Weekend Plans: Safe Celebrations & Activities
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Dear Providence Residents,
I want to wish our community a Happy Passover and Easter. I know that we can find new ways to celebrate this year, including group video chats, smaller family meals, and thoughtful phone calls to loved ones. It is important to celebrate safely and follow the Governor's stay at home executive order, which prohibits gatherings of more than 10 people.
In this newsletter, I am sharing activity lists to enjoy while staying safe at home this weekend. I also included an update on the FY2021 Proposed Budget.
Stay Safe and Well,
Supervisor Dalia Palchik
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Activities For Children of All Ages
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1. Dance and practice yoga every day! YouTube offers many free classes.
2. Play outside: hopscotch, croquet, "Mother, May I?", hide and seek, play with paint and make a mess
3. Sign up for free online acting, story times, theatre education, teaching, playwriting classes at
Olney Theatre Center
.
4. Discover plants, gardens, architecture, history and art in free virtual tours at
Dumbarton Oaks
.
5. Play "dictionary." One person (blindfolded) picks a word from the dictionary and everyone has to guess its meaning. The person who comes closest to the real meaning gets to choose the next word.
6. Play "something good" at dinnertime. Everyone has to name "something good" which happened that day.
7. Have a debate in your family about whom Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden will choose for his running mate. (Hint: She's a woman!)
8. Play "Geography." Everyone gets to pick an unknown place in the world and the rest of the family tries to guess where it is. Bonus points if anyone can spell it correctly.
9. Play "spice rack." Remove all the spices from the rack or the kitchen cabinet and shake them (making sure tops are securely fastened) to see if they are old and have hardened. Check the expiration dates (if available). If they are old, make a list in alphabetical order of new ones to buy, and discard them (with your parent's permission). If they are usable, make a list of them in alphabetical order and tape the list to the back of the cabinet door so the cook will know what's there. Return them to the cabinet or spice rack.
10. Clean out your closet and shoes by piling the clothes and shoes you can't stand and asking your mom or dad if the articles can go to Goodwill.
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Ways for Adults to Stay Healthy and Active at Home
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1. Turn off the TV. If catching up on the news is "a must," limit yourself to twice a day for no more than 15-30 minutes each time.
2. Go outside and clear your mind. Enjoy springtime fragrances, the chirps of the birds, the (mostly) silence. Walk, run, skip, bike! Leave your phone at home.
3. Listen to music. If you are weary of your own CDs or streaming from your phone, tune in to one of more than 50 basic cable music stations which feature everything from gospel to classical, toddler, teens, heavy metal, country, pop hits of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, plus many more. Commercial free!
4. Make a list of good things (yes, there are some) coming from the pandemic: Are you getting more exercise? Sleep? Strengthening relationships? Renewing old ones? Do you miss the sound of automobile horns and traffic? Life's speed as it was? This can be done as a family.
5. Read a classic out loud to your children. Make a special time of day to do this. Some classics which come to mind:
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Tom Sawyer, David Copperfield, My Antonia,Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Secret Garden, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.
What are some of your favorites you want your children to read?
6. Clean out drawers, closets, your car and start a pile to take to Goodwill when the time is right. Your children can help. You will feel better for it.
7. Take a picnic supper out to
Sky Meadows State Park
(open until dusk) and afterwards, lie on the grass and relax, looking up at the sky. Except for beaches, Virginia State Parks are open 8 a.m. until dusk. For more information, visit
"I Love Virginia State Parks"
Or, make it a picnic lunch and play "clouds" in your yard. Lie on a blanket or towel and identify shapes with your family which you see in the clouds.
8. Invite your children to take turns making menus for dinner, preparing the grocery lists. Cook or grill together!
9. Call your "home alone" neighbors to see if you can bring them grocery items, check their mail, go to the post office. Do they need help?
10. Bike with your family; walk with your family, skip, hop, jump, run.
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You can view the FY2021 amended budget proposal
here
.
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The County Executive no longer recommends an increase in the Real Estate Rate, keeping it at $1.15 per $100 of assessed value.
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It also no longer includes a 4% Admissions Tax on items such as movie, theater, and concert tickets.
Funding to schools:
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Fairfax County Public Schools still represent a priority for the Board.
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It maintains equal growth for the County and Schools, but with drastic growth reductions from 3.65% to 0.32% over the FY 2020 Adopted Budget Plan.
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FCPS will still receive an increase in the transfer, but it will be reduced from $85.52 million to $7.31 million for the Operating Fund.
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There is little funding to expand services, but existing programs will be preserved.
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All of the proposed new positions have been eliminated except those related to public health both in our community and schools, and one in the Office of Elections.
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It eliminates increases in employee compensation, but preserves current salaries and positions.
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$9.84 million dollars will be set aside to assist with efforts to combat the health and economic impacts of COVID-19.
Some other areas that will receive an increase in funding:
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$0.58 million to the Community Funding Pool, which provides funding to community organizations to meet human services needs.
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$1.77 million to support the workload for the County's Police Body-Worn Camera program.
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$0.58 million to support the information technology requirements of the Office of Elections and needs for the 2020 Presidential election.
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Fairfax County priorities remain the same, we just have to think differently on how to move forward. For example:
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The Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan is continuing with the public engagement process and creating goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and strategies that community members can take to mitigate climate change at the local level.
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The County still has a pipeline of over 1,300 affordable housing units. Our Housing Department is looking for creative ways to stretch the resources available with efficient investments and changes to land use policy.
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We encourage residents to testify on this budget remotely via submitted videos, written testimony, or phone calls.
Here is an updated link
on how to do this. The public hearings will take place from April 28-30.
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April 14:
Deadline for The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) and the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) community feedback for the
2020 Paving and Restriping Program
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We want to hear from you! Please reach out to us with questions, comments or just to say hello.
Office Phone
: (703) 560-6946
Email us
HERE
if you would like events included in our newsletter or you would like a member of our team to join your HOA meeting.
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