Andrews 020615

AN INDEPENDENT PUBLICATION OF COMPRINT MILITARY PUBLICATIONS AT JOINT BASE ANDREWS, MD.DCMILITARY.COM FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2015 | VOL. 4 NO. 5

COMMUNITY NEWSMNCPPC celebrate county's century old history, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTThe Publick Playhouse offers musical

flight of jazz, blues fusion, Page 6

COMMENTARYI really shouldn't be here,

Page 2

BY BOBBY JONESSTAFF PHOTOJOURNALIST

The Southern Techni-cal/Recreation Complex(STRC) in FortWashingtonwas buzzing with hundredsof eager young Lego ro-botic creators from PrinceGeorge’s County duringthe 2015 Maryland 'For In-spiration and Recognitionof Science and Technology,'(FIRST) Robotics Competi-tion Lego League RoboticsCompetition Qualifier Jan.31.

Jointly sponsored bySTRC and MD FIRST, thefree competition saw morethan 18 local First LegoLeagues (FLL) teams forstudents age 9-14 partici-pate and qualify for theState FLL Championship.

There are five competi-tive competitions basedon age which include theFIRST Place for ages sixto adult; the Junior FIRSTLego League for students

PHOTO/BOBBY JONES

Aaron “AJ” Lewis, volunteer referee, observes a robot perform missions, while one team member cringes.Lewis is the son of Denise Lewis, US FIRST Regional Director, Washington, D.C. He started out as a competi-tor in the FIRST program and has just been accepted to the Naval Academy for a full scholarship. He wants tobecome an electrical engineer.

Student-built Lego botsbattle for dominance

BY AIRMAN 1STCLASS

RYAN J. SONNIER11TH WING

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The 11th Wing Le-gal Office will nothost a tax center formilitary membersthis year, however on-line resources are stillavailable.

According to Capt.Marissa Savells, 11thWing assistant staffjudge advocate, theAndrews Tax Centerwill not open due tofiscal restraints. Inthe past, more than40 active-duty Airmenvolunteered their timeto help man the taxcenter. Unfortunately,this option is no longerfeasible.

“Even though wearen’t offering taxpreparation this year,military families canstill file their taxes,for free, online at vari-ous websites,” Savellssaid. “However, attor-neys may still be ableto provide assistancewith basic personaltax-related questions.”

To find various on-line resources, militarymembers can utilizemilitaryonesource.mil.

Military One Sourcealso advises memberson how to be smartwith their returns oncethey receive them andput the money towardcarefully planned pur-chases, reducing debt,or using it as a “finan-cial cushion.”

When filing online,members should haveall relevant documentsreadily available.Documents include W-2s/1099-Rs, 1098-Es

JBATaxCentercloses

see TAX, page 4

see LEGO, page 4


Remember the T.V. com-mercial where the camelasks his human coworkersthe annoying, yet rhetori-cal question, “Guess whatdaaaay it is?” The cowork-ers all reluctantly answer Idon’t know. The camel re-plies, “Hump Daaaaay!”

January 28, which fallson Hump Day Wednesday,was also the unofficial Na-tional Have Fun at WorkDay.

The Andrews Gazettehit the streets and visited

various local companies inPrince George’s County tosee how they promote fun inthe work environment.

Brandon Nelson, a Mc-Donald’s restaurant man-ager inCampSprings noted,“My team likes to competeagainst each other by seeinghow fast they can serviceour customers. It’s a lot offun and I reward the fastestand most efficient worker,”said Nelson. “I’ve been herefor only five months, butthey seem to like it and itlightens the work load.”

In Marlow Heights, Tina

PrinceGeorgians celebrate‘NationalHaveFunatWorkDay’

PHOTO/BOBBY JONES

Brandon Nelson, McDon-ald’s manager in CampSprings, promotes fun inthe work place by holdingcompetitive games forworkers.see WORK, page 5

MAX IMPACT KICKS-OFFSUPER BOWL SUNDAY

U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO/ SENIOR AIRMAN NESHA HUMES

Tech Sgt. Robert Smith, U.S. Air Force rock bandMax Impact percussionist, plays for Super BowlXLIX fans at Westgate Entertainment District inGlendale, Az., Feb. 1. See story on page 7.

Andrews Gazette2 Friday, February 6, 2015

Andrews Gazette is published by Comprint MilitaryPublications, 9030 Comprint Court, Gaithersburg,Md., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S.Air Force or any branch of the United States military.The appearance of advertising in these publications,

including inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsementby the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force orthe products and services advertised.

Everything advertised in this publication shall be made available forpurchase, use or patronage without regard to race, color, religion,sex, national origin, age,martial status, physical handicap, political af-filiation or any other nonmerit factor of the purchases, user or patron.

COMPRINT MILITARY PUBLICATIONS

Maxine Minar, [email protected]

John Rives, [email protected]

Deirdre Parry, page [email protected]

Leslie Smith, [email protected]

Bobby Jones, [email protected]

Through February 28Glancing Back & Looking Forward: 100 Years of

African American Culture and History in PrinceGeorge’s County, Maryland

Montpelier Arts Center, 9652 Muirkirk Road,Laurel, MD 20708

This exhibition features information about thelives of selected Prince Georgians who had a vari-ety of occupations and community roles. Throughphotographs, artifacts, and excerpts from inter-views, Everyday People Making History will con-vey the personal stories of participants and high-light the ways in which they were and still area part of history in Prince George’s County. Free.Call 301-377-7800 or visit www.pgpparks.com.

February 1-28The Full Story: Maryland, The Surratts, and

The Crime of the CenturyWednesday-Friday 11 a.m. –3 p.m.Saturday and Sunday noon–4 p.m.Surratt House Museum, 9118 Brandywine

Road, Clinton, MD 20735Surratt House commemorates the 150th anni-

versary of the end of the American Civil War withan exhibit reflecting the role of Maryland in theconflict, the choices made by the Surratt family,and the after effects on the family and the nation.Call 301-868-1121 or visit www.history.pgparks.com

Feb. 6- Feb 22I Hate HamletBowie Playhouse, 16500 White Marsh Park

Drive, Bowie, Md.Friday, Saturday 8 p.m., Sunday 3 p.m.2nd Star Productions comedic offering that fol-

lows television star Andrew Rally on a quest tobecome a "true" actor helped or hampered by hisagent, friends and the ghost of John Barrymore.Tickets cost $19 to $22. Call 410-757-5700 or 301-832-4819 or visit www.2ndstarproductions.com.

February 7The Brentwood Arts Exchange All-Screened

Video FestNoonBrentwood Arts Exchange, 3901 Rhode Island

Ave., Brentwood, MD 20722Join us as we bring independent video in all its

forms, from great storytelling to experimental im-agery, in the welcoming down-to-earth atmosphereyou’ve come to know us for. ($) Call 301-277-2863or visit www.arts.pgparks.com

Hot ticketsabout town

Doolittle Raider DiesRetired Lt. Col. Edward Saylor,

one of four surviving Doolittle Raid-ers, died in Sumner, Wash. He was94.He was a young flight engineer-gunner and among the 80 airmenwho volunteered to fly the riskymission that sent 16 B-25 bomb-ers from a carrier at sea to attackTokyo, April 28, 1942. Three crewmembers died as Raiders bailed outor crash-landed their planes in Chi-na, but most were helped to safetyby Chinese villagers and soldiers.Of eight Raiders captured by Japa-nese soldiers, three were executedand another died in captivity. Colo-nel Saylor grew up on a ranch inBrusett, Mont. He enlisted in theArmy Air Corps in 1939 and served28 years. Last year, the Raidersreceived the Congressional GoldMedal.

Expedited BurialPayments

New burial regulations allowVeterans Affairs (VA) to automati-cally pay the maximum amount al-

lowable under law to most eligiblesurviving spouses, without the needof a written application. Previously,burial benefits were paid on a re-imbursement basis on submittedreceipts. This automation enablesVA to pay burial allowances to anestimated 62,000 eligible survivingspouses out of a projected 140,000claimants for burial benefits thisyear. Spouses will be paid upon no-tice of the veteran’s death using in-formation maintained by VA. Buri-al allowance for a nonservice-con-nected death is $300 and $2,000 fordeath connected to military service.For more information on monetaryburial benefits, call 1 800 827-1000.

Increased SGLI PremiumsThe Servicemembers? Group

Life Insurance (SGLI) programhas adjusted its monthly premiumrate to 7 cents per $1,000 to main-tain the program?s strong finan-cial position. Since the start of theSGLI Program in 1965, monthlypremiums have decreased from20 cents per $1,000 to the presentrate. Over the past 30 years, pre-

miums, rates have fluctuated only2.5 cents per $1,000 of insurance.The group insurance industry nor-mally adjusts premium rates whenthere are changes in the economyand/or changes in the number ofdeath claims. VA uses actuaries toconduct program experience stud-ies. For a service member with themaximum $400,000 of life insur-ance, this change means an in-crease of $2 a month. IndividualReady Reserve members who aredrilling for points toward retire-ment or who do not receive pay forother reasons will be billed by theirbranch of service for the higherpremium.

The Retiree Activities Officeis open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Mon-day through Friday. Visit the of-fice in Building 1604 at Califor-nia and Colorado Avenues or call301 981-2726. Call before yourvisit to ensure a volunteer is onduty. The RAO website is at www.andrews.af.mil.

Retiree Corner

BY CAPT. DAVID LIAPIS92ND AIR REFUELING WING

PUBLIC AFFAIRS

A couple of feet and a half a sec-ond. These may seem like insignifi-cant measurements; but when com-bined with fatigue, a couple of feetalmost cost me my career, and thathalf a second almost ended my life.

There was a time when I wasan enlisted aircraft electrical andenvironmental systems specialistand was part of the 19th AircraftMaintenance Unit, at Joint BaseElmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. Inthe summer of 2008, while I wasassigned to work in the supportsection, my supervisor and I weretasked to move much of the equip-ment from the 19th AMU hangarto the 12th AMU hangar because ofrenovation.

We had a tight deadline and theNCO I was working for was deter-mined to complete the task dur-ing our shift that night, even if itmeant working more than 12 hours.That night wore on and turnedinto morning and I knew it wouldnot be long before the recently setsun would peak up again over theChugach Mountains.

Things were going well for thefirst few hours. I remember gawk-ing at Elmendorf's very first F-22Raptor that had arrived only daysprior as I hauled load after load ofpallets and equipment across thehangar floor. I felt privileged tobe able to get up close to this jetnamed after a Jurassic Park an-tagonist that all manner of mili-tary and civilian men and women

of rank and position had been flock-ing to the base to see in the preced-ing days.

Then, unexpectedly, I got a clos-er look than I ever hoped for.

I wasn't sure how I deviated sofar off my well-established pathdown the centerline of the hangar.However, I was sure I saw the half-ton of palletized equipment I wasbacking into the hangar pass lessthan a yard from the nose tip of the$150 million pride of the base.

I didn't say a word to anyoneabout it at the time. All I could dowas imagine what my fate wouldhave been if I had destroyed thepointy end of that beautiful fighterjet. The thought made me sick tomy stomach. My line number forstaff sergeant-gone. My future inthe Air Force-shot.

Can you imagine being "thatAirman" who smashed up Elmen-dorf's first F-22?

If I had still managed to pro-mote and apply for officer trainingschool, I can picture the conver-sation at the officer accessioningboard going something like this:"and next up is a sergeant DavidLiapis ... wait, I know that namefrom somewhere. Oh, yeah, he's theguy that cost the Air Force millionsof dollars because he was an idiot-- next applicant."

As you might have guessed, fa-tigue was the main contributingfactor in the previously related in-cident; however, I was not the onlyone suffering from too much workand too little rest that night.

My supervisor was stacking

some pallets with a forklift as Iguided him forward. I'm not surehow I ended up between a movingpallet and a wall, but I did. I gavethe hand signal for the sergeant tostop, but he didn't. I managed tosqueeze out of that tight spot justin time to avoid having the palletpin me against the wall at my mid-section. He was too tired and didn'treact quickly enough to my signal-again it was fatigue.

The Air Force Safety Programis nothing new. All the right rulesand guidelines existed that nightas they had for years prior andhave for years since. We just got sowrapped up in what we were do-ing that we failed to consider andput into practice what we had beentaught and what common sensetold us.

We knew better, but the missionneeded to be accomplished-or didit? Did it really all have to be donethat night?

It's true, getting the job done iswhat we are all about; however, weneed to make appropriate risk as-sessments and ensure we'll be hereto take on the next mission. Ourline of work has inherent risks, butmost can be easily mitigated.

The goal, rather the quest, is forzero-zero fatalities, zero mishaps,zero dollars spent to repair or re-place needlessly damaged resourc-es. That night, failure to appropri-ately address fatigue almost costme a whole lot ... times two.

CommentaryI really shouldn't be here

Andrews GazetteFriday, February 6, 2015 3


The Maryland Na-tional Capital Parks andPlanning Commission,Department of Parks andRecreation (DPR) kickedoff Black History Monthwith an Art Exhibit Open-ing, highlighting a cen-tury of African Americanculture and history inPrince George’s Countyat the Montpelier Cultur-al Arts Center in LaurelFeb. 1.

The program entitled“Glancing Back and Look-ing Forward,” illustratesthe lives of everyday andprominent Prince Geor-gians whose contributionshelped mold the county’srich legacy, through edu-cation, businesses com-munities and the CivilRights movement throughthe use of video, photos,art and events.

Ronnie Gathers, Mary-land National Park andPlanning CommissionDPR director, gave theopening remarks to acapacity room of coun-ty residents, including,Maryland Sen. DouglasPeters, District 23; Cur-rent Mayor of Greenbelt;Emmett V. Jordan andformer Mayor of Green-belt, Judith Davis.

Rosalyn Johnson, dep-uty director, DepartmentParks and Recreationopened the event by laud-ing the historical accom-plishments of the coun-ty. “We are here to tellour story about the 319years of Prince George’sCounty,” said Johnson,referring to some recentunfavorable press storiesabout the county. “We aregoing to tell our story ourway, and we’re going tocontinue to write our sto-ry as it happens…”

Johnson noted, “Theexhibit showcases a re-markable story of ourcounty and how it grewfrom a mere suburb ofWashington, D.C., our na-tion’s capital, to this won-derful, vibrant commu-nity that has triumphedover many challenges.”

Expounding more ofthe county’s history, John-son explained how PrinceGeorge’s County, in itsinfancy was also a pre-dominantly black countywhich sold enslaved Af-ricans from Upper Marl-boro and Bladensburgfor money, silver and to-bacco, the county’s andMaryland’s chief productthen. “But later when

the slaves were freed andbecame farmers, entre-preneurs’, and businessprofessionals -- owningbusinesses, such as theBladensburg CarryingAssociation, Smith Bar-bershop, the first com-munity barbershop inGlenarden. Our countyalso became the home of27 Rosenwald Schools,established in 1917 forAfrican American chil-dren in the rural Southby Julius Rosenwald, anAmerican businessmanand philanthropist, whichis how a number AfricanAmericans in our countyreceived their education.”

After taking the au-dience on brief educa-tion of Prince George’sCounty’s history, Johnsonintroduced the key notespeaker, Rock Newman,former Brandywine na-tive, former MarylandParks and Planning Com-mission employee, sportspromoter and award win-ning radio talk host.

He addressed thecrowd humbly as a proudPrince Georgian, chroni-cling his upbringing inthe county as a youth, hiscollege years at HowardUniversity, his well-tele-vised career as the boxingmanager of World HeavyWeight Champion Rid-dick Bowe and his radiotalk show.

Newman thanked theParks and Recreation di-vision for inviting him tospeak and commendedtheir efforts for a job welldone on the Black HistoryMonth exhibit opening re-ception. “I gave kudos toMr. Ronnie Gathers, DPRdirector in private forsuch a spectacular event.

But, I now saying publiclywho ever put this all to-gether deserves a raise,”said Newman, with anicebreaker statement.

“In reference to yourtheme, “Glancing Backand Looking Forward,”I think I can never gowrong acknowledgingAlmighty God first,” saidNewman, relating to hischildhood experiences,educational opportunityand his introduction inthe sports and entertain-ment arena.

“Part of what gaveme the foundation forwho and what I am to-day was when I went toa segregated school. Wehad ragged books, andchipped-up and beat-updesks. But we had some-thing that you could notpay for or buy; love,” ex-claimed Newman, then8-years-old. “I had lovefor all of my teachers,”including Miss Mitchell,who I had a crush on,”Newman joked.

Newman also sharedhis first experience of rac-ism as a youngster whilehe out riding his new bikeone day. He witnessed aman cutting his grasswith a riding lawnmower.“That was my first timeever seeing riding mow-er.” Looking curiouslyat the mower he noticedthe muffle had a curiouswhite crust on it whichreminded him of the icethat would build up insidehis mother’s freezer. Sohe asked the man if thewhite coating was hot orcold. He said it’s cold, grabit. He put the bike downand grabbed it. “And asI tell you this story I stillfeel the pain that seared

through my hand and mymind. Next the man said,‘Nigger don’t you evercome in my yard again.’As an innocent 8-year-old,I couldn’t fathom how anadult could do somethinglike that to a child.”

Later in Newman’slife-accounts realized thedefining moment in hislife when he predictedthat then Cassius Claywould be the next HeavyWeight champion of theworld. All of his family,friends and boxing pun-dits laughed, because ofClay’s inexperience. “OnFeb 25, 1964 Clay wonthe title, and that becamethe part of my DNA andthe defining moment inmy life. I‘ve believed if Icould conceive it, and Ipursued what I wantedwith a sense of purpose,I could accomplish any-thing, and so can you,”said Newman, encourag-ing the audience.

Later, when New-man transcended intothe world of sports as apromoter, he reflected onwhen he sat in a roomwith the head of HBOSports and Time Warner,multibillion dollar corpo-rations. I felt in my heart,we were being treatedunfairly,” said Newman,a boxing promoter in 90s.

“The head of HBO toldme that he saw me as adove and warned me thatif I didn’t sign the con-tract by the next morning,that he along with his 26lawyers would come downon me like a hawk. I real-ized that I was viewed asthe ultimate outsider, whodidn’t play the game andstood my ground with myone little scrawny lawyer.

I answered him and wellyou don’t have to wait un-til tomorrow to turn intoa hawk. But I want youto remember something.I’m a sparrow. Everyonein the room didn’t under-stand comment at thattime. But after a fewmonths, we not only gotthe money we were askingfor, but a whole lot more,”said Newman. “So after-wards, I had lunch withthat same threateningHBO head and he askedme what I meant by beinga sparrow. I asked him ifhad heard of the old Ne-gro spiritual, ‘His eye ison the sparrow,’ makinghim realize that is Godthat watches over me, ahigher power in me lives.”

Newman went on totalk briefly about his ex-periences as a counselor;Howard University Base-

ball Hall of Famer; meet-ing with Nelson Mandelaand Pope John Paul II;along with numerous oth-er dignitaries and politi-cal leaders.

At the conclusion ofthe program, announcedthe unveiling of a BlackHistory Month Posterproject produced by agroup of students fromNorthwestern HighSchool. The art piecetook two months to pro-duce will be displayed inthe art gallery section ofthe Montpelier CulturalArts Center as an educa-tion piece. “We were ableto take advantage of ateachable moment,” saidRosalyn Johnson, deputydirector, DPR, referring tothe poster.

Cl inton resident ,Frankee Smith noted shewas glad to expose hergranddaughter to learnmore about the history ofPrince George’s County.“My granddaughter en-joyed the key speaker,Rock Newman and talkedwith him at the end ofthe program. She reallykeyed in on the part whenhe said that you can beanything that you wantto, just believe,” Smith.“He asked her what shewanted to be and she saida dinosaur. He smiled andencouraged her nonethe-less. I told him becauseof her love for dinosaurs,I suspect she could actu-ally end up being a pale-ontologist.”

MNCPPC celebrate county's century old history

Rock Newman, formerBrandywine native, formerMaryland Parks and Plan-ning Commission employ-ee, sports promoter andawardwinning radio talkhost addresses his homeaudience as the key notespeaker during Art Exhibitopening.

PHOTOS/BOBBY JONES

Clinton resident, Frankee Smith, listens to her granddaughter, Christian Smith 4,ask she asks a question about a photo of young girl reading a book in 1920s.

1041904


from six to nine years ofage; FIRST Lego Leaguefor students nine to 14years old; the FIRST TechChallenge for high schoolstudents; and the FIRSTRobotics Competition forhigh school students.

Denise Lewis, USFIRST Regional Director,Washington, D.C., noted“The real purpose of thisevent is to expose ourchildren to opportunitieswhere everyone can be awinner and be successful.There’s a job out there forevery student interestedin college math, science,technology or engineer-ing,” said the former edu-cator.

“We put far too muchemphasis on sports, likebasketball or football.These kids could be any-where else, but they arehere learning about sci-ence, real-world issuesand how to improve learn-ing,” said Lewis. “It’smuch more than just ro-bots here. They also haveto do a research paperduring the event, becauseit’s part of the competi-tion.”

I’ve volunteered withFIRST well over 8 years

and I’ve seen the benefitsof this program, becausemy son started out herewith FIRST and a young-ster and now he’s turneddown several scholar-ships, and decided to jointhe Navy on full scholar-ship to academy as anofficer. He wants to bean electrical engineer be-cause he was inspired bythis program when hiswas really young,” saidLewis proudly.

According to Lewisthere’s a $20,000 grantcalled the FIRST Lego In-novation Award that’s of-fered to the most innova-tive team and has offeredto help them file a patentfor their invention. Thisis an international com-petition for all countriesaround the world.

The teams are awardedin the categories of projectpresentation, robot, me-chanical design, perfor-mance, and core values --which recognizes a teamthat is able to accomplishmore together than in-dividually, incorporat-ing shared goals, strongcommunication effectiveproblem solving and timemanagement. There is al-so the champion’s awardthat embraces the FLLcore values, while achiev-ing excellence and innova-

tion in the robot game andproject.

Alberto Lacaze, “CallUs Boss” Lego Leaguecoach is one of severalvolunteers who loaned hisexperience and time tohelping the children builda multiplexor robot for theevent. “We started work-ing on it during the Apriltime-frame,” said Lacaze,a robotics engineer witha firm in Gaithersburg.“The kids were really wor-ried about doing multiplemissions at the same time.

But they saw on YouTubethat someone had built amultiplexor and they triedit, but it turned out to begigantic. So after rebuild-ing it a couple of timesthey were able to reduceits size and they named itPedro. So far they’re notdoing so well,” said Laca-ze. “However, they havetwo more trials so we’llsee what happens.”

Jose Gabriel Salazarand his wife, Isa, watchedanxiously from the side-line shooting video of their

son, Gabriel, 12, along-side team member, AlbertJames, nervously executemissions for their robot.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Er-ic Atkins, an Army Corpsof Engineers electrical en-gineer at theWhite House,served as scorer duringthe event, periodicallyglancing over at his son,Jonathan, 13, competingwith for the first time withthe Lego Pros, 4-H Club ofClinton. His mom, JulieAtkins shot video and of-fered cheers of encourage-ment. She noted “My hus-band has volunteered toattend FIRST Lego meet-ings, and competitions forthe past 4 years. “He’s aLego guy too. He grewup with it as a child fromvery young age too. Lastyear, my son supportedthe team. This year ishis first time competing,Atkins. He wants to be aLego designer; in fact, hewants to be the one whodesigns the kits,” Sheadded. “He’s very Math,Science and Engineeringminded.He is my husbandthrough and through. Heloves it and Science is hisfavorite subject.”

FIRST’s began in 1992with 28 teams in a NewHampshire high-schoolgym. Today the pro-gram is reaching close to250,000 young people. Tolearn more about the pro-gram, visit http://www.mdfirst.org.

LEGO, from page 1

PHOTO/BOBBY JONES

“Call Us Boss” teammembers, Gabriel Salazar, 12,left, and Albert James prepare to execute missionsfor their multiplexor robot, named Pedro.

for student loan inter-est payments, dividendand brokerage state-ments and any othertax documentations.

If the member pre-fers to complete theirtaxes in person, servic-es are located in build-ing 1683 for a discount-ed price.

Savells also statedthat Ft. Belvoir, Vir-ginia and Quantico,Virginia offer militarymembers and depen-dents in-person taxpreparation services.

The JBA Legal Of-fice is slated to hold aRetiree Day on Feb. 12for retirees and theirdependents to receivelegal advice and maketax-related inquiries.An appointment will berequired for these ser-vices.

For more infor-mation or questions,contact the Legal Of-fice at 240-612-5750or on Facebook atfa cebook . c om/Jo in tBaseAndrewsLegalOf-fice.

TAX, from page 1

1050424

Ourisman Chrysler/Jeep/Dodge Ram of Alexandria5900 Richmond HighwayAlexandria, VA 22303

(703) 329-1600 or (240) 485-6179Please ask for the Internet Department

SPECIALMILITARY OFFERWe’ll make your first month’s

payment up to $500.Bring this ad with you!!!

$9,000 OFF MSRPIncludes all incentives and rebates from

manufacturer that may or may not qualify.$750 OFF for active duty or retired military plus 1 year free maintenance

1050500


Arnold, Roses DepartmentStore lead associate noted,“We have fun by being kindto customers. I love show-ing customers what to buy,how to accessorize, whatoutfits coordinate andwhat colors work together,”said Arnold. “Often in re-tail it’s what you can do tomake customers want tocome back. For me, it’s funto meet new people whogive us inspiration and wein turn try to inspire them.So I always give them eyecontact, smile and remem-ber their name.”

Her coworker, Jacque-line Fassassi, Roses De-partment Store proces-sor, noted that discussingissues at work that theycan’t talk with anyone elselightens her day. “I alsolike to dance a little while Iwork, because it makes myday go by easier.”

At Party City, wherefun is the centerpiece ofthe party supply rentalcompany, Tom Brill, PartyCity Store District Heightsmanager, was unaware ofthe unofficial holiday, butwhole-heartedly promotesfun in the work place. “Iwasn’t aware today was“Have fun at Work Day,”but I encourage the em-

ployees to have a good timewhile they’re working,”said Brill. “They sharesome of their home-life sto-ries with each other andtell funny stories and jokesto create a fun atmosphere.We believe in getting thejob done, but there’s al-ways room to have fun. Onspecial occasions we havepizza parties to lift theirspirits and reward themfor their extra effort duringinventory time,” said Brill.

“I feel like the more wecan be a part of each oth-er’s lives outside of workand know what’s going onwith each other the morefun we’ll have,” Brill addedJerome Manning, PartyCity assistant manager,noted “We have cleaningcompetitions all the timefor fun. In fact, we had areally good time last night,clowning around while wewere cleaning and doinginventory.”

Finally, inside one ofthe last places one mightexpect to find any sort oflevity was found to be justthe opposite at the dentaloffice of Dr. Cox and Dr.Greenstein in Clinton.

Raimey Rite, dentaltechnician of 15 years,shared the special relation-ship she has with her fel-low coworkers and the pri-

mary dentist she assists.“I like to talk to the pa-

tients and see what’s beengoing on in their day andtry to make light of it, be-cause some people comeinto the dental office al-ready stressed. So I haveto distract them by talkingwith them so by the timethe Dr. Greenstein comesin they’re already calm.However, it all depends onthe patient’s attitude, espe-cially during a root canal ...So, while I’m observing theprocedure, I physically sit

in a chair higher than himand I make fun of his greyhair and the patient’s loveit,” said Rite. “The doc-tor usually has a snappycomeback. We do a lot ofrole play, depending onhow nervous the patientmight be.”

Rite also mentioned arecent time when surgi-cal gloves were orderedand the only colors avail-able were pink and green.“We gave Dr. Greensteina pair of pink gloves. Hewas reluctant at first, how-

ever, when challenged, hemeets it head on. But now,it’s become a running jokehere because everyone elsewears pink gloves and weexplained to him that onlya true man wouldn’t havea problem wearing them,”said Rite. “He didn’t like itat first but now he playsalong.”

Rite explained,” We’restuck with each otherfor 10-hours a day anddeal with a lot of stress-ful patients who come instressed and sometimes

traumatized from eventsin their lives.We have to beable to calm them down, sowe’re kind of like chair-sidepsychiatrists,” said Rite.“So we have fun and let thepatients see us have fun,which calms them down.It’s all a part of making thepatient comfortable.”

Rite reflected on a prankplayed on Dr. Greensteinby the entire staff. “We hadthis one patient who was apolice officer who agreed tocome in wearing her uni-form and play a joke onDr. Greenstein. Althoughhe hadn’t come into workyet Greenstein was in for asurprise. When he arrived,the officer approached himwith a rolled up piece ofpaper in her hand, tellinghim that he was being sub-poenaed for court with thestaff looking on laughingat his reaction. “We like toplay pranks on each other.”

So it appears that evenin the most unlikely workenvironments, PrinceGeorgians thrive on hav-ing a fun day at work topromote an environmentof trust for their customersand camaraderie amongsttheir coworkers.

WORK, from page 1

PHOTO/BOBBY JONES

Jerome Manning, Party City assistant manager in Capital Heights, says herewards employees with pizza parties.

10089071050245


BY LESLIE C. SMITHSTAFF WRITER

A journey of melodicmelding will take overthe Publick Playhouseon Saturday as KarenLovejoy and The LovejoyMusic Group and PhilWiggins and the Chesa-peake Sheiks bring theirdynamic, jubilant andeffortless sounds to thevenue.

Jazz vocalist KarenLovejoy fronts the well-

versed and first-classLovejoy Music Group -comprised of Herb Smithon saxophone and wood-winds; drummer, Law-rence Bubbles Dean, pia-nist and musical director,and Bob Shann, bassist– which will bring theirversatile approach to jazzto the stage with a funkymix of blues and jazz.

Harmonica virtuosoPhil Wiggins brings hiscast of Piedmont blues tothe stage. Having played

for more than 30 years aspart of the duo Cephasand Wiggins, he wasspurred to go into differ-ent directions seeking tofollow in the vein of theblack string and swingbands of the 20s and30s like Martin, Boginand Armstrong, and theMississippi Sheiks. “Allthese people were at firstcategorized as Piedmontplayers or Delta playersthen people started call-ing them songsters be-

cause they played a lot ofdifferent styles of songs,”Wiggins explained.

This jazz blues showis far from anything youwould expect; don’t comeready to cry your waythrough this show. Withthese two powerhousesit’s about energy and get-ting the crowd to have agood time.

“The root of blues-- as it relates to jazz-- is that it’s to kind ofhave fun and to make

it soulful and energetic.People think of blues assomething that you aredrowning in a bottle andcrying tears. Blues to mehas always been a joyfulmusic -- joyful in that it’sa release for the spirit.Sometimes it’s a way ofeven laughing at your-self. It speaks to somesituations -- some situ-ations one might prefernot to be in maybe -- andit does so in a comicalway; in way that allowsyou a release. So to methe music is about uplift-ing; it’s about healing; it’sabout fun.”

Wiggins added, “Thereare some people into thismusic that are obsessedwith trying to recreatesomething from the past,like I say in the musicnotes, we’re not tryingto create the old 78s wejust love this music andwe play it in the present;we’re not trying to imi-tate people from the past.We love this music in thepresent and we play it inthe present -- play it theway we feel it. We seeit for celebration -- fordancing and celebrating.And that’s the energy wetry to put out when weperform.”

Blues has alwaysbeen very much a partof Wiggins’ life. Wigginsdiscovered his love forand became grounded inblues spending time inhis family’s hometown ofTitusville, Ala., where hespent many summers.

“I believe I fell in lovewith the sounds of theblues from my grand-mother’s church; outsidethe church on Wednesdaynights because I wouldwalk my grandmotherto church … and I wouldwait outside the churchfor her to finish. I wouldlisten to the prayer meet-ing -- the prayer meetingwas the elder women ofthe church that woulddo these congregationalprayers. One womanwould sing out a phraseand the congregationwould answer back andthat to me was almostlike a pure blues soundeven though the lyr-ics were not blues andthe words were prayersand praise but the feelof it was a deep blues, adeep emotional [sound]. Ithink, really, that is howit got into my blood.”

With these two artistsperforming at this venue

it is sure to be a treat forthe ears and the spirit.

And both of these art-ists are doing their partto ensure that theseAmerican born and bredart forms remain a partof the American experi-ence.

Lovejoy imparted,“There is undoubtedlyan audience for jazz -- ayoung audience for jazz-- but the question is,‘how do you get to them?’Because whatever musicindustry that is left, thelast thing they want todeal with is jazz… TheInternet offers potential.There is an avenue thatneeds to be explored; it’sa communication entityand it holds the potential;to reach what has notbeen reachable before. Ijust think we just have tobecome very savvy publicrelations folks and usethe tools that are avail-able today to be able toput the music out there…“It really is about expo-sure. When I perform inpublic venues and thereare young people in thevicinity -- whether it’s 14or 25 -- they will come upand ask questions. Theyare really interested inthe music; it’s just get-ting to that group.”

Wiggins often teachesand takes any opportu-nity to share throughperforming to continue toinfuse this music to thenext generation and ex-pose to new audiences. “Italk to a lot of young peo-ple about the Piedmont

The Publick Playhouse offers musical flight of jazz, blues fusion

see MUSIC, page 7

If you go ...

Find out moreabout Karen Love-joy and the Love-joy Group at www.lovejoygroup.com orreach them at [email protected] tobe added to the mail-ing list.

Find out moreabout Phil Wigginsand the ChesapeakeSheiks, biographyand future events, onwww.philwiggins.com.

The performance ison Saturday 8 p.m. atthe Publick Playhousein Riverdale, Md., call301-277-1710.

1050522


and the swing tunes;and I have taught peo-ple that will hopefullycarry it on.

“I don’t worry aboutit dying out; it haswhat people need.Blues music, especially,was born and createdin a time when life wasreally hard for peopleand people neededsomething to sustaintheir spirit and that iswhy blues was created;and I think it still hasthat power in it. Nowa-days, people still needit now; we’re living inthis high-tech worldwhere people spend somuch time looking at ascreen they need some-thing real and I thinkthat what this musiccan provide. So I thinkwe’ll always need it;and as long as peopleare doing it -- and do-ing it well -- t will liveon.”

Whether a casualfan or an aficionado,both artists have some-thing for you to enjoy.

BY SENIOR AIRMANNESHA HUMES

11TH WING PUBLIC AFFAIRS

The U.S. Air Force pre-mier rock band, Max Im-pact, performed for SuperBowl XLIX fans at West-gate Entertainment Dis-trict in Glendale, Arizona,on Feb. 1.

Thousands of foot-ball fans listened to the30-minute concert asthey passed through therestaurants and stores ofWestgate. The dining andentertainment district isless than a half-mile fromThe University of Phoe-nix Stadium, where SuperBowl XLIX was held.

They played a singleshow, ranging from clas-sic rock to country, at thedistrict, just hours beforethe kick-off of Super BowlXLIX.

“This is probably ahighlight of my career,playing for 10,000 to15,000 people on SuperBowl Sunday,” Tech. Sgt.Robert K. Smith, Max Im-pact percussionist, said.“The performance wentabsolutely amazing.”

The band transitioned

into their final song byasking everyone to take amoment to be serious andremember the events ofSeptember 11, 2001.

“We all rememberwhere we were and whatwe were doing when weheard about the attack

on twin towers,” SeniorMaster Sgt. Ryan Car-son, Max Impact vocalist,said. “But today, instead, Iwant to focus on the daysafter the attack, whenall the stores were soldout of American flags, wewant to take you back to

those days and the senseof pride the nation felt.”

The band concludedtheir performance with“God Bless the U.S.A.,” asong by Lee Greenwood.

“They made me feellike a real patriot,” saidRailton Anderson, an at-

tendee, who laughed ashe tugged at his NewEngland jersey.

The six-member bandprovided similar patri-otic closers for their fourshows at Fan Fest inScottsdale in January.The weeklong entertain-ment, fashion and foodevent was home to theEntertainment Sportsand Programming Net-work’s live broadcast forthe Super Bowl.

“I think the tour wasgreat,” Sgt. JonathanMcPherson, Max Impactpianist, said. “We hadthe opportunity to playfor Super Bowl fans andreach a national audi-ence by being featured onESPN.”

The band seeks to usethe power of music toinspire audiences world-wide, create innovativeproducts and programswhile representing AirForce excellence.

“We brought the AirForce message not onlyto the people of Glendale,but also the nation andthe world,” McPhersonsaid.

Max Impact performs for fans at Super Bowl

U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO/ SENIOR AIRMAN NESHA HUMES

SeattleSeahawk fanscheer forMax Impact’s performanceatWestgateEntertainmentDistrict inGlendale, Az., Feb. 1.Max Impact is theU.S. Air Force’s premier rockband.

MUSIC, from page 6

1050257


1050496