The Boro has joined with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive on Mar. 4, the third that the Tysons development has held over the past year.

The drive will take place from 9 a.m.-3 p.m. in the E and F conference rooms at Boro Station (1775 Greensboro Station Place) in McLean. The use of the conference center will “allow for proper social distancing,” according to a press release announcing the upcoming event.

“This will be an essential part of the life-saving network connecting donors to those in need of blood, platelets and plasma,” the press release said. “…Blood donations to support patients in hospitals are needed more than ever as surgical procedures and treatments that were temporarily paused due to the pandemic resume.”

In addition to potentially helping save another person’s life, donors will get the benefit of a free COVID-19 antibodies test, as the American Red Cross continues to test all blood, platelet, and plasma donations.

The Red Cross is providing the antibody testing service for a limited time. Donors will be able to see the results of their test within seven to 10 days by logging into the Red Cross blood donor app and online portal.

The Fairfax County Health Department says that antibody blood tests, or serology tests, can detect proteins that would indicate a past infection by the novel coronavirus, but they should not be used to diagnose COVID-19.

“Medical science has yet to determine what level of antibodies confirm immunity or how long immunity might last,” the FCHD says. “Until there is more definitive information, we should assume, even with positive antibodies, that a person may still be susceptible to the coronavirus.”

This will be the third blood drive that The Boro has hosted with the Red Cross. The previous two drives took place in July and October, and brought in enough donations to save 67 lives, according to The Boro.

Prospective donors should schedule an appointment online through American Red Cross Blood Services.

According to American Red Cross Blood Services, volunteer donors to the Red Cross contribute about 40% of the blood and blood components supply for the U.S., which needs approximately 36,000 units of red blood cells, 7,000 units of platelets, and 10,000 plasma units every day.

Photo courtesy Hilde Kahn

Dr. Dana Lipsky has witnessed “pandemic fatigue” firsthand.

Lipsky has plenty of experience helping people navigate anxiety, depression, and other conditions as the owner and clinical director of Metropolitan Psychological Services PLLC (MPS), a mental health care practice that she started in Arlington in 2014.

However, she says there has been a noticeable uptick in clients struggling with anxiety in particular since COVID-19 upended daily life in Northern Virginia last March.

“Since the pandemic, it’s been more focused on what’s the world like: My everyday life has been disrupted. How do I make those adjustments and live in a world of uncertainty?” Lipsky said. “So, we’ve been working a lot with just kind of accepting the reality and learning how to adapt given the situation that we’re in.”

MPS had contemplated expanding to serve more people for a while, but the search for a second location got underway in earnest in early 2020, as the pandemic triggered fears of a widespread mental health crisis.

According to Lipsky, MPS settled on The Boro in Tysons for its proximity to major roads like I-66 and I-495 and to the Spring Hill Metro station. The neighborhood also stood out for its mix of residential and commercial properties, allowing the company to offer its services to businesses and workers as well as residents.

MPS officially announced the opening of its Tysons practice at 8401 Greensboro Dr. last week and has been providing services there since August, though the physical office has not been utilized yet, with the pandemic limiting nearly all clients to virtual sessions.

When the office does open, it will be staffed with four or five clinicians with different areas of expertise, from children and teen specialists to adult and couples’ therapists, Lipsky says.

“Our Arlington location primarily services teens and up, with the bulk of the population that we see probably ages 25 through 40,” Lipsky said. “…We really opened the Tysons Corner office with reaching out to more folks in mind, so this office is designed to really focus on treating the whole lifespan.”

Once the pandemic is under control, Lipsky also hopes to take advantage of the Tysons office’s central location to turn it into a base for educational and outreach efforts to aimed at combatting the stigma around getting therapy and other mental health care services.

MPS clinicians use various treatment and counseling methods to address issues ranging from anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder to relationship difficulties and life transitions, but the overall goal is not to “fix” people. Rather, Lipsky says therapy is about giving people tools to better handle the challenges they encounter.

“Life doesn’t need to be so difficult, and learning ways to mitigate that distress is really important,” Lipsky said. “That helps you achieve a better form of wellness for yourself by increasing that positivity and hopefully finding more fulfillment in your life.”

Photo via Google Maps

Fairfax Connector Reminds Passengers To Wear Face Masks — “Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) officials would like to remind Fairfax Connector passengers that they must wear a mask or a face covering, as now federally mandated, when taking public transit or visiting a transit hub in Fairfax County. This safety measure, which has been in place on board Fairfax Connector buses since May 2020, aims to protect passengers and bus operators during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.” [Fairfax Connector]

Fairfax County Public Schools to Hold Virtual Job Fair — FCPS is “searching for educators with a strong academic background and a passion to make a difference in the lives of students. To open the 2021-22 school year hiring season, FCPS will host a virtual Instructional Job Fair on Saturday, February 20, from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.” [FCPS]

Sens. Kaine and Warner Raise Concerns About Continued Mail Delays — “From Dec. 19 to 31, according to statistics in the [court] filings that the Senators cited in their letter, Northern Virginia residents received less than half of their first class mail on-time. While the holiday crush is surely to be a contributing factor, rates started dropping in mid-September.” [ARLNow]

Virginia Pauses E-Z Pass Deactivations During Pandemic — For the next six months, Virginia is suspending its policy of deactivating E-Z Pass accounts if they go unused for a year, since fewer people are traveling during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of users who got a notice that their account would be deactivated last year nearly doubled from 2019. [The Virginian-Pilot]

The Boro Partners with Red Cross for Blood Drive — “#TheBoroTysons is partnering with @americanredcro5 to host another blood drive on March 4th from 9am-3pm in Boro Station (1775 Greensboro Station Place). Donors will receive free antibody testing. Help save a life and reserve your spot!” [@TheBoroTysons/Twitter]

McLean Contractor Buys Fairfax Firm — “McLean-based tech contractor IntelliBridge Inc. announced Monday it has acquired Fairfax-based tech company Alethix LLC. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed, but the acquisition will add DevSecOps and cloud services to IntelliBridge (which is backed by Enlightenment Capital), and also expand its clientele to include homeland security, federal-civilian and defense agencies.” [Virginia Business]

Staff Photo by Jay Westcott

The Boro is giving away free tickets this week to its upcoming Valentine’s Drive-In Movie Series.

The series will run from Feb. 12-14, and in order of their screening date, the featured films will be “Crazy Rich Asians,” “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” and “Valentine’s Day.”

Details for entering the contest for free tickets can be found on The Boro’s Facebook and Instagram pages. Winners will be selected randomly and contacted by The Boro later this week.

The Boro decided to offer a Valentine’s Day-oriented film series after finding success with drive-in movie screenings last summer and on Halloween.

“We witnessed a huge demand for this type of activation when we quickly sold out our summer drive-in series,” The Boro Director of Marketing Tanya Graves said. “We’re excited to bring it back in this new capacity, helping people celebrate Valentine’s Day in a safe, but still romantic way.”

Gates for the screenings, which will be held behind The Loft at the intersection of Broad Street and Silver Hill Drive, will open at 6:30 p.m. The movies will begin at 8 p.m.

Paris Baguette will provide complimentary hot chocolate and sweet treats for the event. The Boro is also encouraging visitors to stop by its restaurants and retailers before the screenings.

“The last few months have been tough on everyone so The Boro wanted to offer the community a safe and fun outdoor activity to enjoy together,” Graves said. “We also want to support our retailers by inviting guests to grab dinner beforehand at one of our many dining options like North Italia, Santouka Ramen, and Poki DC.”

Tickets are now on sale through Eventbrite. They cost $25 per vehicle, and parking spots will be available on a first-come, first-served basis.

“Limited spaces are available to promote social distancing,” The Boro says on the event page.

The Boro is asking that people remain in their vehicles for the duration of each screening, except to use the bathroom or visit Boro Place retailers. Vehicles will also not be able to arrive late or leave early unless there is an emergency.

Audio for the movies will be available through a dedicated FM radio channel.

Like The Boro’s previous drive-in movie screenings, the Valentine’s Day series is being produced by DC Fray and District Fray Magazine.

Photo via The Boro Tysons/Facebook

The Meridian Group earned a viral response certification with the highest score in the country to date since the Fitwel healthy building certifications system launched in July.

The real estate firm behind The Boro development in Tysons announced on Jan. 14 that it received a 99 out of 100 rating from Fitwel for the policies and practices it has put in place to mitigate the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19 in its buildings.

“During an unprecedented time in real estate and the world, we are honored to be recognized for our innovative efforts to optimize safe environments in our buildings,” Meridian Group Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Mark King said. “We are dedicated to — and 100% focused on — the health, safety and well-being of all our buildings’ tenants and visitors.”

Based in Bethesda, Md., the Meridian Group owns the Tysons Technology Center office complex in Vienna as well as The Boro.

Meridian says it partnered with the sustainability and green building consulting firm Paladino and Company — a tenant of The Boro — to develop indoor air-quality testing and monitoring protocols, personal protective equipment guidelines, plans for surface hygiene stations and contagious disease outbreak preparedness, and enhanced cleaning, disinfecting, and maintenance procedures.

According to a press release from Meridian, Paladino provided oversight, quality control, and technical advice, while also managing the real estate company’s submission to the Center for Active Design, the nonprofit organization that operates Fitwel.

Fitwel was originally created by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the General Services Administration to set industry standards for healthy building environments and viral mitigation policies.

The third-party certification system launched a viral response module last year to address the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic. The initiative was developed by real estate companies with input from a Fitwel Academic Advisory Group of public health experts.

The CDC remains involved with Fitwel as its research and evaluation partner, according to the Center for Active Design.

“Addressing health and mitigating viral transfer is one example of how we must respond to the new realities of potential pandemics,” Paladino and Company Managing Director Katie Rothenberg said. “Fortunately, there is so much we can do to promote health and transparency in buildings where we live and work.”

Photo courtesy The Meridian Group

About four months after opening its doors at The Boro in Tysons, Hokkaido Ramen Santouka has found its soup legs.

At first, the ramen shop focused exclusively on its signature noodle soups, but the menu has since expanded with appetizers, desserts, and seasonal items that are available for a limited time.

“We want to make sure that what we do offer was at the highest quality that we could possibly do,” Junchiro Kawakami, the general manager of Santouka Tysons, said. “Now that it’s been a couple months, all of our staff have gotten used to the menu items and the general operation of the restaurant. We felt comfortable expanding our menu.”

Originally started in Hokkaido, Japan, in 1983, Santouka chose The Boro as its first Virginia location because they saw “huge potential” in all the development happening in the Tysons area, Kawakami says.

Plans for the new restaurant got underway in 2019 with the goal of opening this past March.

Then, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Fairfax County, and the opening was delayed due to concerns from the construction company about the safety of its crews, according to Kawakami.

The pause gave Kawakami and Food’s Style USA, which operates the Tysons location, time to adapt to the unique constraints imposed by the pandemic.

In addition to obtaining sneezeguards and dividers for each table, as well as protective equipment and cleaning supplies for employees, Santouka Tysons pivoted from a mostly dine-in operation to one that could accommodate more carryout and delivery orders.

That required finding takeout containers that can hold soup and noodles separately and replacing a key ingredient.

“We normally use lard for one of our ingredients, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to use that for carryout,” Kawakami explained. “As you might be able to guess, once it gets colder, it starts to look very unappetizing, so we had to change that ingredient to an oil base.”

While opening in the middle of a pandemic has been a challenge, Kawakami says the restaurant has been “going strong,” thanks to the support of its new customers and its suppliers’ flexibility with the changing construction schedule and operations.

In the hopes of carrying that success over into the new year, Santouka Tysons has added some new menu items over the past month, including tsukemen – where the noodles are dipped instead of kept in soup – and a riff on dora-yaki – a pancake filled with red bean paste – that involves bacon bits and maple syrup.

Kawakami says the family-sized, delivery-only appetizer dishes that Santouka has been offering during the holiday season have proven popular.

He has also gotten adept at using social media, particularly Facebook and Instagram, to stay engaged with customers and share promotions, such as a Japanese snack giveaway that will take place on Jan. 1.

“Our aim is to bring to… the DMV area authentic Japanese ramen,” Kawakami said. “That hasn’t changed, but how we do that, we had to think about it and change that up.”

Tysons IT Company Expands Microsoft Collaboration — “DXC Technology (NYSE: DXC) today announced an expanded strategic collaboration with Microsoft to deliver a more personalized, intelligent, secure and modern workplace experience to help companies to address rapidly evolving business challenges and customer and employee needs.” [Business Wire]

Falls Church City School Board Member to Resign — “Lawrence Webb, a member of the Falls Church City Council and School Board since 2008, announced his resignation as of Jan. 1 from the School Board on Tuesday.” [Falls Church News-Press]

Northrop Grumman Finishes Design Review of Artemis Astronaut Living Quarters — “Falls Church-based Fortune 100 defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corp. announced Wednesday it has completed the initial preliminary design review (PDR) for the Habitation and Logistics Outpost (HALO), which will serve as living quarters for astronauts at the Lunar Gateway mini space station during lunar exploration missions.” [Virginia Business]

The Boro Commissions Mural from D.C. Artists — “The new addition to the Boro is designed to invite passersby into the neighborhood and ‘infuse happiness and joy to everyone who sees it, whether that is a commuter on the metro, a resident or shopper at the Boro, or a driver on Route 7,’ the company said in a news release.” [Inside NOVA]

Photo via VDOT

The holiday season is here, but it will look a little different this year as communities try to create a festive environment while following public health guidelines for reducing the possible spread of COVID-19.

Starting this week, The Boro in Tysons (8350 Broad St.) will celebrate the holidays throughout December with a series of public events for all ages:

• Festive Art Installation (Dec. 1-27) — The Boro Park will feature a variety of art, including gift boxes, festive cutouts, and holiday lights. Guests are encouraged to post their photos on social media and tag @theborotysons to be entered in a weekly raffle for a swag bag with items from local retailers.
• Elves at The Boro Scavenger Hunt (Dec. 1-28) — Hidden elves will be spread out across The Boro all month long. People who find a hidden elf and post a photo of the elf on social media while tagging @theborotysons will automatically win a $5 Flower Child gift card. They will also be entered into a weekly raffle.
• Make & Take Holiday Crafting with Paper Source (Dec. 2-16, 5-7 p.m.) — For $10, guests can obtain kits for seasonal crafts kits such as paper wreaths and 2D globes. The kits include all required materials as well as a $10 gift card to Paper Source. Those who wish to participate can sign up through this link.
• The Boro Howliday Series (Dec. 3 at 5:30 p.m. and Dec. 12 at 11 a.m.) — Guests and their pets can visit The Boro Park’s pop-up dog zone for fun events and treats for both humans and pets. This event is free, but preregistration is required. To register, use this link.

All events will practice social distancing, and guests 5 or older are required to wear a face covering. The Boro says there will also be sanitation measures taken at each event.

For more information about The Boro’s schedule for this holiday season, visit the company’s website.

Photo via The Boro Tysons/Facebook

Updated on 12/1/2020 — The Church Street Holiday Stroll was moved online this year. The live stream of the event can still be viewed on the Town of Vienna’s Facebook page. Tysons Reporter apologizes for any confusion or inconvenience caused by the outdated information in the Weekly Planner.

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 (Nov. 30)

• Church Street Holiday Stroll — 6-8:30 p.m. at Vienna’s Historic Church St. (131 Church St.) — Enjoy favorite holiday tunes performed by school choruses and others, along with s’mores, children’s activities, and more, the website says.

Tuesday (Dec. 1)

• Holiday Gingerbread Decorating (Dec. 1-25) — 6:30-8 p.m. at McLean Community Center (1234 Ingleside Ave.) — McLean Community Center will provide a pre-built gingerbread house, traditional candy decorations, and frosting. To register, use this link.
• Children’s Book Writing and Publishing Workshop (Online) — 7-9 p.m. — Learn how to effectively write, publish, and market a children’s book with a masterclass from Global Book Publishing CEO Sush Dutta. To register, use this link.

Thursday (Dec. 3)

• The Boro Howliday Series — 5:30-7 p.m. at Boro Park (8350 Broad St.) — Pets and their owners can enjoy a dog pop-up zone. Toys and treats will be provided for the dogs, and guests can enjoy treats as well with specialty seasonal warm beverages, the website says.

Friday (Dec. 4)

• Fairfax Virtual Employment Expo (Online) — 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. — In lieu of its usual employment expo in Fairfax County, the Jewish Council for the Aging of Greater Washington is hosting several virtual events. Job seekers of age 50 or more can attend workshops and network with employers. To register, use this link.

Saturday (Dec. 5)

• McLean Holiday Arts & Crafts Festival (December 5-6) — 9 a.m to 5 p.m. — The McLean Holiday Art & Crafts Festival is a juried arts show. See behind the scenes and watch how these artists create their masterpieces. Support the arts and buy a unique gift for someone special, the website said. Admission is free. To register, use this link.
• Cookies with Santa — 11 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. at Vienna Volunteer Fire Department (400 Center St. S.) — Share holiday wishes and Mrs. Claus’s delicious holiday cookies with the jolly ol’ elf, the website said. The cost is $5 per person. To register, use this link.

Staff photo by Ashley Hopko