and

“SynerGeo welcomes our neighbors to join us in our monthly community dinner
on Monday, March 15th at 6pm. Please bring a dish to share. We hope to
see you next week.” (This event is no alcohol also).

The search continues for the missing 22-year-old exchange student from Guernsey, England, who was last seen on campus on March 2. The VCU Police Department is joined by students, family and friends in their efforts to locate the student.
Jonathan “Jonny” S. Dorey is a geography major who lives in the Gladding Residence Center.
According to press statement issued by VCU Police Chief John Venuti, Dorey is between 5 feet, 10 inches and 6 feet tall, weighs between 180 and 200 pounds and has brown hair. Dorey wears glasses and was last seen wearing a blue and white plaid jacket with a hood and dark blue jeans. He was riding a black mountain bike.
Venuti stated police have no reason to believe foul play is involved in Dorey’s disappearance, but would like to talk to anyone who has seen Dorey.
Lorna Yarberry, a friend of Dorey and a communication arts major stated in an e-mail she was informed of his disappearance Wednesday afternoon when mutual friends called asking if she had seen him. Yarberry stated Dorey was a frequent bike rider and the search had extended to trails Dorey had been known to ride.
“A friend works for the K-9 Alert search and rescue for Henrico and she and her dog and the rest of the team with state-certified search dogs were out around the river today looking for him,” Yarberry stated. They didn’t find anything yet they’re going to continue to search the area and the river.”
Yarberry stated some of Dorey’s friends, including an officer, covered all the paths and grounds at Belle Isle (north and south ends) and the trails of Hollywood Cemetary (sic).

2. Changes to Parking on West Cary Street
VCU is considering requesting the City of Richmond change the parking restriction on the south side of West Cary Street, the 900 and 1000 blocks, from no restriction to 2-hour parking, similar to the majority of campus streets. The change is being considered because of the opening of the Cary Street Recreation Center and the demand for parking near this new facility (I added boldness here- ed.). Please direct comments to Paul Walker, manager of Parking & Transportation, at prwalker@vcu.edu no later than March 12.

While this is in congruence with making the Cary Street corridor more urban-business-friendly (something that the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association is in favor of), it stands in contrast to what the VCU administration said during its campaign against the neighborhood:

E. Objection to parking. This project will not increase the enrollment at VCU, and therefore does not increase campus parking requirements. .

Of course, most Oregon Hill residents are not surprised in the least by this. It fits in with the rest of the Student Recreational Center controversy. (Again, OHNA was never against VCU students getting a new facility. The location and implementation were the issues). Hopefully, someday soon, VCU will take more positive steps to allow healing.

Neighborhood Clean Up/Litter Patrol with VCU SGA, Green Unity 4 VCU, & Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association

March 6, 2 pm / meet outside Mojo’s at 1:50 pm

For more info, contact Leah Fremouw (fremouwla at vcu.edu or Elle Chang (change at vcu.edu)

*pizza will be served afterwards for clean up volunteers *

An old soldier, who for four years wore the grey and bore the stoma of battle, lay all day yesterday unconscious at the City Hospital. He is John W. Satchfield, and since July 5, 1890, has been an inmate of the Soldiers’ Home. A gentleman was passing near Church and Holly streets yesterday morning about 6 o’ clock, when on the corner lay the prostrate form of a man insensible, and, apparently, dead. The ambulance was called and Dr. Lyne responded, and found that the old man must have been exposed all night, and was stiff and benumbed with cold. He was taken to the hospital, and during the whole day did not revive, thought the physicians worked faithfully over him, and even had to cut his clothes from his body, but their efforts to bring renewed life back and make the blood flow faster in those veins were fruitless. His condition is considered very grave, but at a late hour last night he seemed better, and his pulse was stronger, but speech and movement had not come.
Mr. Satchfield was a member of Pegram’s Battery during the war, and came to the home from Petersburg. Colonel Bigger gave him a permit the day before for a leave of two days, and he went away with the intention of going to Manchester, and then to Petersburg. How he came to be at Church and Holly streets cannot be understood, and he alone can tell.

Dear Monroe Park Community Advisory Group Members,

I want to advise you that VCU will conduct a tornado preparedness exercise on Tuesday, March 2, as part of statewide emergency preparedness efforts.
The VCU exercise will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the activation of 10 sirens on the Monroe Park and MCV campuses along with text messages, digital signs, Web site information and social media that are part of a multi-channel system for communicating emergency information to VCU students, employees, parents and neighbors.

Tuesday’s test is a departure from the regular noon tests each semester and will serve as the Spring 2010 full-scale test. The sirens will sound a fast, up and down wail for four minutes, and after a three minute pause, the sirens will sound a steady wail for two minutes to signal “all clear.”

In addition, VCU is conducting its first Campus-Community Emergency Response Team (C-CERT) class with the assistance of the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and Virginia Department of Transportation. Student volunteers will simulate tornado “victims” at a designated site on campus, providing the C-CERT students an opportunity for the triage portion of their final class drill.

The tornado “victims” will be staged at Park Plaza, between Cabell Library and Hibbs Hall on the Monroe Park Campus. The location also will serve as the site for an incident command post location. Emergency personnel from VCU and the City of Richmond will participate and their equipment, including vehicles, will be staged in the area.

I also would like to remind you that you and your neighbors may sign up for text messaging in order to be notified about emergencies, closings and delays due to inclement weather, and the monthly and semester emergency tests. There is no cost for enrolling, and you can sign up for text messaging now at www.vcu.edu/notify. Emergency information also is available on the VCU Alert Web site at www.vcu.edu/alert.

We hope you will find that our emergency communications are beneficial to you, and we will continue to work together to provide as safe an environment as possible. As always, we will communicate with our community neighbors when there is any enhancement or change about which you would want to know. And please, do not hesitate to forward this email to your neighbors, to help spread the word about the siren test.

Sincerely,

John M. Bennett
Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration
Virginia Commonwealth University

804-828-6116
jmbennett@vcu.edu

The Solid Democratic Club of Oregon Hill met last night at 8 o’clock, with President D.R. Read presiding and J.L. Lee acting as secretary. After transacting the regular business of the club, lively and stirring addresses were made by Mr. Meade Haskins, James W. Gibbons, W.M. Prentiss, John J. King, and others. The club is in good working order, and ready for the fight for Democracy.

The city of Richmond is preparing to start construction on a traffic signal upgrade project to improve intersection safety for motorists and pedestrians.

Who: City of Richmond Division of Transportation Engineering

What: Traffic signal improvements

When: Monday, March 1 through September 17

Where: Belvidere Street and Main Street; Belvidere Street and Franklin Street

Scope of Work: Installation of new mast arm signal poles and pedestrian pedestal poles; installation of pedestrian countdown indicators; installation of new wheelchair ramps; newly painted pavement markings; sidewalk restoration

For more information on city services and schedules, please visit us on line at www.RichmondGov.com.

###

More detailed meeting minutes may get posted later.

To support reconstruction efforts after the earthquake in Haiti; middle School student, Nadine Delano, will be hosting Kids Helping Kids,a yard-sale and bake sale from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 27, 2010 at William Byrd Community House (WBCH).

Agenda includes more discussion and possible election of new leadership, 3 zoning matters, and a possible neighborhood cleanup on March 6th.

As with most non-profits, it’s been a challenging year finding the resources to keep the wheels turning at SynerGeo. Please help us to continue building community and providing a safe, fun place for kids to get creative in Oregon Hill. This winter / spring, we’ve got two great options for supporting Synergeo and supporting yourselves at the same time:

Place an order with us for homemade brunswick stew. It’s perfect soup weather! We’ll be cooking up a delicious batch of this classic stew for $7 a quart, and it will be available for pickup (or if you know somebody here, delivery!) on February 27th after 12:30pm. Contact Bonnie [bonniehofmeyer at synergeo.org] or call us [804-648-2287] to pre-order.

Buy some plants from us for your spring garden. Your yard will thank us, and we will thank you for giving back to your community. Our online shop has something for all your gardening needs, including gorgeous flowers, fruits and vegetables. Each plant you order will arrive in the mail, ready to plant, at the appropriate planting time! Note: if you’d rather order by cash or check, you can contact Bonnie [bonniehofmeyer at synergeo.org].
Thank you so much for your generosity — your good works help us to do ours.

This past fall, Sukenya Best and Mike Dulin led a printmaking program at St. Andrew’s School in Oregon Hill. Throughout the program, the young artists explored the theme of pressure in interesting ways. They experimented with new methods and new materials with some impressive results. This is a video taken last November of a drawing exercise where they reacted to music on paper.

Oh my gosh, another chance of snow? We anticipate having our farmers and bread vendors here at the BHM, unless something really cataclysmic happens with the weather!

We suggest that you get ready for another week/weekend of staying in…come and buy all your ingredients to cook up a storm!

Secretly want to do something that takes patience and results in something wonderful – spend a Sunday afternoon of slow cooking for the week: grass-fed Beef stew, roast pork served with peach rosemary jam, while sipping cocoa and munching pizelles while yummy aromas drift through your home…

Visit the Byrd House Market online: http://www.byrdhousemarket.blogspot.com
Tuesdays, 3-5:30 pm

Due to snow, our Growing and Urban Garden was canceled last week. We plan to start classes tomorrow. Yes, you can still sign up for it.
Urban Garden Guru John Wise begins his 4-week course “Growing an Urban Garden” this Tuesday, Feb. 9 , 6-8 pm, following the close of the market day. Tonight’s topic is “The Place – Garden Design”. Classes are held in the Grace Arents Library of William Byrd Community House, 224 S. Cherry St. $25 for all 4 or $10 for a single class. Please RSVP to librarian@wbch.org or call 643-2717. Next week: “The Plants – What Grows Here?

REMINDERS:
Annual Vendor Meeting is Tuesday, Feb. 16 at 1:30 – application review, market updates, VDACS information, etc. Please RSVP to byrdhousemarket@gmail.com or (804) 643-2717
Vendor Applications accepted through Friday, Feb. 26 – online, by hand, fax or mail (don’t forget the fee!)

–
Byrd House Market
William Byrd Community House
224 South Cherry Street
Richmond, VA 23220
ByrdHouseMarket@gmail.com
(804) 643-2717

WRIR, 97.3 FM, Richmond’s alternative community radio station, celebrated five years of being on the air last night at the Renaissance Center on Broad Street as part of First Friday festivities. Of course the winter storm dampened much of the rest of First Friday, but WRIR leadership bravely went ahead and held their party and were rewarded by a crowd that enjoyed one of the few Richmond events not canceled last night.

Here is local band Amazing Ghost rocking the ballroom:

A representative from Patrick Henry Charter School Initiative made a short presentation and answered questions.

VCU announced the opening of the controversial student recreational center at the corner of W. Cary and S. Cherry Streets. It was also announced that Oregon Hill residents who wished to buy monthly prorated membership to the new Student Recreational Center on W. Cary Street would pay a rate roughly equal to that of VCU alumni ($281.67 per year). VCU suggested that a monthly list of interested residents be kept by OHNA. (The attendance list from this past meeting was dutifully sent to VCU Community Development.) All eligible residents who purchase a membership will be required to got to the VCUCard office (located at 701 West Broad Street) to purchase a VCU Recreational Sports ID. All VCU Recreational Sports rules, policies, and guidelines apply.

Scott Burger, citing new responsibilities outside the neighborhood, voluntarily stepped down as President. Jennifer Hancock volunteered to serve as OHNA’s interim President for a few months until new leadership can be elected. She did note that she is already volunteering as the President of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council’s Board of Directors. One possibility that was mentioned was for OHNA to change its bylaws to rule by an elected board.

Some other issues that were discussed included a new greenway grant by City, the light from the new Mead WestVaco building(I understand that company officials may have had the light turned down a bit since the meeting), and a proposed tree removal on Pine Street.

A ceremony will be held for JEB Stuart at 11 a.m. on February 6th lasting approx 90 minutes. A round of volleys will be fired during the service.

Mr. McCann, one of the oldest and best-known residents of Oregon Hill, died suddenly Friday of heart-disease. He was over sixty years of age.