Our Blog
Our Blog
- Details
- By Gary Krauss
As you walk along the bottom of Twinbrook you’ll see a bunch of red flags sticking in the ground along the open area by the sidewalk. This is the site of a new pollinator garden in Olde Forge Park (and yes, it is Fairfax County Park Authority grounds even though they took the sign down). On Saturday, October 21, several volunteers from the neighborhood and girl scouts helped plant over 70 young perennials that will mature and flower in the spring and summer, providing color and food and cover for wildlife.
In the near term, it still looks like a mess. But be patient. The week before, a lot of Japanese stiltgrass and other invasives were removed from the area. On Saturday, the volunteers cleared a small patch of ground for each young plant, and many of the plants have red flags marking their location. Most of the cleared plants were an invasive ground cover that hopefully will be replaced by the natives in the long term. We also had to pull some of the native wild aster (the low shrub with white flowers) to make room for the new ones. The aster will come back.
We have a sign in the front that says “Kindly keep out while our natives get established” and some information on the native plants. We planted early goldenrod (Solidago juncea), cutleaf coneflower (Rudbeckia laciniata), mountain mint (Pycnanthemum tenuifolium), roundleaf thoroughwort (Eupatorium rotundifolium), New York ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) and Coreopsis verticillate. These were donated by the Park Authority through Earth Sangha, a wild plant nursery in Springfield.
We’re not done yet. Several people have offered to donate native perennial plants from their yard that we will use to fill in and add color. Keep an eye on the neighborhood listserve for additional workdays. You can help by NOT walking in and keeping your dogs off the area. It’s hard to see the new plants and we don’t want them stepped on. The Park Authority will continue to mow about 5 feet on either side of the sidewalk, and they are aware of the planting. Special thanks to our neighborhood volunteers for putting in the hours and getting dirty:
Barbara Farren, Kathy Augustine, Carly Trout, Dave Cote, Mason Du, Marvin Friedlander, John Hunter, Mollie Hunter, Mimi Krauss, Ann Lopez, and Joanne Elder and Cristina Olson, Scout Leaders for Girl Scout Troop 55084 and 18 girl scouts.
An historical note: Original homeowners may remember that this area used to be mowed grass with a dirt trail going up to the pool. The Park Authority no longer mows the whole area since it is considered “natural”. Over time, many invasive plants like multiflora rose have blocked the old path, though it probably still exists and could be cleaned up with a little work.
- Details
- By John Firsching
The primary purpose of the patrols is to let anybody watching know that they can never tell when somebody might be watching them...and then there's reporting suspicious activity to the Police at 703-691-2131.
We are always looking for volunteers to volunteer to patrol two times per year when called by a block captain. We are also looking for block captains.
All interested persons can email John Firsching at
A reminder for all non-emergency police matters, the non-emergency number of 703-691-2131.
- Details
- By John Firsching
September 9, 2023, the date I had been broadcasting since March this year. This was the second time that the Board went with repeated advance notices and sign-up sheets for both volunteering and curbside pickups. Once again, it was a relatively successful, same-day event. Lessons were learned and will be implemented in 2024. Much thanks goes to everyone who cooperated, both the 15 volunteers and the 100 people who signed up for curbside pickup. Here is the list of volunteers and their roles:
- Received the 3 dumpsters: John Firsching
- Ryder Truck pickup: John Firsching and Larry Little
- Scout: Sandra Woolfendon Drove around the neighborhood to see what unexpected depositsappeared curbside.
- Truck drivers: John Hunter and Jay De Lanoy, one for Surrey Square and the other for Olde Forge.
- Truck crews: Oscar Castillo, Bob Bishop, Brett Surbey, Steve Bair and Jack and Luke Bair.
- Dumpster Crew: Harrison Wu, Juan Canales, Shannon Davis, Steve Sheffield. Also included are Joan Bishop and Dorothyand John Firsching.
- One trip to the I-66 Transfer station per truck: John Hunter and Bob Bishop
- Return trucks to Ryder: John Firsching and Larry Little
Relatively successful, same-day event? What does that mean? It means that by the time Saturday ended, there were almost no open questions regarding next steps. The sign-up list for curbside pick-up was picked up on the same day, Saturday. A run was made to the I-66 Transfer Station to dump mattresses (a much-reduced number from 2022). The two Ryder trucks were returned that evening. The huge amount of scrap metal was collected for Joe Corallo to pick up at his convenience, a task that was mostly completed before the Fall Festival with more picked up since then.
Lessons learned? Give more process details even in the first message in March. Specify the jobs and the number of volunteers needed for each job. Specify the
need for a volunteer with a chain saw. We did a lot of furniture and sofa breakdown. Continue to emphasize the
volunteer nature of this event and that things will go wrong. Neighbors are helping neighbors. The need to reduce lastminute decisions is a crucial part of the repeated notices and for a cutoff date for signing up. It’s also a reason for a seemingly unreasonable 3-hour pick-up schedule: Put your stuff out the night before or by 9 am Saturday morning. Your stuff will be picked up, if you are on the sign-up list. Another lesson is to be more proactive in getting 16-ft, not 26-ft box trucks.
Well, March is only 5 months away, and I have to get ready for my first announcement.
- Details
- By Dorothy Firsching
I was elected treasurer at the May annual meeting. I would like to report our financial situation to our members. You may recall that last year, we requested donations in addition to our low $10 dues, and the Civic Association and Pool purchased new sign boards. We also conducted the Cleanup day without the benefit of the County providing dumpsters at the pool (which turned into two days of work for the volunteers, to drive everything to the dump). We ended the year with a lower cash balance than it began, despite significant donations (which were essential).
We are now at 194 paid members, and I am confident that we can end up with at least as many members as we had last year. Unfortunately, dues alone won’t cover our planned expenses this year!
We want to do the events we usually do: Easter egg hunt, Graduations, 4th of July, National Night Out, Fall Festival, etc., distribute paper newsletters to those who want them, and support Neighborhood Watch. We also plan to produce a directory this year. But the big kahoona is the Cleanup Day.
John Firsching and the board have investigated a number of options for the Cleanup. The challenge is that quotes are difficult to nail down when we can’t exactly predict how much capacity we will need, and gasoline and rental prices are higher than before. Their best judgment is that we need two rental trucks and two to three dumpsters at the pool.
The end result is that we need all the members we can get, AND additional donations in order to break even for the year. The hard truth is that we can’t spend money we don’t have in the bank. We are projecting roughly a $1400 shortfall. If you would like to see us do the Cleanup, please consider making an additional donation if you are able. $25 to $50 would really help out, and earlier rather than at the last minute so that we can plan how many trucks and dumpsters we can afford. We probably need to increase dues for 2023 if the County doesn’t resume providing dumpsters for Cleanup Day.
You can pay your dues and make donations at https://www.forgesquare.com, or make your check payable to the Olde Forge – Surrey Square Civic Association and drop it off in the mailbox at the pool. Please use a membership form if you want your information included in the directory (I just added a donation line on the form). Thank you!
Dorothy Firsching
Membership and Treasurer
- Details
- By Marilyn Sitts
This winter, I was assisted by Patty Keppler in welcoming new neighbors. The new neighbors are included in the most recent newsletter.
With the COVID situation, contact has been more challenging. If you are new and have not yet been welcomed, please let me know!
Going forward, I will continue to try to welcome new families at a distance! I rely on all of you to let me know when you know that someone new has moved into a house near to you. Please send me a quick email or text with any information you might have. I will then stop by and leave a note introducing myself and our Civic Association to them with ways for them to contact me. Hopefully they will join our listserv and I will send an introductory email to you on their behalf. Thanks for your assistance. I look forward to hearing from you.
More Articles …
Page 1 of 2
