Our formidable spies and decoders have unearthed 225 secrets of Richmond and its surroundings. Why 225? Unlike the output of a WWII Enigma encryption machine, it’s not a random number. Richmond was incorporated as a city in 1782 -- that’s 225 years from 2007, which is right around the corner. To celebrate this anniversary, we’ve decided to divulge Sheriff C.T. Woody’s secret confession, a re-engineered recipe for Chez Foushee’s top-secret Lemon Butter Cake, what the drummer from Love Tractor is doing at Maymont, and many more unearthed facts and figures. It’s an impressive assemblage of secrets so good you won’t be able to keep them to yourself.
Enigmas
001 Mark Holmberg
He stands 9 feet 2 inches. His El Camino was said to be possessed by the spirit of a lonely hitchhiker, and he once nearly killed a man in Reno with his bricklayer’s trowel, just to watch him die. OK, none of that’s true about former Times-Dispatch columnist Mark Holmberg, who has gone back to reporting, but it might as well be. He did build his Hanover home, brick by brick.
002 Oregon Hill
Anyone who has ever watched two bare-chested men throw down in a street fight while standing outside Mamma Å0ä5Zu waiting for a table knows the perplexing nature of Oregon Hill. Yes, the tooth count has risen over the years, but Oregon Hill remains a strange stew of rednecks, students, white-collar professionals, and guys named Eyeball.
003 Carol Wolf
Known for sparring with other School Board members and The Mayor Himself, Carol Wolf never pulls any punches. She has said outright that Doug Wilder would work to unseat her if she continued to support the ruling that the city must pay to make all public schools more accessible to the disabled. It is Wolf’s candor that ironically makes her so enigmatic. And she won re-election, too.
004 Locomotive 231
In 1925, while restoring a Church Hill tunnel built during Reconstruction, workers were buried alive when the brick passageway above collapsed. One body was recovered but at least one and probably more remain entombed. An attempt was made this year to dig the locomotive out, but permit problems and neighborhood worries stopped the project.
005 Edgar Allan Poe
Call him Richmond’s Enigma Emeritus. The man who created some of the most mysterious works of fiction and poetry was by different accounts a Virginia gentleman, a drunkard or a madman. Regardless, Poe continues to perplex us today. His life, and especially his death remain as much a riddle to us as “The Tell-Tale Heart” or “The Raven.”
006 Doug Wilder
The Enigma-in-Chief, Mayor L. Douglas Wilder, answers questions only when he damn well feels like it, contradicts himself shamelessly and plays mind games with everyone from City Council to the Atlanta Braves. If there is anyone out there who can tell us what Wilder is thinking, we will hand him or her 10 crisp new $100 bills.
007 Willem van Heythusen
You might say any truly great work of art is an enigma, but some are more perplexing than others. Take Willem van Heythusen at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Kehinde Wiley’s work is arresting in its size (8 feet by 6 feet) and its subject: a young man in tracksuit and boots posed in the style of an Old Masters painting.
008 Tom Patton
What is the joke exactly? Is there a “Kick Me” sign stuck to Gene Cox’s back? Is he really controlling the climate with an evil weather machine? Whatever it is, WWBT-12 weatherman Tom Patton isn’t telling. Patton, whose eyebrows rise and fall more dramatically than barometric pressure, manages to get off zinger after zinger, slyly mocking anchor banter.
009 Black Dog
Call him an independent spirit, a mind reader, an escape artist, an outlaw. The notorious matted Chow mix, simply called Black Dog, has been trolling the tony West End and bedeviling the Richmond Animal Control department for more than a decade. Among his fabled abilities: fence-climbing, self-healing, mind-reading and sedative-spitting. And, of course, dog catcher-mocking.
Secrets of the Fan
010 Talavera
Grocer Thomas Talley built this farmhouse at 2315 W. Grace St. in 1835. Here he developed a “market garden” to supply his store. Edgar Allan Poe called upon aspiring poet Susan Talley there the night before he left Richmond and returned nevermore.
011 Original Pleasants Hardware
Started at 1607 W. Broad St. in 1915, Pleasants later moved into a drugstore building on the corner of Lombardy and Broad streets, now occupied by Virginia Commonwealth
University.
012 Richmond College
The memorial columns or gateways at Ryland and Lombardy streets were placed by groups associated with the University of Richmond. UR, when it was called Richmond College, was started in this block.
013 Tom Robbins
While attending Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU), novelist Tom Robbins lived for a time at 2703 Hanover Ave. He and artist Bill Kendrick built a hand-cranked television with images on a spool of paper. “I’d crank it,” Kendrick said, “Tom would watch, and it was hysterical.” The roommates saved on electricity costs, Robbins notes.
014 Columbia
At 1142 W. Grace St., Petersburg flour merchant Philip Haxall built in 1818 what is now perhaps the Fan’s oldest house. It has served as Richmond College classrooms, a Confederate hospital, a Union billet, the T.C. Williams School of Law and the Marine Raider Museum. The building is now owned by Annandale’s Sewan Enterprises.
015 Monument Avenue Cannons
Surprise: They came from the North. One, forged in Chicopee Falls, Mass., in the 2300 block was given to Richmond by the United States Army in 1915, and the other near Roseneath Road was forged in Revere, Mass., and given to the city about 1938.
016 Bruce!
Before he was famous, Bruce Springsteen and members of his early bands, Child and Steel Mill, performed at Richmond venues in 1969 and 1970. The last concert ended in fisticuffs when drummer Vini “Mad Dog” Lopez battled with security enforcing the police order to cut power and end the concert at the Franklin Street Gym.
017 Stonewall Jackson
The Stonewall Jackson statue used to face south, but old soldiers insisted “Old Blue Light” (so-named for his intense gaze during battle) point north. So, the general faces northward now. He glowers at the monument of Gen. A.P. Hill, buried at Hermitage and Laburnum.
018 A Shaky Start
The Fan started with a financial bust. From 1815 to 1817, Jacquelin Burwell Harvie oversaw his father’s 1,200 rural acres. He and two partners tried to build a grid arranged to meet the angling Westham Road (Park Avenue), thus fanning the streets. Their business fell apart when a land boom crashed. The next phase of development occurred between 1875
and 1900.
019 Grove/Floyd Alley
The alley between the 1500 blocks of Grove and Floyd is a cobbled court around garages and old dairy delivery and storage garages. The variety of porches, railings, wrought-iron gates and plantings make this, without too much squinting, Richmond’s Garden District.
020 Fan’s First Crazy Artist
Edward J. Peticolas, a Richmonder and European-trained artist, returned around 1840 to become a notable miniaturist painter but was best known for his wooden “castle” between Harvie and Plum streets. It included turrets of various sizes and parts decaying, others freshly built, none painted. He chased off neighborhood kids while wearing his quilted suit; Peticolas died institutionalized.
021 Barbies in Distress
On Vine Street between Grove and Floyd avenues, this unusual front yard display features a hapless group of Barbies and other dolls apparently getting sacrificed by cannibals. It’s a year-round exhibit.
022 The Minuteman
A statue of The Minuteman, standing ready on his pedestal at Park and Stuart avenues, was created to memorialize the First Virginia Regiment, organized in 1754 during the French and Indian War. One of its commanders was Lt. Col. George Washington. The statue was unveiled on May 1, 1930.
023 Meadow/Granby Alley
The residents here are fond of tending flowering plants, some of them quite tall. On a warm day, a sense of quiet gives this alley a park-like atmosphere.
024 Paradise Park
At the streets of Vine and Allen, Floyd and Grove avenues, you can stumble along cobblestones into this sliver of green in the middle of the Fan. No signs declare its name, and the 1970s concrete park decorations are juxtaposed against a line of cypresses and several large trees.
Dirty Little Secrets
025: Cut and Run
In 1781, by order of Benedict Arnold and Col. John Graves Simcoe, Richmond’s tobacco barns and several public buildings were torched after then-Gov. Thomas Jefferson couldn’t be located. The future president apparently hid in Manchester while Richmond burned. The Virginia legislature investigated and accused Jefferson of “pusillanimous conduct,” but the Revolution was won, and Jefferson absolved.
026: Racial Inequality
The Virginia State Constitution of 1902 codified Southern apartheid through stringent voting requirements that ejected blacks from elections but also nearly a third of eligible whites through poll taxes and other Byzantine restrictions. This constitution also solidified the separation of cities and counties (the only state with this blanket arrangement), the one-term rule for governors and established the State Corporation Commission.
027: Obstacle to Progress
Dr. J. Fulmer Bright, the powerful directly elected mayor of Richmond, was the longest serving city executive in history -- he presided from 1926 to 1940. Bright didn’t want Byrd Airport or, during the Depression, government money. A court order forced him to fill vacancies in the fire and police departments and appoint a public health director. In 1948, the council-manager system was adopted in part as repudiation of his legacy.
028: Native Nullification
In 1924 the General Assembly passed the Racial Integrity Law, which recognized only black and white races on birth certificates and eliminated the American Indian category. Until the late 1950s, Indians couldn’t attend white churches or attend school past the seventh grade.
029: Massive Resistance
On Feb. 25, 1956, Harry F. Byrd Sr., Virginia’s political colossus, promulgated Massive Resistance. A group of laws passed in 1958 prevented racial integration, but the NAACP, along with Virginia Union students and others, resisted them. President Lyndon Johnson’s Voting Rights Act of 1968 ended official segregation.
030: Fulton’s Clearing
The working-class Fulton community, in the valley behind Church Hill, was a mixture of sturdy housing, churches and retail. But in the late 1950s, railroad and factory layoffs led to the neighborhood’s downfall. After 1961, break-ins and robbery increased, and heroin arrived around 1964. The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority solved Fulton’s problems with bulldozers in 1973. By 1976 all traces of the community were gone.
031: Annexing Trouble
In the late 1960s, Richmond, desperate to restore its tax base, tried combining the city and Henrico into one entity, but the measure failed. The city then gambled in 1970 by annexing 23 square miles of Chesterfield County. The miserable effort backfired. Residents of the annexed area fled, and the city was accused of racism.
032: Ward’s Woes
Things were bright for Jackson Ward in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the neighborhood was called “the Harlem of the South.” But integration, suburban drain, project housing and the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike hastened erosion. Today, neighborhood preservationists and entrepreneurs are turning the neighborhood around.
033: Burned Trolleys
Frank Julian Sprague in May 1888 inaugurated a 12-mile, 40-car streetcar line in Richmond. Its size and scope were unprecedented and soon, similar systems appeared in cities throughout the world and birthed the era of electric mass transit. But in 1949, preoccupied with racial and class divisions and the new GM buses, Richmond burned its trolleys and paved over the tracks.
State Secrets
034: Not Following Directions
Thomas Jefferson was in France during the construction of the Virginia State Capitol he designed, but he wasn’t pleased when he came back. The building was brick rather than stucco; the columns had no capitals; and there were no front steps.
035: Room for One
The George Washington equestrian statue has a tomb space in it. But Washington’s family decided against it and the U.S. Capitol, in favor of burial at Mount Vernon. An acquaintance of Civil War diarist Mary Chestnut thought the statue resembled a tabletop condiment dispenser.Ã…6•9
036: Washington Shot
Newspaper editor M. Rives Pollard was unscathed in the gunfight inside the Virginia Capitol, but that wasn’t the case for Houdon’s statue of George Washington, which lost a chunk of a finger.
037: Hidden Elevator
During the recent Capitol renovations something forgotten was revealed: A late 1890s wrought-iron elevator cage. It was plastered over in the 1960s. The cage will remain as a decorative element.
038: Our Big Dig
Used for maintenance work, subterranean tunnels link the Executive Mansion with the Capitol and the Patrick Henry Building, the West Hospital and the former Richmond Academy of Medicine. The tunnels are no longer open to the public, “but I’m sure the governor still has the right to use them,” says Mark Greenough, director of tours for Capitol Square.
039: Overnight Rebels
Most Virginians were unaware the state was a member of the Confederacy until they read about it in the newspaper. A convention voted in April 1861 not to secede, but the battle at Sumter changed things. A temporary alliance later that month morphed into a formal tie to the Confederacy.
040: Delayed Satisfaction
Although women received the right to vote in 1920, Virginia didn’t get around to making it legal until 1952.
041: Duel Personalities
InÃ…6•91956,Ã…6•9a provision in the state constitution was removed that banned individuals running for public office who’d participated in duels. Today, a candidate who has dueled can run for office, presuming he survived the duel.
042: Keep ‘Em Separated
Virginia is the only state in the union that keeps apart all its cities and counties as separate political entities.
043: All in the Wording
The use of “commonwealth” to describe Virginia instead of “state” was a jab at King George III. England became a commonwealth when Oliver Cromwell became lord protector in 1649, after the beheading of King Charles I. The hotbeds of the American Revolution -- Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts -- took the moniker as an insult to England.
Aborted Missions
044 Nine Lives
Main Street Station, which has avoided flood, fire and wrecker balls, dodged a 1950s idea to replace it with a sleek, modern interpretation of rail travel. Budget considerations, thank goodness, kept this idea at bay.
045 Morals and Mirth
This project was doomed from the start. In 1798, architect Benjamin Latrobe designed a Palladian-style performing arts center for Broad Street, dedicated to “morals and mirth.” But Richmond, population 5,000, couldn’t afford the project. A smaller, badly built theater burned down in 1811, killing 72. A 1964 effort to revive the theater ended quietly with the death of backer Banny Bosher.
046 Monument Without Medians
During the mid-1960s many urban makeover plans were offered to Richmond, including one that would have eliminated Monument Avenue’s medians and moved the statues to one side.
047 Dali’s Statue
Before the Arthur Ashe monument, there was talk of breaking the trend of booted and bearded Confederate chieftains. One plan was to commission Salvador Dali to design a statue for Capt. Sally Thompkins, who ran a successful private hospital at Third and Main streets. But once a concept sketch was printed, the plan evaporated.
048 Capitol Babylon
A 1960s concept of terracing Capitol Square in a “Hanging Gardens of Babylon” motif reached the stage of drawings and public debate, but was quashed.
049 The Nature of Science
When the General Assembly decided the Science Museum of Virginia needed to find a home, a “crystal palace” to be built behind the Carillon was strongly considered. Solar energy would power the building, which included a planetarium. But money woes made the abandoned Broad Street Station the museum’s “temporary” home -- now 30 years and counting.
050 No To Bungalows
City planners in the 1950s, unable to figure out how to rehabilitate what was then a deteriorating portion of the Lower Fan, proposed an assortment of attractive bungalow-style Cape Cod houses. The nascent Fan District Association said, “Dang it, no, there’ll be no bungalows.”
051 VCU, South Side?
In late 1966, Chesterfield County pursued relocating what eventually became Virginia Commonwealth University at Coalfield and Genito roads. Imagine the University of Brandermill.
052 Before Its Time
The Virginia Commonwealth University master plan of the 1970s took the campus to the river -- but Oregon Hill residents halted the university’s growth. The Broad Street and Monroe Ward expansions now seem sensible, but it took community activism to make that point.
053 Light-Rail Dreams
In 1973, Philadelphia native Neil Humphreys proposed an electric light-rail commuter system running from Amelia County, through Huguenot and Robious roads, into downtown and Main Street Station with a link to Richmond International Airport. Even though the track already existed, Humphreys was told the project was unaffordable.
Under The Radar
054 Bowman Body
Bill Bowman of Colonial Heights hosted Channel 8’s in the early 1970s, but you knew him better as the Bowman Body, a ghoulish fellow in a coffin. Now 71, he’s retired but directs a talk show for Hopewell-based Joy TV Productions. The Body still makes appearances, including one this past October at Monster Fest in Hampton Roads.
055 Sailor Bob
Bob Griggs is as an indelible part of Richmond childhood as the ink he used to flash-draw his quirky pics on Channel 12’s , which ran from 1959 to 1969. Bob is retired in Richmond, a granddad and toying with the idea of releasing DVDs of his much-loved show.
056 Paula Otto
Paula Otto, WTVR-TV’s 1980s weekend news muse, is happily ensconced in academia. She’s the associate director of VCU’s mass communications department. Before that, Otto was with the Virginia Lottery as director of public affairs. She’s been married for nearly 20 years.
057 Lisa LaFata
The babe of the ‘80s news scene, LaFata (now Powell) shared an anchor desk with Charles Fishburne. These days, she’s sharing her life with her husband and three children. She performs pro bono public relations and marketing work and is on a short break from teaching at VCU.
058 Paul Galanti
Galanti spent seven years as a Vietnam POW in North Korea’s infamous Hanoi Hilton. Upon his 1973 release, he made Richmond his new home and still lives in the near West End. “Today,” he tells us, “I spread optimism and hope. There’s no such thing as a bad day when there’s a doorknob on the inside.”
059 Felipe Rose
Yes, it’s true, the Village People Indian, Felipe Rose, lives in Richmond. He fell in love with the city during a 2001 concert. Today, the man who’ll forever be linked with “Macho Man” and “Y.M.C.A.” still travels with the band and is interested in opening a restaurant or club here, a neighbor says.
Secret Passages
060 Beer Underground
Now part of the Rockett’s Landing development, the former Yuengling brewery storage tunnels cooled beer on ice. The look is very X-Files.
061 The Mews
It looks authentic but dates from 1928. Renowned Colonial Revival architect Duncan Lee designed a group of shops at 210 E. Franklin St. along a herringbone-patterned brick walkway. The “shops” are now a lawyer’s office, and the mews is behind a gate.
062 108 N. First Street
Tucked behind the Valentine-Kent House is a renovated carriage house that is home to Studio 108, a media services firm. “It’s so secret, clients sometimes can’t find us the first time around,” says 108’s Chris Williams.
063 The Warsaw’s Catacombs
VCU artists, musicians and other adventurous folk in the 1970s couldn’t resist these dark corridors in the former St. Sophia Home for Old People of the Little Sisters of the Poor at 1401 Floyd Ave. Beneath the Warsaw condominiums, residents use the vaulted chambers, odd-shaped cellar rooms and wide, angling corridors for storage.
064 St. John’s Mews
The Historic Richmond Foundation called St. John’s Mews (between 23rd and 24th streets, East Broad and East Grace streets) the “pilot block” when the group began the restoring Richmond’s historic district in 1957.
065 Linden Row Inn
Here, where the merchant Charles Ellison maintained a garden, a young Edgar Allan Poe cavorted with his playmates. Today, in a restored series of antebellum row houses on Franklin Street is the Linden Row Inn. The brick courtyard, with its fountain and covered tables, remains a charming spot.
066 Monumental Church’s Crypt
Victims of the 1811 Richmond Theatre fire are buried beneath this restored church, built in 1813 and now restored. Some bodies were recognizable enough to receive individual coffins, as revealed a few years ago by an electronic scan.
067 National’s Nursery
A nursery, complete with stenciled decorations on the walls, lay behind a wall at the 1923-built National Theater, 704 E. Broad St. Such amenities were common in theaters at the time; the National is undergoing renovations to become a music venue.
068 Byrd Theatre Lake
When the Byrd Theatre of Carytown was constructed in 1928, its engineers found a natural spring, and rather than pump it out, they decided to build over it. This isn’t on the regular tour, but manager Todd Schall-Vess takes requests.
069 Escape Hatch
Gustavus A. Millhiser, a Richmond bachelor businessman, was fond of opera recordings and playing the pipe organ, and his elaborate house, 916 W. Franklin St., included a secret door out of his study. The curving steel track survives, although the door was jammed years ago by liability-conscious VCU.
070 14th Street Takeout
A year ago, volunteers in the James River Park System built the 14th Street Takeout steps tucked into the side of Mayo’s Island for kayakers and others. You’ll see herons and you’ll see anglers dangling lines.
071 Pine Street Path
At the end of Pine Street, below the Oregon Hill gazebo, is a rustic cut-through to Belle Isle installed by James River Parks System volunteers. Watch your step, since the stairs leading down are cut into the hillside.
072 Brownell’s Favorite Narrow
Dr. Charles Brownell, VCU architectural historian, gets a kick out of walking Franklin Street through the very narrow passage between the Starke and Bowe houses. “As I draw close, I hurl myself forward and run like hell between the brick walls that squeeze close, only to emerge in front of the Pollak building.”
073 Between the Floors
The splendid mansion of early 20th-century stockbroker John Kerr Branch at Davis and Monument avenues is today the Virginia Center for Architecture. During renovations a few years ago, a room was discovered between the first and second floors. Perhaps the room was the hiding place for presents?
074 C.T. Woody
If you see Richmond Sheriff C.T. Woody roaming the streets in the wee hours, don’t be surprised. He reveals that after years as a homicide detective, he rarely sleeps more than four hours at a time. “Between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m., I awake instinctively and must get up,” he says. That often means middle-of-the-night e-mails or inspecting his street. “Then I can sleep for a while.”
Secret Confessions
075 Garren
These pants are made for partying, at least for Garren, New York City hairstylist to Oprah and other stars and owner of a home near Maymont Park. In 1999, he and his partner purchased $6,000 beaded pants from Gucci; upon the pants’ arrival in Richmond, Garren says he realized they had nowhere to wear them. So they threw a party in honor of the pants -- flying in caterers, a DJ and friends from New York.
076 Randy Fitzgerald
“At 24,” writes former Times-Dispatch columnist Randy Fitzgerald, “I was teaching English at the University of Georgia. One morning, a student late to class whipped into my faculty parking space ahead of me. A fistfight ensued, during which I learned he was a wrestler, and he learned I was faculty. He won the fight, but I had him towed.”
077 Antoinette Essa
As for Channel 12’s Antoinette Essa, who is leaving the station Dec. 1, her confession is that she craves Dungeness crab legs and red wine when she’s feeling low. Those plus Law & Order re-runs make her night.
078 Robert Grey
It’s been said that attorneys have to be actors once in a while; former American Bar Association president Robert Grey took that literally. He played a “ladies’ man” in a Firehouse Theatre production of Women of Manhattan, to a lackluster review in the Times-Dispatch. “I should not give up my day job,” he says.
079 John Peters
John Peters, minister of Trinity United Methodist Church, confesses that his first baptism nearly was a washout. Crying and squirming, the 2-year-old child jumped out of his arms during the section of the liturgy reading “living unto God, dying unto God..."
080 Mrs. Virginia 2006
Mrs. Virginia 2006, Erica Kirwan of Glen Allen, shares two sticky secrets of the pageant world: “We use butt glue to keep our bathing suits from moving while we walk around onstage. We also taped our shoes around our feet with clear tape so they wouldn’t slip off during the dance routine.”
081 Elizabeth Thalhimer Smartt
Smartt, 30, helped to develop the moniker Altria for Philip Morris’ parent company, and now has her own freelance naming business. But she is most interested in her own name. Her VCU master’s degree thesis was on Thalhimers department store, and she and her mother authored a book of recipes and memories from the store.
082 Jerry Cable
Cable has a full life on both coasts. In Richmond, he’s the owner of the Tobacco Company and a real estate developer. In Malibu, he owns Dolphin Head Vineyard, a two-acre vineyard that produces 300 to 600 cases of wine per year. The wine will be served locally at the Tobacco Company.
083 Joel Erb
The 23-year-old founder, president and chief executive of the Web design and marketing firm Inet Network Inc. started his business at 15, but it was not his first entrepreneurial foray. At 13, Erb took on a catering job for 70 people — serving two entrees and a cream-puff tower dessert.
084 Charles S. “Charlie” Luck IV
President and CEO of Luck Stone Corporation, Luck was a NASCAR racer beginning in 1983. He had nine top-10 finishes in 1984; 14 in 1986. He also met and married his wife, Lisa Petty (daughter of Richard), during this time. Four years later, he traded in his racing helmet for a Luck Stone hard hat.
085 Armistead Wellford
Wellford, 47, is the carriage curator at Maymont and a gifted portrait artist, but did you know he also was the drummer for Love Tractor, a mythologized band from Athens, Ga., dating back to the era of R.E.M. and the B-52s? Wellford also spends many a weekend playing bass and guitar with NrG Krysys.
086 Bob Brown
Senior photographer at the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Brown is a well-regarded bluegrass musician. Before joining the T-D in 1968, he played guitar and banjo and sang lead for the Virginians. A more recent song, “Miner,” will be included in a 2007 box set called “The Music of Coal.” Brown’s alongside Loretta Lynn, Ralph Stanley and Ricky Skaggs on the albums.
087 Baxter Perkinson
It’s no secret that W. Baxter Perkinson Jr. is a full-time dentist who paints, but did you know that he gives away all of his work? Perkinson also is one of two owners of Ruth’s Chris Steak House. He displayed his paintings there 15 years ago, and the next thing he knew he was a silent partner.
088 David Fairchild
Fairchild, 55, CEO of First Market Bank, restores and races vintage cars. He races a 1971 Formula Ford Royale at tracks up and down the East Coast, primarily at Virginia International Raceway near Danville. He and his 24-year-old son, Scott, have won several group races and will be part of a documentary on vintage racing.
089 For Your Family-Friendly Party
When throwing a PG-rated sublime soiree, bring in the dynamic duo of Lisa-Ann Setchel and Lee Shulleeta (090), who operate Freeze Frame. Their rentable, old-school photo booths spit out black-and-white strips that turn garden-variety gatherings into scrapbook-worthy affairs.
090 For Your A-list, Adults-Only Amusement
If you’re tired of the same old, same old holiday party entertainment, crank it up to NC-17 and put some va-va-voom in your living room. One’s a poet/chanteuse and other’s a lithe yoga instructor. Together Anna Tulou (093) and Tia Platte (094) are the core of Nouvelle Burlesque. Their chair dance is as potent as rum in the eggnog.
091 For Rising from the Ashes of Anarchy
Entropy got your world? Professional neat-freak Lorna Wetzel restores order to the chaos of your junk drawers and overflowing closets. A true lifesaver, she rescues lost adults from beneath avalanches of clutter.
092 For Happy Teleprompters and Conventioneers
Now serving as executive communications director at Dominion Resources, Mark Lazenby has written national award-winning speeches and earned esteem in university classrooms and professional writing seminars. A former journalist for United Press International and for dailies in North Carolina and Virginia, he’s mighty handsome, too.
095 For Events That Rock
John Melleky and his 3fold Communications have overseen since 2004 the annual Ukrop’s Christmas Parade, which includes about 4,000 participants and 500 volunteers. He has a good pedigree: In 2004 he worked with the group that transformed Central Park in New York City for a tag sale event, with only two months’ lead time.
096 For Tree Removal
So one of Richmond’s tempests slammed a tree into your house, or across your yard. Who you gonna call? Angie’s List, a national online vetting and clearinghouse for household services, gives its consumer-fed highest rating to Bartlett Tree Experts. “We make a schedule and keep to it,” says marketing assistant Jamie Edwards.
097 For Getting Speakers
The Woman’s Club of Richmond has maintained a speaker series since 1895. Amelia Earhart, then-Sen. John F. Kennedy, Winston Churchill and Robert Frost have held forth at the club. One advantage modern members have: Google. It’s a lot easier to find speakers’ contact info, says Jane Hamilton, chairwoman of the speaker committee.
098 For Scouting Movie Locations
Isaac Regelson, who has scouted for feature films and commercials, is the man in the know. When the thriller comedy Cry Wolf shot here, director Jeff Wadlow required several sites. “I got on the phone and within minutes we had places lined up for him,” Regelson says. He also brought Cold Mountain to Belle Isle.
In Hiding
099 Sa’ad El-Amin
One of Richmond City Council’s most unforgettable characters ever, Sa’ad El-Amin resigned from the Council in 2003 after pleading guilty to tax-evasion charges and spent time in a federal prison. In August, he hung up the orange suit and indicated to a friend that he had absolutely no plans to return to Richmond, but sources say he’s back.
100 Gwen Hedgepeth
In August 2005, lawyers for Gwen Hedgepeth failed to have the former City Councilwoman’s conviction on bribery-related charges overturned. A federal appeals court upheld the conviction, which sentenced her in July 2004 to three years and eight months in a federal prison. She’s set to be released in October 2007.
101 Chuck Richardson
Former Richmond City Councilman Henry W. “Chuck” Richardson, whose political dealings and two drug-related convictions commanded headlines, lost his wife, Phyllis, in March. “She was a good mother, a devoted wife and a decent human being,” he says. “She left me with my dignity in spite of myself.”
102 Stephen B. Johnson
Stephen B. Johnson, the former Richmond School Board chairman of manhunt.net and marijuana-at-the-airport fame, seems to be low-keying it. He lives on the South Side and recently sold his antiques business. An acquaintance says, “I think he’s trying to lay low and figure out what’s next.”
103 Leonidas Young
Richmond’s oh-so-controversial former mayor Leonidas Young has long been out of jail after pleading guilty in 1999 to mail fraud, obstructing justice and filing false income tax returns. He’s a minister at New Kingdom Christian Ministries in Sandston and still lives in Richmond.
Secret Societies
No. 104: Virginia Friends
The Virginia Friends swingers group — an “upbeat lifestyle club” — holds theme dances at area hotels. Manager Randy (who asked us to leave out his last name) has a roster of 3,000 frisky couples, mostly in their 30s and 40s. Single guys sometimes try to infiltrate, but that’s a no-go, Randy says.
No. 105: Common Thread
The Christian group Common Thread maintains a Shockoe Bottom space in which churches come and “leave their four walls and differences in doctrine behind,” says the director. The goal is to create 24/7 prayer, primarily for the city and the nation.
No. 106: Midnight Society
The Midnight Society, a group of college students and 20-somethings, seek out the macabre in Richmond and other cities. President Tess Dixon says the group, which can be contacted through www.midnightsocietyrva.com, has moved from “something to do on Wednesday nights” to the developers of a compendium of local ghost stories and folklore.
No. 107: The Virginia Gentlemen Rugby Football Club
This group is a rugby club for 35-plus players. The group’s members, who are 35 to 72, play like-minded clubs including the D.C.-area Poltroons, who proudly bear the motto, “Hostile. Senile. Fragile.” “It’s a Baby-Boomer thing,” says one Virginia Gentleman. “No shuffleboard for us.”
No. 108: Conclave of Richmond Pipe Smokers (C.O.R.P.S.)
Possibly less healthy but equally interesting is C.O.R.P.S., which aims to spread the word about the “ancient and honourable art and sport of pipe smoking.” Member Linwood Hines tells us that the Richmond-based group has monthly socials and hosts an annual expo in October attended by people from around the globe.
No. 109: La Chaîne
For the gastronomically inclined, the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs is an international fine dining society founded in Paris in 1950. Frits Huntjens, chef/owner of 1 North Belmont restaurant, presides over the Richmond chapter. Christine Wansleben, owner of Mise En Place cooking school in Shockoe Slip, says the group meets once a month for dine-arounds.
No. 110: Farm Sanctuary
Advocating the humane treatment of farm animals, the group, recently organized the Richmond Walk for Farm Animals to strike a blow against factory farming. Richmond Vegetarian Society president Lois Angeletti, who participated in the September event, credited it with “raising both money and awareness.”
No. 111: Women for Winesense
This group’s got the wine and the women — what about the song? The Richmond chapter of Women for Winesense meets monthly at restaurants and wine shops to conduct tastings and learn more about the making of wine. Look up www.womenforwinesense.org.
No. 112: Women’s CIO Forum
Fourteen high-powered women comprise this forum, which mentors women aspiring to upper-level positions in the tech industry. It all started over dinner four years ago. “Women CIOs in Richmond didn’t know each other then,” says founding member Paula Gulak. “Now we have a peer group network that goes across the city.”
No. 113: Richmond Beekeepers Association
Member Glen West says this group of bee lovers is 60 members strong. It meets monthly to discuss topics such as “queen acceptance,” “swarm prevention,” “honey flow” and new findings that honeybees can recognize human faces in photos and remember them for at least two days.
No. 114: P.E.O.
International non-profit P.E.O. (Philanthropic Educational Organization) has an active Richmond chapter. Like all chapters, its invitation-only, women-only membership offers scholarships and low-interest loans to help women whose college educations have been interrupted by life circumstances return to school. As one recipient put it, “They created a miracle for me.”
No. 115: The Hell’s Satans
This moped club calls itself the “self-proclaimed toughest moped gang ever to come out of Richmond.” These extremely easy riders inspired the 2005 short documentary Hell’s Satans (search Richmond mopeds on youtube.com). Member Lee Selby says the group rides every Sunday, with middle-of-the-night rides par for the course.
No. 116: Richmond Craft Mafia
This supportive community of like-minded small-crafts artists has made a mission out of “rubbin’ out the mass produced.” Mafia member Kate Poroszok, co-owner of handmade jewelry company Keen Design, says the group meets to network, share business ideas and put on shows such as the Spring Bada-Bing.
No. 117: Cut Throats
This gang of bicyclists meets to ride, joust and run relay races. The main event is the annual April 1 Slaughterama on Belle Isle, described as “the most brutal bike fiasco in all of Virginia.” Check out myspace.com/cutthroatsrva.
No. 118: Culture Vultures
Brought to you from the group behind First Fridays, the Culture Vultures takes art-related trips and exclusive tours of private and corporate art collections. See www.curatedculturerichmond.com/vulture for details.
Beauty Secrets
Lou Stevens
Makeup artist
119: Palladio Rice Paper.
120: Trucco Identity Lipstick in Baroque Rose. “It’s the best all-around, everyday color.”
121: Physician’s Formula Wonderful
Wand in yellow. “I use it all over the eye.”
122: Maybelline Volume Express Waterproof Mascara in black. “It’s the most waterproof and the most smudge-proof, and it’s never clumpy.”
123: Paul Mitchell Dry Wax. “Not at all oily or gunky. It’s especially good for fine hair.”
124: Caruso Molecular Steam Hairsetter. “It provides the longest-lasting curls.”
125: Visine for temporary redness relief from rosacea or burst capillaries. “It shrinks the blood vessels just like it does in eyes.”
Debbie Matenopoulos
Richmond native and E! talk-show host
126: Lancôme Définicils and Flextenicils mascaras. “I seriously could not live without [them].”
127: Trish McEvoy makeup brushes.
128: Stila Mocha gloss.
Amy George
Owner of Modern Atelier perfume company and beauty blogger
129: Milani eyeshadow. “They’re very similar to MAC and Urban Decay shadows because they have a range of fashion-forward colors and everyday neutrals.”
130: Jelly Pong Pong Love Rouge. “The cream blush doubles as an eyeshadow, and the lip gloss can also work as a cheek stain.”
131: Sonia Kashuk brushes at Target, and 132: Essence of Beauty brushes at CVS. “Equal or superior to most high-end brushes.”
Julie Bragg
WTVR 6 news anchor
133: St. Ives Apricot Facial Scrub.
134: Loreal Sublime Bronze Self-Tanning Towelettes.
135: Maybelline XXL Washable Mascara in Very Black.
136: Nexxus Therappe Shampoo and Humectress Conditioner. “Very moisturizing, which is great for color-treated hair.”
Lisa Schaffner
WRIC 8 evening anchor
137: MAC Studio Fix matte-finish foundation in NC35.
138: MAC Power Blush in Angel with
Harmony as a contour.
139: MAC eyeshadow in Yogurt and
Symmetry.
140: Kenra Design Spray No. 9. “You just cannot do TV without a good can of hairspray!”
Michelle Duroy Torres
Virginia Cinema Makeup School owner
141: Bioelements Absolute Moisture. For those with combination skin
142: Kiehl’s Light, Nourishing Eye Cream.
143: Carmex lip balm. “I’ve tried the most expensive and the cheapest, and Carmex always wins.”
144: Bioelements Duo Expressions eye color in Bronzed Violet and Copper Mist. “They are so well pigmented.”
145: MAC Fluidline gel eyeliner. In Black Track for dark complexions and Dipdown for lighter ones.
146: Bodyography eye pencil.
Christina Feerick
WRIC 8 Good Morning Richmond Weekend anchor
147: MAC’s Fast Response Eye Cream. “Along with a cup of coffee, it enables me to be bright-eyed and ready to greet the day!”
148: Smith’s Rosebud Salve. “Since it has no color, it’s great to use before applying lipstick and lasts for hours.”
149: Hask Spray-On Luminator. “Anyone can use this spritz because it has no color and isn’t sticky like hairspray.”
Susie Galvez
Beauty expert and day-spa founder
150: Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser. “It’s a very, very mild cleanser.”
151: Soak! Bath Bombs.
152: Smashbox Seamless Liquid Foundation. Oil-free and provides medium-to-full coverage.
153: Essie nail polish in Sold Out Show for hands. “It’s a very light pink. ... It doesn’t show chips and is a simple, polished color.”
154: Plain, unflavored yogurt. Galvez recommends applying it to the face, neck, chest and back of hands, waiting 10 minutes, then removing with a damp washcloth. “The lactic acid removes dead skin, and the milk moisturizes.”
For the perfect gift
When interior designer Todd Yoggy needs a great gift, he depends on orchids from Rivah Flowers & Gifts (155). “They are beautiful and long-lasting.” When he’s searching for antiques, his favorite treasure-hunting spots are Willow Place Antiques (156) and Maurice Beane’s studio (157).
For a quick trend fix
When Katie Ukrop isn’t scouting out new crafters to feature in Quirk Gallery’s shop, she heads to Forever 21 (158) for style on a shoestring. “No, I am not 21,” she says, “but they always have fun, trendy treats for great prices.” Another of her favorite stops is Clementine (159), for its accessories.
160 For One-of-a-Kind Wear
Jenni Lee Crocker, director of business development and marketing at Ernst & Young, travels to New York City fashion shows twice a year. Locally, she heads to Monkeys for Meg Carter’s funky, seashell costume jewelry. For something a little more high-end, she goes to Jay Sharpe in Carytown. Crocker loves A.R. Bevans for apparel and Halcyon for vintage finds.
161 For expert alterations and cleaning
Michelle Corridon, owner of The Chic Armoire wardrobe-consulting business, depends on Village Cleaners. “I’ve taken dresses with sequins and odd buttons there, and everything always comes back the way it’s supposed to come back,” she says.
162 For discount shopping
Q94’s Melissa Chase loves Rugged Warehouse. “It’s got lots of designer clothes like Juicy Couture track suits, Armani Exchange tees and Carlos Santana shoes — but you must be in the mood to pick through and inspect each piece carefully to make sure there aren’t any rips or stains.”
For fashion bargains
When Karen Guthrie, chair of fashion design and merchandising at VCU, is looking for bargains, she heads to the Baggio (163) consignment shop in Gayton Crossing. “Many items have never been worn ... and her purses are fabulous,” she says. For evening wear and great knit pieces, Guthrie heads to Freda’s (164) for Australian designer Vivian Chan Shaw.
For furniture finds
When art and furniture dealer Maurice Beane is on the hunt for modern and midcentury pieces, he heads to Motley’s Auctions (165); Diversity Thrift (166), mostly for paintings and lighting; and Consignment Connection (167), “mostly for furniture.”
FILE 168 Sweet Trailer Trash
For a sugary treat in the morning or late at night, try the trailer-park pancakes at Galaxy Diner. No, they are not pancakes. The dish is made from French toast stuffed with peanut butter and bananas. Add some syrup and this ooey gooey concoction is delish.
169 Say Cheese
Next time you’re out at New York Deli, Carytown’s newest nightspot, hop in the old-fashioned photo booth and take some pictures with your friends. It’s a great way to remember your night, whether or not you imbibe.
170 Game On
For some friendly competition from the days when video games were a public phenomenon, check out the tabletop Ms. Pac-Man game at Carytown Burgers and Fries.
171 Just Charming
Above the jampacked jewelry case in Anthill Antiques hang one-of-a-kind necklaces made by co-owner Kay Adams. Each new necklace is fashioned from antique charms.
172 Spike!
Tucked behind Babe’s of Carytown, there’s a patio complete with its own sand volleyball court that’s available to patrons.
173 A Pearl of a Bag
For an exclusive designer handbag that’s not available anywhere else in Richmond, check out the Kiki Pearl line at Que Bella. Store owner Heather Teachy met Kiki Pearl, who allowed her to carry the line.
174 Sarah Sue for You
You’ve probably seen the Sarah Sue New ribbon key chains around town, but there’s a whole lot more at the Sarah Sue New studio (upstairs at 2913 W. Cary St.). You’ll find a cute pink space loaded with wild, girly purses and belts, as well as loads of fabric from which to choose a custom creation.
FILE 175 Something Comfortable
Next time you want to relax at home, stop by The Garden Lily. You’ll find microwaveable lavender-scented slippers. Put lotion and socks on your feet, pop the slippers in the microwave and then put them on.
Secret Crushes
Elliott Yamin
Plenty of females have crushes on Elliott Yamin, Richmond’s own American Idol, but we turned around the question on him. His favorite starlet? Rosario Dawson (176) of Rent and Clerks II fame. Yamin says his girlfriend, Jaime Paetz, knows about his crush and is OK with it.
Robin Starr
Robin Starr, chief executive officer of the Richmond SPCA, was a devoted fan of the Benji (177) movies when she was a child and admits to a crush on the scruffy star. “I adored Benji, and those movies were really the beginning of ... my enormous love for animals.”
Beverly “Booty” Armstrong
Beverly “Booty” Armstrong, vice chairman of CCA Industries, reveals that film legend Sophia Loren (178) is his secret crush. “She is one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen. I was immediately taken with her beauty back in the 1960s when I saw Two Women.”
David Baugh
The only women that criminal lawyer David Baugh has ever had a crush on other than his ex-wife are two classic beauties: French actress Catherine Deneuve (179) and actress/singer Lena Horne (180). “The idea that they have ordinary human functions is inconsistent with their beauty.”
Hugh Gouldthorpe
Hugh Gouldthorpe, senior vice president at Owens & Minor, has a thing for Nicole Kidman (181). “Like Jude Law in Cold Mountain, I’d walk a lot of miles to see her too!”
Scott Wichmann
Actor Scott Wichmann has a secret crush on Arundhati Roy (182), a 44-year-old Indian activist and the Booker Prize-winning author of 1997’s The God of Small Things. “I have a crush on her because of her commitment to worldwide peace and justice, anti-imperialism and basic human rights.”
Pam Reynolds
In addition to community volunteer Pam Reynolds’ crush on her husband, Major, she also has a small crush on David Rockefeller (183). “He’s one of America’s greatest philanthropists. He always gives with great style. When he gives, in many cases it transforms institutions.”
Bill Bevins
For Bill Bevins of Lite 98, it was his ninth-grade French teacher, Mrs. Stark (184). “I don’t know her first name because she was my teacher. She was young, beautiful, very kind and she spoke French!”
Rita McClenny
No movie-star crushes for Rita McClenny, director of the Virginia Film Office. Her fave rave is Bono (185), U2 frontman and globetrotting do-gooder. “He has permeated every political direction to come back to one central point — the goal to alleviate AIDS in the world.”
Secret Recipes
186 Food Critic Karen Miller’s Version of Chez Foushee’s Lemon Butter Cake
When I was 12, I spent the summer trying to re-create my dad’s favorite dessert — his grandmother’s custard pie. I don’t remember how many pies I made that summer, but it seemed like dozens. The final version never quite lived up to his childhood memory, though it did become a permanent addition to our family’s collection of recipes. It wasn’t until years later that I realized that his grandmother used farm-fresh eggs and milk from her own hens and cows. It took me 20 years to discover the “secret” of that pie but seven attempts to come up with my version of Chez Foushee’s delectable Lemon Butter Cake. I wound up with a solid B-plus, but the original still earns top honors.
THE CRUST
1/2 stick or 4 tablespoons of butter
1/2 package (or 2 cups) of boxed lemon-cake mix (I used Duncan Hines Lemon Supreme)
1/2 of a whisked egg (approx. 2 tablespoons)
THE FILLING
1 14-ounce can of condensed milk (I used Eagle Brand)
1 8-ounce package of cream cheese (I used Kraft Philadelphia brand), softened to room temperature
2 teaspoons of lemon extract
2 cups of powdered sugar
2 large eggs
1/4 cup of lemon juice
1 stick (8 tablespoons) of butter, softened to room temperature
Melt butter. Stir together ingredients with a fork until the mixture comes together. It will resemble yellow Play Doh. Grease the sides of a 9-inch springform pan. Using your fingers, press the dough into the bottom of the pan and partway up the sides, making sure that the corners aren’t too thick with dough.
Cream together the cream cheese and butter in either a mixer or a food processor until the mixture is fluffy and thoroughly blended. Mix in condensed milk, scraping sides of bowl to incorporate the cheese/butter mixture fully. Add powdered sugar. Mix. Add eggs one at a time. Finally, add lemon juice and lemon extract, and mix completely.
Pour the resulting mixture into the prepared pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until the top is puffed and golden brown. Chill completely (or overnight) before serving. Top will collapse slightly upon cooling. Slice into wedges, dusting each piece with powdered sugar. Garnish with a lemon slice.
FILE 187 Croaker’s Spot: Cherry Blue Limeade
• 1 lime
• 4 ounces of simple syrup
• 5 ounces of soda water
• 1 ounce of blue-raspberry syrup
• 1 1/2 ounces of cherry syrup
Squeeze lime into a glass, fill with ice. Pour in simple syrup and soda water. Shake vigorously. Top off with blue-raspberry and cherry syrups. Garnish with cherries and an orange slice.
188: Table 9: Dena’s Decadent Red Velvet Cake
189: Dogwood Grille: Lavender Crème Brûlée
190: Zuppa: Curry Chicken Salad
191: Zorba’s: Pastitsio
192: Enoteca Sogno: Tuna and Ricotta Croquettes
193: Sensi: Goat Cheese Budino
194: River City Diner: Black and Blue Pancakes
195 Presquile NWR
You’ll find the primordial 1,329-acre Presquile National Wildlife Refuge smack in the James River, about 20 miles south of town. Established in 1953 for the protection of migratory birds, Presquile is also home to many of Richmond’s resident bald eagles. Visitors are ferried in by pontoon boat during scheduled events. Call ahead to the refuge complex HQ for an appointment: 829-9020.
196 Forest Hill Lake
Though once a bona fide lake, this silted pond has become a “garden” of sorts due to neglect. Today it’s one of those marshy remnants that has a magic all its own.
197 The Alleys of Bellevue
If the neighborhood of Bellevue is truly the city’s best-kept secret, its alleys are even more so. Residents here take great pride in their utilitarian pathways — designated for garbage collection and telephone lines — attending to flowers spilling through picket gates.
198 Scuffletown
Wedged in the backyards between Strawberry, Park, Stuart and Stafford streets sits the Fan’s Scuffletown Park, a postage stamp of a public park that turns 30 this year.
FILE199
Blandford Cemetery
Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg feels like a time capsule not yet dug up. The architecture is stunning, and the jagged gravestones staggered about are a sight — the oldest dates to 1703.
200 Richmond Hill
Overlooking the city from the prominence of Church Hill, the garden behind the ecumenical retreat known as Richmond Hill is a walled sanctuary of beautiful plantings, fishponds, birdbaths, historic shrines and fountains.
FILE 201 Hidden Creek Park
A tribute to the seven astronauts who died in the 1986 Challenger disaster is in this eastern Henrico park, which also has two tennis courts and a recreation center.
202 Westhampton Green at UR
The University of Richmond stands out for its collection of fine brick buildings just off River Road, but they are best showcased around the handsome expanse of Westhampton Green, an oasis of lawn and shrubbery on this private campus that’s a wonderful place to stretch out and spend an afternoon.
203 MidLothian Mines Park
As far back as the late 1700s, Thomas Jefferson wrote about the bounty of Chesterfield’s mines, and a romp through this park is a great way to discover its fascinating history.
204 Hanover Wayside Park
Ground was broken here last May for the Hanover Veterans Memorial, recognizing military veterans killed in WWI to the present day. Located six miles north of I-295 on Rt. 301, the park is on the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places.
Hidden Potential for the DIY Guy or Gal
205: Metal Salvage
Atlantic Iron and Metal, a sprawling wasteland of recyclables at the Dinwiddie County line, takes all kinds of castoffs. Tin cans, copper, cars and spiral staircases all find their way here.
206: Marble Castoffs
H.E. Satterwhite’s dumpster is the destination for manufactured marble and granite castoffs and cuttings — provided you show up with steel-toed boots and don’t mind climbing into a massive trash bin located in the alley behind the Lombardy Street shop (at your own risk).
207: Car Junk
Philbates is the place to go for rare American parts when you’ve expired all other options. At first glance, it seems a discombobulated superfund site in the woods. That said, it’s a wonderland.
208: Metal Screening
You’ve likely passed Argus Steel Products’ nondescript warehouse, just beneath I-195 near the Boulevard, a thousand times and never thought to stop. But Argus carries the mother lode of metal grates, wire cloth and perforated screening. Your imagination is the limit — they’ll cut to size.
209: Free Mulch
The Nuckols Road landfill in western Henrico County, offers free mulch provided you bring your own truck and a pitchfork.
210: Architectural Salvage
S.B. Cox is the real mecca for architectural salvage. A mere side business to its massive demolition operation, S.B. Cox’s offerings are more ragtag than Caravati’s, and the price reflects it.
FILE 211
Dual-Natured House
On Chesterfield County’s Iron Bridge Road is Magnolia Grange, an 1822 house with a Federal exterior and a Greek Revival interior. The home, open weekdays for tours, had an offbeat exhibit on death in October and November. One highlight was an embalmed dog, run over by Petersburg’s first car.
212 A Leg Up
If you want a succulent roasted chicken, head straight to Cross Brothers Grocery on Ashland’s Railroad Avenue. For fried, boneless chicken fingers, check out Wise Choice at the Rockville Citgo station.
213 Big House Flowers
The Virginia Correctional Center for Women has an interesting sideline: horticulture. The first Wednesday in May, the prison holds a plant sale to benefit inmates’ education.
214 Yodel-ay-he-hoo!
Henrico County is home to the Hirschjaeger Dancers, Virginia’s only authentic schuhplattler (a Bavarian folk dance) group, which meets at Three Chopt Presbyterian Church.
215 Pony Up
Oilville is the scene of the Cadillac Commonwealth Cup Polo Match in September, a chance to gussy up and stomp divots.
216 Hats On
Becky’s Tea Café in Powhatan has a collection of hats designed by Sarah Sue, the legendary milliner for Miller & Rhoads. During high tea, patrons are invited to wear them.
217 Wooden Expressions
Jerry Draper of Crozier makes furniture to order — any shape, size, wood and finish, as well as Celtic symbols and 150 types of crosses, all from butternut wood.
Underground Artists
218 Yellow House
This nonprofit based in the Fan produces original theater and film productions and sponsors ongoing events such as Project Resolution, a forum for filmmakers, and The Just Poetry Slam.
219 Solvent Space
Open since January 2005, Solvent Space, a gallery located next to Plant Zero, exhibits work from national and international artists.
220 Arte Figura
Who says you have to go downtown for art? Arte Figura, a contemporary art gallery in Twin Hickory, features the paintings and sculptures of Fredy Staal.
FILE 221 Bizarre Markets
You never know what you’ll find at Chop Suey’s Bizarre Markets. They take place seasonally, and people show up with an array of items.
222 The Puppetmaster
This year Lily Lamberta started her own theater company called All the Saints, kicking it off with a Halloween parade of large papier-mâché puppets.
223 Music Spinner
Charlie Mingroni is Richmond’s up-and-coming house-music DJ. He lived in Los Angeles for two years, before moving back here. He now DJs regularly at Europa.
224 Cool T-Shirts
Shirts from Jason Ford’s line, Nosaj Authentics, have been featured on HBO’s The Wire and worn by football star Michael Vick.
225 Talking Horse Press
Kate Horne creates prints, ceramics, art, jewelry and papier-mâché sculptures for her Plant Zero-based business, Talking Horse Press.