We Build Solutions Inc.

With the new tax credit available for Canadians I thought I might have to jump on the band wagon. So far, 2 of my girlfriends have taken advantage of this credit and then I thought, well why shouldn’t I? They gave me a business card for We Build Solutions Inc. I spoke to one of the employees and he explained to me how they could help me. Basically, they would do everything for me as far as contacting contractors, finding resources and making sure that my vision comes to reality. I guess you could call them the middlemen or like a wedding planner’s role in helping to plan a wedding. However, this has to do with house renovations.

Well, I’m happy to say that they did a wonderful job with my bathroom reno. AMAZING!!! And I managed to stay on budget which is even more amazing.

Their office is based out of Vancouver. And I just wanted to rave about this company as they saved me time from googling random contractors from the internet.
Check out my before and after pics:

Before & After Washroom

After learning all the colors of the rainbow in Spanish from her Mexican octopus plush, Chloe turned her attention to current events from the Newborn Gazette.

The price per square foot for condominium sales varies and can be skewed by a single project. For example, the bump in price per square foot shown in December 2008 (circled) was due to an investor who bought 9 condos at Vistas on the James in downtown Richmond. Overall, the current price per square foot for condo sales in Richmond is below 2006 levels.

This year, I started off Thanksgiving by walking the North Shore and Buttermilk trails along the banks of the James. Here are some of the sights.

Tuesday’s That Ain’t Right Comedy Night at Fallout wasn’t as well attended by comedians (down to six from around 12 the first time out) but there was a larger audience and they were more responsive. My set was a mix of new and older material. I got some laughs from jokes which previously hadn’t done as well. I just wish I could remember which ones they were. Comedians who showed up included host Dave Hamrick, Ray Bullock, Marc Cooper, Kelly Henderson and Leo. The next shows are on December 15 and 29, which means I may get out a diaper for a New Year’s baby bit. I’ve got one more set in which I’m going to use this material, the December 7 Comedy Night at Cafe Diem.

Comedy at the Camel, another project of Dave Hamrick’s, debuted to a full house, with Ray Bullock headlining and Jesse Jarvis MCing. Sets by Roy Rogers, Dave Hamrick and Bill Metzger of Charlottesville, among others. Blake Midgette stopped by. He was just back from two weeks in New York where he did an open mic at a hole-in-the-wall club in the East Village.

I’m trying to catch up on my backlog of video material. Right now, I’ve stripped the audio from the October 4, 2009 set at the Last Stag Standing competition at Europa Cafe. The next step is to listen to the set or look at the script and get tags for when I upload to Taltopia, Punchline magazine, Gcast and Soundcloud. Unfortunately, I decided to scan the disk with those files on it for errors so I’m temporarily locked out and unable to work with them. The next step is to edit the video file in Pinnacle, which basically consists of slapping titles on the front and back end.

One decision coming down the road is my next step in terms of improving output. I’m still getting feedback that the sound quality of the video output of the Canon PowerShot is not that great, the latest comment coming from Virginia Production Alliance  on YouTube. I don’t have that much of a problem hearing what’s said certainly the sound could be improved. This would take the form of buying a Kodak Zi8, which mean an improvement in video quality as well, going from 20 fps to 30 and 60 fps, as well as going from 640×480 to 780p and 1080p.  This would also mean getting a wireless lavalier mic for what should be a big boost in audio quality. Another advantage: the Zi8 has has a remote control which means I wouldn’t have to be standing at the camera to start filming my sets and those of other people.

Other possibilities for improvements: Brother’s $50 personal laser printer so I don’t have to shell out an arm and a leg for ink jet cartridges any more; Serif’s movie editor so I can overcome the limitations of Pinnacle and one minimalist possibility, getting some business cards from VistaPrint so I can do some more publicity with Salty Tongue Records.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Arena comedian (news.bbc.co.uk)
• Anger over Jimmy Carr’s joke about war amputees (telegraph.co.uk)
• Comedians at the Lyric Hammersmith review (telegraph.co.uk)

What a wonderful gift I was given this afternoon. I am most thankful for it. In my mailbox was the usual, unwanted mail, magazines (excited to get the new NGS Magazine and New England Ancestors), but the best was a letter from Beckley, WV. As I looked at it, I was not sure what it was. I had recently been to Beckley, but did not remember anyone saying they would mail me something. As I stared at this letter, it occured to me that the envelop was one I addressed, months ago. I had sent a letter to the local Order of the Eastern Stars to see if they had any information on my Great Great Grandmother, Nettie Ann (Warden) Richmond. I had given up hope for a reply because it has been a few months. 

So I am extremely excited, I opened the letter before I even took my coat off and got comfortable. Inside was a letter, on OES letterhead from their current Secretary. It gives me the following bits of information:

• Nettie was initiated 20 May 1926
• Her husband, John E Richmond was a member of Beckley Lodge No 95, A.F & A.M, Beckley, WV
• Her petition shows address as Riley, WV and dues record shows address as Stanaford, WV
• She was the Chapter Worthy Matron 1 Jul 1939 – 30 June 1940
• Charles Tongue served as Worthy Patron with her.
• She was given life membership 26 Feb 1967

Nettie died 3 Feb 1968, almost a full year after she was given her life membership. 

I have recently spoken with a Granddaughter of Nettie, who referred to her as Granny, she said that the OES was very important to Granny and she thought she would not get into heaven without her OES ring she wore. Unfortunately, she was not buried with the ring. I look forward to more conversations with this cousin, she has shared many family stories and I hope with my urging she will commit these stories to paper. I have only been able to collect historical facts, and she has the personal, together we can create a wonderful history of the Richmond’s life.

Photographed by Jeremy Brooks

Day 328/365 of the 2009 Challenge. The theme is "Water Drop".

– License

It’s happened again – I am in full procrastination mode! Now don’t get me wrong, I am usually quite a decisive person – I am a card carrying member of the old ‘just do it’ school of thought – if you want to get something done there is precious little point in wasting time thinking about it. If you do, you usually end up achieving nothing, and that is exactly what is becoming more and more likely to happen in this case. Let me explain…

A few weeks back I agreed to go speed dating with a friend. She is a pretty organised type of person – she had booked a place for herself at the venue which was somewhere in one of the leafy suburbs of SW London, on a date in early December. She gave the details of the times, and the web address of the site that I needed to do the booking.

Get to know me in three...

I had fully intended to book it that weekend, but when I sat down at my PC to do the deed, I couldn’t even bring myself to visit the site – I just spent the rest of the evening on Youtube. I have been trying too figure out exactly why this is. I have no real problems with the concept of speed dating itself – it sounds as if it could be fun. One thing I have always had a bit of an issue with though is booking online. The thought of putting my payment card details out there on the web has always made me feel a bit uneasy, but on the other hand I have booked holidays and paid for insurance over the Web before, so I can’t see why this latest venture should pose any real problem.

As the day of the event draws nearer, my window of opportunity for booking my place is shrinking, so it is basically bite the bullet time if I don’t want to let my friend down. It is going to be done….soon! Wish me luck!

I just received my school mark from Emily Carr this week of my painting portrait; if you were following along I haven’t been painting almost 30 years.  I always wanted to paint and this Fall I just did that.  The class was around less than a dozen but most people have the experience of Acrylic or oil painting before.  I was a new comer.  It was tricky to make a portrait stands out in three dimensional by using color, value and temperature.  I have done sculpture 7 years ago and drawing portrait was not new to me but make the color into third dimensional was no easy task.  Anyhow,  I was understanding more and doing better; to my surprise I was signed on the most improved student in the class consider the classmates work are awesome and one classmate work was GREAT.  Above is one of the school project,  have some texture on the background to start off and please comment on my work.  More work in the future.

If you are thinking to do some drawing and painting in more advance level please check out Justine Ogilvie; my previous instructor’s work and you never know we might meet there.

http://www.justinogilvie.com/

If you need a karma boost and want to contribute to a good cause, head to “Art Karma.”

It’s the annual fundraiser for Art 180, a non-profit organization based in Richmond, VA, that helps young people express themselves through art and share their stories.

Plant Zero Art Center will host the Dec. 3 event from 7 to 10 p.m. Admission is $20, in advance; $25 at the door or $40 per couple. Kids are free.

I’m a professional teddy bear artist and this is the first time my handcrafted bears will be part of the silent auction. Other goodies and services up for bid include fly-casting lessons and artwork created in Virginia.

For more about my life as teddy bear artist and to meet members of the Toys by Toddles menagerie, click here.

+

• When I was a kid, my mom let me build a terrarium in this gigantic round glass vase she had. It had tiny plastic deer, soft moss, mini trees, everything! We had to set it on the floor one day and I accidentally kicked it, and was ruined for terrariums ever since. I don’t think I could do anything too terrible to this tiny gem!

via

• I didn’t think the chrome look for nails was truly possible. Having tried every silver polish making the claim and being sorely disasppointed, Wendy B shared an out-of-the-box approach to getting cybertastic nails! The directory on the site will let you know who in your area provides the service. I’m definitely hitting up one of the Richmond locations soon!

This lace effect is killing me as well!

• Back in the day, I used to want to be covered in tattoos. I had big serious painful gorgeous plans. Then… I changed my mind. Imagine that. I still managed to get two. One is an Olivia pin up girl on my stomach in flesh tones which is finally fading away after 12 years. The coloring I wanted was so light that no one could make it stick. It would heal and when it peeled, the ink came right out with it. So yeah, over 8 hours of pain for nothing. I couldn’t take it anymore and went to the renowned but expensive Timothy Hoyer (when he was still in RVA and had Alive Gallery). He made it happen in no time. The other tattoo is peonies at the top of my back (done by one of my best friends Scott at True Tattoo). I have been wanting to add a slew of exotic flowers and ivy to my back with a bit curling down my shoulders and up my neck but I vacillate between being ready to make the appointment or totally bailing and making an appointment for laser removal. That’s no way to be when you’re about to permanently mark yourself. Either way… the point of this whole revealing rant was to show you this neat thing I found. It’s some application that will add ivy to your pictures. I haven’t tried it yet but here you go. If only tattoos were that easy.

one day maybe

• Oh! I love me some CERN and they just started the Large Hadron Collider, had some first collisions and Earth didn’t explode! Here are some pics right before they got to banging those atoms! Oh, and I really want a print of particle tracks for my wall. Geek! Anyone know where I could get that done?

•  She’s been blogging for 3 years but I just discovered Kristopher Dukes and I think I’ve found my personal style idol/hero. She hates patterned clothing, loves nude heels, loves simple elegant clothing and sticks with what works, is a product fiend, appreciates well designed luxury, wreaks of sex, called satin elastic ankle pants a year ago, and she is unapologetically superficial in a brutally honest (and sometimes offensive) way. Obviously she has a much larger well-earned income than myself but it’s fun to live vicariously through others sometimes and it’s nice to read down to earth, quick-witted critiques on so many glamorous things I would love to have. Her post format is great – a particular thing broken down into what she already has, what she would rather have, and what she hates. Love it.

-

• I looked at my Google Reader the other day and was wondering why the heck I was subscribing to blogs that I couldn’t relate to in any way whatsoever. I’m not going to name names but my life isn’t sparkly and full of rainbows and unicorns. I don’t wear hot pink, nor do I have a constant positive spin on life. I also don’t like wondering where the hell a 25 year-old is getting all that damned mysterious money to waste on total crap. All that being said… I do like a good voyeuristic romp once in a while so I will probably revisit these blogs every blue moon. I just don’t want to see them or the tweets every day. Because I’m going to vomit.
• My hair is taking forever to grow out from my scene boy cut. It’s finally past my shoulders but it’s all sorts of crazy layers and then I gave up on the blunt bangs and they’re growing out at well. So how to you begin to take care of split ends when it’s a mess? I guess I’m going to have to get out the tiny scissors.

I wish

Once Upon A Time In A Land Called Sloane…

Christmas Story Telling, Sloane Square Area, Tuesday 8th December  – Tuesday 22nd December

With the school term coming to an end, the Sloane Square Area in Chelsea has created the perfect festive solution to keep little ones entertained during the Christmas holidays.

For two hours (between 2pm and 4pm) each Tuesday and Thursday afternoon throughout the school holidays, our Sloane story teller will be visiting four of the area’s beautiful children’s stores to recreate the Christmas classics, leaving parents free to enjoy all the boutiques have to offer and fill Santa’s sack with gifts galore.

With family favourites such as The Snowman, Father Christmas and A Christmas Carol in store at these drop-in sessions, children and parents alike will be feeling festive and looking forward to the night before Christmas. Treat your family to a story in the Sloane Square Area this Christmas:

For press information, please contact the Sloane Association on:
sloaneassociation@halpern.co.uk | Tel: 020 7351 2888
Or contact individual team members directly:
Emma Wallace at Halpern on: emma@halpern.co.uk – Tel: 020 7349 2490
Louise Butler at Halpern on: louise@halpern.co.uk – Tel: 020 7349 2481

Notes to Editors:
Richard Ward will be providing an exclusive 35% discount on children’s haircuts in conjunction with the Sloane Story Telling. Vouchers will be available for collection from each of the participating Sloane Story Telling retailers.

Exclusive offer only available upon presentation of the voucher

Visit Richard Ward Hair & Metrospa and get 35% off a cut and blow dry with Danni

£13.00 (under 5’s) and £15.00 (5- teens)

About The Sloane Square Area

The Sloane Square Area includes Sloane Street, Sloane Square, Duke Of York Square, Ellis Street & Pont Street. Just visit http://www.cadogan.co.uk for more information.

About the Story Teller

Jonathan Cann is an experienced story teller, trained actor, magician and children’s entertainer with over fifteen years experience. For more information on Jonathan Cann, please visit www.jonathancann.co.uk.
 

Mechanicsville Mechanics Concentrate on the Competition

The Flexicell-sponsored Tobor Fanatics won the Norfolk Regional competition of the FIRST Robotics Lego League, taking the titles of:

• Division 1 Championship
• 1st Place in Robot Design

The regional competition was held Saturday, November 22, 2009 in Norfolk, Virginia.  For the Division 1 Championship, the Tobor Fanatics scored 280 in the practice round, 1,270 in competition Round One, 1,270 in Round Two, and 280 in Round Three out of a possible 400 points per round. The next closest competitor scored their highest round at 165 points.

The team is also an alternate to compete in the Commonwealth of Virginia’s statewide event to be held December 5 and 6, 2009 in Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The Tobor Fanatics
The Tobor Fanatics is a team of four fourth-graders from Watkins Elementary School and one third grader from another school who reported he found this experience “extremely worthwhile and rewarding.”  The team met twice a week for the three months leading up to this year’s challenge.

Mechanicsville Mechanics Show Off their Awards

Mechanicsville Mechanics FIRST Robotics Lego League Team Also Advances
The Flexicell-sponsored Mechanicsville Mechanics will also advance to the statewide competition in Harrisonburg, VA. Their regional competition was held Saturday, November 7, 2009 at the Maggie Walker School in Richmond, Virginia. The Mechanics placed among the top five teams and took two awards:

• 2nd Place in Robot Design
• 2nd Place in Robot Performance

Flexicell-Sponsored Teams
In 2009, for the first time, Flexicell sponsored teams in the FIRST Robotics Lego League division, including the Tobor Fanatics and the Mechanicsville Mechanics.  These teams are comprised of elementary and/or middle school students grades four through eight (ages 9-14).  The LEGO League is an introduction contest to the more intricate FIRST Robotics competitions held by high school teams around the globe.   Flexicell has been a long-time sponsor of FIRST Robotics champion teams in the high school level.

Flexicell, Inc.
Flexicell, Inc. is a leading robotic system integrator, providing custom packing, palletizing, and material handling solutions such as case packing, assembly, feeding of product to other machinery, vision inspecting, collating, machine loading and unloading, conveying, palletizing/depalletizing, and automatic guided vehicles (AGVs).  Since its founding in 1992, Flexicell has created automation systems for companies located throughout North America in diverse markets such as food & beverage, pharmaceutical & medical, manufacturing, electronics, automotive, and household.  Flexicell is headquartered in Ashland, Virginia.

Visit us at www.flexicell.com.

TNAU3E4A4F5V

Condominium sales are similar to single family house sales as shown above. Condominium sales, like single family house sales, have decreased every year since 2006 but appear to be leveling off in the later part of 2009.

With the Whingers’ stars so clearly in the ascendant (whatever that means) it seems only natural that the next development in their tale should be the formation of a West End Whingers religion complete with tax-free status and wine (although neither Whinger can get very excited about wafers, to be honest).

So it was that Andrew was packed off to the Orange Tree Theatre on Monday to see the satire on organised religion The Making Of Moo and take careful notes on how to go about building a new religion from scratch.

Why alone? Well, one has to admire the Orange Tree’s courage in admitting that it is “London’s only permanent theatre in the round” but there’s no way they are going to get Phil through their doors with that kind of honesty. Or perhaps it’s deliberate. Who knows? In the event it all turned out for the best as it transpires that the Orange Tree doesn’t permit drinks to be taken into the auditorium and the air would have turned quite blue had Phil been in attendance.

Anyway, Nigel Dennis’s play was originally produced at the Royal Court in 1957 and boasted Joan Plowright, George Devine and John Osborne among the players. The Orange Tree’s revival understandably can’t drum up a similarly stellar cast list but they attack the slightly creaky play with gusto.

The story concerns British engineer Frederick Compton (Philip York) who in building a dam in an unspecified colony has unwittingly drowned one of the local gods. Fearing the ramifications of leaving a country godless he and his wife (Amanda Royle) conspire to create a new god – Moo – to help restore law and order but it all gets rather out of hand.

It’s a funny old play which viewed 50 years later seems rather lopsided – satirising organised religion while seemingly rather blithe with regard to its colonial setting. If it fails to pack quite the punch it did that must surely be because in a world where Hollywood stars believe that 75 million years ago Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and detonated hydrogen bombs in the volcanoes. prompting the thetans to cluster together, stuck to the bodies of the living, Moo seems a rather plausible and benign religion. And the Church of the Whingers doesn’t seem like such a crazy idea either. Watch this space.

Is one of those faces you seem before but can’t remember where.  Well she is the host for the West Coast Adventures show runs inKCTS9, KSPS, KWSU and KTNW. WEST COAST ADVENTURES is an exciting television series about fun, travel and adventure in beautiful British Columbia. Each half an hour show features not only the well known tourist sites, but also focuses on hidden gems and adventures in this region.  I met up with Susie few days ago and she is a polite, fun, professional and sincere person that has a magic touching people everywhere.  When I first met Susie I thought she is a soft spoken lady but after watching the show; she prove me wrong.  There are things I will not try period.  I can say she is brave and has the ball….sorry Susie.  I know she will do well in the TV and the Film industry.  For anyone hasn’t seem the show please check it out; it is not that long but fun and educated.  Enjoy, I did!

http://www.westcoastadventurestv.com/about.htm

this is the view from my apartment on saturday morning. it was so gloomy and so beautiful at the same time.

Richmond is built upon an area originally used by the native Powhattan tribe and they built their own capitol here, also known as Powhattan. The English arrived and established Jamestown close to the area but the land upon which Richmond is built always held an attraction – it was the highest navigable point upriver before the rapids prevented navigation and was a strategic point for both defense and trade.

Enter William Byrd I, an Englishman from Shadwell in the darkest depths of East London but in 1673, he was granted lands around the falls on the James River. He established himself quickly and by hard work, using and building on his already-envious Indian trade connections. In 1704, his son, William Byrd II, inherited the lands and business and continued in his father’s footsteps.

The enterprise was highly successful and in 1737, Richmond was established at the Falls of the James River. The town was named after Richmond in England (itself now a part of London), which is situated on the River Thames – Byrd felt that the view of the James River was very similar to that of the Thames in London, hence the name; Richmond. By 1742, the town layout was completed and Richmond was incorporated in 1742.

The Byrd dynasty was firmly established by dint of fortune and hard work in the founding of the city and interweaving themselves into the trading and political fabric of society. A testament to how closely the Byrd family tied themselves to the machinery of the state is epitomized by the Byrd Organization, known also simply as “the Organization”. This was the vehicle used by Harry F. Byrd, himself a US Senator and a Governor of Virginia active in the first half of the 20^th Century.

Harry Byrd established himself politically by engaging with the five main offices in principal counties of the state – the Sheriff, Clerk of the Court, Commonwealth Attorney, County Treasurer and Commissioner of Revenue. It was these “constitutionally elected” offices who effectively controlled which candidates would stand for election and by drawing these officials into Byrd’s political orbit, it became impossible for any candidate to gain election in Virginia without the “nod” from Harry Byrd. Although succeeded by his son as State Senator, the Organization effectively had its grip on state politics broken in the 1960’s over issues such as racial desegregation and disenchanted voters turning to liberalism.

Richmond today is littered with landmarks to the Byrd family and their influence upon the city. Probably the most enjoyable is the Byrd Theater on Cary Street. Providing $1 movie tickets and old style film-going experience in a faithfully renovated old time theater, you can enjoy a real treat on Saturday’s when the giant Wurlitzer organ is played before the performance. For those prepared to drive a while, perhaps the most fitting monument to the influence of the Byrd family is to be seen in the Shenandoah National Park where one of the three visitor centers is named after Harry F. Byrd himself.

Shell Harris, President, Big Oak SEO Company

photo by theloushe

I attended the Night of Storytelling and book signing for the James River Journal: A Year in the Life of a River last week, and it was great to reconnect with Richmond Times-Dispatch friends, meet some new ones and learn a little more about the James.

Writer Rex Springston (left) and photographer P. Kevin Morley

Writer Rex Springston and photographer P. Kevin Morley of the RTD are former co-workers of mine, and men I look up to in the media profession. They are in the business for some of the same reasons I am — one of them being the love of storytelling.

Of course, another is a love of the James river. I enjoyed the monthly James River Journal series and hope the Times-Dispatch learned their lesson and continue to allow their journalists to do enterprise work.

The night had six speakers, not including Rex and Kevin. All had their hand in the newspaper series that was repackaged for the book. All had different stories to tell, but the theme of the night could easily have been “The James Is So Much Cleaner Now.”

I’ve read several history books on Richmond, and none of them touch on this dark side of the history of the James — at least not in-depth. Maybe I just haven’t read the right books.

When I came to Richmond in 1988, the river was relatively clean by sight and smell and I have never had this fear of the “dirty old James” that so many speakers brought up. I’ve certainly read newspaper and magazine articles, but Richmond’s history books seem to ignore this long and shameful period that lasted more than six decades. The trashing of the James had as much to do with shaping the history our city as the Falls of the James did in forcing Capt. Christopher Newport to stop at Shockoe Valley when his ships could sail no further up river.

Richmond used the river as its sewer in those days. Storm drains ran into the creeks and streams that feed directly into the James. Industry was largely unchecked. Fishing regulations weren’t strict. We had dams blocking fish from their spawning grounds. It was a mess, and we were killing all the nature that lived off and around the river.  We were killing the perception of the river too — people didn’t respect it or protect it and no one wanted to play in it.

Bryan Watts, a biologist, spoke of the numbers of breeding eagle pairs being up to 130, osprey pairs up to 500 and great blue heron pairs up to 1,500. Those numbers are up from zero in the 80s. He would know — it’s his job to count and study them. The big cause for the loss of the birds was the chemicals DDT and Kepone.

Photographer David Everette was good to hear from and meet. He said he has been photographing the James since the 70s and he seldom goes to the river without his camera. He lamented that he chose not to photograph the bad things he had seen in the James in 70s and 80s and he wishes now that he had – for context — to emphasis just how good we have it these days.

People protect it now. Worship it even. Paddlers, bikers, bird watchers, fishermen, adventurers, businessmen, educators, fathers, mothers, children….so many levels of people appreciating and helping keep the James clean.

Snorkeler Chris Hull had some creative ideas to enhance the river. He suggested the City of Richmond should acquire Mayo Island and add it to the James River Park System. The city should complete renovations to the Pump House and reopen the canal to cruises from there.

This bridge over the Manchester Dam is ripe for creating a fantastic walkway between Brown's Island and Manchester

My favorite idea of his was to fix what would be a footbridge between Brown’s Island and the Manchester climbing wall. There is a rusty old bridge there now, but only maybe 15% of the bridge is accessible as a walkway. Extending it could create many more ways to enjoy and view the river and the downtown skyline. The multiple usages for this walkway with all the adventure games that Richmond hosts are exciting. So brilliant an idea that I’ve already walked across it many times in my mind.

Ralph White, manager of the JRPS, described the park as “wilderness in the heart of a city, managed by citizens….you.” He emphasized that how volunteers and communities manage the JRPS “is what defines us as a community.”

Ralph White, manager of the James River Park System

Ralph depends on an army of volunteers to keep the parks clean. He told a story of when he first was hired as park manager in the 80s, a time when the park was new and not respected like it is now. He encountered some very embarrassing graffiti in front of a class of children and called the city department in charge of having it removed. He was told it would take at least two weeks for them to get to that. Unacceptable. It had to come done immediately.

Ralph decided to do it himself, and from then on decided he would have volunteers get the job done if he couldn’t rely on help from city departments. He hasn’t looked back, and the JRPS has never had to take a step back either.

If you are reading this, then you have likely been to at least some part of the James River Park System or some spot on the James. On any weekend, no matter where you are, someone is working on a project to help the river. Volunteer to help, even for just an hour. You will feel better, and the river will be better for everyone.