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.
The CountrySide Women's Club announce its new officers for 2007-2008: Teresa Bettac, president; Elaine Stiger, first vice president; Anita Jones, second vice president; Sally Velt, treasurer; and Joan Louise McCaffrey, secretary.
Michael Francis of Ashburn has been named a United States National Award winner in football by the United States Achievement Academy. The academy recognizes fewer than 10 percent of all American high-school students. Criteria for selection includes the student's academic performance, interest and aptitude, leadership qualities, responsibility, enthusiasm, motivation to earn and improve, citizenship, attitude and cooperative spirit, dependability and recommendation for a qualified sponsor.
Francis, who attends Briar Woods High School, was nominated by his coach, Charlie Pierce. He will appear in the United States Achievement Academy's official yearbook, which is published nationally. He is the son of Anna Devassy and Paul Francis of Ashburn.
The Piedmont Arts Foundation, formerly the Tony & Nik Foundation, has named six students as recipients of the 2007 Piedmont Arts Foundation Drama Award. Making the grant more significant is the fact that each was selected for this honor by their peers, the students that make up the Foundation’s Student Board. Receiving unrestricted grants of $1000 are Tali Custer, Potomac Falls High School; Jake Thiewes, Stone Bridge High School; Sabrina Ripperger, Stone Bridge High School.
Receiving unrestricted grants of $500 are Zach Betz, Loudoun County Run High School; Katie Dalby, Loudoun County High School; Alexandra Wicker, Broad Run High School.
The Ashburn Ruritan Club awarded students from 17 elementary, middle and high schools in Ashburn with the 12th annual Outstanding Student Citizen Awards. The awards were presented Tuesday, May 15, at Eagle Ridge Middle School in Ashburn.
The award winners are John "Connor" Hill, Ashburn Elementary School; Rebecca Pelletz, Belmont Station Elementary School; Elizabeth Morton, Cedar Lane Elementary School; Joshua Smallwood, Dominion Trail Elementary School; Stephanie Davis, Hillside Elementary School; Nadia Davis, Legacy Elementary School; Andrew Hoyler, Mill Run Elementary School; Katelyn Salvatore, Newton-Lee Elementary School; Cerella Chandra, Sanders Corner Elementary School; Sophia Hamdan, Selden's Landing Elementary School; Anna Tyrlik, Belmont Ridge Middle School; Brooke Medeiros, Eagle Ridge Middle School; Sarah Kim, Farmwell Station Middle School; Katelyn Catalfamo, Saint Theresa School; Nicole Poltash, Broad Run High School; John Manning, Stone Bridge High School; and Rachel Macasieb, Briar Woods High School.
The Ruritan Civic Service Award went to Ruritan student member Jackie Picollo.
Del. Tom Rust (R-86) was honored by the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance with the group’s "Dust, Blood and Sweat" award in recognition for his efforts to secure the first new transportation funding for this region in 20 years.
Army Pvt. Sarah E. Steinhice has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.
During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises.
She is the daughter of Cheryl Steinhice of Saddlebrook Place, Leesburg. Steinhice is a 2004 graduate of Loudoun County High School, Leesburg.
More than two hundred people attended the Loudoun Convention & Visitors Association's 11th Annual Meeting and 2006 Tourism Awards at Lansdowne Resort Clubhouse March 30. The winners of the 2006 Tourism Awards are:
Tourism Employee of the Year (Management): Jo Ann Sweeney, front desk manager, Holiday Inn Washington Dulles.
Tourism Employee of the Year (Non-Management): Lorita Malipal, guest service agent, Hampton Inn & Suites Leesburg.
Volunteer of the Year: Kim Labash, chair of the Bluemont Fair.
Tourism Event of the Year: Christmas in Middleburg.
Tourism Promotion/Campaign of the Year: Jazz on the Potomac, Lansdowne Resort.
Judy Patterson Tourism Award: Margaret Hubert, Tarara Winery and Peter Dunning, Bluemont Concert Series.
LCVA Partner of the Year: June Stanich of June Stanich Photography.
LCVA Distinguished Service Award: Organizations recognized included company Chief Kevin Wright for Hamilton fire units, Chief Joseph Pozzo, and Fire Marshall Keith Brower on behalf of all the fire and rescue personnel and volunteers who fought the Waterford School blaze.
LCVA Humanitarian Award: Embassy Suites Dulles North and Dysautonomia Youth Network of America (DYNA).
For the second year in a row Loudoun Sheriff's Deputy Aaron Taylor was recognized for his efforts in curbing drinking and driving in the county.
Taylor was among several law-enforcement personnel from around the Northern Virginia region recognized at the ceremony held at Westpark Hotel in Tysons Corner. Taylor arrested 39 impaired drivers in 2006. Taylor has been with the Sheriff's Office since June of 2004; he is currently assigned to the Sheriff's Office Community Policing Unit and serves the town of Round Hill.
The Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court, Leroy Rountree Hassell Sr., has appointed Loudoun County Clerk of the Circuit Court Gary Clemens of Ashburn, to a three-year term on the Virginia Circuit Court Advisory Committee. The purpose of advisory committee is to meet quarterly to review and discuss numerous issues related to the Circuit Court judges and Circuit Court clerks, as well as to Circuit Court operations in Virginia.
Koby Clark of Leesburg, a student majoring in wildlife science in the College of Natural Resources at Virginia Tech, received the National Wild Turkey Federation's Greater Richmond Chapter Annual Scholarship. The scholarship is awarded to students in the fisheries and wildlife sciences department.
The following members of the Loudoun Cooperative Extension staff were named the recipients of the 2007 Outstanding Team Award: Beverly Samuels, senior extension agent, FCS; Debra Foster, coordinator; Leslie Estrella, financial counseling coordinator; Corey Childs, unit coordinator; Kendra Redmon, 4-H agent; Kim Monroe, 4-H program technician; Sue Naille, customer services assistant; Keith Lilly, administrative manager; Kimberly Dehaven, unit administrative assistant; Ed Senft, education program assistant; Leslie Blischak, Extension agent, horticulture; Debbie Dillion, Extension agent, horticulture.
The award is presented annually by the Alpha Gamma Chapter of Epsilon Sigma Phi to pay tribute for the accomplishments by interdisciplinary and other ad hoc teams organized for carrying out specified assignments and accomplishing specific goals within specific time limitations.
Army Spec. Jonell L. Conger has graduated from basic combat training at Fort Jackson, Columbia, S.C.
During the nine weeks of training, the soldier studied the Army mission, history, tradition and core values, physical fitness, and received instruction and practice in basic combat skills, military weapons, chemical warfare and bayonet training, drill and ceremony, marching, rifle marksmanship, armed and unarmed combat, map reading, field tactics, military courtesy, military justice system, basic first aid, foot marches, and field training exercises.
She is the daughter of Bonnie A. Dean of Sterling and granddaughter of Connie Hargreaves of Centreville. Conger graduated in 2001 from Chantilly High School, and received a bachelor's degree in 2005 from Ferrum College, Va.
One-hundred-eighty-three Senior Girl Scouts from the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital were awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award Sunday, May 13, at the council's annual "In Your Honor" ceremony at Trinity University in Washington, D.C. Of those, more than 120 are from Virginia. The Gold Award is the highest award achievable in Girl
The following are Gold Award winners from Loudoun:
Kasey Blackburn, Leesburg, redecorated three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a hallway for a shelter for women and children. She painted each room, provided new bedding, shower curtains, valences and blinds.
Dana Buckley, Leesburg, visited homeless shelters to teach the residents how to use computers. She also created a booklet of her lessons to leave with the residents.
Michelle Bunney, Sterling, redesigned the Ruritan kitchen to make it brighter and more appealing to the groups who use it.
Rachel Gottlieb, Leesburg, worked with children ages 5-13 in a local shelter. She taught them how to succeed in the future and had guest speakers talk about their jobs, training and skills.
Jennifer Mabee, South Riding, built and maintained a flower garden near the Alzheimer’s unit at Heritage Hall. The garden was in memory of Virginia Clough and was designed to help spark memories for the patients.
Keeley Mitchell, Sterling, offered weeklong child-care sessions for volunteers who were working to create a park, and were in need of child care in the evenings.
Anna Nielsen, Potomac Falls, helped educate children about how their actions can affect the environment. She presented six lessons at YMCA summer camps.
Katherine Peterson, Ashburn, gathered oral histories from long-time residents of Ashburn. The compiled stories were donated to the Thomas Balch Historical and Genealogical Library in Leesburg.
Meagan Tyding, Ashburn, restored a butterfly garden at a nature preserve. She replaced overgrown vegetation with native plants and installed a solar powered fountain.