From the William Byrd Community House website:
Shelia Givens, Executive Director, accepts donation from Board Member Kevin Chase from Hampton Roads Bankshares to purchase supplies for our Early Childhood Education Program.
Thank you Hampton Roads Bankshares.
From announcement:
Oregon Hill Movie Night
Friday, June 27 at Dusk
Pleasants Park
As always FREE refreshments will be served
Call me old-fashioned, but I still pay the 195 tolls with coins. However, for those that do use E-ZPass, the monthly fees for it will end:
Dear Valued E-ZPass Virginia Customer,
I am pleased to inform you that as of July 1, 2014, Virginia’s E-ZPass program will no longer charge a monthly maintenance fee on transponders. In April 2014, Governor McAuliffe signed legislation that required the elimination of the monthly maintenance fees by September 1, 2014. At the Governor’s direction, we are implementing this change two months early.
In the coming days, you will receive more details regarding the terms and conditions of Virginia’s E-ZPass program. We will continue to look for opportunities to improve the program and appreciate your participation in E-ZPass Virginia.
www.ezpassva.com
This email was sent from customerservice@ezpassva.com
From the press release:
RICHMOND, Va.– On Sunday, June 29, 2014, as part of the nationwide Civil War sesquicentennial commemoration, the National Park Service will present Voices from the Storm: The 1864 Overland Campaign. This special outdoor multimedia program will begin at 8:30 p.m. at the Tredegar Iron Works (500 Tredegar Street in Richmond) and will feature images, voices, and music of the people who lived 150 years ago.
I found him in front of the altar… He had been shot through the chest, was breathing loud and in gasps, worn out for want of support… His words led several men near to draw their sleeves across their eyes; but they all knew he was dying… He reached toward the floor, and the man next handed up a daguerreotype case… I took it and opened it; found the picture of a young, handsome woman and held it and a candle so that he could see it. His tears fell on it, as he looked… “Is that your wife?” and he replied, “No! But she would have been.”
(Jane Swisshelm, hospital nurse)
This story is one of hundreds from churches turned to hospitals, from farm fields that became battlefields, and homes that would never again be seen by their sons, fathers, and brothers. These stories illustrate how the massive 1864 Overland Campaign reverberated throughout the nation that summer 150 years ago, and for years afterward.
The National Park Service will share some of these stories in Voices from the Storm: The 1864 Overland Campaign, presented by park rangers and volunteers from Richmond National Battlefield Park, Fredericksburg & Spotsylvania National Military Park, and Petersburg National Battlefield. The free program is a partnership event cosponsored by the three parks and the American Civil War Museum. A reception will precede the program at 8:00 p.m.
The Overland Campaign
In five weeks of fighting between May and June 1864, tens of thousands of American soldiers were casualties of what became known as the Overland Campaign, a series of battles fought across a broad swath of central Virginia, from Fredericksburg to Richmond to Petersburg. That summer, the families and loved ones of almost 100,000 American servicemen received news that their husbands, sons, fathers, and friends were casualties of the fighting in Virginia—killed, wounded, or missing—captured or maybe one of the countless unidentified dead hastily buried on the battlefield. As the siege of Petersburg and Richmond began in June 1864, the outcome of the war was far from certain—for the future of the Union, the Confederacy, and four million enslaved African Americans. Since early May, thousands of visitors have followed in the footsteps of Union and Confederate armies as the three parks and partner sites throughout central Virginia have been commemorating the 1864 Overland Campaign.
From tour description in Virginia Living magazine:
Jun 28, 2014 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
Explore the significant role that women’s groups played in Hollywood Cemetery’s history from the Civil War to the present. Stops include gravesites of female residents who led independent lives as educators, authors, preservationists, suffragists, humanitarians or as the power behind the scenes of famous men. Meet at the cemetery entrance at Cherry and Albemarle streets.
$15 per person
$5 for History Center Members and children under 12
Walk-ups welcome.
Cash or check, or purchase online at richmondhistorytours.com.
This Wednesday is a red Wednesday, which means trash and recycling pickup. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night. They do not belong on the sidewalk after tomorrow night.
Also, don’t forget this Saturday’s Project Clean Move.
In recycling news, North American aluminum scrap prices recently moved slightly higher. And a new research paper sees the global market for recycled paper packaging reaching $139 billion in the next 4 years.
From email announcement:
Byrd House Market – Your Neighborhood Farmers Market!
Eat well and you’ll grow great, and feel good.
and what’s ripening now? tomatoes and blueberries. pound cake and biscotti. shiitakes and cucumbers. egg noodles and butter. sausage and honey. salad and simmering greens. cabbage and red onion slaw. grilled new potatoes and … you tell me!
What’s Elaine going to make today???
The ingredients are so simple and you only need ….
Use your SNAP EBT!
Looking for a CSA?
Talk to our Farmers!
Let’s Talk Breastfeeding!
First Foods & Next Foods
Join the Healthy Action Team in the Grace Arents Community Garden for a mini-festival to promote and learn more about the health and social benefits of breastfeeding. Breastfeeding Information Table with HCAT Breastfeeding Ambassadors and Richmond City Health District, Richmond Doulas, VCU School of Nursing Birth Companion/Doula Program, Central Virginia Chapter of Babywearing International (https://www.facebook.com/groups/bwiofcva/), Baby-wearing demo (wraps and slings, how to utilize when nursing), From the Heart (one or more knitters from local nonprofit that knits and donates baby hats and blankets), Stories By Denise, A Woman’s Place: Children’s Activity and Reading Area!
Demos from 4 – 6 pm
Baby-Wearing International
Storyteller
Breastfeeding in Discretion
Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga
Baby’s First Foods
Knitting
Garden Learnin’ with Amanda
Guiding our WBCH Summer Camp kids (4-4:30) and Yours in hands-on activities that let nature speak for herself!
Nonprofit guests
Project Yoga at Stall #11
Virginia League for Planning Parenthood is at Stall # 22
The $10 Student Deal works!
Eggs, and music.
:-)
TURN IN YOUR COMPLETED PLEDGE CARDS TODAY!
VA GROWN’s first drawing is July 8.
Take it home. Bring it back.
From email:
Hello all
Just a reminder that OHNA will be having their monthly meeting tomorrow at 7 pm at WBCH.
On the agenda is a vote on the variance for 423 S. Cherry St and traffic plan suggestions for the fireworks on July 3rd.
Thanks
Jennifer
OHNA
Riffing off a post from three years ago, will we see a resurgence in high speed rail hopes?
This past Friday, FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo spoke Friday at a Virginians for High-Speed Rail event in Richmond.
Szabo challenged officials in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to develop a plan for service along the Southeast High-Speed Rail Corridor between Washington, D.C., and Atlanta.
And, tomorrow, there is an opportunity to advocate for better transportation. On Tuesday, June 24 from 12 noon to 6 pm, there is a PUBLIC OPEN HOUSE meeting of the Richmond Area Metropolitan Planning Organization at 9211 Forest Hill Avenue, Suite 200, Richmond, VA 23235. Planning staff from the MPO will be present at the meeting to explain the draft FY 12 – FY 15 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) document and to answer questions. The draft TIP document, still subject to review, is posted on the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission website, www.richmondregional.org.
I sent this earlier this month to Neko Case’s management in an attempt to contact the rock star:
Dear Neko Case,
First of all, let me say that I have enjoyed your music for a while now. While many fans may have first heard of you through the New Pornographers, I first heard you from your work with with one of my all time favorites, John Doe. I was lucky enough to have been tipped off last minute about a show you did years ago with the Sadies down at a Shockoe Bottom club in Richmond, Virginia, called Alley Katz (an old alley warehouse turned beer hall with a small stage.) The energy, your voice…I am not exaggerating when I say it is one of the best shows I have ever seen.
I also had the pleasure of seeing you more recently at Richmond’s National Theater, an excellent show though the venue was not nearly as personable. So, I’m excited to hear that you’re scheduled to make another appearance in Richmond at the end of June. I’m looking forward to it and hope you are too. I’ve purchased your new album “The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You (Deluxe Edition), locally, at Plan 9 Records and have enjoyed it very much. I’ve found the personal stories on it touching.
The reason I am writing to you now and making this an open letter is to let you and others know about a local controversy related to the venue for your upcoming Richmond show (June 27). Don’t worry, I am NOT asking you or anyone else to boycott it, but I’m hoping that you’ll choose to treat this matter with due sensitivity and understanding. There’s a lot to it, so please take a moment to gather your concentration before reading further…
I live in a very special place, a small, “historic white working-class neighborhood in Richmond, Virginia” called Oregon Hill. There are many reasons why it’s special, including that it has survived the Civil War, tornados, highway construction, suburban flight, corporate hegemony, university expansion, and other threats. It’s also known as place that many local musicians have called home, including The Rock-A-Teens, GWAR, The Cowboy Junkies, David Lowery (Camper Van Beethoven, Cracker), Tim Berry (AVAIL), the No BS! Brass Band, and countless others. There have also been many songs written about it, including The Cowboy Junkies’ “Oregon Hill”.
Perhaps because of this affinity for musicians, Oregon Hill was delighted when the National Folk Festival set up tent for a few years in a closely adjacent riverfront location. After the National Folk Festival travelled on to other cities, a private local nonprofit group called Venture Richmond went on to hold “The Richmond Folk Festival” in that location. I’ll note here that I personally attended and volunteered for both the National and Richmond Folk Festivals. I even won the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2010. So, you can imagine my happiness at having some of the best musicians in the world playing within walking distance of my home.
It’s a special kind of hell when something you love is used to threaten your community, but that has sadly become the case with The Richmond Folk Festival. Oregon Hill residents did experience some noise/trash/crowd issues over the years due to a few especially rowdy, loud acts in close proximity to our relatively quiet, residential neighborhood, but we’ve largely tolerated this, because we understand and want people to enjoy the music and riverfront. The Folk Festival is only one weekend a year and more of ‘a family event’.
However, Venture Richmond has now proposed building a new, 10,000 person amphitheater at that location. It’s called Tredegar Green and is a fragile, historic site directly adjacent to Oregon Hill and the Virginia War Memorial. Venture Richmond wants to be able to rent out their proposed amphitheater year round. The Richmond Folk Festival and other concerts have been at initially held at another river-adjacent location called Brown’s Island (where I believe you’ll be playing later this month) which is more appropriate in its proximity to residential/natural areas.
The Tredegar Green location is what our neighborhood Association (as well as numerous historic preservationists nationwide) want to preserve. The reason is that through that location runs a segment and boat basin of the The James River and Kanawha Canal. This waterway was built in 1785 to facilitate river travel upriver beyond Richmond’s rocky fall line, effectively creating a travel and trade route prior to the inception of the railroads. The canal was built with slave labor and the company that built it and managed it was founded and presided over by no one less than George Washington.
Even before Venture Richmond’s proposal was fully announced, a historic stone wall built adjacent to the canal by Washington’s company was illegally demolished while the site was under Venture Richmond’s stewardship. I’ve worked for over the last few years with our Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association to carefully document and present the history of the Kanawha Canal, focusing on the portion threatened by Venture Richmond’s proposed amphitheater. Despite our continued attempts to broker compromise (keeping the proposed amphitheater on Brown’s Island, for example) and mitigate damage, Venture Richmond (which is really a very powerful mix of local corporate and political leaders, including our own Mayor) continues to bulldoze ahead, ignoring neighborhood and historical preservationists’ concerns.
In short, Venture Richmond’s plans are threatening not only our quality of life, but the very historic and structural integrity of our city. They’ve deceptively told the media and general public that if we force them to adjust their plans, the Folk Festival will have to be cancelled. Personally, I think this has more to do with future development plans for the location and very little to do with amphitheaters, Folk Festivals, music, or public interest.
They see the historic Canal and Oregon Hill as public impediments that must be diminished to attain their private plans. Sadly, this group and their supporters pretty much own the mainstream media in this town and those they don’t own are afraid to speak out against them. I’ve been writing about this for a while now, if you want, you can read more on my website, www.oregonhill.net.
I appreciate your time and don’t necessarily expect you to step in on this mess. You have a contract to perform and I do want the best for ‘RVA’. I will pray for good weather, but I want you to know about this controversy, so when Venture Richmond’s representatives start talking to you about what they’re doing for ‘downtown living’ and their future plans, you understand that there’s more to the story and that there’s a lot more at stake.
Hold me to the line.
Sincerely,
Scott Burger
(Ed. note: Alley Katz is now gone and a new, different venue is opening there).