The Oregon Hill community weblog joins 10 other community weblogs in the ongoing effort to keep Richmonders informed about what’s going on in their own backyard. Stop by and learn more about our neighborhood to the south; check out the list along the right sidebar for links to all of Richmond’s community weblogs.

Join other Richmond-area residents in the ongoing discussion about the new Master Plan being developed for downtown Richmond. The Downtown Master Plan Workshop will be held at 6:30 pm on Thursday, September 27, at the Renaissance Conference Center at 107 West Broad Street; parking is available behind the building.

For more information on the downtown plan, stop by the city’s website or visit Buttermilk & Molasses’ Richmond Planning and Development webpage.

Check out the popular ‘Flowers After 5′ event on Thursday evenings through the months of September and October at Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Every Thursday evening, the gardens will be open to the strolling public with wine-tastings, live jazz, shopping and dining in the cafe and Tea House.

Admission is regular garden admission (free admission for members) and activities will be moved indoors in case of inclement weather. Upcoming dates are September 13, 20 and 27 and October 4, 11, 18 and 25.

Details on wines and jazz for September:

Thursday, September 13: “Rose’ is a Rose” — Pozzi Rosato de Salento (Italy); Monte Cavijo Rioja Rose’ (Spanish); Bougrier Rose d’Anjou (French). Music by The Flyin’ Sulsers — John Conley on guitar; Alan Parker on guitar; Brian Sulser on bass.

Thursday, September 20: South African wines — Spier Chenin Blanc; Fat Ladies Pinotage Rose’; Indaba Merlot. Music by the RJR Trio — Fran Ahern, vocalist; John Conly on guitar; Ryan Hughitt on bass.

Thursday, September 27: East Coast Wines — Racoon Ridge Rocky’s White (Virginia); Hazlitt Sweet Red Cat (New York); Brickstone Cellars Brut (New York). Music by Antonio Garcia on trombone, vocals and percussion; Mike Ess on guitar; Randall Pharr on bass.
For details, visit the garden’s website.

The always popular Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens’ Fall Plant Sale returns next week, and everyone knows that fall is the perfect time for planting in Richmond. Check out plants and gardening accessories from more than 40 vendors at the free plant sale. It all starts next Thursday, September 13, from 1:00 until 6:00 pm. The sale continues from 9:00 am until 5:00 pm on Friday, September 14, and from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm on Saturday, September 15.

A partial list of vendors: Tasty Fixins, Out of Woodwork, Poplar Ridge Nursery, Goodwill of Central VA, Morningside Farm & Nursery, Richmond Horticultural Association, Richmond Daylily Society, Rick’s Custom Nursery, Thyme to Plant, Chesapeake Landscape Dev, Windmill Outback Nursery, Plant Smart, Mustard Seed Farm, Beck Estates, Country Garden, Winding Brook Farm, Cedar Creek Gardens, Carolyn’s Gardens, The Herb Garden, Next Generation Garden, Bees and Beetles and the Central VA Iris Society.

For details, visit the garden’s website.

Stay current with gardening tips, behind-the-scene views and discussions on everything plant-related at Gardening Gab, a new weblog presented by Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Get out your work gloves and join the Friends of Bryan Park Work Party on Saturday, September 15, from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm. Meet at Shelter 1 or drop by the work site and help FoBP meet its goal of rehabbing the garden beds and the riparian buffer on the south side of the upper pond. (This is the area below Shelter 1.)

Garden beds: We are going to border the garden beds with “city stone” so that they will be similar to those in the BetterTogether garden on the other side of the pond. We will also be weeding the beds. Work gloves are necessary. Also, you may want to bring a trowel to help tackle the tougher weeds.

Riparian Buffer: Please bring work gloves and garden clippers to help remove vines from the trees and shrubs that we planted last year. Wear long pants if you are allergic to poison ivy or you can work around it (or work in the garden beds instead!). Don’t forget that you can always rinse the ivy oil off in the pond if you are exposed.

Trash: We can always use help picking up trash from the pond edges! We suggest that you wear shoes/boots that can get muddy and have work gloives. We’ll have the trash bags.

We’ll provide light refreshments.

Please feel free to call 288-5005 if you’d like more information.

Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for “No Parking” signs in the neighborhood over the next several weeks. The City of Richmond’s street cleaning schedule is:

September 10-14 – Bellevue, Sherwood Park, Washington Park from Westbrook Ave. to Overbrook Road between Chamberlayne and I-95.

September 17-21 – Northside, Ginter Park from Richmond-Henrico Turnpike to Brook Road between Laburnam Road and Yancey Street.

Dana Craig with the Richmond Times-Dispatch weighed in on North Richmond’s new dining hot-spot:

Sisters Shanan Chambers, a former Sidewalk Café server, and Teresa Delmendo, a former bartender, along with cook Bill Fritts converted a former Bellevue Avenue hardware store into what the e-mail describes as “a neighborhood place — a la Cheers — that families can enjoy.”

It’s this that makes Northside Grille stand out from several more established area restaurants. It knows how to keep the big people happy while not forgetting the little ones.

Not all adults want their happy hours pierced by screams of children in need of entertainment. Not all families want their dinners filled with clouds of smoke and booze-laden chatter.

Northside Grille falls right between partying and parenting. The open restaurant’s center is filled with a large, custom-made bar. Its wine list playfully ranks selections from “Good $6″ (Red Diamond Merlot) to “Better $7″ (Sartori Pinot Grigio) to “Best $8″ (Acacia Pinot Noir).

But the back of the restaurant houses a foosball table, a whimsically colored kiddie area and a floor-to-ceiling specials chalkboard, the bottom half covered in children’s doodles.

The place feels so comfortable you almost forget it’s barely been open three months. Of course, there are still some kinks, but this isn’t a place where you mind the occasional wait or order mishap.

Our friends at the Near West End News recently reported on Governor Kaine’s pardon of former Henrico resident and slave Gabriel Prosser for leading a rebellion more than 200 years ago. That rebellion started at Spring Park Historic Site (off of Lakeside Avenue behind the Bank of America).

In restoring Prosser’s “good name,” Kaine said the slave, put to death in 1800 with 34 other African-Americans, was motivated by “his devotion to the ideals of the American revolution — it was worth risking death to secure liberty.”

Prosser, the property of a Henrico planter, envisioned an uprising by thousands of slaves that would include the “wholesale massacre” of whites in Richmond and other slave-holding areas, according to journalist-historian Virginius Dabney in “Richmond: The Story of a City.”

Unfolding 31 years before the better-known Nat Turner insurrection in Southampton County, the Prosser-led revolt began in Richmond on Aug. 30, 1800. The plot was thwarted after two slaves confessed to a white plantation owner, who immediately alerted Gov. James Monroe, a future president.

A powerful rainstorm forced a delay in the rebellion, giving the militia time to round up Prosser and others. Tried and condemned to death, many of the slaves were hanged near what is now Broad and 15th streets, according to Dabney.

Local weblog Urban Richmond has details on some new revitalization efforts in Highland Park:

Two 2nd-hand clothing stores, a copy shop, bakery and more will soon join Boaz and Ruth’s 2nd-hand furniture store and cafe in the heart of Highland Park’s commercial district- the intersection of Meadowbridge Rd. and Brookland Park Blvd.

Boaz and Ruth, a non-profit that offers job training opportunities for folks just out of prison, has done a remarkable job at finding successful business opportunities in a long-forsaken neighborhood. They’ve opened a furniture store, a cafe, a catering business, a moving business, as well as bought and renovated homes for employees to live in. And in all of these ventures, they’ve employed and trained folks who society has marginalized.

Now they’re doing even more for their Highland Park community: they’ve bought and renovated an abandoned firehouse across from their furniture store, of course using the building renovation as an opportunity to teach construction skills, and are offering the space to local merchants.

Style has the story, but inexplicably headlines it about the suburban Henrico neighborhood Lakeside, at least in the on-line edition (haven’t checked print yet.)

Don’t be fooled, this is definitely about the firehouse in Highland Park- I’ve been there and recognize the people and the pictures!

September 18 will be one special night for those with reservations for the River City Cellars/Zed Cafe wine dinner. It starts at 6:30 on Tuesday, September 18, and features Chef Bill Foster’s menu paired with special selections chosen by the staff of Carytown’s River City Cellars. Contact RCC to reserve at 804.355.1375. $75 per person all-inclusive. Space is limited!!

Check out the fab menu:
citrus tea infused tomato consomme, poached oysters with olives, capers and almonds
Domaine Couron 2006 Viognier (Rhone, France)

custard torte with cherries
coffee or tea

Chef Bill will happily make vegetarian versions of meat dishes–please specify when making reservations, and let us know your definition of vegetarian.

Don Baker at Style Weekly has turned his tastebuds on the newly opened Northside Grille, and he comes up mixed — good environment, uneven food and service:

Northside Grille’s co-owners, sisters Shanan Chambers and Teresa Delmendo, with help from their father, converted space formerly occupied by a hardware store to a something-for-everyone, smoke-free eatery. Chef Debbie Vaughan came over from the Piano Club and, before that, the Downtown Club, replacing Bill Fritts, who’s left the area.

Families fill the spacious booths, regulars assemble at a U-shaped bar, and in the back there is a table for toddlers complete with crayons and coloring books. By spring there’ll be a patio next door…

… The Northside Grille gets crowded early, and reservations are limited to six or more. The service was uneven — one waitress was a pro; the other appeared to be a novice — and on both of my visits, the owners were not on the premises. It may be that they are spending a lot of time in the kitchen preparing for the evening rush, but with their professional training, they’re missing opportunities to mediate problems on the floor and provide a personal touch that makes neighborhood hangouts what they aspire to be.

Modern June, a Richmond-based, craft-oriented weblog, professes love for Lakeside’s Feathernester’s and posts plenty of images of the store.

It is getting spooky at Feathernesters!!! I love this store so much! It is very Modern June. The guys are putting up Halloween and I could not be happier. I love decorating the house for these little holidays!

We were having a bit of an issue with our automatic “contact” page form — emails went somewhere; we’re just not sure where! The problem has been corrected.

You can get in touch with North Richmond News by clicking “contact” up by the masthead, or by dropping us a note a north.richmond.news@gmail.com.

This Friday, head to MacArthur Avenue for Northside’s first art walk.

“Art, Mac & Cheese” is an evening of art, wine and cheese on MacArthur Avenue with 4025 Yoga and Wellness, Stir Crazy, Sammy’s Bakery and Tastebuds. It takes place this Friday, September 21, from 6:30 to 8:30 pm.

4025 Yoga and Wellness will unveil its new gallery, Studio Forty25, with an opening reception featuring “tremble,” new works on paper by Judy Stone. Stone’s work will hang at Studio Forty25 through November 2.

Stir Crazy will feature “Virginia Coastal Wetlands: Landscapes and Studies,” the photographic work of Jan VanAmburgh Farren.

A second round of public discussion on the new Downtown Plan is scheduled to take place on Thursday, September 27, at 6:30 p.m. at The Renaissance Conference Center, 107 W. Broad Street (corner of Broad and Adams Streets).
There is free parking at the rear of the conference center.

For more information contact Brooke Hardin, City of Richmond, Tel: 804.646.6310 | Email: brooke.hardin@richmondgov.com

You can also visit the city’s Department of Community Development website for details.

Residents of the Rosedale neighborhoods (the often-forgotten blocks between Hermitage and I-95/I-64) recently gave back to the community, raising 302 pounds of food for the Central Virgini Food Bank. The neighborhood association also gathered 783 school supply items for Holton Elementary School, including 18 glue sticks, 28 pks. crayons, 592(?) pencils, 18 packs of loose leaf paper, 2 three-subject notebooks, 4 non-spiral notebooks and 42 spiral single subject notebooks.

For more information, visit the Rosedale Civic Association website.

Christ Ascension Episcopal Church would like to invite all of our neighbors in the RCA and their companion animals to its annual Blessing of the Animals service on Sunday, Oct 7th, at 2pm. This brief service will celebrate the blessings that these companion animals have brought and continue to bring to our lives. Treats, of course, will be provided to the pets. In the case of rain, the service will be held on the porch. Christ Ascension Episcopal Church is located at 1704 West Laburnum Ave.

On Wednesday, September 26, Councilman Chris Hilbert will hold his monthly Northside 3rd District meeting; the focus of the meeting will be the recent police sector report, and homelessness and panhandling. The meeting will take place at 6:00 pm at the Richmond Police Academy, 1202 W. Graham Road. (1 Block west of Brook Road – Near Virginia Union University) For more information, please call 804.646.5400.

River City Food and Wine, one of our favorite local foodblogs, chimes in with support for their “neighborhood watering hole,” the newly opened Northside Grille.

Here are some reasons why:

* Non-smoking - since most bars allow patrons to light up, we avoid them. Being able to get a drink at a non-smoking bar is heaven for us.
* Walking distance - we do not have to limit our drink intake. What fun!
* Monday evening $2.75 rail drinks (and no skimping on the liquor!) - I’m not sure when happy hour occurs, but we were sure smiling.
* Decent onion rings - a whole pile for $4. Add some mozzarella sticks and we had dinner.
* Local people watching - between 6:30 and 7 PM the place began to fill up. I liked watching the couple at the bar enjoying beers. He drank from the bottle and she poured hers in a wine glass.
* Laid back yet attentive bartender - one day soon we’ll learn your name.

Thank you Northside Grille for opening up and giving us a safe place to imbibe and a menu with a variety of food options at affordable prices.