The Weekly Planner is a roundup of interesting events coming up over the next week in the Tysons area.
We’ve searched the web for events of note in Tysons, Vienna, Merrifield, McLean, and Falls Church. Know of any we’ve missed? Tell us!
Monday, Dec. 6
- Santa on the Antique Fire Engine — 5:30-6 p.m. daily throughout December — Jolly Old St. Nicholas spreads the holiday cheer, distributing candy canes, on daily runs with the McLean Volunteer Fire Department.
Tuesday, Dec. 7
- A Charlie Brown Christmas: Live On Stage — 7:30 p.m. at Capital One Hall (7750 Capital One Tower Road) — A new touring production featuring actors who sing music and dance comes to Capital One’s new performance venue. Tickets start at $39.50.
Wednesday, Dec. 8
- Holiday Tea & Sweets — 12:30-2 p.m. at St. Mark Catholic Church (9970 Vale Road) — Kick off the holiday season with treats and people ages 55 and up. Cost is $10.
- Virtual Health & Care Job Fair (Online) — 1-4 p.m. — Inova, Sunrise Senior Living, and more than 30 other employers from the health and caregiving industries will participate in this free job fair hosted by the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority and Work in Northern Virginia. Register online in advance.
Thursday, Dec. 9
- Secret Things — 7:30 p.m. at 1st Stage Theatre (1524 Spring Hill Road) — A journalist investigates mysterious tips in her hometown involving Mexican-Americans and Judaism. Tickets are $50 with steep discounts available. The show runs through Sunday (Dec. 12).
Friday, Dec. 10
- Mayor and Town Council Holiday Reception — 4-6 p.m. at Vienna Town Hall (127 Center Street S) — Enjoy refreshments while engaging with Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert and the town council in an informal, festive setting.
- Disney in December — 7 p.m. at George C. Marshall High School (7731 Leesburg Pike) — The school’s student choir performs songs from Disney movie classics. Shows also take place on Saturday at 1:30 and 7 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 11
- Story Time with Santa — 11 a.m.-1 p.m. at Boro Park (8350 Broad St.) — Holiday stories, photos, hot cocoa, and more fill this free event, along with a Toys for Tots donation drive. The nonprofit Turning the Book will have a pop-up book store on the site from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
- Holiday Market — 12-5 p.m. at The PARC (8508 Leesburg Pike) — Take care of your holiday shopping list at this pop-up market of local artisans and small businesses from Celebrate Fairfax. The event is free, but food, drinks, and the merchandise aren’t. The market is indoors, so masks are required.
Sunday, Dec. 12
- Psychic Connections in Criminal Investigations — 1-2 p.m. at Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library (7584 Leesburg Pike) — Meet Noreen Renier, a psychic investigator who has been featured on shows from “Larry King Live” to Court TV’s “Psychic Investigators.” A book signing follows her talk. Masks are required for the free event.
Developers broke ground last week on a project to construct new townhomes on part of Graham Park Plaza.
The project will bring 177 townhomes to the West Falls Church shopping plaza at 7271 Arlington Boulevard. The developer committed to having 22 of those in Fairfax County’s affordable dwelling unit program.
It’ll also redevelop the area with public greenspace, improved sidewalks, and bicycle facilities.
Bethesda-based developer EYA, which is also involved in several other projects in the Falls Church area, has sold 40 townhomes so far, and the next phase of sales will occur early next year, a spokesperson said.
“This project supports one of our key strategic objectives, to provide attainably priced homeownership options in a well-designed, walkable neighborhood,” Evan Goldman, an executive with EYA, said in a news release.
The three-story townhomes with an option for a fourth-story loft start in the mid-$600,000s.
Goldman participated in a groundbreaking ceremony last Wednesday (Dec. 1) with Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay, Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross, and others, including representatives of property management firm Federal Realty, which has retained part of the plaza.
Federal Realty previously owned the entire plaza but sold 8 acres on the western side for $20.25 million in March to make way for the townhouse project. Several buildings on the eastern half of the plaza, including a Giant grocery store, were slated to remain for retail.
McKay said revitalization projects take a lot of creativity.
“It’s not just another development,” he said. “It’s revitalization and transformation of a part of the county where we need to continue that momentum.”
Real Estate Taxes Due Today — Fairfax County property owners must pay the second installment of their real estate taxes by the end of today (Monday). Taxes can be paid through the Department of Tax Administration’s online portal. [Fairfax County Government/Twitter]
Vienna Man Arrested in Fatal Hit and Run — Carlos Alexander Torres Jr., 24, of Vienna was arrested in Montgomery County on Friday (Dec. 3) after police detectives determined that he was allegedly the driver in a Sept. 1 hit-and-run crash in Reston that killed the other driver. Police believe alcohol may have been a factor in the crash. [FCPD]
Asian Restaurant in Vienna Closes — Red Galanga at 144 Church Street NW closed its doors for the last time on Dec. 1, citing challenges with filling positions during the pandemic. Sister restaurant Sweet Ginger (120 Branch Road SE) will honor outstanding gift certificates from Red Galanga, which says an Italian restaurant will take its place on Church Street. [Patch]
Former WFT Quarterback Sells McLean House — “Alex Smith, quarterback for the Washington Football Team until earlier this year, has sold his 6,300-square-foot mansion in McLean for $5,800,000. He first listed the property for $6,750,000 in June, a few months after he was released from the team.” [Washingtonian]
Leaf Vacuum Careens into Vienna Garage — “Town of Vienna employees were working in the 400 block of Center Street, N., on Nov. 30 at 2:59 p.m. and had parked a leaf-vacuum trailer on the roadway with a wheel stop in place to secure it. Due to the steep incline, the trailer went over the wheel stop, proceeded down a hill and struck the garage of a residence, Vienna police said.” [Sun Gazette]
The weekend is almost here. Before you rush out to buy an evergreen or head to bed for some much-needed sleep, let’s revisit news from the Tysons area that you might’ve missed.
These were the most-read stories on Tysons Reporter this week:
- Closure of Starbucks at Capital One is permanent
- West Falls Church kitchen fire pushes four people out of their home
- With site plans in review, MetroWest developers promise retail is coming to Vienna Metro area
- Indie coffeehouse 29th Parallel brews up expansion with new Vienna shop
- Traffic Alert: Georgetown Pike closed in McLean after vehicle crash
Ideas for stories we should cover can be sent to [email protected] or submitted as an anonymous tip. Photos of scenes from around the community are welcome too, with credit always given to the photographer.
You can find previous rundowns of top stories on the site.
Fairfax County Public Library offered at-home COVID-19 test kits to the community for the first time this morning (Friday). An hour later, they were all gone.
The county announced on Monday (Nov. 29) that it would join a pilot program that the Virginia Department of Health launched last month to distribute free COVID-19 tests through participating public libraries.
FCPL received 2,300 BinaxNOW COVID-19 Antigen Card Home Test that were made available at its 13 open community branches and eight regional libraries when they opened at 10 a.m. today.
All of the kits were distributed within the first hour, according to FCPL spokesperson Erin Julius, who says demand was high at all branches.
“The high demand for these test kits this morning indicates a continued need for accessible COVID-19 testing kits in Fairfax County, and FCPL is pleased to help distribute them,” FCPL Director Jessica Hudson said. “Libraries are trusted community hubs and we are glad to help stop the spread of COVID-19 in our community by making testing kits more accessible. We will continue to distribute tests as more are made available to us.”
Julius said the state is sending more test kits that will arrive next week, but she advises residents to call their local branch to ensure their availability before visiting. The library system also asks that anyone with COVID-19 symptoms request a kit using its contactless curbside pickup service.
VDH says the number of test kits distributed to participating localities depends on the size of each library system and feedback about how much interest they expect in the program, along with the general availability of supplies.
“The uptake varies,” VDH spokesperson Cheryl Rodriguez said. “However, some library systems are reporting that distribution has been brisk.”
According to VDH data, COVID-19 testing has been trending upwards in the Fairfax Health District since early November, with a spike seen in the days leading up to Thanksgiving (Nov. 25).
Fairfax County joined the state’s library test kits pilot slightly later than the other participating localities, but the move comes amid rising COVID-19 cases and renewed anxiety over the new omicron variant, which was confirmed in the U.S. for the first time on Wednesday (Dec. 1).
The Fairfax County Health Department said there has been increased demand for testing throughout Virginia recently, and offering free test kits at libraries gives people an alternative when retail supplies have been low.
Rapid COVID-19 tests have been in short supply since this summer after declining testing rates led manufacturers to decrease production. As infections surged again due to the delta variant, the federal government committed over $560 million to help boost the country’s supply.
“During the late summer months and early fall, many states across the country experienced limited access to rapid testing kits, due in part to slower production,” Rodriguez said. “However, production is increasing and more rapid tests should become available.”
Photo via Jernej Furman/Flickr
Two days before Thanksgiving, the 29 Diner was decimated by a fire. The next day, owner John K. Wood got back to work.
“It was a total loss,” Wood told FFXnow of the damage to the iconic, 74-year-old Fairfax City eatery. “But there’s nothing to be sorry about. It’s time to celebrate what this diner means to the community. I’m going to be here every day that I can — rain, sleet, snow — to watch the rebirth of the 29 Diner.”
Firefighters got a call around 6 p.m. on Nov. 23 about an explosion in the back of the building, WJLA reported. When crews arrived, a fire had spread from a storage room where chemicals were being stored to the kitchen across the way.
“It was a chemical fire that reached about 700 degrees,” said Wood, a Robinson High School graduate who has owned the diner since 2014.
Thankfully, no one was in the building at the time, but the fire rendered the kitchen completely unusable. Wood estimates it could take six months for the kitchen to be restored so the diner can reopen.
He’s already getting significant help from the community to do just that. A GoFundMe campaign set up to help Wood rebuild and support the employees that have lost their jobs has amassed over $54,000 in just a week’s time.
“I’m on the wings of the community and I feel the love,” Wood said.
A cozy spot to get a short stack and two eggs over easy, 29 Diner is also a historic landmark. In 1992, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places for being a “uniquely American form of roadside architecture.”
The pre-assembled metal, glass, and double-wide diner was considered the “Cadillac of diners,” Wood says, when it emerged in 1947. The building was manufactured in New Jersey and purchased by original owner D.T. “Bill” Glascock, who placed it along Fairfax Boulevard, which was called Lee Highway then, like Route 29 still is (for now) in Fairfax County.
Wood reveals a little-known secret about the restaurant: a 1,500 square-foot basement, the dimensions of a good-sized townhouse, runs the entire length of the diner.
29 Diner grew with the region, becoming a hub of community in Fairfax. It did go through several owners, including Fredy and Virginia Guevara, who was a server there in the 1960s. When the couple retired, Wood took over.
“You step into that diner, and it just takes you back to when you were 9 years old and you got your first milkshake,” Wood told The Washington Post when he became the owner in 2014.
Wood has been a proud steward ever since. Open 24 hours, six days a week, the diner has become a headquarters of sorts for a number of charitable endeavors, raising money for causes from feeding those in need to supporting families with cancer and veteran suicide prevention.
Not even a destructive fire can dim Wood’s perpetual optimism and commitment to giving back.
“This is going to give us a chance to remodel, in the way the Lord wanted us to have,” he said.”We are going to set up a more inclusive kitchen, [better] wheelchair access, and help disabled veterans.”
Wood is planning a number of events in the coming weeks to help raise money, including runs and a motorcycle rally.
He says a big chunk of donations will also go toward providing for his employees and their families while they wait for the diner to reopen.
Rich Berkwitz, who set up the GoFundMe campaign, appreciates everything Wood has done for the diner and community. A teacher at Mark Twain Middle School in Alexandria and an assistant wrestling coach at John Lewis High School, he says he eats at 29 Diner “pretty much every week” because “it feels like home.”
“I’m so happy that the community is backing him as much as he’s back to the community,” he said. “He’s just so giving.”
It’s unlikely that 29 Diner will reopen prior to June 2022, but Wood has faith in the future.
“It’s going to come back better than it was,” he said. “That wasn’t a fire. That was the Lord paying a visit to the 29 Diner.”
Interest in pickleball continues to rise and is sparking conversation about providing adequate courts in Fairfax County.
In response to requests for more facilities from pickleball players, the Fairfax County Park Authority is soliciting feedback from the community on potential plans for new courts or court lines.
The first site under consideration is Lewinsville Park in McLean. The FCPA presented potential plans to renovate or repurpose the tennis courts there during a virtual public meeting on Wednesday (Dec. 1).
“FCPA has addressed these requests in the past as opportunities presented themselves along routine maintenance,” FCPA project manager Adam Wynn said. “But with the high demand in all court sports and limited resources, there really needed to be a proactive and strategic approach to address these requests in a way that adds pickleball capacity, but also does so in a publicly beneficial and fiscally responsible way.”
The proposed project is part of an ongoing, countywide effort to determine how to address pickleball’s growing popularity as a sport. The park authority released a draft report of its study in September that included the results of an online survey and identified challenges with the county’s existing facilities and options for new ones.
The study recommends two layouts for courts. The first layout entails a shared-use court that is dual striped for tennis and pickleball. The second is a dedicated court for pickleball only.
Wynn said community responses identified McLean as a location that could support four or more pickleball courts to facilitate more drop-in play, where players arrive at courts without advance reservation.
In the greater McLean area, FCPA has two shared-use courts at Westgate, McLean Central, and Linway Terrace parks. Additionally, the Spring Hill Rec Center, Providence Community Center, and James Lee Community Center offer pickleball classes.
Lewinsville Park was identified as a viable location for new pickleball courts because it met most of the criteria outlined in the draft report, such as allowing for courts to be grouped together, according to Wynn.
He added that the courts at the park are in need of repair, and improvements could add capacity for both tennis and pickleball purposes.
The park currently has six courts dedicated for only tennis and a practice wall. FCPA is evaluating three options that would all include new surfacing for the courts and retaining the practice wall.
The first option retains all six tennis courts but converts three of them into six shared-use pickleball courts. The second option has four dedicated pickleball courts, four dedicated tennis courts, and one shared-use tennis court that could also serve as two additional pickleball courts.
The third option is for six dedicated pickleball courts and four tennis courts.
During the open comment portion of the meeting, several community participants took issue with the idea of repurposing the tennis courts or sharing them with pickleball, arguing that there are not enough tennis courts in general.
Some pushed for pickleball courts to be constructed elsewhere while utilizing other park or amenity space.
According to Wynn, court use is on the rise in the county, with rental hours for park authority courts climbing 573.7% between 2020 and 2021, though the data isn’t broken down by the specific sport being played.
Comments on the potential project at Lewinsville Park will be accepted until Jan. 7, 2022, after which FCPA will settle on a development option. Emails may be sent to [email protected] or [email protected].
The final pickleball study report is expected to be published in early 2022. If approved, the overall completion of the Lewinsville project is anticipated in summer 2022.
Photos via Lauren Bryan/Flickr, Google Maps
(Updated at 9:35 a.m.) More than 200 people in the Falls Church area are currently without power.
According to Dominion Energy’s outage map, the power loss has affected 224 customers on the east side of Route 7. The utility company attributes the outage to a vehicle accident.
A crew has been dispatched, but the estimated time of restoration is not until 1-6 p.m.
The City of Falls Church says the power outage has affected some of its facilities. The Mary Riley Styles Public Library has been closed for the day, and City Hall is offering only limited services since it’s on partial power.
The Falls Church Community Center, however, has full power and remains open.
According to the City of Falls Church, Dominion Energy arrived on the scene around 3:30 a.m. after a vehicle hit a utility pole near 300 North Washington Street.
“The vehicle was towed and there were no reports of injuries,” Falls Church spokesperson Susan Finarelli said.
FRIDAY, DEC 3, 2021 :: Due to a power outage, City Hall is on partial power and will have limited services available today. The Mary Riley Styles Public Library will be closed today.
The Community Center will be open as usual; the building has full power. pic.twitter.com/lIfLCPJdva
— City of Falls Church (@FallsChurchGov) December 3, 2021
Vice President Praises Local Candle Maker — 11-year-old entrepreneur Alejandro got a boost from Vice President Kamala Harris when she visited the stall that his company Smell of Love Candles had at the Downtown Holiday Market in D.C. last weekend. Based in Fairfax County, the company crafts and delivers soy candles, and it now offers the ones bought by Harris and second gentleman Doug Emhoff as a package. [WUSA9]
COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing Available to Students — Fairfax County Public Schools students and staff who have COVID-19 symptoms or have been in close contact with a COVID-positive person can now get diagnostic testing at six drive-through sites around the county. Appointments aren’t needed, but a parent or guardian must provide consent and their children’s information through the school system’s online portal. [FCPS]
County Recommends Getting COVID-19 Booster — “The Fairfax County Health Department joins the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in strengthening their recommendation on booster doses for individuals who are 18 years and older. Everyone aged 18 and older should get a booster shot either six months after their initial Pfizer or Moderna series or two months after their initial J&J vaccine.” [FCHD]
Four People Killed in Thanksgiving Weekend Traffic Crashes — “Four people died in traffic crashes in Virginia over the Thanksgiving weekend, the smallest number of traffic fatalities during the holiday weekend in the past 10 years, according to preliminary data released by the Virginia State Police. The fatal crashes occurred in the counties of Albemarle, Chesterfield, Fairfax and Spotsylvania.” [Patch]
Fairfax County Collects Record Taxes — “Fairfax County collected more than $4 billion in total taxes in fiscal 2021 for the first time ever, a staggering figure made possible not by rising tax rates, but soaring property assessments. Of the $4.05 billion collected in the fiscal year that ended June 30, $3.02 billion, or roughly 75%, came from real property tax levies, according to the county’s recently released Comprehensive Annual Financial Report.” [Washington Business Journal]
County Leaders Consider Staff Pay Increases — “Fairfax County supervisors and School Board members next year hope to give county and school employees large pay raises to make up for ones lost last year to the pandemic. But supervisors added quickly they did not want homeowners to feel the full brunt of skyrocketing property assessments.” [Sun Gazette]
A volunteer group that describes itself as the “unofficial town council” for the McLean community is getting an encore for its 100-plus years of service.
The McLean Citizens Association celebrated the milestone during a meeting yesterday (Wednesday), highlighting ways the organization has helped make the area what it is today, such as by contributing to the founding of the McLean Community Center.
The organization’s first meeting was on Nov. 2, 1914 as the School and Civic League of McLean, and the group celebrated a century of work in 2014.
But MCA was incorporated on June 25, 1921, giving it another chance to recognize its past.
“It’s been over a 100 years since we’ve been incorporated, and there aren’t a lot of corporations…that last 100 years,” MCA President Rob Jackson said, crediting the organization’s historians, Merrily Pierce and Paul Kohlenberger, for bringing the date to the group’s attention.
MCA has sought to give residents a local voice and minimize the effects of rapid urbanization on the community’s identity, according to a 100-year anniversary booklet, “The Voice of McLean: One Hundred Years of the McLean Citizens Association,” available in the Fairfax County Public Library’s Virginia Room.
The group was reincorporated in 1953 as the McLean Citizens Association with the tagline “the Voice of McLean.” Today, it continues to advocate for various civil, educational, and social interests, from hosting forums with public officials to weighing in on development in the greater McLean area.
According to Kohlenberger, MCA’s founding was driven by school needs.
When the Franklin Sherman School, which consolidated one-room schools in the area, opened in 1914, it lacked basic supplies. The League rallied to raise money to furnish a school auditorium, buy library books, help pave local roads, and further aid the community.
“The school was delivered, but there were no chalkboards, no books, nothing else for the students’ use,” Kohlenberger said. “That led to a tradition that we continue to this day: McLean Day.”
In 1922, the group’s civic leaders also helped launch the McLean Volunteer Fire Department and negotiated with Alexandria Power Co. to bring electricity to McLean, the booklet notes.
The power company brought a line from Falls Church and created a distribution center around a decade later. The station has undergone upgrades since then and can be seen at Chain Bridge Road and Westmoreland Street.
Other notable work by MCA, as detailed in the booklet, include:
- Opposing a 1957 interim Fairfax County plan eyeing McLean for a 60-acre shopping mall and apartment development, instead calling for such proposals to be located in Tysons
- Helping launch the McLean Community Center as the founding benefactor. It provided funding and part of its land to create it, notably in the ’60s and prior to a 1970 bond referendum.
- Helping steer county funds to create McLean Central Park and a former space there called the McLean Green at the apex of Route 123 and Old Dominion Drive
- Advocating for the county to focus on creating a park — instead of facilitating a 1969 residential development — that became the Scotts Run Nature Preserve
- Creating a committee in 1970 to preserve trees that later turned into the nonprofit McLean Trees Foundation in 2004
- Forming the nonprofit McLean Community Foundation in 1978 to provide philanthropic grants for community projects
