History Alive at Great Falls Senior Center Event

The Great Falls Senior Center (GFSC) will have Mary Ann Jung, award-winning actress, Smithsonian scholar, writer and director recreate one of history’s outstanding women, Clara Barton, who dared to work as a battlefield nurse and founded the Red Cross in America, at the March 1 event. Jung researches and writes her own scripts and performs in the authentic costumes, accents, and characters’ eras. She has appeared on CNN, the Today Show, Good Morning America. She has been a lead actress and director of Renaissance History and Shakespearean Language at the Maryland Renaissance for over 32 years. She performed as Queen Bess and was director with the Florida Renaissance Festival from 1994-2006; she was also director of Street Theater and Family Performances for Artscape.

The March 1 event will be held at St. Catherine of Siena Catholic Church, 1020 Springvale Road, Great Falls. The program runs from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and includes lunch. Space is limited so reserve with Polly Fitzgerald at pollyfitz1@verizon.net or call 703-759- 4345. To become a member for 2016 , send your name, address , phone number and email with a check for $15 per person payable to GFSC, P.O. Box 425 , Great Falls, VA 22066. Also visit gfseniors.org.

The event sponsor is Great Falls Assisted Living (A Memory Care Community), 1121 Reston Avenue, Herndon.

Nominations Sought for Great Falls History Award

The Jean Tibbetts History Award honors outstanding contributors to the research, articulation, dissemination, and preservation of the history of life along the Potomac River corridor from McLean to west of Dranesville and south through Herndon.

Candidates for the Jean Tibbetts History Award are selected from annual nominations to the Society and the Award carries a stipend of $200. The awardee’s name is placed on the Great Falls Historians plaque, displayed in the Great Falls Library.

Nominations should include a brief resume of the nominee; a listing of significant achievements, such as leading publications, noteworthy accomplishments; and a summary of the significance of the nominee’s overall record of contributions.

Deadline for submission for the 2016 Award is March 1, 2016. Please mail nominations, with complete documentation, to GFHS History Award Committee, Attention: Greg Wilson, Treasurer, P.O. Box 56, Great Falls, VA 22066 or send via email to Greg Wilson, Treasurer at: greg@civilwarquakerscout.com

Historical Society Seeks Board Candidates

The Great Falls Historical Society (GFHS) is preparing for its annual election of Officers and Board of Directors in May by asking for interested individuals to apply for consideration.

GFHS is a nonprofit community organization established in 1977. It is governed and managed by an elected Board of Directors of six at-large members serving between one- and three-year terms and 6 officers. Each person must be a member of GFHS.

The mission of GFHS is to research, document, publish, and present local history to promote community spirit by bringing the past into the present, as well as advocate for historic preservation. GFHS seeks Board Members who are committed to the mission and passionate about working with historical information. Each Board member chairs a committee and is responsible for recruiting committee members to accomplish the mission of the committee. Important skill sets needed include event planning, communications, website management, archiving, oral history interviewing, historic research methodology, editing and publishing, videography and photography, fundraising, historic advocacy, and member relations.

Individuals who feel that they can contribute to GFHS goals and future may submit a letter describing their area of interest and skills along with a resume summarizing their skills and experience to the GFHS Board Nominating Committee, Attention: Greg Wilson, Treasurer, Great Falls Historical Society, P.O. Box 56, Great Falls, VA 22066. Applications will close on March 1, 2016. For more information, contact Jan Schar, Vice President, at jlschar@me.com.