Nancy and I would like to thank everyone who came out in support of the Military Appreciation Mondays’ dinner for the Navy SEAL Foundation. This was our best attended event to date with 132 of you joining us for dinner. A best total amount was raised as well. Through your support and contributions, we will be sending somewhere between $6,000 – $6,500 to the foundation. I particularly want to thank those of you who signed on as co-sponsors for this dinner.

Many of you had an opportunity to meet Will Thomas.  If not, he did a fundraiser over Labor Day weekend in support of the SEAL Foundation.  Will is a twelve year old in Mclean who decided to shoot baskets as a special way to raise money for the SEAL Foundation. He had an amazing response, for for people to pledge one penny per basket. It seems that will exceeded his goal of shooting 17,000 baskets. If anyone is interested in showing your support to the Navy SEAL Foundation please contact Will or myself.

We look forward to seeing you this month on September 26th.

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$1,150,000

Experience what Great Falls is all about in this dream home with approximately 7,000 square feet of living space.  The tranquil 2.9 acre setting includes a private pond with its own waterfall and sand beach.  The home features a recently updated kitchen, a fabulous sunroom overlooking the pond, wrap around porch, oversized deck with Gazebo, large family room, carriage house with private apartment and much more.  All this and just a short walk to River Bend Park and all the amenities offered by the Potomac River.

110 N. Garfield St.

Arlington, Va

Offered at $1.595 million

This fabulous custom built Craftsman style home is located in the Lyon Park area of Arlington.  Only minutes from DC and within walking distance of Clarendon Metro stop.  Highlights of the home include a TRUE front porch with more than ample space to entertain.  The interior details leave nothing to be desired including solid six panel doors w/Baldwin crystal knobs, a 15′ X 19′ family room, main level office, plantation shutters and two kitchenettes.  The main kitchen includes Cherry Cabinetry/granite countertops and GE Monogram Stainless appliances. The beautifully landscaped yard with custom designed hardscape is perfect for those outdoor barbeques. 

CHECK OUT THE VIRTUAL TOUR BY CLICKING ON THE PHOTO

MAM Holding a Special August Dinner to Show Support to the Navy SEAL Families.

Please join Nancy and me on August 29th for a special running of our Military Appreciation Mondays dinner where we will be hosting the Navy SEAL Foundation.   As most of you know, we normally take August and July off due to summer vacations but felt it was important that the community step up and let not only the SEALS but all our servicemen and women know just how much we care.  We are doing in response to the losses to the SEAL family on August 6th.

We are asking everyone to make a reservation sooner rather than later since we would like to fill our room at the Old Brogue to capacity.  Just call (703) 759-3309 and let them know if you would like to attend the 5:30 or the 7:30 seating.  Once you have made a reservation, please drop me an email and let me know you are attending.  If we exceed the Brogue’s capacity, I will make arrangement for other seating.

For those of you unfamiliar with how MAM works, you simply come out and enjoy a great dinner at the Old Brogue in Great Falls. My co-sponsors and I will each make a 10% match of your dinner tab. (As of this writing, a total match of approximately 80 percent.) When we last did a MAM event for the Navy SEAL Foundation, we had a match of 160 percent.  Please let us know if you might be willing to step forward and volunteer to be a cosponsor for this month. We will be doing two seatings at the Old Brogue, so make your reservation for either 5:30 or 7:30. Again, to make a reservation call the Brogue at (703) 759-3309.  All you need to do is pick up the phone, make a reservation and come enjoy a great dinner.   We will also be doing door prize drawings and will certainly welcome any items you might like to donate for the drawing.

I can assure you that it will mean a great deal to the Navy SEALS and their families.  We would love to see a room full of faces who recognize the sacrifices our nation’s TRUE HEROES are asked to make each and every day. Do come join us in sending the message that we truly care. Feel free to drop an e-mail or give a call if you can’t make it out for dinner, but would like to make a donation.

For the past 2+ years, we have been hearing that housing starts are down. In the shallow way in which our media reports things, this has been presented as something less than desirable. Although not an economist, for the same 2+ years, I have been saying that this is actually a very good thing for the long term health of both our housing market and the U.S. economy in general. Builders and investors got carried away with home construction during 2004 and 2005. They ended up putting way to much inventory into the market place than was needed. We are just now entering into a period where there is beginning to be housing shortages (in certain markets). This in turn has caused rents to increase. This is very much the case in parts of Fairfax and Arlington Counties.

The June 20th issue of the Economist contains an article entitled: “Will housing save America’s economy?” that is discussing the fact that there is a large pent up demand for new housing. To read the full Article, click on the link: Economist Article. Hope you find this of interest.

MAM Supports Lift Me Up’s

Back in the Saddle (BITS)

Please join Nancy and me for the June 20th Military Appreciation Mondays dinner where we will be hosting Lift Me Up Stables. Funds from this dinner will go towards support Lift Me Up’s BITS (Back in the Saddle) program. BITS provides therapeutic horseback riding for servicemen and women who have been injured in the line of service. We are asking everyone to make a reservation sooner rather than later since we would like to fill our room at the Old Brogue to capacity.

For those of you unfamiliar with how MAM works, you simply come out and enjoy a great dinner at the Old Brogue in Great Falls. We and our co-sponsors will each make a 10% match of your dinner tab. (At this writing, a total match of approximately 80 percent.) In March we had a match of 110 percent and so we are hoping a few of you might be willing to step forward and volunteer to be a cosponsor for this month. We will be doing two seatings at the Old Brogue, so make your reservation for either 5:30 or 7:30. To make a reservation call the Brogue at (703) 759-3309. All you need to do is pick up the phone, make a reservation and come enjoy a great dinner. Please share the attached flyer with anyone who may be interested in attending.

I can assure you that it will mean a great deal to our servicemen and women, the great people at Lift Me Up Stables and Nancy and me to see a room full of faces who recognize the sacrifices our nation’s TRUE HEROES are asked to make each and every day. Do come join us in sending the message that we truly care. Feel free to drop an e-mail or give a call if you can’t make it out for dinner, but would like to make a donation.

Those of you who attended the MAM fundraiser we held for Thanks USA several months back may remember the extremely poised young girls who founded the group.  Kelsi and Rachel Okun recently appeared on the Today Show to discuss the group and all the people they have helped with college scholarship.  Click on the link Thanks USA – Today Show to watch them in action.  Also please visit the group’s website Thanks USA if you would like to consider making a donation.

Keller Williams Realty holds a RED Day event every year.  This is a nationwide effort to provide support to local charity orginizations.  Since its founding three years ago, the KW Mclean/Great Falls office has been supporting SHARE of Mclean/Great Falls.  We held two food drives at the Mclean Giant and Great Falls Safeway on May 12th and 14th respectively.  Following is a note the office received the SHARE:

First, let me express the deepest appreciation from Share for the huge outpouring of support from Keller-Williams for your 2 ‘RedDay’ events at the McLean Giant on Thursday, May 12, and the Great Falls Safeway on Saturday, May 14. This year marks the 3rd ‘RedDay’ event you have hosted for Share, and it was our best year of donation volume by far. I especially want to commend your organization and preparation for this year’s ‘RedDay’ which made it such a successful food drive for all of us. The enthusiasm shown by you and all the K-W realtors who volunteered was highly evident throughout the day and contagious for our donors. Thanks for bringing so much community spirit to McLean and Great Falls.

Now for the summary of results from each ‘RedDay’ food drive:

GREAT FALLS SAFEWAY SATURDAY, MAY 14

Included in the food donation tally on Thursday, May 12, were the “Grab & Go” bags prepared by Rick Makely’s staff at the McLean Giant. I recall your accounting that Rick prepared 300 of these bags at the start of the food drive and sold 225 by the end of the day. You purchased an additional 13 “Grab & Go” bags with cash donations for a grand total of 238 bags sold and donated.

The total food donations Keller-Williams provided Share from your 2 ‘RedDay’ events was 7,100 pounds, a new record for your organization and almost double what K-W provided last year. You now hold the 2011 food drive record at Share!! A million thanks for the massive addition to our food pantry. We are confident your donations will provide the bulk of our client needs for the next 2-3 months.

Again, my sincere thanks to Keller-Williams for making your community service ‘RedDay’ event a grand slam home run for Share and for supporting our needy neighbors in the communities of McLean and Great Falls.

Best regards,

Hunter

–

Please join us on May 9th for next week’s Military Appreciation Mondays dinner where we will be recognizing Our Military Kids.  This is the event that was originally scheduled for April 25th.  While last weekend’s news about Osama bin Laden is extremely exciting, we must remain more vigilant than ever.  With that said, our troops and their kids deserve ever greater support and appreciation.  Nancy and I hope you can join us at the Old Brogue where we will be recognizing our nation’s true Superheroes.  Please be sure to call the Brogue and make a reservation for either the 5:30 or 7:30 seating.  Feel free to either call me or send an e-mail if you would like more info or would like to sign on as a $200 or $100  cosponsor.  We are also always looking for door prize support as well.

It is with a sad heart that Nancy and I will need to postpone next Monday’s dinner.  Her dad, who I have known for almost 45 years, unexpectedly passed away this past Thursday.  We will be in Delaware on Monday for his services.  I do hope you can join us in two weeks to show your support for the group Our Military Kids.