Springfield Franconia ❖ Kingstowne ❖ Newington Lee’s Frank Holloway Jr. had 16 points and seven rebounds for the Suburban All-Stars Thursday, April 9 during an all-star exhibition at American Classic University’s Bender Arena. Moves Sports, Page 14 Classified, Page 16 Classified, ❖ Sports, Page 14 ❖ Calendar, Page 8 County To Charge For Park Access? News, Page 3 ammer/The Connection 04-17-09 home in Requested Time sensitive material. sensitive Time Attention Postmaster: Attention Going Green #31 PERMIT Elkton, MD Elkton, PAID U.S. Postage U.S. Pays Off STD PRSRT News, Page 3 Photo by Robbie h Photo www.ConnectionNewspapers.comApril 16-22, 2009 Volume XXIII, Number 15 online at www.connectionnewspapers.comSpringfield Connection ❖ April 16-22, 2009 ❖ 1 2 ❖ Springfield Connection ❖ April 16-22, 2009 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com Springfield Connection Editor Michael O’Connell News 703-917-6440 or [email protected] Residents May Pay for Park Access Proposed budget cuts lead Park Authority Board to vote for $4 resident vehicle fee. By Julia O’Donoghue — attract about 3 million visitors in total The Connection each year. Officials said the new fees would not af- ana Wiseman uses Lake fect the bulk of the park system’s users, Accotink Park almost every approximately 17 million people annually. D day. Wiseman lives in the Car- “It is important to realize that we are only dinal Forest condominium talking about four out of 420 parks. ” said complex in Springfield, which is located Judy Pedersen, public information officer near one of the park’s entrances. for the Fairfax County Park Authority. “I use the park to relax and enjoy nature, to get away from things that are bothering THE NEW LAKEFRONT park fee struc- me,” he said while walking near the lake ture would go into effect July 1 and apply April 8. to people who visit the parks on weekends If the Fairfax County and holidays from 9 a.m. Park Authority moves for- to 5 p.m. July through ward with new user fees, “I have a real October. fewer people may get to During these times, enjoy Fairfax County’s problem with the residents would pay a fee lakefront parks like of $4 per vehicle to drive Accotink for free. Park Authority a car onto the four park by Photo In the face of a $4.1 mil- grounds. Non-residents lion budget cut, the Park charging county would pay $8 per vehicle Authority Board voted last to enter Lake Accotink, month to charge Fairfax residents to use Burke Lake and Julia O'Donoghue County residents for en- those parks.” Riverbend’s facilities and tering four of the locality’s $4 per vehicle to use most popular parks in ve- — Sharon Bulova, Fairfax Lake Fairfax. hicles during peak sea- County Chairman Lake Fairfax’s “non- sonal hours. county” fee is lower be- It is the first time county cause the park authority markets its “water /The Connection residents would have to pay to just enter mine” to out-of-county residents and did not county-run park grounds. Currently, the want to discourage those people from visit- Park Authority only charges out-of-county ing the popular water park, said Pedersen. residents in cars for coming into Burke Lake She added that the new charges are also Park in Fairfax Station. unlikely to affect daily users of the water- The four affected facilities — Lake front parks since many of those people visit Accotink, Burke Lake, Lake Fairfax Park in Fairfax County residents may soon be charged a fee for driving into Reston and Riverbend Park in Great Falls See Access Fees, Page 12 Lake Accotink and three other local parks with access to water. Rolling Valley Finds Reason To Recycle Elementary school receives $5,000 grant “We knew that we had a rather large need for capital investment in our school,” said Join the Program for reaching recycling goals. John Cooley, Rolling Valley PTA president. To become a part of the RecycleBank pro- “So when I found out about the program, I gram, visit www.recyclebank.com. Members By Justin Fanizzi books and a computer fleet in need of re- put [a proposal] together and sent it in.” of the program are eligible for certificates The Connection and discount coupons to many major stores placement, the school needed money but Started by RecycleBank, the loyalty and and restaurants based on the amount they with FCPS making cuts and the PTA not rewards program encourages recycling. recycle. n a time filled with slashed bud- having the funds to cover it, the school Originally created to provide incentives for Igets and tightening belts, fund- seemed out of luck and options. However, households to recycle, RecycleBank supple- ing can be difficult to come by, with the discovery of a new grant program mented its community-based program and stating why Rolling Valley Elementary but as Rolling Valley Elementary and the joint cooperation of the school’s opened it up into a grant program for popu- would be a good candidate to receive the School has shown, all it takes is com- administration and surrounding neighbor- lations or localities that are not normally $5,000 grant, but was rebuffed by munity and some creativity. hoods, Rolling Valley was able to make ends addressed. RecycleBank, which felt that the proposal Faced with a shortage of leveled meet. When Cooley, who is also the president needed alterations to fit under the umbrella of the West Springfield Village Civic Asso- of the Bank’s themes for the grant, earth “With some incentive, we can do a lot to preserve our ciation, learned of the program through the science and environment. So, Cooley con- company that handles his neighborhood’s tacted the company that distributes the environment and this was a perfect opportunity for trash and recycling, AAA Recycling and books they wanted to buy with the grant Trash Removal Services, he knew that this money and obtained a list of all the earth us to do our part.” was an avenue to explore. —John Cooley, Rolling Valley PTA, president Initially, Cooley drafted a grant proposal, See Raising, Page 4 www.ConnectionNewspapers.com Springfield Connection ❖ April 16-22, 2009 ❖ 3 Week in Springfield News More Students May Move to Lake Braddock Fairfax County Public Schools may move approximately 150 more students to Lake Braddock Second- ary School in time for the 2010-11 school year. The school system said it needs to provide enrollment relief to Annandale High School and Poe Middle School. The Fairfax County School Board voted to consider moving the por- tion of Annandale and Poe’s bound- aries that is outside the Capital Beltway and south of Braddock Road into Lake Braddock’s pyramid. Skyler Pagnella races her sister, Some neighborhoods inside the Shelly, while being careful not to Capital Beltway would also move Children open their eggs to find out their prizes following an Easter Egg drop the egg they were carrying on from Annandale to Falls Church hunt at the Journey Church in Springfield on Saturday morning. a spoon. High School and Glasgow Middle School as a result of the boundary study. Those families who would be moved to Lake Braddock live pri- Egg Hunt marily in the Ravensworth commu- nity. According to the school sys- tem, approximately 100 of these students would be in high school Underway and 50 in middle school. About a dozen Ravensworth par- ents showed up at the School Springfield church Board’s April 2 meeting to protest offers holiday the school redistricting, saying they would prefer to attend Annandale activities for children. and Poe rather than Lake Braddock. Many opposed being moved from Photos by Robbie Hammer a school with an International Bac- calaureate program to a school with an Advanced Placement program. Joshua Winegar, 4, quickly grabs They also said the school redis- several eggs during an Easter Egg tricting would adversely affect Hunt at The Journey Church in Annandale, a school where nearly Springfield on Saturday morning. half the students are from low-in- come households. The boundary shift would move some of the Annandale families with more fi- Raising Money with Recycling Program nancial means out of that school’s community, said the parents. From Page 3 pants that have radio frequency identifica- who belong to the Girl Scouts used their School Board member Tessie Wil- tion chips in them. AAA then retrofitted troop’s Web site to host online chats where son (Braddock), who represents science and environmental-centric texts their trucks to read the chips, and when- they could meet to discuss strategy. Also, both Annandale and Lake available for purchase. Cooley then sent the ever a participant’s recycling is picked up, Lane said that a group of students even met Braddock, disputed this fact. She list and an updated proposal to the chip is read and the tote is weighed. daily during recess to exchange ideas and said the percentage of students who RecycleBank. This time, he was successful. Rolling Valley had a leg up in their en- encouragement. qualify to receive free-and-reduced- “It took some imagination to meet the deavor, as Cooley had already gotten West “[The students] came up with ideas and priced meals would remain ap- criteria,” Cooley said. “I retooled the lan- Springfield Village involved. According to bantered after hours,” Lane said. “It was so proximately the same if the bound- guage ever so slightly, but I did not want to Cooley, the neighborhood had residents al- impressive. You read about things like this ary change took place. lie to [RecycleBank].