Stories for September 2014

Junior Committee: Work Horses

Young local equestriennes anchor Washington International Horse Show.

Mary Elizabeth Cordia of Alexandria Established in 1958, the Washington International Horse Show is the leading metropolitan indoor horse show in the U.S. This six-day event is held annually in October at Verizon Center in Washington, DC.

Board of Supervisors Approves 50+ Community Action Plan

Vote is “the beginning, not the end” for Herrity.

Supervisor Pat Herrity’s so-called “Silver Tsunami” population in Fairfax County isn’t getting any younger. The data haven’t changed: the amount of people over 50 should increase by 40 percent between 2005 and 2030, and those 70 and older should shoot up 80 percent in the same period.

Supervisors Break Ground on New Public Safety Headquarters

The Fairfax County Police and Fire Departments are getting a new home. On Tuesday, Sept. 16, Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova and Supervisor John Cook broke ground on what will be a $142 million, eight-story headquarters.

Getting Ready for Potomac Day

Annual parade brings community together.

Oct. 25 is Potomac Day — and residents are already anticipating the excitement. Many are looking forward to the Grand Parade where children – and moms and dads too — can catch candy tossed from cars and trucks, spot a dentist dressed like the tooth fairy, cheer for their favorite businesses, political candidates and musical groups and applaud local Potomac leaders.

Housing Market Differs by Price Category

Overall, buyers looking for move-in properties.

Houses in D.C., Chevy Chase and Bethesda are snapped up days after they come on the market. However, many Potomac homes — particularly those selling for more than a million dollars — are remaining on the market for months without so much as an offer — or maybe even a buyer gracing their doors.

Support Group Helps Parents

Where else can one get advice for $1? Perhaps only Lucy from The Peanuts comic strip can offer a better deal with her 5-cent bill. Each week the group Because I Love You (B.I.L.Y.) meets to discuss the problem behaviors of their children.

Editorial: Deadly Medicaid Debacle

Literally killing poor people who could have health care, while refusing to give Virginia’s economy a boost.

The poor people of Virginia are so seriously harmed by the actions of the Virginia General Assembly in refusing to expand Medicaid at little additional cost to the Commonwealth that those harmed should have some legal recourse.

Classified Advertising September 17, 2014

Read the latest ads here!

Potomac Home Sales: August, 2014

In August 2014, 63 Potomac homes sold between $3,725,000-$250,000.

Potomac Home Sales: August, 2014

Raising Awareness about Interstitial Cystitis

Potomac woman launches petition for increased research funds.

Twenty-year-old Justine Stayman, a computer science major attending the University of Maryland’s Honors Program, was thrilled to be selected for the highly-competitive Hinman CEO program – the nation’s first living-learning entrepreneurship program. She was looking forward to living on the UM campus with other students who had a passion for launching their own businesses.

Potomac Activist Pens New Book

Novel began as a scrap of paper in her wallet.

No one is going to accuse Sharon Allen Gilder of being in a rush to get something done. In fact, she took her time deciding what to do about a project she started 20 years ago. She does admit, however, that she gave considerable thought to the job she had in mind by “carrying a scrap of paper in my wallet.”

Deer Archery Program Enters Sixth Season

Continued overabundance brings bow-hunters back to parks.

Even at 72, the animated Disney classic “Bambi” can still soften the hardest hearts when it comes to appreciating the innocence and natural beauty of deer. But the reality in Fairfax County is that an unnaturally high density of Bambis and mothers of Bambi is an ongoing threat to biodiversity and road safety.

Riding To Fight Cancer

Local patients and supporters bike through the National Capital Region to support cancer research.

In July of 2013, Seth Edlavitch of Potomac says he received the shock of his life. After experiencing headaches for several months, he visited his doctor and after a series of tests and finally brain surgery, doctors discovered that Edlavitch had a non-Hodgkin's, blood-based lymphoma form of brain cancer.

Conference Celebrates Local Businesswomen

Power Conference offers advice, networking opportunities.

Nancy Regelin, a Potomac-based attorney, decided to give women-owned businesses a boost, so she coordinated an event at the Convention Center in North Bethesda. Now in its fifth year, the Power Conference: Women Doing Business is a women’s business development conference.

Norwood Students Experience History

Field trips allow students to see and touch at memorials.

History books came to life for about 55 eighth grade students who spent a day at the Holocaust Museum, FDR Memorial and the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial. The trip was part of Bethesday-based Norwood School’s seventh and eighth grade “World History Through an American Lens” curriculum.

Scared, Hopefully Not to Death

One of my greatest fears (or regrets, if I am in fact the cause of my own decline) is that my own stubbornness, stupidity, “male blockheadedness” and/or refusal to believe/pay attention to signs, symptoms, indications and instructions/health advisories from my oncologist about my health will lead to my premature death.

Potomac Real Estate: Top Sales in July 2014

In July 2014, 63 Potomac homes sold between $2,580,000-$284,900.

Potomac Real Estate: Top Sales in July 2014

Classified Advertising September 10, 2014

Read the latest ads here!

End-of-Season Swim

The River Falls Doggy Swim attracted four-legged swimmers on Sunday, Sept. 7.

Outdoor Education at C&O Canal

The first students to experience the new curriculum-based canal boat ride climbed aboard the Charles F. Mercer, a reproduction packet boat, on Sept. 3.

Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award

Katie Hamelburg, daughter of Jamie and Mark Hamelburg of Potomac, received the Diller Teen Tikkun Olam Award recently for a project inspiring fellow teen members of the United Synagogue Youth to perform 18,000 hours of volunteer service in one year.

Board of Supervisors Approves 2014 Budget Carryover Package

FCPS full-day Mondays at discussion forefront.

When students at the 142 public elementary schools around Fairfax County stayed there the full day on Monday -- the first time in about four decades -- they likely weren’t worried about the cost. That’s between the school board and board of supervisors. Grown-up stuff.

‘Recession Ripple Persists’ at Realtors’ Summit

Private sector job growth key to strengthening regional economy, housing demand.

“There’s no question the primary economic driver of this region has always been Uncle Sam,” said David Versal, senior research associate at the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis. “That said, we’re not Detroit.”

House Tour For Charity

Potomac Country House Tour & Festival set for Oct. 3-5.

Four of the area’s homes will open their doors to visitors next month in the name of charity. Officials for the 58th annual Potomac Country House Tour & Festival announced which four of the area’s homes will be part of the October tour.

Board of Elections Seeks Workers

Montgomery County’s Board of Elections is seeking registered voters to manage polling places and provide customer service as an Election Judge on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

‘Heroes Walk To Fly’

Group provides airline tickets to military families visiting injured loved one.

A family receives the devastating call that their son, serving in the Afghanistan, had life-threatening injuries from an IED and was being air-lifted to Walter Reed National Medical Military Center. They were told to start driving to the nearest airport. The hospital staff would do what they could to keep their son alive until they got there, even though it was a five-hour flight.

End-of-Season Swim

Editorial: Change Is Coming, Right?

Legislators on changing the culture of cash and gifts in Virginia: Crickets.

With former Gov. Bob McDonnell and his wife Maureen facing what could be decades in prison after their convictions for corruption, a reasonable person might reasonably expect that members of the General Assembly would be gearing up to make some big changes.

Time Sensitive

As much as I don’t want to be cognizant of date, time and place, relative to February 27, 2009 when Team Lourie first received the stage IV, non-small cell lung cancer diagnosis on yours truly, I am (a terminal diagnosis will do that to you). Moreover, as often as I write about the need to live forward, rather than die backward (if you know what I mean), I still struggle with the application.

Wootton Field Hockey Destroying Early-Season Competition

Patriots have high hopes for 2014 campaign.

The Wootton field hockey is off to a 2-0 start.

The Broad-winged Hawks Are Coming

Every Autumn, in addition to literally billions of songbirds, a million or more avian raptors (hawks, eagles, and falcons) migrate from their nesting and breeding areas all over North America to their winter homes, mostly in Central and South America. Raptor enthusiasts and hawk counters often head for mountain ridges and other concentration points in hopes of seeing some of the birds fly by.

Classified Advertising September 3, 2014

Read the latest ads here!

Park After Dark To Honor Chief Justice Douglas

Event to commemorate 60th anniversary of Douglas’ 1954 walk to save the canal.

Potomac residents owe a huge debt to Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas for almost singlehandedly saving the C&O Canal. Douglas spearheaded a movement against a bill in Congress to destroy the C&O Canal to build a super-highway.

Potomac Sports Briefs

The Churchill football team will open its 2014 season at home against Bethesda-Chevy Chase at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5. The Bulldogs finished 1-9 last season. The field hockey team will travel to take on Quince Orchard at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5.

Taking On the ‘Silver Tsunami’

Herrity to present 50+ Plan to Board of Supervisors next week.

“It’s here,” said Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield). “We’re already living in it.” Between 2005 and 2030, the number of individuals 50 and older is projected to grow by 40 percent in Fairfax County and the number 70 and older is projected to grow by 80 percent. Herrity attributes the changes to both the aging of Baby Boomers, and the general increase in life expectancy.

Senior Centers in Fairfax County

A list of senior centers in Fairfax County.

Quilting Studio Adds to Dream Home

At 72, Wanda Rogers engages in an early American craft she first learned from her grandmother.

Quilting takes patience; ditto the steps entailed in setting up a quilting studio all of one's own. Such are the reflections of Wanda Rogers, 72, who is now tapering off a 51-year professional career, and increasing precious hours spent in the pursuit of a mountain-state handicraft she learned from her mother and grandmother.

Taste of Potomac To Benefit Adoptions Together

Seventh annual event scheduled for Sept. 13.

“Today, there are five thousand children in the D.C. metropolitan area who are living in temporary care, waiting to be adopted. We need to make their dreams come true.” These are the words of Janice Goldwater whose vision and determination have helped to conquer the challenge of finding permanent homes for children regardless of their age, race or health issues.

Time to Downsize?

Suggestions for seniors looking for homes to fit the next phase of their lives.

When Beverly Quinn’s fourth child, a daughter, got married, she decided it was time to downsize. The 69-year-old widow moved out of the 4,000-square-foot home in Vienna, Va., where she and her husband raised their children and into a 1,300-square-foot townhouse in North Potomac, Md., which meets her new needs perfectly.

New Yorker Discussion Group

Members enjoy intellectual stimulation, camaraderie over long term.

There was a time when 83-year-old Bob Kanchuger spent most Friday mornings on a 30-mile bike ride with friends.

Hiker Dies from Fall while Rock Climbing

Lightning storm delays rescue effort.

On Sunday afternoon, Aug. 31, Rian Avarham Khalder, 25 of Silver Spring, was hiking with his 14-year-old brother along the Potomac River. As Khalder was climbing on rocks on a part of the river just south of Old Angler’s Inn, the rocks broke lose.

Correction

In “Enjoying the End of Summer” (Potomac Almanac, Aug. 27), the wrong caption accompanied the photo of the seamstress, Rose, who has worked for the Fashion Craft Cleaners for 20 years and lives in Gaithersburg.

Authentic Potomac

Potomac Community Village hosts session on Potomac history.

Most of the close to 70 people gathered for a Potomac Community Village meeting on Thursday, Aug. 28, have lived in Potomac for more than 25 years. Some have lived here for more than 40 years. But that wasn't long ago enough to match the recollections of Elie Cain, who told those assembled what Potomac was like when she arrived with her family in 1938.

I Scream

…for ice cream; from Brigham’s in Boston, the local New England establishment of my youth where I spent dollars – although it was likely cents back in those days – many afternoons, evenings and weekends.

$12 Million Suit Against Fairfax County Police

2013 shooting victim’s family seeks damages in wrongful death case.

The year-long silence surrounding the police shooting of John Geer has been broken — but not by Fairfax County Police or the U.S. Department of Justice. John Geer was shot to death by Fairfax County Police on Aug. 29, 2013.