The Lantern
Dunn Loring Woods Civic Association dlwca.org September 2024
Fall Membership Meeting
Iman Butler
Our annual Fall Membership Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 24, beginning at 7:30 pm and will take place at Stenwood Elementary School.
Please mark this date on your calendar and keep an eye on our website for confirmation.
DLWCA Volunteer Opportunities
Iman Butler
Open DLWCA Board Positions
The DLWCA Board is looking for volunteers to serve as board President, board Vice-President, and Board Director. If you would like to volunteer for one of these important roles, please reach out to vice president Iman Butler or to director Ken Quincy.
Director of Website and Communications
We are looking for a student to serve in the newly-created role of Director of Website and Communications for the DLWCA. Core responsibilities include maintaining the association website and editing and publishing our digital monthly newsletter to the website and to the DLW-Talk email list. This is an opportunity to help set our communications strategy, to better use social media platforms and communicate with our members.
The student should live in Dunn Loring Woods. If interested, please contact Iman Butler, or Treasurer Frank Gallagher.
Other Volunteer Opportunities
We still have volunteer openings for a Neighborhood Watch coordinator and a community Yard Sale coordinator. In addition, all volunteer teams can use your support. For more information about our volunteer teams, please refer to the back of your pink or blue membership drive forms, your Neighborhood Directory, or contact dlwlantern@gmail.com.
Contact info for Iman Butler and Ken Quincy can be found at the end of the newsletter.
2024-25 Membership Drive
Aric Campling
Hello, neighbors. The 2024-2025 DLWCA Membership Drive starts on September 15 and runs through October 31. Dues for 2024-25 will again be $20 per household. Keep in mind all the ways the board uses the dues collected. These include the DLWCA directory, annual DLWCA scholarships, holiday decorating contest awards, maintenance of the traffic islands, advertising for the annual community yard sale, and the Edward P. Day award for noteworthy volunteers.
Election Day, November 5
Ken Quincy
Election Day is approaching for 2024. There are Virginia election guidelines that must be followed for your vote to count. These are subject to change periodically. The current guidelines and important dates can be found in an easy to read form on
While the closest early voting place to Dunn Loring Woods is the Jim Scott Community Center, 3001 Vaden Drive, you may vote early at any open early voting polling place. Dunn Loring Woods’ election day polling place is Thoreau Middle School. On election day, you must vote at Thoreau. If you requested a mail-in ballot but did not mail it in, you may drop it at the drop box at Thoreau on election day for it to be counted, or you can bring your ballot and notify the Election officer who checks you in that you would like to vote in-person instead.
Successful elections are important, and are dependent on your vote.
DLWCA Scholarship
Ken Quincy
The DLWCA Scholarship Program has been a longstanding valuable pursuit to recognize qualified DLW residents for their educational and community efforts. The program is currently under review with the goal of making it more applicable in current times. In this regard, community input is being asked for. Following are the current criteria for eligibility to participate in the program. We are asking for your review and comments on these criteria.
Please send your responses to Ken Quincy at ken_quincy@hotmail.com.
We thank you for your participation to maintain and improve this valuable community program.
Children and grandchildren currently living with a DLW resident are eligible to apply for a $1,000 DLWCA scholarship. Applicants should be a high school senior planning to attend college full time in the Fall or to pursue a vocational education such as through a trade school.
Applicants should provide the following:
· Written recommendation or character reference from a teacher, counselor or member of the DLW community.
· Copies of entrance examination scores, if applicable.
· List of awards, achievements and/or community service activities not to exceed one page.
· Photograph of applicant.
· One page statement describing something applicant has done in the past year that benefited the DLW community.
The top five candidates may be invited for an interview. Winners will be featured in The Lantern and on the DLWCA website.
Applications should be mailed to: DLWCA
Attention: Scholarship Committee
P.O. Box 238
Dunn Loring, VA 22027
The Responsibility of Having a Dog
Jo Ann Donnelly
Having a dog is wonderful for the family and has many benefits, but a dog also comes with responsibilities. Picking up poop and disposing of it properly is very important to your neighbors and the environment. Putting the plastic bag and poop down the sewer drains is a very bad idea because it goes straight into our streams, rivers, and into our Chesapeake Bay (we live withinin the Chesapeake Bay watershed boundary).
I do not have a dog myself, but over the years have had many and I always thought that training your dog to poop in their yard where it can be picked up and disposed of immediately (and would not have to be carried around) would make for a nicer walk. Also with our no-rain situation, the dog urine is killing the plants along the sidewalk. Try to have you dog go in different spots. Dogs are easy to train and don’t really mind where they go. Female dogs will usually return to the same spot to do their business.
Just something to consider.
Supervisor Highlights
Save the Date: Providence Day and Back to School Celebration!
I'm thrilled to invite you to the inaugural Providence Community Day and Back to School Celebration on October 5th from 11am- 3pm at George C. Marshall High School. Please join us for a fun-filled day with delicious food, exciting games, crafts, contests, and entertainment for all ages. It’s a great opportunity to connect with your community and learn about local organizations.
Speed Camera Program Ready to Expand
A recent presentation about the Speed Camera Pilot Program to the Board of Supervisors Safety and Security Committee revealed a bevy of successes, and a plan for expansion to take place soon. The pilot, which initially launched in February 2023, reduced the average speed in nearly every test location, thus improving safety in each of the impacted school zones.
2024 Congressional App Challenge Registration Open!
Registration for the 2024 Congressional App Challenge is now open! Students can register for the 2024 Congressional App Challenge and start coding their apps for 2024. The competition deadline is October 24th at 12:00 pm.
The Congressional App Challenge is also hiring interns for Fall 2024, with a priority focus on Congressional Affairs and Communications.
Fairfax County Park Authority Notes
Coming this September: Rec Center Annual Membership Sale
From Sept. 1 to 30, join or renew your annual Rec Center membership and take advantage of a 15% discount. One price gets you entry into all Park Authority rec centers located across Fairfax County. There are no initiation fees or annual dues. Memberships can be purchased in person at any of the rec centers or the Rec Center passes webpage
Rec Center Open House
Kick off the fall season by exploring everything that your neighborhood Rec Center has to offer. Come discover new opportunities to improve your wellbeing and forge new connections with your community by participating at the Fairfax County Park Authority Rec Center Open House event on Monday, Sept. 9. Tour facilities and try out the amenities all day long for free. Come to any Rec Center between 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. to enjoy special programs and activities. View the Rec Center Open House Flyer here.
You Autumn Know – About Fall Classes and Camps
Cozy up with the fall edition of Parktakes magazine and fill your calendar with exciting ways to get out and frolic and take on something new. Fall class and camp registration is open!
Fairfax County Elections
High School Page Program applications now open!
If you know of any high school students (children, grandchildren, friends, neighbors, etc.) who may be interested in volunteering for the November 2024 election, please see below for more information and the link to the application.
About High School Pages:
The program is open to all students who are at least 16 years old, live in Virginia, and are actively enrolled in high school. There are several shifts available for students during early voting on Oct 19, Oct 26, Oct 27, and Nov 2 (NEW for this election!), and on the morning and afternoon of election day, Nov 5.
To participate, students must take an online training and pass a quiz.
Students who complete the program will receive up to 12 service-learning hours, a Certificate of Appreciation, and a commemorative pin.
The priority application deadline is Friday, September 13 and the final deadline is Monday, September 30.
Subscribe to The Lantern
Aric Campling
This newsletter, The Lantern, is no longer distributed in print. It is uploaded to the DLWCA Website both as its own standalone page, and as a Blog Post, which you can subscribe to using any RSS Reader at https://www.dlwca.org/blog-feed.xml.
The newsletter is also mailed to the DLWCA-Talk mailing list, which you can subscribe to as a resident or renter.
And now, you can subscribe to receive The Lantern directly to your inbox starting with the next newsletter by filling out this form:
New resident / renter? Check out https://www.dlwca.org/movein for important info, and welcome!
Submissions, photos, and ideas for articles are always welcome! Please send them to dlwlantern@gmail.com
The deadline for our next issue is September 25th, 2024.
DLWCA Board
President: vacant
1st Vice President: Iman Butler
2nd Vice President: Vacant
Treasurer: Frank Gallagher
Secretary: Rae Schoffstall
Director (1 Year): Nathan Anthony
Director (2 Year): Ken Quincy
Director (3 Year): Jo Ann Donnelly Director Web / Comms—vacant
Volunteers
Neighborhood Watch—vacant Membership Chair—Aric Campling Membership Collectors—Maryann Gallagher Island Care Chair—Jo Ann Donnelly Hospitality—Jo Ann Donnelly Independence Day Flags—Iman Butler
Editor, The Lantern—Aric Campling (interim)
You can contact the Webmaster at dlwcawebmaster@gmail.com. With comments, suggestions, and questions. Thank you!
Your Local, Friendly DLWCA Webmaster
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