In the late 1990s, local rocker Eddie Anzueto broke out of his signature rock-n-roll mold and approached early hip-hop band “Salt-N-Pepa” with an idea.

He suggested to the group, known for their smash hits like “Push It” and “Whatta Man,” that they perform together on a song called “The Clock is Ticking.” The single appeared on Salt-N-Pepa’s “Brand New,” the group’s album released in 1997. It would be the group’s final studio album before the group broke up five years later.

“The Clock is Ticking” turned out to be a hit. The album was declared gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Critics hailed the album for its piano and guitar sounds, a departure from the group’s previous albums.

As the clock ticked on Anzueto’s musical career, over time, it evolved, and he focused on other projects.

Now a drummer with the Fringe Benefits Band, his time with Salt-N-Pepa a distant memory, Anzeto played a gig this past New Year’s Eve at the Electric Palm restaurant near Occoquan. While there, he was recognized on stage with a golden record plaque. It was a gift from the Recording Industry Association of America, orchestrated by band manager Bruce Moore.

Months earlier, Moore found out about the Salt-N-Pepa song, and that put the wheels in motion to get him recognized.

“I was able to make it happen,” Moore said.

Anzueto was surprised that night. Doing his best Rocky Balboa imitation, he hoisted the gold record over his head. It was a scene reminiscent of “Rocky” atop the Philadelphia Museum of Art’s stairway.

The crowd at the electric Palm went wild, and when it came to the plaque presentation, they made him crawl out from behind the drums set.

“It was a huge surprise to me,” Anzueto said. The whole place erupted in a chant, “Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.” It was all spur of the moment.

“The award was not really something I was thinking about over the past few decades,” he said,

It all started back when Salt-N-Pepa was hammering out their first big hit, “Push It,” in 1987. Over the years, the group sold 15 million records.

There were only three members of the band, Cheryl “Salt” James, Sandra “Pepa” Denton, and Deidra “DJ Spinderella” Roper.

Salt-N-Pepa’s music fell into mixed rap and hip-hop genre, a music-style born after Aerosmith got on stage with Run DMC a few years earlier and collaborated on Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way.”

Although the Aerosmith-Run DMC collaboration wasn’t on Anzueto’s mind when he came up with the idea to join Salt-N-Pepa in a song. “That was a similar thing,” said Moore, although the two events were nearly 10 years apart.

He talked over his plan with Salt, aka Cheryl James. She was okay with any shenanigans that Anzueto brought to the song.

“She gave me some musical freedom,” he said. In the music industry, it sometimes takes stepping outside the box, and in this case, it worked. The album went on to sell big and win an award.

Salt-N-Pepa broke up in 2002, went their separate ways for five years before getting back together. They are still performing together from time to time, without DJ Spinderella.

Anzueto now has a place in music history and a plaque to prove it. It sits on the shelf right now, but not for long.

“I’ll find a spot for it,” he said.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to hurt the hotel industry in Prince William County.

The county's hotel occupancy spiked a bit in October but has fallen into a slump, exasperated by the lack of traveling this holiday season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

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The Prince William Board of County Supervisors sold a key piece of Real Estate to developers who will develop Innovation Town Center, a mixed-use developments leaders hope will become a new destination.

This town center will consist of office, 80,000 square feet of retail space, 750 homes, 250 hotel rooms, and 333,000 square feet of office space.

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The Prince William Chamber of Commerce started in the summer of 2010 to a world that saw President Barack Obama in office, craft breweries on the rise, and the price of gas at about $2.73 a gallon (it averages $1.96 in Virginia today).

During the past 10 years, the chamber has experienced ebbs and flows with growth, continuing to be an asset for businesses in the area adapting to population growth, express lanes on the area highways, and the transition of the county's smaller community hospitals into larger regional medical centers.

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A group of Betta Sigma Phi sorority sisters in Woodbridge has started their own investment club.

When this group talks about Starbucks, they aren’t discussing the newest latte or their favorite muffin, they talk about their stock in the coffee giant. Their share of stock in Starbucks has risen from $29.28 a share when they first got it in September of 2007, to the current value of about $75 a share.

“It’s done fine,” said Joan Lam, president of the Virginia Commonwealth Investors’ Club of Woodbridge.

Starbucks is just one stock the club is watching in its portfolio of 23 stocks that range from large to small, with varying risks. RPM and Home Depot were the original stocks the club started with.

“We reinvest all our dividends,” said Lam.

Virginia Commonwealth Investor’s Club has been around since the spring of 1997 with a goal of learning about the stock market, buying stocks, selling stocks, and making money in the process.

Right now, only three members of Betta Sigma Phi are left in the club that started out in the sorority.

“We’ve lost some, and we’ve gained some,” Lam said.

The group gets together for monthly meetings attended by 25 members, the maximum number of partners allowed according to their bylaws. Everybody is an equal voting partner.

Everyone pays dues, and then they follow an agenda which usually involves training to some extent.

The group goes to all kinds of events, including a road trip to the New York Stock Exchange.

One thing the group is focusing on teaching its members is how to run their family’s financial business on their own.

“This is something I want people to learn,” said Lam. “My mother never took care of the money.”

With the pandemic sending the stock markets to new lows and the levels of uncertainty facing everyone, the club isn’t slowing down.

“This is a good time to buy in this environment,” she said.

Each club member is required to join BetterInvesting. It was established in 1951 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization to help people learn how to invest profitably in stocks of high-quality growth companies.

They support investment clubs and individuals through education, online stock selection, analysis tools, and publications.

“That’s how you learn,” Lam said.

BetterInvesting also lists the five top stocks every month. For example, in May, the five top stocks are Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Walt Disney, and Visa.

The club looks at what is highlighted by the investment company, but in the end, they make their own purchases.

Fairfax County officials just launched a tourism plan that could impact commerce in Prince William County in an indirect way, solidifying the global economics theory on a smaller scale.

While there is a river boundary between the two counties, the main elements in Fairfax County’s plan are within easy access to key river crossings, making it an easy trip if taken during the right time of day.

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Hear ye, hear ye, after 40 years Gary West is hanging up his bell and revolutionary war outfit and retiring at the Dumfries town crier.

No more ringing the bell, marching in the Christmas Parade and being the man with the voice around the Town of Dumfries. He’s a long-time resident of the town, and after turning 80, it was time for someone else to take on the duty.

“I thought it was time to give it up,” he said.

His wife Nancy West was the interim Mayor of Dumfries back in 2011 so they have a certain dedication to the town that fit in with his town crier curriculum.

“I love Dumfries, I’m loyal to Dumfries, I love Virginia and I honor the flag, and I love this country,” West said.

He’s done everything from riding in the sheriff’s boat out into the river to greet another boat to recognizing the Potomac Senior High School basketball team when they won the championship.

“I read the proclamation, it was quite a to do,” he said. “I’ve had a varied experience,” he said.

That varied experience is going to be missed by the town, said Keith Rogers, Dumfries town manager.

“He was well known in the community and had an enthusiasm for doing it,” Rogers said.

It all started in the 1970s when he went to the annual parade in Dumfries and noticed there was something missing. He was a school teacher at the time and felt it needed a historical element, so the town crier idea came to mind.

“I volunteered to be the town crier and it stuck with me,” he said.

West got parts of his outfit from another old-timer in Dumfries years ago and then got out a school bell he already had from his days as a teacher. In the past, he taught grade school in the Fairfax County Public School System at Woodlawn and Gunston Elementary Schools, and then Fort Belvoir Elementary School before retiring, and going on to a job with the Fairfax Federation of Teachers.

Off and on, he substituted at a few Prince William County Schools.

As the town crier, he read a proclamation when the Marine Corps museum opened in Quantico, at the Boys and Girls Club dedication in 1997, and again at the Sean Connaughton Plaza ribbon cutting at the Prince William County Government Center in Woodbridge.

He’s also done some things with the Weems Botts Museum in Dumfries and “I’ve done several things with the with the historical society,” he said.
The town knows what level of dedication he provided, and honored him on January 7 with an official proclamation that read:

PROCLAMATION RECOGNIZING GARY WEST FOR HIS SERVICE AS TOWN CRIER FOR THE TOWN OF DUMFRIES

WHEREAS, Gary West is a long-time resident of the Town of Dumfries; and

WHEREAS, Mr. West served as the Town Crier for the Dumfries Annual Christmas Parade since 1978; and

WHEREAS, in 2019, after 40 years of distinguished service, Mr. West relinquished the role of Town Crier; and

WHEREAS, the Town of Dumfries desires to honor and commemorate Mr. West for his years of service to the community as Town Crier; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Town of Dumfries hereby recognizes Gary West for his dedicated years of service to the Town.

The Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol stopped for flowers and to fix the balloons at Dillingham Square on Monday before swooping down on the home of Joan Geringer, a Lake Ridge resident who is now the recipient of $2,500 a week for the rest of her life.

“This is amazing,” said Geringer, after she answered the door. It was a complete surprise. There were contractors at her house redoing her bathroom, so Joan couldn’t hesitate. “I can now pay you,” she said, joking with the construction crew, and they told her now she needs to do the kitchen too.

The prize award team of Danielle Lam and Howie Guja were manned with the oversized check, flowers, balloons, and champagne. They smiled, offered congratulations, and took selfies to capture the moment.

Since it was the day before New Year’s Eve, “we’re going to have a big party tomorrow night,” Geringer added.

It was all part of the job for Lam and Guja, who do this all year round in different locations all around the country. They talked of a prize giveaway in Pennsylvania at a nuclear power plant where there were guards with guns, events in California, Texas and Jackson, Mississippi. “We’re on the road every week,” Lam said.

With all this traveling and money at stake, it would seem like a phone call ahead of time would be part of their agenda. But that’s not the way it works.

“Nothing’s staged. This is real reality television,” Lam said.

Everyone’s seen the prize patrol throughout the years on television, but few have experienced it first hand.

At the Dillingham Square shopping center off Old Bridge Road, there were lots of stares and inside Michael’s Flowers, the manager Chris Polychrones “didn’t even know why she was showing up,” he said.

One of their customers was taking in the scene.  “I see you guys, I didn’t even know you were real,” he said.

There were also two cameramen there to capture the surprise moment. Everyone got in their cars and headed out like a caravan to the Geringer’s house.

When they arrived, they made sure to pull up past the house, stopping around the corner to sign the oversized check and get all the pre-event video done. Then it was up to the door for the surprise.
Geringer signed up for the sweepstakes online and had just done it again within the last few days. Her husband was all smiles too. “He retires next year, this will come in handy,” she said.

Ben Benita, who a contractor Wedge Construction working at Geringer’s house that day, was out front when the team arrived. “What are the odds of that?” he asked.

Everyone was taking pictures with cell phones, which included Lam for use on their website.
Publishers Clearing House was founded in 1953 by Harold and LuEsther Mertz as a multi-magazine subscription agency. No purchase is necessary to win the prizes, and the prizes are funded by company revenues.

The winner selection is random and unbiased, the company states, and there is an outside certified public accounting firm keeping an eye on the process. In 1989, they went from having winners notified by telephone to being visited by the prize patrol, and the late Ed McMahon was never part of it – that’s another company.

If the winner is not home, which Lam and Guja have experienced, they use all available methods to contact them, including neighbors and relatives. One time, they said, the winner was on the road and turned around and came all the way home to get the prize. This was a six-hour wait for the team, who went out and had dinner, returned and still had to wait several hours.

Teachers take pride in their classrooms. Cleaning, dusting and decorating to provide the prime learning atmosphere for the students.

Andrew Miller, the turf management teacher at Brentsville District High School, took that effort to the next step when he and his students cut an award-winning design on the Brentsville football and soccer field.

He is the winner of the “Mowing Patterns Contest” award by the Sports Turf Managers Association (STMA) in Lawrence, Kansas.

The theme this year was “Nation’s Largest Classroom,” and Miller confirmed that the stadium at Brentsville District High School “is our largest classroom,” Miller said. “We took different ideas from different kids,” he said. “It’s really for the students…[it] lets them be creative.”

His classes created a design on the field that looks like a cross between the Greek alphabet letter “Phi,” and a Star Wars fighter jet. That design is placed in the middle, and the rest of the field features diagonal stripes and curves that adhere to the surrounding track.

Miller is in his third year of teaching turf management. He was previously awarded when they “painted the end zones patriotic,” he said.

The turf management program at Brentsville, where they teach the ins and outs of maintaining the perfect field, has gone from 70 students a few years ago to over 200 students this year. It’s the only school in Prince William County that offers the turf management classes, a schools spokesperson said.
Miller was selected via a Facebook voting contest for his “intricate design at Donald Lambert Field, home to the Brentsville High School Tigers.”

Earlier in the year, Miller also won STMA’s annual “Stars and Stripes” contest with his “Friday Nights in Small Town USA” field design. This pride in the field resonates down to the players too, he thinks.
“I always say we’re the home team advantage,” he added.

The STMA holds this national contest every year to allow the turf management programs to “showcase their field,” said Nate Rubinstein of STMA. “It gives the teachers “an ability to be creative with their work,” Rubinstein said.

“We’re constantly impressed by the imaginative and aesthetically pleasing designs our members create while maintaining safe playing surfaces,” says Kim Heck, STMA’s chief executive. “This contest offers an opportunity to showcase some of these incredible works of art.”

“Andrew and his students had an extraordinary 2019 winning Stars and Stripes and now the Mowing Patterns Contest.  As the Program Advisor, he continues to increase awareness within the community and the sports field industry with his profound designs,” said Heck continued. “His creativity sets a tremendous example for the young up-and-coming sports field managers in the Brentsville program.”

Miller has also been with pro sports teams. After graduating with his bachelor’s degree in turfgrass management from Virginia Tech, he worked on the school’s grounds crew before moving on to the New York Mets.

Following his stint in New York, Miller spent time in Pittsburgh at PNC Park with the Pirates before transitioning to Heinz Field to work for the Steelers. He then earned his Masters in Agricultural Education from Virginia Tech and has been shaping leading students in the Brentsville program since.

“That shows them the opportunity for growth,” Miller said.

Miller will be included in a future issue of SportsTurf, STMA’s official monthly publication. His design will also have a custom poster featured at the 2020 STMA Conference & Exhibition, January 13-16, in West Palm Beach, Fla.

As for the lawn outside his house in Virginia? The creativity stays at the school apparently. “It’s fine, not an incredible lawn,” Miller said.

Last year’s winner was Kyle Calhoon, Head Groundskeeper for the Hartford Yard Goats at Dunkin’ Donuts Park in Hartford, Conn. Before the Yard Goats, Calhoon had stints with the San Francisco 49ers and New York Yankees, among others.