Mid-September has crept up on us again which means it’s time for the 43rd Street Festival. 10-5 tomorrow, and you all know the place.

At tomorrow’s rendition of the South of the James Market, 4th District Council representative Kathy Graziano and her culinary-minded sons will compete against a team of chefs from Positive Vibe Cafe in the MarketVibe Chefs Challenge. Like something straight out of Top Chef, the teams will purchase all items from the market offerings and prepare a variety of dishes using small appliances, grills and the like. Graziano told the T-D:

We originally thought of this as a way to get people to come to the park, and it’s also a good way to show people what they can do with fresh stuff…It should be fun. We should raise a lot of money for a good cause and get even more people to come to the market.”

Forest Hill Park sees lots of activity on Sunday July 20th. From noon-4PM is the return of Sunday in the Park, followed immediately by the summer monthly Music in the Park Series, which runs until 6PM. All the details are below the fold.

Read more >

Today’s Style talks up the South of the James Market, specifically the offerings from Simply Southern Pies.

…from Richmond.com:

There is good news, however. The South of the James Market has already signed up for a second year and the Market Umbrella is considering expanding the hours beyond noon.

June’s Music in the Park event is this Sunday, 6-8PM, in Forest Hill Park, featuring Cashmere Jungle Lords.

Read more >

Or in Forest Hill Park, anyway.

…and by most accounts, the South of the James Market was quite the success.

Just in case you forgot, or missed it the first time around, the South of the James Market kicks off tomorrow morning, 8am, at Shelter 2 in Forest Hill Park (circa New Kent & 42nd). I’ll be the guy trying to figure out how to carry 4 armloads of produce home on his bike.

Channel 8 has a feature story* on building tensions between Woodland Heights residents and Park cyclists. I’m embarrassed to say that I’ve not ridden on the park trails since moving to the neighborhood, but I’d love to see some closure to this before I start!

*Windows Media link…Sorry Mac-types.

From Kathy Graziano:

Richmond City Council Member Kathy Graziano today announced that the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has approved a permit to restore the lake at Forest Hill Park to its historic boundaries.

The project has been in the planning stages for more than three years by the Richmond Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities. The Department will move forward to commission engineering drawings and specifications, and start the bidding process within the next two months, with work to begin this summer.

Read the whole release at the above link.

Apparently the SunTrust bank at Forest Hill & 47th was robbed this morning. I’ve yet to see any media mention of it thus far, and the RPD crime report site likely won’t update ’til tomorrow…

Tomorrow’s Style Weekly again features the controversy over the Forest Hill Park sign. As of December 17th, the sign had been “repaired and returned, and fences between two neighborhood booster groups [Forest Hill Neighborhood Association and Friends of Forest Hill Park] have been mended.”

On a similar note, I understand one of the topics being discussed at next week’s FHNA meeting is the elusive white whale: restoration of the lake in the park.

The holidays and general in-over-our-head-edness has caused a couple of events to sneak up on us without the proper mention, so:

Justin from Westover Baptist Church alerted us to a newly-formed group of area ministers, tentatively calling themselves the Hills & Heights Minister’s Association (the notion that other groups would incorporate H&H into their names is quite flattering!). They will be meeting today, 1:00 PM at Forest Hill Presbyterian, and have invited ministers from all over the general area to attend.

Switching gears, the Woodland Heights Artists in Residence Holiday Show takes place Friday Dec. 7th, 6-9 PM and Saturday Dec. 8th, 10 AM - 3 PM at the Stone House in Forest Hill Park. Friday night sees a neighborhood celebration with local artists & musicians, refreshments and lots of holiday cheer. Saturday is open for shopping to the general public. From 1-3pm there will be children’s crafts and face painting by Fluffy the clown and a visit from Santa and his Elf. The event is intended to showcase our local talent, bring neighboring residents together and raise funds for the Woodland Heights Community Association.

A couple weeks ago, a brief discussion about the Forest Hill Park sign came up in the comments to another post. Today’s Style Weekly takes a look at the ongoing saga involving Friends of Forest Hill Park, the Forest Hill Neighborhood Association and Custom Ornamental Iron.

This coming weekend sees the return of the Richmond Marathon. Once again, the CVS parking lot will host a “Party Zone” with musical entertainment by Worn Glory. Other musical spots include the intersection of Scottview & Longview in Stratford Hills, the entrance to Willow Oaks Country Club, Forest Hill Ave. & Leicester, Forest Hill Park, Forest Hill & Semmes, Semmes & 22nd and the south end of the Lee Bridge.

Traffic changes abound too:

• Riverside Dr. closed b/w Huguenot Bridge & Scottview Drive 6AM-Noon
• Forest Hill Ave. westbound closed b/w Roanoke St. & W. 47th 8AM-11:30 AM
• Huguenot Bridge closed to northbound traffic 8 AM-11 AM
• The southbound exit ramp from the Powhite Parkway to Forest Hill and the northbound entrance ramp from westbound Forest Hill onto the Powhite closed 8 AM-11 AM.

Forest Hill Park takes center stage in a T-D article on the state of Richmond’s major parks.

Over the past few years, however, the park made a comeback. The city repaired granite picnic fireplaces built in the 1930s and a historic building, the Stone House. Hundreds of trees were planted.

This winter, the city plans to return the muddy cattail haven to its past grandeur as a scenic lake where Richmonders once swam and skated. The cost: $1.2 million.

Could the park finally see the long-promised lake work?

John passes along more information following up on last months’ Problem Solving Session.

The T-D has a preview piece today as well.

The monthly Music in the Park series starts up again this weekend in Forest Hill Park.