NEW Vienna Elections on May 6 4/17/14

The Mayor and three councilmembers will be elected this year with 2 year terms effective July 1, 2014 - Laurie DiRocco (right) appointed to fill the term of the late Jane Seeman, is running unopposed for Mayor.

6 candidates are running for 3 Council seats:

Mike L. Cheselka, 317 Cabin Road, SE
Linda Jane Colbert, 851 Shady Drive, SE
Edythe Kelleher (Incumbent)   210 Cedar Lane
Pasha M. Majdi   411 Pine Street, SE
Dennis E. Rice   412 Glyndon Street, NE
Tara L. Voigt   910 Meadow Lane, SW

Update: The Northeast Vienna Citizens Association hosted a well-attended forum last night (Tuesday April 22) at the Vienna Community Center. The six candidates presented their qualifications and visions of Vienna in the years ahead. A recurring theme was the special challenges and opportunities presented by the fast-track growth of Tysons and the imminent opening of the Silver Line.

At right, Candidate Dennis Rice responds to a question from the panel.

New Sidewalk Project Begins 4/22/14

Planning has been underway now for well over a year. But the first signs of real work are the huge mounds of wood chips, formerly trees, on the Maple Avenue median in Westbriar Zone C.

The Sidewalks to Downtown program is largely funded by Virginia, and is designed to give easy pedestrian access to local business districts. The upgrade here is one of four sidewalk projects taking place in Vienna, and will be accomplished in three phases. Phase One will place a sidewalk and bus pads on the median. When this is completed, the trees along Maple Avenue will be replaced.

Phase 2 will create sidewalks along Westbriar Drive, and Phase 3 will complete the sidewalks back to the frontage road on Saint Andrews and Saint Bernard Drives. The remaining major street of Zone C, Saratoga Waye, already has complete sidewalk access.

Plans for this project are found HERE.

NEW ANNUAL WALK ON THE HILL 4/17/14

Historic Vienna, Inc., the Town of Vienna and the residents of the Windover Heights Historic District will sponsor Walk on the Hill, a self-guided walking tour through specially marked lawns and gardens in the Windover Heights Historic District. Browse through any yard with a "Yard Open" sign and tour the grounds of the Historic District.

Sunday, April 27 from 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

A concert will be offered by the Vienna Community Band at 3 p.m. During the walk, Ayr Hill Garden Club will present a small standard flower show at 307 Windover Avenue NW. Several streets will be closed to vehicular traffic. Refreshments will be served. The event is free and open to the public.

Police in Vienna and Fairfax have issued alerts on a growing problem: A scam by which people are tricked or intimidated into buying a certain prepaid money transfer card. The card most often used is the Paypal Green Dot card sold by CVS Pharmacy, Walmart, and other popular businesses.

The scam is initiated by telephone, and there are many variations. For example, the victim is told that he or she has won a huge prize, and must send in a payment to cover taxes. Or the victim is told they missed showing up for jury duty, and must send a payment to avoid arrest. Or the victim is told that their grandchild is in jail in a foreign country, and he must send bail payment to get the problem solved.

Elderly people in particular are being targeted by the scam artists. Report all such calls to the police.

NEW Potomac Watershed
Clean-Up Day 4/12/14

A dozen bags of trash and recycleables pulled from the Wildwood Park await pickup.

The Alice Ferguson Foundation last weekend celebrated its 26th Year of Good, Clean Fun. Each spring, the foundation organizes and assists local groups in keeping the streams feeding the Potamac River free of debris. They provide bags, gloves, and leadership in this worthy project. Funding comes from environmentally-minded corporations and individual donors throughout the Potomac watershed.

Several places along Westbriar's Wolftrap Creek were among the hundreds of sites involved. The clean up of the Wildwood Park section was organized by Rick Ayers, and carried out by 25 volunteers from Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts from the George Mason District.

GONE FISHING! 3/29/14

Vienna Family Fishing Rodeo, a new community event, kicked off March 29, at the newly restored Wolftrap Creek in Wildwood Park, 700 block of Follin Lane SE.

The steady light rain did not discourage any of the approximately 80 participants on the last Saturday in March. As a matter of fact, as any real fisherman will tell you, they bite better in the rain.

Wolftrap Creek was stocked the day before with hundreds of trout just for the occasion! Cathy Salgado and her staff from Vienna's Department of Parks and Recreation organized the event, and worked with the Fairfax County Storm Water Division, Fairfax County Public Works and Environmental Services, Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries and Navy Federal Credit Union to make it all happen.

The woods was filled with colorful rain gear, and lots of excited giggling as parents passed their woodland skills to their children. Volunteers were on hand to provide stream and watershed education, and to teach participants how to catch and clean fish.

The Fishing Rodeo was free and open to Town residents only. Participants brought fishing rods, buckets, plastic bags and ice. Bait was supplied.

It's Official ... (well, almost) 3/13/14

But it is a serious rumor. The new occupant of the long-time Magruder's Grocery Store will become Mrs. Green's Natural Market.

The vacant old Magruders, today

Jack Reeves in the corporate offices of Mrs. Green's said "We can't confirm at this time, but when everything is in place, we will shout it from the rooftops." That didn't exactly sound like a denial. According to knowledgeable sources, the whole complex of buildings will undergo refurbishing of the facades for a coordinated look.

An artist's sketch of the new Mrs Green's

Mrs. Green's is a rather new corporation with headquarters in Scarsdale and about 18 stores concentrated near New York City east to Connecticut. It recently opened a store in nearby Fair Lakes. Vienna will be the second store in the Mid Atlantic region. The focus is on organic foods and supplements, and the stores usually have a coffee, juice, and smoothie bar. For a review of the Fair Oaks store, click HERE.

Vienna Mayor Jane Seeman Dies 2/23/14

Mayor Jane Seeman was diagnosed last year with lung cancer, and had put up a valiant fight since. While she vowed to serve as long as able, she recently indicated she would not run in this year's election.

Seeman, a resident of Vienna since 1968, was appointed to the Town Council in 1996 to fill the term of her late husband Rodger Seeman. She was elected to the council in '97 and '99, and then served six consecutive terms as mayor. Her current 7th term would have ended this May.

Seeman loved her town, and it was reciprocal. She chaired the bi-monthly meetings with a no-nonsense style of attention to detail, a keen insight and ability to get to the bottom of complex issues, and a warmth that connected with everyone who brought their business before the Council. She will be truly missed.

Monday Town Council Meeting, Vice Mayor Carey Sienicki:

Good Evening. Before we begin... to my right, you will notice an empty chair, draped with sash and a flower. It is with heavy hearts that we must report that our beloved colleague and Mayor, M. Jane Seeman, passed away yesterday, February 23, 2014, after a courageous year-long battle with lung cancer. We first extend our deepest sympathies to the Colbert and Seeman families, for the passing of their beloved mother and grandmother. Mayor Seeman has left us all with the legacy of how to be a model citizen, through her leadership, education and service to community with a caring compassion to others.

Friday, Feb 28

A pleasant sunny, but cool day. The huge chapel of the Presbyterian Church was barely enough to accomodate the mourners who turned out to say farewell to Mayor Jane Seeman. The story of her remarkable life was told best by her family members, who described it in terms of sharing, commitment, fun, achievement, and love.

"She left too early," her son said. "But then, she did more than could be expected in ten lifetimes."

The flags stood at half mast as Jane rode past what she considered one of her best accomplishments, the Vienna Town Green. Thoughtfully, a dozen buses were provided to take her friends to her burial service in Oakton's Flint Hill Cemetery. Else, the procession would have been miles long.

FAIRFAX COUNTY ADOPTS PARK PROGRAM 1/30/14

The Fairfax County Park Authority Board adopted a new Natural Resource Management Plan on Jan. 29. The Park Authority owns over 23,000 acres, most of it undeveloped. Residents expect and rely on natural areas to provide recreational opportunities as well as environmental services and benefits. This plan spells out how agency staff and partners are to protect, restore and manage the natural treasures entrusted to their care.

The Plan also provides direction to staff to incorporate natural resource management into all Park Authority functions and requires that we inventory, plan, protect, manage, educate and build partnerships to ensure proper stewardship in support of the agency mission. The Park Authority Board approved the first agency wide Natural Resource Management Plan on January 14, 2004.

To read the plan, Click HERE.

2/8/14

Wildwood Park's pools are thin sheets of ice as we have been feeling some Arctic air from Canada. But the days are growing longer, and spring will be here soon.

Click the picture to roll back the calandar to the dedication of the Wolftrap Creek's improvement program.

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