The Apprentice Salon Training Clinic will be hosting Gallery Night at The Apprentice, which will feature several of the areas most dynamic and innovative artists. “GALLERY NIGHT AT THE APPRENTICE” will be held on Saturday March 29, 2008 from 6-9PM at 723 W. Cary St. Richmond VA 23220. More information regarding Gallery Night at The Apprentice can be found at theapprenticesalon.blogspot.com or by calling (804)225-9725. [via]

VCU is strong-arming the City to break its own Code. Green Alley closing is proposed today at Planning Commission. Will Planning Commission Chair Mills and other members recuse themselves due to the work they do for VCU?

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On Monday, Richmond City Council will be making some very important decisions about Oregon Hill. They will be voting on closing Green Alley for VCU’s continuous expansion. They will also be voting on a School Board plan that would close Open High in 2019 and give VCU a lot of decision making about the future of its (national award winning) program.

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Hi Everyone-
Just wanted to put up an announcement about our upcoming
community dinner we will be having at SynerGeo on March 17th at 6pm.
Starting in March we will have a community dinner every month on the
3rd Monday at 6pm so hopefully people will get in the habit of
stopping by! It is a pot luck style dinner so we do ask for you to
bring something to share if you can.(beverage,side dish,main dish)
If you do not know what SynerGeo is, let me fill you in a little
bit. It is a non-profit on the corner of Albemarle and S.Laurel that
runs afterschool programs as well as other community outreach
programs such as these community dinner. Our current staff is trying
to start up some new projects including a teen center and a mural on
our building displaying our name so people will know something does
exist in that purple building. We will be sending out a neighborhood
wide survery along with our Winter newsletter very soon so please
look for those in your mailbox.

I hope to see you all at the community dinner or if you can’t
make it but are interested in learning more or helping out at all,
please contact me, Katie Cowles at cowleskatie@yahoo.com

Unfortunately, I could not find a web link for it, but there is a fanciful Oregon Hill memoir by Sara Daves in the VCU student magazine the vine.

She describes growing up in a bohemian household at 700 S. Laurel called “the 700 Club”. The house was eventually torn down and Overlook condo town homes are there now.

Excerpt from Times Dispatch article by Will Jones:

L. Robert Bolling has been named executive director of the William Byrd Community House in Richmond.

The nonprofit agency, based at 224 S. Cherry St. in Oregon Hill, helps youths and adults become self-sufficient by offering a range of programs and services, including early childhood education, a library, a teen center, emergency housing and other assistance.

Bolling, who grew up in Church Hill, worked most recently as director of finance and business development for Boaz and Ruth, a community-revitalization nonprofit agency in Highland Park that trains ex-offenders.

Bolling was one of 35 applicants and four finalists to succeed Reginald E. Gordon at the William Byrd Community House. Gordon was named chief executive officer of the Greater Richmond Chapter of the American Red Cross in May.”

Folk musicians Mat Callahan & Yvonne Moore perform this Thursday March 13, 2008 @ 7PM at The Flying Brick Library (506 S. Pine Street). Donations will be accepted - No Alcohol, No Smoking inside.

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Word has gotten out. The Hollywood Grill has been sold and it sounds like Oregon Hill can expect a new restaurant soon. For better and worse, I doubt it will feature pool tables.

From The 804.com- Richmond VA Real Estate Blog:

It has been reported that a seafood restaurant will take over the old Hollywood Grill on 626 China St. But can someone confirm this rumor that the establishment will actually be a Pescados (probably, the best restaurant in Midlothian)? If that is the case, O-Hill immediately becomes “Seafood Restaurant Row” and a dining destination (if it wasn’t already with just that one restaurant).

Comment »
Pescados’ chef/owner Todd Manley bought the Hollywood Grill building and is currently renovating it. I’m not sure if it will be called Pescados but the idea is to have many of the most popular menu items from Pescados in the new location. He plans to hire a chef to run the new restaurant that he will personally train. Obviously, he can’t be at both locations all the time. I think in the long run, his goal is to be mainly at the Midlothian location.

Comment by Check Please — March 12, 2008 @ 11:38 am

From: RVA4Peace [mailto:rva4peace@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, March 14, 2008 7:45 PM
To: rva4peace@gmail.com
Subject: Rush Hour Anti-War March Tuesday 3/18 5PM

WHEN: Tuesday, March 18th, 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM

WHERE: Beginning at the Virginia War Memorial (621 South Belvidere
Street, 23220) marching through downtown Richmond to the US Federal
Court House at 10th and Main Streets.

WHAT: A peaceful demonstration and march calling attention to the 5
year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Protesters dressed in
orange, wearing black hoods over their heads (similar to Federal
prison detainees) will be lead by two people dressed as President
George W. Bush and Vice President Richard B. Cheney. Other marchers
will be carrying signs, drums and noise makers. US Naval veteran,
Toni Davy, will provide her Winter Soldier testimony at the War
Memorial prior to the march. (http://ivaw.org/wintersoldier)

WHO: Richmond citizens who want peace and justice. Please join us -
bring your voices, signs, drums, flags and wear orange!

This march is part of a week of anti-war activities marking the 5th
anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

Please respond to let us know you can be there.
Thank you!
Mary
http://www.myspace.com/rva4peace

Received an announcement via yellow postcard:

5th District Meeting
Thursday, March 20, 6:30 pm
John B. Cary School, 3021 Maplewood Avenue, 23221

“We will share information regarding:
-Senior Tax Relief
-Earned Income Tax Credits
-2008 Real Estate Tax Assessments
-Schools & Other Topics

ALL ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND!”

In this Times Dispatch article by Tyler Whitney, it becomes clear that VCU is no longer being held accountable by government. Citizens have no recourse. Our elected leadership has sold us out.

“The new independence gives VCU the authority to acquire land without state approval, Bennett said.”

So much for the Downtown Master Plan…

Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting; Story Time In the Library; find out more…

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Stomp Stomp Dave helped me dig the hole for the post, and I took advantage of the beautiful weather on Saturday to install yet another dog station. This makes no. 4. Number 1 was put into Pleasants Park, Number 2 was put on the linear Parsons Park greenway near Holly St., and Number 3 was put in the linear Parsons Park greenway behind the 200 block of Pine (and promptly, sadly, destroyed by vandalism). I hope this new one will serve Overlook condo dog owners as well as the many visitors to Oregon Hill Riverside Park.

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No response whatsoever.

From: scottburger@mac.com
Subject: Ordinance No. 2008-34
Date: March 14, 2008 1:56:25 AM EDT
To: PantelWJ@ci.richmond.va.us
Cc: Norman.Sales@Richmondgov.com

Dear President Pantele,
The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association takes a strong position against VCU’s request to close two alleys within the Oregon Hill Historic District. We believe that the legal requirements for alley closure established by the Richmond City Code Section 90-327 were not followed, and, therefore, the vote to approve the Ordinance No. 2008-34 closing was in error and must be reversed.
City Code Section 90-327 (2) specifically states that an ordinance proposing a city alley closure cannot be introduced until written consent is given by the owners of real property who have a right of ingress and egress from their own property to those portions of the alley to be closed and whose property is situated between the block boundaries encompassing a proposed alley closing. These written consents must be approved as to form by the city attorney and filed in the office of the city clerk.
It is our understanding that neither the City nor VCU obtained the written consent of the two property owners at 130 and 132 S. Cherry before the Ordinance No. 2008-34 was introduced, as required by City Code Section 90-327 (2). These two property owners have a right of ingress and egress from their property to the portions of the alley to be closed and their property is situated between the block boundaries encompassing the proposed alley.
President Pantele, we ask that you request the City Attorney to review this matter as soon as possible, and we request that Ordinance No. 2008-34 be nullified as not meeting the legal requirements of City Code Section 90-327 (2).

Sincerely,
Scott Burger
President, Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association

Don’t miss the Tricycle Gardens plant sale today - Tuesday March 25th - at the Byrd House Market from 3:30-6PM. They have spring vegetable seedlings ready to plant now! All Seedlings are $3 per 6 pack and include: lettuces (several types), broccoli, chard, and spinach. [via]

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Neighbor Peter Baldes (Also see article in this week’s Style):

Hello All!

This week, my department (VCU Painting and Printmaking) is hosting
the Southern Graphics Council Conference.

Over 1000 printmakers, from all over the world will be attending….
There are many events which are free and open to the public, of note
are the Thursday (Main st area) and Friday (Broad st.) gallery walks,
but get this,
on Saturday, from Noon to 4 pm are the Open Portfolio sessions. These
will be in the basement of the Landmark Theatre and are open to the
public.
The Open Portfolio consists of over 500 individual artists,
collectives and presses showing and selling their works….. its a
fantastic opportunity to get some great art from great people…. we
have been working on this conference for over two years, and I wanted
to invite the neighborhood to some really fun events…

see you there….

for more info visit.
sgc.vcu.edu

pete

Richmond.com has an interview with the William Byrd Community House’s new Executive Director, Robert Bolling.

One of the things that makes this site different from most of the other local neighborhood/community blogs is it’s relationship to the neighborhood association. I serve as President of the neighborhood association as well as manager/moderator of this blog. At this point, I am certainly willing to step down from one or both positions if replacements are agreed upon.

The topic of minutes is tricky. On one hand, the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association (OHNA) does want to be transparent and open, on the other hand, its important that neighbors feel free to speak at meetings and that standards are kept. I will try to offer these OHNA meeting minutes on this site whenever I can, however I also think it is important that they be approved by the Association before publication. This may prove difficult if quorum is not reached and the Secretary position remains unfilled. At tonight’s OHNA meeting, the January meeting minutes (taken by acting Secretary Silver Persinger) were approved for publication.

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There is an article in RVA Magazine that outlines all of the details of the events with locations and times…here is a link to the pdf. scroll down to page 64

http://www.rvamag.com/shared/webRVAv3i12.pdf

As many of the people that run this live in the neighborhood, I imagine most of this is caused by out of towners, but if you have a chance, go out and check out the festivities…it’s fun stuff!

To:
CC:
From:
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008
Subject: [OregonHill] Slaughterama 2008

I just wanted to warn everybody to be on the lookout for illegal activity in the neighborhood this weekend. Last year the neighborhood got tagged in numerous locations and trash was left everywhere. I’m all for having a good time as long as everybody keeps it legal, respects their neighbors and cleans up their mess.

The Byrd House Market will be open April 1, from 3:30-7PM, with the official season opening set for May 6. Come and get back into the habit of shopping at the BHM, pick up some fresh and local seasonal produce, farm fresh eggs, grass-fed meats, free-range chickens along with all the yummy baked goods. Come and see what are crafters have been creating over the winter!

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The Valentine Richmond History Center’s Highlights of Hollywood Cemetery Walking Tour kicks off tomorrow. The tour is every Monday-Saturday from 10-11:30 until October 31st. Meet the guide at the cemetery entrance at Cherry and Albemarle Street. $10 adults; $9 in advance; $5 History Center members and children 6-18 years old; children under 6 are free.

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