George Mason University Mapathon Coming Up

This looks like a really interesting event and gives you a chance to work with digital mapping tools, a great tool for a historian or preservationist.

George Mason University, Exploratory Hall
Friday, November 20, 2015 from 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM (EST)

On Friday, November 20th, George Mason University’s Geography and Geoinformation Department will host a Mapathon where mappers will choose from various impactful mapping projects that create open data to help the humanitarian and development community. We will be able to share the work we accomplish and look at each other’s mapping contribution. The mapping events are supported by Missing Maps, NOVA Community College ASPRS club, George Mason University ASPRS club, Peace Corps, National Geographic, and MapGive.

EVENING AGENDA
4:00 – 5:00pm Kick-off – Let’s map: Hear about all the cool mapping projects you can choose from. Beginner mappers will receive training. There will also be a room dedicated to advanced training using JOSM mapping editor.
5:00 – 5:30pm Food break
6:00 – 8:00pm Mo Mapping!

WHAT DO I NEED?
You do not need a laptop or a mouse because we have reserved computer labs. We just need your enthusiasm!

DO I NEED TO BE A MAPPING EXPERT?
No! You do not need any previous experience. If you have time before you come, and you are new to mapping via OpenStreetMap, please have a look at the training videos here. We will also have volunteers ready to help you.

Please choose the appropriate ticket to this event that matches your skill level so we can plan our training more effectively!

WHERE IS IT?
The event will be held on the 2nd floor of Exploratory Hall (Room 2301) at George Mason University Fairfax campus in Virginia. Visitor parking is available on the lowest level of the Shenandoah Parking Deck (about $10). Once you enter the building from the main level/first floor you will see a sign directing you to the second floor registration table where you can get your name badges and be guided to the computer labs.

WHAT DO I DO NOW?
Get yourself an eventbrite ticket for the event.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/george-mason-university-mapathon-tickets-19043886778

If you have any trouble registering for the event, or would like more information, please contact Janice Ouellette, joulette@nvcc.edu

Mosby Heritage Area Association lantern-lit storytelling at Mount Bleak Saturday night

Many of you are folks who have come over the years to the Mosby Heritage Area Association’s Gray Ghost Interpretive Group programs–the lantern-light living history dramatic series we call Cavaliers, Courage, and Coffee.  This weekend, on Saturday night November 7th at 7:30 p.m., we’ll be offering our last program of our 11th season, entitled Cavaliers, Courage, and Coffee:  An Autumn Night at a Safe House.  The program will be held at Mount Bleak, the living history farm that belonged to the Edmonds family during the Civil War.  Just south of Paris VA off U.S. Rt. 17 a mile south of Rt. 50, the address is:

Sky Meadows State Park
11012 Edmonds Lane
Delaplane VA 20180

Mount Bleak is the handsome stone house near the main parking lot of the park, which many of you have likely seen as you are off the hike the trails of one of Virginia’s most lovely state parks.  Kevin Bowman, the park’s Ranger in charge of interpretation and public programming, is an old friend of mine who like me, once worked at Morven Park near Leesburg.

We’re both very excited about what we’ve cooked up.  So we hope you will join us!  Rain or shine, mild or more chilly, we’ll be spending an autumn night stepping back in time to 1864 to look at a farm in the midst of the cat-and-mouse guerrilla warfare that typified the Civil War in the this section of Fauquier and Loudoun.  The location, with its many outbuildings and even more stories, is perfect for the Gray Ghost Interpretive Group’s style of lantern-lit “in the first person” storytelling.   Dress warmly and with appropriate wet weather gear if that is called for, and we will adapt to the weather and keep you provoked, cozy, and enthralled.

No reservations are required, so if you decide to join us at the last moment, come on down.
Parking, per car:  $4.00   Admission:  adults, $10.00;  students k-college, $5.00.