Dr. Marcus Newsome, Chesterfield County Public Schools Superintendent, has identified the need for mentors in the school system. Mega Mentors was formed in response. The committee recruits mentors and has them trained by the Virginia Mentoring Partnership. Working that evening to meet their commitment to being youth role models were, Delesia Watson – Miss Chesterfield 2012, Olivia Fletcher – Miss Chesterfield’s Outstanding Teen, and Princesses Angelina Anderson, Peyton Plummer & Abigail Powell.

In addition, the artists will discuss their work on Friday, January 27, from 6 p.m. to 7p.m. in the Pine Camp Theater. Both events are open and free to the public.

The works on display will include Thaddeus LaCrette’s life-sized beaded sculptures and ceramic sculptures by Dawn Cherry Miles. Dawn Cherry Miles is a Richmond native, while Thaddeus LaCrette is originally from Grenada and has lived in Brooklyn, NY, and Atlanta.
The exhibit will be on display through March 2 in Pine Camp’s Spotlight Gallery. Gallery hours are from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays.

The second iteration of the “Workshop at Macy’s” program, which targets up-and-coming minority and women business owners, is a four-and-a-half day program that will be held in May of next year. A press release from Macy’s says “The specially designed business development curriculum is aimed at minority and women-owned retail businesses that are poised to succeed on a larger scale, but need real-world business practice information and perspective on large-scale vendor relationships, to move to the next level and sustain growth.”

The specially designed business development curriculum is aimed at minority and women-owned retail business

The first workshop, held last spring, included 22 businesses from all over the retail map, from makeup/skincare companies to confectionary designers. According to those who participated in the course, the experience was well worth it.

“The Workshop at Macy’s challenged us to examine our business on an elevated level,” said Michelle Tunno Buelow, founder of participant Bello Tunno. “It encouraged us to realistically look at our current infrastructure and strategy, dream bigger, then bridge the gap.”

“The opportunity changed my perspective and gave my business the retail insider information it needed to succeed even my own limits,” said Kim Roxie, founder and CEO of LAMIK Beauty, also a previous participant. “The relationships I was able to build within a week will span a lifetime. Cheers to the Magic of Macy’s!”

“The incredible success of our first Workshop this Spring paves the way for a new set of entrepreneurs who are hungry to learn from our stable of experts about the ways they can grow their ventures,” said Shawn Outler, Macy’s group vice-president of Multicultural Merchandising and Vendor Development. “The support and information made available to Workshop participants is invaluable in taking these businesses to the next phase of growth.”

Macy’s is now accepting applicants for next year’s program. To be eligible to participate, applicants must be a majority owner, co-owner, or primary decision-maker of their company, which is required to have been in business for at least two years. Applications will also include a 250-word biographical statement, portfolio of products and their costs, resumes of all owners involved, and financial statements for the past two years. For more information, visit www.macysinc.com/workshop.

Puritan Cleaners is tipping off its 24th Coats For Kids Campaign with a special partnership event with Coach Shaka Smart and the VCU Men’s Basketball team. The opening game for VCU this season on November 3rd will be Puritan Cleaners Coats For Kids Night at the Seigel Center. All Ram fans are encouraged to bring coats to donate when they enter the game. There will be free NCAA 2011 Final Four Tournament Posters for the first 300 people who donate a coat that evening.

During the week of October 17 through 21, Puritan will be giving away pairs of tickets (one pair per day, 10 total) for the November 3rd game to some of their lucky fans on Facebook. To be eligible to win the tickets, you must visit the Puritan Cleaners page on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/puritancleaners), where you can enter to win.

“We’re excited to get the season started,” said Coach Smart. “And, to be able to help Puritan collect coats for our community at the same time is a real win-win situation. I know the Ram Nation will come through, as they always do.”

“We are delighted to be partnering with Coach Smart and VCU for this event,” said Gary Glover, President of Puritan Cleaners. “We’re big fans and loved following their run to the Final Four last spring. They’re very generous to offer us this opportunity to really start this year’s Coats For Kids program in a big way. I think that a sellout of the game is expected, and I know it will be a great night for VCU and Coats For Kids.”

This will be the 24th year that Puritan Cleaners is collecting new and used coats, as well as monetary donations, for its Coats For Kids program. Since 1988, Puritan has collected over 300,000 coats of all sizes, cleaned and repaired them, and then partnered with the Salvation Army to distribute them to Central Virginia’s families in need. As always, Coats For Kids starts November 1st, and continues through the entire month. Coats and monetary donations can be dropped off at any Puritan location any time during the month. Home delivery route managers are also collecting coats on their runs throughout November.

For more info, go to http://www.puritancleaners.com/puritancleanerscoatsforkids.php.

Google has worked with local partners to design the program, which will help drive economic growth by giving Virginia businesses the tools and resources to establish a website, find new customers, and grow their business.

Virginia Get Your Business Online is an easy and fast way for Virginia businesses to get a website. Google is partnering with Intuit to provide its popular Intuit Websites offerings for free including an easy-to-build website, a customized domain name and web-hosting for one year. Participating Virginia businesses also receive a local business listing on Google Places and free tools, training and resources to succeed online.

Small businesses need to be online because that’s where their customers are. While 97% of Americans look online for local products and services, 44% of Virginia small businesses do not have a website or online presence. The perception that getting online is complex, costly and time-consuming has prevented many small businesses from taking the first step.

“Small businesses are missing out on a huge opportunity to reach new customers in Virginia and beyond,” said Scott Levitan, Marketing Director for Google. “Virginia Get Your Business Online will help make it fast, easy and free for Virginia businesses to get online.”

“Small businesses drive our economy and their success is crucial to ensuring the sustained and robust recovery our nation needs,” said Governor Bob McDonnell. “This initiative will provide many small businesses in the Commonwealth with the opportunity to grow their sales, expand their operations and, most importantly, use that growth to employ more of our citizens,” Governor McDonnell continued. “I look forward to joining with Google to help kick off their “Virginia Get Your Business Online” partnership with small businesses in the Commonwealth to help increase their visibility online and make them more competitive and successful in the years ahead.”

“As a leading provider of small business solutions, we have witnessed the growth small businesses have seen from getting online,” said Ralph Matlack, Group Product Manager at Intuit. “We are excited to offer Intuit Websites for free to all the wonderful small businesses in Virginia and to help them create a customized presence that represents their unique brands.”

“Every day we see more and more people realize that meeting face-to-face to collaborate is by far the best way to get things done,” said Mary Telesco, VP of Meetup. “There are thousands of Small Business Meetup members helping each other succeed every day by connecting with one another, in person. That is exactly why we are thrilled to partner with Google on this initiative — small business owners getting online together better than going at it alone!”

“An effective online presence is necessary for small businesses to thrive in the digital age. It not only helps business reach new customers but continue to reach out to existing ones,” said Jody Keenan, State Director of the Virginia Small Business Development Centers. “The Virginia Small Business Development Centers Network is excited to be partnering with Google to help Virginia companies both get online and strengthen their online presence.”

Businesses can either get online through www.Virginiagetonline.com, or in person through a series of Google-hosted events throughout the state.

The next event will be held on Friday, September 23 and Saturday, September 24 in Richmond at Richmond Centerstage 600 East Grace Street Richmond, VA. Businesses across Virginia who cannot attend the events can visit www.Virginiagetonline.com to quickly and easily get online today. The program will be available online for a year.

Virginia Get Your Business Online
Friday and Saturday, September 23 and 24
Richmond Centerstage
600 East Grace Street
Richmond, VA 23219-1891

Richmond jumped five places to No. 27 (a two-way tie) in the annual ranking of national liberal arts colleges.

The magazine also named Richmond to three special lists in its category — best value schools (No. 9), up-and-comers having the most promising and innovative programs (No. 3), and high school counselors’ picks (tied for No. 24).

The overall ranking is Richmond’s highest since moving into the national liberal arts category seven years ago, when it debuted at No. 34.

“This is our highest-ever ranking in the national liberal arts category, and everyone at Richmond is gratified by the recognition of the good work going on here,” said university President Edward L. Ayers. “We’ve been in the category only seven years and have seen a steady ascent. Our rapid increase in applications for admission to record levels and our continuing commitment to meeting 100 percent of students’ demonstrated financial need probably have a lot to do with the positive perception of the university”.

“It’s great that others recognize the work Richmond is doing in terms of educating students. For example, the fact that U.S. News surveyed 2,400 high school counselors at public and private high schools in all 50 states is very important. The magazine acknowledges counselors’ insight into how well colleges and universities meet the needs and expectations of their students,” said Ayers.

“The best value tag is critical recognition of Richmond’s commitment to ensuring access to a high quality education by providing outstanding financial aid packages. And, being named to a very short list of up-and-comers by presidents, provosts and deans shows us that educators from across the country recognize the great work we’re doing to provide an exceptional undergraduate education,” Ayers said.

Other recently released college guides that have ranked or selected Richmond include “The Fiske Guide to Colleges” (2012 edition), Princeton Review’s “The Best 376 Colleges: 2012 Edition,” and Forbes.com’s America’s Best Colleges list. The university consistently ranks as a top-tier liberal arts college and best value by U.S. News, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance and SmartMoney magazine. Bankrate.com recently named Richmond one of the “10 best colleges for the money.”

Thanks to a generous $50,000 grant from Dominion Resources, Virginia State University will now be expanding its digital textbook program, with the hopes of cutting down textbook costs for students.

The grant is part of the $200,000 Dominion has donated to Central Virginia colleges to support their business and engineering programs. Grants, like the one to VSU, alleviate some of the stress of rising tuition by cutting down on other costs, such as textbooks.

According to a press release by VSU, 40 percent of students attending classes declined to buy the required textbooks, citing the prohibitive cost. Open-source digital textbooks cost approximately $20 per book, which is a far cry from the $200+ students oftentimes must shell out to have the required textbook for a class. Furthermore, a digital textbook can be updated throughout the semester, giving instructors the opportunity to add relevant and topical real-life case studies to their curriculum.

The VSU grant will equip students at the Reginald F. Lewis School of Business with these digital tools. VSU hopes that programs like this will serve to raise the student retention rate, as well as give students at least one less financial burden to worry about.

The 21st Annual Down Home Family Reunion explores a full spectrum of music, dance, stories, food, shopping and enrichment in this Celebration of African American Folklife. It’s a heritage festival that takes attendees on a folkloric journey from West Africa through the Caribbean and into America. Of course, Virginia is at the historic epicenter of the latter movement.

On Saturday, August 20, the 21st Annual Down Home Family Reunion presents the Family Festival, 4 – 11:00 p.m., at Abner Clay Park, Belvidere and West Leigh Streets, downtown in Historic Jackson Ward. Elegba Folklore Society invites Virginians and visitors to activities designed to link West African and African American cultural traditions and to demonstrate ways these practices have been absorbed by the American South.

Legendary R&B stars Blue Magic headlines Saturday’s Family Festival. Emerging out of Philadelphia’s soul music scene in the 1970s, Blue Magic signed with Atlantic Records in 1973. The rhythm and blues vocal quintet scored numerous hits on the R&B charts. They hit it big on the Top 40 R&B singles chart with their first three records before breaking through and crossing over with their best-known hit Sideshow. It went gold and soared the charts to become a Top Ten pop hit. Their next single, Three Ring Circus, made the R&B Top Ten and the pop Top 40. Blue Magic would become known for their lulling smooth ballads.

Internationally-acclaimed Tobey Foyeh and Orchestra Africa is a multi-talented ensemble, whose music is a melting pot created out of a unique fusion of traditional Nigerian Yoruba music with Afro-beat, Highlife, Jazz and Latin elements. Foyeh began performing music at an early age in Ibadan and Lagos, Nigeria and, although he essentially is a self-taught musician, has studied music at the Berklee College of Music and
Howard University.

Foyeh composes, arranges, produces, and sings music interpreting the traditional and contemporary sounds of Africa. Orchestra Africa with Foyeh’s exciting guitar and multi-instrumental performances, feature vocalists and such traditional African instruments as the gangan (talking drum) and the Kalimba (thumb piano). His backing female singer-dancers, in African dress, add a spice of traditional Africa in their call-and-response style of chorus singing with African dance.

Seen as guardians of African tradition and culture, Toby Foyeh and Orchestra Africa has released two successful albums including Jalolo and Here I Come with two hit singles, Ore mi and I’m on Fire. A new album, Lagos-Ilu Eko will be released this summer on the Kameleon label. The group is currently on tour in the United Kingdom and has performed in Europe, Japan, Canada and throughout the United States.

The performance of local group, A Touch of Charm, will take many on a trip down memory lane with silky smooth sounds. Inspired by crooners of the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s, their tight harmonies and heartfelt ballads combine to bring classic soul to audiences everywhere they perform.

Richmond’s own Lady E & the Blues Sensations will accent the main stage with their special brand of down home blues. Get on board to take a ride on an emotional journey experiencing joy, pain, sorrow and hope.

The Tunji Band, will contribute its unique jazzy-reggae sound to the Down Home Family Reunion.

Elegba Folklore Society’s exciting and culturally enriching performance company will appear with a colorful and interactive program of African dance, music and the oral tradition that celebrates the oneness of the African Diaspora. This performance is designed to engage audiences no matter the age or background. “In a way that perhaps you will expect or in a way that is totally spontaneous, your energy will blend beautifully with ours, closing the gap between performer and audience. Participants find themselves swept up in the oneness of movement and rhythm that links them with the global significance of this timeless art form,” says the group’s artistic director, Janine Bell.

Cheick Hamala Diabate, a diali and an ngoni player (a lute) from Mali, West Africa is a featured guest artist.

People in the park will revisit and participate in a variety of cultural traditions. As a highlight of the 21st Annual Down Home Family Reunion attendees will have the chance to participate in two Interactive Folkloric Demonstrations. Attendees can appreciate their own creativity through the Mojo Hands exhibit as it magnifies the beauty of creating art and instruments from natural elements and powerful simplicity.

The second invites attendees to a vicarious visit through the annals of African American history and art on postage stamps. The Ebony Philatelic Society shows collections of USPS stamps showing black profiles, bios and portraiture.

Events for children and teens are focused in the Annie Tyler Memorial New Skool Pavilion and include take-home craft making, moon walking, performances on the New Skool Stage and more.

A captivating Heritage Market will offer an assortment of art, hand-mades and imports for browsing and purchase.

Food is a familiar way to continue the celebration of shared traditions, and it continues to be a centerpiece for the Down Home Family Reunion. This year’s selections will include Southern style chicken, corn-fried fish, an assortment of down home vegetables, frozen fruits and mouth-watering desserts that are African-inspired and Southern favorites.

21st Annual Down Home Family Reunion Event Schedule
Saturday, August 21 – 4:00 – 11:00p.m.

4:00 A Touch of Charm
Silky Smooth Crooners

5:00 Toby Foyeh & Orchestra Africa
Traditional Nigerian Yoruba Music with Afro-beat & Highlife

6:30 Lady E & the Blues Sensations
Attendees can enjoy a focus on the offerings of the two
interactive site demonstrations.

7:30 The Tunji Band
Jazzy Reggae

8:45 African Dance & Music with Elegba Folklore Society
Featuring Cheick Hamala Diabate
Come into the Village!

10:00 Blue Magic

11:00 Event Closes

The Hornets, who have been in the public discussion to play their games at City Stadium since hearing about the University of Richmond’s plans to leave the facility, are excited to finally mark the return of minor league football to the stadium. The Virginia Hornets coined “Richmond’s Best Kept Secret” by Richmond City Councilman Marty Jewel, have been playing NFL rules, outdoor football for over 17 years, primarily at Richmond area high schools.

“We understand that there are discussions about the future of the facility but for now, especially with the threat of the NFL not having a season, Richmond area football fans need to be able to enjoy their stadium and their sport. We are Richmond’s Team and now we are finally playing at Richmond’s football stadium,” owner/ head coach Clifford “Perk” Jefferson states.

The Virginia Hornets pride themselves in being affordable family friendly entertainment and also as being a non-profit second chance program that volunteers their time, energy and efforts to assist many worthy causes in the community.

The Hornets, fresh off their home debut and youth night look to continue This Saturday July 30th at 7:00pm with The 3RD Annual Virginia Hornet’s “Pink Party” Breast Cancer Awareness Game. The gates opening at 5:30 for our pre-game tail gate party sponsored by “The Honey” Cheerleaders and our Vendors, Famous Dave’s, Papa John’s Pizza, and Uncle Joe’s.

The Game on Saturday “The Pink Party” is dedicated to Breast Cancer Survivors with a portion of the proceeds from the game being dedicated to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. There will be a special half time presentation, music, and fun for all as well as special guest appearances from local and regional political and civic leaders.

The Virginia Hornets will kick-off the festivities on Saturday July 30th with a FREE football camp for underprivileged kids 7-14. This is just one of the ways the Virginia Hornets give back to the community that has supported them for 17 years The Clinic will start at 9am and run until 1pm.

Admission to all Hornets games is only $10.00. $5.00 for youth 6-16 with kids under 6 free with adult supervision.

For more information about the Virginia Hornets, to become a partner, sponsor or for schedule and ticket information please visit www.vahornets.com, The Virginia Hornets Facebook Fan Page, or call 804-476-0040.