More than 800 guests gathered at the Hyatt Regency Reston on Thursday to pay tribute to founder Bob Simon’s 100th birthday and celebrate this year’s honorees at the Best of Reston Awards and Gala.
The gala capped a week of celebrations in Reston, including Founder’s Day and a VIP premiere of the documentary “Another Way of Living: The Story of Reston, VA.”
Simon was also a honorary co-chair of the event. He challenged Restonians to meet his goal of raising more than $1 million over the last two years. Patrons answered the call, raising $675,000 in 2014 for a two-year total of $1,178,000.
“It is such a big number, it is hard to express the appreciation and gratitude I have for everyone here,” Cornerstones CEO Kerrie Wilson told the crowd. “There is something very special about the community that says ‘you are welcome here.’ “
Wilson announced last night that Cornerstones is about to purchase 48 more affordable housing units, which will help the nonprofit double its housing stock, another challenge Simon asked residents to meet. The new apartments are located at North Point.
The Best of Reston awards honor individuals and businesses for their commitment to community service. This years honorees:
Individual Community Leaders
Carol Ann Bradley — The former educator has given back to the community through volunteer work with Global Camps Africa, Friends of the Reston Regional Library and the Embry Rucker Community Shelter, among others. She help found the mentoring organizations The Links, Inc., and Educators Then, Now and Forever. She has also served on the board of the Reston Community Center.
Jerry Ferguson — Ferguson is the director of Development and Outreach for Fairfax Public Access. He has donated many hours to produce and film videos to aid fundraising and public relations for organizations such as FACETS, Leadership Fairfax, Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce (GRCC) and Cornerstones.
Cate Fulkerson -The Reston Association CEO is also the chair of Reston’s Character Counts! Coalition, chairs GRCC’s annual Ethics Day and is an Emerging Leaders Institute Mentor.
Bonnie Haukness — A Reston Realtor, Haukness chairs the annual Reston Home Tour to benefit the Reston Historic Trust. She also co-chairs the annual Capital Steps benefit for Cornerstones and was instrumental in establishing scholarships for campers at Reston Association summer camps, among other projects.
Davida Luehrs — Luehrs uses her life experience to aid the low-vision community. She has been a leader with the Northern Virginia Chapter of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, the Sterling Lions, the American Council of the Blind and the Visually Impaired People of Reston. She established the local VisionWalk and has raised more than $1 million since 2007. She also volunteers with the Boy and Girl Scouts, Herndon Middle and High School Bands and Reston Swim Team Association.
Civic/Community Leader
HomeAid Northern Virginia — This group was founded in 2001 by members of the Northern Virginia Building Industry Association. HomeAid helps renovate shelters, transitional and affordable housing and has completed 70 projects and helped more than 10,000 people.
Small Business Leader
Brennan & Waite, PLC — This legal firm, founded by husband and wife Matthew Brennan and the late Carol Waite, has supported GRCC, Habitat for Humanity, Let’s Help Kids, and other local organizations. Brennan has worked in the community to help other schools adopt and Ethics Day program, recruited candidates for Leadership Fairfax and funded scholarships so nonprofit leaders could participate.
Corporate Business Leader
Cooley, LLC – Large law firm Cooley, with offices at Reston Town Center, encourages employees to give back. The firm matches employee fundraising and cumulatively contributed more than $1 million last year. More than 466 Cooley lawyers have contributed more than 33,000 hours on 687 pro bono matters annually.
Little League Honors 10 — Eight players and two umpires have earned Reston Little League’s annual Leadership Awards and a scholarship for “sportsmanship during past seasons, their potential for continued leadership development as they graduate on to new teams and schools, and their love of the game.” Awardees are: Jack Thompson (Athletics), Aiden O’Donovan (Phillies), Josh Meade (Yankees), Sully Gholson (Nationals), Vikrant Magadi (Rays), Shea Huntington (Pirates), Nick Gryski (Red Sox), Braden Huebsch (Mets), Owen Walker (Umpire), and Kyle Sather (Umpire).
What Will Happen to “Margaret’s Garden?” — A developer wants to purchase the land on Lawyers Road/Reston Parkway that for more than 50 years was the home and iris garden of Margaret Wilson Thomas. Thomas, who died two years ago, grew thousands of flowers on her property. There is an effort underway to move the flowers to various lots in Herndon. [Fairfax Times]
Reston’s Getting A Splatter Run — Mark your calendars for May 10. That’s when the Splatter Run 5K to benefit Young Life Fairfax will take place at Reston’s Lake Fairfax Park. A splatter race (also called a color run) is where runners don white for the race and are pelted from the sidelines with color powder, finishing up looking like they ran through a rainbow. Younglife is a Christian non profit that hosts summer camps for children in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties. [Young Life]
Photo courtesy Reston Little League
On Fridays we take a moment to thank Reston Now’s advertisers and sponsors.
Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce, the business community for the vibrant region.
Reston Association, Reston’s homeowner’s association.
Reston Station, Comstock’s mixed-use development and parking garage at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro stop.
The Avant, new luxury rentals in the heart of Reston Town Center.
Mason Miller, candidate for Reston Association Board of Directors.
Berry & Berry, PLLC, Reston law firm specializing in federal employment, retirement, labor union, and security clearance matters.
Just Cats Clinic, Reston’s first cats-only vet practice.
Reston Real Estate, Eve Thompson of Long & Foster Real Estate specializes in Reston homes.
Construction crews have made a lot of progress building CVS at the Corner of Town Square and St. Francis Streets at Reston Town Center. Outdoor signs promoting the store were recently installed.
The space will take up a large portion of the ground floor of The Avant, a luxury residential building that began leasing last fall.
Reston Town Center has long been without a convenience store or drugstore in the town center itself, so residents have said they are looking forward to the store’s opening.
No opening date has been set.
Also opening soon on the ground floor of The Avant — World of Beer (May), Bartaco and Barcelona wine bar (later this year).
While there is still no firm opening date for Metro’s Silver Line, Wednesday’s declaration of substantial completion by Dulles Transit Partners moves the rail line one step closer to its first riders.
DTP submitted the project for approval yesterday, avoiding a deadline in which fines of $25,000 a day were about to begin. The contractor, part of Reston-based Bechtel Corporation, said it has reached “substantial completion” on the $2.7 billion Phase 1 of the project, which will bring rail from East Falls Church to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue.
This was the second time DTP said it had reached substantial completion, which states that the contractor’s construction portion is finished. It previously filed on Feb. 7, but during Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s review MWAA found issues in 7 of 12 areas, ranging from leaks to problems with the automatic train control system. Among the work done to make repairs in last few weeks: Speakers in all five stations had to be reinstalled and cables fixed in the Tysons tunnel.
MWAA will now begin another 15-day review period.
“We have been working closely with DTP as they have addressed remaining outstanding items, and we will continue to work closely with them during this review and while they work on a variety of additional required tasks,” MWAA said in a statement.
“Substantial completion is an important step in the process of turning the project over to WMATA [Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority]. Another step will be ‘operational readiness,’ which WMATA will declare before starting their own testing and other processes. No date has been set for turning the project over to WMATA, and WMATA has not set an opening date for service.
If MWAA deems the problems are not repaired, then DTP would another indefinite repair period. However, the contractor has emphasized its intention that this week’s completion declaration would be final and correct.
If the project moves on to WMATA (Metro), there will be a maximum of 90 days for its own testing. Metro officials have previously said they hope it won’t need the full 90s days.
Officials had hoped to finish testing last September for a possible December opening. But delays were announced last summer, then again in November as DTP worked to fix the automatic tracking system. The latest issues pushed the opening back another eight weeks.
An optimistic prediction for first riders would now be June or July.
Reston development-watch group Reston 2020 is skeptical that the work is suddenly at “substantial completion” on the same day as the penalties would start.
“If ‘completed when it needs to be’ is the criterion, then Phase 1 was “substantially complete” when it was first scheduled to be last September,” Reston 2020 co-chair Terry Maynard wrote in a blog post. “What kind of overlapping, dysfunctional, disorganized engineering process is this? … The problem now for the MWAA Silver Line Project Management team is that it is being squeezed on both sides–the contractor who wants to avoid fines that begin April 9 and MWAA’s Board which wants to avoid the perception MWAA has managed this project poorly.”
All Fairfax County Public Schools High Schools made the Washington Post’s annual list of the nation’s top high schools.
Education reporter Jay Mathews analyzes data and issues the list, which this year included 1,900 schools.
Mathews’ Challenge Index measures schools’ ability to challenge their students. A school’s ranking is determined by dividing the number of college-level tests given by a school to all its students by the number of graduates for that year. The index is designed to identify schools that challenge average students. Factors such as students living in poverty are included in the formula.
Nationally, Herndon High School was No. 254 and South Lakes High School was No. 407.
Among D.C.-area schools, Herndon was No. 29, rising two spots from No. 31 the last two years. South Lakes was No. 47, falling seven spots from 2013. See the entire local list.
Oakton was ranked the top FCPS High School, coming in at No. 12 in local ratings and 144th nationally. Thomas Jefferson’s High School for Science and Technology is not included on the list because of its status as a magnet school with extremely high SAT scores and and a high concentration of select students, Mathews says.
Read about how Mathews determines the rankings in The Washington Post.
How do you feel about your local high school? Tell us in the comments.
A teenage girl has been charged with setting fire to three cars in Reston early Thursday.
Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department fire investigators said the cars were burned in the 11600 block of North Shore Drive.
The 17 year-old, whose name was not released by police, was charged with Virginia Fire Code, 18.2-86, setting a fire capable of spreading; and 18.2-81, intentionally burning personal property with a value greater than $200.
Damage is estimated at $30,000, fire officials said.
It’s been quite a week for Reston founder Bob Simon. Well, actually, it’s been quite a century.
Simon turns 100 years old today.
The new centurion will cap a week of celebrations, toasts and other tributes by donning a tuxedo and serving as honorary co-chair of Thursday’s 2014 Best of Reston Gala at the Hyatt Regency Reston. Simon, who also co-chaired the event last year, set a goal for the two years of raising $1 million in two years for local nonprofit Cornerstones.
Simon was born in New York City on April 10, 1914. Now he calls the 13th floor of Lake Anne’s Heron House home. His secret to life? A daily walk around Lake Anne Plaza, the original vision he had for a “New Town” built around village centers. Also, a daily martini.
Have birthday greetings for Simon? Write them in the comments below.
Reston Association Elects Officers — The newly elected Board of Directors chose new officers on Wednesday: Ken Knueven will continue to serve as president. Ellen Graves was selected as vice president. Michael Sanio will be secretary and member, while John Higgins will continue to serve as treasurer. The officers will serve until their terms expire in April, 2015. [Reston Association]
Supervisor Speaks to Restonians — Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins was wrapped up in county budget hearings Tuesday and could not make it to Reston Association’s Annual Members Meeting. She gives a video wrap-up for residents on Baron Cameron Park, home values, the Reston Master Plan and more. She’s also looking forward to “some eye-popping new development” and the kickoff of Silver Line Phase 2 construction. [YouTube]
Big Budget Talks — Special interest groups — and a Darth Vader mask — were on hand at Fairfax County Board of Supervisors public budget hearings. [Washington Post]
Stand-up Restonian — Meet Lucas Bohn, a stand-up comedian from Reston [Northern Virginia Daily]
As expected, the contractor building Metro’s Silver Line submitted the project for approval on Wednesday, avoiding a deadline in which fines of $25,000 a day were about to begin, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officials confirmed.
Dulles Transit Partners, part of Reston-based Bechtel Corporation, said it has reached “substantial completion” on the $2.7 billion Phase 1 of the project, which will bring rail from East Falls Church to Reston’s Wiehle Avenue.
“We are very pleased with the progress and moving the Silver Line one step closer to full operation,” Bechtel officials said in a statement on Tuesday.
Dulles Transit Partners originally said on Feb. 7 that it had reached the substantial completion mark. Substantial completion is the point at which they feel their job is done and ready to be turned over to Metro. Metro would then have a 90-day period to conduct its own testing.
However, part of the handoff involves Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) conducting its own two-week review, and in late February MWAA found issues in 7 of 12 areas, ranging from leaks to problems with the automatic train control system. It was revealed at a recent MWAA Board meeting that speakers in all five stations have to be reinstalled, and there is a cable issue in the Tysons tunnel.
DTP says those issues have been fixed. MWAA will now conduct another two-week review process. If the project is deemed ready to go, the rail could open in June or July.
“We are that much closer to leaving the train station,” Rep. Gerry Connolly said at an appearance in Reston. “It will be operational, we hope, by July.”
According to DTP’s contract, if the work is not finished starting April 10, DTP faces a $25,000-a-day penalty until the work is done. If the project is not completed 92 days after that April date, the contractor would have to pay roughly $2.3 million in fines, plus an additional $75,000 a day.
Ultimately, if the project is delayed more than six months from that April date, DTP could be required to pay more than $9 million total. Under the terms of the contract, the payments are capped at $60 million.
Former Congressman Tom Davis, a MWAA board member said recently that the most important thing is that the rail line is 100-percent safe and ready to go before opening.
“Hopefully, we can meet the April 9 deadline and it will be acceptable and we could move on,” Davis said. “But we want the public to know that when this transit system opens, it is going to be Grade A reader for business. It is going to be safe and it is going to work efficiently.”
While a opening date for the Silver Line was never set, officials had hoped to finish testing last September for a possible December opening. But delays were announced last summer, then in November when the tracking system issues were discovered.
After the March setback, officials are no longer estimated when the turnover may be as DTP works to correct the problems. However, a source told WTOP last week that the Silver Line may open by July 4.
This story will be updated with further reaction from MWAA.
Photo courtesy of MWAA
The Burger King at North Point Village Center closed its doors on March 31.
No word yet on what will reopen in its place, but that means more time for Restonians to play one of their favorite games: What should open here?
Tell us your wish list in the comments section below.
Longtime Reston resident Diane Blust, who leads several local groups committed to the environment, has been named 2014 Volunteer of the Year by Reston Association.
Blust has served on RA’s Environmental Advisory Committee and was the chair of RA’s Sustainability Working Group.
Outside of RA, Blust serves as the president of Sustainable Reston and was instrumental in developing that group’s partnership with Cornerstones to organize community garden plots at Reston’s Cedar Ridge Apartments.
Blust also runs the Wednesday Smart Market farmers market, which is located in the parking lot near RA headquarters each Wednesday evening from May to October, and is the co-founder of of Reston’s Environmental Film Series.
Others earning annual awards at Reston Association’s Annual Meeting on Tuesday:
Volunteer Group of the Year – Richard Padgett, Molly O’Boyle and Karen Parnicky
Padgett, O’Boyle and Parnicky serve as garden plot coordinators for Reston Association’s four community garden plots. The trip responds to inquiries, inspecting plots and advising RA staff on plots that need assistance, among other duties.
Community Partner of the Year – Boofie O’Gorman Team
The Boofie O’Gorman Team from Long & Foster Real Estate’s Reston office donated more than $5,000 and more than 100 volunteer hours to the 2013 Reston Kids’ Triathlon. Among other community support: Boofie and daughter Margaret serve on the Board of Directors of the YMCA Fairfax County Reston.
The team also supports the Reston Triathlon by providing paid entry fees for first responders and supports the Reston Sprint Triathlon and the new Runners Marathon of Reston. The team also donates $1,000 annually to the Reston Association Camp Scholarship fund, which helps children in the community attend RA camps a reduced cost.
Reston residents have a new option for working on their sore muscles. Massage Envy at North Point opened its doors on Tuesday.
Massage Envy is a national franchise of massage therapy clinics. There are more than 900 locations nationwide, including one at nearby Fox Mill Center in Herndon.
The Reston office, located at 1412 North Point Village Center, is offering introductory rates of $59.99 for a one-hour massage and $89.99 for a 90-minute massage. The business mainly operates on a membership basis: members pay a monthly fee that covers massages and facials at a price much lower than other area spas and salons.
The Reston location will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday; 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday; and
8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Visit Massage Envy’s website or call 703-689-2600 for more information.
The Reston Association welcomed new members to the Board of Directors at Tuesday’s Annual Members’ Meeting.
Jeff Thomas was elected to the three-year At-Large seat, defeating incumbent RA Vice President Andy Sigle and three other candidates.
Also earning a three-year term was Lucinda Shannon, who ran unopposed for the Hunters Woods/Dogwood seat.
Rachel Muir was elected to fill the remaining one year on an At-Large seat vacated by Donna Rostant in 2013.
Ellen Graves, who had been filling the remaining time left on the vacated Hunters Woods/Dogwood seat, ran unopposed for the Apartment Owners’ seat. However, there was a late write-in candidate, Kimberly Miller, also on the ballot.
Reston Association has a full tabulation of voting results on its website.
RA Election Committee Chair Ed Robichaud said about 14 percent of member households voted this year. He says his persona goal is to get a 20 percent return. About 1,600 voters opted in to online only for future campaign materials and voting, which will save RA about 2,000. There will be a further effort to encourage the online option, he said.
A new board president, vice president, treasurer and secretary will be appointed by the board on Wednesday.
The members of Reston Association’s Board of Directors are now: Eve Thompson, Lake Anne/ Tall Oaks District Director; Tim Cohn, North Point District Director; Lucinda Shannon, Hunters Woods/Dogwood District Director; Richard Chew, South Lakes District Director; Ellen Graves, Apartment Owners’ Representative; Ken Knueven, At-Large Director; Jeff Thomas, At-Large Director; Michael Sanio, At-Large Director; Rachel Muir, At-Large Director (1 year-term)
Photos: (from top) Jeff Thomas, Rachel Muir, Ellen Graves, Lucinda Shannnon
No Comment On Silver Line — Sources say the issues with Metro’s Silver Line may be repaired in two weeks and handed over to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority soon after. Metro, however, has no comment on that timeline. [WTOP]
Today: Virginia Education Secretary Here –Virginia Secretary of Education Ann Holton will meet with the Fairfax County School Board and Superintendent Karen K. Garza from 10 to 11 a.m. on Wednesday to discuss topics in education. FCPS is in the middle of hashing out the FY 2015 budget.
July 4 or 12th Of Never? — Silver Line may be ready by July 4. Restonian says these things will happen first, including a ferret run at Baron Cameron Park, Hell Freezing Over and a mini-Wegmans at Tall Oaks. [Restonian]
Peep Tarts! — Ted’s Bulletin has its own spongy, sweet take on the Easter treat. [Eater DC]
Former Virginia Transportation Secretary Gets Health Care Post — The selection of former McDonnell administration transportation chief Sean Connaughton as president of the Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association surprised and upset some people on both sides of the Medicaid debate. [Washington Post]
Photo of Lake Anne Elementary Students performing in “Annie” courtesy of Grace Yakubisin.
