Jewell Technical Consulting is the tech company of the year in Prince William, Manassas, and Manassas Park.

It took home the top honor from the Prince William Chamber of Commerce at the organization’s 2020 Business Awards, an annual event held at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on February 25.

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Updated March 4, 2020 | Due to the anticipated spread of the Coronavirus, Westminster at Lake Ridge has temporarily canceled all outside activities at their facilities, meaning the Lake Ridge Chorale performance of “Then and Now,” scheduled for Tuesday, March 10, in the Potomac Room of Westminster, has been canceled.

Original story | Singers who belong to the non-profit Lake Ridge Chorale have been belting out notes for a decade.

The choir plans to celebrate its 10th Anniversary by presenting its concert “Then and Now.”

The concert will be on March 13, at St. Mathew’s Lutheran Church between 9-9:30 p.m. They will be performing old and new favorites as well as their world premiere of Out of the Silence by composer Greg Gilpin.

The concert is free of charge, but financial donations and non-perishable food items will be collected to support three local charities ACTS, HUGS, and Kara Foundation. Over the past 10 years, they have distributed over $20,000 worth of food. 

“We provide exposure to beautiful music and bring our community together in the enjoyment that pulls them out of their routines and into something a bit more uplifting,” said Lake Ridge Chorale Board President Liz Holmes.

Lake Ridge Chorale has grown in the last 10 years, and it is not without its struggles and highlights. 

Lynn Godino, the chorale’s general manager, says that members have relocated because of work or illness. We started with twenty-five singers and now we have forty. 

“In the past two years, we have grown 25% and our goal has always been fifty singers. Our stumbling block showed that all we really needed to do was tap into the individual strengths of our membership,” Godino.

Creative Director Terry Stackley adds that from the outset, forming this group was a challenge for her. “

I had not anticipated the amount of work it would take to establish the Lake Ridge Chorale,” she said. “I come from a sacred music background, so exploring secular works was new to me. There was also having to establish the governing by-laws and board structure.”

“[Another challenge] was to select music as I hope to give both the singers and the potential audiences a variety of choral music in all genres which challenge and broadens the community’s awareness of choral music,” adds Stackley.

Singers in the group pride themselves in its highlights of their performances, such as the group’s major first piece and milestone performance, John Rutter’s Requiem in 2013. It incorporated an instrumental ensemble for the first time. 

Other pieces included 2015, Antonio Vivaldi’s Gloria, 2017, Franz Schubert’s Mass in G, and most recently, Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem just last year 2019.

“As I look to the future,” said Terry, “we have the challenge of growing both the chorale and its audience such as providing the singers with challenging music that expands their knowledge and increases their excellence.”

The building that houses a popular used book store is one step closer to becoming a historic landmark.

The Manassas City Planning Commission on Feb. 5 voted unanimously to make the Hibbs and Giddings Building in Downtown Manassas on the city’s list of historic landmarks.

The building located at 2129 Center Street is 4,148 square feet in size and was built in 1923. It’s the home to Prospero’s Used Book Store.

“I really don’t have anything to add…other than to say I looked forward to the waiting commission’s favorable consideration,” building owner Gary Belt told members of the planning commission. “This proposal, I think everyone would agree, that the building is truly a historic landmark structure in Old Town Manassas.”

The City Council in January asked the Planning Commission to sign off on whether or not to designate the building a city historic landmark. Now the proposal heads back to the council for final approval.

The building will join about 30 other historic buildings in the city, to include the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office at 9304 Peabody Street, the Manassas Cemetery and Confederate Cemetery at 9317 Center Street, and the Old All Saints Catholic Church at 8913 Center Street.

The building is valued at $718,100, according to city records.

While the city is considering the building for its list of historic places, the building is not currently registered on the national or state historic building registries. In order to get on the city’s list, the building must be “a structure more than 50 years old that represents the period in which it was built by material, design, or other physical features, or is a place of significance that preserves, protects, or enhances the character of the [historic downtown area].”

Albert Speiden, who was locally a significant architect who designed the original city hall (now used as the city’s voter registration office), designed the Hibbs and Giddings building, too.

The Freedom Museum has been housed inside the Manassas Regional Airport for the past 20 years.

This year, it’ll be looking for a new home.

Jim Porter, a spokesman for the museum, said the arrangement was always supposed to be temporary. “Every year we were there, we’d ask the airport for another extension for our lease,” he said.

Located inside the main terminal of the airport, the Freedom Museum displays artifacts from WWII and tells the stories of the men and women who served in the theater of war and here at home during some of our country’s most trying times.

The museum is open seven days a week for self-guided tours, free of charge. It is an affiliate of the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

Manassas airport director Juan Rivera says the museum will need to move out by September. Then, Rivera wants to use the terminal for its intended purpose — as an airline terminal that will serve one day serve passengers who take small jets.

A passenger airline operator has for the airport has yet to be announced.

After the museum moves out, Rivera says the 20-year-old airport terminal building owned by Manassas City taxpayers will undergo some small renovations to include new bathrooms.

The museum, however, won’t be left out on the street. Porter says they’re working with a Realtor to find a new space, and they’re eyeing the old Manassas Cinemas 4 movie theater on Mathis Avenue.

Two of the four theaters would be used for the main gallery, and another would be used to show films. There would also be room to host meetings for theirs, and other organizations that needed the space.

“The main mission is to remember the guys that served for our country that are from our area, Manassas, Manassas Prince William county. We don’t want to lose it. We want to make sure that’s first and center,” said Porter.

Nothing is set in stone, and if it doesn’t work out, Porter admits the organization fears the unknown. There are mixed feelings about the airport forcing out the museum, but it understands the desire of the city to use the terminal for its intended purpose, added.

The Freedom Museum is accepting donations now to help keep the organization going. It also plans to continue its footlocker program which takes WWII historical artifacts to middle and high school classrooms.

In the meantime, the museum also accepts some funding from Prince William County and Manassas. It’s also expiring possibilities of working with private companies to help make up the funding gaps.

The Manassas Regional Airport is the largest of its kind in the state. But does the majority of the flying public know its there?

Airport officials will spend $35,000 on an advertising and marketing plan this year to increase name awareness. About 40% of the people they intend to reach are locals who need a place to base their aircraft, with 60% of the remainder being transients (people who fly in their planes from out of town.) Commercial flights aren’t offered at the airport.

Much of the marketing effort will focus on the benefits of using the airport, such as its close proximity to Washington, D.C.

“One of the things I took on last year and one of the biggest things in my first impression is that the city did a survey of all the amenities of the citizens. One impression I got was they didn’t include the airport as one of those amenities,” said Rita Witte, an administrative coordinator at the airport. “We have the police, the fire, and the airport was down here but no one realizes how important this airport is.”

The airport will use social media to increase awareness of the airport, to include a presence on Linked In, Facebook, and Instagram. Witte also uses a tool called hoot suite to manage and automate postings to multiple social media accounts. The service links up to a listing of events on the city’s website, and it costs $250 a year.

“The airport, overall, has always been humble about things that we’ve done…we really need to work on … ‘tooting our own horn,’ added Witte.

The popular Virginia tourism icon, the LOVE sign, has been a boon for the airport by helping to generate interest in the airport, she adds. “I think it’s been a pretty morale booster.”

The sign cost $7,000, and a total of $4,000 came from state grants. Expect to see the sign in more of the airport’s marketing and advertising efforts.

The airport contracts with NDP Agency for its marketing. The firm also has contracts with Virginia Commonwealth University and has worked to promote the Waterside District in Downtown Norfolk.

Tony’s New York Pizza has moved and held a reopening ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new location 8891 Centreville Road in Manassas. 

• Owners Giuseppe “Joe” D’Agostino, and his father Antonio “Tony” D’Agostino, and city mayor Hall Parrish II held the scissors to cut the red ribbon on Thursday, November 21. 

Customers, family members, and city officials who have been with Tony’s family for almost 30 years enjoyed the restaurant’s new interior improvement.

•  “Thanks for many many years of patronage; and I hope they like the new store we have opened up with,” said D’Angelo.
  

Customers gawked when they walked into the new restaurant. Located nearby the eatery’s old location on Mathis Avenue, the new restaurant moves from its old location in the Manassas Shopping Center, is larger, and has more seating. 

• Family memorabilia is on display throughout the new eatery.

The restaurant is known for its Italian all pasta and pizza, and also serves seafood.

• Combination specials include homemade pizza with sausage, opinions, green peppers between $18-13 on  11-16-inch pizzas. 
•  City manager Patrick Gate says this is the go-to place. Seafood pasta is to drool over, he adds.

So, what’s in the name? Tony’s New York Pizza is a family-owned restaurant for the past three generations. 

• The name started as a memory of their family’s hometown in Nepal Sicily. When Antonio “Tony” D’Agostino came with his uncle, Sal, they set up Sal’s Pizzeria in New York City.  
• The place grew in popularity and, eventually, they moved to Manassas and set up the former Geovanni restaurant on Mathis Avenue. 
• In 1989, D’Agostino split from most of his sons. 
• They renamed the restaurant Tony’s New York Pizza after the father.

Tony’s New York Pizza has been in Manassas for 32 years, and he says they couldn’t have done it without their customers. 

• “Mathis, the old store, really was a flagship; and, we wanted to make sure it stood out,” said D’Angelo   [Our customers]They’ve been good to us; and [by relocating], it’s our way of keeping a good gem in Manassas.”

Tony’s New York Pizza is on the corner of Liberia and Centreville Manassas Junction Shopping Plaza. 

• They’re open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. 

The Tony’s relocation comes as several businesses in the Manassas Shopping Center on Mathis Avenue have announced their closure. 

• Potomac Local recently spoke with city leaders about their vision for a redeveloped Mathis Avenue corridor.

The Prince William County Adult Detention Center held its biannual community resource fair on October 29. 

• Usually held in April and September, the fair provides inmates with the opportunity to attend programs during their pre-release in incarceration. 
• This was the jail’s biggest fair to date, and the jail will continue to address and grow reentry transition services here at the ADC along with community partners, according to a jail spokeswoman. 

The ADC provides anger management classes, AA groups, substance abuse support groups, religious services, and life skills presentations. 

Inmate Deramus Joseph who attended the fair and told Potomac Local about how the resources helped him. He says that he wants to move out of Virginia and work as a physical therapist.

Vendors who attended included: 

• Breaking the Cycle of Crime
• League of Women Voters
• Northern Virginia Community College
• Virginia Families and Fatherhood Initiative

The fair helps 150-200 inmates and they can continue to use services after they get out of jail.

*This story has been corrected. 

The library has waived half of its patron-owed late fines for October.

• So, for example, if you owe the library $10 in late fees, now you only owe $5.

Prince William County Public Libraries spokeswoman Rachel Johnson said that the library started the late-fee forgiveness program last year.

• It wanted to remove barriers that may stop patrons from coming into the library, she said.
• Patrons can pay off their outstanding fines for less so that returned items will go back into the library’s collection and other patrons may enjoy them.

Last year, the forgiveness program saw the waiver of $33,000 overdue fines compared to 2017.

• Many patrons took advantage of the program and zeroed out their overdue balances.

To take advantage of this benefit, go to any branch checkout desk and ask about the program.

• The library accepts all late materials that have not been damaged, lost, or have interlibrary loan fees.
• “We hope patrons that have overdue fines will consider taking advantage of the Fine Forgiveness Program. More than anything, this program is about getting patrons back to the library, even if they have fines that may have discouraged them from coming in,” said  Johnson.

BonChon will open its new Korean and American style restaurant in Gainesville.

• Company officials had originally planned to open this month, but now tell Potomac Local the opening won’t happen until the end of 2019.
• No specific date was given.

When the restaurant does open, manager Peter An said customers will want to try the dish most customers like the most.

“People fall in love with our double-fried Korean BBQ chicken,” said Ann. It also features Bibimbap, which is a combination of quinoa, white rice, veggies, and fried eggs.

• BonChon’s also offers boneless chicken for $8.95. There’s also BonChon fried rice which comes with plain chicken, Bulgogi, seafood, and Kimchi bacon for $8.95.

A little bit of history: The founder of BonChon, Jinduk Seh, opened his first BonChon restaurant in Busan, a coastal city of South Korea in 2002.

• He named BonChon “my hometown” to honor the family and foods of this culture.
• The restaurant gained popularity and migrated to the U.S.
• The first restaurant opened was in Fort Lee, N.J. in 2006.
• BonChon has 94 locations across the U.S.

BonChon’s Gainesville location will be new location is located at 7344 Atlas Walk Way, at the Virginia Gateway Plaza.

The restaurant also has locations in Fredericksburg, Manassas, and Woodbridge.