News

Famed fiddlers Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are joined by their children to present an afternoon of Celtic music and dance in “Visions from Cape Breton and Beyond” at the Hylton Performing Arts Center in Manassas on Sunday, March 1, 2015 at 4 p.m. A pre-performance discussion, free to ticketholders, begins 45 minutes prior to the performance in the Hylton Center’s Buchanan Partners Art Gallery. Novant Health is the 2014-2015 Hylton Presents Season Sponsor.

This Celtic family celebration will include world-class fiddling, spectacular step dancing and family fun! Together on stage, native Nova Scotian MacMaster’s Cape Breton style fuses with Leahy’s Irish-Scottish roots and Lakefield, Ontario upbringing, and their children represent the next generation of Celtic music. Married in 2002, Natalie MacMaster and Donnell Leahy are raising a family of six to do what they do best: fiddle and step dance. Natalie MacMaster started fiddling as a 9-year-old, and Donnell Leahy, a fiddler of the sibling octet Leahy, began fiddling competitively as a 4-year-old. Their careers have been filled with awards and acclaim, and the Canadian couple continue to perform, tour and co-host the annual Leahy Music Camp in the summer.


News

Canine Companions for Independence – a national non-profit organization that provides assistance dogs for children and adults with disabilities, is proud to announce that Haymarket, Virginia residents Susan and Bruce Pfeffer recently began raising an assistance dog in-training for Canine Companions for Independence.

Puppy Comfort is a specially-bred labrador retriever who will one-day know over 50 commands, and be matched with a person with disabilities.


Event

Join me during this National Craft Open Studios weekend, a celebration of Amrican craft organized by the American Craft Council (ACC). Come visit my studio July 18-19th, 11am-5pm at 10449 Metropolitan Ave, Kensington, MD. Please drop in, see how my work is created, tour my studio and try your hand at hammering some metal.


News

There’s a new plan for Interstate 66 that looks a lot like what just happened on I-95.

Virginia transportation officials want to build more of those famous “managed lanes,” or toll lanes between U.S. 15 in Haymarket in Prince William to the Capital Beltway in Fairfax County, just outside Tysons Corner. Two new lanes would be added to each side of the highway and, like the 95 E-ZPass Express Lanes, drivers will pay a toll 24 hours a day to use them. The new lanes would be free to drivers with three or more occupants in their vehicles.


Press Release

The Department of Parks & Recreation will hold three summer job fairs during the month of February.  Parks & Recreation have 500 seasonal job opportunities available for 14 locations across the county.

“Seasonal job opportunities offer flexible hours in both indoor and outdoor working environments,” said Lisa Frankel, Human Resources Specialist at Parks & Recreation. “We have open positions for life guards, camp counselors, food & beverage concessions and grounds maintenance technicians.”  The Department of Parks & Recreation is the largest employer of youth in the county. 


Press Release

When you say “Boy Scout” the iconic image of scarf-clad young men helping the elderly across a busy intersection comes to mind for many. But few know that one program in the Boy Scouts of America is actually open to teenage young men and women. This lesser known program is called “Venturing,” and the Scouts who participate in Venturing work with fellow members in Crews to set and achieve lofty goals and learn ideals which will last them for a lifetime.

Like other Scouting programs, Venturing has a system of awards that the Scout can work to earn, the highest level of which is known as the “Silver Award.” (The Boy Scouts of America recently announced that the Silver Award will be renamed to be known as the “Summit Award.”) Among other requirements, the Silver Award requires a teenager to set personal growth goals, learn First Aid and CPR, participate in a leadership skills course, learn and lead a forum on ethics, and serve as a leader in their home Crew. Additionally the Scout must receive three letters of recommendation from community leaders, educators, or members of the clergy.