Belvoir Briefs for April 22

Red Cross classes
Fort Belvoir's American Red Cross Office offers the following classes:

CPR Child and Infant, April 23, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

CPR Adult, Child, Infant and First Aid, April 24, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

People can register and pay for the classes online at redcrossnca.org or by calling 703-584-8452. People interested in training for groups or organizations can call Ashley Cleveland, 703-584-8716.
The office on Belvoir is at 9716 Middleton Road.

Sesame Street Show
Sesame Street is coming to Fort Belvoir on May 2. Shows are at Wallace Theater at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Doors open half an hour before each show. Distribution of tickets is ongoing until gone on a first-come, first-serve basis. Call 703-805-3714 for details.

Eastern Orthodox Divine Liturgy
The Divine Liturgy of St. George the Great Martyr is April 23 in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel in Woodlawn Chapel at 9 a.m. Non-Orthodox are invited to observe.

Military Child celebration
The customer loyalty team from DeWitt Army Community Hospital sponsors an event in honor of Month of the Military Child April 26 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in front of the hospital.
The celebration includes face-painting, therapy dogs, K9 Rock Star, K9 agility and tricks, food, prizes and more.

Memorialize a veteran
From May 1 through June 15, the Rotary Club of Springfield will affix laminated memorial disks to the blue spruce Springfield Memorial Tree in Calamo Street Park on the corner of Backlick Road and Calamo Street in central Springfield, to honor deceased veterans in connection with the May 30 Memorial Day holiday.

Individuals or organizations can buy memorial disks for $20 each for display on the tree. According to event coordinator David Ogden, memorial disks will remain on the tree at least through June 15.
The Rotary Club of Springfield will use proceeds from the sale of the memorial disks to benefit charitable area programs. All donations are fully tax deductible. Checks should be made payable to the Springfield Rotary Foundation and mailed to the Foundation's Memorial Tree Fund at P.O. Box 6556, Springfield, Va., 22150.

The Springfield Memorial Tree is a joint venture of the Rotary Club of Springfield, Virginia Tire and Auto and Silverbrook Nursery.

AFTB Level II
Fort Belvoir Army Family Team Building is offering a Level II Management Skills on May 19-21 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. This course teaches management skills to help you grow as a manager in your personal and professional life and includes Communication, Personal Time Management, and Stress Management. This class will be held at Vernondale Community Center at 9532 Troth Way.

Limited free child care is available. Children must be registered at CYS. Childcare deadline is May 7.

To register for this free class and make reservation for child care, please contact AFTB Program Manager Colandra Sealey at 703-805-2769 or by e-mail at colandra.sealey2@us.army.mil or fb-mwr-aftb@conus.army.mil.

AFTB Level III
Fort Belvoir Army Family Team Building is offering a Level III Leadership Skills on May 4 to 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.This course teaches you how to become a better more effective leader and includes Communication Skills for Leaders, Managing Group Conflict and Coaching and Mentoring. This class will be held at 9800 Belvoir Road, Bldg 200.

Limited free child care is available. Children must be registered at CYS. Childcare deadline is April 23.

To register for this free class and make reservations for childcare, please contact AFTB Program Manager, Colandra Sealey at 703-805-2769 or by e-mail at colandra.sealey2@us.army.mil or fb-mwr-aftb@conus.army.mil.

Child professionals' conference
Fort Belvoir's Family Advocacy Program hosts a Child Maltreatment for Multidisciplinary Professionals' Conference April 22. The conference covers a broad range of topics on issues related to child maltreatment, including factitious disorders; Munchausen syndrome by proxy; child interviewing; child sexual abuse from a survivor's perspective; basic medical issues in child sexual abuse; the relationship between deployment stressors and child maltreatment.

The conference is open to multidisciplinary professionals - mental health providers; FAP, CID and medical personnel; chaplains; child development staff and others who work professionally with children.
The conference is from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Community Center. Admission is free, but pre-registration is required.

Registration is available by calling 703-805-3339 or 2693.

The Armed Forces Center for Child Protection, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md., which provides objective child maltreatment expertise when needed throughout the DoD, conducts the conference.

Green thumb?
MWR is starting a gardening interest group for people who enjoy gardening to meet monthly and share gardening tips, exchange ideas and plants, and gain insight and knowledge on how to successfully grow and maintain a garden year round.

The group will cover a wide variety of gardening topics, conduct events with guest speakers, and provide unlimited literature. Explore the local area on field trips and find resources for all, including the novice and those who are already master gardeners. The club welcomes people with a variety of growing spaces, from a small balcony to several acres.

The group's first meeting is April 25 at 11 a.m. at Outdoor Recreation, Bldg. 778, Tompkins Basin on the Potomac.

Interested people are asked to call 703-805-1143 to sign for the first meeting and to be added to the group e-mailing list.

12th Aviation Battalion open house
Community members are invited to view aircraft and technical rescue vehicles April 24 at a 12th Aviation Battalion open house from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

People who attend can speak with military members about their daily operations within the Military District of Washington.

Additionally, air crews and helicopters from the D.C. National Guard and Fairfax County Police Department will be on display.

The open house is at Davison Army Airfield, off Fairfax County Parkway, Route 7100, between routes 1 and Exit 166B of I-95.

Information is available from Capt. Kevin Merrill, flight operations officer, daafopenhouse@gmail.com.

Motorcycle Grand Tour of Virginia
Registration is now open for the motorcyle Grand Tour of Virginia. Those with a passport can head out on the highway and find adventure at Virginia's premier tourism destinations and attractions throughout the commonwealth and win some great prizes, as well.

To participate in the 2010 Motorcycle Grand Tour of Virginia, riders and their passengers can register online at www.vamotorcycletour.com.

For a $25 registration fee, registrants receive an official Grand Tour T-shirt, passport and a great reason to spend more time on their bikes exploring Virginia.

Completed Motorcycle Grand Tour of Virginia passports must be mailed and postmarked by Nov. 1 to be eligible for ride prizes. A complete list of the sponsors, prizes and rules are posted on www.vamotorcycletour.com along with a Virginia map highlighting all of the stops on the 2010 Grand Tour.

Hearts Apart
Hearts Apart is a support group of people whose sponsor is deployed, on TDY or serving an unaccompanied tour.

The group meets at 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of every month at Army Community Service, 9800 Belvoir Road, Bldg. 200.

Free child care is provided with advance notice.

Child-care reservations and information is available by calling the Relocation Readiness Team, 703-805-5058 or 3436.

Virginia Defense Force
The 23rd Battalion, Blackhorse Brigade, of the Virginia Defense Force is looking for former company-grade officers, former noncommissioned (or petty) officers, and new recruits to fill its ranks in any of its five Northern Virginia companies.

The VDF forms the governor's ready response force - it can't be federalized, go overseas, or be armed (except under order of the governor in extreme circumstances), and it can't be ordered to deploy outside of Virginia's.

VDF volunteers train a minimum of four hours per month on emergency management-related tasks; complete online Federal Emergency Management Agency courses; and perform such missions as inauguration support; communication support to the Virginia National Guard during hurricanes; and augmenting the Virginia Emergency Operations Center, upon request.

When mobilized by the governor, VDF personnel get regular military pay. Units typically have between 15 and 30 personnel and have almost no equipment that needs to be maintained or safeguarded.

The VDF has no set enlistment period and personnel between 16 and 65 years of age can join.

Information is available from the VDF homepage, vdf.virginia.gov/, or through 2nd Lt. Eric Roos, EricRoosVDF@gmail.com, 703-216-7962.

Enrichment in housing
Staff from Child, Youth & School Services offer free enrichment activities at the housing community centers. Children and youth must be accompanied by an adult. Activities are from 10 a.m. to noon. Events are free and open to the public.

The schedule is: Mondays in April, Fairfax Village; Tuesdays, Vernondale; Wednesdays, Lewis; Thursdays, George Washington; Fridays, Woodlawn.

Each week has a different topic, including creativity, library, Earth and Health and Fitness Week.

Information is available by calling 805-1906.

Kayaking for Wounded Warriors
Join Team River Runner, Outdoor Recreation and Benyaurd Pool to learn the basics of kayaking in the comfort of an indoor pool. The next classes are April 28; and May 12 and 26 at 7 p.m. Information is available by calling 703-805-3081.

Community FIRST Focus Groups
The Community FIRST process is designed to identify and resolve local issues that address the quality of life of the Army Family. Fort Belvoir constituents are needed to represent the community members in a focus group. Upcoming Community FIRST Focus Groups: Civilians, May 13, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.; Family Members, May 19, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. All focus groups being held at the Lewis Village Community Center. For more information or to register please contact Shawn Brian, Fort Belvoir Customer Service Officer, at 703-805-2108 or shawn.k.brian@us.army.mil.

Online safety, cyber-stalking prevention
Army Community Service can show people how to enjoy online chats and job networking and help children safely use the Internet.

A free class is April 28 from 5 to 7 p.m. in ACS, Bldg. 200. Pre-registration is needed by calling 703-805-2693, 1794 or 1793.

Scholarships available
The Belvoir Enlisted Spouses Club is accepting applications for its annual scholarships for high school seniors and enlisted spouses within the Fort Belvoir and MDW area. The deadline for submissions is May 7.

Three $800 scholarships will be awarded at a ceremony May 25 at the Vernondale Community Center on Fort Belvoir.

Since 1980, BESC has provided tremendous community and family support to the soldiers and families of the Fort Belvoir Community and MDW area. Applications can be found at the Barden Education Center , Nye Library, and the Belvoir Thrift Shop. Electronic applications can be downloaded from the BESC's Web site www.belvoiresc.org.

For inquiries or additional information please call Marty at 202-290-2906.

Mother's Day
Mother's Day is an important day to show your mother how much you truly care. What better way to do that than to bring her to the Officers' Club for a fabulous buffet? Make reservations soon by calling 703-780-0930, Ext. 600, and enter for a special drawing! Tickets are on sale now.

Ticket prices are $29.95 for members; $30.95 for non-members. Children 7-12 years old are $12.50 and children 6 years and younger eat free.

Volunteers needed
Army Family Team Building needs volunteers. Volunteering with AFTB allows people to explore new careers fields, update existing skills and accumulate work experience. AFTB is a fun, educational program designed for military families to enhance one's knowledge of the military and develop leadership skills.

People interested in volunteering are asked to contact Colandra Sealey, 703-805-5556 or via e-mail to colandra.sealey2@us.army.mil.

Bunco
Join your bunco buddies at 5:15 p.m. in the Community Center Lounge every other Tuesday from March 9 to May 18. The events offer a chance to meet new people and win prizes.
Reservations are available by calling 703-805-3714.

Boater education
Virginia, Maryland and Washington, D.C., all require boating education. The requirements are based on age. Each jurisdiction has its own requirements.

A class which meets the boating education requirements of all states is offered by Flotilla 25-8 of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary on May 22 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The class meets at the Mount Vernon Knights of Columbus Hall, 8592 Richmond Highway, Alexandria.

Students receive a manual, a certificate, and card showing class completion.

The cost is $40 per student ($60 if a couple share the manual).

Contact Rich Miller, eaglesailor75@cox.net or 703-7803765 for more information and an enrollment form.

Luau
The Old Guard has a luau from 5:30 to 11 p.m. May 21 at Conmy Hall. The cost is $30. Suggested clothing is collared Hawaiian shirts for males and sun dresses for females, or other appropriate attire.
The menu is barbecue chicken, pulled pork, coleslaw, barbecue beans and potato salad. The vegetarian menu includes a veggie wrap and tossed salad.

Everyone is welcome. Door prizes worth thousands of dollars will be given away.

Information is available by calling 703-696-4183.

Photo contest
The Office of Historic Alexandria is calling all photographers to show off what they love about the city in a photo contest. The top six images will be displayed in the Historic Alexandria History Center and Museum Store in the Torpedo Factory Arcade for summer visitors to see.

Submissions are due May 17. Complete details and rules are available from flickr.com/groups/ 1353808@N24/.

Information is available from Michele Longo, 703-746-4242.

Community yard sales
The Villages at Belvoir Yard Sales are one weekend a month through October. All residents of The Villages at Belvoir can sell. However, anyone can stop by and make purchases.
Scheduled yard sales this year are 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. both days.

Residents can only sell during yard sale dates announced and authorized by The Villages at Belvoir, unless otherwise authorized by community management offices.

Upcoming 2010 yard sale dates, weather permitting, are: May 15 and 16; June 19 and 20; July 17 and 18; Aug. 14 and 15; Sept. 18 and 19; and Oct. 16 and 17.

Washington Metro Investment club
The Washington Metro Investment Club is having an open house meeting and May 15 the McCourt Building off Prince William Parkway. The meeting will start at 4 p.m. WMIC meets once a month to discuss investments in the Stock Market. The club is member of National Association of Investment Corps and is comprised of a small group of novice investors interested in learning about current trends in investing. Through a monthly plan of investing directly with companies and participating in their respective Dividend Reinvestment Plans, club members hope to reap a steady and respectable return while learning more about financial planning for the future.

Please contact Ken Wright at 703-801-1465 or Lavoy12@yahoo.com.