A Romance Renaissance » Events

Halloween is a great time to dress up and party!

deborah — Tue, 05 Nov 2013 02:00:29 +0000

On Saturday night the Deal family celebrated THREE holidays – Suzanne (Mama Deal) and Connor’s (son Deal) birthday AND Halloween!

Our extended family celebrated two birthdays at Halloween - Suzanne Deal's and her son Connor's. You didn't have to threaten a trick in order to get a yummy treat ... plenty of yummy morsels.

Everybody dressed up – it was a great opportunity to pretend to be something you aren’t – at least not in public on a regular day. The house looked great and the food was delicious! Can’t wait – let’s do it again next year!

Some strange people showed up for this party. Len Wilkinson with Connor Deal, Gracie and Renny.

Lauren and Jacob Boyett apear to be having a good time!

Ashlyn King takes no prisoners on Halloween! Argh!

The host and hostess of the party - Alice Cooper and Snow White. (Bill and Suzanne Deal) on their front porch to greet (or eat) guests,

Techno geek and Morticia just came as they were ... (Avery and Claire Gimble.)

Little Red Riding Hood (Kimberly Golden King) and the Wolf made their peace at the party!

The cake was delicious - half vanilla and half chocolate all under chocolate icing!

Deb in her everyday attire next to Len in his. Deb holds Gracie in her butterfly costume.

Michelle Prytula came as an Identity Crisis - pretty clever costume!

Everybody wants to be a comedian! Even the skull ...

The table was set eerily appropriate!

Shari Boyett came as one of Suzanne's cupcakes - how cute!

Coupon Queen rides again!

An up close look at those face tattoos!

The Fairy Princess Ballerina (Len) and Alice Cooper (Bill) take a break on the porch with the Butterfly (Gracie).

No particular holiday - It was just ghouls night out ...

Gum Spring Library Family Fun Walk is Fun Indeed

deborah — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:48:24 +0000

Last year we braved a cold wind and overcast skies to hold our annual Family Fun Walk for the Gum Spring Library. But, this year, we got a big reprieve.

There was something for everyone at the 3rd annual FROGS Family Fun Walk on April 21, 2012 for the new Gum Spring Library!

The storm that would dump several inches just to the north of us, and plow us into 48 hours of (needed) rain, mercifully held off just long enough for the FROGS (Friends of the Gum Spring Library) to enjoy a beautiful day for our 3rd annual event.

Walkers and participants in the 3rd Annual "FROGS" Family Fun Walk enjoyed great weather.

Every year walkers get a t-shirt, a goodie bag stuffed with items from local businesses, fruit, snacks and water. The moon bounce is always popular and the participants are happy to wait in line for chance to get their faces expertly painted by our “face artist.” This year, we even had LIVE entertainment provided by Bach 2 Rock!

Another successful Family Fun Walk for the Gum Spring Library.

We can’t wait until NEXT year when the library will be open and we can all retire to the stacks after our stride through the neighborhood.

We had a looooong line of walkers! It was quite a sight!

Some of Deb’s random thoughts on creating a Successful Community Event:

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN way in advance. The FROGS start working on their April Family Fun Walk event in December!

Look into what licenses may be needed as far in advance as possible so there are no last-minute surprises that could squash your event

Everybody waited patiently for face painting!

Break down the event into specific tasks and then assign those tasks to reliable people. Call those people 48 hours beforehand to

make sure they can still carry out their assignments.

If you don’t provide specifics for completing a task in advance, don’t nag about how that task is achieved after the fact. Volunteers don’t appreciate micro-managing when its too late. Instead, make a note on how that task should be achieved for whoever gets that task next year.

Have good signage. There are always regulations on signage in any community. Just find out what the those regulations are and do the best you can. (exploit the loopholes if necessary on the day of event, and just take down the signs immediately afterward.)

Arcola Fire Department Volunteers.

Take advantage of as many area newsletters, magazines, newspaper listings and area cable TV listings as possible to get the word out about your event.

And make sure you create and utilize an email invitation list of everyone you know. If you provide a way for the reader to opt out of future emails, they generally will not object and usually will not opt out.

Don’t forget clean-up. Leave the area the way you found it.

Have a post-event de-brief. Take good notes and keep those notes where they can be pulled out for the next event and read again.

Think of as many ways as possible to THANK YOUR SPONSORS – that is, only if you want them back next time!

Everybody was in a great mood and enjoyed the event.

And, speaking of sponsors, we’d like to thank those that supported our 2012 Family Fun Walk:

A very BIG Thank You to Vocelli Pizza and Arcola Christian Preschool!

Walkers could sign up in advance of the event or on-site right before the walk began.

PLUS -

East Gate Orthodontics - www.eastgateorthodontics.com
HCA Healthcare - www.hcahealthcare.com
Stone Ridge Orthodontics - www.smilestoneridge.com
Van Metre Homes - www.vanmetrehomes.com
Snap Fitness - www.snapfitness.com/stoneridge
Kravitz Orthodontics - www.kravitzorthodontics.com
Inova Loudoun Hospital - www.inova.org
Concept Marketing, Inc. - www.cptmkt.com
Aldie Vet - www.aldievet.com
Montessori of Chantilly, Casa dei Bambini - www.montessoriofchantilly.com
Curry’s Auto - www.currysauto.com
Mathnasium - www.mathnasium.com/stoneridge
Family Veterinary Hospital of Stone Ridge
Family and Aesthetic Dentistry of South Riding

(Note: This is a private blog. Of course, the comments herein are those of Deborah Deal’s and do not reflect or represent any other member of the Friends of the Gum Spring Library or the Loudoun County library system. All photos copyright 2012 Deborah A. Deal.)

A FROG board member thinks he really IS turning into a Frog now! He's practicing his frog pounce position.

Always have lots of balloons for a Family event.

Face painting is sometimes even better on something other than the face!

I'd rather have what you're having!

Loudoun County’s Gum Spring Library celebrated with 3rd Annual Family Fun Walk

deborah — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 15:18:48 +0000

On Saturday, April 21, our 3rd annual Family Fun Walk for the new Gum Spring Library gave everyone something extra to celebrate this year – the library is ACTUALLY, FINALLY, BUILT. Hooray!

Karen Montgomery, president of the FROGS (Friends of the Gum Spring Library)has been dreaming about, cajoling and working hard for over ten years to get it built and now its here!

The long-awaited Gum Spring Library is finally built and the interior is being finished.

The Van Metre development company, which built many of the homes closest to the site of the library, built the gorgeous four-story building and has set aside the first two floors – 40,000 square feet – for Loudoun County to house its newest book and media collection.

Scheduled to open (hopefully) before Christmas 2012, the Gum Spring library should be the most striking of the 8 libraries in Loudoun County. A big open staircase is right in the center and lends a certain “Wow!” factor. Cozy nooks by the bay windows provide an escape into the user’s tome or a view of the lush Loudoun countryside.

There's dancing on the lawns (and at the Family Fun Walk) because folks are so excited about the new Gum Spring Library!

The Gum Spring Library features not only a section with adult-age books but three separate sections for children as well. There is a special section for the youngest children, a section for “tweens” and a section for teens. Each section is designed especially to accommodate their reading interests, physical size (with appropriate furniture) and noise level – thus making sure every library user has a place that’s perfect for them! In addition, there is a “Quiet Cafe” where you can take a book and enjoy a beverage, and meeting and class rooms of various sizes.

One of Loudoun's many happy library fans.

Even though it’s not open yet – the interior is still being built out, furniture purchased, shelves stocked, etc. – most everyone in Loudoun County is excited to see at least the exterior is finished. Loudoun is growing FAST! in the year 2000 the census revealed we had 169,599 people living here. In just ten years, that number almost doubled! The 2010 census accounted for 312,311 folks. As the county with the

number one median household income income in the entire U.S.($119,540 in 2010), Loudoun’s residents are undoubtedly industrious, hardworking and dedicated to making a good life for themselves and their children. And, reading is a key essential of that lifestyle. It’s important to Loudoun’s families that their children get a solid education and so, of course, as they say – Reading is FUNdamental! Come by and see the beautiful new Gum Spring Library at the intersection of Route 50 and Stone Springs Boulevard.

Want to help? Or just learn more? Visit the FROGS – Friends of the Gum Spring Library website at: http://gumspringlibrary.blogspot.com/

To learn more about the Loudoun County Library system, visit: http://library.loudoun.gov/

See our companion post about the event!

The face painting artist did an excellent job.