Quicktakes, Winter 2013

Holiday Helpers

Free Subscription to Parktakes, call 703-222-4664

q u i c k t a k e sq u i c k t a k e s

most children love surprises, and soon, your children will be able to orchestrate their own secret gift-

giving strategy through children’s holiday shopping events at several Park Authority

locations. Children arrive with their list, and volunteers help them check it

twice as they select holiday surprises for the whole family.

“It was so much fun,” Samantha Nagurny, now 22, recalled of the childhood years she participated at the Frying Pan Farm Park gift shop. “You set a limit and get to go shopping without your par-ents. There’s someone helping you, so you’ll stay in your limit.”

Parents wait outside while gifts are selected and wrapped,

ensuring no holiday surprise is spoiled before gift-giving time.

Kaya Facen, 9, and her 11-year-old brother, Joe, say their experiences at

the Colvin Run Mill store made for treasured memories.

“I gave Daddy a little tiny guitar photo album with Colvin Run Mill,” Kaya recalled fondly. “I gave my sister a stuffed reindeer. She loves it!”

Kaya selected lotion for her grand-mother and toys for her sister and cousin. Joe enjoyed his holiday shop-ping experiences, too.

“I got a ping pong paddle for my cousin, James, and salt and pepper shakers for Mom,” Joe said. “It was kind of helpful to have someone helping me, because I would probably forget a gift for someone, so they’d tell me that.”

This year, Joe plans to volunteer to help younger children with their gift-giving selections and wrapping. “There’s a big variety of things like jewelry, stuffed animals, collectibles, books and

Park Volunteers Help kids keep Holiday Gifts under Wraps

4 Winter 2013

Youngsters select special gifts for their loved ones at

Children’s Holiday Shopping.

Holiday Helpers

More Classes Online, www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks

q u i c k t a k e s

5

Whether you’re shopping for family, friends, teachers or the paper carrier this holiday

season, many unique gift ideas can be found at Park Authority shops, and

with no wait in line! Discover some-thing for everyone on your holiday gift

list at Park Authority shops, and support your parks at the same time.

For the nature lovers and gardeners on your list, check out the shops at

Green Spring Gardens, Frying Pan Farm Park and Colvin Run Mill. Inventory changes regularly, so stop in often.

For fitness enthusiasts and golfers, swing into the

Twin Lakes and Laurel Hill golf course pro

shops where you’ll find name-brand sports apparel

for men and women. While you’re there, pick up some golf clubs, golf shoes, balls,

sunglasses and other essentials.For history buffs, try Colvin Run Mill, Green Spring Historic House,

Frying Pan Farm Park and Sully His-toric Site shops. Books, CDs and DVDs are among the offerings as well as history-themed gifts for all ages.

For the children on your list, you’ll find lots of options at all Park Authority gift shops. Toys, puzzles, books, games, activi-ties and more are available, and the selection is varies at each site.

Can’t decide what to get? No problem! You can pick up

Park Authority gift cards at all nature centers, RECenters, golf

courses and gift shops. Gift cards can be used to purchase classes,

merchandise, golf rounds, RECenter mem-berships and anything else offered at Park Authority locations.

To see which Park Authority shops are having Black Friday specials, turn to page 120.

puzzles so you can always find something your parents or brother or sister or friends would like.”

Samantha recalled that was the key to volunteering at the Frying Pan event: mak-ing sure the gift selected by the child is something the recipient would like. “I remember some kids would say something like, ‘Oh, I think my mom would like this stuffed cow,’ and I would remind them that they are looking for gifts for others and help guide them to other things.”

All-in-all, the children have a ball shopping and wrapping as they begin realizing that there’s something in it for them, too -- the special feeling one gets when he or she realizes it is indeed better to give than to receive.

For this year’s Children’s Holiday Shopping

dates, times and locations, turn to the Events

section of Parktakes. Also, see the Nature section

for a Holiday Shopping Afternoon at Eleanor C.

Lawrence Park.

stress-free shopping with no Wait in line

Winter 2013

if you think volleyball is a sport for the younger set, think again. Seniors ranging in age from 66 to 82 play weekly at Providence RECenter, and they’ve become so good at the game, they often chal-

lenge their teacher.“When I play with these people, it’s like we’re in our 20s again,” said in-

structor and senior fitness expert Rosemary Reca. “Age goes out the window. One guy, who is 76, has the body of Jack LaLanne.”*

“Why do I do it? Look at me,” said Joe Petrosky, 81, one of the senior members of the class who prides himself on being fit. “I also do Pilates and yoga,” he said

with a smile. The rules of their volleyball game are a bit unconventional for good reason.

Reca tailored the class to meet the needs of her students.“The traditional volleyball is too hard on the hands of someone who has

arthritis, so we went with a beach ball,” she explained. “We also have no limit as to how many times the ball can be hit on one side, but no individual player can hit the ball two times in a row.”

The age-appropriate adjustments keep play moving and make for a fun workout for Reca’s young-at-heart students.

“It is fun exercise that makes us feel alive,” Amalia Iglesias, 76, said enthu-siastically. “It’s not routine.”

Seniors in this game have also experienced improvement in hand-eye coordination, endurance level, reaction time and agility. Paul McCracken, 77, is among those who have noticed the difference.

“At first, it was more challenging than I expected,” McCracken said. “Now my body

has adjusted to it.”Most of the players have taken the class

since it started in January 2006, and they often share a laugh or two in social functions outside of class. But newcomers need not worry about fitting in. Reca teaches tech-nique, each co-ed team is evenly matched

with players of all skill lev-els, and there’s never any misunderstanding about which team is leading.

“The most important tool we have is the scoreboard,” said Cynthia Weidman, 75. “Before that, we got into terrible arguments because we didn’t always remember the last score.”

Win or lose, you’ll notice a familiar camaraderie among this class. It’s similar to that of those in their 20s who make friends easily and enjoy their fellowship often.

For Senior Volleyball class times and other exercise op-tions, turn to the Senior Fitness section on page 67.

q u i c k t a k e s

6 Free Subscription to Parktakes, call 703-222-4664

*Jack LaLanne, “The Godfather of Fitness,” was a popular American fitness, exercise and nutritional expert whose physique resembled that of a body builder. He hosted the longest-running fitness show on television (1951-1985) along with his wife, Elaine. He died in 2011, at the age of 96.

senior Volleyball Players Get a spike in Fitness

Top: Amalia Iglesias sets up a serve. Bottom: Joe Petrosky works on strategy with Cynthia Weidman.

Jack Who?

Paul McCracken reaches for a return shot.

Winter 2013

Winter 2013

q u i c k t a k e s

l ike many people, Gene Swearingen

has faced a frus-trating on-again, off-again battle of the bulge over the years. The Haymar-ket town manager would periodically lose a few pounds, and then gain them back. The turning

point for him came in mid-2010 following knee replace-ment surgery.

“I was already a little overweight before the surgery anyway, and during my six-month recovery, I put on more weight and got to 250 pounds,” he said. “That was just way too much.”

Once his knee was rehabilitated and its full range of motion had been restored, Gene rededicated himself to fitness and weight loss. He had a great incentive, too. The Cent-reville resident wanted to look fit for his role as father of the bride at his daughter Katie’s upcoming wedding. So he started working out at Cub Run RECenter in Chantilly.

“It’s a 10 minute drive from home, and has anything I could possibly need,” he said. “I started with a few classes, which were a good start for me. There was someone there pushing me to do my best, and it gets easier and easier to do.”

He attended the drop-in spinning and general fitness classes at 5:30 a.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays and started working out on alter-nate days in the gym or at home, but “the weight wasn’t coming off like I wanted it to,” he said. “So one day I said something to the instructor, Melanie Paris, about losing this gut, and she got all over me about diet and healthy lifestyles.”

Gene took the advice to heart, and joined his wife Mary’s Weight Watchers group at the elementary school where she teaches. There he learned that a proper diet isn’t about giving up the foods you love; it’s about mod-eration.

“You have to watch the portions,” he said. “I love

sweets and I still eat them, but I’ve learned to cut back and do some healthy cooking.”

His disciplined diet and exercise regimen proved to be a winning combination. With daily, 50-min-ute exercise sessions and weekly weigh-ins, Gene stayed focused on his goal and lost nearly 50 pounds in eight months – just in time for his daughter’s wedding. Now, a new goal keeps him motivated.

“At my last checkup, my cho-lesterol was way down, which was a combination of the weight loss exercise and cholesterol med-ication,” he said. “The doctor told me that if I can drop another 10 to 15 pounds, I can go off the cholesterol medication. That’s a positive goal for me.”

Through his fitness and weight loss journey, Gene says he’s learned a lot about himself. “I’m more goal-oriented than I thought, and I wasn’t sure I could really do this when I started. It wasn’t easy, but once you get into a routine, it just becomes part of your life.”

Park Authority RECenters

offer a wide variety of fitness

options to keep workouts

interesting. Fitness

classes, gyms, pools

and personal training

are among

them, and

your RECenter membership

entitles you to admis-

sion at all nine Fairfax

County RECenters. To

find a location near

your home or

office, turn to

page 10.

town manager Wins Battle of the Bulge

Left: Gene Swearingen before his weight loss.

Below: Gene at his daughter’s wedding, 50 lbs. lighter.

take 12 steps to

Better Health

A s you set your sights on a new year, set your mind on a new

you! It’s easy with the Park Author-ity’s Take 12 program. Each month,

starting in January, you get helpful suggestions that lead to better health

and wellness. Implement one small change per month, and you’ll make 12 giant strides

toward better health by the end of the year. So what are you waiting for? Sign up to be a Take 12

participant today. It’s free, and anyone can participate. Visit http://go.usa.gov/kSD or call 703-324-8423 to learn

more about free Park Authority wellness workshops, a free, monthly Take 12 e-newsletter from the FCPA Wellness Team, a

free Take 12 wellness calendar and much more!

More Classes Online, www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks 7

Exercise and healthful eating were keys to Gene’s success.

photo courtesy of Sam Stroud Photography

Winter 2013

q u i c k t a k e s

8 Free Subscription to Parktakes, call 703-222-4664

l ooking for something fun to do this winter? Check out the new free park programs at Fair-

fax County public libraries. Meet live turtles, snakes and farm animals and learn about “wild things” from a Park Authority naturalist. Enjoy puppet shows, make holiday crafts and listen to holiday-themed stories. All Park Authority programs at the library are sponsored by library Friends groups and are free to the public. However, registration is required. To find a Park Authority program at a library near you, check the Fairfax County Public Library events calendar at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library.

it takes a special talent to hold the atten-tion of just one preschool child, much less a dozen or more. But Amy Rios-

Boisvert does it with ease. The mother of five boys knows the key to connecting with the kids in her inclusive Lee District RECen-ter preschool classroom is being animated, keeping the activities moving and having fun.

“Okay, it’s circle time now,” the veteran preschool teacher said enthusiastically as she seamlessly shepherded the children from one activity to another. “Which book should we read now, and which one should

we read later? Let’s take a vote,” she said playfully as she intro-duced the 3-, 4- and 5-year-old children to the democratic process.

“I don’t want to read that book,” said one boy after the vote. “You don’t have to; I do,” Rios-Boisvert said matter-of-factly as she turned the children’s attention to the story and began to read. Be-fore long, the boy was smiling and enjoying the story with the rest of his class.

Her classroom management skills are exemplary, especially when you consider that 25 percent of her students have special needs. She actively seeks out children with special needs through the Fairfax County Public School Child Find office and creates a welcoming environment for all her students.

“While I was in college, I worked at the El Paso rehabilitation center, and I fell in love with the kids,” Rios-Boisvert said. “I worked with physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech pathologists and became a big advo-cate for early interven-tion for children with special needs.”

Her passion for teach-ing children of all abili-ties is part of the reason the Fairfax County

Public Schools recently recog-nized Rios-Boisvert with the Exemplary Inclusive Practices

Award. Through early interven-tion and early education, she knows

she can have a lasting, positive impact on her students.

“Teaching them to learn to love school is my number one priority,” Rios Boisvert said. “If they learn to love school, they will be excited to learn, whether they are special needs or not, from kindergarten through high school and beyond.”

When asked what they liked about school, her students responded enthusiastically. “I like counting and measurements and sorting the numbers and orders,” Margaret said. “I like playing in the kitchen to make stuff,” Jacob said. For Lily, “special arts, playtime and stuff” are her favorite classroom activi-ties, and Travis said, “I like to play with dolls and games.”

In Miss Amy’s class-room, students learn through play. They have fun, they learn to share, they learn to play coop-eratively and they learn to socialize. “My goal is for each one of them to be outgoing and confi-dent by kindergarten,” Rios-Boisvert said.

FcPA Preschool teacher earns Award for inclusive Practices

new Park Programs set up camp at the library

Meeting a friendly goat and discovering an old-fashioned kitchen tool are among the learning adventures at the new park programs at Fairfax County libraries.

Winter 2013 99

q u i c k t a k e s

More Classes Online, www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks

‘Accidental chef’ Prepares to make History at laurel Hill

you can tell by watching him work that Laurel Hill Golf Club Food and Bever-age Manager and Chef Edisson Rosales

knows how to make special-event catering run like a well-oiled machine. In fact, his first career as an engineer had a lot to do with making machines run smoothly. But

fate has a way of altering one’s path, and Rosales was forced to reinvent himself.

“I was in-jured in a car

accident and couldn’t do any heavy lifting,” Rosales said. “So I lost my job and had to figure out what to do next.”

He enrolled in culinary school after a friend suggested they go into the restaurant business together. That’s where he discov-ered his passion for creative cookery.

“You have to love what you do,” said Rosales at the Laurel Hill clubhouse dining room he’s managed for the past seven years. “I never knew I had this gift from my mother.”

Throughout his culinary ca-reer, which includes more than seven years as assistant food and beverage manager at the exclusive Canyon Ranch Resort in Lenox, Mass., Chef Edisson has whipped up magnificent menus and memorable events for all occasions ranging from weddings and baby showers to business meetings and birth-days to formal banquets and golf tournaments. Soon, he’ll put his gift to the test with his biggest catering job to date at Laurel Hill: the 2013 USGA Amateur Pub-lic Links Champion-ship. The July 2013 contest is expected to draw as many as 800 hungry players, volunteers, media crews and specta-tors, and the cater-ing strategy is clear.

“It has to be quick,” Rosales said, “so people can keep moving.” It’s quite a test when you con-

sider there are no premade foods. “We prepare everything here from scratch,” he said. And there are other logistical challenges with a group this size. “We’ll need rental trucks with freezers and coolers, and we have to figure out where we’re going to put 25,000 bottles of water.”

Rosales is responsible for break-fast and snacks for the five-day championship and will be as-sisted by his two pastry chefs and culinary students from nearby Stratford University in Wood-

bridge. He says the menu will include tra-ditional hot foods as well as some regional favorites: grits and Virginia ham.

Breakfast for 800 may seem like a tall order, but Chef Edisson Rosales is a true pro-fessional who is happy to serve. He knows from experience that the work is always a pleasure when you love what you do.

For full-service catering for your special events,

both Laurel Hill Golf

Club and Twin Lakes

Golf Course are won-

derful venues. For con-

tact information and

locations, see the Golf

section of Parktakes.

The chef’s help-ing hands: two pastry chefs and students from a nearby cooking school help Chef Rosales prepare his culinary masterpieces.

Chef Edisson Rosales

Let Chef Rosales prepare a delightful menu for your special occassion at Laurel Hill Golf Club.

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