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June 27, 2008

Thanks for Making Herndon Great

To the editor:

I wanted to express thanks from my husband and I for the fantastic efforts of our town’s maintenance crew during the storm on June 4. We also wanted to thank our neighbors in the Halcyon community. One of our large trees fell and miraculously missed three homes and vehicles, but completely blocked traffic on McDaniel Court. Several neighbors came out to help with removal of branches and debris until the town crew arrived with the heavy equipment needed to completely remove the tree.

Not only did the crew work tirelessly until all debris was removed from the street and surrounding yards, but they came back later that week to remove additional storm debris placed curbside throughout the community and the rest of town as well. Our tree was one of many that fell throughout the town and our maintenance crew has done a bang up job removing trees and debris from both the neighborhoods and our surrounding parks and recreation areas.

All of their efforts were in addition to all of the hard work and countless hours they put into planning, setting up, and cleaning up after the Herndon Festival which had just ended a few days before the storm hit.

I grew up in Herndon, moved to Sterling for seven years, and then recently moved back into town. One of the reasons we moved back to Herndon was because of the outstanding services provided by the town, as well as the sense of community we share. Despite the circumstances, it was wonderful to see my neighbors pull together for the common good and it was great to see the town taking care its residents.

Last weekend I also attended the Garden Tour with my mother and apparently our tree was the talk of some of the event planners since it was on the same street as one of the stunning gardens on this year’s tour. I am happy to say that our street is recovering and no one was impeded in seeing our neighbor’s bit of paradise, and Mom and I were able to enjoy yet another wonderful amenity that our town has to offer.

Thanks to our maintenance crew, our neighbors, the volunteers who arranged and staffed the garden tour, and to every person in town who cares enough to make Herndon a beautiful and welcoming home.

Richell Slepetz McDonald and James McDonald
Herndon