nvul.org.

Champion in the Community honorees from left are Darrell Green(former Washington Redskin and Pro Football Hall of Famer) - Championof the Community, Man of the Year Award; Brigadier General Leo A.Brooks, Jr. (USA, Retired) - Leadership and Military Service Award; MeleMelton (founder of Culturfied Foundation) - Emerging Leader Under 40Award; Brigadier General Leo A. Brooks, Sr. (USA, Retired) - Leadershipand Military Service Award; and U.S. Rep. Robert “Bobby” C. Scott (D-3) -Congressional Leadership Award.

Kel B Pics Pho

to

graph

y

this month of spiritual elevationby focusing on good deeds andprayers, terror groups such as ISIScontinue to disgrace themselvesand Islam.

The Holy Quran states, “Whoso-ever killed a person … It shall beas if he killed all mankind (5:33).

The Holy Prophet Muhammad(saw) counted the “killing of asoul” among the four “major sins”(Nasai).

The Khalifah of the AhmadiyyaMuslim Community, HadhratMirza Masroor Ahmad, stated, “…those who seek to justify theirhateful acts in the name of Islamare serving only to defame it in theworst possible way.”

The Ahmadiyya Muslim YouthAssociation USA (AMYA USA)challenges radicalization and ex-tremists’ claim on Islam by show-ing through words and deed thetrue essence of Islam. The MuslimWriters Guild of America, an aux-iliary of AMYA USA, publishednearly 400 pieces in U.S. news-print media in 2016 presenting thetrue teachings of Islam. In thatsame time span, AMYA USA hasfed upwards of 170,000 peopleand collected 5,000 units of bloodin service of our fellow Americans.

Zahid YousafCentreville

may 31 - june 6, 2017 25 cents newsstand price...

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