It’s a holiday weekend. What will you do to celebrate the last bit of summer?
Here are some events happening in and near Reston. Whatever you choose, have a safe and fun holiday.
Saturday – Lake Anne Jazz & Blues Festival. Enjoy live music at Lake Anne Plaza at this free, annual celebration from 1 to 9 p.m.
Saturday – Party in the Alley and Ride to Quantico Cemetery with Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern, 697 Spring St., Herndon. Enjoy live music, a pig roast and more running from 10 a.m. to the wee hours of Sunday morning.
Monday – Herndon Labor Day Festival. This event features local wine and craft beer tastings, crafts, vendors and live entertainment. It’s 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Herndon Town Green, 77 Lynn St. Admission ranges from $5 to $20.
Photo: Lake Anne Jazz & Blues Festival 2015/Credit: Charlotte Geary for Modern Reston.
Labor Day marks the last day for all but two Reston Association pools.
Glade, North Shore, Ridge Heights and Lake Newport will be open though Monday evening (Labor Day).
RA moves on to “Season 5” on Tuesday. You can still get some swimming in between now and Sept. 25.
Here is the Season 5 schedule:
North Shore Heated Pool & Spa, 4 – 7 p.m. weekdays; 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. weekends
Ridge Heights Heated Pool, 4 – 7 p.m. weekdays; 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. weekends.
Photo: Ridge Heights Pool/file photo
It’s Sept. 1. That means free parking at Reston Town Center will soon be a thing of the past.
In case you have been out of town this summer, Reston Now will fill you in the details.
Boston Properties says it needs to discourage commuter parking in Reston Town Center’s seven parking garage. It will begin charging $2 an hour on weekdays (and nights) starting Monday, Sept. 12.
Saturdays, Sundays and special events will remain free.
Parking will be a with a gateless and ticketless system. Visitors must download the ParkRTC app to automatically pay by credit card. If a visitor does not want the app, he or she can pay at a credit card kiosk located in four of the garages.
Here are more details on everything you need to know:
Why Boston Properties calls this an enhancement
What will happen if I don’t pay
What may happen in the longterm
Citizens are still working on a petition in protest of the move
The South Lakes High School community is invited to kick off the 2016 football season — and the upcoming 2016-17 school year — at the annual Seahawk Block Party on Friday, Sept. 2.
The free event is from 4 to 7 p.m. in the SLHS student parking lot.
The block party is SLHS’ back-to-school carnival. There will be reps from various South Lakes student organizations and teams, Reston Association, Reston Community Center and other groups, as well as food and spirit wear for sale.
After the party, stay to watch the Seahawks open the football season against Marshall at 7 p.m. Admission will be charged to enter the game.
South Lakes, under second-year coach Trey Taylor, had a turnaround season in 2015, finishing with a 9-3 record and a trip to the playoffs. The team returns seven offensive starters, including quarterback Devin Miles, as well as six defensive starters.
August was a slow month in an otherwise very busy year for new development in Reston.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission does not meet in August, but they will be back in September with a host of applications to be reviewed.
Here is a look at what’s on the agenda:
Sept. 14 – Decision only on replacing an office building with 54 townhomes at 11720 Sunrise Valley Dr. This is just feet away from the former American Press Institute, which was approved for residential redevelopment by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors earlier this summer.
The planning commission held a public hearing on the application in July, but deferred decision until September. Read more about it on this previous Reston Now post.
The controversial API building and the office building parcel across Roland Clarke Place are both owned by Rooney Properties. Read More
There are still spaces open for artists — young, grown, amateur and professional — to enter the Initiative for Public Art Reston (IPAR’s) 2016 ChalkFest.
ChalkFest, where artists create murals on the pavement on Market Street, takes place at Reston Town Center on Sept. 9 and 10.
There will be prizes for professional artists, amateur artists, families and kids, in addition to the “Audience Choice Awards.”
Want to work on your skills before the event? IPAR will host a free chalk workshop with artist Patrick Owens on Saturday, Sept. 3 from 11 am to 1 pm. The workshop will be in front of the Mercury Fountain.
Registration fees start at $15. To reserve your space, visit IPAR online.
ChalkFest/file photo
Downtown Herndon is the place to be Monday, Sept. 5 for all kinds of adult beverages as well as some family fun.
The annual Herndon Labor Day Festival runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the Herndon Town Green, 777 Lynn St.
The highlights of the day include wine and craft brew tastings, where local winemakers and brewers will have samples for you that are included in the $20 admission. Additional beer tastings can be purchased for $2 a ticket.
Additionally, there will be music, a craft show, booths with merchandise and information from sponsors and delicious food vendors.
Here is the live entertainment schedule:
11:00 a.m. – 12 p.m. – Acoustic Soul, Classic Rock and Blues Duo
Noon to 1 p.m. – Houk Robinson, Acoustic Top 40 Duo
1:00 to 2:30 p.m. – English Channel, 60’s and 70’s Brit Rock/Pop
2:30 to 3:30 p.m. – Sweet Yonder, Bluegrass Inspired Americana
3:30 to 5:00 p.m. – Gringo Jingo, Santana Tribute Band
Admission:
Wine, Craft Brew Tastings and Entertainment – $20
(ID required to purchase tastings)
Concert only or designated driver – $5
Additional beer tastings – $2 per ticket
More info:
- Cash only at gate
- Children 12 and under free
- Sorry, no pets allowed
- Wine and craft beer tasting and selling of open containers ends at 4 p.m.
Photo: Herndon Labor Day Festival/file photo, Town of Herndon
Music, dance, food and other cultural displays from around the world will return to Lake Anne Plaza on Saturday, Sept. 24 at the Reston Multicultural Festival.
The Reston Multicultural Festival is a celebration of the diversity and community spirit found in Reston. This annual event brings together the people of Reston to celebrate the rich medley of cultures.
Everyone is encouraged to dress in attire representative of their cultural background.
Some of the day’s highlights:
- Naturalization Ceremony, with some of the area’s newest citizens from about a dozen countries.
- National Heritage Award Fellows: Billy McComiskey, Irish accordionist
- The Sherman Holmes Project with George Kilby and Phil Wiggins, gospel and blues legends
- International Book Fair – New this year and featuring a reading The Centipede Dragon by author Alice Y. Chen
- Kimono Fashion Show
- Dragon Dance Performance
- Arts & Crafts
- “Art Mirrors Culture” Exhibit
- Music, dance, drumming and other entertainment
- Delicious food for sale
The free festival will run from Lake 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine.
Note: There will be no Reston Farmers Market at Lake Anne on Sept. 24.
The festival is sponsored by Reston Community Center and hosted by Lake Anne Plaza. There will be performance lineup posted when the event gets closer.
There are special events and discounts all week at Lake Anne Plaza, culminating in the 10th annual Lake Anne Jazz and Blues Festival on Saturday.
The Jazz & Blues festival is a free, family friendly, all-day event that will run from 1 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3.
Here’s what’s happening:
Chesapeake Chocolates, Wine, Gifts and More
- Sept. 1: Virginia Wine & Cheese Tasting (6 p.m. – 7 p.m.)
- Sept. 3: Wine and Chocolate Tasting (2 p.m. – 4 p.m.)
(both events are free)
PetMAC Pet Nutrition Center – Jazz up your pet with 35 percent off all collars, leashes and apparel.
Reston Art Gallery – Browse locally-created works of art at Reston Art Gallery & Studios at Lake Anne Plaza. Choose from a variety of musically-themed works of art in various media such as acrylics, oils, watercolors, pastels and even mobiles and collages, and get 10 percent off. Refreshments will be served.
Reston Museum – 20 percent off special edition Robert E. Simon martini and Bloody Mary glasses, each one etched with the signature of Reston’s founder.
Reston’s Used Book Shop – 50 percent off on all jazz- and blues- themed books.
Samantha Hu, Medical Chi-Kung Therapy – Free consultations during Jazz Week.
Small Change Consignment – All musical toys will be 20 percent off at small change during jazz week.
The big event has a lineup of some of the area’s finest musicians for Saturday’s event. Here is the schedule:
- 1 p.m. – Adrian Duke
- 2 p.m. – Mykle Lyons Sextet
- 3 p.m. – Chip Bubeck
- 4 p.m. – Integriti Reeves
- 5 p.m. – Clarence Penn
- 6 p.m. – Sam Gunderson
- 7 p.m. – Dixie Power Trio
The festival is sponsored by Lane Anne Merchants, Friends of Lake Anne, the Reston Community Center, and Reston Association. For the full schedule of events/times, visit www.lakeanneplaza.com.
It’s the last week of August. Surely you are savoring every last minute with your Fairfax County Public Schools students, catching fireflies and making s’mores and wishing summer would never end.
Or, you may be wincing at your brown lawn and frantically scrambling for child care as camp is gone and school does not start until the day after Labor Day, a full week into September this year.
In any case, this is almost certainly the last year FCPS will begin after Labor Day. After decades of following the “Kings Dominon Rule,” the Virginia law that mandates school begin after Labor Day, FCPS Superintendent Karen Garza has drafted a 2017-18 calendar that has school starting on Aug. 28, 2017. Students will also get out a week earlier in June of 2018
Garza previously said this change is being made to provide more instructional time before winter break; enhanced flexibility to help students and school staff members meet college application deadlines; and to end the school year earlier in June.
The FCPS School Board is expected to give final approval when it votes on the change in the fall.
FCPS was able to make the change to the calendar due to Code of Virginia 22.1-79.1, which allows local Boards of Education to waive the state requirement to begin schools after Labor Day if a district is closed an average of eight days per year during five of the past 10 years due to weather conditions, energy shortages, power failures, or other emergencies.
FCPS qualified for the waiver because, during five of the past 10 years, the district has averaged 8.4 days missed due to weather conditions and other events.
Based upon this current average of missed days, the waiver option will continue at least through the 2019-20 school year, FCPS said.
Photo: Karen Garza/file photo
The 33rd annual Reston Triathlon returns on Sunday, Sept. 11. There are still more than 100 spaces left if you want to enter.
The Reston Triathlon is an Olympic-distance event. The 1,500-meter swim is at Lake Audubon. That’s followed by a 40K bike course, which goes three laps on roads around Reston. Finally, participants finish with a 10K run on Reston paths. The run starts and ends at the South Lakes High School Stadium.
See the course map and information on the Reston Triathlon website.
For added preparation, there will be a swim clinic at Lake Audubon on Sunday, Sept. 4. This is a good opportunity to experience a lake swim so that you know what to expect on Sept. 11, race organizers say. Swim registration will open at 6:30 a.m. The clinic will begin promptly at 7:45 a.m. with instructions by the members of the Reston Master’s Swim team.
Clinic swimmers will be permitted to swim a full mile in open water as long as you are out of the water one hour after the start of your wave.The cost for the clinic and refreshments is $15.00 for those with USAT membership and $25 for those without it.
As of Friday, there were 175 spaces remaining for the triathlon. Registration closes on Sept. 6. Cost: Youth (15-19), $80; Adults, $140.
Reston Triathlon 2014/file photo
Some roads in the area of Reston’s South Lakes High School may be affected Aug. 28 due to the South Lakes 10K road race.
The fifth-annual race will benefit SLHS’ cross country team. Registration is available online or on race day.
Here is what you need to know if you are trying to get around nearby:
The race begins at 7:30 a.m. at South Lakes High School.
The course will take runners down South Lakes Drive, then to Colt’s Neck Road, Sunrise Valley Drive, Ridge Heights Road and Soapstone Drive before returning to the South Lakes’ track.
The roads will not be completely blocked, but runners will take over the curb lane. That may slow traffic or cause delays, so plan accordingly.
See a map of the course on the race website.
A 19-year old Reston resident has been charged with grand larceny after she found lost keys and, along with her 12-year-old cousin, took a car from Fair Oaks Mall before being apprehended.
Fairfax County Police said a shopper at Fair Oaks Mall, age 20, accidentally left the keys to her 2015 Volkswagen Beetle in a store at the mall Tuesday afternoon.
Police said Paris Blackshear, 19, of Reston, found the keys. She and her 12-year-old cousin located the car in the parking lot using the car’s electronic key fob.
The suspects drove the VW to Washington, D.C. and picked up Blackshear’s boyfriend and then drove to an area off of Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston.
Eventually, the VW’s owner realized that her vehicle was missing and reported it to police. An Auto Theft detective from FCPD’s Major Crimes Division utilized the VW’s built-in GPS system to track the vehicle and directed patrol officers to it. The occupants were safely taken into custody.
Blackshear was charged with grand larceny, contributing to the delinquency of a minor, and having no operator’s license. The 12-year-old was released to her parents.
Reston Association is in the early stages of determining the assessment amounts for for 2017, which may for the first time include options other than a flat-rate payment.
RA members have always paid the same amount annually ($657 in 2016), whether the household is a single apartment dweller or a large family in an expensive house.
At-large director Ray Wedell appealed to fellow board members last month that it was part time to change the system to make it more fair. He compared it to real estate tax, which is paid according to the value of a property.
“This is an issue 100 percent of the people would get behind,” Wedell said at the Board’s July 28 meeting.
RA CEO Cate Fulkerson said at a special board meeting this week she has directed staff to look into the issue and report some assessment breakdown possibilities at the board’s September meeting.
Meanwhile, though, the board has been asked to look at assessment options for 2017 that remain flat-rate payments.
For 2016, the RA Board voted to move $1 million on reserves that allowed the association to raise assessments $15 (2 percent) from the previous year and keep the number well below the maximum $718 allowed by RA bylaws.
Fulkerson said there may be similar money available for 2017. She asked the board at the special meeting to consider these options:
Option 1 – Use surplus cash of $1.1 million to help fund operating expenses and repair, replacement and reserve funds. Assessments would ride by $1, to $658.
Option 2 – Use surplus cash of $1 million. Raise assessments $6, to $663.
Option 3 – Use surplus cash of $500,000. Raise assessments $30, to $687.
Option 4 – Offer no surplus cash to other funds. Raise assessments $55, to $712.
The cap for 2017 assessments is $750.
The board will discuss the options, as well as the new tiered approach, in September.
See Fulkerson’s entire budget presentation on RA’s website.
Representatives from Boston Properties want to assure users that additional privacy measures are going into place for visitors to Reston Town Center.
New technological features (electronic parking availability signage; app-based payment; Bluetooth-enabled validation; and a GPS/license plate car locater system) are about to go live at Reston Town Center prepares to switch to paid parking on Sept. 12.
Earlier this week, Reston Now reported that by typing a license plate number into the Park Assist app, anyone with a computer could find out where your car was parked.
Kathy Walsh, spokesman for Reston Town Center’s paid parking rollout, says that issue was related to testing done by Park Assist and has been remedied.
“That issue has been addressed to prevent it from happening again,” she said in an email. “The ‘Find My Car’ feature will ONLY be available by using the pay stations located onsite at the Reston Town Center garages.” Read More
