Mount Vernon has its newest royalty couple. Beryl Harman of Ferry Landing Road in Alexandria and Charles Creighton of Oak Grove St., Lorton, were named recently and announced by Supervisor Gerald Hyland.
As the Mount Vernon District appointee to the Fairfax County Commission for Women for more than seven years, Beryl Harman took advantage of the opportunity to foster awareness and commitment to solving issues within County Government highlighted by the Glass Ceiling Task Force.
She worked diligently to provide equitable county compensation for all female employees and provided direct contributions to the compensatory leave compensation policies.
In the education field, Beryl attended the Education Round Table on Math and Science and actively encouraged young women to pursue math or science curriculums and to attend computer and technology workshops offered by local groups/universities in the Fairfax County area. She took a direct interest in equitable sports facilities for Women's Soft Ball and personally engaged with the Park Authority in the Mount Vernon District to make this a reality.
"Beryl has worked for years to remove the glass ceiling for women. She has helped to equalize opportunities for women in sports and business. She is just an outstanding person in every respect," said Gerry Hyland. "These are two very special people."
"I was flattered and very honored to receive this recognition. I had resigned from the Commission last year and when Rose [from Supervisor Hyland's office] called to tell me I had been named for Lady fairfax I had no idea what she meant," said Harman.
AS A MEMBER OF the Human Relations Advisory Subcommittee to Fairfax County Schools, Beryl directly contributed to the revamping of Diversity Training within Fairfax County Schools and worked with educators and other County Representatives on the issue of student absence due to observance of religious and cultural events for a diverse population.
Serving on the Employer/Child Care Council for Fairfax County, Harman was instrumental in promoting and generating the first yearly Council Report to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and was involved in promoting the expansion of newly certified Child Care Providers within Fairfax County.
This initiative married with her work on the Commission for Women to expand the business base for Women Owned Business within Fairfax County.
As the representative of Mount Vernon District on a County Commission, she planned, promoted and provided a workshop on County Board and Commission membership, with support from the Commission for Women, the Office for Women and Mount Vernon County Supervisor Staff.
Harman's Doctorate in Public Administration has an emphasis on Advanced Planning and the implementation of Federal Management Systems. She has carried this forward from her main career into the private sector as Adjunct Faculty for National Louis University in their Management curriculums at the Bachelor and Master Degree levels. Recent energies have been focused in research on leadership competencies in education for Senior Executives within the Federal Government and on writing a chapter on Collaborative Learning for a new book on Applied Learning Techniques. She is currently employed as the Director of Research at the Defense Acquisition University assigned to the Center for Research and Performance Support.
CHARLIE CREIGHTON has lived in Fairfax County since 1973 and on Mason Neck since 1974. Upon his retirement, Charlie worked as a volunteer for various periods of time with a number of organizations, Fairfax County Voluntary Action Center, teenager shelter, several environmental groups, including Fairfax Audubon Society and Friends of Mason Neck.
"Charlie is a premier volunteer. It was his inspiration to trade Meadow Wood Farm land for land in Lorton. Because of that, come July, we will have transferred to us 2,300 acres. It was a remarkable concept. He has been very involved in environmental issues," Hyland said.
"I was very honored to be chosen. My idea was to protect the environmental quality at Mason Neck. Under this program both the government and the developer win," said Creighton.
Creighton became involved in volunteer activities on Mason Neck in the mid-80's, first working with Mason Neck State Park, and a couple of years later with the Wildlife Refuge. He coordinated volunteer work crews to help maintain trails, monitor wood duck nesting boxes, plant native plant garden and clean up dump sites. In 1994, Creighton served as a member of the Woodbridge Re-Use Committee for Army's Harry Diamond Research Facility in Woodbridge and worked to have the facility transferred to the Department of the Interior for protection as a Wildlife Refuge (Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge). He participated in bird census observations at OBNWR, DCDC Prison for use in natural resource data analysis.
Presently, Creighton is involved as a volunteer for the Bureau of Land Management working with others to obtain Natural Resource data at Meadowood Farm for use in determining acceptable uses and levels of activity at the farm and for long range environmental protection and habitat enhancement.
He also serves as Supervisor Hyland's appointee to the Fairfax County Wetlands Board.
In his "free" time, Creighton is in the process of renovating an old house in Northern Maine, where he and his wife, Mary, spend the summers.