The Great Falls Optimists will be hosting the 25th Annual Spring Festival this Sunday (May 17th) from 11:30 – 4:00 in the Great Falls Village Center.  The event includes the children’s treasure hunt, an adult treasure chest, moon bounces, and much much more.  Hope to see you there.

Last night (Apr 28th) was the third in our series of charity nights at the Old Brogue in Great Falls.  We had approximately 25 people attend, despite the Capitals playing in game seven of the playoff series with the New York Rangers.  In addition to the 20 percent donation going to the Susan G. Komen foundation, we raised additional money by having folks purchase extra chances for the two door prizes.  I of course have to thank Mike Kearney (owner of the Brogue) for contributing 10 percent of everyone’s dinner to the charity.  We also had great prizes donated by Michele Cornejo of Toll Brothers and Paul and Connie Sawtell of Dominion Title in Great Falls.  The Toll Brother gift of a crystal bowl from Tiffany’s was won by Frank Barlow.  I’m sure Linda will put it to great use.  The wonderful gift basket went to Susan and Jim Cassell of Great Falls Design Build.  Hope they enjoy all the goodies.  We only ask that if you are thinking about purchasing a new home, consider Toll Brothers and of course schedule your settlement with Dominion Title.

Next month’s event will take place on Tuesday May 26th.  Proceeds from this event will go towards supporting the American Diabetes Association.  As of today, we have one door prize of a bottle of Casa Noble tequila.  This coming from our good friend Otto Hoernig.  Please feel free to call or drop an e-mail if you would like to make a donation as well.  More importantly, we hope to see you there on the 26th.  If you plan to attend drop me an e-mail so that we can keep track of how much room to reserve.

I encourage anyone with a little vision to come on by my open house this Sunday, April 26th from 1:00 – 4:00 to take a look at my listing located at 807 Clear Spring Rd. in Great Falls.  Simply click on the link to see additional details about this fabulous opportunity.

Hope to see you there!

This month’s charity night at the Pub in Great Falls will be in support of the Susan G. Komen Fund for the Cure. The decision to choose this particular charity was in direct response to a request by the renowned reconstructive surgeon and our good friend Dr. Jane Hanscom.   Jane was actually featured on NBC’s Today show back in 1999 as a breast cancer surgeon who was also a cancer survivor.  Nancy and I are particularly thankful for the support Jane provided when Nancy had to undergo her neck cancer treatments.  As always, the event will take place on the last Tuesday of the month (April 28th) at the Pub.  We will begin at approximately 7:00 PM.  Please be sure to ask that you are seated with our group.  Simply print out the coupon and bring it with you to insure that the fund is credited.

In this day of some Realtors willing to do anything for that next sale, I have to relate a funny story.  As all my clients know, I approach each and every one of them as someone who will help my business in the long run.  No Realtor is going to make their business on one sale.  On the other hand, they can certainly ruin their reputation by pressing forward a sale that would be detrimental to a client.

Two weeks ago I had the great pleasure of meeting Gene and Laura Smith during an Open House at my listing at 807 Clear Spring Rd. in Great Falls.  I believed we had made a special connection and immediately realized that these were two people with whom I could be long term friends.  While the Clear Spring property was not quite what they were looking for, we did run out and take a look at a number properties over the next several days.  We actually found the perfect home for them in Reston on that Wednesday, put an offer in on Thursday and had a ratified contract the following Sunday.

Needless to say, Gene and Laura were thrilled with the home, but were also a bit reluctant to trust this new guy they had just met.  When it came time to do the home inspection, I told them I had the perfect inspector in Steve Messerschmidt with Home Pro Services.  Although Laura was comfortable with me at the time, she did ask if they could select the inspector.  This of course is their perogative, but I truly believed there wasn’t a better inspector for them in Northern Virginia.  Laura went ahead and contacted thier contractor friend, Taylor Smith (no relation), for suggestions on who they should use.  Taylor apparently strongly endorsed Home Pro Services.  Laura then called Home Pro and asked for their most experienced inspector with a knowledge of Deck Homes.  One guess who they recommended.  Steve did his typical 4 hour inspection and uncovered a few items that I am certain noone else would have even considered looking at.  My thanks to Steve for a job well done in support of these wonderful folks.