Send announcements, which are open to the public at no or minimal cost, to The Loudoun Connection, 7913 Westpark Drive, McLean, VA 22102 or e-mail to loudoun@connectionnewspapers.com. Deadline is Friday, two weeks before the event. Photos/artwork encouraged. For more information, call Jennifer Lesinski at 703-917-6454. For additional listings, visit www.connectionnewspapers.com.
Michael Rice of Leesburg was one of 10 Boy and Girl Scouts recently awarded 2007 Young Volunteer Leadership Awards from the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority. Michael planted 30 native trees donated by Dominion Virginia Power along the W&OD trail in Purcellville and built a large rest stop in the same area that consists of a raised deck with build-in benches.
Shannon Groves of Broad Run High School was recently awarded a $4,000 scholarship from Loudoun Volunteer Services for exceptional community service. Groves founded the Ashburn Friends of Beaverdam Run Stream and created a long-term program for water quality testing.
LVO also awarded $500 scholarships to the following graduating high-school seniors, based on their volunteer service to the Loudoun community: Rachel Macasieb of Briar Woods High School; Groves, Kelsi Kennedy, Kevin Kurdziolek and Nicole Poltash of Broad Run High School; Andrew Cebulski, Christine Lam and Brendan Butts of Dominion High School; Shannon Walker of Foxcroft; Stacy Thompson of Freedom High School; Elizabeth Rambo and Kenneth Guttman of Heritage High School; Maryam Anam who is home-schooled; Michelle Cummings of Loudoun County High School; Emily Barr, Conor Backman, Catherine Phillips, Shawn McDonough and Ryan Lawson of Loudoun Valley High School; Alexander Llana, Bridget Serone, Colin Johnson and Laren Fauteux of Potomac Falls High School; Sabrina Ripperger of Stone Bridge High School.
Umar Aziz of Sterling, a student in the Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech, recently received the 2007 Burlington Industries Scholarship for high academic achievement. This merit-based scholarship is awarded for having the highest GPA out of all applicants for the scholarship and having completed the majority of work at Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech honored the following local students at the university's spring commencement ceremony held Friday, May 11: Robert Bernhards, Matthew Dye, Kristyn Heiser, Allison Jarnagin, Edwin Moreno, Michael Nguyen, Jason Pilchuk, Veronica Skinner, Shannon Begle, Chang-l Chen, Brian Durkin, John Medlock, Alexandra Moses, Marc Saint Raymond, Ricardo Vargas and Thu Soe of Sterling; Henry Eickelberg, Nancy Fung, Courtney Gjorman, Kimberly Gould, Wright Lewis, Kenneth Logan and Victoria Wilson of Potomac Falls; Michael Fella of Dulles.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) has appointed Guillermo Meneses of Loudoun County, media strategist for the Law Media Group, to the Vocational Rehabilitation Council for the Blind.
The following Coastal Carolina University students from the area earned President’s List and Dean’s List status for the spring 2007 semester: Kyle T. Smith, Leesburg; Thomas M. Stokes, Clifton; Lindsey A. Facemire, Sterling; Ryan M. Dunham, Sterling; Meagan E. McCrane, Potomac Falls; Joel D. Nash, Potomac Falls.
The Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy held its annual meeting May 20 to highlight the organization's accomplishments during 2006 and to discuss plans for the coming year. Elizabeth Evans was named Outstanding volunteer of the year for her longstanding work with the LWC. Bertie Murphy was given a Special Recognition Award for her efforts in expanding the organization's outreach. The LWC also presented awards to the Amphibian Monitoring Poster Contest winners, all from Loudoun Valley High School: first place to Katherine Eckenfels, second place to Casey Curtis, third place to Stephanie Roush and Honorable Mention to Curtis Winsor. Other awards presented were to the LWC's Science Fair Award winners: first place to Vanessa Bornholdt of Broad Run High School and second Place to Nadia Waterman of Freedom High School and Robert Lee of Potomac Falls High School.
Sixty-nine new leaders with the Loudoun County Department of Fire, Rescue and Emergency Management were honored at a promotional ceremony held at Heritage High School in Leesburg, Thursday, July 26. A celebration of the department's officers' accomplishments and hard work, this ceremony recognizes the members of the department who have been promoted throughout the year. The following is a list of those promoted:
Technicians: Brian Beaulieu, Jonathan Everly, Lawrence Lippincott, Guy Robinson, Kyle Stephens, James Best, Shawn Fluharty, William McGann, William Sarley, Tim Taheri, Richard Bonney, Christopher Grubb, Seaver Miller, Rodney Scott, Christopher Turnbow, Emmett Carolan, Rodney Kable, Paul Musser, Daniel Shealy, Chad Wilson, Michael Ciaburri, Blaine Keyser, David Puffenburger, Michael Shiffler, Joshua Yoder, Thomas Clappi, Trevor Lambert, Michael Quinn, Matthew St. Clair.
Lieutenants: Phil Abruzzese, Vinson Dieterich, Brandon Frieder, Alex Keepers, Scott Richardson, Eric Banfe, James Disinger, Bernard Gottholm, Jason Koglin, Herb Rundgren, Scott Brazier, Patrick Dougherty, John Grant, Scott Lantz, Martin Rutledge, Michael Burrier, John Earley, Nicole Hankin, Boyd Morris, Ian Titus, Dan Bush, Chris Frank, Michael Kehne, Michael Nichols, Mark Wynkoop.
Jay Hoffman, a third-year dean's list student at the University of Virginia, was inducted into Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor fraternity, and Eta Kappa Nu, the electrical and computer engineering honor fraternity.
Hoffman is a 2004 graduate of Potomac Falls High School and is the son of Kathy and Tim Hoffman of Sterling.
Rebecca Young of Dulles, a junior at Northfield Mount Hermon School in Massachusetts, was named to the academic honor roll for the spring term.
Lauren P. Hartwell of Potomac Falls has been selected by the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg for honors admission for the fall of 2007. Hartwell is the daughter of William and Robin Hartwell and is a 2007 graduate of Potomac Falls High School.
She is a member of the National Honor Society; is a recipient of an academic letter as well as the Psychology Student Award, the Purple Panther Award and the Kodak Young Leadership Award.
Loudoun Volunteer Services (LVS) announces a new board of directors and executive officers have been selected. New member Beth Wiseman, of Loudoun County's Department of Family Services, joined the board at its annual retreat, held at Claude Moore Park's new recreation center in June.
Executive officers and members continuing their term include LVS president Debra Bressler, Loudoun County Retired & Senior Volunteer Program; LVS vice president Jeff Fletcher, Loudoun County Office of Emergency Management; LVS secretary Jonathan Whitbey, Hamilton Volunteer Rescue Squad; Ivy Allen, Loudoun County Public Schools; Ralph Baird, Kiwanis Clubs of Loudoun County; Carol Barbe, volunteer; Kevin Chroninger, The Sterling Foundation; Maureen Hempenius, Hempenius Publishing Inc.; Stephen Hood, Leesburg Police Citizen Support Team Inc.; Karen Krei, Piedmont Community Foundation; Karen McQuaid, Loudoun County Fire & Rescue; Mary Novotny, Heritage Farm Museum; Stevan Porter, Loudoun County Volunteer Rescue Squad; and Amy Wilcox, Loudoun County PRCS Adaptive Recreation.
The Teri & Shari Malone Foundation announces its newest class of Malone Award Recipients. Founded in memory of two Loudoun County sisters who lost their lives after finishing their eighth-grade year at Seneca Ridge Middle School, the Malone Foundation each year recognizes students with exceptional talent in the fields of art, music, math, science and dance. The recipients are selected by each of the Loudoun County middle schools and two local dance schools. Award recipients receive a recognition plaque and $250 in scholarship assistance to further develop their skills.
From Belmont Ridge: art, Virginia Rose Dall; math, Bradley James Stalcup; music, Heather Nicole Reed; science, Kale James Vorndran. From Eagle Ridge Middle School: art, Jason Adam Laird; math, Soon-Hong Choi; music, Casey Jackson Hart; science, Catherine Margaret Gorick. From Farmwell Station Middle School: art, Vaishnavi Lanka; math, Bethany Alice Connor; music, Abigail Jean Pasztor; science, Harika Venkata Peddibhotla. From Mercer Middle School: art, Katherine Grace Stewart; math, Keon Woo Kim; music, Shanel Mariko Tsuda; science, Jacqueline Young Romero. From River Bend Middle School: art, Jessica Lynn Eversmeyer; math, Mircea Cernev; music, Loc Hieu Tran; science, Katherine Elizabeth Lin. From Seneca Ridge Middle School: art, Caroline Rebecca Nilsson; math, Zachary James Newman; music, Molly Grace Menickelly; science, Vivek (Sean) Prakash Gupta. From Sterling Middle School: art, Hadjer Lahlah; math, Patrick Joseph Steiner; music, Tazh Rosetta Jimenez; science, Ngan Thi Truc Tran. From Loudoun School of Ballet: dance, Talia Marie Startsman. From Dance Academy of Loudoun, dance, Casie O'Kane.
Arash Hamidi of Briar Woods High School in Ashburn has been awarded $1,000 from Christopher Consultants Ltd. In the fall Arash will begin studies at Virginia Tech studying civil engineering. The scholarship award also includes the offer of an internship with Christopher Consultants at one of its six offices.
Army Pvt. Mitchell E. Arterberry III has graduated from the parachute rigger course at the 262nd Quartermaster Battalion, Fort Lee, Petersburg, Va.
The service member was trained to inspect, pack, rig, recover, store and maintain airdrop equipment. Airdrop equipment includes troop and cargo parachutes, platforms, cushioning materials and extraction and release systems.
Arterberry is the son of Mitchell E. and Maria C. Arterberry of Oak Branch Lane, Sterling. The private is a 2005 graduate of Park View High School, Sterling.
Scott Meyer, former president and current member of the Loudoun County Chapter of the Izaak Walton League of America, was elected as the new national vice president. As national vice president, Meyer will focus on membership and policy issues for the league, such as the Clean Boats Campaign to fight the spread of invasive species in local waterways.
This summer, Marc Saint Raymond of Sterling, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering and economics at Virginia Tech and a member of Pi Kappa Phi fraternity, is cycling across America to raise awareness for people with disabilities.
The Journey of Hope is an annual event in which fraternity members from Pi Kappa Phi chapters across the country cycle thousands of miles across more than 30 states. Nationally, through their nonprofit organization, Push America, members of Pi Kappa Phi raise more than a half million dollars each year to provide grants that support those with disabilities.
Saint Raymond raised more than $5,500 in order to participate in the journey. The cyclists are chronicling their journey with daily entries posted on the Pi Kappa Phi "Push America" Web site at www.pushamerica.org.
Sarah E. Shaw has been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force after completing the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program and graduating with a bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame, Ind.
ROTC is an educational program designed to provide college students an opportunity to be Air Force officers after completing military study courses and bachelor's degree requirements at a host college or university.
She is the daughter of Michael T. Shaw of Deerfield Trace, Burlington, Conn., and Nancy C. Shaw of Golden Meadow Circle, Ashburn. Shaw is a 2003 graduate of Broad Run High School, Ashburn.