What to Know About the Delta Variant — The Fairfax County Health Department issued a blog post yesterday (Thursday) answering common questions about the Delta variant of the novel coronavirus. The department says evidence suggests fully vaccinated people can spread the variant to others, and a small number have gotten sick, but the COVID-19 vaccines remain overwhelmingly effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization, and death. [FCHD]

Metro Police Chief to Retire — Metro Transit Police Chief Ron Pavlik Jr. will retire on Sept. 1, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said in an internal memo sent to employees yesterday. Assistant Chief Michael Anzallo will serve as interim police chief for the transit agency, which has faced recent scrutiny over its use of force and reported failure to investigate thousands of crimes, including armed robberies and sexual assaults. [DCist]

Volunteer Fairfax Seeks PPE Donations — The nonprofit Volunteer Fairfax hopes to collect 65,000 cloth masks, particularly children-sized ones, as well as face shields, cleaning supplies, and other equipment to support the community response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Donations can be dropped off at Fairfax County police stations, and the group accepts monetary donations online. [Patch]

New Exhibit Opens at Reston Art Gallery and Studios — The show “At Water’s Edge” by painter Sandra Dovberg is now open for public viewing through August on weekends at Reston Art Gallery and Studios (11400 Washington Plaza West) by the lakeside “ART” sign at historic Lake Anne Plaza. Highlighted by jellyfish wall hangings, the exhibit focuses on the meeting of land and water and joins work on display from seven other artists in the cooperative. [RAGS]

Photo via vantagehill/Flickr

Volunteer Fairfax Announces 2020 Awards — “Volunteer Fairfax is proud to share the Virtual 2020 Annual Volunteer Service Awards, where the 13 competitive award winners, and the Community Champions, are recognized and celebrated. Each honoree will have a uniquely crafted celebration board, called a Kudoboard. Volunteer Fairfax encourages everyone to visit these celebration boards and join them in recognizing these amazing volunteers by posting a congratulatory message, image, or video.” [Volunteer Fairfax]

Public Art Reston Launches New Online Platform — “Designed for the whole family to enjoy together, Public Art Reston’s Public Art Explorer pages are packed full of absorbing activities to do at home or while “exploring” the public artworks realized by Valerie Theberge, Mary Ann Mears, and Gonzalo Fonseca and found at various locations throughout Reston. Each activity packet introduces a key theme inspired by the artists and their artworks. Kids of all ages and their adults will learn fun facts, explore public art from different angles, and create through writing, drawing, and making the suggested art projects.” [Public Art Reston]

Boston Media Company Buys Reston Firm — “Reston-based marketing automation company Triblio has been acquired by Boston-based tech marketing and media company IDG Communications, the companies announced Tuesday. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.” [Virginia Business]

Nearby: Search Underway for Missing 12-year-old — Local police are searching for Adi Pillau, a missing juvenile who was last seen in the 5300 block of Danas Crossing Drive. He is 5’4”, 120 pounds, and has brown eyes and black hair. [Fairfax County Police Department]

Reston Regional Library to Host Virtual Trivia Happy Hour — The library is organizing an online happy hour tomorrow (Thursday) from 5:30-6:30 p.m. The event takes place online and registration is required. [Reston Regional Library]

Photo by Marjorie Copson

Virginia Reopening Starts Tomorrow — Although Northern Virginia will not reopen or another two weeks, the rest of Virginia will start the first reopening phase on Friday. Gatherings of more than 10 people remain banned and telework is encouraged when feasible. [Reston Patch]

Colvin Run Mill Churns Out New Products — “The 200-year-old Colvin Run Mill is set to begin selling its stone-ground products at the Reston Farmers Market. Fairfax County’s historic mill will be offering bags of cornmeal, white grits and soft, locally grown wheat flour that are produced using the technology of ages past. The mill is currently accepting phone orders for its products Sundays through Thursdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.” [Fairfax County Government]

Summer Entertainment Series Canceled — The summer series by the Fairfax County Park Authority will be canceled through June due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The Park Authority and Park Foundation will be reaching out to performers and generous local sponsors as the park system plans for a phased reopening of the park system and evaluates all options to continue this series later this summer,” according to FCPA. [Fairfax County Government]

High Honors for Local Volunteer Serve Award Community Champion — “William “Bill” Farrell has been selected as the 2020 Fairfax County Volunteer Service Award Community Champion representing the Hunter Mill District. Each year, the Board of Supervisors selects an individual to be recognized for their commitment to promoting volunteerism within their community while addressing specific needs. For the past five years, Bill has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Shepherd’s Center.” [Volunteer Fairfax]

Photo by Marjorie Copson

Herndon-Reston FISH, an organization that helps Reston and Herndon residents with short-term financial crises, has the new executive director.

The nonprofit’s Board of Directors announced at a recent annual meeting that Mary Saunders will fill the role, which was vacated when Lisa Groves stepped down at the end of June, according to a press release.

Saunders was previously the development director for Volunteer Fairfax and has been active in the area from serving as a former festival director for Reston’s Northern Virginia Fine Arts Festival to a board member of the Falls Church-McLean Children’s Center.

“As Herndon-Reston FISH celebrates is 50th anniversary, we are pleased to announce that Mary Saunders of Reston as our new Executive Director” Robert Reed, the board’s president, said. “A local resident for many years, she comes to us with great experience in management and development of nonprofit organizations in our area.”

Speaking on behalf of the board, Reed added, “We very much appreciate Groves’ service to FISH over the past five years and as a board member and volunteer prior to that.”

Photo 1 via Herndon-Reston FISH/Facebook, photo 2 via Mary Saunders/LinkedIn

Calling all Fairfax County volunteers — nominations recently opened for the 2019 Fairfax County Volunteer Service Awards.

Established in 1993, the awards honor individuals, groups and organizations that have volunteered through a broad range of activities and programs that primarily benefitted the Fairfax County community.

The nominees are required to have completed their service hours in either Fairfax County, the City of Fairfax, the Town of Herndon, the Town of Vienna or the City of Falls Church, unless nominated for the RSVP Competitive Award.

Individuals and groups can be nominated in one of 14 competitive categories and four non-competitive categories. Some of the categories are broken down by “youth,” “adult” and “senior” awards.

The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, Feb. 8, at 5 p.m.

All nominees will receive a complimentary invitation to Volunteer Fairfax’s annual county-wide volunteer recognition event, which takes place on April 24 at the Waterford in Springfield.

Photo via Volunteer Fairfax 

Numerous county residents were honored recently for their dedication to servitude for the benefit of the community at large.

The annual Fairfax County Volunteer Service Awards, presented by Volunteer Fairfax, honor individuals, groups and organizations that have given outstanding volunteer service through a broad range of activities and programs. At an awards ceremony Friday in Springfield, this year’s honorees were honored in 19 categories, ranging from youth volunteer to senior volunteer and many in between.

Among the award recipients were 10 community champions, one from each county district chosen by that district’s supervisor. Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins chose to honor Maria and Raul Garza-Chapa, supporters of Reston Community Center programs that serve active seniors.

Carolina Calderon received the Intégrate Volunteer award for her work with Cornerstones. The award recognizes the contributions of a bilingual Hispanic volunteer.

Seven volunteers at the Reston Regional Library were also honored with Benchmark 250 awards, marking 250 hours of volunteer service. Recognized were Diane Brown, Hank Brown, Wendell Driggers, Mark McGowan, Paul Toxie, Nicholas Wenri and Tom Wright.

“Volunteerism is valuable and vital to our community here,” said Elise Neil-Bengtson, Volunteer Fairfax CEO. “We have over 41,000 hours put in by over 15,000 volunteers, and the value of that in the community is over $1 million. That’s huge, but it goes beyond that.”

For a full list of award winners and nominees, visit the Volunteer Fairfax website.

Photos of Supervisor Cathy Hudgins (Hunter Mill District) with Maria and Raul Garza-Chapa (top), and Carolina Calderon (bottom) via Volunteer Fairfax/Facebook

Metro Station Saw Long Lines for Women’s March — Many attendees of the Women’s March on Washington this past weekend took the Silver Line to get to D.C., and that resulted in some massive crowds at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station. Photos shared on social media showed the huge turnout Saturday morning. [Patch]

Volunteer Group Prepping for Future Disasters — Every part of Fairfax County will soon have its own Community Resiliency Group, which would be activated to help recover from disasters such as floods, earthquakes or chemical spills. Nearly 200 people have registered to be part of the volunteer group in the Hunter Mill District, and many participated in a Volunteer Fairfax/Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management seminar earlier this month to learn more. [Reston Connection]

Motorcycle Crash in Sterling Leads to Reston Man’s Arrest — James E. Basham, 30, of Reston, was charged with driving under the influence and carrying a firearm while intoxicated. [Loudoun Times-Mirror]

Reston-Based Startup Gets National Recognition — ScienceLogic, headquartered on Parkridge Boulevard, has been named one of Business Insider’s “18 hottest under-the-radar startups to watch in 2017.” The business helps companies locate and monitor IT assets in their own data center or in the cloud. [Business Insider]

Reminder: Submitting Events — As a reminder to those who are planning events in Reston, the best way to submit events to us is via our event calendar. Sending a press release is usually not necessary. [Reston Now]

Metro to Operate on Saturday Schedule for MLK Day — Trains and buses will be moving at different times than usual Monday as the federal holiday is observed. [WMATA]

Traffic Management Solutions Firm Sets Up in Herndon — All Traffic Solutions plans to add 25 employees and create up to 86 new jobs over the next three years, and invest more than $100,000 in its new headquarters at Worldgate Centre. [Fairfax County EDA]

Nominations Open for Fairfax County Volunteer Service Awards — The deadline to submit applications to honor outstanding volunteers in any organization, club, school, library or neighborhood is Feb. 3. [Volunteer Fairfax]

Silver Alert Issued for Woman Last Seen in Fairfax County — Police are looking for 80-year-old Catherine Hemlepp, pictured here. She is believed to be in a maroon 2017 Ford Escape, with Pennsylvania license plate WR9679P. She was last seen wearing an orange vest, flowered pants and a white hat. She and her husband were traveling from Pennsylvania to South Carolina when they became separated Tuesday. [Virginia State Police/Twitter]

Several Restonians were honored for their service to Fairfax County at the annual Volunteer Fairfax Awards on Friday.

Among the 2014 Service Award Winners:

Adult Over 250 Hours — Ashleigh Soloff

Reston Association Special Events Coordinator Ashleigh Soloff also serves as a volunteer Auxiliary Police Officer at the Fairfax County Police’s Sully District Station.

Volunteering since 2004, she has taken on a variety of administrative duties. Among them: streamlining the countywide auxiliary police records system and facilitating a monthly auxiliary police meeting, providing  support to patrol officers on the street.

FCPD says Soloff’s dedication was tested when a drunk driver struck the cruiser she and another officer occupied while driving a patrol shift. 

“APO Soloff remained calm and professional as she assisted the patrol officer in arresting the driver for hit and run drunk driving,” Lt, James Krause said in Soloff’s nomination. “This continuous level of commitment has provided leadership and positive examples many fellow APOs look up to and aspire toward.”