Grand Marshal
Rebecca Tax is Your 2023 Grand Marshal
Interview by Scarlett Williams, Recreation and Parks Department
Congratulations to Rebecca Tax on being named the Grand Marshal for the 41st Annual City of Falls Church Memorial Day Parade. Rebecca will preside over the City’s annual festivities on Monday, May 29, 2023. The Recreation and Parks Advisory Board selected Rebecca based on her extensive community involvement with Falls Church City Public Schools, Falls Church Homeless Shelter, fundraising efforts for local organizations and all around community support.
16 years ago, Rebecca and her husband moved here from Arlington County after a leisurely drive through the City with their sleeping infant in the backseat. They saw a house for sale and the rest is history! Since then, she’s raised two children here, has opened two very successful businesses in the City, Lazy Mike’s (well now, right outside of the City) and Clare and Don’s Beach Shack with her brother, Dave Tax and has made countless positive impacts for local organizations and community members.
As I walked into Lazy Mike’s I was warmly greeted with “How may I help you? Picking up?” I said I was there to interview Rebecca Tax. I see Rebecca’s face pop out from behind the kitchen and say with a big smile “I’ll be right there”. We sat down at a table with her mom and began talking. One of her favorite things about Falls Church is how “everyone is connected. We have a very strong sense of community and it’s very homey”. This is evident with the number of people coming in and out during the lunch rush and the conversations happening at the tables around us with those who seem to have lunch there every day!
Both Lazy Mike’s and Clare and Don’s are staples in our 2.2 square miles. When asked what her go to menu items are she said “that was hard but the Beach O Rito at the Shack and at Lazy Mike’s a simple egg and cheese sandwich or an impossible cheesesteak because it’s delicious”. Not only do both restaurants have a welcoming atmosphere, they’re also environmentally friendly. Both use compostable and recyclable to-go materials, as well as compost onsite, and the Shack has solar panels that give back to the grid. When asked about it, Rebecca said, “Just trying to look out for mother earth also”.
In the nomination letter, it states that Rebecca frequently hosts fundraiser dinners to help local organizations, volunteers every week in the community, donates food for school functions, makes special ice cream flavors for school celebrations including Danny’s Birthday, takes action in causes she believes in and “does all of this giving back to the community without fanfare, and often without public recognition”. When asked why giving back is so important to her she states, “I’m super lucky that my line of work allows me to have the time to help others, the means to help others as well as the actual goods. We can donate food and services from the business that we do, that is helpful to people in the community and we’re lucky enough to be able to do it so I’m happy to do that”. She recently donated a ton of unused coffee filters to FCCPS daycare and art teachers!
When she’s not in the kitchen, you can find her sitting in her driveway, walking her dogs, making dinner for her family or visiting Florida!
When asked what she was looking forward to about being this year’s Grand Marshal, she said she’s “very nervous, she’s not going to lie”. She’s not sure what she’s going to wear, “maybe a gown or her normal outfit”. It’ll be a surprise for all of us!