Bob Morrison never left home without a camera. He knew that today might bring the shot of a lifetime and he always wanted to be prepared to capture it if he could.

From athletic events to City festivals, Bob could often be seen capturing the spirit of The Little City with a still or video camera and encouraging others to do the same. Bob’s extraordinary photographs are often showcased in art shows, schools, and businesses throughout the City.

All of us lost a great talent and good friend when Bob passed away in 2009. He was a selfless contributor of his time and talent to Falls Church City charities, an enduring friend of FCC-TV, and a long-term member of the Falls Church City Cable Access Corporation Board.

It is in his memory that the Board of Directors established the Bob Morrison Prize for Photography and Videography to encourage students to capture images of Falls Church City - My Hometown.

2012 Student Photo and Video Contest
Sponsored by Falls Church Cable Access Board, FCC-TV
Take Your Best Shot at winning the 2012 Bob Morrison Prize for Photography and Videography. The contest is open to all Falls Church City students between grades K and 12.

Cash Prizes
$50 first place still photography K-6
$50 first place for a short video K-6
$200 first place for still photography
$200 first place for a short video.

Click HERE for the entry form.

Charles “Chip” Hailey III      May 2, 1942 – September 17, 2011

Charles Morgan Hailey III, known to all as “Chip” died suddenly early Saturaday morning at 1 a.m. at  The Virginia Hospital Center.  He was 69.

Chip was born in Washington, D.C. to his parents Charles Morgan Hailey, Jr.  and Nancy H. Hailey.  They lived in D.C. and attended The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington, D.C.  Chip was born with cerebral palsy and was one of the first poster children for Cerebral Palsy.  As a poster boy he attended a special event as at the White House, where he sat on Margaret Truman’s lap.  This event was even more memorable, since he had newly polished shoes he left stains on Miss Truman’s lap, making his “mark on the Truman Administration”, as he would later joke to friends.

The Hailey family moved to Falls Church and Chip attended The Jefferson School on Cherry Street (now the location of The Child Development Center).  Later he attended The Madison School (now the site of the Sunrise Senior Living facilitiy) and George Mason High School. 

As a young child he learned to love classical music.  His mother’s youngest sister came to live with them at their Ridge Place home while she waited for her husband who was a POW in the Korean War for 4 years.  During that time Chip was exposed to the sister’s love of classical music and Chip carried this love throughout his life with an extensive library collection of performances and classical music recordings. 

As Chip grew up he became fascinated with audio-visual equipment and was an assistant at the school taking equipment to and from the classroom and setting it up  for teachers. Ever since that time he has helped countless efforts in and around the City by loaning his filming, video and audio equipment, especially PA systems and special microphones and his services to anyone who needed help, whether he knew them or not.

Chip was a “family man” and was devoted to his family and his church and later on the Falls Church Television Station for the next 30 years. Chip as one of the founding members in the early ‘80’s and he served on the Board of the Falls Church Cable Access Corporation since its inception, as President for several terms, and then recently as a member of the Board.  He was a pivotal presence assuring smooth transitions during staffing changes, new equipment purchases, and help for all producers and volunteers.  He could often be found at his home studio working on yet another video project or helping others by transferring film to DVD.  The photo is of Chip receiving his second Ripley Award in Fall of 2010 for his outstanding contributions to FCCTV. The Ripley Award is the premier achievement award.

Chip loved Falls Church history and would often recount stories of the “old days” here in the City and have personal stories of City leaders like Harry Wells, Don Frady, Ken Burnette, and many others. There is a one-hour interview conducted by Dave Eckert with Chip Hailey that can still be seen on FCCTV and is also on DVD in the Mary Riley Styles Library, where Chip recalls some of his favorite people and places he loved.  He enjoyed the rare perspective of a long-term resident; what changed and what remained the same.  Chip’s dad, Charles Morgan Hailey II was Mayor from 1959- 1969. Chip and the family would help his Dad campaign and pass out flyers around town.  Chip believed in civic responsibility and service.

The Falls Church Cable Access Corporation and its FCCTV members will be hosting a memorial at its annual meeting to honor Chip’s many contributions for over 3 decades.  Please check FCCTV.net for details.

Visitations will be held at Murphy  Funeral Home, 1102 W. Broad Street, Falls Church on Friday, September 23, 2011 from 6 p.m.  to 8 p.m.   A memorial service will be held on October 23rd at 2 pm at The First Baptist Church of the City of Washington D.C. which was moved from Philadelphia to Washington D.C. when Washington became of the capital of the United States in 1802.  The Church is located at 1328 16th Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20036  Internment will be at the Ashcamp Memorial Cemetary in Keysville, Virginia where Chip will be buried at the family plot.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to THE CHIP HAILEY FUND  at The First Baptist Church, 1328   16th Street, NW. Washington, D.C. 20036 . 

 
 

FCC-TV, the City of Falls Church’s cable TV station, will be switching from analog to digital format and moving from Channel 12 to Channel 11 on the Cox cable network on or about Sept. 14. Citizens who subscribe to Verizon Fios and RCN cable will continue to watch FCC-TV on the  same Verizon channel 35 and RCN channel 2.

On Aug. 8, the City Council approved an amendment to the City’s franchise with Cox Communications to address advances in technology. Currently Cox Channel 12 is analog and is shared by the City of Falls Church and the City of Fairfax.  Advances in technology have made it desirable to convert the City’s Channel 12 on Cox from an analog format to a digital format. Cox will provide the necessary equipment for the conversion and will provide the City a one-time grant of $50,000 for capital technology equipment.

With this change on  Cox, the City will have a full – time stand alone channel, instead of sharing Channel 12 with Fairfax City. Anyone who subscribes to Cox cable across Northern Virginia can watch FCCTV on Channel 11 beginning Sept. 14 instead of only being able to watch FCC-TV if they are located in the Falls Church area of Fairfax County as well as in Falls Church City.

With the conversion of Cox from analag to digital, Cox subscribers who already have digital set-top boxes (more than 80% of Cox customers in the City) will not need to do anything. Subscribers who do not have digital set-top boxes can either receive a free digital box from Cox with no rental cost for six months followed by standard monthly equipment rental fee of $5.99 per month per box, or view the new Channel 11 programming using a QAM tuner (QAM stands for quadrature amplitude modulation, the  format by which digital channels are encoded and transmitted via cable television providers). Most TVs sold after 2006 include a QAM tuner. QAM tuners can also be bought separately. Additionally, all cable providers are rapidly converting to digital format so subscribers will need to upgrade  if they wish to receive other channels beyond the City channel. For more information about digital boxes contact Cox at 866-271-7285.

The City’s general government and school facilities will be provided free digital boxes for all general government and school cable drops installed  per the franchise agreement.

As part of the City’s agreement with Cox, the cable company is airing a public service announcement about the channel change for 60 and will post a channel crawl on Channel 12 to alert viewers. This City is also publicizing the channel change on  www.fallschurchva.gov, www.fcctv.net, and in the eFocus newsletter, the schools’ Morning Announcements, and on Facebook.

Thank you.

We are also currently working with Cox to resolve this issue. If you have experienced this problem, please call FCCTV at 703-248-5692.

We would also appreciate it if people spread the message to their friends and neighbors so that everyone can continue to enjoy the programming on Channel 12.

If you have any questions, feel free to call the station at 703-248-5692.

Thank you.

Repeats of the forum will air on the station leading up to election day. However, if you just can't wait, click here for archived version online.

Dear MEHMS and GMHS Families:

Snow removal crews have been able to widen the Leesburg Pike entrance to Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School, so the traffic pattern restrictions imposed yesterday have been lifted.  You may now use the Leesburg Pike entrance.  However, please remember that it is illegal to turn right from Leesburg Pike into that entrance as indicated by the posted traffic sign.  This restriction was imposed by the Virginia Department of Transportation in 2005 for safety reasons.

Also, please be advised that all after school and evening activities scheduled for tonight will go on as scheduled. 

FCCPS Communications