Send announcements to The Loudoun Connection, 7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102, e-mail to loudoun@connectionnewspapers.com or fax to 703-917-0991. Deadline is two weeks before the event. Photos/artwork encouraged. For more information, call Jennifer Lesinski at 703-917-6454.
Twenty-five flute students of Wendy Lane of Sterling traveled Dec. 23 to Childhelp, an abused children's residential treatment center to perform a Holiday Flute Recital and Sing Along. The Loudoun County flute students, ages 8-16, donated items to put be in a Christmas bag ranging from teddy bears, toothbrushes, toothpaste, candy, snacks, gloves and school supplies for each child.
Currently at Childhelp there are 54 children, mostly from the Washington, D.C., area. The ages at the Childhelp village range from 2-12.
On Dec. 27, Home & Garden Television (HGTV) aired a show, ÒSimply QuiltsÓ which focuses on Aldie artist and quilter Rose Rushbrooke, who is an expert in using computer-generated fractals as a basis for her art quilts.
The show will focus on how she makes Òfractal quilts.Ó
A fractal is a mathematical term. Rushbrooke describes a fractal design as Òsame or similar features constantly repeated at different scales.Ó To employ and deploy fractals, Rushbrooke depends on her computer, printer, sense of color and fabric combinations, imagination, knowledge of quilting steps, and skill with a needle Ñ combining contemporary tools and design with a traditional craft. Her fractal art quilts have garnered cash and other recognition in shows. Her creation, ÒSummer Haze, a.k.a. Volcanic Pizza,Ó was chosen by a jury as one of 25 quilts Ñ out of hundreds of applicants Ñ for exhibit in the high-profile Knitting and Stitching Show in 2002. For a sample of her work, visit www.roserushbrooke.com.
On Dec. 18, 16 Loudoun County Sheriff's deputies graduated from the 111th session of the Northern Virginia Criminal Justice Academy's Combined Basic Deputy Sheriff/Law
Enforcement School.
Three of Loudoun's recruits held top positions in the class with Deputy Matthew W. Bressler holding the office of president and Deputy Sarah E. Tresselt and Deputy Justin C. Maas holding two of the three vice presidential positions.
Deputy Bressler also received the Thomas L. Shaw award, which is the highest honor in the class and was awarded through a vote of his peers.
The graduating class saw Loudoun County Sheriff's Office recruits take 11 of the top 12 spots for academics. According to the Sheriff's Office its recruits consistently place in the top five of the academy graduates, which consist of recruits from agencies throughout the Northern Virginia Region.
The graduates, who are now state certified in basic law enforcement, are Nicholas J. Altom, Eric J. Aman, Matthew W. Bressler, James M. Cannon, Anthony D. Cooper, Shannon T. Cumberledge, Robijohn P. Early, Brandon J. Hazelwood, Jason M. Hough, Justin C. Maas, Natalie N. Martz, Catherine A. Moreno, Michael Peck, Kevin R. Solan, Aaron Taylor, and Sarah E. Tresselt.
Del. Dick Black (R-32), met with President George W. Bush Dec. 13, in the Old Executive Office to discuss tax reform. Forty anti-tax legislators from across America were chosen to meet with the president by Americans For Tax Reform, to recognize those legislators who worked to keep taxes low.
Black was named "Taxpayer Advocate of the Year for 2004" by Taxpayers for Accountable Government.
On Tuesday, Nov. 30, Brian Tubbs of Ashburn was sworn in as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves and a staff specialist in the U.S. Army Chaplain Candidate Program. Tubbs is a high-school history and government teacher at Fair Oaks Academy, a private Christian school in Fairfax.
Tubbs is a distance learning seminary student with Liberty University. He will train with the Army in the summers, while balancing work, family, and seminary studies the rest of the year. He is scheduled to be ordained next fall, but will not complete his master of divinity until sometime in 2009. At that point, he will be eligible to enter the Army formally as a chaplain.