Lake Barcroft History Book

the Congressional School’s auditorium to see This Is My
Country. The third stage production, Tickets Please, was held at
J.E.B. Stuart High School and featured accomplished troupers
Millie and Will Fazar.
Clubs
In 1965, Caroline Jones, a new arrival to Lake Barcroft,
brought together fifteen other women to organize a
Newcomer’s Club to welcome new residents who had come to
Lake Barcroft from such diverse cities as Paris, Saigon, Seattle
and Bethesda. After a few struggling months, the club’s
popularity assured its future, and by 1970 membership totaled
fifty-eight individuals. After two years, members graduated
into so-called fifth wheel groups. Later, residents unified these
groups into the Barcrofters to formalize the post-newcomer
organization. The founder and first president of the
Newcomer’s Club, Caroline Jones, later became LABARCA’s
newsletter editor, an excellent example of how membership in
the Newcomer’s Club inspires active community involvement.
Founded in 1955, the Lake Barcroft Woman’s Club had
established an enviable record of community service by the
mid-1960s. In addition to sponsoring social activities—such as
bridge games, tours, luncheons and an annual picnic—the
club raised money for various charities and scholarships. The
Polio Foundation praised the Lake Barcroft Woman’s Club for
distributing over eight thousand vaccines. The club joined the
Fairfax County Blood Bank. Contributions to the Fairfax
Hospital Building Fund paid for a room and provided decor. A
Sick Room Loan Closet—created in 1961 under President
Helen O’Rourke—continues to the present. Vonnie Bates had
organized the Independence Day Parade for several years, and
in 1964, the Woman’s Club joined her in sponsoring this
popular event. The Easter Egg Hunt, another longstanding
tradition, has continued for forty years.
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Children living in Lake Barcroft attended four different
elementary schools in the 1960s: Belvedere, Sleepy Hollow, St
Anthony’s, and Bailey’s. Activities at these schools also provided
a social outlet and an opportunity to help others. The Bailey’s
PTA held an annual carnival to raise money for school
equipment. Parents and children alike worked hard building
booths, baking cookies, collecting items for white elephant
sales and securing donations from local businesses. Proceeds
from the carnival provided record players for every room,
television sets for every two rooms, shade trees, flags, opaque
projectors, overhead projectors, books, records and cocoa for
the school’s patrol guards on cold days. It is important to note
that parents “considered the work gratifying and derived a
feeling of well being from the mission accomplished.”
The International Committee
Dr. J. T. (Dock) Houk formed an International Committee
chartered to promote community participation in several areas
involving international affairs. As a result, volunteers hosted
foreign visitors for tours of Washington, D.C., and the lake.
For the benefit of interested residents, members of the
committee publicized several agencies that were engaged in
supporting foster children in Third World countries.
Knowledgeable Barcrofters offered technical and social
assistance to underdeveloped countries through DATA
International, a “postal Peace Corps.” A project to link with a
sister community in South America resulted in raising $500