Living Legends DASH to First Place

 

Alexandria Living Legends and friends pose in front of the Dash Trolley they rode at the George Washington Birthday parade. From left to right (front row): Engin Artemel (2008), Lillian Patterson (2012), Linda Oliver, Allen Lomax (2012), Rosa Byrd (2013), Kathryn Brown (2013), Director Nina Tisara and Marlin Lord (2013). Back row: Richard Merritt (2013), Mike Oliver (2012), Will Bailey (2013). Jack Byrd and Jim McClellan (2012) who rode the unicycle seen in the foreground. 

 

A number of Living Legends of Alexandria rode a Dash Trolley in Monday’s George Washington Birthday Parade. 2012 Legend Allen Lomax (left) and 2013 Legend Willie Bailey (right) walked with director Nina Tisara.

 

The group won first prize in the Senior category. Photo by Steven Halperson/Tisara Photography

Family Legends at Carpenter's Shelter

The Carpenter’s Shelter, 930 N. Henry St., is offering Family Legends workshops to the children of women enrolled in their MYA (My Year of Action) program. As the largest homeless shelter in Northern Virginia, Carpenter’s Shelter serves over 1,000 homeless and formerly homeless children and adults each year. The shelter provides a continuum of services and tools necessary for its clients to achieve lasting independence. In the MYA program women who have transitioned out of Carpenter’s Shelter meet with a life/leadership coach every other week to learn to give their lives new direction.

Sisters Jayda, 8, Kiana, 13 and Unique, 6, pose for the camera.  
 

Six-year-old Unique creates her "author's page"
with assistance from volunteer LaDawn Fronapel.

Photos by Nina Tisara

In the Family Legends workshop, families research and record “legendary” family members and make their stories into handmade storybooks that include illustrations, photos and maps. They have their photos taken and write their biographies for the author’s page. At the end of the class the students read their stories aloud to friends and families gaining experience in public speaking.

Family Legends is a project of Living Legends of Alexandria, a photo-documentary project to identify, honor and chronicle people making current history in Alexandria, Virginia. Family Legends is led by artist/educator Sushmita Mazumdar who teaches art education programs for children and adults encouraging storytelling and the sharing of cultural heritage. She has conducted workshops at museums, schools, and arts institutions in the Washington, D.C. area.

 

For information about Living Legends of Alexandria or Family Legends, contact Nina Tisara at 703-625-2330. For information about the program at Carpenter’s Shelter, contact Mary Parker Lamm, 703-548-7500.

 

Living Legends on Fairfax Cable

The Alexandria Branch American Association of University Women (AAUW) invited Living Legends of Alexandria to appear on their public access cable TV show, On the Go with AAWU.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Y-5mv3-k5Y

2013 Legends Willie Bailey and Bill Rivers were interviewed by Deborah Wright.
 

The video is in two parts. Scroll down to the bottom to click on Part 1 and then Part 2.

Family Legends Bookmaking Workshop for Children

at Alexandria Black History Museum

Date: Saturday, February 16, 2013 • Time: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m • Ages: 6 - 12 yrs.

Location: Alexandria Black History Museum, 902 Wythe Street, Alexandria,VA

• Fee: Free • Reservation Required: Call 703.838.4356

The Family Legends of Alexandria bookmaking workshop is a fun and informative art class designed for families with children 6 -12 years. Participants choose a “legend” in their family, write their story, and make it into a handmade storybook to take home! 

 

Instructor Sushmita Mazumdar is a local book artist, writer, and educator. She started writing stories for children when her children were little and made them into fun books by hand. Since then, she has taught art education programs for children as well as adult groups to encourage storytelling and passing on cultural heritage from one generation to the next. She has taught at Smithsonian museums, in local schools, incuding Alexandria City Public Schools, and art centers in the region. More at www.HandmadeStorybooks.com 

 

Family Legends is an activity of Living Legends of Alexandria, (www.AlexandriaLegends.com) an ongoing, not-for-profit photo-journalism project to identify, honor and chronicle the people making current history in Alexandria.

902 Wythe Street, is in the heart of the Parker-Gray Historic District.

The museum is open from Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. • www.alexblackhistory.org.

    

Family 

Legends 

Bookmaking 

Workshop

 

SAT, FEB. 16, 

11 a.m. to 1 p.m, 

ALEXANDRIA BLACK HISTORY MUSEUM, 902 Wythe Street, Alexandria, VA 

WHO: Families with children 6 - 12 yrs.   

FREE! Reservation Required: Call 703.838.4356 

The Family Legends of Alexandria bookmaking workshop is a fun and informative art class designed for families with children 6 -12 years. Adults and children work together to choose a "legend" in their family, write their story, and make it into a handmade storybook to take home! Click here for details

Family Legends is currently doing an ongoing workshop at the Carpenter's Shelter, the largest homeless shelter in Northern Virginia where children are writing stories about Legends in their families. Family Legends is a project of the Living Legends of Alexandria. More Family Legends: On Fairfax Cable

Experience Alexandria! 

 

The Living Legends of Alexandria (LLA) for 2013 have been announced and a new class of outstanding community members has joined this elite group of visionaries and action-takers that have improved life in Alexandria!  With that, we are preparing for our Annual "Meet the Legends" Reception on Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 6pm at the US Patent and Trademark Office. The evening will honor these 12 individuals/teams and publicly recognize them for their contributions. Watch for details. 

 

The theme for the Reception this year is "Experience Alexandria." The proceeds from this event enables us to continue to identify, honor and chronicle individuals who have made significant contributions to the quality of life in Alexandria. This year, in keeping with our theme, we are seeking interesting opportunities to "Experience Alexandria" for our Silent and Live Auctions. 

 

Will you lend your support to this uniquely Alexandria event by donating a special experience for our guests to enjoy?  

 

Need some ideas? Consider these:

• Host a meal at your favorite restaurant (lunch or dinner for 2 - 4)
• Host a book discussion with a local author
• Host a local artist showing, possibly at your home
• Host a wine tasting experience
• Provide a luxury car ride (Bentley, Austin Martin, Maserati, etc.)
• Host a cultural or sports outing (Theater, Symphony, pro game/college/bowl/classic sports, or a bowling afternoon)
• Beautify a home or office with a flowers arrangement or a plant a month for 3 months
• Donate professional services (legal, medical, dental, cleaning, event planning, etc.)  

The list of ideas is only limited by your imagination!

 

Will you help? Call our Event Fundraising Director, Marilyn Patterson, with questions, to donate an experience or  to arrange pick-up of your donation. She can be reached on 703.851.6377.

 

 

 

Bill Kehoe Joins Board

Retired from the military, William "Bill" Kehoe is a volunteer firefighter at the Alexandria Fire Department (AFD) Emergency Operations Center (EOC). He was a first responder to the “9/11” crash and spent three days assisting in the EOC, shuttling AFD personnel to and from the Pentagon and standing a night shift fire watch on the Pentagon roof. Kehoe volunteers regularly with Rebuilding Together Alexandria, an organization that donates home repairs to the in-need families of Alexandria. He donates time to work with Habitat for Humanity and has represented Alexandria on several trips to the Gulf States to help rebuild houses after the Katrina hurricane.

Bill Kehoe.  Photo by Nina Tisara

Kehoe is the volunteer treasurer for the Institution of Fire Engineers, an international fire organization whose purpose is to promote, encourage, and improve the science and practice of fire engineering, fire prevention and fire extinction and serves as the secretary/treasurer of the Friendship Veterans Fire Engine Association. Kehoe also organizes Friendship's annual breakfast held the morning of the George Washington Birthday Parade and the Friendship Firehouse Festival.

Kehoe was named a Living Legend of Alexandria in 2012.