Here’s a wrapup of some news worth noting in LoCo lately….

• Our brand new Board of Supervisors has (temporarily?) put the brakes on the western sheriff’s substation that was slated to begin construction in Round Hill in March.  Loudoun voters approved a bond referendum in 2005 to fund it; 10 years of contentious negotiations had finally been smoothed out last September. The new board wants to re-evaluate the ‘fiscal impact’ of the substation.
• The Leesburg Police Department has paired up with Pump it Up for a Hop With a Cop program on Wednesday nights in January.   The fundraiser benefits the Law Enforcement Explorer Post 1041, a worksite-based program for highschoolers that may be interested in a career in law enforcement.
• Brambleton’s Ringing in Hope Race on New Year’s Eve brought out hundreds of runners for 10K and 5K runs, and a 1K walk.  Runners donated their registration fee to the participating local charity of their choice, including Loudoun Interfaith Relief, Jill’s House, Joshua’s Hands, La Voz of Loudoun, and Loudoun Habitat for Humanity, among others.
• Students at Mill Run Elementary in Ashburn partnered with Stop Hunger to pack 32,000 meals for the hungry in November.   As part of the PTO’s Community Cares program, the students collected $8,000 to fund the meals, then received an additional $1,000 donation, paying for another 4,000 meals.
• Want to know what is going where in Loudoun right now?  The Washington Post just compiled a handy list of what’s currently being developed.

Image credit: Matt Callow

As we turn a new calendar year, here is a quick peek at one of the trend lines from last year…median price for single family homes in Loudoun County rose from around $530,000 to about $570,000. Not too bad, eh?  I’m sure if you are thinking about selling (or heck, if you are a LoCo homeowner) you don’t mind seeing a 7% gain compared to last year.

Look for a more in depth year ending report shortly…

Cheers,
Heather

I’m sure you are just as frustrated with our stinkbug infestation as I am. Could not believe it when I went to get gas yesterday, and saw this on the display…

Yep, that little sucker is on the inside of the display. I’ve found them in all sorts of odd places, but this one takes the cake. Has anyone found a solution to these disgusting little bugs yet? Anything working to make them go away? YUCK!

Cheers,
Heather

Happy Halloween!

Are you looking for perfectly LoCo Halloween festivities? Here are some great local events to make this Halloween fangtastic:

The 54th annual Leesburg Halloween Parade is on Halloween at 6:00 pm, starting as always at Ida Lee Park and traveling south on King Street. Please  bring a nonperishable donation for the Loudoun Interfaith Relief Food Bank; collection boxes will be located along the parade route.  And be prepared to gather (or duck!) candy that the parade participants will toss at you!

Great Country Farms in Bluemont will host their  Pumpkin Glow Night on Friday, October 28, and Saturday, October 29 from 6 to 9 pm, displaying over 2000 carved and lit jack-o-lanterns  You can enter your own Jack-o-lantern in the carving competitions, judged for Best in Glow, Scariest and Funniest. Roast marshmallows over the bonfire while you are there!

Monday the 24th through Saturday the 29th, at 6, 7 and 8 pm, Oatlands in Leesburg is hosting their Oatlands After Five Paranormal Tours, with tales of ghosts and unexplained happenings at the plantation, plus details of “ongoing paranormal investigations” there. Tours are suitable for those 8 and older, and space is limited, so reservations are encouraged.  (Saturday is already sold out!)

Alas, The Virginia Scaregrounds at Paxton Manor in Leesburg are  not opening this year. Instead,  Paxton is hosting Shocktober, inviting you to brave the Haunted Mansion, The Funhouse, and/or the Haunted Well of  Souls. They are open Friday through Sunday every weekend in October, and also on Monday the 31st for Halloween.

The Haunted Forest at Halloween Woods at Algonkian Park in Sterling looks tempting….but wear appropriate shoes and clothes, folks, as you will be tromping on uneven paths through the woods. Their website says that “haunted houses are for sissies” so I’m guessing it should be pretty scary!

The Old Stone School at Hillsboro will be haunted again by the Loudoun Valley High School Drama Club and the Hillsboro Community Association on Saturday the 29th from 6 to 9 pm, and is suitable for ages 8 and up.  I heard something about the Grim Reaper minding the door, and a Janitor wandering around sweeping up hands and feet…

I will personally be spending the better part of the Halloween weekend at the Baseliners Halloween Classic girls softball tournament in Sterling. My 14 and under Loudoun Storm softball girls will be playing on Saturday and Sunday; all the teams participating will be decked out in spookier versions of their typical uniforms. Nearly every Storm team is participating, so make sure to cheer for them if you come out!

Hope you have a spooktacular Halloween!
~Heather

(photo credit…it’s not a Leesburg house, but Shane Gorski took it, and it rocks.. )

The storm that rolled through Loudoun last night around 7:30 was pretty fierce, and we were on the way from Leesburg to Purcellville via Dry Mill Road when it opened up. For those of you not familiar with the road, it’s the “back way”, and it’s lined with gigantic trees on both sides of the road.  When the lightning started to crack, we pulled into the new Shenstone Reserve neighborhood to get to a clear spot…really didn’t want to get crushed by falling limbs!

When it calmed down a bit, we kept going, and had to inch around a tree that came down across from the construction going on at Scott Jenkins Park (one of the brand new bus shelters blew over, along with every one of the saplings that were planted there). Couldn’t get through Hamilton as something (another tree? power pole?) was blocking the road in town, and the fire department had already responded. We ran into more blocked back roads trying to cut home via Sands Road and then trying to loop around on Hughes Street. There was a HUGE tree broken off in front of the Catholic Distance University as well (picture below). Several homes and cars in town had damage from downed limbs.

The storm was not nearly as violent in Purcellville, although I heard from friends that Waterford still didn’t have power at 1 am. Hoping that all of my readers are safe and unhurt. Here’s a few photos I snapped from the car:

Cheers,
Heather