Greetings!

Fall has officially arrived and there are many autumn activities to fill our weekends. As you consider your plans for the next few days, I wanted to pass along some information about what is going on in the Occoquan District.  I hope you will find the information in this update to be helpful.

On Friday, October 12 Woodbridge Senior High School will participate in its annual Homecoming Festivities including the traditional Homecoming Parade. The parade begins on Deepford Drive and ends on Antietam Drive in Lake Ridge.  At the conclusion of the parade, the participants need to cross Old Bridge Road to get back to Woodbridge Senior High School.

This year's parade will commence at 4:05 p.m., which is earlier than in past years.  As such, all participants are expected to have crossed Old Bridge Road at Antietam prior to 5 p.m. so as to minimize any impact on Old Bridge motorists.

With that said, we did want to make you aware of the parade and let you know that some minor delays are possible, especially if you are driving westbound on Old Bridge prior to 5 p.m. or if you live along or near the parade route.  The students will be crossing Old Bridge in segments as opposed to crossing all at once-but the crossings could also impact conditions since the pedestrian signals will be utilized multiple times.

As stated above, the parade is being moved up to an earlier time to minimize any possible impact on the afternoon rush.  However, if another route besides Old Bridge suits your commuting needs on Friday afternoon, you may want to consider it.

We would like to remind you that our final two town hall meetings of the fall season are this week: Thursday, October 11 at Lake Ridge Elementary School (11970 Hedges Run Dr., Woodbridge) and Saturday, October 13 at Westridge Clubhouse (12764 Quarterhorse Lane, Woodbridge).  These meetings are an opportunity for us to meet with residents to answer any questions and address any concerns you may have about local government. RSVP is not required and we encourage all area residents to attend. For more information please contact Alyssa at aedson@pwcgov.org or call 703-792-5180. We look forward to seeing you there!

The deadline to register to vote is Monday, October 15. If you are unsure if you are registered to vote, please call the Prince William County Office of Voter Registration and Elections at 703-792-6470 or click here.

Flu shots will be available to the public free of charge on a first come, first served basis on Saturday, October 13 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the McCoart Complex (1 County Complex Court, Woodbridge, VA).

For more information please call 703-792-4643.  (Please note that the funding for this program comes from state and federal grant programs-county funds are not being used to pay for this service).

You may have noticed that work begun at the old Shell Station site at Tacketts Mill (corner of Old Bridge Road and Harbor Drive) this week. While details are still forthcoming, our office has confirmed that the site will be home to a new Patient First facility. This facility is not related to the Sentara facility located nearby on Minnieville Road.

We will continue to keep you posted as more information becomes available.

On Saturday, October 13 Friends of the Occoquan invites you and your family to join them in making a difference to perserve one of the region's most important natural resoruces. In partnership with the Fairfax County Water Authority, Clean Virginia Waterways and Longwood University volunteers will be meeting at five locations along the Occoquan.