BVSCA Newsletter March 2002
Contents:March 26 Meeting Agenda
Please refer to the newsletter for a summary of agenda items.
7:00 pm Executive Committee Meeting
7:30 pm Full Membership Meeting
BVSCA dues paying members may participate as observers in meetings of the BVSCA Executive Committee. On March 26, BVSCA will be meeting in the community room of the Ballston Park Condominiums at 1050 N. Stuart St. behind The Nature Conservancy. We are grateful to Ballston Park Condominiums for offering space for BVSCA meetings. However, please be advised that there is limited on-street parking available. Paid parking is available at the garage adjacent to the Rio Grande restaurant, on N. Taylor St.
BVSCA Membership Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of alternate months from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm. Our next membership meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 28 at 7:30 pm. The BVSCA newsletter is published six times per year in advance of the monthly meeting.
And the Nominees Are...
Time really does fly when you're having fun! It's that time of year again - time to nominate officers for the 2002-03 BVSCA membership year. As per BVSCA by-laws, a three person nominating committee will be elected at the March 26 meeting. If you are interested in participating on the nominating committee, or most importantly, running for a BVSCA office, please contact Ben Axleroad at 703-525-3083 for more information.
At a Crossroads
County planners Jennifer Smith & Richard Gerbracht will attend BVSCA's March 26 meeting to provide an overview of the status of the Virginia Square Sector Plan. As the sector plan nears completion, the County is beginning a final phase of review and comment which will include soliciting input from the Virginia Square Sector Plan Review Committee, meeting with BVSCA members, and holding an open meeting in April or May to seek input from the entire community. Final revisions will be incorporated into the draft, and the sector plan will be presented to the County Board for Approval, possibly in early summer. Also attending the March 26 BVSCA meeting will be Tara Lake, Capital Projects Planner for Arlington Public Works. Ms. Lake is working on a project called "The Vision for Wilson Boulevard," which addresses a number of key elements in the new sector plan. This joint session with Ms. Lake, Ms. Smith and Mr. Gerbracht will provide an integrated discussion of two concurrent initiatives being undertaken by the County and will ensure that BVSCA priorities are reflected in both.
Is It a Train, a Plane - No, It's a Car!
Josh Gibson will be making a short presentation at the March 26 meeting regarding an innovative new business that he's launched in our neighborhood called Flex-Car. Flex-Car is a car sharing company that allows its members to have access to an automobile without the hassles of car ownership or rental. Flex-Car is gaining interest nationwide as a way to reduce the number of cars traveling in and out of urban areas, complement public transportation, and provide a service to those individuals and businesses who choose not to own an automobile.
Come and Play at the YMCA
Tucked away behind a grassy knoll on N. 13th Street is Ballston-Virginia Square's own neighborhood YMCA. Tara Miller of the Arlington Branch YMCA will join us on March 26 to provide BVSCA members with an overview of this not-for-profit, community service organization and its programs and services.
Miscellaneous News Items
Calling All Students. Cutting-edge information sources help make the County's reference departments at www.co.arlington.va.us/lib/ equal to major research libraries. A new collection of electronic resources that provide homework help, health advice, and access to massive newspaper and magazine archives is now available at all Arlington Public Libraries, home or office. For Spanish speakers, Informe! (Revistas en Espanol) offers full-text articles from popular Spanish-language and bilingual periodicals.
Let Your Interests Bloom. Master Gardeners of Northern Virginia host monthly, one-hour workshops on topics of interest to local gardeners. The workshops will be held at various times in Master Gardener Demonstration Gardens and other locations. Topics range from pruning to Spring garden chores to caring for houseplants. For detailed information about upcoming workshops, please call 703-228-6414.
Bouncing Back. The Arlington Community Resilience Project provides short term individual and group counseling, support groups, education, and referrals that focus on issues such as grief, stress and anxiety, anger, and multicultural awareness. These services are provided to businesses, schools, or individuals of all ages. If you are interested in more information, contact Kirsten Smith at (703) 228-4788 or ksmith@co.arlington.va.us .
Doin' Good. On Saturday, April 20, 9 am 3 pm, the Gunston Middle School Parent-Teacher Association is sponsoring a student service project to collect used bicycles and eyeglasses for Pedals for Progress, in conjunction with the Arlington County Household Hazardous Waste Collection and Computer Recycling Event. The collection and event will take place in the Gunston Middle School parking lot, 2700 South Lang St. A $10 donation is suggested with each bike to defray shipping to overseas charity partners. A receipt will be provided for all material and cash donations since PfP is a 501(c)3 non-profit charity. For more info call 703-525-7417 or send an email to koberg@bellatlantic.net .
Listserv. BVSCA members are invited to subscribe to the BVSCA listserv to receive periodic updates on issues of neighborhood interest, as well as the monthly newsletter. How? Send an email message to bvsca@hotmail.com advising that you would like to join. Include your name and post office address in your message along with the email address(es) from which you will be sending messages. When you are added to the list, you will receive a "Welcome" message with details regarding how to use the listserv. Remember that a message sent by a BVSCA listserv member to BVSCA-L@rootsweb.com will be relayed automatically to all listserv members. To prevent senders of unsolicited commercial email from using our list for unauthorized purposes, only listserv members may send messages to the mailing list from a subscribed address.
Editor's Prerogative
The once beloved groundcover, English ivy, is literally choking many trees to death. Nick-named the "kudzu of the north" by local environmentalists, ivy will eventually overtake even the tallest of our shade trees. As you think about spring planting, please consider other options for ground cover. If ivy is creeping up the trunks of your trees, you may be able to save the tree by removing the ivy down to the tree's base.
DeAndra Beck
Newsletter Editor
Ben Axleroad, President
3800 North Fairfax Dr., #205, Arlington, VA 22203
703-525-3083
Dennis Burr, Vice President
David Ryan, Secretary
DeAndra Beck, Treasurer
1301 N. Taylor St., Arlington, VA 22201
Theresa Smith, NCAC Representative
Ken Hughes
Jeffrey Green
Kate Wilson
How to Join the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association or Renew Your Membership
All individual persons who are residents of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association's area or who in their individual capacity own residential property located therein, shall be eligible for membership in the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association. For the purposes of this organization, the boundaries of the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association are Kirkwood Road on the east, Glebe Road on the west, Wilson Boulevard on the south, and the I-66 right of way on the north.
If interested in joining the Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, please complete the BVSCA Membership Application Form below and send your application and dues to DeAndra Beck, Treasurer, Ballston-Virginia Square Civic Association, at the address below.
Dues are payable when first joining and are renewable each year on or before the annual anniversary of that date. New members and members who have not paid their dues within the three preceding Association years must pay their dues 30 days before they receive voting privileges. Former members who have been members in good standing within any of the three immediately preceding Association years may be reinstated as voting members by paying their dues for that year.
All members of the Association are volunteers. Dues are used to help fund the Association's activities and sponsored events. Please join the Association today, or renew your dues paid membership. Visit us at (http://www.bvsca.org)
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Mail to: DeAndra Beck
BVSCA Treasurer
1301 N. Taylor St.
Arlington, VA 22201
Please make checks payable to BVSCA.