FAIRFAX, VA — OK, we might be some six months away from Saint Patrick's Day, but is it ever really a bad day to get your Irish on?  Toward that end, the 21st annual Irish Folk Festival is set for Saturday at the Sherwood Center (Van Dyck Park) at 3740 Old Lee Highway, with a sister celebration at the Auld Shebeen Irish Pub at 3971 Chain Bridge Road.    The festival runs from noon-7 p.m.    There's free admission, free parking, (not free) beer, dancing, food and more.    For more information, visit the <a href="http://www.ccepotomac.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">festival's website</a>.    <hr />Image via CCE Irish Folk Festival

FAIRFAX, VA — OK, we might be some six months away from Saint Patrick's Day, but is it ever really a bad day to get your Irish on?

Toward that end, the 21st annual Irish Folk Festival is set for Saturday at the Sherwood Center (Van Dyck Park) at 3740 Old Lee Highway, with a sister celebration at the Auld Shebeen Irish Pub at 3971 Chain Bridge Road.    The festival runs from noon-7 p.m.

There's free admission, free parking, (not free) beer, dancing, food and more.    For more information, visit the <a href="http://www.ccepotomac.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">festival's website</a>.

<hr />Image via CCE Irish Folk Festival

Fairfax County

Michael O'Connell

Washington Metropolitan Area

Fairfax City

Virginia

It'll be at the Sherwood Center and also at the Auld Shebeen Irish Pub, from noon-7:30 p.m.

Irish Folk Festival Saturday in Fairfax

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McLean, VA (August 22, 2024) &ndash; As Miller &amp; Smith marks its 60th anniversary in the homebuilding industry, the company is proud to announce exciting changes to its design selections program, reflecting both its commitment to innovation and the evolving needs of its discerning homebuyers.
Known for crafting high-style homes with a vast portfolio of options that cater to both current and classic trends, Miller &amp; Smith has always prioritized feedback from its buyers. In response to the growing demand for durable, sustainable materials, the company has introduced an updated selections portfolio designed with modern lifestyles in mind.
One of the most notable additions is the new Pet Perfect by Shaw Floors, a durable enhanced vinyl plank (EVP) option tailored for pet-friendly homes. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve seen a significant increase in interest for products that not only look great but also stand up to the rigors of daily life, particularly from pet owners,&rdquo; said Tracy Lamb, Vice President of Sales for Miller &amp; Smith. &ldquo;Pet Perfect is ultra-durable, easy to clean, and comes with built-in scratch protection to help maintain its beauty and longevity.&rdquo;
In addition to the flooring updates, Miller &amp; Smith has expanded its quartz countertop offerings, in response to the shift in buyer preferences away from granite. &ldquo;Granite is still a beautiful option, but we&rsquo;ve seen a growing demand for quartz, especially those with the custom, high-end looks that feature dramatic veining,&rdquo; Lamb explained. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve added three new levels of quartz to our selections, providing buyers with even more choices to create the kitchen or bathroom of their dreams.&rdquo;
Samantha Gilman,<a href="https://millerandsmith.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow"> Miller &amp; Smith&rsquo;s</a> Director of Product Development, emphasized the company&rsquo;s proactive approach to staying ahead of design trends. &ldquo;We refresh our design programs every two years to ensure our offerings are aligned with the latest trends and buyer preferences,&rdquo; Gilman stated. &ldquo;This year, we&rsquo;ve enhanced our quartz countertop options, adding more shades of white and larger veining patterns that have become increasingly popular.&rdquo;
The company&rsquo;s EVP flooring program also received a significant upgrade. &ldquo;Vinyl planks have become our top-selling flooring product across all projects,&rdquo; said Gilman. &ldquo;We&rsquo;ve introduced larger planks, a wider variety of colors, and species, and a new series that includes pet protection, which has been a big hit with our buyers, especially in active adult communities where pets are often considered part of the family.&rdquo;
Lamb also highlighted the company&rsquo;s commitment to continually refining its offerings based on buyer feedback. &ldquo;Our sales team plays a crucial role in influencing product development. After gathering input from prospects and buyers, we made significant updates to our flooring, countertop, and cabinetry options. We&rsquo;ve found that staying connected to our buyers throughout the entire process, including selections, really enhances their home buying experience.&rdquo;
As <a href="https://millerandsmith.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">Miller &amp; Smith</a> looks ahead, the company remains dedicated to providing homes that not only meet but exceed the expectations of today&rsquo;s buyers. &ldquo;We believe that our design program is a key differentiator,&rdquo; said Lamb. &ldquo;By keeping the selection process on-site and closely integrated with our community sales managers, we ensure that our buyers remain connected to their home and their community every step of the way.&rdquo;
Founded in 1964, Miller &amp; Smith has earned a reputation for creating innovative and imaginative homes and communities throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan region. As one of the largest private homebuilders in the area, the company has built over 6,500 single-family homes, 10,000 townhomes, and 2,100 condominiums, and developed 18,500 home sites in 150 communities across Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware.
For more information about Miller &amp; Smith and its newly enhanced design selections program, please visit <a href="http://www.millerandsmith.com" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.millerandsmith.com</a>

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Consider buying copy of my book, "The Case For Pandora". Do you have a longing for the realization of true pioneering and explorative missions of humanity ever-further out into the cosmos? Does the notion of slow interstellar and even intergalactic space-ark travel fill you with a sense of whimsicality? If the answers to either of the above questions is affirmative, then The Case For Pandora is a book you will likely love reading. About the Book This book is about building craft for space travel&mdash;space travel not in the far distant future, but in the immediate future. There is no question that we have the technology to build and power a large craft capable of traversing the galaxy, and for now, this book will focus on achieving the goal of intragalactic travel. We will describe various methods of power generation and propulsion, delineate the materials and technology for construction, discuss the building of the spacecraft from the outside-in, and show what is required to sustain life on the craft for extended periods of time. While we will go into some detail on each of these, pointing out advantages and disadvantages to components and methods, this is not, nor is it intended to be, a highly technical book to be used by specialists. Rather, it is intended to inform the general readership about what is possible, and perhaps what is not, in building and operating spacecraft for long-distance and long-duration travel with current and available means. Editorial Reviews The Case for Pandora explores the capabilities of modern extraterrestrial travel technology with enthralling vision.
 
James Essig and Steve McCarter&rsquo;s The Case For Pandora is a technical manual with instructions for building a spaceship capable of extraterrestrial travel. Designs for generation, colony, and century ships, collectively referred to as space arks, are offered as a solution to an extinction-level event (ELE) such as an asteroid or climate change. The text is devoted to a single solution to human extinction: leaving Earth behind. It includes extensive information about building a colony ship, maintaining an artificial human-friendly environment on board, and supporting life in space, but this work is backed by only a cursory assessment of the motives for evacuating the planet. The introduction glosses over such motives, dismissing causes from politics and overcrowding without nuance. It is more thorough in covering the scientific aspects of space travel. The book includes ship designs that focus on technical details and physical capability. These are covered in seven sections that go over information about materials, manufacturing considerations, and power and propulsion. The book&rsquo;s thirty-six chapters include over 200 images and diagrams, most taken from NASA, the Department of Energy, and other legitimate sources. These cover liquid fuel rocket engines and their components. A chapter on the ark&rsquo;s passengers addresses &ldquo;both physical and psychological health, systems for shipboard governance, and reproduction and population control methods that are necessary to maintain a viable population capable of completing a mission that may take generations to accomplish.&rdquo; The work is organized in an easy-to-use way, and its tables and images help impart understanding. The text assumes a basic understanding of manufacturing, design, and physics, but explanations of the discussed principles make it accessible to laypeople, too. Conversational in tone, it uses accessible language to describe complex concepts from aerospace design and astronautics. The book has in mind massive flying ships of the sort that would make Apollo 11 look like a tiny skiff. From an engineering perspective, its analysis of different interstellar crafts and technology is solid. It does not extend to including blueprints, but emphasizes what is possible in building and operating colony-sized spacecrafts. To existent conversations of space travel, it adds suggestions for building bigger, more powerful crafts with technology that is already available. The Case for Pandora explores the capabilities of modern extraterrestrial travel technology with enthralling vision, talking in a realistic way about how to fulfill the timeless dream of a new Earth, self-sustaining and suspended in space. <a href="https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/755536-the-case-for-pandora" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">https://www.xlibris.com/en/bookstore/bookdetails/755536-the-case-for-pandora</a>

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Irish Folk Festival Saturday in Fairfax

It'll be at the Sherwood Center and also at the Auld Shebeen Irish Pub, from noon-7:30 p.m.

Skip Wood, Patch Staff

Find out what's happening in Fairfax Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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Irish Folk Festival Saturday in Fairfax

It'll be at the Sherwood Center and also at the Auld Shebeen Irish Pub, from noon-7:30 p.m.

Skip Wood, Patch Staff<img alt="Verified Patch Staff Badge" class="styles_Badge__PNwMX" src="https://patch.com/img/cdn/assets/layout/badges/verified-patch-staff.svg"/>

Find out what's happening in Fairfax Citywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

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Skip Wood, Patch Staff