5th Annual OhSociT Oregon Hill Soccer Invitational Tournament

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Scheduled for May 28-29 at 980 Idlewood (former WBCH field).

From FaceBook event page:

This is a friendly “pickup” tournament to benefit
format will be:
1. six teams. one of those team will be the tournament team for players without a team.
2. Player fee will be a $20 donation for guys and $10 for girls (we should raise 1k for our charity at that level!) To register: send email and paypal payment to oregonhillnumina at gmail.com (Please note if you are a team captain. If you are a player already on a team, please include the team name in your email. If you are a player without a team and just want to play on the tournament team, please indicate that also in the email)
3. 7 vs 7 no offsides.
4. Team captains will be required to put a $30 non-refundable deposit to hold their team spot (that money will be fully refunded once the team rosters a minimum of 7 players) So FORM UP YOUR TEAMS NOW AND EMAIL ME
5. Team rosters will be “UNLOCKED” for throughout the round-robin preliminary rounds. Once elimination rounds begin (on that Sunday), however, no new players will be allowed to be added to the roster.
6. WE ARE LOOKING FOR SPONSORS

Check out photos from the 3rd Annual by clicking here.

Birdhouse Farmers Market Press Release

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This was previously announced, but here is the official press release:
From press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 4, 2016

CONTACT: Ana Edwards, Interim Birdhouse Market Manager
byrdhousemarket@gmail.com
(804) 404-3817
BirdhouseFarmersMarket.org

“Byrd House Market” Reborn as
“Birdhouse Farmers Market” at New Location!

Richmond, VA – Birdhouse Farmers Market will open for business May 3rd, 2016 only a few blocks from its old location in a beautiful urban park setting! After the closing of William Byrd Community House, the historic Oregon Hill social services agency which hosted “Byrd House Market”, a group of dedicated farmer/vendors and food system and community advocates banded together to make sure the market continued in its 10th year. It was as important to remain convenient to our loyal customers as it was exciting to anticipate extending access to fresh, healthy foods to new customers. Our new home in Randolph fits that bill. We’ll have ensure we could offer SNAP EBT to new customers. In addition to the face painting, food demos, and kids’ activities in a park setting, this year will feature a weekly Pop-Up Library by the Richmond Public Library.

Farmer/vendor-led, BFM will continue to be healthy food focused, with a diverse group of vendors such as Amy’s Organic Garden, Sub Rosa Bakery, Faith Farm, Ninja Kombucha, and more. The new location offers some great additions such as expanded on and off street parking, easy access to GRTC (Bus #10) and I-195/Downtown Expressway, and the complementary amenities of Petronius Jones Park (playground, pool, vita path, and abundant green spaces).

Opening Day: May 3, 2016!
Market Days: Tuesdays, 3:00 – 6:30 pm from
May 3 through November 22, 2016
Location: Behind Randolph Community Center swimming pool
on Grayland Ave.
(Google Maps: “1507 Grayland Avenue, 23220”)

Key Details:
-Convenient weekday market option
-Vibrant urban market in park setting, centrally located in the heart of the city
-Unique weekly pop-up library provided by Richmond Public Library
-SNAP EBT welcomed
-Market will remain food-focused, on farmers and other food vendors/producers
-Will continue to serve the Randolph, Oregon Hill, Downtown, Carver, Jackson Ward, VUU/VCU and Fan neighborhoods as it has since 2007

About: Since 2007 Birdhouse Farmers Market has provided a flourishing weekday farmer’s market in the heart of Richmond. It has focused on supporting local farmers and providing fresh local food to the Randolph, Oregon Hill, VCU, Downtown, and other nearby neighborhoods with limited access to healthy food. Our organizational partners are Enrichmond Foundation, Richmond Public Library, and Shalom Farms. Our site partners are Randolph Community Center and Second Baptist Church. Learn more at BirdhouseFarmersMarket.org.

Copy for Public Service Announcement:

Birdhouse Farmers Market returns in May for a 10th season! A SNAP EBT market with great fresh foods in an urban oasis with many of your favorite local vendors! Featuring a weekly RPL Pop-Up Library, face painting, food demos, kids’ activities. Visit birdhousefarmersmarket.org for details and to sign up for weekly updates. Vendors can apply there too. Convenient to VCU, Oregon Hill, Byrd Park, and the Fan via bicycle or foot, our new spot is behind the Randolph Community Center Pool, at 1507 Grayland Avenue between Allen and Randolph, just south of the Downtown Expressway. Can’t wait to see you on May 3rd (and every Tuesday Rain or Shine through November) at Birdhouse Farmers Market!

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GRC Update Update

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Paraphrased from neighbors who were able to attend yesterday’s meeting about the update to the Gladding Residential Center at Laurel and W Main:

Meeting with VCU yesterday and these facts came up- the new high rise first year housing building will be 12 stories tall, taller than both the Altria Theatre and the VCU School of Engineering.
VCU has posted on their web page drawings of the proposed dorm here:
http://www.housing.vcu.edu/grc-project/
Meeting attendees expressed concerns about how the sunlight in Monroe Park will be affected during certain times of year.
As of now, the private company leasing the property and building/managing the dorm WILL be responsible for taxes to the city but that issue still needs to be followed.
Nothing official yet but VCU is looking at disallowing the first year students living in the center from having cars as of the 2017 academic year.
To many peoples’ relief, the historic Branch Bath building will be retained and incorporated into the new building design.
There are concerns about the future of the rest of the lot. Residents do not want just a surface parking lot at this location or, on the other end of the scale, a building over four or five stories. It is important for the University to respect the scale of the adjacent Oregon Hill Historic District.
It’s important that VCU reiterate and hold previous promises that it will not expand into the south side of Cary Street or any further into the Oregon Hill Historic District.

This Week

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Coal Ash Stories film screening tonight.
(***Group Bicycle Ride to Event!***, Meet at Oregon Hill Overlook at 6:45, Enjoy Gorgeous Views of James River, Arrive at 7:00 to Rag & Bones Bicycle Co-op)

VCU-Community Meeting on the Gladding Residence Center Capital Project tomorrow evening.

Community Conversations: ReRVA – Public Spaces
Tuesday, April 5, 6-8 p.m., The Valentine, 1015 E. Clay St., Richmond, VA
Continue the conversation.
Part of the Community Conversations series on revitalizing, recycling and re-imagining Richmond, find out how Public Spaces are being redefined throughout the city. Whether for recreation, environmental initiatives or reflection, public spaces are shaping why people move to and remain in Richmond. Event is free.

Mayoral candidate forum on Wednesday at VUU.

5th District meeting this Thursday.

Power Dialogue Friday, April 8, 8:30-noon at VCU, 2-5pm at UR Robins Center
The VA Power Dialog will engage college and university students from across the Commonwealth of Virginia in meaningful conversation with state regulators, officials, and peers on how our state will help meet the U.S. climate commitment of 30% cuts in global warming emissions by 2030. The day’s events will conclude with an interactive poster session and tabling. A collaborative network of twelve colleges and universities will host the event at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond. Registration is free. For more information and to register: BLOG.RICHMOND.EDU/VAPOWERDIALOG

Don’t forget about the Ukrop’s Monument Ave 10k this Saturday. There will be associated traffic closings.

The Tredegar book talk that was scheduled for last month and had to be canceled due to tornado warnings is being rescheduled for April 19th.

Volunteer Opportunity: Que Pasa Festival Saturday, May 7, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Canal Walk in Historic Downtown Richmond
Virginia Hispanic Chamber of Commerce (VAHCC) hosts the annual Que Pasa Festival as a celebration and showcase of Virginia’s diverse Latino community and businesses. The festival will include food, drinks, music, and a variety of games and activities for people and families of all ages. VAHCC is looking for volunteers to help us make this a successful and memorable event. Volunteers will provide assistance in a variety of tasks, including setting up and breaking down, admissions, and beverage sales, and volunteer shifts are available throughout the day from 6:00am until 9:00pm. Volunteers who stay for 4 or more hours get a free meal! If you are interested in volunteering at the event, please register here: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form?EQBCT=9ff305896f8547e88f3dbb0352c9c50a

7th Annual Civil War & Emancipation Day At Tredegar Today

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From event website:

Join us at Historic Tredegar on Saturday, April 2, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. for the seventh annual Civil War and Emancipation Day.
Free Parking.

Enjoy a variety of special events and programs, including walking tours, hands-on activities, living history, scholarly talks, and more. In particular this year, explore the immediate and modern legacies of the Civil War and Emancipation, including how citizens chose to rebuild their communities and make sense of the impacts of four years of war, as well as how their choices are still visible in our community today.

See schedule by clicking here.

Note: This event has moved indoors due to the inclement weather.

Wilder Announces For Mayoral Race

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In a somewhat surprising move, former Governor and former Richmond Mayor Doug Wilder stated late this afternoon that he would be running for a second term as Mayor.

Douglas_Wilder_2003_NIH

While known for past abruptness and eccentricity, Wilder, now a VCU professor, has managed to surprise even the most jaded local political advisors with this latest announcement. It is jarring given that he is scheduled to moderate a Mayoral candidate forum just later this week. According to early media followup, Wilder said that he plans to fulfill that moderator duty and still debate opponents “with one hand tied behind my back”. He described his platform as one of “transparency and public accountability”, right before going into a closed meeting with local business leaders.

In other mayoral candidate news, former state Delegate Joe Morrisey announced a politician’s baby-kissing competition and said he enjoyed commenters’ ‘Better Call Joe’ cracks in reference to ‘Better Call Saul’. Activist Rick Tatnall announced that he would be taking his van on a summer tour of other localities named Richmond so he could bring back what’s best for Richmond. Activist Alan Schintzius announced that he had asked Rick if he could borrow his van this summer. Activist Lillie Estes announced a new inspirational slogan for her campaign. Chad Ingold announced he would be teaching some more classes and passing out a syllabus soon. City Council President Michelle Mosby announced that she is thinking about buying a new car, maybe one of those new Teslas. Councilperson Hilbert said he appreciated all of the candidates’ announcements so far and might make one of his own. Councilperson Jon Baliles said something quietly that folks had trouble hearing but also was heard saying that his statement would be available on his FaceBook page later. Baliles’ old rival, Bruce Tyler, said something testy in response, but testily added that no, he did not care to repeat it. Jack Berry, former director of Venture Richmond, suggested that Richmond residents better vote for him or the Folk Festival may not happen this year. Charlie Diradour reminded voters that he was running for City Council, not Mayor, while Councilperson Charles Samuels reminded voters that he was not running for Council or Mayor. Silver Persinger is engaged to be married.

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Editor’s note:
Alright, folks, I hope I covered everybody. And yes, all the posts on OregonHill.net today were April Fool’s Day pranks and should fall under the protected category of parody, which means most of them are fiction. I hope you enjoyed reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.

RVA Cleansweep’s ‘Roomba Rodeo’ Today- Update: Postponed Due To Weather

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Volunteer group RVA Cleansweep, which has done many neighborhood cleanups in Oregon Hill and other neighborhoods throughout the City, is holding a special “experimental” cleanup/fundraising event this Friday morning.

From the FaceBook event page:

RVA Cleansweep is joining the Robotic Age! While we have enjoyed the help and contributions of many volunteers over the last year or so, we have decided to test a new kind of participatory event- we are inviting RVA area residents (who may be too lazy or perhaps physically unable to take part in our regular cleanups) to bring their vacuuming robots to the Oregon Hill neighborhood. We will be attempting to use the volunteered Roombas and similar robot vacuum models to clean several parking lots and asphalt covered areas. Because this is an experiment on our part, we are asking for a participation fee of $10 to help with event expenses.

Specifics:
Weather permitting, we will start with an orientation at 10:30 am and ‘Roomba roundup’ in a parking lot area on Idlewood Avenue (TBA, once you officially sign up your robot, we will send you an email with directions). After doing some test vacuuming there, we will have human volunteers ‘escort’ or guide robots down S. Laurel Street to Pleasants Park, where visiting associates from Canada’s Robot Shop will do a short workshop on cleaning and maintaining robot vacuums. We will then progress further down Laurel Street to the parking lot at Open High School (off China Street). The school parking lot should largely be empty for their spring break. After charging batteries, we will then move to the asphalt-covered basketball court at the Holly Street Playground. At each of these stops, we will be emptying the vacuums of their collected contents and cataloging the litter (we mostly expect small bits of glass, plastic, cigarette butts, etc.). If any of the robots still have juice, we may have some further robotic competitions that will include demonstrations from student robot teams from local high schools and VCU’s engineering school. Also, we expect to have some drones flying overhead to take video footage of this event.
Important: We want to make sure that owners recognize that RVA Cleansweep takes no responsibility for any actions, accidents, or malfeasance to or by its robotic or human volunteers. City insurance may not cover damage to robots or humans. Please do not bring your animal pets to this event. Do bring additional batteries, chargers (especially wireless solar ones), cleaning tools for robots, and other gear.

Roomba is a trademark of the iRobot company.

Looking forward to seeing how this event transpires. Certainly this is not the first time that the neighborhood has seen some interesting robotic experimentation.

Update: Sadly, due to weather concerns, this event has been officially postponed until a later date to be announced.

RVA Clean Sweep also has a regular cleanup scheduled for April 16th. It will focus on Randolph and the western side of Oregon Hill near Harrison. This is in conjunction with VCU’s Paint the Town Green event.

Va. War Memorial and Hollywood Cemetery To Collaborate On ‘Tunnel of Honor’

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The Virginia War Memorial and Hollywood Cemetery directors are announcing planning has started for a giant new collaborative project, “The Virginia Tunnel of Honor”, that will connect the two institutions.

Design specifications are still in their infancy, but the concept is to expand upon the already planned underground parking garage expansion for the War Memorial and build a pedestrian tunnel from that point that would go underneath Belvidere Street roughly at Holly Street and have a corresponding entrance in Hollywood Cemetery. The tunnel, which would be roughly 60 feet underground at its deeper points, would be very finished and allow wheelchair access. It may include a branch tunnel to the North Bank trail area, if the City approves the concept.

The overall theme of this new collaboration would build upon the underground nature of the project and would be dedicated to “Virginia’s Fallen Secret Warriors” who have fought and died in clandestine conflicts around the world and throughout American history. This will include honoring ‘secret veterans’ previously and newly buried in Hollywood Cemetery.

Because of new, quiet tunneling technology, project organizers have told Oregon Hill residents that they will not be disturbed by this additional new construction, which will take at least three years to finish. Construction is not expected to start for at least another year.

thamestunnel4

Breaking News: AMC’s ‘Walking Dead’ Scouting In Oregon Hill

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Last night, entertainment sources confirmed that Robert Kirkman, the creator and executive producer of the highly popular ‘Walking Dead’ television and comic book series, is visiting Richmond, and the Oregon Hill neighborhood in particular, in order to find new settings and locations for future episodes.

Robert Kirkman

Robert Kirkman

This news comes after much speculation about the The Walking Dead’s current studio setup and filming in Georgia in wake of state government legislative action that has been described as hostile to the LGBT community. AMC Networks has released a statement that says “discrimination of any kind is reprehensible”. In contrast, Virgina Governor Terry McAuliffe vetoed a “religious liberty” bill earlier this week that would have allowed businesses to discriminate against LGBT people based on their religious opposition to same-sex marriage.

With the current story and season of ‘The Walking Dead’s zombie apocalypse fictionally set around Alexandria, Virginia, it makes sense that tv production would go ahead and move to the Commonwealth. So far the Virginia Film Office has been mum about the relocation, but many local movie industry workers are excitedly buzzing about possible opportunities.

walking-dead

While no big plot spoilers were divulged, Kirkman said in a brief interview that Richmond will be prominent in the coming ‘TWD’ storyline. Oregon Hill, with its proximity to a large university, the picturesque Hollywood Cemetery, James River rapids, and it’s enclave-like status from its Belvidere wall, makes it particularly intriguing. He learned more about the neighborhood from discovering and reading the previously electronically published pandemic thriller “Harbor On The Hill”. At press time, there were rumors that Gov. McAuliffe had personally telephoned Rev. Turner to secure the Pine Street Baptist Church as a possible location for a survivor refuge.

With a reported average of more than 14 million viewers last season, ‘The Walking Dead’ has the highest total viewership of any series in the history of cable television. The hour and a half season six finale broadcasts this Sunday. Needless to say, future filming here will have a huge effect locally. Please stay tuned as this exciting story develops.

(Some folks are speculating that Kirkman may make an appearance at an upcoming event at Gallery 5: All The Saints Theater Company Presents: A Spaghetti Dinner with Bread & Puppet Theater! on April 10. All The Saints is the group that organizes the annual Halloween parade through Oregon Hill, complete with zombie bluegrass players.)