My grandfather, whom we affectionately called Pap Pap, once showed me an award from his local Chamber of Commerce. The memory stuck because you could tell how proud he was of the leadership role he’d played in his local business community.
Fresh out of the University of Pittsburgh in the 1920s, Pap was excited to start his career. Instead, he inherited the family’s fish market—and a lot of debt—from his father who had unexpectedly passed away. Pap felt an obligation to move home to McKeesport, a small steel town about 30 minutes away, take over the business and pay off his family’s obligations. Under Pap’s control, the market flourished and he launched a number of other successful businesses. Pap was a staple at his local country club (and an outstanding golfer), the president of the city men’s club, and an active member of the chamber and local service clubs.
When we launched Arlington Magazine 14 years ago, I felt it was important to get involved in the community. Since then, I’ve been honored to serve on several boards, including the Arlington Chamber of Commerce, Arlington Community Foundation, YMCA Arlington, Leadership Center of Arlington and PathForward (formerly A-SPAN—the “A” stood for Arlington). I am a Leadership Arlington graduate and a member of the Arlington Free Clinic special gifts committee. I’ve also coached Arlington youth lacrosse and flag football. My wife jokes that if “Arlington” is in the name, I’m happy to sign up. Perhaps I am channeling my grandfather, too.
Google the phrase “is volunteerism declining” and you’ll see a litany of stories documenting this national trend. The same holds true for civic engagement. So, we asked ourselves, what is the trend here in Arlington, McLean and Falls Church? In our feature story “A World of Good,” writer Kim O’Connell examines local volunteerism and civic participation. To remain relevant, nonprofits and other community groups need to evolve and adapt to accommodate the shifting reality of people’s busy lifestyles. The good news is that many have made the jump and continue to have a dedicated group of supporters.
In the lead-up to the holidays, we decided to publish our first-ever holiday gift guide in the magazine. We write about local shops and makers in our Shop Local column in every issue, but we haven’t expanded it into a feature story before. The story highlights more than 30 of our editors’ favorite local shops and fun, useful and unique items made by local artisans. We’re not going to shame you for taking advantage of Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals from Amazon and the big-box stores, but please add our local merchants to your holiday shopping plans.
We hope you enjoy our November/December issue. Speaking of which, our very first issue debuted in November/December 2011. It’s hard to believe this is our 79th issue. We are grateful for your support and readership over the years. If you haven’t yet visited our new—and vastly improved—website, please check out ArlingtonMagazine.com. If you like what you see, please sign up for our newsletters. We publish new stories on the site every day, and we’d love to provide you with great content in between issues of the magazine. Thank you!