This Weekend: 40th Anniversary of Kwanzaa

Saturday, December 30 1-9 pm at the Greater Richmond Convention Center, exhibit hall B
$6 General Admission, $5 Students, children under 12 are free

As you all know, I cannot say enough good things about the Elegba Folklore Society and its founder and director, Janine Bell. (I swear, if they could bottle that woman's aura, there'd be no need for mood elevators or caffeine. She is inspiration and energy personified.) Well, Elegba is at it again, with the East Coast’s largest Kwanzaa festival, this Saturday. There will be a market and performances and a chance for fun learning. If nothing else, go for the Elegba dancers and drummers. They are AMAZING! ~Mady

Central Park Trashcans

Good day, Messrs Reekes and Canada:

In this season of giving, please consider our park: we understand that there is no budget for and a production stall in the creation of the superior ARB-approved trash cans. We know that we cannot have them at this time. We are willing to continue waiting. All we are asking for are a number of oil drums and black paint. Our neighbors are willing to supply the time and effort to paint them to make them look park-worthy.

Per your promise that we would have trashcans by August of 2006, please consider giving us the requested number of trashcans for Central Park in the year 2007. If not just for the improved sanitation of the park, please do it for us, the Poplar Lawn board members. At this point, we cannot look our neighbors in the eye, such is the humiliation of our task going unfulfilled.

May you have a prosperous new year filled with the riches deserving the generous of spirit and community recreation area sanitation devices.

All the best,
The Historic Poplar Lawn Board representing the increasingly savage and trashcan-hungry neighborhood of Poplar Lawn

Nuts for Petersburg update

Well, a special thank you goes out to Charlie Rizzo who helped save our backs last night by showing up to help us unload nearly EIGHT HUNDRED JARS OF PEANUT BUTTER into our house. I don't usually do the "all caps" thing, but nearly 800 JARS, people! NEARLY EIGHT HUNDRED JARS!!!

Let me just tell you how we got all that peanut butter ... Beta Sigma Phi sorority, the most amazing group of women in just about the whole world, was led in this project by Becky Joyner to collect "some" peanut butter for Nuts for Petersburg. They collected 725 jars between their various chapters. Then one of the kind ladies got her daughter's girl scout troop involved, collecting an additional 65 jars of peanut butter. Can you believe it? Seriously, I nearly fainted at the site of all that peanut butter, all topped with a giant gold bow!

I cannot thank the ladies of Beta Sigma Phi enough, especially Becky. We will be sending them thank you notes, of course, and thanking them publicly, but you just have no idea how giving this group is. At their meeting last night, I heard about all the wonderful things they do for our community. It really showed the power of community groups, and how much we can do to better our community.

This morning, I came into work to find another twenty jars on my desk from one of my coworkers. I've collected sixty jars at work to date, and the boxes at our donation sites are filling up!!! Hopefully, we'll get a bunch at the party on Sunday too. We've also heard from several other organizations that they are collecting. We can make this goal yet!

Remember, our goal is 3,509. (Each jar represents a child who lives below the poverty level here in Petersburg.) Please spread the word about Nuts for Petersburg! We'll see you all at the party on Sunday night, and please bring peanut butter, friends, and friends with peanut butter! ~Mady

Tree lighting Friday: Carolers needed!!!

We need carolers on Friday evening for the tree lighting ceremony. Interested parties should bring festively dressed selves, family members and friends to ... At the Globe at 5:30 pm, where you will be served refreshments. Then we will be marching on down Sycamore Street to the fountain, where we will sing with High Street.

Please make it, if you can. (We simply can't be shown up by High Street. C'mon, people!) We will supply song books. Any type of percussion instruments or novelties, like dogs or children dressed as reindeer, etc, are also welcome.

Also, if anyone has a peanut butter jar costume or is willing to make one, Amy Rizzo has volunteered to jazz-dance to Christmas Carols (complete with sparkly tights and spirit hands) to get out the word about Nuts for Petersburg.

That right there is worth the price of admission, folks, which is free. So, really, you can't lose.