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 Friday, two weeks before the event. Photos/artwork encouraged. For more information, call Jennifer Lesinski at 703-917-6454.
Devan O. Carter of Cascades and Christopher J. Jaegar of Potomac Falls have been named to the President's Commendation List at Hargrave Military Academy for the second six-week grading period.
In one of his final gubernatorial actions before leaving office, Gov. Mark Warner appointed a number of new members to the various state boards and commissions, including the newest member to the Virginia Wine Board, wine maker Jennifer McCloud. Ms. McCloud is the owner of Chrysalis Vineyards in Middleburg.
Loudoun County Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Services announces the hiring of Dave Carver as division manager for Youth and Sports. Carver was formerly the program manager for the Loudoun County Gang Response and Intervention Team (GRIT), a multi-agency organization charged with the coordination of gang prevention, intervention and suppression programs and activities for the county. Carver is credited with authoring the plan that enabled Northern Virginia to develop a regional gang prevention and intervention strategy.
Prior to becoming the GRIT coordinator, Carver served as a line probation officer and probation officer in the county's Supervised Release Program for a total of 11 years. He holds a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Old Dominion University and began his professional career working as the events manager for the university's athletic department. He has managed several NCAA Women's Basketball tournament events, as well as a NCAA National Championship event.
Carver is "proud to call Loudoun County his home" and maintains an active role in the community. He has served as a youth sports coach in basketball, baseball and softball and as a league commissioner for Lower Loudoun Little League and Central Loudoun Basketball League. He and his wife reside in Leesburg with their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter.
The Good Shepherd Alliance has received a $15,000 grant to improve the Loudoun-based charity's efforts to help homeless people find and keep jobs. The grant was awarded by Skill Source Group Inc. of Vienna and was part of a larger grant from the U.S. Department of Labor. Good Shepherd is among 15 faith- and community-based organizations in Northern Virginia that will receive funding.
The SkillSource Group Inc. focuses on collaboration with faith- and community-based organizations is essential for the SkillSource One Stop Center efforts to adequately respond to challenges presented by job seekers with multiple needs, including limited English, reading and math skills or lacking access to reliable transportation or child care. The Northern Virginia SkillSource One Stop Centers have been particularly successful in supporting and enhancing career opportunities for thousands of local job seekers each year.
Good Shepherd Alliance will use the money to partly fund its first position devoted to case management, said Sharon Zachary-Heyliger, the organization's director of administration. That position will help the organization keep closer tabs on its clients' requirements.
Loudoun Volunteer Services (LVS) selected Stacey Swann and Melinda Kelle, both seniors at Potomac Falls High School, as the January Student Volunteers of the Month.
Through the sponsorship of Melodee Music, Stacey and Melinda volunteered to help organize and operate a summer camp experience for children interested in band instruments.
Stacey and Melinda's responsibilities included advertising,
organizing, setting schedules, communicating with parents, and collecting fees for the camp. They were nominated by Tim Niebergall, director of the Potomac Falls High School band.
Leigh Ann Macklin, president of the Loudoun Volunteer Services Board of Directors presented Stacey and Melinda their awards at a small ceremony with their parents and Niebergall present. A local nonprofit organization of Stacey and Melinda's choice will receive a $100 contribution in their honor. This is a continuing effort made by Loudoun Volunteer Services, which plans to make a monthly contribution to each Student Volunteer of the Month's local nonprofit organization of choice. The Potomac Falls High School Band Booster will
be receiving the contribution in honor of Stacey and Melinda.
To nominate an outstanding student volunteer or group of
volunteers, send a paragraph describing the student's volunteer efforts to the Loudoun Volunteer Services Board, Student Recognition Committee, P.O. Box 7000, Leesburg, VA 20177-7000, fax 703-771-5841, or e-mail pivs@loudoun.gov. To learn more about Loudoun Volunteer Services visit www.loudoun.gov/pio/volunteer.htm.
Jeff Tiller of Loudoun County will serve as press aide to Gov. Tim Kaine (D). Tiller previously served as a communications intern in the Transition Office and on KaineÕs gubernatorial campaign.
As a part of its annual Christmas season giving, coed Venturing Crew 761 of Sterling recently forwarded 250 pounds of care packages to American soldiers and Marines stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan in support of Operation Care Package.
Every Christmas season since inception in 2001, Venturing Crew 761 has supported the community in a significant way. Since Sept. 11, 2001, the crew has supported soldiers by forwarding care packages, and this year working through Operation Care Package, the crew collected much needed personal items for American troops and Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, and forwarded to individual serving men and women for the Christmas and Hanukkah holiday season.
Chartered by the Rotary Club of Sterling, Crew 761 is located in Sterling. With 28 youth, of which 50 percent are young women, its Venturers are from the local area of Ashburn, Leesburg, Sterling and Potomac Falls, and attend some six Loudoun and Fairfax high schools.
Air Force Airman Nicholas E. Vastardis has graduated from basic military training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas.
During the six weeks of training, the airman 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.
He is the son of Louis Vastardis of Ashburn, and Karen Vastardis of Virginia Beach, Va.
Vastardis is a 2001 graduate of Loudoun County High School, Leesburg.
At the American Library Association's mid-winter conference in San Antonio, Texas, the Loudoun County Public Library received the 2006 John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Award, which recognizes and honors outstanding achievement in library public relations.
The award is one of the most coveted and the most prestigious award given by the American Library Association. Loudoun County Public Library received the award for its program "Hanging Out Rocks!" a campaign that responded to the needs of teens in Loudoun County's growing community by giving them a place that they could call their own.
The award is jointly sponsored by the H.W. Wilson Foundation, Bronx, N.Y., with the Library Administration and Management Association (LAMA). The award will be presented to the Loudoun County Public Library at the American Library Association's annual conference in New Orleans, June 2006.
Army Pvt. Lee Bun has graduated from the Field Artillery Automated Tactical Data Systems Specialist One Unit Station Training (OSUT) at Fort Sill, Lawton, Okla.
During the 16-week training program, the trainee completed basic military training to learn basic soldiering disciplines and skills followed by advanced individual training as a field artillery automated tactical data systems specialist.
As members of the Army's field artillery team, the soldiers are primarily responsible for operating field artillery tactical data systems on a multiple launch rocket system team. The teams are used to support infantry and tank units while supplementing cannon artillery in combat and are involved in launching various missiles and ammunitions in quick strikes during combat.
The soldiers are trained to establish, maintain and operate communication systems, assist in preparation of computer centers, prepare field artillery tactical data systems, and determine target location using computers or manual calculations. Skills training included methods of computing target locations, ammunition handling techniques, gun, missile and rocket system operations, and artillery tactics.
Bun is the son of Nary Argueta of Gaithersburg, Md., and brother of Rosa Bun of Sterling.
Army National Guard Sgt. Matthew J. Jackson has completed the Warrior Leadership Course as part of the Army's Noncommissioned Officer Education System.
The course is designed to provide the Army with soldiers who can visualize, describe, and execute squad-level operations in varied operational environments and battlefields. The course teaches specialists how to be a noncommissioned officer and focus on leading, training, caring, maintaining, and warrior skills. The training prepares specialists for promotion to sergeant and for assignments in teams, crews and squads, which symbolizes their transition from "follower" to "leader." Every student receives detailed squad-level combat leader training, and the learner-centered and outcome-based approach reinforces all small unit tactics, techniques, and procedures.
Jackson is a driver with the Joint Visitors Bureau assigned to the 40th Infantry Division (Mechanized) at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo. The sergeant has served in the military for four years.
He is the son of Randy D. and Anne M. Jackson of Knox St., Millinocket, Maine.
His wife, Abigail, is the daughter of David Aikman of Round Hill and Nonie Aikman of Falls Church.
Jackson received a bachelor's degree in the year 2000 from Simon's Rock College, Great Barrington, Mass.
Jennifer Ashley Hiltwine, daughter of Craig and Deborah Hiltwine of Sterling, has been named to the President's List for the 2005 fall semester at Elon University in North Carolina. To be included on the President's List, as student must have no grade below an A- in a minimum of 12 semester hours.
Hiltwine graduated from Broad Run High School and is a communications major.