ASQ Northern Virginia Section 0511

ASQ 0511 Mailing

ASQ Section 0511 May 2025 Meeting Announcement

Saturday, 17 May 2025

George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill: Ranger Outing Event

Event Organized by
Edwin Videla
ASQ Section 0511 Arrangements Chair and Ranger Outings Lead

Edwin Videla

Short Description:

ASQ Section 0511 is pleased to have arranged for an approximate one hour and a half a ranger-led tour of George Washington's Distillery® and Gristmill at Mount Vernon, VA. Please arrive at 10:45 am to organize tour groups. The tour will be at 11:00 am. Space limitations provide for a maximum of twenty-four (24) participants per pre-reserved guide, so reserve your spot while you can!

Registration and Payment:

Standard Registration is now open. There were 24 slots available at time of intial registration . The cost is $25 per person. A guest can be added by selecting 2 for the count. Regular Registration will be open until Sunday May 11, 2025 @ 11:59 pm. Beginning May 12 and until Friday, May 16, 2025 @ 11:59 pm or when we run out of slots there will be a non-reimbursable $5 late fee.

Scroll all the way through to ensure you are completing all the information for each registration. Your registration will be reimbursed (attendance will be recorded) after the event as follows:

Anyone NOT registered WHO SHOWS UP for this ASQ event (for example, as a guest of someone who has registered) will be accommodated only if there is an ability to do so.

No guarantees of such accommodation should be expected; thus, it is important that you register both yourself and your guest.

Overall, you can attend a different Distillery tour, but you will have to arrange ticketing yourself, and it will be a tour not associated with this ASQ Section 0511 Ranger Outing event with no RUs awarded.

Program:

10:45 am-10:55 am.- Arrival, check in, in or near the front entrance at the Distillery building. Meet Edwin, he is expected to meet you wearing the ASQ Sash.

11:00 am-12:00 pm.- Tour is inside buildings. Tour will start on time and will not wait for late arrivals.

12:00 pm-12:15 pm.- A short drive to El Paso Mexican Restaurant 5-6 minutes. (8746 Cooper Rd, Alexandria, VA 22309)

12:15 pm-1:15pm.- ASQ Section 0511 Networking Meal. You will pay for your own meal that is to your liking in size, content, and cost. For more details about lunch see Networking Lunch after Tour section below.

About The Venue:

Website: https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/distillery-gristmill

The Venue: Nearly a 200-year hiatus and a multi-million dollar reconstruction, George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill at Mount Vernon, VA is back in business - producing grain products powered by a 16-foot waterwheel and the same rye whiskey that made the Founding Father the nation's most successful whiskey producer in the years after his presidency. Located at the original site, George Washington's Gristmill highlights his vision for America's future as "granary of the world;" while his Distillery is the only site in North America that demonstrates 18th-century distilling from seed to barrel.

Tour: Take a walk in a faithfully reconstructed working distillery that produces small batch spirits on site.

Ranger: This tour will be led by a guide provided by the distillery. Due to space limitations, we will be split into two or three groups of 8 people.

Maps:
George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill
5513 Mount Vernon Memorial Hwy, Alexandria, VA 22309

Map

Parking:
Free parking is available at George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill. The facility is located at 5513 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Alexandria, VA 22309, approximately 2.7 miles from the main Mount Vernon estate. Visitors should arrive directly at the distillery and gristmill site, where on-site parking is provided at no cost. Additionally, a free shuttle service operates between the main Mount Vernon estate and the distillery and gristmill site, offering convenient transportation for guests.

Parking

Ranger Outings Poll:

If you have not yet done so, please respond by Friday 16 May 2025, 11:59 pm to the poll conducted by our Section 0511 Chair for Voice of the Customer:

Your answers are a direct input in helping us evaluate the results of the previous twelve (12) Ranger Outings of 2021-2025 and further improve our future Ranger Outings. It will also help us better prepare for this Ranger Outing.

This poll is only the second poll for Ranger Outings for all members and friends of Section 0511 (first such poll was in September 2021).

Optional Preparatory Review:

This Optional Preparatory Review is for the May 2025 George Washington's Distillery and Gristmill Ranger Outing

Summary: The Optional Preparatory Review is an educational add-on to the main event that you may complete if you so choose.

How to Complete and Certify the Completion of the Preparatory Review

1. Complete all of the Preparatory Review activities noted in the Preparatory Review Activities

2. When you register for the event, check off the mark: "I certify that I have completed all activities of the Optional Preparatory Review before submitting this registration."

3. Attend the Section's Monthly Educational Event (which itself grants you 0.15 RU) to get the add-on 0.05 RU.

4. Be willing to use your knowledge of the Preparatory Review materials during the Section's event.

Thus, you will receive 0.15 RU for the Section's event and 0.05 RU for the Preparatory Review (and the 0.10 RU for the Networking Lunch if you attend it), for the total of 0.20 RU or 0.30 RU, respectively.

Activities of the Optional Preparatory Review

Important:

Action #1. Read this short page and review the map: https://www.mountvernon.org/the-estate-gardens/distillery-gristmill

Action #2. For each of the following links, do the following:

Action #3. Certify the Preparatory Review completion during your (and, if applicable, your Guest's) registration for the event.

Networking Lunch After Tour:

Ranger Outings Lead Background:

Edwin I. Videla is a seasoned Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance leader with expertise in product development, food safety, supplier verification, and regulatory compliance. He has led FSVP and FSMA compliance initiatives, ensuring FDA readiness and supplier quality across global markets. Edwin currently works as an independent consultant for companies that want to get food-related certifications and import products into the US.

Edwin holds an MBA with a concentration in Project Management from The University of Texas at San Antonio and a degree in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Sciences from Universidad de Chile. He is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a Food Safety and Quality Auditor (CFSQA). Fluent in English and Spanish, Edwin is known for his strategic planning, team leadership, and ability to drive quality initiatives that meet regulatory and customer standards, ensuring high-performance execution and compliance in global markets.

Next Section Leadership Committee meeting:

6 – 8pm, Wednesday, 14 May 2025 at the Dolley Madison Library, 1244 Oak Ridge Ave, McLean, VA 22101

This is a hybrid meeting, both in person and online. The SLC will be test driving its ability to conduct future member meetings in this format. In order to expedite this test, we are looking for volunteers to help with the video/audio setup and dismantling. If you have ever used a camera, video recorder or a phone to take photos or videos, then you're more than qualified to help us. RUs can be earned by volunteering to help us. We plan on starting the set up for the online meeting at 4:45 PM. Please reach out to the emedia chair, Jeff Parnes, at emedia25@asq0511.org if you're able to join us.

Joining by a direct link:
Meeting link: https://asq.webex.com/asq/j.php?MTID=mf9eacfe383eb679d2189a2bc3466debf
Joining by meeting information (requires entering the password):
Web address: https://asq.webex.com/asq
Meeting number: 2558 731 5440
Password: vcXvNJjF372
Joining by phone (you will have to identify yourself by name when you have joined):
Phone number: 1-408-792-6300 Call-in number (US/Canada)
Access code: 2558 731 5440

Upcoming Section Meeting:

Wednesday, 11 June 2025: Document Control by Tara Garrett, ColumbiaSoft Corporation<

Call for Speakers!!!

Would you or someone you know like to speak at a future ASQ meeting? We're always looking for volunteers. Be creative! Exercise your public presentation skills! Earn recertification credits! Please contact programs25@asq0511.org.

About Us:

ASQ Section 0511 is a geographic community in Northern Virginia that lives intertwined with the network of ASQ Divisions and technical communities specializing in specific quality domains and supporting ASQ Certifications in their domains. Its members have tremendous cumulative experience across multiple industries, companies, and government agencies. Any single one of you in our ASQ Section is a formidable source of takes, opinions, and lessons on a number of Quality Matters.




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