Johnson / Hammaker Engaged
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Johnson of York, Pa., are pleased to announce the engagement and upcoming marriage of their daughter, Sarah Elizabeth, to Benjamin David Hammaker, son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hammaker of Burke.
The bride-to-be graduated from Radford University in 2000 with a bachelor of science degree in nutrition. She is employed at Shady Grove Hospital in Rockville, Md.
The groom graduated from Radford University in 1999 with a bachelor of science degree in recreation and leisure services. He is employed at the Jefferson School in Jefferson, Md. A June 29 wedding is planned at St. Joseph Church in York, Pa. The couple plans to reside in Frederick, Md.
Scout Creates Audio Library for Eagle Project
Zachary Sean Lyon, a member of Boy Scout Troop 187 of Fairfax City, received his Eagle Scout Award from scoutmaster Andy Grafton on June 24 at Fairfax United Methodist Church. Zak is the first member of Troop 187 to achieve the rank of Eagle since the troop celebrated its 50th anniversary in February of this year. The Eagle Scout Award, the highest award in Boy Scouting, is attained by only 2 percent of all Scouts who enter the program.
For his Eagle project, Lyon, with materials donated from local businesses including K-Mart, Wal-Mart and Best Buy, created an audio library for Main Street Child Development Center, a subsidized preschool in Fairfax City for low-income families. Books were recorded in English, Spanish, Farsi, and Hindi; the school still needs books recorded in Vietnamese and Korean.
Lyon, a home schooler, completed his graduation requirements this month. A member of Troop 187 for 7 years, he participated in the 1996 Presidential Inauguration, Scouting on the Mall, served as a patrol leader, and held the rank of instructor. He has also received an award for Youth Volunteer of the Year from the Fairfax County Council for the Arts and is a company member of Young People’s Theatre.
Bob and Lee Sottile of Fairfax have been nominated for the Braddock District Council’s Citizen of the Year award for 2002. Robert W. Cosgriff, president of Hickory Farms Community Association, submitted his nomination after considering the Sottiles’ significant contributions to the youth of the Braddock District long after their own children outgrew these youth programs and went off to college.
Katie Ireland and five of her fellow Girl Scouts sewed wheelchair bags for residents of Fairfax Nursing Center as part of their Silver Award project. The girls have been reading Harry Potter and dubbed themselves “Wheelchair Wizards.” Each bag was finished off with a silver “magic wand” placed in the lower-right-hand corner of the bag. The bags are used by residents to transport items they need throughout the day, freeing up their hands. The Girl Scouts are members of Troop 4288 and meet at Lanier Middle School.
Fifty first-grade students from the Trinity Christian School in Fairfax entertained the residents of Fairfax Nursing Center in a patriotic medley of songs. The performance included a magnificent Red, White and Blue Salute to those who served in the armed forces. As each branch of the military was announced, those residents received a round of applause.
Six Girl Scouts from Troop 656 in West Springfield received their Silver Awards at ceremonies held at Messiah United Methodist Church this spring.
The Silver Award is earned by Cadettes (seventh- to ninth- grade students), and often precedes the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award earned by Senior Girl Scouts. The Silver Award is a service-oriented project, requiring a minimum of 25 hours of service. To become eligible to start working on a Silver Award project, a Cadette must first complete a three-step process. She must earn three Interest Project Patches, complete the Cadette Challenge, and earn a Leadership Award. Only after this can a Cadette begin her Silver Award project, which she must plan and manage on her own, with minimal guidance from her leaders.
Elizabeth Cole, a rising sophomore at West Springfield High School, carried out her two-part project with ECHO. In the summer of 2001, she solicited people to donate school supplies by distributing fliers to homes on Carrleigh Parkway and then went back to pick up the donated items. Cole said the response was overwhelming, and she collected 30 bags of school supplies. Then, in November of 2001, she collected donations of food by placing boxes at her high school. These items went to people in our community with the greatest need.
Danelle Grabski, a rising freshman at St. Bernadette’s, called her project “Donations from the Heart.” She worked with Brownie Girl Scout Troop 144 and Daisy Girl Scout Troop 2561 to make sandwiches for Martha’s Table,
an organization located in Washington, D.C., that helps meet the needs of low-income and homeless children, families and individuals. At a Brownie troop meeting, Grabski informed the Scouts about Martha’s Table, and then they all made sandwiches. She then recruited some of the Brownies to go with her to a Daisy troop meeting to help make sandwiches. Grabski and her parents took the sandwiches to Martha’s Table.
Jackie Stader, a rising sophomore at West Springfield High School, did a Christmas project for her Silver Award. She made some stuffed snowmen for children at the pediatric ward of Walter Reed Hospital. She distributed many of the snowmen herself.
Rosemary Kelley, a rising freshman at West Springfield High School, worked with Boy Scout Den 5 to help members earn their World Conservation Award. She helped them to earn two “arrow points” — one for fishing and one for birds. Rosemary took eight 8-year-old Scouts on a fishing trip to Hidden pond, writing up the plan and coordinating the date and time for the fishing trip herself. At another meeting she helped the troop build birdhouses.
Meryl Cox and Laura Kurth, rising sophomores at West Springfield High School, had similar projects making blankets for Project Linus. Cox worked with Brownies in Troop 70 to design and make their own patches, which she then put together to make a quilt. Kurth went to different craft stores and recruited people to help make squares out of donated yarn. Several women at the Yarn Barn made many squares for her two quilts, as did her friends, her mother and herself. Project Linus is an organization that provides blankets created by volunteers to children who are seriously ill, traumatized or otherwise in need.
The Artists’ Undertaking Gallery in Occoquan celebrates its 25th anniversary as an artist-owned and operated gallery of local artists and crafters. In 1977, 11 artists created studios and display space in the basement of what was originally the town funeral parlor at 309 Mill St., but eventually moved the gallery to the first floor. Gallery artists also show their work at the Occoquan Fairs held in the spring and fall.
Art currently featured at the gallery includes fused glass by David Barnes, photography by Jan Bender and David and Jane Ernst, art quilts by Danette Bishop, turned wood by Steve Bishop, jewelry by Pam Browning, pottery by David Cowdrill and Meredith McEver, monotypes by Jean Barnes Downs, watercolors by Catherine Hillis, drawings by Charles Ott, stained glass by Erwin Straubinger, and pastels by Kathy Waltermire.
The Gallery will celebrate its anniversary with a group exhibit, “You Gotta Have Art,” Sept. 4-29, in the Fourth Floor Gallery of the Seefeldt Building at Northern Virginia Community College’s Woodbridge Campus, and will host an Anniversary Open House at the gallery on Oct. 20.
The Crushers, a Burke Athletic Club under-12 boys soccer team, donated $100 and two bags of “slightly conditioned, well-loved and nicely-broken in” soccer equipment to FACETS (Fairfax Area Christian Emergency & Transition Services) in Fairfax. FACETS is a nonprofit organization that provides emergency intervention and educational programs for homeless and low-income people in Fairfax County to assist them in becoming independent. This is the third season the team has donated money to FACETS. It has donated a total of $300 to this charity.