In honor of the Pat White Center’s 50th anniversary this year, there will be a free fall festival held at the center on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Formerly known as the Ben Lomond Community Center until 2015, the building has been a community hub for many years in providing programming and events. The festival will have activities for all ages, food trucks, STEM projects, musical instrument demonstrations, giveaways and much more.

Here’s some history on the center from Prince Willam County:

Born and raised in Vienna, Va., Patricia (Pat) White came to Prince William County in 1963. She was a founding member of St. Thomas United Methodist Church and the Westgate Women’s Club. A public relations professional, Pat served on numerous civic committees and boards, including the American Red Cross; Voluntary Action Center; Community Corrections Resource Board; the Electoral Board; and the Prince William Board of County Supervisors.

It was her work with the Westgate Women’s Club that brought her into the public eye, along with what she felt most proud of — the “Save the Barn” grassroots campaign to renovate the dilapidated barn structure on the Ben Lomond historical site, into a community center where “the young and old” could gather for events and classes could be taught.

Once an integral part of the 1837 Ben Lomond Manor Estate, “the barn” managed to survive through the chaos of Civil War, the rebuilding of a war-torn county and the eventual exchange of ownership. The barn burned to the ground twice, only to rise once again in the very spot it had begun.

During the early years of the 1970s, land developers anxious to expand housing into the western parts of the county, threatened to level the barn. White and the ladies of the Westgate Women’s Club, banded together with area residents to launch a campaign to “Save the Barn.” The campaign was marked a success when a bond referendum, supported by the Gainesville Sanitary District, was passed by the citizens to provide the funding to restore the historical building for use as a community gathering place. Unfortunately, the findings of a feasibility study proved renovating the old barn was simply too costly. The architects hired for the project designed a new building to closely resemble the much-loved historical barn.

In 1983, Ben Lomond Community Center was purchased by the Park Authority, and subsequently transferred back to Prince William County in 2012.

To honor White’s legacy of community volunteerism and her efforts to “Save the Barn,” the center was renamed the Pat White Center at Ben Lomond in 2015. Today, the community center continues the tradition of community support by providing programming and specialty classes for all ages for the residents of Prince William County and surrounding counties.

If you’re going:

• Where: Pat White Center, 10501 Copeland Drive (Manassas)
• When: Saturday (Oct. 19) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Information: Free event.

Happy Friday, Manassas! Welcome to another City Council preview, this time for the Oct. 21 work session. This week’s meeting will be held at the City Hall Council Chambers at 9027 Center St. City Council will also be meeting on Tuesday to discuss applicants for the city manager position. Make sure to check out Potomac Local's recent forum on the state of Manassas City Public Schools, which was held Thursday night with a School Board member and several candidates.

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The Young Marines are hosting the 8th annual Drug Demand Reduction 5K Dash at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Quantico on Saturday.

The race will be the kickoff event for Red Ribbon Week — which runs from Oct. 23 to Oct. 31 — a nationwide drug prevention and awareness initiative. Nationwide, Young Marines will begin a week of activities to prevent the use of drugs with National Family Partnership, the founders of Red Ribbon Week in 1985.

The 5K commemorates the death of Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was killed in Mexico in 1985 in his quest to get drugs off America’s streets.

“Through the Go Red for Red Ribbon Week initiative, we are reaching out to community and state leaders to encourage the lighting of public landmarks in red to raise public awareness and promote a drug-free lifestyle,” Col. William P. Davis, USMC (Ret), national executive director and CEO of the Young Marines, said in a press release. “Now, more than ever, we remain steadfastly committed to our drug prevention and resistance efforts within our program and sharing it with everyone across the U.S. It is a vital part of our overall mission.”

The race starts at 8 a.m. Registration before Saturday is $25, and registration on race day is $30 and is required. Participants must arrive approximately one hour before the race to register. Live race results will be available.

Several other events will be happening across the country to commemorate Red Ribbon Week by the Young Marines.

Update Oct. 18 at 9:20 a.m.: An earlier version of this article stated the total budget for the project is $9,000. The city has actually spent $4.4 million — including the price of purchase — to date on the project. There will be a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday to celebrate the years-long work at Annaburg Park, a historical home at 9201 Maple St. acquired by the city in 2019. The home was built in 1892 by Prussian-born entrepreneur and brewer, Robert Portner, as a summer retreat and a recreational space for neighbors. The home then became a nursing facility, but in 2019, was purchased by the City of Manassas to preserve the historic resource and create another park. Since the acquisition, the city has completed major renovations on the home, some of which will be celebrated at the Saturday ribbon-cutting ceremony. A few of the renovations include a new slate roof, new paint, repairs to the wooden floors, new doors and windows, installed an ADA-compliant ramp, new lighting fixtures and updated landscaping. Archeologists also uncovered the foundation of the Portner Tower, a structure that predates the home. According to the city, much of this work was necessary to maintain the home's structure. "As with any unoccupied historic home, there was a lot of moisture damage, peeling paint and plaster, and damaged floors in the house. The priority was to stabilize the structure by replacing the home’s original slate roof, metal cornices and wood box gutters, and exterior paint removal that helped fix moisture problems," Lisa Sievel-Otten, acting communications director for the city, said. The city has plans to continue restorations on the home including installing a fountain at the top of the driveway, five historic markers, new restrooms and finishing the trim work on the first floor. Sievel-Otten said there isn't a timeline for the rest of the project. "There is no timeline for the rest of the project — including the master plan for the grounds — as it will be evaluated in the next budget. The fountain should be the next thing installed, and then the restrooms," she said. To date, the city has spent $4.4 million on the home, including the price of purchase. Annaburg was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2022, a National Park Service designation that places national significance on the home and protects the structure.  Due to this designation, the city maintains the structure and its history.

"Robert Portner was also a great benefactor of the city and is famous in his own right. Residents supported several community conversations and responded to surveys during the master planning process and have expressed much support for saving the home and for creating a surrounding park," Sievel-Otten said. "Preserving the 3.5 acres of green space around the house also satisfies a desire residents always express in our surveys for more parks and recreation spaces."

The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place Saturday at Annaburg Park (9201 Maple St.) at 1:30 p.m. Attendees can also enjoy an art show following the ceremony.

The Prince William County Circuit Court Clerk will host a special winter edition of the “Seal the Deal” event in Occoquan on Dec. 13.

The clerk, Jacqueline Smith, will host this special event for civil celebrant weddings and vow renewals in Occoquan, chock-full of riverfront views and small businesses to enjoy following a ceremony. The event will be held at the Occoquan Town Hall (314 Mill St.) and provide couples the chance to exchange vows in the historic building.

To schedule a marriage license application and ceremony, contact the clerk’s office at 703-792-6036 or at [email protected]. More information on marriage licenses can be found on the county’s website.

On Oct. 26, the Prince William County and Manassas City Police Departments will be participating in prescription drug take-back day from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

National Take Back Day is led by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), which established this day to address the drug overdose epidemic in the U.S. Thousands of people die each year in prescription opioid deaths; in 2022, the number of deaths was 14,716 according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“DEA is committed to making our communities safer and healthier, and we can do this by reducing overdoses and overdose deaths,” the DEA’s website states. “While the community does its part to turn in unneeded medications and remove them from potential harm, we are doing our part to further reduce drug-related violence.”

The DEA hosts a take-back day every six months in April and October with thousands of law enforcement agencies participating each time. In April 2024, 335 tons — or 670,135 pounds — of drugs were collected nationwide. In Virginia, 17,425 pounds of prescription drugs were collected in April. Since the first take-back day in 2010, nearly 19 million pounds of drugs have been collected.

In Prince William County and Manassas, the following locations will be open on Oct. 26 and participating in the take-back initiative.

• UVA Health System Prince William Medical Center, 8700 Sudley Road, Manassas
• UVA Health System Haymarket Medical Center, 15225 Heathcote Blvd., Haymarket
• Sentara Healthcare Lake Ridge, 12825 Minnieville Road, Lake Ridge

The DEA also provides a search engine for other participating locations across the country and state. Several items will be accepted at these sites, including:

• Prescription and over-the-counter solid-dosage medications
• Vape pens and e-cigarettes AFTER batteries have been removed
• Intravenous solutions
• Injectables
• Needles
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Compressed cylinders (asthma inhalers and the like)

The county said in a release that a permanent marker may be used to blacken out personal information in an effort to protect your privacy.

Illicit drugs like marijuana or methamphetamine will not be accepted.

For more information, please call the Crime Prevention Unit at 703-792-7270.

The City of Manassas is now offering new services to Spanish speakers in an effort to better reach residents.

The new services include an anonymous Spanish-only WhatsApp channel to stay updated on the city, Spanish email notifications and emergency alerts, Spanish messaging for events and YouTube videos that can be viewed in Spanish.

For many years, the Manassas City Council has discussed ways to reach the Spanish-speaking community in the city, the second-most spoken language in Manassas. In 2022, Council discussed providing translation services at public meetings to allow Spanish speakers to voice their thoughts and opinions.

Currently, the city provides an interpreter for Spanish-speaking residents who wish to address Council, X — formerly known as Twitter — messages are published in English and Spanish, translations of meetings are provided on Instagram and Facebook and residents can access a short audio summary of the approved minutes in Spanish after the meeting.

The press release in Spanish:

Con el fin de comunicarse mejor con los residentes de habla hispana, la Ciudad de Manassas ofrece medios de comunicación nuevos, produce los comunicados bilingües, brinda servicios de interpretación durante sus reuniones y se interactúa con los residentes durante eventos comunitarios.

Durante las sesiones del concejo municipal, una intérprete está presente para ayudar a los residentes quienes hablen español que deseen dirigirse a los concejales y concejalas en persona. Los mensajes X en vivo informan en español lo que sucede en las sesiones del concejo en tiempo real. Los mensajes que se publican en Facebook e Instagram durante las sesiones también incluyen las traducciones producidas por un ser humano. Después de la sesión, los residentes pueden acceder a un audioresumen en español de cinco minutos de las actas aprobadas de la reunión.

Los miembros del personal que hablan español asisten a reuniones y eventos tales como la Serie E3 para Padres [Parent E3 Series] de la Policía de la Ciudad de Manassas [Manassas City Police] y las reuniones comunitarias con el enfoque en los parques, el urbanismo y los proyectos de transporte.

Para mantenerse informados, los residentes de Manassas que hablan español pueden:

• unirse anónimamente a un Canal de WhatsApp en español para obtener información sobre recursos, eventos y noticias de la Ciudad
• registrarse para recibir notificaciones en español por correo electrónico
• registrarse para recibir alertas en casos de emergencia
• recibir mensajes en español sobre los eventos para familias (enviando la palabra clave “Mensajes” al 888-777 para registrarse)
• ver vídeos en español en YouTube

El sitio web de la Ciudad de Manassas ofrece la información más completa sobre los servicios municipales y está disponible en 86 idiomas.

The Prince William County Chamber of Commerce is hosting a panel on affordable workforce housing on Tuesday from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Potomac Valley Church in Dumfries.

The summit will bring together multiple industry leaders, policymakers and developers to discuss strategies that will benefit Prince William County. It will be hosted at the Potomac Valley Church at 1006 Williamstown Drive in Dumfries from 5 to 7 p.m. Registration is encouraged.

Here is the list of speakers at the summit:

Opening

• Marty Nohe, Prince William Chamber of Commerce 2024-2025 chair

Opening remarks

• Kanesha Brown, Community Outreach Regional Manager of Virginia Housing

Event moderator

• Pastor Will Archer, Potomac Valley Church

Panelists

• Bailey Edelson, principal of Buchanan Partners
• Babur Lateef, Ed.D., chairman at-large of Prince William County Schools
• Ben Miller, principal of Wellington Development
• Chief Peter Newsham, chief of police at Prince William County Police Department

Final remarks

• Supervisor Kenny Boddye, supervisor of Occoquan District
• Supervisor Tom Gordy, supervisor of Brentsville District

Closing

• Supervisor Andrea Bailey, supervisor of Potomac District