The James River Park System

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FOJRP News

VCU CreateAThon Students Create A Ton!

If we told you everything our team of five talented, passionate, energetic (and tired) VCU students came up with during their marathon 24-hour Spring Break session, it would exhaust you! FOJRP was one of 10 local non-profits chosen to participate in this wonderful pro bono effort.

To help FOJRP reach out to Spanish-speaking park users, Adrian Robertson, Alex Ledford, Isabella Althoff, team leader Lauren Albee and Liz Vidal created more than a dozen targeted, workable fantastic pieces. Among them: a charming Spanish radio spot featuring the park-loving Super Amigo, sharp-looking signs and slogans, fabulous event ideas, trash bag designs, a logo for Spanish-speaking friends, Spanish info for our web site, a bonus radio spot in English and more! Our favorite line and sign: Take Pride. Éste es tu río. (It's your river.)

Our next step is to put this creativity into action in the park, in the community and on our web site. We can't thank our team, coordinator Tara Hendelman and leader Peyton Rowe, enough. THANK YOU, CREATEATHON, from the bottom of our park and river-loving hearts!

Slave Trail Dedication Ceremony

Slave Trail Dedication Ceremony

Several members of Friends of James River Park took part in the solemn and celebratory unveiling of 17 interpretive markers along the 2.5 mile Richmond Slave Trail Sunday, April 10, 2011. Park Manager Ralph White led the litany for those gathered at the second marker, The Mechanics of Slavery.

Following the unveiling, the main ceremony at the site of Lumpkin's Slave Jail in Shockoe Bottom included Mayor Dwight Jones, Governor Robert McDonnell, Delegate and Chair of the Slave Trail Commission, Delores McQuinn, many other dignitaries and more than 500 attendees. The Slave Trail begins at the Manchester Docks area just west of Ancarrow's Landing, in the easternmost part of the James River Park System, crosses the James River on the Mayo Bridge and winds around Shockoe Bottom. Near the end of the two hour ceremony, Jeannie Welliver, Slave Trail Commission Project Manager, lauded city of Richmond Parks & Rec employees, Ralph White, Nathan Burrell, and Peter Bruce for their tireless work taking care of and promoting the slave trail for 18 years with virtually no budget. We salute them as well for keeping a crucial part of Richmond's and the nation's history safe until the city was ready to acknowledge it properly.

With the markers in place, a walk along the trail is now more meaningful than ever, and can be appreciated without a guide, but we encourage you to take advantage of guided tours when they are available. This Satudrday, April 16, Civil War/Emancipation Day, there will be guided tours of the trail. See civilwar.emancipationday.net for details. On June 18, the Elegba Folklore Society will lead a dramatic torchlit trail walk at night as the culmination of Juneteenth, and on June 25, Ralph White will lead another torchlit trail walk.

River lovers at The Boathouse ... reception for new sculpture

There was a great turn-out Thursday, Jan. 20 at a reception hosted by The Boathouse at Rockett's Landing to welcome The Deepwater Sponger, a massive 2,000 lb. cast iron sculpture by Richmonder Charles Ponticello, to the riverfront.

Our very own Anne Wright, FOJRP board member, Asst. Professor of Biology at VCU, and self-described "insect geek" shared some fascinating findings from grad student research going on right here in the James in Richmond that points to a healthy ecosystem. To sum up in laymen's terms: 1) when stoneflies decide the middle of Richmond is more fun to live in than the mountains that's proof of a healthy river here and 2) seeing sturgeon sperm on a screen doesn't make one pine for caviar.

We are brewing ideas for a series of river talks by local experts. If you're interested in helping organize this, contact us at friends@jamesriverpark.org.

The Boathouse at Rockett's Landing's Tasteful Generosity

The Boathouse at Rockett's continues to donate to the Friends of James River Park from the sales of the Watershed Special featured on their menu.

The Boathouse is continuing to donate 20% of sales of those specials to the FoJRP -- over $4,000 to date. Thank you for your partnership!

If you haven't visited The Boathouse at Rockett's Landing, be sure to make plans to enjoy a scrumptious meal with views of the James River. It's an easy way to support James River Park! For more information, go to The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing website. Be sure to tell them you are a proud member of FOJRP and thank them for their generous support!

Showing of Andy Goldsworthy Rivers and Tides

Thanks to all who joined us on Sunday, Jan. 9, 2011 to watch Rivers and Tides, a stunning documentary about the natural, often kinetic, sculptures of Andy Goldsworthy. We had a nice, lively crowd at Capital Ale House -- about 50 folks braved the cold for this awesome screening.

FOJRP Chosen for Create-a-Thon!

FOJRP's proposal to improve our outreach to Hispanic and Latino park visitors was chosen to be a part of VCU's spring Create-a-Thon! We will be the beneficiary of an intense program run through VCU's esteemed BrandCenter that will put the creative brains of students to work on non-profits' quandaries. We look forward to seeing what the collaboration will produce and we'll keep you posted.

The James River and the Capital Region Collaboration

If you haven't had a chance to participate in this group's work -- a cooperative effort among partners from the Richmond Region's local government, business and community organizations -- now's the time. You can read up on this initiative about our region's future and take a survey. The James River keeps coming up as something residents care very much about, so please make sure your thoughts are heard.

FOJRP secures 501c3 nonprofit status

The Friends of James River Park (FOJRP) received notification September 15, 2010 that our 501c3 application was approved by the IRS retroactive to when we filed for it in 2008! We are now an independent, charitable organization, apart from the nonprofit Enrichmond Foundation (formerly Richmond Parks and Rec Foundation), under whose umbrella nonprofit status we had operated since our inception in 1999.

Operating under the foundation was the right thing to do for the early years of our existence as the foundation's administrative support has brought us and many a fledgling friends group along. But once Friends of James River Park had grown and prospered, it was time to become independent. FOJRP member Jamie Canup did yeoman's legal work pro bono for FOJRP to get us to this point, and we are eternally grateful for it. Outgoing officers Charles Price, George Wickham, Mary Helen Sullivan, and Gay Leahy deserve lots of credit, too.

Our stand-alone 501c3 status will streamline our bookkeeping, make it less confusing for members and those giving donations, allow us to use PayPal on our web site, and free us to apply for grants to help us maintain, preserve, and protect our beloved James River Park System. Contributions to FOJRP have always been tax-deductible, and they will continue to be so.

Thanks so much to John and Bucci Zeugner, Karen Townsend, Noel McKenzie, and all the Enrichmond Foundaton board members for their hard work and support over the years. We've left the nest, but we'll see them around the woods.

Read archived FOJRP news