Mario (white shirt) and Andrea (holding certificate) Weber, surrounded by friends and members of the Cultivating Community Initiative, the volunteer group that produces the Good Neighbor Award. Photo contributed
Eleven different neighbors nominated Mario and Andrea Weber to receive the Town’s Good Neighbor Award.
“Knowing Mario and Andrea are here in Herndon gives us peace of mind,” according to neighbors. “Their thoughtful and genuine love for their neighbors and the Town of Herndon are evident each and every day.”
Barbara Glakas and Tooran Shadman from the town’s Cultivating Community Initiative presented the award at Herndon’s Town Council meeting on Nov. 10.
“It is easy to be a good neighbor when you live in a good neighborhood,” Mario Weber said after receiving the award and hearing what the neighbors said about him and his wife.
He and Andrea moved to Bruce Court in Herndon on Nov. 10 four years ago, the same date the award was given to them.
“These guys opened their arms to us,” said Mario Weber. “They are the best neighbors.”
THE NEIGHBORHOOD celebrated with the Webers at the Town Council meeting; they said the Webers have made the neighborhood a part of their family.
The Town’s Cultivating Community Initiative gives the award annually to recognize citizens “who give over and beyond the call of duty, to help out their neighbors, and do things to make the neighborhood a better place to live.”
“You weren’t just nominated by one neighbor, you were nominated by 11 neighbors. Your neighbors tell us that when you moved here a few years ago, you embraced living in the Town of Herndon,” said Glakas.
“They tell us you always make yourselves available to anyone for anyone who needs you, you brighten everybody’s day with constant good cheer, you are true friends,” she said.
Glakas gave numerous examples of the Webers providing help — installing windows, taking care of pets, shoveling snow and sidewalks, helping with heavy lifting, fixing rooftops or bathrooms, inviting the neighborhood to cookouts, and cooking a meal for 120 people at the Embry Rucker Shelter in Reston.
“Their sense of community in unparalleled,” Glakas said neighbors told her. “They embody all the values we espouse to as a community, Town and a country.”