7,500 people 'made strides against breast cancer' in Richmond.

By Kathleen Whitlow

Taking patients to and from breast cancer treatment. Providing lodging close to treatment centers when patients must travel long distances. Raising the confidence of women through beauty and makeup lessons.

Those are just some of the services provided by the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer program, a nationwide series of fundraising walks held by the American Cancer Society.

The society held a 5-kilometer Making Strides walk on Oct. 19 in downtown Richmond. It raised nearly $575,000 to help in the fight against breast cancer.

“This was my first year participating in the event, and I had a great time helping to raise money for the women suffering from this disease,” said Walker Linette Laso, one of the 7,500 walkers in Richmond.

“Knowing the programs that Making Strides has for breast cancer patients and survivors makes me want to give as much as I can.”

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From the October 29, 2008 NRC Press Release

The Run to River was great!
Despite a very rainy Friday, race day was cold and dry.  We knew, we had tapped into a world of serious runners when people started showing up in boxers and short sleeves!  The race started under an arc of balloons.  Seventy plus racers ran and walked the hilly course.  They huffed and puffed and cursed the stairs at Libby Hill.  They broke a sweat along the James and chatted up cheery road-side volunteers, “How many more hills?  Are we getting close?”  Up the last hill, through the back streets, the saxy sounds of Hotel X let runners know the finish line was near.

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Co-executive director, Annette Cousins and the creator of Greater Fulton News and frequent poster John Murden have been selected as one of Style Weekly’s 40 people under 40 years of age to watch in Richmond, Virginia.

Congrats to both!

Here are the minutes from The Greater Fulton Civic Association meeting October 2008. Once again thanks to Brenda for providing the minutes. They are available for download and print here (PDF) and here (Word).

The first General Meeting for the Greater Fulton Civic Association was held on October 14, at 7pm at the Neighborhood Resource Center. The officers for the 2008-2009 year are: Bobby Vickers-President, Brandon JayCox –Vice President, Brenda Vickers-Secretary, Brett JayCox-Assistant Secretary and Keith Grady-Treasurer.

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If you did participate in the 10k or 5k to benefit The Neighborhood Resource Center, tell us about your experience. Did you take any photos? If so please share them with the Greater Fulton News Site!

Photo by Tracy

On October 16, 2008, LINC will host the third “It’s in the Bag”—a silent and live auction featuring over 150 casual and evening handbags designed by creative, artistic and philanthropic individuals. Join us for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and bid on hot bags some designed by Richmond celebrities Lisa Schaffner, Faye Prichard, Susan Youngs, Frankie Slaughter, Carolyn Cios, Susie Galvez and Mollee Sullivan. Handbags designed by Honorary Directors Sarah Jessica Parker and Adriana Trigiani also will be featured.

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Tuesday, August 26th – School supplies will be given away as well as food, games, face painting, etc. In addition, free haircuts and health checks (parents/guardians must attend). You must register for this event (registration begins tomorrow at 1:00pm to 4:30pm). The event starts at 1:00pm and ends at 6:00pm. Contact John Williams (John.R.Williams@richmondgov.com) the centers supervisor for more information.

One would have to be a complete recluse, not to have been exposed to the recent Bat-Hype. The Dark Knight directed by Christopher Nolan, the latest in a Batman movie ‘reboot’ has already set box office records.

Much of the movie buzz has to do with the late actor Heath Ledger, who died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs back in January. Ledger plays The Joker in The Dark Knight; Ledgers Joker is unpredictable, gritty and disturbing. Knowing that this is the young actors final on screen role is somehow unsettling; he clearly threw himself into the role. The nightmarish image of the demented, scarred clown Ledger portrays will stay with you even after you leave the theater.

The film is about Batman, played Christian Bales, I suppose, but there are so many other colorful characters like The Joker, that the ‘Dark Knight’ is almost boring. It plays out more like a crime drama where the villains are much more interesting than the cops chasing them.

Let it be known that out of all the comic-movies within the last few years this is a standout. Director Christopher Nolan seeks to bend the concept of heroes and villains. Batman, whose only real answer to Gotham’s corruption is violence, asks himself, ‘Am I doing more harm than good?’ Violence begets more violence.

The film does a lot two and a half hours. Almost too much. They could have saved the last 45 minutes for the beginning of the inevitable 3^rd installment. The overload will make you want to talk about the movie afterwards. Certain scenes and plot twists and turns stick with you like post traumatic stress.

Did I mention it was dark? The PG-13 rating is well earned; the graphic violence peaks, as the Joker carves smiles in more than one person just off screen. 

Rating: See it

I saw Wall-E, a Pixar film that premiered this weekend. It was all that you would expect, visually engaging, innovative story telling, and humor that will satisfy child and adult alike. Wall-E (Waste Allocator Load Lifter-Earth Class) doesn’t talk nor does his pet cockroach, the only two survivors on an otherwise lifeless planet Earth. But Wall-E’s robotic coos and pantomime make it clear what he is feeling and the movie is filled with  sentimental scores that add a heighten sense of emotional to an otherwise completely automated environment.

And yes, Wall-E is quite a sentimental robot.  He gets his feelings hurt, worries about treading over his cockroach and… even falls in love with Eve (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), who comes to Earth to see what shape it’s in. She is cold and calculating at first but she soon falls for Wall-E’s earnest mechanical heart. All the robots in the movie gush with emotions, which made me wanted to roll my eyes a few times. Then some all too clever, culturally relevant bit of ‘Pixar humor’ would draw me back in.

Don’t expect to walk away from this movie without some not-so-subtle social and political commentary. We are big-box-loving-self-absorbed-dim-witted-earth-killers…And you should know it. I laughed aloud when the ship’s CEO insisted that we ‘Stay the course’. A little self-deprecation is good for the soul.

Make sure to stay for the first part of credits, if you are one of those people like me who likes neat little extras.

Rating: See it