City of Alexandria Observes Days of Remembrance for Victims of Holocaust

City of Alexandria Observes

Days of Remembrance for Victims of Holocaust

Ceremony Speaker is Susan Johnson, PhD, 

Head of School for Commonwealth Academy

The City of Alexandria will observe the Days of Remembrance, Yom HaShoah, for the victims of the Holocaust at noon on Thursday, May 1, 2014, in Market Square, 301 King Street. This year’s theme is “Memory, Arts, and the Future”.  The Alexandria City Council hosts the annual ceremony as part of the weeklong commemoration of the national Days of Remembrance, Sunday, April 27, through Sunday, May 4. This is the 27^th consecutive year that the City has held the Days of Remembrance ceremony. The event is free and open to the public. In case of inclement weather, the ceremony will be held in the Vola Lawson Lobby on the first floor of City Hall,

301 King St.

(

Cameron St.

 side of the building). 

The centerpiece of this year’s ceremony will be the commemorative quilt created by 35 students of Commonwealth Academy, under the direction of their art teacher, Ksenya Litvak.  Dr. Susan Johnson, Head of School, will introduce attendees to the quilt, which will be on display.  Local clergy and students will participate.

During the ceremony, Alexandria Mayor William D. Euille and City Council members will light a candelabrum that the late Holocaust survivor Charlene Schiff and her husband, Ed, donated to the City. The 54-inch high solid brass candelabrum was given to the City in memory of Charlene Schiff’s parents, sister, and the six million Jews and millions of others who perished in the Holocaust.

The Schiff candelabrum, under the care of the City’s Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities, is made available to schools and civic groups studying the Holocaust and to the City’s annual observance of the Days of Remembrance.

The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, in accordance with its Congressional mandate (Public Law 96-388, 10/7/80), is leading the nation in the weeklong Days of Remembrance commemoration.

Drug take-back Day this Saturday

Alexandria Law Enforcement Partners with the Drug Enforcement Administration for Nationwide Prescription Drug Take-Back Day
The Alexandria Police Department and the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office have partnered with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in its National Prescription Drug Take-Back initiative that seeks to prevent increased pill abuse and theft.

On Saturday, April 26, from 10 A.M. to 2 P.M., the two Alexandria law enforcement agencies, with cooperation from the Substance Abuse Coalition of Alexandria, will be collecting potentially dangerous, expired, unused and unwanted prescription drugs and other medications for destruction at three drop location sites in the City.

 The sites include Police Headquarters, located at 3600 Wheeler Avenue;
 the parking lot of the Del Ray Pharmacy, located at 2204 Mount Vernon Avenue; 
and First Baptist Church, located at 2932 King Street. 

The service is free and anonymous, no questions asked.

This initiative addresses a vital public safety and public health issue. Many Americans are not aware that medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse. Rates of prescription drug abuse in the United States are increasing at alarming rates, as are the number of accidental poisonings and overdoses due to these drugs. Studies show that a majority of abused prescription drugs are obtained from family and friends, including from the home medicine cabinet.  In addition, many Americans do not know how to properly dispose of their unused medicine, often flushing them down the toilet or throwing them away – both potential safety and health hazards.
These drugs are a potential source of supply for illegal use and an unacceptable risk to public health and safety.  This one-day effort is intended to bring national focus to the issue of increasing pharmaceutical controlled substance abuse. 
Collection sites in every local community can be found by going towww.dea.gov. 
For more information on the environmental effects of the improper disposal of prescription drugs visit http://alexandriava.gov/Environment.

Archaeological Commission Now Accepting Nominations for Brenman Award

Archaeology Award Honors Legacy of Late Alexandria Preservationist

The Alexandria Archaeological Commission (AAC) is now accepting nominations for the Bernard “Ben” Brenman Archaeology in Alexandria Award. The AAC established this award to celebrate the contributions of the late Ben Brenman, who devoted himself to finding, preserving and sharing Alexandria’s rich and diverse heritage. Brenman was a founding member of the AAC, a City of Alexandria commission, which was the first of its kind established in the U.S., and served as its chair for 21 years.

The Brenman Award, established in 2007, is open to businesses, organizations, families, professional preservationists, volunteers, students and other individuals who have demonstrated work or efforts in archaeological investigation, research, site protection, education, public interpretation, open space design, collections, or conservation. Nomination forms are available online or by calling the Alexandria Archaeology Museum at703.746.4399. The deadline for nominations is Friday, June 13.

Previous winners of the Brenman Award include:  The Lee-Fendall House Museum and Garden; professional archaeologists, Boyd Sipe, Martha Williams, and Michael Johnson; Alexandria residents, Ellen Pickering (posthumously), E. Sanders Partee, Joe Reeder, and Elizabeth Henry Douglas; Geneaologist, Char Bah; developer, Eakin/Youngentob Associates; cultural resource management firms, John Milner Associates and Louis Berger; grassroots organizations, The Fort Ward History Group and Friends of Freedmen’s Cemetery; former Alexandria Archaeological Commission members, Vivienne Mitchell and Chan Mohney; historians, Laura Treishmann, T. Michael Miller, Wesley Pippenger, and William F. Smith; educator, Judy McConville; youth activist, Sarah Borgatti; generous donator, Champlain Stone; urban design group, LandDesign; and preservation advocacy group, Historic Alexandria Foundation.

Appointed by City Council, the 14-member AAC develops goals and priorities for Alexandria’s archaeological heritage. The commission works closely with citizens, government agencies, developers and teachers to promote archaeology in the City.