New Downtown Christmas Tree, New Eatery, Posh Book Party

-New downtown Christmas Tree. McLean's sad little community Christmas Tree in the island where Chain Bridge Road  splits to form a "Y" will be replaced.

Richard "Rip" Sullivan new president of the McLean Community Foundation said Friday evening a new tree is on the way. There is a Santa Claus!!

-Red Tomato Pizzeria, a Maryland family-owned restaurant has finally opened in the Salona shopping Center. The Ear welcomes them to McLean.

--Advice from McLean Neighbor Daniel F. Akerson, Chief executive, General Motors. Akerson, the commencement speaker at Bryant University in Connecticut shared this advice with the graduates, according to The New York Times.
 Acknowledge your mistakes, learn from them and move on. Don’t be afraid of new ideas; be afraid of old ones. (The Ear favorite.) Be faithful to your family and friends. You’ll get the same in return. Tell the truth and always play by the rules. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.

It’s cool, again, to buy American!

-THE Book Party. McLean neighbors recently opened their tony Langley Farms home  to  former Sen. Bob Graham, Sen Jay Rockefeller, and McLean neighbors Sen. Patrick Leahy and Terry McAuliffe. The event: book party for Graham, according to The Washington Post.

The book "Keys To The Kingdom" which the Post described as a 9/11 thriller, also involved another McLean neighbor, the CIA, which cleared the book.

Greg and Lynne O'Brien hosted the party at their Langley Lane home. Greg O’Brien is Chief Executive Officer of Brokerage, Americas for Jones Lang LaSalle.

Washingtonian Magazine wrote about their home when they bought it in May 2010 for $3.9 mil. (Now assessed for $3.5 mil) The 7,000 square foot stone house has seven bedrooms, five baths and nine fireplaces.

The neighbors include former Gannett CEO Doug McCorkindale,  former Vice President Dick Cheney and Hickory Hill.