Oak Hill/Herndon News

Oak Hill/Herndon News

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Loving Horses at Frying Pan

Farm Park provides a riding experience for children.

Children of all ages love horses. But keeping a horse is difficult when pasture and riding land are scarce. Here in Herndon, Frying Pan Farm Park and Spirit Open Equestrian have joined together so that children can ride and, for a short time, pretend the horses are their very own.

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Volkswagen Donates Van to Children’s Science Center

The Children’s Science Center will use the van for its traveling Museum Without Walls programs in Northern Virginia.

The Children’s Science Center is now the owner of a brand new 2014 Volkswagen Routan minivan thanks to a donation by the Volkswagen Group of America. Volkswagen executives handed over the keys to the 2014 Routan to Children’s Science Center board members on Monday, Jan. 17 in front of the company’s headquarters in Herndon.

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Additional Delays Slow Handover of Silver Line to Metro

Performance issues and unmet safety testing requirements cited as reasons for the continued delay.

Phase I of the Silver Line is still not quite ready for final testing by Metro authorities, according to a Monday statement issued by Metropolitan Washington Airport Authority (MWAA). With the handover of the Silver Line project to Metro authorities looming, Northern Virginia residents will have to be patient despite their readiness to hop on the train at new Tysons Corner and Reston Metro stations.

Delegates Rust, Plum Provide Richmond Updates

Delegates Tom Rust (R-86) and Kenneth Plum (D-36) recap successes and missed opportunities in the first part of this year’s General Assembly session.

Herndon and Reston Delegates Tom Rust (R-86) and Kenneth Plum (D-36) ended the first half of the 2014 General Assembly session happy with the House of Delegates’ passage of transportation, education and absentee military voting bills. Tuesday, Feb. 11 marked the "crossover" point for this year’s General Assembly session, when both houses of the General Assembly must vote on all non-budget related legislation or allow those bills to die.

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Herndon Rotary Club Holds Valentine's Sock Hop

Final show for Herndon fundraising event.

The Fabulous Hubcaps band preformed Saturday evening at the Herndon Community Center’s gymnasium, playing some favorite classic rock n’ roll hits including "Surfin’ USA" and "Get Around." The Valentine's Sock Hop has been an annual event for the Herndon Rotary Club, but due to multiple factors will no longer be held as a fundraising event.

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Heaven and Earth Akido Hosts Fundraiser

Funds raised for family of departed Herndon waiter.

"Damien was one of the first folks who I spoke with when I came back to the area after being overseas over three years," said Ben Ericksen. "We stuck up a pleasant conversation, and I told him I was back from Afghanistan. I would take some of the students up to the O’Sullivan’s restaurant."

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Money on the Shelves: Jurisdictions Take Variety of Approaches to Funding Libraries

Some have recovered from the recession, others are still struggling.

What is the future of the neighborhood library?

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Eleven Candidate In Epic Democratic Primary to Replace Moran

Successful candidate could emerge with 10,000 votes.

The Democratic primary is shaping up to be the most competitive election in recent memory, one with an unprecedented number of candidates.

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Herndon High Hosts Improvathon

Students practice and learn improv at fundraising event.

“I got a whistle, and we have some penalties,” said Scott D. Pafumi. Pafumi, was laying out rules for the Improvathon event at Herndon High auditorium. The Theatre Director at Herndon Middle School, Pafumi had been asked to referee this year’s Improvathon. Ten teams made of students from across Fairfax County went to Herndon High on Saturday, Feb. 8 for six games related to improvisational or improv theatre. Judging the events were Town of Herndon Mayor Lisa Merkel, Town councilmember Melissa Jonas, and Herndon High Assistant Principal Maria Sneed. Evan Hoffman, director of the NextStop Theatre Company was the master of ceremonies. Participating with the Herndon High team was Herndon senior Hunter Robinson.

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Strings Concert Held at Dranesville Elementary School

The fourth and fifth grade students perform for family and friends.

”It was a great evening for the kids,” said Seth Lovern. His daughter, Alexis, a fourth grade student at Dranesville Elementary School had just completed an evening string concert at the school cafeteria. “Her mom plays the violin, so she [Alexis] wanted to play the viola to be different.”

Week in Herndon

The MOMS Club® of Herndon will host a Relationship Roundtable on Thursday, Feb. 20, 10 a.m. – Noon at Trinity Presbyterian Church (615 Dranesville Rd, Herndon). Guest speakers Elizabeth Mahoney and Irene Burkett will lead an open discussion on ways to strengthen your relationship with your spouse or partner. Topics to be addressed include: common barriers to communication, effective communication techniques, and stress reduction methods. All Herndon, VA (zip codes 20170 and 20171) stay at-home mothers are encouraged to join this free event.

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Rachel Carson’s Linda Gammon Wins Band Director of the Year Award

Carson Middle School band director Linda Gammon was named the 2013-14 Secondary Band Director of the Year.

Linda Gammon has won countless awards over the course of her 38-year teaching career, been named guest conductor of nearly every district band in Virginia, and has published a number of music education books. In Feb. 2014, Gammon added the Fairfax County Band Directors Association (FCBDA) Secondary Band Director of the Year Award to that list of achievements.

Holidays Are Over, But Need Still Exists

We live in a community comprised of people from many diverse backgrounds. What a wonderful place to live, work and raise a family. We are able to live in culturally vibrant communities, teach our children how to live in a multicultural world and we are able to learn tolerance and respect for others. God wants every individual to know that he is loved and valued. Jesus said in Luke 10:27 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with your entire mind” and “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

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Floris Elementary Chess Team Wins Silver Knights Cup

Floris Elementary students competed in the third annual Silver Knights Cup chess tournament recently and won top school in the competition. The top four scorers from each school were taken to calculate school placements; from Floris, the top scorers were Ray Shen, Mantra Vivek, Anand Vinod, and Jonathan Tong. More than 220 students from 20 schools participated in the tournament in one of four sections: K-1, K-3, K-5, and K-8. Other Floris students who competed were Connor Whiting, Alec Riso, Aditya Kakkar, Vikas Nanduri, Shrey Papneja, Shiven Chokshi, Sumanth Ratna, Sri Kapa, Krish Sahoo, Yashwant Kapa, Shivam Papneja, Yash Sahoo, Maria Izzi, and Zahra Izzi.

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School Board Votes For Longer SLEEP

Money saved from annual bus route review will be earmarked for implementation of later start times.

According to SLEEP, a local group advocating for later high school start times in Fairfax County, 72 out of 92 counties in Virginia have a high school start time of 8 a.m. or later.