From RVA Clean Sweep:
Arbor Earth is partnering with RVA Clean Sweep and Keep Virginia Beautiful (KVB)! They will be hosting an Oregon Hill Cleanup on the same day as Shiver in the River.
More information about Arbor Earth: https://www.arborearth.org/
Please join them on the corner of Idlewood & Laurel (at 10 am) for however long you can. All supplies will be provided.
This is a great childhood photo, taken in Oregon Hill, of the recently deceased Ray Williams, Denny Williams, Bonnie Williams (who was later adopted into the Harris Family) and another unidentified relative. Shared with permission from surviving niece, Tracy Burkhalter Finnie.
Style has a story on the passing of Ray Williams, City homicide detective.
Excerpt:
Retired Richmond police Detective W. Ray Williams died Feb. 1 at 68 following a long battle with heart disease, tragically dying on the same day as his younger brother Tommy, a retired American Filtrona factory worker who had long suffered from Alzheimer’s.
The gravel-voiced Richmond native had a tough upbringing in the city’s Oregon Hill neighborhood.
“You had to fight to exist in Oregon Hill,” said Ray Williams, who at age 12 witnessed a neighbor get shot through the neck. Ray was the third of six children, all of whom were placed in foster care as young children for four years. His two youngest siblings would be adopted by another family. Their father, a second-generation bootleg whiskey-maker who once sold his wares to the same undercover policeman twice in a single night, was in and out of the nearby state penitentiary and prison road camps during their early years. Years later, as a young homicide detective, Ray would be called to an abandoned house in Oregon Hill, where his father was found dead on a mattress in the kitchen.
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A memorial service for Ray Williams will be held Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. at the Richmond Police Academy, 1202 W. Graham Road. His family has asked that donations be made in his name to the Richmond Police Foundation, richmondpolicefoundation.org, or Apple Dog Daycare, appledogdaycare.com.
...in Indonesia...would like to get the inside scoop on this one...
The RVA Environmental Film Festival (RVA EFF) raises awareness of environmental issues relative to all residents of our planet and central Virginians in particular. Beginning February 4th and running through February 16th, the Ninth Annual RVA EFF is a 10-day event that celebrates a commitment to independent, Virginia filmmaking. Film screenings are FREE but some of the events require advance tickets.
For details, please visit www.rvaeff.org.
It looks like the City is doing street cleaning in the neighborhood this week. According to the signs, they will be starting with the west side of S. Laurel Street tomorrow. Don’t forget to move cars the night before.
Cherry Street neighbor Jimmy Blackford is organizing some sidewalk cleaning to go along with the street cleaning.
Oregon Hill Street Cleaning/Leaf Collection Finally Happens Next Week. (Mon. 1/28-Thurs 1/31). Who can join me on Mon. and/or Tues. Morning to get our pretty brick sidewalks extra free of leaves? I’ll start the raking at 10am on Monday morning. (Maybe earlier depending on how much sleep I get the night before). I’ll concentrate on the intersections and heavily leaf-strewn areas of the sidewalks. Pushbrooms, especially extra wide ones, are a huge help. I only have 2 rakes, so…
From OHNA President Todd Woodson:
Dear Neighbors and Friends
Will will resume our monthly neighborhood association meeting this coming Tuesday at 7pm in St Andrews church, Laurel and Idlewood. Here are the agenda items:
Updates from RPD, VCUPD and VCU and Councilman Agelasto’s office
I am very sad to report that our friend and representative from VCU Police, Officer Greg Felton will be leaving VCU in February. He has made an incredible impact on our quality of life in Oregon Hill. Greg- come back anytime because you are family! Come wish him well!
VCU Student Government Association representative will make a presentation on their Big Event.
We should have updated visual proposed plans for the Dog Run in Parsons Linear Park. This would be located in 400 block of the park.
Michael Brown, a neighbor from Randolph has asked to address the meeting on Councilman Agelasto’s residency issue. Mr. Brown was campaign manager for Parker but has now filed a lawsuit with others including Chuck Richardson to address the residency issue.
I have a meeting scheduled tomorrow with City Officials to discuss remedial efforts to stabilize our Holly Street playground. Built on a ravine later turned landfill, our park is showing clear signs of erosion and needs attention. This will be the fourth meeting on the subject. I will update you accordingly.
See you Tuesday at 7pm!
Todd.
Pine Street neighborhood Stephenie Harrington, following up her New Year’s Day walk, has scheduled another community walk to Belle Island.
**Group Walk to Belle Island**
Sunday, January 6th
10amWe plan to meet up with friends and neighbors for a group Walk this Sunday.
Start at gazebo
(700 block S. Pine St) at the overlookI will have my dogs with me so we walk a bit slowly….but others will be a brisk pace
We plan to do two loops around the island but just do as you please…no set pace or distance. We will start down the hill at 10am
Hope to see more neighbors this week…on Jan 1st we had 8 walkers and 3 pups
I have been meaning to do this post for a while and the start of the year seems to be a good time to actually get it done… I have done a little bit of surveying with neighbors, but some things, frankly, have not changed…
1. Establishing an anti-demolition City overlay for the neighborhood- how to protect historic assets and character took on new emphasis and concern with what happened with the 800 block of W. Cary Street this past year. This could be a precursor for making Oregon Hill an official City Historic District.
2. Establishing a signed, binding agreement that VCU will not encroach into Oregon Hill any further. Note: VCU administration shamefully refuses, despite having agreements with other neighborhoods and even foreign countries. The disrespect is intolerable and distrust remains.
3. Encouraging more neighborhood contacts and social connections. Many neighbors, especially new ones, want better ways to get to know the people who live around them. Oregon Hill has traditionally been seen as very ‘tight-knit’, but it has also seen many residents come and go. More public events geared towards the neighborhood that are family friendly and inclusive- think block parties with performances and attractions. Who remembers the pony rides? How about an annual neighborhood-wide yard sale?
4. Advocating for brick sidewalk repairs. Yes, we need to make sure our historic brick sidewalks are brought back to acceptable standards and maintained that way.
5. Getting new trees for tree wells and elsewhere (including Monroe Park!)
6. Ending the lease for the Monroe Park Conservancy and returning the park to public (City) control. Despite all the changes, Monroe Park has historically been and will always be one of Oregon Hill’s parks. Let’s not allow anything like ‘the Conservancy’ to happen to any more of our parks.
7. Public trash/recycling receptacles. With all the foot traffic that the neighborhood gets with its proximity to the river, it’s important that more public trash/recycling receptacles are made available.
7. More litter clean ups. In the past, we have had volunteer neighborhood leaders work with the City and other groups like VCU Green Team and RVA Cleansweep to do community litter pick ups. We need new blood to step up to coordinate these efforts.
8. Encouraging more proper recycling. While I am confident that Oregon Hill has a better than average recycling percentage per household than many other places, we can always do better- part of that is making sure recycling receptacles are kept out of sidewalk right aways when not awaiting collection.
9. Potholes- despite the City’s efforts, there are still a few spots where potholes are a constant problem- especially in some of our alleys.
10. Neighborhood watch/porch pirate prevention- thankfully the neighborhood is relatively safe, but there are still very serious concerns about interlopers. One problem we have seen more of in recent years is porch piracy- the stealing of package deliveries and porch items.
Some other worthy topics:
Better traffic enforcement
More park renovations and improvements for parks, including Holly Street Playground
More enforcement of dog poop pickup
More engagement with landlords about rental properties
Bike lanes
More small businesses that cater to the neighborhood
Fire safety/disaster preparedness
And of course, I will put in a word for more solar in the neighborhood…
Richmond Times Dispatch columnist Michael Paul Williams recently caught up with Christy Coleman, the CEO of the American Civil War Museum. She has just been recognized by Time Magazine as one of “31 People Who Are Changing the South.”
Included in the piece is some of what’s new at Tredegar:
Five years after the merger of the American Civil War Center and the Museum of the Confederacy, the American Civil War Museum is preparing to open a new building in May at Historic Tredegar. The nearly 30,000-square-foot space will house the museum’s collections, including a new core gallery called “A People’s Contest: Struggles for Nation and Freedom in Civil War America.” The new building will also include storage space and five offices. The Tredegar foundry building will be converted from an exhibit space into an events venue. The exhibits are being installed now in the new space.
“Every day I go in there, I’m just so ecstatic to see this vision we’ve worked on for years now really come into fruition,” Coleman said. “This is another game-changer.”
The Museum continues to chin out some noteworthy events. It’s Foundry Series is pretty weighty. On January 24th it will have a program on Politics and the Supreme Court that features Dr. Timothy Huebner, Rhodes College, Memphis and will be moderated by Dr. Henry L. Chambers, University of Richmond School of Law. But it’s (free) “History Happy Hours” should also not be overlooked. On January 14, the Museum’s own Morgan Floyd will be hosting one called “Fight Like A Girl” at the Capital Ale House.