Dear West Springfield Neighbor / Friend,
Clear the Sidewalks – Please do trim back your hedges, bushes and trees from the sidewalk or that overhang the sidewalk in front of your home. Anything that overhangs the sidewalk and/or that impedes pedestrian use of the sidewalk should be trimmed back. And, edge your sidewalk (me included) so our children, people who walk for exercise and our mailman don’t have to walk in the street or front yards to avoid sidewalk obstacles.
Piebald Deer in the Village – it’s actually a white tail deer that was spotted in Pohick Stream Park adjacent to the village. The photos below were taken by Michelle Hamilton (Barnack Drive). The piebald coloring is due to a genetic abnormality that leads to a lack of pigmentation in patches around the body. Piebaldism is a recessive trait; therefore, both parents must carry the recessive gene for there to be a chance that they will produce a piebald fawn. This condition is extremely rare, affecting less than two percent of the white-tailed deer population. They are completely different from albino deer who have clear eyes and pink noses. The piebald has brown eyes, nose and hooves.
And the piebald deer have similar color pigmentation issues as do more-familiar paint horses. I recall that Dale Evans (Roy Roger’s better half), Little Joe Cartwright (Bonanza) and Tonto rode Paint horses. I rode a lot of horses in my youth, but never Ol’ Paint.
We are indeed lucky to share the village and surrounding areas with wildlife.
2020 Fairfax County Teen Job Fairs – Hosted by our Springfield District Pat Herrity, the Connection Newspapers along with a variety of Supervisor's offices, businesses, and community organizations. Look to previous enews that can be found on our website (https://www.westspringfieldvillage.org/) for more information, but here’s the schedule:
- Saturday, 7 March, 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, Woodson High School
- Saturday, 7 March, 2:00 to 4:00 PM, South County High School
- Saturday, 14 March, 2:00 to 4:00 PM, Chantilly High School
- Saturday, 21 March, 10:00 to 12:00 Noon, Mount Vernon High School
- Saturday, 28 March, 10:00 AM to 12:00 Noon, West Springfield High School
The Capital Steps – The All Night Graduation Party Committee of West Springfield High School Class of 2020 is sponsoring The Capital Steps 20 February at 7:00 PM. The Capital Steps has been featured on NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS. They can be heard twice a year on NPR Stations Nationwide during their Politics Takes a Holiday Radio Special! All proceeds benefit the Senior Class of 2020 All Night Graduation Safe and Sober Celebration. Tickets: CapStepsWSHS.bpt.me or call 800/838-3006. Thank you in advance!
House Cleaning / Amada Recinos – has an opening on Wednesday mornings for home cleaning. She has cleaned my home and several other village homes for over 15 years and proven herself trustworthy, thorough and very efficient. She and her team will clean your home before or after special events/parties, weekly, twice per month or monthly. She is a naturalized citizen, very honest and loyal. Without reservation, I highly recommend Amada Recinos. She can be reached at 703/987-5343 or you can visit her at my home next Monday morning (02/17/2020) when she next works here.
Republic Trash – Have been trying to pin Republic down as to the amount of price decrease we’ll have once they go to once per week collection of household trash starting week of 2 March. Starting that week, they will collect household trash on Thursdays, recycle on Mondays and yard debris on Wednesdays. Their representative said they’d reduce our bill by $2.00 per month, but she had to confirm with Republic’s decision makers. They also wanted $4.00 per month for those needing to rent a second large, trash toter. I asked that the extra toter be free with no delivery charge. She thought she could sell the first year being free and then pick up the $4.00 per month usage fee, but yet no confirmation on that either. More to follow.
Rather than paying extra for a second toter, coordinate to cooperate with your neighbors to use their not-so-full toter for your extra trash and afford them the same courtesy if/when you can accommodate their extra trash.
Yard Sale – Saturday, February 22, 2020 8:00 AM to 1:00 PM at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 6509 Sydenstricker Road, Burke, VA 22015. Come shop for great deals and lots of treasures!
Stuff the Bus - Help Stock Food Pantry Shelves - after the New Year "giving fatigue" has set in and most pantries' supplies run low. To help, Fairfax County runs the "Stuff the Bus" program, a food pantry giving campaign that partners with nonprofits, grocery stores and MV Transportation to restock depleted shelves. Stuff the Bus runs from Martin Luther King weekend through Presidents' Day at fourteen local Giant and Shoppers Food and Pharmacy stores where volunteers from local nonprofit food pantries collect donated food from local shoppers. The food is then placed in an MV Transportation FASTRAN bus, and when it's full, the bus delivers the food to the food pantry.
Please join Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity at the West Springfield Giant on Saturday, 15 February. The bus will be there from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM. 100% of donations go directly to the nonprofit to feed Fairfax families. Please stop by to donate or donate online. For a full list of dates, times, and locations, click here.
Stop By to Say Hello – my sister-in-law, Susan Cooley will visit for a couple days starting tomorrow evening. In her college days, Susan had been the Enforcer under the bucket for the Gorilla basketball team. She and my brother are Whidbey Island, Washington residents. My brother Steve and Susan often remark about how friendly village residents are to each other (when we aren’t talking politics, religion, the middle-east, gun control or immigration – Ha!). Stop by to feed the myth.
CPR Training – No qualification certificate, but free hands-on training at Fire Station 214 (Burke Bingo Hall), 9501 Old Burke Lake Road Burke, Virginia 22015 from 1 – 4:00 PM, Saturday, 22 February. Questions can be directed to Battalion Chief George Robbins, Community Risk Reduction at 703/246-3801 or george.robbins@fairfaxcounty.gov.
Take care; stay dry.
John Cooley, CAWSV