May 5, 2021 at 2:00pm
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved subleasing the Ellmore Farmhouse in Herndon to the nonprofit ServiceSource on May 4.
The sublease will last 29 years as part of Fairfax County’s Resident Curator Program, which aims “to preserve historic properties by offering long-term leases to qualified tenants who agree to rehabilitate and maintain these historic resources in accordance with established preservation standards,” according to the county.
The decision followed an advertised public hearing on the motion that did not draw any comments from the community.
In accordance with the terms of the resident curator program, ServiceSource will rehabilitate the two-story, 3,300 square-foot house at 2739 West Ox Road while maintaining time-appropriate aspects of the property that was built in 1891.
In the 210 years since it was first built, the Colvin Run Mill has outlasted the industrial revolution, a civil war, and multiple pandemics. Now, it has the capacity to keep grinding grains for at least another 15 years, thanks to a new water wheel and flume.
The Fairfax County Park Authority completed its restoration in March 45 days ahead of schedule but the refurbished mill saw action for the first time Saturday morning (May 2), when the new wheel took its first turns to power the mill, which ground out some corn meal and grits to be sold at the nearby general store.
The prospect of millions of winged insects crawling out of the ground might convince some people to stay inside until July, but as Fairfax County Park Authority naturalist and education and outreach manager Tammy Schwab told Reston Now in March, cicadas are harmless even edible.
In addition, while some annual cicadas pop up every year, the once-every-other-decade appearances of the periodical variety are natural phenomena unique to the U.S., a product of the creatures’ unusually long life cycles.
Fairfax County has been doing its part to turn anxiety over Brood X into excitement, inviting community members to a game of Cicada Stroll Bingo and highlighting the environmental benefits of cicadas.
Today at 3:30pm
Frying Pan Farm Park’s annual Spring Farm Day has been canceled for the second year in a row due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
The fundraiser had been scheduled to take place on May 1, but Friends of Frying Pan Farm Park, the nonprofit that supports the park, announced this morning (Wednesday) that plans have “unfortunately” changed.
Spring Farm Day’s cancellation means that the Friends group has to scramble again to raise the funds need to support the dozens of animals that live at the park in Herndon.
“We’ll lose thousands of dollars Spring Farm Day would have raised. This money would have helped feed our farm animals and support the farm,” the organization said in a Facebook post. “If you can, please make a donation to help replace our lost funding.”
At three Fairfax County parks, ghosts of Cold War missiles linger restonnow.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from restonnow.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.