From Hollywood Cemetery’s FaceBook page:
We’d like to take a moment to thank our many volunteers today. You deserve more recognition than a single day can give. Thanks for all you do to preserve the beauty of Hollywood!
Many Oregon Hill residents love having birds in the neighborhood and recognize how lucky we are that we get a lot bird traffic due to nearby James River Park and Hollywood Cemetery, which serve as havens for wildlife and important stops for bird migrations.
A new study published last month in the journal Urban Ecosystems tries to determine what economic value residents in two comparable cities place on having birds in their backyards and parks.
From an article on the study:
“This paper shows that our interactions with birds actually have a pretty high economic return to the community where you live,” said John Marzluff, a University of Washington professor of environmental and forest sciences and the paper’s co-author. “We know that having a livable, green community that attracts birds also increases the value of homes in that area. This paper shows there’s an economic service birds are providing.”
It’s something to consider as development pressures and increased riverfront activity come to bear. There is a lot at stake.
Besides being the birth date of President Thomas Jefferson (1743), April 13th is also the birth date for diplomat Alexander W. Weddell (1876), who is buried in Hollywood Cemetery.
Hollywood Cemetery has a short bio on it’s website. Here’s a excerpt:
By 1923 the forty-seven-year-old, tall, courtly Virginian was convinced that he would probably remain a bachelor for the rest of his life. In February of that year, however, a meeting for afternoon tea in a fashionable Calcutta hotel with some old Virginia friends and a vivacious widow from St. Louis quickly led to courtship. Weddell arranged to take his leave and met Mrs. Steedman’s party in Rangoon, Burma. The romance continued on the trip back to the United States, and the couple married in St. Ambrose Chapel at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City four months after first meeting.
The couple returned to Calcutta late in 1923 where they remained until Weddell was transferred to Mexico City in 1924. Upon arrival in Mexico, the couple found a nation that was torn by revolution. Years of US intervention into Latin American affairs and resentment caused by the vast profits American corporations syphoned from their extensive Mexican holdings were fueling a strong “anti-Yankee” sentiment. Americans demanded restitution for the deaths of several US citizens during Poncho Villa’s border raids into Arizona and New Mexico. Weddell, who initially sympathized with Mexican interests, found coping with corruption and bureaucracy extremely vexing and discouraging.
In 1928, deeply concerned about his wife’s health, yearning to return to Virginia, and disappointed in his assignment by the Republican administration to Montreal, Weddell, a southern Democrat, resigned from the diplomatic corps. Weddell’s retirement came to an end, however, in 1933 when he finally achieved his dream of becoming an ambassador, being assigned by Franklin D. Roosevelt to the mission to Argentina. He and his wife spent “five interesting and happy years in that wonderful country,” after which Roosevelt offered Weddell the very difficult post of ambassador to Fransisco Franco’s Spain in 1939. By 1942, advancing age, health problems, and the cumulative frustration of working with an unresponsive State Department and observing Nazi influence in the Madrid government convinced Ambassador Weddell to retire permanently from foreign service.
By 1943 the couple had returned to Richmond where he was elected president of the Virginia Historical Society, and she resumed her gardening and continued her charity work.
The next astronomical spring begins tomorrow, though local weather calls for rain. Many neighbors are planning their gardens, and hopefully there is more interest in establishing some community plantings in tree wells, alleys, and lots, perhaps in preparation for the Richmond2015 UCI bicycle races.
Don’t forget Hollywood Cemetery’s Volunteer Rose Pruning And Maintenance Day on Saturday.
This spring you may also want to consider attending the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts’ new exhibit, “Van Gogh, Manet, and Matisse: The Art of the Flower”.
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From Hollywood Cemetery’s FaceBook page:
Over 100 historic rose bushes have been identified in Hollywood Cemetery to date. We’ll be meeting on March 21st to care for the bushes and you’re invited to join us! No rose experience is required.
http://www.hollywoodcemetery.org/events
China Street this morning…
It’s an unfair contrast with City streets (and there have been more City plow trucks working their way through the neighborhood since early this morning), but Hollywood Cemetery’s roads were very well cleared.
From Hollywood Cemetery’s FaceBook page:
Today is Joseph Reid Anderson’s birthday. After building the Shenandoah Valley Turnpike, Anderson came to Richmond and bought Tredgar Iron Works which quickly became the leading iron foundry in the South. He and his family are buried next to President Tyler in Presidents Circle.
From VCU announcement:
Virginia Commonwealth University will conduct a full test of its emergency communication systems, including 10 sirens throughout the Monroe Park and MCV campuses, at noon on Wednesday, Feb. 4.
The full test will include the sirens along with text messages, Alertus boxes, mass email, digital signs, social media and VCU website information – all part of a multichannel system for communicating emergency information to VCU students, faculty, staff, visitors and the community.
VCU remains committed to supporting a wide variety of emergency alert technologies to distribute emergency information in a timely and effective manner. These various technologies help inform the VCU community of the necessary and prudent protective actions in a comprehensive manner.
The following list contains more information about each of these alerting technologies:
Outdoor sirens: In a real emergency, the 10 sirens on the Monroe Park and MCV campuses will sound for four minutes to signal that an immediate, life-threatening emergency has occurred or may be imminent. The purpose of the siren is to alert people outside of campus buildings to immediately seek secure shelter and to receive additional information. No all-clear siren is utilized during tests, but one would sound in an actual emergency.
Text Messages: These messages are short, protective action statements that will contain a link to http://alert.vcu.edu/, where additional information is located. Parents and community members may sign up for VCU’s text message alert system at http://alert.vcu.edu/signup/ to receive information about campus emergencies and cancellations.
Alertus: These small yellow devices are strategically installed in classrooms, residence halls and other high traffic areas throughout campus. They are designed to provide an auditory and visual alert when a threat has occurred or is imminent. Much like text messages, a protective action statement will scroll on the screen during the threatening event.
Mass Email: All VCU email account holders will receive an email containing the safety recommendations related to the event.
Social Media: Alerting information will be posted to the @VCUNews Twitter account and the VCU Facebook page.
Digital Signage: Digital displays are located throughout campus with a particular focus in high traffic areas. These signs will display the emergency alert and reference information that is posted to Alertus boxes and text messaging.
After the semester test, monthly checks of the siren system are conducted at noon on the first Wednesday of each month consisting of a one-minute steady wail that also recharges the siren batteries.
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From Hollywood Cemetery:
I wanted to let you know that there will be a ceremony this Saturday, 2/7 at 10:00 am until about 11:30 am with cannon fire sometime close to the end. Thanks for letting the folks know there will be boom booms.
Take care and stay warm.
Mabel
From Hollywood Cemetery’s FaceBook page:
We’re excited to announce our 2nd Facebook photo contest! Share your photo of Hollywood Cemetery with us for a chance to win two great prizes!
Here are the details: Send us a private message with your photo. From the submissions, we will choose the Top 5 photos that we think best represents the historical beauty of Hollywood. The Top 5 photos will be posted on February 20th for your votes. The photo that receives the most “Likes” wins! Only one entry per person please.
See official guidelines here: http://www.hollywoodcemetery.org/photo-contest
Hollywood Cemetery’s FaceBook page recently featured this old photo courtesy of Brian Ezelle.
It looks like the 400 block of S. Cherry Street.