(Editor’s note: posted with permission)
Hi Neighbors!
My name is Tyler, and I’m having an open house art show to share some of my paintings and furniture making with the neighborhood. Please feel free to stop by tomorrow afternoon at 329 S Laurel!
This Wednesday is a “Red Wednesday”, which means trash and recycling pickup.
Please go over what can be recycled.
NOTE: CVWMA (Central Virginia Waste Management Authority) has announced that all curbside recycling must now be INSIDE the CVWMA containers with lid closed. Items beside the container or on top of it will not be collected. In fact, incorrect setouts may not be collected at all. This is new as of July 1 for all our curbside recyclers, with the exception of townhomes/condos still using small bins. (And yes, this also applies to flattened cardboard boxes.)
Ideally, rolling recycling containers are stored and deployed in the back alleys along with trash cans. Please make sure you pick up containers after pickup tomorrow night.
If it seems like pickup did not happen, use this online form:
https://cvwma.com/programs/residential-recycling/recycling-service-request-form/
In order to take your recycling to the next level, read this: 10 ways to improve your recycling.
The Morristown, N.J.-based Covanta said in a news release the new system will annually prevent the creation of 15,000 tons of greenhouse gases from the production of new aluminum, copper and other metals from raw metal materials.
Residents and visitors alike are enjoying and appreciating new brick sidewalks on the 600 block of S.Laurel. They have been waiting for years, but the work was done in about two months.
From email announcement:
Monthly Meeting Agenda
Tuesday 28 November 2023
7:00PM
This meeting will be held by Zoom, at the link below.
Topic: November OHNA Meeting
Time: Nov 28, 2023 07:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)Join Zoom Meeting
(Editor’s note: Meeting information redacted but please email ohnarva@gmail.com if you would like to receive it)
Welcome
• Treasurer’s ReportCommunity Updates:
1. Lt. Brian Robinson, City of Richmond Police Section Lt, 4th Precinct
2. Officer Luke Schrader, Police Liaison, VCU
3. Ms. Verenda Cobbs, VCU
4. Ms. Stephanie Lynch, 5th District Councilperson
5. Ms. Colette McEachin, Richmond Commonwealth’s AttorneyUpdates:
1. Pleasant’s Park upgrades
· Thank you to all of the volunteers who came to the two Saturday workdays to help construct the new fence in the park, paint new picnic benches, and otherwise clean up the park. Thank you also for Parks & Recreation for bringing out the heavy equipment and staff to remove the old chain -link fence and to dig the holes for the new posts.
· Thank you to everyone who sawed boards, dug holes, broke up brick in the holes (ugh), set the posts in concrete, attached the new boards, and did all the many other tasks it took to complete this project.
· Parks & Recreation provided the heavy equipment and knowledgeable staff; OHNA purchased the new materials, and the neighborhood provided many volunteers to see the job through.
· Once the new wood has been able to age a bit, we will return to apply a protective stain to the fence.2. Infrastructure walk held 4pm – 5:30 Friday Oct 27.
· Thank you to all of the volunteers who helped out.Continued Business
3. A volunteer has agreed to head up a committee looking into locations for a dedicated dog park in Oregon Hill and addressing the various city requirements for such an undertaking.
· A Friends of Oregon Hill Parks has been created to plan park improvements, plantings, and to e investigate a location for a dog parkNew Business
4. OHNA elections
· Anyone interested in running?
5. Any other new items?Bryan Clark Green, President
Harrison Moenich, Co-Vice-President
Jennifer Hancock, Co-Vice-President
Mike Matthews, Secretary
John Bolecek, Treasurer
Neighborhood volunteers will be hard at work this Saturday and invite others to join them-
Please join Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association and Parks and Rec in overhauling Robert Pleasant’s Park! We will arrive at 9am and work until we finish the remaining two sections of fence in the park. We will also move some pavers to make a designated area for a pollinator section of bushes and native wildflowers (to be planted in the Spring). Refreshments will be provided for breakfast and lunch, as well as plenty of water. Please come dressed appropriately for the weather, with work gloves! If you can bring shovels (flat and trench) that would be helpful!
Please see link here:
https://www.meetup.com/rva-clean-city-sweep/events/297194814/
Councilperson Stephanie Lynch has highlighted two meetings this week in her 5th District newsletter:
We have two big meeting this week! The first will the virtual Cultural Resources Management Plan (CRMP) tomorrow – Wednesday, November 15 (flyer below).
The second meeting will be the last 5th District Town Hall for the year on Thursday, November 16 at 6pm at Patrick Henry School of Science & Arts (3411 Semmes Ave). We will have DPW Director Bobby Vincent and Police Chief Rick Edwards (flyer below). Please note that we will not have access to the building until 6pm.
It’s that time of year when everything happens at once- the Richmond Folk Festival and Halloween Parade are done and gone.
If you missed them, there are plenty of photos and videos online-
There was also the Richmond Marathon and the King Of The James sports events.
At some point, some things that should have received more attention did not- sorry to miss the Glossed Over Photo Club event this past Saturday.
Please mark your calendar for upcoming events- including more volunteer work days, meetings, OHNA elections, etc. – as we ease into the holidays!
Reminiscent of previous work.
From announcement:
Pleasant’s Park makeover! Sign up here! Two shifts! 9am-1pm, 1pm-5pm. Coffee, water, snacks, and lunch provided! Parks and Rec will be there to help! Come out and hang with your neighbors and help make this park shine!
From Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association:
We are partnering with Parks and Rec to host a two day event to revitalize Pleasant’s Park. The first two years of the block party we raised funds for beautification projects in our parks. This is a direct result of that fundraising. Please join us in helping to make this park shine! The link is in our bio to sign up. We will provide food and drinks! Hope you can make it out, Nov 4th & 11th, 9am-1pm and 1pm-5pm.
Contact OHNA through this email address: ohnarva@gmail.com
Why is it called Pleasants Park?
From the Richmond Friends website (click here for link):
Robert Pleasants, who was born at Curles in Henrico County, Virginia in 1723 and died in 1801, was one Virginia’s most noted Quaker abolitionists. As one of the founders of the Virginia Abolition Society in 1790, he served as president. In 1782 he successfully lobbied for the Manumission Act, which, within one decade, was responsible for freeing over ten thousand slaves in Virginia. In 1792 Mr. Pleasants submitted a petition to the U.S. Congress from the Virginia Abolition Society calling for the end of the slave trade. Mr. Pleasants went to court repeatedly to free hundreds of slaves. He wrote to Virginia leaders such as George Washington and Patrick Henry, asking that slavery be abolished.
Several of these documents are contained on this website.In 1784, two years after manumitting his slaves, Mr. Pleasants founded the Gravelly Hill School, the first school for free blacks in Virginia, and set aside 350 acres of land to maintain the schools. Henrico Parks and Recreation will dedicate a historic maker on the Gravelly Hill Site in 2003.
The Oregon Hill Neighborhood Association successfully petitioned the Richmond City Council in 2003 to name Pleasants Park at 401 South Laurel Street for Robert Pleasants.
This is history that is not part of the City’s Liberty Trail.