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The Washington and Lee High School Environmental Club teamed up with the Optimist Club of Arlington to clean up Bon Air and Bluemont parks on Oct. 5. The Optimist Club, which adopted Bon Air Park years ago, organizes periodic cleanups of the park, particularly Four Mile Run, which runs through both parks.
Despite the hot, humid weather, the effort was undertaken by an enthusiastic group. Under the direction of Thomas Scheltrate, faculty adviser to the W&L Environmental Club, the student volunteers included Megan Mahoney, Erlinda Narvaez, Elizabeth James, Perry Ellis, Gina Grantham, Emma Champoux, Emily Gousen, Zola Short, Ayana Chancler and Hamere Nekonnen.
Optimist members taking place in the cleanup were organizer Dick Rhodes, Whiz Mountain, Bruce Arnold, Greg Clough and Eugene Iwanciw.
Arlington's Red Top Cab was named as this year's recipient of the Washington Regional Alcohol Program's (WRAP) prestigious Community Partnership Award for its SoberRide initiative, which provided over 2,500 free cab rides home last year to would-be drunken drivers. Red Top Cab vice president George Pakidis, center, accepts honors from the Washington Regional Alcohol Program's (WRAP) president Kurt Erickson and chairman Nick Champeau, left to right.
Dorothy Cattell presents a set of "Cool Careers for Girls" books to students at Jefferson Middle School. Pictured, from left to right, are Kirsten Wall, Jefferson Middle School librarian; Dorothy Cattell, member of the Arlington Branch of the AAUW; Kat Mounteer, past president of the Arlington Branch; Nina O'Malley and Melen Hagos, students at Jefferson; Connie McAdam, president of the Arlington Branch; and Sharon Monde, principal of Jefferson Middle School.
<lst>In connection with Career Day in the Arlington Schools, the American Association of University Woman (AAUW) presented a set of "Cool Careers for Girls" books to each of the Arlington Middle Schools. Arlington AAUW Branch members Dorothy Cattell, Marcy Leverenz, Connie McAdam, Darlene Mickey and Elizabeth Parker each donated a 12-volume set of these career books. Kate Mounteer, past president of the Arlington Branch, organized the donation. The series covers careers ranging from air and space, construction, crime solving, and computers to engineering and the performing arts.
Lisa Lawrence, adoptions coordinator, and Martha Bridgers, adoptions assistant, of the Animal Welfare League of Arlington, will attend a 10-day training program at The Humane Society of the United States' Pets of Life National Training Center in Denver, Colo.
Loren Friedman, M.D., medical director of Hospice Care of D.C. and The Hospices of the National Capital Region's Halquist Memorial Inpatient Hospice Center in Arlington, has been named a 2002 recipient of the District of Columbia Hospital Association (DCHA) Haynes Rice Community Service Award. The annual award recognizes contributions to improving the health of communities in the nation's capital.
Dr. Friedman was honored at the DCHA awards dinner Nov. 14 for his nearly five years of work to improve care to dying patients by training physicians and other professionals in special skills to deliver end-of-life care. Friedman has been actively involved with the Professional Education Task Force of the DC Partnership to Improve End-of-Life Care. He has been associated with the Hospice Care of DC and its parent organization, The Hospices of the National Capital Region, for 10 years. He also has been assistant professor in the George Washington University Department of Medicine since January 1996.
Air Force Airman Michael P. Perez has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas. During the six weeks of training, he studied the Air Force mission, organization, and military customs and courtesies; performed drill and ceremony marches; and received physical training, rifle marksmanship, field training exercises, and special training in human relations. In addition, airmen who complete basic training earn credits toward an associate degree through the Community College of the Air Force. Perez is the son of Isabel Hidalgo of Arlington. He graduated in 2002 from Yorktown High School.
Lawrence E. Levinson of Arlington, partner with Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand in Washington, D.C., is serving as a member of The College of Arts and Sciences Board of Visitors at Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y. Levinson is a graduate of The College of Arts and Sciences.
The Arlington County Police Department celebrated the graduation of Session IX of its Citizens Police Academy on Dec. 11. During the 12-week program, the nine graduates met every Wednesday evening and attended classes taught by police personnel on all aspects of the department.
The Academy was designed to create better understanding and communication between citizens and police through education. The Academy is an opportunity for Arlington's citizens to learn more about the men and women who protect their community, and why police make the decisions they do.
The participants come to class with a variety of backgrounds, questions and philosophies about police officers. The Academy participants are presented with frank and candid explanations of how the department functions. They learn about the department's challenges as well as successes, and what is being done to meet these challenges.
The members of Session IX were Michelle Bishop, C. Arthur Hollis, Bonnie Mangan, Stacy Brooks, Erika Horton, Ann Siegel, Lisa Farbstein, Craig Lewis and Amanda Telford.
Diana Sun joined the Arlington County Government Jan. 13 as director of communications, the position formally known as assistant county manager for public affairs. Sun has nearly 20 years experience in communications with public relations agencies, the U.S. government, corporate communications and financial services. Before taking the position with Arlington, she managed her own public relations consulting firm. She was vice president of corporate communications with Capital One, managing and directing corporate and consumer affairs and consumer media relations programs, internal communications and community relations. During the Clinton Administration, she served as deputy director of public affairs for the International Trade Administration.