Give blood today — INOVA’s bloodmobile will be in Reston Town Center today from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. [Reston Town Center]

RA’s winter break camp starts today — For parents who applied, the Reston Association’s begins today at 9 a.m. The campers participate in recreational activities, sports and arts and crafts. Kids should bring a packed lunch and a daily snack since the RA will offer only one daily snack. [Reston Association]

Shine bright like a … LED light — Plans are in the works for Fairfax County street lights to be converted into more energy-efficient LEDs, but it could be five years before LED light touches streets in some parts of the county. [Tysons Reporter]

Photo via Marjorie Copson

Obi Sushi Japanese Bistro will shutter its doors tomorrow (Dec. 22) after 14 years at Reston Town Center.

Although the restaurant at 1771 Library Street is closing, the Herndon location at 2415-B2 Centreville Road will remain open, an employee told Reston Now.

The employee said that ever since Boston Properties, RTC’s owner, implemented paid parking, the restaurant has seen the number of customers dwindle. The employee added that the paid parking has also impacted other businesses by driving away patrons.

No specific time tomorrow for the closing has been announced yet.

Photo via Google Maps

Whether you want to stay cozy indoors or venture outside, there’s plenty to do around Reston this weekend ahead of Christmas.

Tomorrow (Dec. 22)

Teen Maker Boxes (all day event) — Head to the Herndon Fortnightly Library for some arts and crafts time. Locals can try out origami, 3D pen and sewing to make handmade ornaments. Participants can also try their hand at watercolor painting, Sharpie art, poetry boxes and Duct Tape creations.

Shrek The Musical (1-2:30 p.m., 5-6:30 p.m.) — Tomorrow is the last day to catch the last two shows for Nextstop Theatre Company’s (269 Sunset Park Drive) production of Shrek The Musical. Tickets are available online.

Zee performance (1-3 p.m.) — Enjoy the final performance for Reston Town Center’s holiday entertainment lineup for December. Zee will sing and play the keyboard between Market Street and Democracy Drive across from the Starbucks.

“You’ve Got Mail” (2-4 p.m.) — Warm up with hot cocoa while watching the 1998 movie starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The movie screening is a part of Reston Regional Library’s Fantastic Film series.

Tour de Lights (5-7 p.m.) — Join the Reston Bicycle Club for a slower paced, 10-mile ride to enjoy the holiday scenery. Bicyclists will meet at Lake Anne Plaza at 4:45 p.m. The first ride with the club is free and the membership costs $25 per year. Riders are encouraged to “light up” their bikes with holiday lights and anything else that is festive and increases visibility. In case of rain, the makeup date will be at the same time and place on Dec. 23.

Sunday (Dec. 23)

Reston Runners (8 a.m.) — Join the running and walking group for either a 3-mile walk or a 5-mile run starting at the Lake Newport Tennis Courts.

Sleigh Bells (12:30-2:30 p.m.) — Join Belgian draft horses Jeff and Charlie for a decorated wagon ride around the woodland and rolling farmland at Frying Pan Farm Park. All ages are welcome. Tickets cost $6 per person.

Horse-drawn Carriage Rides (3-8 p.m.) — The Reston Town Center is holding festive horse-drawn carriage rides departing at Market Street near Clyde’s to benefit local nonprofit organizations. Rides cost $5 per person and are free for kids under the age of 5. Proceeds will go to The Reston Chorale.

Photo via Reston Town Center

(Editor’s note: This story was updated at 9:22 a.m. to clarify information about the location of the Reston headquarters.)

Global firm IDEMIA, a company that specializes in augmented identity, plans to move its headquarters to Reston and create 90 new jobs.

The company will move its North American Identity & Security headquarters from Billerica, Mass. to Reston Town Center, Gov. Ralph Northam announced today (Dec. 19).

IDEMIA develops, manufactures and markets security technology products and services for the telecommunications, payments and identity markets. The company describes its “Augmented Identity” as “an identity that ensures privacy and trust and guarantees secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions.”

The company provides 80 percent of the U.S. driver’s licenses and ID-issuance solutions to 37 states, according to the press release.

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) helped Virginia beat out Washington, D.C and Maryland for the company’s move, according to the press release. IDEMIA, which has offices in Chantilly and Alexandria, will move into an 18,000-square-foot space in One Freedom Square (11951 Freedom Drive), according to Alan Fogg, the vice president of communications and research for FCEDA.

IDEMIA’s website lists the headquarters at 11911 Freedom Drive.

“Moving to Northern Virginia will enable both close proximity to our U.S. government customers and the ability to attract world-class talent,” Ed Casey, the chief executive officer of IDEMIA’s Identity & Security in North America, said in the press release. “The new workspace will feature a technology center to demonstrate our leading digital security and identification technologies.”

Gerald Gordon, president and CEO of FCEDA, said IDEMIA will fit into the county’s innovative companies.

“The county’s ever-growing technology ecosystem has the kind of assets these companies need to succeed in terms of workforce talent, potential customers, suppliers and partners, and a strong communication and transportation infrastructure,” Gordon said.

The FCEDA will support IDEMIA’s job creation through the state-funded Virginia Jobs Investment Program, which provides consultative services and funding to companies creating new jobs or undergoing technological changes for employee-training activities.

Photos via Fairfax County Economic Development Authority and IDEMIA/Facebook

This story has been updated

Parker Messick is running on a platform to “stop big development” to unseat Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins.

Messick, a Democrat, announced his campaign on Sunday (Dec. 16).

Messick told Reston Now that he wants to stop big development in Reston and Vienna, which “is on track to make Reston look more like Tysons or Arlington.”

“Reston was always meant to be a planned mixed-use community per the vision of Robert E. Simon, Reston’s founder,” Messick wrote in an email. “Despite this vision, developers have desired to build endless new high rises, with even more on the way, if they are allowed to continue.”

He added that while Reston was meant to have some big development, it “was always meant to be relegated to the Reston Town Center.”

Controversial paid parking is another top priority for him. Messick said he would negotiate with Boston Properties, the owners of Reston Town Center, to end the paid parking there.

“I agree with Boston Properties that people should not be able to use their parking for free simply as a way to avoid metro parking, but the approach that has been taken has caused many people to avoid RTC altogether and has harshly hurt the businesses located there,” he said.

Other major issues he wants to address include:

• alleviating traffic congestion
• increasing affordable housing
• allocating available funds to improve the county’s public school system
• preventing pollution and protecting the environment

He is a recent graduate of Roanoke College, where he studied political science. His website says he has a “background in the facilitation of political campaigns” and “experience engaging with the local community through volunteering and being receptive to the community’s voices.”

Hudgins, who is nearing the end of her fifth term, was first elected to the board in 1999.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will include a few new faces in 2020, with the recent announcement of Chairman Sharon Bulova’s upcoming retirement adding to the list of the supervisors leaving.

The election for the county’s Board of Supervisors will take place on Nov. 5, 2019.

Photo via Parker Messick for Supervisor

If there’s an area that represents the opposite of the sleepy, village-style Lake Anne, it’s the Reston Town Center. Like we did with Lake Anne, Reston Now has used the Fairfax County’s Historic Imagery Viewer to put together aerial views of Reston Town Center as it has developed over the years.

Like much of Reston, aerial photography of the site up to 1960 shows open forest or farmland. However, while the rest of Reston started being developed and growing throughout the 1960s, the Reston Town Center would remain forest until the Mobil Land Development group began construction in 1988.

Photography from 1990 shows the very beginnings of the town center — a handful of central buildings at the main square surrounded mostly by parking lots to the west.

Throughout the 1990s, more buildings are constructed at the northern end of the site, but it isn’t until around 2002 that the Town Center fully expands to the Fairfax County Parkway in the west and the Dulles Access Road in the south.

A big park of this expansion is the creation of the West Market neighborhood at the western edge of the development. In 1993 the open pavilion, currently an ice-skating rink, was built and in 2000 the 18-story One Freedom Square and 16-story Two Freedom Square west of the main plaza were constructed.

From 2002 to 2017, most of the new development is filling out the spaces between the larger developments. Throughout the 2000s a parking garage and additional office and high-rise residential buildings were also constructed.

Much of the newer development is concentrated at the southern part of the Town Center along Sunset Hill Road, near where the Reston Town Center Metro station is scheduled to open in 2020.

Kids can meet the Gingerbread Man at Scrawl Books in Reston Town Center this coming weekend.

Author Laura Murray will read and sing from her Gingerbread Man books from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday (Dec. 15) at 11911 Freedom Drive.

Murray’s books include “The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas,” “The Gingerbread Man Loose in the School” and “The Gingerbread Man Loose at The Zoo” — all of them illustrated by Mike Lowery.

Murray, a McLean resident, is former school teacher-turned-writer, and Lowery is a professor of illustration at the Savannah College of Art and Design who lives in Atlanta, according to their Scrawl Books bios.

Photos via Scrawl Books

Tinsel ‘n Tinis — Don your cocktail or business attire and head to the Signature at Reston Town Center tonight from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. for the annual holiday celebration, which will include food, martinis, casino entertainment and a raffle. A portion of the casino proceeds will benefit an educational foundation. [Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce]

FABB holiday party — The Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling (FABB) is hosting a party at 7 p.m. at The Bike Lane (11150 Sunset Hills Road). Expect finger food and a cash bar. Bike Lane Brewing will donate $1 from every beer sold during the event. [Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling Facebook]

More problems for the Silver Line’s second phase — Hundreds of concrete rail ties installed at track crossovers along the second phase of the Silver Line are flawed, according to officials. The problem could further delay the project, which is already 13 months behind schedule. [The Washington Post]

Reston company didn’t land Marine Corps contract — The Marine Corps chose BAE Systems as the amphibious combat vehicles (ACV) prime contractor over competitor Science Applications International Corporation. Both companies had received separate contracts worth a combined $225 million in late 2015 to develop prototypes. [GovCon Wire]

(Updated at 10:58 p.m. on Dec. 9) The Pottery Barn in Reston Town Center will shut its doors in January, along with the Williams-Sonoma down the block.

Williams-Sonoma Inc. operates both brands.

A store employee told Reston Now that the store will stay open until its closing date — sometime around Jan. 21.

Pottery Barn (11937 Market Street) started a final sale with 30 percent off items throughout the entire store on Monday (Dec. 3), the employee said.

The Williams-Sonoma at 11897 Market Street is also planning to shut its doors in January.

“We plan on closing in early January, but do not have a specific date to share at this time,” a spokeswoman for the company wrote in an email.

This story has been updated 

The Greater Reston Arts Center has pushed back the completion of a new 50-foot steel sculpture in Reston Town Center from this fall to spring 2019. 

Reston Now previously reported the installation and an opening ceremony were expected in August.

Now, the sculpture’s anticipated unveiling is set for spring after the project faced construction delays, Lily Siegel, executive director and curator of the Greater Reston Arts Center (GRACE), told Reston Now.

“As we embarked on [the project], things have shifted and got a little bit delayed,” she said.

Titled “Buoyant Force,” the sculpture by artist Sue Wrbican is inspired by the work of Kay Sage, an American surrealist who was known for her paintings of scaffolded structure and furled fabric in barren landscapes. GRACE previously featured Wrbican’s work last fall.

Currently, the sculpture is being fabricated by two fabricators. The main 50-foot piece is getting welded together at one fabricator’s shop in Rockville Md.

Siegel said that the GRACE team has dropped in several times on the fabrication, describing the tall piece as reminiscent of scaffolding or the inside of a skyscraper. Even though the 50-foot piece is lying on the ground, “it’s very impressive,” she said. “The impact is pretty powerful.”

A second fabricator is making other steel structures that will get attached to the sculpture. Both sourced preexisting, pre-fabricated materials at Wrbican’s request. 

While the main work on the pieces is “pretty much done,” technical details still need finishing before installation. Once the pieces are on site, the installation will require a crane and boom lift, she said.

“Buoyant Force” marks Seigel’s first public sculpture — an undertaking that has taught her quite a bit throughout the process. For starters, the project initially planned to have one fabricator, before she decided the work required two people, she said.

“It’s taking a whole team of professionals to get this done,” Seigel said That team includes architects, inspectors, a concrete team, engineers, movers and — of course — the artist.

Seigel also took a new approach to fund the sculpture. For the first time, GRACE started a crowdfunding campaign to cover the costs. Locals can donate online.

So far, the campaign raised about $50,000 — nearly half of the required funds — in roughly five months, she said. The Reston Town Center Association, Reston Community Center, ArtsFairfax and Public Art Reston are some of the places that have donated.

Seigel said the “slow” fundraising efforts are not causing the delay.

Additionally, the architect, engineer, concrete company and transportation company are providing pro bono work — a donation of its own kind, she said.

Siegel said a community celebration to mark the grand opening will happen.

After that, she plans to host programming, including dance, poetry and education, around the sculpture, which is expected to be on view for five years. “We’re looking for different ways to bring the community back around the sculpture” with different perspectives, she said. “We are incredibly excited about this project.”

Images via Greater Reston Arts Center 

(Updated 4:50 p.m.) As it starts to get colder, some veterans and families around the region don’t have a home to take shelter in.

The Not Your Average Joe’s restaurant in the Reston Town Center is collecting unused, or gently used, sweaters and sweat pants as part of a “Sweats 4 Vets” program.

“We do have a homeless problem in Reston,” said Joe Becker, general manager at Not Your Average Joe’s. “It’s not front page news, but if you look around it’s there.”

Becker said the collection is a partnership with Northwest Federal Credit Union.

“Every fall, going into winter, we collect [sweat-clothes] for veterans,” said Becker. “We have hypothermia shelters in the area that we get these clothes out to.”

The collection is starting to fill up, and Becker’s goal is to have it overflowing. Normally the clothing is collected at the beginning of December, but Becker said the weather made him want to keep collecting for a few more weeks to get more sweat-clothes.

“It’s halfway full, so it’s getting up there,” said Robert DeSilva, a manager at Not Your Average Joe’s. “We prefer new items, but we will take slightly used [sweat-clothes] in all sizes and cuts.”

DeSilva said the collection will continue for two more weeks before the clothing is donated to local shelters.

“There’s plenty of veterans on hard times right now,” DeSilva said. “We need to take care of those who have taken care of us.”

Photo via Not Your Average Joe’s

Cloud computing company Appian Corporation will receive $4 million from Fairfax County for the company’s expansion and new headquarters in Tysons Corner.

The Fairfax County’s Board of Supervisors approved the Development Opportunity Fund grant from the Commonwealth at its meeting on Tuesday (Dec. 4).

The funds will pay for the leasing, improvements, equipment and operation of Appian’s Tysons Corner facility (7950 Jones Branch Drive), which is expected to lead to 600 new jobs there.

News of the company’s move from Reston to Tysons first broke in April.

Currently, Appian is headquartered at 11955 Democracy Drive, Suite 1700 in Reston Town Center.

Fairfax County competed with another jurisdiction for the expansion of Appian’s headquarters, according to county documents.

As part of the grant, Fairfax County must provide a local match which will be in the form of the Lincoln Street project, a roadway improvement which is already planned and funded in the county budget. The road improvement was identified by coordinating with the Fairfax County Department of Transportation.

Additionally, the county will provide an estimated funding of $288,000 from the Virginia Jobs Investment Program.

The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority will monitor Appian’s performance metrics agreed upon for the grant funding, updating the Office of the County Executive annually on the number of jobs and capital investment achieved during that time.

Photo via Appian/Facebook

Two Hanukkah celebrations are planned for Reston and Herndon this weekend.

This year, the Jewish holiday began at sunset on Sunday (Dec. 2) and ends on Monday, Dec. 10.

NextStop Theatre will host “A Kosher Christmas Cabaret” on Saturday (Dec. 8) at 8 p.m.

The website calls the cabaret a “celebration of Jewish culture and the community’s extraordinary resilience, through humor and heart.”

The show features Jordan Friend, Alani Kravitz and Ben Lurye with Elisa Rosman at the piano. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Tree of Life Synagogue community. NextStop Theatre is located at 269 Sunset Park Drive.

A giant menorah lighting and ice skating will take place on Sunday (Dec. 9) at the Reston Town Center. The free event organized by Chabad of Reston-Herndon will include music, donuts, a raffle, dreidels and latkes, starting at 4:30 p.m. While admission is free, ice skating costs $12.

Photo via Chabad of Reston-Herndon

Locals have one week left to vote Reston’s holiday parade to the top of USA Today’s nationwide ranking.

The contest has Reston competing against other parades in towns and cities across the country, including Sparks, Nev.; Gatlinburg, Tenn.; San Antonio; and Detroit.

USA Today’s 10Best Editors and Local Experts nominated 20 places that “bring holiday cheer in the form of festive floats, dancing elves, Santa and his sleigh and millions of twinkling lights,” according to the website.

The annual event in Reston Town Center is known for its Macy’s-style parade of balloons, musicians, dancers and more. This year’s parade took place on Nov. 23.

Last year, Reston landed in sixth place on USA Today’s list. Philadelphia claimed the top spot, followed by Detroit; Baltimore; Annapolis, Md.; and Charlotte, N.C.

In 2016, Reston held the fourth-place slot, putting it one spot ahead of the nationally-televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York.

Voters can cast one ballot per day until voting ends on Monday (Dec. 10) at noon.

USA Today will announce the top 10 winning events, determined by the votes, on Dec. 21.

Photo via Reston Town Center