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TextBraddock District Community Corner
Congratulations to Graduates of the 2010 Braddock District Neighborhood College!
Supervisor Cook began the Braddock District Community Engagement
Initiative because he wanted to foster stronger connections between
people and their communities, strengthen our neighborhoods, and help
improve the quality of life in the Braddock District.
Part of that effort was creating learning opportunities for those
looking to step forward and make a difference in their communities.
Through two seperate Neighborhood Colleges, a one-night-a-week class on
community involvement that lasts seven weeks, about 40 individuals are
now ready to take that step. They join the 60 graduates of January’s
Leadership Institute to form a dedicated band of 100 trained community
volunteers.
The real work happens now that training is completed and these 40
graduates return to their community organizations and help craft their
own community enhancement initiatives.
Supervisor Cook would like to thank these graduates for the commitment
they have demonstrated to their community and wish them luck in their
future endeavors to improve the Braddock District
Community Engagement Tip of the Month: Volunteer With the Fairfax County Police Department
Every year since 1983, Fairfax County area residents have contributed
significant hours of their own time volunteering with the Fairfax County
Police Department (FCPD). Members of the department’s Volunteers in
Police Service (VIPS), Auxiliary Police Officers (APOs) and alumni from
the Citizens Police Academy come from a variety of backgrounds and offer
a number of skills and abilities to the agency while providing a great
cost benefit to the county.
In 2008, the VIPS and APOs saved the county close to $2 million dollars.
Police volunteers are a vital part of the department and assist in
various capacities ranging from administrative support, photographers,
child safety seat inspections to helping patrol the streets.
They also serve an important role in staffing the FCPD Canteen, which
provides officers with snacks and hydrating drinks at major, hours- or
days-long police scenes.
To learn more about our police volunteer programs, just visit the
Fairfax County Police website (search by keyword: VIPS, APO, Citizens
Police Academy); or go directly to:
• VIPS:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/oem/citizencorps/vips.htm
• APO:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/jobs/auxiliarypoliceofficer.htm
• Citizens Police
Academy:
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/police/services/citizens-police-academy.htm
Supervisor Cook in the Community
On April 9th and 10th, Supervisor Cook was present for two Little League Opening Day Ceremonies. On Friday, Supervisor Cook and Springfield Supervisor Pat Herrity participated in a parade and festivities for the West Springfield Little League, and on Saturday, the Supervisor was honored to throw out the first pitch at the Annandale/North Springfield Little League Opening Day.
On April 12th, Supervisor Cook was present for the graduation ceremony for the first of the Braddock District’s Neighborhood College at St. Barnabas Episcopal Church. On April 28th, Supervisor Cook attended the graduation ceremony for the second Neighborhood College which was held here in Braddock Hall.
On April 13th, Supervisor Cook visited the child care center at INOVA Fairfax Hospital and read to some of the Pre-K children there.
On April 19th, Supervisor Cook went to the Cox Communications
Headquarters in Herndon to do a taping of its Local Edition TV segment.
This segemnt will air periodically in the future on your local Cox
channels and features the Community Engagement Initiative. You can view
it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBh6ZLFrLio
On April 21st, the Supervisor was present at the Kings Park Library when
the Fairfax County Public Library honored all of the fabulous volunteers
who help make our libraries the great place they are.
On April 23rd, Supervisor Cook attended the Community Champions Award Ceremony put on by Volunteer Fairfax. Many wonderful people were honored, including Jeff Root from the Braddock District, who has been involved in a number of projects in the Kings Park West area.
On April 24th, Supervisor Cook attended two important events. First, he was present at Lake Accotink for the celebration of its 50th Anniversary. Afterwards, he attended the Annandale Campus of NVCC for a lively celebration of Earth day. The Supervisor welcomed the participants and honored guests into the Braddock District for this wonderful event.
On Monday, April 26, Supervisor Cook attended the Southport HOA meeting here in Braddock Hall where issues that concern the residents were addressed by the Supervisor. The following evening he attended the annual members meeting for the Kings Park West Civic Association at Robinson Secondary School.
On April 29th, Supervisor Cook began the night at NVCC for the “Light of Hope” Volunteer Appreciation Evening sponsored by Fairfax Court Appointed Special Advocates. After that, Supervisor Cook went over to Wakefield Forest Elementary School for a Wakefield Chapel Road Transportation Safety Community Meeting. More on this meeting is included in a separate article in the Beacon.
Braddock Neighborhood News: Innovation and Technology in Fairfax County Public Libraries
On this month’s edition of Braddock Neighborhood News, Supervisor Cook
interviews Sam Clay, the Fairfax County Public Library Director, and
Charles Fegan, a member and former Chairman of the Fairfax County Public
Library Board of Trustees, to discuss innovation and the use of
technology in our public libraries.
Over the past several years, our public library system has had to do
more with less. Utilizing the promise of new technology, however, our
libraries have become centers of innovation that use our tax dollars more
efficiently and effectively to meet the ever greater demand for
information. Although the County has faced financial difficulty, our
libraries continue to successfully meet the challenges facing us, serving
as examples to libraries from across the region and beyond.
To learn more about the exciting innovations in our public libraries,
including how our libraries are incorporating new technology to expand
service, and about how our libraries are partnering with other county
agencies to improve their services to taxpayers, please tune in to
Braddock Neighborhood News on Fridays and Sundays at 5 p.m. and
Wednesdays at 7 p.m. on Channel 16. You can also watch a streaming video
of the show by visiting
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/cable/channel16/asx/supervisor_cook.asx.
Looking Back At Fairfax: POW’s in Fairfax After World War II
On May 8, 1945, Germany surrendered and the fighting in Europe ended.
Many Fairfax residents who had seen German soldiers only in newsreels
throughout the war, soon afterward saw them in person. During World War
II, approximately 435,000 captured enemy soldiers were held in
approximately 660 prisoner of war camps spread throughout forty-six of
the forty-eight states.
Of that total, approximately 5,000 were Japanese, 51,000 Italians and
the remainder German. In June 1945 German soldiers began to arrive at a
POW camp along Route 29 in Fairfax County, near today’s Fairfax
Government Center. Because of the labor shortage at the time - our
soldiers, marines and sailors were still overseas - the POWs represented
an important component of the labor force.
Farmers rented them out by the day, paying the prevailing labor rate of
43 cents per hour to the U. S. Government. For their labor the POWs
received eighty cents per day (officers received more) in canteen
credits-to buy beer, cigarettes, snacks and toiletries. The excess went
to the U. S. Government and was used to fund the POW camps.
In 1944 alone, the U. S. Government made $22 million nationwide from
renting these POWs out. The two hundred POWs in Fairfax were sent back to
Europe in November 1945. In their six months here, the POWs logged
approximately 111,000 total labor hours.
Across the country fewer than 3,000 POWs tried to escape. Two POWs tried
to escape from a Colorado POW camp - with the assistance of an American
Army private. The real bizarre thing here is that the army private had
just graduated - with honors - from Harvard! The private and his two
German POWs made a long road trip to Mexico, which during the war was
very pro-Germany. They made it to Mexico, barely, but things unraveled
from there.
Paul N. Herbert is the President of the Historical Society of Fairfax
County and the author of God Knows All Your Names.
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