FRIDAY 5/17: Military History Forum

Bob Patrick will speak on the Library of Congress Veterans History Project – Preserving Veterans History

The Forum meets every other Friday from 10am to noon at the Falls Church Community Center, 221 Little Falls Street. 703-248-5020.  The Forum is free and open to the public.

Spring 2013  Forum Schedule

May 31             Warren Wiedhahn, Col. USMC (Rtd.):  Korea – The Forgotten Victory

The 2013-2014 Forum series will begin after Labor Day.  Here is the tentative fall schedule.

Sep   6    Jim Zumwalt:  A Son’s Reflections – Life & Leadership of Adm. Elmo Zumwalt

Sep 20   Jason Abady:  Guadalcanal – Battle at the Overland Trail

Oct  4     Norman Hatch:  World War II Marine Photographer

Oct 18   Jim Taylor:  Origins of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict – World War I to 1948

Nov  1   William Connery:  The Gray Ghost’s Raids in Northern Virginia

Nov 15  To be Announced

Nov 29  Holiday Break

Dec 13  Ed Murphy:  Harper’s Ferry 1859 – John Brown’s Raid

Anthony’s Restaurant Closing June 2

By Falls Church Times Staff

May 8, 2013

The restaurant released the following statement this morning:

Dear Patrons and Friends of Anthony’s,

It is with a heavy heart and sincere regret that we inform you that Anthony’s Restaurant will be permanently closing our location at 309 West Broad Street, Falls Church, Virginia. As a result of our lease expiring, our last day of operations will be June 2, 2013.  Although we have yet to find a suitable new location, we continue our search and we hope to find a new home for Anthony’s in Falls Church.  After 41 years of serving our patrons at this location, we would like to say THANK YOU for being a special part of our family and for all the wonderful memories.  We will continue to serve the community at our Manassas location.

Warmest regards,

The Anthony’s Family

SATURDAY 5/4: Attic Treasures Sale

9am to 1pm – Falls Church Community Center – 223 Little Falls Street

Find your treasure at the oldest and largest annual fundraising sale in the Little City.  All proceeds will support the VPIS community programs like Concerts in the Park and other programs you love.  It is quite fun to discover unbelievable bargains and unique treasures while tapping your toes to the live music of Andrew Acosta.

Donations Drop – Friday May 3, 10am to 7pm  – Fall Church Community Center- 223 Little Falls Street

The following are accepted:  household items including kitchen items, musical instruments & recordings, plants (5 gallon max size), gardening items, household goods, kitchenware, special treasures (antiques, collectibles), toys, jewelry, hardware, books.  Sorry – no clothing, bicycles, computer equipment, or junk please.  We need volunteers – please contact Michael or Marybeth Connelly at 703‐237‐0604 or email mbdoncon@gmail.com.

Blues Musical Opens May 2 at Creative Cauldron

FALLS CHURCH TIMES STAFF

Creative Cauldron will present Thunder Knocking on the Door, a blues musical fable written by Keith Glover, with lyrics and music by three-time Grammy award winner Keb’ Mo’ and Anderson Edwards.  Veteran theater artist and Helen Hayes Award winner Stephen Gregory Smith is directing and choreographing a professional cast. Thunder runs from May 2-26 with performances Thursday through Sunday evenings at 8:00 pm at Creative Cauldron at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 South Maple Avenue.

Thunder Knocking on the Door is an intoxicating musical filled with humor and heart.  Set in Bessmer, Alabama in 1966, the story follows a mysterious, Blues-playing stranger named Marvel Thunder who shows up uninvited at the home of the Dupree family. Thunder is a mythic figure with supernatural powers.   He has come to challenge the son and daughter of Jaguar Dupree, the only man who ever outplayed him on the guitar in a “cutting contest.” Since its 1999 premiere at Arena Stage, Thunder has played to rave reviews and sold out houses in theaters around the country.

The cast features Shayla Simmons in the role of Glory Dupree.  Shayla was last seen at Creative Cauldron in the 2012 hit production Women of the Blues. This past winter she appeared as Deena Jones in Signature Theatre’s critically acclaimed Dreamgirls. Other cast members include Ramond Thomas (Thunder), Iyona Blake (Good Sister), Michael Mainwaring (Jaguar Jr.) and Malcolm Lee (Jaguar Sr & Dregster).

Pianist Amy Conley is the Music Director, who will play keyboard and conduct a blues pit band that includes Bruce Turner (guitar), Rob Weaver (bass), and Jim Hoffman (drums).  Scenic Designer Margie Jervis and Lighting Designer Zach Dalton have created a setting that evokes the dusty crossroads and “juke joint” atmosphere of the Southern delta.

Tickets are $22 for adults and $20 for students and seniors. To reserve tickets or get further information log on to www.creativecauldron.org or call 571-239-5288.

SATURDAY, 4/6: Randy Barrett Concert

Falls Church’s own Randy Barrett will perform Saturday, April 6 at 7 pm at Creative Cauldron at ArtSpace Falls Church, 410 S. Maple Ave.  The band Mama Tried showcases the talents of Randy and Dede Wyant, two of the DC area’s best bluegrass singers and multiple WAMMIE Award winners!  Tickets are $20 adults and $18 student/seniors.  Purchase online at www.creativecauldron.org.

SATURDAY, 4/6: VPIS Tree Planting

The Falls Church Village Preservation and Improvement Society will host a Tree Planting day Saturday, April 6, beginning at 8:30am at Ellison Road, behind Taco Bell.

Individuals and groups are invited to participate. (Children must be chaperoned.) Volunteers should wear boots or heavy shoes, gloves and clothes that can get dirty. Please bring your own tools if you have them. Extra tools will be available. Additional information is available at www.vpis.org.

SATURDAY: 4/13: Spontaneous Eco Art on City Clean-Up Day

On April 13, 13, in the city of Falls Church, Virginia, a group of spontaneous Eco-artists will gather, explore, assemble and attempt to create a sculpture with what was found during the City-Clean-Up day.

Trash stays. What we leave behind us and out of sight continues to live and impact our environment. We have to co-exist, why not make something interesting out of it? “Eco Art” is a contemporary form of environmental art created by artists who are concerned about local and global environmental situations, and who take art making to a functional format.

What goes unnoticed or reflect human neglect can become a source of inspiration, a source of education, a conversation piece, between artists, environmentally concerned citizens and the rest of the community. Much environmental art is ephemeral, and we have no idea what the future of this piece will be, except that it will be designed for the community to see, make comments, and hopefully reflect on the local and global environmental situation.

For more information, contact John Maier

CITY COUNCIL: FY14 Budget Presented, City Reaches Agreement with Housing Corporation

By FALLS CHURCH TIMES STAFF
March 13, 2013

Editor’s Note: Actions taken by the Falls Church City Council are reported by the City Clerk in a “Legislative Update” typically published within a few hours of adjournment of a City Council meeting. Video and minutes (2 hours and 19 minutes) from this Council meeting are now available online. Other materials including agendas, working materials, past minutes, and the schedule of upcoming meetings are available from City website.

 

Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields summarized the FY14 budget for the Council with a 34 page presentation [PDF].  The budget, as presented, calls for a 6 cent increase in real estate taxes which would provide 60% of  revenue. For fiscal year 2014 Shields proposed an 8.2% increase in spending over 2013 levels.

Council Member David Snyder immediately reacted negatively to the budget saying “In all my 19 to 20 years of local government budgets I’ve never seen a budget more out of line with the economic realities in which we exist than this one, so my initial comment is there is an awful lot of work that is going to have to be done on this.”  By contrast Council Member Ron Peppe was more sanguine saying he’s “not that shocked by what i see here” explaining that after kicking the can down the road sometimes you catch up with the can.

The fact that the proposed budget did not include City or School funding for Falls Church City TV was mentioned by several of the Council Members as a potential issue.

Budget review will include two readings of the Budget and Tax Rate Ordinances before the Council at meetings on March 27 and April 8 leading up to the final vote on April 22.  The budget will be discussed in Town Hall meetings on March 16 and April 13 both at 10 a.m. at the Community Center. More details about revenue, spending, and the budget revue process are available in a special section of the City website.

In other work the Council passed the first reading of an agreement between the City and the Falls Church Housing Corporation and the first reading to adopt a FY13 funding recommendation for an arts challenge grant.

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