Founder’s Day is a wonderful celebration of our community sponsored by the Reston Historic Trust and the Reston Community Center. This year's Founder's Day was the 10th such celebration, and it was a truly memorable and heartwarming one for me. The weather was beautiful as Paul Walsh drove Cheryl and me in his pedicab from the base of Heron House to the Plaza at Lake Anne where we were greeted by a goodly crowd of Restonians.
My friend Chuck Veatch has been the emcee for each of the 10 celebrations. Chuck humorously and cheerfully introduced the various political representatives and local leaders who spoke briefly, each in their own way, about our community of which I am so proud to be a part.
We were entertained by my favorite Reston singer, Beverly Cosham, who sang "God Bless America," and by the lively and talented students from South Lakes High School who presented two fun numbers from their upcoming performance of "Xanadu." The Bobby Pins, a sextet of women from the 100 mixed voices of the Reston Chorale sang. Their last song, “Restonation,” was written by one of the members of the group.
Each year the Reston Historic Trust sponsors the installation of commemorative bricks on the Plaza facing Lake Anne. This year 32 new bricks were dedicated. Peter McCandless, a sales and marketing professional in Reston’s early years, gave impromptu remarks about those early days and the persons he has honored with the new bricks.
Chuck invited everyone to the museum for celebratory cupcakes. It was fun to join with people of all ages there, happily chatting and taking pictures. Many, many thanks to Shelley Mastran, the chair of Reston's Historic Trust, its board and volunteers for creating such a wonderful day.
After the official festivities, I was pleased to be able to have lunch at Café Montmartre and spend some time with Bill Conklin, whose firm did the master plan for Reston and with James Rossant, who designed Lake Anne Village Center. I used to refer to Bill as “my young architect.” Bill will be 90 years old this year.
And so wending my way across the Plaza with Cheryl, pausing to talk with well-wishers, some of whom requested a photo, this wonderful day ended for me in Heron House where, on the 13th floor Cheryl and I have lived for the past 20 years.
Earlier when my turn had come on the platform, I had expressed my gratitude for all of these happenings, "There is a song that tells how this all makes me feel—I won't sing it but, if I did I'd be singing ‘Warm all over, warm all over.'"