Yearly Archives: 2009

Highlights of Hollywood

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The Valentine Richmond History Center’s Highlights of Hollywood walking tour will be April 1 from 10-11:30AM:

Learn about the cemetery’s history, artwork and symbolism, as well as the famous personalities buried there, including two U.S. Presidents, writer Ellen Glasgow, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Generals George Pickett and J.E.B. Stuart.

Meet your guide at the rear of the stone structure on the left at the cemetery entrance at Cherry and Albemarle Streets. $10 (Pay your guide on the day of the tour. ) Members: $5

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“Musical Free-for-All” at Main Library

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Saturday, March 28th

Musical Activities: 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Richmond Symphony Concert: 4 p.m.

Richmond Public MAIN Library

101 East Franklin Street (Downtown)

The Richmond Symphony is partnering with the Richmond Public Library to present a free day of youth oriented musical activities, performances and classes culminating in a free Richmond Symphony Community Concert

Free performances also by:

Richmond Symphony’s Youth Orchestra, Richmond Ballet’s Minds In Motion, the Happy Lucky Combo

Plus great free activities, such as:

• An “Instrument Petting Zoo” for all ages

• Have your head-shot picture taken playing a musical instrument

• Musical demonstrations and youth performances

• Storytelling & Art Activities

• Youth Computer Composition Classes

• Instrument care & tuning sessions

• Suzuki Violin Classes – Violins provided!

For details, visit www.richmondsymphony.com

Day’s activities sponsored in part by Friends of the Richmond Public Library – celebrating its 50th anniversary!

Storyteller Anndrena Belcher at WBCH

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Storyteller, singer, songwriter, dancer, and oral history performer
Anndrena Belcher
Discover Your Own Story!
Using folk tales, personal story, songs, poetry, and original writing and movement in a way that reflects both her eastern Kentucky, coalfields roots, and her “multi-ethnic, port of entry, Uptown, Chicago” migration experience, Ms. Belcher reveals how “everybody has a story that counts in the making of history.” Anndrena’s workshops focus on finding the pieces of the story puzzle using traditional games, rhythms, songs, a and most important of all, acknowledging the treasure each and every one of us possess, the “living memory”. Come ready to play. There is no way to make a mistake in this workshop.
Saturday, March 14
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
William Byrd Community House
224 South Cherry Street
Richmond, VA 23220

Historian Studs Terkel calls Anndrena Belcher “a national treasure,” so don’t miss this opportunity to meet her in person, see her perform, and learn!

The workshop is free to the public and will fill up fast.
To RSVP your spot, call (804) 643-2717 or email librarian@wbch.org
This workshop is sponsored by
William Byrd Community House, Center for African American Genealogical Research, Inc, Virginia Commission for the Arts, and Chicago’s Uptown People’s Law Center Oral History Project.

Stormwater Rising

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From the Times Dispatch:

State officials hold meetings to discuss bacteria in James
These meetings are TODAY.

This post on the local Sierra Club’s blog is important.

A couple of quick thoughts:

One way that Oregon Hill residents can help keep bacteria out of the James River is by cleaning up after their pets properly. We can also use less lawn and garden fertilizer. Hopefully, growing our own food lessens agricultural runoff overall. Of course trees are also important in this. All Richmond neighborhoods should be taking measures.

As for the City’s proposed stormwater utility fee, there’s no doubt that Richmond needs to do more to lessen its stormwater runoff. And for environmental reasons, it should be supported. However, it still needs more scrutiny. The local Green Party has it clear that the City has been overcharging its citizens for water for years. In fact, though the water rates were slightly reformed this past year, the City’s minimum water rates are still among the highest in the country (while it sells water to the surrounding counties, who in turn, charge their citizens LESS than the City does!). So where is all this money going? We are talking tens of millions of dollars, maybe more, of taxpayer dollars for a PUBLIC utility. And if the City starts charging residents the stormwater utility fee, again, where is all THAT money going? Is it really going towards preventing and not just piping and controlling stormwater runoff?

Citizens need to start asking more, better questions of their local civic leaders.

More Graffiti

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This past Thursday night the William Byrd Community House and Grace Arents Community Garden were hit by vandals who put up obscene graffiti. One tag, on the Community Garden sign said “This Means War…”.

Mr. Bolling, the Executive Director of the WBCH, was interviewed by WRIC, Channel 8 News. I also heard that the park area under the Lee Bridge has also experienced more graffiti.