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In This Issue
The River City Magnolias amateur water ballet club (Photo by Eric Foster)
80 / Profound Syntax Read the winning poems from the 2021 James River Writers/Richmond Magazine Shann Palmer Poetry Contest, with comment from Roscoe Burnems, Richmond’s first poet laureate.
84 / Swimming in Sync The River City Magnolias combine friendship and fitness to showcase retro water ballet. By Paula Peters Chambers
88 / Best & Worst Pop the Champagne cork, cut the cake and turn up the music — it’s time to celebrate the winners in our 34th annual Best & Worst survey, from our readers’ favorite spots to picnic, party and people-watch to top shops, restaurants, activities and more.
UPFRONT
24 / From the Editor
LOCAL
34 / Education Area schools offer in-person and virtual options for the coming academic year.
36 / Safety Virginians are encouraged to create a health profile for use by first responders.
36 / Community Reimagining Monument Avenue wants to hear from you.
38 / My Take Barbie, my feminist hero By Holly Rodriguez
42 / News Women have been disproportionally affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
46 / Flashback The Arthur Ashe Jr. statue rose on Monument Avenue 25 years ago. By Harry Kollatz Jr.
224 / Parting Shot An augmented-reality art installation envelops City Hall.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
52 / Diversions The Commodores come to Meadow Event Park, oddities at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, bluegrass at Pocahontas State Park, Plunky returns to Dogwood Dell, Wilco and Sleater-Kinney perform at the Altria Theater, and The Byrd screens a local indie art film.
55 / Q&A Wil B of the hip-hop duo Black Violin talks about their music and mission.
56 / Spotlight Bookstores look forward to turning the page as pandemic restrictions ease.
58 / Spotlight The Science Museum of Virginia’s latest exhibition invites you to “Meet the Family.”
LIVING
63 / Style Summer brings a world of colorful clothing as we emerge from the darkness of COVID-19.
66 / Fitness & Wellness Fencers get to the point of fitness.
68 / Health People with sickle cell disease are living longer, better lives.
72 / Travel Keeping cool in the highlands of Southwest Virginia
74 / Parenting One small upside to parenting in a pandemic? No audience. By Christine Suders
EAT & DRINK
206 / Insider Why are restaurants always closed on Mondays?
208 / Ingredient Tomatoes star in summer salads and sammies.
210 / Spotlight America DeLoach of Salsas Don Sebastian shares some of her favorite things.
212 / 5 Faves Fresh fruit makes these desserts light and luscious.
212 / Purveyor Twisted Carrot Farm
214 / Q&A Two friends introduce a lineup of markets across the region.
214 / Open Tab Fun, fruity and flamboyant, Tiki cocktails are a vacation in a glass.
217 / In-depth A festival from Food & Wine celebrating diversity in Black culinary culture debuts in Virginia. By Eileen Mellon
Private Schools Guide
170 / Essential Extras Life lessons learned by private school students in extracurricular activities are often as important as what happens at the desk. By Hunter Reardon
174 / Hope and Caution As we emerge from the pandemic, priorities of school administrators for the coming year include building community and creating close-to-normal procedures. By Dina Weinstein
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