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2011 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 961
Commending the City of Fairfax on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 23, 2011
Agreed to by the Senate, February 25, 2011

 

WHEREAS, the City of Fairfax, which was incorporated on July 1, 1961, will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2011; and

WHEREAS, the site of the City of Fairfax was originally settled by farmers from the Tidewater region; in 1742 Fairfax County was established with the county court at the corner of what was then called Little River Turnpike and Ox Road; and

WHEREAS, the little town around the court was first known as Earp’s Corner, then as the Town of Providence, and in 1874, was officially renamed the Town of Fairfax; and

WHEREAS, the site of the present-day City of Fairfax was the scene of the first Confederate officer casualty and the site of the first organized land engagement of the Civil War; and

WHEREAS, in 1959 John C. Wood, mayor of the Town of Fairfax, with consent of the Council, officially deeded a 150-acre tract of land to the University of Virginia for a permanent home for what is now George Mason University; and

WHEREAS, in 1961 the Town of Fairfax was incorporated as the City of Fairfax with John C. Wood serving as the first mayor and Edgar A. Pritchard, Stacy C. Sherwood, Rowland M. Clarke, Fred M. Everley, Daniel J. Harrison, Bernard F. Jennings, and George A. Hamill as the first council members; and

WHEREAS, as the surrounding Fairfax County population exploded, Mayor Wood wisely foresaw the need to expand the City’s drinking water supply, overseeing the completion of Goose Creek Reservoir in the early 1960s while Beaverdam Creek Reservoir was brought online in the early 1970s; and

WHEREAS, since 1962, the City of Fairfax School Board, through the School Services Agreement, has collaborated with the Fairfax County School Board to provide outstanding educational services for all city school students at Fairfax High School, Lanier Middle School, Providence Elementary School, and Daniels Run Elementary School; and

WHEREAS, in 1985 the City of Fairfax established Fairfax Spotlight on the Arts Festival, the longest running arts festival in Northern Virginia, which provides residents with the opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of local artists and cultural arts groups and organizations; and

WHEREAS, City of Fairfax residents enjoy the largest 4th of July parade and festival in the Commonwealth and recently celebrated the dedication of the Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center, which hosts youth and adult recreation programs, cultural activities, and arts-related activities; and

WHEREAS, the City of Fairfax is now ably led by Mayor Robert F. Lederer, and council members Jeffrey C. Greenfield, Joan W. Cross, Steven C. Stombres, David L. Meyer, Daniel F. Drummond, and Eleanor D. Schmidt; and

WHEREAS, an award-winning place to live and work, the City of Fairfax was ranked third on the Forbes list of top 25 places to live well in the United States, with residents enjoying the small-town atmosphere and neighborliness of their hometown in the midst of a bustling metropolitan area; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly commend the City of Fairfax on the occasion of its 50th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the City of Fairfax as an expression of the General Assembly’s congratulations on the City’s 50th anniversary, admiration for the outstanding services the City provides its residents, and appreciation of its rich heritage.