1. sports
2. swimming

BURKE CENTRE WELCOME EVENT
BURKE VFW POST
COMMITTEE, BURKE TOASTMASTERS,
Members from the BUSINESS LIAISON
ma on and
infor
with
hand
on
were
es
ness
local busi
5412, GIRL SCOUTS, as well as several
businesses
local
the
ort
supp
endees. Please remember to
wonderful giveaway items for all a
ity!
mun
ugh your com
& organiza ons that support you thro
Nina, from Burke Racquet & Swim
Club, looked on as GYMBOREE
staff entertained the kids while
parents learned about the benefits of living in Burke Centre.
M
arch 18, 2015 was a great evening in Burke Centre where new community members gathered to meet other new neighbors, Conservancy Board, committee and
staff members, and also to greet reps from local businesses and organizations.
Several local businesses and organizations helped to support the event with giveaways from
Viridian, door prize donations, handouts, and even on site kids activities! Numerous door
prizes were given away to include gift cards from Five Star Jewelers, Sherwin Williams, Starbucks, Great
Harvest Bread Co., Dominoes, Giant Food; memberships for Burke Centre pools and 1 month at Gymboree,
an American Flag from Burke VFW, cookies from our local Girl Scouts, and even a thermostat from Select
Heating & A/C! Many thanks to the Business Liaison Committee for their support of this worthwhile event.
A big thanks to the WELCOME COMMITTEE members, pictured below in the front row, le to right:
Marge Greene, Anita Blain and Melissa O’Connor. Also pictured is Trustee At-Large, Brian Engler, behind the Welcome Commi ee. Not shown in picture: Renee Mumford, Landings Trustee
!
ool
The
at
ella
br
Fun
the
sP
ond
P
NEW? NEED
MORE WELCOME
INFO?
Please contact the
Conservancy office at
703.978.2928 if you
need a welcome packet
or have any questions.
Email administration@
burkecentre.org.
APRIL 2015
THE BURKE CENTRE CONSERVATOR
PAGE 15
The Ponds Pool
BURKE CENTRE POOLS
Pool Guest
Passes
10-Visit Discount Guest
Pass - $25
Single Use Guest Pass - $5
A
ll guest passes, both
10-visit and single visit,
are available for purchase
ONLY at the Conservancy office.
Please plan ahead and remember to
purchase your guest passes during
Conservancy office hours; M-F: 9
AM–5 PM; Sat: 9 AM–noon.
Pool Membership
Early Bird Deadline
5 PM – April 30
Sorry, no exceptions!
P
If you have any questions, or need assistance with last-minute
guest pass purchases, please contact the Conservancy office at
(703) 978-2928.
The Oaks Pool
Early bird membership rates are available now
through April 30. With Burke Centre Resident
Family memberships at $110 and Resident Single
memberships at $60, these pool memberships are one
of the best values around for summer fun!
Applications are available online at www.
burkecentreweb.com and must be received at the
Conservancy office by no later than 5 PM on April 30,
2015 to qualify for the Early Bird rates. If you mail
your application before the deadline, but it is received
at the Conservancy office after April 30, the regular
season rates will be applied. Therefore, please make
sure you allow for delays if you plan to mail in your
application.
FREE Photo Opportunities!
N
ew pool members or those wishing to
update their pool I.D. cards may have
photos taken at no charge at one of the
following photo opportunities listed below.
Photos Ops will be held at the Commons Community Center, 5701 Roberts Parkway or the Oaks Community
Center, 5708 Oak Leather Drive as noted below.
Please be patient as thousands of pool applications are
received during the Early Bird program.
Pictures of children must be updated every three years and all
other pictures should be updated if appearance has changed
drastically. All pool members age one (as of the May 23, 2015)
and older must have a photo I.D. card with current photograph.
Please note; photos will only be taken for those who have completed their registrations.
In order to be fair to the thousands of people who
do honor the April 30th deadline, we must strictly
enforce the “NO EXTENSIONS or EXCEPTIONS to
DEADLINE” rules. Thank you for your cooperation.
•
•
•
•
PAGE 16
R
egistration for the summer
2015 Burke Centre swim teams
(Stingers and Penguins) is now
open.
Guest passes purchased by Burke
Centre residents (only) will be stamped at the time of purchase,
and any unused passes/punches purchased for 2015 pool season
will be honored in the 2016 season. Only current year pool
members are eligible to purchase guest passes.
lease don’t wait to join the Burke Centre pools
this year! Membership gives you access to five
beautiful pools for the full season – Memorial
Day through Labor Day – no matter when you join.
If your family has two adults, plus extended family
members who are ages 65 & up, living in the household with you, special senior add-on rates are
available effective through July 31. Seniors may also
get discounted rates on their own membership as well.
Senior Couple-$50, Senior Single- $25 (proof of age
required).
Welcome to
the 2015 Swim
Season!
Wednesday, April 8, 5:30-8 PM @ Oaks CC
Saturday, Apr 25, 2-5 PM @ Commons CC
Wednesday, May 6, 5:30-8 PM @ Commons CC
Wednesday, June 3, 5:30-8 PM @ Oaks CC
THE BURKE CENTRE CONSERVATOR
Limited space is available on the
swim teams. Families are encouraged
to register early. Space on both the
Stingers and Penguins teams is subject to
availability and the Burke Centre Swim
Club will close registration once capacity
is reached. It is difficult to say when the
teams or age groups will reach swimmer
capacity, so please register early. Once
registration is closed, a wait list will be
started. Preference on the wait list will
be given to Burke Centre residents and
returning swim team families.
Cost: The cost for early bird registration
(register by 4/30/15) is $125 per swimmer
for the first two swimmers and $75 for
additional swimmers (for a maximum of
$325 per family). Registrations completed
after April 30, 2015 will automatically
be charged an additional $30 late fee per
family. If you have a financial concern that
prevents you from registering early, please
contact Kristin Merrigan, BCSC President,
at stingerspresident@gmail.com or (571)
405-0597.
*Burke Centre pools membership
is required to participate with the
Burke Centre Swim Club. Go to www.
burkecentreweb.com for pool membership
information.
Key registration dates: To register, go to
www.burkeswimclub.org - April 1-30: Early bird registration
for everyone (both returning and new
families).
SWIM TEAM continued next page...
APRIL 2015
SWIM TEAM continued from page 16
 May 1-31: Open registration continues but late
fee applies.
 June 1: Final day to register for the 2015
swim season (if space is available). Registration
may close earlier than June 1st if the teams or a
particular age group reach swimmer capacity.
Team Placement: Families who have not swum for
either team will be assigned to either the Stingers or
Penguins team. Efforts will be made to honor requests,
but preferences are NOT guaranteed. Families will be
notified of their team assignment prior to the parents
meetings in May. For more information about the
Stingers and Penguins teams, please go to www.
burkeswimclub.org.
New swimmer evaluations: All new swimmers
ages 10 and under (including siblings that have not
previously participated on the team) will be required
to pass a swim evaluation. The evaluations will be
held Tuesday, May 26, 2015. Evaluations for the
Stingers team will be held at the Commons Pool
from 5–7:30 PM, and evaluations for the Penguins
team will be at the Landings Pool from 4-6:30 PM.
Swimmers will be evaluated to ensure that they
meet the Red Cross Level III performance criteria.
To join the swim teams, swimmers must be able to
swim 15 yards (front and back) and float and tread
water for 30 seconds. Swimmers do not need to
know all competitive strokes. If your child does not
pass the evaluation, you will receive a full refund of
registration fees.
Questions? Contact Kristin Merrigan, Stingers
President, at stingerspresident@gmail.com or Hope
Schmid, Penguins President, at hdschmid@gmail.
APRIL 2015
com.
Info for Seniors
UNCH N’ LIFE - Are You 50 or Better? Please
join us for the next Lunch N’ Life, sponsored
by the Shepherd’s Center of Fairfax-Burke, on
Thursday, May 21, 2015 (12:00-2:00 p.m.) at St.
Mary of Sorrows Catholic Church, 5222 Sideburn
Road, Fairfax. The Program will feature Mr. Knox
Singleton, CEO of INOVA Health Systems, speaking
on Current Health Issues. For reservations, call Faye
Quesenberry, (703) 620-0161, by May 15th. The cost
is $10; checks payable to SCFB. If Fairfax County
Schools are closed due to weather, reservations will
be credited to May’s Lunch N’ Life. If transportation
is needed, call the SCFB
office (703) 323-4788. See
www.scfbva.org for more
information.
L
program will present music from Haydn’s Drumroll
Symphony, Holst’s Jupiter and Scott Joplin’s Rags
under the direction of Christopher Johnston. Tickets
will be adults $15; students with ID $10; children
under 12 are free. In order to benefit SCFB, please
purchase tickets prior to the concert date by mail to
the SCFB office at 4019 Olley Lane, Fairfax, VA
22032 or contact Lisa Carroll, SCFB office 703426-2824.
V
olunteers Needed As Drivers! Shepherd’s
Center of Fairfax-Burke serves those 50+ and
who no longer drive. Volunteer Drivers are needed
for trips (Monday-Friday) to medical appointments
and Companion Shopping within the Fairfax/Burke
area. If you can volunteer your time, please contact
Barry Wickersham at 703-359-2918.
S
pring Bouquet
Concert to Benefit
SCFB - Shepherd’s
Center Fairfax-Burke
is selling tickets for the
SPRING BOUQUET
Concert in partnership
with the NOVA-Annandale
Symphony Orchestra, and
the RMS (Reunion Music
Society, Inc.). On April
17, 2015 at 8:00 PM at the
Ernst Cultural Center of the
NOVA-Annandale Campus,
8333 Little River Turnpike,
Annandale, VA. The
THE BURKE CENTRE CONSERVATOR
PAGE 17
Letters to the Editor
L
etters to the editor/commentaries enable
Conservancy members to communicate among
themselves and with the Board in accordance with
the VA Property Owner’s Association Act (POAA), Article
55-510.2. All submissions must be signed by the author to
be considered for publication. They must also include the
author’s address and telephone number, which will not be
published, for staff verification and/or contact purposes.
Upon request, the author’s name will be withheld from
publication. All submissions may be subject to editing.
The Conservancy is not responsible for the expressed
opinions or for the authenticity of any presented facts
discussed in such submissions for publication.
The Parking Lot is not a Playground
I wanted the opportunity to respond to Julie
Graves’ Letter to the Editor in the March newsletter
concerning children playing on neighborhood
streets and in community parking lots. I believe
that the tenor of the February article in the Burke
Centre Conservator was misinterpreted. I do not
believe that members of the Burke community want
children to stay cooped up inside instead of having
the opportunity to play outside, nor do we want
to restrict the use of all sensible play locations in
Burke neighborhoods. Children should play outside,
but there are often safer alternatives than having
children play in most streets or parking lots. Burke
has numerous playgrounds and blacktopped paths that
allow access for children to play in a safe environment
and limits the dangers associated with children
playing in traffic. Ms. Graves also made mention of
how she remembered Burke years ago. Unfortunately,
as this area continues to become more and more
populated, things will never be the same as many of us
remember. More people, more cars, more dangers.
I am not sure about the cul-de-sac Ms. Graves’ lives
near and do understand that not all neighborhoods are
created equal when it comes to available space for
play on low trafficked streets, but I can tell you that
at any time in my cul-de-sac, there can be up to fifty
cars parked or in motion. Because of the alignment
PAGE 18
of the parking spaces, cars can be backing up in two
different directions and moving forward in a third
direction. To provide an example of the dangers of
cars in reverse in confined spaces, I have had my car
backed into in a commercial parking lot in this area
while at a trapped dead stop and pounding on my
horn, and the driver still did not notice me before the
collision. My car is much larger than a child on a bike
and my horn is louder than any parent could yell. In
my neighborhood parking lot, when a truck or SUV
parks next to my car, I can only see directly behind
me. A child on a bike moving perpendicular across
parking spaces would be directly in my blind spot as I
was backing up.
No matter how alert and safe a driver is there will
always be potential for accidents when children play
in the path of traffic. I have seen children on their
bikes and scooters moving at a greater speed than the
responsible drivers in my neighborhood. I have also
seen children fall down while riding in the middle
of the road or dart into oncoming, and fortunately,
slow moving, traffic. Children lack the motor skills
and spatial awareness to danger to play on streets and
parking lots with or without close supervision. I wish
that driver safety could completely alleviate these
dangers, but drivers are only one half of the equation.
The web site KidsAndCars.org offers numerous
amounts of data on the dangers of children playing
around automobiles, whether on streets, in parking
lots, or driveways. I recommend all parents and
guardians take the time
to read some of the tragic
stories on this web site,
and ask themselves if it is
not worth it to find a safe
alternative to playing in
areas with moving traffic.
scooter and my lamp post was damaged by a child
bicyclist riding on the narrow sidewalk who crashed
into it. In both cases, the supervising parent did not
see the incident and did not know that it had happened
until I brought the issue to their attention. Some games
I have witnessed the children come up with when they
are not being closely supervised include throwing
sticks towards or over my car, kicking balls into my
wife’s car, and trying to ride two scooters at the same
time (one under each foot) towards my neighbor’s
truck. These incidents are not all inclusive. Although it
is evident that the children are not maliciously causing
or threatening damage to personal property, it is still
unacceptable that we must keep a close eye on our
property at all times in order to prevent, or witness,
accidental damage in our private parking lot.
Community streets and parking lots were not
constructed for children to play in. They were built
for the purpose of automobile traffic and parking.
Although I do not think that any change to community
rules on the use of parking lots and streets for play
will take place until a tragedy occurs, I implore
parents to take responsibility and take the extra time
to ensure you and your children choose a safe, outdoor
environment like a park, playground, or bike trail to
play on. These options are usually never far away in
Burke, which makes us a very lucky community.
Thank you,
A Concerned Resident of the Landings
Author’s Name Withheld by Request
Not only is there an issue of
child safety when playing
takes place in a parking
lot, there is also the issue
of property damage. Under
parent supervision my
car has been run into by a
THE BURKE CENTRE CONSERVATOR
APRIL 2015
APRIL 2015
THE BURKE CENTRE CONSERVATOR
PAGE 19
Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District
2015 Native Tree & Shrub
Seedling Sale
Naturally Beautiful - Plant NoVA Natives
T
his year’s seedling sale features shrubs and trees
from the Plant NOVA Natives campaign, a regional
effort to promote native plants. To download a copy
of the guide, see www.plantnovanatives.org. These trees
and shubs provide valuable habitat and add beauty and
resilience to your landscape. Enjoy!
Orders may be picked up on: Friday, May 1, 9 a.m. to
4 p.m., or Saturday, May 2, 9 a.m. - noon.
How to Order Your 2015 Seedlings: Now taking
orders online! Help us streamline our operations by
paying online by credit card, debit card or check.
*To order your seedling package, please visit www.
fairfaxcounty.gov/nvswcd/seedlingsale.htm, or search
online: Northern Virginia Native Seedling Sale. *If
necessary, we can also take orders over the phone. Call
the Conservation District at 703-324-1460, TTY 711.
What Not to Put in
your Recycle Bin
From American Disposal Service (ADS)
J
ust a reminder about what should NOT be
put in your recycling bin. We call these
items CONTAMINANTS.
RECYCLE continued on page 21 ...
10 Bare-root Shrubs & Small Trees - $16.95
• 2 Redbud. Cercis canadensis. Large, multistemmed;grows to 20 feet. Distinctive heart-shaped
leaves. Beautiful clusters of pink, pea-like blooms
appear in early spring. Sun to part shade.
• 2 Silky dogwood. Cornus amomum. This shrub’s
bright blue berries have high wildlife value. Prefers
welldrained, moist soil and sunny or part-sun
conditions. Good for streambanks. Fast-growing, 6-10
feet tall.
• 2 Winterberry. Ilex verticillata. Inconspicuous green
to white flowers especially valued by honey bees
and nectar insects. Scarlet red to orange berries often
remain into mid-winter. Grows 6-12 feet in full sun to
shade.
• 2 Red chokeberry. Photinia pyrifolia. Delicate white
blossoms in spring, brilliant red fall foliage and rich
scarlet berry clusters in winter make this deciduous
shrub and all-season favorite. Will sucker and spread,
grows to 10 feet. Prefers sun to part shade.
• 2 Arrowwood viburnum. Viburnum dentatum. Five
to eight foot shrub grows vigorously in sun to partial
shade. Flat clusters of creamy white flowers in June.
Bluish-black berries against glossy red foliage in fall.
Birds love the fruits and seeds. Excellent as a hedge
6 Bare-root Trees for $11.95
• 2 River Birch. Betula nigra. Mature size of 70-80 feet.
Attractive native ornamental tree tolerates a wide range
of conditions, flourishes in rich soils. Only birch native
to the Coastal Plain in the southeastern United States.
Full to partial sun.
• 2 Willow oak. Quercus phellos. Reaches a mature size
of 50 to 80 feet. Excellent wildlife food source and
landscape tree. Full to partial sun. Thrives in a range of
conditions, from lowlands, river and swamp border to
rich, sandy uplands.
• 2 Shortleaf pine. Pinus echinata. Up to 50 to 60 feet.
This conifer has attractive reddish-brown bark in scaly
plates on mature trees. Provides habitat and food for
birds. Prefers sandy loams, also grows in average, dry
to medium well-drained soils. Full sun or light shade.
Key Dates:
A full, nonrefundable payment must accompany your
order by Wednesday, April 22 or until supplies run out. •
You will receive a confirmation receipt and directions to
the pickup site, the Fairfax County Packard Center off of
Hummer Road in Annandale.
PAGE 20
THE BURKE CENTRE CONSERVATOR
APRIL 2015
PHONE SCAMS continued from page 10
possession of your card”. He’ll ask you to ‘turn your card
over and look for some numbers’. There are 7 numbers; the
first four (4) are part of your card number, the last three (3)
are the Security Numbers that verify you are the possessor
of the card. These are the numbers you sometimes use to
make Internet purchases to prove you have the card.
The caller will ask you to read the last three (3) numbers to
him. After you tell the caller the three numbers, he’ll say,
“That is correct, I just needed to verify that the card has not
been lost or stolen, and that you still have your card. Do
you have any other questions?” After you say no, the caller
then thanks you and states, “Don’t hesitate to call back if
you do”, and hangs up.
RECYCLE continued from page 20
Contaminants are defined as items that de-value
other single stream recyclables and/or destroy
the machinery used at the American Recycling
Center. Please do NOT toss these items into your
recycling bin:
WHAT: Plastic Bags & Films such as: Grocery
bags, Bread bags, Plastic shrink wrap packaging
(such as the wrap on water bottle or bulk paper
t
towel
packs), Plastic wrap, Collection bags (can
l
liners)*.
*Although collection bags are handy, we
s
strongly
prefer that our customers collect recyclables
LOOSE in the bin, cart, or dumpster when possible.
WHY: Plastic bags and films wrap around the large
rotating gears in the recycling sorting machinery.
Plastic bags and all types of films mentioned may be
recycled, but they must be separated from other single
stream recyclables. They must go to another type
RECYCLE continued on page 26...
What the ‘Scammer’ wants is the 3-digit PIN number on the
back of the card. Don’t give it to them. Instead, tell them
you’ll call VISA or MasterCard directly for verification
of their conversation. The real VISA told us that they
will never ask for anything on the card, as they already
know the information, since they issued the card! If you
give the Scammer your 3-digit PIN Number, you think
you’re receiving a credit; however, by the time you get
your statement you’ll see charges for purchases you didn’t
make, and by then it’s almost too late and/or more difficult
to actually file a fraud report. Similar scam calls are being
made to MasterCard holders, with a word-for-word repeat
of the VISA Scam.
The police said they are taking several of these reports
daily! It appears that this is a very active scam, and
evidently quite successful. Please share this information to
all your family and friends so they will be prepared to hang
up the phone and take appropriate action if necessary.
APRIL 2015
THE BURKE CENTRE CONSERVATOR
PAGE 21