Pink Ladies also will sell luminaries for the Luminary Ceremony which is conducted during the Falls Church Relay event.

For more information about the Relay for Life of Falls Church event go to www.fallschurchrelay.org

This is your annual opportunity to clean out your attic, basement, closets, garage….and donate to a community cause! This is recycling at its purest. If it works, don’t throw it away, drop it off for the sale!!

Donations will be accepted at the Community Center the day before the sale — Friday May 4, 9:00am-9:00pm.

The following donations are welcome: Baked goods, toys, plants (no trees or shrubs), jewelry, hardware, housewares, antiques, collectibles, musical recordings and instruments, special treasures, antiques and books (that someone would want to read!)

We cannot accept clothing, text books or magazines

Donations must be clean, in good condition and easy to sell in 4 hours. Each item must be light enough for one person to lift.

To donate or volunteer assistance, please contact Marybeth Connelly at 703-237-0604 or mbdoncon@gmail.com. You may also contact villagesociety@vpis.org.  Thanks for your support!

The League’s annual business meeting will begin at 11:30 a.m. Non-members are asked to arrive at noon, in time for the luncheon and Edgar’s speech. The cost of the luncheon for non-members is $35 and reservations must be received by May 24.  A registration form is available at http://lwvfallschurch.org/files/2012_registration_and_meal_form.pdf.

Edgar served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1974-1986, representing a district in the Philadelphia suburbs. He served as general secretary of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA for seven years, before joining Common Cause in 2007. Common Cause is a national nonpartisan, non-profit “citizens” lobby working to make government at all levels more honest, open and accountable and to connect citizens with their democracy.

More information about the Falls Church League and its activities is available at http://www.lwvfallschurch.org/.

We have some new plants available this year, so please take a minute to look at the plant list. Native plants benefit our local birds and butterflies and can transform your yard into a watershed friendly environment. They are often hardier and need less water and attention than transplants.

The plants come from native stocks and are grown at a Virginia nursery. All plants are priced at $10.00 and come in mostly 6″ or 7” containers.

All orders must be received by April 30th with payment by either mail or drop-off at this address: 802 Ridge Place , Falls Church , VA 22046 . We have a limited availability of stock – we cannot guarantee we will not run out of a particular plant so order early.

Orders will be available for pick up on May 6th at Cherry Hill Park in the City of Falls Church (behind the community center near the basketball court). Please come by between noon and 2pm. If you need to arrange another time please contact Melissa Teates (703-538-6961 or melanite@verizon.net).

You can also get the order form and plant list using Google Docs:

PDF – https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1qFfaWjvWoUSnBZczB6Ni01VFk

Excel – https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlqFfaWjvWoUdDhQWWp1YmRqbVRzQ2xfblc0T0tZenc

Marie Hirst Yochim, age 92 of 7314 Hughes Court, Falls Church died Thursday, April 19th at Virginia Hospital Center.  Marie was born February 3, 1920 in Washington, D.C. to her parents Herbert Hirst and Ella Mankin.  Marie lived her life in the City of Falls Church and attended and graduated from Madison Elementary and Jefferson Institute.  She attended Strayer College. Her husband Eldred, died at the age of 101 in 2006.  Marie, one of Falls Church’s most venerable citizens was a 12th generation Virginian and a 10th generation Falls Churchan.

Marie was a very active Falls Church citizen and her love of country, its history and Falls Church permeated most of her life.  Mrs. Yochim was the 35th President of the Daughters of the American Revolution, serving in the national leadership position from 1989 -1992.  She joined the Falls Church Chapter of the D.A.R. in 1953 and became the Virginia State Regent.  After her active service she was named Honorary President General.  She was a George Washington Fellow and major contributor to the Center for Advancing America’s Heritage.  Her family ancestry in Falls Church goes back to the first settlement at Big Chimney (1699).  Her nephew Melvin Steadman’s book, Falls Church, By Fence and Fireside, is the prime source for much of the City’s history.  Given her extensive knowledge of the City’s history, Marie was interviewed at various historic sites in the City for the FCCTV series CITY WALKS.  The first episode with Marie and Dave Eckert will be aired on FCCTV at 2 pm Friday and Saturday this week and again on Sunday at noon.

The viewing and service will be held at the Columbia Baptist Church, 103 West Columbia Street, Falls Church, VA. (703-534-5700).  The viewing is scheduled for 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, April 27, 2012.  Services will be at the Columbia Baptist Church at 11 a.m. on Saturday April 28, 2012.  Following the service, burial will be at Oakwood Cemetery in Falls Church.

For 34 consecutive years, the City of Falls Church has been named a Tree City USA community by The National Arbor Day Foundation.  The City was the first community in Virginia to be recognized as a Tree City and has the longest state record for this annual national award.

And helping keep Falls Church green, the Village Preservation and Improvement Society deploys squads of volunteers every year to plant new trees around town.  The VPIS Neighborhood Tree Program has been “bringing cool shade to your neighborhood since 2000,” most recently on April 21.

More information is available online regarding from the City of Falls Church regarding the criteria for Tree City USA and from VPIS on the Neighborhood Tree Program.

VPIS plants another tree. From left, volunteers are Sam Beatty, Eva Williams, Adena Williams, Dave Chojnacky, Tim Stevens, Jerry Barrette, Jeremy Schneider. (Photo by Brian Williams)

Please contact Seth Heminway, Volunteer Chair Neighborhood TreeProgram at: heminway.seth@gmail.com (no “g” in the last name) with questions and to let him know if you plan to participate.  See: www.vpis.org/trees for more details.

Also, come celebrate the City’s 117th Arbor Day in Frady Park at 3 PM.

Ben Mason, formerly with the “John Wells Delegation”, has performed at the Birchmere, Blues Alley, Cellar Door, and the Kennedy Center and was a musical guest on the Today Show. He wrote two nationally aired film scores for NBC TV and was the grand prize winner in the 10th Annual Mid-Atlantic Songwriting Contest. Songs from his CD’s are featured in the film “Recludere” on MSNBC and in Disney films.  Jeff Severson is a finger style guitarist, has released 8 CDs and was formerly a member of the 80′s pop band “4 out of 5 Doctors” and appeared as a guest soloist with the band America.  Jeff Smith recently released a solo album entitled “The Human Wilderness”.  Jeff recently signed with Heavy Hitters Music Group in LA and had his song “You” placed in an episode of the Young and the Restless.   http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/215932

Frady Park is in the height of its spring glory.  If you volunteer on April 14th, you can view some of the beautiful blooms of the over 5,000 bulbs that have been planted in the last two years.  Volunteer for an hour or so in this beautiful park, we need helping hands any time between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

We will have gloves, tools and drinks and snacks for everyone. We will be pruning and planting flowers, raking, trimming, and assorted gardening efforts.  There will be supervision of kids at playground on site.  Of course, if you have your own rakes and gloves please bring them, so there is plenty for everyone.

Please let us know if you can come, contact Barb Cram at greenscap@aol.com.