First Day Walk

Pine Street neighbor Stephenie Harrington is organizing a ‘First Day Walk’. From her announcement:

Tuesday, January 1st
10am

Meet at gazebo on S. Pine St, we plan to head over to Belle Island promptly at 10 o’clock. Kids, strollers and dogs on leashes welcome. Please comment below or message me if you plan to join us.
We may get some sprinkles but forecast looks quite warm.
Happy New Year!

By the way, if you are planning something further away- you may want to check out this post on the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s website about Virginia State Parks First Day Hikes 2019.

Reminder- 2019 Historic Oregon Hill Calendars

A reminder- Pine Street Baptist Church is selling 2019 Historic Oregon Hill Calendars. The calendar is composed of black and white photos from years gone by in the Oregon Hill community. The calendars are $15 and may be purchased at the church. Money raised will be used for Pine Street’s ongoing ministries. Call 644-0339 for more information. The calendars make a great Christmas gift.

If you know of a neighborhood business that has a special holiday release, deal, or bargain, please share in the comments.

VCU Siren Testing On Wednesday

From VCU Police:

VCU SIREN TESTING / WEDNESDAY DEC 5: Virginia Commonwealth University will be activating its upgraded siren system on Wed., Dec. 5 at noon as part of its monthly siren testing in 2018. This includes sirens installed on the Monroe Park and MCV Campuses and a new siren at VCU Police headquarters, located at 224 East Broad Street.
The addition of a siren at VCUPD headquarters means VCU students, faculty and staff in facilities downtown, along with residents and businesses, will hear the signal more clearly than when the sirens were only located on VCU’s campuses. In a real emergency, the sirens are activated in conjunction with VCU’s other alerting technologies, including text messages. In a real emergency, updates are posted on alert.vcu.edu.

VCU students, faculty and staff can manage their VCU Alert texting and email preferences in the myVCU portal, under the “Manage Emergency Alerts” tab. Community members can sign up for VCU Alerts to receive text messages and/or emails at: https://alert.vcu.edu/signup/index.php.

Bread and Puppet Theater Visiting Richmond Next Week

I hope everyone reading this is familiar with the wonderful Oregon Hill Halloween Parade. The roots of the entity that organizes that parade, the All Saints Theater Company, go back to the Bread and Puppet Theater, which is an internationally celebrated company that champions a visually rich, street-theater brand of performance art filled with music, dance and slapstick. Its shows are political and spectacular, with huge puppets made of paper maché and cardboard. Founded in 1963 by Peter Schumann on New York City’s Lower East Side, the theater has been based in the North East Kingdom of Vermont since the early 1970s. Now, the world Famous Bread and Puppet Theater visits Richmond again as part of a rare 14 week tour across the continent and back!

Here is some information on the two Richmond appearances:

Grasshopper Rebellion Circus
Wednesday Dec. 5th
Doors 7pm/ Show at 7:30pm
Suggested Donation/Sliding Scale: $10-25
Randolph Community Center
1415 Grayland Ave.

Basic Bye-Bye Show
Friday Dec. 7th
Doors at 6:30pm/Show at 8pm
Richmond’s Rumput will be opening the show at 7pm!
Suggested Donation/Sliding Scale :$10-25
Highpoint Gallery
3300 West Broad

After the performance Bread and Puppet will serve its famous free sourdough rye bread with aioli, and Bread and Puppet’s “Cheap Art” – books, posters, postcards, pamphlets and banners from the Bread and Puppet Press – will be for sale.

For more information, please visit the FaceBook event page by clicking here.

OHNA Meeting Tonight

From online announcement:

Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting tonight at 7pm at St Andrew’s Church!!! Here is the agenda:
-7:00pm Meeting called to order.
-7:05 Proposed Minutes of October meeting considered for acceptance
-7:10 Update from RPD
-7:15 Update from VCU Police
-7:20 Update from VCU liaison
-7:25 Update from Councilman Agelasto’s office
-7:35 Presentation from Know Your Rights training group- Elizabeth Hunt
-7:45 Discussion and update on picnic tables and new plants for Pleasants Park aand volunteering to clean up Holly Street Playground (still waiting on update on stabilization procedure for Holly Street Playground).
-7:55 Discussion of Drainage issues in the alley between 300 blocks of Laurel and Pine.
-8:05 Discussion of initiative- possibly installing a dog run in Parsons Linear Park next to wall.
-8:10 Election of officers for 2019
-8:30 Meeting adjourned.

Neighbor Get-Together At Peddler On Pine This Coming Sunday

Albemarle Street neighbor Nancy Kuehl Traylor is hosting a get together for Oregon Hill neighbors this Sunday at the Peddler On Pine restaurant.

HEY NEIGHBOR! Just stop by, please say hello and have a slice of pie! This Sunday – December 2nd, stop by Peddler on Pine any time from 1-2:30 and have a slice of pizza – my treat! Just thought it would be a great opportunity for neighbors to meet and to support our neighborhood restaurant! Don’t just live in Oregon Hill- be a part of it and get a free piece of pizza!

13th Annual Toys for Tots Holiday Celebration Next Sunday

Pine Street neighbor Stephenie Harrington is getting ready for the 13th Annual Toys for Tots (& puppy/kitty) Holiday Celebration next Sunday, Dec. 2, at District 5 restaurant.

Here are more details:

In addition to collecting unwrapped toys, bikes, games, sporting equipment and books for Richmond TOYS FOR TOTS, all monetary donations will be *matched* and provided to our worthy RACC Richmond Animal Care and Control Foundation, which provides essential care for homeless pets….and they need toys too!

!!! Dress in your favorite holiday attire !!!
Prizes awared to *most festive gear, *best party animal costume, *tackiest Christmas sweater

Date Sunday, December 2nd
Time 10:30am – 2:30pm
Location District 5 – – 1911 W. Main St (private room in back w/TVs)

· Mimosas by the magnum await you, as well as appetizers from their expanded menu, cupcakes and some special (new) surprises for this invite-only affair!
· Their extensive brunch buffet is available for $15 if you want to place an order, the server will provide you a bracelet and open a tab. When you RSVP please let me know
o (1) if you plan to order the brunch buffet and if so,
o (2) are you planning to arrive before or after 12:30pm? (helps with seating)
· We also have our own cash bar in our private room…and HUGE television for viewing photos of previous parties…and football
· See “Items Needed” lists below, thank you for your generosity!!!

Cheers and much love,
Stephenie
804-551-0603

Gifts and donations will be collected today through Monday, December 3rd
you can use PayPal if you like stephenie.l.harrington@dom.com
all cash donations will be *matched* and donated to Richmond Animal Care & Control Foundation
….thank you!

Ø TOY ITEMS NEEDED: new and unwrapped items including but not limited to: books, educational toys, bikes and scooters (helmets greatly appreciated), dolls, Barbie’s, sporting equipment, art supplies, games, puzzles

Ø PET ITEMS NEEDED: towels, sheets, blankets, Nylabone brand dog treats, meat-flavored baby food, “pate” style canned cat food (gently used towels/sheets/blankets are acceptable, thank you!)

ABOUT RACCF

Richmond Animal Care & Control Foundation (RACCF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit created to provide resources to Richmond Animal Care & Control that result in increased adoptions and improve the quality of life of pets in its care and in the Greater Richmond community. To learn more about Richmond Animal Welfare Foundation visit their website.

ABOUT Toys for Tots (City of Richmond)

Each year, I personally deliver our donated toys to the local Fire Department (Station 6) where they are pooled as part of the City’s toys-for-tots campaign, supporting local needy families.
The City of Richmond and Radio One have partnered together for the past several years for the annual Holiday Toy Drive. Thousands of Richmond residents are selected by the radio station each Christmas season to attend the event to receive toys. Neighbor to Neighbor has been honored to assist this initiative by helping to recruit volunteers to serve at the annual event. Volunteers provide various duties such as unloading toys from moving trucks, setting up toy displays, assisting residents with selecting toys during the event, and helping to manage large crowds.

If you would like to volunteer on Friday, December 7th and help deliver joy to families in need, please go to to this link- www.surveymonkey.com/r/TDG3DH7

Pine Street Baptist Church Is Selling 2019 Historic Oregon Hill Calendars


Pine Street Baptist Church is selling 2019 Historic Oregon Hill Calendars. The calendar is composed of black and white photos from years gone by in the Oregon Hill community. The calendars are $15 and may be purchased at the church. Money raised will be used for Pine Street’s ongoing ministries. Call 644-0339 for more information. The calendars make a great Christmas gift.