Richmond Free Press
B2 December 1-3, 2016
Happenings Downtown comes alive with holiday events, parade By Lauren Northington
Love Christmas lights, holiday cheer and the thought of a white Christmas? What about tree lightings and holiday movie binge watching? Or how about simply spending more time with loved ones? No matter your holiday highlight preference, Richmond has something for you. The city is ushering in the holiday season with events slated to bring in the Christmas cheer. Festivities begin Thursday, Dec. 1, when Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Virginia’s First Family participate in the official tree lighting at 5:30 p.m. on the South Portico of the Capitol. Immediately after the tree lighting until 8 p.m., the governor and his wife, First Lady Dorothy McAuliffe, will receive visitors at the Executive Mansion for an open house. The event is free and open to the public. Students from the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School will perform and cookies and hot cider will be served. On Friday, Dec. 2, Downtown will light up with the 32nd Annual Grand Illumination at the James Center. Hundreds of people are expected to brave the evening temperatures for the free yearly tradition that starts at 5 p.m. on the steps of One James Center, 10th and Cary streets. Singers from the School of the Performing Arts in the Richmond Community will offer Christmas carols from 5 to 5:45 p.m. Then Virginia Commonwealth University’s Pep Band, The Peppas, will play on the Main Stage and get the crowd ready for the countdown to the illumination at 6 p.m., which will be led by Santa and television and radio personalities Juan Conde of WRIC-8 News and Jack and Melissa of 103.7 Play radio. Music, family entertainment, free hot cocoa and cider and
skits will be featured from 6 to 7 p.m. along two blocks. Among the entertainers will be the Richmond Boys Choir, the American Youth Harp Ensemble and the Virginia Piedmont and Central HO Model Railroad Club. The James Center also boasts a new 46-foot Christmas tree. From Grand Illumination through Dec. 9, Greater Richmond SCAN, Stop Child Abuse Now, will be collecting unwrapped toys in a sleigh in the lobby of Three James Center for distribution to children up to age 17 in the Richmond area. Holiday revelers can enjoy free horse-drawn carriage rides around Shockoe Slip in a decorated, 12-passenger wagon on Friday, Dec. 1 and Saturday, Dec. 2. The rides, sponsored by Venture Richmond, start and end at the fountain at 13th and Cary streets and will take place both days from 6 to 10 p.m. On Friday through Sunday, beginning Dec. 9 and ending Friday, Dec. 23, 20-minute carriage rides are available for $10 per person, with children 4 and under sitting in your lap free.
Soul Santa returns to Black History Museum Soul Santa is returning to Richmond at the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia. His visit will be part of the museum’s annual holiday open house Saturday, Dec. 3, and Saturday, Dec. 10. The free event will take place from noon to 4 p.m. both days at the museum, 122 W. Leigh St. There will be storytelling for children, arts and crafts, refreshments and free photos with Soul Santa. Details: www.blackhistorymuseum.org or (804) 780-9093.
Richmond native Dorothy Height to be honored on postage stamp Richmond native Dorothy Height, who devoted her life to fighting for racial and gender equality, will be honored on a new postage stamp, the U.S. Postal Service has announced. Her likeness will be featured on the 40th stamp in the Black Heritage series, the Postal Service stated Tuesday in announcing new stamps. Her stamp will be released early next year. The stamp uses Thomas Blackshear II’s portrait of Ms. Height as she appeared in 2009. Ms. Height, who died in 2010, was best known for her 40 years of service as president of the Washington-based National Council Ms. Height of Negro Women. “Although she rarely gained the recognition granted her male contemporaries, she became one of the most influential civil rights leaders of the 20th century,” according to the council. She worked with the likes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Congressman John Lewis on civil rights initiatives, particularly those focused on reducing unemployment, improving literacy and increasing voter participation. She founded the National Women’s Political Caucus with Gloria Steinem, Shirley Chisholm and Betty Friedan in 1971 and was the 10th president of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. She was a founder of African-American Women for Reproductive Freedom and chaired the executive committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. The U.S. Postal Service’s Black Heritage stamp series began in 1978 with a stamp that honored Harriet Tubman and has since paid tribute to 39 other African-American leaders and influencers, including such notables as Alvin Ailey, James Baldwin, Sojourner Truth and Malcolm X.
Those rides, which will leave from 10th and Cary streets, will be available 7 to 10 p.m. Fridays, 5 to 9 p.m. Saturdays and 5 to 8 p.m. Sundays. Ride reservations: (804) 350-7752. The Edgar Allan Poe Museum and garden, 1914 E. Main St., will be illuminated during a free event 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2. The celebration will include Victorian-era Christmas music, crafts and historical presentations. Details: (804) 648-5523 or www.poemuseum.org The illumination events continue with the free Main Street Station Holiday Open House and Illumination from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, featuring holiday music, entertainment and food trucks. The movie, “The Polar Express,” will be shown at 6:30 p.m. on a 40-foot screen in the plaza across the street from the station, 1500 E. Main St. Entertainment also will include a 150-person tuba band at 6 p.m., followed by the Dr’s of Jazz quartet at 7 p.m. and the James River Ringers Bell Choir at 8 p.m. Details: (804) 523-3329. Handel’s “Messiah” will be presented by the Richmond Symphony at 7:30 p.m. at the Carpenter Theatre Dominion Arts Center, 600 E. Grace St. The Richmond Symphony Chorus will join the instrumentalists for the holiday classic. Tickets are required. Details and tickets: www.richmondsymphony.org or (800) 514-3849. Holiday floats, marching bands and Santa will highlight the 33rd Annual Dominion Christmas Parade on Saturday, Dec. 3. The free event begins at 10 a.m., with units starting at the Science Museum of Virginia, 2500 W. Broad St., and heading east on Broad Street to 7th Street. More than 10,000 spectators are expected to line Broad Street for the parade, which will be broadcast on WTVR-CBS6 from 10 a.m. to noon. Buddy the Elf will serve as grand marshal. For details on all the happenings in Downtown, go to www. venturerichmond.com or call (804) 788-6466.
Photos by Sandra Sellars/Richmond Free Press
Jefferson starts joyous season Hundreds of Richmonders, area residents and visitors kicked off the holiday season with the 30th Annual Tree Lighting on Monday at The Jefferson Hotel. The Downtown hotel was decked out with garlands, lights, poinsettias and a holiday scene crafted of gingerbread by Sara Ayyash, The Jefferson’s executive pastry chef. Right, members of the Richmond Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America perform during the free event. The ceremony concluded with the arrival of Santa and Mrs. Claus, who lit the tree. The tree and gingerbread scene will be on display though Sunday, Jan. 1.
Coretta Scott King memoir slated for release Jan. 17 Special from Trice Edney News Wire
Toward the end of her life, Coretta Scott King, widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change and American civil and human rights hero, commissioned Dr. Barbara Reynolds to write her memoir. It will be released Jan. 17, the day after the official Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday next year. Dr. Reynolds, a journalist and author of six books, first met Mrs. King in 1975 when she was assigned to write a magazine article for the Chicago Tribune. From that encounter, a 30-year, life-changing relationship of mentorship and friendship evolved, resulting in Mrs. King turning to Dr. Reynolds, an ordained minister, to write about her most noteworthy accomplishments but also her deepest pain and setbacks. From the pages of this compelling book, Mrs. King emerges from the shadows, the margins of history and more importantly from behind the labels of wife of, mother of and leader of, which — while correct — never went deep enough to reveal the fullness of her life. In her memoir, readers will see both character and courage, a woman who was not only
married to Dr. King, but was married to the movement of which she was a partner. She was born in April 27, 1927, into the troubled and twisted times in Alabama, where her house was burned down as a teenager. Later as an adult, she was at home with her 2-year-old when the house was firebombed in 1955, during the time her husband led the Montgomery bus boycott. Although she never knew if the same hate that killed the love of her life would also claim her life and those of her children, she refused to step aside, even as threats continued long after the assassination of her husband. In her own voice, the book reveals a strong woman moving on through many lonely days as the architect of her husband’s legacy, working tirelessly to found and develop The King Center as a quasi-international West Point of Nonviolence, lobbying for 15 years for the
national holiday in honor of her husband and campaigning for the rights of the disadvantaged around the globe and at home. In this memoir, Mrs. King talks candidly for the first time about her marriage and the rumored reports of Dr. King’s infidelity. She offers her thoughts on the reasons behind SCLC co-founder Ralph Abernathy’s unfavorable characterization of Dr. King in his autobiography, as well as some unproductive characteristics within the inner circle of the Civil Rights Movement. Legendary leaders such as Maya Angelou; former U.N. ambassador and Congressman Andrew Young; Myrlie Evers-Williams, a past chairman of the national NAACP, whose activist husband, Medgar Evers, was assassinated; Rep. John Conyers, who played a major role in legislating the King Holiday bill; as well as her daughter, Dr. Bernice King, provide reflections in this historic work. Dr. Reynolds views Mrs. King as one of the world’s most trusted moral leaders and effective disciples of nonviolent direct action, who left a model of selfless, compassionate leadership that is sorely needed today.
Area events to commemorate 75th anniversary of Pearl Harbor Dec. 7 marks the 75th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, when Japanese forces bombed the U.S. Pacific Fleet and Army airfield at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. More than 2,400 Americans were killed and more than 1,100 were wounded during the early morning attack that resulted in the United States entering World War II. Area organizations are commemorating the anniversary with remembrance ceremonies next week. Navy Capt. Derek A. Trinque, commanding officer of the USS Normandy, will be the keynote speaker at the 75th Commonwealth Pearl Harbor Day Remembrance Ceremony at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, at the Virginia War Memorial, 621 S. Belvidere St. The ceremony will include a wreath laying in memory of the 40 Virginians who died at Pearl Harbor. Their names will be read and remembered with the tolling of the ship’s bell from the USS Virginia, which is on display at the war memorial. More
than 9,200 Virginians were killed during WWII. The event, which is free and open to the public, is co-hosted by the Richmond Council of the Navy League of the United States, an organization founded in 1902 that serves and supports the sea services — the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine. A native of Holliston, Mass., Capt. Trinque is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, the University of Maryland and the U.S. Naval War College. He assumed command of the Normandy, a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser based in Norfolk, in August. On Thursday, Dec. 8, the Virginia World War I and World War II Commemoration Commission will host “Dawn of Infamy: America Goes to War,” a tribute to WWII veterans, from 9:30 a.m. until noon at the University of Richmond’s Robins Center. Dr. E. Bruce Heilman, chancellor of the University of Rich-
mond and a WWII veteran who fought in Okinawa, will lead an honor parade of other veterans and a survivor of Pearl Harbor. Military historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Rick Atkinson is the keynote speaker at the event, which is free and open to the public. Pre-registration is required. The commission’s mobile exhibit, “Profiles of Honor” will be open for visitors outside the Robins Center. “Voices of Freedom,” a mobile recording studio set up by the Americans in Wartime Museum, will be available to record oral histories of veterans from all wars. Additionally, Virginia Commonwealth University’s Virtual Curation Laboratory will be on hand to demonstrate 3D scanning and printing of artifacts, including several 3D-printed replicas of objects from WWI and WWII. To register, go to www.VirginiaWorldWarII.org/2016tribute or call Lily Jones at (804) 786-3591, ext. 252.