Cyclists can see some of the area’s holiday lights during a festive bike ride next month.

The Reston Association is set to hold its annual “Tour De Lights” ride on Saturday, Dec. 17 from 4:30 -6 p.m. Cyclists will meet at the Lake Anne Plaza parking lot and ride approximately 10 miles during the tour.

Riders are required to have a front light and red, rear light. A helmet is strongly recommended for all attendees and required for anyone under 15 years old. Additionally, children must be accompanied by an adult who will ride with them.

The ride will be cancelled in the event of rain or snow or if the temperature is below 35 degrees with winds over 12 mph.

Registration is required as space is limited. Those interested in attending can register by email or calling 703-435-6577.

A holiday-themed art exhibit and shopping event is planned to occur at the Reston Community Center at Lake Anne next month.

The shopping event is scheduled to take place at the Reston Community Center Lake Anne (1609-A Washington Plaza) on Saturday, Dec. 3, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“Our ‘Gifts from the Heart’ Exhibit brings artists and community members together for a wonderful cause,” said Cheri Danaher, Reston Community Center’s Arts Education Director, in a press release. “Through this event, everyone involved can enjoy fantastic works of art, celebrate the holidays and support those in need in our area.”

According to organizers, ‘Gifts from the Heart’ will showcase a multitude of original art and media, including stained glass, ceramic, sculpture, oil and watercolor paintings.

All of the artwork is available for purchase at varying prices. Participating artists donate their entry fees and 10 percent of their proceeds from sales to Cornerstones, a Reston-based nonprofit providing support and advocacy for those in need.

“Proceeds will help Cornerstones continue the important work of the Embry Rucker Community Shelter, the Laurel Learning Center and their Community Services Outreach, which includes job counseling, emergency food and youth programs,” according to the RCC statement. “Since the annual exhibit was first held in 1999, ‘Gifts from the Heart’ has raised approximately $11,000 for Cornerstones.”

The event will coincide with Jingle on Lake Anne, which will feature children’s crafts, cookie decorating, a farmer’s and craft market, beer garden, strolling carolers, tree lighting and Santa’s arrival by barge at noon.

The Gifts from the Heart Exhibit will remain on display at RCC Lake Anne through Dec. 31, and the 3D exhibit will remain till Feb. 21.

Photo courtesy of the Reston Community Center

You know you want to show off your pet in a Halloween costume.

Here’s where you can do that: Lake Anne Plaza is holding its annual Howl-o-Ween party on Sunday, Oct. 29 from 1 to 3 p.m.

The day will feature a pet costume contest (1:30 p.m.), a pet parade, a live DJ, a pet friendly beer garden, “yappy” hour specials from 1 to 5 p.m.; and tricks and treats from Lake Anne Merchants.

The event is free and will be held rain or shine.

Lake Anne Plaza has a new clothing store.

Cosmo Fashion Boutique recently opened its doors at 1635-C Washington Plaza. The small space features women’s clothing, shoes, and costume jewelry accessories.

Owner Amy Nguyen, who also owns Forever Shine nail salon on the plaza, said she thought Lake Anne could use a pop of color and style.

“I love to when customers come to get their nails done,” she said. “They want to look good or they are on their way to party.” Having an option to pick up something to wear will be good for her customers, as well as general Lake Anne shoppers, she said.

Cosmo Boutique is open Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. It opens at 9 a.m. on Saturdays. Closed Tuesday and Wednesday.

For more information, visit the store’s Facebook page.

Photo courtesy Cosmo Boutique

Lake Anne Plaza is the place to be Saturday, Sept. 24 for the Reston Multicultural Festival.

The Reston Multicultural Festival, organized by Reston Community Center, 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 through music, dance, food and more.

Everyone is encouraged to dress in attire representative of their cultural background.

The fun begins at 11 a.m. with a naturalization ceremony for the area’s newest citizens. Students from South Lakes High School’s chorus will sing the Star-Spangled Banner and SLHS ROTC members will present the colors.

At the conclusion of the ceremony, a traditional Chinese dragon dance will wind through the plaza, marking the opening of the entertainment stages.

Entertainment will be in three areas. Click on each below to see the full lineups, which include everything from Bolivian dance to Japanese drumming to Irish music with Billy McComiskey, National Endowment for the Arts Heritage Fellow.

• World Stage
• Global Stage
• RCC Lake Anne

The day will also include:

Admission is free.

Photo: Dragon dance at Reston Multicultural Festival/Credit: Reston Community Center

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.

Tony Rodham, Hillary Clinton’s brother, will be among the VIPs at the opening of the coordinated Clinton campaign office at Lake Anne Plaza Tuesday night.

The campaign is setting up shop in a former hair salon at 1635 Washington Plaza for the final months leading to election day Nov. 8.

This will be the district headquarters for Hunter Mill, Sully and Dranesville Democrats.

Says Hillary for Virginia:

At the office opening, local leaders, supporters and volunteers will discuss Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine’s new plan to support small businesses, including Virginia’s more than 680,000 small businesses and 1.5 million employees. Donald Trump has made a career of stiffing small businesses and refusing to pay his bills across the country —  even putting some on the path to bankruptcy.

The Reston office will serve as a hub for organizing activity to allow supporters to mobilize and help elect Hillary Clinton, Tim Kaine and Democrats up and down the ballot on Nov. 8. Organizers and volunteers will host phone banks, organizing meetings, and canvasses from the office as well as from supporters’ homes across the Commonwealth.

There will be an opening reception at the office Tuesday at 7 p.m. RSVP online.

The Hillary Clinton presidential campaign’s Lake Anne Plaza office will open Aug. 23, the campaign said.

As Reston Now reported last week, the campaign will have an local office for the last months leading up to the Nov. 8 election at 1635 Washington Plaza. That’s currently a former hair salon space on Lake Anne Plaza.

There will be an opening party on Aug. 23 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Get more details and RVSP on the Hillary Clinton website.

From HillaryClinton.com:

Please join fellow Democrats, special guests and your local organizers to celebrate the North Fairfax’s 2016 Democratic Coordinated Campaign Office Opening in Reston!

Organizers for the Hunter Mill, Dranesville and Sully Districts will be in attendance. The office is in Lake Anne Plaza.

Food, drinks and materials will be provided–just bring yourself and family and friends!

Music and special events return to Lake Anne Plaza the last week of August, culminating in the 10th annual Lake Anne Jazz and Blues Festival on Sept. 3.

The Jazz & Blues festival is a free, family friendly, all-day event that will take place from 1 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 3.

Here is the performer lineup:

• 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

Other Jazz Week Activities

Lake Anne Film Festival – Lady Sings the Blues. Free outdoor movie on the plaza to kick off Jazz Week on Aug. 26. Showtime is about 8:30 p.m. Bring a chair/blankets for seating.

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. Read More

The Clinton-Kaine campaign is opening a local office for the final months of the presidential race in a very high profile Reston spot.

The campaign will open an office at 1635 Washington Plaza, a former hair salon storefront at Lake Anne Plaza.

The office is expected to open soon, with a grand opening party later this month, a campaign spokesman said.

In 2012, Barack Obama’s re-election campaign had an office in Reston in an office building at 1760 Reston Parkway.

Local offices are where campaigns organize volunteers, hold phone banks and do other community-level campaign work.

Voters in Reston traditionally vote heavily Democratic in presidential elections. In 2008, Barack Obama won Reston precincts 66 percent to 33 percent. In 2012, Obama had 65 percent of the votes to Mitt Romney’s 34 percent.

Lake Anne Plaza’s Kalypso’s Sports Tavern is jumping into the Pokemon Go craze.

The restaurant is sponsoring a “King of the Lake” Pokegym contest — for adults only.

The contest goes through Thursday. Here is how to play:

• Have your Pokemon at the top level of the “Lake Anne Fountain” PokeGym by the end of the round.
•  Name your Pokemon “Kalypso”
• Take a screenshot of your pokemon in the PokeGym and show it to either your server or bartender for confirmation.
• Then post your screenshot on either Facebook or Twitter, and tag Kalypso’s in the post.
• Winners (21 and over please) get a Kalypso’s Sports Tavern $25 gift card.

(Editor’s note: Kalypso’s is a Reston Now sponsor)

WUSA9’s Great Day Washington morning show was at Lake Anne Plaza on Tuesday morning for a segment on Stand Up Paddleboarding.

Steve Gurney, owner of Surf Reston SUP, as well as many paddleboard and paddleboard yoga enthusiasts were on the water for the broadcast.

The segment was supposed to air live, but there were issues with the satellite link. The segment will air later in the week. Great Day Washington airs on WUSA (Channel 9) weekdays from 9 to 10 a.m.

Photos by Charlotte Geary for Modern Reston.

Lake Anne Coffee House, which was purchased by new owners nearly a year ago, may finally be ready to open by the end of the summer, said co-owner Eve Thompson.

Thompson and her husband, Rick, are Lake Anne residents who envision new life in the space that has served as a gathering place for decades. The coffee house is in the midst of a total renovation, which has taken many months due to the Fairfax County permitting process and the extensive changes, said Thompson.

“This coffee house has never had a real kitchen,” says Thompson. “All of that has to go in.”

And when it does, there will be a variety of food cooked on site, including muffins, cookies and biscuits, says Thompson. There will be gluten-free offerings, she added.

In addition to the renovations, here are some of the plans for the coffee house:

Locally sourced ingredients, including the coffee house’s dairy products and sandwich bread. “Nothing will come off a [national food service] truck,” said Thompson.

Lunch service to include soups, sandwiches and tartines.

Michael Amouri, owner of Cafe Amouri, a locally owned coffee house in Vienna, has been working with Thompson as a consultant. Coffee will come from Cafe Amouri and from Manassas’ Monument Roasters, said Thompson.

Evening “small plates” and a wine bar will eventually be added to the offerings.

“This will be another awesome place to hang out at Lake Anne,” said Thompson.

Editor’s note: Eve Thompson’s real estate business, Reston Real Estate, is a Reston Now advertiser.