Buttermilk & Molasses

Hands On Day Totally Ruled

Let's get this out of the way fast: Hands On Day is the Richmond Folk Festival of community engagement.

The event, which matches hundreds of volunteers to dozens of community projects for a half day engagement, put the wraps on its second annual day of service today. And somewhere around 1,000 people are sleeping a little harder tonight. That's twice as many as last year, which makes 2010 an exciting opportunity to double up.

(Unless they immediately went home and took naps, like I did.)

It's almost embarrassing that my team was indoors all day, particularly when I look at photos from some of the project teams who spent the day working on houses, outdoor murals, park maintenance. It was cold, misty and wet outside today. Miserable might be an operative word.

The weather might have stopped my team -- which was set to paint murals on the asphalt playgrounds of Linwood Holton Elementary School (the puddle-strewn asphalt playgrounds) -- but Holton's assistant principal had other plans in mind for us.

Members of the Asian-American Society of Central Virginia and members of various Leadership Metro Richmond classes (above) were on hand to tackle whatever projects the school needed completed. The 15 volunteers at Holton jumped into action soon after everyone arrived -- painting sound-absorbing panels in the cafeteria, recording books onto tapes for students, cutting out several thousand letters and images out of construction paper for the teachers to use for bulletin boards. (Believe me when I say that the teachers will be most appreciative of the construction paper letters and images!)

Richmond Fire Chief Robert Creasy (above) and I were tagged as the project captains for the day, but I think we all agree that Eric from the Asian-American Society was the star of the show. He not only enlisted most of the volunteers on our project, but he went on a paint run when we ran short of supplies -- and returned to help us muscle through the final painting sprint.

Early in the afternoon, I went on a second paint run to the nearby Lowe's and (on a whim) swung by Pizza Hut to pick up lunch for the team. The four large pizzas were gone before we could even blink.

How great are the people who volunteered at Holton? Most of the team agreed to return when the sun came back out to tackle the outdoor painting and landscaping work that was deferred by the cruddy weather.

Did I mention that more than 1,000 volunteers turned out to tackle 40+ projects? John Murden at Church Hill People's News has the skinny on where to turn for more coverage:

More than 1,000 volunteers signed up for 40 service projects that all took place today as part of HandsOn Greater Richmond 2009, including projects at Armstrong High School and Bellevue Elementary. RVA Tweets has a running commentary from the day. The HandsOn Youtube page will be collecting video from the day and the HandsOn Flickr page will have photos from the day (and the local events ought to show up in the Church Hill Flickr pool, too).

Scoot (and Richmond) Go National

Over at CNN Money, which I'm sure all of you peruse with bated breath regularly, there's a fantastic piece on the hyper-energetic Chelsea Lahmers and her fast-growing Scoot Richmond scooter shop.

I don't own a scooter, but I've been an avid follower of Chelsea's business venture -- partly because it's cool, and partly because she's shown up in the oddest corners of my life (joining me and a blind date [her friend] for a beer at Ipanema [a long time ago!]; taking sculling lessons at the same time as Nikole and I did; at the farmers' market).

Fortune Magazine's Small Business team pulled together a Virginia-based panel to talk to the successful scooter vendor about ways to grow her business. It's a fantastic read, and is going to sort of make you want to buy a scooter.

In 2007 Lahmers sold 50 scooters at an average price of $3,400 (customers typically spend an additional $200 to $1,000 per scooter on accessories). Last year she sold 378 scooters, thanks largely to rising gas prices.

"We had people coming from Rhode Island to buy them," she marvels. Sales reached $1.1 million in 2008, up from $279,000 in Lahmers's first six months of business in 2007.

But she also hit some serious bumps.

For starters, Lahmers says, a former employee embezzled at least $50,000 last year (a criminal investigation is pending). In the wake of that setback, she isn't sure how best to restructure the books or track financial operations.

Understandably, she also worries about hiring. She needs help establishing a reliable interview and evaluation process that will let her spot issues that could cause trouble down the road.

In addition, Lahmers wants to expand her customer base. She currently draws a funky urban clientele. She would like to add suburbanites to the mix, but she doesn't "know who these people are or how to reach them."

Ready to confront these issues, Fortune Small Business's experts assemble at the shop before opening time on a recent Tuesday. After a tour of the retail floor and the repair facility, everyone gathers in the back room around a table surrounded by shelves stacked with cardboard boxes full of spare parts. Lahmers's mother, Jean West, who owns 5% of the company and is working to clean up the books, is also present.

Lahmers starts by telling the group she has spent the past year trying to untangle the financial mess resulting from the alleged embezzlement. The experience undermined her confidence, Lahmers says.

Delve into this great local story at CNN, or go hang out at Scoot's stylish website.

Mommy Dearest

Here's a simple request for regular readers and less frequent visitors to Buttermilk & Molasses: Drop by Richmondmom.com and cast a vote for my wife, Nikole Sarvay, in their 2009 Richmond Mommy Makeover contest. Or cast a vote for one of the other supermoms listed. It's all in benefit for Safe Harbor, which does great work in its efforts to break the cycle of domestic violence in Richmond.

Head to Richmondmom.com, and cast a vote for Nikole Sarvay. Need context? Read how it all started. End of request.

Trask To Paint 2,800 Buildings, TA Reports

Local artist Ed Trask has just received the largest commission in his 20+ year career as an artist, according to Tobacco Avenue, Richmond's premiere misinformation site:

City Council members last night passed a landmark 9-0 resolution that will require murals by famed local artist Ed Trask to be put on the visible sides of all buildings within the Richmond metropolitan area’s 63-square-mile radius.

Trask, who has his imaginative murals on the insides and outsides of stores and shops throughout the Fan and downtown, is expected to paint approximately 2,800 more original wall-based pieces by the end of 2012.

“It’s going to be a challenge, no doubt about it,” said Trask, who has already placed an order for nearly 111 million gallons of paint for the project.  Asked if he would contract help for what City Councilman Bruce W. Tyler called the “Traskification” of Richmond, the artist questioned whether Michelangelo requested help in his painting of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

“Which he did not,” Trask added.

Steve Keene, he's not.

Church Hill People's News Recognized by NBC12

John Murden -- who single-handedly lifted Richmond's blogging community out of the muck, and whose face launched a thousand community blogs -- got another small tap of recognition for his pretty amazing contributions to Richmond's sense of community. The second of NBC12's weblog reviews hit the Internet today, and Murden was the star of the show.

In fact, Murden was the show.

John Murden runs the Church Hill People's News blog.  He has an appreciation for the old homes and history of the neighborhood. Originally from Chesterfield County, he moved to Church Hill in 2003.

"I've always loved the old houses and coming from the suburbs, when I got downtown I realized how fantastic it was just to live in the old architecture," he said.

He's also a teacher at Martin Luther King middle school in Church Hill.

"Moving in to a part of the neighborhood that was more directly faced with some of the urban challenges has I think been a strong piece of me becoming involved, and possibly me running the site," he said.  "Working where I live and walking to work every day and being out in the neighborhood and seeing my students -- It's a connection that re-enforces the whole package."

In his part time, between grading papers and renovating houses, he runs the blog -- serving the Church Hill community for the past five years.

Go watch the video. It's a great piece, and it tells a great story.

Richmond.com Explores Richmond on Twitter

If you're plugged into the whole social media/technology networking space around town, then you know that Style Weekly, RVA Magazine, RVANews and Richmond.com get it. They're using Facebook and Twitter and websites and print to broadcast a variety of interesting narratives, and to engage their readers (and attract new ones).

And in the midst of this technological cauldron, Twitter appears to have emerged recently as a Richmond favorite.

Richmond.com's Amy Rose Dobson took a look at how Twitter is changing the way local orgaizations engage their public. One of the folks she spotlighted was Jonah Holland, who has fast developed a reputation as a social media consultant who not only "gets it" but isn't afraid to get her hands dirty in the process:

Jonah Holland, public relations and marketing coordinator at Lewis Ginter (lewisginter on Twitter), says using Twitter has been a great way to reach out to guests and get a feel for what they are saying. “I can go out into the garden and take pictures of the flowers and the butterflies and get it out to our followers immediately.”

Holland also points out that Twitter creates more opportunities for Lewis Ginter to provide customer service. “One gentleman tweeted that he was going to be attending his son’s wedding at the Garden and I reached out to him. It meant a lot to him to have a contact here. Afterwards he sent a tweet saying what a great experience he had.”

The smartest quote in the piece? Here it is:

Holland at Lewis Ginter says, “When I think of social media it is a time commitment, but if you think of it as an investment in your organization it is worth it. I would like to spend more time on it.”

Trask, Up Against the Wall

I ran into Ed Trask the other morning while we were both grabbing coffee at Crossroads North, and it didn't occur to me to ask him what he was painting these days -- we were talking about toddlers, instead. I discovered his latest project later that day, when I saw him hanging out on the street-facing wall outside of Ellwood-Thompson's with a paintbrush in his hand.

Kendra Feather Gets Her Due in Belle

Brandon Fox chatted up restaurateur Kendra Feather of Ipanema in the latest issue of Belle Magazine (which apparently hates the Internet and is only available on newsstands around town). Brandon posted the unedited version of her story -- complete with sordid details on Kendra's new venture -- on her weblog this week:

With Ipanema’s success and the experience she’s gained getting there, Feather was ready when her friend Manny Mendez of Kuba Kuba offered her the former Table 9 restaurant space on the corner of Park and Meadow. The restaurant immediately following (I can’t even remember the name of the place, Deveron. Do you?) Table 9 only stayed open for two weeks, and Mendez and his partner Johnny Giavos, owners of the building, were looking for a new tenant. Feather jumped at the opportunity to do something different.

The new restaurant, named Garnett’s and opening this summer, won’t be vegetarian, although there will be vegetarian options. Feather envisions more of an old-style, neighborhood sandwich shop with things like Cobb salad and a Croque Monsieur on the menu. Named after her grandmother, Garnett’s will have plenty of sandwiches inspired by other family members as well. “Food is a way to connect with people. It’s a way to care for them . . . I come from the school of thought says, ‘a piece of pie can make everything better.’”

Richmond.com is Sweet on My Sweetheart

Nikole gets a Valentine's Day hug from Richmond.com for her jewelry:

Give your heart to the one you love with this sterling silver heart / disk necklace from fabulous local jewelry designer Nikole Sarvay. It includes the chain and your sweetie will be impressed that you scouted out some local talent for her gift. Buy it locally here.

My Wife Is a Mad Designer

It's been a lot of fun seeing Nikole start to stretch her jewelry designing muscles again after so long. A long overdue return to an old passion.