contest

Voting for Vehicle Decal Contest to End

By Katie Pyzyk

There are only two days left to cast a vote for which 2012-2013 decal you think should grace Arlington’s car windshields later this year.

Every year, high school students enter original artwork or photos into the Vehicle Decal Design Competition. A panel whittles down the entries to four finalists.

About 155,000 Arlington residents display the decals to prove payment of that vehicle’s personal property tax.

The four finalist designs, along with descriptions written by each student, are available online for viewing and voting. All votes must be submitted by noon on Sunday.

Village at Shirlington Kicks Off Holiday Giveaway

By Katie Pyzyk

It’s often said that giving is better than receiving, especially during the holidays. The Village at Shirlington is doing its part to honor the mantra, with “Shirlie’s 10 Days of Giving.”

The giveaway kicked off yesterday and runs through December 23. Each day one entrant will be picked to receive a gift set valued at $150 or more. The various goodies will be from Shirlington merchants, with the grand prize including dinner at Extra Virgin, tickets to see Hairspray at Signature Theatre, and a one night stay at the Hilton Garden Inn.

If you’d like to enter, click here. No purchase is necessary, but participants must be at least 18 years old.

Vehicle Decal Finalists Revealed

By ARLnow.com

(Updated on 12/13/11) The four finalists for Arlington’s 2012-13 vehicle decal design contest have been revealed.

The annual contest challenges Arlington high school students to submit an original photograph or artwork to appear on the county’s vehicle decals. More than 150,000 decals are mailed to vehicle owners in Arlington each year. Those decals must be displayed on the windshield as a sign that vehicle’s personal property tax has been paid.

A “Citizen’s Panel” selected the four finalists (above) after a call for entries in October.

All of this year’s entries are photographs taken in south Arlington. Two of this year’s finalists are photographs of the Pentagon’s 9/11 memorial. Another showed an honor guard statue at the Air Force Memorial. The fourth was a nighttime photograph of a Ferris wheel at the Arlington County Fair.

Members of the public will be able to vote for their favorite decal design through the Arlington County website, starting on Thursday Tuesday, or via the Sun Gazette newspaper. More information about the entrants and the contest is available from the Sun Gazette.

Arlington Resident a National Punctuation Day Winner

By ARLnow.com

A local woman has been named one of the big winners of a little-known contest.

Yorktown resident Kathleen Summers is one of 10 winners of the 2011 National Punctuation Day paragraph contest. In case you missed it, Sept. 24th marked the annual celebration of National Punctuation Day — a day that has promoted the correct usage of punctuation since its founding in 2004.

For the traditional Punctuation Day contest, punctuation fans around the world were invited to: “Write one paragraph, maximum of three sentences, using these 13 punctuation marks: apostrophe, brackets, colon, comma, dash, ellipsis, exclamation point, hyphen, parentheses, period, question mark, quotation mark, and semicolon. You may use a punctuation mark more than once. Multiple entries are permitted.”

Here’s Kathleen’s winning paragraph:

The semiliterate—and unintentionally hilarious—sound bites of the 2012 presidential candidates (such as this recent gem by Texas Gov. Rick Perry, quoted in the Milford [Mass.] Daily News: “If Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people … who knows what may come out of that?”) make me wonder if we should return to the back-to-basics teaching methods of the 1950s. I know what you’re thinking: “Okay, genius, did all those grammar drills, diagrams, and rote memorizations turn you into a gifted writer?” Alas, no; but as prosaic as my sentences may be, at least they’re sentences!

Summers was selected as a winner from the pool of 220 entries received. Entrants were from locales as far-flung as India.

As a winner, Summers will receive “a box of punctuation gifts.”

2012-2013 Decal Design Competition Kicks Off

By ARLnow.com

The Arlington County Treasurer’s Office is asking for entries for its 2012-2013 Vehicle Decal Design Competition. The contest, now in its eighth year, is open to all high school students who live in Arlington.

“The competition will give you the opportunity to practice your design skills as well as participate in the workings of local government,” the Treasurer’s Office said in a letter to high school students. “The winning decal design will be displayed on the windshields of over 155,000 vehicles in Arlington, and will become part of the Arlington decal exhibit located at the county administrative building.”

Students are asked to submit their design as a JPEG file, either via email or via CD. The design must be in a resolution no less than 300 DPI. The final decal measures 1.5 inches by 2.25 inches. More detailed instructions are available on the county’s web site.

Entries for the contest must be received by 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23. Four finalists will be chosen by a “Citizens’ Panel” and will be announced in the Sun Gazette newspaper on Thursday, Dec. 8. Sun Gazette readers will then vote for a winning design, which is expected to be announced on Jan. 24, 2012.

The finalists will each receive a $500 savings bond.

This year’s competition winner was “Hume, Sweet Hume,” by Wakefield High School student Maya Giacobbe.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

More US Airways Flights at DCA? — US Airways is seeking regulatory approval for a plan that will give it more flights in and out of Reagan National Airport. The airline, which serves almost 4 million passengers annually at DCA, has negotiated a deal to acquire some of Delta’s take-off and landing slots in exchange for cash and slots at LaGuardia Airport in New York. [Sun Gazette]

Local Dog a Frontrunner in Postal Contest — Jordy, a mixed-breed terrier who resides in Arlington, is a frontrunner in an online contest organized by the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. Jordy is currently neck-and-neck with a terrier mix named Bentley in a contest to find an Owney lookalike — Owney, for the uninitiated, is a postal service mascot of yesteryear. Owner and Arlington resident Patrice Robinson is trying to rally locals to vote for Jordy. Voting is being conducted on Facebook. [Washington Post, Facebook]

Patch Adams Rallies D.C. Protesters — East Falls Church resident Dr. Patch Adams, of eponymous film fame, rallied “Occupy D.C.” protesters in the District last night. While there, the 66-year-old Dr. Adams told the Huffington Post that President Obama’s health care reform efforts have been worthless. “He sold out,” Adams said. [Huffington Post]

Photos: ‘Top Dog’ Contest in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Fox 5 Morning News anchor Steve Chenevey, 94.7 Fresh FM morning show host Tommy McFly and an Arlington County K-9 police officer were among the guest judges at the ‘Top Dog’ talent contest in Crystal City last week.

The contest was held by the pet-friendly Residence Inn Arlington Capital View, in order to select a new canine mascot for the hotel. Pooches were put through a series of “American Idol”-style challenges, complete with commentary from the judges after each pair of performances.

In the end, Sweet Dee, a pug, captured the top prize.

1/15

Doggone Good Time Planned for Pooches in Park

By Katie Pyzyk

Looks like Saturday is going to the dogs. Animal lovers will gather at Lacey Woods Park at 1200 N. George Mason Drive for the Dogtober Day dog show.

Some categories for the show include Best Kisser, Best Tail Wagger and Best Costume. First, second and third place winners will receive ribbons.

This year the event also includes the “Barkers Bash” skills tests for dogs and owners. One of the games is called “Chicken Chase,” which is a toss and retrieve test with rubber chickens. First and second place finishers in the games receive ribbons and prizes.

Festivities start at 1:00 p.m. and last until 3:00 p.m. On-site registration starts at 12:15 p.m. The cost is $6 per category or $25 for unlimited categories. It’s $2 for each attempt in the Barkers Bash. Click here for a registration form.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Residents Decry Aircraft Noise — Noise from airplanes landing at Reagan National Airport is “seriously affecting residents’ quality of life” in the Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights neighborhood. Residents told airport representatives at last night’s civic association meeting that the noise has gotten considerably worse since nighttime repair work on the airport’s main runway began in May. [Ode Street Tribune]

Pike Resident Named Roommate of the Year — Columbia Pike resident Jesse McLaughlin has won free rent for a year and $10,000 cash after being named the Apartments.com Roommate of the Year. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office employee’s cooking and cleaning prowess helped him beat out nine other finalists for the title. As it turns out, Jesse’s roommate is actually his girlfriend, Lisa. [Roommate of the Year Contest]

Ride Planned for Capital Bikeshare Birthday — To celebrate Capital Bikeshare’s first birthday, and its one millionth ride, Bike Arlington is planning a celebratory ride into D.C. The convoy will be meeting at locations in Rosslyn and Crystal City tomorrow at 5:00 p.m., and will ride to Yards Park in the District. [CommuterPage Blog]

Flickr pool photo by Airpolonia

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Post-Earthquake Safety Tips — Arlington County is advising residents to call a structural engineer if they find cracks in their brick facades or chimneys following yesterday’s earthquake. [Arlington County]

Favola/Areizaga-Soto Primary By the Numbers — Just over 10,000 people voted in yesterday’s 31st District state Senate primary between Barbara Favola and Jaime Areizaga-Soto, out of 133,577 active registered voters in the district. More than $538,500 had been spent on the race as of Aug. 10. In other words, candidates ended up spending more than $53 for every resident who bothered to cast a vote in the race.

Arlington Confusion — In case you were wondering, there are 21 different localities in the United States called ‘Arlington,’ in states like Texas, Massachusetts, South Dakota, Vermont and New York. [Falls Church News-Press]

Hotel Hosts ‘Top Dog’ Contest — The new Residence Inn Arlington Capital View in Crystal City is holding a contest to find a “doggie mascot” for the hotel. The winner of the contest will be selected at an event on Oct. 6 by a panel of judges including “Arlington County K-9 division, veterinarians, doggie trainers and… Fox 5 Anchor Steve Chenevey.” Entrants need to include a photo of their pooch, his or her name, age, breed and best trick, and a $25 donation to the Washington Humane Society. [Marketwire, Residence Inn]

Flickr pool photo by Divaknevil

Crystal City Claims Bathroom Bragging Rights

By ARLnow.com

The new Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel in Crystal City has one of the best bathrooms in the country, according to a contest sponsored by restroom management and maintenance provider Cintas.

The hotel’s ground floor restroom is one of 10 swanky bathrooms from around the country selected for the tenth-annual America’s Best Restroom contest. This year’s contest includes loos from restaurants in New York City, a casino in Las Vegas, a museum in Chicago and a mobile trailer used by President Obama.

Cintas describes the Renaissance’s bathroom with the kind of aesthetic admiration one might use to describe to a work of art.

The hallway leading to the restrooms is darkened with shadows of leaves, some blurred, some sharper, projected on the floor. The designer creates a sense of adventure as one journeys through this passage with its tree-patterned wall coverings and play of shadow and light. Once inside the restrooms, one wall is ablaze in the oranges and golden tones of a sunset and the dark silhouettes of birds in flight. Mirrors above the vanity feature bird silhouettes that are lit and when a guest turns on the faucet, water flows in a sparkling red stream if it’s hot and a blue stream if it’s cool, thanks to ingenious lighting within the fixtures.

The public is encouraged to vote for any number of the finalists.

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