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Report to the Members 2002

Good evening. I’m Cindy Kunz and I’m the Secretary of the Board of Trustees. It’s my job tonight give you a report on the Fairlington Historical Society’s work in the past year… and our plans for this year, which is a significant one: Fairlington’s 60 th anniversary.

When our Vice President, Terry Placek, reported to you in 2001, she told you about what we had done in our first year as an organization. We were pleased then that we’d created a Vision and Mission statement, held two community-wide events, launched a website, and placed a display case in the South Fairlington Community Center. Last year at this time, we were just beginning to wrap our arms around the republication of Fairlington at 50, about which I’ll tell you more in a moment. We were also starting discussions about the preservation of our Boundary Stone, and we were just beginning to recruit people interested in serving on Society Committees.

  • Volunteers and Committees

I want to begin this report by talking about people… and about the members who have stepped forward this year to volunteer their time. I think we all know that the Fairlington community is full of remarkable people… with enormous talent and experience. And, I should add, very little spare time.

We are grateful that, despite that, so many members have found the time to chair committees and subcommittees and to recruit others. As you will hear in a moment, they have accomplished a great deal this year. Our thanks go to:

  • Harold Reem , who, in addition to serving as our ‘Photographer In Residence,’ is helping to energize the Architectural Integrity Committee, and committee members Ron Quinn and Victor Slobinski. Ron Quinn, unfortunately for us, recently moved from Fairlington and is no longer able to assist us. But, we are delighted to announce that Charles Matta, an architect and Fairlington resident, about whom you’ll hear more in a moment, has agreed to serve as a consultant to this Committee.
  • Sara Dalcher , who co-chaired the Communication and Education Committee with our Treasurer, Sandy Hodapp.
  • Norma Reem , who chairs the Special Projects and Social Activities subcommittee, and is, by the way, responsible for the arrangements of tonight’s gathering, along with Harold.
  • Patty Clark , who co-chairs the Fundraising subcommittee, with Ron Patterson, our President, and myself… and you’ll hear much more about this work later
  • Jeanne Muller , who co-chairs the Historic Preservation Committee along with Ruth Kerns, and members Margaret Shannon and Nancy Jackson
  • Jim Mailler , who chairs the Volunteer Committee with Terry Placek, our Vice President
  • Chuck Edwards and Tom Corbin , who are chairing the committee organizing our upcoming House and Garden Tour… more about that in a moment too.
  • Bonnie Blaszczyk , who has been of invaluable help in organizing and financing the House and Garden tour and in shaping our fundraising among realtors and local businesses.
  • Ed Hiz, David Manning, and Sandy Hodapp , who serve on the committee managing the republication of Fairlington at 50
  • And, of course, Catherine Fellows, our own ‘Historian in Residence,’ who has worked with us through the sometimes torturous process of bringing Fairlington at 50 back into print.

All of you contributed enormously to our accomplishments this year… thank you all very much.

I don’t want to leave this discussion of people without noting that there are still plenty of opportunities to help! This year, we hope to see even more of you involved. Even if you only have a little time to spare, you will find some marvelous folks who will be very happy for your interest and help… and some good work to do.

  • Fairlington at 50 Republication

As most of you probably know, Fairlington at50 was originally published by our friends, the Fairlington Citizens Association (FCA) in 1993, and getting this wonderful book back into print has been one of the major goals of the Society. This past year, we talked with the FCA about republishing the book in honor of Fairlington’s 60 th anniversary, and they gave us the manuscript and the rights to take this task on. We’re working now with the manuscript, restoring original materials, and we expect to have the book printed as a 60 th anniversary edition by mid-year at the latest.

  • Boundary Stone

This year, we discovered just how easy, and how complicated, having a boundary stone in our midst can be. As you may know, we hosted an event last May that featured a fascinating presentation by Gayle Harris. Gayle is part of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) group that has taken care of the boundary stones since 1916, and is quite an historian of the stones. On the easy side of things, Gayle and DAR were delighted that the Historical Society was interested in maintaining our stone, and we have taken on this task.

On the complicated side of things, Gayle introduced our president, Ron Patterson, to a larger group of people concerned about the preservation of all of the stones, in all of the jurisdictions. This regional boundary stone preservation committee includes National Park Service representatives, along with historians and others, and is working to establish and preserve correct locations – because some stones, including ours, have been moved over the years – and to secure easements – because some stones are on private property. Doing this, and creating the agreements to maintain the stones, is a long term task, and we are very well represented in this process by Ron Patterson. Our immediate plans for the stone include keeping the area clear of debris and getting estimates on restoration or replacement of the protective fence.

  • Second Display Case

This year, we added a second display case, located right over there. The North Fairlington board generously purchased the cabinet for us. This display, and the first one at the South Fairlington Community Center, has featured three different displays of information, pictures, and other memorabilia contributed by current and past residents. These displays have been prepared and placed by our Historic Preservation Committee co-chairs, Ruth Kerns and Jeanne Muller. We received some wonderful contributions and loans of pictures and memorabilia from many people… and hope that you will keep this in mind if you come across such things.

  • Fundraising Strategy

This year, the Society took on the task of raising funds to finance both special projects like the republication of Fairlington at 50 and preservation of the boundary stone, and ongoing work like public education, maintaining the website, and preparing exhibits for the display cases. Our fundraising committee developed an overall strategy for soliciting funds from:

  • Individuals and residents, past and present;
  • Realtors;
  • Area businesses;
  • The condominium associations and their contractors; and
  • Foundations

Ron Patterson led this effort along with Patty Clark, Bonnie Blaszczyk, and myself. Ron took a special training course in grant writing, and then turned his homework into a standard grant proposal and solicitation package. A copy of our generic grant proposal package is available at the entrance table for your perusal.

Patty Clark researched small foundations that give to organizations like ours, and developed our first comprehensive list of local businesses. Bonnie Blaszczyk developed the list of realtors doing significant business in Fairlington. We have received some very generous individual contributions and contributions, to date, from three of the seven condominium associations. The realtors have received their solicitations and local businesses are receiving them this week.

Our treasurer, Sandy Hodapp, will be giving you a financial report in just a moment.

We continue to be very proud of our web site and are constantly improving the site in our continuing effort to use this tool to bring the community closer together through the sharing of information.

This year, our webmaster, Ron Patterson, redesigned the website and added the new features:

  • Individual pages for each Fairlington Village
  • Floor plans for each model home in Fairlington
  • Ability for supporters to make donations on line
  • A page devoted to gardeners - “Fairlington’s Gardening Advisor”
  • Test of Time Award

As you may know, Fairlington was the recipient of the American Institute of Architects, Virginia Society’s ‘Test of Time’ Award this year. The award recognizes the lasting value of excellence in architectural design. This recognition is awarded annually to "a building or group of buildings that has functioned in essentially the same manner as originally designed for at least twenty-five years."

Catherine Fellows was asked to accept the award, but could not attend. She asked that the Historical Society accept it instead, and Ron Patterson and Terry Placek represented the community at the ceremony in Richmond. You should also know that Charles Matta, who I mentioned earlier as a consultant to out Architectural Integrity Committee, was responsible for nominating Fairlington for this prestigious award. Charles has a distinguished record of service in the community: He served as Vice-President of the Fairlington Citizens Association, has been active in condominium association activities in the Green, and was instrumental in the 1993 publication of Fairlington at 50.

  • Burke and Herbert Anniversary

This year, we also partnered with Burke and Herbert Bank and Trust as they celebrated their 150 th anniversary. Thanks to Ron Patterson, Ruth Kerns, and Jeanne Muller, the Fairlington branch featured a display of Fairlington memorabilia, including a very securely chained copy of the original Fairlington at 50.

  • Priorities for 2003

I want to close my report to you with our priorities for 2003. The big ones, of course, are republishing Fairlington to 50, and we will host a special event to celebrate the republication. We will be continuing the boundary stone preservation, and participating in Fairlington’s 60 th Anniversary celebrations. These are beginning to take shape, and the Society will help plan and will be represented at all of these.

In particular, we will have a table with membership forms and Fairlington at 50for sale at the spring and fall community yard sales. So, please think about cleaning out those attics, closets, and bookshelves… and contributing items to the Historical Society’s table. And stop by… we’ve had great fun being part of the community yard sales, seeing neighbors and friends, and strong arming new members!

We will, once again, be supporting our friends at the firehouse, sponsoring their 5k run this spring. And, we’ll sponsor at least one community education event. We’re still looking at topics, so if you have any suggestions, we’d be glad to hear them.

We’ll also be sponsoring a House and Garden Tour on May 10 th. There hasn’t been a house and garden tour in Fairlington for a number of years, and so far the response to bringing this kind of event back has been very positive.

Finally, you should know that we also have a large list of ideas and projects that are just waiting for people to help make them happen. We’ve received wonderful suggestions from many people for things like:

  • An oral history project, including residents’ experiences on September 11, 2001
  • Designing and selling Historical Society items like T-shirts, mugs, key rings, and the like
  • Hosting a ‘pictures of Fairlington’ art exhibit
  • Creating a ‘pictures of Fairlington’ calendar and note cards
  • Developing a program about Fairlington and its history for Abingdon school students

And, many, many more. On the lighter side, we’ve even seen a proposed Historical Society logo design for more humorous moments, featuring two of Fairlington’s most abundant and occasionally annoying creatures… the squirrel and the crow.

Please know that we welcome your ideas… and we certainly welcome your time. If you have even a little time to contribute, we think you’ll find it well worth the effort.