Help raise funds for CrossOver Ministry’s three area health centers by participating in (or volunteering for) the CrossOver Challenge 15K, 5K and 1K Kids Fun Run on Saturday, April 19. The fun takes place at the athletic fields at the corner of Brook Road and Westover Avenue; registration and other information is available at the CrossOver website.

CrossOver serves a vulnerable population that includes children, the elderly, low-income families, the working poor, and people in crisis, many who are one illness away from financial ruin, if not already there. For those who need it, CrossOver Health Centers serve as a medical home, providing comprehensive care that includes dental, vision, medications, and even pre-natal services.

The Thirteen Acres Yard Sale will be held on April 19, 2008. The annual spring yard sale is one of the area’s largest and features vendors from throughout Virginia and the Carolinas. The sale will take place at 3801 Hermitage Road, located at the intersection of Laburnum Ave. and Hermitage near Holton Elementary School.

Vendors who would like to participate must reserve their spaces by April 4. The cost per space is $40. Vendors may mail-in their reservations or may register in person every Wednesday and Thursday from 4–6 p.m. at Amelia Street School, 1821 Amelia Street, Richmond,VA 23220.

Proceeds from the sale fund cultural activities for students whoattend REAL and Thirteen Acres schools.

The April 19 yard sale will take place from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. In the event of rain, the event will be held April 26.

For information, call 780-6010 or 780-6275.

City residents can register their children to play spring soccer at the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Faculties’ Humphrey Calder Community Center between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. March 3 through April 4.

Registration for non-city residents will be held at the same times beginning on March 10.

Teams will be formed for boys and girls ages 6 through 15 on a first-come, first-served basis.

Registration is $25 for city residents and $45 for non-city residents, and a birth certificate is required for registration. A $20 uniform fee is also required.

Teams practice on week nights and games are played on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings.

The Humphrey Calder Community Center is located at 414 N. Thompson Street beside the fire station at the corner of Patterson Avenue.

For more information, call 646-1780.

Richmond’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities is offering beginning and intermediate belly dancing classes weekly at its Humphrey Calder Community Center starting March 4.

The beginning level class will meet from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and include instruction in the basic moves, isolations, techniques and posture, as well as practice of traveling steps and an introduction to finger cymbals and veils.

The intermediate class will meet Tuesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and will include more advanced movements based on the fundamentals taught in the beginning class. Students in this class will review and refine the basics and learn “layering” to incorporate multiple moves.

Both classes are for all ages and will run for six weeks. The cost is $35 for city residents and $55 for non-city residents.

Students should wear comfortable exercise clothes and bring a scarf to wrap around their hips.

The Humphrey Calder Community Center is located at 414 N. Thompson St.

For more information, call 646-1780.

Last fall, the City of Richmond held a highly successful hazardous waste collection event at the Diamond. Now, the city has a permanent spot in the city’s East End for residents to safely dispose of a variety of hazardous materials.

The collection center will begin collecting hazardous materials on Monday, and will operate from 7:00 am until 4:30 pm during the week and from 9:00 am until 2:00 pm on Saturdays. The operation is located at the East Richmond Road landfill at 3800 E. Richmond Road. Residents can dispose of waste solvents and paints; gasoline and other fuels; propane tanks; household cleaners; herbicides and pesticides; and other items.

The annual Ginter Park Garden Tour is scheduled for May 17, but organizers are still seeking attractive gardens to feature in the popular event. (You can find at the details in the February issue of the Ginter Park Residents Association newsletter, downloadable as a PDF here.)

The former Richmond Memorial Hospital on Westwood Avenue is one step closer to becoming one of North Richmond’s premier condominium communities. Ginter Place now features a website with floor plans, and the newsletter for the Ginter Park Residents Association says occupancy is slated for this fall:

For details, visit the Ginter Place website.

Owners of gravesites in city-owned cemeteries are reminded that by City Code all flowers, decorations and non-approved vases must be removed from lots and gravesites by March 1. As part of the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities’ annual cleanup of the city’s cemeteries, any items not removed will be collected and disposed of by the cemetery staff. New flower arrangements may be placed on gravesites beginning March 20.

For questions, call 646-1401 or 646-1402.

North Richmond dog owners now have at least two neighborhood options for daily or extended dogcare — Diamond Dog House (just behind Bill’s BBQ) and Four Paws Pet Resort on North Hamilton Street (near the old Virginia Blood Services office off of Westwood).

Residents of the Rosedale neighborhood are encouraged to attend the next meeting of the Rosedale Civic Association this Tuesday, March 5, at The Hermitage. The meeting starts at 7:00 pm. Speakers for the meeting include Howard Glenn of Richmond’s public utilities department, who will discuss drainage issues in the area. Refreshments will be served.

R Home Magazine, the home and garden companion to Richmond Magazine, spotlighted the house that launched the Hermitage Road Historic District in its April issue (available at Barnes & Noble and other area locations).

Montrose, a massive brick and stone mansion at 4104 Hermitage Road (near the intersection of Hermitage and Bellevue), had been vacant for more than a decade when its current owners moved into it in 1989. From the article:

Most homes on the avenue were originally built as country cottages for the wealthy. Montrose was built in 1898 for the Edmund Strudwick family by D. Wiley Anderson, a prolific and versatile architect who worked mostly on Richmond’s North Side … [Montrose] may have also served as a clubhouse for the masons of the neighboring Scottish Rite Temple.

A Richmond Magazine food critic provides a review of the Northside Grille in the magazine’s most recent issue. Karen Miller writes:

Go to Northside Grille if for no other reason than to try the house-made lumpia - the Filipino version of a spring roll. This is the real deal. Having lived in the Philippines as a young child, I was thrilled when I spied these crispy delicacies, filled with pork sausage, ground beef, onion, bean sprouts, and cabbage, on the restaurant’s extensive menu. Deep-fried until golden brown and served with an Asian-style garlic and sesame sauce, they are the perfect bar food. In almost 15 years of eating my way through the city’s offerings, this is the first time I’ve ever seen lumpia on a menu.

The Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden celebrates Easter weekend on March 22 and 23 with a variety of events for adults and children, including the kick-off of the garden’s celebrated “A Million Blooms” and a visit with Peter Rabbit.

Among the planned events — Peter Rabbit will greet visitors and pose for photos both days from 1:00 until 4:00 pm. There will also be a Kid Quest children’s game with prizes.

On Saturday, March 22, a storyteller will tell the classic Peter Rabbit tales from 1:00 until 4:00 pm. The Richmond Concert Band will perform from 2:00 until 3:00 pm.

On Sunday, the Garden will host an Easter Brunch from 11:00 am until 3:00 pm (reservations required) at the Robins Tea House.

The Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens celebrates their famous “A Million Blooms” springtime event from March 22 through June 1 with “a million ways to have fun.”

A Million Blooms features a spectacular succession of blooms including daffodils, cherry blossoms, tulips, iris, roses and peonies. Highlights inlcude special events such as Easter Weekend, Mother’s Day, the Spring Plant Sale and plant shows, and activities in the Children’s Garden.

Among some new additions to the celebrated event:

An expanded daffodil collection featuring hundreds of new and rare daffodils will herald spring from early March through late April.

Frames: View the gardens from a whole new perspective! An installation of picture frames throughout the Garden will literally “frame” landscape vignettes and complement the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts “Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism” exhibit (February 22-May 11). http://www.vmfa.state.va.us/

Artists: Also in the Garden during weekends in April and May, local artists will work in the Impressionist tradition of “plein aire” (drawing and painting in the open air). Visitors can watch these artists at work and compare the emerging images with the view.

Exhibit: “Out in the Open: Plein Aire Paintings of the James River Park by Andras Bality” in Ginter Gallery II showcases small oil studies the artist creates on-site as preliminaries for his large oil canvases of the James River landscape.

The Ginter Park Residents’ Association will hold its regular board meeting on Tuesday, March 11, at 7:30 pm at St. Thomas’ Episcopal Church. For details, visit the GPRA website.

Posted is the 2007 sales data for homes in Northside. This may be of interest to those considering appealing their home’s assessment. Click the image for a full-size view.

Help clean up the Rosedale neighborhood on Saturday, March 15. The Alley Rally starts at 7:30 am with breakfast and coffee at 1901 Laburnum Avenue. Clear out accumulated junk and yard debris, and volunteers will make the rounds and collect it. There are two trucks scheduled this year, so appliances will be hauled away. The Alley Rally volunteers cannot collect hazardous materials, such as paint, pesticides and household cleaners.

Leave items you want hauled away in your alley or on the curbside. To volunteer, contact Liz Turner at gwava4h@verizon.net.

The Grace Arents Garden was the first project at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden after it opened to the public in 1987, according to an article in the April issue of R Home, Richmond Magazine’s home and garden supplement. The garden was restored by the Garden Club of Virginia in 1990.

Zed Cafe is getting plenty of praise — in print and online — these days. In Vino Veritas, a local weblog focused on Richmond restaurants, recently took a trip to North Richmond’s organic dining destination and found it worthy of praise:

From the Virginia Department of Social Services:

Many low-to-moderate income working families and individuals in the Richmond area qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). An EITC credit can amount to an income tax refund of up to $4,716. Free tax preparation is available; those who qualify for EITC are eligible to have their taxes prepared at no cost.

There are five free tax prep sites in the City of Richmond, including the Richmond City Department of Social Services, Southside Community Service Center at 4100 Hull Street Road. At this site, taxes are prepared each Tuesday and Wednesday from 3:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. through April 9. No appointment is necessary.

The EITC is for moderate-income, as well as low-income households. If you have worked in the past year, including self-employment, and have earned less than $39,783 (if married filing jointly) with more than one qualifying child, you may be eligible.

Up to 22 percent of qualifying Virginia households (between 91,200 and 114,000 households) don’t take advantage of the credit. If you don’t file, you don’t get the credit: In order to receive the EITC, you must file a federal income tax return, even if you think your earnings are not high enough to require filing.

Volunteers at the free tax preparations sites are trained to look for eligible EITC households. However, if you choose a professional tax preparation service, be sure to ask if you qualify for EITC.

To find a free tax preparation site, visit the Virginia Department of Social Services’ website or call 1-800-906-9887.