Calling it one of the greatest days of my life is certainly an understatement. When asked what my favorite part of the whole thing was, my answer is simple: seeing my bride looking as beautiful as ever while walking down the aisle.

I was married this weekend to the woman whom I’ve shared everything with for the past five years. Married on Saturday in what felt like weather more indicative of November than October, it was a beautiful occasion filled with family and friends – all of whom we could never thank enough for helping to make our special day possible.

As we both look at building our lives together, I appreciate all of the kind words you have sent us over the past few days. Your thoughtful advice has given me pause and made me reflect on what successful relationships are and what they could be.

And, while there never can be too much pause in the news business, I will take a brief time away from managing the daily operations of our growing website. It will continue to be updated daily by our dedicated staff members who have always been an engrained part of the communities we serve.

Looking forward to the next few months and into the holidays, PotomacLocal.com will undergo small changes to improve the user experience, showcase new local advertisers know where to shop to support neighborhood businesses, and we will continue to bring you news and events that affect your lives.

This past week certainly put our resources and skills to the test.

PotomacLocal.com first pulled our resources to cover a Primary Election, then shifted gears on the same day to cover an earthquake, and by the end of the week we were bringing you details about a hurricane brushing the Potomac Communities.

The truth is we couldn’t have made it through this week without the help of some great folks.

Our readers

As an independent community news organization we are only as strong as the readers who support us. This week, we received great tips on stories about the upcoming elections, they told us what they saw during the earthquake, and told us how Hurricane Irene was affecting them where they live. Please keep the comments, emails, and messages on Facebook and Twitter coming.

Our editorial staff

Our writers and photographers work hard to cover their communities and bring you the most current information to our readers, telling the impactful stories that other local news organizations miss. This week, they worked overtime to cover the community and demonstrated what great, independent media is all about.

Our advertisers

Without the great local businesses that sponsor PotomacLocal.com, we would not be able to bring you the coverage and perspective highlighting the Potomac Communities. Our advertisers understand the local exposure and value we bring to their business and we certainly value them.

Marilyn Duval probably wanted to ask her question to Woodbridge Supervisor Frank Principi herself, but something happened to her phone connection and we never heard her voice during Principi’s telephone town hall conference Wednesday night.

So, Principi asked it for her:

“Why does Route 1 look so run down and bad, it looks like we’re in a ghetto, and what improvements are you trying to make to improve that situation?”

Principi, a Democrat, this fall will try to keep his seat on the Prince William County Board of Supervisors. Following the conference, Principi’s Republican opponent, Chris Royse, slightly distorted Principi’s answer and posted it on his Facebook page.

First, Principi’s answer to Marilyn Duval:

“That is an excellent question and, quite frankly, it is the heart and soul of my four years in office, and clearly I’m not doing a good enough job if Marilyn thinks it still looks rundown.”

Now, what appeared on Royse’s Facebook site:

“During my opponent’s “telephone town hall” meeting last night, when questioned about the deteriorating state of the Rte. 1 Corridor, he stated “I’m not doing a good enough job in the District.” I agree. It is time for new leadership in Woodbridge; it is time to elect Chris Royse as Woodbridge Supervisor.”

It’s no secret U.S. 1 is filled with old strip centers, with many of them lacking anchor stores. There are a lot of places along the corridor, known as brown spots, to redevelop. Perhaps letting some of them go in lieu of new green spaces wouldn’t be such a bad idea either.

Anyone running for the job of supervisor in Woodbridge also knows that corridor is a traffic sore spot with both residents who commute and travelers who are passing through.

Principi during his last four years in office has seen the County Board approve the widening of U.S. 1 between Mary’s Way and the Occoquan River, as well as the designation of an area near the Woodbridge Virginia Railway Express station as a mixed-use, urban redevelopment area.

Royse has long called Principi’s vision for a redeveloped Woodbridge just that, a vision, and says involvement of more business owners is needed to make Woodbridge newer and better, and is trying to lure at least one government entity to the district.

Voters will go to the polls Nov. 8 to decide which candidate they want to represent their neighborhoods.

Have you ever taken a drive down U.S. 1 in the Potomac Communities only to notice signs you may have seen in movies or on your bottle of salad dressing?

At two mobile home parks in North Stafford, the signs that mark the neighborhoods remind me of an eerie place in a horror movie franchise and the other with ranch dressing I’ve seen put on salads.

The two mobile home parks, Crystal Lake and Hidden Valley, are less than a mile away from each other on U.S. 1.

Compare the sign at Hidden Valley to the logo on a bottle of dressing that bears the same name and you’re bound to notice a similarity.

The sign outside Crystal Lake is similar to birthplace of Jason Vorhees, the killer in the Friday the 13th horror movies.

While the sign may be similar, luckily for us in the Potomac Communities, it’s not the same Crystal Lake that spawned so many bad horror movie sequels.

Get more from The Desk and discuss it on our Facebook page.

I, like many others who have followed the story of local restaurant County Fare, watched with anticipation Wednesday night when the eatery was featured on Food Network’s “Restaurant Impossible.”

The show came to Stafford in April and provided restaurant owner Eric Green a much-needed makeover for an eatery has seen hard times.

I had lunch at County Fare on Saturday, which is now being billed as “a great American diner.”

Having spent a few years working in corporate chain restaurants, even managing one of them, I appreciate County Fare’s new local diner feel.

My lunch, the “sort of Philadelphia Cheese steak” was piled high sliced beef, mozzarella cheese, mushrooms (I ordered green peppers on the sandwich, too, but they never showed up) and the all-important fresh cut home fries. The food tasted much better than when I visited County Fare prior to their makeover.

The menu, however, is riddled with times and dates when food is served are served. The great thing about a diner, especially the 24 hour ones (which County Fare is not) is that breakfast, lunch and dinner are served all day, never leaving me wondering if French Toast or a Patty Melt is available after 2 p.m. on a Tuesday.

Breakfast is served until 11 a.m. weekdays, and some items aren’t available until 4 p.m. Making things even more confusing, we were given a “weekend menu” and in the end ordered something that wasn’t even listed on it.

The new, baby blue décor of the restaurant gives the diner a modern feel while displaying items and photos from Green’s proud time in the Marine Corps.

But any diner goer knows music – tunes that are easy to sing along with – are paramount to the diner experience. For most of visit Saturday, music was missing.

All diners need a great jukebox that lets customers select which song they want to hear. Hopefully someone with an old jukebox sitting in their basement will donate it to County Fare. We also hope Green will accept it, as he has many other bright and positive changes to his restaurant.

We’re approaching the 10th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks, and though it was one of the darkest days in our nation’s history it’s important that we remember the events that affected us on that day and how our lives were forever changed in the days, weeks and years following the attacks.

PotomacLocal.com invites you to share your stories about 9/11: Stories about where you were during the attacks, where you went in the days after, those you might have helped to deal with the tragedy, and how you helped you and others to overcome, remember the victims and move on.

Please send your stories and we’ll be in touch with you so we can feature who helped to make a difference in our community. 

Ah, the first day of summer. For some (like me) it’s the most wonderful time of the year.

There is something welcoming about knowing I won’t have to put on layer upon layer of clothing if I need to run outside to my car to get something, or take our small dog for a walk.

While summers in the Potomac Communities are always humid and sticky, you can always take a dip in one of the many swimming pools, lakes and rivers, or you can choose to take a short ride to one of several beaches on the Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia seashores.

But while our most celebrated season of the year (undoubtedly tied with the December holidays) kicks off, bringing with it family vacations, and a lighter volume traffic on local highways, keep in mind it’s the shortest season of the year.

In less than three months, on September 3, we will inevitably greet the fall with all of its bright leaves and colors.

For now, I’ll just think about the colors of summer, preferably with a cold drink in my hand with, maybe, a piece of colorful fruit garnishing the rim of the glass.

Remember last week? Stifling hot temperatures, heat warnings and air that was so humid it was almost impossible to step outside for more than a few minutes.

 

While all of that changed on Monday with cooler temperatures, you know it’s going to get hot again as summer is just beginning.

With that said, I’d like to know when it is OK to wear shorts to the office. Many of you whom have workplace dress polices last week probably threw caution to the wind and donned a pair of summertime shorts.

Should employees be allowed to wear shorts only when the temp rises above 90 or 95 degrees? How about allowing shorts every year beginning June 1?

Should there be a length requirement for those shorts? There are some guys who like to wear their shorts long, resembling a pair of pants. And some girls who like to wear their shorts, well, too short.

Are you already allowed to wear shorts in your office or have they been banned altogether?

Let us know what you think by commenting below during our summer shorts questionnaire.

Got Hemorrhoids? We can help.

No, that’s not a cheap ploy from a journalist to lure you in to reading his latest blog –– it’s an actual banner than hangs outside a doctor’s office in Woodbridge.

Associates in Gastroenterology hung the banner on their Smoketown Road office just across from busy Potomac Mills mall.

I certainly did a double take when I drove by the building, which was the old newspaper office where I once worked.

“That’s exactly the kind of reaction we wanted when we hung the banner up,” explained Associates in Gastroenterology spokeswoman Sheri Styles. “A lot of people have commented on the banner, those comments ranging from ‘we love the banner’ to ‘are you serious?’”

This is the third banner to grace the façade of the doctor’s office.

Previous banners have been about making people aware of the dangers of colon cancer and prevalence of Celiac disease, which damages the small intestine.

Hemorrhoids, too, are no laughing matter, said Styles. The banner just draws attention to a problem many people suffer from, albeit in an unusual way.

Its marketing materials like these that take gumption to use, helping this doctors office stand out from others in the area that undoubtedly offer the same services.

Now it’s up to the bright minds at the Gastroenterology office to top the current banner.

A few creative ideas spring to mind for future banners but I won’t be the one to go there.

Uriah A. Kiser is Executive Editor and founder of PotomacLocal.com.