Friday, November 20, 2009
Ashburn, VA
52 ºF Low
Last update: 11/20/09 7:00 PM EST

Publications by Elaine Jean

“Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.”

In Shakespeare’s "Macbeth," the three witches incant these infamous words and curse the man that they had predicted would one day become the King of Scotland. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most powerful plays. It was first performed as early as 1611 at the Globe Theatre and published in folio form a decade later in 1623.

 

The fall production of the Pickwick Players will be "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat." With music composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics written by Tim Rice, and a talented cast directed by Michele Reynolds, this event promises to be a highlight of the local autumn entertainment season.

 

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 The Valor Foundation is raising good old family fun to support Loudoun County’s hometown heroes—our first responders. Sunday, Nov. 1 is X-Treme Family Fun Day, a four hour extravaganza of unlimited play at the Dulles Golf Center and Sports Park, to benefit those who knowingly put themselves in harm’s way, and sometimes become injured in their mission to keep us safe.

 

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Walter Gavenda loves to tell tales about the ghosts of Civil War soldiers and slaves, and he’ll be at the Cascades Library on Wednesday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m., to share his unique combination of history and haunting. You will have the opportunity to listen to recordings made at numerous Civil War sites, and to ponder the question of whether ghosts do roam the local Civil War battlefields on which they perished.

 

Every Friday night from 7-10 p.m., the Cascades Library opens its doors to our teens and gives them a place to be—a place to be together, a place to be happy, a place to be themselves. This may sound like a small thing, but those of us with teens know that it is a very big thing.

 

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Last year's winning entry by Jessica Silbaugh

 

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A favorite fall ritual of Potomac Falls High School juniors and seniors is:

a.) Picking apples with kith and kin;

b.) Watching Panthers football games and tailgating in the parking lot;

c.) Attending the Homecoming Dance;

d.) Tackling a 4 ½ hour exam armed with two #2 pencils, three Red Bulls, and a Pop Tart; or

e.) All of the above

 

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Did you know that Halloween is second only to Christmas as a consumer holiday, generating over $6 billion in sales annually? My immediate reaction to that bit of trivia was, “That’s a lot of candy corn,” but confections represent just one-third of the take. Research shows that two-thirds of adults in the United States will celebrate Halloween, and half of them will spend over $100 in their revelry.

 

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Tools of the Dental Trade. Photo by Paul Jean.
 Today I visited Dominion Dental for my annual appointment. At the advanced age of 52, I never know what problem could be lurking inside my mouth. Mine is the generation of penny candy, shrinking and expanding fillings, and non-fluoridated water. My anxiety is only compounded by an intense dislike (ok, it’s a phobia) of gauze. I must say that the appointment was the highlight of my day, thanks to the empathy, wit, and wisdom of my dentist and hygienists.

 

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Benches along the Multisensory Trail
If you are a nature lover, you might already know that Claude Moore Park includes over 11 miles of hiking trails and countless opportunities to enjoy the flora and fauna of our region. But did you know that the park has recently opened a Multisensory Nature Trail so that people with disabilities or limitations can enjoy the great outdoors, too?

 

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Congratulations, Mr. Spage. When I learned that the principal of PFHS had accepted the position of Director of High School Education with LCPS, I was both proud and sad. David Spage joined the PFHS family in 2004, the same year as our daughter Nikki, and he is the only high school principal this family has known. Now our son, David, begins his senior year, and we suddenly have two reasons to feel that this is the end of an era.

 

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Downpour Water Park
 Families donating a new backpack will enjoy Free Family Day at Downpour Water Park (located inside Algonkian Regional Park) on Sunday, August 23 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. The backpacks will be collected by “Generosity Cans,” and sponsored by the Restore Community Church. The packs will then be given to Kids-R-First, a nonprofit organization based in Reston that provides thousands of Loudoun students with basic school supplies.

 

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Photo Credit: John Scarpatti

Parents’ Choice award-winning musician Roger Day will be at the Cascades Library on Sunday, August 16 at 2 p.m. In his latest CD, Roger tells us “You get one life, you gotta make it count, so dream big!”

 

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Take a trip to the Cascades Farmers’ Market and feed the local economy. 

The Virginia Cooperative Extension tells us that if each household in Loudoun County spends $10 of its weekly food budget on locally-produced foods, an additional $48 million per year will stay in Loudoun and be reinvested in our economy. Supporting Loudoun County never tasted so good. And the Cascades Farmers Market makes it easy by setting up every Sunday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in the parking lot of the Senior Center on Whitfield Place.