South of the James Farmers Market
It’s easy to forget how far we’ve come on certain city projects, especially at the start of budget negotiations and the recent March “surprise” to some — the $8.3 million school fund balance.
Back in 2002, when I moved to the Forest Hill neighborhood, I was wary of the park. A scrappy team of neighbors who lived adjacent to the park locked its gates every night and frequently reported suspicious activity to the police. Its parking lots were seldom filled, and its once-beautiful lake, choked by years of neglect, had become a marsh.
But things change because of a convergence of people who not only have vision, but the drive to get it done on their watch. When Kathy Graziano was elected to represent the 4th District in 2004, and J.R. Pope became the director of parks and recreation soon afterward, I had a front seat to what would become two Richmond success stories.
In 2008, Graziano used her council discretionary funds to launch a farmers market in the park (see page 220). At the time, residents really only had two options: the foundering 17th Street market and the small Tuesday afternoon Byrd House Market in Oregon Hill.
I never thought that lake would float canoes in my lifetime.
People came in droves and they haven’t stopped, making the South of the James Farmers Market the largest year-round, producer-only market in the state. The market even has its own “celebrity” cast of regulars and semi-regulars: organic flower and vegetable grower Amy Hicks, who started at the 17th Street market in the late ’90s; Andrew Broocker of Reginald’s Homemade Peanut Butter, which has gone national; Blanchard’s Coffee Co., which started its roastery nearby and brought its product to the very first market; the list goes on.
For someone like me who lived only three blocks away, the market became a weekly ritual — a place to shop, a place to seek people out, a place to feel connected to.
Two years later, in 2010, I gathered with 500 other neighbors around Forest Hill Lake for a dedication that brought tears to my eyes because I never thought that lake would float canoes in my lifetime. Graziano had worked with Pope to restore the silt- and vegetation-clogged lake, a project that came in under budget and on time.
While Graziano is no longer on Council, and Pope resigned later in 2010 amid the swirl of an employee overtime investigation, this is my thank-you note, 10 years in the making.
