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.

18th Annual Turkey Bowl Announced

China Street neighbor Manny Rios has announced the 18th Annual Turkey Bowl. The friendly pickup game of soccer as a holiday tradition continues…Thursday, November 22, 2018 at 10 AM

From the FaceBook event page:

This is a friendly game of soccer! Note the location this year is petronius jones park (near randolph community center). Open to beginners to experienced soccer players! Come join us and work up your appetite!

‘Single-Family’ To Be Removed?

From a concerned Richmond citizen:

The Richmond 300 group is meeting this Wednesday, and I was told by Ms. Pechin that they planned on voting at this meeting on the new future land use categories that will next year be assigned to neighborhoods throughout the city. According to the Ms. Pechin, they will be removing the “Single-family” designations and replacing them with a blanket “Residential” designation.

“Residential” would include high-rises and the terribly inappropriate development underway on the 800 block of W. Cary. It appears that the City government is making a concerted effort to foist higher density on the historic districts, including Oregon Hill.

In a recent vote, the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association voted that the future land use of Oregon Hill in the Richmond 300 plan should be designated as “Single-family” (medium density) with “Community/Commercial” on Cary Street. I am alarmed that the Richmond 300 group is removing the “Single-family” future land use designation for all of the neighborhoods. The Single-family designation is descriptive of the appropriate and desired future land use of Oregon Hill and is consistent with our R-7 zoning.

Planning Commission Presentation

Laurel Street neighbor, Charles Pool, on behalf of the Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council, made a presentation to the City of Richmond Planning Commission at their meeting this afternoon. Above are slides from his presentation. They support and reiterate previous statements from Oregon Hill Home Improvement Council and the Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association.

The Commission was considering both VCU’s master plan and an important ordinance, #2018-276, from Councilperson Agelasto that would require better public notification of rulings by the Zoning Administrator.

Winning Jack O’ Lantern

Congratulations to Pine Street neighbor Alex Grace for her winning entry!

She wins a $50 L’Opossum restaurant gift card and $20 from yours truly.

Runner up is Pine Street neighbor Stephenie Harrington. She wins an Oregon Hill Terribles patch, made by The Wild Wander Company, kindly donated by Spring Street neighbor Jennifer Hancock.

Happy Halloween! Hope for more competition and prizes next year…

A Good First Year For The Open High Fall Festival

While the morning was a bit droopy after last night’s rain, and I am sorry more neighbors did not take advantage, Open High’s Fall Festival was still a solid hit.

There was lots of great different kinds of chili for the chili-cook-off.

Tyler Meacham was one of the amazing musicians performing…here she does one of her own songs…

IMG_4901 from Scott Burger on Vimeo.

At any rate, here’s hoping that this tradition grows… perhaps next year the L’OPossum/OregonHil.net Jack-O-Lantern Contest can be incorporated into the festival…