Miles in His Shoes 7.5.17

Miles in his Shoes is a new video series produced by University Student Commons and Activities (USC&A) in order to showcase many of the premiere locations in Richmond, VA. The series is hosted by Miles Hopkins, marketing assistant for USC&A and a creative and strategic advertising senior. This series will give new students a chance to explore the city vicariously through Hopkins, a Richmond native.

Michael Folland, Medal of Honor Recipient

Reporter Mark Holmberg does another story on one of Oregon Hill’s most famous progeny, Michael Folland, Vietnam war hero.

Excerpt:

In the military, the formerly wild Mike found “his niche,” his nephew said. Mike had a fiancée as he went off to war. He made corporal and was apparently hoping to make a career out of it when he smothered the grenade.

Nearly 45 years later, nephew Chip gets choked up talking about it. “I actually talked to one of the guys that was in the ambush . . . he gave up everything” for them.

Chip Folland’s son, Ryan Holland, joined the military and wrote to me that his great uncle “is a source of great pride for me in my own military career.

There are others who have reached out with their remembrances, including a woman whose brother went through basic training and to Vietnam with Mike Folland. People who want to you to know that Mike Folland is worth remembering.

Vinyl Conflict, Rest in Pieces Rock Pine Street

Subculture shops Vinyl Conflict and Rest in Pieces threw a successful block party on S. Pine Street Saturday. The “customer appreciation day” event included sidewalk sales, food trucks, live music, a mechanical spider for neighborhood tots to ride, and lots of sunshine!

This was the third such event, initially dreamed up by Vinyl Conflict owner Bobby Egger as an alternative to Record Store Day. Rather than cue up around the block for limited-edition, high-dollar vinyl rarities, the record store’s followers fingered through piles of discounted tee shirts and seven-inch singles.
There was, however, some crafty, limited-edition merchandise available to lure customers out early. My wife showed up right at 10 A.M. to snag this cute tote of a lazy egg listening to records.

Thrash bands Prisoner, Left Cross, and Dark Thoughts played sensational sets later in the day.

Egger, who lives in the neighborhood with his wife Melissa, says he feels entirely welcome as a shop owner in Oregon Hill. “Foot traffic has increased since Rest in Pieces opened,” he notes. “I would love to see more businesses open, and there are retail spaces opening up around the neighborhood.”
Oregon Hill’s dining and daring retail shops are must-do destinations for both locals and out-of-towners. Saturday’s block party, aside from being a blast, undoubtedly revealed the neighborhood’s potential for even bigger and better things.

–Johnathan Rickman

Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association Meeting Tomorrow

From email announcement:

Hello all

OHNA will be meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, June 27th, at 7 pm, at St. Andrew’s (In either the Parish House or the Little Chapel. Need to find out.).

And on Wednesday, June 28th, Mayor Levar Stoney, will be holding the 5th District Community Community Meeting at the Randolph Community center at 1415 Grayland Avenue.

Thanks
Jennifer

Urban Lit Fest ’17

One thing easy to love about Richmond is its rich, independent, literary life. There is a wide spectrum, from this neighborhood and all over, well-known and not so-well-known.

Tomorrow, help celebrate that at the Main Richmond Public Library downtown for Urban Lit Fest ’17. The Richmond Public Library will be hosting their second annual celebration of Richmond’s independent authors.

Meet 50 authors, find the latest, greatest locally grown urban fiction, poetry, and memoir. Enjoy readings, discussions, and find out how to “make it” as a self-published author.

Workshop Schedule:
http://4la.co/1CKXF4
10:30 Live Streaming Strategies for Authors
11:30 Self-Love and Walking in Your Purpose
12:30-1:00 Panel Discussion
1:00 Books are a Business
2:00 How to Turn Your Book into a Best Seller
3:00 The Poet Tree Workshop
4:00 What is Urban Fiction?
4:00 Introduction to Self-E

Workshops are free and open to the public. Registration not required but space is limited.

Marking the 1st year of Small Richmond!

From post:

This week is the 1st anniversary of the launch of Small Richmond, a collection of 16 independent online new sites covering the city.

It’s nothing fancy, but we think it’s a great way to get your most local of news.

Check out the site for your daily feed, and follow Small Richmond on Twitter and Facebook.

Contact John Murden at murden@gmail.com or (804)564-1360 to suggest a site for inclusion, if you would like to set up a community blog for your area, or for more information.

Reminder: The reason why this community news site was hastily started back in 2007 (with John Murden’s help) was in response to slanted coverage in the local corporate media about VCU encroachment in Oregon Hill and to make sure neighborhood leaders had a platform to respond.

Oregon Hill and Randolph Neighborhood 5th District Cleanup

From 5th District City Council Liaison Amy Robins:

Hi OH neighbors! Your neighborhood cleanup is this Saturday from 9am-12pm.
Jimmy Blackford is going to need 4-5 volunteers to help in the alleys with the city waste truck. He’ll be meeting you at Pleasant’s Park (Albemarle & S. Laurel).
Councilmember Parker Agelasto & I will be meeting everyone else at Idlewood & Harrison along with Randolph neighbors. (This is the official neighborhood line.) We will tackle litter pick up, graffiti removal, and I’m trying to line up some more Tree Stewards for clearance pruning.
Being the dork I am, I normally have a birthday cleanup. This year since the dates were so close together I decided to leverage the volunteers into this one event. After the cleanup (~12:15pm), we’ll be doing a quick pot luck in P. Jones Park (Idlewood & Temple) in Randolph. Bring a swim suit if you like, it’s right next to the Randolph Pool and there is a playground for the little ones too.
My wife & I will provide water, plates, napkins, condiments, hotdogs, buns, and birthday cake. If you can bring a dish, chips or whatever please do. If you can’t, don’t let that hold you back from swinging by after volunteering!
I hope to see you at some point on Saturday!
Amy

From Cherry Street neighbor Jimmy Blackford:

William Byrd Center finally mowed the grass in their overgrown lot (& the baseball field, too!). So we can keep up the momentum with this Saturday’s Oregon Hill Alley Cleanup. Can you join us at 9 am Sat. 6/17 at Pleasant’s Park? We’ll go thru the alleys with a city trash truck to gather all the discarded furniture etc. If that’s not your bag, join us anyway & we’ll give you a trash bag & grabber fior you to pick up litter in the neighborhood. We’ll meet at the park at S. Laurel St & Albemarle St.

Also, here’s the link for the FaceBook Event Page.