The James River Advisory Council is seeking volunteers who own power boats for its 19th annual James River Parade of Lights, scheduled for Saturday, Dec. 10.

Boaters decorate their craft with lights and cruise the James as spectators watch from numerous viewing sites between Richmond, Chesterfield and Henrico Counties. The parade will start around 6 p.m. with a grand illumination before cruising downriver. > Read more.

The holiday season is getting underway and for many, that means a trip to a Virginia Christmas tree farm or retail lot. The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services wants to make this annual tradition a little easier and has published the new “2011 Virginia Grown Christmas Tree Guide,” which is available online at http://www.virginiagrown.com > Read more.

America Recycles Day, recognized annually on Nov.15, is designed to celebrate the successes of recycling while providing an educational platform that helps raise awareness about the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling throughout the year.

America Recycles Day is a national initiative of non-profit Keep America Beautiful,Inc.(KAB). Millions of Americans have pledged to increase their recycling habits at home and at work over the 14-year history of ARD,a nationally-recognized initiative dedicated to encouraging people to recycle more at home,at work,and on the go. > Read more.

Born and raised in good old Europe, I am quite familiar with the traditional Austro-Hungarian tradition of the Kaffeehaus, an institution that represents a lifestyle of relaxing and thinking in a familiar environment with coffee, pastry, news, good service, marble tables, subdued sounds like the click-clack of the coffee machine, mugs and plates, conversations among patrons and with staff and a bit of low volume Johann Strauss music.

And so it was a thrill to find a modern version of a Kaffeehaus right here in Henrico County: The Daily Grind, near Short Pump Town Center. > Read more.

The Innsbrook Foundation will present a special concert June 19 at the Innsbrook Snagajob Pavilion to raise funds benefiting the victims of the Moore and Shawnee communities of Oklahoma.

The Innsbrook After Hours RVA Cares event will feature five bands and a family festival in recognition of the many families devastated by the Oklahoma tornadoes on May 20, which killed 23 people, injured 377 others, and left destroyed and damaged homes affecting 33,000 residents. > Read more.

West End residents no longer have to pick between fighting the summer mall crowds for a quick bite or breaking the bank to eat at a fine-dining spot because one Richmond group is bringing both to them.

RVA Street Foodies, the organization behind the outdoor food truck courts at the Virginia Historical Society and Hardywood Brewery, debuted its new Henrico food truck court at All Saints Episcopal Church on River Road May 22. > Read more.