Curious Fund-Raising Appeal, Cherry Trees to Go, McLean History

---Curious Barbara Comstock Fund-raising Appeal. Some of the neighbors wondered about a fund-raising appeal they received this week for Del. Barbara Comstock, R-McLean and Great Falls. She asked for urgent donations to meet the March 31 deadline for filing with the her first "FEC" report which stands for the  Federal Election Commission.

 Comstock announced Monday that she was running for reelection to the Virginia House of Delegates. The neighbors were wondering why a local candidate  was preparing to file a fund-raising report for a federal office.

State delegates file with the Virginia State Board of Elections.

 "I'm sending you this urgent email because my campaign is approaching a critical campaign deadline this week. Our first FEC fund-raising deadline of the year is this Thursday, March 31, and I need your immediate help to raise an additional $10,000 to meet my fund-raising goal for the quarter," Comstock said in her appeal.

"Your critical support is what got us over the finish line two years ago. Can I count on you to follow this link to make a generous contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500 or more to help me reach my fund-raising goal before Thursday's deadline? This FEC fund-raising report will be scrutinized far more closely than past reports by members of the media, my potential opponents and Democrats hoping to get back this seat."

Here is Comstock's explanation of the FEC reference: "My website guy who sends out the emails for us also does federal campaigns and added that reference by mistake in the note at the top of the email." 

--Bye, Bye Cherry Trees. That line of 13 cherry trees along Balls Hills Road in front of the McLean Government Center are going away. County planners drawing up plans for renovating the county building, decided the trees needed replacing also. The cherry trees would be replaced with maples.

---McLean History. We once had a circus and Ferris wheel in downtown. Along with the movie theater. Tom Jacobi, owner of Langley Photo & Digital,  spun wonderful stories of old McLean when he was a guest for the Kojo Nnamdi show that came to McLean last week. Ask him at the Redneck bar that used to be her also the next time you see him.