‘Connecticut’ at the Diamond, the Richmond Braves former stadium is set to come down this Saturday the 13th starting at 10 am. According to Paul DiPasquale the artist of the sculpture, they will be using a crane this time.

Are you going to miss ‘Connecticut’?

Don’t forget to purchase your ticket to LUNAFEST, a fundraising film festival highlighting women filmmakers which takes place in Richmond this Saturday evening. This year, the proceeds from LUNAFEST will benefit the Neighborhood Resource Center. Ten short films, food and an open wine bar are included in the ticket price of $25.00. Enjoy a great time with your friends while supporting the NRC’s community-building programs and resources!

Saturday, March 13th, 2010

6pm: Silent Auction & Reception

8:30pm: Showtime

Weinstein JCC
5403 Monument Avenue

Purchase a ticket today at: www.lunafestrichmond.org

Until recently, Richmind Then and Now’s archive of Times-Dispatch articles has been my only source of info on old Fulton. Add Scott Davis’ 1988 The World of Patience Gromes: Making and Unmaking a Black Community to the list of essential Richmond history reads.

Patience Gromes is a close look at the forces at work in Fulton in the late 1960s, from the cultural inheritance of the residents, to the impacts of external forces of urban decline and government-sponsored urban renewal. In particular, the playout of the events that led to the demolition of Fulton are fascinating and heartbreaking.

From the publisher’s site:

A nonfiction narrative which traces the family of Patience Gromes across the century from the Civil War to the war on poverty. The story begins with her grandfather, who escaped from slavery at age 14. The final acts of the story are played out in Fulton, where Patience and her husband (and a generation of like-minded striving African-American folk) worked and lived and reared families and worshipped and died.

In the bleak years after the Civil War, free in name but economically subservient, the parents and grandparents of Patience Gromes designed a strategy for lifting themselves and their people: forgiveness, hard work, thrift, and land ownership. How would their ideals play out in the difficult years of Reconstruction?

After the turn of the century, Patience moved to Richmond, Virginia and to the working class shantytown of Fulton, built on the banks of the James River. Here she applied the high-minded notions of her parents. During years of lynching and Jim Crow, how would she fare? In Civil Rights, Patience organized, and her people won. Could Patience, the grandchild of a slave, survive the victory?

A book about values. The story of the Gromes family demonstrates that the tools which heal social disintegration are personal, mental, and available to any individual.

Patience Gromes gets to the detailed humanity of old Fulton in a way that I’ve not seen approached for any Richmond neighborhood. The Historic Registry applications give something of an idea of how we got to where we are (for example), but this book brings a level of understanding and focus that makes it all very understandable and very real.

My only issue with the book is the lack of photographs. With the housing having been completely torn down and the street grid redrawn, these decades later I need the visual help to see Fulton as it was. It was in looking online for photos of old Fulton that I stumbled across The Other Side of the Slum Story from the Dec.21, 1968 issue of The Richmond Afro-American, a concrete piece that only adds to the impact of The World of Patience Gromes.

“It became the final resting place of many of Richmond’s leading African-American citizens, including Maggie Lena Walker and John Mitchell, Jr. Their plots and the surrounding plots are cleared, though roughly. There are thousands that aren’t, many forever lost.

Opened with no means for perpetual care, the cemetery has been left mostly unchecked and suffers from vandalism and is overgrown by trees, ivy (poison and English) and weeds.

Clearing the cemetery will take years, and the small core of volunteers needs your help. Rally your friends and family and give three hours of your time one Saturday morning.”

For the full list of noteworthy events in the surrounding neighborhoods click here (PDF)

During February, the Sector experienced a 15% decrease in Major Crime; a 44% decrease in violent crime (9 incidents reported in 2009 compared to 5 in 2010) and a 7% decrease in property crime (30 incidents reported in 2009 compared to 28 in 2010). The 5 violent crimes reported included: 2 Aggravated Assaults and 3 robberies. Of the 5 violent incidents reported 3 have been cleared by arrest and the remaining 2 are still being investigated by detectives. The current trend in Property Crime continues to be residential burglary; there were 7 reported during February, 2 of which were domestic related and 2 occurred to the same residence.

Throughout the month of February we focused on residential burglaries in the Fulton and Church Hill neighborhoods. During this time there were no reported incidents in Church Hill and 5 incidents in Fulton, 2 of which were domestic related. During the month of March our focus remains on residential burglaries in Fulton and Union Hill; officers will conduct high visibility assignments such as walking, biking and directed patrol in those areas. If there is a burglary in your neighborhood I will notify the civic association within 2 days of the incident and ask that the information be disseminated throughout your neighborhood. We will also continue to watch for other crime trends throughout the sector and make the necessary changes to our focus.

As the warm weather approaches I would like to get a jump on addressing environmental issues within each neighborhood. As you travel throughout your neighborhood please take note and notify me of any street lights that are out, vacant properties that need to be boarded and abandoned vehicles.

Crime Trends for February:
• Church Hill – no current trend.
• Chimborazo – no current trend.
• Church Hill North – no current trend.
• Fulton – residential burglary.
• Oakwood – no current trend.
• Union Hill – no current trend.

Sincerely,
Lt. James Laino
First Precinct – Sector 111
2501 Q St.
(O) 646-0572
james.laino@richmondgov.com

IMPORTANT PHONE NUMBERS
First Precinct – 646-3602
Non-emergency number 646-5100
Truancy Hotline – 646-ABCD (2223)
Drug Complaints 646-8123

i lost my keys a few weeks ago. sledding on powhatan hill/ powhatan park. would have been the weekend of feb. 7th. if anyone has any info please call 804 928 8478. thanks!!!

If you have any information on the shooting you are asked to please call Crime Stoppers at (804) 780-1000.

Krispies’ Fried Chicken on Williamsburg Road was inspected by the Health Department on February 18 and scored a perfect score, showing no violations. The have a history of doing well.