Category Archives: community

Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council Annual Meeting on Sept. 28th

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The Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council (OHHIC) is an all-volunteer nonprofit community development corporation dedicated to providing affordable housing for first time home-buyers while restoring Oregon Hill through renovations, protective easements, and sensitive infill construction.

It’s too late to register as a member in order to vote or run in the upcoming election for the Board of Directors, but its never too late to become a member and volunteer. Everyone is welcome to attend the annual meeting on Sunday, September 28th at 4 pm at the Jacob House (619 W. Cary St. (at Pine)).

Topics at this year’s meeting include:
– Voting for new board members
– An update on the development of the 600 block of S. Laurel St.
– Discussion on making the Jacob House more available to local nonprofits
And more!

OHNA Rewards Residents for July Incident

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At last month’s Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association meeting, the membership voted to recognize and reward Marty, Mark, and John for their part in apprehending a robbery suspect this past July. Since then, I have heard that federal officials became interested in the suspect concerning some previous crimes.

The awards were rather meager- restaurant gift certificates, and ceremonial keys to the neighborhood. But as I stated in the letter that accompanied them, neighborhood residents are very thankful for their action. As King, I did offer Marty a knighthood, but he graciously declined.

Belvidere Plans

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Last of the current trilogy of planning posts. As mentioned before, Oregon Hill residents are very concerned about Ved Jain’s plans for Belvidere St. It does not help that rezoning has still not gone through. It does not help that greenway plans still need to be settled. Click on this link to see the plans submitted so far (link loads a large .pdf file, may take some time), and then read below for one resident’s written concerns (please feel free to add more in comments):
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Ready for the VINYL CONFLICT?

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Salvation Tattoo moved from 324 S. Pine to 819 W. Cary, but VINYL CONFLICT will be opening at 324 S. Pine noon this Saturday, September 13th. There will, of course, be new and used vinyl records of the punk, hardcore, metal, power pop, indie, new wave, grind, sludge, and pop punk persuasion as well as a few other things. Used and new cd\’s, tapes, dvd\’s, stickers, patches, t-shirts, and other items will be available for your consumption as well. Keep your fingers crossed, there might even be a cameo by Keith Babe\’s hot dog cart at the opening.

SynerGeo Community Dinner Monday

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Hi Everyone-
We are having our September Oregon Hill Community dinner THIS Monday
at 6pm!!!! Our doors will be open to anyone who wants to come and share
a meal with neighbors and meet our new 2008/2009. We do ask if you can
to bring something to share, even if its small or a paper good
donation. In order to keep these dinners going, we do need help from
the neighborhood! There will be music at the dinner by our new music
director, Bean Weatherford. Some of you may have seen him play at the
Byrd Farmers Market with his childrens band: The Ps and Qs. And it is
going to be his goal to find musicians in the neighborhood to play at
the upcoming dinners(which are every 3rd monday of the month!!)

We all hope to see you on Monday! Please help us by spreading the word
to friends/neighbors.
Have a great night
Katie Cowles

SynerGeo Inc.
349 S. Laurel st.
www.synergeo.org

1990 Park Plans

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Still on the theme of plans. Last post was of a prospectus for a museum that never happened. This post is of something that did happen- the linear park along Belvidere. These plans (link takes you to .pdf file, which may take a little time to load) are dated 1990, but the idea for the park goes goes back much further. Before the new Lee Bridge was built and U.S. 1 was created, Belvidere was a one lane, tree-lined, residential street like Laurel St. Sadly, the last house that faced Belvidere was destroyed earlier this year. The park concept was thought of as something that would offer a buffer from the increasing traffic of Belvidere and also lead to peaceful passage to the river. The hope was also that it would extend north to Monroe Park and northern neighborhoods as a real greenway for the City. The river connection finally came into place with the help of grants and attention from resident Napi Ippolito. Although grant money and assistance has been sought for the northern extension from Idlewood, that has not yet happened. I know a lot of us were hoping that this small greenway could become part of the East Cost Greenway. Anyway, I am hoping others can add more in the comments on this post.

“Survivor Day” Training Offered to Richmond Residents on Saturday, September 13

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WHO: Richmond residents can register to receive free training in basic survival skills during an emergency

WHAT: “Survivor Day,” sponsored by the City’s Office of Emergency Management, is a four-hour, free training session in fire safety, first-aid, and terrorism and weather response measures

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Saturday, September 13, 2008

WHERE: Landmark Theater, 6 North Laurel Street

This training is designed to prepare citizens with information and planning tools in the event of a widespread disruption of public services, commerce and transportation due to a local emergency.

Training is free and open to all City residents. Citizens can register by calling 311 or visiting www.RichmondGov.com .

A free Survival Kit, with supplies including flashlight, gloves, batteries, toilet paper and a blanket, will be provided upon completion of the training (limit one per household).

Another VCU Siren Test

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Dear Monroe Park Campus Community Advisory Group:

I wanted to let our neighbors know that at noon on Wednesday, September 3, 2008, VCU will conduct a full test of its emergency communications system.
The full test of the system will include 10 sirens on both the Monroe Park and MCV campuses along with text messages, digital signs, e-mails and Web site information that are part of a multi-channel system for communicating emergency information to VCU students, employees, parents and neighbors.

The sirens will sound a fast, up-and-down wail for three minutes, and after a one-minute pause, sound a steady wail for one minute to signal “all clear” to end the test.

We want to remind our neighbors that in a real emergency, sirens will sound for four minutes to signal that an immediate, life-threatening emergency has occurred or is imminent. The purpose of the siren is to alert people outside of campus buildings to immediately seek secure shelter and additional information. People in campus buildings should remain where they are and seek additional information about what is happening and how to respond. People off campus should not come to campus but should seek additional information. Once the campus environment is determined to be safe, the “all clear” even tone siren will be activated for two minutes.

A reminder about text messaging and our VCU Alert Web site: text messaging is the only channel available that can provide personal communication to you wherever you have cell phone service. Text messages will be used for notifications about emergencies, but will also be used to announce closings and delays for inclement weather. There is no cost for enrolling. If you haven’t done so already, you may sign up for text messaging now at www.vcu.edu/alert/notify.

Emergency information also will be available on the VCU Alert Web site at www.vcu.edu/alert, (also accessible off the VCU homepage at www.vcu.edu).

Following the test, we welcome your comments or feedback. You can e-mail us at vcualert@vcu.edu.

In addition, please note that full tests of the VCU Emergency Communications system are conducted near the beginning of each semester. Monthly checks of the siren system, consisting of a one-minute fast wail that also recharge the siren batteries, are conducted at noon on the first Wednesday of each month.

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,

e-mail: samessme@vcu.edu

Byrd House Market tomorrow!

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Most people consider an heirloom something special, to be held dear. Our growers would agree with you. Their heirloom veggies are grown from seeds of varieties from bygone days — before industrialized farming made every tomato identical and tasteless. Classical guitarist Alexander Rodriguez will also be reminding us of days gone by with his beautiful Baroque music. Great food, great music, and great friends are, historically speaking, the best combination.

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