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LITTLE RUN CITIZEN'S ASSOCIATION
SPRINGBROOK FOREST  ·  WILLOW WOODS  ·  WOODS OF ILDA

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Neighborhood News

THE 5:00 AND 6:00 PM RIDES ARE FULL. Space is still left for
the 7 PM ride.

Date: Sunday, December 4
Time: 5, 6, & 7 PM
Where: Ilda Pool Parking Lot

Please join us for the 19th annual LRCA Winter Hayride. The horse-drawn hayride is free to LRCA members. This event is fun for all ages and is a great way to kick off the holiday season. So, come on out, spend time with your neighbors, and go for a hayride. It can get cold, so don’t forget to bundle up. Refreshments will be available. Note: Those 14 and younger must be accompanied by an adult. In case of inclement weather, call Jon Parker at 703/426-1823 to find out if the event is being rescheduled.

Reserve your space now. Seating is limited.

For the hayride on December 4th we’re asking residents to help light up the neighborhood by putting out luminaries starting at 5 PM. LRCA is supplying the luminaries. Stop by 8929 Maurice Lane on either December 3 or 4 between 10 A.M. and 4 P.M. to pick up your luminaries. We’ll send out a reminder on the LRCA Yahoo Group as the date approaches.

In these tough times it takes a tough guy to get lower rates for LRCA residents. That tough guy is Todd Skipper. According to Todd in early June he entered into high-stakes, tough negotiating sessions held in smoky bars and outlaw motorcycle gang club houses hidden in secret locations in plain sight. Now, these negotiations were so tough that life was cheaper than the whiskey we drank; these were negotiations where we told stories so scary that babies will be born in fear for decades to come; negotiations so tough that men cried, governments fell, teeth ached, gauntlets were run, fists were clenched, and the cow jumped over the moon… Well you get the idea.

By mid-July he had an agreement.

The agreement is with American Disposal Services. You can reach American by calling 703-368-0500. When calling American, state you are a member of LRCA. Here’s the deal.

• $22.98/month --- no increase in rate
• Senior rate of $20.98/month (60+ yrs; tell them you are a senior)
• 64 gallon recycling bins on wheels are free (call American for delivery)
• If any LRCA member is currently paying $1/month for wheeled recycling containers, call American and they will remove the charge from your bill
• Should American not be the endorsed trash service next year, there will be no charge to remove garbage cans (pretty good evidence of a commitment to serve our community in the future)

Rates are guaranteed for one year In addition, ILDA pool will receive:

• $50 credit for both July & August bills ($100 total)
• A review of American ‘sponsorship’ at the pool for next year.

So call American now and start saving and when you see Todd say, “Thanks, tough guy.”

The LRCA is happy to announce that at our last meeting Bob Kachur was elected to the LRCA Board as a Member at Large. At the Annual Meeting in May Claire Brown was elected to the board and is now the Vice President. Recently Valerie Schnibbe Smith agreed to coordinate the Community Care Network and Aija Evans agreed to be the LRCA Postmaster in charge of coordinating the LINK delivery. Speaking of the LINK Matt Nolan has been laying out the LINK for more than a year now. A special thank you to all of the above, to the area and block captains, neighborhood watch patrols and any one else who supports our community.

By Ivan Dietrich
Invasive plants grow everywhere in our Little Run Citizens’ Association neighborhood. Bamboo and English Ivy are most noticeable and prolific. Each spreads rapidly to choke establishment and growth of other plants—trees and native ground plants. They should be rooted out and destroyed. Zoysia grass (transplanted from Florida) is another plant that creeps from intended boundaries to invade neighbor lawns. Except for one or more applications of Round Up, it is difficult to control. Twining Morning Glory climbs shrubbery. It must be pulled plant by plant to prevent twining upward through shrubbery.

There are many other invasive plants such as kudzu vine (visible from portions of Route 95, and Route 17 going south from 95). Those listed above, however, are of immediate concern for our neighborhood.

By Paula Weiss
The vast majority of the time, LRCA residents are good neighbors who take care of our property and of each other. We don’t need a homeowners’ association to force people to do what good neighbors do naturally. But we can all use reminders, especially as the seasons change. As we head into fall, there are several “best practices” that if we all follow them, will result in a tidier and safer neighborhood.

Check to make sure that your hedges, bushes, trees and other shrubbery do not extend into the sidewalk area. Can a pedestrian walk or jog down the sidewalk without having to sidestep onto the grass median or even into the street? If not, it’s time to trim.

Those pesky leaves! Many of us are lucky to have beautiful old growth treed lots, but they sure produce a lot of leaves each fall. Please remember to rake and bag or mulch with a lawn mower your leaves as soon as practical. Your neighbors will thank you. If you wait too long and it rains leaves can become matted and difficult to rake. If left on the lawn into the spring they could create bare spots.

Please do not park cars in such a way that the sidewalk is blocked. Adding that third or fourth car to your driveway may not seem like a big hindrance, but we have heard complaints from elderly neighbors who are forced to step into the street or off the safer sidewalk onto the grass to navigate such driveways. It’s even annoying if you’re not elderly. A slight convenience for you or a guest may mean a major inconvenience to someone who depends on a clear sidewalk. By the way, police can and will issue citations for blocked sidewalks if they encounter them.

We all know that we are required by law and common sense to stop when a school bus stops to pick up or discharge children. But as the mornings get darker, and the evenings come sooner, please be especially careful to watch out for pedestrians of all ages. Some LRCA intersections lack sidewalks and adequate lighting for children waiting for a bus in the morning, so we need to keep our eyes wide open and our speed lower.

And if you’re picking up a schoolmate or a carpooler early in the morning, please be considerate of shift workers, retirees and others who may not wake up as early as you do…don’t honk! Knock on the door or use your cell phone to remind them you’re waiting.

Thanks to all of you who by being good neighbors day in and day out keep LRCA a great place to live. Have a safe and happy fall!

Visit www.facebook.com and search for Little Run Citizens Association. Connect with neighbors, explore issues, add to discussions, and share information.

Or visit twitter.com and search for LRCA_Community

It’s another way to stay connected.

The LRCA Yahoo Group is an online forum only open to those who belong to the LRCA. The goal of the group is to facilitate information sharing and communication among LRCA residents in the Woods of Ilda, Willow Woods, and Springbrook Forest neighborhoods.

If you have a question, post it to the group, and you’ll get answers. To join, send an e-mail with a request to join the group along with your name, address, and phone number to LRCA-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. You’ll receive an e-mail invite. Follow the instructions in the e-mail, and you’ll gain access to the group.

Kindle users can now download free eBooks available through the library's catalog. Fairfax County Public Library has been able to expand its eBook collection recently due to additional funding from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the Fairfax Library Foundation and the Friends of the Reston Regional Library. The influx of donations has reduced the waiting times for the most popular books and has also allowed the library to add more titles in eBook format.

All of the library's electronic resources are available through the library's catalog accessible through the website at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library. To see the electronic collection only, click on Download from the left column of the home page.

ReadyNova.com was designed to assist residents and businesses in the Northern Virginia region in developing a Family Preparedness Planner or a Business Preparedness Planner, both of which follow basic and accepted emergency management practices.

Both the Family Preparedness Planner and the Business Preparedness Planner are user-friendly applications that meet ADA requirements for accessibility.

This website and the preparedness planners were developed with an Urban Area Security Initiative award of the Northern Virginia Emergency Response System with project oversight provided by Fairfax County Office of Emergency Management on behalf of Northern Virginia emergency management organizations and partners.

Visit www.ReadyNova.com and start planning now.