The 29th Annual Mayor's Volunteer Appreciation Night was held on April 21, 2013 to recognize Herndon's outstanding volunteers during "National Volunteer Week." Two members of the Herndon Rotary Club were honored.

Don Owens and Chris Griffin were presented with the Distinguished Corporate Service Award.  This award is new this year and honored Don and Chris for their dedicated service to residents in our community by providing financial training and advice to to those who need assistance in understanding and managing their finances.

One of the three Distinguished Service awards was presented to Rudy Tassara in recognition of his dedication and service through Rotary and specifically for his work with Tango Night and the Hubcaps Dance.

Congratulations to Don, Chris, and Rudy.

The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you find out why. - Mark Twain

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Bill Gates offers to support one-third of Rotary International's budget for polio eradication. You can see the article here: Bill Gates Rotary Commitment.

The eleventh Senior Senior Prom, staged by the Rotary Clubs of Herndon and Reston on April 20, 2013, boasted the event's biggest turnout to date, with about 250 attendees. Each time the Loudoun Jazz Ensemble finished a song, the dance floor cleared, but within a minute into the next tune, swing dancing senior citizens had to watch out for each other as they worked their spinouts and throwouts. It was Pat Williams of the Herndon Rotary Club who initially came up with the idea for the event. She said she had wanted to gear an event toward the senior community. Originally, only seniors from the Reston and Herndon communities were invited, but now the clubs are inviting the elderly from across the Dulles area. About 20 performers from the Eight Week Wonders swing dance group turned out. Also helping with the event were members of Herndon High School's Interact Club.

The Rotary Club of Herndon distributed free computers to Herndon Middle School students on Saturday as part of its Computers for Students Program. You can read more about this program at Herndon Patch.

Here is a great video showing Bill Gates discussing his effort to help eradicate Polio. BBC Video

The Herndon Rotary Club collected more than $1300 to support the Herndon Fraternal Order of Police's Cops and Kids Program. The program provided gifts from Santa for 31 local children. To read more about the program, read this article on Patch.com.

On December 8, the Herndon Rotary Club supported the United Airlines Fantasy Flight at Dulles Airport.

The first Fantasy Flight occurred in London, England in December 1991, when United Airlines donated a 727 to fly one hundred children from an orphanage to Lapland, Rovaneimi Finland for reindeer sleigh rides and a visit to “Father Christmas Village”. The success of the “Fantasy Flight” concept gradually expanded to over forty six cities, providing needy children with an experience of a lifetime.

Locally, United now sponsors an annual event at Dulles Airport for disadvantaged or terminally ill children that is staffed entirely by volunteers and attracts up to 100 children and their families for a special morning journey to the North Pole.

A decorated United 777 boards around 9:00 AM and actually takes off and circles down to Richmond and back, landing with the blinds closed at another gate.  This section of the terminal has been closed off and completely decorated as the North Pole.  Santa and Mrs. Claus, the Hogettes, the US Army and many other volunteer organizations are on hand to provide a two hour celebration of the holidays for these children that face so much adversity at such a young age.

This year, Herndon Rotary Club members can be seen on December 15 and 22.

The Home is the 1920 "Bready Honeymoon Cottage". This house was part of the Bready farmlands, and was built before there was a Ferndale Ave. Calvin Kidwell, mayor of Herndon, was the next owner. In 1945 he added a new kitchen. The old kitchen is now the dining room, with the original cupboards and old windows still there. Richard Kidwell was the next owner. John and Kate O'Connor bought the house in 1981, and have spent the last thirty years renovating and refurbishing the house and yard, while retaining the cozy cottage feel.

The tour runs from 10-4 pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at ArtSpace, Herndon Florist, and the Herndon Community Center.

Arthur Nachman was honored on October 24 as the 47th recipient of the Citizen of the Year award presented annually by the Rotary Club of Herndon.  

Members of the Herndon Rotary Club painted faces and told people about Rotary at the Dominion Trailmix on October 20, 2012. All proceeds from Dominion Trail Mix go to support the Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority “Nature Nuts Program”.  The Nature Nuts program will enhance existing programs in parks all over northern Virgina.  It’s goal is to give half a million children a meaningful outdoor experience that positively affects them through education, health benefits and interaction, and education of the environment.