The Observer Newspapers | Resident Honored As Community Champion

April 24, 2008

Resident Honored As Community Champion

By Leslie Perales

Observer Staff Writer

Joe Ritchey has been chosen as Reston's Community Champion and was honored by Volunteer Fairfax and Hunter Mill district Supervisor Cathy Hudgins at an award ceremony Thursday. Ritchey, who was nominated by Hudgins, has been involved in numerous projects in Reston since moving to the area in 1981.

"I wanted to be involved in Reston from day one," he said. Ritchey originally transferred to the area with a division of Coldwell Banker, and he was assigned to work in Montgomery County. Ritchey said he eventually left his job to work in the Reston area.

Twenty-seven years later Ritchey has spent much of his career focusing on Reston Town Center. His involvement in the community runs deep, working with groups such as the Friends of Reston, Initiative for Public Art — Reston, the Reston Hospital Center Board of Trustees and the Greater Reston Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

Ritchey said he became involved in many groups after being approached by friends or acquaintances. He joined the Friends of Reston early on to help Reston Association do the things they wanted and needed to do but could not afford, he said.

Raised in a small town in the Midwest, Ritchey said he believes a strong sense of community is very important and that Reston has that. Reston founder Bob Simon had a great vision and many people worked hard to make Reston what it is today, he said. "Reston helps bring out the best in all of us," Ritchey said.

In the community there are many opportunities to get involved, make a difference and help shape the community, Ritchey said. Being involved in community projects is a way of thanking the entire community for being a great place to live, he said.

Ritchey said being chosen as Community Champion is a great honor and that many others were deserving of the award. "It's a degree of thankfulness for having had the privilege to work in a world-class planned community," he said. "So many other men and women, by watching their examples, they inspire me and others to step up and want to do more," he said. People like Simon and other community leaders are role models for the residents, Ritchey said.

Community participation is something Ritchey said he thinks is key to living in a democratic country. He said it is a citizen's democratic responsibility to be involved at the lowest level of government. "We embrace that in Reston," he said.

Hudgins said Ritchey, "does a great job using the skills that he brings." She said, "and he chooses a whole lot of diverse ways of doing so. I was impressed with the way that he used his thoughtfulness to focus on the Nature House in Reston."

Raising funds for the Nature House has taken years and Ritchey found many unique ways to get money for the project, Hudgins said.

"Reston has a strong environmental mission and the Nature House is a good way to carry out that mission," she said. "He's been keeping us focused on it for quite some time."

Hudgins said Ritchey has also helped Reston move forward with the Initiative for Public Art — Reston. "What the initiative will do for us is give a lot of forethought as to how we want it, where we want it and how we're going to get it done," Hudgins said. "Joe has really been a spark to move us to this."

Overall, she said, Ritchey is a driven, idea-oriented person, who motivates others to get involved. "He engages other people to do things that will benefit the overall community," she said. "The community benefits so much from what he does."

Members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chose 10 people this year to receive Community Champion awards. Community Champion awards honor volunteers "who are dedicated to improving life in Fairfax County by bringing together volunteers, employees and interested citizens to address needs and issues in the county," according to a press release from Volunteer Fairfax.

Visit www.volunteerfairfax.org.