Col. John Mosby, Virginia Gov. William “Extra Billy” Smith, and some Civil War soldiers returned to Annandale Saturday for a ceremony unveiling the historic marker commemorating the “Action at Annandale.” The marker, on the corner of Little River Turnpike and Hillbrook Drive, next to the library, recognizes the historical significance of the roadbed for the unfinished Manassas Gap Railroad and a Civil War skirmish that took place Dec. 2, 1861.

On that day, approximately 200 Confederate cavalrymen overran a barricade defended by the 45th New York Volunteers. The skirmish ended when reinforcing troops from the 32nd New York Regiment joined the fight and the Confederates retreated toward Centreville.

This was sent to us by the Fairfax County Park Authority:

The Fairfax County Park Authority will host a Listening Forum at Wakefield Chapel on Thursday, November 4, 2010, at 7 p.m.  Come participate in an open discussion about parks and recreation in your community with Fairfax County Park Authority Director John W. Dargle, Jr.

The Braddock District Listening Forum is the perfect place to informally share thoughts and concerns, and exchange ideas with Park Authority staff.  Community feedback from previous forums can be found at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/listeningforums.htm.

For more information, contact the Public Information Office at 703-324-8662.

Wakefield Chapel is located at 8415 Tollhouse Road in Annandale, VA.

LAUREL, Md. (AP) -- A 7-year-old boy from Elkridge has found a fossil at a dinosaur park in Laurel that appears to date back about 116 million years.

Aidan Isenstadt found the approximately 1 1/2 inch jawbone fragment last month while fossil hunting.

Matthew Carrano, curator of dinosaurs at the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, says the fragment is part of a juvenile meat-eating dinosaur. He believes the find is the first jawbone from a meat-eating dinosaur ever found in Maryland. It's also believed to be the first find from the Early Cretaceous period anywhere in the Eastern United States.

This isn't the first time a young person has found a fossil at the park. Almost as soon as the park opened last October, 9-year-old Gabrielle Block of Annandale, Va., found a dinosaur tailbone.