Tag Archives: Petersburg

26

Nov. ’23

Casinos

 Richmond, Va. voted, for the second time, not to have a casino. The casino was to be built in the south Richmond area, which we consider ‘the poor side of town’. This time and the last time a great amount of money went toward ads (tv, radio, etc.) to get people on board. The mayor and many top officials were for the casino saying it would bring a great amount of money into the city, especially the southside of Richmond.

               The mayor and others said most of the money gained from having the casino would go toward funding the schools (which is badly needed) and other needed improvements around Richmond. The same was said about the tolls on I-95 (before they were removed) and not much was seen. There are still tolls on other roadways around Richmond and still I haven’t seen much improvement except in downtown Richmond. The same was said before there were lottery tickets (scratch-offs, etc.), it was approved, it’s still ongoing and still not much is seen of the money gained.

               They were against Petersburg, Va., a city twenty miles down I-95 to the south of Richmond, also that is my hometown. Both times I wanted Petersburg to get the nod, but Richmond got it on its ballot instead. I live just outside Richmond therefore I could not vote for or against the casino. I really don’t know what all the fuss about the casino was because Virginia already has casinos. I don’t know why they were against Petersburg getting it either, so I decided to take a little ride.

               I have fond memories of Petersburg although it was during segregation. The Bill of Rights came to be the year I entered the U.S. Air Force. The city is known for the Civil War Battle of the Crater, among a few other things. When I retired from the air force, I became a policeman in my hometown.

               As I drove around the city, I saw vacant houses everywhere and vacant lots where houses or buildings used to be. There were plenty of nice homes scattered around but the mostly Black neighborhoods were in very bad shape. Trash and overgrown weeds and grass, vacant houses, empty lots, no businesses everywhere. I could see why Petersburg needed the casino to have a money flow, but I wonder if they would put it to use in the downtrodden areas.

 When I was on the police force the officers used to joke about the city council by calling them the city clowns. When I was on the force back then the city council was almost evenly split between White and Black members. When one side voted yes, the other side voted no and vice versa. I don’t know what is going on today. This is why I wonder if casino money would be used for great benefit.

I left Petersburg and started thinking about casinos (I’ve been to a lot of them all over the country) and thought about where a lot of them were located. Then when I pictured where a lot of them were it dawned on me that it was impoverished areas. So much for making the areas better.

My mind is still wondering if the casino is the best thing to have in either city. I just threw it out there, to clear my mind and to see what others think (like me you don’t have a dog in the fight either). I am also wondering what Richmond and Petersburg are going to do now. I believe many higher-ups still want to fight for a casino.

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01

Oct. ’17

Just Small Talk

I’ve said it before , I’ll say it again: It is great being retired and living in a senior community. Here there is plenty of time to do or accomplish whatever you want to do. All is done at your leisure which make retiring that much better. Traveling, reading, television watching, eating out, casino hopping, etc. is all part of enjoying the senior years. Many do not or have not the monetary or physical where with all to do it. Then there is Imperial Plaza.

Imperial Plaza took it’s usual Wednesday trip to Jamestown, Va. The first permanent colony in America. It was sad to see a great trip, that was cheap, not being taken advantage of by the great majority of people living here. Brookdale Imperial Plaza does not make a profit from these excursions yet seldom is there a full bus. Then, as you walk around the area, there are people saying there isn’t anything to do.

At Jamestown we viewed replicas of the Indian village, the English settlement and the museum. There was a bow and arrow demonstration, musket loading/firing demonstration and the showing of the interiors of the church and Indian huts replica. What was also for good exploration were the two ships. The size of the ships were small, by today’s standards, for having carried so many people to the new world. However, thinking of the size of the people in that era, mean there was plenty of room.

After getting back, I had just enough time to get myself clean, change clothes and get to a Mighty Pen Project class at the Virginia War Memorial (it was a humid day). I enjoyed my time with them, can hardly wait for our next time together. I always learn something new because I consider my writing as atrocious. I’ll keep trying to improve hoping I’ll get there one day. I have the two blogs to keep me in practice plus two stories I am still working on but constantly tearing apart for redoing. Each time I get fresh information at the Mighty Pen Project, I have to rewrite but I consider it worth the effort.

As I have written before, I am a member of the Howard Baugh Chapter of the Tuskegee Airman Incorporated who had a ceremony in Petersburg, Virginia. I could not be with them because I was out of town; they had a ceremony at a high school, I was out of town again. I hope to be in town for the next ceremony although I have been lucky enough to be available for the meetings.

It was a fine day for an outing. My wife and I went to the Wine & Hops Festival in Petersburg, Virginia on Saturday. It was okay, however, the lines for the wine and beer were long, there were a lot of vendors in a confined space, the place was very crowded in a small area. Lots of young people attended, being it was a confined area (Old Towne), standing around, made moving from vendor to vendor very complicated. But it was nice to get out, seeing things outside our usual areas of travel.

While in the area, we toured my old stomping grounds (I am originally from Petersburg), Hopewell and Colonial Heights, Virginia. We went to the new Puerto Rican Bakery/Cafe. It opened three months ago and we learned about it on television’s evening news. They are taking items of donation to the storm ravaged Puerto Rico. It’s the only Puerto Rican cafe I know in the area. There was one in Chesterfield but it closed a year ago.

I advise people, especially seniors, to get out and explore, revisit places of yore or new ones. Make time to go, enjoy before there is not enough time left to do it. I know my wife and I will go as much as we can because time is quickly catching up. Have fun and party as if there is not a tomorrow.

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29

Dec. ’16

Happenings

Hoping all had a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and did not forget what and/or why the holiday is. It’s not for commercialization but for the religious beliefs that is meant. In fact, here we are just a few days after Christmas, New Year is not here yet, and Valentine stuff is already up. Now we are in the new year with new things that will occur (especially here in the USA). There are other worst things that are occurring in the world. Let us not forget good old Imperial Plaza have it’s problems also. Oh well..Life goes on.

Being retired means having fun so I’ll mention only a couple things that is happening at Imperial Plaza. Our head of food services is out although he just got here. I’ve talked about food services before therefore I won’t get into it again although my heart is pulling me to speak more on the subject. Alas, I will not, for now. Also, there are a lot of people that is crying about the rent going up but it is just a little bit. I know that being retired put most people on a fixed income but this is not unexpected. No matter where a person go, the rent takes a yearly rise. Not much but it will rise. There is a very old joke that mention “like age, rent goes up” and it does. And we have a new director for Imperial Plaza, Mr. Don Jones. I am patiently awaiting the good things that is promised to happen.

In Imperial Plaza’s weekly travels, this week we went to the Virginia State Capitol Building. I have been to the U.S. Capitol many, many times but not my own state’s. Why and how, you would ask. Easy. The word is “segregation”. As a kid I lived in Washington, D.C. and we used to play in the capitol building and go to many other places. It was not like it is now. The Virginia Capitol is beautiful, not because it has been through a recent renovation but it is. The first capitol was in Jamestown then it moved to Williamsburg and, at the beginning of the Revolutionary War it moved to Richmond.

I took many pictures and listened to the tour guide with fascination. Much of what was said bought back my teachings in school. When I started school, it was a requirement to take the course, Virginia History. This was a requirement all through elementary school. It would have been nice to come to the capitol, when I was in school, but two things were in the way to keep that from happening. First I lived in Petersburg and Richmond was twenty miles away with zero school buses and second, it was during segregation and that meant many places I could not go and that was one of them.

I’ll cut this short for now and go on to another pressing thing. Before I go I want to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR and want you to keep reading and please pass this on and on and on. I need followers and likes for encouragement to continue and, most of all, for the blog to grow. Suggestions for topics to write about would also be great. See ya and remember my saying…Be kind to your neighbors because you’ll never know when you’ll need them. Also, ensure your words are soft and sweet because you’ll never know when you’ll have to eat them. Bye, bye…

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01

Feb. ’15

The Condo

I have noticed the new viewers that I have acquired on the site and I say “Welcome” and I hope you like what I write about and continue viewing. Spread the word and have others follow also.

I have a part-time job and it is at a high rise condo building that is home to quite a few of the “old money” people of Richmond. An example of one is a woman that live in the building and have another condo in Florida. She own quite a bit of commercial and rental property in Florida, therefore she spend a lot of time there. She also own quite a bit in Petersburg, Richmond and the surrounding areas of both cities. People that live in the building I part-time for are not poor or middle class. There is a top Virginia Delegate and a recording producer/writer, just to give you another example.

These people, looking at them, seem like, talk like and act like ordinary people and they seem to know most of what is happening all over. Many times I am asked about Imperial Plaza and what is going on (this was before some of them started to read my blog) and they seem very interested. I try to answer their questions truthfully but not to the point of stomping on Imperial Plaza’s good name. There is no point in beating a horse that has stumbled. I believe Imperial Plaza will right itself and walk tall again.

In talking with these people, I am mindful of their power in the area and elsewhere. It is said that money know money and nothing gets done or gets past the people that have money. It is fascinating how similar the people at the condo sit around in a group and gossip like it’s done at Imperial Plaza. I’ve observed them talking about everyone and everything and if they really don’t like something, changes are miraculously made.

I’ll take a stab at how this is done. The majority of the people are elderly (I’ll get to the young ones shortly) and the adult kids, power players, will do anything for mom, dad, aunt, etc. because they hold the money and/or got them to wherever they are now. They are dedicated to these people. Sometimes they will talk to whomever at the synagogue or one of the other super large Richmond church.

There are a handful of young adults and most don’t even have a job. Their parents will do anything for them, no matter what it is. One guy, I know of, don’t have a job but have the expensive condo, expensive car and all he does is go out every night and party, including in the condo.

I said all of that to say this. Imperial Plaza is being talked about and I hope it’s name remain in the good graces of the people at my part-time job. They wield a lot of power.

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