Vienna Church Assists with Afghan Resettlement Efforts — The Vienna Presbyterian Church is working with OneHeartDC and Lutheran Social Services to support the ongoing effort to help Afghan refugees who have come to Northern Virginia after fleeing their now-Taliban-controlled homeland. The church is specifically asking for donations of “welcome home kits” that can be dropped off at 123 Park Street NE on Wednesday or Thursday (Sept. 1 and 2). [Patch]
McLean-Based Firefighter Dies — “The Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department is deeply saddened to announce the death of Firefighter Kevin Weaver, who passed away Saturday, August 28, 2021. Firefighter Weaver has been a valued member of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department since joining in September 2018 as a member of Recruit Class 144. He was assigned to Fire Station 1, McLean, at the time of his passing.” [FCFRD/Facebook]
Vienna Planning Commission Approves Cottage Development — “A proposal to build 12 “cottage-style” housing units at 117-121 Courthouse Road, S.W., received the Vienna Planning Commission’s unanimous approval Aug. 25 and now heads to the Town Council. Developer Dennis Rice of JDA Custom Homes is proposing to build six two-family dwellings clustered along a common green.” [Sun Gazette]
Tysons Corner Disney Store To Survive Closures — The Disney store at Tysons Corner Center will be the last one standing in Northern Virginia with its lone remaining companion at Potomac Mills set to shutter by Sept. 15. The company is closing all about a couple dozen of its physical stores this year to focus on online retail, though Target is planning to open more than 100 Disney shops inside its stores by the end of 2021. [Patch]
Tysons Interfaith Hosts Essay Contest on Post-COVID Future — “Tysons Interfaith, a coalition of 19 faith communities in the Tysons area, is sponsoring an art and essay contest focusing on positive lessons from the COVID pandemic. ‘A Whole New World Starts Now’ will offer cash prizes for those in three age groups: youth (12 and under), teen (13-18) and adult…Entries will be accepted through Oct. 15, with award winners announced Nov. 1.” [Sun Gazette/Inside NoVA]
Petersen Says School Reopening Bill Doesn’t Support Mask Mandate — State Sens. Siobhan S. Dunnavant (R-12th) and Chap Petersen (D-34th), whose district includes Vienna, sent a letter to local superintendents and school boards on Aug. 18 that suggested they aren’t obligated to comply with Virginia’s mask mandate for schools. The senators took issue with Gov. Ralph Northam citing their bill that required schools to provide in-person learning this fall to justify the mask requirement. [The Washington Post]
Bird Feeding Can Resume — The Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources says people can start putting out bird feeders again with some precautionary measures in place after reports of a mysterious illness sickening and sometimes killing birds have declined. The state agency started documenting the issue in late May and later released a map that shows Fairfax and Arlington counties were most affected. [Patch]
Disabled McLean Artist Dies — “Wendi ‘Paige’ Crouch, a McLean resident who overcame a devastating car crash and became an accomplished artist by learning how to paint with a brush in her mouth, died Aug. 19 at age 61…Crouch prided herself on brush control and tried to achieve photo-realism in her works. She worked at a drafting table with sufficient room below to accommodate her motorized wheelchair.” [Sun Gazette]
Credit Union CEO Reflects on Choice of Tysons for HQ — “In 2016, PenFed announced that it selected Tysons — the largest commercial district in Fairfax County — for its new headquarters after a regional search. [James] Schenck said he could not be happier with the location decision for managing PenFed’s worldwide credit union operations and for engaging in charitable initiatives to help veterans through the PenFed Foundation.” [Fairfax County Economic Development Authority]
D.H. Scarborough, a supporter of Vienna businesses and community leader, was the first person to show up to events and last one to leave.
That’s how friends remember the 85-year-old accountant who co-founded the Vienna Business Association and became known for helping organize the town’s annual Halloween parade.
Scarborough, whose full name is Donna Helen Macdonald-Scarborough, died of pancreatic cancer on Aug. 15 at her Manassas home.
“She was very, very well-rounded in wanting to do everything for everybody,” said Kathy Georgen, who co-founded the Vienna-based accounting firm Georgen Scarborough Associates with Scarborough in 2008.
Scarborough would always put the customer first, just like when she was raising her four sons on her own, Georgen says, even if that meant driving to older people’s homes or other places to serve her clients’ needs.
In addition to serving as the first VBA board chair and president of the Town Halloween Parade Committee, Scarborough was involved in the Town of Vienna Historical Association, the chamber of commerce, and various town commissions, among other contributions “to her beloved town,” her obituary says.
She had also been named Lady Fairfax and won awards for business owner and business person of the year.
In her community roles, Scarborough loved serving kids and often helped behind the scenes.
For the Halloween parade, though, she accepted the honor of grand marshal — a title usually bestowed on one person each year — and “had the pleasure of riding down Maple Avenue in the parade with her granddaughters,” according to the Vienna Business Association, which announced her death in an Aug. 19 tribute.
“For some reason, she and the Halloween parade clicked. D.H. was always synonymous with the Vienna Halloween Parade,” Georgen said.
Scarborough served in several iterations of Vienna’s business group, preached the importance of face-to-face connections, and kept a smile on her face.
Vienna Business Association Executive Director Peggy James recalls Scarborough as a nurturing mentor and friend who made pulling off events that sometimes went as long as 15 hours more manageable.
“She understood that…the most important thing you can do is show up for others,” James said, noting that Scarborough was a regular at ribbon-cutting and grand opening events.
Scarborough also collected money for the Town of Vienna’s annual Oktoberfest, and when teased that she needed protection or security, she would adamantly reassure others, “I don’t need a security guard.”
“She loved being around people and being part of the team who had brought joy to all those attending,” friend Mike Davis wrote. “D.H. was a wonderful, caring person and she will be missed in Vienna for a very long time to come.”
She retired in 2018 and was later diagnosed with cancer, but Georgen notes her former business partner was still able to return to her accounting practice when needed, and the firm will continue to bear her name.
A memorial service for Scarborough will be held at 1 p.m. on Friday (Aug. 27) at the Vienna Presbyterian Church, according to her obituary. It will be followed by a Celebration of Life at the American Legion post in Vienna.
A motorcyclist died on Sunday (July 4) after crashing off of Interstate 66 near the Nutley Street exit, Virginia State Police reported yesterday (Wednesday).
According to police, Eddie B. Short, 55, of Manassas was traveling west on I-66 on a 1999 Harley-Davidson Sportster when the motorcycle went off the interstate and hit a crash attenuator. The crash occurred at 12:33 p.m. on the Fourth of July.
Short, who was wearing a helmet, was transported to Fairfax Inova Hospital, where he died from the resulting injuries that same day.
VSP Public Relations Director Corinne Geller confirmed to Tysons Reporter that the crash occurred near Exit 62 for Nutley Street. The cause of the crash has not been determined as the incident remains under investigation.
State police say Short was one of 10 people who died in traffic crashes on Virginia highways over this past Independence Day weekend, which was counted from 12:01 a.m. on July 2 to midnight on July 5.
Four of the reported fatal crashes involved motorcycles, and one involved an all-terrain vehicle.
Preliminary data shows that 399 people have been killed in traffic crashes in 2021 as of July 7, four more deaths than had been recorded at this point last year, according to a VSP news release.
Overall, state troopers responded to 669 traffic crashes and 1,550 incidents involving stranded or disabled motorists during the holiday weekend. They also arrested 61 drunk drivers and issued 4,025 citations for speeding, 1,434 for reckless driving, and 510 for not wearing a seatbelt.
“We are at the height of the summer travel season, which is why we need every Virginian committed to being a safe, responsible driver,” VSP Superintendent Col. Gary T. Settle said. “Please put as much attention into driving, buckling up and complying with speed limits as you do with planning your summer getaway. You and Virginia’s safety depend on it.”
Photo via Google Maps
Wolf Trap Goes Full Capacity Starting in August — Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts will return to full capacity in August for the second half of its summer season. Unveiled yesterday (Tuesday), the lineup for August and September includes Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, Indigo Girls, and Renée Fleming with the National Symphony Orchestra. [Patch]
Justice Department Will Assist in Bijan Ghaisar Case — The Justice Department will allow FBI agents to cooperate in the prosecution of two Park Police officers charged with manslaughter for shooting and killing McLean resident Bijan Ghaisar in 2017. The move reverses a decision made during the Trump administration and could help the Fairfax County prosecutors on the case. [The Washington Post]
Longtime McLean Hardware Store Owner Dies — McLean Hardware owner Glenn Kirby Wiggs died on June 5 at Medstar Washington Hospital Center at 71 years of age. He had operated the store for almost 40 years after purchasing it in 1984, and he continued visiting twice a week from his home in Frederick, Maryland, even as his health declined. [Patch]
Merrifield Student Advances in Spelling Bee — Akshita Balaji of Merrifield is one of 30 students to advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee’s semifinal round after she spelled two words correctly and gave an accurate definition for a third word during yesterday’s quarter-finals. Broadcast on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. on June 27, the semifinals will determine the 10 to 12 spellers who will go to Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., for the finals on July 8. [Inside NoVA]
1st Stage Celebration Sold Out — Tickets for 1st Stage’s first in-person event since February 2020 have sold out. The theater company’s June 27 outdoor concert reading of “A New Brain” at The Boro will still be available for other viewers to watch via an online livestream. [1st Stage/Twitter]
A 21-year-old man died in the hospital yesterday (Monday) in the wake of a shooting that occurred in Vienna last week.
The Vienna Police Department said in a news release issued just after noon today that the individual, who has not been publicly identified, “succumbed to his injuries.”
Police officers were dispatched to the 100 block of Patrick Street SE in the early morning last Thursday (June 10), the department said last week. A man inside an apartment had a gunshot wound to the head, and he was transported to a hospital.
“Detectives are actively pursuing leads in this ongoing investigation,” the VPD says.
The department says that anyone with information that could help the investigation should call 703-255-6366.
True to her past as a former presidential staffer and Pentagon assistant, Sondra Seba Hemenway stayed up until 3 a.m. tweaking a TV script for a Fairfax County leader the night before a filming for Women’s History Month.
Hemenway was helping out as part of the Fairfax County Commission for Women, which acts as an advocacy unit, even as she missed some meetings due to cancer treatments after melanoma developed in her eye. All the while, though, her cancer was worsening.
Hemenway died Saturday (June 5) at her home in McLean, according to her obituary. She was 67.
“She fought for her life the way she fights for women and girls in marginalized communities,” said Lisa Sales, chair of the county women’s commission, who recalled Hemenway staying up late to help her with the Channel 16 TV program.
Hemenway had served at one point as vice chair of the commission with Sales, but when that title was removed, she still maintained her key involvement.
Her attention to detail and research resonated with Sales, who recalls regularly receiving a supportive hug or hand on the shoulder from Hemenway.
A sunny, sparkling woman from Hot Springs, Arkansas, who spoke with a Southern drawl, Hemenway served the White House Office for Women’s Initiatives & Outreach, Department of Defense, and White House Office of Presidential Personnel in the Clinton-Gore administration.
“She was a real connector,” said Audrey Sheppard, who worked in the Department of Defense’s Office of the Secretary, noting that Hemenway’s mother and former President Bill Clinton’s mother were best friends in Arkansas. “What would pop into her brain — ‘Oh, you have a problem? Here’s a person who can help solve that problem or here’s a person who would want to know about this issue or challenge.'”
Sheppard remembers first meeting Hemenway, who had been selected to be her special assistant in the early ’90s under Secretary of Defense Les Aspin.
“She appeared one day in the Pentagon. I had never heard of her, I had never met her, and she just radiated her Southern charm and had this — an enormous can-do way about her,” Sheppard said, describing her as charmingly persistent. “And she made things happen.”
When Aspin resigned and several people found their jobs in jeopardy, Hemenway threw her support behind her former supervisor to help Sheppard get a position tied to the White House. In following years, she would repeatedly introduce Sheppard to people as her old boss — even when Sheppard sought to change that.
“She was just very generous, and that was part of her generosity,” Sheppard said. “She wasn’t transactional…It just came very much from her heart.”
During Hemenway’s illness, Sales would send flowers, likening her to a sister and mother that she never had. But in the same fashion as her mentor, Sales went above and beyond, tracking down a flower shop in Alexandria that would deliver flowers to McLean. She usually ordered them in the colors of the suffrage movement: purple, white, and gold.
“She’s so special, I wanted something special for her anytime I ordered something for her,” Sales told Tysons Reporter, at times crying while recalling the memory of her friend.
After the TV show, Hemenway had a 4-foot-tall gift of flowers sent to Sales’s home.
She’s survived by her husband, father, brother Brian Seba of Las Vegas, and other family members.
Hemenway was also a board member of the Fairfax County Convention & Visitors Corporation and the Sewell-Belmont House and Museum — a women’s history landmark now known as the Belmont-Paul Women’s Equality National Monument — on Capitol Hill.
When there were needs, she responded not just with ideas, but with research, networking, fundraising, and more.
“She was always the first to write a check,” Sales said.
When Hemenway met Kari Galloway, the executive director of the Alexandria-based Friends of Guest House, which helps women get back into society after jail, Hemenway continued to keep in touch, sending her articles even if it just meant contacting with her a few times a year, Galloway said.
“She was always interested in how to support people,” Galloway said. “It’s nice to know someone was always thinking about you.”
Photo courtesy Lisa Sales
A Maryland resident was killed in a car crash in the McLean area of northbound Interstate 495 on Friday (June 4), the Virginia State Police says.
According to a news release that came out today (Monday), state troopers responded at 11:56 p.m. to a two-vehicle crash that occurred south of the American Legion Bridge:
A 2019 Hyundai Kona was traveling in the far left lane at a high rate of speed when it crossed two lanes, struck a 2018 Freightliner tractor-trailer in the center lane and continued to travel off the right side of the road. The Hyundai spun as it ran off the road, running into the ditch, hitting two trees and overturning.
The driver of the Hyundai, who has been identified as 36-year-old Daniel E. Gluckman of Rockville, Md., died at the scene.
State police say Gluckman was wearing a seatbelt, but speed is considered a factor in the crash. The tractor-trailer driver was notinjured.
“The crash remains under investigation,” the VSP said.
Fairfax County to Host COVID-19 Remembrance Ceremony — The Northern Virginia Regional Commission will hold a virtual ceremony next Wednesday (June 9) at the Fairfax County Government Center to honor the more than 2,350 people in the region who have died from COVID-19. Local officials will discuss the pandemic’s impact, and the event will conclude with a “last alarm” bell service courtesy of the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department. [Fairfax County Government]
Falls Church Man Drowns in North Carolina — 46-year-old Falls Church resident and U.S. Air Force veteran Sean Chung died on May 28 when he reportedly drowned while surf fishing in the Outer Banks. Friends launched a GoFundMe fundraiser on Tuesday (June 1) to help his family pay for funeral costs and other immediate expenses. [Patch]
County to Discuss Climate Resilience Initiative — The Fairfax County Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination will hold a virtual public meeting on June 15 to get input on its Resilient Fairfax initiative, which aims to reduce the impact of flooding, severe storms, and other climate change-related dangers on the county. The public will also be able to comment through an online survey that will launch on June 8. [Fairfax County OEEC]
Hilton Misses Fortune 500 List — The hotel company, which is headquartered in McLean, ranked 596th on Fortune’s annual list of the biggest companies in the U.S., more than 250 spots below where it was in 2020. The plunge came as Hilton reported a 54.4% decline in revenue, an indication of how hard the COVID-19 pandemic hit the hospitality industry. [Washington Business Journal]
McLean Community Center to Host Blood Drive — The blood drive on June 11 will support the American Red Cross and Sickle Cell Foundation of Northern Virginia, which are especially looking to recruit people of color as donors. “Blood given to patients with rare blood types or conditions such as sickle cell disease must be matched closely with someone from the same race to avoid complications,” the community center says. [MCC]
Photo by Joanne Liebig
Editor’s note: Tysons Reporter will be taking Memorial Day weekend off starting tomorrow (Friday). Except in the case of breaking news, publishing will resume on Tuesday (June 1).
More Early Voting Sites to Open Saturday — Fairfax County will add 13 more early voting sites for the June 8 Democratic primary on Saturday (May 29), bringing the total number of locations up to 16. Sites in the Tysons area include the McLean Governmental Center, Providence Community Center, and Tysons-Pimmit Regional Library. [Fairfax County Government]
Couple Killed in Springfield Shooting — “A husband and wife are dead following a shooting in a residential area of Springfield, Virginia, on Wednesday morning, according to police. Police Chief Kevin Davis said authorities believe the ‘shooter or shooters’ are ‘known to a relative of our two victims.'” [WTOP]
Fairfax County to Get $17 Million From FEMA — Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine announced yesterday (Wednesday) that Fairfax County will receive $17.1 million from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover costs associated with COVID-related public communications as well as medical supplies and equipment to combat the virus. [Office of Sen. Mark Warner]
Falls Church Memorial Day Street Closures — The City of Falls Church will close several streets to traffic to accommodate its Memorial Day parade from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Monday (May 31). Little Falls Street will be closed from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. that day between Park Avenue and Great Falls Street for Memorial Day events. [City of Falls Church]
Local Leaders Recognize Death of Longtime Virginia Senator — Elected officials representing Fairfax County, including Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay and Rep. Gerry Connolly, shared remembrances of former Sen. John Warner after he died in Alexandria on Monday (May 24). Warner served five terms in Congress, giving him the second-longest tenure of any Virginia senator when he retired in 2009. [The Washington Post]
Photo by Hilde Khan
