Birds Bring Economic Vitality to Cities, New Study Finds

Many Oregon Hill residents love having birds in the neighborhood and recognize how lucky we are that we get a lot bird traffic due to nearby James River Park and Hollywood Cemetery, which serve as havens for wildlife and important stops for bird migrations.

A new study published last month in the journal Urban Ecosystems tries to determine what economic value residents in two comparable cities place on having birds in their backyards and parks.

From an article on the study:

“This paper shows that our interactions with birds actually have a pretty high economic return to the community where you live,” said John Marzluff, a University of Washington professor of environmental and forest sciences and the paper’s co-author. “We know that having a livable, green community that attracts birds also increases the value of homes in that area. This paper shows there’s an economic service birds are providing.”

It’s something to consider as development pressures and increased riverfront activity come to bear. There is a lot at stake.

Alexander W. Weddell

Besides being the birth date of President Thomas Jefferson (1743), April 13th is also the birth date for diplomat Alexander W. Weddell (1876), who is buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Hollywood Cemetery has a short bio on it’s website. Here’s a excerpt:

By 1923 the forty-seven-year-old, tall, courtly Virginian was convinced that he would probably remain a bachelor for the rest of his life. In February of that year, however, a meeting for afternoon tea in a fashionable Calcutta hotel with some old Virginia friends and a vivacious widow from St. Louis quickly led to courtship. Weddell arranged to take his leave and met Mrs. Steedman’s party in Rangoon, Burma. The romance continued on the trip back to the United States, and the couple married in St. Ambrose Chapel at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City four months after first meeting.
The couple returned to Calcutta late in 1923 where they remained until Weddell was transferred to Mexico City in 1924. Upon arrival in Mexico, the couple found a nation that was torn by revolution. Years of US intervention into Latin American affairs and resentment caused by the vast profits American corporations syphoned from their extensive Mexican holdings were fueling a strong “anti-Yankee” sentiment. Americans demanded restitution for the deaths of several US citizens during Poncho Villa’s border raids into Arizona and New Mexico. Weddell, who initially sympathized with Mexican interests, found coping with corruption and bureaucracy extremely vexing and discouraging.
In 1928, deeply concerned about his wife’s health, yearning to return to Virginia, and disappointed in his assignment by the Republican administration to Montreal, Weddell, a southern Democrat, resigned from the diplomatic corps. Weddell’s retirement came to an end, however, in 1933 when he finally achieved his dream of becoming an ambassador, being assigned by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the mission to Argentina. He and his wife spent “five interesting and happy years in that wonderful country,” after which Roosevelt offered Weddell the very difficult post of ambassador to Fransisco Franco’s Spain in 1939. By 1942, advancing age, health problems, and the cumulative frustration of working with an unresponsive State Department and observing Nazi influence in the Madrid government convinced Ambassador Weddell to retire permanently from foreign service.
By 1943 the couple had returned to Richmond where he was elected president of the Virginia Historical Society, and she resumed her gardening and continued her charity work.

Renegade Market Tomorrow

From Byrd House Market’s blog:

byrd_market_760wide_V2

2015 is shaping up to be a great market season

WELCOME TO OUR NEW AND RETURNING VENDORS, MUSICIANS, NONPROFITS, STORYTELLERS, FRIENDS, SHOPPERS AND VOLUNTEERS!
I am looking forward to the bounties of spring like everyone else. Eggs with clear whites and golden yolks, Asparagus tender and tall, Salad greens and sprouts tossed with the lightest of vinaigrettes, Strawberries and herbs, flowers and soft yet hearty warm breads, mushrooms bursting with savory good tones sauteed in whole butter or olive oil with chopped garlic, a dash of salt and sprinkled with chives… and make one more stew, a big one-pot treasure of the farmer’s best crops and high quality meat or poultry that feeds four for 3 meals. It is all about the food, isn’t it.

MAY 5 = OPENING DAY!

AND EVERY RENEGADE MARKET DAY TIL THEN IS THE BEST KIND OF PREVIEW!

Please Don’t Forget, Vendor Applicants!!
Please accept this quick, firm reminder that your application is not complete unless the Application Fee has been received. Make your check payable to “WBCH” then Mail or Deliver it to

WBCH
224 S. Cherry St.
Richmond, VA 23220
ATTN: BHM App