There’s always so much happening in our community! Check out these fun community events taking place in the Springfield and Burke areas during the week of January 25 – 31, 2021:

Top Community Events to Consider

Blood Drive

Did you know that this month is National Blood Donor Month! Here’s your chance to be a hero. Consider donating the gift of life at Inova’s Blood Donation Gift of Life Event an event sponsored by the Greater Springfield Volunteer Fire Department. 

Monday, January 25, 2021 from 12:30 PM – 6:30 PM, you can help get the year off to a great start by donating the Gift of Life. Blood donations are essential, and every donation has the potential to save multiple lives.  Be the Life Saver your community needs!

Appointments can be made here.

Kids Fun Camp

Dietrich’s Karate in Burke is hosting a Kids’ Fun Day/ Parents’ Day Off on January 25th that includes nine full hours of fun and games from 7:45 AM – 4:45 PM as well as a take-home buildable fort and laser blaster! 

This Teacher Workday Camp is motivated by great mentors, so the kids can have tons of socially-distant fun with their friends while you are working. (Or, have a play day for yourself — and with any luck the kids will be exhausted by the time you pick them up.)

German Pastry Class

Learn how to bake, fill, and decorate the most famous of the German cakes in a virtual German Pastry Class by Nikki Out West on January 30th from 10 AM – 1 PM, hosted by Adult and Community Education at Fairfax County Public Schools.

In this class, participants will bake the chocolate sponge base from scratch, build a three layer cake with cherry filling, and decorate the cake the classic way. The full Ingredient list will be sent prior to class, so you can cook along from home. 

Chili Cookoff

American Legion Post 176 in Springfield, VA will host its annual Great Bowls of Fire Chili Cookoff on Saturday, January 30th at 4PM at Legion Center at 6520 Amherst Ave.

Those looking to bring a pot of chili to enter the competition, please e-mail Matt at mattsuehouse@gmail.com to let him know of your entry. Floyd Cline will be serving as Head Judge…. and FYI, the Commander will make chili but NOT compete (he says he’s #tiredofwinning).

This is one of the free community events and also open to the public.

Races

The 2021 Winter Burke Lake 5k, 10k, and Half Marathon will take place on Sunday, January 31. Races will commence at 7:30 AM.

Come out and enjoy scenic 5k/10k/Half courses through the trails of Burke Lake Park. Course Maps can be found here. 

The 2021 Winter Burke Lake races are being held in partnership with the EOD Warrior Foundation.  The EOD Warrior Foundation (EODWF) serves the EOD community by providing financial assistance and support to active-duty and veteran wounded, injured or ill EOD warriors, families of our wounded and fallen EOD warriors and by maintaining the EOD Memorial.

Runners will receive a Finisher’s Coin, and a Technical (Drifit) Event Shirt. This is a chip timed event. There is also a virtual run option for those who cannot make it on race day.  Those runners will receive a custom medal.

Walkers and strollers are also welcome to attend this event.

There will be race day registration, but participants will need to arrive around 45 minutes before the race to get registered for the event. (T-shirts sizes can not be guaranteed for race day registers.) 

While the Governor’s Order states that race waves can still be up to 25, these races will have waves closer to 10. We encourage participants to bring their own water. Masks are expected during check-in, but are not expected during the actual race. 

These are some of the best community events to consider for this week.