$6.99 Annandale Chamber of Commerce NDEAVOR October 2020 E Building the Annandale Marketplace www.annandalechamber.com Shred fest Great 2 Success Soothing Strings Calm Covid Anxiety The Reunion Music Society 3 Real Estate: Fast Moving Market By: Ralph Brooker, President, Reunion Music Society 4 VOTE 5 Pupusas Express 8 Liberty Language 9 FACETS Opens Doors The JCC : Programs 10 for the Community 12 VIEW ON NATURE Flying Dragons 14 Butterfly Theme Park At its 25th anniversary concert, the NOVA Annandale Symphony Orchestra, with the combined Northern Virginia Chorale 15 Insurance: Flooding and New Dominion Choraliers, performs Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, conducted by Christopher Johnston. Nov. 2019. with More Frequency At the Beginning has just given a sparkling performance of Rodrigo’s The Contents of a Concierto de Aranjuez and other substantial works. 16 It’s 1994. Gladys Watkins and Herb Smith, Lady’s Handbag-1854 The collaboration has paid off in spades. Professors of Music at the NVCC Annandale 17 A Jacket with No Tails campus, propose an idea to their friend and It didn’t take 24 years to reach that level, though. colleague, Dr. Claiborne Richardson, eminent At the very first concert on April 15, 1994, conduct- MEET THE ARTIST: music educator and member of the NVCC ed in part by Dr. Richardson, the orchestra present- 18 Board. Your community music association, Bob Simoniz ed Samuel Barber’s Serenade for Strings, Copland’s the Reunion Music Society, has a mission of Lincoln Portrait (narrated by Dr Ernst himself) and The ARTS are Being serving the community through music, but it is Fanfare for the Common Man, and other substantial 20 too small to form a symphony orchestra. Flattened by Covid pieces. The orchestra began a long-standing tradi- NVCC needs an orchestra ensemble class, but tion of major concerts in the fall and spring and 22 Energy Sense there aren’t enough student musicians to make pops concerts in the summers. The current Music one viable. How about a collaboration be- Director, Christopher Johnston, joined the orchestra 23 Fairfax County: tween RMS and the NOVA Annandale cam- not long after its founding and has led it through 25 Land Use pus? Students would get college credit for energetic seasons. playing alongside experienced community 24 Guns Banned on instrumentalists. Everyone gets a chance to Today play in a full symphony orchestra. Dr. Rich- County Property ardson agrees wholeheartedly, and with sup- The NOVA-Annandale Symphony Orchestra is s 25 CHAMBER CHAT port from Dr. Richard Ernst, NVCC President, mix of more than 70 student, adult, and professional the NOVA Annandale Symphony Orchestra is musicians from the DC metropolitan area, almost 26 AVFD—Open House launched. all volunteers. The orchestra has performed favor- ites by Mendelssohn, Holst, 27 Mental Health Cut to 2018. Dr. Richardson, now in frail Support Group health, is beaming with pride. The orchestra Continued page 6 October 2020 2 ENDEAVOR Successful Shred and Recycle Fest ReMax 100 Realty - 5501 Backlick Road ReMax 100 for hosting this annual event. What was collected for recycling: We estimated that 1000 cars came through our event . .- we did not count - but it was constant from 8:45 to noon+. 12,349 pounds (6.17 tons) of shredding Over 2,000 gallons of latex paint - two 6x12 trailers full plus additional cans in other trailer loads Another 1,000 gallons+ of oil based paint and other house- hold hazardous waste Over 75 televisions e-cycled Over 100 printers e-cycled Paint and household hazardous waste collected for disposal. Over 50 old PC's and Laptops e-cycled Last month, ReMax 100 Realty on Backlick Road held their 35 other miscellaneous electronics e-cycled annual Shred and Recycle Fest. Postponed from earlier in the Hundreds of cords, keyboards and other e-cycle items deliv- spring due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the success of the event ered to the landfill for proper disposal clearly demonstrated just how many households were in need of a clear-out. Many other shred fests had been cancelled over the One full 1-2-3 Junk Trunk with tough to dispose of house- past many months with recyclables building in volume both in hold trash and debris garages and office buildings throughout the region. 43 propane tanks collected for donation to the 25th Project Unlike the normal shred fest where only paper files are pro- which cares for the homeless population in Prince Williams cessed, this event offers the opportunity to have propane tanks, County electronics, left over paint cans & household hazardous waste (The empty tanks will be traded to buy full ones for $15. With- recycled and discarded in an environmentally responsible man- out an empty tank to trade, it would cost those in need $50 to pur- ner. They also collect and donate clothing, blankets, and reusa- chase a new full tank. Propane is supplied to the homeless popula- ble house hold goods to Goodwill. tion from October to April to help keep them warm and alive dur- ing the cold months). Starting before 8:30 am, cars lined-up in both directions of Backlick waiting to drop-off the remnants from hundreds of The 6x12 trailers full of donated clothes, blankets and oth- cleaned out garage and basement projects along with home and er reusable household goods donated to Goodwill. business files. Relief, even joy, was expressed by the thousand or more who participated. Congratulations and thanks go to ENDEAVOR October 2020 3 Annandale Real Estate Fast Moving Market Requires Creative Planning By: Pat Sawhney, ReMax 100 gages are at an historic low with many fine programs to help first time buyers. Contributing to the shortage are so many residents either wishing to age in place, often with the help of a home care giver from one of the fine elder care companies such as Home Instead Senior Care or because of the dramatic lack of senior housing properties. Contracts are being written with even more attractive terms for the seller such as the buyer waiving the appraisal, agreeing to no home or radon inspections, and offering free rent backs to the Seller until a convenient move out can be arranged. Real Estate agents and their clients have to be very creative in struc- turing offers in order to stand out over the competition. Expe- rienced agents are key along with quality marketing! It is during the contract negotiations that your real estate agent fair- In today’s COVID world, the Real Estate Market is indeed com- ly earns their commission. Most sales that are lost occur dur- plex. For the last 90 days, the Annandale market (zip 22003) ing this process. It is a time for experience, inside knowledge records 122 sold detached homes with 3+ bedrooms and 2+ of the local agencies & market, and letting the adage, “penny baths from the low of $460K list to the high of $1,499,000. The wise and dollar foolish” ring out. average range is $750K. Buyers have not been as fussy as in the past. Many have al- The $460K listing sold for $501K, Cash, as is which most likely ready lost their first attempt or two to purchase. Some houses will become a teardown for a new build. It had been on the mar- are in pristine, move in condition with the need for a minimum ket for only 7 days displaying online only exterior photos. For of work. Cash buyers are plentiful, both investors and those the highest list price of $1,499,000, the transaction closed at buying to occupy and renovate. Houses needing major reno- $1,485.000 in 29 days. Interesting to note that the lot on which vation, for which financing would not be available, are selling it sat sold for $531K in April 2018. for Cash. One of my recent listings was “turnkey” with a bit of advice Why pay rent when you can own--we have been working with from my team. (Photo above) We suggested fresh paint in many first-time buyers. A recent sale was to two young sisters desirable colors, staging using the seller’s furniture but eliminat- buying for their family. The VHDA loan, Virginia Housing ing certain pieces that were moved in advance to their new and Development Authority, included a 2% buyer credit at home. You don’t want to overwhelm the rooms with too much Closing. The fortunate buyer agreed to a Seller’s counteroffer furniture but you do want to show spaces that are livable. and beat out over 24 other buyers. With twenty-three disap- pointed but more motivated buyers in the marketplace, the As you might imagine due to Covid-19, showings have become business of real estate just a bit different. First, we turned on all the lights in the morning keeps rolling on! and off in the evening so that Realtors could go through touch- less; shoe covers were provided with one basket for new shoe covers and a 2nd box for used ones. Hand sanitizer was available at the entrance. Viewing required wearing of masks as well as the shoe covers, by appointment through the on line showing system, with only one party at a time. The landscaping was im- Pat Sawhney maculate and easy to maintain; all systems, siding, windows, ReMax 100 Realty HVAC were newer. We received 2 offers within two days, se- 5501 Bradlick Rd. lected one, leaving the other very disappointed. Springfield, VA 22151 703-395-9214 Except during the March lockdown and stay-at-home order, the [email protected] market has continued its robust adventures and the surprise of Covid-19 did not slow it down.