June 1, 2023
Hello everyone. A quick repeat of a request to please change the subject line if replying to this newsletter to contact me about something other than thanking me for the newsletter. I get several of them and do not want your email to get lost in the mix. Also, please ask any neighbors to check their spam filter if they have not received a newsletter recently. I fixed all of the glitches in the list I use. Switching to this email address from the Gmail I used before might have flagged it.
One of the Community Yard Sale participants suggested we do a second one in the Fall. It sounded like a good idea, so I am throwing it out. If you would like to participate in a Community Yard Sale in September, let me know and I will see if there is enough interest.
1. Neighborhood Safety/Concerns
2. ECHO Events in June
3. Girl Scout Enrollment
4. Directory
5. Call for a PTA Official for RVES to help us out in October
6. Free VRE rides on Fridays through September 1
7. Free Concerts and Kids’ Night at Burke Lake Park on Wednesday nights
8. Calendar
1 – With the nice weather, plants are growing. If you have any trees/shrubs/bushes near the sidewalk, please trim them back so they do not interfere with people using them. This would include branches lower than six feet hanging over the sidewalk. I remember reading about an incident where a neighbor took it upon themselves to trim some plants since they encroached the sidewalk, so I want to get the word out now to avoid repeat reports. If you do not care if people trim your plants and want some free landscaping, please let me know and I will add it to the next newsletter. I will warn you that you will get what you pay for and will have no say on how things are trimmed if you are not there while it happens.
Another reminder that walking on the street is not legal. If you continue to do so, please walk on the grass strip when passing parked vehicles instead of walking into the street – or make absolutely sure there are no vehicles around. I saw a near miss last week with a car ahead of me on Barnack where it had a curve, went uphill approaching a hilltop, and had vehicles parked on both sides of the street and a walker went into the street without looking. I thought I was going to witness a horrible accident when the car quickly veered out of the way.
2 – ECHO’s Clothing Room needs new or gently used girls’ clothing, including pajamas, sizes 3 - 18; boys’ spring and summer clothing, including pajamas, sizes 6-18; boys' and girls’ sneakers, sizes 1 - 5; men’s sneakers, sizes 7 and 8; men’s jeans, sizes 30/30 and 32/30; men’s summer shirts, in all sizes; and men’s underwear (new only, please). ECHO’s Food Pantry usually has an abundance of breakfast cereal and soup, but there are so many food requests now that even those staples are currently in short supply. In addition, we welcome all kinds of donations, especially cooking oil, bags of rice or beans, sugar, honey, spaghetti, toothpaste, dish detergent, and deodorant.
Volunteers are needed to work with Housewares on Thursday evenings or with Clothing on Monday mornings. Volunteer counselors or assistant counselors are needed on Tuesday or Thursday evenings. Email Volunteercoordinator@echo-inc.org for more information.
Teen and adult volunteers will be needed for packing school supplies into more than 1200 backpacks for ECHO's Back to School Program. Beginning in mid-June, volunteers can sign up for one or more Tuesday or Thursday afternoons in July and August. Youth volunteers must be at least 13 years old. Register on a Sign-Up Genius page that can be accessed from echo-inc.org. Click “Volunteer” and choose "Summer Backpack Program".
3 – Girl Scout Early Bird Enrollment and Troops Forming for 2023-2024 year - Girls in grades K thru 12 for the 2023-2024 school year can start their Girl Scout journey now, and adult volunteers are needed to establish new Troops. If your family is interested in finding out about Girl Scouts please contact Jessica Gregris, girlscoutldr@yahoo.com.
4 – Thanks to those who have volunteered to help distribute Directories. Someone mentioned that volunteer/service hours were given to those who helped out and needed them. I did not see a reason to stop doing this. If you or your child needs volunteer or service hours and want to help, please let me know.
5 – Someone at the May Meeting said that it was possible for our Yearly Meeting in October to be held at Rolling Valley Elementary School without having to purchase Insurance if we could be added to the calendar for the PTA. If anyone is on the PTA that can facilitate this, or knows someone on the PTA, please let me know.
6 – Virginia Railway Express (VRE) has started a program for free rides every Friday through September 1. It is an easy way to go see the sites in DC and not worry about parking. There should be ample parking at the VRE Rolling Road station which is on Burke Road. Please note that there is a Quiet Car where you cannot talk and must use headphones. You can get more information at www.vre.org.
7 – Starting June 28th through August 23rd at 7:00pm, there will be free concerts at Burke Lake Park. Along with the band, there will be food trucks, local beer, and an ice cream stand. The atmosphere is informal, so bring a picnic dinner, blankets and lawn chairs, and relax with friends and family. On July 12 and 19, 5-7:00pm, they will also have a Kids’ Night with Celebrate Fairfax. Here is the lineup:
June
28 Randy Thompson Band
July
5 The Nighthawks
12 SoHo Down *
19 Speidel, Goodrich, Goggin & Lille *
26 The Skip Castro Band
August
2 The English Channel
9 The Road Ducks
16 The Colin Thompson Band
23 Riptide
*- Also Kids Night from 5 to 7 PM
8 – Calendar
June 6 – WSHS Graduation
June 16 – WSHS last day of school (early release at 9:55am)
June 19 – Juneteenth Holiday – Fairfax County Government is closed.