Fredericksburg Alert Online

A new service from the city alerts residents to city events, status and more.

Visit https://www.fredericksburgalert.com/ to register to receive txts, email or get a pager notice for a variety of notices from the city. (A pager, what's that again?) Already there are more than 40 groups of notices to sign up for. Everything from local traffic, river reports, to Parks&Rec events, even local volunteer opportunities.

Those with children in school will surely like the school closing notifications. The advantage is you get to pick and choose those alerts that are important to you and your family.

The FLS reports that the site is largely funded by Homeland Security, allowing the city to offer similar capabilities as the surrounding counties. Hopefully the city organizations will continue to keep their feeds up to date.

City Pool

Probably one of the best family benefit of living in the city is the Dixon park pool. From friendly staff, to fun children's area, to a mini-water slide, this has to be one of the funnest items in the inventory of city parks. And the best part for people living in 22401, it's FREE. Last year the city debated charging a fee for residents, but the generosity of Dorris Buffett and the Sunshine Lady Foundation saved the summer by donating the cost of admission.

The park system has even setup a Facebook page for Dixon Park Pool, although it lacks in recent posts. So also visit the Parks&Rec page for the latest times.

Don't miss the August 18th Hawaiian Night (8-10pm). Later this month they will be once again hosting the Soggy Dog Day (Aug 28th). Last year reports had it at about 250 people with some 50 dogs.

Family Event 7/31

Just received this in a comment - thanks!

Sat, Jul. 31 - Family Fun Festival & Avatar at Unity Church of Fredericksburg!

From 4pm-7pm 3607 Lafayette Blvd. UCoF Family Fun Festival! Planning a silent auction with gifts and services. Will play games like musical chairs, a cake walk, bean bag and water balloon toss, to name a few. Will have a moon bounce, crafts, prizes, and face painting too! Come enjoy food, music, bingo and lots of fun!

Tickets are just $3.00 for ages 5 & up. Our 50/50 Raffle tickets are on sale now, and the winner will be announced on the 31st. You need not be present to win. 7:00pm Avatar! The movie is free.

Frozen Reminder

As I sit here in a t-shirt, enjoying the warm day amongst many frigid ones lately, I thought I'd post a picture taken this morning to remind us that it is still very much winter. We have our very own ice flow in the Rappahannock. A beautiful sight in the morning!

Wine, Art & Beutiful Scenery

This weekend brings one of the more interesting Art & Wine festivals in the area because of the location. Caledon Natural Area is hosting their annual festival on Saturday Nov 7th from 10am-6pm.

http://caledonnaturalareafriends.webs.com/artandwinefestival.htm

Sample wines while tasting local foods, listening to some music. They even are planning a hay ride through parts of Caledon.

Follow directions on their website, or google them here.

Children's Playtime

What to do on a rainy weekend? Or any weekend for that matter? This Saturday we took our child to Toddlin Time in Fredericksburg. It's on Princess Anne st, across from the Texaco, just down the street from Carl's. It's upstairs, with plenty of room for the kids to run around and play. On this Saturday, it was much brighter inside with the rain coming down outside. Just when we though Bennett had played with everything in the room, they got out the 'parachute', a huge colorful thing that the children rode on, then ran under. The laughter wasn't contained to the children playing. Public session is from 9:45 - 10:30 on Saturdays.