Words, music, images and more from Jim Barnes
City Tavern, which closed June 29 after more than two decades in Old Town Manassas, has reopened in a location less than a mile away, outside the city’s historic downtown.
The restaurant reopened July 22 in a renovated building at 9550 Center St. that formerly housed KC’s Restaurant. A co-owner of City Tavern’s former building, adjacent to the Olde Towne Inn, said he expects another restaurant to open there after major repairs are completed.
Washington Post, August 30, 2015
Riverside High School in Leesburg will open Aug. 31 as the 15th high school in Loudoun County. The school is in the Lansdowne development, near Belmont Ridge Middle School and the National Conference Center.
Riverside, which has a capacity of 1,600, will open with 820 freshmen, sophomores and juniors.
Doug Anderson, 48, is Riverside’s principal. A graduate of Radford University, Anderson has been an educator for 21 years. Most recently, he was principal of Broad Run High School for four years. He began his career as a social studies teacher in Fairfax County, where he taught for 11 years before coming to Loudoun in 2004 as an assistant principal at Broad Run.
Washington Post, August 23, 2015
When Prince William County schools start the new year Aug. 31, Chris Yung Elementary School in Bristow will open to students for the first time, with an emphasis on STEAM: science, technology, engineering, art and math.
The school is named in honor of Chris Yung, a Marine Corps veteran and Prince William police officer who was killed in a motorcycle accident in Bristow in 2012 while responding to a call.
Washington Post, August 23, 2015
The diversity and beauty of nature are on display in an exhibition that will run through Oct. 4 at the Workhouse Arts Center in Lorton.
“Nature’s Best Photography at the Workhouse” features 28 images that were taken around the world by professional and amateur photographers. The photos, ranging from panoramic landscapes to extreme close-ups, were judged to be some of the best entries in the annual Windland Smith Rice International Awards competition, held by Nature’s Best Photography magazine.
Washington Post, August 20, 2015
About 50 high school students in Loudoun County’s Camp REAL program for at-risk youths hosted an anti-bullying festival Aug. 6 at Sugarland Elementary School.
The students organized games, music and activities for younger children, including tie-dyeing T-shirts, face painting and supervising as they petted a miniature horse. Many participants, including members of the Camp REAL program for elementary school students, signed a pledge to help stop bullying.
Washington Post, August 16, 2015
A group of Prince William writers, joined by Manassas City Council member Ian T. Lovejoy (R), formally launched the city’s first Little Free Library in a ribbon-cutting ceremony Aug. 8.
Members of Write by the Rails, the Prince William County chapter of the Virginia Writers Club, constructed the tiny library. It will be mounted in front of the New School, which is slated to open this fall in the old post office building on Church Street in Old Town Manassas.
Washington Post, August 16, 2015
Several teachers from Herndon Elementary School are volunteering their time this summer to get kids reading.
Every Wednesday, the group brings a self-styled bookmobile to two apartment complexes in Herndon, where the teachers lay out boxes of donated books on the lawn. Children are encouraged to look through, choose books that appeal to them and take them home to read. Best of all: The books are theirs to keep.
Washington Post, August 5, 2015
Two decades ago, Susan Ungerer was volunteering at a Fairfax County nonprofit group that helps financially strapped families when she noticed a pattern: Parents tended to fall behind with their finances in August and September, just when they had to buy school supplies for their children.
That realization, combined with 23 years of experience as an elementary school teacher, motivated Ungerer to start Kids R First, a nonprofit group that provides basic school supplies to families in need. The organization has been growing ever since. This year, Ungerer anticipates that Kids R First will help 25,000 students in 96 schools across Fairfax and Loudoun counties.
Washington Post, July 29, 2015
Eight months after the theft of a roadside historical marker commemorating the Battle of Ball’s Bluff in Leesburg, a new marker has been erected in its place.
More than 100 people gathered July 18 for the unveiling and dedication of the replacement marker. Positioned on the Route 15 Bypass, just north of Battlefield Parkway, it gives a brief description of the Oct. 21, 1861, Civil War battle that was waged along the Potomac River, less than a mile away.
Washington Post, July 24, 2015
Children will be able to learn more about where their food comes from — and how eating locally grown food contributes to a healthy lifestyle — through a program that is coming to the Mosaic Central Farm Market in Merrifield on Sunday.
The Junior League of Northern Virginia’s Market Explorers program is part of a larger effort to combat childhood obesity.
Washington Post, July 15, 2015