Friday Night Live Concerts Return To Herndon
20th year of Friday evening concerts at downtown Herndon.
Friday, May 2, the Town Green was full of families and visitors who came to attend the first Friday Night Live concert in the Town of Herndon. “It was a packed house, everybody is out having a good time,” said Herndon Police Officer Henry “Hank” Ruffin. This popular concert series is held every Friday evening until Aug. 22. The band which begun this season was Love Seed Mama Jump. The concerts begin around 6:30 p.m. and end around 10:30 p.m. The Friday Night Live concert series is free to attend and is almost always held unless rain forces them to cancel.
Week in Herndon
Herndon MOMS Club to Host Popsicle Picnic
The MOMS Club of Herndon will host a Popsicle Picnic on Thursday, May 15, from 10 a.m. – noon at Bruin Park (415 Van Buren St., Herndon). The club encourages all Herndon (zip codes 20170 and 20171) stay at home mothers to join them. Stop in for a fun morning of playground play, bubble blowing, sidewalk chalk artistry, and more at their annual Membership Drive. This event is an opportunity for prospective members to learn more about the club and to meet other Herndon moms. The MOMS Club of Herndon will provide complimentary iced beverages and snacks for everyone and free popsicles, bubbles, and sidewalk chalk for children who attend. Prospective members who sign up that morning to join the club and current MOMS Club® members who bring a friend to the event will be automatically entered into a drawing for a $10 gift certificate to Zinga! Frozen Yogurt. For more information or to RSVP contact: Tomoko Azuma, Membership VP at Herndon_moms_info@yahoo.com. In case of inclement weather, this event will be moved to Trinity Presbyterian Church (651 Dranesville Rd., Herndon).
Celebrating Spring with Dance
Classical Ballet Theatre (CBT) celebrates this spring by sharing its love of dance with the community. In late March, it hosted children and their families at its Herndon studios for shorter, narrated Children’s Series performances of The Sleeping Beauty, and, in early April, it took the full classic ballet to the big stage at the Ernst Theater. There, dancers performed before hundreds of enthusiastic audience members. In addition to friends and family, these included military personnel and Fairfax County teachers who received complimentary tickets in honor of CBT’s Silver Anniversary.
Oak Hill Students Participate in National STEM Festival
Oak Hill students participated in the USA Science & Engineering festival as an official exhibitor. The team comprising fifth and sixth graders call themselves EcoSy"STEM" Preservers. The team worked on renewable sources of energy with kitchen waste. Generating biogas from organic waste in your own kitchen has been researched and presented at the festival. The team members included: Fufth graders -- Pranava Nidumolu, Sohal Sudheer and Jordan Lee and sixth graders Aditya Kumar, Medha Gupta and Malavika Pillai. Approximately 325,000 people attended the largest celebration of STEM in the nation.
Herndon High Junior Selected for West Point Summer Leaders Seminar
Daniel Vedova, a junior at Herndon High School and co-captain of Herndon High School’s FIRST Robotics team (Epsilon Delta 116), has been selected to be among 1,000 attendees at West Point’s Summer Leaders Experience (SLE) in June. More than 5,000 juniors nationwide applied to SLE, which offers outstanding high school juniors the opportunity to experience life at West Point. SLE attendees live in the cadet barracks (dormitories), eat in the Cadet Mess, and participate in academic, leadership, athletic, and military workshops.
An Abundance at the Farmers Market
Twelve vendors offer variety at outdoor event.
Baskets of fruit and bundles of fresh local vegetables will be available near the town caboose until mid-November. The Thursday farmers market has returned from hibernation for its 25th year on May 1, giving town locals the opportunity to socialize and shop for local produce from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. “The first day is usually slow,” said Herndon Market Master John Dudzinsky. “You usually see the regulars. People forget about it, then the word starts to spread.” He said it will last until Nov. 13. During the summer months, shows and outdoor activities are provided for children.
ArtSpace Herndon Opens Far and Wide
Paintings by Trisha Adams on display until May 25.
In the new ArtSpace Herndon exhibit Far and Wide: Travel as Muse, artist Trisha Adams displays a visual journey. Unique architecture and distinctive trees offer interesting new shapes, and plants, earth, and buildings present color palettes. “We are very excited to display Trisha Adams works at ArtSpace,” said Lawrence Verbiest, executive director of the ArtSpace Herndon. This is Adams’ first solo show at ArtSpace Herndon. A California native, Adams moved to Virginia to work for a local newspaper. In 2001, she began painting and by 2004 was a fulltime painter. She enjoys traveling and landscapes are a favorite subject.
Lisa Merkel Remains Mayor, Three New Council Members Chosen at Herndon Election
Lisa Merkel remains mayor after the Tuesday Town of Herndon Elections. She beat Connie Hutchinson 1,308-1,066, according to tallies made at the Herndon Community Center.
Governor McAuliffe Speaks to Business Leaders
Event at Volkswagen Group of America draws 100 executives.
Fairfax County Economic Development Authority hosted an evening networking session at the headquarters of the Volkswagen Group of America in Herndon on April 30. The program was titled Fairfax County: Where International Companies Do Business in the U.S. A special guest of the event was Governor Terry McAuliffe (D) who spoke about plans of attracting federal projects to Northern Virginia, and hopes regarding Virginia’s education program. “This is something we do every two to three years,” said Gerald L. Gordon, president and CEO of the Fairfax Economic Development Authority (FCEDA). “We now have more than 400 foreign-owned companies from 45 countries in Fairfax County,” said Gordon. “We are fortunate to have five overseas offices,” said Gordon.
Herndon High Students Attract National Attention
A team of skilled students at Herndon High School have developed a company that is taking them around the East Coast and gaining national attention. The students in Mrs. Kathy Thomas’ class wrote a business plan for a company called V-LO Chip, which is a virtual location chip, asked for a virtual $500,000 startup loan, and then defended their plan before three panels of judges on Dec. 18, 2013. The students placed first in the Commonwealth of Virginia and represented the state at the Virtual Enterprise National Competition, April 1-4, 2014 in New York City. At this competition the officers and employees of V-LO Chip competed in a variety of events bringing home national honors for Herndon High School and Virginia. These competitions include: Global Business Challenge: The students are put on teams with teenagers from 10 countries around the world and assigned a business case study. The students are given 2.5 hours to work on solving the case study, which includes creating a PowerPoint and then presenting their solutions before judges. Andrea Ipinza’s team took 2nd place in the Global Business Challenge. Business Plan Presentation: The V-LO Chip officers defended their business plan before two sets of judges. The panel consisted of 10 judges who are successful entrepreneurs, businessmen and women from New York City. Trade Show: Outstanding Achievement Booth Design-V-LO Chip named TOP 10 Booth! Out of 150 booths, V-LO Chip was selected as one of the 10 best booths honored for the appearance of the booth as well as the ability for their employees to sell their product when customers visited the booth.
Lisa Merkel Remains Herndon Mayor, Three New Council Members Elected
Lisa Merkel remains mayor after the Tuesday Town of Herndon Elections. She beat Connie Hutchinson 1,308-1,066, according to tallies made at the Herndon Community Center. “I think this is a sign that the town is open and excited about the possibility of the metro station,” said Merkel. Hutchinson, who had served as the Herndon Vice Mayor, was proud of the support she gained during her election. “I felt very honored to have the really strong support I had from the Herndon residents,” she said after the election results were posted at HCC. “I feel honored to represent the town as I had. I think there’ll be a lot of good debate on the council. The town council, which is voted biannually at large, will be Jennifer Baker with 1281 votes, Grace Han Wolf with 1,256 votes, Sheila Olem with 1,211 votes, Jasbinder Singh with 1,197 votes, Steven Lee Mitchell with 1,126 votes and Dave Kirby with 1,107 votes. “To those running who took the high road and stuck to the positive issues, I want to thank them from the bottom of my heart,” said Merkel. “That’s what Herndon is all about.”
Protecting Driver’s License Information Becomes Law
Del. David Bulova’s legislation (House Bill 1072) to protect personal information on driver’s licenses was enacted into law during the reconvened session of the General Assembly on April 23. The new law, which will be effective on July 1, limits the ability of a business to electronically scan the bar code on a driver’s license and then store and use that data. State Sen. David Marsden (D-37) carried the companion legislation (Senate Bill 40), which has also been enacted into law.
County Budget Markup Passes
Three supervisors still oppose the budget.
Fairfax County is another step closer to having an approved budget for the next fiscal year. The Board of Supervisors approved the 2015 budget markup at its April 22 meeting at the county Government Center. Supervisors Linda Smyth (D-Providence), Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) and John Cook (R-Braddock) opposed the markup.
Fairfax County Honors ‘Superheroes’
22nd Annual Fairfax County Service Awards presented.
Maybe they don’t wear capes and flashy uniforms, but local volunteers are superheroes. That was the theme for the 22nd Annual Fairfax County Service Awards, where more than 100 volunteers were recognized for their work with breakfast Friday, April 25, at The Waterford in Springfield. More specifically, this year’s theme was "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Impact," which was reflected in the comic book-inspired table decor and introductions by master of ceremonies Jeff Goldberg, Virginia Bureau Chief for ABC7 and News Channel 8.
Herndon Passes Nearly $49 Million Budget
Tax rate will remain the same.
The Herndon Town Council approved its $48,827,100 2015 budget. The budget, which maintains the current tax rate of $0.2650 per $100 of assessed value, was passed 6-1 at the April 22 meeting. Council member Charlie Waddell was the only one who voted against the budget. He wanted to see a lower tax rate. “I’m not ready to pass the budget, as is,” he said. “I might be in a couple of weeks.”