Care Package 1

After the rain

a little driving remote cars in the puddles

Camp Prep

Getting ready for sleep away camp 

Fireworks Banned in the City of Alexandria

 News Highlights

• It is unlawful for any person to store, offer for sale, expose for sale, sell at retail, use or explode any fireworks (including sparklers) within the City limits.  
• Offenses are Class One misdemeanors in the City of Alexandria and are punishable by a $2,500 fine and/or up to 12 months in prison. 
• Fireworks violations may be reported to the Alexandria Fire Department at703.746.5227 or the Alexandria Police Department at 703.746.4444. 

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The Alexandria Fire Department reminds those who visit, live, and  work in the City of Alexandria that it is unlawful for any person to store, offer for sale, expose for sale, sell at retail, use or explode any fireworks (including sparklers) within the City limits.  The Fire Marshal will, at the owner's expense, seize and take all fireworks found in the City.  The above offenses are Class One misdemeanors in the City of Alexandria and are punishable by a $2,500 fine and/or up to 12 months in prison.  Fireworks violations may be reported to the Alexandria Fire Department at 703.746.5227 or the Alexandria Police Department at 703.746.4444.

Decades of tragic experience have proved that fireworks are too dangerous to be used at home by amateurs.  Improper handling of fireworks and sparklers all too often results in injuries.  Some interesting statistics:

• In 2011, U.S. hospital emergency rooms saw an estimated 9,600 people for fireworks-related injuries.  (Source: CPSC’s NEISS)
• More than half of the 2011 fireworks injuries were burns.  Other injuries involved contusions and lacerations. 
• Twenty-six percent (26%) of people injured by fireworks were under the age of 15.  
• Males accounted for 68% of the injuries.
• The risk of fireworks injury was highest for children ages 5-14 with more than twice the risk for the general population.
• Sparklers alone accounted for 11% of the emergency room fireworks injuries in 2011.

The safest way to enjoy fireworks is to attend one of the many public displays.  Alexandrians can enjoy the excitement and beauty of fireworks at City-sponsored events.  These programs are presented by professionals working in compliance with City codes and ordinances.  For information on these events, call the Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities special events line at703.746.5592 or 703.746.5418.

YMCA Garden Work Parties - Volunteers Needed

Volunteers are needed to help with some basic maintenance at the gardens at the YMCA this weekend. Just an hour of your time would be helpful. Here is the information:

YMCA Garden Work Parties

When: Saturday, June 29th, 3:00 to 5:00 pm
           Sunday, June 30th, 3:00 to 5:00 pm

Where to meet:  In the parking lot behind the YMCA building.  Look for the gray pickup truck parked adjacent to 414 Mason Ave.

What to bring: Garden tools if you have any favorites.  If not we have plenty of extras.  A good pair of gloves (there are spiny plants in some of the beds).

What will you be doing:  So much needs to be done, that there are many choices, such as pulling out the tall grasses in the beds across from Simpson Park and the children's playground; weeding and mulching the trees at the north end of the parking lot; digging up the weed trees that have rooted themselves in the remediation ditch at the end of the parking lot; edging the beds (which helps keep the mowers away from the bamboo hoops); and planting some trees and shrubs.  And those are just some ideas.  It's usually best to concentrate on one activity in a limited area to have a sense of satisfaction at the end.

We plan to bring soft drinks so please let us know if and when you are coming.  If you have any friends who might be interested please let them know about the work parties.

We look forward to working with you!!

Bob & Audrey Faden (703-549-1367; Audrey's cell: 703-967-9156)
 

City of Alexandria to Hold Annual USA and City Birthday Celebration on Saturday, July 13

City of Alexandria to Hold Annual USA and City Birthday Celebration on Saturday, July 13

For Immediate Release: June 27, 2013
The City of Alexandria will celebrate its 264th and the USA’s 237th birthday on Saturday, July 13, from 7 to 10 p.m. at Oronoco Bay Park, 100 Madison St., located at the Potomac River between Fairfax, Pendleton, and Madison Streets. Admission is free.

The celebration includes fun for the entire family, including musical entertainment, refreshments, and birthday cake. The featured performance of the evening is a concert by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra at 8:30 p.m., culminating with a Grand Fireworks Finale featuring Tchaikovsky's “1812 Overture” with cannon support by the United States Marine Corps Basic Training School beginning at 9:30 p.m. In the event of inclement weather, fireworks only will be rescheduled for Sunday, July 14 at 9:30 p.m.

Oronoco Bay Park has lawn seating, and participants are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and blankets. Refreshments will be available for purchase, but everyone is welcome to pack a picnic dinner. No grilling allowed.

Visitors to the historic district are encouraged bike, walk or take the Metrorail Yellow or Blue lines to the King Street Station and take the free King Street Trolley to the unit block of King St., which is just a short walk to Oronoco Bay Park. The King Street Trolley will operate until midnight for individuals wishing to return to the King Street Metro following the celebration. For DASH schedule information, call 703.746.DASH or visit www.dashbus.com. For Metrobus schedule information, call202.637.7000 or visit www.wmata.com.

Bicyclists may visit www.alexandriava.gov/LocalMotion for the City’s Bikeways Map, which features the City’s best on-street and off-road bikeways, as well as locations of grouped bicycle parking.
Parking is available at the Simpson Properties Garage, 700 North Fairfax Street and the Tishman Speyer, 44 Canal Center Plaza (at a special $5 fee).

For additional information, visit alexandriava.gov/Recreation or call the Special Events Hotline at703.746.5592.

Snappers

tons of fun -
throwing them at each other, putting under car tires, scaring mom....

City Council Receives Unsolicited Proposal for Sports and Entertainment Complex at Hensley Park

City Council Receives Unsolicited Proposal for Sports and Entertainment Complex at Hensley Park 

At its June 25, 2013 meeting, Alexandria City Council discussed an unsolicited proposal it received from The St. James Group to build a sports and entertainment complex on the current site of Hensley Park on Eisenhower Avenue. The "Questions and Answers" section on the City's website describes the general proposal, and an overview of the process the City will use to review it. Neither City Council nor City staff have reached any conclusion about the merits of the proposal, or have made any decisions other than the decision to evaluate it. "This is an interesting and unprecedented offer, and we need to learn more about this proposal, its feasibility and its implications before any decisions are made," said Mayor William D. Euille. "We are committed to transparency, and we want to hear and engage our community before anything else can happen." For more information, see http://alexandriava.gov/UnsolicitedProposal .

Maury School Yard Improvements

Dear Maury Community,

Last week, the Maury PTA approved $15,000 to start a long-term effort to
rehabilitate the degraded Maury schoolyard. Given the multitude of very
complex technical design, engineering and cost issues affecting the
redevelopment of the yard, consideration was given to pulling together the
Maury School and Rosemont communities for a professionally facilitated
charette. $10,000 of the approved funding was budgeted for this charette. A
charrette is a professionally facilitated dialogue that brings together
municipal officials, designers, architects, developers and residents to
reach a shared vision or goal for a specific community issue.

The purpose of this charette will be to use the technical and facilitation
expertise of a consultant to collect the ideas and creative inspiration of
the community, frame a long-term plan, create agreeable designs and cost
scenarios for the Maury school yard. At the initial Schoolyard Initiative
meeting, June 12, senior officials in the Alexandria City and Parks
Department addressed several of the technical drainage issues affecting
Maury School and Beach Park. The stormwater runoff from Beach Park seems to
have a particularly negative impact on the playground, the soccer and
baseball fields.

With the PTA funding, we are now in the position to select a consultant
with the appropriate technical and design expertise to help us lead a
charette and develop a new vision. This process is intended to be as
inclusive and transparent as possible and to draw as many creative ideas
from Maury and Rosemont communities.

I was asked to help coordinate the search and review of a potential
consultant for this charette. I would very much like to draw on the energy
and expertise of others in our community to help choose and select the
consultant. Anyone who wishes to contribute their time over the next few
weeks should contact me directly (preferably not to the general readership)
and I will arrange for us to meet and start work as soon as possible.

We believe that the consultant leading the design charette needs to possess
several core qualities. These include:

- Technical (civil engineering) and design experience with stormwater
management and runoff;
- Familiarity with Chesapeake Bay water quality management policies and
rules;
- Understanding of local governmental (i.e. City of Alexandria)
administration;
- Creative design experience with elementary school yards;
- Leadership in community outreach.

The steps involved in the selection and charette process appear to be:

Early July
Meet to develop an outline/final for a request for proposals
Meet to develop a short list of firms to bid on the RFP

Early August
Launch RFP

Early September
Award contract/Meet with consultant to plan charette

End of September/Early October
Charette

Please contact me via email at your earliest convenience to let me know if
you are interested in helping with this process.

Thanks!

Dale Medearis

Alexandria PBAC Seeks Volunteer Counters

The Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee is looking for
volunteers for documentation project counts Thursday July 11th (5-7pm) and
Saturday July 13th (12-2pm). Go to our webpage for additional
information: www.bicycle.alexandria.va.us/

Review our count locations attached below and reply back to us with your
preference. Early requests usually get their pick. If you can reply as
soon as possible it would be appreciated.

1)

___ I can count from 5pm-7pm on Thursday, July 11th.

___ I can count at any location in the City.

___ I would prefer to count at location letters ___, ___, or ___.

2)

___ I can count from 12pm-2pm on Saturday, July 13th.

___ I can count at any location in the City.

___ I would prefer to count at location letters ___, ___, or ___.

Appreciate it if you would spread the word to others who may be able to
help. We'll provide a instruction/training package and any additional
training that may be needed.

Thank you,

Jerry King (jjkingconsulting@gmail.com), and

Jim Durham (jimandcarey48@comcast.net

A - Mount Vernon Trail just south the intersection with the Marina road.
B1 - Mount Vernon Trail just south of the WWB at MV parkway
B2 - Mouth of WWB trail West side
C - Mt Vernon Ave South of 4 mile run
D - Intersection of Commonwealth and Mount Vernon Avenues.
E – Off-Street trail between Braddock and King Metrorail Stations
F - Eisenhower Avenue just west of the Spring Hill Suites
G - North Beauregard Street just south of the intersection with King St.
H1 - Holmes Run Trail, along Holmes Run Parkway near North Ripley St.
H2 - Holmes Run Trail at the intersection of N Pickett/Holmes Run Pkwy
I - Van Dorn St just N of Metrorail overpass and S of Eisenhower
J - Cameron Street just west of the intersection with Washington St.
K - Prince Street just west of the intersection with Washington St.
L – Slater's Lane just west of Portner Rd

Results from DWI Checkpoints last weekend

Alexandria Police Saturation DWI Enforcement Results

During a saturation Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) enforcement effort this weekend, Alexandria Police stopped 51 vehicles and made two arrests for DWI. In addition, 25 summonses and 26 warnings were issued for miscellaneous traffic offenses.

Four Alexandria police officers and one sergeant participated in the saturation enforcement effort.

For further details, please call the Police Public Information Office at 703.746.6600.

Rock Your Park 2013

“July is National Park & Recreation Month” – Summer 2013 Community Open Play at City of Alexandria Sport Fields

The City of Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities is celebrating National Park and Recreation Month by offering free Community Open Play Days and Nights throughout the summer at the Ben Brenman Park and Witter synthetic turf fields, and Four Mile Run ntural turf field . Beginning Saturday, June 29 through August 18, families, friends and neighbors of all ages are encouraged to visit our fields to exercise, play soccer, lacrosse, touch football, rugby, frisbee and much more. Staff monitored activities will be available as follows:

•  Ben Brenman Park Field, 4800 Brenman Park Dr.  
• Tuesday & Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m.  
•  Four Mile Run Soccer Field, 3700 Commonwealth Ave.  
• Tuesday & Thursday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
• Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m.  
•  Witter Fieds, 2700 Witter Dr.
  • Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
  • Sunday from Noon to 5 p.m.

 
 Guidelines to consider as you go to “Rock Your Park”:

• Show courtesy to all other field users.
• No permits or registration will be required and use will be on a first come, first served basis.
• No uniformed teams or structured games allowed.
• Participants must provide their own equipment /balls.
• Tennis shoes or turf shoes only.
• Pick-up game time limits enforced.
• No pets, smoking, alcohol, or music allowed at the fields.
• Youth must be accompanied by a parent or adult chaperone.
• HAVE FUN!!!!

We look forward to seeing you in our parks and at our fields. For additional information, call Mac Slover at 703.746.5402 or e-mail at mac.slover@alexandriava.gov.

The City of Alexandria is committed to compliance with the City’s Human Rights Code and the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation or to request materials in an alternative format, call Mac Slover with the Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities at 703.746.5407 (VA Relay 711) or e-mailmac.slover@alexandriava.gov.  

FACE Center Summer

Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Center TIME FOR SUMMER!   SUMMER LEARNING Studies show that children tested at the end of the summer have lower scores on the same tests given at the beginning of the summer. In fact, children can lose 2.5 months worth of progress made in math during the school year over the summer months. They can also fall back in their reading and writing. That's why we need to make summer plans for children that are educational as well as recreational. ACPS SUMMER SCHOOL - Summer Learning for K - 8 for ELL students only  Summer learning registration forms have been sent home from school. No fee. (July 8 - August 2, 2013)  K-Prep: Kindergarten Preparatory At each elementary school except Mt.Vernon and Tucker. (August 12 - 16, 2013 from 9:00AM - 1:00PM)  ALEXANDRIA LIBRARY SUMMERQUEST - SummerQuest participants track the books they read and receive a special prize after reading ten books. Prizes may be picked up between July 15 and August 31. The Library has also invited a group of special guests to entertain with music, magic and much more!  The program is free for children from 6 - 12 and also for children 0 - 5. Sign up at your local library: Burke Branch Library 4701 Seminary Rd., Alex, VA 22304 703-746-1704 Beatley Central Library 5005 Duke St., Alex, VA 22304 703-746-1702 Barrett Branch Library 717 Queen St., Alex, VA 22314 703-746-1703 Duncan Brance Library 2501 Commonwealth Ave., 22301 703-746-1705 CITY OF ALEXANDRIA   SUMMER RECREATION PROGRAMS          Neighborhood Centers "Power On" Program:  Monday - Friday June 24 - Aug 16, 2013  9:00 AM - 5:00PM (pick up by 6:00 PM): $50                 7:00AM - 9:00AM before care: $40/week  The "Power On" program is for children ages 6- 12 (must have completed kindergarten). Register at your neighborhood center.   Charles Barrett - 1115 Martha Custis Dr., 703-746-5551 Cora Kelly - 25 W. Reed Ave, 703-746-5554  Mt. Vernon - 2701 Commonwealth Ave.,703-746-5556  Patrick Henry - 4643 Taney Ave, 703-746-5557   William Ramsay - 5650 Sanger Ave.,703-746-5558   Playgrounds in the Park Program:  Monday - Friday June 24 - Aug 16, 2013 9:00 AM - 5:00PM: $50 Register at Lee Center, Recreation Services Office, 1108 Jefferson St. For more information call 703-746-5575 John Adams - 5651 Rayburn Ave. MacArthur - 1101 Janneys Lane. James K. Polk - 5000 Polk Ave. Ben Brenman Park - 5000 Duke St. (June 24 - Aug 9, Monday - Friday, 9AM-4:30PM) Summer "Power-Up" Program at GW Middle School: Monday - Friday June 24 - Aug 9, 2013 9:00 AM - 5:00PM (pick up by 6:00 PM): $50                  The "Power Up" program at G.W. Middle School is for children ages 11 - 14 (grades 5-9). Register at G.W. Middle School on or after June 24 if space is available.Call 703-746-5575 for more information.                  Neighborhood Center Teen Program:   Monday - Friday   6:00PM - 9:00 PM  Contact your neighborhood center or call 703-746-5575 for more information.  Ask about a variety of teen programs available from July 1 - Aug 9, 2013 including coed sports, teen club, chat & chew club, master chef cooking program, as well as special events:   ·         Splash Pool Party                                                   August 3, 20136:30PM-9:00PM at Old Town Pool - $1   ·         City-Wide Teen Extreme Scavenger Hunt                    August 3, 2013 10:00AM - 4:00PM - $10   ·         Teen Extravaganza                                                August 9, 2013 11:00AM - 4:00PM - $5 Late Night Teen Recreation:   Every Friday and Saturday until 11:00 PM ·         Cora Kelly Center 25 W. Reed Ave., 703-746-5554 ·         Chares Houston 901 Wyth St., 703-746-5552 ·         William Ramsay Ctr 5650 Sanger Ave.,  703-746-5558    FREE Family Learning Experiences There are many fun-filled, FREE attractions for families in our region that support children's learning and offer opportunities for families to spend quality time together! Click on the links below to get location and other information:   Torpedo Factory Art Center Kennedy Center  National Mall & Memorial Parks Smithsonian Museums National Zoo National Arboretum  National Aquarium The Newseum Alexandria Black History Museum   Educational Websites Online learning can be fun and challenging. Check out some of the sites below with your child: www.abcya.com www.iknowthat.com www.spellingconnectionsonline.com www.magickeys.com/books/ www.funbrain.com www.aplusmath.com www.gamequarium.com www.classzone.com www.mathfactcafe.com Make certain your child is safe when online. He/she can learn internet safety through fun games: www.netsmartzkids.org CITY SPORTS Sports programs offered by the city have been registering since March but may still have openings.   Call NOW to register: 703-746-5402. Titans Track & Field Club: ages 7 - 14 $30.00 Tennis Program:   ages 8 - 16 $40.00   Summer Basketball League:ages 12 - 17 $30.00 Summer Baseball League: ages 6 - 8 $30.00 SWIMMING POOLS Old Town Pool 1609 Cameron Street 703-518-8950       Warwick Pool 3301 Landover Street 703-836-1241 Hours: Monday - Friday 6:00AM - 8:00PM Saturday - Sunday 12:00PM -7:00PM  Cost: $1.00   FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR PROGRAMS OFFERED BY THE CITY OF ALEXANDRIA Forms for financial assistance are available at the Lee Center (1108 Jefferson St. 22314) 703-746-5575 Submit form with proof of financial need-school lunch letter, TANF or Food Stamp ID-along with application for camp program, at least 2 weeks prior to start of program.  What is FACE?  The Family and Community Engagement (FACE) Center of ACPS is our way of involving all Alexandria in the educational experience of our youth. Through free information, resources, workshops and fun activities for students and adults, the FACE Center connects you and your family to the academic achievement of students. Why is this important? Family engagement is critical to success of every ACPS student. Your parenting at home, our joint communication, community volunteers in the schools and collaboration with the City's leaders and agencies all set the stage for academic success. With your involvement, we can be sure your children will come to school prepared to learn each day, behave appropriately and participate, earn good grades and test scores, aspire to take advanced-level classes, graduate from high school and go on to a successful adult life. So, come on, get engaged now! Sign up for a free activity today. Contact Information Shanna Samson The FACE Center Hub T.C. Williams High School 3330 King Street Alexandria, Va. 22302 Phone: 703-824-6865