Weekend Roundup: Arcola, Philomont, Croatia

By Adam Gerchick (Contact)

Thursday, May 28, 2009

Forget the kids; it's time you had fun, too. This weekend you can, with yard sales, open houses, and musical performances that the adults can enjoy. The best part: you don't need a sitter. Consider three events in Loudoun at which you can have just as much fun as your children.

Crafters, Yard Sale, and Playground Day

This Saturday marks the first-ever mixture of three seemingly distinct summertime favorites – art shows, yard sales and mulch – in one place.

It's the Philomont Community Center's Crafters, Yard Sale, and Playground Day. Organizer Nancy Gittings calls the event an opportunity for both the parents and kids to go their separate ways, together.

From 8 a.m. until 3 p.m., the community center will invite parents to bring their children to the center's fenced backyard playground in celebration of National Playground Day. And to make the day memorable, Philomont will provide the kids with Sno-Cones and popcorn, on the house.

Quick, that's your chance! Just a few steps away, at the front of the building, the center will host at least a dozen vendors, including two craft artists, for you to browse through.

While it's free to shop, the fees paid by the vendors ($15 per eight-foot table) will go to the center, meaning that your patronage will benefit the local community.

And, as Gittings notes, there's still time to reserve a space of your own.

The Philomont Community Center's first Crafters, Yard Sale, and Playground Day will take place between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 30, at 36592 Jeb Stuart Road in Philomont. The event is free to attend and vendor fees are $15 per eight-foot table.

For more information or to reserve a table, contact Nancy Gittings at 540-338-5882.

EMS Open House

The Arcola/Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire Department will be hosting its annual EMS Open House this Sunday, and everyone is invited for the ride.

The event, which disguises practical safety training for kids as a series of fun activities, is far more than a typical open house.

Young attendees can learn how to report an emergency via 911, crawl through a simulated smoldering house, and even work the fire hose, all under the watchful eyes of department firefighters and organizers.

And while some may deem themselves too old for the face-painting, even the most experienced parent may enjoy the thrill of a fire-truck ride. "Actually," laughs Michaele Finegan, whose husband James is the lead event contact, "it's the daddies who really like that."

There's even the chance – no guarantees – of a landing from an EMS helicopter.

As always, there will be food of the cookout variety. The entire event, including the cooking, will be free, though Finegan notes that even small contributions to help cover the costs of the event would be greatly appreciated.

The EMS Open House runs from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 31, at the Arcola/Pleasant Valley Volunteer Fire and Rescue Company 9, at 24300 Gum Spring Road in Arcola. All ages are welcome, though children are encouraged to be accompanied on rides.

For more information, contact James Finegan at (703) 542-6839.

Klasinc and Loncar Guitar Duo

Alas, there is neither free popcorn nor a fire truck at the Franklin Park Arts Center. But there is a duo.

Miroslav Loncar and Natasha Klasinc-Loncar, a husband-and-wife classical guitar duo from Croatia, will be performing both a variety of Mediterranean pieces and a number of their own original works and arrangements.

The duo will play classical, baroque, and romantic compositions with a focus on the music of the Viennese style.

Both husband and wife hold doctorate degrees in music: Dr. Klasnic Loncar in guitar performance and pedagogy and Dr. Loncar in musical arts.

Today, the couple lives in Northern Virginia; Dr. Klasinc-Loncar is a guitar teacher at Dominion High School while Dr. Loncar teaches guitar at Park View High School, both in Sterling.

However, they have performed at festivals and concerts internationally, including at an international guitar competition in Berlin, where they won the prize for Best Guitar Duo.

The Klasinc and Loncar Guitar Duo performance will occur on Sunday, May 31 at 3 p.m. at the Franklin Park Performing and Visual Arts Center on Blueridge View Lane, at the end of Franklin Park Drive, in Purcellville. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for both students and senior citizens.

For more information, visit www.franklinparkartscenter.org. Tickets are available at the box office.

Tagged: entertainment, firefighters, Franklin Park Center, music, Philomont

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