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August 6, 2025

Neighbors,

Yesterday, we kicked off the One Hunters Woods initiative in conjunction with the annual National Night Out event.

This new effort aims to bring the community together for recreational, cultural and community events on the Hunters Woods Plaza.

It’s a chance to celebrate what we have here in Reston — like the Reston Community Center, wonderful restaurants and shops, faith communities and the Hunters Woods Fellowship House. (Watch my remarks in the video.)

Conceived by the Hunters Woods Neighborhood Coalition, this community-driven project seeks to build community ties, boost neighborhood pride and enrich the quality of life for Hunters Woods residents and surrounding communities.

You can help shape the future programing for the plaza. Take this short survey to express your interest in the kinds of activities and events you want and the days of the week and times that are best for you. The goal is to offer a variety of activities to serve people of different ages, backgrounds and interests.

Tuesday’s National Night Out was the first event with many more to come to the plaza.

The Reston Community Center anticipates presenting more regularly scheduled events and activities starting in October. You can look forward to back-to-school giveaways, cultural celebrations, wellness days, community meals, family entertainment and much more.

There was a large turnout at Hunters Woods and at yesterday’s dozen other National Night Out events in the Hunter Mill District. As many of you already know, National Night out is an annual event to strengthen bonds between the community and our local police officers throughout Fairfax County and across the country. We all enjoyed food, music, games, and a snow cone truck at the Hunters Woods event, and I very much enjoyed visiting five of the other National Night Out locations last night in the Hunter Mill District. A big shout out to FCPD and to all our county employees who participated in National Night Out, including first responders from the Fire and Rescue Department and employees of the Fairfax County Sheriff’s Office.

I look forward to seeing you on the plaza for more community connections and celebrations and at the National Night Out events this time next year.

Regards,

Walter

• In the Community
• Lyme Disease Cases Spiking
• Foreign Policy and National Security Lectures
• Cathy Hudgins Community Center to Close for Renovations
• Lahey Lost Valley Resident Curator Applications
• What's News in Vienna
• Events and Activities

At Saturday's Community Day at the Cathy Hudgins Community Center, we signed a special banner honoring the late Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins — the visionary and my esteemed predecessor who made this center possible. The banner will hang permanently in the gym. (Watch the video on the right.)

This past weekend I also presented a proclamation to honor the 75^th anniversary of the Fairfax County 4-H Fair. The 4-H program serves more than 9,000 youth annually who engage in unique projects from STEM and healthy living to livestock and civic engagement.

I had the pleasure of joining Fairfax County 4-H Council President Ariana, Fair Queen Alexandra, and Fair King Owen. Watch the video to learn how 4-H transforms their lives.

What’s happening: Tick-borne diseases are on the rise nationwide with a spike in Lyme disease cases reported in Fairfax County.

• ER visits for tick bites reached their highest level in five years nationwide, according to the CDC’s bite tracker.
• Our Health Department says there have been 80 cases of Lyme disease reported in Fairfax County as of mid-July.

What it means: Lyme disease is the most reported tick-borne illness in Fairfax County and nationwide. Other diseases spread by ticks have also been reported across the county. This means that residents countywide should take precautions to avoid tick bites and learn what to do if bitten.

In a voluntary county survey, only 23% of people with tick-borne diseases recall finding a tick on themselves before their diagnosis. Ticks are masters of stealth, and they aren’t just found in the woods and tall grassy areas. They may also be in your backyard.

Know Your Enemy: Identifying Common Ticks

Learn to identify the three tick species commonly found in Fairfax County. Besides Lyme disease, these ticks can transmit a variety of illnesses.

However, it’s the blacklegged tick — also called a deer tick — that’s responsible for spreading Lyme disease. about the size of a sesame seed, adult females are reddish-brown with a dark brown shield near the head. Males are smaller and darker with no reddish coloration. These ticks have dark brown or black legs (hence their name).

Tick Prevention Tips

Follow these tips for a tick-free yard, and take these other precautions that include:

• Avoid wooded and brushy areas with high grass and leaf litter.
• Walk in the center of trails.
• Use an insect repellant
• Wear long sleeves and pants, and tuck your pants into long socks to help prevent ticks from climbing onto your legs.

Watch the video below for MC Bugg-Z's tips for how to protect yourself from tick bites.

What to Do if You Get a Tick Bite: Learn the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease which include fever, chills, rash, fatigue and joint and muscle aches. See a doctor if you experience these symptoms after being bitten.

Our Health Department also offers a free tick identification service if you’ve been bitten. While they don’t test ticks to see if they’re carrying diseases, it helps to know what kind of tick has bitten you if you need to see a doctor. To have a tick identified, follow these instructions.

Take part in the Great Decisions lecture and discussion series at the Fairfax County Public Library. Foreign policy and national security experts provide presentations with lively discussion to follow. Register for each session separately.

Great Decisions is a program on world affairs sponsored by the Foreign Policy Association. The Reston Regional Library is an established discussion group that usually meets monthly.

🎤 Aug. 27: The Future of NATO and European Security: European security is more uncertain than it has been for decades, and America’s role as leader of NATO and a security guarantor is now an open question. What are Europe’s options, and how might developments on both sides of Western Europe — in Ukraine and across the Atlantic — impact its choices? What are America’s stakes in NATO and Europe’s long-term strategic challenges?

🎤 Sept. 24: AI and American National Security: Experts argue that international cooperation is needed to expand the opportunities that AI and new technologies bring while protecting societies from their dangers. What are the key policy debates, and what are the opportunities and potential for global AI rules of the road? How will the AI revolution impact American national security? What are its policy options to secure the benefits of AI and guard against its dangers?

🎤 Oct. 29 American Foreign Policy in the Middle East: The war in Gaza has brought the region to a crossroads. What are the possible outcomes of the war, and how might the United States use its influence to shape a long-term settlement that leaves both Israel and the Palestinians in a better position? How might Arab states in the wider region be brought into a settlement? What are America’s interests in the Middle East and how can it advance them?

What’s happening: In case you haven’t heard, the Cathy Hudgins Community Center will be closed for about five months, starting on Aug. 16. The center is closing so the HVAC system can be completely replaced with six new heat pumps on the roof.

What it means: You’ll still be able to participate in the center’s programs during the renovations. They will be relocated to other sites across Reston. However, the center’s blacktops and courts will be closed during the renovations.

Questions? For more information, please email the center or call 703-324-4600.

What’s happening: Charming historic colonial home for a DIYer is now available in Vienna. With two bedrooms, one bath and six fireplaces, Lahey Lost Valley can be your new home if you’re willing to give this pre-Revolutionary War fixer-upper a little TLC.

Resident curator applications for this historic house will be accepted until Aug. 30. Act quickly because the Fairfax County Park Authority has already received an application.

Take a virtual home tour before you apply.

Located at 9750 Brookmeadow Drive, the two-story house will require an estimated $282,000 in renovations, according to the Park Authority’s treatment plan for the property.

Why it matters: As one of the oldest surviving homes in Fairfax County that’s also on the Inventory of Historic Sites, Lahey house is a significant example of a brick hall and parlor house that dates to circa 1760.

The home is also notable for its association with the Gunnell family who were leaders in Fairfax County throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Henry Gunnell, who built the house with his wife Catherine, was active in the community, including as Truro Parish vestryman from 1756 to 1765 and Justice of the Circuit and District Court of Fairfax County between 1757 and 1764. He is also recorded as serving as a member of the Fairfax Committee of Safety in 1774 and sheriff in 1772.

Starting in the 1940s, the house was also owned by renowned artists Richard and Carlotta Lahey. Richard studied with Robert Henri a leading figure of the Ashcan School, and his paintings are in museum collections across the country, including the Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, Metropolitan Museum of Art and Library of Congress. He also served as President of the Corcoran School of Arts and Design. Carlotta taught sculpture at Goucher College and was a staff artist with National Geographic in the 1940s, while living in Vienna. In 1960, the couple worked on battle map murals at the Honolulu Memorial erected by the American Battle Monuments Commission.

Resident Curator Program: This program offers long-term lease agreements to tenants in beautiful public park settings. Curators live rent free in exchange for rehabilitating underutilized historic properties owned by the Fairfax County Park Authority. Curators may be individuals, nonprofits or for-profit entities.

Carlotta Lahey bequeathed the house to the Park Authority, including its furnishings, art, antiques and 22 acres of land. She requested that the land be largely undisturbed to be a nature preserve in “the midst of the unbelievable growth” in Fairfax County.

Other properties under curatorship: In the Hunter Mill District, the Ellmore Farmhouse at Frying Pan Farm Park was restored by the nonprofit ServiceSource. More recently, experienced historic preservationist Shiela Consaul moved into historic Ash Grove house adjoining the Tysons Forest near the Spring Hill Metro Station. 

What's News in Vienna

Be Prepared. Sign up for Emergency Alerts

August is National Emergency Management Awareness Month and September is National Preparedness Month. So there's no better time to sign up for Vienna Alerts! Get real-time notifications by text message, email or app for important updates on emergencies, road closures, water main breaks, severe weather, and event cancellations.

Summer on the Green Concert Aug. 8

The U.S. Army Band Swamp Romp performs Louisiana’s traditional jazz and folk music during the Summer on the Green Concert this Friday at 6:30 p.m. Bring a picnic blanket and chairs for these free concerts on the Vienna Town Green that last about 90 minutes.

🩸Learn lifesaving skills at the Stop the Bleed course on Aug. 7 at Reston Hospital Center.

🎶Listen to Elikeh play AfroPop on Aug. 7 at Halley Rise.

🎶Listen to Lyle Lovett and his Large Band on Aug. 7 at Wolf Trap.

🎸 Rock out to ‘80’s tribute band The Reflex on Aug. 8 at Reston Station.

🦇Join a naturalist to learn about the beauty of bats on Aug. 9 at Lake Fairfax.

🎶Get the full Beatles experience with Hard Day’s Night on Aug. 9 at Reston Town Center Pavilion.

🍦 Churn and eat ice cream on Aug. 9 at Colvin Run Mill.

🤣Laugh at the improv show Last Hamm Standing on Aug. 9 at NextStop Theater.

⛵Watch the annual Cardboard Boat Regatta on Aug. 9 at Lake Anne.

👸🏽Shenandoah Conservancy presents a Disney Cabaret on Aug. 10 at Reston Town Square Park.

🚶🏾‍➡️Take a night hike and make s’mores on Aug. 10 at Lake Fairfax Park.

🌺Take a free guided walk on Aug. 13 at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.

🪴 Join the Reston Plant Swap on Aug. 13 at Halley Rise.

💻Join this AI in Action workshop for federal employees on Aug. 14 at the Partnership for Public Service offices.

🪈 Listen to the Mystic Warriors perform ancient Andean music on Aug. 14 at Halley Rise.

💻 Register by Aug. 15 for this free AI Government Leadership Program offered by nonprofit Partnership for Public Service.

🎸 Enjoy classic James Taylor songs performed by Hourglass on Aug. 15 at Reston Station.

🎶Relax as the Yacht Lobsters play soft rock on Aug.16 at Reston Town Center.

🌲Join a certified nature therapy guide for slow walking and reflection in the woodlands on Aug 16 at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens.

Find all events for these local organizations: Reston Community Center, Town of Vienna Parks and Recreation Programs, Tephra ICA and Arts Fairfax. Find other community events in the Reston Letter.