St. Andrew’s Church Co-Sponsors Jack O’ Lantern Contest; Prize Money Increases

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St. Andrew’s Church is now cosponsoring the First Annual Oregon Hill Jack O’Lantern Contest. More details forthcoming, but they will be assisting with judging and promoting the contest. With their help, the grand prize has increased to $50 and there will be runner up prizes also. Remember, this is only open to Oregon Hill residents (that includes student renters) and click here for the full rules. Get those photo entries in!

How Many Candidates Have Signed The Declaration of Solar Rights?

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So the local Chamber of Commerce (ChamberRVA) is holding a Mayoral candidate forum tonight at the nearby Altria Theater.

It is free and open to the public (get there before 6:30 pm), and will be broadcasted live on NBC12 television at 7 pm.

By the way, you may notice that ChamberRVA has moved on from promoting the Shockoe stadium scheme to pushing for doing something with the Richmond Coliseum. Anyway, I suspect that the Coliseum will come up in the questions, but there is one question I doubt will come up, though it should:

As someone running for Mayor, have you signed the Virginia Declaration of Solar Rights?

Solar energy empowers Virginians to harness clean local energy, creates jobs, and enhances our energy security. Sadly, Virginia’s current laws violate our right to invest in and benefit from solar energy by limiting consumer choice. This fall, the General Assembly will hold a special session to review solar policies that will help all Virginians fairly access solar energy. This is a great opportunity for Richmond leaders and citizens to let our state senators and delegates know there is broad, bi-partisan support for legislation that will enable all Virginians to go solar.

There is more detail here:
http://www.vasun.org/declaration-of-solar-rights/

5th District City Council Race Is A Cause For Celebration

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This past Thursday I attended a City Council candidates forum at the Binford Middle School auditorium.
After the 2nd District candidates left, many people left also, leaving a rather sparse audience for the 5th District candidates.

As I watched and listened to challenger Montigue Magruder and incumbent Councilperson Parker C. Agelasto (third candidate and challenger Garrett Sawyer did not attend) take questions from the newscaster turned moderator, I was glad I stayed, and I was struck by how lucky the 5th District is to have these fine candidates. They both champion better schools, more financial responsibility, and increasing transparency. Agelasto shows off considerable experience and knowledge of his position, while Magruder does a great job of speaking up for different perspectives of race and economic status and doing so with passion. There are moments of real debate and clashing of ideas, but what is truly magnificent and deserves special commendation is the way that Magruder and Agelasto carry on with each other, both on and off the stage, sharing information and treating each other with mutual admiration and respect.

I told one of the other attendees that I wish both Agelasto and Magruder could be on City Council, and I meant that. This season, take heart in the 5th District’s politics and celebrate them.

(There is another 5th District City Council candidates forum this Tuesday, sponsored by the Woodland Heights Neighborhood Association. It happens at the Woodland Heights Baptist Church, 611 W 31st St., at 7 pm.)

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Announcing The First Annual Oregon Hill Jack O’Lantern Contest

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I have been wanting to do this for a while, and I think this is the year… I am hereby announcing the first annual Oregon Hill Jack ‘O Lantern Contest. First prize so far is a measly $20 from yours truly, however I am also announcing that I am looking for a local business to co-sponsor and help to significantly increase the prize money. (In other words, this could quickly become the ________/Oregon Hill Annual Jack O’Lantern Contest with the right advertising contract).

Creative Commons image- A Jack o' Lantern made for the Holywell Manor Halloween celebrations in 2003. Photograph by Toby Ord on 31 Oct 2003.

Creative Commons image- A Jack o’ Lantern made for the Holywell Manor Halloween celebrations in 2003. Photograph by Toby Ord on 31 Oct 2003.

So…rules…let’s see…

Submission Info

OregonHill.net invites submissions for its first annual Oregon Hill Jack O’ Lantern Contest. Entrants should read the following rules, terms, and conditions before submitting any photos or documentation.

Eligibility

Entrants must be 18 years of age or older. All entrants younger than 18 years of age must submit a note of parental consent with their entry. All entrants must be a resident of the Oregon Hill neighborhood to be considered. Contest is void where prohibited by law.
Contest judges (which is so far just me) and their immediate families are not eligible to enter.

Entries

Entries will start being accepted from October 15, 2016 at noon through October 27, 2016 at 11:59 pm. A winner and runners-up will be announced and presented on OregonHill.net on Friday, October 29, 2016 at noon. Please submit entries by emailing a photo jpeg file, size between 200 kb and 1.5 mg, of the entry to info@oregonhill.net, including a (real) name and a (real) address. Submitted photo should be of a carved or altered pumpkin in front of address. All entries must be original, newly-produced works, created after October 1, 2016. Entries must be original creations, with photo by the creator, and not infringe on the copyrights of any other parties. Any entires suspected, in the discretion of OregonHill.net, to be in violation will be rejected immediately from the competition.
OregonHill.net does not grant entrants the right or access to photograph private property or use of its name to secure access. Entries may have multiple co-producers, but one should be listed as the primary contact upon entry. The fair dissemination of any prize winnings will be the responsibility of the primary contact. Participants may submit multiple entries, however 1 photo entry per email. All forms of photos that are not produced by the entrant must be credited to the original photographer. Entries containing immoral, defamatory, obscene or scandalous content, or any other content which, at the sole discretion of OregonHill.net, is not in the keeping with OregonHill.net, will be deemed ineligible. By submitting a photo entry, each participant represents that the photo submitted is an original work that does not infringe on the copyright or intellectual property right of another party, and each participant agrees to indemnify OregonHill.net, and its contest judges from all liability arising from any alleged infringement in this regard. Photographer retains ownership rights to the submitted photo. However, the winning entrants grant to OreognHill.net the non-exclusive, non-transferable right and license to use the photos and the winners’ names in perpetuity without compensation, notification, or other limitation or condition, both in conjunction with the competition and promotion of the competition and promotion of OregonHill.net generally.
OregonHill.net is not responsible for entries that are not received or not received properly, or for any technical problems with corrupt digital files, internet outages, computer failures, and the like. OregonHill.net is not responsible for lost, late, or misdirected entries. OregonHill.net is not obligated to acknowledge receipt of entries.

Judging

Entries will be judged by a panel made up of OregonHill.net editors and Halloween experts invited by OregonHill.net. Judges’s decisions will be final and binding.

To select the winner, entries will be by judged by awarding of points based on the following criteria: (1) originality (40%), (2) composition and coherence (20%), (3) quality of photo (20%), and (4) consuming/recycling/composting of materials (20%) (this can be signified by a statement of intent included with entry). In the event of a tie score, the tie will be broken by awarding the prize to the entrant with the highest score in the first of the above-listed criteria (in order of appearance) as to which there is no tie.

Prize

Prize consists of $20 in U.S. currency, prominent featuring on OregonHill.net, and bragging rights. Runners-up will receive prominent featuring on OregonHill.net, and bragging rights. Applicable federal, state, and local taxes on prize are the sole responsibility of the winner.

Lastly, OregonHill.net reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify, suspend, or cancel the contest for any reason.

I think that covers it.

In addition to possibly having a co-sponsor, there is the possibility that the contest judging will change to online public voting on OregonHill.net to determine winner, but that possibility may or may not happen for this year’s contest.

Laurel and Broad

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This photo shows the RF&P RR train tracks on Broad Street in the first quarter of the 20th century. This view (maybe 1915?) is westward, with the Elba train station at the rear of the view. This playground was arranged through the R.F. & P. RR by “Mrs. Bolling, of the Richmond Playgrounds Association”. It harkens to a time when Oregon Hill could sort of claim to extend to Broad Street.

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Here is part of the 1889 Baist map, which shows how the train turns from W. Broad to Belvidere then heads down past the penitentiary. The train tracks turned at Pine, thence south on Belvidere, and turned east along Byrd street, entered level, through a tunnel, to continue downtown to the old Byrd street depot.

(Special thanks to Richard Lee Bland and Fred Rodgers for the images and history notes, as seen on the Fans of Monroe Park FaceBook page.)