Brickworthy, Jan. 15 - Feb. 4, 2004
The Henrico County Citizen posted an article about Vee Davis, Past President of Henrico County Historical Society.
Vee Davis shows off the brick that has been installed in her name in the Arbor Walkway at the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens. Members of the Henrico County Historical Society recently honored Davis with the brick for her six years of service as HCHS President.
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Henrico County Historical Society Spring Quarterly Meeting, 2004
The Henrico County Citizen published an article about the Henrico County Historical Society presentation of preservation awards at its Spring Quarterly meeting. This article appeared in the newspaper's March 18-31, 2004 edition. It was written by Patty Kruszewski.
At HCHS quarterly meeting on March 7, 2004, the following people were presented awards from HCHS for their historic contributions to the community in 2003:
Mr Norman Seay: Provided a vintage Rolls Royce car for use in the Glen Allen Day Parade for public display.
Mr Wayne Mallory: Provided pictures (some are to the right and below) and a video of the demolition of historic Forest Lodge for Henrico County archives, and also drove Mr. Seay's Rolls Royce car in the 2003 Glen Allen Day parade.
Footnote:Mr. Mallory filmed the total demolition of Forest Lodge including the removal of the cupola onto a flat bed truck and the drive down the expanse of Mountain Road. The County of Henrico preserved this cupola and it now stands on the corner of Mountain Road and Old Washington Highway. The most moving part of this film is at the end. Mr. Mallory shows in sad silence the pile of rubble that once was this grand hotel, the pride of Glen Allen. The County of Henrico did not have the demolition of Forest Lodge recorded and were thrilled with this find. They are now using this information to build a miniature replica of Forest Lodge.
Dick and Jane's Antiquities: Allowed images of the only known copy of a 1942 newspaper to be added to the HCHS archives for public display.
Footnote: The unique story behind this is Jeanette Jones checked the inside drawers of a chest that came into their possession and found this newspaper. In years gone-by, people would sometimes line their dresser drawers with newspaper. Jeanette grew up in the Three Chopt area and recognized a picture of boys she knew from Ridge Road School in 1942. They had an old trolley car frame and were turning it in for scrap metal for the war effort. Other articles describe Victory Clubs and a prayer for the troops and prisoners of World War II.
Mr Wilton Tenney: Donated personal photographs for public display. Footnote: Mr. Tenney has taken many pictures (including these two) of historic sites in Henrico County, including the Brook Road Toll House and Civil War re-enactments at Meadow Farm.
Mr James Wade: He provided valuable artifacts and research information for public display.
Footnote: Mr. Wade's collection included a number of artifacts that represent a way of life that no longer exists. One in particular is a rosette of a horse harness that is dented from being struck by a bullet, thereby saving the horse's life. Another is a medical probe used for locating bullets in a patient's body.
Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden: For the restoration and continued maintenance of Bloemendall and for providing historic pictures for public display.
Footnote: Sharon Francisco, a volunteer for Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, accepted the award. It is an amazing amount of work that has gone into the restoration and maintenance of Bloemendall for the benefit of the public. They have graciously provided historic photographs for public display.
County of Henrico Division of Recreation and Parks: For the continued support of historic preservation and interpretation throughout the County of Henrico. With special thanks to Kim Sicola, Chris Gregson, Dave Gipe, and Chuck Peple.
Footnote: Kim Sicola, Curator of Historic Preservation and Museum Services, accepted the award on behalf of the County of Henrico Division of Recreation and Parks. The Henrico County Historical Society expresses appreciation to the County of Henrico on behalf of the public for the attention to historic resources. Meadow Farm Museum, the Cultural Arts center of Glen Allen, Walkerton, and Civil War Battlefield interpretations are but a few of the outstanding historic contributions to the community. The County of Henrico is always willing to assist the Henrico County Historical Society in any historic endeavors.
Dr. Louis Manarin: For his continued historic contributions to the community.
Footnote: Dr. Manarin is a founding member of the Henrico County Historical Society. We would be very remiss if we did not honor our own historian. We have only to read the titles of the books he has written to realize the amazing amount of research that has gone into his work. His contribution to the community has been tremendous.
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Community Comes Together for Varina Day
The Henrico County Citizen newspaper reporter, Johnathan Spiers, displayed this staff photo as part of his article about Varina Day. The article appeared in the June 11, 2004 edition.
Resident Becky McMullin receives a packet of historical brochures and assortments from Henrico Historical Society charter members Dudley Lanthrip and John Ayres, from left.
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Glen Allen Day Parade
Wayne Mallory represented the HCHS in the Glen Allen Day parade driving his vintage motorcycle.
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June 2004 Annual Meeting
The quarterly meeting held in June of each year is Henrico County Historical Society's annual meeting.
This year's meeting was held at Eastern Henrico Ruritan Club. Members enjoyed delicious boxed lunches made by Dagwood's Deli. Each committee chairperson reported on business for the 2nd quarter.
One of our members, Welford Lloyd Williams, presented to our Society the book, "Black Warriors, The Legacy, World War II, by Albert E. Williams. We are grateful to Mr. Williams (no relation to author) for this addition to our library.
Display boards with pages of our website, created this year, were available for viewing. We were excited to hear how the website helped our Society:
(1) Of all new members who joined, we now have "coastal-to-coastal" membership; two members joined as a result of the website - one member lives in New Jersey and the other lives in California.
(2) Someone visiting our website notified us of a family cemetery located in Henrico; we have recorded more than 3,000 names of persons buried in various Henrico cemeteries, so we are excited to have a previously unknown gravesite to add to our list.
We are looking forward to next year's June quarterly meeting, when we will celebrate our **30th** anniversary!
After the luncheon and society business was discussed, we enjoyed a special treat - a lecture and tour of the historic Beth Elon house. Sarah Pace, Second Vice President (Membership), provided the photos of our Beth Elon house tour.
A Library of Virginia researcher delivered a lecture about the architect who designed the Beth Elon house; we heard about the architect's family history, and then his architectural contributions to Henrico County and the city of Richmond. The owners of the Beth Elon house discussed the ongoing preservation efforts.
The Beth Elon house belonged to the same family since the 1800's. A few years ago, the house and its 25 acres were sold to a developer. Upon hearing that the house may be torn down, a relative of the original home's owners negotiated to purchase the house and three of its acres. The owners began refurbishing efforts. Henrico County Historical Society members carpooled to Beth Elon for a tour of the home's restored first floor.
Beth Elon is registered as a Virginia historic landmark, and with the Henrico County Preservation Program.
The first floor of the Beth Elon house has many interesting architectural details from a bygone era:
The ceiling is actually a "second" ceiling. A few decades after the house was first built, the original ceiling needed additional support. This "second" ceiling was built below the original ceiling; this "second" ceiling is actually painted cardboard!
One architectural feature of which we do not have pictures are the built-in cabinets in the dining room. Many of the women visitors liked the idea of the sliding two bottom drawers of the built-in cabinet being accessible in both the dining room and the kitchen.
Do you watch HGTV's "If Walls Could Talk"? Boy, did the walls of Beth Elon talk! Once the current owners of Beth Elon moved into the home, the first task was cleaning the home from top to bottom. They were down to one last item to throw away, an old cardboard tube. Upon further inspection, the owners saw "Original blue prints" written on the tube. With excitement, the owners bought the tube of papers to an expert who specializes in the restoration of artifacts. The expert successfully extracted the papers from the tube and beautifully restored them. In the pictures below, visitors hear more about the methods used to restore the blue prints, shown below, and many of the home's paintings. One of the restored paintings hangs above one of the fireplaces, pictured above.
About 40 people attended the house tour. People waited in line outside...
...to crowd wall-to-wall inside in order to hear about the home's preservation and see its beautiful features.
For our members, this was a day to catch up on the news, greet old friends, hear the latest news about HCHS business, and tour one of Henrico County's beautifully restored historical homes. We hope to see you next year, especially to help us celebrate our 30th anniversary!
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September 2004 Meeting
Our September 2004 meeting was held at the Education and Library Complex of the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, which is located at 1800 Lakeside Avenue in Richmond, VA.
The meeting was attended by about 40 of our members. The meeting began with the Henrico Historical Society officers presenting news and updates for the third quarter of 2004.
The topic of our September meeting was Recollections of the Life and Times of Lewis Ginter and Grace Arents. Below are photos of Lewis Ginter and Grace Arents; the photo of Grace Arents is one of the few known to be in existence. For our meeting, Sharon Francisco and Fran Purdum as Lewis Ginter and Grace Arents, respectively, presented a historical interpretation of the lives of these two individuals.
Our members gave rave reviews for Ms. Francisco and Ms. Purdum's performances!
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December 2004 Meeting
Our December 2004 meeting was held at the Henrico County Human Services Building, which is located at 8600 Dixon Powers Drive in Richmond.
HCHS members enjoyed holiday refreshments and catching up on the latest news.
Members attending the meeting listed to the executive officers speak at the start of the meeting.
Vee Davis (below, left), Covener of HCHS, opened the meeting. HCHS officers presented news and updates for the fourth quarter of 2004. Afterward, First Vice-President Arline Dowdy (below, right) introduced the speaker for our December meeting.
Next, members heard from Kim Sicola, who is the Curator of Historic Preservation and Museum Services for the County of Henrico Division of Recreation and Parks. She gave a briefing on the collections stored at the Henrico County Human Services Building. Afterwards Ms. Sicola's presentation, she and Assistant Curator Alyson Rhodes-Murphy then lead our members on a a tour of the collections stored at the Henrico County Human Services Building.
Below are pictures of some of the collections:
A drawing for a table centerpiece was held during our meeting. The winner was Dr. Henry Nelson.
Dr. Louis Manarin detailed his new book, "Henrico County Field of Honor", that is due to be released on January 3, 2005. It is a two volume book detailing the Civil War in Henrico.
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