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Students, Seniors Share Dance Floor
 | | Freeman High School student Alec Ward dances with a senior citizen at the county's annual American Grandstand event. |
Photo by Tom Lappas/Henrico Citizen 01.MAY.08
Students from each of Henrico’s public high schools gathered with senior citizens from local retirement communities April 18 at Godwin High School to dine, dance and share stories and smiles as part of the county’s annual American Grandstand event.
Music was provided by middle school bands, and seniors paired up with students to practice their footwork on the dance floor. School officials, including Superintendent Fred Morton, also joined in the activities.Henrico Awards Gala Honors Kruszewski, Franciscos
Henrico Citizen Staff Reports 01.MAY.08
Henrico Citizen Managing Editor Patty Kruszewski was named Henrico Business Leader of the Year and Lakeside residents and property managers Peter and Sharon Francisco were named Henrico Community Volunteers of the Year at the Henrico Awards Gala April 24 at The Cultural Arts Center at Glen Allen. The awards and ceremony were presented by The Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce.
Kruszewski, who joined the Citizen at its inception in September 2001, has earned more than 50 awards for news writing from the Virginia Press Association and Virginia Press Women, including 11 this year. She serves as an ambassador for the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce and is an active volunteer in numerous other community organizations, including the Henrico Business Council and Maggie L. Walker Governor’s School Foundation Board. She also is a regular blood donor at Virginia Blood Services. Kruszewski has three daughters, Leah, Jackie and Lanie.
The Franciscos, lifelong residents of the Lakeside community, have taken an active role in helping to lead the community’s resurgence in recent years. The couple owns a number of properties in Lakeside, including The Hub shopping center, Lakeside Towne Center and others. Their Lakeside Farmers’ Market will debut this weekend (see story, page 1).1st Q Home Sales Down in County
By Tom Lappas, Henrico Citizen Editor 01.MAY.08
Residential home sales in Henrico County during the first quarter of 2008 fell by 33 percent from the same period in 2007, mirroring similar drops in other Central Virginia localities, according to a regional analysis compiled by the George Mason University Center for Regional Analysis.
Six hundred twenty-three homes were sold in Henrico during January, February and March – down from 934 during the first quarter of 2007. The average sale price of those residences this year was $274,384, one percent higher than the average price during the same period last year.
Pending sales in the county – houses under contract but awaiting closing dates – during the first quarter stood at 1,001, down 27 percent from the first quarter in 2007. [read more]Lakeside Market to Open
 | | The Lakeside Farmers’ Market will open May 3 at Lakeside Towne Center and will host vendors each Wednesday and Saturday through Thanksgiving. |
By Tom Lappas, Henrico Citizen Editor 01.MAY.08
Looking for fresh, locally grown produce in Henrico? Starting this weekend, there will be a new place to find it.
The Lakeside Farmers’ Market at Lakeside Towne Center– the brainchild of Lakeside property owners Peter and Sharon Francisco – will open May 3 on Lakeside Avenue, near Hilliard Road.
The market will operate twice weekly – on Wednesdays and Saturdays – through Thanksgiving, Sharon Francisco said. It will feature two sessions on Wednesdays (from 8 a.m. to noon and from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.) and an 8 a.m. to noon session on Saturdays. Each session will include as many as 11 produce vendors, most from within 50 miles of the site.
The Franciscos, who own a number of properties in Lakeside, hatched the idea several years ago after they had purchased the Towne Center property, which was vacated by a SuperValu grocery store in 2003. The couple divided the empty building and created the center, which features a variety of shops with individual store-front entrances. Then they decided that an outdoor farmers’ market also might be an appropriate fit for the site. [read more] |
Winding Path Brings Melvin Home
 | | NASA astronaut and University of Richmond alum Leland Melvin responds to a student’s question during a lecture at his alma mater on April 13, while UR President Edward Ayers looks on. |
By Tom Lappas, Henrico Citizen Editor 17.APR.08
Unforeseen opportunities have taken Leland Melvin on a winding path through life he never could have expected.
And that was before it grew by 5.3 million miles in February.
Melvin, a NASA astronaut who also is the all-time leading receiver in University of Richmond football history and holds an undergraduate degree in chemistry and a master’s degree in materials science engineering, made his first trip to space earlier this year aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was a 13-day flight he had waited 10 years to take, but one that he had been preparing for – often unknowingly – his whole life.
Melvin was back at his alma mater last weekend to tell his story to hundreds of area youngsters and others during his “Reach for the Stars II” lecture (a follow-up to a pre-flight lecture he gave in 2006). He told the students that his desire to work hard and do what was necessary (even when it wasn’t fun or popular) helped him reach heights that – quite literally – few on Earth ever have. [read more] |
Early Morning Work Party? Rotarians Say YES
 | | Innsbrook Rotary volunteers Gray Glass and Jack Jaeger install plantings at the Youth Emergency Shelter (YES) on Pump Road April 12 during a club project to rehabilitate the shelter’s recreational areas. |
By Patty Kruszewski, Henrico Citizen Managing Editor 17.APR.08
For the ninth year in a row, the Rotary Club of Innsbrook designated the Youth Emergency Shelter (YES) a major recipient of its fund-raising efforts – and called on its membership to invest some sweat in the project as well.
Approximately 40 club members turned out at the shelter, located on Pump Road just north of Ridgefield Parkway, for an April 12 work day to install plantings, mulch and a retaining wall.
A subsidiary of the Virginia Home for Boys and Girls, YES provides a temporary safe living environment – an “oasis,” as Innsbrook Rotary President Steve Beer terms it – for youth experiencing abuse or serious difficulties at home. [read more] |
Spring in Full Bloom
 | | These daffodils were among the hundreds on display last week at the American Daffodil Society’s National Show at the Sheraton Richmond West hotel. |
By Tom Lappas, Henrico Citizen Editor 17.APR.08
Hundreds of daffodil enthusiasts from the United States gathered in Henrico last week for the American Daffodil Society’s National Show, hosted by the Virginia Daffodil Society (VDS) at the Sheraton Richmond West hotel. Judges awarded prizes April 10 in several dozen categories of the popular flowers, which were then on display for public viewing through April 11. There are more than 25,000 different cultivars of daffodils, according to VDS membership chair Margaret Ford.
“They come at just the right time each spring,” Ford said, describing why she and so many others enjoy growing and looking at the flowers. Her personal favorite is the Redhill, with which she won a best-in-show award 17 years ago.
In addition to hundreds of different varieties of daffodils, this year’s event also included a number of photos of daffodils and eight floral arrangements created by students at local schools.
Ford, who picked up the hobby as a child growing up in Lakeside, has three tips for growing champion daffodils: use good bulbs, plant them in soil that drains well and make sure they receive plenty of sunshine. She’s passed those on to her daughter and grandchildren, all of whom also now grow daffodils and compete in shows.
Membership in the Virginia Daffodil Society is $15 for an individual one-year membership or $20 for a household membership. For details, call 282-1399.
Students Take Control for a Day
 | | Before taking the reins of local government, 32 students took the oath of office at an investiture ceremony at Hermitage High School. Here, Fawad Wahabzada, Henrico High School, is sworn in as county manager while his counterpart, Henrico County Manager Virgil R. Hazelett, looks on. |
Henrico Citizen Staff Reports 17.APR.08
More than 160 high school seniors took the reins of Henrico County’s general government and public schools administrations Thursday when they assumed the roles of elected officials and top administrators for the 51st annual Student Government Day.
Designed to give students a firsthand view of the operations of their local government, Student Government Day paired student leaders from nine Henrico high schools with key county officials, including the county manager, school superintendent, police and fire chiefs, Circuit Court judges and members of the Board of Supervisors and School Board.
“Student Government Day is a special day for the county staff,” County Manager Virgil Hazelett said. “We have the opportunity to give these outstanding young people a glimpse of local government at work and help prepare them for a future of community service.” [read more] |
Study Recommends Enhanced Bus Service in Region
By Tom Lappas, Henrico Citizen Editor 17.APR.08
Transportation service to four corridors that include portions of Henrico County should be increased immediately in order to keep up with current and future growth, according to a draft recommendation by the Richmond Regional Mass Transit Study.
The study, which is being conducted by the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission, recommended that limited-stop bus service be added between Richmond International Airport and Main Street Station; that bus rapid transit be added along the Broad Street corridor between Rocketts Landing and Short Pump; and that existing local bus service along the Route 1 North corridor be expanded and new service be added along the Route 5 corridor into eastern Henrico.
The cost to make those improvements: an estimated $76.9 million in one-time capital construction and equipment costs and $8.4 million in annual operating costs. [read more]
17.APR.08 A Stake in Downtown
17.APR.08 Two Teams, One Goal
03.APR.08 Make Your Move
03.APR.08 Help Comes Full Circle
03.APR.08 Lakeside Memorial Day Parade Planned
20.MAR.08 Deep Run H.S. Wins Robotics Competition
20.MAR.08 Henrico Citizen Wins 2 VPA Awards
20.MAR.08 Residential Reassessments Lowest Since 1995
20.MAR.08 Crime Rate Drops Slightly
06.MAR.08 Teens Honored
06.MAR.08 Rolfe M.S. Concerns Aired
06.MAR.08 Oh, the Fun They'll Have
04.MAR.08 Police, FBI Offer $20K Reward in Bank Robbery Cases
21.FEB.08 'Henrico, Va.' May Become Reality
21.FEB.08 County Weighs Land Report
21.FEB.08 Smiles Abound
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