Leesburg – Page 4 – Notes n Letters

Preserving historic documents

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA — From left: Judy Hall, R. J. Hall, John Burcham and Diane Burcham, all of Leesburg, look at a restored book of records that had been laminated.

During downtown Leesburg’s First Friday event this month, scores of people got a glimpse of a war being quietly waged every day in the Loudoun County Circuit Court archives: the battle against the ravages of time, including mold, bookworms, rust and acid-laden cellophane tape.

About 160 people stepped through the doors of Leesburg’s 122-year-old courthouse — away from the sounds of al fresco diners and street musicians — to learn how the county’s historic records are being preserved and restored.

Music aids recovery of stroke survivors

After Ron Sipes had a pair of strokes in October 2012, doctors predicted he would never walk or talk again.

But Sipes has defied the odds. On May 18, in a voice clear and strong, he sang out the opening lines of a song made popular by Louis Armstrong…

Heavy hauls have ended

The heavy hauls along Route 15 have ended.

While most of us were sleeping, hundreds of tons of heavy machinery have been rumbling slowly through Prince William and Loudoun counties and across the southern edge of Leesburg. The hauls — 36 in all over the past five months — have been delivering bulky components for the Panda Stonewall power plant that is being constructed off Sycolin Road at Goose Creek.

More…

Washington Post, March 27, 2016

Photos below taken at Gilberts Corner,
courtesy of Brad Brown

Bluegrass beat goes on

They arrive early, sometimes as much as an hour before the first note is played.

Residents of Morningside House, a Leesburg assisted-living facility, come to the dining room and position their wheelchairs or claim seats in rows of chairs — just as they have nearly every Tuesday evening for 19 years. The folding doors at the front of the room are opened to reveal the activity room, which has been transformed into a stage. One by one, the musicians take their places.

Promptly at 7 p.m., guitarist Bob Brown opens the show with a joke and then introduces the first song, and the musicians launch into an up-tempo rendition of a classic Lefty Frizzell song. The longest-running weekly jam session in Loudoun County is underway.

Students guiding students

A dozen students had crowded into a small conference room at Loudoun County High School in Leesburg last month to learn about Advanced Placement classes.

Unlike similar sessions — typically led by teachers or counselors — the seminar was conducted by four student leaders who, collectively, had taken nearly every AP test the school offers. They stood at the front of the darkened room, delivering a slide presentation and sharing their experiences with the underclassmen.

Full story…

Washington Post, March 6, 2016

Loudoun aiming for more nightlife

Loudoun County has recently been ranked among the wealthiest, happiest and best places to live in the country. But there is one list it is unlikely to make: places with the best nightlife. And that makes local business leaders unhappy.

The perception that there is little to do in Loudoun when the workday ends is making it hard for businesses to attract and keep qualified young workers, said Tony Howard, chief executive of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce.

Full story…

Washington Post, January 31, 2016

Vigil for diversity

More than 200 people gathered in front of the old courthouse in downtown Leesburg Thursday, Dec. 17, in a silent vigil for a diverse and united community. Participants represented a diverse blend of faith traditions, including Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Sikh, Bahá’í, Unitarian, Hindu and Buddhist groups.

The participants convened at Leesburg Presbyterian Church before walking three blocks to the intersection of Kind and Market streets, where they stood silently during the vigil.

Leesburg Halloween art contest

For the next week, the store windows of downtown Leesburg will be filled with ghosts, witches, bats and an assortment of other scary creatures, courtesy of local teens engaged in a friendly competition.

Teams of art students from three Leesburg high schools — Heritage, Loudoun County and Tuscarora — are competing in a Halloween art contest sponsored by the Leesburg Downtown Business Association.

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Washington Post, October 25, 2015

40 hikes at age 40

When Stephanie Manning decided to mark her 40th birthday by completing 40 hikes in one year, she was celebrating more than her age.

A few days earlier, Manning had begun to emerge from a deep, six-month postpartum depression. Embarking on a year of hikes, she said, helped her to overcome that and to reconnect with family members and friends in ways she had never expected.

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Washington Post, September 27, 2015

Ball’s Bluff marker replaced

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.

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Washington Post, July 24, 2015