Musicians Katy Benko and Julie Crosson will perform at Frying Pan Farm Park’s Raise the Rafters winter music series. The series will examine the history of music from the birth of rock and roll, through it’s impact on social change and covering the impact women have had on the genre.

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The first installment took place Jan. 15, which covered the origin of rock. On Sunday, Feb. 19 the duo will explore the social and political change that rock music inspired and that was inspired by it.

The final performance, on Sunday, March 18 will examine the role of women and how they made a big impact in musical culture, even from its earliest day.

Details at the Frying Pan Park web site, along with other events planned at the park.

On Thursday, Jan. 26, at approximately 7am, a Southwest Employee was involved in a collision between a baggage cart and a mobile lounge at Washington Dulles Airport. Immediately following the accident, the injured Employee was rushed to an area hospital to receive medical attention. We learned earlier today, Friday, Jan. 27, that the Employee passed away as a result of injuries sustained in the accident. We continue to work with all relevant agencies, including the local authorities and the airport, to investigate events surrounding the accident. The Southwest Airlines Family is greatly saddened by the passing of our Southwest Family Member, and we extend our heartfelt sympathies and support to his entire family at this time.

Six students were discovered to have consumed alcohol Thursday at J. Michael Lunsford Middle School in Chantilly, Virginia, according to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office. The students apparently consumed the alcohol at the school just before the start of the school day.

• Friday, Dec. 9th – The Nutcracker. 7:30 p.m. Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston. Performed by the Reston Conservatory Ballet. $17-$22. 703-715-8366 or www.conservatoryballet.com
• Saturday, Dec. 10th
• Holiday Model Train Show. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. ArtSpace Herndon, 750 Center St., Herndon. W&OD caboose and Herndon Depot Museum open for tours. Free. 703-956-6590.
• Voce Chamber Singers of Northern Virginia. 7:30 p.m. St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church, 432 Van Buren St., Herndon. A concert of holiday favorites. Toys for Tots collected at the door. Adults $23, seniors $18, age 24 and under $8. 703-277-7772 or www.voce.org
• The Nutcracker. 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston. Performed by the Reston Conservatory Ballet. Additional shortened performance suitable for young audiences at 11 a.m. $17-$22. 703-715-8366 or www.conservatoryballet.com
• Candlelight Tour: Christmas during the Federal period (1794-1820). 4:45-7 p.m. Sully Historic Site, 3650 Historic Sully Way, Chantilly. With the Fairfax County Carolers, sea songs by Mike Bosworth of Ship’s Company and members of the 1st Virginia Regiment. Tour the 1794 home in the glow of natural candlelight, hear seasonal music, make holiday ornaments, and sample sugar cookies. $10 adults, $7 seniors and children. Reserve at 703-437-1794 orwww.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sully/calendar.htm
• Holiday Music Service. 4:30 p.m. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, 2709 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton. “Magnificat” by John Rutter with Chorale and Orchestra. www.uucf.org
• Holiday Open House. 11 a.m. Reston Regional Library, 11925 Bowman Towne Drive, Reston. Join the staff and Friends of the Reston Regional Library for a holliday open house. Live music and refreshments. 703-689-2700.
• Holidays Around the World. 2 p.m. Reston Regional Library, 11925 Bowman Towne Drive, Reston. Sing a-longs and dancing with Cody & Bj. 703-689-2700.
• Sunday, Dec. 11th
• Master Singers of Virginia: A Festival Of Lessons And Carols. 7 p.m. Church Of The Epiphany, 3301 Hidden Meadow Drive, Herndon. Pre-concert lecture by director Erik Jones at 6:15 p.m. Music and stories based on the Festival from King’s College in Cambridge, England, Paul Mealor’s Ubi Caritas, plus an opportunity for the audience to join in singing carols. Light refreshments after. $18 adults, $15 students and seniors age 65+ in advance, plus $2 more at the door. www.msva.org or 703-829-6782.
• Holiday Model Train Show. 11 a.m.-4 p.m. ArtSpace Herndon, 750 Center St., Herndon. Herndon Depot Museum open for tours 12-3 p.m. Free. 703-956-6590.
• The Nutcracker. 3:30 p.m. Reston Community Center, 2310 Colts Neck Road, Reston. Performed by the Reston Conservatory Ballet. Additional shortened performance suitable for young audiences at 12 p.m. $17-$22. 703-715-8366 or www.conservatoryballet.com
• Candlelight Tour: Victorian Christmas in 1885. 4:45-7 p.m. Sully Historic Site, 3650 Historic Sully Way, Chantilly. Read the Clement Moore poem, A Visit from St. Nicholas. The Christmas tree will be decorated according to the 1885 recollections of Minnie Middleton. See Santa Claus and hear bagpipes played by Susan Hyams of the Alexandria Fifes and Drums. Tour the 1794 home in the glow of natural candlelight, hear seasonal music, make holiday ornaments, and sample sugar cookies. $10 adults, $7 seniors and children. Reserve at 703-437-1794 orwww.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/sully/calendar.htm
• Holiday Music Service. 9:15 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, 2709 Hunter Mill Road, Oakton. “Magnificat” by John Rutter with Chorale and Orchestra. www.uucf.org
• Christmas Cantata. 8 a.m., 9:15 a.m. and 11 a.m. Floris United Methodist Church, 13600 Frying Pan Road, Herndon. “The Winter Rose” will be performed during Sunday worship services by the Floris UMC choirs and full orchestra. Traditional carols and newly composed anthems. 703-793-0026 or www.florisumc.org/cantata

The Herndon High School Theatre Department will present “Beauty and the Beast” starting Friday, Dec. 2. One of their larger productions in recent memory, the cast of 48 students plus crew have been involved with the play since September.

For more information and showtimes, visit the theater’s web site.

Shahram Fatemi, 41, who had until earlier this year been the manager of the Breeze Sports Bar and Restaurant in Herndon, died Nov. 6 at Reston Hospital Center. He was a Reston resident.

The Breeze Sports Bar is located in Old Town Herndon.

Frying Pan Farm Park will conclude its yearlong 50th anniversary celebration from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday, December, 3, with an old-fashioned holiday on the farm.

The 50th anniversary capstone event features a giveaway of five free turkeys during a gathering of farmers, friends, and officials at 1 p.m. Admission is free, while some activities require a fee.

Visitors to the park on December 3 will be serenaded by strolling carolers as they warm themselves by fires and listen to storytellers. The decorated farmhouse will be open for tours. The toasty warm blacksmith’s shop will be a popular place as the blacksmith hammers hot iron on his anvil. Frying Pan’s local beekeeper will open the farm’s hives and demonstrate honey-harvesting techniques.

Western is in! Families are invited to cheer on the cowboys and cowgirls at the 30th Annual Pre-Turkey Quarter Horse Show at Frying Pan Farm Park running November 18 through November 20, 2011. Over 200 horses will be shown this year by exhibitors from Maryland, Delaware, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Participants will compete in a variety of events starting Friday at 8 a.m. The show continues on Saturday with a 9:30 a.m. start, and the final day of the show begins at 9 a.m. on Sunday. The show is held indoors rain or shine, and admission is free for spectators.

Exhibitors will compete by class in the following events:

• Halter
• Showmanship
• Hunter under saddle
• Hunt seat equitation
• Hunter hack
• Equitation over fences
• Working hunter
• Trail
• Walk trot
• Western pleasure
• Western horsemanship
• Western riding
• Reining
• Pole bending
• Barrel racing

Visitors to the farm may also take a spin on the antique carousel, tour the park on a tractor-drawn wagon, or shop for unique souvenirs and holiday gifts in the Country Store. Hearty fare for cowboy-sized appetites will be available for purchase from Gordon’s Grille.

The Pre-Turkey Quarter Horse Show is proud to be approved by the American Quarter Horse Association, the Virginia Quarter Horse Association, the Southern Maryland Quarter Horse Association, and the Maryland State Quarter Horse Association.

A schedule for each day is available online.

Frying Pan Farm Park is located at 2709 West Ox Road in Herndon, Va. For more information, call the park at 703-437-9101.

Aerospace company EADS North America and subsidiary Airbus Americas are to relocate in November to a new building overlooking Dulles Airport as part of a consolidation effort.

As a result, EADS is to vacate space in two Rosslyn office buildings, including one that sported its logo up until last week, while Airbus is to leave its Herndon location. The move makes EADS the latest to leave the traditional contracting stronghold along the Potomac River, following Northrop Grumman’s departure for Falls Church and Boeing’s decision to consolidate its local operations in a new facility in Crystal City.