The swim meet
By Jack Winston To understand summer’s true meaning to the residents of Annandale, you must understand swim teams and the pools that host them. Their fund raisers, rallies, practices, and meets are the events around which suburban families arrange their summer schedule. This is the first of at least two photo-essays to educate the uninitiated … Continued
Koreans celebrate heritage
These fan dancers from the Seung Moo group performed at the annual Korean Cultural Heritage Night at Ossian Hall Park June 28. The event’s sponsor, the Korean-American Association of Northern Virginia, wants to promote cultural exchange and friendship with the rest of the Annandale community, says William Won Hwang, the organization’s sponsor. Hwang came to … Continued
Buy produce from farmers: Support sustainable agriculture
Richard Settle of the Sunset View Farm in Culpeper offers yellow and white cling peaches and tomato plants. David Giusti brings flowers, heirloom tomatoes, habanera peppers, swiss chard, eggplants, squash, snap peas, and many kinds of herbs from the Wheatland Farm in Loudoun County. Sabry Alsharkawi sells herbs, flowers, and tomatoes from his farm in … Continued
Annandale Falls, Grenada
What’s a waterfall doing here? These falls are in the beautiful island of Grenada. Members of the Annandale Jumpers Association dive in for money.
Skatin’ for a cause
About 200 young boys competed in the annual Skatefest June 20 and 21 at the Wakefield Skate Park. Prizes were given out for best quarter pipe jam, best trick, and park/skate course in various age categories. The event, “Sk8 for a Cause,” benefits Children’s National Medical Center. Dan Callahan, the owner of Fairfax Surf Shop, … Continued
The Honey Pig: a good spot for Korean BBQ
The Honey Pig (7220-C Columbia Pike) was packed when we arrived at 9 p.m. on a Tuesday night. Open 24 hours a day, the ambience at the Honey Pig, also known as the Gooldaegee Korean Grill, is very loud, with techno music bouncing off the concrete floors and metal walls. The specialty may be pork, … Continued
What I like about my neighborhood
You can park a toilet in front of your house for weeks (like the folks at 3014 Rose Lane) and no one will complain. People around here aren’t all obsessed with fascist rules about what color you can or can’t paint your door, whether you’d prefer a meadow to a neatly mowed lawn, or whether … Continued
School bond on the ballot
The $232.5 million school bond slated for the Nov. 3 ballot won’t have much new funding for schools serving Annandale residents. That’s because renovation projects in our area were covered by previous bonds, including the construction of a new 36-classroom elementary school on the Lacey site near the intersection of Gallows Road and Wayne Drive … Continued
Hello to Hapmudo
The Hapmudo martial arts studio, which has been located in various spots in Annandale for the past five years and most recently in the former Princess Nails site on Columbia Pike, is moving next door July 1 to the site vacated by Master’s Costume. Hapmudo Master and founder Yong Sung Lee’s philosophy focuses on balancing … Continued
Farewell to Master’s Costume
A couple of enormous Teletubby heads, a few Santa suits, various halloween costumes, some hats, and a large assortment of bunny suits–that’s all that’s left on the second-to-the-last day of the Master’s Costume shop on Columbia Pike. The entire chain–with stores across the Virginia, Maryland, and D.C. region–is closing. The company has had a store … Continued
Vote for Kory for delegate
The AnnandaleVA blog endorses Kaye Kory to represent the 38th district in the House of Delegates. Kory has done an outstanding job as a member of the Fairfax County school board for the past 10 years and can be counted on to work hard to support public education as a state rep. Among her accomplishments … Continued
Blogger on vacation
This blog is on hiatus until June 1.
How lame is this?
The Annandale community sign in the tiny park on the corner of Little River Turnpike and Columbia Pike still has brochures about a bond referendum on the November 8, 1988, ballot and the capital improvement program dated July 30, 2005. How about some updates? Too bad Annandale isn’t more pedestrian friendly.
Bedlam on John Marr Drive
About 20 teams pushed hospital beds up and down the street in front of the Kmart this morning in the annual bed race. A team from Silverado restaurant won the race, which benefits the Special Olympics of Virginia and Annandale Chamber of Commerce. A team from the Reithoffer Shows, the company running the carnival in … Continued
Waiting for Bloom
The new Bloom grocery store, on Columbia Pike and Gallows Road where the Magruders used to be, won’t open until “the fourth quarter of 2009,” says a Food Lion spokesperson. Food Lion operates 52 Blooms in Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Bloom stores have interactive information kiosks that allow shoppers to locate products, … Continued