Trash/Recycling Pickup Tomorrow

This Wednesday is a red Wednesday, which means trash and recycling pickup. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night. They do not belong on the sidewalk after tomorrow night.

In recycling news, the Federal Trade Commission released updated ‘Green Guide’ standards, which will hopefully lead to more truth in marketing.

Also, I suspect that the Sierra Club Falls of the James’ Recycling Breakthrough Contest has had its entry deadline extended and the Richmond Folk Festival’s Green Team could use more volunteers.

Harvest on the Hill This Sunday

From St. Andrew Church’s website:

Harvest on the Hill
brought to you by Gather Together
Description:
Harvest on the Hill is St. Andrew’s annual community fair held at the Grace Arents Garden behind William Byrd Community House.

Date(s):
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Time(s):
12:00 pm to 5:00 pm
Location:
Grace Arents Garden
Link(s):
Gather Together
Contact Information:
Ashley Raggi
ashley.raggi at gmail.com

Byrd House Market This Tuesday

From email announcement:

Newly-Wed and the Newly-Named
will make their debut this week at Byrd House Market.
Congratulations to Alistar & Rebecca, and Origins Farm! Many Happy Returns of the Day for the rest of your Life!

A rainy Tuesday afternoon
70% chance anyway – but hopefully nothing like 2 weeks ago. Looking forward to your smiling faces and all the bounty that autumn has to offer a farmers market in our “fare” city. Don’t Forget the Hans S. Falck Lecture this Thursday evening at St. Andrew’s School auditorium. Details at wbch.org or hanssfalcklectures.blogspot.com.

Vendors this week: (not all are on the map, so here is the whole list!)
Agriberry – seasonal fruits (berries, peaches, apples…CSA
Foraged – palm readings and lovely things from nature found and assembled for your enjoyment
Ettamae’s Oven – breads, rolls, pies, pie slices (Stall #5 on the map)
Bill’s Produce / Heath Farm – seasonal produce, sustainably grown, lovely company
Nanas Homemades – jams, jellies, chutneys, peanut brittle, tea cakes, cookies, dainties…a keen observer and practitioner of the tasty
Cafe 2100 – spring rolls, sauteed tofu, rice and wheat noodles with pickled and steamed fresh vegetables…ready with
Limeades and More – limeades, lemonades fresh squeezed, bubble teas and fresh brewed coffee, made before your eyes
Faith Farm Foods – cow shares, eggs, Amish butter and produce, grass fed meats and poultry, goat cheese, honey, preserves, egg noodles, etc …CSA
Chocolate Cravings – dark and milk chocoloate bars, barks of assorted flavors, brownies…
Byrd Farm / Rural Va Market – seasonal produce, Byrd Farm honey, Billy Bread, peaches, goat cheese, mushrooms, eggs, chickens …CSA
amy’s garden – certified organic seasonal produce, cut flowers, …CSA
Epic Gardens – seasonal produce, edamame, cut flowers, eggs, plants …CSA
Tomten Farm – seasonal heirloom produce, including okra …CSA
Deer Run Farm – seasonal produce, melons, chickens, eggs …CSA
Caromont Farm – Cow cheese, spreadable, peasant,
Sub Rosa Bread – Evrim’s back with limited supplies of his famous bread (individual loafs and by the pound hunks) and even more limited supply of his soon to be famous croissants…CSA
Salt Pork – (retail of Sausage Craft) variety of locally grown pork sausages – Herbed, Italian, Bratwurst, Andouie and more
Becka’s Aloe Vera Juice – Va grown aloe juice in assorted fresh locally grown fruit and veggie flavors
Steve Haas Mushrooms – locally grown and harvested mushroom varieties
Tuckahoe Lamb and Cattle Co. – grass fed cattle and lamb, lamb’s wool, eggs, soup bones, ground meat, chops, sausages…
Robin Raver, CMT – chair massage (Stall #27 on the map)
Soul-Ice – naturally flavored fruit sorbet-style ices (accompanied by soul, R&B…)
Wild Heaven – wonderfully varied offering of fragrance and form – goat soaps, cremes, etc.
Shakhambari Garden – Indian Ayurvedic and native Appalachian medicinal and culinary herbs. We make natural, Ayurvedic herbal teas, powders, jams, and body oils for health and mental peace
Petal Palate – divinities and popsicles(!) flavored with fragrant herbs and flowers
Origins Farm – certified naturally grown seasonal produce and fruit …CSA

This is why you come, no?
SNAP / Credit and Debit Cards accepted
_____________________

Ana Edwards, Manager
Byrd House Market & Library Programs
Grace Arents Library & Education Center
William Byrd Community House
www.wbch.org / 804.643.2717 ext.306

Week Long Protest Against Dominion Starts Monday

From CCAN’s public sign-up page:

Even though Dominion Power hasn’t invested in a single wind or solar power facility in Virginia, the company is receiving $76 million in extra profit for its supposed renewable energy investments.

Monday, October 1, through Friday, October 5, join us for a sustained week of action outside of Dominion’s Richmond office to protest this huge rip-off and call for wind and solar power in Virginia. We’ll also send in a representative each day, asking for a personal response from Dominion’s CEO, Tom Farrell.

And every day we’ll highlight a specific way that Dominion’s actions are harming Virginians, from increased extreme weather from climate change, to mountaintop removal coal mining and fracking for natural gas, to health impacts of the company’s pollution. Then we’ll cap off the week with a rally on Saturday, October 6.

Still Time to Volunteer for the Upcoming Folk Festival

This past Wednesday and Thursday evenings, the Virginia War Memorial hosted volunteer orientations for the upcoming Richmond Folk Festival. An Oregon Hill neighbor, Jamie Thomas, is serving as the volunteer coordinator for the festival. There is still time to sign up to volunteer. As the festival website states,

Last year, more than 200,000 people visited downtown Richmond’s riverfront to celebrate the roots, richness and variety of American culture through music, dance traditional crafts, storytelling and food. The Richmond Folk Festival has become one of Virginia’s largest and most-loved events of the year and has been voted as the best musical festival in Richmond, 2 years running. The 2012 Festival will bring a new and similarly amazing list of performers, artists and exhibitors.

In particular, I know the Green Team, which handles recycling, is in need of able-bodied volunteers. The nice thing about the Green Team is that, while there is hard work involved, you do get the chance to hear a lot of the music and interact with the crowd. Please do consider signing up today by clicking here.

New Bike Skills Training Area on Belle Isle Opens Saturday

From City press release:

City to Open New Bike Skills Training Area on Belle Isle

Richmond, VA – The City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities will open its new Belle Isle Bike Skills Area on Saturday, September 29, at 10 a.m. with a celebration that will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony, demonstrations, and tours. The public is invited to attend and to bring their bicycles to try out the mountain bike training area.

“I encourage residents and visitors to come discover the Belle Isle Bike Skills Training Area as it is another step Richmond is taking to create bike-friendly, outdoor tourist attractions, as we prepare for the UCI Road World Cycling Championships in 2015,” comments Mayor Dwight C. Jones. “The benefits of cycling are tremendous to our city in many ways, including our efforts to encourage city residents to get active and adopt a healthy lifestyle.”

The new training area is located within the James River Park on Belle Isle across from the Tredegar Street suspension bridge. It includes a beginner and expert pump track, rock gardens, and log and rock skinnies in addition to other features. Bicyclists can learn to handle these obstacles and challenges, which they will find on the trails throughout the James River Park, in a controlled environment.

“This site, which has been built largely with the labor of volunteers who love mountain biking, will provide a place to learn and practice mountain biking skills and introduce the fun of mountain biking as a recreational activity to a much larger audience,” said Dr. Norman C. Merrifield, director of the department.

In addition, while this new facility provides “off-road” training, the city also has plans to add an “on-road” training component on Belle Isle adjacent to this site. The on-road training facility will provide a place for children and adults to become competent bicyclists, as well as learn and practice the skills needed to ride safely in an urban environment.

“The James River Park is already known throughout the East coast and internationally for its outstanding network of urban mountain biking trails. Now with the addition of this skills area Richmond has enhanced its reputation as a ‘bike city,’” said Jakob Helmoldt, the city’s bicycle, pedestrian and trails coordinator.

Organizations that provided volunteers who helped construct the new training site, as well as in-kind donations, include the Friends of the James River Park, the James River Outdoor Coalition, the Richmond Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts, the International Mountain Biking Association, Virginia Bicycling Federation, Hands-On Greater Richmond, SportsBackers, Altria, Luck Stone, Tektonics Design Group, Sattler Creative, Alpine Trails, Dreaming Creek, and Green Side Up Landscaping.

The Belle Isle Skills Area is free to use and is open from sunrise to sunset. For more information, call (804) 646-5733 or visit www.RichmondGov.com/Parks.

###

Support WRIR

From email message:

Hi Oregon Hillians!

Many of you know that former Oregon Hill Resident Christopher Maxwell founded WRIR 97.3 and helped build the station while living on the Hill.

We at WRIR are in the midst of our fund drive- and sadly we have had to extend it for the first time ever because we haven’t met our goal.

Please consider donating to this public low power community radio station where many of our neighbors have volunteered their time and money.

If you haven’t heard our broadcasts, you’ve missed local news and public affairs programs like my husband John Richmond’s Richmond Education Today. Recently our neighbor Charles Pool discussed water rates during Open Source, another local news program.

Oregon Hill also is represented by multiple DJs airing music you seldom hear elsewhere on the airwaves- from our neighbor Derek Sunshine’s New Music Saloon and Greta B on River City Limits which plays music from Richmond Bands.

While our Oregon Hill neighbors volunteer their time, one of WRIR’s major expenses is paying for national programs like Living on Earth and Talk of the Nation. It was shows like these that other public radio stations weren’t airing that inspired Chris Maxwell to start work on WRIR with neighbors like Scott Burger and Tommy Birchett as well as former Oregon Hillians like Dustin Richardson.

Please support your neighbors and our community radio station. Anything helps- and we could always use more volunteers if you’re low on money.

Here’s our website
http://wrir.org/index.php?/ or just google WRIR Richmond Independent Radio.

You can donate on line, come into the station at 1621 West Broad St or call the office 622-9747 or the studio at 649-9737.

Yours,

Caroline Cox

Engaging Nature with St. Andrew’s Church

From email announcement:

St. Andrew’s Church is hosting a series of gatherings engaging nature and creation as a way to connect more deeply to God, ourselves and others. Track a fox to its den. Discover God’s ancient wisdom. Create fire from friction. Contemplate scripture. Sense the approach of a hawk. Feel compassion, connect deeply. Learn more about this new offering over appetizers on Wednesday, September 26 at St. Andrew’s House (236 S. Laurel Street), 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm. Please RSVP to me at abailey at standrewsoregonhill.org or 648-7980.