The holiday season in the City of Falls Church kicked into high gear in the week leading up to Thanksgiving with special events that underscored an emphasis on gratitude and giving. More is in store.
This coming Tuesday will be a highlight of the season in the Little City, a Winter Wonderland fete on the outdoor market square at Founder’s Row at the intersection of W. Broad and N. West Street. This annual event began as a tree lighting ceremony to switch on the festive lights in the trees lining W. Broad Street, something that Mayor Letty Hardi had been advocating for years.
Now, in recent years it has relocated and expanded to include entertainment (the team from Creative Caudron and Meridian High School student singers), hot chocolate and treats, with free parking. It’s the family-oriented gathered community highlight kicking off the season.
BETTER TOGETHER
by Nicholas F. Benton Falls Church News-Press by Nicholas F. Benton
It actually got started last Sunday night with a first-ever for the Little
Continued on Page 3
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November 27December 3, 2025 A NEW TRADITION WAS LAUNCHED Sunday in the historic Falls Church downtown in the City of Falls Church. It was an ecumenical “Community Thanksgiving Service,” a first of its kind with participation by the choirs and leaders of most of the churches based in the Little City. The Rev. Burl Salmon of the host Falls Church Episcopal said he plans to make the event an annual occurrence. It also kicked off a new “’Better Together” partnership between the churches, the City of F.C. and its schools for donation of food and funds to support the growing number of families in need over the holidays. See photo of all the participating worship leaders, on page 12. (Photo: News-Press)
infrastructure to that area near Fredericksburg.
side the traditional Ashburn corridor.
Ross Litkenhous, current chair of the City of Falls Church’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) and former member of the Falls Church City Council, told the News-Press this month that, as co-founder of Falls Churchbased Oasis Digital Properties, a deal has been struck to allow for the development of a largescale data center campus in King George County — a project that will bring new jobs, long-term tax revenue, and modern digital
The Dahlgren West (also referenced as the Dahlgren Innovation Hub) campus will occupy roughly 485–500 acres on the north side of James Madison Parkway and is planned to include up to ten data center buildings totaling approximately 6.8–7.0 million square feet, with an anticipated IT capacity in the neighborhood of 1.2 gigawatts. The project represents one of the largest single-site data center proposals in the Fredericksburg / Greater Northern Virginia region out -
“Oasis was founded to responsibly expand critical digital infrastructure into communities that want the economic opportunity while preserving local priorities,” said Litkenhous. “This campus in King George is a tangible example of a collaborative approach: we’re bringing advanced technology, sustainable design practices, and workforce development commitments to a community that has welcomed thoughtful, long-term investment.”
Project leaders say construc -
tion will generate a substantial near-term economic boost: an estimated 1,500 construction jobs during the buildout, and roughly 50–60 full-time operations jobs per building once the campus is fully occupied. Local officials and Oasis estimate annual fiscal benefits to King George County — driven by real estate and personal property taxes — could fall in the range of $100 million to $120 million once the campus reaches maturity.
Oasis Digital Properties was
Falls Church News-Press
News Briefs
Shields Vows No Action on Virginia Village Without Input
At Monday’s Falls Church City Council meeting, City Manager Wyatt Shields assured the Council that nothing of substance will happen in terms of decisions about the future of the 20 1940s-era quadplexes on S. Maple St. known as the Virginia Village until after New Year.
At the next Council meeting on Dec. 8, the Council will hear the contents of a “memorandum of understanding” from the F.C. Economic Development Authority (EDA), which is the formal owner of nine of the 20 quadplexes.
It will be starting in January 2026 that a “roadmap” for the future of the Virginia Village will begin to be developed, Shields said, “and there will be ample time for community input.”
“We will start with the community, and then bring in others” as the plans develop, he said.
Beyer Heads Bi-Partisan Effort To Tame Anger in House
A bipartisan group of U.S. congressmen is trying to address growing frustration over increasingly spiteful divisions in Congress. Democratic U.S. Rep. Don Beyer of Northern Virginia and Don Bacon (R-Nebraska) are teaming up on legislation that would raise the threshold from a simple majority to a 60-percent majority to punish a House member with censure, disapproval or removal of committees. The resolution had 31 co-sponsors, including six Republicans and 24 Democrats, as of Monday evening.
Beyer, who has served in the House since 2015, lamented “the tension, the anger, the refusal to work together,” but he said that growing frustration in the chamber made him optimistic a change in the rules could get a vote as soon as next year.
F.C. City Offices Closed This Thursday & Friday
The City of Falls Church’s government offices and services will be closed for Thanksgiving, including City Hall and the Mary Riley Styles Public Library, on Thanksgiving Day and the day after, Friday, Nov. 28, but the Community Center will be open Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.
F.C. Festive Seasonal Events Kick Off Saturday & Tuesday
This Saturday, Nov. 29 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. a Very Victorian Christmas at the Cherry Hill Farmhouse involves a free visit to see how Christmas was celebrated in the 1860s.
In collaboration with the Victorian Society of Falls Church, costumed interpreters will welcome guests to gather for some holiday cheer. The festivities include decorations, music, stories, and children’s activities. No registration required.
On Tuesday, Dec. 2 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., the annual Winter Wonderland in The Little City will again be held at the Market Square in Founders Row at 930 W. Broad St.
The free event will feature musical performances by Creative Cauldron and the Meridian H.S. Choral group, hot cocoa, festive treats. There will be free parking in the Founders Row parking garage.
New Pew Poll: Younger Prefer to Read News
According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, younger age groups now prefer to get their news by reading it. Among adults under age 30, the largest share prefers to get news by reading (45 percent), while 31 percent say they prefer watching it and 23 percent prefer listening to it.
F.C. Semi-Pro Soccer Team Qualifies for U.S. Open Cup
The Falls Church-based Virginia Dream FC is back in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open
Cup for the 2026 edition. In the fourth and final qualifying round of the U.S. Open Cup, the Dream played away at MSI Pro (Maryland). It took 90 minutes of regular time plus 30 more minutes of overtime, but The Little City team brought home the victory.
At the end of 90 minutes, the score was tied 0-0 but as the first half of overtime was coming to an end Diarra Zoumana netted the first goal of the match. Williams Yami added the second goal on a breakaway in the 115th minute for a 2-0 win.
Va. Arts Commission Opens FY26 Grant Applications
The Virginia Commission on the Arts opened its Fiscal Year 2026 Capacity Building Grant applications on November 1. Applicants must be Virginia 501 (c) 3 arts organizations with prior-year income of $20,000-$750,000.
The grant funds of up to $1,500 (non-matching and rolling review) are to go towards targeted consulting and professional development. Applications are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis until all funds are awarded.
‘Little Beast’ Pizza Soon to Open in Whole Foods Building
A family-friendly pizza restaurant in Falls Church is shooting to open in a few months, following some delays. After announcing plans in December 2024 to open at 119 E. Broad Street, Little Beast Cafe and Bistro, known for its storybook-style decor and Detroit-style pizza, has reset its timeline to open early next year, according to owner Aaron Gordon.
Construction is ongoing at the forthcoming location on the ground floor of the Broad and Washington apartment building.
The outfit’s other location in D.C. offers both Detroit-style and brick oven pizzas. Little Beast also offers salads and Italian-style appetizers.
Epstein Files Issue Recalls Epstein-Backed Candidate Here
The focus on release of the Epstein Files has caused some locals to recall that in 2014, an independent U.S. congressional candidate for the 8th District seat then, just vacated by Rep. Jim Moran, was reported at the time to have had direct ties to the late convicted child abuser and close friend of Donald Trump, Jeffrey Epstein.
The one-time Congressional candidate, Gwendolyn Beck, reportedly flew on notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s private jets, and was photographed partying with him and Prince Andrew. Two British newspapers reported on the revelations, focusing on the prince’s association but also mentioning Beck.
The Guardian reported that flight logs indicated that Andrew flew on Epstein’s private jet with Beck in 1999, around the time Beck said she managed about $65 million of the billionaire’s investment funds for Morgan Stanley. Beck flew with Epstein on his jet multiple times in the late nineties, logs show, including with former Treasury secretary and Harvard president Larry Summers.
Beck got 5,420 votes in that election, won by the current U.S. Rep. Donald Beyer, a Democrat, with 128,102 votes, followed by Republican challenger Micah Edmond with 63,810.
Gay Salon Artist Freed From El Salvador Prison Still Active
According to an exclusive account in the Bay Area Reporter , months after his release from an El Salvador megaprison known for reported human rights abuses, a gay Venezuelan makeup artist is having trouble finding work because of how notoriety found him. Andry Jose Hernández Romero, 32, had been sent to the prison by the Trump administration earlier this year.
He told the paper he is currently with his family in Venezuela. After opening up about his experiences at El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center, he stated, “Some beauty salons refuse to hire me because they associate me with criminality or say I belong to the Venezuelan government.” But he stated he “will continue fighting for human rights and for the entire LGBT community. If it happens to one, it happens to all.”
Holidays Get Started With F.C.’s First Joint Thanksgiving Service
City, an ecumenical Thanksgiving service in the historic Falls Church (dating from the Revolutionary War era) in the center of town.
In what Falls Church Episcopal rector Rev. Burl Salmon said he is determined to become an annual tradition, the service was led by the choirs and clergy from numerous churches based in the City. The invocation by the Rev. James Henry of the Dulin United Methodist Church, in the ecumenical spirit, referred to the divine by “your many holy names.”
(“Ecumenical” is a term that means “promoting unity among different churches” and more broadly, “having a worldwide or universal scope.”)
Among those attending the service were Falls Church City Manager Wyatt Shields and Falls Church City Schools Superintendent Terry Dade, along with City Council member Marybeth Connelly, who spoke during the service about the launch of a new “Better Together” initiative.
The effort is aimed at providing support for Falls Church families who need it, a number which Connelly noted is growing in the midst of the current federal cutbacks in the region. She cited in particular the need to assist families whose children already rely on free meals provided by the City schools that they won’t have access to during holiday periods when the schools are closed.
Components of the “Better Together” cam-
paign include donating money to the Falls Church Education Foundation’s Family Assistance Fund, donating food or funds to a local food pantry like the Falls Church Community Service Council or Food for Others, volunteering to “adopt a family” in collaboration with friends, church or neighborhood, and to purchase a “Better Together” t-shirt or sweatshirt to raise funds for the effort.
Churches involved in the effort involving the City and the City schools include the Christ Crossman Methodist, Columbia Baptist, Dulin Methodist, Falls Church Episcopal, Falls Church Presbyterian, Galloway Methodist and St. James Catholic.
Sunday’s historic service was followed this Monday by the second annual Thanksgiving dinner hosted by Welcome Falls Church held at the Henderson Middle School cafetorium, with numbers a good 20 percent higher than last year, according to organizers. There were Halal and non-Halal lines.
City schools are closed for Thanksgiving as of Wednesday, and City government will be closed through the weekend, with the exception of the Community Center that will be open Friday. Saturday, a Civil War Thanksgiving reenactment will be open free to the public at the Cherry Hill Farmhouse.
Tuesday’s Winter Wonderland event will attract the entire community, and the public is also invited to attend the annual Holiday Gift and Craft Show at the Community Center the next weekend of Dec. 6 and 7.
The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah will run this year from Dec. 14 to 22 and the AfricanAmerican celebration of Kwanzaa from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. Christmas comes on Dec. 25, a Thursday this year.
A diminishment in Falls Church this season will be the lack of a Watch Night on New Year’s Eve at the downtown intersection of Broad and Washington St. There will be no street closures as has been the case there every year since the mid-1990s.
There was no official reason given for the cancellation by City of Falls Church officials, even though the nearby State Theater will be
hosting its usual concert featuring the popular Legwarmers again this year. Some area restaurateurs expressed strong disappointment at the news, indicating they were not consulted or provided any options.
The long-range forecast for the immediate area for winter 2025-2026 predicts a mostly mild winter with above-normal temperatures and below-normal precipitation. However, there is some variability, with a potential for colder periods in late November, early December, and early February, and snowfall might occur with storm systems that track inland.
Your generosity is an investment in our neighbors — ensuring more people can receive compassionate, local care and the support they need to thrive.
The ARCH Fund helps subsidize patient costs for abortion care and long-acting reversible contraceptives like IUDs, supporting patients seeking care right here in Falls Church.
founded by Falls Church resident Litkenhous and Nick Over as a data center development firm focused on markets both inside and beyond established technology hubs. With a background spanning commercial real estate advisory, property tax strategy, and public service, Litkenhous brings deep regional experience to the project and emphasizes community engagement, sustainability, and local workforce partnerships as core project pillars.
In his interview with the NewsPress at the Falls Restaurant earlier this month, Litkenhous said he credits his time on the Falls Church City Council, in particular, with gaining him the skills to enable the success in winning the support of the communities around the development site and the local government there. “It had everything to do with talking and listening to the community, to taking serious people’s concerns and fears and addressing them, making planning modifications when necessary. That I learned on the Falls Church City
Oasis to Build King George
Council, especially in the effort to win community support for the West End development project.”
The Oasis development team has signaled several community-focused commitments as part of the project planning process, including exploring advanced cooling technologies and renewable energy integrations, partnering with regional utilities on resilient power infrastructure, and working with community colleges and workforce programs to build local pipelines for technical jobs tied to data center operations. Oasis has also noted its intent to continue coordinating closely with county leaders on permitting, traffic mitigation, and environmental protections.
Local leaders have cited the decision to site the campus in King George County as a strategic response to shifting regional dynamics in data center siting. As some jurisdictions in Northern Virginia reassess data center growth policies, Oasis says it sought locations that balance connectivity and scale with community support and clear entitlement pathways. “Choosing Dahlgren
was about finding the right match of infrastructure, community engagement and regulatory clarity,” Litkenhous said.
A timetable for phased construction and occupancy will be announced as permitting and utility interconnection agreements progress. Oasis and project partners plan to continue public meetings with King George County stakeholders and to issue regular updates as milestones are achieved.
Litkenhous told the NewsPress that Virginia is in the national forefront in the development of data centers, with over 100 either developed or in planning stages in the wider Northern Virginia area. Data centers are, in fact, the “cloud” that is commonly referred to where data is both stored and elicited for everything the Internet provides. Providing adequate electrical power is the biggest challenge at this stage.
Oasis Digital Properties is a Falls Church-based data center developer founded by industry veterans Litkenhous and Over. Its offices in the Little City area is based in the office complex above
Empathy: Its Central Role In the Battle for Civilization
Nicholas F. Benton
Not even a year into the second Trump presidency, and the madness only escalates, even as many are now pointing to signs of its imminent demise. Don’t be too sure…about the madness, about the demise? Both? Neither?
The end of DOGE, Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency, after only eight months, underscores an abject failure, but not without hundreds of thousands of human lives lost due to extreme cuts in vital American food and medical aid.
The epochal impact of Trump’s withdrawal of support for Ukraine is something the planet may eventually never recover from. It has poised a 14th century mindset in the form of the Putin regime to overrun the most socially and scientifically advanced continent on earth.
When the dust clears, depending on how bad it gets, maybe for a couple million years, we can hope enough endures to allow a valid analysis of what really went wrong, what’s going wrong now.
It’s more fundamental than most people think. It’s not about politics, per se. It’s about the issues that make us human, or not, and will, going forward, should we survive, AI or not.
If there is one single word that sums up what the challenge facing us is really all about, it is the word, “empathy.” Are you for or against it?
“The fundamental weakness of western civilization is empathy,” claims Elon Musk, the world’s single richest man.
“The death of human empathy is one of the earliest and most telling signs of a culture about to fall into barbarism,” counters Hannah Arendt (1906-1975), the brilliant observer and author of the most authoritative works on the roots of totalitarianism.
Going back a few thousand years to the founding of western civilization, Plato wrote, “The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world.”
But in addition to inventing fascism, union busting and political assassinations, those who have taken to defending wealth, however obtained, against those upon whom
they rely for its maintenance have invested countless resources on cultivating a social science academia whose purpose is simply to justify what they do.
This academic overlay on society has been in the business of cooking up ways to keep the rich getting richer and the rest of us putting up with it.
Everything that counts for modern culture is infused with this. Its goal is not to defend democracy.
On the contrary, it reviles it, and only gives it lip-service at best.
So, the enemy, as Musk defines it, is empathy, that most human quality which ties us together as a species. It is what we experience first, as helpless babes incapable of taking care of ourselves, relying fully on others who care enough to provide what we can’t provide for ourselves. It is the empathy of the other, the mother, the parent, the carer, upon which our very survival depends.
True science has studied and shown that, in nature, empathetic social binding is more important even than physical reproduction in determining the successful survival of a culture. The great natural scientist, the Pulitzer Prize-winning E. O. Wilson (1929-2021) showed this.
But the attack on empathy has been largely through the social weapon of radical individualism.
In the modern day, among other things, it is through the vehicle of what’s now called Christian nationalism, a heretical form of false religion which situates “salvation” in the vertical relationship between the individual person and his or her “savior.” That is by contrast to the mainstream Judeo-Christian tradition that places empathy, empathy toward the less fortunate and for justice and peace, at the center of faith and purpose.
In the 1970s, the so-called “human potential movement” of “self-actualization” was based on ego-stripping and sensory deprivation methods to rid persons of their empathetic tendencies and it was sold to thousands of corporate entities on the idea it would improve productivity of its middle management.
The French philosopher Michel Foucault replaced the central role of empathy with pleasure and power as the only valid factors in human behavior. His popularity on the left in the 1970s proved a critical component of American society’s turn to selfishness in that decade.
A Penny for Your Thoughts
By Penny Gross Former Fairfax County Supervisor
In Greek mythology, the Graces were three minor sister goddesses who dispensed charm and beauty. Traditionally, grace is synonymous with style, poise, decency and honor. In theology, grace is a gift from God. Fittingly, grace also is a brief prayer or blessing recited before a meal, something that will be repeated millions of times during this Thanksgiving week.
Most people develop at least a modicum of grace by the time they become adults. Most people, that is, except for the current president and many in his cabinet. Rather than approaching governance with grace, Donald Trump demeans anyone and anything who doesn’t agree with him. Pre-Trump, if a president or any elected official or federal employee cautioned a female reporter with “Quiet, Piggy,” or used other derogatory language, people in both political parties would have called out that behavior in no uncertain terms. Trump’s comments, in the Oval Office, on Air Force One, or on his social media site Truth Social, take derogation and callousness to a
level unworthy of an American leader. His comments are disgraceful, misogynous, and an embarrassment to our nation and our democracy.
To make matters worse, the White House press secretary doubled-down and explained Trump’s “Piggy” remark as being “frank and honest,” something that the American people appreciate about Mr. Trump and why they voted for him. That kind of response, coupled with other spokespersons who often respond to press inquiries with accusations that the questioner suffers from “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” makes one wonder what is in the White House water! Curiously, if you parse that charge, Trump is the adjective modifying Derangement Syndrome, which means a madness or imbalance condition or disorder. Is the White House press office actually admitting that Donald Trump is unstable or unbalanced? Maybe they should remember their elementary school grammar lessons or check a thesaurus occasionally.
Everyone was surprised that last week’s meeting between Mr. Trump
and New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mandami appeared so cordial. Both were on good behavior and one got the impression that Mr. Trump may have met his match. The president almost fawned over the young mayor-elect, who adhered to his campaign message about affordability and avoided attempts to draw him off subject. Unlike his approach to other Democratic cities and states, where FEMA and other governmental agencies have denied federal emergency funds to aid recovery from hurricanes and other natural disasters, Trump seemed amenable to supporting his native city with federal funds but Mandami probably shouldn’t hold his breath! Something nasty is bound to appear on Trump’s Truth Social media account soon.
Blowing up small fishing boats in international waters. SWAT officers providing protection for the FBI Director’s Nashville girlfriend. Labelling elected officials of both parties as “traitors.” Cancelling crucial cancer research. Weakening the Endangered Species Act. Tearing immigrant families apart with fear and force. Utilizing his presidential position to enrich himself and his family. The list of presidential abuses grows daily. Expecting any grace notes from this White House is futile.
City of Falls Church Crime Report
Week of Nov 17 - 23, 2025
Larceny – Theft from Motor Vehicle and Destruction of Property, Wilson Blvd, Nov 17, 7:41 p.m., unknown suspect broke into a locked vehicle and took a wallet and other items valued at $900.
Assault - Aggravated, S Washington St, Nov 17, 10:20 p.m., victim was assaulted by an unknown suspect, described as a black male, 30-40 years old, riding in white Volkswagen sedan driven by a white female. Investigation is on-going.
Larceny – Theft from Building, N Washington St, Nov 19, 12:20 p.m., officers responded to a late report of a larceny from a building. On Nov 12 at approx. 4:00 p.m. an unknown suspect took three eyeglass frames from business. Suspect described as a black male with white hair and facial hair, wearing a blue polo shirt with black pants.
Motor Vehicle Theft, W Broad St, Nov 21, 9:21 a.m., officers responded to a late report of a stolen rental trailer, last seen on the lot on Nov 16 at 3:08 p.m.
Failure to Return Vehicle, W Broad St, Nov 21, 11:05 a.m., a known suspect failed to return a rental car, a 2019 black
Hyundai Elantra, after multiple requests to do so.
Bad Check (Felony), W Broad St, Nov 21, officers took report of a bad check written by a known suspect on Sept 2 in the amount of $5,600.
Larceny - Shoplifting, W Broad St, Nov 23, 4:51 p.m., unknown suspect entered a business and removed items of value without paying. Suspect described as a black male with black hair and facial hair, approx. 6’1” tall, wearing a white hoodie, dark pants, and black sneakers.
Larceny - Shoplifting, W Broad St, Nov 23, 5:30 p.m., unknown suspect entered a business and removed items of value without paying. Suspect described as a black male, 35-45 years old, wearing a black cap, black jacket, black pants, black shoes, and a black backpack.
Larceny - Shoplifting, W Broad St, Nov 23, 8:40 p.m., unknown suspect entered a business and removed items of value without paying. Suspect described as a white female, 25-35 years old, short black hair, neck and face tattoos, wearing all-white contacts.
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On gratitude. This is the week for focusing on it. It was Abraham Lincoln who said, “You are just about as happy as you determine yourself to be.” This is not to diminish the impact of all the problems in the world, or in individual households, but it goes to a more fundamental matter, which is the disposition that each person brings to them.
We are reminded of an energetic late night TV sermon once observed where the preacher recalled the occasion when a person sitting on the side near the front of a service was discovered by the preacher during his sermon that night moaning to herself, repeating “Help me Jesus, help me Jesus.” Touched by the woman’s petition, he stopped what he was saying and turned to focus on her. “Please,” he said,” I know you have problems. But it may help you to try expressing gratitude to our Lord, instead.” The woman paused, and then began to whisper, “Thank you, Jesus, thank you Jesus.” After a very short time of saying this, her voice became stronger and stronger, and soon she was standing with her arms in the air shouting, “Thank you, Jesus, thank you, Jesus.”
This story has always impressed us. It was raw and real. How many times are folks simply so buried under their problems, as real as they may be, that the very fact of their being alive is overlooked? Being alive. This is perhaps the greatest gift we, as human beings on this planet, are afforded. Perhaps the greatest gift by far.
One does not need to contemplate humanity’s role in the universe too long to be stunned by this reality. Astrophysicists like Carl Sagan, Brian Cox and Neil DeGrasse Tyson all remind us how rare our very consciousness is in this infinitely vast universe. With the latest incredible advances in our ability to look out at this universe, as in the case of the James Webb Telescope and more, we can now see back to almost what is believed to be the “Big Bang” founding of this universe, as these new technologies are able to pick up light coming at them from such great distances that it has taken that long, even travelling at the speed of light, to get to them.
It is also now clear that there are billions and billions of suns in our own Milky Way galaxy and trillions of similar galaxies in the universe that we can now see.
In all that we can now see, in this universe’s incredible breadth and depth, there is no evidence yet of life beyond this Planet Earth, much less of intelligent life like ours. Such intelligent life undoubtedly exists, though it is possible that we may never know simply because of the vastness of the cosmos.
But if nothing else, this all speaks to the very wonder of our lives, here and now, as we speak. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
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The News-Press made an error last week in the article on page 15, “New Visions and Artists at the Studios at
307 Open House.” The article was written by Mark Dreisonstok. We apologize for the error.
- DECEMBER 3, 2025
by Daria Adler
The Meridian High School theater department performed to a packed house last week with their latest musical, “Rock of Ages”. Directed by theater and film teacher Shawn Northrip, the hilarious and emotional play brought the crowd together with jokes and themes appealing to everyone. The show was incredible, and was well received by the large crowd in the audience on Saturday night.
The plot of “Rock of Ages” consisted of many different narratives. The main focus was the story of Drew and Sherrie, both employees of the Bourbon Room, a club in West Hollywood owned by Dennis Dupree. Sherrie moves to Hollywood seeking an acting career while Drew has the dream of becoming a rock star. As the two work together, Drew falls in love with Sherri, who does not share the same feelings toward him. Amid this tale of unrequited love, two developers plan to demolish the Bourbon Room along with the whole Sunset Strip. The community is enraged by this decision, leading to mass protest to save the establishment.
Dennis convinces famous rock
star Stacee Jaxx, lead singer of the band Arsenal, to perform one last show at the Bourbon Room. Upon seeing her, Sherrie immediately falls in love with Stacee, forgetting all about Drew and leaving him for good. The protesters also fulfilled their wishes saving the Bourbon Room from demolition.
It was absolutely magical to see this story come to life at Meridian, and the students delivered outstanding performances that truly brought this play to life. With a large cast of talented performers, several standouts were Gavin Jones, who portrayed Drew, and Eliana Pizzirusso, who portrayed Sherrie.
Jones has been involved in theater for two years now, and this was his second time performing as a lead.
“Last year, I was in Sweeney Todd,” Jones said, “That was a lot of fun, but was a lot more stressful overall than this show was. This show just was a good time.”
Jones’ assertion was evident as the cast appeared to be enjoying their roles on the big stage, and the lead actor had to adapt to a different style of singing.
“Vocally, this role was a lot tougher than what I usually sing. A
lot like Eliana, I sing more classical. I’m technically a bass. Vocally, this role is a tenor roll through and through,” he said.
Pizzirusso, like Jones, turned in a spectacular performance. This play was her big break and her first lead role in the Meridian theater. She is not new to the stage, however, having performed in musicals since the fifth grade.
“It’s something that I’m very passionate about. The community is amazing. It’s just such a fun experience,” she remarked.
Like Jones, Pizzirusso found adapting to a hard rock role wasn’t easy.
“It was very difficult vocally,” she said, “it was a lot of rock and belty songs that I normally don’t sing in, so I worked a lot with Mrs. Sample and Mr. Northrip to kind of find my character.”
Upon the conclusion of the final night, Nothrip felt enthusiastic about his department’s production.
“It was great,” he said, “this one specifically had this really great, chill vibe. The atmosphere was good and it was the right moment for the right kids. They all came out and just rocked every night.”
MERIDIAN HIGH SCHOOL students perform “Rock of Ages.” (Photos: Daria Adler )
‘Rock
of Ages’ Brought 80’s ‘Foreigner’ & ‘Journey’ Hits
by Nicholas F. Benton
Last weekend’s stunning performance of the hit musical “Rock of Ages” by the drama team at Meridian High School in Falls Church revolved around two of the most iconic songs of the 1980s, two of the three very best of the decade. While music from that decade, of Styx, Bon Jovi, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Steve Perry, Poison, Europe and others built around a less formidable story plot made up the essential content of the show, it was the songs of Foreigner and Journey that stood out.
In the first half, it was a rendition of Foreigner’s “I Want to Know What Love Is,” a truly moving rock number backed by a choir that gave it an almost spiritual connotation. The original hit was released in the midst of the horrific AIDS crisis, when literally hundreds of thousands of mostly young men were struck down in the primes of their lives with a terrible, fatal and then incurable contagion that stripped them of their youth, their minds toward the end, and in far far too many cases, their families and friends as well.
As I wrote in my book, “Extraordinary Hearts,” it can be imagined that that song resonated down the corridors of hospitals where such young men as those lay alone awaiting their deaths. Hence, the choir component was apt.
The song around which the second half of the musical hinged came at its conclusion, the legendary hit by Journey, “Don’t Stop Believing.” Keenly, director Shaun Northrip had painted on the back wall in giant letters the first part of that title, “Don’t stop,” surely a motto for the ages.
But a key, often repeated line in the lyrics refers to what may be overlooked, “streetlight people.” Who are these “streetlight people,” that the writer of the song said came to him as
he looked down onto the street one night from a hotel room?.
Streetlight people are, again, society’s marginalized mostly young men and women, boys and girls, alienated by conventional society and out on the streets at night, loitering, looking, seeking. In the big cities, such were often the “Boxers” of the famous Simon and Garfunkel song from 1969, “When I left my home and my family, I was no more than a boy. In the company of strangers, in the quiet of the railway station, running scared, laying low, seeking out the poorer quarters where the ragged people go.”
The song resonates for such people, calling them to “don’t stop believing” because they are down on their luck, facing hard times, making do with what might pass for love but is not. I spent time as a boxer, a streetlight person, myself many, many years ago.
So, those two songs are clearly connected as anthems to a decade around which the musical was themed, with the AIDS pandemic, with the onset of the “Reagan revolution” and institutinalized selfishness, surely the worst decade of the post-World War 2 era in a variety of ways. Nonetheless, the human spirit endures, the point of the musical.
Meridian’s production of “Rock of Ages,” reflecting its billing as a “jukebox musical built around the classic songs of the 1980s,” embodied the energy, talent and good vibes of the original Broadway hit. Director Northrip was able to bring out the fullness of expression of his student-actors, many of whom exhibited skilled developing voices and are unhindered from belting them out full volume while showing a similar penchant for tireless, full-throttled stage antics, “letting it all hang out” (with reference only to energy, passion and enthusiasm), as it was once said. All in all, making for a very entertaining show.
Oh, and the third best song of that decade? Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.”
MERIDIAN HIGH SHOOL delivers in Rock of Ages. (Photos: News-Press )
Falls Church News-Press
This Week Around Falls Church
Thursday, Nov. 27 (Thanksgiving Day)
FREE Thanksgiving HIIT Class
8:00 a.m. 601 S. Oak St. Check registration. AllEvents Chamber Membership Committee Meeting Cancelled for Thanksgiving. Falls Church Chamber of Commerce
Friday, Nov. 28
Kensington Memory Café w/ Falls Church Arts
10:30 a.m.
(second and fourth Friday of each month) Social/arts café for memory-care community. Falls Church Chamber of Commerce
Saturday, Nov. 29
Falls Church Farmers Market
8:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m. City Hall parking lot. Falls Church
A Victorian Christmas 10:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m. Cherry Hill Farmhouse (312 Park Ave.). Falls Church
The English Beat Doors 7:00 p.m.; show 9:00 p.m. State Theatre. AllEvents Langley & McLean Crew 5K Turkey Trot 8:00 a.m. Langley High School (McLean).
Sunday, Nov. 30
Modern Calligraphy Workshop 6:30 p.m. Audacious Aleworks (Falls Church).
Ongoing exhibit: “Kinship” All-Media Show Continues at Falls Church Arts Gallery (opened Nov. 22)
Monday, Dec. 1
Joint City Council and School Board Dinner & Work Session 6:00–11:00 p.m. (Dinner 6:00 p.m.; Work Session 7:00 p.m.)
Meridian High School Library. City Council work sessions are typically held the first and third Monday each month, except August and December (one meeting). Open to the public; generally no public comment. Watch live at fallschurchva.gov/CouncilMeetings or FCCTV (Cox 11, RCN 2, Verizon 35). Video available afterward online and on FCCTV.
Tuesday, Dec. 2
#GivingTuesday All day Community giving events/campaigns citywide. Falls Church Chamber of Commerce
City of Falls Church Winter Wonderland at Founders Row 5:30 p.m. Founders Row (109 Founders Ave.). GivingTuesday
Local Organizations
ARCH Fund (Access to Reproductive Care and Health) archfund.org
Creative Cauldron creativecauldron.org
Falls Church Education Foundation (FCEF) fcedf.org
Falls Church Community Service Council (FCS / “We Care”) fcswecare.org
Falls Church Homeless Shelter / Friends of the Shelter fcshelter.org
Falls Church Arts fallschurcharts.org
Tinner Hill Heritage Foundation tinnerhill.org/
Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department (FCVFD) fallschurchfire.org
Rebuilding Together Arlington/Fairfax/Falls Church (Rebuilding Together-AFF) — rebuildingtogether-aff.org/
Wildlife Rescue League of Northern Virginia — wildliferescueleague.org
Mary Riley Styles Public Library Foundation mrsplfoundation.org Northern Virginia Family Service (NVFS) nvfs.org
Capital Caring Health capitalcaring.org
FALLS CHURCH NEWS-PRESS | FCNP.COM
PICTURES AROUND FALLS CHURCH
VIEWED FROM ABOVE, Some of the worshippers are shown who attended the first-ever ecumenical Thanksgiving service at the historic Falls Church last Sunday night. (Photo: News-Press)
PARTICIPANTS IN SUNDAY’S first ever Holiday Season ecumenical worship service last Sunday posed in front of the historic Falls Church prior to the service. Left to right: the Rev’d Megan Klose (Associate Pastor, Falls Church Presbyterian), the Rev’d Julius Rodriguez (Associate Rector, The Falls Church Episcopal), the Rev’d Yena K. Hwang (Senior Pastor, Falls Church Presbyterian), the Rev’d Burl Salmon (Rector, The Falls Church Episcopal), the Rev’d James Henry (Pastor, Dulin United Methodist), the Rev’d JP Hong (Lead Pastor, Christ Crossman United Methodist) , Nonhlanhla (Noni) Shezi (Seminarian, The Falls Church Episcopal). (Photo: News-Press)
THE FALLS CHURCH City Council was joined by members of the Housing Commission and Economic Development Authority at a work session last week to mull a path forward to advance affordable housing in Falls Church (Photo: News-Press)
WELCOME FALLS CHURCH, for the second year in a row, hosted a free Thanksgiving dinner at the Henderson Middle School cafeteria Monday night. With over 140 signed up, organizers said the advance sign-ups indicated the numbers were up about 25 percent this year over last. (Photo: News-Press)
Did you know that the first Thanksgiving celebration in America took place in Virginia? Well, as with many “firsts”, there is some matter of debate, but let’s start with a quote from 2015, by our then-Governor Terry McAuliffe: “Forget about this little pilgrim picnic thing they had up somewhere in Massachusetts. We were the first place.”
In September of 1619 the good ship “Margaret” departed England with 35 settlers and a crew led by Captain John Woodlief. Their mission was to settle land along the James River granted to them by the London Company, with instructions that the day of arrival shall “be kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.” Upon arriving on December 4, 1619, Captain Woodlief led English settlers in a prayer of thanksgiving. The point of arrival is now occupied by the Berkeley Plantation, a museum that each November celebrates this “first Thanksgiving.” On their website they hedge their bets by stating that the settlers observed the first English Thanksgiving in the New World. It turns out that Florida and Texas lay claims to prior versions of Thanksgiving.
In Arlington, we have had our own Thanksgiving traditions. Starting in 1936, WashingtonLee High School had an intense Thanksgiving Day football rivalry with George Washington High School from Alexandria. It was known as the Old Oaken Bucket game, which often drew 10,000 to 12,000 spectators. Perhaps the most memorable game was in 1956, when the W-L kicker won the game with a 42-yard field goal with no time remaining. The ball hit the crossbar and bounced over to lift W-L to victory. The rivalry ended in 1970, when GW High School closed.
Then there is the annual Turkey Bowl in the Hall’s Hill neighborhood, which has been played for over 70 years. The game pits the “Old Heads” (over 30) wearing maroon against the “Young Heads” (under 30) wearing gold, in a neighborhood game of full-contact football without pads.
Another current Thanksgiving tradition is the Arlington Turkey Trot, a 5K Fun Run that started in 2006 with 300 runners and now accommodates 4,000 runners in the Lyon Village
neighborhood. The proceeds this year will benefit Path Forward and other community organizations.
Giving thanks is the cornerstone of any Thanksgiving, so I thought I would start a Thanksgiving tradition of sorts by asking some folks to share their own words of thanks about life in Arlington. Due to space limitations, I could not include all the responses, but here are four of the responses:
Donna Budway (Board member of Our Stomping Ground, an organization that supports affordable and inclusive housing for adults with developmental disabilities): “I am grateful to live in a community with so many generous neighbors that consider the welfare of all when they exercise their right to vote.”
Joseph Ventrone (President, North Rosslyn Civic Association): “I’ve called Arlington home for more than 50 years, and this year I have a lot to be thankful for. In 2025, I faced a major health challenge and was truly fortunate to be in the hands of Dr. Robert M. Mordkin and the outstanding team at Virginia Hospital Center. Their skill, compassion, and follow-up care — especially through the Wound Care & Hyperbaric Medicine Clinic — made all the difference in my recovery. I’m also grateful that VHC offers such comprehensive care right here in our community — a true blessing for Arlington residents.”
Carmen Romero (CEO, True Ground Housing Partners): “I am thankful for the daily individual acts of generosity and leadership in Arlington, especially given our outsized regional challenges in 2025. I am proud to be an Arlingtonian where every day I bear witness to a community that strives to be diverse and inclusive.”
Dulce Carrillo (Arlington Public Schools, Supervisor of Community Partnerships and Engagement): I am grateful to work in Arlington County whose residents care deeply about community, take time to help their neighbors, volunteer, and give generously to worthy causes.”
And let me provide my thanks to the Falls Church News Press for the opportunity this year to write this column, which has been a great learning experience. I am amazed at all the good things happening in Arlington and in Falls Church, and I am appreciative of the people who live and work in these two fine jurisdictions.
Design, Sports & Technology With Nick Gatz Week #2
by Nick Gatz Falls Church News-Press
All right, welcome back to Design, Sports & Technology Part 2. This is still that little corner where I get to dig into how sports feel now, not just how they’re played. The logos, the screens, the culture, the tech creeping into every inch of it. And honestly, the biggest change in sports over the last decade isn’t a rule tweak or some new training method. It’s where the game lives.
Because long gone are the days of four network stations. You remember that world, right? You turned on Channel 4, 5, 7, or 9, and whatever game was on… that was your game. If it was Mets vs. Braves and you were a O’s kid? Tough. If it was golf and you wanted football? Sorry. You didn’t choose the game the game chose you.
Then cable came along and we thought we were living in the future. ESPN, Fox Sports, TNT, CBS Sports, regional networks… it felt like a buffet. But even then, sports were still held hostage by the schedule. One game here. One primetime game there. If your team wasn’t on, you were out of luck.
Now? Totally different universe.
In 2025, sports don’t belong to networks anymore. They belong to streams. Everything is streamed. Pro games, college games, high school games, and yeah all the way down to kids sports. We’ve basically reached the point where a random 11U tournament has the same viewing infrastructure as a midweek MLB game.
And I’m not exaggerating. Parents are out here setting up iPhones on tripods like they’re running ESPN2. You can literally watch your kid’s at-bat while you’re sitting at work or stuck at another event. You don’t need to be in the stands to feel like you’re there. Apps like GameChanger didn’t just change youth sports, they changed our expectations around sports. The idea that “if it happened, you should be able to see it.” Live, archived, on your phone, with stats attached like a mini SportsCenter.
So yeah, the tech changed the game. But it also changed us.
Which brings me to the thing I keep coming back to:
What exactly is it that draws people to sports in the first place?
Is it winning?
Is it competition?
Is it the sport itself?
Or is it the branding and story around it?
Because if streaming has taught us anything, it’s that people will watch a lot of sports they don’t even have a relationship with… if something about it hits.
Sometimes it’s the stakes.
Sometimes it’s the style.
Sometimes it’s a player.
Sometimes it’s just a vibe.
And I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately, especially talking sports with my 13-year-old daughter. We’ve had these conversations about women’s sports that are honestly way more interesting than anything I hear on TV panels.
One that keeps sticking out:
What is it about Caitlin Clark?
Why did she attract a wave of fans like that?
Was it branding?
Was it talent?
Was it timing?
Or was it all of it stacked together?
Because here’s the truth: you don’t get that kind of attention off one thing. Talent matters obviously. You don’t fake being that good. But talent isn’t always enough to pull casual fans into a sport they don’t normally watch.
Caitlin Clark was a perfect storm.
She had a game that looked different. Deep threes, fast pace, confidence, a little edge. She had highlights built for the feed and you didn’t need context, you just needed eyes. And she hit at the exact moment when women’s basketball was ready for its ignition point. Her talent built the fire, the moment fed it oxygen, and the branding followed naturally because once people care, the story writes itself.
And that’s why I keep asking this next question out loud:
Why doesn’t softball have a pro league that makes real money?
Because don’t tell me the sport isn’t exciting.
Softball is chaos in the best way.
It’s fast-paced. Bases are closer. Decisions are quicker. There’s no double-clutch across a giant infield. Almost every ball in play is bang-bang. Every pitch feels like something might happen.
Baseball is a slow burn. Softball is a sparkler. Blink and you miss the play.
So in a world where everything is streamable, where you can pull up a college softball game like it’s nothing, it can’t just be “people don’t watch women’s sports.” That excuse expired. We are in 2025. That’s not the problem anymore.
The real issue feels more like this:
Softball still hasn’t had its “Clark moment.”
And that moment isn’t just about being good. It’s about becoming unavoidable. It’s about crossing out of the bubble and into the culture. The way a star in the right moment can make a whole league feel like the center of the world.
Women’s basketball got that spark.
Women’s soccer has had a few.
Softball is still waiting for the one that flips the switch.
And I think part of it is presentation, too. Not the game, the packaging. The way it’s sold, scheduled, clipped, promoted. The way stars are framed as stars. Because in 2025, you don’t grow a sport by hoping people stumble onto it. You grow it by giving people a reason to care before they even know they care.
Streaming gives every sport a seat at the table.
But branding decides what actually gets eaten.
So yeah, I’ll say it again as a dare, because I mean it:
Give softball a try.
Give women’s sports a try, period.
Not as charity.
Not as a statement.
Just as a sports fan.
Because once you actually watch it, you realize the product has been there the whole time. The speed, the tension, the skill, the drama and it’s all real.
Now we’re just waiting on the culture to catch up.
And I don’t think it’s far off.
Somewhere out there is the player, the team, the run, the story that makes pro softball feel inevitable instead of optional. In this streaming world, once that fuse gets lit, it won’t take ten years. It could take ten days.
That’s the new game now.
Not just who wins.
Who catches fire first.
C ritter C orner
LEGAL NOTICE
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY COUNCIL CITY OF FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA
The following was given first reading at the October 27, 2025 City Council meeting. Public hearings, second readings, and possible City Council actions are scheduled for Monday, December 8, 2025 at 7:30 p.m., or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard.
(TO25-17) ORDINANCE TO AMEND
THE CITY CODE OF THE CITY OF FALLS CHURCH CHAPTER 2, “ADMINISTRATION,” CHAPTER 6, “BUILDINGS,” CHAPTER 5, “FEES,” CHAPTER 38, “SUBDIVISION,” AND CHAPTER 48, “ZONING,” TO REFLECT JULY 1, 2025 VIRGINIA CODE CHANGES REMOVING SITE PLAN APPROVAL AUTHORITY FROM THE PLANNING COMMISSION AND ASSIGNING IT TO THE DESIGNATED AGENT; AND TO AMEND THE MAXIMUM REVIEW TIME OF (1) SITE PLAN, SUBDIVISION PLAT, AND PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS SOLELY INVOLVING PARCELS OF COMMERCIAL OR RESIDENTIAL REAL ESTATE, AND (2) RESUBMITTED PLAT, SITE PLAN, AND PLAN OF DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS
All public hearings will be held in the Council Chambers, 300 Park Avenue, Falls Church, Virginia. All persons desiring to present their views on the items will be heard. Comments may also be sent to cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov. Remote participation information at www.fallschurchva.gov/publiccomment. For copies of legislation and other information, contact the City Clerk’s office at 703-248-5014 or cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov or visit www.fallschurchva.gov/councilmeetings. The City of Falls Church is committed to the letter and spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act. To request a reasonable accommodation for any type of disability, call 703-248-5014 (TTY 711) or e-mail cityclerk@fallschurchva.gov.
CELESTE HEATH, CITY CLERK
PUBLIC NOTICE
The Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) of the City of Falls Church, Virginia will hold a public hearing on December 11th, 2025, at 7:30 PM in the Council Chambers, located at 300 Park Avenue, for consideration of the following item: Variance application V1673-25 by Frederick T. Barrett III, (Applicant and Owner), for a variance to Section 48-931(4) to allow a second driveway 14 feet wide to access the proposed accessory dwelling unit instead of the one driveway permitted at 906 Madison Lane, RPC#52-608-041 of the Falls Church Real Property Records, zoned R-1A, Low Density Residential. Public comment and questions may be submitted to zoning@fallschurchva.gov until 4:30 pm on December 11th, 2025. Agenda and application materials will be available the week prior to the scheduled hearing at: http://www.fallschurchva. gov/BZA
Information on the above application is also available for review upon request to staff at zoning@fallschurchva.gov.
ABC NOTICE
54 Restaurant Lorton LLC trading as Spatula Restaurant Bar & Grill, 9000 Lorton Station Blvd Ste N, Lorton Va. 22079 is applying to the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Authority for a On and Off Premises Beer and Wine and Mixed Beverages license. Latt Maw Hpawyam, Managing Member. NOTE: Objections to the issuance of this license must be submitted to ABC no later than 30 days from the publishing date of the first of 2 required newspaper legal notice. Objections should be registered at www. abc.virginia.gov or 800-552-3200.
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